--- "L.S McGill" <lsmcgill@hotmail.com> wrote:

The masked Chinese wizard Mara faced was not the person she had
expected to 
find as the head of a clan of assassians, yet this was the person
her spell 
had lead her to, the person she had traced the dead assassins in
Tokyo to.  
His age was impossible to determine behind the mask, but he felt
centuries old.  He was not at all what she had expected.

Then again, neither was the Hexagram she found herself trapped in.
She felt 
along the invisible walls around her, but they were like iron. The
wizard laughed.

I can see how a gifted and powerful mortal could summon Mara, but to
hold her once she was summoned would be quite a trick. Still, it's
conceivable I suppose, especially since the trap was already in
place. Mara could of course do a dimensional teleport out of there,
but it's more likely she'd want to stay around and find out who this
talented mortal was.
 

"Your Mistress herself could not break that seal, Oni. Why not
desist and tell me why you have invaded my domain."

Well, this guy is obviously a braggart. If he truly believes this
last statement, then he's also a complete idiot. Even with the dozens
of power limiters Hild wears when she's here, she could easily
destroy the planet. 
 

Mara looked at him, and reasserted control of herself. "I believe
we may have a mutual interest."

After hearing a statement like that about Hild, I can imagine that
Mara would need to control herself. ^_-
 

The man steepled his fingers. "Indeed. Skorpion has many interests,
Oni. Only a few involve the affairs of your realm or the Kami's."

Considering that the Kami's realm contains a computer which is
running the reality that Mr. S is a part of, that's a very silly
thing to imply. Still, it's in character for this guy.
 

Mara nodded as she sat cross-legged in midair. "This is a mortal
affair in 
which we may share a common cause." She smiled evilly. "Shall we
suffice it 
to say we both wish this mortal harm?"

"And you cannot eliminate this 'mortal' yourself?"

"I am ... restricted in direct action. But a mortal may do that
which the 
Kami will prevent an Oni from accomplishing. Direct action on my
part 
towards this mortal can be thwarted by the goddess who watches over
this 
ones companions, but she cannot block what one mortal may do to
another."

Considering that Belldandy has helped Keiichi out against mortal
threats several times in the past, this isn't true. Nor is Mara
limited in what she can or can't do to a mortal. However, it would
probably serve Mara's purposes to lie to this guy.
 

She smiled as he sat before the dojo and assumed guard.  It was so
obvious 
he cared for Akane, and that he had an enormous heart buried
beneath that 
rough exterior.  If Urd succeeded in granting Shan Pu's wish, then
the 
Amazon would indeed have a happy life with her Ai Ren.

Which meant she had to get busy with her part.  She turned to the
Dojo wall 
and murmured a chant, a glowing circle of light forming around her
hand 
patterned with mystical symbols.  Normally, she wouldn't do
something like 
this, but Urd had been adamant that something had to be done to
make a 
change, and faced with a choice of doing the spell, or leaving it
up to 
Urd's potions, Belldandy had relented.  She wanted her sister to
succeed in 
her present task, and was worried that Kami-Sama had given what was
proving 
such a difficult case to Urd.  She had been instructed she was
allowed to 
aid Urd if asked, and hoped Father wouldn't view this as
overstepping her bounds....

Nice Belldandy scene here, except for the "Father" thing. But heh, it
isn't impossible that Kami-sama is their father, just never
mentioned.

In the deepest shadows by the Dojo wall, another guardian watched
their 
exchange and smiled.  At least this part of Urd's crazy plan seemed
to have 
worked.  He looked down to the angelic face of his most beloved
Belldandy 
cradled in his lap as she slept.  He snuggled his Nikomi Tech

Nekomi

jacket closer 
around her shoulders as she smiled and snuggled closer.  It would
be 
pointless to try and wake her for several hours yet.  She always
had to 
sleep whenever she had created a major spell, and she had worked
this one 
for almost an hour and a half before passing out.  He'd ask her
later what 
the point of those two colored balls of light, one blue, one green,
she had 
joined into a single ball of golden light.  She'd stared in to it
for over 
an hour before releasing the spell and falling asleep.  Maybe for
once, her 
explanation of it would be something he could understand.

That's a pretty heavy-duty spell to have knocked Bell-chan out like
that. Still, she does tend to go overboard with the level of her
spells from time to time. Nice Bell-K1 scene! ^_^

Brian Welch

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