The Tangled Threads We Weave

by Zephyri_Magia

Summary:

[Post Ch. 308] Peorth and Lind are tasked with watching over an unruly young goddess with the somewhat-foreboding moniker of "Heaven's little terror". Peorth sees their new assignment as both a challenge and a test of her patience. Lind sees it as a mission to complete, and Eira sees it as her biggest chance yet to prove she doesn't need anyone. And just maybe, they're all wrong.

Notes:

I'm not actually sure where the idea for this story even came from, but I've developed a rather fond liking for it and thus I'm putting it up here anyways. The chapters are bound to get longer than this first one is, just warning anyone who happens to not like long chapters. This story takes place after the end of the manga [hence the post-chapter 308 in the summary] so naturally spoilers abound for that.
Basically this fic is the Amazing Pair family fic that nobody probably really wanted but that you're getting anyways.

Chapter 1: Eira

Peorth gazed up into the sky, seeing the last remnants of shooting stars tracing their way across a steadily-lightening sky. The night was soon to be over, the waking world none the wiser for what magical event had occurred in the last few hours. She hadn't thought it would happen, for Keiichi and Belldandy to do something like surpass the Judgment Gate, for the goddess and the human to finally get married. Of course, she hadn't anticipated that they would end up triggering the test for the Judgment Gate while they were in Hell, either, as they had only been taking the trip to return Hild to power.

It seemed like she and Lind missed out on a lot, having been left behind to clean up the messes left by the rampant wish-granting. At least they'd had something to do, even if it took a while. Six hours running after various strange things like a large Chinese dragon, a few walking lanterns, some gigantic robots—it hadn't necessarily been boring by any means, but it did start to wear on you after the first few hours. Lind hadn't seemed overly bothered by the amount of ridiculous things they were chasing down, but then again the Valkyrie was probably more used to these sorts of tasks than Peorth was.

Even though it did seem like she was spending a lot of time with Lind recently—she had contacted the Valkyrie for observing Chrono's mission with the rhythm orb, and Lind had watched without complaint, though she had never mentioned whether or not she had been doing anything particularly important when Peorth had called her—and then there was this time, where she'd fought beside the blue-haired goddess for six hours straight. She had known that Lind was incredibly skilled in combat, her reputation alone could attest to that, but it had been enlightening nonetheless to see her take on multiple opponents at once, when previously she had only seen Lind fight the Angel Eater, and that was one combatant alone.

Her eyes found a last shooting star blazing a wavering trail across the dawn, and she sighed; at least everything was over and done with. The circle for the wedding ceremony had descended from the sky shortly after its completion, as sunrise was soon to come, and with everything repaired and no evidence of the wish-granting, the humans of Nekomi would write it off as hallucinations or wild dreams or even a massively-scaled prank orchestrated by the students of Nekomi Tech. Such things had happened before, after all, and perhaps the students were getting bold in their endeavors.

The dark-haired goddess glanced back across the temple courtyard; Keiichi and Belldandy had changed out of their wedding attire and were speaking with Lind, and Skuld was performing maintenance on her robots now that they had been properly restored. At least Hild had followed through on that promise, though Peorth wasn't certain exactly when she had accomplished returning the temple to normal, probably when Peorth, Lind, and her subordinates had been contending with the various creatures brought about by the humans' wishes. The avatar of the Daimakaicho had left early with Mara, muttering something about repairing her Gate—to which Peorth and Lind exchanged a long glance and raised eyebrows; Lind had looked as if she had wanted to apologize and Peorth had shaken her head at her, it wouldn't do any good at this point—and Welsper had slunk off into the temple, having come to the unfortunate-for-him realization that Belldandy was now married to Keiichi, and thus even further out of his league than before.

Peorth frowned faintly, seeing no sign of Urd, something of a wary thought, and only relaxed just slightly when she heard from above, "So…whatever did you and Lind get up to while we were gone?"

The dark-haired goddess raised her eyebrows, looking up to meet the oldest Norn's purple eyes; Urd was hovering a short distance above her with arms crossed and an expectant look on her face. "You do realize it was only six hours here, right?" Peorth questioned, tilting her head. "It took us nearly that entire time just to contain all the frivolous wishes these humans were making. And then we had to help you get back out, and help with the wedding, and that took up all the time we had left." She paused, blinking. "Did it honestly take you that long to return Hild to power or was more of it the Judgment Gate?"

"The demons had this game thing going on," Urd replied, shrugging absently. "So that took a little while, find the keys, defeat the demon guarding it, that sort of game. But the Judgment Gate did take a little longer than I thought it would. Ansuz was the one to officiate it."

"Oh." Peorth blinked. She had only personally met Belldandy and Skuld's mother a few times, and never for very long. She had known that it was Belldandy who had essentially raised Skuld, and with their father being the Daitenkaicho she couldn't imagine either of their parents had been very involved with their lives. She herself hadn't talked to her family in a little while, but her parents had been better about knowing what was going on in her life even if she didn't see them. And her brother had seen her sometimes, but he had a job too. She had a more pressing question to ask, though, considering all things. "Did Ansuz and Hild fight then?"

"Not really, unless you count card games," the silver-haired goddess answered. "You'd think she'd have more to do, but once she sent Bell and Keiichi through the Gate she just sat around and played games and talked. The Gate probably did all the real work."

"Mm," Peorth bobbed her head in a nod. "Well—" She was momentarily stalled in her train of thought by the distant ringing of the telephone; Belldandy went to answer it, and Urd drawled, "You don't suppose that's for one of us, do you?"

"It probably is," Peorth agreed with a sigh. She was honestly expecting the call to have been for her, but even so she wasn't entirely surprised when it was Lind they wanted; the Valkyrie probably had another mission waiting for her and now that the crisis concerning Hell had been resolved she was being asked to return. Peorth meandered over to Keiichi and Belldandy, Urd floating along after her, as Lind finished speaking and returned the phone to its cradle, turning back to them.

"I am sorry that I can't stay," the blue-haired goddess murmured, "but it seems I have been given a new assignment, so I'm afraid I will have to return to Heaven now that the Gate is in working order again. Ah, congratulations, Belldandy, Keiichi, on what you've accomplished." She hesitated. "Perhaps we will meet again soon."

"You're always welcome, Lind," Belldandy reassured her, smiling warmly. "Thank you for helping us."

Lind bowed her head slightly in acknowledgement, blue eyes shifting to Peorth. "Did you ever consider getting a Valkyrie certification, Peorth? You kept up with me well enough, and you wouldn't have to switch your specialization. Belldandy has one too," she added, ever-so-helpfully.

"…I'll…think about it," Peorth managed, smiling shakily, because while she had certainly never intended on having anything to do with the combat division it was rude to downright dismiss her friend's offer. And the fact that the Valkyrie had brought up the point that Belldandy had a certification did irk her competitive side, just a little, but she ignored it for the moment.

Lind didn't take offense to this, though, and merely nodded in acquiescence before waving goodbye to all of them, vanishing into the sky a moment later, disappearing into the Gate.

"It's a shame she can never stay very long," Belldandy said softly, shaking her head. "But she has duties to fulfill, and we can't ask her to neglect them for our sake."

Peorth nodded in agreement; it was somewhat disappointing to see Lind go after they'd spent a surprising amount of time together, but it was also true that the Valkyrie had more important things to get to, even if she didn't necessarily want to leave.

Urd rested an elbow on Peorth's head, and when the dark-haired goddess lifted a hand to bat her away the oldest Norn floated down to her eye level, smirking widely, and proclaimed, "And isn't it such a shame that the Amazing Pair had to break up, hmm?"

Peorth's eyebrow twitched slightly. "What did you just call us?" she said sharply, her eyes narrowing.

"Funny how you knew exactly who I was talking about," the goddess of the past murmured nonchalantly, raising one silver eyebrow pointedly. "But if you must know, it was Belldandy who gave the two of you that nickname, not me."

"Right," Peorth replied dryly, and would have said more if not for Belldandy suddenly speaking up.

"Oh, Peorth, I meant to tell you, Keiichi and I decided to have a wedding here for his family and all of our human friends. You're invited, if you wish to come, and if you happen to see Lind before we do, can you tell her that she's invited as well?"

"I'll give her the message," Peorth responded, having a good feeling that she would have to return to Heaven sooner rather than later and that meant she had a much higher probability of running into the Valkyrie than any of the Norns did, as they were unlikely to leave Earth at this point. "We'll try and come by if we can." She felt justified in using 'we' as she thought Lind would want to go if she was available.

"That's all we can ask," Belldandy smiled. "Will you be staying, or would you prefer to return to Heaven now that we've assisted in Hild's request?"

The dark-haired goddess looked back up at the sky. "If they need me, they'll call for me," she said, crossing her arms. "And Ere, Ex, and Chrono should be able to handle things for now. They're not incompetent, not usually." She had made the effort to train her subordinates well, and even if it seemed like they didn't always listen to the words she said, they were capable operators of Yggdrasil and if they could work through the problems that arose when the coup had begun, they could certainly deal with whatever showed up now that Hild was returned to power and the balance of shares between Heaven and Hell wasn't nearly so skewed.

"You're always welcome," Belldandy repeated the words she'd spoken to Lind, cheerful as ever, and Peorth could only nod. The dark-haired goddess rather thought it was that Belldandy was assuming now that she and Keiichi were married there would be no more shenanigans involving their relationship. And that was true, on Peorth's part anyways, as she figured they could sort things out themselves now. She had no ideas on whether or not Urd would continue to interfere, but Belldandy was adept at handling her sisters' personalities so surely there would be no more trouble involving love for any of them in the near future.

She had no idea how wrong she was.

It was already nearing dawn, and so most of the residents of the temple dispersed to sleep off their adventure; Peorth decided instead to sit atop the roof, watching the sun rise. She didn't really need to sleep, and it was nice to take in the quiet for a moment, after everything that had happened. She watched the sun slowly make its way up over the horizon, only momentarily startled by the sudden voice resounding within her mind.

Are you missing something?

"Missing?" she said aloud, as her angel manifested behind her; Gorgeous Rose tilted her head, curly golden-blonde hair floating about her shoulders as she leaned forwards contemplatively.

Yes. The vine-covered angel nodded slightly, crossing her arms, green eyes serious.

"…I suppose," Peorth said slowly, choosing her words carefully. "It won't be as entertaining as it used to be, I think, now that they're married. The only shenanigans will be when Urd and Skuld fight over the television."

You fought over it too, Gorgeous Rose pointed out with an arched eyebrow. Or did you forget that already?

"Yes, well—" Peorth huffed, giving the green-eyed angel a long narrow-eyed look, "that was the past. And that's not important anyways, I'm probably going to be called back any day now."

You could use some of your vacation days, Gorgeous Rose said, eyebrows furrowing, her hands twitching at her sides as she did a mental count of just how many vacation days they had left. Or…well…if I'm remembering correctly, you only have three left at the moment, and there's still the rest of the year…

"…I knew I shouldn't have used those other ones on that spontaneous trip to that hot spring…" the dark-haired goddess groused, frowning deeply. How was she supposed to stretch out three vacation days for the rest of the year? There were still several months to go! Her eyes narrowed. "I don't suppose Lind would be willing to part with a few…or a week…or maybe a few weeks…?" As far as she was aware, the Valkyrie hadn't used barely any of her vacation days at all, and so she had to have months, maybe even years of vacation days just waiting to be used…and since it was highly unlikely that Lind was going to use them all…

There's no need to be grinning like a maniac, Gorgeous Rose interrupted her train of thought. You could always ask her, but isn't it a lot of work to transfer vacation days?

"…Don't remind me of that," Peorth grumbled, lips twitching towards a grimace. "I don't even want to think about what I'll be stuck with when I get back."

Surely your subordinates will have finished all the work pertaining to the demon coup by then? her angel wondered. Or…you don't suppose they got distracted, do you?

"…That is a possibility…Ere and Ex probably got Chrono to recount her adventures on Earth, and who knows what kind of tangents they could have gone off of from there…"

Maybe we should return soon, Gorgeous Rose suggested, though it was more a half-hearted gesture than anything. Peorth gave an absent shrug, so as not to commit to anything, and gazed upwards, the sky having lightened to a bright blue. The sun was rising steadily, and she could hear the sounds of the residents of Nekomi waking on a normal morning—people scurrying about, talking to each other, cars and motorcycles moving up and down the streets, children on bicycles playing and laughing—no one seemed perturbed by the fact that such crazy stunts had been pulled the other day. Indeed, it seemed as if the event would fade quickly from the mortals' minds, no doubt with a little assistance from Heaven. They couldn't have too many humans knowing about the presence of immortals in their mundane lives.

And so too were the denizens of Tarikihongan Temple up and moving about; Peorth could hear Keiichi and Belldandy talking over breakfast, and Urd and Skuld were playing a game of cards to decide who would get to watch the morning television shows. The dark-haired goddess stood carefully, looking to her angel. "I suppose it's time we headed in, hmm?"

I suppose, Gorgeous Rose agreed teasingly, and returned to her body as she jumped lightly back to the ground. Peorth had just made it in the door when the telephone started to ring. She gazed at it for a ring or two, having a good feeling that it was Heaven calling about something or other, and thus reluctant to answer, but she was standing right there and had no excuse not to pick up the phone. So, sighing heavily, she picked up the receiver and put it to her ear, saying, "Morisato residence, this is Peorth speaking, how may I help you?"

" Peorth?"

It took her a moment to recognize that yes, that was indeed Lind's voice on the other end of the line, and another moment more to actually say anything. "Ah, yes, did you want to talk to Keiichi or Belldandy—?"

She could almost see the Valkyrie shaking her head when the answer came. "No, actually, I was calling to speak with you."

"With me?" the dark-haired goddess parroted, having no idea why her friend would be calling her, especially considering she had just been called back on an assignment. Surely she couldn't have completed her mission already? Just what was she doing up there anyhow?

"Yes." There was a long pause, as if Lind was gathering her words. "Ah, well, you and I have been given an assignment, and the High Council has asked that you return imm—"

"Wait just a minute," Peorth interrupted hastily. "Repeat that first part again?"

"You and I have been given an assignment," the Valkyrie dutifully repeated, and Peorth just stood there, staring a hole in the wall, ears ever-so-slowly processing that unfortunate information, until Lind was forced to say, "Peorth, are you still there…?"

"You…and I…have been given an assignment," the dark-haired goddess said cautiously. "You and I. Together. Both of us." She ran a hand through her hair, trying to understand. Their specializations didn't match at all, how could she and Lind have been assigned the same task? For menial things, like the demon coup, they had worked together for that, but that hadn't been an assigned task, or at least, not assigned by Heaven anyways. It had been at Hild's request! What did the High Council think they were doing—what kind of assignment could possibly require a first class wish-granter and a first class Valkyrie?

"Yes," Lind's answer was somewhat hesitant, as if she'd figured out that Peorth was incredibly confused by this sudden turn of events. "And it is suggested that you come back—ack, please stop that—"

"Stop what?" Peorth questioned, nonplussed.

"Ah—not you, I mean—put that rock down—ah, Peorth, if you would return within the next hour, that would be—much appreciated—I will be at the Gate with—no, that is not for—"

A small click in Peorth's ear indicated that the call had been terminated. She pulled the receiver from her ear, staring at it for several heartbeats, trying to comprehend the fact that it had sounded rather as if Lind was attempting to watch a child at the time she had been talking to Peorth. But that didn't make any sense, since the Valkyrie had no children, no relatives with children, and all of her friends were currently on Earth, so she couldn't be watching a friend's child either.

Peorth was starting to like the idea of this so-called assignment, whatever it happened to be, a lot less than she had at the start of the call. Still, she couldn't keep Lind waiting, even when she didn't really know when the Valkyrie would be at the Gate, how long it would take her to get there; and so she trooped into the tea room, where Keiichi and Belldandy were sitting. In the background she could hear Urd and Skuld, playing a rapid-paced game of Uno. It appeared like Urd was winning, for now.

"Oh, good morning Peorth," Belldandy said brightly, offering her a smile. "Who was that on the phone?"

"That was Lind," the dark-haired goddess responded. "I've been called back to Heaven as well for an assignment with her, so I'll be leaving soon."

Belldandy's eyebrows scrunched together. "With Lind? Are you sure…?" She said it more as if she was confused about the matter rather than that she believed Peorth to be relaying incorrect information, which the dark-haired goddess more than agreed to, as the whole situation was rather puzzling.

"She seemed fairly certain of it," Peorth shrugged absently. "I'm just as confused as you are. Our specializations are completely different, but apparently the High Council found us something to do." And that something may or may not involve children, she added in her head, giving another shrug. "I'll find out when I get there what we're supposed to be doing, I imagine. She wasn't able to inform me over the phone."

"It's that classified?" the brown-haired goddess queried, her eyes widening.

"No, it wasn't that, it was…interference, I think," Peorth tried, a tad awkwardly. "I'm not really sure of what was going on myself, but she said she would be waiting at the Gate, so I shouldn't make her wait too long."

"Of course not," Belldandy agreed, nodding. "Thank you for helping with the ceremony yesterday."

Peorth flashed a smile. "Happy to help. And good for you, Keiichi, finally getting somewhere." As he gave her an indignant look she only waved and headed back out, ascending into the sky quickly from the main temple's grounds. She found the Gate easily enough and passed through it, returning to Heaven in only a few seconds. She was reminded wryly of the time she and Lind had had trying to get out during the demon coup, and was thankful they'd mended the Gate's systems quickly.

There were a few other deities standing about when she arrived, none of them Valkyries or even with blue hair for that matter, so Peorth simply stepped to the side and looked on with some trepidation. She still wasn't sure the exact terms of the assignment and she worried that it was going to be something incredibly ridiculous. Was this one of her superiors' revenge for how many vacation days she'd taken already? Was it someone's obscure form of payback for something she did that she couldn't recall? Why was Lind involved?

"…Peorth?"

Her head snapped up at the call of her name, and she looked over to the head of blue hair that had somehow managed to arrive in her line of sight without her recognizing…ah, that would be why. Lind wasn't wearing her Valkyrie's uniform, oddly enough, and was instead wearing one of the more standard goddess's outfits instead. It was more than a little odd, as Peorth had never seen her in anything other than the Valkyrie uniform.

It occurred to her then that Lind wasn't alone; clinging to—or perhaps being dragged by—her left hand was a young goddess, perhaps barely more than ten, with pale brown hair tied back into scruffy pigtails, floppy bangs nearly obscuring the teal swirls that were her goddess's markings. Her eyes were a light blue, lighter than Lind's deep blue eyes, and she had a rather unnerving scowl prominently displayed upon her face. She was wearing some mismatched clothes, perhaps by her own design—one of her shoes was a lighter brown than the other, and the colors of her shirt in no way matched the color of her shorts—and there was what looked like a rather large dust ball stuck firmly to her right shoulder. She looked, in short, nothing like the blue-haired Valkyrie and thus Peorth knew she couldn't be Lind's daughter, though she was starting to have a horrible, terrible thought that she knew who this child was.

"Peorth," Lind started, a touch hesitantly, "this is Eira. We are to be her new caretakers."

"Eira," Peorth said, feeling the start of a headache forming. When she had wanted to not have to go back to work, this was not how she had planned on escaping it. She recognized the name, even if she had been unable to place the child's face; this little goddess was something of an infamous one, a wild trickster child who was notorious for never having the same caretaker for very long. Eira had the unfortunate moniker of 'Heaven's little terror', and while Peorth had never quite believed the various tall tales associated with the child she had also not anticipated having to deal with the girl herself.

What was the High Council even thinking?

"I've never heard of you," the child said, firmly establishing Peorth's annoyance—and there was a small degree of surprise, as that statement also appeared to include Lind, but Skuld too hadn't known of Lind either before first meeting the blue-haired goddess—and stared at her for a long moment, tilting her head.

"You're a first class goddess?" It sounded rather as if she found such a thought absurd, and Peorth's eyes narrowed.

"Both of us are." She delivered the words with as little annoyance as she could, though it was still evident by the tone of her voice. "My license is First Class, Category Two, Unlimited."

Eira didn't seem to find much interesting in that statement besides the fact that it confirmed her rank, and looked to Lind then, one eyebrow rising expectantly, as if she was asking And you?

Lind sighed, like she hadn't really decided to go about telling Eira her license to begin with whenever she had first introduced herself to the child, but said quietly, "First Class, Special Duty, Limited."

The little goddess looked for a heartbeat taken aback, and Peorth thought it was the Special Duty that she wasn't expecting. "You mean you're a Valkyrie?"

"…Yes…?" Lind frowned hesitantly, confusion surfacing in her eyes. Peorth could clearly see the question of Why does that matter? lurking in the depths of her gaze.

"Huh," the little goddess said, managing to achieve a tone similar to speculation. "I've never had a Valkyrie for a caretaker before. Or first class deities either." Before either of the older goddesses had the chance to say anything, a look of almost glee rapidly overtook Eira's features, glee and what could only be pride.

"I've gotten more important, haven't I?!" she wanted to know, her eyes alight. She jumped up, pulling on Lind's hand as she did so, and performing what had to be the strangest form of a happy dance Peorth had ever seen. Eira was bobbing her head, shaking a fist towards the sky, and bouncing in place, making a little skipping motion. Peorth honestly pitied Lind for having to hang on to her for the entire thing.

The dark-haired goddess looked to Lind, raising her eyebrows. "So we have to watch her, that's the assignment?" With everything she'd heard of the child, she worried their friendship might not remain intact by the end of the ordeal.

"Yes," the Valkyrie affirmed, nodding slightly. "And if at all possible, the High Council wishes us to teach her, if she will retain the knowledge."

Peorth's reply was interrupted by a sudden cackle from Eira, who had evidently completed her happy dance only to start snickering at both of them. Blue eyes looked up, a rather smug expression crossing the little goddess's face. "You do know how many other deities have come before you two, right?"

The dark-haired goddess made an attempt to recall exactly how many caretakers the child had had previously, but she had only ever heard of Eira in passing, usually through her subordinates gossiping about some horrible but usually inventive prank to befall one of her caretakers, and so she couldn't say she knew the true number. "…Twenty," she tried, and the child shook her head.

"Try again, you'll get there eventually! …Maybe," Eira tacked on at the end, somewhat doubtfully.

"Forty?" Peorth muttered, with a sense of dawning horror.

Eira's grin widened. Her eyes flicked to Lind, who could only shake her head mutely, and then the little goddess swiveled back to Peorth. Her broad grin didn't falter once as she pronounced all-too-happily, "The two of you together are my fifty-sixth caretaker!"

Heavens above, it was worse than Peorth had realized. She looked at Lind, and Lind looked back, and there was only one thought in their minds:

We are doomed.

Chapter 2: The Coming Storm

"Fifty-six," Peorth uttered to Lind in a low voice, as they made their way down the path. It had been decided that they might as well see what residence they had been granted for the duration of the assignment, and as it was a rather lovely day out, they had opted to walk rather than fly—well, that and there was the tiny fact that Eira couldn't fly, so one of the older goddesses would have had to carry her if they did so, and best to avoid that entirely—but the child herself kept running ahead, pigtails bouncing along behind her as she raced along.

"Yes," Lind agreed, blinking. "Fifty-six is the number she gave us."

"But that's a ridiculous number!" the dark-haired goddess grumbled, her hands twitching at her sides. She glanced ahead, to where Eira was spinning around a low-hanging tree branch. The little goddess paused in her game and turned to look at them, visibly frowning.

"Hurry up, you slowpokes! I thought you were first class goddesses! Can't you move any faster?"

"You don't even know where we're going," Peorth objected, narrowing her eyes. "And we'll move exactly as fast as we want to move, not because you say so."

Eira groaned, stamping a foot against the ground. "We're never going to get there at this rate," she grumbled dejectedly, crossing her arms. "How am I supposed to make up pranks if I don't know what the house even looks like?!"

"You can think about it while you walk," Peorth informed her, a tad waspishly, and as the child grudgingly started walking again, brown eyes slid sideways to Lind. "Actually, Lind, while we have the opportunity and the child is out of earshot, is there anything important I should know about Eira? Besides her unfortunate nickname?"

The blue-haired goddess tipped her head to the side thoughtfully. "Ah, well, her element is earth, like yours, so you may be able to assist her in that regard. I don't know if she will be very receptive to anything you try telling her, though. She has a bad habit of pulling pranks on her various caretakers, but you may have already known that—I had to rescue her previous caretaker, a goddess named Skadi, from a pile of living dust balls when I went to collect Eira from her."

"Living dust balls?" Peorth echoed, a note of amusement echoing in her voice despite herself as she raised an eyebrow. That was certainly one she hadn't heard of, and she'd spent a lot of time dealing with the hijinks associated with Urd and Skuld.

"I don't think that was exactly her intention with the spell, but yes," the Valkyrie bobbed her head in a small nod, her fingers flicking at her sides as if she was making a mental count of what information she had been given on the child. "She has some talent with both application spells and destruction spells, but she uses what little knowledge she has to further her pranks rather than attempting to become a valuable member of our society."

Peorth hummed absently, nodding to this; it made some sense—application spells were spells layered over objects, and destruction spells were, quite obviously, ones that caused damage upon their target—and both of which she could see having some use in whatever strange ideas for tricks on her caretakers emerged from Eira's head. "What about construction spells or reconstruction spells? Does she use those at all?"

"Not that I'm aware of, despite their plausible enhancement of whatever prank she may set up," Lind responded. "She has no designated alternative energy source, as she has never left Heaven, but in that case I believe she still requires at least some amount of sleep, which may be a boon to us. She doesn't have a transport medium, nor can she fly, but that, you have already been made aware of." She paused, eyebrows furrowing, and at last she said, "She has an angel."

"Oh, she does?" Peorth questioned, surprised. Although Eira was the right age to have hatched her angel, she hadn't thought any of the little goddess's previous caretakers would have opted to give her an angel's egg at some point during their stay when Eira would have been playing all sorts of various practical jokes on them.

As if sensing the direction her thoughts had gone to, the blue-haired goddess spoke up. "I'm not exactly certain as to where or how she received the egg, but nonetheless she has hatched an angel all the same. She gave her the name Brilliant Sunbeam, and the angel has green eyes and blonde hair—a little like Gorgeous Rose, I think, except she doesn't have your angel's particular form of…clothes—but there is one thing about her that is…unusual."

The dark-haired goddess frowned minutely. "Unusual how?" she queried, wondering now if the child possessed a similar supposed abnormality in her soul as Lind did, and that was why the Valkyrie had been selected as one of her caretakers.

"The angel is…" Lind's eyebrows drew closer together. "…very small," she finished after a pause, and held up her hand. "Perhaps not even taller than my hand."

"…Oh." Peorth blinked rapidly. "That means…her magical abilities aren't very developed then, despite whatever spells she uses in her tricks."

"It's probable that Brilliant Sunbeam may grow as Eira becomes more mature," Lind theorized, "but she would have to, as you said, advance in her magical skills. She does at least appear to understand that her angel will follow her orders absolutely, as she apparently hatched Brilliant Sunbeam some time ago and she has yet to say anything poorly-worded enough to cause her angel to return to dormancy."

The dark-haired goddess let out a sigh, idly blowing her bangs away from her face as she did so. "That's something, I suppose, but that also means we'll have to watch out for both of them, won't we?"

Lind made an apologetic face, and Peorth had the funny feeling they would probably be giving each other that look fairly often during their time watching Eira. "…Yes," the younger goddess agreed after a heartbeat, "Brilliant Sunbeam will assist Eira in her schemes if she requires the help, or so Skadi informed me. The angel is very small, so what aid she can offer isn't much, but she will do so."

"Hmm," Peorth muttered, and cast her eyes ahead, to where Eira was sitting in a patch of grass waiting for them to catch up to her—evidently, she had become bored with running—and the dark-haired goddess called, "Eira, come here for a minute!"

"What now?" the child huffed, but climbed to her feet anyways, trotting the short distance to stop in front of the pair of older goddesses. She was sporting quite the magnificent scowl, as if they were taking up a rather large amount of her time even when she didn't even know how long it would be before they reached their new abode.

"We want to meet your angel," Peorth told her, and the little goddess's eyebrows went up, like of all the things she thought Peorth and Lind were going to ask of her, this was the one question she hadn't expected, almost as if her previous caretakers hadn't really had cause to ask after her angel either.

But whatever surprise had come about from the asking of the question did not stop Eira from raising her hand dramatically towards the sky and calling out, "Come forth, Brilliant Sunbeam!" The flicker of pale light at her shoulders heralded the appearance of two truly tiny white-feathered wings, the little angel's body surfacing shortly thereafter. As Lind had described, she had blonde hair, some of which curled about her face, most of it falling loosely to a point between her chin and her shoulders, save for one little cowlick that sprang up from the middle of her bangs. Her eyes were a pale green, not the darker green that Peorth was used to seeing from her own angel. Her clothes were the standard white ribbons that angels usually wore—in fact Gorgeous Rose could be considered an oddity in that respect, as she was the only angel Peorth had ever seen whose clothes differed from the norm—and she possessed a pair of little white wings, ones that were marginally larger than the little angel herself. And indeed, she was incredibly small; she could have probably sat on one of Peorth's hands without any trouble.

Peorth didn't realize she'd said something along those lines out loud until Eira declared loudly, "She'll get bigger, just you wait!"

"…Of course," the dark-haired goddess said, a bit hastily, because Eira would certainly grow and who had ever heard of a full-grown deity with a tiny angel like that?

Eira's eyes narrowed sharply and she pointed accusingly at them, grumbling, "You just wanted to see her so that you could make fun of her, didn't you?"

"Not at all," Peorth answered, crossing her arms. After all, it was more to ascertain that the angel was indeed as tiny as Lind had said, and not for the sake of mocking the child's partner. "Actually," she said, a sudden thought having occurred to her, "I wanted to see if she really had green eyes."

"…Huh?" Having had her initial assumption thwarted, Eira was only able to tilt her head, her face screwing up with confusion. "What do you mean if she has green eyes? Of course she has green eyes!"

"My angel has green eyes," Peorth interrupted smoothly, before the little goddess could really get going on her rant, "and I just wanted to be certain of whether or not Brilliant Sunbeam had them as well. I haven't seen too many green-eyed angels, though admittedly angels can have all sorts of eye colors, so it's not as if it's an issue, I was simply curious."

"Oh…" the child blinked, annoyance subsiding into something like vague curiosity. "Really?"

"First class deities can't lie, or did no one ever tell you that?"

That was perhaps the wrong thing to say, as Eira visibly bristled, little Brilliant Sunbeam offering a small frown as the child exclaimed crossly, "Of course I knew that!" Despite the fact that her words were indicating she did know, there seemed to be a false note lurking in her voice, signaling to Peorth that the little goddess likely hadn't known of that all-important caveat attached to the rank of first class. Perhaps her previous caretakers had assumed she already knew, or perhaps she'd just never listened when anyone had told her so. All the same, it presented something of an annoyance, as Peorth realized this meant they would probably have to start at the very beginning if they were going to attempt teaching Eira magic, if she didn't understand such basic knowledge.

"Eira," Lind murmured, for the first time taking part in the conversation, "if we don't know how much knowledge you already have, we can't properly teach you how to better your magical skills."

The child puffed out her chest and stuck out her tongue. "I know plenty of spells! You'll see!" She grinned widely, annoyance gone in the face of what was no doubt maniacal, devious plotting on her part. "You'll learn," Eira said, in an almost sagely way, nodding and crossing her arms over her chest. "Just like all the others, you won't stay."

"Is that a challenge?" Peorth asked pointedly, wondering if it would behoove her to inform the little goddess of the fact that it was unwise to challenge her in anything, because she took her challenges incredibly seriously. She also took her grudges seriously, as Belldandy would know, but that was behind them now, and hopefully Eira wouldn't do anything stupid enough to accrue anything of that manner.

Eira inspected her nails airily, still grinning. "You know," she started conversationally, spinning around in a slow circle, her tiny angel fluttering about her head in lazy circles while shedding little white feathers in her wake, "why I've had so many caretakers, right?"

"Because you drive them all away with your stupid pranks," Peorth deadpanned, and the child clapped.

"Wow, you're really quick. Not like some of the others," and Eira shook her head in mock disappointment. "Since the two of you are a pair, I have four months to get rid of you! Single caretakers get only two months," she tacked on, and frowned momentarily, idly tugging at one of the locks of hair framing the left side of her face. "But…then again…you're first class and I've never had anyone ranked that high before, and I've never had a Valkyrie as a caretaker either…so does that mean more months or not…?" She hummed, as if this was actually a question worth seriously contemplating and Peorth let her be, considering otherwise she likely would have been coming up with horrible tricks to play on the dark-haired goddess and her partner. So anything that kept the young goddess's attention elsewhere was more than welcome.

Eira turned in place, saying, "I suppose I'll just have to wait and see," and raced off onwards up the path, Brilliant Sunbeam now clinging to the top of her head.

"You still have no idea where you're going!" Peorth yelled after her, sighing heavily. "Just…where are we living, anyways?" the dark-haired goddess questioned of Lind, having arrived at the sudden thought that she herself really wasn't sure what living accommodations they had been provided as Eira's caretakers.

The Valkyrie paused a moment before answering. "The western sector, quadrant three, block fifteen. The east said she wasn't to return until she had achieved a higher license, perhaps second class—she is currently ranked as fifth class, without any specialization, nor has she given any indication of which profession she intends to join—and the south didn't want her since the last time she and a caretaker resided there, there was an explosion of paint that covered nearly a fourth of the buildings in the second quadrant. There was also an incident with a gigantic mud pit, but no one seemed keen on elaborating on that one. I'm not certain why."

"…An explosion of paint…and a giant mud pit…" Peorth repeated slowly, rubbing at her forehead. "You didn't mention what the north sector said?"

Lind made a small face. "There was no reply."

"…That bad, huh?"

"Indeed."

Peorth let out a gusty sigh. "I must apologize in advance, because I fear for the state of our friendship by the end of this assignment."

The blue-haired goddess blinked, her head tilting faintly. "I doubt Eira can change what we already view of each other," she said slowly, "it is only our opinion of her that will change."

"Have you heard of some of the crazy things she can get up to?" Peorth asked, lifting one eyebrow.

"There are some in the combat division who listen to the rumor mill, but whatever I have heard of Eira has been very little and usually she is only being mentioned in passing," Lind explained, "I only know what Skadi told me about her experience with Eira, and that was with some effort on my part."

"Some effort?" Peorth echoed, and then she understood: of course, most deities knew of Lind's reputation as an incredibly violent goddess, and the fact that she had a one-winged angel; and Lind had never elaborated on the fact of whether or not she had told anyone that she could call upon both of her angels after the incident with the Angel Eater. It had never come up during their conversation while watching Chrono hunt down the notes for the rhythm orb; truthfully they had spoken mostly of pleasantries, or comments on Chrono's performance, or little notes about how different things were between working in Yggdrasil's mainframe and fighting in the combat division. So Skadi must not have been overly pleased to see who would be taking Eira from her, even if she must have been happy to see the child go. "…Was she afraid of you?" she asked quietly.

"Afraid is not exactly the word I would use," Lind replied, her tone carefully neutral. "She was…wary, perhaps. Earnest to see that I was quickly gone. She…appreciated the assistance in removing the child's spell from the dust balls, and explained those when coerced, but…I think she was much happier when the door was shut behind us."

"That's rude, you know," Peorth said, frowning. "You could have told her—"

"There would be no point," Lind said stiffly, in what was likely the first time Peorth had ever heard her be impolite enough to actually interrupt someone already speaking. "It can't be changed now, and…I—thank you for your concern, Peorth, but it is unnecessary."

There were a few choice things that Peorth would have liked to say, but the look on Lind's face stalled her. She settled for muttering, "We will talk more about this," with a meaningful look in Lind's direction. And the younger goddess only nodded, like she had seen this coming and was resigned to the inevitable questioning, whenever it was to come.

Eira came running back to them, inadvertently dispelling the gloomy mood that had settled over the two older goddesses, and the child shouted ecstatically, "I found buildings! We're not hopelessly lost after all!"

"I'm sure you did," Peorth said, unsure of whether she was supposed to be proud or if she was to find the comment funny. She was slightly irked by Eira's other comment about them being hopelessly lost, because of course they knew where they were going—or, well, Lind was the one who had always known where they were going but now that she'd informed Peorth the dark-haired goddess too was aware of their location in relation to their destination—and said sternly, "We aren't lost, Eira, you're the only one here who doesn't know where we're headed."

"You never told me where we were going!" the child complained.

Peorth's eyes narrowed. "You didn't ask," she replied testily, one eye twitching. Was this how it was going to be the entire time? And who even knew how long it would be, either?

As the little goddess started to say, "Well, you were always saying—" Lind sighed, a noise that sounded suspiciously like children, and said quietly, "We're almost there, so if you would keep your bickering to a minimum until we've arrived…"

Eira frowned but turned, squinting at the buildings they were coming up to. "So which one is it? They all look the same…oh wait, I think I know this place! That fountain, I'm sure I've filled it with bubbles before!" She pointed excitedly to a simple fountain wrought into the shape of a large tree, the water trickling from its roots into a little pool below.

"How lucky we are to have a house near where you've played your pranks previously," Peorth said dryly—perhaps that might make guessing what the child might do a little more predictable—and leaned down to mutter to Lind in a slightly more genuine manner, "And how lucky we are to have received a house on such short notice given that we have to deal with Eira."

The blue-haired goddess looked apologetic again, her lips twitching towards a small frown that appeared somewhat sympathetic. "You might not think us so lucky after all…I think they misunderstood me, when I was filling out the forms for the housing, because we were allotted a two-bedroom house." She paused, taking in a long breath. "And neither of us will likely be sharing a room with Eira, so it will be you and I together—unless you would prefer otherwise—" she finished hastily, glancing up at Peorth, blue eyes uncertain, "—if there is something else you wish—"

Peorth shook her head, lightly tapping the younger goddess's shoulder to pause her increasingly-jumbled words. "I would much appreciate it if neither of us had to share a room with that child," she rushed to say, a touch fervently, "you are a much better option than Eira, trust me on that."

Lind gave her a look like she wasn't entirely certain of that, but nodded tentatively all the same. "If…if you don't mind, then…"

"…What's with that look?" Peorth wanted to know, secretly suspicious that their conversation was going to veer into the territory of 'things she did not like to remember'.

"Oh, it's just—" And the Valkyrie hesitated, her eyes fixing on a point in front of them. "I…thought you would mind," she said finally, "because—well, I don't really know much about it, no one ever gave me any specifics, but there was something about you and…the Gate? And Urd and Skuld too, and—"

Peorth's eye twitched. "That's not something I like to remember." She made a face, scowling at the dirt. "And I would be very happy if it faded into obscurity, never to be heard of again."

Lind blinked, but after a moment added, "There was also a mention of something about you and Belldandy…?"

"Can't we forget about that too?" the dark-haired goddess muttered, eyes flicking sideways to the other deity, feeling a tad vindictive. "And while we're on this subject," she started, raising one eyebrow pointedly, "what about you and Hild?"

Annoyance crossed Lind's face, annoyance and something like distaste. "Please don't ever mention that ever again."

"How come you get to use that excuse but I don't?" Peorth complained, tugging lightly at her ponytail.

"Because mine involved a demon and at least both of yours were of heavenly origin?" the blue-haired goddess elaborated. "And it was a nuisance of a trick, besides."

"Hey now, I was tricked too!" Peorth defended herself indignantly.

Lind's eyebrows rose upwards briefly. "Belldandy tricked you?" The amount of skepticism in her voice was actually somewhat impressive, considering her usual tone of voice was matter-of-fact or somewhat awkward if it was concerning something she didn't quite understand or wasn't good at.

"Well—" Peorth hesitated, now having to think of a better way to put it to prevent actively lying about it. "Belldandy wasn't necessarily tricking me, per se, but it was really only to remove some water spirits from me—" and here she added mentally, and I may have had a hand in getting myself into that situation, but kept that to herself, no need to go into details "—but that's not the point! Is that why you were thinking I would refuse such an arrangement?"

"Ye-es?" Lind asked, dragging out the word into two syllables.

The dark-haired goddess sighed, waving a hand dismissively. "The only thing I would be worried about would be if you were planning on kissing me randomly out of the blue, which, you aren't, correct?"

"Oh, n-no, I would never—" The Valkyrie shook her head quickly, her pale hair flying about her face, and the motion brought to Peorth's attention another small detail about Lind that she'd missed before.

"You're growing your hair out," she commented, noting that whereas Lind's hair previously had been mostly the same length with the asymmetric longer bangs on her right side, now it was all more-or-less the same length, and actually brushed her shoulders when she moved her head.

The blue-haired goddess glanced at her. "Is that…bad?" she murmured, looking for a moment indecisive.

"Just different, that's all," Peorth reassured her, the sounds of wild splashing distracting her from continuing the conversation. She looked sideways, to where Eira had taken advantage of their lapse in watching her to climb into the fountain and run through the water, sending little sprays of water everywhere.

"Eira, get out of there!" Peorth yelled, earning herself a few looks from deities passing by—though most of them seemed at the very least sympathetic to the pair's plight—and marched over to the base of the fountain, waiting until Eira circled around the tree again before extending her hand, a vine surging into existence and wrapping around the child's left wrist, hauling her out of the pool and back onto the ground, half-soaked.

"You're so boring," Eira complained, squeezing some water out of her shorts. "I was having fun!"

"Yes, well, fun with you is never good," Peorth said, grasping her hand in an effort to make sure the young goddess wasn't going to be running off again, not when they were so close to their destination. "Now come along, we're nearly there—"

"Wait, I want to see it!" Eira exclaimed, turning back to the fountain. With a sense of dawning dread, Peorth turned as well, seeing in her peripheral vision Lind looking wary, and they were just in time to witness the water in the fountain churn and explode into a wide array of bubbles.

Eira cheered, throwing up her hands, and Peorth let go of her to prevent having to keep her still. The little goddess gave a dramatic bow, chirping, "I don't really like to repeat pranks, but it was too good to pass up!" Brilliant Sunbeam kept floating through the rain of bubbles, some in truth bigger than she was, occasionally poking a few and looking startled when they popped.

Peorth pinched the bridge of her nose, grimacing. "And just how long do these bubbles last?"

"Not that long!" the child said brightly, "Only…an hour or so. You act like it's never going back to normal!"

The dark-haired goddess groaned. "Alright, come on, let's go…" adding mentally, before you pull any more pranks when we haven't even made it to the house yet! And so the trio of goddesses headed away from the scene of the crime; although, putting it like that made it sound a lot more incriminating, when really as long as the change wasn't permanent no one was likely to care all that much, and at least any young children passing by might have some fun with the bubbles.

The house they had been allotted was average-sized for a dwelling in Heaven, but was also dwarfed by both of the buildings next to it. It was fairly plain as well, no accents or particularly bright colors that would indicate it having been previously owned by someone with preferences differing from the original format. The house was rather close to the edge of the sector, and if Peorth looked backwards past the building behind them she could see the forest, leaves waving in the light breeze. Truthfully she suspected the reason they were so far out was due to whatever terrible pranks Eira had played the last time she had been here.

"It's a bit…small, don't you think?" Peorth said slowly.

Lind tilted her head. "Didn't you say we were lucky to have received housing at all on such short notice?"

"Well, yes, but…" As the dark-haired goddess scratched at the back of her head awkwardly, trying to think up a clever counter to that comment, she noticed something was missing—or rather, one little someone was missing.

"…Hey, where did Eira go?"

Chapter 3: A Moment’s Reprieve

"… Hey, where did Eira go?"

Peorth's voice echoed in the small space as she and Lind exchanged a quick glance. The little goddess wasn't standing behind them, nor did it appear that she'd circled around them and run into the house, because they would have seen her do so.

"You don't suppose she could have gone back to the fountain?" Lind suggested after a heartbeat, tilting her head slightly, the expression on her face clearly saying how optimistic she was of this thought: not incredibly so.

"…Perhaps," Peorth muttered, an eyebrow twitching as she glanced back. "Why don't you check inside the house, just to be sure, and around here—" she gestured vaguely to their little yard "—and I'll look back around the fountain and along the edge of the houses? She can't have gotten very far, I don't think…"

"She did say she knows this location," the blue-haired goddess warned. "At the very least, she has been here before, and we have not. It may be more difficult for us to find her."

Peorth heaved a long sigh. "See, this is why I don't want children," she grumbled under her breath, "they're always running off, never listening when you tell them things…" She gave an absent shrug of her shoulders, narrowing her eyes. "But we will find her, even if we have to hunt through every house in this sector to do it. I won't be made a fool by an annoying brat!"

"That's…very…determined of you?" Lind tried, looking rather awkward again, but all the same headed towards the house, disappearing inside. Peorth walked back along the route they had taken, eyes hunting for any sigh of pale brown hair or mismatched clothes, but when she arrived back at the fountain—and it was still spewing bubbles, some having leaked over the rim to puddle on the ground, while the rest seemed built up around the tree, so that it appeared as if the silver metal was caught in a bubbly cloud—there was no sign of the little goddess.

The dark-haired goddess rubbed at her forehead, sighing again. Why anyone thought this was a good idea was beyond her, because clearly they couldn't even keep track of the child for more than fifteen minutes, much less a month or longer! A thought occurred to her then: if Eira knew this place, if she had played her pranks here before, then she might have left some sort of stash of supplies hidden somewhere, in the event she eventually returned with a different caretaker? Of course, they wouldn't have been given the same house as Eira would have been in the last time she had lived in the western sector, but it had to be nearby, surely—

Then again, this line of thinking was based entirely on the logic that Eira would have had the forward-thinking to actually create a stash for possible future pranks, and Peorth was extremely uncertain that the child possessed that many thoughts of the future. She seemed to be more the kind who acted in the moment, uncaring of what consequences might occur as a result of her actions; and that was, for Peorth and Lind, a bad place for the child to be, as she wouldn't necessarily recognize that her actions might cause unfortunate mishaps.

It was clear to Peorth that they would have to outline some rules, whenever they actually found Eira again; and she was dearly hoping that would be soon, as she didn't want to have to search every single house in the sector just to find the wayward little goddess. Oh, she would do it; she would definitely do it, that just didn't mean she would like it, all of that time-wasting and running around.

"Eira!" she called, loudly enough to disturb some of the bubbles in the fountain, but the little goddess didn't appear. Now she found herself wishing she had put some sort of tracking device on the child, just so that she and Lind wouldn't have to go through the effort of having to hunt her down by sight and sound alone. But alas, she did without, and so she peered closely at the alleyways on her way back, searching for any tiny little figure scurrying through the shadows, gazing at the distant trees still visible between the houses—

The trees!

Peorth paused in step, staring hard at the forest. Surely Eira couldn't be thinking of running away? After all, how was she supposed to maintain her reputation if she wasn't actually there to perform pranks? Or had she come to the conclusion that she had no hope of dissuading them from their assignment and had opted instead to just remove herself entirely?

But that didn't really seem in line with what they'd seen of Eira's personality thus far—while she was eager to defy the pair of older goddesses, she didn't appear as if she intended to give up her claim that she could force them to leave through her pranks—so Peorth reluctantly set that assumption aside. It still begged the question of where she might have gone, though.

And if they were going to have to search the entire forest just for that one tiny goddess, Peorth was going to be severely annoyed; that and two first class goddesses shouldn't be reduced to running around through the woods looking for a trickster child that refused to stay still.

She glanced back towards the fountain, with its bubbles still climbing steadily, nearly obscuring the silver tree entirely, and could see no sign of a tiny Eira-shaped shadow lurking about near the pool. Grimacing, she started down the alleyway towards the trees, pausing to consider if she should go get Lind, too, before traipsing through the woods on an Eira hunt, but she had no idea how far the child had gotten—if indeed she had run to the forest—and time was perhaps of the essence, so she resolved to get Lind if she couldn't find Eira after ten minutes had passed.

Although, ten minutes was a long time in child terms, so—five minutes, Peorth decided, five minutes and then she would ask the Valkyrie to help her. She left behind the buildings of the western sector and was just approaching the trees when she heard the distinct sound of a twig snapping. The dark-haired goddess narrowed her eyes, a frown crossing her face, and stood perfectly still, scanning the shadows at the edges of the tree trunks. She crossed her arms, waiting until a little shadow flickered near a particularly tall tree, and flung out her hand, Gorgeous Rose rapidly surfacing, the vines on her forearms leaping out to curl around both of Eira's arms and all but hauling her to Peorth. Peorth raised one eyebrow sharply, at least on eye level with the child as Gorgeous Rose was holding her at that point, with the little goddess's feet dangling a good ways from the ground.

Eira grinned, a kind of awkward half-sheepish grin, and she commented nonchalantly—despite the fact that she could be in danger of falling at any moment—"You're faster than I expected you to be."

"Don't underestimate a first class goddess," Peorth informed her, a touch snappishly, her eyes snapping to the object clutched in the child's right hand, what appeared to be a very crude knife, the blade fairly blunt so the older goddess felt justified in thinking that Eira wasn't running around attacking people with it, but she still had no idea what the young goddess was doing with it in the first place. "And just what are you doing with that?"

"Who, me?" the child's grin widened, her legs kicking uselessly at the air. "I'm innocent, I swear!" Her arms twitched, like she would have put her hand over her heart to complete the overdramatic delivery, but as she was still being held up by Peorth's angel, all she ended up doing was swinging back and forth, almost managing to kick Peorth in the shoulder if not for Gorgeous Rose moving forwards.

"You do know you'll never become a first class goddess if you can't refrain from lying?" the dark-haired goddess asked, shaking her head slightly.

Eira stuck out her tongue. "What do you care, you'll be gone soon anyways!" Her eyes tracked upwards, and before Peorth could begin to retort that obviously the child had not become aware of the fact that Peorth certainly intended to prove her wrong, Eira tilted her head, scrunching her eyebrows closer together and pronounced, "Your angel's weird."

"Excuse me?!" Peorth demanded, one eye twitching.

"Why doesn't she have real clothes?" Eira asked, evidently unaware that imminent doom was fast approaching and that she was only digging herself a deeper hole. "Don't those thorns hurt?"

The ground trembled beneath Peorth's shoes. Insults to herself she could take—not very well, mind you, but she could—but insults to her angel, however, she refused to ignore. She opened her mouth—

Fortunately for Eira's continued existence in a state of relative good health, the other half of the so-called Amazing Pair had figured out when Peorth had not immediately returned from the fountain that she had taken an alternate route, and just before Peorth was about to speak, a hand lightly touched her shoulder. She glanced sideways, anger slightly withering at the sight of Lind standing there, a puzzled expression on her face.

"What has Eira done?"

Peorth huffed. "She called Gorgeous Rose weird," she scowled, telling her angel to let the child down—finally—and Lind frowned faintly, tipping her head slightly to the side.

The blue-haired goddess crouched next to Eira, who wasn't running off for once, and met her eyes, saying, "It's very rude to insult another's angel, Eira, and I would ask that you apologize."

"What if I don't want to?" the child taunted, pursing her lips and blowing a raspberry.

Lind sighed, like she was starting to regret having accepted a position as one of Eira's caretakers, and stared carefully at the little goddess, Peorth following her line of sight to the tiny pale figure of Brilliant Sunbeam, once again manifested now that there was no apparent danger, and sitting quietly on Eira's head. "Eira," Lind said softly, an almost bleak expression upon her face, like this was a topic she was not very fond of, "you were offended when Peorth called Brilliant Sunbeam small, yes?"

"So?" Eira blinked.

The Valkyrie sighed again—Peorth wondered if it was that Eira was truly that obtuse that she couldn't connect the dots without an explanation, or if she was simply determined to be difficult no matter what they happened to be talking about—and carried on. "If you are unhappy at an insult to your angel, it stands to good reason that anyone else would react the same should you insult their angel. Unless you want Peorth to have free reign to insult Brilliant Sunbeam as she wishes, then it would be wise of you to apologize now."

Light blue eyes skated sideways to find Peorth, who crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Trust me," the dark-haired goddess said, perhaps a little too vindictively, "I will be able to come up with more insults than you can." It helped that she'd grown up with an older brother and thus had heard all the textbook child insults and then some.

A gleam had come to Eira's eyes, and the child started, "Are you sure about—"

"Eira," Lind said sharply, and the little goddess scowled mightily, huffing and reaching up to her tiny angel, Brilliant Sunbeam fluttering to sit neatly on her palm.

"…Sorry," Eira muttered, utterly ungracious and not making any effort to hide it; Peorth, for one, was shocked that she had actually complied with Lind's request, but it may have had something to do with the fact that the blue-haired goddess was still, after all, a Valkyrie, and perhaps Eira had been concerned that she would use force to bring about obedience.

Peorth didn't think that Lind would use force against the child, though; as much as Lind was socially inept, there was the point to be made that the blue-haired goddess was still kind-hearted and honest to a fault, and she couldn't see Lind ever even dreaming of striking a child, not in anger and not in some hope of garnering compliance to a demand, not even for a child as difficult as Eira.

"Thank you," the dark-haired goddess said, dipping her head in acknowledgement despite that Eira's apology was incredibly insincere; she felt Gorgeous Rose give the little goddess a long look before grudgingly nodding as well, retreating back to the rosebush-filled field that was her place of residence within Peorth's mind.

Lind climbed back to her feet, the pair of bracelets on her forearms jingling when she did so. Peorth tilted her head, studying the younger goddess's attire for a few moments—it was still strange to see her friend not wearing the Valkyrie's uniform, and it looked like even Lind herself was a little surprised by her own clothes, likely having been much more accustomed to her regular outfit—and now that they were standing in near-direct sunlight, her eyes picked out tiny silver flickers across Lind's arms. Not runes, or magic, she thought, but resolved to bring it up another time, preferably when Eira was not within earshot.

"Shall we go?" she questioned instead, reaching down and grabbing hold of Eira's wrist—as the child was still holding her little knife in that hand—determined not to let the young goddess sneak off again.

Her partner gave her a solemn nod, falling into step on the other side of Eira, so the child was between them, and in that manner the trio made their way back into the winding rows of houses, bypassing the fountain—the bubbles seemed at last to be dying off now that there were no more disturbances to the water—and arrived back at their little house. Peorth was hoping that she wouldn't have to be performing too many reconstruction spells on their abode, but considering some of the wild tales that came with Eira, she was beginning to think if nothing else she was going to get some major practice with those spells, even if she already could perform them flawlessly.

Their house had no accents or even any wall colors differing from the plain uniform gray—nor were there any signs that it had not always been so—not even on the inside, which indicated to Peorth that it was likely this building was one that was kept up just for various occupants and not intended as a permanent home for anyone, perhaps also one of the reasons Lind must have been able to receive notification of available housing so quickly. The furniture was sparse, but at the very least it was nicely-made, so she couldn't really complain. There were a couple of potted plants, rather small and only having a couple of tiny white flowers, but they could be easily overlooked.

Eira kept walking through the rooms, testing all the furniture, peering under the chairs and beds, standing on the table and staring up at the ceiling, poking at the plants, an expression of surprising concentration on her face. So, Peorth reflected, she can be serious about something, even if it's only her pranks. For surely that had to be what the child was doing, investigating their residence for potential prank material, as she couldn't come up with another reason as to why Eira would be so thorough in exploring.

"Eira," Lind called, distracting the child from pulling on one of the plants' thin leaves, and the little goddess scampered over to where Lind was standing by another doorway. "This is your room," was as far as the Valkyrie got, because the child whirled around, an expression of what could only be exaggerated happiness on her face, reaching over and patting Lind's leg.

"Oh, you two gave me my own room? I'm liking you better already!" She cackled, like this was an amusing thought, and grinned widely, clasping her hands loosely in front of her, Brilliant Sunbeam now sitting serenely on her shoulder. "You get tonight only," she said, bouncing into her room with a flourish.

"Tonight?" Peorth repeated, blinking.

"You get tonight as your last night of peace," the little goddess chortled, appearing to take great glee in this statement. "Tomorrow…" She leaned back out of the doorway, giving the two older goddesses an upside-down manic grin. "Tomorrow the war begins!"

And on that cheerful note, she disappeared into her room and shut the door.

Several long beats of silence stretched between Peorth and Lind as they only stared at each other, Eira's words still hanging in the air: Tomorrow the war begins. Peorth ran a hand through her hair, sighing; she didn't even want to think about whatever the child was plotting, and no doubt they'd surely run into something tomorrow, a thought she was not looking forward to, but she supposed they could use this time to try and figure out, of the available items in the house, what Eira could use for pranks and how she could go about doing so.

Another thought occurred to her, and she looked sideways to Lind. "Where's our room, by the way?"

"Ah, this way," the blue-haired goddess told her, heading down the hallway, turning left and opening another door. Peorth followed after her, shutting the door behind them and studying the room through narrowed eyes. At least the bed looked like it was big enough to fit both of them, with a little space besides. There was a little nightstand—with nothing on it—and a closet, which only had a few slightly different variants of the standard goddess's uniform. The dark-haired goddess frowned faintly; she could, of course, expend the effort to make it look nicer, but she wasn't incredibly optimistic of it staying that nice when Eira was running around. Reluctantly she decided to leave the room be for now, and crossed to the bed, sitting down on it to test how soft it was. "…Adequate, I suppose," she muttered to herself, and met Lind's eyes. "Which side?"

"Side?" the Valkyrie repeated, her eyebrows furrowing.

"Which side of the bed do you want?" Peorth elaborated, "Right or left?"

Lind looked momentarily puzzled, as if she had not anticipated such a question. "Oh, um…" She treaded closer, tilting her head. "Ah, well, it doesn't really—if there is a side you would prefer…"

Peorth raised her shoulders in a minute shrug. "Alright, then I'll have the—" She checked to make sure which side she was sitting on in relation to Lind, "—the left side here, and you can have the right."

Lind bobbed her head in a nod, not seeming overly concerned about the matter, and sat down on the other side of the bed without comment. Peorth hummed absently, drumming her fingers on the mattress. "Say, Lind, how often have you slept next to someone else?"

"How often?" the blue-haired goddess murmured, a pensive look flickering through her deep blue eyes. "Ah, well…not very often," she admitted after a long heartbeat, adding hastily, "but—I don't—I mean, I'm not going to hurt you—"

Peorth laughed; she couldn't help it. "Oh, no, I didn't think you were going to attack me in your sleep," she said, shaking her head slightly, "at least, not without prior provocation, anyways. No, I was just asking because I don't want to make you uncomfortable. Heaven knows we're going to have enough problems with Eira, there's no need to bring additional chaos with disagreements between us. Also…" She hesitated, trying for a smile and feeling as though it turned out far too sheepish, "I asked because there's something you should know about my sleeping habits…"

Lind raised her eyebrows, a sudden suspicious look crossing her face. "You don't kiss people in your sleep, do you?"

"What?" Peorth narrowed her eyes. "No, of course not. Besides, I'm taller than you, so it wouldn't work even if I did."

Lind looked somewhat skeptical of that comment. "Doesn't that only work if we're standing?" she pointed out, indicating the pair of pillows at the head of the bed. "The pillows are at the same height, so it shouldn't matter how tall I am in relation to you, it just means that you take up more space lengthwise, doesn't it?"

"Well…yes," Peorth was forced to admit, because the Valkyrie was at least using logic in her refutation, "but that's not the point! I don't kiss people in my sleep!" She paused. "But…I have been told that I hug people in my sleep sometimes, so I wanted to forewarn you, because I'd rather not wake up to find my face stuck to the wall."

The blue-haired goddess frowned tentatively, absorbing this information slowly. "…You…hug people…in your sleep…"

"They say I'm overly affectionate," Peorth waved her hand dismissively. "But, all the same, is it going to bother you?"

Lind stared at her hands, loosely threading her fingers together, a strange expression on her face. "A-ah, well, I—I—"

"…When was the last time somebody hugged you, Lind?" Peorth wanted to know.

The Valkyrie's eyebrows drew closer together, that faintly puzzled expression resurfacing in her eyes. "…Belldandy," she said at last, "during the…the fight with the Angel Eater."

"And before that?"

"What does it matter?"

"Lind," Peorth began, a distinct cold feeling settling over her, "you're not telling me that Belldandy was the first person to ever hug you in your entire life, are you?"

"My parents did," Lind replied, though she muttered something under her breath that sounded rather like not very often and it was a long time ago. "S-so Belldandy wasn't the only one—"

"It's not that I disbelieve you," Peorth said, "it's just—I wanted you to be aware, alright? And should I be worried that I'm going to be rudely awoken by being punched through walls?"

Lind made a face. "I wouldn't…hit you through the wall…"

"So I should be worried," Peorth deadpanned.

"No, I—" Lind hunched her shoulders, her fingers quivering. "You—you shouldn't have to change anything you do, not for me," she mumbled, glancing back up to Peorth. "And…" She let out a long breath. "…if you are—only going to be possibly hugging me in your sleep—" She raised her eyebrows expectantly, but when the dark-haired goddess remained silent, she continued, "—then there…shouldn't be any problems."

Peorth smiled. "We have an accord, then," and she extended her hand. The Valkyrie eyed her, as if she was anticipating something terrible to be happening in the future—though with Eira around, that could be veritably guaranteed—but she did shake Peorth's hand, which the dark-haired goddess counted as an accomplishment.

"…Peorth, you can let go of my hand now…"

"Eh?" The dark-haired goddess blinked, realizing that indeed, she hadn't released Lind's hand, but she was reminded of an earlier thought and leaned forwards curiously, squinting at the silvery marks she could only just see in the light. "What's wrong with your arms, Lind?"

"Nothing's wrong with…" Lind trailed off, reaching across with her free hand, lightly tapping one of the marks, a long thin silver line across the top of her forearm. "You mean these?"

"Yes." Peorth looked back up, seeing a slightly surprised expression on Lind's face, as if the Valkyrie hadn't expected Peorth to point out the marks at all, or maybe it was that she didn't know what they were—even if she had something of a tiny suspicion—

"They're scars," Lind answered her question, tilting her head, pale hair swishing across her shoulder. "…Why do you seem so surprised? Is it not natural for a warrior to bear such marks?"

Peorth frowned. "Why do you have so many? The combat division has healers, don't they?"

"There are healers," Lind agreed, "but some wounds are not so easy to heal with purely magic. Sometimes it is that the manner of attack is what prevents complete healing. And sometimes it's due to you exceeding your own body's limitations that can bring about such scars, and that…can't be helped." She blinked. "Ah, but I think the kind you would be more familiar with would look more like this?" She shifted aside her sleeve, pointing out a little dark line close to her shoulder. This scar was grayish in color, more obvious to Peorth's eyes than the lighter silver ones.

"The darker color indicates a demonic origin," Lind explained quietly. "You would have one this color as well, from the Angel Eater. I don't know that you've seen it, but—"

"No, I know," Peorth interrupted, lips twitching towards a frown. It was very tiny, the scar she had, the little grayish crescent shape centered squarely between her shoulder blades, at the point where Gorgeous Rose emerged from her body. It was very tiny, but she had noticed it easily enough when she looked; at least it wasn't very big, and usually her clothes hid it, but even if it was visible she had a fairly good idea that if anything most people would simply attribute it to be a shadow or a discoloration in her skin, and not view it as a scar. Not that it particularly mattered to her either way, but it was always good when people wouldn't be gawking at you for something like that. That little scar was the only one she herself carried, as she didn't normally face off against demonic creatures, or even participate in battle at all. Gorgeous Rose had some pale gray markings on her left wing's primary feathers, from when she had shielded Peorth from Welsper's attack, but those were very hard to see without proper lighting.

She looked back to Lind, shaking herself out of her thoughts. "I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for?" the younger goddess asked, bewilderment lacing her tone. "It is my duty as a Valkyrie to fight for Heaven. Many of these scars are indicative of past victories, and no warrior would willingly part with them."

Peorth eyed her, noting that she had said 'many of' and not 'all of', and wondered just how many of Lind's scars she wasn't so fond of, considering that she appeared to have a great deal of them, if her arms were any indication. "Still, I'm sorry for what you've had to go through."

Lind stared at her blankly for several seconds, as though processing these words, before lowering her head, blinking. "There is no need to feel sorry for me," she said again, and her gaze fell to their hands. "…And are you going to keep holding my hand or can I have it back now…?"

Peorth let go of her, huffing, "Very well, you may have your hand back," though she lightened her voice in an effort to show Lind she was only teasing, even if she wasn't entirely sure the blue-haired goddess completely understood.

Conversation dwindled, and though Peorth was wary enough to be checking various parts of the house for any possible traps connived by Eira throughout the day, the little goddess was true to her word, and the day turned out to be entirely uneventful, save for how they had arrived at the house in the first place.

Peorth gazed up at the ceiling, letting her eyes fall half-closed. She wasn't entirely certain she wanted to sleep, when she knew what would be happening in the morning, but some part of her knew it was probably wise to take the undisturbed sleep when she could get it, because she would probably wish for it later on.

For what it was worth, she hoped it wouldn't turn out too horribly. She certainly didn't plan on sacrificing her friendship with Lind because of Eira.

"…Tomorrow the war begins, huh…?"

She smiled slightly. Eira would find them harder to drive away than her previous caretakers, Peorth would make sure of that.

It was a challenge, after all.

Chapter 4: The War Begins

Lind did not anticipate sleeping all that much, even with Peorth's insistence that they rest so that they could properly deal with whatever it was that the child would be leaving in wait for them; she had never been particularly good at sleeping, especially not after she had first hatched Spear Mint, as she tended to dwell in things she shouldn't. At least one of them was getting sleep, if Peorth's quiet snores were any indication.

She sighed softly, rolling back over and studying Peorth's face in the gloom for a few moments; the older goddess didn't appear to be dreaming either, only sleeping, and for all that she appeared to have been wary of Eira's potential shenanigans she had fallen asleep fairly quickly. If Lind stretched out her arm enough even just to extend her forearm her fingers would have touched Peorth's shoulder, and that was something of an odd thought.

The blue-haired goddess hadn't lied—well, she couldn't tell a lie, with the caveat attached to her rank—when she'd told Peorth that she hadn't slept next to someone else very often. It wasn't as if she slept much to begin with, but whenever she did, usually on various missions, she had generally ended up by herself if there happened to be enough space. And if there wasn't enough space, people were often well-motivated to make space.

So it was more than a little unusual, to be so close to Peorth, when she had originally assumed the older goddess would not be so fond of this specific arrangement. Truthfully Lind had expected that she herself would just end up sleeping on the floor, which wouldn't have been such a horrible outcome, since she'd slept on worse terrain than the floor of a perfectly stable building; though she had considered that Peorth might feel guilty taking up the entire bed by herself, but she wasn't certain enough of the dark-haired goddess's personality to know either way.

She turned her head slightly, stretching her ears in case she heard Eira sneaking around in the hallway, but there was no sounds she could hear save for Peorth and herself. She knew whatever prank the child managed to contrive out of the objects in the house she happened to find useful wouldn't hurt them, or at least, that wasn't the intention. From what she had been told, Eira's pranks seemed to be primarily focused on being a nuisance rather than actual harm. The little goddess wanted them to 'go away', and her ridiculous pranks were how she intended to achieve that goal.

Lind and Peorth were the child's fifty-sixth caretakers. It was an absurd number, and a waste besides, of how much time and effort Eira could have been using to better means. The blue-haired goddess was not as optimistic as Peorth of their chances of getting Eira to understand any knowledge they tried to give her; nor was she under any delusions that they might actually succeed at teaching the child anything lasting. She herself had never had the so-called privilege of teaching anyone anything, regardless of their age or their profession, and while she thought Peorth might have had the opportunity to teach others, those students would not have been as young or as obstinate as Eira.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Peorth rolled over, although not in the direction that would lead to her falling on the floor, oh no; and she learned, rather quickly, that the older goddess had not been exaggerating about her 'overly affectionate' tendencies. Peorth had been at a slight angle before she'd moved, so her chin was roughly even with Lind's forehead, but the blue-haired goddess found out that didn't even matter, because when Peorth reached out to her—clearly having comprehended that she'd hit something, regardless of the fact that she was still fully asleep—their heads didn't even end up close to each other.

Lind's eye twitched. Carefully she turned her head, eyeing the distant ceiling, telling herself to relax—after all, Peorth had seen fit to warn her, though she hadn't imagined she'd have to deal with anything like this so soon, and at the very least she'd seen it coming, so she'd been able to quell the instinctive response that was remove anything that comes into physical contact with me unexpectedly. She let out a small breath, mumbling, "Peorth?" into the quiet, but the dark-haired goddess's even breaths didn't falter.

She supposed she would simply have to deal with the apology in the morning, and resigned herself to using Peorth's chest as a pillow—as she had no desire to hurt the older goddess in attempting to free herself from Peorth's embrace, given that Peorth was holding onto her rather tightly—and shut her eyes. May as well attempt to get whatever sleep she could, considering the circumstances.

Lind did not recall dreaming; all she knew was that she was blinking open her eyes to hazy sunlight streaming in through the window on the far side of the room. The Valkyrie tilted her head back, relieved to see that if nothing else Peorth hadn't ended up drooling on her sometime during the night, and said, softly at first, "Peorth, wake up."

The dark-haired goddess slept on peacefully, and Lind narrowed her eyes. "Peorth," she said, more loudly this time, and at this the older goddess jerked awake, brown eyes flying open, a spiel of "Huh? What? What happened, what's going—" falling from her mouth, her voice fading into silence when she looked down.

And Peorth could only smile awkwardly at the sight, that same somewhat-sheepish grin from the previous night. "Ah—I'm sorry about this, I—did I bother you?" It seemed like 'bother' wasn't quite the word she was looking for, but that was what had come out of her mouth all the same.

"…I didn't throw you into the wall," Lind felt compelled to point out, though it spoke less to her measures of self-control and more to the fact that she'd been awake to see it happen, while shrugging her shoulders. "…Would you mind letting go of me now that you're awake…?"

"Oh, yes," the dark-haired goddess said quickly, sitting up—hauling Lind upright with her—and shifted backwards, letting her arms drop back to her sides, Lind feeling the smallest twinge from the largest scar upon her back as Peorth's hands unintentionally brushed against it as she let go. But she ignored it, and focused back on the older goddess.

"Eira will have likely set up some sort of prank today, do you remember?"

Whatever mostly-neutral expression that was fixed on Peorth's face quickly soured; she muttered, "Ah, yes, who could forget that lovely child's gift for us…"

Lind tilted her head. "Would you really call it a gift, though?" she questioned, only for Peorth to laugh.

"That was sarcasm, actually, and I'm well aware that it's not truly a gift to us." She leaned over the edge of the bed, going so far as to hang over the edge and peer under it, before sitting back up with a huff, looking around the room. "It doesn't look like she bothered to come in here, so I believe we'll be meeting whatever joke she's set up outside this room, yes?"

The blue-haired goddess bobbed her head in a nod, climbing to her feet and heading to the door. Her hand was just about to touch it when Peorth's hand grasped her wrist. Lind glanced over to her friend, blinking. "Is something wrong?"

Peorth's eyes narrowed. "What if it's one of those pranks of something coming flying at you the second you open the door?" she said, gaze flicking to the nondescript door, a suspicious glint dancing in her eyes. "I just don't think it would be wise to be standing right in front of the door when you open it, that's all. Not that I don't think you can't defend yourself, because you certainly can," she added hastily, as if she thought Lind might take offense, "it's just we don't know what kind of prank she set up!"

"I doubt whatever she has planned can harm me physically," Lind pointed out, but nonetheless moved to stand on one side of the door, Peorth on the opposite side. This seemed to the Valkyrie a lot of effort to be avoiding what trap awaited them on the other side, but she did think it was better to be prepared for anything and not have to worry, then to not be prepared at all and be blindsided by something unexpected.

"…Actually," Peorth spoke up, her eyes brightening, "you still have those axes, don't you? The ones you used that time with the Angel Eater?"

"My limiters, you mean?" Lind asked, one hand rising involuntarily to lightly touch the diamond-shaped earring dangling from her left ear. "Yes, but I only have the two, and—what would you need me to use them for anyways? We aren't going to be fighting Eira…" Or at least, she hoped that wasn't the other goddess's intention, because it would be so laughably one-sided that it couldn't even be called a true 'battle'.

"I'm betting your axes are a bit more sturdy than my vines," the older goddess explained, "and it might be easier to test out whether or not she's put some sort of trigger in the walls or the floor by poking at them, and this way we wouldn't have to worry about being caught by the trick in the first place. So may I see one of your axes for a few moments?"

Lind blinked. It seemed like a reasonable plan, certainly, but there was one glaring problem, at least to her eyes. "Are you…are you sure you'd be able to carry it well enough?"

Peorth frowned. "What do you mean? We're the same rank, even if we have differing specializations…"

"My limiters are grade eighteen," the blue-haired goddess elaborated, a touch hesitantly—she always felt like it made her sound like a braggart, displaying her strength this way—though she needn't have worried, as Peorth continued to stare at her blankly.

"My apologies, if that's supposed to mean something, but I'm not overly familiar with the ways of the combat division…"

"The grade indicates the power level," Lind started, "and the highest grade currently available within the combat division is grade twenty. But no Valkyrie has achieved that in…" She couldn't actively recall the exact number of centuries it was said to have been, and opted to say instead, "…in a very long time. No one has grade nineteen, either."

"And just…" Peorth paused, studying her, a look in her eyes like perhaps she had already reached the correct conclusion, though she asked all the same, "How many grade eighteen limiters are there being used currently?"

Lind sighed softly. Ah, and now here she would be sounding like a braggart, but she couldn't help that it was the way things were. She pulled free her earrings, dropping them onto her palm and holding them out. Peorth looked from her earrings to her face and back again, and it was then that it appeared to dawn on her.

"Those are the only ones, aren't they?" To Lind's surprise, the dark-haired goddess smiled. "So they really did mean it when they said you were the strongest Valkyrie, hmm?"

"…'They'?" Lind couldn't stop herself from asking.

"The rumor mill," Peorth said dismissively. "But, all the same, I think I should be alright. I may not have the Special Duty specialization, but I do have no restrictions, that should counter at least some of the difference, don't you think?"

Lind could only give a small shrug—she didn't know how it was the ranks of the combat division translated to how powerful the other categories were—but she returned one earring to her ear, flicking the other so that it expanded back to its true form, the long-handled axe settling neatly into her hands. She warily held it out to Peorth, wondering to herself if it would be wise to be getting out the other one, but that ran the risk of her misplacing it, depending on the trick Eira decided to pull. Her limiters were such that they had to be in physical contact with her in order to work—either in her hands or attached as her earrings—and she'd hate to accidentally demolish the house because she lost her second limiter and instinctively reacted to whatever came at her by calling on the Golden Eye. No, best to leave the one where it was.

"Ready?" Peorth asked, one hand on the door, the other clutching the axe, which presented quite the odd image when paired with her more…unusual clothes. She seemed to have only a small amount of difficulty in carrying it one-handed, and so Lind nodded in answer. Peorth pushed open the door, immediately flattening herself against the wall, Lind stepping back so as to not be within the range of the doorway, but after a few moments of silence—and perhaps the distant sounds of chirping outside—the two carefully leaned forwards, peering hesitantly out the door.

All that appeared to be within their range of sight was a perfectly normal hallway, save for the few clods of dirt scattered across the floor. Peorth scowled. "So she's tracking mud in while making her little plots, is that it?" She leaned out the doorway, jabbing the axe at both the walls and the floor; nothing proved to go off until she happened to displace one of the tiny chunks of dirt while she was prodding at the floor. Lind felt the smallest change in the air, indicative of some sort of magic being released, and her eyes focused upwards, finding a number of strange—orbs? Multi-colored…orbs?—fixed to the ceiling. "Get back, Peorth!" she called, hauling the older goddess backwards while throwing up a barrier, and they watched as the orbs fell and burst against the floor, casting a wide array of colorful liquid across the hallway.

She let the barrier fall and for a long heartbeat the two goddesses just stared at the colored chaos splattered all across the hall. "…The dirt was the trigger, I think," Lind said quietly, and Peorth harrumphed.

"Balloons filled with multi-colored paint, huh? That's what she came up with for her first prank? I was expecting something a little more…devious…"

The blue-haired goddess tilted her head at the unfamiliar word. "…'Balloons'…those were the orbs?"

"Oh, I forget you're not as familiar with some of these things," Peorth said, rather nonchalantly, and patted her shoulder. "Yes, those things were balloons, filled with different-colored paint. Where that child got her hands on paint and balloons, I don't know…" She lifted her shoulders in an absent shrug, floating out into the hallway and studying the ceiling. "I think the way she did it," she started, gesturing upwards with the limiter, "was—you're right, I think the dirt was the trigger—she linked the movement of the dirt to the cutting of the strings holding the balloons in place, so they'd fall right afterwards." She paused, frowning. "It's fairly simple magic, linking one object to another, but this proves she has some capability in putting her spells to use, even if it's for an unfortunate cause."

Lind moved to hover next to her, studying the paint beneath them. "She may only think like that in regards to her tricks, though. We have no idea if she'd be able to think of how to apply her skills to anything other than pranks."

"True," Peorth hummed. "I would have asked when she had the time to set all this up, but she's had a lot of practice, no doubt she's gained some skill in stealth, if nothing else. Though I have a very hard time imagining Eira as stealthy."

"She must be able to conceal her presence to some degree, however small," Lind said thoughtfully, "as she has clearly been able to pull various pranks on all of her previous caretakers, if what you and everyone else say about her reputation is true."

"Either that, or her other caretakers were all incredibly unobservant," Peorth raised her eyebrows, levering the limiter over her shoulder as if in need of something to do with it but unwilling—or still too paranoid of what else might come at them—to give it back to Lind. "They may have all been ranked second class and lower, but even then I don't think all of them could have possibly been so unobservant as to not notice she played tricks on them so often." She paused, gazing down at the mess of paint. "The real question we should be asking is how much of her previous pranks' success depended on her caretakers not noticing the imminent humiliation, and how much was actually her skill in sneaking around?"

"…Imminent humiliation?" Lind repeated, blinking.

"Well, like you said, Eira's pranks aren't meant to physically harm us. They're only meant to make us frustrated enough to choose to resign rather than attempting to wheedle some sense into that convoluted, devious mind of hers. From what some of the rumors I've heard have said, a lot of the pranks that ended up with her caretakers' resignation usually involved some form of humiliation. It may not have even been a big deal; it may have been that it was simply the last piece on a pile of misfortune that the other deities simply couldn't stand it any longer."

"…From what I've seen, she can be fairly inventive with using what's left to her," the blue-haired goddess said slowly. "And she may have already had some items on her person when I went to collect her, and that may have been where she got the…the balloons from." She glanced over to Peorth. "She won't be making this easy for us."

"Of course not," the older goddess snorted. "No, that would be too kind of her to consider. Although, we did offer to teach her magic, you'd think she'd at least be a little interested in learning new things, even if it's for the sole purpose of making more grandiose tricks." She tipped her head back and observed the ceiling. "…You know, I've been wondering, if she can't fly, how did she get those balloons tied to the ceiling in the first place?"

"She could have…" Lind trialed off, frowning. No, Eira couldn't have climbed, the walls were too smooth for that. Brilliant Sunbeam was far too small to lift her with her wings, and the child currently could not access the power of flight, so, as Peorth had said, she couldn't have flown. The ceiling was too high to be reached by jumping alone and the walls were a little too far apart for someone of the little goddess's size to use them as platforms to leap upwards in quick succession. The Valkyrie frowned pensively, eyes catching sight of slight marks on the wall nearest her and floated over to it. "Peorth, look here."

"Hmm?" The dark-haired goddess followed her over, narrowing her eyes, studying the upwards trail of tiny thin scratch-like marks upon the wall. "Ah, you think she climbed anyways, using that knife of hers?"

"This mark is a little too small to have been made by the knife she was carrying yesterday," Lind said, "but there's no reason to believe she doesn't have more than one, because she would have had to find alternative ways to getting to higher places when she can't fly."

Peorth passed her hand over the wall, returning it to its previous state of being unmarked, and sighed. "We should make that one of the rules, 'don't feel free to go about harming the house in efforts to set up wild pranks'." She blinked rapidly. "Oh! We never laid out any rules for her, did we?" They hadn't seen much of Eira after they'd arrived, as the child stayed cooped up in her room, no doubt thinking of various pranks to pursue, so there had never really been a good opportunity to go and explain any potential rules they had for her, well—that is, if they had remembered about the rules in the first place.

"…Do you really think she'll follow any edicts we set out?" the blue-haired goddess asked tentatively, raising her eyebrows. "She seems rather rebellious already, and I think even if we give her rules, she may not follow them…"

"Then we'll just have to make sure she understands the consequences," Peorth replied, stretching out a hand and partially obliterating the floor with a burst of earth magic, remaking it into its previous, not-paint-splattered state. Lind looked from her to the floor and back again, dropping back to the ground lightly.

"Was it really necessary to destroy the floor? Couldn't you have just wiped the paint away?"

"This way was more satisfying," the older goddess answered, lips twitching towards a grin as she descended to land next to Lind. "Now, let's go find that child before we end up walking into a more ridiculous prank, shall we?" She was already walking before she finished speaking, and Lind trailed after her, mindful to keep pace with her in order to prevent potentially sidestepping into the limiter, which was still leaned over Peorth's shoulder. "…And you wondered why I thought you would make a decent Valkyrie," she mumbled under her breath, shaking her head slightly, pausing when a loud crash reached her ears.

"Well, well, well," Peorth drawled, as Eira appeared from around the corner, charging straight for them and skidding to a stop just short of colliding with the dark-haired goddess. The child's appearance was unkempt, several little leaves sticking from her hair, a windswept Brilliant Sunbeam clinging to her collar. Lind recalled those particular leaves as belonging to one of the potted plants that had came with the house, and her first assumption was that the child had knocked over the plant in her efforts to make another prank.

But instead, the first words out of Eira's mouth were an indignant cry of "It tried to eat me!"

"…What tried to eat you?" Peorth asked, though from the tone of her voice it sounded rather as if she almost didn't want to know.

"The stupid plant!" Eira huffed, whirling around and yelling down the hallway, "You're supposed to go after them, not me!" As if in response to her call, a mass of shifting stems and leaves came rolling slowly about the corner, tiny flowers emerging haphazardly from within as it moved. Peorth gave a groan, the butt of the limiter's handle striking the ground as she slid it off her shoulder.

"You animated the plant," the dark-haired goddess deadpanned. "I imagine you weren't specific enough in your spell, as we're all denizens of Heaven. You don't know enough about differentiating between energy signatures in order to make spells triggered by specific individuals—"

Lind stepped around the dark-haired goddess and Eira, who had edged behind Peorth, and flicked at her second earring, the axe falling neatly into her grasp. She raised it, only for Peorth to catch her arm.

"If you destroy it, can you repair it?" the dark-haired goddess questioned, her eyes serious, the unspoken end of her question all-too-obvious: from what I saw during the demon coup, I'm a little skeptical of your skills…

"And besides," Peorth added, "we don't have to put in that much effort anyways. We can just remove the spell entirely." So saying, she put her hand out, pausing the plant sphere in its progression down the hallway, and pulled her hand back, dispelling the enchantment with a flick of her fingers. The collection of stems promptly collapsed into a heap at their feet, Eira reaching out and poking the nearest leaf warily as if expecting it to start moving again.

"The spell's gone, Eira," Peorth snorted. "Now why don't you just put that back where you found it?"

"But it's super big now!" the child complained. "I can't move that! And the pot's all busted too!"

"Broken, Eira, that's the word I think you're looking for," Peorth sighed, as Lind returned her axe to its dormant state and affixed it back to her ear. The dark-haired goddess looked over, blinking. "Lind, then, would you be a dear and get this lump rolled back to the living room, while Eira and I go see what else she's caused?"

"…Um, if…if you'd like?" Lind tilted her head, her eyebrows creeping closer together, and she watched as Peorth sidestepped around the plant monstrosity, hauling Eira along by her collar, the little goddess muttering what had to be either complaints or threats, not as though her threats could really mean anything, when there was a chasm of difference in their power levels.

The Valkyrie turned her eyes to the tangled mess of stems and leaves, sighing softly to herself and managed to somewhat get the plant—for it was all the same plant, grown to a ridiculous size and twisted in upon itself—back into something of a ball, and proceeded to cautiously push it back down the hallway. She did end up having to use her axe to shove the plant around the corner when it refused to budge, but this she did successfully, and moved around the plant to where Peorth and Eira were standing, the newly-restored pot between them, the dark-haired goddess gazing at the plant with a contemplative frown on her face.

"I suppose…hmm…" Peorth narrowed her eyes. "Well…I suppose it can't be helped, it's already distorted plenty." She hefted the limiter, slicing the mass of plant straight down the middle before repairing it, returning each half of the plant to something that looked at least relatively close to its original state. She dropped the plants back into the pot and shoved it off to the side, turning in place to stare down Eira. "Now then, we may have forgotten about this yesterday but we're talking about it now! Eira, since we're going to be living together, we have to lay down some rules."

"Oh, great," the little goddess muttered, crossing her arms, giving Peorth a long look. "…And you look really creepy waving that axe around."

Peorth's eyes narrowed, and Eira took a half-step backwards, evidently realizing how foolish it was to insult the dark-haired goddess when Peorth happened to be carrying a sharp object. Lind quickly moved to Peorth's side, asking, "May I have that back now, before you use it on Eira?"

The older goddess made a face at the child but did pass the limiter back to Lind, returning her attention back to Eira. "Back to the subject—and don't think you distracted me because it didn't work—the rules!" She raised one finger. "The first—don't do anything in your silly pranks that could potentially lead to the destruction of this house. I'd rather not have to reconstruct it several times over; that starts to wear on things after a while. Two—if you insist upon carrying on as you have been, namely, playing your tricks, you aren't to drag anyone else into this. It's enough that you're going to be bothering us, there's no need to go after anyone else, especially when we're the ones who have the say in your future. Three—we will be figuring out just how much magic you can do, and you will be learning more whether you like it or not, because you have to become a productive member of our society sometime. Four—no more rude comments about my angel, or any angels for that matter, because you really don't want to get into an insult war with me. Five—hmm, Lind, can you think of anything else…?"

Before Lind could answer, Eira spoke up, surprise written across her face. "You mean you're not going to try and make me stop?"

"Oh, that would be utterly pointless," Peorth shook her head slightly, "so there's no point in wasting breath on a rule you're going to disregard anyways. Lind?"

The Valkyrie considered the points Peorth had named in silence for a few moments, before tipping her head slightly to the side, shrugging slightly. "I…don't think I have anything to add," she said, "just that you make sure none of your pranks have the intention to bring harm to anyone."

"It's not like I'm going to be squashing you two under a giant rock or something," Eira grumbled, "although you'd be pretty horrible first class goddesses if you couldn't dodge a giant rock, right?"

"That's not the point we're trying to make, Eira," Lind murmured, "if you truly intend to harm us, there are grave consequences regarding such actions, and you would be compromising your future, you understand that, yes?"

The child's lips twitched towards a deep scowl but she nodded grudgingly, and the blue-haired goddess thought that was perhaps the best acknowledgement of that particular fact they were going to receive from Eira at all.

"Actually, Eira," Peorth said slowly, eyes thoughtful, "there's a question I've been meaning to ask you, regarding your future."

The young goddess blinked, scowl momentarily replaced by puzzlement. "What?"

"Just what is it you intend to do with your life, when you no longer have need of a caretaker?"

Chapter 5: Come What May

"Huh?" Eira blinked, perhaps momentarily distracted from her efforts at considering more potential pranks given Peorth and Lind's reactions to the ones she had used today. "What do you mean, what am I going to do?" She said it in a halfway-confused, halfway-annoyed way, as if she hadn't expected them to ask such a question of her.

"You won't be required to have a caretaker forever, you know," Peorth pointed out, crossing her arms lightly, the bracelets on her forearms jingling. "When you're deemed old enough, you'll be expected to take care of yourself and to participate in our society in a productive manner. So, what is it you intend to do when you reach that age that the High Council decides you no longer require a caretaker? What is it you hope to become?"

The child's eyebrows scrunched together as she frowned, puzzlement only becoming more deeply obvious upon her features. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"Eira," Lind was the one to speak next, "you're young, but you're not extremely young. Soon you will have to decide what profession you wish to join, and you may find that your skills are not necessarily useful to what you'd like to do, so you may have to end up doing something else instead. Is there anything you are particularly interested in doing, when you are older?"

The little goddess turned slowly in place, her small angel fluttering in tiny circles over her head. She shrugged absently, like this was a thought that had—possibly—occurred to her at some point, but she either had disregarded it entirely or had been unable to come up with a true answer, and had never been particularly motivated in finding said answer.

Peorth let out a long sigh and crouched next to her. "So what you're telling us is that you have no interests whatsoever in your future? You can't just keep playing pranks, I hope you realize that."

"It shouldn't matter to you," Eira answered, mimicking Peorth's stance and crossing her arms, though her posture spoke more to defiance than simple gesturing. "So why bother asking?"

"It does matter," the dark-haired goddess started, "because your future is important, and as your current caretakers we have an obligation to see you make progress towards that future." She raised her eyebrows expectantly, but when Eira only continued to stare at her blankly, she decided to go about it a slightly different way. Peorth stretched out a hand, resting it on Eira's shoulder. "Perhaps you'd like to work with Yggdrasil? System operations or administration?" And she reassembled Eira's clothes into a much smaller version of the outfit she could recall her subordinates wearing when she'd left during the demon coup. She didn't really need to be touching Eira's clothes to convert them, but she thought it might lessen the surprise of the change, as she had assumed that Eira wasn't overly used to having magic performed on her, rather than on whatever objects she happened to be using as her prank of the day.

The child almost jerked away from her, appearing startled by the sudden act of magic, before natural curiosity took over and she investigated her new attire with a somewhat skeptical look as she blinked large blue eyes. "…Don't you just stare at screens all day if you're working in Yggdrasil?"

"Not necessarily," Peorth answered, "that's more so for system administration than system operations; you also work with maintaining Yggdrasil, working around bugs or errors in the system that cause crashes, those kinds of things."

Eira stared at her, sudden puzzlement surfacing in her gaze. "Didn't you say your license was category two? How come you know so much about category one?"

"You're right, my primary license is commercial," Peorth agreed, "but I have previous experience working in Yggdrasil, and I've acted as a system administrator before, in my capacity as a first class goddess. That doesn't mean my specialization has changed at all, it just means I'm being asked to do a different job sometimes."

She was trying to explain it in a way that the child would understand, so she was leaving out more technical words that she thought might confuse Eira, or at least, confuse her more than she already was. And truthfully, she might as well have switched her specialization, because she hadn't been called on to grant a wish in quite some time. Regrettably, that probably meant she was also losing the 'competition' of sorts that she'd been having with her brother, over who could grant more wishes within a given amount of time, but it was also possible he'd forgotten it entirely. She sincerely hoped he had, because she hated to lose at anything—even human games, as her matches with Urd and Skuld could attest to—but she pushed away those thoughts and returned to the conversation at hand, hearing Lind kneel down next to her, the limiter laid on the ground with barely a clatter. What the Valkyrie thought she still needed it for, Peorth didn't know.

The dark-haired goddess looked back to Eira. "Or," she tilted her head, "perhaps you would prefer to be a Valkyrie?" This time she switched Eira's clothes to a miniature approximation of the Valkyrie uniform, pulled mostly from her memory of what Lind had worn before, which was made immediately obvious by the fact that the blue-haired goddess spoke up.

"…You based this off of my uniform, didn't you?"

"You're the only Valkyrie I've spent a decent amount of time around, and it's easier to recall yours," Peorth replied. "Why, is there a problem with it?"

"Not…necessarily," Lind began hesitantly, "it looks like a fairly accurate rendition of my uniform, it's just—new recruits, as Eira would be, are only allotted two boosters—the shoulder stripes there—and you gave her all six, which she shouldn't really have…"

"It's not supposed to be accurate, just an approximation," Peorth pointed out, "because Eira certainly won't know the difference." She didn't mention that she obviously hadn't known the difference either, but she had never been overly interested in joining the combat division, and had only been to the headquarters of the Fighting Wings a grant total of one time. That had only been because she had been shown all the different sorts of jobs she could perform, when she was still a young goddess attempting to figure out what it was she wanted to do with her life.

Lind gave her a long look, like she was contemplating whether this was some sort of blasphemy to the combat division, but in the end only shrugged, perhaps having realized it might be difficult to change Peorth's mind on the matter. Eira, meanwhile, studied her hands for a long moment before curling her fingers into a little fist and punching the floor. It remained unmoved and the child scowled, rubbing faintly at her knuckles. "I thought this was supposed to make you strong!"

"The Valkyrie uniform is only meant as protection," Lind elaborated after a moment when it was clear Peorth wasn't going to go about answering questions related to the third category, especially considering she wasn't part of it to begin with. "It doesn't make your physical strength any greater; its presence just means that should something attack you, you have a slightly better chance of surviving. The point is to further yourself through your own strength rather than depending on something else to boost you to greater feats."

"…Just more work," Eira complained, crossing her arms, narrowing her eyes. "Why bother?"

"Eira," Peorth said around a long sigh, "has anyone ever told you you're incredibly stubborn?"

"Oh, yes, plenty of times," the little goddess grinned widely. "You're not giving up so soon, are you? It's only been one day, and I've still got tons more pranks to test out!"

"No, we're not giving up on you," the dark-haired goddess scoffed, "it's just that you are an incredibly difficult child." She raised her eyebrows. "And if you aren't interested in working with Yggdrasil or being a Valkyrie, perhaps you'd like to be a wish granter?" Admittedly, she couldn't really see Eira as the type to be willing to grant humans' wishes, at least not if there wasn't anything in it for her, but she brought it up anyways, given that it was the category she had yet to mention. And she promptly changed Eira's clothes one more time, to mimic her own—she could have reasonably used what she remembered of Belldandy's outfit, too, but she did like her own outfit better—and it may have been that it was a little bit of poking fun at Lind, because of the Valkyrie's comments on her clothes when they had left Heaven during the demon coup.

Eira turned in a circle, her skeptical expression returning tenfold, Brilliant Sunbeam fluttering about by her left shoulder. Lind cleared her throat awkwardly from the other side of Peorth. "Ah…are you…are you certain she should be wearing that?"

"There's nothing wrong with it," Peorth sniffed, frowning. "I wore it when my time was rewound and nobody complained then!"

"Yes, well…it was common knowledge that you were still…technically…the same in your mind, yes?" the blue-haired goddess tried, lifting her shoulders in the smallest of uncomfortable shrugs. "That is, they knew only your body had regressed backwards in time, and the state of your mind had not been affected? And it would be only natural for you to keep to the same style of clothing as you were used to, but—but Eira is a child in both body and mind, and surely—"

"Oh, Lind," Peorth drawled, shaking her head sorrowfully, "I thought you would have learned it by now…"

"…Learned what, exactly…?" the Valkyrie questioned, though from the tone of her voice it sounded like she didn't even want to know and couldn't figure out why she'd even asked the question in the first place.

Peorth grinned—at the same time having the unnerving feeling that she must have an expression on her face dangerously reminiscent of Urd—and leaned towards the younger goddess, looping her arm across Lind's shoulders. "If you were really that interested in my clothes, you should have said something sooner!"

"Th-that's not what I said!" Lind objected quickly, her face paling. "Peorth, you aren't going to—"

Ah, but it was too late for her, because Peorth had already set the spell in motion, converting the blue-haired goddess's clothes into an identical version of the ones she herself wore. She glanced over to Eira, laughing slightly as the child appeared to be attempting to figure out the leather harness, Brilliant Sunbeam hovering in front of her with arms akimbo and a confused expression on her face.

The dark-haired goddess smiled as her eyes flitted back to Lind. "It's not so bad, is it?"

Lind just stared back at her, with what had to be the most utterly mortified look Peorth had ever seen, like if she had the chance she probably would have found a rock to hide under and stayed there for the rest of her life. The dark-haired goddess tilted her head, blinking. Truthfully, it wasn't her intention to embarrass the younger goddess—perhaps just a smidge of payback for the prior comments—and while certainly, she could see the evidence of more scars visible now that Lind's clothes had been changed, she wouldn't have called her unattractive because of it. And even if such clothes weren't Lind's preferred choice of wardrobe, there wasn't any reason for her to look like she was just waiting for the ground to open up and swallow her!

Peorth sighed, supposing that she may as well change things back, when from the corner of her eye she spied Eira getting tangled up in the buckles of her new attire, and shifted the child's clothes back to their original appearance, although she went through the trouble of making the clothes more or less match in color scheme, just so that she wouldn't have to be bothered by the inconsistency.

The dark-haired goddess returned her attention to her partner, the glitter of metal catching her eye; she had only changed Lind's clothes, after all, just the fabric's structure and form, so anything else she had on her, like her earrings and her bracelets, had remained the same. Peorth hadn't created anything different, so she was curious to see that Lind was wearing a small necklace, barely long enough to reach past her collarbone, composed of an unusual pendant and a tiny silver chain. The pendant's design she thought she vaguely recognized, perhaps as something she'd seen in Yggdrasil somewhere whilst categorizing files or checking the system; it was a little heart in front of two crossed axes, a pair of outstretched wings forming the back of the pendant.

She thought about asking about it, but considering that Lind seemed far too stunned by the appearance of her clothes to even have attempted changing them back, she decided instead to save the question for later. It seemed they were accruing quite the number of things to discuss at a later date, she reflected wryly, and returned Lind's clothes to normal, finding the odd necklace once more hidden under the Valkyrie's collar.

"So, Eira," she spoke up, eyeing the child and returning to the previous topic, "what you're saying is that you have no interests in your future at all?"

Eira gave a nonchalant shrug. "It doesn't matter right now."

"But it will matter soon," Peorth said sharply, "and what will you do when your pranks can't take you any further in life?"

The child only stared at her, that unconcerned expression of 'it hasn't happened yet, so why should I care about it now' unwavering upon her face. The dark-haired goddess resisted the urge to sigh again and tried a different tactic. "What kind of magic can you perform as you are now, Eira?" She knew what Lind had told her, and she didn't believe the Valkyrie had misled her in terms of Eira's capabilities, she just wanted to hear it from the young goddess herself.

Eira gave her a squinty-eyed look, as if she was about to return to the topic of the previous day, that they intended to mock her for her lack of magical skills, but even so she did answer, which Peorth counted as something of an accomplishment. "…Spells put on other objects and spells that break things."

"Application and destruction spells, you mean," Peorth corrected, and, recalling her previous question to Lind that the Valkyrie had been unable to answer regarding Eira's knowledge of spellwork, asked "Do you know construction or reconstruction spells? Ah, creating objects or repairing existing objects?" She added on the clarification after a moment of thought, as she wasn't sure the child would be able to understand her question right away if she'd left it as it was.

Eira bristled. "Of course I do!" she claimed loftily, crossing her arms and lifting her head defiantly. "You really do think I'm useless, don't you?!"

"We don't think you're useless," Lind murmured, a lightly puzzled expression upon her face. "Stubborn, definitely, but not useless."

"Actually," Peorth said, reaching around Lind and picking up her limiter, saying to the blue-haired goddess, "Don't worry, I'll be giving this right back to you" before looking towards Eira. "Why don't you just show us what you can do?"

"…Huh?" The child blinked, her boisterous attitude momentarily fading; she clearly hadn't expected them to challenge her on her claims. Eira would probably end up wearing that expression quite a lot during their stay together, if Peorth had anything to say about it. She was determined to make sure the little goddess learned something while in hers and Lind's care, and she wasn't about to lose to a child more than half her age!

"Like this!" the dark-haired goddess proclaimed, a touch vindictively despite herself, and swung the axe blade first into the floor, carving out a thin gash at a point between herself and Eira. "Now," she said, gesturing towards the crack, "fix that, if you would." In the meantime she gave Lind back the limiter, and the Valkyrie condensed it back to its earring form, returning it to her ear.

Eira slowly lifted her gaze from the crack Peorth had made to the pair of older deities, an almost dumbfounded expression on her face. "You want me to do what?"

"Fix it," Peorth repeated, raising her eyebrows expectantly. "Use your reconstruction magic. After all, you said you could do it, or were you lying to us that entire time?"

That did the trick; annoyance flashed in the depths of Eira's light blue eyes, and she scowled, hands balling up into little fists. "I'll show you I can fix things!" She crouched next to the tear in the floor, putting her hands over it, her eyes sliding shut as an expression of what could only be intense concentration crossed her face. Peorth watched her silently, hearing the distinct noise of groaning from below the floor, and she almost missed Lind scooting slightly closer to her, the blue-haired goddess's quiet voice nearly startling her.

"She does…have some hope of getting it right, doesn't she…?" Even when saying that, the Valkyrie didn't look as if she much believed her own words. "After all…she can't be as bad as…"

The groaning from the floor interrupted her; it started out quietly before becoming sharply louder, a terrific crunch reaching their ears, and when Peorth cautiously glanced back towards Eira, her mouth dropped open at the sight. True, the crack wasn't there anymore…if by 'not there' one meant that there were instead now jagged stone chunks rising from the ground in a twisted formation, horrendously grown together in some sort of grotesque form of what humans would probably deem 'modern art', but Peorth understood what it was without needing to look twice. Whatever magic Eira had performed had badly distorted the floor to the point that she wasn't even certain she could go about fixing it all that well, at least not without having to apply her previous fix for the paint, as in destroying the distorted section entirely and just layering over the resulting hole with replicates formed from the surroundings. She was starting to secretly wonder if that should become her go-to solution for dealing with either pranks or magical mishaps, though it would become incredibly boring very fast.

Peorth also had to remember that, while useful now, that particular solution wouldn't really be feasible for anything large, like if Eira had ended up somehow destroying and remaking the entire house. Or perhaps it was Lind she should be worried about on that count; but even so she hoped it wouldn't come down to that.

"…me…" Lind finished from beside her, deep blue eyes wide, also serving to shake her out of her thoughts and to focus on the mishap at hand.

"That's…" Peorth trailed off, unable to come up with a good way to describe it. "Eira…you did use…reconstruction magic, didn't you…?"

Eira skirted around the edge of her 'masterpiece', giving them both a prominent frown. "There's no more hole!"

"Yes, but…what you did there, that's not…that's not 'fixing'," Peorth tried awkwardly. "It's…ah, what should I call it…"

"Distortion," Lind supplied for her, in a rather bland tone of voice—perhaps she herself had been told something similar, if anyone else had learned of her misfortune with reconstruction magic—and Eira, in turn, narrowed her eyes.

"But the hole's gone! You wanted me to get rid of the hole, didn't you?"

"I told you to fix it, which apparently I should have clarified that I wanted you to return it to the way it was previously, as in unbroken. Not whatever it is you did here," Peorth explained. "So, evidently, we will have to teach you the proper way of using reconstruction magic as well."

"Then you fix it!" Eira grumbled, eyebrows scrunching together as she gave them both a baleful look.

"The point of the exercise isn't for me to fix all your problems, it's for you to figure out how to do so yourself," Peorth sighed, "but, I suppose, in the spirit of demonstration, I could show you how it's done." She hesitated, studying the end result of Eira's spell for another long heartbeat. "Although…depending on how distorted your magic made the original product, I might have to restore this in a more unorthodox manner than using simple reconstruction magic. If that's the case, then I'll just have to find something else to show you the correct way…" Teaching Eira was becoming more and more convoluted the more they learned about her; or at least that was Peorth's opinion.

The dark-haired goddess leaned forwards, not entirely optimistic of her spell being able to reformat the child's distorted magic, not because the magic was powerful but simply because she didn't know how Eira had gone about casting her spell, as intent was the main decider in the result of nonverbal spells, and she didn't think she could accurately describe the little goddess's thought process enough to retrace the steps she'd taken.

She cast the spell all the same, and three pairs of eyes—well, four, if one counted Brilliant Sunbeam, who was perched atop Eira's head—followed the shifting of the spires as they retreated to ground level, but not entirely sealing up the portion of the floor that had been manipulated. Peorth sighed to herself, destroying what remained and remaking the floor before turning to Eira.

"This is how you repair things, Eira." She called a pebble into her hand and crouched to get on Eira's level, showing her the pebble before crushing it, displaying the powdery shards to the child. Remaking it was incredibly simple, and the pebble, perfectly restored, sat benignly upon her palm once more. She held it out to Eira, breaking it now into two slightly-unequal halves, and dropped the two pieces onto the child's hand. "Now you try."

Eira looked from her to the rock and back again. "I just did this," she complained, raising one eyebrow.

"This is a smaller object, so you may find it easier to manipulate than the hole I made in the floor," Peorth elaborated, tilting her head. "And repetition and practice is how you improve your skills. I told you before, we're going to make sure you learn something while with us, and we're starting now. You didn't think we would just let you run around playing your pranks all day, did you?"

The young goddess's face twisted into a scowl—apparently, some of her previous caretakers had allowed her to do exactly that—but she glared spitefully at the rock, as if it was the cause of all her problems, and grudgingly cast the spell. Now that Peorth was actively paying attention, she could tell that the child was using reconstruction magic, if nothing else, which had to count as progress…even if the end result was less than stellar.

She stared down at the spiky mess the pebble had become, the only smooth parts to be found on either end, whereas the middle was a collection of tiny thin spines twisted together into something of the rock's original oval shape. "Well," she said slowly, trying for a smile and feeling that it turned out like a grimace, "we'll have to work on that, won't we?"

Eira frowned, looking rather as if she was about to ask her now-expected question of 'why bother', especially when the child still anticipated somehow discovering a way to get both of them to resign before the end of however many months it was that she ended up deciding on, but Peorth stalled her by picking up the pebble and returning it to dust. The little goddess looked slightly hopeful, like she thought the impromptu lesson was over.

Oh, was she wrong.

Peorth glanced sideways to Lind, who was watching them both silently, though there was a strange expression in those deep blue eyes, one that the dark-haired goddess couldn't quite understand. She wondered if the Valkyrie was recalling her own unfortunate problems with reconstruction magic, and resolved silently to figure out why it was that the two carried such similarities, despite the disparities in their ranks and experiences.

"Eira," she started, "have you ever tried levitation? Lifting objects with your magic, instead of with your hands?"

Admittedly, she didn't have many expectations of the child on this front, since Eira lacked the ability to fly and her magic was so underdeveloped that it was likely she had yet to access the power of levitation. And looking upon the child now, she wondered if Eira ever would, as it looked very much like she didn't know the true root of a goddess's power, and if she couldn't understand that, then whatever progress she made would be rendered meaningless. She would never grow, not in terms of magical skills, and her options would be incredibly limited. While Peorth couldn't say whether or not Eira's abrasive personality might change as she grew, she still couldn't see the child ever amounting to much if she couldn't learn to use her magic properly.

"Doesn't work," Eira said flatly, crossing her arms. "So—"

"If you're about to say 'why bother', then don't finish that sentence," Peorth interrupted, calling another pebble to her hand, this one a little more round than the previous, and pressed it into Eira's hand. "Try lifting that."

Eira pointedly raised the pebble over her head, and Peorth narrowed her eyes. "With your magic, Eira," she grumbled, as Lind crept over, apparently now willing to offer some assistance now that the subject was not reconstruction magic and held up her hand. "Like this, Eira," the blue-haired goddess said softly, lightly pulling the pebble from the child's grasp using her magic and bringing the tiny rock to hover a short distance above her palm. The child's pale blue eyes flicked between them, the only thing evident in her gaze being wariness—oddly enough even the sparks of annoyance had disappeared from her eyes, though it seemed like she was still possibly confused as to why they were putting in the effort when they might not even succeed—but reluctantly stuck her hand out over Lind's. The Valkyrie released the pebble, allowing it to settle onto Eira's hand without issue, and settled back beside Peorth.

Silently the pair of older goddesses observed as Eira narrowed her eyes at the rock, occasionally making small gestures at it with her free hand, but the little piece of earth failed to move. Brilliant Sunbeam fluttered down, picking up the rock with only a bit of difficulty—she was able to wrap her arms around it—and floated back up with it, looking quite proud of herself.

"…Using your angel doesn't count, you know…" Peorth deadpanned, feeling a little bit guilty despite herself at the sight of Brilliant Sunbeam's crestfallen face; after all, the small angel was only trying to do what angels did best, to be helpful to their deity, and so she couldn't really begrudge her that, even if it was circumventing the point of the entire lesson.

Eira muttered something that sounded rather like phooey under her breath, and the tiny green-eyed angel returned the pebble to her goddess's hand. "What, she doesn't count as magic?"

"No," Peorth shook her head, "she is connected to your magic, but she is not your magic itself, they are separate entities. Did no one ever teach you about angels either?" A previous thought came back to her and she questioned tentatively, "Eira, by what means did you come by Brilliant Sunbeam's egg?"

"I got her egg out of a box!" the child declared enthusiastically, perhaps a bit too enthusiastically, given her choice of words.

"Out…of a box…" Peorth echoed, staring at the young goddess with a dubious expression fixed onto her face.

"The mail order catalogue," Lind suggested quietly, though she too sounded somewhat skeptical of this conclusion. "Eira, the box your angel's egg came in, did it have any identifying markings on it?"

"It had my name on it!" Eira stated, tipping her head slightly to the side. "That's how I knew it was for me! I'd never open just any old box, because who knew who could have been trying to prank me back!"

"…That doesn't make any sense, wouldn't a box with your name on it be doubly suspicious in that regard?" Peorth asked in bewilderment. "And—wait, your other caretakers tried pranking you back?"

"Some of them did," Eira shrugged nonchalantly. "They were never very good at it though. I could usually get them to trigger their own traps without a problem!" Her eyes gleamed and she looked up at them excitedly. "Oh, you're not offering to start a prank war, are you?! I've never had a prank war with first class deities before, that would be the greatest prank war I've ever had!"

"No, no, we're really not going to do that," Peorth said hastily; she had no intentions of returning to those days of her childhood when the most important thing had been improving her magic so she could perform an even more elaborate prank on her brother. Usually, because he was older, he had been able to have stronger spells, but he had never been quite as creative as she was; and while she was certain she could at least hold her own against Eira in a prank war, she had little doubts that there would be extensive damage to both the house and the surrounding area by the end of it, and perhaps even more so if Lind happened to join in. Though, truthfully, she wasn't even sure the blue-haired goddess really understood the purposes of prank wars to begin with, but nonetheless Peorth was not planning on testing her pranking skills against Eira.

"You two really are no fun," Eira grumbled, pouting. "First you want me to learn, and now you won't even bother with getting into the most epic prank war Heaven has ever seen?"

"I don't know about most epic, I'm pretty sure Urd and Skuld probably have you beat there, even if their little spats happen on Earth," Peorth remarked, half to herself, shrugging absently, noting to herself not to let Eira be in the same room as the oldest and youngest Norns, because surely that could only end in disaster.

"Back to the subject of the box you found Brilliant Sunbeam's egg in," Lind said slowly, "was there anything else on the box besides your name?"

"Uh…" The child's eyebrows furrowed as she gazed up at the ceiling, clearly making some effort to recall. "Uh…oh! There was a little wing picture in the corner!"

"So it was the mail order catalogue," Peorth frowned slightly. "And you don't know who sent it to you?"

"Nope! Why does that matter?" Eira blinked, looking momentarily confused.

"…I suppose you're not even the slightest bit curious to know who might have considered that you would need an angel's egg and would not have had the opportunity to receive one from your caretakers…?" the dark-haired goddess shook her head, returning her attention to the pebble still sitting unmoved on the little goddess's hand. "Well, never mind that for now, we'll just have to ask around at a later date to see if anyone knows anything about it. Try lifting the pebble again."

"But it doesn't work!" the child complained.

"That's why you keep trying until it does."

Eira looked down at the pebble and lightly tossed it from one hand to the other. "Does this count?"

"…No, that's your physical strength you're using, not your magical skills. Honestly, Eira, it's such a simple spell, surely you can accomplish that?" It was at the moment of speaking those words that Peorth recalled that she had said much the same to Lind regarding reconstruction magic, and she looked over to the blue-haired goddess, but if her partner found the words to be irksome, she didn't seem to show it, or if she was, she was hiding it very well. She made the mental note to apologize later anyways, and turned back to Eira. The little goddess was no longer tossing the rock but was staring fixedly down at it, lips twitching towards a frown, and the pebble remained firmly ignorant of her wish to move it.

"…Stupid rock," Eira hissed, nose wrinkling. "Why won't—you—just—move!"

"Keep trying, I'm certain you'll figure it out eventually," Peorth informed her, and leaned back to mutter to Lind, "This may take a while…"

"Teaching is something that takes time, doesn't it?" the younger goddess questioned, blinking. "And at the very least, I think she understands we intend to have her learn something before our time together is over."

"That's true…but still…" Peorth grimaced, sighing.

"We've got a long way to go…"

Chapter 6: Needed Words, Wanted Words

Peorth had previously thought that, given a little time, Eira would be able to wrap her head around the concepts the two older goddesses were attempting to teach her, in a somewhat unorthodox manner. She had thought that Eira would have made some sort of progress once a week's time had passed. She had thought—

Well, she had thought wrong.

The child had made no progress whatsoever in any of the magical tasks Peorth and Lind had set out for her to accomplish, be they manifesting objects, recreating previously-destroyed objects, levitating objects, or anything else the so-called Amazing Pair managed to come up with; her application spells, however, were getting plenty of use in a way that was not particularly contributing to her overall improvement in her magical skills. That is to say, Eira had still managed to pull off ridiculous pranks even if she was failing spectacularly when she was supposed to be practicing her magic.

Peorth sighed heavily, flopping back onto the bed in hers and Lind's room. She had finally succeeded in getting the smell of fish out of her hair—honestly, where had Eira even found fish in the first place? Certainly not the fountain, and she couldn't recall any lakes being around here, but then again her memory could be wrong—and if nothing else, there hadn't been anything to restore from today's prank, only having to clean up a mess.

"I'm starting to wonder if that child can even learn…" she grumbled aloud, feeling rather than seeing Lind sit down lightly on the opposite side.

"She's only just started," the Valkyrie pointed out quietly. "Not everyone has great talent with magic."

"Yes, well, she should be able to get something right!" Peorth muttered, narrowing her eyes, about to get started on a tirade—and she did have a tirade all planned too, truly glorious—but then it hit her and she sat up, looking over at Lind, who was in turn staring up at the ceiling. "Oh, Lind, I didn't mean—you're—"

"I'm not awful at magic," the blue-haired goddess said pointedly, turning her head just enough to meet Peorth's eyes. "There are some things I have difficulty with, yes, but I'm not quite the same as Eira, am I?"

Peorth considered the question for a moment. "Ah, well, I'd have to figure out what it is you're doing with your reconstruction magic, and maybe then I could figure out why the spell isn't working properly for you. After all, you don't have the same lacking as Eira—you're full-grown, for one thing, and you have much more developed magical skills than Eira does. You can fly and levitate objects, and while I understand members of the combat division aren't designated a transport medium, I'm certain you could accomplish using one without much issue if given the opportunity. The next time we discuss reconstruction magic with Eira, I'll try seeing what's going on with your magic, too. I'd do it now except I don't feel like doing an in-depth magical analysis when it's practically nighttime and depending on how long it could take, we might be here all night and, well, I don't know about you, but I'd rather be well-rested to face whatever Eira is plotting for tomorrow."

Lind tilted her head. "Should we be trying to more actively prevent her from setting up her pranks? We could try locking her door with magic at night, perhaps…"

"As much as I'd love to agree with you on that count," the dark-haired goddess sighed, "I think that might be detrimental to our goal of teaching her; she's been mostly cooperative thus far, at least making it look as if she's attempting whatever spells we set out for her to perform, and I think that's because we're still allowing her the opportunity to play her pranks. After all, even if we did lock her door, I'm sure she'd find other ways to prank us anyways. If anything good can be said about her, she's certainly resourceful. She doesn't let her magical limitations stop her from setting up elaborate pranks."

Lind hummed noncommittally, briefly studying the ceiling again, her eyes flicking about as if counting invisible stars, before her gaze slid back to Peorth. "Peorth…" she started, blinking, "if you thought I was completely terrible at magic, just how did you think I became a first class goddess?"

"Oh?" Peorth frowned slightly, not having expected the shift in subject matter. "I…I've never really thought about it, I suppose, but I imagine it would have been based on your strength." She awkwardly punched the air in front of her to accentuate her point. "You are the strongest Valkyrie in Heaven, so why would they refuse your application?"

"Strength is one of the tests, and…you may be correct in that that one was the one I performed the best at," the Valkyrie murmured, "but it was only one of the three, I had to have had passing marks on the other two tests as well." She hesitated. "I understand…you would have had an individualized exam, yes?"

"What do you mean by individualized?" Peorth could feel her eyebrows furrowing. "All of the exams are like that, aren't they? You have a designated proctor who designs three tests for you and if you pass, you receive first class certification. Is that not how it's done in the combat division?"

"Not…exactly," Lind replied, "The three tests used in the Fighting Wings are more…generalized. You are tested on three particular things, and those don't necessarily vary from proctor to proctor, it's just the manner in which the tests are executed that is different. The first test is well-known: you must show your strength, how quickly and how fully you can break something, or how fast you can defeat a particularly difficult opponent. How you are asked to demonstrate your strength is usually left up to the proctor, although Skogul, the Valkyrie who served as my proctor, simply told me to 'show my power', and I was given the freedom to choose how exactly to do that."

"And…just how did you end up doing that?" Peorth asked, curious despite herself.

"I destroyed the arena we were having the test in," Lind said, slightly cautiously.

"With those axes of yours?" Peorth gestured towards the blue-haired goddess's earrings.

Lind shook her head. "I was told to demonstrate my power, and I couldn't do that while wearing restraints. I gave my limiters to Skogul for the duration of the test and just used my fists and the Golden Eye."

The dark-haired goddess raised her eyebrows. "Ah…that's…good," she said hastily, "very good for you. But—that didn't really have to do with your magic, did it? The Golden Eye could be ranked as part of your magic, I suppose, but all it does is enhance your physical strength and speed, doesn't it?"

"It is, technically, a form of magic, but you're right, my magical skills were more evident in the last two tests." Lind paused, frowning slightly. "Though, I suppose you would say that it's only my combat magic that works as I wish it to, as that is primarily the type of magic I use?"

"Not necessarily," Peorth objected, "you've mastered several of the basic magical skills, reconstruction and construction magic aside…"

"But both flight and levitation skills can find some use in combat," Lind pointed out.

Peorth was starting to think maybe this conversation would end up going in circles if they kept at the subject much longer. "The point is, you can use those for more mundane things as well, not just combat, so it's not as if your other magic is horrible, you're just using it to augment your skills that are necessary for your profession." She paused, humming contemplatively. "Although—your warding spell, during the time with the Angel Eater…" She trailed off, not wanting to say it didn't work, but feeling largely as if those unspoken words hung on to the end of the sentence anyways.

But Lind, surprisingly, didn't appear to take offense at the comment. "Warding spells are meant to keep things out, but they can't stop something that's already inside. I imagine Hild and Mara were hiding within the confines of the temple when I cast the spell, so it didn't affect them."

"…Well…there is that, I suppose," Peorth allowed. She was considering saying something more, but hadn't quite decided on what, when the younger goddess spoke up.

"Actually, Peorth…I wanted to apologize…to you, to Keiichi and Belldandy, Urd and Skuld…"

"Apologize for what?" the dark-haired goddess asked confusedly, crossing her arms. "You haven't done anything wrong. Honestly at the moment I'm sure Eira's more in the wrong than you are."

"No, I mean…about the Angel Eater," Lind explained, fingers fidgeting with her collar. "I—I put all of you in danger, when you would have never encountered it otherwise, and if I hadn't come—"

Oh. Peorth understood now; and she floated over to Lind's side, sitting down next to the blue-haired goddess. "No, no, it was the demons that were behind it all, it was Hild's plot, didn't she say so? Even if it was only to see if she could use familiars' eggs to turn goddesses into demons, the fact remains that you had no malicious intent in coming to the temple, you were only trying to protect us—"

"But I should have known better," the Valkyrie muttered, the bracelets on her forearms chiming when she curled her hands into loose fists. "We're supposed to be able to tell when demonic influence is being exerted on us!"

"We didn't know barely anything about the Angel Eater at the time, and frankly, we don't know that much more about it now; and it was too dangerous for us to test anything on it actively while it was still in Heaven's possession," Peorth countered. "How could you have prepared for something you didn't know anything about?"

Lind studied the wall for a long moment, as if the logic of this statement was making its way to her brain. "The sound," she said quietly, and Peorth blinked.

"Pardon?"

"The sound the Angel Eater made, to call out your angel," Lind murmured, "do you remember what the sound was?"

"Um…" Peorth cast her thoughts back; her memory was admittedly a little fuzzy, given the shock she had felt at the sudden absence of Gorgeous Rose's presence, of the hole in her heart and mind where her angel had once resided. But she could recall the noise she'd heard right before, a kind of thin wail or screech of pain. High-pitched too, like the scream of a child. "…It was…something in pain, I think," she stated cautiously, "like…the cry of an injured child."

"And how old did my angels look to you?"

Peorth frowned slightly. "…Younger than Gorgeous Rose by a fair amount, but you're younger than me anyways, so that's to be expected. What does that have to do with…" She trailed off, the realization hitting her like a proverbial brick to the head.

Oh.

"That sound you heard," Lind whispered, "was Spear Mint."

Peorth was quiet for a long moment, considering this. She had understood, after the fact, that the sound the Angel Eater used as a lure was the call of an angel crying out for help, but she hadn't thought about it any further than that. But, naturally, the Angel Eater had never been well-understood and its 'escape' then had been the first time she'd ever heard of it attacking, and in fact she rather thought Heaven must have captured it from Hell at some point before it was used on any deities, as there had been virtually no knowledge on the beast; so the only host it had ever had was Spear Mint, and through Spear Mint Lind, so of course there was only one option of a lure for it to use.

She considered saying I'm sorry, but she thought that might set Lind off apologizing again; and as she mulled over that another thought came to mind. "Lind…I may not be remembering this correctly—" she had only heard it from Skuld, who had been excitedly recounting how she'd come to call out Noble Scarlet once more, in a more proper form, so she may have misheard then "—but didn't you tell Skuld and Keiichi that it was pointless to regret that which has already happened…or something similar?" The unspoken end of the question seemed clear without any statement: and if so, then why are you apologizing now?

Lind's eyes flicked to her. "It's no good to reflect upon your past mistakes if you are in the midst of battle," she said, cautiously though, "as you could make an even more costly mistake if you aren't paying attention. That's what I meant…I had to focus on if there was any way we could salvage your angels with only myself, Skuld, and Keiichi."

"…I see," the dark-haired goddess frowned slightly, understanding what Lind was saying without actually spelling it out: now that their lives were in no particular danger from the previous incident, there was plenty of time to rethink and regret one's past actions. And since she didn't know that the younger goddess often spoke to others, and certainly not on that particular subject, she assumed this had led to far too much time to be self-deprecating.

She got to her feet, hoping she wasn't about to regret the little idea that had popped into her head, and walked a short distance away from the bed, between the bed and the wall with enough space in between that she felt nothing should be disturbed by this little 'demonstration' she had in mind. "Would you come here a moment, Lind?"

The Valkyrie looked somewhat puzzled, but nonetheless complied, rising to stand in front of her. "What are you—?" She didn't get the chance to finish her question, because Peorth had already moved, lifting one hand and forming it into a loose fist, swinging it towards Lind's face.

The blue-haired goddess's eyes flickered just slightly—not a hint of gold, no, only recognition Peorth saw in those deep blue eyes—and her reaction was swift enough that Peorth was only just able to keep track of where she was. Lind sidestepped the oncoming blow by ducking past Peorth's arm, her shorter height in this case becoming rather useful, and used the older goddess's momentum to throw her to the floor. Peorth had to actually mentally tell Gorgeous Rose not to react when Lind crouched over her, one hand pressed into the floor beside Peorth's head, the other upraised in a fist.

Blue eyes blinked quickly, and Lind jerked back slightly, warlike instinct receding into instant apology. "Ah, I'm sorry—"

Peorth reached up and caught hold of her hand. "No, no, this was the point I was trying to make!" she said cheerfully, sitting up as Lind moved back—the younger goddess was evidently too confused by her words to immediately realize that she was now, somewhat awkwardly, sitting on Peorth's lap—and carrying on.

"First off, what is it you're apologizing for? I was the one who technically attacked you first, you were only reacting."

"But…" Lind's eyebrows furrowed. "I shouldn't have—"

"Your instincts are extremely good," Peorth nodded slightly, lifting her hand, still curled over Lind's fist, to accentuate the point. "You reacted very quickly to the threat I posed, but, in case you hadn't noticed, look around."

"…I don't understand," the blue-haired goddess muttered, eyes flicking about, following the lines of the walls, the ceiling, the floor, the windowpane with its fading sunlight. "There's nothing different about this room…"

"Exactly!" Peorth beamed. "I've seen you rip through entire buildings and reduce them to rubble! So tell me, why is this entire house not in pieces around us?"

If it was possible, Lind looked even more confused, blue eyes tracking back to her. "I…I didn't want to hurt you…" She shrank back, her shoulders twitching, her fist tensing faintly in Peorth's grasp. "Is—is that what you wanted? What—what were you trying to—"

"You have incredible strength," Peorth started—she knew she must be careful now, cautious with her words, gentle even—"and you could have used that strength on me just now. I have no doubt that you could have easily destroyed the foundation of this building with that move you just performed, and I would probably be in some pain. But you didn't, you see, you held back, cher cœur, even if you had the opportunity to bring me harm, you didn't! And believe you me, I appreciate that, but I think you haven't quite understood that even if, yes, you did respond in attacking, you never actually made an effort in attacking! You were still protecting me indirectly, because it was never your intention to harm me, you were only acting on instinct. And," she kept speaking, bringing the conversation back to the original reason she had gone about this demonstration in the first place, "it's not relevant that you may have been the vessel that brought the Angel Eater to Tarikihongan, because your intentions were to protect us, and even though we'd only met that day, you were willing to give up so much for us, just to keep us safe!"

Lind was staring at her, and she got the distinct feeling that this was a kind of conversation that was new to the Valkyrie, the kind that involved praising her for her actions, even if they appeared detrimental at first look. Peorth smiled, trying to show her sincerity even when she could tell no lies, and said earnestly, "Heaven is lucky to have a Valkyrie like you!"

The blue-haired goddess lowered her head, her free hand reaching up and tugging lightly on her collar, like she was looking for something to do with it. "…There are those that would disagree with such words," she murmured tentatively, her hand finally sliding from Peorth's as she uncurled her fingers. "Your…your words are very kind nonetheless," she continued, though with an air of 'I don't really believe them, but I believe that you believe them'. She tilted her head, lips twitching, and said, "What did those words mean, the ones you called me by? Ah…you were referring to me then, weren't you?"

"Words?" Peorth echoed, not certain what she was talking about until she thought back, and was admittedly a little surprised by the inadvertent use of a 'nickname', so to speak. It was clear to her now that Lind at least didn't recognize or understand that particular human tongue, as it was highly likely that members of the combat division weren't necessarily required to become fluent in any of the human languages. Peorth's jurisdiction didn't really cover France, but she'd learned the language well enough to be considered fluent anyways, partially because she had been attracted to the idea of a supposed 'language of love'. She was conversationally fluent in a variety of human languages, but there were only a few that she could truly call herself fluent to the point of practically being a native speaker, which would include Japanese, Chinese, French, English, and a few others.

"It's not an insult," she reassured Lind, who looked halfway between surprised and relieved to hear that—surprised, perhaps because she was more used to being called by insulting terms, a rather sad thought, and relieved maybe because she hadn't thought that Peorth would call her anything terrible after speaking so highly of her skills.

The dark-haired goddess was for the moment in a conundrum, a dilemma that would be unnoticed by Lind, as the younger goddess didn't understand the language she'd spoken and thus couldn't interpret the translation of the phrase itself. While Peorth knew what it meant quite well, she wasn't sure of how to go about explaining it to Lind in a way that the Valkyrie wouldn't misinterpret. She might think of it as Peorth's overly affectionate tendencies making their presence known for the umpteenth time, or maybe she would think of it in a worse manner, and Peorth hadn't quite figured out which of the scenarios she preferred when the door to their room swung open.

Eira's voice floated in from the hallway. "Oi, are you two awake? I thought you wanted me to…" The child's voice trailed off and Peorth turned her head, spying the young goddess standing in the doorway, one hand still outstretched in front of her as if she'd just let go of the door, the tiny light figure of Brilliant Sunbeam only just visible against scruffy brown hair. "Uh…you know what, I'll just go back to plotting…" Eira said quickly, starting to backtrack, as Peorth managed to recall both the last 'lesson' she'd given Eira for the day—to lift the pebble with her magic, and to inform them if she happened to succeed, though Peorth had imagined that the child would have given up as nightfall was upon them—and the fact that she and Lind hadn't moved, which meant that, to Eira, despite the fact that they were arranged more awkwardly than most would be, it would still look like Lind was sitting on Peorth's lap.

"Oh, no you don't!" Peorth said hastily, throwing out her hand, a vine spiraling up her forearm to launch itself across the room and loop around Eira's right hand, preventing the child from making her escape. "You were coming to tell us you'd gotten the pebble to move, yes?" she asked, at the same time glancing over to Lind, who was staring at her in a similarly-stunned manner as Peorth recalled her appearing when the dark-haired goddess had switched her outfit.

It seemed she'd finally realized what it looked like once Eira had arrived, and Peorth waved a hand in front of her face. "Lind? Li-i-ind," she said, dragging out the younger goddess's name into three syllables.

Eira's voice interrupted her attempts to bring Lind back to the world of the living. "Yeah, but—aren't you two busy? I'll just—go back to my room—lots of plotting to do, big plans for tomorrow, you know—"

"We can always continue our conversation later," Peorth said, and put her hand on Lind's shoulder; the sudden contact proved enough to bring awareness back into the Valkyrie's eyes.

The blue-haired goddess shot to her feet. "Ah-h, yes," she agreed hurriedly, "later—conversation continue—"

To spare her any further indignity, Peorth clambered to her feet, releasing Eira from her temporary 'leash', and said, "You see, we aren't busy, so, tell us, where is that pebble?" She didn't see it near Eira, and she would have assumed if the child had been able to lift it with her levitation magic, she would have only been able to get it to go a short distance above her palm.

"It's in the ceiling!" Eira informed her, cheerfulness returning in full force.

"…The…ceiling…" Peorth repeated, throwing an incredulous look Lind's way—the blue-haired goddess could only offer a tiny shrug, mostly recovered now—and they all three trooped back through the hallway to the corner between the living room and the hallway, whereupon Eira pointed straight up. Peorth followed her gaze to the tiny figure of the pebble, indeed embedded in the ceiling, though looking rather as if it was about to fall back down out of the tiny pebble-shaped indent it had formed. One might think that such a tiny object would have been pulverized by being slammed into the ceiling, but Peorth had had the sense to reinforce the pebble's internal structure with magic, because she'd had a feeling that Eira might just end up breaking it in her quest to find some way for it to levitate without using her magic.

"And just…how did you get that up there?" the dark-haired goddess queried, feeling half as if she didn't really want to know the answer, but she knew it wasn't magic, as Eira couldn't have provided either the lift or force necessary to lodge the tiny rock into the ceiling. Neither could she have thrown it with that much force, so the question remained: how did it get up there at all?

"How do you think I got it up there?" Eira asked, grinning widely.

"Not through magical means, and not through physical means provided by yourself alone," Peorth retorted, raising her eyebrows expectantly. "You can't have flown up there, and if you crawled up there you wouldn't have been able to push it into the ceiling if you happened to be that close, as you'd only be using one hand. I assume you used something else to get it up there."

Eira pouted, groaning. "You really do ruin all my fun! I could usually manage to trick my other caretakers with that one!"

"I thought you said you don't repeat pranks?" Peorth questioned pointedly.

"I meant the same exact kind of prank," the little goddess clarified, "because I've done something like this before, but not using the same material."

"Do enlighten us, then, on how you got the pebble into the ceiling," the dark-haired goddess drawled, lifting up a hand and prying the little rock from its crater using her magic, surreptitiously repairing the tiny amount of damage. The pebble drifted back to her hand and she closed her fingers over it, looking over to Eira and tilting her head, waiting for the child's answer.

"Well, I already disassembled it, but…" The little goddess gestured to the corner of the hallway, where Peorth realized there was a small pile of various wooden pieces and a number of screws scattered about. Seeing several longer, thin planks coupled with a hollow half-sphere piece jutting out of the heap, she thought she understood what it was, or rather, what it was supposed to be when actually built.

"Eira…do I even want to know where you possibly got a miniature catapult?"

"Hey, I ordered that thing, thank you very much!" the child protested, crossing her arms. "It got here really quick too! Only a day!"

"Yes, well, deliveries within Heaven take very little time to process," Peorth snorted; Earth, on the other hand, was quite something else. The mail order catalogue had a little more difficulty processing requests obtained from Earth, and it always took a lot longer to get what you wanted. That, and they could potentially mix up your order too, which tended never to end all that well.

The dark-haired goddess paused, as the rest of the child's words caught up to her. "Wait a minute, you used the mail order catalogue to get that, didn't you?"

"Yeah…" Eira was giving her an odd look, clearly not realizing where their conversation was headed. "Why, what does that matter? Isn't that what you're supposed to do with it, buy things?"

"Well, yes, but the point I'm trying to make is—just where did you get the money to buy that?"

Eira frowned. "I do have some money, you know! It just wasn't enough to buy the catapult though, so I told the delivery god to take it out of your account."

"You did what?!" Peorth demanded, her hands curling into loose fists. Without waiting for an answer, she hurried to the small terminal in the corner of the living room; it was connected to Yggdrasil, but had very basic functions, though she could certainly use it to find out just how much of what money she had that Eira had actually used to purchase her little catapult. She tucked away Eira's pebble, becoming so absorbed in rapidly entering commands that she almost missed Eira's next comment.

"If it makes you feel any better, I tried her first."

When Peorth glanced back, she saw that the child was pointing at Lind; and that definitely cemented the fact that Eira had no idea who Lind was, truly, because no one would dare think of stealing from the One-Winged Angel and expecting to escape potential retribution. "If you tried using Lind's account first, then why did you end up deducting the amount from mine?" Peorth wanted to know; not that she was condoning stealing from Lind—certainly not! That would be incredibly rude and possibly even downright cruel—it was just that some of the child's story didn't add up when she put the pieces together.

Eira stared at her, a rather deadpan expression on her face, as if the little goddess had thought she would have known the answer to this question already. "That's 'cause she's poorer than I am! She doesn't have any money at all!"

That statement took a moment for Peorth to process: what kind of absurd thought was it to consider that Eira might have more monetary wealth than Lind did, when Lind was a full-grown goddess and Eira still only a child? The dark-haired goddess looked over to the Valkyrie. "You don't have anything?"

Lind shook her head, looking confused, like she didn't realize why this subject was even one of importance. "Why would I ever need any? I so rarely interact with humans, and I've never needed to buy anything before…all of the equipment I use in battle is provided by the combat division, and that would be the only things I would ever consider actually purchasing, but if I am already given such things without need for currency, then why should I have any at all?"

Peorth blinked. "Ah…well, I suppose that makes sense," she muttered, more to herself; if nothing else, Lind was incredibly practically-minded, and might not have realized that she might ever need a form of currency for, well, anything that she happened to require at some point in time. Still, it was hard to believe that Eira was richer than Lind.

The terminal made a little pinging noise, and she glanced back at it, eyes skimming over the numbers—at least Eira had chosen something relatively cheap—before turning back to her partner and the child, simultaneously turning off the terminal.

"Eira," she started, narrowing her eyes, "I didn't think this was going to be an issue, but apparently we're going to have to modify the rules a bit. The sixth rule is now that you are forbidden from using my money to further your pranking exploits. You are, however, free to use whatever currency you yourself possess, as that is your own money and you can use it however you like."

Eira made a face. "But I don't have a lot!"

"You should have thought about that before you went and essentially stole from me," Peorth grumbled, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. But if this was the way that the little goddess would learn that her actions had consequences, many of them not good, then she would by all means endorse it. "And another thing," she added, gazing down at Eira, "it may not have been one of our rules, but I assumed you would have a little more common courtesy than that…regardless, actions have consequences and while I'm not going to ask that you repay the money, as you said you didn't have enough which was why you resorted to using my funds in the first place, you still need to be punished."

The little goddess was staring at her, an odd look on her face, halfway between dismay and incredulousness, like her previous caretakers had never attempted to enforce any rules given to her—in fact, that might be why she was so belligerent to begin with, as perhaps it was that no one had bothered to teach her any common sense or courtesy—but she remained silent as Peorth kept speaking.

"For the next two days, you aren't allowed to pull any pranks whatsoever. And no, today does not count as the first day, as you're going to bed shortly. I'm not going to resort to having your magic sealed, because you're still going to be practicing your magical skills, but should you deviate from any of the tasks we give you, we will know, and trust me when I say that you don't want us to have to force you to do anything."

Eira's face twisted into a scowl. "Two whole days?!"

"Yes. I could still make it longer," Peorth arched an eyebrow, and when the child said nothing more, she reached down and grabbed Eira's hand, putting her other hand on Lind's shoulder and steering them both back towards Eira's room. She noticed from the corner of her eye that Lind had picked up the remains of Eira's catapult, carrying it along with them using her magic. They arrived back at the child's door silently, and the blue-haired goddess deposited the parts of the catapult just inside the room beyond the door.

Peorth glanced back down at Eira, who was in turn gazing fixedly at the wall with a sullen expression; and though she understood why—no one would like being scolded, even if it was for a legitimate reason—she knew this was necessary. "Eira," she said, crouching to get on the young goddess's eye level, "please understand that I'm not trying to be intentionally cruel to you. But you have to know that you can't just take something without repercussion. If you had just asked me, I would have considered it. And I know you're not trying to be malicious, which is why your punishment is only for two days and not for longer." She hesitated. "And you can still make up your pranks, you just can't use them until the day following the day after tomorrow."

Eira's eyes, petulant and also slightly confused and perhaps even a little surprised, met hers for a brief moment before sliding away again to fix on the wall. She nodded grudgingly, and Peorth stepped back, looking now to Lind. "Would you mind locking her door?"

The Valkyrie blinked, confusion flitting across her face—after all, they'd had a conversation on that only…a half hour ago? Was it only half an hour? Some short amount of time—but she nodded slightly in acquiescence, waiting for the child to tromp moodily into her room before moving up to the door. "Eira," she said softly, and the little goddess turned her head just enough so that one blue eye could be seen, "please don't hurt yourself trying to get through this door. The spell will only be keeping you in here until morning, when I will release it."

"And this is only for tonight," Peorth added, "if you can prove to restrain yourself from setting out pranks, and if you'll focus on truly heightening your magical skills, we won't bother with doing this again. We're not here to be your enemies, Eira; we want to trust you, but you have to earn that trust."

Eira blinked at her owlishly, tiny Brilliant Sunbeam atop her head fluttering her wings lightly; at the very least, it looked like she was considering their words, and so Peorth moved back to allow Lind to shut the door, the younger goddess murmuring the locking spell, a flicker of pale blue light crossing the door, coalescing into a faintly-shimmering vaguely circular design at the very center of the door.

It was in relative silence that the duo made their way back to their own room; it was only once the door had shut behind them that Peorth spoke up.

"You don't suppose I was too harsh on her, do you?"

Lind looked over at her from across the bed. "I'm…not the best goddess to be asking about that," she admitted after a lengthy pause. "I was a fairly obedient child, and the only time my parents had to 'scold' me for doing something wrong…it was for something I couldn't change…" Her eyes widened marginally, like of whatever answers she had been intending to give Peorth, that wasn't the particular one she had planned on saying.

Peorth frowned. It seemed like all of Lind's troubles in life at least partially revolved around her angels, though that could be more a flaw in Heaven's system, to place such importance upon the appearance of one's angel, then a failing in the Valkyrie herself. But she opted not to bring that up, as she had a feeling that would only bring on a circular conversation again, and so she only said, "The only real punishments I ever received as a child was if my brother and I were fighting too much in our eternal sibling rivalry, especially if it happened to bring household objects into the fray. My father lectured us a lot, and usually required we lose something to garner better behavior, at least for a little while. I think that's where I was coming from…still, it seems like Eira's never had anyone bother to try with her."

Lind watched her for a heartbeat, one hand idly tugging at a couple strands of hair near her left ear. "She's already ten years old, though, and she's had such a long time to learn her unfortunate habits—it will take a great deal of time and effort for her to break them." She hesitated. "Is it wise for us to try with her now, when she's already gone that far?"

"She's a lot of work, certainly," Peorth agreed, "but she's our assignment, she's our—well, not daughter, what's the word I'm looking for, ward, I think—no, she's our charge, and we shouldn't give up on her. After all, she's not willing to give up on her idea that she'll get us to resign at some point, and if she won't give up on that, surely we can't give up on getting some knowledge into that thick head of hers!"

"…I suppose not," Lind agreed tentatively, bobbing her head in a small nod.

After all, they were first class goddesses, surely between the two of them, Peorth and Lind could figure out some way for that recalcitrant child to learn!

…Maybe…

Notes:

Some minor story notes: The Valkyries' first class exam may or may not be spoken of in the future, but I'll happily explain the purpose behind the tests as well as the two tests Lind left out if anyone's sufficiently curious. They all have a point, and tie together thematically, but I'll leave out explaining them here as I might have the opportunity to explain them in-story [well, the second test anyways, the third one Lind can't tell Peorth regardless]

The move Lind uses on Peorth in this chapter is the same one Chrono uses on Keiichi in chapter 237, both for demonstrative purposes. Valkyrie training is all fairly similar in that regard.

The phrase Peorth uses in reference to Lind [cher cœur] is a French term, and while I was never overly fond of Peorth's usage of French in the official English version of the manga, I've grown rather attached to the nickname anyways. It, and the nickname Peorth later accords to Eira, are the only French phrases used in this story, but they are plot relevant and will be explained in-story, which is why I won't be translating them here. You are free to translate the phrase yourself if you can't wait, and then can sit back, laugh, and wait for the proverbial brick to hit Lind in the head.

Chapter 7: Of Dealings Past and Present

Eira stared at the door, the pale blue flickers of light condensing into a circular design centered on the very middle of the door. The last remnants of Lind's magic faded from her sight, but the design remained, looking rather firmly etched onto the door despite appearing to be made of lines of light. The child frowned contemplatively, dropping to the floor and wriggling under her bed, a hand stretching out to find a box. She pulled it out into the light, brushing off some dust, grateful that the rest of her various possessions had arrived sent from Skadi's a few days ago, even if they were few enough to fit into one box only.

She pried open the lid, rummaging around in it, tossing aside her pack of balloons, a brick of fake mud, and a couple of pages with some handy prank-worthy spells on them before at last coming up with a tiny dagger. It was one of the smallest of her blades—though she didn't have a lot of those either, because having to hide them from her caretakers sometimes took more effort than she thought was really necessary—but she figured it should be enough to try cutting through the design on the door.

And she thought this wasn't really deliberate disobedience on the subject of what Lind had told her, because she wasn't trying to hurt herself, she was only trying to see if her plan worked. Although, she thought if she could get through the door with her dagger, it would have been a pretty poor spell on the blue-haired goddess's part.

She cautiously dragged over the box to the door, climbing onto it to get more height; she supposed she was lucky that it was Lind and not Peorth that had cast the spell, because even with the box she had to stand on her toes in order to be even with the glittering light. She reached up, placing the tip of the dagger against the very edge of the outside lines of the spell, and felt rather than saw Brilliant Sunbeam fluttering up to land on her head, her angel's voice echoing in her mind.

… Are you sure you should be doing that?

I'm only trying to see what happens, I'm not trying to actually break out, Eira responded, frowning. They can't yell at me for that! So saying, she dragged the dagger downwards, across the thin line of light—

The entire design flared once, bright blue, a sudden surge of heat through the dagger forcing Eira to let go of it, and she toppled backwards off the box as the tiny knife rebounded from the door and landed in the opposite wall, a small trail of smoke following after it. The door was unharmed, not even a scratch to show where the young goddess had scraped at it.

"She's good," Eira huffed, rubbing the momentary sting from her palms, studying the design again. She'd been locked in her room before by previous caretakers, but none of them had ever used that particular spell; the shape looked a little like a couple she'd seen, but not the exact lines or number of runes or even the same size. She looked over to the window now, and although there was no sign of the same design glittering across the glass, she had a feeling if she tried opening it, the results would be the same as what she'd tried with the door.

She would have to be, wouldn't she? Brilliant Sunbeam asked, attracting her attention back to the conversation at hand. She stretched up a hand and patted tiny wings, confirming that her angel had clung to her hair on the way down. The tiny angel carried on, saying, She's a first class goddess, after all…

"Maybe it's a Valkyrie spell, then," Eira pondered aloud, getting to her feet and crossing her arms. "Otherwise Peorth would have done it, right?"

Her angel dipped into her line of vision, shrugging absently, though they had both had the opinion that of their new caretakers, Peorth was the one who had better magic, because Lind hardly, if ever, participated in what Peorth liked to call 'lessons'. They knew she could do magic—clearly, she had locked the door, and she had done a few other spells whilst Eira was there, and the young goddess was still wondering where Lind stored her axes, because for the life of her she couldn't figure it out, as they'd been there one instant and gone the next—but normally, it was always Peorth doing the spellwork. And that might have been because, to the child, it seemed rather like Peorth enjoyed being the one giving orders, and Lind didn't seem too unhappy by that, so maybe that was how their relationship worked.

Eira kicked the box away from the door—there wasn't anything breakable in it, so she felt justified in being too lazy to actually pick it up—and slid it back to its place under her bed, hopping up to sit on the end of the bed, swinging her feet and looking back at the door again thoughtfully.

Today had been an interesting one, if nothing else; she'd anticipated some sort of reaction on Peorth's part, admittedly not so much as to be punished for it, though she should have seen it coming. The two first class deities were the only ones thus far to attempt keeping to a true set of rules, but maybe that was because unlike her other caretakers, they had the power to back up their claims.

There was another thing, though, that struck the child as being particularly unusual, and that was the fact that Peorth and Lind already appeared to be well-acquainted with one another prior to meeting Eira; all of her previous pairs of caretakers had never known the other deity in the pair at all before meeting to take her on. She'd also started to notice a pattern: usually the pairs arrived together, because they were notified together. But Lind had been the one to take Eira from Skadi, and they'd met Peorth at the Gate. Maybe that meant that Peorth hadn't been in Heaven at the time, but Eira would have thought that they still would have been summoned together.

It's possible for first class deities it's different, her angel suggested, her voice breaking into Eira's thoughts. They have more important duties, so it's not impossible to think they'd have crossed paths at some point before, correct?

"…I'm suspicious anyways," the child harrumphed, laying back on the bed and staring up at the ceiling. "Because it's not just that they know each other, it's that they—" She paused, blinking. "Or…maybe that's their big plot, I suppose," she said slowly, narrowing her eyes. "If they're trying to be sneaky about it, it's not working."

Peorth did say they couldn't lie, so you could just ask…? And if they refuse to explain, you know you're correct, because they wouldn't be able to say otherwise? Brilliant Sunbeam questioned, raising her eyebrows.

"There's no fun in that! Besides, then they'd know I'm onto them," Eira protested, giving the ceiling a baleful look. "No, if they're going to be sneaky about it, then we're going to be sneaky in figuring it out!"

Little green eyes stared at her, and Eira got the feeling that Brilliant Sunbeam wasn't so convinced of this masterful plan. And what if you're wrong? the small angel asked, her wings twitching behind her.

"Then it'll be an embarrassment to them, which is helpful to us in the end," Eira shrugged. She wasn't too concerned about what would happen if she was wrong, because she was fairly certain she was right. After all, what she'd seen not more than fifteen minutes ago could only serve as evidence supporting her idea, as far as she had considered.

Her eyes tracked back to the gray ceiling; Peorth and Lind were the most proactive of her caretakers, certainly, but that didn't mean they would succeed. Just like the fifty-five before, she would cross out their names too.

To ignore the slightly melancholy tinge to that thought, she slipped off the bed and dug out the box again, pulling out a little scrap of paper and turning to face the door. While she wasn't very good at drawing with magic, she could make somewhat-straight lines most of the time. The only really accurate thing she could ever recreate using magic was her sigil, but even though she knew how to draw it didn't necessarily mean she understood what it meant, with all those funny swirling lines and the tiny star at the very center. So she felt she could at least somewhat correctly copy the image of Lind's spell on the door onto her piece of paper, because it might turn out to be useful at some point.

It took her several tries—and a little mound of scrunched-up papers building up in the corner—for her to get to a point where she felt the symbol was reasonably well-copied, and she sat back and observed her handiwork for a moment. It wasn't quite as fine-lined as Lind's, but she thought it would work all the same.

She copied it out onto another piece of paper before setting that one aside, picking up the original and gazing around the room. "We should probably test this on something…" She turned back to the door. "Hey, you don't suppose if we put this one on top of the other one, they'll cancel each other out?"

Brilliant Sunbeam looked from the door to the paper held in her goddess's hand, and could only offer a minute shrug. I don't know that it works like that, she tried, but you never really know…

Perhaps fortunately for her angel's concerns, she never got the opportunity to figure out whether or not her copied spell would interfere in any way with the one on the door, because she caught sight of a sudden flicker of light bouncing off the dagger still embedded in the wall, and then suddenly there was a bundle of fur sliding down the wall to flop to the floor, the tiny knife bouncing off the creature's head to land with a small clatter next to it.

Eira blinked. The newcomer wasn't an unusual one—she'd met the furry creature called Fenrir several times before—though she did have to wonder why he'd bothered to come here in the middle of the night. She'd also never seen him use a transport medium before, either, but she attributed that to the spell on the door, which was quickly confirmed when the creature spoke up, yellow eyes flashing in an annoyed fashion.

"Do you have any idea how irksome it is to bypass a warding spell like that?" Fenrir demanded, one ear flicking upwards and then back. "What did you do, steal something?" He looked much the same as he had in their previous encounters, a dark-furred wolf about half her height, with yellow eyes and occasionally-noticeable long claws. There was what looked like some sort of cloth wrapped around his neck, though, which Eira was pleased to see, even if it didn't look nearly as full as she would have liked.

"Did Uncle Loki send you?" the child asked, completely ignoring Fenrir's question to her. It wasn't important anyways; not nearly as important as the answer she wanted. She knew, naturally, that the god Loki wasn't really her uncle, it was just something he'd told her to call him, once he'd seen how much she enjoyed playing pranks. She couldn't remember how many caretakers ago she'd met him—it had to be one of the first ones, going to his shop for something or other—but they'd reached an agreement: she would test out various prank material for him and he'd give her some money to buy new prank material. That was why she had any money at all; though she was still a little surprised to have learned that she had more money than Lind did.

Fenrir huffed. The tiny wolf never seemed very happy whenever Eira met him, even if she was helping his master. He tugged at the cloth around his neck with one paw, and it came loose with a chiming sound, a collection of about eight silvery coins spilling across the floor. "Master Loki says these are for you."

"Which prank was this for?" Eira asked, eyebrows furrowing, trying to recall which prank was the last one her 'uncle' had suggested she try. It wasn't the one from today, with the fish—that was all her ingenious mind—and she didn't think it was the one from yesterday, or the day before that…

"The balloons," Fenrir said, shrugging idly.

"That was a week ago," the child snorted. "Uncle's getting slow." She scooped up the money all the same, dumping it back into the depths of her box. She also dropped the dagger back into the box too, because she might forget about it with Fenrir being here, and it wouldn't do to have Peorth figuring out how many knives she happened to have. The little goddess kicked the box back under the bed and turned to face the wolf, who was observing her—and, she noted, as his eyes tracked upwards, Brilliant Sunbeam too—with a strange expression in his eyes, something like…not annoyance, but—she couldn't figure it out, that emotion, like she was something to be studied or watched closely. Fenrir had never taken an interest in her before, so it was strange to see him just staring.

"…Did Uncle want anything else?" Eira asked, when the wolf failed to say anything.

Fenrir's eyes flickered as he stepped closer; Eira thought about stepping back, but didn't move, staring narrow-eyed right back at the creature. He came right up to her, yellow gaze flicking back up to Brilliant Sunbeam and then returning to the child herself.

"So, the well remains empty, I see."

His words echoed oddly in her head; from a distance, she thought she heard voices, but it wasn't familiar like her angel's, and she struggled to focus on Fenrir, a pounding echoing through her head. The wolf exposed his fangs in what could have been a smile, as Eira stumbled back, the world spinning dizzyingly, the edges of her vision growing dark.

"…Well…? What…what well…?"

She almost didn't recognize it, her voice, and then—

Nothing.

---

"Eira!"

Someone was shaking her; that voice—it was—

The child's eyes blinked open, the world above slowly solidifying as she belatedly recognized the pair of brown eyes staring down at her. What was Peorth doing in her room, hadn't she had Lind lock the door, and why did she look so concerned—?

The thought hit her like a brick to the head, and her eyes widened.

Fenrir.

She realized abruptly that Peorth was speaking to her; she blinked quickly, understanding now that the dark-haired goddess was asking her if she was alright. Why wouldn't she be, she had only been…talking to Fenrir… The child sat up, finding that Peorth was crouched next to her, whereas Fenrir—why was he still here?—was sitting calmly in the corner, not at all alarmed by the axe that was being pointed at his face, courtesy of Eira's other caretaker.

"Eira," Peorth spoke from her side, "tell me, why is that creature here?"

"He…he was delivering something to me." And being a little creepy, she added in her thoughts. "Um, he hasn't hurt me, I think…"

She noticed that Lind failed to put down the axe at this comment. The blue-haired goddess spoke quietly, her voice only just audible to the child. "And what business does a construct based from the form of the Ultimate Destruction Program have with a child?"

"That's rude, you know," Fenrir drawled, carving out a little rune into the floor with the point of one claw; the sound of the stone protesting this movement made Eira's ears hurt. "I'm not based on the Ultimate Destruction Program, thank you very much. My master just takes inspiration from things sometimes, and here we are."

"And just what does that pest Loki want with Eira?" Peorth grumbled.

"I go through all the trouble to get here, have to work my way around a ridiculous warding spell, learn that nothing of interest has occurred yet, and now I have to deal with the two of you? Master Loki didn't say who Eira's new caretakers were, and now I wish he had, because then I wouldn't have bothered." The wolf was scowling, as much as a wolf could scowl, and promptly curled up in the corner, his ears folding flat against his head.

The dark-haired goddess climbed to her feet, her face stony. "Go back to Loki then, if you're that bothered by us."

Fenrir scoffed. "You're being perfectly boorish, so why should I listen to you? Maybe I like it here in this corner. It's quite a nice corner, Eira; I might just have to take up residence here just to spite your caretakers."

"Huh?" Eira looked from the wolf to her caretakers and back again, thoroughly confused.

"Fenrir," Peorth hissed through gritted teeth—Eira wondered what Uncle Loki had done to her to make her that annoyed, even by a servant of the god—and the wolf raised his head just slightly, one yellow eye blinking languidly.

"Call off your Valkyrie and then maybe I'll consider it."

Peorth's face was slowly but steadily turning a funny shade of an almost purple color. "She's not my—oh, for Heaven's sake," she threw up her hands. "Lind, put your limiter away, he's clearly not bothered by it."

The blue-haired goddess glanced over at her, and Eira thought Lind looked both slightly confused and also still suspicious, but she did comply with Peorth's order, as was usual, and the child watched with interest as she flicked her fingers about the axe's handle, and it promptly disappeared, Lind closing her hand over something falling through the air too quickly for Eira to catch a glimpse of what it was. The little goddess groaned inwardly; apparently tonight was not the night she discovered the secret of where Lind put her axes when she wasn't using them.

Fenrir turned to face them. "Much better. Having sharp pointy objects waved in your face is quite off-putting, in case you weren't aware."

"I'm sure," Peorth snorted. "Now leave."

"But I've just gotten comfortable!" the wolf protested cheerily.

Brown eyes narrowed sharply. "If you got in here, then you can just as easily get back out. The warding spell's gone, so you'll have no trouble leaving."

"Ah, but—" And Fenrir rolled leisurely across the floor, coming up against Lind's boots and sliding backwards a little before he righted himself, climbing to his paws. "—you see, Master Loki only gives me access to certain magic at certain times, and I'm afraid I can't get back out the way I came in." The way he said it made it seem like he wasn't very concerned, and Eira frowned, puzzled.

"You can walk, can't you?"

"All the way back to the southern sector? Why, that would just take ages!"

Peorth's hands curled into loose fists. "Now you're just spouting nonsense." Her left eye was visibly twitching. "I suppose the only way we'll be rid of you is if we deliver you to Loki ourselves?"

Fenrir showed his teeth widely, in what was probably a grin. Probably. "You could just shove me outside, I'm sure, but you don't really want me hanging around, now do you…?"

He's good, Eira thought, nodding absently. Her caretakers may not have been fools, but Peorth at least could be easily predictable in behavior. Lind was the one who was much more difficult to predict, because she was so quiet all the time.

Speaking of Lind…the blue-haired goddess had stepped back to stand next to Peorth, lightly patting her on the shoulder. Peorth let out a long sigh, her face saying clearly that she did not like this idea, not at all.

"Fine. Fine. Off to Heaven's Junk Shop we go."

"All of us?" Eira burst out, gaping; she had expected Peorth to say only she was going, or maybe that only Lind was going—the less likely option—and that she herself was to stay here.

Peorth didn't even look at her. "I don't trust Fenrir and I don't trust Loki. Lind is my backup, and we can't leave you here alone, so you're coming with us. And since I refuse to give Loki a direct portal here by transporting to his shop from here, we're going to do this the old-fashioned way."

The old-fashioned way, Eira learned, meant flying.

Peorth had Fenrir bundled under one arm, and the wolf kept complaining about something or other the entire way there, which proved to make the experience much less exciting than Eira had originally thought her first flight would be; that, and she was being carried somewhat-awkwardly by Lind, and her head kept hitting something metal under the blue-haired goddess's shirt, which wasn't very comfortable, either.

How the two goddesses knew where they were going from above Eira didn't have a clue, because all the buildings below looked similar in the near darkness. She wasn't sure how long it was before she noticed that Fenrir's complaining had quieted, and that Lind was descending, the wind rushing past them. They landed in the middle of the street, in front of a average-sized building—average in relation to the others on the street—and while there wasn't any particular sign on the front, Eira could see the shapes of cluttered objects through the windows.

"Here we are," Peorth announced sourly, "Heaven's Junk Shop."

"…That's not…really what it's called, is it?" Lind questioned slowly.

The dark-haired goddess shook her head, a motion Eira only just saw. "It has another name, but really, everyone calls it Heaven's Junk Shop, because that's what it is." The child caught a glimpse of distant light flashing across brown eyes as Peorth looked back momentarily. "You've never been here before, Lind?"

It was Lind's turn to give a shake of her head, her chin grazing the top of Eira's head as she did so. "I've never even met Loki personally."

"…I suppose that makes sense," Peorth grumbled, and kicked at the door. "Loki! We're here to return your lost dog!"

Fenrir let out a noise closer to a squawk than a bark. "I am a wolf, ignorant goddess!"

"Call me ignorant one more time, and I'll—"

"You'll do what?" Fenrir challenged. "Throw me?"

"Oh, shut up," Peorth said, rather inelegantly, and was aiming to kick the door again when it opened, light spilling out onto the street. Loki stood there, his robes slightly smoking, his dark hair standing on end, one green eye twitching ever-so-slightly. His face was also covered in ash, obscuring the gray squares that were his markings. "Oh, well, look who it is," he said cheerfully, stepping back. "I haven't seen your face in quite some time, Peorth!"

"Don't get used to it," the dark-haired goddess muttered, but nonetheless walked inside, Fenrir wriggling under her arm. Lind followed after, Eira squinting into the light as her eyes adjusted. The shop was just as filled with strange items as the last time she could remember being here, although there had been some redecorating. She couldn't remember there being that gigantic waving cat statue the last time, or the collection of, according to its label, 'finely-sculpted false feces', which Eira figured was the fancy way to say fake turd.

Peorth dumped Fenrir on the floor, who voiced his protest of this abuse quite loudly. The wolf trotted back over to his master, nose stuck in the air, and Eira snickered from the relative safety of Lind's arms.

At the sound Loki turned, blinking. "Ah, my protégé! It's been a long time!" His eyes appeared to find Lind then, and for a moment he appeared taken aback—or…was that fear, that Eira saw so quickly flicker through his eyes? Why would Loki ever be afraid of Lind, when Peorth was the loud, abrasive one?—but then his eyes went back to Peorth, and he grinned widely.

"Loki," Peorth started, raising her hand warningly, "if you start spreading stupid rumors again—"

"That was one time," the god protested loftily, crossing his arms. "And half of it was true!"

"You aren't going to send that dog to us again, are you?" Peorth questioned, ignoring his words.

Fenrir spoke up from the floor indignantly. "Wolf!"

"Well—"

Eira started tuning out the rest of their conversation, because it was starting to seem like they might just go on complaining at each other for a while; she turned her eyes upwards to Lind, who was more focused on the far wall. "Hey—" the child started, planning to ask about whatever it was that had been hitting her in the head on the way here, but she quickly realized her caretaker wasn't listening when Lind moved forwards, stepping around a pile of cards stacked up in neat triangles, to stand in front of the wall.

Eira turned her head, blinking, and thought she knew what the older goddess was looking at: while there were a variety of things hung on the walls—a couple of daggers, a large flat disk colored in bright neon yellow, a stick carved in the shape of a snake, a creepy-looking mask with purple feathers sticking out the back, among other things—there also happened to be a long-handled axe, identical to the ones that the little goddess had seen Lind use. Light blue eyes squinted; well, not identical, she revised her initial thought, as the designs on this one looked not as complicated.

"…How many of those do you have?" she couldn't stop herself from asking, and blue eyes looked down, almost as if Lind had just about forgotten she was holding Eira in the first place.

"Only two," was the blue-haired goddess's surprisingly small reply. And here Eira had been thinking she had to have at least ten or so. "And this would not be an adequate replacement, as it is too low in grade level." She half-turned, as a barely-understandable screech of "Excuse me?!" from Peorth reached their ears. The dark-haired goddess was staring furiously at Loki, who was standing still, arms crossed over his chest, rid of the remnants of ash and grinning widely.

"What?" the god said nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders. "It's a legitimate question; honestly, you should be given a trophy for surviving long enough to even get that far—"

Eira saw the triangle-stacked cards waver, as if moved by an invisible force, and crumple to a heap scattered across the box they had been standing on. She hadn't felt a tremor, but then again she wasn't standing on the floor. "Loki," Lind said, quietly enough that the little goddess was honestly surprised her voice reached to Peorth and Loki; two dark heads turned, and again Eira saw the smallest flicker of—was it fear, though? Was it really?—in Loki's eyes, and the way he'd talked with Peorth was more easy-going than the way he spoke now.

"I didn't steal that, if that's what you're concerned over."

"It belongs to the combat division. Why is it here?" the blue-haired goddess murmured, her expression unchanging. Eira wasn't sure if she was mad or confused.

Loki was managing to look more unimpressed now. "The runes at the core are disrupted. It's not much use in actual battle, and they were plotting to get rid of it anyhow. So I thought it wouldn't do to get rid of something that looks perfectly fine sitting on a wall, what's wrong with that?"

Lind frowned. "If the damage is irreparable, then why keep it? It is of no use to you, and you have no sentimental value attached to it. You can't reasonably sell it, either."

"Maybe I like having it on my wall," the god said, raising one eyebrow.

Peorth broke into the conversation. "We didn't come here to complain about your questionable wall decorations, Loki, even if they are questionable. Are we going to have to deal with more visits from the dog or not?"

"Wolf—" Fenrir grumbled from the floor, and Eira was beginning to think that Peorth was consistently getting the word wrong on purpose.

"Only if Eira over there decides to follow through with any of my suggestions," Loki replied, back to grinning. "And depending on how long she stays with you, you might be getting quite a few visits from Fenrir."

"Why does he need to come?"

"We have an arrangement." Loki shrugged absently and turned to look over at Eira and Lind. "You're not going to stand here all night, are you? As much as it would be entertaining to see reactions to you being permanent fixtures here, I do run a business and I'd hate to have all potential customers scared off."

Peorth's eyes narrowed. Her face twisted, like she was holding back some words—probably the kind Eira would never be allowed to say—but the dark-haired goddess said nothing and turned on her heel, striding out of the shop without a backward glance. Lind spared the axe on the wall another long look before following after Peorth, and Eira stuck her head over Lind's shoulder to wave to the god.

"Bye, Uncle Loki! Try not to be so slow with paying me next time!"

The only thing she heard in reply was his laughter, before the door swung shut.

"So he's where you get your money from," Peorth muttered, apparently not having left without them.

"So?" Eira stuck out her tongue. "You said I was allowed to use my money however I wanted!"

The dark-haired goddess shook her head. Lind moved forwards now, standing opposite her, and her arms shifted, leaving Eira wondering if she was going to be put down or not. "Peorth," she said, hesitantly almost, "what did Loki tell you? Does it warrant retribution?"

"…Don't waste your energy on the likes of him," Peorth finally said, turning away. "And he just likes to make up nonsense, that's what he does."

"…It was about me, wasn't it?"

Peorth sighed. "Yes and no." She launched off the ground. "Come on, let's go."

Lind took off after her, and Eira stared up at the blue-haired goddess's face, what she could see of it anyways. You guys suck at this, she thought to herself, shaking her head—the metal thing under Lind's shirt hitting her in the ear for the eighth time this trip—and frowned. That's not the way to be sneaky at all!

Are you sure they're trying to be? came the voice of her angel, who promptly manifested hovering just shy of sitting on Lind's shoulder.

Well…if they're not… Eira considered that thought for a moment. Wait—wait, I think I have a—

Her brilliant plot was momentarily stalled by a protest from her ear, and she grumbled, grabbing hold of the blue-haired goddess's shirt, both to save her ear from more abuse and to attempt getting Lind's attention, which proved not in vain when blue eyes looked down.

"Yes, Eira?"

"Whatever you have under your shirt keeps hitting me in the ear," the child muttered, giving her best annoyed frown.

Lind blinked—maybe she hadn't realized it would even be a bother, because from the way she was carrying Eira it seemed to the little goddess that the shorter of her two caretakers was one who hadn't ever really carried anyone else before, or at least anyone a lot smaller than her. "…My apologies," the Valkyrie said after a long moment. "I did not realize it would bother you."

"What is it, anyways?" Eira asked, tilting her head, Brilliant Sunbeam fluttering forwards, tiny wings swaying in the wind, to offer a little light. That didn't mean Eira could see the thing any better though; but since it hadn't fallen off in flight and she doubted it was legitimately stuck to Lind, then that meant it was a—

"Just a necklace," Lind answered, shaking her head slightly, eyes fixing back on somewhere ahead of them. Peorth hadn't joined in the conversation, which was unlike her; usually her louder caretaker was the one who did most of the talking anyways, so it was strange to be having a talk with Lind without Peorth saying something. The dark-haired goddess was somewhere ahead of them, and was what Eira imagined Lind to be looking at, or following, probably both.

"…That's not where you put your axes, is it?"

Puzzlement flashed across Lind's face. "No."

…Well, there went that idea. Eira tried again. "Did Peorth give it to you, then?"

That earned an actual movement, which Eira considered success; Lind turned her head, gazing down at her, something strange in her eyes, something like…not surprise, but—the child wasn't sure what to call that expression. But all Lind said was "Why would you think that?"

"Uh…" She was supposed to be sneaky, right? Or did that even matter anymore? "No…reason…" she managed to say, putting on a wide grin. "Just—curious, that's all!"

She didn't expect an answer, so she was shocked when Lind spoke.

"…No, she didn't give it to me."

"Does it at least turn into something cool?" Eira asked, because she figured a Valkyrie wouldn't carry something without it having a purpose, at least that was the way it had seemed back at the shop.

"…No. It's just a necklace, Eira."

The little goddess felt the need to inform her, "That's really lame. I thought all your stuff would turn into weapons."

"You misunderstand the purpose of the Valkyries," Lind said softly, and it was the tone of her voice that made Eira look up. Now the blue-haired goddess looked only slightly unhappy, maybe even sad. She kept speaking. "But you are not alone in thinking that. Many do not understand."

Eira stared up at her blankly, not sure what she meant. She didn't have the chance to ask why she was supposedly wrong—as far as she had ever been told, the Valkyries fought demons and monsters and all sorts of things. What was she missing, what else was there that the warrior deities even did, if fighting wasn't what they were supposed to do?—because a vaguely familiar skyline was appearing from the darkness. The blue-haired goddess dropped back down to the ground lightly, and Eira squinted, just barely managing to see the outline of their house.

"Finally, that's over with," Peorth grumbled from somewhere next to Eira and Lind.

"Why don't you like Uncle Loki?" the child couldn't resist asking, pouting when the only answer she received from the dark-haired goddess was an incoherent grumble. Lind finally let her down—Eira had been half-expecting the quieter of her two caretakers to just drop her—and they three headed back into the house together.

Peorth was muttering again, and Eira actually understood one in three of the words she was saying, something about wondering if she'd ever get enough sleep to deal with all the craziness. The child grinned inwardly, pleased with her havoc wreaked for the night, even if most of it had come from Fenrir's unexpected arrival and the visit to see her not-uncle, and happily trotted back to her room.

Her good mood wasn't even spoiled by Peorth's poking her head in and telling her in what was probably meant to be a stern voice, but in actuality sounded just plain annoyed, "Remember, no pranks from you tomorrow—er, today, actually, and the day after."

Eira gave her most innocent smile, which only served to earn her a searching look, but Peorth seemed to leave it at that and withdrew her head, the door sliding shut behind her.

It was a few minutes later before the little goddess realized neither Peorth nor Lind were coming back to lock her door, but she figured that was probably because Peorth was still annoyed, or maybe she'd just taken the opportunity and went to sleep. And if that was the case, she thought she might as well follow their example. After all, she might not have been allowed to play pranks, but that didn't mean she couldn't still mess with the two first class deities without the use of her various joke items.

Dawn was well past when Eira jerked awake, her eyes widening.

"Oh! My brilliant plan!"

Notes:

Some minor story notes: The introduction of Loki and Fenrir appears here much earlier than my original draft, but I'm pleased with the way things were reworked in terms of overall plot goals, so it's not a big issue, also foreshadowing ahoy! Loki is not related to Eira by blood, as stated, but she calls him 'uncle' anyways for simplicity. Their agreement will be explained in full in the coming chapter, so I won't elaborate on it here.

Fenrir is actually not truly the size of a small dog, as he appears when he meets with Eira and how he remains throughout the chapter; his natural form is much, much larger, and recall that his form is 'inspired by' the wolf that is the Ultimate Destruction Program. Fenrir is truly a construct created by Loki, who enjoys messing with everyone around him with great glee, which is why Fenrir's form and name match, or nearly so in regards to his size, the template for the Ultimate Destruction Program. He serves as Loki's 'messenger' of sorts, which is why he carries Eira's payments to her, and he will appear again, much to Peorth's dismay. [She is also very much getting Fenrir's 'species' wrong on purpose, Eira is correct about that]

The well Fenrir refers to when speaking to Eira is not a physical well. It is also not a stealth reference to Norse mythology, though I suppose you may view it as such. The well has a more metaphorical meaning, which you may interpret however you like, just know that you may be wrong in terms of plot context.

Lind's necklace is, sadly, still just a necklace. It has a purpose, but unfortunately it's not a weapon, as difficult as that may be to believe, nor is it a form of limiter, either. Also, Eira may never figure out just where Lind keeps her axes, such a pity.

Chapter 8: Treading the Line

"You're…serious." Lind stared blankly at her partner for several long seconds.

"Of course I'm serious!" Peorth huffed, gesturing towards their door. "I forgot to ask you to lock her door again, and I didn't do it myself either, so who knows what she could have gotten up to while we were asleep! She's taking suggestions from Loki, for Heaven's sake! Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

The blue-haired goddess sighed quietly. She wasn't entirely sure why Peorth seemed to find that such a horrible outcome; while it was true that she'd vaguely heard the god's name before, she didn't expressly know much about him. Even the fact that he had owned what amounted to something of an eccentricity shop was new information for her; still, she did find herself wondering just what it was about Loki that bothered Peorth so much. They had been having a conversation while she and Eira had been observing the axe on Loki's wall, and whatever it was that Loki had said had appeared to offend Peorth greatly.

"I apologize," Lind started, "but I don't know much about Loki. Is he…you say it's bad that he's offering suggestions to Eira, does that mean he also invests his time in pranks? Doesn't he have duties, obligations to Heaven to fulfill?"

"His license, as far as I can recall—he may have changed it, who knows—is God First Class, Category One, Unlimited," Peorth answered after a long pause. "He used to be one of Yggdrasil's system administrators, but he spent so much time just messing around with the system that I don't even think he's allowed to work with the mainframe anymore. And yes, he does enjoy playing pranks on others, though they're usually a bit worse than Eira's."

Lind absorbed this information without comment; it didn't explain why Peorth had taken such issue with the god, but she supposed some context was better than none. She presumed that Loki had pranked Peorth in the past, and that was why the dark-haired goddess was so irked by his presence. Thinking of that reminded her of another question she had, better able to be asked now that Eira was out of earshot and that the night had passed, allowing for more calm thoughts. "…Peorth," she began, a touch hesitantly, "what did Loki tell you, that you were so angry about?"

Peorth snorted. "It's trivial nonsense that no one should be paying any heed to." When Lind only kept staring at her, she heaved a long sigh. "Realistically, it wasn't that awful of a comment, I'd just had a long day and Loki is aggravating enough when you have to worry that he might be trying to sneakily prank you on your way out."

The Valkyrie observed her friend for a long moment, knowing well that Peorth couldn't lie, so the words she spoke had to be the truth, but—

Maybe it really was nothing to be concerned over, but Peorth had seemed quite angry… Lind sighed and shrugged absently, deciding to just let the matter slide. It wasn't as if it was really her place to be asking why Peorth might have found Loki's comments unsavory in the first place.

She glanced up and realized that Peorth was staring at her; she tipped her head slowly to the side, blinking as she asked, "Is there…something wrong?"

The dark-haired goddess didn't immediately reply, the look in her brown eyes something like somewhere between thoughtful and slightly worried. "…Do you mind it?" she asked at last.

Lind's eyebrows furrowed despite herself. "Mind what?" she replied, understanding at once that her partner was no longer speaking of the subject of Loki. What she was referring to, however, was anyone's guess.

Peorth gestured vaguely to the room around them. "This, being here with Eira, and me as well, all the time…I mean, you didn't seem to really talk to anyone before the Angel Eater"—that seemed to Lind like the older goddess was trying for a tactful way of saying 'you didn't have friends', and she wasn't sure if Peorth was succeeding—"and even after, I think…it just seems like to me that you're more accustomed to being by yourself. I'm just wondering if…if you mind that you have to be around us all the time. I know Eira's difficult to get along with on a good day, and, well, some other deities have informed me before that my personality can be…" Peorth winced slightly, as if she wasn't so fond of this, "…polarizing," she finished with, one brown eye twitching slightly. "So—do you mind?"

Lind blinked slowly, uncertain as to where this subject had come up from, but it seemed like it was a legitimate concern on Peorth's part. And she herself could see why Peorth might find this a concern, she supposed—and a part of her was grateful that the words the dark-haired goddess had used were "accustomed to being by yourself" rather than "liked being alone", because those were two very different concepts and it was good to know that Peorth could distinguish between them—but now she had to think of how to phrase her answer. She didn't want Peorth to become suspicious of her without cause, as she seemed to take minor details as reason enough for wild theories, but she also didn't want her friend to worry over her, either.

It was fine like this, after all.

She turned her head, meeting Peorth's brown eyes and shoving away that nagging little thought. "I…understand your concern," she started, a touch hesitantly, "but—there is no need for you to worry over my welfare. While I may not be accustomed to consistently sharing living arrangements with the same deities for long periods of time, that just means I have to…adjust."

"But do you mind?" Peorth repeated. "I know Eira's loud, and, well, I'm loud too, most likely, by your standards, but…" She trailed off, shrugging helplessly, like she wished she had a better way to explain herself.

The blue-haired goddess frowned slightly. "I wouldn't call you loud, really, you're merely—exuberant in personality," she tried, blinking quickly.

"You don't have to dance around the truth just to avoid offending me," Peorth snorted, raising an eyebrow pointedly. "You're allowed to say what you want; you don't have to worry about me getting angry over it."

But I don't want to offend you, was what Lind was going to say, but what came out of her mouth instead, oddly enough, was, "You won't get angry?" Certainly, it seemed like Peorth's mood was always quick to turn foul after significant shenanigans by Eira, and the blue-haired goddess wasn't sure exactly what might set her off, given that her partner had been quite annoyed by whatever it was Loki had said, also. But thinking along those lines gave her another opportunity to reconsider: Peorth was more than willing to display annoyance towards Loki, and to a slightly lesser extent Eira. She had said that she wouldn't do the same for Lind, and what was it that separated Lind herself from Loki and Eira?

Strength, her mind told her, the wary hum of agreement from her angels at the back of her mind echoing it, and she returned her attention to the dark-haired goddess, shifting her shoulders faintly at the small pinprick of pain racing over the scar across her shoulders. "You're…afraid of me." The words were out before she could stop them, before she could even try thinking of a better way to phrase them; she had never been the most eloquent of deities, and the words you're afraid of me were far too simple, indeed.

Peorth's eyes widened, and in any other situation the expression upon her face might have been almost amusing. "You—" she started, breaking off and shaking her head slightly. She stepped forwards so that she was standing right in front of Lind. The blue-haired goddess had to tilt her head back to maintain eye contact, and for the moment, all she could see in those clear brown eyes was a mixture of surprise and something like—pity?

"I'm not afraid of you," Peorth said. "I don't fear your strength, because I don't believe you'd ever, in your right mind, harm someone you've sworn to protect."

"You know the Valkyries' oath?" Lind asked; but of course, Peorth was knowledgeable in her own right, and with all the work she did with Yggdrasil, was it really a surprise that she'd know? The oath that every Valkyrie took upon completion of their training wasn't a secret, so there was no reason to assume that Peorth wouldn't have heard of it.

But, despite that, Peorth shook her head nonchalantly. "Not in the slightest, but one of your obligations is to defend Heaven, and therefore, by that logic, you wouldn't harm any denizen of Heaven without undue cause."

Lind's eyebrows furrowed. "Then…what is it that you're…afraid of, if—if not me?"

"Why do I have to be afraid of anything?" the dark-haired goddess questioned, a twinkle surfacing momentarily in her eyes. "But I'm definitely not afraid of you. I trust you, cher cœur, so you should trust me too when I say that." She patted Lind's shoulder, in what was probably supposed to be a comforting gesture, but Lind was a bit more preoccupied with again failing to decipher the phrase the older goddess had used to really garner any sense of consolation from the demonstration. Before she had the chance to ask again what the words meant, Peorth was speaking again.

"Though…I suppose, if anything…I'm afraid that I'm forcing you to do something you don't want to do. That's why I asked if you minded being here, with Eira and I."

"You're not forcing me to do anything," Lind murmured, puzzlement no doubt even more evident upon her face. "It was the High Council who gave me this assignment, so it was never your doing…"

"That's not what I meant," Peorth corrected, crossing her arms. "It's more—this," and she swept an arm out to indicate the room; Lind looked, but all she could see was the same furniture that had been in the room to start with, the windowpane painting light squares of sunlight across the neatly-made bed. "It's all so…domestic, I suppose," the dark-haired goddess carried on, a strange look on her face, like she might have wished for another phrase if she had one, "and—I think it's more that having to stay here for this assignment, that's…clipped your wings, so to speak, when you should be running around fighting monsters or demons or other such things, as befits the strongest Valkyrie."

Lind didn't even realize that Peorth had likely meant the comment more as a subtle reference to the other nickname for the Valkyries, the Fighting Wings; that didn't even occur to her, because the only thought she could come up with was How can anyone fly on broken wings?

But she couldn't speak such words aloud; and Peorth still needed some sort of answer—"I don't. Mind, that is," she managed to say. "You aren't—doing anything to keep me here. I accepted this mission, and I will see it through to completion." She hesitated, eager to move on to another subject and yet not quite sure how to do it, when something else occurred to her, concerning their charge. "Ah, about Eira, though…"

"What about her?" Now that the topic of conversation had shifted from heavier ideas, Peorth raised her eyebrows and appeared more slightly annoyed. That was to be expected, given that Eira hadn't improved whatsoever in their attempts at teaching her various forms of magic, but it had seemed to Lind like Peorth had always been the more optimistic of the two of them in terms of how quickly, if at all, that the child would be able to learn anything productive.

"I think…perhaps we're going about teaching her the wrong way…" She was tentative in suggesting this, even when Peorth had explained she wouldn't be mad if Lind contradicted her.

"Oh?" The dark-haired goddess at least looked interested. "What do you mean? I hope you're not disparaging my skills as a teacher, now are you?"

Lind hastily agreed, "No, not at all, it's not that your—skills are lacking, it's perhaps—the methods?" She wasn't sure exactly how to explain the point she was trying to make, but she tried. "You remember that knife she was carrying around, when she first escaped from us on our way here?"

"Yes…?"

"Her blades aren't very finely made," the Valkyrie elaborated, "and we know she has at least a few different knives at her disposal. The last time she used any of the knives, I tried analyzing the blades, just to see if she did anything with them beyond using them to assist her in setting up her pranks. The two knives I was able to find had dust ingrained into the blades, dust that didn't match the composition of the stone in this house." She stretched a hand and lightly tapped a wall to accentuate the point; the only reason she had even had the opportunity to analyze the contents of the knives was because Peorth's lessons with Eira on the subject of reconstruction magic seemed to take especially long, as if that logic was the most difficult for the child to accept. Then again, she had no right to rebuke the child for failing to understand a supposedly-simple spell when she herself couldn't really perform it well either.

"I imagine you found out where it originated from, then?" Peorth inquired, eyes curious, pulling her from her thoughts.

Lind gave a small nod. "The western sector's twenty-first quadrant," she said, "which corresponds to a section of forest due west of here. It was likely where she was returning from when you found her."

Peorth hummed. "So you think maybe she's hacking up boulders in her spare time, to increase her physical strength to compensate for her extreme lacking in magical strength?"

"I highly doubt she's capable of destroying boulders, but yes, I believe the idea is the same."

"When would she have time to train like that, though? She spends so much of her time thinking up pranks!"

Lind tipped her head slightly to the side. "That's what we think she's always doing, but that may not necessarily be true. This also may have been truer for her previous caretakers—she appears to have been implying that we are the first to be…stringent with her."

"Even so…" Peorth's eyes narrowed as she crossed her arms, a thoughtful expression flashing across her face. "So you think—that's what she wants to do with her life?"

"She's young," Lind allowed, "but I was only a year or so older when I…chose to join the combat division. Also, Eira does seem to have an aptitude for—destruction, rather than creation. That is a skill valued by the Valkyries, and while her personality is…" She hesitated, trying to think of a good word to describe Eira's attitude.

"Wild?" Peorth suggested, and although it wasn't quite the word Lind had been looking for—though what that word was escaped her—the blue-haired goddess accepted the substitution and continued.

"…while her personality is somewhat wild, which isn't necessarily conducive to cooperating as part of a team, as not all missions are solitary, she doesn't flinch away from destroying things in her path."

"You think you understand her, then?"

Lind studied the door for a heartbeat. "No," she said at last, "the only part of her personality that I can hope to understand is her willingness to destroy, and…her issue with her angel." It wasn't the same, of course; though Lind's non-combat magic was rather lacking, she had at least borne a properly-sized angel from the angel's egg when she had swallowed it, that day so many years ago. And Brilliant Sunbeam would grow, certainly, as Eira did, so she wouldn't remain small forever.

Peorth was looking at her, and the blue-haired goddess had the distinct feeling that once again, her friend had fixated on the more self-deprecating of her words. "You do," the older goddess said sharply, "you do have two wings."

"We're talking about Eira, not me," Lind couldn't help pointing out, and Peorth huffed.

"Yes, well—"

The loud knocking on her door interrupted her, followed shortly by Eira's voice, as if the child herself was unwilling to just walk in. "Are you two slowpokes even awake yet?! I've been sitting out here for hours waiting up for you! I'm getting bored, you know!"

Peorth reached over and opened the door, revealing the little goddess standing at the threshold, arms crossed and a sufficiently defiant expression fixed on her face, the tiny Brilliant Sunbeam once more seated on top of her head.

"We've been awake, Eira, there's no need to yell," Peorth grumbled, frowning. "And you haven't put out any pranks, have you?"

"Who, me? I'm innocent!" Eira reassured them both, though Lind thought the air of supposed innocence was rather spoiled by the wide grin that had overtaken the child's features. "Besides, you never told me what you'd do to me anyways," Eira tacked on afterwards, "for all I know, you could have had me shackled to the ceiling for the entire day!" She hesitated, adding after a minute pause, "…You wouldn't do that, would you?"

Peorth spoke before Lind had a chance to. "No, we wouldn't do that, because that's cruel and unusual punishment. Besides, I don't even have any shackles with me, and it would be irksome to make some for the sole purpose of fettering you to the ceiling for a day."

"…I have some shackles," Lind offered after a pause, and both her partner and their charge turned to look at her, one halfway between concerned and slightly confused, the other more disbelieving.

"They're standard equipment in case a Valkyrie encounters a situation requiring an individual's restraint, usually only when a deity has committed some sort of grave offense," she began, slightly hesitantly, "and I'm only allotted one pair." She slid the two pairs of bracelets off her forearms, flicking her fingers across the thin line of runes along the inside of the two bands that would have been in front. The bracelets condensed together into a single pair of thick silver manacles, both sides inscribed with small lines of runes, a single magic circle carved into the front of both pieces, the center occupied by a circular golden gemstone.

"These are too powerful to warrant use on Eira, though; they would have to be modified first," she admitted, turning them over in her hands. "They're meant to confine the magic of a deity at yours or my rank, Peorth, not Eira's."

Peorth hummed absently, stretching out a hand. "May I?"

As Lind handed her one of the shackles, Eira bounced up, irritation at their supposed lateness momentarily forgotten as she proclaimed, "I want to see one too!"

"You're going to stick your hand in it and then we'll have the time of our lives trying to get it off you," Peorth deadpanned immediately in response, glancing back down to the manacle in her hand, idly tracing out a few of the runes with the tips of two fingers.

"While it would be difficult to remove from Eira, given that she doesn't have enough magic to allow for the shackles to properly contain—" Lind started, knowing that the shackles were only useful for a short time anyways, depending on how large the power they were confining, with larger energies corresponding to a shorter time interval, as the shackles were powered by the residual energy held in the gemstones set into the front, amplified by the magic circle. If the shackles, properly activated, had been placed on Eira, with her negligible amount of magical energy in comparison to the threshold the fetters were meant to obstruct, they would have returned to dormancy, effectively locking in place, and then the only way to remove them would be by using a well-enchanted divine blade, of which Lind's limiters would suffice; the difficulty would arise in using a large blade for a delicate task. She kept speaking, "—there's no reason for you to worry. They aren't activated, so they pose no threat to her."

Peorth still looked slightly unconvinced; but Lind had had something of a small idea, and crouched to get on Eira's eye level, extending a hand, her fingers still curled around the shackle's rim. "You may touch," she informed the child, watching closely as the little goddess leaned forwards, large eyes riveted on the magical object.

It took less than a second for Eira to reach out, prodding at the silver metal, holding onto it with both hands, even when Lind still maintained her grip of the side. It seemed like the child was measuring it mentally, trying to figure out how big it would look on her arm, as she switched her attention to the magic circle and the gemstone at its center.

A small hand brushed Lind's as Eira switched the position of her left arm, now poking at the gemstone, the tiniest spark of pale light surfacing from its golden depths. "It can make lights?" the child questioned, tilting her head.

"It's registering magic," Peorth answered from above; Lind had thought the older goddess might figure out that point quickly. Even so, that the crystal had registered Eira's magic at all—was she truly not so lost as she seemed?

"…It's not working anymore," Eira announced, looking disappointed for a heartbeat before she regained that almost-annoyed expression that was her 'usual' countenance.

Lind gazed down at the shackle, and indeed, though Eira's fingers were touching the jewel's surface, it wasn't displaying that tiny spark of light any longer. She pulled back the shackle, marginally concerned—if the gemstone wasn't responding correctly, that meant she would need to return the shackles in order to see if what damage they had suffered was repairable—and balanced the object in her hand, placing two fingers against the jewel. The response was immediate, the golden color washed out beneath an onslaught of burning white light, the kind of reaction that befitted a deity of first class rank. So it wasn't the magic, then.

She turned her eyes back to Eira, confused as to why it wouldn't remain constant for her, even if she had so very little magic. Did it have to do with the way that she used her magic, or that she wasn't actively accessing enough of it with her pranks? Was it truly that she had very little natural magic to begin with? Or was it that they were missing something in their attempts to teach Eira the logistics of magic?

It was true that Lind had never seen such a small angel before, and Brilliant Sunbeam's size might correspond to what magic Eira could currently use, but the child had to have a larger magical reservoir than that. Even Lind herself, who had struggled with many aspects of magic when she was Eira's age and younger, it had never been that she didn't have enough power, but rather that she couldn't work out how to perform the magic in a way that would give her the result she was looking for. So Eira, despite her apparent lack of magical skills, should at the very least have a decent amount of energy to spare—she was a deity, after all; a young deity, but a deity nonetheless.

The Valkyrie looked up, meeting Peorth's eyes; the older goddess's face was impassive, but the expression in her eyes seemed to say that they would talk about this later, when Eira was out of earshot. Lind gave an absent nod, something of a silent reply, and shifted the shackle back to its dormant form, the pair of golden bracelets, and slid them onto her right forearm. She took back the other from Peorth, who offered no complaint, and returned it, in bracelet form, back to its place on her left forearm.

Eira was staring at her, looking slightly confused. "How come you can still do magic if you're always wearing those? You said they don't let you use magic, right?"

Lind shook her head slightly. "You misunderstand. These work differently from my limiters, which even in dormant form can still serve their purpose. The shackles can't be used in any other form than their true one; this, here," she raised a hand, causing the bracelets to clink together, "is just…" She paused, trying to think of a good way to phrase it.

"Storage," Peorth offered, and Lind gave a nod. The child didn't look entirely convinced, but it should have been obvious to her from previous lessons that Lind was still capable of using magic, even when wearing the bracelets, as she had never removed them in Eira's presence.

Peorth clapped her hands together. "Right, now that that's settled, we've spent a while standing here talking—and don't think you've distracted me, Eira, because you haven't, you're going to have to try a lot harder than that to get out of magic practice—we should get to working on magic, shall we?"

"I wish you'd give up already…" Eira grumbled, perhaps not loud enough for Peorth to hear, but Lind did, and gave the child a long look; in response, Eira just stuck out her tongue and turned around, walking back out into the hallway. Peorth was quick to follow, and that left Lind to shut the door behind them. As they walked down the hallway, Peorth spoke up.

"Actually, before we get started, there was something I wanted to ask you about, Eira, concerning last night's events."

"…What?" The little goddess did not seem pleased to be asked, but since it was a way to stall for time, she was apparently willing to listen, for the moment.

"How did you meet Loki, and how did you come to be his…prank-tester, for lack of a better word?"

"Oh," Eira blinked, the surly expression disappearing from her face, like she had expected a different question. "That was…a lo-o-o-ong time ago!" she said slowly, drawing out the word 'long' into several syllables too many.

"Yes, well, I'm sure you remember it," Peorth muttered, an edge to her voice that Lind thought was irritation, "so explain."

Lind wasn't even sure that what Eira would tell them would be the truth, but nonetheless she followed Peorth in sitting down at the small couch, while the child took the chair next to the potted plant that had been her unfortunate victim in her second prank.

"The first time I met Uncle Loki was forever ago," Eira started, seemingly enjoying the telling of the tale, or perhaps it was that she was just trying to stretch it out long enough for Peorth to forget about lessons for the day. "I didn't meet him with my first caretaker…this one was, uh, probably…fourteenth? Fifteenth?" Her eyebrows drew closer together as she struggled to remember, before shrugging and carrying on speaking.

"His name was Bjartr, a second class god who worked with Yggdrasil, but I'm pretty sure that was his way of making himself sound important. I think his actual job was debugging? Maybe?"

"You're not sounding very certain about this," Peorth muttered from next to Lind.

"It was four years ago, give me a break!" the little goddess huffed, crossing her arms. "Anyways, Bjartr wasn't the greatest at being my caretaker, but then again, no one really is, discounting you two, I suppose, since you've stuck to having rules for an entire week, that's got to be a record… Bjartr tended to take me along with him when he went on errands, because he didn't have the power to make me stay and he certainly wasn't convincing enough. So usually I just got to watch him chase around bugs all day, which was pretty boring if you ask me, but one day we didn't go to Yggdrasil, we went to this funny little shop instead!

"And I don't even remember what Bjartr got because do you have any idea how much stuff was in there? I could have pranked all of Heaven for years! It was the most beautiful place I'd ever been!" What was interesting about Eira's narration was that she truly did seem genuinely excited by the memory, proving that she had had the personality of a trickster for quite some time. At least, Lind supposed, it was good that the child could express joy in something, even if it wasn't very productive, and maybe they would eventually find a way to use her skills in a manner that would benefit Heaven rather than be a detriment. She realized that the child was still speaking and hurriedly returned her attention to the conversation at hand.

"—and I had just found this gigantic cushion that made really loud farting noises—it was awesome, except I'd never have been able to carry it, so I was just bouncing on it—and suddenly there was this random god talking to me, he'd just shown up out of nowhere…he was also on fire, but he put it out pretty quick. He also had this funny-looking furry thing with him! He told me that it was a wolf, and its—his—name was Fenrir. And Fenrir talked to me too, but all he said was hello and then walked away. The god found that funny, and he said his name was Loki and he figured that I liked pranks if I was playing around so much with all the stuff in his shop.

"I asked him where Bjartr was, since I then remembered seeing him greet us when we arrived, but seeing all the prank material became more important, and he said Bjartr was coming along, he'd probably gotten lost in all the stuff. We could go find him, he said, and added that he liked pranks too, telling me about some of the ones he'd done, like the time he made all the bugs turn out pink and everything they touched turned pink and all the debuggers were running around with these big blotches of pink all over!

"So I told him about some of my pranks, and he wanted to make me a deal, since he wasn't really allowed to do pranks anymore, which I thought was sad. What would pranks ever do to anyone? I mean, nobody's ever died or anything! But he told me that he could give me ideas to use for future pranks, if I was interested, and if they worked out, he could pay me money which I could use to buy more prank stuff! That seemed like a really good idea, because if I could actually buy things, then I could make even better pranks! So we agreed, and Fenrir—who had come back by this point to tell us that Bjartr had finally figured out how to get around the shop and was headed our way—was given the job of bringing me the money since it would look suspicious if Loki did it himself. And Loki told me that he wanted to hear all about my cool pranks, and I told him he'd definitely hear about it. He told me to call him 'uncle' if I wanted, to make things simpler, even if we're not really related. But anyways, Bjartr finally found us and said it was time to go, so we went. And that's how I met Uncle Loki," Eira finished, with a probably-dramatic flourish, adding on, "I don't know why you don't like him; he's really good at figuring out prank stuff!"

"And that's exactly why he's untrustworthy," Peorth shook her head slightly. "So what I understand is that Loki saw that you'd taken an interest in his…eccentric sales items, and is essentially using you to test out ideas for pranks that he won't have the opportunity to make?"

"Hey, I like making pranks!" the child protested, frowning.

"Oh, we're well aware of that," Peorth said dryly, "trust us on that point." She glanced sideways to Lind, and the Valkyrie offered a nod; the pranks that Eira had already set up in the previous week gave testament to both her ability to use what resources she had to play practical jokes and her creativity in making said practical jokes. If nothing else, she showed some ingenuity in that aspect, but it would be more beneficial if she could harness that ingenuity to assist Heaven rather than hindering the efforts of her various caretakers.

Lind glanced sideways; Peorth was staring off into space, momentarily distracted, possibly ruminating over Eira's tale. Recalling her thought of the veracity of the little goddess's account, she turned her gaze back to Eira herself, who was watching them both in turn, head cocked to the side, Brilliant Sunbeam now sitting serenely on her shoulder.

"Eira," the blue-haired goddess spoke quietly, "that was an honest account of your first encounter with the god Loki, yes?"

Eira's eyebrows scrunched together. "I'm not lying. I could have, I suppose, but there's no point. You could probably ask Uncle Loki if you really wanted, and he's first class like you, so he can't lie to your face, right?"

"Telling falsehoods is a tricky business, but it's still technically possible," Peorth spoke up, eyes holding an almost guarded expression. "And I have no doubt that Loki knows every way in which he can by technicality lie while retaining his rank." She paused. "But, for now, I will presume that you would stand nothing to gain by telling us incorrect information."

"'For now'," Eira echoed, snickering. "You really don't trust me, do you?"

"I'm willing to give you as much trust as you've earned, nothing more, nothing less," the dark-haired goddess answered. "That being said, now that we understand your agreement with Loki—" She looked about ready to return to the previous topic of magic lessons, which must have been why Eira swiftly spoke up.

"Actually, can I call you two something?"

"…Call us something?" Lind repeated, frowning slightly, unsure that she knew what the child meant.

"You mean, like a nickname?" Peorth clarified, also looking puzzled, though she seemed a little less so. "Why? You already know our names, isn't it easiest to call us by name, since that's what we introduced ourselves as?"

Eira shared a look with Brilliant Sunbeam, who gave her a nod in return—Lind thought that must mean they had come up with this idea beforehand, though she hadn't any clue as to why the young goddess would want to call them anything other than their names—and nodded in response to Peorth's question. "Yeah, like a nickname, I guess. It gets old just calling caretakers by name after a while, so I like to make up names for them!"

"Are you telling me you can't even remember our names?" Peorth wanted to know, sounding annoyed.

"Of course I remember your names!" Eira responded loftily, "I even remember your angel's name, it's Glorious Rose!"

Lind only barely heard the mutter of "Gorgeous" from Peorth, and Eira blinked.

"Huh?"

"It's—Gorgeous—Rose, not 'Glorious Rose'," Peorth hissed, her eyes narrowing. "You really can't remember our names!"

"You're Peorth and Lind," Eira said without missing a beat, "unless I mixed the two of you up in my head, but I think I've got you figured out."

"Oh you do, do you?"

It looked like they were about to divert onto a tangent that might not end well for Eira, and so Lind felt the need to speak up. "Enough," she said, drawing their attention. "Eira, if you insist upon giving us these…'nicknames'…then I would hope that you will refrain from calling us anything offensive."

"You probably won't like it," Eira said, rather matter-of-factly, "but that's nothing new. It's not anything bad, I promise, if that makes a difference."

"It doesn't—" Peorth began, and Lind quickly reached out, lightly tapping her shoulder. When brown eyes flicked towards her, she shook her head slightly, trying to convey silently that it wasn't worth it to pick fights with the child, especially when she had been cooperative thus far in her punishment. That might be counterproductive towards their end goal, and if what it took to satisfy the little goddess was giving them some sort of nickname, then why not let her?

"What did you intend on calling us, then?" Lind asked, when Peorth made no move to speak again.

Eira's eyes lit up with what appeared to be—happiness? No, not quite, perhaps something more like…glee?—and she hopped down off the chair to take a stance in the middle of the room, most likely for dramatic effect. She was almost jumping in her excitement, and Brilliant Sunbeam was flying about her head in quick circles.

"I'm going to call you…" And the young goddess raised a hand, one finger pointing to Peorth, a wide grin stretching across her face as she said, "I'll call you 'Papa'—" she swiveled to point to Lind now, finishing, "—and you 'Mama'!"

There were several excruciatingly long seconds while both older deities processed those terrible words. The silence was so complete that one could even hear the distant sound of the breeze outside.

Then the stunned quiet was irrevocably shattered by Peorth's earsplitting shriek:

" WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!"

Notes:

Some minor story notes: Apparently no jewelry in this story is without purpose; Peorth's earrings, if you were wondering, are seals/limiters in the like of Belldandy's, whereas her bracelets are energy storage if she needs them. They don't hold a lot, which is why she rarely has cause to use them for anything as of late. Some of this is just more additional information, since I don't believe it will appear in the story proper, but who knows, we'll have to see.

Bjartr is an old Norse name that means "bright", if anyone was curious; I'm not certain if I've ever mentioned this, but Eira's name means "mercy", and yes, it is a little ironic in that she's not a mercy at all to her poor, unfortunate caretakers.

Chapter 9: Nuances

"Say that again," Peorth demanded, her eyes narrowing sharply. She could still see Eira's finger, pointed unwaveringly at her face, and the child's declaration hung in the air in all its awkward glory. She knew that it was a diabolical plot by the little goddess; she knew it was supposed to make her angry—she knew all that, and yet she couldn't quite manage to stop herself from voicing her displeasure.

That her angel was muttering at the back of her head that screaming about it wasn't going to do much for her wasn't helping the matter, either.

Meanwhile, Eira spread her hands wide, that grin ever-present on her features, and most obligingly repeated, "I'm going to call you Papa!"

The sound of Peorth's teeth grinding together, she thought, must be audible to both the child and Lind—speaking of Lind… Brown eyes tracked sideways to see what her partner thought of this unfortunate turn of events; the Valkyrie had a peculiar expression on her face, one that seemed slightly between honestly confused and rather concerned, like being compared to a mother was something she had not expected. Or maybe she was thinking about her own mother, who knew, though for that point, Peorth didn't think she'd ever met Lind's mother, nor her father, unless they'd crossed paths without her realizing. Then again, it was highly likely that Lind hadn't met any of Peorth's family either, so that wasn't much of a loss.

Eira's voice interrupted her thoughts. "See, I told you that you wouldn't like the nicknames!"

"Yes, and you need to learn to listen a little more when you—"

"She did listen," Lind murmured, and Peorth's attention snapped to her. "She…did listen. I asked that she not call us by offensive terms, and the names she has accorded us in return—they are not…'offensive', not truly…"

The dark-haired goddess turned sharply, one hand flying out and grasping Lind's collar—that she was able to do so was perhaps because, as Gorgeous Rose said from the back of her mind, She's most likely just letting you vent—and leaned in close, saying lowly, "Did you hear the same things I did?"

Deep blue eyes gazed up at her with a slight uncertainty. "She…termed you her father, and I, her mother. Is that not what she spoke?"

Peorth grimaced. She wasn't sure she could properly articulate just how irksome Eira's comment had been, at least not in front of the child, and so she started walking, dragging Lind along with her, calling over her shoulder to the ever-smirking child, "If I find you've been eavesdropping on us, your punishment will be doubled, you hear me?"

She got the strong feeling that Eira was sticking out her tongue behind her back, but chose to ignore that, instead carrying on down the hallway until she reached their room, walking inside and promptly shutting the door behind them. She let go of Lind, who was watching her silently, a look on her face like she was thinking of something but wasn't sure how to say it. Even so, the Valkyrie did speak up, if a bit cautious in speaking.

"Peorth…the reason that Eira's choice of titles for us…that it bothers you, is it…" She spun one of her bracelets on her forearm, blinking quickly. "…does it have to do with—your own family, your—"

"What?" Startled, Peorth could only stare for a heartbeat. "No, it's not—it's not that I might have been compared to my father—I mean, he's a little weird, but I never thought—wait, you think you're being compared to your mother, then?"

Lind studied the floor, frowning minutely. "My mother is…kind," she said, haltingly though. "But…that kindness…was conditional. I do not want…" She shook her head slightly, as if dismissing the thought. "Then, if it is not an unfavorable comparison that has made you angry…then it is the—" Her nose wrinkled as she was clearly hunting for the right word, and strangely Peorth thought it an almost endearing motion on Lind's part, as the blue-haired goddess managed to come up with, "—pronoun…usage…the nicknames ascribe to…?"

"…That's not exactly the correct word," Peorth huffed, crossing her arms, "but yes."

"And you are…concerned as to where she came up with this idea?"

"Exactly," the dark-haired goddess agreed with a quick nod. "She did hear us, when we introduced ourselves, because she obviously knows our names. She knows our occupations, she knows what we can do—so where in Heaven's name did she ever come up with that idea?!"

Lind's eyebrows furrowed as she tilted her head slightly, and she stepped a pace closer, hands fidgeting loosely at her sides. "So it is…that I am a Valkyrie," she spoke slowly, as if still working out the words herself. "It is that I am a Valkyrie, and you are a wish granter. Because fighting is my duty, fighting is my joy…you think it should be reversed?"

"Well—" And Peorth paused now, studying her partner; it was true that that was her original line of thought, but looking now upon the younger goddess, with all her scars and her shackle-bracelets meant to bind a first class deity and her grade eighteen limiters—all evidence of her glory in battle, of what power she had—even seeing that…that image was at odds with the hesitance that Lind reached out to others, with the way that she hardly ever participated in Eira's magic lessons if it was anything more complicated than levitation, with the faint air of sadness that looked to appear in her eyes at seemingly random moments, even with her constant interactions with both Peorth and Eira.

"I suppose," Peorth started, lips twitching towards a small frown as she let out a long breath, "it's more that—that she's poking fun at us, by trying to call us her parents. We're only her caretakers, after all, and—it just—bothers me."

Lind's gaze flicked towards the ground but managed to return to Peorth's face. "Perhaps the naming choice…is because you are the more active one in terms of her lessons? And you share a trait in that you both carry the element earth." She flexed her fingers, the smallest of snowflakes materializing above her fingertips before promptly melting away. "Ice is…far removed from earth. And I…do not make a very good teacher."

Peorth raised her eyebrows. "I'm the one who's been teaching Eira mostly, though." She winced, realizing just how that phrasing sounded, and hastily added, "Not that I think you're avoiding teaching her or anything—"

The Valkyrie glanced up at her. "You are better at the aspects of magic she needs to learn. There is little I could say that wouldn't sound repetitive. If she had requested assistance in physical training, or in combat magic, there I might be able to offer assistance, but…otherwise…"

"It would be unwise, I think, to be teaching her combat magic now anyways," Peorth offered after a brief pause. "We don't know for sure that she'd really become a Valkyrie if given the chance, as all we have is speculation. Combat magic may not prove useful to her, if she opts for one of the other categories as a profession."

"Did combat magic not assist you, even if you're not of the third category?" Lind queried, raising one eyebrow.

Peorth couldn't think of a reasonable way to rebuke that comment—especially because it was true, as she had faced off in combat against Welsper, for however short a time—so she just settled for a noncommittal shrug. "Even so, Lind, I think you could probably teach her something that's not combat-related but is magic-related."

Her friend looked puzzled again. "But—all I—" And then she hesitated, her fingers twitching at her sides. "…Transportation and manifestation," she said finally, sighing. "I can do that with limited capacity, and I have never used it for combat."

Peorth arched an eyebrow, but at least Lind had actually offered an answer that was different from flying or levitation. Though it was certainly an unusual choice, transporting an already-existing object and making it appear in your proximity; she wondered, if not for combat, what Lind could possibly be calling to her in that manner. But if the blue-haired goddess had intended to tell her outright what she used the magic for, then she would have done so, because everything Peorth had seen of her had shown her to be practical-minded. The fact that she hadn't wasn't an issue, not really; Lind was allowed to keep her secrets, after all, the only loser here was Peorth's own simple curiosity.

Now that she considered it, of all their shared friends—Keiichi, Belldandy, Urd, Skuld—she had been the one to spend the most time with Lind and knew the most about her, even disregarding that Keiichi had carried Cool Mint for a time. Keiichi was only mortal, truly, mortal and human, unable to integrate with the angel properly—and even if he had, the process would have changed him, she thought, changed him to something more than human but not quite deity, an anomaly the likes of which Heaven had never seen—and even if that brief connection to the reflection of Lind's heart offered Keiichi some semblance of understanding in regards to the Valkyrie, he still hadn't exchanged a lot of words with Lind herself. Belldandy had talked to Lind, and certainly, the other goddess was quite understanding, but even then Peorth wasn't sure that Belldandy could see all the facets of Lind's personality.

But Peorth had spent time with her, had assisted her with the Angel Eater—alongside the others, yes—and also called her concerning the quarantine spell, as well as the later subject of Chrono's evaluation. And they had fought together for six hours against the demon's wish-granting spree, and here they were now, assigned together to watch Eira. So she was probably the one who knew the most about the Valkyrie, even if there were still, clearly, things that Lind wouldn't speak to her of. That was probably something of an accomplishment, and Peorth certainly wasn't going to jeopardize whatever trust given to her by her friend by arguing over what magic she could potentially teach their charge.

"Transportation and manifestation it is," she agreed, patting Lind's shoulder. "I was thinking of having her perform very simple earth magic—creating small plants—and I'm sure we can figure out a way to fit transportation and manifestation in there somehow."

Lind looked a little skeptical—maybe she was still uncertain of her capabilities as a teacher, when Peorth thought she'd make for a fairly good one, with her straightforward nature, if only she'd believe she could do so—though she didn't protest this choice of planning for the day's magic lesson, so to speak, and the dark-haired goddess felt it was reasonable to assume that Lind would make an effort to follow her suggestion.

"…You do not seem angry anymore," Lind spoke up hesitantly, breaking into Peorth's thoughts.

"Eh?" The older deity blinked quickly, for a moment having completely forgotten why they'd stepped out of the living room. "Oh, you mean—" Her lips twisted into a grimace as her voice cut off. She'd been distracted temporarily from Eira's ridiculous choice of 'nicknames' for herself and her partner, but she knew despite that she wasn't necessarily done with being irked by the seemingly-arbitrary assignment of names. But there was a small part of her that told her if she got too angry over it, that might just be letting the child win, in a way, and if nothing else that seemed like something of a challenge in its own right.

And Peorth hated to lose.

So she would have to grit her teeth and bear it, or so the saying went, because she had no intention of losing to Eira. It was perhaps a more absurd battle of wits than any she had ever engaged in, but she refused to lose. Her pride as a first class goddess demanded it, to never refuse a challenge posed to her.

"Trust me when I say this, Lind," she said lowly, "that I most certainly don't appreciate the names she chose for us, but it's equally clear to me that she's trying to make us upset, so I'll just have to deal with it."

"…I could try…asking her not to call you so in the future…" her partner suggested after a long pause, hunching her shoulders.

Peorth barely suppressed a laugh. "You think—" She broke off, eyebrows furrowing. Her question was actually going to be 'you think you can actually get her to listen to you?' but she remembered when the child had insulted Gorgeous Rose, and Lind had been able to extract an apology, however ungrateful it was, from Eira in return. So it was probably at least a little likely that Lind might have some success here in pushing Eira to change the so-called nicknames she had picked out for the two older deities.

"…Don't push your luck," she said at last, sighing and shaking her head slightly. "We might need you to convince her not to do something stupid, and I can't afford to waste her potentially listening to you on something as trivial as what names she calls us by."

"But you will be unhappy," Lind pointed out, tilting her head.

The dark-haired goddess paused, her lips twitching towards a smile despite herself. "It's good to know you care, cher cœur, but I think it would be better to save your opportunity for convincing her not to disobey if there comes a time when she's really about to do something incredibly idiotic."

"You don't think she'd really do something so unfortunate, do you?"

"…Well, I can't say that I'm that sure of Eira's personality, but…" Peorth shrugged slightly. "Honestly, I'm not sure what she'd try if given the chance, but I'd like to think she would refrain from doing anything that would bring about great harm."

There was a small beat of silence, and the dark-haired goddess thought that was enough to be said concerning Eira's potential for misfortune; then Lind spoke, an odd inflection to her voice.

"…Peorth…"

Peorth tilted her head slowly, arching an eyebrow. "Is there something wrong with my conclusions?"

"No, it's—" The Valkyrie shook her head. "…You used those words again."

"…What are you—oh." And now Peorth was reminded of another question she had, since she knew quite plainly that Lind didn't speak French. "What languages do you know, Lind?"

Lind stared at her, vague puzzlement in her eyes. "This one," she said, gesturing to the room around them; Peorth gave a nod, because of course her partner would understand Heaven's tongue, as it was the language all deities learned first.

"Anything else?"

"The language Keiichi speaks," Lind said, her lips twitching just a bit. "But it is…difficult. Some of the spoken words are not the same as the ones I learned, and their written language is ridiculous. Why do they even need three alphabets? And the symbols, there are so many of them and some are pronounced the same but mean entirely different things…why they couldn't use a system like our runes, I don't know."

"Kanji are hard to learn, even for native Japanese speakers," Peorth agreed. "And sometimes I run across new ones that I don't immediately recognize. Though, if the written language is so difficult, why did you learn it at all?"

The blue-haired goddess let out a long breath. "My mother wanted me to learn at least one of the human languages, when I was still a child," she began. "She listed off several with strange names and I just picked the one she happened to state last—that one was Japanese."

"And that's the only human language you know? Just Japanese?"

Lind gazed at her blankly. "I have no jurisdiction over a particular region of Earth. The combat division requires no such assignment. I go where I am needed, where I am sent, and that is all. There is no requirement that I know any Earth languages at all, though it is preferred that I speak at least one. I have satisfied that preference in my knowledge of spoken Japanese." She paused briefly, a flash of curiosity appearing in her deep blue eyes. "And how many languages do you know, then, Peorth?"

"My jurisdiction only requires that I know four Earth languages," the dark-haired goddess conceded, "and I know—" She paused momentarily to recall her mental list "—Japanese, Chinese, English, French, some Icelandic, I'm somewhat conversationally fluent in Spanish but not enough to call myself truly fluent, I can understand perhaps one in every five words of Vietnamese…" She glanced down, realizing she'd been absently ticking off her fingers the number of languages she could understand to some degree. "…I suppose I've heard some Russian before, too, but I haven't studied the language enough to know more than perhaps one in ten words. There are plenty of human languages I don't know."

"…But you know significantly more than I do."

"Lind," Peorth sighed heavily, "if you were really interested in learning another human language…" She trailed off, about to say something along the lines of you had plenty of time to pick up another language if you wanted to, but a brief memory had caused her to pause: she remembered Lind, after the Angel Eater incident, explaining to all of them that she had trained so much to bring her angels together, when that was an impossible result. If she had been training so much, she really wouldn't have had the opportunity to try learning another language, since obtaining the information straight from Yggdrasil was pointless without the knowledge on how to use it. That was why no deity understood how to use magic right away—it was something that had to be learned through one's own effort and not just given for nothing.

So, she found that instead of her intended comment, the words that emerged from her mouth were:

"I'll teach you."

A pair of deep blue eyes stared at her, and Peorth was certain the only emotion evident was Lind's confusion.

"You'll…do what?"

"I'll teach you a human language, if that's what you want to know. Preferably, I would ask that you pick one that I'm fluent in." The dark-haired goddess hesitated. "That is what you were going for, isn't it?"

Lind frowned hesitantly—if it wasn't what she had intended, then she clearly wasn't certain exactly what point she was going for by bringing it up—but at least opted to say, "I'll…consider it. We should focus on Eira for the moment, though, I think."

"Oh!" Peorth's eyes widened. "We—we should be getting back to her, now shouldn't we?" She couldn't recall how long their conversation had been, but it had to be long enough for the child to start reconsidering her choice not to perform any pranks. Although, she did have to wonder if Eira's choice of nicknames counted as a prank; the little goddess had seemed perfectly serious, if a little gleeful, in declaring Peorth her 'father' and Lind her 'mother', but the seriousness didn't necessarily discount it from being a way to make them annoyed in some way or another.

"That would be wise," Lind agreed, her voice breaking into Peorth's thoughts. "You said you wanted to see if she could grow plants today?"

"Yes. Small plants, though—that's the smallest amount of earth magic I can think of that she might be able to do."

Lind hummed noncommittally, and they returned to the living room in relative silence. Eira, in their absence, had crawled under the couch enough so that only her legs and feet were sticking out; what the child thought she could find under there besides dust was beyond Peorth, but nonetheless the dark-haired goddess made a show of tugging on one flailing boot.

"Eira, get out from under there, you didn't think we'd forget about your magic lessons for the day, now did you?"

A mutter of "Darn" issued from under the couch, and ever-so-slowly the child wormed her way back out, the tiny figure of her angel following shortly thereafter. Eira sat up, shaking off some dust from her hair, managing to effect an expression like this was the most disappointing thing she'd heard in her entire life and then some.

"Just what were you looking for under there anyways?" Peorth couldn't help but ask, crossing her arms and idly twisting her bracelets around.

"Wouldn't you like to know!" the child told her, seemingly cheerful again, and clambered to her feet. "What is it this time, making me fix things again?" She made a face, scowling.

"Not at all," Peorth told her, perhaps a bit too faux-sweetly, if the look on Eira's face was anything to go by, but she ignored that and swept onwards. "You are going to learn how to grow plants today."

Eira gazed at her blankly for a grand total of five-and-a-half seconds. "…Plants?"

"Your element is earth, correct? Therefore it should be easy for you."

"That's what you've said about everything else you've made me do!" the little goddess protested.

Peorth rubbed at her forehead. This is why I don't want any children, she told herself, focusing on Eira. "Connecting with your natural element shouldn't take as much effort. Watch," she instructed, and held out her hand, the thick petals of a rose unfurling across her palm. It had taken less than a second for the flower to grow, sustained and brought into being only by the magic she had provided to it.

"Just because you can do something doesn't mean I can," Eira pointed out, which was actually a rather logical point, but the child had clearly proven to have some form of magic and thus Peorth was convinced she could at least connect to her element without too much trouble.

Peorth herself hadn't had much difficulty when she had been asked to do the same thing, but then again, her natural magic had been more evident than Eira's. She wondered if it was that Eira couldn't concentrate; she had originally intended for them to just sit outside in the yard, but there was on occasion other deities passing by and that might be cause for distraction. The young goddess had proved, if nothing else, that when it came to magical studies that she was easily distracted from continuing the lesson she was being asked to perform, so perhaps it was better to take a 'trip', as it was.

"Eira, in case you weren't already aware," she started with a sigh, internally bemoaning the child's utterly consistent lack of a proper education, "deities are born with stores of natural energy, and one of those ways in which that natural energy manifests is the presence of your element. Though I have yet to see much evidence of it, Yggdrasil has listed your element as earth, the same as my own, and I am telling you, from personal experience, that this is something you should be able to do." The dark-haired goddess crossed her arms. "So, come on, let's go."

"…Wait, we're leaving the house?" Eira's mouth dropped open.

"Well, you might find it easier to interact with earth that isn't so rigidly fixed in place, like this stone is," Peorth explained, tapping the floor with the toe of her boot. "So, yes, we're going outside."

The child stared up at her, eyes narrowed, looking for all the world like she was trying to determine if this was some sort of plot to get her to do—anything. But, after several moments, she settled back into a slight grin, raising her eyebrows. "You know," she laughed, "you're starting to go up a bit in my expectations, Papa." She patted Peorth's leg before flouncing off towards the front door, ignoring the audible sound of Peorth's teeth grinding together.

A hand touched her shoulder, momentarily distracting the dark-haired goddess from revising her initial plans for the day, and she turned to Lind expectantly. "Yes?"

"Are you sure…" The Valkyrie's eyebrows furrowed slightly. "Are you certain it is a good idea to be letting her run free?"

Peorth smiled, good mood temporarily restored. "Oh, not to worry, my friend! I always have a contingency plan." Or, rather, she did now that she understood what Eira was like.

"A…contingency plan…?" Lind looked slightly concerned. "Ah, what is it you're…"

Peorth's smile widened. "Come along and I'll show you!" She looped an arm across Lind's shoulders and tugged her along, to where Eira was already standing at the door. "Now," she spoke, directing her words towards Eira as she stepped back, "would you mind standing next to Lind for two seconds? Then we can be on our way!"

Eira gave her a look like she'd grown a second head—she had to make sure that Gorgeous Rose hadn't manifested behind her without her knowledge—but nonetheless walked over to stand on Lind's right, still looking confused. "What, are you trying to make a picture of us or something?" Her eyes gleamed. "Weren't you the one who—"

Peorth called on her magic then, and for several long seconds there was complete silence.

"…This is your brilliant contingency plan?" Lind finally asked, raising her right arm and studying the thick, thornless vine that was wrapped around her wrist, the tail end of it stretching down to coil around Eira's left wrist.

"It's much easier for her not to run off if she's connected to one of us," Peorth shrugged nonchalantly. "Besides," and she stepped forwards to murmur in Lind's ear, "you're faster than I am, so you'd have a better chance of keeping her from going anywhere should she get any ideas." She flicked at the blue-haired goddess's closest earring for emphasis, moving back to set a hand on the door. "And now that that's all covered—let's go!"

"This seems awfully complicated just to go out to the yard…" Lind muttered at her back.

"You would be correct! We are going beyond the yard!"

This prospect seemed to interest Eira at last, and the child darted forwards. "Ooh, so where are we going? Are we—" Her eyes were round with surprise. "Are we going to Earth?!"

"Not that far," Peorth refuted, shaking her head, inwardly telling herself never to consider letting Eira travel to Earth, because the havoc she could cause amongst the poor, unsuspecting humans would be absurd. "Earth has less energy than Heaven does, so that would defeat the purpose of this lesson. No, we're going to the forest."

"…Well, that's not very exciting…"

"You should be glad you're getting out of the house," Peorth grumbled. She stepped outside, gesturing for her partner and their charge to follow, shutting the door behind them. There weren't too many other deities out and about at that time of day; most others would be performing their duties as given by their license. At least there was one good thing about being stuck as Eira's caretaker, Peorth mused to herself, and it was that she didn't have to worry about working with Yggdrasil or having to find a way around the errors that Ere, Ex, or Chrono lacked the knowledge to deal with. Her gaze slid sideways to Lind, who was in turn staring forwards, keeping an eye on Eira; the child was running about in front of them, as far as the 'leash' that attached her to Lind would let her go, though she wasn't really doing anything more than dashing back and forth constantly, and it had to be either she was trying to be a nuisance, or she was legitimately that excited to be leaving the confines of the house for a few hours.

The dark-haired goddess returned her attention to Lind, wondering if she was as happy to be momentarily leaving the work of a Valkyrie behind. From what she knew, if anything, the only thing that Lind knew how to do was be a Valkyrie; she hadn't tried to learn any other extracurricular skills, based on her own words. At least, the older goddess supposed, she was trying to include Lind more in Eira's lessons, but made a mental note to ask whether or not Lind wanted to do anything else, if there was a way she preferred to be occupy her time that didn't involve potentially leaving the house—no, maybe even their entire block—in ruins.

She pulled herself from her thoughts as they headed towards the forest; despite the child's previous seemingly bored outlook on going to the forest, Eira was staying well ahead of Peorth and Lind, trying to jump up and reach the closest tree's lowest-hanging branches.

"Peorth," Lind murmured, having stepped up next to her now that Eira had foregone trying to stay too close to them, "you didn't just decide to take Eira to the forest, did you?"

"What do you mean?" Peorth questioned in turn, feeling her eyebrows furrow.

Lind's hand—the one not bound by the vine—swept out in a vague gesture towards the trees. "You don't really think she'll just lead us to quadrant twenty-one if you just let her pick where to go, do you?"

For a moment more the dark-haired goddess was baffled; but then she recalled the younger goddess's mentioning of Eira's plethora of knives, and her deduction on what the child did with them. "Oh! No, actually, I just thought it would be easier for her to concentrate if she didn't have to focus on anything else. If we'd tried in our yard, she would have been looking at everyone that walked by and not paid any attention to what we're trying to teach her. But…now that you mention it…" She gazed contemplatively at the figure of the little goddess. "I don't know that she would lead us right to it, if she didn't want us to know. But maybe we can see if we can get close to it; the trees aren't overly thick in this part of the forest anyways, and the brush isn't big enough to obstruct our view, even if it does so for her."

"The child must have some of her secrets, I imagine," Lind murmured, a distant look to her eyes, "but then again, don't we all…?"

Peorth looked at her partner, affecting an aghast expression like this was the worst thing she'd heard in her life. "Lind, you're keeping secrets from me? I thought we were friends!"

Deep blue eyes flicked to her, surprise surfacing in their depths. Lind's shoulders twitched, as if she was startled, as she spoke quickly. "I—I just didn't—"

"It's alright," Peorth was forced to say, before the blue-haired goddess could dig herself a too-deep hole, and offered her a pat to the shoulder. "It wasn't my intention to make you feel guilty about anything. You don't have to tell me everything about your entire life just because we're friends. If you want to tell me everything, that's fine, I'm not saying you can't, it's just—that doesn't sound like you, so—" She gave an absent shrug. "Your secrets are your own, cher cœur, and I'm not going to take them from you."

Lind was staring at her, a strange expression on her face, like Peorth had just spoken something incredibly profound—the dark-haired goddess wasn't entirely so sure that she'd done any such thing—but if the Valkyrie intended to say anything, she was unceremoniously interrupted by Eira tromping back to them, having to wrestle through a small bush in the process.

"Where are we going anyways?" the child asked, crossing her arms.

Peorth was half-tempted to say, You tell me, but held her tongue, instead surveying the nearby trees. "Have you seen any large clearings close by?" she opted to ask instead, raising an eyebrow. "That should be suitable for now."

Eira blinked, paused, and blinked again. "Oh!" She was dashing off before the exclamation had even finished leaving her mouth, tossing over her shoulder, "This way!"

The pair of older deities exchanged a glance but nonetheless followed after the little goddess; Lind murmured in Peorth's ear that they were approaching quadrant twenty-one, though when the dark-haired goddess looked around, she couldn't see any evidence of destroyed landscape. They passed a few smaller clearings with some large rocks, but none appeared to bear any mark that would lend credence to Lind's theory on Eira's knives' usage outside of pranks.

Eira brought them to an open clearing, no large boulders in sight. Grass blanketed the ground, occasional tufts of tiny wildflowers emerging from the green. "Is this good enough?"

"…Yes, actually," Peorth blinked swiftly, realizing that the child had been rather agreeable. She wasn't sure how long the agreeability would last, but she would take it while she still received it. She stepped out into the middle of the clearing and sat down, gesturing for Eira to sit opposite her. The little goddess did so, giving the ground an unimpressed look, and Lind trailed after her, sitting down nearby but not so close that she would be in the way.

"Eira," Peorth started, leaning forwards, "have you ever used your element for anything? You can include pranks, since that's essentially all you do with your time anyways."

The child frowned, eyebrows scrunching closer together in confusion. "…Does that plant ball count?"

Peorth tilted her head. "The one you animated, yes? Though the target was a plant, the spell itself isn't an earth spell, so no, not particularly."

Eira puffed out her cheeks in disappointment. "Phooey." Light blue eyes narrowed just slightly. "I mean, what do you even do with it besides make those red flowers all the time anyways?"

"I can make more than roses, I just happen to like roses the most," the dark-haired goddess disagreed, and so saying, conjured up a cluster of wildflowers, some orange, some purple, a few white, and one yellow. "And, you shouldn't forget that vine on your wrist is a product of my earth magic also."

The child didn't look as unconvinced with the evidence right in front of her, but Peorth couldn't help carrying on. "And besides, earth magic isn't solely based in making plants. That's just the basics. You can also bend the ground to your will: make boulders, carve canyons, or divide plains. Of course, those are easier to do when you have more skills at your disposal. So, for now, we are beginning with plants." She stretched out her hand, placing her palm against the grass. "Do as I do, Eira, and tell me, what do you feel?"

The young goddess raised her eyebrows but all the same put one hand over the grass, a frown crossing her face. "…It's grass."

"Yes, it's grass," Peorth deadpanned. "The point I'm trying to make is, can you feel the energy inside the grass? That's what you can connect to with your element, and that's what you manifest from yourself when you create plants of your own."

Eira gazed at her, that selfsame vacant expression failing to leave her features.

"Like this," Peorth tried, and grasped the child's smaller hand, producing a small orange flower as she did so. Eira almost jerked back from her, clearly startled, and the oldest of the three wondered if that meant she'd actually felt something.

"Try making something, like—one of these," she encouraged, picking up one of the very tiny wildflowers growing in a patch near her left knee. "It's not very big, so it shouldn't be as difficult as, say, a rose."

The child's frown looked more like a grimace, the same kind of face she always liked to pull when her magic lessons were involved, but she clapped her hands together and screwed her eyes shut, holding that position for almost ten seconds before slumping in place, announcing, "It doesn't work."

"Eira, you can do magic," Peorth pressed, "and this is the most basic of earth magic. You haven't been taught this, clearly, so there's nothing to unlearn. All you have to do is put forth the effort to try. You're an earth elemental—this magic should come easily to you. If a wind elemental can make flowers, then so can you." She paused briefly. "Or an ice elemental—Lind, you show her, then."

"…Me?" The aforementioned goddess looked surprised that she had been included. She slowly held up her hand, a drooping pale white flower emerging there; a snowdrop, Peorth realized, though Lind hadn't followed her order exactly, because the dark-haired goddess could tell that the snowdrop hadn't been grown through earth magic. Lind had elected to instead use her transportation and manifestation, and although Peorth had said she'd find a way to fit it in, she couldn't help but wonder why the younger goddess hadn't just grown the flower herself. Transportation and manifestation was slightly trickier, simply because it involved two steps and not just one.

"That was different."

She looked over at Eira's voice; the child was in turn looking between them, from the orange flower still on Peorth's hand to the snowdrop on Lind's. Eira spoke again, seeming halfway between puzzled and certainty. "She did it different than your way."

Peorth's eyebrows rose. "You're right," she agreed, actually finding herself a little impressed that the child could at least deduce that Peorth and Lind had used different spells to obtain the same result. "She did use different magic. But she still made that flower appear, didn't she?" She glanced over to Lind, just in time to see her close her hand over the snowdrop and the little white flower vanished, back to wherever she'd plucked it from.

She returned her attention back to Eira. "Try again, just a little flower."

Eira sighed, in a long-suffering kind of way, and reassumed her pose of concentration. Peorth had to physically stop herself from pointing out that it really wasn't necessary for her to do that, but if it was what the child thought would help…who was she to stop her? But it wasn't long before she was hearing the well-rehearsed litany of 'it doesn't work'.

It took, surprisingly, a total of thirteen tries at making flowers for Eira to declare, "I give up, I can't make silly flowers."

Thirteen tries was more than she was usually willing to put effort into, and Peorth had to wonder if it was because they'd actually gotten out of the house this time. "Eira," she said, letting out a long breath, "why are you always so quick to give up on your magic?"

"Because it doesn't work, haven't you been listening?"

Peorth set aside the flower in her hand, deciding to try a different tactic. "Do you intend to give up on your pranks just because they haven't affected us as much as they have affected your previous caretakers?"

Eira squinted at her, a small frown crossing her face. "No, that's stupid! Eventually I'm going to figure out something that works on you two!"

"So if you aren't willing to give up your pranks, why are you so hasty to give up on expanding your magical skills?" Peorth questioned, now growing another flower in her hand, this one a semi-bright red with deep white veins radiating across the center of each of its six petals. "Do you understand, Eira? You are proud of your pranks, and determined to continue them, to make them more elaborate—to follow in your so-called uncle's footsteps. You must think the same way about your magic—you must be proud of it, proud of what you can accomplish—and you should be determined to expand your magical talents, determined to learn greater spells." She held out the red flower to the child then, and waited till she had taken it somewhat begrudgingly to continue.

"That flower there is called an amaryllis, and some of the meanings associated with it are pride and determination. Keep it with you, and I'd like you to use it as a reminder that you shouldn't be so willing to cast aside your magical skills. You have great determination, Eira, you just have to put it to good use. You have magic, you just have to put in the practice to learn how to use it."

Eira's gaze flicked from her to the flower back to her again, and Peorth was honestly expecting her to say something along the lines of 'Was that supposed to be some kind of inspirational speech?' But what came out of the child's mouth was something so much more shocking:

"…You…really think so…?"

"Yes," Peorth said, without missing a beat, and nudged Lind for good measure.

"Of course," the blue-haired goddess added on, bobbing her head in a nod. "You would progress faster if you put in the same amount of effort into your magical studies as you do with your pranks."

Eira let out a wheezing laugh, waving a hand slightly in their direction. "You guys—you guys are real crazy, you know that? Crazy."

But those words, to Peorth's ears, sounded more like the child was trying to shake off their words by falling back on her usual routine of finding a way to bother them. And she thought to herself, faintly smiling:

I wonder if we've made a point to her after all…

Notes:

Some minor story notes: If anyone's read my other story for this fandom, you may remember Lind's snowdrops. They are important to the plot! [At this rate, everything ever mentioned ever is important to this story's plot, yeesh] Also, the only thing I will ever tweak from canon is the type of flowers Lind grows in her hand while speaking to Belldandy during the Angel Eater arc. Tatakau Tsubasa shows us they're white flowers, and I am changing it so that they're snowdrops. This is important to the reasoning why she suggests transportation and manifestation as her choice of magical skill to teach Eira, and a part of my interpretation of her mindset in general, which will be explored in the later chapters.

Also, we have the advent of flower symbolism, hooray! [There will be more of it, trust me] The amaryllis' associated meanings are typically pride, determination, and radiant beauty. Peorth didn't mention the last one because Eira is not an example of radiant beauty, at all. She's cheeky ignorance, more like, but somehow I doubt there's a flower for that. If Peorth wanted to give anyone a flower based on radiant beauty, she'd give it to herself first. Possibly Lind, to make her feel better about herself, though that wouldn't really help. Definitely not Eira, though.

Chapter 10: The Choices We Make

Somehow, a part of Peorth had thought that perhaps Eira might consider not playing so many outlandish pranks all the time, as it had seemed for a moment that she'd actually gotten through to the child, had made it clear to her that it was wise to be putting more effort into her magical studies. Somehow, a part of her had thought that perhaps the day after the little goddess's punishment was lifted, that she and Lind wouldn't wake up to some terrible prank waiting to rain misery upon them.

That tiny little part of her that had believed Eira might have been convinced enough to possibly change her direction was oh, so wrong. Incredibly so.

Peorth couldn't stop staring. It was like that human saying, about awful train wrecks and how you couldn't look away. She'd known Eira was devious, but not that devious.

For she was looking dumbly into a mirror, and her hair was now the most hideously-bright-pink color she'd ever seen. Normally, she was alright with pink as a color, but this was a scalding pink, the kind that seemed incredibly bright in the light, the kind that should be removed from existence for how horridly awful an assault on the eyes it was.

She was also avoiding looking at Lind for too long, because, as much as she thought kindly of her friend, the Valkyrie did not look good whatsoever with neon-green hair. It was a sight that was almost as revolting as the shade her own hair had become. While her original hair color could be considered 'plain'—dark brown was a naturally-occurring hair color in humans, after all, like many of the hair colors sported by other deities—at least in comparison to hair like Lind's, that sky-colored hue, or like Ansuz's, a shade of teal, Peorth had never had any cause to actively dislike her hair color. She'd grown rather fond of it, truly, after a couple of tries at dyeing her hair with different highlights of other colors. She was even a little attached to the nice dark shade of brown her hair happened to be, so it was a bit…traumatizing to see the horrors of an incredibly ridiculous color having replaced the brown.

"Lind," she said, slowly, carefully, "do you see what I see?"

The Valkyrie looked up from flicking her hair about through her fingers; it was still bright green. "…Maybe…she meant to make your hair the color of a rose, since you like those flowers so much…?" she offered, though it sounded almost like she didn't even really believe that suggestion in the first place.

Peorth let out a long breath. "No," she said, gritting her teeth and putting down the mirror at last, because even though a part of her just wanted to stare at the awful sight, another part of her knew that if she didn't stop looking at it, she wouldn't be getting anything done. "I'm certain she intended for it to be bright pink."

She climbed to her feet, frowning. She hadn't woken up when Eira had to have cast the spell to change her hair color, and as far as she could tell, Lind hadn't either, from her surprise at waking up to green hair. The door was closed, so the child must have snuck back out the way she'd come in, as Peorth found herself doubting that Eira could have come in through the window, since that would require her having to circumvent the entire house due to their rooms being on opposing sides.

Though that line of thought did lead her to another question… "Lind," she said, and her partner tilted her head curiously, "you didn't feel her change your hair color, correct?"

The other goddess nodded slightly, appearing puzzled. "Why do you ask?"

Peorth gestured somewhat awkwardly towards Lind, stating, "I don't know what all it is you Valkyries do, but you mentioned before that you're supposed to be able to tell when magic is being used on you, right? So how did you miss Eira's spell, especially when she's got to be clumsy at using it?"

Lind raised her eyebrows, seemingly unperturbed by the question. "Valkyries are trained to respond to magic meant to cause harm. Changing the color of my hair is not harmful. It's…odd, certainly, but it in no way impedes my ability to respond to a potential attack. Besides, magic like that should be more of something you would know how to deal with, yes?"

"I was asleep!" Peorth defended herself, crossing her arms.

Lind gave her an odd look, like that defense really wasn't helping her case any. "I was asleep also, you understand," the Valkyrie said at last. She was giving Peorth another look, and the formerly-dark-haired goddess turned her gaze pointedly to the ceiling, getting the distinct feeling that Lind was somehow implicating her, though if anything she should be used to Peorth's sleep-hugs by now. Admittedly, waking up and looking down to see green hair instead of light blue had honestly made her concerned that she'd somehow teleported into another house, but thankfully Lind had addressed her before she'd even come up with a vague excuse.

"Though…I am not very familiar with this sort of spell," the Valkyrie admitted after a pause, "no one has ever had cause to use it on me before, nor have I seen it performed, just the results."

"Oh?" Peorth tilted her head inquisitively. She presumed the reason that no one would dare mess with Lind's hair was her reputation; never mind that it didn't really seem to faze the younger goddess once she'd gotten over her surprise. "So you've seen other deities with their hair dyed in strange colors?"

Lind bobbed her head in a small nod. "Sometimes other Valkyries would play pranks on each other, or it was the cause of a sore loser seeking to lessen the victor's triumph. The only reason I knew the difference was that I'd have seen their original hair color previously, so I could tell when it changed. But those sorts of spats did not last long; if you cannot work with your comrades in some fashion, what good a shield of Heaven are you?"

"I suppose there's that," Peorth hummed absently. "Well, luckily for us, it's a fairly easy spell to remove, if the child placed it correctly…then again, maybe I'm hoping for too much." She raised her hands, casting the spell; a glitter of light crossed her vision, and she looked expectantly to Lind, who did not look appeased by the result.

"Ah…Peorth…" Blue eyes blinked swiftly. "You…" Lind apparently couldn't come up with a good enough description and held out the mirror to her again.

Peorth reached out and took the mirror as she let out a gusty sigh, inwardly preparing herself for a sight even worse than her hideously bright pink hair, and could only stare in surprise. While her hair wasn't back to her usual shade of dark brown…she hadn't anticipated that the child would be clever enough to just switch their hair colors, for she was now sporting pale blue locks, the exact same shade as Lind's true hair color. She turned her attention to Lind, removing what was likely only the first layer of the spell—suddenly she worried just how much effort Eira had put into this, because if it went beyond two layers that was ridiculous when the child couldn't even concentrate long enough to make a simple flower—and was mildly shocked to see that Lind hadn't been given her hair color in return. The Valkyrie's hair was now a deep, dark purple that could have been mistaken for black in dim light.

"…At least she's…imaginative?" Lind tried after a long pause to collect her thoughts.

"You can't tell me this isn't just a little odd to you?" Peorth deadpanned, swinging her ponytail around to rest over her shoulder as she waved the sky-hued strands at her partner.

"…Actually, I think I would be more alarmed if she had managed to change your eye color to match."

Peorth hesitated, considering the possibility, then shook her head. "She would have had to wake me in order to ascertain that her spell had worked, and that would ruin the fun of the 'surprise', I think. She could see our hair color changing without having to wake us, so that's likely why she resorted to the hair in the first place." She did think that the sight should have caused Eira to fall into a laughing fit, but then again, maybe the child had just held in her laughter until she'd snuck back to her room to revel in her havoc.

Lind looked a mite uncertain, but perhaps that was due to her unfamiliarity with such magic, and Peorth concentrated on their hair again, relieved despite her reconsiderations of Eira's 'talents' to see their true hair colors at last emerging. She made sure there wasn't any lingering pieces of the spell—she would hate to have missed something and have someone point out a streak of pink or blue in her hair—and swung her ponytail back around her shoulders, pleased with her efforts.

"You don't suppose we should add it to the rules that we ourselves aren't supposed to be used in pranks, either?" she hummed contemplatively, looking to her partner.

The younger goddess had a thoughtful expression on her face. "Perhaps. This is the first time she's directly affected us instead of attaching a practical joke to something in the house…"

Peorth narrowed her eyes. "And if she thinks we're fair game, she may very well—oh. She wouldn't take your axes, ah, your limiters, would she?"

Lind shook her head slightly. "Even if she knew their dormant state, and past conversation has told me she is not aware of the manner in which they are stored, and even if she succeeded in reverting them to their true form, she would be unable to lift them. A grade eighteen limiter is heavy even to a Valkyrie that has trained in combat with a level fifteen limiter. Eira, who would likely find it difficult to carry a grade three limiter, would not be able to budge it."

"What about those?" Peorth queried curiously, gesturing towards the golden bracelets on her partner's forearms.

The blue-haired goddess extended her right hand towards Peorth, and said, rather in an unremarkable way, "Why don't you try?"

"Ah, if you're sure, then is there really any need for me to…?" Peorth trailed off.

"You aren't certain, and if you can't succeed in taking them from me, there is no doubt that Eira would fail also. She may have some cleverness, but it is not cleverness that can remove these from me." Lind held out her arm again. "Make certain that these can't be used against you."

Peorth laughed softly; she couldn't help it. "You'd use them on me if you were ordered to," she pointed out.

"You are no enemy of Heaven, Peorth," Lind replied evenly. "And I doubt you would ever entertain such an idea."

The dark-haired goddess's lips twitched towards a smile despite herself. "Good to know that you care, cher cœur," she murmured, and reached out. Her fingers curled over the pair of bracelets, and she tugged lightly at them, trying to pull the closest one over Lind's hand. There was a soft buzz against her fingertips, latent magic surfacing, and she let go just as the bracelets condensed into shackle form, the topaz gemstone set into it flaring brilliantly white for a brief moment before subsiding into darkness.

Before Peorth had the chance to say anything, a shimmer passed across the runes carved into the manacle, and it diverged back into the pair of bracelets, clinking as they settled into place. "…So anyone that's not you, can't take them from you?" she surmised, tapping her fingers together.

Lind gave a nod. "They are tuned to my magical signature," she explained, "and so I am the only one capable of removing them in order to place them on anyone else." She tipped her head to the left, blinking. "Trying to remove the bracelets with magic would produce the same result."

Peorth shifted back, crossing her arms. "I agree that Eira wouldn't be able to mess with them, then. There's no way to override that?"

"Not unless you are either incredibly skilled in the making of magical artifacts and can successfully dispel the rune that binds my magical signature to the shackles, or…if you possess more power than I do," Lind conceded, pulling her arm back to her side. "And those that possess more power than I do, typically are not interested in such trivial a matter as a pair of shackles."

"…That's true," the dark-haired goddess admitted, and studied the bracelets for a long heartbeat. "Could I—" She broke off before the half-asked question could complete itself.

And her partner gazed back at her with bleak eyes, and murmured, "If you poured all of your energy into these, if you truly wished to take them from me with all of your magic, you could. It would not be pleasant, it would not be satisfying…but you could, if you wished."

There was something else in those words, like perhaps Lind thought Peorth intended to take something else from her, but the dark-haired goddess couldn't imagine what. She looked away from the younger goddess's gaze, her eyes finding the door. "As entertaining as this discussion has been," she said, with maybe a touch of awkwardly-placed cheer, "it's probably best to see what she's been up to, so—shall we?"

Lind inclined her head in assent, accepting the dismissal, and the two deities made their way to the door. Peorth considered that Eira might have put another trap in place, but for the most part she seemed to stick to one prank a day, as many of them were complex in nature. The hallway outside their room, however, was clear of any practical jokes on the part of their charge, and the dark-haired goddess allowed herself a small sigh of relief.

"Did you think she might place another trap?" Lind murmured from next to her.

"The moment we start to think she's predictable, she may think to change up her style," Peorth pointed out, and rolled her shoulders in an absent shrug. She paused briefly in step, considering what she was planning to do for Eira's lesson of the day. She felt that it was possible they were getting through to the child, on an incredibly miniscule level, and so she intended to try getting Eira to grow plants again. But that involved connecting with her element, and an earth element was something that Lind didn't possess. While she wanted her partner to take more of a role in the little goddess's learning, she also knew there was only so much Lind could do without having the same element as Peorth and Eira did. And she didn't want to leave Lind out entirely…

"Lind," she started, "did you want to train today?"

"Train?" the Valkyrie echoed, tilting her head. "What do you mean?"

Peorth twitched her fingers at her sides as she thought of a good way to put it, not wanting to unintentionally offend her partner. "I'm going to try and work on Eira's element again today, and I understand that you haven't had much of an opportunity to work on your fighting skills since you've been here, and I'd rather us not be the cause of you losing any of your hard-earned skills just because you don't have a chance to practice often…"

"…I understand, Peorth," Lind said, her voice level and with no sign that she was truly annoyed by this train of thought. "An ice element is far removed from earth, after all. And it is true that I haven't had the chance to train recently, but—" She shook her head slightly, as if dismissing that thought. "Fighting is one of my joys," she carried on, "and—it is too kind of you, to think of me, but…didn't you say you wished me to be more active as one of Eira's teachers?"

"You will," the dark-haired goddess responded with a nod. "I'd like you to try showing her transportation and manifestation tomorrow, which is why today is a good day for you to figure out a plan. As far as I'm aware, you haven't had a lot of experience in teaching others, right?"

Lind gave a small nod. "New recruits are often paired with an older Valkyrie for better instruction, but there are always more older Valkyries than recruits after a certain point—many decide that becoming a shield of Heaven is not the path they wish to take—and I have never been given the opportunity to take on a student." She didn't say that it was because of her angels, or her reputation as the most violent goddess in Heaven, but Peorth still got the idea that those words were the true cause of the matter and not the dwindling number of potential Valkyries.

Still, she kept those thoughts to herself, and said, "Well, then this is your opportunity to plan on how you want to teach Eira. You've seen my methods, but you don't have to copy me if you don't feel like it. Your skills aren't the same as mine, so it may be that you can't teach the child in the same way, either. And you may as well plan while doing something you like, correct?"

Lind stared at her in a faintly puzzled way, like she was surprised that Peorth would go to so much trouble, but at last she dipped her head slightly. "Very well," she agreed, "I will try to see what I can…come up with." She appeared a bit conflicted at this, and Peorth told herself that at least she'd given the other deity a chance to prepare rather than just waiting until tomorrow and springing it on her suddenly, so that she didn't have any way to refuse or to come up with a decent plan on how to go about it.

"That's all I can ask of you," Peorth smiled, patting the younger goddess's shoulder congenially; it was good that Lind had agreed to her plan so readily, since she didn't want to force her partner to assist in Eira's training if she really, really didn't want to.

Lind gave her a searching look, an odd expression in her eyes, but before Peorth could try identifying it, there was only a mild thoughtful look in her gaze. "I wish you luck," she said gravely, flicking at her right earring, the limiter expanding into its axe form. She started walking, the axe leveled over her shoulder.

"You're not going to change your clothes?" Peorth asked, following after her.

The blue-haired goddess gazed blankly at her for a heartbeat, looking down at her attire for a long moment—still a standard goddess's uniform, the golden bracelets that were her shackles' stored form clinking about her wrists—and said, after a pause, "…This should be fine. I don't intend to destroy anything, as the forest is the only adequate area for training that is away from others in this area."

Peorth raised an eyebrow. "…If you're sure," she murmured, shrugging, and turning to knock loudly on Eira's door.

"You needn't worry for me," was Lind's reply, and the Valkyrie disappeared around the corner as Eira's door swung open.

The child stood there with her normal unimpressed expression, though she did make the effort of leaning sideways in the doorway to try seeing around Peorth. As she came to the clear conclusion that Peorth was there alone, she asked, "Where's Mama? Usually the two of you are always together."

"Lind," Peorth said, emphasizing the blue-haired goddess's name, "is busy. She's going to teach you tomorrow, so she's preparing for that."

Eira's eyes lit up. "Do I get to break things?!" she asked excitedly, bouncing up and down in place. Little Brilliant Sunbeam manifested atop her head, waving her tiny fists in some sort of silent celebration.

"No, you don't get to break things," Peorth deadpanned, knowing that was just an awful disaster waiting to happen. "She's just going to teach you another form of magic. And it may prove useful for your silly pranks, so I would suggest that you should pay more attention, since that's the only thing that can apparently keep your concentration."

The little goddess's expression turned sly. "What did you think of this morning's prank?"

"I am reconsidering the rules," Peorth said, not truly a reply, "and might be adding one that you should do nothing that affects us, either. Changing our hair color is one thing—I know you have the capacity to pull off grandiose pranks, and as you do not fully understand the effects of your magic, you may cause us great misfortune for the sake of a practical joke, and it would be wise to stop that before it can happen." She certainly wasn't going to mention that it had actually alarmed her, at least at first, because a part of her had gotten terribly used to seeing a head of light blue hair next to her.

Eira's eyes narrowed. "You're just scared," she huffed, crossing her arms. There was something flickering in her eyes, though, as if she'd thought of something suspicious, but didn't carry on the thread of the conversation, instead leaning back against the door and crossing her arms expectantly. "So what boring torture are we going through today?"

"We're working on your element again," Peorth informed her, pointedly ignoring the 'boring torture' comment, "so, come on, let's go." When the young goddess didn't move, Peorth grumbled, "You should be glad we're getting out of the house again," and conjured up her vine leash, leaving one end looped around Eira's left wrist and the other around her own right wrist.

"You know it's not going to work, right?" Eira asked, following her despite whatever reluctance was evident in her words. "Just give up already and get used to disappointment."

"Eira," Peorth said, slowly, clearly, "you will, one way or another, find a way to properly access the power of your element. This is vital knowledge for a deity, knowing your own energy, and if you expect to get anywhere in your life, you will need to know this." She paused, frowning. "And it's not me you have to disappoint—it's yourself."

"Huh?" The little goddess stared at her, confusion the only emotion evident in her wide pale blue-eyed gaze. "You're not just spouting things to confuse me, are you?"

"Hardly. If I was trying to do that, I would make more of an effort," Peorth reassured her, as they made their way out of the house and towards the woods once more. Eira still seemed more convinced that her words had just been to mess with her, but Peorth had meant them—in the end, if Eira couldn't gain mastery over what magical skills she had, she would only be disappointing herself. A goddess who couldn't accomplish anything wouldn't have much of a place in Heaven.

The dark-haired goddess wasn't certain where Lind had gone off to—maybe even as far back as to the combat division headquarters, where, if she was recalling correctly from her singular visit there as a young goddess, there were a great deal of training fields available—but the clearing that they had used for the last attempts at Eira's earth magic remained undisturbed. She couldn't hear anything loud either, just the sound of the breeze through the trees, the distant chattering of small animals scurrying through the undergrowth. She sat down on the grass, gesturing for Eira to take a seat opposite her. The child followed her directions, though it was clear she was still puzzled about the previous comment.

Well, she'd had enough time to think, Peorth figured, and spoke. "We're going to try working with your earth magic again. But this time I want to make sure that you can feel the magic yourself, instead of making you grow anything with it yet. It may have been that we skipped a step—" Her face twisted at the thought, but she kept going nonetheless "—so I want you to concentrate. Watch."

She held up her hand, letting a rose sprout there, stating, "This was grown using my earth magic, and—" she focused on a nearby wildflower, plucking it from the earth and calling it to her hand with her magic, watching the tiny yellow flower unfold next to the rose "—this was done with the spell Lind used the other day. You were able to tell that there was a difference, so tell me: how are the spells different?"

Eira wrinkled her nose, unwillingly looking over the two flowers in Peorth's hand. "That one," she said finally, pointing to the yellow flower, "just poofed into your hand. The other one…grew?"

Peorth let out a long breath. "That's a bit more…literal than I was hoping for, but…you're technically correct. What I did was creating a plant through my own earth energy; the other was called to me from another place, which is why it didn't 'grow' in your eyes."

Eira made a face. "Am I supposed to touch the grass again?"

"Eira…" Peorth sighed noisily through her nose, clapping her hands together, the flowers falling to the grass in front of her. She was honestly considering just asking the child how she felt her own magic then, if she couldn't feel the energy in the grass, if she really did have an earth element like Yggdrasil's records said she did. But then another thought occurred to her, distant like the memory it came from, Keiichi speaking of how he had been able to carry Cool Mint: Lind said it was because I was supported by the love of many goddesses. Love was the root of a deity's power, and just how much love had Eira ever experienced?

She turned her attention back to the child, asking, "Eira, do you have any friends?"

The little goddess gave her an odd look. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Just—answer the question."

Eira scowled. "I have Brilliant Sunbeam!"

Maybe it was due to the transient nature of her life, Peorth thought, since Eira wouldn't be in the same place very often and likely didn't attempt to establish any friendships with those in her age group. The only permanent constant in her life was likely only the presence of her angel. She supposed that perhaps Loki might also be one, perhaps, though she doubted that he could count as a friend to the young goddess, more like an irritating mentor, or like what she called him, a wacky 'uncle' of sorts.

But she didn't have a chance to reflect long; the child waspishly asked, a spectacular frown on her face, "Do you have any friends?"

"Of course," Peorth answered immediately, raising her eyebrows. "And no, Gorgeous Rose isn't my only friend, before you ask."

"Is Mama one of your friends?" Eira questioned then, something like both suspicion and triumph dancing in her eyes, and Peorth hadn't the foggiest idea why.

"Yes, Lind is my friend," she answered, a bit hesitantly though, as now she was concerned that Eira was starting to make some sort of plot. "Why do you ask?"

Eira looked at her blandly. "I just don't get why you'd want to watch me with your friend, when you already know who I am. Don't you know you two aren't going to be friends anymore by the time all of this is over?" She gestured vaguely towards Peorth and then towards the surrounding trees, maybe to indicate Lind, who naturally wasn't in their presence.

Peorth's lips twitched at hearing her own concerns straight from the child's mouth, but she felt the need to correct her on one particular point. "We didn't choose to come to you," she stated, drumming her fingers against her knee. "We were assigned as your caretakers, so the only choice we had was in accepting."

Eira smoothed out a dirt patch in front of her idly with one hand, picking free some tiny pebbles from the earth. "You two are throwing off the way this works, though," she said, frowning. "The way it's always been, the pairs of caretakers have never known each other before they come together to watch me. But you and Mama are already friends."

Peorth blinked. "It's possible that we were the only first class deities available at the moment the High Council opted to search for caretakers in our rank rather than from the second class deities. There are far more lower-ranked deities than there is that hold first class rank." She didn't know what had caused the High Council to consider that first class deities would perhaps be a better match for a caretaker for Eira than someone second class or lower, as she couldn't recall anything too terrible that Eira had done recently, but maybe it was more that she'd reached fifty-six, and that was an absurd enough number on its own. Maybe it was just that second class deities weren't getting anything done.

"Maybe," Eira looked rather doubtful of that fact, "but they've gotten a system going and who would want to mess that up?"

"…What do you mean?" The dark-haired goddess tried to think of anything in particular linking the changing of Eira's caretakers, but as she'd never actively taken an interest in the girl until Eira had become her charge, she couldn't think of what it was the young goddess was trying to tell her.

Eira scrounged about in the grass, coming up with a little stick, and pointed it at Peorth. "Were you called together for me?"

Peorth narrowed her eyes, not appreciating the fact that the child was brandishing a stick in her direction, but at least she knew that Eira couldn't really do any harm with it. She didn't know why the fact of whether or not they had been summoned at the same time even mattered, given that they were both here now and were most certainly acknowledged as Eira's current caretakers. "…Lind was called first," she answered all the same, despite herself curious to know what the child was going on about.

The little goddess nodded slowly. "Then it wasn't you together. Or at least, that's the way it was explained to me by one of the other caretakers."

Peorth couldn't quite stop herself from asking, "Are you saying I have no reason for being here? Lind can't lie to me, and she told me herself that we had been given an assignment."

Eira's gaze switched to the stick in her hand, then dropped to look at the dirt. She smoothed it out again, and dragged the stick across the dirt. "Okay, okay, so I guess you don't know how it works." She drew out a shaky box, placing two smaller circles inside it—though they looked more like lopsided ovals—moving to a space above it, making another box, this one with several overlapping circles clustered inside it. Then she drew one circle off to the side, drawing arrows to connect them—an arrow pointing from the single circle to the box with two circles, an arrow from that box to the other box, and then an arrow to the single circle from the second box.

"So," Eira said, tapping the picture, "this is how it works for single caretakers. This is me, and my last caretaker," she added, tapping the box with two circles. "The last caretaker will say they've had enough, or something, and contact the old fogies—" She tapped the box with many circles, and Peorth made a strangled noise.

"Eira, you don't call the High Council old fogies—"

"But that's what they are!" The child stuck out her tongue and carried on. "Anyways, the old fogies get together and pick someone new, and they tell that goddess or god, and then that poor sap comes to get me, and life goes on. Right? And for two caretakers—it's pretty much the same." She drew in another circle next to the singular one, and Peorth had to admit to herself that it looked more like a blob than a circle, but Eira was a child and couldn't be expected to draw reasonably well.

"I've never had any caretakers that knew each other before they met to come for me, and it's never changed in that the two caretakers are always notified together by the old fogies. So, why weren't you?"

Peorth frowned. It was true that the High Council did like to keep to particular precedents, and she didn't believe that Eira would be telling her misinformation about the way her caretakers were chosen, because it wasn't the kind of information she could really do anything with. If anything, it might be that she thought more havoc could be wrought with the truth, when recalling the emphasis the dark-haired goddess herself had placed on the fact that first class deities couldn't tell lies. "We were on Earth," she started, frown deepening, "but we were both there, too. Yet they called for Lind first, and then she called me…"

"That's not normal. That's why I said it wasn't you two together, not at first." Eira squinted at her, shaking her head slightly.

And then Peorth was recalling a past conversation with her partner, when Lind had said, It was the High Council who gave me this assignment, so it was never your doing… "She said 'me'," she spoke carefully, her eyes widening.

"Huh?" was the child's response, but Peorth ignored her.

She said 'me', not 'us', she thought fervently to herself. Now she cast her mind back further, to that time after Lind had been called back, the morning after Keiichi and Belldandy's wedding, when she'd heard the phone ringing. What was it that Lind had said then? She had said—she had said you and I have been given an assignment. You and I, not just me. So what had changed between Lind's summons to the time she had called Peorth with the news of their new charge?

Then again, the Valkyrie hadn't said that the High Council had given both of them the assignment—that was what Peorth had assumed, yes, but it hadn't been in Lind's exact words.

She climbed to her feet, pulling Eira up with her. "Come on."

"I thought we were supposed to be 'feeling the earth magic' or something?" Eira said, coming up next to her, but it was clearly more a rhetorical question than anything, as the child was equally obviously happy to leave behind magic lessons for a time.

"We'll come back to it. You've made me suspicious, that's all." Peorth started walking, the child keeping pace with her, though for every one of her strides, Eira had to take two and a half, so she was practically jogging to keep up. It took hardly any time at all for them to arrive back at their lodging, and while Peorth knew that Lind couldn't have lied to her, there was a part of her that was concerned there was something more going on than she could see.

The terminal in their house was very basic, but it could access Yggdrasil's files, which was what Peorth wanted it for. She flipped through files, knowing that if she searched for Lind or herself first, it would give her general information, but not quite what she wanted. So instead she looked for Eira, or rather, the list of Eira's caretakers that was attached as part of a file embedded in Eira's general profile.

She grimaced at how many names happened to be on that list—there were fifty-six slots, just as Eira had claimed—and though she couldn't access the point prior to Eira's first caretaker, a god called Bragi, she was more concerned about the end of the list than the beginning. Line fifty-five read Skadi, Goddess Second Class, Category One, Limited; Lind had said she'd retrieved Eira from a goddess called Skadi, so that was true…

Her gaze fell to the next line.

Lind, Goddess First Class, Special Duty, Limited, and Peorth, Goddess First Class, Category Two, Unlimited, line fifty-six read. And below that, in tinier lettering, it stated that she and Lind were Eira's current caretakers. Slowly, she lifted her head, turning to Eira and raising her eyebrow. "You see, cher cœur and I are right there, both of us."

Eira crossed her arms; Peorth had let the leash dissolve since they were back in the house for the moment, and the child was unencumbered, though there was a devious glitter in her eyes. "I didn't say you're not both the caretakers now. I meant that you weren't chosen before. Somehow you were added, because you would have been called with her if you were both supposed to be here from the start." She hesitated. "Though, I have to say, if this is your plan for practicing, you're really going big. If you two can deal with me, you can deal with any kid!"

Peorth blinked, turning away from the terminal, shutting it off as she did so. "Just what do you think you're implicating?"

Eira raised her hands in what would have been a gesture of surrender on anyone else. "I mean, I don't know how you guys thought you were hiding it, so I figure I don't have to be sneaky in telling you, either."

"Eira," Peorth said sharply, leaning in and narrowing her eyes. "What are you going on about? There's nothing we're trying to hide. And whatever are you talking about when you say 'practicing'?"

The little goddess spread her hands, grinning widely. "Oh, well, ma-a-a-aybe I'm wrong," she said, drawing out the word 'maybe' so that it was evident that she firmly believed she was in the right, "but, you know, you're making it too easy for me. If you didn't want me to think you two are in love, you should have tried a lot harder."

If you didn't want me to think you two are in love, you should have tried a lot harder.

Peorth stared, her mouth hanging open. A flurry of feathers drifted past her shoulder, and she felt the slight weight of her angel settling at her shoulders, but Gorgeous Rose was equally surprised by the child's belief.

"What…did you just say?"

If you didn't want me to think you two are in love…

"You think—you think that Lind and I are in love?" She wanted to laugh, it seemed like such an absurd thought, as at the moment she considered Lind a friend, yes, a good friend, but—in love? No, no, that was too far.

Naturally, that had to be the moment that she heard the door open. Naturally, that had to be the moment that Lind returned—perhaps she forgot something, or wanted to check something, since Peorth and Eira were back early also—and naturally, that also meant that she had to have heard the tail end of Peorth and Eira's conversation.

Of…course.

Notes:

Some minor story notes: Somehow it seems like Eira never gets any magic lessons done with all the havoc she tries to wreak. She is being legitimately honest here, though, even if it's another way to mess with Peorth and Lind. The comment Lind makes concerning the High Council is from chapter eight, and yes, Peorth is remembering it correctly! How she became a part of the assignment is a mystery she will have to resolve by asking Lind, but who knows what answer she'll receive in return.

The hair colors at the beginning are both a chance to make myself laugh and a minor homage to other things: Lind's hair being purple is a reference to her original hair color from the cover art of volume 25, as well as that Dreamcast video game. Peorth's hair being light blue is a shameless reference to my other story for this fandom, Angel Wings, because I am incredibly lame and like to leave Easter egg things like that. The other colors of their hair are just for laughs.

Also, if it's not clear that I like to use tropes on occasion, the ending of this chapter should make that evident. Poor Lind. She just wanted to make sure that Peorth locked the doors and everything, and yet the universe had to screw her over for the millionth time by making her walk right into the hole that Eira was unknowingly digging [for Peorth, sure, but Lind's a part of it]. Also, do remember that this is an assumption on Eira's part! She does not know for certain what's up with the Amazing Pair, though to be fair, they're not really sure what's going on with them either. She just made an assumption based on what she could observe and ran with it.

Chapter 11: A Matter of Love

Lind had only wanted to check and see if Peorth had forgotten to lock the doors of the house when leaving. While most deities wouldn't disturb their house, especially when many would not know who really lived there—Peorth was known for at least making efforts at getting even with those that might wish her misfortune, Eira was a notorious trickster child, and Lind herself was the One-Winged Angel—there was the suspicion on Peorth's part that Loki or Fenrir might appear while they were out. So precautions had to be taken, such as locking the doors when none of them were going to be there for a decent amount of time, just so that they could prevent any unfortunate surprises upon their return.

Lind had inferred that Peorth intended to go back out to the forest with Eira, as they would be trying to work on Eira's elemental magic again, and although it had only been a little more than twenty-five minutes since they'd parted ways, she did have to wonder if Peorth might forget to lock the doors. It wasn't like the older goddess to be forgetful, but it was best to check simply to be sure. She would have plenty of time for more training.

She hefted her limiter, flicking her fingers so that the axe condensed back to its dormant form and attached it back to her earring as she made her way back to the house. She hadn't expected anything in particular; all she intended to do was check the doors and head back out. She still wasn't sure exactly how she wanted to try teaching Eira to use transportation and manifestation; she wasn't like Peorth, and she didn't know that she would be able to come up with the right words at the right time.

Nonetheless, she knew that she should take some part in the training of their charge, despite the fact that her magic could be ill-applied anywhere else outside of combat. She would try, as it was her mission to do so.

She hadn't outright failed a mission yet, and she refused to lose any opportunities just because she'd never had prior chances to teach a student. She had to prove her usefulness, now more than ever.

So she walked up to the door, and it was then that she heard voices. Peorth's and Eira's, which wasn't entirely unexpected, though she did have to wonder what had brought them back so early. Or was it instead that they had never even left? Was it that Eira was being particularly difficult already?

"…you know, you're making it too easy for me. If you didn't want me to think you two are in love, you should have tried a lot harder."

What? That was Eira's voice, she knew, but she couldn't bring herself to comprehend those words, so strange to be coming from the young goddess's mouth.

Peorth's voice drifted to her then, echoing her thought. "What…did you just say?"

Lind's hand was already on the door, it was already moving when she heard Peorth again, her partner's voice coating every word with thick surprise. "You think—you think that Lind and I are in love?"

Oh.

Suddenly, Lind felt rather as if she shouldn't be there, shouldn't be hearing this, but she couldn't quite stop her feet from carrying her forwards. Peorth and Eira were standing by the terminal, the child's expression halfway between surprise and brazen confidence, and as for the older goddess…Peorth was completely still, a look of incredulous shock on her face, an expression that was mirrored in Gorgeous Rose's features. The angel's wings twitched ever-so-slightly, the only sign that she and her deity hadn't simply become a statue at Eira's comment.

Eira was the first to speak, though her voice sounded almost shrill despite whatever casual undertone she was apparently attempting to convey, and she looked to be shivering. "Mama! Wh—what made you come back?"

Lind stepped forwards, carefully, keeping her eyes fixed on Peorth, who hadn't moved. "I wished—to check the locks. It did not occur to me that you might not leave." She spoke slowly, so that her words would not tremble, so that she wouldn't have to consider anything too impossible, too far beyond the realm of her understanding to be even close to truthful.

"We did!" Eira replied, a touch forcefully, rubbing at her arms. "Leave, anyways—but we came back!"

"…I see," Lind said, though she couldn't hazard a guess as to why they had come back so early, for surely, Peorth wasn't so keen to give up on getting the child to learn some form of magic in the proper way? The older goddess, in turn, was still frozen, yet that look of incredulity remained on her face. And Lind moved a step closer, not quite able to stop the words from falling, and hating the sound of them once she'd spoken despite knowing the honesty of the matter couldn't be doubted: "You're right, though, Peorth—it is terribly absurd a thought, is it not?"

Peorth sucked in a breath, like Lind had struck at her physically—but the Valkyrie's hands were still held to her sides, she knew she hadn't moved save to walk—and even Eira looked faintly uneasy. "Don't say it like that," Peorth breathed, Gorgeous Rose shifting anxiously behind her, feathers askew. "It sounds—awful—when you say it like that."

"But it's true," Lind pressed, her voice barely above a whisper, "or else how could I speak it?" She ignored the tiny call from the back of her mind, the quiet murmur of Cool Mint's voice saying, Just because you believe it's true, doesn't make it hurt any less.

"But—" The dark-haired goddess broke off, and above her a conflicted expression crossed Gorgeous Rose's face. The angel's green eyes seemed too bright in the light, but the reflection of Peorth's heart didn't act, as Lind had heard angels could do, if their deity was sufficiently in need, or want, of something but refused to take action on their own.

She'd never had that problem herself. Spear Mint was practical-minded, though her warrior's heart could wish too greatly for the pursuit of even-handed justice. Cool Mint was more outspoken, and yet she would never have had the opportunity to act out, in a way, for Lind hadn't even known she'd existed for the longest time.

It had been when she had at last earned the rank of first class, had heard the Commander of Valkyries inform her, with only the smallest hint of approval, that she had successfully passed the final, most dangerous test, when she had called upon Spear Mint to see her second wing at last—and to hear a still-distant voice, a voice that she had initially mistaken for the red-eyed angel's, and yet hearing it again she had heard the tiniest of difference, a infinitesimally higher pitch. Understanding had been slow, the idea that her soul could have produced two angels, and not one; Spear Mint, who was the warrior, and Cool Mint, who was more like the goddess, though how the facets of her personality could have diverged so was beyond her.

Spear Mint had said that she needed the warrior first, to find purpose, to know a truth in her existence, however small in the way it was gained; Cool Mint, she had needed to remember that while she had become a warrior, a part of her would always remain the goddess she had been. While she accepted this concept, as she didn't believe her angels to be lying, even they couldn't properly explain why such a dichotomy would have had any effect on the angel's egg at all.

Regardless, she'd never had any issues with her angels, and she wouldn't, either.

She pushed those thoughts to the side and turned in place, about to speak if not for the appearance of a small furry shape sliding into the room from behind her, from the way of the cracked-ajar door. Fenrir came to a halt, the cloth tied about his neck making a sharp jingling as he did so, and the creature drawled, "My, my, it looks like I've come at a bad time."

The wolf's appearance at last galvanized Peorth into movement; the older goddess stumbled forwards a pace, her eyes fixing into a more familiar anger at the sight of Loki's messenger. "Go back to Loki, why don't you?"

"Oh, but I have something to deliver!" Fenrir replied, padding across the floor in an incredibly nonchalant way. He stopped in front of Eira, one paw rising to tug harshly at the cloth around his neck, a collection of silvery coins scattering across the floor with a terrible clatter. The child's gaze flicked to the coins just shy of her boots, but she didn't move to pick them up.

"You've delivered it, now go away," Peorth muttered shortly.

"But all this looks terribly interesting!" the wolf answered blithely, his fur fluffing out so that he looked almost like one of those dust balls Lind had had to remove from Skadi following Eira's last prank to her previous caretaker.

Peorth's hands curled into fists, and for a moment Lind wondered if the older goddess would lose control and end up attacking Loki's construct outright, as she certainly seemed angry enough to do so. Part of her had to wonder how much of that anger was truly being directed at Fenrir, or if it was more a matter of the wolf presenting a more acceptable target.

"Out," the dark-haired goddess seethed, stabbing a shaky finger towards the still-slightly-ajar door behind Lind.

Fenrir surveyed them all for a long moment—Peorth, still standing in anger; Eira, gazing fixedly at the coins near the toes of her boots but remaining still; and Lind herself—before the creature's yellow eyes blinked once, not even acquiescence, more like boredom, and Fenrir turned stuffily. "I hope you're even more entertaining next time, because this is only the beginning of your woes!" were his parting words, as his tail disappeared through the doorway. He made it seem like he was going to interfere somehow, and yet Lind had the thought that it was likely in Loki's best interests just to watch from a distance. The older god didn't need to bother with meddling in their affairs—beyond Fenrir's visits to Eira—because they could surely do that for themselves, without any assistance necessary.

"I don't like that dog," Peorth grumbled, though now that the interloper was gone, the anger in her voice sounded—forced?

Is she trying too hard, Lind reflected, to return to normalcy?

She disregarded that thought, because it didn't matter, not truly, for she could not forget what had already been said, no matter that Fenrir's appearance had ever-so-briefly stalled the coming storm. The room was cold and still, like one of the snowflakes she could crystallize from the air. No—that was a snowflake, drifting past her shoulder on the barest hint of a breeze.

Snow?

The words rose unbidden in her mind:

You think—you think that Lind and I are in love?

"Lind," Peorth whispered, and her voice hardly disturbed the air. This was probably the softest the Valkyrie had ever heard her speak, and she knew why, to hide the truth of her words before, to hide just how absurd the older goddess found such an idea. It was the child's folly, certainly, to have lead Peorth to such a conclusion, but it was also indelibly true that it was Peorth's words that had struck the hardest.

She had no intentions of hearing excuses; she'd already amassed several in her head, and as much as she knew her understanding to be true, there was a part of her that didn't want to hear those words aloud, where they couldn't possibly be taken back.

First class goddesses couldn't lie, after all.

"I will leave you to your lessons," the blue-haired goddess spoke, her voice as level as she could possibly make it. And she turned, seeing another snowflake dance across the space before her; for a moment there was only the sound of her own footsteps, and then—

"Lind," Peorth tried again, a question in her voice but no words to explain it.

Lind liked to think of herself as relatively polite. She was an upstanding member of Heaven, one of the strongest—if not the strongest—Valkyries in all of Heaven, and while she would never be well-liked, she felt she was respectably tolerable at best, which had to be some improvement. Normally, she would never walk out on a conversation, but it was clear to her that Peorth had something to say to her and yet was unwilling to speak it. That alone meant that it was exactly what she thought it was, as far as she was concerned, and she also understood that as her friend, Peorth would want to say it in the nicest way she could, even when it was something terrible.

So she was just giving her the time to do so.

That was how she rationalized it to herself, because it felt more polite that way, though she almost paused—almost—when she heard the dark-haired goddess call again, this time a more plaintive cry of "Cher cœur!"

Lind didn't pretend to know what the meaning of Peorth's probably-permanent nickname of sorts for her was, she had no idea what the words were beyond knowing they were derived from one of the human tongues; and yet she could swear there was a sorrow folded into those two words that couldn't be properly defined.

But she didn't know how to respond to that—she couldn't respond, as she'd already emerged into the sunlight, the snowflakes around her promptly melting away into droplets of water cascading onto the grass—and so she carried on. She didn't know what Peorth and Eira would do, but at the moment, she had preparations to make.

She was supposed to teach Eira tomorrow, as Peorth had said, and devising a strategy for working with the little goddess would at least turn her thoughts to simpler things.

Though…since when had anything ever been simple?

---

Lind returned to the house close to the coming of dusk; she wasn't particularly confident in her abilities to teach Eira adequately, but she thought her plan would be useful enough. She was going to be teaching transportation and manifestation, and while she'd never used it for calling anything to her beyond pulling snowdrops from the twins' inner world, she figured she could at least hope to achieve the same ends for Eira.

She would have to ask Eira about Brilliant Sunbeam's inner world, though; she didn't know if the child's angel would have grown any flowers, or if any flowers had appeared as a result of some affirmation on Eira's part. Her own snowdrops, she had understood intuitively to be a representation of the promise she made to her angels, to someday see two wings. She couldn't think of anything that might stand out about Eira's angel, unless the child had wished to make her larger in stature.

In the end, she didn't think it would be entirely useful, but she would try.

The house was fairly quiet when she arrived; thankfully, it was still standing, although she wouldn't have been able to tell if Eira and Peorth had had an argument following her departure, as Peorth would have rebuilt the house anyways. Eira was nowhere to be seen—likely in her room, as it was evening now—but she found the older goddess easily enough, sitting in the living room and staring fixedly at a point on the wall as if that wall had done something incredibly cruel to her.

Peorth glanced up when she heard Lind's footsteps, and something flickered in her dark brown eyes, but all she said was, "Lind," in a rather cordial manner.

"Peorth," Lind acknowledged her, as it would be even ruder to ignore her now that she'd spoken. "Did Eira accomplish anything today?"

The dark-haired goddess's lips twitched. She knew stalling when she heard it, though she answered all the same. "No. I have a theory about what's wrong, but that can wait." She climbed to her feet, and Lind was acutely aware of the fact that Peorth was a head taller than she was. The older goddess was no threat to her, as Peorth couldn't hope to match her physically, but it wasn't the thought of Peorth actually facing her in battle that was most troubling to her.

"We need to talk, Lind, about what Eira said."

Of course, it would be that quickly brought up. Despite Peorth's penchant for revealing clothes, her mind was certainly sharp. "Is Eira asleep?" the Valkyrie questioned, and that query wasn't an effort at stalling, just something she wanted to know.

"I imagine so, or if not, it's her own sleep she's wasting," Peorth replied. "I presume you'd rather not have this discussion in front of her?"

Lind could only nod; she couldn't tell if it would be a 'discussion' per se, but nonetheless she preferred to keep the child out of it, even if it was Eira's words that had started the whole fiasco. Peorth appeared to think the same, as she gave a single nod and made her way to their room, with the blue-haired goddess trailing after her.

The door was shut behind them, and Peorth set to pacing, whereas Lind drifted over to the window, staring at the hazy moonbeams beginning to fall across the room. For a too-long heartbeat there was only silence, silence and the rhythmic sound of Peorth's boots striking the floor.

Then came a long, heavy sigh as the dark-haired goddess came to a halt. "Lind…first, I'd like to apologize. I could have worded my reply to Eira in a better manner, and the way I misspoke made it seem worse. And—you were in the wrong place, at the wrong time. I didn't want you to—no. It's not that. It's more that I know you took it a certain way, when I heard your answer, and… I care about you, Lind, you're my friend, you trusted me enough to tell me about your reconstruction magic, you've fought to save my life, and I appreciate that more than you know. But—"

There was always a 'but'. Peorth's words were kind, terribly so, but not terribly kind enough to reach the level of an unacceptable notion.

"—Eira doesn't know us well, she only knows what she's seen, and she's making assumptions based on what she's seen without considering any other options," Peorth carries on. "It's—" Her face twisted, as if she'd had an unpleasant thought.

"If your only concern is that Eira is wrong, you needn't fear that I believed her. I said as much, didn't I?" Lind tilted her head carefully. "I am already well aware that she is incorrect. You are not in love with me, and though you may love me—" it was so hard to say such things about herself, when she hadn't heard the like since before she'd swallowed the angel's egg and met Spear Mint "—as I am your friend, someone whom you trust, I understand that there is a line, a difference between loving and being in love."

As much as she had never experienced anyone being in love with her, and as much as her understanding of social conventions could be lacking at times, she could understand well enough the concept of 'love' versus 'in love'.

She understood that much.

Peorth frowned deeply, her eyebrows furrowing, the smallest spark of anger flashing across her face. "Don't say it like that," the dark-haired goddess said, her shoulders tensing. "You did this earlier—the way your voice just—changes. It's all flat and awful and—cher cœur," she murmured, a tormented expression filling her eyes, "why are—?"

She didn't finish her question, because Lind knew instinctively what the end of that question was: why are you like this, what's happened to you to make you this way?

And it was more than her angels, though admittedly they were the root of the issue. "What happened, you mean?" she let the words fall, terrible in their emptiness; it was wrong, she knew, to expose such broken pieces to the light for Peorth to poke at, but equally certain was she that there was a part of her that couldn't refuse.

If this was the repayment of her atonement, if this was what Peorth asked of her…

She gazed out into the darkening night, the pinpricks of light that were the stars gradually appearing amidst the blue-black. Perhaps it was that she had been waiting to say these words for a long time, not necessarily to Peorth, though the older goddess had asked for them, so could she be unsatisfied with the result?

"Do you understand, Peorth, the worth of one soul?"

The bitterness in Lind's voice must have surprised Peorth, but she turned away from those wide brown eyes, speaking to her reflection in the window, her gaze fixed on her hand resting on the lower windowpane. "Do you understand the worth in your heart's reflection? Do you understand how greatly we parade the images of our truest selves, of how perfect they must be so as to reflect such perfectness in our own selves? Do you understand what anything less than perfection must be?"

Don't, my goddess! Please! cried Cool Mint from the back of her mind, but the blue-eyed angel's voice was lost in the screaming wind of a rolling storm.

Peorth's mouth opened, but no sound came out. There was something conflicted in her eyes, clashing with the clear understanding that the words must be said.

"An abomination," Lind whispered, the word as foul on her tongue as it had been to hear it from others. "Anything that is not as it should be, is something that defies our reality, something that should not exist. It is something that is inferior to the ideals of perfection that all others can attain so easily."

Her voice was cold; there was an ominous crunching sound from beneath her hand, but she ignored that, as she ignored the tiny cracks making their way up the surface of the window. "We place such brilliance in seeing our souls reflected, to see the truth of our natures so clearly displayed for all to see. And for so very many, that is enough, for they are all alike, all such bright stars that compete to outshine one another. So it is easy, to know when there is something amiss…when you find a far less bright star, you know immediately that something is wrong."

Peorth made a strangled noise from behind her, evidently having at last come up with the willingness to speak. "Lind—" There was a heavy despair in her voice, like she was struggling under the cusp of a wave. "There's—there's nothing wrong with you—"

"Isn't there, though?" The blue-haired goddess turned around, staring hard at Peorth. "You knew of me before I came to Tarikihongan Temple, you were the one to explain to Skuld in kinder words what my reputation meant. But surely you already know what other names are accorded to me?"

Peorth's eyes narrowed just slightly. "I know what they call you, but—they don't understand what you're like!"

"They aren't wrong, though," Lind spoke carefully. "I fought to prove that I had a place in the combat division, to prove that I belonged there, and I became strong—stronger than so many of them—that they could only see it as compensation. My great strength can only be making up for the lacking in my soul." Her hand curled into a fist, the sounds of the window steadily on its way to cracking barely reaching her ears. "Don't you understand, Peorth? I am not like them—and I am not like you!"

Snatches of their conversation whirled in her mind, refusing to dull the bitterness of so many years' tribulations, drowning out the far-distant voices of her angels asking for the storm to abate:

You think—you think that Lind and I are in love?

It is terribly absurd a thought, is it not?

She's making assumptions based on what's she's seen without considering any other options.

They don't understand what you're like!

I am not like them—and I am not like you!

And, mercifully, those thoughts were silenced by another, louder noise—that of the window at last succumbing to its abuse and shattering into chunks of glass that fell both outside the house and at Lind's feet in equal measure. Peorth was staring, her mouth open, and something in her face told the Valkyrie that she was reevaluating her mental representation of Lind's personality.

Those words had been waiting far too long to be released, and somehow she knew this was entirely the incorrect time and place to be saying them, and yet she had no way of taking them back. She couldn't erase Peorth's memory—she had no skill in such things—and she couldn't simply pretend that nothing had happened at all.

First class goddesses couldn't lie.

She was moving before she realized it, hurtling through the open gap that had once been their window. Part of her knew that outright abandoning the house would be viewed as failure, but she had no intention of waiting for Peorth to come to her own conclusions. The weight of those words was too much, too much—

She sat down heavily on the roof of the house; the starry sky above was brighter, clearer than any sky she had viewed on Earth. She had often held watch during the night, usually by herself but occasionally with others, but the night was no comfort now. She could hear the sounds of the window being repaired below, the fragments coming back together to form a cohesive whole, the kind of magic that she would never be able to replicate.

She had spoken truly to Peorth, with no wish to mislead her by stating technically true facts. And perhaps that was what made it worse, to know that those words had been entirely her own. It was not wrong to share one's troubles with a close friend, but—it should not have been done this way. If she had thought it through carefully, instead of being so terribly distracted by that impossibility, then she wouldn't have said so much.

But she hadn't thought carefully, and so she was left to wonder what to do.

"I'm sorry."

The voice spoke up next to her suddenly; it was Peorth's, but far smaller than Lind had ever heard it—not as a matter of speaking quietly, but rather tiny as in Peorth was either taking great pains to try and keep from startling her, or she was literally projecting her voice from below in some way.

Lind turned her head and could only blink for a moment, for hovering beside her, just shy of her left shoulder, was a miniature figure of Peorth. The dark-haired goddess could only be a little taller than her hand standing upright.

The Valkyrie knew of this technique, of splitting off a tiny fragment of one's body, which appeared as an incredibly small figure of the being themself, which could be used as an additional set of eyes and ears. She had seen it in action before, but had never been able to accomplish it herself. She had never given much thought to it, though, as there were a variety of magical aspects that she couldn't perform, and she had more or less presumed that it was unlikely she ever would.

"I thought this way might be easier to speak to," the tiny Peorth said, drawing Lind's attention back to the present.

The blue-haired goddess wasn't quite sure how she would have come to such a conclusion, but nevertheless, she supposed that she must hear Peorth out. She held out her hand, palm flat, and after a moment's consideration, the little Peorth floated over and landed neatly on her hand, standing to look carefully at her.

"…Lind, I…" Peorth sighed, turning slowly in place. "You're right, I don't have a full understanding of what's happened to you, what's come about because of the way your soul is reflected. I may not understand, but tell me this: the Lind I know, that goddess who is selfless and brave and awkward and kind, is that Lind a lie?"

"First class goddesses can't lie." The words popped out of her mouth before she could stop them. She paused briefly, knowing that wasn't the answer Peorth wanted. "You said you knew who I was."

"I know your reputation, and I have seen you fight, and your strength can't be disagreed," Peorth agreed, "but you're missing my point. That is the face you will show to your enemies. I'm talking about the face you show to your friends—is that not truth, too? You asked me if I understood the worth in one soul…and I'm beginning to wonder if it's you that doesn't understand. Or rather," and something sad crossed those brown eyes, "it's that you've been taught so that you can't understand it for yourself."

What?

"You're not making sense," Lind murmured, her eyebrows furrowing.

Peorth smiled, though that smile was sad, too. "Cher cœur," she pronounced the nickname with careful enunciation, "I don't think it's me you're trying to convince here." She gave an absent shrug of her shoulders. "But that's not for me to say, that's something you have to realize of your own will. Just—I'll be here for you, if you need it." She patted Lind's hand, that sad smile widening to something a little brighter. "I promise I'm not trying to confuse you intentionally. Just know that I don't believe you to be the awful things that others have said about you."

You're too kind, too kind to someone like me. The words were stuck on her tongue, such a far cry from before, where she hadn't been able to stop herself from saying those broken things. She tried to come up with something, anything, and—"You said—you said you had a theory about why Eira's magic isn't working?"

Peorth blinked quickly. "Ah—well…" She frowned, looking down, her gaze fixing on the golden bracelets on Lind's wrist. "I'm not sure—I'll tell you tomorrow. You need time to think about the other things."

"It doesn't matter. You can tell me now," the blue-haired goddess said staunchly. Perhaps it was just to distance herself from other thoughts, but she couldn't deny that she was interested in knowing what it was that Peorth had come up with. She personally didn't know of any way to offset a naturally small magical reservoir, that which Eira appeared to possess, at least while one consistently refused to obtain proper education on magic.

The miniature Peorth huffed. "Well, don't go throwing me anywhere, then." Her face settled into a more serious expression. "I believe that Eira's issue with her magic is compounded by her lack of concentration skills and her low natural magical reservoir, but the primary reason… Lind, you know what the root of a deity's power is, correct?"

Lind nodded, uncertain if she was actually supposed to answer, but replied, "It's love. I achieved my strength through the will to protect, but even that could be said to stem from a broad sense of love for Heaven, yes?" It was easy to say those manner of words, because that was not an impossible, unacceptable thought.

"That's right," Peorth agreed, bobbing her head in a nod. "And, tell me, can you think of anyone that would have shown Eira love?"

The Valkyrie considered that train of thought. "She makes it difficult…perhaps the original caretakers? She didn't have such a pronounced reputation then… Loki calls himself her 'uncle', though they are not blood kin, but their relationship is based on investigative gain, since Eira tests out ideas for him, and he pays her to do so. Other than that…only Brilliant Sunbeam, but they have a symbiotic relationship. The angel cannot exist without her host, and Brilliant Sunbeam is Eira's heart reflected, so she cannot really assist in any magical gain as one who already accesses the same reservoir…"

"Exactly," Peorth said grimly. "I could only consider her angel, also, as I asked her if she had any friends, and she informed me that she had Brilliant Sunbeam. Her angel she may consider enough, but she won't be able to successfully access greater magic if she can't attain a proper capacity for love."

"But it would be considerably more difficult to try introducing her to other children," Lind pointed out after a pause. "There are not many children her age to begin with, and she is…"

"Difficult, yes," the dark-haired goddess hummed, crossing her arms. "I imagine she would drive anyone else away or attempt to convert them to her pranking ways, which no parent would thank us for. However…she does have some other options."

It took Lind a moment, but she comprehended what the older goddess was saying. Her voice came out smaller than expected when she said, "You—you don't mean…we can help her?"

"As her caretakers, we have an obligation to care about her future," Peorth explained, "and I highly doubt that any of her caretakers previously have shown any sort of love towards her. She makes it hard, that's true, but we have to try and see her improve. And she won't improve unless she comes to understand love. Though the common way for many is to use romantic love, there's no reason platonic, familial love can't work the same way. She calls us her parents, and it's definitely meant as an idiotic joke, but…"

Lind hesitated. "You really think we can help her?"

"If we try, it's not impossible." Peorth glanced up towards the panorama of the stars. "If we can become unforgettable in her mind, if we can remain with her beyond our time together here, isn't that leaving an indelible mark?" She spread her hands, the bracelets on her arms jingling with her movements. "I've personally never wanted a child, but—I think I can learn, even if this child is more obstinate than anyone else. And I definitely won't lose, when this could be considered some sort of challenge to our capability from the High Council."

She seemed so certain of that fact. Lind ducked her head; that was the way Peorth was, after all. The dark-haired goddess wasn't as straightforward and practical-minded as Lind was, she could be more profound when she wanted to, but she was intelligent, witty even, and she could hold her own. If she wanted to stay…even with the child's ridiculousness…

But the important question was not if they would stay, but if they could truly succeed. Could they offer love to a child who had received none?

And even then… "You do realize that this may not work?" Lind's eyebrows furrowed. "We can try…showing her love, yes, but we can't force her to feel it in return."

Peorth heaved a long sigh. "I'm aware of that, and giving her some small form of love may be the only thing we can offer her at this point. She's recalcitrant, resistant to change; given what we've heard of her, her personality has remained much the same during her stay with her different caretakers. She won't make this easy for us, but…" Something in her expression softened. "And, Lind, this is just my thoughts on the matter. You don't have to commit to it if you don't want to."

"But—didn't you say you believe that it's love that Eira's lacking?"

"It certainly looks like that's the case," Peorth admitted, crossing her arms, "but that doesn't mean I'm correct." She made a face and leaned forwards a little, whispering from behind a small hand, "Don't tell Urd that I said that." She straightened up, her arms falling back to her sides, her gaze fixing on Lind's. "I don't want you to do anything you'd rather not. And I feel like you're the kind of goddess who wouldn't tell me that you objected to anything and silently suffer for it."

The Valkyrie couldn't stop the smallest of frowns from crossing her face. "If you believe this is the best way to see progress in Eira's training—"

Peorth threw up her hands, clearly exasperated. "You are really missing the point here! This isn't about what I think or what I want—it's about you: what do you want to do, Lind?"

What do you want to do, Lind?

It had been a very long time since anyone had asked her such a question. For so long it had always been that she was simply given something to do, some mission to complete or a task to fulfill. The last time, she thought, it must have been when she was a child still, before she'd hatched Spear Mint and learned the terrible truths of the world around her.

She lifted her head, staring into the much smaller brown eyes of the miniature Peorth. "You are asking me this." It was supposed to be a question, but the sentence fell flat.

"Yes, I'm asking you," Peorth answered, a touch of bewilderment in her tone. "Has—" Pity crossed her face before she smoothed her expression, as she finished quietly, "Has no one ever asked that of you, cher cœur?"

That question wasn't the important one.

"…I don't know that I can promise anything," Lind conceded after a small pause. She gave the miniature Peorth another glance. "…But…I can try…if you honestly believe that this will allow Eira to progress in her magical studies." This was less than that unacceptable thought, if it was for the child alone, and so she felt she could reasonably say such.

"That's all that I can ask of you," Peorth said in response, voice soft as if she was unwilling to break this truce they'd come to. The dark-haired goddess had to understand that this whole line of conversation was but a distraction; they hadn't addressed the true problem at hand, though admittedly, Eira's magic was something that had to be discussed.

Lind didn't know if she could truly explain it to Peorth, even if the older goddess asked—she had never lent herself to eloquence, and these were difficult words indeed—but perhaps…perhaps someday.

"We should go back inside, unless you'd rather spend the night out here," Peorth said quietly. "Although, if you'd rather stay—I left the window open, but don't worry, it's been fixed." And the miniature deity gave her a smile, one that looked closer to something sadder, and disappeared below the edge of the roof.

She was being given the opportunity to think, but she didn't know that it was entirely necessary. After all, the fault was not with Peorth; the older goddess shouldn't be punished for something that hadn't originated with her. Peorth had always been cordial with her, at least, from the beginning, and now Lind understood that she was kind as well. Kind, to have offered her such chances when anyone else might have ignored her troubles entirely—ah, she reflected, Belldandy would be too kind also, to ignore her, but this wasn't quite the same. It was in Belldandy's nature to be kind until proven otherwise…Peorth was not Belldandy.

A part of her understood that she may have needed to say those terrible words, but not to Peorth. Peorth was not the one who deserved them, but…

She climbed to her feet, observing the starry sky for a long moment. She didn't think much had changed, and perhaps it wouldn't. But at the very least, they'd come to some sort of unorthodox plan to get Eira to gain access to greater magic, and that was the bigger picture here, wasn't it? The child had to learn.

Eira had to learn, and that was an easier task to think of.

She would apologize to Peorth in the morning, for causing her trouble. That might put an end to it, for a time. She felt somewhat justified in thinking that Peorth wouldn't push the matter.

For now, Eira was their main concern.

And hopefully, that was how it would remain.

Notes:

Some minor story notes: This chapter features my own explanation for the reasoning behind the existence of Lind's twin angels. I didn't like the idea of her having received a defective angel's egg, as that seemed like something that would be monitored; while it's still a mystery in regards to Fujishima's idea of why they are the way they are, I've attached personalities and such to the twins to better allow them to reflect the parts of Lind's personality I believe they represent. Spear Mint is the 'warrior' and Cool Mint is the 'goddess'; this does not necessarily mean Cool Mint can't act offensively, or vice versa for Spear Mint, but these are the facets of Lind's personality that have been reflected onto them. We'll be hearing more from them as the story goes on.

Secondly, Lind's outburst: if you've read Angel Wings, you'll understand that Lind has several emotional issues. Of course, it's been several years since I wrote Angel Wings, and I've come to interpret Lind's character as a bit more depressing than the one featured in Angel Wings, because I've had to do a lot of thinking about why she's like this, what her motivations are, things like that. She never intended to tell Peorth anything, but Peorth asked, and then things happened, unfortunately. Also, Lind's 'unacceptable truth', that's a significant part of her mindset that may seem greatly troubling to anyone else but seems like more of the same to someone who's self-deprecating in the first place. It will be explored throughout the coming chapters.

Chapter 12: What Can Be Given

Peorth wasn't entirely sure what she had expected when she woke up the next morning, but even so, a part of her was incredibly grateful to see the familiar head of blue hair beside her. So Lind hadn't left in the night; though her words had suggested that she had intended to stay, that she was going to help with Eira regardless, a tiny part of Peorth couldn't help but think that maybe the younger goddess would think otherwise. She didn't know how long Lind had been up on the roof that night, when she'd come back inside, but she must have been there for a while. At least a few hours, since it had taken some time for Peorth herself to fall asleep.

But Lind was still here.

Lind was still here, and that was the important part.

And…

Peorth glanced upwards idly, watching patterns of light shift across the ceiling, thrown from sunlight reflecting off her bracelets. Truth be told, she wasn't entirely sure her theory on Eira's abilities was going to work. It could be that Eira simply would never be able to perform large magical feats, no matter the amount of love offered to her, by anyone. And, well—she'd have to look, to see if there was any record of how great the child's magical reservoir really was, because if it was as small as she suspected, then…

She frowned. Maybe some disadvantages couldn't be overcome, but at the very least, she wanted to see Eira try.

After all, they had a stellar example in Lind, of the drive to make up for what one couldn't accomplish in simple magic alone. If Eira couldn't learn from that—oh! And quite suddenly, she remembered: Lind was training Eira today, in transportation and manifestation. That is, if Lind still intended to attempt teaching Eira, after what had been said last night.

Do you understand, Peorth, the worth of one soul?

The dark-haired goddess's frown deepened. It wasn't that she hadn't known. The denizens of Heaven were often so very proud to consider themselves above petty humans, and yet…they could be just as petty, just as terrible as mortals when it came to someone who upset their idea of 'perfection'. They hadn't liked Urd, with her black-and-white angel and her demon mother; and they hadn't liked Lind, for the separated wings of her angels. And while the situations couldn't be compared, not truly, Urd's angel could be clearly attributed to her heritage. Lind was a full-blooded goddess, and that made the appearance of her angels an outright anomaly.

And that wasn't something Peorth could ever hope to understand. Gorgeous Rose had unusual 'clothes', but those were easily connected to both Peorth's own love of roses and her earth element. She couldn't hope to understand Lind's pain—but she thought she could still try to help. That Lind had told her of that pain…even if it wasn't intentional, surely that meant something? Surely it meant that there was something she could do?

She could still try to—

"Peorth."

Lind's voice shook her out of her reverie; she blinked down at the blue-haired goddess, whose face was terribly impassive. A thought struck Peorth: had she stayed only because she felt it would be rude to leave without saying goodbye? Was that why she had remained—?

"I must apologize," the Valkyrie murmured, and the impassiveness was gone in the depths of her eyes, replaced by something like regret. She hesitated, her hair shifting across her face, a frown crossing her lips, like this was something she didn't want to say, or didn't know how to begin saying.

For leaving? Peorth wanted to say, but held her tongue. She didn't want to interrupt, when it seemed like whatever it was, was hard enough to speak once. She sat up, letting go of Lind, so that the younger goddess could do the same. She didn't want Lind to think that she wasn't going to pay attention, because that couldn't be further from the truth. She wanted to hear what the Valkyrie had to say—and she herself had to apologize, for her part. No matter if it had been ignorance rather than malice, when she hadn't known Lind personally back then, the result was the same.

"I…I shouldn't have said those things to you, yesterday," Lind carried on. "You—you didn't deserve them." They weren't meant for you, her eyes seemed to say.

"No," was what burst out of Peorth's throat, when she had been all ready to say something to the contrary. "Don't—don't apologize. Not for what you've been through. Just because I never said those things about you—I never did anything about it. I never knew you, had never met you before the Angel Eater, and it—it hadn't mattered, then." She didn't like saying it, but it was true, so very true. And she'd been thinking so much back then of competing with Belldandy, of subscribing to a grudge match that was all in her head, that the one-winged Valkyrie had never been of any interest to her.

How funny fate was, that Lind could now be considered a most important friend.

"Cher cœur," she tried again, "you did mean it, those words you said. You had to say them to someone, because you'd never said them to anyone. And—and I'm glad," and it sounded so bad, when she said it like that, but she made her best effort to smile, to lessen any potential sting, "I'm glad that you trusted me enough to tell me all that."

Lind stared up at her, surprise fixed firmly on her face. "But…those words, they were—unkind," she said, eyebrows furrowing. "I don't…it wasn't…" It wasn't about trust was the unspoken end of that sentence, the one they both understood.

"But so much of it was words repeated to you, words that others meant to hurt you," Peorth pointed out. "I should have realized what that would have meant to you, long before now. I should have tried to help. I know it's probably better now that you can call out both of the twins, but—still. I should have tried, Lind, and for that, I'm the sorry one."

The blue-haired goddess studied her for a long heartbeat, eyes blinking ever-so-slowly, like those kinds of words were of a different language that she didn't understand. And in a way, perhaps they were, for who else would have thought to apologize to the One-Winged Angel? Who else would have considered apologizing, for a fault in one's own thinking?

Do you understand the worth of one soul?

Oh, Lind, she thought morosely, your soul is no less than any other deity's, and it's Heaven's fault for teaching you that. It's all of us, for thinking that our angels are our most perfect selves, and that anything different is unworthy.

"I…"

Lind's eyebrows scrunched together. Something flickered in her eyes, something not sadness, or disappointment, but—she blinked, and the emotion was gone. "You don't…have to say that," she said at last, fingers twitching over the bracelets on her arms, like she was looking for something to do with them.

"But you deserve to hear it from someone, and that someone may as well be me."

The Valkyrie let out a long breath. Maybe she agreed, maybe she didn't; Peorth never got the chance to ask, because quite suddenly, there was a burst of feathers across her vision, and she realized abruptly that Gorgeous Rose was hugging Lind.

There had been moments in the past when Gorgeous Rose had appeared without Peorth's express call; she had heard of this, because angels were their deity's heart reflected, they could act in accordance with their deity's inner needs and wants, even if the deity themself could not, or would not, perform such actions. She had had this happen before, and yet never quite like this: in the past, Gorgeous Rose's actions had always been about trying to protect her from an unknown threat, or providing support to her, even if her conscious self didn't ask for it.

But this? Embracing Lind like the Valkyrie was Gorgeous Rose's own goddess?

This, she hadn't expected, even with all those thoughts of apologizing.

Something is profoundly sad about her, Gorgeous Rose whispered to Peorth, even though Lind couldn't hear her. Deeper than those broken words. Her angel's green eyes looked sad too, glittering with all the regret that must be written on Peorth's face. Will you ask her to call Spear Mint and Cool Mint? I would like to give them a hug, too.

The dark-haired goddess shook herself, mentally putting her thoughts back into order. There were worse things Gorgeous Rose could have done; she just wished she could've possibly warned Lind first, so that she had the option to refuse if she wanted. "Ah, Lind? Gorgeous Rose—she wants to give the twins a hug too. Can you—call them out?"

Gorgeous Rose released Lind and floated back to hover behind Peorth, her wings casting faint shadows across Lind's face. For a long moment the Valkyrie didn't answer, her gaze distant. Was she talking to her angels, in their inner world?

"…Perhaps later," Lind said, after it felt like five minutes had passed in complete silence. "It is—late, isn't it? Shouldn't we be working with Eira?"

Peorth glanced out the window, checking the amount of daylight, and felt her eyebrows rise—it was later than they usually got up. Eira had probably been awake plotting for hours!

But that wasn't the issue here. Eira would be easily dealt with, no matter what kind of prank she set up. "Are you…" Peorth hesitated only a moment before soldiering on. "Are you still showing her transportation and manifestation today?"

"—Did you want to show her something else?"

"I don't have any plans," Peorth shook her head. "Today was supposed to be your training day with her, so unless you'd rather do something else…"

"…Then it will be transportation and manifestation," Lind said, sounding a bit more firm in that choice.

Peorth bobbed her head in a nod. "Do you want me to stay?"

She asked mostly because she wasn't sure how superfluous she'd be in these lessons, much like Lind in regards to working with earth magic. If Lind didn't want her to stay, then she'd find some other way to occupy her time—maybe checking up on things with Yggdrasil, or searching quadrant twenty-one to see if she could figure out what Eira had been doing out there with those little knives of hers. But if Lind did want her to stay, then of course, she would. There was no question of that.

There had never been any question of that.

They were partners in this assignment, after all, regardless of how that had come to be. She was curious, but that topic didn't need to be brought up right now. It could wait.

Lind watched her silently, eyes narrowed. Debating, perhaps? "You can stay," she murmured. "You may be able to explain something better, if she doesn't understand when I tell her."

"She's obstinate to a fault, she could be feigning stupidity for all we know," Peorth shrugged. "Still, you're right; we should be getting to her lessons. We haven't even seen today's prank, for Heaven's sake." She made a face, shuddering; a bit exaggerated, maybe, but it was worth it for the slight quirk of Lind's lips towards a faint smile.

"Then, we should go," was all Lind said, climbing to her feet. Peorth followed suit, Gorgeous Rose returning to her body in a flash of light.

She sensed that the conversation—not Eira's lessons, but those broken words—wasn't quite over, but she could leave it where it was, for now. At the very least, she had apologized, and Lind understood that she was here for her, when needed. That was enough, for now.

She opened their door, peering out into the hallway. It was undisturbed, quiet and still. There wasn't any sign that the child had been down this way in an attempt to pull any kind of practical jokes on them. No marks on the walls, no practically-invisible tripwires, nothing lurking over their heads waiting to fall.

"Perhaps it's elsewhere?" Lind said softly from behind her.

"Possibly, but…the house is very quiet." That was unusual, especially with a little trickster like Eira running around. Usually they could hear her before they saw her, but this was different. Peorth swept a vine out through the air, and, after a long moment, stepped out into the hallway. Nothing happened. Her eyes narrowed. "You don't suppose…"

Lind's hands twitched at her sides, but she was clearly on the same page when she asked, "Where would she go? The southern sector is too far, if she wanted to reach Loki's shop…"

"Let's not jump to any conclusions without evidence," Peorth sighed. "If we just check her room—" She headed down the hallway, Lind keeping pace. She could hear some small rattling noises from inside as they approached Eira's room—so she was still here after all?—and opening the door, they found the child trying to squish the pieces of her catapult into a box, with Brilliant Sunbeam looking on and pointing out spots for the pieces to fit into.

Eira jumped, head whipping towards the door. "Geez! I'm almost ready; you don't have to stand there and stare at me!"

"Ready for what?" Peorth was baffled. Sure, she'd mentioned that Lind was training Eira today, but what did that have to do with the child's various prank items? It almost looked like she was…

Eira stared at them both, eyes narrowed, suspicion plain on her pinched face. "…You're giving me up. Right? You're giving up on being my caretakers."

What?

Of all the things Eira could have possibly said, that was nowhere near anything Peorth had expected her to say. Trying to organize her pranking material, possibly. Coordinating something with Brilliant Sunbeam, probably. But packing? Packing because Eira thought that they were resigning as her caretakers?

Where could she have possibly gotten that idea?

"Why—what in Heaven's name made you think that?"

But the moment the words left Peorth's mouth, she knew exactly why, and found herself wishing she could take those words back somehow, because how could they explain this to Eira? Eira, who had no understanding of what any of it would mean? Beside her, Lind stiffened, eyes focused on the child and her little angel.

Eira shuffled the fragments of the catapult, her gaze dropping to the wooden pieces as she did so. "I heard something break last night," she said, and for once, she didn't sound annoyed or angry or insistent. She just sounded…small. Small, like the child she was, despite all her bravado and blustering. "And it wasn't me this time, so it had to be one of you. And you were yelling. Kind of. Not really, but…it didn't sound like nice things."

"It wasn't meant for you, Eira," Lind whispered, her voice so soft that Peorth barely heard her. "It—it wasn't Peorth, either."

"That's stupid." Eira huffed, looking just a bit more like her usual prickly self. "Why would you say something to somebody that you didn't mean for them to hear?"

"Sometimes, you need to say things, even if it's not to the person that really deserves it," Peorth spoke up, cautiously, weighing her words carefully. "It helps…clear the air, a little, I suppose." She frowned faintly, wishing she had her more usual eloquence, but this was a matter that she wasn't used to trying to explain. "Regardless, I'm sorry we scared you. That was never our intent, but that doesn't matter if it came across that way."

Eira side-eyed them, at last managing to fit the catapult parts into the box in a way that would allow her to actually close it. "…So you're not giving up on being my caretakers?"

"Eira…" Admittedly, Peorth was a little relieved that the little goddess would focus on that aspect, instead of on the other words; that made it easier. She glanced over at Lind for confirmation, and the Valkyrie nodded back. "No, we aren't giving up on being your caretakers. You can't get rid of us that easily; we've put work into your magical skills, and you better believe I'm waiting for some kind of payout from all this!"

Eira puffed out her cheeks. "Keep dreaming!" She stepped back from the box, however, and Brilliant Sunbeam fluttered over to sit on her head. "So I'm still stuck with you guys, huh."

Was Peorth imagining the almost-fondness in her voice?

The little goddess's eyes suddenly widened. "Oh! I didn't do a prank this morning!"

No, Peorth had definitely imagined it.

"Don't bother," she interrupted, "we're starting on your magic lessons now, so there's no time for pranking."

"But I don't want to 'feel the grass' or try growing some stupid flowers again!"

"Eira," Lind said, quietly cutting off what would probably be the start of yet another tirade on how Eira couldn't see the point of learning any earth magic whatsoever, "did you forget?"

Eira's gaze tracked to her, narrow-eyed and suspicious. "Forget what?"

"I'm training you today."

The child blinked—clearly, she had forgotten—but then she frowned, the light in her eyes flickering. "No breaking things, though, right?"

"No breaking things," Lind agreed, "but you may find it useful regardless."

"It's not more earth magic, is it?"

"I can't perform earth magic, not really—my element is ice," Lind shook her head. "I intend to teach you something that does not rely on elemental magic."

"Huh?" Eira's eyebrows scrunched together.

Peorth clapped her hands together to draw their attention. "Eira, you're learning whether you want to or not. Lind," and she glanced towards her partner, "would you rather train her here or outside?"

"…Outside," Lind said after a long heartbeat, "she may find it easier to concentrate there."

"Yeah, right," Eira muttered, but Peorth ignored her, conjuring up the now-familiar vine-leash and connecting herself and Eira, since she figured that Lind would prefer to have both hands free for demonstrations. Not that there was a whole lot of demonstrating for transportation and manifestation, but it was the thought that counted, she felt.

"Shall we?" she asked of Lind; the Valkyrie gave a nod.

And so once again, they were sitting in that selfsame clearing in the forest, the place where all of Eira's earth magic training had taken place.

"If I'm not learning earth magic, why are we back here?" Eira complained, crossing her arms; above her head, Brilliant Sunbeam floated in lazy circles, mimicking her goddess's bored expression.

"It's a place already familiar to you," Lind explained. "You won't be distracted by trying to find something new, so it should be easier for you to focus."

Eira scoffed, resting one elbow on her knee, so she could drop her head into her hand, probably for the sake of looking even more bored with the lesson going on, as far as Peorth was concerned.

"…You will be learning transportation and manifestation today," Lind carried on, and Eira's eyebrows furrowed.

"What's that supposed to be?"

At least she's not pretending to already know what it is, Peorth reflected, dispelling the leash and settling back to watch.

"Do you recall, a few days ago?" Lind held up a hand, a snowdrop appearing there. "You were trying to make flowers."

Eira's face fell; she threw up her hands, flopping backwards onto the grass. "No! Not more flowers! I thought we were gonna do something fun for once!"

"You misunderstand," and Lind shook her head faintly. "Do you remember that conversation? I am going to show you my method. It does not require earth magic, and is not limited to flowers. You could use it on anything, as long as you have the magical reach for it."

Eira gazed up at the sky for so long that Peorth was starting to suspect she might just end up ignoring them both for the whole time. Brilliant Sunbeam, drifting over the child's head, had only a slightly puzzled expression on her face.

Then Eira sat up slowly, brushing grass from her shoulders. "Wait, if you can use it on anything, is that what you do with the axes when you're not using them? Just pull them from a closet somewhere when you need them?"

Lind's eyebrows furrowed. "No."

"You just want to find a way to use the axes in your pranks, don't you?" Peorth asked, recalling that Eira had asked about Lind's limiters before.

"No-o-o-o," Eira puffed out her cheeks, dragging out the word.

"Eira," Lind sighed, "you will not be taking my limiters. They have nothing to do with the magic I am trying to teach you."

"I didn't even say anything! Papa was the one who—"

"Quit trying to stall," Peorth interrupted, hoping to cut the child off before she really got going. "Just pay attention!"

Eira stuck out her tongue and waggled her hands, grinning all the while. Peorth's eye twitched, and for a second, just a second, she contemplated stuffing the little goddess into a shrub and leaving her there.

But no matter how irritating Eira happened to be, abandoning her in the forest trapped in a shrub was probably considered forfeiting their assignment, and Peorth couldn't have that.

Lind cleared her throat, thankfully diverting Eira's attention back to the Valkyrie.

"…As I was saying, transportation and manifestation can be used on anything, as long as your magic can support it. For example, if you wished, you could call an object from anywhere within Heaven's domain. However, there are limits—you cannot call objects from between dimensions. So you cannot think of something on Earth and transport it here."

"That's lame," Eira said, frowning.

"It's mostly because the energy required to cross dimensions is so high," Peorth supplied, certain that her words were going in one of Eira's ears and out the other. "That's why we have the Gate, instead of just trying to cross ourselves, on our own."

"…Lame."

"Eira," Lind stressed both syllables of the little goddess's name; Eira turned in place, pigtails flying, and almost hitting Brilliant Sunbeam, hovering just shy of her host's left shoulder.

"What? It's true!"

"…That's not the point." Lind was starting to look like she was regretting agreeing to teach Eira anything. "Eira, since moving physical objects is more difficult, we will leave that for later, should you show promise. You are going to manifest an object already with you, always."

Eira blinked, long and slow, a mumbled "Huh?" slipping from her lips.

Lind extended a hand, a familiar snowdrop materializing there. "This is from my inner world—for you, it would be the place where Brilliant Sunbeam resides, when you do not have her present physically. Do you understand?"

"But I don't have any of those!" The little goddess gestured vaguely towards the snowdrop. "I don't know what that flower even is!"

"It's a snowdrop," Peorth cut in, "and what's in your inner world, it doesn't have to be a snowdrop. Gorgeous Rose likes roses, so the flowers in my inner world are all roses. It doesn't even have to be a flower; that just seems to be a common element for many." For example, Peorth figured that Skuld's inner world most likely had technological aspects, rather than flowers. Belldandy was probably a safe bet for flowers, though; and she didn't even want to try and think of what Urd's might be like.

The child turned slightly in place to look at Brilliant Sunbeam, who was now hovering above her left shoulder. They stared at one another for so long that Peorth was sure they were having a silent conversation; but in the end, Brilliant Sunbeam only shrugged, and Eira returned her gaze to Peorth and Lind, narrow-eyed and squinting.

"What's the point of asking about Brilliant Sunbeam's home anyways?"

"That place would be easier for you to reach, than trying to call something already existing physically to you," Lind said, softly though. "Perhaps…" And she lowered her eyes to the snowdrop, her lips twitching like she was thinking of saying something. Or was she, too, having a silent conversation with her angels? Peorth wondered if she would bring them out—Lind hadn't called for Spear Mint and Cool Mint in all the time they'd been together with Eira; only almost a couple of weeks, true, but—there was no sign of feathers, no shifting pale shadows behind the Valkyrie.

Lind lifted her head, fingers slowly closing over the snowdrop. "Perhaps it would be easier to explain mine," she said, haltingly, like the idea of it was unfamiliar.

Peorth tried not to be too obvious in sitting forwards; she couldn't deny she was curious. Inner worlds were private things, after all, the residence of one's angel, your heart reflected, and the world shifted at a whim. Gorgeous Rose's world, for so long, had been a field under a blue sky dotted with the occasional cloud; and at seemingly random intervals, great rosebushes sprouted from the earth, some twisted and gnarled, others neatly spruced. She had understood innately, that the appearance of the rosebushes indicated particular events in her life, moments of great emotion or achievement, or more simply, moments she had imprinted upon her memory that she did not want to forget. A rosebush had grown when she had attained first class rank; another when the Angel Eater had torn Gorgeous Rose from her; and still another when she had accepted the bet with Thurs to see who could grant the most wishes. The rosebushes even changed to show her own shifting viewpoints; the bush for her bet, for example, had been wilting some lately, because her brother was no doubt pulling ahead in the numbers.

She had an assignment, though, and right now, she considered this more important.

"…As I told you before, this is a product of my inner world," Lind's voice brought Peorth back to the conversation at hand. She glanced briefly to the snowdrop, benignly sitting upon Lind's palm, and Eira, too, seemed to be watching it as though it might suddenly come alive.

"Your inner world changes as you do; this is a—a reflection of that change, in mine."

Eira's shoulders hunched. She plucked at the grass at her knees, seemingly in need of something to pull apart. "…It means something, doesn't it?"

It sounded so simple, spoken in the child's voice, but Peorth stiffened ever-so-slightly, casting a quick look to Lind. Those terrible words were rising in her mind, that memory, and she fidgeted, about to reach out—

"Yes." Lind's voice was soft, and even Peorth had to lean to hear her, despite sitting only a couple paces away. "It is a promise."

"A…promise," Eira said slowly, testing the words.

Peorth knew what her next words were going to be—What promise? What for?—and got as far as opening her mouth to attempt stalling the inevitable, when Lind moved.

She held out the snowdrop to Eira, and the little goddess looked from the flower to Lind's face and back again, uncertainty etched into every plane of her face.

"…Are you…giving it to me?"

"Consider it like…" Lind hesitated, clearly hunting for a word, and frowned, like she hadn't quite found one that fit but carried on nonetheless, "an anchor. Something to provide you with an—an example, to draw from. You were able to tell that Peorth and I used different methods merely from looking, so holding something produced in this way may help lead you to reproducing it on your own."

Peorth wondered privately if that was putting too much faith in Eira—especially since she hadn't been able to repeat anything like her noticing their different magic, much less any progress towards meaningful magic use—but she didn't say that out loud. Instead she only watched as Lind dropped the snowdrop into Eira's hand with an air of terrible finality.

The second the snowdrop touched Eira's palm, the little goddess flinched, the flower falling to the grass with a soft thump.

It is a promise.

Peorth lurched forwards, not entirely certain now that she wanted to know what Lind's promise was, nor to whom, not when Lind had said that it was because of a change in her inner world—and definitely not when Eira had—

"It's cold!"

Peorth froze, blinking dumbly.

"…That's what made you drop it?"

Eira squinted at her. "Duh! I didn't expect an ice cube when I was looking at a flower! Plus, no flower's gonna be able to hurt me!"

"Clearly, you've never had to deal with thorns," Peorth muttered dryly, rolling her eyes and sitting back as Eira carefully picked up the snowdrop, Brilliant Sunbeam fluttering to her side and patting the petals, drawing back with a surprised look on her face.

Oh—and Peorth cast a glance towards Lind, who was sitting still, practically unmoving as she watched Eira. The Valkyrie hadn't moved when Eira had dropped the snowdrop; had she been expecting it? Lind was, after all, an ice elemental, but—

"May I see it for a moment?"

Lind's eyes flicked to hers, startled; Peorth was even a little surprised herself at the question, when she had been the one to ask it in the first place. Eira was looking between them, mouth slightly open and eyes blinking, the snowdrop clutched between two fingers and her thumb. From this distance, Peorth could see the small sheen of ice melting from the petals, dripping quietly to the grass.

"Uh…" Eira slowly extended her arm, the flower petals fluttering in the light breeze.

But it was Lind that Peorth was looking to—it was Lind's opinion that mattered here. The snowdrop was a part of her angels' inner world, an important memory of a promise she didn't want to forget. And Peorth's earth magic was strong, especially when she was a first class goddess without restrictions, and while conceivably, if she thought about it, if she tried, she might glean something from the snowdrop that could help her understand what event had made it grow… She didn't want to find out that way, not even to satisfy her own curiosity.

It was only…

Lind looked at her, met her gaze, and there was an expression there, an emotion that Peorth was not sure she knew. Something tentative, hesitant—but then Lind was nodding, once, and the expression was gone, replaced by mild wariness.

Peorth held her hand out, and Eira let the flower fall.

The dark-haired goddess had been expecting the cold, and so the chill of the flower against her palm wasn't a surprise. Nor were the last pieces of ice melting from the stem, beading into tiny droplets on her bracelets. No, the surprise was in the small warmth in the flower's petals, that beneath the layer of cold there was undeniable heat, a pulsing light like that of a little heart.

She understood, then, that this promise was not a dangerous one.

No matter how deep those dark words lurked, no matter how Lind had suffered so under Heaven's prejudices—this promise had nothing to do with that. It was warmth, light, and Peorth felt at once incredibly honored that Lind could have trusted her to hold it. More than that, that she had trusted Eira—

—but Eira would not understand. Of course, the little goddess was a safe bet, but…

"Thank you," Peorth said, addressing Lind, and only once the Valkyrie had offered a small nod in acknowledgement did she pass the snowdrop back to Eira.

"What was that about?" the child wanted to know.

Trust, Peorth wanted to say, but didn't want to explain all the nuances that went into it, not when Eira wouldn't understand. Instead, she searched for her inner world, mentally plucking a rose from the rosebush that had appeared from her choice to act as Eira's caretaker. She called it into her hand and held it out to Eira.

"I don't want more flowers—"

"It's another loan," Peorth interrupted. "You can use it as another example."

Eira puffed out her cheeks and pouted; evidently she had been expecting them to forget there was a magic lesson going on. She took the rose anyways, balancing it and the snowdrop together in her right hand. "But I told you already, there isn't anything like this in Brilliant Sunbeam's world!"

"…It doesn't have to be a flower," Lind said. "It can be anything of note from your inner world."

"What is there, then, if not flowers?" Peorth put in.

Eira frowned, gaze falling to the two flowers in her hands. "…Like this," she said, gesturing vaguely around them with her free hand. "Except, there aren't any trees, or flowers."

"Just a bare field under the sky?" Peorth guessed. That was the way an angel's world always started, as far as she knew, and then changed as the deity's personality developed. Eira had enough personality, though, for it to be surprising that her angel's home would be so…empty. Surely something in her life had warranted some change? "…You could," she started, about to say just summon a blade of grass, if that was all Eira had, but the child straightened up, eyes widening.

"There is something," she said, blinking. "A small spot with no grass, this big." She put the flowers down and made her hands into a small circle. "And there's this little seed in the ground. That's all."

"A seed?" Peorth tilted her head. It could be referring to Eira's magical potential, perhaps, that she needed to work harder for it to grow, but…something felt off about that. If the inner world had molded around the seed to the point where no grass grew beside it, it had to be important for some reason, though maybe not even Eira really understood.

"Try calling that seed to you," Lind suggested. "It is small, yes? Perhaps that would be easier than a clump of grass."

Eira's eyebrows furrowed. "…How?" she asked, reluctantly.

"Picture it in your mind, as clear as you can. Imagine pulling it from the ground, that you are holding it in your hand. And then you must will it to be there in your hand, believe that it is there, and your magic will bring it to you."

Eira stared down at her empty hands, and then to the flowers sitting beside her knee. "It's not—"

"Try," Peorth said sharply, knowing exactly how that sentence was going to end: It's not going to work.

The little goddess huffed, but curled her hands into fists and squeezed her eyes shut. Brilliant Sunbeam fluttered down to land on her head, mimicking her pose. Several long seconds passed in silence.

At last Eira opened her eyes, frowning deeply. "It won't budge."

"Did you—"

"Yes, I tried!" The child lowered her fists but didn't unclench them, her gaze flashing between Peorth and Lind. "It wouldn't go anywhere!"

Peorth hummed thoughtfully. "It's possible…hmm. Eira, it may be that you can't move it because it is something so deeply entrenched in that world that you can't imagine it outside of there. Just what does the seed represent, to you? It has to mean something, because every angel's world starts out as only grass and sky. Your personality, the events in your life, they all change it accordingly, so the seed being there means it's something you put there."

"But…" Eira shook her head slowly, and honest-to-Heaven, she looked genuinely confused. "I don't know why it's there. It's just…it's just there, it's always been like that." She glanced up to find her angel. "Could…could Brilliant Sunbeam bring it out here?"

"Yes, because she can interact with the objects in your inner world at will, but that's not the point of the lesson—" Peorth cut herself off when Lind raised her hand.

"I am curious," the blue-haired goddess murmured, "if she can move it. If it is as you say, Eira, as an extension of yourself, she may not be able to retrieve it for you."

Eira slumped in place, shoulders drooping. "But Papa said…"

"That is how it is for most, that the angel can interact freely with any object within the inner world, but if your subconscious mind is fully committed to keeping it there, then your angel will not be able to remove it." Lind tilted her head. "Please tell Brilliant Sunbeam to try."

"I…" Eira faltered, fingers grasping at the air, like she needed something to hold onto. "…Brilliant Sunbeam, do what Mama says," she said at last, and the tiny angel obligingly vanished in a flurry of white feathers.

Peorth settled one elbow on her knee, so she could rest her head on her hand; it could be a while. Admittedly, it was definitely odd that Eira both didn't seem to understand what the seed was for, and couldn't interact with it. She could've been lying, she supposed, but the child's confusion had truly appeared sincere, and when she'd explained about the seed she hadn't seemed like she was making it up as she went.

A soft glow heralded the reappearance of Brilliant Sunbeam, who clutched a chunk of grass, with a small clod of dirt still clinging to the roots, in one hand. She held nothing in the other.

"Eira, you're sure you don't know what the seed is meant to represent for you?" Peorth asked.

"I don't know." The little goddess's gaze shifted away, landing on the flowers.

"You're absolutely positive?"

"I don't—" Eira shot to her feet, Brilliant Sunbeam leaping back to avoid her, dropping the grass in the process. "I said I don't know! I don't know! I don't—I—" There was something wild in her eyes, something afraid, and Peorth stood, settling a hand on the child's shoulder, bringing Eira's attention to her in a sudden start.

"It doesn't matter," she said, keeping eye contact. If it was bothering Eira that much, then it would be better to ignore it entirely. They could make do with the grass, because Brilliant Sunbeam had been able to retrieve it, so it could be moved under Eira's magic, too.

"But—you said—"

"If it's bothering you, then we won't make you think about it. We're not trying to torture you here, just teach you more magical skills."

"Put it out of your mind," Lind agreed after a pause, and Peorth realized she'd gotten up too, and was standing next to her.

Eira's eyes narrowed. "You don't…care? That I don't know what it's for?"

"Sure, I'm curious," Peorth shrugged, "but it's not necessary to know. It would only be more knowledge about you, but you don't have to look for it if you don't want to. Okay?"

Slowly, ever-so-slowly, Eira's body relaxed, the tension in her shoulders sliding away, hands swinging loosely at her sides instead of in fists. "…Okay."

"The grass, then?" Peorth asked of Lind.

The blue-haired goddess nodded, directing a glance towards Eira. "Try taking a blade of grass from your inner world, then. One just like this," and she picked up the clump of grass, separating a single blade and holding it up for Eira to see.

It was slow going, but they eventually returned to the old routine, going constantly in circles as Eira futilely tried to make her magic work.

But Peorth didn't forget, carefully watching Eira as the child struggled. The seed in her inner world had some importance, that was for sure, but Peorth couldn't think of what it could mean. Rather, she could think of too many options, but none of which should have kept Eira from being able to manifest the seed outside of her inner world.

Something…was not quite right.

Chapter 13: Change Perspective

Notes:

Once again I arise from the grave! In honor of Tangled Threads' tenth—tenth!—anniversary, I have crawled out of my corner to bestow upon you this gift! It's probably a little sad that it's taken me ten years to churn out only thirteen chapters, but alas, that's what life does to you. I still have plenty of things to cover, and here's to hoping that chapter fourteen won't be far behind! (Don't quote me on that one, though.)

Something wasn't right.

Peorth was still thinking about it hours later, staring up at the ceiling. Eira should have known. The seed she described was a part of her inner world, so she should've understood innately what it represented and how it came to be. After all, Peorth understood what each and every rosebush in Gorgeous Rose's world stood for.

And yet…

Eira hadn't looked like she was lying, saying she didn't know what it meant. The little goddess loved playing pranks, but…even only knowing her for a couple of weeks, Peorth could get the idea that this wasn't the type of prank Eira would pull.

In fact, couldn't it be considered t-rust, that Eira was willing to tell them about the seed in the first place?

Hm. Could they be getting through to her?

Or—maybe it was just that she didn't see it as important. Even being an object that she could easily identify from the surrounding landscape when asked…

(Peorth knew she had told Eira that it didn't matter, but—well. Everything that departed from the initial appearance of a plain filled with green grass beneath a blue sky was important in an inner world. Everything meant something.

So what did the seed mean?)

She sighed gustily, looking blearily at the faint starlight trickling in from the far window. It was far too late to be going about thinking on all of this. Eira most certainly had gone straight to bed, no doubt after plotting out another prank, maybe two to make up for the fact that she hadn't done anything that morning. She should really follow the child's example and—

"Peorth."

Oh, no.

Peorth turned in place to face Lind, already cringing. "I'm sorry if I woke you up—"

"I wasn't quite asleep yet." Lind shrugged slightly, like it didn't matter—did it?—and blinked slowly. "But you seem to be having some trouble."

"It's—not bad, exactly, just…confusing." Peorth rolled back to look up at the ceiling. "I was just thinking about Eira, and the training today."

"The seed she mentioned," Lind surmised, clearly either having had thoughts about it herself, or Peorth was simply that easy to predict.

"Yes."

From the corner of her eye, she saw Lind nod. "We told her it didn't matter." It wasn't a rebuke, only a simple observation.

"I know, but—it's—it's unusual."

"…It is," Lind agreed after a long heartbeat. "As the seed is an object residing in her inner world, she should comprehend what it means to her, or about her."

"And she doesn't! Or, she said she doesn't!" Peorth crossed her arms.

"You think…she was lying, then?"

Peorth frowned, picturing Eira's face again, the child chanting I don't know, I don't know. "…No. That—she looked sincere. Didn't she?" She hesitated, not wanting to admit the other clear emotion she'd seen on Eira's face besides confusion: fear.

Lind hummed softly. "I think she believed what she was saying," she said, slowly though. "But, I don't think…that might not be the right answer. She believed what she was saying, but…she was…" There was a soft rustling of the blanket, and then Lind was sitting up, pale hair dyed silver in the light. Peorth nudged herself upright too, enough to prop herself against the headboard.

"…she looked afraid," Lind finally said.

Peorth nodded, grateful that her partner had noticed it too. And something else occurred to her then, that Lind might have a better idea of—"What reason do you think, that she'd have for being afraid of it? Or what it represented?"

Lind's eyes flicked to her. "…You thought she was afraid of this," she said quietly, and a snowdrop appeared in her hand. "I saw you—"

Peorth winced. "Not—it was just, she flinched, when she first touched it. I know now," and she offered a small smile, "it's an important promise, right? Something—something dear to you." And at once she realized that maybe, maybe she shouldn't have said it quite like that, maybe Lind would be offended—

But Lind's gaze was fixed on the small white flower now. "…Yes," she agreed. "This did not grow from fear." She closed her hand over it, and in a blink it was gone. "But something else did."

Peorth froze. She had had the thought that Lind could probably figure out what would make the child fear something in her inner world more easily than Peorth herself would, but—but not quite like this. "You don't—you don't have to tell me—"

"I don't," Lind murmured, yet her hand opened again, and Peorth was aware that the room was getting colder, that snowflakes were drifting in the air, settling on her hair and her skin, and there was something growing on Lind's palm—a spire of black ice, twisting in on itself in a terrible contortion, stabbing at the air with wicked points, dangerous and terrible and so very cold—

Even the gnarliest of Gorgeous Rose's rosebushes, tangled due to Peorth's own uncertainty, could not have competed with the shape of this ice spire.

"I—"

She wasn't sure what she would've said, what she could have said, and even then it wouldn't have made a difference; the ice spire collapsed into a wave of snowflakes that promptly melted away.

"It no longer exists," Lind said, so very quietly, "it was very old."

It was very old.

It no longer exists.

(That distant memory asked, Do you understand, Peorth, the worth of one soul?)

"…Oh," Peorth breathed. "That's—good, isn't it?" She could only think of what Lind must've thought, to have seen Spear Mint alone at first glimpse of her newly-born angel. And of course, that would no longer apply, not now that the Valkyrie could call both of her angels.

"I suppose so." Lind fully turned to face her. "But you were asking about Eira."

"…Yes."

"I believe…a seed is a strange shape, to inspire fear. You felt it before, didn't you? An echo of it?"

Peorth's eyebrows furrowed. She nodded anyways, but: that was a good point. She hadn't considered—of course, something borne of fear would be…generally frightening, wouldn't it? Lind's ice spire had been all sharp edges and darkness. The way Eira had described the seed to them, it had sounded like a simple seed in a patch of bare earth, surrounded by the regular grasses. And that…that wasn't particularly scary, by any means. Eira hadn't said the seed was any particular shape, just small, and even then, its shape likely wasn't very scary, either.

"…So you think it's not fear, then?"

Lind considered this for a moment. "Maybe not fear, exactly, but…she was certainly concerned, about not being able to remove it."

"I was thinking, I don't think it means her possible potential," Peorth admitted. "Potential doesn't typically appear as something tangible in the inner world. It's more…a feeling of what you can do." She idly rubbed her bracelets together, listening to the soft clinking. "Do you think…could it be a memory, maybe?"

"The way she described it, Brilliant Sunbeam's world has not changed, hardly at all, since hatching. Eira is very…" Lind paused, clearly hunting for a word.

"Opinionated? Has a strong personality? A little brat when she wants to be?" Peorth threw out suggestions.

"…opinionated," Lind settled on. "She has her own thoughts on what she wishes to do, whether or not that…inconveniences anyone else around her. So why would such a strong personality so clearly fail to enact change within her angel's inner world?"

"Surely she would at least have some evidence of Brilliant Sunbeam's hatching, right?" Peorth thought back. "I have a rosebush for Gorgeous Rose's birth; it's at the very center of her inner world. And I know exactly where to find it."

Lind lifted her shoulders in a halfway-shrug. "You would think so, but…" Her gaze settled on the window, on the distant stars glittering beyond. "It is getting late," she said, "we should rest."

"Oh! One more thing," Peorth snapped her fingers. "What should we do for her training tomorrow?"

Lind tilted her head. "Not transportation and manifestation again, I think…she might be—uncooperative, thinking we're dwelling on a matter we already told her to forget."

"…we can work it in again in a couple days," Peorth decided, "that should be long enough for her to stop actively thinking about it? Maybe…" And abruptly, she remembered a different conversation, from days ago—"We could do reconstruction magic again," she said, "and I can analyze yours and her spells, to see what the difference is. And I might finally be able to figure out what's going wrong in your reconstruction magic."

Lind's eyebrows rose—she didn't look especially convinced, but that wasn't surprising. Still, she nodded agreement anyways. "Very well. She won't be very happy about it."

"Oh, when is she ever happy about our choices of magic lessons?" Peorth rolled her eyes. She slid back down to let her head rest on the pillow again. "But—I do think we're getting through to her. A little."

"Only a little?" Lind settled down next to her.

A small smile crossed Peorth's face.

"Only a little."

---

The morning's prank turned out to be a set of large hoops suspended in the hallway via a complex system of nearly-invisible tripwires. Quite frankly, Eira could be very inventive in her choices of pranks, and it was really too bad that she couldn't be bothered to put the same effort into her magic lessons.

Even so, dispelling the prank took literal seconds, compared with the perhaps hours that had gone into setting it up; the disparity of their ranks only felt more obvious. Lind collected the hoops and stacked them in a neat pile next to Eira's door; the child herself they found digging in one of the living room plants' pots—the one that wasn't the one she'd animated into a plant ball the second day here—and muttering to herself.

Peorth came to a stop next to the pot. "Eira. Just what do you think you're doing?"

Eira's head came up, a scowl crossing her face. "Come on! Not even five minutes?"

"You didn't really think that little prank was going to stop us for long, did you?"

"Maybe…" Eira grumbled, mulishly, but at last pulled her hands from the dirt, brushing them off on her shorts. "Please tell me it's not more stupid flowers again today!"

"It's not," Peorth said, offering her an icy smile. She had them all sit down, and summoned the familiar little pebble, snapping it in half and pressing it into the little goddess's palm. "There you are."

"No-o-o-o-o…"

"Yes. Get to it."

Eira huffed, staring down at the broken halves lying upturned on her palm, a fine scatter of dust parting them. Sometimes, the results of her magic were like that first time, with the halves joined by a ring of protruding spikes. Sometimes the middle congealed into a kind of putty. And sometimes the halves failed to join whatsoever. Peorth idly wondered what caused the difference: the putty-center was probably the closest to true reunification, but the spikes had also appeared when Eira had tried to repair the floor. It could be Eira's element asserting itself, she supposed; it showed up so little elsewhere that Peorth had almost wanted to believe that maybe Yggdrasil had miscategorized Eira and her element was in fact something else instead.

But it was rare for Yggdrasil to make such a failure; exceedingly so, to the point that Peorth simply had to believe Eira's element was earth. The little goddess did seem inclined towards it, at least as far as the dirt went, though she was, still, adamantly opposed to flowers. The making of flowers, anyways, because she still had the amaryllis Peorth had given her sitting lopsidedly in a small vase by her bed.

Peorth wanted to believe they were getting through to her. She did, she really did, but—

The grinding of rock pulled her out of her thoughts; she turned her gaze to Eira's creation: this time it was the putty again, the two halves of the rock only tenuously connected and sagging alarmingly in the middle. Still, a passable first attempt for the morning, and she said so.

"'Passable', huh?" Eira frowned crossly. "I've told you before, it's just not easy for me!"

"It isn't meant to be outright easy," Peorth explained, waving her hand and rapidly disassembling and reassembling the pebble back into its former unchanged shape. Technically, it was more an exercise in patience, in slowly understanding how something had been destroyed or changed, and then analyzing the structure to be able to remake it in its original form. She herself had learned reconstruction magic, years ago, on a similar exercise. Not exactly like this, and she had had a better grasp of basic magical abilities by that point than Eira did now, but—it was the principle of the thing.

"If it's not supposed to be easy then why am I doing it?"

Peorth sighed. "It's a very standard exercise for learning reconstruction magic on a small scale," she said, opting to avoid getting trapped into a roundabout discussion on what counted as 'easy' or not. "Watch." She snapped the pebble in half once again and remade it, the little rock sitting whole and unharmed on her palm, and passed it back to Eira.

"You could show me a thousand times and it won't work!"

"Then we'll try a thousand and one."

"Ugh-h-h-h…"

"Fine," Peorth said, "we'll try something a little different." If the child was going to be obstinate already, they might as well get on with analyzing her spells; not that Peorth expected to find much out of place as far as Eira went, but she couldn't deny wondering about what the analysis would turn up for Lind.

"We will?"

"Don't you worry, you'll still be doing reconstruction magic," Peorth reassured her, amused by the look of dismay that crossed Eira's face. "But, since you're so convinced that this magic doesn't work for you, I'm going to find out why."

The dismay flattened into confusion; Eira's eyebrows furrowed. At her shoulder a glint of pale light heralded the appearance of Brilliant Sunbeam, looking equally confused and curious at the same time. "Huh? How?"

"I'm going to assume you've had no experience with analysis spells," Peorth said, "and I'll just summarize it as, it's a way for me to understand how your magic is working, seeing the pathway you're making with your spell, and figuring out how to fix it from that."

"You can do that?" Eira blinked.

(At least now, two weeks in, she'd stopped trying to bluff her way through the magic lessons and actually admitted when she didn't know something. Sadly, that was also now fairly often. The amount of magical knowledge apparent in Eira's mind could've filled a thimble.)

"Yes. It's not going to hurt you."

"It is not earth magic," Lind spoke up from the side, having seemingly been content to let Peorth explain, and possibly adding on because Eira struggled with earth magic particularly. "If you know how, any deity could construct an analyzing spell."

Eira swung her head around, squinting narrow-eyed in her direction. "You can do it too?"

"I have in the past, but not often. It is not typically necessary for the combat division."

Peorth considered it must be like levitation, or transportation and manifestation to Lind; analysis spells weren't classed as combat magic, but a Valkyrie could find some value in learning it, surely. And—this was an opportunity, she realized: she and Lind could craft the spell together, if she was willing. "I think a basic analysis spell should do the trick," she said, "three-tiered, layered twice over."

The good thing about analysis spells was that they were standardized, so Lind would understand what she meant by 'three-tiered, layered twice over'. It would've been a nightmare to catalogue things if such spells were instead specific to the user, like a sigil or a magical signature.

Peorth studied the ground now, carefully measuring out the space mentally. The spell wasn't huge, certainly, not like others she'd seen in the past, but there was one small problem. She pointed to the couch. "Lind, if you move that back about half a meter, we'll have enough space."

"Will the circle be temporary or permanent?" Lind asked, rising and pushing the couch backwards, stopping when Peorth gestures she'd gone far enough.

Hmm. That was the question, wasn't it? She could easily etch a standard analysis spell into the floor, and they could use it again as needed—why waste time later if it could just be done now?

"We'll make it permanent," she said, "that way we can come back to it if necessary." Well, permanent as it could be, when this place was only a temporary home; whoever came here next would be able to remove it with little difficulty by simply destroying the circle itself and remaking the floor around it.

Lind nodded. "The center?"

Peorth paced out the space between them. "Here," she tapped a spot on the floor. She called up a couple pieces of chalk, passing one off to Lind, since she did look ready to help—maybe she was glad of the change, to participate in a lesson that she herself had not come up with—saying, "You start from that side, I'll go from this one, and I'll etch it into place once we're sure we like how it turned out."

"You aren't drawing it with magic?" Eira spoke up, gaze flitting between them.

"I could," Peorth allowed, weighing the chalk in her hand. "But you have to be very certain of your mental image when you draw solely with magic, and if you get just one node wrong on the circle, your spell might come out radically different. So I'd rather sketch it out, first."

She crouched, beginning to draw out the outer edge. "This is probably closer to the way we'd have to make circles on Earth," she told Eira, "there, the ambient magic is so low you'd have to be incredibly powerful to trace a magic circle through your magic alone, especially the complex ones."

Eira scoffed, settling at the perimeter to watch. "Let me guess: you've done it?"

"Me?" Peorth laughed, adding another prong to the secondary circle. Of course the child would think so, and maybe Peorth hadn't exactly given her any reason not to, but—"Certainly not! I did see the Daimakaicho make one once, though."

Eira tilted her head slowly. "Who?"

"The ruler of Hell," Lind supplied from her corner, having made good progress on her half; she was working on the last nodes of the secondary circle. "You were not taught the hierarchies?"

"The what?"

"The ranking of deities and demons," Peorth explained, part of her tiredly not even surprised at yet another clear gap in the child's formal education. A thimble with overlarge holes, that was Eira's education. "You know we're first class: who's above us?"

Eira exchanged a long glance with Brilliant Sunbeam. "The old fogies?"

Peorth pressed her lips together to avoid the retort of You shouldn't call the High Council old fogies, and instead asked, "And who's above them?"

Eira blinked. She looked down at the circle-in-progress, blinked some more, absently drumming her fingers against the ground. "I dunno."

"You don't know."

"Should I? Not like they care about me," and Eira shrugged, impudently nonchalant.

Peorth only barely resisted the urge to press her head into her hands. "Don't talk so flippantly about the Daitenkaicho," she hissed, tacking on, "the ruler over all of Heaven," so that it would hopefully sink into Eira's brain.

"Why? Are they watching us right now?" Eira jumped to her feet, spinning around and making some truly atrocious faces.

"What? No, not like—sit back down, Eira, you're going to smudge my lines."

With a huff, Eira plopped back down. "I wasn't even near your lines."

"If you had taken one step to the right—"

Eira stuck out her tongue.

"Peorth," Lind said, successfully distracting her from the fledgling argument, "are you satisfied with this part?"

The dark-haired goddess floated over to investigate; the chalk markings on the floor were neat, precise, what she'd expected of Lind. And Lind had said she'd done this before, so Peorth probably shouldn't have been so surprised to see the result: the spell was perfectly functional. There were a couple small smudges, but nothing that would majorly impact the spell. "Just blot out those smudges in the near corner here, and it'll be good."

She drifted back over to her side, taking only a second to see that Lind was carefully redrawing the points in the places of the smudges, before getting to her own half-drawn semicircle. It didn't take long to structure her half, and, once she was happy with the way they matched, she traced a thread of magic through the lines to engrave them into the stone, wiping away the chalk dust last.

Eira looked down at the completed circle, squinting. "I thought you'd just paint it or something."

"Carving it makes it more permanent; paint could be rubbed off later. You could make something like this too, if you put your mind to it. That's stone under our feet." Peorth tapped a foot against the floor.

She was about to gesture to Eira to stand in the circle, when the little goddess looked to Lind instead.

"You didn't carve yours."

What—oh, the warding spell, Peorth recalled, but didn't interrupt.

"Most of the circle-based spells I know are only temporary," Lind answered, "as our postings are not meant to be long-term. Those spells have triggers built in to collapse them at a touch, like the warding spell."

Eira was showing interest now, a strange gleam in her eyes, which didn't bode well. "What if you made a copy of it? Would that mess it up?"

"A copy…?"

"You mean layering another circle on top of it?" Peorth frowned. "An identical one wouldn't do anything—" Oh. Suddenly she understood why Eira was so curious. "You tried to escape, didn't you?"

"No." Eira shook her head. "I didn't try to escape. You said I was gonna be in more trouble if I did, so why bother?"

"But you copied my warding spell," Lind murmured, "you copied it exactly? By hand?"

"Yeah. So?" Eira's shoulders drew up towards her ears defensively.

"You made an identical copy?"

"Yeah, pretty sure, why?"

"Ah," Peorth broke in, smiling thinly. "It won't work for you," she told Eira, "because it's keyed to Lind's magical signature. Sure, you could probably cast it, but whatever you locked would only be able to be opened by Lind."

"Not you too?"

Peorth hesitated; that wouldn't be as difficult—dissembling the warding spell herself by picking out the nodes that bound Lind's magical signature to the linework—as, say, overriding the similar spell on Lind's shackles, but did she want Eira to know that? That was more complex magical theory than she expected the child to learn here… "It is…possible," she decided on, "but it's a big pain, and quite frankly at that point it would be easier to overload the circle with energy rather than taking it apart to make it apply to me also. And that, definitely, is something you won't be able to do for years."

"More work…" Eira scrunched her nose up. "Are you gonna teach me anything I can actually do, or just talk all day about things I can't?"

"Excellent question. Step into the circle."

"It's not gonna…do anything to me, is it?"

"It will analyze how you perform your spell, that's all. You've still got your pebble, haven't you?"

Eira held it up, waggling it between her fingers. She gave the circle on the ground a long, dubious glance before crossing the perimeter, picking her way to the center, noticeably making an effort not to step on the lines even when they had been engraved into the floor. It was somewhat thoughtful on the child's part, even if it wasn't necessary.

"What now?"

"Break the pebble in half, and repair it. The circle will analyze the whole of your spell, and provide a report."

Eira eyed the lines snaking around her shoes, like she thought the circle would suddenly come to life and try to eat her; even so, she did—reluctantly—crush the pebble into two misshapen halves. Faint traces of light spun through the lines around her, glinting briefly when she put her hand over the pebble, a soft grinding noise coming from the rock as it joined back together.

This time, the putty that connected the two halves bulged outwards in globs, like it had been trying to become the more usual spikes and stopped halfway. A bit more of an unusual result, certainly, but Peorth felt the circle should still be able to analyze it.

"Step back out, Eira."

Eira crossed to her side, less carefully than she'd entered the circle. "It isn't doing anything."

"Just wait." Peorth crossed her arms; the circle lit up softly, sending motes of light into the air. It coalesced into strands, then into transparent blocks arranged into a twisting pattern. The runes inscribed on each showed the result of the analysis, but they were arranged so that Peorth had no doubt Eira had absolutely no clue what any of it meant.

Spell Type: RECONSTRUCTION
Spell Duration: 0.52 SECONDS
Spell Fulfillment: INCOMPLETE
Resolve: SUFFICIENT
Magical Output: MINIMAL
Magical Leakage: NONE
Associated Magical Reservoir: ERR̵̡̮͖̬͆̈͋͐Ö̵̩̠̭̝́̈̽̃̕R̵͖̩̭̪̽͑ͅ

"…Now that is interesting," Peorth murmured. "Hm. Let me make sure it's working properly." She moved to the center of the circle, plucking a leaf from the closest plant and tearing it in half. She restored it quickly, stepping back out of the circle and watching for the results to fully form.

Spell Type: RECONSTRUCTION
Spell Duration: 0.16 SECONDS
Spell Fulfillment: COMPLETE
Resolve: SUFFICIENT
Magical Output: MINIMAL
Magical Leakage: NONE
Associated Magical Reservoir: HIGH

"…I don't think it's the circle," Lind spoke up, frowning.

"What? What are you guys even looking at?" Eira stomped a foot. "I don't know what any of that means!"

"Let me show you," Peorth said, hastily calling up a piece of paper and scrawling both results onto it. "The one on the left is yours, and the one on the right is mine."

Eira took the paper, tilting her head slowly, and Peorth started at the top.

"The spell type is reconstruction magic; spell duration tells you how long the spell was active for. Mine is faster because it's simpler for me, but yours is an about average time for this type of magic. Resolve indicates your intent: how well you conveyed what you wanted your magic to do. Both of ours say sufficient, which means that your intent isn't lacking. Magical output means the amount of magic you're putting into the spell, and you'll notice mine also says 'minimal'. That means I'm expending very little energy to perform the spell; in your case…it could mean you're not putting enough into it, but we'll see. Magical leakage is whether or not you're giving off energy into the environment that could instead be focused towards the spell; we both have none, though I suspect if your magical output was lacking, then perhaps you simply didn't produce enough magic for leakage to be a problem. And the last one…"

"What does it say on mine?" Eira held the paper up to her face, lips curling towards a scowl. "I can't read it."

"It's saying there was an error reading your magical reservoir, the total amount of magical energy you have to perform spells." Peorth tapped her chin. "Mine says 'high', because as a first class goddess I have significant magical energy that the circle can register. It is odd that the circle won't read yours; if you didn't have enough, it would probably say something like 'negligible'. To produce an outright error…" She waved away the old results. "Try again; let's see if it was a fluke."

But it wasn't.

The second time, the third time, and the fourth time all produced the same line:

Associated Magical Reservoir: ERR̵̡̮͖̬͆̈͋͐Ö̵̩̠̭̝́̈̽̃̕R̵͖̩̭̪̽͑ͅ

Peorth went over the circle again. It should all be functional; they both looked it over. "Lind," she said, "you try, then. Something different." She knew she'd mentioned that she'd analyze Lind's reconstruction magic, but she didn't want to do it in front of Eira. No need to give the child any ideas.

Eira perked up at her side, as Lind crossed into the circle. Instead of transportation and manifestation, as Peorth was expecting, she simply made an overly-large snowflake and then let it melt away. Her results were more typical, too, no errors:

Spell Type: ELEMENTAL CONJURATION
Spell Duration: 0.79 SECONDS
Spell Fulfillment: COMPLETE
Resolve: SUFFICIENT
Magical Output: MINIMAL
Magical Leakage: MINIMAL
Associated Magical Reservoir: HIGH

"Hey, how come she has this one?" Eira pointed to the 'magical leakage' section of the paper, where Peorth had obligingly added Lind's results beneath Eira's first one and Peorth's.

"Elemental spells like that have a stronger bleed-over into the environment, so it shows up as 'minimal' instead of 'none'. If I started growing plants, the circle would also register it as minimal leakage." Peorth hummed absently. "Alright, I'll have to look into this in Yggdrasil; there might be something we're missing. In the meantime, why don't we take a pause on reconstruction magic and go back to levitation."

"You're still gonna make me try?" Eira grimaced.

"You only learn by doing, and the more you practice, the more you'll understand."

"But—what about—?"

"I said I'll look into it. For now, get to levitating your pebble."

The day passed slowly; Eira's attempts at levitating the pebble were no better than her reconstruction magic. At the back of her mind, Peorth was still thinking about the magical reservoir problem. They had surmised, before, that it was possible she simply had a very low natural reservoir, which would preclude her from being able to perform large magical feats on her own without moving up a class or two. Eira's license was fifth class, so she was already very low-ranked to start with, and with her stubbornness she might well remain there; she still didn't understand the root of a deity's power.

And their idea for helping her—well. Being only a child, Eira really didn't deserve the moniker 'hard to love', but she certainly didn't make it easy.

"What are we going to do about her?" she muttered to Lind, watching night fall through their window.

Lind looked equally dismal, staring down at the bracelets on her wrists. "…I don't know. Like you said, a very low reservoir should produce the 'negligible' result, not an error. I—I don't know if we can counteract something like that."

"She can perform magic, though," Peorth set to pacing. "She can perform some small spells, which would be impossible if she had no reservoir whatsoever. So she must have something—then why the error…?"

"Do you really think Yggdrasil will explain?"

"It should have a—wait." Something was nagging in Peorth's memory, something that she should remember. She climbed out of bed, crossed to their door and peered out into the hallway. Since the day had only just ended, Eira hadn't yet gotten around to setting up whatever tomorrow's prank would be. Peorth turned back to Lind, beckoned her to follow, and headed back to the living room. Their little terminal cast a soft greenish glow over the empty room, the analysis circle barely visible by the couch.

"What is it?" Lind asked, quietly though.

"Last time I looked through Eira's files, I found something." Peorth typed into the terminal, bringing up Eira's file. "Here it is." She found the list of caretakers. "The beginning, her past history, I can't access it."

Lind leaned in, studying the page, the tiny blinking message that read Clearance not authorized. "…You are logged in as yourself, aren't you?"

"Yes." She tabbed to the sidebar, where her credentials were listed, and huffed. "I'm going to have to submit a formal request for the information, and you know how long that will take."

Lind nodded, not seeming remotely surprised. "Months, most likely. The last time I had to submit a request, it wasn't fulfilled for almost a year. Though…have you had better chances?"

"Mm. No, not really." At least in this respect, maybe those deities weren't discriminating against Lind in particular. "So I suppose I'd better put it in before we forget." Submitting the form didn't take long; she did have to wonder if anyone else had ever taken the initiative to look into it. Eira had had fifty-five other caretakers; surely one of them had been curious? Then again, Eira had been saying that Peorth and Lind were the only ones to actually try and get her to learn, so—perhaps not.

Peorth shut down the terminal. "Well, that'll probably get processed after she's out of our care, but it's done. And…" She turned, her gaze settling on the analysis circle.

"Lind, did you still want me to analyze your reconstruction magic?"

"I…" Lind blinked, hesitating. "You don't have to…"

"But you want to know, don't you?"

A spark of bitterness surfaced in those deep blue eyes. "If there is something else wrong with me?"

"There's nothing wrong with you, cher cœur," Peorth said firmly, but she wasn't sure how to make it clear to Lind, to have her understand. Her gaze darted briefly behind Lind, but there was no telltale glow of light feathers, no sign that Lind's angels might be appearing. Instead Peorth called a pebble to her hand and held it out, balanced on her palm, and waited.

Lind studied her face for what felt like far too long; that first heartbeat stretched into two, three, four. Soft moonlight was creeping across the floor from the far window, just beginning to reach the perimeter of the circle.

Peorth was on the verge of saying, Forget about it, let's do this another time, when Lind at last moved, stretching out her hand. Her fingers brushed Peorth's palm when she pulled the pebble away.

(And part of Peorth knew that technically, Lind didn't have to do this here, with her. The circle was etched into the ground, it wasn't going anywhere. Lind could've come back on her own, in the dead of night, and analyzed her magic herself. She could've done it on her own, and yet—)

And yet.

She wanted to say thank you, she wanted to say I'm glad you trust me, but all that would come out of her throat was a soft, "Oh, cher cœur…"

Lind stepped into the circle. Instead of breaking the pebble in half, as Peorth had had Eira do, she simply crushed it into fine dust. That might be harder for her to remake later on, but Peorth wasn't about to argue with her.

The Valkyrie held her hand flat, rock dust glinting in the moonlight, and cast the spell.

Shards of rock burst up from her hand, the pieces twisting in on themselves and pushing out, like a pale imitation of a flower. The circle hummed beneath their feet, and Lind's fingers folded over the misshapen rock, once again crushing it into a fine dust. She moved out of the circle, casting the dust into the nearest flowerpot before circling back to stand next to Peorth as the results emerged.

Spell Type: RECONSTRUCTION
Spell Duration: 0.35 SECONDS
Spell Fulfillment: INCOMPLETE
Resolve: INSUFFICIENT
Magical Output: MINIMAL
Magical Leakage: NONE
Associated Magical Reservoir: HIGH

Peorth's eyes picked it out instantly. The results were nearly identical to Eira's, but differed in two distinct ways: Lind wasn't receiving the magical reservoir error, and… She looked at the Insufficient blinking up at her, placed directly beside Resolve.

She had, personally, expected that result from Eira, from not trying enough to focus, from getting distracted halfway through. She doubted Lind had that problem. No, this was something else, something that Peorth didn't think she could truly help with, not in a way that mattered.

"…It's your intent," she said softly, anyways, as if Lind couldn't read it herself. "I…I don't think it's that you can't do reconstruction magic," she carried on, "I—I think it's that you won't."

Lind stiffened. "What?"

(She hadn't wanted to be right.)

"It's you, it's—" Peorth tried to find the words, the right words, ones that wouldn't lead to another window breaking. "I—I don't think you're doing it on purpose. It's just…how you view the world, isn't it?"

At the very least, Lind didn't look like she was about to break anything. She was staring at Peorth, a strange expression on her face: mostly confused, but with a hint of apprehension. "I don't…I don't understand."

"You're very good at destroying things, aren't you? You've made yourself so. And—and it didn't help, the business with your angels, I imagine, so, everyone's telling you that's what you're good at…you started to believe them. Really, really believe them." Peorth smiled, though it felt sad on her face. "But that's not all you are. It's not, but I can't be the one to tell you that, it's…"

Her voice trailed off.

Lind's eyes looked far lighter in the moonlight, like rings of ice.

"…something I have to realize on my own," she whispered at last, so softly that Peorth almost didn't hear her.

"Yes," Peorth agreed, "and—think of what you've done outside of your destructive capabilities: the friendships you have with Keiichi and Belldandy, the respect you receive from Urd and Skuld, what we're trying to accomplish here with Eira. There's so much more to you than the false image of the One-Winged Angel." She held up her hand, a small yellow flower blossoming there.

Lind's gaze dropped to the flower. "…What is that?"

"It's a daffodil," Peorth said, grasping Lind's hand and pressing the flower into it. "One of the meanings associated with it is 'new beginnings'. And—you're strong, Lind, you have such a strong heart—it might not be today, it might not even be soon, but…I think you'll be able to accept this truth."

Lind let out a long breath, eyes fixed on their clasped hands and the flower between their palms. Slowly, she looked up, meeting Peorth's eyes. "Peorth, I…" Whatever words she was looking for failed her; instead she said, "You didn't have to…"

Peorth could complete that sentence, at least: either you didn't have to do all of this, or you didn't have to say all that.

"Of course I did. We're friends, and, more than that, we're still partners here, aren't we?" Peorth smiled, gingerly though, and gave Lind's hand a squeeze before stepping back.

"…Partners," Lind echoed, waveringly. Was there something else, in her eyes—?

Partners.

Something twinged in Peorth's chest.

"Now come on, let's get to bed before Eira starts sneaking out to set up her next prank," she said, pulling Lind along with her. "We can tell her we sent the request and that's all we can do."

And that would be the last of that.

…Wouldn't it?