The elder was indeed a woman, just like I had thought, which was a relief to me, because can you just think of the awkwardness that would have fallen upon me if I was completely wrong?
Phew! On that case.
The woman elder stepped forward; for a second, it seemed like she wasn't sure if she was believing what Odessa had just admitted to. The way she looked at her — it was really the look that parents usually give to their kids when they think they are sensing a lie.
Though all the elders had worn those robes or dresses that the Pope had usually worn, another thing was that I know after saying this, you guys might ask questions and assume that maybe I was just guessing, because one thing that was really weird was the fact that all of the elders had veils on their faces.
As you know — I'm sure you know how my mind works — I made a little joke in my head.
"What's with the veils, who died?"
The woman elder stared right at me, and the way I could feel her eyes on me, making me feel like she had just pierced through my mind. I didn't know why she did that, so I thought of the worst thing possible — I thought that maybe she might have read my mind and heard what I just said.
And before you start asking how could I know or even tell that she was staring at me because she had a veil on her face, well, one thing I can tell you is the fact that, since you know that in this world magic is the most important figure that we all have in fragments called mana, we can feel each other's mana. To us, it was like a scent — just like the one that dogs had.
I got uncomfortable. I didn't know what to do, and I didn't know how to act.
The other elder on the left was the one who asked me.
"Who are you, boy?" He sounded so serious.
"Oh, I— Uhm, my name is Persues Morningstar, your greatness." I bowed lightly.
Honestly, I wasn't planning on saying your greatness. The only thing that was in my head was not even close to your greatness. I almost said your elderness, which I doubt even exists, but because I heard how Odessa carried herself around them — no wonder why she was the chosen one. She was the one who carried and acted the way a princess should act.
The elder that had spoken to me came forth, and of course, I knew that I had to do the same, and so I did.
At first, nothing did happen. He just stared at me, just like how Odessa's elder was staring at her — I guess it must be the way they stared at us.
I was just a few feet away from Odessa, and all I witnessed was the elder putting her thumb on her forehead. At first, there was nothing on Odessa's head, and then out of nowhere, a white spot appeared — and the weird thing is that I had no idea where it came from.
All I just saw was that after the white spot appeared, the elder tapped Odessa's forehead three times with her thumb, and some kind of mark or symbol appeared on her head. I didn't know if I was supposed to see that or not, but I did manage to make out what was the thing on her head.
And as it turned out, it wasn't a mark; instead, it was a symbol, and if I remember correctly, that same symbol was the same one that I had drawn in the library — our family emblem.
Yeah, I think that's the right word for it.
Then Odessa's eyes turned white, just like exactly mine when I was doing the ritual, but the difference was that she had her eyes opened, and then the elder started to chant something I couldn't make out.
I just saw Odessa starting to float in mid-air; her head was facing up, and her eyes were rolling as if she had just been possessed. You think that's weird? Nope — here's the weird part. There were marks that looked like tattoos that had appeared all over her face. It wasn't something to be worried about — they were white.
Then I heard the elder say something that even now is still a mystery to me.
"Odessa, daughter of Markus and Evelyne, may you state your name?" The elder asked.
"My name is Odessa Morningstar," Odessa said her name.
"No, state your true given name," the elder asked again.
Odessa was quiet for a second, as if she was still trying to make a decision whether to state her name or not.
"My name is Odessa Morningstar, the daughter of Markus and Evelyne Morningstar, and my true name is Pandora, the Princess of Heroes," she introduced herself.
I had no idea what the hell was that all about, and of course, I had questions that needed to be asked, but one thing that bothered me was the fact that when she was introducing herself, it wasn't just only her voice — but it sounded like she was accompanied by another voice, a young but matured woman's voice, and it was so beautiful.
That was one of the things that bothered me, but one that stood out the most and was really a nuisance was the fact that I thought I knew that name along with its title.
"Pandora, the Princess of Heroes — where do I know that name? Because I know that I know it from somewhere, but I just can't remember where." That question felt like it was burnt inside my mind.
Everything cooled down after Odessa, or Pandora, or whoever she was now, had completed whatever that was. Now it was my turn.
Lucky for me, my elder was a gentleman, and he was kind enough to check and make sure that I was ready to do this.
"Are you ready to do this?" He crouched down.
"Yeah," I chuckled awkwardly.
He began the whole process too, and just like how Odessa's elder had her thumb on her forehead, my elder did the same thing. He tapped on my forehead too, three times, just like Odessa's elder.
The same symbol appeared, but mine was different in colour — it was kinda orange. My eyes turned orange, just like how Odessa's eyes did, and he began to chant this language I couldn't make out. I began to float in mid-air, and marks just like Odessa's were starting to appear on me.
"Persues, son of Markus and Kelana, may you state your name?" My elder asked.
Just as I was about to state my name — which, by the way, I think it's way cooler than Odessa's true name, but you won't know and find out about it just now, okay — because there was some sort of incident that eventually took place.
I still don't know if I was the reason behind what happened, because there was a disruptive shift in the atmosphere — a loud, thunderous boom that caused a rift out of nowhere.
The reason I am saying that I don't know if I'm the one who was causing it was because my marks were actually changing colour. Now they went from orange to dark red, and a rift opened — no, not just a rift — multiple rifts opened.
Each rift had appeared next to where all the elders were seated; it was dark black, just like how the clouds get right before a heavy rainstorm.
I couldn't see what was really happening, because I was still in my — I have no idea what to call it — but just know that I was in a trance. But one thing I felt, and it almost killed me since my senses were that heightened, was the malicious mana I felt.
Of different people — which meant that people came out of those portals — and all I heard were sounds of throats being slit open, and that was every single elder that was present.
"Well, well, well, did we make it in time?" A voice that dripped with a cool, calm, violent tone appeared.
Turned out that person had just walked out of the rift that had just appeared next to us.
That person was wearing a dark cloak that looked like it had the imprints of dying tree branches, and he wore a coal-like coloured mask that didn't have any features but just dark, hallowed eyes.
He wasn't alone, because another rift opened too, and another person walked out — but this one was different from him; this one looked like he was deformed in some sort.
All I could hear were disturbing chuckles.
After that, I really had no idea what happened after. Before I came back to it, all I saw were the heads of all three elders hitting the floor just like balls, and Odessa and I were in the hands of these gatecrashers.
But I did manage to see my mother, my father, and Odessa's mother running towards us. All I remember was me crying out loud for help.
"Mother, help me!" I reached out my hand while I was getting inside the rift.
"Perseus!" My mother called as she tried to reach for my hand, just as I was getting swallowed by the rift.