Lucilla colors the inside of her "K" with aqua and blue. The colors reminded her of the waves she saw at the beach last summer. Her eyes anxiously flicker to the clock on the wall, waiting for Ms. Anya to tell them to line up for lunch. Then, she could grab her robot and sit with her friends.

Well, it really isn't a robot. It's a vessel for Psyche. An excellent way to show her friends how cool she has become. Lucilla isn't just the sad girl anymore. She's a priestess. Whatever that really means.

Lucilla throws her crayons back into the bucket and leans forward to search for the yellow and orange. The sun is a good representation of kindness. Or maybe she should draw a kite because it's easier and something people do at the beach? Nope, it's going to be a sun.

"Remember, class," Ms. Anya calls out, leaning over a boy's shoulder. "To think of a word that sounds like 'kuh.' It doesn't need to start with 'k' because sometimes 'c' also makes a 'kuh' sound."

Lucilla swears she hears Ms. Anya mutter about not having the patience to worry about teaching spelling today.

The young girl's hands move, and her sun morphs into a person-like shape. Sparks appear to be flying off from the figure's fingertips. Lucilla's hand shoots out to the crayon bucket and picks a golden color to fill more space.

"What are you drawing?"

Lucilla jumps and turns to see Ms. Anya over her shoulder. "Oh, uh." Lucilla's brown eyes fall down to the crayons in her hand. "I was drawing a kind and caring goddess."

Ms. Anya nods her head and smiles. "Excellent, Luci."

"Thank you," Lucilla whispers, returning to work.

Her thoughts travel to the robot in her backpack. She can't wait to show her friends, but—

A wave of fear washes over her.

But what if Psyche didn't show? She bragged about her earlier, and if she doesn't show, then Chloe and Kit will think she is a liar. Will they still be her friends if they believe she lies?

Lucilla pauses, bringing her eyebrows together. Her hands clutch the colors in her hands anxiously.

I'm here. Psyche's voice penetrates through the fog.

The grip loosens as the seconds tick by. Soon, they will be able to line up for lunch. Soon, Lucilla will show her friends how cool Psyche is. Soon—

A nudge to her elbow causes Lucilla to turn to Ezio. His dark curly hair falls down to his ears in a way that makes her frown in disapproval, but she doesn't know why. Maybe because Lucilla wants the curls to sit behind his ears instead of close to his green eyes. Perhaps she doesn't like how the other girls think they should get married underneath the slide.

"Do you want to sit by me during lunch?" Ezio whispers. "My mom packed me an extra cookie."

Psyche watches as the colors of Lucilla's emotions span across the rainbow. Lucilla's eyes meet Chloe's for a moment before closing. She doesn't want the girls to sing the songs about the two of them again. They weren't going to kiss sitting on a tree or get married.

"No," Lucilla hisses, turning her head, "I sit with the girls."

Ezio's eyebrow furrow together. "Okay," he pauses for a moment. "Maybe another day."

Psyche frowns. Flashes of Eros's golden eyes and dark hair enter her mind. She can feel his smile and hand on her shoulder. A rush of wind makes her turn in alarm, only to see the feather of a dove fall outside the classroom window. He hasn't come for her, just like in the abyss. Eos wouldn't save her.

The goddess turns her attention to the young priestess as the clock strikes lunchtime. Psyche then pushes herself into the robot as the two venture to the lunchroom, hand in hand, ready to show the world who they are.

Any calm Psyche feels, venturing into the lunchroom, vanishes amongst the random screams and laughter. Lucilla tucks the robot under her arm while slightly swinging her lunchbox beside her, waiting to sit down. Near the front of the line, Chloe's head pops out. She motions towards a circular table in the corner. Lucilla nods, transitioning the robot underneath her armpit for when she needs to run, well, speed walk.

Please don't run too—

Psyche's words are cut off by Ms. Anya making some hand motions that release her set of small people into the lunchroom. Psyche notices a group of boys trying to move to the table Lucilla and her friends want. She moves out of the robot and floats forward. Psyche trips the blonde one, causing him to slide into his friend with short black hair. Chloe looks down at the boys in wonder as she hurries past them to place her lunch on the table in victory. Psyche can feel remorse, but those aren't her followers.

"Thank you, Psyche," Lucilla whispers as she places her lunchbox and robot beside Chloe.

Kit raises an eyebrow at Lucilla as she sits beside her. "Where's Psyche?"

"Not sure exactly; she uses my robot as a vessel," Lucilla shrugs.

Chloe claps her hands together in excitement, bouncing slightly in her chair. "Did Psyche just use her powers to protect us from the boys? That's so cool!"

Lucilla moves the robot to the center of the table. "Did you just protect us, Psyche?"

The three girls look at the robot in anticipation. Psyche causes the robot's eyes to glow gold. Kit squeals again while Chloe freezes.

"We will rule the playground," Chloe whispers.

Lucilla smirks. "Yeah, her tripping the boys is just—"

The conversation stops when the tripped boys, Jonathan and Kai, stand beside Kit.

"We claimed this table," Jonathan stated, slightly frustrated, pushing his blonde hair from his eyes.

"Well, we got here first," Chloe snorted, pulling out a sandwich.

"Only because I tripped," Jonathan countered, putting his lunch down.

"And, then, he made me fall too!" Kai added, placing his hands on his hips.

The girls share a knowing look and smirk.

Kit shrugs after a moment. "Maybe, that's just what Psyche wanted."

"Who's Psyche?" Kai's eyebrows go together.

"Psyche," Kit supplies, motioning to the robot. "She's our protector."

Kai and Jonathan glance at each other before Kai turns his brown head towards Ms. Anya and raises his hand.

"Ms. Anya!" Kai screams. "We wanted this table, but then the girls had their goddess trip Jonathan so they could get here first!"

Ms. Anya rolls her eyes slightly while walking up to the table. She makes a show of counting the chairs before clapping her hands in excitement. "Oh, look! There is room for everyone. Problem solved!"

"But their goddess bullied us!" Kai protested. "And bullying isn't allowed here!"

Ms. Anya looks at the girls and the robot. "Did you girls ask a goddess to bully these boys?"

The three girls shake their heads in unison.

"Well, looks like there is nothing else I can do here. The girls said no. This is a great lesson about not running in the cafeteria. Jonathan and Kai sit down to eat your lunches with them. I want no more trouble from any of you today."

Jonathan reluctantly sits beside Kit. Kai matches glares with Chloe and Lucilla as he sits beside Jonathan.

Ezio walks over to the table and places his lunch between Kai and Chloe. "Can I sit here too?"

"I don't see why not," Ms. Anya smiles before anyone else can respond. "Now, look! A nice full table. Enjoy your lunch!"

The children glower at her, waiting for her to walk away. Jonathan watches their teacher walk away with a smirk. He smirks at Kai before moving his leg to kick Kit underneath the table. Nothing happens. No contact with her leg. No screaming. No tears.

Psyche sighs, shaking her head at the boy. He tries again. She blocks him with an airstream again. Jonathan looks underneath the table to see his kicks missing the target and grunts.

"Dumb goddess." Jonathan scrunches his nose up while opening his lunch. "You know, cult starts with a 'kuh' sound."

The robot's eyes glow golden, and Jonathan's lunch snaps shut and zips closed. Everyone at the table freezes.

"I think you should apologize to Psyche," Lucilla states, taking a bite of her sandwich with a superior look in her eyes. "She doesn't like that word."

"Well, she should apologize for tripping us!" Kai counters, throwing a chip at the robot.

The chip falls to the table and slides back into Kai's bag. The boys' eyes widen. Lucilla tries to chew her food quickly, but Kit beats her to the rebuttal.

"Well," Kit whispers. "First, don't throw food at the vessel of our goddess. And, second, Psyche protects her followers because she loves us!"

"Well," Jonathan whispers back, struggling with the zipper on his lunchbox. "Maybe we will be her followers too, and then you won't be the only one who can choose their table."

Psyche considers the three boys in front of her for a moment.

Ask them if they mean it. Psyche says to Lucilla.

"Do I have to?" Lucilla groans, turning to the robot. Everyone at the table looks at her with interest. "But, we like to do girl-only things." Another long pause. "Fine! Psyche wants to know if you really want to be her followers."

Ezio shrugs. "This sounds like fun. I like robots."

Kai and Jonathan nod their heads. "Yeah, robots and goddesses," they agree in unison.

The robot's eyes glow again, and Jonathan's lunchbox opens.

"I'm sorry for calling this a cult," Jonathan whispers, looking up. "That's just what my dad says every time he passes—" Psyche lets her spirit go to Jonathan, calming his spirit. "I see. Hurt people hurt people. I'll do better."

Chloe nods her head. "True. All praises to Psyche."

A round of agreement sounds at the table.

Ezio sips his juice with a sereneness not meant for a five-year-old. "So, what else can she do?"

Lucilla shrugs her shoulders. "I guess we can find out during recess."

Kai pushes down with his feet as his hands shove down on the table, causing his chair to tip back. The children watch as his chair tumbles backward. Kai's eyes widen, and his scream sticks in his throat as his chair hovers in the air. Slowly the chair returns to all four legs and gently moves closer to the table with Kai's arms and legs stuck extended in shock.

"Thanks, Psyche!" Kai whispers. His arms and legs relax back down. "Do you think she'll catch us if we fall off the monkey bars?"

Lucilla shrugs, "it could show we trust her."

"We'd need to wait for the teachers to be looking at their phones," Ezio adds, sliding a cookie over to Lucilla.

"Where's my cookie?" Jonathan asks.

"You can have my extra one tomorrow."

Jonathan smiles at Ezio. "Thanks!"

Kit shakes her head. "This sounds scary. What if we—"

The robot's eyes glow golden again, and their food containers rumble slightly on the table.

"Sorry, Psyche," the children say in unison.

Tell them I will catch each of them if they wish, but you all need to eat now.

Lucilla gleefully passes the message on, and the children cheer. Except for Kit, she nervously smiles while pumping her hands in the air to not be left out.

That day, amid the screaming children eating their lunches. A group of six children meticulously eat every bit of their food with purpose. They must each find a way to understand the limits of a goddess. And Psyche, for her part, relishes the challenge of new followers to please and catch as they fall off the monkey bars, trusting her to save them.

***

Jonathan and Kai walk into a room holding papers in their hands. They sit down on two pillows with huge smiles on their faces. Psyche floats into the room, hovering to their side.

"Psyche," Kai begins. "We have thought about being your followers and decided on some super cool things we want to do."

"Yep," Jonathan agrees.

The two sit patiently for a moment. Psyche motions her arm, causing stars to flutter down in the room.

"Awesome!" Kai and Jonathan gush together.

"Okay," Kai starts. "We want to fly to the top of the school building because we lost a frisbee on the roof. It's the best frisbee—"

"Because it's the best shade of blue," Jonathan adds. "And it flies really far."

"Yeah," Kai nods. "So, we want to be able to get it down."

Jonathan clears his throat. "We also want you to help our parents be less sad sometimes. Kai's mom gets sad when his dad has to go off to battle. And my dad is back but still is really sad sometimes. He doesn't cry. Just sits there."

"But, if you can't—"

Psyche stops whatever Kai wishes to say next with a sense of calm and a few stars falling.

"Thank you," Kai smiles.

Jonathan nods. "Yeah, we're really excited to get that frisbee back."

You boys are so sweet. Psyche whispers to them, making the boys beam. Now, let's work on being nicer to the girls.

Both boys groan, falling backward on their pillows.