Chapter 2: The Meeting

University of Magic and Dark Arts (UMDA), a prestigious university in the underworld where demons, angels, supernatural creatures and even gifted mortals come together to practice their special gifts given to them during birth. It may sound and look like your typical university but there are courses provided for these students, in which they are grouped together as to their own kind and fitted for their capabilities.

However, there is one course that is specifically taken only by those with special cases or to whom we call them as "Gifted Mortals course". These gifted mortals are human beings that came from the surface above, they are gifted for they have a special case of being born with a persona as their past life, in which the persona passes down their magic veins to the next successor. There's only a ten percent of having this chance, so the course only has a few students each year but the director of the university decided not to close the course and would still accept students for this course even for a very small number of students.

One of the students for this course is Philomina, a girl with black shoulder length hair and dark brown eyes. She is the successor of the goddess of wind and considered to be the gentlest wind, Zephyr. With Zephyr as a her predecessor, Philomina can control the wind element. Before entering UMDA, she was living her life as a high school student, but a neglected student at that. She only have a few friends from the surface above and was a victim of the high school bullies. Resulting to her current self as shy, quiet and using her sharp tongue to protect herself from others. When she and her parents were visited by a messenger with an invitation letter to UMDA , all of them were shocked of the capability that she has. Her mother decided to reveal everything to her, about the family bloodline and their background; everything made sense to Philomina like the puzzles have come together to present the big picture.

She already lost count of how long she has been in the underworld, there are times that she misses her parents and her friends but she has no regrets on entering UMDA. It is a place where she felt belonged and free, not thinking of what others see her. And she made some friends here as well, Reine, Vian and Yen. Getting lost in a huge university while looking for the dorms is what fate has brought them together as friends.

Philomina slowly opened her eyes and she noticed sunlight coming from her window and her terrace door. She slowly got up from her position and look at her room; the dormitories of UMDA are provided for every students and grouped according to their course as well. In each room, the owner of the room can picture the things that they want for their roof on the very first stay there. In Philomina's room, her bed is located near the door to the terrace, she has three wall cabinets for her clothes, armor for practical tests and weapons as well. She also has a fifteen inch television connected to the wall and two desk filled with video games, consoles and books as well. Philomina got out of her bed and did some short stretches before going out to her terrace, where her small garden is located; filled with budding flowers and herbs, she stayed at her terrace for a while looking at the view from her room.

'That premonition from last night.' She thought and remember her dream last night; two men fighting, an arena, her closest friends were there as well. Her thoughts were cut off when she heard a knock on her door.

"Philomina, are you awake?" A soft voice came from the front door of her room. She went there to open the door and revealing,

"Morning Reine." Philomina showed a small smile to her friend, Reine; a girl with black eyes and long black hair that reached the floor. She is one of Philomina's friends and another student from the gifted mortals course. She is the successor to Freyja, the Norse goddess of Life, queen of Asgard and leader of the Valkyries. And because of that, Reine can control the Ether element or anything that deals with Life.

"Good morning Philomina. I see that you are not ready to go to our class." She said looking at Philomina from head to toe, seeing her friend is still in her pajamas; gray oversize t - shirt and green shorts. Philomina scratched her nape and said,

"Hehe... I was just at the terrace. I'll just change clothes, give me a few minutes."

"Yep, yep. I'll wait for you outside the dorms." Reine said and started to walk down the corridor.

"Thanks Reine!" She replied and quickly closed the door and went to her cabinet and grabbed her uniform. The UMDA will give you a choice if you want the style of your skirt, if you want it with frills and petticoat, long skirts, pencil skirt any style you want as long as you follow the rules given by the director. Philomina started wearing her uniform starting with her purple pleated skirt, that reached above her knee and wearing cycling shorts underneath, then her white blouse tucked in and tying her ribbon and lastly would be her coat that matches the color of her skirt with the logo of the university on her breast pocket. Then she shoved her phone, books for the subject today and notebooks inside her backpack, placing her backpack behind her while getting a pair of socks and her shoes as well then she went out of her room and locking it, making a dash downstairs. At the entrance of their dorms, Reine is there standing in her uniform as well but her skirt is with frills and petticoat making look cute and puffy.

"I'm sorry for making you wait for me." Philomina scratched her nape while apologizing to her friend.

"Its fine Philomina. Let's go to our class, Yen and Vian are already there." She replied and the two friends started to walk side by side to the main building of UMDA for their first period. While walking and chatting, the two friends were stopped by an announcement by the PA system,

"Good morning students of UMDA. This announcement is for the gifted mortals course. May I ask all of the students in the said to be in their classroom for a meeting with your advisor. I repeat..." Reine and Philomina looked at each other then,

"Do you think something happened?" Reine asked Philomina then she checked her phone and there was no message notification from Yen and Vian.

"Let's jus go there and find out." She replied and Reine just nodded her head and they walked a bit faster going to their classroom.

After climbing three flights of staircase, they finally arrived to their classroom. Three students are already there chatting with each other. Yen and Vian are together with one more student, hearing their conversation they are talking about the announcement through the PA system. There are a total of five students for the gifted mortal course, Yen noticed the door was open and she saw Philomina and Reine,

"Hey! Philomina and Reine you finally arrived!" She exclaimed with beaming eyes and a huge grin on her face. Yen is a friend of Philomina and another student from the gifted mortal course; a girl with gold eyes and a long white hair that is styled in a pony tail and her hair tie has feathers surrounding it. Being a successor of the archangel Gabriel, half of it actually; and her main element is light.

'Its so ironic that her main element is light and yet she is the successor of angel Gabriel's dark side. I still don't know how an angel can have a dark and light side.' Philomina thought to herself while looking at her friend, showing not a tinge of darkness from her attitude or even an aura. Philomina tends to observe people around her especially if they are new, due to her past experience in high school.

"Let me guess. Philomina was late again." Vian stated making Reine nod her head in response to that and Philomina cut off from her thoughts and chuckled lightly. Vian is also a gifted mortal course student; her long wine red hair was put in a messy bun and she has bright red eyes, she is the successor of Jezebel, a lot of people call her as "whore of Babylon" but apparently,

'Its a surprise that among the thirteen princes of hell, there is one woman among them. It was a common belief of people from the surface but seeing it in real life makes you question them.' Philomina thought to herself again while walking towards the small circle of students.

"Morning Reine, Philomina." An elegant girl sitting on one of the desk near Vian greeted the two girls. She's wearing the same uniform but the skirt is a pencil skirt just like Vian and Yen's skirt, instead of wearing a ribbon, she's wearing a choker that matches the color of the uniform's ribbon and necktie. Her long black hair is put in a pony tail with bangs but parted in half and she has bright gold eyes.

"Good morning Greta." Philomina and Reine greeted her back. Greta, a student in the gifted mortal course and the successor to Hel, queen of punishments and BDSM; has a great sense in the field of art and a genius in videography and cameras. And Greta's main element is dark earth, it focuses on the calamities and natural disasters.

"What do you think the announcement all about? Call us to go here immediately." Vian questioned out loud. Reine and Philomina place their bags on their seats and then join the three students.

"It could be something important for us." Philomina answered Vian's question. Then after a few seconds, the door opened and there revealed a tall, purple long hair man with purple eye but upon closer inspection of the eyes, an Emperania sigil; small crown with wings on both sides of the crown and a diamond below it. His chiseled face and expression is serious making it look like a person that you should not be messing with. He is wearing dark violet velvet fabric coat with swallow tail end and four gold buttons, white cuffs with gold cuff links, beneath the coat is a white long sleeve polo with white necktie. He is wearing white wool fabric pants and black knee high boots with a little heel.

"Greetings, students from the gifted mortals course. Please go to your seats for an important announcement." He stated as he entered the room and went to the desk in front of the students. And the group went back to their seats and sat down.

"I'm guessing there is no need for introduction, since you already saw me during your first day here in UMDA. But just for the heck of it, I am the director of the UMDA, Hyodo. Since your stay here in UMDA, I have observed that you are improving and learning very well with our curriculum. But there are going to be some changes for your case." Hyodo continued while gaining the attention of the students by looking at each other with puzzled and confused expressions.

"I will assure you that this will benefit you and will help you grow as well. You'll be having some changes with regards to your practical or training classes. I hope you still remember it." Greta then raised her right hand to catch Hyodo's attention,

"Yes, Greta. Do you have a question?" Greta stood up from her seat and then replied to him,

"Will we be able to get a training regime for this class?"

"Good question question. Actually I won't be the one who answer that. Since you'll be having your own mentors for this class. So, you training regime will be coming from them." Hyodo replied to Greta and then he cleared his throat and continued,

"That is why I called for this meeting to introduce you to your mentors, so they could discuss to you your training regimes." Everyone in the room has grins plastered on their faces after the announcement.

"I'm so excited for our training! " Yen exclaimed as she stoop up from her seat.

"Are we going to meet them today, sir?" Reine raised her hand and asked the question to Hyodo,

"Yes, you are. Your mentors will be the members of an idol group here in the underworld, the Seven Deadly Sins and one member from the Seven Virtues." Hyodo grinned at the students with even more confused faces.

"Seven Deadly Sins?" Yen muttered while looking at Philomina, who is sitting beside her, and she shrugged as a response that she doesn't have an idea.

"Seven Virtues?" Greta muttered as well, Hyodo raised his hand to calm the students' confusion for his announcement.

"These two groups are rivaling idol groups here in the underworld. Both groups have seven members. So allow me to introduce them to you one - by - one." Hyodo said while looking at the door where he entered, then one man entered the room. This man's chiseled face is presenting a cold and strict expression, his hair is golden brown and has golden eyes with black frame eyeglasses that are fixated on the book he was reading. His wearing white long sleeve polo shirt untucked from his pants, black and white necktie, navy blue wool pants and a black knee high boots. Without looking away from his book, he was walking towards near the podium where Hyodo is standing.

"He is a member from the Seven Virtues. Amon, you will mentor Vian. She is a successor of Jezebel. Vian, he will be your mentor for this school year." Hyodo said to Amon and Vian. The two said people looked at each other in silence and then Amon said,

"As Jezebel's successor, I have high expectations from you." His cold and stiff voice sends chills to everyone in the room making Hyodo chuckle lightly at them.

"As for Yen, Reine, Greta and Philomina, your mentors will be coming from the Seven Deadly Sins." As Hyodo said the group name, four men entered the room and they stood beside Amon in a straight line.

"Let us now continue with the introductions. For Greta, your mentor will be Baalberith. She is the successor to Hel." Hyodo stated and a man with blue eyes and curly blonde hair stepped forward. He is a bit taller than the other men in the room excluding Hyodo since both of them have the same height, he's wearing dirty white long sleeve polo that is pulled up to his elbows and two buttons are unbuttoned exposing a bit of his collarbone from his well - built body frame, black fitted pants and knee high boots that matches the color of the pants.

"Nice to meet you, Greta." Baalberith greeted shortly and bowed lightly to the students.

"Nice to meet you as well sir Baalberith." Greta stood up and replied back then bowed lightly to her mentor. Baalberith stepped backward and Greta sat down back to her seat.

"Next is for Reine, Lugh will be your mentor. Lugh, she is the successor to Freyja." Hyodo said and another man with dark indigo eyes wearing silver framed glasses and dark blue soft pointed hair stepped forward. He is wearing a white polo shirt untucked from his pants with black necktie and coat with a matching black wool pants and knee high boots as well.

"Its a pleasure to meet the successor of Lady Freyja." Lugh bowed and flashed a small smile to the students, makings the students' tension lessen.

"The pleasure is mine. Nice to meet you as well, sir Lugh." Reine stood up from her seat and greeted Lugh back while bowing lightly to him. After that, Lugh took a step back and Reine sat down again on her chair.

Philomina and Yen the only ones left that hasn't introduce to their own mentors. Yen leaned a bit towards Philomina and whispered,

"I'm scared of the guy with white hair. What's up with those ears?" Philomina was about to whisper back to Yen but then the white haired guy suddenly said,

"Is there something you want to say, human?" Making Philomina and Yen flinched in response to his sudden outburst.

"Ahem let me continue." Hyodo cleared his throat and the white haired man clicked his tongue and stepped forward and he continue to glare at the students.

"His name is Zagan and you will be mentoring Yen, a successor of angel Gabriel's dark side." Zagan's expression did not change from a while ago, he has bloody red eyes with spiky white hair that has a long tail end. His white polo is unbuttoned exposing his well - built chest and abdomen, grey ripped jeans for his bottom pairing it with black knee high boots. Among the other men in the room, he is the only one wearing an accessory like a pair of silver earrings with a matching silver chain as well. Not only that but his ears are above his head and a tail dangling behind him in which the fur matches the color of his hair.

"I - Its nice to meet you, sir Zagan." Yen stuttered then stood up slowly from her seat and bowed lightly.

"Hmph. An angel, huh?" He looked Yen from head to toe then he suddenly said,

"Okay, I already met her. Can I go back and rest now?" Zagan continued while yawning, Hyodo just stared at Zagan and the two had a short staring session and then Zagan said,

"Alright, alright I get it. Hey human, next time watch your mouth." He said coldly to Yen and took a step back. Meanwhile Yen flinched in response to his voice and sat back down to her seat.

'Poor Yen.' Philomina thought while patting her friend on the shoulder.

"And lastly, for Philomina." Hyodo said catching the attention of Philomina. Then the last man on the line stepped forward. He has maroon colored hair with a bit of spikes but still looks soft and bright red eyes. He is wearing a white polo, two buttons are undone, with its sleeves pulled back up to his elbows and black fitted pants with matching black knee high boots. Zagan's not the only one with ears and tails, his ears look softer than Zagan's ears and then his tail is sleek and thin like a cat.

"The leader of Seven Deadly Sins, Paimon. Philomina, he will be your mentor and Paimon, she is your student and a successor of Zephyr." Hyodo stated and then Paimon bowed light to the students and said,

"Its so nice to meet you, Philomina. I hope we do well for this training." He grinned at Philomina who's eyes are wide from the guy in front of her,

'There's no way... He has the same name and appearance from the guy in my dream.' Philomina thought to herself and trying to gain herself from her lost thoughts, she bowed lightly to him.

"Ah... Yes, its nice to meet you as well, sir Paimon." She said slowly and looked up towards Paimon who is still grinning at her.

'What is going on here?' She still can't believe what she is seeing in front of her. Philomina is in for a ride for this training session with her mentor, that just so happens to be the same guy in her dream.