Manna



Prologue


    Once again Keiichi found himself standing in the vast, frigid wasteland of the familiar-turned-angel's mindscape. Like before there appeared to be no end to the white landscape below and the black void above, and the frequent, snow-filled gusts buffeted his body.
    Normally he would have shuddered, but he did not feel cold. He didn't know why, considering the visual evidence around him, but he figured that it had something to do with the environment's creator or (at the very least) the fact that he wasn't experiencing the reality of the conscious mind. In the end, of course, he was just glad to be exempt from the unpleasant sensation of feeling cold; so, he didn't dwell on it.
    Instead, he directed his attention to the matter at hand, and began to look around for the angel. She was easy to find because, like before, she dwarfed him in size; and her radiant form, which stood out against the darkness of the void, also helped. She was reclining in mid-air, as she had been before, with her bat-like wings folded behind her. She appeared to enjoy basking in the warmth of the flower petals that surrounded her.
    Her eyes had opened and peered down at him as soon as he had noticed her, and she gave him a canine-exhibiting smile in greeting. He felt compelled to look into her eyes, so that was what he did... And, to his surprise, he suddenly began to know things. Thoughts that were not his own made themselves known to him, but not on an audible level. The unexpected event broke his concentration, however, and the invading thoughts ceased before he could grasp them.
    Appearing to be pleased by his reaction, by the very fact that she had been able to convey information to him, he realized that she had made contact with him. Sensing her desire to communicate further, he recovered, re-established eye contact with her once more, and focused. He was interested in, and thus intent upon, understanding exactly what she wanted to tell him.
    Her thoughts began to trickle into his mind again. Although, this time, he was ready for them; which made it possible for him to discern what she wanted to relay to him. Much of what she had to share was in regard to their situation, and how she felt about it. For instance, what Belldandy had said before, about where he now was, and how the conversion into an angel had affected her, became more clear: the warm flower petals that surrounded her, so small as they were compared to the rest of her surroundings, were the new yet limited experiences that she had been given by Belldandy, as a result of being in contact with her.
    She wanted to experience more of the same, and didn't want to be denied the opportunity to explore it for all that it was worth. However, due to the circumstances, as well as her eagerness, her approach, in fulfilling even the simplest and absent-minded of desires, hadn't worked in her favor. She may have had Belldandy's and his own understanding and sympathy, but she didn't in regard to the others (that being Urd, Peorth, and Skuld), who did not wish to treat her with the same trust and respect.
    What it all came down to was this: she no longer wanted to be alone, to be without a demon or a goddess; she wanted to live. Without a demon around, and with no desire to trouble a goddess who already had an angel, that had left him. She had seen enough of Belldandy's qualities in him, who, human or not, was unattached despite having an Angel Receptor. More importantly, however, she found the potential within him to exist with her as any demon or goddess could.
    And that was why she wanted him to be the one that gave her a name.
    When he learned of the significance behind the act of giving an angel her name, he was too shocked to maintain a communicative link with her. But she didn't have to convey anything more for him to know of her growing desperation, of her yearning to feel complete. But was he willing to go that far for her?
    Before he could explore that thought, however, he was startled awake by the sound of many miniature Urds on broomsticks, as they crashed through the ceiling of his bedroom.


Chapter 1


    Once Urd's mess had been cleaned up, along with the damage fixed, she, Skuld and Peorth sat themselves before Belldandy. Keiichi lay beside her, propped up on his elbows, with half of his mind reviewing what had transpired with the angel that was inside of him.
    "Let's stop now." Belldandy stated as she regarded her audience with an impassive expression. "I understand your feelings, but I don't intend to step back. If you insist on trying, I will resist... with all of my power."
    "Not me." Came Peorth's reply, as she gestured disarmingly. "I've just flown around the world and, boy, am I tired."
    Skuld felt too ashamed to make a response. She tried to place the blame on Urd and Peorth, but she knew that, even if she hadn't participated in the incapacitation of Belldandy, and the attempt made to remove the familiar-turned-angel within Keiichi, she had done nothing to stop them and had, consequently, chosen their desires over those of Belldandy's. She knew that, had she done the right thing, she would have been sitting beside Belldandy instead of being on the receiving end of her resistance.
    Urd, resigning herself to Belldandy's stance on the matter, asked, "But what are you going to do, then? Can you solve this?"
    Without a solution, and feeling a bit disheartened because of that, Belldandy could only hesitate and say, "Well..."
    "Hey..." Keiichi interjected. "Can I give her a name?"
    The others regarded him with questioning looks, what with the request seemingly having no relevance to the topic at hand.
    "Now's not the time for that, don't you think?" Was Urd's measured response. "You should be thinking of a way to resolve this."
    "I thought that naming her would." Keiichi stated, who appeared to be a bit puzzled by something.
    The others paused for a moment and let his words sink in. Urd and Peorth exchanged looks before returning their attention to Keiichi, and Skuld's brow furrowed as the implication of his statement began to dawn on her.
    "Keiichi...?" Belldandy questioned.
    "What...?" Keiichi asked after he had taken in their reactions. "Wouldn't it?"
    Peorth leaned forward and inquired, "What makes you think that it would?"
    "That's what she told me." Was Keiichi's careful response.
    "'She,' as in...?" Urd prompted.
    "The angel, of course." Keiichi informed them, with a confused look on his face.
    Belldandy had an inquisitive look on her face as she regarded Keiichi, while the others acted surprised.
    "That shouldn't be possible..." Skuld said, although with uncertainty. "Right?"
    "Oui." Said Peorth, distractedly. "Normally..."
    "It's possible for gods and goddesses." Urd chimed in as she gave Keiichi a critical look. "For a human... I know Keiichi has done some amazing things, but that...?"
    "He does have an Angel Receptor." Skuld remarked, who was willing to give him credit for his exploits during the episode with the Angel Eater. "And he was able to use Lind's angel..."
    Keiichi felt a bit uncomfortable with the kind of attention that he was getting. That's why he felt relieved when Belldandy silenced their conversation.
    She asked, "Would you like to give her a name?"
    "Belldandy, you can't seriously be thinking..." Urd tried to object.
    Belldandy shook her head briefly before saying, "I understand your concern, but I trust in the angel. I don't think that she would have suggested it unless it would work. And, at the very least, it would mean that Keiichi would be able to discourage the use of her power..."
    "...Thus avoiding those fainting spells." Peorth concluded.
    Urd sighed good-naturedly and said, "Well, I'd be a fool to not trust in your judgement..."
    "That never stopped you before." Skuld remarked under her breath.
    Urd, who had managed to hear Skuld's remark, glared at her and said, "You're one to talk."
    Skuld jumped to her feet and shouted, "Maybe I am!"
    More than willing to meet the challenge, Urd rose to her feet and leaned into Skuld's face before she said, "I seem to recall a certain someone who sat by and did nothing while we disregarded Belldandy's wishes."
    Since that fact was still fresh in Skuld's mind, she quickly became upset. With tears in her eyes, she shouted, "Oh, yeah!? At least I learn from my mistakes!"
    With a quick sweep of her hand, Skuld managed to slap the word "fool" upon Urd's face, much to the latter's surprise. But Urd quickly recovered and began to emit sparks of energy around her hands, in preparation to strike back.
    "Then you would have learned to treat me with respect, brat!" Urd growled out before she unleashed the first of many energy bolts.
    And so the fight began in earnest, with lightning, explosives and words flying everywhere. Peorth had wisely chosen to vacate the scene, and had managed to get away without becoming a casualty. Belldandy and Keiichi, however, merely turned to look at each other and exchanged looks of grief.

    Keiichi sat out in the engawa and watched as Belldandy and Peorth worked to create a mandala on the ground. They appeared to have no problem doing so in the gloom of night. The mandala was required for the ceremony practiced by the gods and goddesses, for when they named their angels. While Keiichi wasn't a god, he was told that, whether or not the naming worked for a human, it would be better to receive the recognition given by the goddesses in the ceremony than to go without it.
    What he was more concerned with at the moment, however, was what name to give the angel. On top of that he had to come up with a sort of introduction for the name, as required by the ceremony. He wasn't having an easy time of it (what with it being out of his element and all), and he could only hope that the name that he had yet to decide upon would be good enough for the angel, but he forged ahead and tried to come up with something good despite it all.
    After being alone for a short time, he heard a familiar voice say, "So you're really going to go through with this?"
    Keiichi looked up, and to the side, and saw Urd leaning against the outer wall. She had forgone her usual attire for the ceremony, and now wore an outfit that appeared to be meant for formal occasions.
    Keiichi returned his attention to Belldandy and Peorth, as they continued to work on the mandala, and said, "Yeah."
    There was a moment's pause before Urd stated, "But it's not just for helping the ex-familiar, is it?"
    Keiichi thought about his response, for a moment, then sighed with resignation and said, "Okay, you got me."
    "I did think about trying to find a demon for the angel." He admitted. "But demons by themselves are enough trouble, you know?"
    "I agree." Was Urd's simple reply.
    "But there are other reasons, too..." Keiichi continued, his gaze straying from Belldandy and finding the ground. "For instance, I never quite realized how it might feel to live with an angel, after all I've heard about it, until I had to return Lind's."
    Keiichi could hear the smile in Urd's voice as she said, "And you may just become the first human to know exactly what it feels like to have an angel. Even I never stopped thinking about my angel, despite the fear I felt for all of those years."
    "But there's more to it than that, isn't there?" Urd prodded a second later.
    Keiichi's attention returned to Belldandy, who appeared to be putting the finishing touches on the mandala while Peorth stood by and waited for her to complete it.
    Finally, in a quiet tone, he said, "When Cool Mint and I were together, I finally felt like I had the power to protect Belldandy."
    "Hey; what about the rest of us?" Urd asked in a playfully-hurt manner.
    "And you, too." Keiichi replied with a chuckle.
    "I understand how you feel." Urd said as she, too, regarded Belldandy. "But do you know what Belldandy would say about that?"
    Keiichi looked up at Urd and asked, "What would she say?"
    Urd looked down and made eye contact with Keiichi before saying, "She'd say that you had the power all along."
    Keiichi smiled faintly in response and returned his attention to Belldandy, who, along with Peorth, were now making their way toward him. But his smile slipped away as he thought about Urd's last comment, knowing that, in many ways, he had been lucky in accomplishing a lot of things himself without Belldandy being there for him. He was convinced that their relationship was too uneven. Belldandy may not have an issue with all of the effort that she put into protecting him, but at the very least he wanted to share half of that burden, to be able to protect her as much as she was able to protect him.
    "Il est complet." Stated Peorth once she and Belldandy reached him. "You've thought of a name, non?"
    "Actually..." Keiichi glanced over at Urd for a second, and considered her words. "Yeah, I think I just did."
    "That's wonderful." Said Belldandy, with a smile.
    "As for the introduction..." Keiichi added, his tone saying all that needed to be said.
    "I'm sure it will come to you." Belldandy assured him. "If it is from the heart, it will find a way out."
    Keiichi blushed, scratched the side of his face and averted his gaze, as he imagined saying intimate things in front of an audience.
    "The same can't be said for Skuld." Quipped Urd, who had pushed herself away from the outer wall so she could look down one end of the engawa.
    "Hey, Skuld!" She shouted between her hands. "Get your butt out here, already!"
    Around the corner, with her back against the wall, and her eyes closed, Skuld thought, "Okay! Just act nonchalant, as if you weren't just standing here listening in on them..."
    Her eyes flashed open, filled with determination, and she began to march purposefully into view. She pretended to be irritated by Urd, which wasn't a very hard thing to accomplish. However, even with her mind focused on her sister, she couldn't help being a bit distracted by Keiichi when he came into view. He had leaned back so he could see her approach, though only for a second; but it had been enough to stir up what little guilt she felt, concerning what she had overheard.
    Once she reached Urd, she stopped, crossed her arms and indignantly said, "I was putting the finishing touches on a new upgrade for Banpei."
    Urd saw the excuse for what it was, and said as much with her eyes, but, much to Skuld's relief, she didn't call her on it in front of everyone.
    "Whatever." Was Urd's response, and simply dismissed it.
    She then turned to Keiichi and asked, "Are you ready?"
    Keiichi stood up and took a moment to regard each goddess in turn before he said, "As much as I'll ever be."

    A few minutes later Keiichi found himself standing at the center of the mandala. The four goddesses, Belldandy, Urd, Skuld and Peorth, took up positions around him, at specific points on the mandala. Their eyes were closed, and they patiently waited for him to play his role in the ceremony.
    "Well, here it goes..." Keiichi thought to himself.
    He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then let it out slowly before he parted his lips and allowed words to form from within himself.
    "Faced with a crossroad, your path crossed with mine." He spoke in measured tones. "I offer you my foundation so that we may share the same journey, and discover where it takes us together. And whether or not the road to Hell is paved by good intentions, you will always be my angel."
    He then proceeded to open his eyes and, with only some of his embarrassment showing on his cheeks, he smiled as he proclaimed, "I name thee... Hell's Angel!"
    The goddesses opened their eyes and watched as the newly-dubbed Hell's Angel began to blossom from within Keiichi, her arms raised, palms toward the heavens, and an indulgent smile on her face.
    However, as the angel rose, the goddesses began to notice something out of the ordinary.
    "Is she moving... slower?" Inquired Urd, whose eyes began to widen in alarm.
    "Yes." Belldandy answered, her narrowed eyes locked upon Keiichi and his angel, studying them.
    Sounding as worried as she appeared, Skuld asked, "Shouldn't we, um, do something...?"
    By that time the angel had reached the apex of her ascent, and her movement had slowed to a crawl. Keiichi's expression had yet to change in the meantime, and he showed no signs of movement at all.
    Before Skuld's question could be answered, Peorth, surprised, said, "How is this possible?"
    "Who cares if it's possible!" Shouted Urd, as she prepared to leap into action. "What can we do!?"
    "Nothing." Belldandy answered calmly.
    Taken off balance by her sister's response, Urd uttered a confused, "Wha...?"
    "Watch." Belldandy instructed.
    Urd calmed down and regarded Keiichi, as well as the angel that sprouted from his back. It didn't take her long to notice how their image began to change, becoming more red in hue and less-defined, dimmer.
    "What in the..." Was all that she was able to get out before Skuld gasped.
    "Of course!" She exclaimed in realization. "That's it!"
    "What's 'it?'" Demanded Urd, who didn't want to be left in the dark.
    Skuld would have been more than happy to inform her sister of what she knew, and rub it in her face in the process, but she didn't get any further than the opening of her mouth because, at that exact moment, a brief sense of disorientation had swept through all four of them. While their physical senses hadn't been affected by it, they had all briefly lost connection with Yggdrasil and, consequently, the support functions that it provided.
    "Was that what I thought it was...?" Asked a surprised Urd.
    "Oui." Peorth stated. "A soft reboot."
    "That would mean..." Skuld said, who trailed off as she focused her attention on the cause of the soft reboot.
    The others also watched as the image of Keiichi and his angel, now completely red and transparent, became even more unrecognizable as they continued to fade from sight. Like sand in an hour glass the image dwindled away, piece by piece, and, seemingly, in a timely manner.
    When the final visual piece vanished, an event seen only by the trained eyes of the three eldest goddesses, a naked girl with short, white hair suddenly appeared, on the ground, where Keiichi had once stood. There had been no sound or any other disturbance to herald her arrival: it appeared as if she had been there all along, and had simply been unveiled.
    Belldandy regarded the prone form of the unconscious girl and, while she knew exactly who it was, she also knew exactly what it was.
    "...New software." She finished in thought what Skuld had started aloud.


Chapter 2


    Deep within the bowels of the Yggdrasil system, a dark figure swiftly moved from one shadowy corner to the next. Between shadows only a dark blur could be seen as it moved, with the exception of the occasional flash of light from its head and the sound of the air rushing by in its wake. This continued until its target was reached.
    Said target was a furry creature that appeared to be the love child of a spider and a cartoon rabbit, save for the fact that it was about the size of a basketball. The dark figure took a position in a nearby shadow, withdrew a shuriken, and held it between its fore and middle fingers. It waited, calculated, and then struck. The shuriken soared like a bullet before hitting its mark, and the creature vanished instantly upon contact.
    And then, very uncharacteristically for a ninja, the dark figure jumped to their feet and crowed, "Gotcha!"
    They then tilted their head back, reached underneath their mask, and pulled it off. Long, golden locks, now free from their confines, swayed freely. With their face no longer concealed, save for a special pair of glasses, the marks of a goddess were revealed, one on each cheek and another on her forehead. Her eyes, no longer hidden within beshadowed sockets, shone a brilliant blue in the light.
    With a smile, she said, "This never gets old."
    However, like all things, her shift as debugger had to come to an end. She removed her glasses, which allowed her to see the bugs, and tucked them into the hidden folds of her ninja outfit. Then she began her walk back to the office, so she could clock out. While she could teleport, and thus reach the office in seconds, there was no need for her to rush since she enjoyed the little things in life; so a short stroll wasn't about to be a problem for her.
    A few minutes into her trek back, she was cast into a silent darkness. All of the lights and operations around her had gone out, and an accompanying sense of disorientation had almost caused her to lose her footing. Before she could voice her confusion, the lights flickered back on, and the return of the whirring and buzzing sounds around her suggested that the main system was back online.
    "That wasn't on today's schedule, was it?" She wondered to herself.
    Just as she finished that thought, a hologram appeared in front of her. It was of another goddess and, more specifically, the current system operator. She appeared to be sitting in a chair, but the chair wasn't visible.
    With her hands still busy operating the control panel, the system operator asked, "Wynn, what's the status of that bug?"
    Knowing what the system operator was suggesting, Wynn looked confused and said, "Taken care of a few moments ago. I was just on my way back up."
    "That's odd..." Was the system operator's response, as she looked at monitors that Wynn couldn't see. "Something prompted a soft reset, but I can't find anything that could have caused it locally. Hold on..."
    "What is it?" Wynn asked, as she watched the system operator focus her attention on something else for a moment.
    "The sensors recorded signs of a dissipating worm hole shortly after the system came back online." The system operator answered after a moment. "I'm going to try and trace the source..."
    Wynn rocked back and forth on her feet while she waited, as the system operator's attention went back and forth between things that she couldn't see. Just as she began to stifle a yawn, she saw the system operator grimace.
    "Well, this is no surprise..." The system operator said with a sigh.
    "What isn't?" Wynn inquired.
    "The space-time event originated at the Norn's current station." Came the reply. "In fact, I'm picking up an anomaly at their position right now."
    "A bug?" Wynn surmised.
    "Possibly." The system operator answered, sounding unsure. "I'm only seeing one anomaly and, normally, it requires a group of bugs to cause such a space-time disturbance, but... There have been exceptions before."
    Wynn, seeing that the system operator was worried about something, saw an opportunity and asked, "Would you like me to take care of it?"
    The system operator considered Wynn for a moment before she nodded and said, "Since you asked, I suppose you could. I had hoped that Peorth would help keep those wayward sisters more on the straight and narrow while she was there, but... It's unbelievable how many problems have arisen from them lately. Just a few days ago there was that whole incident with the Angel Eater, for instance."
    Doing well to hide her glee, Wynn said, "I'll be ready to leave shortly, then."
    The system operator gave Wynn a significant look as she said, "Very well. I know what you're planning, but I trust that you'll save that until after we're finished with this issue."
    "Of course." Replied Wynn, who stuck her tongue out at the system operator.
    After the system operator disengaged communications with Wynn, she asked the technicians for a status report and learned that, insofar as they could tell, no damage or changes had been made to the main system. While that was good news to hear, she ordered that the diagnostic and analysis work continue, just to be sure. She knew that the system hadn't reset for no reason, after all. However, if it had been caused by a bug, one would never be able tell if there had been any reason behind it at all... Whatever it was.

    Belldandy stood within Keiichi's bedroom doorway and regarded her sleeping form one last time before she slid the door closed. She turned around and looked off into space, her mind filled with various thoughts and concerns, before she stepped away and made the short journey to where the other goddesses waited for her.
    Urd, Skuld and Peorth looked up from the table as she entered the living room, which was otherwise known as the "tea room." The mood in the room was of a subdued and serious nature, as everyone considered the situation.
    "Still no word from Heaven." Urd informed Belldandy.
    "That's good... right?" Skuld inquired as she looked from one goddess to another, as she nervously sought an answer.
    "Seulement le temps répétera." Peorth offered as a response. "Although I would have expected some kind of message by now..."
    Once Belldandy sat herself at the table, Urd turned her attention to her and asked, "So... what's the story?"
    All eyes focused on Belldandy, who regarded them each in turn before she sighed softly and said, "It's unlike anything I've ever seen before."
    "But he, er, she... um... Oh, whatever. Keiichi's okay, right?" Urd inquired.
    "Yes." Was Belldandy's response, as the stress about her eyes eased up a bit. "She's just exhausted from the process she had gone through."
    Urd, finding an opportunity, leaned forward and asked, "Which begs the question: just what happened out there?"
    Seeing as she was one of the two goddesses who knew exactly how to explain what they had seen during the naming ceremony, Skuld spoke up and said, "I can answer that."
    "Do you remember when I first arrived?" She asked.
    "How could I forget?" Urd responded in a sarcastic tone.
    Skuld ignored the wisecrack and said, "Then you should remember why I asked you to provide me with more energy for my super energy infusion machine."
    Urd turned away and scratched at the side of her face as she unconvincingly said, "Of course I remember..."
    Before Skuld could let loose with some biting remark, Belldandy helpfully supplied Urd and Peorth with, "Keiichi's body mass had become an attractor for the energy we give off while we sustain a third-dimensional form."
    "Oh, yeah..." Urd muttered while Peorth's eyes widened with realization.
    "Sacré bleu!" Peorth exclaimed. "That would explain the time dilation, and perhaps where the ex-familiar got the energy to do what it did, if a black hole had formed."
    "I'm almost certain of it." Belldandy stated. "The black hole that we had removed before had mostly been fueled by two goddesses, that being Urd and myself. But the one that Keiichi's angel had used had been fueled by three (sometimes four) goddesses, for a period of time several times longer."
    "And by performing the naming ceremony..." Peorth began, the grim expression on her face showing how much more of the situation she had grasped.
    "With the recognition of four qualified goddesses..." Urd helpfully added.
    "We practically opened a doorway straight into Yggdrasil's system." Skuld concluded.
    A silence fell over the group, as they each considered the situation, as well as their position within it. Should they risk waiting for a response from Heaven, or should they come forward with a report and, perhaps, a confession? However, should any confession be made...
    Both Urd and Skuld stole glances at Belldandy, and they realized that she would not only try to take responsibility for all of them (especially in regard to protecting Keiichi), but she would no doubt succeed in stopping their own attempts to stop her, or, at the very least, to share her punishment. Which meant that, whatever they did, they had to ensure that Belldandy wouldn't have to resort to doing such a thing.
    They then regarded Peorth with significant looks and, although she appeared to be undecided, she soon understood their plea and expressed her agreement. Belldandy, in the meantime, had been deep in thought and had not noticed the silent communication between them. However, now that they had some idea of what they were going to do, the last thing that they wanted was for Belldandy to have too much time to think about things. So...
    "Well, let's go to bed and worry about it tomorrow." Urd spoke up after she stood up and stretched, which drew Belldandy's attention to her. "We can get a better idea of what to do once Keiichi is awake."
    "Hopefully whatever had been done won't be discovered by then." Said Peorth, who sounded weighed down by the gravity of the situation as she, too, rose to her feet.
    "If ever." Skuld added as she stood up. "It wouldn't be the first time something invaded the system without detection."
    Belldandy looked up at them and smiled, since she knew what they were trying to do. She got to her feet, thanked them, and then turned to leave the room. However, while the others silently congratulated themselves, Belldandy had lost her smile as soon as she had turned her back on them. While she appreciated their thoughts, she had already had enough time to think about what she would do. So she had already decided upon the course of action that she would take, if it were required.
    She had suspected that the angel would take advantage of the naming ceremony, after all.

    Early the next morning, not too long before the dawning of the sun, a flash of light shone from the inside of an abandoned well, through the gaps of the wooden planks that covered it. A moment later, after the light had died down, the wooden planks were pushed aside and a human-shaped figure emerged. They flew out of the abandoned well, into the pale, pre-dawn light, and landed soundlessly upon the ground.
    Wynn took stock of herself, to make sure that she hadn't been sullied by the inside of the well. She was dressed in her formal attire, after all. It was meant for business, and presentation was part and parcel of it. However, upon seeing what appeared to be a virtual copy of a jester outfit, from the curled-up toes of her slippers, to the three points of her hat, a human probably wouldn't have made such a distinction. The only thing that could be considered to be missing, and in essence make her ensemble complete, was the jester's scepter. And, in lieu of bells, there were polished stones with runes carved into them.
    Seeing that there were no problems with her appearance, she checked the environs to make sure that she was at the right place. When everything on the temple grounds was accounted for, she smiled and pulled out a hand-held device.
    "This must be my lucky day." She said to herself, and thought about how uncommon it was for her ultimate destination to have a well.
    Glancing down to regard the device in her hand, known as a GPS (Goddess Positioning System) in Heaven, she found the power switch and activated it. The device's screen lit up, gave a, "loading, please wait..." message, and then displayed the immediate area around her, from above, and in simple map form. She used the touch-screen controls to expand the displayed area, so she could see the inside of the temple's living quarters, where the goddesses (as well as the anomaly) resided.
    "One, two, three... Four goddesses." She counted, accounting for said number of blinking markers shown inside of the house. "And... What's this?"
    Aside from the marker that indicated where the anomaly was, there was also a marker that noted the fact that there was a demon among the goddesses.
    "How curious." She thought to herself.
    She observed the movement inside of the house, noted that only one of the markers (a goddess) was moving, and decided that she would have no problem moving about the house undetected. So she slipped her way inside, by way of the engawa, and made her way to where the demon was indicated.
    However, as soon as she turned down the adjoining hallway, she had to stop and step back around the corner. With her back against the wall, she looked around the corner and once again saw the back of a mechanical creature, one which had a mushroom-shaped head. She hadn't expected it because, while the GPS could detect artificial life, it couldn't differentiate between artificial intelligence and computers, and thus it wasn't programmed to detect them by default.
    "Of course, knowing that Skuld is here, I should have expected something like this." She thought to herself.
    She waited until Skuld's creation went about its way, no doubt to complete its rounds around the house, before she continued on her way. Keeping an eye out for anything that the GPS couldn't detect, she made her way to an empty room, confirmed the location of the demon with the GPS, and then approached the closet.
    She swiftly slid the closet door open, to catch the demon by surprise, but what she saw made her blink, re-check the GPS, and then blink again. Among a bunch of sealed items was a cat, also sealed, and, at first, the sight had pulled at her heart strings. Then she recalled a certain demon, who had been reincarnated into a cat for hacking Yggdrasil's time management system, and its reported whereabouts...
    Velsper couldn't move, but she could still see, and she knew that the light shining into her enclosure meant that someone had opened the door. Out of the corner of her eye she could just barely make out the shape of a person.
    "It's about time someone remembered their stuff." Velsper thought. "They better unseal me, too!"
    However, being that Wynn had something more important to attend to, she merely smiled with amusement as she slid the closet door shut.
    "Something to come back to later." She thought.
    "..." Was all that came to Velsper's mind, in response to being plunged into darkness once again.
    Wynn poked her head out of the room, to make sure that the coast was clear, before the rest of her body followed suit. She then proceeded to quietly make her way toward her original target. However, before she got far, her attention got diverted by the sound of someone humming. Since the source wasn't too far out of her way, she decided to investigate.
    She soon found herself standing inside of the doorway that led into the kitchen, where Belldandy was humming along while she prepared breakfast. It was no wonder that she had found the tune familiar. Of course, since she had to save the pleasantries for later, she decided to leave before she could be seen. And she had done so just in time, too: for Belldandy had gone quiet and had turned to look where she had stood just a second before. However, since Belldandy hadn't sensed anything malevolent, she had returned her attention to what she had been doing before.
    And then, at last, Wynn reached her target. She opened the door to the room, that the anomaly inhabited, and stepped inside. In the middle of the dimly-lit room was a figure lying in a futon. She checked the GPS, to make sure that what she was seeing was, indeed, the anomaly, and got confirmation. She pulled out her bug-viewing glasses, saw that nothing changed about the figure while she wore them, and then put them away.
    She tilted her head and, with a confused look on her face, she thought, "That's odd..."
    She knelt down beside the anomaly, so she could get a better look at it, and set the GPS aside as she did so. Of course, since she could only see it from the neck up, she pulled back the covers to reveal the rest of its body, which happened to be clad in a sexy nightgown. What she saw wearing it was not unlike a human girl, although its white hair, while not abnormal for a human to have (generally speaking), was a bit odd for it apparent age. Other than that, she somehow felt it more strange for the girl-looking anomaly to be without the markings of a goddess on its face.
    Then she noticed that the anomaly was being disturbed by a draft. It groaned low in its throat, and its eyelids twitched ever-so-slightly. And then its lips parted a bit, which revealed canines that were a bit too pronounced to be human.
    "More like the markings of a demon, perhaps...?" She absently thought to herself.
    Either way, she knew that the anomaly was progressing toward a conscious state, and she felt it better to take care of the matter before it awoke and, perhaps, put up a resistance. So she stood up and summoned her debugging hammer, hefted it onto her shoulder with one hand, and then grasped the shaft with the other hand as well. In her mind she decided that it would be a lot less trouble, and thus more fun, to deliver a surprise attack. If the anomaly disappeared, then it would be a job well done. If not, well... Whoops?
    Just as she gripped the shaft more tightly, in preparation for a strike, the anomaly's eyes began to open. Even in the dim light of the room she could tell that its eyes were a dazzling blue, much like her own. The anomaly blinked its eyes a few times before it settled them on her. The anomaly soon noticed her hammer, and a look of confusion crossed its face, its mental faculties no doubt still in the process of coming fully online. She simply grinned in response, and the anomaly's eyes widened, as it realized her intent.
    And so she raised her hammer above her head, even as the anomaly opened its mouth for a scream, and then brought her hammer down...
    "Eeeeyagh—!!"
    "Keiichi!" Belldandy exclaimed in alarm.
    She dropped what she had been doing in the kitchen and raced to her aid. When she reached her room, she stopped in the doorway and took in the scene that she found inside. On the floor was Keiichi, who appeared to be unconscious. Her eyes were crossed out, and her tongue lolled out from a corner of her mouth. Standing above her was a goddess with a debugging hammer; and she was a familiar goddess, at that.
    "Wynn...?" Belldandy asked, who was confused by her presence.
    The other goddesses began to shuffle up behind Belldandy, in various states of dress (or, as it turned out to be in Urd's case, undress), although all were obviously too groggy to be up and on their feet, yet.
    "What's all this, then?" Urd muttered, more irritated than concerned in her current stupor.
    Wynn turned to face the four goddesses, smiled, and then clapped her hands together as she proclaimed, "Good news! This isn't a bug!"
    Urd, Skuld and Peorth tried to squint past the blurriness in their vision, took one look at Keiichi's face, and thought, "It isn't...?"


Chapter 3


    When Keiichi returned to consciousness, she found her head being cradled in Belldandy's lap. The first thing that came into focus was Belldandy's face, and their eyes locked together as soon as they met. They had questions that they wanted to ask, things that they wanted to say, but their eyes each spoke of the uncertainty of how and where to begin.
    Fortunately for them, the tense moment was broken by Urd's arrival. She now wore a dress, as opposed to the birthday suit that she had worn a short time ago.
    As she stepped into the room, she noticed Keiichi's state of awareness and said, "Oh, good; you're awake. I just came to say that Wynn and Peorth will finish securing the premises any time now, so..."
    In reponse, Belldandy nodded and said, "We'll be ready."
    "What's going on?" Keiichi inquired.
    "Wynn wishes to hold an inquiry." Belldandy supplied, and showed no sign of concern. "She wants to look into the matter surrounding the soft reboot of Yggdrasil."
    "It was a stroke of luck that Wynn was the one sent here." Urd added with a smile.
    Keiichi, with half-lidded eyes, pointed to the crown of her head and asked, "Does this look like a 'stroke of luck' to you?"
    "Well, no..." Replied Urd in a quiet tone, her smile dropping. "But at least it wasn't a stroke, right?"
    "Er... I guess..." Was Keiichi's awkward reply.
    "Anyway," Urd continued, "you have nothing to worry about. I know you'll like her. Even the demons like her."
    "Was that supposed to be reassuring?" Keiichi wondered to herself.
    Then, as much as she didn't want to, she decided to leave the comfort of Belldandy's lap. She sat up, stretched, then paused in mid-yawn when she noticed odd sensations in tandem with her movements. When she looked down, she realized that she was wearing a nightgown that was quite provocative, in both style and material.
    With a healthy flush growing on her cheeks, she asked, "Why am I wearing this...?"
    Urd, in an attempt to act nonchalant, said, "My, would you look at the time! And is that Wynn I hear, calling my name? Oh, what would she do without me? Ho, ho, ho!"
    Keiichi stared at Urd's retreating back, with a cross look on her face, as she thought, "I should have known."
    "Is there something wrong with it?" Belldandy inquired. She regarded the negligee with a look of curiosity.
    Keiichi turned to regard Belldandy with an expression of embarrassment and, unable to answer, could only manage to say, "Er, well..."
    Unfortunately for her, Belldandy, as was expected of her, was innocent about such things. The only thing that she could do was change the subject, since she didn't feel like having to explain the purpose of the nightgown to her.
    "A-anyway," she stammered out as she got to her feet, "we might as well be ready for Wynn, right?"
    Belldandy nodded her agreement before she rose to her feet, as well. To her mind, if the answer wasn't important, then an answer wasn't required. And if Keiichi wanted to say something when she was ready, then she would simply wait for that time. She understood her enough, and trusted her enough, to know that she wasn't being rude.
    Keiichi closed her eyes and, together with her angel, she was able to change the nightgown into a white T-shirt and a pair of cargo pants. Due to her unfamiliarity with the process required to make such a change, and the fact that she had only so much time before the inquiry would begin, she didn't want to try and come up with something more creative.
    Afterward, she turned to face Belldandy and, with a smile, she stated, "This is a convenience that I could get used to."
    Belldandy smiled in return before they both decided that it was time to make their way to the living room. Along the way they shared meaningful looks, which communicated a desire to speak about particular things once they had the time and the opportunity to do so.

    Keiichi and Belldandy entered the living room, and seated themselves at one end of the table. Urd and Skuld were already present at the table, where they sat together, adjacent from the new arrivals. Their attention was focused on Keiichi, although for different reasons.
    "Was that all that you could come up with?" Urd asked of Keiichi, who sounded unimpressed.
    Assuming that she was referring to her choice of attire, Keiichi answered by saying, "I didn't want to try anything fancy just yet. I'm not like you, Urd."
    Urd, with a look of annoyance, pointed at Keiichi's chest and said, "I was talking about your lack of underwear."
    Keiichi looked down at herself and noticed how prominently her nipples pushed out the fabric of her T-shirt. She blushed and had the presence of mind to fold her arms over the offending projections.
    Leaning toward Keiichi, Urd assumed a playful expression on her face as she suggested, "I could help you with that."
    "I can take care of it myself, thanks." Was Keiichi's embarrassed reply.
    Urd was clearly disappointed, but she left Keiichi's personal space and didn't pursue the issue further. Instead she grumbled about the unfairness concerning how Keiichi's breasts were bigger than her own... again.
    While this exchange had been taking place, Skuld had quietly watched both Keiichi and Belldandy. She was trying to gauge the situation and, in particular, the relationship between them. They appeared to be fine with the current circumstances, but she knew that they could just be hiding what they really felt. By the time that Keiichi had lowered her arms, where the smooth shape of her breasts intimated the fact that she now wore a bra, she decided that more observation would be required in order to be certain of their status.
    A moment later Wynn and Peorth could be seen approaching the house from the garden, and they soon entered the room via the engawa. They both found a seat at the table, Peorth opposite of Urd and Skuld, and Wynn opposite of Keiichi and Belldandy. Keiichi stared at Wynn with some disbelief, because of the kind of outfit that she wore.
    Wynn was quick to catch Keiichi's stare, but she smiled disarmingly and said, "I apologize for earlier. I had to make sure that you weren't a bug."
    "Ah, it's okay..." Keiichi responded good-naturedly, to show that there weren't any hard feelings.
    "Allow me to introduce myself." Wynn went on to say. "My name is Wynn, goddess first-class, Jester of all trades, unlimited."
    Even though Keiichi was a bit confused about the "Jester of all trades" part, she was able to get her mind back on track before she jokingly said, "Morisato Keiichi. Although I'm not exactly my usual self."
    Wynn deliberately set her eyes on Keiichi's breasts and, with an amused smile, she said, "I can see that."
    "And that's why I arranged this inquiry." She added, her expression and tone becoming more serious and business-like. "Peorth has told me some things about the Angel Eater incident. However, since it was too recent for me to get wind of the report made by Lind, I was wondering if we could start by filling me in on what took place here."
    For the next several minutes the residents of the Morisato home did just that. They each related the events from their own point of view, and then they each chipped in when it came to general information. When they were done, Wynn felt satisfied about what she knew between the time of Lind's arrival and departure. And, in particular, she appeared to be intrigued by the role that Keiichi had played in thwarting Hild.
    "So, once Lind left, what became of the familiar at the center of the plot?" Wynn inquired, her attention focused on Belldandy. "Have you been able to adapt her to you?"
    "I wasn't able to, no." Was Belldandy's reply, who showed neither disappointment nor relief. "However, she was able to find herself a good companion."
    "She did?" Wondered Wynn aloud. Her interest piqued, she leaned forward and asked, "Who? It couldn't be that sealed demon in the closet, could it?"
    With the exception of Belldandy, who shook her head in the negative in response to her question (even though she wondered about the existence of the sealed demon), the other three goddesses, Urd, Skuld and Peorth, looked over at Keiichi quite blatantly. Wynn, noticing the focus of their attention, also turned to regard Keiichi, where she expected to find her answer.
    A little embarrassed by the attention, but knowing what she was expected to do, Keiichi finally said, "I should probably just show you..."
    A second later Wynn was surprised to see a bat-winged figure appear from Keiichi's back. Said bat-winged figure gripped Keiichi's shoulders and leaned over so its head was parallel with hers. It was the familiar-turned-angel, and she had a big, canine-flashing grin on her face.
    Keiichi gave her angel a friendly nudge, cheek against cheek, before she said, "Wynn, this is my angel: Hell's Angel."
    Wynn had a dumbfounded look on her face, as the cogs in her mind began to process the new information. However, even as she began to form a conclusion, she could sense that the tension in the room had increased. Peorth and Urd looked so serious that they looked kind of scary, while Skuld and Keiichi showed various signs of anxiety. Only Belldandy did well to hide her concerns, but Wynn could tell that she was holding Keiichi's hand beneath the table.
    "This just won't do." She thought to herself. "I need to put them at ease."
    "That's a lovely name." She told Keiichi, with a smile. "Inspired by the fact that she had come from Niflheim, right?"
    "Yeah, that's part of it." Replied Keiichi, her face expressing that she was happy to speak about her angel. "But I also remembered this motorcycle club from America, called the 'Hells Angels', and it just felt appropriate."
    "I imagine so." Stated Wynn. "I've heard how much you love motorcycles."
    "You have?" Keiichi inquired, blinking her eyes.
    "Oh, sure." Was Wynn's casual reply. "Information has its ways of getting around. You're quite the juicy morsel on the grape vine these days."
    "Ah, I see..." Keiichi responded, who trailed off on an awkward note.
    It was at about this time that Urd and Peorth traded looks that asked, "Wasn't this supposed to be an inquiry?" Coincidentally, however, Wynn had just finished setting up an ice-breaker that she thought of as a necessary step for broaching the heart of the inquiry.
    "Quite frankly, I've heard a lot of nice things about you, Morisato Keiichi." Wynn stated as she leaned upon the table, her chin resting on her clasped hands. "I've come here to enforce the laws, but I have a 'no harm, no foul' policy. So, unless you're harmful, you have nothing to worry about. Are you harmful?"
    Keiichi pointed to herself, got a nod from Wynn, and then turned to Urd and asked, "Am I harmful...?"
    "Why are you asking me that?" Answered Urd, who had a confused look on her face.
    Wynn looked over at Belldandy and asked, "What do you think?"
    Belldandy's face softened considerably as she stated, "My Keiichi is as far from being harmful as can be imagined."
    Urd leaned over toward Keiichi, nudged her in the side, and quietly said, "Unless that new body of yours came with a spine, that is."
    Keiichi and her angel gave Urd a pair of dirty looks in response.
    "Does everyone agree with Belldandy?" Wynn asked of those gathered before her.
    After receiving a positive answer from everyone, she said, "That's that, then. Even with the exception of Urd, the word of three reputable goddesses is enough."
    "Hey!" Urd complained indignantly.
    "Just joking." Wynn said before she stuck her tongue out at Urd. "Of course you count."
    Mollified, Urd smiled and decided to relax. So she opted to recline in mid-air rather than continue to sit on the floor. Now that she was sure that Wynn was still the same goddess that she knew and loved, she felt relaxed enough to do so.
    However, since Skuld hadn't been mollified (due in part to the fact that she didn't know Wynn very well), she asked, "But... how does this help?"
    Wynn sat up straight, crossed her arms, and proudly said, "Because, unlike many other goddesses that I know of (who are sticklers for the rules), I'm willing to find a way to help you escape trouble."
    "But they'll know if you're lying, right?" Asked Keiichi.
    "Who said anything about lying?" Wynn replied with a wink. "I have a clean record, you know."
    Impressed by the record of someone who had a questionable character, Keiichi said, "Wow, really?"
    "C'est absolument sans tache." Peorth stated. The bit of envy that she had conveyed answered for Keiichi what the foreign language could not.
    "I don't know..." Belldandy spoke up, expressing her uncertainty about the sort of actions Wynn might take.
    With a smile, and a devious twinkle in her eye, Wynn said, "That attitude didn't stop you from blocking the return gate with an ultimate magical warding mandala, did it?"
    "That... That was just a coincidence!" Skuld quickly said in Belldandy's defense.
    "Trust me," Wynn confided in Skuld, "I could recognize it for what it was, because it's the sort of thing that I'm familiar with doing myself."
    Wynn then turned to Belldandy and, with a meaningful stare, asked, "So, how about it? Would you be willing to find a recourse where everyone gets away scot-free?"
    "Of course." Belldandy agreed, who smiled despite herself.
    While Keiichi didn't understand the underlying importance of asking Belldandy for such permission, the others, who did understand, sighed with relief. Now they just had to find a "legitimate" solution so Belldandy wouldn't resort to self-sacrifice.
    "Good." Stated Wynn, who sounded satisfied. "Then let's get this inquiry started. Please tell me everything that you can, because even the smallest detail could be the key we're looking for."
    In response, everyone voiced their support.
    "Now, if my guess is correct," Wynn continued, "I'd say that Keiichi and her angel are at the center of what caused the soft reboot. Am I right?"
    "You are correct." Belldandy confirmed. "I hadn't made any progress with adapting her to me, and the others had become concerned. When Keiichi offered to hold on to her, like she had Lind's angel, she left me on her own and accepted the invitation."
    With a look of interest, Wynn queried, "Which eventually led to a naming ceremony, right?"
    "Yup." Urd tossed in.
    "Without a partner to share her life with, she was acting independently, as it would be in her nature to do. Each time she used her power, Keiichi would be drained and she would usually fall into unconsciousness." Belldandy explained. "However, after Peorth and Urd failed to solve the issue on their own," and at this point said goddesses flinched, "Keiichi proposed the naming ceremony as a solution. And since Keiichi could support an Angel Receptor, then she could also support an angel, so..."
    "...By claiming the angel, it would be possible for the angel to cooperate with Keiichi." Wynn interjected, who did nothing to hide her mounting excitement. "And in turn prevent unwanted use of the angel's power!"
    "Don't get too excited, now." Urd remarked with a wink. "You're on the job, remember?"
    "How can you say that!?" Wynn exclaimed, shocked. "How can I not be? You defeated the Angel Eater, and foiled the plans of Hild herself in the process! And then there's Keiichi, who could not only support an Angel Receptor, but an angel as well! And to be able to work with one that wasn't even her own..."
    "All in a day's work, really..." Keiichi said with an embarrassed chuckle.
    "Eh?" Voiced Wynn, confused.
    "That's pretty much what normally happens around here." Peorth clarified for Wynn, who regarded her intently. "I probably wouldn't believe it myself if I hadn't bore witness to similar things that I'd only read before in reports."
    "Things never stay dull around here." Urd added with a smile. "That's why I like it here."
    Wynn smiled to herself as she thought, "That's why I'm sure I'll like it here, too."
    Getting back to business, with a bit of effort on her part, she looked over at Keiichi and said, "Anyway, the only thing that I don't get, is what happened to Keiichi, here, and Yggdrasil. I imagine that the recognition process could have been used as a doorway into Yggdrasil; however, even if you all had a hand in some plot, there would have been no way that we wouldn't have noticed before the soft reboot. As far as anyone has been able to tell back in Heaven, any change that could have taken place had been instantaneous. If not for the brief trail that had led us to investigate here, I wouldn't be with you now, and there wouldn't be anything to investigate."
    Urd whistled in appreciation for what Keiichi's angel had been able to accomplish, which had been done nigh to perfection. The others, with the exception of Keiichi, showed some measure of surprise at the news.
    "Aside from recognizing Keiichi's angel, we did nothing." Stated Peorth. "However, we believe that Keiichi's angel had utilized a quantum black hole to do the job."
    "How is that possible...?" Wynn asked, who had a perplexed look on her face.
    "Well, it sort of happened like this..." Skuld spoke up.
    For the next few minutes Skuld gave in-depth details about how Keiichi had come to acquire a quantum black hole, as well as the estimation of its size before its use last night. By the end of her explanation, Wynn was, to say the least, shocked; shocked, but enlightened.
    "I see..." Wynn said as she considered the information. "Yes, that could account for everything."
    Then she regarded Keiichi and asked, "Which begs me to ask: what did your angel do, exactly?"
    Keiichi glanced over at her angel for a moment, appeared to communicate with her, and then, with a sheepish smile, she returned her attention to Wynn and said, "Well... I can't go in-depth since she can only explain it in a language that I don't understand, but she says that she should be able to explain enough to me for a goddess to figure out the intricate parts herself."
    Wynn nodded and said, "That's acceptable. Please, go on."
    "Okay..." Keiichi responded. She focused on what her angel was relating to her before she said, "She says that there are several ways to alter my information, but doing so from the database was the least volatile."
    "Pretty much." Urd agreed. "It's hacking into the systems that manage important tasks that will levy the big punishments. Demons are known for avoiding punishment by altering information in the database through indirect means. Such as the time when Mara cursed you, for example."
    Relieved to hear that, to an extent, Keiichi continued by saying, "However, since there weren't any useful programs in the database, she had to create some from scratch. If not for utilizing the quantum black hole, she wouldn't have been able to accomplish anything in the database before being discovered. The programs alone took her a day to set up. Using the programs to create the new 'me' successfully took..."
    "What is it?" Wynn asked, upon seeing the surprised look that appeared on Keiichi's face.
    Keiichi regarded her angel, as if to confirm what she had been told, and then returned her attention to the others and said, "I... She says it took her a month before she was able to program my new, er... software, as it were."
    "Is that possible...?" Peorth asked, with an expression of disbelief.
    "I think so." Answered a pensive Skuld. "Assuming she used the quantum black hole to form a wormhole through both space and time, and did her work from within..."
    "She says that she did." Keiichi confirmed before she regarded Skuld and said, "But I don't understand how it works. I thought wormholes were used for travel? That's how it is in science-fiction, anyway..."
    "They are." Skuld replied. "You can shorten the distance between two times and places by folding space-time. If you wanted to travel ten minutes into the future, but took an hour to traverse one side of the wormhole to the other, you'd still reach your destination at the right time even though you yourself experienced six times the amount of time in the wormhole."
    "Can we talk about something that doesn't give me a headache...?" Urd bemoaned as she rubbed at her temple.
    Skuld glared at Urd, but, before she could say anything, Wynn spoke up and said, "The details concerning that don't really matter. The fact that Keiichi's angel was able to do a month's worth of work instantaneously is all that we need to know, for the time being."
    Skuld pouted in response, but didn't say anything. Keiichi felt sorry for her, but she didn't know what to do about it. All that she could do was continue with the inquiry.
    "Now," Wynn continued, "can your angel tell me why you are registering as an anomaly? What have you become, exactly?"
    After hearing the explanation from her angel, Keiichi said, "Basically, it was her intent to make me more like yourselves, as far as your powers and capabilities are concerned. However, she knew that a special license was needed to create angels and familiars, and that any new demons and goddesses outside of procreation was strictly prohibited. So she used various elements of them all, and left an equal fraction of my human qualities, to the point where none were significant enough to classify me as any one of those things."
    "That's very prudent." Wynn acknowledged. "By becoming something that isn't recognized, there isn't a direct regulation against it."
    "But why do such a thing in the first place?" Wynn added, as she gave Keiichi a meaningful stare.
    Keiichi, too embarrassed to admit that her angel's actions had answered her desires, bowed her head and said, "Well... That's..."
    "Let's just assume that it was done with good intentions." Urd interjected.
    Wynn considered Urd for a moment before she said, "Well, I guess it isn't necessary to know..."
    Keiichi, relieved, shared a look of gratitude with Urd. In reply, she gave her a wink. Skuld, who caught the exchange, became subdued in thought as she recalled what she had overheard just before the naming ceremony.
    "But that's only because I've thought of a good solution to this problem." Wynn continued. "Granted, the angel did a good job to avoid any severe punishment. It's perfect for casting the blame on someone who won't be affected by it all that much."
    The others blinked their eyes in wonderment, for a moment, before Peorth spoke up and asked, "...Who?"
    "Hild, of course." Wynn stated cheerfully.
    Among the gasps of surprise from Peorth, Skuld and Keiichi, there was a thud from Urd, as she fell onto the floor.
    "Are you crazy!?" Urd bellowed once she had recovered from her fall.
    "I agree." Said Belldandy in a soft, yet stern, tone. "No one likes to be blamed for something that they didn't do."
    "You'll just have to trust me on this one." Stated Wynn in a confident tone. "She'll love it."
    "She will...?" Keiichi asked of Urd.
    Urd looked away from Keiichi's inquiring eyes and, doing her best to hide her embarrassment, she said, "Er... Anything's possible with her, I guess."
    "More importantly," Peorth spoke up, "is how you're going to cast the blame on her without lying."
    "It's a piece of cake, really." Wynn calmly replied. "Hild has been playing around here lately, right?"
    After receiving a positive answer, she said, "That alone is a circumstancial convenience. And hasn't Keiichi been transformed by a demon before?"
    After receiving another positive answer, she stated, "Now, add that to the fact that Hild is probably capable of doing what her once-familiar had done, and it's too plausible to be dismissed in an honest report."
    She then regarded Keiichi and, with a grin, she said, "The trick is my source of information. Keiichi can lie without detection, so she can relate the story that I have to tell her back to me, as if it were true. And if she speaks for everyone here..."
    Impressed, Urd said, "Keiichi becomes a filter for the lie detector. And since you will simply relate what you had been told by Keiichi in your report, no matter if you refer to any one of us in specific, you can't be caught for lying, either."
    "A very cunning plan..." Peorth grudgingly admitted.
    "Will it really work?" Skuld asked, who still showed some concern over the matter.
    "It's worked before." Wynn answered. For a moment she had a far-off look in her eye, as if she were remembering another occasion where she had used the same tactic.
    "What if Hild denies the allegation?" Belldandy asked.
    "We'll have nothing to worry about." Answered Wynn without concern. "Not only will the report be shown to have no lies, but my record will be weighing in on the report, as well. In the end, if we don't offer any other possibility for how it could have happened, Hild will still appear to be the most likely explanation; even if she denies it."
    Knowing what was on Belldandy's mind, by the look of her worried visage, Keiichi spoke up and asked, "She won't get into too much trouble, will she?"
    To herself, she added, "And I'd rather not experience what would happen if she decided to take her revenge out on us..."
    "Nah." Was Wynn's dismissive answer. "A slap on the wrist, at best. She'll probably use the same kind of tactics that we're using right now to escape the brunt of it. After all, hacking into the database without malicious intent toward Yggdrasil isn't too bad, all things considered. And a form of apotheosis that isn't regulated by law probably won't be a problem, though I imagine that there will be a regulation to cover it after this."
    "At any rate..." She continued, her eyes leveled on Keiichi. "Shall we get started?"
    Keiichi looked around the table to see how the others felt about the idea. With the exception of Urd, who appeared to like the idea, everyone else had mixed expressions on their faces. Then she considered her angel and knew that she would stick with her through thick and thin, so she decided go along with Wynn's plan, for better or worse.


Chapter 4


    After everything was said and done, and Wynn had her semi-fabricated report ready, the inquiry officially ended and everyone went their separate ways. Skuld had gone to her room, while Belldandy had returned to the task of preparing breakfast. Peorth had been the only one to stay at the table. As for Keiichi, she now stood in the hallway and looked down at the other end of it, where Wynn was phoning in her report. She couldn't hear what was being said but, seeing as she had been told to repeat a lot of information back to her, she had a good idea of what was being told to the person on the other end of the line. So she wasn't there because she wanted to hear what was being said.
    "'I wonder who she is,' is what you're thinking, right?"
    Keiichi looked over her shoulder, at Urd, who had approached her from behind, before returning her attention to Wynn.
    "She seems... different, somehow." Then, when a thought occurred to her, she quickly added, "Aside from the outfit, I mean."
    "She is." Was Urd's simple reply.
    Confused by Urd's straightforward response, which did nothing in the way of answering many of the related questions that were on her mind, she turned around to face Urd and asked, "How so?"
    Urd regarded Wynn with a serious expression, for a moment, before she looked down at Keiichi and said, "I don't know. It was long before my time. But, if what I've heard is true, it's best not to mention it within earshot. She isn't who she once was, and that's about all that I can tell you."
    "I see..." Keiichi responded in a subdued yet thoughtful tone.
    Then, suddenly, with a mix of realization, surprise and confusion, she uttered, "What the...?"
    "What is it?" Urd inquired, with a serious expression on her face.
    "My name's Manna?" Said person muttered as both a statement and a question. Having become more confused than anything else, she said, "But... I'm Morisato Keiichi. And yet I'm sure that I'm also Manna...?"
    Urd blinked in response, thought about it, then, realizing what must have happened, she began to say, "That must mean..."
    "...That the system now recognizes her extension?" Wynn suddenly interjected from behind the newly-dubbed Manna. "Yup."
    Turning aside, so Urd was on her left, and Wynn her right, Manna looked up at Urd and asked, "Extension...?"
    "It's not much unlike what you're familiar with, regarding the computers on Earth." Urd explained. "Humans, goddesses and demons, among everything else, have different file extensions; to put it simply. For instance, your angel probably took a month to put you together — not because of the amount of data itself — but because she had to make several different encoding styles work together harmoniously when Yggdrasil didn't have an extension that it could utilize."
    "I see..." Was Manna's thoughtful response. "But what does that have to do with my new name?"
    "That has everything to do with me." Wynn happily informed her. "I just thought that it'd make more sense to give you a more appropriate name."
    "..." Was all that Manna could formulate in her mind, as she gave Wynn an incredulous look.
    With an expression of amusement on her face, Urd said, "Well, I must say: it sounds like an appropriate name, to me."
    "What do you mean?" Manna inquired, who regarded Urd with an intense look.
    Seeing an opportunity to escape unwanted scrutiny, since she was the one at the heart of the reason for Manna's inquiry, Wynn pretended to recall something and said, "Ah! I just remembered the little errand that I have to run. Be good, children."
    "Hey!" Urd complained, as Wynn entered the living room.
    However, upon seeing Manna's attention diverted by Wynn's departure, she thought it prudent to take evasive action before it was too late. So she turned around and attempted to sneak away. Before she could make a complete step worth of progress, however, she heard a certain someone clear her throat and ask, "And just where do you think you're going?"
    Urd looked over her shoulder and saw Manna waiting for an answer, her arms crossed beneath her bosom and a frown upon her face. So she pointed ahead of herself and lamely said, "I've got an errand to run, too...?"
    In response, Manna maintained her current expression and stance.
    Urd turned around to face her, sighed and said, "What do you want me to say? I just thought that it was a good name for you..."
    "Then what was with the face, huh?" Manna challenged, who had jabbed her forefinger at Urd's face. "My name isn't some kind of inside joke, is it?"
    "Of course not." Urd replied with a straight face; or would have, had her eyes not been crossed as a result of looking down Manna's finger.
    Manna rested her hands on her new hips, looked skeptical, and asked, "How come I don't believe you?"
    In an act of melodrama, Urd made exaggerated gestures while she said, "It all began in your childhood. You made a promise with your best friend, the person that you trusted the most in the whole wide world, during a Summer that was bound to bring nostalgia in the years yet to come: surely a reminder of youth, innocence and discovery. Alas! Your best friend betrayed your trust, and your world was shattered. You no longer knew anything for certain anymore, and had to re-examine everything. And on the last day of that Summer, whose sunlight couldn't thaw the Winter that had overcome your heart, you vowed to never trust anyone unconditionally ever again."
    She paused and kept her head bowed, as well as a clenched fist over her heart, for a second; no doubt for dramatic effect. Then she raised her head, smiled, gave a wink and said, "Did I call it, or what?"
    Manna stroked her chin and, with a sly smile, said, "You could say that..."
    Urd watched, with some surprise, as Manna's outfit shifted and reformed into that of a nurse's outfit, much like the kind that she herself wore on occasion. Then she noticed that one of her hands had been behind her back, when she raised it into view to reveal a syringe that had a measure of liquid in its tube.
    "Which is to say," Manna went on to add, "that you asked for a house call."
    "But that's my schtick..." Urd complained, with a bit of a pout.
    Manna put on a smile, depressed the plunger, which caused a stream of liquid to spurt forth from the hypodermic needle, and said, "All the more reason for why you should accept it. If you can do it, then why can't I?"
    "You're not special enough, like me?" Urd offered.
    "Besides," she added, pointing at the syringe, "is that even a truth serum?"
    "Maybe..." Was Manna's enigmatic reply. "Could be anything. Could do anything. I don't know: because I didn't make it."
    While regarding the syringe with a wary eye, Urd said, "You don't say..."
    "Only one way to find out." Manna cheerfully replied, before she lunged toward Urd with the needle.
    Urd leapt out of the way, got into a defensive position, and warned, "Don't think that I won't defend myself!"
    Manna stepped forward and, with a grin, said, "But that wouldn't be fair... considering all of the times you've taken advantage of me. So, if you do, I'll have no choice but to take away your TV privileges."
    "You wouldn't dare!" Urd gasped.
    Peorth stepped out of the living room at that moment and, from behind Manna, saw them squaring off. Against her better judgement, she asked, "What's going on?"
    When Manna turned her head aside, to address Peorth, Urd narrowed her eyes as she saw an opportunity present itself. She leapt into the air, flipped over both of them, and landed behind Peorth. Before either could react, she wrapped an arm around Peorth's neck and took her hostage.
    "Don't move!" She told Manna. "Or the rose bush gets pruned!"
    With a face that expressed just how unamused she was by the situation that she found herself in, Peorth flatly stated, "Je ne suis pas amusé."
    "So..." Manna said, her eyes narrowed. "You've stooped to involving an innocent."
    "Her? Pff! An innocent!?" Urd questioned with obvious amusement, before she allowed herself to laugh outright. "Are you kidding?"
    "Non." Peorth quietly spoke up. She slowly turned her head aside, revealing to Urd the dark and foreboding shadow cast over her visage. "The question is: are you kidding?"
    Feeling nervous, Urd looked up and said, "er, well—" before she noticed a couple of thorny vines looming above her head.
    "Ah?"
    She was on her hands and knees a second later, trying to crawl away, as Peorth and her angel whipped her. Unfortunately, since one of her legs had been snagged by one of her vines, she couldn't escape her wrath.
    "So I've lost my innocence, have I!?" Peorth bellowed.
    "Mercy!" Urd cried out. "Mercy!"
    Peorth ceased her assault before she turned aside, crossed her arms, and said, "Well, since you now understand... You're welcome."
    "I wasn't thanking you...!" Urd retorted, once she got herserf turned around and sat on the floor, cross-legged.
    "Oh?" Peorth responded. She looked down at Urd from the corner of her eye and asked, "So you haven't learned anything, yet?"
    "It was a joke!" Was Urd's anxious reply, as she held her hands up and waved them. "A joke!"
    Manna squat down beside her and, unceremoniously, squirted some of the syringe's contents into her face. Before Urd could complain, she paused, sampled some of the liquid that had fallen onto her lips, looked thoughtful, then said, "Wait. This is just water."
    "Joke's on you." Manna said, smiling indulgently.
    Urd shrugged her shoulders, sighed good-naturedly, and said, "You got me."
    "But only because I went easy on you." She added, and returned the smile with one of her own. "You're a rookie goddess-demon-human-thingy, after all."
    "I'm sure that's it." Peorth muttered under her breath.
    Wynn, who had just finished setting the table for Belldandy, entered and, sounding disappointed, said, "Awwww... So I missed the fun?"
    "Not really." Urd said as she got to her feet.
    "Oh, well." Wynn said. "Anyway, Belldandy asked that I inform everyone that breakfast is ready. Where can I find Skuld?"
    "She's probably in her room." Answered Urd. "I'll get her."
    "I'll be ready in a moment, once I'm finished with the phone." Peorth elected to inform them.
    Wynn tilted her head to the side and asked, "You haven't done that, yet?"
    Peorth stared purposefully at Urd and said, "I got held up."
    Urd rolled her eyes before she turned around and walked away. A few steps later and she disappeared around the corner. Peorth followed suit; except she went in the opposite direction, where the phone was located.
    Wynn suddenly spread her feet apart, until they were parallel with her shoulders, and then she launched her fist into the air and declared, "Let us feast!"
    She maintained that pose during the brief time that it took for her outfit to change. In a few seconds, where once stood someone who looked like a jester, now stood a woman in a long-sleeved blouse and a pair of blue jeans... as well as a baby's bib. Manna probably would have blushed longer, due to the show that she had been given, if that little oddity hadn't caught her attention. But she felt that it'd be best not to question it, and decided to change her own attire to what she had been wearing before.
    As they stepped into the living room, Wynn leaned closer to Manna and playfully whispered, "you forgot your bra, dear," much to her embarrassment.

    Once everyone was gathered at the table, and began to eat their breakfast, Wynn addressed Manna and asked, "So, what are your plans?"
    "Plans?" Came Manna's muffled response, as she scooped rice into her mouth.
    "You know..." Wynn said, and stared at Manna inquisitively. "Friends? Family? That sort of thing."
    "You don't seem all that concerned." Peorth observed.
    "Strange, isn't it?" Manna casually replied. She set her bowl of rice down and, after looking around the table, she continued, saying, "I didn't choose this form, and thus I never expected to accept it, but... I did."
    While Urd was sure that she knew some of the potential reasoning for her decision, she felt that there was something more than she was aware of. So, her curiosity piqued, she decided to be the one to ask, "Why did you?"
    Manna shrugged her shoulders and said, "It just made sense."
    "I had a lot of time to think about it, when I was unconscious." She went on to explain. "And I confronted my angel about it, too. I did that first, actually... I didn't expect what she had done, after all. I figured I'd be the same, with the exception of sharing my life with an angel. But it's so different being able to remember everything in your life. And my angel made me aware of other things, too."
    "For instance: have you ever had that feeling that you were looking for something, but you didn't know what it was?" She offered. "That's what I discovered."
    "Sounds like some pretty deep stuff." Wynn commented. "What did you find?"
    Manna lowered her eyes, blushed, and, as she stared down at her fidgeting hands, she said, "Well... I'd rather not say..."
    "Seems that some things never change." Teased Urd.
    Now that the subject had been put to rest, Peorth found an opportunity to re-address what Wynn had brought up before, asking, "Still... What of your friends and family? Aren't you concerned about them?"
    "Well, yeah..." Manna replied, and scratched the side of her face. "I figured I'd cross that bridge when I got to it. But I think things will work out, in the end."
    "I think so, too." Belldandy happily shared.
    Urd shook her head, smiled wryly, and said, "Well, being optimistic might help, at any rate."
    While everyone else continued to converse, about this and that, Skuld kept to herself. She stole glances at Manna every now and again while she ate, but she was otherwise preoccupied by her thoughts. Her silence, however, did not go unnoticed for long.
    Urd leaned toward her a bit before quietly saying, "Hey, squirt. You're being awfully quiet."
    Skuld pointedly ignored her, and made a show of being occupied by her meal.
    "Robot clamped your tongue?" Urd quipped.
    Skuld turned her head away and said, "It's none of your business."
    Urd would have teased her brooding sister further, but her attention was diverted by Manna, who said, "I don't see why not. The more the merrier, right?"
    "You can share my room, if you'd like." Belldandy graciously offered.
    Turning her attention to Wynn, Urd asked, "Huh? What'd I miss?"
    "Looks like I'll be spending my vacation here." She answered, grinning. "We've got a lot of catching up to do, don't we?"
    Urd returned her grin with one of her own and said, "You could say that."
    "Maybe I should just make this place a holiday retreat for goddesses." Manna joked to Belldandy.
    Belldandy clapped her hands together and said, "I think that's a wonderful idea."
    Manna could only sigh in response.

    After breakfast, Manna led Belldandy to a place where they could speak in private. She followed her in silence, even though it appeared that there had been no pre-determined destination. Eventually, once they found themselves on the far side of the koi pond, amidst some trees, where they were much closer to the perimeter wall than the house, she stopped and turned around to face her.
    "Sorry for bringing you out here like this..." Manna apologized, and rubbed the back of her head.
    Belldandy smiled and, being the understanding soul that she was, said, "I don't mind."
    A short distance away, in some bushes, Skuld pushed aside some leaves so she could keep an eye on them. It was due more to some irrational requirement than necessity, since she was more interested in what she might hear from them, but she reasoned that it may prove helpful.
    "I just have to know." She thought to herself, her eyes narrowed.
    Beside her, she was surprised to hear the faint sound of rustling leaves. When she turned to look, she found her sister, Urd, peering out of the bushes, right next to her.
    "What do you think you're doing?" Skuld hissed, and glared angrily at her.
    Without turning to regard her, Urd quietly said, "I could ask you the same thing."
    Skuld heard some more noise on her other side and, upon looking, she saw Peorth.
    "Don't mind me." She absently stated, her attention focused on Manna and Belldandy.
    Then Skuld felt someone tap her on the shoulder. When she looked over her shoulder, she saw Wynn squatting behind her.
    Smiling innocently, she said, "So, is this what you do for fun around here?"
    Skuld turned away and stared forward, her brow furrowed, feeling both grief-stricken and exasperated. She felt justified in her current endeavor, knowing that she wasn't spying on them for her own personal entertainment. Even though she didn't really know what to think, or what she wanted to think, about the recent turn of events. She could only hope that a better understanding of the situation would clear up her confusion.
    Since Manna appeared hesitant to speak, Belldandy, out of concern, asked, "How are you feeling?"
    "I don't know, just yet..." Manna replied, looking away. "I have so many things I want to say, but..."
    "You don't have to explain yourself." Belldandy assured her, in an attempt to assuage her concerns.
    Manna turned her back on her, bowed her head and, sounding conflicted, said, "I know, but... Everything had been so clear, at the time. My decision made perfect sense. It still does, it's just... I felt that, if anyone should know exactly why I accepted this form, it should be you. And yet..."
    Belldandy embraced her from behind, silencing whatever else she might have said. She relaxed in her arms, and only then did she realize how tense she had been. For some reason she had thought that she might never be able to enjoy this kind of experience ever again: not because she had doubted Belldandy, but because she had doubted herself.
    With their cheeks resting together, Belldandy closed her eyes, smiled and gently said, "The only thing that matters, to me, is that you made the decision. You found an opportunity to express yourself, and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way."
    "Belldandy..." Manna sighed, relieved.
    While they basked in each other's company, Skuld, disappointed by the outcome, leaned back on her haunches and withdrew her hands from their job, now that she had no need to see what they were doing anymore. She hadn't been enlightened in any way and, as if to spite her efforts, she realized that she might even be more confused than before. The state of their relationship, as it was now, still eluded her.
    "Perhaps you're looking for answers in the wrong place." Wynn quietly suggested.
    Skuld felt like telling her to mind her own business, but she bit her tongue, in part because she still didn't know the goddess very well. But she had otherwise given her practical advice, so... Aside from asking Manna and Belldandy directly, however, she was yet to think of another way of finding out what she wanted to know. As far as the most obvious option was concerned, it was, of course, out of the question.
    At that moment Belldandy had drawn away from Manna, who had turned around to catch her eyes. They remained like that for a time, smiling and holding their hands between themselves.
    Then, upon noticing how she had to look up a bit more than usual to meet Belldandy's eyes, Manna's smile wavered a bit as she said, "Ah... It looks like I've lost a few centimeters in height."
    Belldandy, recalling the issue that Manna had brought up about her height all those years ago, smiled with amusement and reasoned, "Now that you're a girl... That isn't a problem, right?"
    Chuckling in response, Manna said, "I guess s—"
    "What was that...?" She suddenly asked, and looked around with obvious concern.
    Everyone in both groups could sense something, and began to observe their surroundings. The most obvious change to their environment had been the complete and utter silence, which was followed closely by the stillness. There were no birds to be seen flying in the sky, nor any singing their songs. And there was no wind to move the leaves of the trees, to create a chorus of rustlings.
    Manna, feeling anxious, observed, "It's so quiet... What's going on?"
    Wynn looked up at the sky and thought, "I was wondering when she would get here."
    Belldandy erected a barrier around Manna and herself a second later, just before the world around them was obscured by an intense, white light. They could feel the ground beneath them shudder, and hear the faint sound of an explosion; both a fraction of the blast's effects, which the barrier was sparing them from.
    When they could see again, they saw that everything on the property, the house and the shrine in particular, were utterly leveled and scattered. Even sections of the perimeter wall were missing. And, right in the middle of the devastation, there appeared to be a large crater; although they couldn't measure its depth because of the angle produced by their distance from it.
    Shortly after taking in the sight, they, much to their relief, found the others nearby, who were standing up from behind the remains of some bushes.
    "You all managed to get blown over here?" Manna queried.
    "Oh, sure." Urd lied. "As if that wasn't obvious. And thanks for your concern."
    Appearing both ashamed and apologetic, Manna managed to utter a quiet apology before Peorth anxiously pointed towards the crater and stuttered, "I-is that...?"
    When everyone looked in the direction that she had indicated, they could see someone's head rising above the rim of crater. Not just anyone's, but a certain someone whose skin and hair matched Urd's. It only took a few more seconds for them to step out of the crater, to reveal themselves in their entirety.
    Upon seeing how furious Hild appeared to be, and noticing how she was approaching them with purposeful steps, Manna gulped and thought, "Oh, goddess... We're going to Hell!"


Epilogue


    Soon the CEO of the demons stood before them. There was a malevolent aura about her, that made the cold fire in her eyes all the more menacing. With the exception of Skuld, who joined Manna behind Belldandy, all of the goddesses stood their ground, ready for a confrontation. The moment was tense, made all the more stressful the longer that Hild did nothing but stare them down.
    At last, in a tone that bespoke of a fury just inside of one's control, she asked, "Who is responsible for casting the blame upon us?"
    "I am." Was Wynn's defiant answer, and stepped forward.
    "What are you doing?" Urd demanded, under her breath.
    Without turning to regard her, Wynn quietly muttered, "Just stay put. I'll handle this."
    Hild approached her, and stopped a half of an arm's length away. Then she leaned into her face and asked, "Do you know what we do to goddesses who sully our name unjustly?"
    "Do your worst." Wynn challenged, and boldly matched the intensity of her stare.
    Silence reigned for a time. Those around them watched as they continued to stare into each other's eyes, as if they were engaging in a battle of wills. Then, as soon as Wynn blinked, Hild made a gleeful outburst, which startled and confused those around them.
    "We've defeated you this time, my dear!" Hild crowed. "Oh, ho, ho!"
    "Blast!" Wynn exclaimed. "You just wait until next time. After I've trained under ten times that of Earth's gravity!"
    They regarded each other for a second longer before they embraced.
    "What's going on?" Manna posed to anyone who would answer, confused.
    As she watched the scene before her, Urd thought, "I knew that she was a friend to many demons, but... Come on!"
    After they pulled away from their embrace, Hild asked, "Gosh, how long has it been?"
    Wynn smirked and countered with, "Since we last met, or since you last defeated me in a staring contest?"
    Hild mussed up her hair while she said, "Oh, you big silly!"
    "Still won't join our side?" She posed a second later, and nudged her in the side with her elbow.
    Wynn shook her head, as if the question had been expected, and said, "Then who would be around to be a bad influence on the other goddesses, remember?"
    Hild looked up thoughtfully and said, "Oh, right. We are always forgetting that."
    Urd approached her mother at that time and, unamused by her behavior, she crossed her arms and asked, "What are you doing here?"
    Hild smiled sweetly as she regarded her daughter and said, "Do you recall that itsy-bitsy, teeny-tiny li'l favor that we've yet to collect?"
    "Nope." Urd replied, and turned around to walk away. "Don't remember anything of the sort."
    Hild placed her hand on her shoulder, before she could go anywhere, and said, "Oh, but we think you'll find it to be quite agreeable."
    "I'll be the judge of that." Was Urd's skeptical reply.
    Hild looked around, found Manna, and asked, "'Manna' now, right?" After receiving a belated nod in reply, she motioned for her to approach and, with a slight smile, said, "Cute name... Would you be a dear and come here for a sec?"
    Manna looked toward Belldandy for advice, and received a nod. So she made her way to Hild, with Belldandy a step behind her. Once she reached her destination, Hild asked, "Do you wish to remain in that form?"
    "Yes..." Was Manna's cautious reply. "Why?"
    "Wonderful!" Hild gushed, before she hugged the confused girl. "Mommy's so totally proud of you!"
    "What!?" All but Belldandy and Wynn exclaimed. Manna had as well, technically, but her cry had been muffled by Hild's bosom.
    "That's right." Hild told everyone, and winked. "The responsibility was placed upon our shoulders, so, for all intents and purposes, we are now her official, and lovely, guardian."
    "But...!" She went on to say, and held up a finger. "Obviously not without supervision from her peers, soooo...~"
    "Don't tell me..." Urd groaned, when she caught the significant look that her mother had given her.
    "Why, yes!" Hild cheerfully confirmed what her daughter had been thinking, and pulled her into a hug with Manna. "We can all spend some quality time together! Isn't that just so wonderful?"
    While Urd was trying her best to maintain her composure, Manna, who was confused by what was going on, said, "I don't get it."
    "That's why we're here, our little cutie-pie!" Hild proclaimed, and smiled down at her. "There's soooo much for you to learn... And who better to teach you all that you'll need to know about your powers... And more~?"
    While that last addition disconcerted Manna, as well as Peorth and Urd, no one had any time to comment on it before she appeared to remember something, saying, "Speaking of power..."
    She released Urd, who wasted no time in putting some distance between them, and took off a bracelet from her other arm, one which no one remembered her wearing during her last visit. She proffered it to Manna and said, "Be a dear and put this on, 'kay?"
    Manna regarded it with a wary eye and asked, "What will it do?"
    "That would be the seal that will restrict your power, until you learn to control it." Peorth informed her, sounding resigned. "So this isn't some kind of joke..."
    "I'm so glad we're on the same page." Was Hild's satisfied, if somewhat amused, response.
    Urd turned to Peorth and pointedly asked, "What does she mean by that?"
    "It's as it sounds." Peorth sighed. "Along with preparing a new identity, a job which I have been given, I was told that someone would be sent here to deliver a seal."
    Urd turned to face her mother and, with a frown, asked, "But why her?"
    Hild dropped her pleasant demeanor and, with a tone that made Manna feel even more uncomfortable being so close to her, said, "That's because we were expecting your little trick. It was so easy for us to use our foreknowledge to our advantage. The fact that our darling Manna here is not opposed to the change that we had supposedly wrought, which pretty much amounts to nothing more than an unconventional apotheosis, we, as her benefactor, are the first in line to oversee her development." Then she smiled, turned on the charm, and added, "Right?"
    "See?" Wynn spoke up, smiling. "I told you that she'd love it."
    "You were in on it?" Urd queried, a look of surprise on her face.
    "Not really." She replied, and shrugged. "I just know her well enough. Though it didn't hurt to know that she was listening in, as well."
    "Either way," Hild said, "she wears the seal."
    She shook the bracelet, to draw Manna's attention back to it, and said, "So, can you please put this on, for li'l old us?"
    Manna, not seeing what else to do, and hearing no objections from anyone, decided to accept it. She inspected it more closely before she slipped it past her hand, where she left it to dangle around her wrist. It seemed wide enough to slip off, if she wasn't careful, but, somehow, even when she tried pull it down her hand, it wouldn't budge beyond the base of her palm.
    "Now for one final matter..." Hild stated.
    "Like we said before," she went on to explain, "because the manner in which this was all done was just a wee bit questionable, one of the terms of the arrangement dictated that we be supervised by her friends."
    "'Wee bit', my butt..." Urd muttered under her breath.
    "But," Hild continued, "under our own condition, as well." She regarded her daughter with a meaningful stare and stated, "Which is to say: only if everyone from both parties agrees to the arrangement."
    Urd, her arms crossed, frowned and asked, "And what if someone were to disagree?"
    Hild smiled and cheerfully said, "Then that would prevent us from teaching our li'l protégé, which would, in turn, render an apotheosis meaningless. So..."
    "You'd change her back." Urd said with a sigh, and looked frustrated.
    Hild clasped her hands together with joy and said, "We knew you were smart!"
    Manna looked between mother and daughter, and realized what was going on. So she addressed Urd and softly said, "You don't have to do it for my sake..."
    Urd closed her eyes, and her brow furrowed under the stress of her thoughts. Her sisters, Peorth and Wynn watched her in silence, knowing that a lot of weight had been placed upon her shoulders. Although that's not to say that Hild hadn't put most everyone else on the spot, too. Peorth and Skuld also didn't like the idea of Hild living with them, but were willing to go along with either Belldandy or Manna's wishes, or both, for one reason or another. Belldandy herself felt conflicted as well, between what her sister and her love desired. But if her sister was willing, then she would be there to support her.
    "The things I do for love..." Urd muttered to herself, upon opening her eyes.
    Then, making sure that it would be loud enough for her mother to hear, she said, "Fine."
    Hild leapt over to her daughter, abandoning Manna in the process, and hugged her, saying, "Oh, we are so delighted!"
    "I bet you are..." Urd grumbled, refusing to reciprocate the hug and the sentiment.
    After Hild finished indulging herself, at her daughter's expense, she decided to take care of what business remained. So she stepped toward the crater and said, "Since we're in such a good mood, you can leave this mess to us."
    "But you're the one who made it in the first place..." Peorth, Skuld, Urd and Manna thought to themselves.
    With a flourish of her hands, Hild made a display of her power by returning everything to its prior condition, before her arrival, almost as quickly as one could blink their eyes. What was once complete and utter devastation was once again an inhabitable place, for human, goddess and demon alike. She left no question as to whether or not it was an amazing feat.
    Hild then went up to Manna's side, placed an arm across her shoulders and, with a wink, told her, "Soon you'll be able to do that, too. You'll make your mama proud, won't you?"
    "Gah!?" Was Manna intelligent response.
    Behind them, Urd was glaring daggers at her mother, and almost felt tempted enough to strike her with lightning. Wynn watched on, amused. Belldandy regarded her older sister with a look of concern on her face. Skuld was worried about what the future would bring, now that Hild would be living with them. As for Peorth...
    She held a hand over her face and thought, "Why do I have a bad feeling about all of this?"


Author's Notes


    Because I didn't know exactly where to take this after the premise, and because I have other stories on my plate (which I do have endings for), I decided to leave it open for others to continue; or to rewrite it, if anyone so desired. If you happen to be someone like that, be a pal and send me a note: because I'd like to see the results.
    If you notice any holes, they were more than likely left there on purpose. I felt that, since I was planning to leave it open, certain things (like all of the reasons behind Manna's decision to accept her new form, what Skuld was worried about, and Wynn's past) could be fully explained later, by someone else. Otherwise, I did come up with my own explanations.
    Other than that, I hope you enjoyed the premise. When the idea came to me, I just had to write it. Hopefully this will inspire others, too; but I'm not counting on it. ;p