Ah My Goddess Fan Fiction ❯ Conflicted Hearts ❯ Chapter 5 ( Chapter 5 )

-Thanks to all the reviews! Given that the AMG (or OMG, whichever you prefer) isn't exactly the largest and popular section, getting nineteen reviews is pretty good! Although please, don't spam me with reviews either.

 

-Now, to clear a few things up first, OFFICIALLY, this story is still set after the OVAs, with manga (and movie) elements in it. And the manga elements are a little different given the timeline changes I've made (from where I did it, starting with the end of the OVAs, them losing the power and Keiichi needing to make moon rocks, general Mara attacks, the beach incident, Peorth arc, introduction to Chihiro, hence the store, and now, Troubadour arc while skipping the sick Belldandy and the she-male Keiichi. Sorry to be blunt but there was a reason why Troubadour could tell that Keiichi wasn't really a female. :-P).

 

-Second, Peorth and Keiichi. I actually thought about that issue, and I will address it once Peorth comes along (and you could probably guess the problems Skuld will have once she tells her the `plan'). BTW Zentrodie, forgot to mention it in the last update (actually, was trying to keep the AN in the last chapter from becoming TOO long), I partially got that idea from you! As well as the website I mentioned in the previous chapter. That little part, about a `goddess like Bell', helped me form Skuld's plan that, until recently, was a big question mark. Though I am still open for suggestions (especially for problems and changes Skuld will have to do given `unforeseen' circumstances)! Oh, and I loved your dark AMG story! Maybe a little too dark, but still, loved it!

 

-Third, back to Belldandy, another thing I, well, just didn't mention in the last author's notes, the reason why I like Belldandy so much is the fact that she is NOT like the other `destined' harem girls, in that she isn't a violent, short tempered BEEPS, like Ryoko in Tenchi Muyo, Akane in Ranma, and Naru in Love Hina. Are Japanese men masochists or something? Granted, my favorite girl in Love Hina is Mokoto, also violent, but in general, the less violent, kind and gentle, CAN actually cook, girl is the one I prefer. And, is not the one that is the `destined' one (I know Tenchi Muyo is still up in the air, and at least Ryoko isn't attacking Tenchi himself, but still, what's with the violent girls? Even Ayeka, the most likely `alternative', is a little violent. Why not…um, Washu? Or, GROWN UP Sasami/Tsunami? Those would be better IMO).

 

-And finally, Urd's mother, haven't gotten there yet in the mangas (fell a little behind on the reading since I've been a little busy recently). But you can pretty much bet she will make an appearance!

 

-Another long Author's notes. Sorry. But, one thing I promise is that if I do these long Author's Notes, I promise an even longer chapter! So, without further ado, on with the story!

 

Whirlwind

 

Keiichi was shivering from the wind that, strangely, seemed to be emanating from this, Troubadour guy. Keiichi continued to stare at the weird looking man, even ignoring his current state of dress at the moment. `Belldandy said he was one of Urd's old flames…so why is he back? Does he want Urd again?' He narrowed his eyes, before he quickly blinked when realization hit him. `Wait, shouldn't I be happy about this?' Suddenly, a cool wind blew just then, causing him to shiver. “Eek!” He looked back at himself and his current state of dress. “Um, Chihiro, are you done with me because, um, it's getting a little cold here and…”

 

Chihiro continued to stare at the strange looking man when she heard Keiichi's pleading voice. “Yeah yeah yeah, you're done for today. Thanks to this Legolas fanatic here, he's sucking all the attention!”

 

“Thanks Chihiro.” Keiichi weakly replied as he carefully snuck back into the store, hugging the sign he held in a veil attempt to be just a little more modest.

 

Troubadour plucked a few strings from his harp and started to speak with a melody. “I am here…to once again share my love with you!” Troubadour started to walk towards Urd.

 

Chihiro on the other hand, wasn't going to let this weirdo off the hook. “Hold it right there freak!” She stepped in front of the man, blocking his path towards Urd. “First of all, this isn't some cosplay convention for Lord of the Rings or Elfen Lied fanboy.”

 

“Cosplay?” Troubadour looked at her with confusion.

 

Chihiro wasn't finished. “Second, you're taking away my customers with your freak show! Third…” She looked him up and down. “Where the heck did you get that stupid costume?”

 

Urd, who turned her gaze away from Troubadour, suddenly widened her eyes as she heard what was happening behind her. She spun around to see Chihiro confronting Troubadour. “Um Chihiro…”

 

“Costume?” Troubadour continued to look at Chihiro with confusion. “This is no costume, for I am the plum tree spirit!”

 

Chihiro nearly gagged at that last bit. “You're…not serious are you? plum tree spirit? Pdddtttttt!” Chihiro finally couldn't take it any longer. She started laughing uncontrollably. “Plum tree spirit? You seriously believe that? BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! No, this is beyond weirdness! BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

 

Belldandy, who was initially glad to see Troubadour, began to frown as she sense a energy building up around Troubadour. “Oh no, I almost forgot…”

 

Troubadour's eyebrow started to twitch. “You dare mock me mortal?” Energy started to gather around his hand.

 

“CHIHIRO!” Urd rushed Chihiro and knocked her to the ground.

 

Moments after Urd got Chihiro away; Troubadour unleashed a ton of energy. This caused a creator where Chihiro once stood.

 

Chihiro, at first shocked over what just occurred, turned into pure rage as she realized what the freak just did. “He…he tried to hurt me! With, with whatever that was! What the hell did you try to do to me?” She screamed at Troubadour. “Oh the cops are going to here about this!”

 

Keiichi, fully dressed, rushed out and stood next to Belldandy. “Did I miss anything?”

 

Belldandy sighed. “Troubadour attacked Chihiro. Thankfully, Urd got her out of the way.”

 

“Oh.” Keiichi said before the full force of what Belldandy said hit him. “Wait, he WHAT?”

 

“Chihiro…” Urd looked at her with a determined expression. “That wouldn't be necessary.”

 

“WHAT?” Chihiro glared at Urd. “But he tried to hurt ME! Or worse…”

 

“I know.” Urd glared at Troubadour. “However, I don't want the cops involved. Things could get…messy. I will just take care of him on my own!”

 

“I want to know everything about him!” Keiichi insisted, his dislike for him growing.

 

Belldandy looked down in disappointment. “Well, Urd hasn't told me much about him. The only thing I do know is that it was him that broke up with her.”

 

“He did?” Keiichi said with a little surprise. Though, as he looked at him more, maybe it shouldn't be all that surprising. “Then why is he back?”

 

“I do not know.” Belldandy answered honestly.

 

Urd walked up to Troubadour and glared at him.

 

Troubadour, who quickly forgot about the disrespectful mortal once Urd came into his view, decided to once again, reiterated his `love' to her. “Oh my love! I shall now share my…”

 

Urd turned away from him. “Please just go away.”

 

Troubadour seemed to sadden at Urd's response. “But Urd…”

 

“I am not going to go back to someone that rejected me years ago.” Urd said at the now disappointed Troubadour. “So just go back to wherever you came from!”

 

The little listening bug perked up after hearing this.

 

Morisato's Residence - Skuld's Lab

 

“Urd is rejecting him?” A big smile appeared on Skuld's face. “YES! Maybe getting rid of him won't be so hard after all! Once he is out of the way, my perfect plan can move forward!” Skuld did a victory pose. “MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

 

Whirlwind

 

“Why? Why my lovely honey baby?” Troubadour sadly sang out. “What part of my heart do you hate?”

 

“Um, I don't know…” Chihiro rolled her eyes. “Maybe it's because you say everything in a stupid lyrical prose?”

 

Troubadour glared at the mortal. “You better show some respect mortal!”

 

Urd quickly got in front of Troubadour again. “Hehehe! I'm sure she didn't mean it!” She then gave him a deep frown. She looked from side to side and noticed that a crowd was starting to form around them. `Great, if we stay here, and this loon continues on with this, someone could get seriously hurt. Especially knowing him…' She then eyed Troubadour with a cold stare. “Look, if you want to continue this, fine, just not here.”

 

Troubadour blinked and then frowned. “Very well. We shall continue this some place else!” He then looked around and wondered. “And where would this place be?”

 

Urd stopped in mid step. `Damn! Where should this continue?' Unfortunately, there was only one place that was really safe in the meantime. Well, safe…except for a certain someone. `But I can't do that! What if…maybe…' She then dropped her head. `I have to chance it. Otherwise, there might be another Chihiro, and this time, there won't be me or Bell, or possibly even Skuld to stop him.' “At the temple where…I live down here.”

 

Keiichi looked up to the man and then back to Belldandy, then to Urd. “Urd, do you really think that is a good idea?”

 

Urd got up real close to him. “No.” She said in a half-cheery voice. “But it's the only place that I can think of where there isn't a lot of innocent lives!” She then turned, a bit more serious. Just a bit since her voice still held some cheeriness in it. “By the way, could you stay at a friends place for while? Until I can think of a way to get rid of him of course!”

 

Keiichi raised an eyebrow. “I guess you're right. Especially given what he almost did to Chihiro. Maybe I can convince Tamiya and Otaki if I could stay with them for a while.”

 

“But Keiichi, don't they still live in the all male dormitory?” Belldandy asked concerned.

 

“Yeah…but…” Keiichi looked at Bell's worried eyes. `Does she want to come to?' “Maybe I should asked Chihiro or Sora if…”

 

“NO!” Belldandy said a little louder and more forceful then she intended. While she was generally trusting of everyone, deep down inside, there was a part of her that didn't want to test her belief in that. “No, I mean I…if…”

 

Urd was slightly stunned by Belldandy's outburst. `I never saw Bell react that way before…'

 

Keiichi too was also surprised. But, he also understood Bell's concern, even if this was the first time he saw her react in that way. `Maybe…maybe she was finally expressing her true feelings towards me now?' He looked deeper into her eyes and saw deep concern. He took a deep breath. “Very well, I'll just have to take my chances with the plum tree spirit! After all, I have three goddesses protecting me right?”

 

Urd smiled at his determination, and felt a ping of jealousy that the reason he was staying was because of Belldandy. But at the same time, her fears did not leave her. Especially since she knew what kind of spirit Troubadour was. “That's very noble of you Keiichi but…there's something you have to know about Troubadour first…”

 

Keiichi perked when he heard Urd's last statement. “What do I need to know about him?”

 

Urd looked down in worry. “You know what he did, or try to do to Chihiro right?”

 

Keiichi looked at Chihiro who was giving obscene gestures to Troubadour. Luckily for her, Troubadour was busy looking at Urd. “Well, I heard an explosion and saw the small creator…”

 

“Well, that was nothing compared to what he would do to a male he believed, stole me from him.” Urd looked away from Keiichi after she said that. “You see, he's quite…jealous.”

 

Keiichi gulped. “And, what does he do to them?”

 

“Well, back when we were still together, a junior god was hitting on me. That big goon found out so, he used his power to fill the poor guy's body, causing it to explode with creepy bugs.” Urd whispered to Keiichi and Belldandy.

 

“Eep.” Keiichi frightfully sounded.

 

“And that was when we were still going out! Now…” Urd looked away with worried expression.

 

“Oh dear.” Belldandy said. Though she heard rumors about him, which was the only thing she was going off of since Urd won't tell her anything about him; she didn't think they were necessary true! Of course, even if Urd did tell her, that didn't mean Urd was telling the truth, but hey, Belldandy was trusting of everyone right? But now we're getting off-topic here, and that point should be left for another time. “Don't worry! I'll protect Keiichi with my life if I have to!” Belldandy said without hesitation.

 

`In a way, that is what I'm afraid of as well. Though Troubadour would be a complete moron to kill a goddess.' Urd frowned deepened. `That has yet to be determined.' She turned back to Keiichi. “If you insist Keiichi. You should be safe as long as Troubadour doesn't find you…”

 

Unfortunately, said spirit just so happened to spring up behind them. “Come to think of it Urd…I heard a rumor that you were living with some guy…” He eyed Keiichi suspiciously. “This isn't the guy now is it?”

 

Urd was stunned when she heard the lunatics voice. She quickly turned around and blocked Troubadour's view of Keiichi. “Um…no! It's not like that! I mean… Well…”

 

Unfortunately, Troubadour being the reactionary fool that he was, immediately assumed it was Keiichi that stole Urd's heart. “So, HE is the one that stole your love for me!” He rounded Urd and raised his arm up ready to strike Keiichi.

 

“No!” Belldandy got in front of Keiichi before Troubadour could do anything. “I won't let you touch him!”

 

Before Troubadour could react, he was hit by an electrical blast from Urd. “It is not like that!” Urd glared at Troubadour. “You see, Keiichi is…he's…he's my sister's boyfriend.” She said in a calmer, almost sadder tone.

 

Troubadour was on the ground, slightly fried. “Uhhhh…”

 

Belldandy nodded. “Yes…he…he's my boyfriend. Not Urds!”

 

“So there is nothing going on between us!” Urd walked up to him. However, for some reason though, when she said this, it didn't feel natural to her. She brushed off that feeling for now since her main concern was getting rid of long ears here. “Yes! We live under the same roof! But I can assure you that there is nothing going on between us.” She then lowered to Troubadour's idle position. “That doesn't mean I will be running to you either so you can just forget about it!”

 

-Meanwhile…

 

Morisato's Residence - Skuld's Lab

 

Skuld's head crashed over a table having face faulted when she heard the exchange. Her wonderful plan was now in jeopardy again for it meant that Urd and Keiichi would have to be kept separate for the sake of Keiichi's life. She quickly got up as a vein in her head threatened to pop. “STUPID TROUBADOUR! Why did he come here and ruin everything? Now Keiichi…” She suddenly stopped herself.

 

Since Belldandy was still gaga over Keiichi right now, if Troubadour would do something that would hurt him…

 

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Skuld crashed to the ground again. “Belldandy would fall into a deep depression! Or worse…” Images of Belldandy committing suicide ran through her head. She shook her head quickly as she tried to reason with herself. “No! My sister would never do that! I mean…just because she said that she would give her life for Kei…” Her eyes widened again. “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

 

Skuld spun her head to the door. “Troubadour must be eliminated!” She slid the door open and entered the hallway. “BENPAI!”

 

Whirlwind

 

Keiichi quickly nodded his head. “Yes! I am with Belldandy!”

 

When Urd heard this, another ping in her heart occurred. She bit her lip before she got up and turned to Troubadour. “Yes. That is the truth. Now don't bother us ever again!” She then turned to Keiichi. She gave him a sad smile. “Um…we should get home now.”

 

Belldandy nodded. “Yes. We should go home now.”

 

“Um…guys…” Keiichi said in a nervous tone. “I think we have other problems…” He indicated to the spectators that were standing around them.

 

All of them had a stunned look on them, as if they saw something beyond unusual.

 

Something like Urd using an electrical attack on a certain plum tree spirit. “Um, hehehe! I guess that storm really breezed right by huh?” She looked around and noticed that it was sunny outside. “Uh…” She gave a worried look from side to side.

 

Keiichi then noticed the utility poles and the power lines. “Wow! That power surge was something huh? Glad that guy was okay right?” Keiichi nudged Urd. “I guess the electric company really needs to check these poles ne?”

 

“Yeah!” Belldandy said in a cheery voice, catching on with what Keiichi was leading to. “They should check to make sure the maintenance of these utility poles are well kept up!” Since Belldandy doesn't lie, this statement certainly wasn't false. Granted, it wasn't the entire truth, but no one said that she had to speak the full truth.

 

“Yeah yeah!” Urd waved at the others. “So, um…we should get them on the phone to check them out! At home! Bye!” She quickly waved at them and led Belldandy and Keiichi back to the temple.

 

Belldandy however, gave one last look back. `Troubadour is definitely troubled, especially to my Keiichi. Yet, I believe that somewhere inside, was the spirit that my sister fell in love with.' A smile appeared on her face. “I will help him become that spirit again!”

 

Keiichi turned back to Belldandy after he heard her talking. “What was that Bell?”

 

“Nothing for you to be concerned about!” Belldandy smiled at him.

 

Urd didn't hear either them since she was focused on getting home as quickly as possible.

 

Sora blinked a few times before she accepted Keiichi, Bell, and Urd's explanation. “That power surge could've killed someone! Like that weird guy over there…” She looked at Troubadour who was dusting himself off as he got up. “Though I thought it came from Urd's direction…”

 

Sayoko eyes followed Keiichi, Urd, and Belldandy as they left, still stunned by what had happened. Granted, while she didn't want to get involved between Urd and freak boy, she still stayed to see it all play out. A slight grin appeared on her face as she thought about the man Urd obviously dated once. `Well, I now know that Urd's taste in men stink! Can't say the same for Belldandy though…' Her thoughts then wondered to what everyone else who was standing there was thinking of. `Speaking of Belldandy, it was obviously her witchcraft that was involved here and not that silly story about the electric pole excuse. Of course, she has nothing to worry about, since I will keep that secret from everyone, including my cousin.' Then she replayed the scene over in her head. `Wait, didn't it come from Urd? Is she a witch too? Well, it wouldn't surprise me but…bah, who cares? They're all weird in my opinion!'

 

Chihiro blinked at the now slightly blackened Troubadour. A wile smile appeared on her face. `A freak power surge eh? Looks like Kami-sama gave out some justice here!' After a while, she decided to get back to her shop and close up. `Just hope that lunatic is gone by the time I'm done.'

 

Megumi also blinked at the scene in front of her. Since Urd and company seemed to have the situation under control she decided not to jump in. But even she had to admit that bolt of electricity was really weird. Still, since she didn't want to think about it for too long, she readily accepted the explanation given by Bell, Keiichi, and Urd.

 

Tamiya and Otaki, being the idiots that they were, didn't notice anything unusual. “That guy's costume was cool! Too bad it got burnt!”

 

The crowd, after hanging around for a moment, finally dispersed now that the fireworks were long over.

 

Troubadour continued to get the dust off of his shoulders. “Oh my love, why do you run away from me so?”

 

“Because it was that mortal!” A certain demon said behind him.

 

Troubadour spun around and glared at the demon. “And why should I believe you demon?”

 

Mara grinned. “And you believe Urd?”

 

Troubadour narrowed his eyes. “You know Urd?”

 

“Oh, we go way back!” Mara cheerfully replied before returning to a semi-serious face. “But knowing her, she's going to protect that mortal. And she would certainly lie for him if she believed to be in love with him!”

 

Troubadour, being the idiot that he was, agreed that something was going on. However, to give him credit, he wasn't going to let Mara off the hook that easily. “And what makes you think that he isn't what she says he is? From the looks of it, that man really is the boyfriend to her sister. Given that her sister was a Goddess First Class, she has no reason to lie.”

 

“She has no reason to lie…” Mara smirked. “But that man…well, boy does!” Mara licked her lips, as she got ready for the kill. “I've seen how he looks at her, and how Urd looks at him.”

 

Troubadour narrowed his eyes. “If that is true…then that mortal must be eliminated!”

 

“Hold it!” Mara stepped in front of him. “You can't just go up to him and…kill him. No, it won't be that easy. You see, she is being protected by Belldandy.”

 

Troubadour glared at Mara. “But you told me…”

 

“That Belldandy had no reason to lie for she believes that he is her boyfriend.” Mara said in a matter of fact tone. “But she doesn't know about that boy and Urd's relationship now does she? Because of that, she will still protect him! Any frontal attack will be immediately repelled.”

 

Troubadour frowned, but he agreed to that logic. “That is true.”

 

“Now, if you stick with me, then you can have Urd back all to yourself!” Mara smiled as she brought an arm around Troubadour.

 

Troubadour then looked up into the sky. “Oh, it is not Urd that I want…”

 

“Eh?” Mara stopped in mid-thought after he said it. “Then what do you want then?”

 

Troubadour brought out a scroll. “This is the song to summon the melodious nightingale! The scroll of golden verse! My life long dream now lies in my hand. It waits beyond this seal. A seal that can only be broken, by a Goddess' Tears of Love!”

 

Mara took this new information in. `This idiot is more cunning and deceptive then I thought! So this was why he came back for Urd.' Then she smiled again. `This changes nothing!' “Well then, with my plan, once we get rid of that mortal, then you can have all the goddess' tears of love that you need!”

 

“Hmm.” Troubadour thought about this for a moment. “Very well demon, I accept your offer. So what shall we do?”

 

Mara smiled. `Score!' “Well, first we…”

 

-Later…

 

Morisato Residence - Entrance

 

Urd looked up at the gateway. “We are home!”

 

Keiichi sighed. “Phew. What a day.”

 

Belldandy nodded. “But wasn't it fun Keiichi?”

 

Keiichi eyed Belldandy. “Define fun.”

 

Belldandy blinked in confusion. “Keiichi, don't you already know the definition of fun?”

 

Suddenly, behind them, Troubadour popped up behind them, seemingly out of nowhere. “I have found you again my love!” He sang out.

 

“OH NO!” Urd stopped her advancement. “Um…” She gulped. `Damn! I knew he was a persistent bastard!' “I told you to go away!”

Troubadour then gave a death glare to Keiichi. “I promise to win back your heart my love!”

 

Keiichi shrank in fear.

 

Belldandy frowned. `I will help you in your quest…IF you do not lay a hand on my Keiichi!'

 

“Hmph!” Urd stared straight-ahead, avoiding eye contact with Troubadour. “Just go away would ya? You're obviously NOT wanted here!”

 

“Hi there everybody!” Skuld, with her eyes closed, cheerfully said in front of them. Say, how was your day?”

 

Keiichi and Urd's eyes darted to Skuld with complete confusion. Since when does Skuld greet them like this? It was a seemingly cheery response without even a single mention of the words ice cream.

 

“Um, it could've been better.” Keiichi replied.

 

“It was a lot of fun!” Belldandy answered, detecting nothing unusual at all.

 

Urd blinked at her little sister. “What are you up?”

 

“Me? Up to something? What makes you think I'm up to something?” Skuld replied in the same seemingly happy voice. She then leaned to the side. “And you must be Troubadour!” She seemingly `looked' at him, if it wasn't for the fact that her eyes were still closed.

 

Urd raised an eyebrow. “And how would you know that his name was Troubadour?”

 

“Eh?” Skuld finally opened her eyes. “Oh just a guess!” She then returned to her cheery voice. “Anyways, I have the teapot set up for you Bell! I even had all the pots set up just the way you like! Oh, and I even TiVoed your favorite shows for you Urd!”

 

“Thank you!” Belldandy beamed. “You're being so nice today!”

 

“You…what?” Urd's eyes were now completely wide open. “Okay, I know you are definitely up to something!”

 

“Not at all!” Skuld continued to smile. “Just want our evening to be just perfect!” She ushered everyone into the temple. “Oh, and one last thing…” She turned to Troubadour. “Troubadour, I would like you to meet Benpai!” Skuld indicated to the robot next to her. “Troubadour, meet Benpai! Benpai, meet Troubadour!” Skuld then ran into the house after the other three.

 

Troubadour looked down at the robot with curiosity. “Hello Benpai?”

 

Benpai looked up at the man. “Beep beep beep!” He began to access information that was downloaded into his memory circuits by Skuld. He indicated that this was the one called Troubadour. Suddenly his screen went red as two things came up. First, he was a threat to Keiichi. Second, an enemy of Keiichi is an enemy of Belldandy. An enemy of Belldandy must be destroyed! Benpai's eyes glowed red.

 

“Eh?” Troubadour's mouth twitched. “What is this all about?”

 

Suddenly, Benpai's back opened up, revealing tons of missile ports.

 

“Uh oh.” Troubadour said knowing full well what this meant.

 

Moments later, a MASSIVE EXPLOSION ripped through the temple ground.

 

Inside the Temple

 

Keiichi looked back at the entrance. “What was that?”

 

“Eh, probably just Benpai getting rid of an intruder!” Skuld said, seemingly brushing it off as nothing.

 

Keiichi continued to look back at the entrance, before finally, just shrugging it off as nothing. Just another typical day in the Morisato household.

 

Across from the Temple

 

Troubadour weakly got up from his position, mostly burnt to a nice crisp. “It…is obvious that…this…will not be easy…” He struggled to say. “But…I…will…succeed!” After weakly standing up for a moment, his legs gave way, and he crashed back to the ground.

 

------End of Chapter 5

 

It's amazing what a difference reading the mangas have done to this story! Before, I would be struggling to get even to this point in the story given my limited knowledge of the series! Now, ideas are just popping out of my head at an amazing rate!

 

Even so, don't expect updates to come rapidly either. Sure, faster then it was before I had the mangas, but not like every week or so either. After all, I do have eleven ongoing stories as we speak. Something I never thought I have, but yes, eleven stories. Each with a varying number of hits/popularity, but still, they all need an update sooner or later.

 

Speaking of which, this story, even though it is in a `less popular' section, has surpassed ALL my Teen Titans stories in terms of hits! Pretty impressed the response here!

 

Of course, speaking of hits, my first and VERY DARK Love Hina story also has tons of hits, but few reviews so far. Then again, maybe I shouldn't complain since, that might be a good thing given that it is better to have few GOOD reviews then tons of FLAMES! Given what I have planned for that story, well, getting a few flames might be the least of my worries!

 

Now, back to this story, if you noticed, every time I mentioned Chihiro Fujimi…previously, I said Fujimi. Now, it is Chihiro. Why? Well, one thing I know is that in Japan, family names usually comes first (in a way, it is the same here, but not as often). At first, I was a little confused which one was which given that not all sites follow a certain pattern. Finally, noting that the characters always use Chihiro, and since I usually exclusively use their first name when I mention them in the story, I decided to go back and change Fujimi to Chihiro. Not exactly something you need to know, but for those that was curious about that change, this was why!

 

Last before I go, I proofread, and revised the last chapter. Though minor, the little revisions that had nothing to do with grammar dealt with little details like adding more details to Skuld's plan. Basically plugging up some holes like having Yggdrasil accept Peorth as a `temporary' replacement while Skuld was with Bell. Now that I have gotten off my lazy butt, I have also proofread this chapter as well. So, at the very least, this one should be more polished. :-P

 

Next Chapter…Troubadour is now at the temple! What will the goddesses do to get rid of him? What is Mara plan?