A Tattler of Tales

"so I have a question" asked instructor washum once Landon was out of earshot. " I couldn't help but notice that your owl friend kept stealing glances at Landon when she Was talking about your other siblings. Is there a chance that he may also be a godling?"

This question caught Mack and Vorick by complete surprise. They were still unsure of how to detect their siblings. They both looked at Alex in confusion. "what" he asked innocently.

"Don't play innocent, goofball" said Vorick as he poked the boy in the ribs causing him to giggle. " how long have you known?"

"The mystics told me…..please stop tickling me….im going to pee" he pleaded

"good thing you're wearing a pull-up then" said Mack with a laugh.

"Like Dillon, we checked him out thoroughly to make sure he wasn't a threat and that's when we noticed the divinity hidden away." Said Owletta

"Why didn't you say anything" asked Vorick

" I never had time" Alex responded "if you remember, I passed out after my evolution and didn't wake up until this morning"

"so he is a godling?" Asked the instructor

"I guess so" said Mack

" but why does he seem different than you guys?" He asked

"because his powers haven't been activated. I feel like we've covered that already." Said Vorick

" How do we activate them?" Alex asked

[hosts must allow siblings to hold at least one of the divine daggers in order to activate their powers and systems. Only then can hosts reap the rewards.] responded the system.

" I guess our brothers were right. We just have to ask the right questions." Said Mack

" you can't activate his powers" said The instructor "the headmaster will have a conniption"

"they don't have a choice" said Owletta "Andrew will just have to throw his tantrum. This Will be a wonderful experience for the cadets. It's not every day you get to see the awakening of God. And they'll get to witness multiple awakenings over the course of the next year."

"it's not really the headmasters tantrum as you say, that I'm worried about. That'll be annoying, no doubt. I am more worried about the civilian population at the Academy. They already Think you're dangerous. Can't imagine what would happen if they discovered that there are unawakened gods amongst their children. We already lost 500 due to your little stunt yesterday. We can't afford to lose anymore. We have our reputation to uphold." He protested

" what if we do it in the arena?" Asked Mack "it's in the open where we can be monitored. The students and cadets as well as their parents and staff can watch the awakening process if they so desire. Not that it would be that eventful. It's more so they can have peace of mind."

"you'll have to speak with the deputy headmaster about that" said instructor washum. " Now, I don't want any more talk of this around the other students. I don't want you to create a panic."

Paxton had a feeling that the instructor was going to ask The three infantile gods if Landon was their sibling. So he hid outside the door and eavesdropped. He had to bust his butt to get The body that he has at his age, even with his strength affinity he still had to work meticulously. His father told him that he would easily take the Number one slot. Only to be outclassed by a boy to whole years younger than he is. A boy who hasn't even started showing signs of puberty yet. He was feeling cheated. Paxton had made his decision to go to both the headmaster and his father to have Landon disqualified. He would tell his father first because his father may want to go to the headmaster himself. With the conversation in the room over, he reentered and took his seat. Eventually, everybody had returned so the headmaster decided that he would go ahead and start the history lesson.

"for today's history lesson we will be discussing the events that led up to the Demon wars." Said the instructor as he began the lesson.

Morning turned into early afternoon and at 11 o'clock, the bell toned signaling the end of The classroom portion of the day. This meant that the children were now on a two hour lunch break. The children had made their way to the Great hall where the tables were filled with all kinds of meats and poultry and seafood, as well as vegetables, breads and desserts.

"are you sure we're allowed to be here?" Asked Vorick. He was feeling a bit uncomfortable with all of the uneasy stairs He was getting from his fellow cadets. Both young and old it didn't matter.

"You have to go where I go" he said "and I want to eat lunch. So unless a staff member says you can't be here I say we sit down and eat"

"Ok" the three said in unison as they chose four spots on the very end of the far table. As they were eating, they didn't notice that not a soul sat anywhere near them Until the hall became so full that The cadets had no choice, but to sit in the seats next to them.

" I think I might take my lunch to go" said one kid

"yeah why don't we eat outside?" His friend suggested.

"oh come on, don't tell me you're scared of three little boys" said their leader

"they're not normal little boys Max" said the first kid " if they were, I'd say sure let's join them for a meal. When was the last time you had lunch with a God?"

" you act as though they've gone around, sucking the life out of everyone" said max as he rolled his eyes "they really aren't that bad. I've met them at the castle when I went to pick up my boy. I wouldn't Have become a father Without them"

"yeah because that's the goal of every young teenage boy" one girl laughed " you're a better person than I am. If I were you, it would've been straight to an orphanage with him. Tony is a cutie though."

"If you want to sit with them go ahead but I'm not" said the first boy as he grabbed a tray and plate and filled his plate from the to go table. The rest of his friends followed suit. Max just shook his head and and walked over to the far table and took a seat next to the twins.

Mack looked over and smiled when he noticed that it was max. And gave him a big hug. "Hi max" he said to the older boy.

"Hello your highness. How's the academy so far?" He asked as he returned the hug.

"Hard to say really. We just started" said Mack "the lectures were very informative. But that's about all we can say on that so far"

"People are avoiding us like we're evil beings hell bent on collecting their souls" said Alex as he stuffed his face with a piece of beef brisket.

"It's going to take time for the mortals to warm up to you guys. They've never met beings like you before so it's a lot to take in." Said Owletta

"The strange talking owl is correct" said Max as he raised an eyebrow at the creature. "Especially after yesterday. That was terrifying. If you want people to trust you, Avoid making a scene Or drawing attention to yourself."

"kind of hard to not draw attention to yourself when you have wings. And in some cases horns as well as Misty eyes" said Vorick with a smirk

"You know what I mean though" said max " if you want people to trust you, you've got to not scare them half to death"

"gotta keep them on their toes" laughed Vorick nervously

Max laughed with them "yeah well be careful. Not everybody has a good intentions."

"How's Tony" asked Mack

"He's ornery and misses you a lot" he said with a smile "he wants to see you but I told him that right now isn't a good time"

" why isn't right now a good time" asked Mack "it's not like we'll hurt him"

"the new child welfare program that the queen came up with Doesn't know that" said max

" what do they do?" Asked Alex

"It's a new initiative to eliminate orphanages. Citizens are hired by kingdom officials screened, homes are inspected and they are certified as what they call foster parents. These are basically glorified babysitters that are paid to care for you. They are pretty strict From what I understand. If the agents found out that I let him around you guys, they'd take him from me and place him up for adoption. And probably charge me with endangering the life of a child in my care."

"must be that new adoption program that Mom came up with" said Mack

"I don't know Mack" said Vorick "taking kids away from their parents doesn't seem like something our mortal mom would do"

"She would if the kids were being abused" said Mack

"Do you think she would take Tony away from Max just for being around us" asked Vorick

"The queen? No" said Max "unfortunately she isn't the one in charge of overseeing the daily operations of the program. She may have created the program but she's to busy to focus on just that. The man she appointed leader knows how Tony got into his current situation. Actually it's no secret. And would in fact see you as a danger to the boy."

"If he remains four years old till your ready like we planned, do you think they will become suspicious?" Asked Mack

"I don't think so. As long as it's Subtle they won't be suspicious" he responded. The boys continued to chat back and forth about stuff boys would typically talk about. The cadets that were within earshot were surprised that a boy from year four was sitting with them. They were even more shocked to find out that the boy had a son that was four and would remain that till it would be believable that he had a son. Some of them knew who his son used to be and the story started to travel around the hall. Of course all this was happening without the boys being any the wiser. Max had no idea that his association with the boys was going to cause some issues that will alter his plans.

************

In another part of the academy the head master and his son Tyler was just sitting down to have lunch when their came a knock on the door. "Come in" said Andrew

The door opened and in walked a secretary "sir, Paxton Lott is here to see you"

"Susan, we just sat down to lunch. Cant it wait?" He said

"He's insistent. Said it's about the godlings. He said it's important information that you'll want to know." Said Susan

"Fine, send him in" said Andrew

"Probably wants to tattletale" said Tyler

Paxton entered the room, walked over and stood in front of his headmaster. "Good afternoon sir" he said

"Good afternoon son. My secretary has informed me that you have important info to tell me" said Andrew

"I do sir. It's concerning the godlings" said Paxton

"Well, get on with it. We don't have all day boy"

"Yes sir. I'm not sure if you're aware of this or not but I found out during my first class that their are other godlings in this academy" he said and waited to for the head masters response.

"How did you come across this information?" Asked the headmaster.

"The one with the sinister aura….alex I think is his name, has an owl that told us"

"Did the mystic say how many godlings their were total?" Asked Andrew. He was starting to get annoyed with the whole situation.

"The way I understood it sir was their are 12 primordial goddesses and each one created an offspring and sent it to the mortal realm. Well, one had twins. So we could very well have 13 baby gods running around with 3 out of thirteen being actived." Said Paxton

The headmaster had a horrified expression on his face. 13 gods here at the academy. All of the powers of the most powerful gods known to man here in one place. Sounds like a recipe for disaster. And mortal magic is useless against them. "Do we know who these others are?"

"I know of one" said Paxton "they've pin pointed him as well and are planning to activate his powers via public show at the arena."

"I am not aware of this" said Tyler "they have to get permission to use the arena"

"I wanted to get ahead of them sir" said Paxton

"Do you have the child's name?" Asked Andrew

"It's our current number one" said Paxton with a grin.

"Landon? Are you positive?" Said Andrew "I knew something was off about that boy. his performance in the entrance exam was a bit peculiar now that I think about it. He seemed to be awfully strong for such a little guy to move that rock that quickly."

"That's not enough to be suspected of being a godling" said Tyler "I do agree that his performance was a bit odd for someone of his stature but maybe he had a tutor or a backer that gave him enhancement potions."

"He's an orphan here on scholarship from his village. He's to poor to be able to afford any type of potion and not high enough on the social ladder to catch the eye of a powerful backer so how did he get as strong as he is at his small size. The boy doesn't even have any muscle definition. Paxton my boy your instructor is washum for the first half of today correct?" Asked Andrew

"Yes sir that's correct" said Paxton in response. He should have been number one not some small punk who was half his size. He still wasn't sure he wanted the position now that it came with the responsibility of watching the godlings. He just wanted that little Pipsqueak disqualified. Maybe he was jealous he really didn't care. All he cared about at the end of the day was being the strongest one. If that ment playing dirty to get their then so be it.

"Looks like I may have to pay a visit to washum later to confirm. Not that I don't believe you child. A statement from a staff member looks better to the board then a cadet who overheard a conversation. You may go now. Get something to eat before your next set of classes." Said Andrew. Paxton thanked the two for their time and exited the room. Andrew sat their eating in silence for a while until Tyler decided to speak up.

"What are you thinking about father" he asked as he took a bite of his sandwich.

"I understand why they exist but why do they have to be here in this academy?" He asked "it's a PR nightmare"

"I would personally take it as a compliment father" said Tyler. He was trying to calm his dads nerves. "The gods must have confidence in you and your staff To not only train their offspring but protect them from harm until they are strong enough to protect themselves."

"That would be an honor if that was the case. I could tell the citizens that. It would probably calm their nerves a bit." Said Andrew

"Maybe allowing Landon to awaken his powers in the arena wouldn't be such a bad idea. If it was made public then anyone could go and watch. I believe it would be a hot spot. Not everyday you get to see a god awaken"

"So you think we should just allow the boys to do this. You don't think the citizens will be put off by the prospect of 13 gods in one place. Look how many students we lost with just three. And in your words they are immune to mortal magic. So even us adults can't defend against them"

"If we break it to them slowly I think they will be ok. Also I had an idea on that front as well. What if we allowd them to open up shop and preform some anti aging magic on some elderly"

"That actually might help the people trust them more" said Andrew "if it turns out that Landon is a godling then he will have to go live with the other three in the royal residence and will be disqualified from the rankings."

"Wouldn't that be in violation of his scholarship contract he signed with his village council? They could stop paying his tuition and fees" said Tyler with a bit of concern.

"That's true. But his situation would be like Alex's so he will remain even if they stop paying"

Tyler noticed that his father seemed to be a lot more receptive to the boys after he had that talk with him which is a good thing. Now he just needed to convince him that they don't need a babysitter. But that'll take some time. "Since Landon will be disqualified who will be number one? Not Paxton Lott I hope."

"Why not he's the next strongest individual. And the one most likely to get it at the first ranking battle"

"Why not just leave the position vacant till then. Because I don't think we should reward tattling. Did that enough with Kyle and now Dillion. Would you like Landon to stay in the royle residence?"

"No let's not make any decisions until we know for sure" said Andrew