Disclaimer: I don't own Oh My Goddess or any other series that appears in this story (there is one in this chapter but I'm not going to spoil the surprise). Nor am I making any money off this.

AN: Despite my best efforts this has been months in coming, for which I sincerely apologise. This chapter was actually a late addition when I realised that there were some elements I'd forgotten entirely, and then I had computer troubles while writing it, which delayed things further.

Sorry for the delay, and enjoy the chapter.

Star

Chapter Six

Urd glanced out of the window, eyes drinking in the view that had become familiar to her as she watched the sunrise. There was a time, she remembered vaguely, when this had been all she knew, when the green fields of heaven were inconceivable to her.

Hild's fortress was built in a remote area of Nifelheim, on the edge of one of the mountain ranges that marked the edges of the territory inhabited by the Greater Demons. Beyond those mountains lay vast, trackless plains inhabited by countless species of lesser demons. It was a place where few ventured, and from which even fewer returned.

The fortress, however, overlooked the inhabited portion of Nifelheim, although this far out from the central cities and Nidhegg 'inhabited' was a loose term. To be honest Urd doubted that there was another demon living within a hundred miles.

Built almost entirely within one of the mountaintops it was a vast rambling structure, only the outer edges of which were inhabited. The interior rooms and corridors were used only for storage, when they were used at all.

The soft brush of wings drew her out of her introspection and Urd looked behind her, smiling.

Even her conversion to a demon hadn't driven away World of Elegance, although any other angel would have been drastically changed by such a transformation, if they had not left or been outright destroyed first. World of Elegance, however, was unique, a reflection of her mistress' soul, and the differences apparently went far deeper than simply the colour of her wings.

Whatever the reason, Urd was glad of her presence. She doubted that she would have coped nearly so well without her angel's support.

Her eyes turning back to the window and the dusty red plains below she opened her mouth and began to sing, World of Elegance's voice joining hers in harmony.

Hild smiled slightly as she heard her daughter's voice raised in song to greet the sun. It was a habit she had picked up from her sister, she believed, but for the first time the song that she sang wasn't of divine origins. Although just as beautiful, in its own way, the music had a distinct style that marked it as demonic in origin. In fact it was a tune that Hild herself had taught Urd, and one that she had thought her daughter had long since forgotten. It gave her a warm feeling to realise that she was mistaken.

Her eyes narrowed as a second voice joined the first; unsure whether she should be pleased or dismayed by the presence of her daughter's angel. A source of strength and support, yes, she had witnessed that many times over the millennia, with many different gods and goddesses, but a source that no child of hers should require.

And it was a strength that could also be a weakness, both in the perception of other demons and in truth. Hild was all too aware of the spells and beings that could use the link with their angel against a goddess. She had created many of them herself.

She shook her head, dismissing the thought. What was done was done. The angel would not leave voluntarily, that much was clear, and forcefully severing the link would cause more harm than good. There was no point in dwelling on what could not be helped, and the angel may yet prove to be an asset.

However, if she ever decided to free the Angel Eater from its divine prison Urd would definitely not be accompanying her.

Kayla glanced up as Urd entered the room. The half goddess' power signature was unmistakeable, and she wasn't the only one to stop working momentarily. Most of the other operators looked over as well, returning to their duties only after Urd nodded in greeting.

Needless to say the supervisor didn't look pleased by the clear evidence that she wasn't entirely in control.

"Urd!" yelled the bitch (as she was 'affectionately' called).

"Yes ma'am?"

A folder was shoved into Urd's hands. "You have a field assignment. Get out of here."

The white haired 'trainee' grimaced at the folder and obeyed, turning to leave the way she had come in.

Urd sighed as she stared at the folder in front of her in disgust, hoping against hope that it would disappear. She had no such luck, however, and eventually she was forced to concede defeat. Reluctantly, she reached out to open the thing.

Unlike Marller this was the part of training that she had hated as a child, and she didn't expect the demonic version to be any better. There was a reason she had chosen to apply for a Category One licence, beyond the fact that she was genuinely good at programming. Despite the fact that she generally did well with the theory she sucked at fieldwork.

"Opportunity for temptation," she read.

So, not as actual wish granting but a chance to lead someone to their side. She grimaced at the thought of harming a relative innocent. At least someone to be granted a wish would have earned their damnation.

"Loss of mother, seeking to take her place, keep her family together …"she muttered, skimming over the summary. "Agent to offer help, secure client's assistance in return. Gradual corruption…"

Fairly standard so far, if longer term than she had expected in a trainee assignment. Although nothing that required her full time presence on Midgard she would have to spend a significant amount of tine there, over what could be a period of years, well past the point when she would hopefully have gained her license.

She turned the page to the client's personal information and froze. She knew that there had to be a catch – there was no way Hild would have given her an easy assignment.

A picture of a smiling child stared up at her. Although the girl was Japanese rather than Norse she resembled Belldandy at that age.

"Kasumi Tendo," Urd read quietly. "Age eleven years two months."

Did Hild really expect her to do this?

The former goddess laughed bitterly. Of course she did. Hild could be a loving mother but no one was immune to her plotting, especially not her daughter.

Despite her dismal record with fieldwork as a Goddess Hild expected Urd to do quite well in this assignment, assuming she used her brain instead of simply acting. That didn't mean she would find it easy.

Urd lacked the compassion to be a Category One Goddess. No one on either side harboured any illusions to the contrary. Despite her original choice to become a Goddess her daughter's attitude towards others had always been far more demonic in nature. She cared about her family and friends but on some level, like all demons, she regarded those outside her own circle as not quite real. Oh, Urd had always been willing to help them (a deploringly divine trait) but she couldn't care for them the way Belldandy, for example, did.

A Category One Demoness, however, wasn't required to care about their target. In fact caring was actually a liability, as it made you less able to exploit them.

Urd would still have difficulty. She didn't care enough for a goddess, but Hild was also aware that she cared more than a demon should.

She would need to get over that. Although Hild herself rarely personally signed contracts with mortals she was the one who chose the targets, on whom the decision ultimately rested. As her daughter Urd would one day have to make the same choices. This mission was just the first step.

"What's wrong kid?" a friendly voice asked.

Kasumi looked up to see a gaijin woman sit down beside her on the park bench, sympathy in her violet eyes. Despite the fact that she was only in her mid-twenties her hair was pure white, a sharp contrast to deeply tanned skin.

"My mother is gone," she explained, wiping away her tears the handkerchief the woman handed to her. "She died and now father won't stop crying and Nabiki won't talk and Akane is always in the dojo and I don't know what to do!"

Her voice had risen as she spoke until the last part was almost wailed, and Kasumi broke down crying again. The woman simply pulled her into a hug, holding her as she sobbed.

Eventually Kasumi drew away, blushing slightly as she wiped her eyes with the now somewhat sodden handkerchief. She didn't know why she had confided in a complete stranger but for some reason the woman felt safe.

"What do you want to do?" was the quiet question.

"I want things to go back to the way they were before," Kasumi replied wistfully. "I want my mother back."

The woman sighed. "That cannot be done," she said softly. "The dead cannot return to life, and no human can change the past."

"Then I want to help my family," Kasumi replied, sensing that her answer was somehow important. "I want to keep my family together, to help them start living again."

"I can help you with that," the woman told her. "But are you willing to pay the price?"

Kasumi hesitated. "I don't have much money."

Pain showed in violet eyes. "It's not that sort of price."

"I'm willing to do anything, pay anything," Kasumi said recklessly. Anything, to see father return to normal, to see her sisters smile again.

"Even make a deal with a demon?"

Kasumi started at the question, staring at the woman in disbelief as she noticed the red triangles on her face for the first time. Oddly she realised that they had always been there, she just hadn't seen them.

"Think about it," the woman, the demoness, told her, rising from the bench. "We'll speak again later."

Kasumi stared in the direction the woman had left in long after she was out of sight. Then she squeaked as she realised that it was getting late and she had been due home hours ago.

Urd smiled in amusement as she watched Kasumi run for home. The meeting had gone unexpectedly well, a simple 'trust me' spell combined with the girl's own insecurities leaving her open to her offer. At that age her family mattered more than abstract concepts of right and wrong.

The demoness ruthlessly suppressed the guilt that tried to rise. She had to do this, she rationalised. And besides, she was doing Kasumi more good than harm. She was a good kid. If she remained on guard she should be able to get out of this relatively uncorrupted and with the skills needed to help both herself and her family.

She ignored the little voice that whispered that Hild didn't allow any soul to escape a contract unchanged.

Kasumi served dinner, hiding her despair behind a mask of serenity. Tonight's food had been donated by Mrs Kino, the next door neighbour, but they couldn't keep relying on handouts and Take-out forever. Unfortunately cooking was one thing she hadn't been interested in before the accident and her few attempts at doing so since had resulted in half-burnt, half-raw vegetables and soggy rice which, even in their distracted states, nobody was willing to eat.

Akane, dressed in a sweat stained gi, merely picked at her food, the once lively nine year old frowning half heartedly. Kasumi sighed as she noticed her sister's bloody knuckles. She had obviously been trying to break blocks in the dojo again.

Nabiki was at least eating, but in absolute silence, her motions holding a chilling precision.

And father…at least he wasn't crying but the lost expression on his face was no better.

'I can help you,' a lightly accented voice echoed in her mind. Would it really be such a bad thing for her to listen? She could always refuse.

"What are you offering?" Kasumi asked determinedly when she found the demoness waiting for her at the park the next day. With no other way to contact her she had made her way back to the bench where they had first met.

"I'll teach you what you need to know to help your family," Urd replied, motioning for the girl to sit down beside her. "To the best of my abilities. Weekly lessons, starting with the basics – cooking, cleaning."

"And in return?" Kasumi asked, choosing to remain standing. Knowing what the woman truly was – it made her a little uneasy about getting too close.

"For every lesson I give you that helps your family I give you another in entirely different areas. And you use what you learn to help me."

"That…that doesn't seem like much." Whatever she could do to help couldn't be all that much, after all. She was only eleven.

The woman smiled. "Time for time."

Oh, that made sense, sort of. "I…"

"You're going to be late again."

Kasumi paled and bowed hurriedly before turning and running, the woman's laughter following her. It was a strangely kind sound for a demon, amused but not mocking.

Hild frowned thoughtfully as she watched Urd's second encounter with the girl. That was not the way she would have gone about things. It did, however, seem to be working.

By being upfront about herself and her short term intentions she was able to easily hide the long term goal of corrupting the girl, and was gaining her trust in the process, a feat many demons never managed even with long-term clients as naïve as this one.

A small smile crept across her face. While Urd had never lacked for power or ideas her execution had always been sloppy, relying on brute force and luck rather than subtlety. Even if she failed she had shown vast improvement. She was actually thinking things through for once.

Kayla sighed as she glanced at Urd's usual station. Her friend was still absent on field assignment, and Rayna was living up to her nickname and making all of their lives hell in her absence.

"I'll do it," Kasumi told her. As in their previous two meetings the pair met at the same bench in the park, Kasumi actually sitting down this time. It was a convenient spot – public enough to put Kasumi at ease but quiet enough to give them some privacy. Which was, of course, why Urd had chosen to continue meeting here rather than somewhere else, although it would have been easy enough to arrange another location.

Urd looked at the young girl, noting the determined look on her face. It made her look even more like Belldandy than usual. Bell-chan wore that exact look when she wanted her to do something.

She pushed aside thoughts of her sister, concentrating on the present situation. "Are you sure? Once you sign there's no backing out."

Please let the kid change her mind. She really didn't want to do this, even if Kasumi's refusal would mean her failing the assignment.

"I'm sure."

She sighed and pulled out a contract from her subspace pocket. "Then you need to sign this."

Kasumi took the contract, turning it to the final page before placing it on the bench so she could sign and reaching into the schoolbag that lay at her feet for a pen. Apparently she had told her father that she was studying with a schoolmate, and brought the bag so he wouldn't get suspicious.

Urd suppressed another sigh, wishing she could tell the girl to read before she signed but that had been strictly forbidden. Instead what came out of her mouth was, "It needs to be in blood."

Kasumi looked at her in shock, withdrawing her hand from the bag. "Why?"

"To be binding a demonic contract needs the magical signature of both parties. Since untrained mortals can't push magic into their writing blood becomes necessary, as it naturally contains a high concentration of magic."

"Oh." It was fairly obvious that Kasumi didn't have a clue what she was talking about. That would change soon enough – some of her lessons would be on basic magic.

Urd held out a quill, summoned from the same place as the contract. "Here, use this. It'll take the blood direct from your veins. No nasty cuts."

Kasumi took the implement gingerly, as if it might bite, and then signed her name on the dotted line, flinching slightly as she did so. The quill might leave no marks but, like most demonic instruments, it wasn't painless to use.

Urd signed her name below with a flourish, accepting the pain as what she was due. Closing the contract she passed her hand over it, duplicating it in a flash of dark light, and gave the copy to Kasumi. "Keep this somewhere safe. I'll meet you here next week for your first lesson."

"Hai, Urd-sensei," the girl replied seriously, slipping the contract in amongst her schoolbooks.

Urd left without replying, hoping she could get home before she broke down.

Arriving back home Urd ran into the bathroom and retched.

Familiar hands held her hair away from her face and Urd looked up to meet her mother's calm gaze. "Was that really necessary?" she asked weakly, her skin unusually pale.

"Tendo Kasumi is unimportant," Hild admitted, helping her daughter up. "However there is a high probability that in later years she will be in close contact with a Major Nexus. She could be an asset."

Urd paled further, understanding the implications. Nexi were people caused change simply by existing, and Major Nexi inevitably drew Minor Nexi to them. Control of such a Nexus would be a major coup for Nifelheim.

"Why me? Why not someone more experienced?"

"Because you need to learn."

To be ruthless, Urd understood. To do what had to be done regardless of personal feelings or compassion.

"It's hard."

"I know," Hild replied, leading her into the living room.

But her mother's eyes showed a distinct lack of empathy. She might know but understanding was lacking. Compassion was not something Hild felt very often.

And looking into those cold violet eyes, the exact same shade as her own, Urd realised that she would have to harden her own heart as well. She couldn't afford to be seen as weak.

"Sit down," Hild told her. "I'll make you some of my special tea to settle your stomach."

The next morning the song that rose to meet the dawn was perceptibly sadder, an undertone of pain in the heavenly voice.

Hild sighed slightly as she listened to the sound. It was for the best, no matter how much her daughter might be hurting right now.

"So I heard you had your first field assignment," Marller said two days later. The Demoness First Class was in Nifelheim to make her monthly report and, as usual, had dropped by to see her before leaving. "How'd it go?"

Urd shrugged uncomfortably. Curled up on one of the two large armchairs in her room the demoness should have seemed relaxed but instead gave the impression of being almost unbearably tense. "I got the contract."

Marller grinned from her position sprawled on the other chair. "Brilliant. I failed my first. Of course, I was a lot younger than you are."

Urd ignored the teasing, causing her best friend to frown in concern and sit up a little straighter.

"Urd, are you alright?"

"Not really," she admitted.

"Want to go get plastered?"

"Probably not a good idea."

Marller's frown deepened. "Come on," she declared, standing up and hauling Urd to her feet. "You need a change of scenery, and I know just the place to go."

Ignoring her friend's half-hearted protests she dragged her out of the room and towards the reception room, the only exit from the fortress Marller was aware of. Urd definitely needed to get drunk.

One week later

"This is your home?" Kasumi asked. Although they had met in the park Urd had immediately led her here, to a rather unimpressive apartment building and an apartment that was a lot better looking on the inside than on the outside.

Urd looked around the room. Originally a tiny one room apartment, with an equally tiny bathroom, she had expanded it considerably with the use of a few spells. What was the point in paying rent on a larger place when she had enough money saved to buy this outright and modify it to suite her needs?

A well equipped kitchen now occupied one corner, while a potions lab was set up opposite it, with shielding spells in place to contain any accidents. The remainder of the room was set up as a comfortable sitting/study area, with a screen cordoning off a bedroom area, while a door on the opposite wall led to a similarly expanded bathroom.

It wasn't exactly fancy, but it was more than adequate for their lessons, and would make a good place for her to get away to when home became too much to handle.

"No," she replied in answer to her new student's question. "My home is in Nifelheim. This is where we'll be holding our lessons for the next few years."

"Years?" Kasumi said in surprise.

"There's a lot to teach, and we've only got Saturday afternoons to do it in. I have other duties, and so do you."

"Oh."

"I'll give you a key later, so you can come here when you want. But for now…leave your bag by the door, you won't need it yet. Lesson One: Basic Cooking."

Kasumi stared at the flowery apron Urd held out in shock, while the demoness suppressed a laugh. She had deliberately chosen the most hideous pattern she could find.

She wasn't up to Bellldandy's standards but she could cook. She just didn't like wasting her time doing so - she'd much rather be making potions - and if she had to suffer so did her student.

Urd sighed as she watched Kasumi leave from the window of her apartment, the results of her cooking in a casserole for the family to eat for dinner.

The girl was so innocent, and she was going to have to shatter that very shortly. She had already begun to explain the basic facts of Demons and Kami while they were cooking.

Perhaps by the end of this Kasumi would still hold on to some fragments of that innocence but she wasn't going to bet on it. Demons rarely managed to do so, and neither did those associated with them. Only Divine beings and unaware mortals had that luxury.

World of Elegance emerged to hug her from behind, attempting to comfort her goddess.

"Let's go home," she told the angel eventually.

"Enjoy your break?" Kayla teased when Urd arrived for her shift. She had been granted a week off for successfully completing the mission but that had ended yesterday with Kasumi's first lesson, which meant that today it was back to work.

The white haired demon smiled as she sat down at her station and turned on the virtual monitors, although a more perceptive audience than Kayla would have realised that it didn't quite make her eyes.

"Of course," she replied, calling up the first file. "Easy as Pi."

AN2: Yes, this chapter is a crossover with Ranma ½. Kasumi making a demonic contract is a little unusual though, I bet.