"No." Ren shook his head, "But it feels familiar."
"Can you retell the story to us?" Yuu brought up curiously.
Seeing that the others were either curious or busy eating, she continued, "The story of the Lotus Lamp began thousands of years ago, perhaps millions. It was said that the king of the gods had decided that, even though the realm of gods and humans could intertwine, they would separate themselves from the humans and solidify the line that separates the gods, humans and the underworld as the nature of the world. As such, it was considered a taboo for gods to mix with humans. As you probably expected, our main character is the result of this taboo. Twice that is."
"Twice?" A scarabia student from movie club looked up from his food with a confused expression.
"The king of gods had a younger sister in the past. Despite being the sister of the king who solidified that rule and helped in carrying out the law, she broke the taboo after she was grievously injured then saved by a traveling human scholar. She fell in love with that scholar and married him. They later had three children: two sons and one daughter." Lotus explained, "However, the king soon discovered her betrayal and ordered his army of god soldiers to go down and take the lives of the family as well as the capture of his sister."
"What?! Isn't taking their lives a little too much?!" Grim shouted in disbelief, "So the big man himself decided to just take the lives of others just cause his own sister married some guy and had kids?! Shouldn't he had asked for her opinion?! You can't just take the lives of kids!"
"That's how ancient times are." Lotus shook her head, "Those in power have the ability to make brutal decisions even at the cost of the lives of the old, the young, and the bystanders. This is one of the reasons why most politics have become so complex. Some are those who wish for peace and a safe haven to nurture the young, while others could have wanted their own personal gain. If they aren't careful, wars and such can start without warning. After a few eras of ancient eastern history passed, a tyrant appeared along the lines of rulers. Since then, the rulers were often mistaken for being tyrants and throwing their powers around. When in actuality, who knows how much of it is from selfishness and how much is from selflessness. The king of the gods could even be stuck between two sides. One is his sister who betrayed him and the other is the gods and his position of power. If he chose his sister, he would be promoting bias and chaos upon his court. If he chose the gods and his positions, he could hold down order and maintain his position as a ruler of justice. He can even assure the safety of his own sister albeit through the method of taking away her freedom. Whereas if she and her family could be targeted for her ability to sway her brother's determination."
"Didn't she had three children? Did they really die?" Yuu frowned nervously.
Lotus shook her head, "The eldest son and their father died in the attack. However, only the second son and the daughter survived that attack. Later, the second eldest joined a band of mercenary and grew up. He was later known for wielding a divine three tips lance and a loyal black hunting dog at his side. His strength is well known and, with it, he cleaved apart the underworld prison his mother was held in, saving her. He wielded the lightning bolts power he inherited from his god lineage and punished the demons who tormented her during the time he grew up."
"Nyaha!" Grim laughed victoriously, "Eat that, suckers!"
"What of the king?" Yuu questioned.
Lotus sighed, "They ended the fight on a sour note. It is said that, even to this day, both uncle and nephew would not reconcile with one another nor would they communicate with one another unless it is their last resort. The nephew would not listen to his uncle's orders unless he wanted or he gets something out of it. The king would always be in a bad mood whenever he hears of his nephew's achievements."
"Woah… Talk about a mood…" Grim grumbled, "but the nephew's achievements?"
"The second son has reached godhood as he got older. He is known as the god of engineering and is one of the strongest warrior gods of heaven. His dog is powerful enough to have been said to be the cause of eclipse where he bites the sun and would not let it go no matter what others do. The only one capable of making him spit it back out is the nephew. This is why the king was even more willing to put him as a last resort. In a chronicle where he was mentioned, he was wary of his nephew and didn't want to be upstaged by him. That being said, the nephew was also believed to be the god of justice. A position his uncle holds."
"Hahaha!" Grim laughed, "Now, that's called karma!"
"Whatever you say." Lotus sighed, "But there is a saying. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."
"Eh?"
"Perhaps you have forgotten, but the nephew has a younger sister." Lotus pointed out.
"Somehow I don't like where this direction is going." Yuu muttered hesitantly.
"Well, as you expected, a similar scenario occurred to her just as their mother had and she married a human scholar as well."
"But she's a demigod, right?" Ren muttered curiously.
Lotus shook her head, "She was, but she ended up becoming the earth deity of sorts of a mountain and well… You know deity is just another word for god."
"So? Did she also get attacked and imprisoned?" Grim grumbled with a dead panned expression.
Lotus nodded, "By her own brother."
"Say what?!"
"Well, that was unexpected." Azul pushed back his glasses into place with a bewildered expression, "Did he not witness the suffering of his mother beforehand? And now he is forcing the same mistreatment on his own sister?"
"There is just one difference between the two." Lotus explained, "That is the nephew found his action towards saving his mother as reasonable as it is considered an act of filial piety. However, he cannot give the same treatment towards his sister, who went against her brother and stole a magical artifact from their home before running away to elope. That artifact was called the Lotus Lamp."
"What is the lotus lamp?" Jade questioned her curiously.
"During the era of demons and monsters, the magic Lotus lamp is one the few ancient yet powerful artifacts in the nephew's household capable of keeping the monster and demons at bay. With the lamp, the couple lived a happy life and gave birth to a son. When the child reached the age of seven, his uncle used the traces of light left behind and found the couple. He took the life of the father, and captured her son. That son's name was Chen Xiang." Lotus continued.
"But he failed to capture his sister?"
Lotus shook her head, "He used his own nephew to force his sister into captivity and to return the Lotus Lamp into his possession. He then imprisoned his sister under a mountain cavern and trapped her there. When Chen Xiang learned of this, he secretly stole the lamp right under his uncle's nose and escaped from his uncle's palace. He then traveled across the land to find the mountain his mother was imprisoned under while facing many trials. During the journey that spanned several years, he met someone who decided to teach him combat skills and knowledge of the world they live in. His master was so impressed with the child's skills that he made him a magical axe once he became an adult. With it, he waged battle against his uncle. Yet, even then he was unable to beat his uncle in combat. Right before his uncle could deal the final blow, the lotus lamp shined and the light penetrated then merged into his uncle's body so that he could defeat his uncle. Chen Xiang then used the magical axe and cleaved the mountain in half freeing his mother in the process. And no, Grim. Defeating a god does not equal to having killed a god."
"Another story on filial piety?" The Scarabia student concluded.
"Another filial piety." Lotus nodded with a sigh.
"Just how in the world can a person cleave a mountain in half?" Azul muttered in disbelief.
"It must be because of the magical axe." Kalim thought aloud.
"Maybe it's the master who taught him combat skills and knowledge?" The Scarabia student pointed out.
"That's right." Lotus nodded, "That master was a unique creature that once wreck havoc on the kingdom of heaven just because things weren't to his liking so he threw a tantrum which did not help as the master's strength was powerful and he could not be contained. The only one capable of restraining him was Chen Xiang's uncle."
"What?!" Pomefiore student jumped in bewilderment, "That's a lot of drama right there! So the master and the uncle were rivals?!"
Lotus shrugged, "The master later calmed after a certain journey and settled down among his kind before he was sought out by Chen Xiang. I suspect he agreed to teach him in the end just to play a revenge prank on his uncle after the master lost to him back then. He was probably quite amused by the strange twist of fate played on his arch rival."
"Wow… So mature for some god rival." Grim grumbled deadpanned with a good helping of sarcasm.
"He's not a god, but an immortal peacemaker. Also, he's biologically a bi-pedal monkey." Lotus sighed before closing the entrance of the tent, "There you go! If you're done talking, then go to bed! Hah… Talking about an old story makes me feel even more tired…"
"What?!?!"
Having finally reacted to her words, the others were flabbergasted, but, once Azul pushed open the tent entrance, he found Lotus had already gone to her own tent as he stammered in disbelief, "H-h-hold on here! You can't just cut off the explanation like that! What do you mean the master was a monkey?! Lotus?! Hey! Lotus! Damn it!"
"Hahaha! What a fun story! Lotus just keeps telling amazing stories one after another!" Kalim laughed, "Man, I hope to hear more of his stories again soon! Especially this one about the monkey master! I bet there must be some story there too! Hey, hey! Can I sleepover at Ramshackle Dorm next time?!"
"I want to hear more of these stories too." The Pomefiore student added eagerly, "The tale of legends and history is so deep! It'd be amazing if I can pull it off on a film!"
"My, my. It looks like his stories had stirred up everyone here. Perhaps it would be best for us to return to our tent now." Jade chuckled, "It was quite an interesting turn of events."
"Wait a sec!" Azul spoke up, "I still don't understand! The master is a monkey?!"
"Nya…. What- what's going on? Everything is happening all at once and I'm so confused… A monkey?" Grim cried out in disbelief.
Yuu sighed in despair and opened his mouth, "Alright. We should all go to bed now. Tomorrow will be another long day."
"Ugh, that's true." Kalim grumbled, "Looks it can't be helped. Good night, guys! Let's do our best again tomorrow!"
Following Kalim's lead, the students began to grown before leaving the tent one by one as Ren followed them out as he muttered quietly to himself, "Why…. Why does hearing that makes me feel so… weird?"
"Are you ready to leave now?"
Ren turned around and saw that it was Malleus waiting for him under a tree. Ren nodded, "Ah, yes, sir."
"Come, we shall return to the Gargoyle Research club."
As they left the tent, Malleus glanced back and noticed a few more teenage shadows leaving from around the tents, much to his curiosity.