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Professor Madick gave me a stern look before he said, “Scotlind Rumor, it would be wise for you to pay attention in my class. I asked for you to tell me about the physical differences between our kind and the mortals of Earth.”
My cheeks heated as some of my classmates snickered at me. “Yes, sir. Um, physically we look the same as humans. Our only physical differences are our markings and that our kind is typically taller and more slender than them.”
“Very good,” Professor Madick said as he paced to the front of the room. “Now, what are the major differences?”
“The major differences are our abilities and how we age. Humans have no powers to speak of.”
Someone mumbled from the back of the class, “Just like you, nix.”
I ignored the taunt as I continued. “Humans age extremely quickly and die easily—”
The guy sitting next to me cut me off, “Hencemortal.” A few people in the class laughed as Professor Madick looked at me to continue.
I cleared my throat. “We don’t age like them. Most of our kind will taper off aging in their twenties. As diseases do not kill us, we can live for a long time.”
“That is correct, Scotlind. Don’t forget, another major difference is reproduction. Humans reproduce quickly and often, making it so their kind outnumbers us greatly. Most Advenians are not able to reproduce. A baby is considered a gift from our Goddesses. Some Advenians go their entire lifespan without bearing an offspring. However, every five hundred years, our Highest Goddess, Pylemo, blesses us with Lakimi. Can you tell me what Lakimi is, and what makes these next few years so special to our kind?” Professor Madick asked, still maintaining eye contact with me.
I hated his class because he always pinpointed a single student and drilled them with question after question. Usually it was a student who wasn’t paying attention. I should have known better than to zone out during his lecture.
“Lakimi is a reproduction ceremony that, if the rites are performed, will make our kind more fertile over the next decade. It occurs when Allium’s two pink moons align in the sky.”
“Very good, Scotlind. On top of making our kind more fertile, the two moons usually give Advenians moreurgestoward one another. If you have a desire for someone, it would be difficult to stay away from them during that time period.”
“It’s basically a decade-long fuck fest,” someone from the back of the room smirked.
Professor Madick glared at the student, but didn’t deny it. “Since this planet only has one moon, the effects of Lakimi haven’t been as strong. That is until the last one that just occurred eighteen years ago. It’s why our current class is so large. No one knows for sure why Pylemo blessed us generously with the last Lakimi, but we don’t question the work of the Goddesses. It’s the first time that all six schools have been filled with students,” Professor Madick beamed. “Reproduction is the one thing the mortals exceed our kind in. Because of humans’ enhanced reproductive systems, we decided to stay hidden when we first discovered Earth, as we were vastly outnumbered.” He paused to pull down a map of the planet we now live on, right next to a map of Allium. “Miles, why don’t you tell the class about how we came to Earth and why we decided to stay hidden.”
Miles cleared his throat from behind me. “After the Ability War between Tennebris and Lux that destroyed our planet, Allium, our kind was forced into space, confined by small steel walls, unable to use our powers on the craft. It took centuries before our ancestors finally found a planet that was hospitable for our bodies. When they came across Earth and realized that it was inhabited by humans, they feared that a battle against them could destroy this planet as well. While in space, the two Advenian Kingdoms had finally agreed upon a Peace Treaty and didn’t want to throw it off balance. They didn’t want more years stranded with the Luxian air users’ artificial gravity. They wanted to breathe real air. In the process, they developed AASP, the Allium Advenian Space Program, with the goal to someday find our own planet. Tennebris oversees the space program, researching new potential planets, while Lux monitors the mortals of the Earth. Overtime, both Kingdoms have adapted some mortal customs, even though it’s illegal to interact with one. Our time here was only meant to be temporary, but somehow, we’ve been here for—”
Vallie groaned next to me and whispered as Miles kept rambling, “Of course he would ask this question to my brother who could talk about space and the Ability War forhours.Professor Madick didn’t even ask about AASP and somehow he finds a way to bring it up.”
I laughed as Professor Madick whipped his head in our direction, ceasing our giggles. “Quiet, ladies, or I’ll assign extra homework to the class,” Professor Madick challenged. “Now Miles, can you show us on the map where each Kingdom went into hiding?”
The chair groaned behind us as Miles stood. He flashed Vallie a glare as he passed us which she matched it with a wink. Miles pointed to an area on the water. “This is what the mortals call the Bermuda Triangle. There is a large island positioned in the middle of it, and it’s where the Kingdom of Lux went into hiding when they first arrived here.” His long fingers trailed over the map of Earth. It was fascinating to me the vast expanse the mortals occupied while the Advenians were confined to two small areas. “Our Kingdom made its roots here.” His fingers stopped over the word Antarctica on the map.
“Wonderful,” Professor Madick boasted. “And how have we been able to successfully hide?”
“As part of the Treaty, Luxian air users generated shields when we first arrived. They worked in tandem with illusion and compulsion users from Tennebris. It gives a blind eye to the mortals. They are unable to see us through the shields, but instead, they see what the Tennebrisian illusion user projects on them. And if any mortal still manages to come across us, a compulsion user will wipe their memories. It took a while to get the system down. At first, many humans came across Lux more due to their proximity to one of the mortal continents, and numerous compulsion users had to be stationed on the island with work visas, but now the system is flawless.”
“Excellent. You may take your seat,” Professor Madick grinned before turning to someone else in the room to ask them the differences between technologies.
It was an effort to pay attention to whatever humans called cell phones as their means of communication. Monitors, speakers, and lights were the only things Tennebris adapted since coming to Earth. The Dark Kingdom preferred harnessing the mortal synthetic energy over utilizing Luxian electric users. But from what we learned in our classes, the mortals were obsessive over electricity and used it in almost every avenue of their lives. I didn’t really care for it, but Vallie, on the other hand, was soaking in every second of the lecture. She was fascinated with everything mortal related, especially technology.
I flung out of my chair the moment the bell rang and sprinted over to the NorthEnd of campus. My plan was to get to class early enough to speak with Professor Hale in private.
When I arrived at the gym six minutes later, panting heavily, I let out a sigh of relief when I saw Professor Hale in his office. He was basically a giant walking muscle that trained us without many rules. Even though I was the only female in the class and the only guard student without any abilities, he didn’t treat me differently. He considered me an equal among my peers. It made me respect him, look up to him. It gave me hope that not every Advenian was obsessive about rankings.
I did have to prove myself over the years. No one in my class thought I belonged there. They believed the notion that a female guard was ridiculous, a nix female guard even worse.
Most of my guard classmates had warmed up to me, or at least learned to tolerate me. Especially since I could now hold my own against them. I won most of my sparring matches, except when I was up against Kole Sanders. He was relentless when we fought. Kole never let me forget that most nix females in our society ended up as servants.
“Scottie, what are you doing here so early?” Professor Hale asked, startled to see me. “Class doesn’t start for another fifteen minutes.”
“I know, sir. I was really hoping I could have a minute to speak with you.” Regardless of how much I had rehearsed this conversation, my nerves were getting the best of me. I tried to recover my breathing and willed my heart rate to slow. Sprinting here wasn’t the best decision.
“Sure, take a seat,” he suggested as he held out his hand toward the empty chair positioned in front of his large desk.
“Thank you, sir.” I cleared my throat before I continued.Deep breath, Scottie.It was just a simple question.You can do this.“You know I have been training really hard in the hopes of becoming a guard.”
