Chapter 15

Demons had to lose something. A void had to be in their heart. It had to linger, smoldering within the pit of their soul. Demons were loathsome creatures because they bathed in their turmoil. They were also quite vengeful, and quick to temper.

There were clauses to every rule, and it wasn't exactly uncommon for a perfectly happy immortal child, to be a demon. It was especially true if one parent, or both, bathed in demonic power, and carried demonic blood. Many adult gods and goddesses who couldn't stand heaven's way of running things, often they chose to side with Hild and have their programs rewritten.

The same, inevitably, could be said for demons who chose heaven's grace.

Being a hybrid, however, wasn't very common. Babies were often changed by their codes, forced to be one, or the other. There were very few who had the ability to say they were both at once. Urd was one, of what she considered to be a very scorned few. Hild had never rewritten her programming while she was still in her mother's womb, and so even as a goddess, Urd was still also one of the demons that plagued the dreams of many. She would balance the paths of light and dark for her entirety of life.

Urd sighed at that, because Belldandy had also chosen for her child to be born the same way. A baby that was not quite demonic, and yet, fated never to be a goddess of first class. The baby was damned, due to her very nature. Lying was far too tempting when demonic blood danced in one's veins. "You should have just chosen for her to be a goddess." Urd sighed. "It would have been easier."

"She has a right to choose." Belldandy replied, nursing the baby in her arms. She was a new mother, nothing would bring her down...nothing at all, would destroy her peace at the moment. The infant suckled without a peep, her tiny eyes, that had turned brown, opening and closing as if trying to decided if she wanted to stay awake, or fall asleep. "I won't take that away from her, she is her very namesake."

Urd wasn't eased by that. "I don't know how you can be so calm about it." Urd said to Belldandy as she sipped on some sake. "Hild is nothing but trouble. She's even got Keiichi calling her weird names." Urd shivered. "It's disgusting."

"Hild dotes on Keiichi, and I think he really needs that." Belldandy was the picture of serenity, her voice soft and sweet. "It can't be easy for him, knowing that even you don't like his nature."

"It isn't that." Urd replied, hesitant to regard him as what he was. Her voice was strangled by the well of doubt that clouded her mind. "I don't like the implication of what it means for the future."

"We don't govern the future, Urd." Belldandy's eyes were on the baby, her thoughts echoing without her thinking it. "We merely walk the paths that are given to us. Keiichi chose his, and I've chosen is the embodiment of that choice." Though the child was several years old by a mortal standard, she was still just an infant. After she was born, to keep her safe from prying eyes, they'd up-heaved the shrine home Keiichi and the rest of them so loved, and planted it in a remote area. As such, they had no one close by. "I will not dictate her path so blindly. I ask that you refrain from trying to do the same."

No one but flora and fauna…and of course, the occasional passing goddess or demon. It was the safest place, for a child like Megumi...but, Urd was unsure if it would offer protection for an eternity that was far too long. "I'm not trying to take away her choices." Urd rebuked, brushing her fingertips over the baby's short black hair. "I just know what your daughter will face. No matter what the two of you choose to do about it, she won't stay on earth forever." Urd poured herself another drink, before voicing her true worries. "She also won't have the luxury of having the both of you in her life forever, either."

Belldandy smiled sadly at her sister. "I know. That's why I'm hesitant to choose for her." She nodded, licking her lips, overwhelmed by the thought of what the future would bring. "There isn't a single day that her father and I don't worry for her, and her future. There is not a moment that I don't pray for her happiness." She reached over to the oil that her lover had brought home. "Keiichi said this oil was the same oil that Hild used on you as a baby."

"If she didn't tell him what she did to it, I would obliterate it if I were you." Urd mumbled before snatching it up. She undid the lid, and took a careful whiff. "It doesn't smell of foul play, but that's all the more reason to throw it out."

"That's enough, Urd." Belldandy chided, collecting some oil on the pad of her thumb. "Keiichi would never bring anything home that could hurt the baby." She thumbed it over the infant's marks. When she did, the once demonic markings turned heavenly. "See, it won't do her any harm." Belldandy said softly.

It was with a stifled curse that Keiichi finally joined the goddesses. "I didn't think it would." Having finally finished his bath and ritual, he'd wrapped himself in a robe, and joined the conversation. "Hild told me that anointing our baby in oil, will help to influence the power in her soul." He grabbed the bottle of Urd's sake, having finished his own, and took a deep swing, making note that soon he would need to buy more.

"Heavenly oil will sway her to be a goddess, and demonic oil will sway her to become a demon." Belldandy told him, surprised when the normally quiet child began to fuss in her arms unhappily. "I haven't been using any, because I don't feel it necessary." Then like the goddess she was, and the mother she expected herself to be, she looked to Keiichi for guidance. He was the child's father, and his word would be law, if he so chose. "If you think we should, I'll do it daily."

He rolled his eyes, and ignored the clear question that lingered in her eyes. "To be honest, I don't really know one way or the other." Keiichi took his baby from Belldandy, holding her in what seemed like forever, even if it had only been a few days. "Hey Meg." He said, greeting the tired baby. "Have you been good for your mother while I was away?" The infant opened her eyes to look at him before giving a yawn and snuggling into him. Instantly, her markings changed back to the red color they were before.

He looked to the eldest Norn. "Urd, you're the one who's lived through this, what do you think about the oils?"

Urd bit her lip, and paused. "When I decided I wanted to be a goddess, I was still a child. I was very young, but, it came so natural to me." Urd explained, putting a hand over her heart. "I knew I wanted to be one, and have an angel of my very own. I wanted her to have white wings, and I wanted to be just like Belldandy." Urd shook her head. "But, even though I wanted to be a goddess, I couldn't get rid of my demonic side." Urd didn't like seeing those red markings on her niece, but she took them as a possible outcome.

It wasn't the answer he had been looking for. "It's dangerous down in the bowels for a child of mixed blood." He said then, looking to Belldandy. "Should we even allow her that choice?"

"We can't choose for her, now that she's been born." Belldandy shook her head. "We don't have that power anymore, but, if you want me to try to sway her to the heavens, I can certainly try my best."

Urd looked at that oil, wondering if it was a gift from the heavens...a gift her mother had placed atop her forehead...she was unsure, but felt as if somehow, the oil was that of the gods...blessed by holy light. "She may desire black wings, and a devil of her own." It was then, that a painful truth struck her. "No matter what she wants to be, the other side of herself will still be there. Her angel will reflect that dual nature."

"I've decided..." Keiichi said then, finally coming to his decision. "We'll let her decide on her own. We will not interfere."

…

Urd couldn't help it, her mind toyed with her. She tried to think of all the times she would gaze in awe of her mother's pure demonic power. She forced herself to recall all that made her tremble in fear. She pulled up old, bitter memories, remembering the sights and sounds of the pain a demon could cause. Hild's powers were awesome, and frightening. She couldn't imagine wanting to live that life, but, she also knew her heart was made to be a goddess.

That oil worried her. Urd wondered if she had been swayed by Hild's decision...and yet, she couldn't deny, she feared that the red marking would one day engulf her own she would one day live out her mother's prophecy, and return to hell...and then a new fear crept up.

The idea that her niece would desire the same destruction that a demon would, made her heart lurch in horrible ways. She could both hear, and feel when the infant began to kick up fuss, and looked at the clock. The late hour indicated she was looking for either food, or an angel's presence nearby. "Can't you leave that poor child alone?" Urd barked, she was left alone to babysit, and the visitor was unwelcome.

"I promised you, I wouldn't force the child to live a life she didn't want to lead." Hild said calmly, as she sat in the rocking chair, easing the baby back to sleep. "I didn't say I would hide like a monster under her bed. That I would shackle her, without her own voice in the matter." With that, she lifted her eyes to meet Urd's own. "You're the only one in this house, who's terrified of me for no good reason."

Urd could see the markings of a goddess on the baby's face. "Give her to me, now." Urd said all too quickly. "That's the first time she's retained the markings of a goddess in months, it should stay that way."

"A heart with misfortune, will gift misfortune." Hild told Urd, not relinquishing the baby in her arms. "If you want the baby to be a goddess, her heart must be full of the love and acceptance required of one." She capped the oil she had used only a few moments before. "You are a goddess, because you were blessed by the love of many, and your heart found good fortune within itself, blessed by your guiding star." She smiled down at the little one, feeling the immature powers within struggle for dominance. "You were anointed in oils given to me by your father, because he could not be there for you."

Hild's devil bestowed the child with unearthly light, and Urd closed her eyes, a sigh falling from her lips. "You've already taken Keiichi, why are you so adamant about taking Megumi too?"

"I have no such intention." Hild spoke only the truth, even if Urd couldn't believe it. "I merely came to visit the child, that's all Urd. I may do some sinful things, however, I would never harm a creature so innocent." Though she refused to look her Urd in the eye, knowing she would only see contempt, she couldn't deny that is was a good pretense. Her time spent with Urd, though tense and full of bitterness, were worth it anyway. The true reason for her visit was not the baby, but the goddess who had become a woman in all too short of a time. "You are loved, so very deeply." Hild said ambiguously.

She doubted Urd felt the same…but to Hild's surprise, Urd sighed.

"I know." The goddess said in a hushed murmur. "That's why I can't understand why you weren't there when I needed you the most."