12 ~ Oracle ~

~Earth's Moon~

Ares and Hermes walked the long, marble hallway of the Acropolis which house the archives of the history of the universe and the prophecy made by the Oracle.  Ares has not step on Earth's Moon for centuries, it hasn't change.  He looked off into the distance at Earth, hoping his son was okay. He hoped the dark matter that he absorbed was not affecting him.

"We will be meeting with Artemis, she is the one with the knowledge we seek, brother."

"I know that, Hermes." Ares crossed his arms as they walked down the spiral stairs down into one of the moon's many craters, the home of the most secrete artifacts. "She is the Oracle who made the prophecy.  I am not an idiot.  I have known of Artemis for years. "

"An idiot no, but you do not like listening to the full story before jumping to conclusions. Your also guilty of listening to dreams when you don’t know the reasons for those dreams.” Hermes sighed and knew Sunggyu had a similar ability when it came to dreams, but from the rumors he has heard about his hot-tempered nephew is that he is better at using that ability to his father. Sunggyu knew when to act on dreams.

“I have every right to jump to conclusions when it involves my only son.” Ares yelled, "He is my heir and as my heir he needs to be protected. I know he is capable of, but I can't handle anymore kidnapping attempts."

“And that is how you pushed your son away. Him being in isolation for so long did damage to his mental health!” A voice came from behind the arguing brothers. “Sunggyu is still not happy with you Ares.  He has not been happy with you for a while." A beautiful woman with icy blond hair walked over to the brothers. "Prince Sunggyu just puts on an act to make you believe he is okay.”

“Artemis, always a pleasure.”

“The pleasure is mine, and please do refrain from being sarcastic with me Ares, I do not have the time or patients to deal with your fiery behavior.”

“I promise to keep my sarcasm to a minimum!” Ares smiled.

“Good!” She turned her attention to Hermes.  Artemis always preferred Herems clam deminer.  He was easier to deal with then Ares. “It’s always good to see you Hermes, I hope Myungsoo is well. That young man is always well mannered.”

“Myungsoo is well, he just wants more than guiding the dead to become stars and I respect his wishes.  I do not want my son to feel obligated to one profession.” Hermes glared at his brother, knowing he would not give his son the same opportunities, “but we are not hear to talk about my son, we are here to talk about the prophecy involving my nephew and Gaea’s daughter.”

“I see!” Artemis crossed her arms and glared at Ares, “So, you are finally ready to hear the truth and not half-truths.  Keeping Sunggyu away from the girl was a mistake, Ares.  How could you ne so stupid.”

“How was keeping him away from Mina a mistake. She may be the daughter of Gaea, but she is also the daughter of that bastard Iris.  Do you really expect me to allow my son to be corrupted by the daughter of an asteroid?”

“Hyung, you should not judge Mina because of who her father is.  She is a victim of terrible things." Hermes sighed.  "Iris did not only abuse Gaea, hyung, he abused his own daughter. I hope you know that.”

“What!”

“I thought you knew this.  Soojung has been on Earth all these years keeping an eye on her and she never told you about the abuse?”  Hermes was restraining himself from punching Ares. How could his brother not know of this, unless Soojung had no idea of the abuse?

“Hermes, I know you are frustrated, but if you don’t remain calm I am going to blast your back to Mercury.”

“Apologies, Artemis, but I cannot help but be angry about what Gaea and her daughter went through. The things the Myungsoo learned.  It took me weeks to calm him down.   I have never seen my son so upset.  He is such a kind and caring boy and I hated that he was exposed to something so vile.” Hermes crossed his arms, taking a deep breath. “Please explain to my brother why keeping the kids away from each other may have caused as shift in the celestial.”

“What shift?” Ares asked as he looked at Artemis.

“There was a shift in the celestial because you prevented soulmates from meeting each other.” Artemis answered. “Prince Sunggyu and Mina the Goddess of Terra are soulmates.  They are connected to each other, but…”

“Why is there always a but!”

~ Terra ~

Mina's eyes slowly opened and wondered if she was dead; her body felt light, like she was floating.  She looked up and realized she wasn’t dead; she was very much alive.   Mina was floating in the air, in the arms of the Prince of Mercury, Kim Myungsoo.  A blush appeared on her face when she realized how close they were.  Her arms wrapped around his neck.

How could he be so handsome?

Is he even real…

Mina studied the young prince before realizing she was back on the roof of the building she jumped off. She watched as Myungsoo placed her back on her feet, smiling softly at her, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, we are here to help. You are safe now.”

"How nice of the Prince of Jupiter, Neptune and Mercury to join us."

"Us?" Dongwoo questioned.

"You of all people should know that I am not here alone, Prince Dongwoo! I have new allies who want to see the end of your reign, but that is for another time and place.  I have one task to complete today, and I hope it will go over smoothly.” Iris smirked as he turned towards his daughter and Myungsoo, "Please hand over my daughter, Myungsoo and I promise to make your death quick and painless.  We want to make sure you remain handsome even in death. Your many Fangirls will appreciate it.”

"No!” Myungsoo said as he stood in front of Mina. He promised his father that he would protect Mina, even if it killed him.  He remembered telling his father that the day he spoke to Gaea, the day he learned about the abuse of both Gaea and Mina. “You are not going anywhere near Mina, not after what you have done! Not after all the pain you cause.  You sick, disgusting bastard. You are not going to lay a hand on her ever again.  Not ever!"  Myungsoo could not help his anger, the trauma of that day was surfacing.

Mina stared at Myungsoo, she was beginning to wonder what he knew, if he knew. She started to feel tense thinking about someone knowing about the abuse.  Mina has only spoke of the abuse her father put her mother through, but never the abuse he bestowed upon her. She tried to forget it.

“Do you think you can win against me Myungsoo? I am older and more powerful than you.” Iris taunted.

“Being older doesn’t mean anything.” Myungsoo crossed his arms. Iris cockiness was getting on his nerves. Everything about this man bothered him.

Hoya sighed as he looked at Myungsoo.  He could not believe Myungsoo could not see that Iris was trying to manipulate him. He understood why the younger male felt this way.  He has information that is unknown to people who cannot speak to the dead.  From the way Myungsoo was behaving, he could only imagine what Iris did to Gaea and Mina. 

Hoya looked towards Dongwoo who seemed to be analyzing the area.  Hoya already knew Eris was hiding somewhere, waiting for the right time to strike.  Their enemies rarely traveled alone.

“Oh, it does, but not everyone.” Iris smirked. He wanted to taunt Myungsoo again. He wanted to get a rise out of the Prince of Mercury and his daughter. He knew just the person to bring up. “Your cousin isn’t in the best shape right now, is he, no thanks to Pluto. Poor Sunggyu, saving a girl who wants nothing to do with him.  The only person who could save him from the darkness."

"That is not true…" There was hesitation in Mina's voice. 

“What’s not true, Mina dear?” Iris asked. "That you are not happy to see me or that you want nothing to do with that hot-headed prince.”

“That I want nothing to do with Sunggyu. I would be lying to myself not to have an interest in him. We just don’t see eye to eye right now, but he does go out of his way to protect me and I respect that.” Mina but her lip. “My opinion of you will always remain the same. I do not know what those judges were thinking, but they should have never let you out!”

Iris sighed, “Well, then we have to change that, my dear. I am going to have to make you loyal to me like your mother.  The brainwashing of the goddess wasn’t easy, and I am a bit out of practice, but you will soon be mine.”

“I will never be yours!!”

“Will see, my naive daughter.” Iris sneered. 

---

Sungyeol blotted the sweat that was dripping down Soojung's face.  The poor girl went through a lot today.  He knew she just needed rest, knowing Sunggyu resorting Soojung pyrolysis had help.  Sungyeol could not help but feel worried, he can sense Sunggyu fatigue.  He knew he should have stopped him from running off.  He regretted not knocking him unconscious again.

"You need to go after him!"Soojung grabbed onto his arm, preventing him from blotting the sweat off her forehead.  Soojung knew Sungyeol was just following orders from Sunggyu.

"I cannot leave you alone. Hyung would kill me if I did such a thing."

"He doesn't have it in him to kill you. He just puts on this façade that he is a tough guy, but he is just a big teddy bear." Soojung sighed and knew Sunggyu will be upset with her once he finds out that he just puts on the hot-headed, egotistical act to keep people away.   She is one of the few people who seen his warmth.   He is the most caring person she knows.  He always puts others wellbeing before his own.   Soojung hated him for that, but she knew that is going to make Sunggyu a good king one day.  She hated seeing him always hurt.

"Teddy bear? Please tell me more!"

"We do not have time for that you idiot! He can be laying in some ally, unconscious, by now.  Restoring my pyrolysis is dangerous.  Only the royal family and a select few have that ability.  They normally are fine after restoring it, but that is currently not the case for Sunggyu oppa.  The dark matter will infringe on all his abilities.” Soojung tightens her grip on his arm “Go, I will be fine alone. Sungyeol oppa, please find Gyu oppa!"

Sungyeol raised an eyebrow and wondered if Soojung had the ability to read his mind.  He sighed deeply. "I promise you; I will not let anything happen to Gyu hyung.  I will follow him to the end of the Earth."

"Just don't follow him into a deathly situation, Sunggyu oppa can be reckless hot head sometimes."

"I know…" 

"What the hell happened!"

"Good, you're back!" Sungyeol places the cold, wet cloth on her forehead. He stood and moved away from Soojung.

“We’re back!” Sungjong corrected as Woohyun appeared.

Sungyeol rolled his eyes, “Look kid! I don’t have much time to chit chat. There is an emergency and I need you to keep an eye on Soojung, while I go find Sunggyu hyung, before he does something stupid.”

Sungyeol was about to leave when Woohyun caught his arm. “We need an explanation before you go anywhere.”

"I do not have time to explain to you, Namu.” Sungyeol growled.  He was frustrated and could not help by be annoyed with Woohyun.  He had to see that annoying witch today when he was supposed to be training Mina. “I still don’t understand why you give Tatiana the time of day.  She is manipulative and wants to keep you from your friends.  I must go now before it is too late. Soojung will fill you in." Sungyeol shove