章 38: Looming Prophecy pt.2
"What is my punishment?" Cut the demigod short.
Lyceum stood up and placed his palms forward, almost as if he were divining the future with a magic sphere. The man seemed to be disturbed by the great tension in the room and wanted to try to mediate the discussion between the two, so as not to spark a new battle.
"This is not a punishment. You protected goddess Aena from our enemy in front of everyone, so we tried to do something about it."
The rector of the Lilies Park felt the stormy gaze of the deity resting on him as soon as he uttered the word 'protected'. He swallowed and quickly adjusted the collar of the gray jacket that made up his outfit.
Marina breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the news. There would be no punishment for him, so her guilt towards the boy could be assuaged.
Shirei looked into space, "What do I have to do?"
Aena pointed to a piece of paper on the desk. Marina moved her gaze towards the page adorned with golden motifs and recognized it too late.
"A Lodal contract!?"
Shirei turned to her with a frown, "What is that?"
"Oh... It's a contract, exactly. There are requests written by both parties and signatures are affixed, followed by an oath to fate."
The boy approached the table and began to read: "The Lilies Park allows the demigod Shirei, surname absent, to remain within its structures if the latter decides to accept the following requests: inclusion in the demigod recovery program, with the obligation of two missions to be carried out before resignation; prohibition on evocation of creatures in the territories of the Lilies Park; attendance at the courses with mandatory attendance... in the event of a negative response, the demigod Shirei will be banished from the Otherworld and all moral responsibility will be lifted by the Lilies Park staff... what would I receive in exchange?"
Marina remained silent, the conditions were not very severe, but they limited Shirei's freedom quite a bit.
"Your place here is the favor of the gods, of course," Lyceum replied.
"I don't care about their favor."
Aena didn't answer, but her anger flowed through the room like an overflowing river. Marina tried to think, but convincing the boy seemed rather impossible. She still knew almost nothing about him, despite having spent entire days with him.
Shirei grabbed the pen on the desk and quickly signed the contract, the black liquid imprinted on the golden paper indelibly.
Marina's eyes widened. He had done it, he had signed.
"Well. Now, all that's left is the oath and then you can go to Cragar. We have discussed it and we believe that you should talk face to face wit-"
Lyceum didn't have time to finish his sentence before darkness began to swirl around the demigod.
"Cragar also said never to swear an oath to fate," Shirei replied annoyed, "I will keep my word, be satisfied with that."
Aena's divine energy was released in a single instant, pushing everyone present backwards. Marina fell from her chair with a thud and turned to Shirei in alarm, but the demigod had already disappeared into the Interworld.
For a few moments everyone was silent. Aena's hair had come loose and her skin had taken on a pinker hue, matching the red of her anger. The goddess of love stamped her foot on the ground and breathed deeply, she was trying to regain her lost calm.
After a few moments, she turned to Ien's daughter with a false smile, "Marina, I would like to know your side of the story."
"Dalia... left out some information. Knowing her, I think she simply forgot about it," replied the girl, still shaken by what had just happened, "There's also something else to let you know about."
"We are listening to you," Lyceum replied with a reassuring smile.
"When the son of Tefine transformed, I tried to activate the innate technique of the sons of Ien to identify dangers."
"The all-seeing eye," said Lyceum.
"Ien's sight," Aena added.
"Yes, both correct" confirmed Marina. "I saw a golden aura when I looked at him."
The goddess of love grimaced, but nodded, "That makes perfect sense, what's the problem?"
"It's a color I've never seen, except in Dalia," concluded the demigoddess, expressing her concern.
Aena felt as if the world around her was collapsing. The revelation had shaken the foundations of the integrity of the divine world. While Lyceum and Marina were still present in the office, the goddess of love struggled to contain the panic that was rising inside her.
She looked at Liceo's serious face and the concern on Marina's face, and realized that she couldn't afford to give in in their presence. She had to stay calm, at least on the surface. But inside, chaos raged, and the urgency to act became ever more pressing. She had to find a way to deal with the impending disaster, but she knew she wouldn't be able to do it alone. She had to inform Emion of the discovery and involve the other gods.
It was the only way to face the looming prophecy.
After a long thought, she asked, "What was the other news?"
"While Shirei was not himself, he had a brief conversation with the son of Tefine. He mentioned Rakion the Ancient."
Marina saw Lyceum put on a confused expression and turn towards the goddess of love, which she did too. Aena stood still, as if frozen. That time she hadn't been able to hide her worries. Ien's daughter saw her emotions clearly, even though the mask hid her divine face.
Fear.
The queen of the gods was scared to death.
"I tried to think about it before I came here and thought this might be tied to Dalia's past, but I don't understand how the Time Lord could have anything to do with-"
Aena raised a hand to silence her.
The demigoddess fell silent, a drop of sweat wet the goddess' forehead.
"Marina, now is not the time."
Strange of her, she thought, it seemed like the right time for the girl to discuss it.
"We have said too much for today," she ruled, "Go back to your home and rest. Lyceum will let you know when you will have the next purely theoretical lesson."
She underlined the word 'purely' spelling out letter by letter.
Marina was worried and confused by her reaction, so she could only reply: "Okay..."
The demigoddess waved politely and left the office with a mixture of confusion and frustration. She felt like she couldn't fully grasp the complexity of the situation, and this knowledge made her anxious to the point of wanting to pull the hair out of her head. Shaking her head to shake away the tumultuous thoughts, she left the Great Mansion behind and headed for her home, eager to soak in a warm bath that could help her relax.
Inside the office, meanwhile, Lyceum and Aena were waiting to be able to discuss the pending issues. The goddess of love had noticed an almost imperceptible movement of Cragar's son, and this had made her suspect the presence of someone else.
"Rutia, how long do you plan to stay there?" Aena asked to the void.
As if an invisible veil had been lifted, a female figure appeared wrapped in a long purple dress, with a hood covering her face. It was Rutia, the goddess of the occult, silently watching the two.
"You found me," she replied in an enigmatic voice, "I must say, I didn't expect it."
The mask covering the goddess's face was an intricate work of dark bandages and silver threads, which hid part of her face. The eyes were hidden through a large horizontal blindfold. The mask ended abruptly at the tip of her nose, leaving her lips free, framed by pale skin. A few blue locks escaped from the hood and adorned her face.
Aena frowned, "Lyceum, we need to talk in private."
The man understood the message and approached the door. "Certainly. With permission," he said, bowing slightly before exiting the office.
Once alone, Aena stared at Rutia.
"Why are you here?" She asked, trying to understand the intentions of the goddess of the occult.
Rutia kept her mysterious smile, "I missed you," she replied calmly.
Aena had always found Rutia's expressions frustrating. She could never grasp the meaning, and it made her feel helpless. At times, she had wondered if she was incapable of changing her emotions, but she had noticed her tendency to always smile wistfully.
"I'm not in the mood for games, Rutia. What do you want?" Aena asked, trying to stay calm despite her irritation.
"I am here as a messenger of fate. I bring news, I can't yet say whether it's positive or not," replied Rutia with her usual aura of mystery.
Aena sighed, just as she had imagined. Rutia had always had a preview of future events and it was often difficult to understand her intentions.
"A new prophecy?" She asked, fearing the worst.
"No, you already have problems with the last one, imagine if I recited another one," replied Rutia, reassuring the goddess of love. "A very important boy will be arriving here soon, I trust you will keep an eye on him."
Aena was relieved to know that this was not a new prophecy, but she remained worried about what the future would hold.
"Is he your offspring?" Aena asked, trying to find out more.
"No, I would say not," replied the nefarious goddess with a controlled laugh. "You'll see it, you'll like it."
Aena was not at all convinced, but decided not to investigate.
"That's all," Rutia said, preparing to leave.
"Wait!"
Rutia raised an eyebrow, "Darling, do you have any more questions?"
"Dalia Arcesio... is she your daughter?" The goddess of love asked, taking the moment to address her main doubt.
Rutia's response was a laugh that made the queen of the gods' blood run cold.
"No, Aena. I remind you that I made a vow at my wedding, we will not be the trigger for the passing of the masks, remember?" She replied in a sarcastic tone although the lack of her eyes did not reveal her true feelings.
Aena swallowed, "Then… who?"
The goddess of the occult simply smiled mysteriously. "Not that I really want to be a spy, you'd find out anyway in a couple of days..." she said, moving her hand.
The walls of the office began to distort behind her.
"Aor is the name you seek. A century before Cragar and I became consorts."
Aena remained silent, deep in thought. Her suspicions had been confirmed, but now she faced an even more complicated reality. Dalia was a goddess, that much was certain, but the question that tormented her was whether Salix had meant the little girl or whether he was referring to someone else when he spoke of 'not being the only one.'
"I think I'll be going now. Have a nice day, dear Aena," Rutia said, before vanishing completely.
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