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"I guess I should call it The Inversion."

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"THE GREAT BATTLE," Mr. Ogustus began leaning against the table, twirling a felt pen in one hand, "between the so-called titans and the gods, between the Orisha's and demons, between light and darkness...." he trailed off bringing the pen down,

"A battle of the old and the new, of power as is always the case in battle, well, most battles. Better ones occur when one desires freedom, which is the only time when war becomes meaningful. However, the dangerous kind, that of a want of power only ends in one thing..." he looked at us, lowering his eyebrows, and "destruction."

There was a silence that engulfed us while he paused. It seemed to become a usual occurrence whenever Mr. Ogustus was teaching. I was yet to figure out his secret.

Claire and I arrived at class on time today. Given the fact that we already knew where our class was to be held, it was easy. Finally getting the window spot by the wall, I was happy to feel the light breeze as I watched him teach. One minute into the lesson and I was already hooked.

"Famine, diseases, droughts, wildfires, and floods... all results of the numerous attacks hurled at each other," he sighed, shoulders falling, "Humanity suffered losses, because of the shifts of power, of partial wins and partial losses on either side. Many gods fell, many titans perished, until finally, the 'good side' won" he air quoted good-side with a scoff, folding his arms,

"The thing is, there never was a good side. The gods had already been infected by the darkness. Things like wealth, lust, greed, power jealousy had taken fruit from deep within. They abandoned their steady pairs designed by The Designer, giving sight to that of luscious human women and deceptions- a word we shall indulge in our next class," he added when he spotted a hand going up.

Naaka's hand slowly went down as he continued,

"It was a shameful era. The gods were not as beautiful as mortals thought them to be. Taking wives, taking daughters. Cursing because someone happened to be better looking than the form a goddess was currently taking," he chuckled,

"All the little things. Praise from the people was required, along with sacrifices that did nothing but please their horrendous appetites, the so-called gods were falling from grace, like the guardians that ruled the earth before them, they failed their designer's creations."

I felt sad for a moment. It seemed like he was telling a very sad story, one that was painful to even speak about.

"Not everything that came out of that era was inherently bad, however," he suddenly added, sitting up straighter, "the gods realized that the offspring they had with mortals and beings from this world was different, a sort of combination." He grinned leaning in, "Listen closely Younglings, this is part where it gets good."

We chuckled at this but strained our ears as if they were not listening already, eyes watching his every move,

"a combination," he repeated, "of beings that had inherited part of their god-parents abilities, and these are those in this day and age we refer to as heroes."

My eyes widened at this information but bade my ears to listen on, he was about to explain something. Something I just knew would solve a piece of the puzzle that was Kingsland.

"You know the tales of Perseus, Theseus and of Hercules, perhaps some of you are yet to hear those of Imhotep one of the greatest builders in Egypt, Ntikuma, one of the wisest men to ever exist, The younger Orisha's, Tala, as beautiful as the stars, Saemingr and Yadhishthira, of the Norse and Hindu.." he trailed off chuckling at our dumbfounded faces.

"I want you to understand one thing," he began standing up as he walked toward the board jotting the word Dilectus down, "the Dilectus were many, and not the typical gods you believe. Not Zeus or Poseidon or Hades, "he chuckled.

"Not Athena or Hera...these may have been the prime gods but believe me the Dilectus were many more, spread across the seven continents of the worlds, some on forgotten lands like Antarctica living peacefully even to this day, forgotten but happy" he grinned leaning over his cane, "let's move back to our heroes shall we?"

No one replied but he took it as a confirmation to continue,

"Heroes..." he repeated, "as a part god by default they became stronger than the average mortal, though some had strength in abundance, Hercules," he whispered the hero's name with a low rumble, "others had wit, others could command forces of nature, make plants grow, talk to animals, breathe underneath the water, control the elements themselves as if they were gods, not at the same scale but enough to be rivals," he concluded

"And the prime gods realized that they could become a problem. Mortals who had abilities of gods?" he scoffed, "their power-deceived hearts would not allow anything to challenge their power, not even their own blood."

I glanced over at Claire as he said this, feeling like I was living in his stories.

"These new kinds of humans...were a result of the gods breaking their pacts with their pairs, falling for children of men as the guardians did so long ago, and like the guardians, The Designer had found a way to punish them, to show them the error of their ways," he paused.

"I shall speak of the prime gods, as there are prime titans. These are the firsts, the first of everything is known to carry the most power. The first creation of The Designer, the guardians, were more powerful than mortals, the first guardian was more powerful than any other guardian, the first mortals lived longer and even now, the firstborn is held in high reverence in some cultures. For the gods, the first created were two, male and female, and the first family they conceived is what we refer to as the Prime, the prime gods. The most powerful of all gods to ever exist in the universes."

Universes? How many were there?

"If there is one thing history turned mythology got right is the name of the first male, father of the prime, most powerful of all gods, I shall not reveal his real name as some secrets must never be told but I will mention a few he has gone by over the years. Olorun, Zeus, Dyaus, Unkulunkulu, Perun, Amun, Baiaime and so many more. He takes many forms and with each name, he shows a slightly different power, with different outward appearance, he is the father of many famous heroes also known as Demi-gods across all cultures to which I have already mentioned a few."

His eyes lingered on the middle of the class as he continued,

"The prime gods with, for tale's sake I'll stick with Zeus or Olorun interchangeably, realized that mortals born from gods and humans had genes so powerful that they extended for generations. It was then realized that in a matter of centuries, the world will have many heroes, and many heroes meant threats to the gods. Mortals have been known to not be faithful, first offering their praises to The Designer, then the Titans, then the gods as they came, and who was to say they would not turn their praise to heroes? So, it was decided it was too dangerous to allow all heroes to exist. So, there was a law passed in Olympus, one that affected the whole world.

Heroes would be allowed to live but the powers were taken from them to lay dormant inside them for all time. It was however realized that there were monsters that roamed the earth, those of titans and deceptions, like the hydra, the dragon that never dies, like the Kraken, the leviathan and so many more. So, one hero was allowed to exist per generation, one hero per continent. One that would save his people against the heathen beasts, not that the gods couldn't do it themselves, it was more like casting lots...a game for the gods. The heroes were then granted immortality or anything else they desired."

He stood up, writing something on the board.

The Selection.

"It was how the gods chose which one of their half-breed children would become...a hero," he trailed off, "of course each god chose his own, but there was always a tiebreaker," he huffed," and with the help of those that see the future the right heroes were given their powers even as they still formed in their mother's womb and to those that remained...The Conversion occurred."

I could hear the sound of people's breath hitching at the sudden revelation, eyes widening wider than ever before as we watched a sly-looking Mr. Ogustus chuckle at our reactions from the front of the class.

"I guess I should call it The Inversion," Mr. Ogustus corrected with a light scoff, "all the godly abilities of heroes were taken from them in this event, and their powers became the aura's Borealis, hidden in the northern skies by Zeus, in his domain, a place he knew he could keep an eye on, where no fallen or ancient could take, though many have tried. The Borealis is a tricky scape, but if you stay in that area long enough, you may be able to swipe a little." He chuckled after this.

"Then, that is, now they're just Borealis. During the Conversion, these powers were given back to those that have the blood of the gods running through them, even generations past, and that is why we call you Dilectus, an extended part of the ancient race that fell from the skies," he stopped as the bell rang, shoulders falling as he grabbed a mug from his table, hobbling out of the class whilst muttering, "Good. Just in time. I need some hot cocoa."

We watched as he left, stuck in awe, frozen in our seats. So that's it? The conversion was just a reversal? Converts were demi-gods?

My eyes widened doing a sweep of the classroom at my fellow frozen students. How can Mr. Ogustus drop a bomb like that and just walk away without any further comment?

Clair's mouth hang open, and my exact reaction reflected on her features.

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I hope you enjoyed the update! Leave a comment on your thoughts on the chapter, vote to boost the book if you're enjoying it! Feel free to leave me a comment or a question on my discord channel, (link in bio)

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