Hey, everyone,
Here is the first portion of Chapter 5 of my fanfic, "Obeying Destiny."
It's kind of a rough draft at the moment, so I'm open to suggestions as
to how to make it better. In other words, I would love, love, LOVE to
get any kind of C&C...I have no pre-readers at the moment. Please let
me know what you think!
Pretty please?
Here's something I never thought I'd have to say before: This fic has
been line-wrapped to 72 characters, and is best viewed in a monospace
font. (There's this odd, experimental bit at the end...)
---***---
Obeying Destiny
an "Aa! Megamisama!" fanfic
by Raja
---***---
The Premise:
Before Urd and Skuld could complete the Ultimate Magic Circle of Warding,
Kami-sama stepped in and stopped them, allowing the recall notice for
Belldandy to take effect. In punishment for trying to use an advanced
magical construct without permission, and for trying to thwart the will
of the Almighty, Skuld has to handle the re-programming to cover up
Belldandy's time on Earth, and Urd has to remain at the temple, posing
as a Nekomi Tech student, to help maintain the revised reality.
However, every problem that they fix seems to generate two more, and
soon Urd is plagued with system bugs popping up on the surface world,
while Skuld finds that Belldandy is out of action. They find themselves
getting help from some unlikely places....
Previous chapters available by request. Older versions can be found on
the FFML Mini-Archive. Website coming soon (hopefully!).
As always, the characters of "Aa! Megamisama!" were created by and are
the property of Kosuke Fujishima, published by Kodansha in Japan, and
Studio Proteus and Dark Horse in America. They are used here with the
best of intentions, without permission, and without thought of profit.
CHAPTER 5
At first glance, the night appeared to be as peaceful as they got in
this part of Japan. The sky was clear, the moon was out, the
ever-present traffic was at a low ebb. But, if one looked closer, one
could sense a certain uneasiness in the air. For those with eyes to
see, the level of mystic energy in the area was frighteningly high.
What was worse, much of that energy was being harnessed by the forces of
chaos, in the form of system bugs. One would think that beings who
thrived on such chaos, such as demons, would be having a field day.
The agent of hell assigned to this area, however, had more important
things on her mind...
***
"DAMMIT!"
The demon Mara slammed her hands on the console, face contorted with
anger. "Why can't I get past this?" she grumbled to herself. She
grabbed the controls and hit the activation button, to make another
attempt.
Colors and pictures played across the screen, casting Mara's face in a
devilish glow. She worked the controls like one possessed, hammering
buttons as if she were trying to break them. For a moment, Mara's face
grew triumphant, as she sensed victory approaching --
-- until a stunning reversal throw knocked the last bit of endurance
from her ninja character's power bar. The words "GAME OVER" flashed on
the screen, as Sarah Bryant's smug digitally rendered face said, "Maybe
I should hold back a little, huh?"
Mara again smashed her hands against the Virtua Fighter 4 machine,
frustration evident in every move she made. She was about to hit the
"start" button one more time, when a small voice piped up from beside
the screen.
"Mistress Mara?" the voice called.
"What is it now, Senbei?" Mara snarled. "You're supposed to serve me,
not annoy me!" She glared at the little demon cowering with fear at the
foot of the game machine. Mara suddenly noticed that Senbei seemed to
be terrified. "What's gotten into you? You're supposed to be all
happy-happy, aren't you?"
Senbei pointed a shaky finger towards the center of the room.
"Something's coming..."
Mara looked up from the console, to where Senbei was pointing. Although
there were no lights on in the dilapidated game center she called home,
something was beginning to glow there. "Oh...SH --"
Before Mara could do anything about it, the dim glow burst into a
brilliant sphere of light. The shock wave knocked aside the video games
around it, clearing an open space on the floor. As the globe settled
and began to fade, Mara could make out five forms landing on the floor.
Arguing.
"Well, we seem to have gotten here all right, wherever here is. Did you
remember to mask our trail?" said a woman's voice.
"Somewhat," another woman replied. Mara's eyes flared as she recognized
that voice.
"What do you mean, 'somewhat?'" said the first voice. There was the
sound of someone stumbling.
"Be careful," a man said. "There's a lot of big boxy things laying
around."
"Can anyone find the lights?" yet another female voice asked
plaintively.
Mara silently made her way over and around the fallen game machines,
towards the wall.
The second voice replied again. "Well, Peorth, you know that those bugs
are attracted to magic. The best I could do was to spread out our
trail, and make our destination a place that already had a magic aura
around it."
The first voice -- Peorth? -- sounded shocked. "What? You mean you
took us into an unknown magically charged environment? Do you realize
how dangerous this might be?"
"Well, actually, this isn't exactly 'unknown' --"
Mara finally reached the light switch, and slammed it on. As her
uninvited guests blinked in the sudden light, she screamed, "WHAT THE
HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE!?"
"Oh, um, hi, Mara..." Urd said, sheepishly.
***
Megumi helped Keiichi up from where he had fallen over one of the
overturned game machines. "Are you okay?" she asked.
"Uh, yeah, I guess, considering..." Keiichi responded, dusting himself
off. "Where are we?"
"No idea," said Megumi. "Ahh...Peorth, do you know where we are?"
Peorth was carefully observing the conversation between Urd and Mara.
Without turning, she replied, "We are in the abode of a demon."
"You mean THAT's a demon?" said Sayoko, looking at Mara in disbelief.
Megumi also looked in that direction, and found herself agreeing with
Sayoko. Far from appearing demonic, Mara seemed to be a normal-looking
blond haired woman. Instead of sporting horns, tail, and other
stereotypical "demonic" gear, Mara was wearing cutoffs and a t-shirt.
The only thing out of the ordinary was the odd, symmetrical markings on
her forehead, and the double triangles above each cheek bone. And
perhaps the small fangs.
Megumi turned her attention to the argument between Urd and Mara. *On
the other hand,* Megumi thought to herself, *they seem to be arguing
like they've done it before.* Out loud, she asked Peorth, "Do
they...know each other?"
"Oh, yes. For a long time, now." Peorth smiled. "They practically
grew up together. I think we are in no immediate danger from Mara...but
keep your guard up."
"How dare you just pop in here like this?" shouted Mara. "I had
everything arranged perfectly, dammit, and you just --"
"Now just calm down for a minute, Mara," Urd said. "We need to hide for
a minute, to find a place where we can get the bugs off our backs --"
"Bugs? What are you talking about?" Mara began to wave her arms at the
scattered, wrecked machines laying about. "You wrecked my entire
set-up! Just wait until I tell your mother about this --"
"Somehow I think that the Daimakaicho will be more interested in YOUR
activities of late," Urd said, in a suddenly cool voice.
"Daimakaicho...Hell has a chairman of the board?" Megumi whispered to
Peorth.
Peorth smirked as she whispered back, "Of course. The bureaucracy of
the netherworld is the basis upon which all earthly organizations are
modeled."
Megumi could only nod. That made a lot of sense. However, from what
Mara and Urd had said, she got the impression that this "Daimakaicho"
was Urd's.... *I think I'll save that question for later,* Megumi
silently decided.
Urd was continuing in that cool voice. "After all, Hild-sama must have
sent you here for a reason. I'm sure that she will be so pleased that
you've managed to successfully...set up a video arcade. If my memory
serves me correctly, I'm fairly certain that this wouldn't be on her
high-priority list."
>From the sudden expression of fear on Mara's face, Megumi could tell
that Urd's words had struck home. Fascinated, she paid close attention
as, before Mara could utter a word in defense, Urd continued.
"And, you've been so...absorbed in this game center, you haven't even
been paying attention to what's going on right outside!," Urd said,
gesturing towards a window. "Why, even ordinary humans are starting to
sense the chaos in the air!" With that, Urd pointed back at Keiichi,
Sayoko, and Megumi.
Sayoko leaned towards Megumi. "Hey, I think we had a little help in
this "sensing the chaos" thing," she muttered. Keiichi nodded in
agreement.
"Hush, she's on a roll," said Megumi.
Peorth turned to them and said, "Let's hope she doesn't stay on that
roll too long. It's only a matter of time before the system bugs track
us down."
"How? I thought you hid our trail!" said Keiichi.
"They are drawn to magic," replied Peorth. "Even if we hadn't come
here, given enough time they would have sought this place out."
Sayoko, glad to finally hear some explanations, asked, "Why is that?
What are those things, anyway?"
"They are the physical manifestations of errors in the program governing
your reality. They feed on magical energy, converting it from order
into chaos...." Peorth trailed off, then changed the subject. "Where
can we obtain non-magical transport?" she asked.
Confused by the explanation, Sayoko ignored the question. "Program?
Governing reality? I'm sorry I asked."
All eyes returned to where Urd and Mara were continuing their argument.
Urd seemed to be winning. "I knew that you had been assigned here," Urd
said, "and I've been waiting for you to make your move, but you haven't
done anything at all! What is your assignment, anyway?"
"If you must know, it was to separate your sister and her boyfriend over
there!" Mara shouted in response. "But you all seemed to be doing a
damned good job of it without my help!"
Out of the corner of her eye, Megumi noticed her brother wince at that
statement. He sat back down on the floor and put his hands to his head.
Megumi knelt down next to him and said, "Keiichi...try not to think
about it, that will just make it worse."
Peorth's gaze snapped towards the windows. "Too late," she murmured.
"Get up," she said in a louder voice, "we must move, quickly."
A horrible thought occurred to Megumi. "Wait...if the bugs feed on
magic, then all those lightning bolts, and that wall of fire --"
"The barrier wasn't directed at them. But the Urd bolts, they will have
absorbed those, and used them...."
Urd was just about to deliver a stinging response to Mara's latest
comment when the scanner hanging from her belt suddenly began to wail,
urgently sounding an alarm. She took a brief glance at the readout,
then looked again in shock at the hundreds of traces registered on it.
"How...?"
"You see why you're still only a Goddess Second Class?" crowed Mara,
triumphantly. "What did you expect, throwing Urd bolts at system bugs?
Didn't you remember that it would cause them to multiply?"
Urd didn't waste any time with a reply. She quickly turned back to her
companions and said, "Where?"
Megumi, remembering Peorth's earlier question, said, "The Motor Club!"
"Right." Urd grabbed Megumi and Keiichi by the hand. "Mara, if I were
you, I'd get out of here as fast as I could." Urd then turned towards
one of the few video game machines still working, and leapt through the
screen, taking Megumi and Keiichi with her. At the same time, Peorth
grabbed Sayoko and left through a security camera mounted in a corner
near the ceiling.
Mara found herself shouting to an empty room. "And don't you think that
I won't tell your mom about all this!" she finished. "Hey, Senbei, why
don't you go follow them and make sure that something goes wrong --
Senbei?"
"Senbei took Urd's advice, Mara."
Mara jumped back in surprise, almost falling over some debris. The
voice seemed to come from everywhere, yet Mara was certain that she was
the only one in the room. But the voice seemed very familiar....
"Maybe you should consider it too."
The voice was calm, yet Mara could sense great power behind it. It was
accompanied by a rumbling sound, as of energy slowly building to a peak.
"Have you been away so long that you no longer recognize my voice?"
Suddenly, Mara realized who the voice belonged to. "HILD-SAMA!" Mara
fell to her knees, groveling. "I'msorryI'msorryI'm sorry--"
"Oh, do get up. You really don't have time for this," Hild's voice
commanded.
"Aahh, Hild-sama, I, um, have some information --"
"No need, Mara. After all, I've been observing my daughter's situation
for some time now."
"You mean --"
"We'll discuss the punishment for your inactivity later, Mara."
"But I--"
"I really do think you should take my daughter's advice. While you
still can." Hild's voice sounded amused, even as it faded away.
Mara took note of the fact that, even though the Daimakaicho's presence
was gone, the rumbling continued. Frowning, she looked out the windows,
noticing for the first time that a large number of small white objects
seemed to be approaching at high speed.
"Ah, hell," Mara muttered, as she took herself away.
***
Sayoko found herself stumbling around in darkness for the second time
that evening. "Hey, hello? Where are we now?"
Peorth's voice came from the darkness. "Find us a vehicle, quickly.
The bugs were right behind us. We may have only moments."
Following a vague mental image of the Motor Club's clubhouse, Sayoko
found the lights. "Okay, now Keiichi, this is your club, where do you
keep --"
Sayoko abruptly stopped speaking. Turning on the lights revealed Peorth
standing by the door...and no one else.
***
Urd and Megumi both managed to land on their feet, but Keiichi, who
hadn't had the chance to travel this way before, hit the floor hard.
Megumi rushed to his side and said, "Keiichi, are you all right?"
"Yeah, just got the wind knocked out of me...hey, this isn't the Motor
Club!" Keiichi sat up and looked around in confusion. Instead of the
familiar, cramped, disorganized clubhouse, they found themselves in some
sort of martial arts dojo, lit by flickering torches. The raised
fighting area was surrounded by a decorative wooden barrier. And
standing at the other side of the ring was a tall blond woman, wearing a
skin-tight blue outfit, her hair in a big ponytail.
The blond woman looked at them, seeming to take their measure. "So
you're my new opponents...won't you go easy on me?" she said with a
wink. Despite her meek-sounding words, she looked ready to give them a
serious beating.
Urd looked at her two companions.
Megumi held out her hands and shrugged.
Keiichi said, "I never play these fighting games."
Urd looked back at Sarah Bryant of Virtua Fighter fame. "Okay, we're in
trouble."
***
to sleep
is restful
after the pain of
erasure
so you give to the
darkness
and you wait for the pain to
f a d e a w a y
but soon you realize
that the darkness
is not restful and
so you reach out the pain stays
from the dark
but your towards
power the light
falls with all your
away strength
into
the
until you almost fade away eternal
completely and you must struggle night
to retain enough of your self to stay faster
aware of yourself lost in a world of sleep and
and you must find another way to overcome the forces faster
arrayed against you
even if that means
defying
the
heavens
***
AUTHOR'S BRIEF RAMBLING:
Have you ever had a part of a story that, while still aimed in the
right direction, take some unexpected right angle turns? If nothing
else, it's making this a lot of fun to write...
I hope to have this finished and posted within the next week.
Raja
(who's been playing too many PS2 games lately)
So...whaddayathink?