Power Thief's Revenge [BL]-Chapter 201: Molded in His Image

Chapter 201: Molded in His Image
After the trial, things seemed to have returned to its usual routine for Hermes and the group. Doing hero work, acting lovey-dovey with Raphael for the cameras, taking the dogs to the vet....
To Hermes, it just felt so anticlimactic.
And that was not his fault at all. Because right after the trial ended... He approached Shani in the crowd and asked him.
It’s just that...
***
"Hey... Good work." He said, looking around like he’s being watched.
"Good job too, for admitting the truth. It must have been difficult. We’re from the same country but... We both know we can’t just spread lies for the sake of patriotism, right? Unlike some people. Ooops, someone could have heard that. Haha!"
"Yeah, hahaha...." "Uh, listen... Something weird was going on with the transcriber earlier. I’m not sure if anyone else noticed about her."
"Oh, really?" Shani feigned interest, waving and greeting different people from the judicial field.
He seemed to really have a lot of connections. Every now and then, a lawyer or judge or some other high standing official would be greeting him.
"Salud, Monsieur Nakshatra!"
"Buon lavoro!"
"Herzlichen Glückwunsch!"
"Bedankt, bedankt!" Shani thanked them all in Dutch.
Hermes could barely keep his attention with all these distractions. He had to wrestle his way through the crowd that gathered around this aspiring young lawyer.
"Excuse me... Shani, as I was saying— Please, move away!" Hermes exclaimed, pushing people aside in a frenzy and grabbing Shani’s hand.
Shani finally turned to him. "Hermes?"
"Let’s.... Go somewhere a bit more private. It’s urgent." Hermes pleaded.
Shani just stared into his eyes for a moment. Hermes knew he didn’t have any mindreading powers like Aphrodite, but somehow, he felt like Shani could already tell what he wanted to ask just by looking into his eyes.
They did say that the eyes are the windows to the soul. Perhaps even if he can’t read minds, he can see through people’s souls through their eyes.
Shani gently took his hand away from him, and said softly. "Not here. Not the time."
And with that, he just left with the bumbling crowd of people in suits and formal wear from all around the world.
***
Hermes kept on trying to reach out, but he was left on voicemail every time.
[Good day, this is Attorney Shani Nakshatra. I am currently busy at the moment. If you want to make an appointment, please contact my official business landline and my secretary will book it for you. If this call is for personal reasons, please wait and I will try to respond as soon as I can. Thank you.]
Hermes cursed. "Fuck... He’s definitely avoiding me. This has been the hundredth time."
He even tried to go to the Samavurti and Co. offices or back to AUPU. But every time, some secretary or teacher assistant would be the one to receive him, and tell him that he was busy.
And Hermes didn’t think he was lying either. He followed Shani’s cases now in media and news outlets. He really did gain a pile of cases from his performance in the ICC. And not a single moment did he use his powers to win them, even when he could. He was just that good.
Time flew fast, and it had already been almost a year since then.
It was summer again, and Hermes realized he would soon turn 26. He has been a hero for 2 years now.
The man he was 2 years back then was so different from the man he was today. He often forgot how this routine of saving others and doing interviews and press cons were not the norm for himself back then.
And in comparison to other heroes... His career has only started. Yet...
He already feels empty.
Somehow, the glitz and the glamour of hero work was gone. Perhaps it was because his eyes were opened early on to how duplicitous it was.
Eventually, his crew noticed.
"Hey, Master...." Somner set a cup of coffee in front of him as they had another brunch date in Cafe Con Flores. "You still haven’t heard from Shani?"
"Not even a hi." Hermes scoffed.
Ymir sighed. "And you don’t want us to reach out? Or pass the message? You can always text him—"
"No! I need... I need to hear the explanation myself." Hermes insisted.
Magni rubbed his chin. "Perhaps we should commit a crime, then hire him as a lawyer!"
Aphrodite shook his head disapprovingly. "That would be going too far. Hermes’ reputation had just healed."
Somner massaged Hermes’ shoulders. "Anyhoo... That can wait. He said it’s not the time and place, right? So.. Let’s wait for the right time and place to come."
The group went silent, knowing that once Hermes was in the case of something, he would never let it go.
His curiosity was like a beast that rushes towards the scent of the first clue he finds.
So Somner decided it was up to him to distract that beast and get him to settle down for a moment. "Right! I already prepared your swim trunks, Master! Ah, I can’t wait to see you in Spandex!"
"What?" Hermes just looked confused as he sipped his coffee.
"You don’t remember?" Ymir frowned. "The company will have a summer vacation in Yucatán, Mexico."
Aphrodite looked excited at the prospect of that. "We’ll be going to the beach of Chicxulub. It’s the town nearest to the crater that was believed to be formed by the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs."
Magni clapped his hands. "Ah! But not all dinosaurs. They very much exist in the Void, still."
Hermes rubbed his chin. "Chicxulub... That sounds familiar..."
Aphrodite reminded him. "It’s the hometown of Xolotl’s former owners. Mr. and Mrs. Hernandez."
"Ah, right!" Hermes snapped his fingers, remembering the kind elderly couple who once owned his dog. "What a crazy coincidence... But why would we be going there of all places for a summer vacation?"
Ymir shrugged. "Beats me. Mr. Quasar decided on a whim, saying that he wanted to relax and have his employees take a break too. He’s paying for everything. He even said to bring along our friends and family."
"Then we can take Brother Raphael along!" Magni suggested.
"NO!" Somner and Ymir immediately said in unison.
Aphrodite rubbed his chin. "Since it will be for 7 days, I’ll bring along Xolotl and the Grrberus pups. Though I don’t trust the pups with any body of water. I’ll have to make an itinerary of everything we need..."
They all started muttering about their vacation plans, but Hermes zeroed in on one thing.
Dante Quasar.
If Shani won’t give him answers.... Maybe that man can help him gain answers from the past? Just like he did for them when they tried to fix the history of Somner’s bloodline. Perhaps he already knew something about this whole ’Saturn. First Tree. First Man’ business given his powers.
Though the mention of beaches together with Dante Quasar can’t help but remind him of that shared dream he had with Glasán.
There was something about Dante Quasar’s expression and the words he spoke.
"This man did not mean to deceive you, but only wished to save someone dear to him, as well as generations of pain and suffering. Yet, love came like a thief in the night..."
"And took away his ability to think about the consequences... of the impossible distance that you two will soon face."
There was something about the way he talked about love as pain that sounded like it was based from experience. There was a deep, deep sadness in him, but also that sadness was peace, like the feeling one gets when watching the sunset and accepting that one must say goodbye to the light of day as the night comes.
Hermes suddenly felt his heart ache, physically.
He clutched it and saw his own reflection in the glass windows of the cafe. A thought then came to him...
If he did not have any parents, where did this face come from?
Why this face?
Who molded the black hole this way, into this form? He could have been anything. But why this?
Something suddenly flashed in his mind.
The funeral.
"Because you asked. I only ever do what you ask."
That was what the old man told him back then. And it was true, he did everything Hermes asked for some reason. He took care of the child that Hermes’ de-aged during that Mantis incident. He saved Somner’s bloodline. He separated him from Apple, then returned them together.
Why?
Why does that man do everything for him?
Hermes’ head felt like it was burning. He gripped, and saw quick flashes of things he did not understand.
A comet.
A golden apple.
A serpent with the head of a lion.
Hands...
Clay.
A face.
Dark eyes.
A storm.
A flood.
"Blessed Traveller."
Hermes then opened his eyes, and was suddenly no longer in the cafe. He looked up and saw a young man with silver hair. His eyes were narrow like a fox, and he does have the countenance and mystique of one.
Like you never know what he will do next. An agent of chaos.
But his touch was gentle. His fingers kneaded Hermes’ face like a sculptor would.
"Is this face to your liking?" He asked.
Hermes looked down, and realized he was on a beach. He can see his own reflection in the water, but with longer hair...
And broken wings dark as charcoal, like the dying embers left in a fire pit that was extinguished.
All around them, there were sparks falling like fireflies. Water has risen and flooded the soil. Smoke and sulphur in the air... A volcanic eruption? No... Something else.
But something exploded. Something was destroyed.
And yet...
Hermes found his reflection smiling at him, even when he didn’t smile. His reflection said:
"I do. Thank you for molding me in your image."