Chapter 6
11:00 am, November 13.
Tarikihongan Temple.
"Keiichi." Belldandy called into the temple. "A package arrived in the mail." Bell had been outside in the courtyard admiring the fall scenery. Most of the trees had already shed their leaves, and it was a crisp fall day. Just cool enough that sweaters were a good idea. Wearing a bulky long multicolored sweater and black tights, Bell had been watching a few squirrels frolicking around the yard. In between gathering nuts, acorns and other food to stash away for the upcoming winter, the furry critters would occasionally stop and play, providing no end of amusement and joy to the Goddess. Bell loved to just sit outside and watch the various animals that made the temple courtyard home. It brought about a calming effect to Belldandy's soul. It made her treasure what she had and how her life had changed in such a short span of time. Overhead a dozen different types of birds sat in the trees adding their intricate songs to the gentle breezes. One bird landed on Belldandy's shoulder and chirped a greeting to her. She listened closely.
"Really?" she said to the little bird. "So you're saying that this is going to be a colder than usual winter? Thank you for letting me know this. I will tell Keiichi. " The bird cheeped in reply and flew off.
Her respite was interrupted by the mailman, who dropped off an unusual package to the temple. Belldandy graciously accepted it, and brought it into the Tea Room. Hearing her voice, Keiichi joined her a few moments later.
"Did you order something, Belldandy?" Keiichi asked, curiously.
"No, Keiichi. Did you?"
"Not lately. But it's addressed to the both of us. I wonder what it is?"
"Who did it come from, Keiichi?"
He read the label. "Sayoko. That's interesting. We haven't heard from her in a while. We sent her an invitation, right?" Keiichi asked.
"Yes, we did. I wonder what she sent us. Open it, Keiichi." Bell said expectantly.
Keiichi ripped away the brown paper covering the parcel. It was further wrapped in red paper with unusual writing on it. Keiichi put the package to his ear and gently shook it. "Well, it's not ticking." He pulled away the attached note and read it.
Dear Keiichi and Belldandy.
I received your invitation. Congratulations on your upcoming wedding. Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend the ceremony due to important family business. However, I am passing along this little present in commemoration of your special day. I wish you all the happiness you both deserve.
Sincerely,
Sayoko Mishima
Belldandy said warmly, "That was very nice of Sayoko to remember us like this. I will write her a thank-you note as soon as possible."
Keiichi knelt down at the table and gently unwrapped the gift and opened the box. As he held up the contents of the box, he said, "This is what Sayoko sent us?" A grimace came over his face as he showed Belldandy.
She gazed upon it and said, "Well, it's...unusual."
It was a small figurine, about three inches high. To say that it was unusual was putting it mildly, but Belldandy had enough respect for Sayoko, to not give her true feelings to the grotesque little figure.
In short, it was downright ugly. The figurine had a face like a cross between a pig and a goat. It had curling horns that spiraled down from the top of its head to its sides. The eyes had a penetrating stare that Keiichi had a hard time breaking. It's belly was distended and fat, and it nakedly squatted on knobbly legs that ended in clawed feet. The face was scrunched up in a gnarled mix of a smile and a grimace. In one hand it held a staff with what looked like a skeleton of a coiled snake with jaws wide open wrapped around it, in the other hand, it held what looked like a human skull with a lit candle in its mouth.
Keiichi said angrily, "Is this Sayoko's idea of some cruel joke? If it is, I'm calling her up right now and telling her that this isn't funny."
Belldandy put her hand out to stop her fiance. "Keiichi, we don't know what Sayoko's intentions are regarding this. But we can't refuse a gift that has been freely given to us. We have to assume that Sayoko doesn't mean any offense by giving us this present."
Keiichi said, "Belldandy, look at this thing. It's hideous. You know that Sayoko has never been fond of you. She thinks that you intentionally stole the title of "Queen of Nekomi Tech" from her. She has never forgiven you for that. It would be just like her to send something like this to us."
"Yes, Keiichi." Bell said. It's not very pretty. But I still don't believe that Sayoko meant any offense by sending this to us. I don't feel any negative emotions or energies here." She took the figurine from Keiichi, and held it up to her face to survey it closely. At that moment, Keiichi felt a slight twinge of pain in the back of his head, but it was gone before he could really react to it.
Keiichi still wasn't excited about having the awful little statue in the temple. But he always trusted Belldandy's judgment, and he didn't want to say or do anything that would offend her. "Okay, Belldandy. I'll trust you on this one, but I'm still not liking this at all."
Belldandy rose to her feet and put the statue on a shelf on the west wall of the Tea Room. "After a few days, you'll barely notice it's here."
"I doubt it, Bell, but for you, I'll try."
"That's all I ask, Keiichi."
Keiichi had some errands to run, and Belldandy went off to prepare lunch. Sitting alone in the Tea Room, the little statue sat. And after a moment, the green eyes of the horrible figure flashed ominously.
It was shortly after 12:30 in the afternoon when Keiichi returned from his business, and Bell had already laid on yet another of her wonderful lunches. She preferred to make her lunches simple and her dinners more lavish depending on how much food was in the temple. With Keiichi and Belldandy back working at Chihiro's, plus the raise he received from her, things were starting to look up in terms of finances. He was able to get the lights and other utilities back on, the material for the wedding clothes was on order and would arrive in a few days. Also, Belldandy was able to do more shopping and buy food that they hadn't been able to afford in the past month.
Keiichi entered the temple, took off his shoes and washed his hands in anticipation of yet another award winning meal lovingly prepared by his Goddess. He sat at the table and eagerly awaited what delicacies Bell had in store for him. It was a plateful of meticulously prepared seafood, perfectly cooked rice, fresh vegetables, and green tea.
Bell sat down across from him as she usually did to watch him eat. All seemed well, until Keiichi lifted his head to gaze upon the Goddess.
As soon as he locked eyes on Belldandy, a wave of emotion swept through his mind. But it wasn't the usual emotions of joy and happiness that Keiichi usually felt when he was with Belldandy. Rather it was a torrent of rage and hatred. It was as if a volcano of anger had erupted in Keiichi's mind and that the Goddess was the trigger...and the target.
Never had he felt such feelings of hatred against anyone. Keiichi was usually an easy going guy, and he even tolerated most of the craziness that Tamiya, Ootaki, and the rich cousins Aoshima and Sayoko put him through, but he had never felt angry enough to lash out at anyone. Especially the love of his life.
The caring side of Keiichi's mind rose up to try and quell the hate that was building up. It tried every magical and mental defense against the onslaught that was battering it. Keiichi knew that what was happening couldn't have been part of his nature. There was evil and powerful magic driving this hostility. Magic that he had not seen before, after all, he had only been a God for a little over six months and was still very green in the ways of magic. His rational side was being continually assaulted by the relentless waves of anger. The conflict between sides caused a blinding pain to roar through Keiichi's skull. He stifled a cry as his eyes clinched shut.
And the object of the maelstrom plaguing his mind, was his pure and loving Goddess.
The power that was invading his mind wanted to destroy Belldandy. It wanted to scar her beautiful face, to ravage her perfect features and to leave her as ugly and foul as it was. It wanted to lash out and strike her repeatedly, and make her bleed.
It was a blind, consuming, rage. The good side mounted one last surge at defense, but found itself overcome as the anger tore away at the last vestiges of resistance. As it took over, Keiichi's face took on a mask of grotesque violence.
Belldandy noticed that Keiichi had paused before eating, and that a dark cast had descended over him. Usually, as soon as the food hit the table, he was digging in to enjoy his Goddess's latest offering. She said to him, "Keiichi, is everything all right?"
Keiichi's eyes snapped open at Belldandy's words. And in a tightly controlled mutter, he spoke.
"No, Belldandy. Everything is NOT all right!"
"Keiichi, what's the problem? If you tell me,I can fix-"
"Belldandy, I'll tell you what the problem is. The problem is YOU!" Keiichi snarled, eyes blazing.
The words Keiichi said struck Belldandy as hard as a fist. She could hardly believe the words that came from Keiichi's lips "I don't understand-" she pleaded.
"There's nothing to understand, Belldandy." roared Keiichi. Trembling with rage. "You are my problem. I am getting sick and tired of you always fussing over me. I'm getting sick and tired of all your smiling and singing. I'm getting sick and tired of YOU!" Keiichi said, voice rising Pointing a shaking finger at Belldandy. The fury within his mind fully in charge.
"Keiichi! What are you talking about?" Tears forming in Bell's eyes, voice breaking. "What have I done to make you so angry?"
Keiichi bellowed, "What a stupid question from a clueless Goddess! You came into my life, Belldandy!. You came into my life and turned it upside down!. You and your crazy sisters!. I have been putting up with you, Urd and Skuld for four long years, and I have had ENOUGH!." At that, he flipped over the table of food. Hot tea flying everywhere, missing Belldandy's face by mere inches.
"Keiichi, why?!" Bell collapsing, sobbing in a pool of conflicting emotions.
"Stop saying my name, Belldandy!. You know what I want you to do? You want to know how to 'fix' this?" Keiichi rose as he stared his eyes of malice into Belldandy's. "I want you to take those miserable sisters of yours and return back to Heaven. The wedding is off, I no longer love you. I no longer want to even see you anymore. Get out of my face, Belldandy. "
"Are you serious, Keiichi? Do you truly no longer love me? Do you no longer want me to be by your side?" Belldandy asked, her world devastated, her voice weak.
"Are you deaf, Belldandy? Did I not make myself clear to you? Are you so stupid that I must spell it out for you? No, I longer love you. No, I no longer want you by my side!" He raised his arm as if to strike the Goddess. She grabbed the arm and held on. "No, Keiichi!"
Keiichi shook Belldandy's arm off violently. He roughly pushed her away from him. She stumbled back, nearly falling to the floor. "If this is truly what you want..." She slowly started backing away from her crazed fiance then turned and walked out of the room. She stopped at the threshold of the Tea Room, and looked back expecting Keiichi to change his mind.
"GET OUT OF HERE, BELLDANDY!" Keiichi grabbed a plate and hurled it at the door. It nearly hit Belldandy and crashed against the wall. Bell ducked out of the way just in time and took off running down the hall.
As soon as Bell left, the anger that had consumed Keiichi for the past few minutes suddenly dissipated. The pain in the back of his skull disappeared as if shut off by a switch. His eyes and face showed none of the rage that distorted it. In short, he looked and felt just like normal.
He looked around the Tea Room, and noticed that Belldandy was gone, and that the table of food was flipped over. The tea and his lunch were all over the tatami mats that covered the floor.
"What happened here?" Keiichi thought to himself. He had no clue or memory of what had just occurred. He got up and headed towards the door. Just then, he heard crying coming from the end of the hall. Loud wrenching sobs. He recognized that crying. It was Belldandy. He rushed to the end of the hall, and found her huddled in a corner, knees drawn up to her chest, head down. Her hair disheveled. Shoulders heaving in rejection. She looked traumatized. There was only one time before when Keiichi had seen his Goddess in such bad shape. That was when she stood up to Kami-sama after he called her demanding that she cut her contract with Keiichi, and return to Heaven. She firmly refused to submit to Kami-sama's order's, forcing the Supreme Deity to hold a hearing to decide Belldandy's fate. The emotions of her defiance plus the crushing reality of the consequences should she have failed Kami-sama caused her to lose her composure.
He dropped to her side. "Belldandy! What's wrong?"
Bell looked up, saw her man, and flinched, putting her hands up to shield her face, which was frozen in terror. She quickly backed away from him. "Keiichi, no! Stay away! Don't hurt me, Kei, please." She cried.
Keiichi moved closer to Belldandy in an attempt to hug and console her, but she shook him off as she scuttled away from him again. "Don't touch me, Keiichi." Belldandy said. "Just answer me this one question. Did you really mean every word you said to me back in the Tea Room? Because if you did, Urd, Skuld and I will be gone by tonight."
"What happened, Belldandy. Who did this to you? What did I say to you?" Keiichi asked gently. Not understanding what Belldandy was carrying on about.
"You don't know?"
"No, I don't."
"You did, Keiichi." Bell said, then erupted in a fresh bout of tears and wailing. "Y-You did this."
"What did I do? You know I'd never do anything to you to make you cry like this."
"You really don't know what happened back in the Tea Room just now?"
"All I remember is that you served me lunch, and the next thing I knew, you were gone, the table was tipped over, with food all over the place, and now I see you crying."
Bell composed herself enough to tell him all that happened in the Tea Room. The verbal abuse, the tipping of the table, the throwing of the plate.
"Honestly, Belldandy, I don't remember any of this."
Bell tentatively slid back next to him, and slowly and carefully put her hand on his forehead.
"Keiichi, stay very calm. I am going to replay what I saw and experienced into your mind. Maybe you won't believe me if I told you, but you will if I show you." Keiichi leaned back as Bell closed her eyes and quietly recited an incantation:
"Oh, Spirits of memory and recollection. I am the Goddess Belldandy. Fill in the gaps in this man's mind. Return to him the lost memories, so that he may see all things clearly."
A moment passed, then saw with his own eyes, the horror of his behavior in the Tea Room. He saw the abuse he heaped upon his Goddess. He heard the words of hatred, saw himself raise his hand to Belldandy and then push her across the room. He saw himself tip over the table of food and throw the dinner plate just missing Belldandy. He saw the length, depth and breadth of his anger. How it consumed his clear thinking and replaced it with white-hot fury.
Now it was Keiichi's turn to cry. Faced with the evidence of his crime, even though he didn't remember doing it. He felt nothing but guilt and endless remorse. The tears came freely. How did he act in such a vile manner? Or more importantly, why? How much damage did he cause in his relationship with Belldandy? Would she ever forgive him? Did she still love him, and would she still want to be his wife to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, and until death? Would she leave him alone in that temple to contemplate his behavior?
After what seemed like an eternity of tears, Keiichi finally spoke.
"Belldandy, I truly do not remember saying or doing any of what you showed me. You have to believe me. But it's clear that I mistreated you, no, I abused you. I have no excuse for my actions, and if you choose not to forgive me, I'll understand."
The Goddess continued to look into Keiichi's tearful, red eyes as he continued.
"Maybe you should go back to Heaven." He paused. "But not because I despise you, but because I don't deserve you. I don't deserve to have you by my side, and I don't deserve to have you as my wife, much less my friend. If you wish to leave, you are free to do so. I won't try to stop you. But please forgive me. Please let me atone for this." He buried his head in his hands and continued to cry.
"You are the greatest thing to ever happen to me, Belldandy. I would do anything for you. I would give my life for you. And you have made it so special. I want you with me forever, but I think that I might have destroyed what we had."
Belldandy's heart went out to Keiichi. "Keiichi, My Beloved Keiichi. I know your heart. I know your words are sincere. I believe that you were not in your right mind when you did those things. Something happened to make you act as you did. That was not the Keiichi I love. Even though those words and actions hurt me, I forgive you. I will stay by your side always, and I still want to be your wife." She drew him near and hugged him tightly. She kissed his forehead as he continued to cry.
"To think, that I raised my hand against you, that I pushed you. How can you forgive me?"
"I can forgive you because I know you, and I love you. You could have struck me, if you truly wanted to. But you didn't. You pushed me away because you didn't want to hurt me. But we have to find out what it was that caused you to lose control. You go into your room and get some rest, and I'll clean up this mess."
"Okay, Belldandy. But I still don't deserve you."
"Nor I, you. But fate has thrown us together anyway."
"You have my word, Bell. That will never happen again."
" I know, Keiichi."
After a few more moments of closeness, the two separated. Keiichi to his room, and Belldandy to the Tea Room.
A few moments later, Urd walked into the Tea Room where Belldandy was cleaning up after Keiichi's outburst. "What happened? Looks like a bomb went off in here." Urd asked.
Belldandy paused. As a Goddess First Class, she was forbidden to lie, but she just couldn't tell her sister that Keiichi had verbally abused her. Urd would kill him, literally, and not even bother to ask how or why it happened. "Well, let's just say, that Keiichi had a little problem. Where were you coming from, Urd?"
Urd said, "Oh, I was out in town picking up some supplies for my lab. Also, the brat wanted me to pick up her the latest issue of her favorite manga."
Bell breathed a sigh of relief.
Urd looked around the room. "Well, whatever Keiichi's 'little' problem was, I hope he's over it." She turned to leave when her eyes locked on to the little figurine on the shelf. She pointed to it and said angrily, "Belldandy, what the hell is that doing in here, and how did it get into this room?" Belldandy glanced at the statue and reached for it. "Oh, this? It was sent to us as a wedding present." Urd blocked her reach and warned, "Don't touch it, Belldandy! Do you have any idea what this thing is?"
"No, Urd. It looks like a statue to me. A not very pretty one, but just a statue."
"Bell, please don't tell me that you put this here."
"I did."
"Are you the only one who touched it?"
"No, Keiichi touched it first."
"Oh, no." She looked at the mess on the floor and put two and two together. "I think I see the source of Keiichi's 'little' problem. Did he attempt to attack you, did he yell at you or try to harm you in any way?"
Surprised, Belldandy had no choice but to tell Urd about what happened between Keiichi and herself.
Urd sighed deeply. "Belldandy, this is a Rage Token. It's a nasty bit of magic that causes the first person to touch it to develop a mindless rage and anger against the second person who touched it. And it only happens when the two people involved, and this Token are all in the same place."
"So, that's the reason that Keiichi acted normally when he found me in the hall?"
"Yes. Most likely, he doesn't remember a word of what he said or what he did. Let me show you. Go and get Keiichi and bring him in here. Don't worry, I'll put up a barrier, so you won't be hurt."
"Okay, Urd." Belldandy ran off to get Keiichi, while Urd set up the barrier. When Bell came back with Keiichi, she entered the room first. When he came in, Urd threw up the barrier. Keiichi immediately flew into a murderous rage. "BELLDANDY! Why the hell are you still here? Didn't I tell you to leave and take your sisters with you? How stupid are you? Don't you understand you're not wanted here?" Keiichi threw himself against the barrier with all the force he could muster. Even though they were both safe, neither Urd or Belldandy could resist the temptation to back away in fear. Keiichi started to throw spells against the barrier, but the invisible force separating him from the Goddesses continued to hold.
Urd shouted over Keiichi's rant. "And it's even worse, now that he's a God. Because his powers are now affected. Close off your Sacred Coupling, so that he can't use your powers to break through."
Belldandy did so. As she watched her lover continue to flail and fight against the barrier. She said under her breath, "Poor Keiichi. So Urd, how do we get rid of this Rage Token?"
"Fortunately, for us, it's not hard." Urd said as she used the barrier to push Keiichi out of the room. Once he left the Tea Room, he returned back to normal, and there was no sign whatsoever of his previous behavior. He stood out in the hallway with a clueless look on his face. "How did I get out here?"
Urd said, "Keiichi, whatever you do, don't come into this room right now."
"Why."
"Because we found out the source of your 'rage' problem."
"Okay, what was it?"
"Who sent you that ugly statue."
"Sayoko."
"Why doesn't this surprise me?"
Belldandy interjected, "I'm sure that Sayoko had no idea whatsoever about what this statue did. I believe that she was given this to send to us. I know that Sayoko was never fond of me and Keiichi being together, but I can't believe that she would willingly use magic against us. She doesn't even believe in magic."
Urd said, "I tend to agree. There's only one person I know of who deals in this kind of magic, and no, it's not who you think, although he is one of her disciples. She probably had him make this Rage Token for her, and somehow slipped it to Sayoko. Keiichi, Go back to your room and stay there, until we tell you to come out. We have to dispose of this statue, and we can't have you anywhere around."
Keiichi headed back to his room. Urd said to Belldandy, "Okay, surround the Token with as strong a barrier as you can muster. I will do the same. We have to get it out into the open and we'll destroy it in the courtyard."
Belldandy nodded and brought forth her strongest barrier. A deep blue powerful light surrounded the Token. Urd added her red barrier to her sister's, bathing the Token in a rich purple glow.
"Careful, Belldandy. Now we have to levitate it, and carry it out into the courtyard. We cannot touch it at all. Because whoever touches it will be a target of Keiichi's rage."
"Right." said Belldandy. Both sisters focused their powers and slowly the Token lifted off the shelf, and settled just before them. Slowly and gently, Bell and Urd moved out into the hallway with the statue floating before them. As they approached Keiichi's room, Urd called out. "Keiichi, we're passing your room. Turn your head away from us. If you look at it, you'll be caught up in its magic."
Keiichi did as Urd said. The Goddesses passed by and out the front door. Even though his head was turned, Keiichi could still feel the power of the figurine gnawing at the edges of his mind. It poured through the Goddess' barrier, and tried to trigger the rage within him, but because the barrier was strong enough to dilute the Token's power, he was able to fight it back and maintain control as long as he didn't cast his eyes upon it.
They reached the courtyard, and let the Token float to the ground. The barrier removed, the evil little statue glowed menacingly in the sunlight.
Urd said. "It will take a joint effort to destroy this thing. I'll hit it with a lightning spell, you hit it with your strongest Wind spell. Both sisters raised their arms overhead. Urd began the chant, as she composed the spell, ominous clouds, black as cast iron formed overhead. Bolts of lightning danced wildly between the cloud formations, charging the sky with electricity. Belldandy picked up the chant adding her power to Urd's. The winds picked up blowing the fallen leaves all around the courtyard.
She created a vortex that surrounded the Rage Token on all sides within a cylinder of howling winds. Urd let the lightning spell build up to its maximum level, and when she could no longer hold it back, with a savage downward thrust of her arms, she called forth the destruction. A single monstrous bolt of lightning descended from the clouds, entered the cylinder formed by Belldandy's winds and struck the Token dead center.
At that very moment, the Goddesses heard a tortured cry come from Keiichi's room. Belldandy wanted to go to his rescue, but Urd stopped her. "Belldandy, no. Do not go to him right now. Keep up the wind spell." Urd continued to pound the Token with repeated bolts of fury. With every strike, Keiichi's cries became more and more shrill. Through her connection with Keiichi, Bell could feel the pain of his suffering, but obeyed her sister's command, and continued casting the spell. The Token started to turn cherry red, then white, and then with a mighty BOOM!, exploded into a thousand pieces.
"Now Belldandy." Urd said with urgency. "Use that wind spell to cast the pieces to the four corners of the earth."
Belldandy sealed the vortex and magically lifted it into the air, along with the pieces of the Token. With a sweeping gesture of her arms, the vortex parted, taking the offending pieces and scattering them. Urd and Bell closed down their magical work and raced to Keiichi's room, where they found him passed out on the floor. Belldandy fell to her knees and cradled Keiichi's head in her hands. She spoke reassuring words to her man.
"Keiichi will be fine, Belldandy. The pain he suffered was due to the portion of the Token's spirit that was implanted within him when he first touched it. When we destroyed the physical form of the object, its magic was forced out of him. None too pleasantly, I might add. He'll need some rest and a little TLC. I'll leave that to you." Urd said as she tipped Belldandy the wink as she left the room leaving Keiichi and his Goddess alone.