The idea of people being divine messengers was received with skepticism by most teachers including Ms. Cardoza. After returning to the mansion from the meeting the teachers gathered to meet late in the evening after every student was back in their rooms to discuss how to handle this situation.
“I do not know what to do whatsoever, I hope that you as my colleagues will be able to give me a different perspective because this situation seems too surreal to be reality. I find myself thinking that this must all be a bad dream and that I’ll wake up back home any minute now, but pinching myself does not result in anything but pain. I am feeling more lost than I ever have, and with what Kuvira told us this afternoon, I see no hope of us returning home for the rest of our lives” Mr. Hendricks said with great sadness, ending his words by cradling his head in his hands pitifully.
Ms. Cardoza stood up and went to him, embracing him in a hug. She had known Ryan for a few years, and never had she seen him as broken as he was now. To her, and many other teachers, it seemed that a way for them to return home would appear out of nowhere any day now, and this stressful adventure of theirs would be over. This outlook now seemed like a delusion, a creeping feeling of dread had enveloped the teachers as a whole, with them now having to come to terms with never laying eyes on America again. Ms. Cardoza and Mr. Hendricks would never be able to see their families and friends again, but others like Mr. Reuter would never be able to see their children, with them having to grow up without a parent, never knowing where they went.
It seems reasonable that the disappearance of over 300 people would be investigated by the government, as such a thing has never happened before, but whether they would be able to come to any realistic conclusions or even make their way to Euphelia was highly unlikely.
“I feel for you Ryan, but we need to remain strong for the kids. If even we feel so hopeless in this situation, can you imagine how the students will feel when they receive the news?” said Mr. Phillips
The teachers all nodded to his words, they could not afford to give up, as there were hundreds of kids who would be looking to them for guidance. They were now the only Americans they would ever see, and being alone in this foreign land meant that they would have to stick together.
“Are we even sure that what Kuvira said is the truth? It is not unheard of for people to use religion as a tool to control the masses, with them claiming we are messengers of the gods, could they not simply be using our unusual appearance to their advantage?” asked Ms. Cardoza
“That thought crossed my mind as well, but whenever I follow that line of thinking I always end up with the reminder that we are no longer in a society that cares about such answers. You must all remember the journey to Krilos, and how the common folk reacted to our procession, that was their reaction to a procession of royalty, not divine messengers. The Jenusians could have simply imprisoned us and demanded our submission to any plans they had in store for us. The lighter hand they are using in regards to our group makes me think that perhaps they foresaw our appearance, or perhaps even orchestrated it.” Mr. Phillips replied, causing many of the teachers to become shocked at his later words.
“You think that the Jenusians somehow brought us here? But they are in a very primitive state of development, I doubt they could find a scientific way to whisk us from Earth all the way here…” Mr. Hendricks looked forlorn, never even considering that they were brought here intentionally.
“That would explain why Kuvira was in the forest at the same time as our appearance, but we still have no clue whether this event is something they knew would happen, or something they made happen themselves. Those of you who attended our first audience with the Emperor must also remember, some of the things the Jenusians are capable of would seem ludicrous to those who have not witnessed it” Ms. Cardoza explained, not entirely believing their appearance in Euphelia was random herself.
“No matter what we ask Kuvira she will most likely find a way to deflect the questions or explain her appearance in the forest as a result of a divine message or some other malarkey. Since we will not be able to come to any definitive conclusions at the moment I suggest we discuss how we present the information we heard today to the students. We will need to be very careful, as some of them are very unstable at the moment, I wouldn’t want to see any of them make any rash actions, can you imagine what effect a suicide would have on the others?” Mr. Phillips asked demurely, hoping that the others would appreciate the gravity of the situation.
“Do we even need to tell the students anything? I doubt they are in the right state of mind to have such a ‘bombshell’ dropped on them.” Mr. Hendricks replied, hoping to keep this information contained from fragile minds.
“We don’t have a choice, Ryan. Even if we do not tell them about being ‘divine messengers’ or whatnot, do you think the Jenusians will do the same? Better this news comes from us, than from them…” Ms. Cardoza said, hoping to work out some sort of plan of their own on how to contain the blowback from the reveal.
“Indeed, my biggest worry is that this information will cause a shift in perspective for some of the students. They are at a very malleable age, and being told that they have some sort of higher purpose might give some of them big heads. I’ve already had to deal with a fair bit of nonsense back home, can you imagine if one of the more arrogant students gets a ‘god-complex’?” Mr. Reuter postulated, hoping the others would find a way to disprove his words.
Unfortunately for him, the other teachers agreed with his assessment. They spent the next few hours going through the speech that Mr. Hendricks would give the students in the morning, finishing the meeting only slightly before the crack of dawn.
***
The morning assembly of students in the main hall was boisterous and chaotic. I myself felt a lot more energized this morning due to having a day off yesterday and surprisingly I held my head much higher than I normally did. Everyone was excited by the news Mr. Hendricks and the teachers would bring us from the Jenusians. Max was especially optimistic that today we would find out how we could get back home, I unfortunately did not share his outlook. Breakfast was delicious as usual, the taste of many of the ingredients being much more profound than back home, perhaps this was because there was little-to-no pollution in Jenusia, the air near the mansion always smelling fresh and clean. Breakfast was already over, with only a few of the students polishing off their morning meals, the rest all had their eyes set on the teacher’s table, eagerly waiting for the news. After a few moments of hesitation, Mr. Hendricks stood up from his table, and walked to the stool he used for the announcements. His approach was accompanied by cheers from the students, hoping to finally hear how they would be going home.
“QUIET! Thank you. I hate to disappoint all of you but the meeting yesterday between the teachers and Kuvira did not give us any information in regards to our journey home. I know many of you have had a hard time being in a foreign land, without your families and loved ones, but I promise you that just because no method of returning home is known to us right now, it doesn’t mean that we will remain in Jenusia in perpetuity. The information Kuvira wished to share with us yesterday did not come from her or the government, but rather from a religious organization that exists in Jenusia; the Priesthood of Gera. As I’m sure you all know, if you paid attention during the history classes, Jenusia was established over 800 years ago, and many of the records the Jenusian government has extends to their founding, or a bit earlier than that. The priesthood however, has existed for thousands of years, and as such they have archives that are more ancient. The Priesthood of Gera was consulted by the Jenusian government in regards to our situation, hoping to find answers to questions I'm sure many of you have been asking repeatedly ever since we arrived here. The answers were quite surprising or unusual. I want all of you to accept this information with a healthy degree of skepticism, as I’m sure you have come to know, the Jenusians are a very religious people, and offending their beliefs is not in our interest. The Priesthood of Gera believes that our appearance in the Irid Forest was not a coincidence, but a form of divine meddling in this world. There was a case over a thousand years ago when a similar thing occurred elsewhere on the continent, but that case involved only a dozen people appearing, nowhere near the scale of our appearance. Lacking a perfect understanding of ancient Rahlian, and also not having any more leads to explore in regards to us, Kuvira believes that we may have been brought here by a divine being. Whatever you may think hearing these words I hope you consider the ramifications of your response to this information, we do not wish to ridicule the faith of the locals, and as such, we the teachers decided to provide you this information in an impartial manner, to give you the right to reach your own conclusions.” Mr. Hendricks ended his speech, placing his trust in the education the students underwent to guide them to make the correct conclusions.
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The main hall was bathed in silence, only the footsteps of Mr. Hendricks returned to his table echoing throughout. I finally got some answers to questions of my own, understanding now that the Jenusians wanted to use us as religious figures that would parrot whatever words they wanted the public or other nobles to hear. The logistics of it were still confusing, were they seriously expecting over 300 people to act as religious figures? That would result in confusion and contradictions here and there, and how many people would trust the words of young people anyway?
Most students were a lot more introspective throughout the day, with many having a tough time paying attention to the Rahlian language class Goer prepared for us on that day. I myself decided to give the whole situation a thorough examination later in my room, and perhaps discuss it with my new-found friends and roommates. At the tail-end of our classes, Goer explained that we would be focusing heavily on noble speech and etiquette for the foreseeable future, and that Kuvira would be coming tomorrow morning to make an announcement for both the students and the teachers.
Back in my room, the conversation was a lot more passionate and vulgar. Louis in particular seemed to be elated at the prospect of us having received some form of mission or blessing from a deity. He tried to explain to us that we might have been brought to this world as ‘heroes’ to defeat some sort of evil and that the Jenusians were facing some sort of existential threat from demons or whatever. Max was a lot more level headed and poked holes in Louis’ theory with valid questions such as: If there was some sort of demon or other evil force in Euphelia, why haven’t we heard of it?
Leigh and I sat on the sidelines only occasionally contributing to the conversation, but it seems Louis was insistent that we were now heroes and we would soon discover that the gods bestowed upon us some epic powers. Max just joked with his friend by saying he couldn’t wait for Louis to start spewing fire out of his mouth and be used as an industrial-level forge by the Jenusians.
I still remembered the words of Mr. Hendricks that some people in Jenusia could perform what he described as magic or sorcery, so perhaps Max wasn’t too far off in his estimation of what could be considered ‘powers’ by the Jenusians.
Dreading the upcoming etiquette lessons did not lull me to sleep as I had hoped, and I ended up getting only a few hours of rest before the servants woke us in the morning. Part of the shock had worn off since yesterday and many students were back to their usual cheerfulness, although a few had realized that if a god had brought them to Euphelia, how could they hope to return back to Earth?
Kuvira entered the hall near the end of breakfast, and announced to us that in a few days there would be a ceremony in the temple of Gera to announce the appearance of divine messengers to the public, followed by a feast at the palace where we would be introduced to the most important people in the Jenusian Empire. She spent a lot more time saying comforting words in regards to the important event, assuring many of those present that they would not be judged harshly for any errors in etiquette, and that they would only have to attend and perhaps speak to a few people at the following feast.
This would explain why Goer was so insistent in hammering noble etiquette into our heads, it wouldn’t surprise me if all we learned between now and the fateful day would be etiquette. Starting today Goer brought with him a comically large book, that was as wide as Goers shoulders and as tall as a small child. The book’s title was “The Noble Houses of Jenusia” and in this book, the information on the most important noble houses was presented in a detailed manner. Goer said that this tome was made after the rebellion that occurred about ten years ago, and in it you can find the coat of arms of every relevant noble house, where the dominions of the houses are, and the origins and history of every house. The tome was extremely heavy and there must have been over one hundred noble families mentioned in the tome. Front and center of the book was House Jenusia, the royal family of the country.
Goer was very clear that we would be expected to learn all the information from this book regarding the most important houses, while the lesser ones were not required learning. Goer also knew by heart the names of the current heads of every house, and he was very forthcoming with information regarding the personalities of every head. He spoke of most of them with a lot of adoration and pride, and that was even more relevant when speaking of his own house, House Tarn. Goers house held a county in the north-west of the Jenusian Empire. He was a lot more detailed with the descriptions of his own origins, telling the whole class how proud he was of his ancestor who saved an Emperor’s life in battle, and was subsequently enfeoffed by a county for his exploits. He was more humble when speaking about the origins of the houses that have been around since the founding of Jenusia, but some of the information in this tome was contradictory to the founding myth of the country.
Earlier we were taught that Raego Jenusia was something akin to a freedom fighter, warring with the Khezzat for the sovereignty of his people. But there exist some noble houses which predate the founding of the country. It doesn’t outright state in the book that these houses were people of a higher standing before the uprising against the Khezzat, but it seems that they were already people with a certain level of power before Raego led his people to rebel. Would the pompous nobility of the time really fall in line behind a man of unclear origins to found Jenusia? I did not think they would.
The history of House Jenusia itself seemed a lot more preposterous than the history of every other house written. Raego Jenusia is described as some form of demigod, who could vanquish enemies by the thousands single handedly, and receiving the gift of ‘the inferno’ from a phoenix, one of the many mythological creatures mentioned. This does explain the bird on the shields of the soldiers however, finally answering my question about the design. I decided to clarify the existence of a phoenix with Goer to which he said that he has never seen one in person, however many creatures such as dragons, phoenixes, and sea serpents are mentioned in the stories of people all over Euphelia, so it reasons that these creatures may have existed in the past even if they do not exist now.
A few days of studying the tome, combined with a constant practice in noble conversation finally earned Goer’s stamp of approval and declared us ready for the upcoming event. A day before the ceremony, a group of tailors set up shop in the main hall, and carefully took the measurements for all the teachers and students. I was provided a very lavish tunic, along with some fancy dress shoes on the eve before the event. The clothes were nearly identical for my roommates and Leigh asked around if the girls would be receiving a tunic just like this or if they would be getting some kind of dress instead. I thought that in a medieval society such as Jenusia, where the idea of gender equality hasn’t even crossed the minds of the majority, it would be far more likely that we would be dressed in traditional clothing, tunics for the men, and dresses for the women.
My theory proved correct when we were all told to gather in the courtyard, with the students being split by gender from the get go. We were herded into luxurious carriages similar to the one Kuvira rode on our journey, just larger. There was not much room inside with another nine of my schoolmates, but it was a lot more comfortable than a wooden bench.
We were driven to the edge of the inner city, where many of the commoners were already gathered in front of a magnificent marble temple. It seems the temple itself was built long ago, with vines crisscrossing the walls and cracks forming on the parts that were under the greatest stress. We dismounted near the rear entrance where Kuvira was already awaiting our group, she exchanged a few words with Mr. Hendricks before disappearing inside.
We were told to wait outside, arranged in a neat group and to wait for the sign that it was our turn to enter. The entrance did not give us a view of the proceeding inside, but I think there must have been some sort of religious service going on, and we would be entering near the end when the announcement will be made regarding our origins and the supposed divine nature of our appearance.
A few of the people standing around me were fidgeting nervously, and I myself was not as calm as I would like to be. What form would the announcement take? What will the reaction of the normal people to the announcement be? I personally did not want to be seen as some divine messenger, as having such a position would mean it would be very difficult to converse with others normally. My worries were cut short by Mr. Hendricks saying it was time, and leading all of us inside. I managed to stay near the end of the group, finding Max and my roommates beforehand and positioning myself next to them.
The temple seemed large on the outside, but on the inside it somehow looked even larger. The ceiling was very tall, and the speech being delivered by an old man on a podium near the end of the large room managed to make its way all the way to us. Hundreds of people were standing in the room already, with a clear path separating the attendees being made by the soldiers before our arrival. As we walked to the spot cleared out for us near the podium the old man continued giving his speech in Rahlian.
“... and in this time of great need, our benevolent Godess Gera has seen fit to bless those you see before you. They have come to our land to save us from the evils tethering our great Empire to its place. They come not from Euphelia, but from a completely different place to ours. These messengers bring with them skills and knowledge the like of which none of us have seen, and among these people are the most exceptional ones of them all… the Guardians of Jenusia!”