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

Overseeing the collapsed cavern from a safe distance, two figures remained quiet while the first rays of the rising sun hit their faces. The whole scene before them seemed like it was taken out from a disaster movie, with the crews of celestials clearing out the rabble, in hopes of finding out what the now missing group of outlaws originally intended to do here.

"Well… there's no need to look so down, Tyr. Sometimes you win and other times… this happens." said the silver haired god and former Daitenkaicho as he addressed his second born for the first time in several millennia. "At least think that you've got your daughter's girlfriend back, and got rid of those pests all in one fell swoop."

"I know. And it's not like I'm complaining that I won't have to listen to Thrivaldi's ramblings anymore, but… it's hardly a permanent solution. If we captured them -as intended- then we could've just put an end to this threat, instead of postponing the problem," said Tyr, trying to stay on topic and avoid all sorts of personal questions about his father's own disappearance.

"A great leader isn't the one who celebrates their achievements during good times, but he who turns a disaster into something akin of a success. You more or less did that to certain degree here, so stop worrying and start planning your next move."

Turning to his side, the Daitenkaicho studied his father's face and eventually let out a heavy sigh. As much as he hated to admit it, Odin was right, as crying over spilt milk -as the human saying went- wasn't going to do him any favors. Even though he managed to outsmart them by messing around with the shipments of rare ores that were originally en route to this facility, the fact that they've boobytrapped the whole place with high explosives was a rather unanticipated move on their part. Anyone would've thought that after spending so much time and resources to set up this place, they'd be rather unwilling to simply destroy it within the blink of an eye, but that's where he was wrong.

The moment Sanngrid realized what kind of predicament she was in, the war goddess jumped the gun and ordered an evacuation of the facility, despite the objections of some of her collaborators who weren't as hasty to call for such a measure. Yet it was that quick reaction that allowed her to escape, as Tyr's biggest priority was to ensure that everyone got out of there safely, rather than risk their lives under the current circumstances. "Agreed. I'll have to track them down as soon as I can, but for the time being I'll have to root out any remaining collaborators and secure Asgard. With this being the second group of rogues in such a short period of time, things are definitely not looking great."

"Speaking of rogues… What are you going to do with your youngest brother? I'd personally prefer to have Vidar be able to live here, now that others are starting to become aware that I'm still alive."

"I'll see to that. Although he's not the only one I need to bring here, as not only I have to get Loki back, but Odal too and even Ilmr, despite her status as convict. I'd rather have them where I can keep an eye on them, instead of letting them run on the loose," said Tyr with a slow nod. "Besides, with them here, it's one less group of rogues to worry about, which could help the general population to feel more at ease."

"So… when are you going to tell them that they've got a kid?" asked Odin with a chuckle, causing Tyr to blink in confusion, until he figured out what his father was referring to.

"Not until he's here. Providing that Hild lets go of him, anyway," said the Daitenkaicho with a grumble, since the whole thing reminded him of the upcoming meeting. "Although… when did you start to crack jokes?"

"Since you got my job, and I can finally spend my retirement days playing bingo." Odin laughter became louder as he saw his son's dumbfounded expression. "Anyway!... Where's my grandson in law?"

"Most likely… getting ready for the first day at the daycare."

XXX

"You've got to be kidding me! I was gone for a few hours and… the bloke's a god now? Really? How did that even happen?"

As much as she wanted to laugh at her girlfriend's reaction, Urd had to admit that should their positions were reversed, her reaction would've been eerily similar. "Like I said before, Ma-chan. Yggdrasil-"

"I thought that was a joke!" shouted the blonde demoness, pulling her hair in frustration. "Why can't I get this lucky for a change?"

"Really now?" Raising an eyebrow, Urd studied her girlfriend's seemingly outraged expression, and grinned like a cat. "Why Ma-chan, I didn't know that you wanted to become a goddess that much! Out of all the things you could obtain instead of that… Oh wait! Is it for me? Aww!... You're so sweet, Ma-chan!"

Making a desperate attempt to pull away from the half goddess, Mara found that she was far too late to avoid Urd's hands, as the latter pulled her into a tight hug. A particularly sweet and girly cuddle that clearly wasn't Urd's typical style, as the half goddess preferred far more sensual hugs, or at the very least romantic ones.

Almost as if she was doing it on purpose.

Which she most certainly did, although partially thanks to the fact that it gave her the best excuse to hold Mara close, without getting teased about it later on. She was too proud to admit that no matter she rationalized about it, she was in fact worried about her silly demoness.

"Hey! Cut it out! I wouldn't become a goody-goody goddess even if you begged me to!" cried the embarrassed Mara, trying to free herself from Urd's grasp, while the latter was rubbing her cheek against hers. Granted, it felt kind of nice, since the whole act caused their chests to rub against each other too, but Mara wasn't going to fall for such a cheap tactic. "And don't you think that I've forgiven you yet! You never take me to parties, and yet you ended up in a huge one, where you, and Peorth, and even Belldandy were rubbing yourselves against a god! Seriously? Why can't I have that too?"

"For crying out loud, Mara! That's not some random god we're talking about, but Keiichi! I mean… I may be horny at times, but I do have some standards. We were just celebrating his ascension to godhood… or should I say his birthday? But you get the idea," said Urd with a shrug, only to pause and look worried when Mara's lips turned into a thin line. Her girlfriend didn't seem terribly impressed by that explanation, and as strange it sounded, she was probably getting jealous, too. As such, Urd needed a plan, and she needed it right now. And sometimes, using brute force was better than all the subtlety in the world. "Although… you do have a point, Ma-chan. I think it's about time you get some of the benefits from dating a goddess."

Try as she might, Mara's couldn't help but feel rather curious as to what the Norn was hinting at. She knew that she shouldn't give in that easily, as it was more than obvious that Urd was attempting to bribe her in some way, but after her not so little adventure, anything to improve her abysmal mood was a welcome change. "Okay… I'll bite. What do you have in mind?"

"A bubble bath. After spending so much time using those horrible sonic showers in Muspelheim, I thought that we should invest a bit into buying a few things to make the whole bathing experience a lot more… enjoyable for us. And with me being a goddess, I have to go back to the routine of daily ablutions," said Urd with a sweet smile, that her girlfriend refused to return.

"We demons bathe on a regular basis too, you know…"

"Yes, yes… I know that. There's no need to be so defensive about it. As a matter of fact, that's why I got matching towels and even sponges for us to take baths together," said Urd, her smile persisting. And while she wasn't expecting an enthusiastic reaction from Mara, the next part was bound to raise her eyebrows. "Oh, and I've also gotten us a nice air mattress, along with what the sales goddess claimed to be the best scented massaging oil you can find here. It's brought straight from Vanaheim and even grandma Frigg uses it for its relaxing effect."

The demoness' nostrils flared at the mental image caused by the Norn's proposition, and no matter how much she wanted to maintain a firm stance, it was hard to decline such an offer. 'No… Resist… Don't listen to her, she's baiting you. She wants to get away with her little party, and make you forget all about it with a… bath… and massage… and… Hell yeah, I want the bait!' Maintaining a straight face was a true challenge at the moment, and the worst part was that Urd knew about it. Still, Mara did her best to avoid sounding too… desperate. "When you say an air mattress, and massage oil… that kind of reminds me that… Hm… what was called back in Japan? A soap land parlor?"

"And where do you think I got the idea from?" was the half goddess' almost shameless reply. "So, are you game, Ma-chan?"

There was no reply, although no need for one either. All the demoness had to do was turn her girlfriend around and push her towards the direction of the bath. If she teased her about this later on, then it was something her future self will have to deal with.

Because her current self wanted that massage, and by all means she was gonna get it.

XXX

Niflheim

Being summoned to the Daimakaicho's office, while she had just been on Helheim a mere day ago, made Odal doubt that she simply forgot to tell him something. To him, this whole thing felt almost like a trap, although considering that he was more or less already at her mercy, it seemed superfluous to go through all the trouble of setting anything up.

Waiting for the heavy doors to open before he properly entered the office, Odal spent a few seconds to survey his surroundings, even though he knew that he wasn't here for sightseeing. As impressive as the Daimakaicho's office appeared to him, the fugitive god was fully aware of how problematic his status was, and with the upcoming negotiations, there was no doubt that he, as well as the rest of his group, would be part of the agenda.

"Ah, Odal-kun… I wasn't expecting you to be this prompt. Come closer," said Hild as she turned off the pair of holoscreens on either side of her desk and clasped her hands in front of her.

There was something in her tone that troubled Odal, and even the hint of a gleam in her eyes, acted as a warning sign for him. Yet it wasn't bloodlust or anger, which… at the very least meant that it was unlikely to be in any immediate danger, although he was fully aware that with demons like Hild, one had to be prepared for anything. "You requested to see me, Hild-sama?"

"That I did. Although you don't have to be so formal with me," said Hild with a slight chuckle, as she got up to approach him, since he seemed to be rather nervous to do the same on his own. And not only that, but knowing who his father was, she had a feeling that being within easy grasp was necessary after she dropped the bombshell on him. "You're not one of my demons, so, you can simply call me by my name."

"If you wish… Hild-san. Although, I'm still unsure what you want of me."

"That's not exactly what I had in mind, but it'll have to do for now," said the Daimakaicho with a slight smile, as she walked around her desk and then casually sat on its wooden surface. Crossing her legs in a fairly casual manner to further reassure him that she wasn't out for his blood, Hild waited for a moment to let him relax a bit, before she carried on. "Now, as you might've heard, we're going to hold a meeting in the next few days, and part of the agenda concerns you and your group."

"Yes, I'm aware of that," said Odal with a slow nod trying to sound calm and collected, while in reality he was anything but that. He had hoped that at some point he would manage to escape Helheim along with the others, but the way thing currently stood, it was unlikely to happen. And now it appeared that the celestials wanted to get their hands on him, which… was bound to end up with him sealed in some sort of container.

The Daimakaicho wasn't going to be fooled by such a display though, and decided to cut to the chase. "Then I must reassure you that I'm not going to have all of you arrested. Tyr is working to have you exonerated, providing that your original intentions were to sabotage the actual rogues by diverting their resources to projects that didn't further their agenda, as well as mess up a few things here and there. Did I get it all?"

"For the most part… yes," admitted Odal with a sigh. The last few years had been a huge burden on his shoulders, as there were moments that he almost caved in under the pressure of having to maintain a facade for the sake of furthering his own agenda.

Nodding in response, Hild then rested her chin on her hands as she leaned forward, her eyes never losing the god's. "Which means that eventually, it'll be possible to clear up your name. However, for right now, I think it's for the best if you remain here, and I do have the best method to make that happen: I'll have you registered in Niflheim. That way, as long as you don't register yourself at Asgard, you should remain under my jurisdiction, and I won't be required to hand you over. Unless I want to, of course. Which… I don't."

"But… I'm a god, not a demon!" said Odal, furrowing his brows in confusion; which slowly turned into worry. "And I'm not becoming one, if that's what you're hinting at!"

"No, no, no! That's definitely not what I had in mind, Odal-kun!" said Hild waving a hand dismissively, just to further make the point across. "Instead of such a drastic and direct way of resolving this issue, I've got a roundabout way of doing the same thing."

"Which is?..."

"I'll tell you in a minute. First of all though, you need to take a seat." In all honesty a part of her almost felt bad for what she was about to pull on him, especially since there were other methods to ensure that he won't be deported to Asgard. But, she did know that one day he'd come to appreciate her move and even thank her for this gracious gesture; although judging by the fact that he refused to sit down… today was far from that day. "Fine, be that way… don't blame me later."

Letting out an annoyed huff, Hild got up from her desk and walked past the god, glancing pointedly at the door. "Just where is she? I've summoned her an hour ago… She should've been here by now."

Despite the god's quizzical look, Hild didn't elaborate as to who she was talking about, or even what purpose she was needed for. That could wait for later on, once Odal was in a more cooperative mood. What was pretty important to make sure that the other party involved in this didn't back out from her proposition and made a run for the wilderness surrounding the capital city, or even one of their other realms. And as she was about to reach for her phone and call her again, the door came open, attracting her attention, as well as Odal's; who nearly jumped out of his skin.

Standing by the doorframe was none other than Niflheim's second in command, which all by itself was far from out of the ordinary… save for her current attire. Hagall's love for elegant and frilly dresses was a well known fact to even those who weren't particularly familiar with her, yet even then, a wedding gown was far from what even the most ignorant of demonesses would wear just as a fashion statement.

"Oh, my word!... You look absolutely stunning, Hagall-chan," said Hild in a quiet tone, akin to a whisper. She approached her blonde subordinate who was still trying to straighten her long, satin gloves, and after a long silence, Hild reached and gave her a hand. "Stand still for a moment, will you?"

"Ah, thank you Hild-sama. I'm sorry it took me so long to pick one I liked, but despite the circumstances, I wanted something that looks good on me." Not getting an immediate response from her mentor, Hagall noticed the distant look on Hild's eyes and wondered if wearing something like this was a bad idea. She was all too aware of the elder demoness' past, and maybe showing up in such an attire rubbed salt on the proverbial wound. "Hild-sama? Should I switch to something diff-"

Shaking her head, Hild gave her protegee a pat on her shoulders, and then smiled at her. "No, that's the last thing I'd want. I'm actually pretty surprised how well you look in this. As well as the fact that you got into all this trouble to humor me and my silly request. Thank you very much, Hagall-chan."

"Don't even mention it, Hild-sama! I'm so happy that I could be of service!" The euphoric feeling of being praised almost caused her to squeal in delight, as well as her help her forget the more than obvious downsides of this arrangements of this setup. Sure, it was nothing more that a sham marriage to get that god into Niflheim's registry, albeit indirectly. Once the whole 'ceremony' was done, Odal could be listed as her 'husband' which would at the very least offer him some basic form of citizenship, as well as become one of the Daimakaicho's loyal subjects, given that he had no current association with any of the celestial realms. 'And speaking of my husband to be…' Glancing over to the petrified god, her previously delighted expression changed into a deep frown as she noticed his casual attire. "Hey, where's your suit? Don't tell me I went all the trouble to pick such a nice gown, only for you to show up in this? Oh, no you don't! You've got fifteen minutes to remedy that, or I'm taking matters on my hands! Got me?"

The abrupt change of Hagall's tone brought Odal out of his shock, forcing him to realize that the scene unfolding before his very eyes wasn't some sort of stress induced daydream, or even a prank. This was happening for real, and it took him a good couple of seconds to remember how to talk, despite Holy Bell's attempts to make him snap out of it. "W-W-What's g-going o-on here?!"

"We're getting married! What's so hard about it, that you don't quite get?" came Hagall's blunt reply, until she felt Hild's hand on her shoulder, drawing her attention from the clearly shocked god.

"I haven't actually explained the whole plan to him, so, pardon the poor boy," said Hild, stepping in before they ended up sounding like an old couple. Especially not prior to them becoming a couple in the first place, at least as far as the demonic law was concerned. Turning to Odal, Hild knew that on this occasion she was probably pushing things a bit too far, but if she somehow managed to convince him, then she could more or less kill two birds with one stone. Even though she never quite told Hagall about the full extents of her plan either. "Now, Odal-kun… I know it's all too sudden for you, but, with this arrangement you can remain here for much longer. Which will give your grandfather the time to clear up your name, once more details about you previous… associates are brought up. Because if you go over there right now, then I fear that you'll inevitably being sealed for a very long time. So, rather than that, how about you humor my idea and marry Hagall-chan?"

"Don't get us wrong," continued the blonde demoness, trying to clear the situation for him. "This is nothing more than a setup, so don't get any funny ideas. I'll be your legal wife for as long as it's necessary, but that's all there is to it. You've pretended to be those guys' ally for quite some time, so this should be all but a child's play in comparison."

It took him a while to actually process all that information, and while he had more than enough reasons to decline such a ridiculous proposition, Odal had to recognize that Hild had one point. Going back to Asgard right now could be pretty problematic for his parents. Not only they were blissfully unaware of his existence, but if he was branded a traitor, all he'd manage was to cause them problems. Especially to his father who was a new god that was just making his first steps in a brand new world, so to speak. So, after a lot of consideration, the god merely offered a reluctant nod, hoping that he wasn't going to regret this far too much.

"Very well. I can't say I'm excited but… I suppose that it'll be for the best if I have some kind of excuse to stay here. For now that is."

XXX

Asgard

Considering how late they've returned home yesterday, it was deemed a better idea to allow the rose goddess to stay for the night. Although with Lind and Excalibur occupying the guest room, Peorth decided to try sleeping on the couch, claiming that she didn't wish to get in their way; despite the synthetic's claims that he only slept on his pedestal. The goddess of the roses though, insisted on taking the couch, and considering how obstinate Peorth could get at times, the others simply let her be.

But with the brunette administrator ignoring even her alarm clock, the arduous task of waking her up fell on her unfortunate protegee, who clearly had no desire of traumatizing herself by witnessing her mentor's infamous sleeping habits. Even back when she stayed with them at the temple, rumors of her almost nonexistent nightwear reached Skuld's ears, and for the love of all that was good and holy, the young Norn didn't want to see what the whole fuss was all about. Yet there always comes a time when a goddess has to do what must be done, and with a deep breath, Skuld ventured into the living room.

Edging closer to the couch, the Norn took a few fleeting glimpses of her mentor, just in case she too indecently dressed, but thankfully for her, Peorth was merely wearing her everyday clothes, as she was probably too tired -or drunk- to change into something else before she crashed for the night. On the other hand though, there was something… wrong with the way she was hugging, or rather… humping the pillow. 'It's times like these when I kind of miss being a kid. At least back then I didn't know what sort of dreams she's probably having right now. And if my hunch is right… I can't let Belldandy see her! Not while she's doing this sort of thing!'

Rushing to Peorth's side, Skuld shook the sleeping goddess, hoping to wake her up before the middle Norn saw her like this and assume that she was dreaming about someone else's husband. "Peorth, wake up! Come on! Get up already" Instead of doing that though, the rose goddess merely turned and effectively ignored her student's attempts to rouse her. Until… someone else entered the room, catching Skuld's attention. "Oh… good morning, Mara."

The Norn's greeting was met with deafening silence, as the blonde kept walking towards the couch with an almost glossed over look on her eyes. She didn't even seem to acknowledge either goddess' presence, being too preoccupied with her own thoughts, as evident by the somewhat silly grin she had plastered on her face. And before Skuld could ask what was wrong with her, Mara unceremoniously plopped onto the couch as it was unoccupied, earning a rather loud yelp of protest from the rudely awoke goddess.

"What in Asgard's name?!" Peorth's eyes went wide from the sheer shock of having someone land onto her rear without the slightest warning, and looking over her shoulder, she found Mara staring blankly back at her, as if she had no idea what was going on.

Not only that, but the first thing that came to Mara's mind did little to Peorth's mood. If nothing else, she just added more fuel to the fire. "Wow… you're pretty comfy."

The stream of expletives that left Peorth's mouth caught not only Mara off guard, given how crude the otherwise delicate goddess could get, but also left Skuld with a rather awestruck look on her face. Some of those terrible curses were in modern Asgardian, some in low demonic, and a few in a variety of human dialects that Peorth spoke so rapidly that it was actually hard to decipher what she was saying at times. Which… worked in the youngest Norn's favor, since her mentor spoke of acts that no goddess at such a tender age should know, let alone consider performing once they were old enough to do so.

Still, Skuld was slowly entering puberty, and at that turbulent phase of a goddess' development, it was far from uncommon to imitate behaviors that her younger self would've found appalling. 'Wow! I didn't know that Peorth could be so… badass!' And as if that wasn't enough, the moment her mentor summoned her angel's thorny vines, reminded Skuld of all the occasions when she pulled a bomb on whoever pissed her off.

"Whoa! Hold on! I-" Mara barely had the time to grab a pillow and use it as makeshift shield against the goddess' vines, especially as it appeared that Peorth meant business. And since the soft cushion was never designed for such a purpose, the vine's thorns caused it to erupt into a shower of feathers.

Such was the situation in the living room when Urd decided to make her appearance… only to pause and stare at the trio in stunned silence. "I just leave you alone for five minutes, and you get into another mess? I thought that it was Keiichi the one meant to go the daycare, not you, Ma-chan…"

"Hey, she started it!" protested the demoness in question, pointing at the indignant goddess of the roses.

"You filthy liar! It was you who landed on my tush, and even made a comment on how comfortable I was!"

"Wait! That's all?" asked Urd, interjecting before the situation deteriorated any further. "Oh come on, Peorth! You pretty much walk around in your panties, so don't tell me you can't handle a little compliment. I mean… you look awesome, girl! Deal with it!"

It was rare for Peorth to actually blush at such a praise, yet even such a simple thing proved to be more than enough to appease her. Forgetting about Mara, the rose goddess got up from the sofa and dusted the feathers off her, and then offered Urd a slight smirk. "I'll pretend that you actually meant that, and didn't just try to flatter me. At any rate, I'm going to take a shower and join Ansuz-sama as she takes Keiichi to his first day at the daycare."

"Hey, you're not the only one going with them. We're coming with you, too," said Mara with a grin, now that she was no longer the target of the brunette's anger. "There's no way I'll miss such a chance to laugh with his predicament!"

Shaking her head, Peorth muttered something about demonesses under her breath and headed out of the living room, all while Urd and Mara gave her a wolf whistle. Which caused Peorth to stop and extend a palm in their direction, forming a somewhat oversized rose on it. And while that proved to be more than enough for Skuld to bolt past her mentor and towards the kitchen, the duo simply stared at Peorth with raised eyebrows, trying to figure out what she was up to.

Until she tossed the rose in their direction, where it exploded mere inches from making contact with them, releasing a cloud of pink smoke.

XXX

Niflheim

'What have I gotten myself into?...'

Arrangement or not, the mere idea that he was about to get married was more than enough to leave Odal a bit weak on the knees. He was already looking towards the direction of the closest exit, while he and his soon to be wife were waiting for the much needed witnesses to carry on with… what must've been Hild's most ridiculous idea ever; at least from his perspective.

"Don't even think about it." Stepping next to him was a tower of pure muscles, easily standing a head taller than the god, and staring down at him with a steely look that was more than enough to convince him to stay put. "I really don't like weaklings who solve everything by running away. That and Hagall deserves better, too."

"I know… but…this feels, weird! I mean, I don't even know her!" said Odal in his defense, only to have Thrym chuckle at him. "Uh… what's so funny about it?"

"Because from what I've heard, you dad kind of asked a goddess to marry him on the first day they met," said Thrym, before she looked over the god's shoulder. "Right, Hagall?"

"More or less. Of course, it's highly unlikely that Keiichi had any idea that his original wish was actually the traditional way marriage propositions were made in Asgard, but the fact remains," said the blonde demoness with a casual shrug, before she turned to her husband to be, and gave him a quizzical look. "Besides, what's your problem anyway? Even your parents lived together for years and didn't push things beyond the kindergarten level of… holding hands, let alone kiss. So, what makes you think that because of this arrangement, we need to go through the whole honey and darling routine?"

"Point taken," muttered Odal in a low tone, his eyes shifting from Hagall to the tower of muscle that stood on his right.. "I suppose any further arguments will be dealt with pretty convincing methods?"

"Only the best for you," said Thrym as she flexed her muscles a bit. "Still, try to be cheerful for the photos, boy. All in all, you've got quite the bargain!"

"I'm not a bargain!" barked Hagall, earning a hearty chuckle from her subordinate.

Meanwhile, Odal's attention shifted at the small crowd behind them. Aside from Hagall's closest subordinates, most of the members of his little group were present to act as witnesses of this joyous event. Which naturally included who Odal considered as the true mastermind behind this fiasco: Verthandi. She was the one that tried to get him hitched on so many occasions, and while he couldn't quite understand why the Dryad was so desperate to see him in a relationship… the fact remained. And of course, Loki wasn't one to lose a chance to make the best of a fiasco, regardless of whether he was responsible for it or not.

'Look at him… He even got a camera…' Resisting the urge to groan at his great uncle's antics, that included putting Fenrir into a tiny tuxedo meant for dogs, Odal shook his head in disdain. Until the Daimakaicho decided to make her grand entrance to the scene, clad in a variation of her regal dress, that was almost identical to the original; save the color. Instead of the mostly dark and pink dress, Hild's current attire was pure white with indigo as its secondary color, while the original golden lining was replaced with a shiny platinum finish. Even her headgear and the rest of her assorted jewelry -that in reality were her power limiters- were also sporting a matte silver color, with golden runes and patterns etched along their metallic surface.

Coming to a stop before the couple, Hild raised her hands in a grandiose motion that caused a series of concentric magic circles to form upon the floor, and only then did she address them. "Sorry for the long delay. It took me forever to find where I've buried this stupid thing, but let's not get distracted with unrelated topics. We're here to witness the exchange of your matrimonial vows."

There was something in the Daimakaicho's expression that sent red flags in Hagall's mind; and the mere fact that the elder demoness somehow found her old wedding gown and modified it for the occasion, only helped to reinforce her opinion that something was off here.. "Uh… Hild-sama… I think you mean that we'll only pretend to exchange the vows, right?"

Tilting her head slightly, Hild offered Hagall a reassuring smile, that might've been a bit too sweet for most of the witnesses liking.

"Of course, Hagall-chan. Everything's going to be fine, so, don't worry at all."

XXX

Asgard

After making it absolutely clear that he wasn't going to hold Ansuz's hand on their way to the daycare, Keiichi was eventually spared the embarrassment of being treated like a little kid. He even imaged himself making a Skuld impression as she complained for the umpteenth time that she wasn't a kid, only this time around the joke was on him. At the very least, he was forever grateful that the ones most intent on tagging along for this event were currently… preoccupied, as Peorth had somehow turned Urd and Mara's hair color to bright pink. Which prompted the Norn of the past to find a remedy for that little prank, and the rose goddess wisely decided to hide for the time being, just in case Mara went after her. Of course, Keiichi had little doubt that sooner or later, they'd probably come to make a joke of his predicament, but at least for today, he was eternally grateful that he didn't have to deal with all that on top of everything else that was going on.

And to make things even worse, nobody had any idea as to how long it would take him to master the basics of being a god, at which point he could be mentored like the older celestials. He really hoped that all he needed was a few days, if not a couple of weeks, but even Belldandy wasn't that optimistic. From what she told him, the average god of his 'age' typically needed a couple of decades before they were deemed ready to be assigned to a mentor, and even then, it greatly varied between individuals. Some even took a century or two, in order to reach that point, and already that time frame seemed quite outlandish for the new god.

As a former mortal, Keiichi's mind was almost hardwired to work on a dramatically different time scale that rarely concerned events that were more than a couple of months apart. Then again from what he gathered so far, celestial lifestyle was far more monotonous and thus predictable, allowing everyone here to be able to make such long term plans, regardless of their own immortality. On the other hand, daily life on Earth was so hectic and full of unexpected events, that even a god would've found it very difficult to plan decades ahead. Especially as the world around him would've dramatically change during that period of time.

Yet despite the relative stability -and thus security- that the celestial society provided for him, Keiichi was quite worried that regardless of how fast he adapted to his new situation, in the end the real problem would turn out to be the monotony of it all. All humans possessed a restlessness that pushed them as species forward, and to a certain degree the same was true about Keiichi, too. Even if he learned how to use his powers to the best of his ability, the young god feared that going through the same exact routine for several decades, let alone centuries, might turn out to be a nightmare for him.

"Well, here we are, Keiichi!" announced Ansuz once they approached their destination that was already teeming with with families, who were en route to drop their kids off at the daycare, before heading to their jobs.

The whole scene actually made Keiichi feel a bit more at ease with his new life, knowing that despite all the differences between gods and humans, some things remained the same. Yet despite that, Keiichi couldn't help but notice the age diversity of the young celestials. By human standards the assorted immortals wildly varied from kindergarteners to middle schoolers, at least based on their physical appearance alone. Keiichi of course was fully aware that applying such standards here wouldn't quite help him to understand the new world he was living in, and thus he had to approach the whole situation with an open mind, no matter how embarrassing it was for him to go through this experience. "So… what am I supposed to do now? Do we have… classes or something like that?"

"Yes and no," said Ansuz as she tried to explain what seemed like common knowledge to her, yet totally foreign for Keiichi. "You're assigned to study groups based on a variety of skills, rather than simply your physical age. Additionally, the composition of said groups changes depending on your proficiency at each individual topic of study. For example you may be more advanced in teleportation than flight, so, you'll be schooled alongside celestials of your equivalent level on each of those skills, which generally works much better for everyone involved."

"Oh, I see," was all Keiichi could say in a situation like this. After all, he could already tell that he was likely to end up studying with total beginners… which probably meant the youngest of the whole group.

Sensing his discomfort, Ansuz decided to try and cheer him up, in hopes that he wouldn't see this new experience as something primarily negative, and thus ruin his chances to learn the very basics of being a god. "Of course, there's one thing that you're capable of, while everyone here isn't; you possess an angel. That by itself should give you an edge over everyone else, and while you're still a beginner, I doubt that this will remain the case for too long. Physically speaking you're a fully grown god, which should allow you to have much better access to your powers than anyone else here. And that's not the only thing you'll learn here, either. You also need to learn how to understand our language without Yggdrasil's aid, as well as our history and customs. Without those, you'll never quite feel comfortable living here. Just hang in there for a while and you'll be assigned to a mentor in no time."

Despite knowing that his mother in law was probably exaggerating a bit in an attempt to cheer him up, Keiichi had to admit that she did have a point. No matter how annoying it was for him to go back to school, Keiichi simply lacked some of the most basic skills every other god possessed and if he wanted his integration into the Asgardian society to be as smooth as possible, then he had to do this. After all, this would also allow him to get much closer to Belldandy, which is now within his abilities, rather than a wild dream and for that to happen, Keiichi needed to learn how to be a proper god. "Very well, I suppose it won't hurt to give this a try. So, where do I begin?"

"I suppose that we need to introduce you to the daycare's staff, so, this way please!"

XXX

Unknown location

"Well… wasn't that brilliant? We've pretty much lost everything! As if it wasn't already bad enough that the brat betrayed us, now even our underground facility is gone! Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to collect all the resources to build it in the first place?"

Resisting the urge to groan, the violet haired Valkyrie simply tried her best to ignore Thrivaldi's ramblings as the former Councilor -and current fugitive- went on and on about their current predicament. Obviously things were looking pretty bad for them at the time being, and even the most optimistic person in existence should've realized by now that they were up against a wall. Not only did they lose the underground facility, but the vast majority of the war gods and goddesses under her command were apprehended and subsequently sealed in the aftermath of that raid a couple of hours ago. "I did what I had to do in order to get most of us out of there. Which sounds much better than being locked inside a container for millennia to come! And speaking of that… I'm more worried about my subordinates than your stupid resources!"

"Your subordinates can be rescued, but my resources are pretty much wasted!" insisted Thrivaldi, too mad to realize that he was screaming at a high ranking Valkyrie. Until the latter grabbed him by his neck and pressed him against the walls of the dilapidated building they currently used as a hideout.

"My comrades mean a lot more to me than your worthless resources!" So great was Sanngrid's wrath that she almost punched the infuriating -and pretty useless- god. Although it was no secret that she had been dealing with a selfish idiot from the very beginning, Thrivaldi's position as a member of the gods' council made him an invaluable asset, despite his less than impressive leadership skills. And right now, considering that they were all branded as traitors, his influence was all but gone; despite his insistence that he still had connections that would prove to be essential to their cause. In reality, Sanngrid suspected that he was just bluffing to save his skin, as she made it more than obvious that from this point on, he wasn't their de facto leader. Which probably got him into thinking that in a time of need, she might use him as a bargain chip, by turning him over to the gods in exchange for a pardon.

"Let's cease this pointless bickering, and actually do something a bit more productive than playing the blame game." Stepping in to prevent this already bad situation to degenerate even further, Celestin was already wishing that he never left his old group. Of course it was for the sake of furthering his own goals, which weren't exactly compatible with Odal's to begin with, so he had little choice but to tolerate a fool like Thrivaldi, or even the mentally unstable Sanngrid. "We're in a dire situation, and with most of our resources and followers gone, it's a matter of time before we too get captured. At least in my case, I have little to lose, but I can't say the same about you."

Turning to face the disembodied god, Sanngrid had to admit that at the moment, Celestin's almost disassembled mechanical body was a pretty pathetic sight. Out of fear that Odal may have planted a bug or some other kind of tracking device into it, they've assigned Regin to take most of it apart and try to analyze all of its components, before they could call it safe. Unfortunately though, the former lead technician of the Yggdrasil Mainframe had some… issues putting Celestin's robotic body back together. Which more or less convinced Sanngrid that Regin's demotion was totally justified after all; given his ineptitude at what should've been a rather simple task for someone aspiring to be in charge of the Yggdrasil mainframe. "Well… you do have a point there. There's very little for you to lose, given that you look like a piece of junk at the time being. In the most literal fashion, too."

"And you too might end up like this, should you insist on this petty squabble," said Celestin with a hint of annoyance in his voice. "As I've mentioned before, this is not the time for such foolish arguments."

"So, what do you suggest then?" Crossing her arms in defiance, Sanngrid wasn't one to easily give up and gave the disembodied god a condescending look, as she challenged him to come up with some soft of plan. "Well? What's with all the silence all of a sudden? Come on, give us your lights, oh great one!"

For once, Celestin was glad that he was no longer capable of displaying any kind of facial expressions, as even someone with his patience couldn't hold back the annoyance he felt at the time being. Turning to Thrivaldi who was doing his best to remain silent in hopes to leave someone else to deal with Sanngrid's temper, Celestin wanted to find out whether the former Councilor could still prove to be of use. "Unless I'm mistaken, you did mention that you had some contacts we could rely on. In that case, I strongly suggest you try to reach them and see how they can help us overcome this hurdle."

"Well… that's… indeed true. Although, it'll take me some time to make the necessary arrangements," said Thrivaldi, as his voice slightly quivered with uncertainty. He was definitely making things up as he hadn't talked to his contact for quite some time, but without any other options, and his allies waiting for a reply, he needed something to keep their morale from deteriorating any further. "Just give me some time and I'll get us out of this pinch!"

"Then wake me up when something good happens!" said Sanngrid, before turning around to put some distance between herself and the gods. "I need to get some rest, and I'm in no mood for chit chat anyway. See you later."

Watching the goddess walk away from them, Thrivaldi could finally breathe out a sigh of relief, as he knew that he bought himself some time. Of course that was merely a temporary measure and one that could seriously backfire should he fail to deliver what he promised them, but it wasn't as if he had any other options. That was the main reason why he put so much trust in Odal to begin with, despite knowing almost nothing about him. Which… turned out to be a pretty bad idea, but lamenting about it wouldn't change the past. 'I really hoped that I wouldn't have to talk to that guy again, although… I don't think there's any other way around it. Without help, I'll be sealed in practically no time. Ugh… what a mess…'

XXX

Asgard

Being the center of attention was a totally new experience for Keiichi. Just as Ansuz predicted, the moment word got out that he possessed an angel, everyone was eager to meet Terrestrial Spark and see what his other self was capable of. Which didn't turn out to be much at the time being, but with him being here, Keiichi assumed that this wouldn't remain to be the case for far too long.

Of course, it did dawn upon him that he had already seen a few things on how angels worked alongside their hosts, although singing together with Terrestrial Spark wasn't something Keiichi was looking forward to. As a matter of fact, he wasn't sure if he could ever learn how to sing in general, and briefly wondered if there were alternatives to such type of spells. Perhaps something more akin to the incantations that the goddesses used from time to time, which thankfully didn't require him to make a fool of himself. 'I mean… singing karaoke is one thing, but… I don't think I can perform like Belldandy does. Seriously, that's going to be so silly that I'll only embarrass myself and not to mention-...'

He was so lost in his thoughts that the dark haired god almost missed his wife's approach and nearly jumped when she called out his name. "Whah! B-Belldandy? You startled me!" Turning to properly look at the middle Norn, Keiichi noticed the bento box she was carrying with her, which obviously brought back memories, casing him to smile at her. "I see that some things didn't change, huh?"

"Well, I wasn't entirely sure whether you'd like to have your lunch here, or wait to get back home first. After all, as a god, food isn't quite a necessity for you anymore, but then I realized that it's too much to assume that you'd immediately get adjusted to our lifestyle, so, I quickly whipped something up for you," said Belldandy, as she returned Keiichi's smile with one of her own. Sure, it wasn't the whole truth, since it gave her a plausible excuse to visit him while he was still in the daycare, but Belldandy knew that her presence was needed in order to make Keiichi's adjustment to his new life as smooth as possible. That, and the fact that even she couldn't keep a straight face as she gazed upon Urd and Mara's bubblegum pink hair color. Which prompted her from getting out of there, before she ended up becoming her sister's guinea pig.

"Sure thing, Bell! You know how much I love your cooking!" He knew that she was probably here to check on him too, but either way Keiichi was more than delighted to spend time with his lovely wife. Considering all the chaos that followed his ascension to godhood, Keiichi was looking forward to regain some semblance of normalcy and this whole setup strongly reminded him of his college days.

"I know… but how are you feeling, love? It must be really hard to adjust to a totally different lifestyle," said Belldandy, with concern clearly evident in her voice. She honestly didn't wish to bring this particular subject up, but then again it was hard to ignore the proverbial elephant in the room. As much as she loved the fact that their angels were now much more compatible, and not to mention that her Keiichi wasn't living on borrowed time, there was still a part of her that felt guilty for changing his life to such a dramatic degree.

"In a manner of speaking, I guess I can now understand what it must've been for you, back when I made that selfish wish," said Keiichi with a sigh. Looking around him, mostly to avoid holding his wife's gaze, the once mortal -and now god- watched the young celestials all across the playground and chucked. "You know… now that I think of it, this is kind of similar of how you attended NIT with me back then."

"No, not really, dear. I was still a goddess, even though I had to live among mortals. You however need to adjust to a life you were never prepared for and now that I think of it, all your family members and your… our friends in Midgard… you must be missing them terribly."

"Yes, but that was the case with you, too, Bell."

Shaking her head from side to side, Belldandy briefly glanced skywards at a flock of birds that chirped a greeting at them, to which the Norn replied with a whistle of her own. "We're immortals Keiichi, so a couple of decades means nothing to us. Even if I returned here after a whole century, not much would've changed. Which… isn't something I can really say for everyone back in Nekomi."

"Oh… right…" With everything that's been going on as of late, Keiichi didn't have the chance to wonder about his sister and everyone else they left back on Earth. As a matter of fact, he could barely even remember why they had to leave in the first place, but with him now being a god, Keiichi knew that it was bound to take some time for him before he was allowed to meet them again. Still, he had no idea when that was going to happen, and not to mention what they'd think if he simply showed up as if not a single day passed since his disappearance, while they may have aged several years in the meantime. "Um… Belldandy… What do you think we can do if it takes me years to see them again? I mean… won't they notice that I haven't aged at all?"

"There are certain means to modify your outwards appearance, in order to let them see you as if you're as old as they are. However, my biggest concern is that it's going to be hard to explain why you've been missing for so long, since it's highly unusual for mortals to simply disappear and then show up years later as if nothing's wrong with that."

Nodding slowly, Keiichi was pleased to know that Belldandy understood the situation a lot better than most others here. Not that he doubted that his wife would be anything less than sympathetic, but it still felt good to have some solid evidence for that. "Thank you Belldandy. I really hope that I'll be allowed to meet Megumi and the others much sooner, than later. I know that it might seem too selfish of me to ask for such a thing, but then again, I don't think we can fully explain the situation to them."

"I'll talk to my father about this, and perhaps we can arrange something for you," said Belldandy with a hopeful smile. "Even if we're not allowed to permanently live there, we might be able to stay at our temple for long enough to let everyone know that we're doing fine, and catch up with them."

"Please do so, Bell," said Keiichi, as he returned his wife's smile, but then decided to change the subject and lighten up the mood. After all, the last thing he needed was to make her think that he was homesick, which while partially true was far from the whole truth. As long as he was together with her, Keiichi could face any hardship the world could throw at him, and his current situation was no exception of that rule. "It's kind of hard, you know… Just a few minutes ago, a little goddess half my size beat me in chess. I… I tried to show her the game, and… ended up losing four times in a row. And let's not mention about an even younger god who solved a Rubik's Cube as if it was nothing at all. Seriously… is this normal?"

Belldandy blinked as she wasn't sure whether he was joking or not at first, but then started to giggle when it became apparent that was trying lighten the mood. "Actually… yes. Although it still greatly varies between individuals, with some displaying earlier signs of maturity than others. Of course, the opposite is also true, with some of us growing up slower than normal, which can be quite the problem for those who just can't catch up to their peers."

It didn't take long for Keiichi to realize that she was talking about Skuld, and for the first time he could sympathize with her. Actually, he could only imagine how worse it must've been for the youngest Norn to see everyone around her do things that she wasn't capable on her own, even though they were roughly her age. Which probably pushed her harder to compensate with her machines, although ironically enough, it only turned out to be her way of developing her powers. "Out of sheer curiosity… What kind of god do you think I'll become? I mean… am I going to develop faster, since I'm technically an adult, or maybe due to my unique circumstances, It'll take longer for my powers to reach maturity?"

"That's an interesting question, actually," admitted Belldandy, resting her chin on a finger as she stared at her husband. "There's no real precedence of anyone like you, since artificial deities -like Laguz for example- owe their powers to a contract. With the Ultimate Force making sure that the contract's terms are met, that gives the System total control over their powers and in order for a mortal to properly understand their new nature, the System mediates and guides them through the process of learning how to utilize their new abilities. Unfortunately… that's not the case with you; although at the same time… you're a genuine god, with the full potential of a full blooded celestial."

"I see. In that case, I suppose I should try harder to learn the basics as fast as I can. Which… means that I'm going to attend the rune writing class," said Keiichi with a slight wince, much to his wife's amusement. "Yeah… it's like I'm back in elementary school once again."

"Well, think of the positive side, dear! We're only using a simple set of runes, unlike the much more numerous Hiragana, and Katakana, and… not to mention the Kanji characters!" said Belldandy, only for her initial enthusiasm to slowly disappear as she began to recall more details from her own childhood. "Although, there's the demonic version of our runes than you also need to learn, just in case the need arises, and then there's the Simple set the Earth Spirits use, but there's also the Extended set that includes several localized variations of their runes. Oh, and I've almost forgotten the System's programming alphabet, along with Nidhogg's own variety, and for historical reasons we teach the Old Tongue in later classes, just in case you might run into a really old text, and-..."

As Belldandy went on and on with all the different forms of writing systems of the various groups of immortals, Keiichi could only think of one and only one thing.

'Help…'

XXX

Niflheim

"And last but not least this is my… I mean… our bedroom." Ending the impromptu tour of her villa with the potentially most problematic room of them all, Hagall watched her spouse momentarily flinch at her announcement. Such was to be expected of course, with the rogue god being Keiichi and Belldandy's son and all, regardless of what kind of timeline, alternative universe, or wherever else he came from. "What? Is there something wrong with it?"

Looking around him nervously, Odal had to admit that the room was indeed fit for someone as important as the Daimakaicho's deputy. Both spacious enough as well as lavishly decorated, this bedroom was actually much better than some of the best VIP hotel suites he had seen on Earth, and the rest of the villa was lavish enough to meet his… wife's personal tastes. Which turned out to be quite different from the far more simple preferences of his own parents, at least as far as Odal could remember, especially when it came to their home back on Earth. Still, that was far from the problem here, as it immediately became obvious that there was only one bed in the room. "No, it's… pretty nice, but… are you really sure it's appropriate? It's not like we're actually married and all, so… Well…"

"Even so, we still have to keep up the charade, otherwise we might as well make a public announcement that the whole thing was nothing more than a sham. And in case you didn't notice already, I have more more than enough housekeepers and security staff hanging around to let you take one of the guest rooms. At some point, someone is bound to take notice and rumors can be… rather problematic. So, for the time being, you'll have to live with this kind of arrangement," explained Hagall, who in reality was looking forward for their honeymoon. Which in reality was nothing more than a free vacation for her, and one she desperately needed after all the paperwork she had to deal with thanks to the emergence of Hel. And not to mention the upcoming negotiations for the fate of the mortal souls, as well as the members of Odal's group, which could potentially take several days to complete; several frustrating days that is.

"Yes, but!-..."

"But, what?" countered the blonde demoness as soon as Odal tried to speak up. "The bed is more than large enough for both of us to sleep on it, and with room to spare too. Besides… I'm not such a prude who worries whether you're going to cop a feel, although I'd greatly appreciate if you ask for permission first. Actually, if you promise to stop being this difficult and be nice with me, I might let you lie with me; if you know what I mean."

Which apparently Odal didn't, as he stared at Hagall in utter confusion, but decided against asking for clarifications that would only make her more frustrated with him. Instead, he offered her a slow nod and tried to change the subject before he made a fool of himself. "I hate to ask for favors, but is it possible to have a room where I can work on my projects. After all, I need somewhere to let Gram to rest in, as I'd rather not have him here with us."

"Gram?" wondered Hagall out loud, until she remembered who Odal was referring to. "Oh, you mean your sword! Sure, I've got more than enough rooms to spare, so I'll give you a spacious one you can use as you wish. Under one condition, though: don't blow anything up."

"I'm not my aunt," said Odal in deadpan, but eventually smiled at his… wife. "Still, I really want to thank you for that."

"What for? If you're living here, you might as well make yourself comfortable. Otherwise it's going to look like a prison for you, and I'd rather not deal with a groggy god. I've got more than enough of that whenever I'm on a diplomatic mission," said Hagall, offering Odal a casual shrug. "Which reminds me… where would you like to go for our honeymoon?"

"Our… what?" asked the baffled Odal, even though he had an idea of what she was referring to. "Surely, you don't mean we're going on a real honeymoon, right?"

"No, I'm going on a fabulous vacation, regardless of how you're gonna call it," said the blonde demoness, narrowing her eyes, just to make sure that she got the message across. "And you're coming with me too. Whether you like it or not, that's none of my concern. Although, I'll make a concession and let you pick the place we're going to. After all, you're supposed to be my husband, and I don't want to sound too… demanding, by making all the decisions myself."

'You are demanding, alright,' thought the rogue god, but wisely kept that to himself. Instead, he realized that this was a golden opportunity and decided to go for it. "Actually, I do know the perfect place for our mini vacation!"

"Excellent! I'll pack a few things for me… I mean… us, and we can go and check it out!"

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

Now, there are a few things that I'd like to note for this chapter.

Trust Hild to come up with the craziest of ideas, although in reality she may had a hidden agenda by offering Odal that deal. Either way, he's more or less married to Hagall now, although the nature of that wedding (and it's legitimacy) may be the subject of future chapters.

And while it's something left for the next chapter, I think it might be more or less obvious as to which place Odal has in mind for his… let's say honeymoon/vacation. Which all by itself will allow some interesting developments.

Oh, and for those observant enough, I think I've mentioned Holy Bell somewhere. That wasn't a typo, nor a mistake.