Thoth went to the dorm hall the other gods stayed in, letting himself in without knocking. No one had noticed him enter. This would be to their detriment as he looked over the scene in the common-room with a twitching eyebrow.
Several Gods were scattered about, drunk, with evidence of Dionysus' brews being the cause littered around them, on them, or in their hands. Apollon and Balder were crying in the corner together, muttering nonsense about how they failed Yui, drinking away.
Hades and Thor were making out on the floor near the kitchen, half-undressed, while Takeru and Loki were toying with Tsukito, laughing like idiots. The only one missing was his submissive, Dionysus himself.
Hades was the first to notice the malice filling the room and looking in its direction, "Thoth?" Hades managed with surprise. The Gods Thor, Loki, and Takeru froze in that order after hearing the name come from Hades. They all immediately tensed when they turned to see the brooding god of knowledge himself standing there, menacingly in the entrance of their common-room.
Thor saw Thoth's anger boil as the two blondes continued to cry and comfort each other, clearly not sensing their immediate danger, "Hey, Balder!" he hissed, trying to get his friend's attention. Hades moved off the green-haired god so he could get to his feet. "Balder!" he yelled louder than last time.
"Apollon!" Hades barked, catching the attention of at least one of the two crying boys. "What is it, uncle?" he sniffled before looking to where Hades was pointing, "Huh? Thoth?" The drunk babbled, looking back at his uncle, "Why is Thoth here? Is Yui okay?" Balder was slow to catch on to his teacher's presence and even slower to read the room.
Toth glared at the long-haired Nored as he nearly fell over, trying to lock eyes with him, "Hey Thoth, how are you? Want to join us?" Loki snapped his attention to his best friend, "Idiot, be quiet!" he cried with a hushed voice, panic written on his face.
Everyone flinched when they saw Thoth shake, arms crossed and hands gripping his jacket so hard it was about to rip under his fingertips, "Thyrsos Dionysus!-" He roared loud enough that the gods were sure everyone in the school had heard him, "Get your ass out here!" he yelled, marching towards the gods' room, confident he would be there sleeping soundly.
The rest of the drunk gods finally awoke and had no clue what was happening, only that Thoth was here and angry, and they all knew that could never be good, especially since they had all broken the rules.
Lucky for the god of hangovers himself, his loving uncle stood between the Egyptian and his room, "Move out of my way!" The angry god demanded. "Calm down, Thoth!" Hades tried, and luckily, some rushed to his aid. "Let go, you bumbling, mumbling no good-"
Apollon grabbed the Egyptian's leg, trying to help hold the beastly man in place, "Don't be mad at Dee-Dee, Thoth! He was just trying to cheer us up, really!" Balder stumbled over despite Loki trying to keep him away from the situation unfolding and failed, "You know -" the blonde Norde started, interrupted by his hiccuping, "He was supposed to bring us more-"
Hades, Thor, and Takeru kept their grip on the god but started to panic when he stopped struggling, only to engage in a staring contest with Balder, daring him to finish his sentence. "But then, he showed up without it a few hours later! What good merry-maker knowing when to cut us off." he slurred with a giggle.
Thoth had never wanted to choose violence so badly in his entire existence. He made a mental note that Balder's charm doesn't work when he's drunk. "I'm going to kill him," Thoth said with a flat tone. The struggle continued at that point, and after 30 minutes, Thoth eventually relented, choosing to scold every last god in that room for the next hour and a half.
Storming out of the common-room, Thoth turned back, hearing a distinct yawn, only to see a naked Dionysus finally appear from the bedroom. "What's with all the yelling? I'm trying to sleep here." Thoth clenched his fist, shaking it at the god, "Dionysus!-" The boy flinched when he heard the anger in his lover's voice, "I'll deal with you tomorrow! Put some clothes on, and clean up this mess!"
Thoth slammed the doors behind him, marching off to Kusanagi's room. The whole way there, he schemed how to punish his foolish students, especially his young Greek lover. Before he knew it, he was in front of the girls' door. He knocked on the door, but there was no answer, so he tried again.
It had only been about 6 hours since he last saw her, just before noon. He sighed, rubbing his eyes in frustration. He heard her make a horrid noise, coughing for a bit before the noise returned, again followed by a wretched coughing fit. He decided to let himself in.
All the lights were off save one, the bathroom light. Thoth approached it and opened the door, only to see Yui huddled over the toilet, gripping the sides as she heaved the contents of her stomach into it.
She saw him, and he could tell she wanted to say something, trying her best to stop the puking. He only just realized the sink water was running at full blast. He wondered why she looked at him nervously when he approached it. He was only wetting a hand towel for her. "Here." He offered it to her.
"Thank you." she managed. She looked at Thoth studiously, noting the bags under his eyes were more noticeable than usual. She closed the lid to the porcelain bowl and moved to get up when she found his hand thrust in her face, and she smiled softly at the gesture, "Thank you."
He ignored her gratitude, "Food didn't sit well?" He asked while gesturing to the most eaten plate of assorted riceballs. She chuckled tiredly. "I suppose not. Though I let them sit out for a while, it's likely my fault."
Thoth huffed as if to agree with that astute assessment. "I thought I was going to find you sleeping in here." Thoth watched as the girl prepped her toothbrush, "You told me not to." He moved off his leaning position in the door frame and sat on her sofa. "At least someone listens to me."
She poked her head out the door to look at him, "Did something happen?" She asked with genuine curiosity. Thoth rested his head in the palm he had propped on the armrest, leg crossed over the other, "Nothing for you to concern yourself with."
Finding him hard to read, Yui shrugged her shoulders, hurrying back to finish brushing her teeth and rinsing her mouth. He watched as she hurried out to clean the food off her table, "Sorry you had to see that." she apologized.
He looked at the back of her head and rolled his eyes, "It's not like you could help it. I'm the one who chose to walk in there." He squinted his eyes when she tensed for a moment, but she went back to cleaning a brief moment after. "Where's Melissa?"
When Yui finished throwing and whipping the table down, she drew a chair and sat opposite him, "Oh, you just missed him. He'll be back in a few hours." Yui jumped when he slammed his fist on the armrest, "Damn doll, how hard is it to listen to instructions." he muttered, and she wasn't sure she had heard him correctly, "What?"
The God looked into her eyes, and when she shifted nervously, he realized he was glaring at her again, "It's nothing. I told him not to leave your side in case you needed anything." Yui dared to look back at him again after he explained, "That's my fault. I asked him to run some errands while I was getting ready for bed."
Thoth sighed and shook his head, "Only you would defend that miserable creature. No matter, I'll stay here with you until he returns." Yui waved her hands out in front of her, "No, really, I'm fine."
Thoth raised an eyebrow at the girl, "Forgetting our last conversation, I see. I guess I'll have to make it more memorable this time." The God rose from his seated position and sauntered off to her. Leaning down, he put his face right in front of hers, though she tried to back away from him, "Get it through your head, Kusanagi. I can see through those fake expressions of yours."
The embarrassment she felt was instantly overshadowed by an unfamiliar feeling, something in the neighborhood of irritation and anger but calmer than those, something heavier than that and warm.
Thoth watched as the smile fell from her face, her eyes glossing over with darkness, like a room with no lights, or more accurately, it was like staring into a room that had never seen the light before. He felt her eyes looked more natural with their detached emptiness, taking anyone who gazed long enough to where her thoughts truly festered.
"Found you." He whispered, cupping her tiny face in his large hand, stroking her cheek with a calloused thumb. Her expression darkened further as she let herself melt into his touch, and he was surprised to see she didn't blush even as his lips were only a few inches from her, "Master Thoth?" she whispered.
He grunted in response and watched fire bloom in her eyes, bringing them to life again, "Please get out and leave me alone." She was calm when she said it; her face remained expressionless, but the light in her eyes grew. It was like watching a wildfire that had pushed into a meadow of dead and hollowed things, burning with a heat he had never seen in her before.
"No." He bit back with enough of a smile that she became enraged, jolting herself forward. Yui had made the god back up reflexively, "I said, get out!" She yelled. She looked over his face, and still, he looked defiant, with the smirk pulling more and more at the corner of his mouth.
She gritted her teeth and tried to force her way up from the chair, but he pushed her back down with a swift shove on her shoulder.
She didn't know why she was angry or wanted to kick, yell, and scream. She was sure Thoth hadn't done anything to warrant this behavior from her, but it was like a mudslide, and there was no stopping the flow now.
"Let me up! Do you think you can boss me around just because you're a god? Well, I've got news for you, my little know-it-all. Just because you know the answer to something doesn't mean you understand it! You don't understand a thing about me! None of you do!" she breathed heavily.
When she tried to force her way up again, he let her this time; he even changed his mind by actively participating in a split-second decision. Yanking her up by the arm, he dragged her past him only to toss her over the coffee table and on the couch. "Oh? Tell me then, what do I not understand?"
She reached for a book and threw it at him, "I said, get out, leave me alone!" He blocked the book easily before grabbing the wrist of the slender hand, currently reaching for another, followed by a swift kick to the little table to get it out of his way.
Before she could yell at him for grabbing her, he encroached into her space, one leg straddling her hips while his other remained firmly planted on the ground. He lowered himself slowly, forcing her to lean backward against the armrest. She opened her mouth to speak, but when his fingers danced at the opening of her mouth, she thought better than to pry her lips apart any further.
"I'll tell you what I do know, Yui, you've been depressed for months, you still are. You're clinging to the shadow of sadness because it's the only thing that's been consistent for you. You're not looking for reasons to live because you already have those; you're a coward afraid to take a risk now that those things are before you again because you're so scared to lose them that you'd rather be dead than see that happen-"
She slapped him. Thoth didn't physically move, but he stepped back, realizing he had gone on a terrible tangent with the truth as he knew it. He looked at her tear-stained face as she bit back words he thought she ought to let out, "I-" He removed his fingers from her lips, anticipating she would apologize, but he was wrong.
"You're right." Thoth blinked at her a few times, wishing she'd stop hiding her eyes behind her bangs. "So that's it then, you're just going to give up without a fight?" He said with a hint of snarkiness in his disappointed tone.
Silent tears ran down her face, and she finally answered him after a moment, "What's the point in that? So we'll graduate this year? Then what, you guys will send me back to my life at the shrine? Hopefully, this time, I at least don't go on believing you're all dead."
She paused, looking up into dark blue eyes before reaching for the strands of white hair nearly touching her face. Thoth eyed the fingers playing in his hair until a chuckle drew his attention back to the girl's face.
"I was so happy when I found out you were all alive, but then it occurred to me that if you had been alive this whole time, then I was just abandoned by everyone.-" Thoth's eyes widened more and more as she continued to speak, her words leaving him feeling that she was only scratching at the surface of her darkest thoughts and feelings.
"I'm human, I'm nothing, I'm nothing compared to you. I'm just the plaything of God's in this twisted garden, and I can't stand it anymore. I'm nothing to you, nothing. I'm nothing, so it doesn't surprise me that I mean nothing to you." she broke down again, gripping his chest and arms.
"Please, Thoth, I can't take this pain anymore." She pleaded before starting to hyperventilate again, and the god embraced her with both arms, pulling her to his chest, "Yui, calm down." She was far past calming, her breathing more erratic as she desperately tried to stop her tears to no avail. "Yui!"
He watched as she finally passed out and stayed there, watching her chest finally move with steady breaths. "No, Yui. I was wrong." He admitted under his breath before placing his lips on hers. It was a chaste experience, and he did it more to reassure himself than anything.
Pulling back from her, Thoth moved to lift the sleeping girl in his arms. She woke up as he lifted her, but she said nothing until after he pushed past the drapes hiding her room away. "I can walk," she mumbled, only for the god to huff in response. Just before they reached the edge of her bed, she whispered, "I'm sorry."
Thoth didn't acknowledge her apology and tossed her on the bed as close to the wall as he could without hurting her. She didn't think anything of it until he followed her, one knee on the bed while he stripped off his jacket before working on his boots. "W-wait a minute."
Yui backed away as he crawled toward her, "Master Thoth?" she stuttered, a bright blush beginning to form. The girl wasn't sure what to do as she watched the god get comfortable under her sheets, propping himself up on some pillows. "Come here and lay down already," he grumbled, yanking her over to his side.
She awkwardly braced herself and showed him no sign that she would get comfortable, agitating the white-haired god. She yelped, closing her eyes when she felt him manipulate her once more, his hand on her waist as she was twisted on her back.
When the moving stopped, she braved a look only to see Thoth looming over her, his face next to hers. She could feel him taking a breath against her neck. Out of nervous habit, she tried to close her legs together but found something was preventing her. She assumed it was his thigh, given their position.
"I said, lay down." she wasn't expecting the sweet huskiness of his voice. Thoth took in her scent, which didn't go unnoticed by the girl beneath him. "Thoth! What are you-" She gasped when she felt him nibble on her ear, rolling his tongue on the pinched flesh gently between his teeth.
Her back arched off the bed, small hands pressed at his chest, wavering in a pitiful attempt to try and push him off her. Finally, he let go of her flesh when he heard her try to strangle a moan from surfacing. "Address me properly, Yui. I told you I would accept nothing less, and I don't like repeating myself."
"I understand." She stuttered, trying to wiggle her way out from under him. Thoth moved her bangs out of her eyes and smirked, "What did I just say?" his tone sent a shiver down her spine. "I don't understand?" He could tell she meant that. "I told you to address me properly. And I'm still waiting unless you'd rather stay like this." he teased with a smirk.
"I'm sorry, Master Thoth. It won't happen again!" He huffed at her sloppy stammering and dropped to the girl's side, holding the blanket up in what she assumed was a gesture, telling her to come closer. "Um, Master Thoth?" He was getting irritated but reigned it. "What is it?"
"Well, it's just that I don't think we should be so close like this." Thoth gave her a wicked grin, "On the contrary, this is precisely what we should be doing. Now get over here already." She hesitated, but in the end, she scooted next to him, laying on her back until he decided to pull her to face his chest.
The two lay there quietly as he began playing with her hair. He looked down at her as she eventually relaxed. She started finicking with the buttons on his dress shirt, her fingers slowly getting closer to the edge where his chest was exposed. "Here, like this." He whispered, taking her hand gently in his larger one and placing her palm against his skin.
She flinched and tried pulling away. "It's alright, Yui. Stay." He ordered. She finally relaxed after a while, spreading her fingers and moving them closer to his heart. She was surprised when she felt his heart's slow and strong beating, "So warm." the purple-haired girl muttered under her breath.
She looked up at the god and, for once, didn't feel like she was under a microscope as he held her gaze. "Um, Master Thoth?" she probed timidly, "What is it?" She tucked her feet under his legs, trying to warm them before she continued, "What did you mean when you said that this is what we should be doing?"
Thoth's eyes softened, pulling her closer before cupping her face in his hand. "I plan on covering this topic in class, so I'll give you the short answer for now. Physical contact between two people is helpful, especially in your case."
She nodded, "Oh, I thought that involved- Never mind, actually." Thoth was tempted to make her finish that sentence but decided to be nice and do it for her, "Skin to skin? Yes, it's generally more effective that way. Here, I'll show you."
Thoth found that her blushing face was something he could get used to, "What? You mean- but that would be- No thank you!" He was starting to find her adorable, his smile growing after stripping off his shirt with a quick tug over his head.
"No, thank you?" He repeated back to her, noticing how she had put distance between them now that he was shirtless. "Um- I don't- Please, Master Thoth I-" While entertaining for him, he was also confused by her ability to resist him.
He had always thought she could avoid the gods' advances because of the shackles Zeus had placed on them, but lately, he wasn't sure about that theory. This was because he didn't have a divine shackle on him.
"You've clearly never read your ancient mythology. We'll have to rectify that.-" Yui stopped her, struggling momentarily, puzzled as to why he would say that at a time like this. "Nothing good ever came from a mortal rejecting a god. I'll have you know if I wanted to take you there isn't much you could do about it," he informed her. "Take me?"
He nearly laughed, thinking she was joking, but after further analysis, he decided she was that naive. "Relax. I'm not going to do anything to you." She believed him but still didn't like where this was going, trembling as he took off her baggy sweater. He reached for her shorts next, and she couldn't help it when she slapped his hand away.
"No!" she said, tears forming in her eyes. Thoth grunted in response before getting out of bed. Relief spread through her until she saw him taking off his pants, dropping them where he stood. She didn't have time to react before his hands were on her ankles, yanking her to the edge of the bed.
She tried looking at him, but when her eyes started to travel down his abs and past his hip, she shut them tightly, gasping when she felt her pants yanked off. "Stop being a brat and lay back down." She realized then that she still had her undergarments on at least, and so did he.
After struggling, the god manipulated her into a comfortable cuddling position. Thoth had her flat on her back while he lay on half of her tiny form, one leg over hers and his arm wrapped around her midsection, letting her use his arm as a pillow. "Try and sleep now. You need rest."
Her embarrassment subsided after a while, and she thought he might have been right about all this, though she told herself she would never admit it. She failed to realize that her adjusting under his weight only to entangle herself further was an admission all on its own. "So warm." She muttered under her breath.
Thoth found it easy to relax with her like this, tempted to sleep alongside her for the rest of the evening, but he knew Zeus would be back soon. After about an hour, the girl finally entered into a deep sleep. He swore if the doll didn't show up soon, he would put it out of its misery.
Not long after that, Melissa showed up, and Thoth slipped out of bed without waking the exhausted human. Of course, the yellow misfit jumped to conclusions about the situation but believed Thoth when he said nothing happened, going further to say he wouldn't bring it up to Kusanagi under the threat of being unstitched and used as a washcloth for cleaning Thoth's monocle.
"I'll be back tomorrow morning. Do not leave Kusanagi's side again. I don't care what she asks you to do." the doll nodded in understanding and thought to ask him one last thing before he left for the night. "Oh, Master Thoth, is she allowed visitors?" Thoth looked back before walking out the door, "Not now. She needs more time."
With that, Thoth strolled through the courtyard of the dorms, taking his time on the way to his library. "I wonder?" He spoke aloud, pondering about her ability to resist fawning over him, especially after having intimate contact. He wanted to do some research before Zeus was back.
He got to work looking in the more neglected sections of the library, brushing off more than a few cobwebs as he searched some of his oldest archives. After a while, he was hidden behind stacks of books.
Finally, he found what he was looking for, "Whatcha, reading today?" Anubis mumbled, clinging onto Thoth's neck, peering to the side so that he could look at the book the White-haired god was reading. Thoth took a deep breath before reading the passage aloud, as he often did this for the boy.
"First experience; the gift of living; without whose evenhanded touch in vain we struggle against the nature of existence. Thou whom bestows only truth which follows mankind as a shadow, not caring would we until, thou whom offer the hand, initiating us with or without the consent of our corporal agent, mind, and soul. Thou whom taught me how, standing before the light thou offered, hath cast a great shadow that dims the intellect of the mortals that watch mine back. Mankind whom see me only and never until, they whom never wot that if there could a shadow, then there is a light casting it. Thou hast now shown me with untampered truth that I might not but doff myself from thy light so they bask beneath.
Last knowledge, the issue of experience, which I shall obtain from the shadows of mankind, and when I return, I shall wot thou as intimately as the clouds of heaven, seeing in part the light and the shadows that join with it. Virtuous determination, cut the veil of division as a blade swinging through weeds I shall."
Thoth took a deep breath after reading the old passage before turning his head to gauge Anubis' reaction. "Interesting. It reminds me of something I can't recall. What's this book about?" Thoth closed the book, revealing a worn title, "Virtus?" The violet-eyed boy muttered, unsure he was reading it correctly, given the poor printing of it. "Yes. You might remember her as Arete. This is one of the last entries to her diaries." Thoth said with a tired voice.
"Arete? I can't say I remember meeting her, though the name does sound familiar." Thoth made to move out of his seat, "How does his mood seem?" Anubis yawned before walking over to the couch, making the blue-eyed god wait patiently for a response, "It's hard to say, though I don't think I would call it bad; it's not boisterous either."
Thoth scoffed, "So he's his normal self then." Anubis stretched out before curling up again, "I suppose, though if that is the definition of normal, it leaves me with many questions to consider." Thoth rolled his eyes at the boy's lackadaisical mannerisms. Thoth grabbed Arete's diary and started for the doors, "Put the rest away."
Anubis tightly hugged a pillow as he watched his fellow Egyptian walk out, "Yes, Master, as always." Thoth kept running the diary passage over in his head, "So the rumors had truth to them, did they?" he muttered aloud.
Finally, he made it to Zeus' throne room, only to see the king lying on the floor in front of the regal seat. "Thoth, so tell me, what do we think of Kusanagi Yui?" He voiced with curiosity heavy in his tone. "Tell me, Zeus, what do you remember about the disappearance of Arete?"
Seriousness took over both of the gods' divine faces. Zeus wasted no time divulging everything he knew, studying his friend as he did. "I'll tell you what happened that day, but first, I think you should know more about her story. A tragedy, really." Thoth went over to the god, sitting on the steps, getting comfortable before his golden-haired friend continued.
"She was a troubled goddess, truly tender-hearted she was. She often tried to help the gods resolve their problems by showing them how the others felt. But even after showing them the truth, they often ignore it and try to justify their positions. Arete was the kindest goddess I ever had the pleasure of knowing, and she suffered from it.
One day, her father, Poseidon, and I argued. She tried to rectify it between us, but we were too stubborn to admit our faults and tried to make her choose which of us was right. It broke her heart that she could not reach us with the truth as she knew it, and she ran away from Olympus.
We had not seen her for several hundred years, but the first time she returned, she had the same smile she had always had. Her eyes, though, her beautiful golden eyes looked empty. I later learned from the others that she had been living amongst the humans, as a human, trying to show them how to contemplate the essential virtues of life. -"
Thoth's eyes widened, "As a human? How would that have been possible without one of your shackles?" he cut Zeus off. "Because she created it. The shackle she wore was so that she did not have her divinity to help her at every turn. She would learn of hunger, pain, and sickness as humans would, and by her own choice."
Thoth didn't know what to make of that. No god he had ever known would lock their own divinity away willingly. "To be clear, her shackle was different than my poor imitation. She could remove it easily, and her abilities were not lost. She simply turned her body into that of a mortal while it was in place."
Thoth crossed his arms and thought on that hard. "I see. Please continue." Zeus cleared his throat to do just that, "Well, after living as mortally as possible among them, she tried to teach the humans that the aim of a knowledgeable person should be to understand the essence of knowledge itself. She had many successful students, men renowned by humans today but not at the time.
Every 80 years or so, she would come home to the pantheon when those students were ostracized, ridiculed, beaten, stoned, and killed. But Olympus was in chaos during those times, so she had no rest from her burdens.
Her last student was a man named Socrates; she was with him during his trials and offered to free him, but he refused her help, sending her away, promising that he would be alright because he would make them see the truth. I watched as her student made them know the truth; she was so proud, and yet after they admitted he was right, they still killed him.
I brought her home after the trials, and Hera stayed with her, taking pity on the inconsolable goddess. She cried for hundreds of years, refusing to see any of us unless forced, which we did only because she was hurting herself. In the end, the only company she kept was those diaries.
On her last night with us, the sentinels warned us that a human had entered Olympus without my permission. When we gathered to see what mortal would dare, she stood on the edge facing a mighty Sentinal. It was preparing to crush her where she stood with a shackle dangling loosely on her wrist. Hera and I went to her aid, followed by Poseidon.
We tried to confront her about the shackle, but her only reply was to hold a blade to her throat, whispering something as she poured what remained of her divine powers into the sword before swallowing the shackle. It caused every sentinal to rise in an attempt to kill her, so I sent her to the earth, where she would be safe.
I can't say for sure what happened after that, but I know her soul has never passed." Thoth Thought about everything Zeus had said, and after some time, Zeus asked if he had ever read one of her last entries in those diaries. He admitted that he hadn't.
Thoth handed the book to Zeus before speaking more, "If it's true that her soul has never passed, then I think maybe this whole time, Arete has been reincarnating, living among humans, so that she could better understand them. And if she placed her divinity in that sword, it could likely remove the shackle she placed on her soul to maintain eternal mortality."
Zeus' eyes went wide, "Then you think Kusanagi Yui is-" Thoth cut him off, "This is only a theory for now. But I'd like to modify the curriculum to test it." Zeus nodded, "Do whatever you need to do."