Disclaimer : Ah! My goddess does not belong to me.
Ceroxon asked me if I could do a fusion version of my winter special.
-oOoOoOo-
Lind, Skuld, and Keiichi hid the the bushes, watching Chibi-Hild, Mara and the Angel Eater.
'Perhaps I can have Keiichi hold… No, he might hesitate. There's also the possibility that Hild might go on the assault the moment I show up,' Lind thought. 'From what I heard, Hild showed some interest in Keiichi. Were I to do that, then she might hesitate when we appear.'
"Keiichi, I have a suggestion. It's a risky one, but I have another idea ready if you refuse," Lind said.
"What's your plan?" Keiichi asked.
-o-
"We have three outta five Goddesses, Lady Hild! Once we get the last two, we can head back and leave Morisato all alone!" Mara said before wildly cackling.
"I don't know… We should take him with us to insure he won't be offered a wish from either Adrestia, Nemesis, Poena, or whatever goddesses of vengeance felt like giving Keiichi a chance to get his Goddesses back," Chibi-Hild answered.
"But our gate won't allow him to get through without approval from three demons!" Mara quickly replied.
"Right, just like how Welsper wasn't able to hack Yggdrasil," Chibi-Hild sarcastically replied. "I mean, it's not like the Erinyes are going to-"
Whatever Chibi-Hild was going to say was lost as a voice boomed, "Hild! Mara! Release all of the angels you've captured!"
The two demons' attention turned towards the speaker.
That voice came from a male. He was wearing white jeans and a white jacket. The jacket most notably sported the elements of a War God's uniform, including the sky-blue striping, the emergency power boosters, and the partial cape-like parts draping across the shoulders.. His hair was a dark blue and featured an asymmetrically long side-bang on the right, and the rest was spiky, like the hairstyle of a typical manga protagonist. On his forehead were three dots, the signature of Lind's own unique emblem.
"So… who are you?" Mara asked.
Producing Lind's extra-heavy level-18 poleaxe, the person announced, "I am Lindichi, and I will be your opponent."
"Cute. A fusion," Chibi-Hild muttered before snapping her fingers. The Angel Eater opened its mouth to let out its lure…
And was promptly impaled by a thrown poleaxe.
A shocked Mara could only stare, wincing at the sight of the dying Angel Eater flailing about as all of the Angels freed themselves.
Chibi-Hild looked right at Lindichi and deadpanned, "Huh. You don't play around, do you?"
Lindichi gave Spear Mint the extra moment she needed to return to him, then, with a flick of his wrist, the poleaxe, still embedded in the monster's body, rose up, further splitting open the "head" of the Angel eater to free itself before flying back into Lindichi's right hand.
"You've targeted my friends," Lindichi answered.
Chibi-Hild sighed before saying, "Well, Mara. Time to go. Let's give them a chance to become reacquainted with Belldandy."
Lindichi's eyes narrowed before he uttered, "What did you do to-"
Chibi-Hild waved goodbye before she and Mara teleported out of there.
Lindichi began to run around the temple, crying out, "Belldandy!? Belldandy?! Where are you!?". Skuld followed closely, calling "Big Sis!" over and over as well.
"I'm… here, Keiichi, but you sound… off," Belldandy's voice said before Lindichi turned a corner and saw Belldandy. Skuld, catching up, ran right into Lindichi, then leaned around to see what had stopped him.
Everyone's mouths dropped as they looked at each other. Lindichi and Skuld stared at Belldandy's revealing demon uniform, while Belldandy was shocked to see that Lind had fused with Keiichi.
"Are you and the others safe?" Lindichi asked.
"I am alright, and I have also gained a new friend," Belldandy said before summoning Holy Bell and her newly-gained devil, which strangely enough, had white wings. "I do not know about the others." Skuld was torn between feeling sick about the presence of the devil and an overwhelming pride for her Oneesama's power.
"What happened?" Peorth asked as she and Urd walked out of the temple.
"Good, they are safe," Lindichi said to himself as he looked at the two self-proclaimed goddesses of love. Turning back to Belldandy, he asked, "Will there be concerns about your two angels' power consumptions?"
"I am not sure, but I will keep on eye on them," Belldandy uttered as she looked away and rubbed her chin in contemplation. She looked back at Lindichi with a smile as she said, "This new child thanks you for calling her an angel, and we do as well," She said while gesturing first towards the newcomer, then towards Holy Bell. She looked back at Lindichi and continued, "However, I do have a question. How long will the fusion last?"
"A day at most. Lind thought that Hild would fight longer, but she ran off the moment the Angel Eater was killed. Otherwise, Lind would've adjusted it to last only an hour or so," Lindichi replied.
With a look of shock, Belldandy inquired, "How… How did the Angel Eater die?"
"I threw Lind's poleaxe and impaled it. If you want the specifics of who was responsible, it was the Keiichi half that brought up the idea of throwing the poleaxe," Lindichi answered, "because I wanted to free the angels in the fastest way possible."
"I… see," Belldandy muttered, not ever wanting to be in a situation where Keiichi had to kill something. She loved his innocence and did not want to see it diminished in even the slightest.
"I can see that my actions have upset you," Lindichi replied. "If it's any consolation, there isn't much that was ever known about the creature," she then continued, "Neither Lind nor Keiichi could have guessed how vulnerable it would be to a physical attack… and I can feel Keiichi hurting within me right now," Lindichi's arms rose up into a self-embrace, as one half of that being tried to help the other calm down, and finally allowed Keiichi's emotion to show through his eyes. Belldandy took the hint and gathered Lindichi into her own embrace. Both of Bell's angels joined in the group hug, as did Urd, Peorth, and with some hesitation, even Skuld. Then the sobbing began.
They all stayed like that for quite some time...
-o-
After the residence had been repaired, Urd and Skuld had gone into their rooms to straighten up their belongings on a more personal level, inspecting the various items for signs of damage that large-scale repair magic wouldn't quite reach. Belldandy and Lindichi were on the sofa in the common room. Lindichi was slouched forward with his hands in his face, and Belldandy had a reassuring hand on his back. Peorth was standing near the exterior doorway with Banpei, keeping watch just in case Hild's escape was just another ruse.
"I can't believe how strong this emotion is," Lind was speaking at this time, "You'd think that a death would affect Immortals like us more than anything, but… this… and the worst part? It was just a bioweapon…" Lind felt the other soul that was bound to her sink even more 'wait, no, I'm sorry, please don't…' "I think I just made him feel worse."
"I can not say that I blame him, Lind," Belldandy replied. "Or, rather, it makes perfect sense that he would take things this badly. Search his thoughts. He knows that, by himself, he is much more fragile than that being ever was, and he comes from a people who value the lives of all things, great and small,"
"We've all taken out our share of system bugs and all of the other creatures the enemy uses for surveillance and sabotage," Lind started to complain, "Does this realm not have it's vermin as well? How do the Mortals deal with that, then?"
Belldandy saw out of the corner of her eye that Gan-chan had become curious enough to peek around the corner of the doorway to the Tea Room, and decided that this conversation needed to tack a new course. "Perhaps you could ask him yourself sometime. I would like to speak with him directly now. May I?"
Lindichi sat up, and taking his hands away, turned to face her with a nod. Then, with a soft smile on her lips and smiling eyes, Belldandy then addressed Keiichi directly, "Keiichi, dear, I would like for you to take a deep breath. Can you do that for me?" He complied from within, but the look on Lindichi's face revealed that he was still lost in his thoughts. "Now, let it all out," and he did. "Again," he drew in his breath deeply, though Lind was most likely helping, as he was still distracted. "Let it out," Belldandy said again.
After a few more rounds of deep breaths, Belldandy moved on. "This time, I want you to close your eyes, and become aware of your surroundings, there, within Lindichi," She continued, "Lind is there with you, helping you. Your senses are hers, and her senses are yours. I want you to stretch out into those senses, and become aware of what they can tell you," The wind outside began to gust. It wasn't very strong, but it was persistent.
This time, Belldandy was taking a little time out to breathe deeply, closely, and in time with Lindichi's own breathing, just the way she remembered Shiho doing during her one and only visit to the temple. She was beginning to enjoy the feeling, and the wind outside died down to a soft breeze.
Finally remembering herself, she spoke once again. "Keiichi, can you feel any other presence besides just yours and Lind's?"
This time, Keiichi was calm enough to speak, "Yes,"
"Good. How many?" Bell prompted.
"There is another… no. Two more, I think. Are they Lind's angels?" Keiichi asked.
"That's right. You've always had such wonderful insight, Keiichi-san. Now I want you to focus on them. Focus on their feelings. Can you sense them?" Belldandy continued, "Can you sense the joy that Cool Mint feels because her Sister is back by her side? Can you feel how happy Spear Mint is to be back home, safe and sound?"
"Yes... yes, that's exactly it!" Keiichi seemed excited for the first time this evening, "It's like they're thanking me for being there for them! It's... almost... like they're singing, too! I feel like I'm being blanketed in warm hugs!"
Within her soul, both Holy Bell and the newcomer were pouting. They wanted to sing for Keiichi. They wanted to be the Angels giving him warm hugs from within their own domain. Outside, the wind kicked up to a stiff squall. Nobody seemed to notice, as such weather was common around this time of evening. The only exception was Urd, who was still cataloging her reagents. She could only sigh, thinking to herself 'No, she's got to figure this out on her own.'
After seeming lost in thought for several moments herself, Belldandy went on, "Now stretch out your senses even more. Can you feel the presence of everybody else in the temple?"
"Yeah," came the reply.
"Focus on them, one at a time. Can you identify them, and where they are?"
"Here goes…" Keiichi replied, "You're right in front of me, and… Holy Bell and your new Angel are both focusing on me. They seem very worried, but I can also feel your love through them as well," He intentionally left out the feelings of jealousy he was also getting from all three of them. It was something about Belldandy that he was aware of for several months now, and there was no need to mention it. He could also feel Lind's questioning stare from within the Fusion, and tried to ignore it.
Getting back to the exercise, he continued, "I can tell that Peorth is by the doorway… and Gorgeous Rose is in high spirits. I imagine she is also relieved to be back where she belongs… I can kind of feel Banpei's presence, too. Huh. Who would guess that's possible?"
"Very good, Keiichi. Who's next?" Belldandy prompted once again.
"Skuld is by the freezer getting herself a huge bowl of ice cream, and Noble Scarlet seems to be in good health, but she doesn't seem quite as vibrant as the others... Wait. You could always tell when she's sneaking another scoop for herself?" Keiichi asked.
"It's never 'sneaking', Keiichi," then in a hushed voice, Belldandy explained "She uses more energy than most would think. Perhaps when there is a better chance, I will tell you about it," then, with her voice back to normal, she continued, "Good, now, Who's next?
"Urd is…" Keiichi stopped. "Panicking?"
Everybody noticed it at once. Lindichi, Belldandy and Peorth raced back towards Urd's room.
-o-
Everybody was dragging themselves back into the temple residence, with the evidence of the night's second and final battle in the dirt stains and tears on their clothing, Lindichi was in high spirits. Keiichi finally understood Lind's earlier intentions in going after the beast the way she did. He was equally relieved that he had, in fact, not taken part in ending that creature's life, as he had previously believed.
Belldandy was the first to speak. "I'm happy that we were able to send that child home after all,"
"Speak for yourself," Urd replied, "Holy Bell never made it past those capture vines. It's going to take at least two moltings for World of Elegance to get this smell out of her feathers. That's at least as many months worth of unnecessary nightmares!"
"It wouldn't have happened if you weren't so careless in the first place!" Skuld sassed.
"Careless?!" Urd retorted, "I happen to have it on good authority that you were raiding the 'fridge when that thing came back! Imagine if you were in your room and I was grabbing my sake from the closet!"
"Eep!" Skuld was red-faced, having been caught in her faulty logic.
"You really need to get your facts straight before you try to 'correct' somebody," Urd chastised. Then, with a bright smile and her hands clasped together in a manner that was far too pleasant for the tone of the conversation, she continued, "As a reward, World of Elegance has something she'd like to share with Noble Scarlett,"
That bright smile lit up to a diabolic grin. Urd brought her hands up over Skuld's head with fingers waving around in a creepy way, like somebody telling a ghost story. Elegance's dichromatic wings emerged from her back, still covered in whatever sticky substance they were soaked in. Skuld freaked and ran back towards her room, with Urd chasing closely after.
"Get back here and take your medicine, ya little brat!"
"No! Get away from me!"
"Bwa Ha Ha Ha Haaaaaaa!"
"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!"
Belldandy, Peorth and Lindichi watched the two sisters tear off towards the other end of the residence. Belldandy sighed, and then allowed herself to giggle feintly. Peorth, who seemed a bit disgusted when Urd unfurled her wings in the same room, found Belldandy's laughter to be infectious and started chuckling. Lindichi could only stare blankly towards the doorway through which the two had disappeared. Things were back to normal for at least two out of three Norns.
The moment was soon interrupted as Lindichi spoke up, "I don't want to startle anybody, but it won't be too much longer before the fusion spell wears off,"
"Do you need us to do anything special?" Belldandy replied.
"Ordinarily, no," Lindichi said, "but Keiichi is noticeably worn out, so I'll pass him directly to you when we seperate. Just be ready to catch him."
Lind's profession was a detail-oriented one, and there was hardly anything she ever missed. That included Keiichi's residual memories about Belldandy. His hopes, his fears, his regrets, and that little something about her jealousy issues. Inwardly, she was able to smile. Keiichi almost thought he caught the impression of mischievous laughter, but the separation had already begun.
In the next moment, Keiichi would only know darkness. Darkness and, something that was keeping him from breathing. Something warm. Something soft. Something pleasant. Something that stood in stark contrast to the growing discomfort of just not being able to breathe. He started to struggle. At first a little, and then a lot. As he started to succumb to the light-headedness that was overcoming him, the world opened up and he gasped for air.
As his eyes focused, he saw his Goddess's face. She was smiling radiantly and blushing… hard, almost as hard as when Mara's first curse on him had been lifted, and he saw why. While she still wore the uniform from Hell, he'd been to Heaven and back again. Suddenly, his complexion matched hers.
He then heard an almost musical laughter behind him. His senses returned to that of a normal Mortal, so it was a bit disorienting trying to sense what was going on in the way in which he'd become so accustomed in the last few hours. Turning around, he saw that it was Lind.
"I believe that's the first time I've ever seen you smile, Lind," Belldandy said.
"It certainly feels like the first time," Lind replied. Then she continued, with a bit of uncertainty, "Um, If it's not too much to ask, I'd like to remain true to the tradition of accessing the gate during the day. She's been difficult lately, and I'd rather not wake her."
"You can share my room," Belldandy offered.
"Thank you." Lind said.
Keiichi was just too worn out to question the oddity he thought he'd heard.
-o-
Everybody got a late start, and understandably so. Urd had commandeered the bath throughout the remainder of the night, and had somehow convinced Skuld and Peorth to help scrub World of Elegance clean. As it turns out, Urd was exaggerating about how hard it would be for her to get her Angel's plumage back to normal. She'd even had an effective all-purpose cleanser for Angel feathers on the shelf and ready to go. Of course, Peorth just had to add some of her rose-water perfume to the mix… which rendered it useless. It took the better part of four hours to make a new batch from scratch.
For those who could get up with the sun, breakfast had come and gone. For the rest, brunch time had passed without any of the stragglers stirring. Then, brunch had become lunch. In her foresight, Belldandy made something that would not lose its flavor when reheated. Keiichi was, understandably, the last one up. Realistically, he should have been out for a week, if it hadn't been for Urd's expertise.
It was mid-afternoon when Lind was finally ready to say her goodbyes and set off through the gate. Everybody gathered in front of the residence to see her off. When she finished exchanging words with each of the Goddesses, her final parting words would be for Keiichi.
"Thank you," she began, "I wouldn't have been able to rescue anybody without you," She continued, "Both Spear Mint and Cool Mint are here now because you trusted me and gave me your all. I could not have done it without you," she paused as her Angels rose up into the physical plane behind her, "They are grateful as well." The twins moved forward and smothered Keiichi in a group hug. He blushed and, aware of a very specific reaction that he could predict without needing to check, stayed perfectly still.
Belldandy's eyes started to glaze over a little before the twins retreated back into Lind's body.
"And for my own part, I'm sorry that I scared you like that. It was not my place to drag you into the world of a warrior, and I sincerely hope you will accept my apology." Lind said.
Keiichi replied "Yes. I have my own apology to make as well. There are things that a person who lives peacefully would never consider. You didn't deserve to feel bad about doing your job, either. I deeply regret putting you through that."
Lind seemed stunned for a moment. For the first time in ages, she'd experienced emotions she thought were lost and long gone. As difficult as that moment was, it was… refreshing… in a way. 'It's no wonder that Belldandy loves him, if he's like this. I'm… kind of jealous myself'.
With some hesitation, she placed her hands on his shoulders, "Listen to me... in that moment, we drew strength from each other. Even if you think it was a moment of weakness, it was also a powerful reminder of why we fight, why I fight, and I will never forget that even beyond the end of time."
With the passing of another moment, both of them were smiling brightly again.
Lind spoke again, "Keiichi, at that time, you were as close to me as my own Angels," Belldandy's eyes started to glaze over again. "There's a word for that, but for you… I think it might be unpronounceable,"
Glancing at the other Goddesses present, and letting her eyes rest on both Urd and Skuld, she found her answer. Looking back at Keiichi, she smiled and said "Siblings,"
"What?" Keiichi was confused.
"The closest you might be able to get to that word is 'siblings'," As the confusion on Keiichi's face gave way to understanding, she continued. "Keiichi,"
"Yes?"
"Can I refer to you as a Brother?"
"Of… of course."
The hands that were still on his shoulders drew him into a heartfelt embrace "Then, please, call me Sister"
"Yes… Sister."
Urd, Peorth and Skuld reacted with dropped jaws, while Belldandy still maintained her glazed over look. There was a noticeable rumble of thunder in the distance. With her head on Keiichi's shoulder, Lind looked over at Belldandy and winked. Immediately Belldandy looked like she had just remembered something, and was back to smiling sweetly, the way she always did when everything was in its place.
Releasing him from her embrace, Lind turned and walked towards the center of the yard. Turning back to face everybody. With the light of the gate shining down upon her, she began to rise up towards the source of that light. "I'll come by again during my next day off!" she shouted, and then her image snapped away.
Keiichi remained standing in place. He was lost in thought. A lot had happened in the past day, and he was still trying to process that last part. Urd, Skuld and Peorth shuffled back into the house. There was a TV to play for, and they were discussing which game would be used to decide today's match.
Belldandy had also remained behind, and walked over to stand by his side. At this moment, he was thinking about the time difference that was supposed to stand between Earth and Heaven, at least what he'd remembered from what Urd had to say about it. When he finally noticed Belldandy beside him, he turned to her and said "Will she really be back?"
"Yes. Lind is someone who always keeps her promises." came the reply, "Don't you want to see her again?"
"Of course, she's more than welcome" he said, giving Belldandy the thumbs up sign. Then he thought 'I guess I won't have to worry about whether I'll still be around when she drops in, then.'
Hesitantly, pressing her index fingers together in front of her, Belldandy shifted the topic "Keiichi-san, do you think you could help me repair the grounds today?"
"Sure thing, Bell. Where do you want me to start?"
"Right here," she replied, as she reached out and took him into her own embrace. Then, beginning the sequence that Lind taught her the previous night, the two of them glowed brightly...
….
..…
….
..
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-oOoOoOo-
Notes from HotelKatz :
Xindran was awesome with their betareading of this chapter. They completely owned it!