A/N: It's been a while, as I was posing up some one shots, and taking a break from writing long, chapter length works for a while. I'm back now that family parties are done, at least for a few weeks or so.

Anyway, I don't own Ah, My Goddess.

Chapter 29

She had tried to maintain some sense of strength for her family.

Still, when she leaned heavily onto the wall in her room, she could only release a breath covered in her own sadness. Soundless tears dripped from her eyes, and sobs shook her with no voice. Her world seemed to be crumbling around her, but, she had no power in which to stop it. She was forced to merely spectate the sad, and looming fate that would befall her parents. Thankfully, as the goddess she was, and the time it had taken since she first began to understand the outcome, she had little grief to toil over.

It was perhaps, her stature as a goddess, that helped her to pinpoint the true issues that were upon her shoulders. In her absence, the heavens found themselves weakening, and the council divided one final time. Dispersing into nothingness, the elders were no longer able to maintain the strict rules that so bespoke of heaven. Many families lost kin, and Belldandy's was not exempt from that.

The loss of her father, Tyr, came first. With it, came the fact that the new head of the family would need to step up and claim a place in heaven. Urd, covered in blood red seals, was unable to even travel to the heavens above, let alone bespeak her place. The role then fell to Belldandy out of obligation alone, as the second born daughter. As if that was not enough, many questioned their once dear friends, as if they were bitter rivals. Try though she might, Belldandy couldn't order peace.

Many in the special operations units had fallen, and Lind was one of the few skilled enough to take charge of the far reaching panic that cloaked heaven. Taking a place as head of the special operations unit, she and Skuld fought to uphold the order. Peace was so lacking, it was frightening.

The next to pass on, not a decade later, was the unholy ruler, Hild.

She'd made a promise to Keiichi, a promise she so granted him, when she'd forsaken Megumi. It was evil, but, it was also unbearably kind. She knew they would not understand the complexities of her choice. Yet, it was not Hild who'd written that particular page in the sands of time, but rather, it was Urd. Somehow, without realizing it, Urd's power had shifted, and Hild could not find comfort in that, so instead, she merely solidified that which Urd denied.

She was sure, choosing to die on earth, in front of her daughter and grandchildren, and in front of Keiichi himself, was not something at first easy to accept…yet in doing so, Urd had unknowingly infused her own soul with the spite of creation, and her own self-loathing tainted Urd's once strong goddess pride. Keiichi's power spiked beyond his belief, and so too, did Megumi's.

Hild's final order was for Keiichi to finish Megumi's training, Urd was also to help see it through. No one understood why, but, they did agree.

Anzasu's death was slow and peaceful, following Hild not long after. With her heartfelt desire to help her children, she planted her key to the judgment gate within the unknowing Saria, so that Belldandy would yield no control, and thus, no guilt. Peorth ended up filling Anzasu's spot, among her place in the law offices, the choice not an easy one to make by many, was forced by Belldandy's hand.

With all of the trouble that creation seemed to bring, as it tore itself asunder, there was only one gift that seemed like a balm through it all. Keiichi had his wish granted, and Belldandy birthed one son within the onset, and fall of the human race. The child was the only light in the dark curses of scorn. The boy was also the only child that Keiichi helped to bring into creation with his own demonic energy. As such, Belldandy participated in a demonic birth, and as the mother of the child, she partook in the rights to name the boy.

It was by her choice, that the boy took the name of Daichi.

The festivities were short lived, as a much greater truth took over. Humans served as power source to generate creation's livelihood through the power of positive and negative shares, it became infinitely important to find a new source. However there was only one such creature with a duality so like that of a human...

…

"How long can our shares hold out?" Keiichi asked as he sat in the law offices, feeling ill prepared as a very select few sat around in a circle. They inhabited what used to be Hild's private place to relax, but it seemed the only place to hide from the abyss that all of creation had become.

"Not very long, not at this rate." Mara grumbled with her arms crossed as she shot daggers at the goddesses across the room, ever so grateful to be let out of the fan. "We demons don't take kindly to preserving our resources…we don't like thinking that far ahead. It's the gluttony we drink every night."

"Hild would have." Keiichi told her, an edge in his voice. He gave Mara a stern glair in admonishment. "She would have accounted for something like this."

"Even if she did, shares expend quickly when there is nothing to further generate them." Belldandy sighed with a shake of her head. "Even with both systems on emergency override mode, we're looking at seven days, tops…"

"On what time scale?" Keiichi asked then, growing worried.

"Well, that depends." Hagall conceded as she stood behind him, the personal bodyguard, and second in command. It was Hild's wish that this man rule over the hells, and demonkind. While Hagall was unsure of his ability to do so, her loyalty to her deceased ruler was never to be questioned. She gave him reverence, as Hild had desired. "The better question is; can we ration what little of the shares are left, and is it possible to a block magic reserves? Can we try to stop the flow of unnecessary power regeneration?"

"If you did that, you'd be at risk for starting a huge war!" Mara bit out at the demon of her ire. "There's not enough respect for Keiichi in the hells right now. If you did that, it would be impossible to control a mass uprising."

"The same goes for the heavens." Lind replied, studying the demons on the other side of the room, most notably Keiichi himself. "With the council dispersed, it's all that the special operations can do to control the heavens with a brute show of force." She gazed pointedly at Belldandy then. "Aggression on our behalf only goes so for to subdue the outcry."

"Even that won't last forever." Skuld tossed in. "Heaven is used to strict social norms, the public don't take kindly to wondering who will be in charge day in and day out. With no council backing our actions, there is a good chance the heavens could rebel, feeling as if the actions of the special operations aren't justified."

"There's got to be something we can do." Belldandy murmured to herself.

"There is." Mara said from her place. "Though I don't like it one bit." She looked down on earth, or, what was left of it. She could feel the lack of power, the other planets struggling in the same fashion. The human race was extinct, and soon other life would be too. "We can always rewrite creations codes to include another energy source, but even that won't last long."

"That'll only start another war, and with the doublet in place, we're all doomed." Hagall replied, knowing better. "We can't draw the power from our own kind, that's why humans used to exist in the first place! Because they were so easy to draw from." It was then, that she said the one thing that no everyone else refused to say. "The nearest thing to a human right now are the hybrid immortals."

"Then, if that's the case, the only thing we can do is plant a new seed and hope it takes root." She looked to those around the room. "Urd, Skuld, and I can force a bud to flower, but after that, it would be up to those that remain to reset the very systems as we know it."

Skuld but her lower lip. "It would put us in a stasis period for several hundreds of years at least. It takes about that long for the new bud to take shape…even after that, we're looking at a very long time before we can sustain the type of life forms we did before."

Peorth had been quietly listening from her place, but hearing such a suggestion threw her for a loop. "Belldandy, you don't just want to fertilize Yggdrasil's existing power flow, you're talking about severing it entirely." That didn't sit well with her. "What if the new bud doesn't take root? We'd only have one shot at it, before being sealed away into total an utter oblivion."

"Are you crazy?" Mara nodded. "One chance would be all we get."

"I wouldn't put our livelihood in the hands of a goddess." Hagall groused quietly in Keiichi's general direction. "It's not exactly wise to trust them blindly, we may end up sealed."

Peorth was the first to bite out a threatening retort. "I wouldn't think you were such a bitch, until that. Don't you get it, we're in danger too."

A stare down resulted from the two women who were far too hardheaded to see beyond their own natures. It brought Keiichi to feel confused, and with the weight of the demons resting firmly on his shoulders, he knew Hagall was right. "Hagall has got a point, we're demons, Peorth." He told her, trying to find that distant friendship he once shared with her, difficult though it was. "The demon realm is in a state of complete and total disarray." His eyes found Belldandy's then, trying to find words that wouldn't demean her idea, because he liked it, even if he couldn't agree with it. "Even if you were able to do that, it puts the demons at a disadvantage. They'll view the matter with every ounce of skepticism possible."

"Why shouldn't we?" Mara added, backing up the claim. "It would be a perfect opportunity to rewrite creation's laws entirely. Even if Lady Hild fought for change in the past, I don't think she would go for putting our livelihood in your hands."

Belldandy mulled over that with a nod, understanding exactly what Keiichi meant. He couldn't very well convince a kingdom to follow his every command simply because he was named the new king. That wasn't how the hells worked, and, frankly put, it was also no longer so in heaven, either. "Oh, what I wouldn't give for a feasible rip into the center of creation, it would allow us to duplicate shares at least for a little while."

"Well, there are those pocket universes of Hild's." Hagall said quietly. "But I was under the impression that we were never to touch them."

"Pocket universes?" Belldandy looked to Keiichi, who merely nodded.

"Hild maintained several pocket universes within this very creation, held together by magical seals." Keiichi said, as he motioned to Hagall, who nodded, and placed a crystal upon the table for all to see. "She sent any being there of high intelligence who wished it. Mortals, immortals, and creatures of interest…she did it under the contract that we of creation would never interfere with their lives, and, they would be free from particular rules."

"So, strictly speaking, the only one they ever respected was Hild herself." Hagall went on to say, as she watched for any signs of movement she couldn't trust. She would protect this crystal for life, as she was its keeper. Hild had entrusted her with the complex task of overseeing the little dimension. "I can act as a deputy, so to speak, but their loyalty is with Hild alone. Some of them are worse than the criminals in your lunar dungeon."

Mara merely let out a puff of heated air. "Are you joking? Some of the people in that damn place are worse than our most horrible condemned." Still, she glared at the crystal with fascination, a grim reality was just on the inside of it. "Opening that seal is a really bad idea. I'd rather trust the goddesses!"

"At least their predictable." Hagall sneered.

"We have seven days, ladies." Belldandy replied tersely. "Now is not the time to argue." The gravity of the situation made her worry about the greater implications. "We don't have a lot of time, and while risks go without saying, I can't help but feel as if the stasis is the only way to reset creation safely."

Keiichi lifted his gaze to the demons on his side of the room. "Unless I hear a better solution right now, I'm going to trust the goddesses."

…

No one spoke a word.

Thus, the greater creation, upon which all beings took sanctuary, found itself frozen in time. The tree that protected creation fell into a petrification unlike any other, shattering into nothingness. The only thing left behind from that wake was a tiny seed. It glowed with the light that could only be gifted by a Norn.

It was unknown to all, just how long it took before the sprout found life, as during that time, everything, and everyone found themselves in endless slumber. The awakening of creation brought change that was not entirely accounted for, and, following the tales of old, the remaining immortals gathered together, praising the seedling that sought to grow.

Time was uncanny to the immortals, and so too was the privacy found within the void of nothingness, not unlike the space that Keiichi had once drifted in so long ago. When he awoke, the three Norns had already spent several thousands of years tending to the new seedling that had sprouted from the dead world tree.

"A unified front now will only destroy creation later." Skuld replied, looking to her sister and to Keiichi. "All of the beings of creation must stay with their own kind, and, it should fall to the respective rulers to oversee matters of importance."

"I refuse to believe that." Belldandy said, a deep frown ghosting her lips. "We should reform while creation is youthful."

"I've seen it." Skuld replied. "This outcome." She closed her eyes and sighed. "This very image, I used to dream about it a lot when I first met Keiichi…and I was afraid it would come true." Now, Skuld knew it wasn't the worst thing to happen, but, it was her job to make sure creation didn't stray a second time. "Sis, you've gotta believe me. It's for the best."

"What did you see?" Keiichi pressed, interested by Skuld's words, half expecting that she was trying to push him away. He found no suspicion in her words, but, he was always perceptive enough to assume otherwise.

"Urd…" Skuld murmured, looking to the oldest Norn.

The female demon nodded. "Creation lost sight of itself, because it tried to conform all of its peoples." She looked between Keiichi and Belldandy. "The rulers tried to imbalance the systems, and in doing so, it managed to defile itself with its own inhabitants. War happened because rulers were too greedy, too blind to understand the balance that had to be maintained."

"Hild was visionary." Skuld said quietly, giving Urd a glance of an apology. "She might have done things the wrong way, but she firmly believed that the reforms put into place by the councils lacked foresight. She was right about that. If we reform creation into one secular image, it'll destroy itself over, and over again. It's not possible to do that...but, it is possible to maintain civility."

"Only if we can keep all beings from fighting with each other." Urd muttered.

"We can." Skuld replied back. "But, that's got to come with time...time that has not yet passed."

"And, you can't do anything but agree with that assessment." Belldandy acknowledged sadly, seeing the look in Keiichi's eyes. "Both of you believe her words to be true?" She gazed into Urd's lavender eyes. "Even you, see only truth?"

Urd said nothing to this, but her firm nod gave the answer that her sister needed from her. She saw Keiichi, who had unflinchingly watched their exchange, and she felt a weakness for him all over again. It was as if the entire world was in his eyes, and she understood then, perfectly, the path creation had set before her.

She was the embodiment of the past, and the only one who could possibly called the peoples of the demon realm together, she was sure her raw power would be needed…but more than that, she was her mother's daughter.

A deviant of expectation, and who better for the demons drenched in anarchy to follow?

"Keiichi and I will go to the demon realm and gather the survivors of the stasis." Urd explained. "Megumi will go with us, as I'm sure Hild intended for her training."

"I will take Hikari with me." Skuld replied, giving Belldandy a soft smile. "When Lind is able to leave, we will travel to the far reaches of creation itself, speaking of the future that will no doubt come. With any luck, we can convince the remaining immortals to gather their people, and rebuild their homes."

"What of Saria?" Belldandy asked, knowing that the girl was still caught in the depth of sleep, and would not wake until it was time for her to do so.

Keiichi wondered about that himself, as he looked at the seals that covered her face in sleep. He looked to the attendant who was not yet old enough to face adults at war. "Xic and Mara will watch over her. I can't take her to the outer reaches of the realm, she's too young...but, my attendants can keep her safe."

"Our son?" Belldandy asked then, the infant also protected by sleep. "What do you suppose is best for him?"

It pained Keiichi greatly to say it, but the markings on the baby's face, although dim, were heavenly in nature. Keiichi sighed at the greatest length his temper could afford him. "Unless his seals change, Belldandy, he will stay here with you." He wanted that boy in his arms, but, instead he felt ill, knowing that his only boy could indeed one day become a god.

"Is this all we can do?" Belldandy murmured, unsure of the looming responsibility that weighed over all of them.

"You expected otherwise?" Urd shook her head.

As Keiichi picked up Megumi, he shook his head. "If I had, do you think I would have gone along with this method?" There was no telling how long Megumi would sleep for, but he didn't have time to wait.

Urd could feel his urgency, and knew it lingered within all of them. She could only watch as Skuld gathered Hikari into her arms. "The sooner we stabilize everything, the sooner we can all take a breath of fresh air." She could not leave Saria in this empty space, and Keiichi had already decided the little girl's destination. Without second guessing him, she scooped the little one into her arms to take to with them to the demon realm, were Xic and Mara would look after her.

"Bell…" Keiichi murmured, his cold stare filled with his undying loyalty. "We will return. I will come back to you one day." He said, looking to the child in his arms. His first born little girl. "When I do, I promise, Megumi will be a demon worthy of her devil."