Ah My Goddess Fan Fiction ❯ Trial By Tenderness ❯ Part 31 - Les Jeunes Radicaux ( Chapter 31 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Part 31 Les Jeunes Radicaux



Keiichi was inconsolable. In my mind, his emotional despondency suggested the image of an ant that had been preserved through the ages in amber. Untouchable. Seen, but not heard. Motionless. Ageless towards inertia. Thoughts and mind frozen away in a distance...
I really couldn't blame him. It was as if airborne scent of the freshest spring flower had just touched his nostrils...had just traced its fragrance upon his kokoro--then the bloom was snatched away and suffocated by an *otherness*. I could enframe my own empathy for his pain, realizing that that the little bit of Keiichi's pain that I felt was modest compared to the gravely tragic mis-en-scenes that were carving bleak abandonments upon his soul.
Kamikaze eyes.
Megumi had described it best when she recalled the time when Keiichi's dog had died. Keiichi had a dazed look to his eyes for a couple of weeks afterwards. Now, she explained that he had the eyes of someone for whom self-destruction was no major affair...someone whose life held no future embrace of hopes.
He had been with Belldandy for four years.
"Four years!" I thought sadly. I felt a strong sense of empathy for him. For Belldandy as well, as I could imagine her sense of loss. She was out there somewhere, up (or out) in Yggdrasil attending her omiai.
Their situation brought to mind all the books, poems, fables, plays and short fiction works I had encountered themed around the practice of arranged marriage. In Korea, the feminist writers of the last century, especially the so-called Third Generation writers of the 1950s, depicted arranged marriage as nothing less than a cultural institution that oppressed women; a commixture of tradition and oppugnation resulting in an unparalleled anger. "Han", the Korean word for resentment, described aptly the unenviable lot of these women.
But this was the new century, the 21st century, and mankind was much more liberated. Supposedly.
Not here. Not in Keiichi's case. If he had been born in the early years of the Showa era, he may have had to face an arranged marriage. But now, decades into the Heisei era, his life was still affected by the dreaded omiai.
The offense swelled in my belly like bitter bile when I contemplated the Gods and Goddesses. Somewhere in Yggdrasil, Belldandy was participating in the ritual-laded emotional dance of arranged marriage.
"Not arranged! Deranged!" I cursed under my breath. The divine beings...liberated? Not a chance! Arranged marriage? A deliberate derangement of the natural; a dark sentinel of malfeasance.
Every so often, I would walk down the corridor, past all the bedrooms and hobby rooms...past the living room with its assortment of couches, zabutons and paintings...past the tearoom that Belldandy tended so carefully...down the small hallway that led to the sunroom. In the sunroom, I would find Keiichi in his wheelchair, staring out the large windows at something. Something translucent, only imprinting on memory, not sensation.
Coming closer, I would look at his eyes...unflinching and aglaze...as if he was staring through the fabric of reality...peering through a cloaked visceral series of hallucinations into an emotional fantasy that somehow possessed more comfort then the stark 'specula verite' of grief and loss.
I've navigated these waters too...in times of unremitting grieving. My dead wife's shadow-face loomed up in my mind. Each year, her face became fuzzier, less distinct in my memory's eye. Thousands of times, in near-platonic fascination, I consummated her death in my mind with attempts to envision how she died. Of course, I never saw her last moments of life on this planet. Did she die on a couch, on the floor, in the bathroom with blood trickling down her arm after she registered her shot? All I saw was her corpse, her young face drawn tight and breath-empty.
But Keiichi was aloft in a floating wreck of dreams...even awake, he was detached. Granted, the extremes of his loss dictated that he wasn't present in this manner of living; yet he was inhabiting life, albeit in a fleeting manner.
Delicately wounded.

* * * * * * * *

Belldandy was sadly examining the crystalgarden, feeling homesick. It was so much like the garden she tended at her home, on the planet Earth, amongst her friends and her beloved. One bloom in particular caught her attention; she could almost swear that the shoot of the crystal arbor reflected Keiichi's face in its facets, like a thousand faces in a thousand days...
"K..Keiichi," she whispered to herself.
Despite the gravity of her situation, Belldandy couldn't focus on trying to disadvantage the omiai. Instead, her mind would cast itself back in time a few days...when she was resting in Keiichi's arms, her soul placid after the horror of being banned from her own physical frame. The soft-yet-tingly caress of his whispers into her ear...the visage of comfort and trust in his face.
All gone.
ALL GONE!
"Mother is playing me like a mortal violin. I feel like my emotions are taunt strings, and She simply bows and plucks them to produce a song... But it isn't *my* song! It's Her song! All I want is a way to resolve this difference between Mother and I... Is there a possible blossoming of our spirits? Can I be freed of the chains of piety that bind me?" she reflected.
An impulse played in her mind...she wanted to reach away and crush the delicate snowflake-like blossoms gently swaying before her in the breeze. Repulsed, she clenched her hands tightly together. Belldandy was horrified at the desperate anger she had just felt; suspended briefly in frustrated aggression.
"Is violence the only pathway around an emotional impasse?" she confronted herself. In a moment of fright, she imagined that she was metamorphosing...already assuming the personality and values of her intended husband. Angry. WarGod. Violent. Boldly aggressive. Callous...
"NO!" her heart screamed in horror.
"Time is like a river that flows," the Middle Norn told herself. "All three of us can prophesy: Skuld can move into the future; Urd can move into the past. But I...with all the wisdom-making that I'm able to perform in the 'here and now'; even now, I cannot escape via time or space!"
"Who will take care of my beloved Keiichi?" she worried, his swirling in her mind. Peorth could...but Peorth had designs of her own. Peorth was had earned a reputation in the GRO as a stimulatrix. During her visits, she was always trying to seduce Keiichi: using Urd's love potions to attempt to force Keiichi to become obsessed with her; trying to navigate past Belldandy's own convictions towards Keiichi in an attempt to pry *her* away from Keiichi. When the triangle had become four...it had almost caused disaster. Peorth had meant well; she was a fellow Goddess from the Relief Office. Yet, Peorth was like Urd in the sense that she occasionally caused more harm than good...especially due to her zealous nature and sensual leanings.
One Urd was more than enough...

* * * * * * * *

"We need to kidnap her!" Urd declared with impulsive intent as she sat on the railing of the gazebo.
"What?" Skuld shouted in surprise. It was enough to try and avoid Keiichi in the past two days...he was *so* down-in-the-dumps. Skuld couldn't stand to be around him for more than a few moments at a time. His melancholic airs hung around him like a thick fog...making *her* feel wretched as well. But matters got even worse when Skuld considered the fact that her sister was going to probably marry some God that she had never even met.
"Yo! You heard me right, Goddess-girl!" Urd shouted back.
"I..I'm not a girl!" Skuld replied, while Urd mouthed the words along with her with telltale accuracy. Skuld was embarrassed for a moment for responding so automatically.
"Hey, we've got to go back to Yggdrasil and *get* her! Can't you see what it's doing to Keiichi, Skuld?"
"Yeah...it hurts me to see him so downcast. I *never* thought I would say it...but I really feel sorry for Keiichi-san," Skuld acknowledged, standing up to her full height and hopping up onto the rail, sizing up her oldest sister.
"Think! If he's that sad...I don't even want to imagine how our sister must be feeling...how *hurt* she must be! You've never been in love, Skuld...so you probably can't even begin to understand. But if they love each other wholly and completely...they must both be experiencing near-equal levels of emotional hurt. Not just hurt...but agony!"
In her mind, Skuld revisited the silent farewell just two days ago. Belldandy had hardly said a word...she just passively waited for the summoning light with her hands folded over her waist, looking forlorn and empty. Skuld was intimidated by the fact that a power greater than hers could irredeemably wrest her elder sister away from them.
Big Sister Urd had hit it on the nose.
*Agony* was the look she caught on Elder Sister's face. Belldandy had gamely tried to cover it up with a false sense of optimism...but Skuld knew her sister too well. She couldn't keep herself from peering past the facade. In a flash of a glimpse, she saw...agony...and terror on her sister's face!
Urd watched silently as Skuld shuddered and nearly fell off the gazebo's railing.
"But what can we do! You're running on almost no Goddess powers...and I don't have any at all! It's impossible! What can *we* do?" Skuld asked frantically.
"*We* find help!" Urd said triumphantly.
"There is no one...not one denizen of Yggdrasil who could help us. Mother is much too powerful! And Father...he would wreck havoc on anyone who would dare oppose Mother. I tell you, the only one who could help would be Mara...and there's *no way* Mara would help us. Mara has it out for Belldandy too much. And she *hates* you! She probably hates me too, hee hee, after I sealed the Ultimate Destruction Program...and escaped from her lair with Cevn," Skuld explained.
Urd listened intently, then clenched her arms tightly, reining in her frustration as she bobbed up and down in the air...a form of anxious pacing for the Norn of the Past.
"Dammit! There has to be someone as reckless and irreverent as I am...someone who would do this just for the adventure of it! Someone who cares enough about Keiichi to risk *everything*. Someone who owes Belldandy her life..." Urd stated as she circled the gazebo.
Skuld was furious in thought. The serenity of the moonlit gazebo contrasted with the frustration she was feeling inside. Who? Who could help us? Whowhowhowhowhowhowhowho?
Skuld flashed on a random sequence of memories; yet one loomed more *present* than the others. The swimming pool: last year. Summer of 20XX. During the time Peorth paid them a visit. Keiichi's summer vacation...
Peorth had wanted to win Keiichi by playing on his inability to swim. But when she tipped him into the pool, Belldandy reacted by emptying the pool completely. The thunderous displacement of water landed on Peorth, almost drowning her. Keiichi carried her limp form home on his back...after Belldandy had given her artificial resuscitation. Peorth was crazy in love with Keiichi. Peorth was rambunctious; reckless as all get-out. Peorth, as a member of the Earth Otasuke Office, would have open access to the Earthrealm. Peorth...who could assume the duties Belldandy was performing: completing Keiichi's wish. Peorth...who, last time Skuld had checked, *also* had a Goddess First Class, Unlimited License. Power aplenty to get Belldandy back.
"Peorth!" Skuld shouted to the moon and back.
"Huh? What?"
"*HER*?!" Urd said incredulously. Urd *still* hadn't forgiven her for breaking into her "Urd's Castle" room and stealing a whole bunch of stuff, including a good portion of her stock of love potions.
Skuld looked at the angry expression on her oldest sister. After a few moments, it shifted into the thoughtful expression that Urd always get when she's scheming.
"You only took three minutes," she said dryly.
"What do you mean, Skuld?"
"You only took three minutes to put aside your anger, Big Sister!" Skuld said sweetly, teasing Urd.
"You watch it, *Little* sister, or else it'll take me three or four *centuries* to stop being angry with you!" Urd shot back.
"And I *especially* hate it...when you're right!"

* * * * * * * *

Peorth was sitting at her console at the Relief Office, filing her nails. She had just done them with the holographic cloud nail polish when she suddenly sneezed daintily. Peorth prided herself on her appearance...justly so, because she was one of the most beautiful of the Relief Office Goddesses...every bit the equal of Belldandy.
Things had been terribly boring at the Relief Office recently. All the Relief Office Goddesses and their assignments had been overshadowed by Belldandy's very public compact with the mortal, Keiichi Morisato. The entire community Godmind of Yggdrasil was now focused on this one wish...and wishgranter.
All things being equal, a granted wish was a miracle. *Any* granted wish. Especially in the eyes of the mortals, who almost always resolved to attribute wish fulfillment to near-miraculous sources. In contrast to this perception, all granted wishes performed by the GRO were considered "just part of the routine".
Business as usual.
Until Keiichi came along and made his loony, half-cocked wish. Now, the status modus of the Relief Office had been turned on its ear. Recently, even a klutz like Urd had somehow received an assignment to grant a wish to a mortal. *That* had been the source of much conjecture and resentment at the Office. *Urd*, a Sysop who frequently was derelict at her post in a whole other department whose duty portfolio didn't involve anything even remotely related to wish-granting...being personally asked to grant a wish by Kami-sama?
Even difficult assignments...such as satisfying the self-destructive avarice of compulsive gamblers, for example...fell short of the prestige Belldandy was accumulating with her unique assignment. Peorth had answered several wishes in the past year: a woman who wanted to be an idol singer; a high school girl who wanted to date the quarterback of her school team; a grandmother who wanted her newborn grandson to live through a difficult surgery; a mentally retarded young man who wanted to live on his own; a child who wanted to be freed from starvation...but none of these successfully granted wishes held a candle up to the wish her friend Belldandy had lucked out on.
Her *rival*, Belldandy. Her wish-granting partner and competitor, Belldandy.
"I wonder how she's doing with her omiai?" Peorth asked her reflection in one of the viewplates in her console. Belldandy's unexpected recall to Yggdrasil to participate in an omiai was the gossip of the day at the Goddess Relief Office. It broke precedent; Belldandy had been recalled from her assignment to attend to her parent's wishes. Normally, a GRO assignment lasted until the wish was fulfilled...yet some very powerful figures in Yggdrasil had basically canceled or postponed Bell's ongoing work with Keiichi.
Despite her concern for her friend, Peorth also recognized the possible opportunities presented by this situation. If Belldandy was married...that meant that her obligation to fulfill Keiichi's wishes was *up for grabs*!
Keiichi. The "Test Mortal". Peorth still remembered that first day...when she tackled him in the hallway of their temple house. His quivering flesh under her arms...her breasts pressed hard into his back...his look of total panic...and the scream that belied his terror...and his ignited lust.
Keiichi.

**Ring**

"Who could it be at *this* hour?" Peorth said irritably...her toenails weren't dry yet and she didn't want to go anywhere. It wasn't the Wish Hotline; it was just an ordinary call on her personal line. Touching the phone-lightglobe, she answered gruffly.
"Talk to me!"
"Heh heh. Hey...long time, no see, Peorth!" she heard Urd's voice on the other end of the line.
"Urd! How *are* you doing?" Peorth responded, trying on her most sweet voice despite the caution that arose inside of her.
"Everything's just great here," an equally cheerful Urd squawked in the phone.
"So...how's the *license suspension* going?" Peorth asked pseudo-innocently. *That* should get under Urd's skin! A satisfying moment of silence confirmed Peorth's suspicions...and she smiled to herself.
"Gotya, Urd!" she said to herself in a whisper.
"What? I didn't hear that..."
"Ohhh...just thinking aloud," Peorth answered.
"Yeah...well you haven't been the only one who has been thinking. Ya know, with Belldandy all ready to get married and such, Skuld and I were considering some things..."
"Yes?" Peorth asked cautiously.
"Well, I hope this won't be an imposition, Peorth. But we thought we might as well try to ask you..."
"Spit it out, Urd!" Peorth interrupted, already impatient.
"Well...we thought that since you've already been around Keiichi...and Belldandy's gone...well, we wanted to know if you could fill in. As in taking over her wish. Keiichi even thinks it would be a good idea..."
"RE'ELLEMENT!!! Me...take over for Belldandy! Why, I would do that in a heartbeat! How soon?"
"How about tonight? I know it's short notice, but..."
"Done! I'll be there just as soon as I'm ready," Peorth said excitedly, not even waiting to end the call. This was it! Her chance to be the foremost wishgranter in the entire Earthrealm section of the Goddess Relief Office!
"What do you mean, *when* you'll be ready? You're supposed to *always* be ready, Peorth!" Urd shouted through the telephone before she could phase out the globe. Peorth scowled as she heard the thinly veiled insult, and then let it pass. Besides, in a few hours, she would be by Keiichi's side. All of Belldandy's accumulated fame would be hers for the taking!
She felt a little sorry for her friend, but her anticipation got the best of her attention.

* * * * * * * *

Urd sniggered as she set down the dining room phone.
"She fell for it like a hooked eel, Skuld! I know Peorth...if I pretend to hedge around, she gets more interested...until she can't say no!"
"That's because you're *just like her*," Skuld said flatly.
"What'd you say, petulant child?"
"And you actually thought she would say 'no' when it involves Keiichi? It doesn't take an utter genius to figure out how Peorth feels about Keiichi!"
"And you're an utter *brat*, Skuld! Besides, no one can pull one over on the genius of Urd!" she replied, fist struck up in the air in triumph.
"Peorth's no fool...she normally would be trying to sniff out a setup. Especially after the last one we dealt her," Urd added by way of argument. Skuld had to concede Urd's premise. Peorth was crafty to the point of getting too involved in her own subterfuges...but also to the point where she rarely departed from caveat emptor in her dealings with the three Norns.
"So...now what?"

* * * * * * * *

To pass the time while she waited for Peorth's arrival, Urd decided to tutor Cevn on some more contents of the Enigma Book. She walked down the hallway to his room and rapped on the doorjamb of his shoji door.
"Poor thing, he's been so busy with school, music and trying to bolster Keiichi's spirits," she thought. Urd suspected that this situation with Keiichi had also ignited a whole expanse of Cevn's feelings for his first wife. The dead one. Urd felt a little pang of jealousy when she considered that Cevn had already been in love with another woman...enough to get married. But she knew from her sessions posing as Dr. Ogawa that he was still troubled by the loss.
"I'm going to do my best to make you forgive her...and bring security to your feelings of love," she promised herself. He opened the door, his t-shirt hanging loose over his sweatpants. Urd still thought he was good-looking, even if he was dressed sloppy.
"Hi, honey. I thought I would spend some time with you, checking to see how you're doing with the Enigma Book," Urd said as she invited herself in and sat on a small cushion.
"He *still* grimaces when I call him 'honey'", she observed humorously, always cheered when she could push his buttons. The next couple of hours were spent with Urd checking his interpretations of the Enigma Book. He was doing quite well, she had to admit to herself. His accuracy of integrating Yggdrasilian concepts had increased since the last time she 'quizzed' him.
Urd found herself discussing the plans she had to bring Peorth to the temple, in order to use Peorth's powers to kidnap Belldandy. Cevn looked even more astonished then she had expected.
"Urd, isn't Peorth is like a runaway mustang? How are you going to control her?" he asked with concern.
"We'll have to work that one out when she arrives. But I'm confident that me and Skuld can outwit her. If worse comes to worse, we might even be able to rely on Keiichi to help out. I *know* that he wants Bell back more than anything in the world!"
Cevn nodded his head at this. After some light discussion about daily living affairs, such as the ongoing cleanup after Supertyphoon Akira, he played her a cassette of some basic foundations for his God's Music Symphony.
Urd closed her eyes and was transported away for a few moments from her deep-rooted concerns for her sister and her sister's boyfriend. Even though the music was skeletal, she sensed that it would be breathtaking once he completed it. Once more, she thanked whatever it was that hooked her up with this mortal.
"Urd, I'm going to take a bath...I'm trashed!" he admitted. Urd thought of the day in the future when she could wash his back...and he could wash hers.
"Someday..." she said to him, running a finger through her hair. The confused look on his face was cute.

* * * * * * * * *

I rinsed off and stepped into the bathtub. The furoba was totally blissful in its comfort. Urd must have slipped in before I started my bath and put some kind of herbal scents into the bathwater. Despite my anxiety at her proximity to my bathtime, I was able to calm down enough to get in the tub. I knew that she didn't mean any harm...but my instinctive panic arose and I felt alert and paranoid.
"No one sees me nude," I promised to myself once again as steam floated upward from the surface of the water. Before, I never had a chance to control the things that were done to my body. Now, I was no longer a victim...I had retaken back my privacy. But at a horrible price. Sexual abuse victims overcompensate for lots of things: being overly polite in an effort to avoid attention or conflict which might result in victimization; dressing ugly or blasé to avoid being attractive to the opposite sex; acting out sexually to avoid having to feel the pain of stolen sexuality; overeating to justify body shame...the list goes on. In my case, it was this ritual promise I made every time I stepped into a bathtub or shower. I hated to keep harping on myself about the sexual abuse stuff...but it was a reality that I faced every day. A never-ending challenge.
I stepped out of the tub, feeling like a prune. Or a prude, for that matter. I was in good physical shape from frequent jogging and the TaiQi classes I was taking at N.I.T., and I felt secure within my body...one of the rare times. Urd's scented water had done the trick. I toweled off and then sat on the stool, letting the water sink into the bathtowel. I had been rushed all day...now it was time to let each moment *be* a moment, rather than a frantic succession of "nows". Once more, I cursed the Japanese work ethic, so different that its American counterpart...
*Splash*
I went rigid with shock.
I turned around, clutching the towel to my body as I heard a saccharine-sweet feminine voice...
"Who are *you*, handsome?" it asked sultrily, sweetly. I looked up to see a *woman* floating in the air. In the briefest of astonished moments, I saw that she had a purple diamond-shaped mark in the middle of her forehead. Long black hair framed her face, cut evenly across her face as shoulder length...while a superlong ponytail cascaded with a sheer sheen down her shoulders and back. At first glance, she resembled an adult Skuld. She wore a revealing outfit: black panties with garters attaching to dark blue hiphugger boots; a short light-blue top that was open in the middle, its fishnet of threads barely concealing a very ample cleavage; dozens of multicolored bangles on each arm; and a cloak floating around her like a leather-cloth version of Evangelion armor.
"Urd didn't say anything about any other *men* in the house, mon chéri chouchou!" she said again in an infectious seductive voice. Hovering in the air, she spun around several times, as if she was testing her mobility like a newborn colt. I blinked as I caught a glimpse of a runic symbol and a name sewn into the seat of her 'panties'.
My initial shock had worn off in a flash, replaced by sheer terror. I felt like all the blood had been emptied out in my body...about the same time I realized that *this was Peorth*! The totally over-the-top virago Goddess of the manga...here in the flesh! And she was acting true North to her sultry nature!
"W..wait..wait..wait..wait!" I stuttered, shocked beyond shock as she floated towards me, arms outstretched.
In a blind panic, I dashed towards the furoba door and rebounded off of it as I tried to *push* it open. I slid it open and emerged into the bathroom proper, looking for shelter.
Then I felt a warm body grasp me from behind! Slender arms were wrapped around my chest. Peorth was trying to *tackle* me!
Everything went panic white...
The door...I felt something crack in my nose as I stumbled and fell against the bathroom counter. The lance of pain quickened my anxiety as I blindly pushed hard on the bathroom door.
"AIIIIEEEEEYYYYY!!" a voice shouted in my ear.
My voice, disembodied.
I was already checked out, disassociating from this intrusion in the worst way. With a final kick, I crashed the door out of its mooring and stumbled forth into the hallway, Peorth still clinging onto my back. She was the only thing clinging to me, as I tripped over the wadded up towel at my feet. With a final kick, I crashed the door out of its mooring and stumbled forth into the hallway, Peorth still clinging onto my back. She was the only thing clinging to me, as I tripped over the wadded up towel at my feet.
I looked up to see Urd, Skuld, Megumi, Genji and Tomohisa looking at me. My vision narrowed to a pinpoint as I wrestled Peorth off of me and smashed through my bedroom door, sending paper and shoji door framing in every direction.
I wanted to die...
Futon. Futon. Futon.
And I crawled under the safety of my futon blanket.
My worst nightmare had arrived.

* * * * * * * *

Urd had heard the scream from the bathroom. Cevn's scream reechoed through the house, accented by a crash coming from down the hallway. Immediately alert, Urd dashed into the hall, Skuld a half step behind her.
Cevn had kicked the door open. He was butt-naked. Urd could see heads sticking out from the rooms closer down the hall: Megumi, Genji and Tomohisa were all looking down the hallway at the source of the commotion. It was all happening too quick.
Skuld was standing next to her, pointing. Urd felt a shudder as she saw Peorth hugging Cevn from behind. Then she noticed the bloody nose...and her vision went red with anger.
"PEORTH...HE'S *MINE*!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, then stood in front of Skuld to block her vision.
Cevn...and Peorth!
In a flash, Urd wanted to kill him! Wanted him to die...the most excruciatingly painful death any mortal had ever experienced!
She had made him a wonderful smelling bath...and had even snuck in a dissolvable capsule that would bring a balancing relaxation to his mind, body and spirit. Now, he was parading in the hallway! *Nude*! With a betraying bloody nose! Meaning that his lust for Peorth had boiled over!
As she watched, Urd's resentment raged so strong in her heart...and threatened to explode into a nova when she noticed that he was love-wrestling with Peorth. Then he was gone, into the safety of his room.
"Cevn and Peorth," a dazed Urd thought...stunned at this incredible emotional embastardization as she slammed her bedroom shoji door shut.

* * * * * * * *

"Oooo, *another* man! Tres merveilleux!" Peorth shouted as she saw Genji. The first mortal had behaved aberrantly, actually wresting her off of him and retreating to his room in an apparent panic.
"How could he avoid my charms?" Peorth wondered as she bore down on this new mortal. Equally handsome, he vaguely reminded her of Keiichi in some way.
Megumi saw the scantily dressed Goddess float towards her, and wrapped both arms protectively around Genji's arm. She strained as she tried to pull Genji back into his room, where they had been studying peacefully a minute earlier...but Tomohisa was standing behind her, blocking their retreat.
Keiichi's cousin was wedged in the doorway, gawking in open rapacity at this mature Goddess. Megumi couldn't pull Genji into the room.
"Wowwww...she'sss...aaa...b..babe!!!" she heard her cousin gasp.
"Her sexy attire is every bit the equal of one of Urd's more revealing outfits," Megumi noticed with a mounting panic. Just like before...
Peorth stopped and ran a hand under Genji's chin, sizing him up.
"You're really handsome, for a mortal boy-man," she commented. The young mortal girl tightly gripping his arm gave her a mean stinkeye, which she ignored.
"Urd only says she's the Goddess of Love...but I'm the *true* Goddess of Love. With me, it's no talk...and *all* action! I can grant your every whim, wish and desire...no matter how sensuous...no matter how kinky it may be..."
Genji was squirming; feeling himself getting aroused at this...Goddess floating in front of him. He battled with himself, trying to withdraw into his room.
"She's casting some kind of spell on me," he managed with a panicked voice. With a burst of strength, he shouldered past Tomohisa, who then jammed tightly in the doorway in rapt admiration. Pulling Megumi, who gripped his arm tightly, he made it back in his room, then collapsed on his futon bed.
"Whew!" he sighed as he hugged Megumi for dear life, warily watching the floating Goddess through his doorway.
Peorth shifted her regard to the young boy, probably only 15 or 16 mortal years old. She could tell by his facial expression and the color of his sex-aura that he was still a virgin.
"Mon petit ange...I could make you a man... j'ai envie de toi," she offered to him with a disarming smile. She knew that he was already putty in her hands...
"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" she heard someone shrilly scream. Someone who obviously knew French.
"Ohhh...what is this? Skuld? Worried about this young one? Why? Aren't you happy that I'm here?" she replied.
"P..Peorth! Y..you just... H..he's mi..." Skuld screamed, covering her mouth a second later at the words she *almost* let slip...
Peorth floated down the hallway, trying to find Keiichi. In the background, she heard yelling, which sounded like Skuld...but she couldn't hear the words.
"I've got a *big* hug for you, Keiichi mon joie!" she thought with anticipation as she searched the house.

* * * * * * * *

Urd was livid. An embodiment of rage, she shoved past Skuld and withdrew to her bedroom. The first thing she did inside the bedroom was find the nearest lamp and dash it against the wall.
Cevn had betrayed her. She wanted to cry, but she was too salty with explosive anger. She picked up her small TV and threw it on the ground; the crashing sound and accompanying shower of sparks only satisfying her destructive urges for a couple of seconds. Then her tantrum-like anger receded as she ran out of things to wreck in the room. It was bad enough that Cevn had made love to Peorth, but it was even more horrible, even more wretched than that. *Everybody* in the house had witnessed his unfaithful act, seeing the proof of infidelity firsthand.
Urd had never seen him nude...until now. With Peorth hanging all over him. Even though she had thought about sneaking a peek while he was in the bathroom, she never did...out of respect to his sensitivity about sexual things. His so-called sexual injuries.
"You're little sexual paranoia didn't stop you from doing it with Peorth, you worthless mortal prick! You probably faked being afraid and paranoid all along!" she swore at the wall in a gravelly pissed off voice.
In front of all her friends, Cevn had flaunted his misplaced lust...
"I hate you!" Urd screamed as Skuld came into the room, barely dodging a flower pot.
"URD!!!" she yelled back, her long black hair flying in an arc around her head as she reacted to another thrown object. In a flash, Skuld figured out what was wrong. Urd's face was screwed up, her eyes bloodshot with rage.
"Oh my Lord, you think that he...that she...that they..."
"Don't even say it, Skuld!" Urd turned her lightning hot rage on her youngest sister, firecracker sharp with ire.

* * * * * * * *

"Peorth...what are you doing *here*?" Keiichi asked indifferently as Peorth circled around him. His voice was the embodiment of disenchantment and boredom. It touched Peorth to the quick as she realized that he was really detached from the joy of seeing her again.
"What are you doing...in *that*?" Peorth queried him, ignoring his question. Keiichi was strapped to some metal chair with wheels on the side. Was it a mortal torture device? Why was he restrained in it? And what were those heavy things his legs were in?
In her mind, she was astonished. How could have Belldandy let her mortal charge sink into this sorry state? Peorth scanned Keiichi, and noticed that both of his legs were broken. That explained the wheelchair and the casts. Primitive mortal medical technology. She felt embarrassed that she didn't initially pick up on the fact that Keiichi was injured; thus the need for his chair. After all the mortals whose sole wish was to be freed of such prosthetic conveyances...wishes she had granted hundreds of times!
But *this* was a mystery, indeed.
"Why didn't Belldandy fix his legs?" she wondered as she watched his expression remain monotone. Keiichi was reacting to her with explicit disinterest...as if he had never seen her before. Was every mortal male in this house messed up? What did Belldandy *do* to all of these guys? Keiichi should have been drooling with desire by this point, but...
"Aren't you happy to see me, Keiichi?" she said excitedly, trying to cheer him up by posing provocatively.
"Not really," he said blandly, and then looked away from her. Peorth felt crestfallen at his lackluster response. Then she remembered...he was probably missing Belldandy. Of course!
She resolved to make Keiichi forget about her. Once Belldandy was married, he wouldn't have a choice anyway...he would *have* to forget her! The Goddess Relief Office might even Mindwipe any memories that he had concerning Belldandy...to prevent him from a life of suffering. With Lokii as the bridegroom's father, this was a very likely scenario.
"Keiichi, what happened to you?" she asked gently, trying a softer approach. In response he spent the next half-hour explaining how he got injured, complete with crying jags when he mentioned Belldandy as part of his narrative.
"How pathetic!" she thought as Keiichi sobbed one more time, missing his girlfriend.
"Are you a man, or a field mouse? Belldandy this...waah! Belldandy that...waah!" she said angrily. Peorth decided that this interview was not going to be fruitful at all. In fact, his self-pity was edging her towards nausea. So instead, she decided to float down to Urd and Skuld's room to get some advice...and some sleep.
"I'll talk to you later...when you're less morbid," she announced with a backward glance as she levitated out of the sunroom.

* * * * * * * *

"Urd, I tell you...he *didn't* do anything with Peorth! Did you see his face? He was absolutely terrified! Everybody could see that he was scared to death. Why can't you?" Skuld said for the tenth time. Her sister shook her head; it seemed to Skuld that Urd was mired in some weird Baka-Zone and didn't want to believe in his innocence.
"No, Skuld. Everybody saw him...*naked*!" Skuld blushed at Urd's words. She had never seen a naked man before, except for the time she first arrived in the temple compound...transporting through her medium of water, she emerged from a hot furoba with a naked Keiichi in it! She was both fascinated and repelled by the accidental glimpse she had then...and the one that she almost had now.
"Urd...you *know* how he is! He's been totally frightened around women ever since he came here. You think that it was just an act? You think that he would behave differently around Peorth? You know how *she* is around guys!" Skuld argued.
"And that's why she and Cevn were able to...do something he should have done...with me! What's she got that I don't have? Aren't I beautiful enough? Isn't my love enough for him?" she said testily.
Skuld could only look at her with a blank expression. Big Sister was definitely a baka!
"I guess it wasn't!" Urd decided for herself with a burst of contempt and sorrow.
Skuld had witnessed the bitter depths of Belldandy's maudlin state...now she was seeing the same thing in Urd. Her other sister was so...devastated.
"What is this thing called love, if it causes everyone that feels it so much misery?" she asked herself. Big Sister Urd was torn between rageful outbursts and tearful shudders. But Skuld knew that Cevn didn't betray Urd. It was just a matter of convincing Urd to believe in him. By believing in herself. Skuld was surprised at the mature bent of her thoughts; if Urd believed in herself...then she would *know* that her new boyfriend wouldn't even think of wandering. After arguing in circles with her distraught sister, Skuld dealt the final blow.
"Big Sister Urd, grab a brain willya? If you *are* worthy of his love...then how could he *not* be faithful? How could you even think that he was unfaithful! *Why* would he go after Peorth when he has *you*, if you're so loving towards him?" she confronted her sister with razor precision.
Urd felt like she had been hit with one of her own lightning bolts. Skuld was right!
"For a kid, she sure can argue a point home," she admitted to herself in a low voice. Then it dawned on her...Cevn probably never did anything with Peorth! She took a deep breath to exhale her stress, and replayed the crazy situation, an easy thing for a Norn of the Past to do.
"Of course he didn't do anything with Peorth! How'd I miss it?" she realized, after observing and considering the matter further. Urd smiled to herself, exulting in the sudden release of her suspicions. She knew that her boyfriend loved her best! She felt like she had betrayed *him* in her mind with her qualms.
Skuld was relieved to see that Urd wasn't in hyper mode any more. At least her Big Sister had responded to reason. Then she watched as Urd's elation turned fretful.
"Oh *shit*!!! If he didn't do anything...and everybody saw him without any clothes..." Urd realized. She knew that Cevn was totally sensitive to sexual matters...totally frightened. And he had been *seen* by every member of the house. The words "revictimized" and "shamed" appeared in her mind. Extending her Time senses, she replayed the whole incident of Peorth's return...and noticed something new.
Cevn had a look of insane stark terror on his face.
""Ohmygod, Skuld, I gotta check on him..." she shouted as she floated through the door, not even bothering that it was all ajar after she had slammed it shut earlier.
"Geez, thanks for appreciating your little sister so much for helping you see through your own idiocy," Skuld said tetchily. This love stuff was making her Big Sister a flake!

* * * * * * * *

"What did *I* do? I didn't do anything wrong...did I?" Peorth said innocently, looking at Urd and Skuld in confusion.
Urd had started out to go check on Cevn when Peorth floated up out of Keiichi's room. They almost collided in the hallway. Instantly, her anger shifted from Cevn to Peorth; she felt her heartbeat quicken incessantly. She had to find out how Cevn was doing, but first, she had to grill Peorth. Actually, she was thinking about doing worse things, like literally grilling her. This was personal!
"If she wants to play at being French, I'll oblige her! I'll *fillet* her ass," she imagined scornfully as she looked across the room at Peorth. Urd was relieved by the fact that she wasn't the subject of this inquisition; this time, Skuld would be resolutely on her side, to be sure. This was one of those rare times when Urd was glad her license was under suspension…otherwise Peorth would really have something to worry about.
"Peorth, what you did was unspeakable! First of all, you popped out of the flower vase in while he was bathing. Then you 'attacked' him! Do you have any idea of what he's been through as far as sexual matters are concerned?" Urd said.
"Did you see him? He really got aroused! After all, his excitement level did shoot through the roof! He actually kicked the door down, he was so filled with genki!" Peorth replied.
Urd grimaced, remembering last year how Peorth had completely derailed Tamiya...without his even realizing that she was teasing him because she thought he was in love with Keiichi. Tamiya had demonstrated that he had a heart of gold when he saved both Keiichi and Peorth that time, rather than dissolve into rampant jealousy towards Keiichi. Looking at Peorth, Urd shook her head, making an imaginary motion with her hands as if she was tearing her hair out in frustration.
"He may never come out of his room again, because of you!" Skuld said angrily to Peorth, her face beet-red and her eyes wide.
"It's not my fault! You never told me that there were so many men in this house, Urd!" Peorth retorted irritably. "You know how I am...especially with Keiichi. But also with mortal men who have made wishes."
"Urd...don't!" Skuld cautioned as she caught the angry glare in Urd's eyes and the unfolded hand seconds away from being raised to slap. Slapping a full-on Goddess First Class Licensee when one is running on almost non-existent Earth Spirit Grade powers...is like a flea trying to kill a tiger by pulling its whiskers.
The two sisters spent another half-hour trying to talk sense into Peorth...but their new visitor remained deaf to any explanations or confrontations. Finally Peorth declared that she had heard enough hot air from the two sisters and headed out the door.
Urd watched as Peorth paused at the doorway and whispered something into Skuld's ear. A second later, Skuld's face was red...with anger or embarrassment?...as Peorth giggled her way out of the room.
"Grrrh, there's just no talking any sense into you, is there? You're as naive as Belldandy, you know that, Peorth," Urd said after Peorth exited the room, feeling herself overflowing with handclutching frustration.

* * * * * * * *

Belldandy was dressed in a glowing white outfit, elaborately studded with jewels, laced with golden doily frills and frolic designs. The dress was a traditional Yggdrasilian engagement dress that young Goddesses wore to their omiai. She looked in the mirror, struggling to avoid admiring herself. Self-admiration would only serve to remind her of how much she was accommodating this horrible arrangement. Yet, she knew that she was in the absolute bloom of maidenly beauty. She couldn't help darting a quick smile towards her reflection in the mirror. She tried pretending that she was dressed this way for Keiichi...
"You look absolutely *stunning*, dahling," her Mother noted approvingly, downing her mood another notch. It was once more obvious to Belldandy that Mother was either not noticing or ignoring her disheartened demeanor.
"The future son-in-law and his parents will be arriving shortly. Now don't forget the order in which you serve tea and refreshments, dear. And don't forget that you sit opposite the table from him...and don't stare at him. Remember to look the part of the timid maiden and keep your attention on the table. And don't put on any important airs; be delicately modest. After all, you're going to be his wife...and we don't want him suspecting that you're having thoughts of your own on the subject," Mother instructed.
"But I *do* have thoughts of my own!" Belldandy angrily emoted, wanting to tell Mother *everything*. About her and Keiichi, about the fact that she had made physical love with a mortal, about the fact that she wanted to be with Keiichi forever...
A chime sounded and Mother grabbed her by the arm and half-escorted, half-dragged her out into the courtyard. They had decided to hold the first interview in the middle of Strawberry Meadows, amongst the light red and green shoots of slender grasses. The place had been decorated for the omiai. A floating iridescent palanquin was grandly making an entrance, descending in a very stately display of presence.
Belldandy looked up to see three figures emerge from the floating palanquin, hovering just above the grasslands. The first figure was a God with long gray hair, slender of build, dressed in a green robe with insignia that denoted that he was the head of the Deliberate Chaos Ministry. His eyes darted about coldly, taking everything in with keen interest...not with the regard of the curious. Instead he seemed to be *stealing* the warmth of the surroundings within his calculating measure.
Next out of the door was his wife. She was wearing a dreamhelm, which resembled a silvery crown with a thin visor covering her eyes. Her brunette locks were styled in coiling curls that folded back and forth into lightning...quite a dramatic effect. Belldandy caught her breath...Lokii's wife was *beautiful*! She wore an elaborate white-blue gown, with a fur-lined overcoat. The last figure to emerge was Tyyr.
Tyyr caught her eye and grinned. Belldandy felt herself shrink a little when she saw the souls of his eyes.
"You're mine!" his eyes had declared greedily.

* * * * * * * *

Keiichi was surprised to see Peorth. It wasn't like Peorth was the last thing he wanted to see...but she certainly didn't brighten his day. Her presence just made him more depressed. She was only another reminder that Belldandy was gone. She smothered him with attention late into the evening, and then she retired to the sister's bedroom to sleep.
The sister's bedroom. Where Belldandy *should* be.
Miserable, Keiichi had fallen asleep in his wheelchair. No one wanted to talk to him after Peorth bothered him...so he just went to sleep.

* * * * * * * *

"Keiichi..." a soft feminine voice whispered in his ear. He opened his eyes to see Peorth floating in front of him. She had changed her outfit...now she was dressed a little more conservatively. Her provocative outfit didn't arouse him at all last night. No matter how she dressed, she was just wasting her time trying to reach him. In fact, no one could reach him...except *she*...the one inhabitant of his heart who was now unreachable.
Urd and Skuld came up and stood on either side of Peorth. Keiichi sensed for a moment that Urd was barely concealing extreme anger towards Peorth...she just seemed to have some kind of red aura about her. Or maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him. In the past three days, he had thought he heard Bell-chan's voice while he was in different parts of the house. Repeatedly. He knew she wasn't there, but the house itself seemed reluctant to release her presence.
"Keiichi, dear, how are you feeling this morning," Peorth asked with sincere concern.
"Life sucks! You all suck! Why do you guys even bother with your stupid hollow attempts to cheer me up? I'm NOT HAPPY! And...I'll never be happy unless Bell is here!" he answered. Peorth ignored his pessimistic attitude and continued to try and buoy his spirits. After a short while, she repaired to the kitchen. Returning with a nice Continental breakfast set out on a tray, she set it in front of Keiichi and quietly withdrew to hover and watch him eat.
Keiichi was barely touching his food. Urd felt a dire stab of panic at his feeble response to even simple things like food. It was as if he was trying to kill himself by withdrawing from the world. Then he knocked the tray off of his chair in a fit of pique and wheeled himself towards his hobby room.
The last thing he wanted was an audience of Goddesses! He tried to get away from the attentions of the three Goddesses, and wheeled his chair into his "Keiichi's Shop" room. A moment later, Megumi, Genji and Tomohisa joined him. He could tell that his sister was very concerned; when Megumi is very concerned, she verbally walks on eggshells. Megumi attempted to make trivial conversation...the same method she always uses around him when she was too scared to really talk about something going on in her life.
Keiichi ignored her too. He had gotten fed up with telling everyone in the house to leave him alone. Not only didn't they listen...but also their presence only served to deepen his anguish. Because they only reminded him about the woman he loved.
The woman he had lost.
"*Everything* seems to remind me of Bell-chan," he mused, feeling his pain swallowing him like an unending desert waste of misery.

* * * * * * * *

"We've gotta do something!" Peorth explained as she brushed her long silken black locks, pulling them into a ponytail. She had really tried this morning to reach Keiichi, to cast away his pain. It was irritating...this inability on her part to uplift the spirits of her new mortal charge.
"*You* gotta do something," Urd said, reminding Peorth that she was the only inhabitant of the house who had any Goddess powers worth mentioning.
"It's horrible...I can't even get him to make a wish...to tell me what he wants. If he asked, I could simply wave my hand and he wouldn't be confined to that damn contraption..."
Urd looked up sharply. She locked her eyes on Skuld and nodded her head. Skuld made a moue with her mouth, then shot Urd a quizzical glance.
"Peorth, why don't you go to the ocean and try and settle yourself down? Maybe something will come to you then..." Urd suggested. It was another hour before Peorth finally acceded to Urd's repeated promptings. With a snap of slender fingers, she vanished...but not before whispering something in Skuld's ear. Again, Skuld reacted with a reddened face. As soon as she left, Urd turned to her.
"Thank the Lord that she's out of our hair! And what did she say to you!"
"Shutup, Urd!" Skuld snapped back. Urd wasn't even mad at Skuld's little tantrum. She almost wanted to tease her little sister...Skuld's irritation was charming, rather than rambunctious. But Urd held her words; she knew that Skuld would let it slip one day.
"And what were you doing earlier, making all those weird faces at me while you were brushing your hair?" Skuld asked. Urd smiled at her youngest sister...this idea that had popped in her head was eating away at her patience.
"Something Peorth said...about getting Keiichi to make a request. A wish. If he makes a wish...then Peorth *has* to grant it!" Skuld opened her mouth with a half-gasp as implication grasped her.
"YES! If Keiichi is lured into making a wish...and he wishes for Belldandy to be back here...then Peorth..."
"Will have to go get her. Bingo, Skuld-sama! Mom might be able to cancel one wish, but I doubt that the system would allow her to cancel a second one," Urd finished.
"That doesn't even matter!" Skuld realized aloud. "His first wish was canceled, so he automatically gets a second one!"
"I thought I just said that, you brat!"
"But how do we get Keiichi to make a wish? He isn't even *talking* to us..." Skuld asked. Immediate clockworks of logic spent an answer on the heels of her question. It would be painful for Keiichi...but it was a necessary pain.
Skuld *knew* that her idea would work.
"We've got to make Keiichi yearn for Belldandy even more than he does now," she stated in the wondering voice she sometimes assumed when she was hypothesizing aloud.
"What? He *already* misses her so much, it's killing him. You want him to miss her even more? That's insanely stupid. 'Stupid to the max,' as your little Tomohisa would say!" Urd remonstrated, throwing a dig in for good measure.
"No! Not insane. He's insane with grief *now*! If we push him over the edge, he might come back to sanity. With a clear mind, you know that he would make one wish more than any other..."
The thread of Skuld's plan was inarguable. But it would be a brutal paradox. Urd didn't want to be cruel at all, especially to someone she sometimes loved almost as a brother...
Skuld, for her part, felt a fearful disinclination towards her plan. It would mean that she would have to 'attack' Keiichi with reminders of Belldandy. She was afraid of two things: that Keiichi might withdraw even more with regret, or that she herself would collapse emotionally when she was gripped even tighter with the loss of her sister. Urd's disappearing act this past summer had devastated her by bouts of dolor. Belldandy's near-recall to Yggdrasil months after Skuld arrived at the Earthrealm had almost drove her senseless for a while.
Skuld didn't want to revisit *that* emotional morass of pain.
Looking at her Big Sister, Skuld shook her head sadly.
"We've got to do it, for everyone's sake."

* * * * * * * *

Belldandy looked around, surveying the scene like a trapped animal. She was seated at a floating nanoelectic crystalmatrix table, in the middle of the skyland of Strawberry Meadows. There was no one in sight; obviously her parents had arranged to have the whole skyland to themselves for the day. She cast her eyes in a circle, frustrated at the close quarters and the tense atmosphere. She looked to Daddy for any signs of emotional support...without success.
On her right was her father, Odeyn. He wore the usual patch over his right eye...an eye that had been lost long ago when he was a Marshal. He had led the vanguard that finally defeated the AncienGiants cyberbeings in battle. As a reward for his valor and sacrifice, Kami-sama had granted him the title of head of the Energy Guild. He was a relic from a long lost time, an episode in Yggdrasilian history when the Gods and the Demons warred more openly. Belldandy still felt a sorrow stirring deep in her stomach every time she saw that eye patch. No matter how powerful he was, he could never manifest with both eyes intact. Father was dressed impeccably; his gray beard trimmed neatly, his long hair pulled back into a braid.
She sensed with some relief that he was silently surveying Tyyr with suspicion.
Next to him was Mother, chatting amiably about the latest fashions with Friijda. Belldandy moved her gaze from Mother to the end of the table. Directly opposite her, on the far end of the table, was Tyyr. Once more, she caught the barely concealed lust in his eyes. She felt like he consuming her, rather than appreciating her.
"There's *no way* that I can marry that ogre of a God!" Belldandy thought sadly. But she was caught in the binds of filial love; she had to accede to their wishes in this matter. Any act of defiance on her part would be a severe breach of manners...possibly resulting in clan conflict between her parents and Lokii. What was even more frightening than this...was the potential ire of her Mother. She quickly glanced past him to see Friijda and Lokii.
Tradition dictated that she serve tea to Tyyr's parents first, then Tyyr. Very carefully, she served a cup to Lokii, who grinned at her...his dark blue eyes glazing abstractly...glassbeady with schemes. Next, she served his wife, the Lady Friijda. Then she stood up with the tea service and knelt next to Tyyr.
She could hear the tea service clitter-clatter as her hands shook while she served him his tea. Her senses seemed to brighten intolerably...probably due to the tension which coursed through her being. She could hear his breathing...which was almost a growling noise. She stood up to walk over to her parent's side of the table. Suddenly, she felt a hand grasping where it shouldn't have been.
"Ah...quite firm! Just as I suspected!" Tyyr grunted, looking greedily at up and down her figure.
Feeling nauseous with distress, Belldandy wanted to slap him...he had actually *patted her on her rear* after she served him tea. No one else seemed to notice his untoward behavior; the two sets of parents were engaged in animated conversation about Yggdrasilian politics and fashions. She bit her tongue to keep from yelling in fear and outrage as she served her mother, then her father. In between the snippets of animated conversation, Belldandy noticed that Father seemed to be brooding...*that* would change when the sake was served.
Next, Mother presented the meal, which no doubt had been prepared by others, probably culindroids. Belldandy remembered that she had never seen Mother actually cook with her own hands...then felt sorrow as she remembered how often she herself enjoyed cooking in the Earthrealm. Especially Keiichi's expression when her cooking moved beyond tasty to exquisite. Belldandy half-heartedly ate her food, opting to stare at the white singularity that graced the table as its centerpiece.
After the meal, the two fathers exchanged cups of wine, while the two mothers exchanged the traditional wedding bid scrolls. She knew that the rolled sheets of golden paper with brilliant red writing contained information necessary for the wedding. They described the pedigrees of each family, the birthdates and major events in the lives of the potentially betrothed God and Goddess, plus myriad particulars.
She wanted to wave her hand and make the bid scrolls flash into flame...but this was impossible, since she still had no Goddess powers whatsoever.
Belldandy felt even more nervous as the omiai progressed. This exchange of bids meant that the arrangement was almost sealed.
"Let's see a proper sword dance!" her Father commanded, beginning to show that he was in his cups.
"Just like in the olden days, huh, Lokii. Let's see if these new WarGods can hold muster to their respected elders," he shouted again, elbowing Lokii.
"Kampai!!!" everybody shouted except Belldandy. Mother snapped her fingers and the food service disappeared, so that Tyyr could mount the table and perform.
The next few minutes were spent watching Tyyr perform an intricate sword dance. Belldandy had to admit to herself that the Marshall of the WarGods was *good* at sword and spear handling. Probably, this was the only thing he was good at, besides groping women and acting the brute.
"Now, let's see how our future daughter-in-law dances! Bring on the fans! We'll see if she possesses the necessary cultural skills like our beautiful wives, eh Odeyn?" Lokii remarked, slapping Odeyn on the back.
Two intricate fans resolved in mid-air. Belldandy hesitated a moment to retrieve them; causing her Mother to make a face that said "get going!" She alighted on the table and bowed. Taking a fan in each hand, she began her dance. Becoming engrossed in the routine, she discarded each fan and extended her sleeves, so that her fan dance became a sleeve dance. She fought back tears, because she had dreamed of someday performing this dance for her beloved Keiichi...and no one else.
The moment she thought of Keiichi, she stumbled.
Right into the arms of Tyyr. Everybody laughed at her innocent mistake, except Tyyr. Who had reached around her front and grabbed a breast in each hand though her robe...in a pretense at 'catching her fall'.
"Don't be afraid, my dear...soon I will make you an adult Goddess!" Tyyr whispered in her ear. Belldandy fought his hands off of her and stood up, glaring at him.
"You're spirited! I love that in a Goddess! You'll be fun to tame!" Tyyr challenged her with a private voice.

* * * * * * * *

Peorth was bugging him again. Floating in the air in front of his wheelchair, she kept trying to cheer him up. He looked towards the entryway to the sunroom, where Skuld and Urd entered bringing picture albums.
"Great...more false cheer," he thought somberly.
"Keiichi...since you miss Belldandy so much, we'd thought you might like to look through some of these," Urd said. Keiichi tried to push one of the albums away while Skuld opened up the other one and pointed out a picture to Keiichi.
"What are they doing? Don't they care? Can't they see that I'm already hurting as much as anyone can possibly hurt?" he thought.
"Remember this one? New Year's 20XX? When Urd had you guys play Life..." Skuld described.
"...Sugoroku. Remember how I fixed the game? But you and Belldandy ended up kissing after you shoveled almost all the snow off of the driveway?" Urd narrated. Skuld opened up the other photo album and shook it to get Keiichi's attention.
"Look! These are from the time that psychic girl, Shiho Sakakibara, came to visit us. Remember how she brought out ghosts instead of quelling their presence. I was so scared! And remember how Belldandy got so jealous...because she actually thought that girl was going to take you away from her? My sister must *really* love you, Keiichi!" Skuld felt horrible inside as she noticed Keiichi's eyes framing with tears...this process of fanning his emotional pain was hurting *her*.
"Yes...and remember this one!" Urd added. Keiichi saw the pictures that he had taken of Bell during a visit to Tokyo Disneyland. He wanted to tear the ears off the Mickey Mouse in the background...
Urd and Skuld pointed out more sequences of pictures in the photo albums. Belldandy's dainty cursive kanji dated and described each separate picture. Keiichi was crying openly now...covering his eyes to avoid looking at the proffered photo albums. Skuld walked over to the corner of the room and grabbed something.
"Belldandy never showed you this, because she didn't think it was good enough. But since she's gone, what harm will it do now if I show it to you now..." she remarked as she held up a charcoal portrait that Belldandy had made...a portrait of Keiichi.
Urd choked back tears as she read the caption:

Dear Keiichi...this drawing can never capture the essence of
Soul which resides in you...the pure Soul of Love. I love you!

Yours Forever Belldandy

Keiichi literally exploded into heavy sobs, trying to push the portrait away. Skuld jerked it back quickly so that he couldn't rip it.
Peorth regarded the picture, drawn by the hands of a sister Goddess. She felt an infinite sense of sadness for Belldandy and Keiichi. She could see Belldandy's heart in every stroke of the charcoal pen...
"I CAN'T STAND IT ANY MORE!" Keiichi bellowed in black despair.
"Keiichi...if there's anything I can do to take away the pain...just tell me. I swear I'll do it!" Peorth promised, sincerely moved by the earnestness of the drawing. In a sense, she could already guess what he would wish for...but she had to follow the Rule and ask him formally.
"I..I just want her back. I want Belldandy back!" Keiichi shouted hoarsely, his arms raised over his face to conceal his agonizing grief.
Peorth turned to Urd and Skuld, her face billowing with emotion. Sadness, because of the pain Keiichi was in. Joy, because she would finally be able to grant him a wish. Reluctance...and conflict.
She felt reluctance wash over her freshly made promise...because she had to fulfill the one wish that she would have never wanted to complete. Much as she coveted assuming Belldandy's assignment...she knew in her heart of hearts that it would only be right for her to bring back Belldandy. It would be the *rightest* thing she could ever possibly do for Keiichi.
*If* she could bring back Belldandy...

* * * * * * * *

Everybody was drunk except Belldandy. Tyyr had completely ignored all sense of decorum and had gotten drunk. It was expected for the parents to be aglow with intoxication after the exchange of bids. After all, they were experiencing the first steps in the parting of ways with their offspring. But Tyyr...he had become almost lecherous. The prescribed etiquette of an omiai prohibited the prospective bride or groom to touch any sake, except for the perfunctory single small cup.
"Serb me anutter glazz, wifffe!" he mumbled. Belldandy felt something uncoil inside of her at his words. This stupid charade had gone too far!
"Enough is enough!" she thought to herself angrily. Holding her head up high with dignity, Belldandy picked up the chalice of sake, walked over to Tyyr's side...and overturned it over his head.
"Ooops!" she said, tittering.
Instantly sober, Tyyr stood up and grabbed both her hands in one of his. His other hand was ready to slap her. Belldandy was almost ready to faint from shock.
"TYYR!" two loud male voices shouted. Belldandy looked to see both sets of parents, instantly sober. Her Father was glaring at Tyyr with a ferocious expression, his eyes almost flaming with anger.
"Y..you saw what she did! S..she poured sake over my head!" Turning his attention to Belldandy, he confronted her.
"How *dare* you! Do you know who I am, you wench of a Goddess? I am the Marshall of the WarGods. I could slice you into pieces at a moment's notice!" he threatened.
"Go ahead! Why don't you! Aren't you *God* enough?" she challenged him, her eyes suddenly hard as suns.
"I'll *never* love you, Tyyr!" she said, almost spitting his name out. "My heart is already given to another. You're utterly, totally disgusting, Tyyr."
A chorus of gasps followed her statement. She turned away from Tyyr.
"And *you*, Mother!! How could you force me into this mockery...t.this arranged marriage?" she spat out. "You're only doing this just because you're so-called society friends expect it! You don't care about me! You don't care about the mortals! All you care about is *looking good*!" she said angrily, realizing that she had gone over the edge with her anger. Belldandy's mother stood up shock-straight, her golden curls shimmering as she quivered in anger. "Why...you ungrateful..." she started to say. Belldandy interrupted her.
"SHUT UP, Mother!" Belldandy yelled, arms stiff at her sides, fists clenched. She had wanted to say that for years...the relief that swept her was almost exhilarating. She realized in a split-second that she had just broken every rule possible...and it was time to go for it all.
"Belldandy...you are not to address your Mother that way! Apologize to her this instant!" Odeyn shouted above the din of thoughtwaves.
Arrested to the core by her Father's commanding voice, Belldandy fought to sweep millennia of instinctive obediences away. To disregard it. Suddenly she was a little girl, and her Father was a big strong imposing figure. She had an apology on the tip of her thoughts, ready to flow out. But she gathered every bit of courage she had and sent it away and reached deep in her heart instead.
"You know what Mother...I am in love. With a man who's hundreds of times kinder, more decent and handsomer that this...this *thug*!" she announced, ignoring her Father completely. Her Mother and Father were staring at her with utter disbelief, their mouths opening and closing like koi in a pond.
The simmering resentments that had been boiling inside of her ever since she had been ripped away from Keiichi were overflowing the bowl of her common sense. And she didn't care. She had been brought here…for this idiotic socialite travesty! Recognizing that she'd already blown the 'sweet and demure daughter' act, she braced herself, knowing that it was now or never. It was time to deal the coup de grace.
"And he's a *mortal*! That's right, Mother...a *mortal*. He's the 'test mortal'. His name is Keiichi Morisato. And I love him with all of my being!"
"I demand my right to challenge!" Tyyr yelled, his eyes bloodshot with rage.
"You'll demand nothing, Tyyr! Bell's coming back to Earth with me, right now," a new voice sounded into the fray.
Belldandy wheeled around in surprise to see her rival, Peorth.
"Peorth! Wh..what are you doing here..?" Belldandy stammered as Peorth quickly grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away from the omiai setting.
"*Peorth*?" Belldandy thought in amazement as she started shimmering away from Hell.
"See ya, wouldn't wanna be ya!" Peorth quipped flippantly to the omiai gathering right before she disappeared.

* * * * * * * *

With a flash of light, Peorth reappeared. Keiichi looked up at the bright light...then he saw her.
"BELLDANDYYYYYYYY!"
"KEIICHIIIIIIIIII!"
She ran into his arms and nearly tipped his wheelchair over. The two hugged each other with an indescribable joy, and then looked longingly into each other's eyes as their lips met. Everybody was overwhelmed by the reunion of the two. Urd held back Skuld, who wanted to hug her older sister.
"Let'em have this moment to themselves, kiddo!" she instructed Skuld with a telltale smile.

* * * * * * * *

Keiichi was shaking with joy, like a dried cheese container at a pizza joint. Belldandy was back!!! He felt her hands stroking through his hair as she kissed him passionately. The entire world ceased to exist. His entire world was simply ambrosial...simply he and Belldandy.

* * * * * * * *

Peorth watched the reunion, and then withdrew to a corner. She had just done the unspeakable. It was a grave offense for an outsider to interfere with an omiai. But even worse than her blatant breach of decorum and privacy...she had offended her heart when she had fetched Belldandy back from Yggdrasil. This utterly ruined any chances that she would ever be able to take on Keiichi as her mortal charge. It also eliminated any chance that he could fall in love with her.
Skuld walked over and put an arm around her waist. Urd and the rest were sitting in the living room, leaving Belldandy and Keiichi to the privacy of their reunion. Skuld tried to gently nudge her to leave the sunroom.
"Despite my whispered taunts...Skuld is still there for me?" Peorth thought in amazement.

* * * * * * * *

Belldandy had gone loopy with joy, being in Keiichi's arms...the arms she never thought she would feel wrapped around her again. She wanted to melt herself into his Soul right now...to climb inside his heart and bang a drumbeat of pure elation...to feel herself reaching the same light that he was...
She was satisfied with the gratitude in his eyes.
"Keiichi...I LOVE YOU!"

* * * * * * * *

After what seemed like an eternity...Belldandy and Keiichi emerged from the sunroom. Belldandy wheeled him into the living room. Every face was overjoyed to see them...except one. Belldandy could see the pain written on Peorth's visage. Her normally smiling eyes were hooded, drawn with sadness. She walked over to her fellow Goddess and hugged her.
"Thank you, Peorth. Your sacrifice will not go unrewarded...I swear by it..." she promised. Peorth's face registered an array of emotions...then she simply collapsed in Belldandy's arms, crying into her shoulder.
Urd still was angry with Peorth for what she did to Cevn. He had retreated under his futon...and wouldn't speak. Wouldn't respond to any of her entreaties. But in her heart, Urd felt immense respect for her 'sister' Goddess. Peorth had abandoned one of her innermost desires...out of obligation to her offices as a Relief Goddess...and her friendship with both Keiichi and Belldandy. She too found herself hugging Peorth, whose face was wretched with sadness.

***BOOM***

Belldandy, Urd, Skuld and Peorth looked at the flash of light in front of their temple house.
"Merde!!! I think...things have just got *way* more complicated!" Peorth announced.

* * * * * * * *