Well. This is scene 6. Hope you enjoy it.

I awoke again in the temple, feeling slightly disoriented, and with a bad feeling of familiarity. Immediately, I looked down at my arms, and being able to see them again, and clad in the toga, was enough incentive to not panic. I sat up in bed with some effort, and found a tray besides it. On it there was quite a glittering candle (the only source of light around here), a large stack of riceballs, a half-litre glass of milk, and a note. After I had turned off the candle (its wavering light was messing up my perception), I reed the note.

"Dear Ramirez-san:

In case you wake up during the night, feel free to explore the temple, but for your safety please avoid leaving the temple grounds.

Also, try to keep your power levels down. It took Crystal and me quite a while to calm down my little sister, and having been bathed with Dark Energy will already give her nightmares.

Thanks.

Belldandy"

The note made my brain go to work. First I got the meaning of the second sentence, and remembered the black ball of energy I had made in my hands, and remembered how scared I felt when I noticed it. Second, I wondered what might have happened after I blacked out, and felt relieved that my body was as well as ever. Third, I wished I knew if I had gotten anyone hurt, but after deciding that frightening that little girl was enough for an injury, decided that I should repay them somehow. And to add insult to injury, I could have bet that the lady Belldandy had burned the midnight oil to get her sister to bed, so I should also make up to her. Fourth thing, I checked my wristwatch and reed ten minutes past noon; however, since I could somehow feel that it wasn't anywhere near daytime, I decided that I might be indeed very far from the Great Lakes. By fifth thing I wondered if I had have my wristwatch on for the entire ride, but saw little relevance on that specific thought and threw it out of my mind. Finally, I started to draw conclusions: I should try to find out where the heck I was, what time it was, and in case it really was nighttime, I should wait till six am before making breakfast for my hosts. Moreover, I was to be silent until I saw anyone awake.

After I stuffed a few rice balls in my guts I made my way out of the room, which I had noted as too big to be anyone's bedroom. I thought I could remember seeing a clock hanging in the kitchen, so I decided to find it. After having wandered around the entire ground level, I finally found the kitchen, and then found the clock, which reed 2:30. I gathered all I had gathered so far:

A) No matter how lightly I tried to walk, on the hallways the floorboards had made noise; however, this one was a clicking noise, not a cracking one. *

B) In the place of the bathroom were you normally expect a toilet, I had found a ceramic hole in the floor.

C) The entire place has shoji walls and doors.

D) When I had wandered to the entrance door, I didn't see any kind of a security-oriented lock. Instead, I saw a kind of steep full of shoes.

E) A while ago from the bathroom's window, and now from the kitchen's ones, I was seeing moonlight.

F) My wristwatch and the kitchen clock showed a ten hour difference, and if I remember correctly from my geography classes, corresponds to the difference between Tokyo's time and Eastern Standard, which I think are 2100 and 0700.

[* This is a Japanese architectural feature, specially designed to foil silent attackers.]

Conclusion: I either was in Japan, or in a damn realistic set.

So now I had found out where I was and the real time. Now I only needed to wait for a decent hour to make breakfast. I went to my momentary room and started thinking what to do with three hours and a half, while slowly nibble those delicious, lightly spiced, flaked-shrimp filled riceballs. After a while of munching, I remembered that the Almighty had also asked me to think on my new condition, and I would, at least until it really sinks in.

Great deal I had ever learned about divinity! I was raised a Mexican-rite Christian catholic, but by the age of 15 I had studied the Bible enough to call myself a non-denominational Christian, and by the age of 19 I had learned enough of world religions to then call myself a pantheist-agnostic.* And now, by age 21, I had become a god myself, and still knew for sure almost nothing, except that polytheism was right, that there was a Supreme Being who was God over the gods, that Heaven was nowhere a Paradise, that there was indeed a Hell, that there were Gods walking the Earth, and that if a goddess fainting and another being terrified of me was a sign, deities have limitations. I also remembered that the Norse mythology was based in that the Norse Gods created the Unity of the Norse man and the Norse woman, which later on proved so powerful that killed their own Gods. . . No, give me a second: that's not Norse but Klingon mythology, and the Klingon are nothing but a creation of Star Trek!

After shuffling the information for what seemed an eternity, my little life wisdom told me to not drive into conclusions after minimal experience, and besides, I guessed I would have time to think. Come to think about it, today I had met a cute 24 years old girl, who had been born during the Renaissance. . .

[* Pantheist is one who believes that everything has a part of divinity. Agnostic is one who believes that divine reality is true, but is nowhere human comprehension.]

Suddenly, a very vivid image came into my mind. I was seeing myself in a third-person perspective. My body was reduced to a black outline over a dimly lit background, and was holding a soccer ball- sized black bolt of Energy, whose surface was every now and then dashed by a grey lightning. I heard Skuld's mental voice say "He feels like an Evil!", and after a few seconds, this ball of energy exploded in my hands. It overcame my body as it became visible again, but later on the black energy started to dissipate again, but now very much like a wave of mist, and just with the same feeling of inevitability. As the black mist reached my viewing point, a pair of white gloved hands shot forward in desperation, and . . . I heard a shriek pierce my hears, but now the transmission was over, so it had come from the real world. I instantly knew who had transmitted, and felt overwhelmed by remorse.

"That kid Skuld!"

I picked up the tray that had been laid down for me, and started homing in the source of the scream. By the time I had made it up the stairs I was able to distinguish a sweet lullaby, coming from a western-looking wooden door. I slowly approached, and softly knocked on it. The lullaby ceased, and a slow pace came to the door. As the door opened, I noticed the room was brightly lit, so I turned my head away and shut my eyes in anticipation. To my surprise I didn't feel a blast on my skin, so I slowly opened my eyes and looked in front again. I could clearly see, and saw a very tired and slightly embarrassed Belldandy.

"Oh please, we can't accept your dinner."

"Come on. I'm not hungry."

My stomach decided that this was the best moment to show its disagreement, loudly. I felt quite embarrassed that my body had foiled me, but felt quite relieved that I had made her snicker.

"I think you do need it."

"Don't worry. At very least take the milk." -- . . . -- "Your sister might appreciate it."

She looked backwards into the room, where I was seeing her little sister fiercely hugging her pillow while looking at me, frightened. Just feeling the dread on her eyes was making me feel like a monster, and I didn't like the feeling.

"I'll better go back down."

"Oh, no. . ."

"I'll be fine." -- With my free hand I patted her shoulder.-- "After seeing her nightmare, I consider it natural from her to fear me." -- I put that hand back under the tray, and started walking back into the shadows. She turned back into the room, but her strong feeling of sorrow followed me.

I made it back to my temporary room, which by then, after seeing a normal room, was starting to look as an unfurnished dinning room. I left the tray where I had found it first, and just felt like taking a breathe of fresh air, after eating two more rice balls. I remembered that the closest door to the outside was in the kitchen, so I went there. After making sure that I would not get locked out, and seeing that the clock then reed 3:15, I opened the exterior door.

I was welcomed by a gush of freezing cold air, loaded with not too soft snow flakes, and I became instantly aware that I wasn't wearing anything else than a roman senatorial woolen toga, and such wasn't designed for any cold weather. However, the cold subsided as soon as I steeped out, the wind seemed to die out in my immediate vicinity, and even the snow stopped feeling unbearably cold under my bare feet. I didn't think much of it, as somehow I was just becoming very aware of my vicinities. Not aware in the sense of seeing them, but in a sense similar to outstretching my fingers and touching everything. I noted that the temple grounds, now snow-covered, were quite large for what you would expect from a country with the population density of Japan: nearly a forty-by-sixty metres rectangle, with the thirty-by-twenty main building mostly centred in them, a few smaller buildings scattered around the complex, and the rest being park and garden. The perimeter wall was about three metres tall and was made out concrete block, yet it seemed more like to keep the style than to keep out intruders. On the wall, just in front of the temple's main entrance, there was a gate leading outside, but some twenty metres down the wall there was a large sliding gate, wide enough for a marching band to pass thru. Directly in front of this gap, there was the second biggest building in the grounds, a ten-by-five shed with a large garage door, and some more pointers suggesting 'garage' or 'machine shop'. After going thru some of the other buildings I lost interest, and turned my attention to an large old tree near my present position, whose defoliated branches expelled a sense of joy. I snapped out of my trance, and went to it, just twenty or so metres around the corner. I pressed a palm against its cold bark

'Either this is a masochistic tree, it is the reincarnation of a very lethargic bureaucrat, or I have lost it!' I thought with amusement. Then I removed my hand, and tried to shake out this overwhelming feeling of sheer, unintelligent happiness that had permeated my mind. Once I could stop grinning like an 'Ignatius', I noticed IT standing just a couple metres away from me, and apparently gauging me. It was like a metallic snowman, four feet tall, with bird legs, rachitic arms, Mickey Mouse three-fingered hands, and a very wide, dark coloured hard-hat. I would have made something, but it took a step in my direction, and extended his two arms toward me, one with its palm down, and the other holding a bottle. I leaned forward and reed the bottle's label, which said 'Holy Water'. I smiled.

"Want me to dip that thing on my arm, little fellow?"

The robot took a second, but nodded. I stretched my hand to take the bottle, but it took a step back and dodged my hand. I retrieved my arm, and risked something else.

"Then I guess you want to pour it yourself, don't you?"

It immediately nodded, with more energy. I obliged and pushed forward my other arm, the one in line with his free hand. It quickly snatched my wrist, and although it's grip was gentle, the clicking feeling his hand was conveying was making me pray that he liked the results of his test. It seemed unfazed, and single-handedly uncapped the bottle and pureed it from my elbow to my wrist. I was dreading the results, but after a few seconds passed by, the bot released me, and bowed before me. I sighed and returned the bow, and the robot spun around and calmly walked away.

"I hope this won't be my day by day!" -- I spoke to the air. I didn't expect it to answer back.

"Hopefully it won't be, Ramirez-Sensei."

I spun around, looking for the source of the voice. I found a girl about the age of Skuld, with waist long sulphur-yellow hair, a flimsy and unprotective looking sun dress (which was a toy for the wind), and a sad demeanor. Not knowing what else to do, I answered her with my typical, signature greeting.

"Hi there." -- Then I tried to say something a bit more brainy. -- "And sorry, but why did you call me 'Master'?"

"Well, Belldandy-sama told me you had been commissioned to teach me, and as such your appropriate title toward me would be 'Sensei'."

Her words made sense, but not their meaning.

"Uh. . . but how can I be your Sensei if I don't know a thing at all?"

"Well, she also mentioned that I'll need to learn from you just as you learn. Besides, she says you were a mortal a short time ago, and that if I'm ever to have a life bearing world, I need to learn what is to be a mortal."

'She', 'have', 'life-bearing world'? Who the heck am I talking to!?

"And whom am I talking to?"

"My name is Terai, Sensei. I'm a proto-star."

"A proto-star, as in up there?" -- I asked, while dubiously raising my left index straight up. She lifted her own right hand and pointed somewhere else in the sky.

"Actually, my body is on that direction. . . but taking into account this planet's atmospheric distortion, you should be able to see me there." -- She moved her hand a millimetre. I was looking into the point of the sky she was pointing at, but saw nothing but indistinct stars. After a few seconds I looked down, back at her, and noticed she didn't seem sad anymore. That by itself was a relief, but I wanted to be right to business for the time being.

"And sorry Terai, I wouldn't want to be rude, but I don't think you came just to introduce yourself."

Her sad expression overcame her features again. I felt bad.

"You are right, Sensei. Belldandy had told me that you would be briefed and formally introduced to the household over breakfast, but after you left a while ago, Skuld wanted to come after you and apologise. Belldandy stopped her and told her you would want to be left alone for a while. I wasn't sure, so once Skuld and Belldandy finally returned to sleep, and felt someone using clairvoyance in the garden, I came down." -- . . . -- "Did you really want to be left alone, Ramirez-san?"

'So that's how I surveyed the place', I thought. But then I concentrated on her question.

"Mm . . . well, yes." -- . . . -- " Thanks for making sure, anyway." -- I tried to give her a reassuring smile, yet I know I failed. Anyhow, she returned me a confident one, and started walking away.

"By the way. . ." -- She turned. -- "Do you know at what time is breakfast served here?"

"Around 8 AM, why?"

"I'm just curious, thanks."

She turned again, and left me with my thoughts. If breakfast was served around eight, and I had gotten the right impression and Belldandy was half the good housekeeper she looked like, then she must start cooking it around seven, but would be up at least half an hour before; therefore, if I wanted to cook breakfast, I should start to do so by 6 AM, cook something that can be either eaten cold or left simmering for a long time, and even before starting I should have found the dinning room's table, and returned it to its rightful place. I looked again at my watch, and after making a quick calculation, I determined the time to be a quarter before four. I would at least have an hour and a half, which I could spend wondering what would I tell my mother, trying to start a conversation with the robot I had seen earlier, or theorising on why my feet were still feeling warm, while they weren't even melting the snow I was standing on.

It took me close to ten more minutes to notice that neither had I stopped Terai from calling me 'Master', nor had I told her to call me otherwise than by my last name. I guessed it would wait till breakfast, as almost anything else.

Well, this is the last complete scene that I have finished so far. I hope to finish the next one soon, although its so long so far, that I might end up chopping it, so it adjusts to my present format.

I hope you have enjoyed what you have red so far. Either way, please Review.