There was a sliver, a shudder, and eventually, the male turned around to meet his silver haired fan girl. "Phoenix. Not Phee-Chan." He huffed, they were at it again, and in little to no time at all. Who knows, maybe the two should get married, or at least start dating. "Where's the dork?" Funny that Phoenix would be calling anyone a dork, considering he was the one that was technologically and computer inclined. And then, he saw it, the defeated look on Aeolus's face as he was being trailed by a very victorious looking Lucy. Oh no, this can't be good, it just can't be. But, they would just have to play it cool right? Phoenix swallowed his blatant disagreement of the situation in place of silence, "Uh, hey Aeolus, ...Lucy" He greeted lowly with an awkward, horribly placed grin upon his rather devilishly handsome features. "Hey..?" Right, had the ever met, did it really matter? They had crossed paths in ancient Greece once or twice before. Besides, it was more of, who didn't know Lucy, she had as many boyfriends as Zeus had affairs. "So uh..what's up..?" Boy this conversation was going no where fast, not to mention, her gaze was fixated to Eirene. "Aeolus invited me over to dinner tonight." More like, she invited herself, to dinner. The look on Aeolus's face suggested otherwise, "I was thinking, on the walk home, we could go to an icecream shop, or something" Something sweet from someone so bitter? It was a killing, most unorthodox thing to ever consider. Phoenix stirred a big of a cough, taking particular note that Aeolus was indeed quiet almost too quiet for his own taste..."Yeah, I figured since she would be coming with me to meet some of my family, it would be courteous to bring her to dinner first, you know?" No, Phoenix didn't know, in fact, he thought the complete opposite, but, he nodded for the sake of not seeming...rude. "Yeah..uh, sure, let's go, ready Eirene?" The tension between the two was thick enough to slice in half...Aeolus stood between Eirene and Lucy, while Phoenix was to Eirene's right. What was the worse that could happen, it was funny that Phoenix thought that, because as soon as it occurred, Lucy opened her mouth to reel out a most insulting remark, "It must sting getting second place to me for once, ne, Eirene-Chan?" The look on her features expressed a vicious happiness, the smile on her face, mocking. Oh dear. Aeolus shot a look to Eirene, that begged her not to react.

There was an innocent gleam to Eirene’s eyes, as a smile graced her lips even at the creepy threat escaping the daemon’s lips. “Oya? Well you sure respond to it quickly.” She pressed but once the bell rung the two were forced to stop their battle and go to class. This was simply a battle of wills. Women didn’t lose those. Think of it as the naturally superior instinct and stubbornness the fairer sex was usually blessed with.
Math flew by in a breeze, and chemistry was interesting. Never before had Eirene seen a student nearly burn all of their lab notes with the so called ‘acid’ they created during the lab. Luckily Yukimura-kun handled the chemicals in their station. Eirene was far too easily impressed with small things and she would probably be distracted far too easily. Talk of a certain substitute swim coach floated around the classroom as well as the home coming dance which Eirene couldn’t ask Yukimura-kun enough about. Still, he didn’t seem annoyed about the rush of questions and simply contributed it to cultural differences.
The bell rang and just like that the school day ended. Packing up her notes , she was surprised to find something slip out of the notebook in her hand. Eirene blinked as she stared at the piece of paper with a series of several numbers and letters sprawled out. “Phone number?” her voice inclined to show the surprise. The neatly sprawled katakana below only caused her to blush. “Yukimura-kun’s number.” She spoke as she shrugged. She didn’t have a phone, and even if she did, she knew not how to handle the device.
Shoving the rest of her belongings along, she made her way to the front of the school. “Phee-chan~” she greeted the daemon light heartedly.

This weekend was going to be nothing but a continuous nightmare. "Eh, it's something of a dance, without all the drinking...it usually happens around the time when two rival football teams play against each other. Then there is a homecoming King and Queen voted by the student body. And I'm not Phee-Chan!" The daemon corrected with a sharp tongue as his hand placed itself on Eirene's head. "Keep it up, and I'll put spiders in your bag, and roaches down your shirt~" Wait, he was joking right? What kind of mean person would do that? Aeolus's gaze shifts to Phoenix, and his eyes narrow, yeah, not a funny joke, girls hate bugs, even he knew that. But, at least, it was a scary enough threat to maybe keep Eirene in line. Though, Aeolus had a feeling that the nicknames would never cease. Lunch was over, and while Aeolus was suppose to keep his mind on his studies, he couldn't help but try to formulate a plan on how to save not only Apollo but Artemis as well. Well, wait a second, maybe Artemis didn't need saving, who knows, maybe she was still in ancient Greece, just, unresponsive, looking for her brother. Either way, Phoenix vouched that he would go to Zeus to seek out Artemis, and report back on Monday, seeing as, our hands were both tied this weekend. It was a rather unsettling feeling to have, knowing your best friend was a daemon, and even more so, that you were one yourself. Imagine going seventeen years, and not having a single clue at all. As the day trudged on, and it grew closer to the end of school, Aeolus knew that he had to ask Lucy out some way or another. At least, today, there weren't any strange sightings of demons from the underworld, or at least, none at this school. When the bell rang, dismissing school for the day, the brown haired male found Lucy standing by her locker, placing in a few text books. This was going to be tough, not only did it look like Lucy could steal your soul, it certainly felt like it. The anxiety crawled through his skin and crippled the ability to speak steadily. "Uh, hey Lucy, what are you doing this weekend?" It was the start of two days that he would regret, but it had to be done for Apollo's sake. He knew he had to finish up with Lucy quick, because Eirene and Phoenix were waiting for him at the front of the school. "Nothing, why do you ask?" Uff, obviously, the reason someone asks is because they want to include them somewhere. "Well, I'm going to meet some of my moms family I was wondering if you would like to tag along." This was killing him, blatantly killed Aeolus, but someone had to take one for the team, right? Apollo owed him big time, especially if this date ended up horribly. "No, that sounds great actually, but wouldn't it be smarter to meet your folks ahead of time? How about dinner tonight?" How could anyone argue with that logic? The words to deny her were stuck in his throat. "Uhh...sure?" Great, Aeolus invited a demon to dinner.

Eirene sighed, she wanted to go home. Yet her hands were pretty much tied with her father in town. Clearly he expected to see her this weekend. Particularly to help her with her problem song. The problem was the pipe's change in frequency, the song would need to be recomposed at a scale where Marmon would recognize the melody's calling. Until then, the large sea drake would remain sleeping. Because the song was a gift from Poseidon to Eirene, she would need his help. She didn't know that she could really give this her full attention but she was duty bound to give it all that she could. With Artemis missing, Apollo barely hanging on, it was hard not to abandon her duties and dedicate every waking moment to righting this horrible wrong. If Artemis was with Hades, how were the even supposed to think of getting her back? Sure, there were ways to getting around Ares, but there was so much more at play. She was a bit unnerved with leaving this whole thing to Aeolus, or was it about leaving Aeolus to Lucy's clutches?

She frowned. Again with this strange feeling. It was frustrating her. Why did she dislike Lucy so much? She barely knew the woman! Still, now was not the time for soul searching. The deity glanced up at both males. "Sounds like a plan. Phee-chan, I owe you one." She mused to the daemon with a small smile. "You're not as goofy as I thought." She laughed, as Aeolus left the rooftop to fetch Lucy. "Still this is a disaster..but I guess thinking about it won't get me anywhere." She stopped leaning against the railing and instead sunk down to the floor, sitting with her knees tucked beneath her. "So. Phee-chan, tell about this homecoming. Is it like the festivals back home?" she inquired. "Michi-chan seemed fairly excited about it, she talks too fast. So I didn't understand a thing she said." Eirene admitted sheepishly

Phee-Chan, Aeolus could see his friend shiver from the nickname. Nothing was going to stop Eirene from having her way. But the shutters ceased when she directed his attention on the location of Artemis. "Sure, though it would mean we take a trip back into the past. What about this weekend? What about this weekend indeed? Didn't Aeolus have to go to a family get together? "I don't know, I think I'm a little busy, but I'd be dying to get out of my family trip." Aeolus huffed, bumping shoulders with Hex-Tech while they shared his lunch together, "I feel like the longer we wait, the less time we have for Apollo." Aeolus huffed softly, the afternoon sun reflected in his eyes, "If I had to take a guess, I would say she's out looking for her brother, but who knows where she could have ended up..." Really, where would they start looking? Artemis was the..'go to goddess', when it came to information, for she shared the eyes, and ears of nature. But, since there was nothing living in the realm of Hades, she must have already concluded that he was there. Oh no, Artemis didn't go to the Underworld on her own to find him, did she? The idea left a twisting feeling in Aeolus's stomach. His family gathering would have to be put on hold, two lives were at stake here, and not only that, but the future could be in peril as well. "Alright, I'll go to Zeus to see if he can find Artemis, in the mean time, Aeolus you need to work your 'charm' on Lucy. Invite her to your parent's get together so that we're a step closer to getting that key." Phoenix situated, and Aeolus couldn't help let off a groan. He was right. If Aeolus didn't spend any time with Lucy, then, their efforts would be wasted. Getting that key was the most important task to complete. (b "maybe I should invite her up to the roof and we can share the rest of our lunch together." Aeolus offered, they barely spoke, that needed to change. "I guess, I'll go fetch her." He sighed softly, tomorrow tickets for the dance went on sell. Aeolus took a deep breath, facing Lucy was like staring a fire breathing dragon in the face, and trying your best not to be scared. Here goes nothing The male thought softly, approaching the dark haired woman that sat by herself in the cafeteria.

Eirene could only pout. "Okay Phee-chan." She had chimed to the male, obviously, he had never seen the wrath of Aphrodite or the three Moirae or better "The Fates" had been interchangeable with what to call the Trio of Destiny. They reached their destination and Eirene was delighted to be outside on such a beautiful day. It was almost as if the monsoon season was nowhere near. Her fingers gripped the edge of the gates gently as she leaned against the railing. "None." The girl answered almost instantly.

There was a good chance that even when Aeolus had held up his end of the bargain, Lucy would not hold up hers. A small frown appeared on her lips. Though she supposed Lucy wasn't completely heartless, after all she had some kind of infatuation with her dear boy. But, after she got the keys, what was to hold him to her. Those chains with Apollo's freedom attached would crumble completely once the objective had been reached. At this point it may have been smarter to devise a back up plan. Just in case. Eirene's unpleasant thoughts of Lucy didn't make her a dishonest she-devil, she supposed.

Still, things were becoming jumbled. They were falling apart back home, and here she was in what might as well be another world. Her job as a stormstress, was to comfort humanity before and after the storms. That was the purpose of the cleansing showers at the end of a storm. Though Eirene could intervene in monsoons, she was duty-bound not too directly interfere with the course of nature. It was impossible to prevent the deaths that were caused by Ophelia's work, deities did good to stay in their own territories. Death was the ground of the Moirae, lest Atropos cut your thread early.

"Nee Phee-chan, can you look into Artemis' whereabouts?" she questioned lowly. "She's been gone for three days, it's just not like her, and if Ares had her we surely would've seen." She explained. "I would look into it myself, but I might just have to surrender my weekend to Poseidon and then I'm pretty sure my sister can't be too far behind if he's showing up." She spoke. Oh, Ophelia..the older sister who Eirene once idolized when she was young. When she looked back at their relationship, when had sibling rivalry become so severe? "If we don't sort this out Ales-chan. Zues.will.go.looking. Ares will feel threatened, and I don't even want to.." she paused to take in a breath. "Think about the widespread chaos and disorder. The twelve Olympians will be an absolute uproar which is never good for anybody and…Oh Ales-chan, what to do.." she spoke so quickly the words seemed to be weave into each other and the need to breath seemed not so impending. It was better to leave him in the dark in order for Ares to believe his plan was still safe. One rebellious child runs off cool, he might just be back at the end of the week..sister goes missing not even a week later..suspicion would began to lurk about. Hera was very good at pointing the finger and in it's path a lightening bolt did follow.

Aeolus's eyebrows perk up at the sound of Phoenix's laughter. "Ha! Girls, intimidating?!" Whoa now, Phoenix did have a thing for Eirene's sister, he of all people should know a thing or two about intimidating women. The brown haired male gives his friend an awkward stare. Did he not see Lucy? He couldn't have taken one good look at her and go, "Damn, you're scary?" No? Ok. His gaze re-directs to Eirene who wants him to stand up tall and straight. "Absolutely not, she'll see me." And then, it hit him that what Eirene said, must have made sense. It wasn't like Lucy couldn't sense him, she was a demi-god afterall. But, to his savior, the water deity offered they eat lunch on the roof instead. Aeolus certainly wasn't going to complain. "Agreed" He stated breathlessly. After four or so minutes of travel, they finally made it to the semi secluded rooftop. The only people who ever visited this place were loners, and couples. Oddly enough. It was a nice enough day, with a breeze to merit staying outside. "We've got to get those keys.." Aeolus huffs softly, Hextex reveals a bento he made earlier this morning from a small backpack. "What are the odds of her being nice and just giving it to us...something tells me we could be wasting our time." Right, because half of their plan depended on Lucy being able to get the key from her father anyway.

Delicate fingers continued toy with the juice box in her hands, before she finally managed to open it. Placing the straw at the tip of her mouth, she gave Phoenix an incredulous look at his comment. Those orange honey orbs narrowed slightly and she pouted even more. “Eh, what’s with that look? Girls can be just as intimidating as anyone.” The silver haired deity informed the follower of Zeus, she had mumbled the sentence with a small huff. “Besides.” She took a breath and gestured to Lucy. “It’s not a girl he’s scared of. It’s only natural to be intimidated when facing evil don’t you think?” the stormstress gently bit down on the tip of the straw. Though she had to admit, it was humorous to see her dear boy going to such lengths to hide from his ‘girl-friend’. At the end of the day though, she had to get along with Lucy, or at least tolerate the woman. She disliked Lucy, but she loved Apollo more than she disliked the dark haired demoness.

“See, this is why I wanted to eat on the roof!” the Goddess explained. “Ales-chan, stand up, it’s not like she isn’t aware of you.” The woman hummed. However, Eirene had quite enough of Lucy in their previous class. So with a rather blatant display of ignoring the girl, she placed a hand on Phoenix’s shoulder and Aeolus’s back. “To the roof top we go~” she mused pushing the pair past the table towards the stairway that would lead them to their destination. Eirene would be damned if she was going to share her lunch period with Lucy.

Of course it wasn't funny, in fact, it was a tragedy! A horrible twist of fate that light and dark had to be so close to each other, so intertwined, but it was for Apollo, right? Although, what was more shocking was Eirene's revelation, almost as if someone had turned on the light bulb in her mind. What had he said? All he said was best friends, and it was just a joke. What was going on here?

"Phoenix little Droplet, Phoenix" Hex-tech reminded with a solemn tone, it wasn't going to get through to the silver haired deity was it? Something told him this was a losing battle, but he couldn't exactly say he didn't mind, or else, that would have been the equivalent to raising the white flag. As soon as Phoenix ok'ed it, there would be no stopping that cute little train of horrors. "And yes, I'm starved." The male complained rubbing his stomach, he could hear it growl underneath his touch. At the corner of the table, one could see a familiar dark haired woman. "Oh no." Aeolus retorted, why was Lucy here? Did she even eat lunch? Was she waiting on someone? "Hide me." Aeolus begged his favorite right hand man, ducking behind his shoulder, trying to make sure the demi-god didn't catch a glimpse of him. But really, wasn't that near impossible? The follower of Zeus merely laughed, "You mean to tell me you quake in fear over a mere girl?" Could you really be a follower of Ares with such cowardice?" The man thought with a critical glance, but, ultimately, said nothing.