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

Although a week had already passed since the Skuld bomb incident, the two demonesses were still living in Asgard, as Hild gave them a special permission for an extended stay in the celestial capital. Officially, the whole idea was to observe Urd's interactions with her sisters while being a demoness, yet for anyone familiar with the Daimakaicho, there had to be another reason behind that decision.

Perhaps, more than the Norn of the past, it was her girlfriend who was meant to experience what life on Asgard was, and to a degree, gain a better understanding of the hybrid's other half. Which sounded way easier in theory, than it was in practice. The sight of a demoness in the middle of Asgard was more than enough to make heads turn wherever she went, as most of the locals had no idea what business this demoness had in their realm.

At the very least, Mara was relieved that she wasn't escorted by Valkyries wherever she went, although at the same time, she rarely ventured far from the house whenever she was on her own. However, in order to obtain the ring she needed for Urd, it was necessary to that without everyone else poking their noses in what was essentially her business.

So, after a lot of debate, Mara decided to venture to the unknown… which in reality was merely Asgard's commercial district, in hopes of finding something to match Urd's tastes. 'Come to think of it, what should I get her? A ring is the most obvious choice, but then again… that feels so old fashioned. And other types of jewelry are more or less the same. Sure, she loves alchemy, but I can't just give a beaker or some ingredient. That sounds totally stupid!'

There were some additional options that could work, like ancient tomes with old alchemical recipes, although that too was hardly what she'd consider to be a romantic gift. For the very same reason, clothes were equally problematic, since anything too conservative would clash with Urd's style, but offering her a revealing design could also be be taken in a totally wrong way; that she was merely interested in the Norn's sex appeal.

"Excuse me miss, are you perhaps looking for a gift?"

"Huh?" Looking to her side, the startled demoness was kind of shocked to find a smiling goddess, who apparently approached her while she aimlessly wandered the commercial district's main street. "Yeah… something like that. Why?"

"We don't see many demonesses here, so I assumed that you're either looking for a souvenir or a gift," said the goddess, her ever present smile almost reminding Mara of the middle Norn.

"That's right. I was looking for a gift, but I can't quite decide what to pick for her." Realizing that she was essentially talking to a total stranger, Mara immediately stopped and eyed the brunette with some suspicion.

"Her? Oh, are talking about Urd, by any chance?"

'Okay, that's it! She knows something.' Trying to hide her suspicion as she began to think that this was merely a spy sent to observe her every move, Mara made an attempt to gain some information from her. "Yeah… that's kind of true. Do you know her?"

"Actually, I do! I'm one of the sysops who work under her," said the goddess in a perfectly normal fashion that made Mara start to doubt her initial assumption. "My name's Ere, by the way. You must be Mara, right?"

Blinking, the blonde demoness offered the goddess a slow nod. "Yes, that's me."

"In that case, why don't you wait here to get the others, and then we can all look for something that, Urd might like?"

"Sure," said Mara without much thought, but by the time she realized her folly it was far too late. 'Wait… others? Oh, no… Now I'm gonna have to deal with a crowd? Great… Just great...'

However, the damage was already done, as Ere crossed the street to the cafe where her two other colleagues were enjoying a cup of tea, and judging by their expressions, they seemed intrigued by what she was telling them.

'Note to self: never talk to strangers.'

XXX

Meanwhile across the city, another individual was making mental notes to never open his big mouth in front of his in-laws. Even if he had done that over a dozen times already, and by the looks of it, he still hadn't learned his lesson.

"For the last time, it's not weird! Which part of what I've said, you can't understand?" Trying to defend her 'Super Body Revitalizer' pills, Urd was already looking for an opportunity to simply throw one into Keiichi's mouth. Which was exactly the reason why he vehemently refused to offer an answer; other that shake his head, that is.

'I know your ways, Urd… And you're not getting me this time!' thought the mortal man, as he formed an X in front of him with his hands, just to put extra emphasis on his rejection of the eldest Norn's plan. Sure, it was his mistake to ask her for advice on how to possibly increase his angel's power rating, since the obvious answer was to take one of her 'proven' and 'totally safe' pills.

"Oh, stop being such a wuss!" said Urd, while bringing her pill closer to the mortal's mouth, who refused to even consider opening it. "This is the equivalent of a food supplement. It's totally safe! Just give it a try and-" All of a sudden, Urd's senses went on overdrive and without much thinking, she ducked, seeing a vine miss her outstretched hand by mere inches. 'Again? Oh, you've got some nerve, flower girl!' Twirling around, the Norn saw Peorth with her vine whip still within striking range. "What's the big idea, Peorth? Can't you see that I'm busy?"

"You know, after that spell booster you gave poor Keiichi a while ago, I thought that you've learned your lesson. Apparently I was mistaken." Flicking her wrist, the vine coiled into a loop that the rose goddess held like a lasso and took aim at her opponent. "Besides who knows what this pill do to him, this time?"

"Like I said previously, it's merely meant to make him full of energy. What's so bad about that?"

"An awful lot of potential problems," said Peorth with a raised eyebrow as she used her fingers of her free hand to even count them. "One: he might end up running all over the place like a hamster on coffee. Two: his angel might become overpowered and run out of control. And… three... "

"Yes? What is it, miss know-all?" asked Urd in a mix of sarcasm and actual curiosity. "Don't just stop like that, I want to hear what you were going to say."

Clearing her throat, Peorth did her best to hide her barely noticeable blush. "Well, considering what he originally wanted to do with his angel… Keiichi's libido might get a significant boost."

"And that's a bad thing, because?" Ignoring the mortal's poor attempts to articulate, after he heard that response, Urd gave Peorth a nonchalant shrug. "He and Bell are married, you know."

"Mortals can end up dying from overstimulation, too… you know," said Peorth as she crossed har arms and stared back at the half demoness who was starting to consider the drawbacks of such a plain. "Even with Loki's amulet, there's still a limit on how fast it can repair the damage to his body."

"Okay… I suppose you've got a point there. Back to the drawing board, I guess…" Slumping her shoulders as she draw a blank, Urd was actually hoping to help Keiichi and Belldandy on this occasion, instead of just messing around, like she loved to in the past.

Watching her walk away with a… thoughtful expression, made Peorth and Keiichi share a baffled look. After all, it almost seemed too serious for the otherwise fun loving Norn of the past. Especially to Keiichi, who started to feel awful by how poorly he reacted at what was Urd's way of helping him and her younger sister bond together. However, before he could offer an apology, Urd had already retreated back to her room for coming up with a new plan.

'Good job, master… That was one heck of way to act like an ungrateful jerk,' came Terrestrial Spark's voice from within the mortal's mind. Yet before Keiichi could respond to his angel, the rose goddess next to them decided to remind her friend and once client that she was still there.

"Excuse me if I sound a bit nosy, but I've also thought of a possible solution to your problem," said Peorth with a smile. "And it's a fairly simple too."

"Oh? What is it?"

"You see, I kind of remembered those boosters Lind has on her uniform and I wondered if that could do the trick for you too. If lack of power is the source of your problem, then why not provide it via external means?"

"Can't say I find anything wrong with your logic," said Keiichi as he rubbed his chin in wonder. "But the again, I've got no idea how any of that stuff works. So, I'm not likely the right person to ask this."

Offering a nod, Peorth glanced over at Skuld's room. "Indeed, but before I go and ask her help with this idea, I thought that it was proper to inform you first."

"Very well. Should we go and see if Skuld can build what we need?"

XXX

"I'm terribly sorry to interrupt your work, father."

Offering the Daitenkaicho a polite bow, Belldandy stepped into his office, as he motioned for her to approach and take a seat.

Noticing the somewhat apprehensive look on his daughter's face, Tyr could already feel that this may had something to do with the whole incident from the other day. Even though they haven't offered him any details, it didn't took long for Tyr to find out what the problem was all about; especially thanks to Excalibur's little tip. Still, he wanted to hear it from Belldandy and for that reason, Tyr did his best to feign ignorance. "So, what can I do for you, daughter?"

Taking a deep breath, Belldandy struggled to come up with the proper way of phrasing her request, but in the end she reasoned the there was no point hiding the facts. "Father, I've been wondering about this for a while now, but, I'm afraid that back when me and Keiichi had the Test…"

"You may have spoken too soon, and now you're starting to reconsider your answer?" finished Tyr for his daughter and then smiled when he watched her offer him a slow nod. "I thought so."

"I truly respect Keiichi's decision to remain a human. Yet, as we run into one problem after the other, I'm starting to wonder if we're just fighting the symptoms, instead of the root cause. As such, I wanted to ask you to reconsider Keiichi's reply and perhaps-"

"There's no need for me to reconsider anything, Belldandy," said Tyr as he interrupted the Norn. "I never explicitly declared that my offer to turn your husband into a god is void; only that it's really hard to do so."

"Father… I do remember that you said it was the last test," said Belldandy with a noticeable frown. "You shouldn't lie, just because you can. It's not nice."

"What's really not nice is to reject such a generous offer and make me look like an idiot," said Tyr, offering his daughter a pointed, one-eyed glare. "After all the trouble I've gotten into for your and your husband's sake, I think that both of you should've considered that option. Actually, do did from what I could tell by the look on your face. Am I right?"

"Yes." There was no reason to avoid the question, at least not anymore. "It's not just the matter of bonding, I'm worried about. A lot happened since that day, and I still remember the incident where Keiichi's been kidnapped. I know that nothing bad came out of it, yet I cannot help but dear for his life. He's vulnerable and… everyone pretty much knows it, too. Even if we find a solution for Terrestrial Spark to become more compatible with Holy Bell, that fact will remain."

Resting his chin on his hand as he leaned closer, Tyr let out a long sigh. "Well, there's always that. A kidnapping,… a group of rogues doing who knows what,… an explosion right outside your own house," said the Daitenkaicho as he counted the incidents with his free hand. "There are more than enough reasons to worry about his safety now, compared to back then. At least as a god -even an artificial one- he should be capable of defending himself." Pausing for a moment, Tyr decided that if they wanted to openly talk about the whole subject, he might as well mention the biggest problem of them all. "And there's also another thing to consider, Belldandy. Do you want to have a family with him?"

"From the bottom of my heart." There was no hint of hesitation in Belldandy's voice, and even her eyes reflected the goddess' determination to raise a family with her beloved Keiichi.

"Then you should know that it's practically impossible, as long as things remain the same." Blunt as he was, Tyr knew that unless he prodded her enough, Belldandy was unlikely to express her inner thoughts and desires.

"I already know that, and even asked Laguz to verify my suspicion," admitted Belldandy with sadness etched into her voice, especially as she mentioned the one goddess who shared the same fate with her; falling in love with a mortal. "From what I've been told, she was also… active with her lover and yet… she was unable to conceive."

"That's only due to the nature of her partner," clarified Tyr as he brought his hands up, with a holographic cube on each of them. Or that's what it seemed to be the case from a three dimensional being's perspective, as the cube on his left was exactly that; a six sided tetrahedron. The one on his right hand however, was a ten dimensional version of the same thing, with its shape extending to the remaining seven dimensions that the other one lacked. "At a first glance, these two shapes look the same, but a closer look will reveal that this isn't really the case. The same is true about mortals, as they lack the inner structure of our own selves, and even then, they're mostly physical entities. We, on the other hand are mostly immaterial beings, or as some might say, solidified souls."

The Norn remained silent, offering only a slight nod to acknowledge her father's explanation. Which was actually common knowledge, yet he probably wanted to make her face that reality, instead of running away from it. "Yes… and Keiichi's mostly three dimensional. I'm aware of that fact, father."

"Good. Then you must also know what the only solution to that problem really is. However, I'm also aware that when it comes to your loved ones, you have a tendency to remain passive and rarely if ever voice your desires," said the Daitenkaicho in a stern, yet kindly fashion. After all, Tyr had no reason to scold his daughter, just make her realize that she had to be a bit more assertive when it came to certain matters, instead of just accepting a situation out of fear that doing otherwise might seem 'selfish' to others.

"How do I approach the whole subject, though? I don't wish to put such a burden on Keiichi's shoulders, by making him feel guilty for what's actually a noble decision," said Belldandy with a frown.

"Noble or not, the fact remains. As long as he's a human, you'll never raise a family together, Belldandy. And to be fair, I could've used this whole argument to guilt trip him into accepting, but I found it too cheap of a method to get a few grandkids." Tyr's expression relaxed a bit as soon as he mentioned the possibility of himself becoming a grandfather, which also caused Belldandy to brighten up, too.

"In all honesty, I think that I'm not going to be the first one who's likely to offer you a grandchild," said Belldandy with a giggle. "With Urd and Mara being so close, I think that they're one step ahead of the… competition."

"Knowing how willy-nilly and indecisive both of you are, I won't be shocked if Skuld ends up being the first to become a parent," muttered Tyr, much to his daughter's shock. "She may be a kid now, but that's not a permanent situation. Plus, she's the most driven of the three of you."

"Although I don't think that's likely to happen, I won't argue that our Skuld had grown up a lot. Especially as of late, since she's handling the whole situation of my marriage a lot better than I originally feared," said Belldandy with a proud smile. "However that's a totally different subject and I don't want to waste any more of your precious time, father. I'll try to find a way to bring the topic up to Keiichi and see what we can do about it."

"Please do, but also keep in mind that regardless of my views of the subject, in the end, this primarily concerns you and Keiichi. So, make your choices based on your happiness, not anyone else's," said Tyr, watching his daughter as she prepared to leave. "Oh, and one more thing, Belldandy… You're not wasting my time."

Staring at her father for a few seconds, Belldandy couldn't help but notice that Skuld wasn't the only one whose attitude appeared to have changed as of late. In the past, Tyr spent most of his time buried in his work, but now he pushed everything aside to have such a conversation with her. "Thank you father. I think I owe you a lemon cake, so, I might as well go and bake one."

Watching his daughter bow as she headed for the door, Tyr reached for his datapad and resumed reading the report about his unofficial grandchild. At his request, Sif had attempted to run a simulation on what Odal's father should look like, based on the hair samples they've got from him and then compared that with Belldandy's own samples. And while this only allowed them to gain half of genetic information about the rogue god's father, that already gave him a list of likely characteristics that appeared to be eerily familiar.

'Dark haired individual of no significant stature. Potentially thick eyebrows too. Interesting… Very interesting…'

XXX

What sounded like a harmless tour through the local gift shops, turned out to be an almost traumatizing experience for the unsuspecting demoness. Just the sight of those ridiculously cute plushy dolls was more than enough to make her want to barf a rainbow. And that was only one of the unspeakable horrors, those nightmarish creatures called goddesses wanted as gifts.

"Hey, maybe this should be fine?" asked Chrono as she held up yet another plushie doll; this time something that resembled a lion.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Mara shook her head for the umpteenth time. "No, that's not gonna do the trick. What I want… no… need, is something worthy of a goddess' hand in ma-" Noticing the stunned looks she got from the three sysops, Mara wished she had remained in bed today. 'Why me? Why?...'

"Oh my goodness!" said the shocked Chrono as she dropped the plushie. "You two are getting married?"

"No, it's just an enga-"

"Congratulations! It's so nice to know that, Urd finally found someone suitable for her," said Ere with a bright smile, much to Mara's chagrin.

"Look, I know that you're trying to sound nice, but in case you've failed to notice, I'm a demoness," said Mara with a grumble, while pointing at her forehead markings. "So, you don't have to fake it, girl. I know you're not excited."

"She's not faking anything," said Ex, before Ere provided an explanation herself. "If you've seen what kind of losers Urd tried to date in the past, I think that any demoness would be a better choice. Might as well be you."

Watching the other two goddesses nod in agreement, Mara wasn't sure what to make of that response. Instead, what she was certain about was that those three actually knew Urd well enough to assist her; considering that they now knew the reason why she wanted that gift. "So… can you give me a hand here? I mean… what do you think she'd like as an engagement gift?"

"There are a few things you can offer, but in reality, the best one is a custom made ring or bracelet for her," said Ere. "It's probably a bit old fashioned, yet on the other hand, it's a personalized gift and something that Urd's likely going to appreciate over a mass produced item."

"She's definitely all over the place," added Ex with a chuckle, while Ere joined in and picked the plush puppy up from the floor.

"In the meantime, why not buy this little guy for you, Chrono?"

"Hey, I'm not a kid!" protested the younger sysop, and Valkyrie in training. "Although… I'll accept your gift!"

XXX

The Daimakaicho's mansion, Niflheim

Behind locked doors, in one of the most secure rooms of the whole complex, Loki and his newly appointed assistant were in the process of putting the final touches on an extremely elaborate project.

"Alright, I think that would suffice for now," said the trickster god as he looked over at his surprisingly pale assistant. "Hey, what's up kid? Feeling a bit under the weather?"

"I'm not sick… I just… don't like working on living beings…" said the slightly queasy Odal, doing his best not to look at the half finished prototype of the cyborg they've been working on.

"Really? But most of the organic components come as a paste actually," said Loki as he scratched his head.

"That's… the worst part in my opinion. I just don't want to think where that goo came from…" However seeing that the troublesome god was about to provide an explanation, Odal shook his head. "No! I don't want you to tell me, either!"

Pressing a few buttons on the console next to the cylindrical tube that held the prototype's inner skeleton, Loki watched his newest creation become submerged in a dark red substance that flooded the tube. "And… that's it! Now, we need for the final stage to finish, and then see how she turns out!"

"I don't care anymore… I need some fresh air…" wheezed the overwhelmed god, earning a groan from Loki.

"Oh, stop being such a big baby! You remind me of freshmen in a medical school, when they attend their first anatomy class." Chuckling at his own joke, Loki took off his latex gloves and started to remove the rest of his hazmat suit. "Just take a few deep breaths and think of something funny. if that doesn't help, try biting a lemon."

"Huh? Why?" asked the confused Odal, as he looked up from the garbage bin he's been crouched over for the last couple of minutes.

"Because it's gonna make you forget everything else you had in you mind. Trust me on that, kiddo!" said the grinning god. "Now stop acting like that. You're not going to lose your lunch… mainly because it's probably dematerialized by now. So, get up and-"

At that moment, the door opened, revealing two seemingly identical demonesses; yet their expressions and overall mood couldn't be more different. While Angrboda was relatively happy that her plan wasn't going to get scrapped, she did have to deal with the fact that the one in charge was now… her. Especially as the Daimakaicho was up to no good once again.

"Odal-kun!" Letting out a cringe worthy squeal, Hild floated towards the unsuspecting god and grabbed him in an almost bone crushing bear hug. "I'm so happy to see you!"

"You just saw him two hours ago, and stop doing that!" said Angrboda, as she reached to grab Hild and pull her away from her captive god. "Now, let go, you nymphomaniac!"

"Bold statement from someone who casually asked a guy to have a daughter with him," said Hild over her shoulder, remaining firmly in place, despite her doppelganger's attempts to pull her away from Odal.

"Don't mess around with me! That's not what happened and you know it!" Narrowing her eyes, Angrboda tried to keep her cool, no matter how hard it was at this point. "Besides, he's not his grandfather, so let go already!"

"You're such a joykill…" said Hild with an annoyed huff, before she finally released the overwhelmed god. And knowing that he wasn't in any kind of shape to reply, Hild turned to the only other source of information available: Loki. "I must admit that you've surprised me. Are you sure you've got the prototype done already?"

"What can I say? I'm pretty efficient when I need to be!"

'So you're just messing around the rest of the time… Why am I not surprised?' Shaking her head slightly, Hild had to remind herself who she was dealing with. "Still, is she really going to be fine? I was expecting some progress, not the whole project to be be ready in a week's time!"

"Hey, I never said anything like that! I'm nowhere close finishing a single server," said Loki, trying to avoid a misunderstanding. "I've only completed the control unit itse-... I mean, herself. Besides, it's not like I've invented the wheel here. I already had the building blocks of what I needed, so it all came down to assembling her according to your specifications."

Missing the glare she was getting from her lookalike -or simply ignoring it- Hild approached the tube containing the prototype's artificial body and run her fingers across its glass surface, feeling the immense amount of energy within it. However, it also became obvious that there was something off with the energies contained within, and while it took her a moment to figure it out, the Daimakaicho was stunned by her own conclusion. "Loki! What have you done?"

"Nothing aside from meeting your expectations," was the god's calm reply. In reality he was already prepared to deal with the inevitable barrage of questions that would follow the realization of what he had actually created. "You needed a system that's capable of interacting with both Nidhogg and Yggdrasil Systems. I think that there was only one sensible option to ensure that, and the control unit of such a system has to reflect that, too."

"Hold on a second…" said Angrboda as she was starting to catch up to what was going on here. "Did you make my daughter into… a… hybrid?"

However, instead of Loki, it was Hild the first one to respond; and not in happy fashion too. "You've got a problem with hybrids?"

"No, but that means that he needed some source of celestial energy and… someone as the basis for the other half of my daughter's nature," said Angrboda, slowly glancing towards the troublemaker, who merely grinned back at her. "And I don't like where this is heading…"

"Oh…" Hild's brows furrowed as images of a female Loki formed in her mind, and if this child's personality resembled his… then they were all in for a lot of pain in the future. 'That's it… We're screwed.'

A loud beeping sound brought everyone out of their thoughts, as the prototype entered the final phase of her construction. With the viscous crimson fluid slowly drained from the tube, both demonesses approached to take a closer look, and their reactions couldn't be more different.

While Hild had an almost nostalgic look in her face, Angrboda was close to blowing a gasket at what she saw. Although the family resemblance was too hard to ignore, given that her skin complexion was almost identical to Angrboda's, there was one glaring problem with this girl; and it wasn't her long dark dark hair. "Loki! Why is she so… so… young?! I said I wanted her to be an adult, not a brat!"

"Well, excuse me, but… she is an adult!" said Loki as he crossed his arms. "Or rather… her age and mental maturity is tied to the status of the system she's supposedly controlling. Which… is far from complete; and that's why she looks like a preadolescent girl, instead of a grown woman."

"Huh…" Blinking hard, Angrboda tried to come up with a retort, but no matter how much she wanted to argue with him… the trickster did have a point. Letting out a frustrated sigh, the Dryad tried to forget about the pesky god and turned back to her commissioned… daughter, only to notice that her green eyes were open and she was staring back at her. 'She's got the same eyes as me.'

Tilting her head slightly, the young hybrid observed her mother and then the demoness she decided to classify as her aunt, for simplicity's sake. Taking her very first wobbly steps, once the glass tube rose towards the ceiling, the girl seemed to adjust into the sensation of having limbs way faster than anyone would've expected and soon she walked as if she's been doing that for decades. To her side she spotted her father, with another god further in the back of the room; which she classified as her cousin for simplicity's sake. However, before she addressed any of the others, she decided that it was proper to first greet her mother. As such, she headed straight for her, and then gave the stunned Angrboda a hug, nuzzling her face in the demoness' bosom.

'S-She's h-hugging m-me! W-What s-should I do now?' Staring down at the young hybrid with an expression akin to terror, Angrboda honestly had no idea how to react to such an unexpected development. So, the best she could do was simply imitating her daughter's actions and returned the hug with one of her own; albeit in a rather hesitant fashion. At least until she heard a camera's characteristic click, and realized that Loki had snapped a photo of them. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?"

"Uh… taking a photo for the family album?" suggested the god of mischief with a shrug.

"There's no family album, and she's buck naked, you moron! At least wait until we get her some clothes!" snapped Angrboda at Loki, until her daughter started to giggle.

"Hello, tsundere mama! I really like you!" said the young hybrid in a surprisingly well articulated voice, at least for someone who talked for the first time. "Oh, don't mind me! Go on with your verbal abuse. It's so fun to listen to!"

There was no reply though. Even Hild who was the most eager to tease Angrboda for her cutesy reaction... was simply staring at the hybrid in stunned silence. Weirder yet… Loki himself for once had nothing witty to say, either. As a matter of fact, the god of mischief had a sinking feeling that he may had inadvertently unleashed a terrible horror to the world.

Finally, feeling that no one was willing to utter a word, Loki pointedly cleared his throat and approached his… unlikely family. "That's strange… I don't think I've added those traits to your personality core."

"Maybe, but you didn't program me like a regular computer either, pops. One of the most important elements of myself is to learn and adapt, so… I did my homework and studied about you; all of you. And once I've assimilated a few centuries worth of knowledge, I've developed my own personality traits. Oh, and by the way, I've decided to call myself Hel, too. So, nice to meet you all! Hugs and kisses, and all the rest!" said self named hybrid as she offered her father a cheeky salute. Looking around, Hel finally found what she thought at an appropriate attire and snapping her fingers, she formed a much smaller version of Hild's gown onto herself. However, not only it lacked the generous decollete, but it was primarily black, with white being the secondary color. More striking though was the number of seals placed upon her, that almost mirrored those decorating the Daimakaicho's body.

"Well… nice to meet you too, Hel," said Loki with some hesitation, while the two other demonesses present simply stared at the adolescent hybrid in silence. "Actually, your big brothers are also eager to meet you as well!"

"Fenrir and Jormungandr? Yes, I'd love to play with them, too!" said the grinning Hel, but then stopped and gazed at the most quiet individual in the whole room. "First though…" Approaching Odal, Hel offered him a sweet smile, causing the god to slightly back off. "Hello, Morisato-san."

"My actual name is Odal. Or if you want to use its full form… Odal Belldadnyson," corrected the dark haired god for her, yet to no avail.

"Huh… so it's more like Morisatoson? You know, I kind of prefer the even more familiar Morisato-kun. It sounds a lot better, don't you think?" said Hel, with a wink, making the poor god even more uncomfortable than he already was. "It almost sounds like cutie pie, in my opinion. Such a shame, though… If we weren't somehow related, I would've totally gone after you!"

"Eh?! Say what?!"

Narrowing her eyes at Loki, Angrboda grabbed the trickster god by the back of his neck, and pulled him closer. "Why is my daughter fascinated in gods? Like a certain… someone, I don't even need to mention…"

However, before Hild got to offer the much needed response, it was Hel who answered her mother. "Oh, I'm mostly aspiring to become like you, mama! Find a somewhat lovingly goofy god and then swindle him into marrying me! And that doesn't work, then I can always whack him up the head and drag him home!" proudly declared the hybrid, before she rubbed her tummy, or whatever she had installed in that general area of her body. "Although… I can think about romance later. Right now, I'm rather peckish…"

"You want… something to eat?" asked Hild, although she already feared what the answer was going to be, but then again, that was exactly the reason Hel was created in the first place.

"Yes, but I'll pass on mortal food. Rather… I'd love a few million mortal souls for lunch." Licking her lips, Hel's expression turned into an absolutely terrifying one, especially for someone as 'young' as her. A pair of mismatching wings spurt from her back, while a series or runes appeared in mid air, as a massive magic circle formed around her. "Uplink to Grandpa Scary Tree established! It's time to eat! Eat! Eat!"

XXX

Asgard

The sound of alarms going off in the distance brought Mara out of her thoughts and back to harsh reality. Regardless of whatever emergency set them off, she was a demoness in the middle of the Asgard's commercial center; and something like that was bound to attract some unneeded attention.

'Shoot! I need to get out of here, pronto! The gift will have to wait for later!' Making a mental note to pay this shop another visit once things calmed down, the blonde demoness made a beeline for the exit, only to almost literally run into a trio of Valkyries. And considering how prompt they were, Mara had no doubts that they've been tailing her, ever since she arrived here with Urd. "Um… can I help you?"

Stepping forward, the war goddess in charge approached Mara and gave her a calculating look, almost as if she tried to assess how much of a threat the blonde could pose to them. "Follow us and no funny business, demoness."

Raising an eyebrow, Mara had to admit that even for a war goddess, the brunette was rather blunt. "I'm in the middle of your realm, and you expect me to start anything?"

"I'm not expecting you to do anything other than follow these simple instructions. Demoness," said the Valkyrie, putting a lot more emphasis on the last part; just as she narrowed her eyes at Mara, for added effect. "Is that too complicated for your feeble mind to understand?"

"I got it already," replied Mara behind clenched teeth, as she bit back an insult that would've definitely gotten her into trouble. It was obvious that they had the home advantage over her, and besides, Mara had bigger problems. 'What happened this time?' Seriously… it's one thing after the other.'

"This way, then." The Valkyrie gestured for her to follow, and occasionally glanced over her shoulder to make sure that the demoness was indeed behind her, with the two others flanking her as they walked down the main street.

'Dunno what happened, but I'm not getting sealed for something I had nothing to do with. I need to find a way out of here, before they try to use me as a scapegoat for appeasing the masses.' It was only then that it dawned upon her that she wasn't the only one who was likely affected by the unexpected turn of events. 'Hold on! What about Urd? She's a demoness right now! Does it mean that they're after her as well? Or is she off the hook, since she's half a goddess, too?' After a few moments of hesitation, Mara decided that she just had to ask now that she could, before they took her to the second most secure building in Asgard, after the Yggdrasil complex itself. "Hey, can I make a call at least?"

"No. You'll have to wait until we reach HQ and then you might make that call," was the almost instant reply. Which in all seriousness sounded a lot like 'no' to Mara. "Now, keep walking and no more questions."

"Fine…"

XXX

Niflheim

"Look, I'm not the one who started this whole… Yes, I know that it's hard to explain, but… You're not listening, Tyr! I cannot simply disconnect her… I mean… that system from the World Tree!... I don't know what you're supposed to tell them! Just come up with something!... Fine, I'll call you later."

If looks could kill, Loki and Odal would've been dead by now; especially given how angry Hild was at the moment. What started out as an interesting concept, quickly escalated out of anyone's control, with Hel transferring thousands of mortal souls per second from both supercomputers. Which… obviously got the celestials' attention, who wanted to know just what the Hell was going on here. And ironically enough… the simplest answer was… Hel.

Approaching the cybernetic half demoness who had apparently aged a few years during the last couple of minutes, Hild tapped the teen's shoulder, demanding her full attention. "Stop admiring your body, and look at me."

"Yes, auntie?" Turning around, Hel stared at the still taller demoness, with a ghost of a grin on her face. "Can I help you?"

'Like father, like daughter,' thought the Daimakaicho in disdain, recognizing that expression, as the one the one Loki had whenever he was messing around with someone. "I don't care if you find this to be funny or not, but this is getting out of hand. I want you to stop right now and return the souls back to their original servers, before we end up in a war over this breach of protocol. Got me?"

Most would've shrugged away from the Daimakaicho's terrible gaze, but by the looks of it, Hel wasn't so easy to impress. "I'm afraid it's not that easy. Grandpa Scary Tree said it's alright if I took control of handling the souls of the deceased mortals, so… who am I to say no? Or… you for the matter?"

'Someone really need a personality readjustment…' Narrowing her eyes at the artificial hybrid, Hild leaned closer to Hel, until their noses almost touched. "I'm the one who provided for every single of your components, and if you don't want to end up as a toaster, you should pay a bit more attention to what I say."

"And here I thought that not listening to others was something our family was known for," said Hel with a toothy grin. "Or are you just worried that 'darling-sama' will be disappointed with you? I know that it's been ages since you got the dirty water off your chest, but come on! Don't be so submissive, auntie! Even mama got what she wanted without all that honey and darling garbage!"

"Oh no you don't! You're not changing the subject so easily! Not this time!" snarled Hild as she grabbed Hel by her shoulders and dug hard enough with her nails that would've made most others uncomfortable. "I'm not risking a pointless war so that you just screw around with everyone! And I'm the one in charge here! Whether you like it or not, that's none of my problems."

"Fine, then. If you want a serious conversation, then I need to remind you -again- that I've got Yggdrasil's support on this… change of policy. The deceased are now my domain, and no matter how much of a temper tantrum the gods or you are going to throw, it won't change anything. Unless you want to mess around with the Tree, and we all know how that's going to end," said Hel, as she cast a pointed glance at Odal, causing Hild to pause for a second and back off.

"Why? The World Tree never interfered in our politics before, so, why now?" asked Hild, only to have Hel raise an eyebrow at her.

"I sincerely disagree. Have you already forgotten why you and the celestials exist in the first place? In my case, I'm a perfectly suitable system to maintain the souls of the deceased, and that's more than enough to convince the Tree to make me the primary datacenter for storing them," explained the half demoness and newly appointed retainer of the dead.

"Wait a second!" said Loki, speaking up for the first time in the last couple of minutes. "You barely have enough servers to keep your support your neural network, let alone to store the entire database of mortal souls!"

"Oh, that?" said Hel with an almost malicious grin that easily matched that of Hild's whenever she wanted to scare others. "What kind of grandfather doesn't buy her newborn granddaughter some shiny new toys?"

Sharing a glance the assorted immortals present couldn't help but realize that after all, there might had been a valid reason why Yggdrasil called itself the Terror Tree.

XXX

Asgard

"What did you say?!" Holding her communicator closer to her ear, Urd just hoped that she heard wrong; but this wasn't the case here. When Chrono called in to warn her about what was taking place across the city, part of Urd knew that whatever set off those alarms was bound to cause trouble, yet she tried to reassure herself that everything would be fine. Only to find out that she was merely deluding herself. "I see… thanks for the heads up, girl. I owe you one." Staring blankly at the communicator's screen for a few moments, Urd eventually pocketed the device into her goddess robes and let out a heavy sigh.

Mere moments ago, everything was just fine and they were discussing methods to empower Keiichi's angel with Skuld, trying to come up with a solution that could possibly work. And now they were in the middle of yet another crisis, only this time they didn't happen to be in the mortal realm. Which only made things worse, especially for Mara. "I need to go."

The sudden announcement caught both Keiichi and Skuld off guard, as it sounded absolutely insane for a demoness to step outside their house right now. And while the former hesitated to voice his concerns -knowing that he would've done the same for Belldandy- the same wasn't true about the latter, who even stepped up to block her sister from leaving the room. "Hold on, you numbskull! If you get out right now, they'll going to arrest you!"

"Do you have any better ideas? Lind and Excalibur are on guard duty outside the house, and Peorth had to report back at the Yggdrasil Center," said Urd as she looked out of the window to spot the blue haired Valkyrie arguing over something with their synthetic friend. Shaking her head, the eldest of the Norns turned back to her little sister. "No, they won't do it at all."

"What about Belldandy?" came Keiichi's suggestion, as he tried to come up with a solution of its own. "Or even me? I should be fine to walk outside, right?"

"You should, but I'd rather not risk putting you in harm's way," said Urd, before the mortal got any funny ideas.

"Hold on! Keiichi does have a point, though! Belldandy should be able to look for Mara," said Skuld, and then pointed at her robots who stood by in her room. "Also, I've got Banpei and Sigel that can go out and find her."

"Look, I appreciate your concern, but… it's not that she's gone missing; they already got her," said Urd, causing the others to share a concerned look. "And someone needs to go and ask a few questions, which… means that Bell won't do the job. She's far too much of an upstanding goddess to tell some of those morons… nearly half of what I've got in my mind."

"Which is exactly why you should stay here, Urd."

Everyone turned to find Lind by the door, with Excalibur next to her; just to make sure that they blocked the door, although the synthetic glanced over at the window with some concern. However, Urd showed no signs that she intended to run away. Even though she also refused to back off and give up. "And do what? Sit on my ass and just wait for them to seal her up? Is this what you would've done if one of your Valkyries were caught?"

"She's got a point there, Lind," said Excalibur, but stopped when he saw the warrior raise her gloved hand at him, yet kept her gaze fixed on Urd.

"This may seen unnecessary to you, but it's merely part of the emergency protocol. However, we're not operating like a lawless mob, so it's extremely unlikely that the highers ups will seal Mara for no good reason. As a matter of fact, if you go there and start a commotion, it's more likely to end up sealed yourself. Is that going to make matter better?" Lind's voice was calm as always, yet there was a subtle assertiveness behind her tone. Knowing all too well just who she was dealing with, the Valkyrie did her best to avoid ordering the half demoness, not only because she was a goddess herself, but because this would've only caused Urd to do exactly the opposite.

"Alright, I get it. But… you still haven't answered my question," said Urd, taking a few steps towards the blue haired goddess, and then stopped right in front of her. The half demoness' intense stare made the others worry that at some point this could escalate from an argument to an all out brawl. Which… would also get Urd captured, since attacking a Valkyrie without proper justification was a punishable offense, especially during an emergency.

'Situation analysis complete: Probability for hand to hand combat at 83% System recommendation: This unit is taking its sweet time looking calculating pi. Immediate action is required to avoid a catfight. Addendum: No, you won't like that kind of catfight. So, move it.' Listening to the voice of reason, or rather… his analytical subroutines, Excalibur moved between Urd and Lind, which was a feat just by itself, considering just how close they were. "Alright ladies, just back off nice and slow, and everything's going to be fine. No need for any additional drama right now, okay?"

Doing as they were told -albeit out of surprise than anything else- the two arguing women put some distance between them, although not without one of them commenting about the synthetic's decision to intervene.

"Sheesh…. calm your bolts down, I'm not going to kick your girlfriend's backside," said Urd with a slight grin as she saw the indignant look on Lind's face shift to a somewhat embarrassed one; all while Excalibur simply stared her blankly.

"He's not my boyfriend!" yelled the Valkyrie, while the synthetic who stood between her and the obviously unconvinced Urd let out a long sigh.

"Can we please focus on the real problem here? You know… your girlfriend?" asked Excalibur, earning a grunt from the Norn.

"Yeah… sorry, I guess you're right. So… any ideas?"

XXX

Although she didn't seem to be the observant type, appearances could be deceiving, as Mara's eyes registered her surroundings and immediately began to suspect that something was off here. Instead of taking the shortest path to Valhalla, her Valkyrie guards led her through a series of shortcuts… that were nothing but that.

'Alright… what's going on here? Why are we going through every back alley this blasted city has?' Even though the celestial capital was far less densely populated than most human cities, the celestials' choice of integrating nature into their architecture, meant that all these gardens provided enough secluded spots that provided the same level of privacy as some of the shadiest alleys in the mortal realm. And considering she had no doubt that they knew exactly where they were taking her, instead of being lost, Mara wondered if they were just trying to make her react and grab the opportunity to seal her, claiming that she became aggressive. But after several minutes of pointlessly walking around, Mara's patience began to run out. "Hey, are even going in the right direction?"

"Haven't I told you to remain silent?" barked the Valkyrie in charge, looking over her shoulder at her captive demoness.

Mara's eyes narrowed and her fists clenched as she fought back telling this pompous moron just what she thought of her, until she noticed a pair of ravens sitting on an overhanging tree branch; and they both stared in their direction. 'Ugh… it's almost like that movie… with the birds. Although, there are only two of them here, not a whole bunch of crazed, murderous-' Her thoughts were interrupted though, when the Valkyrie in charge took a few steps towards her, and by the looks of it, she wasn't happy.

"Are you ignoring me, you filthy cur?" snarled the brunette war goddess, making even her two comrades frown a bit and exchange a worried look. "Even if you can't talk, you can still nod with your stupid head you-"

"How sad… to see the most formidable combat unit from the old days… employ lowly bullies. Such a sad day..."

The sudden interruption caused the trio of war goddesses, along with their captive to look around for the source of that voice, only utterly fail to do so; causing the pair of ravens to… laugh at their ineptitude.

"Now, now… my feathered friends, don't be so rude at them. They may be on the slow side, but… it could've been worse," said the bemused and eerily reverberating voice, that reminded the bystanders that of the Daitenkaicho's; albeit the tone was quite off. And in some ways, it sounded way older, if not ancient. "Although, seriously now, young ladies. Just look up," beckoned the voice, letting out a chuckle as the foursome gazed in his direction and then simply stared. He didn't blame them, however, given that his choice of traveling outfit wasn't the most fashionable or even typical for a god, yet for an officially dead person, it was more than enough. A dull grey cloak covered most of his body, leaving only his head visible, although that too was partially obscured by a slightly oversized beige stetson that was tipped downwards to make it hard for anyone to get a clear view of his face. And as if that wasn't enough, the god had a red scarf around his lower face, leaving only one of his eyes barely visible, since the other one was covered by an eyepatch.

For a couple of seconds, the only sound that could be heard was the two ravens' chuckles, as the initial surprise gave way to stunned disbelief. Until the Valkyrie in charge summoned her battle axe and narrowed her eyes at the intruder, assuming an offensive stance. "And to think that you sounded important for a moment… Go back to your spaghetti western, you rambling moron! I don't have time for idiots like you!"

The god let out a heavy sigh, shaking his head as he muttered something about young celestials these days, only to further aggravate the brunette Valkyrie. However, despite his seemingly relaxed stance, the god's hand moved up to grab the sharp edge of the fast approaching battle axe, effectively stopping the Valkyrie in mid swing; much to the latter's shock, when her momentum caused her to slam onto the now immobilized hilt. "It's not that I don't find your attitude fitting to a goddess bred for war… it's that you need more than just attitude alone to be a real Valkyrie." Giving the stunned warrior a sharp kick in the gut that sent her flying across the air and to a painful collision with a nearby tree, the god proceeded to jump to the ground, still holding onto the battleaxe he took from his wannabe attacker. "Hm… it's much more lightweight than I remember them. So, that's why they call them safety equipment these days… Interesting."

"Hold it!" shouted one of the remaining Valkyries, while she and her comrade summoned their own battleaxes. Yet it was rather apparent to both the interloper and Mara that there was an edge into their voices. An uncertainty that betrayed the one emotion that no warrior should allow get a grip of their senses; fear.

Which gave Mara was the perfect opportunity to escape, although she hesitated. 'On one hand I can get myself into worse trouble, should I follow this weirdo, but on the other… what are they up to?' Glancing over at the fallen Valkyrie who rushed to get up on her feet, Mara decided to see what was going to happen, before she bet her money on the wrong horse.

"You…" said the lead Valkyrie with a pained grunt. She had clearly misjudged her opponent's skill and strength, but this was a mistake she wasn't going to repeat. "You're going to pay for this…"

"Someone's a glutton for punishment," laughed the god, much to the Valkyrie's great annoyance. Especially when he simply tossed her axe back at her, as if he wasn't particularly concerned whether she had it or not. "Then why don't you show me what you've got?"

"That's it! You're going down!" Pointedly ignoring her axe, the Valkyrie sidestepped and glared at the impudent fool she so much wanted to put back in his place. And for that reason, she had no reason for safety equipment to get in her way. Instead she gathered all her power onto her fists and then crossed her arms, reaching for her battle uniform's boosters.

'Someone's too upset. Oh well, I didn't want to do this, but it's better to stop her from doing something really stupid.' Holding onto his stetson with one hand, the god raised the other, as a gust of wind suddenly erupted around him and threatened to blow everything away; including the Valkyries and even the startled demoness.

The brunette Valkyrie's eyes went wide from shock when dozens feathers shot up into the air, as a pair of wings appeared behind the god, but immediately turned into a spiraling white vortex. Twisting around each other, they eventually solidified into a double helix like pole that ended up in a sharp spear, made out of intersecting razor sharp feathers. "What the?!... That's… Gungnir?!... Then you're-"

"Just a wanderer," said the god before the Valkyrie could finish her sentence. And taking advantage of her state of disbelief, the god crossed the distance between them in such a speed that took even a war goddess by surprise; until the spear's pole smacked against the side of the Valkyrie's head.

Like a puppet that it had its strings cut, the brunette fell onto the ground with a thud, causing the two remaining Valkyries to flinch when they found out that their opponent was not pushover. Actually, it was far from it, especially as the mention of the legendary weapon, Gungnir left them with only one possibility; Odin. Still, their training demanded them to act, and act they did.

Noticing one of them try to attack him from what she must've assumed as his blind spot, given the eyepatch he wore, Odin couldn't help but smirk under his scarf when he effortlessly blocked her swing with Gungnir, and then went for a knockout blow to her head with a roundhouse kick. 'Alright, two down, one more to go!' Twirling around to locate his remaining opponent, Odin prepared for another parry, when… he found the last Valkyrie face down on the ground, with his ravens, Hugin and Munnin sitting on her back. "What the? Who did that?"

"Caw!" chirped the excited Hugin, with Munnin vigorously flapping his wings. "Caw Caw!"

"YOU?!" proclaimed the baffled god, before she shook his head and decided to remain focused at the task at hand. "Never mind, you'll tell me later. In the meantime…" Turning around, Odin found Mara poking her head around a mighty tree trunk, uncertain whether he was a friend or a foe. "You're coming with me. This place isn't safe for a demoness like you to be in."

"Dunno about that. I'd rather go back to the others…" said Mara, who was still trying to hide from this god; especially since she had a very good idea about his identity. 'Oh no, I'm not getting involved with you. Dealing with Urd's other grandpa was more than enough for me, thank you very much!'

"Don't be stubborn and follow me, Mara," said Odin in a lever voice that caused her to flinch. "These Valkyries were planning to seal you, and while I'm not absolutely certain whose orders they were following, I do know that you need to get out of here. Now, come with me, before you end up in a CD or maybe… a flash drive? They're kind of popular these days from what I've heard."

'Thanks but no thanks…' Letting out a sigh, Mara lowered her head in resignation and just hoped that she wasn't going to regret this.

"Fine, get me out of here."

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.

Hel is indeed the same goddess (or half demoness here) as the one from Norse legends. For the sake of this story, she's essentially an artificial goddess/demoness hybrid, aside from being half living and half inorganic. Which is a reference to her original description in the Norse legends as half living and half dead. Additionally, her name may be conveniently enough a reference to HAL 9000, the computer from Space Odyssey. And much like her counterpart, not everything went according to plan after her completion.

Now… it's been hinted all along, but Hel's way of addressing Odal is absolutely correct. However, more about that will be featured on the next chapters.