First Encounter pt.3

A child raised his hand.

"Yes? What would you like to ask?"

"What will you explain to us today? The other guys told us that this is where we train to fight."

Marina smiled, trying to ignore Shirei's gaze, "Yes, but you still don't know why you are here. That's why I'm here to explain it to you," she took a pause to swallow. "Let's do it like this: first I'll explain it to you, then, if you have any questions, we'll discuss it together. Okay?"

No one said anything, so she took it as a gesture of agreement. She furtively glanced at the violet-eyed demigod and noticed his gaze directed towards the outside of the hut. His black t-shirt still worried Marina, as she had seen one like it before. At the Lilies Park, each house had its own color and identification number. Black, often associated with the number thirteen, always brought only problems. She quickly pushed those thoughts out of her head and returned to her speech.

"So, first of all, you are demigods. This means that one of your parents is a Celestial, one of the twenty-four deities of the latest generation. They often tend to hide in the mortal world and have relationships with humans since they cannot have relationships with each other; if they did, a new generation would automatically begin and the current gods would have to abandon their masks."

A boy raised his hand, but Marina stopped him before he could speak.

"There is no need to worry about that for now" she said with a smile, "What you need to know is that, several years ago, one of the most important demigods of the modern era managed to have an encounter with the gods and convinced them to make a promise."

Shirei's gaze returned to her, making her gasp, "Since then the latter have made an oath of reporting each of their children, so that they can be brought here, to the Lilies Park, or to the Daffodil Academy."

The demigods seemed very careful not to miss any detail of that explanation. Marina wasn't used to that attention, but she was focused more on the mysterious demigod, she scanned his face after she mentioned the academy, but he didn't let any emotion show beyond calm.

With a sigh, she decided to continue: "This happened to you too, didn't it? One day you found a small mask by chance, then other demigods showed up at your house and brought you here. It's perfectly normal. If you have not yet been told the identity of your divine parent, you will be sorted to the main building: the Great Mansion. If, however, you know the divinity to which you belong, then you will be led to your house, one of the twenty-four in the Lilies Park. Usually, though, we can tell a parent apart by the mask they leave behind when they visit you in the mortal world."

Marina approached the blackboard and began to write, after finishing, she put down the chalk and moved aside so that everyone could read.

"These are the names of the gods of the last generation. I don't even think about telling you all of them, you wouldn't remember them anyway. All you need to know is this" she indicated the first name on the list, "There are twelve male and twelve female deities, Emion is the king of the gods and rules together with them from the celestial kingdom, a sort of paradise. Although they are all at the same level, some deities are more powerful than others. Six of them have sworn not to have any more children-"

A little girl couldn't resist and asked: "How come?"

"It's not for me to tell you, but I understand the curiosity. Do you remember the world wars? It is said that some very powerful demigods also participated in the second one and there were clashes that led to the death of many people. Since then..." she pointed back to the blackboard, "Emion, Idur, Cragar, Aena, Nivia and Cechela have sworn not to have any more children, for the common good. It will interest you to know that this agreement was dissolved more than ten years ago."

From the back of the room came a low, deep voice, almost a whisper: "The oath was just a pleasantry, the gods continued to have children, but they simply hid them."

Silence reigned in the hut for a few minutes. It was Shirei who responded, who at that moment was looking absentmindedly outwards, as if he had a specific goal in mind. Marina grimaced and hurriedly continued.

"This is true, they tried to keep their word, but they didn't. Only Aena, our benefactor, had no children" There was a second pause, Marina was trying to better understand who the person was, but Shirei didn't let any emotions show. Only one thing became more and more certain in the mind of the daughter of Ien, the identity of his divine parent.

Some demigods looked at Marina, who replied with an embarrassed smile: "I think I lost the thread of the conversation for a moment, where were we?" She couldn't help but laugh nervously, "Right, the park. Here you will study past history and be trained to survive even in dangerous situations. I have already told you that you must be officially recognized, but it is very important that this does not happen too soon, because the monsters that roam the mortal world will be able to smell you from then on."

"What do they want from us?" Asked a scared little girl.

There was no other way to say it, she had to be clear: "Kill us,"she replied dryly, "They seem to be programmed only for this. But you can rest assured, monsters can't enter here."

"Why?"

The blond-haired demigoddess smiled, "Monsters are found exclusively in the mortal world and, thanks to the presence of the goddess Aena, we are always safe."

General silence fell in the room, Marina's speech didn't seem to have had its effect. The girl looked down before faking a smile.

"And then what will happen?" Asked a little boy in the front row.

"Once you turn twenty, you can choose to join the staff, go to the Daffodil Academy to continue your studies, apply as warriors of the divine army, or go your own way. We try to prepare you for any of these choices."

She seemed to have succeeded in convincing them.

"Now I really have to go, in five minutes a boy will arrive who will show you around, so you can reach your accommodations. Wait for him here, please."

The girl's gaze met the empty one of the mysterious boy, instinctively she looked away and hurried to the exit. Only after thirty seconds, she turned around cursing herself, Lyceum had asked her to keep an eye on him. Marina walked back inside the bustling hut trying to keep a smile.

"Shirei, could you come-" she stopped, seeing the empty seat.

The demigod was gone.