"Possessed by Zeus? Is he a ghost or something? Come on, don't be ridiculous." Ipa commented, but Tama shook her head in irritation.
"Yeah, because ghosts sound ridiculous in a world where you can sling out magic spells. Look, Anima, you have to believe me. Zeus isn't a person, it's a spirit, one that's being prevented from dying. He went into Ono's body because he can use the air element so well and-" I cut off Tama by raising my hand to her mouth.
"I don't care. We already don't like Zeus, don't make it worse, or else we'll have every reason to be blinded by anger and not react to this correctly." I told her. I scolded myself internally, knowing that if I were to see Joro I would fly off the hinges. It seems Ruby was able to read that detail about me as well.
"Just like that, you'll trust me?" Tama asked me. I turned to Soul after her stupid question.
"Should I trust your sister, Soul?" I asked. Soul nodded confusingly, so I turned back to Tama and shrugged.
"Good enough for me. Tell me everything, and I mean absolutely everything you know about both Ono and Zeus. What are their weaknesses, strengths, insecurities, what do they wish for, what do they hate, and how do I fight them?" I asked Tama.
"Oh, Anima is in his information stage! Ken, watch this, maybe you can be smart like him one day!" Ruby told him.
"Don't be ridiculous, I've never done this before, I just want to be as prepared as possible," I said to everybody.
"Ono used to be a very shy kid... his sister, Janice, was the complete opposite and wanted him to strive to be the best, so she recommended Ono to try to become Zeus in order to meet new people who can strengthen him. Apparently, Janice suffered an intense head injury and gained amnesia, so Ono, in honor of what Janice wanted for her, went on to become Zeus. He trained hard to learn the element and what-not and showed a real promise for being the best, so the previous Zeus moved his soul over to Ono and had him take the place of the new Zeus." Tama explained.
"So, Zeus is definitely a spirit, moving between vessels over and over again. Why? Why does he consistently move back and forth? What's the point?" I asked her. I wanted to know everything possible. Most strategies of mine didn't work, but if I could plan for the absolute worse and build everything from there up, I felt that I could outsmart Zeus and become a tough opponent for him.
"I'm not sure... if I had to guess, he was expending all of the Mana in each body he traveled to. But, I have no solid proof of that..." Tama slugged off into her own independent thought when I turned to Soul again.
"How long has this Zeus been a thing? When did he start teaching people?" I asked her.
"Zeus was recruited over three months ago, and always holds classes like the one you attended during the last week... I never thought about it like that." Soul said, slugging off just as her sister did.
"Tama, move on with the story. What else do you have?" I asked her.
"Well, Ono is currently Zeus, so I'm not sure what else happened after that. However, I do know that the rocks that Zeus gives out might contain the air affinity, but I don't think that's all they contain. Anyway, Zeus is really weak in all forms of magic, as he can only add onto them to make them more powerful. He's a confusing opponent, but somebody in a fist fight could do more to Zeus than a mage like Souly or you." Tama told us.
"The rocks... Shima absorbed mine and didn't let me eat it. Was there a reason for that?" I looked to my slime arm and waited for an answer, before remembering Shima couldn't speak.
"I think that's probably why. That slime girl isn't stupid, after all. Shima, did you save Anima? Can you give us a sign?" Ipa leaned in sarcastically to the slime on my arm, and a stone was spit at his forehead.
"The air stone... she kept it?!" Soul picked up the air stone Shima swallowed and dissolved... I thought. How was it back in one piece?
"Amazing... she kept it intact. Now I can look at it." Tama commented, tilting it up and down.
"So, we know a lot more about Zeus, but I'm not confident it's enough to take him out. He has quite the powerful hand over this city, doesn't he? And it doesn't help that the spirit is the enemy, not Ono. What a tough battle..." I said out loud. I thought to myself about many ways to handle this. What did the people do in those ghost stories to exorcise the ghost? A cross? Garlic? What would push Zeus out...?
Wait...
"Zeus is looking for a new Vessel, right?" Tama nodded to answer my question and I snapped my fingers.
"A Vessel for a Hero. That's what he's looking for. Zeus used to be a Hero that continuously wants to be reborn into a new body. Otherwise, he wouldn't make such a rigorous attempt to jump back into this life. It must've been his special ability..." I went back to thinking to myself mid-conversation, and Tama looked at Soul confused.
"Special Ability? What is this guy talking about?" She asked her sister.
"Oh, I'm a Hero. I have a Special Ability, but it's nothing like Zeus's... could it be reincarnation?" I asked everybody again.
Fuki once explained that the abilities could always have drawbacks. Maybe Zeus's drawback was something complicated that forced him to switch bodies, but what happens if we push him to his absolute limit? Would his soul die out? Would it even be worth trying?
"Anima, what are you thinking?" Ruby looked at me and asked.
"It sounds like his soul needs a new vessel fairly quickly, so it's safe to assume the drawback to his ability must cause him to switch vessels as often as he does. No matter, it's not that hard to deduct. Tama, I want you to join my team, are you willing?" I asked her.
"We're just going to gloss over the fact you're a Hero?! That's amazing! It's so nice to meet one of you in person! I'm sorry for any rude attitude I would've given you in the past... I'm so sorry!" Tama bowed her head in an apologetic form.
"Don't do anything like that, Tama. I don't like being praised like that, I actually quite hate it. I'm a regular person, just like you are. If you're going to be on our team, take this health potion. It's the only one I have left." I threw her my final health potion and Tama looked with a shocked face toward the bottle.
"We'll return back to base for the night and sleep it through. We'll wait until tomorrow morning to take action... and hey! What was with you throwing goddamn fireballs at the streets?! There wasn't a better way you could think of exerting your anger?!" I grabbed onto Tama's ear and scolded her for her stupid actions.
"I'm sorry! It was a fit of rage! I didn't hurt anybody!" She pleaded, but that wouldn't cut it.
"You almost did! That's my problem with you! Geez... repay your actions by following us. Let's go home... where's Ken?" I asked, looking all around.
"Right here... how did you forget about me?" He said in a dim tone. We all couldn't help but laugh.