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

CIC of MMV Naglfar, high above Martian orbit

Laughing maniacally, Surt struggled to stay on his command chair as he and the rest of the command information center's officers watched the footage of the assault at the Lunar Prison that was provided to them by the Nidhogg mainframe; all but one. Wearing a paper bag over his head, Hrym refused to witness what turned out to be the most embarrassing event in the recent Asgardian history.

"Oh, come on, don't be like that!" laughed Surt, turning to his second in command. "It's not like you haven't seen it already! This is the fifth time we're watching this footage!"

"One time was more than enough for me to wish I wasn't of celestial origins," muttered the half demon, shaking his head in dismay. "As a former member of the Fighting Wings, I must admit that watching… that… let's say combat made my eyes hurt so much, I may need to wear glasses from now on."

"That's not physically possible for an immortal, Hrym," shot the ruler of Muspelheim back to his subordinate. "Now stop being so stubborn and take that silly thing off your head. No officer of mine wears a popcorn bag as a hat."

Taking the impromptu headgear off, the spiteful half demon crushed it in a tiny ball and discarded it in a nearby bin. "Millennia of military doctrine, hard training and dedication led to this… this… What do you even call such nonsense?"

"A fiasco. That's the kindest word I can think of, actually," said Surt with a grin. "And it's not that bad, Hrym! At least not any of them got sealed! That would've been really embarrassing!"

"I won't argue with that, sir. It's already ridiculous as it is; a single god winning a fight like that," said Hrym with a shake of his head. "We may leave in peaceful times, but, there's no excuse for such a poor performance, even if they underestimated him."

"That's what happens when a bunch of bureaucrats runs the place… I bet all the application forms they had to fill before they deployed their fleet were so damn necessary that they couldn't live without them," sneered Surt. "On the other hand, I'm rather amused by that wolf. It's been centuries since I've heard such a badass exclamation of defiance from someone who's in command of a celestial vessel; even a stolen one…"

"With all due respect sir, but...may I remind you that we're talking about the same wolf you wanted to drop a null point bomb on top of him?" shot Hrym at his superior.

"So? Not only that was a ruse, but, even if I obliterated him, it still changes nothing," countered Surt with a casual shrug. "I like that wolf's attitude. Actually, I think we should offer this recording for public viewing in Muspelheim. It's a lot better than the human made garbage you find on the TV these days, and something that our youngsters should take as a fine example of proper attitude. Not those… stupid shows about teens saving the world and all the assorted stereotypical nonsense!"

"But… they are popular with the youngsters," said the half demon, who was once again surprised how old fashioned his commander's views were for a demon of his age. "I mean, yes… they may be a bit unbearable at times with all those cliched storylines and the obnoxious characters and… Okay, I'll have to admit that you have point, sir. Still…"

"You bet, I'm right! So, I want you to make a series of new toys from this incident starting with some figurines for Fenrir," said Surt with an uncharacteristic smile that was so out of place that his subordinate really regretted for throwing that paper bag away. 'I must be hallucinating… It's post traumatic disorder after witnessing that…'

"Are you even listening?"

"I am… and that's the problem," said the baffled Hrym. "You want me to commission our forges to make a… toy line with Fenrir as a figurine?"

"That's right, and now that I think of it, make a series of figurines for those robots or whatever they were," replied Surt with a grin. "Robots are kind of popular with the kids these days. Oh, and make sure that they get any set the want for free."

"For… free?!" Staring at his superior aghast, Hrym was fairly certain that either there was something profoundly wrong here or his commander had gone utterly insane. "We're going to offer free toys? Just like that? Who's going to cover their manufacturing expenses?"

"Our Treasury of Resources will. And no, I'm feeling perfectly fine, so, stop staring me like that! It's not just a public service for my kind, it's an investment! We need to make young demons and demonesses to become interested in a more war-like culture where the violent, grim reality of the battlefield are represented in a genuine and yet appealing manner. Not any more of those cliched mortal garbage, that's supposed to be child friendly… Morons…" said Surt with a groan. "So, one of your first tasks once we get back is to set up this whole operation, in order to promote some proper examples for our demonic youth."

"But… what about the people those things are based upon? Shouldn't we do something about them?" asked Hrym with surprise evident on his face. "They did try to invade our realm after all!"

"That's going to be my job, actually. I'll deal with that rogue personally," said Surt with a grin. "In the meantime. life goes on and as such, matters of lesser importance must also be taken care of and considering that this is a true cultural investment for our bloodthirsty society, I want you to make sure that everything is running smoothly."

"Yes sir. Although… if I may ask, did you happen to ask your protegee for some coffee?" asked Hrym with a forced smile, worrying that the half demoness might've been trying to prank her mentor already; which would've explained his current ideas quite nicely.

"Huh? No… why?" replied the ruler of Muspelheim with a curious expression, as he looked around. "Come to think of it… where is she? I thought she was with her girlfriend."

"I believe she left after you started the playback of that recording for the second time," said Hrym, scratching his head.

'Maybe I should've sent her on another room? No matter how funny that was, she still considers herself a goddess...' Frowning a bit, while pretending to check something on his console, Surt made a mental note to avoid upsetting Urd for no reason. Not only it was going to make her mistrust him, but, she could as well complain to her mother. It's been millennia since he had really infuriated Hild, and that was something that had no desire to repeat any time soon. "Great, now she's upset… Just what I needed… So much for having fun here."

"I may have been wearing that bag, but, I think that she and Mara had actually gone to the ship's bar in order to get a drink," corrected Hrym, as he tried to recall what those two demonesses were talking about a few minutes ago.

"Wait a second… We have a bar on a bloody battleship?" asked the baffled Surt, who immediately checked Naglfar's schematics on his console. "There's noth-... Hold on a moment! What's that missile container doing on hangar 4D-2? This is a storage room for assault team equipment and that only requires smaller crates. Wait a second! That's not a container! You cheeky bastards!"

'Oh great, now I've done it.' Mentally kicking himself, Hrym didn't even need to turn around, already feeling the hateful looks he was getting from the rest of the crew. He just had went and revealed the ship's darkest secret; one that had eluded his boss' attention when they first got their hands on the warship. "Please don't close it, sir! It's the crew's most popular spot on Naglfar! It boosts morale!'

"Who said I wanted to do something like that?" countered Surt with a raised eyebrow. "I'm just going to charge for it, you filthy thieves! Thought you could get away from me? Ha! I'll show you who's the boss around here! Drinking duty free alcohol…"

"But, sir!... We don't have a currency!" protested the half demon as he tried to reason with his superior. "Sure, we have the resource exchange, but… that's mostly for commercial purposes!"

"Trust me, I'm fully aware of it," said Surt, rolling his eyes. "That's why you're going to buy them with coupons. An eight hour shift, for a single bottle of ale; no exceptions. Got me?"

Lowering their leads in defeat, the officers of Naglfar were at least happy that the bar was going to remain in business. Although, having to spend an entire shift to get a single bottle was a rather painful blow, no matter how optimistic they wanted to be.

Ignoring them, Surt turned to his second in command as he wanted to take care of some business, instead of simply sitting there and watching the latest comedy video provided by the celestials. "Hrym, I've got some things I have to take care of, so, in the meanwhile you're in charge."

"Yes, sir."

XXX

Nekomi, Japan

"So, you won't be coming for dinner, mother?"

Holding the phone's headset, Belldandy was visibly quite upset about the unexpected news she received moments ago, when Ansuz called to inform them that she was staying on board the CMV Sessrumnir for the time being. Together with CMV Bilskirnir and the second Asgardian tactical fleet, they were tasked to perform a cleanup operation in order to remove all traces of the now destroyed Lunar Prison, secure the containers of the remaining inmates and return the landscape to its previous state, before humans realized what has transpired there.

"No, I'm afraid that I won't be able to join you, Belldandy. This whole mess has escalated to a point that none of us would've ever dreamed of," said the tired goddess as she let a frustrated sigh. "Not only I have to oversee the cleanup right after attending one of the most embarrassing meetings in celestial history, but, I also need to keep an eye on the demonic fleets who are happily camping over at Mars. I mean... it wouldn't had been such a problem if it was only Skrymir's ships. To have one of Surt's fleets on top of that is far too dangerous; that insufferable blood knight..."

"I understand, mother… Then, I'll have to assume that you might be staying there for a while?" asked Belldandy, even if she had a feeling that that this was indeed the case.

"Yes, I'm afraid that I won't be able to return back to Nekomi for the time being, and I'm not even sure if I can actually remain on the mortal realm after this operation comes to an end," replied Ansuz with a troubled tone. "This situation has already proven to be far more problematic than anything we've expected so far. Not only a battleship was stolen, but, our maximum security prison was blown into pieces. At this point we must take drastic measures, before it turns into something a lot worse."

"Yes, I think that it must be for the best. Then I'll have start today's training session with Keiichi and Skuld without you, mother," said Belldandy, even though she knew that Ansuz was most likely too busy to worry about such matters. Still, without her presence, the Norn of the present was sure that her younger sister would've a much harder time since she was going to be all alone.

"In that case, please ask mother to provide her assistance, should you need any help," said Ansuz and then moved to the next subject which she had already expected given everything that was going on right at the moment. "Oh, and could you please ask her to keep some company to poor Skuld? Without Urd and me, I fear that she might be feeling too lonely…"

"Actually, that's exactly what I was considering, to be honest. I'm fairly certain that she won't have a problem to help me teach them how to use spells and I'll see if she can share a room with Skuld," said the goddess of the present with a smile.

"That sounds like a truly great idea, Bell. In the meantime, I'll try to fix this mess over here and see what's going to happen from now on. Also, try to contact Thor and Sif, just to make sure that they're keeping an eye on you and ensure your safety," said Ansuz with an urgent tone on her voice. "I never thought I'd say it, but, as things currently stand, we're one step behind our adversaries and that's going to give us a tactical disadvantage."

"Yes, I understand, mother. Are there any news from the demons?" asked the brunette goddess nervously, as she was too, worried about what could possibly escalate to serious incident between their fleets and unlike anything that had taken place over the last couple of years, a single stray shot by their or the demons' capital ships could cause havoc on Earth. As a matter of fact, most of the missiles they carried had the potential to wipe out all life from the face of this planet; just like it did on Mars billions of terrestrial years ago.

"Not really. I've been told that, Tyr is negotiating with Hild to prevent any further incidents, but so far, I cannot say anything," said Ansuz with a sigh. "Still, I want you to be ready to evacuate Earth if necessary, in the event we have a demonic incursion. I don't want either you or any other celestial to be on the planet if a fight breaks out between our fleets. And before you even start arguing, this is a direct order that I would've given to any goddess who might've been in your position; not just you. So, I expect that you'll follow it to the letter. Understood?"

"Yes, mother. I'll do as you say."

"Great, then I suppose we have nothing else to discuss at the moment," said Ansuz before she paused for a moment. "Give my regards to everyone and make sure you're all safe."

"I will. See you later, then."

Ending the call by placing the headset on the phone, Belldandy was only partially happy about all this. While listening her mother's voice was always reassuring, the situation was quite serious. There were several incidents over the last couple years that involved all sorts of threatening beings and magic, but… this was on a totally different level. One that was never seen since the end of the last Great War and subsequent peace treaty. A space battle so close to Earth could easily turn humans into an extinct species; and there might be not even be a planet left to remind the rest of the cosmos that they ever existed.

While genocide of an entire race of sentients was even undesirable for demons, who would at the very least lose a lot of potential clients, it was occasionally unavoidable if a warship's power core went critical. Under most normal circumstances such an event was all but impossible, although, their Singularity Power Cores or SPC for short, were capped to limit the amount of energy they could produce and as long as they operated within those parameters, there were no issues. However, during combat, a few captains had the tendency to remove some of those restrictions in order to increase their output and as a result, they became dangerously unstable; especially if they received any damage at that critical point. And in the event that the remaining systems were not sufficient to contain the energy reaction, an implosion of the core would imminent.

This would create a calamity that depending on the size of the vessel could either affect a planetary system or several nearby ones. Thankfully a lot of the newest designs have taken several preventive measures to stop or even evacuate a ship's SPC in the event of severe structural damage. However, those very advances were often seen as insufficient and a lot of celestials wanted the output to be permanently capped to the recommended level to prevent any possibility of a catastrophe. The demons didn't like the idea though, as such a restriction would render a lot of their designs underpowered and besides, this seemingly serious flaw had its merits too. Any celestial captain who wished to start a serious fight with them near an inhabited system would have to consider than unless they could overwhelm them outright, before they unlocked the SPCs to get more energy for their ships, they might as well sign the death warrant of an entire system.

And the most notorious naval force that turned this practice to a form of art was the Eldjotnar fleet with their Venerable Class Battle Cruisers. Named after their original creator's decision to use the more crude SPCs available from past warships in order to feed the vast range of both offensive and defensive systems installed on on board, they were the anathema of all celestial captains who desperately tried to move them away from inhabited systems whenever such thing was possible. The only time one of their cruisers launched an assault to such a ship ended up in one of the grimmest chapters in celestial military history, as a dozen of nearby systems were swallowed up in a cosmic whirlpool that send them straight to Ginnungagap; the primordial void outside the known realms and in a state between existence and total annihilation.

Such warships were currently stationed above martial orbit, to prevent the Fighting Wings to even approach them in fear of indirectly killing all humans, should the demons decide to go all out on them. Actually, there were several rumors that even if the gods weren't responsible for the destruction of an unstable SPC, the demons might as well trigger the instability as they abandoned the ship, not only to prevent their opponents from getting their hands on the stricken vessel, but to make them feel responsible for the chaos and death that was most likely to follow. Of course, such rumors were often dismissed by the demonic forces who claimed that they had better things to do with their fleet, instead of turning their precious vessels into over glorified firecrackers.

There were as a matter of fact several attempts to declare those outdated designs as illegal, in hopes of persuading all military forces of using the later, safer versions that were now universally installed on every celestial vessel and were all but impossible to go critical as they carried limiters that couldn't be removed in any way; not without destroying the SPC in the process. Interestingly, it was not only the current lord of Muspelheim who vetoed the decision to replace them, but, the rest of the regional commanders who for some inexplicable reason joined him in an effort to defy the will of the Daimakaicho. While her authority was unquestionable, Hild hesitated to force the decision upon them, fearing that this was merely an indirect way for her subordinates to draw a line somewhere.

With the Doublet System and the Judgment Gate already creating enough controversy at the time, the patience of her loyal subjects was growing far too thin; with rumors of a possible coup emerging. And much to Tyr's horror, the ultimatum sent to him was to exclude that measure from the peace treaty or there was no way to accept a measure to the likes of the Doublet System, which in Surt's eyes was the worst way for any warrior to die; due to a life sharing spell that had nothing to do with combat at all.

From their perspective, the had every right to use their SPCs in every way they wished. They were far from inexperienced children or mindless brutes who needed someone else to show them what was safe and what not. Additionally, leaving things as they were, would've acted as a less drastic preventive measure, at least compared to the Doublet System and its indiscriminate nature. After all, whoever attacked those ships would've also put themselves in immediate danger should their captains decided to go all out; unlike the life sharing system that would've affected the aggressors only if they were unfortunate enough to be paired with one of their victims. Either way, the negotiations had ended with a simple restriction on the limiter removal procedure of the SPCs which now required the explicit permission of their leadership, just like the personal limiters that all celestials had to wear.

While nobody was absolutely happy about some of the terms, with the gods complaining that this method was far from foolproof as there still several ways to bypass it, and the demons for having to be subjected to the Judgement Gate; a measure that was outside their jurisdiction. In the end though, all sides had to make some compromises in order to make the treaty work. And for several millennia, there were no large scale skirmishes or even battles, outside of some isolated events that happened once in a long while.

'I really hope that things won't go out of hand here. I've always been optimistic and felt that we had nothing to worry about, but… mother is right. We need to be careful and keep an eye out for trouble. Actually, it's a really good idea to teach them to use some healing spells, just in case.'

XXX

"Unbelievable!…"

Pacing around the living room of their apartment, Sif was having a hard time to absorb all the information she was given by her sister-in-law when she called earlier to warn her about the situation. It was something that the administrator had never expected to hear; at least not like that.

"Calm down for a moment, Sif. It's not like we didn't expect that this was going to happen at some point or another." Sitting on the low table opposite of his son, Thor was enjoying a cards game with Magni, despite his wife's distress.

"How can you be so casual about this? As a matter of fact, I would've never expected you of all gods to be so calm while someone blew up the Lunar Prison," said the blonde goddess as she stared at her husband. Thor's temper was legendary amongst the gods and right now he was so indifferent that the administrator had problems to figure out what was going on here.

"There's a reason why I left the Fighting Wings, Sif, and it wasn't just because I refused to take direct orders from Tyr. It's had more to do with the fact that he made the entire celestial armed forces to be subject to the Council's control," said the god of lightning with a groan. "I have no desire to become the puppet of a bunch of soulless bureaucrats and this recent event is proof of what happens when you let their stupid rules take control of everything. Of course, in the end it's the Valkyries who are going to get blamed for this; not them and the silly restrictions that keeps their hands tied."

"Well, if you put it like that… I cannot argue with you." Scratching her head hair in frustration, the former Valkyrie was more than certain that her husband was correct in his assumptions. No matter what happened, the two High Councils never took responsibility for anything; even if it was their laws that caused the problem to begin with. In this case, if the Fighting Wings had immediately deployed a much more substantial amount of troops, then this mess would've been prevented. "Still…"

"Still, what? They're going to learn nothing from this and keep doing things their own stupid way. If nothing, it's a nice opportunity for Heimdall to decide that it's not worth it anymore and kick their pompous backsides for the incompetents they truly are!" Turning back to the game he was playing with his son, Thor missed the shocked expression on the goddess' face.

"That's… You can't be serious! While I'm not a huge fan of them, something like that sounds…" trailed the blonde as she paused for a moment to rub her temples. "It sounds like a coup! Don't tell me you wish to cause such an event, Thor!"

"I'm not trying to do anything, although, I won't stop it either. While it might be a scary thing to consider as it could go horribly wrong for all parties involved, we've reached the point where the Councils are causing us more harm than good. And with this new incident, it's likely to demand more control over the Fighting Wings as a means of making things better, while in reality all they need is a scapegoat for their faults," explained the god of lightning with an angry scowl. "At some point, the demons will realize that we're so bogged down with our bureaucracy that we can no longer protect our own territories like we used to. Then, what?..."

"We can still solve that problem without going to such lengths, Thor," said Sif with a sigh.

"The only one who can do that, is Tyr," replied the god of thunder, rolling his eyes. "However, he's trying so hard to be the Councilors' best friend for life, that even his recent… investigation is going nowhere. Freya told me that her attempt to take a closer look at their private affairs was hindered by so many laws and restrictions that she needed my illustrious brother's permission to circumvent some of those rules. And guess what? He's suddenly not feeling all that confident to order her to break into their private files and records…" Shaking his head, Thor was less than impressed with his brother's lack of decisive action and he made absolutely no attempts to hide that fact.

"Wait a moment… you met Freya?" asked Sif with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, why?"

Answering his father's question in yet another display of sheer honesty, Magni tried to explain things to him the best way he could. "Oh, it's probably because Freya-sama has the tendency to avoid covering her big bust and attracts a lot of attention from other gods. You shouldn't mention her name in front of mom like that, dad."

Missing the stunned look on the blonde's face, Thor attempted to correct his son's accusation, even if it was an indirect one. "Freya used to be a Valkyrie captain while I was still in the Fighting Wings and there's nothing wrong to keep in touch with a former comrade; just like the other war gods I knew from those days. Now, don't you dare think that just because Freya happens to be busty, I'm trying to find an excuse to talk to her. If that was the case, then I'd be drooling all over Hild too, but, that never happened."

"Uh… Ex-..."

"That's true," replied Magni as he placed a card from his deck on the table. "Although, the Daimakaicho has platinum hair and I thought that you have a thing for those who are just blondes."

"That… doesn't mean anything!" countered Thor, still unaware of Sif's feeble attempts to interrupt them. "Hagall is both busty and blonde and I'm not interested, either. So, don't overgeneralize just like that, Magni."

"Excuse me, but, what kind of conversation is this?!" Raising her voice to stop this bizarre dialogue between father and son, the administrator was actually shocked why they even brought such a topic up.

"Huh? But, Sif… He's getting into that phase where he needs to learn about that stuff," objected Thor. "Magni's about to become a young adolescent and it's only natural for him to pay attention to…"

"What?... Large breasted females?" Stomping her foot on the floor, the irate blonde stared at the two gods who suddenly found the wall on the far end of the room to be extremely interesting for some reason. "I'm fully aware that gods are so interested in such immature topics, but… Can't you even have the common sense to avoid bringing something like that up in my presence?"

"But… why? I mean… if you were Ansuz, I'd probably get it. You're far from flat, Sif. Well… maybe not as much as Freya, or Hild, or Hagall or…" started Thor as he began to list some of the more gifted immortals he knew, much to his son's horror.

"Are you serious? The whole world is crumbling around us and you're only thinking about…" stopping her sentence before she completely lost her temper, Sif glared down at the husband. "For your own good, I hope you're not talking with those other women, or I'll show you who's gonna get flat! In the meantime I want to go and check how my nieces are, and you're both coming with me!"

Offering a nod, both gods tried to avoid infuriating her any further and quickly gathered their cards from the table. Deciding to continue their game later, the two celestials couldn't argue that the goddess was right and checking on their relatives was probably far better than simply staying in their apartment.

"Alright, we'll get there in a minute, Sif. Should we buy them something? After all, it's not nice to visit them empty handed," said the god of lighting with a smile.

"Huh? I… I suppose that would be nice," replied the blonde as she finally relaxed and returned her husband's smile. "In that case, why don't we visit the nearby stores and get them some delicacies before we get there?"

"That sounds like a plan, Sif."

XXX

Unknown location, on board CMV Skidbladnir

"Was that truly necessary? It was meant to be a simple infiltration into the Lunar Prison. Now there's no prison at all, and a huge amount of paperwork waiting for me!"

'Tell that to someone who cares, you son of a mangy jackass...' Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Odal stared at the holographic display with the ever so mysterious 'Sound Only' message on it, as his self proclaimed boss wanted to do what he knew best; complain. "In my defense, I did everything I could to minimize the damage. If I actually had the proper authorization to release the inmates, we would've never gotten to this point."

"You dare accuse me for your sheer incompetence?"

"I'm not so sure about that… After all, I more or less stole a battleship, invaded a demonic realm, recruited a god, two living weapons of mass destruction, stopped over at Luna to get another two recruits and then blew the heck out of that place. All in all, I thought that is was rather impressive feat for a single day's work, and a lot more than the rest of your goons had ever accomplished," said Odal with such an uncharacteristically sarcastic voice, the silence that followed his statement was deafening.

"What did you just say?! Do you even know who I am?"

"Actually, that would an interesting discussion," said Odal with a chuckle, as the other celestial's infuriated voice sounded like the funniest thing he ever heard. "I was under the impression that you wished to remain anonymous… Councilor."

"Stop! Don't use any titles! I don't even know you got that piece of information, but, don't mistake who's the boss here!"

'How I got it? Maybe because I'm smarter than you?' Ignoring the rambling fool who still believed that he was in charge, Odal decided that he enough with this fool and remind him of one rather important detail. "I hate to break the news to you like that, but… part of the reason I'm considered a rogue is because I'm technically outside of any chain of command; which also includes you, Councilor."

"You impudent fool! If it wasn't for my resources, my access codes and my efforts to erase any traces of your activities, you would've been no match for the Fighting Wings. Instead, you dare to address me like that?"

"And I have to remind you that without me you would've been back to square one, given that all the rest of cronies are a bunch of morons who spent millennia doing absolutely… nothing," countered Odal in a rather unimpressed and bored voice. "Not to mention that those resources you've mentioned are already in my possession. Threatening someone requires something to establish your control over your opponent and right now, I have more than I need to carry on, with or without you."

"Arrogant, aren't we? Just because your overgrown toys won a single battle, you think you're invincible? Ha! They won't last another confrontation with the Fighting Wings, which is why I'm no longer wasting precious materials to help you make more of that junk. I've got no reason to think that even after you finish them, they'll be of any use at all. My army will consist of something much better than those buckets… Now, you'll have to excuse me, but, I had enough of your attitude, boy. See you later; once I have something else for you."

'In other words, you're planning to drag others into this… Great...' Letting a tired sigh as he ended the call, the rogue god decided to check the progress of a much more important matter. Leaving his cabin, he headed for one of the rooms he had re-purposed as his research lab and right now, one of the most important modifications to his robotic exoskeleton model was carried on.

Given that one of the released celestial inmates lacked a physical body of any description, Odal had instructed some of his robots to prepare a special unit that lacked the accommodations for an AI core, and instead had a system that would've allowed the disembodied god to interface with the armor's hardware. In essence, it was an effort to give Celestin a functional body, no matter how different in nature it was from the one he used to possess.

"Status report."

Turning to face their creator as he entered the room, the robots offered him a military salute, while Gram who supervised their activities approached the rogue god. "The modifications are mostly done, Odal. We have created an adapter that imitates a Core, but, it's mostly there to receive the neural impulses that can be generated by Celestin's current… body. However, we have decided to avoid encasing this Core into the unit's thorax as it might be unbearable for him to remain confined like that. So, for physiological reasons, the unit lacks a head sensory array and instead, the Adapter Core is possible to raise up to that point, in order to let him view his surroundings by himself."

"I like that, Gram. There's no need to cause him any unnecessary discomfort, so, I approve the modification. When are ready to give it a test?" asked the dark haired god as he inspected customized exoskeleton.

"Right now as a matter of fact. We have already attached him to the AC, so, we're ready to give it a try," replied the sentient weapon. "Still, it's quite possible that it'll take a while before he becomes accustomed to having his new body."

"Could you both not be so happy about my predicament?"

Turning to the table where the mask-like body of Celestin was firmly fastened to the front of his AC which resembled a featureless head with the spine attached to it. Unlike the AI cores of Odal's synthetics, the head was merely meant to receive the god's commands, while the spinal extension performed the same task as in the other synthetics; provide the necessary interface between the unit and the exoskeleton.

"I'm sorry if my enthusiasm was out of place," said Odal in an apologetic tone. "I meant no disrespect as to your current situation."

"No… I suppose I'm the one who shouldn't be complaining. It's just that, I cannot say that I'm happy knowing that the closest thing to a body I'm going to get will be that of an oversized robot," replied the former prisoner as he watched the others put the finishing touches to his customized suit.

"If we have the time and resources, I might try to make something a bit more similar to what you used to have; at least as far as the body's appearance is concerned. Unfortunately, with things as they currently are, I cannot offer anything more that this template based solution," explained the rogue god.

"Fair enough. After all, it's more than I would've expected and I have no intention to sound like an ungrateful individual." Letting a sigh, Celestin paused for a moment when Gram retrieved him in order to place the AC in the exoskeleton.

"Alright, now keep in mind that it's going to take a while to fully adjust to it, so don't get disappointed or frustrated by the limited functionality of the suit. As you'll get the hang of it, your reflexes and range of movements will most certainly improve," explained the sentient weapon as it placed the disembodied god on the exoskeleton.

"Hm… it… actually feels like something. A tingling sensation at the back of my head; providing that I still had one," said Celestin as he began to get the neural feedback which almost gave him a headache. "It's very confusing, though…"

"Try not to get overwhelmed by it," said Odal, opening a diagnostics terminal to check the suit's performance. "It seems to be working as intended, so, it's only a matter of time before you learn what all that means and be able to utilize your new body. In the meantime, try to relax and don't overdo it. This might take a few days for you to fully understand how it works."

"I spent millennia placed on a slab; a few days are nothing in comparison to that." Remembering a detail, Celestin decided to ask about the other suit that was also under construction next to his. "Although… I must admit that I'm rather curious… What's the exoskeleton next to me for?"

"Oh, this is a new prototype meant for a much more heavily armored unit, classified as a Battlemaster; compared to the average commando," said Odal with a proud smile. "It's meant for the individual who held his ground against Ansuz and even kept the battleaxe he stole.. I mean… borrowed from her. Also, I thought that giving the newly upgraded armor a nice white paintjob was a nice touch."

"Actually, it looks like the Valkyrie's colors, Odal. Are you sure it's a great idea? They might think that we're unoriginal," shot Gram at his comrade. "Why not a nice grey and black color scheme?"

"That's what the Eldjotnar are using, so, thanks but no thanks," replied the rogue god with a shake of his head. "By the way… where's that unit?"

"It's been under thorough tests to determine whether it suffered any direct damage to its AI core. Surprisingly, despite its behavior, it's considered to be absolutely intact. Go figure…" grumbled the synthetic in a rare display of emotion.

"You disapprove? Why?" asked the baffled god as they headed to the nearby room where they maintained the rest of the robots.

"Because, such behavior is potentially dangerous. Who knows what kind of funny ideas those guys will get if we don't discourage them from going at such lengths to carry out their orders. Even you were worried when we got back to the ship," said Gram, shooting his comrade a sideways glance.

"Well, I wanted to make sure that they weren't malfunctioning. Although, I may have gone a bit too far with their level of independence they got. On the other hand, I cannot say that it's something too bad, providing that they don't go out of control," said Odal, stopping in front of the unit in question. "Greetings, unit 2251-4547-7784-00. I'm happy to see that your fight with a goddess didn't prove to be the last thing you ever did."

"Indeed, my lord. I feel privileged to survive such a glorious fight to see another day and share the experience with my kind."

"They're already identifying themselves as a species. What's next? Form an empire?..." whispered Gram to Odal who was trying to come up with a nice response to that.

"Well… I think that due to your bravery while leading your squadrons, it is fitting to offer you a proper name," said Odal to the unit in front of him, despite Gram's protests. "From now on, your name shall be Gunnar."

"Understood. It is a great honor to receive such a recognition for my service, Odal-sama. I've registered my new designation within our network and I'll bear it with great pride."

"I'm pleased that you like it… Gunnar," said Odal with a smile, while Gram shook his head in disdain. "Now, you'll have to excuse me. I have some other business to attend to."

"Yes, my liege."

Exiting the room, Odal couldn't help but wonder what his comrade's problem with his robots. Ever since they started to act for themselves, Gram was way too cautious of them and even a bit hostile. "You know, given that you're also a synthetic, I would've expected that you'd be more supportive of them, Gram."

"Because they're getting too unpredictable. Like I've previously stated, the next thing we learn is that they've decided to form an empire for themselves with you as their Emperor," groaned the sentient weapon.

"You know, sometimes you're kind of paranoid…" said the rogue god with a sigh.

"Okay.. don't say I didn't warn you…"

"Enough with that, Gram. I need to check the progress with Ilmr's container," said Odal, trying to change the subject. "We have to break into her seal, since we don't really have the key to release her."

"Very well. I think we've mostly figured it out. it's only a matter of hours to get through."

XXX

MMV Naglfar, high above Martian orbit

Located on a storage hangar was the most well hidden bar in the entire demonic naval history. Using a repurposed storage container that was stacked next to some ordnance ones, the crew of Muspelheim's newest battleship had managed to turn the interior into that of a cozy little bar. A luxury that they would've never gotten otherwise, since their leader didn't think much of such pointless comforts and clearly favored adding more weapons and armor to any of his ships. As such, serving one of the Eldjotnar war vessels was both a blessing and a curse, since they had the most heavily reinforced hulls and carried the most powerful weapons available. On the other hand, they had the least amount of comforts compared to any other demonic or celestial ship design.

"Hey! This is good!" Taking a sip from her glass, Urd was happy to be proven wrong for once. "I thought that the booze they had on board would suck!"

"Same here!" said Mara with a grin. "It's actually way better than the stuff they're selling on Earth!"

"Then, you should probably find a better supplier," said Excalibur, from his spot, next to Urd who was sitting between them. "There's a much wider variety of alcoholic beverages available on Earth. You just need to get something that's not ridiculously cheap, to be honest."

"What do you know?" countered the blonde, giving the synthetic a sideways glance. "Actually, why are you even drinking with us? I didn't think you'd be interested in that stuff…"

"Who not? It's simply ethanol fuel," said Excalibur with a shrug. "The only difference is that it contains a lot more water and has some… taste. Other than that, I don't see why I shouldn't drink it."

Staring at her glass with a critical eye, the blonde demoness raised an eyebrow as she inspected her drink. "Ethanol fuel?... Thanks for ruining one of the few things I truly enjoy, you digital noisemaker…"

"Oh, you're most welcome, Mara! I'll be happy to help you anytime I can," said the synthetic with an amused smile; one that was probably too sweet and quite obviously steeped with sarcasm. "It's a privilege to provide my assistance to others as a public service. So, if you happen to have any more questions about the vast universe around us, feel free to ask."

"Keep this attitude, you humorless butter knife, and I'll make you one with the vast cosmos," muttered the blonde darkly as she went back to her drink. "Besides, what are you even doing here? If you only need some boring fuel, you can get it somewhere else…"

"Trust me, I'm fully aware of that. However, I was curious as to what's so different with booze compared to common ethanol and decided to give it a go," said Excalibur with a smile. "After all, Urd really likes to drink a lot of that stuff, right?"

Looking at her friend who was listening in to their conversation as she drank from her glass with an amused expression, Mara was certain that the half demoness wasn't just enjoying her drink, but, their argument as well. "That she does… And grinning like a fool whenever something interesting is going on."

"Oh, come on, Ma-chan… You two are too funny!" protested Urd, poking the blonde's cheek as she gave her a wink. Turning to the sentient weapon, while Mara glared at her, the Norn of the past offered Excalibur a grin. "Well? I see that you already got a second glass. I trust that you like it?"

"Of course… Fuel or not, I find that having a variety of flavors added to it as a novel idea," replied the synthetic with a smile. "It clearly makes the search of auxiliary power sources as a much better experience by far."

"That's really nice to hear! So, is there anything else you'd like to try while we're at it?" asked the happy Urd.

"Actually, I'd like Sex on the Beach," was the sentient sword's response, much to Mara's utter horror.

"Like Hell you will! Lady killer! Letch! Pervert!" shouted the blonde as she glared at her adversary with her canines getting even bigger than ever; far more that it should be considered as normal for a demoness.

"Oh Ma-chan?… That's actually the name of a cocktail, you dirty girl..." said Urd as she struggled not to burst into laughter. "Although… You got so jealous!... Aw!…"

'World… just end will you?...' thought the embarrassed demoness who knew that she had nothing to counter Urd's teasing. And miraculously enough, the bartender hid behind the counter as if a terrible wyrm of old had sprang to bite their heads off. Following his terrified gaze, she spotted the demon who just entered this small yet cozy establishment; the brooding ruler of Muspelheim. 'Um… World?... Since you're in such a cooperative mood, can I have a promotion while we're at it?'

"So… this is the illegal bar I've heard about?" Looking around with a critical eye, Surt had to admit that his efforts to teach his subordinates the fine art of cunning had finally paid off. At least, that made him feel like patting himself on the back, instead of kicking someone's backside. Hiding the whole thing inside a munitions container was an ingenious concept, especially since he would've never found out unless checking for anything that was out of place.

"P-P-Please… s-spare me, s-sir… I… I… I only wanted to i-improve t-the s-ship's m-morale…" stammered the unfortunate bartender who was now facing a fate that could be worse than death.

"Uh huh… And I'm the Wizard of Wonderland…" muttered Surt as he marched to the counter and peeked over it to stare the already terrified demon.

"Actually… you may be mixing two totally different tales here," said Urd who was the calmest individual in the room. Even Excalibur knew that being inside such a tiny amount of space with a seething Surt was something that could be proven to be a terrible idea on a monumental scale.

"Look here kid… I'm an expert with epic sagas, not childrens' stories; especially when I'm the one writing them!" said Surt with a grin.

"Oh? I didn't know that you were an author!" beamed Urd with a smile that reminded him of her mother in so many ways that the Eldjotunn didn't even need to correct her. Doing that would've been as futile as trying to persuade Hild to behave and act her age; especially since she was doing it just to get on his nerves. "Whatever… I'll let you read some of the history books and enlighten yourself with our grand realm's conquests!"

"Does any of them involve my mother's bed chambers?" said the half demoness, making the rest of the bar's occupants to vault over the counter and join the valiant bartender in what was likely his trench and last line of defense.

"Oh, more than enough times!" replied Surt with such a smile that actually make Urd to pause a moment, her own joke turned against her in what the demons considered as a game of wits.

"Was she any good?" asked the Norn of the past, despite the blush on her face.

"You could certainly said that. She did pack a punch, although I had a pretty good technique," said Surt, turning to the cowering bartender. "Stop that, I won't shut your bar down; there are only going to a few changes here. now, get me a Martini."

"Yes, sir!"

"And… how often did such a thing took place?" Even if she wasn't sure that she wanted to prod more into this type of conversation, Urd's natural curiosity and mischievous personality prevented her from stopping.

"Hm… I think it was every other day or so," said Surt, scratching his chin in thought as he took the offered glass of the requested cocktail. "For the most part of course. There were some unplanned events and sometimes we had the other two involved as well."

"Others?! What others?!" It was at that point where her goddess side decided that the slight blush on her cheeks wasn't enough and turned Urd into a hue that would've made every stop sign proud.

"Her two other students, Sinmara and Sindr. After all, a pillow fight is always more enjoyable when there are more people involved," said Surt, taking a sip from his glass.

"Uh… pillow fight? Is that what we were talking about?" asked Urd, who now started to realize that she had fallen victim of the demon's ambiguous way of phrasing his responses. 'Well… he was mom's protegee after all...'

"Of course! What else?" Surt's grin was evidence that he was far from ignorant of what the Norn of the past was thinking, but, he really enjoyed teasing her, since she was prone to do the same to others. After all, besting someone on their own game was a far more rewarding form of victory compared to achieving a triumph in a field that one was most familiar with. "Now… I've noticed that your glass is empty. Would you like to have something else? Don't worry... like I said, I'm not shutting this place down."

Waiting for the demon to take another sip of his Martini, Urd offered him her most cheerful smile as she decided to announce what she actually had in mind. "I want a Screaming Orgasm!"

Spitting his drink in a form of vapor that resulted in a coughing fit, Surt found himself in the unfortunate position of being taken unprepared for such a response. "That's what your girlfriend is for! Go ask her, not me!"

"Actually… that's the name of a cocktail!" Not bothering to correct him about Mara, Urd was more than happy to watch the ruler of Muspelheim narrow his glowing amber eyes at her.

Eyeing at the bartender, the irate and rather embarrassed demon had no intention to admit defeat; not yet anyway. "Is that true?"

"Yes, sir… That's actually a valid name for a human-made cocktail," answered the bartender, trying to keep a neutral face under the fierce glare of his superior. "Perhaps you'd like to try one as well?"

"Why not?" Taking a seat next to his student, Surt wondered if this was how it felt for Hild; having to find ways to best his protegee and end up getting beaten in that very game. Although, Urd was doing a much better job than him so far, probably because this was a more natural form of mischief for her, compared to his definition of causing trouble that typically involved obscene amount of property damage. "By the way… I'm going to visit the happy couple over at that certain Earth city, and you're coming with me. Oh, and you can bring your sword, along with your girlfriend, too."

"Eh? Why are we getting there for?" It wasn't that she didn't want to see her sisters again, which she secretly wished to do while they were already stationed in the mortal realm for the time being; it was the potentially volatile situation that could result from having Surt and Ansuz in the same area for any given amount of time.

"Oh, no particular reason. Well… maybe I want to have a few words with your grandmother," said the Eldjotunn with a grin. "And you can make the best of it, by spending some time with them while I'm there."

"Um… that… would be nice," said Urd with some hesitation. 'Unless that turns into an even worse mess compared to the Lunar Prison fiasco…'

"Excellent! Let's enjoy our drink and then we'll get there!"

XXX

Nekomi Japan

"Don't worry, dear. Just keep going, I know you can do it!"

Trying is best to smile back at his wife, Keiichi secretly wished to be as optimistic as she was. What started out as a seemingly simple lesson of magic, turned out to be one of the most frustrating and incomprehensible experience for the young mortal. Perhaps it was his very nature what inhibited his ability to properly manipulate matter around him; the limitations of the human mind. As a three dimensional species, he could only understand part of what Belldandy tried to explain and even then it was the ridiculously simplified version of what he needed to know. All for the sake of levitating a tiny bolt, that refused to stay in one place and kept falling down or move erratically all over the place. "I don't know about that, Bell… I doesn't seem to work…"

"A person takes more than a few minutes to learn how to talk or how to walk. Even if those abilities are attainable, they're not mastered without effort and dedication, Keiichi," said Belldandy with a firmness in her voice that demanded his attention without sounding impolite. "Right now you're making your very first steps in something that no other individual of your species has managed to accomplish. Because of that, I must admit that we're dealing with the unknown, since there are no previous knowledge to use for reference. Still, Terrestrial Spark seems capable of using his powers and to a certain extent he should be able to allow you to cast some spells. After all, you did successfully use an attack spell while you had Cool Mint and even used a few others while you possessed Blue Lance."

"But… I never really had enough control over them. Especially with Blue Lance," said Keiichi with a frown. "Sure, Terrestrial Spark can use a few spells, although… they're mostly based on very basic and downright instinctive skills."

"To be fair, none of them was your angel, Keiichi. They were temporarily transferred to your body and never bonded properly with you. Worse, you never had any idea on how to use their abilities either," explained the goddess of the present. "With Terrestrial Spark, this is a very different situation. You need to use his understanding of the ten dimensional world to let you see the patterns you have to channel his power in order to activate a spell. Magic in its most basic form consists of mathematical principles, not fancy words or gestures. Those only act as an aid, a tool if you may to let you accomplish a certain task without having to make all the necessary calculations from scratch; in essence, they're shortcuts of templates."

"That's a bit... complicated for me," admitted the dark haired man with a nervous chuckle.

"No it's not. Think of it as driving a bike… When you need to go go faster, you use the throttle, right? It's a very simplistic control, triggered by an equally easy to make hand gesture. However, you know better than most that it's not the movement of your hand that increases the bike's speed, but, the added fuel and air that gets into the engine's cylinders. The same goes for the brakes and the clutch which make the most basic controls you need to use in conjunction with the handlebar in order to drive the bike. In a way, the same goes with spells."

"Oh, I see… That makes a lot of sense," said Keiichi with a smile, as he was pleased that his wife had put the effort to make things easier for him to understand. "Although, you don't need to know how an engine works to drive a bike, to be honest."

"That is indeed true and it's pretty much the same for magic, as well. Some immortals only care how to cast certain spells and don't bother to learn the principles behind them. Unfortunately, such practice restricts them to that specific set of abilities and while it originally seems easier for them to utilize magic, in the long run, it's a serious problem," explained the Norn of the present.

"Heh… you're talking about Urd, right?" Interrupting her sister's conversation with Keiichi, Skuld was more than happy to be participating in those lessons as well. Not only she got Belldandy's full attention during them, but, for once there was someone else who knew less than her. Compared to Keiichi who was a total novice, Skuld could already levitate and even manipulate small objects with her powers, even if she didn't do that on a daily basis.

"No, she's… a special case," said Belldandy with a frown. "You see, our sister is both a goddess and a demoness. Her dual nature affects her even at the lowest possible level, as far as her power is concerned. Even when she's trying to use her divine powers, the fact that there's a demonic energy present in her body can mess up those delicate formulas and cause her powers to go out of control. Unfortunately, none of the spells we know were specifically made for a hybrid like her and as a result, she actually had to study more meticulously than me. All her spells are modified versions of what we use and… even then, she was never provided the information she needed to complete them. As a result, there are certain cases where they may not work exactly the way she wants, even if they're generally stable."

"Wait… I… never heard of that," said the startled goddess of the future.

"It's not something that she wished others to be aware of, Skuld. Neesan has a strong sense of pride and such a thing would make her look less capable than the rest of us, even if that's not really the case," said Belldandy with a sad smile. "That and the fact that there was nothing to do about it. Since her dual nature approached a sensitive topic about god and demonic powers, access to our understanding of our opponents' magic is highly restricted and only high ranking members of the Mystics have the permission to study it."

"But, why? I mean… Urd's a much better candidate to study demonic powers than any of them!" objected Skuld and even Keiichi seemed to find it a reasonable argument, since her dual nature would've given her an insight that no other celestial would have.

"Our sister is Hild's daughter, Skuld. As much as it pains me to say it, not everyone trusts her like we do. They worry that she might expose sensitive information, allowing demons to find out just how much we know about them and adjust their curses and other magic spells accordingly," said Belldandy as she looked down. "I don't agree with that, but, even father cannot make others think differently. Trying something like that could actually cause the opposite effect and as such, Urd had to experiment with her own magic in order to find out how to make her spells work the way she wished."

"That's not fair!" insisted Skuld with a frown.

"It's not a matter of fairness, I'm afraid. Although, I don't want you to think of this in such negative manner. Even Urd often made a joke about that, claiming that at least she didn't had to learn magic the same boring way like everyone else." This time, Belldandy was happy to see that her sister actually smiled at the sound of that, and even Keiichi couldn't help but chuckle.

"Sounds like her!" said Skuld with a giggle, before she turned to her brother-in-law and saw the bolt that was hovering right next to him. "Wha-… Hey! You did it!"

"Did what?" asked the baffled Keiichi, who wasn't aware that in the meantime his powers as miniscule as they currently were had managed to keep the tiny bolt afloat; until he followed her gaze. "Wait… I… I actually did it!"

"Congratulations, dear!" said Belldandy as she cheered for him and gave her husband a kiss on the cheek, since her little sister was watching them. "I knew that you'd manage to pull it of!"

"Aw… thanks, Bell. I'm not sure how, but it looks like I got it already," said Keiichi, feeling a bit embarrassed to get praised like this and for once Skuld didn't seem to mind her sister being nice to him. Of course, he had to remind himself that the young goddess had made a real progress at accepting the fact that he and Belldandy were married now and as such, certain signs of affection were acceptable. Still, neither of them wanted to push things too far while she was was present, feeling that it was most likely inappropriate.

"Belldandy! Skuld!"

Blinking, the trio turned towards the stairs that led to the temple grounds and saw Sif, along with Thor and their son, Magni approach them with a rather cheerful expression; at least as far as the blonde goddess was concerned, since the other two gods seemed to be troubled about something.

"Auntie, Sif!" said the Norn of the present as her eyes lit up and she hurried to greet her relative, much to her husband's initial confusion as to who the new goddess was.

At least, he had already met Thor and given the similarities between him and the young god who accompanied them, the mortal assumed that this was most likely the couple's child. More interestingly, Skuld wasn't exactly thrilled to see them for some reason, although, he didn't think it was a great idea to ask her why was that; at least, not right now. "Um… hello. I guess we haven't met before. I'm Morisato Keiichi, Belldandy's husband."

Taking his hand, Sif was actually pleased to see that the rumors were actually true and the boy that captured her niece's heart was indeed a well mannered one. She was often weary of mortals when it came to personal relationships with celestials as some of them had the tendency to try and exploit the situation for their own profit. However, the man in front of her seemed to be a really honest individual and as a result, Sif offered him a warm smile. "The pleasure is all mine, Keiichi. I'm finally happy to get to meet the famous mortal who passed the Judgement Gate with Belldandy."

"I… I'm not really that impressive, actually," said Keiichi with a nervous chuckle, clearly unused to get praised like that.

"You don't have to be so modest, dear. It's a serious accomplishment," said Belldandy, before she turned back to the blonde goddess. "I really hope you're here for a visit, aunt Sif. I know that the latest developments were a bit of a shock for everyone, but…"

"Honestly?... I wish this was the case, however, we're primarily here to keep an eye out for any threats," admitted Sif with a sigh. "Your father had such a casual approach with the entire situation that allowed a terrible event to take place over at Luna. My and Thor's job is to prevent any further surprises, especially while you're all here on the mortal realm. That being said… there's nothing to prevent us from having a great time together and catch up! I'm really looking forward to hear what you girls have been up to, since you got here."

"I'm glad to hear that, although… uncle Thor seems troubled…" said Belldandy who couldn't help but notice the god's frown.

"He's still unhappy that I insisted not to get you some booze as a gift. Instead, I got you a freshly baked batch of Taiyaki, which seems a much better option in my opinion," said Sif with a smile.

"Yeah… a bunch of fish-shaped cakes are better than some fine mead…" grumbled Thor, rolling his eyes.

"Yes it is! After all, Urd-chan isn't here! Now stop being stubborn and accept reality. Nobody drinks that stuff anymore," said Sif, glaring at her husband.

"I prefer my reality…" insisted the god of thunder, only to stop all of a sudden, turning to his right. "A portal is opening! Demons! Well, well… About time to break some skulls!"

XXX

'Sheesh! Just how fast do they move?'

Parking her BMW convertible a good distance away from the temple, Sayoko had just managed to spot her neighbors as they passed through the streets of some of Nekomi's most remotely located houses. Located within a few minutes walk from the Tariki Hongan temple, this was probably the most quiet corner of the city; far away from the buzzing center where she lived.

It was the rich woman's idea to follow those strange foreigners in order to find out more about them, but, it proved to be way more challenging than she had initially expected. For some inexplicable reason they appeared to walk faster than most normal people, or at the very least, faster than she did and as a result she quickly lost track of them.

Refusing to admit defeat and return home empty handed, Sayoko took a gamble and headed straight to this location, suspecting that sooner or later this bizarre family would visit Belldandy and Keiichi. An assumption that appeared to be correct by the looks of it, as the trio showed up minutes after she managed to get here, despite the lack of any obvious means of transportation.

'Hm… Either they took a taxi on the way here, or they somehow ran faster than the fastest sprinter. That makes little sense, although, a lot of things about Belldandy doesn't and this might also be the case. Let's not jump into conclusions, though.'

Trying to push the ludicrous idea that they might be gods or other supernatural beings of any description the brunette headed towards the stairs that eventually led to the temple, pondering about the whole situation.

'I mean… even if that was true… Why would a goddess of all things hand around Keiichi? He's an okay person, but, far from someone of great importance. Even more, why…'

Her thoughts were interrupted when something suddenly appeared high above in the air not far from her. A portal opened up from nowhere and a group of four individuals glided down to the stairs; two of them being females while the rest were men. And while she was unfamiliar with the latter, the former were a very different case.

One of them was unmistakably Urd, although, for some reason her facial tattoos appeared to be red and the one on her forehead was a five pointed star, instead of the triangle she had before. The other woman was also very familiar, however, Sayoko's mind had a very tough time to recall anything specific about her. It was almost if they met at some point in the past and yet, she somehow forgot everything about that blonde; leaving only a vague sense of familiarity and nothing else.

Even stranger, one of the men was looking pretty similar to Urd, with the same skin color and even some red tattoos on his face; meaning that there must've been some sort of connection between them. Either that, or he came from the same place as she and her sisters did, wherever that was.

"It's just been a few days and it already feels like months," said Urd with a giggle, stretching her arms as she took a few steps from the spot where she landed.

"Don't get all homesick on me, kid… We're not here to stay for too long. So, enjoy it while it lasts," said Surt, trying to avoid a misunderstanding about the duration of their visit.

"Yeah, yeah… I know. We're going to say hi and…" Urd's sentence was cut short when she looked past Surt's shoulder and spotted Sayoko stare back at her with wide eyes. "Oh… boy…"

Following her gaze, the rest of them quickly realized what the problem really was and while the ruler of Muspelheim seemed uninterested at their mortal witness, Mara let out a frustrated groan.

"Great… I need to erase her memories again…" said the blonde as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

However, before anyone had a chance to react, a mighty warcry could be heard from the distance. It was both a warning and an announcement that, Thor, god of thunder was here and he wanted to play; rough.

Summoning Laevateinn, Surt had a preciously little amount of time to do anything other than try to catch the god's metal gauntlets in a desperate attempt to stop the hot tempered deity's mighty swing with his terrible warhammer; Mjolnir. And while successful, both the demon and his corrupted angel were sent flying along with the god and his own angel that was still in his weapon form.

"Moron! We're in the middle of a city!" shouted Surt.

"So? I don't remember you caring about that stuff before!" countered Thor, yelling even louder than the dark haired demon.

"Only when I'm the one doing it!" spat Surt, trying to kick the god with the help of his angel who assumed his sword form.

"Well… it's been such a nice place. It's a bit sad to watch it turn into an unrecognizable pile of rubble," said Excalibur with a sad sigh. "So many memories… Oh, well… All good things come to an end at one point or another."

"Hell no!" said Urd with a groan as she raised her hand skywards, lightning crackling from her fingertips, her ire rising to dangerous levels as the two immortals prepared to turn this unfortunate city to a warzone.

"Uh… I don't think that's going much of a big diff-..." started the synthetic, only to stop as the cataclysmic thunder descended from heavens and spit into two the very last moment, hitting both of them. And as surprising as it might've been, neither seemed to be anything other than mildly annoyed and covered in soot.

"Are you trying to hurt my body or feelings?" asked Surt, glaring at the half demoness. "I'm not weak enough to go down by such a simple spell…"

"Yeah! What's the big idea, Urd! I'm trying to stop an invasion, here!" grumbled Thor who was even less harmed than his opponent, given his affiliation with that particular element.

"No one's invading!" shouted Urd with a snarl that caused Mara and Excalibur to take a few steps away from her. "Now will you both stop or should I start throwing some real spells?"

"Like mother… like daughter," said Thor with a chuckle, heaving Mjolnir over his shoulder.

"Nah… Hild's worse when you manage to piss her off," said Surt with a snort.

"Talking from experience... you runt?"

"You bet I do! Moron..."

"Enough, I said!" Walking towards them, before they started again, the furious hybrid stood firm between them, staring from one opponent to the other. "This ends now… Or, I'll make sure that both Hild and Sif hears about this!"

Letting a frustrated grunt, the quarreling immortals had no option but to stop and for a moment, remembered the brunette that shook in fear, not too far away from them; unwilling to stay and yet unable to move.

"Oh, right… I almost forgot about her," said Urd with a nervous chuckle, as she stared at Sayoko who was desperately trying to convince herself that all this was nothing but a dream and she's wake up in a few seconds.

"W-What's going on here?!"

Taking a deep breath, while the rest of the temple's residents started to approach them, Urd offered Sayoko the only thing she could think of at the moment.

"That's a long story… A very long and complicated one…"

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.

This may be one of the first chapters where some of the background story is starting to affect the lives of the main characters who were mostly undisturbed by most of the events that took place so far. Over time, both the background story and the main one will converge and turn into a single one, with the main cast having a far more important role in everything that takes place. I know that it took me forever to get to this point, but, I felt it was necessary to avoid any sudden developments that would've made everything look too forced.

One of those aspects is Keiichi's training which is a bit more than just an effort to learn a couple of spells. For most of the story (and the canon series), his understanding of the goddesses' true nature was limited. This is about to change, though, as he slowly starts to perceive the world around him through the eyes of his angel and that's going to be a life changing experience for him. Obviously, that won't happen in a single chapter (after all, something so serious could be problematic if it happens too fast, since it could overwhelm his mind), but, it won't be a secondary objective anymore (Belldandy will make it into one of her priorities).

Another aspect is that, Skuld is no longer going to be the 'kid' as far as Keiichi's concerned. She is magically more capable than him, and as a fellow student of Belldandy, Skuld possesses more knowledge and skills compared to him. Not only that's going to make her feel a bit more confident to explore her own powers (as she no longer is the weakest magic user around; at least as far as she knows), but, she can also act as Keiichi's sempai, in a rather bizarre manner.

All the cocktail names mentioned in this chapter are real and not fictional in any way. Of course, I must admit that I shamelessly picked them due to their names, but, given the context in the dialog, they kind of fit for a joke or two.