A Different Image

Day 116, Year 3000.

"Rimu!"

Startled by the voice, Gawain woke up.

"Honestly, I sometimes think that you do this on purpose."

It was Gwen, and she was pissed.

"You are in the library, Gwen. Mind your voice."

"I don't give a fuck."

She let out a loose curse at him.

"We have company."

Following his glance, she turned towards Gawain.

"What are you doing here?"

She couldn't believe that she missed him on the way in. The boy casually picked up a book from the table and said,

"Research."

She glared at him and said,

"Outside, Right now."

Gawain looked back at Rimu. He shrugged his shoulders.

"Fine."

Twenty non-Poseidon-focused books were done. He picked himself up from the chair and walked out the door.

"Any sort of eavesdropping, and I will make sure that you walk away from here without all of your teeth."

She warned him and shut the door.

"I wasn't making progress anyway."

He decided to go out for a walk, going through the newly gathered information in his mind.

Zeus was the head god. Poseidon was his brother and the God of the Seas.

They both worked together to keep Olympus running, which was the major reason for its prosperity.

Zeus was the stronger and more valiant one, while Poseidon was comparatively meeker but wiser.

Both of them died on the battlefield together, unable to live through the Dark Lord and their half-brother's (Hades) assault. Nonetheless, their sacrifice was not in vain. Together, the brothers were able to wipe out almost the entire army of demons by themselves. This allowed the remaining Olympus residents to fight back, and for Astarte and Ares to lead the charge.

All of this was fine and good, but it all seemed so different from the image that he had in his mind.

In the books, the god was wise enough to be a pseudo-ruler of the kingdom from time to time. No ill words were written about his deeds. This directly contradicted the character of the man who supposedly killed the mother of Perseus, who was a guardian knight under Zeus. A man who knew that he had sinned, but instead of being apologetic for it, he accepted its burden with pride, knowing that he didn't have enough time left.

Furthermore, any mention of the curse and the seed was missing from the books. The true reason for his death was a battle against Hades, but there was no mention of anything like that in his dream.

"Metis, Themis, Mnemosyne, Eurynome, Demeter, Leto, and Hera."

In search of the "she" that Poseidon mentioned, he first came across the wives of Zeus. There was nothing that could connect the two pieces, however, and the origins of the Guardian Knights were the consequence of Zeus and his blessing on a few chosen mortals.

"I can't wrap my head around this problem."

He leaned his head against the wall.

'Who is the real Poseidon?'

To him, these dreams were a pathway to something bigger. Every time he faces their effects, it feels like something or someone is pressing him to move forward. Even now, his thirst for finding the truth is somewhat fueled by his inability to ignore everything that has been happening, ever since he touched the shield.

'Click!'

Gwen opened the door.

"You can come in."

She had somewhat calmed down. The usual expression of pride was back on.

He kept his mouth shut and walked into the room.

"Take care of the place. I will be gone for a few hours."

Rimu handed him a key.

"Wait-"

"I'm sorry. But we don't have time."

Gwen apologized, and they both rushed out.

'Sigh...'

He looked at the table in front of him.

"Come on. 34 books to go."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Stop staring at the door."

Joan had been observing Celia for an hour now.

"I am not-"

"You are not fooling anyone."

Her constant glances were slowly starting to get on her nerves.

"If you wanted him to visit and console you after the loss, you should have allowed him to be there for your match."

After sending Gawain's brother and mother back to their inn after dinner, Celia had asked him to stay away from the arena for the seniors' competition.

"I didn't want him to see me lose."

She wasn't confident in her ability. Losing in front of her junior could be a huge loss of morale, especially after he had put everything on the line to win the competition himself.

"The 'why' doesn't matter. He is on a break for three days due to 'personal reasons. So stop looking at the door."

"Master, is something wrong?"

Joan was acting more irritable than usual. Something was going on in her mind.

She looked back at the two papers on her desk.

'The worst-case scenario has happened.'

"Nothing."

This was to be expected. But somewhere in her mind, she was hoping that this wouldn't happen.

Two requests for a meeting.

'Elizabeth from the Windsor clan and a union representative sent personally by the council.'

Her plans to hire him as her retainer after graduation had been sent down the drain.