Chapter 2
Urd was enjoying some Sake and watching TV when a sense of overpowering horror came over her. "No...!" She collapsed in tears, instinctively understanding what happened. Her sister...her beloved younger sister that was the hope for Heaven as a whole, and one mortal besides, was no more. The backlash was terrible.
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Skuld abruptly threw up the ice cream she'd been devouring when the horror hit. "Onee-sama!" She didn't stop throwing up for a long time. She didn't think it was possible for her stomach to hurt that much. She never believed it was possible for her heart to hurt that much either. She never, ever expected to feel such pain.
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At Nidhogg, one of the sys admin demons, "Doublet system activated. Welsper has just died...and his doublet was Belldandy. Our misery shares are skyrocketing! Misfortune occurring in a widespread area! Wow! Misfortune actually occurring worldwide. The balance is significantly tilted in our favor. It's NEVER been this tilted in our favor before." A chibi-Hild appeared next to him and asked, quietly, "Who killed Welsper?" "I'll pull it up now, Hild-sama...looks like it was those 3", gesturing at a viewing screen showing 3 rather low ranking, unimportant demons standing over the corpse of Welsper's cat form. "Shall we do anything, Hild-sama?" Hild...shook her had sadly, "No need. The valkyries will be coming for them right about...now."
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Peorth was at Yggdrasil's terminal when the Red Alert came through. "Doublet system activated. Welsper has just been killed...doublet revealed to have been Belldandy! Heavenly shares are dropping in a widespread area...turning worldwide...this is very, very bad. Estimated mortal loss of life in the thousands and climbing. Culprits of murdering Welsper located. Lind! Take a Valkyrie squad down there and apprehend those murderers!" Just then, Peorth's voice cracked, and she cried too. For all her rivalry...how could she not love the goddess who'd died?
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Tyr sat at his desk when the wave of pain hit. "Somebody is going to PAY for this..." He was the Almighty One. He was fairly aloof, most of the time. What his subordinates in Heaven also forgot is that he is a father too. And a grieving father had less then no mercy for those who'd slaughtered his daughter. His voice boomed over the speakers, "Bring those demons to me. They shall face my eternal judgment!" Lind, having anticipated such an order, was on her way already.
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Lind's team arrived at the scene of the crime. The poor low level demons who'd killed Welsper were no match for a flight of Valkyries, and were quickly apprehended. "The 3 of you are responsible for the death of a Norn and the daughter of the Almighty One. For you, there will be no mercy. The rest of you, take them to heaven for Judgment. I need...to find the body for the funeral." The valkyries saluted and brought the demons to the trial of the millennia. Lind flew off.
It didn't take her long to find them. Belldandy's body was unblemished, destroyed as it was by the doublet system and not by direct damage. What surprised Lind, though, was Keiichi. He had 7 more dimensions then he should have. And there were markings on his face, but not just any markings. The markings were identical to Belldandy's. Which shouldn't happen, divine marks were as unique as finger prints, so even if Keiichi had somehow been elevated to god status, he shouldn't have her marks. Nor should he have silver hair as if he were a first class god with his limiter off. Since the only limiter available was that of his fallen love, she took Belldandy's earring off and placed it on his ear. His hair resumed its normal black color, and he started to stir.
"What...what happened? Lind?" He felt Belldandy's body on top of him, and he felt amazingly...warm inside. Loved. Complete. As if holes in his soul he didn't know were there where."
Lind thought about how to phrase this. She was commander of the Valkyries, so she decided to just tell him what she'd tell the parents of a Valkyrie that fell in battle. Belldandy did have a Valkyrie license after all. "Well...I've got bad news and news I don't know what to do with. Belldandy was killed by the doublet system. The other news is that you're now a God. A 1st class god with identical marks to Belldandy, which is impossible by the way."
Keiichi shook his head. "I can't argue the god part, I'm seeing way too many things I shouldn't be seeing, but Belldandy can't be dead. I feel...warm and loved inside. If she were dead, I'd expect to be broken into so many pieces it'd take the Almighty a year or more of work to put me back together again. But I don't feel broken at all."
Lind knew well the stages of grief, and that the first stage was denial, and instead of replying verbally, she simply took his hand and placed it on Belldandy's wrist. With his new senses, it was easy for him to tell there was no pulse, no life, no magic. She was, indeed, very dead. "That doesn't explain my feelings."
Lind was a warrior, a strategist, a tactician, and more. A thought occurred to her, and, "You've supported angels before, even as a mortal. Try summoning your angel now." He did so, and...Holy Bell showed up! Lind stared for a moment, and, "That's impossible too, by the way, even though I guessed that might happen. When a god or goddess dies, the angel normally immediately dies with them. But Holy Bell got transferred to you. Somehow. Holy Bell...where's Belldandy?" The angel smiled and pointed at Keiichi. Not the body. Keiichi looked around, and, "But...I'm Keiichi." Holy Bell nodded, then pointed at herself, tapped him on the chest, over his heart, and kissed him.
"I think she's trying to say Belldandy's inside your heart, and that's why you feel warm and loved and so on instead of broken." Lind felt like she was out of her league, but having declared Keiichi a lifelong friend, she was determined to do her best to make sense of what could possibly be going on. "We should probably see the Almighty One, as I really don't know what's going on or how to explain it. Since you're a god now, you can get to heaven."
Keiichi thought for a minute, and said, "Well, alright, but let's pick up and Urd and Skuld before we go. They probably know she died, but I doubt they know she's in me somehow. I don't want them to suffer."
Since putting others before one's self is what a god should be doing, Lind agreed, and they headed back to the temple.