~Keito and Daiki’s apartment~
“Wow…” Yuki said as she came into the messy room. Papers were everywhere as she smiled, “Well, at least you two can say you’ve been researching.” Daiki smiled to her, “We’re going over police reports. Ryutaro texted everyone about believing the police might know who has Hades’ power.”
“Ew…” Keito shook a bit in disgust. “I hope not.” Daiki shook his head, “No… he’s mentioned in one of the later papers I looked through. He was apprehended a month ago.” Keito sighed in relief as he asked, “Can you believe how many psychos there are out there…”
“Luckily, not all are in our area.” Daiki pointed out. “There’s this criminal that was got shot at a shootout who bites people’s throats out… now how is that possible? He’d have to have shark teeth to do that….”
“Okay… I’m taking a break.” Keito said getting up, disgusted. He walked towards the kitchen as Yuki sighed, “Hopefully the others are having better luck than we are.” Daiki groaned, “Well, I’m officially tired of police reports... I’m gonna take a look at the locket.” He unlocked the safe and pulled out the box as he thought teasingly, “Heh, hey Keito! There’s this other psycho that poisons his victim’s coffees.”
“Pshoo!” Yuki and Daiki laughed as they heard him spit out his coffee. She sighed, “He’s just messing around with you Keito... Ignore him.” Daiki, who was still laughing hard, “You’re so gullible--” He stopped as he lost his footing over some of the books laying around, causing him to fall on the ground.
“Ow...” he groaned as he got up. “Yeah, we really need to clean--”
“DAIKI!” Keito stood at the doorway to the kitchen yelling at him angrily. He was about to question when he realized... the box wasn’t in his hand anymore. Not too far from him, the stone box had crumbled into pieces. “What have you done?!!!”
“I--” Keito rushed over to it fuming as he glared at him. “What’s wrong with you?! There could have been something on there that would’ve helped us find Hades?! The locket has only one case! You just destroyed an--”
“Keito.” Yuki stopped him. “Yelling at him isn’t going to fix anything...” She looked through the rubble and pulled out the locket, still looking brand new. “What’s important is that the locket is still ok--”
“But the box-”
“I have pictures saved on my laptop. And Kei and Kaori are working on 3D drawings of the box and the locket.” she said comfortingly. “Daiki made a mistake. He’s only human...” He sighed, “I really need a break...”
“Come on. Let’s get some air.” Yuki said leading him out. She handed the locket to Daiki, “Please be careful with this Daiki. And try to clean up alittle... we’ll be back soon.” They left as he sighed, looking at the locket and then at the rubble on the ground. “Why am I always causing trouble...” Just as he placed the locket down, something caught his eye. “Wha-- No way...”
~Yuto’s Hospital Room~
“Urgh…” Kaori turned as she heard Yuto begin to stir. She tensed up, moving away from the table full of get well cards and flowers from his work, in hopes of seeing him finally awake. She softly called, “Yuto?” He was silent again as she tried once more, “Yuto? Can you hear me?” Still nothing.
“… sigh…” She took a seat nearby and glanced at him again, completely still. If it weren’t for the beeping machine next to him, displaying his slow heart rate, he could be mistaken for a dead body. “You’re such an idiot…” She hoped to get some sort of response. “Thinking you could take on an entire gang… Even with your abilities, you wouldn’t be able to take them all on without any injuries.”
“Honestly… I’m beginning to question why I even worry…” she trailed off as his heart rate seemed to go slower. “Yuto?” She jumped up as she called, “Yuto?! Yuto!” Just as she was about to push the button to call the nurse, his heart went back to normal and even a little above the average. Kaori’s worried feelings turned into anger as Yuto bursted into laughter. She growled, “You jerk!!!” She whacked his arm as he winced in pain, but couldn’t stop laughing, “Ow! Hahah! I’m already in a hospital bed! I’m sure that counts as some sort of abuse!”
“Urgh!” she gave him one more whack before grabbing her jacket and bag. “I can’t believe I was actually worried—“
“Aww, come on Kaori.” He pleaded as she stopped at the door. “You know I was just joking around.” She glared, “Well that was a really harsh joke—“
“I’m sorry ok? Now get back over here so you can tell me what I’ve been missing.” He gave her a goofy smile as he scooted over carefully, moving his fractured leg a bit. He patted the spot next to him. She didn’t move an inch as he gave her a small pout. She sighed, “You pull another joke like that… and I swear you WILL be a dead man.”
“Promise. I won’t fake a death again.” He beamed as she placed her stuff back down and sat next to him. She filled him in on all the latest as he listened carefully. He thought, “So… the police might know who has Hades power… but doesn’t know about his power.”
“Pretty much.” She stated as he wondered, “… how’s Kota and Hakufu doing?”
“Kota still needs to go through a few test but Hakufu was released.” She answered. He continued, “And… the shadow snuck up on them…. After running from the police coming towards the fight we were in… right?” She nodded as she asked, “What are you on to?”
“… It wasn’t his intention… to crash them.” He thought. “At least that’s what I’m understanding. And he didn’t attack Hakufu and I… even though he was a bystander.”
“Are you actually defending him?” she questioned. “He watched you guys fight when he could have helped. He had the power to help.”
“I get that but—“
“And if the police really are after him, that makes him a criminal. You can’t be standing up for a criminal—“
“Kaori.” He stopped her. “All I’m saying is that we shouldn’t jump to conclusions. It looks bad for whoever this person is… but he or she is in the same boat as us. Powers we’re trying to learn about. This person could be just as confused as we are… and what if it was that power that got them arrested in the first place. We won’t know until we find this person.”
“It’s next week isn’t it? I think I can tell everyone myself.” He answered as she raised an eyebrow, “You think you’ll be better in a week?” He nodded, “Yeah… just bring in Shirika—“
“Of course…”
“I don’t get why she didn’t heal me earlier…” he stated as she pointed out, “So of the gang guys had knives. You lost a bad amount of blood. Unfortunately, she can’t heal something that isn’t there. Luckily the doctors were able to find you a blood donor.”
“We’ll she can heal me now, right?” he said looking at himself with a few bruises, cuts, and a fractured leg. “This shouldn’t be so hard.”
“I’ll see if she can…” she answered. “Things have been getting a little busy at the animation studio so it might be tough.”
“The opposite actually. We’re running behind schedule so we’re working overtime.” She sighed. “Which is why I really have to go.” He laughed a bit, “Aww, and you took time out of your busy schedule to visit me…” She gave him a look, “After your little prank earlier, I started regretting coming.”
“Ouch…” he grasped his chest playfully. “I think I might be in this hospital longer now.” She shook her head with a small laugh, “I’ll see you around Yuto…”
~World Cuisines~
“Order up~!” Yui finished a beautiful decorated cheesecake as she placed it on the shelf. A waiter took it out as she continued to decorated her other cheesecakes. She soon heard, “Yui. Can I have a minute?” Yuri waved her over to his office as she nodded and another chef took over for her.
“Hey, you free?” Mai called as she knocked on her door. She took a peek in as Satomi called, “Yeah, come on in.” She smiled, entering, “I got what you wanted....” She put down the bag full of books as Satomi lit up, “Wow. You sure found alot...” She nodded, “I borrowed anything that I thought might help. I’m surprised the library let me borrow so much.” Satomi picked one up, “So... you know we’re gonna go through all of these right?”
“I’m only going through a few... You’re the bookworm remember?” she teased as Satomi sighed, “Alright. Good timing though. I just finished my last session of the day.” They began going through the books as Mai lit up, “Hey~! There’s a section all about Hades here!”
“Let me see...” Satomi moved over to her as they read:
[Hades, ruler of the underworld, also known as the god of wealth of all the precious metals buried in the earth. It was rare that he left his realm to visit Olympus or the earth, nor was he urged to do so. He was not a welcomed visitor. He was relentless, unpitying, but just; a terrible, but not evil god.]
“Oh good!” Rini lit up as Shirika entered the shelter. “Kei, they’re here--”
“Actually it’s just me.” Shirika interrupted. “Kaori had to work overtime, but I have the drawing she did.” She motioned to her back as Kei came out of the back room, “Then get back here you two. The sooner we look at these the better.” They went into the room where Hakufu and Ryutaro were examining the detailed drawing Kei had done of the stone box the locket had been found in as well as the key to open in.
“Dang... and I thought Kaori was the artist...” Shirika said impressed. Kei replied, “I’m an architect remember? But that’s besides the point. There’s something that we’re missing with these objects and we’ve got to find it.” Hakufu sighed, “I’ve been staring at this box too long... can I see the locket?”
“Here.” Shirika said pulling out the drawing Kaori had done of it.
“I think we should list everything we know about it so far.” Ryutaro said. “Maybe if we could find a connection to everything, we can find what we’re missing.” Rini nodded, “Good plan. Let’s start with the box. It has five gods and three goddesses at the top, supposedly in the sky. Then there’s Gaea or Mother Earth below.”
“Something... Kaori told me when we were younger.” she tried to think about it. Ryutaro then told her, “But Kaori’s the one who pointed out that his power was on the gem the whole time. That the darkness there was his power.”
“Yeah, I know, but she was out of it that day.” she replied. “Yuto was still unconscious. It was obvious that she wanted to get that meeting down with so she could check up on him.” She then turned to Kei, “Remember your first year of high school? She was really addicted on greek mythology books?” He nodded as she continued, “Well, there was this time when cousin Sora, he stayed with us because his mom was really sick and had to stay in a hospital. One day when the three of us were together I asked if he thought his mom would be okay....”
“I guess he didn’t want me to worry then, but he told me that she would be great.” she smiled at the thought. “But if she wasn’t, he’d take Kaori with him to beat up Hades until he got his mom back... Kaori just laughed at him saying that Hades only rulers over the land of the dead. He doesn’t claim the living to be dead. There’s another god that rules over death.”
“So... are you saying that a different god rules over darkness?” Shirika thought as she nodded. “If one rules over Death, why not? Hades only rules where the dead live.”
“Got it.” Hakufu said as she scrolled on her smartphone. “Erebus is the god of darkness. Hades symbols could be a two prong staff, black chariot, helmet of invisibility, Cerberus, or a sceptre.”
“...Well according to Keito, the symbols appear when the locket comes in contact with them. Only Yuto, Hakufu, Satomi, and Kota have come in contact with however the person is. So they haven’t been anywhere near the locket.” Ryutaro stated. “So that’s probably why there’s no symbol yet...”
~Music Store~
“So… Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. Obviously the three are the most powerful Gods.” Hikaru said as he and Yuya organized the inventory “But as for the other five... I’m not to sure.”
“Hephaestus was the smith for the Gods. Their chariots were made by him, many of their weapons too. He worked with the Cyclopes majority of the time so he sometimes makes Zeus thunderbolts.” Yuya said intelligently. “God of fire… after the Titan War, he supplied the Gods with their needs. Their home in Olympus was probably built by him too.”
“When did you get so mythology smart?” Hikaru gave him a teasingly push.
“I didn’t… just Hephaestus smart.” He pointed out as he laughed, “Right… because of your girlfriend.”
“She’s not my girlfriend.” He blushed, avoiding his gaze.
“Well, you should change that. Especially if you’re already researching all about her—er her power.” He nudged with a goofy grin.
“Okay can we focus?” he attempted to change the subject. “We know reasons Gaea took power from those four Gods. What about the others? Artemis, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Apollo.”
“Beats me.” He shrugged. “I’m clueless at mythology.” Yuya sighed, “You could at least try to think of something.” He sighed, “Fine. I’ll do what you did…” He pulled out his phone and searched them up. “Hmm… says here one of Aphrodite’s most famous story is Paris and the Golden Apple. I guess she promised him some pretty girl and he gave the apple to her instead of Athena and Hera.”
“So?”
“So… the girl, Helen, was already married to a King. That King sent over 40,000 ships to Troy, Paris’ home, to get her back.” He said impressed. “And that war waged on until the fall of Troy. Wow. Must have been one hot chick…”
“Okay, so she unintentionally started a major war in Greece.” He thought. “I dunno if that’s enough to take some of her powers.” Hikaru thought and lit up, “She was the Goddess of love. Men worshiped the ground she walked on! They’d do anything for her!”
“You think that’s how they remained immortal?” Hikaru thought as Yuya gave him a look, “That wouldn’t make sense. They were immortal meaning they couldn’t die. Healing just heals wounds. Not keep them young and alive for thousands of years.”
“I’m just taking guesses… sheesh…” he sighed as he typed on his phone. Yuya then asked, “Anything?”
“You got a smartphone too. I can’t search everything myself…” Hikaru said as he finally got some results, “Okay. Apollo… God of healing, music, etc, God of a lot of things basically. He and his twin sister Artemis are archers. That might be it. Amazing Hunters?”
“I suppose…” he said.
“You don’t seem convinced.” Hikaru pouted. He shrugged in response, “I honestly don’t know what Gaea was thinking… Why take these powers in the first place? Hades, Zeus, and Poseidon I understand. They’re powerful, meaning they could also be dangerous. But Apollo’s ability to heal. That’s a good ability as well as Demeter’s abilities over crops and plants. Fire light our way and as much as it can be dangerous, it’s also really useful. Aphrodite’s ability of seduction is just pretty much manipulation over men. I don’t like that… and as for Artemis abilities over animals. I don’t know the point of that one…”
“What if she knew the locket would get opened? And wanted some of these powers to be unleashed?”
“Well if she did, she let Hades’ power out on the world.” Yuya scoffed. Hikaru thought, “Well, honestly, doesn’t the power depend on the use of its bearer? I doubt everything this person is doing is involuntary.”
“That’s true…” Yuya sighed. “This is just all so confusing.”
“Well, just bring up what we know about the Gods. Hopefully it will help Yuki and the others. They know a lot more about this than we do so maybe it’s a start.” Hikaru smiled optimistically. He nodded, “Hopefully…”
~Yamada’s Home~
“Gaea is Mother Earth. If she really wanted to protect the earth, then she wouldn’t have sealed away some of their powers and placed them here.” Chiharu argued to Ryosuke. “By nature, humans are curious creatures. Of course someone would open the locket if they found it. She wouldn’t endanger human kind like this!”
“Well she did! You heard Yuki, Keito, and Daiki.” he responded. “They’re the experts. The box should sadness on the gods faces. If they gave it up willingly would they be sad? No. She took their powers and hid it somewhere so they couldn’t find their full strength!”
“We have the powers don’t we? She already exposed us to it.” he pointed out as she groaned, “Urgh... you’re unbelievable! I know there’s more to it than that! Why can’t you?!”
“Because it’s simple. She took their powers and hid it away. Unfortunately, Keito and Daiki found it and unleashed the powers. She underestimated her hiding spot---”
“Would you two just knock it off?” Rena groaned in annoyance. “Geez... its hard to believe you two are actually dating. You still argue non-stop.” Ryosuke gave her a look, “Alright, then why don’t you tell us what you think about all this?”
“I really think we should trust the experts...”
“Ha!” Ryosuke rubbed it in as Chiharu glared. Rena continued, “But Chiharu does make a good point. Gaea wouldn’t expose humankind to a danger like this... Hades for one thing. The rest of our abilities aren’t so bad... That’s what’s really getting me thinking.”
“Well where else is she suppose to hid the locket? The sky?” Ryosuke asked sarcastically as Chiharu answered, “Yeah. Space would’ve been the perfect place to hid that power. No one would be able to find it.”
“Hello? Astronauts.” Ryosuke answered. Rena replied, “Space is too vast. The chances of someone finding it there would be one in a trillion.”
“So, she picked a bad place to hide it--”
“No, like I said before. She must have wanted it place where Keito and Daiki found it.” Chiharu stated triumphantly. “She wanted it here on Earth. She wanted someone to open it, and she wanted you and the others to bear the powers. But the question is why?”
“... is that a rhetorical question? Because I have no idea...” he asked as she sighed, “I swear, your brother gets more and more clueless everyday...”
“You get used to it.” Rena said bluntly as he pouted, “Hey. I’m right here.” Rena ignored him, “So, she takes their powers, only to have them unleashed to mortals. That’s what I really want to know. Why would she do that? The Gods know how to use their powers... whereas we only use it for our own gain. If she can’t trust the Gods with this power why hand it over to the lesser beings?”
“I may be mortal, but that does not make me less than a God- ow!” Chiharu whacked his head, “Honestly... what is wrong with you....” He ignored her comment as he said, “I think it was Keito who said that Gaea took a portion of their powers probably because they were too powerful. Maybe she believed if some of the mortals had that power, it would balance out in a way. So neither god nor mortal got to powerful.”
“You’re forgetting one important detail. Gods are immortal.” Rena said. “It’s not the same.” Chiharu added, “But he might be onto something. Gaea wanted some of us to have the God powers. Why? That’s what we need to figure out.”
“Urgh... can’t we just google it...” Ryosuke groaned annoyed. Chiharu sighed, “You want to google, ‘why Gaea wants to give mortals a portion of God powers’...”
“Yeah, that sounds like it could work in a search engine.” he said as Rena whacked his head again, “Idiot. Gaea’s locket was suppose to just be a legend. The only ones who would know is the ones who found it, Daiki and Keito.”
“It was just a suggestion...” he pouted rubbing his head. Rena sighed, “Just keep all these questions in mind as well as the theories we’ve put together. We’ll bring it up at the meeting this weekend-” Suddenly, all their phones went off as they saw they had received a text message from Daiki.
[Emergency meeting at our apartment! Tonight at 8!]
~Keito and Daiki’s Apartment~
“WHAT?!” everyone yelled as Daiki smiled, impressed with himself. “You all heard me. Hades isn’t the eight power.”
“Wow…” Yuki said as she came into the messy room. Papers were everywhere as she smiled, “Well, at least you two can say you’ve been researching.” Daiki smiled to her, “We’re going over police reports. Ryutaro texted everyone about believing the police might know who has Hades’ power.”
“So we’re trying to look through the news reports about anything similar to the other powers cases.” Keito added tossing one paper away. “We’re starting from the first day the powers got out… and we could really use a hand. After all, we are looking over about five months of news.” She smiled and grabbed a paper, “No problem. Yuki is on the case~!” She grabbed a few papers and rifled through it as she said out loud, “What about… The X-Alley Killer. He leaves the body in a creepy alley with an ‘X’ carved across their face.”
“Ew…” Keito shook a bit in disgust. “I hope not.” Daiki shook his head, “No… he’s mentioned in one of the later papers I looked through. He was apprehended a month ago.” Keito sighed in relief as he asked, “Can you believe how many psychos there are out there…”
“Luckily, not all are in our area.” Daiki pointed out. “There’s this criminal that was got shot at a shootout who bites people’s throats out… now how is that possible? He’d have to have shark teeth to do that….”
“Okay… I’m taking a break.” Keito said getting up, disgusted. He walked towards the kitchen as Yuki sighed, “Hopefully the others are having better luck than we are.” Daiki groaned, “Well, I’m officially tired of police reports... I’m gonna take a look at the locket.” He unlocked the safe and pulled out the box as he thought teasingly, “Heh, hey Keito! There’s this other psycho that poisons his victim’s coffees.”
“Pshoo!” Yuki and Daiki laughed as they heard him spit out his coffee. She sighed, “He’s just messing around with you Keito... Ignore him.” Daiki, who was still laughing hard, “You’re so gullible--” He stopped as he lost his footing over some of the books laying around, causing him to fall on the ground.
“Ow...” he groaned as he got up. “Yeah, we really need to clean--”
“DAIKI!” Keito stood at the doorway to the kitchen yelling at him angrily. He was about to question when he realized... the box wasn’t in his hand anymore. Not too far from him, the stone box had crumbled into pieces. “What have you done?!!!”
“I--” Keito rushed over to it fuming as he glared at him. “What’s wrong with you?! There could have been something on there that would’ve helped us find Hades?! The locket has only one case! You just destroyed an--”
“Keito.” Yuki stopped him. “Yelling at him isn’t going to fix anything...” She looked through the rubble and pulled out the locket, still looking brand new. “What’s important is that the locket is still ok--”
“But the box-”
“I have pictures saved on my laptop. And Kei and Kaori are working on 3D drawings of the box and the locket.” she said comfortingly. “Daiki made a mistake. He’s only human...” He sighed, “I really need a break...”
“Come on. Let’s get some air.” Yuki said leading him out. She handed the locket to Daiki, “Please be careful with this Daiki. And try to clean up alittle... we’ll be back soon.” They left as he sighed, looking at the locket and then at the rubble on the ground. “Why am I always causing trouble...” Just as he placed the locket down, something caught his eye. “Wha-- No way...”
~Yuto’s Hospital Room~
“Urgh…” Kaori turned as she heard Yuto begin to stir. She tensed up, moving away from the table full of get well cards and flowers from his work, in hopes of seeing him finally awake. She softly called, “Yuto?” He was silent again as she tried once more, “Yuto? Can you hear me?” Still nothing.
“… sigh…” She took a seat nearby and glanced at him again, completely still. If it weren’t for the beeping machine next to him, displaying his slow heart rate, he could be mistaken for a dead body. “You’re such an idiot…” She hoped to get some sort of response. “Thinking you could take on an entire gang… Even with your abilities, you wouldn’t be able to take them all on without any injuries.”
“Honestly… I’m beginning to question why I even worry…” she trailed off as his heart rate seemed to go slower. “Yuto?” She jumped up as she called, “Yuto?! Yuto!” Just as she was about to push the button to call the nurse, his heart went back to normal and even a little above the average. Kaori’s worried feelings turned into anger as Yuto bursted into laughter. She growled, “You jerk!!!” She whacked his arm as he winced in pain, but couldn’t stop laughing, “Ow! Hahah! I’m already in a hospital bed! I’m sure that counts as some sort of abuse!”
“Urgh!” she gave him one more whack before grabbing her jacket and bag. “I can’t believe I was actually worried—“
“Aww, come on Kaori.” He pleaded as she stopped at the door. “You know I was just joking around.” She glared, “Well that was a really harsh joke—“
“I’m sorry ok? Now get back over here so you can tell me what I’ve been missing.” He gave her a goofy smile as he scooted over carefully, moving his fractured leg a bit. He patted the spot next to him. She didn’t move an inch as he gave her a small pout. She sighed, “You pull another joke like that… and I swear you WILL be a dead man.”
“Promise. I won’t fake a death again.” He beamed as she placed her stuff back down and sat next to him. She filled him in on all the latest as he listened carefully. He thought, “So… the police might know who has Hades power… but doesn’t know about his power.”
“Pretty much.” She stated as he wondered, “… how’s Kota and Hakufu doing?”
“Kota still needs to go through a few test but Hakufu was released.” She answered. He continued, “And… the shadow snuck up on them…. After running from the police coming towards the fight we were in… right?” She nodded as she asked, “What are you on to?”
“… It wasn’t his intention… to crash them.” He thought. “At least that’s what I’m understanding. And he didn’t attack Hakufu and I… even though he was a bystander.”
“Are you actually defending him?” she questioned. “He watched you guys fight when he could have helped. He had the power to help.”
“I get that but—“
“And if the police really are after him, that makes him a criminal. You can’t be standing up for a criminal—“
“Kaori.” He stopped her. “All I’m saying is that we shouldn’t jump to conclusions. It looks bad for whoever this person is… but he or she is in the same boat as us. Powers we’re trying to learn about. This person could be just as confused as we are… and what if it was that power that got them arrested in the first place. We won’t know until we find this person.”
“… You’re a lot smarter than I give you credit for…” she said softly as he smiled. She sighed getting up, “Well, I’ll be sure to bring up your idea of Hades to Keito and the others at the meeting-“
“It’s next week isn’t it? I think I can tell everyone myself.” He answered as she raised an eyebrow, “You think you’ll be better in a week?” He nodded, “Yeah… just bring in Shirika—“
“Of course…”
“I don’t get why she didn’t heal me earlier…” he stated as she pointed out, “So of the gang guys had knives. You lost a bad amount of blood. Unfortunately, she can’t heal something that isn’t there. Luckily the doctors were able to find you a blood donor.”
“We’ll she can heal me now, right?” he said looking at himself with a few bruises, cuts, and a fractured leg. “This shouldn’t be so hard.”
“I’ll see if she can…” she answered. “Things have been getting a little busy at the animation studio so it might be tough.”
“Production almost done?”
“The opposite actually. We’re running behind schedule so we’re working overtime.” She sighed. “Which is why I really have to go.” He laughed a bit, “Aww, and you took time out of your busy schedule to visit me…” She gave him a look, “After your little prank earlier, I started regretting coming.”
“Ouch…” he grasped his chest playfully. “I think I might be in this hospital longer now.” She shook her head with a small laugh, “I’ll see you around Yuto…”
~World Cuisines~
“Order up~!” Yui finished a beautiful decorated cheesecake as she placed it on the shelf. A waiter took it out as she continued to decorated her other cheesecakes. She soon heard, “Yui. Can I have a minute?” Yuri waved her over to his office as she nodded and another chef took over for her.
“What is it?” she wondered as he directed her over to his computer. He explained, “I’ve been researching a lot about that Titan War that Yuki had mentioned before. And I found something interesting…” She began to read over the paragraphs that he had highlighted:
[For ten years, the war waged on. Zeus, with his brothers and sisters fought against Cronos and the Titans. At last, they had beaten them, with the aid of their brethren Cyclopes and Hecatoncheires. The cyclopes, amazing builders and smiths, forged a thunderbolts for Zeus to fired down at his foes; a trident with which Poseidon is able to drown his enemies; and a helmet of invisibility for Hades who could creep up unseen on enemies.
Zeus placed the Titans in Tartus, the deepest pit in the Underworld, where the Hecatoncheires stood guard. Gaea was finally at peace and rule of the universe was divided among the three brothers: Zeus, King of Gods, ruler of Heaven and Earth, Poseidon, God of the Sea, and Hades, God of the Underworld.]
[For ten years, the war waged on. Zeus, with his brothers and sisters fought against Cronos and the Titans. At last, they had beaten them, with the aid of their brethren Cyclopes and Hecatoncheires. The cyclopes, amazing builders and smiths, forged a thunderbolts for Zeus to fired down at his foes; a trident with which Poseidon is able to drown his enemies; and a helmet of invisibility for Hades who could creep up unseen on enemies.
Zeus placed the Titans in Tartus, the deepest pit in the Underworld, where the Hecatoncheires stood guard. Gaea was finally at peace and rule of the universe was divided among the three brothers: Zeus, King of Gods, ruler of Heaven and Earth, Poseidon, God of the Sea, and Hades, God of the Underworld.]
“Umm... I think we knew most of this?” Yui questioned as he pointed out, “Look. Zeus, with his brothers and sisters... I’m not very good at mythology, but I’m pretty sure not all of the powers here are are his siblings.”
“Ah!” she lit up. “I remember his sisters are Hestia, Demeter, and Hera. And we only have Demeter’s power!”
“Exactly. We know Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon’s powers are good to go to, but that doesn’t explain the other four.” he thought. Yui counted, “Aphrodite, Artemis, Apollo, and Hephaestus. How do they play into Gaea’s plan to take the God’s powers?”
“Guess that’s what we need to keep looking into...” he thought.
~Satomi’s Office~
“Hey, you free?” Mai called as she knocked on her door. She took a peek in as Satomi called, “Yeah, come on in.” She smiled, entering, “I got what you wanted....” She put down the bag full of books as Satomi lit up, “Wow. You sure found alot...” She nodded, “I borrowed anything that I thought might help. I’m surprised the library let me borrow so much.” Satomi picked one up, “So... you know we’re gonna go through all of these right?”
“I’m only going through a few... You’re the bookworm remember?” she teased as Satomi sighed, “Alright. Good timing though. I just finished my last session of the day.” They began going through the books as Mai lit up, “Hey~! There’s a section all about Hades here!”
“Let me see...” Satomi moved over to her as they read:
[Hades, ruler of the underworld, also known as the god of wealth of all the precious metals buried in the earth. It was rare that he left his realm to visit Olympus or the earth, nor was he urged to do so. He was not a welcomed visitor. He was relentless, unpitying, but just; a terrible, but not evil god.]
“I guess not in this situation.” Satomi sighed. “His powers have been given to a criminal... how can that not be evil...” Mai thought, reading through the rest, “And the rest of his description is stuff we already know...” Satomi turned back to her book and thought, “Olympus....” She grabbed a notebook and jotted a few things down on it as she read:
[Within the gates of Olympus, the gods lived and slept and feasted and listened to Apollo’s lyre. It was an abode of perfect blessedness. No wind, rain, or snow troubles the cloudless, in the glory of sunshine, Mt. Olympus. The Twelve Olympians made up a divine family:
Zeus (1), the chief, and his brother Poseidon (2) . Two of his sisters Demeter (3) and Hera (4). The goddess, Aphrodite (5). And his children Athena (6), Apollo (7), Artemis (8), Hermes (9), Ares (10), Dionysus (11), and Hephaestus (12).
Zeus’ other brother Hades, ruled his dark underworld whereas his kind-hearted sister, Hestia, gave her throne to Dionysus, claiming to be perfectly comfortable at the hearth.]
“So for one thing... all the powers are one of the Olympians.... excluding Hades.” Mai stated as Satomi nodded, “And... they became the Olympians after the war with the Titans right?” Mai nodded as she said, “We have so much to figure out...”
~ Animal Shelter~
“Oh good!” Rini lit up as Shirika entered the shelter. “Kei, they’re here--”
“Actually it’s just me.” Shirika interrupted. “Kaori had to work overtime, but I have the drawing she did.” She motioned to her back as Kei came out of the back room, “Then get back here you two. The sooner we look at these the better.” They went into the room where Hakufu and Ryutaro were examining the detailed drawing Kei had done of the stone box the locket had been found in as well as the key to open in.
“Dang... and I thought Kaori was the artist...” Shirika said impressed. Kei replied, “I’m an architect remember? But that’s besides the point. There’s something that we’re missing with these objects and we’ve got to find it.” Hakufu sighed, “I’ve been staring at this box too long... can I see the locket?”
“Here.” Shirika said pulling out the drawing Kaori had done of it.
“I think we should list everything we know about it so far.” Ryutaro said. “Maybe if we could find a connection to everything, we can find what we’re missing.” Rini nodded, “Good plan. Let’s start with the box. It has five gods and three goddesses at the top, supposedly in the sky. Then there’s Gaea or Mother Earth below.”
“And the key was in the middle... representing the powers of the Gods.” Shirika said pointing to the center. Kei sighed, “And with the locket.... a golden locket, with silver flower in the center with vine-like leaves surrounding it. In the center, the eight gems. We have a thunderbolt representing Zeus, a trident representing Poseidon, a heart representing Aphrodite, a sun representing Apollo, a crescent moon representing Artemis, a crop representing Demeter, fire representing Hephaestus, and darkness representing Hades.” Everyone was silent as he sighed, “And still we have nothing...”
“... Wait...” Rini remembered. “I don’t think... darkness is Hades’ symbol.” Kei answered, “What makes you say that?”
“Something... Kaori told me when we were younger.” she tried to think about it. Ryutaro then told her, “But Kaori’s the one who pointed out that his power was on the gem the whole time. That the darkness there was his power.”
“Yeah, I know, but she was out of it that day.” she replied. “Yuto was still unconscious. It was obvious that she wanted to get that meeting down with so she could check up on him.” She then turned to Kei, “Remember your first year of high school? She was really addicted on greek mythology books?” He nodded as she continued, “Well, there was this time when cousin Sora, he stayed with us because his mom was really sick and had to stay in a hospital. One day when the three of us were together I asked if he thought his mom would be okay....”
“I guess he didn’t want me to worry then, but he told me that she would be great.” she smiled at the thought. “But if she wasn’t, he’d take Kaori with him to beat up Hades until he got his mom back... Kaori just laughed at him saying that Hades only rulers over the land of the dead. He doesn’t claim the living to be dead. There’s another god that rules over death.”
“So... are you saying that a different god rules over darkness?” Shirika thought as she nodded. “If one rules over Death, why not? Hades only rules where the dead live.”
“Got it.” Hakufu said as she scrolled on her smartphone. “Erebus is the god of darkness. Hades symbols could be a two prong staff, black chariot, helmet of invisibility, Cerberus, or a sceptre.”
“...Well according to Keito, the symbols appear when the locket comes in contact with them. Only Yuto, Hakufu, Satomi, and Kota have come in contact with however the person is. So they haven’t been anywhere near the locket.” Ryutaro stated. “So that’s probably why there’s no symbol yet...”
“Then... maybe... someone should wear the necklace around... so we’ll know if we’re around Hades?” Hakufu suggested. Kei answered, “It could narrow down the area Hades is in, but the area could still be populated. It won’t be that simple...” They all continued to debate about the box and locket. Eventually, Rini noticed something. “Hey... take a look at this!”
~Music Store~
“So… Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. Obviously the three are the most powerful Gods.” Hikaru said as he and Yuya organized the inventory “But as for the other five... I’m not to sure.”
“Hephaestus was the smith for the Gods. Their chariots were made by him, many of their weapons too. He worked with the Cyclopes majority of the time so he sometimes makes Zeus thunderbolts.” Yuya said intelligently. “God of fire… after the Titan War, he supplied the Gods with their needs. Their home in Olympus was probably built by him too.”
“When did you get so mythology smart?” Hikaru gave him a teasingly push.
“I didn’t… just Hephaestus smart.” He pointed out as he laughed, “Right… because of your girlfriend.”
“She’s not my girlfriend.” He blushed, avoiding his gaze.
“Well, you should change that. Especially if you’re already researching all about her—er her power.” He nudged with a goofy grin.
“Okay can we focus?” he attempted to change the subject. “We know reasons Gaea took power from those four Gods. What about the others? Artemis, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Apollo.”
“Beats me.” He shrugged. “I’m clueless at mythology.” Yuya sighed, “You could at least try to think of something.” He sighed, “Fine. I’ll do what you did…” He pulled out his phone and searched them up. “Hmm… says here one of Aphrodite’s most famous story is Paris and the Golden Apple. I guess she promised him some pretty girl and he gave the apple to her instead of Athena and Hera.”
“So?”
“So… the girl, Helen, was already married to a King. That King sent over 40,000 ships to Troy, Paris’ home, to get her back.” He said impressed. “And that war waged on until the fall of Troy. Wow. Must have been one hot chick…”
“Okay, so she unintentionally started a major war in Greece.” He thought. “I dunno if that’s enough to take some of her powers.” Hikaru thought and lit up, “She was the Goddess of love. Men worshiped the ground she walked on! They’d do anything for her!”
“Anything she asked… they would do.” Yuya pondered the thought. “I guess that’s an okay reason…. Then I guess for the same reason… Apollo’s healing abilities is really useful. But I don’t see why Gaea would want to take that away…”
“You think that’s how they remained immortal?” Hikaru thought as Yuya gave him a look, “That wouldn’t make sense. They were immortal meaning they couldn’t die. Healing just heals wounds. Not keep them young and alive for thousands of years.”
“I’m just taking guesses… sheesh…” he sighed as he typed on his phone. Yuya then asked, “Anything?”
“You got a smartphone too. I can’t search everything myself…” Hikaru said as he finally got some results, “Okay. Apollo… God of healing, music, etc, God of a lot of things basically. He and his twin sister Artemis are archers. That might be it. Amazing Hunters?”
“I suppose…” he said.
“You don’t seem convinced.” Hikaru pouted. He shrugged in response, “I honestly don’t know what Gaea was thinking… Why take these powers in the first place? Hades, Zeus, and Poseidon I understand. They’re powerful, meaning they could also be dangerous. But Apollo’s ability to heal. That’s a good ability as well as Demeter’s abilities over crops and plants. Fire light our way and as much as it can be dangerous, it’s also really useful. Aphrodite’s ability of seduction is just pretty much manipulation over men. I don’t like that… and as for Artemis abilities over animals. I don’t know the point of that one…”
“What if she knew the locket would get opened? And wanted some of these powers to be unleashed?”
“Well if she did, she let Hades’ power out on the world.” Yuya scoffed. Hikaru thought, “Well, honestly, doesn’t the power depend on the use of its bearer? I doubt everything this person is doing is involuntary.”
“That’s true…” Yuya sighed. “This is just all so confusing.”
“Well, just bring up what we know about the Gods. Hopefully it will help Yuki and the others. They know a lot more about this than we do so maybe it’s a start.” Hikaru smiled optimistically. He nodded, “Hopefully…”
~Yamada’s Home~
“Gaea is Mother Earth. If she really wanted to protect the earth, then she wouldn’t have sealed away some of their powers and placed them here.” Chiharu argued to Ryosuke. “By nature, humans are curious creatures. Of course someone would open the locket if they found it. She wouldn’t endanger human kind like this!”
“Well she did! You heard Yuki, Keito, and Daiki.” he responded. “They’re the experts. The box should sadness on the gods faces. If they gave it up willingly would they be sad? No. She took their powers and hid it somewhere so they couldn’t find their full strength!”
“She provides us with our needs. She wouldn’t risk us to those kinds of dangerous abilities!”
“We have the powers don’t we? She already exposed us to it.” he pointed out as she groaned, “Urgh... you’re unbelievable! I know there’s more to it than that! Why can’t you?!”
“Because it’s simple. She took their powers and hid it away. Unfortunately, Keito and Daiki found it and unleashed the powers. She underestimated her hiding spot---”
“Would you two just knock it off?” Rena groaned in annoyance. “Geez... its hard to believe you two are actually dating. You still argue non-stop.” Ryosuke gave her a look, “Alright, then why don’t you tell us what you think about all this?”
“I really think we should trust the experts...”
“Ha!” Ryosuke rubbed it in as Chiharu glared. Rena continued, “But Chiharu does make a good point. Gaea wouldn’t expose humankind to a danger like this... Hades for one thing. The rest of our abilities aren’t so bad... That’s what’s really getting me thinking.”
“Well where else is she suppose to hid the locket? The sky?” Ryosuke asked sarcastically as Chiharu answered, “Yeah. Space would’ve been the perfect place to hid that power. No one would be able to find it.”
“Hello? Astronauts.” Ryosuke answered. Rena replied, “Space is too vast. The chances of someone finding it there would be one in a trillion.”
“So, she picked a bad place to hide it--”
“No, like I said before. She must have wanted it place where Keito and Daiki found it.” Chiharu stated triumphantly. “She wanted it here on Earth. She wanted someone to open it, and she wanted you and the others to bear the powers. But the question is why?”
“... is that a rhetorical question? Because I have no idea...” he asked as she sighed, “I swear, your brother gets more and more clueless everyday...”
“You get used to it.” Rena said bluntly as he pouted, “Hey. I’m right here.” Rena ignored him, “So, she takes their powers, only to have them unleashed to mortals. That’s what I really want to know. Why would she do that? The Gods know how to use their powers... whereas we only use it for our own gain. If she can’t trust the Gods with this power why hand it over to the lesser beings?”
“I may be mortal, but that does not make me less than a God- ow!” Chiharu whacked his head, “Honestly... what is wrong with you....” He ignored her comment as he said, “I think it was Keito who said that Gaea took a portion of their powers probably because they were too powerful. Maybe she believed if some of the mortals had that power, it would balance out in a way. So neither god nor mortal got to powerful.”
“You’re forgetting one important detail. Gods are immortal.” Rena said. “It’s not the same.” Chiharu added, “But he might be onto something. Gaea wanted some of us to have the God powers. Why? That’s what we need to figure out.”
“Urgh... can’t we just google it...” Ryosuke groaned annoyed. Chiharu sighed, “You want to google, ‘why Gaea wants to give mortals a portion of God powers’...”
“Yeah, that sounds like it could work in a search engine.” he said as Rena whacked his head again, “Idiot. Gaea’s locket was suppose to just be a legend. The only ones who would know is the ones who found it, Daiki and Keito.”
“It was just a suggestion...” he pouted rubbing his head. Rena sighed, “Just keep all these questions in mind as well as the theories we’ve put together. We’ll bring it up at the meeting this weekend-” Suddenly, all their phones went off as they saw they had received a text message from Daiki.
[Emergency meeting at our apartment! Tonight at 8!]
~Keito and Daiki’s Apartment~
“WHAT?!” everyone yelled as Daiki smiled, impressed with himself. “You all heard me. Hades isn’t the eight power.”
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