Chapter 21 – Senpai Bright (1)

After leaving the lounge where she met with Rain, Master Bright returned to her office to fill out his Academy paperwork, and sent him to shadow Aron. Ultimately, she'd agreed to his request to drive him to the Academy personally. 

Though she'd never admit it to anyone, she's actually quite looking forward to it now. This is largely because of his interest in discussing the history of Asphodel and the divine realms – an area she actively contributes to research in. Bright doesn't get a lot of chances to talk with people who are actually interested in that facet of her expertise. Mainly, they just want to gawk at the beautiful Demigod, or ingratiate themselves to a powerful Marked, both of which get on her nerves quickly.

While young Rain has also made several playful advances at her, despite their short time acquainted, his interest in her research seems genuine. In fact, she noticed that his expression was quite serious when making the request to discuss it, so it might even be his primary reason for desiring her company. As for trying to ingratiate himself to her because of her status as a Demigod, he seems wholly disinterested. 

'Strange...he's rather...odd...'

In fact, that is also part of why she accepted his request to drive him to the Academy later today – she's a little curious about him, for a few reasons. One is that he grew up without the city's protection, like her. Of course, he lived in the relative safety of the orphanage most of his life, while she lived in the Rim from birth until Marking, but she can still relate. The truth is, Rim dwellers surviving the Trial is even more rare than Rain is probably aware. In her ten years with the government, she's only seen one other case aside from Rain. 

A second reason is...she feels like he's hiding something, and Bright is rather curious by nature. It's what got her into the world of Asphodel research and academics. She's not sure what he's hiding exactly, but she knows it would be interesting to her. At minimum, she thinks that he saw or read something obscure in his Trial. It's strange for anyone his age, much less an orphan, to express such an interest in Asphodel history out of purely academic curiosity. The reason she thinks that whatever he learned is obscure is...Aron was questioned extensively enough that her underling thought it best to mention Bright's expertise. 

Another driver for her curiosity about Rain is his personality. She finds it...difficult...to characterize. From her perspective, she basically met three different versions of Rain. The first one is who she introduced herself to. That Rain was reserved, shy...he was like wet clay in her expert hands, being molded by her will with ease. A nicer person might have even felt bad for him, given how easily Bright was able to manipulate Rain. 

The second Rain was more confident, formidable. He made an appearance after she mentioned getting him a spot at the Academy. That Rain saw through her skillful manipulations, and even managed to earn a sliver of Bright's respect. Hell, she might go so far as to say she actually enjoyed that Rain's company, despite how annoying the change was at the time. 

The third Rain, though...he disturbed Bright. He was the Rain that emerged for only a few seconds, after she goaded him with the comment about growing overconfident from killing a Fallen or two. That Rain...the way he looked at her, his own shimmering eyes seemed to dim and make her feel like she was being pulled into a sinister abyss.

As his eyes seemed to darken, and his tone grew cold, her Ichor briefly reacted to him. He felt...dangerous...like something insidious was bubbling beneath his skin. It's one of only a few times she's actually felt a touch of fear since becoming a Demigod. The fact that a mere Champion made her feel that way, even if it has no merit, is enough to intrigue her. 

However, that dangerous version of Rain is also related to the final reason she's curious about him. He claimed he killed a Curse. Bright knows that it's absurd to read into that...even Rain openly admitted that it was a lie. And yet, that's part of what's bothering her. He could have said he killed dozens of Fallen in the Trial, and that would already be unbelievable. Throw in a Harbinger, and he's basically one of the most accomplished Trial survivors in the world. A Curse, though...you don't claim that as anything other than a joke. 

'So then, why did he seem so eager to confirm that it wasn't true? Why did he look more relieved when I first acknowledged it as a lie, than he did when I praised him for coming clean? Shouldn't it have been obvious that I'd believe it was a lie, but questionable whether I'd forgive such shameful boasting?' 

It's not like she thinks that Rain can actually kill a Curse with his bare hands or anything. However, any circumstances that would have allowed it to happen have staggering implications. In the simplest explanation, his patronage was a Relic so powerful that a nearly normal human could kill a Curse with it. More powerful Bloodlines tend to produce more powerful Trial Fel and receive more powerful patronage Relics.

Encountering a Curse and a weapon that could kill it are well beyond anything that's been reported in even Daemon Bloodline Trials before...so, just what would that say about Rain's Bloodline? 

'Curious, indeed. There's also the other matter...why didn't that work on him...?'

Lost in her thoughts, Bright flips over a paper document on her desk, smiling in amusement as she scribbles information onto it. 

*****

Rain's sitting in the passenger seat of Master Bright's PET, or Personal Electric Transport, as she pulls out of the military compound. To his surprise, Aron gifted him one of the skin-tight, black clothes sets that he and Master Bright wear – Rain has it in a small bag at his feet. Since his own clothes got ruined, and he's only got the grey tracksuit he's wearing, he's grateful for the gift. 

Rain leans his head against the PET's window, watching with intense curiosity as the unfamiliar urban landscape flies past him. Master Bright, however, seems to have other priorities. 

"So, are we going to discuss Asphodel's history, or are you just going to stare out the window? Honestly, I'm surprised to say that might be more offensive than if you just ogled me the entire drive." 

A faint smirk finds its way onto Rain's face. He turns his gaze back to the silvery Demigod, slowly running his eyes over her figure – partly because he had the petty urge to do so after her comment, and partly because...well. 

"I'm perfectly capable of multitasking, Master Bright, but yes. First, just to confirm what Chosen Aron told me – are we sure that there were only seven gods, and that their only children were the daemons, titans, demigods, and paragons?"

Master Bright pauses for a moment, seemingly giving the question serious consideration. Rain notes that her normally stoic expression cracks to reveal a pleasant smile as she thinks. Eventually, she nods, as if to herself, then answers in a confident tone. 

"I'd say that, in both cases, we're as sure as we can be. You can't ever truly prove that something didn't exist. However, we can say after extensive investigations of ruins across Asphodel and the divine realms that there are no known mentions of other beings that fit either of those categorizations. Any referenced beings that we have yet to fully understand have enough contextual information for us to conclude that they are not gods or their children. As a side note, while the gods referred to those four races as their 'children', it'd be more accurate to call them their sentient creations. In fact, while the titans and daemons were unique, it seems that the paragons and demigods were human first."

Rain's eyes involuntarily widen in surprise. He hasn't really given much thought to the...nature...of the gods having children, but Master Bright's explanation makes a lot of sense in hindsight. He's more than a little curious about her statement that paragons and daemons were derived from humans, but he's even more interested in another question right now. If those four races were the gods' only sentient creations, and they even used humans for half of them, then...

"Master Bright...I've never really considered it before, but...what do the runic records in Asphodel and other realms say about where humans came from? There were humans in those realms, too, right? But if the gods' children were really just creations, and humans aren't counted among them...it just makes me wonder about where we fit in with these larger than life beings."

An amused smile plays on Master Bright's lips, and she lets out a small chuckle before answering Rain's question. 

"That's the question...always has been, I suppose. I'm told that, when we finally found evidence of human civilizations in the other realms decades ago, the scientific community was in absolute disarray. Suddenly there were all kinds of credible theories that didn't paint Earth as the birthplace of humanity. Anyway, to answer your question, we still don't know all the details. However, the gods definitely didn't create humans. We've found multiple independent runic records quoting the gods that convey their fascination – their envy, even – with the emergence of humans, as if it was an event outside of their control. We don't know the details of how humans emerged, though; not even where or when."

Rain turns his head to look out the window of the PET, feeling the cool glass pressed against his forehead. His expression is twisted in thought, his strange eyes seeming to shimmer even more brightly than normal.

'That's...surprising. It sounds like even the gods didn't know where we came from. I wonder...'