Chapter 42
Keiichi took this startling news in with a surprising amount of calm. Kami-sama basically told him that he wanted him to take over as the Ruler of Heaven. This news should have freaked Keiichi out, to say the least. Anyone else when faced with this revelation would have freaked out. Lost their minds, literally. But he decided to use calm and discretion when dealing with the Almighty One.
Keiichi looked Kami-sama in the eye and said. "Let me just get this straight. I want to make sure that my ears and mind aren't playing tricks on me. Living with Goddesses over the years has taught me to expect the unexpected. But what you're telling me is greater than anything I've ever experienced living with Bell and her sisters."
Kami-sama said. "What you've heard me say is the truth. I want you to succeed me as a new Kami-sama. Not now, of course. But at an appointed moment in time. It could be a thousand years from now. In Heaven, a thousand years is as a blink of an eye."
Keiichi continued. "You do know that I have only been a God for a little over six months. I'm still learning how to get the hang of First Class powers. And I know very little about Heaven other than the short time I was up there. What convinces you that I am a worthy candidate to replace you?"
Kami-sama responded. "First of all, you have to be elected. I will explain the process to you soon. But you have a lot of things going for you that I think make you a worthy successor. You are smart, resourceful, you have a strong will and a powerful determination. You are a good hearted man and are kind.
"Putting up with Belldandy and her sisters requires a rare person who is capable of putting their needs before his own. As well as extreme patience and the ability to work around the unique challenges of living with Goddesses. You have proven that over and over. You will assume the post not having learned any bad habits, and your experience as a human will bring fresh ideas and solutions to the problems facing Heaven. You have won the heart of a Goddess, and not just any Goddess, but the one and only Belldandy. She does not give her heart away so easily. It takes a special person to win her heart. One who I feel has the potential to succeed me.
"Do not sell yourself so short, Keiichi. As a First Class God, you can do almost everything Belldandy can, magically speaking. You have a tremendous amount of untapped power that is waiting to be unleashed with the right amount of training. The only thing that Belldandy has over you is her centuries of experience. It has taken her a long time to get where she is magically. And you have the chance to get to that same level in time. She will be with you always to help you and to teach you. And don't forget, you have taught her plenty as well. You have helped Bell to become a much more valuable Goddess to Heaven since she has been with you."
"So, you have not always been Kami-sama since the universe began?"
"No, Keiichi. I have only been the third to hold this office."
"How long have you been Kami-sama?"
Kami-sama pursed his lips and furrowed his brow. "I'd rather not say how long I've been Kami-sama. But it has been tens of thousands of years. I was elected about the time the first humans were created. It would be safe to say- and I am not bragging when I say this- but I have been Ruler throughout most of Earth's most important time of existence. Most of humanity's greatest discoveries and advancements have been during my reign. But, also my reign has been tainted by humanity's greatest failures and catastrophes. Heaven has been trying to maintain the good in the universe by not letting Hell run free. But Hell has done a lot of evil other the years. It's all we can do to 'keep the lid on' so to speak. Which is why I have decided to make this move. To try and wrest more of Hell's grip on humanity and claim it for the light."
Keiichi said. "But you cannot have light without darkness. The role of light is to scatter that darkness. To illuminate it and expose the evil."
Kami-sama replied. "I know, Keiichi. We can never eliminate all the darkness. But we can claim more of its influence. We can limit its effects on mankind. We can continue to steer humans to choose the good over the evil. To lessen evil's effect over the universe. Which is what this outpost is going to try to do. And do not worry, Keiichi. Should you be made the new Kami-sama, you will not be ruling alone. Belldandy will be by your side, helping you. Giving you strength and support as you need it. She knows Heaven better than anyone except me. Lean on her, trust her guidance. She will never steer you wrong."
Belldandy interjected. "Kami-sama. While I understand what you are saying. I must say that I have no desire to rule Heaven as Queen to Keiichi's King. While my parents would be overjoyed that I finally achieved what they have wanted for me all my life. I do not want to be a Queen. If I have to be a part of Keiichi's role as Kami-sama, I will stay by Keiichi's side as I am bound by duty and by love, but to be an equal assistant."
"Which is what I expect from the Norn of the Present." Kami-sama said proudly.
"So how does this election work?" asked Keiichi.
"There will be three nominees for the office of Kami-sama. I choose a nominee, which is you, in this case. The Heavenly Council will choose a nominee, who could be a member of the council or a member of the general population who they think is deserving of their consideration, and the general population of Gods and Goddesses selects a nominee. Those three will then run in the first round of the election. The nominee who gets the fewest votes is eliminated and then the two remaining will run for the office. There is no guarantee that my nominee, even though they are picked by me as the Almighty One will win the election. I do not add any extra influence to their chances."
"So I'd have to go against two others to be elected?" Keiichi said.
Kami-sama nodded.
" Sounds fair to me, then." Keiichi relented.
"The minimum length of the term as Kami-sama is five hundred years, which in Heaven, is really not a long time."
"So, what do you think are my chances?"
"You are still quite popular among certain highly placed Heavenly circles because of your relationship with Belldandy, Keiichi. Your wedding is still one of the most popular stories on the news feeds and plenty of Goddesses have watched the ceremony multiple times and are still chatting about and buying Bell's dress. There are those who don't like you because they have an anti-human bias, or they think that Belldandy is too good for you. More than a few very vocal and influential Gods are very jealous of you because you married not just any Goddess, but Belldandy. And a lot of them tried to make Belldandy their lover and she turned them down. So they will hold that against you. But don't forget that my stepping down may not happen for quite a while. Attitudes can change over time. But basically you have Belldandy's influence in your life that is driving the various sentiments. For better or worse." Kami-sama said.
"I understand." Keiichi said as he put his arm around Bell. She snuggled up closer to him in response. "I'm still not quite convinced that I have the qualifications to be Kami-sama, and I won't lie if I say that being the Ultimate Ruler of the Universe doesn't scare me to death. But as long as I have Belldandy to help me and stay by my side, I think that I can give it a good try."
"That's all I wanted to hear, Keiichi. I have no doubt that you will give the job of running the outpost as well as Heaven your all. Well, my work here is done, I must be getting back to Heaven. The place tends to run a little wobbly if I'm not there to ride herd on the various factions trying to pull it to one side or another." Kami-sama shrugged his shoulders as he shook his head. "I certainly won't miss all the politics when I'm done." Kami-sama gave the group an uncharacteristic wink as he made his way out to the courtyard. Keiichi and the Goddesses followed him outside. He turned to the gang, bid them peace and vanished as the Gate took him away.
Keiichi watched as Kami-sama ascended into the Heavens. To think all this started when he mistakenly called the Goddess Assistant Agency, and they sent a Goddess named Belldandy to grant him a wish. And he decided that he wanted her by his side forever. As the old saying goes. "Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it."
Belldandy sidled up to Keiichi, looped her arm in his and said cheerfully. "My, what an eventful evening, Keiichi. Not everyday the Almighty One comes to pay us a visit."
Keiichi said. "But we're going to have some rough days ahead, Bell. Setting up this outpost. Training a bunch of Goddesses about living on Earth. I know that Hild is going to give us hell. We need to prepare for an attack on the temple. You remember what happened last time?"
Kei knew that Bell did remember, and that the aftermath still weighed heavy on her mind. They knew that Hild was going to come after them with all guns loaded, and safeties off. And she wasn't just going to be playful and mischievous. She was going to mean business, and there was a good chance the temple would be destroyed. He knew that he would be the focus of this attack, and that he needed to be ready to counter with his most powerful and deadly spells.
Belldandy looked at Keiichi. "My Love, I believe that we will be ready for the worst that Hild can dish out. We have the Sacred Coupling. I could remove my seal, if necessary. You have great untapped power at your disposal. We make a formidable couple when we team up, whether in a race or in a battle."
Bell's eyes gleamed with a touch of mischief. "But, you know Keiichi, that it's been quite a while since we've paid a visit to our favorite pocket dimension to spend some quality time alone with each other."
One thing that Keiichi learned very quickly was that when Belldandy was in the mood, her personality radically changed. She took on a feistier, more aggressive and determined tone when she wanted some intimacy of the sexual kind. And while she was not as horny about getting with her man as she was when they first started making love, Kei also knew that when Bell was in the mood, it was best for him to meet her needs quick, fast and in a hurry.
"Are you talking about me making something up to you? I thought that were even so far. I thought I was all paid up." Keiichi said. When Belldandy referred to the phrase 'making it up to me', she meant her and Keiichi, in his room, pocket dimension activated. Making wild, passionate love as only two deities could.
As Belldandy firmly pushed Kei towards the temple, she smirked. "Keiichi, as long as you are with me, you'll never repay your debts fully. You will always owe me, and I always collect on my debts! So, Into the temple with you, and out of those clothes. Maybe I'll put on Chihiro's outfit and make you take it off me!"
Keiichi complied, putting up only token resistance.
Chapter 43
Office of Kami-sama
Main Palace, Heaven.
"Just another lovely day in Paradise." smirked Talgard as she plopped herself down into her chair at her desk in Kami-sama's office in the Palace. She logged into her computer terminal with her password and Goddess symbol, called up her mail program and stared intently as the incoming messages scrolled down the screen.
If there was any Goddess who began life born under an unlucky star, it was Talgard. She held the rank of Goddess Second Class, First Category, Limited License. Talgard, or Tal to her colleagues, was born to low ranking parents. Edda, her mother was an admin receptionist to a minor staffer heading an obscure office deep in the bowels of Main Control. Torell, her father was in charge of an equally obscure branch of the IT department of Yggdrasil.
Talgard grew up as a decent student in school. She did well enough to pass her courses, but she did not stand out in any way. She was merely a face in the crowd. Nobody important to those who considered themselves movers and shakers in Heaven's hierarchy. She graduated in the middle of her class. But she still thought that she had what it took to aspire to one of the highest vocations in Heaven-that of a field Goddess. Field Goddess training was the most selective school in Heaven. They had no quotas to meet, no minimum number of students to make up an incoming class. They were under no pressure to take any students that they didn't want to take and any applicant who tried to use family or other external connections as 'clout' to influence the selection committee was rejected outright.
There were many years where no students were accepted at all into an incoming class of field Goddesses. The income process was strict, highly competitive, and borderline cutthroat and brutal. Countless interviews and tests awaited potential applicants. Factors for acceptance included: intelligence; magic ability; compassion and adaptability but the most important trait was looks. In a Heaven where even the plainest Goddesses looked better than ninety percent of the women on Earth, only the best looking Goddesses were accepted into field Goddess training.
Talgard considered herself to be a rather fetching Goddess. She was tall, with porcelain skin, flaming red hair, a perfect oval face, a small mouth, pert nose and deep green eyes. She had a well-defined body that was trim, lithe and she carried herself very well. Tal thought that she would have no problem getting in. The school didn't take high academic marks into account. So they would not hold her mediocre grades against her. They just wanted to know if she had what it took in the four elements previously mentioned.
To her detriment and extreme disappointment, Talgard didn't even make it past her first interview. The judges dismissed her after just taking one look at her. They didn't even bother to test her intelligence, magic ability, compassion or adaptability. They just said that she didn't look good enough. Tal was mortified. She thought that she was more than good looking enough to at least get past the first interview.
And she had no other plans for a post-school job. She couldn't go back to her parents, they were counting on her to get into field Goddess training. To have a daughter in that school would have improved their status greatly. To have her graduate and actually get employed by the Goddess Assistance Agency as a field Goddess First Class with an Unlimited License would have been the peak of their live's achievements.
Tal ended up falling into a deep depression. Her failure to achieve her greatest goal caused her great pain. What else was she going to do? Any other jobs she would be interested in would have taken her academics into account. And her middling grades weren't going to get her anywhere. She was about to try and find any job, no matter how menial or degrading, when she received a mysterious message to her personal mail account.
The message said that Tal had been watched and monitored by secret parties, and that they thought that she had the potential to do great things, if she was willing to talk with these strange people. Desperate to improve her lot in life, and probably not using the best in common sense, Tal jumped at the chance. She arranged a meeting with the strangers.
The unknown people, two Gods and a Goddess refused to tell Tal who they were or who they worked for. They just said that they worked for a powerful entity, who preferred to keep their existence secret. They told Tal that if she were willing to do what they asked of her without reservation, they could help her get a job working in Kami-sama's office. Talgard couldn't believe her good fortune. To work for the Almighty One himself! That truly was a crowning achievement. Her mysterious benefactors told her that she would be working directly under Kami-sama as his executive assistant. She would keep track of his comings and goings, maintain his schedule, and if necessary, issue various proclamations and orders in his name and under his personal God symbol. All she had to do was pass an interview with Kami-sama himself.
Talgard spent days preparing for her interview. She kept in contact with her secret colleagues, and they drilled her on the subjects she should expect to find in the conversation. The one condition was that if Kami-sama asked her how she found out about the job opening, she was not to say anything about her secret visitors.
Finally after a couple weeks, the big day arrived. Tal arrived at Kami-sama's throne room on time and dressed to impress. Kami-sama welcomed her with a minimum of small talk and immediately peppered her with questions about her experience, why would she want to be his personal assistant, and the expectations required. Kami-sama warned her that above all, the job required her to keep his business in the strictest confidence. Under no circumstances was she ever to reveal anything confided in her to anyone. Even to her unknown friends.
After about an hour of conversation, Kami-sama offered Talgard the job. She accepted immediately.
That was five years ago. Since then, Tal has performed the job well beyond Kami-sama's satisfaction. She was never late, she accurately kept the Divine Ruler's schedule. She acted as his personal gatekeeper, as well as kept atop the massive amount of paperwork involved in his role of running Heaven. Tal's parents also benefited from her employment. Their status increased to the point where they were able to secure hefty promotions in their respective offices. Things were clearly looking up for the young Goddess who couldn't even get past the first interview of field Goddess training.
Chapter 44
Office of Kami-sama
Palace, Heaven.
Most of Talgard's messages involved various deities either requesting an audience with Kami-sama, or attempting to curry favor with the Almighty One. Others were status reports on various subsystems of Yggdrasil. Daily reports from various agencies like the GAA or the Department of Examinations. Some were just ordinary Gods or Goddesses either praising or complaining about various aspects of life in Heaven.
A few were cranks venting to Kami-sama about whatever indignity that happened that they felt led to complain about. It seemed like the last category made up the majority of the daily trove of mail Tal had to deal with. Most of the crank mail, she either deleted or if the messages actually had content that Kami-sama might be interested in, she'd print out and transcribe into message cubes for Kami-sama to read. He did not use the mail system, that was what Talgard was for.
A number of messages that came to Talgard's desk were requests for summons of deities to report to various agencies in Heaven for a multitude of reasons. Some were requested by the heads of agencies and offices to have someone come to said office or agency for either disciplinary reasons or to award commendations. Others just wanted the deity in question to report for administrative purposes, like clarifying a discrepancy on a record, or to make a statement. Most of them did not require any approval by Kami-sama at all, but he liked to keep a record of anything that happened in Heaven. Which generated a mountain of messages, reports, statistics, and other paperwork of varying levels of importance. Not much of it was strictly necessary, but Kami-sama was in charge and his word goes.
Tal didn't really mind the avalanche of data that assaulted her daily. She was still happy that someone of her modest upbringing was able to secure such an important job, and she knew that competition for her job was immense and she did not want to give Kami-sama any reason to can her. So while her job could be a pain in the butt, Tal gladly preferred that to the alternative.
One message stood out to her that was quite unusual. It was a request of a summons for Belldandy, Urd, Skuld and Ilse to report to Heaven immediately. No explanation for the summons was given, other than the summons was graded with a Magenta security clearance. Tal knew that the Magenta designation was reserved for the use of Kami-sama, Lind, the members of the Heavenly Council and no one else. It was the highest degree of secrecy in Heaven, and well above Talgard's paygrade. Also because it was a summons that affected the Norns, It could only be issued by Kami-sama, and it had to have his personal God symbol on it. She looked on the message and sure enough, Kami-sama's symbol was boldly emblazoned on the message.
Tal asked herself. "Kami-sama was just down on Earth yesterday. Why would he want to summon them to Heaven for something he could have told them then? That doesn't make any sense. But I don't want to send this summons without checking it out." She copied Kami-sama's symbol and sent it to the Valkyries at Main Control for them to authenticate. A few minutes later, the result came back confirming that the symbol was indeed, Kami-sama's. The message seemed legitimate. But Talgard still was concerned that someone was trying to send a fake summons to the Norns without proper authorization. But she could not refuse to send the summons, Kami-sama would ask questions that she could not answer. So she went ahead and sent the message, but she also personally took it to Kami-sama himself to confirm that this was indeed his act.