BR wrote:

    This story should be finished pretty shortly...

And perhaps my C+C as well:

    Fate and Destiny: Part Four

    Plene Evigilo

I know that one too. It was also the food theme for the Iron Chef this week.

    He had no desire to meet with Mara's master -- he had met with the
being once, and it had been enough.

    There were gods, and there were demons... And Senbei knew, there
were Concepts, too.

Like the one for 'The Real World.' Now that one had been scary.

    Himself being little more than an especially powerful spirit, was in
no position to deal with a Concept. Things like... well, it was best not
to think of them too much, or their attention could be drawn.

And too much would be given away to the reader.

    Mara would be just _fine_ invoking her master's name -- she had no
reason to fear that kind of attention. Senbei, on the other hand, had
every reason to fear it.

    The Concepts were divided into two groups, each being an opposite of
the other. Where there were many goddesses of love, there was only one
Concept of love, and then, she governed over each _kind_ of love...
though curiously, humans seemed to spend much more time and interest in
romantic love rather than any other kind

Odd. Most of the people I know are more into lust. They just claim they are
looking for romantic love. :)

 -- like familial. Senbei never

really understood that, and didn't really care. He took care to stay out
of Love's way.

Smart minor demon.

    Worse, the concepts were subject to themselves, and each other in
ways too complex for Senbei to understand. As a rule, things that Senbei
didn't understand, but could casually destroy him, were a Bad Thing.

Works that way for most humans too.

    So he considered simply laying low, hiding, and completely
disassociating himself from Mara for the duration. She never liked him,
anyway, only the things he could do for her. And that didn't suit him at
_all_.

Since it meant no nookie. Although given his size, that was either the
ultimate blessing or ultimate curse to a woman, depending on her mentality.

    Skuld nodded, eyes wide and blinking. "What do you suppose that...
that all meant?"

    Belldandy pursed her lips thoughtfully, taking the cassette and
replacing it in its case. "I believe," she started cautiously, "that
Megumi... might be the lady."

Thought 'lady' was supposed to be capitalized.

    Two pair

pairs

 >

    Urd frowned, contemplating. "He couldn't stop him directly, no,
that's not how his power worked."

    Belldandy interjected smoothly, "But he could easily make it so that
the Lord of Terror's attention were drawn

was drawn

 elsewhere. That would be

simple for him to accomplish."

    Nodding slowly, Urd conceded the point to Belldandy. "You could be
right," she admitted. "It would be too obvious for him to be her sister
as his next incarnation. I don't think that Kami-sama works that way."

He's a sneaky little fellow.

    He wasn't certain where he was going, except that he would know when
he saw it.

Heh. Know that feeling too.

    The trouble was, after all that they had been through together, he
couldn't help but feel that she had always done much more for him, than
he had for her.

Well, she came with Urd and Skuld attached, so she has at the same time done
things TO him as well as for him. :)

    Something to prove his worthiness to her, he supposed, though he
wasn't certain what, yet. He idly wondered if he should have found a way
to bring Megumi along, but she was busy calling their parents, along
with whoever else needed to be told about the fire. So that left him
alone to find a ring... a ring for Belldandy.

Still think he should try and fine 'The One Ring.'

    Megumi sat the receiver back on its cradle, done for the moment with
her calls. Her parents were understanding, and had encouraged her to
stay with Keiichi -- who needed to call them, they reminded her.

    She sighed softly, clad one

clad in one

 of the outfits that she had bought

yesterday with her brother. Bought for her with money that he might have
been saving for an engagement ring for Belldandy, she noted guiltily.
The woman in question, however, was sitting near the back door, humming
idly, and knitting at a scarf.

I would think more like knitting a scarf than knitting at one.

    Frowning thoughtfully, Belldandy studied the nearly completed scarf
that lay in her lap, and shook her head. "Perhaps... but I don't worry
about that too much. I'm making it for Keiichi."

Bell: He's such a cold fish, I figured he could always use one to try to
warm him up.

    Megumi's smile strengthened at that. Her brother was a good guy, she
thought, and Belldandy was great person, too. They deserved each other.

Ordinarily I would scoff and say 'If only it was that easy' but since O!MG
is fiction, it is. :)

    What kind of mortal could possess that power? The more she thought
of it, the more she became certain. Keiichi... somehow... was her master.

    But that didn't make sense.

I think it will by the end.

    Everything... everything was deviously crafted to put him in the
center of their lives! As someone that they would value, and treasure,
and then, in an ultimately spiteful burst of betrayal, he would reveal
his true nature.

Heh. A Demoness would think in those terms, though she could conceiveably be
right.

    The thick wooden floor bore a faint layer of dust, and assorted
antiques lined the walls, as short display cases littered the floor, dim
and failing lights showing various rings with their price tags. He
pondered briefly at the darkness, and faint chime sounding as the door
swung shut behind him.

Bit of a run on there from the feel of it.

    Dismissing the man for the moment, Keiichi turned to the rows of
display cases, peering closely at the nearest selection of rings. "Hey,"
he complained after a moment, "none of these things have prices."

Man: Everything has a price. The tender is simply not always money. My name
is Leland Gaunt, and I think I can help you.

    Coughing softly, the man behind the counter approached, eyeing
Keiichi distastefully. "Of course," he murmured. "My general clientele
have no need of 'prices'."

See. I was right.

    ***

    Drumming her fingers against the table thoughtfully, Skuld frowned.

    There was a sensation in the pit of her stomach... the feeling of
impending disaster. But she pushed it away. Belldandy said that Megumi
was the Lady. With the Lady, nothing could go wrong, she told herself.
Nothing.

What, things didn't go wrong with her being present before? Sounds like they
did. Sounds suspiciously like Skuld is trying to convince herself of
something.

    Keiichi looked up slowly, sensing something approaching him. He
wasn't certain how, but he sensed it. Pulling to a sudden stop, he
glanced around the empty street. No more jewelry stores,

Why would he need another jewelry store?

    A voice alerted him, and he spun, seeing the demoness from the day
before again. "Mara," he said levelly, trying to push the images of her
at the hot springs out of his mind. Why did they haunt him like that,
anyway?

Because you're not gay? :)

    ***

    In the port city of Sasebo, a pair of young duelists broke off their
kendo practice, staring upwards at the sky. The sun had just set, and
the first stars were coming into visibility.

    The first lowered his bokken, stepping away from his partner, some
sensation he couldn't pinpoint sweeping through him. "Did you feel that?"

    The second nodded, scratching the back of his head nervously. "Yeah.
I did. We should probably go home..."

Hmm. The summoning of knights is beginning so soon?

    The clerk looked patently bored, handing him a key.

Hmm. This is potentially interesting. Wonder if he'll go through with it.

    "Wait," he said slowly, his tongue slowed for some reason.

Keiichi: We need Belldandy for this. I won't settle for less than a
three-way.

    Belldandy gently placed her hand against Megumi's forehead,
retaining her ever-present warm smile. "I told you that you would
remember when it was important," she said cheerfully, as Megumi's entire
being was suddenly set afire

Yeah. I'd say that's important all right to remember when one is an inferno.

    It was as though she could feel the very floor beneath her, not
against her skin, but against... itself, as though she were suddenly
become

becoming

    Then too, her mind seemed to... unfold, to expand to be able to
accommodate the influx of information. Dazed, she drew away from
Belldandy, barely aware of the fact that the new clothes that Keiichi
had bough

bought

    "Keiichi?" Skuld asked worriedly.

    "No," Megumi said slowly, her mind still letting the odd memory and
bits of knowledge settle, "Destiny." Her mind reeled momentarily, two
personae struggling for dominance --

    She walked across the yard to her brother, who was reading a book,
and he smiled at her.

Oh? Not Keiichi?

    She drifted across the void between the realms, searching for her
brother and flanked by her two servants.

    She watched her brother try and rebuild his first motorcycle engine.

Oh. I get it now.

    She presented the Once and Future King with his blade. He dubbed it,
'Chrysaor', 'Durandal', 'Sanglamore',

Pigsticker, Gutcutter, and other fun, lovably names.

and many other names, in many

other instances.

    She attended her first day of high school, where she met the boy who
would be her first boyfriend.

    She watched with horror as her brother defeated her again, sending
an adder to end the life of the King. Arthur, Parikshit, Marduuk

Akio Ohtori. Of course, everyone cheered when he died.

    ***

    Mara lay tired, catching her breath.

Would have been more amusing had she been disappointed with his performance.

    "Mmm..." she began, biting back her first word. "Are you mad at me?"
she asked instead.

Keiichi: If I were, you would be dead.

    He said nothing for a long moment, then shook his head again. "In
the first instance only, and then, you are not to blame. You could not
have known of the plan... But no more. Let us quit this place. You are
tired, and as much as I enjoyed your tender affections... I have not yet
subsumed 'Keiichi'."

Ah. so there is hope yet.

    "Think you, then," he began, "that that meant nothing to me?" He
shook his head. "You think wrongly. I care for you. Deeply.

Keiichi: I would kill you if it suited my purpose, of course. But I would
snuff out your life lovingly.

    And suddenly, the blinding optimism of the love that Belldandy felt
as her doublet partner wasn't such a nuisance anymore. Sighing softly,
she retreated into the chamber her master had prepared for her --
replete with fresh clothing, so that she wouldn't need to expend any of
her own energy to create them -- and rest.

Ohh. Things are moving on. Will get to the rest at some later time. I'm
going to bed for now.

Very nice work, as always.

D.B. Sommer


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