I do not own the Ah! Megami sama / Oh! My Goddess series
Niflheim
"Who gave you the permission to talk to her? Actually, why did you even think it was a good idea to begin with? Did I ever mention that I wanted a fucking reunion?"
There were several ways one could royally annoy Hagall, but the worst -and by far- was bringing up her mother; her biological one. And the moment she got word of her husband's rather questionable visit to Jokull's apartment… was more than enough to get her so mad that she literally saw red. After all, Hagall never even saw this one coming, given the fact that she made it absolutely clear that she didn't wish to talk to her mother, so, Odal had no excuses that he didn't know about it.
Despite the dramatic pause she made, along with the expectant look in her eyes, Hagall got no response from her eerily quiet husband, who simply stated back at her. Sure, he seemed rather numb from witnessing her angry outburst, but he still made no attempts to offer an apology for his actions. Worse yet, she felt that this entire thing was nothing more than a god's typical attempt to 'fix things' under the delusion that deeply rooted problems could be resolved in a moment's notice. In her personal opinion, this was by far the worst trait anyone could possess, with perhaps the only exception being hypocrisy. "Well? Aren't you going to say anything about yourself?"
Being scolded off like a kid was far from Odal's favorite pastime, yet in this kind of situation he couldn't quite pin all the blame at his wife. To begin with, his people skills were nowhere as good as his technical know-how, and trying to fix a case of parental abandonment was too far out of his league. In hindsight, he should've just minded his business and play it safe by sticking to happy subjects, rather than digging up the skeletons from Hagall's closet -so to speak. Unfortunately, Odal was indeed his mother's son, and as such he poked his nose to something that should've been left alone. Unlike Belldandy however, he simply lacked the natural charisma to properly handle this wife's outburst. "Call me stupid, but I've lived long enough to reconsider how important some things can be in life. So, I really thought it was for the best if I found out what your mother's problem was with you… although I didn't want you to find out. And not because I love doing things behind your back, mind tell you. Like you said before, Jokull could be indeed a bitch. Still… there's one remote chance that she had her reasons, and I wanted to find out what those were."
"Do you seriously believe a word you said? Or are you reciting me some dumbass lecture you heard from your childhood?" asked Hagall, with enough sarcasm in her voice to make him wince. She stood up from her chair, as her annoyance made it hard for her to stay put in one place, and turned around to look out of her office's window. It was all for the sake of giving herself a chance to recollect herself, before she completely lost it and start to actually insult her husband. Try as she might though, it was hard for her to totally ignore centuries worth of dealing with high ranking celestials, and their attempts at patronizing others.
"No, if nothing else it's enough proof that I didn't learn my lessons. Look, Hagall… I'm not afraid to admit that I've screwed up, and I'm sorry for it," said Odal, and while he still had more to add, he tried to keep his reply short and straight to the point. From personal experience, this was the best thing to do when dealing with someone who's angry at him, as the longer he carried on with his explanations, the worse it was bound to get for him later on.
"And?... Is that all there is to it?" countered Hagall, turning around to face him once more. "Do you think that a 'sorry' will just solve everything? 'Forgive and forget,' is it?"
Odal seemed as if he was about to reply, but judging by the looks of it, he was only going to make matters worse for him. Instead, the rogue god lowered his head and nervously scratched the back of his neck, until an idea popped in his mind. "Then what would you consider as a proper apology? Even though I can't perform miracles, I'd like to see what I can do for you."
Given the honesty behind Odal's response, Hagall found it hard to simply snap back at him. Still, she didn't wish to let him off the hook that easily, so, she tried to come up with a suitable compromise. "If you have so much free time in your hands, then how about you look for Hild-sama and the others? Unlike everyone else here, you should be able to get to Asgard without too much trouble. So, you can start searching from her last known position. "
"I'd love to, but… technically speaking I'm still a fugitive there. As a matter of fact, I thought of doing that on my own, but I'm almost sure that they'll take me into custody as soon as I set my foot there. The only way around is by getting a special permission, straight from the Daitenkaicho… although, I'm certain he's got his hands full thanks to the latest crisis," explained Odal even so cautiously, since he worried that his wife wouldn't take no for an answer.
"Hm… you've got a point. In that case, I have another task for you, and this time it should be something you should be able to pull," said Hagall, before she made a short pause -mainly for dramatic effect. "I need you to catch those former allies of yours. Even though they seem all but harmless right now, I've got word that there might be a connection between them and that blasted Fafnir. And the sooner they get out of the picture, the better."
"Actually… that's something I already wanted to do. However, Hild-sama's disappearance threw a monkey wrench to my plans," flat out admitted Odal, although at the same time, another possibility popped in his mind. Given what Jokull had told him before, Hagall's father is one of Fafnir's followers, so, this could still offer him the best excuse to locate him. 'If I handle this a bit more carefully, I can kill two birds with one stone. As long as I'm doing what Hagall told me, then I can also try to locate her father as well. Better yet, she won't have to find anything out, until after I talk to him.'
"Good, then get to it," was all Hagall said, before she sat on her office chair, and went back to the documents she's been reviewing. She didn't even offer as much as a fleeting glance at her husband who's been waiting for the slightest of hints that their first quarrel was officially over.
After a minute or two, it became apparent to Odal that his wife was still quite angry with him, and that the best thing he could do for the time being was a tactical retreat. Staying here for much longer would only agitate Hagall even further, and that was the last thing he needed at the time being.
XXX
Earth
Outside of Whirlwind, the entire group of employees, both regular and honorary alike -namely Tamiya and Otaki- have gathered around their latest project. This bike build, like many others before it, was finished in record time, and with such a limited budget that it was all but a miracle that they even managed to complete it. Of course, it would've been a lie to assume that no miracle was involved in the making of this project, since more than half of the components were handed to them by a literal god; then again, most of the members of the build team are immortals as well.
"I don't know how you did it, but I'm really glad to have you back onboard, Keiichi-kun," said Chihiro after inspecting the finished bike. However, when she noticed Skuld's pointed stare, the businesswoman cleared her throat and added. "Of course, you've also been a great help, Skuld." It was funny how the little goddess nodded along, almost as if she expected the praise as a reward for her hard work. Still, Chihiro had to admit that Belldandy's little sister was much better than most engineers she had the chance to work with, despite how impossible it sounded for someone Skuld's age.
"The important thing is that we got the job done," said Keiichi with a nervous chuckle. Part of him felt that they were encouraging a dangerous trend, given that finishing this project without relying on Odal or Skuld's resources, would've been all but impossible. At the same time, the thrill of working on something new, was something he truly missed over the last few weeks. With everything else going on, this was just what he needed to regain a sense of normalcy in his life. "Although, how are we going to ship it to the expo's site? Where is it taking place, anyway?"
"Tokyo," said Chihiro, before she paused and tried to come up with an explanation for the next part. "Unfortunately though, we might need to take it there ourselves. And I don't mean by driving it, either. After all, we'll clean it up beforehand, and I want it in mint condition for the expo."
"In other words… we'll take it there on our minivan," said Keiichi with a heavy sigh. No matter how convenient that van was in a city, the same couldn't be said about carrying big objects on an open truck bed through the highway. Turbulence and fuel efficiency aside, there was always the risk of having a tethering come loose, especially when they didn't use the proper equipment to tie their cargo onto the van.
"Don't worry about it, Keiichi-kun. The bike's not that big, so, the van will have to do," casually replied Chihiro. In reality, she nearly as worried about how to get their bike there, compared to what kind of competition they'll have to face. After all, several big automotive businesses were planning to show off some of their original concepts, leaving little room for local shops to display their own designs. Even then, the majority of their direct competitors relied on extensive customization of production models, rather than choosing the hard route of building something from the ground up. Of course, saying that they didn't use off the shelf components themselves would've been a lie, but at the very least, they did put a lot of work into building something that could be described as original.
Even though he wasn't entirely sure how, Keiichi almost felt that Chihiro's been holding back information from him, or at the very least, she's been evasive about her answers. It reminded him of the times Belldandy mentioned the color of his aura, yet only now did he begin to comprehend what she's been talking about. Apparently, immortals could sense emotions as long as the people experiencing them didn't know how to conceal them; which was almost universally true for mortals. Those emotions were processed and analysed in a similar fashion to spectroscopy, where light is broken into several bands of wavelengths, although in this case, each band corresponded to different emotions. In Keiichi's case though, he was still pretty new to all this, and therefore couldn't exactly pinpoint each emotion coming from Chihiro. 'Hm… I think she's apprehensive? Is that it? Belldandy makes it sound so easy when she's reading people's emotions.'
Almost as if on cue, Belldandy chose that moment to approach her husband and lightly tap him on his shoulder. She could already tell from his thoughtful expression that something's been bothering him, although it wasn't clear if it was work related or not. "Is everything alright, love?"
"Huh?... Sure, I'm just fine, Bell. Although, can I ask you something?" asked the dark haired god, before he took a moment to look at the others and added in a quiet tone. "Privately."
The Norn offered a slight nod, as he too made sure that Chihiro and the others weren't paying attention to them, and followed Keiichi to the back of the room. "Yes? What is it, Keiichi?"
"I think that Chihiro's… apprehensive, although I can't be sure. Can you tell me if I'm wrong or not?"
Belldandy glanced in the businesswoman's direction and slightly tilted her head, as she studied her for a couple of seconds. "I would say that she's more uncertain than nervous, although your observation isn't quite wrong. People's emotions are too complex for mere words to describe, so, our attempts to categorise them can only be so accurate." While her voice remained as warm and kind as always, there was a clear hint of pride, since she wasn't expecting him to be able to read Chihiro's emotional aura so soon. Sure, it did help that he was familiar with her -as it's always more difficult when it came to total strangers- yet even this was big progress for Keiichi. The only thing she wasn't sure about, was whether to tell him or not. While her husband wasn't the type to easily get conceited from such praise, there was always the chance that an early success would have a detrimental effect to his studies.
Before Belldandy could offer any kind of comment about her husband's progress, Skuld decided to join them, since either way, Tamiya and Otaki were more than willing to clean up the bike all by themselves. "Hey, sis. Take a look at this!" Following her exclamation, Skuld held up a multi-tip screwdriver; albeit one that had something that looked like a combinational dial built into its handle, along with a few buttons. And considering the empty stare she got not only from Belldandy, but Keiichi as well, Skuld decided to further elaborate. "It's my newest invention: Multi-driver Mk I! Since it's so annoying to go through several toolboxes just to find the right bit I'm looking for, I've integrated everything into a single, elegant tool. All you need to do is enter the code for the correct bit, and it's automatically deployed from within the screwdriver."
"That… sounds pretty neat, Skuld." First to respond was Keiichi, who after all realized just how convenient this invention really was. And then, Belldandy also joined in by patting her sister's shoulder, as she offered her a bright smile. "Keiichi's right," she said. "This is something really convenient, given how much time it can take when you just need something in a hurry. I'm not sure we can use it here, though. But at the very least, we should be able to do so at home."
"Yeah, I know that. The others won't know how this even works, and it'll cause problems," said Skuld with a sigh. It was frustrating for her to build such convenient things, only to hide them from human eyes, because they were too hard to explain to them. "I just thought it would be a fun thing to make. As much as I enjoy working here, I need to build something a bit more advanced, or I'll fall asleep from boredom. No offense, Keiichi."
"None taken," said the dark haired mechanic with a nod. "I know that everything here must look pretty mundane to you."
"Even so, I like it here. At least, I can spend more time with you and sis, even though I probably won't be able to come here on a daily basis. You know… I've got my projects and all that," said the young Norn ever so hesitatingly, since she didn't wish to make it sound that she put her inventions above her own relatives. Thankfully for her, neither Belldandy nor Keiichi seemed to take offense by that, which allowed Skuld to let out a sigh of relief. "Still! I'll help you as often as I can!"
"That's fine. After all, you're a bit too young to become a regular employee," said Keiichi without thinking. By the time he realized his blunder, it was unfortunately far too late to recall it, and thus prepared himself to face the little Norn's anger.
"Well, as far as everyone else here is concerned, I'm… a kid? Although, I do look more like an early teen as of late," said Skuld in such a calm manner that surprised even Belldandy. As a matter of fact, while the young goddess checked herself, her sister shared a long stare with Keiichi, who merely shrugged back at her.
Meanwhile, Skuld took notice of the couple's exchange, and put her hands on her hips. "Okay, fess up! What's all this whispering about?"
"Nothing serious. I'm just proud of you, Skuld," said Belldandy with a disarming smile, before her sister forgot her manners, and went back to her old habits.
"What for? It's just a simple screwdriver. Nothing too impressive to make a big fuss about," said the confused Skuld, since she totally missed the point.
"No, I'm just referring to your overall behavior. You've been really helpful as of late, and treated everything as a proper adult. So, I believe that we owe you some ice-cream on the way home," said Belldandy, before she realized that in way she was still treating her like a kid, and added. "After all, you're not getting paid like a regular employee, right?"
"Hm… I suppose ice-cream will have to do." It was a bit hypocritical of her to sound as casual as she did at the moment, but in all honesty, Skuld didn't wish to give the impression of an excited kid. Of course, it went without saying that she absolutely loved ice-cream, and she seriously doubted that this would change at any point in the future. So, Belldandy's offer was more than welcome, even if she tried to sound casual about it.
"Excellent! Then let's finish here, and we can even drop by an ice-cream shop on our lunch break," said Keiichi, enjoying how Skuld struggled to hide her excitement from hearing this news. "After all, it's an excellent day to go out for a walk."
XXX
Asgard
"She's right behind us!" The so called Dreaded Wolf was in the peculiar situation of having to quite literally run for his life, and the same was also true about his creator, who probably broke the celestial land speed record on foot.
"Less talking, more running!" yelled Loki at his creation, that was running right beside him. Of course, they could've attempted to fly away from the tenacious Nidhogg-Hild who refused to let them go, but such an idea was a pretty bad one. For starters, the whole point was to keep their magical profile as low as possible, and any kind of spells -even passive abilities- were going to give off their presence. Yet no matter how hard they tried, they could still hear the incessant clicks of their pursuer's heels not too far behind them. After all, Nidhogg-Hild was more or less copying their own strategy, and chased them off on foot, with an almost unbelievable tenacity.
For that very reason, they had yet to run into any of the Valkyries and Einharjar that were dispatched in response to that destroyed security panel. In rather ironic twist of fate, Loki's own idea of ditching her by going through the least known emergency accessways, turned to bite him, as he practically missed most of the Fighting Wings units. Those were undeniably heading towards that security door, leaving Loki to fend off his pursuer on his own.
Given the circumstances, his best bet was to lure her towards the point where their chase had started, although that was going to be tricky. Nidhogg-Hild had the uncanny ability to predict their every move, and intercept them before they got the chance to head back in the direction they came from. "You know what? This isn't getting us anywhere! Literally, too!"
"I told you that I told you! I mean… You know!" As much as he didn't want to admit it, for the first time in a long while, Fenrir was genuinely scared out of his mind, and that even affected his cheeky sense of humor. After all, messing around with Nidhogg was by no means a joke by itself, even if this particular avatar of the Dragon happened to be an allegedly perfect copy of Hild. At the very least, Hild had a sense of humor herself, and likely wouldn't cause any permanent damage to them. On the other hand, this Hild look alike was a totally different story altogether. "Why can't you use magic and grab everyone's attention?"
"Because if I start this, then she's also going to do the same! And guess who's on top of her hit list!" all but shouted the frustrated god of mischief. Perhaps the most infuriating thing about his predicament was that he normally knew how to get out of pretty much any kind of situation he got himself into; except for this one.
"Then we drop a bridge on her!" The determination in Fenrir's voice was so great, that it sounded almost out of place, given how ludicrous his suggestion was.
As a matter of fact, Loki felt the need to shoot a glance at his most famous creation, since it was impossible even for him to tell whether Fenrir was serious, or just messing around at a time like this. Before he got a chance to say anything, Loki noticed that right ahead of them was exactly what Fenrir spoke about, and a smirk started to form on his face. "Oh, I see... Good call, Fenrir! Just wait until we're under it, and then we'll give it a go."
"Got it, boss!" snapped the overjoyed canine, since he was the one who actually came up with this idea.
The duo kept going as if nothing was amiss, until they reached the next junction. At that moment, Loki reached into his robes to retrieve a small explosive device, not unlike the ones his youngest niece was well-known for, and yet waited for the very last second until they were right under the metal bridge that connected the two sides tunnels. Then, with a casual flick of his wrist, Loki flung the bomb to one of the supporting beams, and kept running as if nothing has happened, which surprisingly enough worked.
Nidhogg-Hild was so focused on catching up to them, that she somehow didn't register the tiny object as a legitimate threat to her, and carried on, oblivious of the true purpose of this action. It was only when the bomb went off, that she realized her folly, but by then it was far too late. 'How did they?!...' Of course, she already knew the answer to that, as the loss of her omniscience in this form, was more than enough to allow such a thing to happen to her. Worse yet, she could feel her main body's amused chuckle, as the rest of her seemed to enjoy this development, even if it seemed a rather masochistic thing to do.
The ear-shattering explosion was only amplified by the tunnels that surrounded them, causing the fleeing duo to momentarily pause and cover their ears. Fenrir in particular got the worst of it, since his hearing was much more acute than even a god's; and to say nothing of the fact that his front paws weren't nearly as dexterous to cover his ears. Still, that didn't prevent either from feeling rather proud from being able to land the second hit on her today.
"Ha! Not so invincible now, eh?" laughed Fenrir, and quite provokingly, too.
Unlike the cheeky wolf pup, Loki couldn't quite join in the celebrations yet, as not only did this seems grossly underpowered to take down someone nearly as powerful as Hild, but the eerie quiet that followed, seemed suspicious. It was almost as if no one noticed what happened, even though the explosion itself was more than enough to be heard from across the whole complex. 'Wait a sec!... Dammit!' Without wasting any time, Loki reached down, and grabbed Fenrir, who still thought that they got Nidhogg-Hild with that attack. Perhaps it due to the fact that it was his idea, and therefore wished to glorify his role in this, but either way, Loki didn't wish to sit around and get the full experience of a grumpy Hild -or rather, someone nearly as powerful as her. "She put up a soundproofing spell! Maybe even more than that! So, we need to get out of here, and fast!"
"Why would she do that?" asked the still confused canine, as he struggled to look at his creator, due to the way the latter was holding him by the back of his neck. "Anyone would've put up a shield… not all that stuff."
"Because she didn't care about our firecracker, you dum-dum! Did you seriously think that someone as powerful as Hild would even bother putting up a shield? Heck, even I can shrug off a blast like that; you, too!"
"Hm… you've got a point," admitted Fenrir, even though part of him already knew that. "So, we're back at square one?"
"Seems like it." Counterproductive as it sounded, Loki paused to look behind him, just to find out what was going on with Nidhogg-Hild. That avatar of the Dragon was so quiet, that he started to get worried about the possibility that he was about to walk into a trap. After all, there were those kinds of setups where someone makes others think that they've won, just for the sake of making them lower their guard. "Or… not? Where the Hell did she go?"
"Uh… maybe she's still under all that rubble?" suggested Fenrir, although he actually sounded pretty doubtful himself. At this point, even he started to wonder if something was amiss here, and followed Loki's gaze, just to be on the safe side. And lo and behold, as the smoke started to clear up, and they finally got a clear sight of the collapsed bridge, it became immediately apparent that Nidhogg-Hild wasn't buried underneath the mangled metal. After all, the bridge itself was so small, that it didn't require tons of structural material, and given the added fact that they were in an access tunnel, everything around them was pretty minimalistic; no decorations, or anything remotely unnecessary was in sight.
"Dunno about you, but I don't see her anywhere," muttered Loki, before a noise from the exact opposite direction caught his attention. It was actually from further down the tunnel they were heading to, and that by itself was an extremely worrying fact. 'Don't tell me…' Swallowing hard, the trickster god spent a moment scanning the corridor with his eyes, until a peculiar shadow on the ceiling caused him to look up, and pause; there, hanging upside down in a gravity defying act, was none other than the missing Nidhogg-Hild, and no worse to wear, too. There wasn't even the slightest hint of soot on her clothes, let alone her body. She was actually so disconcerted about his attempt to ditch her, that it gave Loki the sinking feeling of an amused cat staring down her prey. "Well… crap."
"Normally, I'd agree with you, but right now... I'm insulted to think that you even expected such a cheap trick to work on me. I mean, I can understand that you run out of ideas, although I'm also disappointed. I've been expecting more from you, mister god of mischief." The demoness' tone was highly reminiscent of Hild's playful mannerisms, although there was a clear hint of seriousness behind her words. Apparently, Nidhogg-Hild was starting to get genuinely annoyed by all these setbacks, and the added limitations of her current body only made matters worse.
"What can I say? My reputation precedes me." As much as he made light of his predicament, Loki was acutely aware that he was in a bad spot. Under most other circumstances, he was capable of pulling himself out of such situations, especially when he knew his opponents, and used their weaknesses to his advantage. However, even though this demoness was effectively a copy of Hild, the fact that this was also Nidhogg in a sense, made it really challenging for him to detect any weaknesses. More so, he was almost certain that this demoness was acting like Hild, in order to mess around with his mind, and cause him to treat her as the genuine article.
Silence filled the corridor, as both sides of this unusual confrontation engaged the other in a staring match, almost waiting for their adversary to make the first move. And while Nidhogg-Hild had the theoretical advantage, this wasn't a problem that could be resolved by brute strength alone. If she went ahead and incapacitated Loki, then he would've been of no immediate use to her, and carrying him around as a hostage was a potential problem as well. As such, the Dragon decided to rely on a much less direct method of resolving this situation: negotiations.
"Your reputation does indeed precede you… although not in a flattering manner. The most infamous of the gods, the one who loves to pull tricks on others, and that's the kindest of the things you're known for." Casually, Nidhogg-Hild dropped from the ceiling, yet made no attempt to approach Loki. She maintained her distance, and relaxed her body language to further convince the skittish god and his wolf pup that she meant no immediate harm to them. As far as anyone could tell, she was back to how Hild normally acts, even if the change was somewhat abrupt. "As a matter of fact, you're a hot topic as of late. Not everyone had forgotten how it was you who made Hel, and thus caused a huge transfer of souls to her servers."
"That may be. Still, do I have to remind you of Yggdrasil's role in this?" countered Loki with a hint of a smirk, especially when he brought up the Tree's name. After all, there was one thing, Nidhogg was actually afraid of, and he planned to use that to his advantage.
"Touche. But at the same time, your beloved shrub did nothing to exonerate you. Even as we speak, you Councils are actively discussing on how to handle this crisis, and chances are… that someone's going to get the short end of the stick. I'll let you take a good guess as to who that's going to be," mirthfully said the demoness, and even went as far as to shoot him a wink.
"I appreciate the concern, although it's actually unnecessary," admitted the somewhat confused Loki, who found himself in the bizarre situation of holding a conversation with Nidhogg of all things. "It's not like I haven't dealt with this sort of thing in the past. And besides… I have a feeling that no matter how much some might complain, this will come to pass."
"And what if I told you that I could give you a hand with that? After all, it's trivial for me to locate both Thrivaldi and Fafnir, along with the rest of their respective entourage," said Nidhogg-Hild, before she made a dramatic pause to let that sink in. Of course, she was well aware that the most likely answer to that would be a resounding no, so, it was important to throw in another bonus, just to give herself a better chance of success. "But as good as that might be, there's something even better: I can help you apprehend them. So, not only will you get credit for locating the most dangerous immortals as of late, but also for turning them in yourself."
"Hm…" Try as he might, Loki couldn't quite explain why one of the most powerful beings in existence was so adamant of making a deal with him; or anyone else for the matter. Then, there was also the fact that this thing was also involved in Hild's disappearance -at least from what it told Tyr- and if that was its idea of help, Loki could live without it. On the other hand though, this could also be a once in a lifetime to accomplish something far different from what Nidhogg-Hild was offering -something a lot more personal. "Assuming I can trust anything you're saying, can you actually bring back the dead? And I mean our dead, not mortals."
"Of course, that's pretty trivial for me," flatly answered Nidhogg-Hild, although the moment she did, her current form's restrictions prevented her from figuring out what the trickster had in mind. "I presume you want your parents brought back?"
Truth to be told, the offer was so tempting that Loki almost said yes, although a part of him knew that even if he went for that, it's not like things would go back to the time he was an infant. Furthermore, he was already part of a family now, and such a thing would only make his own place in the world even more uncertain. In the end, he decided that his initial idea was probably the best one he could ask for; providing that he wasn't being lied to. "I'd love to, but… I've got someone else on my list. Two, actually; and you're the one who killed them both."
"Oh?" She already had a very good idea who Loki's been referring to, and in all fairness, she never thought that they would act as a bargaining chip, later on. Naturally, this brought a smile to Nidhogg-Hild, since her main body didn't mind the suggestion at all. And before the trickster god changes his mind, she extended her hand in his direction. "Then we've got a deal!"
The demoness' response actually took Loki off guard, since in all honesty he was expecting a harder bargain. "That's all? Aren't you gonna try harder to make a better deal for yourself?"
"What's the point? Like I said, this is pretty trivial for me, so, why should I overcomplicate this?" casually said Nidhogg-Hild without even batting an eyelash. "To me, it doesn't really matter who I'm going to bring back, as long as I get to accomplish my goal. And all I really want is to have a few words with that blasted shrub."
Ever so reluctantly, Loki reached out and shook her hand, given that he still had more than enough reservations about this idea of his. Actually, once Nidhogg-Hild let go of his hand, he briefly turned to Fenrir, who's been uncharacteristically silent up until now, and whispered to him. "If she tries to pull anything funny, we're bolting. Understood?"
"You don't need to tell me twice," said Fenrir, while he suspiciously stared at Nidhogg-Hild. "Still, do you really trust this broad? Because, I dunno about you, but I sure don't want to be around her for too long."
"Me neither, to be honest. However, let's see how this goes. Besides, we might learn what she's after. And that's like killing two birds with one stone. Still, if anything happens, go find the others, okay?"
"Yep! Got it!"
XXX
Niflheim
Strolling around the Infernal capital city, Urd and her group found themselves at a loss as to what to do. Nearly an hour ago, Urd managed to reach Ymir via text, and in his reply, the ancient demon instructed them to meet him at the Sunken Fortress, one of the oldest bars in the city.
Or so they've been told.
After nearly half an hour of pointlessly looking all over the place, the trio had yet to even find a single soul who actually heard of that blasted bar. And unless Ymir purposely sent them on a wild goose chase -for who knows why- it was entirely likely that he may have accidentally recalled a bar from way back in his earlier days.
"This… this is a joke! It has to be!" Tossing her hands up in the air in utter frustration, Urd was one step before she became violent. Not that she was all pleasant right now, but at the very least she had yet to hurl a thunderbolt at something, or someone; like her girlfriend who's been soundly munching a bone-shaped tuffy. "And the Hell are you eating? Where did you even get it from anyway?"
"Hmph?" Mara blinked in surprise as she suddenly found herself staring back at her rather peeved girlfriend. "Oh, this is a hobo-doggo!"
"A what?" asked the utterly baffled half goddess, while she shot a puzzled look at her uncharacteristically happy girlfriend.
"It's a delicacy typically sold by stray dogs in this realm. Well… to be more precise, it's not like they actually make the tuffy, but they sell it through those food carts they carry around the city." And case to the point, she nodded in the direction of the cart she bought her own sweet. Needless to say that she well aware that this wasn't the time nor place for such silliness, letting Urd get too worked up about Hild's disappearance. Not that a distraction like this would make matters so much better all of a sudden, but at the very least she could buy time until they found that blasted bar. Better yet, finding Ymir himself was by far the better option, although with their luck being this bad, she seriously doubted that they'll have any success.
When Urd didn't reply right away, the blonde demoness began to worry that she went a bit too far with her attempt to lighten up the mood; after all, offering comfort isn't her forte. To complicate matters even further, Gunnar's constant presence around them, made Mara a lot more self-conscious of everything she said and did, as having an audience during her poor attempts at being nice… was even harder than she originally anticipated.
For a while, all Urd did was hum to herself, as she glanced between her visibly nervous girlfriend, and that food stall in the distance. Truth to be told, it's not like she didn't catch on with Mara's little scheme, which like many other plots of hers, it lacked the proper planning. Still, venting her frustration on her wasn't going to change anything, so with a deep sigh, Urd turned towards that food cart. "Why the Hell not? I need a break, after all." No more than a couple of steps further down the cobblestone path that crossed the park, Urd paused and looked over her shoulder at the momentarily surprised blonde. "If you don't mind having some extra, I'll buy you another."
"Eh? You… will?" As much as she hated to admit it, even after this much time, Mara still had some trouble predicting Urd's reactions in certain situations; and this one was no different. That being said though, offering distractions wasn't going to solve their real problem. Although she acted pretty nonchalant, Mara was acutely aware of the dangers that this latest crisis posed for them. Just like back during Hagall's ill-fated rebellion, the destabilizing effect of a change in leadership right now can result in an all out war. And while they were lucky enough to avoid a major disaster by betting on the Celestials to hold back for long enough to have that whole rebellion sort itself out… the same won't likely happen now. 'Maybe transferring to Hel isn't such a bad idea. I bet that realm's so far out of the way, that it's the safest place to be if things go south. Perhaps, I should ask Gunnar to see if she can contact Hel and make the arrangements for my transfer. But first things first. Let's call mom while Urd's busy, and see if she knows a way to find Ymir-sama. As long as Urd's not looking, she won't find out that I asked my mother's help. I mean… what else am I supposed to do? Hope that he bumps into us?'
As she followed Urd across the park, Mara took a moment to reach into her pocket and retrieve her communicator. Then without wasting any time, she quickly texted her mother, just to get an extra hand on their search. And with that done, Mara resumed walking as if nothing happened at all.
XXX
Earth
"Oh dear… that doesn't sound good."
Excusing herself in order to answer her communicator, Belldandy made sure to remain out of Keiichi and Skuld's earshot when she saw Odal's code show up on screen. After all, it was highly unlikely for her… son to call her unless it was absolutely necessary. And a lovers' quarrel this early on her son's marriage, is most certainly a rather alarming sign. More so, she couldn't quite explain why, but she felt oddly… annoyed about this whole situation, before she even heard the specifics. It was in fact Odal's honest accounting of the incident that stopped her from outright calling Hagall for some… much-needed explanations, although the desire to do so in the first place was a new thing for her.
While overprotective of her sisters, as well as her beloved husband, she never felt this compelled to chew on someone for doing her beloved ones wrong. Then again, this was the first time in her life that she was literally someone's mother-in-law, so, that might have something to do with it, too. However, when she heard Odal's voice asking her what was wrong, Belldandy pushed such thoughts aside and recomposed herself. "I'm sorry, you were saying?"
"Right… It seems that the demon I'm looking for, is hiding somewhere on Earth. Unfortunately, I don't know exactly where, but I'll have to drop by and try to locate him from there," explained Odal, before making a pause to consider his next request. "Would you mind having me at the temple? I doubt I'll spend more than a few hours there, but I don't want to come uninvited."
Belldandy had to stare at her communicator for a moment, since she didn't even think that her son's request was even necessary. "Why do you even ask? Of course, you're more than welcome! This is also your home, Odal!" Lowering her a voice a bit, just to avoid getting the bystanders' attention, Belldandy looked around for Keiichi and Skuld. Last time she saw them, they were by the ice cream freezer display, checking the flavors, since her sister had already sampled most of the regular stuff. "I… can't find your father at the moment, but rest assured that we'll prepare a nice meal by the time you arrive."
"Wait a moment! There's no need to make such a fuss about me! I'm just dropping by for a mo-"
"Don't even bother finishing that sentence, young man!" commanded Belldandy, and so assertively too, that she actually caught the rogue god by surprise. As a matter of fact, she even surprised herself by how convincingly she pulled her father's Daitenkaicho routine, to the point where she was almost certain that she made Frigg proud. "No kin of mine drops by my home, and doesn't even get a hot meal, or a hot bath. It's basic hospitality, after all. Now, don't give me any trouble, or I'll have grandmother say a few words to you, as well."
"I'll be more than happy to receive your hospitality!" quickly replied Odal, even if there was a noticeable crack in his voice. Frigg was one goddess he had no desire of messing around with, even if she happens to be his great-grandmother.
"Excellent! We'll be more than happy to have you drop by!" Almost without warning, Belldandy reverted into her cheerful, upbeat self, much to her son's surprise in the other side of the line. Still, none of that worried her, since she did make her point across, and was already in the process of planning for Odal's visit. And with her son offering his thanks before signing off, Belldandy was free to list down some of the ingredients she needs for a nice strawberry cake.
As if on cue, Keiichi and Skuld chose that moment to return with the much requested ice-cream, especially now that the youngest Norn had found something that caught her attention: a refreshingly new Neapolitan ice-cream flavor. How exactly had she missed this particular treat was a mystery even to Skuld, but for the time being the delighted young goddess wasn't going to complain. And though a bit worn out after several minutes worth of waiting in the line to acquire the whole batch of this delicacy, Keiichi was also happy that he had accomplished his goal of rewarding his sister-in-law for her assistance this latest project.
'Surprisingly enough, it worked out way better than I initially thought it would. If only I could find this level of help for such low price. Well… kinda low… because Skuld sure eats several times the amount of ice-cream for someone her size.' The mechanic-turned-god stole a glance at the Norn in question, and in all fairness felt glad that she didn't possess the ability to read minds, or such errant thoughts would've definitely gotten him into trouble. And with his sister-in-law content for the time being, Keiichi turned to his lovely wife, who appeared to be quieter than normal. "Sorry for the holdup, Bell. You weren't waiting for too long, did you?"
"Hm?" Her husband's voice brought her out of her thoughts, and for a moment she felt tempted to offer him a full account of her conversation with Odal, but on a whim, she decided not to. After all, it was going to be much better to leave this as a surprise, especially in Skuld's case who'd definitely enjoy having someone who shares her interest drop by for a visit. "Oh, not at all, love! I trust that there's a bit more left in your wallet other than Mr. Moth."
At first, Keiichi seemed rather confused by Belldandy's words, as she tended to be quite literal, only to realize that this was one of the somewhat rare occasions where she went for a joke like this. And not to sound like a bore, he decided to follow-up by taking his wallet out and offer Belldandy a glimpse of its contents. "Mr Moth is warm and fuzzy, tucked in his thousand Yen bill blanket."
The curious brunette did peer into the wallet, where an alarmed moth returned her stare, and hid himself under the aforementioned Yen bill. Unsurprisingly, the silliness of this sight brought up a smile to her beautiful face, which was also a good opportunity for her to change the subject, before she ended up revealing her plans for Odal's welcoming. "That's good to know, dear. As much as I love helping others, it's also important to save up a bit for our own future plans."
"No kidding," agreed Keiichi with a nod, before he took a seat next to his wife and chuckled when he realized a detail about their situation. "Although… who would've thought that even gods are on a tight budget."
"In all seriousness, I believe it was either us, or the demons who came up with the concept of budget," idly commented Belldandy, despite how contradictory it sounded. After all, it acted more like a joke than a straight-up statement, and for the most part the others seemed to agree as well.
"Yeah, there's a bit of a disagreement on this subject," added Skuld without taking her eyes off her ice-cream, just to make sure that it didn't melt while not paying attention to it. "I don't remember the specifics though."
"Fair enough," replied Keiichi. "Still, we need to keep working for the time being, or we might end up having to explain just how we're making a living for ourselves. Even if we're not in such need for food on the table as we used in the past, it's still far more convenient to keep up the act."
"Eventually, we might have to do something else, though," said Belldandy in a somewhat unhappy tone. "As much as I love working at Whirlwind, we can't exactly stay there forever. Even if we're not in such a desperate need for money these days, I feel that it's better for you to accomplish your dream, before it's too late, dear."
"Too late?" wondered Keiichi out loud. In the past, he would've assumed that Belldandy was referring to his mortality, but as thing currently stand, that was no longer the case. "I'm not exactly going to grow old, Bell."
"That may be, but we shouldn't take things for granted. To begin with, there's always the chance that we'll have to return to Asgard in the future. And even if that's not the case, you might realize that if you wait for far too long, the bikes you so much love will change, before you got a chance to open up your own store. After all, building your own bike is one of your biggest dreams, right?"
"Hm… I guess you're right, Bell. This is indeed something we'll have to use as a goal; something to accomplish in the future," said Keiichi, before he paused and reached to place his hand over Belldandy's. "However, raising a happy family is more of my main concern for the time being. Sure, we'll do a lot of things together, but let's not forget our priorities, right?"
"Yes!"
XXX
Niflheim in another timeline
The roaring sound of the transport's jet engines acted as a constant reminder for Hild and the rest of her group that their impending date with destiny, that was already overdue. After all, traveling through air in such an archaic means of transport was far from efficient, let alone comfortable. The intense turbulence that was the result of the ongoing storm outside, pushed this craft to its limit; so much so, that there were more than enough occasions where its passengers felt that they wouldn't make it to the city. Then again, there was also a reason why they didn't try to outright avoid the storm, as the interference it caused proved more than enough to conceal their presence. Besides, that was also why they had to rely on such an archaic means of flight, given that it needed next to no magic, and thus minimized any chances of detection.
Most of the passengers sat near the aft cargo compartment, with the only exception being the two synthetics who remained tethered in vehicle mode, right in the middle of the craft's hold. Naturally, there was no need for a pilot, as on board flight computers were advanced enough to handle this task on their own, and just as additional measure SA-α was more than capable of taking over the controls, despite being in vehicle mode. And in all fairness, given how rough the weather currently was, it was for the best that a synthetic was in charge of flying this craft, since its reflexes and analytical capabilities were the only thing that still kept them airborne.
"Are we there yet?" asked Excalibur in a rare moment of discomfort, much to his own surprise. After all, there wasn't any physical change to his body -aside from the temporary age regression- so, everything must've been part of his current mentality, which proved to be considerably less controllable than his previous self. Back then, he had such a great level of control over every individual parameter of both his mind and body, that it was entirely possible to simply turn off such mild annoyances once he reasoned that they posed no serious harm to him. That was no longer the case though, and the frustration that was the experience of fighting one's own self, truly worn the Earth Spirit off.
"Almost. We can't go at full speed in this kind of weather. The crosswinds are getting too strong for our craft's specifications," replied SA-α, for what in fact was the fourth time already. And case to the point, a sudden jolt that shook the entire transporter acted as a reminder of the raging storm outside.
"Maybe you need a cuddle to feel better?" quipped Surt from his seat across the storage bay, only to receive a prompt slap on the back of his head from Hild. The demoness seemed quite unhappy with this kind of attitude, especially right before this mission, and she had no qualms to express her displeasure regardless who was on the receiving end of her ire. As a matter of fact, the stare she was giving him was so scary, that Surt decided to play it safe and lowered his head, while still rubbing the spot where Hild's hand made contact with him. "Sorry about that…"
Unsure whether this was the result of his dizziness, Excalibur glanced over at Peorth and Lind who sat on either side of him, and for the most part the look on their faces confirmed that he had indeed heard right: this was a straight apology from the lord of Muspelheim. Granted, it's not like he had a choice on the matter, but even then it was kind of entertaining to watch how the demons established a semblance of hierarchy even under such circumstances.
"Um… I don't want to sound too obvious, but I'm kind of wondering…" cautiously started Peorth, since the Earth Spirit next to her chose not to offer any kind of reply. "Do we even have the fuel to get there? If this craft doesn't use our well-established technology, then… does it also mean that it's not based on the same power source?" The question actually caught some of the immortals present off guard, since most of them were accustomed to far more advanced forms of transportation, or at the very least didn't expect fuel shortage to become a problem on this occasion. And the longer than normal pause that followed that question, didn't help to make anyone feel any better about their current situation.
"I'm afraid you might have a point," openly admitted SA-α. "According to my estimates, we should've enough to reach the capital, but at this rate… I cannot guarantee it. We certainly have more than enough to get really close to our destination, although exactly how close… that's another matter altogether."
"Can't we do anything about it?" asked Hild, now that she became aware of yet another problem they didn't need at the time being. "Maybe a little bit of magic to improve our fuel efficiency? We could reduce our drag with an air spell around the craft."
SA-α hummed for a couple of seconds, just to let the others know that it busy working up a solution, but in the end it became obvious that there was no easy answer to that problem. "It's quite possible. However, I'm uncertain how much magic we can use before they detect us. And if that happens, we'll put ourselves in a pretty bad spot."
"Then how about we ditch this transport?" suggested Lind, catching everyone by surprise when she unexpectedly spoke up. "Without us on board, it should be capable of overshooting our target, and then crash land outside the city limits. This commotion should attract enough attention to allow us to infiltrate the Tree's Chambers while all those critters rush to see what's going on."
"The lass has a point," quipped SA-δ from its tether spot right behind its leader. "We won't get far enough in this rusty bucket, so we might as well cause a diversion with it."
"Of course, that means we might end up having to fight our way through the entire city," concluded SA-α, mostly for the record, as everyone else had already figured this out on their own. "However, I don't see a better option for the time being. Everyone, prepare for high altitude jump."
There was no time for arguments, so everyone began to wear their parachutes; with the only exception being the two synthetics who already had them attached while on board. The idea was to avoid even the slightest use of magic, and thus this low tech alternative was deemed necessary for a safe descent from such an altitude. Of course, being the sole civilian present, Peorth didn't quite share the same enthusiasm for choosing such a means of descent, and her past experiences of falling from the sky during Welsper's incident did little to make her feel any more comfortable with the idea. As a matter of fact, she found herself fiddling with the straps of her parachute, and this delay eventually caught the attention of Excalibur, who had already put on his own.
"Hey, what's the matter? For someone who's wearing so many belts, you sure seem to struggle with a simple fastener," laughed the faux teen, much to the brunette's chagrin. If there was one thing Peorth didn't like was to be looked down upon, but before she got the chance to give him a piece of her mind, the Earth Spirit got hold of the fasteners and adjusted them for her. "There you go! Just don't forget to take your eyes from the altimeter. We're not flying on our own, so, you need to make sure not to faceplant yourself onto the ground."
"Ah… thanks." Peorth seemed rather embarrassed to be assisted by a youngster, although she did remind herself that this wasn't exactly the case with Excalibur. Still, she did find this an interesting interaction, given that she was officially assigned as Skuld's mentor, and while they both goofed around while they were in Nekomi, Peorth felt the need to up her game and start teaching Skuld something that's actually useful. Of course, for that to happen she needed to get home first, and yet when the cargo door opened up with a resounding thud, she honestly didn't seem enthusiastic to approach the now overhanging gate.
"Ladies first!" shouted Surt over the deafening sound of the rushing wind, and even gestured for Peorth to move towards the ramp. "Come on, you. We don't have all day!, so move your ass, lass!"
Loud as the wind's roar was, Peorth didn't miss the totally extraneous comment, and instead approached Surt with every intention to show him her thorns; quite literally, too. With her vines out and ready to wrap themselves around her cheeky opponent, Peorth moved in to grab Surt's collar, although in all fairness, she mostly grabbed him by the neck. "Excuse me? We're in the middle of something here, and you've got time for puns about my buns?"
"Double standards much? Now who's begging to get pun-ished?" countered Surt, while he effortlessly got free of Peorth's hands… only to find himself entangled in her vines. "Hey! Hands off, bikini girl!"
"Who's bikini gi-... Aiee~!"
There was audible thud as Hild's foot made contact with her subordinate's side, causing him to crash onto Peorth, sending both out of the craft. She didn't even bother to make a comment, as this wasn't actually the time for such nonsense, and instead turned to the other two immortals present. "Are you two ready?" Intentionally or not, her tone was more than enough to cause Excalibur to grab onto Lind's torso, and hold onto for dear life. Then again, she clearly wasn't in the mood for any further jokes, and given Excalibur's history, she had no desire to let him crack one on the other's behalf.
"Yes," replied Lind, while she wrapped a protective arm around Excalibur, and then led both of them towards the loading ramp. Thankfully enough, the Earth Spirit remained silent for the time being, allowing them to jump off the craft in a far more dignified manner that the others before them.
And with everyone else gone, Hild approached the control panel and released the lock on the pallets that the two synthetic were loaded onto. Soon enough, an ear-splitting screech of metal rubbing against metal filled the air, as SA-δ's pallet left the cargo bay, with SA-α's following after a couple of seconds - just to give them enough distance to avoid a mid-air collision. And with that done, she took one moment to check her altimeter, before she finally jumped off as well.
Within seconds, it became apparent that this was no joyride, as the raging storm reduced visibility to such a degree that it as all but impossible to see beyond a couple of meters, and the strong crosswinds threatened to drift her far from the likely location of the others. As a matter of fact, it was extremely likely that they might've inadvertently split themselves up into groups, considering that they weren't supposed to use any magic until they were close enough to their target.
'We should've jumped all at the same time… Now, Surt's with Peorth of all people, and Lind's got Excalibur to babysit. The synthetics should be relatively fine since they're so much heavier than the rest of us. Still… what a mess! Ugh, I can't wait to get back home.'
AN: I would like to thank everyone here and the Goddess Relief site for offering their continuing support.
First of all, happy new year! This is my first post of 2019, so, I'd love to wish you all the best.
Now, as far as the chapter's concerned, I've got a few things to note.
Loki's deal with Nidhogg-Hild isn't exactly a pointless thing. The trickster does have his reasons to do so, and given that he got the opportunity. Whether that'll work out or not, that's a subject for future chapters.
Part of me wished to go further with the ending, but I felt it's better to leave it for the next chapter. I need to better synchronise some events, so that it won't end this arc too soon, while other things are still ongoing in the main timeline.