Ah! My Goddess: Temptations of a Goddess

Chapter 5: Skuld (Part 2)

Original Drafts written by InsaneGuy2010

Edited by Spiritblade

Disclaimer: Hey, it's me Insane-Guy 2010! Yeah, it's been some time since I've been in the writing fanfic thing but it's all cool now. This story has been in my head for some time now and it has been bothering the crap out of me. You will probably notice some of the dialogue as it was taken from the manga with some altercations. So, without farther ado, here is it. Also, I don't (in any way) own the 'Oh My Goddess' series, I only wish that sometimes.

BY THE WAY, THIS STORY IS INTENDED FOR MATURE READERS.

Editor's foreword: I, Spiritblade, hereby acknowledge that this story – from first word to last – is the property of InsaneGuy2010. Should he choose to change any part of the story, I grant him – InsaneGuy2010 – the right to do so. I also thank him for granting me the chance to edit his story, thus allowing me to train myself in a genre that is hard for one such as I – who prefer the political, war and espionage genres – to write. And now, my readers, from InsaneGuy2010 and myself, I present the final chapter of the former's original 'Temptations of a Goddess', which ended with the Skuld chapter. Please take note that I am dividing Skuld's chapter into two parts. This chapter closes the Skuld arc. After which, we shall have a small interlude with Mara before we to meet Peorth. Hope you'll stick with me till then!

I wish all my readers and reviewers around a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Here is my humble offering upon the altar for a better tomorrow...

First Draft posted on 22/12/2016

(O)

Nekomi Institute of Technology

The Auto Club Workshop

Eight weeks before the Winter Race

Keiichi had to admit that Emiya Shirou, the lieutenant of one of the Four Monarchs of the Underworld, was as good as the latter said he was. No, to call him 'good' was to not give the older man the credit he was due. His skills and knowledge were ones built over years, if not decades, of study and application. Some of the tips he had shared with Keiichi and his club-mates revolved around the simplest engineering principles taken to unexpected directions by the application of knowledge from other engineering fields.

Money was a thing the Auto-Club lacked. Determination, innovation and ingenuity were things they had in quantity. Rare had the young mechanic seen his friends take notes, but each had done so with the zeal of those who realized that what they knew could be taken farther by possessing knowledge that could mesh with what they already knew. Questions had flown hard and furious in the minutes when everyone stopped to rest. He glanced briefly at where the club-house's kitchen was, his taste buds wanting another go of the Emiya Bento Special.

Belldandy had no equal where cooking was concerned, but Emiya-san came close. The friendly competition the two had had served to make the Auto-Club a lively place indeed, to say nothing of Serafall-san's ability to drive frustration and stress into a dark corner, sobbing and threatening to quit if the female arch-devil made their respective tasks impossible. The Devil Queen was fond of teasing both him and Emiya-san, and had asked some very, very inappropriate questions that had nearly started fires, caused injuries and disrupted work more times than Keiichi had fingers and toes.

And yet, he would not have it any other way.

The mischievous grin on Urd's face and the proud yet embarrassed look on Belldandy's were the most beautiful things the young man had ever seen, to say nothing of the outraged look on Skuld's face. Keiichi chuckled; he had lost count of how many times the beautiful, dark-haired teenage goddess had wanted to hit him with her hammer for the numerous 'acts of perversity' he had committed against her sisters. Seeing a chance to have some fun at Skuld's (and his) expense, both Serafall and Urd had started a game to see how quickly they could get the younger goddess's mind to go to the gutter.

Matters rapidly went downhill when Belldandy – or rather, Verdandi – joined in. The silver-blonde haired goddess had a wicked edge to her smile as she poured a refinery's worth of petrol onto the fire. With innocently asked questions and insinuations, she pulled every fantasy hidden deep in the minds of everyone in the room to the fore. It got to the point that Emiya-san, who had been trying to get everyone to stop teasing Skuld, finally gave up. There was no way he could win against two goddesses and an Archdevil hell-bent on mischief.

Many of Keiichi's club-mates had left in the first five minutes, their hormones raging and their minds in the gutter. Otaki had thrown in the towel in the first thirty seconds, much to the amusement of everyone in the workshop. Tamiya had lasted longer before running for the showers. Sora, much to Keiichi's surprise, had been the last to leave. The mousy, brown-haired girl had clearly enjoyed the images and innuendoes unleashed by Urd, Verdandi and Serafall.

It was known only to a handful in the university that Sora worked on the side as a doujinshi artist. Known better by her pseudonym Saya Hoshigami, the bespectacled girl was a rising star whose works had recently made it to the shelves and imaginations of every anime and manga lover within and outside Japan.

Many in the Auto Club owned copies of Sora's works, a fact that pleased the latter immensely. That they would turn to it when the world saw fit to reward their labours with icy contempt and heartache drove her to further improve her drawing and storytelling skills. It had embarrassed Keiichi to learn that he, Urd and Belldandy had been the inspiration of many of her latest works. Romance had never been a genre popular among men, but Sora had taken pages and paragraphs from Belldandy's book and had helped many tread the treacherous road by which a heart could be won.

And where romance bloomed, it parted the veil to reveal the many facets love could take. And it was on that road-scented, rocky path that Urd took Sora down on. Experience had given the silver-haired goddess the knowledge and the wisdom only surpassed by her mentors. In the conversations Sora had had with Urd, the latter told her one frank truth about love: it needed the ministrations of both parties to make it work. Faith and trust was the soil it took root in; love and acceptance of the other's flaws was the water and sunlight that fed it and made it strong. Without any of these, love died slowly and painfully. It was not hatred that was love's bane, the silver-haired Norn had pointed out, but indifference.

Those words had caused Sora to fall into a deep and thoughtful silence. Keiichi knew that the bespectacled girl was burning those words into her mind, so as to better write her stories. Knowledge, like wisdom, came at a price. Those who paid the toll demanded of them would emerge from their search closer to the answer than any who did not.

When the sombre moment had passed, the female mechanic had asked, with little shame and more eagerness, about how far Urd's relationship with him had gone. The girl knew that something had changed in the dynamics between Urd, him and Belldandy. She could not put a finger to it, and had spent weeks trying to figure it out before finally putting the question before the goddess. The latter made the former regret her daring, albeit in a good way, and Keiichi knew that Sora would spend the next few weeks making a series of hentai doujinshi that would have her fans begging for more.

"Never let them go, Kei-chan. This is the ending many men want, but few will receive."

"Keiichi-san?" the voice of the red-haired man broke Keiichi out of his thoughts, and caused him to look at his senior, who was working with the Yukikaze, "Could you pass me the wrench, please? Scratch that. Make it the smaller M8 wrench. It looks like we may have to change this component with the other one."

"What? Why? It looked okay to me when we tested the bike earlier, Emiya-san."

"I agree, but we are not using the Yukikaze as a normal racing bike. We are setting her up against the best machines money can buy, and I am certain that Aoshima-san has called upon the best engineers and experts in the industry to make sure he wins. The Auto-Club has only three racing vehicles – four, if you include mine – it can enter into the race. We must make sure each one is able to stand up against any of the Racing Club's."

Keiichi looked at the Yukikaze. It was a good bike. He and the rest of the Auto-Club had built it. He knew quality when he saw one. So what was...?

"Tolerance...," the word spilt out of the young mechanic's mouth.

The older man nodded, "A machine, like a human being, has its limits. Only by ensuring that it works within those limits can we be confident that it will not fall apart when we push it. Changing the specs of a machine means changing the parts that affects performance. Only then can we be certain that it can endure the stresses we place upon it."

"Will the frame be able to take it?"

Shirou gave Keiichi a thumbs-up, "Trust me."

X X X

It had taken another three hours before Keiichi and Shirou finished what they had set out to do, at which point the latter excused himself. The red-haired mechanic had promised to cook dinner for both his peerage and his King, and neither would look kindly upon said promise being broken. Having taste his senior's cooking before, Keiichi could understand why those who had taken the first bite would ask for seconds, and then make arrangements to always be present whenever the first took up his apron. Even Belldandy had gone as far as to take notes! Belldandy, of all people! Both Urd and Skuld had been shocked at first, but disbelief was soon replaced with delight upon the first bite.

Keiichi chuckled, remembering the stunned look on the face of Belldandy's youngest sister. It was one mirrored by the countless hanyou and youkai children who had frequented the temple, and which caused their irate parents to bow before Belldandy and call her sensei. Truly, the stomach was the best way to the heart of an individual.

"One of the ways, anyway," a melodious voice whispered in Keiichi's ear, moments before a pair of lithe arms encircled his body and a voluptuous body pressed against his back, "But the heart is a fortress whose gates can be parted and whose defences can be circumvented if one knows the hidden paths that lead to the gardens within..."

The young man looked over his shoulder to see Holy Bell standing behind him, a gentle smile on her lips. The female angel's wings were not the crimson of when Belldandy's Shadow Soul was in ascendance, but the golden-brown of her purer half. The scent of the sun mingled with that of freshly-lit incense, an aroma which served to chase away the weariness the young man felt. The angel leaned forward and kissed Keiichi, the tremor the latter felt as the former's lips pressed against his bespeaking of how much the angel enjoyed the growing intimacy between them.

"Holy Bell...?" Keiichi put a hand on the angel's after the latter withdrew, "What are you doing here? Where's Belldandy?"

"Lady Belldandy has sent me to inform you that neither she nor Lady Urd will be able to return here tonight," the golden-haired angel replied, "A complication has arisen – one that needs to be resolved by both my mistress and her older sister. As such, she has asked that World of Elegance and I keep you company for tonight."

"What do you mean...?" Keiichi could not help but be worried, despite knowing that his girlfriends were more than capable of taking care of themselves.

"An old friend has come to visit," World of Elegance replied as she materialized in a storm of feathers and silver light, her dichromatic wings folding with a soft rustle as she walked towards him, "One who is less than pleased by recent events. Do you remember Urd telling you about Troubadour, the Plum Tree Spirit she fell in love with before she met you?"

X X X

(Flashback)

Edo City was located in a Mirror World, a reflection of what Tokyo had been during Japan's feudal era in all its sensual glory and majesty. Booths and shops alike sold goods and garments that had become family heirlooms in the modern era. The young man had been unable to suppress the childish excitement that filled him, and had taken the chance to visit many of said shops. It was in one of said shops that he and Urd found clothes that would allow them to blend in with the youkai populace. To say that the youkai proprietor – a Jorogumo – had been shocked that a human had managed to cross over into the Mirror World was an understatement. Shock had soon given way to delight when she realized an second later just who had brought him across the dimensional boundaries the Ancient Spirits had raised centuries before to protect the children of the night. It had been a long timesince a Kami had visited her shop, and the spider-woman was determined to give her the best of her labours.

Honour and reputation were things of great value to the youkai of Japan, especially when one came from a race known for their mastery of weaving and clothes-making. Delight had given way to awe and recognition when the dark-haired spider-woman had asked them for their names.

"You are known and welcome among our kind, Morisato Keiichi-san. The Eternal Twilight welcomes you and your wife. My clan is honoured by your patronage."

Said clan appeared seconds later, descending from the beams of the shop, skittering and chattering happily and offering their best works. Keiichi, not wanting to offend the spider-women, had purchased a good number of kimonos for Belldandy and Skuld, and traded stories of the world for theirs. With the Nura Clan having settled their differences with their ancestral enemies, the Kyoto Youkai, and with the changes that were coming to the world, the spider-women were considering opening businesses in the human world. Several of their kind had settled down with human men, and two of their clanswomen had found well-paying jobs in Victoria's Secret.

Conversation would come to a screeching halt when Urd emerged from the back-room with the proudly-smiling matriarch of the clan in tow. Keiichi was unable to speak past the lump in his throat, and many of the spider-women who were in human shape accidentally shifted into their monster forms, knocking their compatriots off their stools and causing exquisitely-sculpted models upon which their kimonos were displayed to topple off their stands. Urd had always been beautiful, radiating sensual perfection and sex appeal to rival any fantasy born from the desires of mortal and immortal alike. But clad as she was in the dark blue and silver-trimmed kimono that accentuated cleavage and curve, she was every fantasy perfected.

The bronze-skinned goddess giggled. She could practically see lust pouring off her lover in fiery waves, could sense his arousal and the desire to take her then and there in his eyes. That he was contemplating doing so in front of the spider-women served only to excite the Norn. The seed she and Belldandy had planted within Keiichi's soul had taken firm root and had begun spreading its sinuous, gentle tendrils about it. The instances in which the young man had turned tender lovemaking into forceful ravishing were growing. The memory of Keiichi utterly dominating her and her younger sister, staining both their wombs and bodies with his seed, of a sinful, orgiastic celebration of flesh and passion, fanned the embers of the silver-haired goddess's libido into a raging inferno.

"I told you that your mate would approve!" the matriarch of the spider-woman clan tittered, her four hands clasped together in delight, "Now all that is needed is a place with a good atmosphere that will allow a woman to show her man who he belongs to..."

The strangled shrieks from the younger spider-women and the sole human male among them prevented the youkai matriarch from completing the sentence. Urd laughed, even as she producing a purse full of gold talents and handing it to the Jorogumo matriarch.

"Is there a place you recommend for such, Hitomi...?"

The grin on the Youkai matriarch's face became a playful leer, "I know a good place, but it will cost you one silver talent for the knowing."

Urd grinned and slipped said talent into one of the spider-woman's many hands, "Tell me."

The walk to the temple would take Keiichi and Urd twenty minutes, and turned from a walk filled with playful banter and promises of a fun-filled night into one that was sombre and filled with painful memories. It had been in the aftermath of the fireworks that had lit the night skies, when an endless rain of cherry blossoms that fell upon the city and its inhabitants. Keiichi saw how Urd's violet eyes had widened, how she had raised her hand to allow one of the petals to come to rest in her hand, and the bitter smile that came over her face as it faded away. Memories sweet and sad emerged from the moonlit recesses of the goddess's mind, to remind her of what she had lost – and what she would have gained had he chosen to stay.

Keiichi, for his part, knew pain when he saw it. He knew all too well the wounds caused by loving someone who cared only about themselves. Many of his friends in the Auto-Club had been in such relationships. Few had emerged with their pride and dignity intact, and all had emotional scars. It was only when Belldandy and Urd came into their lives did their wounds started to heal. They began to realize that it was not their fault that their exes dumped them. They began to learn that the measure of a man was measured not by how much he made, the people they knew or where they came from. They began to understand that loving someone was more than just saying the words; that they had to mean it before anyone would take them seriously. A man – a real man – knew more than just how to please a woman in bed. A man worthy of his name promised the girl he loved a future.

And if there was one thing that Keiichi knew about his club-mates, it was that they never gave up even if they had to crawl to the finish line bloodied and beaten within an inch of the grave. Doubt assailed them every step of the way, with scorn and contempt being more loyal companions than their own shadows. But these were hounded by one tireless adversary, who turned doubt into strength and who turned the steely barbs of scorn and contempt into the sturdy foundations of faith and fortitude.

'A man who has nothing can still have faith.'

The samurai of Old Japan would have approved, and would have written haikus to pay homage to such fortitude and determination. Emiya-sempai had said that it was upon the backs of such men, invincible in heart and spirit, which nations and families were made.

'And those with nothing left to give can still offer up their lives and souls.'

"Urd...?" Keiichi rubbed his thumb on the back of the goddess's hand, a gesture of affection

The goddess turned to look at him, as if suddenly realizing that she was no longer alone. That he wasn't going to disappear as her other lovers had. That he was going to use her as some had done. That he was never going to judge her and find her wanting as many had.

Filthy or not, he loved her, and she would never relinquish that.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She smiled, a sad smile that spoke volumes of how cherished the memories were, and how much they hurt, "Are you sure? It will not be an easy conversation."

Keiichi nodded, before leaning forward to kiss the goddess on her lips, "I am. And it will not change the way I feel about you."

The silver-haired goddess laughed softly, a sad sound, "You may think otherwise, Keiichi."

And she told him. She told him about Troubadour, the Plum Tree spirit she had met in her younger years, when she had been wilder and more curious. She told him of the good times they had, the wisdom she had learned in his arms and the places he had taken her to. She told him what she liked about him, and what had led to their break-up.

And Keiichi listened, and not once did he judge her.

(Flashback Ends)

X X X

"Yes. He's here...?"

World of Elegance nodded.

"Why?"

"Troubadour has learned of your relationship with my mistress, and is less than pleased by it. He intends to 'set things right', as it is," the angel replied, the sour expression on her face telling Keiichi what she thought of the Plum Spirit's words, "But my mistress is not interested in his entreaties. She has you. And both she and I want to keep you."

"I do hope that my mistress will be able to keep Master Troubadour and Lady Urd from destroying the temple," Holy Bell said, batting her wings gently about Keiichi, so as to clean him of the dirt, grime and sweat of a hard day's work, "I have never seen my mistress's sister this angry. It amazes me that Lady Urd has not lost her temper yet."

"She's changed, Bell," World of Elegance wrapped her arms around Keiichi's waist, drawing in the scent of her lover and relishing the way it made her shiver, "We all have. And none of us would have it any other way..."

(O)

Tariki Hongan Temple

At that very moment

Troubadour sat at the table across where his former girlfriend, the beautiful and seductive Urd, Norn of the Past and the eldest daughter of the Regent of Heaven and the Queen of Niflheim, sat. The latter was fuming, and the halo of lightning that coruscated over her head in controlled spirals bespoke of the ferocious grip the silver-haired Norn had on her temper. In that very instant, the Plum Spirit could not help but compare his girlfriend to her mother. Both were beautiful and terrifying in ways that only song and story could capture them; elemental, unforgiving and undeniable.

His eyes went to her younger sibling. Belldandy – Norn of the Present, second-born daughter of the Regent of Heaven and the Queen of Sunlight – was perfection incarnate. Silver-blonde hair framed a face and body that artists across a thousand worlds would have given their right arms to immortalize in marble and verse. In her blue eyes and gentle smile was captured the radiance of Creation's celestial bodies and the wisdom of her rulers. Her voice was one both deity and devil alike would sell their True Names to have, for it could engender trust and cool the fiercest of tempers. Many of Troubadour's fellow Plum Spirits were in love with Belldandy, and no few had composed poems and songs about the goddess.

All had been shocked to learn that a wish had bound her to a mortal, one she would eventually take as a lover. A closer look at the latter had revealed that he was no one special. Keiichi Morisato was neither possessed of the stature nor the standing to win the affections of any mortal woman, let alone the heart of one of the three Norns. But here stood irrefutable proof that not only had the impossible happened, but that said impossibility was drawing all three Norns into a silken web of sweet temptation and breathtaking corruption. And if the rumours were to be believed, the one responsible was none other than the one goddess whom all believed to be immune to the vices which had seen to the countless deities and angels defecting to Niflheim in the aftermath of the Second War in Heaven.

Troubadour felt his muse stir as the scores and words of a new song took shape in his mind. The melody was breathtaking in its grandeur. Majestic and imperious, it was a hymn that would have made both the denizens of both Niflheim and Heaven shiver. It reached deep into their hearts, to bear on soft, black wings the promise of the end of a the Third Eternity, when the Divine Flame was extinguished and the rulers of Creation were left without thrones. Amidst the desperation and despair, heroes rose one last time to hold back the darkness, only to fail, having little choice but to usher in the end and to write in blood a prayer upon the last page for mercy from absent gods and dying devils.

The composition that the Plum Spirit had hoped to honour his lover with faded into insignificance. This was something that would earn him the respect of his peers. He opened his eyes, licking lips turned dry by the excitement and anticipation of crafting his first Endeavour. What should he call it? All great works worthy of the effort had names. Several came to mind, but only one stood out. Yes. Yes, that would be perfect. He would call it the Ashes of Eternity.

And he would dedicate it to Urd. He would show her that he was better than that mortal, that he could offer her more than the latter, that he was worthier of her than that pitiful excuse of an artificer. And maybe, just maybe, convince her sister that her binding herself to said mortal was a mistake, and earn himself the favour of no few gods in Heaven who prayed that the System Force would terminate the wish on grounds that it would shatter the balance the sleeping King of Heaven had put in place in the aftermath of the war against the Titans.

"It's not," the silver-blonde haired Norn spoke as she raised the cup of tea to her lips, "Because if he had not made the wish, I," the goddess emphasised the word, "would have. I will not surrender him to anyone else."

Troubadour swallowed hard. Did the goddess just read his mind...? That was a violation of Celestial Law!

Urd's eyes sharpened, "I hope you were not thinking about what I hope you were, Troubadour. Cross that line and the System Force will fry you before either of us do. And I will promise you that what comes after will be ten times worse."

"But she...!" the Plum Spirit protested.

"Will do no such thing," Urd cut her former lover off in mid-sentence, "Belldandy knows every line, page and paragraph of the Divine Law, Troubadour. Menoth was her teacher. She knows full well what not to do. Believe me when I say that the Lawgiver will not be happy if he learns that his favourite student has pissed on his Endeavour and will go about finding out why she did so!"

Troubadour swallowed. Menoth the Lawgiver, one of Heaven's oldest and most powerful gods, was one of the few deities in Creation that both Niflheim and the Nine Hells would go out of their way to not anger. The right hand of the sleeping King of Heaven was a god not easily moved to ire, but those that had succeeded in doing so did not live to make the mistake a second time. There was no doubt in his mind what would happen to him if the Lawgiver turned his gaze on him and found him wanting.

There would be a crater the size of Earth-Midgard's Grand Canyon when the deity was through with him.

"But this wish made by that," the word on the tip Troubadour's tongue refused to be voiced, for instinct told him that it would lead to his being thrown into lunar orbit, "human is against the Law. It stated that he wished for a goddess like you to remain by his side forever. How did it ensnare my beautiful Urd...?"

Belldandy smiled, and opened her eyes to look at the Plum Spirit. The latter recoiled. No longer was the Norn's eyes that of the clear blue sky. It was the hue of Creation's last twilight, a darkness that devoured with raging lust and unforgiving hunger its final embers. He knew about this, had read about it and had heard it spoken of in quiet whispers even as it was immortalized in song and verse. He had never imagined that its shadow would fall upon she who was the brightest star in all Creation.

"How is this possible...?" Troubadour swallowed hard, as the gentle smile on the younger Norn's lips became one he had seen on the lips of Niflheim's dragons. The melody in his mind took more ominous undertones, and a look in his former lover's direction told the Plum Spirit that the latter would not help him out of the snake-pit he was in.

"All things are possible with His blessing, Master Troubadour," the melodious voice of the goddess Verdandi was one that made the shadows in the room darker and deeper, "All things, even if that thing was of His making."

"Was this how she...?" Troubadour asked Urd, even as his hands ran across his harp, the music spilling from them speaking volumes of his fear and unease. The Plum Spirit could sense Corruption's shadow fill the room, could feel it running a gentle talon over his soul and hear its sweet, sultry laughter in the depths of his soul. He could see it take the shape of the goddess he loved, but whose regal bearing and sardonic gaze mirrored that of the Queen of Niflheim.

"No. It has always been my choice. All Belldandy did was make the bargain."

The song that flowed from Troubadour's harp became one sad and filled with pain, "Is there nothing left between us...?"

The silver-haired goddess did not speak for a long time, weighing the answers that would balance the scales that had long ago been set against her. There was no easy way to end this, no gentle way to undo the knot that she and the Plum Spirit had made save to sever it once and for all. Keiichi had told her, drawing from bitter experience, that when a relationship had gone past first base and was approaching the second, making an end of it was painful for everyone involved. That it hurt was proof that that the bond was not without value or meaning.

"Just memories," Urd replied, "And I will keep and hold them dear for the rest of my life. You were a part of it, Troubadour. I had hoped to keep you in it, but when you chose to leave me behind to search for the Golden Nightingale, I knew that any hope of my making our bond a solid one was gone. How long did it take you to find it, Troubadour? A hundred years? Two hundred...? More...? I am sorry, Sha-maline. I could not wait for you. Not when everything I ever wanted was offered to me by one whose dream has me in it..."

Troubadour did not speak for a long time. He had wanted to hate Keiichi Morisato. He had good reason to. But everything he saw and heard made it difficult for him to. The human had proven himself beyond the shadow of a doubt that he deserved the wish he had made. That it had been ridiculous did not dismiss the fact that it was the one thing he wanted more than anything in Creation. He had not asked for wealth, power or fame. He had asked for the keys to a home and the hearts of those who would share it with him.

The melody from that flowed from Troubadour's harp changed as he turned to look out into the temple courtyard. He could see a small group of youkai and hanyou children, in their beast forms, staring at him from the bushes, their gleaming eyes reflecting the light of the room he was sharing with the two goddesses. Several had taken to perching themselves on – or hiding behind the armoured legs of – the war-jacks that now served as the temple's guardians. Said war-jacks, a pair of massive, white-armoured Crusaders adorned with the symbol of one of Heaven's Legions, were both looking at him. The manner in which the massive war-machines stared at him and aimed their multi-barrelled cannons on him spoke volumes of their wish that he leave quickly and peacefully.

Their mistress, the youngest sister of his former lover, had clearly intended to ensure that her new home would be where her sisters were. She would not suffer anyone wrecking said plans. Troubadour stood up and walked to the temple courtyard and took a deep, slow breath. He could taste the emotions that filled the temple, hear the promises weaved by faithful hands and hearts, and see the heartfelt wish made by a young mortal become something more.

"Did you tell him about us, Urd?" Troubadour turned back to look at the silver-haired goddess.

The latter nodded.

"And what did he say?"

"That who we are and what we become is because of the people we met and the lessons we learned. Everything I am today is because of the people I loved and who had loved me in turn, and that everything I will become is what I shall make of myself," Urd met the Plum Spirit's gaze, "He also said you were a fool to have chosen a bird over me. Had you chosen to wait until I had earned my licence, you and I would still be together. And I would not be forced to promise him to not throw a thunderbolt at you when next we met..."

Troubadour had to give credit where it was due. The mortal artificer was wiser than many of his race. And he was right. He had waltzed back into Urd's life thinking everything would be the same. That she would wait for him. But the Urd before him was not the Urd he had left behind. If only he had not chosen his pride over her, everything would have been different.

"I suppose I owe him a minor boon for his convincing you to not punish me."

"You owe him more than that, Troubadour," Urd replied with a wicked grin, one that made the Plum Spirit's heart ache, as it brought back memories of better times, "Both Verdandi and Skuld wanted to throw you under the bus. He asked them not to."

Verdandi's smile became one that would give the demons and devils of Niflheim nightmares. The clanking sound of the war-jacks loading live rounds into their assault cannons and the sudden spike of mana as the youkai and hanyou children powering up their Charms caused Troubadour to start sweating bullets. Was this what it felt like to be looking down the barrels of a hundred Thunderstrike rifles?

"I concur. A major boon, it is," the Plum Spirit replied with a winning smile, thanking the powers that be that his voice revealed not an iota of the terror he felt. The smile faded seconds later as one question, one that mattered more to him than all the rest, left his lips.

"Urd...?"

"What?" the silver-haired Norn asked.

"Is his dream something worth throwing everything that you are away?"

Now it was Urd's turn to fall silent. It took the goddess the better part of five minutes to answer, and her voice was heavy with a weight that would have broken the back of Atlas himself.

"The Golden Nightingale was the brightest thing in your eyes, Troubadour. Keiichi is the brightest thing in mine. And unless a miracle makes him more than what he is, that light will soon fade. I want a part of him to live in me, through me, so that I know that our time together was not a dream that will fade when the morning comes."

Troubadour would burn the image of his former lover standing before him, proud and resolute, into his memories. Urd had changed. She was more like her mother than she would ever care to admit. She was so beautiful, so bathed in twilit glory, that it made his heart ache and sing in the same instant. The words of the Prophet Muhammad, whom Troubadour had once spoken to, echoed in his mind. The Ancient was both the mentor and patron of many deities and angels, and his wisdom was such that even Menoth had deferred to him when the Lawgiver found himself caught between a rock and a flaming sword.

'There is no instrument of divine or mortal make that can measure love, nor are there words that can capture that which the Almighty has granted all Creation in His wisdom and mercy. Try to chain it or make it a thing pleasing to your eye, and it will elude you. Search and you will realize that it has always by your side, a cherished companion in the coldest of nights. Learn, and you realize that the greatest of things are found in the smallest and simplest of things. Listen and you will find answers to questions you have never asked. The answers are never important, my friend. The questions are.

'The greatest things, the most cherished things in the long eternity we shall live, are won either by blood or by love. If they are absent the weight of either, they will wither as a rose would in the barren deserts of Muspelheim.'

"I love you, Urd. That will never change," the Plum Spirit spoke, even as he opened a portal to his home in Arcadia, "But what I want more than you loving me again is that you and that human making the impossible possible."

The silver-haired Norn smiled, "I will make it happen."

Troubadour turned to look about the temple once more. This was a good place. One he would draw inspiration from when he wrote his stories...and when the time came to set up a family of his own. And when

"Master Troubadour...?"

The Plum Spirit turned to look at Belldandy, who was now standing beside Urd.

"You will always be welcome in this temple," the younger Norn said, the sunlit radiance of her blue eyes making Troubadour feel as if he had been forgiven all his sins, "I hope that you will come by for tea when you are able. And I hope you will bring the girl you love with you one day, so that we may one day be friends as well."

"You have my oath on that, Fairest One," the Plum Spirit replied, before bowing, "And thank you for allowing me the chance to clear the air between me and my beloved Urd. I feel somewhat disappointed that I was not able to convince the star in my sky to follow me on my journey, but I suppose that is how it shall be. Sometimes it is not the prince that wins the hand of the fair maiden and the courtesans of the court, but the barbarian whose mirth and melancholies are as great as the world itself."

Belldandy laughed.

"And now, Troubadour of the Azure Blossom Court, takes his leave!" the Plum Spirit struck a pose as a storm of cherry blossoms masked his form from view before it blasted outwards, leaving the spot where he had been standing empty.

"Show-off," Urd chuckled, even as her younger sister placed her hands on her face, wiping away the tears at the corner of her eyes. A gentle smile curved Belldandy's face; she knew what her older sister was feeling and why she was crying. Heartbreak, an emotion both bitter and sweet, filled the air with its painful symphony.

"One day, Troubadour will find his destined one and she will know that her heart will be safe in his hands," Belldandy's voice was soft, kind, that of a deity forgiving the most sinful of his flock, "For he now knows that the price of another's heart is his own, and that pride and glory are small and fleeting things when compared to the feeling of your beloved's hand in your own. The Troubadour that came here three hours ago is not the same one that left. He has paid the toll to gain that which will make the songs and stories he shall make have meaning..."

"It hurts, Bell."

"I know. And that is how you know that what you felt for him was not a lie," the silver-blonde haired Norn leaned forward to kiss her sister on her cheek, "And that is why you and I will sing and play with the children tonight. We need time for our hearts to settle...and to give Holy Bell and World of Elegance the privacy we promised them."

Urd laughed, a sound that was half-sob, half-giggle, "Keiichi will not have the energy to work tomorrow. Those two have been chomping at the bit to go to town with him!"

The younger Norn's eyes darkened once more, "That, my dear sister, is what I am hoping for..."

'Because all of it is a performance for our youngest sister,' Verdandi added inwardly with a lustful leer, 'so that she will join us in Keiichi's bed...'

(O)

Nekomi Institute of Technology

The Auto Club Workshop

Keiichi knew he was in for it the minute a wicked gleam came into Holy Bell's eyes and she leaned forward to kiss him, her dark blue eyes gleaming like a twilit thunderstorm. The golden-brown feathers of the female angel's wings became the lustrous crimson of spilt blood and world-ending infernos. His overalls were gone, reduced to ash by a single word from the Sinful Angel, revealing the lean, muscular body that Sora had described (after she had wiped away the drool and pulled her mind back from whatever hentai heaven it had been in) as one found only on veteran swordsmen and martial artists. There was no fat on him, only corded muscle that radiated strength and virility that stirred the hearts of those girls who were lucky to catch him without his shirt on.

The playful look on Sora's face told Keiichi what their reactions would be if they had found him in his birthday suit. They would stare, stutter, blush and then seriously consider pouncing on him, the protests of Belldandy and Urd be damned. What would happen next, should they decide to act on said desires, would make a Roman orgy look like a Sunday church service. While the image of such was appealing and the experience equally so, it was not what the young man wanted. His desires, his lusts, were simple, wholesome things. They were the fertile soil upon which his wishes were sown, and which grew to become the sturdy oak it was now.

The young mechanic felt his phallus, already thick with arousal, brush against the neatly-trimmed, triangular patch of golden-brown hair before coming into contact with the female angel's shapely body as the latter embraced him. Keiichi ran his callused hands down her flanks before they came to rest on Holy Bell's well-formed posterior. Even without looking at the female angel's body, he knew – his body and instincts knew – that that which was flushed against his body was the very concept of perfection given flesh and form. It took his breath away. Sin and sensuality had served not to lessen that perfection, but to lend it shade and shadow that made it...complete, somehow.

Keiichi leaned forward to kiss Holy Bell, returning with tender affection the latter's fierce passion. The golden-haired angel shuddered in pleasure, leaning into the kiss and relishing the simple truth that came with the sensation. The young mortal belonged to her and her goddess – heart and mind, flesh and soul. They had both been soiled and stained by his seed, and wanted to be sullied until they were nothing more than a pair of broken slaves yearning for the gentle caresses of their lover and the warmth of their offspring being nursed at their breasts.

But such an ending was one best shared by many, and the Sinful Angel carefully wove the threads of Fate to create her greatest work.

"The stage is set, the cast assembled," World of Elegance embraced Keiichi from behind, her voluptuous form pressed against the young man's back, a hungry, lustful leer the equal of her counterpart on her lovely face, before she moved to his side, to claim his lips next.

"The scores of the first act are played and the actors," the nephalem sang, "shall now play their roles..."

Both angels bore him to the nearby sofa, their lustful leers and gleaming eyes holding the promise of pleasure beyond endurance.

"So love us, dearest, and show us in the only way that matters how this story shall end..."

X X X

Skuld had lost count of the number of times she had seen her sisters in carnal relations with Keiichi. Rare were the nights when the latter's bed was not warmed by one – or both – of them. Try as the youngest Norn might to forget the sight of her sisters being ploughed by the mortal, she could not. He was gentle and worshipful of the goddesses he adored, and the latter paid him back tenfold by taking him into depths of passion and bliss that would have left the senses of Heaven's deities of love and lust reeling from the sensory and emotional overload.

The devils and demons of Niflheim and the Nine Hells...? They would be out for the better part of a month trying to reconnect their frazzled neurons, and suffering the jests of their compatriots for their being unable to 'take the heat'.

But should both Heaven and the underworld learn of what was taking place before Skuld's very eyes, it would lead to the denizens of both suffering from celestial – or infernal, in the case of the underworld – BSOD. Deities and devils having intercourse with mortals was, even though a rare occurrence, normal. Angels and demons – the spiritual entities that were bound respectively to both – doing the same would cause jaws to drop. The reason for this was that both entities were the penultimate line of defence for the cores and souls of both deities and devils alike. Anything that got past the powerful wards that was woven into the very bodies of god and devil alike would find the insurmountable fury of their Guardian Spirits turned its way.

These would immediately alert both Yggsdrasil and Nidhogg that a powerful group or entity was trying to sunder the Covenant of Thrones, an act of war that would see to Heaven and Hell's respective ministries send their warrior elite to punish the offender. The incidents of such were few and far between, but each time it had happened was one that had seen to kingdoms put to the torch and its inhabitants and rulers to the sword. Even though the Machia was nothing more than a memory, the spite of the Titans haunted Creation still. Against such corruption and madness, only an honest death would liberate the foolish from their curiosity and ambition.

Thoth, one of Skuld's many teachers, had been of the opinion that prevention was better than cure and that ignorance was a feeble defence against the dangers of Corruption. Taking page and paragraph from Menoth's book, the ancient deity had chosen to show them the terrible consequences of succumbing to it. It had taken Skuld and her classmates weeks to get what they had seen out of their minds. The knowledge that the deities and angels of Heaven were more vulnerable to the whispers of Corruption than their counterparts in Niflheim and the Nine Hells had not been an easy one to bear. The realization that each of them was capable of turning Creation into a twisted wreck of a nightmare had left even the most stoic of Skuld's classmates in tears.

How could it not? The sight of a world devastated by the Apocalypse Protocol, of its inhabitants divided by faith and fear, of the supernatural races hunted like vermin, and of the ancient treaty between Heaven and Hell annulled, was a sight that would have driven even the most peaceful of gods to the heights of divine fury. Such a world would have viewed the love between Keiichi and her sisters as an unforgiveable heresy, and the growing feelings she had for him as a sin of the highest order.

But what was sin but the admission of a need that had become a want? Of a hunger that had to be sated before it drove the individual to madness? Insanity and hunger often walked hand-in-hand, the former often a shadow of the latter. Both were often painted as ragged wraiths, bereft of grace and glory. But the truth of it was that hunger was a breathtaking, lush-bodied predator whose eyes reflected both the endless void and the uncounted stars of Heaven, and madness the draught offered to the doomed and the desperate to free them of the chains they had bound themselves with.

The silken chains that her sisters had bound Keiichi with were ones stronger than death and harder than Hell. Love and lust, hunger and desire, passion and promise, faith and flame – it blinded even as it illuminated, granting liberty even as it enslaved. Skuld swallowed hard as World of Elegance knelt between Keiichi's legs and took the enormous organ into her mouth, her tongue running down its hard length and over the veins with hungry relish. The nephalem's eyes burned with a dark fire, as it brought to bear all of its knowledge in the erotic arts onto the mortal both she and her goddess loved. She knew how to deepen the torment, how to turn exquisite pleasure into indescribable ecstasy.

The nephalem's crimson-winged counterpart joined her in her assault, sealing the lips of the mortal in her arms. The halo that took shape over the female angel's golden-haired head burned with the glory of a solar eclipse. Her blue eyes burned with psychic fire, as she allowed her essence to flow into her lover's. More than a gesture of physical affection and intimacy, it was a coupling of the soul.

Artists, philosophers and playwrights across the centuries have long-struggled to put in verse, painting and marble an ancient, immutable truth that formed the unyielding bedrock of Creation. Death and life were found hand-in-hand. Darkness and light were found side by side. The sun and the moon shared a sky, with the stars bearing witness to the promises and pacts made at the dawn of time. The wise would seek to give shape to majesty, and the knowledgeable would try to give it measure. None can come close, because even the immortals cannot. But to taste it, to feel this most ancient and sacred of blessings flood the veins, and fill mind and soul of one so fortunate to be granted the chance, is to understand the smallest facet of the Great Work.

Skuld watched, enraptured, as her sisters' angels pleasured their lover, and were pleasured in turn. She watched, awestruck and aroused, as they emulated the sensual rites of the temple prostitutes that had once served in the temples of Ishtar. They drank deep of Keiichi's seed, coated their bodies in it so as to mark themselves as his, before allowing him to taste the sweet nectar that flowed from the opening between their parted legs. The young goddess shivered as he penetrated deep into the wombs of the angels, his engorged phallus stabbing deep, causing both Holy Bell and World of Elegance to writhe and scream, wings beating, as he took them. That they had locked their arms and legs tightly about Keiichi's lean, muscular frame bespoke of their desire for him to impregnate them.

He dominated them, thrusting into their bodies with a ferocity that was both primal and passionate in its intensity. Both angels moaned in pleasure as their mortal lover ravished them, their lovely faces reflecting the agony and the ecstasy that tore through them in pulsing, scarlet waves. Skuld could hear it, could feel it, in the Symphony. It was the most beautiful thing Skuld had ever seen and heard, this sin that had long haunted the dreams of deity, devil and mortal alike.

And the youngest Norn, her curvaceous form gleaming with sweat as she pleasured herself, the Symphony thundering in her ears, felt desire and frustration build as the seeds sown by her siblings and their lover bloomed and cast its silken vines around the soul of the youngest goddess.

X X X

Holy Bell had lost count of the number of times Keiichi had caused her to orgasm and had filled her already-overflowing womb with fresh seed. She could feel him so deep in her body, thrusting with fierce abandon, and the skilful hands of her nephalem counterpart turning every sensation into a concerto of merciless rapture. Oh, how her sister would suffer for this, the crimson-winged angel swore. She would break the nephalem in ways that she could only imagine!

The blonde angel gazed down into her lover's brown eyes as she rolled her hips, relishing the reverence and awe in them, and drinking deep of the love and lust that made them burn with an inner light. The latter leaned forward to kiss her, even as his engorged phallus pushed through her cervix once more. Holy Bell's eyes widened in wild delight, the sheer lust pouring off the mortal's soul and body a libation that filled both her and World of Elegance like a silken firestorm.

Her crimson wings flaring out, her mind overloading, Keiichi filled her once more...

"Oooohnngggkkk...!"

...and denied her the mercy of voicing her delight. She screamed into her lover's lips, as her body and mind struggled to contain the world-ending inferno that blasted through her veins. White-hot, like the Divine Flame itself, it devoured her and left beautifully ruined. She felt World of Elegance collapse against her back. The nephalem was breathing heavily, but everything about her bespoke of satiation...and greed.

Elegance leaned over her shoulder, to kiss their lover. A single mischievous glance thrown her way told the latter that the former was going to take her turn to ride the horse, her jealousy be damned. She felt the nephalem press her lips against hers, a passionate kiss that served only to arouse Keiichi and which left the female angel both drained and delighted.

'My turn, Bell...' Elegance wrapped her arms around her body, and lifted her gently off Keiichi. The mind-voice of the nephalem was filled with impatience and eagerness; the past hour of watching the angel of her goddess's sister having all the fun had seen to Elegance's considerable patience being worn thin.

'I will get you for this, Elegance,' Holy Bell swore, the threat mixed with a healthy amount of exasperation and amusement. She had expected this, truly she had, but that she would use that Charm of all things was cheating! The Benediction of the Mother-Goddess Charm traded the stamina of the individual to increase the chance of conception. By stealing what was left of her strength, World of Elegance had effectively put her out of action for the better part of the next two hours so that she could do nothing but watch her counterpart go to town with their lover!

'Take a number and get in line, girl,'the female nephalem replied as she licked her lips slowly and sensuously, 'Because the nurse is in and she wants some private time with her man...'

A strangled sound that was half-gasp, half-moan left the blonde-haired angel's lips as the enormous organ sheathed tightly within her body began the slow, sensuous journey of exiting it. Holy Bell writhed in Elegance's arms, her aureoles diamond-hard and secreting milk, and her eyes shut tight as her internal muscles tightened instinctively around the sword sheathed within it. The female angel did not need a mirror to see the expression on her face to know that it was one filled with pain and pleasure. She did not need anyone to tell her that the sensations she felt and that the emotions that weaved a breathtaking maelstrom that was one that would tear the mightiest angel from the skies, to fall into the arms of the one they were fated to love...

"You're beautiful, Bell,"Elegance whispered in her ear as the female nephalem laid her sister's weary, soiled form on the carpeted floor, even as she straddled her, presenting herself to the mortal behind them, "Perfect. Should any in Heaven or Niflheim look upon you, they will never forget what they have seen as long as they live..."

"Elegance..."

The nephalem smiled mischievously as she tilted her head, an unspoken request to Holy Bell to cast her gaze upon the still-seated form of their lover, "It is a good thing our mistresses have temporarily severed our links to them. Had they felt so much as an inkling of what our Keiichi is doing to us, they would have spoiled our fun..."

Holy Bell looked past Elegance, and her lips soon curved in a lustful, approving leer. Slick with their mingled fluids, it was a weapon by which the most virtuous and wanton of women were conquered and made willing slaves. That potent sword had been in her body, ravaging her, spilling copious amounts of his seed deep within her, seeking to do the impossible of having her conceive. Angels, like demons, could not bear offspring unless their respective deities and devils allowed it. And these always made sure that said offspring would be contracted to the children of the one they were bound to. The exceedingly high level of Resonance and blood-relation granted abilities and powers that could only be gained through hard work (though said Angels and Demons of the Blood, as they were known, were stern but fair taskmasters who were known for using the stick more than they did the carrot...).

"I am raising the ante, Bell. I hope you are ready for what comes next!"

The blonde-haired angel tittered, "Oh, am I ever!"

X X X

Keiichi looked at the two angels on the floor before him, his heart hammering against his ribs and the raging desire fuelling his already blazing lust. Holy Bell's curvaceous form was beneath the voluptuous form of World of Elegance. The now golden-brown wings of the former, which rested as a feathery carpet on the floor, were a sharp contrast to the dichromatic, arching wings of the latter. Holy Bell's blonde hair and creamy skin were sun-warmed, lending the moonlit-caressed skin of Elegance and her obsidian-alabaster hair and wings a warm, breathtaking radiance. Keiichi took in the sight of their lush, soiled bodies, their laughing, loving eyes and the playful, wicked smiles on their faces, and allowed his instincts to guide him down the sun-warmed path his beloved goddesses had paved and illuminated.

The fierce heat that flooded his veins, the sweet hunger that drove a man to love his wife with fierce abandon, the promise made to children yet unborn, all of it girded and made firm the ground upon which the wish the young man had made all those months back stood. He pushed himself up from the sofa and walked towards the two angels.

'I want a goddess like you to stay with me forever...'

He chuckled inwardly. Sly, beautiful, wicked Urd; had he not succumbed to the temptations of the voluptuous, silver-haired Norn, he would not have found himself being drawn deeper into the web woven by the dreams and desires of lustful goddesses.

Keiichi knelt behind World of Elegance, positioned his engorged phallus at the moist entrance between the angel's legs, and slowly penetrated her. The strangled wail that left the female nephalem's lips aroused him all the more, even as internal muscles clamped down tightly around him. As Holy Bell had, Elegance writhed as he penetrated deep into her body and buried itself in her cervix.

"Aaaahhkkkk...!"

He leaned forward, resting against the angel's warm back, relishing the feel of her wings against his body even as it wrapped around him in its soft embrace. One hand went around the female nephalem's body, to fondle the large, firm breasts that would one day nurse both demigod and spirit-born offspring born of his union with both goddess and angel. The young man kissed Elegance's neck, taking in the heady scents that bespoke of her dual nature. Burning frost and hungry flame, harsh deliverance and tender damnation, searing lust and steely love: all of it a promise from the silver-haired goddess who had marked him as her own; it wove through Keiichi's soul like a master-worked symphony by humanity's best and brightest.

And no song stirred the soul like passion, no crescendo more breathtaking than the climax that came at its height, and no moment more sacred than when lovers gazed into each other's eyes, seeing in them the decades that awaited them both and their unborn children who called out to them from the vastness of eternity.

"You are truly insatiable, Keiichi," Elegance looked over her shoulder at him, a playful grin on her lips, "A dyed-in-the-wool pervert whose fantasies would earn you the favour of Niflheim's temptresses, should they know of them."

Keiichi chuckled, "You make it sound like I'm a sex fiend that should be behind bars."

"Can you deny that you are one?" the female nephalem giggled, tightening her internal muscles around the pulsing intruder in her body, "Look at both me and my sister! At our goddesses! You have ruined us for anyone else!"

"And none of us would have it any other way," Holy Bell replied with a smile, reaching out past Elegance to touch Keiichi's face, "Because if any of us Fall, we know that you will be there to catch us."

X X X

It was only two hours later that silence fell upon the Auto Club's clubhouse, and the wards placed around it dimmed before disappearing. But the psychic echoes of what had taken place within its walls were felt throughout the city and returned strength and vigour to the minds and bodies of its weary inhabitants. Many saw in their dreams a place older than eternity, at the heart of which stood a colossal tree whose branches would have supported the weight of a thousand worlds and the star ocean upon which they floated upon. The Tree of Creation, which had continued to grow in size in the Ages since its planting, dwarfed the Lords of Creation both in age and majesty. But under its eternal shadow and under the watchful eyes of its protectors, the universe grew strong and its ancient, sunlit dreams reached out to the brightest souls across the endless skies like a delighted infant did for its proudly grinning parent.

Dreams do not end. They do not die. They are part of the eternity that both the meek and the mighty reach for, a laurel worth more than the wealth of entire Empires and which have made heroes weep and raised vagabonds to glory. And as long as Creation endures, as long as her worlds stand, so too will the desires and dreams of its children.

(O)

Nekomi Institute of Technology

The Auto Club Workshop

Three hours later

Tamiya had known that rebuilding the Yukikaze would take a considerable amount of time and money. He knew that taking apart the masterpiece of the Auto Club would break more than a few hearts. And he had known that to take part in the Winter Race with a machine that did not measure up was to sign the death warrant of both himself and the entire Auto Club. Being raked over the coals was something Tamiya and his fellows could take; life had been kind to few of them. But to lose two of their own to the Racing Club was a different matter entirely. The big man knew it was as much his fault as it was Aoshima's politicking. The latter knew how to push his buttons, and how to corner him. The rich had the advantages that their inferiors did not.

It had not made his giving his permission for Morisato, Skuld-chan and Emiya-san to disassemble the Yukikaze any easier, but he knew the three would be able to make a machine that would not only win the Winter Race but also surpass the original in every way. Yukikaze was – is – the pride of the Auto Club. It was the result of months of hard work and harder choices. Many of the club's members had put in much of their takings from the part-time jobs they worked at to buy components and parts they could not fabricate on their own, and their weekends assembling the vehicle.

If hands and minds more skilful and better than theirs could make their dreams a reality, they were willing to put theirs all on the line to make it happen. And what Tamiya saw before him when he switched on the workshop's lights was proof that their prayers answered and wishes made real.

Sleek and beautiful, dangerous and deadly, the Yukikaze whispered softly to Tamiya's soul of things both he and his compatriots held dear. It spoke of freedom and the strength to make it a reality. It promised its rider the chance to ride the winds and to keep in step with hurricanes. Tamiya ran a gentle hand over the bike's gleaming shell, a satisfied grin curving his lips. His senior had once told him that all machines had souls of their own. And the Yukikaze no Shirou had one of wind and fire. It was the wildfire that would never be extinguished; it was the beacon to guide wandering souls on their journey to the place they have seen in their dreams.

Tamiya smiled. Yukikaze no Shirou – the White Winter Wind: it was a fitting name.

Nodding to himself, he turned to leave...and paused briefly as a faint scent masked by the heavier scents of metal and machine oil filled his olfactory senses. The big mechanic frowned; it was a smell he knew. Having lived in a men's dorm, he knew of what his dorm-mates got up to behind closed doors. The few times some of them had managed to sneak a girl into their rooms for a quickie (which had a tendency to last hours) had seen to Tamiya recognizing the musky scent that hung heavy in the air in the aftermath of intercourse. Such was the big man's ability to detect said scent no matter how thick the haze of cigarette smoke or incense that his dorm-mates had made it a rule that anyone who wanted to have some 'fun' with their girlfriends had best do it in one of the city's many love hotels or in the privacy of the latter's bedroom.

Tamiya frowned. Did someone do the deed in here? In this most holy of places to machine and mechanic...? Whoever it was, that person was long gone. Tamiya scowled; he would find out who it was, and bring holy fury crashing down on the sinner. Turning about, the big man turned off the lights and left the workshop, cursing furiously under his breath. He did not hear the relieved sigh voiced by a young man or the giggles that spilt from the lips of the angels who were with him.

"I think," Keiichi said as the Charms that hid him, Holy Bell and World of Elegance from discovery dissipated, "that that took ten years off my life..."

"And added as many inches to your sword," the female nephalem grinned merrily as she looked down at her lover, who was deep in her lush body and who had clearly gotten more aroused by almost being caught red-handed by his senior, "I don't think that Master Tamiya will be able to take seeing us in or birthday suits and are in the middle of going to town..."

"And who are in the middle of planning a second trip," Holy Bell leaned over and kissed Keiichi, "But I think it best if we cleaned up and returned home. Unless, of course," the female angel licked her lips, "you would like to take said trip now...?"

"Are the two of you trying to kill me...?" amusement crept into Keiichi's voice, and he gasped as Elegance's internal muscles tightened around his manhood, the manner in which she teased his aroused organ the answer to his question.

"No," both angels replied with lustful, wicked leers on their lovely faces.

"But to die in the manner in which you envision is one many will sell their souls to have," Elegance ran a finger from her clavicle down between her full, heavy breasts and to the opening between her legs where she sheathed Keiichi.

"And there is no sin and no death sweeter and softer than love," Holy Bell added with a serene smile that did little to hide the hunger that turned her azure eyes into blazing stars.

Keiichi swallowed. He knew he was in for it. Belldandy and Urd were insatiable. Their angels were more so. Having tasted him once, they, like their mistresses, hungered for more.

"Have mercy..."

The grins on the angels' faces widened.

"But you like it when we're," Elegance pushed Keiichi onto the ground, and began to roll her hips slowly and sensually, relishing the sensation of her human lover's phallus stirring her moist, seed-coated womb with lustful, primordial intent, "imaginative..."

"And when we're shrieking like banshees. Which is, I might add, the whole point when we lay with one another,." Holy Bell added, her eyes burning in the dark like falling stars, as she bent down to kiss the young man, "Now submit, and let us devour you..."

"I should have made a pact with Niflheim if I had known the both of you were this bad..." Keiichi laughed as what little willpower he had left to resist the ministrations of the two female angels shatter under their tender ministrations.

"Oh fear not the devil so, Keiichi. For we shall set the snare for the mightiest one of them all..."

(O)

Several days later

Tariki Hongan Temple

Aono Tsukune turned to look at the beautifully-tended park before him. Easily the size of four football fields, the Shirayuki Gardens was a popular spot for Nekomi City's families and couples. Part of a magnum opus carried out by the youkai clans living in the region to turn the entire prefecture into one that would allow them to mingle freely with humanity, the Shirayuki Gardens radiated a serene yet austere air that was calming both to the mind and spirit.

Numerous shrines to guardian deities lined the road, the candles that illuminated them dancing in the wind, but never extinguishing. The wind that blew through the snow-covered trees whispered song and prayer into the ears of those that walked beneath them, and the delighted laughter of children filled the air as fireflies arose from their hiding places to lead them in merry chases. The Shinso closed his eyes, allowing his mind to settle and the words of his mothers-in-law to sink in.

The world was changing, they had said. In a generation – maybe two or three, at most – it would be nothing like the world he had grown up in. The youkai and the kami would be walk amongst humanity. And none of the latter would be the wiser as to how these had come to do so. The Snow Priestess had told him that the age that the world was returning to was one closer to the time of the First Age. In many ways, the Seventh Age would mirror that bygone era, but would be absent the strife and madness that had ended it.

"Ara, is that you, Aono-san?" a familiar voice caused the young Shinso to turn and look at the beautiful, silver-blonde haired woman standing at the end of the line of torii gates leading up to the temple's entrance. The latter was not alone. A nekomata, its three tails swirling happily in the air, was by her side.

"Belldandy-san," the vampire nodded in greeting to the goddess, "Is Keiichi around? There is something I need to inform him about the Winter Race. I've been trying to contact Tamiya-san and Otaki-san for the past three hours, but have been unable to reach them."

"I see. Come in, please."

Tsukune stepped under the first torii gate, and froze as he felt fire and ice brush across his skin. He saw for the briefest of moments the majestic, armoured form of a warrior-angel standing on the steps leading up to the temple's entrance. It rested one armoured hand on the pommel of a master-worked, flaming sword and held a burnished shield in the other. Blazing eyes of starfire gazed down at him from the depths of an ornate, winged helm, holding in its silent scrutiny the power to shatter mountains and defeat entire armies. It nodded once in assent, a grant of permission to enter the grounds it guarded. The young vampire lord blinked once, and saw that the only people before him were Keiichi's girlfriend and her nekomata pet.

"Aono-san...?"

"Ah," Tsukune shook his head, "My apologies, Belldandy-san. It appears I am more tired than I thought..."

The goddess smiled, accepting the reason despite knowing the reason behind his freezing in mid-step, and waited for him to join her at the entrance, "I will make you some tea later. And I believe I have some almond cake left over from lunch. Will Shirayuki -san, Kurono-san or Akashiya-san be joining us later, Aono-san?"

"Yes. They'll arrive in about twenty minutes."

X X X

Tsukune sipped his tea as Keiichi considered the choices before him. As his seniors could not be contacted, the decision fell to him and Belldandy to decide if the Auto Club would accept the arrangements made by the Mishima Conglomerate. Many of the other racing teams had accepted, reducing the number of hotel reservations and warehouses in the Okayama Prefecture by more than half. It was a masterstroke on the part of the Conglomerate to reserve the entirety of the Okayama International Circuit in Mimasaka for the event. Not only had they shown up their rivals, they had practically taken the whole Christmas basket in regards to securing a location for the upcoming International Trade Fair.

But none of that was Keiichi's business. His primary concern was winning the Winter Race and ensuring that Belldandy and Urd did not find themselves being made a part of Aoshima's Racing Club. Central to those efforts were Skuld-chan and Emiya-san, both of whom had found the latter's posturing and blackmail distasteful, to say the least. It amazed Keiichi how well the two got along despite their allegiances. Their arguments mirrored those he and Megumi used to have.

His younger sister, however, would never look at him the way Skuld had had for the past three weeks. Whenever they were alone, the young, dark-haired goddess would look at him in a way that turned his blood to steam. And the way she had taken to dressing of late whenever she was in the temple were nosebleed-inducing. Mechanics and engineers the world over liked hot, sexy women who knew their way around the tools of the trade. They blessed the cold art of Principia Mechanicum with life and flame, blessing it in a way that the hands of men never could. Skuld was that fantasy taken to the brink of perfection.

The teenage goddess had taken to wearing crimson and gold robes over daisy dukes and a cropped top, revealing lush curves, cleavage and forge-warmed skin. Skuld was beautiful, of that there was no question, but her beauty was unlike that of Urd or Belldandy's. Urd was the summer night and the tempest, sultry and breathtaking. Belldandy was springtime at its height, full of life and light, and was the firm ground and the gentle embrace of unspoken promises and passion in twilight. But Skuld, she was the unsullied flower, the purity of dawn at its onset and a confident gaze cast to the horizons.

A horizon, Urd had told him, where he – where they – waited. It did not help matters that his dreams as of late involved Urd and Belldandy holding him down, allowing Skuld to take the final step to becoming a woman. He felt arousal brush her fingers over his soul, and he shook his head. Now was not the time to let his fantasies get the better of him.

Keiichi turned to look at his friend, "I will take up your offer, Tsukune. While accepting the Mishima Conglomerate's would serve us better, doing so would not sit well with the members of my club. Also, I hope you do not mind if I ask that you help us with the transportation of our vehicles to Mimasaka and our accommodations there...?"

"I can get it done in three days," Tsukune said as he put down his cup, "I will also try to reserve one of the motels on the edge of town owned by my company. It will be a small matter for my employees to help set up a makeshift workshop within the compound and for Skuld-san," the young vampire lord nodded in the direction of the teenage goddess, "to bring it up to acceptable standards."

Skuld gave everyone in the room a thumbs-up, a confident grin on her face, "And I swear to you all that Skuld of the Crimson Legion shall deliver, war-jacks and all!"

"And by acceptable standards, Skuld," Urd fired her youngest half-sibling an amused smirk, "he also means to not bring your Constructors and Probes with you. The Bureau of Humanity will throw the book at you if they find out!"

The teenage goddess threw her eldest sibling a dirty look, "I know that!"

"No, you don't," the silver-haired goddess's grin would have made even dread Fenrir whimper in fear, "If you did, you would not have taken your shock hammer to Aoshima last Tuesday. It was a good thing Belldandy had cast the Aegis Charm on him before you cleaned his clock, because you would have knocked him into China with that blow..."

"Oh, get off my case, Urd!" Skuld shook her fist at her sister, "If I had not done it, you would have electrocuted that highborn rat with enough power to light up a city! And the fact you were laughing your head off when I 'cleaned his clock', as you put it, does not help your case any!"

"Is this normal, Keiichi?" Tsukune asked with no small amount of concern as the two sisters proceeded to bring their private quarrel to nucleonic levels, if the crackling thunderbolts around Urd and the materialized thunder hammer in Skuld's hands were any indication. The grins on the faces of both goddesses were a clear indication that restraint and caution had been thrown out the window.

The young mechanic gave vent to a long-suffering sigh, "Yes. And if the look on Belldandy's face is any indication, so is what is going to happen next. And Tsukune...?"

"Yes?"

"I will ask that you close your eyes until Belldandy is done scolding them. And whatever you do, do not open them until then."

"Why?" Tsukune asked.

"Because I want you to be able to sleep without nightmares," Keiichi gave his childhood friend a wry grin, even as Belldandy stood up from where she had been sitting, the serene expression on her face one that had caused the demons Sayoko and Aoshima had made a compact with to freeze in terror in the seconds before Verdandi unleashed a wave of hatred and malice that would have earned her the approval of both the rulers of Niflheim and the Nine Hells.

"I underestimated you, Keiichi Morisato. To have given yourself to a goddess such as this, to have made such a wish for her to be by your side forever, to have her mark you as hers, makes you a prize Niflheim will move mountains to reclaim. And reclaim you we shall, for you were ours long before Heaven turned its gaze on you."

What did Mara mean? Keiichi did not know. But the way she looked at him, the way the demons she had summoned to her side looked at him, told him that there was more to her words than she would be willing to reveal, and that which Niflheim kept close to its heart. A secret that Belldandy and her sisters were privy to and which, like Mara and her allies, they were unwilling to reveal until time was right.

But for now, one of the worst-kept secrets of the silver-blonde haired goddess was materializing behind her, cold and wrathful, and her melodious voice spoke the fearsome aria that would have sent all who heard it to their knees.

"Did I not say this before, Urd? Skuld..?

"Initiating Valkyrie Battle protocols within the temple is strictly forbidden."

Tsukune and Keiichi, both of whom had shut their eyes, flinched when they heard the bickering goddesses suddenly start to beg for mercy from their sibling, whose melodious voice, filled with unholy malice and glee, denied them such. The lecture would last for a good ten minutes – an eternity to those on the receiving end of it – and an unspoken agreement on the parts of all within the room that giving Belldandy the excuse to use her Anima Incarnation Charm was a crime that merited the worst punishments that could be devised by the most imaginative minds.

(O)

Aoyuki Motel

Mimasaka, Okayama Prefecture

One week later

Toshiyuki Aoshima looked at the motel his secretary had told him had been made the base of the Auto-Club. It was a small, family-run business comprising of forty rooms and two large buildings, the first of which was larger than the second. The latter served as the home of the Aoyuki Motel's owners, while the first was where they worked and where breakfast was served to the motel's guests. In the main parking lot, set up just three days before, were three large tents where the members of the Auto-Club and the Sword Wind Racing Group had set up their workshops. The young CEO could hear the voices of its occupants as they discussed the merits and flaws of the vehicles they would use in the race even as they laboured to bring them up to levels that would allow them to compete on even footing with the other more well-funded and more experienced teams.

Many of said teams were sponsored by the Aoshima and Mishima Groups, each of whom was determined to defeat their rivals in what promised to be the highlight of the New Year Celebrations that would be held at the end of the year. What had soured the dispositions of some of them was the knowledge that amateurs had been allowed into an arena reserved only for the best. Others had been more sanguine, as these saw a chance to scout out possible

Aoshima looked at the two American men who emerged from the limousine. Both of them were part of the Hawk Wind Racing Team, which had made their debut in the racing world some three years back. One of the Aoshima Conglomerate's senior directors in the company's American branch saw an opportunity to diversify and expand, and took it. It had been one hell of a risk, but the results had spoken for themselves.

"This is where this Auto Club you talked about have set up shop?" Ashton Sanders raised a scornful eyebrow at the tents in the motel's compound, "Looks like some back-alley workshop in the Bronx."

"Can it, Sanders. What did you expect? A full-on workshop and bay that has the best money can buy? These are kids starting out," Richard Markers replied in English, pulling on his cap, "The way Mr. Aoshima talked about them got me interested. They've got to have some serious skill if he feels threatened by them."

"I am not threatened by them, Richard-san," the young CEO pushed up his glasses in a gesture of mock-offense, "But I still wish to be prepared. After all, it is a good chance to see the three women who would be working for us, yes?"

"I'm with you on that, boss," the older man grinned lecherously, remembering the pictures Aoshima had shown him, "Damn. They're hot. Seriously hot. Forget all those babes you've seen and met in the States, chief; these girls take the cake and the coffee. And you're saying they've got eyes and hands on some poor kid who can barely afford the rent? Jeez, must be rough on them..."

"Which is why I tried to convince them to work for me," Aoshima inclined his head towards the largest of the three tents, before walking towards it with his entourage, "Whatever potential they have is wasted if they remain in the Auto Club. And before either of you think or say it, yes, I engineered all of this. I only want what is best for Belldandy and her sisters."

'And for myself,' the young director added silently. No prize was won without struggle; no laurel earned without overcoming the obstacles the Fates had seen fit to bar one's way with. Belldandy and her sisters would be the crown jewels of his life's many achievements. He had, with the aid of the University's management, cornered the Auto Club in a cul-de-sac that the latter could not get out of. He had all the advantages. The Auto Club – and Morisato, by extension – had none.

Knowing that they were up against long odds, the Auto Club had done what many other amateur racing groups that were participating in the Winter Race had done – make alliances. Aoshima snorted inwardly; it did not matter. The young CEO was but ten feet from the tent when his rival stepped out. The latter was clad in oil-stained overalls and safety boots, one hand holding his welding gloves and a steaming cup of coffee in the other. He had a contented expression on his face that Aoshima could not help but envy.

"Aoshima-san," Keiichi nodded in greeting when he saw him, "I was not informed that you would be paying us a visit."

"I am a member of the hosting body, Morisato-san," Aoshima replied, "It is my duty and responsibility to ensure that all teams participating in the Winter Race abide by the rules we have set down. Inspectors from the FIA," he nodded towards the small group of men and women emerging from the cars behind his limousine, "are here to ensure that the Auto Club has done so. Incidentally, I am also here to introduce you to the men I mentioned some weeks back."

Keiichi turned to look at the two American racers and bowed in greeting, "Ashton-san, Markers-san. Welcome to Japan. I have heard much about the both of you. It will be an honour to race you to the finish line."

Try as he might to not show it, Aoshima could not help but be surprised. Sayoko had told him that Keiichi had changed. The shy, easily-embarrassed mechanic that had once been easily ignored by most of the school for his shortcomings – both real and imagined – was now someone these could talk to.

"I've heard from the boss," Richard nodded in his direction, "that you are going to be taking part in the race, Mr. Morisato. So which of the two races are you taking part in?"

"Both the bike and car races, Richard-san," Keiichi replied, "And you?"

"I'll be taking the bike race. Ashton here," the brown-haired racer nodded to his compatriot, "will be taking part in the car race. And just so you know, we're not going to make it easy for you to take home the prize money."

"And I can say with confidence that both the Auto Club and the Sword Wind Racing Group will be close to your heels till the finish line, Richard-san."

Ashton raised an eyebrow at that, but said nothing.

"Speaking of which, I heard from the boss that you were shacking up with three sisters in a temple...? How on earth did you manage to get that piece of real estate? The priest your uncle or something...?"

Keiichi rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, "That was a stroke of good luck..."

"A stroke of good luck...?" the brown-haired racer whistled, "That is one hell of an understatement, kid. But you mind if we talk inside? My balls are freezing out here."

"Keiichi-san...? I heard voices. Do we have guests?" a musical voice caused heads to turn as a beautiful, silver-blonde haired woman emerged from the tent. Jaws dropped. Eyes widened. Heart-rates skyrocketed. Thought processes jammed. Even Aoshima, who had met and spoken with Belldandy many times before, was unable to maintain his professional poise before her.

"Yes, Belldandy," Keiichi replied, "We do. Do we have enough hot chocolate to go around?"

The goddess's lips curved in a warm, welcome smile, "Indeed. Lunch is about to be served. I think Aoyuki-san can accommodate another dozen mouths at the table."

X X X

The workshop of Nekomi's Auto Club and the Sword Wind Racing Group, Aoshima saw, was surprisingly well-equipped and cosy. One corner of the tent had been set aside as a rest area, and it was there that the mechanics of the Auto Club and the Sword Wind Racing Group had gathered. Lunch was buffet-style, and plates were piled high with food cooked by the teams' resident chefs. There was a carnival-like atmosphere, and the heaters strategically located at set locations throughout the tent kept the place warm.

Belldandy led him and his compatriots to several tables recently vacated, pausing briefly to converse with several of the inspectors and his secretary before joining Keiichi and her sisters at a table. Jealousy and envy filled him. The way Belldandy and Urd smiled at Keiichi and affectionate manner in which their youngest sibling flirted with him made Aoshima wonder just what was it about his rival that drew people to him and earned him the affections of three of the most beautiful women in the world.

'There is no soul more prized amongst my kind than one that cannot be corrupted.'

Who was it that had spoken those words? He could not remember. All he could remember was the shadowed face of a curvaceous, blonde-haired woman with crimson eyes and markings. What was her name again? Martha? Mozart...? Aoshima shook his head. It did not matter. What mattered was that Belldandy and her sisters were hiding something, and that all of them had stolen something that did not belong to them. In order to learn said secret and to reclaim what was stolen from them, Martha and her compatriots had enlisted his aid.

But all of them had been caught red-handed by Urd and Belldandy's newly-arrived younger sibling, Skuld. To say that they had been angry was an understatement. And the disappointment in Belldandy's eyes had been a slap in Aoshima's face.

"So those are the women you are getting all hot and bothered over?" Richard's voice broke the young CEO out of his thoughts, causing the latter to look at the former, "I can see why. They're nice girls. And the guy they're shacked up with? Half of the girls I know back in the Bronx would kidnap him and run off to some quiet place down south to raise half-a-dozen kids, if not more."

Aoshima snorted, "I doubt my esteemed rival would have aroused the interests of your exes, Richard-san. The penniless are hardly ever worthy of consideration or attention."

The brown-haired racer laughed as he sat down, "If that were true, we would be paying more attention to the people the Akashiya Concern are backing. These guys...?" Richard nodded in the direction of the Auto Club, "They are distractions."

"I agree with Markers, much as I dislike him," Sanders said as he took the other seat across Aoshima, "The people in the Auto Club are skilled, but their vehicles are nowhere as good as ours. The Sword Wind Racing Group, on the other hand, has the potential to go professional, give or take a few years. Their chief mechanic, Emiza Shikou...? I've give my right hand for him to be my Pit Chief."

"He must be that good if you're offering him the place, Ash. And let me guess? He said no."

"Got it in one," the blonde-haired racer closed his eyes, "But I cannot blame him. That crazy girl who is his employer? She told me that the only way he will let that Emiza kid work for me is if I work for her. And something tells me that if I said yes, I will be cashing out my insurance before the end of the year or find myself in an institution..."

Both Richard and Aoshima looked at the smirking, dark-haired girl who was teasing the red-haired chief mechanic mercilessly. There was affection there, a desire on the part of the former to be acknowledged by the latter. They shivered at the mischievous look the girl threw their way. There was no malice there, but the impish expression on the latter's face told the two men that walking through a minefield was by far the safer alternative. A minefield with an army battalion armed with machine guns and mortars on the other side.

It took Aoshima all of his willpower to turn his attention to the matter at hand, "So, Ashton-san. What do you think of their vehicles? Can we beat them?"

"I'll say that our odds are better than even."

The young CEO smiled. That was the best thing he had heard all day.

X X X

Skuld paused briefly in her conversation with Keiichi to look at the men and women Aoshima had brought with him to 'inspect' her workshop. There were ten of them in all, each of whom was scrutinising the goddess's makeshift forge with an intensity to equal those of Heaven's Censors. Her brown eyes narrowed with annoyance; she knew that the businessman and his compatriots had come to find fault with Keiichi and his friends. That they were all ogling her and her sisters was another reason for the young Divine Artificer to sic her war-jacks on them.

One command – just one – and they would gate in and bring Ragnarok down on the head of that arrogant, prissy, little...!

"Calm down, Skuld," Keiichi put a hand on hers, "Let them do their jobs. The Winter Race is a major international event, one that can give Japan the windfall it needs. They cannot afford to make a mess of things. As long as we have abided by the Racing Organization's rules, we will be okay."

"When a man is as rich and influential, there is little that is beyond their reach. When they are lacking in morals," Skuld threw the staring Aoshima a dirty look, "there is nothing that they would not do to get what they want."

Keiichi did not reply, but Skuld could see that her sisters' lover agreed with her.

"We will win this race, Skuld. And we will prove to everyone that our machines are built to do more than win races. They were meant to chase the wind and the dreams we hold dear."

Skuld felt her face redden and her heart taking flight. It was wrong, bad and wrong. But she wanted that future which she had seen in the Loom of Fate to be hers as well.

"Mother...?" a small voice caused the curvaceous, dark-haired and heavily pregnant woman to look down at her grass- and mud-covered son, who was clutching a fox-kit, its tails swinging tracing happy circles in the air, in his arms, "can I keep her?"

Belldandy and Urd exchanged knowing looks as they saw their youngest sister blush and look away, even as she ran her thumb over Keiichi's hand. Everything was going according to plan.

X X X

Unknown to them, a small snake of gleaming steel slipped into the tent and moved towards the vehicles of the Auto Club and the Sword Wind. Its intelligent eyes narrowed in anger; the vehicles and the areas in which they were located had Charms and wards dedicated to ensuring that malign machine-spirits – such as the one borne on the scales close to its head – would be detected and promptly thunder-bolted.

The snake shivered. It had tasted the fury of the eldest and youngest Norn. Those it could survive. The wrath of the Perficio Dea, the Perfect Goddess of Heaven and the second-born daughter of the Regent of Heaven, was another matter entirely. Her disapproval alone made higher-level demons and devils quake, and lesser ones to flee or to acquiescence to her requests. Her anger was nothing short of apocalyptic. And what the snake intended was something that would arouse the ire of the silver-blonde haired Norn.

Every Charm and ward known and learned had been woven in multiple layers around the snake's body. It was taking no chances. The last encounter had it bear witness to a truth that was terrifying. The memory of scarlet wings and an aura of sin, power and sensuality to rival that of the Underworld's temptresses and ruling lords emerged from the brightly-lit alcoves of its memory.

'Perfect in vice as in virtue is she who is the newly-crowned Divine Serpent of the Holy Festival. All lust and love is poured with generous measure unto the mortal born under the star of misfortune, and from this most fulfilling of unions shall a new eternity begin...'

The snake drew in a deep, controlled breath. The words of the blind Oracle of Nessus haunted those who sought her wisdom, but none refused to relinquish claim that had been made in the centuries before Heaven challenge it. Keiichi Morisato belonged to Niflheim, and its daughters would not suffer the theft of what was rightfully theirs.

The snake's eyes fell upon an engine component, one that it knew to be an important part of the Auto Club's Yukikaze Project. It flicked its tongue in approval and delight. Here was something it could work with...

(O)

The Auto Club/Sword Wind-RG Workshop

Three days later...

Keiichi stared at the burned-out engines before him with barely-concealed frustration. He should have expected this, really. The temperatures were far in excess of what anyone had expected. Skuld was tearing through her notes and blueprints like a hurricane, seeking out the flaw that had nearly caused a catastrophic explosion. That said accident had been narrowly averted by Belldandy and Urd using their Charms and the teams bringing to bear fire extinguishers on said engine had saved them all. It had, however, left Skuld badly shaken. To see the confident tsundere goddess in such a despondent state had left a bad taste in Keiichi's mouth.

Emiya-sempai had called an immediate time-out. No one was to come within ten feet of both of Auto-Club's or the Sword Wind's vehicles for the next twenty-four hours and replacements for the badly damaged engines could be secured. Tsukune had been shocked when he heard about what had happened, and had promised to get them replacements as soon as possible. Keiichi hoped that his childhood friend would be able to do so within the next two days, as it would allow both the Auto Club and the Sword Wind Racing Group to carry out preliminary tests on the vehicles. Time was a thing they did not have, what with the Winter Race about to begin in twelve days.

The young mechanic felt arms wrap around him, breaking him out of his dour mood. He looked over his shoulder to see Belldandy behind him, nuzzling against him like an affectionate kitten. Keiichi chuckled inwardly; to compare the lovely goddess to such was akin to calling the sun a candle. The feeling of Belldandy's lush body against his – a body he knew every inch of, had kissed and soiled with his seed – caused his heart-rate to spike. It had been a while since he and Belldandy had made love, and he had found himself wanting to.

Keiichi had found that his intimacies with both sisters had reached an intensity that had surpassed that which had come before. His hunger had deepened, much to their delight. Both goddesses had encouraged it, directing his baser instincts and darker yearnings to the goal of dragging them down to glorious ruin and his turning them into mewling, obedient slaves. He had tried to resist it, but had been unable to. No, he did not want to. The young man reddened; he knew Megumi would have a field day with him should his younger sister learn of how depths he had sunk to. His parents would faint, and his ancestors would roll in their graves – and snicker in private, before taking bets about how many children he would have in the near future!

"Have Tamiya and the rest managed to calm down, Bell?" the young mechanic asked his girlfriend.

"They have," the silver-blonde haired goddess replied as she released him and stepped around, "Serafall-san and Emiya-san have managed to...convince them that the accident was a minor one, and that they are on schedule. Have you managed to get Aono-san to get us a replacement?"

"I have. He will get back to me as soon as possible," Keiichi replied.

"I still think," Skuld called out from her work-bench, "that it is a better idea if I went back to the temple to get us a replacement! It will be faster! Better, even! I guarantee that its specs will be far better than anything that your vampire friend can get us!"

"While I have no doubt that doing so will help us win the race, Skuld," Keiichi gave the dark-haired, teenage goddess a stony look as he remembered just what the latter got up to in her forges, "I would like to be on Earth and alive when that happens, not on Mars dead and frozen at the end of it. Your inventions make the best and brightest of humanity look like monkeys trying to figure which end of the banana to eat from – and that if said banana does not kill them first."

Skuld pouted at that, an amused glint in her eyes, "It isn't my fault you humans are so fragile or so lacking in stamina."

Belldandy giggled at that. Oh, how her sibling would regret those words...

Her laughter was soon cut short when Urd entered the tent. Clad in the same black trench-coat, bustier, tight jeans and cowboy boots as she had earlier this morning, the silver-haired Norn had a pensive look on her face. It was an expression that soon drew the attention of everyone within the tent.

"Urd...?" Keiichi walked towards the voluptuous, bronze-skinned goddess, "Is something wrong?"

"I may have found out what had caused the engines to nearly explode."

That immediately got everyone's attention.

"Go on," Skuld laid down her auto-quill, which a probe hovering nearby immediately recovered and returned to its cache before re-cloaking itself.

"I may not know as much about machines as Loli big-boobs," Urd slipped a sword into the ribs of her youngest sibling, who was sorely tempted to throw a shock-wave grenade in the silver-haired goddess's direction, "But I know enough to know that this was the work of a Saboteur-type machine spirit."

"A Saboteur-type machine spirit...? But I found nothing," Belldandy turned to look at the burned engine.

"They would not be Saboteurs if they could be so easily detected, Bell. They were made for infiltration and stealth. Heaven lost more than a few warships to the Titans because of them. The works of humanity, lacking the means to be protected against their predations, are easy for the Saboteurs to weaken or destroy."

"Then it was not a mechanical or design failure as Skuld believes it to be?" Keiichi asked.

Urd shook her head.

"Skuld...?" the young mechanic turned to the fuming, teenage goddess.

"What?"

"Can you make the engine better and more stable? I remembered you mentioning that the fuel-injection system has a high chance of breaking down should it exceed 130km/h. Can you prevent it?"

That threw Skuld off. She turned to look at the burnt-out engine once more, a pensive look on her face. The frown slowly faded as ideas took shape in her mind. Yes, whoever it was had wrecked but a mere prototype. She had the blueprints and the foundation upon which a more advanced model could be made. All she needed was time and her tools, and she had plenty of both.

"I can do that," a slow smile taking shape on Skuld's face, "And I'll make sure that this one will blow the competition out of the water! Just you wait!"

The teenage goddess rushed back to the worktable. One did not need to be psychic to see that the challenge set before her had invigorated her. Doubt had withered in the light of renewed faith, and it was beautiful to see.

Urd leaned close to Keiichi, pinching his backside as she did, an approving grin on her lips, "Good move, lover-boy."

"Indeed," Belldandy hummed, "Let us leave Skuld to her labours. And thank you, Keiichi."

"For what?" the young man looked at the silver-blonde haired goddess as she took her place by his side.

"For helping Skuld regain her confidence."

(O)

It would be the following day, after breakfast, when Keiichi received a call from Tsukune, telling him that he had managed to secure several spare engines for him. There was but one minor complication – said company was located at the coastal city of Totton in the neighbouring prefecture and it did not have the manpower or the resources to send said engines to him. The Akashiya Concern's representative in the city had promised to keep the spare engines in a secure location, but had asked that the Auto Club send someone to pick it up.

Keiichi volunteered for the job, with Skuld opting to follow him so as to ensure that Aoshima or the devils he had made a temporary pact with would not complicate an already difficult matter further. The two of them left hours later on Tamiya's truck with the promise that they would be back as soon as possible.

Neither he nor Skuld would know that both Urd and Belldandy would go deal with the devils Aoshima had made a pact with until much later, nor realize that the extremely violent snowstorm that would force them to take refuge in an old, abandoned temple was due to two goddesses 'convincing' their counterparts to return to Niflheim or face a century in a seal. It would allow them to pin Mara down and force her to reveal why she and her compatriots were pursuing Keiichi relentlessly.

It was a story that would interest both goddesses, deepen their feelings for their lover, and turn a labour of love into a magnum opus that would be whispered softly by the countless billions in the Ages after, all of whom were inspired to reach for the sky and the stars beyond.

(O)

Totton

Tottori Prefecture, Japan

Akashiya Warehouse Branch Office

The next day

It had taken the better part of a day for Keiichi and Skuld to reach Totton on the truck that Tamiya had lent to them. Skuld had taken the opportunity to, on the first stop, to repair and restore the vehicle's worn-out brakes, suspension system and engine components. Keiichi knew that Tamiya took great care of any vehicle that came into his hands; it was a matter of pride to his senior. As books were to a librarian who tended – and often indulged themselves – with reverence the written works of humanity, so were cars to the mechanics and engineers who pursued perfected order in blessed steel and sacred machine.

There was no doubt in Keiichi's mind that his senior would notice the changes in his vehicle and, though he would approve, he would want to know who was responsible for returning his beat-up old truck back to the prime of its life. And Skuld, as was her wont, told him to put the monkey on her back and the wrench in her lap. If there was one person in their lives that the Auto-Club would worship as the Goddess of Machines, it was Skuld. The girl proved herself a hundred times over in the months since she became an honorary member of the club.

That she was the third part of the erotic fantasies that lurked deep within their subconscious had served to earn her their favour even more so. Belldandy was the image of chastity and purity, the high priestess whose radiance banished all doubt and despair. Urd was seduction and sex appeal incarnate, whose presence fanned the embers of lust and passion. Skuld combined the qualities of both her siblings with a tomboyish personality that made her, by far, the easiest to approach. Skuld was in many ways the divine mirror-image of Chihiro, who had led the Auto-Club in the four years she had been a student in Nekomi. But where the former president of the Auto-Club had been a free-spirited individual, the teenage goddess was more disciplined.

She had to be. She was chasing after Belldandy, whom she loved and idolized and who was regarded in Heaven as having few equals in the myriad fields pursued by its inhabitants. Especially, his mind added treacherously, where lovemaking was concerned. Keiichi swallowed hard. Now was not the time for his mind to go to the gutter. Skuld would notice, and her face would take on shades of darkness that would make hardened criminals soil their trousers. The teenage goddess disapproved of his relationship with both Belldandy and Urd, despite saying nothing.

"Keiichi...?" Skuld's voice broke the young man out of his thoughts.

"Ah, Skuld-san, we're done?" Keiichi looked up to see the young goddess walking towards him, signed documents in hand, and the warehouse manager, an inu-youkai, in tow. The latter was in his true form, a show of trust he would grant only those who knew and lived in the Moonlit World.

"Yup," Skuld grinned, "I've checked the engines, and warded them as well."

"I must apologize for our lack of resources to send the engines to you, Keiichi-san," the warehouse manager said, "But with Christmas and the New Year around the corner, all of our resources and manpower have been turned to ensuring that our shops and outlets are stocked for the upcoming festivities."

"I understand, Kagome-san," Keiichi replied, "Thank you for helping us."

"Think nothing of it. A friend of Tsukune-sama is a friend of ours. Call upon us should you need our services; we will do our best to aid you. As it is," the youkai turned towards the forklift bearing three of said engines towards Keiichi's truck, "it was a good thing we did not approve the purchase order made by the Mishima Conglomerate's branch office here. My colleagues and competitors are all wondering why the Mishima branches in this prefecture and the next are buying all the Ferrari Turbo-47 engines. Could it have anything to do with the Winter Race you are taking part in?"

It was possible. Both Mishima and the Aoshima groups were diversifying their operations and businesses. F1 Racing was a costly yet profitable venture for them both. Success in said endeavour would bring both billions of dollars and opportunities to expand. But it was also possible, knowing Aoshima and Sayoko, that they were doing this to undermine both the Auto-Club and the Sword Wind Racing Group.

"It is a possibility my seniors have considered," Keiichi replied.

The youkai closed his eyes and shook his head, "How petty. But such is to be expected of those with wealth and power in their hands, but lacking the wisdom in the manner of its use."

"That they are," Skuld said, throwing the inu-youkai manager a thumbs-up and a grin, "Which is why we will show them that their plans will avail them not, Kagome-san. After all, no plan survives contact with the enemy – and I am one they cannot stop."

X X X

Keiichi stared at Skuld with a mixture of awe and exasperation. Urd had warned him to keep the latter away from ice-cream, and he was regretting his folly of agreeing to her request to visit one of the many ice-cream parlours in the city. Had it not been for Belldandy's foresight of putting several thousand yen in his wallet, there was no doubt in Keiichi's mind that he would have found himself working off the considerable debt Skuld's addiction would have put him in.

It made him wonder just how the teenage goddess had managed to keep her figure. The sheer amount of sugar the latter took in was enough to turn an Olympic athlete into a diabetic, and put said diabetic into a grave thrice over! Keiichi ran his eyes over Skuld's body, keeping his scrutiny discreet for fear of a shock grenade or a thunderbolt being thrown his way. He knew that the teenage goddess disliked perverts, and had put him amongst the top ten to take a shock hammer to should he so much as look at her funny.

And yet, she would tease him. Tempt him. Invite him to deflower her as he did her sisters. Despite his instincts warning him to not tempt the Fates (both figuratively and literally), he found himself unable to not running his eyes over Skuld's curvaceous form. Toki, his fellow club-mate, had put Skuld's three measurements at a respectable and head-turning 88-57-87. When she grew older, those curves would become more defined and send the minds of many a self-respecting man – and no few women, besides – into the gutter.

"Pervert," Skuld's soft voice and mischievous smile caused Keiichi to recoil as if he had been struck by a cattle prod.

"W-What...? But I wasn't...!" Keiichi raised his hands up, blushing.

"You were so staring at me. You're looking at me the same way you look at Urd or Belldandy when they are," Skuld leaned over the table, allowing Keiichi a glimpse of both her ample cleavage and the undergarments she wore, "clad in naught by their skin and caressed by the wind and the starlight."

The young man swallowed hard.

"Do you know what you have done, Keiichi? Do you know what you have set in motion?" Skuld's eyes took on a hue of molten silver.

"I'm guessing you're about to tell me," the young mechanic replied.

"You wished for a goddess to be by your side forever. Such a wish will have consequences, many of which will cause no end of complications for both Heaven and Hell. You have done what no deity or devil could in the Ages before or after the Great War against the Titans – throw all of Creation into chaos. Every law made by the Most High, which governs all of Creation, which keeps it ordered, you have upended. And I know," Skuld emphasised the word, "that you will break entire chapters and paragraphs of His Law before you turn thirty. I am offering you a chance to explain yourself. Why did you ask my sister to remain by your side forever? And do not think to lie; I will know if you do."

Keiichi did not speak for a long time. Much of what Skuld had said was true. His wish had been a selfish one, born of a desire to have that which others took for granted. He had never had a girlfriend. The few girls he had been attracted to had either stringed him along before dumping him or ignored him entirely. The ones who didn't care about his shortcomings were ones whom life had not been kind to, and whom his parents and friends would not have approved of.

"I could have had anything I wanted, Skuld. Anything," Keiichi emphasised the word, "at all. I had but to ask for it and my wish would have been granted. But when I looked at Belldandy, the only thing I wanted, the only thing I could think of, was to have her by my side. Tell me, Skuld," the young mechanic turned to look at the goddess before him, "what would you have wished for, had you been in my shoes? What dream would you have asked to be made real?"

The teenage goddess sat back down, carefully weighing the question her companion had asked. What would she have wished for, given the chance? What dream did she hold dear? What was beyond her reach that she would need a wish to make it so? She wanted, more than anything else, to stand on the same stage as her sisters. Hard work and determination would see to that. When everything was within her reach, what was beyond it? What was the eternity she wished for...?

Skuld's mind came to a screeching halt, then. The eternity she wished for...

The dark-haired goddess sighed in fond exasperation. Her children had done it again. They had fallen asleep at their respective workstations, watched over vigilantly by their creations. A dozen glowing eye-slits and more turned to gaze at her, and all crooned musically in welcome. It amazed the youngest Norn how quickly her offspring learned the concepts and principles of Principia Mechanicum and the Thirty Divine Principles of the Codex Artificer. They had taken the first, tentative steps to chasing the wind...just as she had all those years back, when she chose to do the same as her sisters did.

...was right in front of her. The teenage goddess smiled then, stirring the cup of apple tea which she had kept warm using her Charms. How mortifying; she would find herself bound with the same silken chains as her sisters. And the thought of it excited her.

"I think I would have wished for the same thing you did," Skuld finally replied, her brown eyes as bright as her smile.

The way Keiichi reddened made her giggle. And the image of the future that took shape before her eyes infused joy into her laughter.

"Tou-san," the young demigod introduced the beautiful, blushing kitsune – the same one he had asked to keep as a pet all those years back, when he wasn't any wiser – to his father, "I would like to introduce you to Nanayuki, my wife..."

Oh, the plans she had for Keiichi. The pranks she would play on him. The schemes she would weave around him to ensure he would always be by her side. It was perfect. And dear gods, it was going to be fun...

X X X

Several hours later...

Skuld was now officially pissed off with the Heavenly Ministry of Seasons. Both she and her angel were practically contemplating on how to punish the deity who was responsible for conjuring up a cursed snowstorm at the worst possible time. The radio stations were informing any and all vehicles on the inter-city highways to take shelter in the wake of the oncoming storm, which the weather stations predicted would last till late next morning. As a result, many roadside motels, gas stations and restaurants were filled with people hoping to ride out the storm.

Knowing that she had to quickly find shelter, the teenage goddess had utilized her Charms to find a place where she and Keiichi could take shelter for the night. She found one within minutes. It was an old, abandoned temple located on the edge of a nearby town. It would lack the creature comforts the young goddess enjoyed, but it would do. She had sent her probes ahead of her with instructions to secure the temple and to gate in supplies that would make their stay more hospitable.

A musical chime from her earpiece informed her that one of her probes had found something of interest.

+ REPORT: PROBE B/VA-1 HAS LOCATED BATHING AREA USED BY THE PREVIOUS OCCUPANTS, MISTRESS. CONDITION: LOCATION HAS FALLEN INTO DISUSE, BUT CAN BE RESTORED. QUERY: DO YOU WISH THE BATHING AREA RESTORED (Y/N)? +

Skuld grinned. She could use a hot bath.

"Does the bathing area have a hot spring bath?" Skuld asked in Celestial.

+POSITIVE+

"Restore it. And fill it with hot, scented water."

+ACKNOWLEGED. PROCEEDING NOW+

"Were you talking to your probes, Skuld?" Keiichi asked as he turned another right on the road.

"Yup," the teenage goddess grinned as she rested both her hands behind her head, the act all but emphasising her feminine attributes and causing the heart-rate of her companion to skyrocket, "And it told me that the temple has a bathing area. With an onsen! I gave instructions for it to be restored. That means we can get a hot bath, a fresh change of clothes and a hot meal!"

Keiichi was honestly impressed, "Thanks a lot, Skuld-chan. Oh, did you ask the probes to get you a carton of ice-cream as well?"

The dark-haired Norn grinned, and gave the young man a thumbs-up, "It's always part of my Emergency Pack!"

X X X

It took Keiichi and Skuld another twenty minutes before they finally reached the old temple that stood on the outskirts of the small town of Yukihara. Said town was home to over a thousand souls, and which focused primarily on agriculture as well as traditional kimono and weapons crafting. It was also a place where youkai and humans have lived side-by-side for centuries since Japan's feudal era. All of them had taken the chance to congregate in their respective homes – many of which were capable of holding up to a dozen or more – as the storm picked up in strength, to tell stories of times long past and of the new era that was coming.

One of the drones Skuld had dispatched to the temple had immediately erected a barrier to protect the truck the minute it stopped. Its single, glowing ocular regarded Keiichi with something approaching curiosity when the young mechanic emerged from the vehicle. The hovering machine swept its sensors over him, before crooning in welcome and giving a squirt in binary that Keiichi had recognised as a query.

"Yes," he replied, patting the metallic shell of the probe affectionately, "this is good enough. But," the young mechanic turned to look at the restored temple, "you might want to set up – what did Belldandy call it? Oh yes; boundary fields."

The probe gave another squirt of binary, asking what kind of boundary fields he wished set up.

"Utilize the Mirage Colloid and Aegis Class 2-types. Oh, and gate in four Obelisk Pylons while you're at it; it will help strengthen the boundary fields and keep unwanted guests out," Skuld told the probe, which responded with an affirmative chime and moved towards the entrance, where it opened up a warp portal and began the process of gating in Obelisk Pylons from Heaven.

"Skuld...?" Keiichi turned to look at the teenage goddess, only to have the cat run off with his tongue when he saw that the latter was removing the upper half of her overalls, revealing her lithe but curvaceous form. Try as Keiichi might to tear his eyes away, the divine allure the young goddess radiated – a gift of her heritage – made it impossible for him to do so. The bikini she wore beneath her overalls served to emphasise curves to rival any swimsuit model, and the lean musculature was one seen on Olympic swimmers.

Like Belldandy and Urd, Skuld was the embodiment of perfection. Her body was a thing made for sensual pleasure and the earthly pleasure of children. Keiichi felt the fierce heat of arousal as the image of a nude Skuld took shape in his mind, and quickly suppressed it. He did not want to find himself on the receiving end of a shock bomb.

"Again, I catch you staring at me," Skuld looked over her shoulder, an amused look on her face, "Are you that determined to deflower me as you did my sisters, Keiichi?"

"Uh..." the young man struggled to catch said cat that was in possession of his tongue. The wicked snickering of said creature bespoke of its enjoyment of the whole situation.

The young goddess moved towards Keiichi, her brown eyes meeting his. The latter swallowed hard upon seeing the annoyed look in her eyes, and opened his mouth to apologize but soon found it sealed before a single word could leave it. It took him the better part of a minute to realize what had just happened.

Skuld had just kissed him.

Skuld. Had. Just. Kissed. Him.

Why?

"Skuld...?" Keiichi's voice was rough, the unasked question in his eyes causing the one who held him to look away shyly even as her arms tightened around him, pressing her lush body against his own.

"Because I wanted to," the teenage goddess replied in a soft voice, embarrassment and reason warring wit desire, "Because I am jealous of both Urd and Belldandy. Tell me, Keiichi. If I was the one to grant your wish, would you have asked for me to stay by your side forever?"

Keiichi closed his eyes. The question was not one easily answered. It bore on its wings the weight of the world and the dreams of a young goddess who wanted to be more than what she already was. The young man knew he had to tread carefully; the wrong answer would break more than the young goddess's heart. And Skuld was someone who deserved the truth, even if it meant his being thrown under the bus.

"Yes. Yes, I would have. It would, however, mean that the two of us will have to contend with the teasing of both your sisters. Belldandy will be pleased with our relationship, and will most likely give us a hand every so often to ensure we get to third base. Urd," Keiichi paused briefly with a smile, "will be most determined to get us to said base in the most exciting way possible, and then have us go to the fourth and fifth ones from there."

Skuld laughed, even as she buried her head into Keiichi's chest, relishing the soul-scent of the human in her arms. Oh, how she wished she had been the one to grant Keiichi's wish. The dreams and visions she had had of that timeline had awoken a hunger she never knew existed. And there was still a chance to make her dreams a reality...

...Her son held in his arms his newborn twin daughters, both of whom were sleeping and whose three-tails were swung with the rhythm of their beating hearts. They were breathtakingly cute, and radiated an air of contentment and peace that affected everyone within the room. Keiichi was there, an approving smile on his lips. He reached out to touch his grandchildren, only to be startled when their fox-tails swept up and coiled around his arm – the equivalent of an affectionate hug from infant youkai...

"Keiichi...?" the teenage goddess asked, her voice soft and her face going through all the shades of a glorious sunset.

"Yes?" the young man asked.

"Will you be my first?"

The cat ran off with Keiichi's tongue again. This time, the young mechanic was able to catch the culprit within the better part of a minute.

"Skuld...your first time should be given to someone you love. Someone who is special to you, who can be trusted both with your heart and your future..."

"I know," the young goddess replied, before leaning forward and kissing the mortal in her arms once more, "And you are that person. And my future is one with you and my sisters in it."

'Among others,' the dark-haired Norn added inwardly, shivering both in fear and delight at the faces of those women who had been ensnared somehow by the very threads of Fate woven by both her and her sisters.

Keiichi did not speak for a long time. When he finally leaned forward to kiss her, sending her blood and soul on fire, Skuld knew that her fate was sealed. She felt the very skeins of Fate weave a thick, strong thread to that eternity she sought. Keiichi ran his callused hand down her back, through her hair before they came to rest on her shapely posterior.

When he finally drew back, the hungry look in his eyes told Skuld that the night that was to come would be one that would be repeated many, many times in the years to come. The teenage goddess blushed. She knew she would be the equal of any of the Goddess Ishtar's handmaidens by the time Keiichi graduated, her body, heart and soul forever sullied by her lover. And with her sisters all too willing to teach her everything they knew about the sensual arts, she may well be giving them pointers by the time she returned to Heaven.

"Come on," the teenage goddess took a step back, "Let's go take a bath. I don't know about you, but I don't want to go to bed smelling of machine oil and sweat."

As the dark-haired Norn pulled her companion into the temple, a miniature version of her two sisters materialized from the two strategically-placed runes beneath the lorry. The two familiars exchanged looks of amusement before nodding and teleporting to where their primary forms were. The time had come to execute the final – and the best part – of a plan that was a century in the making.

X X X

Though she had seen it many times before, Skuld could not help but approve of the changes her sisters had made to Keiichi's body. There was strength and virility in his athletic frame, the sight of which would have turned the heads of those women who had yet to find their destined partners. It would not take much for said women to imagine what life with the young man would be like. All would agree that it would be a simple and fulfilling one, filled with laughter and children. None would, however, dare speak or share details of what transpired behind closed doors, for it would earn them no small amount of envy and admiration from their peers.

And it was this, that intimacy shared between a man and woman, which Skuld longed to know. She had tasted but ghostly echoes of that which had tore through her sisters like a world-ending firestorm, and wanted to know the fullness of that which would lead to her dream being made a reality. It made the teenage goddess blush, this fierce, primal desire to have a child. But the bright eyes of her yet unborn children, their tiny hands reaching up to her as they laughed happily, stirred her heart in a way that nothing could.

...They believed in her and her sisters. They had faith in their father and their siblings. They stared at the starry skies, beholding the majesty of Creation and the Great Work of the sleeping King of Heaven and were awed. And both they and their father listened to the stories their mothers told them, for knowledge and wisdom was layered and hidden in the words and the melodies, waiting for the seeker to see both shades and depths of the lessons taught...

She knew Keiichi would be a good father. She had seen the way children had taken to him. Even teenagers, struggling with the demands imposed upon them by society and the changes in both their minds and bodies, saw him as someone they could confide in and whose words made firm the ground they stood on. The image of him with his children curling up like contented kittens in his arms resurfaced, as warm as the waters of the onsen the two of them had taken to soaking in.

...And they would not be the only one. He would have so many that the temple which they made their home would have to be expanded. And yet, a home it remained despite the multitude that lived within its walls. A dream longed for by the meek and the mighty reached from beyond it to gird the dreams of countless billions across Creation, to reach higher than for the laurel of a kingdom and the blessing of wealth and fame...

The teenage goddess felt the heat of arousal intensify, felt her hand go to the opening between her legs, brushing against the sensitive nub of flesh and her fingers into the opening. Electric pleasure shot up her spine and blasted every nerve ending, flooding her body with sensual bliss and a desire to drown herself in it as her sisters had. It took everything Skuld had to not moan, and more to not pleasure herself then and there in front of Keiichi.

...A dream born from the deepest depths of the Divine Flame, brighter than the gaze of the Almighty and as grand as His joyous laughter...

The dark-haired Norn rose from where she was sitting and moved towards where the young mechanic was. The latter turned his attention from the stars overhead to her approaching form. His brown eyes took in her nude form, committing to memory the lush perfection of her body. The way he looked at her did not engender disgust or anger in Skuld. There was admiration and awe in his gaze, a desire to worship what she was.

He would do so not with prayer and on bent knees. He would be in her arms, kissing her, loving her, ravishing her and spilling his seed into her body as he had done with her sisters.

The fierce, hungry light in her eyes told him what she wanted. The latter would wait no longer, for her hunger had reached its peak and would be denied no longer. A gentle smile curved his lips and he rose from where he sat, allowing the young goddess to gaze, for the briefest of moments, upon his body before he pulled the latter into his embrace.

...It haunts the dreams of both the living and the dead, blessing both...

Skuld felt Keiichi's phallus press against her stomach as the latter kissed her. It was hard, enormous; a beast that would ravage its prey and leave it broken; a sword that would strain, even break, the scabbard it was sheathed in; an instrument by which a woman was made a willing slave and which wove silken chains stronger than that which held the Wolf of the End-Times. With it, Keiichi had sullied the bodies and souls of her sisters. Through it, they had marked and made themselves his.

The young goddess wished to follow in the steps of her sisters. She knew where the path they trod on would end. The grandest of quests and the longest of journeys have always ended where they first began: on the path leading up to the doors of one's home.

...Life is its gift...

Skuld wrapped her arms around Keiichi. She would wait no longer. Deep within her, her angel, Noble Scarlet trembled as the final changes overtook her. It had not been easy for the female spirit to mask the changes wrought upon her by her elder siblings, for the goddess she was a part of was as shrewd as she was observant. Only in repose, with potent wards, Charms and Aegis Protocols raised, could the angel allow the Twilight to overtake her.

And now, with the mind and soul of her goddess washed over with sun-bright love, raging lust and fervent prayer, did the final stages of the change take place. Purple eyes, bright with life and innocence, became gleaming orbs of silver-rimmed obsidian, a glorious solar eclipse that revealed to the wise and watchful the majesty of the Great Work of the Almighty. Her pale skin became a shade of vibrant crimson, like the sands of Mars itself. Golden hair became the silver of a polished blade, and golden-brown wings became pinions of soft amethyst. The angel's athletic frame filled out, as time bestowed its blessings upon the immortal spirit, laughing softly as it did so.

Garbed in silver and steel that accentuated curve and cleavage even as it bared warm flesh and smooth skin and crowned with a halo of radiant steel did Noble Scarlet, Angel of Sunlight become Glorious Crimson, Angel of Radiant Steel. With a contended sigh felt by the goddess she was a part of, the former reached out to embrace the latter.

The young goddess's eyes widened when she realized what had happened. But by then, it was too late. By then, she did not care. The dream she had had these past few weeks were brighter than anything else in the world. She was willing to pay the toll demanded of her for a dream that she could hold close to her heart, one that could endure the heat of the hottest forge in Creation and emerge stronger than before. Skuld allowed her wings to materialize and wrap around both her and Keiichi, as Belldandy and Urd had done.

"I love you, Keiichi," Skuld whispered as she drew back, her voice the sound of church bells and sakura petals coming to rest on the holy blades of angels. Keiichi closed his eyes and allowed the weight of the words, the melody in her voice and the resonance in the admission, echo and rest deep within his soul. He smiled, and kissed the young goddess in his arms once more.

"Thank you, for loving someone like me," he replied.

"Three goddesses bound to thee and still thy desire grows," Skuld allowed her Shadow Soul to overtake her, bringing forth the artist behind the artificer, "If it must be slaked, who better than the daughters of Heaven to quieten the flames? Never shall our opposites have you. Thy lust and love belong to us, thy seed and soul ours to ravish and revere."

Keiichi's eyes widened when he realized what had just happened. But how was it possible...? Urd had told him that a deity or angel awakening and merging with his or her Shadow Soul was a labour that took millennia. It was a stern test of said immortal's willpower and character, and no few had fallen because of it. Those that succeeded, however, became immensely powerful. These would be often be elevated to the rank of Divine Viceroy and given vast swathes of Creation to rule and watch over.

And Skuld. Had. Just. SHADOW-SOULED!

'Oh no...'

"Cold is this night, where the winter winds blow," the young goddess licked her lips, relishing the shock in her lover's eyes, knowing that he knew what her emergence had meant, "So let us stoke the fires within us, and set our bodies and blood ablaze..."

With a soft crack of imploding air, both he and Skuld departed the bathing area, to the quarters where they would make love by the firelight.

X X X

If there was one thing Keiichi did not expect from Skuld, it was how imaginative and perverted the latter was. Her Shadow Soul, aptly named Dusk, was the polar opposite of Skuld. The latter was logical and rational to a fault, whose passion and love for her work was matched only by the boundless creativity and fearsome intellect she was heir to. The former was that same passion and love turned to the carnal arts and fuelled by the desire to be utterly consumed by the inferno that now burned restraint and reason to ash.

Keiichi had tried to be gentle, but Skuld was having none of it. She had taken his full length into her body with a single, merciless thrust, the pain and pleasure driving the teenage goddess to furious heights and turning her into a howling banshee. The drug she had taken in the minutes before they went to town had turned her into a frenzied, howling banshee who would not be denied her release.

But said drug had also one other side-effect. When Keiichi filled Skuld's virgin womb with thick, ropy semen, the latter's stomach and breasts soon swelled, as if she was in the latter stages of pregnancy, and her silver-rimmed obsidian eyes blazed as an orgasm tore through her like a freight train through a schoolhouse. And her scream was one filled with ecstasy and torment, a sound that would have sent fear and unease out the window and replaced them with images than would have had caused celibate priests and pontiffs alike to truly curse the oaths they had taken.

Again and again he filled her, his primal instincts and desires all but taking a sledgehammer to reason and reducing the last to broken ruin. Thick, white rivulets trailed down Skuld's legs. Every orgasm saw to Skuld writhing, her voice raw and filled with delight.

"Have mercy, I beg thee..." Dusk wailed, "Mine body shall break, my womb ruined under thy caresses and passion! Thy seed...! It is potent! I will be a mother before I am ready! Mercy...!"

But the teenage goddess's actions spoke the direct opposite. She wanted to be ravished mercilessly. She wanted to be loved gently. She wanted to be worshipped. She wanted to drink as deeply from the same sweetly poisoned chalice as her sisters had.

Keiichi thrust one more time into the drenched interiors of the goddess's womb, the latter arching as he did so, her swollen belly and lactating breasts pressed against him, her arms and legs wrapped around him, and he felt another fierce torrent tear into Skuld's body.

"Again...? Thou hath...filled me again? How many times before thou art satisfied? Will this be mine fate, to be thy slave? To know the taste of thy body and have mine be swollen with thy child?"

Keiichi paused in his ministrations, and leaned down to kiss the goddess, "Yes. I will do all this and more. I will put a child in your womb. And then I will do it again. And again. And again and again, until your hunger fades. I will do the same to your sisters as for you, and if it takes centuries, we will build our home sturdier and stronger than that which we saw in our dreams."

The young man shivered. Urd delighted in role-play sex. The seductive, bronze-skinned goddess loved the possibilities it offered and they had, on more than one occasion, used it to turn the tables on Belldandy. All of it led to a night-long orgy that left everyone unable to move the following morning, and Verdandi grumpy about being caught with her panties down even as she made it clear she wanted an encore of such.

It had startled Keiichi to know that Skuld's fetish lay in impregnation and domination. It revealed to him her psyche, her desire to love and to be loved in turn. She wanted, like her sisters, an eternal memory of said bond.

"I yield, master. I will be thy slave. Mark me. Take me as many times as thou desire," Dusk's voice was as melodious as when she pleaded for mercy, "Stain my body and the depths of mine soul with thy colours."

Keiichi kissed her, gently. It was a gesture returned in kind. The young man pulled out gently from his lover's body and stood up. A smile curved Dusk's lips; she knew what he wanted. Brushing a lock of dark hair behind her ear, she moved forward and took the slick, engorged organ into her mouth. The faint, steely taste of virgin blood mingled with that of their mingled bodily fluids, a taste that bespoke of unbridled, shameless passion and carnal bliss.

The teenage goddess moved back and forth, her tongue tracing the veins and areas she knew would be sensitive to her ministrations. Her angel whispered in her mind the many ways she could please a man, and how best to layer ecstasy upon sweet agony. As her sisters had done, so would she. But unlike them, she would reach the finish line first by being the first to give birth to Keiichi's child.

No. Dusk hummed in pleasure, as she remembered the other visions she had had. She could wait until the circle was complete, until all the actors were gathered upon the stage her father – that old, scheming, perverted fox – had made. Big families were best. Bigger was even better!

She felt Keiichi's hands on her head as he began to increase the intensity of her movements. She could see the pleasure on his face, the thrilling moment when rapture would stain the both of them. A strangled sound from his lips soon saw to a torrent of fluid flooding her mouth and into her body, spilling past her lips, and sending a lightning storm racing through her veins. She felt an orgasm tear through her, even as her bodily fluids painted the floor she knelt on. A moan tore through the teenage goddess's throat, low and throaty, a sound of sinful pleasure and surrender.

When the young man took a step back, the dark-haired goddess filled her cupped hands with a mouthful of her lover's semen before lathering her breasts and swollen stomach with it. It was a sight that would have aroused the passions of even the most jaded of souls.

"More..." she whispered.

Keiichi pushed Skuld back onto the floor, and pushed his phallus back into her body, riding her with a fierce vigour born of renewed desire, with each fierce thrust raising Skuld's hips from the ground and eliciting a cry from her lips.

X X X

"You know, Bell," Urd watched the image of Keiichi ploughing her youngest sibling with energetic ferocity, "I would never have expected Skuld to be this imaginative in the bedroom, or that determined to get to the finish line before any of us. We are going to have some serious competition in the near future if we want to have our itches scratched."

The silver-blonde haired Norn laughed softly, even as her eyes darkened to midnight blue, "Fear not, sister dearest. Our Keiichi is quite capable of leaving us quite sated, if our recent...escapades are any indication. But honestly, was it necessary to play nurses and patient with him? Our man does have some phobias about hospitals..."

"I like some spice to our love-making, Bell," Urd grinned, "And dread goes well with desire. Keiichi left me quite satisfied."

Verdandi chuckled, even as Belldandy sighed inwardly, at her sister's insatiable libido.

"Do you think we should join them, Urd?"

"No. This is Skuld's first time, Bell. Let it be special to her. This is when a girl becomes a woman in the arms of the man she loves. As it is for you, so it is for her," Urd replied, before the grin on her lips became more mischievous, "After all, there will be plenty of time later for her to know – and learn – how we have fun. For now, let's see how much our youngest sister has learned from watching us, and what we can teach her later on."

X X X

Skuld gazed down at Keiichi, riding him gently as their lovemaking lessened in its vigour yet not its intensity. The young man's callused hands kneaded her breasts, milking them. He drank from them like an infant, relishing the taste and giving the young goddess a glimpse of what motherhood would be like when it came. The effects of the drug were slowly dissipating, and the copious amount of semen that Keiichi had poured into her body was slowly being broken down and taken in by her body. It would take the better part of several hours, but the teenage goddess did not mind.

She rolled her hips and tightened her internal muscles around the enormous intruder in her body. She enjoyed the sensations that filled her, relishing the intimacy and pleasure that was more potent than any drug ever known or created. The warmth in her belly and the feeling of Keiichi in her womb had served to intensify the euphoria that threatened to drag her back into the searing morass of sensual delight.

"Skuld...?" Keiichi placed a hand on her swollen belly, "I have a question."

"Yes?"

"Can a goddess get pregnant?"

The teenage goddess laughed softly, and leaned forward, "If we choose. Why doth thou ask?"

"Because...well..."

"Thou have made love to mine sisters many time and thou art wondering if thy seed has taken root, yes?"

Keiichi nodded.

"As I have said, fear not. We can choose when we desire to conceive. The wards in our body ensure that we suffer not the complications should we desire to indulge..."

An idea, one he had seen in a hentai doujinshi several months back, took shape in his mind. The hardening of his phallus gave Skuld forewarning that the embers of his passion had been fanned to full flame once more.

"Wilt thou spill thy seed within my womb once more?"

"Yes. But I have a request, Skuld."

"Yes?"

"I want to knock you up, Skuld. I want you to have my child," Keiichi's voice became low and smoky, the request causing the teenage goddess's aureoles to become rock hard and her heart to pound against her ribs, "I know you are protected from getting pregnant, but I want you to pretend."

The young goddess swallowed the lump in her throat, "...okay."

Keiichi lowered Skuld onto the floor gently, so that he was between her athletic legs once more, "Imagine that the wards on your body have been weakened and that it's not a safe day. The chances of your getting pregnant are high. I have poured so much semen into you that they are on the verge of breaking," and he leaned forward to whisper in the dark-haired goddess's ear, "And I am still fucking you, about to blow. You are about to get knocked up...

"You have been taken repeatedly. You are close to being defeated and defiled," Keiichi reached out to grope Skuld's breasts, "The man who is forcing himself on you is not going to stop until you are impregnated..."

Arousal and excitement filled the young goddess. She knew she would be violating one of Heaven's laws, but the knowledge she was doing so to satiate her hunger, to conceive a child, served to arouse Skuld even more. Keiichi would forcefully impregnate her, spilling more of his potent seed into her defenceless womb, and claim her once and for all.

"Spill thy seed in me, master! Claim me as your own!"

She was willing to have a child to find out, to know how good it felt to be taken in such a fashion.

"Are you sure, Skuld?" the young man asked his lover.

"Yes! Yes, I am. I...I want it!" the dark-haired Norn cried, "I desire to have thy child! I want every drop of thy seed in me! Impregnate me! Fill me with thy seed and enslave me to thy desires!"

"Very well...!" Keiichi nodded and thrust deep into Skuld's body, eliciting a strangled cry from the latter as he began slamming into her body over and over with merciless vigour, "I will do as you ask, and fill your body with my seed over and over!"

She could feel it, could feel Keiichi's phallus practically raping her womb. His lust swept aside all restraint, made sport of mercy and cast down the gates of temperance with a crash that could be felt by both herself and her angel, the latter of which was all but screaming in ecstasy.

"I am about to cum inside you, Skuld," the young man said as the intensity of his thrusts picked up and he felt himself surmounting the peak of a fierce orgasm.

"Please! At the same time! Use thy seed to bring me to Paradise!" the Norn begged.

"Are you sure?" Keiichi asked.

"Yes! Please! Inside of me, as deeply as thou can! Mark me as thy slave! Set me ablaze and leave not even the ashes! Let me bear thy child!"

Keiichi rammed harder and harder, his phallus slamming past the young goddess's tight cervix and her overflowing womb, until he could no longer hold back and allowed his body to shoot jet upon ferocious jet of semen into Skuld's body.

The young goddess screamed, the fantasy of her being forcibly impregnated and the sensations merging together to cause orgasm after earthshaking orgasm to wrack her body. This, she realized then and there, was what sex was like, what an orgasm felt like and the desire to create a child felt like. She writhed and convulsed, her curvaceous form shaking as though electrocuted, the searing heat in her womb serving to make her torment all the sweeter.

And nodding to herself in contentment, Dusk withdrew and allowed Skuld to emerge once more.

"Keiichi...?"

The weary man looked up at the young goddess with a weary chuckle, "Yes?"

"Can we do this again? Will you make love to me again, just like this?"

The young man leaned forward and kissed his counterpart on her lips, "As many times as you wish, until your dream becomes a reality. Until," Keiichi paused briefly to correct himself, "our dream becomes a reality."

"You have the word of the Norn of the Future that that dream will be so," Skuld took one of Keiichi's hands and rested it on her belly, "For none of us in the family you shall make shall accept any other ending."

X X X

Urd turned and gave the pouting Belldandy a grin before raising one dusky hand, "I win! Now pay up! I told you she could take it! Bonus credits on her going absolutely wild with Keiichi. Oh, she's ready, Bell! She's more than ready to up her game and take the season!"

The latter reluctantly put a pouch filled with gold coins in her sister's hands. It appeared she would not be able to buy that gown she had seen on sale in Ishtar's Bazaar in Heaven. Urd tossed it into the air several times before putting it in her dimensional cache.

"And now," the silver-haired Norn turned her head to look at the raging form of a bound, blonde-haired female devil behind them, "what do we do with her...?"

Belldandy followed her sister's gaze, and her crystal blue eyes darkened once more. Lying on the ground was Mara, the leader of a small war-band of devils – all female – whom they had sent scurrying. Misfortune had been the lash wielded with deft skill by the curvaceous devil who had been the childhood friend of her eldest sibling, but this night was one where the Fates would command that a faithful hound turn on its owner.

The torn clothes, bruises and burned hair of the female devil bespoke of the ferocity of her struggle. Mara had, unlike her peers, refused to retreat. She stood her ground before two Class One goddesses and matched them blow for blow. She accused them, like her peers, of stealing what rightfully belonged to her and her compatriots.

'He does not belong to you!'

The bitter anger in Mara's gaze as she looked at the two of them and at the image of Keiichi kissing Skuld told the two goddesses that there was a good reason why Mara and eleven other devils had chosen to lend their aid to Aoshima.

"I think it is time we get some answers to some very difficult questions," Belldandy stood before Mara, "And I hope that your childhood friend will share with us what she meant when she said that Keiichi does not belong to us..."

To be continued...

Next: Interlude - Mara

Afterword

To all those who have been waiting for well over a year for this chapter, I humbly apologize for the delay. University assignments and RL issues, along with a plausible way on how to write this chapter, have served to delay me considerably. It was a struggle to write my GSD chapter, and I had to split it in half so as to not confuse my readers. Writing a cross-over story is not easy; it has to be done properly. I have standards to maintain.

Also, I believe everyone is with me on that regard that this year has been a rough and rocky one, and that 2017 is going to be a storm of apocalyptic proportions. The US has a new president, who I dearly hope will not complicate matters both state-side and aboard. The US elections were easily the most acrimonious I have seen in all the thirty years I have been alive, with enough mud-slinging to turn the Vatican into a swamp. Heck, I understand the frustrations the US citizens have; stuff and systems that are supposed to work, doesn't. They got a chance to make right the wrongs, but they have to be careful not to add more crap on that which they want to clean out (which can and will happen is certain interest groups and ideologies get their way). I'll not go further; my American readers know what I'm talking about (and who will most likely appreciate my not rubbing salt in the wound).

Moving on, China. Dear gods, here is a country with more issues than its leaders have fingers and toes. The way the country has been acting in recent months is of great concern to everyone in the region I am living in. One can only hope that cooler heads prevail, because things are getting very tense everywhere else. And don't get me started on the Middle East and elsewhere. Talking about it all is depressing. It feels like humanity is trying to kill itself in as many interesting ways as one can imagine.

Let's move on to more cheerful topics that do not involve politics or how bad the world is at this point in time.

As such, tell me, did I do okay with this chapter in regards to the story flow, grammar and the more colourful scenes? I am hoping to get all three parts right, so do point out which parts I got wrong or can do better. If my goal of meeting the 'fun' parts has left any of my readers/reviewers suffering cardiac arrest, and grinning all the way to the afterlife and giving an exasperated God of the Dead a thumbs-up, I will a happy cat.

And yes, next chapter is for MARA! Not the one we saw in the anime, but the curvy devil we know and love from the manga. Also, I am going to throw open a request. As you have already read and guessed, there are TWELVE female devils that have a history with Keiichi (in his past life).

I invite my reviewers/readers to PM me or to provide in your reviews to give me names (make them originals, if possible) and/or links to pictures about said OCs. Credit will be given to the twelve characters I will make use of in the next chapter.

AGAIN, LEAVE A REVIEW! TELL ME IF I MANAGED TO SET YOU – AND YOUR HOUSE – ON FIRE!

AND FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER, WE SHALL SEE MARA (AND HER FRIENDS!) BEING TEMPTED AS ONLY DEVILS CAN BE!