(Astrid's P.O.V.)

Sheesh. The kitty fanatic is going to kill my eardrums. Seriously, who likes living with "ASTRID!!! YOU AIN'T GOING TO DO THAT AGAIN!" everyday? It hurts. Even worse, it's annoying and not at all entertaining (maybe if you reverse the roles it will be). I got everything I needed already didn't I. Almost have an 'unreal thing' cut your head off. Check. Watch your friend break down and go all possessed by some book or whatever. Check. Meet this really annoying, rude guy who just so happens to have the same first name as 1 of your favorite book characters. Check. All in 1 week huh. What fun is that. It's extreme torture! Though, it did have it's pros. I got Oreo!

I'm chillin' in bed at the moment with some cookies 'n cream ice cream (sorry Oreo), watching some anime called Himouto! Umaru-chan! It's the perfect description of me (except for those oh so perfect grades and being loved by everyone). Laziness at its finest. I stifled a laugh. *changing topic* Umaru is just too cute!!!!! Impossible to resist. Irresistibly adorable!

I was enjoying myself quite a lot with my happiness headquarters until Kathrine the new party pooper just had to call me for lunch with another unnecessary ear-piercing scream. And then another. And another. Oh gee, when will my life ever not be hell?

"ASTRID!!! Lunchtime!!! Now!"

I muttered something about kitty maniacs and being annoyingly noisy. I caught a whiff of delicious sizzling chicken. Yum. Kathrine, what heaven have you bestowed upon us now that I might just forgive you for your foolishness? What greatness have you graced upon our first and foremost trashed home that it may become a feast for the eyes? Be glad. I'm not that easily bribed.

"Where in this world were you able to gather such scrumptious delicacies that yield such satisfying aromas? I'm well aware there's no way you could've made this glorious fragment of heaven." I asked teasingly. "Yeah, yeah, I cannot cook. And so, and so." Kathrine said bluntly.

"What eternal praise I offer thee,
For divine grace has showered me!
What immortal secret meets the eye
That all who see must droop and die?"

Kathrine laughed at my lame attempt to lighten the mood.
Then, she continued.

"What fools behold the wicked past
Of this lone world long at last.
What new desires flood the soul
Enraged in stupidity that's lost control?
What idiots before me now
That life has lost is lowly howl?
What annoyance stirs the mighty peace
Of sky and sea which you displease?"

We chuckled. "Kathrine, you incur the wrath of the gods." I said while laughing. Kathrine's laughter came to an abrupt stop. "But something's plaguing me." Way to ruin the mood. "What is it?" I suddenly went on extremely curious 4000 mode. "It's just the monsters. You said they shouldn't have been able to enter right? Then, why did they? And also, why didn't the Rογαl Dεfεηsεs show up? They should've right?"

There it goes. The question I've been dreading to hear. "I have no idea." I said and decided to let myself continue talking. "I just don't know. Wanna dig yourself into boring research and have fun being a detective?" Kathrine suddenly smiled. "Hell yeah! Let's investigate this unlikely crime!"

"First up—code names. You?"
"I'll be Komaru. K for Kathrine!" Kathrine sure is happy, huh?
"Then, I'll be uhh...Aqua? A for Astrid?"
"Then Agent A and K for short, Aqua!" she concluded.
"Speaking of this 1 letter system...we're like L Lawliet from Death Note." I wondered.
"K (Komaru [Kathrine]) Kira." Kathrine smirked.
"A (Aqua [Astrid]) Astraea."

We put up this act, grabbed our staffs, (I) put on my coat and head for the living room to crash on the couch. And laze around.

"Okay now, what mystery do we wish to solve? What questions are we eager to answer?" Kathrine asked. "Okay, objectives for today...uhhh 1, what the heck happened that those monsters came into town. 2, what happened to the barrier and the defenses. 3, chill out and have fun."

"Okay Astrid. If that's the case, number 1, what the heck happened that those monsters came into town. Answer that and we might have the answers to number 2." I nodded.

"Let's see...Agent K, Komaru or whatever, what do we know?"
"Detective or Agent A, we know that this is weird. We need to know what's wrong. We need to crack this case."
"Gee, how so very useful. Thank you very much."
"Lol" Kathrine said without a trace of wanting to laugh in her voice even though she gave me a short-lived laugh.
"Nya. Now, moving on, I'll just answer my own question. We know that something's wrong. This is weird alright. Yes, we do have to crack this case, but we do know that something has affected the Cίτγ βοrδεrs. And this is where we continue."

I thought about the situation. What happened. We need to know. No logical reasoning came to mind. It's 1 of my weaknesses. I'm quite limited to the extent I'm not very fond of thinking out of the box. I tend to only lay out the logical, reasonable possibilities.

"Hey Astrid, is there a spell that summons those monsters?"

I searched my thoughts, rummaging through every last bit of known memory in there that hasn't completely fallen into oblivion. Oh- wait...here comes good old Astrid. "Do you consider non-metaphysical fear a monster?" Kathrine nodded. "Then, yes. You can summon monsters." I concluded. There's a catch though, who would willingly summon a monster? Like, an actual, evil monster? It's odd. Very odd.

"But why would someone want to summon a seriously not good monster!? I mean, tons of them?" she read my mind.
"Okay Miss Psychic Mind-Reader Magician, other question is, who would?"
"Uhh..." she fumbled, dumbfounded.
"Precisely,"
"Maybe...Percy?" she suggested.
"Now, here it goes, why would he?" I asked, looking for some explanation.
"Reasons..." she muttered.
"1, that's my line! 2, quit fooling around!"
"Nya," she imitated.
Wait on—sudden idea alert! My mind knows something. It's on the edge of my tongue. I just can't grasp it. There goes the idea...gone.

A hand snapped in front of me. "First you go fuming, then you go spacing...out? Bleh." Kathrine teased. Whatever. What was it though? I want to know. I need to.
"Nya, meow, arf, woof, dunno anymore...1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14—" I cut Kathrine's boredom trance.
"That's it!" I remembered.
"What's it..." she asked.
"14! Page 14! A random page I opened by sheer coincidence! Well, yes, I did open it because I decided on page 14, but who cares 'bout that... Now, what if you didn't need magic to summon monsters?"
"Huh," Kathrine tried to comprehend.
"What if instead of using magic, like a spell or whatever, someone just says '*insert monster's name* rise from beneath the ground. I summon you within the borders of this isolated town.' or whatnot? I read it in a book. It's possible! You can summon literally any monster from this world like that! It's not restricted by magic! Not bounded by the laws and limits of dark magic." I explained and soon started rambling.
"Calm down Astrid...I get it. It's very much possible. Now, we can try answering other questions that'll help us answer our question that'll help us answer our other questions and so on..." I inhaled a bunch of air and exhaled.
"Will do madam," Kathrine breathed a sigh of relief. Probably wasn't enjoying my talk. Who would?

"Okay. Questions. What do our curious minds desire to know?" Kathrine started.
"Who or what caused us some extreme devastation. Why who or what did it. How he or it did it. And, what else..."
"Astrid! We know that we want to know that. Ughh, just take this conversation, investigation or whatnot elsewhere!"
I raised my hands in surrender. " 'Kay, chill. You are the one who asked me in the first place you know!"

Our conversation or whatnot was indeed taken elsewhere. And so, the pointlessly useless argument continued. Until, well, something weird washed over me.

A chill went down my spine. "Hey Kathrine, do you feel like someone's spying on us?"
"Like stalking?" she clarified.
"Whatever you wanna call it."
"No," she said.
"Then why'd you even have to ask if I meant stalking?"
"Curious me."
"Oh gee- how so very useful of you. We totally need this now."
"The last thing we need is your sarcasm, not my unnecessary remarks."
"You just claimed it was unneeded!"
She muttered. "Whatever,"
I swear. My dear friend over here is a living Maki Nishikino. And I'm Nico (Yazawa). Or maybe Umi (Sonoda). Bleh. Now I'm talking about a bunch of Love Live! nonsense.

Enough with that hilarious (not) nonsensical nonsense. We've got a mystery to unfold.

"Okay," Kathrine said. "Earlier, you were saying that you've got this theory that—"
"Just get straight to the point!"
"As I was saying,"
*glare* Kathrine shivered.
*gulp* "You said that it was possible that anyone, probably Percy, 'cause like why not him, summoned monsters int the whole town without magic. Oddly suspicious don't ya think?"
"Are you implying it was me?" I glared yet again.
Another terrified gulp. Kathrine shook her head in response.
"Just saying, why would he—Percy guy, summon monsters?"
I shrugged. "Dunno."
Kathrine facepalmed, and I chuckled.
"Baka."

Our investigation became a series of arguments and name-calling because with us, don't expect anything to be taken very seriously. No bluff there.

Then, just when we were having a little bit of fun getting nowhere, an icy darkness shrouded the room.

"What tranquil serenity stands about
An oasis of goodness that facades all doubt?
What insanity has tarnished this civil land
That the world has given in its final stand?"

A creepy voice echoed in our heads. "Miss Kira, Miss Grumpy Cat, or should I say Agent Komaru, Agent Aqua," Oh gee, Percy dude. Hooray. "This world is tainted with sin and sorrow. The 2 of you even joked about it earlier. I merely finished the abnormally true poem for you." He was nowhere to be found.

"This world is thoroughly stained with despair. The 2 of you are very much capable—take it as a compliment—yet you lack reason to leave and to learn to leave. You need to know. This world is no longer safe for you for us human beings. We cannot stay here! Just do as I say, not as you please and oblige. You will be rewarded for your actions. That is, if you choose to follow me. If you refuse, you will be painfully punished."

"You. You dimwitted baka. I'm afraid, it is only natural for world to be tainted with sin, despair and sorrow. You yourself do that to the world. I do it. Everyone does. You're telling me you risked the lives of all the people in this town by summoning those wicked monsters to give us reason!? You fool! You selfish moron!" I bitterly said. "Yeah. You deserve eternal punishment in the Fields of Asphodel!" Kathrine disdainfully added.

"Wouldn't a worse punishment made by yours truly be better?" I mischievously asked with a smirk.
"Wait on—you've got some insane mischief you non daughter of Hermes. Hell yeah!"

Percy dude cleared his throat. "I'm still here." his voice said yet again. It's getting creepy how I can't even see him.

"Yes, indeed I did summon those monsters for that reason. But other than that, I had an alternative motive. It was quite entertaining to watch you guys. Besides, you won't die for real."

"You idiot. We do lose our memories y'know. It's a pain! Especially for Astrid here who relies on her oh so amazing memory like every single day!" Kathrine retaliated. "True," I muttered. "It really would be a pain."

A bright light seared my eyes. Percy appeared.

"Oh gee—this isn't some show, silly. No need to kill us with that stupid appeal. Basically, no fancy entrances needed." I deadpanned.
"You Aquarians. Always so sarcastic and rebellious." the now non-metaphysical form of good ol' Percy-not-Jackson replied.
"It's in my nature. I don't betray who I am!"
"Uhh Astrid...you're getting sidetracked." Kathrine reminded me.
"Whoopsies."

"Wait, I do remember reading something once. It said," Percy wrote in the air.

Behind an Aquarian's smile is a story you would never understand.

He dissipated with his very much unneeded farewell being "What fears lie beneath your hard shell grumpy cat? Oh, I'd surely like to find out."