Chapter 46

Kami-sama's Throne Room

The Palace, Heaven.

Keiichi didn't take much notice of the summons that arrived in the temple mailbox. It didn't look any different from the others he and the Goddesses received over the years. Many times since Bell, Urd, and Skuld arrived, they had received summons requiring them to go back to Heaven for one reason or another. Most of them were routine. Administrative matters, reminders that they had a duty assignment, needed repairs for Yggdrasil, or in the case of Urd, notices for her to go to Heaven to answer for the latest transgression that once again threatened to suspend her license. Other than the strange God symbol and another odd symbol that was prominently displayed on the paper, this summons looked pretty routine. But when he gave it to Belldandy, a curtain of concern descended over her face.

Belldandy looked cautiously at the summons and said. "Keiichi, this summons is quite unusual."

Kei said "In what way?"

"Well, most of the summons that come here are usually for only one of us. This one names me, Urd and Skuld. All three of us have to report to Heaven together."

"So?"

"That is a very rare occurrence, Keiichi."

"I don't understand, Belldandy."

Bell held up the paper and pointed to the unusual symbols written on it. "Keiichi, anytime a summons arrives for all three of us, it has to be personally authorized by Kami-sama, and it has to be issued under the Magenta security clearance. Only he has that authority to invoke that clearance."

Belldandy pointed to Kami-sama's God symbol, which was much more intricate and complex than the standard God or Goddess symbol, and the symbol that indicated the Magenta clearance.

Keiichi said. "So remind me about the Magenta clearance again? Lind mentioned it once, but it slipped my mind."

Belldandy said. "Magenta is the highest security clearance in Heaven. It is only held by Kami-sama, Lind, and the members of the Heavenly Council. Something issued under that clearance is a very serious matter. It is only used when the security of Heaven is endangered. And it cannot be ignored. Me, Urd and Skuld must report to Heaven immediately. And we must report together. I must tell Urd and Skuld."

Keiichi asked. "Do you know what this is about?"

"No, Keiichi. We will find out when we speak to Kami-sama."

"How long will you be gone?"

"I don't know. But we will be back as soon as possible."

Taking the summons from Belldandy's hand and looking at it, Keiichi said with resignation. "Well, there's nothing I can do to stop this. It's quite inconvenient that this came when it did. We're still trying to train these Goddesses."

Bell looked into Keiichi's eyes, put her arms around him and said. "I know, Keiichi. And if I could, I'd never run off and leave you on your own like this. But I have no choice. To refuse to answer a summons like this personally signed by the Almighty One under the Magenta clearance is grounds for severe punishment. Not only would that warrant a license suspension, but also being sent into the Void."

The thought of Belldandy being confined to the Dimension of Outer Darkness chilled Keiichi to his core. He knew that those who were condemned to that punishment even for the minimum sentence emerged from their confinement irreparably damaged in spirit. And for Belldandy, who lived to interact with everyone she met...Kei couldn't bear to think about that horror.

"Well, Belldandy. You go ahead and handle your business. I can hold down the fort for a while."

"I know you can, Keiichi." Belldandy responded as she kissed her husband and ran off to talk to Urd and Skuld. Within ten minutes, all three Norns were in the courtyard preparing to leave, and Urd and Skuld were not one bit happy about it.

Skuld screeched. "It's not fair that I have to go up to Heaven with you two! What did I do? I haven't done anything wrong. I'm staying down here!"

Urd said. "Skuld, do you want to lose your license and go into the Void for a year? No, I thought not. I don't want to go either. There's some great television shows on tonight I can't stand missing, but my license is almost ready for reinstatement and I'm not giving Kami-sama any rope to hang me. So, if I gotta give up watching the season premiere of Kikuchi no Masa Yoshida, you can give up working on whatever crazy invention your demented little mind cooked up."

Skuld yelled. "Demented little mind?" I'll show you demented, you big meanie!" Skuld was ready to thrash Urd when the platinum blonde, bronze-skinned Goddess uttered the words to summon the Gate and the three sisters disappeared in a field of dazzling white light, Skuld's screaming carried away on the wind.

Keiichi watched as the three Goddesses ascended to Heaven. For the first time in a long while, he was utterly alone in the temple. Not only were the three Norns gone, but all the field Goddesses were also away fulfilling contracts. He was all by himself, The only one on the expansive temple grounds. Keiichi tried to think about what he could do to occupy his time while his wife was gone. His bike didn't need any maintenance for once. He didn't dare call his friends to come and hang out. Tamiya and Ootaki would try and extort more money from him and he certainly didn't want them to know about his recent windfall. He hadn't spoke to either one since the wedding. Megumi was getting more and more involved with her boyfriend, Hiro Yoshida. While she was still attending NIT, she was also helping him out in his restaurant, and her visits to the temple became fewer and fewer.

His work at Chihiro's shop was going well. He was putting in plenty of hours there fixing bikes and helping customers. Whirlwind was making money hand over fist since he and Belldandy went back to work there. Chihiro had sponsored a number of local racers and their race results were getting the shop valuable exposure which translated into greatly increased business. Keiichi briefly thought about quitting his job at Whirlwind to concentrate on running the outpost full time. He had more than enough money to do that. Even with just using the allowed twenty-five percent of Kami-sama's funds. But Keiichi still loved to work on bikes and cars. He still loved the smells of gas, oil, and grease. He still felt comfortable with dirty and greasy hands. The satisfaction of another customer's thanks and praise for a job well done.

Between his job at Chihiro's and the running of the outpost, Keiichi was very busy. Some days he didn't get to bed until after midnight. And even then there was an often frisky Belldandy waiting for him. It was at these times that he was happy that he was a God and had the greatly enhanced endurance that came with that power.

But for now, everything was quiet. But even still, Keiichi could feel an uncertainty in the back of his mind. Things were too quiet. He had a distinct feeling that something was about to happen. His senses had not developed enough where he could definitely tell whether that something was good or bad. But it was clearly an unusual feeling that would not go away. Keiichi clearly felt something gnawing at his mind. Something telling him that he had better stay alert.

Few things caught Kami-sama by surprise. He prided himself on his ability to ride herd on the great and complex empire that was Heaven. Very little got past him. But the sight of three very upset Norns in his throne room staring daggers at him, shook him for a moment.

"What are you three doing here?" Kami-sama said to Bell and her sisters.

"We were about to ask you the same question." Urd rasped as she plucked the summons out of Belldandy's hand and shoved it into Kami-sama face.

"Settle down, Urd. We don't want to make the Almighty One mad." Belldandy said cautiously. While she wasn't as upset as Urd and Skuld at being uprooted from the temple, the thought of her running off and leaving Keiichi alone to fend for himself at such a stressful time did not make her happy.

"I am perfectly settled down, Belldandy." Urd shot back. "I just don't like being called up here while I'm watching television and no one will tell me why!"

Kami-sama said. "Rest assured, ladies. I did not summon you here."

Urd pushed the summons dangerously close to Kami-sama's face. "Okay, why am I holding a summons signed by you and invoked under the Magenta security clearance? If I remember correctly, the only way all three of us can be summoned to Heaven at the same time together, other than under the Mjolnir Protocol, is if you personally authorize the paperwork and apply a Magenta security clearance." Urd looked at the summons carefully before shoving it back into the Almighty's face again.

"Oh look, there's your God symbol and the symbol for a Magenta clearance clear as day on this piece of paper, Kami-sama. Can you please tell us why we're here and what do you want?" Urd smirked.

For a moment, Kami-sama was at a loss for words. He surely had no reason to summon the powerful Norns to his presence. Heaven was in no mortal danger. There was nothing that he had to say to the Goddesses that he could not have said to them when he was at the temple. After a few moments to think, he said into the air.

"Talgard? Can you please come to my throne room for a moment?"

Skuld said. "Who's Talgard?"

Kami-sama responded. "My personal assistant. I just hired her a few years ago. Very good worker. The best I've had in a long time."

A minute later, Talgard entered. She caught sight of the Norns, bowed deeply in respect and said. "Kami-sama, how can I help you?"

Urd handed Tal the summons and said. "This summons came for us. Kami-sama claims that he didn't send it. We just want to know what's going on?"

Immediately, Talgard said. "It was I who sent it. I send all of the summons that come from Heaven. Kami-sama authorizes them, gives them to me and I send them out. Kami-sama doesn't use the mail system. Anything that comes from his office from him is sent out by me in his name. If it has his symbol on it, and the clearance, than it was he who authorized it."

Kami-sama said, a little irritated. "Talgard, I did not authorize this message."

"It has your symbol on it, Kami-sama."

"But I didn't okay this. I know I'm getting up in years, but I'm not so senile that I would authorize sending a message with a Magenta clearance on a whim. How did you receive this summons, if you didn't get it from me?"

"It was in my mail queue with all the other mail traffic." Talgard said. "I did find it unusual that a message was sent with your symbol and clearance to me through the mail when you don't use the mail system. I was going to show it to you the first chance I had, but I got a little bogged down with extra work and by the time I could get it to you, the Norns already arrived."

Kami-sama said. "Next time something like this happens, drop whatever it is you're doing and come straight to me. Don't even send it until I approve it. Get back to work, you're dismissed."

Yes, Kami-sama. I apologize." Talgard said sheepishly. She bowed again but before she left, Kami-sama called her again." Talgard. Do you know who sent you this?"

Talgard paused and said. "There was no sender on the message. Somehow, someone was able to forge your symbol and clearance onto the message and send it to me. I was suspicious, so I sent the symbols to Main Control to verify that they were yours and they came back verified. They are yours."

"Good work, Talgard. You may go."

Tal bowed a third time and left the room.

Urd quipped. "Well that was a whole lot of nothing."

Belldandy said. "But who would want to forge Kami-sama's credentials and more importantly, why?"

Kami-sama admitted. "I honestly don't know." He thought a few minutes more and then said. "Talgard. Call the Valkyries at Main Control. I want to speak to their duty supervisor."

"Right, sir." Tal responded. "Calling now."

A minute later, Kami-sama's phone rang, and a familiar voice filled the throne room as it came over the speaker. "Main Control, Ere speaking."

Belldandy recognized the voice as belonging to Ere, the duty supervisor who helped with the Eye of Heaven incident when Hild put a virus on Keiichi and Belldandy's contract that caused Yggdrasil to go into a runway condition.

"Ere. It's Belldandy. How are you?"

"I'm fine, Belldandy. Glad to see all is well with you. Sorry, I do not have time for small talk. Can you put Kami-sama on for me, please."

Kami-sama said. "Ere, can you send me a dump of any suspicious messages that came to Main Control in the past three days? I'm trying to figure something out."

"Sure thing, Almighty One. Coming right now."

Almost immediately, Talgard ran back in with a sheaf of papers from Main Control. Kami-sama took them from her and started parsing through them.

The Norns wondered among themselves what Kami-sama was doing.

"I recently had to condemn two Gods and a Goddess to the Void for treason against Heaven. They had been working for Hild. Apparently they had used Talgard by promising her a job in my office in exchange for her doing favors for them." Kami-sama perked up. "Ah! Here's the message I was looking for. It was sent anonymously to Main Control identifying the three co-conspirators and laying out an accusation of treason. Somehow, they were able to forge my God symbol and Magenta clearance on this fake summons to lure you three away from the temple. They confessed under questioning right away. They probably thought that a quick confession might lessen their sentence."

Belldandy asked. "Kami-sama, do you know who could have sent the message?"

Kami-sama said. "It's painfully clear who sent the message. This has Hild written all over it. She probably promised those three a reward for their treachery and after they did what she wanted, she sold them out."

Urd snickered. "Yep, that sounds like my mother all right."

Kami-sama's face turned grim. "You three were tricked into coming up here and leaving Keiichi alone at the temple defenseless with the outpost equipment.

You were all there with Hild and I. I'm very sure that she is planning to attack the temple and destroy the outpost. I was not fooled for a moment with her supposed indifference to our plan. You three need to get back to Earth as fast as you can to defend the temple and help Keiichi. I'm sure that he has some tricks up his sleeve that will help him. But Hild will not hold back against him. I have a feeling that she's going to try and do whatever it takes to destroy the outpost, including taking out Keiichi. Go. Quickly!"

The Goddesses didn't need to be told twice.

Chapter 47

Courtyard, Tarikihongan Temple

The first blow blindsided Keiichi and sent him careening across the courtyard. He hit the ground on his back and he opened his eyes in time to see another blow of energy hit him square in the face. He shook his head and dodged a third blow aimed at it. A razor sharp slash sliced across his back causing him tremendous pain. He turned to meet his assailant who tried to slash his face barely missing.

"Keiichi Morisato, my old friend." sneered his opponent as he prepared to cast another spell. "We meet once again. Miss me?" Torvald no longer looked like the forlorn and defeated demon that Hild used as a sexual chew toy. Torvald had let all his rage out. His face was bright red, filled with the power of pure Rage. His eyes burned with demonic fire. But while he was working with the power of his Rage, he didn't let it affect his emotions. He was able to do what countless Rage Mages had failed to do.

"Torvald!" Keiichi snarled as he tried to deliver a First Class wind knife spell that bounced harmlessly off the Rage Mage's shield. "I thought I was rid of you once and for all."

Torvald bowed sarcastically. "Now. Is that any way to talk to an old friend, Morisato?" Torvald reared back and cast a powerful fire spell that hit Keiichi in the chest seconds before he was able to raise a shield. "I come here for a little chat, and this is how you greet me, hmmm? Where are your manners, Keiichi?"

Keiichi said. "What's this? Hild didn't want to be defeated again, so she sent you to do her dirty work? Are you her lap dog, Torvald? Can't think on you own, so you have to have Hild do it for you? Pathetic." He countered Torvald's fire spell with his own, but Torvald blocked it and returned fire with a water spell that doused Keiichi from head to toe with ice cold water. Shivering fiercely, Keiichi let loose with a powerful energy blast that connected, but left Torvald unharmed.

Torvald gloated. "Better to be Hild's lapdog than Belldandy's bitch!" Torvald covered the few feet between them in two steps and swung at Keiichi, hitting him hard in the face.

Keiichi's head swung around. Pain screaming across his body. "C'mon, Torvald. You have to do better than that to hurt me. I'm a First Class God. I know why you're here. I could feel the Rage in the air before you got here. Hild sent you to do what she couldn't. She wants to destroy the outpost. She's afraid of a little competition." Keiichi rushed Torvald and shoved him to the ground. He tried to kick the demon while he was down but Torvald dodged his kick by disappearing and materializing behind him to direct a savage energy beam at his head again. Keiichi was able to duck just in time, but the beam glanced off his cheek, leaving an ugly scar.

Torvald said. "This time, instead of using Rage Tokens or taking over your mind, I'm letting you see what a real Rage Magician looks like. Face to Face. No hiding behind anyone or anything this time. I'm here to carry out Lady Hild's orders. Destroy the outpost and you with it." Torvald hit Keiichi in the chest with a series of straight punches. As hard as he tried, Keiichi could not block the punches fast enough. Blows rained down on him from all directions, driving him to his knees. Torvald's punches felt like sledge hammers battering Keiichi from pillar to post.

"You see, Keiichi. I didn't want to end you. I tried to be merciful. I was willing to torture you a little, give you a hard time, and then destroy the outpost. But Hild said that she wanted the outpost wiped out and you killed. That's a tall order, killing a First Class God. Even one with you pathetic abilities. But the advantage of being a Rage Magician is, that I can defend against any kind of spell, no matter the element. Wind, Water, Fire, or even your beloved Earth spells. None will work against me!"

Torvald let loose a fire beam spell that bathed Keiichi in molten flame. It took Keiichi a few seconds before he could cast a water spell to put out the fire, but the spell had done its work. The flames had burned Keiichi from head to toe. His skin, black as pitch. But to Torvald's surprise, Keiichi still stood tall.

Keiichi said defiantly. "Torvald, you can do to me what you will. You can burn me, you can drown me. You can batter and bruise me. But as long as I have Belldandy, you can't kill me. Even though you and Hild lured her away with that bogus summons, I have a piece of her inside me all the time. She's with me forever. She's my protector, my defender, my love. And that's how I will defeat you."

Torvald snorted. "Defeat me? You haven't laid a hand on me yet. Remember that Rage Token I graced you with? Remember how you verbally abused Belldandy? How you threw things at her? How you yelled at her? How you cursed her? How you ordered her to take her sisters with her back to Heaven? How you raised your hand against her as if to strike her? That was nothing compared to what I could have had you do." Torvald moved in to stand nose to nose with Keiichi. Kei could feel the Rage boiling off Torvald like lethal beams of lava erupting from the Sun. "I could have had you strike Belldandy. I could have made you beat her." Torvald said with caustic venom. "I could have made you rape her in front of her sisters! I could have had you shred her virtue like so many filthy rags..."

Keiichi's anger boiled over. "Why, you son of a bitch! How dare you speak of my Belldandy like that!" He shoved Torvald away with all his might and while the demon stumbled and fell, Keiichi straddled him and pummeled him with mighty blows to Torvald's face and chest. Lightning quick strikes powered by the righteous fury and anger of a First Class God. The power behind his punches would have killed even the strongest martial artist. Keiichi tore into Torvald with ferocity and anger of justice and vengeance. The rage that came from Torvald's disrespecting his Goddess. The Goddess whom he swore that he would live and die for at their wedding. Torvald was caught by surprise by the devastation of Keiichi's attack, but he still had plenty of Rage power left. But Keiichi gave no quarter to Torvald. While he was laying into Torvald, Keiichi had figured out the way to defeat him once and for all.

While he knew that Torvald was immune to all spells and elements, he also knew Rage Magic's single weakness-the power of love. Keiichi continued to rain down blows on Torvald's battered face. Softening up his opponent for his coup de grace.

He started to gather up all the feelings of joy, happiness, love. The beauty and wonder of having Belldandy as his Goddess. How she grew from being his Goddess to his friend, his lover, his wife, and finally to his eternal partner. The joy of seeing the world through her eyes. All the moments of kindness, tenderness, and the sharing of their hearts with each other. The ecstasy of the God and Goddess in the throes of lovemaking. The moment when two become one and the creation of the Sacred Coupling. When he put part of his spirit into Belldandy and she did the same to him. The eternal bond that sealed them to each other forever.

And then like he did, when he was battling Hild after she struck Bell down, Keiichi took all that joy, that love, that happiness, those thoughts, feelings and actions and distilled them down into pure energy. He compressed that energy down, feeling the pressure build akin to a star going supernova. Into a hyper-pressurized vessel of raw power. And when he could finally control the power no more, he forced himself to step out of time, leaving Torvald frozen in time, unable to move. Keiichi flew high into the air and chanted:

"Spirits of Earth, Wind, Fire and Water. Come to my aid. Add your energy to mine so I may defeat my adversary. Use this power to strip him of his rage and anger and send them back to the Pit of Perdition from whence they came. Let hatred be defeated by the Power of Love. This I ask and pray...Bring forth CHAINS OF LOVE!"

Keiichi let the power flow through him. The power came forth like a torrent of water blasting through a fire hose. Mighty golden chains with sparkling links billowed from his hands roaring through the sky connecting with Torvald. Binding him tight. Not letting him move. Torvald unleashed an ear-piercing scream as the chains enveloped him. The chains bit into the demon's skin as they bound him tighter and tighter. The harder he tried to escape, the tighter the chains bit. As they held him, an large ugly reddish creature emerged from Torvald's mouth. It was naked, its eyes burned with fire, had horns and a tail, and vile words and runes were printed on its skin. The air was desecrated with the foulness of the odor that poured off the creature. The abomination screamed in defiance at being forced out into the light. It looked up at Keiichi, yelled foul oaths and curses and disappeared into the sky.

As soon as it was gone, Torvald's demeanor changed completely. His face was no longer red and contorted. His eyes no longer showed the Rage that had consumed him. His body relaxed as if a great malevolent presence was ripped from him. He looked up at Keiichi and to Kei's surprise, started to cry. Tears of regret. He said to Keiichi.

"Keiichi Morisato. Can you please remove these chains from me?" A voice of sorrow and calm. No disrespect, no anger, no hatred. Only remorse, asking for forgiveness.

Keiichi landed and approached Torvald cautiously. He didn't want to take a chance that Torvald was faking him out and looking to attack him.

"I assure you that I am fine, Keiichi. I will not hurt you." Torvald pleaded.

"I'm not taking any chances, Torvald. How do I know that you will not come after me?"

"Keiichi, please believe me. The red creature you saw leave my body, the spirit of Rage that had been in me for over fifty years, is all gone. It will never come back."

"Are you sure that it's all gone, Torvald? I've seen how you can separate yourself into multiple parts to put us through hell. Is it really all gone?"

"I assure you Keiichi, that the spirit is completely gone. I am no longer a Rage Magician."

A voice spoke behind Kei. "There's only one way to find out, Keiichi."

Kei turned around to see the Norns standing behind him. He breathed a great sigh of relief. The voice who spoke, Urd, walked up to Torvald, saying. "Well, well, well. What do we have here? Torvald the great Rage Magician. Have you been giving our Keiichi a rough time?" Urd wagged her finger as she tsked at Torvald. "Only I can give Keiichi a rough time, nobody else."

Torvald said. "I'm no longer a Rage Magician, Urd. Keiichi forced the Rage spirit out of me."

Urd looked warily at Torvald. "And how, pray tell, did he do that?"

Keiichi broke in. "Urd, I used the Chains of Love spell to force it out of him."

Urd, Belldandy, and Skuld's faces registered shock at Keiichi's words.

Belldandy said. "You used the Chains of Love spell? Keiichi! That's even beyond MY ability. That's a Tier Zero spell! I can't even cast that one. How did you…"

"The words just came to my head, Belldandy. I cast it just like the Lava Wind Barrage spell. I just thought about the happiness and joy I've felt since we've been together, converted it to pure energy, compressed it down and let fly. Tier Zero? What does that mean?"

Belldandy said, the shock still in her voice. "Keiichi, a Tier Zero spell is one of the ten most powerful spells a Goddess can cast. There are only a few that have the power and the ability to cast it. I am not one of them. And what makes it so unusual that YOU cast it is that Chains of Love can only be cast by Goddesses. Gods have the power, but not the ability. It's just not in their makeup to do it. But, but you've proven that theory wrong."

Urd said. "I can check to see whether Torvald is telling the truth. After all, I'm still half demon." She looked deeply into Torvald's eyes, put her hands on his forehead, chanted a few words in Heaven and Demonic language and stepped back in great surprise. "Keiichi, you've performed the impossible. Not only is Torvald no longer a Rage Magician, he's no longer a demon. I don't know what he is, but he has no trace of Demonic blood left in him. He's neither God, nor Demon, and he certainly isn't human. I've never seen anything like it before."

Keiichi asked. "Well, is it okay to let him loose?"

Urd said. "Umm, yeah. I guess."

Keiichi stepped to Torvald and very cautiously loosened the chains around him. Torvald immediately enveloped Keiichi in a massive hug. "I'm so sorry that I've tormented you, Keiichi. It was that Rage spirit that took me over and made me do those evil things. I owe you so much, can you forgive me?"

Keiichi looked to Belldandy and said. What do you think, Belldandy?"

Bell paused for a long time. She remembered her history with Torvald. How he tormented Keiichi and Belldandy. How he took over Kei's mind and made him use the God Killer to prove his dedication to the Norns. She wasn't one hundred percent sure that she wanted to trust Torvald again. But, at the same time, she was at a loss for words about what to do about him.

After a few minutes, she boldly strode up to Torvald saying. "I'm not sure that I can trust you right now, Torvald. You've done much evil to us, indicating Kei, Skuld and Urd. But, you can redeem yourself and win back our trust. You can help us run our outpost, if you wish. We can always use an extra hand."

Torvald said. "Well, I can't go back to Hild. What will she do with an ex-demon? I'm of no use to her. I can't go up to Heaven, I'm not a God. It looks like I'm a man without a country, so to speak. But I do desire to win back your trust. And I will do whatever it takes to do that."