Chapter 22

"If you want to stay longer Skuld, I can try to arrange it." Keiichi offered after a phone call came from heaven, a formal summon had come from the admin offices, and she would have to leave.

"Don't you think that you've done enough?" Urd said turning to him. "Remember last time?"

"I can't control Hild." Keiichi sighed. "She kept up her end of the bargain, what more could I ask for?"

"I want to stay, but they need me, and I didn't want to say no. It was a personal request from Lind." Skuld shook her head, when her niece tugged on the bottom of her shirt, looking hopeful. "Sorry Megumi, I can't." She told the little girl, patting her on the head.

"What's so important that you just have to rush off?" Urd asked then, her eyebrow raised "Tyr didn't get sealed again, did he?"

"No, but I really wish he would." Skuld lamented, she'd already spent a good few years down on earth, and it was simply time to go home. "We're installing a new seed into the network soon." Much of that time had been for combat training with Keiichi, but also to relax. "That means they'll need me. Peorth is a good systems administrator, don't get me wrong…but, we need to synchronize Nidhogg with Yggdrasil. They need a Norn up there in order for the seed to take root."

"Peorth isn't authorized to do that." Urd noted, a bit bothered by Skuld's knowledge. "I should go up there personally, before Yggdrasil crashes. This could cause more than a few dangerous paradoxes."

"Don't worry about Peorth. She's not able to keep the system stable, but I am." Skuld said, not really looking forward to dragging herself through her travel medium. "I'm the one learning how to work with both sets of computers, it only makes sense that I go." She glanced down to Megumi, and then offered Urd a smile. "Besides, you're needed here."

"How do you like working with the demonic super computer?" Keiichi laughed, knowing his personal experiences with it were less than pleasant. "Is it hard to learn, comparatively to Yggdrasil?"

"I'm not too bothered by it, but then again, I used to be a Yggdrasil debugger. I'm used to problem solving." Skuld shrugged as she packed her bags. It was fun while it lasted, but earth wasn't her place. "They're the same basic machine at their core. Yeah, some commands are different, and Nidhogg has got some pretty convoluted programming, but the same can be said for our computer too."

"Goddesses weren't meant to understand how Nidhogg works." Urd told Keiichi, knowing it was the same for demons when it concerned the heavenly super computer. "The demon's language and the heavenly language are only intertwined at the core. Beyond that, we can't actually understand the codes."

"I know just a little bit more than Urd does, since learning some demonic language part of my training." Skuld replied. "That's why I have to be the one to go." She looked over to Urd. "You don't know anything of their language, even if it is in your blood."

"I don't need to learn it." Urd retorted. "I'm a goddess. I refuse to amuse that other side of myself."

"Case in point." Skuld groused dryly with a sigh. "She'd be useless up there right now."

"Well this timing is unfortunate, Skuld, but I'll be up soon myself." Belldandy looked to Keiichi with a sad smile as she came in from the kitchen, drying her hands on her apron. "Negotiations over Mara will begin soon. You and I will have to go back to our posts too, otherwise they'll be understaffed at the offices, not to mention that you and I will have to face off at the meeting hall." Belldandy sighed. "Father will use it as a test of my innermost strength, I'm sure."

Keiichi shook his head. "My involvement in this case will stay down in the bowels." He knew, because Hagall would push for it. "Hild will either fight for Mara personally, or when deliberation time hits, send up one of her appointed staff."

"Makes sense." Skuld said then, after having zipped up the last bit of baggage. "So, Keiichi, when will your training at the offices begin?"

"I don't know." The man laughed. The question lingered in his mind before shrugging. "I never asked."

"Well, when you do, stop by the heavenly admin offices. That's where I'm posted when I'm not with Lind." Walking into the bathroom, she chucked her bags into the portal before stepping through herself. "We'll do lunch, and I'll show you the remote access information. You'll need it to confirm diplomat status with Yggdrasil and Nidhogg. Otherwise if you log in, Yggdrasil will think you're an intruder, and declare war."

Skuld slipped herself through the portal without a second thought. Her entry point was the communal baths, inside of what they called the river of transit. It was the main waterway, and travel medium for gods and goddesses such as Skuld. Looking around the central hub, she found her second entry point, the one that would take her to the law offices.

The island was a secluded one, filled with its own brands of heaven and hell, rolled into one. Skuld never grew up here. Her place was in a rather large, empty home, based in heaven. Skuld hadn't any intention to stay in that large empty house any longer, choosing instead, to live on site in the dormitory.

Holy, and unholy beings shared a complex under one roof. With only her bags, and her robot waiting for her at the door, Skuld offered him a smile.

She tossed the bags onto the floor, and took in her empty apartment. This was where she would be living with Belldandy from now on during their long years at work. It was smaller, and more comforting. Some low class attendant goddesses had seen to the preparations as ordered, but then, just like it was at home, made themselves scarce.

Skuld sighed at that, pouring herself a fresh cup of tea, and leaving her apartment. It was time to get to work, where the sounds of others tapping away at their terminals would glean insight into her continually difficult tasks.

…

It was always best to sneak out of the house whilst Megumi slept, least she throw a fit. Out of sight, out of mind, was the easiest way to leave the child behind. Still, as Keiichi bid his lover farewell, he wasn't exactly happy about leaving whilst his child remained in slumber. Regardless of how he might have felt, he returned to the hells without allowing his hesitation to get the better of him. It was better for Megumi that Koiji didn't kick up a fuss.

Belldandy stayed behind. She wanted to remain on earth for a few more days, before returning to heaven herself.

She made a habit to cook large quantities of food a few days before her departure so there was something frozen, made by her hands. She had to leave behind something in the fridge, because Urd wasn't always the best cook. She knew every goddess could simply conjure food, but, that was something Belldandy frowned upon. She wasted no time entering the kitchen to prepare as many soups, stews, and other things she knew would keep for a least a few weeks, if not longer. The smell of food roused Urd, and Megumi was not far behind.

While the angels kept the little one busy, Belldandy and Urd finally had some time to catch up on the events going on in heaven. "Father's having a rough time of it." Belldandy had reported lamely, her eyes on the pot that she tended on the stove. "Mother refuses to speak to him, of course, so Skuld and I are doing most of the communication."

"One of those kinds of fights, huh, that sounds like fun." Urd replied not entirely surprised by the news. "At this rate, someone's going to get sealed into another tea set." It went without saying that true fights among their parents were either explosive, or plagued with so much silence it was deafening. Either kind of argument lasted for weeks, sometimes months on end. Sadly enough, it also seemed to trickle down into every other aspect of family life. "Skuld still on her own up at the house?"

"We've decided to live onsite." Belldandy voiced, clipped and willing to say her true disgust of the matter at hand. "It seemed like a better alternative."

"Okay…" Urd said slowly. "So, you guys are living up in the dorms then. What's going on up top?"

Belldandy paused, the question was a complicated one. "Well, you know how our parents are." Belldandy said with a soft lilt, unhappy about the facts, but speaking truth all the same. "If someone isn't fighting with someone else, it isn't our family, now is it?" Belldandy knew their family was unconventional, and thus, teetered on a very steep slope. However, it didn't mean that she so easily turned a blind eye to it. "Naturally, Skuld is a bit more sensitive to the facts regarding our family tiffs."

"You were too, once." Urd replied knowingly. "Skuld's at that hard age."

"All the more reason that our parents should be mindful of her." Belldandy pressed, withholding a heavy sigh.

"I remember what it was like at her age." Urd shrugged then. "I remember what you were like too. Fully capable to care for herself, and yet, unable to find her place among her peers." Urd shook her head. "I imagine that Tyr and Anzasu are slinging barbs in front of her, aren't they?"

That caused Belldandy to sigh deeply. She couldn't fib, so she was left with only one option left. "Let's just say, Skuld fell back into old routines quickly." Clinging to ambiguity as if it were her only hope in the world. "She's like a duckling, and honestly, I can't say that I blame her."

"Naturally." Urd grumbled. "She's a second class goddess, and she isn't made for that line of work." It made her want to gulp her drink again, but she settled with a string of invectives under her breath.

"Urd, are you alright?" Belldandy asked.

"I'm pissed." Urd hissed, she had heard enough of this family feud. "Due to Skuld's lack in magical prowess, she really belongs in the special operations unit, or well enough alone…but the council won't see it that way."

"Father doesn't even see it that way." Belldandy said pointedly. "Even I'm not fit for a place at council. We both know I'm not the one who should be undertaking this position." Someone had to be blunt about it…someone has to say what went unspoken. She turned to Urd. "You're the first born."

"They're not going to take a filthy half goddess up at court." Urd's bitterness was like venom. "Not a second class one like myself, at any rate." She didn't want the position anyway. It was too time consuming, and difficult. "They want one like you…perfect, in every single way they desire."

"This goes against tradition. Our family has always had a hand in all of the major offices in heaven." Belldandy said worriedly. "As a Norn of the past, and first born child, you should have a seat in the council. Skuld as a Norn of the future, due to her lacking abilities in magic, should be admitted into the valkyries as Lind's subordinate and future equal as a commanding officer." None of Tyr's choices made any sense to the middle Norn. "I should be presiding over Yggdrasil, and over all of the commercialized functions of the world tree. We have several cousins in clerical positions, and they should be taking their places in advisory roles too, but, that has yet to happen."

Urd nodded, she agreed with that assessment. "Probably because our parents don't want to get their bony asses out of the way for the newer generation." Yet, there was nothing she could do from earth. Mere speculation was the only thing she could go by. "Hild isn't doing something, is she?" Urd asked on the defensive, causing Belldandy to shake her head. "Tyr then, isn't it? The bastard!"

Belldandy bit back a retort about Urd's inclination to be disrespectful of her sire, and instead just nodded. "Patriarchs expect loyalty." The first class goddess said, unwilling to voice the same distaste for Tyr's actions. "Unfortunately, our mothers are not willing to simply agree with him."

"Hell, Belldandy, we don't even agree with him." Urd told her younger sister. "That's nothing new."

Belldandy shook he head. "Hild is one thing, but, for his own wife to clash against his ideals…well, I can't say he takes any comfort in that." She went to the fridge to get some cream, using that time to simply hide what she knew was clearly showing on her face. Now was not the time for bitterness. "It really puts Skuld in a difficult position."

"I'm more worried about you." Urd said, lazing about near the counter. She gave a momentary thought to dicing the vegetables that sat awaiting their turn, but, thought better of it. "You were always the obedient one. I think Skuld will make it known when she's had enough…but you?" Urd didn't think so. "You're too accommodating."

"Well, someone has got to be the voice of reason." Belldandy replied, a tiny hint of anger lacing her voice for a moment. "It might as well be me." That hint alone made it known. Belldandy was well and truly irate.

Not many could say that they well and truly pissed off the first class goddess, as she was normally mild mannered, but Tyr had managed to do it. It was an impressive sight to behold. "Does the voice include a smack in the head?" Urd asked with a smirk. "You're seething, Bell. You might want to take a break and decompress, before you accidentally cause a storm."

"I'll do nothing of the sort." Belldandy replied sternly. "It wouldn't do. He is my father, and I will abide by his wishes." Belldandy sighed then. "It's the proper thing to do." She went about cutting the vegetables with a sense of unease. "Mind you, I find this entire situation ludicrous, not to mention completely unfounded. Honestly, the nerve of this debacle is astounding even to me!"

"So that's the way it is, huh?" Nibbling on the inside of her cheek was only aggravating her. "You're the one who carries all of the burden, simply because heaven can't take the fact that a hybrid is Tyr's first born." Urd was many things, but she wasn't a pushover. She found it difficult to sit idly by. "Do you need me to go to up and have a few words?" Urd grumbled. "I will, if I have to."

"With your temper?" Belldandy rarely scoffed, but, Urd going to heaven was not the wisest idea to be had. In fact, it was probably one of the worst. "I require you here, Urd. Megumi needs someone to look after her, and with those red markings on her forehead and cheeks, there's no way I can take her to heaven. She would be judged unfairly, and probably feared." She pulled her lower lip between her teeth. "I don't have anyone else I can trust, unless I send her with her father."

"She's not going with Keiichi!" Urd bit out. "But, you can stay here for a little while, and I can help to put a foot up Tyr's ass."

"You'd reply with violence, and just what would that solve?" Belldandy knew that outcome already. "If you have a good answer, I'd love to hear it. I'd do anything to hear a solution that would offer everyone solace." The facts were the facts, and she knew well, Urd wasn't going to be of any help. If anything, Urd would probably make matters more complicated.

"I doubt you can make everyone happy." Urd muttered then. "Might as well appease yourself."

"This isn't anything new, you said it first." Belldandy relented, taking a breath. She was in no mood to return to the fighting she knew awaited her…yet, there was no other option. "We've known about their convoluted spats. It's gone on ever since we were little." Belldandy finally sighed out with acceptance. "I must respect heaven's wishes. It's best for everyone involved."

"Even you?" Urd asked in disbelief.

Belldandy didn't answer that, because she knew if she had to give a voice to it, she would be forced to speak truth.