Chapter 8

Disclaimer : I Don't own Shaman King!

Italic stands for thought / dreams/ event from the past

[Stands for voice from the past]

-Stands for telephone-

Underline stands for letter

"Quote stands for dialogue"

Bold stands for emphasis

Bold italic stands for a dangerous tone

The Athena

"What the hell?!" Hao exclaimed as soon as they arrived at Tao 'Castle', the Mansion was just too big and tall to be a Mansion, it's a Castle in Hao's opinion. But what was shocked him the most was not the size of the Mansion, but rather the four animals who greeted them. Two of them were a pair of big Panda, and the other two were a pair of fierce looking Grizzly. "What are they doing here?" He asked Yoh, who oh-so-calmly walked passed the animals with a mere wave of his hand, Hao was clinging to him for dear life, because even though he was a Living Weapon, he was not designed to fight deadly animals and only humans.

"The two Pandas, the female one named Laruka and the male one named Arucas, are Jun's pets." Yoh answered as the men who were standing at the front door opened the door for him and Hao, they walked inside before he continued, "The Grizzlies are Ren's pets, the male one is Long and the female one is Xiao." They continued to walk until they arrived at somewhere that looked like a jungle, "Oh, this might be a part of a jungle, but this is the backyard, this place is for their pets, so that the Pandas and Bears could play as they please".

"There's more?" Hao asked in shock.

"Yup." Yoh answered with a nod as he sat on one of the big roots of one of the trees, "Every type of Bears there is in the world, the Tao own them as pets and territorial guards." He looked at Hao's shocked expression and chuckled, "Why do you think the Tao have a huge Mansion surrounded by hills?".

Hao shook his head, "Heritage from their Ancestors maybe?" He guessed.

"Yes, half of it because of that." Yoh answered as he looked at the sky, "A tradition that had been passed down from generation to generation since ancient times, the Tao always have some type of Bears within their house to protect their home from any intruders. The Mansion is surrounded by hills is to let the Bears roaming around as they please, and since their movement aren't restricted, they would be more easy in guarding the area around here, for within the 15 miles radius from around this house is the Bears and the Tao's territory".

"The other reason is . . .?" Hao asked curiously.

Yoh grinned, "It's better to explain it when the rest arrived." He told the boy, he was happy that Hao was wearing that Curious Boy expression again, "For now, let just go to sleep, since if I know Ren well, he would surely challenge you into a match as well".

"He like to fight so much?" Hao asked as he lied down beside Yoh, who leaned on the tree with closed eyes.

"For the most of us, yes." Yoh answered calmly, "When we all meet up with the others like this, normally a small tournament would be held, day or night time, and the winner would get a combined reward from the rest".

"Do you think I could participate in this tournament?" Hao asked in a bit of excitement.

"I'm sure Ren and the others would want you to join us, even forcing you if you don't want to." Yoh answered sleepily, he was already on his way to the Dream Land, "They are just like a challenge in their life once in a while . . .".

Hao looked up when he didn't hear anything more from Yoh to see that the young man had gone to sleep, he sighed since he knew Yoh deserved a nice rest after a long day, he was going to sleep as well, but he couldn't. Every time he closed his eyes, he always felt like something was moving behind him or something watching him, and every time he looked at whatever it was, he saw either a Panda, big or small, a Grizzly, a Honey Bear or White Bear. His fear and anxiousness making him unable to sleep, he was afraid that the animals would kill him if he slept.

After what seemed like forever, Hao began to hear murmurs and the sound of big animals approaching, he sat up and tensed, wonder who entered the Mansion. He relaxed again when he saw that they were Yoh's friends, even with the big Pandas and Grizzlies were around as well, he was sure that Jun and Ren wouldn't let them hurt any of their friends.

They were chatting with themselves, but when Ren looked at their direction, he scowled right away and pointed at Yoh, "Wake him up, Xiao." He said coldly.

Hao tensed up immediately and pulled out the Dagger Yoh gave him earlier, he thought that the Grizzly would attack him and Yoh. But when the Grizzly already within hitting range and he was nearly attacking the Grizzly to protect himself and Yoh, the Grizzly only licked Yoh's face, earning a disgusted sound from Yoh.

"Ewww." Yoh moaned as he wiped his face clean from Xiao's saliva, "Why must you always woke me up like that, Xiao?" He demanded as he stared at the female Grizzly, "You could just shake me a bit".

The Grizzly only butted him a bit with it's muzzle before returning to a smirking Ren's side, "That because I told her to woke you up that way every time you slept when we are about to have our match." He said with a wide smirk.

"Ren, you are a meanie." Yoh said with a pout before he stood up and pat Hao's head, "You were scared that she would harm me, weren't you?" He asked softly with a warm smile, "Don't worry, they wouldn't never harm me unless I hurt their Master, and they only wary of you since you are new in our group".

Hao looked at Yoh's eyes and only saw honesty in them, so he nodded and put back his Dagger, "Okay." He mumbled in answer, he was still shaken by the thought of having to fight a really big Grizzly like that.

"Ah, that's right." Yoh said as he walked calmly to his friends with Hao following closely, "I need to tell you about Hao, right?" He grinned at them when they nodded, "Well, so it's like this . . ." And he told them all about his mission and who Hao was.

"Eh, my Father?" Lyserg asked in surprise, "He is still oblivious that you are the Silent Hunter?".

Yoh chuckled, "You could say that." He said cheerfully, "He didn't even recognize me when I met him for the mission".

"At least, you got the evidence already, right?" Jeanne asked calmly as she sipped her tea, they were given some tea some time during the explanation, "Even if I want to get him into jail, the authority would only say that I make up stories due to my hatred towards him".

"Yes." Yoh nodded, "I need your help to think of a way so that Hao wouldn't get arrested ass well when I send the evidence to the Government and FBI".

"About that . . ." Anna started, "I think I can win his case in front of the Judge, it's the only way to get him known by public and get another strong evidence to arrest Marco." She looked at Hao, "I won't let you get arrested, but we need you as a proof that Marco really did pay the Scientist to make a Living Weapon, or he would easily get away by saying that we make up all that since we don't like him".

Hao looked down, "That is the only way . . .?" He asked quietly.

"Yes, unfortunately." Manta answered him, "But don't worry, between all of us against Marco or anyone supporting him, the victory is obviously us, so you wouldn't get arrested as well, only as a witness and solid proof of Marco's crime".

Hao looked at all of them to see them smiling reassuringly at him, "Thank you." He said with a big smile.

Silva coughed up his tea, "Wow, you can smile now." He commented in awe.

Hao nodded, "Being with Yoh, I feel more like a Human than with Marco." He explained, "And Yoh treat me like his Little Brother, so I can easily learn how to be human than just a Living Weapon".

Silva smiled and nodded in approval, "That's good." He said with genuine relief.

"Now . . ." Ren drawled from his spot leaning on Long's side, "Since we are all agreed to help Hao in this problem, we need to make a plan".

Jeanne nodded, "Defeating Him is a difficult task." She said but then smile, "I want Him to be put in jail, so I asked for Liam-san's help, I never thought that he would ended up asking for Yoh's help".

Yoh chuckled, "So it's you who asked him? I thought he want to get Marco arrested because he work together with the FBI." He commented cheerfully.

Lyserg sweat dropped, "I didn't even know that my Father is involved in this." He muttered before getting serious, "Anyway, back to the problem, Marco has a strong army since he could use his authority as the Mayor of Maine, and we still don't know whoever support him".

Horo Horo nodded, "It seems that we need to use all of our powers in this mission." He said as he looked around, "We have to be prepared for a big war".

Yoh nodded, "Yeah, that's the reason why I told you about my mission, I need all the help I could get." He told them all, "Between all of our territories, where do you think the best place to become the Base?".

"What Base?" Hao asked curiously.

Ren glanced at Hao, "You didn't tell him about Athena yet?" He asked with a raised eyebrow Yoh.

Yoh laughed sheepishly, "Well, not yet." He admitted, "I figured that it's best to tell him with all of us here".

"Wise choice, no wonder you are the Adviser." Jeanne commented with a warm smile, "You are the wisest among us".

Yoh merely laughed in response, "Oh, come on, it's only a normal thing to do." He said as he waved the compliment away, "So, why don't we tell Hao about Athena first before we decided where we should have the Base this time?".

The rest nodded, so they all looked at Hao, "First, we need to tell you what is Athena." Jeanne started, as she was the Queen of Athena, "Athena is like the Shadow of Government, not just in Japan, not just in Chine, but in the whole world. Athena have a higher authority than the Official Government, but many people doesn't know about Athena, only the people from the Official Government knows of Athena's existence, for Athena was created to back up the Official Governments".

"The Athena has Six Magisters and a Queen as it's Highest Power." Lyserg continued, "The Queen is someone who acted like the Leader of the Organization, the one who could order the people from Athena to do a certain job that is needed to be done. But the Queen couldn't just decide anything based on her selfish desire, all had to be done for the sake of the Organization or the Government, if the Queen is planning to do something that is seen to be unnecessary, one of the Magisters, the Adviser, would interfere".

"The Six Magisters are exist to assist the Queen, so when the Queen about to make a mistake, the Magisters could interfere." Manta continued, "These Magisters are the Adviser, the Informant, the Keeper, the Protector, the Observant, and the Dealer".

"The ones who had taken these positions currently are . . . Jeanne as the Queen, Yoh as the Adviser, Ren as the Informant, Anna as the Keeper, Horo Horo as the Protector, Lyserg as the Observant, and Manta as the Dealer." Lyserg added, "These positions would change according the Heir. Like, the previous Queen was Yoh's Mother, Asakura Keiko-sama from Asakura Clan, but after she passed away, Yoh as her Heir is seen to be suited more as the Adviser, so Anna's Mother, Kyoyama Asanoha-sama was the one taken the role as the Queen. All this time, only Diethel Clan and Oyamada Clan who always chosen as the Observant and the Dealer, since it's what our families do best from generation to generation".

"After the new Generation reached adulthood, the former generation would retire and the positions would be inherited by the one among the Six Magister's Clans who had been seen as the most suited for the positions." Anna continued from there, "These Six Magister's Clans are the Angelus, the Asakura, the Tao, the Kyoyama, the Ainu, the Diethel and the Oyamada. People know of us as a mere famous families, but we are actually the chosen Clans to be the ones filling the position of Magisters. Jeanne's Mother, Meene Angelus, was the previous Keeper, it's her job to keep everything in line. But then Liam-san, Lyserg's Father, as the previous Observant, found out that Marco had been doing something behind Meene's back that was bad, so he was placed in Black List, but only now we know just how bad what he had been doing is".

"Black List is the List of people in Government who is forbidden to know about Athena and anything going on in Athena." Horo Horo said to Hao, "Well, it's a good thing that Meene decided to keep Athena's existence from him from the beginning because he just like to brag, so he didn't even know that Meene was a part of Athena. Anyway, to make sure normal people couldn't find out that we are a part of Athena, our Clans each created a Cover".

"These Covers are what people know our Clans as." Ren explained, "The Tao Clan is actually a Clan of Martial Arts Trainers who trained people working in Athena, but the people only know of us as a Family of Ambassador. The Asakura Clan is a Clan of Tracker who tracked for people suitable to be a member of Athena and raise them if they don't have any family, but the people only know of them as a Family of Bounty Hunters. The Kyoyama Clan is actually a Clan of Beast Master who trained Athena's pets to listen to our command about specific matters like spying on people or something like that, but the people only know of them as a Family of Lawyers".

"The Ainu Clan is the Clan of Beast Breeder who are supplying the members of Athena with Animal Partner that would be trained by the Kyoyama, but the people only know of them as a Family of Nature Advocates." Jun continued for Ren, "The Diethel Clan is actually a Clan of Disciplinarian who taught the members of Athena about manner, education needed and so on, but the people only know of them as a Family of Detectives. The Oyamada Clan is the Clan of Supplier who supplied any weapons or anything needed by Athena's members without taking profit so they could get the items needed easier than with normal way, but the people only know of them as the Family of Businessmen or Women. And finally, the Angelus Clan, they are the Clan of Intellects who helped Athena in managing the Organization and so on, but the people only know of them as a Family of Politicians".

"The Magisters and Queen of Athena have special way to Symbolise themselves, it's by the Animals that become their pets and territorial guards and by the Color." Yoh said at last since he was the one who always picked up people to be a member of Athena, "You had seen many Foxs around my family house, right?" He asked Hao, who could only nodded in answer since he was shocked by the information he had just heard, "The Asakura's Animal Symbol is Fox and the Color is Silver. The Tao's Animal Symbol, as you could guess already, is Bear type animals, the Color is Bronze. The Kyoyama's Animal Symbol is Big Cat type animals such as Leopards and Panthers and so on, the Color is Golden. The Ainu's Animal Symbol is Wolfs and the Color is Blue. The Diethel's Animal Symbol is Hawks and the Color is Green. The Oyamada's Animal Symbol is Bats and the Color is Black. The Angelus's Animal Symbol is Pigeon and the Color is White".

"Question." Hao said as he raised his hand, Yoh nodded to him to ask it away, "What is the connection of the Positions and Clan's job?".

"Oh that . . ." Jun commented with a chuckle, "Once the New Generations, meaning the Kids in each Clans, reach adulthood, not necessarily all of the kids since what mattered is their Mental and not Physical, the Vote is opened. The one who make a vote is the members of Athena aside from the Candidates, the Candidate's age is normally between 15 to 20".

"The selection would done during Athena's Yearly Meetings, each Clans would present their Children in the age range to the members so they could decide who to be the Queen, the Magister Adviser, the Magister Informant, and so on." Silva continued, "These Magisters would still be the member of the Clan, but their Jobs are different than the Clan's Jobs. The Adviser is to give Advises to the Queen if needed, the Informant is to be the one securing any information available in Athena so the outsiders wouldn't get their hand on them, The Keeper is the one keeping everything in Line so that no one would make a mistake, The Protector is the one in charge of protecting Athena's existence such as making sure only the good members of Government knows of Athena, The Observant is to observe the member's movements to find out if there's any traitor or spy in Athena, The Dealer is the one who would go whenever or wherever a Deal is about to be made to make sure it's going smoothly, the Queen is the one who Lead the Athena to make sure the Organization do as what is supposed to do".

Hao raised a hand again, "About Ainu Clan . . ." He looked at Horo Horo, "I heard that your real name is Usui Horokeu, why is it that it isn't Usui Clan instead?".

Horo Horo laughed at that, "Well, the Ainu is really a tribe." He said cheerfully, "We live in North Hokkaido, there's many Families in the Ainu tribe, but my Family just happen to be chosen as the Head of the tribe. The Ainu families treat each other like our own family, so it's alright to all the Ainu as a Clan, all of us had agreed to become the members of Athena anyway".

"Ooohh." Hao commented in understanding.

"Anything else you want to know?" Yoh asked warmly with a smile.

Hao tapped his chin, "Hmm, how long since you all become the Magisters and Queen?" He asked curiously.

Everyone blinked, they then looked at Yoh right away since his case was the Special one. "Um, the last Selection was 4 years ago since everyone here about the same age . . . so it's 4 years for them." Yoh explained slowly, "About Jeanne's case, she was the only one in Angelus Clan who was the oldest that time, so she become the Candidate by default and chosen to be the Queen. In my case . . ." He smiled sadly at Hao, "As you know, my parents died 13 years ago, but since Asanoha-sama had taken my Mother's role, there's no need for a new Selection again aside to decide who should be the Queen in place of my Mother. The previous Selection was 8 years ago, there's only Yohken and Silva as the Candidates at first, but when the Selection started, Yohken and Silva only qualified as Protector, but the most suited as Protector was Jun." He smiled sheepishly then, "I was still 10, but since every Clan need to fill one of the position, my Uncles decided to present me to the members as a Candidate. After a short talk with all of them, I somehow got chosen as the Adviser and the one originally chosen as the Adviser, Horo Horo's Aunt, Usui Kanna, become The Informant instead and the original Informant, Meene, become the Keeper".

"My Mother died a year ago." Jeanne said, "Normally the Selection would be done when the new Generations reached adulthood, but since it would be no good to let a position such as a Keeper empty and since the Children were already 14 anyway, only a year before adulthood, the Selection had been done a month after her death".

"So . . ." Hao looked at Yoh, "You are already become The Adviser for 8 years?".

Yoh nodded, "Since the people thought that I'm the wisest among the Candidates, I need to take the role of Adviser once again." He explained with a sheepish grin.

"But . . ." Silva started, "Now we have a problem".

"Eh?" They all, except for Yoh and Jeanne, asked in unison.

"The Asakura Clan's members had been decreased greatly during the last 10 years." Yoh explained, "The only members alive now are only me, Yohken, and Silva. Considering the younger one of the New Generations would reach adulthood in 2 years . . ." He looked at Pirika, who will be one of the Candidates since she would be 15 by then, the youngest one among New Generations, the oldest would be 18 by then, "The Asakura Clan would have no Candidate at all".

To be continued . . .

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