Gaea's Locket Ch. 20

~Keito and Daiki’s Apartment~

“WHAT?!” everyone yelled as Daiki smiled, impressed with himself. “You all heard me. Hades isn’t the eight power.” Yui asked, “But... the shadow? It has to be Hades right?” Ryutaro corrected, “Actually, it can be Erebus, the God of Darkness. Hades is only the God of the Underworld.” Yuki lit up, “Ah. That’s right! Then, maybe it Erebus, right Daiki?” He shook his head, “Nope. Let me explain. I finally figure out what we were missing with the locket.” He placed it down on the desk, in front of everyone, except Yuto and Kota who were still healing in the hospital. He pointed to the flower in the center. “The flower, obviously, represents Gaea. And the eight gems within the flower represents the powers she locked within the locket.”

“Daiki? What are you getting at? We already knew that-” Keito began.

“I know. But that’s all we were focusing on.” he stated.

“Because that is the only thing we need to focus on.” Keito answered back. “Daiki-”

“The locket is gold.” he pointed out. “And the key is silver. Hades was also known as the God of wealth. Right Yuki?” She nodded, “Because everyone who buried their treasures, it ended up belonging to Hades. Every material in the ground belongs to him.”

“The locket isn’t just gold to look pretty. Everything about this locket and even the box and key represents something that will help us uncover the secret of Gaea’s locket.” he concluded. “Hades own all the gold and silver... anything valuable in the ground. On the locket. It’s all around it. Except within the flower.”

“So...” Kaori thought. “It’s like Gaea is protecting the powers from Hades’ reach...” He nodded as Ryosuke groaned, grasping his head, “God... what the hell are you talking about? I thought Gaea took the powers away because the Gods were too powerful. Everything you’re talking about now go against what we’ve known from the beginning!”

“But that’s how it is...” Shirika stated. “That’s what we’re trying to figure out. No one knows the truth of Gaea’s locket. All we can do is theorize and try to prove them wrong until we find a theory that actually works.”

“Right.” Daiki said. Satomi sighed, “Alright, say Daiki has a point. Gaea is protecting the powers from Hades. That doesn’t mean that Hades is not the eight power. He could be trying to get back his powers from her. And maybe even the other powers to strengthen himself.”

“Very true.” Keito said. “But then... why hid it in the ground? Gaea left it in that spot for a reason. Hades own all within the ground. He could have unleashed his powers back at any moment.” Kei answered, “Not exactly. Daiki found the key because the sun’s rays reflected off it. There’s no sunlight in the underworld. Hades would have had trouble finding the key to unlock it.”

“And... the earth is pretty vast. Would Hades have actually found it?” Hakufu wondered.

“It was in Greece. The most obvious place to search.” Yuki pointed out as Yuya thought, “Gaea hid it in plain sight.” Everyone turned to him as he explained, “Gaea’s the mother of all Gods. She had to know what they were thinking. So she hid it in the most obvious place while the Gods looked in where they thought her best hiding places would be.”

“That makes sense.” Hikaru smiled. “But she didn’t think mortals would be able to find it, did she?” Daiki shook his head, “No. She did. That’s why she hid it here on earth and why there is even a legend of her locket. If she didn’t want mortals to know about it, the legend wouldn’t have gotten around.”

“But why? She took it from the gods. Why give it to us mortals?” Rena said.

“That’s what I’m still trying to figure out.” Daiki said.

“Actually...” Rini spoke up. “I think I might have an idea about that.” They waited for her explanation. “While researching the box, locket, and key... I noticed something about the key. Daiki?” He handed her the key as she held it in the palm of her hand and pointed, “It looks like a normal key, but look closely at the key grooves. Although its small. The first and last groove are the largest, making it look almost like a two prong staff.”

“Hades’ symbol.” Chiharu said. “Then it’s relation to the locket... It unlocked the powers.” Rini nodded, “In a way, I guess. The key is what opens the locket. But it is also the reason for locket the powers within the locket. If what Daiki is saying about Hades not being the eight power is true, then I believe that Gaea took the powers from the Gods in order to counter Hades.”

“Counter Hades?” Mai pondered it. “What do you mean counter Hades?”

“Think about it.” Yuri realized what Rini was talking about. “If Hades really isn’t the eight power. Then why is his power here? There has to be a reason for that, and it can’t be good. So, Gaea must have taken the God’s powers to put a stop to Hades.”

“Well I don’t understand why they couldn’t just stop Hades themselves.” Rena said. “Why give us mortals their powers when they can do it themselves?”

“Maybe they couldn’t.” Yuki thought. “Why did Hades give his powers to a mortal? He could’ve just done his worst himself. For whatever reason Hades got mortals involved, the Olympians had the similar reason.”

“Good point.” Keito sighed. “But I still don’t understand what makes you think that Hades isn’t the eight power. There has to be a more strong piece of evidence.” Daiki nodded. “There is. After I took a look at the locket and figured out what the gold represented, I remembered the box.” He motioned to Kei’s drawing. “Now, I’m pointing out the obvious again, but where are the gods placed on the box? Anyone?”

“In the sky...” Kaori went along with him. He nodded, “Right. They are placed in the sky. Meaning...” He waited for an answer as Keito groaned, “Daiki. They’re the Gods. They’re in the sky. Get to the point.”

“I’m getting there.” he replied. “They are the Gods. But not all the gods lived in the sky. Some of them were on Earth. The ones in the sky...” He awaited an answer again as Mai realized, “They were the Olympians.”

“Ding Ding Ding. We have a winner.” Daiki smiled at her. “The Gods in the sky represent the Olympians. The Gods who lived on Mt. Olympus. And there’s only 12 of those gods who live there.”

“Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter, Ares, Hermes, Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Dionysus, and Athena.” Satomi remembered the books she read. “Those were the twelve Olympians. Hades isn’t one of them since he ruled the Underworld.” Kaori thought, “So he really isn’t the eight power. The last power would have to be...”

“Ares, Hermes, or Dionysus.” Keito said getting up. “We need to find whoever it is soon.”

“Obviously.” Yuki stated. “Whatever Hades’ power is up to, we have to stop whoever it is soon.” Kei nodded, “And not only that. We need to really think about Hades’ reason for releasing his abilities on mortals as well as the Gods. And Gaea’s reasons for choosing these eight gods to give some of their powers to mortals.”

“And I want to get the locket out there.” Keito stated. “We’ll past the locket around every day. We need to know when the locket is around the eight power... it might even react to Hades.” He handed it to Yui, “You come in contact with a lot of people at the restaurant. It will be best if you start with this.” She nodded, “I’ll do my best.”

“Next meeting... saturday. World Cuisines.” Daiki stated as they all separated.

~Kota’s hospital room~

“Hey.” Satomi heard as she entered the room. Kota was up, his room completely cleaned. She smiled, “You’re getting discharged?” He nodded, “Yup. Finally getting out of this place. Shall we head out?” She nodded as they began walking, “So you missed out on a lot on the last meeting.”

“So I’ve heard...” he sighed. “Ryutaro came by to talk to me about it the other day... who do you believe the last power is?” She shrugged, “Hard to say... Hermes, Ares, or Dionysus are the only options, but until we know Gaea’s reasons for choosing the other seven gods, we won’t be able to know.”

“... so that’s another thing we need to figure out. Why these Gods’ powers were placed within the locket...” he thought as Satomi nodded, “That’s been one of the main questions from the start. Our problem was finding who had these powers first. And then there’s the whole problem with Hades. We sorta strayed away from everything we intended to know about Gaea’s locket.”

“Now we have to find those things out... and soon, right?”

“Yeah.” She nodded. “To figure out all this... and to see if this shadow really is a threat. We need to know everything about the locket and the story behind it. But figuring all that out....”

“It’s gonna take a lot hard work.... this isn’t just something you can look up in the library.” Kota stated. “Gaea’s locket was legendary. There’s probably nothing on it. Researching its history will be difficult.”

“Then we better put all our effort into it.” she said confidently as they headed off towards her office.

~Animal Shelter~

“Well what do you suppose?” Kei groaned, three days after the meeting as Rini pouted, “Well, I’m trying to know greek mythology like the back of my hand. You should try to do the same! How else are we suppose to know about Hades and the other other Gods?”

“I know all the basics. And beside, there’s nothing on Gaea’s locket anyways. What can you find out.” he retorted. She pointed out, “Hades, Hermes, Ares, and Dionysus’ traits. Then, when I take care of the locket I’ll go to where those traits are most common.” He thought as she stuck her tongue out at him, “See? I know what I’m doing.”

“... this is just getting over complicated...” he groaned, rubbing his forehead. “Kaori read every single one of those books in high school--”

“Even if she did, that was years ago.” she answered. “She can’t remember it page by page.”

“But she knows all about the Gods. She already knows the traits, what they’re known for, what kind of person would have those abilities.” he replied. Hakufu sighed, joining in, “Kei, just let her do her research. If you want to focus on something else, then do it.”

“Well, then what are you focusing on?” he gave her a look.

“I’m trying to get to know more about Hephaestus.” She held up her phone. “Might as well get to know more about my inner power don’t you think? Maybe I can do the stuff he could too.” He sighed as the door soon opened, “Welcome to--” He stopped as he realized who walked in.

“Hey, you were discharged!” Rini lit up as Yuto smiled, “Yup. Just this morning.”

“Welcome back.” Hakufu smiled in return. “If you’re looking for Kaori, she isn’t here right now.” His smile vanished for a moment as he sighed, “Heh. I’m that predictable, aren’t I?” The trio nodded as he asked, “Where can I find her? She didn’t pick up when I called her earlier.”

“Last time I heard from her, she was at work.” Kei stated.

“Okay. I’ll go visit her then.” he smiled. He then noticed all the books, “Wow. Did I miss something?” Rini asked, “The last meeting. Didn’t my sister tell you?”

“I haven’t seen her since that morning. She didn’t drop by at all after that.” he said a bit hurt. Kei gave a look, “That doesn’t sound like Kaori. I’ll give her a call.” He began dialing her number as Rini said, “Well, there’s a lot you missed...” She began explaining as Kei redialed Kaori’s number a few times, when finally, “Kaori! Hey, where are you?”

“Kei, I’m a little busy right now. Can you make this quick?” she answered as Yuto quickly took his phone, “Kaori, are you ok? I haven’t heard from you in the last couple days.”

“I’m fine Yuto. Look, I’ll call you later.” she said in a hurry.

“Kaori--” he was cut off as Kei took his phone back. “God. What’s her problem? She should be helping us with all this research.”

“Kaori will have an explanation.” Rini told him. “She knows how important this is. And as far as you know, she could be looking into something regarding all this.”

“It sounded more like she was goofing off with some friends.” he gritted. “Didn’t you hear the loud obnoxious guys shouting near her? What the hell is she up to?” Yuto remained silent as Hakufu gave Kei a whack to the arm, “She was probably just walking past those obnoxious guys on the way to lunch. Just because they were talking annoying behind her, doesn’t mean she was with them.”

“Whatever... let’s just get back to work.” he sighed heading to the back as Hakufu said, “Don’t worry about it too much Yuto. Kei’s just being a grumpy-pants right now.” He nodded, “I’ll... just head over to her work...”

“I’ll walk with you.” she smiled. “I’m meeting up with Yuya in a few anyways.” Rini giggled, “Wow... with everything that going on, you two manage to date at the same time. Impressive.” She laughed, “Oh, shut up, Rini. I’ll catch ya later.” She waved as the two headed off.

~Elsewhere~

"I’ll call you later.." Kaori sighed hanging up the phone immediately. She looked around the dirty alley and soon crawled out from her hiding place beneath a large dumpster when she saw the coast was clear. She looked around and spotted something carved on the ground. "...Akiyama… Watanabe…" She tensed up as she heard footsteps approaching. She took off in a sprint as she heard, "She's over here!" She turned the corner and focused as she transformed into a bird and hid on the side, confusing the people chasing after her. She took off into flight, thinking, "This.. might… be harder than I thought.."

~ Coffee Shop~

“Is this really such a good idea?” Hikaru sighed. “Going to the scene? If whoever this person is shows up there, you guys are screwed.” Yuya nodded, “You’re coming with us, you realize that right?”

“What? When did I agree to that?” he gave him a look. Yuya replied, “You showed up here with me. Hakufu and Ryutaro will be here soon so we can head over.” He groaned, “Seriously? I thought we were just getting coffee....”

“Hey.” they heard as Hakufu approached them, after waving goodbye to Yuto.

“Hey, you made it.” Yuya beamed as she smiled, “Of course, I did. We have a mission to get down.” She took a seat next to him as Hikaru asked, “What were you doing with Yuto?”

“Oh, well he dropped by the animal shelter. Looking for Kaori as usual...” she laughed. “That guy has got it bad for her.”

“Almost as bad as yours, Hikaru.” Yuya gave him a soft punch.

“I don’t have it bad...” he pouted as Hakufu scoffed, “Oh, please. Whenever Rini comes around you act like a hyper little play dog.”

“That isn’t true!” he defended himself as they soon heard, “Hey. Sorry we’re late.”

“Well speak of which...” Yuya beamed. “I didn’t know you would be joining us, Rini.” She smiled, “Well, Hakufu didn’t tell me you were all meeting to take a look at where Hades’ power has been. When Ryuu told me I thought it would be cool to check out.”

“Shall we get this show on the road?” Ryutaro said as they headed out.

“Rini, how’ve you been?” Hikaru quickly approached her as she smiled, “Pretty well, just a little overloaded with some books I’m reading--”

“I can help!” he quickly offered as she laughed, ‘That would actually be great. Thanks.”

“Heh. You’ve so got it bad...” Yuya said under his breath, however Hikaru was able to catch it.

“No I don’t!” he retorted as they left.

~World Cuisines~

“Everything alright in here?” Yuri said entering the kitchen. All the staff nodded, continuing their work as he approached Yui, “I don’t suppose anything has happened yet.” She looked down at the locket hanging around her neck, shaking her head. “Nothing... do you think... maybe I should walk around the restaurant? It might react then...”

“It might. But how will you explain it to the customers. A bright light emerges from your locket and points at them?” he stated as she sighed, “Good point. But I honestly don’t know what else to do... Maybe I should just pass it on to someone else.”

“Just wear it for the rest of the day.” he suggested. “You never know when the one with the god power gets hungry. And the restaurant is popular. He has to come in eventually.” He opened the kitchen door as he looked out at all the people with Yui. She looked down at the locket, hoping for a reaction. Nothing.

“... There’s just too many people in the world to know...”

“And we don’t have the time to slack off...” he replied. “Not with Hades’ power out there.” She nodded. “Do you think he knows about the other powers?”

“I dunno. But he could’ve seen Yuto and Hakufu. Those two had best be on their guard. If he did see them... they could be his next targets.” he thought about it. “If I were Hades’ power. I’d see the other powers as a threat to me.”

“Well, then. Maybe we could use them to catch Hades. At least then, he goes to prison, we don’t have to worry-”

“He could slip out. Remember. He has god powers. Even worse, Hades’ power.” he figured. “We need to figure out Hades’ weakness.”

“He was immortal.”

“But the one with his power isn’t.” he replied.

“But we don’t know who his power is.” Yui sighed. “How can we find their weakness if we don’t know who they are?” He was in thought as he sighed, looking out at the filled restaurant, “I feel as if we’re getting so close... but we still barely know anything.” She nodded in depression as they soon heard, “Hey, any luck?” Chiharu and Ryosuke beamed as they stood by the side. Yui pointed to the locket, “Nothing yet. Have you guys figured anything out?”

“Nothing.” Chiharu sighed. “Unfortunately, this guy got too impatient with the books and got hungry. So we decided to come by to see if you were having any luck with the locket.”

“Books isn’t gonna help. Whatever Gaea had planned for the locket... she should’ve left some kind of note or clue to why she took the powers. That’s not something we could look up in books.” he groaned. “Before Daiki discovered Hades wasn’t one of the eight powers Gaea took, we all assumed she was the villain in all this. She took the powers because of their power, and now its unleashed in the world. Now, it seems like Hades’ power is the threat. So does that mean Gaea was actually doing the world a favor?”

“Obviously. She probably took the power to counter Hades.” Chiharu stated. Yuri answered, “But what if Hades only released his power on the world because Gaea was collect the other God powers? We don’t know who initiated the thought of giving their powers to mortals.”

“... How does Keito and Daiki do stuff like this...” Yui sighed. “There’s just... so much to figure out.” Yuri nodded, “And luckily, they have more heads to help them figure out this mystery.”

~Pinecrest and Spring Intersection~

“This is where the crash happened....” Ryutaro looked around busy street. Hakufu thought, “it’s gonna be tough trying to find clues with all these cars passing by. Rini looked at it, “Well, just try to picture it. A dark evening, a shadow creepily appearing in the middle of the road, and CRASH! Right into a pole.”

“Not helping Rini.” Ryutaro gave her a look. He looked around, “There’s the lamp pole they crashed into... So I guess... Hades must have been right around there.” Hakufu nodded, “That seems about right. Where Yuto and I were... its in that direction so he must have came all the way here, stopped to look around, crash Kota’s car into the lamp pole, and ran off in this direction.”

“Now the main question... where he ran off to.” Yuya stated as they all pondered the question. Hikaru sighed, “Well, definitely away from the police.”

“Obviously...” Ryutaro pointed out as Rini realized, “But wait.... isn’t the police station in that direction?” They all nodded as Hakufu thought, “If he was avoiding them, why would he be heading to the police station?”

“To confuse them?” Hikaru suggested. “Hiding in plain sight. He does have the power to do it...” Hakufu added, “Still, with that power, he could have left at anytime. Why stick around here when all the cops are looking for you?”

“He’s got something keeping him here....” Rini stated. Ryutaro nodded, “And that’s... our next mission.”

~Bling Animation Studio~

“Kaori? You here?” Yuto knocked on her office door. He opened it, peeking in, “Kaori, I’m coming in.” He looked around the messy, yet empty room. Papers were sprawled all over the room, crumpled up papers surround the trash bin. Pencil shavings and other utensils were all over her desk as something caught his eye. The only neat thing in her office was the picture frames on her desk and a nice looking folder place under them.

“What’s this...” he wondered moving the photos to pull out the folder. He opened it surprised to see comic sketches. But what really caught him off guard was that the sketches all seemed so familiar to him... because they had happened to him. Or at least, he had been apart of the events.

“Gaea’s Locket...” he noticed it in one of the sketches. He flipped through it as he saw their skydiving date, a sketch of him sleeping in the hospital, everyone’s first meeting, even one of a dark shadow lurking in the background of some scenes.

“Yuto?” he jumped, caught off-guard. “What are you doing here?” Shirika entered the room as he placed down the folder, “I was looking for Kaori. Do you know where she is?”

“Not here. She asked for a day off today.” she explained. “I guess she got majority of the sketches needed to be done... well done. So the producers gave her the day off.”

“But... Kei said she was working.”

“Nope. Hasn’t been in all day long...” she said a bit worried. “Do you think... somethings wrong?” He shook his head, “I doubt it. If anything, Kaori would be the one causing trouble.” She sighed with a smile, “That’s true I guess.” She eyed the folder he had placed down, “So you found her comic.”

“You knew?”

“Yeah, I was with her when she started it.” she sighed staring at it. “It was her way... of keeping everything that’s been going on... into an easy way to remember. She used to draw alot of greek monsters and gods in her spare time... of course back in high school, when she was obsessed with that kind of things. I guess that’s how she memorized so much of what’s been happening.” He skimmed through it again as he stared at the shadow looming in the background, “Did she see Hades power?”

“I don’t think so. That’s her own interpretation of him.” Shirika answered. “You all did say it looked exactly like a shadow. And this is what she assumes it looks like.” He stared at it, but continued to look through it, with Shirika scanning it with him.

“She has everything down to the last detail.” he said impressed. She nodded, “What point would it be to be missing details? If you don’t remember... she hated the fact she had her abilities. It was troublesome for her and she just wanted to ignore the fact she even had them. She wanted so badly to get rid of them, so what better way then solving the mystery of Gaea’s locket.”

“... She hated... as in past tense.” he thought as she smiled, “I’ve seen her getting the hang of it every now and then. When she’s alone in here, she practices... and she’s smiling while doing it. I think, she’s finally taken a liking to it. Maybe because she’s understanding it now... and is learning to control it.”

"Not just her… we've all been improving." Yuto pointed out as she smiled with a nod. She took the folder from him as she sighed, "But honestly, I think she put this together for another reason too…" She flipped through it, soon stopping at a sketch of their date at World Cuisines. "To reminiscence the good memories she's made during all this mystery."

"Hmm… there's always a reason to what happens to you." he said philosophically. "Some say its up to God, destiny, fate… whatever it is, I'm positive we were chosen because we were all suppose to meet." Shirika nodded, "I think so too… but why do you think we were all meant to meet each other? That's the explanation we're looking for… and the explanation that might even help us find the final power."

"Well, whoever it is, we're meant to meant him/her." he pointed out. "And honestly, the person with Hades' power too. We were meant to meet him. Meant to run into him. I'm not sure why yet… but we were." They placed her folder back where it was as he sighed, "Well, I guess I should head out. Sorry to disturb you."

"I was done anyways…" she shrugged it off. "Are you still gonna look for Kaori?" He pondered the thought for a moment but sighed, "I've been bugging her enough lately… Whatever she's up to, I'm sure she can handle it. I'm worried.. but I trust whatever she's thinking."

"Hehe. Cute." she giggled. "So how long have you two been dating?" He blushed a bit, "Not at all… I still haven't asked her."

"Well, better get a move on." she encouraged as the two headed out.

~Daiki and Keito’s apartment~

"Are you ok?" Mai asked as Daiki furiously searched through articles on the gods as well as police reports trying to find connections. He groaned, "I have got to get this. There has to be a connection to Hades' power and the rest of the other powers."

“You seem way too tense lately...” she sighed. “You’re starting to act like Keito.” He took a breath, “That’s what I’m trying to do I guess... he’s just been... really on my back about everything lately.” He sat down, placing down his notes as she sat with him. He explained, “I know I’m klutzy and too curious for my own good, but I can be so much more than that. I unleashed the powers with the locket, I broke the stone box, I get why he’s always upset at me. That’s why I’ve been trying so hard. He was impressed when I found out that Hades wasn’t the eight power, but since then, he’s been too into his research to even hear anything else I have to say. I have to show him that I can be a great archaeologist. Just like him.”

“You really look up to him, don’t you?” Mai smiled as he did, “Yeah. Ever since I was young. We’ve known each other since we were like around 10. It’s funny... being older than him, but he’s the more mature, responsible one. I just liked goofing off and having fun. But he was happy when we both decided to take up archeology. So happy enough to even have me as his partner.” He scoffed a bit, “Of course... he was always better... easily figuring things out. I may have found the box containing Gaea’s locket. But it was him who uncovered most of the things we’ve discovered. I just... I feel like I should be doing more to help him.”

“Heh, should I be jealous?” Mai teased. “Do I have to talk to Yuki about this bromance you two are having behind our backs?” He laughed, “Don’t worry. Despite the fact that he and I have had lunch, dinner, and breakfast together all our lives, I’ve never dance with him like I did with you at the Thanksgiving party.” She smiled, “Haha, well good.”

“And.. I’ve never kissed Keito before either.” he pointed out as she gave him a look, “You’ve never--” She was cut off as he place a quick kiss on her lips. A blush ran across her face as he laughed, “You’re so cute when you’re embarrassed.”

"You caught me off guard!!” she pouted looking away as they door soon opened.

“We’re back!” Yuki and Keito walked in with some more books and articles. Keito asked Daiki, “Anything?” He shook his head, “Still a work in progress.” He nodded heading back to his room, with a few books, closing the door shut behind him. Daiki sighed as Mai looked at his disappointed face. He went back to scanning through the articles as Mai went over to Yuki, who was sitting at Keito’s desk, reading through some books.

“Hey, Mai. What’s up?” she wondered as she leaned against the desk. She said, “Is Keito ok in there?” She nodded, “Don’t worry about that bookworm. He feels like he’s so close to uncovering this mystery that he’s not giving up anytime soon. He just needs to be alone for a bit.” She saw the look on Mai’s face, “What’ wrong?”

“It’s just... Daiki wants a little attention, I guess.” she sighed. “He’s working his butt off over there trying to find something that will impress Keito. He’s been feeling... like he’s been a nuisance to him.”

“Well, obviously, that’s not true.” she smiled. “Daiki has done lot to help with the locket. He found it after all.” She nodded, “Even so... he believes he’s just caused a lot more trouble than he has helped... he’s really trying to get this over with.”

“Seems like we all are.” she scoffed. “I’ve about had it with all the worrying about this Hades’ power. I just want to get rid of him and move on with my life.” She thought, “What do you plan to do? When this is all over?” She thought, “Honestly, I dunno. I’ve had so much to do lately... despite all the papers I have to grade for my class at the university... but besides teaching, I can’t see what I’m gonna be doing.” She smiled, “Well for one thing, I’m definitely going to keep in contact with all of you. It’s been a fun couple months with you all and I don’t want us to just get on with our lives, back to the way it was before we all met.”

“That would be a shame.” she sighed glancing at Daiki writing notes on the articles.

“Maybe even have a ‘we-finally-got-rid-of-the-god-powers reunion party in a few years.” she teased as Mai laughed, “Well, we certainly won’t find that on a party banner.” She smiled, “I can customize it.” She then glanced at Keito’s door as she sighed, “Maybe... even get that guy to stop taking his job so seriously and take a break every now and then.”

“He definitely needs it.” Mai stated as his door suddenly opened, “Yuki, take a look at this for me....” She got up heading over as Daiki looked up trying to listen in. She looked at the book in his hand and the paragraph he was pointing at.

[Moreover, when it comes to meteorological phenomena, one must believe that movements, turnings, eclipses, risings, settings, and related phenomena occur without any god helping out and ordaining or being about to ordain things and at the same time having complete blessedness and indestructibility; 77. for troubles and concerns and anger and gratitude are not consistent with blessedness, but these things involve weakness and fear and dependence on one’s neighbours.]

“I understood nothing of that sentence...” Mai blanked as Yuki read it out loud. She pondered it as she thought, “Epicurus right? He was a Greek philosopher... I studied his work back in college... Obviously, he doesn’t really believe in the gods.”

“He never mentions that in this statement...” Keito said rereading it.

“It’s implied.” she stated taking the book from his hands. “Why did you get this book anyways? It has nothing to do with the gods.”

“I just thought Greek philosophy would help in understanding what Gaea was thinking.” he stated as Daiki came over to review the statement. He asked, “Okay, I just had a total brain meltdown. Can you explain this Yuki?” She nodded, “It’s not the easiest piece to understand, but I get the jist of it.” She looked at it and summarized, “In Greece, most people believe that everything bad that happened to them was because the gods were angered. Epicurus however, believed in something different. Basically, he mentions that God, or any Gods, are perfect beings, indestructible and blessed. They have everything they could ever want, therefore they wouldn’t be interested in what we lesser beings do. They don’t worry about what goes on with us because they don’t care.”

“But that completely goes against what we’ve learned.” Daiki stated. “Gaea got the Gods involved with mortals. They gave us, mortals, a portion of their powers.” Keito nodded, “True, but think about it, if this is how the Gods are suppose to be because they’re supremely happy with having everything, why would they be bugging us? Burdening us with their powers?”

“Because... they aren’t supremely happy with everything they have...” Mai guessed as he nodded, “Exactly. They must have been bored or angry with someone or just really hate us and wanted to cause trouble with the Earth.”

“But that would mean that Gaea doesn’t like us beings, after all she took the power right?” Daiki brought up the topic. “But she’s Mother Earth. If she really doesn’t like us, couldn’t she just cause a random natural disaster like an earthquake or something to kill us all? Why bring the God powers into it?”

“We’re missing something... something important.” Yuki sighed scanning through the book. Daiki thought, looking back at his articles, “... I’ve been reading alot about the Gods... Hades in particular. I may not know anything about this Epicurus guy but I know that Hades was always an antagonist figure throughout most myths. He and the Olympians never got along.” He concluded, “If what you guys are saying about the Gods giving their powers out of anger or boredom is true... then I believe that its because of Hades.”

“What do you mean?” Mai wondered as Keito listened carefully.

“The powers we have were the Olympians. The kingdom in the sky. There’s no way they could have been unhappy. They were even worshipped by us mortals throughout the years. If any of them were angry at us or so bored they wanted to mess with us, it would have to be Hades.” he explained. “Hades lived in the Underworld. Mortals only paid tribute to him in fear. And from what I’ve been reading about their rivalry... if Hades started something troublesome within the world, the Olympians would counter it.”

“But then how does Gaea play into it all?” Mai wondered.

“Well...” he thought about it. “This is all just assumptions and theories right now, okay? But I think that it was Gaea who found out about Hades wanting to cause trouble on the world above. He may live in the underworld, but that’s still apart of Gaea herself. She must have talked to the Olympians about it... and that’s why she took their powers.”

“That would also explain why they’re faces were drawn with worry on the box!” he lit up. “It wasn’t because they were getting their powers taken away. It was because there was trouble approaching and they had to give their powers to mortals to stop Hades.”

“That still doesn’t explain why they couldn’t just stop Hades themselves.” Yuki pointed out. He thought and sighed, “I haven’t gotten that far yet... sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Keito said, pondering everything they had went over. He smiled, “That’s a strong theory you have. And it’s our best until proven wrong.” He headed back into his room to review other books as Daiki smiled in appreciation. He went back to his articles as Mai and Yuki shared a quick, happy smile and went back to researching.

~Elsewhere~

"I don't get what we're doing here Kaori." she sighed, leaning against a wall, hiding in its shade to avoid the sun. "This is risky…" She heard Kaori's voice whisper through her cell phone, "I wouldn't be asking you to help me if I didn't need it…. Are you in position?"

"Yea, I'm here." she said.

"Good, now-"

"You told me the first time. I just don't know why we're doing this." Rena stopped her. "Can you please explain? Like now-"

"No. Time. They're heading your way." she said hanging up as Rena groaned, "Well, fine…" She put her phone away as she soon saw a group of guys turn the corner, heading towards her direction.

“...” she sighed and got out of the sun as she began walking in the direction right towards them. As she approached, she heard, “I can’t believe we lost--”

“Hottie at 12 o’ clock...” another guy said as one whistled. Rena gave them a flirtatious smile as one asked, “What’s a cutie like you doing in a place like this?” She replied, “Just wandering around actually. My friends ditched me and I have nothing to do.”

“Well, enough wandering... you can hang out with us--”

“Akira! Kyo! Hiro! What the hell are you doing?!” someone shouted at them as they sighed, “What does it look like? Hanging out with a pretty girl--” A punch came in contact with his face as they guy shouting at them glared, “Well where’s the other girl you lost?!”

“Hey. You lost her too Akiyama!” he gritted rubbing his now injured cheek. Rena smirked, “Oh, so you’re the famous Akiyama...” He gave her a look, “How do you know me?” She giggled cutely, “Doesn’t everyone around here know you? The famous leader of the most toughest gang in the area.” He scoffed a bit, obviously liking the compliment. She place her hand on his bicep as she smiled, “And I can see why. You look so strong.”

“Its either you got it or you don’t.” he smirked. She then said, strongly, “You should definitely ask me out sometime... maybe like, now.” He immediately asked, “Then let’s go.”

“Aw what?! I saw her first!” “Like hell! I did!” The other guys fought as Akiyama shouted, “Shut up! Look for that other girl! When I get back you had better have her!” He wrapped an arm around Rena and they began walking off as she asked, “So... who’s this other girl you’re so desperate to find? We just met and I’m already getting jealous.”

“Heh. Don’t worry about it. She’s just a pest that keeps messing with my gang.” he scoffed. “She’s certainly been troublesome--” Rena suddenly pushed him into an alleyway as Kaori grasped his throat, “Yell for help and I will knock you out right here, right now.” He was silent as he asked, “What the hell is your problem?”

“I have some questions and you are going to answer them. Got it.” she gritted.

“And if I refuse?” he glared. She smirked, “I got her.” She motioned to Rena standing behind her. She let go of his throat as Rena said, “Now you’re gonna stay right there and be a good little boy who will answer all of Kaori’s questions truthfully, got it?” He nodded, unable to resist.

“Now... first question, do you remember a girl you harrassed three weeks ago? A guy came to help her and some weird stuff started to occur when they fought you.” Kaori asked. He nodded, “Yeah... she was on fire... and the guy must have had some kind of taser on him...” She smiled, “Good. Now was your entire gang there for the fight?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, then tell me this. What do you know of the shadow that watched that fight?” she glared seriously at him. “And tell me every detail you can about it.”