"Now, I have a question for you, young lady." He frowned, "What made you believe that I could be trusted?"
Under the intense stare of the elder man, she could feel a strong pressure pushing down on her much to her surprise. However, she replied with her honest feelings and facts, "Teacher isn't afraid of the virus or of the children of Hades while having lived for so long. If you had been faking your age, they would've found your whereabouts right away should you use any abilities. Even under these circumstances, you were able to defend yourself. You've even lived for this long. It's not a surprise that you had methods doing so."
The old man laughed, "Yes, yes. There aren't many of my generations left, but I'm not the only one still out there. Fine. This elder will teach you what he knows, but how will this young lady prove her background to me?"
She thought for a bit before she nodded, "This child was someone her father revived after she perished under one of the children's hands. After the body was disposed of and buried in the mountains, father threw a fit and took great length to bring this one back for a mission. He wasn't very 'pleased' with how easily we fell victim to the brainwashing."
The man's eyes widen with clear surprise. Basically, she was saying that she was revived after being caught, used and thrown away.
"After experiencing death, the brainwashing wore off." She replied, "But, I was unable to recall anything under the time I was used. However, because I must've caused harm, I agreed that I must get stronger and help the people harmed by me."
Teacher Xia was bewildered by her words and contemplated for a long time before he stared at her, and said, "You said you were brought back to life. I've heard that there was one method that could do it, but do you have the evidence?"
"Evidence?" She raised a brow.
The man switched the cane from his left to his right as he continued, "That's right. There would usually be a mark somewhere on the body when one is revived. Usually on the forehead or the chest. If I guessed correctly, this father of yours must be a phoenix."
Her eyes widen in surprise, "How...?"
"Only phoenixes have the ability to revive from the ashes since ancient times." the man responded matter of fact, "When done so, they would have a mark somewhere on the body once they have begun the process of reviving the body. As phoenix has five different color feathers of the Confucius teaching, there would be a mark that would protect the body for a total of five times. However, reviving the dead is prohibited for a long time. The number of times that one can return from the dead can only be counted with two hands."
"So, that's why." She grumbled, "Do they always come in different shapes?"
"How would I know?" He shrugged, "It's something an old acquaintance told me when we were still in our prime and foolish beings with foolish ambitions. We've never seen it ourselves, but what you said did remind me of that time."
She sighed as she rubbed her forehead, "So I was right that the old man did this."
Hearing her words, the edge of the old man's lips twitched in exasperation and amusement. His eyes stared at her with deep curiosity and touched his goatee in deep contemplation as he assessed her once again from afar.
However, Willow was too busy wishing that she could complain to her new father for this unplanned circumstances before reviving her in the first. With a sigh, she took off her gloves and began rubbing away the light powder on her forehead. Only did she reveal the flower on her forehead did the man switched his cane back to his left hand as his eyes were glued onto the flower on her forehead. He raised a brow, "May I have a closer look?"
She thought for a bit before nodding her head with a sigh, "Might as well."
She walked over and knelt before the elder man who took a closer look at the flower with great interest. It was only after he raised a palm that she returned to her seat as the man was left in deep thoughts. Quietly, he nodded with contemplation as he said to her cautiously, "Willow, you must continue to hide that birthmark. If those mischievous children find out that you've reincarnated out of their grasp, they'll come after you again without a doubt. But, there's something I'm curious about. How did you know that they're able to track you every time you use your ability?"
Obviously.
"There had been two times when my abilities appeared without my control." She responded in honesty, "One of which was my home and another was at the school I was attending. I remember that when they found me was shortly after they found me the first time at the school. Then, they talked about how my guardians came into contact with them. Since I don't have control over my powers yet, it turned into a mess."
"Into a fine mess." The man sighed with a nod yet in disappointment, "Which means you lack the ability to control your ability."
After hearing this, he sighed and tapped his cane. Suddenly, the doors flew open as something darted into the room and into Teacher Xia's outstretched palm. To her surprise, the man threw the black object into her hands as she nervously caught it without much preparation.
Only after properly holding it in her hands did she realize that in her hands were a pair of black gloves with fine black leather that seemed to glisten like obsidian under the light of the sun. There were openings for her fingers to poke out of and a strap that tightened around the wrist. However, more importantly, there was the warmth she felt as she came into contact with the gloves. Her eyes widen in surprise as he turned to the elder man in disbelief, "This-!"
The man snorted as he rested his elbow on one of the small tables between the chairs, "How can I let my own student be caught by those little kids? If you want to make up for your mistakes, you better become stronger or this elderly will personally kick you out of this household as soon as you slack off! Now hurry up and put those gloves on!"
"Y-Yes, sir!" She responded in bewilderment under the pressure of her new teacher.
With her new teacher rushing her impatiently, she quickly put on the gloves that seemed to barely fit her palms. It was a little big still and she doubted she could grow into them anymore, but the wrist straps helped prevent it from slipping off her hands. After putting the gloves on, she could feel the warmth seeping into her hands as she turned to the man, "So, I was right. The gloves I saw back in the museum allows one to use their abilities without getting caught. But, how come you had one with you already?"
The man nodded his head, "These belonged to my son when he was in high school. I worried that his abilities would catch unwanted attention and taught him to control his abilities when he was still in high school. However, he's capable of that since entering college, so he naturally had no use for it anymore."
She nodded her head in agreement, "So, it's true that, if one keeps their powers bottle up as they grow stronger, those abilities could erupt?"
"That's right." The old man nodded, "Of course, that's not the case for everyone. The less you use your abilities, the better for your safety and those around you."
She thought for a bit before responding, "Teacher, there's something I want to ask."
He nodded his head as she continued, "You've seen the events of the UN, I assume? How would you evaluate those demigods that faced that child of Hades, Elijah?"
"You knew of Elijah?" The elder man raised a brow.
"Not personally." She lied, "However, I've heard that, when America began arresting the corporations he ran, they discovered that the majority of his employees were practically brainwashed before they were caught. I wouldn't be surprised if the brainwashing was done by him or another person working with him. Not to mention the other children had brainwashed me as well, so it can't have been unrelated to them. There was also the skulls he summoned to fight for him. If someone was using him as a head figure, I wouldn't have been surprised if he wasn't the child of Hades, but the skulls he summoned and the fight he pulled off with those other demigods were a dead give away he was the child of a celestial related to the underworld. It's just I don't know what other demigods would view the group of five."
Hearing her words, Teacher Xia was obviously pleased to see that this student he randomly decided to invest in had a good head on her shoulders to think so deeply and logically into matters. With such thoughts, he nodded his head again and sighed, "Mn. I've also seen that video on my smartphone. Those five have done well bringing down that man called Elijah. However, if they think they can take down the other children similarly, then they're only digging their own graves. However, what are your thoughts on the matter, Willow?"
"If I were to be honest..." Willow stated her words cautiously as she recalled rewatching the clip on her smartphone as well, "that was very reckless of them."
"How so?" The elder watched her as she continued her explanation.
"Even if they saved the world from further destruction of greed by stopping Elijah, they've already erred the moment the appeared at the polling event. From the start, they revealed to the public of the existence of demigods and celestials. They even went as far as revealing their own identities. By doing so, they must've already placed themselves on the wanted list of the children of Hades. Then, they've gone and revealed their abilities to the world during the battle against Elijah. Even if the world saw this as animations, they can't fool us, demigods."
Hearing her words, the elder can't stop sighing and shook his head, "Yes. Those were foolish and reckless actions made by those children. But, is that all?"
Confused, Willow frowned in deep thoughts after hearing the old man's question. Was there more? She wasn't certain what else there was that had been important, but she continued, "I'd say they must've been pretty reliant on that woman with the only straight hair in the group."
"So you saw it as well?"
She nodded her head. After all, how could she not? In the past, when she first saw the video on the widescreens of the shopping malls, she could see Elijah being taken down by the group of five. However, when she went back to look at it, she noticed there was a glitch and she could see a short clip of Elijah winning the poll or even one where he killed four of the five leaving that woman with long straight hair alive. It was as if she was seeing multiple possibilities of that event.
"That girl's heritage isn't simple and she is powerful." She responded firmly, "If she can involve herself with so many possibilities of the future, then she'll become the target of all the other children as well. They don't even have to be the Hades' children to come after her. As long as that child can influence time, then she'll become a target for all the other demigods that want to make use of her abilities. If they weren't doing it on purpose, then that could only mean that they aren't just reckless, but also confident, not foolish."