"Why are you not commencing the regular program as with all the other demi-gods?" asked the brawny man.
"I have been advised that I am too weak to keep up with that program. I need to work on my fitness before I can commence combat training. I also have been told that my powers need time to develop before they can be trained and assessed" she responded.
"Powers?" asked the dark scowling fellow.
"Heal the earth" she said. Yay, something I can do.
"Any others?"
"Not yet" she said as the ethereal woman smiled at her warmly. Bugger!
"Are you able to provide us with a sample of your work?" asked the elven woman.
"I didn't bring anything. Even if I had pencil and paper it would take about thirty minutes to produce a result" said Ali.
"There is a request for the gifts of speed, self healing and power transmission. As they appear to be required in the course of your chosen work, it is approved. There are also attached requests for early deployment of these gifts. We can perhaps grant you speed now. All in agreement say aye" instructed the elven woman.
Each administrator provided their 'aye' vote.
"The ayes have it. You power of speed is granted. Put this disk to your temple to download the power. The rest of the power requests will be duly processed for early deployment and should be delivered to you within twelve to eighteen months" stated the elven woman. She waved her hand lazily and sheets of papers and pencils appeared before Ali.
Ali put the disk that appeared in front of her to her temple and felt the power surge into her. "Who would you like me to design for?" asked Ali.
"You choose" instructed the dark scowling man.
Ali concentrated on each person in the group and chose the most difficult design. She sketched rapidly, page after page of technical specifications before choosing final designs.
"I have chosen to design for the elven lady. It is an ear cuff made of pink mother of pearl. The designs I have included are taken from some famous elven artifacts from a book I was shown recently. I only know a few of the most famous artifacts so I know I need to expand my knowledge of designs from the different cultures in each realm. I have provided a variety of ear cuff designs to choose from. Attached to each ear cuff are technologies to assist in your organization skills. Information is able to flash quickly in your peripheral vision so you are barely aware of it. Time, scheduling, notifications will be fed automatically into your cuff by connecting it to your organizers. I have kept it to a more modern feel and without ostentation as is the lady's style preference. Please browse over the designs. Ali passed the papers to the inbox and each administrator perused their copies while Ali waited.
"This technology will work?" asked the brawny man.
"Yes, as I advised" said Ali.
The elven woman gasped as she located a particular design. "One of these designs is deeply meaningful to my family" she said.
"I gift the copyright of these designs to you. It was designed for you and you are welcome to use it as you see fit" said Ali.
"I accept" she said resolutely.
"We did not expect someone from your realm to be aware of such technology" said the small wiry man suspiciously.
"I was home-schooled by my grandma; she is a smart and well-traveled lady. My family are islanders who have a history of trade with various cultures in our realm. I was raised in a small casino town in a distant desert outpost with the most basic of technologies. We still ride steeds and communicate through telegraph. We were excited to hear that it is only a matter of time before we get electricity and steam trains. It is a basic way to live because we are so isolated and information from the outside world is slow in coming. Much of what I learned was from my grandma and books shipped in for my schooling. I know I have a lot of catching up to do but I am a hard worker and a dedicated student. I will prove my worth" stated Ali.
"It appears your design is a success with our chairwoman" said the brawny man.
"The demi program isn't so difficult or as academic as the god program. I am sure you will do well" said the ethereal lady.
"Vote to approve application to demi program. All those in favor say aye" instructed the elven woman.
The chorus of ayes were sounded out.
"I have a pet with me. A mountain lion to be exact. I was told that it is possible to be allocated appropriate accommodation?" she asked. Please, please, please!
"We cannot allocate you to a dormitory with such a pet; however, we do have several cottages around the campus village. They are usually reserved for students in the god programs. However, we have one applicant who has signed up as the goddess of protest. She refuses to have anything to do with 'man-chasers' and wants someone with more serious ambitions. Her application for accommodation also demands 'no-one conservative, snooty, vain or self-righteous'. As an artistic person with your background, I think maybe you two would get along better than anyone else. This is the address of your accommodation. I believe she has already moved in. Just let her know you are her new roommate. We will advise her to expect you soon. Her name is Gramma. G. R. A. M. M. A." she spelled out slowly and carefully.
"Thankyou very much" said Ali as she picked up the note with the address that appeared in front of her. As she stood to go she noticed various administrators shaking their heads and smiling wearily. As she left she heard the ethereal woman say quietly "Oh, that poor, poor girl. I think she may struggle a bit even with the demis. Maybe we should mark her gift allocation as urgent."
Ali exited the room and approached Agenor.
"How did it go?" asked Agenor
"I think they believe I am an imbecile" said Ali.
"Good, good" said Agenor vaguely.
"I have an address for my new accommodation. Do we go there first?" asked Ali.
"Yes" he said as he looked at the paper. "I just need to see someone over at the entrance. They have just walked in. I will introduce you" he said and began to walk quickly to the entrance of the building.
As Ali walked on the smooth polished marble her moccasins slipped and slid until she fell heavily on her butt. Fuck-a-duck! Agenor stopped and turned in bemusement. Everyone in the hall was staring at her until a tall burly man wandered over to a nearby woman and quacked at her. Laughter broke out and more men began to quack at passing women. Ali struggled up and whispered to Agenor "What did I do?"
"They can hear your thoughts, my dear girl. You haven't learned to block your thoughts" said Agenor.
"No-one ever mentioned thought-reading" insisted Ali crossly. Bugger! Oh crap! Shit! Shit! Shit! Calm down, stop swearing! Breathe.
"The administrative council has truth tellers to determine if the applicant is being honest. That is why I advised you to be honest in your answers" he said. "It is of little consequence, few people are here and it is already understood you are weaker than most" he said.
"Can we go, please" pleaded Ali. "I can't seem to walk on this part of the marble floor without falling over" she said.
"Of course, my dear girl" replied Agenor. "You will wish to inspect your accommodation?"
"Yes, please" insisted Ali.
The marble hall filled with quacking men, blushing women and plenty of laughter disappeared and they were standing in front of a small cottage positioned across from the marketplace square. Agenor knocked and the door opened. They entered and the door closed behind them.
"Hello" called Ali. "Gramma, are you there? It's Aliandra."
"Hello Ali dear. I will be your new roommate. Everything settled Agenor?" asked grandma.
"Yes. All formalities are complete. I will leave you to explain to Aliandra" said Agenor.
"Yes, grandma, you will have to explain what is going on?" demanded Ali.
"First, I can only provide an explanation when you learn to block your thoughts. We cannot risk having our secrets spread far and wide. That is why we have kept so much from you. If you want answers you have some work to do" said grandma.
"Everyone ca
n hear my thoughts and you didn't tell me" said Ali outraged.
"We had to demonstrate how weak and backward you were. We didn't want the admin council to identify you as any type of threat. All our efforts are aimed to keep you safe and alive for the duration of your training" said grandma.
"Mission accomplished there. I have also made a complete laughing stock out of myself in the marble hall" insisted Ali.
"I couldn't be that bad, Ali" responded grandma.
"Are you Gramma, my 'goddess of protest' roomie?"
"Yes, clever isn't it. Grandma and Gramma. It doesn't matter if you get mixed up they sound the same. Thought blocking lesson number one starts now before anything else is explained."
"Ali, picture tightening the lid over your mind. Turn it clockwise. Is that working?" asked grandma.
"You tell me" for the hundredth time.
"One hundred and one then" said grandma. "Maybe you need a different sort of seal" grandma pondered.
"How about I solder my mind shut?" said Ali grumpily.
"Try again with the twist lid. It usually works. Try turning it anti-clockwise a bit and then turn it clockwise" instructed grandma. "How about that?"
"I think it starts to work but then the lid pops off again" explained Ali.
"That may be because you are frustrated and are literally blowing your lid" said grandma. "You are right we are going to have to solder the lid on firmly since you are so touchy. You have to relax and not get too cross while you solder it down. Gods usually have this mastered by the age of six. Just focus and get the job done." Eventually Ali fixed the mind blocking lid in place and it didn't budge even when grandma tested it by deliberately aggravating her. Grandma then waved her hand and cups of tea appeared in front of them.
Chapter 16
"Now we speak. Our secrets are important for your safety. First, you are not mortal-born. Your real mother put you into our care and to be raised by mortals to protect you. She is from the oceanic realm. Your father is from the earth realm but has only recently been told of your existence. You cannot know their identities yet but at the right time I will advise you of your genealogy." she began. "Second, I am the titan, Gaia, goddess of the primordial earth. I am not your true biological grand-mother, we are more distantly related. I will continue to oversee your education and development. Third, if certain gods knew who you were then you would be quickly targeted for execution. You would have many enemies bent on destroying you. You must continue to keep a low profile and appear to be the weak mortal-born nymph. We will protect you but you will also have to learn to protect yourself. Fourth, You are not quite as weak as we wanted to make out. Since you are water and earth, we decided to raise you in the desert to limit your early development by keeping you away from your healthy elements to avoid detection. An unexpected side-effect of this is that you already have enormous capacity because we kept you weak and worked you hard through childhood. We intend to continue increasing your capacity as long as possible because when you do power up your capacity will stabilize" Gaia sipped her tea.
"Fifth, much of your schoolwork was already academic god study. During your keening the 'schoolwork' problems you solved could not be resolved by the keenest minds in all the realms. You will do all the coursework for the god and demi-god programs. Finally, I have something here for you that will provide you with all the time you need to work, study and sleep. It is called a dimensional window. I cannot enter it because my presence is necessary in this plane of existence. I have the instructions to use it on this disk. Once you enter the window and close it behind you then you can spend as much time as you like in the window and when you re-enter this reality plane it will be as if no time has passed. There are connecting portals that lead you to other realms. One of which is a planet in the distant past that has been prepared for your use. If you need time to think and relax just enter the window and take as much time as you need." Gaia passed Ali a round pink gemstone and instructed her to put it in her naval where it attached itself. Then she touched the disk to Ali's temple and instructions tumbled into Ali's mind and filed themselves away. "The pink gem is also a storage facility; you will be able to store armor, shields and weapons in it for later retrieval. Gaia finally sat quietly sipping her tea and let Ali absorb the information.
"Won't they expect you to be doing the god program as Gramma?" asked Ali.
"The great creator god has powered me up so that I can appear as young as I wish for this task. Since the war of the gods, titans have been kept powered down and on a tight leash by the Olympian counsel. When gods are disempowered they look older and this charade of me appearing older has quelled their suspicions. Now I will take this form of Gramma, the annoying student goddess, while you study both programs" grandma waved her hand and instantly appeared as a young hippy with long auburn hair. "The administrators are used to plenty of deception in regard to student identities and it is often expected because of the nature of our culture. As long as you are able to do the final examinations they will not protest the results."
"Why are you doing this for me?" asked Ali.
"Since the end of the war my children, the titans, have been cruelly treated by the Olympian gods. My girls have been released but many of my boys remain locked away, disempowered and routinely punished. You are prophesied to bring justice to the god realms. We believe there are various prophesies concerning you that will make you allies in the god realms to assist your quest for justice."
"Themis is the goddess of divine justice already" said Ali.
"Themis has sworn fealty to Zeus and Hera, she has tied her own hands by doing so. She is now unable to hold the counsel or any of Zeus's allies accountable for their crimes because of her oath to obey Zeus. You are now destined to bring justice to the god realms and stop the endless cruelty and corruption we now suffer. We prepare you to stand up to Zeus and not swear fealty to him or the counsel at your debut. Only then will you be able to set up an independent court that may hold all gods accountable for their crimes without fear or favor. You must continue to appear to be weak to your enemies right up to debut so that you can draw them out and strike them down when they attack you. Until then, be friendly to all but trust no-one unless I say so; not your tribal family, best friend or boyfriend. You must always refer to me as Gramma from now on" stated Gaia.
"The tribal gods called you my great-mother but assumed it was their way of saying grandmother. They already knew who you were?" asked Ali.
"Yes" answered Gramma.
"What is the next step?" asked Ali.
"Since this is to be our home for the next nine years, let us set up this cottage to our liking. As a goddess, there is much that I can do to make your surroundings more pleasant and comfortable for you. It cannot be obvious to casual guests, so we will keep the main rooms looking rustic but homey. Let us start with the attic and making a place for Rom to prowl around" said Gramma.
They climbed the stairs to the attic and surveyed the small shabby room. I can extend any room as much as you want but I think we will make this an entry to a lovely forest with space, streams and plenty of fresh air that nymphs yearn for. Gramma waved her hand and the room transformed, the ceiling became sky and in the distance, beyond the forest, were mountains. The floor transformed into a grassed forest floor
"Rom will love this. Thankyou Gramma. Do we set my desk up here?" she asked as she pointed to the nearest corner.
"I will set you up in a house with servants. Point out where you want the house situated" instructed Gramma.
"Do I have to have servants?" asked Ali.
"I insist" stated Gramma "You must focus on the tasks ahead without concerns for the details. Your servants will be elves and you may trust them."
"Just a small shelter to protect us from the elements. Maybe with a balcony?" asked Ali.
"Done" said Gramma as a large log mansion appeared overlooking the lake. Gramma waved her hand and a beautiful female elf appeared before them.
"This is Ami
rael. She is your personal assistant and in charge of running your home" stated Gramma. "You will go to your house to eat your meals. Rom can hunt here or be provided his meals here too. If you need any information for your studies Amirael will collect it for you."
Amirael bowed to Ali and disappeared as Gramma waved her away. "You will need elvish languages. I have a large information disk with cultures and languages of all the realms with which you will begin for your studies. I want you to pay particular attention to god culture and the nature of our hierarchy. As you develop it will become more difficult to drain your power. It seems you automatically begin to absorb mass to use as power when you rest. When your power accumulates at too fast a rate you will be able to teleport and perform other basic god skills. Don't worry when that happens, it will seem like a natural development of your weak nymph powers. Continue to drain your powers at least every day" ordered Gramma.
Aliandra: nymph: Book 1 The Nymph chronicles Page 8