The first week of school flew by, and before I knew it, I was on my way to the student council room for my first meeting. Council meetings were held three times a week to ensure everything at school ran smoothly.
I knocked and then opened the door. "Hello?" I called out as I stepped inside, noticing that the council table was already filled. The rest of the student council was present, with Amara sitting at the head of the table. From what I could see, the first half of the table was occupied by the council members, while the other half seated the grade representatives. Of course, I immediately recognized Lyra; as Amara had predicted, the first-years had chosen her as their representative. To my surprise, I also noticed Lumi on the student council's side of the table.
"Right on time, Ansel," Amara said with a warm smile. "Please, take the seat next to me."
"Alright," I replied, taking my place beside her as the meeting began.
"Welcome, student council! It's wonderful to start our first meeting of the year. I'd like to begin by having us introduce ourselves," Amara said, rising to her feet. "As you all know, I'm Amara Stellarune, descendant of the Goddess of Summer and the Goddess of Magic. I'm honored to be your student council president this year, and I look forward to working with everyone." She took her seat to a round of applause. "Your turn, Ansel."
I stood up, instinctively straightening as if at attention—something my father, a military commander, had drilled into me during our training. "I'm Ansel Dovak, descendant of the Goddess of Night. I'll be your vice president this year, and I'm pleased to be working with y'all." I flinched slightly, realizing I'd let a bit of my old country accent slip in the last sentence. Despite living away from the countryside for years, it still managed to creep up on me sometimes. As I sat down, I glanced at Lyra, who was clearly struggling to hold back a laugh.
I shot her a playful glare before the girl across from me stood up. Everything about her radiated a certain superiority—her golden hair gleamed under the sunlight, and her bright green eyes sparkled like precious gems.
"Hello, my name is Liora Valen. I'm in year two and a descendant of the God of Wealth. I'll be your treasurer this year, and it's a pleasure to work with you." She gave a polite bow before sitting down to a round of applause.
Next, Lumi rose from her seat. "I am Lumi Aurelia, descendant of the Goddess of Winter and the God of Winds. I'll be your student affairs officer this year, and it's a pleasure to work with you all." She quickly sat down, her demeanor reserved, clearly preferring to keep to herself.
The boy sitting next to me stood next. His eyes were as cold as steel, his expression showing no movement. "I'm Julian Hale, descendant of the God of Justice. I'll be the secretary this year. It's a pleasure to work with you all."
After the student council members introduced themselves, it was the grade presidents' turn. First up was Lyra, representing the first years, followed by Michael Cross, a second-year and descendant of the Goddess of Fire and the minor God of Inspiration. Aiden Harper, descendant of the Goddess of Nature and Music, represented the third years, while the fourth years were represented by Isla Wren, descendant of the Goddess of Intelligence and the God of Dreams.
Once introductions were over, Amara spoke again.
"Now that we're acquainted, I'd like to address something important before we adjourn. As you all know, we'll be hosting the Valorian Champions competition this year. It's our responsibility to ensure the event is safe, which means we'll be working closely with the discipline committee to secure the campus in time for the competition." My mind flashed to last year where I heard that a fight broke out between schools—luckily, no one was hurt, but it was clear Amara was determined to prevent anything like that from happening again.
"Additionally, we're also responsible for choosing who will represent our school in the competition. I trust that the second, third, and fourth-year presidents are capable of making these decisions?" Amara looked to each of them expectantly.
"I already have a few people in mind, including myself," Michael replied confidently. "They'll be more than capable of representing our school."
"Good. And the others?" Amara prompted.
"I'm almost done selecting our representatives," Aiden responded, though his body language suggested otherwise.
"I'm still working on it," Isla admitted. "With all the exams the fourth years have, it's been tricky finding students who are available to train and compete."
"Hmm, that's true. The school has added more tests than usual out of nowhere," Amara agreed, a thoughtful expression crossing her face. "We can always have more students from the other grades, or perhaps even the first years, but we already have Ansel and Lyra competing…"
Lyra suddenly stood up, raising her hand. "If you want, I know someone who might be capable of competing."
"Oh? Who's caught the princess's attention?" Amara asked with a teasing smile.
"She's right here," Lyra said, pointing at Lumi. "I've seen her fight, and I know she's capable of holding her own."
"Hmm, I see…" Amara replied, turning her gaze to Lumi. "Well, Ms. Student Affairs Officer, would you like to compete?"
"If that's what the princess wants, then I will oblige," Lumi responded, her blue filled with determination to help Lyra.
"Ah, I don't want you to accept just because I suggested you, Lumi," Lyra said, sounding flustered. "I want you to accept on your own terms."
"I understand. In that case, I'd like to compete on my own terms. It'll be interesting to see how I fare against students from other schools," Lumi said calmly.
"Wonderful!" Amara clapped her hands. "If we can't have many fourth years competing, I'm sure we have plenty of talented students in the other years. That's all for our first meeting—you're all excused!"
Everyone began to leave one by one, but as I reached the door, Amara called out to me.
"Can I borrow you for a second? There's something I need to show you."
Curious, I followed her as she led the way to the school library, a massive building filled with books written by scholars, soldiers, and countless others who had documented their discoveries and experiences. We made our way to an elevator at the far end of the library. Amara took out her student ID and swiped it, the doors sliding open. We stepped inside, and she pressed a button that took us down to the underground levels.
"Normally, students aren't allowed down here," she explained, as if reading my mind. "But as the leaders of our school, we have special permission."
"I see. What's down here, anyway?" I asked.
"Weapons from past heroes, tools, probably some forbidden books… but there's something in particular I wanted to show you," she said with a hint of mystery.
The elevator doors opened to reveal an enormous room, its vastness almost overwhelming. Shelves filled with various items stretched as far as the eye could see.
Noticing my awed expression, Amara laughed. "Oh, we're not walking all the way. She approached a nearby monitor, typed something in, and hit enter. The sound of machinery echoed through the room.
After a moment, I heard something approaching. As it drew nearer, I saw that it was a large frame, which stopped in front of us. Inside the frame was a piece of black fabric, but it wasn't just any fabric—it moved constantly, never staying still.
"This was kept in the backroom of one of the museums," Amara began, her tone serious. "But there was an incident involving one of the museum staff. They're in critical condition at the hospital now. Footage shows them touching the glass frame before suddenly becoming erratic and collapsing." She paused. "But that's not the only reason I wanted to show you this."
"What is it, then?" I asked, already suspecting the answer but wanting to hear it from her.
"This artifact was nearly forgotten, but when they checked the records, the name of the original owner had been erased. However, the paper documents still had the last name." She turned to me, her amber eyes piercing through me. "It was your mother's maiden name. This artifact belonged to the Corvinas."