Obeying Destiny

                    an Oh My Goddess! fanfic

                           by Raja

Aa! Megamisama characters created and owned by Kosuke Fujishima,
published in Japan by Kodansha, and in America by Studio Proteus and
Dark Horse Comics, and are used here without permission, but with the
greatest of respect, and without thought of profit.


CHAPTER 4

Megumi helped Urd back to a spot at the still-deserted bar, where she
promptly grabbed a fresh bottle.

"Thanks, Megumi.  You're a lifesaver," mumbled Urd.  Without further
ado, she opened the bottle of sake and started drinking.

Megumi didn't respond to that.  She wearily settled down in a nearby
chair and tried to make sense of what was happening.  For some reason,
the events of the past few hours felt like some sort of fantasy game to
Megumi, until the close call with the dimensional gate forced her to
reconsider.  It seemed like such a normal day when she got up that
morning.  It was the same as always, just like it always had been ever
since Megumi started at Nekomi and moved into the same house as her
brother.  There was the usual flurry of activity as she got ready for
class, with a hurried goodbye to Urd on the way out the door --

But that wasn't the usual routine at all.  Megumi frowned to herself,
trying to coax half-hidden memories loose from the shadows of her mind. 
She didn't live at the temple since the first week or so after she
arrived, since Keiichi had helped her find that spacious, cheap rent
house.  And it was a good place to live, even though Megumi apparently
shared living space with a mouse.

Megumi smiled at the memory of seeing that mouse for the first time.
Even though it was a mouse, it just looked so cute in the hands of --

She shook her head, feeling dizzy for a moment.  That's right, it wasn't
just Keiichi who helped find her a place to live, it was him and...
and... his girlfriend....

Girlfriend?  Since when did Keiichi have enough spine to get -- and to
keep! -- a girlfriend?

Megumi was becoming more and more confused.  The more she thought about
it, the more vivid her memories became.  The only problem was, Megumi
seemed to have two different sets of them, and it was becoming difficult
to tell which was true.  The rest of the day's events didn't help
matters any, of course.  She shuddered, her mind unable to reconcile all
that was happening to her.

The sound of a bottle and glass landing on the table startled Megumi out
of her reverie.  She looked up to see Urd taking a seat next to her.

"Here, have a shot.  It'll help you cope."  Showing no signs of
intoxication, Urd deftly opened up another bottle and poured a generous
helping for Megumi.

Megumi ignored the offering, instead demanding, "What's really going on
here, Urd?  Have you been messing with those chemicals in the house
again?"

"What?"  Urd was caught off guard by Megumi's vehement questioning.

"That's the most logical explanation, isn't it?  You've been mixing
something noxious in your room again, and I'm being affected by the
fumes!"  Megumi jumped up and began to pace around nervously, mumbling
to herself.  "That's gotta be it...I'm still in the house, passed out,
and when I wake up, everything will be back to normal.  No goddesses, no
freaky rabbit-bug thingies, Keiichi will be in his room with a
headache...."

Urd watched, her concern growing, as Megumi's movements became more and
more uncontrolled.  She got up as well, and reached out a hand to
Megumi.  "Hold on a second, let's try to reason this out --"

"DON'T TOUCH ME!"  Megumi jerked away from Urd's touch, falling over a
chair in the process.  She sounded as if she was on the verge of going
into hysterics.  "Am I going crazy? I remember things...and then I
remember them different!"  Megumi fumbled further away.

Urd had frozen in place when Megumi fell to the floor.  Her eyes
narrowed slightly, looking at a spot close to where Megumi landed.
Suddenly, with a fluid motion, Urd brought out her bug hammer and swung
it towards Megumi.

"AAAAAHHHH!" Megumi screamed in fright as the hammer approached. There
was a bright flash of light --

-- that resolved into the outline of a bug.  It had apparently hit the
floor right next to her when she fell over the chair.  Megumi saw that
it had an extremely annoyed look on it's face in the moment before it
dissolved.

"And how long have you been with us?" murmured Urd to the spot that the
departed bug had occupied.  She shook her head and helped Megumi back to
her chair.  "Feeling better?"

Megumi took one wild-eyed look at Urd and then grabbed the glass from
the table.  She downed the sake in one gulp.

"I'll take that as a yes," said Urd, smirking.  She became serious again
instantly.  "Okay, what do you remember?"

"I...I don't know," said Megumi, a slight tremor in her voice.

For all Urd knew, the bugs might have been causing another major crisis
somewhere, but she fought the urge to rush Megumi through this. "One
thing at a time, then.  What's one thing that you know for sure?"

"Living in the house by the temple.  Paying rent to you.  Keiichi and
his headaches."

"Good.  Now try again.  What do you recall that is...other?"

Megumi shivered, hugging herself.  After a moment, she began to speak,
haltingly.  "Keiichi... living with his girlfriend...and you... and
someone... related to you, somehow... all of you at the temple..."
Megumi poured herself another drink.  "I don't know what's real
anymore...."

Urd went on, in an implacable tone of voice.  "One week ago. What do you
remember?"

"Living at the temple... Keiichi missed a lot of classes because of his
headaches...."

"Two weeks ago.  New Year's.  What do you remember?" Urd's voice had
become almost hypnotic.

"Sayoko, getting smashed before coming to our house that night, ringing
the bell...."

"Three weeks ago.  Christmas.  What do you remember?"

"I came over from my place to celebrate with you all, but Belldandy was
gone, and it looked like a bomb hit outside the house --"  Megumi
stopped abruptly, shocked at the words coming out of her mouth.

"Good -- now focus on that moment.  It should all start to come back to
you...."

***

Megumi killed the engine and hopped off her bike.  Although she was
reveling in the independence of living on her own in the first year of
college, Megumi still looked forward to spending time with her
family...in this case, with her brother and his girlfriend.  Even though
his living with his foreigner girlfriend would have caused major blowups
if their parents ever found out, Keiichi seemed to have matured a lot by
being in a relationship.

*He may have grown up some, but I bet I can still get him to blush like
a schoolboy,* she thought to herself, smiling.  Underneath the teasing,
she really was interested in how their relationship was going. In her
opinion, Belldandy was the best thing ever to happen to Keiichi.

Megumi's smile widened as she recalled that first day, when she had
caught Keiichi and his new girlfriend in what looked like a compromising
position.  Despite Keiichi's stammered denials, Megumi sensed that there
was something special between him and this mysterious woman...or, at
least, there should be.

"Good morning, everyone! Merry...."  As she bounded her way up the steps
to the temple grounds, her cheerful greetings died away.  "What the heck
happened here?"

Stunned, Megumi looked around in disbelief.  The first thing she noticed
was that the house and the temple looked like an earthquake had come
through.  Even the ground was broken up, as if a large object had
smashed down from the sky.  She saw Skuld, slumped on the ground,
crying.  Urd was standing near the center of the destruction, staring
off into nothing, as if in shock.  And Keiichi...

Megumi ran over to the damaged front of the house, where Keiichi lay
slumped on the ground.  "Keiichi!  Are you okay?  Please, wake up!"

Keiichi's eyes opened.  "Hello, Megumi,"  he said.

Megumi was startled by the lack of... anything, really, in his voice. 
It was as if something in him had died...  "Oh, no....  Keiichi, where's
Belldandy?"  Megumi started to look around frantically, in case
Belldandy had been injured or... or something.

In that same flat, dead tone of voice, Keiichi answered her.
"Belldandy... had to go home.  My goddess...."  A hint of emotion began
to show through. "My goddess... had to return to heaven...." Keiichi
began to shake, sobbing.  "I made her a promise...that I couldn't
keep...my goddess..."

Megumi wrapped her arms around her brother, trying to comfort him
somehow.  Her eyes widened when she saw the ring that Keiichi was still
holding.  Return to heaven?  Could that mean.... Was Belldandy...was
she....How could this happen?

She looked up to see Urd walking towards them.  "Urd... what happened
here?  Where is Belldandy?"

"Belldandy...had to return to heaven."

"What?!"  Megumi couldn't understand why Urd would use the same metaphor
that Keiichi was using.

Urd was still talking, as if Megumi hadn't said anything. "Kami-sama
himself sent the recall notice...I should've known not to try the direct
approach..."

"What are you saying?  I don't understand."

"We may be goddesses, but when Kami-sama gives an order...."  Urd
blinked, as she suddenly realized who she was talking to.  "Megumi..."

"Y-yes?"

"...I'm sorry."

Urd raised her hand....

....and the world went away....

***

"What did you do to me?"

Urd sighed.  "What I had to, kiddo.  I had already been busted by
Kami-sama once that day, I wasn't about to cross him again."

Even with the drinks she had just had, Megumi's mind felt clearer than
it had been in weeks.  "So it's all true."

"Yep."

"My brother was dating a goddess."

"Right."

"And living with three goddesses."

"Correct."

"AND HE DIDN'T TELL ME?"

Urd was unimpressed.  "Are you done?  Because we've spent a lot of time
straightening this out, and there are still bugs out there."

Megumi got up from her chair.  "Urd, what we're doing is really
dangerous, isn't it?"

A direct question deserved a direct answer.  "Yes, it is, Megumi."

"So what exactly are we doing, then?"

Urd settled her glasses back on and headed for the door.  "Saving the
world from chaos, I think.  Let's go."

***

Skuld was doing her best to control her fears.  But, seeing Belldandy
lying in a medical diagnostic bed with monitors and other devices
hovering nearby caused wave after wave of apprehension to almost
overwhelm her.

"Father? Why won't Belldandy wake up?"  Skuld desperately wanted to be
told that her suspicions were wrong, and the bug exhaust port wasn't
sapping Belldandy's energy.

Kami-sama turned his eyes away from the monitors to look at Skuld. He
shook his head.  "I'm sorry, Skuld, but it seems that you are correct. 
Somehow, Belldandy's life force has become connected with this exhaust
port."

"Sister...."  Skuld found herself kneeling next to Belldandy's bed.
"What can we do?"

"We have isolated the power source.  Now we must find the port's focus
point on earth.  Once we have both, we can break the connection between
the two."

Hope bloomed in Skuld's heart.  She got up, ready to dive back into
work.  "Where do I start looking?"

"It is not so easy as all that, child."  Her father placed a hand upon
her shoulder.  "First, you should know that, even though it is
troublesome, a crisis like this one will eventually solve itself."

Skuld blinked.  Had all of her work on solving this problem been
pointless?  "What? How..."

"The chaos created by the bug exhaust port will for the most part
concentrate itself around the focus point.  Eventually, the focus will
be destroyed, breaking the connection and closing the port."

Skuld let her eyes close again, concentrating on what she knew of the
facts and theories about bug exhaust ports.  "I see.... But that could
take months!  And, the bugs released by the port before it closes will
still be around, causing trouble!"

"Very good, Skuld, that is correct.  Minimizing the damage to reality is
one reason why we must find a way to close the port early. But there are
others.  There is a chance that the destruction of the focus point can
create a feedback loop --"

"It could hurt Belldandy?"  Startled, Skuld grabbed the side of the bed
for support.

"Yes, Belldandy could be hurt, even killed.  But Skuld, there is more
than one way that she could be hurt."

Confused, Skuld looked up at her father.  "What do you mean?"

"The few times that something like this has happened before, the focus
point was a mortal being who had recently been granted a wish."

***

Sayoko Mishima flinched away from Keiichi Morisato as he suddenly had a
violent sneezing fit.  In their haste to turn away from each other,
Keiichi bumped his desk hard enough to cause several things to fall to
the floor.

"Jeez, Keiichi, are you okay?  They probably heard that all the way over
in the temple!"

Sheepishly, Keiichi scrambled to his feet and began picking up the
things that had fallen.  Sayoko decided to help, and gathered together
the items that had dropped by her.

"Say, where is everybody, anyway?" Sayoko went on.  "You'd think that
they would have checked up on you after that."

Keiichi tried to think back to events earlier in the day.  "Uh... Oh,
yeah, I think Urd said that she needed to do some shopping.  That's
right.  And she took Megumi with her."  Keiichi paused, noticing for the
first time that twilight had fallen outside.  "Wow, they aren't back
yet?  Maybe I should cook dinner tonight.  Hey, Sayoko, what are you
doing for...."

Keiichi's voice trailed off as he turned to see Sayoko holding the same
picture that he was looking at before his last migraine.  She was
staring at it intently, as if it held some secret message, just out of
reach.

"Uhh, Sayoko..." Keiichi began, unsure of how he was going to finish
that sentence.

Sayoko didn't notice.  Her mind was awhirl, flooded with memories and
impressions.  She still couldn't recall a face, but the emotions had
made a far greater impact upon her.

Slowly, she brushed a finger across the empty area.  "Keiichi... where
is she?"

Keiichi's head began to throb again.  "Uhh... where is who?"

But Sayoko had fallen silent again, trying to sort out all of the new
things she was remembering.  *Who was she... Keiichi's girlfriend... how
dare she just appear out of nowhere and steal my rightful position as
queen of Nekomi!  That's right, she must've been some sort of witch, and
she used her powers to cloud our minds...*

All that ran quickly through Sayoko's mind, making her feel the same
things she did when this *person* first came to Nekomi Tech.  But she
still couldn't remember her face or her name....

The picture fell to the floor as Sayoko pressed her hands to her face. 
*Why can't I remember?  What did this witch do to us...*  Sayoko had
fleeting impressions of a kind word here, a good deed there... a helpful
hand doing her a favor, asking nothing in return....  *If she was a
witch, why was she so nice?  Why can't I remember her name?*

Without thinking, Sayoko posed the question to Keiichi.  "Where is...
your girlfriend, Keiichi?  I'm pretty sure you...um...what was her name
again?"

"My girlfriend?" Keiichi replied, weakly.  He slowly collapsed back to
the floor, as his headache returned with a vengeance.  "My..."

And then, all hell broke loose.

Unbeknownst to them, for the last few minutes a strange gathering had
been taking place outside on the temple grounds.  From all directions,
small white forms were hopping into the area, and were settling down to
wait.  They had come to the temple because, after causing random chaos
for a while each bug had come to realize that it had been allowed to
come into existance due to one individual, and in return, each felt that
it was their duty to honor and worship that individual... and keep him
entertained.

At the moment that Keiichi's headache had flared up again, the burst of
divine energy that had caused it was a signal to the bugs that indeed,
this was the individual that they were looking for.  He was their focus.

The growing group of system bugs began to celebrate, hopping and
bouncing in wild abandon.  With that many manifestations of chaos
whirling about, something unexpected was bound to happen.

The grounds in front of the house blew apart, much like it had done a
month ago.  The resultant concussion wave took out the shoji screens
separating the rooms from the halls in the house.  Keiichi and Sayoko,
bowled over by the explosion, yet miraculously unhurt, sat up and were
stunned by what they saw.

"Keiichi?"

"Y-yeah?"

"Are you okay?"

"Uh, I think so...and you?"

"I don't know. Do you see what I see?"

"Do you see lots of white things bouncing around?"

Although neither of them could remember why, the sight of the system
bugs filled them both with fear and dread.

Sayoko finally responded to Keiichi's last question with another one. 
"What are we going to do now?"

***

"Father, what are we going to do?"  Skuld was running to keep up with
her father as he strode down one of the endless pathways towards the
main control room.

"Do?  Why, find a solution, of course."  He stopped suddenly, by a door
set unobtrusively by the side of the walkway.  "But, your sister Urd
will have to make sure that we will have the time that we need.  She
will have to defend Morisato from the chaos that will surround him."

Skuld swallowed nervously.  "Are you sure she'll be able to do that by
herself?"

"Ah, but she isn't by herself now, is she?"  At her father's knowing
expression, Skuld looked away, embarrassed.  Kami-sama went on, "Young
Morisato's sister, right?  An eminently capable mortal.  Urd picked
well."  Skuld was startled by that.  "But still, that's only one goddess
and one mortal against the forces of chaos.  I will send them some more
help."

With that, Kami-sama opened the doorway, entered the control room and
sat down.  He touched several controls in a complex sequence, and an
image formed in the air in front of him.

Skuld looked at the person in the picture with surprise.  Dark brown
hair, black leotard, odd looking leather straps floating in an
artistically satisfying arrangement, blue diamond goddess markings...
could it be?

The goddess at the other end of the line looked up.  "Earth Help Office,
Peorth speaking --"

"Peorth, attend me," said Kami-sama in commanding tones.  "I have a task
for you."

Instantly, the picture disappeared, to be replaced by the goddess
Peorth, blinking in surprise.  Recovering her composure quickly, she
bowed respectfully.  "Cest moi, it is I, Peorth, Goddess of the Eternal
Moment, ready to do your bidding -- "  Peorth stopped short as she
caught sight of Skuld.  "What are you doing here?"

Skuld was at a loss for words.  She remembered that Peorth was a
friendly rival of Belldandy's, with both of them vying for top marks in
their training.  Despite their competing, she and Belldandy had always
seemed to be good friends.  Then, one day, Peorth seemed to just drop
out of touch.  From what Skuld had heard, she and Belldandy had had some
sort of falling out.

After a moment, Skuld spoke up.  "Peorth, it's been so long... how have
you been?"

"Oh, I've been fine," Peorth responded in a condescending tone, "no
thanks to you and your sisters."

"Wha- what?  What did we do to you?"

"Peorth, I was under the impression that you and Belldandy had settled
your differences."  There was a hint of annoyance in Kami-sama's voice.

"Well, actually, yes," she replied.  Peorth suddenly smiled, impishly. 
"But it is so much fun to tease!"

Skuld was about to take offense, but she clamped her mouth shut as her
father stood up.  "We have no time for this foolishness now, Peorth. You
are aware of the current crisis?"

Peorth nodded.  "Yes, sir," she replied, all trace of playfulness gone.

"The situation is worse than you know."  Kami-sama then proceeded to
explain exactly what was going on, as Skuld got back into the control
chair and started to bring up current status displays.

A few minutes later, Peorth had gotten the whole story.  In a quiet
voice, she said, "Belldandy's life is in danger?"

"Yes."

Peorth nodded back to Kami-sama.  "Then what do I have to do?

***

With all the bugs seemingly vacating the area, Urd and Megumi took the
opportunity to return to the campus of Nekomi Tech and pick up Keiichi's
motorcycle.  Megumi started it up, as Urd sat in the sidecar and
adjusted her scanners.

Megumi looked over her shoulder.  "All right, fearless leader, where to
next?"

Urd frowned at the device she was holding.  "If I'm reading this right,
we have to go back to --"

Suddenly, the sound of an explosion boomed out across the area.  At the
same time, the readings on Urd's scanner spiked off the scale.  "The
temple!" Urd shouted.  Almost before she had said it, Megumi had the
bike in motion.

***

Keiichi and Sayoko had tried to make a break for it several times, only
to be thwarted at every turn.  They had tried making it through the
front door, only to find that it opened back into Keiichi's room.
Scrapping that idea, and noting that many of the outside shoji had
disappeared in whatever that explosion was, they tried running out the
back, towards the trees behind the house.  They had made it as far as a
certain cherry tree when they were chased back by a volley of airborne
rocks.

"Well, I'm out of ideas," panted Sayoko, looking around.  The white
things, whatever they were, were starting to come inside for the first
time.

"Well, don't look at me -- YAAHHH!"  Keiichi's reply cut off abruptly as
he fell into a hole that wasn't there before.  He managed to grab the
edge of the floor before he went completely through. He looked down, and
immediately wished he hadn't. "Help!"

Sayoko had the presence of mind to grab his arm and hold on. She looked
around Keiichi, trying to see what he was falling into. "Hey, that looks
like one of those aerial photos of Tokyo!"

"Just pull me up!"  Keiichi was fighting both vertigo and a strange
sense of deja vu.

"I'm trying!"  Sayoko was pulling with all her strength, but wasn't
making very much headway.

Meanwhile, over in Megumi's room, some camera equipment that had fallen
to the floor began to take on a mystical glow.  In quite the opposite of
it's usual operation, one of the camera lenses began to emit a beam of
intense light.  A shadowy form began to coalesce inside the light....

Several times, Keiichi had almost gotten a leg up into his room, only to
fall back down again.  Sayoko was still pulling as hard as she could,
but she couldn't seem to pull him up far enough.  "What did you have for
breakfast this morning, lead flakes?" she shouted.

"Aww, come on Sayoko, is this the time for this?" Keiichi shouted back.

"How could a runt like you weigh this much?" she shot back.  "Aaahh --
oops!"  Her grip almost slipped.  "I can't hold on much longer..."

Sayoko let out a yelp of surprise, as without warning, vines snaked out
from behind her and wrapped around Keiichi's hand and arm.  *Now this is
TOO weird,* she thought to herself, as a rose budded and bloomed before
her eyes.  Overwhelmed by so many inexplicable things in so short a
time, Sayoko felt her knees buckle as she fell towards the hole --

-- only to be caught by someone before she could take the plunge. "Now,
now, my dear, I've come too far to get here just to see you fall!"

Sayoko looked up to see who had caught her.  She got a glimpse of dark
hair, and diamond shaped markings on her forehead and by her eyes.
"Is...Is it you?"

Peorth helped Sayoko return to her feet.  "And who do you think I am,
young lady?"

Sayoko's only response was a scream, as several of the bugs had gathered
enough courage to jump straight at them.  Peorth spun around, eyes
narrowed.

"WALL OF THORNS!"

With a gesture, the roses that had appeared in time to save Keiichi grew
quicker than the eye could follow, its vines suddenly encircling the
room.  As the bugs tried to get in, the vines crackled with spiritual
energy, hurling them back outside.

Sayoko tried to faint again, but her body refused to cooperate. "Are
you... Keiichi's...."

Peorth smiled, shaking her head.  "No, that honor belongs to another. 
My name is Peorth, and I am... here to help."

"You came out of nowhere!"

"Actually, I came from over there," Peorth replied, waving vaguely
towards Megumi's room.  She winced at the sound of several more bugs
impacting her shield.  *Do I have the energy to teleport these two out
of here?* she wondered to herself.

"Uh, hey, could somebody get me out of here?" came a plaintive voice. 
"These vines have thorns in them...."

Peorth and Sayoko looked back at the hole in the floor.  As one, they
said, "Oops."

With another gesture from Peorth, Keiichi was lifted back into the room,
just in time to watch the hole into the sky close beneath him. "That was
just a little too close," he said.  With a crackle, another bug bounced
off of Peorth's barrier.  Keiichi staggered, as he felt a fresh headache
coming on.

Peorth looked around, trying to think of options.  "We've got to get
away from here," she announced.

Sayoko shrugged.  "Keiichi and I weren't doing so well, and that was
before you sealed us in."

"Don't worry, I'll think of something."

"Hey, wait, you haven't even told us who you are, yet!"

A rumbling sound made itself heard over the crackling of Peorth's
shield.  Sayoko spun around, nervously.  "What's coming now? Something
worse?"

Peorth concentrated, extending her perceptions outward.  "Actually," she
said with a smile, "I think some more help is on the way."

Outside the temple grounds, Megumi and Urd had gotten off the motorcycle
and were looking through the entrance in dismay.  By now, at least a
dozen bugs were milling about, no longer bothering to remain invisible. 
The house, or what was left of it, looked like an all-night rave had
just finished with a bang.  One portion of the house appeared to be on
fire, except that fire generally wasn't supposed to be blue, or
surrounded by ice.

"Oh my god, what's happening?  Is this exhaust port you're talking about
here?"

Urd scanned the area.  Another bug bounced by, trailing miniature
thunderstorms in it's wake.  "No, I think it's still drifting around.
But it's power source seems to be focused here.  That's what's drawing
them back to the temple."  The bug with the storms jumped through the
blue flames, changing the thunderstorms to blizzards.

A clang from behind them made them both spin around, mallets at the
ready.  They saw a dazed bug that had apparently bounced off of a nearby
fire hydrant sign.  With a rumble, the underground hydrant blew off it's
cover, shooting a geyser into the sky.  Unfortunately, the hydrant was
right where Megumi had parked the motorcycle.

"Uh oh," Megumi observed, as the bike hit the ground with a crash,
"Keiichi's gonna be really mad at me for that...."

"He's got to be alive to be mad at you," Urd replied.  "At least it
landed on the bug."  She checked her scanner one more time, then
switched it off and hung it on her belt. "He's in the temple -- Let's
go."  She took a deep breath, raised one hand to the heavens, and cried
out, "URD BOLT, STRIKE!"

A bolt of lightning fell from the sky, impacting what was left of
Keiichi's motorcycle.  "Oops."  *Damned chaos fields...*

To her credit, Megumi didn't say a word.  She merely handed Urd a bottle
she had saved from the bar.  Urd grinned.

Inside, the sound of Urd's errant bolt had startled and frightened
Sayoko and Keiichi some more, while Peorth just kept on smiling.

A second explosion, and then a third, rocked the house.  They seemed to
be getting closer.  Finally, the sound of footsteps and muffled voices
could be heard.

"Urd, that's not stopping them!"

Another explosion, this one dangerously close.  "I know, keep moving!"

"Aah! Where'd these spikes come from --"

"Megumi, watch out -- behind you!"

There was a thud, the sound of a hard object hitting a softer one.
"Thanks, Urd, that was close.  Didn't take long for them to regroup, did
it?"

"Hurry, over this way -- Where did these vines come from?"

Keiichi called out, "Hey, Megumi, Urd, we're in here!"

Peorth gestured, and a section of greenery parted.  "It took you long
enough to get here."

Urd put her head through the gap.  "Peorth!  What are you doing here?"

"What, aren't you happy to see me?"

"Under the circumstances, yes, I suppose I am."  She clambered quickly
through the gap, Megumi right behind her.  Several bugs tried to get in
through the hole, but Peorth managed to close it in time.

Megumi took in the scene before her as calmly as could be expected. It
was strange enough to see the damage that the bugs had done to their
house, but the odd vine barrier, crackling with mystical power, was
almost too much to believe.  Fortunately, her experiences running around
with Urd had -- finally -- prepared her to accept almost anything.  And
so, she looked at this oddly dressed new person, apparently an
acquaintance of Urd's, without much surprise.

"And you would be..."

"Peorth.  You must be Megumi.  I've been sent to help you out."

Megumi nodded once.  "First thing that's gone right all day.... Hey,
Keiichi, are you all right?"

Keiichi rubbed his head for a moment.  "Same as usual, I guess. Megumi,
do you know what the heck's going on?"

"Let me explain --"  Peorth grabbed Megumi's arm and shook her head.
"Ahh, there's too much, I'll tell you later."

The sound of bugs attacking the barrier was becoming a continuous
crackle.  "Urd, we need to get some breathing room," said Peorth, some
strain evident in her voice.

Urd nodded decisively.  "The temple.  I'll clear a path."

"How?" asked Megumi.  "Your Urd Bolts only kept them away for a couple
of seconds!"

"I'm going to have to call upon my angel to help out."

"Your what?!"

The room shook.  It felt as if the ground around the house was sinking.
"When we need to cast a powerful spell, we call upon our angels to help.
 No time to explain more, just get ready to run. And brace yourself!"

"Is it too much to ask for someone to explain what's going on?" Sayoko
plaintively cried out.

"Aaagh!" Keiichi clutched his head.  Megumi turned to see a bug pushing
it's way through the barrier.  It took two swings from the hammer to
make it dissolve.

"Urd, whatever you're doing, you'd better hurry, I think they're getting
stronger!"

Sayoko grabbed onto Keiichi, helping him stand, as the room around them
began to brighten.  She looked up, wondering what was causing the glow,
and saw that it was coming from Urd!

"I call upon you, come forth! WORLD OF ELEGANCE!"

Before the startled eyes of the mortals, a new form took shape, rising
from Urd.  It coalesced into the shape of a woman, with graceful wings,
one white, one black, arching towards the heavens.  Her skin was a
swirling mixture of light and dark, and she fairly radiated power.

Peorth threw out her hand,  and the vines to one side of the room opened
up, just as Urd and her angel spoke.  Their voices blended together into
pure force.

"CORRIDOR OF FIRE!"

Even in the brief instant between the opening of the vines and the walls
of flame leaping up, a number of bugs had rushed towards the breach. 
Most of them were forced back by the flames, and the few that were
trapped in the corridor got hammered by Megumi, who was the first to go
running through.  She was followed closely by Sayoko, who was helping
Keiichi.  Peorth came next, making sure no bugs found their way in, and
Urd with her angel came last, closing the flames up after her.

Sayoko was finding it easier and easier to just not think about the
things that were happening around her.  She was sure that if she took
the time to absorb her current surroundings, she would come to some
unpleasant conclusions.  For example, given where she was right now, it
would be perfectly reasonable to assume that she was in hell.  She shook
her head, trying not to think too hard about it.

Unfortunately for Keiichi, similar thoughts were running through his
head, combined with his constant headache.  It was all he could do to
keep one foot moving in front of the other.  Time seemed to stretch out
of all proportion, and it felt as if they would be lost in the flames
forever....

Megumi was keeping an eye out for bugs trapped in the corridor.  She was
concentrating too hard for such thoughts to trouble her.

Fortunately for them all, Urd didn't bother going around to the door,
instead taking the shortest route.   The flames burst through the wall
of the temple, followed in short order by everyone. As the fire died
away, Peorth again threw up a hand, and more vines wove their way
around, sealing up the hole that Urd had created.  Everyone dropped to
the floor, exhausted, for different reasons.

After a moment, Keiichi sat up.  For the first time in a while, the pain
in his head had receded. "Are we safe here?"

Urd rose to her feet, with the help of World of Elegance.  "For a time.
Consecrated space... the forces of chaos have a hard time getting in
here.  That's why it took so long for the bugs to get into the house."

Megumi looked up.  "Our house is consecrated space?"  Urd just looked at
her.  *Oh, yeah, that's right. A goddess lived there.*

Peorth took Urd by the arm and drew her a bit away from the others.
"There have been some... developments... that you need to be aware of,"
she said, quietly.

"Oh?  Good or bad?"

"You decide.  We've discovered what's powering the exhaust port."

"And?"

"It's Belldandy."

"What?!"  Urd digested this bit of information.  "Okay, then have Skuld
isolate her from the system, and we'll find and destroy the focus point.
 That should break the connection, right?"

"That will hurt Belldandy."

"I'm sure that between you, me, and Skuld, we can come up with a barrier
strong enough to protect her from the feedback!  It's worked before, why
can't we do it again?"  Urd's frustration was growing.  If Belldandy was
in danger, there wasn't any time to waste!

"That's not what I mean, Urd."  Peorth took the scanner from Urd's belt,
switched it on, made a few adjustments, and placed it in her hands.  She
guided Urd's aim so that the scanner pointed at Keiichi.

Urd stared at the readouts in shock.  Her eyes traveled from the screen
over to where Keiichi was sitting, talking to Megumi and Sayoko.

"Well, shit."

Keiichi was asking his sister for more details.  "Come on, Megumi, I'm
sure you know more about what's going on than you're telling!"

Megumi looked over to where Urd and Peorth were conversing quietly. "Ah,
Keiichi, well, umm."  Urd looked over and beckoned to Megumi.  "Oh,
sorry, Kei, I gotta talk to Urd for a sec."  She got up and quickly
crossed over to where Urd was.

Keiichi was puzzled by his sister's behavior.  He was used to Megumi
being totally up front with whatever she was thinking.  This evasiveness
was totally unlike her.

Keiichi turned to Sayoko, intending to ask her what she thought was
going on.  However, Sayoko seemed to be totally intent on studying the
faces of Urd and Peorth.

She was fascinated by the marks on their foreheads and cheekbones. *How
come I never noticed those marks on Urd before?  And... why do they seem
familiar, somehow?*

Urd had drawn Megumi close, and was talking rapidly at her.  "Don't tell
Keiichi anything.  When he comes close to the memories that were sealed
away, the system force acts to keep them suppressed."

"Uh, okay, so what does that mean?"

Peorth answered, "There's some sort of conflict in the system. There is
another subroutine that is trying to make him remember.  When that
happens, the system force spikes --"

"Giving him one of those headaches?" Megumi asked, starting to
comprehend.

As Peorth nodded, Urd said, "Yes, but even worse, the extra power
attracts the bugs.  It gives them more energy, too."

"Great. Just great," groaned Megumi.  "So what do we do now?

"We keep moving."  Urd put the scanner away again, and walked back to
where Keiichi and Sayoko were sitting.  "If we can keep Keiichi away
from the bugs, that will buy Skuld and the others time to look for a way
to close the exhaust port."

"You do realize that we are surrounded by system bugs?  And neither of
us have our usual portals handy?" Peorth pointed out.

"What, you didn't grab one of Megumi's cameras on the way out?" Urd
joked.  "We'll have to get far enough away from the bugs to be able to
do a straight teleport safely."

"That'll take a lot of energy...."

"Well, then, we'll have to go someplace where the bugs won't be able to
find us too easily, right?  And, someplace where we can recharge
quickly."

Megumi placed her hands on her hips.  "You just want to go bar hopping
again, don't you?" she accused Urd.

Urd just smiled again.  "Come on, everyone, get up, we're leaving."

Keiichi got to his feet.  "If I asked any questions, would I get any
answers?"

"What do you think?" said Urd.

"I think that if I did get any answers, I probably wouldn't understand
them," Keiichi sighed.

Sayoko asked, "Can't we rest for a little longer?  Are we really in that
much of a hurry?"

As if in response, the thud of something hitting the wall could be
heard.  Then another, and another, and suddenly the door of the temple
started to shake.

Urd shook her head. "Offhand, I'd say...yes we are."  She clapped her
hands together and bowed to the temple.  "To whatever spirits dwell
here, we thank you for the sanctuary that you have provided, and we
apologize for what we are about to do.  We promise that we will return
soon, to make amends."  Urd bowed again.

Peorth said, "Nice touch."  She then placed her own hands together, and
called out, "Oh, my angel, come to us now in our hour of need! Arise,
GORGEOUS ROSE!"  Immediately, another angelic form manifested, this one
with long blond hair and pale skin, her limbs wreathed with blooming
roses.

Urd nodded in approval.  "Everybody ready?"

"For what?" asked Sayoko, knowing that she wouldn't get an answer. She
let out a surprised squeak as World of Elegance gestured, encasing
everyone in a globe of light.  Like an orchestral conductor, she raised
her hands, and the globe rose into the air in response.

Gorgeous Rose stretched forth her arms, even as Peorth did.  Vines shot
out from her hands, latching on to the ceiling of the shrine and forcing
it open.  Without warning, the entire group shot through the roof, into
the cool night air.  Bugs started to launch themselves from the ground
in pursuit, but before they could even come close, the sphere of light
had disappeared.

***