18 18_

Toronto, Canada.

It was two in the morning. Inside a study in a luxurious penthouse, was a young woman aged 24. She had a dark circle under her eyes due to having an all-nighter for five days straight.

She just had a minimum of two hours sleep a day. It was because she had to catch her deadline for her PhD thesis.

Her name was Ji Xia, a very exceptional student who was blessed with intelligence as great as Einstein and wisdom as vast as Newton. She was teacher's favorite, different from her younger twin brother Ji Ke Mu.

While she was in the study, battling her own deadline- her brother was having leisure in bed, sleeping and snoring without a care in the world. He was stupidly laid-back but he wasn't incompetent.

At the very least, Ji Ke Mu shared a bit of Ji Xia's great memories and problem solving skills. He wasn't entirely hopeless, thankfully.

Tick-Tick-Tick

The sound of continuous typing of a keyboard rang throughout the entire study. The only light used was the lamp table. Ji Xia was busy as her eyes never lost focus on what she was doing.

Time passed very slowly but she wasn't aware of anything. She was completely immersed.

Suddenly, paper particles started to form from behind her seat, which she didn't notice. She had her back on the mysterious and wondrous thing that happened.

When the particles slowly dispersed, the familiar stickman-like paper doll emerged. It was small, just a few mere inches. The doll then floated towards Ji Xia who was still busy typing.

*Athena! Athena! It's me, listen to me!*

The robotic sound was heard as it went and stayed still in front of the computer screen but Ji Xia just brushed it off, thinking it was just dust. She really couldn't care less about anything right now since she was running out of time.

She also couldn't hear the doll talking because she thought it was just her lacking too much sleep thus, began hallucinating.

*Athena! Can't you see me? It's me! Wake up and release the spell!*

When the doll got no reaction it wanted, it began to spin around, making Ji Xia frown. She began to feel dizzy because of the movement of the 'dust'.

So, she picked it up and threw it away.

Then she proceeded with where she left off.

The paper doll got very furious and stomped its cute feet on the ground, trying to catch some attention but to no avail.

Only after dancing and spinning around on the screen nine more times did it fly away in frustration. Angry that Ji Xia wasn't even paying it any attention.

Perhaps she was just too tired to even think about anything. Or she was just into her research too much that she couldn't see any other things in front of her.

So, the thin paper doll flew towards the bedroom upstairs, in search of the twin brother. It stopped in front of a closed door and flew downwards, slipping into the narrow space under the door. Then, it was already inside the room.

It flew and saw the brother sleeping soundly on the bed. He looked very comfortable with the thick duvet covering half his body.

He was wearing a white shirt, he actually didn't like wearing a shirt while sleeping but Ji Xia warned him to not appear naked in front of her, ever- so that was why he had to wear clothes even when sleeping.

The doll made a thinking stance because it didn't know how to wake up the sleeping beauty. After some time, it finally got an idea. It flew under the cover and slipped into the duvet.

It was almost suffocated but it persisted untill it reached Ji Ke Mu's stomach under the shirt. Then it began moving around the flesh agonizingly slow, touching every surface of skin.

Ji Ke Mu who was in deep slumber, started to feel ticklish and he moved around. He almost stamped on the poor paper but the doll was persistent. He grumbled while still having his eyes closed.

The paper doll then began to move more vigorously, causing Ji Ke Mu to wake up immediately. His eyes shot opened as he muffled his own laughter.

"F*ck! Why am I feeling ticklish?!" he cursed. Then he pulled his shirt up and saw a stickman-like paper doll sticking on his chest.

"Wh- what?" He was bewildered. What was this? He never did any tattoos before so why was a stickman figure was drawn on his chest?

Then the doll tried wiggling out from his skin, it floated in front of him. Ji Ke Mu wasn't sleepy anymore at this point. His face showed true horror.

"A.. a floating stickman?!" he exclaimed in frantic, pointing his finger towards the doll.

What was happening? Was he still dreaming? Was it not reality??

*Hephaestus, it's me! Do you recognize me?*

Ji Ke Mu widened his eyes in disbelief. He just heard a very animated robotic sound from this stickman! Talk about bizarre!

"Wh- what..?" he looked around himself and began to get spooked. Was this a special talisman for cursing people to their doom?

*Hephaestus, please come to your senses! Repeat after me to release the spell!*

"???"

*Ω, Όλυμπο, δώσε μας χάρες για να απελευθερώσουμε τη σφραγίδα.*

Ji Ke Mu wasn't paying attention to the stupid doll's words but for some reason, he could understand what the doll was chanting. It was a Greek language.

He unconsciously repeated after the doll and a blinding red light illuminated his entire frame from head to toe. Suddenly, the light quickly disappeared as it came.

It happened as fast as lightning.

The spell broke.

Ji Ke Mu's eyes flickered in crimson color for a mere second and then they went back to normal. His entire persona changed to that of a different person.

"... Harmonia?"

*Hephaestus! It's me!*

"It really is you, Harmonia!"

Ji Ke Mu suddenly thought of something very important as if he had just remembered. Then he exclaimed "Athena! Where's she?!"

*She's your twin sister in this life. In another room, go get her to release the spell!*

Without wasting any time, Ji Ke Mu sprinted towards the study and saw the half-dead Ji Xia. She was obviously tired but she didn't want to stop typing because her ideas were sprouting lots and lots.

Ji Ke Mu switched on the light and his twin sister immediately shrank her shoulders. She turned around and hissed "What's wrong with you?! The lights hurt my eyes so turn it off!"

Ji Ke Mu ignored her and went towards her instead, clutching on her shoulders with a grim expression on his face.

"Jiejie, I promise I won't disturb you after this but can you repeat after me? Just this once." his voice was extremely calm. Unlike the usual him who was carefree and sometimes reckless.

"What is it?" Ji Xia sighed as she eased the area between her brows. She didn't plan to play along but she just wanted to get rid of him right now so she relented.

"Ω, Όλυμπο, δώσε μας χάρες για να απελευθερώσουμε τη σφραγίδα."

"Huh..?" the same happened to her also. Ji Xia could understand the language even though she only learned seven languages and Greek wasn't one of them.

Ji Xia repeated after him slowly and then a brown light flashed throughout her own body. She was in a state of shock as the light instantly faded.

Her eyes turned to that of a chocolate hue and then it became normal again.

"... Hephaestus?" her own voice seemed to have become clearer and soothing.

"Athena." Ji Ke Mu answered. Then they both faced the floating paper doll. Athena looked surprised but not for long. She knew who this was.

"... Harmonia." she said as her eyes turned gentle.

The paper doll danced in the air excitedly as if acknowledging the call. Then, it stopped and became silent once again, its tone serious like no other.

*Game of Fate has begun.* declared the doll.