Gaea's Locket Ch. 2

~Japan~
“And so Pandora released all the evil into the world--” a professor said when the classroom door opened and she heard, “Nakamura. May I have a minute?” She looked to see her boss as she nodded. They went out of the classroom as he told her, “I just receive a call that some archaeologist needs your expertise. Can you come by their office this evening?”

“That sounds fine.” she stated. He handed her the address. “Great, I'll give Okamoto-san a call letting him know.” He headed off as she went back to her class.

~Keito/Daiki's home office~
“Hmm...” the golden locket's chain dangled around Daiki's fingers as he stared at the locket. He eyed the silver markings on it. There was a silver flower in the center with vine-like leaves emerging from it. “What could possibly be in this...” He sat at his desk in their home office as Keito, across the room, heard him and answered, “I think this box might have the answer.” He held the stone box carefully in his hands. He pointed at the image in it, “You noticed the carving of the Earth.. or Mother Gaea, here and in the sky, there are the gods. Gaea's locket... I think it has something to do with the Gods...”

“But what exactly?” Daiki questioned as Keito shrugged, “Not too sure. I contacted a professor at a nearby university to give us a hand. Maybe he'll know what we need to know.” Daiki sighed as he stared at the locket again. Then he took of something. A tiny Keyhole on the side of it.

“Keito! There's a lock on this! No wonder I couldn't open it.”

“It is a locket. So that isn't really surprising...” Keito answered, not taking his eyes off his papers and the box. Daiki went over to him, “Is there a key in there somewhere?”

“We've look over this thing over a million times right now. There's no key.” he answered. Daiki sighed defeated as their phone rang. Keito answered, “Yes?”
“Nakamura-san is here to see you.” the secretary of the main lobby said.
“Alright, I'll bring him in.” Keito said hanging up. He stood up and stated, “Nakamura-san is here. I'll bring him in.”

“Great, hopefully we can figure something out. I'll wait here.” he answered as Keito left.

“Hmm?” Keito said as he entered the lobby. He didn't see any professor. The only person there was a woman. She stood up and approached Keito, “Ah, Are you Okamoto-san?” He nodded as she smiled holding a hand out, “I'm Nakamura Yuki. It's a pleasure to meet you.”

“Ah! Nakamura!” he said surprised as he shook her hand. He thought to himself, “Whoops... I assumed Nakamura was a guy..”
“So, what is it you need me for?” She questioned as Keito began leading her towards their room. He explained, “My partner and I need help interpreting some images made in the past of Greek history. You're an expert so maybe you can explain it to us.”
“I'll do my best.” she smiled.

“Wha...” Daiki said as he opened the curtains wider to let more light in the room. But then he saw something shining from the stone box. He picked up the box and looked at where the shine was coming from. He looked at the picture of Gaea and the Gods as he saw something golden between them. He began scratching the box, trying to pull the golden thing out. Surprisingly, it was easy to scratch away. He stared happily as he saw a tiny key.

“Yes!” he cheered as he pulled it out. “I found the key!” He quickly went over to the locket as looked at the key again and then the keyhole. He thought, “I'm sure Keito won't mind if I get a sneak peek...” He put the key in as he turned it, he heard a click. He lit up, excitement taking over him as just as he opened it...

“No way! You two actually found Gaea's locket?!” a girl said as the door began opening. Keito nodded, “Yup, and we want to find out it's mystery. We'd love it, if you would assists--” Suddenly, the now opened locket in Daiki's hand lit up. A large blast of light, sent all three of them flying into the wall.

“Urgh...” Keito groaned as he hit the wall. He tried to look at what was happening with the locket, but it was way too bright too see. He shouted, “Daiki! What did you do?!”

“Ugh... I just... I just unlocked it.” he said rubbing his hurt back. Then 8 lights shot out of the locket, into different directions. Then the light faded as the locket fell to the ground. Yuki weakly got up, “Damn... what the hell was that?!”

“Daiki, we need an explanation now.”Keito told him seriously. Daiki nodded and explained what he did.

“What were you thinking?!” Yuki yelled at him. “No one knows what was in it, and now, whatever it is has been released!” Daiki pouted, sad that he's getting scolded, “Sorry... but really? What's the worst that can happen?”
“Pandora's Box.” Keito told him. “We're in a similar situation. She open the box out of curiosity and unleashed all evil into the world. Her box released evil... imagine what this locket held within it. It could be just as bad.”
“... I'm really sorry.” he apologized.

“Well there's nothing we can do about it now.” Yuki sighed. “Alright, let me see the locket and the box. Research is all we got to figure out what was in that locket.” Keito and Daiki nodded as they began looking through all the books, articles, and other resources they had.

-3 Days Later-
~Elsewhere~
“No! Are you crazy?! You can't just--” a girl said into a mic as the director stopped her, “Cut! Cut... Shirika, you need more emotion on this part. Remember, this is the part where your character Aiko, is trying to get her friends not to sneak out of the academy. Make her more realistic.”
“Alright.” Shirika as she took a breathe and repeated the line.
“Better! Much better!” the director cheered as she left the recording room. She smiled successful as he told her, “Go ahead and have a lunch break. We'll start again in 2 hours.” She nodded and headed towards the art studio down the hall.

“Kaori... you in there?” Shirika called as she knocked on the door.
“Yea, its open. Come on in.” she heard as she entered with a smile, “So how's the sketches going?” Without looking, she answered, “Great! I'm just darkening it a bit and then I'll be done with this scene. How'd voice recording go?”
“Great~! I'm getting much better at visualizing my character. I can't wait to see how this comes out.” she said excitedly.
“Same.... but its gonna take a lot of time.” Kaori sighed as she continued focusing on her drawings. At that moment, Shirika saw the door open really slowly and quietly, she smiled as she saw the boy put his finger to his lips, winking at her. Shirika nodded as he slowly snuck up behind the hard-working Kaori.

“Boo!” he shouted at Kaori, making Shirika jump a bit at the sudden loudness.
“Hey, Kei.” Kaori said calmly as she kept her eyes glued on her work. Kei pouted, “Really? You weren't scared?” Kaori giggled, “Was I suppose to be?”
“You know her more than I do Kei. When she's in her work, she's way too focused.” Shirika stated. Kaori nodded, “And what are you doing here anyways? Don't you have work to do?” Kei took a seat next to her, watching her work, “Nah, I got off early today.”
“Lucky you...” she stated. “And... DONE!” she cheered as she looked at the sketch. “Not bad...”
“Great. Let's get some lunch! I'm starving!” Shirika stated. “You coming Kei?”
“Of course.” he beamed. “And I'd be happy to drive us all.”
“Thanks.” Kaori smiled. “You guys go ahead, I just gotta send these sketches to the other artists so they can draw the in-betweens.”
“Alright. Don't take too long.” Shirika said as she walked out. Kei headed off as he stopped, “Hey... Kaori?”
“What is it?” she wondered.
“Are you... Is it still... you know...” he asked as she went quiet.
“... Yea... but it hasn't occurred all day. Hopefully, it was all just some weird crazy illusion we were having.” she smiled to him. “Don't worry about it.” She left the room with her papers as he sighed, “It's not normal... how can I not worry about that...” He soon followed after her.