OK. Here it is. Chapter 2. Roughest draft I have. PLEASE be gentle. ^_^
	


	Hmmm.. Never expected this fic to do quite well. Guess people _do_ make
mistakes. 
	Anyway, I just want to thank each and everyone for giving me all the more
reason to write this fanfic in as much a way as I am doing with the Angel�s
Chronicles I�ve been writing and sending to the FFML for the past few months. 
	Since I've decided to slow down a bit on my other work, this one came to
mind and voala! New fic series I've decided to write. 

	This story is dedicated to the people in the FFML. You guys -- and gals!
-- are the best. 
	 


Chapter Two: A Home Away From Home

	
	Somewhere far form the hustle and bustle of sprawling MegaTokyo, a small
town rested peacefully on and around a mountain whose majestic peak was
crowned with snow. Upon it rested an old temple that housed a young couple
who had lived there for quite some time. No one paid them too much notice
and that was something that pleased the couple greatly. 
	 The town was small enough not to attract the notice of anyone important
enough to consider the small city-town worth the trouble of taking over.
Those who lived here in Nekomi were blissfully thankful of this. The
outside world was a terrible place; one filled with the evils that Pandora
had unthinkingly released. 
	Everyone was pleased and thanked what deities they worshipped in this age
for it. 
	They just didn't know how close one of those deities were. 
	Beldandy happily hummed to herself as she set about her task of peeling
the potatoes. There were others in her kitchen. Young ones whom she had
adopted into her family. She and her husband, Keiichi Morisato, were unable
to have an issues for it was a necessary sacrifice if she wanted her
husband to be with her for as long as she lived.  
	Beldandy felt someone tugging at the hem of her skirt. She looked down to
see little Alanna proudly showing off her drawing. Beldandy smiled as she
knelt before the little girl and gave her a hug. 
	"Ara! Such an artist you are, little Alanna." she complimented the silent
girl. Beldandy had found her outside the temple a few weeks ago; bleeding
and hurt. The little girl had yet to talk to anyone save to herself.  
	And that normally consisted of one or two words. 
	"Mmmm! Arigato." Alanna happily crowed as she left the kitchen with a
burst of childish energy. 
	Beldandy watched the little girl leave as she grasped the drawing Alanna
had given her. She went over to the fridge and stuck the drawing on it
before continuing her task.  She wasn't too worried about Alanna. Her
nightmares were less severe and becoming more infrequent. And in time it
would stop. 
	She glanced once more at the picture Alanna had drawn of her before
returning to her duties and supervising her kitchen staff. 
	One little boy stared at the crude crayola-rendered image of an angel. 


===================   


	Light flared suddenly in the baths. 
	The water opened up to spew out a raven-haired goddess with a slightly
defeated look in her face. Skuld, Goddess of the Future, stepped out of the
baths; carrying a load of things that could not have possibly fit in such a
small knapsack she had slung behind her. 
	She did not like the arrangement one bit and made it plain when she had
returned to the heavens. No one had a ready answer for her save that
Kami-same had accepted the wish. With that, all she really could do about
it was throw a temper tantrum. 
	Well, she did just that but it really never did accomplish anything. She
sighed as she walked out of the baths. 
	"Skuld!" a soft, melodic voice called out behind her. "Nice to see you've
dropped by."
	"Onee-san!!" Skuld cried out as she launched herself into her sister's
arms. Skuld clamped her arms around the sister she so loved. She bit back a
sob as Beldandy took a good look at her. 
	"Going somewhere?" she asked good-naturedly. Skuld visibly relaxed.
Beldandy had that effect on _anyone_ even her. How Beldandy did it remained
a mystery for the young Goddess of the Future. "From the looks of it, I
don't think you came her for a break. Or for some ice cream." 
	Skuld smiled at that. 
	"No. I just came by to tell you guys that I'll be staying in MegaTokyo for
an indefinite amount of time." Skuld stared at the floor boards; one foot
idly scrubbing at it. 
	Her sister, Beldandy; however, guessed the reason for this.
	"Someone made an unexpected wish?" 
	Skuld nodded sullenly. "Uh-huh. And it just _had_ to be on the one day I
was filling out for a friend. Why me?" she asked, casting her arms in the
air. 
	Beldandy  merely flashed her little sister a smile. "Don't worry too much,
Skuldo-san. I'm sure you'll be alright." She patted her younger sister's
head as she headed for the baths. 
	"But I don't want the job!!" 
	No one heard her plea save for Kami-sama  and He chose to ignore it. 


===============  


	Mackie Stingray dreaded the fact that none of the women were doing
anything to him. He was sure they'd have pulled their revenge by now. He
did not like to think what they had planned for him. 
	The door opened. 
	"Mackie?" his sister called out to him. 
	"Yeah, sis?" was his reply from his bed. He stared at the bare walls
beside him where once hung some risque photos he had made. He hated Priss
for ruining all those pain-stakingly captured photos of the Saber's. 
	"Got the time to talk to your sister?" she wanted to know. Her voice calm
and as always, held that teeny tiny note that told him she was not making a
request of sorts. 
	"Sure thing." Came his answer. He really didn't have anything to hide
right now. Save for what would come a bit later. He prayed Skuld wouldn't
accidentally barge in while his sister was here. 
	A shadow loomed over him. He glanced at his sister and asked, "Uh...
anything I could possibly be of assistance?" He cringed at that ice-cold
stare she habitually sent his way. You'd think being a brother was worth
anything. "Errr... Sorry."
	Sylia sighed. How many times in so many days in a year did her brother
have to go around and do something to make her lose it? To everyone she was
the Ice-Queen. Someone who'd have challenge the Yuki-onna, the Snow Woman
[wonder where this came from. ^_^ ] for the right to be the woman of ice.
Of any who lived in this world, no one could do what her brother could do
to her at times. 
	Infuriate her like hell.
	She sat down and looked at her brother straight in the eye. 
	"You really shouldn't have done that to Nene and the others you know." She
began. 
	Mackie grinned. "I just couldn't help myself." 
	Sylia blinked, at a loss for words. She wondered why did young males have
to go and acquire such hentai-ish attitudes at the onset of puberty. Her
brother had been such an angel -- well, almost -- when he had been younger
save when he went out on a limb to try and irritate her. 
	That hadn't changed a bit save for how he did it. 
She didn't mind the pictures -- even if it had included her in the nude --
or the various sneaky ways he did it. She was more worried on what the
others were bound to do to him whenever they caught him. 
	Sylia mentally shook her head.  
	"Nene's cooked up something very bad for you today." She warned her
brother who was still smiling -- and trying to look confident. She knew
better. "Why did you have to go and pull that crazy stunt of yours. Taking
photos by remote was one thing but to actually do it on your own?!!! What
possessed you to do that?!! The girls had been quite linient with you and
your transgressions. But to do _that_...." 
	Mackie shrugged. 
	"I got tired of making remotes that Priss destroyed. And besides," Mackie
grinned impishly, " it was lots more fun and certainly more worth it." 
	Sylia sighed; wondering what she could do to make her brother see the
error of his ways. Then again, that would have been a waste of time. 
"Why, oh, why do you do this, Mackie-kun?" Sylia asked her little brother. 
	"Little else to do?" he answered impudently. 
	Sylia felt her hand twitch. "Mackie! You're treading dangerous ground here."
	Mackie gulped. 
	"You're not all that worried about what they're going to do to you, aren't
you?" 
	Mackie looked worried now. "Yes. I am, in fact, scared shitless of what's
going to happen."
	"So why did you do it? I know you like Nene and all. She never did mind
those pictures you occasionally managed to take of her. But to do that...." 
	"I know. Believe me, I regret doing that. But one _does_ tend to regret
everything they did wrong when they have a moment to contemplate their
actions." 
	Sylia blinked. "Since when did you turn into a philosopher?" Mackie smiled
sheepishly. "No matter." She stood up; unconsciously adjusting her dress.
"Just take care of yourself today, Mackie. And pray that whatever it is
they've got planned for you isn't as bad as I think it is." 


============= 


	Skuld sat down and gazed longingly at the way the children milled around
her older sister. Once, she had been like those children. Always needing
someone else to be there for her. But no longer. She was now a full time
Goddess who had been assigned Earth-side. She'd be kidding herself if she
said she wasn't looking forward to it. 
	She was. 
But the wish Mackie had made made her pretty nervous. 
	Of course, she had done a quick check on the guy. The records clearly
indicated that he was prone to doing hentai-ish things. That alone made her
wonder just why Kami-sama  had gifted the man with a wish. 
	"Heard you'd gotten a job Earth-side, kiddo." a faintly slurry voice said
to her. 
	A rustle of silks told Skuld that her eldest sister, Urd, Goddess of the
Past, had sat down beside her on the veranda. 
	"You like this happening to me." Skuld shot back. 
	"Yup!!" agreed Urd, not bothering to hide her satisfaction. "You'll need
to broaden your horizons a bit. Most of us First Class Goddesses tend to
get Earth-side assignments anyway." 
	"But I thought that's the realm of the GRO?!" 
	"You are with the GRO, Skuld." Urd reminded her. "For the day anyway." 
	Skuld blinked before she swore. Urd had one delicate eyebrow raised at the
chosen words Skuld had spat out. Looks like her sister was growing up. 
	<High time!> she thought to herself. <She'd been tugging at Bell's skirt
for centuries. About time she learned to be on her own.> 
	"So why aren't you getting assignment like mine?" Skuld asked.
	"I'm the _HEAD_ of the GRO, silly!" Urd answered. "Rank doth have its
privileges." 
	"Grrrrr...." fumed Skuld while wondering how under the heavens did Urd
manage to get _that_ position. 
	"Oy! Skuldo!" Keiichi greeted warmly. "Heard form Bell-chan you got some
assignment." 
	"Yeah." was her sullen reply. 
	"Congratulations then!" he said merrily as he left for the kitchen to be
with his wife. 
	"Don't take it so bad, squirt." Urd tried to console her sister. "It isn't
like MegaTokyo's going to be a bore. From what I've gathered from the
Yddgrassil Net, it's the hottest hot spot in the entire plane. "
	Skuld shrugged. "So what?!! I'm stuck with someone whose a hentai for
crying out loud!!!" Skuld screamed directly into her sister's ears.  
	"Yeow!" Urd tried to clear her ear drums of that horrendous ringing. She
should have known better than to stay too close to Skuld. All these years
of being separated form Skuld had dulled her reflexes. "Did you _have_ to
shout like that?!!" Urd demanded. "I can hear you just fine, you know."
	No answer was forthcoming.  Urd just stared at her for a while until a
sudden realization dawned on her. "You're afraid you might get attached on
the guy in more ways than the one that's binding the two of you now, huh?" 
	For once, Skuld did not challenge her sister's words. "Uh-huh."
	Urd chuckled. "Don't worry. Keiichi and Beldandy were in _love_ with each
other since they were kids! And even they didn't know about it until they
got separated." She looked meaningfully at Skuld. " Love doesn't happen
overnight you know." 
	"Like you know anything about it." Skuld shot back. 
	Urd blinked. She stared at Skuld with one hand resting on her chest. "Me?
Not know anything about love?" Urd laughed. A deep-throated laugh that
would have sufficed for a maniac. "I'm the Goddess of Love, my dear little
sister." 
	Skuld stared at her sister with half-lidded eyes. "Yeah, right! Like you
got oneesan and Keiichi together with your parlor tricks." 
	Before the situation got any worse, Beldandy came by and called them both
to lunch. 
	

=================== 


	Deep within the bowels of the conical fortress best known to everyone who
lived in MegaTokyo as the GENOM Tower, another plan was in the process of
being completed. One that, as always, was tested in the streets of MegaTokyo. 
	"How goes the construction of the prototype, Madigan?" 
	She turned towards the speaker. The purple haired executive bowed before
she delivered her report. "Chairman Quincy! We've finished preliminary
tests on the hyperboomer. The new AI system devised by Dr. Uzura is most
impressive. From all estimates, this type of hyperboomer would be more than
enough to handle five Dobermans easily." Madigan's smile was sinister in
what it implied. "And no doubt more than a match for all the Knight Sabers." 
	The aged chairman of the world's most powerful corporation considered this
pronouncement. His smile was no less sinister. "Interesting, Ms. Madigan.
Convey my appreciation to the good doctor for a job well done." He turned
and left without another word.
	Kate Madigan turned her attention once more to the silver-hued monstrosity
that lay on the huge table below her as it was tended by the techies that
were busily fitting the new boomer's weapons. 
	<Soon.> she mused. <Very soon.> 
	



====================  

	Ha! Finally finished another chapter!! 
	With all this exams popping in and out these days, its a damn wonder I can
still write anything. Sigh. Anyway, I just decided to wait until chapter 3
to do anything about Mackie and his punishment. Some of my friends gave me
an idea but somehow I find it quite lacking in something. 
	You people out there got any ideas to help out??? ^_^

	


	


	
	



==============================================

RADLER <radler@tri-isys.com>

All praise the names of the Red-Haired Goddess
	
	Nene-chan and Icer-2 

"They're so damn kawaii!!!"


==============================================


"TO EVERYTHING THERE IS A SEASON, AND A TIME TO EVERY PURPOSE UNDER HEAVEN"