Chapter 13
"Remind me to murder Keiichi." Urd sighed, as she continued trying to repair the latest, and so far, greatest destruction of Yggdrasil she'd seen so far. In her entire life as a goddess, she'd seen plenty of things, but never an error that caused such volatile reactions to the heavenly super computer. In fact, if she were honest, the awesome power of it was something she couldn't comprehend.
"Why would you do that?" Peorth asked, quite confused, as she too, worked to repair the computer. "According to the security logs, it's Belldandy that's causing the error violations."
"Well, I can't say I blame her." Urd replied, not entirely enthused about having been assigned back to her old administration job strictly because of what her sister had managed to accomplish. "A goddess in her condition should have errors in her code…but what I don't understand, is why Yggdrasil simply isn't accepting the change to her programming."
"It could be that Belldandy is spreading too much fortune." Peorth surmised. "She is quite excited."
"The shares are back into balance, for now." Skuld told Peorth, while she was thoroughly rebooting different systems with Urd's help. "I think it's because of Keiichi…he's not a god you know…so, and Belldandy isn't a demon."
"I thought you had turned the system force off." Urd said, glancing through the various protocols that maintained Yggdrasil. "This stupid computer shouldn't be acting this way!"
"Oui, I did." Peorth said with a nod, as she too tapped away at many different screens. "I made absolutely sure that I turned off anything and everything we could afford to lose." With a sigh, and the echoing beeping of all the terminals working in unison, Peorth found herself bogged down by countless bugs, glitches, and missing programs. "It seems as if the effort was fruitless."
"I wouldn't say that." Lind stood unmoving by Skuld's side, guarding every single file that Skuld stored and removed from Yggdrasil. "Who knows what might have happened if you hadn't shut those systems down. It might have very well blown up the earth."
"If it makes you feel any better, Nidhogg suffered a huge malfunction before it crashed too." Skuld replied as power to Yggdrasil dwindled yet again, casing the super computer to flicker. "What's going on?" Skuld asked then, nervous and frustrated.
"Keiichi can't keep it in his pants, that's what's going on!" Urd yowled as she lost connection and power died out once again. "Damn it…" She was so very tempted to cast a spell at the machine, but she knew that would hinder their progress even further.
Power returned a moment later. "This is really starting to freak me out." Skuld sighed, signing into her terminal yet again.
"There's nothing to be afraid of…this is more or less, expected." Tyr said marching into the computer room based in heaven. "Nidhogg crashed again, Hild's people can't seem to get it up and running." He reported. "None of the systems are functional. What's the status up here?"
"Ours are hardly functioning. More archives keep getting deleted." Skuld told her father. "We've lost half of the override codes we use when transferring wishes, and to make matters worse Yggdrasil keeps trying to turn itself off and start back up again. At this rate, we're probably going to lose over half of all the data stored on it."
"I was afraid of that." Tyr groused under his breath.
"We'll finish the cleanup, and then try to restore the system to prior settings." Peorth told Tyr, her fingers in a frenzy upon the screens.
"Good, see that you do." Tyr nodded. "Skuld, sign out of the system. I need you to come with me."
"Where are we going?" Skuld asked, doing as she was told.
"Back to the law offices." Tyr replied. "If we can't get Nidhogg up and running soon, we will need to access it remotely from the law offices."
"Dad...I don't think that's the problem." Skuld said with a blush on her face.
"Then what, may I ask, is?" Tyr nearly growled.
"Well, it's kind of hard to explain..." Skuld replied, her bashfulness getting the better of her.
…
"This is bad." Keiichi gulped, watching the servers crash once again from the bowels of hell itself.
"It's been worse, back before we had Nidhogg and Yggdrasil, we had to rely on more archaic means." Hild said, though, there was a worried glint hidden in the depths of her eyes. "I want a full status report, now!" Hild boomed, gathering her people by sure force of will alone. All in the bowels cowered before rushing to their respective terminals, trying to seek out the cause.
"It isn't looking good." Thrym was the first to respond, stating the obvious. "We've lost all the systems, and the animals outside are running wild." Running up the corridor, her feet pounded loudly through the halls. Her size alone made her an intimidation, but even more than that, the female demon was little more than pure strength. "Nothing's coming back online!"
"For all of her bluster, she's corrected." Hagall sighed with exasperation as she followed her more dimwitted friend. She gave Hild a short but meaningful bow. "We've lost all power to the systems. Furthermore, we tried to contact support from heaven, but all we received was some form of jumbled static in reply." She regarded the tall woman at her side. "Thrym tried to force an open connection, but that didn't work either. We're running out of options."
"What of your abilities, Hagall?" Hild asked her. "Have you been able to contact anyone?" Taking the time to inspect the second strongest demon in the realm, looking for any traces of a lie, Hild concluded there was not an ounce of malice to be found.
"Only briefly." The situation was not a time for deception, Hagall knew. The hells depended on the safe retrieval of Nidhogg's files. "The situation isn't exactly routine, and I'm not able to do much in the state both systems are in." Nipping at her lower lip, the beautiful demon sighed. "I can't use telepathy for extended periods when trying to reach a place like heaven. All I could do was send a very generic distress signal."
"Of course." The lights cut out then, causing Hild to grumble unhappily. With her power, it was merely an afterthought to light all the candles in the area with a flick of a finger alone, but she knew that wouldn't solve her largest issue. "Where's the rest in your party?"
"I ordered them to prepare a series of portals in case we had to evacuate." Hagall said, her report tinged with the worry that she felt.
"Very good." Hild replied, thinking fast on her feet. Demons had a habit of going wild when things slid out of order, at all cost, she had to prevent that from happening. "Thrym, since our defenses are down, assemble our finest warriors and scour the inhabited areas for any dangers." She looked over to Hagall then. "Hagall, continue to try to force a proper message to heaven, and help out here with Nidhogg." With a due amount of haste, she headed back to her chambers. "Keiichi, go to earth."
"Earth?" The demonic man found himself lost, and confused.
"There is only one reason why both Yggdrasil and Nidhogg would react so violently." Hild replied. "They're responding to a Norn's influence." She offered him an offhanded smile. "I wouldn't worry, Keiichi, but, I would return to Belldandy all the same."
…
Keiichi had been eagerly awaiting a break, but he found it odd when Hild told him to return to Belldandy's side. She wouldn't tell him why, only instructed that he shouldn't come back for more training until she herself summoned him to do so. She seemed in an oddly good mood, but, that didn't exactly mean she felt kind. In fact, she only smiled such as that, when something had appeased her.
She didn't make mention that Urd had personally sent a phone call regarding his immediate release of duty, but due to the murmurs in the halls, he knew the rare event did happen.
Eagerly, he wanted to see Belldandy, and to get rid of the soreness in his back from grueling warfare training. There were only so many times he could be pummeled with a spell, or set ablaze by his own lack of skill in fire magic. He may have had a lot to learn, and he wasn't anywhere near the capacity of the goddesses in his household, but he didn't mind.
Diligently training under Hild's dark wing was not an easy task, and he drank in the cool breeze of earth as soon as he escaped the unholy lands. The sight of Belldandy greeting him brought a smile to his face. He leaned heavily on the doorframe. "Today was hell. This battle practice is harder than it looks."
The demon before her, adorn with silk armor from the waist down, left his chest and arms bare most of the time while in the underworld. Most male demons were scantly clad, and a man of power who covered himself demurely was not a man to be heeded. Hild would not have her people mocking him, and insisted that he should grow accustom to everything her domain offered. Their customs were many, their practices older than could truly fathom.
"Well, I wouldn't presume many train with the likes of Hild as their aggressor." Belldandy told him simply. She greeted him with a kiss, and then took to offering him the top half of his robes, placing them onto his shoulders when he nodded his approval. "Keiichi, stay on earth for a while." She begged of him.
"Missed me?" He laughed gently, knowing the answer. He had missed her as well.
"That's a silly question." Belldandy told him, embracing him tightly. "I know that you've only been away a few days by your standard, but here, it's been several weeks." She sighed at feeling his remorse drip through the light that was his soul. "I've tried to call, many times in fact. The administration in charge of Nidhogg aren't very forthcoming about information."
"They denied your calls?" Keiichi asked pulling away from the embrace to look her in the eyes.
"I'm a goddess." Belldandy nodded. "It's only natural that they would be hesitant."
Keiichi frowned, an unhappy scowl falling across his once placid and calm features. "I'll talk with them." He decide, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. "When I go back down there, I'll make it clear that they need to let me know when you're calling."
"No." She told him with a firm shake of her head. Talking was likely the last thing he would do. "Keiichi, please don't be cross with them. It's their job to regulate unholy shares. Surely goddesses would be met with adversity."
"I have a personal line." Quite dissatisfied, the demonic power within him found the news aggravating. Anger bubbled within him, but also a restlessness. "They should be forwarding your calls directly to me. If I happen to be unable to answer, they should be telling me. At the very least, they should be telling Hild that a goddess is calling." He sighed, wanting to go back down to hell to sort this mess out. "I'll deal with this later."
"That's enough." Belldandy told him firmly, bringing her hands to cup his face to get his attention. "No more, Keiichi." She nearly begged, trying to quell the rage she could feel within him. "Please don't be angry." She told him softly, her thumbs running over the red marks on his cheeks. "I don't like it when you become stern with others, so please, for my sake, don't be."
Her words made him calm down, at least a little. "Have it your way." He sighed when his scowl faded. "I'll let the matter drop." The demon gazed at Belldandy with gentle eyes. "But, if you want me to do something about it, let me know."
"I will." Belldandy told him with a nod.
"Where's Holybell?" He finally asked, wondering why he hadn't seen her yet. The angel was normally quick to pounce on him, and cling as if he were her very breath.
"I need her heavenly support. She will be unable to leave my body for a while." The mere thought of why made Belldandy smile. She wondered idly if he couldn't tell…Keiichi hadn't hatched his devil yet, so she thought he might not realize. "Keiichi, today is a day of celebration. I've been blessed with a child, my love."