Even though I tried to not alarm the person inside my new dorm room, somehow they noticed me as I was hiding behind the corner, trying to peek and see who it is. I could only see the fire colored hair lifted in a ponytail swaying in the air as the person is running around the room and unpacking their things. Then the person stopped and turned around, their mouth shaped in the biggest grin, radiating happiness from their face.

Me: REILLY?!

Reilly: Hello, roommie. You happy to see me?

Me: Of course I am but what are you even doing here?

Reilly: Oh you know, the usual. Used my charm on the Principal to allow me to move in with you.

Me: Uhuh.

Reilly: No but for real. After I heard you are moving to Umbras, I had to ask them to let me stay in with you. I was ready to fight for it even but then this hot dude said it's a good idea and then grumper Haydos allowed it. But girl, a Zeus descendant? They are rare. I knew I picked a good friend.

Me: Oh now, so you picked me just because of my power huh?!

I cross my arms in front of my chest and raise my left eyebrow looking at Reilly with a stern expression, but then we both burst out laughing and she walkes up to me, then punches my shoulder slightly. I gave her a soft punch back which she took as a challenge and she squared up. She started to pretend-box fight me in which I joined her. After we have a small playfull fight, Reilly walks away and she goes back to decorating the room. In which her case decorating meant placing dumbbells and stuff for working out all around the room's floor. I stand still on the same spot as the smile leaves from my face and it turns into a serious expression. My brain is still a mess from trying to comprehend all the stuff that has been revealed in these past months of my life. From being an unknown orphan, I suddenly found who my father is. As crazy as it might seem, it filled the hole in my heart a little bit. Even if all of this was just a dream and I would wake up in my orphanage room right now, somehow I felt that I have found a piece of myself. I am pulled back out of my head into the room by Reilly's voice humming a song while she changed her attention to putting on fairy lights around the windows. For a gym rat and a work out junkie she sure has a cute side to her. I chuckle and then finally move from the spot and go help her.

Me: It is weird, isn't it?

Reilly: What do you mean?

Me: That Zeus is my father. Like how would that even happen? How could no one notice a damn ass god coming down to Earth? Down? Or up? Do gods live in heaven or how does it even work?

Reilly: Oh, wait. Not actually. He is not...I mean, yes, they've noticed. That's why humans have all the mythology books and movies and stuff. But what I wanted to say is that doesn't mean he is your father. I mean he could be, based on how powerful you are, but doesn't have to be.

Me: I thought...they said-

Reilly: Honey. They said descendant. A Zeus descendant.

Me: Yes. That sounds about right.

Reilly: It means the bloodline.

I look at Reilly all bamboozled not knowing what is she talking about but then she sighs and lets he arms down, making the lights fall down and hold only on the few nails she already finished up hammering into the wall. Jumping down from the chair she used to get higher, Reilly walks up to me, grabs my hand and then pulls me to sit on her bed. She takes a deep breath and then starts explaining.

Reilly: They can't really pinpoint who your father is. If the case is like yours that you don't know your parents. The only thing they can track is the power you have and assign it to a god it comes from. It doesn't mean necessarily you are a direct descendant.

Me: What?

Reilly: Ok. Uhm, the biology behind the powers is that it is encoded somewhere in our genes. Those who are born from magical or god genes are passed on no matter what. So it doesn't matter if one of your parents is human or not. You will still get the powers, does that make sense? It means that some years ago, Zeus came down to Earth, did all that boom chika bow wow devil's tango with someone and had a child. And since then every kid from that child had those powers. It is more diluted and not as powerful as Zeus itself but they are still demigods.

Me: So it means I still don't know who my father is. Just that he comes from the line of Zeus?

Reilly: Exactly. That's why it is called "descendants". But based on your power, I would say you are closer to his level than others. Even Saxa. So he might have come down here again and you are from that bloodline.

Me: But if it's continual bloodline, how come there is only me and Saxa?

Reilly: That I don't know. They will probably explain that to us during one of the es later. If not you can ask the Professors. Or even the Principal. They seem to be really intrigued by you.

Me: Really? Is that unusual?

Reilly: The council overlooks the final exams for the ascension, but outside of few events, they rarely interact with students.

I don't know if I should feel honored by that or scared. I was mostly invisible my whole life, besides those times when something bad happened and it was tied to me, then suddenly they knew who to blame. And now it's all turning around and I am the most seen person ever. Then it hits me and I realized that this means I am back to square one of trying to find out where I come from. I know somewhere in the past Zeus had a bit of fun and then this all happened, but I know nothing about my parents. I just wished to know a bit more. Why they decided to leave me that way. I wanted to be tied closer to someone than just a distant past. The exhaustion hits my body suddenly and I just fall back on the bed, legs hanging down from the bed and feet on the floor. My hair all splattered on the bed and my vision focused on the wooden ceiling. Reilly joins me soon after and then we both just lay on the bed, quietly staring and kicking our feet. Then she turns on her left side and snuggles closer to me, hugging my body and transferring her warmth. Ah yes. I forgot how she is the only person that felt close since I was a kid and is basically my family. Zeus as a father or not, I still have Reilly in my life. I giggled at Reilly as she tried to snuggle even more closer, squeezing all air out of me. Then we get interrupted by a whooshing sound and something light hitting the floor. We both lift our heads to see what it was while our bodies are still glued to each other and to the bed. Reilly let go of my body and went to investigate while I remained laying on the bed. Staring at the ceiling, I only hear Reilly's footsteps as her heels make contact with the wooden floor. I hear her let out a sigh as she bends down to pick up the thing from the ground, then she walks back to the bed and sits down. Her hands trying to open something that sounded like it's made out of paper. I sit up to look at what she is holding only to see a red envelope with her name on it. I rest my chin on her shoulder and peek from behind to see what it is, but then suddenly a same envelope appears in the air in front of my face and falls into my lap. I grab the red envelope with my name on it and then open it together with Reilly. We both read our letters and then look at each other confused. The letter was empty but then words started to write on its own.

I am a place of wonder, where creatures roam free,

With shades of crimson and sapphire, as far as the eye can see.

My inhabitants are hunters, clad in red and blue,

But their prey is not flesh, it's something else they pursue.

From dusk till dawn, they search and they chase,

Through my winding paths, at an unrelenting pace.

But what is it they seek, in this never-ending quest?

A treasure that's hidden, but not in a chest.

It's a game of strategy, a test of wit,

For only the cleverest can find what they seek to get.

And as the sun sets and the moon takes its place,

The hunt begins, with no time to waste.

I tilt my head and then look at Reilly trying to figure out what this is supposed to be. It sounds weird to be some magical love letter. Even more because we compared them and we both got the same one. I ask Reilly if she knows anything about this since she was in the Umbras since the beginning of the year but her expression seems confused too. I look back on the letter and re-read it again, trying to figure out the text. It seems like it is some sort of a riddle but for what and what does it mean?

Me: Maybe we can go asks other students or hit the books in the library? There should be some poem collections, no?

Reilly: Do we really have to? I mean this seems kinda like a prank. If you wanna do it, go ahead but it seems kinda boring.

Me: Oh come on. What could possible be more fun than studying and reading old books, huh?!

Reilly: You are totally right. We should do that. And...then we will find ourselves a perfect husband, have four kids, get a mortgage for a house and a lousy job, live happily ever after and then die of an old age huh.

Me: Couldn't we just conjure that?

I reply to Reilly's mocking mumbling about how we should have fun and not do boring stuff while we are still young and the she snorts at my comment. She lifts her arm and points her index finger at me. Then she presses it against my forehead and pushes me back, making me drop on the bed.

Reilly: You are forgetting that you are not a magician anymore, silly little goose. We can't conjure anyone. We don't do "spells".

I got reminded again that I am an actual demigod and that all of this is real. I sit up again and make a funny face as a reply to Reilly. She jumps up from the bed, her fire curls dancing in the air and then swinging from right to left as she walks to her desk. She puts the letter into a drawer and then grabs her little purse, putting its strap on her right shoulder. I ask her where she's going and she sarcastically replies that she is going to find her perfect husband. I chuckle while still sitting on her bed but the Reilly asks me to go with her. I didn't know why she suddenly wanted to go somewhere but I didn't question it and then I go grab my little black backpack to follow her. Reilly was already leaving the room so I yelled at her to wait for me and try to catch up to her as I was looking at the envelope and letter in my hand. Not knowing what to do with it I put the letter inside the bag. I quickly close the backpack and toss both straps over my shoulders to wear it fully. Running through the door, I only grab the edge of the wood and the pull it behind me so the door would close on its own. I managed to catch up with Reilly when we see Saxa in the hallway meeting up with another girl. They both give us the "look" to let us know they disapprove of me being there. Both looked annoyed and then they roll their eyes walking back inside Saxa's dorm room which was a few rooms away from mine. Reilly didn't pay any attention to those two and continued walking away from the dorm floor. I caught up with her and asked what's going on as we were making our way down those infinite stairs.

Me: So my precious dearest friend. Where are we actually going?

Reilly: We actually need to go to the library and figure out this letter for the student's week.

Me: For the what?

Reilly: Seriously? Ugh, you are a little nerd and you didn't do any snooping around the school? Okay, well. Around the mid of October the school does this test sorta thing to pick a few students for a student week. Basically, they look at your performance during a test they designed for this and then if you win, they allow you to follow them around like a puppy for a week to apparently teach you more in private.

Me: So Reilly in library huh. Who is the nerd now?

Reilly: Still you. Damn it. I've completely forgotten about it.

Me: Do we really need to participate in it though?

Reilly: Hmm. Well it is mandatory since everyone gets the invitation or at least in this case a stupid riddle. But I think you don't really have to do it. You can just sit around and not want to compete for a mentor.

Reilly explains and then just shrugs her shoulders. We continue to walk to the library. I am really intrigued about how the Umbras library looks. Will there be different books? I would guess so, since most of the classes for magicians depend on the spells and god descendants just...shoot their lightning bolts out of their hands. But for my surprise it wasn't that much different. Except for the color of the walls, everything looks the same. My mouth is left open when we get inside and the layout of the library is exactly the same as the one in Aveus. Even the librarian. I look at her confused and then she noticed me staring at her so she walks up to me and Reilly and asks us if we need any help. She already seemed so busy because the library is filled with students. I guess mainly because everyone must have gotten the riddle. And since we came here too, we must have know what to do but since I was looking at her like she is the second coming of Jesus, she must have felt uncomfortable and had to approach us.

Librarian: I think you are here for the same reason as everyone else. You are free to look around the library and I am recommending you to go to the Section 3. Have a great hunt.

Me: Uhm...

Librarian: Is there anything else my dear?

Me: It's just that. Do you work in both libraries?

Librarian: No I don't. The person you are refering to must be my sister.

I mentally slap myself as the librarian leaves us, realizing they must be twins and then Reilly just grabs my arm and drags me to the Section 3. We look around the books and they are all about magicial species and animals. I look at the book titles and then just pick a random one to read. There is no much of a selection since almost all of the books are gone. Probably taken out by other students who got into the library before us and got the same recommendation. I take the book with me and then Reilly also picks one. We walk to an empty table and put our bags on the bench right next to us, then cross the bench, one leg after other and sit down. Few hours went by and we were still sitting in the library. I was supporting my head with my left arm, bent over the book just flipping the pages and not really paying attention to what's written on them anymore. I look up to check on Reilly and she was lying on the opened book already sleeping. I chuckle and then I try to go pay attention to the book again but someone interrupted my thoughts. I didn't register the words at first and I only heard a female voice asking me something. I shake my head a little bit to focus on the person.

Female student: Can I sit next to you?

Me: What?

Female student: Uhm. Is this seat taken?

I realized what she was trying to say and then my now tired mushy brain finally came up with a response. I let the girl sit next to me and read her book. I give her a soft smile and then my head drops back down to look at the book. It didn't take much time though and I rubbed my exhausted eyes. I hear a subtle chuckle coming from my right side. I turn my head to face the girl and then we started to have a little chat.

Female student: Hi. I am Nima by the way.

Me: Nice to meet you. I am Kaitlin.

Nima: Oh. That's you? The one that got misplaced by the gate.

Me: Yup. In flesh and all its glory.

Nima: Heh. You don't like being the popular one, do you?

Me: No not really.

We both laugh and then Reilly wakes up, lifting her head from the book. Gritting my teeth together I mouth a sorry to Reilly that looks up at me with a sleepy angry face but then she noticed someone else sitting with us. She looks at me nudging her head and slightly nodding to the direction of Nima. I realized that she probably doesn't know her so I introduce her to Reilly.

Me: Ah yeah, sorry. This is Reilly. Reilly this is Nima. She is... actually I don't know your... Nima: Artemis descendant. Nice to meet you.

Reilly nods and then they both shake hands. As I remember correctly, Artemis is the goddess of hunt. That must be really handy with this test that we are supposed to do. Now that I think about it, I never really asked Reilly about her god ancestor. I was going to ask but I got beaten up to it by Nima who revealed it to me by talking to Reilly.

Nima: You are Reilly Sutton, right? One of the strongest Ares descendants currently at Umbras. My father actually used to work with your mom.

Reilly: Right. You are Nima. Uhm, Nima...Komuri.

Me: So you two know each other?

Nima: We used to hang out as kids when our parents had meetings. But after the company branched out we had to move.

Reilly: Yeah, I've almost forgotten about that. How you've been?

Reilly and Nima started to reminisce about their childhood and then talk about their lives after they separated. I didn't want to intrude on their conversation so I excused myself that I needed to get something to eat. I wanted only something small to occupy my time while the two of them talk. I didn't want to hang out around the Umbras cafeteria between the "rich kids" but I was getting a bit hungry and I wanted to buy also a little snack for Reilly. I check the amount of money I have with me, which wasn't much so I my only option is to go to Aveus side. The question is, how am going to I get there. At the end, I entered the Umbras cafeteria and quickly scan the food and the prices. I was tired of eating only croissants and tea but the selection here was way above the amount inside my pocket right now. I walked up to the small window with the cafeteria seller lady and asked her what I need to do if I want to eat on the Aveus side. She smiled and then leaned against the counter to pop out of the little window and extending her right arm she points at this door. I follow the direction of her arm while she explains to me that I can just go through that door and I will get there. I turn my head to face her again, bow slightly and thank her. She smiles once more while her body falls behind the counter to her previous position. I went in the direction she told me to, reaching this door tucked in the corner. I opened the door and it revealed a plain hallway. No decorations, no windows. I walked inside and made my way through. Half of the walls were white and after I passed those they turned into dark brown, then another door appeared in front of me. I opened it and saw familiar surroundings. I've arrived to the Aveus cafeteria. I didn't really want to hang out around these people, especially if I run into someone from my class who will have some stupid remarks about me. Quickly making my way through the room, I go check out what's on the menu today and what's left of the morning one. I didn't want to stuff myself with a heavy food so I went for pasta with Bolognese sauce and grabbed a bottle of coke. I paid for my food and then scanned the room to find an empty space in the distance, away from the looks of others. When I found a spot, I went to sit down and eat my food. Filling up on the spaghetti and then cleaning my mouth because I probably had sauce all around them I go hand in the plate and tray, then check if there is something I can bring to the library. I saw chocolate muffins so I took all seven of them. The seller lady packed them nicely into a box and then handed it over, exchanging it for money in my hand. I thanked her and wished her a nice day, then left the cafeteria through the casual entrance to hang out around the school. I don't know why I wanted to stay here where everyone treated me like a local clown, a supplier of ridiculous stories to power their rumors and help with their boredom. But after all those weeks I have spent here, it felt somewhat familiar rather than Umbras where I didn't know anything or anyone. I didn't walk far from the cafeteria though. I remained close and rested near this window. I leaned against the wall to enjoy my drink and then I turned around to support my body with my elbows on the window board, next to the box of muffins. Looking outside the window I could see a little forest that was in the distance. I was zoning out, staring at the trees in the distance when I heard a familiar voice begging someone. I looked around to see what the commotion is about. I could see the 1st year trio hovering older students and asking them something. I pulled my hair behind my right ear and tried to focus on the conversation to see if I can hear anything but I could barely understand their words. But based on the reaction of Mairi, jumping happily up and down like a little girl, and the satisfied faces of Ledon and GanFo, they must have gotten what they wanted. Probably something about the hunt, maybe what are we supposed to do. I shake my head in disappointment over them trying to win this by cheating but I am not surprised that they did that. I mean. Is it really considered cheating if we just ask older students? We could try that too even though I don't know any older students in Umbras. Hell. I don't even know anyone who is in my year outside of Reilly, Saxa and now Nima. I haven't attended any of the classes. I barely swapped academies and the hunt or student's week or whatever has already begun and now I am stuck doing that. The trio left the group of older students and then they walked up to the staircase to the dorms all victoriously, like they have already won this hunt. They looked around and then noticed me standing in the hallway. Ledon only scoffed and I could see Mairi roll her eyes but they continued to run up the stairs and get ready. I guess since it is a hunt, we should probably change our clothes into something more comfortable than jeans and heals. And then it hits me. I look out the window once more and then I quickly take a big gulp of coke before closing the bottle. I grabbed the paper box and ran towards cafeteria, tossing the empty bottle into the trash can on the way. I passed through the door and ran back to the Umbras library. I crossed the border and ran through the hallway as fast as I could. Abruptly opening the door on the library, I ran up to the girls who are still sitting at the table, giggling and laughing while talking. I was running full speed so as I reached the table, my body slammed into the edge of the desk while my hands stopped me from flying across. The noise made everyone look and the librarian who was walking near our table, checking if the students are not destroying the books, made an angry expression telling me to be quiet. I yelled out "the hunt" which made everyone in the vicinity focus on me. Mostly because they still haven't figured it out and wanted to know if I came up with the answers. I clear my throat and then I lean down to be at the same level as girls and spoke again, quietly this time. The girls looked at me confused and we all started to whisper.

Me: It's a hunt.

Reilly: Uhm...yes. I am pretty sure we already know that, genius.

Me: No no no. Like an actual hunt. I went to the Aveus cafeteria and then chilled out a bit in the hallways. I saw this forest in the distance.

Reilly: Aaaand?

Me: It said: I am a place of wonder, where creatures roam free. The only place where animals can run free is the forest.

Nima: That actually might be the location of the hunt. It makes sense. Okay what more do we know from the riddle?

Reilly: I don't remember. I didn't really memorize it. And I also left it in my dorm room.

Me: I have it with me. It's in my backpack.

I quickly sit down on the bench and drag my backpack on it. As soon as it's next to me, I open it up and rummage through the things inside to get the letter. My fingers brush up against the envelope and I take it out. Closing my backpack, I set it aside and then get the letter, putting it on the table. We all hover above the letter and read the riddle again slowly. We figured out the location of the hunt and now we need the rest. I was reading the riddle while Reilly slightly poked my forearm. I lifted my head to see what she wants, if she realized something but she only moves her index finger from my arm to the box on the table.

Reilly: What's that?

Me: Oh yeah, right. I forgot about it. I bought you girls something small to eat since we've been here almost all day and I didn't know if you ate anything today or not.

Nima: For me too?

Me: Yeah go ahead. It's chocolate muffins. But you better hurry before Reilly devours them all.

Reilly only mocks me but I was right because she was already stuffing her face with a muffin while holding another one in her hand. Nima giggles and then also takes one from the box, peeling the cupcake paper from it and started eating the muffin. Soon after girls finished up all the muffins, Nima took the empty box filled with a few crumbs and went to toss it out. In the meantime Reilly figured out the time for the hunt, which is supposed to be from sunset to sunrise. We quickly take out our phones and search up the sunset time. It is supposed to be fifteen minutes after six today and right now it's almost six. That gives us only a little bit of time to figure out other stuff that's a little bit tricky. We got the basic information out of it but now the rest of the riddle is still a mystery, especially this crimson and sapphire thing. Most of the students from the library were gone, so my guess is they figured it out too. Those who remained saw us pack up quickly and run out of the library so they decided to follow us.

After we arrived to the edge of the forest, some students were already waiting in front of it. I saw Enko and Jess standing and talking to each other on the Aveus side so I decided to cross the barrier, walk up to them and ask what's going on. I was scared how they will treat me now that I am at Umbras. I wanted to talk to them despite my fear of being rejected but I was surprised by their reaction. When they both saw me coming to them, they smiled and waited for me to reach their position. I asked if they have any information. They told me that everyone who figured out the place of the hunt was already waiting there before the two of them arrived but apparently there is some kind of barrier not letting them through. Many of them tried to go in for a head start but they got blocked so that's why everyone is waiting here. It is almost time for the sun to set but we still can't get in because of the barrier. Then after a few minutes some of the last students who were running after us from the library finally join us in front of the forest. They all bent down, holding their knees and trying to catch a breath. I looked back at Reilly and Nima, waving at them and trying to call them to join us but then suddenly my surroundings changed and we got transported to what seemed to be the other side forest. I quickly scanned the people to only see Saxa and others that I don't know, which means only demigods are on this side. While we tried to look around to assess the situation, a little red glowing marbles appeared and were floating in front of each of us. I looked around others to see what they are going to do with it. Some of them grabbed the marble with no hesitation and then as soon as they touched it, they got dressed in a red cloak with a hood covering their heads. So I do the same to get my cloak. This answers the crimson part of the riddle, which means the magicians probably are the sapphires. After everyone is dressed, we look around each other and wait for the hunt to start. We didn't have to wait for too long and then a loud horn sound resonates throughout the forest. Everyone started to run while I remained on the same spot turning my head around to find Reilly. It was all so hectic and I couldn't find her at first but then I saw her running up to me. She was pretty far away from me. I decided to wait for her and do this hunt together. Then I suddenly hear someone shout my name but I wasn't able to register who it is. I could only feel a pair of arms grab around my torso and with full force knocking me on the ground. The impact shakes my vision but when I am finally able to focus, I see Nima lying on the ground with me. I look at her and then soon after Reilly is also crouching next to us. I asked her what the hell happened but then I saw her nudge her head at something behind me. Turning my head back, I see Saxa standing confused, looking at her hands.Then she fixed her eyes to stare back at us but she didn't waste time, turned around and started to run into the forest. Reilly helps me and Nima get up from the ground. We brush off the dirt and grass from our clothes and then Nima explains herself.

"I guess this means we are not able to use our powers."