Notes: I have this old book on angels that I glance at occasionally, and I was trying to get ideas for this story when I stumbled across Skuld's name in the Valkyrie entry. Oddly enough, this was AFTER I'd decided to pair Skuld with them, which was a bit freaky...

Broken Dreamers

An Ah! My Goddess Miniseries by

Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)

Part 2: Skuld of the Valkyries

Skuld woke up in a cold sweat, the nightmarish vision still fresh in her mind.

If she had ever thought that Keiichi, of all people, could be the foundation of something so evil, she would've killed him herself.

No matter how much she loved him. And that, as it always had been, was the real problem.

Pushing that thought away, she rolled over in bed and tried to remember what she was supposed to be doing today.

A soft whirring provided the answer as a miniature, humanoid robot rolled into her bedroom. A glance was all it needed to obtain the necessary data on her current condition; a small fan immediately rose out of its head, cooling Skuld's sweaty face with a gentle breeze.

She managed a weak smile and gave the robot an affectionate pat. "Thank you, Banpei-kun."

The robot chirped in response and extended its hand, holding out her daily schedule.

Skuld frowned at what she saw there. Just after her morning training with Lind, someone had penciled in a visit from Urd. In Urd's handwriting, no less, complete with a tiny Urd doodle sticking out its tongue at her. Even worse, it was too late to correct this: by now, Lind had approved the change, so there would be no getting out of it.

It was not that Skuld didn't like Urd, or even still love her. It was just that Keiichi had changed them all, and in Skuld's opinion, not for the better. Urd was the only one that had been wise enough to abandon ship before she could get hurt, and Skuld envied her that. But Urd had still changed, and she was no longer the annoying older sister that Skuld so desperately missed. True, she was still annoying, but not because she was still lazy and childish: quite the opposite, in fact. Urd was so dedicated to her work now that they almost never saw each other outside of their respective jobs. The last time had been a few years ago, when Skuld needed permission to link Banpei AO to Yggdrasil. Normally, there would have been enormous amounts of red tape to go through, but Urd had bypassed it all, in exchange for a mere peck on the cheek, which Skuld had given with great reluctance. It was so unlike Urd to use extortion to gain affection from her, and beyond that, it was far more like her mother.

That could only be a bad sign.

Skuld forced the thought from her mind and dragged herself out of bed, frowning when she noticed that her clothes were sticking to her. "Banpei-kun, is the room sufficiently cloaked?"

The robot chirped in a distinctly positive way.

Skuld summoned a large water bubble and walked through it, effectively removing both the sweat and the clothes from her body. She sent the bubble towards the bathroom and turned to the robot, who was gazing up at her with the slightest hint of a blush on his face. "Banpei-kun, make sure my mallet is ready, please. I'll be training soon."

The robot chirped again, but this time with a wavering quality in the sound.

For a moment, Skuld thought about teasing him a little, but decided against it. If the conversation with Urd went like she thought it would, she might not get around to fixing a fried circuit until tomorrow. "Alright, you can go."

Banpei spun around and rolled out of the room as fast as his wheels could carry him.

Skuld smiled after him, once again glad that she'd thought to bring Banpei home with her. After some major modifications, she'd produced a whole line of Banpei robots to make her life easier. Most of them just helped around the house, but there were several designed for battle. Banpei AO, for example, was so massive and powerful that it had been charged with defending all of Heaven from attack. It was Skuld's masterpiece, and the very project that had earned her a spot among the Valkyries.

The transfer had not been easy. While there were plenty of opportunities for Skuld to utilize her technological genius, she had never exactly been a battle ace. Skuld's title was only that of Observer: she accompanied certain Valkyries on missions, analyzed their battles closely, and, when it was allowed, used that data to create superior battle robots. She had gotten almost none of the traditional Valkyrie training, and as such, was given a holy shield to defend herself. Most often, she was paired with Lind, the Valkyrie she was most familiar with. But being familiar with each other only helped so much: Lind was devoted to her job, and not only did she treat Skuld like a coworker, she held Skuld to certain standards that someone without proper training would be hard pressed to meet. At the same time, Lind had taken it upon herself to beat some training into Skuld, which was as brutal as it was effective.

Skuld put up with it for the very same reason that she never bothered to contact Belldandy or Urd: her sisters felt like strangers now, and Lind, no matter how unfeeling or strict she might seem, was the only person she felt close to anymore.

Despite how little she enjoyed training, Skuld was actually humming softly as she approached the designated area for the day. She took a few practice swings with her mallet, being sure to avoid hitting the faithful Banpei drone following behind her.

But when she arrived at the open field, expecting to see Lind waiting for her, Skuld got a rather unpleasant shock.

Urd was early.

Worse than that, Lind and Urd were sitting side by side on a bench, talking.

Skuld briefly considered running away. But the Banpei drone, which she had programmed for punctuality, rolled past her and went right up to Lind, so as to inform her that Skuld was on time. The conversation stopped at once, and Urd's gaze fell on Skuld.

There was a long moment of tense silence, before Skuld finally sighed and inclined her head respectfully. "Nee-san, you're early."

Whatever Urd had been hoping for, by the way her face fell, it wasn't that.

Lind glanced between them before standing. "Skuld, I think we can afford to skip training this once. It'll give you more time to talk with Urd."

Skuld opened her mouth to protest, but Lind cut her off.

"Unless you want to go ahead and train. While Urd watches."

Skuld paled. The last thing she wanted was for Urd to watch her flounder around while Lind beat her up. "Fine, I'll talk to her," she muttered reluctantly.

"I thought you might." Lind briefly touched Skuld's shoulder as she walked past. "It's true that you are a soldier now, but you still have duties to your family that must be honored."

"You aren't going to call me 'nee-san' the whole time, are you?" Urd asked once they were alone.

"Shouldn't I?" Skuld countered.

"You never did before."

"You were different then."

"We all were. But I wish you'd call me by my name, like you used to."

"Why does it matter?"

Urd sighed heavily. "Because I don't feel like myself when you don't. The same way Belldandy wouldn't feel like herself if you called her anything else. Can't you give me that much?"

"Why should I have to give anyone anything?!" Skuld snapped. "I was the one who suffered the most!"

"Don't you want things to go back to the way they were?"

"They can't ever be like that again!"

"All the more reason to try, Skuld." Urd patted the spot next to her, inviting Skuld to sit down. "Are you finally ready to tell me what happened that day? I promise that you'll never have to say it again. Carrying that burden inside you isn't helping you or Noble Scarlet heal. Please let me help you, my precious little sister."

"You... you'll tell Onee-sama for me?" Skuld asked hesitantly.

"I suspect that she already knows most of it, but yes. I'll talk to her for you."

"But what if she won't forgive me?"

Urd smiled and shook her head. "She's Belldandy. All she does is forgive people."

Belldandy gave no advance notice that she was leaving that fateful day.

She woke up at the same time, made breakfast, and even put together a healthy snack for Mara, if she should happen to show up. Skuld had always thought that feeding Mara was counterproductive, especially considering how much trouble she'd caused. It was one thing when Hild was the enemy: they literally could do nothing to her, except ruin her schemes and hope that she sulked long enough to allow them a little peace. But Mara was a constant pest, and the idea of feeding her didn't sit right with Skuld. Urd had tried explaining it once, but even she didn't fully support the idea, although that was more because it meant less food for her.

Urd was gone, though, and while Skuld always claimed not to miss her, it wasn't true. Part of her needed to constantly fight and compete, and she just couldn't do that with Belldandy. Keiichi tried, but it wasn't the same: he couldn't hop right back up after getting hit with a bomb, nor could he summon lightning. He only made Skuld feel worse by lying on the ground and twitching.

Skuld didn't realize it at the time, but Urd's absence was also bad for Keiichi and Belldandy. Urd was always pushing them together, offering Keiichi tips on how to stay on Belldandy's good side, and keeping others from interfering. Without Urd, the couple actually began to have disagreements, and usually over the same things. Being attacked, possessed, and cursed so often had left Keiichi more than a little paranoid, and with only two goddesses around to protect him, he was justified in feeling a little exposed. But Belldandy continued to treat most of their enemies as sometime-friends. This was fine with Hild (almost necessary, really), but every other enemy took advantage of it (and Keiichi, when possible).

Skuld actually felt the same way that Keiichi did, but she wasn't about to side against Belldandy, either. And there was no real way to win an argument against Belldandy without Urd on the opposing side.

At the same time, Belldandy was all too aware that so many bad things happened to Keiichi only because of his connection to her. True, bad things had happened to him before they'd met, but those were at least limited to non-demonic incidents, which were easily handled with a prayer or two on her part.

But on that day, there was no fight. Belldandy moved about the temple in her usual cheerful manner, sent Keiichi off to work with a kiss and a wave, and cleaned up as she always did. And when Keiichi got home that evening, she told him that she wouldn't be there tomorrow morning, and served dinner.

Keiichi took it badly, which was to say that he didn't say a word. He was tired of fighting, tired of suffering a whole new set of misfortunes, and, though he never said as much, definitely tired of not moving beyond hugs and occasional kisses. But his heart still wanted Belldandy, and Skuld didn't think less of him when he went to his room so that they wouldn't see him cry.

"You know he'll never get over you, Onee-sama," Skuld told Belldandy as they ate dinner alone. "He couldn't, even if he wanted to."

"He'll manage," Belldandy said confidently, composed but not smiling. "Keiichi-san is very resilient. And he'll have you, Skuld."

It was the last thing that Belldandy said to her for a long time, and perhaps that was why Skuld chose to read far too much into it. At first, she'd just assumed that Belldandy wanted her to remain behind so that Keiichi wouldn't be all alone. But the more Skuld watched Keiichi drift aimlessly through his life, even with her friendship to comfort him, the more she began to wonder if Belldandy's words hadn't held another meaning. She resisted the idea at first, but Keiichi was a man in pain, and without her sisters around, Skuld came to realize that the attraction she'd once felt for him was not so much gone as it was buried under loyalty to Belldandy. And seeing the mess that Belldandy had left him in, that loyalty began to weaken.

Skuld had never seduced a man before. About the closest she'd come was using her cuteness to get her way. That had stopped working on Keiichi a long time ago, but he still couldn't stand to see a girl crying. But that wouldn't help here, and Keiichi probably thought of her more as a little sister than a woman.

But everyone was more honest in their sleep, and that was when Skuld made her move.

Slipping into Keiichi's bed was not the best idea in the world, but he wasn't awake to stop her. Likewise, he didn't pull away when she draped her arm over his chest and laid her head on his shoulder. Nor did he wake up when the red cloud sprang out of his chest and sank its clawed hands into Skuld's arms. He only woke up, for some reason, the first time that the demon pierced Noble Scarlet's wing.

Skuld could only guess that Noble Scarlet had known instinctively that they were both in danger. Apparently, that knowledge alone had given her the power she needed to appear, fully formed, and defend Skuld from the demon. But there was no comparison between the strength of the two sides: each second that the demon was in contact with the angel was pure agony for her, and it was worse for Skuld because she had to both feel and watch it.

The struggle ended abruptly when Keiichi threw himself out of the bed. The demon, still attached to his chest, was dragged along with him, but even then Keiichi had to physically restrain it, as it kept reaching out for the angel.

Noble Scarlet collapsed onto the bed, writhing in pain. Large, black sores immediately formed on her body wherever the demon had touched her, but the worst damage was in her right wing, which was riddled with the sores and took great effort to move at all.

Skuld didn't know what to do. On some level, she knew that ensuring Noble Scarlet's survival had to be her top priority. Before long, those terrible sores would most likely appear on her as well, and then she'd be just as powerless. But she had no idea where the demon had come from, or how long Keiichi could hold it back, or if it could damage human flesh in the same way. Then she saw something that made the choice for her.

"No," Keiichi said softly with his head bowed. "You can't have her. You can't ever hurt Skuld."

The moment her name passed his lips, the demon calmed down and vanished back into his chest.

She didn't want to believe that such a horrible creature could've come from Keiichi, that he had known of its existence and never said a word, that he would allow it to harm Noble Scarlet so gravely. But her angel's voice, like a rapidly fading flare in her head, kept chanting one word over and over again.

"Run!"

With the evidence in front of her, it was the one thing that still made sense. Skuld gathered Noble Scarlet in her arms as quickly and carefully as she could, not daring to look at Keiichi for fear of what she might see. The angel clung to her desperately, and with the one wing she could still move, launched them both towards the door, weaving unsteadily through the air.

She might very well have imagined it, but Skuld thought she could hear Keiichi screaming in pain as she and Noble Scarlet flew into the night sky. But one look at her angel's now useless wing was all Skuld needed to do to harden her heart against his cries.

"Belldandy will forgive you," Urd said the moment Skuld finished her story.

"How do you know?"

"Because you didn't ask Noble Scarlet to come out. That means your life was in danger. Belldandy would just be happy that you survived. But this does leave us with some problems. Did those sores ever appear on you?"

Skuld shook her head. "I was afraid they would, but no."

"Are they still on her, though?" Urd asked carefully.

Skuld looked down. "Only on her wing. It never really healed."

"Any side effects?"

"She... doesn't like to fly anymore. She can if she has to, but it's hard for her. Really, she doesn't like to come out at all, but she will if I ask her to. I can tell that part of her power is just... gone. The demon must have absorbed it. I think that's what it was really after."

Urd didn't speak for a long moment, silently considering everything she'd heard. Finally, she cleared her throat and asked softly, "Will she come out now? So that I can see her?"

Skuld looked inward, and wasn't surprised by what she found. "She doesn't want to. She... oh, Noble Scarlet, you're not...!" Skuld shook her head, blinking away tears. "She thinks she's ugly, compared to your angel. She won't come out..."

Sighing, Urd gently took her sister's hand. "I didn't mean to upset either of you. I wanted to see how extensive the damage was, but if you can function this well, it can wait. Has anyone looked at her?"

"Just Lind. She isn't comfortable enough around anyone else." Skuld paused and stared down at her lap. "Urd, is... she always going to be like this? I know I complained, back when I first got her, but I'd give anything to have those days back."

"I don't know, Skuld," Urd admitted. "I've never heard of a case quite like this. And I wouldn't dare put you at risk by trying anything without more information. But I think your talking to Noble Scarlet on a regular basis could only help. Building up her confidence might even bring out some power that neither of you was aware of. In the meantime, I'll keep looking for answers on my own." Smiling faintly, Urd gently poked Skuld's cheek. "Keep up the good work, sis. You're really growing into a tough little cookie."

Blushing, Skuld was barely able to suppress the childish urge to swat Urd's finger away. In any case, the older goddess vanished in a crack of thunder before the younger one could do much of anything. "She really is getting more like her mother," Skuld grumbled.

That night, in the privacy of her bedroom, Skuld called to her angel again. And just as she'd hoped, Noble Scarlet emerged at once, settling down next to her on the bed.

"You're not ugly," Skuld whispered, staring into her angel's eyes. "You could never be ugly. You're the most beautiful, brave angel there ever was!"

Noble Scarlet offered a tiny, sad smile, and then was nearly bowled over as Skuld embraced her.

"You're not ugly!" Skuld sobbed, burying her face in the angel's shoulder. "You're not!"

Noble Scarlet merely returned the hug, folding her good wing around Skuld's trembling shoulders. She knew that at a certain point, her thoughts and feelings should not only have been obvious to Skuld, but basically reflections of Skuld's own emotions. But there had been a certain distance between them from the start, and though their bond had deepened, that distance remained. And because words were so inefficient to express an angel's thoughts, Noble Scarlet could offer none to comfort Skuld. Nor could she think of any way to make Skuld understand that the loss of confidence in their power had scarred them both worse than the demon had.

Next Chapter: Urd, Hell's Advocate

Hild is a lot better at making inescapable contracts and wielding immeasurable power than she is at being a mother. And though Urd has sworn not to, those are two things that she will always admire about her mother. But daily lunch dates with the Daimakaicho are a small price for a goddess to pay, right?

Endnotes:

The AO in Banpei AO stands for Alpha Omega. I toyed with the idea of coming up with an appropriate new license for Skuld. But, after reading theories on them, I understand them even less than I did before, so use your own imagination.

And yes, there's a reason why Keiichi's angel has no definite shape yet.

The chapters will most likely all be short. This is a miniseries in every sense of the word: short chapters, each focusing primarily on one character, and probably no more than six chapters in all, if I have this planned right.