Disclaimer: Read Chapter 1

Prose 6:

Dead leaves crunched under Cernnunos' bare feet as he wandered the forest outside the Japanese dorm. He couldn't stand the confinement of concrete walls and steel supports. He preferred the outdoors above everything else. He didn't much care about where he was so long he smelled that fresh air.

The wild god stood straight and tall, but seemed to blend seamless in the tall dark trees. He could observe quietly without going through the effort of hiding. Cernnunos could hear the two Japanese twits talking, the short one whining to his brother.

"Brother, the rice is almost done," the Japanese sea god stepped out on the patio in his kimono opening a whicker basket placed on the burning coals outside, steam rising into the sky.

"Hoo, yeah, it's pretty close," Takeru poured a small pitcher of water to keep the rice moist over the fire before returning into his dorm.

Cernunnos had to give the Eastern gods some credit. Their living aesthetic seemed to blend well with nature. He didn't feel so assaulted. The Norse took from nature to live off of, which he could understand to some extent, and the Greeks just…invaded it.

Just as Cernnunos was about to sit down next to a tall tree to relax, an obnoxious rustling from a nearby bush. He squinted as a figure slinked awkwardly, struggling in his overlarge uniform jacket as he crawled to the unguarded whicker basket.

The tan, sneaky god went about lifting the whicker lid sniffing the rice and—once the figure determined that the rice was good to eat—scooped a handful out and began devouring the food.

Apparently though, the rice was scalding hot and the figure yelped.

"What was that!" the rough voice of Takeru yelled from inside and the intruder scrambled away towards Cernunnos, not looking where he was going. The bigger god stood pillar-like even as the intruder ran right into his midsection.

Immediately, Cernunnos grabbed the perpetrator and placed his hand over his mouth to silence him. The tan boy struggled in his large arms trying to get away.

"Shh!" Cernunnos growled, watching as Takeru stepped outside to investigate. Cernunnos would rather not let a wily little god's screeching lead to him being bothered by the Japanese gods.

Takeru, confused, put the lid back on the rice, taking a quick look at the outdoor surroundings, especially on guard. The Japanese god finally scratched his spiky head and nabbed his basket of rice and retreated back to his home. Cernunnos's grip on the mysterious god loosened just enough for the frightened god and take a large bite out of Cernunnos' hand. He grunted in pain and let the god go, not bothering to chase after him as he scampered on all fours deep into the forest.

Anubis didn't look back. He didn't want to wait to see if that…thing was chasing after him. He felt his lungs sting as he swallowed frozen gulps of air. He wasn't used to this weather. He skidded over a patch of frozen mud, cutting his feet as he stumbled forward onto a frozen lake sliding across on his back. He yelped, unfamiliar with…this substance. Finally, he slowed to a halt. Panting and on the verge of tears from the burning pain in his bum, Anubis remained facing the cloudy sky.

He rolled over and tried to pick himself up, his feet slipping a little. How did people survive in this weather? Even water seemed be against him in this cold. Perhaps…

After a moment of pondering, Anubis planted one foot firmly on the ice and pushed himself with the other, gliding across with ease. Hey…this wasn't so bad. Just one foot over the other, one foot…

Up on the ridge bordering the lake he saw a figure in grey jogging. It was one of those gods. He was clothed in a grey sweatshirt and a dark cap covered his hair. Even so, the cold didn't seem to faze him. He kept his pace all along the ridge, focus ahead.

The god however turned his head to gaze at the frozen beauty of the lake. Panicking, Anubis slid himself towards some nearby bushes, tripping and stumbling-rather successfully-into his target bush. Anubis was a little worse for wear, but at least he was out of sight.

Balder halted his jog, staring perturbed at the lake. He could've sworn he saw a figure there. Perhaps he was losing his mind. It could be a result of just zoning out. Shrugging his concerns away, Balder resumed his jogging.

He had to hand it to himself, he didn't trip as much this go around. Perhaps he could overcome his clumsiness. Being clumsy didn't bother him so much, but in the few moments he wanted people to take him seriously, his oafishness rather hindered him.

But I'm getting stronger, he thought to himself. He didn't feel winded as he moved. He supposed that displacing his energy from learning about humans into his own body had its benefits.

He was so busy thinking about the bright side of his suspension that he didn't see Yui turn down the road behind him, in her gym clothes, also wearing a knit cap, puffing and panting as she struggled to jog by her god of light friend.

"Hey Balder."

Balder jumped visibly nearly stumbling over his two feet, "What the-?!"

His shock turned to relief seeing the human girl jogging much like he was.

"Yui, I didn't know you jogged this way."

"I don't," she panted. "As you can see-*huff*-I don't get-*huff*-a lot of aerobic exercise."

Balder chuckled, "You seem to be doing fine to me."

"Easy for you to say. You probably have the heart and lungs of an ox. Either way -*huff*-I was getting cabin fever."

Balder turned to give her some supporting words, but to his dismay she burst out laughing, her red cheeks burning brighter. He frowned, sensing she was laughing at him. Yui took one look at his face, his red, wind burned cheeks, his blond hair stuffed in his knit cap, his several days stubble that for most men would count as a beard, she couldn't help but think he looked like a rugged woodsman of some cheap romance novel. And that image, she found, was hilarious.

Yes, she had seen Balder and Thor grow facial hair that would rival Zeus' during Loki's stupid "No-Shave November", and she had withheld laughter then as well, especially seeing the disgust in Thoth's face.

"What is so funny, Yui?"

She swallowed some air, "Nothing. I just had forgotten how fast you Norse grow hair."

It took Balder a minute to figure out what she meant about "hair". When he figured it out, he rubbed the hair on his chin. He did need to shave. He had foregone his usually easy grooming that gave him a polished appearance, partially because of his laziness. Not laziness, he just had other things on his mind than to take the Bowie knife in his bathroom and hack off those blond whiskers.

"Have you read that book I gave you?" asked Yui.

Balder's reply ended up being sharper than he intended, "I have read it."

"Aaand? Did you gain some appreciation for the human spirit of Christmas?"

"How could I?" Balder's voice darkened, thinking into the miserable world he subjected himself to when flipping the pages. "How can I gain appreciation when I'm forced to see through the eyes of a human. An unredeemable, viscous, disgusting, human. First, he denies the opportunity to give to others relief from pain, actually believes that the world would be better through their suffering! Next thing I know I'm forced to see greed, and then the hunger that ravages the family of a poor crippled boy! I fail to see how I'm supposed to understand humans when they do nothing but hurt others."

Yui was surprised her heart could take the pounding it was receiving double, from her exercise and the dark, bitterness and anger in Balder's tone. What could she say? From the eyes of a god, Mr. Scrooge was reason enough for higher beings to hold contempt for the human race.

"Not all humans are like that."

Balder stopped and turned to face her directly, his blue eyes shining with emotion, "No not all humans are like that. You are the exception."

Her eyes were wide, but before she could say anything further, Balder continued on his emotional rant, "You must be a goddess of humans to have such patience and kindness. You didn't shun me when I attacked Master Caduceus and Takeru Totsuka. You did your best to help me and understand me, when others would not have cared or were too afraid to."

She could only respond by frantically shaking her head, "N-no…I mean yes, but I'm nothing out of the ordinary I swear. Not all humans are like Scrooge. While yes, his…vices…do exist on the human level, but they amplified to make the story, Balder."

Balder looked skeptical, like he didn't believe her.

"Have you met a human before me?" she asked. Balder's expression didn't change.

"Yes, I have encountered humans before."

Odds were it wasn't a pleasant experience. Perhaps that was why he was here. He had to understand love and humanity. If his only exposure to the human race was a negative experience there was no mystery as to why he would be forced to learn about them.

"Do you despise the-I'm assuming-majority of the human race then?" It was a harsh question, but Yui was getting a tad insulted with the surprising hostility Balder was showing at the mere thought of the human race.

Balder's shoulder's slumped as he sighed, shaking his head, "No. I can't bring myself to go that far. I know in the back of my mind that humans aren't the greedy, bloodlusting, warmongers that I've seen, but…"

He hung his head, thinking about the duality of his opinion. He was a borderline hypocrite. He shunned the human race for doing the very thing his own fellow gods did, "I see my own family harbor violent bloodlust with other races of gods and the other giants and gods do so in turn. I do not think I should like it any more with the humans, who seem to desire conflict more than usual."

Yui couldn't exactly disagree with him. She remembered reading in a small factoid pamphlet on a train station human civilization had only been completely at peace 3% of the time. Even now it seemed that once one region established peace, another would quickly spring up violence.

Balder scratched his beard waiting for Yui to say something. He actually hoped she would tell him that what he had seen was not a reality. That she lived in a world of peace. But she didn't. Instead, she tapped his elbow.

"That's why to most Christmas is important. For one day, humans can stop and be with their families and…"

She paused. "You know what? Why am I telling you this? Did you finish that book?"

Balder shook his head, "No…I don't see the poi—"

"Just finish it, and I guarantee you will feel better about Christmas…and hopefully about humans. But I tell you, you will have to power through as close to the ending it gets…disturbing, but I swear it's all worth it at the end."

Balder's rather harsh face melted into a curious one and…despite his worn cheeks and facial hair…gave a wide-eyed childish look, "You swear?"

Yui nodded and motioned over the left side of her chest, "Cross my heart. Now I really need to start moving. The sweat is freezing my shirt to my skin."

The next morning, Yui used her morning flextime to dare to enter the library. Though Thoth said that the students could use the library as they pleased, every time Yui saw fit to enter the vast tower of bookshelves, Thoth gave her a distinct frown. It was like she was trespassing in his room.

At this point, Yui just ignored her teacher and opened the broad doors to the library anyway, finding Thoth's blue eyes glaring right at her as soon as she set foot into the facility.

"Oh, Isis and Christ, what now?" he growled.

"I'm sorry Master Thoth," she apologized briefly. "I'm just here to find some information."

"On what?"

"Some information on gods," she replied. Shouldn't that be enough? Obviously not. Not for Thoth anyway who looked more annoyed.

Thoth closed his book with a snap, "Are you telling me that you have not yet researched gods here?"

"Yes! I just meant our…new arrivals."

Thoth shook his white head, insistent that the human girl just leave him with his reading, without him looking over to see if she was putting books back in the exact place she found them. He was particularly sour when Apollo checked out extensive books on moving pictures. The idiot was fascinated with movies. Apparently to him it was like the dramatic plays of his own time. Regardless, the idiot placed them all back in the Indonesian food section. How he got movies and Indonesian cooking mixed up was beyond him.

"They are not here to learn like the others. You are not required to learn about them."

"But you said we have to get their signatures—"

"Yes, just their signatures. You are not required to engage in extensive conversation."

Yui didn't back down and instead wandered towards the Northern Pagan section, scanning the bindings of a book trying to sort which books would give her information.

"I'm still looking for information on the new gods, such as Crom Cruach."

If she was expecting Thoth to say something smart again, she was wrong. Thoth narrowed his blue eyes, his rather grim frown growing deeper and deeper.

"Do not concern yourself with the likes of him," he said darkly.

"But perhaps if I learn about him and Mr. Cernunnos it would be easier for Apollo and I to convince them to sign," Yui turned to the books feeling at a loss. Even if she found the text she was looking for, she wondered if even such a god could be in these texts. The Northern Pagan section was rather small in comparison to the Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Japanese section.

"I would not advise that. Besides you won't find much information on Crom Cruach. Northern Pagans did not regularly write or record their histories or their gods. The Norse did have an alphabet, but oddly they didn't seem to want to record anything. Most information the world knows about the Norse, Celtic, and Anglican gods is just known through folklore and word of mouth. Rather primitive fools."

Yui sighed, giving up. She was going to help Apollo get those signatures, but she wasn't going to be so obvious in her intent in front of a very prickly Thoth.

"Fine…" she said, "What about the other two gods?"

"Again…there is no need to interact with them extensively."

"How could I? I don't even know who they are."

Thoth cleared his throat and flipped the page of his book, "Surprising after Agana Balea figured out who they are."

"Wait what?"

"Yes," Thoth hissed. "He ran into the other two visiting his father. If we're lucky he's already gotten their signatures."

Curious, Yui pushed for more clues as to what the other two gods are. Persian maybe? Hindu? Chinese perhaps? "What sort of gods are they?"

"You can always find out for yourself, I'm not going to spoon feed you. You should have a clear idea of what sort of gods exist in the world, even if they are on the other side of the hemisphere."

Yui paused. Was that a clue? The other side of the hemisphere. What gods existed…?

Ignoring the Northern Pagan section, Yui sprinted towards the other side of the library where information on the Americas lay.

"Hey! No running!"

Yui had flipped book over book over book on faiths and mythology in the Americas. It was hard to put it all together. They had several tribes and nations, all with different myths and beliefs. Incredible to have so many different pantheons in one general area. Regardless, she found incredible similarities between some structures of some of the civilizations in South America to structures in Egypt and Persia. Like pyramids. Yet, they had a distinctive style of their own. Her minded trying to set all the civilizations straight. Perhaps if Apollo had met them, he would have a better idea of who these two extra mystery gods were.

She went directly to the Greek dorm to see the Sun god. Although Apollo told her she could come and go as she pleased, Yui didn't want to bother Hades or Dionysus. She was sure Hades or Dionysus didn't mind her company, but to just enter without unannounced just seemed rude. She knocked on the large enamel door. Immediately she heard Apollo's voice call excitedly, "I'll get it!"

Not a moment later the door flung open and Yui was greeted with Apollo's beaming face…and his body in a robe. A robe that was waaay too short and barely managed to cover his…hydra.

"Fairy!"

"Hi…Apollo," Yui made sure her gaze laid straight upon his face, trying to withhold laughter.

"Come in, come in!"

Yui followed her pantless classmate into their sitting room, spotting Hades in a normal black robe. He looked mortified and understanding when he saw her barely containable expression, giving her a look that clearly said, "Yes, we are aware of Apollo's shorty robe."

Yui sat down on the sofa, placing her notebook and bag next to her, watching as Apollo busied himself with putting some sort of hair oil into his golden hair, "Excuse us, we just got out of a sauna."

"That's fine," Yui barely managed to get out.

Apollo sat down in the chair across from her, his legs spread, letting his "little Spartan" air out, unbeknownst to him. Yui blinked, blushing and promptly held her notebook out in front of her, blocking his private area from her view.

Hades sighed in annoyance and stood taking his book to his room. As he passed the back of the couch, Hades whispered in Yui's ear, "If I were you, I'd pick a point on the wall and stick to it."

Sound advice. Yui focused on a little statuette of a warrior woman on a small end table behind Apollo.

"What's up Miss Fairy?" he asked.

"Have you had contact with the other two gods?" she asked. "I was trying to find information on Crom Cruach, much to Master Thoth's distaste, but he did mention you already conversed with the others."

Apollo's eyebrows rose to his hairline, "I have spoke to them briefly, but we aren't buddy buddies."

"Did you get their signatures?"

Apollo shook his head, "I didn't have time to ask. One of the Aztecs was rather amiable but the other seemed insistent on going back to their abode"

"Aztecs?" Yui did recall reading about their civilization, but their pantheon of gods was rather vast she couldn't begin to guess which gods were here. Still, it narrowed down her list.

"Yes, quite colorful folk, but they do seem a bit displaced here. Like Cern-Cern."

"Well, can't we go see them to get those signatures?"

Apollo shrugged, "I would but I don't know where they are in the garden. They seem to be rather reclusive."

Yui drooped in her seat, breaking her focus from that statue…unfortunately. She closed her eyes not wanting to stare directly at Apollo's lower section.

"It's alright though," Apollo said standing up. "I know someone who might know."

Yui watched as Apollo ran over to a nearby polished door and knocked. Apollo could hear giggling on the other side of the door and some thumping. A moment later, Dionysus opened the door just wide enough to look out.

"Apollo, what's wrong? I've got three of those spirits in here who just lubed up, can't this wait?"

Apollo's eyebrows drew together in confusion.

Dionysus smirked, "They maybe dad's props, but let me tell you, they know how to have a fun time."

Rather thinking about the average spirit student having the capacity to…well…do the nasty, Apollo cut to the chase, "Do you know where the Aztecs are?"

"South America, right?"

"No, I mean here. In this garden."

Dionysus shrugged, "Well, yeah. I get some…umm…'cocoa' from their territory. It's on the southwest side of the garden in some jungle. But you have to go very deep. They tend to like to hide."

"Right thanks, I appreciate it."

Dionysus laughed, "No problem." He paused, taking in Apollo's get up and asked honestly, "Hey, why the long robe?"

A/N: Balder with a beard and Apollo in a shorty robe. I'm waiting for people hit me for those images. But hey, Anubis.