The Dark Goddess

Chapter 14

Ami woke up with a start, she couldn’t quite figure out what had suddenly made her jumpy and startled her awake, but she was awake now and it was a new day at a new place, all that is left is to make a new start.

She got up from the super comfy bed and stretched, her stomach rumbled and she realized she hadn’t had anything since yesterday’s breakfast, the hunger had long since caught up to her though so she was feeling famished.

Just then she heard a rasping noise seemingly at the door of the house, she went to check and when she opened it, she found an air nymph by the door, she was almost entirely made of air, no wonder the knocking sound had been awkward, Ami still wondered how she managed to pull it off.

“Oh hello, this building here is new and I’m the one working this block so I just said I should check if there were any occupants here” the nymph said a bit shyly.

“Uhm well yes there is, although I am the only one in the house” Ami answered.

For a brief moment the nymph went invisible, probably as a response to her surprised reaction, “oh that is fine I’m just here for the breakfast rounds, here is your tag, you are sitting with the Olympians, just find your way to the general dinning area” she said after reappearing and placed a little clear tag in Ami’s hands.

The tag at once turned black as soon as it touched Ami’s hands, and when she took a closer look she could see the capital G inscription on it as well, she guessed that was how things would be from now on; being identified by a dark ‘G’.

“Oh and since you are a new intake you should wait after breakfast for the announcement for newbies” the nymph said but suddenly caught herself as if she said something bad.

Ami couldn’t figure out why the nymph was so guarded and shy around her, but she decided to try to lighten things up “Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind, I’m Ami” she said to the nymph.

Now the nymph actually cooled visibly and regained a bit more of her composure, “oh I’m Cliph, and you’re welcome young goddess Ami” the nymph said and started leaving.

As Ami went back inside she realized vaguely that Cliph the nymph must have been flustered like that because of her goddess status, from her studies she knows that nymphs are mostly know as aides or servants to gods and goddesses.

Ami was disappointed at that realization, she really did not want her status to be the criteria for people to judge her with, she really wanted to live a normal life here, but then she also realized that living a normal life might be asking for too much, she was after all in the midst of people that are descended from gods, directly or otherwise.

After a long bath and a quick change of clothes, she made her way to the general dinning hall asking of its whereabouts from two different people before she got there.

Getting there, she also had to ask for the Olympians section after which Miles found her and she sat with him at their table.

The table was full of blondes and she could even see the guy from yesterday that had taken them for claiming and placement, so she was quite sure this was the Apollo table.

On the table was a variety of breakfast meals, changing from time to time assumedly by magic to accommodate even more kinds of meals, Ami wondered if it was healthy to eat food touched by so much magic, but there didn’t seem to be any other choice, besides everyone she could see didn’t look to be suffering from any magic food induced crisis so that had to be a good sign.

A lot of chatter was going on about amongst the Apollo kids, actually there was a lot of chatter all about, and even Miles was totally caught in the chatter virus.

Ami selected bacon and eggs for her plate and dug in gratefully washing it down with a glass of what tasted like a blend of different freshly squeezed fruits, she eyed the waffles that just appeared but then decided against it because she was sure it would give her nostalgia.

After breakfast, the dinning hall cleared out really fast leaving just the newbies as Cliph had said.

The announcer who walked in this time was a lady, she looked to be in her late twenties or early thirties and there was a twinkle in her eyes that promised wisdom and power.

Ami could hear whispers around her about the lady being a well known legacy from those who knows her well obviously and Ami would have loved to know if it was a minor legacy or a major legacy.

She needed to know if the statuses here really was the criteria for judgment, interaction and livelihood in general, she really hoped it wasn’t though.

“Welcome to Haven, I am Mirabel, a major legacy of Athena, and I am here to kick off your orientation, check the tags you were given this morning, you will see an inscription of a letter, these young people here will be responsible for your full orientation, just follow the one with your letter on his or her shirt” the lady said.

Following her words a few persons came in wearing different colors of T-shirts but each was inscribed with about two letters each or more.

Ami spotted the guy wearing a green T-shirt having the capital G inscription along with a lower g so she headed towards him.

“I would like everyone to note these few things though, first you are absolutely safe here from all forms of external force, be it humans, monsters or gods even, that is if you adhere strictly to the laid down rules and regulations guiding this place, some of these rules will be told to you by your guides, but you can still find them in the handbook they’ll give to you, do not lose the handbook as it will be your guide after today” the lady Mirabel announced.

Ami got to the guy and tapped him, “uhm excuse me, you have the inscription on my tag” she said to him.

“Why really, then you are in luck to be at the hands of the best possible guide on the grounds today, join up with these guys, we are a team now” he said rather cheerfully.

Ami hadn’t noticed them before but there were three people as well with him coming up from behind, a guy and two girls, she could only wonder if they were capital G like her as well.

“Seems that is everyone, so before we move let’s get to know each other, I’m Parker a major legacy of Poseidon, this is my fourth year here after being properly enrolled which really makes it my sixth year in total at Haven, trust me when I say this is a really great place, you can’t find any other that’ll be this safe” their guide Parker said in happy tones.

“So as you came, introduce yourselves please” he said and gestured to the other guys with Ami.

A girl with freckles, glasses and a long dark hair braided together into one long braid answered first “I am Mandy, I have been told my lower g tag means I’m a godling, riding about with me now is Saraswati the Hindu goddess of wisdom, music and learning, I did not know when or how she hitched on though, only after she got here did I realize it” she said so tactfully with accent that portrays her Indian heritage.

Next to speak was the guy, he had dark hair and was in really good body shape, tall and of medium build, he reminded Ami of an actor, but his expression was guarded and the lady beside him was even more shy. 

“I am Zeke, a godling, with me is Thoth the Egyptian moon god and god of writing and scribes and this is my sister Zara, also a godling and with her is Sehkmet the Egyptian lioness goddess” he said and gestured at the lady he called his sister, she really seemed shy but she looked really beautiful with the bangs of her really long faded blonde hair falling over her eyes.

Then it was Ami’s turn “I am Ami, from the native of Yoruba in Nigeria, and I am a dark goddess” she said totally putting everyone present in her team in a disbelieving shock. 

Parker actually had a hand over his mouth, "an actual goddess?" He asked to which Ami nodded in response.

He stretch forth his hands and Ami placed her tag in his outstretched hands and after looking at it he beamed up with a huge smile.

"My oh my, so it is true that there is a goddess amongst the first years this year" he said and returned her tag to her.

"Very well then, let the orientation begin!" He hollered and started off leading the way out of the dining hall with the four new intakes right behind him.

"So as you have probably figured out" Parker started "The houses are built in a fashion after a world wonder"

"Stonehenge!" Mandy put in.

"Yes, that's the name of the world wonder" Parker said in a way that made it obvious he had initially forgotten the name of the world wonder he was talking about.

He continued though "Each building represents a godly line -that is if the building isn't a general building like the dining hall or a special use building like the building housing the oracle of Delphi" Parker said and pointed to a dainty building a little distance away from them.

"More than one building can represent a godly line, take the Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Norse and Hindu now, they have more than a building to them because of their long list of gods and goddesses" their guide continued to explain.

"We have the amphitheater for the more physical aspect of learning required here, there you'll learn use of weapons of your choice and combat" he said to them.

"Weapons and combat? What the heck do we need that for?" Mandy was quick to ask.

But it was Ami who answered "If you had a murderous father intent on killing you just for existing then you'd know why its needed" she said bitterly, she for one couldn't wait to start that particular "aspect of learning".

She knows deep down that if she was ever going to survive in the world out there then she needed to be able to defend herself and also be able to fight for other people's sake.

The group moved on, 

"that field over there is for the nonphysical aspect of the training where you learn the better use and control of your abilities, that is for those with more a pronounced and recognizable ability mostly the legacies and demigods, as for the magicians, the building behind the field is where they use, but for godlings and gods well, you pick either one that suits you based on the kind of power you've manifested" 

Parker said, it was obvious from his tone that he was making it all sound so simple, but no one in the group was fooled, they knew it would be anything but simple.

"Those set of buildings are for educational purpose, you'll be having your classes on different subjects  there all depending on your career path though because here we focus only on what you'd need because survival is key" Parker said.

Ami looked at the building with the classes, sure enough there were students moving about, some with books others with backpacks, the buildings looked elegant from out here, clustered exactly like a castle.

Ami couldn't wait to throw herself at the books too, she needed information especially on her heritage, and only books could provide that.

"It has a library right?" Ami asked as they moved on.

"One of the biggest you'll ever see" Parker answered simply.

Ami's eyes widened at that and she noticed even Zeke and Zara were amazed, only Mandy seemed unimpressed.

They moved about some more with Parker showing them all they need to know about Haven, he showed them the weapons storage, the woods used for different kinds of games and challenges.

He showed them the sports center as well and while Ami was expecting basketball, soccer maybe football or volleyball as well, she was hearing; doom hoop which was a more dangerous form of basketball, fiery bash which was as well a more dangerous form of volleyball.

The form of soccer they had was called street football and while Ami initially thought that had to be less dangerous and just maybe she could go for that, she changed her mind when she saw those currently playing it flipping about in the air, making dangerous maneuvers and using their powers to achieve their aim.

She decided sports at Haven wasn't for her, but she got disappointed when Parker told her everyone that is a student played at least one sport.

When they got to the arts center though everyone including Mandy was awed by the magnificence on display, the drawings, the paintings, the sculptural works, the crafting and even the music that wafted from within the building were all immensely magnificent that it left their mouths hanging open.

It was indeed necessary to have an arts center all entirely on its own because it couldn't fit into any other aspect, it was really immense and it even had a staged theater for plays.

"Art is a really important part of the gods culture, at one point in time all godly lines had a form of art that was sacred to them hence why we cannot but reverence that ideal" Parker said.

He also made them realize that most of what they were seeing were made by the people of Haven, now that was mind blowing.

Close to the arts center were the forges and while it stood in contrast to the art center, what it produced was just as magnificent, inventions, automatons and enhancements were placed about for display and it was all mind blowing as well.

By the time they finished with the orientation it was already lunch time, and on getting to the dinning hall they were surprised to find it not as full of people as breakfast time was.

Parker explained though that breakfast was the most important meal of the day hence why it was required for everyone to be there and also that was the time any general announcement for the day was made.

When Parker explained to the point that one can have any meal of the day except breakfast anywhere they wish, Ami started to see Haven in a new light, it offered so much freedom.

"I noticed something Parker, the distance between buildings and all is so vast, yet we covered almost the whole of Haven in such little time, how come" Ami asked, she had been curious to know whose or what magic was in play.

"I would have been disappointed if someone hadn't asked that question, you see the tag you were given?, it contains a road folding spell embedded in it, this means you get to where you're going faster by foot only though, doesn't work in vehicles, without the tags well it'll be a very very long walk" Parker answered contented with himself.

At that point Ami realized the truth of it when she remembered that the first time Darren brought her here they were holding hands as they moved through and out of Haven.

Parker handed each of them a placard with a form attached to it "this contains the courses and subjects under them and all else you need to know to select the one you really want, also detailed information on the sports, games and challenges and how they're done, go through it well before filling the form, take your time though, no rush, find me when you're ready and done filling" he said to them and left looking back once more to wave at them.

"So I am going back to my place for now, I need to think hard and long" Ami said and got up to leave.

"Can we come with?" Zeke asked her totally surprising her, they had been so silent and seemed the type to keep to themselves only.

"You stay alone don't you? Well we don't really do crowds, Zara here has a thing about crowded places, the Egyptian houses are all so full and its so loud all the time" he said to confirm Ami's thoughts.

"Sure thing, I'll be glad to have you over" Ami said, she totally understands their plight.

"Well I'll move around the really fun and interesting places, I'll check em all out before dinner time" Mandy said and she sprinted off.

"Cmon guys lets go" Ami said and they exited the hall as well heading for Ami's place, two godlings and a goddess.

Glossary

Nymph - Minor female deities associated with elements, forests, grotto, etc, they are mostly seen as aides or servants to gods but a lot of them are free spirits.

Saraswati -  The Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, art, speech, wisdom, and learning.

Sekhmet - An Egyptian warrior goddess, a goddess of healing and a protector.

Thoth - The Egyptian god of writing, magic, wisdom, equilibrium and the moon.