Lesson on the past Gods pt.2

"Why?" A little boy in the second to last row asked.

Marina looked at them carefully. They were all very young and only just over half owned colored sweatshirts. Connecting the wires, Ien's daughter came to a rather obvious conclusion. The main group that was responsible for exploring the mortal world for helpless demigods must have returned. 

Marina glanced nervously at Shirei, he was supposed to join too and that could only mean they wouldn't see each other again for a while. On the one hand, the girl was relieved. After what had happened in the previous days, perhaps it would have been better to move away. On the other, she didn't want him to go away. She enjoyed spending her days with Cragar's son, more than she was ready to admit to herself.

After having put her thoughts in order, she hurried to answer. "In the end it's about history and geography, they can always be useful to avoid making the same mistakes as someone before you..

"So?" It was another newcomer asking, he wasn't dressed in the typical clothing of an inhabitant of the Lilies Park.

"Here we offer preparation for your future, so that you can even manage on your own if you are on a mission."

"And why should we go there?"

Ien's daughter smiled, "They are not obligatory, but they can help you demonstrate your worth. By doing so, you can hope to be chosen by the gods for the passing of the masks."

A little girl frowned, "What?"

Perfect! Thought the blonde. She had the perfect excuse to start.

"I'll explain it to you today. For those who don't know, in this era, the fourth generation of deities is present. Most of the gods live in the celestial world, whose supreme king is Emion."

"The god of the sky, like Zeus?"

"You are free to see it that way, yes," nodded the demigoddess, "You can imagine the Celestial World as a sort of paradise, a second golden sky that covers the Earth and separates it from space. Suspended in the flow of light, there are the divine pillars, towers that serve as homes for the gods. The pillars are arranged concentrically and converge in a main square with twenty-four thrones, where the deities gather to discuss. Together with them there are also angels and so on. Emion would be the supreme leader, a direct descendant of the first generation."

The demigods didn't seem too busy, but some of them fantasized about being able to sit there as if they were the gods. 

"Since the celestial world is the place where they live, the gods of the fourth generation are called 'Celestials', precisely. Pretty intuitive, right?"

Marina had Shirei pass one of the books and showed everyone the dedicated illustration.

"You should find a book under your desks, open it in the geographical section and you'll find a map of the place."

The girl then approached the blackboard and began to draw a family tree. At the top she placed Thebribes, the primordial god. 

The blonde continued writing and finally stopped with Emion, then turned to face the class. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Shirei frowning at the board, almost as if he had noticed a mistake. She decided to ignore it for now.

"So, follow me, with Thebribes we have the birth of the first generation," she indicated the first row of the blackboard, "Vion, Vela, Decaros and Galia."

She gave the boys time to write and prepared to continue.

"Galia, the Ocean, and Vela, the Earth, have twins: Niri and Randi. The two are recognized as the 'Empyreans', progenitors of the second generation," she tried to continue slowly, so as not to overload them with information, "Is everything clear so far?"

The demigods remained silent.

"Niri and Randi grew up until it was time for the passing of the masks, also known as the 'Mask Replacement' or 'Mask Change'. This event corresponds to a symbolic death of the gods, as if they decided to go into perpetual hibernation. The masks of the deities of one generation are given to the future deities who will take their place."

She approached the blackboard again, "Here follow me carefully. We have already talked about the Celestial World, and you know the mortal world, because you have lived there until now. You're almost all from Southern Italy, right?"

Except for two or three boys, all the newcomers nodded their heads in the affirmative.

"Now, however, you are no longer in Italy, we are in the Otherworld," the frightened faces of the demigods almost made her laugh, "There is no need to be scared! Imagine it as a parallel dimension created for you."

Marina waited for someone to raise their hand to ask her that fateful question, she only had to wait a few seconds before a little girl asked: "Who created it?"

The daughter of Ien pointed to the blackboard, "Precisely the empyreans, that is, Niri and Randi."

"The Otherworld is a place that mortals cannot access, like pockets of the mortal world. The various structures to help the demigods were built here. In Italy there are only two..." she went back to writing on the blackboard, "To the north there is the Daffodil Academy, whose rector is Emion. In the south, the goddess of love founded the Lilies Park."

A little boy asked, "Which is better?"

Before the demigoddess could respond, a daughter of Ognia replied, "Here, of course! As soon as they sort you, you'll even find a free phone on your bed!"

Marina laughed and hastened to explain, "The Lilies Park is also special for this reason. In the Otherworld there is no technology, but a demigod from here managed to simulate it with magic and the blessings of some deities. When you are received by Mr. D'Agostini, there is a form sheet to request an electronic device of your choice."

"For free," Ognia's daughter pointed out.

Marina smiled when she saw the radiant eyes of the new demigods and felt a twinge of pride pushing her to puff out her chest. The Lilies Park was the best place, especially thanks to the contribution the demigods provided every day. After a few seconds, she decided to bring the students back to their attention to continue with the speech.

"Okay! Listen to me! The sooner we finish, the sooner you can go get your free phones."

Those words were enough to silence them.

"Now we are talking about a very important figure. Around the same time the Empyreans created the Otherworld, Vion and Vela had a son: Rakion."

"Excuse me," asked a little girl in the second row, "Didn't Vela have children with Galia?"

"Yeah, it was a nice surprise. Let's say that Vion wasn't the type to sit still," she winked, making some of the older ones laugh, "The replacement occurred and Rakion, as you can imagine, became a deity of the second generation by right."

She took a break.

"Rakion, however, had other plans in mind..." she said with a slight grimace.

"Like his father, in his youth he was greedy for power and challenged the twins to a duel. If he had won, he would have become the king of his own generation and would have forced the two to undergo another passing of the masks."

"He won," Shirei replied.