A Lesson in Ancient Deities (Classroom thread open to all)

[Zora]

Whistling softly to himself, Noel Sinterklaas, professor of Ancient Mythology entered the empty classroom that he shared with a few other teachers at the Academy, mostly geography and social sciences, but from what he could tell from what was written in chalk on the blackboard today, ancient languages, Medieval Latin to be more specific.

Erasing the blackboard, Noel then picked up a piece of chalk and proceeded to write the title of today’s lesson, and the topics they were about to discuss:

Mesopotamian Deities

The Triad of Heaven and the Primordial Beings

Who are they?

Their influence?​

When he was done, Noel put down the piece of chalk, clapped his hands together to remove any chalk dust, and turned around to open his notebook to see if he had written down everything he wanted to talk about. Satisfied that he had covered everything, Noel looked up and saw the classroom was still empty. Wondering what time it was, he pulled out his pocket watch, flipped it open, and saw that there was still seven minutes before his class started.

 

[Wolfie]

Hal was rushing through the corridors of the academy, dodging students as he made his way to class. There was still some time before his lesson actually started but Hal liked to arrive early. Being early was on time; being on time was late; being late was unacceptable. Whatever Hal did, he tried to do his very best at it, whether that be his school work, being kind to people or even just cleaning up. There was often a time where he would use a toothbrush to scrub the baseboard of his room.

Today's lesson was with Mr Sinterklaas - ancient deities. Hal, himself, was a creature that humans considered to be purely in myths and yet he was real. The concept of mythology was the work of fiction in the narrow reality but it was, in fact, simply history; or so he had heard. Most of what he had learned seemed plausible based on what he had seen on the island so who's to say not all of it was? It was hard to find a topic that didn't interest the young dragon and his upcoming lesson was not an exception.

Entering the door, he gave a friendly smile to the teacher. "Good morning Mr Sinterklaas," he greeted as he paused for a moment to observe the words on the chalkboard. Finding his seat at the front, Hal got out his books and stationary and waited patiently for the rest of the class to join and for the lesson to start.

 

[Dreams]

Rose and Azalea wandered into the classroom tentatively with five minutes to spare. They were wearing short-sleeved summer dresses with leaf and floral motif lace around the collar, sleeves, and skirts, which rested loosely around their knees. As usual, they were color-coordinated; Azalea's dress was the same aquamarine-blue as the streaks in her hair, and Rose's was a vibrant crimson. The pair wore little else (and they were in fact barefoot) save cotton cords on each of their necks, with a single medium sized feather attached to each as a pendant, Azalea's gray, Rose's pure white.

The twins walked past the rows of seats and approached Noel.

"Er...are you Noel Sinterklaas?" Stepping forward and smiling politely, Rose gave a small bow. "Rose Snowflower. My sister Azalea and I are college students, but one of our professors said we needed to brush up on our basic historical knowledge, and that sitting in on your lectures might help. Would that be alright with you?"

Azalea said nothing, but smiled shyly at Noel.

 

[Zora]

Noel smiled warmly as the first student entered the classroom and took a seat near the front of the classroom. The shock of blue hair made the student unmistakable. "Good morning to you too, Mr. Rukt'In, glad you could make it." Noel said in a cheerful voice as he greeted the student by his last name.

Minutes later, two young ladies appeared, both dressed in quite a colourful fashion, Noel didn't quite recognise them, but that was not uncommon as he often had students coming and going, even starting up in the middle of the year.

"Most certainly, Miss Rose, and Miss Azalea," Noel said as he greeted each sister with a nod, "please, do take a seat wherever you like," he said gesturing to the almost empty classroom,"I'd be delighted to have you two sit in on the class. And if you should require notes from previous classes, don't hesitate to contact my office or reception afterwards," he said with a welcoming smile.

 

[Dreams]

The twins both smiled and thanked Noel before turning to find a seat. Realizing the entire classroom--minus a single seat--was available to them, the pair paused for a moment trying to figure out where to sit.

After a few moments, Rose approached the only other student in the room, her sister trailing along behind her, and put a hand on the chair to the right of the one the blue-haired young man was sitting in.

"Mind if we sit here? I figure, we could be reclusive and sit far away from others on purpose, or instead we could meet someone new and have an interesting conversation while we wait for class to start."

"Um, assuming we're not bothering you, of course." Azalea added softly with a nervous half-smile.

 

[Wolfie]

Hal was unsure how he felt about being called 'Mr. Rukt'In'. On the one hand, it made him feel more important and older. Being less than a century old, members of his clan considered him only a hatchling and it annoyed him but this made him feel as though he wasn't a child. On the other, he felt like he wasn't worth the title; as though he was representing his clan. After all, he wasn't entirely dragon and no matter what people said, he still felt like his place in the family was fragile. Hal did not want to correct Mr Sinterklaas, though, not wanting to seem rude.

Two more people entered the classroom, both looking too old to be in the lesson. It made sense that they were in college and they seemed to be nice people from what he could tell. He smiled as they came over to inquire about sitting beside him. "Of course, you would not be bothering me at all," he reassured. Hal always strived to be polite and friendly to everyone, always having a welcoming expression on his face. "I am not sure whether the conversation will be interesting but you are definitely welcome to sit there anyway," he joked, moving his books slightly so he could turn to face them more.

 

[Dreams]

Rose and Azalea settled into their seats, Rose pushing hers a foot or so out from the table so that Azalea could look past her to Hal and everyone could see each other.

"My sister is the bold one, if you couldn't tell, but she forgets her manners at times." Azalea cast a playfully-admonishing glance to Rose, who just stuck her tongue out. "I'm Azalea, of Clan Snowflower, and this is my sister Rose, of the same."

Rose tipped her head in greeting. "We didn't get taught the same ancient histories and mythologies that people in the narrow reality do, see, mostly just history specifically important to our clan, so one of our professors suggested we sit in on some high school lectures to brush up." Rose pulled out a pair of brand new composition books and mechanical pencils from a school bookstore shopping bag, handing one to Azalea.

 

[Wolfie]

"I am Halcyon Rukt'In, but everyone just calls me Hal. It is nice to meet you," he greeted with a smile. He had never heard of clan Snowflower and they did not smell like dragons so he presumed that their species also had clans as his did. From the look of the two girls, Hal came to the conclusion that they must be elves or a type of fae.

"I am new to the histories too so don't worry. My clan has only recently embraced the rest of the world so there is a lot that is new to me," Hal explained. It seemed that their clans shared some similarities in that respect. They hid from the world up in the mountains, making it forbidden to learn of what lay beyond. Hal was happy that that was no longer a rule.

"Have you been on the island long?" he asked, trying to make conversation. Hal liked to just listen to people talk about themselves. Most people liked to do it and he learnt from them in the process.

 

[Dreams]

"Actually yes, we...mostly grew up here. We were only 40 something when we moved here from Ireland, so...I think the comparable age for humans would be about 10?" Rose looked off in the distance for a moment, thinking. "Back before the move, our mothers, the clan Matriarchs, seemed tense a lot of the time, and we had to stay in the Glade almost all the time except for when gathering food at the outer reaches of our former territory, because even with illusion magic there was too much risk of being discovered. We didn't have human shape charms, so a simple brush against a flower vine in our hair that shouldn't be there could arouse suspicion."

Azalea smiled somewhat distantly. "Suffice it to say we like it much better here. And now that we've passed a century in age we're finally considered adults in our clan, so we enrolled in the university to meet new people outside our family, and learn more about our own magic."

 

[Wolfie]

Hal nodded as he listened to Rose talk. He found it very interesting listening to how people of other races live and how it was not so different from the way he was raised. Before his own clan began to go out into the world beyond their territory, Hal knew very little of how people lived. His homeschooling taught him about the countries and technology but it could have never prepared him for when he saw it all with his own eyes. The only place he had known was just snow and mountains. The world beyond was so much more colourful.

When Rose pointed it out, Hal was intrigued by the vines and leaves that grew in the girl's hair. "I really like it here too. There is so much to see and do. Plus, a lot of my family is here now; even the ones that I had never met before." Family meant everything to the young dragon and having his reunited on the island made the place even more special to him.

After hearing that the twins were over a century, he was a little jealous. "I wish I was over one hundred... my family still treats me as a hatchling." He felt like they underestimated what he was capable of and he wanted to exceed their expectations. "Magic? That is cool. What kind of magic can you do?" he asked.