Power Thief's Revenge [BL]-Chapter 202: Crater

Chapter 202: Crater
"So you’re into DILFs now?"
Hermes blinked. He looked up at Somner, who was wearing an open pink Hawaiian shirt and holding a drink in a coconut shell.
"H-Huh? What do you mean?"
"Master, you’re surrounded by beautiful shirtless young men in swimwear. Yet all you’ve been staring at is that wrinkly weirdo." Somner sat at the hammock beside him. "What’s up with that?"
He was right. Hermes had been staring at Dante Quasar, who was sunbathing on the beach....
Naked.
Only a palm leaf covered his crotch. The eccentric old man said he did not like having tan lines, so he just took off his clothes in front of his employees and laid down on the sand.
The Yucatán police almost captured him and reminded him this was not a nude beach. But they immediately left as soon as he handed them a check worth 30,000 Mexican pesos each.
Somner sipped on his coconut. "I do admit, he does have a good body considering his age. But sunbathing would not be good for those warts and liver spots."
Hermes stared at that face and body, and then superimposed the image of that young man he saw in that...
What was it exactly? A vision? A weird daydream?
Either way, there’s no doubt about it. The silver hair. Those foxy eyes.
But what does it mean?
For some reason, Hermes couldn’t bring himself to ask Dante Quasar about it. Him who would stop at nothing just to find leads about Eirwyn. Or spent a whole year trying to contact Shani. Yes, the same man with a ferocious curiosity and thirst for knowledge...
He somehow felt... scared.
Scared to know the truth. Despite the fact that his whole life, he had been chasing the truth.
The truth about his origins, the truth about what it means to be a hero.... the truth about the world around him. Chasing and seeking answers endlessly, only to find more questions and mysteries to solve.
And he had to admit... As much as he loved the truth, he also loved the mysteries.
Because that was what gave him purpose. What gives all humans purpose. It’s not at all about getting the answer, but how to get there.
"Are you two not going to the crater tour?" A voice suddenly came from behind them.
It was Ymir, holding a burrito in his hand. He was wearing a full body white and blue swimsuit like a diver would, dressed the most conservatively as always.
Magni was beside him, the complete opposite. He was wearing nothing but bright red and yellow tiger printed bikini briefs, his magnificent body of rippling muscle in full view. He had multiple foods in his hand. Tamales, tacos, burritos, enchiladas, quesadillas, churros... Everything he can get.
"Join us, Brothers! It is not everyday we get to witness the mark of the explosion that changed the world... And with free food to boot!"
Hermes just nodded absentmindedly. "Yes, yes.... But let’s take the late afternoon tour. The midday tour is probably crowded and with this heat, we’d be like sardines in a can being heated in a microwave."
Aphrodite was far up ahead, having a hard time trying to get the dogs to behave. They were so excited for different reasons. Xolotl was because he recognized this place as his hometown, and the Grrberus pups because this was a new environment to make mischief to.
"Stay down! Please! Don’t bite the tourists!"
Hermes turned to Somner. "Can you use Sirentone on them?"
"Sure." Somner walked up to them and whistled to get the dogs’ attention.
He commanded: "Behave."
Eventually they stopped, but their tails were still wagging. He told Aphrodite to relax and get a drink while he took over guarding them.
Ymir sat on the hammock next to Hermes, and Magni was behind him, massaging his shoulders. "We took you here to relax, not to furrow your brows while obsessing over something again."
"I know, I know...." Hermes massaged his temples. "But this one... I can’t just let it go. I feel like I’m at the edge of it. A revelation."
A calm before the storm, he remembered Dante’s warning again.
"But what revelation upsets you, Brother Modi?" Magni asked, his strong thumbs trying to unravel the knots in Hermes’ muscles.
"..... I’ll tell you guys once I know the full story."
But the twilight hours came, and Hermes had not yet gathered the courage to talk to Dante. The company employees already did all sorts of fun beach activities. Swimming, playing beach volleyball, grilling meats and charred pineapples....
Aphrodite had created tropical flower crowns for everyone in their group. Somner and Ymir did an intense battle of limbo and they went so low to the ground that they were practically just inches from it. In the end, they got a tie.
And Magni was surprisingly great at surfing even as a beginner. He moved through the waves with grace despite being a creature of fire and lava.
It was all enjoyable, of course. Hermes participated in all the festivities.
But it was clear his mind was elsewhere.
The crater tour came. The last one for this day, as the sun was starting to sink slower and slower into the water for its slumber.
Dante was part of that tour. He put on some khaki shorts and a partially unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt, and even some sunglasses. Even though it was almost nighttime. He also had a wide-brimmed straw hat on his head.
Hermes approached Aphrodite, and pointed at the kooky old man. "Aphro... Can you tell me what he’s thinking?"
Aphrodite used Mindbloom, then immediately blushed. "He... He was thinking if he should go skinny dipping at the crater when everyone’s asleep. He was also thinking about perineum sunning..."
"Perineum sunning?"
"It’s basically exposing the genitals and the anus to sunlight."
"....Ok, thank you. Can you kiss me?"
"S-Sure..."
Hermes kissed Aphrodite to borrow his ability, thinking: ’So the old man himself has no idea about how much he was making me toss and turn at night.’
But then again, didn’t Dr. Khemia managed to fool Aphrodite by using his Alchemy to separate his surface thoughts and deeper thoughts? Dante’s Multitudes might be able to do something similar.
The tour guide started to give them information about the Chicxulub crater and the theorized impact that destroyed 75% of the Earth and brought the Age of Mammals.
"About 66 million years ago, an asteroid crashed into the earth, about 10 kilometers in diameter. The date coincides with the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, a mass extinction of 75% of plant and animal species on Earth, including all non-flying dinosaurs."
They were walking near the center of the crater, the water in low tide reaching up to their ankles.
"We should be thankful for this asteroid, because the extinction led to the Age of Mammals. This was what set evolution to develop our ancestral species, the hominids."
"Indeed, we should." Said Dante, nodding and smiling.
There was something about his smile that was like someone trying not to laugh at an inside joke. Like there was an irony that was only known to him and some other that was not present, so he tries to hide it.
But since nobody would get it anyway, he wasn’t trying too hard.
"And now over here we see the deepest point of the impact, where scientists can still detect extraterrestrial materials from the asteroid. If you’re lucky, these materials might resurface on the beach... "
The group leaned closer to the water in amazement, trying to look for anything to come to the surface.
But Dante did not.
He was left standing on his own by the beach, his gaze directed to the sky than to the crater below.
So Hermes took this as his chance...
But as soon as he was a meter behind him, Dante spoke without turning to face him. "Are you going to finally come inside me?"
Hermes stopped in his tracks. "P-Pardon, Sir?"
"I saw you kiss Aphrodite earlier. Are you going to try and enter my mind in your Mindbloom form, scavenging my memories to take the veil off your eyes? If so..."
He turned to Hermes, the sunset breeze blowing on his silver hair, catching gold in its strands.
"Are you ready? Because once you take off the veil... I’m afraid you can’t put it back. You will come face to face with the crater in your soul."