A/N - Hey! Just a quick update, before I emerse myself in Uni work.
I'm not sure if I like this chapter...I don't feel it's my best, but it's important for upcoming chapters so I'll deal with it. :)
Anyway, thanks for everybody who reads, favs and alerts this story. It means a lot to me.
But thanks especially to the reviewers: YourGothicButterfly(Thanks!), Balrog Roike(Haha! Soon you will learn my true master plan! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!), kitty tokyo uzumaki(Thank ya!), IAmDaReviewer(Thanks, and thaks for recommending me!), Atom Bunny(He did take it well, didn't he...¬_¬) bakura(Thanks, I'm glad you are enjoying it!) annnnnd! Cresent Moon Lady(Thanks, I like to think I'm original too, sometimes...I hope this meets your expectations!).
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CHAPTER 13.
"As to why now? Well, your father had a few things to say to me about honesty," He cringed here, as the elder of the two, he hadn't really liked being told off by one younger than him, "Besides, I think I need your help,"
"Huh?"
This was going to be more difficult than he thought.
"You. Me. Help. Forces of Darkness."
He shook his hands trying to gesture the rest, obviously in vain as Honda stared at him blankly.
"...Forces of Darkness?" Honda gave him an even stranger look then, and Jou didn't really know what it meant, but he couldn't think about now. There was work to be done, "Jou, what sort of forces are we talking about here. Is this another ancient evil thing, that'll try and destroy the world? Or one who'll just enslave us all as the 'Sole Ruler of All'?"
Jou hadn't really thought about that yet. That was why he needed Honda, to be there to bounce ideas off of; to be there to ask questions, point out flaws and offer advice. Just general stuff friends helped out with, really.
'Except the usual stuff never had the fate of the world on its shoulders,'
Jou shifted to make himself comfortable for the long talk ahead.
"All I know, and this knowledge is shady at best, since it's from Bromius, is that something is going on here and that we have to stop it. Somehow,"
Honda looked worried.
"That's a lot of uncertainties you got going on there,"
Jou chuckled.
"Well, I've never been known to be straight-forward. You could say I'm the god of vagueness!"
Honda didn't laugh with him. It had been a poor attempt at humour.
"Right, well what do we do?"
Jou thought about what was actually possible for that moment in time.
"We wait. And we listen. And we think. That's all we can do. I haven't noticed anything physically happening yet – except for the Furies escaping, and they've hidden themselves away, so we can't actively go looking for them. Especially with the state I'm in at the moment,"
"Furies?"
A quick glance at Honda showed Jou that his friend wasn't following.
"Goddesses of the underworld. They are the medium through which Zeus' powers of judgement and justice occur,"
"Right. So, the things that your family have let escape, are vengeful goddesses ready to 'right-wrongs'?"
"Pretty much, "
"So...all we have to do is wait for these 'Sailor-Scout' wannabes to make a move?"
"Yeah,"
Honda sighed.
"Sounds boring,"
Jou grinned when a new thought entered his head.
"Hey, Honda," Honda grunted in reply, "Since I don't think any supernatural activities will happen tonight, do you wanna' go play video games?"
Honda's grin soon matched his.
"Yeah," He glanced up to the wall clock, "But only until nine, then I gotta go meet my dad,"
The next day heralded a bright sun and a dazed Honda.
Jou could see, straight off, that his eyes were glazed and the bags under his eyes showed that this had been going on all night.
He waved his hand in font of his friend's face, when, suddenly, his wrist was sharply grabbed by Honda.
Jou barely had time for his eyes to widen, before Honda had stormed out of the classroom towards the toilets, Jou in tow.
As soon as the door was flung open, Jou had been pushed inside, and he fell to the floor with a bump.
Honda for while only stood there shaking, covered in sweat.
"Shit,"
Jou was confused. He had no idea what was going on.
"Honda-"
"Shit!" BANG.
Honda had slammed his fist into a nearby wall.
"You're a god,"
Jou smiled slightly despite the niggling feeling in his stomach.
"Yes. We went over that last night, remember. Jeez, and I thought I was the elder of the two of us!"
Jou had added that bit to try and cheer Honda up, but it hadn't seemed to work as Honda slid to the ground, head in his hands.
"Oh, my god. It's all real," He glanced at Jou, "Everything, the Gods, the Titans, the Furies, the stories..."
He shook his head silently in disbelief.
Now Jou was really unnerved.
"Honda, I...I thought you were okay with it, I mean you didn't really seem to have much of a problem before-"
"That was when I thought you were off your head!"
Oh.
"What?"
So that had been why Honda had accepted his explanations so calmly. He'd thought he'd been on drugs.
"It explained everything," Honda went on, distant in his thoughts, "Your secret family, your weirdness these past few days, the lies...everything, but I never...When dad told me, showed me..."
It seemed Honda had no words to describe the rest, so Jou crossed the room and sat down next to him.
"What'd he do?"
Honda sharply looked up at him.
"Come on, no one ever believes us these days without seeing something, so. What'd he do?"
Honda took a deep breath, but it was some time before he spoke.
"He...he..." Honda gulped down some air nervously, "He, took me to Pro-wrestling, just like we'd planned before, y'know...'Wrestle Mania', down by the station?" At Jou's nod he went on, "He told me to wait for him – although I didn't really know how we got in, Dad didn't seem to have any tickets, but we did! Front row seats and all, and so I waited, at first I didn't recognise him, he'd changed his face, but I knew him when I saw his eyes, they'd stayed the same, and he winked at me too!" Honda took a much needed breath, "And then he got into the ring, no one stopped him – it was as if this was expected, but it wasn't on the program!" Honda stared wildly around, "He just went into the ring and pile-drived the guy into the mats – and nobody was even bothered by it. It was... it was..."
Jou now looked annoyed.
"Honda,"
"...Yeah..."
"It sounds to me, as if you are only believing in my godhood; thanks to the fact that my brother, your father, beat some sweaty human in some pitiful form of entertainment, that he himself invented,"
Jou was not impressed. Such a small thing as supernatural strength gave Honda the willies? This was not looking good for Jou, who really needed some help from his friend.
Honda stood up outraged.
"Pitiful? Pro-wrestling is an art-form," Jou rolled his eyes, "Besides, anyone would be shocked at seeing their dad, who looks like he would be bowled over by a strong wind, pick up a two-hundred pound man and effortlessly smack him down!"
Jou shook his head in exasperation, trust Honda to only believe in something from that. Just like his dad. Jou bet that any second now, Honda would realise something he'd said before was important and would decide to scream it to the world.
"Wait, invented? My dad invented wrestling?"
'Called it.'
"Among other things," Jou rushed in ahead before Honda could ask what they were, "Honda, we need to focus, remember? Possible threat to the universe and everything in it?"
Honda's face fell as he understood.
"But...what can I really do to help, I mean, I know the old plan was gathering info, but...you're a god," Honda sort of shuffled back a few feet, "Do you want me to call you 'lord' or something?"
Jou really had had enough of this from Honda.
'Honestly, it's like we'd never met before and that all those years of camaraderie were for nothing,'
He pulled Honda down to his level.
"No Honda, I don't," He huffed exasperated, "If I did, I'd be lording it all over the place like Ole Moneybags," They shared a manly giggle between them, "Besides, I like living like a normal person. It's relaxing,"
Honda's face showed his incredulity.
"Well, maybe apart from the odd shadow magic stuff, but even that's relatively peaceful. No one's died just yet. And anyway, I like being anonymous," He stood up and dragged Honda with him, "If I wasn't, I'd never get away with sleeping in class!"
Their laughter followed them out as they headed back towards their first period.
Neither of the two boys noticed that, as they were leaving the bathroom, one of the stall doors opened to reveal a tall and smirking figure.
A/N2 - Review! It makes my dreary day brighter to read them! Motivate me!