Dark Goddess

I didn't think I would find myself here, it all felt like a fragile dream. As if at any moment someone would come out and say 'got ya!'.

It was definitely an eye-opening moment. I remember hearing it, the whole thing, in one stunning word.

"Goddess."

I was a goddess and I was going to Deitus Academy. The place that all deities go and are trained in their gifts to help the world.

I imagined a place filled with equal parts mythical creatures, fabulous teachers and enthusiastic students who together had big plans for stamping out evil and bringing about justice and peace to the humans of this world. A place where I could truly belong. Although anywhere was better than the group home I have been in for the last two years. This was a break I could have never expected and I was determined to make the most of it!

"Alright Hadie, welcome to Deitus Academy, your new home for the next four to six years." Malachi told me as we drove through large iron gates.

The grounds of the academy were lush, greens of every shade mixed with vibrant flowers of every color littered the grounds as full bushes and trees baring fruits of every kind russled and swayed in the soft breeze.

"Wow. This is absolutely incredible." I breathed taking in the sights. But nothing could compare to the sight of the academy itself.

The building was massive, built out of marble like the temples of Ancient Greece. I felt my eyes bulge as I took it all in and let the knowledge that I belonged here wash over me. My lips pulling up into a grin I couldn't control.

Joy. I've never felt joy like this in all my life as I could remember.

It was a new sensation and I liked the feeling. I looked to Malachi as he smiled back at me. He and I had bonded a bit in the time it took to bring me here. A private plane and then the three hour drive, how could we not talk? I was eager to learn all there was to know about the school and as a teacher he was happy to answer my questions and enjoyed my cravings for knowledge.

"This is really it Malachi? It all still feels like a dream. Im terrified I'll wake up any moment and be back in the group home. Will I learn who my parents are? Is that possible?" I didn't wait for him to answer just continued on in a rush. "Will I get to do magic?"

Malachi chuckled, "First things first, you need to be tested to know what your gifts are, but yes, there will be magic, as the humans call it. We simply call it power. Once we know your gifts, we should be able to narrow down who your family line could be. Most family lines are share gifts, they're hereditary."

He pulled the car up to the front of the large building and put it in park. Before he opened the door and got out he gave me one last smile, a dimple peaked through his golden facial hair and his blue eyes sparkled like diamonds as he looked at me. "This is the end of our trip Hadie, are you ready?"

I returned his smile and nodded enthusiastically. "I feel like I was born ready."

With that I got out of the car, hung my bag over my shoulder and followed Malachi up the stairs to the large oak doors. Sealing my fate, the beginning of my new life. No longer will I be Hadria Blake, orphan girl. Now I was Hadria Blake, Goddess. Of what? Well I was about to find out.

Groaning, I rolled out of my bed, squinting around the unfamiliar room. My alarm was blaring at me that is was time to start my day, start my new life. Yesterday I was thrilled, but after the disaster of a sorting ceremony last night, my excitement has waned.

Dragging my feet into my ensuite and turning on the shower to wash up, I hoped it would hype me up. I couldn't let my lack of answers dampen my mood too much. There was still a chance of me making friends here. I never really had friends before in my entire seventeen years and given this was still a new beginning for me, I was certain I could make some in my classes.

I washed quickly, retrieved my uniform from my closet. A red plaid skirt and button up white dress shirt. My tie matching the skirt and knee high white dress socks, the only thing my uniform lacked was the pin that should be on my collar to show my base of gifts, for deities of fertility they were given leaf pins. Those with gifts based more in death and darkness were given skulls. War deities had shield and swords on their pins, those of love and beauty had roses. I had nothing. It wasn't that nothing lit up for me when I stood in the ceremony. No, quite the opposite actually, as everything lit up.

I shivered as I thought back to the night before. The look of shock on the headmistress and Malachi's faces. The look of confusion on the prefects as they looked between the headmistress and me, wondering who's house I was to join as I stood there, not sure what was even happening. I had turned to Malachi hoping to find an answer from him, but his blue eyes which had shone so brightly when he brought me here had dimmed with concern and uncertainty. He tried to hide it as he realized I was looking to him, but it was too late.

"What does this mean?" I finally asked, looking to the professor and headmistress.

"It could mean two things." Headmistress Nyctea said as she walked towards me, the lights fading from the circles around me. "Either your gifts haven't fully formed and the ceremony isn't sure where you fit yet, or you are the the first deity seen to belong to all the categories of deities. Only time will tell, for now you will take classes for all gifts and see what you show more promise with. I think housing you with the fertility goddesses will be the best place since it appeared to light up first when you took to the center." She turned to the prefects and waved a beautiful young woman over to me, she appeared to be around twenty or so, though with goddesses you could never be certain. Even the headmistress appeared to be in her twenties, but the aura she put up was one of an ancient being.

"Chloe is the prefect for the fertility goddesses, she will show you to your dorm room and help you get settled. You will receive your schedule in the morning on your tablet. You will find it in your room along with uniforms. We give all our students an allowance to use for anything else they may need. You only get it once a month so do make it last." She paused then turned back to me and smiled. Her smile didn't make me feel better, it was a smile like a scientist studying a specimen that fascinated them. "Welcome to Deitus Academy Miss Hadria Blake, I look forward to seeing you grow into the goddess you were born to be."

A knock on my door startled me out of my thoughts. I quickly grabbed my packed bag holding my tablet and some books and opened the door to find Chloe smiling.

"Good morning Hadria, I have some more books for you. Since your classes were officially assigned this morning and you are taking more than fertility classes they had to deliver the texts for the other classes you've been assigned." She held out the stack of books in her arms with her smile still firmly intact. "I took the liberty of checking your schedule and that today you will be joining the fertility classes, so I can give you a full tour since we will be together all day. Are you ready to go to breakfast?"

"Oh, thank you, yea, I'm ready." I said, putting the books she gave me on my desk next to the door before following her down the hall towards the staircase.

"So, as you know we are in the fertility goddess house, technically we are the fertility deity house, but we haven't had a male fertility god come to the school as of yet so everyone says goddess house. Across from us is the Love and Beauty Deities house and next to them is the War Deities. They are often seen together. You know the saying, 'All is fair in love and war'. Now fertility goddesses are often associated with harvest but we have many goddesses of marriage and home and hearth as well. I will forewarn you, the gods in this place tend to believe that just because we are fertility goddesses we put out. So since you are housed with us they will approach you in the same matter. Are you a virgin?"

I gaped at her, my mouth hanging open, taken by surprised. "Uh, what?"

"I'll take that as a yes, that's good and all but don't advertise it. There are some gods here who will take that as a challenge. Or maybe you prefer girls? No judgement, we have a few in the fertility house who play on that team. I personally don't but my best friends Tamera and Candy do. Not together though, at least I don't think so. Tamera has a girlfriend in the love and beauty house."

I felt my surprise slowly dissipate as I continued to listen to Chloe, she was so open and it was so refreshing compared to the girls back in the group home. They were always so closed off to me, either they were closed into themselves or they were just bitches to me and attempted to hurt me physically and mentally. I smiled wondering if maybe Chloe could be my first real friend. I really hoped I didn't say or do something awkward to ruin this potential friendship.

"You don't talk much do you Hadria."

"Oh you can call me Hadie. I'm just enjoying getting the 411 of this place." I tell her and give her two finger guns then cringe at myself. So much for not being awkward.

Chloe laughed, "The 411. Oh my deitus, that is hilarious, I like you."

I laughed awkwardly, hiding my relief that she didn't tell me to get lost. Finger guns? What was I thinking.

We continued on together, Chloe pointing out all the houses and telling me what to watch out for with the other deities and where to find each of our classes until we reached the cafeteria.

I gasped as we entered. It was nothing like the high school cafeteria that the group home sent me to. There were waiters taking orders at the tables and a long buffet that was filled with gourmet foods and fancy bottles of juices and water.

"What do you think? The buffet looks nice but I tend to enjoy ordering off the menu myself." Chloe picked up a menu off a podium by the door and skimmed through it before showing it to me.

I was back to gaping like a fish out of water looking around. "Are the meals here all like this? Are they included here? Or do I have to use my allowance to eat?"

"Oh, no its included. Take a look at the menu while we walk to the table. I see some of the girls from the house already here. I can introduce you."

I took the menu, looking over the choices. I saw twelve different kinds of eggs Benedict, fancy waffles and pancakes. French toast, crepes and eggs eight ways. The huevos rancheros looked good from the picture, the description of homemade tortillas, fried into a bowl shape and topped with fresh made beans and a poached egg. I looked up as Chloe stopped at a table where four goddesses all with the leaf pins on their collars sat giggling together.

"Ladies, meet our new housemate Hadie Blake." Chloe said as she sat down and pulled the seat out next to her and patted it for me to sit.

"Hi Hadie, I'm Candy." A girl with green hair and master level artistic make up on. Her eyeliner was precise, eyeshadow blended to perfection bringing out the gold flecks in her hazel eyes.

"Hi Candy, I love your make up! I tried doing cool artistic eyeliner like that once but my hand was so shaky it just came out a smudged mess."

Candy smiled, "Thanks girl! I love to rep my house, hence the vines for eyeliner. I can do your make up for you sometime. It's kind of my personal passion." She put her hand to her chest and leaned back in her chair.

The girl next to her laughed and reached her hand across the table to me, "Hey I'm Tamera." She had tight black curls that bounced with the movement of her head, deep brown eyes and dark skin that shined as the light caught her. "Where is your pin?" She asked, looking at my collar as I shook her hand.

Chloe clucked her tongue. "She doesn't get a pin yet. I told you guys what happened last night remember." I felt myself blush hearing that she had talked to them about me and the confusion of the ceremony.

"Oh, I didn't know that meant she didn't get a pin. Are they planning to move her?" Tamera asked with a frown. "That would be a bummer, I can already tell we will be great friends. Not that we wouldn't be if you left, but it's so fun having friends under the same roof."

"No, I don't think so. She totally has fertility gifts in her, I have a sixth sense for these kinds of things." The third girl chimed in. She had dark brown hair and crystal blue eyes, her skin was sun-kissed. She looked like a true California girl to me as she flashed a perfect white smile and extended a hand across the table. "Hi, I'm Ally. It's so nice to meet you Hadie. I dreamt that you would be chosen for our house. Didn't I, Lily." She said to the final girl who sat quietly next to her.

"Yeah sure." She responded, glaring at me as if I kicked her dog. She had bright orange hair and a septum piercing. Her own blue eyes standing out as her hair framed her face. "I'm done, I'm going to go to the garden before class. Catch you later Ally." I watched as she gave me one last glare and left the table.

"Don't worry about my sister." Ally sighed. "She had a bad dream the other night and has been in a bad mood ever since." Her eyes followed Lily as she disappeared through the doors.

"Do you know what you want to eat?" Chloe asked as the waiter approached smiling at the two of us while pulling out a pen and notepad.

"Oh, hmm, I was thinking the huevos rancheros looked good." I replied pointing to the picture on the menu and looking up at the waiter as he nodded and wrote my order.

"And to drink?" He asked with a polite smile.

I turned the menu to the back and scanned over it. "Um breakfast tea with milk and three sugar please." I answered looking back up at the waiter as he nodding again before looking towards Chloe. He took her order as well then left the table stating he would return with our drinks.

"So are you excited for your first day?" Tamera asked as she sipped on her coffee and cut into her stack of pancakes. "I personally was nervous as hell myself on my first day. I would never have made it without Chloe and Candy by my side."

"I'm excited to learn and to meet others. I still can't believe I'm here, I never thought I would escape the life I was living before."

"So neither of your parents had any idea? One of them had to at least been a demi-deity." Candy inquired, stacking her plate and silverware at the end of the table for the waiter to pick up when he returned.

I shook my head. "I wouldn't know, I don't know my parents. I was in a group home, but the house mother was sure surprised when Malachi showed up to get me."

"Oh you lucky!" Ally squealed. "Professor hottie picked you up! How far from the school did you get to travel with him?"

"About two days, we had to stop and rest at a truck stop an hour out because it was so late." I told them as I accepted my tea from the waiter with a smile and a quick thanks.

"So lucky!" Ally repeated excitedly. "Even the two house lesbians have to admit he is the hottest professor in this place." She pointed her thumb to Candy and Tamera.

Candy scowled while Tamera laughed and confirmed. "She's not wrong! If I liked the D I would want his."

I blushed. "I won't lie, I wasn't blind to how attractive he is, but we mostly just talked about the school and what I should expect. I was so excited to hear about the classes and what I would be taught here."

"Ohhhh girl!" Ally groaned leaning forward so we could talk over the table. "So do you not have any family then?"

"None that I'm aware of. I had hopes that being here would shed some light on who my parents could be, I was literally a baby in the middle of nowhere with only a name."

They looked at me, mouths dropped open like I had been when seeing the cafeteria. "Seriously? Tamera asked.

I shrugged sipping my tea, "Yeah."

"Well, we're your family now. Period." Tamera declared with a smile as she reached across the table and squeezed my hand. "You can count on us. Even Lily, she'll come around and be so protective of you you might end up locked in a tower like Repunzel."

"Foods here!" Chloe announced excitedly breaking the serious atmosphere of the conversation. "Eat up, classes start in like forty minutes."

Tamera let go of my hand and I smiled gratefully at her before digging into my food. We all chatted lightheartedly as Chloe and I ate. They filled me in on what to expect from classes and we talked about how it felt for their gifts to surface so that I could be prepared since I had yet to experience my powers just yet.

When Chloe and I finished eating the five of us all got up and headed to the exit and towards our first class. Horticulture.

"Good morning class. Today we will be working on encouraging the growth of the seeds we replanted the other day. As fertility goddesses you will be able to flow life into the seeds to help them grow into seedlings. Feel the power of life inside you and give it over to the seed." The professor instructed as the class began.

Chloe raised her hand and wiggling her fingers in the air to catch the professors attention. "Professor Zohra, do we have an extra seed for Hadie? It's her first day so she wasn't here when we planted the seeds last week."

Professor Zohra turned to me and smiled, "Oh yes, I have heard we had a new fertility goddess, yes I have a few extra seeds. Would you like a fruit, a vegetable or a flower?"

"Um, fruit I guess." I replied, accepting the pot of dirt handed to me.

"Now, as I instructed, reach inside yourself and feel the power of life inside you and lend just a small fraction of it to the seed to encourage it to grow. Not too much or you could end up over exerting yourself and be knocked out for a few days." She warned with a smile.

I sat and stared at the dirt in my pot for a moment before sneaking a peak over at Chloe and Candy to my left and then Tamera and Ally to my right. Their eyes were closed in concentration and I could see little seedlings beginning to poke up through the dirt in their own pots. A soft green glow around their hands where they held the pots. I glanced around to the rest of the class, seeing the same soft green glow coming from each of them.

Across the room, Lily had a nearly fully grown flower slowly forming a red bud at the end of its stem. Her glow a little stronger than the others as she concentrated.

"Very good Lily, but be sure not to over exert yourself. Remember we just want a small bit of life going into the plants to grow them to seedlings."

"This is a very small amount for me. It is hard to concentrate on giving anything smaller." Lily bragged with a shrug.

I looked back to my own pot and closed my eyes to concentrate. I searched inside myself for my own life force, feeling a strong warmth form in my core. Slowly I pulled the smallest amount of it away and into my hands to the pot I held. I felt the warmth leave my body and move into the dirt, feeling the seed begin to push out roots first then a stem. I continued feeding life into the plant until the pot began to feel heavy in my hands and I nearly dropped it.

Opening my eyes I gasped as I saw the baby in my hands. At the sound of my gasp Professor Zohra turned and let out a gasp of her own that drew the class to break their concentration and look.

Professor Zohra rushed to me and began to look me over as if I was about to fall over. "How do you feel? Are you faint? Do you need to sit down?"

I shook my head, "I feel fine, but this pot is heavy."

She let out a sigh of relief after inspecting my face and seeming to decide I looked fine before she turned to the tree in my hands. "Well it would seem we need to plant this into the ground before the roots get too cramped in the pot. How much life force did you put into this?"

"Not that much, I thought." I said shaking my head. "This is my first time using any powers though so maybe I used more than I thought."

Professor Zohra nodded taking my tree from me and inspecting it. "Well, we will watch more closely. Maybe we should have someone give you some tutoring in control."

I heard a giggle from my right and turned to see Ally grinning at me from the other side of Tamera. "I told Troy she was a fertility goddess. I'm never wrong." She gave me a wink and Tamera chuckled herself, smiling at me.

"Looks like we should go ahead and insist you get the leaf pin from the Headmistress." Chloe chimed in as she threw her arm over my shoulder and gave me a squeeze. "You can't deny that power."

Professor Zohra called me over to the doorway into a garden and instructed me to plant the tree where I felt the call to do so. Once I had found the spot she gave me a shovel to begin to dig up the soil and helped me pull the tree from the pot and placing it into the ground gently.

She told me that everyday I should come to the tree and feed it a little more life to encourage it grow and that at the end of the quarter she would grade me on the amount of fruit it yields for harvest.

I looked at my little fruit tree and realized I didn't even know what kind of fruit it would bare. But before I could ask our class was dismissed to go to our next class. World History.

Chloe lead the way while Tamera and Candy explained how classes like history and English were still in the curriculum and were the only classes that mixed all the houses together. The fertility house took World Deity History with the War deities and Creation Gods.

"What are Creation Gods?" I asked, "Wouldn't they be like fertility gods?"

"No, not exactly. They tend to be more like leaders. Like Zeus for example. We do also take creation classes with them, because we tend to have the power of creation but they are not the same as fertility deities. The only thing about sex and child birth they tend to be involved with is putting the baby inside the girl." Tamera stated, "The very vast majority of them are play boys, even lesbians aren't safe from their advances. They believe that their dicks have the ability to heal us of our taste for puss."

Candy let out a loud laugh, bending over clutching her stomach as we walked. "They really do! Oh my deitus, Oswald Jackman is the worse of them all! He tried that shit on me just last semester."

"Eww, really?" Ally asked from behind Candy, I turned to look at her and found Lily walking beside her glaring daggers at me. "What did you do? He tried to kiss me a year ago when I was visiting campus and I'm ashamed to admit I almost gave in but Lily walked in and chased him out of the room. So grateful for my over protective big sister." She hugged Lily nuzzling their cheeks together.

"I feel so stupid, I know you mentioned you were sisters before but I'm just now realizing it." I said, looking between them, they didn't quite look alike.

"Half sisters. We share the same mom, different dads. Lily is a death and fertility goddess. I'm a creation and fertility goddess. Her dad is a Death God, my dad is a Creation God, then dear ole mama is a fertility goddess. We took more after her. I have a half brother from my dad here too. He is one of the Creation Gods. His mom is human though so he's a demi-deity."

Lily continued to glare at me as Ally gave me their family history then looked at her sister and huffed out an annoyed breathe. "I don't need you telling her everything about me Ally."

Ally simply smiled, unfazed by her sister's attitude. "Oh don't be like that Lils, she's one of us, you saw her in class, she grew a tree in a matter of seconds!"

Lily huffed again and broke away from the group marching into the classroom where our history class was scheduled to take place. Chloe let out a sigh watching Lily leave then looked over at Ally with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you sure it was just a bad dream that put her in this mood? I know she's moody but this is a bit extreme even for her."

Ally shrugged. "All she really told me was that she had a bad dream the night before Hadie came to the school. She didn't really go into details but she's been like this ever since."

We all followed Lily into the classroom together and took seats in the center row. It was a fairly large classroom with a number of wooden desks and numerous old chairs that were lined up neatly beside them. It reminded me of a lecture hall in large universities, or at least from what I'd seen on tv dramas.

I noticed Lily sitting next to a muscular looking guy in the back row, he threw his arm around her shoulders but didn't look at her as he and his friends continued their conversation. Lily avoided looking our way as she pulled out her tablet and history book, readying herself for the class.

I followed her lead and began to gather my own tablet and book out for the class when I heard the door behind the professors desk open and close and a familiar scent over took the room. It was a scent that I had smelt the two days it took to come to Deitus Academy. Sandalwood and vervain. I looked up to find Malachi leaning against his desk and smirking at the class as everyone continued talking.

All except Lily. Whose body stiffened as she registered his presence, whose breathing slowed, and whose face brightened.

"By all means, keep talking. I'll just be sure to assign enough after class work to make up for my wasted time." Malachi announced bringing an abrupt halt to all conversations in the room. "That's better, now then today we will be doing a quick review on what we have discussed so far on the Ancient Greek deities. Who can tell me who Kore is?"

"She was the goddess of the plants. Also known as 'the fertile one' from her mother Demeter." Lily answered with a smile that looked out of place after only seeing her glare so far.

"Good, yes and what is her other name......Hadria." I stiffened at the sound of my name and looked up finding Malachi smiling encouragingly at me. He and I had talked about this on the plane when I had asked what some of the things I would learn here would be.

"Persephone, goddess of Death, Harvest, Winter and the Underworld." I answered, "Wife of Hades. Her name means Bringer of death."

"Not exactly. Her name just means, 'the resurger'. As a fertility and death goddess she represented the circle of life." A boy behind me piped up.

"You both are correct. Now then let's move on to the other kings and queens of the ancient gods. Who can tell me the name of Poseidon's wife?"

"Amphitrite." A girl with red pigtails towards the front answered.

"Good, and who was the third king and queen of the ancient gods?"

"Zeus and Hera. They were also brother and sister, so gross." Another girl next to the red head replied.

"Yeah right Angie, we all know you watch that incest porn!" The guy with his arm around Lily called out.

"It's not porn Jackass! It's called Game of Thrones and it's a great show!" Angie yelled back, standing and turning to face the guy.

"Alright that's enough, sit down Angela. Alaric, I've seen your browser history. Glass houses my friend." Malachi smirked to the guy as he sputtered and turned bright red.

"Yo! Professor Malachi what the hell man! Don't spread lies about me."

The class erupted into laughter at Alaric's expense, I even saw Lily cover her mouth in and attempt not to laugh at who I assumed was her boyfriend.

"Moving on. Everyone, open your tablets to the history icon and begin the review assignment posted. We may or may not have a test next class, I haven't decided yet." Malachi called out, settling the class back down.

I went to open the app on my tablet when the scent of sandalwood and vervain drew closer and a shadow appeared on my desk. I look up to find Malachi giving me a concerned look.

"How are you settling in? I'm sorry for the confusion with your ceremony yesterday. Nyctea and I were discussing doing the ceremony over again for you in a couple weeks to see if your gifts settle in to get a better read." He said with a gentle smile.

"She's definitely one of us Professor." Ally cut in, "She grew a tree today in horticulture. So no worries on if she went to the right house."

Malachi looked at me with widened eyes, "Is that true?"

I nodded sheepishly, "The professor is worried about my control though since I did it while being so new to my gifts, so she wants me to be tutored to make sure I'm not doing too much and hurting myself."

Malachi nodded, his smile returning to his face, "That's great Hadie! I'm glad to hear. Maybe we can get the ceremony done again sooner and get you an official fertility pin. It's not unheard of to be gifted with more than one divine aspect, but we definitely want you housed with your strongest gift."

He patted my shoulder then moved on, checking in with other students as he went. I watched him for a moment before turning back to my tablet and pulling my smart pen out to begin the review assignment, grateful that he had gone over a lot of this with me in the plane ride here

My first day of class went by fairly quickly. I was introduced to a few other students, including Alaric and Angela who turned out to be cousins, which honestly only made their in class argument even more hilarious.

The next day I would be taking classes with the War Deities which had me feeling less than thrilled by the thought of that. I had never been in a fight, not really anyway, not unless you counted basic self defense. The other girls in the group home could be pretty brutal but generally I tried my best to avoid fighting. Yet now I was expected to study it, and to pick up a weapon and fight against a War deity, a person literally born to fight.

I laid in my bed and looked over my schedule again. Hoping it would have magically changed if the headmistress caught wind of me growing the tree. I sighed and dropped my tablet back on my bed beside me when I saw that my schedule remained the same.

First, general combat class. Then, Combat Strategy Studies. After that, Weaponry training.

I sat up and walked over to the desk next to my dorm room door and sat down to write in my journal. One of the only personal items I brought with me. It was one of many. I had journaled my life everyday since the day I learned to write in hopes that maybe I could remember something to lead me to my family.

I documented my day and my fears for the next day. I wrote the feeling of using my fertility gifts and how it felt to finally have friends. Chloe as it turned out is nineteen and in her third year at the school. Fertility deities tend to stay at the school for four years, the school eager to get them out to the world to encourage baby making and growing food to feed the babies. Candy and Tamera were both eighteen and in their second year of school while Ally was my age and in her first year. Ally's sister Lily was the oldest at twenty one and on her fourth year, but given her death goddess side she would remain at the school for the additional two years before graduating.

I didn't know yet how long they would keep me here before graduating. Malachi had called me to his office after classes and told me he would be my advisor. He told me that if my gifts still show as being a bit of everything that I may have to take the full eight years to graduate and possibly some graduate courses to be safe.

I don't mind it. The idea of calling this place my home for as long as possible is actually pretty tempting. It already felt like more of a home than the group home or most of the foster homes I had as a kid. I let out content sigh as I put my journal away and head into the ensuite to brush my teeth before crawling back into my bed and drifting off quickly.

Morning came quickly, but this time I didn't groan as I rolled out of bed and into the shower. Although I dreaded my war classes, I was looking forward to having breakfast with my new friends.

I got dressed into my uniform and collected my books and tablet into my bag before heading out. Before I could go to breakfast I needed to swing by the garden where my tree was planted and slip it a little more life as Professor Zohra had instructed me to.

I concentrated on only giving it a small amount, slipping a little less than I had yesterday out to feed the tree. When I opened my eyes I gasped as I saw it was now taller than myself and was beginning to grow little pink buds. I touched the growing trunk and wondered exactly what fruit my tree would give and decided that next class if the tree didn't start fruiting, I would ask Zohra.

I picked my bag up from the ground where I had set it and left the garden, admiring the flowers and the different vegetables and fruits that were already nearly ripe for picking. The air smelled earthy in the garden, what you smell just before a light shower. I breathed it in deep relishing the cleansing scent. The whole campus had a freshness to it.

Once I reached the cafeteria, the earthy smell was promptly replaced with the smell of gourmet breakfast foods and coffee. The smell immediately causing my stomach to growl with the promise of hot food.

Last night I hadn't had dinner in the cafeteria. Chloe and Tamera insisted we celebrate my first day of school by going to a restaurant in town that they swore had the best pizza in the country. I had to admit, it was pretty good though I wasn't sure about the best in the country.

Spotting Chloe and Candy waving me over to the same table they had sat at yesterday for breakfast. Chloe's black hair was pulled into a messy bun on top of her head and her green eyes were lined with dark liner. She didn't look like the perfect prefect she had yesterday when she gave me the tour of the school. Now she looked like the perfect goth right along with a spiked collar around her neck.

Chloe chuckled when she saw me looking her over. "Sorry to surprise you. When I have official prefect duties I dress the part. This is the real me. Just because we're fertility goddesses doesn't mean we can't have a dark side right."

I laughed, "I'm just surprised is all. Why can't you dress like this for prefect duties?" I asked, taking the seat she pulled out for me.

"Nyctea says that it is a matter of looking professional. I think she just thinks I will scare newly awakened fertility goddesses though. Or they would mistake me as a death goddess."

Candy laughed, "Yeah right. Everyone always thinks fertility deities are so innocent. Yet we are the one encouraging sex and procreating." I couldn't help myself from laughing with Candy at that.

Although I was personally a virgin, it did seem silly to assume any deity was completely innocent. Even the Deities of youth and innocence were often not reported as being so sweet and innocent. I still remember when a Goddess of Innocence was spotted by paparazzi giving a lap dance to a human in the VIP section, topless.

"Well I love the look." I tell her, as the waiter came to the table. I looked up at him as he held up a pad and pen to take my order. "Oh, lets see, I should probably eat a good protein breakfast since I'm joining the War Deities today. What would you recommend?"

"Well, here, you will see we have what we call our Ares Platter. It is what the war gods tend to order. Or you can help yourself to the buffet. We also have an Athena Platter that isn't as big as the Ares Platter but it also has more brain power foods."

I read the descriptions of both platters and glanced over at the buffet line as I wondered what to do.

"Hmm, I think I will go with the Athena Platter and a cup of breakfast tea, three sugar and milk."

"Same as yesterday on the tea and the Athena Platter. Got it." The waiter said with a smile as he wrote my order down. "I will be back with your tea."

"Thank you." I reply with a smile of my own. Did I just become a regular? I look back to Candy and Chloe who had continued their conversation from before I arrived at the table. They were discussing their classes of the day. Being both Harvest Fertility goddesses, they had more horticulture classes and would be leaving campus to help farmers with their crops this afternoon and were discussing what crops should be ready to harvest today.

"Peaches. I really think the peaches will be ripe today. I could feel it in them last time we were out in the orchard." Candy said firmly.

"Finally, they are rather late this year. I think the pears could be ready too."

"I saw some apples on campus that looked ready to eat." I pipped in as my tea was brought out.

"That's just on the campus. Out in the human world apples won't be ready for harvest for a few more weeks."

"Yeah, with all the different gods on campus, it's filled with enough magical life force that everything grows all year round no matter the season or month it is in the human calendar. This is an Eden. The only place on campus you won't see growth is around the Death Deities house." Chloe explained.

"Oh," I said, tilting my head. "I was planning to ask Professor Zohra but maybe one of you two know. What kind of fruit will grow from my tree?"

Chloe and Candy exchanged a look. "Its leaves and blossoms look like an apple tree to me." Candy said looking at me. "Do you not feel the fruit when you grow it?"

Chloe frowned. "Apple tree? The leaves looked more like a lemon tree to me."

Candy narrowed her eyes at Chloe. "Really? A lemon tree? No way. Its apple leaves for sure."

Tamera arrived and sat down. "What are you talking about?"

"My tree." I answer quickly. "I asked what kind I am growing, I don't know how to tell until the fruit comes."

"Oh, it looked like a pomegranate to me." She said looking between Chloe and Candy.

They both looked at her like she grew a third head then looked at me. "Maybe you should just ask Zohra what seed she planted."

I sighed but forgot the mystery as soon as my food was set in front of me. It was piled with sausage, poached eggs, dark chocolate covered nuts, blue berries with cream, whole grain toast and hot cereal. My stomach growled as the smell of the sausage hit me and I began to dig in as Tamera told the waiter she was doing buffet but wanted some orange juice.

The juice was set down and the waiter gone before she returned with her plate. All the girls digging in while I was nearly half done. The poached eggs were perfect. I cut into my first one and watched the beautiful yoke run before grabbing a piece of my toast and dipped it in the running yoke. I took the chocolate covered nuts and sprinkled them into the hot cereal along with my blue berries and some butter that sat at the table.

I had five pieces of sausage, all my eggs and half the hot cereal by the time I was full leaning back and sipping my tea to help digest my meal before it was time to go to my combat class. As I relaxed and watched my friends finish their own meals, the waiter returned to pick up plates and I could smell the strong scent of his cologne. He gives me a smile and asked if I enjoyed my meal. Smiling I told him it was fantastic raising my cup in cheers at his suggestion of it.

Chloe and Candy stood up first and beginning to gather their items. I glanced at my tablet and saw the time was still pretty early, looking back between the two with a raised brow.

Chloe saw me looking confused and smiled. "Since we leave campus we start earlier than the rest of the classes. Tamera said she would help show you to your combat class with Ally and Lily." Tamera gave a nod, confirming she would help me find my class as she chugged down her orange juice. "We will catch you later. Try not to die in combat training. We've already become pretty attached you." She teased as Candy chuckled and winked at me before they both left to begin their day.

"What classes do you have Tamera?" I asked, putting my empty cup down.

"Well I'm not only a fertility goddess. I'm also a goddess of love and beauty, so I will be in classes with the other love and beauty goddesses. We have a photoshoot later this afternoon. I was actually going to talk to you, since you will also be taking classes with us, would you want to come to the photoshoot with me?"

"Oh, I don't know about that. I'm betting the beauty and love deity powers will be dropped from my courses after I have the ceremony again."

"Why do you think that?" She asked with a raised brow.

"Well, looking at you and the other beauty goddesses, I'm not nearly as pretty." I tell her, looking down and fiddling with my skirt hem.

Tamera scoffed. "Girl, you need a confidence boost. You are definitely coming with me to the photoshoot, no arguments."

Tamera and Ally showed me to the combat arena behind the cafeteria while Lily followed behind us, glaring daggers into my back, leaving little shivers along my spine. After they showed me to the girls locker rooms they headed to their own classes. Tamera told me not to let anyone hit my face since I was going to the photoshoot no matter what. I sighed, as if I wanted anyone to hit me anywhere.

Walking into the locker room I was met with five other goddesses who all looked curiously at me.

"You must be Hadria. Our prefect said that you would be joining us today. I'm Athena, no relation." A tall girl with a pink pixie cut greeted me. "Your locker is right here, change into this uniform then meet us out on the mat. Since you give us an even number we will be able to pair off evenly among the girls for warm ups." She gave me a sweet smile before following the others out the other doors into the arena.

When I got out to the arena I noticed there are more gods than goddesses of war, about a five to one ratio. I also notice that Alaric is amongst the war gods. I had only briefly been introduced to him yesterday yet he waved and smiled at me before whispering to the guy beside him and pointing towards me. His friend turned to look at me and smiled. He was incredibly handsome. Strong jaw with a devilish grin. His eyes looked almost aqua from where I stood and his skin was mocha. Tall dark and handsome, just like every romance book I had read in the public library. I watched as a strand of his hair blew across his face and I had an itching need to brush it back.

Shaking off the feeling I walked to the girl with the pixie cut, Athena and began the warm up exercises with her and the other goddess. I surprised myself when I was able to take down one of the girls in a one on one warm up match, my body moving on its own as if I had been doing this all my life. My confidence was up and with the professor blowing a whistle to call everyone to him I was no longer worried about fitting in with the war deities.

"Alright, so we all know that we have a new goddess here. Hadria, good to have you. You were looking good there in warm ups. I am Professor Cathan. Now then, I'll pair everyone up for some basic take down training."

I stood and waited to see who I was to be paired with, watching as Athena was paired with Alaric, and the girl I was sparing with during warm up was paired up with one of the other girls.

"Hadria, I want you to pair up with Evander." Professor Cathan instructed, pointing to Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome himself.

Evander smiled at me and walked over to stand beside me. "Come on, I'll go easy on ya." He teased, nodding his head to an open space for us to practice. "So you wanna try and take me down first? Or do I get the honor of knocking you on your ass?"

The way he automatically believed he could knock me on my ass lit a fire under it and I glared up at him, attempting to make my 5 foot 3 self appear bigger. "Who says you can knock me on my ass?" I asked defiantly.

Evander chuckled. "Alright Little Warrior. Let's see how you hold up to the big boys."

I took a defensive stance and watched Evander as he walked around me, looking for an opening to take me down. I don't know where all my confidence came from now as I watch him circle me. Studying his every move, noting every inch of his muscle toned body. He was tall, I would estimate around 6 foot 3 maybe more. He was every bit the look and power of a war god. I gulped as the realization that he could crush me came over me. What was I thinking, of course he could knock me on my ass. I weighed all of 115 pounds! He probably benched triple that.

Suddenly I felt the air shift, instinct kicked in like it had in warm ups and I dodged Evander's tackle, feeling his arm brush against mine as I narrowly got out of the way. I twisted my body around as he caught his footing and turned to look at me with a shit eating grin on his face. "Alright Little Warrior, I guess you won't be as easy as I thought."

"There is nothing easy about me." I snapped back without thinking.

Evander's smile widened. "Good, I enjoy a challenge." Then he charged at me again. This time I didn't dodge in time and my ass hit the ground hard. I groaned as Evander hovered his body above me, his arms caging me in beneath him. "Looks like I still managed to knock you on your ass though. Thats a good omen for me."

I glared at him as I shoved at his chest, feeling just how hard the muscles were there under his shirt. "Alright get off me now." I tell him as I begin to wiggle myself out from under him.

Evander pushed himself up before offering me a hand to help me back to my feet. As I took his hand an idea popped in my head and I grinned at him mischievously before pulling him forward and sweeping his feet with my leg and twisting myself so that I was above him. His back hit the ground and I fell right onto his chest cheering at my victory.

"Good job Hadria!" Cathan called out. "Evander, never let your guard down, you know better."

I laughed and looked down at Evander who had a shocked look on his face. I stopped laughing as I met his eyes and he grinned. "Well, looks like we both got knocked on our asses today. Though, got to say, I don't mind it as much with you." He gave me a wink. "Now then, I think its your turn to get off me this time."

Blushing as I realized I was still laying on his chest, I quickly got to my feet and began dusting myself off. Evander stood up next to me patting his clothes down, puffs of dust coming off with each hit.

We continued taking turns, by the end we both were covered in red dust from the arena ground.

"I'm glad you aren't a sore loser. I've heard of guys being insulted when they are beat by a girl."

Evander let out a loud laugh and shook his head. "First off, you didn't beat me. We are tied. Secondly, the only guys getting mad about being beat by a girl aren't confident in their own masculinity. I am perfectly confident in myself and don't need to prove my manhood by beating a girl. I'm a god, enough said."

I laughed with him, "Well you definitely have the confidence thing down. I'll give you that."

Evander smiled and Professor Cathan blew his whistle again, calling the dismal of class. "Well, looks like we better get to strategies class. Want to walk with me? I'll meet you outside the locker room."

I nod. "Sure, I could use a guide today to show me where I need to be." I ran into the locker room to change with the other goddesses, moving quick so as not to be late to the next class.

As I came out of the locker room I found not only Evander waiting but Alaric as well. Alaric smirked at me, nudging Evander in the ribs and pointing over at me. Evander turned to and smiled walking over to meet me as I walked towards them.

"Hey Little Warrior, ready to go to the next class?" He asked.

"Sure, what exactly is Combat Strategies Studies?" I replied, reaching them.

"Its basically a history of wars." Alaric replied. "Got to know what worked and didn't work, ya know. Like how Boudica was able to fight off the romans for as long as she did, and what went wrong when she inevitably fell to them. Or my personal favorite, the Trojan horse."

I give Alaric a surprised look. He didn't seem that interested in history yesterday during our World History class. "I didn't peg you for a history guy."

"I'd rather not be pegged at all thank you." He responded with a crooked grin and a wink.

It took me a few seconds to catch his joke before I broke into a bright blush that brought both war gods to fits of laughter. I chuckled with them, knowing my expression was probably funnier than the joke at been.

"Pretty innocent for someone from the fertility house don't ya think?" Alaric poked my ribs, causing me let out an involuntary squeak before glaring at him.

"That glare is every bit a war goddess though." Evander stated, still laughing as he threw an arm over my shoulders pulling me slightly away from Alaric who raised a brow at him.

I look at his arm then up at his face as he smiles down at me, wondering what exactly he was expecting from me for a moment before Alaric announced we have reached the class and they both lead me to the back row with them sitting on either side of me, just as the professor came into the classroom.

He was burley man with a thick, full, auburn beard. He didn't bother addressing the class and immediately went into his lecture as he pulled up pictures and painting renditions of battles over the centuries. I pulled my tablet out with my stylus to take notes as he ran through his lecture at such a fast pace, I wondered how anyone could pass the class.

As I frantically wrote my notes I caught the sounds of Alaric and Evander snickering on either side of me. I ignored them, not wanting to miss a single bit of information with how fast the professor is speaking and running through the lesson, working through as my hand began to cramp.

Finally, the professor ended his lecture and dismissed us early from the days class. Thats when I looked at the two gods on either side of me, finding them with amused smiles as they leaned back in their seats.

"Did you get good notes Little Warrior?" Evander asked with a chuckle.

Alaric reaches over and snatches my tablet from my hands, I tried to grab it back but he extended his other hand, keeping me at arms length away.

"She sure did." He answered with his own chuckle. "Damn, you really kept up pretty well. Too bad it was a waste of your time."

I stopped trying to get my tablet back and looked up at his amused grin as he reads over my notes. "Huh?"

"Professor Thackery doesn't test us on any of his lectures. He believes that if we listen, we listen and if we don't we don't. It's good to listen sure, it could help you win a war someday, if you find yourself in one. But War Gods haven't seen a good war in a long time. Not since drones and EMPs have become a thing. Really, it's become pretty boring." Evander explains.

I frowned as Alaric handed me my tablet back. "So, I cramped my hand up for nothing?" I ask.

"No, not for nothing. I sent myself a copy of the notes." Alaric grinned. "I took a nap somewhere in the middle of the lecture so I didn't hear it."

Both gods laughed as they rose from their seats and gestured for me to get up. "You know, you're kind of a jerk Alaric." I grumble, earning more laughter from both of them.

"What do you expect? He's not just a War God, he's also a Creation God. His name literally means 'everyone's ruler.' He lives up to it."

I narrowed my eyes at the back of Alaric's head as it rose higher at the mention of his name sake. "He's not my ruler." I mumble annoyed.

Alaric looked over his shoulder at me and winked. "Sure I am. I'm from a long line of Creation Gods. I'm pretty sure my line can be linked to the original creator." He faced forward again, waving to some girls who squealed at the sight of him, drawing a deep frown to my face.

Just as we approached our last class for the day I spot orange hair in the corner of my eye. Lily appearing next to Alaric, casting a glare to the girls who had been fan-girling over him as she slipped her hand into his.

"Hey babe." She purred, leaning her head on his arm. "I'm done early for the day, want to skip your last class with me?"

Alaric looks down at her with a smug grin. "Nah, you know that this is my favorite class. Besides, Hadie gets to discover her war weapon. I don't wanna miss that."

At the mention of my name Lily visibly stiffened and looked back at me, just realizing I was there. Her blue eyes locking coldly with my grey eyes making me clear my throat uncomfortably and look anywhere but at her. 'Why does she hate me so much?'

"Oh." She said with annoyance. "I didn't see her there." With that she let go of Alaric and stormed off down towards the front hall.

Evander looked at Alaric and me with a confused look and Alaric shrugged before entering the classroom.

The room was like a medieval armory. The walls were lined with swords, daggers, bows, crossbows, staffs, spears, even scythes. On the other end of the room was another door and opened up into an indoor field with targets, training dummies and a few desks along the sidelines that looked very out of place.

We follow the line of other students as they filed into the field house and took seats in the desks, waiting for the professor. I spotted her jogging around along the track, stopping and checking a dummy or a target as she made her way around towards the desks.

Reaching us I heard the class refer to her as "Coach" and I looked towards Evander with a questioning look. He leaned in and whispered into my ear. "She is Coach Mars, she teaches the weaponry class, and we compete against some of the other academies in other countries on archery, swordsmanship and other combat. We use our combat training in this class with our weapons added."

"Lets get to it then. New goddess, come up here so we can get your weapon." Coach called out with a bored expression. She gave me a once over and sighed, "I wager you'll be chosen by either the bow staff or a bow and arrow. Who else has a wager?" She called out.

"Daggers!" Alaric yells out.

"Spear!" Athena from this morning calls out excitedly.

"Sword!" Evander joined with a booming laugh as response from the rest of the class.

"Yeah, sure. The last girl to get chosen by a sword was six years ago. Daggers would be more likely." Alaric insisted.

I look around, my brows pulled so tight I could feel my hairline pulling down with them. Turning to Coach Mars tilting my head. "What is happening now?" I asked.

Coach Mars gestured towards the doorway to the armory. "Head back in there and listen for your weapon to call for you. Its rare, but if you hear more than one weapon then you collect every one that speaks to you."

"Speaks to me?"

Coach nodded, "You'll understand. Just go. Make it quick so we can get to training. We have a meet coming in three weeks that we need to be prepared for."

I walked back into the armory and jumped as the door slammed closed behind me with a loud thump. The room was dark now, only lit by a few torches hanging on the walls, adding to the medieval look of the room. A musty dirt smell filled the air in the room, as if it was an old cellar deep under ground.

And quiet, eerily quiet.

I still didn't know what Coach meant by the weapon calling to me, so I began to wonder along the walls, admiring the weapons as I passed them, picking up a staff or a bow here and there to see the artwork etched into each of them.

Suddenly, a I heard my name whispered from the darkest part of the room. A shiver ran up my back but not from fear, rather, anticipation rushing thru me, as if my body knew something big was about to happen. The whispered voice called out to me again.

"Hadria.....Hadie..." the voice repeated in a soft hushed voiced, it was many ants one. Old yet young, feminine then masculine, changing with each syllable.

My feet moved on their own, following the call into the darkest shadows of the room. The voice growing louder closer with each step.

As I reached the darkest corner of the room the voices sounded as if they were right in front of me. A a torch lit itself above my head, startling me as it lit the darkened corner to reveal a set of weapons on a dusty table. The weapons themselves looked both old and new, untouched by time without a speck of dust on them. Gleaming in the torch light, as if they had been recently polished.

A broad sword with a white gold hilt, a matching pair of daggers with sharp pointed tips, a black leather whip with silver embroidery in the handle and a short bow with silver tipped arrows. All items calling out to me in unison, begging me to pick them up and claim them as my own.

The moment my hand touched the hilt of the sword I felt a wave of power wash over me as its voice rejoiced. The sword was sheathed, attached to a belt that I promptly put on, the sword handing off my hip felt as if it had always belonged there. As if a small piece of myself had been reattached to my body. I then reached for the dagger and the whip, the same reaction washing over me as I attached them to the belt. Finally I took the short bow and the arrows and put them over my shoulder. With all weapons secured to my body, I felt as if I was whole. A feeling I never knew I was lacking until this moment.

Turning away from the table and sensed the darkness wash back over the area as I made my way back towards the door to the field house. The room was silent again, the way it had been before. Only a content vibration was felt from my weapons as they were purring, content and pleased with being united to me. As if they had been waiting for centuries for me to come for them.

Returning to the field house I discovered the class had already broken into areas of their training. Athena stood with a long bow, aiming at targets. Evander and Alaric each with sword in hand, sparred at a far corner of the field house as other gods with swords watched with cheers as the two swords clashed.

I spotted Coach Mars working with a boy who was throwing daggers at a practice dummy and made my way to her.

At first the field house was filled with noises of clanking swords, arrows releasing from bows, thunks of dummies being hit with daggers or staffs, but as I moved toward Coach Mars, hushed whispers began to replace the sounds of combat. Coach Mars, no doubt noticing the change in the air, looked around and froze as her eyes fell on me. By the time I reached her, she was looking me up and down with pure shock, followed quickly by excitement and interest.

"Well, this is a very pleasant surprise. I've never seen a student with four chosen weapons in all my times here. Let alone one chosen by weapons forged in the fires of the deepest pits of the underworld. Those weapons were created by a god named Tenebris thousands of years ago." She regarded my weapons with a smile. "He claimed they would be wielded by his queen. Of course, he is long gone now, killed by his wife when she was unable to lay claim to the weapons, she saw it as a sign of him being unfaithful to her and she was a very vengeful goddess." Coach chuckled as she pointed to a dummy a yard away. "Go practice with each of your weapons on your own for now. I will get you the full history book on the weapons before you leave class today. It's important to know the history so you can properly wield them, but for now I want you to get a good feel of them in your hands."

I nodded and made my way to the dummy as I heard Alaric and Evander begin to bicker over their bet. Chuckling as I heard Athena call out to them to just shut up and keep their money.

I decided to work with the whip first since it began to hum loudest, as if begging to be used first. I pulled it from my belt and whipped it out with a loud clap before intuitively spinning on my heels and flicking my whip at the dummy. The whip wrapped around the dummy's neck tightly and with a quick pull I uprooted the dummy up from the ground.

"You get one of those Hadria! Don't tear up my field!" Coach Mars yelled at me as I began rolling my whip back up.

"I'm sorry!" I called back, running over to the dummy and planting it back in the ground, stomping around the ground with my foot to pack the dirt back down. Then with a little spark of my life force, I attempted to regrow the grass, only to end up growing all the grass around me two feet high and receiving a frustrated growl from Coach Mars as she told me no outside gifts in her class.

After a few more minutes of me working with my weapons on my own aiming and throwing my daggers, Coach made it over to me and frowning at the over grown grass surrounding me. "You're going to stay after class and mow this shit." She told me with narrowed eyes. "Now then, let me see you with that broad sword."

I put my daggers away, pulling my sword from its sheath, it's weight not too heavy but not too light in my hand. I took a fighting stance like in combat class and held my sword in front of me before swinging it at the dummy.

"Stop, you're going to pull your arm from the socket like that! It's not a damn hammer and nails. Both hands like this." She put my hands on the hilt, showing me how to hold it. "Listen to the sword like you were doing with the whip and daggers. It will tell you how to move it more effectively. Once you learn more about your weapons you will be able to wield them without even thinking. They are an extension of your soul."

Following her instructions, after about ten tries she finally had me switch to the bow to work on target practice. I managed to adapt quickly to the bow and arrow much easier than the other weapons. I hitting bullseyes and near bullseyes the entire rest of the class time, bringing some actual praise from Coach Mars as she watched and told me that I would be in the Weaponry Meet for archery.

She dismissed the class, showing me how to store my weapons inside me. It was an odd concept at first but after I felt the sensation of the weapons joining my body I recognized it as similar to when I pull my life force into plants to help them grow. She had me practice summoning and dismissing each weapon myself before showing me the old push mower and pointing to the grass that I had grown, telling me to clean it up before heading to my dorm.

I groaned as I got to work on the grass and watched as Coach Mars began to run around the track again like she had been doing before class. It took me about thirty minutes to get the area mowed back down and I cursed at myself for over doing it again. I didn't understand why so much came from such a small piece of myself. Putting the mower away, I waved to Coach to come check the length so she could dismiss me.

She jogged over to me and pulled out her own dagger, measuring the grass with it. Looking between me and her dagger she finally nodded and dismissed me for the day.

"That book of your weapons history is on your desk, grab it and have it read by next class." She instructed me, taking off to continue her run.

'How many laps does she run here?' I thought as I grabbed the book. Rushing back through the armory and out to the hallways, I bumped into a broad chest and fell back onto my ass.

"You good Little Warrior?" Evander chuckled as he reached down to help me up. "I guess I win, that's me knocking you on your ass one more time that you did me."

"I'm good. And I think I knocked myself on my ass. I didn't see you there. Were you waiting for me?" I asked before spotting the gorgeous goddess standing beside him.

"Why would he be waiting for you?" She scoffed, hugging onto his arm. "He was about to show me his sword."

I grimaced at the way she said sword seductively and resisted the urge to gag. "My mistake." I said, moving around them to head to my dorm with the hopes of a shower and nap before Tamera would come for me for the photoshoot.

"Actually, I was waiting for you. Anne here just showed up." Evander stated, pulling his arm from her grasp. "I wanted to hear about your weapons. I've never seen anyone with three, much less four weapons. Not even my parents have more than two weapons."

I saw Anne huff as she tried to grab at Evander's arm again just as he reached for the history book in my arm. She didn't seem to let that deter her as she followed along with us towards the courtyard in the direction of the houses.

"Damn, I've heard of Tenebris! His wife killed him because the weapons he forged wouldn't accept her as their partner. Weapons only accept one god or goddess in all eternity, but since he claimed to have forged them for his queen it was assumed he meant his true love. Crazy, guess you are his queen then." He teased, nudging my arm playfully.

"Yeah, sure." I chuckled rolling my eyes.

Anne seemed to take that as her invitation into the conversation and giggled. "She doesn't even look like a queen Vandy, don't tease her like that it's mean."

I tried to follow Evander's lead and ignore her but her comment still irritated me. "Well, I better get back to my dorm. Tamera will be getting me for this thing tonight and I need to shower and rest up first."

Evander tilted his head, "Tamera? Tamera Inse?" He asked.

"Yeah..."

"She's my cousin! I should have known you would be friends with her. I just wasn't sure with how Lily seemed to not like you. I know she is part of their little clique."

I let out a sigh, "Yeah, I'm not sure what I did to Lily to make her not like me so much. Ally says she will be fine after a few days, but I'm not so sure. Anyway, I'll catch you later." I tell him. Anne taking the opportunity to grab his arm after he gave me back my book, pressing her boobs against him and wiggling as she begged him to show her his sword and pulling him towards the Love and Beauty House.

I didn't watch for them to go into the Love and Beauty House, quickly entering the Fertility House and rushing up to my room ready to shower off the sweat and itchy grass cuttings from my body.

I hopped in the shower after locking my door and dropping my book bag and the book of my weapons on my desk next to the door. The warm water relaxing my body and the itchy feel went away as I scrubbed myself down with a sudsy loofa. The sent of lavender filled the air from my soap and added to my relaxed mind.

I got out of the shower and dried myself off, scrunching my hair in a towel that Tamera had given me last night stating it was specifically made for drying hair. Once dried off, I threw my hair up into a bun and dressed myself in some leggings and a baggy tee shirt, grabbing the book Coach gave me before collapsing into my bed to begin reading it.

The opening page was all about the god who created the weapons. He was a war and death god and had resided in the deepest parts of the underworld with his wife Deidamia, a powerful goddess of darkness and war. Like both Evander and Coach had stated, she was unable to wield the weapons her husband had forged for is queen and became enraged that he must have made them for another woman. She then took her spear and ran it through his back. As he lay dying he had whispered his final words, claiming his faithfulness to his wife but the last of his final words had been incoherent as blood filled his lungs.

I shivered at the description of my weapons beginnings. Their first day had been blood filled yet they had not drawn a single drop of it. I read on and learned that the goddess sent the weapons away, demanding they never see the light of day, but somehow they appeared in the Overworld world in the armory of a Creation God who had no recollection of acquiring the weapons.

After twenty years in his possession, and still no deity to claim them, the weapons were sold off to other gods, in hopes that in their realms the wielder of one of the weapons would be found. Only, the weapons never made it to the other god and were all lost for another forty years before resurfacing in the armory of a goddess of war.

This history seemed to repeat over and over until the weapons were eventually kept as a set and donated to Deitus Academy seventeen years ago. I skimmed over the other appearances and disappearances of the weapons over the centuries and wondered what the pattern of their return and disappearances could be, or why they had chosen me to be there wielder. I was certainly no queen of the underworld, especially not the queen of a century long dead god.

My studying was quickly interrupted by a knock on my door and a singsong voice of Tamera telling me to open up. I groaned, dreading the photoshoot she was about to drag me to but rolled off my bed and opened the door.

Tamera stood there, her own hair up, wrapped in a scarf and her face bare of make up. She was dressed in sweat pants and a tee shirt and I perked up thinking that maybe the photoshoot was canceled.

"Good! I was worried you would have tried to dress up. Let's go. The car is in the front waiting for us." Tamera said with a smile.

"What? But you aren't...huh?" I stuttered.

"Oh my deitus, did you think that we weren't going because I'm not dressed like I'm heading to a photoshoot?" She laughed, grabbing my bag for me and pulling me out the door. "Girl, they dress you, do your hair and make up the way they want it. You have to go as a blank canvas and thats what I am."

She handed me my bag and I made sure my tablet and keys were inside as she pulled me along. She kept us at a quick pace, bringing us to the front of the academy where three black SUVs were parked. I noticed Anne standing beside one of the SUVs laughing with another goddess from the House of Love and Beauty. Avoiding her line of sight as I followed Tamera to the first vehicle in the line and she greeted the other girl standing there.

"Hey Aine, this is Hadie, she is the new goddess on campus." Tamera introduced me. "Hadie, this Aine, she is the Prefect for the House of Love and Beauty so you probably saw her at your ceremony before you were assigned to Fertility House. She's also the most perfect girlfriend and cuddled." Tamera introduced, kissing Aine on her nose.

I smiled at the tall red head who smiled warmly back. "Hey Hadie, how are you doing? Settling into the school life okay? I was so happy to hear Tammy say she was bringing you along. This photoshoot will be a perfect way to introduce you to the world as the goddess you are!"

I felt my eyes widen, "Wait, I'm not just going to watch?"

Tamera chuckled. "Not likely, you are too pretty to sit on the side lines. I told you, you need the confidence boost and you will get it tonight."

As we turned to the SUV I heard a scoff from behind me.

"What is she doing here? This is for Beauty Goddesses only."

I turned around, finding Anne glaring at me with her hands on her hips. She turned to Aine and raised an eyebrow. "Are you seriously allowing Tamera to bring her little fertility war goddess friend? That's nepotism."

Aine let out an annoyed sigh. "Anne, Hadie is not only a fertility war goddess. She is also a Love and Beauty Goddess. As well as a death goddess, and even a creator goddess. She marks all the boxes and as she is a new goddess of beauty is only fitting she be included in this photoshoot. It has all ready been discussed with Lana and the photographer that she be the centerfold of this shoot."

I feel my eyes bulge at that statement and at the same time as Anne I cry out. "Centerfold?!"

Tamera laughed and pulled me into the SUV with her as Aine followed after us, shutting the door on Anne. "I hate that girl." Aine whispers as she shooed her away from the window with a smile.

"Centerfold??" I repeat with a panic.

"Don't worry, we aren't talking playboy." Tamera assured me. "You will be fully dressed, but you will get the main slot and have an interview. Just some questions to introduce you to the world as a goddess. Normally we don't do this for new goddesses but since we don't know your bloodline, no one knows who you are. Where as we all come from bloodlines and have been in the lime light all our lives."

Aine nodded. "Don't worry, just have fun. And ignore Anne. She is very jealous and shallow, even for a beauty goddess." She reassured me patting my hand.

I swallowed the lump forming in my throat and felt my palms begin to sweat. How would the public eye react to learning that a goddess had been raised in the human foster care system? How would that look? Gods were all portrayed as being perfect, and when they weren't the media crucified them for it. Would I be made out as a victim, or would they view me as trash and unworthy of being a goddess.

My thoughts ran wild as my anxiety rose, rising it higher as my thoughts continued. As if sensing my fears, Tamera took my hand and squeezed it taking my attention off my thoughts and towards her smiling face.

"Its going to be okay, Aine and I will be with you every step of the way."

I nod and realize we are pulling into a large underground garage attached to an even larger white stoned building. The SUV driver flashed security a badge and the yellow and white bars blocking the entrance drop down into the floor allowing us entry. I watch as he drive down to the lowest level of the garage, again coming across security, flashing the badge and another set of bars sink into the ground.

The SUVs pull up in front of a set of elevators and more security stood guard as a petite woman in a black pantsuit and a clip board in hand opened our door and greeted us.

"Welcome Goddesses. I'm Rachelle, I'll be assisting you with the itinerary of todays shoot. We are running a bit late so please follow me this way and we will get you all to hair and make up." She said in a fast and perky voice.

I noticed the other SUVs pulling up behind ours and a second woman with a clipboard approaching them and giving them a similar run down.

"So, does each SUV have their own umm assistant?" I asked Tamera quietly.

"Oh no, Janet will be taking everyone else. Since you are the centerfold, you three get me." Rachelle chimed in swishing her blonde bob around as she led us at a fast pace to the nearest elevator. "Right this way." She gestured for us to enter the elevator and once we were all in she put a key in the elevator and hit the top button marked penthouse.

I let out a groan when I realized we were five floors underground and going to the tenth floor of the building above ground. Tamera chuckled and Rachelle looked at me with concern. I smiled at her in what I hope was a reassuring smile that she returned before going into our full schedule for the evenings photoshoot.

"So first we will get you ready, the editor wants a shot of you with the setting sun first. Then we will conduct the interview while the others do their own shoots. After that we will do a couple more shots of you and the night sky before we call it for the evening." She explained to me before turning to Aine and Tamera, instructing them on their schedule. "At the very end, they want a full group shot showing you all embracing Hadria as your sister goddess."

Aine and Tamera exchange a smile as they both nod. "Any props? What is the look that the editors and photographer are looking for?" Aine asked in a professional tone.

"We have some giant make up props, flowers, cupid arrows and bows. The usual. However since Hadria is also a goddess of..." she paused, looking at her clip board. "Oh wow, she's a goddess of a lot. Well we were wanting to add a prop for each of her gifts. Fertility can be the usual flowers, love and beauty... we have some flowers shaped like hearts. Goddess do you have your weapon on you, I'm told war deities have weapons?" She asked looking around at me expectantly.

"Um, I have them..."

"Them? More than one? That could make for a cool shot. How many do you have?"

Aine and Tamera look at me expectantly as I twiddle my thumbs nervously. "I um, I have four weapons." I state, gaining surprised looks from both the other goddesses and an excited expression from Rachelle as she pulled her phone out and began to type out a message excitedly.

"Oh, yes, we will showcase you with all of them. This is perfect, and with the setting sun behind you it will look epic. And then in the interview you can talk about your weapons history. People eat that stuff up with war deities." She stated excitedly as she continued to send messages on her phone. At the sound of a message received she looked up at me with an even bigger smile than before. "The editor is all for it. They said to have your weapons in both the sun set shoot and the night shoot."

The Elevator dinged as we reached the top floor and were bombarded with people ushering us out and into a room with three salon chairs and tables full of hair and make up items.

Rachelle followed in behind us with her phone to her ear talking to someone about our costumes and telling them I need something to accommodate weapons. I tried to look around but the guy who began to do my make up told me firmly to sit still while he began to put stuff all over my face.

"Some moisturizing primer." He explained as he applied it before picking up another product and applying it to my eye lids. "Eye primer."

As he worked on my make up, another person was working on my hair, spraying product on it and brushing it through evenly as they heated up a curling wand. It felt so odd to have all this done to me. I had never really been that big on doing my hair and make up. I wasn't even that good at it.

I followed instructions of the guy doing my make up as he told me to open or close my eyes and to pout my lips. I wasn't sure what exactly that meant but I must have done it because he didn't say anything as he began to line my lips with a pencil before filling it in with some liquid lipstick.

"We ready? They want her on the roof before the sun is gone." Rachelle asked, appearing in front of me. Hair and make up backed up from me and nodded to Rachelle in answer. Before I could even look at myself in the mirror behind me Rachelle was leading me quickly to the door and up some metal, industrial style stairs to the roof. I barely noticed the other goddesses in the living room space getting ready with their own hair and make up teams. I did unfortunately notice Anne glaring at me, not real shocker.

On the roof was a ton of costumes and a sheet blocking off an area I assumed was meant to be the changing room. Rachelle led me over to the Photographer who gave me a once over before calling out a number to the lady next to the costumes.

She pulled a hanger and grabbed me, pushing me behind the sheet, telling me to undress and put the costume on.

It was a two piece, with a haltered corset and a long peasant skirt. White and covered in pearls around the waist band and the bodice. The lady helped me into it without messing up my hair and make up then handed me a pair of lace up sandals, helping me lace them up perfectly.

When she led me back to the photographer, he again gave me a once over before nodding approval and asking me about my weapons. I let out a breath and summoned them like I had practiced in class earlier.

"Oh yes! Let's see you hold that sword over here on the edge," the photographer instructed me as Rachelle led me to the spot they wanted me on. "Yes! Like that! Show me a fierce look. I just stole your man but you know you can smit me with ease. Let me have it!" The photographer called out.

I gave them my best version of what I figured they wanted and it seemed to be working as they cheered me on and praised my expression.

"Yes, perfect Goddess. Now show me that whip. I've been bad, you need to punish me. Show me the true meaning of being a Goddess of love and war. Give it to me." They called out to me. "Perfect! Beautiful! Amber! Thirteen!"

At the call of another number the costume lady rushed to me and pulled me back to the sheet and handed me another costume. This one looks like something from the old Xena show I remember some of the girls at the group home watching when we got TV privileges.

The shoot went on like that until the sun was fully behind the horizon and I was led back down the metal stairs and into a den where a lady and a camera sat waiting. An empty chair across from her.

"Hello, Goddess Hadria? I'm Natasha, and I'll be doing the interview with you tonight. Go ahead and have a seat here. Can we get you anything? Water? Sparkling or flat?"

"Oh, just plain ole water I guess." I reply, sitting in the chair. As I sat, another girl with a headset on gave me a water bottle before ducking behind the camera.

"Okay, we are going to get started now. In five, four, three, two..." The girl pointed to us silently and the red light on the camera lit up.

"So Hadria Blake, I'm told you are an anomaly. While most gods today are either one or two specialties, you are a deity of all. What exactly is your blood line? I've never heard of the Blake line." Natasha gets right into it.

I sip my water and nod. "I actually don't know my bloodline. I grew up in foster care and was given the name Blake. When I was found all I had was a white gown with the name Hadria stitched into it. I was only a few weeks old at most and from what I was told by my case worker, they searched for any family to claim me for months before giving up."

"Oh wow! And this was where?"

"Wichita, Kansas."

"And how was it growing up in a foster care? Did you have good foster parents? Were you treated well?"

"So, I was in a few different homes. They tried to adopt me but something always happened that prevented it. At about thirteen there was a shortage of foster families and I was placed in a group home with other girls. It was only supposed to be there till a new family was available to take me in, but I ended up there until Professor Malachi came and brought me to Deitus Academy just a few days ago."

"That is terrible. What would you have to say about the foster system then?"

"If you have the means and the patience and the heart, apply to be a foster parent. There are so many kids who need a safe place to call home. And if you can, adopt and make the home permanent. I know that a few of my foster parents wanted to adopt me. I just wish that what ever stopped them hadn't so that I could have had that stability."

"That is beautiful Hadria. Now, I saw in your photoshoot that you have some weapons. What can you tell us about them?"

The interview went on for about two hours. I explained the history of my weapons and was met with inquiries of if I had any intentions of visiting the underworld since my weapons came from there. I didn't exactly know how to answer that question, so I simply stated that I only had plans to study and learn how to properly and safely use my gifts to better the world.

After my interview was complete, I was lead out to the balcony where the photographer had relocated and did my best with the second portion of my shoot with the night sky. Once I was done I was exhausted and ready to get back to school and just sleep, grateful that it was a Friday and there would be no classes in the morning.

"You did so good!" Tamera told me as we filed into the elevator with Aine and Rachelle. Rachelle was on her phone again, tapping away at messages before she smiled at us.

"So the photographer was so pleased with the shoot. The editor saw the shots and is excited. The interview went well and the whole foster care thing, GOLD. We are already talking to your publicist about doing a fundraiser in your name for the foster system."

"A fundraiser?" I asked confused.

"We do them sometimes. Don't worry, all they want is for you to show up. You may have some rich people ask you some questions and fawn over you just to say they met with a goddess. If I can't come with you, I'm sure Chloe or Candy can. That or Ally and Lily, they do fundraisers all the time with their mom and dads." Tamera explained.

All of this was so new to me and I felt like it all was just being thrown at me. I never realized how much publicity deities went through. Then again, maybe I should have realized it given how often I've seen them in the news.

When we reached the school, I followed through with my desire of going to bed. I didn't even bother to wash the make up off my face before falling face first into my pillow. I was asleep before I knew it.