Plague of Skulds Part 8 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.
***********
Brett came in and found Belldandy just as a staff Skuld called out "Debug
Hour minus 30 minutes and counting."
"Scuse me Belldandy, but Urd's bottom is in desperate need of your
attention.", Brett said.
"Noooo", wailed the Skuld in her lap and the snuggling Skuld together,
while the hair combing Skulds insisted that they weren't finished.
"Do I detect a note of guilt in your protests, Skulds?", asked Belldandy.
The Skulds couldn't help confirming Belldandy's suspicions by failing to
meet her eyes or blushing or some such activity. "I've been just with you
most of the night little sister", she continued tenderly, and kissed the Skuld
in her lap on the forehead, "It's time for me to see to the rest of my dear
ones."
So Belldandy got up, gently setting the Skuld on her lap on her own feet,
and followed Brett down the hallway. Keiichi, in dry clothes, was
standing outside Urd's door as they came. They all three went in together,
where Urd, still in her white leotard, lay face down on her tatami.
Belldandy 'Tsk, Tsked' as she examined Urd and not one Skuld was to be
seen around them. While Belldandy began her lock removing
incantations, Keiichi began giving Brett a blow by blow recount of Terai's
appearance and subsequent acts.
***********
"**Al Byndynge Lquss 'Wowwhatabigfatbutt3'.**", Belldandy intoned.
"The Brat will Paayyy!", Urd quietly vowed for the ninth time in as many
minutes.
"I didn't get a good look at Satoko until later," related Keiichi to Brett, but
the bastard was garroting her. So we got him off her, and Belldandy and
Urd were about to help her, when Terai disappeared in an explosion.
Belldandy gathered us all inside a shield bubble and used all of her own
and Urd's power keeping it up while Ootaki finished pounding him into
unconsciousness. Then there was a knock from outside and when they let
down the shield, there was Terai and Amaterasu."
"I feel like I missed the whole Olympics.", said Brett, shaking his head.
"Amaterasu was beautiful and incandescent.", said Keiichi. He continued
in tones of awe, "But she had nothing on Belldandy. When the power
transfer was complete, She spread as wide as a storm cloud and swept
away the devastation, ... like it was less than dust to her."
Belldandy jumped up and ran out of the room.
"Hey!", Urd yelled after her, "There's still two locks back there!"
"What's going on?", asked Keiichi.
"Ohhh!, why did she have to figure it out NOW?", Urd moaned, then she
turned on Keiichi, "Well you Idiot, go after her before she runs all the way
back to the Heavens!"
That brought Keiichi immediately to his feet. "BELLDANDY!", he yelled
as he ran after her.
Brett watched them go. "Well, I'm clueless, whats going on?"
"As expected of MEN!", Urd commented through clenched teeth. "The
reason she's upset is that she finally figured it out. The reason Keiichi
wont put the moves on her is ..."
***********
"Keiichisan is afraid of me."
Keiichi was facing Belldandy's back and Belldandy was facing that
damned cherry tree. A handful of Skulds had followed Belldandy out, but
as they heard what she said, they swiftly made themselves scarce. Keiichi
didn't know why he hated that cherry tree, he only remembered that it had
something to do with the crisis they'd gone through just before their first
Christmas together. Also, Belldandy only came here when she was upset
about something, usually having to do with him. He figured he had to talk
to her, he just wished he had a clear idea of what to say. Judging by the
way her shoulders were shaking, she was crying, so he mustn't wait, and it
was worse than futile to try to lie to her.
"Yes, I'm afraid. Of your magic. I didn't believe in magic until ... some
time after I met you. It still surprises and startles me."
She was crying, she couldn't hide it in her voice as she answered him.
"I've tried so hard, ...to keep you comfortable, ...so that nothing would
disturb you..., but if I'm still not satisfactory.."
"Stop!", Keiichi surprised himself with his own vehemence. Belldandy
jumped as if she'd been slapped, and then just stood there, trembling.
Keiichi made his thoughts and voice as quite and calm as he could,
considering the way his heart was racing, 'screw this up', he thought to
himself, 'and its all over'. "Belldandy, please turn and face me." She did,
tears running down her cheeks, she looked at his feet. "Belldandy, you
need to stop hiding from me. I know that you're magical. It flows in and
out of you like your breath. It's unnatural to pretend that you're human.
I'm in love with Belldandy the Goddess, she doesn't have to hide from
me."
"But, .."
"No. No more hiding. I'll get used to magic in my natural time. It's none
of your affair if I'm startled, I should learn to expect it. And if I'm
awestruck from time to time, that will help me keep from taking you for
granted."
Keiichi walked up to her and took her hands in his. "Belldandy, You're
my present joy, and my future hope. Put away your tears. I don't want you
to be anything else except yourself."
"Keiichisan.", she whispered and pulled her hands out of his to clasp her
arms around his neck. Still trembling a little, she buried her face on his
left shoulder and he embraced her in turn.
What happened next would puzzle Keiichi for the rest of his earthly life.
At that moment, in the ear farthest away from where Belldandy had lain
her head, a small voice whispered. He could never really remember what
it sounded like. He didn't even consider not listening to it or questioning
it. He said just what the small voice told him to say next.
"Belldandy, you should relax."
"Keiichisan?", she stiffened and whispered back incredulously, "You don't
mean what I think you mean!?"
"Yes. Let them go."
For a moment there was only the sound of their hearts beating. Then
came a rustling behind her back. Belldandy had wings. They stretched
out wider than she was tall. Each feather was as shiny as a pearl, and
white as snow on a high mountain. In a graceful rush they curled around
him as her arms had, wrapping him up like a blanket, caressing him with
a thousand feather touches. And there was light, brilliant shades of gold
and white, that seemed to shine toward him from the exact opposite side
of her head.
The small voice spoke the only words he would clearly remember. "Thus,
in Her Glory, Hold Her." And then somehow he knew it was gone. But
She was still in his arms, and still had him wrapped in her marvelous
wings.
He nestled his own face against her head. Everything was hushed. He
was willing to stay that way as long as they could, but after what seemed
too short a time, he felt her lift her head. "Look Keiichisan.", she said, so
he turned his face to follow hers. From the roof of the temple, and the
roofs of nearby houses and other houses farther out into the city, shafts of
light sprang up into the sky.
***********
"Five, four, three, two, Now!" called a Staff Skuld. Terai was the only
non-Skuld in the TV/Dining room.
"There are no initial reports of failed ignitions.", said a different Staff
Skuld.
"Bugs!", yelled another Skuld, "Bugs are being sucked in at several
locations!"
"As expected.", commented General Skuld, looking fierce.
"Bug acquisition should continue for at least another two minutes.",
observed Chief Scientist Skuld.
"Four Minutes and Thirty seconds till cutoff", called a Staff Skuld.
"Where is our Deific Sister?" asked PM Skuld.
"She was last reported outside by THAT cherry tree," replied PM Skuld's
assistant Skuld. "She was rather upset with Keiichi or some such mushy
thing."
"Send one of us to see if she can join us for cutoff.", replied PM Skuld.
***********
Belldandy gathered her wings back into her back, sucked in her halo and
drew a little apart from Keiichi, though she did take his hands in hers.
"Skulds are coming.", she whispered.
Keiichi sighed, but nodded his head in agreement.
A generic Skuld came into view around the corner of the house. "Hey you
two, If you've made up already, come to the control room for shutoff."
Belldandy kept one of Keiichi's hands in hers and they headed into the
house.
***********
Later, Belldandy, followed by Keiichi, reentered Urd's room, where Urd
and Brett were still waiting for her. Belldandy was clearly upset. "Damn,
Keiichi," growled Urd, "What did you say to her now?"
"It's not him at all.", replied Belldandy, "Skuld has, has, ULTRA-
MODERNIZED my kitchen! I don't know where anything is, half of it
works by itself and I don't know what its doing and,..." with a sigh,
Belldandy sat down on her own heels next to Urd's tatami and began the
next unlocking spell.
"How goes the Plague of Skulds?", Brett asked Keiichi.
"The Debugger machines are done, and General Skuld is supervising the
return and reintegration of all her bodies back into one. The star power is
almost used up, so she'll be back to normal soon.", Keiichi replied.
"**Al Byndynge Lquss 'Wowwhatabigfatbutt2'.**", Belldandy intoned.
"The Brat will Paayyy!", Urd quietly vowed yet another time.
***********
Dawn was painting the eastern sky. Literally millions of Skulds
were popping back in from all over Honshu, returning into a single figure
who was rising out of the middle of the puddle. Terai hoped it would be
over before her sister peaked over the horizon, it seemed impolite to use
her own energy right in front of Amaterasu.
In a final burst of light, all the Skulds reunited into their ordinary singular
shape and size. Terai rushed out into the puddle and caught Skuld before
she could fall over. "Whoa!", commented Skuld, "Oneesama's right about
the dizzy part."
"Let me help you over to the porch, Skuld." said Terai.
They had just sat down when the door behind them slammed open, and
Urd, now wounded only in her pride, came out.
"BRRRAATT! I hope you got a lot of good memories out of that, cause
this is going to be a LEGENDARY revenge!" Lightening was crawling
up and down Urd's arms as she raised her hands, then she froze. As
Belldandy, Brett and Keiichi rushed out onto the porch from behind Urd,
they came around her and saw, ...Terai, quite serious, holding her index
finger just centimeters away from the Goddess mark in the center of
Skuld's forehead. And Skuld, looking at Urd, smiling the biggest, nastiest
grin ever yet seen on the young goddess. Slowly, Urd lowered her arms
and dissipated her energies. Just as slowly, Terai brought her own hand
back to her lap. "She won't be here forever, Brat.", Urd growled.
"Yes, it's only a short visit.", agreed Skuld, "And I'm going to enjoy every
minute of it."
Urd retired back into the Temple house, with Belldandy, Keiichi and Brett
close behind.
"It will do you good to cool down a bit Urd," Belldandy commented. "We
both know Skuld didn't mean you any real harm." Urd was silent, and
didn't look like she was buying it.
"Actually," said Keiichi, "I'm just relieved it's over. That and hungry."
Keiichi looked at Belldandy who was wringing her hands and looking
through the kitchen door. "Perhaps we could go out for breakfast?", he
added.
"I hate to make you spend your money like that Keiichisan.", Belldandy
replied. "But when I consider how successful some of Skuld's inventions
have been at failing spectacularly,..."
"Well," said Brett, "I'll have a go at the terrifying 'Ultramodern Kitchen'.
Why don't the rest of you relax a bit and I'll try to whip something up
quick."
***********
Maho's father came down stairs to get his morning coffee before heading
off to work. His wife, who also worked, was on the phone. The
conversation was so odd that it soon had his whole attention.
"Is this Hikawa Jinja? ... I'd like to make an appointment for a
consultation. ... It's my daughter, I think she may need your help. ... I'd
much rather wait if I can have an appointment with the young lady, I
understand the gentleman can't be trusted where women are concerned. ...
Your Grandfather? Oh, please excuse me. ... After school will be fine,
We'll be there. ... Well, it has to do with rice cookers,... Ah! yours too.
Well I think my little daughter may have actually seen, perhaps even
spoke to the perpetrators. She went on and on this morning about 'The
Skulds' have you ever heard of such creatures? ... I thought at first it was a
vivid dream but then I saw what was left of my rice cooker, and heard the
reports on the TV news. ... She's fine now, but very sleepy, I've taken a
day off from work to stay with her. ... Yes, I hope you can help. Thank
you."
***********
"Help!" Brett called over the noises from the automated cooking
machines. Belldandy and Skuld rushed in to see what was wrong with
Terai just behind them. Keiichi shook his head and Urd switched
channels on the TV.
"And from more and more cities and townships across Honshu come
reports of further rice cooker theft and vandalism. It seems that no
neighborhood is without some effected homes." Click.
"That's right," said an older man to the camera, "I came in this morning
early and found the cars all lined up here in front. This is a junkyard after
all, even though the owner doesn't like to have me call it that. So I was
puzzled from the beginning, why should all these cars be lined up here in
front, and why would anyone put glass back in their windshields or clean
them up. But I really freaked out when I walked down and tried to start
one on a whim. I promise, every one of these cars runs perfectly now ...".
Click
The other channels had similar stories. Keiichi sighed. The one saving
thing about the whole mess, so far, was that no one seemed to have seen
or had any pictures of cute little black haired magic girls. Any such
evidence would surely tip off the people in and around Nekomi Tech who
had had any dealings with Skuld.
Belldandy and Skuld came back out of the Kitchen, with Brett and Terai
behind them. Belldandy was telling Skuld, "... the counter tops and the
new faucet fixture only. Everything else must go."
"Yes Oneesama.", replied a downcast Skuld.
"I guess We're going out for Breakfast?", asked Keiichi. Both Brett and
Belldandy nodded an affirmative. "Ah. Well, no problem, I'll grab my
wallet and We'll go. That reminds me, we needed to pick up some
groceries anyway. Terai, if we knew just how long you can stay then that
will help us plan what to buy. Do you know?"
"Oh yes, Morisatosan.", Terai replied. "I can stay here for only ten orbits,
twelve at the most."
"Orbits?", asked Keiichi, but he guessed her answer even before she said
it.
"Of your planet around my Sister.", Terai explained.
Keiichi hung his head. "I knew it.", he said.
***********
Satako put on a high collared blouse and a scarf to conceal the bandage
and went back to work that same morning. Everyone was worried about
her and how she was going to 'recover'. Their reaction to her returning
to her summer job after only one day of rest illustrated the situation. Her
mother was appalled, Ootaki was almost subservient, and now still more
embarrassing, the Professor who hired her was bowing and apologizing
for her 'unfortunate incident'.
"Please Sir," she answered him, "I'll do much better if I can focus my
mind on work. And I don't in the least hold you responsible."
"You're very generous, Thank You.", continued her professor. "If you
absolutely, positively want to work, it just so happens that I am initiating a
new project and will have plenty of things for you to try."
"A new project, sir?"
"Yes, was your family one of those who lost their rice cookers last night?"
"No, but I heard about it on the news."
"Excellent. If you'll follow me into the lab here, you'll see that I have
obtained 16 former rice cookers, each had been partially disassembled
before I could get to them, but these were the most intact ones I could
find. I think you'll agree after you look at them that rather than random
vandalism, as reported in the press, these rice cookers were modified into
electronic instruments, and performed some kind of purposeful task. I
intend to reconstruct a complete instrument of this type to determine what
the purpose was that they accomplished. Does this line of inquiry interest
you?"
"I'm quite puzzled.", answered Satoko truthfully, "I'd very much like to
know what these things were intended for."
"Good, then I will go out and look for more rice cookers in states of
almost complete repair. And after you've locked the door behind me
you'll begin cataloging what components each of these things still possess
and what the circuits appear to be. Please don't disassemble this one
though, it might actually be intact. And I want you taking no chances with your
safety!"
"Of course, Sir. Thank you."
Just then there was a knock on the door and the Professor looked at his
watch. "Ah! That would be your boyfriend, and right on time too.
Good."
Satoko had a happy but sinking feeling, as she peered through the frosted
glass of the door at Ootaki's silhouette. Her professor confirmed her
suspicions. "When you called yesterday to say you were coming back,
I contacted and hired your boyfriend to do simple maintenance chores
around the lab. I'm sure this will make things much safer for you."
***********
Back on the balcony above Terai's real body, the short dark figure was
nervous again. "How long will it take to get all the new dust inside her,
and how can we hope to hold on that long!"
"Only the tiniest amount of time, a little bit over a year." replied the tall
dark figure.
"What's a 'year'?"
"The people on Amaterasu's planet use it to refer to one of their orbits
around her. Terai is visiting that world, and would hardly leave in so
short a time. It's less than one ten thousandth of a rotation of the galaxy."
"Oh," replied the shorter figure. "I guess that's not too long at all."
"No, it isn't.", said the taller one, "And after that, weather we stay or leave
it will be too late. She will become a Blue Supergiant star, rather than the
ordinary yellow mediocrity she was intended to be. She'll burn her too
short life out and burst, irradiating every solar system for a hundred light-
years in every direction, and collapse into one of us, and begin to feed on
her siblings. Ha ha ha. Nyaa, Ha HA HA HA!"
The End?
***********
Well, hope you liked my story. Once again, please send me comments or
questions.
Jim Nutley
jnutley@lvnexus.net
***********
