Chapter 4.9 - the Sea

Swallowing dry, the girl approached the God. She grabbed the lace from his waist and wrapped her arms around him. 

Adam got a bit surprised and a tiny embarrassed to have her that close. She crossed the strap and pulled back from him to tie a lasso on the front. 

From above with his arms up, feeling like a scarecrow, Adam watched the girl work. 

Agnis was aware of his gaze and didn't dare to look up, otherwise she would melt right away. 

"There you go." Once finished, she still couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes. Instead she stared at the perfect lasso.

"You are a lifesaver, Agnis!"

The Earth God turned around to check his costume and felt pleased with the result. Without the girl he would have probably ended up dead, again. 

"Now, I fly and you are the GPS." Adam took a step in her direction but the girl took one back.

"What's a GPS?"

"Navigation system. Now come one." 

In a hurry, the God advanced towards the speaker who didn't run. She allowed herself to be swept into his strong arms.

Adam flew out of the room, stopping at the top of the main stairs in the middle of the hallway. 

"To where?" 

The Playboy met her honey eyes. Pupils big and round reciprocated his gaze. He could spend hours analysing the different shadows that carved canyons into her iris or the dots that made it look like a galaxy. 

"Left doorway..." She shook her head then said. 

From there on they stuck to the task and didn't exchange looks. It was more efficient for their mission. 

--

"Finally! This place is a labyrinth." Adam celebrated.

One last turn and they were in the same narrow corridor as before. 

There were so many turns, so many corridors, Adam imagined himself in a video game with a giant ball running after him. If he were alone he would've never made it. 

"You can put me down now…" Said the girl. 

Adam didn't realize he was still holding her up. 

"Oh, shit!" He dropped her feet suddenly and it pounded against the wooden floor, causing a loud noise. "Shit!" The God let go of the woman and took two steps back. 

Agnis was laughing with her mouth uncovered, showing her teeth and full lips. 

"Shi-" Remembering how she was shocked when he cursed, the God interrupted his speech. "Okay, I'll stop talking." 

Accepting words weren't on his side that evening, he sealed his lips and put his hands up, signaling his surrender. Agnis shook her head and toned down her laughter until it became just a smile.

"We better get inside, Adam."

The way she spoke his name provoked some sort of unknown chemical reaction in the boy. How her mouth opened at the start and closed in the end. He memorized it, the movement of her lips. 

With a nod, he lowered his arms and was ready to follow her. 

Before the small door, Adam took a deep breath, steadying himself before facing whatever awaited inside.

A simple sliding door announced his arrival. The once loud gallery turned silent as a graveyard. The God spotted his equals at the head of the table. 

Hikari speared him with her flammable gaze. Shu giggled and Calder raised an eyebrow at the girl behind him. 

Shifting his attention to the guests, Adam straightened his posture and bowed. 

"I'm sorry for arriving late, I got lost." He began the eternal walk to his seat under curious, admiring gazes. "Agnis found me and brought me here."

"We are glad you have found not just your way but also this pretty young lady." 

Calder knew how to press Adam's buttons. If they were on his world, the Earth God would have shot a rock at him right there in front of everyone. But instead, he took a seat by his side and smiled. 

"What have I missed?" The younger God changed subject while he watched Agnis go seat further down the table. 

"We were discussing places with high energy sources that could be used to contain the Xenothar." Said Hikari, at the other end.

Adam leaned forwards on the table and glanced over the familiar faces. The two Professors from earlier were sitting at the top. 

"First and most obvious is the Earth's core." Prof. HouLing started.

"He's not there." Bluntly the Young God interrupted the lady. 

Everyone turned to Adam. 

Hikari disapproved of his attitude and the other two looked stunned. As for Adam, he just began to serve himself some food and tea. 

From top to bottom, the whole table was waiting for him to continue. 

"I've been there. It's peaceful, pure. It would not allow such creature to live there." Sipping from his cup he looked each one of them in the eyes, reaffirming his statement. 

"Well," Prof. Jwala started, hesitant. "The next location, powerful enough, is the sea. It's big, mostly unexplored by humans and spirits."

"It's a good guess." Calder intervened. "Even I don't know everything about the sea. And it holds about as much power as the Earth's core. Perfect to hide." 

Adam was listening closely. Going through the possibilities in his head.

"Then where do we start? If it's so big."

All it took was one phrase for the boy to get back to his frustrated self. He didn't want to feel like that, but it was stronger than him. It was his obligation to fight for his mother. 

"We don't know how much time we have, so we can't just swim around hoping to bump into a giant prison cell." 

The boy met the Water God's eyes with burning challenge.