When Greyson bumped into Viktor earlier, Viktor told him that things were going to be alright. That he was going to follow Lucinda in the basement control room and make sure that she was safe. That if he ever felt scared, he should just hug Embers so she would comfort him. He said that the fighting was going to stop soon, and Greyson just had to wait for everything to end.

But even with the baby dragon in his arms, he still couldn't help but feel nervous.

Questions upon questions popped in his head. Why was the Underworld here? How was the Underworld here? Who was Deimos and how did Lucinda know him? Why was everything so confusing and why wouldn't anyone give him a straight answer?

He groaned and tightened his grip on Embers. He wished that he was as smart as his superiors. Viktor and Lucinda probably already knew what was going on and why it was happening, even.

"Ow!" Greyson stopped in his tracks when Embers bit his arm, and he dropped the dragon from his arms. Before Embers could fall, she climbed to his shoulders and huffed, making small wisps of smoke leave her nostrils.

He shot her a glare, but Embers only responded with a yawn. "Geez," he said as he continued walking. "You didn't have to bite me."

When the two of them reached the end of the hallway, Greyson stopped in his tracks. The halls were a lot shorter than earlier, and he had hoped that he would be walking until Lucinda and Viktor reached him. He could always hide in the rooms until someone found him, right? Maybe the DUO members could make sure he was safe.

He turned around, making his ears flop down. There were no rooms nearby.

Greyson gulped. "Everything's going to be fine. Mom's fine, Doctor Anthea and Kuya Ciel are fine, Sir Viktor and Kuya Azul are fine. I- I don't need to worry about anything."

Hesitantly, he continued walking until he reached the lobby. The first people he saw were Anthea and Ciel, standing near the receptionist desk. One of Anthea's hands was holding a scythe, while the other was raised in front of Ciel. When Greyson moved his eyes away from them, he held his breath and stepped back.

There was a woman in the middle of the room. She was tall, maybe as tall as Deimos and Azul, and he couldn't tell if it was because of her heels or not. Long, dark hair fell from her head, covering her pointy ears. There was a stick of vape in one of her hands, while the other one was inside her blazer's pockets. More people that Greyson didn't recognize gathered around her, all bearing the same mark that Stera had on his face.

His legs shook beneath him, and he placed one hand on the wall. No one needed to tell him anything to know who that woman was. Zeus Vinsteria, one of the most frightening heads that ever ruled the Underworld. He had heard stories about her. About how anyone that crossed her path never lived or was sane enough to tell the tale, and that no one should make an enemy of Zeus if they wanted to die peacefully.

"You, the one with two hair colors."

Greyson looked around, then jumped up when he realized that Zeus was talking about him. His eyes locked with Zeus's bright blue ones, and he didn't have the strength to look away.

"You must be the child that can scan devices," Zeus said as she placed her hand down." I hope that you won't mind, but I'm going to borrow you for a little while. The Underworld is looking for something, and you're the right person for the job." 

In front of him, Anthea yawned. She lifted her scythe from the ground and placed it on her shoulders, then took a few steps back. "I must apologize, but no one from the Underworld is borrowing anyone from the DUO.

Zeus hummed and stepped forward. A few people turned their hands and weapons to her. However, the moment she turned her gaze to them, they all placed their hands down and turned away.

"I must apologize as well," she continued, "but that wasn't a request. I need the child."

"Leave the boy, Vinsteria."

Greyson turned around. Deimos stepped out of the hall, his face twisted into a scowl. His silver eyes flicked to Greyson for a quick second, and his lips faltered.

He didn't realize it earlier, but Deimos didn't have the same mark on his face like Stera did.

"Demon isn't here," Deimos continued as he turned to Zeus. "There's no need to use him. We're leaving. I'm also quite certain that you can find other wielders who can wield the same ability as him."

Greyson furrowed his brows and looked down. Demon? They were looking for something called Demon?

If that was what they were looking for, then he was sure that it wasn't in the DUO. He scanned every file in the building a few times as a part of the DUO's quarterly file assorting, and that name never popped up. Granted, his memory might not be the best, and he might not have been assigned to anything that had Demon in it. But after working here for around five years, he was certain that the name would at least ring a bell.

"Ow, ow, ow!" He grabbed Embers from his shoulders and held her in his arms. Embers's wings were tucked in, and her head was turned to Zeus. Her scales slowly became warmer as a deep growl left her jaw.

Zeus simply hummed once again. When her eyes flicked to Embers, Embers started growling even louder. Greyson was close to dropping her to the ground before her scales could burn his clothes.

"I'm quite certain that what I'm looking for is here," she replied. "That boy looks like you, by the way. I just thought I would mention that."

Deimos scoffed. He walked past the other people from the DUO, then stopped next to Zeus. "We've done more damage than we needed to. We're leaving."

"Give me a minute, Silveria."

Zeus lifted her head, and her bright blue eyes became even brighter. Greyson's ears flopped down as he lowered his head. He wasn't sure what she could wield, but he hoped that it had nothing to do with the sudden shift of the atmosphere. At the same time, he also hoped that it was because of her wielding, and that he wasn't just afraid because she decided to stand straighter and look down on them.

"The DUO is hiding something that belongs to me," she said, her voice slightly booming. "You people call it Demon, and I'm very certain that it's here. Bring Demon back to me, or..." She lowered her head, and a small chuckle left her. "No, perhaps it would be more interesting to see what would happen if I don't tell you the consequences. Take your time looking for it; I will be watching either way."

With that, she turned around and snapped her fingers. The other people with her stood taller and turned around, falling into a neat line as they exited the building. Greyson caught a glimpse of Deimos looking at him, though he also immediately turned around and left as well.

Greyson finally released his breath, and he fell to his knees. He removed his glasses from his face before his sweat could smudge the lens. If someone was calling him, he couldn't tell. His heartbeat and heavy breathing blocked out any other noise in his head.

Why couldn't Zeus have stayed in his stories? Why did he have to meet her?

A pair of arms on his shoulders made Greyson look up. Anthea came into his vision, but her face was blurry. Just as he was about to ask something, she placed a hand on his chest. A pink glow emitted from her hands, and he felt it enter her veins. It was like cool water that flowed through his nerves, calming and healing any nervousness and pain that he felt.

When she finished, she helped him stand up. "Does your body hurt anywhere else?"

Greyson shook his head as he wore his glasses again. "I feel better. Thank you."

"And I feel like sleeping for an eternity." Anthea yawned and stretched her arms. "I don't know what's more surprising, though. The fact that we're roped in with the Underworld's mess, or the fact that Lucinda's ex-boyfriend works with them."

"I don't know either."

Greyson lowered his head.

Then, his eyes widened as he realized what Anthea had just said. "Wait, Lucinda's what?!"

"Your mother's..." Anthea placed a hand on her cheek. "Oh... I have a feeling that I wasn't supposed to say that."

Greyson's jaw dropped, and his right hand reached for the black part of his hair. Any healing Anthea did earlier disappeared, and he was back to feeling like passing out again. Did Anthea mean Deimos? That guy? The one Lucinda was flirting with earlier? And Zeus also mentioned that they looked alike, even if he couldn't see it. But if they truly did...

Oh... now that made sense.

"That guy..." he said, pointing a finger to the entrance. "Him... He..."

Before he could continue, a small buzzing noise caught his attention. He turned to Ciel, who grabbed his phone from his pocket and flipped it open. His eyes scanned the screen before turning to the two of them. "Greyson, I hate to interrupt your crisis, but Kuya Azul wants us all in the upper control room. Miss Sedah's summoning the entire Investigation Squad."

As expected, Anthea groaned and scratched the tip of her pointy ear. "Of course she is. Come on, Grey. You might get some answers from your mother, too."

Greyson nodded. Just as he picked Embers up from the ground, Ciel grabbed the collar of his coat, making him stop. Ciel knelt down to his height and asked, "Have you met Miss Sedah before?"

He shook his head. "No. At least, not that I can remember. Why?"

"Well." Ciel flicked his eyes down for a moment before looking at him again. "I don't know why, but the original members don't really like her."

"Clearly."

"So if you ever feel out of place with the conversation, just know that I am, too. You can stand next to me if you ever feel confused, alright?"

Greyson nodded. "Alright."

With Embers in his arms, he followed Anthea to the elevators. The only noise that passed between the four of them was Embers growling and asking for head scratches every three seconds. He didn't even realize that they were in the upper control room's floor until Ciel tapped his shoulder.

His ears flicked downward, and he almost tightened his hold on Embers again. He couldn't remember anything about Sedah. The only things he knew about her was based on what other DUO members had told him. Most of them were what he expected people to say about their boss. But the others, especially the Investigation Squad, talked about her as if she was bubblegum that got stuck in their shoes.

Once the doors to the control room opened, Embers jumped out of his arms and flew to Viktor's lap. Viktor, unsurprisingly, was sitting on one of the tables and checking out his reflection. Azul was standing in front of the control panel with one hand covering his face. The sight of the monitors working again made Greyson sigh in relief. If he had to stare at an empty monitor again, he was going to stab his eyes out.

A hand on his shoulder made him turn around, and a smile formed on his face when he saw his mother. She lowered herself to his height and placed both of her hands on her face. "How do you feel?"

"I'm..." Greyson lowered his eyes and bit his inner cheek. If she wasn't going to say anything about Deimos, then he wasn't going to ask. "Fine. Doctor Anthea already healed me, so I'm feeling better."

Lucinda pulled him in for a hug. "I'm sorry I had to make you leave. I didn't want you to get hurt."

Greyson returned the hug. When the both of them pulled away, he flashed her a smile. "I'm glad that you're not hurt too, Mom."

"Sedah," Anthea said, making Greyson turn to her. "I still have people to heal downstairs and a really, really long nap after this. Do everyone a favor and just get to the point, please."

Greyson followed Anthea's gaze. He didn't see it earlier, perhaps because Azul was way taller and was covering her completely, but there was another woman standing next to him. She looked a little different from what he expected, but he figured that the president of the DUO would already have greying hair. Her ears, surprisingly, weren't pointy. They were sharp, but they weren't a wielder's ears.

Anthea crossed her arms and added, "I'm surprised you're standing next to her, 'Zul. And here I was wondering if 'physically assaulting the DUO president' was going to be in your already long criminal record."

Azul shot her a glare. "Shut up."

Greyson furrowed his brows. He turned around, eyeing Ciel behind him. "Criminal record?"

"It's..." Ciel sighed. "It's a long story."

Next to Azul, Sedah stepped away from the control panel. When her red eyes met Greyson, he half expected her to shoot him a cold glare just like the other adults in the DUO. He thought she would remind him that she was still president, and that she held all the authority within the company.

But she didn't. Instead, she smiled. A soft smile, even. It almost reminded him of Lucinda's smiles.

"I'm glad to see that you're all safe," she said as she held her hands together.

Lucinda chuckled. However, it sounded dry and empty. "Did anyone else go to clown school and I just missed the memo? I've been hearing a lot of good jokes lately."

Sedah's smile slowly fell. "I can see that you're mad—"

"Glad to know that your eyes are still functional," Azul spat. "At least a part of you is working."

Greyson's ears flopped down as he turned to Ciel again. Ciel, unfortunately, shrugged. "Like I said, I don't know either."

If the insults bothered her, then Sedah showed no signs that they did. She simply continued. "The Intelligence Database is already running on multiple scans on what Demon could be, but—"

"Great!" Azul tossed his arms in the air as he walked away from the control panel. "Those Database snobs are on the case. Fantastic. I'm going back to our office now, where I can actually help people."

Though just as he was about to take another step, Viktor grabbed the collar of his coat. Azul sighed, and he hung his head. "What did I ever do to deserve this?"

"Do you really want me to remind you of the answer?" Viktor lowered his mirror and jumped off the table. Before Azul could reply, he turned to Sedah. "Well, what do you want us to do, then? Play servants to the Unintelligence Database? Lucinda makes a very bad footstool, you know."

Lucinda frowned. "Hey."

Sedah paused for a while, as if she was waiting for another insult to be thrown at her. When none of them said a word, she nodded. "I'm assigning the Investigation Squad with a special mission."

"And that is?"

"I'm giving you all two choices." Sedah placed a hand in the air with one finger raised. "The first option is, of course, for you to continue working as the Investigation Squad. Let the Intelligence Database do the looking, and you can do the, well, investigating as normal. You won't be involved in looking for Demon."

Greyson furrowed his brows. This didn't sound bad. If anything, it was more ideal. Why would they interfere with something that seemed to be the Intelligence Database's specialty?

"And the other option?" Anthea asked.

"It's obvious. I'll hand this mission to you with the ID acting as support. That includes finding out what Demon is, what to do once you've found Demon, and dealing with the Underworld afterwards. How does that sound?"

Greyson crossed his arms. It sounded confusing. Personally, he would choose the first. And he doubted the others would choose the second op—

"We're taking the second route."

Greyson blinked as he turned to Viktor, and he couldn't help but say, "What?"

"Viktor, what the ever loving"—Azul flicked his eyes from Viktor before turning to Greyson again—"heck. What the heck are you thinking? We still have cases to deal with after this; we can't have something like this on our plate! And for the Guardian's sake, we're the Investigation Squad, not the 'Fight the Underworld Headfirst Without a Plan' Squad."

"Who said we're doing this without a plan? Besides, would you rather abort the mission and run, or follow orders and do the job?" Viktor turned to Sedah once again. "For once, Sedah, I'm going to play a risk and do what you actually want us to do."

Sedah smiled once again. "I'm counting on you, Investigation Squad. You're all free to leave."

Greyson sighed when those words left their president's lips. With a nod, he turned around and left the control room with the others. The only thing on his mind was annoyance that they had more work to do. But then again, there was no such thing as rest when it involved their group.

If Genshin Impact can make waifus out of the gods in Gnosticism then I don't see why I can't do the same thing to Greek Gods.

Also please let me know what you think about that last bit. I'm thinking on whether or not I should keep it. If it feels weird and sudden in a bad way, feel free to tell me. I'll remove it after editing.

Edit from future Ace: the last bit has been removed :chaos: