116 – Master Detective Joey #3
Before I knew it, night had fallen. The lunar council convened. The venue was the health spa at Pandora Market's West Gate—Nixdoty's establishment.
With tables set up amid the thick herbal scent filling the shop interior, it somehow passed for a council chamber.
"Moonless goddess, I heard you'd opened a shop in the market, but it turns out that was true."
Hecate appeared, bending low at the waist. True to her Titan lineage, she was so tall that entering without stooping was impossible. She removed her witch's pointed hat and glanced around.
"Has Selene not arrived yet?"
Nixdoty replied with utter confidence.
"No idea!"
"I see."
Anyway. I was buzzing with excitement, like the night before a picnic. I'd never even known the lunar goddesses held councils regularly, let alone witnessed them all gathered in one place. Any mythology major who wasn't thrilled in this situation just wasn't cut out for it.
Clatter-jingle.
That's when the wind chimes by the door tinkled. I turned to see a woman with platinum hair tied back tightly, a round rattle-like necklace around her neck, stepping inside. Just her presence made the shop several times brighter.
The full moon goddess Selene!
She was so busy that even executives rarely caught a glimpse of her, yet here she was in the flesh! For the tiniest moment, I even thought sticking around Soul Society had been the right call.
Soon, the full moon goddess Selene asked in a soft, gentle voice.
"Hee hee hee hee. It's been three years since our last lunar council—ever since the business renewal. You must have summoned me over Artemis, yes?"
The full moon Selene was so elegantly feminine and graceful. The new moon Artemis had that prickly yet lively girl-next-door vibe, right? Hecate of the waning moon gave off a neutral, enigmatic air. And Nixdoty of the dark moon was... well... something else.
The lunar goddesses were a riot of personalities, each one overflowing with character.
Selene's full-moon-mysterious eyes soon turned to me.
"And who's this? I feel like I've seen him somewhere before..."
"I'm Joey, department head in the chairman's secretariat. I've been assigned to investigate Lady Artemis's disappearance, so I'm here as an observer."
"Ah, you're the one everyone's talking about! I see. And what about this peculiar nymph?"
"Melinoë is destined to claim the CEO seat someday—a business nymph through and through...! This Melinoë attends as an observer too...!"
"The more I hear, the stranger it gets. Well, with three of us here, shall we begin?"
The council finally kicked off. Hecate spoke first.
"As I recall, Artemis vanished on a full moon night. Selene, that was your shift, wasn't it? Did you notice or witness anything?"
"Sadly, no. Because it wasn't actually my shift that day. Once the new moon Artemis started staying in the underworld, our schedules got shuffled."
On Earth, the moon cycled through new moon, half-moon, full moon, waning moon, and dark moon. But in Soul Society, it could shift arbitrarily based on the goddesses' duty rosters—like jumping straight from dark moon to full moon.
"Who was on duty then—?"
Selene tilted her head gracefully, like a pampered lady of leisure who'd never known hardship.
The eccentric Nixdoty shook her head too.
"Not me! And from what I remember, the moon that night was... probably a waning moon. I love stargazing, so I check the sky every day."
Slit.
Nixdoty narrowed her eyes. Hecate shrugged.
"Are you saying it was my shift? Now that I think about it, yeah, it was. Hmm. How could I have made such a mistake—?"
What? So Hecate had been on duty from the start? Then why bother calling this lunar council just to summon Selene? Why the mix-up?
As those thoughts crossed my mind, Nixdoty suddenly slammed her hand on the table, flipping it over.
"Everyone, watch out!"
Boom!
A massive explosion rocked the place. Hecate, staff in hand, whipped it around, aiming everywhere.
"Impressive reflexes for a young goddess. If only I'd bought a little more time."
Sudden plot twist! As my hair stood on end, Nixdoty gripped her tall, totem-pole-like club high, growling like a furious raccoon.
"Hecate! Attacking us? Are you in league with the ones who ambushed Artemis!?"
"Dark moon goddess, you're too late to the realization. I, Hecate, was the one who struck the new moon Artemis. I called this council to lure you lunar goddesses out—."
So Hecate was the culprit! The very first person we'd visited was the mastermind. At this point, my rotten luck was starting to wear me down.
Then Melinoë shuddered violently.
"No way...! Hecate is kind and gentle...! She couldn't have attacked Artemis...!"
Melinoë couldn't accept that her mentor had assaulted and kidnapped her cousin. But Goddess Hecate pulled her hat low, grinning sinisterly.
"Kind and gentle. Maybe that's where I went wrong. It's why I lost most of my shares and ended up in this mess. But now, I'll change tactics. New moon blade!"
Shing.
From left to right. The ominous waning moon goddess Hecate swung her staff, unleashing a silver-white new moon-shaped blade that sliced through the shop interior.
Selene gasped in shock.
"That miracle just now—it was Artemis's? You've absorbed the new moon goddess's power! Hecate! How could you do this? What did you do to Artemis?!"
"No need to be so curious—you'll be joining her soon enough. It'd be nicer if you cooperated quietly. Otherwise, you'll suffer—."
"Silence voodoo!"
Kaboom.
Whoosh—boom!
Witnessing gods clash up close was dizzying. What the hell was I even doing here? If I stayed, I'd end up as collateral like a skewered shrimp. Time to bail—I spun on my heel to flee the shop, but something crackled underfoot.
Like snapping an electrified barbed wire?
"Ugh, you broke the core of my barrier! Impressive, Department Head Joey. Proves the CEO's secretary isn't just lucky."
I had no idea what I'd done, but Hecate was furious.
"You're the biggest obstacle. Might as well eliminate you first. Tartarus's plans—you've ruined them how many times? I can't kill you, but—."
She aimed her staff at me.
"Plenty of ways to neutralize without killing. Boundary magic has options—like turning you into a hell cockroach and trapping you in a crystal—."
What? Hell cockroach? That horrific fate drained the strength from my legs, and I collapsed. A spell whizzed over my head.
"What? You dodged my silent variant spell? Joey, what are you?!"
"Ooh shit...! Opening spotted! Silence voodoo!"
The totem club cracked against Hecate's skull. She staggered.
"Joey, if not for you!"
She hated me more than Nixdoty, who'd clubbed her. Then she lunged at me—brain-shaken but still coming. Incredible obsession.
Melinoë stepped in front.
"Master, stop...! Don't you recognize this Melinoë...? The master I remember was kind and gentle...!"
"I have no memory of taking a nymph like you as a disciple."
"...N-no, that can't be... This isn't reality... A dream... Yes, it must be Melinoë's nightmare...! When I wake, everything returns to normal...!"
"Keep interfering, nymph, and I'll erase you fir—."
Crash!
Before Hecate finished, something shattered. Not the shop window—reality itself cracked like transparent glass.
"What?! What's happening?! My shop's breaking apart! Nooo! I haven't even paid off the deposit loan yet!"
"Nixdoty! Get out! This magic's no joke! Forget the shop!"
Goddesses Selene and Nixdoty scrambled to evacuate. Even Hecate, reaching for nymph Melinoë, recoiled and raised a staff barrier.
Shatter!
The scenery finally broke. When I came to, Selene and Nixdoty lay collapsed.
"Ugh, teleport..."
Hecate bled like she'd taken a grave wound. She slammed her staff down; moonlight poured from her body, and she vanished.
# # #
"Luna! You okay?!"
About thirty seconds after Hecate vanished, Prince Zagreus burst into the half-destroyed health spa. He spotted the fallen Selene and Nixdoty, piecing together the chaos.
He turned to me—the only one standing unscathed.
"Joey, what happened?"
"Honestly, I have no clue. Don't ask. Seriously, I don't know. No lie."
"Hah... sa... I saw... Hecate... kidnapped Artemis... betrayal... trap... Joey... beat Hecate... life saver... zonked."
Nixdoty struggled to speak before passing out. Zagreus shook her violently, yelling.
"Hecate kidnapped Artemis, set this lunar council trap for the other moon goddesses, but Joey saw through it, defeated Hecate, and saved your life?!"
That ramble boiled down to that? How'd he even parse it?! My head spun.
"Joey, you saved my wife! My wives are dearer than my own life. You've done more than save mine! I owe you huge!"
Tears welled up. Soon, Prince Zagreus, his aides, and guards raided Hecate's place.
"Your Highness! She's packed up and fled!"
"Tch, too late."
"Someone's locked in the basement!"
"I-it's Artemis! We've found the missing goddess Artemis!"
"Joey! You knew Hecate was the culprit from the start and came straight to her house! Man, I, Marquius, salute your detective skills!"
So unjust. With Melinoë and Hecate gone, no one to clear my name. Small mercy: Goddess Artemis seemed fine.
"Aaaah! Hecate stole most of my new moon power! Now I'm just a pretty, modest, pure, ace hunter goddess revered by nymphs!"
From her rant, she was probably okay. The truly hurt one was elsewhere.
...Should I check on Lady Melinoë?
Her revered mentor betrayed her. If Melinoë spiraled from heartbreak, it could derail my plans. That's all.
So I headed to her shrine. Gulp gulp. Melinoë emerged from her room, chugging bottled water from the fridge—like a desert wanderer finally reaching an oasis after four days.
"Lady Melinoë, meditation over?"
"Hieeek...!"
She jolted like a cat spotting a cucumber, leaping a meter into the air. Weirder still came next.
"Joey, what brings you here."
Lady Melinoë covered her ears with her palms. Didn't want to hear my voice? No—that wasn't it. Before she covered, I'd clearly seen them.
Pointy nymph ears!