Roehl Sybing
17th January 2003, 01:20 PM
Previous chapters of this story can be found at:
http://www.infinitedeferral.com/.
Only Human
An Ah! My Goddess Fanfic
By Roehl Sybing (indef@infinitedeferral.com)
Chapter Seven: Tell Me Lies
"I already found her," said a very stern Belldandy, once her sister walked
into the room. Belldandy and their new guest had already been home half an
hour before Urd and Skuld materialized back on Earth, and were expecting
them at the elder sister's insistence.
"Bell, I can explain--" Urd started to say, wearing a smile and a face she
knew how to wear a million times before, whenever she was found out.
"Shut up."
The two of them looked at her in stunned silence, startled at her sudden
response. Urd, especially, was unable to adjust, despite expecting it in
that very moment.
"W-what did you say?"
Even Belldandy still could not believe the sound of her own voice. "I
said...I said...Urd, how could you!?" she cried, failing to regain her
composure. She stormed out of the room in a hurry, not wanting to choke up
a tear in their presence.
---
Keiichi, from the second they arrived home, did exactly as he was told: sit
in front of the television set and stay out of the impending storm. He was
still not aware of how greatly he had underestimated the seriousness of it
all. He was just happy that the motor club, after making up for lost time,
was still on schedule for tests on the new model in the following morning.
"Keiichi!" Belldandy called from outside the room, with the sound of
footsteps telling the rest of the tale.
He turned his head towards the doorway, and Belldandy was already in sight,
rushing up to him.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Belldandy apologized, as if Keiichi required one.
Like a small child that had broken something valuable, she collapsed onto
him seeking some sort of redemption.
Keiichi held her gently, confused about the matter, "What happened? What's
the matter?"
Belldandy looked up, with a few tears in her eyes, "I didn't mean to...I was
just...Keiichi, I'm so sorry!"
Her face fell again onto his shirt and she sobbed uncontrollably, never
before having said such sharp words at her sister.
"It's alright," Keiichi said by default, "Whatever it is, it's going to
be--"
"Please hold me, Keiichi," she pleaded, feeling his grasp on her begin to
loosen, "Just hold me..."
He nodded, and supported the weight of her body against his as she searched
for breath while in his arms. He looked down at Belldandy, with her eyes
closed to keep the rest of the world out. She felt the warmth of Keiichi's
body as her cheek pressed against his chest. As she faded away, all she
knew was that she was comfortable, relaxed. He made her feel safe.
"If I could just stay like this forever," were her last words before the
sounds of anxiety and distress turned to ones of gentle and quiet sleep.
Belldandy had slipped into unconsciousness, resting quite comfortably on
Keiichi.
---
"Yeah," said Keiichi, nodding his head a number of times during Urd's
explanation of events. "So, what's her name, then?"
"W-Well," Urd stuttered, "We don't really have a name for her. She's just
the Assistant."
He sat back, looking confused, "Right. The Assistant...to who?"
Urd put down her morning tea and stared blankly across the table at Keiichi.
She took her hand and pointed straight up.
"Ohhhhhhh."
"She only ever pops her head out to investigate when things go badly.
That's why we had to leave; she wanted to question us before making any
decisions about coming down."
"And it appears I was right," said a confident voice coming from the
direction of the doorway. Sliding the door shut behind her, the Assistant
sat down and helped herself to some tea.
"What about?"
"It's quite clear, isn't it?" the Assistant asked after taking a sip, "You
saw her last night. We all did. Goddess First Class Belldandy is obviously
not capable of handling what is happening to her."
"That's not true!" Keiichi quickly retorted, "Who are you to say anything
about Belldandy?"
Almost as immediately, the Assistant snapped back, "I have the authority,
Keiichi. I have every right, and it is my firm recommendation that
Belldandy is a mess! Wild and uncontrolled emotional expressions, taxing
physical burdens, flaws in her decision making...and the absence of her
powers, just to name a few! She is clearly not fit to discharge her duties.
You are very lucky I don't decide right now to nullify your contract!"
"Hey, you can't do that! Urd, tell her that she can't do that!" he pleaded.
But the very slight expression of confirmation found in Urd nodding her head
only confirmed that the Assistant was quite capable.
"Belldandy must be up by now," the Assistant said before stepping out, "Why
don't I go check up on her while Urd explains it all to you?"
A blanket of silence fell over the room for a moment once their guest had
exited the room. Both waited the other to speak.
Finally, Keiichi did, "What did she mean?"
Urd looked up. "Long ago, the Assistant renounced her license, her name and
her status as a goddess so that she could work directly for the Almighty.
In exchange for giving up her privileges, she was given great power and
authority to watch over the rest of us. She is responsible for monitoring
Helpers, in search of any abuse or negligence while on the job. Only under
the most extreme circumstances is she called upon, but when she is, the
Assistant has complete jurisdiction in the field, short of rendering final
judgment. She has to make an official recommendation to the Almighty about
what to do with Belldandy, but until then, the Assistant is free to execute
any temporary remedies as she sees fit. She's very...VERY good at it," she
said with a trace of contempt towards the end.
"Urd, you have to help me."
"Keiichi, it's more complicated than you think. Belldandy's accident really
created some shockwaves in the Heavens, you don't know what--look, NO ONE
opposes the Assistant! And I'm not sure that I want to, either. The
changes in Belldandy, it's just--"
Keiichi looked down at her with disbelief, "I would think that you, of all
people, should be happy for Belldandy, for all that's happened!"
Unsteadily, Urd shook her head, "I may say things from time to time...but
she's my sister! I don't expect anything more than what she is, and neither
should you!"
"Fine, deal with it how you want, but I'll stand by Belldandy if you don't
mind!"
With that, he stormed out of the room, leaving an uncharacteristically
distraught Urd behind to sort out her feelings on the matter. Both were
pretty much in their own minds, unconcerned at the moment with how each
other felt, though it was clear that they were both narrowly focused on
Belldandy's welfare.
---
"C'mon, Belldandy!" the Assistant said, banging on the door to the washroom,
"Get out here this instant!"
Keiichi walked by to notice her persist with the door. From outside the
washroom, he could hear Belldandy. She was moaning and muttering to
herself, obviously growing frustrated.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
Replied the Assistant, "Look, you try and deal with her then, alright?"
She stepped aside and let Keiichi attempt to draw Belldandy out of the room.
Belldandy continued to mutter indistinctly in between staggered moans.
Keiichi knocked on the door.
"I said go away!" she cried.
"Belldandy?" he said.
A pause, then a gasp before Belldandy said, "Keiichi?"
"Yeah. I made some tea, but it's getting cold, so if you want--"
"Please, I just need to be alone."
"Why? What's wrong, Belldandy? You can tell me."
"I'd rather not. Please, I'll be alright, just give me some time."
"Well," Keiichi said while looking at the Assistant, "We're all rather
concerned about you out here. Perhaps if I gave a hand--"
"No! I can take care of it myself!" Belldandy refused sharply. Before
Keiichi could respond in kind, what was heard afterwards was the sound of
moaning from within the washroom once again, as if she were in pain.
"This is nuts!" Keiichi said to himself. Worried about what might be
happening to her, he made the decision of forcing the door open.
"Ack!" sounded a startled Belldandy when Keiichi, the Assistant, and now
Skuld, who was passing through, got a good look into the room.
Skuld cried as loud as she could at the sight before the three of them.
"What happened, Sister?" she asked hysterically.
Keiichi stared blankly with his jaw half-dropped. The Assistant, on the
other hand, was doing her best to contain her amusement, even as her lips
quivered, ready to burst into laughter.
"I just can't get it to agree with me this morning!" Belldandy said,
pointing at her hair with one hand and holding a brush with the other. What
was normally long, flowing strands that beautifully complemented her
appearance was, for the moment, a tangled mess that dispersed into all
directions. "I begged you not to come in here!" she demanded before slamming
the door shut again.
Outside the room, the three of them stood frozen in time, as the occupant
inside resumed struggling with her hair and the task of straightening it
out. Her moans, obviously from the resistance of the tangles that refused
to give, continued to be heard through the door. One simply walked away,
shrugging his shoulders. Another laughed, finally unable to hold it all in.
A third pleaded with the other two, "That's not funny! Hey! Where are you
going? Why are you laughing?"
---
He had not seen her since, but after a while, it seemed to Keiichi that
Belldandy had eventually settled down, now that he heard both her and the
Assistant talking to each other. For certain, there was a sense of urgency
in the Assistant's voice, with Belldandy trying to alleviate her concerns.
Their voices were still indistinct as he turned the corner in the hallway,
but he was beginning to just barely grasp the gravity of the situation.
"Internal affairs," he thought to himself.
He tried to conceive the idea that he just might lose Belldandy to the
Heavens. After all, perhaps his wish in the very beginning was the most
unusual of all, and that goddesses living on Earth seemed to be a first ever
since. Perhaps this was the best opportunity to have Belldandy recalled
from a binding contract, and no one dared to let that chance slip away.
Or perhaps he was being paranoid. In any case, he was afraid of even the
possibility that it might happen. Without a doubt, the Morisato residence
was a very big place for just one person to occupy by himself.
Lest he be accused of spying, an innocuous pop of the head inside the room
where the two of them argued couldn't hurt, Keiichi thought, and it wasn't
like it was a confidential meeting. Not that it was likely he would be able
to easily understand, either. From the corridor leading up to the room,
their voices could finally be made out.
"This is not about this contract and you understand that!"
"But you're trying to have it revoked, and I won't stand for it!"
"Well, if you want to keep it in effect, you know what you have to do."
"I cannot! This is important to me as well."
"It's certainly not more important than--"
As they argued, Keiichi was certain that there was not really a golden
moment to intervene. But he had not seen Belldandy all day, save for the
incident earlier that morning. Besides, there wasn't any real harm in
peeking in--
"WHAT are you doing?" said the Assistant the second Keiichi caught her eye,
"Explain yourself!"
"W-w-w-well," Keiichi replied, taken aback and consigned to stuttering as a
response to such a commanding voice, "I-I-I just...you-you see,
I...th-th-there's...uhhhh..."
"Please, don't be upset, it's only Keiichi," said Belldandy, standing up for
him from across the room.
"Yes, I--Belldandy!" Keiichi exclaimed, turning his head. Another novel
sight sat before him.
"Do you like it?" Belldandy asked, clearly blushing.
Keiichi stood and gazed with a look of astonishment. Her light-tinted hair,
once delicately long, was now cut short to just above shoulders' length.
Whatever the compulsion, a new look accompanied a relatively new Belldandy.
"I thought I'd try something different," she said, her voice now dropping,
"You don't like it?"
"Yes, I do!" he replied at once, "It's-it's...wow!"
"Thank you," Belldandy said, giggling, "I knew you would be happy."
"Ahem!" the Assistant said, once finding herself all of a sudden out of the
conversation, "This ought to be proof enough for you, Keiichi. What other
impulses does Belldandy have for us next?"
Keiichi replied innocently, "But I like it."
The Assistant nearly fell sideways in reaction. It bothered her greatly
that everyone she knew was, at least, a little uncomfortable by Belldandy's
overall change, but that the person most affected by it, in the end, didn't
mind at all. She picked herself up, saying, "Keiichi, may I have a word
with you? Belldandy, we're done for now. Please leave."
"B-But," she insisted, "This concerns me as well, I--"
"Belldandy!" snapped the Assistant. Never before was her authority
challenged by a fellow colleague, and though she half-expected it, the first
time was quite unsettling to her. So unsettling that Belldandy sensed it in
her expression, and as a result left the room, but not without trading a
warm smile with Keiichi on the way out.
Keiichi was directed to the space across the room where Belldandy had sat.
As he got comfortable, the Assistant shot a look of scorn at him. He was
supposedly the first person that should be displeased, and she did not
understand why it was not so.
"Keiichi," she started to explain, "Perhaps if I could just wrap your mind
around the repercussions that could take place if we allowed ourselves to
let Belldandy refuse to undergo the reversal process. It's such a delicate
time right now and you probably don't understand. Well, I'm sure you don't
understand. A mere human just couldn't. Unfortunately, that's the way
it--"
"Try me," replied Keiichi softly.
"What?"
"Explain it to me. Ever since I met Belldandy, the things I've seen in this
place, all the wonders, I--just try me."
The Assistant paused for a moment to consider, and then nodded her head.
She stood up and paced, as if to make a presentation. "Yggdrasil," she
explained, "The system is responsible for a great many things, most of which
pales to the upkeep of the Earth. The world cannot survive without
Yggdrasil, you understand that, right?"
Keiichi nodded.
"Okay. This one incident, it severed Belldandy from the system. For a
goddess, being stripped of one's powers, it's akin to a punishment. No one
had ever considered otherwise. A goddess rendered powerless, it's just too
terrible for some to even contemplate. I guess we shouldn't be surprised
that Belldandy found something good in it, huh?"
"That's her nature."
"That, it is. Ever since she became human, a lot of us in the Heavens have
been monitoring her. Why shouldn't we? She's one of the finest goddesses
ever to grace the system. When it became clear to us three days ago that
Belldandy actually wanted to remain as she was, even when she had the
opportunity to return to normal, it was a shock. It was a huge shock,
Keiichi. The goddesses have been talking about it ever since. Belldandy
was not only at peace with remaining human. She was happy! And then they
started to wonder if humanity was preferable to what they had. Even
I...I--no, not me. That's just not me."
"But what does it mean?" Keiichi asked.
The Assistant looked at him, approaching him and almost pleading with him
using only the look on her face, then saying, "Keiichi, Belldandy's
severance...we don't know how to duplicate it yet. But now that there's
this...envy among us in the Heavens, one of us will want to try. The
tension over the last few days is only beginning to grow. What if it
affects how the system is run? What does that mean for this world?
Keiichi, I have to ask, and you have to ask yourself. Do you really want to
be responsible for this magnitude of trouble?"
Keiichi snapped, "That's unfair."
"It's completely unfair, Keiichi!" the Assistant cried, "But what Belldandy
has done to all of us can't be ignored. The Almighty...you see, the
Almighty grants each and every one of us a form that best suits us, that
works to the best of our abilities. Some of us become human, others become
gods or goddesses, even demons. It is a delicate balance, one that must
never change. We must not ever change what we are!"
The words echoed in his ears and his mind tried to analyze it all. He came
up with only one question, "What you just said, they're two different
arguments, aren't they?"
The Assistant was caught speechless. She gritted her teeth, stood back and
took a deep breath. When she once sought for understanding and sympathy,
she now demanded consensus. "Keiichi, I will do everything I can to keep
from resorting to any arbitrary judgment. But I need you to help me. You
MUST convince Belldandy that she is making a mistake. It is crucial that
you persuade her to undergo the reversal."
He considered the weight of the consequences and that what he did might have
a huge effect on those consequences. Was the threat real, or was it simply
all a bluff? For sure, it had to be somewhere in between, so in any case,
perhaps something needed to be done. His heart, though, was telling him
otherwise, that it was best not to risk being conned into changing something
that wasn't bad, but in fact good. All that mattered to Keiichi is that
Belldandy was happy.
"All that matters to me is that Belldandy is happy," he said.
She bit her lip. Apparently, Keiichi would not budge. But patience in her
job was a requirement, and patience she needed to exercise right now. "Very
well," she replied, "Why don't I give you some time to think it over, to
think about what we're talking about here? I'll be here for a while, so
don't expect me to take my leave. Just think it over, alright?"
With those words, the Assistant left Keiichi in the room, leaving the door
open to let the stillness of the moment air itself out into the corridor.
After a minute or two in which Keiichi remained firmly where he sat,
Belldandy returned to check on him.
"Keiichi?" she asked.
"Yes," he replied, looking up.
"You seem unsure about something," she replied perceptively.
Keiichi laughed a little, saying, "Yes. We just finished our little talk."
"What did she say to you?" Belldandy asked, sitting down next to him, "Wait,
don't tell me. No, I want you to tell me. On second thought, maybe--"
"Don't worry, Belldandy. If you don't want to know..."
"But, I want to know! Oh, it's just killing me! Yes, I want to know!"
"Okay, it's that--"
"Wait a minute," she interrupted again.
"What!" Keiichi cried, "Maybe we should--"
"Lie to me, Keiichi," Belldandy requested, "Lie to me. Tell me that
everything's alright. I know it's wrong, but I think I can do with some of
that right now."
Keiichi, eager to keep Belldandy's anxiety at a minimum, was happy to
oblige, "Alright...the Assistant told me that it was all firmly in my hands.
Whatever we want, she'll abide by it."
Belldandy smiled and nodded cheerfully and graciously. Then her face fell
ever so slightly, and she leaned against him, saying, "I don't want to go
back. At least not yet. You understand that, do you?"
"Of course I do!"
"Tell me, then...that you love me enough to support me no matter what."
"Well," Keiichi said, "I don't need to lie to say anything of the sort."
She closed her eyes with contentment, "That's good."
TO BE CONTINUED...
---
Roehl Sybing
infiniteDeferral - http://www.infinitedeferral.com/
Webmaster, 2003 YDA National Convention - http://www.buffaloniagara2003.org/
"Don't you feel the fever like I do?" - Kylie Minogue, Fever
http://www.infinitedeferral.com/.
Only Human
An Ah! My Goddess Fanfic
By Roehl Sybing (indef@infinitedeferral.com)
Chapter Seven: Tell Me Lies
"I already found her," said a very stern Belldandy, once her sister walked
into the room. Belldandy and their new guest had already been home half an
hour before Urd and Skuld materialized back on Earth, and were expecting
them at the elder sister's insistence.
"Bell, I can explain--" Urd started to say, wearing a smile and a face she
knew how to wear a million times before, whenever she was found out.
"Shut up."
The two of them looked at her in stunned silence, startled at her sudden
response. Urd, especially, was unable to adjust, despite expecting it in
that very moment.
"W-what did you say?"
Even Belldandy still could not believe the sound of her own voice. "I
said...I said...Urd, how could you!?" she cried, failing to regain her
composure. She stormed out of the room in a hurry, not wanting to choke up
a tear in their presence.
---
Keiichi, from the second they arrived home, did exactly as he was told: sit
in front of the television set and stay out of the impending storm. He was
still not aware of how greatly he had underestimated the seriousness of it
all. He was just happy that the motor club, after making up for lost time,
was still on schedule for tests on the new model in the following morning.
"Keiichi!" Belldandy called from outside the room, with the sound of
footsteps telling the rest of the tale.
He turned his head towards the doorway, and Belldandy was already in sight,
rushing up to him.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Belldandy apologized, as if Keiichi required one.
Like a small child that had broken something valuable, she collapsed onto
him seeking some sort of redemption.
Keiichi held her gently, confused about the matter, "What happened? What's
the matter?"
Belldandy looked up, with a few tears in her eyes, "I didn't mean to...I was
just...Keiichi, I'm so sorry!"
Her face fell again onto his shirt and she sobbed uncontrollably, never
before having said such sharp words at her sister.
"It's alright," Keiichi said by default, "Whatever it is, it's going to
be--"
"Please hold me, Keiichi," she pleaded, feeling his grasp on her begin to
loosen, "Just hold me..."
He nodded, and supported the weight of her body against his as she searched
for breath while in his arms. He looked down at Belldandy, with her eyes
closed to keep the rest of the world out. She felt the warmth of Keiichi's
body as her cheek pressed against his chest. As she faded away, all she
knew was that she was comfortable, relaxed. He made her feel safe.
"If I could just stay like this forever," were her last words before the
sounds of anxiety and distress turned to ones of gentle and quiet sleep.
Belldandy had slipped into unconsciousness, resting quite comfortably on
Keiichi.
---
"Yeah," said Keiichi, nodding his head a number of times during Urd's
explanation of events. "So, what's her name, then?"
"W-Well," Urd stuttered, "We don't really have a name for her. She's just
the Assistant."
He sat back, looking confused, "Right. The Assistant...to who?"
Urd put down her morning tea and stared blankly across the table at Keiichi.
She took her hand and pointed straight up.
"Ohhhhhhh."
"She only ever pops her head out to investigate when things go badly.
That's why we had to leave; she wanted to question us before making any
decisions about coming down."
"And it appears I was right," said a confident voice coming from the
direction of the doorway. Sliding the door shut behind her, the Assistant
sat down and helped herself to some tea.
"What about?"
"It's quite clear, isn't it?" the Assistant asked after taking a sip, "You
saw her last night. We all did. Goddess First Class Belldandy is obviously
not capable of handling what is happening to her."
"That's not true!" Keiichi quickly retorted, "Who are you to say anything
about Belldandy?"
Almost as immediately, the Assistant snapped back, "I have the authority,
Keiichi. I have every right, and it is my firm recommendation that
Belldandy is a mess! Wild and uncontrolled emotional expressions, taxing
physical burdens, flaws in her decision making...and the absence of her
powers, just to name a few! She is clearly not fit to discharge her duties.
You are very lucky I don't decide right now to nullify your contract!"
"Hey, you can't do that! Urd, tell her that she can't do that!" he pleaded.
But the very slight expression of confirmation found in Urd nodding her head
only confirmed that the Assistant was quite capable.
"Belldandy must be up by now," the Assistant said before stepping out, "Why
don't I go check up on her while Urd explains it all to you?"
A blanket of silence fell over the room for a moment once their guest had
exited the room. Both waited the other to speak.
Finally, Keiichi did, "What did she mean?"
Urd looked up. "Long ago, the Assistant renounced her license, her name and
her status as a goddess so that she could work directly for the Almighty.
In exchange for giving up her privileges, she was given great power and
authority to watch over the rest of us. She is responsible for monitoring
Helpers, in search of any abuse or negligence while on the job. Only under
the most extreme circumstances is she called upon, but when she is, the
Assistant has complete jurisdiction in the field, short of rendering final
judgment. She has to make an official recommendation to the Almighty about
what to do with Belldandy, but until then, the Assistant is free to execute
any temporary remedies as she sees fit. She's very...VERY good at it," she
said with a trace of contempt towards the end.
"Urd, you have to help me."
"Keiichi, it's more complicated than you think. Belldandy's accident really
created some shockwaves in the Heavens, you don't know what--look, NO ONE
opposes the Assistant! And I'm not sure that I want to, either. The
changes in Belldandy, it's just--"
Keiichi looked down at her with disbelief, "I would think that you, of all
people, should be happy for Belldandy, for all that's happened!"
Unsteadily, Urd shook her head, "I may say things from time to time...but
she's my sister! I don't expect anything more than what she is, and neither
should you!"
"Fine, deal with it how you want, but I'll stand by Belldandy if you don't
mind!"
With that, he stormed out of the room, leaving an uncharacteristically
distraught Urd behind to sort out her feelings on the matter. Both were
pretty much in their own minds, unconcerned at the moment with how each
other felt, though it was clear that they were both narrowly focused on
Belldandy's welfare.
---
"C'mon, Belldandy!" the Assistant said, banging on the door to the washroom,
"Get out here this instant!"
Keiichi walked by to notice her persist with the door. From outside the
washroom, he could hear Belldandy. She was moaning and muttering to
herself, obviously growing frustrated.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
Replied the Assistant, "Look, you try and deal with her then, alright?"
She stepped aside and let Keiichi attempt to draw Belldandy out of the room.
Belldandy continued to mutter indistinctly in between staggered moans.
Keiichi knocked on the door.
"I said go away!" she cried.
"Belldandy?" he said.
A pause, then a gasp before Belldandy said, "Keiichi?"
"Yeah. I made some tea, but it's getting cold, so if you want--"
"Please, I just need to be alone."
"Why? What's wrong, Belldandy? You can tell me."
"I'd rather not. Please, I'll be alright, just give me some time."
"Well," Keiichi said while looking at the Assistant, "We're all rather
concerned about you out here. Perhaps if I gave a hand--"
"No! I can take care of it myself!" Belldandy refused sharply. Before
Keiichi could respond in kind, what was heard afterwards was the sound of
moaning from within the washroom once again, as if she were in pain.
"This is nuts!" Keiichi said to himself. Worried about what might be
happening to her, he made the decision of forcing the door open.
"Ack!" sounded a startled Belldandy when Keiichi, the Assistant, and now
Skuld, who was passing through, got a good look into the room.
Skuld cried as loud as she could at the sight before the three of them.
"What happened, Sister?" she asked hysterically.
Keiichi stared blankly with his jaw half-dropped. The Assistant, on the
other hand, was doing her best to contain her amusement, even as her lips
quivered, ready to burst into laughter.
"I just can't get it to agree with me this morning!" Belldandy said,
pointing at her hair with one hand and holding a brush with the other. What
was normally long, flowing strands that beautifully complemented her
appearance was, for the moment, a tangled mess that dispersed into all
directions. "I begged you not to come in here!" she demanded before slamming
the door shut again.
Outside the room, the three of them stood frozen in time, as the occupant
inside resumed struggling with her hair and the task of straightening it
out. Her moans, obviously from the resistance of the tangles that refused
to give, continued to be heard through the door. One simply walked away,
shrugging his shoulders. Another laughed, finally unable to hold it all in.
A third pleaded with the other two, "That's not funny! Hey! Where are you
going? Why are you laughing?"
---
He had not seen her since, but after a while, it seemed to Keiichi that
Belldandy had eventually settled down, now that he heard both her and the
Assistant talking to each other. For certain, there was a sense of urgency
in the Assistant's voice, with Belldandy trying to alleviate her concerns.
Their voices were still indistinct as he turned the corner in the hallway,
but he was beginning to just barely grasp the gravity of the situation.
"Internal affairs," he thought to himself.
He tried to conceive the idea that he just might lose Belldandy to the
Heavens. After all, perhaps his wish in the very beginning was the most
unusual of all, and that goddesses living on Earth seemed to be a first ever
since. Perhaps this was the best opportunity to have Belldandy recalled
from a binding contract, and no one dared to let that chance slip away.
Or perhaps he was being paranoid. In any case, he was afraid of even the
possibility that it might happen. Without a doubt, the Morisato residence
was a very big place for just one person to occupy by himself.
Lest he be accused of spying, an innocuous pop of the head inside the room
where the two of them argued couldn't hurt, Keiichi thought, and it wasn't
like it was a confidential meeting. Not that it was likely he would be able
to easily understand, either. From the corridor leading up to the room,
their voices could finally be made out.
"This is not about this contract and you understand that!"
"But you're trying to have it revoked, and I won't stand for it!"
"Well, if you want to keep it in effect, you know what you have to do."
"I cannot! This is important to me as well."
"It's certainly not more important than--"
As they argued, Keiichi was certain that there was not really a golden
moment to intervene. But he had not seen Belldandy all day, save for the
incident earlier that morning. Besides, there wasn't any real harm in
peeking in--
"WHAT are you doing?" said the Assistant the second Keiichi caught her eye,
"Explain yourself!"
"W-w-w-well," Keiichi replied, taken aback and consigned to stuttering as a
response to such a commanding voice, "I-I-I just...you-you see,
I...th-th-there's...uhhhh..."
"Please, don't be upset, it's only Keiichi," said Belldandy, standing up for
him from across the room.
"Yes, I--Belldandy!" Keiichi exclaimed, turning his head. Another novel
sight sat before him.
"Do you like it?" Belldandy asked, clearly blushing.
Keiichi stood and gazed with a look of astonishment. Her light-tinted hair,
once delicately long, was now cut short to just above shoulders' length.
Whatever the compulsion, a new look accompanied a relatively new Belldandy.
"I thought I'd try something different," she said, her voice now dropping,
"You don't like it?"
"Yes, I do!" he replied at once, "It's-it's...wow!"
"Thank you," Belldandy said, giggling, "I knew you would be happy."
"Ahem!" the Assistant said, once finding herself all of a sudden out of the
conversation, "This ought to be proof enough for you, Keiichi. What other
impulses does Belldandy have for us next?"
Keiichi replied innocently, "But I like it."
The Assistant nearly fell sideways in reaction. It bothered her greatly
that everyone she knew was, at least, a little uncomfortable by Belldandy's
overall change, but that the person most affected by it, in the end, didn't
mind at all. She picked herself up, saying, "Keiichi, may I have a word
with you? Belldandy, we're done for now. Please leave."
"B-But," she insisted, "This concerns me as well, I--"
"Belldandy!" snapped the Assistant. Never before was her authority
challenged by a fellow colleague, and though she half-expected it, the first
time was quite unsettling to her. So unsettling that Belldandy sensed it in
her expression, and as a result left the room, but not without trading a
warm smile with Keiichi on the way out.
Keiichi was directed to the space across the room where Belldandy had sat.
As he got comfortable, the Assistant shot a look of scorn at him. He was
supposedly the first person that should be displeased, and she did not
understand why it was not so.
"Keiichi," she started to explain, "Perhaps if I could just wrap your mind
around the repercussions that could take place if we allowed ourselves to
let Belldandy refuse to undergo the reversal process. It's such a delicate
time right now and you probably don't understand. Well, I'm sure you don't
understand. A mere human just couldn't. Unfortunately, that's the way
it--"
"Try me," replied Keiichi softly.
"What?"
"Explain it to me. Ever since I met Belldandy, the things I've seen in this
place, all the wonders, I--just try me."
The Assistant paused for a moment to consider, and then nodded her head.
She stood up and paced, as if to make a presentation. "Yggdrasil," she
explained, "The system is responsible for a great many things, most of which
pales to the upkeep of the Earth. The world cannot survive without
Yggdrasil, you understand that, right?"
Keiichi nodded.
"Okay. This one incident, it severed Belldandy from the system. For a
goddess, being stripped of one's powers, it's akin to a punishment. No one
had ever considered otherwise. A goddess rendered powerless, it's just too
terrible for some to even contemplate. I guess we shouldn't be surprised
that Belldandy found something good in it, huh?"
"That's her nature."
"That, it is. Ever since she became human, a lot of us in the Heavens have
been monitoring her. Why shouldn't we? She's one of the finest goddesses
ever to grace the system. When it became clear to us three days ago that
Belldandy actually wanted to remain as she was, even when she had the
opportunity to return to normal, it was a shock. It was a huge shock,
Keiichi. The goddesses have been talking about it ever since. Belldandy
was not only at peace with remaining human. She was happy! And then they
started to wonder if humanity was preferable to what they had. Even
I...I--no, not me. That's just not me."
"But what does it mean?" Keiichi asked.
The Assistant looked at him, approaching him and almost pleading with him
using only the look on her face, then saying, "Keiichi, Belldandy's
severance...we don't know how to duplicate it yet. But now that there's
this...envy among us in the Heavens, one of us will want to try. The
tension over the last few days is only beginning to grow. What if it
affects how the system is run? What does that mean for this world?
Keiichi, I have to ask, and you have to ask yourself. Do you really want to
be responsible for this magnitude of trouble?"
Keiichi snapped, "That's unfair."
"It's completely unfair, Keiichi!" the Assistant cried, "But what Belldandy
has done to all of us can't be ignored. The Almighty...you see, the
Almighty grants each and every one of us a form that best suits us, that
works to the best of our abilities. Some of us become human, others become
gods or goddesses, even demons. It is a delicate balance, one that must
never change. We must not ever change what we are!"
The words echoed in his ears and his mind tried to analyze it all. He came
up with only one question, "What you just said, they're two different
arguments, aren't they?"
The Assistant was caught speechless. She gritted her teeth, stood back and
took a deep breath. When she once sought for understanding and sympathy,
she now demanded consensus. "Keiichi, I will do everything I can to keep
from resorting to any arbitrary judgment. But I need you to help me. You
MUST convince Belldandy that she is making a mistake. It is crucial that
you persuade her to undergo the reversal."
He considered the weight of the consequences and that what he did might have
a huge effect on those consequences. Was the threat real, or was it simply
all a bluff? For sure, it had to be somewhere in between, so in any case,
perhaps something needed to be done. His heart, though, was telling him
otherwise, that it was best not to risk being conned into changing something
that wasn't bad, but in fact good. All that mattered to Keiichi is that
Belldandy was happy.
"All that matters to me is that Belldandy is happy," he said.
She bit her lip. Apparently, Keiichi would not budge. But patience in her
job was a requirement, and patience she needed to exercise right now. "Very
well," she replied, "Why don't I give you some time to think it over, to
think about what we're talking about here? I'll be here for a while, so
don't expect me to take my leave. Just think it over, alright?"
With those words, the Assistant left Keiichi in the room, leaving the door
open to let the stillness of the moment air itself out into the corridor.
After a minute or two in which Keiichi remained firmly where he sat,
Belldandy returned to check on him.
"Keiichi?" she asked.
"Yes," he replied, looking up.
"You seem unsure about something," she replied perceptively.
Keiichi laughed a little, saying, "Yes. We just finished our little talk."
"What did she say to you?" Belldandy asked, sitting down next to him, "Wait,
don't tell me. No, I want you to tell me. On second thought, maybe--"
"Don't worry, Belldandy. If you don't want to know..."
"But, I want to know! Oh, it's just killing me! Yes, I want to know!"
"Okay, it's that--"
"Wait a minute," she interrupted again.
"What!" Keiichi cried, "Maybe we should--"
"Lie to me, Keiichi," Belldandy requested, "Lie to me. Tell me that
everything's alright. I know it's wrong, but I think I can do with some of
that right now."
Keiichi, eager to keep Belldandy's anxiety at a minimum, was happy to
oblige, "Alright...the Assistant told me that it was all firmly in my hands.
Whatever we want, she'll abide by it."
Belldandy smiled and nodded cheerfully and graciously. Then her face fell
ever so slightly, and she leaned against him, saying, "I don't want to go
back. At least not yet. You understand that, do you?"
"Of course I do!"
"Tell me, then...that you love me enough to support me no matter what."
"Well," Keiichi said, "I don't need to lie to say anything of the sort."
She closed her eyes with contentment, "That's good."
TO BE CONTINUED...
---
Roehl Sybing
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