“Students,” Professor Jobe tried scolding them, but it was a comical attempt at best.
Ava leaned over to me and whispered, “Could this class get any more boring?”
“Probably not,” I whispered back.
“Ascension does not happen often, as the gods don’t readily share their power,” Professor Jobe continued. “However, there are several documented cases of mortals becoming gods, such as with the goddess of the Miriamic Coven, and one of the two Elven goddesses.”
Ava grabbed my arm in shock, and I felt her whole body still. “The Elves!” she hissed at me under her breath. She shot her hand into the air.
Fuck.
“Yes, Miss Mitoh,” Professor Jobe called on her.
“There are two Elven goddesses?” she asked in a bright tone.
I held my breath, hoping Professor Jobe knew nothing more about the Elves, but he launched into an explanation.
“Yes. The story is quite fascinating.” He sounded more interested than I’d heard him all semester. “One thing you should know about the gods is that their power prevents them from having children of their own. That is to say that a god and a goddess cannot mate and birth new gods. However, the Elven goddess, Idril, fell in love with a female human from Edinmyre— Caralyn.”
“A human from Edinmyre?” someone balked. “I thought only fae and Elves came from Edinmyre.”
“This was millennia ago, at a time when there were humans in Edinmyre,” Professor Jobe replied. “Caralyn eventually ascended, becoming an Elven goddess herself. Before she ascended, however, the two goddesses mated and birthed a child— creating an entirely new race known as the Elves.”
Ava’s hand tightened on my arm, and she leaned over to hiss under her breath, “The Elves were half-god, half-human!”
Professor Jobe didn’t hear her. “As you can imagine, with the blood of the gods running through their veins, the first generation of Elves were considered demigods. That is to say they possessed great power, more than even the most talented supernaturals. The Elves were similar to fae, because like the fae, they drew their power from Edinmyre. But the Elves were different in that they drew magic from both Edinmyreandtheir goddesses. For many years, the Elves and the fae lived alongside each other.”
His voice changed, almost sounding sad. “Unfortunately, there came a time when the fae became fearful of the Elves, for they were far more powerful. The fae struck first to protect themselves. With the help of the fae god Droga, they trapped Idril and Caralyn in Hell, in order to weaken the Elves’ power. Soon, the Elves were no stronger than the fae, and the fae killed off the most powerful Elves still left alive. Outnumbered, the Elves stood no chance. Those that remained were forced to mate with other races, like humans, for survival. Their power was diluted— up until the Elven genocide that occurred during the Great Supernatural War, when the last of the Elves died.”
Ava’s hand shot into the air so fast that her fingers brushed my cheek. She didn’t wait to be called on. “Do you know anything else about the Elven goddesses? Or the Elves at all?”
“Most of their stories have been lost to history,” Professor Jobe said. “I’m afraid there are very few stories left. This one remains because it is a part of the fae’s story as well.”
He continued his lecture on other gods and goddesses, but I could feel Ava’s energy sizzling through our bond. As soon as class let out, she dragged me aside in the hallway.
“I have an idea,” she whispered under her breath.
My guts twisted, and I threw up a mental wall to hide my response. I already knew it must have something to do with Professor Jobe’s lecture and the Elves. “What is it?”
“Well, everyone says the stories of the Elves died with them, but they’re wrong,” she insisted. “It’s like Professor Jobe said. Their story is part of ours— of all supernatural races. The Elves didn’t live in a bubble. They traded and interacted with everyone else. The genocide wasn’t justtheirstory. It was everyone’s— including the people who killed them off. We have to look through the history ofotherraces and their interaction with the Elves to learn more about them.”
My mouth went dry. “I know you want to find Forevermore—”
“Someonemust have been at the gate at some point, right?” Ava insisted. “What if the other races knew how to get through the door? What if someone besides the Elves knew where to find the keys?”
I sighed. The last thing I wanted was for her to go to Forevermore and get one step closer to fulfilling the prophecy. “I don’t know, pidge. I thought Forevermore was an Elven secret.”
“Someone knows something.” Ava was hardly listening to me anymore. “I just have to find out who.”
She clicked her tongue, and I relaxed a bit. Ava thought she was on to something, but it was the same dead end we’d hit before. No one knew a damn thing about the Elves, and that was my only solace.
“I hope you find answers,” I lied. “But in the meantime, we have a counseling session with Takahashi. We don’t want to be late.”
“Ugh,” Ava groaned. “Do we have to do thisnow?”
“Takahashi will write you up if you skip,” I pointed out. Truth was, I didn’t care for the counseling sessions either, but I knew how obsessive Ava could get when she put her mind to something. I needed to distract her now, before she could dig too deep into the Elves and the story Professor Jobe had told us in Supernatural Religions.
“Fuck,” Ava growled under her breath. “Fine, let’s go.”
