After this announcement, Ana asked them to follow her.
"Can we have more information?" Soren asked.
"No! We're keeping it all for your first briefing!" she replied.
They walked to a room she had briefly shown Soren on the first day, then entered.
Inside, there was a long couch positioned facing a white wall. Between them stood a device. Francesco was in the room.
"Hey guys, I've been waiting for you."
"Sorry for being late," apologized Ana, who sat down on the couch. "Come sit here, both of you."
Akyo sat next to her, and Soren sat on the other end of the couch.
Ana slowly leaned her head closer to Akyo's ear.
"Thanks for this morning," she whispered.
He briefly smiled.
Francesco had a remote control in his hand. He pressed a button, and the light in the room turned off.
"Alright, now that you're here, we can begin."
He pressed another button, and the device in the middle turned on, projecting an image on the white wall. It was the picture of a man, white, with neatly styled black hair, wearing glasses. He was slightly marked by age, faint wrinkles visible on his face.
He began to explain, "Earlier, Ana quickly called me and asked me to dig up everything I could on this man. His name is Spencer Gellahan, a very well-known historian and researcher, especially in the field of ancient peoples and their mythology. I didn't understand why she suddenly cared about a historian, until I found this video from this morning, from a conference Gellahan himself organized, where he announced this."
Francesco then played the video of the conference.
They all listened, not really understanding why, until the announcement came.
"I'll make it brief, gods exist, or rather, they have existed."
'He just announces that like that? He's just making a fool of himself' Akyo thought. "And so? I just see a guy making a clown of himself" He said.
"I will prove what I'm saying, by bringing back irrefutable evidence."
'What?' thought Akyo.
Soren listened on his side, struggling to understand the situation. 'Well, he's right though' he thought.
Francesco stopped the video.
"So, where to start" he sighed before continuing.
"This man just publicly announced live on television that, according to him, gods exist or at least existed. Like Akyo said, he looks crazy. We could see it in the crowd's reaction, they pretty much laughed at him."
Soren interrupted, "But why is a guy making a fool of himself our problem? How could he even reach such a conclusion? I literally needed a god to make me fly before I could believe it"
"Exactly. Until now, it wasn't really our problem. But he announced that he will bring irrefutable proof of his claim, and in that case, we have to act. Even if the chances he found, or will find, such proof are very low, imagine for a second that he actually manages to bring such a thing."
Soren nodded.
"So what exactly do we have to do? Follow him?" asked Akyo.
"Spot on."
"But how are we supposed to know where he is?" he asked.
"We tracked him," Francesco replied.
"I should've guessed" murmured Akyo.
Francesco continued, "And big news! He's currently heading to Norway. He booked a hotel in a city you're starting to know quite well, Akyo"
'Oh no, that can't be true' he thought, frowning. 'Why is everything linked to that city lately'
"You two will go back to Bergen and stay there as long as he does. And as soon as he leaves for another destination, you'll follow him. All while staying unnoticed, of course. Oh, and Akyo, I have a little extra for you."
He handed him a tiny black object, smaller than a fingertip.
"What is it?" Akyo asked.
"A micro bug. You'll have to stick it on him without him noticing. It will allow me to every single word he'll say"
'Kinda creepy,' thought Akyo. "And how am I supposed to do that?"
"I'm sure you'll figure it out! You're leaving tonight."
"Tonight? Damn it" he sighed, lowering his head.
"Meet me at 6 PM on the rooftop, you'll be flown by helicopter directly to the outskirts of the city."
He explained, then added, "Alright, I have to go take care of what's needed for your mission. Bye." Then he left, closing the door behind him.
Akyo turned his head toward Ana. "And what does Tachi think about all this?"
"No idea, he's not answering, so I'm handling it. Alright, go do what you gotta do, see you tonight!"
She left smiling, as always.
Akyo slumped onto the couch and exhaled. He turned to Soren.
"So we're going back to your city because some crazy guy announced to the world that he would prove we exist, great'
"It's weird it's in the same area, isn't it?" Soren asked.
"Yeah, but who knows, maybe it's linked to your awakening."
"And what kind of proof could he bring that would be impossible to deny?"
"Right now, I see only two possibilities. Either he brings back an actual god, which is impossible. Or he knows where to find an artifact," Akyo explained, more seriously.
"An artifact?" Soren asked.
"Yeah, an artifact. These are objects deeply linked to us, the divinities. There are several types."
He raised his arm and focused his energy, a weapon appeared in his hand, a blade. It wasn't the same as last time.
"Do you remember the Skopis I showed you last time? That was an artifact, just like this one. These two are weapons infused with my divine energy, which makes them capable of harming gods. But some artifacts aren't weapons, just simple objects with incredible powers. We know they exist, but I personally have never seen one," Akyo explained.
"So if he were to find an artifact, he could use it to prove to the entire world that he's right" Soren thought out loud.
"Exactly. Anyway, we'll be there to stop him, hopefully not by force," Akyo said as he stood up. "I'm going to do something, see you in an hour if you want to train before leaving."
"Okay," Soren replied, still seated. 'Could I get my own artifact one day?' he wondered.
—---------------------
The afternoon went by. Akyo spent a bit of time with Ana, while Soren went back to the training room to improve control over his energy. Akyo joined him later, and helped him train until around 5 PM, when they both went to their rooms to prepare a few things, though Soren didn't really own much.
Then 6 PM came. They both arrived on the rooftop, where a helipad was. Akyo greeted the helicopter pilot, while Soren talked with Francesco.
"So, how do you feel?" Francesco asked.
"I don't know. We're not going to fight, so I don't really know what to think, but I guess it's just like that," Soren explained.
"I get it. Sending two gods to tail a human might seem a little bit unnecessary. But well, that's how it is. You have to start somewhere. Don't worry, you won't be bored, I'll be constantly in your ears!" he said.
Soren smiled and shook Francesco's hand before taking his seat in the helicopter.
Meanwhile, Ana and Akyo were talking.
"Come back soon," she told him.
"You can't say 'come back soon' when you're the one sending me into the mess" Akyo replied.
"You're not wrong" she admitted, then hugged Akyo. "But I'll miss you anyway."
Her head was against his chest, and she could feel Akyo's heartbeat speeding up, which amused her.
She lifted her head, their faces very close.
"Not here, they'll see us," Akyo said, brushing one of her strands of hair away.
"You're right," she murmured.
'What the hell is happening right in front of my eyes?' thought Francesco, who had been watching them.
Akyo turned his head, saw Francesco, and immediately pulled away from Ana, crossing his arms and looking away.
"Nah, no need to do all that, I didn't see anything, just bye," Francesco said before walking away.
Ana laughed. Akyo was about to get on the helicopter, he looked back at her and saw her blow him a kiss from afar. He turned red and climbed into the helicopter.
"Alright, ahem, we can go now," he announced to the pilots.
'Is he really that embarrassed?' Soren wondered.
The helicopter took off, heading toward the city where, a few days earlier, everything had begun for Soren.