Plague of Skulds Part 3 of 8
An Oh! My Goddess Fanfic
By Jim Nutley
jnutley@lvnexus.net
Please send me comments! Good or Bad.
All characters created by Kosuke Fujishima were used without
permission, as were characters from products by Studio CLAMP and
Bandai. This story may not be sold. Many thanks to Brett Handy for
allowing me to use his character Brett, God of Destiny. Many thanks
to Lloyd Goodbar for allowing me to use his character Riana, a
Goddess of Relief Goddess Office.
Please do not repost this fanfic, since I will be modifying it in
response to comments from the ML. I will make a repostable version
available when I have had a chance to respond to comments.
**************
Later that afternoon, Belldandy and Keiichi staked out lounge chairs and a
table with an umbrella near the 'landing' pool, while Skuld and Terai went
on every waterslide. Keiichi only had one swimsuit, which was rarely
used anyway. Belldandy had her first swimsuit on, a pink and white one
piece. The implied reference to their first trip to the beach was not wasted
on Keiichi. While the girls were away though, Belldandy was giving
Keiichi a somewhat censored account of the morning's activities.
"... and then a shoe store and a Kimono/Bridal shop and then finally the
Ice Cream parlor, where Skuld ate her own and more than half of Terai's
bowl, seven scoop bowls at that."
"No wonder she had such a small helping of noodles for lunch,"
commented Keiichi. "Do you think Terai's having a good time?"
"Oh yes, everything is interesting to her. I think we're making a very good
impression." replied Belldandy.
Groups of squealing children were climbing out of the water and running
back to the entrance lines for the various waterslides, dispight signs and
adults imploring them not to run. It was noisy and a little crowded.
"Not quite as nice as that first trip is it?" said Keiichi.
"Well, we're not free and on our own, and its not as beautiful for scenery"
said Belldandy, "but there are lots of smiling faces."
"Not including yours." Keiichi noticed, "What's wrong Belldandy?"
"I was remembering our first trip to the beach, and how frightened I was
for you, ..." Belldandy put her hand to her face. "After Sayokosan
slapped me and said I was troublesome to you I began to wonder if ..."
"SHE WHAT!?!", Keiichi was on his feet, really looking ready to attempt
some kind of violence, quite unusual for him, and everyone for fifty meters
around turned to look at them.
Belldandy turned her blue eyes on Keiichi. "Please sit down Keiichisan,
let's continue quietly."
"You never said ...", Keiichi found his way back to his chair with one
hand, he calmed down quickly as his mind connected the next scene in the
story. "And then I ...,Belldandy how could you forgive me?" Keiichi
slumped in his chair and looked at the ground. The people around them
resumed their own activities.
"There's nothing you did to forgive, Keiichisan." Belldandy had that
beautific, pure aura palatably about her, so that it was almost impossible
to do anything but smile at her and nod agreement, Keiichi however was
looking at his feet.
"No Belldandy, I was careless and reckless. I didn't tell you or Urd that I
couldn't swim because I was afraid to embarrass myself in front of you."
Keiichi drew himself up like he was marching to an unpleasant fate. "I
shouldn't have trusted Urd so completely on just her word she was your
sister. Even accepting the sunscreen oil from her was too much. I ..."
"Keiichisan!" Belldandy had lost her supernatural calm. "The sunscreen
oil was Urd's?"
Startled by her change in attitude, Keiichi lost track of the speech he was
trying to recite, "Um ... Yeah, she gave it to me just before you joined me
under the umbrella."
"Keiichisan did you know what would have happened, ... How I would
have acted if, ..."
"She said it would make you all 'Mellow Mellow'." Keiichi said
sheepishly. Moments before he had been resigned to sacrificing his pride
for her happiness, he now found himself actually in trouble with her,
although somewhat different trouble than expected. He studied her
carefully to see what would happen next. Even then though, he was
surprised by her reaction, since Belldandy almost never in his memory
had blushed.
"Oh Keiichisan, do you have any idea what would have happened to me if
you actually had rubbed me all over with that oil?"
"No."
"I know what would have happened to me." injected an unwelcome voice.
As if called by the mention of her name, Urd swept up to the table,
wearing a French cut two piece bikini that could only be called skimpy,
and over that a transparent wrap that concealed nothing, in fact it was
damp in just the right places to cling in a fashion that ..., well you know ...,
oh never mind. Urd breezed into the conversation without an invitation.
"I would have gathered my 'fan club' around me in one of those shady
nooks we use for breaks among the roots of the Yggdrasil facility, where
the water flows out of the wells to make pretty little waterfalls, and
described your public deflowering in minute detail. I can hear me now,
'...but really ladies I was so shocked when she immolated both their
swimsuits with White Flame. He was as surprised not to be hurt as he
was to find himself naked, poor little thing. And no, that's not a reference
to his manhood, not by this time anyway. Then she sort of slithered all
over him, she's my sister after all. I guess it had just been building up
inside of her all this time, ...' he he he he." Urd looked from her sister to
Keiichi and back, gratified to see that they were both blushing as red as
the Rising Sun.
"Keiichisan," Belldandy whispered after a long moment, "If you'll go buy
us some drinks, I have money in my purse,..."
"No No, I have money with me." Keiichi stood up, grateful for the chance
to put his mind on calmer thoughts. "Two soda pops and a Kirin, Yes?",
too which Belldandy nodded and Urd gave the OK hand sign. Keiichi
hurried away.
"Oh Urd," Belldandy began, "I can just hear Freyja, and Idunn and Fulla
laughing their heads off while you highlight every embarrassing detail.
How could you even contemplate doing..."
"How did he take it?" interrupted Urd.
"What do you mean?"
"Our visitor, how did Keiichi react to your explanation?"
"Well, the right moment hasn't presented itself."
"Oh No? Well this will be a better story than the last. There they all are,
billions of human souls milling about while they wait their turn to be
escorted through The Door, to their eternal rewards. And there in the
crowd is the Goddess Belldandy, begging the pardon of the virgin spirit of
her would be lover. 'I meant to tell you your world was in imminent
danger Keiichisan, but the right moment didn't come...'"
Belldandy frowned. "Urd, that's unfair to Terai, and even my patience
with you is running thin."
Urd's expression and tone hardened in turn. "You've been with her all
morning, and she hasn't slipped once?"
"She did, but it was nothing, some clothes knocked on the floor. I put
them back and no one noticed."
"I noticed the gravity anomaly all the way back at the temple, which
makes me wonder if Malher or someone else may come looking to see
what's going on. And you say you put it back?" Urd snapped her fingers,
and a reddish globe of light appeared between them, it hovered there
while Urd muttered something under her breath, then she snuffed it like a
candle flame. "Between that and making the Temple glow, which you
renew every morning when you get up, you've used more than half you're
daily energy budget. And tonight you'll renew the protection wards with
the rest and probably some of your reserve, then collapse and sleep like
the dead. Does this sound like any class one Goddesses you know?"
"I'll be fine Urd"
"No. You've got some kind of variation on the theme of Anorexia.
You've been stretching yourself to the limit of your magical energy but
doing nothing to increase what you have. There's at least ten ways you
could draw power from your surroundings which you never use. If you
have to be a straight arrow about it, you could appeal to have your Seal
modified to allow a larger power flow, but you'd rather go on falling down
every time you have to extend yourself."
"Urd stop this! I'm not..."
"Not going to be ordered about by your half-breed half-sister?"
"Urd!"
"Well even half-breeds have their sources of information. You're
reluctant to tell him who's visiting, when do you plan to tell him why
Kamisama lets you stay?"
Minutes before, Belldandy had been blushing red, now she quickly went
pale. "Urd you wouldn't, ... you wont tell him."
"Doesn't he deserve to know?"
"He thinks he did this of his own free will!"
"He did. That's obvious."
"If you tell ... I mean if he learns, he'll think he's a pawn."
"He IS a pawn, what mortal hasn't been a pawn, from the beginning of the
universe?"
"THAT'S not fair to Kamisama!"
"I'm talking about what's fair to you. You have a higher purpose down
here, higher than granting a shy boy a wish, or letting your childhood
crush bloom." Urd's face softened a little, and her expression took on a
hint of irony. "Higher even than keeping your wicked, older stepsister
from Falling. So when are you going to give yourself enough power to do
your job?"
Seeing her sister back off a little, Belldandy relaxed, and found her smile,
though it was soft and a little sad. "I've always loved you Urd, you're my
own dear sister."
Urd's expression of irony deepened. "With Fenrir the Wolf beside me and
Keiichi in a bottle in my cape, you still loved me? Damned if I can figure
out why."
Even Belldandy could tease on occasion. With a much bigger smile and a
shrug she said, "I'm just silly that way."
That comment brought a smile back to Urd's face, but just for a moment.
"I'm serious about you getting more power. I promise not to tell Keiichi
anything, but now I want your promise to appeal for more energy. You'll
send the complete request in before the end of the week."
"It will take longer than that to fill out the forms."
"Not if Hollybell helps. You can give her the basic idea and she can draft
it while you sleep."
"I shouldn't misuse her that way."
"If you don't," Urd made her eyes really big and spoke in a parody of a
little girl's voice, "I'll go everywhere looking very very pitiful and tell
people, 'Wahh, my sister is abusing herself'."
"All right Urd, You win. You can look over the draft request tomorrow
morning." Belldandy smiled a happy if resigned smile and 'pitiful' Urd
was replaced with the usual one.
Urd still went for the last word though. "I ought to make you break your
Seal, so you could contain her if she looses it, but I'll settle for no more
'BellWimpy'; and tonight, since you don't trust me to do it for you, you'll
draw some of my power for yourself before setting the wards. Ah, what's
this?" Urd turned away from her younger sister to face the approach of
her youngest sister.
Skuld, dripping wet, came up to the table looking a little bit green and at
least as pitiful as Urd had pretended to be a moment before. "Oneesama,
I been taking Terai down all the slides backwards and spinning and
nothing I'm doing is making her the least bit nauseous!"
"Why would you want her nauseous Skuld?" asked Belldandy?
"She doesn't understand what the word means and I can't explain it to
her."
"Even I'm not that stupid!", Urd butted in, "You can't possibly make her
motion sick. She masses Billions of Tons! All you've got here is her
personality projection, if we squeezed it into a pachinko ball and ran her
through a machine at Mach 1 all she'd do is squeal and say 'Do it again!'."
Skuld slumped , "That's exactly what she's saying now."
>From the line to the Super Double Twister slide, Terai called out to Skuld.
"Come On Skuld!"
Skuld groaned and headed off in that direction, turning just a little
greener. "I never thought I'd say 'I had too much Ice Cream!'."
As Skuld left, Keiichi came back, looking much more composed. He
served the Goddesses their drinks and opened his own can. Both
Belldandy and her sister seemed very calm and relaxed. Was that a good
sign or a bad sign for him? Finally, he broke the seeming silence. "Are
you still mad, Belldandy?"
"Mad?"
"At me?" he asked.
"About what?" said Urd, deadpan, and for emphasis, she raised her
eyebrows and leaned in his direction.
"Umm, Ahh, ..", Keiichi looked at Belldandy, who looked serene but
confused by his remark. He looked at Urd, who might herself be mad or
might just be trying to get him to shut up. "Nothing, I hope", was all he
could think of to say.
*************
Yamano Satoko had spent all day in the Electronics Lab on Nekomi Tech
campus, she was working on a research project for one of the professors.
As the day went by she came out of the lab only to use the restroom
and to eat her lunch in the break room. It was strange that each time she
stepped out of the lab, she saw one of her male classmates, Kagata-san.
She didn't know his given name. She wasn't aware that he had been hired
by any of the professors or had any other business in the Electrical
Engineering building during summer break, but that didn't mean he hadn't.
Satoko never spoke to Kagata-san, and had made a point of avoiding him
or silently discouraging him from speaking to her. Which might not be
fair, she reflected, except that every time she'd seen him since the
beginning of the school year he seemed to be looking at her, and his
expression when looking at her made her skin crawl. She tried hard to
focus on her work, but as the afternoon wore on she began watching the
clock, looking forward to meeting Ootaki this evening even more than
usual.
***************
The sun was setting when the three Goddesses, Keiichi, and Terai came
back on Nekomi campus. Keiichi and Belldandy would ride back to the
Temple in the sidecar motorcycle, while Urd, Skuld and Terai caught the
train. Belldandy had promised them an excellent dinner by the time they
got home. Terai was still finding a thousand things to ask questions
about, but at least, thought Skuld, she's asking everyone, not just me.
As the group crossed the street from the city into the campus, A voice
called out, "Morisato, you've added another girl to your collection again."
"Wha...?" Keiichi spun around, "Ah! Ootaki-sempai."
"Has Tamiya got you working on another club project?" asked Ootaki.
"Yes, but I took the afternoon off to help show our guest around. This is
Terai, Skuld's friend. Terai, this is Ootaki, one of my sempai."
"How do you do." said Terai, bowing.
"Quite pleased to meet you", said Ootaki, returning the bow yet.
"Morisato's house is a very good one to visit, no girl who's come to visit
him has ever left, except for his own little sister."
"Those are spark plugs, on the rings through your ears?" asked Terai.
"That's right."
"Spark plugs are an important part of internal combustion engines, Yes?",
Terai continued.
"I can't stand it.", muttered Skuld into her hand.
The evening was pierced by a woman's scream.
"Where did that come from?", said Keiichi as he snapped his head around.
"Satoko!", gasped Ootaki, "I'm supposed to meet her in front of the
Electrical Engineering building!"
The men took off in a run, with the Goddesses and Terai right at their
heels. They came around the corner to the entrance of the nearby
building, and sprinted up to the entryway steps. Nothing was to be seen,
but then the noises of a struggle became apparent behind one of the
shrubs to one side of the stairs. Ootaki dived into the bush, with Keiichi
just behind him. As the Goddesses angled for a better look, four figures,
arms and legs flailing, came crashing out into the open, with Ootaki
shouting the word 'Bastard' at the top of his lungs.
Satoko managed to separate herself from the fight a moment later, and
took a gasping breath as she peeled the thin rope from around her neck,
where it had left a bloody gouge. Belldandy and Urd were immediately at
her side.
Then a wave of heat struck everyone, like a solid burning wall.
"He hurt her," Terai's voice was quietly, terribly calm. "... on purpose."
An eyeblink later, there was a hole in the air where Terai had been, and
out of the hole burst unimaginable fire.
