I turn to Ilina, and I see her smiling at me thoughtfully. She nods her acknowledgement to my questioning gaze and takes a breath before responding.
"To me, personally, you're just the man I love. However, what I know as 'human' is hard to apply to you. Regardless, I agree that identifying you as only 'non-human' to others won't suffice. I've given it some thought, and I think it needs to be a race that's believable for your situation, but with a history that the elves will view positively. At the same time, the race can't be too well known, or else it will be refuted. I still haven't decided on what would be best...any ideas?" (Ilina)
Ilina turns to the others as she poses the last question, and Nina's face immediately lights up.
"Ooh, ooh! We can say that he is a dragonid! Those are the rare offspring of Elder Dragons and humans. They look human, but they have the power of Elder Dragons. If we said that, on his home planet, his father was an especially powerful Elder Dragon, and his mother was a gifted mage, that might explain his power level and diverse magic. Plus, after our contract, he is similar to one, and he has the same eyes as me. If we're also telling everyone that I've chosen him as a mate, that will make his heritage even more believable. Fufufu...aren't I a genius?" (Nina)
I don't want her to be offended by the shock on my face, but...yeah. She's right, that is kind of genius. Did she really just come up with that on the spot? Or, has she been planning something I don't know about...
"Wait, seriously!? That's happened before!? Does that mean that you two will have human-looking children, and they're also going to be at least as strong as Elder Dragons!?" (Alara)
"If I was told this story at the beginning of our relationship, I would have believed it easily." (Zara)
While I eye Nina suspiciously, and her ego is slowly propelled to further heights by Alara and especially Zara, Ilina and Alto remain silent. Noticing this, I glance over and see them exchanging thoughtful glances. After a few moments, Ilina seems to make up her mind about something and shakes her head.
"I think that's a good idea to keep in mind, Nina, but it's not ideal for our situation. For one, it still leaves Mizuki being identified as half-human, which may be enough for the elves' prejudice to remain. Also, as Alara just demonstrated, the elves aren't aware of these 'dragonids' or their history, so they have no existing impression of them. If possible, we should try and come up with an alternative that the elves are at least somewhat aware of." (Ilina)
Alto begins nodding absentmindedly.
"Those are my concerns as well. That said, Nina, it was a brilliant suggestion. If we can't think of anything else, then identifying Mizuki as a dragonid is our best strategy." (Alto)
Alara is glancing between Nina and me frantically, probably wondering why we didn't address her question about our hypothetical children. However, something seems to occur to her, and her face immediately calms. Then, she faces Ilina hesitantly.
"Hey, Ilina...it's not like we have much information about them, but...do you think that we could pass Mizuki off as a Nephilim?" (Alara)
Ilina's face briefly twists in confusion, but then her eyes fly open wide in shock. She leans forward on her couch towards Alara, and inhales sharply.
"Alara, yes! Why...why didn't I think of that!? That's perfect!" (Ilina)
Well...I'm deeply confused. I glance around the room, expecting someone else to know what the hell they're talking about and explain it to me. However, Zara, and even Nina and Alto, look just as confused as me. Nina also looks a little miffed, probably because Ilina was more enthusiastic about Alara's suggestion than hers.
"Hmph...what is a Nephilim? I have never heard of such a creature, so it's quite hard to believe that it could be a better fit for Mizuki than what I suggested." (Nina)
Wow...she's not even hiding her pettiness.
"I agree...I'd like to consider myself well read, and I'm an elf just like you two, but I've never heard of such a race of people." (Alto)
Alara and Ilina turn toward the rest of us, and Ilina's eyes are alight with excitement. Seeing her sister's distracted gaze, Alara takes the lead with a nod.
"That makes sense...most elves haven't. It's only the high elves – those closest to the royal bloodline. In truth, the Nephilim are more of a myth at this point – so little information about their race has survived in elven record, especially after our transition to Azura. The only written story of them is mostly possessed by the royal family, and it's practically a fable. However, Mother, Tessa, and probably Darak would know that fable." (Alara)
Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one in the dark, at least. Still, for a race that's kept meticulous record of even their planetary transition and interactions with Azazel, that's a strange lack of information for the elves to have about an entire race.
"So, what does this fable say about them?" (Mizuki)
Alara looks to Ilina, as if urging her to answer, and Ilina nods excitedly.
"Well, I've told you before that elves were the only sentient race on our original planet. However, the story says that wasn't always the case. Countless eons ago, near the dawn of our very race, we shared the planet with the Nephilim. They were few in number, but ageless and immensely powerful. Perhaps even more so than Elder Dragons. In fact, they were known by another name – 'divine children' – and were rumored to be children of our original planet's god, Nedilir. Curiously, the fable describes them as looking like elves, but with strange ears and eyes like rare gems." (Ilina)
The implication that the Nephilim were essentially demi-gods is interesting enough, but that last part really catches my attention. Nina, on the other hand, looks almost offended by the implication that this race of Nephilim were stronger than Elder Dragons. I'm not going to give her the chance to digress this conversation though.
"So in other words, if ancient elves that new nothing of humans saw my power and emerald green eyes, they may very well have described me that way. Huh...I can see why you think this is a good cover story for my race. Still, if it isn't just a story, what happened to these Nephilim? It's hard to believe something that powerful could vanish from your people's history so thoroughly." (Mizuki)
Ilina shrugs.
"We don't know. The story only says that, almost overnight, all the Nephilim disappeared from our original planet without a trace. It's also noted that Nedilir used to visit the planet personally on occasion, but stopped doing so after the Nephilim vanished. For the same reasons you expressed skepticism, the story is often discounted as myth." (Ilina)
Well, I agree that it sounds suspiciously light on information, but...creation myths and other things of that nature are normally more detailed. Fanciful, even. Earth's stories of great disappearances that are shrouded in mystery like this often have some basis in reality. Perhaps the same is true here. Although, I shudder to think about how an entire race of people almost as strong as gods vanishes without a trace.
Regardless, while that's a promising lead for races I could masquerade as, it does leave one question unanswered...
"So, that all checks out in terms of me fitting the description of a Nephilim, but why would convincing the elves that I am one be particularly beneficial? If most of you don't even know about this fable, then I'm failing to understand that part." (Mizuki)
Ilina nods agreeably.
"You're right. The reason it would be beneficial is their reputation, known to those key elven nobles – particularly Tessa. Allegedly, like Elder Dragons, the Nephilim wielded strange, incantation-less magic that was unknown to the elves. They used this strange magic to bless the ancient elves with many wonderful gifts that helped our civilization flourish. For this reason, they were adored by the elves, to the point that some even worshipped them as gods. You see where I'm going?" (Ilina)
I can't help but let out a bark of laughter at the irony.