Like many years before, Osiris waited inside his room for weeks for Master Hermes to begin his lessons. However, as months passed, Osiris became concerned that something may have happened.
“We refuse to let that child learn the essence arts of the Divine Race!” An old man with a balding head of gray hair and a long gray beard screamed.
“But Elder, he has already finished the first section of his training…”
“I could care less! We will not allow another like Orion!” The old man bellowed, throwing his hands into the air.
“Do you have such foresight, elder, that you know this child will become another Orion?”
“HERMES! It does not matter if he will or will not become another Orion. All that matters is that it could happen, and we must stop that at all costs.” The old man said, his voice and tone calmer than before.
“He already has life essence flowing through him…” Hermes spoke, his voice cracked, causing him to pause and regather himself, “If we do not teach him, he will die… or worse, become another Orion.”
“Then let him.” Standing and walking past the paralyzed Hermes, the old man said, “And if he becomes another Orion, then we kill him like the others.”
Hermes remained motionless, though he felt the urge to twitch; he was unsure from unrest or anger. He exhaled heavily and gazed upward at the gray metal beams overhead.
“Why is life so unfair?” Hermes questioned the air around him
He couldn't help but wonder why life had to be like this. The way the world treated his student made him feel useless, and he couldn't help but curse at himself for being unable to do more. The elders had already given up on his student, and he couldn't help but feel disheartened that he couldn't prove them wrong.
“How am I going to tell Osiris about this… Is there anything else I could do…” Hermes let his thoughts roam as he slowly made his way to his office, scared of what would happen next.
As Hermes lumbered down the corridor toward his office, he came to an abrupt halt in front of Osiris's room. He took a quick glance at the sign that was hanging on the door.
“So he is resting,” Hermes stood paralyzed in front of the door, arguing with himself about what he should do.
Should he tell his student or hide until he discovers a way forward? He rested his head in his hands. It had already been months since he had seen Osiris. How could he leave his student in the dark like this? Hermes debated with himself whether he should tell him now or later.
“What about tomorrow? It should be…” Hermes cut his thoughts
“If I do not do this now…will I ever be able to,” Hermes mumbled and looked at the knob to Osiris's door, was it always so far away? “Come on, Hermes, you can do this; you only have to ruin this child’s life and future. How hard could it be? The elders do it all the time.”
Hermes reached for the knob and turned it, “Locked,” he whispered to himself, “Well, can’t be helped…” he stared at his hand; his mind was blank, and with a long sigh, he knocked on the door and stepped back to wait.
Osiris sat on his bed, his arms around his knees, “Did I make a mistake,” Osiris whispered.
It had been precisely eight months, three weeks, and six days since he had last seen his master. Osiris was feeling terrified about the situation.
He kept mumbling, ““Why wasn't Master speaking with me? Am I being treated like an old toy and being cast aside?”
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As he was drifting off to sleep, he heard a knock at the door. “Was it my door? No, it was likely someone seeking master.”
“I should let them know that he is not here…” Osiris gathered himself, wiping away the tears that had started to fall at some point; taking a deep breath, he put on a smile opening the door.
Hermes waited in bated breath as he heard the footsteps of his student walking to the door, “No turning back now,” he thought.
When the door opened, and he saw his student smiling like the world was a wonderful place, it almost broke him, “I don’t want to do this anymore.”
“Master!” Osiris's raspy voice, which seemed like it had not made a sound in months, brought Hermes out of his thoughts.
“Osiris…” Hermes's mouth was dry, and his throat was dry to the point it was already hurting, “There are some things that we need to discuss,” It took everything in him to finish just those words. Were words always this hard to say?
“Oh, of course, Master, let me change…” Osiris uttered the words, but deep down, he knew what was happening. He was being cast out; a broken toy could only sit on the shelf for so long.
“No, there is no need for that. Follow me to my office,” Hermes said, his eyes never looking directly at Osiris.
“I knew it,” Osiris screamed in his mind; he could tell by his master's apathetic eyes that his life here would end soon, “What can I do? Is there anything I can do?”
Osiris silently followed and soon found himself sitting in his chair, his gaze fixed on the ground.
Hermes observed his student as he thought, “He seems so deep in thought. He must be thinking about some new subject he is studying in his free time; he is always so studious.” His hands clenched so tight all he could feel was the pain, but his face was smiling at his student, happy that he seemed fine.
“Osiris I… I want to start by apologizing for my disappearance over the last few months. It was not my intent, but there was… I mean a lot…” Hermes gave a sad sigh while rubbing his eyes.
“Whatever it is, Master, it is fine. You are here now, so please, just tell me. I can handle it.” Osiris spoke with a deep resolution in his voice, ready to take on whatever happened next. Why? Because what choice did he have?
Hermes grew stiff after seeing the gaze of his student, “If I let someone with eyes like this leave, he will undoubtedly become another Orion. I absolutely can not let that come to pass.” Hermes's thoughts raced as he tried to think of a solution, then an epiphany.
“Osiris, you have been here for quite a while?”
“Yes, master, a little more than seventy years. Why?” Osiris was confused by the question his master asked.
“Have you met any of the gods, then? I am sure that you have at least seen one, right?” Hermes started to smile as he watched Osiris in deep thought. It was so great to have an intelligent student.
Osiris thought back to the gods. Had he seen any? Suddenly he remembered the sight of an elder with a hunched back, a wooden walking stick, and long snow-white hair smiling like a fool. On top of the old man’s shoulders, a very tiny girl sat and held his hair; her feet swung and hit the old man’s shoulders, but the old man's smile only grew after each step. He remembered the little girl yelling something like, ‘Hurry, I want to see what new thing my children have for me.’
Osiris gave a small giggle as he came out of his thought, “Yes, Master, I believe that I have met at least one while I was here, although it was just by chance.”
“Oh, and who was it, do you know?” Hermes asked with a raised eyebrow, curious why his student was laughing while discussing the gods.
Osiris realized what he had done and embarrassedly scratched his face, “Um, no, but she was tiny and rode on an old man’s shoulder.”
Hermes scrunched his eyebrows and pulled his head back as he went through the different gods and what appearances they preferred when visiting their children, “She rode an old man, you say… Haha,” Hermes started to laugh when he realized who it was, “The Goddess of Nurture and her attendant Norn.”
Hermes laughed until tears started to fall from his face, “Oh, I really needed that,” Hermes said, wiping the stream of tears from his face, “Anyway, it is hilarious to imagine that spoiled Norn being treated like a resree, but yes the Goddess of Nurture although strange; is one of the older gods if I remember,” Hermes bit the tip of his thumb in thought, “Right the daughter of the Goddess of Beast and I believe the Goddess of Nature or was it the God of Nature back then… Arghaa… It is so hard to keep track of the gods and their shifting personalities and preferences.”
“Master?”
“Right, sorry, I still get sidetracked, sorry. Well, the elders have decided that you should not partake in the essence arts and should instead skip directly to the third part, but I disagree, and I have decided that we will be going to the Goddess of Blaze in Genesis, the land of the Gods to start your essence art training.”
“Huh…”