“It is my honor to welcome you all today.”

The Dean of the university stood at his podium, an undeniably impressive figure. He was old and short, for sure, but he wore a suit – no, uniform- that fit his figure well and gave off a sense of sturdiness. The stage he stood on was aligned with the top ends of both U shaped buildings and the hundreds of chairs full of students that he addressed were in the square courtyard. It seemed to Ian that it was almost like the student body was trapped, the only way out blocked by the dean and his solid atmosphere.

He had arrived early and secured the best seat in the house; back row, all the way to the left. Now he just waited for the welcome to be over so he could go back to his new room. Ian thought that he should probably try to talk to his new roommate more. He was paying no attention to what the Dean was saying, he realized. A brief head shake signaled his return to the present.

“for nearly thirteen-hundred years this school has served its’ students and we look forward to doing so for many years in the future.” He smiled at the crowd to the tune of light applause.

What? Did he say thirteen-hundred? This old man is senile. Ian looked around at the faces of the students around them but none of them seemed to betray that anything was off. He must have misheard the dean then. He returned to the speech.

“Now we’ve come to the part of this welcome speech that will surprise a number of our current attendees. Professor Staple will be taking over from here.” He turned and left the stage, trading places with a tall man in a tweed jacket and circular lensed glasses. A low murmur came from the crowd. Once again, Ian looked at the students sitting near him, he saw only one confused face. A girl with pixie cut brunette hair sitting two seats away. He tapped the boy sitting next to him instead. “Hey. Do you know what he’s talki-”

“Shh.” He batted Ian’s hand away.

“What the fuck man? I’m just trying to-” This time he was interrupted by the new speaker, Professor Staple. He cleared his throat loudly into the microphone and once again the crowd quieted.

“This can be difficult to sugarcoat so I will just be forthright. This university is not what we have, up to this point, claimed to be.” Ian leaned forward in his chair, no longer daydreaming. “This is a specialized college. There is only one year until graduation, you are all freshmen, and there is only one major.” One could predict that at this point there would be an uproar from the students listening. That the speaker would not be audible over the noise from the crowd. Instead there was dead silence.

“You are all here because you share a certain trait, or ability…” He took a deep breath. “You are all descended from the gods, with the ability to control the power of chaos.” He leaned back, probably expecting something from the crowd but there was no response.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Ian didn’t understand what was going on. The staff of the school who stood in front of the stage showed no sign of being confused by the Professor and neither did most of the student body. On the other side of the crowd, Ian saw a male student stand up and start to walk off before the students around him grabbed him and pulled him back into his seat. What the fuck is happening here? He was considering trying to leave as well when the Professor started speaking again.

“This school exists to teach you about your innate abilities and your lineage. We will educate you on where your magic comes from and how to control it.” Staple raised his hand into the air and it burst into light. Ian was momentarily blinded and when his eyes cleared he saw something he couldn’t explain. The professor held a pyramid in his hand, made from shining bars of white light. He held it there for a moment and then lowered his hand and it faded out of existence.

Ian stared, his mouth agape. Ok, so this is a dream… He thought he should probably pinch himself but decided that he would let it play out. The dream continued.

After that, a microphone was brought up to the front of the crowd and they were told that if they wanted to ask a question, they needed to form a line and do so now. Ian learned three things from that Q and A session.

First, Ian learned that the community of magicians (demigods?) was vast and had connections in almost all major universities. Those students who did not already know the nature of their existence had been blacklisted from the schools that they would have otherwise attended. This is how the university had ensured that those of godly lineage would receive their crash course in magic. The students were assured that at the end of that crash course, they would be accepted into any college of their choosing. Second, Ian learned that he was in a vast minority of students who did not know the truth about the school. Lastly he learned that the staff of this place were not interested in explaining much about magic at that moment. In fact, most of the students asking questions were told that their inquiry would be answered in the first day of class.

The microphone was shortly removed, and the students retook their seats. The sun had gone down an hour ago and Ian thought that the meeting had to end soon. Professor Staple left the stage and the Dean once again took the microphone.

“In the morning you will receive your class schedules. You will have three classes, each two hours long, starting at 10:00 AM sharp. You will have the same classmates for all three classes for the entire year, so I recommend you get to know them. Once again, I look forward to the coming year with all of you. This meeting is adjourned, goodnight.” Then he turned and marched off of the stage. The crowd of students slowly began to stand up and leave, but Ian didn’t move. He didn’t know why he wasn’t moving but it just didn’t feel right to him somehow. Standing and leaving after being dismissed like it was a normal meeting was wrong, it wasn’t a normal meeting, it didn’t deserve a normal dismissal.

He sat and stared straight ahead for a very long time. When he eventually looked around there was almost nobody left. Two seats away sat the girl who had looked confused earlier, now looking into the sky, and across the sea of chairs there was the boy who had tried to leave at the beginning. Ironic that he was among the last to leave now. Ian scooted closer to the girl. She must have heard him, but she continued staring into space.

“So, you didn’t know about the school either?” She was silent for a moment.

“No.” Now that he was closer Ian could see tears running down her cheeks.

“My name’s Ian.”

“Marissa.”

They sat and stared at the sky together.