I do not own the Ah! Megami sama / Oh! My Goddess series
In all of his years he came to live with the goddesses, Keiichi has gotten to experience a lot of weird things. Why, the mere fact that he somehow ended up becoming a god should've made it on top of the list, yet watching a pair of twins move in perfect sync while having a cup of tea -to the point where their sips sounded in stereo, was… refreshingly new. And it didn't help that the twins in question were sitting across the table from him, with Frigg and Odal on one side, and Skuld with the newly upgraded Siegel on the other. Naturally, Belldandy sat right beside him, all while Banpei peacefully watched the scene from a safe distance. More likely, he was simply gawking at Sigel's upgraded form, but he wasn't gonna ruin the poor guy's fun by drawing attention to him. There was no need to add another temperamental teen to this already explosive mix.
The relative peace was interrupted when Laguz entered the room carrying a tray with the freshly baked strawberry cake that she somehow managed to finish in almost record time. Then again, it was nice for her to show off her culinary skills once in a while, and with Belldandy wanting to keep an eye on those troublemaker twins, Laguz grabbed the opportunity to offer everyone a treat. In all honesty she would've preferred to try something she was more familiar with from the old days, although it was quite possible that the youngest among them wouldn't exactly find such recipes to their liking. As such she relied on something she learned from Bell during her stay here, and just hoped that she did a decent job at putting the finishing touches.
"Dessert's ready!" Instantly all activity in the living room came to a halt, their attention now drawn to the cake Laguz set on the table. And with the understandable exception of Banpei, the rest seemed more than ready to give it a try. This sight brought her a smile, and prompted the lake goddess to start slicing the cake into pieces… until she realized that the hungriest set of eyes belonged to the other synthetic present. 'Wait a moment!... Did I just imagine that?' she wondered, and turned her head in Sigel's direction.
The gynoid sure looked ravenous, with even something very similar to drool gathering in her mouth. Thankfully enough, she did gulp it down before it escaped her lips, yet that proved enough to draw more attention to herself. Sigel paid them no mind though, and with her best puppy-eyed expression she addressed her beloved maker. "Skuld-sama, can I have some, too?"
"Uh… I'm not sure about that, Siegel. I thought we should start with something easier. Like water or-"
"But, I've been waiting so long to be able to eat! Please?"
Seeing the excitement in Sigel's face, as well as that oh-so-familiar tone that almost mirrored hers whenever she wanted something from Belldandy, it was too hard for Skuld to deny her gynoid's request. After all, she thought that it would've been nice to share some of her favorite ice cream, and perhaps… teach her things in the same manner as a parent would to their child. Sure, this wasn't exactly the case here, as she actually rebuilt Siegel from a mere doll to a gynoid capable of free will. So, even if she couldn't exactly use terms like 'daughter' to describe her, it's undeniable that deep down she wished for Siegel to see her in the same manner like she used to look up her Oneesama. And given the nature of this issue, Skuld simply tried to imagine what Belldandy would've said in a situation like this. "Alright, you can have a sample. However, keep in mind that we only tested your taste receptors with artificial food flavors, and even then only with one sample at a time. A cake is much more complex than that, so if you find the taste funny, better stop and ask me to show you to the bathroom. Okay?"
"Yes, Skuld-sama!" chirped the gynoid, yet before she could even extend her hand in Laguz's direction to request for a slice of that delectable cake, Skuld got hold of it and forced her to turn in her direction instead.
"Not so fast! You need a napkin, or you'll end up with one sticky mess!"
"B-But... mistress! It's embarrassing! No one else here is using one!"
"None of them is eating for the first time! Now, don't be difficult and stop fidgeting! That's an order, missy!"
If this couldn't get any stranger of a sight, seeing a goddess as young as Skuld try to mother a girl seemingly older than her -at least from a physical perspective. Even the twins seemed rather intrigued, given how wide their eyes grew while Skuld struggled to knock some sense to her gynoid, all while Belldandy -of all goddesses- giggled in amusement. After all, this whole scene brought up memories of the times she couldn't tend to her infant sister, and Urd was forced to fill in for her. And in pretty much every single one of those occasions Belldandy got enough proof that Skuld was indeed her mother's daughter when it came to her explosive personality, despite having her father's looks.
Speaking of personalities, it did take a little longer than anticipated, yet Skuld persisted with such ferocity to make Ansuz proud. And judging by the grin on her lips, the young Norn also seemed rather pleased with her little victory. An overwhelming sense of accomplishment that only intensified when Sigel took a spoonful of cake, and made a positively delighted sound. "I'll take it that the taste receptors work?"
"Mmph…" The gynoid's expression became almost indescribable, as she struggled to understand the sensory data from her new hardware. While Skuld did her best to provide her with an extensive database that covered up the majority of chemical combinations found in food, as well as what they're supposed to taste like -from an organic's perspective- Siegel found it utterly bizarre to process all that information. In the end, she resorted to picking up the most prominent of the 'flavor' values in her analysis, and registered those with her newly expanded neural network. "It tastes good…" she eventually said with a surprising tone of sheer delight, after swallowing her first ever mouthful of cake. She never thought that such a mundane thing as cake would be this good, and mostly dismissed the reactions she saw in television, or her mistress' manga as nothing more than exaggerations of something as simple as the organics' version of recharging their batteries. "Can I have more?"
The mere sight of the gynoid's enthusiasm brought smiles all around the room, as none of the bystanders proved immune to her innocent delight. And while Banpei wasn't exactly capable of facial expressions, he did save a picturel of Siegel's smile, and then decided that he really wanted to offer her some food himself. As such, he reached for a spoon from the table while everyone else was preoccupied with looking at Skuld, and approached the cake from the other side. Subtlety isn't exactly his forte, so he went for a big scoop, almost to the point that the spoon looked comically small in comparison to the amount of cake loaded on it. "Beep?"
It proved hard for Siegel to resist the urge to roll her eyes at Banpei's obvious attempt to score some points with her. Yet, the startled look on Skuld's face when she noticed that spoon suddenly went past her, made up for it. "Well, well… someone's trying to learn new tricks? Not that I blame you for-... Wait! You'll waste all that cake!" she said in a hurry, when the spoonful of cake started to droop under the gravity's effect. And without much thinking about it -ironic as it was for a synthetic- she shot forward to eat that cake before it fell onto the floor. A task that proved much easier for her upgraded body, until… she discovered the limitations it also came with. In fact, this one was completely new, as the moment she shoved all that cake into her mouth, a barrage of incomprehensible warnings light up inside her head. Not only that, but she found herself struggling to hold back the urge to cough -an action that didn't seem natural to her at all.
Seeing her gynoid's response, Skuld immediately hurried to put down the spoon she was wolding, and give Sigel a pat on her back. "Whoa! Don't try to fill your mouth like that! It's way too much food to process all at once!" Despite her efforts, Skuld knew that it was a bit late for advice, and as such she gave her a pat on her back. "Come on, spit it out already! If it gets down your lungs, your self-cleaning mechanism isn't strong enough to get rid of all that on its own. And I really don't want to take them out for maintenance just yet!"
For once, Siegel wasn't really paying attention to what her maker was saying, and instead struggled with the alien sensation of choking, which further prompted her to cough up the cake. Only problem being that she didn't actually turn away from the table while doing it, which not only made a mess of said furniture, but also those sitting opposite her. And given how unexpectedly the whole thing happened, neither of them had a chance to erect a barrier to stop the flying cake particles from pelting them like bird shot would a hunter's game.
A moment of stunned silence followed soon after, since no one present was brave enough to comment about Frigg's predicament, who for once was at a loss of words herself. Skuld in particular looked absolutely horrified at the prospect of being the one responsible for this debacle, not unlike a certain uncle of hers. Meanwhile, the rest of the stunned bystanders started to recover from their silent stupor, only to find themselves struggling to hold back their laughter from just how ridiculous this scene looked at the moment. Even the normally composed and considerate Belldandy couldn't help but giggle, much to her husband's astonishment. Meanwhile, Laguz used the excuse of getting a roll of paper towels for the unlucky duo, just to get out of earshot before she lost her composure and ended up insulting anyone by laughing right in front of their faces. And speaking of faces, Eir and Saga weren't as good at hiding their own amusement, even if they wisely remained silent.
"Oh, no! I'm really sorry for that, grandma!" said Skuld, who finally snapped out of it, and made an attempt to get up to come to Frigg's aid. However, the elder goddess simply stopped her with a dismissive hand wave, and instead materialized a towel to clean up herself.
"No need to worry about it, dear," said Frigg, as she summoned another towel to hand over to Odal, who still gave Sigel a critical look. "I'm used to your tendency to build things that can explode, although this is the first time one of your inventions spat at me."
Given the humorous tone on her grandmother's voice, Skuld could finally breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that she didn't take personal offence by this debacle. And speaking of levity, she was quite surprised to hear Belldandy's muffled giggles in the background. Even when she turned to look at her sister, the middle Norn didn't stop; in fact, she got louder. "Bell?..."
"I-I'm sorry... I… I can't help it!" managed the brunette between fits of laughter, once she completely lost it and couldn't hold back anymore. Apparently, her developing daughter must've somehow found the scene hilarious, and the feedback sparked similar emotions in her. It never ceased to impress her how Lofn would snooze through most of the day, only to pop up at times like these, as if to remind her that she was still there. Sure, she did experience some longer lasting effects outside of those instances, given how more curious she was as of late, on top of an almost inexplicable sense of restlessness that prompted her to explore her surroundings. Just the other day, she found herself going through Keiichi's belongings for anything new and exciting to preoccupy herself with, and sure enough she dug out an old Walkman from the early 80s. And though she had seen such devices before, along with their more modern equivalents, this didn't stop her from spending the next hours -or so- listening to an old collection of cassettes she also found in Keiichi's desk drawers.
"Anyway…" she eventually said once she regained control of herself, and then turned her attention to Frigg and Odal. "Why don't you clean yourselves up, and join us for tea?"
"I suppose that's for the best," sighed Frigg, as she got up and glanced at Odal who followed suit. "If you'll excuse us, we'll be back in a bit," she added with a smile, with her great grandson offering a nod at the others, before he joined her.
XXX
At a time like this, there was no word strong enough to describe the convenience of cleaning spells. The ability to get rid of nearly any kind of stains, all within a moment's notice, rendered this little trip to the bathroom almost unnecessary. In fact, it was mostly for the sake of allowing them an opportunity to regain their composure, rather than a necessity in order to properly clean themselves up, along with their clothes. Even so, this provided Frigg the perfect opportunity to have a couple of words with her great grandson in privacy.
"By the way, Odal-kun… how's married life treating you?" tactfully asked the brunette, while she pretended to check her hair in the mirror. In reality, she had already finished doing that, but it was for the best to sound as casual as possible for this kind of discussion. After all, the last thing she needed was to make Odal too self-conscious about it, almost as if he's been interrogated.
"Complicated," replied the rogue god after a long pause to carefully consider his words. He could already see where this was going, and in all fairness he had more than enough reasons to avoid such a delicate topic at the time being, yet… doing things his own way was exactly what got him in this situation to begin with. Perhaps accepting the advice of a much older goddess with many lifetimes worth of experience under her belt, could offer him a new perspective of the subject. "I wanted to help Hagall make amends with her family, only to end up pissing her off. Look, I understood why it was a bad idea from the beginning, since she actually told me that she didn't get along with her mother, but… I wanted to do something about it."
"Since you realized your mistake, there's no need for me to berate you about it. What I can do however, is to remind you that keeping your cool is crucial. We all make mistakes, and demons are particularly adapted to live in a society where backstabbing is a thing; within reason, of course. There are things they're willing to forgive, if you know how to play your cards right. So, what do you have in store for her?"
It took Odal a while to consider whether it was a good idea to discuss such a topic with Frigg, but in the end he reasoned that he needed all the help he could get. "Actually, I was thinking about taking Hagall for a real honeymoon once things calm down a bit. We never really got the chance to have some time to ourselves, so, I'm looking for ideas. You know… places we could go, or activities to try; that sort of thing."
"You know, I can do better than that," said Frigg with a sly grin that only confused her great-grandson. She didn't let him wonder what she meant by that for too long though, as she carried on. "In fact, how about I arrange your honeymoon myself? There's a lovely attraction in Vanaheim you might enjoy, and besides it'll be good for your wife to explore my -and by extension your- homeland. Plus, I'll throw in a couple of surprises for both of you, which is much better than knowing everything from beforehand -if you had to make all the arrangements by yourself."
"Surprises? Like what?" As tempting as it sounded, Odal knew better than take an offer before he knew what it all entailed.
"There's no fun if I tell you," tutted Frigg, all while her grin widened. Reaching into her robes, the brunette fished out a rolled up brochure in the exact same fashion as a certain Norn does for her bombs. And before Odal could even utter a single word, she handed this suspicious looking item to him. "Although, I suppose a bit of a hint isn't going to hurt anyone. So, here! Take a look at that."
Unrolling what initially seemed to be a simple brochure, Odal realized that this was in fact a pair of tickets for something called 'Vanaheim's Cultural Track' which sounded awfully like a train ride. Now, he knew that trains were occasionally used for transporting raw materials, as well as supplies by immortals, yet they were far from popular commuters. In fact, even in those cases, trains were primarily reserved as auxiliary means of transportation, rather than the first option. "Uh… what exactly is this? I've never heard of it."
"Is that so?" wondered Frigg out loud, much to her own surprise. "I've been under the impression that you knew a bit more about our world, but I guess I was wrong. Well… in that case, let me explain. These are a pair of tickets for a special train ride across a picturesque landscape that sprawls across one of Vanaheim's largest national parks. Of course, that's meant as a tourist attraction, rather than a mere transportation method, since there are far more efficient ways to move around, as you surely know."
"Ah! I got it now!" laughed the somewhat embarrassed Odal, given how obvious that answer suddenly sounded to him. For a god who greatly valued his ability to use his noggin, this wasn't exactly his finest moment, and as such he tried to brush this off to spare his dignity. "Anyway, I cannot guarantee whether Hagall will agree to spend our honeymoon in Vanaheim, but regardless I'd like to thank you for this gift."
"Don't be so hasty, Odal-kun. I've got a little bit of an extra to offer," said Frigg with a slight smirk, especially as she extended her hand in her great-grandson's direction and materialized a neatly folded up piece of white cloth. Interestingly enough, Frigg's lips curled up in a naughty grin ever so slightly to avoid giving herself away until Odal inspected her little gift; and that he did, only to further confuse himself in the process.
"An… apron?" He wondered out loud, as he shot Frigg a quizzical look. "Okay, it's a frilly one, so she might like it, but don't you think it might be… politically incorrect?"
"It's not meant as a statement, it's a honeymoon gift," flatly replied Frigg. She even debated whether she needed to further elaborate, yet in the end she tried to avoid ruining the surprise if her great-grandson didn't get it to begin with. "Trust me, she'll know what to do with it. Just make sure that she gets this during the first night of your honeymoon, and leave the rest to her. She's a demoness, so it'll take no time for her to connect the dots."
The only thing Odal could do was to offer a slow nod and fold up the apron, yet as he was about to stash it, his brows went up in realization. "Wait a sec! Are you trying to make me ask Hagall for a naked apron?"
"Why not? Your wife's got a mighty fine body, if I say so myself. That tiny apron will definitely look hot on her." As if this wasn't enough already, Frigg even winked at the already embarrassed god, who clearly wasn't prepared to have this kind of conversation with his great-grandmother of all goddesses. Still, the aforementioned brunette did have the self-restraint to avoid pulling off an Urd, and try to push it much further than absolutely necessary. As such, she merely chuckled at his hasty attempt to stash away the apron, and cleared her throat afterwards. "At any rate, what you do with my gifts is your business, so don't feel pressured to play along. In the end, it's your honeymoon, and therefore your decision on what to do."
Just as she was about to wrap this conversation up, the beeping sound of Frigg's communicator caught her attention -just as well as Odal's for the matter. "Excuse me for a moment, I need to answer this," she apologetically said, and as soon as she got a nod in reply, Frigg stepped a bit further away from her great-grandson and tapped the answer icon on her communicator. There was no need to even read the name on the screen, as she had already set up a special tune that accompanied the chaos this particular god let of his wake. "I trust everything's fine on your end, Loki?"
"Yes, you… might say that, mother." The trickster's fatigue was painfully obvious in his voice, although such was to be expected after the ordeal of the debriefing he and Fenrif had gone through. Considering that they were the first people in recorded history that attempted to make a deal with Nidhogg, it was only natural that the Fighting Wings wanted a fully detailed account of those events. "We just finished with the interview, and I must say that they totally enjoyed every second of it. Not that I'm surprised, given that several of those ladies have fallen victims to my pranks at one point or another, but…"
"But, you should stop pranking Valkyries -period," almost snapped Frigg at the communicator, causing Odal to slightly back off from her. "That aside, have you heard anything from Urd-chan? She has apparently gone to Niflheim to find out more about her mother's whereabouts, but she should've contacted us by now."
"I haven't heard anything from her, although Tyr mentioned that he picked up her presence in the mortal realm. More specifically… close to a certain location of great interest, if you catch my drift."
Given the suggestive tone in her stepson's voice, it didn't take long for the brunette to realize that he was referring to Thrivaldi's hideout. And considering that Loki's been stuck in Valhalla for the time being, it was prudent to avoid mentioning anything that would get the Celestials involved in Ymir's operation. Such a thing could easily escalate into a mess, especially given how high tensions between the two sides were after Hel's acquisition of the deceased mortal souls. "Ah, I see. Well, since I'm here, I'll find a way to contact her myself. At any rate, try not to make another mess while I'm here. Even I have limits, despite my connections."
"Yes, mother…"
"What was that?" barked the goddess at the communicator, in a tone that completely lacked any of the sweetness she previously displayed.
"Yes, mother!" yelped the trickster, when he realized that Frigg meant business.
Content with the reply, the goddess let out a deep sigh, and decided to end the call, providing that she was reminded of another pressing matter. "Excellent. Now, you remember that, while I'll make sure our Urd-chan is doing fine."
"Sure, sure… I'll keep out of trouble. Oh, and by the way, send my regards to father."
"That I will. Perhaps if you haven't involved yourself in that mess, you could've been having some fun with him. I'm sure you'd love this sort of game," said Frigg with a chuckle. "Anyways, I'll call you later. Remember: be nice to the war ladies."
"You already told me, mother… But, I can't say I blame you for knowing better than taking my word for granted. Very well, I'll try to stay out of trouble this time around."
XXX
Unknown location, Amazon rainforest
With the sun now long set beyond the horizon, a lone vehicle traversed the rough jungle terrain, as it made its way through an undocumanted - and most certainly illegal road. In fact, calling this patch of stripped land a 'road' was a bit too much of an exaggeration, as the ground was so uneven that it turned this relatively routine trip into a nausea inducing experience. Even a relatively heavy, two and a half tons, ex-military M35 proved nothing compared to the roughness of this so-called road, especially since they didn't have an earth mover to properly level it.
"I'm tired sick of it," came the voice of the co driver, who aimlessly looked at the cabin's ceiling, as the darkness outside prevented him from fixing his gaze at a distant enough spot, to better deal with the motion sickness. To make matters worse for him, the way the headlights' beams bounced all over the place only added to the dizziness, as well as further ruin his mood. "Why can't we just fly the stuff over by helicopter, or something? Those bitches seem rich enough, so they should be able to afford it, right?"
"Oh, for the love of!... Can you shut up, rookie?" groaned the driver. The grizzly middle aged man has gotten pretty tired of listening to all this bitching and moaning, especially when he wasn't in a good mood himself to begin with. "It's not not like I don't have better things to do than listen to your yapping."
"Yeah?... Like what?" snapped the younger man, as his hand edged closer to his belt, where he kept his utility knife strapped. Before he could get anywhere close to the leather strap that secured it in place though, he felt the unmistakable sensation of a gun's barrel pressed against the back of his head, and immediately lifted both hands. "Whoa, whoa!... Easy there!"
"Say that to yourself, asshole. Don't act like I didn't see what you were doing. You won't last long as a mercenary, if you let people stab you in the back." Despite the calmness in his voice, the driver cocked the revolver he kept aimed at his passenger, and let him sweat for a while, until he slowly pulled it away from his head. "Remember, you try pulling a stunt like this again, I'll blow up your fucking brains. Got me?"
Rather than risk his life by further agitating his colleague with a reply, the younger merc only shook his head -and quite emphatically, too. Even so, the awkward silence that followed did little to make him feel any better, so he desperately tried to come up with something to break the ice. "Say… do you know what these weirdos are up to? I mean, I first thought they were smugglers, or drug dealers, but… all we get to them are food supplies and fuel for us. Isn't that weird, or what?"
The driver cast his passenger a sideways glance, and indifferently shrugged off. "Don't know, and quite frankly don't care. They pay well, and we're hardly doing anything at all. I've been through a couple of wars, and I'll take this any day." Just as he was about to continue, something unexpected entered his peripheral vision, that not only caused him to do a double take, but also slam onto the breaks.
"What the?!" cried the startled passenger, as he totally wasn't expecting such a reaction out of the blue. Then again, as soon as he followed his colleague's perplexed stare, he realized what caused him to react like that: Further down the road, a curvaceous bronze skinned woman was waving her hands at them, almost as if she was trying to hitch a ride. And if that wasn't enough just by itself, seeing that this lady was only wearing a pair of hot pants and a tiny shirt held together with a tied knot at the front… in the middle of a rainforest seemed a bit too out of place.
"Well, aren't we lucky? We found ourselves a hooker," coldly replied the driver, as he seriously doubted that this woman just wandered off into the forest dressed like that. And even if she so happened to get stranded while travelling down the river or something, it was highly unlikely that she'd try to look for help during nighttime. The forest is a really dangerous place for the unprepared, and everything about this girl screamed that fell into that particular category. At best, she could survive till dawn, but not for much longer. Then again, she could be a convenient distraction, and for that he felt the need to warn his already drooling comrade. "Hey! Snap out of it, I was just joking. This could be an ambush for all I know."
"Aw… come on! Stop being a joybuzz! I can't see anyone else alongside her. And besides… do you think she's carrying a gun or something? Hey, even if she wanted to, there's no place to hide it in those flimsy clothes!"
If it wasn't obvious enough already, the absolutely lovestruck tone in the younger man's voice, caused the driver to roll his eyes in disgust. Sure, they've been stuck here with no girls in sight for long enough. Well… at least any sane girls, because there's actually one at the camp, but she nearly killed the last merc who tried to hit on her. "Can you stop thinking with your balls every time we come across a pretty girl? Even if this one is quite… stacked, that's not a reason to-..." started the old merc, until he let out a frustrated sigh and scratched his head. "You know what? Screw this! Why don't you go and introduce yourself? If you're so eager to walk onto a trap, let's at least see what this is all about."
Now it was the young merc's turn to roll his eyes, as he opened the door all while uttering a curse under his breath. He's been in far more dangerous situations than talking to an obviously unarmed woman, so instead of fretting about a nonexistent trap, he put his best smile on and approached her. 'Whoa!... Would you look at those puppies! Best damn cups I've ever seen! The chick's not even wearing a bra, too!' Least to say, that this lady passed all of his chick quality control standards, especially now that could take a better look at her from up close. In fact, he found it hard to resist wolf whistling at her as he came to a stop, mere steps away from her. But in the end, he came to his senses, and realized that this would've only ruined his chances to score in this forsaken place.
"Hey, hello there," he tried in English, hoping that he wouldn't hit some kind of language barrier. After all, this woman's silvery white hair, and not to mention her purple eyes, gave her an exotic appearance. Which only meant that she probably came from abroad, just like him and the majority of the mercs back at the camp. "Um… do you understand what I'm saying?"
"Hello there yourself," she replied in perfect English, effectively answering the mercenary's question. And considering how obvious his interest seemed from his emotional aura, she even shot him a wink to further entice him. "I was cruising down the river by boat, until I accidentally hit a rock and… spent the rest of the day looking for help. Seriously, all my stuff went down with it, so I don't even have a phone to call for help." Only the goddess of the past was skilled enough at lying to say all that with a straight face, and given how much of his IQ she sapped with that raunchy wink, the merc took the bait -hook, line and sinker. "Oh, the name's Urd by the way."
"Mark!" all but shouted the merc, in an over enthusiastic attempt to shorten his introduction. "I mean… the name's Mark," he corrected himself, once he realized how desperate he must've sounded a moment ago. However, as much as he wanted to score some points by lending her his cellphone, the more rational part of him doubted that this was a great idea. "Now, about the phone thing… Can you wait for a moment? I forgot mine back at the camp, so I need to check if my friend's carrying his."
It was pretty obvious to Urd could that he was lying, given that she could easily make out a cellphone's outline in one of his pockets, but decided to play dumb and offer him a nod. "Sure thing, take your time."
Watching his younger colleague almost make a run for the truck, the more experienced merc couldn't help but roll his eyes in disdain. All that darn guy needed was a pretty lady to make him toss his professionalism out of the window, and instead replace it with a sense of purpose he didn't even normally display. 'What a loser… Swayed just like that from a chick. Well… a pretty hot chick, but…' The merc pushed such thoughts aside when he noticed that his colleague was trying to grab his attention, and with a heavy sigh he turned his gaze at him "Yeah, yeah… I heard you. What do you want?"
"She said that she got stranded here, and needs a phone to call for help," nervously said Mark, while looking back and forth between Urd and his fellow merc. "What should we tell her?"
"Really? I somehow doubt it, but even so, I'm not sure we can help her," replied the older guy, in all honesty. "Our employer said that we need to keep a low profile, and letting her call for a rescue team or something, isn't exactly helpful."
"Come on, Frank! Have a heart, will you? We can't just let her die here! Or do you think she'll make it to the nearest village on foot?"
The older mercenary remained silent for a while, as he honestly didn't wish to get involved in this kind of nonsense, but found it hard to outright refuse. After all, he wasn't too fond of letting an innocent die if that could've been avoided. "Look, it's not exactly up to me to decide. If you're so bent on helping her, let's take her to the camp, and see what our employers have to say about it. Deal?"
Not wanting to risk losing the argument, Mark rushed back and told Urd the good news, then promptly showed her to the back of the truck. He even made an attempt to offer a 'helpful hand' while she climbed onto the truck bed, but… Urd would have none of that. Again, he tried not to push his luck with that gorgeous lady either, and instead went back to his seat without any further arguments, or delays for the matter. He did have a bit of a goofy grin on his face though, even if the driver couldn't care any less about his colleague's thinly veiled flirting efforts, and thus restarted the engine again, hoping to put an end to this unnecessarily prolonged supply trip.
Finally alone, Urd quickly checked the truck's cargo, just to make sure that there weren't any hidden surprises in there, even if she seriously doubted that they would allow humans to handle anything too sensitive. Then again, she wasn't exactly dealing with the sharpest tools in the shed, so the definition of common logic remained… relative for Thrivaldi and his goons. And with that done, Urd looked over her shoulder and whispered. "Alright, the field's clear, Mara."
Sure enough, a tiny head poked out of the goddess' platinum hair, where she's been hiding right against her back. "About damn time! I knew we were dealing with fools here, but this is just ridiculous! Who on their right mind flirts with some stranger they meet in the middle of nowhere?!"
"Jealous, Ma-chan?" giggled the bemused Norn, given that she wasn't actually expecting such an obvious reaction at a time like this. Then again, lightening up the mood was something good before attempting to go along with her grandmother's plan. "Does that mean I won't get him?"
"Get your head out of the gutter! We've got a job to do!" Growled Mara as she jumped out of her hiding place and reverted back to her original size. "Now, remember what we're supposed to do: Each of us will possess one of those guys, and then use them as a convenient shield to hide our presence as we'll enter that camp. From there, we need to find those guys, and at least manage to seal their leader. As long as he gets out of the picture, the rest aren't going to be that much of a threat. Besides, if they make an attempt to escape, chances are they'll run straight into the others. So, it's a win-win scenario here."
"Hm… it kinda seems to be the case." Though she put some effort into hiding it, Urd wasn't exactly all too sure about her ability to possess a mortal. Sure, she had more than enough experience with the command voice and all, but she never truly took over someone's body in such a fashion. Perhaps she should've objected back when Njorun came up with this idea, as Verthandi would've made a much better candidate for the role, given that her sister's doppelganger actually had some experience in this particular field. "Anyway… How do we take them down?"
Though initially confused by the question, Mara remembered that Urd had previously little experience on how to possess humans, which was enough of a reason for her to suddenly feel a bit apprehensive. This whole thing started to remind her of those old schemes of hers, along with their tendency to blow up in her face, and that wasn't exactly reassuring. In the process, however, she was also reminded of some of her other tricks up her sleeve, and with a cocky grin she reached into her vest to produce a bottle of ramune. "First, let's create a distraction!"
"Wait, isn't that?..."
Just as her girlfriend pointed at the conspicuous bottle in her hands, Mara smacked the bottle opener she deftly summoned with her free hand, releasing a torrent of smoke in the process. "You bet it is! Come forth, Senbei!"
After such a grandiose display, and with the added bonus of Mara striking a rather dramatic pose, one would've expected an equally dynamic entry of the so called god of misfortune. Much to the blonde's chagrin, the smoke cleared moments later with the aforementioned jinni still unaccounted for. She even smacked the sides of the bottle in annoyance, especially when she saw Urd cross her arms and condescendingly raise her eyebrows in response to this holdup. "Hey, what's the big idea! You must've heard me, right?" Mara demanded in a hushed voice, as she pulled the bottle closer to her face. "Hey~! I'm talking to you, sleepy head! Help me out here, you're making me look bad."
"No, no! Senbei's not at fault here! It is the mistress who completely forgot about Senbei's Cable TV, and now there's no signal on screen."
For a moment, Mara actually stared at the bottle in wonder - both as to what she has done to deserve such idiots for underlings, as well as to why she even tried to employ said idiot at a moment like this. Not only did she look bad in front of Urd, but if word of this reached Ymir's ears, her chances of proving herself worthy of his granddaughter's hand… greatly diminished. "Look, you!... Do you seriously think you've got a Cable TV subscription?" she snarled between clenched teeth. "It's our concealment spell that cut you off from the rest of the world! Now, get out of there, or I'll pour some diet Cola in that bottle of yours. Mentos too, for a refreshingly cool breath."
"Mistress is so cruel!" With a melodramatic pout, the miniature jinni made his much delayed entrance, and proceeded to survey their surroundings. Granted, it's not like they used to live in the most luxurious places back when they still antagonized the Norns, but even that run down arcade was better than this. "Also, mistress has reached a new low."
"I'll show you low! You wanna pick a fight with me? Is that what it is?"
"No, no no! Senbei just-"
"Stuff it! We're wasting time here." Taking a deep breath to soothe her nerves, Mara pointed at the front of the truck, causing her diminutive assistant to follow her gaze. "Go and cause some misfortune to those two guys. I don't care about the exact method, just make them stop this truck. The rest is up for us to deal with, so, focus only on your task."
"Aye, aye! It'll be a piece of cake!" shot the jinni with a mock salute. "Spreading misfortune is so easy for Senbei, that it's like stealing candy from a baby! I'll even throw this victory dance beforehand, since it's so easy!"
Not impressed by her assistant's antics -his silly dance included- Mara palmed herself in utter frustration, and disgrace. By all means, she should've known better than leave such an important task to someone as whimsical as Senbei, although the comforting pat on the shoulder she received from Urd did improve her mood a bit.
"There, there… at least you tried," offered the Norn with a sigh, just as the troublesome jinni disappeared to the front of the truck. "With a bit of good luck for us, and… bad luck for the others, we'll get the situation under control."
"I hope so, or we'll make a fool of ourselves," uttered Mara under her breath. She was no stranger to failure, and while things have taken a turn for the best in her life as of late, there was always the option for going back in her old habits. Granted, it sounded rather pessimistic, but considering where she was coming from, it sure wasn't an exaggeration.
"Nah, don't worry too much. Even if he fails, we can still come up with something," said Urd with a dismissive chuckle, that actually brought a smile on her girlfriend's face. "Let's just give him a few minutes and-" Before she could even finish, the entire truck bed shook from side to side, as if they hit a bump on the road, until everything came to an abrupt halt.
Then again, a halt was too much of a gentle term to describe how harshly the truck came to a stop, which… also explained how the two of them ended up bumping on one another, prior collapsing onto the floor. On the plus side, the admittedly compromising position they found themselves in, didn't seem nearly as embarrassing considering that they've been dating for a while now. Truth to be told, there were better opportunities for this sort of thing, and as such, not even Urd attempted to make a joke out of their situation… except perhaps for a little pinch on Mara's behind that prompted her to get up faster than normal.
"Hey! Hands off the merchandise! We're in the middle of something here, can't this wait for later?" demanded the admittedly embarrassed Mara, despite her best attempt to hide it.
"Ah, don't mind me. This is your little reward for getting all jealous a moment ago." As if teasing her was enough, Urd offered the blushing demoness a wink, and then casually extended her hand. With a small puff of white smoke, a miniature version of herself materialized inches above her hand, leisurely floating in mid air. "Okay," she said to her chibi version, mostly on Mara's behalf, as it would've made it hard for her to understand what she had in mind. "Go and check on those two. Oh, and just in case they're still conscious, make sure they won't see you."
Offering her main body a cheeky salute, the mini Urd went on her business, leaving the others alone to go over the details of their plan one last time, just to make sure that they fully understood what they had to do.
XXX
It took them a couple of minutes to reach the camp, but by then, the rather obvious delay in the truck's scheduled arrival must've gotten everyone in high alert. There was a lot of activity going on across the camp, with the most obvious being the pickup truck that was heading towards the site's main gate -only to come to a stop as soon as their headlights came into view.
The whole camp was surrounded by a chain link fence, with only two gates providing entry to the site: the main one they were currently heading towards, and another that was closer to the nearby river. That river wasn't the mighty Amazon itself, but rather a minor affluent that regardless provided the mercenaries living here with a source of water. Furthermore, there were several wooden structures visible, most of them designed to provide the inhabitants with all the basic amenities. This included a rather sizable dining cabin placed flat in the middle of the camp, along with a couple of housing containers nearby, and portable toilets lined up next to those. On the opposite side of the camp, several smaller shacks seemed to provide the storage space for most of the necessities, while much closer to the front gate was a long shed where most of the vehicles present were parked. A thing of note though, were the two watchtowers next to each gate, quipped with search lights and machine guns to deal with intruders. And while that hardly affected her and Mara, starting up a commotion before she found their targets, would've been utterly counterproductive.
Having finished taking mental notes of her surroundings, Urd turned her attention to the man standing next to their truck. Apparently, while she was busy studying the camp's layout, one of the mercenaries walked up to them, while the others drove the pickup truck out of their way. "Hey, Frank… everything's okay?" she heard him ask, considering that she was currently possessing the aforementioned mercenary's body.
"You guys sure took your time getting here," the man continued. He looked between 'Frank' and his passenger, before he turned to glance at the guy who was meant to be in charge of the search party. However, said person wasn't exactly the embodiment of diligence, so instead of encouraging him to carry on with the questioning, he merely threw a thumb over his shoulder, as a clear indication to just let them get through. And given the fact that he didn't see any reason to object, the first merc turned back to 'Frank' who patiently awaited for him to carry on. "Heck, we were about to go out and search for you guys."
"Yeah, sorry about that. Fault's mine for letting the rookie drive," said Urd in the driver's place, and even gestured in her passenger's direction, who in turn was possessed by Mara. She still found it really weird that the voice reaching her ears wasn't exactly hers per se, but there was nothing else that could be done under the current circumstances. "He almost got us in a ditch, so we had to pull the truck out of the damn thing. At least, we somehow got out without a scratch."
"Oh, so that's how it is. Anyway, you're free to go now. I bet you're eager to get some shut eye after this trip." Raising a hand to signal the others by the gate, the merc unwittingly allowed Urd and Mara to simply drive into the camp, while the rest happily dispersed, as they had no desire to spend all night on a search mission.
It didn't take long until they brought the truck to a stop, having chosen the closest parking shed to the main gate, just to save up as much time as possible. After all, it's not like they actually cared about the cargo, and given how late it was, neither did the rest of the mercenaries. Then again, it's highly unlikely that they were carrying any perishables, since those would've been unsuited for the living conditions on the camp. As such, no one felt the need to unload the cargo, and instead went about their own business. And truth to be told, Urd couldn't be any happier about it.
Looking from side to side to make sure that they didn't have an audience, Urd leaned slightly against Mara. "I doubt that they're staying with the rest of those guys, so…" she paused, shooting a pointed glance in the direction of the furthermost housing containers from the main gate. "It's more likely they're hiding in one of those modules."
"I think so, too. Now, we only need an excuse to enter the-" coming to pause in mid sentence, Mara shoved Urd behind a nearby storage crate. Before the confused Norn could ask what was going on, she shushed her and pointed in the direction of the other riverside gate. A lone feminine figure suddenly sprang out of the darkness, as she walked right into the light beam of the nearby watchtower. "It's that crazy bitch," she finally whispered, when she felt that the former war goddess didn't notice them.
"Mhmm…" Indeed, Sanngrid carried on, walking in parallel with the camp's fence, instead of heading straight towards them… or even the place they suspected the others were hiding. Stranger yet was the fact that she was dressed in human clothes, consisting of jeans, a bomber jacket, and… a tube top. Not that Urd cared for the ex-Valkyrie's fashion sense, but given everything she heard about Sanngrid, that was rather uncharacteristic of her. "Let's follow her." Urd finally said, with Mara nodding back in response, before they both started to tiptoe around the crate they were hiding, and then used the closest shack as their new cover.
Unfortunately, following Sanngrid around the camp turned out to be a bigger challenge than initially anticipated, since the bodies they were currently possessing dulled their senses to such a degree, that they hopelessly stumbled around in the darkness. To make matters even worse, Sanngrid was a highly skilled Valkyrie that would definitely catch them if they got too close, yet their hosts' ears weren't exactly sensitive enough to pick up that goddess' voice.
"Is she talking to herself?" Mara wondered out loud, shooting a glance at Urd who merely shrugged. Before they could write her off as a loon -more so than they already did- the aforementioned goddess turned sharply in their direction, causing both of them to duck behind a power generator. As if things weren't already bad for them, the sound of footsteps closing in to their location made it clear that Sanngrid must've noticed them while they clumsily attempted to follow after her.
And that's when they heard another voice -albeit, a disembodied one. "For the last time, try to calm yourself down, Sanngrid. Being this paranoid is clearly unhealthy, even for a goddess."
"Speak for yourself, Celestin," sneered the former Valkyrie, shooting an annoyed glance down at the base of her neck, where the pendant-like remains of the disembodied god was attached directly to her skin. "Day after day, we're stuck here in this Heavens forsaken place, and… for what?" Sneering sarcastically at the mere mention of their group's illustrious leader, Sanngrid kicked the dirt in utter frustration. "I'm starting to think that the whole thing is a ruse just to keep us from abandoning him to his fate. After all, he's done absolutely nothing for us. He even had Regin dismantle your mechanical body, and now you're stuck with me."
"Unfortunately, that couldn't be helped. Given that my temporary body was made by Odal, Thrivaldi was too worried about any secret functions, so, I had to give it up. A bit of a shame, but… I hope we'll find a better alternative soon." For someone who was essentially reduced to an inanimate object, Celestin sure sounded pretty somber about his predicament. So much so, that his apparently nonchalant attitude ticked his comrade off, much to Celestin's own indifference.
"And how exactly is this going to happen? Regin is a bloody incompetent, and Thrivaldi's… mysterious allies are so shy, they apparently don't want to crawl out whatever hellhole they're hiding," snapped Sanngrid back at him, grinding her teeth hard as she struggled to maintain her temper.
"Perhaps. Although… have you considered the third option?" Cryptically asked Celestin, much to Sanngrid's confusion -to which point, he further elaborated. "That it's not shyness the main reason why help has yet to arrive, but the nature of said allies?"
"What are you getting at?" In truth, the thought -as detestable as it was- has crossed her mind, yet she desperately hoped that this wasn't the case.
"Well, given your noted distaste of demons, it wouldn't bode well to ask some to come here… now wouldn't it?" The disembodied god fell silent afterwards, allowing her the time to process that bit of information. And given the eerie silence he was getting back, she didn't seem as shocked as one would've expected. Furthermore, as foolish as it sounded, Celestin wasn't going to ignore that reaction, but instead point it out at her, just to get things moving once again. "I see you're not… surprised to hear this. Then again, a seasoned Valkyrie such as yourself wouldn't have such a problem connecting the dots."
"You're saying they're demons."
"Yes, and probably not the good variety of them, too." His comment earned a sneer from Sanngrid, who merely mocked him by repeating the most offensive comment she must've heard over the last couple of days.
"The good variety? Are you kidding me? There's nothing good about their lot!" Sanngrid all but shouted, yet despite her apparent anger, her associate refused to back off.
"What about us then? Are we the good variety of Celestials? Would you consider our cause noble?" replied Celestin in an eerily detached tone. "A god who was condemned for murdering the guardian angels that dutifully protected the entrance to Terminal 7, and a Valkyrie who betrayed her oath of service? And let's not even mention Thrivaldi and Regin, who have no issue making deals with rogue demons. So… what do you say? Are we the good guys here?"
No words escaped the goddess' lips, as she merely stood there, staring at the 'pendant' stuck on her chest. As much as she wished to scream bloody murder at the impudent fool for trying to look down on her, there… was a part of her that knew he had a point -to a certain extent at least. "If that's the case, then what are you doing here?"
"Where else should I be? I'm a convict, so, it's not like I've got that many options. Even if I followed Odal, my penace wouldn't change. The mere fact that the Lunar Prison is gone, doesn't change a thing; they'd seal me in another location instead."
"So, you don't have anywhere else to go," concluded Sanngrid, with Celestin humming in agreement. But what he told her next, shook her to the core.
"Isn't it the same for you? For such a distinguished Valkyrie, ending up in this ragtag band of misfits is… unbecoming. And not to mention that it all started from not admitting that you were in dire need for psychotherapy. You're clearly suffering from PTSD after you lost your angel. Blaming the demons for creating the Angel Eater is one thing, but don't forget that we're still held responsible for our own actions."
"Shut up! Shut the fuck up! You've got no right to tell me that!"
"Say what you will, but you cannot escape reality. Unlike me, you still have a chance to change your situation. All you need to do is try to look at the big picture, instead of distracting yourself with lesser priorities. And before you try to argue any further, just consider this: do you really think your angel wanted you to survive for so long, only to end up like me?"
The question left Sanngrid dumbfounded, and perhaps a bit numb, as she couldn't help but freeze up the moment her deceased angel was brought up. This had always been a touchy subject, yet unlike her fellow Valkyries who tried their best to never speak of it, Celestin would do none of that. Worse yet, despite how much she wished to crush his disembodied remains with her own hands, she knew deep down that he did have a point. "Are you absolutely sure… that Thrivaldi's allies are demons?"
"I believe so. It's difficult for me to spy on him in this form, but… I've got reasons to believe that he's secretly meeting up with none other than Fafnir. And say what you will about demons in general, but I'm much more comfortable dealing with someone like Hild, rather than her predecessor."
A low growl escaped Sanngrid's throat, especially given the latest trend of agreeing with the sentenced god, despite not wanting to. "To make myself clear: I don't like it."
"Duly noted, but such is life. The sooner you deal with it, the better. You might still have a time window to save yourself by coming into contact with either Odal, or perhaps the goddess you so eagerly insulted." As if that was enough, he added in a conspicuous tone. "Oh, what was her name again? Urd, I believe?"
"Enough already… I got your point," bitterly spat Sanngrid, especially given how many times he berated her for that incident. "Still, there's no guarantee they'll let me off the hook that easily."
"I know, but staying here will only get you into deeper trouble. This way, you can at least negotiate your way out of it, instead of being sentenced for even greater offenses."
Meanwhile, hiding behind a wooden crate not too far from the conversing duo, Urd and Mara has been eavesdropping on them in complete silence. It was already pretty risky getting so close to a trained Valkyrie, but thankfully for them, their loaned bodies allowed them to stay under her notice for the time being. Or perhaps, she was already aware of their presence, yet dismissed them as mere humans, and thus dismissed them as a potential threat. Whatever the case may be, the contents of Sanngrid's conversation with Celestin, proved quite… intriguing, especially to Urd, who had to shush her girlfriend a couple of times during that exchange. Sure, she didn't exactly feel all too sympathetic to that goddess' cause, although at the same time, she felt that looking at the bigger picture was the right thing to do. At least, that's what she thought her mother would've done in this kind of scenario.
As such, the Norn took a deep breath and fished out the merc's phone from his pocket, where she had felt it while moving around in his body. She quickly opened up its sms app, and typed something, before handing it to her girlfriend. 'Stay here. If things go bad, signal for the others,' was written on the screen, and the moment Mara read it, she offered back a nod.
The sudden sound of footsteps immediately alerted Sanngrid of Urd's presence, which also caused Celestin to go silent -albeit for completely different reasons. And though she initially prepared to send this mercenary away, it didn't take long to realize that there was something awfully wrong with him. "Wait… who… no, what are you?"
"Me?" sneered Urd back at her, allowing her markings to manifest on her borrowed body. "I just happened to be in the neighbourhood, and couldn't help but hear someone mention my name. Oh, yes… a certain someone who needs to save her ass, before it's too late. Or… are you going to act like a bitch now that you know who I am?" For once, it felt good to not only hold her ground in such a situation, but exploit her inherent strength to intimidate her opponent. Picking up a Valkyrie by the neck, isn't something you see every day, after all.
"Let me down you-!" Sanngrid snarled, yet the moment she attempted to break free, Urd seized her right hand, and twisted it so hard that startled her. 'How can she exert so much force while possessing a human?! She's a second class goddess!'
Seeing how rapidly the situation was deteriorating, Celestin decided to intervene, before they found out just how much of Hild's daughter Urd really is. "Excuse me, ladies. I really don't think this is the time for this sort of thing."
"Easy for you to say," replied Urd without taking her eyes from the goddess she was still half holding, half strangling. "You don't have much to lose either way."
"Perhaps, although I can't say the same about you. I trust you came here to apprehend us, but for that to work, you need to avoid making a rackus."
Urd cursed under her breath, before she relaxed her grip around Sanngrid's neck, effectively releasing her. The latter took a moment to recompose herself, as well as a step back, now that she knew just how dangerous this half goddess could get. "Point taken. So… where's Thrivaldi?"
"That, I'd like to know, too," dryly commented Sanngrid. "He and that goon of his has been missing for the last couple of days, and I'd love to go out and find out where he went, but… it's out of question. That'll attract too much attention."
"Hold it!" Urd's eyes went wide from the sound of those unexpected news. "He's not here?!"
"Which part of what I said you didn't get?" replied Sanngrid, as she crossed her arms. "Anyway… I think he's by his new friends, who might be demons by the way. The question is: what now?"
"Now, you come with us, and figure out a way to trace them." Turning back at Mara who's been staring wide at her previous exchange with Sanngrid, Urd gestured for her to approach. But just as the blonde was about to even ask what was going on, she interrupted her.
"We've got a problem."
XXX
?
"Captain, the long range passive sensors are picking up an energy pulse detected on sector 01A001C131-45. Probability of demonic origins estimated at 37%, with an error margin of plus or minus 45. Due to high error margin, further information is required. Warning: active sensors currently offline, on your orders. Permission to activate?"
The synthesized feminine voice coming from the capsule's speakers startled its armored occupant, who's been biding his time in near complete darkness, save for the faint gleam of the console placed in front of him. "Negative, we're staying silent." Stirring in his seat, the vessel's captain flicked his armored glove across the switchboard on the console's sides, reactivating the monitor. Almost instantaneously, a ghostly blue light filled the tiny confines of the capsule, as the myriad parameters of the ship's current status came into view. And while the unidentified pulse was quite visibly pinned on the map, the captain's attention was entirely devoted to one specific value. "Damn it… we're still going too fast."
"The desired periapsis will be accomplished on the next orbital cycle." Commented the ship's computer, almost as if anticipating her captain's next question.
"Thank you, but… that still sucks. I'm tired of waiting." As is on cue, no sooner he finished his sentence, a loud clang reverberated across the capsule. "What the?!"
"Pipe it down already! We came this far, so, a bit longer won't kill you!" came a rich, feminine voice through the walls, despite how thick their armored layers were.
Instead of bringing comfort, the woman's words only agitated the captain further, to the point of smashing his boot against the nearest wall. "What are you doing outside your pod?!"
"Checking on the others. Don't worry, we've got 90 or so minutes to burn, so, I'll be in position until then."
"Alright… you do that, then." Without anything else to do, the captain flicked off the screen, and instead watched the clock's digital display on the console.
'What's going on here?'
AN: I would like to thank everyone here and the Goddess Relief site for offering their continuing support.
First and foremost, happy New Year everyone! I hope 2020 will be a better year for you.
Now, I've been wanting to upgrade Siegel for a while, but the process will be somewhat gradual. As such, she's only halfway there to proper adulthood so to speak. On the other hand, it's a nice opportunity for some character development for Skuld as well.