We finally get into the bigger parts. And yet not longer….I'll do my best to fix that…

I own nothing!

Chapter 5

"The entire shopping district has been closed due to explosions. It is believed to be an act of terrorism, and the entire city is now on high alert. Police have yet to respond to reporters' questions, but it is believed the bomber is still at large-"

"Yeah, no kidding." Shay said as she switched off the news. It had taken almost an hour after they got home before anyone would tell her just what was going on; she'd only heard of Hao before, never actually seen him. She also hadn't known that he and Yoh were twins. She frowned; it was awfully hard to imagine someone like Yoh being related to one of the most feared shamans in the world…

Shay sighed and shook her head; things were complicated enough with the sirens, now they had some pyromaniac / psychopath back from the dead to deal with-

Wait a minute. The siren, and then that black fire….

"Holy crap!"

Yoh was in bed, trying in vain to sleep, when he heard stomping sounds out in the hall. He just had time to sit up when Shay suddenly burst into his room. Unfortunately, in her haste she'd forgotten that Yoh slept on a floor mat instead of a bed, and so ended up tripping-

And landing right on top of Yoh. As they worked to untangle themselves from each other, the other shamans, who had heard the commotion, came to the doorway. As Shay finally managed to get herself free of Yoh's blanket, she looked up to see Anna standing directly over them, the others behind her, staring.

"A-Anna," Yoh said nervously, already picturing torture of the worst degree.

But before anything else happened, Shay shot up. "Hao is working for Eris!"

Sitting around the dining room table with cups of hot tea, Shay began to explain her theory.

"Anna, you read Marina's diary, right?"

"Yes."

"How far have you gotten?"

"I've finished it."

Shay blinked; Marina's diary was actually about 3 volumes, that Shay in her free time had copied into a very thick notebook; as the originals were not only old, but written in Greek, she'd needed the help of her Greek grandparents and a few online translators to do it. The finished product was a good 500 pages. The fact that Anna had finished reading it in English in just under 5 days was remarkable.

"A-anyway," she continued. "Do you remember her first encounter with Eris?"

"In Tartarus, correct? Where she tested Sinbad?"

"Right. Well, do you remember how she described Eris? And later, when she appeared in Syracuse?"

Anna thought a moment. Then, when she spoke, she sounded like she was quoting the book itself. "She appeared like smoke, with eyes as bright as fire. And she didn't walk; she just appeared, flickering like black flame-" Anna stopped, and her eyes widened. Everyone else had caught it, too. Black flame. Just like what Hao had used to disappear.

"What about the sirens?" Manta spoke up. "Hao doesn't control them, does he?"

"No. Eris does. But I think she told them to listen to him." Everyone was surprised that Yoh was the one who answered; reluctantly, Yoh told them of his dream the night of the siren's attack. When he finished, the table remained silent for a minute. Then Shay spoke again.

"Maybe not so much as to do as he says, but maybe just to harry us? I mean, think about it: Hao has a reason to attack you guys, but Eris doesn't. But, Eris just loves to cause problems; if she can spread a little chaos, she will. So, if Hao decided to team up with her-"

"-Then he'd be even stronger." Ren cut in.

Once again, the room fell silent. Finally, Anna spoke up.

"Yoh, call Ryu and tell him to come back here. And Faust as well."

"But Anna, it's the middle of the night." Ryu had gone off to spend some time with his old gang, while Faust had decided to take an impromptu vacation with Eliza.

"And contact Lyserg." Now there was a moment of awkwardness; given Lyserg's history with Hao, Yoh somehow didn't think telling him about what was going on over the phone was the best idea. Besides, he was in London, at some boarding school. He couldn't just drop everything to come to Japan. Plus, though he wouldn't say it out loud, Yoh wasn't sure Lyserg would be able to handle the news that Hao was back. He might decide to do something drastic.

"Hey," Manta cut in carefully. "Why don't we, uh, wait on telling Lyserg. I mean, it's not like we know very much right now, and Lyserg's at a boarding school. So why don't we wait until his next break?"

Of course, they knew when his next break was; he'd written them a letter that said it. In four weeks, he'd be out for the summer. But they couldn't just keep him out of the loop until then. He was a detective-in-training; he'd eventually figure out that they were keeping something from him.

As if on cue, the phone suddenly rang. With a somewhat sinking feeling, Yoh stood up and answered it. "Hello?"

"Yoh-kun?" Yoh could have face-palmed; there couldn't have been a worse time for Lyserg to call.

"Hey, Lyserg." Everyone at the table looked over at Yoh; they were all, except for maybe Shay, thinking the same thing.

"I saw the news. Your town was bombed?" Of course. The news. It would be worldwide by now.

"Yeah, that's what the authorities think."

"Is that what actually happened?" Uh-oh. Yoh could tell by his tone that Lyserg had switched into detective mode.

He sighed. "No. But we'll tell you about it on your next break-"

"Yoh-kun, that's a month from now!"

"Yeah. But I'm not going to tell you before then, because you'll want to investigate with us-"

"And I'm in school." It was a statement. Not a question, not an accusation, a statement. Good, Lyserg was being reasonable. Yoh was just about to tell him something - that they would write, or call, and tell him at least something - but before he had the chance, the phone was suddenly taken from him.

"Hello, Lyserg?" Shay said into the receiver. "Hi, this is Shay. I'm a friend of Yoh's. Actually, Anna and I have come up with an alternative." Yoh looked over at Anna; apparently he wasn't the only one confused, because everyone else was looking between Anna and Shay with puzzlement.

"A-alright, Shay-san-"

"I'm American, you don't need to call me san." Shay said, laughing slightly. "Anyway, we were all planning on going to Greece, but why don't we stop by London and visit you in person?"

"WHAT?!" Everyone shouted. Shay put her free hand over her ear against the noise. Lyserg was equally surprised, but thankfully didn't shout. As Shay talked to Lyserg about places to meet up, Yoh sat back down at the table and looked at Anna.

"While you were talking to Lyserg, Shay and I decided the best place to get any kind of lead would be Greece. So, when Faust and Ryu get back, we're going."

"You can't just make decisions like that without us!" Horo Horo chimed in. Anna fixed her gaze on him. "Sit down." Cowed, Horo Horo obeyed.

"-Alright, we'll see you in about a week, then. Bye!" Shay hung up, and sat back down at the table. "So, Lyserg will meet us at a nearby airport. We'll need to get tickets, but-"

"Actually, we can use my family's plane." Manta spoke up.

Shay looked at him, surprised, but recovered and continued. "Alright, but we'll still need those other two. I figured it would take a few days, give or take, for us to really be ready, so that's why we're not meeting for a week."

"Then it's settled," Anna said. "We're going to Greece."