They stood in the courtyard looking around at the panorama, even Ranma was still staring in renewed shock and confusion. Keiichi was not with them, having stayed behind to attend his classes. Plus, Belldandy was leary to take a mortal to Heaven with her, even Keiichi. He might end up staying, and there was so much still he could do on Midgard.
"Wow," Midori said looking around her in wonder. She was not old enough yet to know what was and wasn't possible, so she didn't have the shock of either Ranma or Nabiki had upon seeing the paradoxical place.
"It is quite wonderous," Belldandy agreed.
"Now there's an understatement," Nabiki muttered, trying to ignore the fact that she was acting like a country hick coming to a big city. She grudgingly admited that was basically the case.
"If you'll follow me," Belldandy said, gesturing forward.
Skuld took the lead, looking bored, while Midori walked between her parents looking around in awe, much like her parents. Ranma and Nabiki stayed close to each other and Midori, glancing around and feeling frightened of, of all things, the fact there seemed to be little to be frightened of. They did little to show it, however.
"How much paperwork is there to do?" Nabiki asked. "Megumi might get a little worried. Plus, one of those promses you're discussing is to help her with the house."
"You'll be home before she is," Belldandy promised. "I also need to return before too long."
"Unless we have to deal with Peorth," Skuld added.
"Who's Peorth?" Ranma asked.
"Well," Belldandy said. "She's...difficult to explain."
"THAT'S an understatement," Skuld muttered.
As they walked along Ranma and Nabiki caught sight of people doing things that they didn't consider impossible, but considered very difficult. Flight, for example, and telekinesis, and people appearing out of thin air, or mirrors, or televisions.
Belldandy noticed the attention and smiled.
"And we'll work on basic magic later," Belldandy said.
"Cool," Midori said, whistling.
"Interesting," Nabiki said, tapping her chin. "Might I ask what you and your sisters are Goddesses of?"
"That is an interesting topic," Belldandy said after a moment's pause. "I am Goddess of the Present and of Necessity. Urd is the Goddess of the Past and Fate. Skuld is the Goddess of the Future and Being. Our secondary domains overlap with your primary domains."
"Where is your sister anyway?" Ranma asked. Nabiki arched an eyebrow at him. "Just seemed odd there was just the two of you here."
"Urd volunteered to get a headstart on some of your paperwork for you," Belldandy said. "She's the reason this will not take very long."
"Excuse me," Nabiki said. "From what I understand, Urd isn't the type to volunteer to do work."
"Well, She and Skuld worked it out between them," Belldandy said. "I'm so proud that they managed to settle something without fighting."
Of course, what Belldandy was failing to mention was that, without Skuld around, she got into just as many fights with her older sister as the mallet carrying Norn did. But out of the three of them somebody had to act mature, for Skuld's benefit if nothing else.
Skuld smirked from her place at the head of the line.

"Damn it," Urd groaned as she began to fill in the same information on the thousandth or so screen. "That's the last time I play Jan Ken Pow while I'm drunk. I'll get you for this Skuld."

"At any rate," Belldandy said. "It would seem to be immense coincidence that the three of us should meet the three of you first of all the other deities."
"Yeah," Ranma said. "Coincidence. Right."
"I understand the feeling," Belldandy said, smiling in a serenely amused manner.
"So what goes with the duties of being a god?" Nabiki asked.
"The duties are varied," Belldandy said. "I assume you will be asked to continue in the manner you have been, with some changes of course. Some of the con-games must be at the very least toned down, but whatever the case you shall be on Earth for some time to come."
"Why do ya say that?" Ranma asked.
"You remember your promise to insure that your style of martial arts endures?" Belldandy asked. "How long will it take you to find a suitable heir or heirs. And how long will it take you to train him or her?"
"Oh yeah," Ranma said.
"That is only one such promise," Belldandy said. "I have a feeling that you made some of your promises on the assumption of a mortal lifespan." Nabiki's mouth twitched as she considered that.
"Oh my," Nabiki said.
"It may be some centuries before the promises you have already made are fulfilled," Belldandy said.
"Midori," Ranma said, pausing to kneel down in front of his daughter.
"Hmmm?" Midori looked up from her close examination of a butterfly that drifted past her. "Yes daddy?"
"Don't make any promises," Ranma said.
"Uhhh...okay," Midori said, sounding confused. Sometimes her parents told her to do or not do things that sounded silly. She'd learned it was always easiest just to nod and say yes and then go back to doing what she was doing.
Nabiki shook her head as Ranma instructed Midori, smiling affectionately. She could tell that Midori didn't understand the seriousness of what Ranma was telling her. She'd have to explain a little more thoroughly later.

"And here is the primary office," Belldandy said finally.
"I've noticed that everybody we've seen so far has pretty much been a god or goddess," Nabiki said. "No mortal souls in heaven?"
"Well, you haven't seen any residences either," Belldandy said. "That is all on another tier, most mortals do not spend enough time here to acquire duties. They reincarnate and return to midgard, a few stay on and acquire positions in the Einherjar and Valkyries or outright godhood, but not many for either and almost never for the last."
"So when was the last time a mortal became a god then?" Ranma asked.
"That would be Joan," Belldandy said. "She prefers the term "saint," however." Belldandy shrugged as if it was an unimportant distinction.
"That idiot with the big hair and 'blue suede shoes' came close," Skuld reminded her.
"Wait a minute," Nabiki said. "What religion is the real one?"
"I'm not sure what you mean," Belldandy said, stopping and looking back at them with a confused expression.
"I was thinking that Norse had it right the entire time at first," Nabiki said. "But you just implied Christianity has a place, and I heard you live in a Shinto shrine."
"Those are mortal ideas," Skuld said dismissively. Ranma and Nabiki did not look too happy to have their beliefs so casually waved aside like, however misinformed they were.
"Excuse Skuld," Belldandy said. "She does not deal well with people. At any rate Kami-sama should not be kept waiting."
"Uhh, right," Ranma said.

The office of the almighty being was apparently a small grove trees surrounded by curving screens floating in mid air and showing any of a number of scenes. None of the three new deities could see anything else in it other than themselves.
"Mommy, this window doesn't have a wall," Midori said, pointing to one of the screens.
"Don't worry," Nabiki said. "I'm sure that's the way it's supposed to be." She paused for a moment. "I hope so anyway."
"Maybe it's just a waiting room," Ranma said finally. Nabiki turned and gave her husband a curious expression. "Not likely?"
"Not likely," Nabiki confirmed.
"And what leads you to believe that you would know?" a voice said.
It sounded suspiciously like Nabiki's, but at the same time not at all the same. It could almost have been anybody's voice. Almost as if the strongest resemblance to Nabiki was merely because she had last spoken, or else because it was speaking to her.
"There's only one door from this room," Nabiki noted, not sounding as sure as she usually did. The voice seemed to laugh. Midori giggled along with it.
"That is hardly an obstacle," it said, still sounding like Nabiki. A second and then a third door appeared in the "walls" of the grove.
"I've been wrong before," Nabiki admitted finally.
"And who says you're wrong?" the voice asked again, almost laughing still. It seemed more than a little amused at Nabiki's renewed expression of frustration.
"Uh, so are you the uh...guy we're supposed to talk to," Ranma asked hesitantly.
"You could say that," the voice answered. And now it seemed most like Ranma's voice, both of Ranma's voices, and still some of Nabiki's voice remained.
"Wow," Midori said, looking about and trying to find out where the funny voice was coming from. "Everywhere."
"Yes," the voice was now the child's voice of Midori. "Everywhere is a good way to describe it."
"Excuse me...Kami-Sama," Nabiki said. There was no impression of attention being shifted, but perhaps that was because no attention needed to be shifted. "But..."
"Why you?" the voice asked. "To skip whatever roundabout wording you may have conceived of?"
"Yeah," Nabiki said. "I've never quite been compared to a god before, mostly it's the other way."
"I understand that," the voice said, laughing. "It could be plan, it could be chance, it could be accident, it could be destiny."
"You mean, you don't know?" Ranma said, shocked.
"Did I say that?" the voice asked, amused. "Why were you born? Why was life created? Why was anything created? Why was I given this power? That is not so important as the question: What are you going to do with it, now that you have it?"
"Umm, what we have been doing?" Ranma asked. Nabiki started to answer on her own, but then paused and considered it.
"We'll do what we've always done," Nabiki agreed. They had the sense that something was smiling on them.
"I thought as much," the voice said, in all their voices, and the voices of many others. "The Norns will instruct you and help you with raising Midori. A word of advice. Prompt action is not always the best call."
At that the voice was silent, though they did not believe that kami-sama was gone.

"I thought you would be teaching me martial arts," Gosunkugi said, mildly surprised.
"I teach to the strengths of the person," Happosai said. "And you have other strengths than fighting. Perhaps, in time I shall teach you these as well, but until then, stick with your strengths."
"How did you learn of these things, Master?" Gosunkugi asked in an awed tone as he poured over the ancient tome before him.
"I made a deal for service," Happosai said, smiling darkly.
"And what price are you asking of me?" Gosunkugi asked cautiously.
"I merely wish you to use what I teach you to achieve what it is you desire," he said disarmingly. "That is all. Now...test yourself."