‘Sure, that’s a thing that people my age like to do… Heh. Just always changing our minds all the time. Say, do you mind if I have some privacy going into the medical office just to check with the nurse there? I need to change my clothes and get my injury dealt with.’

‘Certainly, if you would first like to show me a dedication of your faith and personal belief to the gods by offering up a prayer to that icon on the door. Then I would be pleased to let you go around your day young lady. After all, school has finished and I’m sure you would be eager to return home and pray at your family shrine this evening.’

‘Um, Priest Atticus. Are you sure that you didn’t hear of what happened in my class earlier?’

She felt confused that this priest seemed to possess alternate views. He hadn’t condemned her actions or said anything derogatory but still, he came across as a little demanding as though trying to quietly test her or inspect her religious views.

‘Life can be a trial for the young. Our country believes and was founded on the freedom of expression. Take the gods, for example, we know that gods have existed throughout human history and we have seen the proof of their works. Demi-gods are mortals who are offered the ichor of immortals to become stronger or supplied equipment to reach a stage that is beyond a normal person. We can be angry at the gods; we can even hate their existence on occasion. But we must show our belief. That is all that is asked of us.’

‘Fine, I guess.’

Mia looked directly at the symbol of the lizards on the door to the medical office.

‘You are a being of great power and influence Asileticus. I acknowledge that.’

Not really.

The priest gave me a deeper look, something flashed past his eyes. It wasn’t anger. Pity? Hard to tell from just his eyes.

The priest closed his eyes and moved his hands into some sort of gesture before beginning his prayer. Lowering his head his cape rose in the air and fell behind him as he began.

‘We praise the god Asileticus for your worth and support in the ways of healing both our physical bodies and also our mortal souls. Thank you for your benevolence in being a patron god in our school. Blessed be your name. Aeium.’

The priest opened his eyes and looked at Mia brightly with a sudden fervour on his face. He looked pleased somehow, as though he was the one who had passed a test and got a good score.

‘So, we’re done now? I can go into the nurses’ office?’

‘Please, wait a moment, young lady. I have something to pass on to you. I’ve also been…instructed that this is the only version. This item entirely belongs to you at your discretion. I received a brief message during my prayer earlier.’

The school priest held over a small shiny black metallic cube for Mia to take. It glinted brightly in his hand for a second before returning to matt black. It was small enough to fit in the palm of his hand, but I didn’t have an idea of what it was. A sudden unbidden thought ran through her mind.

Take. It.

‘Huh?’ Mia responded, feeling confused. Her hand had begun to reach out to take the cube without her conscious decision. It didn’t feel as though a god had suddenly intervened and hijacked her brain through one religious artefact.

According to the stories and rumours that she had heard from the school, it was more like a voice in the air or just behind you that you couldn’t identify an exact location. This sensation was more like an instinctive feeling. She should have received a direct message in her brain telling her things.

Similar to how Priest Atticus froze earlier when receiving a message from another priest or a representative of a demi-god. It ought to be unlikely though, she wasn’t important enough for any of that and put it down to simple shock and tiredness.

Mia wasn’t feeling up to taking stuff from older men. Even if they did belong to my school and had a large amount of religious authority. She would end up taking one small thing and then it snowballs into a bigger issue of demi-gods, and that whole issue was not something that she wanted to get involved in.

‘Thanks but no thanks. Uh, I mean thank you for the offering Priest Atticus, but I don’t need something else for a shrine right now. We have our stuff at home for that.’

‘Ah, I see. No, no, this is not an offering. I have been looking to move in a different direction. Different jobs for different gods and all that. A superior strongly requested that I hand this over to you for safekeeping. And before you ask no it’s not something that has been formally run through the school office. I promise that it will cause you no harm.

‘…You’re making it sound kind of weird. I don’t think that I want it now.’

‘I am somewhat lacking in manners perhaps. I apologise for my abruptness in this affair, let me explain what I can. I am looking to become a follower of the night. Your Uncle was in contact with me this morning and asked me to keep an eye out.’

‘Oh? Um, good for you. Sorry, Priest Atticus I do need to get going now. Thanks for the help and all for saying my prayer to the school’s healing god.’

‘I’m unable to discuss it further. It simply is something that I was told to hand in your possession before you have left the school premises. Young lady, the gods are real. They do exist and through their work out society thrives. They are the partners of our mortal leaders in the management of the world. Opposing gods look to change our way of life.’

‘…sure. I agree with that. Opposing gods are bad for our way of life.’

‘The war of faith is a precarious thing. I’m getting off track here.

‘Thanks for the thing. Bye, I guess.’

I called out to him as he was walking away back to his regular after-school duties.

Oh, it was a great prayer, Priest Atticus!’

The school priest turned and looked at me slightly taken aback. My words had a visible effect on him.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

‘Young lady. Please be careful.’

‘Uh, sure?’

‘Goodbye for now.’

‘Yeah, uh, bye!’

Time to get this wound treated, change my school uniform for a new one, and get back home. I’m so, so fed up with school today. Come at the weekend!

I opened the door to the school medical office.

‘Oh, hello dear. How can I help?’ said a kindly voice as soon as I was visible at the entrance.

Great. The school nurse was around. More questions and lies.

Now that the school day had ended both Marie and Ben were heading to their respective after-school classes. Although they had both been elected as their year prefects and were reasonable friends it didn’t mean that they shared entirely the same interests.

Ben was more interested in how religious support developed and how the gods helped humans to become better and work through their issues. He hadn’t chosen a particular god to worship and become part of, but he was fairly open-minded.

Marie was focused on the demi-god events and how they shaped current events in society, she was less interested in celebrity status and more in the process of how to become one. Firstly, in her eyes, it all involved dedication and the willingness to assist others in times of need. If she was able to become a demi-god, then she would use her powers for good similar in status to a superhero.

The entire purpose of the demi-god competitions was to further the ambitions of young people to become more than themselves. According to historical records, there had been a series of events in ancient times where athletes and contestants from different warring regions had gotten together to show their physical and mental prowess and the winner would be awarded rights on behalf of their country to initiate a new war with another region to secure resources.

Thankfully, all of that barbaric nature had been eliminated when the gods had gotten directly involved and promoted specific demi-gods to compete against each other instead. Rather than total warfare and total devastation and ruin they chose instead to participate in specified areas and isolated islands without the deaths and chaos of countless soldiers and civilians. War itself had been tamed through the actions of the gods and to fight on their behalf brought both glory and power.

Over time the demi-god competitions had evolved to become more than sheer combat, rising to become a quarterly event that through the development of technology was viewable by entire populations.

There did remain a key understanding though that the role of the gods in their country at least was to protect them from the machinations and influences of foreign gods. They did not, to say the least, have the personal interests of the nation and the hearts and souls of the populace and were instead interested in slavery and human sacrifice. This was the popular opinion and had been for a thousand years.

‘I’ll see you tomorrow, Ben’. Said Marie as she waved goodbye in greeting.

‘Yeah, do you think that she'll need any further help? I did get her the change of uniform and that school priest said not to worry about it, but she was involved in a serious matter. If it was a case of bullying, then we need to make sure that it gets reported and the matter dealt with. You saw that wound and her attitude, seriously she was upset even if she didn’t want to express it. I’m going to have to take steps t-‘

Marie interrupted, placing her hands on her hips, and staring at Ben directly into his eyes in the now-empty school corridor. He recognised when she was looking for confrontation and this was one of those times.

‘Ben. You’re getting too involved. Now, it’s great and all that you think that I’m sorry, you want to help others work through their issues with the gods. I need to you think about exactly how well you know that girl. Do you fancy her?’

Ben flustered for a moment, but his cheeks didn’t blush up. He felt more uncertain about how to frame his response.

Trying to describe an innate feeling which was harder to describe when you were a sixteen-year-old male was harder than he had thought. If he told her that he felt something about the female student Mia then he was concerned that Marie might take it for another sort of feeling. Not the type that he had in mind.

‘No. At least now how you think. I admire her strength and discipline. I met her a few times previously but only briefly. There was a remarkable trait about her that I’ve been unable to identify. I don’t think that she was chosen by a god yet, but….it’s there.’

‘Are you trying to tell me that you think that she’s a demi-god candidate?’

‘It…could be. No. She’s not going to compete with you Marie unless she’s had private training or has a higher-level sponsor. Are you thinking about paying for an investigation on her?’

Her face hardening for a moment. Marie looked several years older than her actual age. Ben had heard that the training involved for those who wanted to become demi-gods or even be considered for initial trials was comprehensive, to say the least. The look on her face was almost scary. Almost.

‘Now Ben. Do you think that I’d pay for an investigation for some girl who you have a strange feeling about? I’ve given my time and patience to a fellow student in our year group. She’s had assistance and support and now she’s on her way.’

Marie smiled at Ben, but her body language was showing signs of impatience. He knew from working with her ahead of the year perfect that she had now moved her focus and despite his words, she would choose to do what she wanted regardless. Despite being friendly with each other and understanding the goals that each of them wanted to reach they still held their aspirations when their school duties were no longer active.

Ben raised his own hands in mock surrender.

‘I saw a student in our year in need and gave her some help. I guess I did fancy her a little bit and it made me confused. It’s not every day that you see a bleeding student at school outside of sports training. Even then it’s a rare occurrence. You should be on your way. The school office has her details, and so does the school priest. See you on Monday for our usual weekly briefing. We’ll have a much clearer view of the situation once Priest Atticus files his report.’

Nodding her head in agreement, Marie brushed a stray hair away from her face before holding her hand out to Ben.

‘Pleasure to work with you, Ben. Sometimes my emotions get the better of me.’

Ben shook her hand before shaking his head in mock amusement.

‘You can still be sixteen you know. Our time will come soon enough. Your demi-god training and my priesthood enrolment are plenty enough.’

‘Ugh. Fine. See you Monday. Bye!’

Marie and Ben made their respective ways to their after-school classes not noticing that both of their shadows in the lights of the school corridor had failed to move away when they did.

The school priest who called himself Atticus was standing in an empty classroom far down the hall. His eyes squeezed tight and the olive skin on his hands whitened as his hands were both clasped in prayer. A single drop of sweat rolled off his head and onto the floor as his head was bowed and his mouth constantly murmuring unheard words.

The shadows of Ben and Marie began to meld and shot down towards his location at a speed hard to discern from a normal human eye. Releasing his clasped hands as soon as the large shadow touched his feet Priest Atticus released a single deep breath out before his heart stopped racing.

The direct borrowed power of a god was hard to take even if it had been filtered through the actions of a High Priest. Without sufficient training, it was difficult for any normal person to operate.

Thankfully, as a school priest, Atticus had a degree of training and preparation in channelling the power of the gods albeit on a far smaller scale than normal. Guiding the power was easier in smaller portions than performed as genuine acts of faith and not direct actions.