This is something I've been kicking around my hard drive for a couple of
weeks now, and I've reached a point I can either break it and start doing
chapters or more or less end it and leave it open ended.  Feel free to
rip, shred, mutilate, flame, eat, or even just comment on it.  Tell me
to chuck it in the can, to go off and disembowel myself, or write more
when I have time.

 *WARNING*  This is not happy-fun A!MG.  This is dark, depressing A!MG.
That's the point.  It goes quite well with an image I drew after a few
to many late nights and stressful exams that shows Bell-chan cutting
her hair off with a combat knife and wearing a ripped tshirt that
reads "You can have my gun when you pry it from my cold dead fingers".
This was an outlet for that tension.

	-DaR

$RCS Revision: 1.5 $

			Fatemaker

 It started as a normal morning in the temple.  Belldandy Wishbringer
worked happily in her kitchen, busily preparing breakfast for the rest
of the temple's inhabitants.  She stopped singing to herself for a
moment, listening for the sounds that indicated the awakening of early
morning sleepers.  A soft tapping from Skuld's workshop revealed that
she was up early, most likely putting some finishing touches on some
new modification to her robot Banpei-kun.  A series of throaty mumblings
drifted through the kitchen as Belldandy retrieved the breakfast rolls
from the oven. 'Oh good, Urd is up' she thought to herself, only vaguely
aware that the murmuring was not altogether polite in nature.

 "Heya Belldandy."  Keichi Morisato wandered into the kitchen, grabbing
a frosted roll and taking a bite out of it.  He seated himself at the
table, propping his chin on his hand and looking lovingly at her.

 Belldandy greeted him warmly, her very smile brightening the room.
"Don't eat too much, everything is almost ready."  She put several other
dishes down on the table, and headed for the refridgerator to get drinks.
"Would you please go fetch Urd and Skuld?"

 "Sure."  He hopped up and strolled out of the kitchen, turning down
the hall toward the main sleeping area.  As he approached Urd's room,
he chuckled, realizing the nature of her curses.  He knocked softly on
the door.

 "Come on Urd, breakfast is ready."  The muttering finally tailed off
and the door swung open, and a dishevled looking Urd stuck her head out.
She ran a well-tanned hand through her white hair and drearily opened
her eyes the rest of the way.

 "Whaddyawant?  'stoodamnearly."  If Keichi hadn't know her he would have
backed off at the tone of the voice.  But he knew her morning routine
quite well so he just smirked slighty and replied offhand.

 "Why Urd, if I didn't know better I'd say you weren't a morning person.
Breakfast is ready.  And you'd better hurry if you want any of the sweet
rolls Belldandy made." She shot daggers with her eyes until that last
statement, then her eyes lit up.  Keichi laughed to himself as he saw
the change wash over her face like a visible tide.

 "Yeah, yeah I'm coming, give me a minute."  She completely missed the the
smugness on his face as she retreated into the room to clean up and dress.

 Keichi continued down the hall, sliding open the door to the temple
courtyard and stepping out into the brilliant morning sun.  He paused
to take a deep breath of fresh air, and then set off across the yard for
Skuld's work area.  He stuck his head around the corner and saw her half
inside her latest creation, various unidentified mechanics and electronics
strewn around her. The acrid smell of ozone and burnt flux filled the
air and small sparks lept from the metal frame and skittered across the
floor. He cleared his throat, since startling people with arc-welders
was a bad idea in his book.  She looked up, drew her shoulders and
then head out the device and turned a grease stained face towards him.
He stifled a laugh that threatended to break loose at the sight.

 "What?"  A look of annoyance.

 "Nothing.  Belldandy says that breakfast will be ready shortly."

 "Okay. Give me a minute to wash up."

 "Sure, but you'll want to hurry, Urd is probably already in the kitchen
snarfing down the sweet rolls that Belldandy made."  Keichi couldn't help
but smile at the reaction that got.  Skuld went into what appeared to be a
seizure, racing around the dimly lit work area, cleaning up.  Small tools,
electronic parts, leftover metal scraps and small furry creatures were
all swept into drawers and larger things covered with tarps.  Less then
20 seconds later she grabbed him by the elbow and dragged him out door
and down the courtyard path.

 "Whoa! Slow down Skuld!"  he cried, just as Skuld came to a complete
and total stop in the middle of the courtyard.  Keichi's momentum
carried him into Skuld and he almost knocked her down before twisting
and falling himself.  He clambored back up to his feet, muttering softly.
"Hey what's that all about...."  He trailed off as he noticed the shimmer
in the air directly in front of them.

 The air had gone hazy, as if it were over pavement on a hot summers day.
All of the normal morning sounds of the temple had vanished, leaving an
oppressive silence.  Even Belldandy's singing seemed muted and far away.
The two stared at the disturbance for a few seemingly endless moments.
Finally Keichi asked in a low voice:

 "What is it?"

 "I don't know."  Skuld's reply was sharp, as if she was covering fear
with bravado.  Her left hand had grabbed a part of her robe and was
worrying the fabric as she tried to divine the interruption in front
of her.

 As if in response to their exchange a small black sphere appeared in the
center of the anomoly.  It grew rapidly until it was larger than the two,
at the same time ripples of black energy began to arc across it's surface.
Skuld and Keichi backed away from the sphere as it continued to grow
until it was fully 3 meters across. (about 9.5 feet for you metric
impaired types -ed)

 "Sk-Skuld, maybe we ought to go get the others."  Keichi edged back even
further, but around the sphere and toward the main temple.  Skuld made
no more reaction, but simply stared at the sparking black sphere as
if paralyzed.  Just as he was about to break for the temple door, the
sphere began to change.  It contracted inward, almosting imploding,
in a motion that was vaguely reminicient of water draining down a hole.
As it shrank its shape changed, drawing in at the center at first, and
then at the top until a vaguely human form was left.  Finally the black
field flowed downward like think syrup, revealing a human-looking male,
taller and more built than Keichi.

 The man was dressed in somber colors, black and deep maroon.
His clothing was ornate and somewhat archaic, but spoke of great power
and luxury with many folds of thick, plush cloth.  Tendrils of eldritch
energy still crawled across him, looking for all the world like manevolent
black snakes playing hide and seek in those folds.  Coal colored hair
lay slicked back to his skull.

 As Keichi looked up he realized that the man had similar markings to
the goddesses on his face.  But no, he decided, they looked almost more
like Mahler's, with a sunburst in black on the forehead and a diagonal
black slash on each cheek.  And like Belldandy's arrival he stood,
no... floated, several inches above the ground. He looked down at Keichi
and Skuld and smiled.  A smile that both would later vow was so innately
wrong as to freeze them in place.

 In a bass voice that sounded like furious waves rending a rocky shore,
he spoke.  "Well, well, well.  If it isn't the pet monkey and the
toy sister."  The sneer in his statement hit Keichi with an almost
physical force.  Cold blue eyes peered out from under a heavy brow.

 "What did you call me?"  Skuld stepped forward, fists balling up tight,
before he could do anything to stop her.  Her face went from shock to
fury nearly instantly.

 "You heard me. Toy.  Frivolous piece of fluff."  The comment was cool,
with a hint of malice and venom, calculated to inflame.

 "Just who do you think you are?"  Skuld raged. Her face was blazing
red and Keichi though he saw blood on her palms where her nails dug in.

 The intruder snorted, crossing his arms in front of his chest, then
spoke.  "God, Super-class, Unlimited, Sayert."  The sneer was there again,
as if daring one of them to do something about it.

 At that the color drained out of Skuld's face, almost as fast as it
had risen, and she stepped back, however involuntary.  Keichi didn't
like that reaction one bit, he too stepped back, and off to the side,
circling toward the main temple once more.  Sayert ignored him, still
gazing cooly at Skuld.

 "You bastard, what are you doing here?"  Her voice had lost some of
it's forcefulness, as if she realized she was in *way* over her head.

 "That is no way to treat a guest," Sayert's eyes narrowed.  "I think,"
he said, with the air of an elder correcting a small child, "that you
need some lessons in manners."  His arms uncrossed and came up til they
pointed at Skuld, black energy forming and aura around his hands.

 Time slowed.  The vile plasma coursed and flickered, begging to be
released.  What little color was left in Skuld's face drained completely
away, she backed up further, feebly gesturing as if to conjure a shield,
fear now plainly evident on her face.  Then Sayert's face split into a
twisted grin, and he let fly the black firebolt.  It erupted from his
hands, twisting forward and around itself, as it it were indeed a mass
of serpents

 There were several screams, the loudest being Skuld as the unearthly
fire plowed into her sheilds.  Her shield flared slightly and became
visible to normal sight before collapsing, the flames pushing them aside
with little effort and then washing over her.  She flew backwards, hit
the ground hard, and tumbled into a smoking pile next to the entrance
of her work shop.   Keichi yelled as well, as he leapt at Skuld, with
the obvious intention of pushing her out of the way.  He was well short
of her when the blast struck, and fell to one knee, sheilding his face
from the heat of the flames.  Sayert had also screamed, a wild, keening
howl that sent animals for miles running in terror.  His head was thrown
back and his eyes shown with the same etheral dark light that had just
struck down Skuld.

 The last scream was that of a new arrival on the scene.  Standing in
the door from the kitchen to the courtyard was Belldandy Wishbringer.

 Sayert rotated in mid-air, turning to face Belldandy.  His eyes lit
upon her and then squinted in momentary recognition.  "You."  A comment,
breathed in a soft, sillabant hiss with overtones of pure hatred and
perceived damages.

 Belldandy returned his gaze with one of horror.  "Who are you?  Why have
you done this?"  Her pleading cry was barely loud enough to be heard.

 Keichi still knelt in place, frozen from shock, torn between going to
help Skuld and attempting to kill the man who did that to her.  With an
angry screech he made up his mind and charged at the god floating just
out of reach.  Sayert didn't even turn his gaze away from the goddess on
the porch.  His left hand flickered up and release another, smaller, bolt
of fire which caught Morisato on the shoulder.  Keichi was spun around,
slamming face first into the nearby temple wall.  His world went white,
then black as he slid down the wall, leaving a smear of blood in his wake.

 Belldandy shrieked again, her voiced fear trailing off into a string of
softly muttered words as she sunk to her knees, grasping the door frame
for support.  Sayert threw back his head again, laughing like only those
not fully in control of themselves can.  He floated upward, looking down
at her, manevolent glee coursing across his face.  Finally she turned
her face towards him, uttering one word in a pitifuly plea.

 "Why?  Because.  Because I can.  Because you've never known the agony
I have.  Because you and your do-good sisters are too weak to stop me."
He laughed again, this time more sinister, as if relishing what he was
about to do.

 "You bastard, how dare you!"  Urd stood at the other entrance to
the small courtyard, bristling with anger and glowing faintly blue.
She had caught the tail end of his speach and saw her sister lying
motionless nearby.  "Invade my house, attack my sisters, insulting us.
I'll show you!"  She launched her self upwards, flying straight at Sayert.
Her glow went from an angry blue to a nearly blinding white.  Urd was
a second class unlimited goddess not because of a lack of power, but
due to a lack of precision control, in fact she had more raw power than
many first class gods and goddesses.  None of this mattered to Sayert
who simply backhanded her viciously and sent her sprawling back to the
ground clutching her face.

 He turned his attention back to the weeping goddess on the porch. Looking
down in disgust he spat, "I weary of this game, it would be a shame to
finish it so soon.  Stew in your own self-pity.  Ja ne."  He drifted
a little higher and faded out, leaving the yard silent except for
Bell-chan's soft sobbing.


Well?  More?  

--
Dan Root - dar@andrew.cmu.edu