Chapter 14
With the news of Belldandy's pregnancy, Keiichi was granted a pardoning from his rigorous training, in order to help support Belldandy during her emotionally trying time. A goddess's pregnancy was rather different from a mortal woman's, in that she didn't suffer from the usual ailments. Instead, she lacked power, and often, control over the elements of creation. During that time, it was up to the goddess's angel to provide support, and up to the father of the child to quell the overabundance of magical instability that the new life inadvertently brought.
Nine months seemed befitting for a normal woman, but the gestation was also the same for a goddess. Far too long, and yet, not nearly long enough, all at the same time.
The subsequent birth of the child was to be a private matter, held between the mother herself, and one other goddess. In heaven, men were kept well away from the birthing room. Keiichi paced up and down in his back yard, having been banished from the house. "I wish I knew how she was doing." He sighed, worriedly.
"Relax, she'll be fine." Hild replied, reclining on a tree branch, keeping the poor man company during such a time. "Goddess and demons are quite capable of doing without all of the necessities a mortal woman needs."
"Big sis is strong." Skuld agreed, sitting cross-legged on the rocks near the pond. "Besides, our mom is with her. If anyone knows how to welcome a safe birth, it's her."
"They're right." Urd sighed, leaning on the back door, keeping half an ear on the goings on. "Everything's going smoothly. If it wasn't, the influx of Belldandy's power would likely engulf the entire house and turn it to rubble."
"I still say he should be by Belldandy's side." Hild said quite unhappily. "I don't understand why all this ceremony is required." At the unhappy and confused glares she received, she frowned. "The father is perfectly capable of doing the same thing as any woman."
"Only if he has a devil." Skuld blurted. "Keiichi doesn't yet."
"He could swallow that egg at any time." Hild said to the girl. "However, I find it impedes a demon's training when an egg is swallowed before their power evens out." With a sigh, she looked down to the mortal man, who in her quite humbled opinion, looked to be having a nervous breakdown. "Keiichi, you don't have to listen to them…just waltz right in there, and be by her side, even if nothing else. The birth of an immortal life is quite unlike anything a mortal could imagine."
"Who asked you, anyway?" Urd shot back. "Belldandy is a goddess, first class. It's only right that she abide by heavenly laws, especially during childbirth." Urd studied her mother, an anger so deep lingered in the back of her mind, that Urd had no idea what to say to the woman. All she knew, was that she wanted Hild gone. "Why are you even here? This doesn't concern you."
"The infant will be born with demonic powers, as well as divine." Hild replied coolly. "I have every right to see the child until she chooses her side. Even then, she might choose to walk the path of her father, certainly you chose to do the same. It's entirely possible."
"Don't be stupid." Urd's indigent hiss came through her parted lips loud and clear. Her fists tightened, and she swallowed hard. She couldn't understand why, but the mere implication grated on her. "No child would ever choose to be a demon."
"Oh but they do." Hild told her, icily. "They do it all the time…you've met Xic…you know his story well, don't you Urd?" Hild knew she was sinking her teeth into a deeply painful topic, but, if Urd wanted to pick a fight, Hild wouldn't back down. "He chose the life of a demon, even if his parents were little more than heavenly bodies. They weren't part of my blackened winged kin, but he most certainly is."
"Am I missing something here?" Keiichi asked, stepping between the verbal warfare before it turned to something worse.
"My little Urd is merely concerned, Keiichi." Hild replied calmly to him. "You see, she thinks I'll taint your firstborn. She fails to realize, I'm unable to do that." Hild glared at Urd then. "If their baby is a demon in her future, it will only be because her heart wished it."
"If my niece becomes a demon, Hild, so help me…" Urd warned, though, she didn't really know what she could say to any of it. "So help me that I don't seek retribution."
"Urd." Hild replied, her words careful, and void of their usual maliciousness. "This child is a blessing from the heavens and hells, just as you are." She lowered herself from the tree she perched on, going to her daughter with only truth in her eyes. "I give you my word, upon my own throne." Hild told Urd, forcing her daughter to look at her. "I will not hurt that child, nor will I ever force her into a life she does not want."
The door slid open then, revealing a tired Anzasu, holding the infant in her arms. Behind her, Belldandy was floating in a dreamlike state as two angels supported her with their power. Keiichi knew one of them as Holybell, but the other had to have been Anzasu's own. "If the two of you are done with your bickering, it's time for the father to name his child."
Keiichi had been told of this ritual before, but now, holding the child in his arms, he found himself speechless. It seemed somehow wrong to choose a name on his own, without Belldandy's help, nor choice in the matter. Yet it was the heavenly doctrine to name the infant before the mother would wake. As he gazed upon Belldandy, he noticed she was so peaceful, bathed in the white purity of the heavens. A white silk cloth had been draped over her body for modesty's sake, but beyond that, she was as nude as the infant.
"Have you thought of a name?" Hild asked Keiichi quietly, as she came to stand behind him.
"It better be something good." Skuld replied, taking great interest in the bundle cradled in Keiichi's arms.
Keiichi turned to Hild. "I couldn't have said it better myself. She is a blessing, and I'm naming her after my sister because of that." Keiichi said as he closed his eyes, trying to recall the days of his youth. "Her name will be Megumi."
Anzasu offered a genuine smile at that. "A befitting name."
"Belldandy will approve, I'm sure of that." Urd said, recalling the woman fondly as a thought came to mind. "Elegance…" Urd called, to which her angel came without hesitation. "Go help and support Belldandy."
Not to be outdone, Skuld dove head first into the festivities as well. "Noble Scarlet, you too." It was laughable at best, because Skuld wasn't a very magically inclined goddess by nature, but it was the sentiment that mattered the most.
Hild was not unused to divine births, having witnessed Belldandy and Skuld being brought into the world, and having aided in it at Anzasu's behest. Still, it was quite the sight to behold. The communing of the angles was an event that sparked the largest ceremonies in heaven, and women in the family were often blessed by all of the goddesses who knew them.
"Angel's eggs can be made two ways. The first way, is when a god or a goddess passes on. Their angel's egg is left behind, awaiting rebirth by a kindred spirit." Hild said quietly. "The second way, is the way you see now. Now that the infant has been born, Holybell can now summon all of the power stored within her soul that went unused during Belldandy's pregnancy. When other angles join in and bless the power, an egg will form."
Having once aided in Belldandy's birth, it only seemed fitting to bless the birth of this infant that so required power. "Keiichi, as a demon, this is highly unorthodox, but, would you permit me to partake of this ritual?" Hild requested, moved by the sight, and by the raw power which it held. She doubted he would truly grasp the situation.
"You don't have to ask about something like that." Keiichi murmured still in awe.
Not finding the need to say any more, Hild closed her eyes, calling forth her devil without the vocal use of her name. The creature was well endowed, stunning, and frightening in its own way. Bathed in dark wisps of fire, she viewed the sights before her with unholy eyes that were a soft, steely grey. Yet, she was not without her own arsenal, gifted with fangs that implied a malicious bite and nails that could rend anything in their path. Her hair and wings were as black as at pitch, and though her completion was much darker than her master's own, a deep void perhaps, she seemed gentle.
It was with great care that she examined the infant in Keiichi's arms, and then at Urd, who visibly grew defensive at the sight of her. With a shake of her head, she returned to the task at hand, and went off to support the heavenly body with her own merciful powers. Finding her place beside World of Elegance, it was quite clear where Urd's angle got her looks from.
As purple light began to pour from the angel's hands, Hild looked to Anzasu. "Join me." The demon said to her long time good friend and companion. "We should sing."
…
As a father, and a doting lover, Keiichi knew he had to become stronger. It was something that he could feel, clawing at the inside of his soul. He often wondered if it was the egg around his neck that called to him, or if it was his responsibilities as a parent. Keiichi was unsure, but, he simply knew he had to continue to mold his powers, and his knowledge. He chose to work himself into near nothingness, endeavoring to prove that he would triumph, even though he was often warned not to push himself too hard, too fast.
His struggles paid off in full though, and it happened sooner than even he expected it would.
Keiichi stepped into the throne room, seeing the disciples that lined the hall startle at his entrance. Dresses in the finest silks, with his chest bare, Keiichi had several seals on his hands and arms. With a single band across the top of his forehead that held a shine brilliantly, he gathered respect as the protege he was. He stood in the doorway, much more powerful than he was before. "I've finally done it." He replied, tired, but accomplished.
"I didn't expect you'd attain anything less." Hild told him, knowing he'd achieved his first class license. She could tell by his raw power, but he wasn't a complete demon yet. The egg around his neck still sat there, and for the longest time, she taunted him with the mere idea of swallowing it. "Come, Keiichi." She ordered, indicating she wanted to go off to her private chambers that were on the other side of her throne, behind a concealed door.
Every demon he passed bowed to him, and he rolled his eyes at the gesture. He found it wasn't needed and try though he might, he couldn't seem to get them to stop. As his training had taught him, the best way to avoid unwanted attention was to hide in Hild's menacing shadow, so he followed her without thinking twice.
"Your training seems to have paid off." Hild replied coolly.
"Not yet." Keiichi said. "I'm still not strong enough." He replied, considering his power. "I'm not even one tenth your equal."
Hild took good humor in that. "You are also a fairly young demon." She told Keiichi. "In centuries, how old are you, now?"
"Two." Keiichi replied. "Nearly three."
Hild nodded. "If you had been born a demon, Keiichi, you would still be a child. The power you have is quite significant, considering that." The queen said, though, he was also quite correct, he was not nearly where she required him to be. "Just because you are a first class demon means nothing, you still have much to learn."
"More training, then?" He asked, wondering what sort of rigorous tutelage would befall him this time.
Hild took a seat on a luxuriously long sofa, and encouraged Keiichi to sit on the one across from her. On the table between them, a fine liquor sat, and she waved her hands around, poring the glasses with magic alone. "Today, you've completed what one would consider basic training. That is to say, there is nothing more I can teach you, until you've grown stronger." She pointed to the egg around his neck. "You are an uncanny pupil." She sipped on her drink, and smiled, beaming with an unusually large amount of pride. "There are not many who can complete their first class exam without the use of a devil's egg. The fact that you can, proves your potential." Then, she raised her glass. "I expect nothing less from my son."
Keiichi colored at the word. "Son?" He squeaked out. It was rare that Hild was able to embarrass him anymore, having seen a great deal of things that had warped his once innocent mind. There were, after all, only so many times one could step into the demon realm and retain the good fortune not to see particular things. "Um, isn't that a bit…" He looked away from her, laughing in discomfort alone.
"You are a fine demon, Keiichi." Hild told him. "A demon that chose to be of my ilk the very moment you decided to swallow that pill." She sipped at her drink in thought, before offering him a happy smirk, prideful and full of our own clout. "To have earned your first class license, I've decided to call you what you are."
"Is that really the right thing to do?" He asked carefully, trying to make his point without provoking her.
"You are my son, and heir to these lands." She waved her hand at the large onyx slab that covered her wall. "If Urd would accept me, I wouldn't have to live so vicariously. What is a mother to do, after all, when her own daughter rejects her." Upon it, the vision came of the family Keiichi had waiting for him. "Anyway, enough of that. You come to me now with urgency, and a problem." She told him knowingly. She could feel it in the air.
"I don't know if it's a problem, exactly." His reply was dripping with several emotions. None of them were good, and found themselves steeped in the pit of concern. It was a lost man, demon or not. "According to Urd, who's really mad, by the way…she says there's nothing that can be done about it."
Hearing the war in his voice, as if he brought conflicting news, she sat forward the slightest bit. "What is it, Keiichi?"
He couldn't deny that her care warmed him in some way. Hild was a motherly woman when allowed to be one, and he suspected she would spoil Urd rotten, if Urd would give her half the chance. He had never called someone his mother before, not even the human woman who had birthed him. Yet, for Hild, it seemed befitting. Perhaps it was his demon heart, gifting reverence to the one who had given him great strength, and a much longer life.
He had indeed come with a problem, but, her favor towards him eased his mind, even if only a little. "If I were to take the egg into my soul now, how powerful would I become?" Keiichi asked, accepting the drink as a renewal of power he sorely needed.
"An interesting question to pose. One that I am quite frankly, unsure about." Hild said, contemplating that for a moment. "Who could say really?" She offered him a nod either way. "It would make you more powerful, no doubt. However, controlling that power is a skill that comes from within, and so too, does the ability to captivate those who wish to see their true innermost self."
He nodded at that, he could cast spells of destruction so terrible, it could become his own undoing. Raising his hand, touching his forehead, he felt the warmth of his power. The markings on his face were red, the color of a demon. They had colored his face when he first began training, and he thought it was the norm.
Little he knew of the truth, he was a rare case. Today, he had held his baby girl in his arms, and her markings had appeared. "Mom…" He said quietly, a fear at the edge of his voice. "My daughter is a demon, like myself."
"Urd was born with red markings too, that doesn't mean anything." Hild told him, knowing why exactly he lamented so. "Megumi's upbringing, as well as her heart, will ultimately decide for her." Hell was no place for a child of mixed blood. Heaven wasn't any better judgmentally, but, they were at least less violent about it. "While Megumi is a baby, it will likely change based on her mood. As she gets older, she'll have to decide for herself just what she truly wishes. That desire will force a dominant power."
"You mean like Urd." He said then, knowing she chose to be a goddess in her heart of hearts.
"You are fortunate to raise your child on earth." Hild said while nodding, putting her glass onto the table with a sigh. "She will not be discriminated, at least not based on her power or guardian star." With slow, careful steps, she got up and went over to a personal cabinet of hers that she kept tightly sealed, and for good reason. It contained the last of Urd's childhood. The cabinet was a shrine in many ways, a capsule of what would never find a use again. "You'll want this." Hild said, coming back with a container of a pungent oil. "It may help to interfere."