A little girl sat in a small chair that was in a small kitchen that was in a small apartment. She was scribbling away on some paper, trying to make something that looked like a castle with a dragon.

She wasn't paying attention and the startled squeal that left her when her father picked her up suddenly was the result of that. But she laughed with joy and held onto her daddy as he hugged her back.

"What's my little princess drawing over here?" He asked, looking down at the scrawls of grey and red crayons. His daughter beamed and picked up the paper to show him.

"It's a dragon gaurding a castle full of treasure!" She giggled. The man showed a face of understanding and nodded.

"Oh yeah! I see it now! That's amazing, Abby." He kissed the child on her forehead before setting her back down on the chair. "Mommy's almost done with dinner, so don't go sneaking any snacks, young lady!"

Abby gave a very militarial salute from her chair, face as stern as a child's could get.

"Yes, sir!"

A second of silence was broken by father and daughter breaking down in fits of laughter from the ridiculousness of their banter. Then he left her to her coloring and trailed back to his wife currently at the stove. The lights were flickering overhead and he frowned with a shake of his head.

"The landlord better fix all this faulty electricity or there's gonna be a damn fire one of these days."

Abby pushed back the memories, fighting back tears and forcing herself into numbness. She breathed deeply, letting the smell of the grass fill her mind and distract her. In. Out. In. Out. She slowly unfurled her hands where they were tightly curled in the grass. Her fingers ached with her grip and green stained the pads where the grass broke and rubbed on her.

She was okay now. She couldn't feel anything. There was no pain. There was no anger or sadness.

There was only the sweet numbness that told her she was okay. That she could go another day without breaking down. That she could still hold in those eleven years of emotions.

She was okay.

With another deep breath she pushed herself to her feet, dusting her jeans of and trying to wipe some of the grass stains off to no prevail. That was fine though. She was sure there was washing facilities somewhere in the garden. Then she turned and slowly made her way back into the building, wandering the halls for somewhere to go. She let her body walk but she herself was detached, her consciousness away but still connected to her soul so she could return to reality once her trance wore off.

Not many things could pull her from her detachment, but the deep voice of Zeus was one.

"I see everyone has arrived."

Abby was shot back into herself, blinking in shock at the sudden reverberating tone of the God. She was at the main staircase with everyone else, and across she could see Yui with a short haired male. What his was name again?

She couldn't remember.

But she watched as Zeus climbed down the steps and stood, subtly showing that even when they were all together he was above all of them.

"Welcome to my garden, my academy...my beloved students."

"Cut the crap!" Takeru snarled to the older God. "You're behind all this?"

The blonde ignored his question and rallied off the names of the gods once again.

"Japanese God of the Sea, Susanoo. Japanese God of the Moon, Tsukuyomi. Norse God of Light, Balder. God of Fire, Loki-"

Fear reared it's ugly head around once again to the female in the shape of a chill rolling down her spine and her muscles tensing underneath her skin.

"-God of Thunder, Thor. Greek God of The Underworld, Hades. God of Fertility, Dionysos. And God of the Sun Apollon. You will all learn about humans in order to revive the ancient link between the Gods and humanity."

"Do you really think we'll just do as you say?" Loki scoffed him place on the upper level. He scoff was followed once more by Takeru's angry barking.

"Return my brother and me to our world! Or else..." As soon as the words left his mouth, the Sea God was encircled by a shallow stream of water, his anger only sharpened by the glow of his power.

"There will be hell to pay!" Loki laughed as he conjured a ball of fire within his grasp. He cackled as he leapt from the railing, the other God following suit in their attack towards Zeus. The Lord of Skies was not deterred by their childish foolery, lifting his staff and slamming it on the ground, lifting up a wave of his own ability and sending them flying back towards the ground.

"If you use your divine powers indiscriminately, this academy will be destroyed. Therefore..." Zeus lift his staff once again, a mass of energy swirling into a orb just above it before it erupted into small bursts of light that trailed their ways to the gods.

An assortment of jewelry appeared somewhere on the bodies of the gods; Rings, bracelets, anklets, earrings, necklaces, and armbands.

"These shackles seal your divine powers," Zeus clarified the use of the objects. "No one can defy me here. These shackles are the proof!"

"That's enough!" The redhead snarled and he attempted to throw a blaze at the other only for sparks of embers to spit out of his fingers tips and dissolve into nothing.

"You will study here. When you earn the right to graduate, your shackles will remove themselves." He gave a barking order and swung his staff towards the ceiling, bring down forth an empty glass marble.

"Once you understand the human heart, this container will be filled. You have one year. In other words; if you cannot fill it within a year, you will be trapped in this garden forever."

Several sounds of anger and shock went through the room, another shout escaping Takeru from his place on the floor.

"This isn't funny!"

"Zeus," Hades called to his brother, "That's tyrannical!"

"I shall not entertain protests!" Zeus said above all the noise. "It has already been decided. Thoth..."

At the sound of his name,a dark skinned man with sandy blonde hair appeared from the shadows of another corridor, his school jacket billowing behind him where it was draped over his shoulders.

"I am the Egyptian God of knowledge, Thoth," He said, voice stern and full of authority.

"Your other classmates," Zeus pulled the attention back to himself. "Will be these many spirits." At the resounding bang of his staff on the hard floor, empty halls were suddenly filled. Silence was cut with the sharp knife of conversation. Abby had to move out of the way with a quiet yelp to avoid bumping into one of the many new students.

"Yui Kusanagi. Abby McKenzie."

Both girls looked up at the sound of their names to the God above them, standing at attention to what he would want of them.

"Your responsibilities are to lead the Gods graduation. Is that clear?"

Both gave a nod of understanding.

"Tomorrow morning you will gather in the auditorium and prepare for the afternoon's entrance ceremony," Thoth said before turning on his heel away from them. "That is all. You are dismissed for today."

Before he left he glanced over his shoulder. "Kusanagi. Abigail. Come with me."

Both started after him not a second sooner. They would rather not see an upset Thoth their first day. He lead them down one of the many hall ways of the school, silent for a good long while save for the heavy clicking of his boots on the tiles.

"Zeus modeled this academy after human schools. All necessary facilities have been provided. There's even food available in the cafeteria."

"Excuse me," Abby said to the man, face turned into another frown. "But isn't this kinda sudden? How do you if we even-" She tried to stop but he just kept going, causing a scowl on her face as she ran to keep up, showing up at his side.

"Isn't he being a bit too willful, even for a god? Our families must be worried about us!" She was caught off guard by the God's amused chuckle and the small smirk on his face.

"Don't be concerned," He mused. "Once everyone graduates, you'll return to the time that you came from through the power of Chronos, God of time."

"That's still not an excuse to do whatever he-" She was cut off by Thoth suddenly moving in very close, forcing her up against the wall in his arm blocking the young human. Her reflex was to push her hands against his chest, keeping him from getting any closer and getting any further into her personal space.

"Zeus has the future of both humanity and the Gods in mind." His voice had dropped into a warning tone for her, but he could tell that this human was holding back. He knew he if pushed her any further, took one step too far for her comfort, and she would lash out.

So he backed away with a huff, looking to the worried Yui and catching a glimpse at her neck.

"The Sword of Heaven's Gathering Clouds. Eventually, that sword will guide your way. Take good care of it." He began walking again, knowing will full intent they would follow, while muttering under his breath. "Not that you could remove it."

Thoth lead them to their dorms which were to the right of the grounds whilst the men's were to the left. He told them he would be within the Academy's Library should they ever need him. Then he left them to their own devices.

Once safe in her dorm, Abby's knees buckles and she fell against the door, letting go of the breath she'd no idea she was holding. Her palms were clammy, her skin pale, and sweat trickled down the back of her neck as she trembled. Thoth was a force she did not want to rekon with. He was strong. He had wits. He was intimidating.

He reminded her of her grandfather.

She brought her knees to her chest and dropped her head as she willed herself to stay calm, to stay numb. But the last hour had beaten down against her consciousness and her emotional stability. Memories that she had locked away for so long were coming back and with them the tsunami of pain that should have been let out years ago. Instead of doing so, she let the hurt build until it could consume her in an instant.

She was poisoning her mind, killing her own personality.

"Hey! What's got you so upset?" She jumped at the sudden voice cutting through her thoughts, looking around for anyone but her room remained empty as it was.

"Down here!" At the order she looked and there was a little yellow and white, patched up doll beaming up at her with mix-matched green and pink button eyes.

"W-Who are you?" She swallowed to clear back the lump in her throat and to keep her voice from cracking anymore than it already have.

"I'm Melissa!" He said. "I'm here to look after you and Kutanagi."

"You mean Kusanagi..."

"Yeah! Kutanagi!"

The girl sighed before getting back to her feet and watching as Melissa scurried up the back of a chair to stand on the desk. "So what do you mean "take care of me"?"

"Well, in this garden, I am your Upper class-men. I'll take good care of you! When you're troubled, come and talk to me and when you want to cry, you can borrow my shoulder. And you seem to be in need of it right about now!" He sat down on the edge of the table and pat the chair, watching as she took a seat.

"So tell me, Annie, what's got you so upset?"

She found some amusement in his confusion of their names. Just not enough to smile.

"It's Abby, and it doesn't matter what's got me upset. It happened a long time ago and I've learned to deal with it." The doll hummed as he nodded in thought.

"Uh huh. By "dealing" you don't mean talking to someone about it and getting emotional support, do you?" He took her silence as his answer. "Yup! That's what I thought, Annie!"

"Abby."

"I can tell you don't want to talk about it yet, but whatever you got held up inside won't go away. It's only going to make your heart grow heavier. And you seem like a nice kid! You don't deserve to have a heavy heart!" He gently pat her knuckle with his stump of a paw. "I'm gonna go say hi to Kutanagi, but don't be afraid to come and find me when you want to talk, okay?"

With that, Melissa hopped down and scampered his way to the door. "Bye, Annie!" He called, giving her a little stitched grin before disappearing out into the hall.

The human sighed heavily and mumbled under her breath. "It's Abby.."

"This isn't funny!" Takeru snarled later that night, pacing within the men's dorm commons with his brother sitting at the table behind him. He turned to Tsukuyomi. "Brother, I'll find a way out of this place."

"But we have to graduate," The moon God countered his sibling gently, giving Usamaro a soft scratch behind his ears.

"Don't listen to what that old man says. Right, Usamaro?" He pet the rabbit with a soft smile. He did plan on finding some way off the Garden. One way or another he would.

The rest of the gods were littered about within the dorm. Apollon, Dionysos, and Hades were by the hot spring, taking a moment to relax after the day's events whilst Balder, Loki, and Thor were in the kitchen. Balder had found a track suit and was modeling it off at the top of the stairs, his voice full of fascination and wonder over the human culture.

"He's fitting in well."

"Yeah." Thor was quiet before looking to his younger brother. "Now that we are stuck in this garden, are we..-?"

"No. It doesn't change what we must do."

The God of Thunder gave a heavy sigh but nodded in understanding. "So that is our destiny as well?" He didn't need the other to answer the question for he already knew. "I'm going to go to turn in for the night. It's been a long day." He stood from his chair and bid his brother goodnight before leaving for his room. Balder had left to go try on more human clothing, leaving the God of Fire to his own thoughts.

He sat there picking at his nails for a bit, making a mental note to redo his lacquer once he got the time. Once his boredom threatened to drive him to insanity he removed himself from the room and began wandering. Zeus never said anything about a curfew and he wasn't tired yet. He found the occasional spirit in his walking, not bothering to engage in conversation with any of them. He was just about ready to head back to his dorm and bug one of the others before movement caught his eye and he glanced out the window. Across the courtyard he could see the figure moving, her long hair tossed back over her shoulder and arms wrapped around herself to keep warm.

Curiosity forced his hand into following her to see where she was going, keeping at a safe distance so she wouldn't see him prematurely. He figured she was just walking until he saw her head for some sort of gazebo up on a hill underneath all the stars.

Abby took a deep breath of the night air, hoping it would steady her anxiety and clear away the buzzing in her head. A part of her was regretting not admitting to Melissa just how broken she had been for the last ten plus years. How she could feel the grasp on her mentality being gnawed away. But reminders of what happens when emotions run wild and when she tries to get help were evident on her places only she allowed her eyes to see. So when she let her fingers drag over her left wrist and palm, covered by her gloves and the sleeve of her shirt, she found a bitter note settling in her mind.

She was strong enough to handle the past. It was done and done. It happened years ago.

So why did it still hurt?

"Awful late to be here by yourself, kitten."

She made a confused sound at the new voice behind her, whipping around and finding the owner of the voice leaning up against a support, a strand of his long red hair twirled between his fingers. He moved his eyes up to her and his grin settled on his face like it was meant to be. A crash of thoughts went through her, her limbs confused at what to do.

She wanted to run and yet stay. She wanted to tell him to go away while let him draw closer.

She settled on curling her one hand into a fist as she sent a frown his way. "What do you want, Loki?" The fire God let out a small laugh as he folded his arms behind his head, grin stretching wider.

"What? Can't a guy just be out for some air? Is that such a crime?"

She could feel the flush of embarrassment fill up her cheeks as she looked away, brows furrowing and muttering an apology. The warmth of foolishness was stolen when the wind picked up, throwing her hair off to the side and sending a chill through her. He saw the shiver and the way she pulled her arms around herself tighter. He saw the way her hair framed her face for a moment from the wind, dark eyes looking more sea-foam from the glow of the moon.

Loki pushed himself off the pillar, walking towards her and shrugging off his jacket. "Here."

"Hey! What are you-" She cut herself off at the sudden heat that enveloped her when he put his sweater around her shoulders, unable to hold the sigh of content that rolled off her lips. She immediately wished she could have when she heard him laugh again.

"I'm just being nice. Is that a crime too?" He sat down on the stone bench, bringing up one leg and resting his arm on top. "If it is, than haul me off, officer!" He gave her nothing short of a Cheshire grin when she gave a cute little huff and turned away from him and even scooted away some inches. He still had a good enough view of her to see the way his sweater practically swallowed her up, and the way she pulled it tighter around herself.

"You're not so tough, kitty cat."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He leaned back until he was laying on the bench, closing his eyes before continuing. "You act like you're tough shit, but I can see through the mask." He cracked an eye open and just as he thought she was looking at him. He smirked and closed his eye again.

"Yup. You're open like a book whether you like it or not. It's written all over your face.

"What is?" She sounded much closer and he opened his eyes to reveal she was hovering over him, that cute pout on her face making her nose scrunch up and her brows furrow.

He grinned wide and proud. "You like me."

Her reaction was instantaneous, bristling with rage and hissing at him.

"I would never you-you!" He was full blown laughing before she threw his sweater at him, stomping back towards the Academy with him calling after her.

"You still need to work on that temper, kitten!"

He folded his sweater in his lap as he watched him, clicking his tongue over the roof of his mouth. "Hmmph. Maybe this place won't be so bad if you're here," He said to himself. He was always one for jokes and trickery. And sometimes it was hard for him to define the lines of joking and flirting.

Something told him this meeting was something more of the latter.