Author's Notes: And now, the fun begins.

Chapter 6

Keiichi felt himself falling into the dreamworld, and like all such dreams since his angel had become a part of him, he maintained a strange sense of consciousness. It was as if MotorHead somehow anchored his awareness. That brought more questions to his hazy mind. Did Gods dream? When Belldandy slept, what did she feel?

You'd like to know that, wouldn't you? A tantalizing voice offered. What does she dream about? Is it you? Maybe you'd like to see the pleasures within her mind?

"Who are you?" He asked, not expecting an answer. This was his dream, after all.

No one special. Call me a friend, or more than a friend, if you dare.

The feminine voice was alluring, it dripped with barely contained lust. It echoed from all around him, powerful and strong. Reality changed, and he found himself alone as an unrecognizable civilization fell to barbaric invaders. Fires reached into the skies of the surrounding desert. The screams of the dying were drowned out by something darker... the cries of unrestrained lust and pillage.

Belldandy...

The thought brought his semi-conscious mind back to a semblance of self. The mysterious civilization vanished, his mind recovered control, and the blackness came again. His Goddess anchored him, she was the foundation upon which he rested. Belldandy was his conscience, his guide, his inspiration and his love, rolled into one beautiful form. Whatever the mysterious voice offered him, how could it compare?

Come now. Is that all you want? Your desires have been released. I know your thoughts, your needs.

It was true there were deeper desires in his mind, and they had crashed into his awareness like a flood, as if the dam had broken. He remembered the kiss, the searing emotion burning his brain. It was as if his entire soul were on fire. Since that day, physical contact had happened, and it sharpened his senses. Somewhere, he knew, Belldandy's warmth was beside him.

So take what you want. You have been released. Experience the pleasures...

"Who are you?" He repeated. The blackness of his dream lifted, and somehow, impossibly, he was halfway across the Earth. The ancient, crumbling ruins of Rome were before him, and he stood in the wreckage of that long-dead civilization. The Coliseum loomed over him. The ghosts of gladiators and sacrificial victims were about him, staring at him accusingly.

Interesting you should ask. I grant the power to build. The power to destroy. The power to live as you would.

"You're no Goddess." Keiichi realized.

That depends on your point-of-view. Silky tones tantalized him, echoing from all around the forgotten ruins. The scene shifted again, water flowing around him as he sank into the abyss. Darkness surrounded him, but somehow he could still see. The Yamato, the greatest of all battleships, lay battered and torn upon the sea floor, where the torpedoes and bombs had left her.

He gazed upon the watery tomb, and found he could still speak. "Your work?" He asked.

Yes. I granted the power to build her, and the power to destroy her. That is what mankind does. They build, they tear down, again and again.

"What do you want from me?" Keiichi asked, his voice muffled and faint in his mind.

The scene around him shifted again, and he was in his old dorm, unlucky and unfortunate. Belldandy came to him from the mirror, and he smiled at that thought. How much had he changed in the intervening years? He had confidence now, born in the ashes of dozens of personal victories, secure in the knowledge that he loved, and was loved in turn. He had family, friends, and a life most men could only dream of.

You have already been built up. The voice agreed.

And he saw Belldandy crying, her sobs melting into a swirling storm beyond the temple. Each tear was a torrent of rain, each sob the wailing of the wind. The typhoon built up off the coast of Japan, its energy fueled by the terrifying sadness of a Goddess. Cries of terror were everywhere...

Time to tear you down.

And he screamed a soundless scream.

Mara felt that voice almost before she heard it. She wanted to deny it, to tell herself that she was imagining it. But the power of the Daimakaicho was undeniable. Hild's voice forced its way into her mind, heedless of Mara's attempts to stop it.

"Really, Ma-chan, you never were very good at that." Hild's voice chastised. "Sometimes I wonder why I even bothered giving you a first-class license to begin with."

"You needed a patsy." Mara answered, defiant to her overlord for the first time in her life. Urd had reached her, she knew, given her a strange sort of hope. She still despised the deliriously happy couple, and generally felt as if the world deserved a lot of what the demons gave it. She just didn't feel like being the one to dish it out anymore.

The voice seemed to ponder that a moment. "It's not like that at all, Mara. You know that I love you." Hild's voice was seductive, and for a moment, it was as if the Daimakaicho's lips were pressing against hers. She could see Hild's love in her mind's eye, the blushing of her cheeks, the look of adoration the demon leader's eyes...

"Knock it off!" Mara said angrily, shattering the projected image. She was done with this manipulation. "What do you want, anyway?"

"Well, I told you I would be sending further instructions, right?" The Daimakaicho paused for effect. "All I need you to do is leave the temple, right now. And come back in thirty minutes."

"That's it?" Mara wondered. Of course, there had to be a purpose behind it. She was no fool.

"That's it." Hild agreed. "Just say you're getting some fresh air."

Mara reached within herself, trying to find some of her supposed strength. She didn't feel like being a tool for Hild's machinations, not anymore. She didn't know who or what she was supposed to be, but no matter what, she was her own woman.

"And if I decline?"

"Well," the voiced seemed oddly agreeable, "I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to offer you a release contract."

Mara was incredulous. "A... release?"

"Yes! Do you want to freelance for awhile? Well, that's no problem." The voice whispered in her ear, tempting her. "All you have to do is leave the temple, right now."

For a moment, Mara considered refusing anyway. Urd had told her she would sell out anyone for a bowl of rice, and she didn't want to believe the truth of it. But she was a demon. And it wasn't like she was doing anything at all, was it? She was just going to take a walk.

But lying to herself was a skill Mara had lost in the months spent at the temple. She had seen that moron Keiichi embarrass himself trying to perform rudimentary magic. The first-class demon had spent the nights drinking with Urd, swapping old stories from the endless competition between Heaven and Hell. And Belldandy's cooking was a special sort of pleasure, even if the Goddess herself was insufferably good. Even that little brat, Skuld, had her value.

"Just walk away." Hild's voice was smooth, crisp. It commanded obedience, yet it was oddly gentle, like a whisper in her ear. The tones shifted, it was hypnotizing, mesmerizing. Her consciousness wavered, and she was moving.

"Just a few more steps." The voice offered seductively.

Mara's legs were moving, and she found herself at the gate, about to step into the street. A sake bottle lay where the Daimakaicho had tossed it months before. Was she in control of herself?

"Come now, Mara." An image of Hild as a child was in her mind, cute and loving. Her smile was infectious, she was just like the little girl that had once stared back at Mara in the mirror. She had been innocent then and...

For a moment, her willpower reasserted itself. She was a first-class demon, and no matter how many times in her life she had failed, she had power, she had confidence in herself. Her legs were iron, impossibly heavy, and she willed them to stand where they were. Child-Hild opened her arms in welcome, urging her forward in the promise of a hug.

The struggle brought tears to her eyes. Hild's will was overwhelming, her power beyond comprehension, but still Mara refused to budge. Hadn't she been that way once before?

"No." Mara said out loud. And she felt the anger, the frustration within the Daimakaicho's mind. She tried to scream, to call out to the Goddesses within the temple, but she felt the iron grip of Hild's will clamp down on her. She couldn't even warn them.

"One more step, Ma-chan." The image of child-Hild shattered into a thousand pieces, and the Daimakaicho was there in the fullness of her power. Shadowy tentacles swarmed around her, breaching Mara's defenses, urging her forward. A thousand voices whispered in her mind, breaking the last resistance she could muster. A tear splashed on the pavement. Her leg lifted, quivering with the battle of minds.

Her foot struck pavement. One more to go. Mara snapped, finally. Urd had explained it to her, she fought well in the defense of others. That was her purpose. Energy built up in her mind, and she pulled from a hidden reservoir of strength, pouring herself into that mental attack.

Hild was thrown back with violent force. Energy crackled around the Daimakaicho, draining her, and the demon leader fell to one knee. For a moment, Mara was shocked with herself. She had never expected her attack to actually succeed. Urd was right, she thought, I can only access my full ability this way. What that meant for her future as a demon didn't bear thinking on. She started to turn back to the temple in triumph, but she only heard a delighted chuckle.

"Well, that was a surprise!" The Daimakaicho recovered almost immediately, and any semblance of restraint vanished from her. "You know, I've never liked surprises much, but that was very good." The attack that followed broke through Mara's mental defenses almost effortlessly. She heard a voice whimpering, and realized suddenly that it was her own.

She fell onto the pavement outside the temple grounds in a dejected heap.

"Thanks, Ma-chan!" The figure smiled happily at her. The Daimakaicho floated into the temple in Mara's place, the energy masked by the simultaneous entrance and exit. That, Mara realized, was Hild's reason for forcing her into the temple. The Goddesses had become used to powerful demonic energy in their midst. Hild could enter the temple undetected for a short while and do whatever it was she came to do. "You are released. I have no further use for you."

"I'm sorry, Urd." She whispered as unconsciousness mercifully took her away from the reality of her failure.

Belldandy felt it almost immediately. Keiichi was in trouble. Her senses were attuned to his, she could feel his emotional state, see it in his aura, even when fully asleep. She awoke with a start to find him covered in a sweat, shaking uncontrollably.

"Keiichi! Wake up!" She screamed, without realizing the power of that voice.

"Belldandy..." Keiichi managed. "Belldandy..."

"Keiichi..." Something was very wrong, Belldandy knew. Holy Bell was in the back of her mind, fearful and desperate.

I can't hear MotorHead.

That didn't make any sense, an angel would never leave its master. A poorly chosen order might send the angel into dormancy, but it would never flee completely. It simply wasn't possible.

Relief flooded into her awareness, followed by confusion.

Wait. I sense him, but... he's outside. And he's moving away.

"Bad dream..." Keiichi began to snap out of it. "Hild." But whatever energy had sustained him fell away again, and he passed into unconsciousness.

Worry flooded her awareness. The demon had done something to Keiichi, that was clear, and she felt anger building up within her. It was an emotion she despised in herself, something she had been ashamed of before she had met Keiichi. But she loved him, human or not, and her fury had a righteous tone to it. She couldn't feel shame now, she had to use that anger to save him from this threat.

"Urd!" She yelled. Apparently her older sister had known something was up already, and peeked her head in the room almost immediately.

"What's wrong with him?" Concern was written on Urd's face. Skuld was behind her, a confused look overcoming the young Goddess.

"Hild. She's done something to him. Stay with him, Urd." Belldandy kissed his forehead gently, her eyes filled with love. But when she stood, she was fury incarnate. "I mean it. Stay with him, Urd. Keep him safe."

"I will. Go." There were many times when Urd could be called unreliable or flighty. And in Heaven, Urd's exploits, and short attention span, were legendary. But Belldandy knew that beneath all of that was one of the strongest, most trustworthy Goddesses to ever live. Urd would protect him, long enough to do what she needed to do.

Hurry. Holy Bell urged. Something is wrong with MotorHead.

She flew out from the temple, her robes fluttering behind her. Above, the weather patterns began to change as Belldandy's power started to leak from her seals.

Keiichi's angel was there, floating at the edge of the temple grounds, just behind the enchantment barrier. It was as Holy Bell had told her, though. Something was wrong with him. He was responding like his master was ordering him away.

There was a force urging the angel onward, calling to him. Could it be an angel eater? She wondered. Hild had tried that trick once before, and it could explain a great many things. But that arcane creature had cause angels to run off very quickly. MotorHead was acting as if he was conflicted, drawn both to Keiichi and to something else equally powerful, not suddenly gripped by irresistible force.

MotorHead! Holy Bell cried. The bond between angels of lovers was strong, and maybe it could pull him back to Keiichi somehow. For a moment, Keiichi's angel hesitated and turned back to face Belldandy. A rush of love and relief came from it, then. Holy Bell returned it, and the first hints of a smile crossed the Goddess's features. Perhaps everything would be fine after all. MotorHead smiled and began to float back toward the temple.

Then she saw them.

Keiichi was there, standing in front of her, his hand placed firmly in Hild's grasp. MotorHead floated away again, despite Holy Bell's pleas. The angel was following him, drawn to his master. The demon tightened her grip on Keiichi, leaned forward, and kissed him on the lips. Belldandy didn't understand how this was possible, Keiichi had just been in in her arms a moment before. It wasn't possible that Hild could have stolen him from Urd so quickly, was it?

Silence hovered for a moment, and Belldandy tried in vain to restrain herself. She had never felt such dark emotions in her life. The Goddess had never thought herself even capable of them. She knew she was attached to Keiichi. It was she had told the gate spirit some time before. Where he was concerned, she was less than generous.

But the sight of Hild holding him and kissing him drove her into a rage. Holy Bell called out, not to MotorHead, but to her mistress, warning her, trying to talk her down.

Wind was everywhere, a terrifying tornado appearing out of nowhere, dirt and wreckage flying about everywhere. Lighting flew from it, crackling as the force built up.

"Do it, and you'll hurt Keiichi." Hild smiled. "You wouldn't want that, would you?"

The tornado didn't move. It hovered just in front of the pair, menacing and powerful. Above them the storm system continued to build up. Hurricane-force winds were everywhere, even outside the swirling energy.

"Release him from whatever spell you put him under." Belldandy warned, her voice hard and resolute.

"You want him to be happy, right?" Hild gripped Keiichi's hand firmly. "He has found that I can give him something you can't. And he can give me something in return." The demon smiled warmly. "It's not so bad, Belldandy. We can both be happy. I'm really doing you a favor here, you know. I made your Keiichi more pure!"

"Let him go." Urd's voice called out. Hild's daughter was there, standing next to... another Keiichi, still sweating and struggling to walk. MotorHead stared at both copies of the human, struggling to make sense of it. Confusion reigned.

The tornado of energy collapsed around them as Belldandy struggled to understand what had happened. Hild lifted the Pot of Heresy and grinned deliciously. He's been separated, or cloned, with that, somehow, she realized.

"Well, it would have been nice to have the angel too. But I guess we'll be going now." In a flash, Hild was gone, taking the other Keiichi with her, leaving Belldandy with that memory playing over again and again in her mind's eye. Hild's lips were touching his and...

The storm above began to dissipate, and Belldandy fell to the ground in horror. Holy Bell flew, heedless of her mistress's command, comforting Keiichi's tiny angel, who was wracked with shuddering sobs. Being fought over by two of his master had confused and hurt MotorHead terribly.

Belldandy felt Urd's comforting hand on her back. Skuld was crying somewhere, but it hardly even registered in her mind. She should have felt guilty about that, but all she could think about was Keiichi. But he was still here, wasn't he?

Her Keiichi sat beside her, silently, seemingly as confused as she was, but obviously more concerned with how she felt about the situation. Her arms were around him, and she held him close with powerful need.

"We'll fix this." Keiichi managed. "Somehow we always do, don't we?"

"Hai." Belldandy replied. She tried unsuccessfully to banish the images of Hild and Keiichi from her mind. She couldn't blame him, obviously Hild had put some kind of spell on the other Keiichi, ensnared him somehow. But the feelings of cold jealousy refused to go away.

The separation process must have drained her Keiichi, for he once again fell asleep in her arms. She couldn't bring herself to move. There were many reasons she had fallen for this man, she knew. In her entire career as a wish granter, no one had ever wished for her. She had been a means to an end for them. They were good people, those who had been chosen, but none had been like him. His aura had been special, and it hadn't just been his kindness and determination which had won her over. Within him, she had seen a kindred spirit.

Belldandy allowed herself to admit that she wanted to be desired by him, and not just in the spiritual sense. Many had, over the years, wanted to be with Belldandy the Goddess. Keiichi, though awed by her, truly wanted to be with Belldandy the woman. Even the qualities in himself that he had repressed attracted her. And Hild had taken those qualities away. Keiichi breathed lightly in her arms. And even unconscious though he was, Belldandy could see the change in his aura. He was more pure, Hild had taken away all of his repressed qualities. And as shameful as some might consider them, Belldandy wanted them back.

MotorHead hovered on her shoulder and shook his head.

I'm sorry. I didn't understand. The tiny angel spoke through his connection with Holy Bell. He was calling to me but... it wasn't him either.

Noise startled them all, and Mara trudged up from the steps, looking terrified and worn out. Before Belldandy could react, lightning built up from the sky and crackled onto the demon. Skuld bombs flew and Banpei missles took off, all impacting the hapless demon.

"How dare you come crawling back here!" Urd exclaimed angrily. "After what you did." It wasn't clear what Mara might have done, but her timing was exceptionally poor.

"You hurt..." Skuld stopped for a moment as if surprised at herself, apparently deciding she didn't care about pretenses anymore. "You hurt Keiichi!"

"I... tried to fight her." Mara said dejectedly, smoke wafting up from her battered body. "I'm sorry.. I'm sorry..." She repeated.

"Save it." Urd said, building up for another attack. Skuld reached for more of her bombs.

"Wait!" Belldandy yelled. "We need her!"

"Why?" Skuld and Urd said simultaneously.

"We're going to.. get all of Keiichi back." Belldandy felt a wash of determination come over her. "And we need a demon to do it."