Chapter 4
Njord sat in another council meeting concerning another test of the level nine scanners that was being added to Yggdrasil. This time instead of Erda giving the report; it was Peorth and Belldandy; both were standing before the Council. Peorth did most of the talking and Belldandy stood behind her to the left; the Council listened intently to the report. After an hour Peorth and Belldandy finished the report and then the Almighty opened the floor was opened to questions. Njord just looked at Belldandy and Peorth and like last time he did not ask any questions or say anything for that matter.
"So has the pocket that Loki used in his insurrection been found yet?" Mani asked Peorth. Njord's anger flared up again with the mention of Loki's name, but like last time he was able to contain it. Belldandy also had a bout of anger flare up, but unlike Njord she was unable to control it and many on the Council including the Almighty sensed it, but it was Mani who pressed the issue. "Belldandy explain yourself!"
"My Lord," Belldandy said bowing her head in shame, "My anger is only stemmed from Loki's betrayal and the pains that he inflicted on those who crossed his path."
"That does not excuse you from showing your anger before this Council, Belldandy!" Mani pressed the issue when it was more than resolved; this was enough for one member.
"She is allowed to show emotion before this council especially when we bring up the man who sought to destroy not only everything and everyone she loved but herself. She is also allowed to confront those who had supported the perpetrator and helped him, Mani so BACK OFF!!" the voice rang throughout the Council room everyone turned to the man who said it, it was Njord.
Everyone in the Council room looked at the anger that radiated from Njord expression. His gaze was fixed on Mani; who had sat back in his chair and remained quiet; Njord also sat back in his chair and then looked down and did not look back up for the rest of the meeting. A few more tense minutes passed before the Almighty excused Peorth and Belldandy from the Council room, he then called the meeting adjourned and everyone got up quickly until.
"NJORD!" The Almighty called out; stopping Njord in his footsteps and then said, "You stay!"
Njord returned to his seat and sat back down as the rest of the Council quickly left the Council room. When the doors shut; the Almighty and Njord sat alone in the Council Room and just looked at each other. A tense, but silent standoff insured as the Almighty waited, but Njord just looked back at the Almighty. Finally the Almighty broke the silence, "Njord, I am not asking for an explanation this time, I am demanding it!"
"My Lord, Mani knew what he did to support Loki in his insurrection, so he's the last person who should be condemning Belldandy. I would not stand for it, and if I had to do it again, I still would not stand for it." Njord responded to the Almighty's demand for an answer.
"So you felt that Mani was badgering Belldandy and you saw it fit to defend her." The Almighty said sounding skeptical at Njord's answer.
"Yes My Lord!" Njord said sounding respectful at the sound of the skeptical Almighty.
"I see!" The Almighty said as the last of Njord comments soaked in; before it finally satisfied him; Njord suddenly chimed in.
"Is that all, My Lord?" Njord said so fast that the Almighty was actually shocked at the quickness and veracity of Njord permission to be dismissed from his presence.
"Yes, Njord you are free to leave." The Almighty said, he wanted him to stay but he knew he couldn't make him. Njord stood up and bowed to the Almighty and proceeded down to the doors that lead out of the Council Room. When Njord reached the doors he extended his hand to the handles and pulled one open and then he heard form behind. "Njord!" It was the Almighty again, "The report you gave me was very insightful; without it I could not have made my decision and for that you have my thanks."
Njord stood with his hand frozen on the handle to the Council Room door, the door was adjured. Njord stood frozen in his stance as his mind began to play over in his head; he heard the cries that he had before. He heard Keiichi's, 'She was everything to me!' when he told this to Skuld, and then he heard Belldandy's, 'I miss him!' Both of these statements repeated over and over in Njord's mind as a battle of his wits fought inside him. Half of Njord's mind told him to turn around and talk to the Almighty, but the other half said to just leave and leave it alone.
"Is there something you wish to discuss with me Njord?" The Almighty said looking at the frozen Njord, aware of Njord's internal struggle. Njord came out of his trance-like state, but did not take his hand off his handle, neither did he turn and face the Almighty.
"Do I have an audience with your Lord-ship?" Njord asked with a small voice it was almost a whisper.
"You do." The Almighty said, his curiosity taking hold by this request.
"My Lord, may I speak with you not as a servant speaks to his master, but as an equal?" Njord asked, still not even turning to the Almighty.
"Very well Njord, as equals!" The Almighty said still intrigued by Njord's strange requests. Njord took a breath and then closed the door that boomed with an echo that ricocheted all over the Council room. Njord then slowly walked back over to the Gold line and then stood before it and faced the Almighty and then opened his mouth and found the words he wanted.
"My Lord, I wish to know; have you made a decision regarding Belldandy's reassignment?" Njord asked the Almighty.
"I have." The Almighty said to Njord in a tone that sounding that he was only allowing Njord go so far.
"My Lord, I wish to know your will and decision." Njord asked still sounding respectful. The Almighty leaned forward a little bit and the looking directly into Njord's eyes he gave his answer.
"My decision is that I will void out the contract that Belldandy had with the client, and I will permanently reassign her to the Yggdrasil Control Systems." The Almighty answered Njord question and looked at Njord whose expression was read in less than a second. "You disapprove, Njord?"
"Speaking as an equal my Lord; Yes I do!" Njord said with a force behind his statement.
"Why?" The Almighty said with a similar force that was outweighed by his curiosity.
"Because of two reasons My Lord; the first is if you do this you will condemn two people who care about each other to a fate worst than death, and one is your own daughter!" Njord said, the force in his words were small but enough force to be strong.
"What is the other?" The Almighty said his tone as rising as a warning to Njord.
"The other is because if you do this everything we believed in and everything we fought for down on Earth and everything I did will be wasted." Njord said with out a hint of regard for the Almighty's tone of warning.
"Wasted?" The Almighty asked in a calm but confused expression.
"Does My Lord remember why you sent me to the Earth?" Njord asked his tone relaxing a little; it sounded respectful.
"I sent you to serve as a deterrent to any one who sought to bring them harm. I also sent you to serve as an observer and to help this council decide if whether or not Belldandy and the human should remain with each other and you preformed your duty Njord nothing more and nothing less." The Almighty said with a sound of his pride in his voice towards Njord; something Njord did not share.
"Then you should have sent Loki!" Njord said before he could even stop himself, but he showed a sign of intention in his comment.
"What do you mean by that?" The Almighty said; his tone was that of someone shocked by such a comment.
"Loki wanted to separate them; he killed the human for that reason! He also tried to kill Belldandy when she still refused to leave, and furthermore he almost killed Peorth and Urd for trying to stop him. I fought to keep them safe from him, and I defeated Loki to get the human's soul back so that they may remain together only to have you decide to split them up!" Njord said trying to convince the Almighty to see the decision he made.
"My decision to split them up is my decision and mine alone and I will bear the consequences of my decision!" The Almighty said raising his tone to Njord.
"You are willing to bear the consequences, but not the responsibility!" Njord retorted to the Almighty. "You separated them, but you gave no reason for the separation, you just expected the human and Belldandy to just agree to this?"
"Belldandy is my daughter and I know her well enough to be assured that she will obey my wishes." The Almighty said confidently trying to convince Njord of his arguments.
"Do you know her well enough to know that she hasn't smiled since she came home? Do you know her well enough to know that she misses him more than anything? Belldandy is not the same girl that left all those years ago to grant his request; she's changed!" Njord said to the Almighty, not backing down his tone even a hertz. "How will you compensate for their broken hearts, and the tears both have shed out of the fear of never seeing the other again?"
"I will erase their memories to ease the suffering!" The Almighty said; this shocked Njord more than anything and lead to his expression change.
"You'll erase their memories?" Njord said shocked at the Almighty proposal. "No matter how omnipotent you are the only memories you can possibly erase is the ones in their minds, but the memories in their hearts you can not even graze!" Njord whispered through his teeth trying to contain his anger.
"Why are so passionate about this, Njord?" The Almighty said looking at Njord who still stood before him.
"What's that suppose to mean?" Njord said, his expression changing form argumentative to confusion as the Almighty changed the subject.
The Almighty stood up and walked over to Njord and stood before him; and he looked into his blue eyes. The Almighty searched inside Njord, and both looked at each other until finally the Almighty spoke two words, "Morisato, Megumi!"
"This has nothing to do with her." Njord said turning away, trying to walk away as his face turned red.
"Oh I think it has everything to do with her Njord!" The Almighty said to Njord as he watched him try and escape. "If I had decided to separate you from her, you would have been before me much sooner and much more passionate, would you not?"
Njord stood with his back to the Almighty looking at the floor as he felt all the blood rushing to his face with embarrassment. He lowered his head as he turned around and without looking at the Almighty he said, "Yes I would." He said with a small whisper.
Njord looked back up at the Almighty to find he was still standing and still looking at Njord. The Almighty did not look at Njord with anger but with caring and concern as he looked at his Councilman. Njord looked at his Lord with the same expression, but he still held some reservation about him.
"My Lord, I beg you to reconsider!" Njord said pleading in just a simple whisper.
"Njord, my will is final!" The Almighty said in a solid tone.
"Then at least tell them, you owe them that!" Njord said still pleading.
The Almighty said turning away form Njord and looking out the massive windows that looked over all of heaven and the Earth. Njord looked at the Almighty and waited for a response, but none came from him. Njord stood looking at him for a moment and then said, "Why will you not tell them?" Still the Almighty would not answer him.
"Will you still remain silent as your daughter dies of a broken heart?" Njord said, this made the Almighty look up, but not made him turn around at Njord.
"My will is final!" The Almighty stated once again to Njord.
"Then at least tell them why you're separating them they have a right to know!" Njord said looking at the back of the Almighty. The Almighty stood before the window, still not looking at Njord; Njord looked at his master and then sighed.
"Then you condemn Belldandy and Keiichi to death, I just hope the last of your mercy will make it quick!" Njord said softly, Njord turn around and slowly started to walk out of the Council room.
"What do want me to do?" The Almighty said to Njord, still not looking at him.
Njord turned back and looked at his master and then stopping to make sure he heard the words correctly. The Almighty finally turned and looked at Njord, but he could not read his expression as he looked at him. With out any form of control, Njord dropped to his knees and the turning his eyes to the ground he opened his mouth and said what came from his heart.
"My Lord, you asked me why I was so passionate about this; my reason is simple. When you sent me to Earth to watch over your daughters and the human, I saw something there that we had only heard of in legend. I saw the love that Belldandy had for the human and I saw the trust she had in him, I saw the bond that we had only heard of as rumors. I saw it with my own eyes and felt it even in my own heart and even when Loki tried to destroy it, he could not. Their love for each other is what allowed Keiichi to fight to stay alive, and it was the same love that made us want to create this world for these humans." Njord said to the Almighty with his eyes looking down at the stone floor. "That is why I have fought to keep them together."
Njord finished his statement to the Almighty and then further said, "As your servant, I ask only that you withhold your judgment of them until you meet with them and look into their hearts and try to see that love as I have."
The Almighty looked at Njord and then took a step back and looked back out the window. The Almighty had heard the very statement that Njord had just spoke and even he was moved by it. He looked back at Njord; who was still kneeling to him and then walking to him he said, "I will with hold my judgment for now, and I will meet with the human first and then Belldandy. If I find the love of which you speak of; I will reconsider!"
Njord stood up and bowed to the Almighty and turned to head to the door of the Council room. Njord raised his hand to the door handle, and lowering it to open the door he heard the Almighty again, "Njord!" his voiced boomed around the Council room and then he continued, "If I don't see it, I will separate them and you will bear their pain, alone!"
Njord turned to retort, but he held his tongue and simply nodded and then pulling the door more open he walked out of the Council room. The door shut with a massive boom leaving the Almighty alone in the Council room again with his emotions and concerns.
Disclaimer: All original characters of 'Oh! My Goddess' belong to Mr. Kosuke Fujishima and are under copyright of Dark Horse Comics. Njord and Loki and other characters as related are of my own invention and not associated with Oh! My Goddess.