“What happened, Hakufu?” Yuki questioned as she entered. “Who was that... bleeding when you came in?” She hung her head worried, “T-There was a fight.... and we... we saw him. Yuto and I. The last God power was there....” Silence had entered the room then as she said seriously, but at the same time fear rang through her voice, “Hades' power.”
“WHAT?!” they said surprised. She nodded, “I'm not exactly sure what happened, but we saw.. whoever it was. It was a dark shadow just standing there, smirking as it watched us fight.”
“Wait... a dark shadow? How is that Hades?” Yuya questioned.
“It moved through the shadows! No one does that!” She said scared. “It has to be Hades' power!”
“Hephaestus created Hades a helmet during the Titan War...” Kaori remembered. “That helmet let him be invisible, easily moving through the shadows. The last power is Hades. No doubt about it.” Kei then asked, “I knew it was bad. I told you this last power would be bad news!”
“What makes you--” Rini began as he continued, “He just watched her and Yuto fight! Yuto is bleeding to death and he/ or she was just standing there! Whoever it is isn't helping us....” Yuki groaned, “Hakufu, I need you tell us everything exactly as it happened. Include as much detail as you can.”
~A few hours ago~
“Where the hell am I suppose to find him...” Hakufu sighed as she walked around town that evening. The sun was setting as she looked at her watch, “The meeting starts in half an hour. Maybe I should start heading back...” She looked around, but realized she had no idea where she was. Worry appeared as she reached for her cell phone, but suddenly a large group appeared in front of her, backing her up into a wall. She was surrounded by what looked like a gang.
“You're in our territory, lil missy...” one glared at her while swinging around a switchblade. She noticed that each of the fifteen guys around her were all carrying a deadly weapon.
“S-Sorry... I got lost-” She froze as a knife was thrown into the wall behind her.
“That's no excuse. You either pay the fine or you're dead.” the one who had thrown it said without a care.
“Pay you for just walking around?” she questioned.
“In our territory.” another groaned annoyed. “For being in our territory.” Just listening to these guys were getting her pissed, “I don't see your name anywhere...” That small statement had apparently hit all of their nerves.
“What did you say girlie?” The first guy, probably the leader, glared once again, sticking out his switchblade towards her. Trying to hid her fear, she confidently said, “You heard me. This isn't your city.”
“Heh. You got some guts kid.” he smirked a bit. “You want a name so bad, fine.” He quickly sketched his name on the concrete with his blade. “There. Akiyama Watanabe. Proof of my territory. Now pay up. 800000 yens.”
“How much money do you think I have?” she questioned. “I don't make that much.”
“Can't pay...” Akiyama sighed as he cracked his knuckles with a smirk. “Guess well have to do this the hard way-”
“AH!” they all heard a scream from the back as one of the gang members fell, knocked out on the ground. The other gang members put up their guard, gripping their weapon tightly as Hakufu had a hint of relief on her face.
“You know... we got a meeting in like ten minutes. Keito's gonna kill us if we don't show up.” he said calmly to her.
“As you can see, I got myself in a bit of a situation.” she said as Akiyama then shouted, “Hey! Now's not the time for chit-chat! You mess with my gang... you're gonna get it!”
“Get what?” Yuto wondered. “Dinner sounds good, but I'd rather be accompanied by better looking people.” Hakufu held in a laugh as Akiyama growled, “You're a dead man. You and her!” The gang charged at them as Yuto sighed. He easily dodged one of them and grabbed a second one's arm. Hakufu saw a small spark as the guy screamed in pain.
“He's armed!” one shouted. “Looks like a taser!” Akiyama ordered, “Then use your damn weapons!” They nodded and charged at him as he fought back, barely taking any hits. Meanwhile, Akiyama turned to Hakufu, right as she sent her fist at his face.
“Ow...” she groaned. Akiyama however barely even flinched. He glared, “Is that the best you got?” She backed away and called, “Uh... Yuto? A little help over here...”
“A little busy!” he yelled as he ducked an attack, but took one to the stomach. He groaned, “Damn it... there's too many... Hakufu I could really use your help!” She shook her head, “No way! I am not gonna use—AH!” She ducked as one of the weapons went flying over her head. She quickly moved to see that Yuto was getting beat, even when he was shocking all of them with his electricity. They was just too many of them.
“Damn it...” she groaned. She took in a breath and yelled, “Back off!” A giant fireball emerged from her, striking down half of the guys, Yuto was fighting, leaving Yuto laying there unconscious, beaten badly.
“What the hell?!” Akiyama panicked at what had just occurred. “Where did--” Fire was all over Hakufu, but she wasn't burning. She barely even knew it was on her. Some of the guys ran off, passing a strange looking shadow. Hakufu took a closer look as she froze. She could feel something bad about this shadow... that had no body. Just a shadow standing in the alley way with her, Yuto, and Akiyama, as if its been watching the entire fight.
“Urgh... You'll regret ever messing with us!” Akiyama ran off the other way. Hakufu rushed over to Yuto, placing his arm over her shoulder to support him, but not losing eye contact with the shadow. It began to inch towards her as she back away, “Stay away... I'm warning you...” She held out her palm as a spark sat there, ready to be fired. She could almost see a kind of smirk on the shadow, one that sent shivers down her spine. Just as it was about to reach for her, police sirens went off around the block. The shadow quickly retreated, disappearing in the darkness of the night. Shaking, scared to death, she searching for where she had dropped her phone. She jumped as a loud ringing emerged in the silent alley as Yuto groaned next to her. She pulled his phone out of his pocket, seeing Kaori's caller ID.
“Kaori!” she could barely get out of her shaking body. “Kaori, thank god!”
“Hakufu? Are you okay?! What's wrong?” she asked, hearing the sudden fear in her voice.
“There was a fight. Yuto's in bad shape. Please hurry!” she pleaded. Kaori responded, “Where are you at? I'm on my way.”
~End of Flashback~
Silence filled the room as Hakufu finished explaining what happened.
“...a shadow...” Rini thought as everyone in the room looked at her. “Satomi mentioned something about a shadow too... a shadow suddenly appeared in front of Kota's car and he swerved.”
“It could have been the same shadow.” Kaori concurred, getting up. “I don't know what this shadow is up to. But if he just watched Hakufu and Yuto get beaten up and caused Satomi and Kota to crash... It's not good. We have to find who it is--”
“Hey guys, good news!” Daiki said popping in. “Shirika managed to heal Kota. He's just resting in his room now.” Yuya said, “At least we're getting some good news...” Yuki headed for the door, “I'm gonna check on Kota and update Keito. Come on, Daiki. Oh and guys...” She stopped to turn to us. “We really need to discuss this with the others. Urgent meeting tomorrow at Keito and Daiki's apartment. Noon. Hakufu, if you're in bad condition it's fine if you don't show. Yuto and Kota might be in the same boat.” They left as a nurse came in, “Suzuhara-san. We're going to do one more check-”
“I don't need to be checked. I told you this isn't my blood.” she retorted. “You should be checking Hakufu and Yuto.” Rini tried to calm her sister down, “Kaori... she's just doing her job.” The nurse sighed, “Alright, we'll check Sonsaku-san, first.”
“Where's Nakajima Yuto's room? Can I check on him?” Kaori asked as the nurse gave them the room number and asked them all to leave. “Come on, Rini.” The two left to see Yuto as Yuya returned to the others.
~Daiki and Keito's apartment~
Everyone was present this time except for Hakufu, Yuto, and Kota. As Yuki, with some help from Kaori, began explaining what had happened with Hakufu, everyone listen carefully, grasping the information and seeing the connection to Satomi and Kota's accident.
“So this shadow...” Hikaru questioned. “Is it even human? Did anyone of you see what it—he- she- um, whatever it looked like?” Satomi shrugged, “It was just a shadow, we couldn't see a body to it at all.” Mai wondered, “Is that even possible? For a shadow to have the god powers?”
“I don't know.” Yuki sighed. “Even seeing you guys with god powers is impossible enough. We have to be open to anything right now.” Silence filled the room as Kaori then stood up, “Can we see the locket?” Keito nodded going over to his desk, unlocking one of the drawers, and pulling out a stone box. He placed it on the table everyone surrounded as he pulled the locket out of it. He handed it over to Kaori, “Here...” She grasped the golden locket's chain and delicately laid the locket on her fingers. Her eyes scanned the silver flower in the center with vine-like leaves emerging from it as the others stood behind her, glancing at it.
“... the gems...” she pointed out. Seven of the eight gems now had an image in them; a lightning bolt, heart, trident, crescent moon, crop, flames, and sun. A black, empty gem was the last one.
“... Hades' symbol has been there the whole time.” Kaori sighed. “Darkness.”
“It wasn't blank...” Yuki realized. “It was the symbol for darkness....” She then groaned, “Well geez, thanks locket! How were we suppose to know that?!” Kaori passed it onto Rena who asked, “Can I open it?”
“I don't see why not?” Keito sighed. “Everything inside it was released when Daiki opened it.” Daiki gave him a look, “Are you still mad about that? I said I was sorry alright... can we please just move on?” Rena opened it, to see an empty locket, “Hm, not even a picture? Seriously? Isn't that what a locket is for.”
“This one held more than just a picture.” Yuri told her. “Much more dangerous than one too.”
“What about the box?” Rini remembered. “Anything that might have been missed there?” Ryosuke picked it up from the table, examining it, “There's the Earth... in the sky are eight figures. There's a hole in between them...”
“That's where I found the key... the one that opened the locket.” Daiki stated.
“Did the key have anything on it?” Chiharu asked. He shook his head, “Not that I saw. It's in the box if you want to take a look at it.” She did as she stared at the tiny silver key resting in her palm, “Looks like an ordinary key...” Shirika sighed taking a glance at it. She then turned to the box, slowly examining it as she told everyone else, “So we've heard that the key is suppose to represent the power of the gods that was taken from them by Gaea... there has to be something more...” Everyone thought silently as Yuya soon got up, “Maybe we're over-thinking this too much.... we've all taken a look at the locket and the box, maybe something will come to us eventually.” Kei thought, “How can we be over-thinking this?! More questions just keep popping up! We aren't getting any answers!”
“Kei... I think he's right.” Kaori cut in, jumping up. “We keep looking at the same thing. Nothing is going to change about it.”
“Then we need to change our way of thinking about it.” He answered. Shirika then said, “But we can't, at least not at the moment. Right now, we all want to figure this out as soon as possible. We can't just change that at the second we want to. We've been trying to look at it in different ways, but nothings coming to mind. We're gonna have to give it some time.”
“But we can't just sit here...” Yui replied strongly. “The power of Hades is putting us all in danger... Hakufu, Yuto, Kota, and Satomi are proof of that. Three of our powers are currently in the hospital as we speak. We're all at risk--”
“Then we're just gonna have to stay on guard.” Ryutaro thought. “What more could we do?”
“We have to keep searching for answers!” Kei demanded. “If we're left in this void of confusion, we'll be open targets for Hades!” Rena groaned, “Fine! Then how about we all try to do some research on this... that way we're still trying to figure something out...”
“Research what exactly?” Satomi sighed, “Keito, Daiki, and Yuki have been researching this long before we were even involved. If they're stuck what more can we find?”
“Depends on what your searching for.” Yui thought. “They've been focusing on Gaea's locket. What if we all looked into something else?” Rini wondered, “Why wouldn't we look into the locket? Isn't that what this is all about?”
“It's more than that.” Ryosuke realized. “The powers... Gaea... why she took it. There's so much more we can look at.” Yuki nodded, “Right! Kaori you mentioned the war between the Titans and Gods! That would be a possible event to explore.”
“The gods.” Hikaru thought. “Each of them, why these gods powers taken rather than others.”
“Hades...” Mai suggested. “... to see what he might have in store...”
“Multiple topics.” Keito thought. “Get some research, we'll regroup and discuss. Next week, soon enough?”
“I guess.” Yuri sighed. “Enough time for reading through research...” Kei pessimistically added, “And for Hades to strike another one of us.” Everyone gave him a look as he said, “Just thinking of possible outcomes.”
“We'll wait in the car...” Rini sighed beginning to push him out. “Sorry about him....” Kaori sighed beginning to follow as Chiharu asked, “Oh! Kaori... I didn't get to see him yesterday. How's Yuto's condition?” Kaori froze at the door as the room fell silent, waiting for her to respond. Without turning back, she answered, “He's stable... when I left... but I haven't talked to him either.” She left before anyone could react. Ryutaro then got up and went towards the door, “I'm gonna check up on my brother... and tell him about the meeting.”
“I'll tag along.” Satomi said getting up.
“Okay. Meeting adjourned.” Daiki stated as everyone else took off.
~Celestial Hospital~
“Thanks for coming...” Hakufu said as she was discharged from the hospital that evening. Yuya nodded as the two walked towards his car. He nodded, “Don't mention it. I thought it'd be nice to have someone to talk after what happened.” She was quiet but sighed, “It's not that it was traumatizing.. it was just... a scary experience... with that gang... and the shadow..”
“Well...it's done and over with--"
"Is it?" she gave him a look, unconvinced. "Hades' power is out there. I don't know what it's doing, but it cant be good. It reached out to me. That was the freaky part. I don't know why or what it wants from me..." Yuya gave her a comforting hug, to stop her rambling.
"Hey... don't look at the bad sides of the experience. Find the strengths you gained from that experience. Even the brighter sides to what happened." He thought. She groaned, "What bright side?" He took a second and smiled, “Your powers saved your life... you've opened up to them.”
“... yeah...” she smiled a bit staring at her hands. “It did. Maybe... it's not so bad... after all.” As they got into his car he asked, “So, how about I treat you to some coffee before I bring you home? It's pretty cold tonight.”
“Coffee sounds great.” she beamed as they took off.
~Kota's hospital room~
“Sounds like a productive day.” he smiled as Ryutaro and Satomi updated him on the meeting. “So that shadow... was the final power?” He laughed a bit, “Not exactly how I hoped to find the last power.” Satomi added, “Not exactly how I'd hope to meet anyone...” They shared a laugh as Ryutaro smiled a little, “So, how's your progress going? Coming home anytime soon?”
“Not too soon.” he sighed. “Unfortunately, the doctors have to run a lot of test since my body was crushed under that lamp post. They're checking my breathing, double checking my bones, and all that.”
“Heh. I'm surprised that you got out of that crash with just a dislocated shoulder.” Ryutaro beamed at his brother. “You're lucky, Kota.” Satomi smiled and added, “Lucky to have special friends. Shirika really is a miracle worker.” Kota nodded, “Yeah, thank god she was around.”
“You probably don't even need the test after what she did for you.” Satomi said. “So why do they still need to do it?”
“Well, they think they should check for brain damage. I had a concussion before Shirika healed me and I don't want to suddenly look suspicious. I was in a crash after all.” he stated. “The least I could do is go through some test.” He turned to Ryutaro, “Could you stay at Rini's for a while? So I won't have to worry about who's taking care of you?”
“Kota.” he pouted. “I'm 20 years old. I can take care of myself.” He laughed, “I know. But you're still my little brother. I just don't want you to be alone.” He sighed, “Fine. I'll be at Rini's for a few days, but you have to get better soon.”
“I will.” he beamed. Satomi then asked, “I hate to bring it up... but can you picture the shadow at all? Or what it was doing?” He thought, “Well... it was pretty dark out. All I can remember seeing was something kind of emerge from the street, right in front of us. And it looked like a human figure, but it was just all darkness. It appeared in front of us really fast... like it was in a rush.”
“Like it ran away from the fight, Yuto and Hakufu were in.” Satomi thought. “It's definitely the same shadow.” Ryutaro thought, “Not the fight... the police.” The two turned to him as he said, “Rini was there when Hakufu told the story. She told me that the shadow was reaching for her when the police sirens came and it ran. Satomi lit up, “So it's running from the police. The holder of Hades' power... could possible be a criminal...”
“An escaped convict?” Kota suggested.
“Either one. But the police have to know who it is.” Ryutaro pointed out.
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