2 Days
"Hana, so I wasn't that close to Shizuko." With a smile on her face, "I only did that to make you angry. I was closer to Mamoru."
— The drug! — Hana shook Cassandra. — Then who was it?
— He pointed to the sewing machine. — my brother.
— Hana frowned. — Was he Shizuko's boyfriend?
Before she could get to the bottom of it, Cassandra rose from her chair, walking backward, her focus completely on Hana. Her canines were growing longer and a bit of fur was sprouting on her face. Afraid of dying along with her brother due to an attack by an overprotective bear, she approached her brother and whispered.
Heleno nodded, closed his eyes, and his sewing machine disappeared.
"Before you ask, here's this." He tossed a wrapped box to Hana. "This is the dress for the date. There's also one Shizuko will love. This is my apology for Cassandra almost killing you."
"Thanks, I'll try it later." Hana slid her fingers across the table. "So what was and what is your relationship with Shizuko?"
"Nothing special, actually, a lot." He looked down, Hana's nails scratching the table. "We're just friends. I never felt anything for her, and she felt nothing for me." Heleno shed a tear.
"No, Maninho, don't be like that." Cassandra ran her hand over Heleno's face and wiped away the tears. "Damn, I knew this was going to happen."
- I didn't understand.
— Long story. Can I tell you, Maninho?
— I don't know if I can handle it.
— Tell me now!
Cassandra went to the counter, rummaged through things, found where the coffee was, turned on the stove, poured water into the milk jug, and sighed.
— Where do I start?
— When did you meet Shizuko?
Once upon a time, the story began.
Cassandra and Helenus are part of an ancient line of Arachnes and Moirae faithful to Apollo. Legend has it that the Pythia family was a direct descendant of the most important priestess of Delphi. Because of this, when Cassandra and her brother turned 12, they were sent into Apollo's care.
They joined the organization after a major event. Doctor Igor managed to merge two souls not using Dual Memory, but using an Aix, Tiresias, as a catalyst. The child carrying two souls was Mamoru, a young man who was not an Arachne, but because of the fusion of souls became one.
Cassandra and Heleno, as members of the Pythía family, became close to Mamoru and Shizuko, and soon became closer.
In Apollo, when a person turns 14, they awaken their Dual Memory, and the tests begin. Cassandra and Heleno, being Pythia, had excellent control over their abilities. A peculiarity occurred with Mamoru and Shizuko: if the two fused, Shizuko would suffer memory loss. Because of this, they were under the supervision of a scientist, the prodigy Elizabeth Shire, a strangely kind woman.
In Apollo lived 6 young people with Dual Memory, Heleno and Cassandra Pythía, Shizuko and Mamoru and two more young people: Simonetta Botticelli coming directly from Italy and Alessandro Mariano Vespúcio.
The young people formed two groups. Shizuko, Heleno, and Simonetta hung out together and had one thing in common: they all had excellent manual skills: Heleno was excellent with machines, Simonetta was an excellent painter, and Shizuko was an excellent dancer. Their skills complemented each other's.
Shizuko's steps served as inspiration for Simonetta's paintings and Heleno designed the costumes.
The other group, Cassandra, Mamoru, and Alessandro, each had their own unique talents. Because of her lineage, Cassandra was obsessed with books and poetry, making her an excellent orator and singer. Mamoru, due to the fusion of souls, was an excellent actor, from comedy when his eyes turned like snakes' to tragedy when they turned black. Alessandro was an excellent prankster and strategist.
Even without knowing it, they served as tributes to Apollo and the muses, each one's ability was a different type of reverence to Apollo, the more they demonstrated their unique abilities, the more thanks they were to Apollo.
Everyone quickly grew up, awakening their desires and affections. Heleno was in love with the quiet artist Simonetta, who was also in love with him. Cassandra didn't get along with her brother. She was interested in Mamoru, but he dodged her advances. Seeing this, Mamoru opened up.
He couldn't be with someone he loved, since inside him was his sister Hana, who was seething with passion for Shizuko and couldn't touch her. From that moment on, Mamoru made a promise that he would never make anyone suffer for love. He became best friends with Cassandra and became the girlfriend of Alessandro, a young man who suited her perfectly.
An innocent love, but with moments of exaltation, not quite reaching intercourse, but almost. Cassandra liked Alessandro, but his personality and manner made her hesitate before even getting started. With his personality, Mamoru managed to bring Cassandra and Shizuko, an excellent singer and dancer, together. It might seem like simple singing and dancing, but it was part of Apollo's training.
Shizuko's dance became a combat style, and Cassandra's singing became prophecies mixed with powerful spells, thanks to Mamoru, the two taught each other the evolution of their talent, just as Elizabeth longed for, beginning the experiments.
To test their abilities, Elizabeth created a dark room where everyone fought using their abilities. Shizuko suffered after only using her natural strength, so the others had to use weapons with a limit on their power. On the other hand, Mamoru had a strong affinity with Aix in his body, making him very powerful.
After an intense day of training, Cassandra went to find her brother, where he was staying with Shizuko and Simonetta. Upon entering, she saw a scene that left her as enraged as Hera, Alessandro, and Simonetta, with an intensity of feelings equal to the night and day torrents of the encounters between Aphrodite and Ares. Angrily, she left the room, didn't tell anyone, and simply reentered that dimension, through the black door.
Elizabeth connected the dots and realized, so she created a black spear and began to fight Cassandra, using her flaming Halberd.
"Is that what happened after that?" Hana drained her coffee cup. "So that's when you became Elizabeth's disciple?"
— Yes. That happened about three years ago. I can tell you a little more, but it won't help you at all.
— Sister, what about the events of 1 year ago? — Throughout history, Heleno made a long carpet.
— Elizabeth forbade me from talking about it, sorry Hana.
Cassandra didn't make eye contact with Hana, she knew she just wanted to get information for her date to work out, but she paid so much attention to the details. For the first time, Hana gave a smile that wasn't sarcastic.
She took the glasses placed in that environment, and as a waiter took them all to the sink, Hana, as the establishment's waitress, accompanied her to clean the dirty glasses.
"Wow, that's a great story." He tapped Cassandra on the shoulder. "If you want to talk to Mamoru, feel free."
"I don't need this right now." He took the cloth from Hana's hand. "You're my focus now. This is helping you with Shizuko for me, and the same thing that's helping Mamoru."
"If that's how you want it, I won't be the one to force you." Hana pinched Cassandra's cheek. "Can you go with Shizuko and me on the date? Sister-in-law?"
"When did I say I wouldn't go?" She splashed some water on Hana's face. "I can't wait to see what's on your mind, sister-in-law."