Ah! The following day

by zeroIQ

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

64. Chapter 64

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

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Nekomi, Japan

Standing outside her old room, where Odal and his wife were supposed to spend their honeymoon, Belldandy couldn't help but feel somewhat sad to see it empty. Just a couple of hours ago, word arrived from Niflheim that Hagall's presence was needed there, and honeymoon or not, she had to go back. Although they had a rather rocky start, and it still felt quite strange to consider that blonde demoness as her daughter-in-law, Belldandy was at the very least relieved to know that this brief time they spent together led to some nice developments for her son. According to Urd, during yesterday's shopping trip, Odal properly proposed to Hagall and she actually accepted; which in all seriousness was a good start. And not to mention that the couple brought her a few children's books, which she was sure that Lofn would simply love.

Lofn.

That was the name she thought appropriate for her daughter, and though she has yet to tell Keiichi, she knew that he'd find it adorable for their child. After all, it literally meant Beloved, and there was nothing better to convey her feelings than that simple word.

Even Lofn herself was happy about her name, but then again… she tended to mirror her mother's emotions, as it was far too early for her to possess thoughts of her own. Sure, the childscape within her was ready, and the embryonic goddess' core was fully formed, although the long and laborious process of turning that to a full body was going to take a couple of months to complete. Yet despite that, immortal embryos were far more connected to their mothers than their three dimensional counterparts, allowing them to experience things that their mothers projected to them. And regardless of whether it was too early for Lofn to understand anything, Belldandy wanted to offer her as much external stimuli she could. Just to make sure that the child will grow up to become happy and inquisitive in nature; ready to explore this beautiful world around her.

'Hm… perhaps I should explain how celestial pregnancies work to Keiichi, since there are many differences from the concept he knew as a human,' thought the Norn of the present, as he furrowed her brows in concern. 'After all, if he catches me reading children's books aloud, he might start to think I'm a bit… out of there. Although, I fear that if I do, he's gonna get so nervous whenever he's around me, and I want Lofn to see her dad's more carefree side.'

Deciding to tell him a bit later, Belldandy was about to head back to the kitchen where she had set everything up to make breakfast for her beloved Keiichi. It felt strange, but even doing such a simple task for him, brought her a feeling of elation. She could already imagine his bright smile as she serves him his breakfast, and then he thanks her for the food and… perhaps even give her a kiss. He did that while they were in Asgard, but this would a new addition to their daily routine here on Earth. 'Yes, a quick peck on the lips is a must! I won't settle in for anything less than that! Maybe even during the lunch break in Whirlwind. Oh my!...'

It was difficult for her to suppress the urge to squeal like a schoolgirl, but considering just how early it was, Belldandy had to restrain herself from waking up the rest of the household like that. The moment she did reach the kitchen however, in order to get started with the breakfast, Belldandy happened to notice that someone else beat her to it. And as curiosity got the better of her, she carefully slid the door open to take a look before making her presence known, only to stare at the almost impossible sight that defied any kind of explanation. Inside, her sisters were in the process of making breakfast… all by themselves.

Granted, Urd was perfectly capable of cooking, but she vehemently hated such menial tasks, and was more than happy to let her middle sister do that in her stead. On the other hand though… Skuld had never shown any kind of interest in cooking. Although Belldandy couldn't quite blame her youngest sibling, considering that she never had any reason to do that in the first place, not with her taking care of such tasks most of the time. The most she ever did was to invent machines that could hopefully help her oneesama in her daily chores, but never to make her feel unnecessary by completely taking her place.

Yet the strangest thing of them all was that they worked together to accomplish a common goal, without any of their usual shenanigans detracting them from said goal.

'Am I seeing things, or Urd and Skuld are making… breakfast? Is this a dream? Am I still asleep? Or even… sleepwalking?'

Thanks to the middle Norn's bafflement, it didn't take long for Urd to notice Belldandy's surprised and quite curious aura, prompting her to turn to the side in order to greet her stunned sibling. "Good morning, Bell. Had a nice sleep?"

"Yes, I did actually," replied the still baffled goddess of the present, as she properly opened the door to enter the kitchen, since there was no point hiding anymore. "Although, what's the occasion?"

"Nothing, really. We just wanted to give you a hand, sis," said Skuld, while she graciously ignored the fact that she was stirring the scrambled eggs, under the watchful eye of her eldest sister. Which proved to be a lot more embarrassing than she would've ever expected to be. Then again, this was a golden opportunity to present herself as a proper grown up -or at the very least not a bratty half pint- so Skuld carried on with her task, even though she felt Urd move right behind her to give her a hand with the pan. She even allowed Urd to guide her hands, in order to let her see how it was actually done, rather than just doing it by herself. This resulted in a rather peculiar scene that felt as awkward as it was relaxing for the youngest Norn, who was clearly unused to having such interactions with her eldest sister.

Even Belldandy had to raise an eyebrow at how calm and collected Urd was around Skuld during this whole time, almost giving off a motherfly vibe, rather than being their little sister's playmate. 'I guess time does indeed go by. Not too long ago they were playing their usual games, and now they're cooking together. Aw… this is so cute!... I so want to take them a photo like this! But, if I do, I worry that they might get too embarrassed, and ruin this moment.' Suppressing yet another squeal -although this time for different reasons- Belldandy edged closer to her sisters and tentatively picked up an apron for herself, hoping that this action wouldn't be taken as a hint to let her take over now. "Do you mind if I join you?"

"Not at all," replied Urd, moving just to the side, so that Belldandy had enough room to work next to her. "How about you make the next batch? I doubt that this'll be enough for all of us. Besides, I know that you'd like to make Keiichi's serving, so feel free to do so. At least you don't have to worry about the rest of us."

"Thank you, Neesan!" said Belldandy with a grateful smile, as she felt pleased to know that would get to listen to Keiichi's praise whenever he gets to eat her food. However, while she grabbed a pair of eggs to start with her own omelette, Belldandy paused and momentarily turned at Skuld. "Although, I'd love to try your breakfast myself, if you don't mind!"

The request caught the youngest Norn off guard, since she actually never expected Belldandy to be willing to take such a risk, and become one of the unfortunate souls to give her recipe a try. While she carried great pride in her inventions… her culinary skills were a totally different matter altogether; especially with Urd as her cooking instructor. Sure, she was more than thrilled to get noticed by her sister, but at the same time, this made her incredibly nervous. To the point where she became almost paranoid, second guessing everything she did this morning, and worrying that she'd make a fool of herself in front of Belldandy, because she messed something up and her breakfast was actually inedible. Still, when Belldandy smiled at her like that -or anyone for that matter- it was simply impossible to say no, and Skuld wasn't going to become the exception to that rule. "I-I'll be more than happy, sis!"

"By the way, are you both heading to Whirlwind, again?" asked Urd to the middle Norn, while giving her youngest sister a pat on the shoulders to calm her down. "I've heard something from Keiichi about starting working there again, but I wasn't sure if he was considering it, or he actually made up his mind."

"We're going to give it a try again, since it's for the best for Keiichi to have something to do, rather than sit idle all day long. And there's also the fact that we need money now that we're here," said Belldandy, before reaching for a spoon to get some of Skuld's omelette right off the frying pan, much to the young goddess' surprise. "Mm…"

"Wait, it's not-" started Skuld, as she worriedly stared at her sister's face for any signs of intense pain or disgust. Yet much to her great relief -and to a degree bewilderment- Belldandy didn't seem to immediately spit it out, but rather smile back at her.

"It's actually ready, and quite delicious Skuld! You may need to take it off the fire now, or it might get overcooked."

"Yes, sis!"

Just seeing the happiness and even pride in Skuld's eyes was more than enough to make her wonder if this is how she looks when Keiichi praises her. And while Skuld was busy serving the omelette, Belldandy took the opportunity to ask Urd what's been in her mind this whole time. "Thank you, Neesan. It's nice to see you teach her something new. Although, I'm still curious as to what's the occasion."

"Well, considering that you're starting to work at Whirlwind again, and with so many people living here, I thought that should give you a hand. Or… that was the case, before they've recalled them." Letting out a sigh, as she didn't need to offer much more details than that, for Belldandy to figure out who she was talking about, Urd still felt that something was wrong, and they didn't wish to tell her. As a matter of fact, she had some trouble sleeping because of it, and that's why she got up this early on -in sharp contrast to her usual habit of sleeping in- and by the looks of its, she wasn't the only one who seemed nervous about this whole situation. Skuld may be highly temperamental and even bratty at times, but she's far from completely ignorant of what's taking place around her, which also explains why she had her own reasons to worry. From what she told her, according to her security system the demons had agents stationed all around Nekomi, to prevent any rogue party to reach them, but that was actually to be expected. What she did find strange though, was that the moment they recalled Hagall the activity around the temple skyrocketed, with not one but four teams deployed on the mortal realm, effectively surrounding the temple from all compass points.

Surely that couldn't be a mere coincidence, and there has to be some kind of explanation about this sudden development, but for the time being, Urd thought it was for the best to offer Skuld a distraction. Which eventually turned into an impromptu cooking lesson, although even she wasn't expecting it to turn out this good. 'Heh… maybe I should keep at it, and see what I else can teach the kid… no… Skuld. After all, I'll have to give her enough credit for growing up a bit.' And though she was more than happy to see her little sister's progress, Urd still hated to have to go back at her own old habit of lying to her other sister, just to keep her from worrying too much about what might be going behind the scenes. "Like I said, it's not a special occasion, unless of course you count the fact that you're pregnant. Now, that's definitely something special alright!"

"Neesan! Even though I'm pregnant, I'm still perfectly capable of taking care of the housework just by myself! There's no need to treat me like I'm made of porcelain all of a sudden!" pouted Belldandy in such a childish fashion that made Urd think that her sisters' personalities almost switched around, and now it was Skuld the mature one and Belldandy the half pint brat.

This naturally caused the half goddess to chuckle at the mere idea of such nonsense, but with her own stress starting to affect her, it was nice to ease off her worries like that. After all, when she tried to call her mother for some explanation why she recalled Hagall during the latter's honeymoon, all they told her was that the Daimakaicho was too busy at the moment. And while she was far from a spoiled brat that would throw a temper tandrum because her mother prioritised her work over paying attention to her, Urd knew that this wasn't Hild's style at all. Still, whatever that was, it could wait for later, when she could contact her again and see what was going on here. "Anyway, Bell. I'll go and wake Keiichi and Mara up, if that's okay with you. And Keiichi's going to need to take his daily bath -being a god and all- so it's better to get him started early, too. No worries, though. I bet you'll have enough time to finish with the breakfast, and Skuld can give you a hand, too."

"Actually… I'll do just that. Thanks, Neesan!"

XXX

Darkness.

The familiar sensation of sheer, unadulterated power the run through her body was almost intoxicating, and yet foreign at the same time. She had no idea how long she's been awake, or what happened to her clothes, as the only thing she felt against her skin were the grimy rags she was lying upon. Most importantly though, was the mere fact that she was alive. 'Wait… why wasn't I supposed to be alive? Did I die, or?... What's going on? Where am I, anyway?'

With enough effort, the bronze skinned demoness turned her head from side to side, her eyes scanning at the cavernous remains of a partially collapsed bunker, even though she wasn't entirely sure how she knew that. Forcing herself in a seated position, Hild searched for more clues as to her whereabouts, as well as any hints to what may had taken place in the Tree's Chamber. She did remember a few things, but much of it was a confusing blur that she had to figure out at a later point of time. Her first priority was to figure out where she was, but as she prepared to get up, her hand came into contact with a metallic object that caught her attention, causing her to look down. 'What…the...'

Scattered around her were the seals she was required to wear on a regular basis, only those seemed covered in dirt and grime, as well as full of metal fractures that could only be the result of being subjected to extreme stress. Worst of all though, was the realization that what she initially took as rags, was in fact the remains of her regal dress; what's left of it, anyway. Partially burned and with a rather ominous hole on the back, where it should've been none, it left Hild with no delusions that whatever took place to if former owner wasn't a flesh wound. The problem however, was that said owner, was Hild herself.

'Alright, that's ominous.' Looking around her once more, Hild began to recognize Asgard's architectural style, even though the bunker had clearly seen better days. And with a heavy sigh, she summoned a battle uniform on her, as it was apparent that she needed something a bit more suited in case she run into whatever took her out in this place… and time. 'Hold on… this can't be my home, is it? I don't recall anything… killing me, and this doesn't seem to be anywhere close to Yggdrasil's chamber either. How did I end up here, and…' Hild made a double take when she spotted another set of clothes not too far from where she stood, Hild almost didn't want to take a closer look, since the color and general design was eerily familiar to her, but for the sake of making sure, she reluctantly approached what she now knew to be a grave site.

Unlike her own clothes, these seemed to be almost intact, albeit somewhat dirty from being left there for a long period of time, but either way she had a suspicion as to what might've been the case of this one's demise. 'The Double System. It has to be. After surviving so many battles… to go down like that… Poor Ansuz.'

Her armored feet came to a halt mere steps away from her friend's final resting place and tentatively reached down to pick one of the remaining feathers that must've once belonged to her head winglets, and somehow survived their goddess' demise. Almost on an impulse, Hild formed an earring to attach the feather to, and then searched among the others to find a matching one to complete a set. For a moment she observed the earrings in her hands with a detached feeling of reality, as if this was nothing more than a bad dream, no matter how the rest of her senses confirmed that she was wide awake. Truth to be told she wasn't entirely sure what to make of this, as deep down she knew that this couldn't be her… world, and yet the sorrow of seeing what became of someone she could very well consider a true friend was as real as if this had always been her home. Hild maintained her gaze on the abandoned goddess dress as she put the earrings on, and then decided that she wasn't going to simply walk away from this site just like that.

Not wanting to show disrespect to the deceased, the demoness flicked her wrist, causing Ansuz's clothes, along with the leftover feathers to levitate in front of her. Then with a fragment of her power she formed a small metallic box, where she respectfully deposited the mementos, even neatly folding the clothes before sealing the box. Last but not least she carved a single rune on the box's lid, which stood for the goddess' name whose remains and personal effects were now contained within it, just so that they didn't ever end up like that again.

"I'm not sure what happened here, and I'm most likely not the same Hild you used to know, but I might as well do this in her behalf," whispered Hild as she run a hand over the box's lid, and let out a heavy sigh. "I never thought I'd say this, but… you took great care of my girl when I wasn't able to do that myself, and you also took care of… him too. Thank you, Ansuz, I'll be forever in your debt. Rest easy, my old friend."

Silence followed the demoness' words, as the lump she felt in her throat made it harder to carry on; and besides, she wasn't good when it came to this kind of speeches to begin with. Instead, she spent some time standing there, wondering where it would be the most suitable to deposit the box, until the silence was broken by a high pitched screech that was soon followed by an explosion. The sound was coming from further down the tunnels, and for a moment she even considered not getting herself involved in it, but the desire to make something bleed was too much to ignore. 'If you beg for oblivion… who am I to deny you? As a matter of fact, let me guide you along the way.' Sending the box into her devil's mindscape for safekeeping, Hild formed a battle axe to arm herself with and then set off towards the source of that noise.

In the meantime, the shrieks only intensified as more creatures fell under the unrelenting barrage of particle shots that were coming from the far end of the multi mile long tunnel, and yet they kept coming. Even when their comrades exploded in a shower of acidic gore, the mandrides charged ahead, in a desperate attempt to reach the gunner at the far end of the tunnel. Until… someone else emerged from a crack in the wall, which opened up into a proper hole, once the demoness kicked the partially collapsed wall to a pile of rubble.

There was a small pause after Hild's entrance, as the mandrided seemed confused by the demoness' presence, which turned out to be a sentiment shared by Hild herself, who also found it incredibly strange to stare at what was thought to be an extinct species. The only place where one could find preserved corpses of these armored beings was deep in Jotunheim's permafrost, where they kept an archive of all hostile beings they encountered throughout the exploration of their realms. Although, those beings belonged to an ever older era, back when her father and his first demons waged war to gain control over the -then frozen- wastelands of Niflheim, with the mandrides being the lowest ranking grunts of Nidhogg's monstrous hordes.

'Huh… so that's what these guys sound like in real life. Interesting…' Ignoring her curiosity for a moment, Hild immediately prepared a wind spell to blast the creatures as far from her as possible, knowing all too well from the ancient reports that they were more dangerous dead, than alive. The spell hit the approaching horde like a freight train, causing them to fall back no matter how hard they tried to cling onto the floor with their spindly legs. And before they had the chance to recover from Hild's blast wave, the demoness casually flung a fire spell that sealed their fate. Travelling down the length the of the tunnel, the unleashed torrent of fire incinerated anything and everyone in its path of destruction, burning even the creature's reinforced exoskeletons, leaving behind nothing than fine ash.

"What a bunch of pushovers. Are these things even worthy to count as a legitimate threat?" dryly muttered Hild, inspecting her handiwork with a clearly unsatisfied look in her eyes. 'I hope that there's something more dangerous here to kill, or this time I'm gonna die out of boredom.' Turning away from the smoldering remains of the mandriders, Hild noticed the fast approaching form of what appeared to be a gunmetal grey, eight wheeled infantry fighting vehicle, armed with a particle cannon turret that must've been the source of those blasts. However, the most important detail about this vehicle was the blue, tear shaped emblem on the front that clearly identified it as one of Skuld's inventions. 'Well, it looks like that girl started building larger toys as she grew up. Still… I was expecting a giant robot. I guess even Skuld got more pragmatic with her contraptions as matured up.' Not a second after she thought that, the vehicle parked before her… broke down, or that's what it initially looked like, as parts poked out of its main body, until even that opened up and started to reconfigure itself. However, soon enough it became apparent that this was no malfunction, and neither it was a random act, but a well designed feature that allowed the synthetic before her to change its outwards appearance. 'I stand corrected. It is a giant robot after all.'

The towering synthetic had to kneel in order to take a better look at this demoness and spent a few seconds scanning her, just in case this turned out to be a trap. But it soon became apparent that no matter how impossible it seemed to be, this was indeed Hild, the formerly dead Daimakaicho, and mother of Urd, its creator's eldest sister. "My apologies for scanning you without introducing myself first, Hild-sama. I just had to make sure that you weren't some kind of pretender. I'm a sentient synthetic lifeform created by Skuld-sama to act as the leader of the resistance force against the Dragon's spawn that's currently infesting Asgard. My official designation is Skuldworks Automaton model άλφα, or SA-α in short. And I hate to impose on you, but we could use any help that we can get right now."

"I see no reason to reject your offer, so count me in. Although… when you said that you're the leader of the resistance force," cautiously said Hild, especially towards the end as she tried to better phrase what she wanted to ask. "Can I assume that there's no other celestial left to lead you?"

It was time like these that SA-α found it useful to lack facial expressions, as it knew what Hild most likely tried to ask. And considering that there was no point at trying to deceive her, the synthetic offered only two words. "My condolences."

Hild didn't need to hear more, and turned around, hefting her axe over her shoulder as she took a couple of steps away from the robot and stared at the mandrides' ash piles. 'This is Odal's timeline. Everything matches Grid's report of his debriefing, and… yet there's no mention of any resistance force. Unless I'm somehow… prior to the point of his arrival on Asgard, and these guys were gone by then.' No matter how little sense this whole mess made to her, it was a reality she needed to face, whether she liked it or not. 'This isn't my world. None of the deceased is associated to me, except for their resemblance to those back home. Nothing more, nothing less.' Although she knew that this wasn't exactly the case, Hild simply didn't have the luxury of mourning right now. After all, it was one thing to lull the loss of a friend, but to say farewell to someone much, much closer to her -as in her own flesh and blood- was a whole different matter altogether. And recalling that report, left her with no glimmer of hope that this was somehow a better situation than she already feared it was.

Verthandi wasn't the only one of the Norns that had to be copied, in order to restart the System once Asgard was recaptured. Both Urth and Skudr were also created for the same reason, with Angrboda providing the necessary access to Nidhogg's System, as well as enough similarity to Hild's own core, as to allow use Null Point weapons. I'm unsure why Verthandi and Angrboda decided to accompany me in this world, instead of staying with Urth and Skuld to rebuild what was lost, but I suspect that they both saw me as their child, yet from different perspectives. In Verthandi's case… that should be obvious enough, even though she's trying hard not to act too much like my late mother, out of fear that I'll reject her as a bad copy. On the other hand, Angrboda is a more complicated case, as her lookalike did have a child, yet Urth is technically speaking her younger sister, since all of them descend directly from Yggdrasil, who created every Ironwood Dryad. And while the conversion to their current forms was primarily to enhance their abilities and powers, there were some psychological implications, too. As such, Angrboda probably felt that she too lost a child, since Urth never saw her as her mother, and that void with filled by the first person who was available: me.

'No wonder, Angrboda wished to create a daughter, when she was given the opportunity. I suppose that in a way, Hel is the closest substitute to having a child for herself… except for having one in the old fashioned manner.' Despite having less than ideal relations with her doppelganger, Hild could at the very least understand some of Angrboda's drives. And perhaps what annoyed her the most was that she could see parts of her own personality in her, even though Angrboda severely lacked her refinement and tactfulness. Of course, some might raise some objections about the Daimakaicho's perceived maturity, but Hild wouldn't have any of that. Still, whatever the case might be, the really important thing was that she had to try to distance herself from what was going on here, or she was in for some serious heartache.

"Alright, I think I've wasted enough of our time here." Speaking up after a long pause, Hild slowly turned around to face the synthetic who patiently waited for her to sort her thoughts out. "Let's get out of here before more of those things start missing their friends and come to find them."

"Personally I'm not that worried about them, but I definitely don't want to attract too much attention. There are more things that those nuisances that warrant our caution," cooly replied SA-α, before a small quake let loose some rubble, causing it to tumble down the sides of the tunnel. "Me and my big vocaliser." Raising its hand next to its audio reception in an extraneous motion mostly for Hild's sake, so that she knew that it was communicating via comm line.

Watching patiently the synthetic as it most certainly received a sitrep from its comrades, Hild felt another rumble that let loose more rubble, and this time even dirt that found its way through small cracks on the ceiling. "This place sure saw better days. Hey, big bot, how about we get out of here first, and then you can have a chat with your friends?"

"I second that," said SA-α as it pointed in the direction it originally came from. "Follow me, I know a shortcut to the surface." And just as it set off with Hild flying close behind it. "Also, we need to make a stop before he head for the Base. We've confirmed more formerly KIA immortals throughout the city, and one of them is actually rather close to our location."

While her eyebrows went up from the sound of these news, Hild's more pragmatic side knew that these immortals weren't survivors, but more likely those present in Yggdrasil's chamber when she made contact with the… wrong being. "Let me guess… It's one demon and two goddesses? Oh, and another synthetic with them, too?"

"Yes, but… how do you know that?" asked SA-α, showing genuine surprise for the first time since it met her.

"Actually, it's a bit of a crazy story, so don't blame me if it sounds illogical to you," warned Hild, just in case this robot got the idea that she's completely insane.

"Considering the odds we're up against, I'd say that your crazy story can't be crazier than my reality," retorted the synthetic as it came to a brief pause to change into its vehicle configuration for ease of mobility. "Hop onto my turret, and let me hear that story while I drive you towards our destination."

"Very well. Lead the way then."

XXX

Circling the hill that flanked the western side of the celestial capital, three airborne reptiles watched the aflame land below with great skepticism. After all, it's been a long while since this once forested area was turned into a barren landscape, meaning that there was no chance for this to be a natural occurrence, leaving them with no delusion as to the cause behind the burning inferno below. And if there was any doubt, the smoldering remains of several dozen mandriders that scattered the derelict demonic frigate that was left crushed against the hillside, was more than enough evidence that someone had been here.

"Those damned overgrown toys are at it again," hissed the leading wyvern as he inspected the damage below. He and his two other brood brothers had been assigned to patrol this sector for any unusual activity, but what used to be a fun activity was slowly starting to become particularly annoying as of late. "First they build harpoon missiles to pierce our hides, and now they dare lay waste on our nest, too?"

"Hey, boss? Are you sure that it's one of them?" asked the smallest of the three wyverns who despite his instinctive drive to follow his elder's lead, he dared to voice his concerns. "After all, those tasteless things don't go about blowing stuff up like that, so, maybe it's one of us? That's a pretty valued possession, and someone wanted to keep it for himself."

"Never! I fought hard to get that relic for myself! It's all mine!" snarled the first wyvern as logic gave way to raw hatred. Sending himself into a downwards spiral, the wyvern slammed onto the ground with great force, kicking off a cloud of smoke and hot embers. And though the pungent stench of the burning mandrides was almost enough to keep the other two wyverns from landing too soon, they knew that unless they immediately sided with their boss, they'd only suffer worse later.

Receiving only silence from the direction of the torn hull of what once used to be a demonic vessel sent to assist the rapidly deteriorating situation in Asgard, the wyvern confidently prowled on all fours, using its wing arms to better stabilize himself, and bared his serrated fangs to intimidate whoever attempted to claim his relic. "Show yourself you cowardly thief!" demanded the infuriated replite, while his two subordinates flanked either side of him, preparing to sink their teeth into whoever came out of their den. But the longer the silence remained, the more agitated the wyvern became. "I said… come out, now!"

At that moment, a flaming object came flying out of the otherwise dark interior of the ship's hull at such blinding speed that none of the reptilians had a chance to get a good glimpse of what it really was, let alone dodge it. The unknown object hit the eldest wyvern right between the eyes, causing him to reflexibly arch his neck in shock, as well as throw his maw wide open in a soundless scream, since it soon became apparent that the wyvern was in no shape to talk. Fire and smoke came out of his mouth, but not of hi own origin, since the object embedded on his head was the hilt of a flaming sword, with its burning blade torching the insides of the creature's cranium. Soon, a fountain of sparks shot out from his mouth, as the rest of his head and upper neck caught in fire, causing the two other wyverns to backpedal in horror.

Slowly, a dark clad figure stepped out of the ship's remains, watching his handiwork with mixed feelings of hatred and satisfaction. Just minutes ago he had woken up in the middle of a crater near this wreck, and without any clues as to what was going on, he ventured into the ship for answers. There, much to his confusion he found a pile of randomly assorted weapons, personal armor and even ID tags, all of demonic origin. And though he could tell that given the signs of damage on said objects that they didn't belong to the living, he found it unlikely that any demon would simply toss around the possessions of the deceased as if they were a trophy hoard. As a matter of fact, the longer he studied his surroundings, the more he became convinced that this was no burial site, and the sounds of trespassers coming from outside only infuriated him further. And a quick couple of fire blasts later, he had to go back and at the very least collect the tags, and offer them a field burial. It wasn't quite a proper ceremony, and there was no speech either, but for a moment, there was dignity. Until… someone decided to interrupt him by screaming his on top of his lungs.

"Demon!" screeched one of the wyverns, the moment he finally saw their adversary as he emerged from the shadows and out in broad daylight. And judging by the looks of it, this wasn't just a demon, but a quite angry one as well. "Retreat! We must warn the others! There's a living demon here!"

"Laevatein!" commanded Surt as he stretched his arm to grab the flaming sword that shot out of the smoldering remains of the dead wyvern's head, and back to his master's hand. He watched the felled creature finally collapse on the ground with a mighty thud, before the flames rapidly consumed it, bringing up a tiny smirk on the demon's lips. "That's one fewer vermin to deal with. Now… for the rest." Looking up, Surt spotted the two wyverns making an attempt to escape, and perhaps in a rare moment of brilliance they split up to ensure that at the very least one of them would successfully get away. However, there was a flaw in that logic, and Surt was going to prove it in the most unpleasant manner. "You get the skinny one, and I'll go for the other." He then released his sword that reverted into his angel form and nodded back at his master, before they both shot into the air in pursuit of the retreating wyverns.

This was the first time Surt got a good look at the level of devastation around him, since he barely recognized this place as Asgard. To put it simply, the once lush and beautiful land of the celestials was now a barren wasteland, full of deep, explosion craters that scarred the entire countryside to the point where one could wonder just what kind of conflict resulted to such horrific damage. Even a hot headed warrior like himself could understand the difference between organized warfare and wanton destruction, since the latter offered no benefits to the victor. There was nothing left of value here, and neither were any signs of reconstruction from the Dragon's forces, leaving Surt with more questions than answers. 'This looks more like an infestation than a proper occupation. Although what's the point of it all? Just trash the place? Did everyone here die for some bloody lizards to have a merry time blowing stuff up? Is this why my comrades died for?'

As the demon's anger flared up, he increased his flight speed to the point where the moisture around him briefly condensed into a tiny cloud that disappeared the moment he broke the sound barrier, and then slammed feet first onto the unsuspecting wyvern's back. Just the sheer force of the impact alone resulted into a sickening crack, soon to be followed by the creature's scream as his spine broke at the height of his lower back, yet Surt didn't stop there and put the wyvern into a collision course with the ground. He refused to even jump off the reptile's back until they hit the ground, probably close to one of the city's former parks, that now laid barren. And out of sheer luck -or rather lack of, depending on the point of view- that very spot was where a light fixture used to stand, only to be stripped down into nothing more that a metal pole. One that was currently sticking out of the wyvern's back, as the crash landing forced the seemingly harmless object through the creature's thorax.

"C-Curse… you…" wheezed the impaled wyvern before making a failed attempt to stand, only to end in a coughing fit. "You'll… soon... join your kind… Once the… others hear of this… and the elders start hunting you… You'll suffer a worse fate… bastard! Just like… the rest of you!"

"Who are you kidding? You're such a pushover that the only way for any of you to kill me is by… boring me to death," dryly retorted Surt as he jumped off the wyvern's back and walked around him, until he came to a stop in front of the reptile's maw. "Now, how about you answer a few questions, before I actually become unpleasant?"

"Do your worst…" managed the wyvern through clenched teeth, as he teetered between conscience and death's sweet embrace. "I'll… say nothing."

"We'll see about that." Before he could even start with his questions, Surt's attention turned skywards, where the other wyvern was finally caught by one of his angel's attacks and light up like a matchead. Having little to no control of its flight trajectory, the burning wyvern frew overhead, until his body broke apart and scattered in a fiery rain of parts at the far end of the park. And as Laevatein returned victorious, Surt turned his attention back to his pinned prisoner. "Do you finally understand just what you're dealing with? I'm a demon, and I won't be denied by an overgrown lizard to the likes of you! Now answer me! Who's calling the shots here, and where can I find him?"

Feeling that his time was running short, the wyvern let out a low growl and tried to prop himself up once more, but this time with all his remaining strength. He didn't quite wish to do this, although given that his life was about to end, he decided that playing his trump card was worth it, even if it could potentially render him into a mindless beast. "How about… I send your… head to him?"

'Master, this wyvern's about to go berserk,' warned Laevatein, albeit a bit too late for either of them to react. Surt craned up his neck up as the wyvern's muscles bulged and soon the creature's whole body enlarged, dwarfing him by a considerable margin. Furthermore, the wyvern extracted himself from that light pole, and even healed what should've been a serious injury in a matter of seconds, leaving nothing more that a tiny scar behind. "You don't say. Well... I guess it's time to see if the legends exaggerated about them or not. Laevatein, get ready!" Stretching his arm out to grab his angel, who wasted no time and changed into his sword form, before he turned his attention back to the roaring wyvern. "Hey, scaly face! Come get some!"

The wyvern's furious retort in the form of a thunderous roar, nearly pushed the demon back a few steps, before the creature's eyes light up in a crimson light and fire flared out of its nostrils. His whole body was shaking from the adrenaline rush it was coursing through his system, and without delays the multiton creature bull charged at his opponent, as if he had forgotten that he could fly. Galloping clumsily on all fours, the enraged reptilian almost appeared as if he was planning to ram Surt, but at the last possible second and despite his mass, the wyvern made a one-eighty turn and swiped at him with his muscular tail, sending the demon flying across the park.

It was actually the husk of a withered tree that stopped Surt's trajectory, even though it snapped in twine from the force of the impact, causing it to land on top of the demon who barely had a chance to get his bearings. Then, just as the dark haired demon kicked a branch off of him, he caught a glimpse of the wyvern charging at him once more, but this time clearly intent to bite him. "Oh, no you don't!" Raising his left arm, Surt launched a few firebolts at the creature's mouth, causing him to come to a halt and even backpedal as he got pelted with one attack after the other. Still, it was more than obvious that in his current form the wyvern was far more resilient, as he merely got a few singed scales, but otherwise not much other than that. 'So, that's what happens when they go berserk. Still, unless the records are wrong, only one in five berserkers ever managed to recover their senses, and even then, not without some lingering damage, both physical and mental. Well, if someone wants to kill me that much to suffer such fate, I suppose I shouldn't disappoint him.'

Raising his sword high, Surt momentarily closed his eyes and concentrated, while Laevatein's flames formed a barrier around them, to buy time until the spell was complete. Outside the literal firewall, the wyvern repeatedly bashed his head against the barrier, threatening to break it, but before Surt was forced to cancel the spell and seek another solution to his problem, a missile hit the wyvern's neck, grabbing his attention.

Overhead, a moderately sized, black fighter bomber zoomed past them at what must've been more than twice the speed of sound, before it entered a tight skyward spiral, significantly reducing its speed as it throttled its scramjet engines down. Then at the apex of its flight course, just as the aircraft seemed to stall and begin to fall, it began to open up and reconfigure its form, changing from a flying machine into what seemed to be a robot with a jetpack on its back. Or rather, it had placed its wing-mounted scramjet engines on its back, along with the rest of the wing assembly to serve a purpose even in its bipedal mode. Still, the most interesting feature for the demon below were the rather conspicuous tear shaped emblems on its wings, which in reality acted as a clear statement about its allegiance.

'Aren't those… blown up versions of the youngest Norn's forehead emblem?' noted Surt, as he carried on with his spell that now started to imprint itself on the ground around him, with fire burning a series of runes as well as diagrams. Still, he kept an eye out for the wyvern's reaction, and by the looks of it, the creature's attention was now drawn to the newcomer. Clearly it seemed that despite the power boost, the berserker's mental state denied him of any tactical advantage, as it seemed to be unable to prioritise and deal with what should've been the biggest threat for him first. 'Actually… let's wait for a moment. It's better if this guy gets in the air first.'

Indeed, the wyvern decided to go after the hovering robot that was not only trying to assess the situation, but also scan the demon below for any signs of him being a fake. And with that opponent still suspended in midair, the wyvern launched himself up and for the first time since he went berserk, spread his wings to fly. Letting out an ear shattering roar, the wyvern opened his mouth to launch a fire attack at the synthetic, but his opponent didn't just hover there staring back at him. Instead, the synthetic angled its legs forward, using its secondary thrusters to push itself into the opposite direction, soon to be followed by a backflip that put even more distance between itself and the burning pillar of fire that shot out of the creature's mouth. Furthermore, as the wyvern seemed ready to lunge at his opponent, the synthetic ejected the slats that remained hidden under in front of its wings and formed them into a pair of katana like blades. And the moment the reptile was within striking range, the synthetic targeted his most vulnerable part: the thin membranes that formed the wings.

A loud shriek filled the air, as the wounded reptilian suddenly found himself unable to actually control his flight, thanks to the long vertical incisions to his wings that rendered them useless, and therefore started to fall back to terra firma. But before the synthetic could go after him, a voice from the ground caught its attention.

"Hit the deck and grab onto your bolts! Now!"

There was no time to even ask for an explanation, as it soon became apparent what was going on. Emerging from beyond the horizon and at a very shallow angle, the meteor burned brighter than the sun as it zoomed towards its intended target at several times the speed of sound.

"Oh scrap!" yelled SA-β, as it crash landed to spare itself from turning into slug. Although in Surt's defense, he did extend his barrier to protect the synthetic as the meteor made contact with the helpless wyvern.

Though the resulted impact only lasted for a tiny fraction of a second, it proved more than enough for the burning meteor to release all its kinetic energy in one giant explosion, and in the process tear the wyvern apart. Still, the produced shockwave was far too powerful to be completely absorbed by the now disintegrated target and soon spread in all directions, causing even more damage to the already devastated city.

XXX

"An alternative timeline, you say? Hm… it's quite the story indeed," mused SA-α as it exited the tunnel at full speed with Hild sitting on its turret, even as the synthetic fired a couple of shots in the direction they came from, probably as a 'parting gift' for their pursuers.

"I told you that it's crazy, and I can't blame you if you don't believe me," said Hild with a sigh as she leisurely pointed in the same direction the synthetic's blasts travelled, and launched a single bolt of lightning that travelled through the tunnels, instantly incinerating dozens of mandrides.

"Actually, considering that you're confirmed to be dead, I suppose that this does make some sense from a certain perspective. Although, it does also mean that in reality you're not survivors per se, but alternative versions of immortals that existed here," reasoned SA-α, after it analysed Hild's story and eventually reached the conclusion that in either way, if made little difference. "Still… I hope that while we find a way for you to return to your original world, you could give us a hand here. The situation is beyond desperate."

"Though I may be a demoness, this doesn't mean that I'll just ignore everything like it's someone else's problem. Besides, this world is far too similar to mine, and someone needs to pay for this whole mess," said Hild behind clenched teeth, as she got a proper chance to see the damage around her for the first time. The once beautiful and vibrant city of Asgard was nothing more than a desolate ghost town, an empty husk where life had been exhausted and replaced with a mockery, that these creatures that currently infested it truly were. 'Still… why am I here? If… Nidhogg really was the one to send me here, why would it send me here? This place is under its control, so… isn't that what it wanted in the first place? There's something going on here, but what? I wish I could remember everything it told me, but my memories of the incident are fuzzy.'

However, as they kept driving down what once was one of Asgard's main 'streets' so to speak, a blinding flash caused Hild to close her eyes, before a mighty tremble shook the ground, finally followed by an ear shattering explosion. And just a mere blink later, she could actually see it on the ground; the rapidly approaching shockwave that prompted her to erect an emergency barrier to prevent the supersonic wall of highly pressurised air from slamming onto them. "Brace for impact!"

XXX

The Daimakaicho's office, Niflheim

Sitting on this chair brought back old, almost forgotten emotions to the ancient demon, who was effectively acting as his own daughter's replacement, until the actual substitute arrived from the mortal realm. Across the room and to his left was the eerily familiar looking Ironwood Dryad, both whose form and energy signature matched that of the Daimakaicho's the most, while on the opposite side of the office, Njorun was watching Angrboda with mixed anger and aversion. She even ignored Verthandi's attempt to smile at her, as she was far too angry to be appeased by such mannerisms, and merely turned away to avoid and outburst that was only waiting to happen. Last but not least was the youngest avatar of Hel, or at the very least based on appearances alone, since in reality this was the prototype Loki built together with Odal. And right now, she was acting as the mediator of sorts, in order to keep Angrboda and Njorun from trying to blast each other to the next realm.

"Do I really have to dress up like this?" Interrupting the silence with the same question she had asked more than enough times already, Angrboda inspected her new clothes with a sense of thinly veiled aversion. And running her fingers through her hair to feel her new haircut did little to improve her mood either.

"Are you implying something about my daughter's appearance, you stupid copy?" snapped Njorun at the Ironwood dryad, only for Ymir to intervene before this escalated beyond anyone's control.

"Enough! This isn't the proper time to bicker at each other like little kids! I know that neither of you are happy with this arrangement, but it's for everyone's best interest to maintain order at this moment, even if we have to resort to such measures." The ancient Daimakaicho felt utterly drained from having to deal with this newest disaster, especially with the ongoing Hel crisis, and with another one added soon afterwards when some long forgotten rogues suddenly decided to make their presence known after eons of inactivity, it was all too much to deal all at once. Perhaps more than anything, it was the fact that his own daughter had gone missing, and without any kind of logical explanation either, leaving even someone as experienced as him with a sinking feeling of helplessness for the first time in a really long time. Worse yet, the one he called in to actually replace Hild at least behind the scenes -and at such a difficult moment in history- was none other than a former Daimakaicho who failed to maintain the title for more than a couple of hours. To say that this did little to reassure him that things would go smoothly from this point on… would've been the understatement of century, but without any better options at the time being, Hagall better had to deliver.

Turning away from each other, the two quarreling demonesses did their best to ignore the other's presence, allowing the rest of the bystanders to breathe out a heavy sigh of relief, since they too had been through a lot of stress as of late. To begin with, Hel was already facing a lot of pressure for her obvious role in taking over as the deceased mortals' retainer. And to complicate matters even further, her new allies were now aware that she's been hiding Urd's angel from Odal's world… which didn't seem to be the best way to start this new partnership with them.

On the other hand, Verthandi appeared to be acting rather strangely as of late too, almost as if she was -for the lack of a better word- lonely. Or rather, she probably felt largely displaced by her original, who after all was Odal's actual mother and most certainly would take over as the de facto motherly figure in his life. She even avoided showing up on Earth, even though she wasn't prohibited from visiting the newlyweds, just to spare herself from having to face this new situation. Yet in a strange twist of fate, Hagall and her husband were expected to arrive anytime now, making Verthandi slightly nervous as she wasn't entirely sure how to act around them. 'Hagall already has a mother-in-law, so I can't exactly play that role. And besides, even if I tried, Odal would've found it inappropriate, given that he does have a mother here. What to do?...'

At the moment, the office's door came open, revealing none other than the Daimakaicho's deputy along with her somewhat apprehensive spouse, who almost immediately noticed the people present and frowned. His wife however, confidently strode towards the Daimakaicho's desk, behind which Ymir was currently seated at. "Is it really true? Hild-sama went missing? How's that even possible?" demanded the understandably confused blonde, since they offered her little to no information about the specifics of this incident, other that she needed to report to Niflheim as soon as possible.

"I'm afraid that's what I want to know as well," said Ymir with a frustrated groan, before he stood up from his daughter's chair and motioned for Hagall to take a seat. It was mostly a symbolic gesture than mere courtesy, since it was fairly easy for the demoness to understand the meaning of this action, even though Ymir never quite said it himself: she was now in charge.

"People don't just disappear out of the blue for no reason; let alone our own leader!" Plopping on the chair, Hagall saw the documents placed in front of her and quickly skimmed through them, verifying that those were Ymir's preliminary reports of this incident. Even though they were hastily compiled, they did contain more than enough information to answer some of her questions as to what was going on -as far as they could tell at least- and thus any further questioning of Ymir was currently unnecessary. "But I don't think we're going to accomplish anything while waiting here. I trust you've got research to conduct?"

"That's correct. And I fear that this might involve Yggdrasil in one way or another, so… it's going to be difficult to say the least." Glancing in Odal's direction, Ymir had to admit that he wasn't entirely sure about his daughter's brilliant idea of marrying her second in command to a god, but then again given Hild's own history… he should've known better. "I'll leave you two alone for a while, although I'd appreciate if your husband followed me to Helheim for debriefing that second World of Elegance. After all, most of her accomplices are his own creations."

"That he'll do," assured Hagall with a nod, just as she shared a look with Odal who nodded back at her. "Although, I'd like to give us a few minutes, before he joins you. And that includes everyone else present, too."

"By your… command," said Ymir with a small bow, which the others -save Angrboda- copied, and then exited the office, leaving the newlyweds behind.

"What a mess!.. Why is it that every time I want to have some fun, all Hell breaks loose?" said the frustrated Hagall as she rubbed her temples. Noticing the way her husband was staring at her, Hagall narrowed her eyes at him. "Before you even say it… no, my rebelion doesn't count as fun, so, I'm not complaining about that incident."

"I said nothing," came Odal's amused reply, leaving his wife bristle as she crossed her arms and let out an overdramatic huff. 'Quite defensive, aren't we?' Jokes aside though, Odal had a very good idea of what this must've felt for his wife, as he had been on his own for quite some time, due to that crisis back when he was a child. 'Hild may not be her mother, but she's the one who practically raised her, so, there's no doubt that it must be hard to not only take over Hild's role, but do it from behind the scenes too. Then again, if Hild's disappearance becomes public knowledge and especially at a time like this, things will most certainly get out of control really fast.'

"You look troubled," noted the blonde demoness, and even wondered if she had been too hard on him, only to dismiss the thought when she realized that there was a much more likely explanation. "Look, I know that we left too soon, but if everything ends well… I'll try to get some free time so that we can go to Earth again. Of course, I have no problem if you want to go back even now, if you-"

"I'll stay here, thank you. Even though I'd love to get back with my parents, they need some time to get used to the idea that I'm related to them. After all, having a grownup god acting as their kid is awkward to say the least. And let's not mention that they have another child on their way. The last thing I need is to try to take their attention away from my future sister." It still felt odd to him that his parent's first child in this timeline was actually a girl, and almost bet that Verthandy was going to have a bit too much fun reminding him of that little fact, but in a way he also felt relieved. Perhaps not having a younger copy of himself running around the place, also meant that he was in a way unique. "Also, I did ask you to stay by my side forever, and I sure will do the same, too."

Despite everything else that was going on at the moment, Hagall couldn't help but blush at such an exclamation. 'I swear… if you're doing this on purpose… Although, it feels nice to know that. Still, I can play the same game.' Rather than offering him an answer, Hagall gestured him to approach her, which the curious god did, but even then she urged him to lean closer. And the moment he did, Hagall grabbed his collar and pulled him closer for a kiss on the lips that actually made him blush even harder than she did. 'Gotcha!' Pulling away ever so slowly, but only after she spends a good couple of seconds familiarizing the blushing god with the taste of her lips. "Good, because I'm expecting you to hold that promise. Still, let's not take it too literally, since I think that you've got some business, elsewhere."

It actually took Odal a while to snap out of his stupor, much to his wife's amusement, yet even as he did, that almost silly smile remained on his face. "Ah… yeah, I think I need to get… going now...before it's too late… I mean… me being late..." Clearing his throat to buy himself more time to recover, since his previous attempt to say something… ended up him babbling like an idiot, Odal did his best to pretend that he didn't see his wife's demused grin. "Right! I need to go, before Ymir starts to wonder what's taking me so long."

'I almost want to say it, but… it looks like a bit of tongue is already a bit too much for him. Let's not make him faint by saying anything else,' thought Hagall before she offered her husband a nod and began to gather the documents in front of her. "Sure thing, Odal. Also, once you're done, come to this address," said Hagall, pausing for a moment to scribble down a few directions on how to reach her villa; providing that Odal won't ask anyone to take him there in the first place. "And I included some directions too, just in case you need them or something."

"Sure thing, Hagall. I'll see you later." Reaching to get hold of the note, Odal gave it a quick glance before he began to walk towards the exit. Sure, he almost tripped over the sofa on his way out, as he was still quite distracted by that unexpected kiss to notice even such a large piece of furniture. "Oops… sorry about that!..."

"Just be careful on your way out. And don't get yourself lost," said Hagall with a slight wince, as she sounded more like a mother than a wife, right now. 'If adding some tongue makes him like act like that… I don't know what's gonna happen after we do it.' Letting out a sigh, Hagall shook her head and turned her attention to Ymir's reports and couldn't help but wonder just what was Hild thinking. 'She must've asked Surt to sneak her into the Tree's chamber, but… what for? And right in the middle of the negotiations, too? I've never seen her act this carelessly before! Okay… there was that time she walked right into my trap, although that took months to plan in advance. Besides… even if she managed to get in there, how did she sent the rest of her body there, without being caught by Asgard's firewalls? Direct transfer doesn't work in such secure areas, and it's unlikely that she just smashed her way in. What's going on here?'

XXX

Asgard… in a different world

'All systems at 98.2%. No significant damage detected. Resuming operation as normal.'

Powerful servos kicked in, as the stunned SA-β began to rouse up from its 'slumber' which in reality was nothing more than a self-diagnostic routine to determine the amount of damage it sustained from that blast, and by the looks of it, the demon's shield proved to be quite effective. Sure, it was that very demon who nearly terminated SA-β, but the synthetic wasn't going to complain at the prospect of adding such a powerful individual to their cause. Well… providing that he doesn't kill them all in the process. "I see that the target's been eliminated," said SA-β as it got up, but immediately noticed Surt's look, and realized that the synthetic hadn't offered a proper introduction yet. "Ah, my apologies. I'm SA-β, the subcommander of the all-synthetic resistance force created by Skuld-sama to reclaim Asgard from the Dragon's spawn."

Giving the towering robot a long, hard stare, Surt scratched his chin in deep thought, until he finally decided to speak up. "Did you just say, all-synthetic?"

"Indeed. And before you say it… I know that it's an impossible task for us."

"At least you know what creek you're in," said Surt in an almost sagely manner, feeling a bit too important all of a sudden. After all, it didn't take a genius to figure out that in a situation like this, any celestial or infernal would provide these synthetics a huge tactical advantage. "But you don't need to worry anymore. There's no way I'm letting those things do as they please. And while I think that you might have my name in a database or something, I might as well introduce myself too. I'm-"

"Dumbass!" came a particularly -if not implausibly- loud shout from afar, almost shaking the ground by the sheer force behind this verbal abuse, although to Surt that might've as well been music to his ears. After all, he didn't even need to look over his shoulder to figure out who was screaming bloody murder at him, considering that not only did he recognize her voice, but there was also one demoness confident enough to broadcast her bloodlust like that.

Although, there was also a realistic possibility that rather than confidence alone… she was just that pissed off.

'Heh… you always pick the best moment to show up, don't you?' thought the demon as he let out a sight and carried on as if correct that cry of undiluted outrage that interrupted his introduction. "Actually, the name's Surt. Nice to meet you." Of course, even he couldn't quite ignore the sound of a speeding, six-wheeled infantry fighting vehicle, rapidly approaching his position, forcing him to turn around to see what was going on. And lo and behold, Hild was actually riding on that thing that also sported Skuld's emblem on it. 'Why am I not surprised? I bet that this also turns into a robo-... Ah, it actually does.' Turning his eyes from SA-α, who seemed to take a moment to converse with his subordinate via radio communication, it didn't take him long to note that look on Hild's eyes. 'Uh oh…'

Coming to a stop right in front of her overzealous subordinate, Hild grabbed the demon by his shoulders and violently shook him, hoping that for once she'd get this through his thick head. "As if this whole fucking place isn't already blown to bits… you just went ahead and dropped a city killer on it! Well, Surt? What do you have to say for yourself?!"

"Stop shaking me like that, dammit!" protested the amber eyed demon, and much to his great relief, Hild did honor his request. Although, just as she did, Suft got the first good look at her face, and while the change of hairstyle could've been explained by the fact that he too woke up without any of his possessions -clothes included- that still couldn't understand why those earrings of hers… smelled like a goddess. And not just any goddess, but a very familiar one too. "Hild… are those?..."

"Yes, they are." Relaxing her grip on the demon's shoulders, Hild's hands slid off and eventually fell to her sides, just as she added in an almost soft whisper "Apparently, in this world… we died together."

"Well, at least you had good company," said Surt in an uncharacteristically level tone, before he threw a thumb in the wreck's direction. "I believe that this was where the Gate's room once stood, but the whole complex was blown to bits by a fire spell. The only thing left are the remains of one of our frigates that must've landed on a nearby hill. And I have a very good idea who did this, and most certainly why: to contain them here. Kind of ironic, considering that a demon held the Gate of Asgard to the bitter end."

"You…"

"Yeah, me. That's where I first woke up, after all," said Surt, before noticing Hild shake her head.

"You did a great job, is what I meant to say," corrected Hild as she offered him a weak smile. "But enough of that. We're not the only ones who ended up here, and regardless of what they are, we need to get them out of here before they become overrun." Remembering what SA-α had told her, she glanced over at the synthetic who offered her an affirmative nod, and then spoke up.

"The others are located in the main Yggdrasil complex, although it's ill advised to reach that part of the city right now. Our enemy might be thrown in disarray, but that won't last forever. Actually, we have reports of high activity around the city, so, we need to gate out asap. My comrades are almost at their location, meaning that it's better if we retreat to the Base and let them transport them there as well. It's the most recommended course of action available to us right now."

"Hold on! The Gate's available? Didn't you tell me that it's been sealed?" asked a surprised Hild, only for SA-α to shake its head.

"No, I'm afraid that the Bifrost network is indeed inaccessible. Instead, we had to devise our own means of transportation, but these gates are only local and even then very limited in terms of functionality. Still, we can use them to move around Asgard, and most importantly, they serve as the only direct method of accessing our Base. As you can imagine, in a situation like this, the only way of protecting our headquarters safe is by keeping its location a secret, and even make sure that no one can easily discover it. Otherwise… we'd be facing an almost inevitable siege, and one that we can't actually win, either. No matter how many we take down, more come to take their place, while on other hand, we don't have that luxury. Our resources are dangerously depleted, and unless we get a lucky break, we'll be forced to suspend all our operations in the next couple of months."

Sharing a look with her subordinate, who merely nodded back at her, the Daimakaicho eventually reached the same conclusion: that there was little to gain from staying here; provided that the synthetic's words were true and that regrouping was the best option they had for the time being. After all, jumping into the fray without good knowledge of the situation was too amateurish for two war veterans like them, no matter how much they wished to get out of this situation. "Very well," said Hild with a casual shrug. "Take us to your Base, and then we can hopefully plan out what our next move should be. Just make sure that your comrades evac the others, as well."

"Fear not, they're already there," replied SA-α, stepping aside as towering synthetic contacted their Base and requested a transfer for all four of them. "The gate is opening in fifteen second. Please, step back a little."

XXX

The tremors of a powerful explosion proved to be more than enough to wake up the Valkyrie from her slumber, as well as nearly unentangle her from the mess of cables that kept her naked body suspended in mid air. She had no idea how she ended up hanging over a pool of some description, although after a few seconds of carefully inspecting her surroundings, it became apparent that this was… or rather used to be the main control room of the Yggdrasil mainframe. Understandably, even such a familiar place was rendered unrecognizable due to the horrific amount of damage that left it in such a poor state, with most of the stations blown up, and otherwise covered by debris, while the entire lower section of the room was completely inundated. Most likely the result of water pipes being ruptured after the whole complex was left abandoned.

Turning her head slightly so that she could look up, Lind found out that she was actually suspended from the network cables that once led to the raised platform where the admins normally oversaw the sysops' operations, although in this case they have somehow come loose and hanged like a spider's web, right underneath the platform.

'How did I even end up here? And what happened to my uniform?' As a matter of fact, Lind couldn't even find her limiters that she normally carried on her person in the form of a pair of diamond shaped earrings. Even stranger though was that she couldn't feel any kind of power running through the cables she was suspended from, which clearly implied that the damage went much further than just the infrastructures of this room. And considering the contingencies to keep the mainframe up and running, Lind knew that whatever took place here, wasn't just a localized event, but a realm-wide disaster.

Before she could speculate any further as to what may have taken place here, a startled cry from the platform above, caught Lind's attention. It wasn't exactly a surprise to her though, as the voice clearly belonged to Peorth, who understandably must've been surprised to find herself in a situation like this. "Peorth! Hold on a second, I'm coming!" Extracting her limbs from the cobweb of cables, Lind formed a simple version of her uniform, that although lacked much of its protective capabilities, as well as the boosters, it was a much better alternative than staying in the nude. And with that done, the Valkyrie hovered up to the platform above, redying herself for any kind of potential threat that might be looming in the corners for her, only to find Peorth lying on the floor. She was still wearing the armor Excalibur had turned himself into, although it looked almost… all rusted and beaten up. More than anything else though, the Valkyrie couldn't help but notice that for some reason Peorth's hair has turned red, causing her to raise an eyebrow. "Everything's alright you two?"

"I don't think so! He's not moving, or even responding to me! I can't even make this suit move!" came Peorth's worried reply, trying to raise her arm to demonstrate just how difficult it was for her to perform even the slightest of movements. "See what I mean? This can't be good."

Offering a nod, Lind approached the former brunette and helped her get in a seated position, but even that required quite a bit of effort on her part. "Don't panic. I can still feel the life force of the earth spirits that are part of Excalibur's body, so he can't be dead. Most likely he's unconscious, just like we were moments ago." Seeing the rose goddess' expression visibly relax at the sound of that, Lind also felt somewhat relieved that at least their synthetic friend was alive. Although, it was still troublesome if they needed to repair him, as neither goddess had any kind of technical expertise on how to do that. And to complicate matters even more, Excalibur was one of the most complex biomechanical lifeforms ever constructed, a position that was now taken by Hel. "Since I don't see a way to remove the armor, I suggest you shrink down and then simply walk out of him. Although… I've been meaning to ask you something…"

Doing what she's been told, Peorth shrunk down to a miniature form, and then floated out of the armor, although not before she summoned a set of clothes on her. Which in her case was of course an identical bikini set to the one she customary wore these days. Still, the rose goddess could easily tell that there was something that must've been bothering Lind, so as soon as she resumed her size, she turned her attention to the Valkyrie. "Yes, what's the problem, Lind?"

"It's not a problem per se… just that your hair… is now red," said the war goddess while pointing at Peorth's head.

"Huh? My hair… Oh! This is actually my natural hair color! Whenever I put my limiters on, I turn into a brunette," explained Peorth with a slight smile as she combed her red tresses with her fingers, and then summoned a hair tie to get the longer stands on her back into that familiar ponytail of hers. "There! Much better now!"

Meanwhile, Lind resisted the urge to mentally kick herself for not realizing such an obvious thing, given that this was far from an unusual phenomenon. Many immortals experienced such changes when they had a limiter placed upon them, and by the looks of it, Peorth was one such case as well. "My bad, it looks like I forgot that you must've also woken up without your seals. That being said though, I don't see any traces of the demons that were with us," observed Lind, as she remembered about Surt, and even that tiny avatar of Hild's, back when they confronted them in Yggdrasil's chamber.

"That's true. And I don't sense their presence anywhere close to us, either." Taking a couple of seconds to explore their surroundings with her now heightened senses -all thanks to the lack of limiters- Peorth began to look rather confused by the cacophony of what appeared to be dozens of mindless beasts, all over the complex. "Um… Lind? Do you feel that? What are those things?"

"Trouble," came the Valkyrie's stoic reply, as she narrowed her eyes when she isolated the mantriders's chitter over the rest of the magical background noise. Even then, Lind's biggest concern was what caused that immense amount of noise, since those creatures as numerous as they are, shouldn't be powerful enough to cause such a disruption just on their own. Something else had to be present in this general area of the town, yet paradoxically enough, pinpointing its exact location seemed difficult. 'A dispersion field,' concluded Lind after eliminating all other possibilities. When something was too powerful to conceal by any other means available -stealth spells included- it was far from unusual to resort to alternative methods of concealment. In this case, the idea was to project an asymmetric, anomalous field that was designed in such a manner that pinpointing its source was difficult to discern. And with an irregular shape and variable intensity to hide the exact point of projection -or even multiple points in more advanced versions- it was a successful application of security by obscurity. "Judging by their auras, I can tell that they're hostile, and I might even know what they are. Although… the only time I heard about them was during a history lesson."

The administrator offered a nod, and took a moment to look around for any sign of activity from the ruined consoles, but like her Valkyrie friend, Peorth too reached the inevitable conclusion that nothing was in working order. Worse yet, the location of the auras outside the room rapidly changed, hinting at a reaction to something, yet strangely enough they weren't heading in their direction, but further into the complex. "Lind, I think that-"

The sound of an explosion, soon to be followed by many smaller ones, as well as gunfire. And by each passing second, the sound of battle only intensified, almost of if whoever engaged those things in combat was approaching them.

"If you wanted to say that we've got company… then I'll have to agree!" said Lind as she summoned her twin angels and assumed a defensive stance, even though she had no axe. "Peorth! Grab Excalibur and get cover!"

"Yes!" As much as she wanted to argue with Lind's orders, Peorth realized that she would only get in her way, and besides, someone needed to protect Excalibur while he was still out cold. Summoning her vines to better manipulate the unresponsive synthetic, Peorth carried him across the massive chamber and took cover behind one of the few support columns that seemed to be relatively intact. And not a moment too soon, as the control room's reinforced double doors groaned when something collided hard against their surface, quickly followed by an explosion that caused them to come open.

An acidic blood-like liquid poured through the slightly parted door panels, forming a tiny pool that violently churned as its contents reacted with the metallic floor, producing noxious chemical fumes that caused Lind to take a couple of steps back, just to be on the safe side. And with the door partially open, the sounds of the ongoing battle outside could be heard much more clearly, along with the unfamiliar, yet chilling shrieks of the dying mandrides that stormed through the complex to reach whoever was on the other side of the door.

'I have no idea whether they're friendlies or not, but if they're fighting those things, then we could work our way into some kind of temporary alliance, even if they're otherwise hostile,' reasoned Lind, as she needed someone to tell her just what was going on here. Although it was evident that something terrible had taken place here, she really hoped that this wasn't the future of some description; providing that they've been missing for Yggdrasil knows how long. Still, there was one possibility that lingered at the back of her head: Odal's world. According to the few scraps of information that the Daimakaicho unofficially shared with the Daitenkaicho, who then disclosed that information to the Fighting Wings, Odal's original world had met a terrible fate… which also seeming to be the case here. And while it was too early to reach such a conclusion with so little evidence, Lind wanted to think that this was the case, as the alternative was too ugly to even consider.

While the Valkyrie was too lost in her thoughts, and Peorth tried to check one of the closest consoles to her cover up position, in hopes that she could at least get some information out of them, the thundering sound of something crashing against the door caused both of them to go to high alert. As a matter of fact, the impact was so hard that it ripped the panels from the hinges, which fell on top of the puddle of acid, causing an almost instant increase of fumes coming from the now covered acid deposit. Still, what laid beyond that noxious plume was more than enough to make both goddesses to stare, as a heavily armored, dark green synthetic returned their gaze.

And after what felt like ages, although it was merely seconds, the synthetic turned its head back in the corridor's direction, where the sounds of combat could still be heard.

"Oi, SA-τ! Get yer treads rolling, fat boi! I found our chicks!"

Needless to say that both goddesses simply gawked as the synthetic entered the control room, and made a few gestures to guide what appeared to be a heavy tank through the door. Something that proved easier said than done, as both the corridor and the door it led to, were never designed for a 100 ton armored vehicle in mind, although that also proved enough to stop those creatures from flanking them. As a matter of fact, it kept its turret facing back towards the hallway to keep the advancing mandriders at bay by gunning down their incoming waves with searing plasma, as well as fragmentation grenades launched from its turret-mounted auxiliary gun.

Yet even amidst this chaos and destruction it was hard for Lind not to notice the rather inconspicuous blue symbols painted on both synthetics, prompting her to share a glance with Peorth who actually traced the water drop shape in the air with her index finger. Offering a nod as a reply to what she considered a positive identification of these synthetics' manufacturer, Lind turned around and approached the two synthetics. "I presume you're affiliated with the goddess Skuld?" It was actually more of a statement than a genuine question, although all things considered, she couldn't quite be absolutely certain about anything right now.

"Aye, that's right, ma'am. I'm SA-δ and my wide friend over there is SA-τ," replied the first of the two synthetics, while the other proceeded to switch into its robot form, prompting Lind to take a step back to give more space for the massive SA-τ to change modes.

Still, she levelled her gaze at the -relatively speaking- smaller of the two and crossed her arms. "So, it's ma'am now? Funny, because I thought I was a chick moments ago…"

"Now.. that was before I scanned ye spunky girls. And… I kinda like my rear suspension where it is, you know. So, no disrespect from me, ma'am!" said SA-δ raising its arms defensively, given that although the almost unreadable expression on the Valkyrie's face seemed harmless enough, the same couldn't be said about the dirty look her angels were giving it.

Thankfully for SA-δ, the taller SA-τ moved in and pulled its comrade aside, before addressing the Valkyrie. "Please ignore that nonsense. We were sent to evacuate you from this sector, as the number of hostiles present is too great to deal with on your own. It's highly recommended that you follow us to our base, where our commander can brief you on the situation."

Seeing that the synthetics weren't actively hostile towards them, Peorth stepped out of her hiding spot and approached Lind, before she tapped her lightly on her shoulder. "Should we accept their offer?" whispered the rose goddess, keeping a keen eye out at the two robots. "It may sound suspicious, but if Skuld's behind this, then it's worth to give them a try. Besides, we've Excalibur who's still unconscious, and maybe these guys know what to do with him."

"Normally I'd advise against taking their word for granted, but… it's not like this area is safer," agreed Lind, given that she had no idea what to expect outside the complex. And with one of them of unconscious, that would put them in a disadvantage. So, after a moment of thought she added. "Just be on your toes, in case this turns out to be a trap." And with Peorth offering her a nod, Lind turned back to the two awaiting robots. "We'll take your offer. Lead the way."

"We have already requested for a gate on these coordinates," said SA-τ, before its comrade got a chance to fire up its vocalizer; and end up pissing off the Valkyrie in the process. "Please stand by."

---

AN: I would like to thank everyone here and the Goddess Relief site for offering their continuing support.

Now, I must admit that this chapter turned out to be longer than I originally anticipated. Initially, I planned to have all the members of Hild's group materialize in the same location, but considering that this was a rare opportunity to write something a bit different, I chose not to do that, and instead have them show up in separate locations. This kind of shifted the focus of this chapter, but I felt that this was necessary to better introduce their end of the story. On the next chapter, there's going to be a much better balance between these parts.

In regard to Belldandy's pregnancy, although some mechanics might seem familiar, there will be several notable differences that'll make immortal pregnancies rather different from what we know. And the most important one is that Lofn (Belldandy's daughter) isn't physically attached to her, but instead she's in a 'childscape' that's similar to the mindscapes where angels reside. Obviously, that's still connected to Belldandy's 10D form, but not her 3D body, making her practically no different to the casual observer than she was before she got pregnant. More information about the details of such mechanics will be revealed over time.

As for Lofn, she was an actual Norse goddess, whose name possibly meant 'comforter' or 'comforter, the mild,' or 'loving,' with the latter one being used here, although changed into 'Beloved' so that it sounds better (compared to 'loving'). In chapter 35 of the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning, High provides brief descriptions of 16 ásynjur. High lists Lofn eighth and about her says that: 'She is so gentle and so good to invoke that she has permission from All-Father or Frigg to arrange unions between men and women, even if earlier offers have been received and unions have been banned. From her name comes the word lof, meaning permission as well as high praise.' As one might imagine, if there's one goddess that might seem suitable to become Belldandy's daughter, then I think that Lofn fits the role to a tee.

Also, in slightly unrelated news, I have a new poll in my profile, and I'd love to see you give it a try.