Chapter Seven: The Broomstick
"I want to help her."
The announcement caught the attention of all the guys who in turn looked at the archer in disbelief. Surprisingly, it was Kento who spoke up in agreement. "I do too," he said.
They seemed to mull this over. They all sensed a strong desire to aid the woman and though they weren't too surprised by this fact, it was the strength with which they felt it that tossed them off balance. It was more than simple compassion that drove them on. The Ronins didn't realize, had no way of knowing, that it was their very own armor and their guiding virtues that nudged them incessantly for the woman's cause.
They merely knew that something was gravely wrong. So much that they couldn't put the situation from mind. Kento's armor in particular nudged him with unignorable consistency, repeating itself subconsciously so much that he couldn't separate the thoughts from his own. 'Something has been done wrong here.'
"So now what?" came Cye's voice, interrupting the silent reverie that each had gone into.
"We tell her what all Rowen has found out and offer our help," Ryo said as if it were quite that simple.
"What all have you found out, Ro?" asked Sage, his violet eyes flicking towards the archer who was comfortably sprawled across the arm chair he had claimed.
"From what I've deciphered," began Rowen in what Kento had dubbed his 'brainy' voice and attitude, "The woman was found guilty of a long list of sins. The sentence was that she would have to live as her antithesis until she could conduct herself in a more contrite manner. But from the notes on the judgment, I'd say it wasn't intended to go as far as it did nor to last as long."
"How long has it lasted?" Ryo inquired.
"If this is indeed her..." Rowen trailed off and proceeded to do the math in his head. "At least three or four centuries."
"Bloody Hell," swore Cye.
"My thoughts exactly," Ryo echoed. "So while we're on the topic, how do we break it to her that we're the Ronin Warriors?"
"We don't," said Rowen breezily. "It's the easiest and simplest method. If she finds out, she finds out, but there's no need for her to know ahead of time."
"Agreed," chorused the others.
"Oooh," said Atropis, a wickedly pleased smile stretching across her toad-like face. "Lying, hmm... the sin of omission. That's going to cost them big."
"Oh, keep your whiskers on," said Clotho impatiently. "We're not cutting them off just yet, ye old scissor happy wartnose."
"Says the lovely maiden that even Zeus ignored."
"Shut UP!" Lachesis interrupted sharply. "We have more important things to do and none of them involve your senseless bickering."
"Stick in the mud," said Clotho who was now sulking moodily.
"Whatever. Back to the matter at hand," said the woman with business like briskness. "It is better if they leave it alone and keep their mouths shut. She will know them in her own time."
"Agreed," said the maiden, already back to weaving.
"Can I cut her string?" Atropes pleaded.
Lachesis gave her a stern look. "Most certainly not. Do us all a favor and cut your own!"
"Oooh, harsh," winced the hag.
"Bite me," snapped the middle sister, officially ending the conversation.
--
Ademia was staring blankly at them. They had just informed her of their belief of who she was and their intent to do something to help her. Her mind, still swirling with confusion as well as shock, seemed unable to absorb this. She held up her hands to halt their explanations. "Okay, so let me get this straight. You're willing to help me... even though you risk angering whoever made me this way in the first place?"
"Pretty much," nodded Ryo.
She stared and said, "If I was as powerful as you say and they still took me down... You're willing to get involved?"
Cye gave a shrug and a wry grin. "We're dumb that way."
"Dumb?" echoed Shinatsu. "You're fucking stupid!"
Kento clamped a hand over the girl's mouth. "Little girls should not swear like that," he reprimanded sternly.
She nodded and he released her. "Okay, Kento-kun."
Cye stared openly. "How'd you do that?" he demanded.
"Kento has one thing going for him that the rest of you losers missed out on," said Shin. "Its a handy thing called 'common sense.' You should invest in some."
"Oh Kami," said Sage, a hand going to his forehead. "They're bonding."
Before Shinatsu had an opportunity to voice the smart comeback that they all knew was coming, Sage brought the conversation back to where it had originally been. "So our issue lies with finding the remains of her dandy little charm, right?" he asked Rowen.
The archer nodded, his blue mullet giving an enthusiastic bob. "Yeah. I have only the riddles the book gave me to find the locations and they're not simple, either."
"Well, if the walking brain is having a hard time," said Kento from where he sat, hands behind his head and legs stretched out in front of him. "Its safe to say we're in deep."
"Thank you Kento," said Cye and then he addressed Rowen. "Do you have any guesses about where they are?"
"Yes," admitted the man reluctantly. "But that's all they are."
Ryo gave a sigh. "He's so scientifically minded that he can't stand anything unless there's hard evidence to support it," he told Ademia.
"Consider it a hypothesis and tell us," said the woman with surprising briskness.
He frowned but obliged. "The first piece I'm near positive is in Greece. The riddle is this:
On a hill beside the sea,
Blessed of Olympia,
Cursed of beauty,
Weeps the rain on
Slopes of Stone
Walls of safety
Crumbling stone by stone."
"How did you ever guess Greece?" inquired Cye dryly. "Olympia gave you a hint, eh?"
Ademia delivered them both looks that served to quiet them. "Rowen," she said gently. "What else can you deduce from it?"
The archer gave a hopeless shrug. "Not much. I know it mentions a hill at the seaside but Greece has hundred of places like that."
"Okay, so what about the reference to 'walls of safety'?" asked Sage.
"A fortress, perhaps," said Rowen. "But the crumbling bit means ruins and correct me if I'm wrong but.. Greece is COVERED in ruins."
"Alright," said Cye. "Don't get your knickers in a bind."
Rowen's jaw clenched as he fought the urge to make a snappish retort. His inability to decipher the riddle was more than chafing him. The answer eluded his sharp mind so thoroughly that he'd been driven to distraction. He was startled from his thoughts as Ademia's hand came to rest on his shoulder.
"It's okay," she said quietly. "No one holds it against you."
"I do," he griped bitterly.
"Well, don't," she said sternly. He looked away and didn't answer.
"What does 'blessed of olympia, cursed of beauty' mean, I wonder," mused Cye.
"There was a Greek goddess who was so beautiful that men fell in love with her just by looking," answered Rowen. "It was... Aphrodite, I think."
"Who?" blinked Kento.
"She was the goddess of Love and Beauty," said Ademia. She looked down at Rowen expectantly. "Do you think she has anything to do with this? She was one of the twelve High Olympians. Do you think that is what it meant by 'blessed'?"
He seemed to be contemplating this. "Perhaps," he mused. "You know what?" Rowen stood up, his excitement having returned with sudden inspiration. "I'm going to do some research. I think I know what I'm looking for."
Cye rolled his eyes skyward as Rowen shot out of the room with no further explanation. "You know, it wouldn't have killed him to wait a few minutes and tell us what's on his mind."
Ryo was looking at the door that the archer had long ago slammed behind him. "With Rowen... I don't know about that."
--
Rowen was once again hunkered down in the library, but this time doing a rather necessary touch up on his knowledge of Greek mythology. After several hours (he had no idea how many exactly had gone by, nor did he care) he set down the textbooks and gravitated to the maps, determined to gain an overview of Greece's landscape.
What he was looking for wasn't entirely defined in his mind but the rationale steadily ticked away as he sifted through the mounds of information presented to him.
"You going to need in to the big book?" Sayaki's voice intruded in the archer's thoughts as he was methodically shooting down idea after idea.
"No, I'm good," said Rowen without looking up from the array of maps he had used to take up one of the reading tables.
This sort of occurrence was completely normal but even this kind of in depth research was overboard from what Sayaki had witnessed. "What sort of project are you working on?" the librarian wouldn't normally have pried but the whole ordeal had him about to burst with curiosity.
"Mm, wha?" Rowen finally pulled his head up out of the papers he had been persuing.
Sayaki casually glanced down at the notebook and quirked an eyebrow at the queer symbols that he saw. It was only a quick peek but it was clear that it wasn't English or Japanese. Rowen noted his looking and subtly hinted for Sayaki to mind his own business when he picked up the notebook and put it back into his rucksack. "Ancient Greek history and life," was his response to the questions.
"This must be one heck of a research paper," said Sayaki, trying to nudge the other into revealing more information. The comment failed to impress or further Rowen's interest, who just as quickly became immersed in his thoughts, pouring over the maps with a distracted mumbled response of assent.
Sayaki blinked and then rolled his eyes as he realized he had already been forgotten. Well, no matter. He had things to be doing that did not involve the overzealous research student. With one last glance at the pile of notes, maps, and books that seemed to hint of adventure and mystery to the librarian, he turned and went to his regularly scheduled duties. He'd been hoping he could get in a nap today but if Rowen didn't need the other book then there went that hope.
When Rowen finally resurfaced for air, it was with a triumphant grin. His rucksack slung over his shoulder, he happily trotted down the sidewalk to Starbucks. This called for one of those sickeningly sweet frappuccinos that made Cye gag at the thought of.
Ryo looked up from the notebook on his lap as Strata's bearer practically skipped in the door. Sage raised an eyebrow and voiced the question that had occurred to them all. "What's got you so happy?"
Rowen tossed his cup in the garbage and faced his friends, beaming. "Guess."
"You finally got laid!" supplied Cye with a mile-wide grin.
Rowen's smile turned into a scowl and before he could answer, Ryo snorted out, "That'd never happen."
The archer shot his leader a venomous look. "No, is that all you guys ever think about? Clean it up, we have young ears present." He pointed at Yuli who was sniggering.
"Key words, 'us guys,'" said Kento. "So the answer is, 'no duh.'"
"No, don't tame it down for me!" the boy said quickly. "This is funny!"
"ANYWAY," said Rowen in a strained voice, his good mood quickly turning sour at his friends' banter. He set down his rucksack and pulled out his notebook which he tossed onto the coffee table before he pulled off his jacket.
Kento leaned over and grabbed it up to get a sneak preview. He evaded Rowen's grabbing hands and blinked at what he saw. "The hell is this?" he asked, turning the paper to view it at different angles, as if hoping it would make more sense upside down or diagonally than it did right-side up.
Rowen grabbed it back, looking as offended as a girl with her diary being invaded by marauding brothers. "Would you just wait?" he demanded.
Something between Rowen's altogether over-defensiveness and the secret language caught Kento's attention and he grinned in a manner that made the archer thoroughly apprehensive. When Kento decided to make a smart comment, it meant you were about to be the laughingstock. "You're drafting love letters or something, aren't you?"
"EH?!" Rowen blinked, stunned.
Kento took this as encouragement and speedily elaborated. "Oh come on, we're not that dumb. The secret code, the defensiveness, the way you talk to her..."
"Talk to who?" squeaked Rowen, pink and wide eyed.
"...The way you look at her for pity's sake," continued Kento, still chortling. "Ademia! Who else? So admit it - ole Ro's caught the love bug and is coming up with tender words to woo the object of his affections!"
Rowen's eyes were like saucers, his face tomato red and white knuckling his notepad. "I am NOT!" he squawked.
By now everyone, including Sage was laughing at him. "Look at him," said Cye, positively gleeful. "His face screams guilty!"
Predictably, though, it was Sage who brought the room back to order. "All right, this is great sport but I'd like to know just what Rowen's original excitement was about - and before any of you make a comment," he added to be a smart ass, "The broomstick isn't coming out any time soon. Get used to it."
"I figured it out!" burst out Rowen, halting any comments from the other guys. At their momentary looks of confusion, he added, "The riddle! I figured it out! I think I know where another piece of Ademia's pendant is!"
