Ah! The following day

by zeroIQ

Getting married is never really simple for anyone, let alone a certain mortal and his goddess. One might expect that with the hard part out of the way, the rest would be just an ordinary married life. But with those two and the ones around them, there is no such thing as ordinary...

36. Chapter 36

I do not own the Ah! Megami sama / Oh! My Goddess series

---

"Come on Skuld, you're going to be late!"

Standing outside of her daughter's room, Ansuz waited for the little goddess to show up, before Urd left. She's been working on something for several hours already and even though it was past noon, the Norn of the future was still busy.

"Hold on a minute! I'm almost ready!" was the hurried reply.

"That's what you told me an hour ago!" Shaking her head, the teal haired goddess wondered if this was simply an excuse to avoid seeing Urd depart to Muspelheim. Of course, there was also the possibility that she was worried about the incident that took place yesterday. Given that her powers weren't that developed yet, the fact that she lost control of them must've been both surprising and scary for the inexperienced goddess. At least that's what Ansuz assumed to be the case, although, she really didn't want to deal with that particular problem at the moment.

"It's not like she's going to leave right now! Urd said she was going to leave after noon!" replied Skuld, while the sound of her welding tool could be heard through the thin door.

"But it is past noon. So, are you coming out of there or what?" asked Ansuz with a sigh. "Everyone is about to gather, too."

"What?! Oh no! I'm late, I'm late!" Throwing the door open, the young goddess rushed outside only to collide on her unsuspecting mother, sending them both on the floor.

Despite that, Ansuz managed to grab the small device that her daughter was carrying and giving it a better look, she wondered what Skuld needed a cellphone for. Meanwhile, the Norn of the future started to panic when she realized that her latest invention was gone. "Mom! Have you seen?..."

"This?" asked the teal haired goddess, pointing at the phone, much to her daughter's relief.

"Yes! That's my precious INAC!" grabbing the contraption from her mother, Skuld pressed a few buttons to make sure that it was in working order. "Everything seems to be alright. Of course I made it shockproof, but, I never had the chance to give it a proper test."

"Uh… what exactly is that thing?" asked Ansuz. "I mean, it's looks like a phone, but then again, you've turned one of my toasters into a docking bay for removable storage drives in the past…Besides, what's with its name? It doesn't seem like something you'd normally use."

"It's not my fault that your toasters were the perfect size for my drives!" objected the little goddess, before she paused and held her latest invention right in front her mother to see. "And It's called INAC, because it stands for INAC is Not A Communicator."

"Since when did you start using recursive names?" Chucking at her daughter's attempt to break the habit of giving rather obvious or even childish designations to her inventions, Ansuz was about to tease her about that, but, paused when she actually realized why Skuld suddenly decided to make a phone. "Wait a moment… that's for Urd, right?"

"Exactly! I've decided to make something that would allow her to talk to us whenever she wants. I didn't want her to be forced to rely on the demonic telecommunication network, since it's under their control, meaning that they can pretty much do whatever they wish. My device is a standalone, totally independent system that has nothing to do with anyone's infrastructure," explained Skuld with a proud smile.

"That's a very thoughtful gift, little one. I'm certain that, Urd will be very happy to see how much you really care for her." Ansuz tried her best to keep up a cheerful expression, knowing all too well that her daughter was underestimating the demons' ability to block all radio contact in large areas, something that they had used with devastating effects during the last war.

'Actually, it was the ruler of Muspelheim who caused that communication blackout and by the time we realized what happened, an entire company that was stationed on Earth simply ceased to be… Even the side effects of that attack had triggered a volcanic eruption large enough that almost wiped out mankind back then.'

Missing her mother's troubled expression, the goddess of the future simply admired her work, only to remember that Urd was probably going to depart soon enough. "Come on, mom! We're going to be late!"

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Ansuz followed her daughter outside where most of the other goddesses had already gathered and thankfully, everyone was in high spirits; Urd included. The only exception was Excalibur who maintained his typical stoic expression while he observed the rest of the group that surrounded him and the half goddess. Belldandy was trying to offer them some food for the trip, while Keiichi got a rather expensive bottle of sake for his sister-in-law.

"Really… that wasn't necessary," said the goddess of the past, grabbing the bottle from his hands, faster than the mortal could blink.

"I don't know… You sure seem to like it," laughed Keiichi, while several of the goddesses giggled at the sight of Urd cuddling her new favorite gift, even though they knew that it wouldn't last for too long.

"Oh, and remember to write us from time to time," said Frigg, only to have the youngest of her granddaughters interrupt her.

"That won't be necessary." Getting everyone's attention, Skuld presented her new gadget. "Tada! This is my new INAC! With this little device you'll be able to call whenever you feel like it!"

"You made this? But… I can…" started Urd, before she stopped and took the communicator from her sister's hands. "Thanks kid, that's really a neat gift!"

Instead of making any comment about being called a child, Skuld simply smiled back at Urd. "No problem, sis."

'Sis? Well… Well...' Smirking a bit, the Norn of the past stashed the device into her clothes, and briefly glanced at Ansuz, giving her a tiny nod. "Alright… I guess it's time to switch my primary configuration, so… step back."

Doing as they were told, the group watched with apprehension as the half goddess' forehead marking started to shine, changing shape and color, from the blue triangle to a red five pointed star. That was a very dangerous moment and in the event she lost control, the potential for causing widespread destruction was too great to be ignored. Thankfully, with both Frigg and Ansuz present, Urd felt a bit less stressed as they could easily stop her if that actually happened.

For most present, the change was rather dramatic, despite the slight difference in her appearance with her modified markings, it was more than obvious that this was no longer the second class goddess most were familiar with. She was worthy to be a first class demoness and even powerful enough to make her mother proud and some of the assorted goddesses shiver from the overwhelming blood-lust that emanated from her. Even meeting her gaze was rather unsettling, as her red, glowing cat like irises gave the half demoness a terrifying appearance that was characteristic of the rest of her species.

"What a showoff…" muttered Skuld, being the only goddess who seemed unaffected by the change in Urd's powers. "You're just trying to scare them, aren't you?"

"Who, little old me?" asked the Norn of the past, in an attempt to look innocent, no matter how unlikely it seemed given her previous display. "You're just imagining things, Skuld."

"Yeah, right…" muttered the young goddess with a roll of her eyes.

As a matter of fact, both Peorth and Laguz had gotten closer to Lind for safety and even Keiichi was attempting to hide behind his wife who was also slightly apprehensive. On the other hand, Frigg and Ansuz exchanged a look, before they started to relax, since there were no signs that, Urd was about to go on a rampage.

'It's almost as if I'm seeing Hild back when she was a bit younger,' thought Ansuz. Not only Urd physically resembled her mother, but, now both her power and body language was very similar to Hild's whenever the latter wanted to intimidate someone. Unlike most demons, the Daimakaicho avoided very aggressive displays of power, trying to do the exact same thing while remaining relatively calm, a method that often worked better than the typical approach. 'And she's merely attempting to get a reaction from us. I'm not even sure that I want to find out what's going to happen if she were to be serious… She could certainly pull something that's would've made her mother proud.'

"Neesan, are you sure feeling alright?" asked Belldandy with some concern. "Maybe you need to take some time to adjust, before you leave."

"Nah… I'll be fine. I've already done this once and right now there's nothing too stressful that could cause me to lose control." Changing her attire to what she wore during the Lord of Terror incident, Urd was happy that she had something appropriate to wear for her visit to Muspelheim. Neither her goddess attire nor her earthly clothes were suitable for such a purpose and the last thing she needed was to stick out like a sore thumb.

"In that case shouldn't we already depart?" asked Excalibur from her side where he silently waited for the half demoness to get ready for the trip.

"Alright... alright, I heard you," replied Urd, rolling her eyes at the synthetic. "Besides, what are you wearing?"

Checking his outer skin, the shapeshifter wondered what was wrong with his armor. Modeled after the uniforms used by the Fighting Wings, it had several flexible, scale mail like parts that covered most of his torso and a few areas of his limbs. "Technically speaking… nothing. This is merely part of one of my combat configurations."

"Nothing? I guess I'm starting to rubbing off on you," laughed Urd. "Who would've thought that you had it in you."

"Please get a 42," was the synthetic's dry reply.

"A what?"

"A life."

Narrowing her eyes at the sentient weapon, the Norn of the past leaned forward until she was right in front of his face. "Once we get there, you and I need to have a nice, long chat… There's something really off with the way your personality is developing."

"I've run several diagnostic routines and I've gotten no error codes so far," said Excalibur. "I simply believe that my sense of humor is often misunderstood, although, given the responses I typically get from others, I'm not inclined to reconfigure it anytime soon; I honestly find them to be rather hilarious."

"Keep it up buster, and I'll show you hilarious!" Turning away from the otherwise unconcerned synthetic, Urd tossed her hair over her shoulder to regain her composure and resist the urge to fire a bolt at him. "Okay! I guess I need to get going, so, I'll call you once I've got some free time. See ya later!"

While she could hear them wishing her good luck, Urd refused to look back and even tried to block most of their voices off her mind. In a way, she hated to say goodby to anyone, having a rather bad experience from her early childhood when her mother took her to Asgard. Sure, the half demoness kept reminding herself that this was a very different situation compared to back then, but, part of her was still rather apprehensive and wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

At the base of a stairway near the temple, Mara and the one thousandth avatar of Hild were waiting for Urd to show up. The blonde demoness worried that she would've to experience a rather heartwarming scene and given how much she disliked that stuff, she decided to keep her distance from the rest of the goddesses.

"Uh… Hild-sama?"

Looking over to her subordinate, the tiny Daimakaicho wondered if she actually changed her mind at the last possible moment. While it was probably a much better assignment than staying in the mortal realm, the last year or so, Mara had been rather inactive and from a certain perspective one could've argued that she's gotten herself an unofficial vacation; one that was certainly coming to an end. "Yes, Ma-chan?"

"I was wondering why you're waiting here with me. I mean… Wouldn't it be better if you met her up in the temple?" asked Mara, trying to go around the subject without risking to anger her boss.

"Oh, that? Well, I don't want to get myself too involved in the whole matter. That girl is going to have some rough time to fully adjust to this and the last thing I need is to make her get angry with me. Which reminds me… try not to push her too far, Ma-chan. I know that you two like to antagonize each other for fun, but, this time she may not be all fun and games. Keep in mind that as a demoness, she might get a lot more aggressive and what would've been a playful argument, can turn into an actual attack. So, refrain to agitate her in any way until she's far more comfortable with her demonic side," said Hild, causing the blonde to pale, as she realized that her boss was dead serious for once.

As a matter of fact, Mara had experienced Urd's wrath twice in the past. First when she refused to give all her power to the Ultimate Destruction Program, and then when she managed to separate the two sides of the Norn, only to discover that the cloned body was not capable to contain Urd's power. Of course, in both cases her friend was not really being herself, as in the former she was possessed by the Lord of Terror and in the other instance, she was merely half her true self. "I-I'll keep that in mind, Hild-sama…"

Before she could get her reply, Mara felt a wave of dread when she saw what Urd was actually wearing. "Wha-!... Don't tell me you're possessed again?!"

"Grab a brain, Mara! I'm just wearing that outfit," said the half demoness with a chuckle, striking a pose for her and the little Daimakaicho. "After all, I want to make a good first impression. So? What do you think?"

"You're heading to a realm that's covered by thick layers of volcanic ash and sand. Do I even need to tell you how uncomfortable it's going to be once that stuff sticks to your body?" asked Hild, shaking her head at her daughter's naive thinking. "Just put something that covers a bit more skin. You'll thank me later, trust me on that."

"But, mom! I…" started Urd only to pause, blinking hard, trying to figure out what possessed her to call Hild like that. While it wasn't the first time she used that term to address her, in most other cases it was a conscious decision for a variety of reasons. On this instance, it simply happened without even thinking about it and no matter how much how much she tried, her mind refused to substitute that word with another one and for a while, she had no idea what to think of it.

Unlike the past, Hild simply ignored the comment, knowing that pushing her daughter too far in such a short amount of time would only make matters worse; especially since Urd seemed to be troubled by her reaction. Instead, the little Daimakaicho snapped her fingers, modifying the half demoness' clothes from what looked like a bikini to something that was virtually the same from the waist up, while the rest extended all the way to her feet, like a pair of skintight pants. "There! That's extremely similar to what you had and won't be a pain to wear in Muspelheim. If you want to try something different, take a look at the local market for some dust proof options. After all, you don't think that all the residents of that realm have to put up with such restrictions, Urd-chan. Some of the clothes they prefer are actually translucent to compensate for the fact that it covers more."

"Really?" asked the half demoness, even if she wasn't too interested at the moment for that kind of topic. Still, it was better to talk about that, instead of focusing on her small slip of the tongue, which would've normally caused a very excited response from her mother. 'It's nice to know that she can show restraint when it's really important, although, I can't say that I'm too surprised. Perhaps I refused to give her enough credit in the past, or I simply avoided to admit that she actually cared… After all, it made it easier for me to forget about my early childhood.'

"Yes, but, I'd like you to find such things by yourself. It's not like you're a prisoner or anything like that explore the place in your free time and see what it has to offer. Besides, you're likely going to get bored if all you do is wait for the days to pass while locked in your room. At the very least, try to see the positive side of the whole situation and make the most out of it." Stepping to the side, the little Daimakaicho raised her hands in front of her, summoning the Gate to Muspelheim.

"You know… Why did we come here to open the portal? We could've transferred from anywhere," said Urd as she watched the gate materialize before the four of them. "Don't tell me that you relocated her like the one that leads to Niflheim."

"Nah, there was no need to do that. I merely thought that it would've been better to do it here instead of back there with the rest of the goddesses watching," said Hild with a shrug. "Other than that, there's not much of a special reason, really."

"Well, that's not a problem then." Letting a sigh, the half demoness turned to Mara who had been silent throughout that exchange, standing next to an equally quiet Excalibur as both knew that interrupting them wasn't a good decision. After all, it was rare for Urd to actually talk to her mother and even then she was either reserved or antagonistic whenever she had to deal with her. "Unless you have any unfinished business, we can go, Ma-chan."

'Ma-chan?... Don't tell me she's going to start calling me that…' Shaking her head both to clear her thoughts and provide a reply to her friend, the blonde briefly wondered just how much of the Norn's personality was affected by her change of power sources. "Nope, I've got nothing that needs my attention, so, lead the way."

Motioning for Excalibur to follow her, the half demoness waived at her mother while the rest of the group floated towards the Gate. "See you later…"

"Hold on! I have a question," said Hild, stopping her daughter before she entered the portal.

"Yes?"

"Is there any part of your memories that's under any sort of block?" asked the ruler of demonkind.

"Huh? No… At least, not as far as I can tell…" replied Urd after she spent a few seconds thinking about it. "Why?"

"There are sensitive topics that are normally protected by either one of the two systems and in your case, it's a bit of a problem Yggdrasil has little authority over a demoness, so, I was considering whether those parts would be locked to ensure that you wouldn't reveal anything to us," explained Hild, looking around carefully.

"Isn't that a problem, though? Now that you mention it, I can talk about stuff that I wasn't allowed previously," said Urd with a troubled expression, fearing that this would only give her trouble later on. "Doesn't father know that?"

"He probably does. I doubt that he missed something so basic," replied Hild. "I just wanted to make sure that he didn't do anything about it."

"But… why? If it's a problem, then he should've put a block on those memories," said Urd.

"Because you're a special case. Blocks work nicely with normal individuals, however, you have two personalities and creating partitions between your two sides can cause them to desynchronize. In the long run, it might not only intensify your internal conflict, but, also cause psychotic behavior," explained the Daimakaicho. "Even then, most celestials would've considered the risk to be acceptable compared to the potential of any significant security leak."

"Then why did father do such a thing?" asked the half demoness. "Isn't that a serious issue for Asgard?"

"Actually, you already answered your own question, Urd-chan; because he's your father. Tyr may not be perfect, but, under no circumstances he would discard you like some expandable tool and put you in such a situation." Smiling slightly, Hild decided to give her daughter a fair warning just in case she got any funny ideas. "However, keep in mind that all this should remain a secret, as it would cause you a lot more problems than good. Sure, you may gain some friends if you reveal a few things, but, you're going to make a lot of enemies later on and trust me… it's not worth the trouble."

"I see… Still what's going to happen if I'm forced to say anything?" asked the worried Norn of the past.

"Then you'll reply that this information is classified, under your Daimakaicho's explicit orders," replied Hild with a smirk. "If any fool wishes to defy me, then all you need is to give me a call or just ask the right demon to deal with them."

Blinking, Urd took a few moment to realize that her mother was absolutely right. She was indeed the leader of the species she currently belonged to and her ultimate superior. Remembering something from her early childhood, the half demoness decided to offer her a reply just like the rest of her subjects, as she was indeed her boss. "By your orders, my lady. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"No, that would be all for now… Later, Urd-chan." Watching as the portal closed behind them, the little Daimakaicho couldn't help but smile recalling the way her daughter had previously addressed her.

'Mom, huh? It's been so long since I've heard her say that word. Way too long... '

XXX

Muspelheim, several millennia ago

"Name and rank."

"Demon third class, limited license, Surt." Standing in front of the desk at the entrance of the fiery realm's only orphanage, the young demon had been waiting for his turn to get assigned to a caretaker and finally say goodbye to this dreary place.

Making those orphans happy wasn't the demons' first priority and that often showed at how much some of them hated the prison like facility they used to call home. For the lucky ones who were from a noble family there was a separate, much more hospitable place to live, where they could enjoy all the comforts they had grown accustomed to thanks to their previous pampered lifestyle.

However, for the rest it was almost like a military camp where order was maintained above everything else. Despite the fact that everyone was far too young to fight, they were mostly treated like soldiers and it was no wonder that most of them joined the ranks of the Eldjotnar as soon as they were old enough to do so. It was the only life they had gotten used to and for some, the only one they knew to begin with.

Due to the dangers of the native environment, children were assigned to caretakers who would supervise them until they were old enough to use their own powers to properly protect themselves. Normally, that role was reserved for teenagers who had already passed that phase of their life and yet weren't experienced enough to get any other assignment. Actually, most considered this as a true test of the leadership abilities for those adolescents, since they each had to handle a small number of kids and demonstrate the necessary level of responsibility that would later help them with their careers in the military. After all, most of Muspelheim's demons opted to become warriors and much of their upbringing reflected that fact, even if there were several who followed a different path.

Waiting patiently in front of the desk, Surt wondered what kind of caretaker he was going to be assigned to. Given that he didn't come from a prestigious family, chances were that he'd get whoever that was available as long as the orphanage got rid of him and call their job a success. The tiny piece of paper he got wasn't all that helpful either, having only two digits printed on it and no further information.

'Twenty three… That's all they had to offer me? No name, no rank, nothing… Besides, is this my number or the caretaker's? Should I look for whoever has a similar one or is it the other way around?'

Unknown to him, a demoness approached him while checking her notes and tried to get his attention by waving at the dark haired youth. However, the brooding demon simply walked past her and continued to stare at the paper in his hands with the same hateful expression he had since he got it moments ago. Not liking to be ignored, the platinum haired teen narrowed her eyes and grabbed the young demon by the back of his clothes, spinning him around.

"Hey, watch it, you!..." objected the startled Surt, flailing his arms as he tried to release himself. "What's your problem anyway?"

Changing her expression from an annoyed one to something that was a bit too sweet for most demons, the taller girl took a glance at his paper and smiled. "Aha! You're number twenty three! So… that means you're Surt if I'm not mistaken. Pleased to meet you, I'm called Hild and from now on I'll take care of you."

"You will?" Giving the demoness a critical look, Surt found it a bit hard to believe that this girl was the one he was going to answer to. Unlike the demons who were in charge of his group before, this Hild was barely a head taller than him and that didn't inspire much confidence as far as her experience was concerned. 'I knew that they were going to assign us to teens, but, I hoped that they'd pick some older ones!'

"Don't you dare underestimate me! I know what you're probably thinking and for the record I was one of the most difficult demonesses back when I was at your age! The terror of the east wing! And on top of that, I was deemed to be powerful enough that it was unnecessary for me to have a caretaker, which is why I'm now going to babysit you," said Hild with a grin. "Not bad, huh?"

Blinking, Surt appeared to be intrigued for a moment, but then, he simply shrugged. "Actually, I'm a known troublemaker as well. Nobody in the west wing dared to mess around with me, although I didn't care about bossing a bunch of lackeys around, like some others did. And to be honest, I preferred being left alone, instead of having to deal with all sorts of morons all the time."

"Uh… That's nice, although, I was mostly reprimanded for pulling more pranks than the orphanage's staff could count. You on the other hand, seem to be a tough cookie." Smiling widely to show her sharp canines, Hild couldn't help but chuckle at Surt's baffled expression. "Unfortunately for you, I like cookies."

"Well… Good for you then," was the dark haired demon's dry reply, which made his caretaker want to pull her hair in frustration.

'What's up with kids these days? They're so hard to impress and his indifferent attitude is getting on my nerves!' Her original idea to point out the things they had in common had apparently failed miserably by the looks of it, so, the demoness decided to approach the subject from a different perspective. "Of course it's good for me! And you're a pretty lucky one, as well!"

"I've been many things, but lucky isn't amongst them," groaned Surt pointing at the dreary complex behind them. "Otherwise I wouldn't had ended up there."

"Oh come on, kid! Cheer up a bit, you're starting a new life! Don't tell me you're one of those pessimists who keep moping all day long about how everything hates them. I really dislike people with that kind of attitude." Striking a pose, the demoness attempted to change the subject before her charge got the chance to derail the whole conversation and get into something really gloomy. "Not to mention that I wasn't talking about that. I simply wanted to point out how lucky you are to have a demoness looking after you."

"Huh? What does that have to do with anything?" asked the baffled Surt.

"A lot, actually. After all, you've got someone as sexy as myself around you! And for your information, most girls around my age are still pretty flat. However…" started Hild, leaning closer to the wide eyed demon. "I certainly have something up here and in a couple of centuries I'll have a body to die for!"

'T-They got me a… pervert,' thought the horrified Surt, his face losing all color and for the first time in the last couple of minutes he was downright scared, as he had no idea how to act in a situation like this. "I-I wouldn't c-care a-any less…"

'Not so tough anymore, huh? I knew he had a weak spot. It's going to be so much fun to tease him...' Giving the dark haired boy the mother of all bear hugs, Hild was finally happy that she found a way to deal with her troublesome charge. "Aw… you're so cute when embarrassed!"

"Let go! You're… crushing me!" But no matter how much he struggled, the platinum haired demoness was way stronger than he had ever expected from someone with such a lithe frame.

Chuckling, Hild actually kept him trapped with one arm while she used her other to retrieve the list she was given before she arrived at this place. "Okay, one down, two more to go and by the looks of it they're siblings. Come on, Surt let's meet your new friends, they should be somewhere around here."

"That's all nice, but, I can walk! Stop dragging me around like an overgrown plushie!" However, his protests had apparently fallen on deaf ears as she kept heading towards the gathered kids that still waited for their assigned caretaker to pick them. "Are you even listening?"

"Nope! I've heard nothing!" replied the giddy demoness.

'An act… This must be all an act; a trick to intimidate me. She can't be like this for real. Right?...'

XXX

Muspelheim, main portal room, present time

'Ugh… What a terrible memory. Was I really that naive to think that she was anything but a troublemaker? Not that I'm one to talk, but even I had no idea how to deal with her; I still don't. I bet those old fools at that orphanage wanted revenge for all the problems I've caused them. Fight fire with fire as they say or in this case, one troublemaker with another.'

At least he got his personal revenge when he razed the whole complex to the ground and replaced it with a much better one. None of the staff had expected those two to become some of the highest ranking officers of Muspelheim and once Hild got the position of their leader, Surt and an entire company marched to that damned prison and shut it down once and for all; although, it was technically blown up into bits by the demolition experts who carried out his orders.

However, above all it was a statement or rather an act that demonstrated the willingness to defy the demonic nobility and once he and Hild managed to get away with it, their subordinates started to see the possibility that they could lead them to a successful rebellion against those who monopolized power for several millennia.

'And yet those idiots failed to see what was coming… Only when our troops seized control of the Nidhogg central complex they started to realize just how wrong they were. Of course, it wasn't our fault that those morons were too dumb to live in the first place.'

Once the Gate opened, the ruler of Muspelheim dismissed those thoughts and focused on the present, as ironic as it sounded since he was dealing with the Norn of the past. Aside from the half demoness in question, there was Mara and even that synthetic life form that apparently acted as Urd's guard for some unknown reason. 'Nothing I haven't expected already. At least she's properly configured as a demoness, that's going to save some time, since we can give her the necessary license right away.'

Aside from him and the regular guard that monitored the Gate room on a constant basis, Hrym and Naudiz were also present to handle most of the boring paperwork that was necessary to make the group's living arrangements. Motioning for them to approach him, Surt waited for Urd and her two companions to follow his instructions, as was expected from any demon who stood before the ruler of one of their realms. And while Mara seemed to know the protocol well, Urd simply stopped to look around the room, causing her blonde friend to bump into her.

Letting a sigh as he shook his head, the dark haired demon reminded himself that this was Hild's daughter after all. And just like her mother, she did things at her owns pace. 'Look at her… She reminds of a tourist who takes photos of… Wait a moment...'

Watching at the half demoness as she pulled her sister's gadget, Surt realized that she was actually planning to do just that. Pointing the communicator's embedded camera towards the Gate and then the rest of the room, Urd took several snapshots of the place, much to Mara's chagrin who desperately tried to remind her that they were not alone.

"Have you gone mad? What do you think you're doing in a situation like this?" asked the baffled demoness. "Surt-sama is waiting for us! It's downright insulting to have one of the highest ranking demons to sit there while you're taking photos!"

"Oh, right!" said Urd as she turned towards the uncharacteristically calm Eldjotunn. "I almost forgot!"

"No kidding… Now, follow my example and try to…" started the blonde, only to notice that, Urd wasn't next to her anymore. The half demoness had already crossed the distance between them and the ruler of Muspelheim and wrapped an arm around his shoulders pointing the camera at them for a selfie. 'A CD… I'll be stuck back into a damned CD… Why had I ever agreed to this suicide mission in the first place?'

As a matter of fact, even the guards took a step back, in order to get a bit closer to the columns that held the dome shaped roof of the Gate room, while Hrym and Naudiz exchanged a concerned look fearing the worst.

"Having fun?" asked Surt as he glanced at his side where the seemingly hyperactive Norn was checking her communicator's image album to see if she actually got any good ones.

"Yeah. I thought it would've been a good idea to take a few pics for mom and my sisters," answered Urd with a smile. "And this thing isn't half bad actually. For something that, Skuld whipped up in a hurry, it even has a Tetris application! Talk about handy!"

'If you think that you can get under my skin that easily, you'll be in for a surprise, kid. I have actually spent centuries under your mother's supervision to fall for such obvious tricks.' Smirking a bit, Surt tried to sound as pleasant as he could, even if that would've caused those who knew him to back further away. "So, I trust you like this place then? Would you like a short tour? Maybe something to eat or drink, as well?"

"Huh? Shouldn't I get a license first?" asked Urd, who wasn't really expecting that from the leader of Muspelheim. Rumors had him to be an impatient, bullheaded and downright aggressive demon who enjoyed blowing things up. Sure, celestials often exaggerated things a bit, but, she was fairly certain that this seemingly friendly attitude was rather out of place. 'It's a trap. It has to be...'

"Oh, we've got that already prepared for you," replied Surt, retrieving the tiny card from his pocked and offering it to the half demoness. "Everything's set up actually. The only thing left is to accept your new license."

Urd's eyes widened when she read the inscription on the card. She had been expecting a second class license, but instead she got a first class, something that she never acquired as a goddess. Actually, she had managed to pass the test, however, the idea of living without lying was a deal breaker for her. It was essential for her to be able to protect her sisters, and sometimes all it took was twisting the truth here and there, as long as it did the trick to get them out of trouble; Skuld in particular who had a nasty habit of making things that blew up. "Wait a moment… I am… was… a second class go-..."

"I don't care what you were. Having anything that restricts you from reaching your full potential is counterproductive and that's why I'd like to have you at full power," explained the dark haired demon. "Actually, now that you've got a… promotion, how about we have a bit of a celebration? It's my treat."

"Really? I'd like that," answered Urd with a smile. 'Maybe he's not as bad as they say...'

"Good. Follow me then."

Right behind them, Hrym continued to observe the half demoness, as some of his own memories started to resurface. 'One moment she's messing around Surt and the next she seems that she's expecting him to bite her. Hm... I thought that being a naturally born hybrid would've spared her some of the issues of changing her primary power source, but, it seems that this isn't actually the case. I need to keep an eye on her, before those mood swings get out of control.'

XXX

Nekomi, Japan

Gathered in the living room, Frigg and Ansuz waited for Belldandy to join them in their impromptu meeting. They had to wait until Skuld decided to go back to her room in order to work on some project and even asked Keiichi and Laguz to keep an eye out just in case she happened to finish early. And with Peorth and Lind training, it was an opportunity to discuss about one rather serious problem in privacy.

"Let me get straight to the point. What happened back then in the onsen?" asked Belldandy with a frown. "I gather that, Skuld lost control of her powers, but… she shouldn't have enough to cause all that damage and she wasn't even using a spell at the time."

"That wasn't a typical energy leak, at least not in the same manner that… well… you happen to cause whenever you can't handle something," said Ansuz in a manner that wouldn't sound too harsh for her elder daughter. She knew about Belldandy's jealousy storms and had a lot of trouble to help her, since it was pretty rare for the Norn of the present to even express such emotions in the first place, let alone learn how to properly deal with them. "I believe that it was Skuld's direct matter manipulation skills that actually caused that mess. Thankfully, it wasn't nearly as bad as it could've been and we managed to fix everything before mortals realized the full extent of the damage."

"Indeed. It wasn't merely the electrical devices around the hot springs that were affected by Skuld-chan's powers. Every mechanical construct was influenced in one way or another, and we were lucky that we nobody was injured," said Frigg. "In most cases those devices received a portion of her magic and 'enhanced' themselves, to a point where the materials they were made from could no longer cope with the added stress. Thankfully a lot of things weren't in use at the moment she lost control, especially the parked vehicles outside the hot springs, as their engines could've exploded if anyone tried to turn them on. However, that wasn't the case with the power lines and the other electrical devices, which resulted in that blackout."

"But… Isn't that even worse than a typical leak?" asked the worried Belldandy. "That's something extremely dangerous for those around her! We were lucky that the onsen wasn't too close to any other structures or…"

"Or she could've potentially blown a lot of things up," said Ansuz finishing her daughter's sentence. "Worse, with that power constantly on, there's literally no way to predict when it's going to happen. With most energy leaks we can detect the buildup that leads to the release of raw magical power, but, in this case we a second or even less to react. It's going to be really hard to create a containment field or a shield to hold her powers back from affecting her surroundings."

Looking at her wrist, Belldandy suddenly realized that the answer might had been a lot simpler than she originally thought. "My bracelet! It was designed to absorb and dissipate accidental leaks! We can give that to Skuld and…"

"I'm sorry, but that's not going to work. The bracelet, Tyr sent you was designed to pick up whether or not you actually cast a spell or even used your powers willingly. The problem with Skuld is that her direct matter manipulation is constantly on, making the bracelet totally pointless. In that case we need more than just a filter or firewall and even then, she uses her ability without knowing. That makes such a thing impossible to construct, given that it must monitor everything that might be affected by Skuld and then analyze whether or not it's a beneficial modification. In other words, something way too complicated that's more likely to cause problems than solve any," explained Ansuz.

"All things considered, I believe that the best method is to properly train her to prevent any further incidents from happening," said Frigg. "After all, one cannot and should not rely on such convenient measures forever. They only deal with the symptoms, not the root of the problem and in this case it we allow Skuld to grow up without learning how to control her powers, it's going to be very dangerous when she's older and stronger."

Nodding slowly, Belldandy run her fingers over her bracelet realizing that she was a good example of what happened when certain problems weren't diagnosed from an early age. In her case it wasn't that they've tried to ignore or even deny the problem, but rather, the fact that she didn't normally express any negative emotions to the point of losing her control. By the time her jealousy storms were observed, she was fairly old and even then that happened on extremely rare occasions. Part of her knew wondered when that started and why, since she hadn't experienced any situations in her early childhood where anyone in her family expressed any favoritism towards one of her sisters. That was one of the main reasons why some celestials began to develop such traits and even once she was older, Belldandy was one of the relatively popular goddesses, which eliminated other possibilities that might had been associated with her social status.

'Was it about Urd, mistress?' asked Holy Bell over her link with her host.

'About neesan? Why?' asked Belldandy, even though there was one particular detail that had always troubled her and no matter how much she denied it, her angel knew about it.

'I don't intend to be insensitive, but, haven't you wondered whether you were born out of love or mere convenience? With you showing up right after Urd did...' started Holy Bell, but stopped before she went too far. Her intention was to help her host, not cause unnecessary distress that would've stemmed out of one of the goddess' greatest insecurities.

'I… cannot deny that I may had thought about it a few times… However, I never tried too hard to prove anything to anyone, neither I was worried that my sister would've stolen my position,' replied Belldandy. 'I believe that in a way I became too accustomed to the idea that I excelled at everything I did and the thought that I'd be bested by someone else proved too much for me to handle. Perhaps in a way I'm a bit of a pampered brat who never learned that losing is also part of life and no matter how much we try, it happens on occasions.'

'That's a bit harsh, mistress. I would've never described you as a sore loser no matter the circumstances,' said the angel a clearly worried tone. Despite the confidence that her host typically inspired to others, there were moments where her insecurities got the better of her and began to worry about everything. 'I'm sorry, I should've never mentioned anything.'

'You're wrong, Holy Bell. It's that attitude that got me in a position where I blow things up whenever I feel even the slightest hint of jealousy,' said the goddess of the present. 'I believe it's about time I face my own faults instead of running away from them. I'm not a child anymore and I have no excuses to avoid trying my best to overcome my issues. Grandmother is right, I shouldn't rely on father's bracelet to solve something that important.'

'In that case, I'll do my best to support you any way I can,' happily replied Holy Bell, before their dialogue was interrupted by Ansuz.

"Belldandy?"

Blinking, the brunette goddess realized that she was so preoccupied with her inner dialogue that she hadn't been paying attention to the others. "I'm sorry, mother. I was thinking about a few things and…"

"Don't worry about it," said Ansuz, knowing that the similarities between her daughters' issues must've caused the older one to reconsider a few things now that she had seen it happen to Skuld. "I was merely trying to figure out when is the best moment during the day to train her. She does work with you at that shop and I wouldn't want to take that away from her. This is an effort to help her, not a form of punishment and it would do absolutely no good if she sees it like that."

"I believe that late afternoon is probably the best choice," replied Belldandy with a thoughtful expression. "And I'll do it!"

"Do what?" asked the confused goddess.

"I'll be in charge of teaching her," said Belldandy with her trademark determination.

"But, you… I mean…" struggled Ansuz, trying to find a way to remind her daughter of her own issues.

"You don't have to sugarcoat the truth, mother. I've got a very similar problem and I can see why I might be a bad option as a teacher," said Belldandy with a sigh. "However, at the same time, I'm in a position where I've got personal experience of what she's going through and with your and grandmother's help I might be able to do it."

"Actually, that's not a bad idea, Bell-chan. After all, Skuld will probably feel more at ease knowing that you're supervising her, whereas she might had been slightly alarmed if we suddenly decided to train her." Clasping her hands together, the elder goddess smiled at her granddaughter, feeling proud that she was so eager to help her younger sibling. "Plus, it's going to allow her to focus on something other than feeling lonely now that, Urd-chan isn't around to play with her."

"I agree. Perhaps we should try to start tomorrow in order to give her some time to collect her thoughts. I'm sure that neesan's departure is certainly bothering her," said the goddess of the present, turning to her mother.

"You don't even have to say it, Belldandy. I'll go and see what she's up to and spend some time with her; it's the least I can do for my little one." Getting up, Ansuz headed for the door, only to become witness to yet another bizarre sight she had expected; Peorth in her Valkyrie uniform. 'Heavens above...'

While the rose goddess was known for her rather risque choice of clothing, to those who were familiar with her it was something they considered as normal. Still, it was partially due to the fact that she chose outfits that were somewhat reminiscent of swimsuits, making her appearance a bit more acceptable in the sense that they could recognize it as a legitimate outfit even if it was out of context most of the time. However, when Peorth walked in front of Asgard's second in command wearing her combat uniform, it was inevitable that the teal haired goddess needed to check twice to make sure that her eyes weren't playing games with her.

Apparently, the wish granter thought it was reasonable to remove the lower part of her Valkyrie fatigues, leaving her body totally exposed from the waist down. Thankfully, aside from the combat boots she had the common sense to have one of her own bikini bottoms that she typically wore, and in this case, it was the white one that she wore for a while during her initial visit to the Morisato residence. While her intent was to use something that matched the color of her uniform, Peorth had seemingly forgotten that it also happened to be one of her more daring ones, covering a lot less skin on her back compared to her favorite black one. Heading towards the bath after the training session with Lind, she was too exhausted to notice the astonished and somewhat scandalized look on Ansuz's face, who was still trying to make sure that she wasn't seeing things.

For her part the teal haired goddess stayed there staring at the brunette and then turned to Lind who was following her with an annoyed expression. "Captain, can you please explain what's going on?"

Stopping in front of her superior, the warrior merely pointed at her apprentice. "I must apologize for this… spectacle, Ansuz-sama. As a Valkyrie it deeply embarrass me to have one of my students act in such an... improper manner. I'll see that she won't do it from this point on."

"You'll do no such thing." Interrupting the two goddesses, Frigg frowned as she approached them. "Lind, you can't expect others to immediately adapt to a warrior's lifestyle and in her case, she's merely trying to get the license, not become an actual Valkyrie. Of course, I'm not one to say that such a thing is impossible to happen, but, pushing her too far could only convince her that joining the Fighting Wings is a bad idea."

"Understood, Frigg-sama. I'll allow Peorth to use her customized uniform for the time being," replied Lind, knowing that arguing with that particular goddess was highly inadvisable.

Ansuz however had different ideas, being a former Valkyrie and a rather old fashioned one when it came to rules and regulations. "But, mother! It's against protocol to make such… modifications to her combat uniform and not to mention unsafe. What's the point of using protective gear if she only wears half of it?"

"That's not the important part at the moment, my child. First you entice someone with the positive aspects of your offer and then you talk about restrictions, obligations and protocol. That way you don't lose more than half of your potential cadets before they even give it a try," explained Frigg. "Trust me, our friend will see reason when it comes to such practical matters and I doubt that she's going to show up in a battlefield with half of her armor. In the meanwhile, as far as her training is concerned, that should be safe enough to allow her to wear something of her choice."

"So, your idea is to do… nothing?" asked Ansuz with a raised winglet.

"Yes. Not right now at least," said Frigg with a nod, pausing for a moment as she stared at her daughter-in-law. "You know… Now that I think of it, if you replaced that rune she had on the back of her panties with yours, that would've made a very nice option for your 'quality time' activities."

"M-Mother?!" gasped the shocked Ansuz.

Scratching her chin, Frigg thought about it for a while and continued without paying too much attention to the other goddess' objections "Actually, you may even wear that with your current outfit if you turn your leggings into a pair of thigh-high stockings. Your skirt should more than enough to keep them out of sight and yet, that little modification will most likely be very appreciated by your husband."

"L-Leave Tyr out of this!" said the embarrassed goddess as her cheeks turned crimson.

"Don't be such a prude! I'm the one who should've made such comments about the younger generations being too daring, not the other way around!" said Frigg. "Hey! Where do you think you're going? I'm not done talking!"

"Uh… I need to keep Skuld company! She's probably all alone!"

Watching the two rapidly departing goddesses, Lind exchanged a look with the Norn of the present who was also watching this exchange between her two relatives. "Did that actually happen for real or I'm having hallucinations?"

"No, you're just fine Lind. Please don't mind my grandmother, even someone as serious and collected as her needs to let her hair down once in a while and find ways to relax, since most of the time her work and Asgard's politics demand her full attention and cause a lot of stress. I reassure that she means no harm at all," explained Belldandy. "Now, would you like some tea?"

"Yes, I'd like that."

XXX

Muspelheim

Located close to the central market was a relatively small but popular restaurant that was one of the few in the whole fiery realm. Food wasn't a necessity for demons and as such it was primarily used as a form of recreation, not survival. Interestingly, this also meant that the customers were far more picky and demanding than their mortal counterparts who often made compromises in order to sate their hunger. For that reason, only the best cooks had a chance in the small but extremely competitive food industry of the demons.

Looking at the menu in front of her, Urd had the gnawing feeling that a lot of the recipes sounded familiar and yet she couldn't remember any specifics about them. On either sides of her was Mara and Excalibur who were also trying to pick something to eat, although the synthetic was more interested to observe the demons that were sitting opposite of them.

Surt, along with Hrym and Naudiz had already made up their minds, but, waited for the newcomers to do the same before they ordered anything. Of course, once the leader of Muspelheim noticed the sentient weapon looking in his direction, the two of them engaged into a staring match, one that neither of them wanted to lose.

"Uh… Would you like a recommendation?" asked Naudiz in an effort to help their guest choose something and hopefully offer a distraction for her boss who wasn't known for being too friendly with celestials and their creations; just like Excalibur who didn't seem to care and kept looking at the dark haired demon. "The smoked ribs are a local speciality, especially when served with the extra spicy sauce! Why don't you try it?"

"Sounds good to me," said Urd with a nod, as she turned to Mara who also seemed to agree. "What about you, Excalibur?"

"It sounds agreeable."

"Well, in that case why don't we discuss your living arrangements while waiting for the food to arrive?" asked Surt.

"Actually, that's something I wanted to know as well," said Urd. "Are we all going to stay in the same place or we're getting separate houses?"

"I've got a two bedroom apartment in one of the latest inverted towers we built. It's not far from the Central Command Complex where you need to report daily. Most of your training will take place in the morning, so that you have the rest of the day to yourself. There aren't going to be any restrictions as to where you can go, as long as you stick to residential areas, so, feel free to explore the city at your leisure," said Surt.

"That's nice, although… what's an inverted tower?" asked the confused Urd. "I've never heard of such a thing before."

"It's simple, really. In Muspelheim we don't build above ground, unless it's absolutely necessary. As a result, most structures expand downwards and an inverted tower is similar to a block of flats, only that all floors are under the surface," explained Hrym. "One interesting peculiarity caused by this practice is that our city is a three dimensional one, with multiple layers one on top of the other, unlike conventional designs where everything is placed on a simple grid."

"Interesting… It's almost like a bunch of rats," said Urd, making Mara incredibly uncomfortable as she feared that her friend's comment would've insulted their hosts.

"Technically speaking, rats aren't actively creating underground tunnels. There are of course different types of rodents who are much better adapted to life underneath the surface including various species of moles, gophers, lemmings and so on," explained Excalibur. "However the native species that's mostly encountered underneath of Muspelheim's ground is the Mohnn'tyr mole."

Hearing Surt's sniggering, Urd didn't even need to wonder what the demon found so amusing. It had been known that there was a species of rodents in Muspelheim whose name was slightly similar to her father', but, the Norn was never curious enough to look into the matter. "Pray tell me what's so funny?"

"Nothing in particular," replied Surt, still struggling to contain his laughter. Actually, Mohnn'tyr moles were a fairly popular delicacy and used as a basis for a great variety of dishes, despite the fact that they were relatively dangerous to catch. With the size of a grizzly bear, a very impressive maw filled with serrated teeth and armed with claws that could dig concrete like hot knives through butter, they were really hard to trap and required some special handling. Still, they were often seen as big furballs and due to that, the demons of Muspelheim designed plushies based on them that were apparently popular among children, and often used as a form of a gift. Just like the ones sent to Tyr for his and Ansuz's first anniversary; the whole truckload of them, all courtesy of the leader of Muspelheim. 'The look on that sucker's face was worth listening to Hild going on and on about me picking on her ex husband… Where did she even got the funny idea that I was picking on him I don't even… I just sent him a... gift.'

"Yeah, right…" Trying some of the smoked ribs fresh from the grill, the half demoness finally realized why that dish sounded so familiar to her. It was exactly what her mother prepared for her when she was younger and she did enjoy it despite its spiciness.

This one was much hotter, though, and Mara who wasn't accustomed for that kind of cuisine had some trouble to send the food down her throat, her eyes already watering as she reached for a glass of water. "Hot!"

"Welcome to Muspelheim," said Hrym with a chuckle, pointing at Naudiz. "She did the same to me when I first got here."

Lowering her head, the red haired demoness tried to hide her sad expression. 'I just wanted him to try my home cooked food...'

At that moment, the sound of Surt's communicator interrupted them and for once the leader of Muspelheim was actually annoyed at the prospect of having any sort of emergency.

"This is Surt... I've told you not to bother me unless it's important."

"Forgive me, sir, but we've got a direct point transfer alarm."

"An unauthorized entry? I'll be there in a minute. Scramble the quick response team and signal yellow alert for all units!"

"Understood! All units are set on high alert!"

The sounds of the sirens made the rest around the table to look at the dark haired demon who was already getting up from his seat.

"Hey, what's going on here?" asked the confused Urd.

"Oh, nothing important. It's just someone who thinks they're so badass that they want to play games with us. Still, I don't want to disappoint them, or worse, make them think I'm not a good host. Now if you excuse me, I've got another welcoming party to organize," replied Surt with a smirk, turning to his two subordinates. "Take them to their apartment and don't lose sight of them until you get the all clear signal."

"Sir, yes sir!" With a crisp salute, the two demons were already in their battle armor, motioning the others to follow them.

Seeing no other alternative, Urd and her two companions did as they were told and headed towards the residential area while watching the streets flood with soldiers and hellhounds. While unrelated to them, the half demoness couldn't help but worry at the sight of the demonic forces.

'Look at them… They're armed to the teeth and literally everywhere! If they decide to keep me here, then I'm in deep trouble...'

---

AN: I would like to thank everyone that has offered their feedback and support both here and on the Goddess Relief site.

There are a few things that I'd like to note for this chapter.

First of all, I'd like to thank HotelKatz for his suggestion about Urd and the potential of one of her sides having a memory block. After all, it's something from the manga and I enjoyed exploring the potential repercussions of such a restriction on her.

For those wondering about the number 42, it a reference to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, where a supercomputer called Deep Thought spent seven and a half million years calculating the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything. The result was 42, and I used that as a reference to that.

Belldandy's internal dialogue with her angel might seem a bit uncharacteristic of her, but, she does have some moments where she expresses her insecurity in the series and that's where this scene fits in. It wouldn't be too much for her to wonder about a few of those topics, especially with her own angel.