Following the game and the exit of the crowd from the stadium, William found a vendor that would give him an ice cream, seated himself in the stands, and waited for Peorth to pick him up. "Mr. Clay, thank you for not throwing my sister out of the game," a familar voice said behind him.
"Huh? Oh, Miss Belldandy, how do you do?" said William. "I couldn't throw Urd out of a game. Would you please sit down?"
Belldandy cocked her head to the side and gazed at William's aura. "Are you feeling well Mr. Clay? That was quite a collision." She sat down next to him.
"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks for asking. Miss Belldandy, what's a blackwhite?"
Belldandy stared at him for a moment in disbelief, then recollected herself. Of course he would have heard it after Urd's behavior. "It's a term used to describe someone that has a demon parent and a god parent. Urd is such a one."
William processed this for a minute during which he and Belldandy sat in silence, each thinking their own thoughts. "I like a girl that plays hard," William finally said. "You were right at the beginning of the game, you should always try your best. Sports aren't any fun if you don't."
"Blackwhite is not word I care for," said Belldandy.
"Hmmmm," said William, "it's not one I would use, I suppose." William paused, "This heaven is not very good," he said finally.
Surprising herself with the cynicalness in her voice, Belldandy said, "What did you expect?"
"Cigarette trees and whisky lakes, I guess."
"Pardon?" asked Belldandy, laughing a little in surprise at the seemingly random response.
William entered into a song, "On the Big Rock Candy Mountain,
There's a land that's fair and bright,
Where the handouts grow on bushes,
And you sleep out every night.
Where the boxcars all are empty,
And the sun shines every day,
And the birds and the bees,
And the cigarette trees,
The lemonade springs,
And the bluebird sings,
On the Big Rock Candy Mountain." He stopped singing, "You know - heaven."
After her laughter ceased, she paused and looked serious. "Are you disappointed?" Belldandy asked.
"I am pleased with my wish. But more so, I'm glad that I am being allowed to be an umpire. Being alone was not pleasant."
"But you had requested it," said Belldandy.
"Yeah," said William, "about that. I never did. Ansuza sent me to that apartment to get me away from Urd. I mean, not that I mind, Urd is her daughter, I guess."
Belldandy blinked in confusion. "Then you did not request it?"
"No, I did not," said William flatly.
"And you did not lie to Urd about loving her?" Belldandy asked before thinking. Her face was horrified at what she had said, but William was either too busy or too dense to notice.
"God no! I mean, uh, no. I did not. I would never."
Belldandy stared at William intently, he felt as if she were looking through his soul. "Mr. Clay, I need to be on my way. Thank you for this conversation. Would you mind if I visited in the coming days?"
"I wish you would, Miss Belldandy," said William. "Please do. And bring your sister."
Almost immediately after Belldandy left, Peorth arrived.
William was distracted, but so was Peorth. "Three days until the next game," said Peorth as she left William at the front of his door. That afternoon, William carefully gathered a number of peaches and baked a cobbler in the hopes of being able to share it with Belldandy, or better yet, Urd. Neither came.
A knock on the door brought William back to reality. He had been reading Claudius' Defense of Cicero. He found that he had a new appreciation for the lame emperor. William decided he must feel a great deal like Claudius did. He was not very useful in heaven and no one really seemed to think much of him. They were both stunted in comparison to literally everyone else around them. "At least there is no Caligula", he said to himself.
The knock shocked William. He jumped up in excitement, hit his knee on the Yggdrasil terminal and collapsed to the floor as his leg buckled under him, cussing in shock and annoyance. He walked over to the door rubbing his knee, hoping to see Belldandy, or especially Urd, and opened it. There was a scroll on the doorstep. He opened the scroll. It was a script he could not read. The young human took the scroll over to his Yggdrasil terminal and set about using the excellent translation program built into the terminal.
The scroll seemed to have been about a legal dispute. A little more effort showed that it was a summons to appear as a witness in a sort of trial at a Thing. A goddess was accused of attempting to murder a human by throwing a leather covered sphere during a… "Urd, no."
William steadied himself, but was still near to panic when the second knock came at the door. William answered the door immediately. Anzusa stood in the dooway.
"Is Urd OK?" asked William straight away.
"She is fine," said Anzusa, "But I would like to have a chat with you, William. I believe that we have much to talk about, starting with an apology that I owe you."
William looked startled but said, "Please come in."
Ansuza said "Thank you," and stepped in. Ansuza glanced at the amateurish paintings on the wall, but said nothing.
William motioned to the chair in front of the Yggdrasil terminal. "Please, sit down. Would you like some coffee or peach cobbler?"
"Both would be delightful," said Ansuza to William's surprise. He went into the kitchen and cut two pieces of cobbler and poured two mugs of coffee. He brought them back out.
"I am afraid I do not have a dining table," said William.
"This desk is perfectly fine for me," said Ansuza. William sat on the edge of his well made bed (he was very glad this was a habit he got in to when young) and balanced the plate on his knee. Anzusa took a breath before beginning. "William, I am so sorry and I beg your forgiveness. My family has treated you abysmally." She gracefully went onto her knees and kowtowed, touching her head to the ground.
William's felt his eyes were about popped out of his head with shock. "I, uh, I'm sorry?"
"Belldandy told me off for interfering with you and Urd," said Anzusa with her head still on the floor. "I did not understand, not immediately. It seems that you met with me the evening I took Skuld to see your model computer. I expect I asked you to leave Urd alone and then sent you here. That was not me, but rather my husband had taken my form in an effort to manipulate you."
"Please get up," William said plaintively. "Please. You're making me uncomfortable. You are forgiven."
Anzusa gracefully stood up and sat down back in her chair.
"My husband is not called the Almighty One for nothing. You would have heard tales of the gods assuming the shape of other creatures," said Anzusa. "That is among our powers." William said nothing, taking in what she told him. Anzusa took a bite of her cobbler. "This is very good," she said amicably.
"Thank you," said William, utterly bewildered but holding onto his manners. "I used peaches from the trees outside."
"Who put those there?" asked Anzusa curiously. "I thought that the wish did not incorporate that."
William thought for a moment. "I put the peaches there. One day I did not have permissions on the Yggdrasil terminal, the next I did. I do not know who granted me the permissions. I assumed it was Urd."
"I do not believe it was she. I will not take your permissions away, nor is the goddess that put them there in trouble, I was just curious," said Anzusa.
"I genuinely do not know," said William, a little defensively.
"And if you did, you would not tell?" asked Anzusa, mild amusement breaking through.
"I suppose not, but that's not really a concern," said William.
"So you do not trust me?" asked Anzusa.
"No," said William. "But even if I did I would not inform either." He took a sip of his coffee.
"Not even for a teleporter to and from Earth?"
"Not even then," said William plainly.
Anzusa smiled. "Good boy. I believe we will need to rectify that trust issue, but that is my responsibility." She took another bite of the cobbler. "This really is good."
"The coffee is less than spectacular," said William. "I apologize. The Godwell House brand is…."
Anzusa interrupted with a snort of amusement. "Is that what they called it?"
"Yeah. I have Godweiser Beer, Godermeier Hotdogs, a few others," said William.
"Honestly," Anzusa rolled her eyes.
William took a sip of his coffee. "Of course," he muttered. William shook his head in annoyance with himself. "You already knew what I said to Urd," said William.
"It was on the output blackboard when I walked into the classroom. I erased it when I began playing with your model computer," said Anzusa.
"And you invited me into your home, knowing how I felt about Urd," said William. "That was generous of you. I have thought wrongly of you."
"I think you might still be wrong," said Anzusa. "On consideration, I approve of my husband's actions. Tell me William, have you heard of the Judgment Gate?"
"Yes," said William. "It is an anti-miscegenation device that the gods use to separate humans and gods."
"Not just humans," corrected Anzusa. "Also machiners, earth spirits, demons, basically anyone different than a god."
William's lips tightened. "That seems unfortunate."
"Unfortunate? It is a personal disaster. The Judgment Gate destroys hope and happiness," said Anzusa. Her default smile slid off her face and a wry smile took its place. "And I am its administrator. I am a Representative Director of the Goddess Council. The Interspecies Inquisition Officer."
William said nothing, not entirely sure how to proceed.
Anzusa's mask of a gentle smile slipped back on. "Should you and Urd have come to an understanding, it would have been my function to test your love with a program that runs in Yggdrasil. One program to judge one thousand kinds of love," she said dispassionately.
William blinked. "And such a law cannot be gotten rid of?"
"Do you know what a pestilence god is?" asked Anzusa.
"No," said William, "a demon?"
Anzusa smile mask persisted. "You might think that. However, that is not correct. The phrases demon and god are ones that have been planted into various human cultures in an effort to modify your willingness to create wish contracts. Our sociologists are significantly better than those the ruler of hell fields. Incidentally, demons are not what you might expect. They are not all bad. But that is not really what we are speaking of."
The goddess Anzusa took a sip of the coffee and said, "You're right. This coffee is atrocious. I'll have some tea sent over later as a token of apology. No, a pestilence god is a god, like myself, Belldandy or Peorth that has become outlaw. She deliberately grants wishes that cause harm. She creates unhappiness. In short, she does what she wants without regard to the rules of heaven."
"Does this happen often?" asked William.
"No, it does not. Far less than you might suppose, given the response by heaven. Do humans become insane with grief when their spouses die? Do they attempt dark rituals and other monstrosities when they are widowed?" asked Anzusa.
"No, not usually," said William, "some few become unhinged, but most do not."
"The same is true with gods," said Anzusa. "Before the advent of the Judgment Gate, there were few enough gods and goddesses that warped upon the deaths of their lovers and became pestilence gods. However, the Goddess Council still chose to create laws separating the gods from other species. Can you imagine why?"
William shook his head with a dark humor. "I cannot tell if you are being cynical or serious. I suppose a corrupt goddess, a pestilence god as you put it, could destroy an entire planet. End millions of lives in the blink of an eye. Even a single pestilence god could be an utter disaster."
"Very true," said Anzusa. "Is it worth a loss of some freedom for a few mortals and goddesses?"
"I don't know," said William. "Maybe. I suppose I would need to think about it."
With dispassion in her voice, Anzusa said "If you write a note stating that what happened between you and Urd was a lovers' spat and that you wished for the charges against Urd to be dismissed, then the charges against Urd would be dismissed. However, you two would be separated. You and she would be subject to the restrictions created by the Judgment Gate."
"What does separated mean?" asked William.
As if by rote, Anzusa said, "You two will never meet again. Even if you keep trying to meet, the fate control system will use all of its power to prevent it."
"And if I chose to let these charges go to trial?" asked William.
"Urd will certainly be found guilty and will be stripped of her goddess powers. She did make a widely witnessed effort at killing you after all. That baseball in all probability would have broken your neck had the catcher Lilda not intervened. Further, if Urd is found guilty, she will likely be permanently restrained," said Anzusa still in her dispassionate voice.
"It was a game. If I testified that I do not believe she intended to kill me, then she would likely not be found guilty," said William with some conviction.
"Are you willing to risk her life, perhaps her sanity, on that?" asked Anzusa, still dispassionately. "Restraint means just that. Her form would be changed and she would never be able to leave where she was. Much like the legend of the Monkey King or Prometheus, Urd would have no hope. She would be permanently trapped. Only here there is no appeal. Once a Goddess is bound, her sanity is eventually destroyed. Restraint is for eternity." William paled slightly. Continuing, Anzusa said, "The prosecution of Urd, perhaps persecution might be a better word, stems from who her parents are and what she is. Urd's mother is a demon. There are gods who believe she is inherently untrustworthy or even undeserving of life as a result."
"Does Urd think I lied to her?" asked William.
"Not anymore. I believe Belldandy has settled that matter. She was most emphatic," replied Anzusa, with a ghost of humanity this time.
William stopped, collected himself and thought for a minute. He took a bite of his cobbler and a drink from the coffee. He bit his lip. Then he smiled a smile that Anzusa did not recognize. "I do not have any paper, nor pens. Would you be able to obtain these for me?"
"There's a drawer under your desk. I believe you will find them there," said Anzusa.
William looked at the desk. There was a stack of drawers under the desk now. "And I must trust you, I suppose," William said.
There was a ghost of a sigh from Anzusa, perhaps from being tired, perhaps from sadness. William was almost tempted to apologize for not trusting her. "No. I will have Peorth come and pick up the letter from you. She will verify everything I said. You may trust her. She is a Goddess First Class and therefore under a prohibition from lying. I am under no such taboo."
"I made up my mind. The Judgment Gate is an abomination," said William. "Other options would be available."
"Benjamin Franklin said 'It is better 100 guilty persons should escape than that one innocent person should suffer'. What would he have said about the suffering of a billion men?" asked Anzusa.
"Yer a lousy goddess," said William, in his agitation reverting to the St. Louis working class accent he grew up with, dropping the carefully cultivated Middle American flat accent he had worked on for years.
Anzusa did not respond immediately. She looked into her coffee. "I will ask Peorth to stop by." She stood up and turned to walk out of the apartment.
William grabbed her arms and pressed her up against the wall. Speaking rapidly he said, "I'm not goin' anywhere. I'm gonna get rid of this Judgment Gate. Jus you watch me. Si' down while I write this thing out."
Anzusa leaned into William and whispered into his ear, "She doesn't love you, not really." Her breath played on his neck.
William deflated and relaxed his grip. "I know. Bitch woulda been here by now." He turned away, defeated. "I'll write that thing out."
"Please don't call my daughter a bitch," said Anzusa, quietly.
"Yeah, sorry" he said quietly. William was surprised to feel Anzusa's hand on the back his shoulder. He turned around to find her standing immediately next to him.
Still speaking quietly, Anzusa said, "William, I did not invite you into my home on account of Urd's feelings. Sometimes when someone takes a puppy home, they fall in love."
"You have lipstick on your shirt collar," said Peorth mildly.
The championship game was over. The Valkyrie Warriors had won for a 5th year in a row, though it had taken extra innings. The two friends sat in the stands overlooking the empty field, drinking beers. William's coat was draped on the seat next to him, his sleeves rolled back and his tie open at the neck. Peorth was stretched out like a boneless cat, luxuriating in the sunshine. William was wearing a boating hat, but also enjoyed the warmth.
William knew that Peorth did not care to hear about Belldandy, but boy could that girl play. She had crashed into the catcher Swotra at home plate, tying the game in a spectacular collision. But even her intense desire to win could not make up for eight other more or less lackluster players. He would talk about it that evening with Anzusa.
"Hmmm?" asked William. "Lipstick? She wasn't wearing any," he responded lazily.
Equally lazily, Peorth rubbed the stuff off the back of his collar and held up a pink smeared finger. "Lucky for you, it was hidden under your coat. So who is she?" asked the onyx-haired goddess.
"She? How do you know it's a she," said William.
This piqued Peorth's interest. She sat up. "L'inverti? Le pede? Do tell."
"Heh. Do you really think I would be a nancy-boy?"
"Nancy-boy," said Peorth slowly, trying the word out. "I suppose not. Plus, you already admitted she," the goddess paused dramatically, "was a she." She leaned back into her seat rather pleased with herself.
"Did I?"
"Oui."
"Hmmmm," said William and took a swig of his beer. "Goddesses First Class are prohibited from lying, right?"
Still lazily but rather deliberately, Peorth said, "Yes, unless we are required to testify before the Council, then any promise would be stripped by those oaths." She paused momentarily to let it sink in. Then a thought struck her, "Is it Belldandy?" she asked eagerly.
"No. But do I look like the kind of girl that would kiss and tell?" said William.
"It could not be Urd," said Peorth trying to puzzle the mystery out, realizing belatedly what she said. "Oh, sorry." William shot her a look out of the corner of his eyes. They were quiet for a few moments. Peorth broke the silence. "How was the trial?" she asked hesitantly.
"I wish you had been there. I could have used a friend. It was unpleasant. Snide comments left and right. I was warned at one point that I had breached the etiquette of the council after I told off someone for using the word blackwhite."
"Did you really call him a…" Peorth began giggling.
"An illmannered pestilence god that wasn't fit for heaven or the other place? Yeah. Something like that. He was getting on my nerves." William did not mention that seeing Belldandy flinch set him off. It was so like Aunt Rachel when she saw the body that he could not do nothing. He would have rather died than allowed that to happen again.
"So it really is true then, you have feelings for Urd?" asked Peorth.
"Why does everyone keep asking me that? It's not like you can't gaze into my soul and tell the difference. Might want to have mentioned that one, by the way. I kept thinking I had something on my face."
Peorth considered blushing, but on second thought decided against it. "I never lied about that."
"You goddesses really seem to work that way," said William.
"Yeah, we all suck," she admitted. Peorth took another swig of beer. "So how did it end up?"
"Anzusa acted as a Director of the Council in her role as the Interspecies Inquisitor and separated us for disturbing the Peace of Heaven. The Council put a one-way gate in my apartment that would take me anywhere and strongly encouraged me to return back to Earth."
"Are you going to?" asked Peorth.
"Not yet," said William. "Mostly I've been using it to visit other locations in heaven with one-way gates."
"What do you mean, not yet?" she asked, perhaps with a little pout.
"Are there any newspapers in Heaven?" William asked.
"No," said Peorth. Then she realized what William was proposing. Peorth chuckled. "Mon Dieu. So this is what comes of letting a human into heaven?"
"Yup. Heaven might have sociologists that create the concepts of god and demon, but humans write newspapers that lambast the Goddess Council and Almighty One."
Peorth spit out her beer.