"Hey welcome back, how'd it go?"

Gary welcomed Niko enthusiastically, as she entered his office and sank down into the sofa.

A few minutes went by, with Gary standing around nervously, while Niko seemed to slide further and further down the sofa.

"So..you gonna tell me about your new friend?"

Gary glanced sideways towards Shoki, who was leaning against the wall in the corner of the room, waiting patiently

"Oh..right..i forgot about that.."

Niko slowly sat up on the sofa, letting out painful groans in the process.

"Alright Shoki, now that my lawyer is here, we can discuss things"

Niko took out the golden sphere and placed it between her legs in order to keep it from falling, unaware of the two men trying not to stare at her unconsciously provocative pose.

"Ask me what you want, aslong as you give me back 'Nannas comb'"

Shoki took a chair from around the desk and placed it near the sofa, and sat down on it, arms folded.

"Right, Gary be sure to record everything that he says"

Niko said as Gary hurried around searching around before taking out his phone and setting it to record.

"Now, what is this 'Comb', you mentioned?"

Niko asked, causing Shoki to raise en eyebrow.

"You mean you dont even know its true name...."

He sighed, and pointed towards the golden sphere.

"That, is called Nannas comb, the outside round parts are just there in order to seal and control its power, without being sealed, the comb would release its energy all at once leaving the comb useless"

"Release all at once..would that cause it to accidently revive someone?"

"No, it would most likely just destroy everything around it, how it would do it, i do not know, but it would cover a fairly large area, at best a street, at worst a whole city"

"EH"

Niko's eyes went wide as she felt relieved over not throwing the golden ball to ground when she threatened Shoki.

"You said revival, so you do know something, tell me, how did you find out about its true purpose"

Shoki asked, eyeing Niko suspiciously.

"Ah..well, Gary did some research on its history, oh Gary is my lawyer, this worthless guy here"

She pointed at Gary who standing idly by, carefully listening to their conversation.

"Hi, i'm Gary, aiming to be the world's best lawyer, i can guaran-"

"Save it for someone who cares Gary"

Niko interrupted Gary before he he got too absorbed into his speech.

"Anyway...also.. i was revived with it, probably?"

She said, tilting her head as she contemplated whether what happened to her could be counted as a revival.

"Are you sure!?"

He frantically asked, and continued after Niko nodded her head.

"If what you say is ture, then my gamble may have actually been worth it... tell me exactly what happened!"

Shoki said, his eyes wide, and his voice unnaturaly excited.

"Hm..well i died, then i woke up in this body, which is not mine, so it kind of transfered my mind somehow, or something?"

"Transfer..that means..it probably transfered..your soul.."

Shoki said, his voice lowering to a barely audible level.

"My soul huh, i dont really believe in that stuff, but i guess that stuff doesn't seem as crazy with all thats happened..?"

Niko said as she tentatively touched the runes etched on the surface of the 'Comb'.

"But anyway, what the hell was that before, that giant stone monster, those strange cult people, and the guy with the exploding matchsticks, what was all that about!?!"

"Those were the followers of Vali, they follow the god of revenge, everyone who joins, likely has something or someone they want to avenge, alot of them are insane, willing to throw away their lives in order to have their wish fullfiled.."

"Hmm..is that why you joined them?.. i remember the red haired guy saying something about you being a traitor?"

"Like everyone else who joined i had my reasons, but i quit once i found out about the Comb, but from what you say..it seems the comb is unable of true revival, only the transfer of the soul to another body...and without the soul..revival is impossible.."

Shoki finished his sentence with downcast eyes and a low voice, causing a dark aura to surround him.

"Ahaha...well i dont know if we can say that for sure...but i guess it makes sense.."

Niko awkwardly laughed, trying to dissolve the dark clouds surrounding Shoki.

"Ehm...but anyway, that monster thing, and the matchsticks, no explosive can be that small and release that much energy, i should know, i am an expert in over 20 types of explosives!"

She blatantly bragged.

"Ah..he probably just infused some power into the matchsticks, which is where that extra energy comes from, as for the monster..that was a golem, you can create golems out of virtually anything aslong as you know the correct method to distribute your power in the desired material"

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"..power..you mean like...magic or something?"

Niko asked, doubt obvious in her voice.

"I guess you could call it that, although its a bit more realistic than that"

Shoki shrugged.

"Wait, does that mean i can also do cool things like that if i learn how? teach me!"

"It's not that simple, normal humans dont have any power other than the bare minimum needed to sustain life, that bastard was just borrowing power from his god, Vali, basically aslong as what you are doing is to the gods liking, he will be willing to lend you a small amount of power, which you store to use later, like a battery but in your heart"

He explained, giving the left side of his chest a few taps.

"Hooo i see, i want to do that stuff too, i want to follow a god, how do i do that, show me, come on!"

Niko urged him, her eyes filled with obvious excitement.

"As i said, it's not that simple, i couldn't get them to show me the ritual no matter how hard i tried, and i was with them for years, the ways to borrow power from a god are secrets that are hoarded greedily by the higher ups of each organisation"

"Buu..thats boring, but how did you get the police to help you out, they even brought out the Bomber5!"

"I didn't, they probably showed up on their own due to reports of the priests, they are notorious terrorists after all, especially that matchstick bastard.."

"Ah that makes sense, it is kind of hard to hide large explosions like that after all~"

Niko laughed, as Gary spoke up from the side.

"Look kids, i have no idea what you are talking about, but don't tell me you were at the site of that bombing that happened earlier today?"

Gary asked, causing Niko and Shoki to nod simultaneously, as if to say, 'yea so what?'.

"Ah, i really hope they didnt see your faces, do you know the amount of rumours i would get if they caught two terrorists at my office, my reputation would be in ruins, oh all my hard work-"

"Gary, be quiet."

Niko snapped at him causing him to shut up.

"Is he always like this..?"

Shoki asked, glancing at the heavily sweating Gary who was nervously pacing around the room.

"You would think he would get used to harbouring dangerous criminals after a while, but every time.."

Niko sighed dramatically and shrugged.

"Anyway, i dont know about all of this magic nonsense, but i am looking for a reliable partner to assist me, since i cant really accomplish too much in my current state..."

She sighed as she looked at herself.

"So, how about it, want to become my underling?"

She asked, wearing an honest smile that spoke her true intentions without holding a single shred of insincerity.

"The 'Comb' was my final hope..without it..i have nothing to strive for..so i no point in joining you."

"Well, since you have nothing to strive for, why don't you aid me, in my quest to get my former body back (and also acquire some magic crap, because that sounds amazing), maybe we can even find a way to revive the person you care about, who knows~"

She smiled as she offered her hand to Shoki.

"Well..i have no other leads for revival powers..aslong as you lend me the sphere to study and make sure that true revival is truely impossible with it, then i wouldn't mind helping you out"

"Knew you would come around and see my greatness, of course i would be willing to lend you the sphere, i am a generous leader after all~"

Niko laughed triumphantly.

"You realise i could simply take it away from you in the blink of an eye now that i know that you do not know how to use it"

"Wa..really..? then why are you okay with joining me?"

She asked, honestly confused over his peculiar reasoning.

"Well..like i said, if it turns out that the sphere truely does not have the power for true revival, then i would be out of leads and out of a job, besides, you seem like an interesting person, you have odd sort of charm to you.."

He said as he grasped her hand.

"I know, i am a truely charismatic leader arent i!"

She smiled, happy for the compliment.

"More like the charm of a clumsy princess that needs to be protected than a great leader..."

Shoki said, low enough so Niko could not hear.

"Great, now let's drink to celebrate, Gary, bring out your sake, i know you have some around here!"

She yelled over at Gary who was still pacing around the room, startling him.

"Aren't you a little too young to drink...especially sake?"

Shoki asked, raising an eyebrow at Niko's odd choice for a celebration.

"Didn't you listen, i was transfered to this body by this 'Comb' of yours, i'm actually a 29 year old man~"

She answered as she and Shoki were taking a sip from the sake Gary had brought out, causing Shoki to choke and spit out his sake as she laughed.