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

Niflheim

It took some convincing for Ehwaz to provide him the bit of information he wanted, but in the end, Odal managed to extract that single name he needed. This brought him in front of a rather opulent apartment in the residential high rises of the demonic capital; an area typically designated for the upper class citizens. At the back of his mind, Odal knew that this probably wasn't the best of ideas, but then again, nothing would change unless someone tried. 'Well, here goes nothing…'

A minute or so passed after he rang the bell, and just as he considered trying again, a rich, feminine voice came from the speaker next to the door. Naturally, there was a sense of familiarity, since she almost sounded as a deeper, more mature version of his wife's voice, which was to be expected from someone who was actually Hagall's biological mother.

"I've been waiting for you. Please, come inside."

Odal raised an eyebrow at the statement, yet otherwise kept his thoughts to himself, especially when the door came open. The interior of the apartment reminded him a bit of Hagall's villa, with all the luxury seen there, even though it was only a fraction of the size. More importantly though, the moment he entered the spacious living room, Odal's eyes fell on a curvaceous demoness with slightly wavy, dirty blond hair that covered the right half of her face, and reached just past her hips. Her eye color and even facial structure was highly reminiscent of Hagall, although the latter wasn't exactly a carbon copy of her mother. This was somewhat reflected by their different fashion choices, as this demoness didn't seem to have a thing for lolita-style clothing, and instead chose a more practical bodice and jacket, along with an asymmetric pair of pants, that left most of her left leg exposed. Still, her choice of predominantly black garments with a green jacket to accent her looks, was almost an inversion of Hagall's typical style, although Odal wasn't sure if that was a mere coincidence or something that had to do with their personalities.

"Greetings, Jokull-sama. I'm terribly sorry for showing up unannounced, but I must admit that I wasn't certain if I should be here to begin with." Despite his best effort to sound composed, Odal couldn't help but find himself in the rather awkward position of addressing his mother-in-law for the first time; providing that the title even applied to her. From what little he gathered from Hagall, she and her mother didn't see each other in the eye, with their few interactions being strictly work related, and only when it was absolutely necessary. Not that he blamed Hagall, since Jokull abandoned her at a fairly young age. Then again, there was no mention as to what drove Jokull to do such a thing, which was exactly why Odal wanted to talk to her. Discretion was necessary, of course, given that any blunder could not only reflect badly with his mother-in-law, but his wife as well.

"Please… there's no need for such formalities in my house. Besides, you're not a subordinate of mine, and if nothing else, your marriage to our deputy Daimakaicho, should elevate you in our social ranks." Her voice was smooth and calm, yet the underlying sharpness kept her visitor on his toes, which was fitting to one of Niflheim's head judges. After all, Jokull possessed the reputation of a no-nonsense demoness with a mean streak a mile wide, although that wasn't her best known quality; that would be her ruthlessness.

At the sound of his marriage to her daughter, the rogue god felt a shiver down his spine, as he could've sworn that Jokull sounded almost scornful. But the lack of a follow-up or any other sign of displeasure, allowed him to dismiss it as a figment of his imagination. Instead, when she gestured for him to take a seat on the sofa opposite of her, Odal graciously accepted the offer and minded his manners, just to maintain the peace between them. "Thank you. I must admit, I have no idea whether this was a good idea or not, but I suppose it's only normal to introduce myself. As you already know, I'm Odal, son of Belldandy from Odin's bloodline. Pleased to meet you."

"Wish I could say that the pleasure is mine, but… I'm not even sure why you're here. Weren't you told that the only thing I have in common with Hagall is a past… relation?" asked Jokull, while she tilted her head slightly to the right, briefly allowing him to see both her eyes. And that predatory stare was quite unnerving, even to someone who was fully expecting a cold reception.

"I've… been told that; yes. However, regardless of what you or anyone else wants to think, the fact that you're her mother, remains. Not that I'm expecting anything grand in turn, but at the very least, I feel I've done my part."

"What you've done is foolish, but then again, that's to be expected from a god," said Jokull dismissively. At this point she wasn't even trying to sound pleasant, even if she didn't change the infliction of her voice at all. "Let me guess: you either want some sob story, or you think that talking to me will change my mind, and take back a useless daughter. I have news for you, god. I have nothing to offer."

"With all due respect, I too have news for you. I don't give a damn for sob stories, and neither I believe that we can all become friends by having a cup o tea together. It's just that I have some questions, and you have the answers. It's as simple as that," replied Odal in what was his best poker face. And in all fairness, the surprise in Jokull's face was evidence enough to show that his plan was working.

"Looks like I underestimated you, boy! I was expecting someone more… timid." As she got up, Odal briefly wondered whether he went too far with his act, but rather than leave, Jokull went at the back of the room, and then returned with a tea set on a tray. "Unlike your wife, I don't have my own staff to take care of the household for me. So, you'll have to excuse my poor excuse for tea."

"My wife? You mean, your daughter?" pointedly asked Odal, while he watched her pour some hot water on the cups, and then unceremoniously dump a teabag in there, too. Apparently, the demoness wasn't particularly eager to offer her hospitality. Although she kept a polite facade around him, Odal realized that this was as far as he could go without getting kicked out, so, he refrained from pushing her even further.

"You know very well what I mean," chided Jokull, and then turned her attention to her tea. "It's been ages since I gave her up, so in all fairness I barely even know her. Hild-sama practically raised her, after she took her under her wing. By contrast, all I did for her was to sleep with the wrong demon."

"I see. Although, I must admit that I was under the impression that this had something to do with her… inability to use magic. Am I mistaken?"

"For the most part, you are. Now, I'd normally just tell you to mind your business, but with curious gods like you, I have a feeling that you'll just dig into my past on your own. And I'd rather avoid any misunderstandings." Jokull paused to take a sip from her tea, and then unbuttoned her jacket, much to her visitor's surprise. This actually allowed Odal to take a better look at her bodice, which as it turned out was in fact a corset, yet without the frills sported on Hagall's outfits. More than that though, it did prove that she was even more gifted than her daughter, and she probably took great pride of the fact. "I was born in one of the numerous lesser noble houses, back when nobility was still in power. For demons of our status it was far too unlikely to make it big and score an important position in the Daimakaicho's court, so many of us wanted to avoid the life of a bureaucrat, and sought… less than reputable means to accomplish it. Some learned the fine art of espionage from a young life, others grew up to become bodyguards and confidants of higher class nobles. As to me?... I was the most attractive in my family, so, the life of a courtesan was chosen for me. Hm… do you even know what I'm referring to?"

That last question, along with the rest of explanation caught Odall off guard, since in all fairness this painted a very different view of the demonic nobility than what was popularly advertised. Sure, it was far from unheard of for lower class demons to do that, especially back then, although he never heard of such a thing. "I've heard the term from human history records. Although, there were different… interpretations of it."

"Well, I can't blame you. Officially, demonesses like me were employed as diplomats, but off the record, what we truly excelled at was bedroom diplomacy," admitted Jokull, and quite casually, too. "I was best known for my dancing skills, as well as my beauty, that were both unparalleled among nobles. So, when the Daimakaicho at the time wanted to see me perform, I thought it was my golden opportunity, and put on a great show. Needless to say, I became his consort without even asking, since he offered me the position. The worst decision in my life, to be honest."

"Hold on! When you say the Daimakaicho at the time?..." trailed Odal off, while trying to make sure that he didn't get the name wrong. "That would be Fafnir, right?"

"Yes, that's the cretin," spat Jokull, as she grimaced when she referred to Hild's predecessor from her first term. "Among the rest of his floozies, I was the smartest and most capable on every level. Yet somehow, I ended up last in the pecking order, and had me assigned to 'entertain' his guests, rather than him. In other words, I wasn't going to become one of the Daimakaicho's mistresses, but… a luxury prostitute. Apparently I wasn't nearly as willing to fawn over him like some stupid bimbo, and as a result he decided that I would best serve him in that manner. That never really happened though, due to wild rumors of me sleeping around with some of his peasant servants, that worked in his mansion. And if mere commoners took me, then in the nobles' eyes my value was largely lost. As such, I deemed unsuitable for my intended role," added Jokull with a grin, that only widened as she carried on. "He was so mad, but feared a scandal, so he reassigned me as a secretary instead. The best part? I never really did as much as I let others think. Gullible demons are truly pathetic."

To avoid staring her like an idiot, Odal turned his attention to his tea and pretended to enjoy it, even though he barely registers its taste. This story was quite different from what he was expecting, since the most likely scenario he established prior to his visit was that Jokull being an ex-noblewoman, abandoned Hagall because she was an unworthy heiress. "I won't lie to you… that's not what I had in mind when I first came here. Does Hagall know all that?"

"Only the basics. Like I told you, it's possible to find some obscure mention of my past life if you know where to look. And the same goes for your wife, too. She found out most of that stuff thanks to her position. Given your ignorance though, I gather that you didn't ask her; not that it would've been a smart move." Jokull spent a couple of seconds studying the god's expression, all while she betrayed no emotion. Then almost without warning, the demoness pulled out her communicator and checked something on it, much to her visitor's curiocity. After a few taps on the device's screen, Jokull turned the communicator around, so that Odal could see the image she had opened up. "This is Hagall's birth certificate. If you want to keep a copy of it, feel free to do so. I believe that it contains the information you came here for."

Odal's eyes scanned the document for exactly what Jokull implied, and sure enough the names of Hagall's parents. 'Hm… why does that name sound familiar. I don't think I know him, but… I have a feeling I heard it as of late.' Offering a nod, mostly to avoid letting Jokull study his expression for too long, and thus reveal what he knew, the god retried his own communicator and snapped a photo of the document. "Thank you, that's actually kind of you."

"Have you not being listening? I only gave you information that you could find on your own. Sure, it's not exactly easy to do so, but far from impossible. Especially if you enlist Hagall's help. Which is exactly why it's better to leave her out of this," calmly explained Jokull, only to notice the skeptical look she was getting from Odal. "What is it?"

"Nothing. I just have the feeling that I'm running out of time. So, you'll have to excuse me," said Odal as he suddenly got up and placed the tea cup, Jokull had offered him, on the table in front of him. Then much to his hostess' surprise, Odal headed for the exit, but not before reached into his pocket for his communicator once again. He even saw her get up, almost as if she intended to stop him, but in the end she didn't; whether due to an attempt to conceal her concern or simply to maintain her air of superiority, was irrelevant. The thing was that he got her attention, and he also had a goal in mind now. Which was more than enough for the time being, especially with everything else going on.

Once outside Jokull's apartment, Odal established a secure line with his units stationed in Helheim, and waited for their collective's representative to respond. "It's me. I have a task for you to…" said Odal, until he paused and realized that there was something off with Gunnar's voice. It was almost as if the synthetic had reconfigured its voice to a decidedly more feminine tone, yet even then there was something eerily familiar about it, although Odal couldn't quite put his finger on it. "Say… Gunnar? Did you change your settings?"

"Negative. That wasn't me, actually," came the synthetic's reply, in the same deep and slightly mechanical voice, even though the articulation was almost natural, rather than a human made text-to-speech software.

"Not you? Then who?..."

"Hey there, Odal. Long time no see, kid. How are you doing? I heard you got married, and to a pretty attractive demoness, too!" chirped an excited female individual, that almost sounded as if she was talking through Gunnar's vocalizer, rather than just being someone standing next to the synthetic. "Oh, mistress would've been so excited!"

The voice was indeed feminine and remained quite familiar, but it was only when the 'mistress' comment popped up, that he finally realized what was going on. "Noble Scarlet?! What are doing in there?!"

"Remember how Elegance told you about having my egg stashed somewhere? Well, she found out that it was possible for me to be hosted by one of the Ironwood Dryads we've bound to your synthetics. So, I ended up inside Gunnar's Dryad, and by definition I'm now a mecha pilot!" declared the enthusiastic Noble Scarlet, until her host's voice joined in once more.

"Please don't call me a mecha. At this point, I'm a techno-organic being, with an angel attached to my person. And I won't even mention that apparently, I do have a gender, too. That, and I'm not piloted by you, as well."

Just as the baffled Odal was about to respond, Holy Bell emerged from his back on her own volition, and grabbed the communicator from his hands. 'Little Red! I'm so happy to hear your voice again! After talking to Elegance, I knew you'd come back!'

"You bet I did! It's a bit strange to inhabit a Dryad and a synthetic on top of it, but… it's good to be back. It's even stranger that I can now speak audibly, thanks to Gunnar's vocalizer. Heck, I was surprised by the sound of my own voice!" said Noble Scarlet, referring to the fact that unlike Holy Bell she didn't need a special device to capture her telepathic angel speech; which in fact was standard issue in both celestial and infernal communicators. But that was far from the only advantage, since now she could also speak directly to pretty much anyone -mortals included- as well as utilize the remnants of her previous mistress' powers, that directly manipulated objects around her. And in Noble Scarlet's case, this Dryad that acted as the interface between her and Gunnar's systems was actually imitating Skuld's baseline abilities, that allowed the angel to directly manipulate machines with an unprecedented level of control.

Seeing her have so much fun talking with Holy Bell, Odal couldn't find it in him to interrupt them, and ruin this moment between the two angelic sisters. Although, that wasn't exactly true from a technical point of view, for all intended purposes family relations carried over between angels, given that they shared thoughts and memories of their hosts. As such, Odal wished to let them catch up, and instead wait for later to issue his orders. After all, a couple of minutes would make no difference, and he was exaggerating when he told Jokull that time was running out.

For the time being, it was far more important to give Holy Bell and Noble Scarlet a semblance of normalcy that's been missing from their lives for so long.

XXX

Nekomi, Japan

For the umpteenth time today, Keiichi was glad he asked Skuld's help with this build. Even though Odal did a fair job at cataloguing all the parts he sent them, and quite a few were actually pre-assembled, that still left them with some rather tricky components. And it wasn't that Keiichi had no idea what to do with electric parts on a build, it was merely the fact that this was way out of his league to tackle.

"Okay, this is done!" happily announced Skuld, as she wiped her forehead with her greased sleeves. "Ew! I forgot about that!"

"Don't worry Skuld! Let me help you clean up," said Belldandy with a chuckle, and then approached the young goddess to give her a hand cleaning up. Normally a little bit of magic would've done the trick, but given the fact that they were in the presence of mortals, Belldandy obviously refrained from that. After all, it only made sense to move the bike parts they got from Odal to Whirlwind, where they were supposed to assemble the whole bike. Even if that inconvenienced them a bit, Keiichi wished to avoid pulling a miracle that would only encourage the others to become more ambitious in future projects. It wasn't due to indifference though, and Belldandy understood her husband's rationale a bit too much. She too spent some time questioning her past interventions whenever the Motor Club desperately needed a helping hand, but there was always a point where she had to draw the line. Relying on magic was a risky move that could potentially undermine her role as a goddess, all thanks to showing unfair favoritism towards a certain group of mortals. And while that was one of her concerns in the past, with Keiichi being a god now, the same basic rules applied to him, too.

For his part, Keiichi felt oddly strange about his return to Whirlwind. Although it definitely brought back some familiarity that so much lacked from his life as of late, the fact that he was no longer human started to become evident. In all fairness, when he was over at Asgard, Keiichi's unfamiliarity with the celestial realm meant that he didn't have much time to compare his experiences from before he became a god, and the immediate aftermath. Sure, right after his deification, Keiichi felt considerable different in many ways, but once again, he didn't have much to compare to. However, once he started working with the oh-so-familiar tools in the shop, it was becoming evident that some things weren't the same anymore. Imperfections and structural anomalies were much easier to spot, all thanks to his enhanced perception of the world around him. And if that wasn't enough, it put him in the odd case where he couldn't quite explain why this particular weld wouldn't hold, at least not without some pretty expensive structural analysis tools, that Chihiro couldn't possibly afford.

This oddly enough presented a real threat to turn Keiichi's favorite hobby into a game of make-pretend, with him acting the part of his old self. He had to learn how to restrict his perception to what it used to be back when he was a mortal, or risk getting everyone around him too curious about his uncannily sharp senses. Sure, Tamiya and Otaki weren't going to push things too far, and pressure him for answers, but Chihiro was much more likely to pick up some of the oddities and over time connect the dots. This entire situation was another reason why they brought Skuld along, since the little goddess had always been accepted as a skilled mechanic, so, nothing pretty much changed in regard to that. On the other hand though, Keiichi was taking the opportunity to literally re-learn how to do things, while everyone's attention was on Skuld and the modifications she was working on.

To dismiss everything as a problem would've been a tad unfair, though. Keiichi's ability to 'sense' the basic structure of objects, from macroscopic down to molecular level, was nothing to write off as unimportant. Even if he couldn't quite talk much about his findings, at least in cases where he discovered some weakness due to poor manufacturing or metal fatigue, the easiest solution was take a few extra steps during routine repairs, without too much funfare. If a bolt was starting to break up, he could casually replace it and move to the next part, trying to keep up the pretenses. The biggest question for him however, was how this new reality would affect his love for bikes. Sure, it's not like he suddenly saw them as an obsolete form of transportation. And even with his new abilities, there was still a lot of room for trial and error. Yet as everything else in life, change often gave birth to uncertainty, which in Keiichi's case was more than justified.

As he watched Belldandy clean up the smudge on Skuld's face, Keiichi noticed that Chihiro was inspecting the demo bike, and more specifically, the custom-made electric motor that was embedded into the front wheel. Worse yet, Keiichi knew that look on his boss' eyes, and worried that either she suspected something, or she intended to poke her nose into its inner workings once they were done for the day. And in all fairness, both prospects were equally problematic, albeit for different reasons. For that reason, he ever so casually approached Chihiro, doing his best to avoid making her even more curious about the origins of those parts than she already was. "Is there something wrong?"

"No, it's just that… I can't find a logo anywhere," said the businesswoman while she looked all around the recently added parts for anything akin to a brand logo. "And these look a bit too well-designed, too. Where did you get them from? Actually, more than that… how much did they cost?"

Keiichi found it increasingly harder to maintain his cool under Chihiro's piercing gaze, given how shrewd of a businesswoman she was. Unlike Tamiya and Otaki that could be easily fooled with a half-baked excuse, it was far less likely for something like that to work on his boss, which made him wonder if telling her the truth was a better alternative. After all, both Megumi and Sayoko knew about the immortals, and the end of the world has yet to come. Of course, he had no doubt that if they started blabbering all over the place, bad things were bound to happen, so, in the end it was too much of an important decision to make at the heat of the moment. "I won't lie, but I kinda asked a relative of ours to send us these parts to finish the bike. Since everything you see here is highly customized beyond recognition, I honestly don't know where each individual part came from, or what its original purpose really was. Unfortunately, the guy's back in Bell's home country, so, I can't exactly ask him to give me a total rundown on how everything works. At least, I did get some instructions on how to properly install this on our bike."

"Really? That sounds pretty impressive," said Chihiro as she took another look at the bike. "Are you sure this is okay, though? These components do look expensive, and I don't want to rip anyone off by using something they won't get back. As much as I love free stuff, I can't exactly take this bike on an expo, knowing that I don't owe the whole thing. It's one of those things that can easily come to bite us later on."

"Hm… I never thought that," admitted Keiichi, even if he knew that this wasn't going to happen. However, it was only normal for Chihiro to be cautious, especially due to the publicity of the event, since any serious mistake could reach the headlines, and not in the way they would've preferred. "Look, I'll ask for more details about these parts, and if possible we can even find a sponsor to let us cover the extra expenses."

"A sponsor? Well, that's not exactly against the rules, to be honest. I even tried to find one myself, but few businesses seemed interested to sponsor us."

The mechanic could only nod, as he had no doubt that their close ties with the once infamous Motor Club is more than enough to deter anyone from giving them money. Although the Club's reputation is slowly improving over the years since his senpais' graduation, it was still too early for Nekomi to forget about their crazy antics of its past directors. That being said though, Keiichi had a moment of brilliance that could, figuratively speaking, allow him to kill two birds with one stone. "Actually, I do happen to know someone who might agree to help us."

"You do?" asked the startled Chihiro, since she wasn't expecting him to come up with something.

"Sure! Just give me and Bell an hour or so, and we'll definitely make a deal!" said Keiichi as he gave his boss a thumbs up. Unsurprisingly, this still wasn't enough to fully convince Chihiro that he had a solid plan, although she did seem to seriously consider his idea.

"If you really think you can find us a sponsor, then I see no reason to decline," said Chihiro, before she paused and immediately added. "Although make sure that we're not losing control of the direction of this project. No matter how much money one offers, it's not worth ruining this chance to get a name for ourselves."

"Don't worry! I won't make a bad deal, I promise," cheerfully replied Keiichi, and once he got a nod from Chihiro, he went to tell his plan to his wife. Belldandy had already finished cleaning Skuld's face, and was currently chatting with Laguz by the counter. "Hey, Bell! We've got a visit to make."

"A visit? To whom?" asked the curious Norn, and almost tilted her head without realizing it.

"You'll see… It's a surprise!"

XXX

As Keiichi promised her, the identity of their prospective sponsor turned out to be a surprise even to her, despite the fact that she knew her husband better than anyone else. "Keiichi, dear… Isn't this?..." trailed off the Norn while she watched the dark haired god ring the doorbell with a confident smile on his face.

Unlike most other houses, nobody immediately rushed to answer the door. Thanks to the state of the art security system, that included a camera installed by the door, it was possible from the one inside to take a look at her visitors without even disrupting her daily routine, since the image could be relayed to her smartphone. However, as soon as she got a glimpse at the celestial couple, the brunette didn't waste time with pleasantries and went straight to greet them. And as the door came open, she could finally verify that those markings on Keiichi's face were real, and not her eyes playing tricks on her. "Oh, hello you two! I must admit, it's quite the surprise to see you here. I thought you left Nekomi a while ago."

"Hello, Sayoko. It's nice to see you again," said Belldandy while she offered her once nemesis a polite bow. "And you're actually correct. Me and Keiichi did leave Nekomi some time ago, due to some kind of urgent business we had to take care of. But now that it's over, we've come back once more."

Picking up from where his wife finished, Keiichi carried on, since they still had to get to the point. "Yeah, and right off the bat, we've got our hands full with Chihiro's latest project. Although, this time it's a pretty decent one, and that's why we're looking for sponsors."

Sayoko didn't need to hear more, to know where this was heading: they were probably trying to get her involved in some kind of hare brained scheme. Still, as much she wanted to decline and get them out of the picture, the Mishima heiress couldn't help but wonder just what was going on with Keiichi's markings. Now, it was entirely possible that this was part of some sort of cultural thing, although given what she knew about them, she seriously doubted that this was the case. "First thing first, let's not just stand by the entrance," said Sayoko, before she stepped aside to let the couple in. "And since we're not in any particular hurry, why don't we drink some tea while we discuss the details. Oh, and it would be a nice opportunity to catch up to."

"Sounds good by me, right Bell?" While he graciously accepted the invitation, and glanced towards his wife who also didn't seem to mind spending some time with her former rival.

"Absolutely! And if it's not a bother, I'd love to make the tea myself!"

"Of course!" replied Sayoko, when she felt the goddess' gaze, and even offered her a cheerful smile. Sure, she was perfectly aware that this only made her look even more suspicious, but at the same time she was certain that as long as she didn't pressure them too hard, she had nothing to worry about. "I think it's time for me to enjoy your tea, Belldandy. Last time we met… well, things were a bit hectic, to say the least."

XXX

On the scale of 'pretty strange' to 'utterly bizarre' the story she got from Keiichi and Belldandy was so outlandish, that it took all her good will to actually accept it at face value. As a matter of fact, if she hadn't been told that first class goddesses couldn't lie, Sayoko would've simply dismissed the whole thing as a cover-up for something else. "So, let me get it straight. This… World Tree turned Keiichi into a… god?"

"Believe me, I found it hard to believe at first, too," said Keiichi, still unsure whether Belldandy's idea to tell her was a good thing or not. On the upside, they would've yet another secret to keep from someone who already knew more than most others -with the exception of Megumi, of course- but on the downside… it felt incredibly awkward to call himself a god in front of a human. While it made no difference in Asgard, where pretty much everyone else was a celestial, the same couldn't be said here. And judging by the way Sayoko was intently staring at him, Keiichi couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. "Um… Something's the matter, Sayoko?"

"Say, can you actually use magic like the others?" asked the curious brunette, as the details of a certain incident popped up in her mind. "Like talking to people, and such?"

"Uh… I suppose I do? I mean, I'm still learning how to do all that stuff, but… why do you ask?"

"That useless cousin of mine ended up running all around Mt. Fuji because some 'god' in his head told him to," said Sayoko while keeping her gaze fixed on Keiichi's eyes, almost as if she waited for a reaction from the god across the living room. All she did get however, was a blank stare, since Keiichi had absolutely no idea what she was talking about, and it totally showed in his face.

"Are you sure he's not into anything… illegal?" asked Keiichi, and not sarcastically either.

"I'm pretty sure he's not. At least that's what the doctors said, once they examined him when he got to the hospital." Noticing that she only confused them even further, Sayoko realized that she missed out an important detail, and carried on. "You see, soon after that incident, he also claimed that he was visited by a… 'succubus' of some description. And in an attempt to escape from her, Toshiyuki fell down the stairs, and broke a leg. The doctors didn't quite believe his story, and tested him for drugs… but he came out clean. Not only that, but he also didn't seem to be drunk either. However, now that I think of it… could it be that he's actually correct?"

"Well… if you're asking me, then I've got no idea about any of this," said Keiichi, and a quick glance at Belldandy revealed that she too, had no idea about Aoshima's tale of woe. "Besides, it's not really a good idea for any of us to go ahead and bully him, just because we can. So, I doubt that it's been one of the others, either."

"Fair point. I suppose he's been an idiot, and tried to come up with excuses for who knows what. He may be my cousin, but I really don't want to know about his… hobbies." Given the complete lack of evidence to support her hunch, Sayoko simply accepted Keiichi's claims without any further argument. Besides, she was mostly worried about the possibility of Keiichi playing the part of the vengeful deity, now that he was no longer a mere mortal. And if that was the case, then perhaps… she was the most likely next target, all thanks to her history with Belldandy. However, it didn't take long for Sayoko to dismiss this theory, as not only it was something completely out of character for Keiichi to do, but even if he wanted to pull this off, Belldandy wouldn't let him. Perhaps, the most likely reason she felt this uneasiness was due to her own feeling of inferiority towards them. For most of her life, Sayoko viewed herself as one of the privileged few, who enjoyed a lifestyle that most commoners could only dream about. So, the fact that two of those commoners turned out to be immortals with powers beyond her comprehension… was an eye opening experience for the once spoiled socialite. After all, she totally gave up any notions of trying to antagonize Belldandy in the future, since for the first time she realized why a mere human like her would've never quite match a real, physical goddess. Not only that, but perhaps for Sayoko the best thing she could do was to somehow make up for past mistakes, especially given how nervous she felt at the idea that she's been bullying an entity far more powerful than herself. And if nothing else, she now had the opportunity to do so. "Now, if I remember correctly, you need money for that bike of yours?"

"Actually, we've got everything we need! It's just that… we can't exactly tell Chihiro how we got those parts," said Keiichi with a nervous smile, as he scratched the back of his head. It was an old habit of his, and one that he tried to break out of, even though Belldandy found it adorable. "So, I was hoping that you could help us by agreeing to sponsor us. That way, we can pretend that we bought the parts, without any need to explain how we could afford everything."

"Hm… you almost make it sound as if I don't even need to spend anything to support you. However, that's not how sponsorship works. Unless we do this properly, it'll only start to cause issues down the road, since you'll have to hide my funds from your boss. In other words, you need to keep coming up with one lie after another, and eventually, that rarely works. Not only that, but as far as I know, it's pretty bad for you to base business deals on lies. So, how about I help you for real, and also have to show something for myself in the process? I bet that if this goes well for you, I'll also get some attention thanks to being your sponsor."

"Well… as long as we keep control over this project's development, I suppose it's perfectly fine," said Keiichi with some caution. After all, this was the first business deal he was handling on his own, and with Sayoko nonetheless. Naturally, this made him somewhat cautious of her motives to offer them her assistance, but after thinking about what she told them, Keiichi found nothing overly suspicious. "At the very least, we should be able to afford a better presentation for our bike."

"Knowing your old tactics of attracting attention… I'd say that's for the best," jokingly said Sayoko. Sure, it was a little awkward, seeing that only Belldandy shared her sense of humor, since Keiichi pretended that he didn't hear what she said. Either way though, she did make her point across, and with that she finished her tea and got up. "Now, how about we go and have a talk with Chihiro? After all, she's technically your boss, so, I should also discuss this with her, too."

"Sure thing, Sayoko," replied Keiichi, as he followed suit and helped Belldandy up, too. 'This sure is going to be one strange conversation,' thought the god to himself, only to hear his angel's reply.

'No kidding… Sayoko and Chihiro talking together? I don't know if this is weirder than Tamiya and Otaki dressed like cheerleaders,' laughed Terrestrial Spark over the link he shared with his host. 'Okay, maybe it's not that weird, but it sure is something to write home about. Although, we better make sure that this won't end up in a fiasco or something. We didn't exactly tell Chihiro who's our sponsor… and this might backfire if we're not careful.'

'Hm… I guess you do have a point. Although, I don't think it's going to be that difficult.'

XXX

"MO-RI-SA-TO!"

'I take that back…' Letting out a sigh, Keiichi did his best to keep a straight face, as his former senpai, and current co-workers stared down at him; silently demanding an explanation for this act of treachery. At least, Chihiro took the news a bit better, even though she was quite intrigued why he chose that particular woman as their sponsor.

'You don't say!' send Terrestrial Spark over his link with his host. 'Aside from telling them just why Sayoko's so friendly all of a sudden, I don't think there's an easier way to explain this.'

As much as he hated to admit it, his angel was right, and the worst of it was that he couldn't exactly rely on Belldandy to get him out of this pinch. A first class goddess was prohibited from lying, which simply made the middle Norn a bad choice for assistance. Instead, Keiichi decided to give it a try and come up with a solution on his own. "Come on guys! We needed a sponsor, and I found us one. Besides, Sayoko's no longer holding a grudge at Belldandy for something as silly as some beauty pageant from years ago."

The remark earned a groan from the Mishima heiress, who rolled her eyes when she saw the two muscle-bound motorheads glance in her direction. Even their boss, seemed skeptical of Keiichi's claims, which was more than grating enough for Sayoko's nerves. In all honesty, she would've preferred to do something else with her time, than waste it like this. However, diplomacy was necessary in all sorts of business deals, and as such she merely tried to act as if it was all nothing to her. "That's quite correct," said Sayoko with a casual toss of her hair over her shoulder. "There's no need to fret over old news. Besides... Belldandy's married now. So, she's technically out of the competition, anyway."

For a moment, the married goddess in question felt the need to ask for a clarification, since that comment was quite inaccurate when it came to immortals. However, she knew that starting up a conversation like that in front of everyone was a terrible idea, and thus pretended that she heard nothing. 'Perhaps I should show her a few photos of mother, and grandmother. That'll teach her to never underestimate married goddesses!'

Thankfully for everyone involved, it was hard to tell when Belldandy was ticked off, except for extraordinary cases, of course. And with a crisis narrowly averted, the blissfully unaware owner of Whirlwind had the chance to give this whole proposition some thought, and decided that for once she might give it a go. "Very well… As long as this remains a business deal and doesn't get into personal differences, I've got no issues to accept this deal."

"Excellent! I'm really looking forward for a successful partnership," said Sayoko in a well practiced manner, almost recalling some of the business meeting she attended with her father. And just like in those occasions, she shook hands with Chihiro to seal this deal.

It was only at that point that Keiichi could finally breathe once more, since everything seemed to end well. With Sayoko's backing, they could pull off a decent presentation for their project, and hopefully boost Whirlwind's reputation. More importantly though, they might as well help the shop evolve and expand, since nothing seemed to change during his and Belldandy's absence. And while Sayoko wasn't the most likely person to help with that, Keiichi hoped that in the future she might get interested to get involved in more projects.

Having dealt with that issue, Keiichi finally turned his attention to his sister-in-law, who was testing the bike's electronics. "How's it coming together, Skuld?"

"Pretty good, actually," replied the little Norn as she looked up from her voltmeter. "I was double checking the connections, just to make sure that everything works, and so far everything's pretty solid. Actually, the more I look at this system, the more it feels like one of my designs," said Skuld with a slight smile, although she caught herself before she said anything embarrassing, and added. "There's no self-destruct function though."

This whole attempt to hide her more sensitive side caused Keiichi to chuckle, which earned himself a withering glare from the indignant Norn of the future. "I think we can live without that particular feature, Skuld," teasingly said Keiichi in an attempt to offer her a distraction. Still, it was interesting to see Skuld's well known pride manifest in a far more mature manner, since she almost sounded as if she was getting adjusted to the idea that she was a role model for Odal. Sure, that wasn't exactly her, but rather her counterpart from Odal's original timeline, yet even that much was more than enough for Skuld; and in all honesty, so was for Keiichi. Knowing that the young Norn will grow up to become -for the most part- a responsible and mature goddess like Belldandy, made Keiichi happy for both of them. After all, he was almost certain that his wife was proud of her little sister turned out, although at the same time, he felt adamant to play a bigger role in his daughter's life than his counterpart did for Odal.

After all, the whole point of helping Whirlwind this way was to avoid being the glue that held everything together. He had done that countless times for the Motor Club in the past, and while Chihiro isn't nearly as spontaneous as Tamiya and Otaki, he can't afford to constantly take care of every little crisis all by himself. Granted, it's not like he planned to abandon everyone he knew, but with him being a married god now, and his wife expecting, it was important to reassess his priorities. And with that in mind, Keiichi searched the room for Belldandy, since he just noticed that she somehow disappeared during his exchange with Chihiro. 'Huh? Where did Bell go?'

Reading his expression like an open book, Skuld tapped his shoulder and then pointed outside. "I think she went out to answer a call."

"Thanks, Skuld. I'll be back in a moment," said Keiichi, before he went to see what this was all about. After all, Belldandy didn't use her communicator unless it was absolutely necessary, since its capabilities often surpassed that of the average cellphone here on Earth. And with Chihiro talking to Sayoko, Keiichi didn't even need to come up with an excuse to cover up for Bell's departure.

Once outside, it didn't take him long to spot his wife standing by the shop's far end, since she wasn't exactly trying to hide herself from plain view. And judging by the sound of it, she was talking to Urd, given that there was only one person she affectionately referred to as Neesan. By the time she noticed him, Belldandy was already in the process of ending the call, and thanked Urd for taking the time to tell her in advance. "Everything's fine, Bell?"

"Ah, Keiichi. I'm sorry for leaving the room without saying anything. Urd just informed me that she's been cleared for a transfer to Helheim, as the desolate realm is now called. And given the trouble she had just to be granted that permission, she wants to leave as soon as possible, before anything else happen," said Belldandy as she pocketed her communicator, and turned to face her husband. "It's a pity that we won't be able to send her off properly, but then again, I doubt that she's going to stay there for long."

"Hm… I see. Well, at least the sooner she leaves, the sooner she's also going to come back," offered Keiichi with a nod, and then moved even closer to give his wife a warm hug. "Right, Bell?"

"Yes." As simple of a gesture as that was, it did wonders at calming the Norn down, who couldn't help but feel uneasy about her sister's departure. After all, it wasn't a secret that there was a lot of tension between Heavens and Hell, which could easily affect Urd's visit to one of the Infernal realms. And there was also the possibility that whatever answers Urd would get from that other World of Elegance, might bring her some distress, which in turn worried Belldandy as well. "I know that I'm probably overthinking about this, but a lot happened as of late. Still, it feels nice to know that you're here for me."

"Of course I am! Believe in each other until that time of silence, wasn't it? Well, I definitely plan to," said Keiichi, as he reassuringly tightened his grip around his wife. "Now, let's get back inside and make more positive thoughts. Worrying this much isn't like you, Bell."

"Yes!"

XXX

Colors, sounds, a constant stream of unprocessed information bombarded the synthetic Earth Spirit's mind, only to leave him without the slightest idea of what to make of it. Excalibur's awakening was far less dramatic than he would've ever expected, but then again, it was next to impossible to confirm this. He recorded sounds… voices… yet the meaning of those sound waveforms eluded him. He also saw colorful patterns in front of his eyes, although their interpretation was once again beyond him. Worse of all, all his attempts to bring up his main console ended up in failure, almost as if there wasn't even there to begin with; that the very concept behind it was gone.

For all intended purposes, Excalibur knew that his main logic core had crashed -or worse, corrupted- although at the same time, that conclusion was practically impossible. If he was technically brain-dead, then there was no way he'd be able to realize it. This posed another possibility, even if was a far-fetched one. Somehow, he must've been reconfigured to operate in a neural-mode only. In other words, he's now possessing the same processing capabilities of organics, without the digital augmentations of his previous mind.

Still, the Earth Spirit was far from broken, as his adaptability was far beyond the norm, allowing him to recover from conditions that would've been all but terminal for everyone else. As a matter of fact, his brain was struggling to figure out how to circumvent the current problem by synthesizing what was missing, by processing memories to train his now far more extensive neural network. A process that only needed time to complete, and yet that's something he and the others were running out of, especially when the sub they were currently in listed, causing everyone but him to let out a startled cry.

After all, it was still pretty late at night, and everyone else in the room was fast asleep, only to wake up in the rudest manner possible. Strong vibrations run through the sub's hull, followed by a loud groaning sound of stretching metal, and then the frenetic calls of the alarm.

And as if that wasn't bad enough, the lights went out, leaving only the locally powered emergency lights on, before this whole pandemonium became even worse when the sound of running water joined in.

XXX

"Ow!... Watch it!" cried the pained Surt, as Hild's combat boot somehow found his head in this mayhem. Then again, something similar took place across the room, when a sleeping Lind rolled over to Peorth's spot, which immediately caused the latter to wrap the former with her thorny vines. At least in the Valkyrie's case, her combat uniform was more than resilient enough to protect her from those thorns, while Surt's head received the full brunt of Hild's accidental kick, leaving him watch stars for a couple of seconds.

"Sorry about that," murmured Hild, while she tried to shake off her sleepiness. "What happened?"

"Hell if I know," groaned Surt, as he still rubbed his head, and then looked across the room for answers.

"We don't know either," replied Peorth, given that Lind was in a less than ideal mood for chit-chat with the demons. After all, having woken up in the middle of the night, only to end up wrapped in thorny vines could do that even to anyone.

The unmistakable sound of an underwater explosion was the first hint as to what was taking place outside of the submarine, even if it still didn't explain why this was the case. There has been no precedence of any major aquatic attack by Nidhogg's minions, and besides, Sa-α and his synthetics also supported that. However, before they could speculate even further, their door came open and a frantic SA-δ came in.

"Nap time's over ya sweethearts! Looks like our good ol' pal Moby Dick wanna play, and he's one mean mother-" An explosion rocked the whole sub, interrupting the synthetic, who gazed upwards and cursed out loud, before it turned its attention back to their guests. "Okay, I take that back! That ain't no Moby, just a plain ol' dick, that's what the bloody thing is! It's swarming the whole bloody ocean with depth charges, and I know jack how it even made those. What I do know though is that unless we shake the sucker off, we're gonna head straight to Davy Jones's locker!"

"Wait! What's going on here?" asked the confused Hild, as the synthetic's explanation was nowhere as informative as she would've preferred.

"I ain't the best bag o'bolts to ask, lass. My forte is to blow up stuff, not talk fancy. You want fancy bots; go to SA-γ, but me? Nah? Ain't ya bot," said the synthetic with a shrug of its wide shoulders. "If ya want answers, hit the bridge. Meanwhile, I need to borrow that soldier boi of yours."

"Me?" asked Surt, much to his own surprise.

"You betcha. I'm short of a blowtorch, and ya mighta do the trick. Oh, and before ya start yammering, it's either that or helping with a bucket."

"Are we taking in water?" asked the visibly concerned Peorth, stopping Surt on his tracks, since he too realized the severity of the situation.

"Just a little bit," said the synthetic, although remarkably enough, the tone of his voice told a whole different story altogether. That, and the sound of running water, just outside the room, painted a rather bleak image. "Dontcha worry, she's a tough ol' gal. She's been through worse, so, we ain't sinking."

"Back when she was in a much better state?" countered Hild, as she levitated the comatose Excalibur, and then led the others out of the room. Sure enough, the hallway outside has turned into a stream, with water running right across it, thanks to the forward bank due to the sub's sinking. Of course, the only thing they hoped was that this was part of the evasive maneuvers, and not the result of too much water onboard. "You've got to be kidding me! This is a little bit of water? It's like a river in here!"

"I hear ya. But it ain't as bad as it seems. We've got only one breech, and most of the ship's sealed. Still, don't want this whole section to flood, so, we'll try to plug that scrappy hole." No sooner SA-δ said that, the synthetic grabbed Surt and engaged its magnetic clamps to help itself move up the slope, against the rushing water. "Follow the water and take the next hall to the right. That'll take ya to the bridge. We'll meet ya later. Now, come torch boi!"

"Hey, hands off, you rust bucket! I can fly myself there; thank you very much!" snapped Surt to the synthetic, freeing himself from its grasp. Just before going after SA-δ, the Eldjotunn shot a glance at the rest of the group, who were already on route to the bridge, and noticing Hild look back at him, he casually saluted her.

Without much hesitation, Hild returned the gesture in an equally casual manner. It wasn't for the sake of protocol, as there was no chain of command left, but for the denizens of Muspelheim, this was a more of a 'good luck' gesture. And with that done, Hild turned and followed after the two goddesses, just as another explosion rocked the whole submarine.

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

Many apologies for the longer delay between this and the previous chapter. Due to poor planning, I didn't properly announce my vacations here, so, by the time you're reading this, I'm already back home and finishing this chapter. I suppose I could've released it before I left, but that would've felt rushed and I really don't want the story to suffer for such reasons.

Now, as far as the chapter's contents are concerned, we get a little glimpse of Hagall's origins here, with Jokull being her mother. For those wondering about her name, it literally translates into 'Glacier' from Old Norse, which is fitting for the mother of someone who's named after the rune for 'Hail' (Hagall). It should be noted that she's supposedly the judge from Welsper's trial in the manga, where only the outline of a vaguely feminine form is seen.

To avoid any confusion, Keiichi's statement that he wishes to reassess his priorities doesn't mean that I intend to suddenly change his hobbies and interests. It's merely an acknowledgment that he feels the need to put his family's interests before anything else, which is an understandable thing to do for someone who's mentally preparing to become a father.