The Reaping of the Gods

Chapter3

“You have been brought here for the Reaping of the Gods.” She flipped through the pages seemingly trying to figure out something. “Usually the girls chosen have some sort of magical abilities or powers. Like faeries, werewolves and vampires. Not usually human.” she looks up at me and throws her hair up into a ponytail revealing, pointy ears. She catches my gaze and realizes her mistake.

“I'm sorry werewolves? Faeries?” I ask.

“Oh ya. All that stuff is real which I'm also sure is new to you. I need to explain a lot in a short amount of time.” She gets up from her chair, walks up to the curtains and pulls them back, filling the room with sunlight. After my eyes adjusted to the sunlight I got up to look out the window at what she was showing me. As I looked out the window I saw a beautiful city made out what looked to be mostly marble, as I started focusing on the smaller details and people I realized they were a mix of creatures or people from lores and fairytale almost everywhere but not quickly noticeable unless you take a harder look. Things that look human but clearly aren't. It was hard to explain.

“Okay so this is all real. Why am I here? What's the Reaping of the Gods?.” I say still staring at the city outside still mesmerized by the sights. If this was a dream it was crazy.

“It is where Gods from every faith or culture get the chance to choose a wife. Only 12 girls are chosen every 5 years so it is a very incredible honor. Usually the girls have been taught about it since they were young. It's a common story in the magical world. So unfortunately you are starting from scratch.”

“So you're saying that I'm here to become a wife to a god? Like Jesus?” I laugh kinda amused by the notion.

“No no. The Big 9 never choose a wife during these things. More likely you'll be matched with a demi-god or a low level god.”

“ And what if I don't want to marry a god?” I snear back.

“Oh there's always a choice hun. Can I explain the process and then you can decide from there?” She asks. I nod.

“For the next week you will be invited to some different events where you can mingle with some of the gods. These are your typical dinner parties and such. Most gods will feel an immediate pull to the person they will usually end up marrying and MOST of the time their partners feel it too. I am unsure of how you will feel about someone. Any questions so far?” She asks.

“So like a soulmate thing?” I ask trying to better understand.

“Yes. To a degree. There is still a choice though. One match didn't happen because the poor girl was matched to the god that her village sacrificed her mother to. There's no forgetting that. He was distraught and had no knowledge of sacrifices but he understood why she couldn't marry him.”

“So she went home?” I ask.

“She had a choice there as well. Go home or stay. She could stay without getting married if she wished.” She stops and looks out the window for second.

“Anyways, I'm sure you have more questions but the Meet and Greet Luncheon is about to start and you need to get dressed.”

“Woah, what if I don't want to go to any of these?” I say, angry at the presumption that I'd just be okay with this.

“Ha ha” she laughs “You don't have to but I know you are just as curious as I was.”

Before I could even register she was turning me around from the window and guiding me to the door. She opens the door and there is the Josie, my bed neighbour I guess, standing infront of me.

“Oh good. Josie please help her get ready will you?” She asks the girl.

“Yes ma'am”

Josie takes my arm and starts pulling me down the hallway. “Do you need to borrow clothes?” she asks.

“Um yeah I think I probably will. I don't know if I have anything here.” I reply.

“Don't worry I have clothes that will fit you. As soon as I got my invite I started packing. When did you get your invite?” Josie's cheerful demeanor made it hard to not be excited for some reason.

“Umm...two days ago. I think.”

She gasps in horror. “Oh my god. I got mine over a month ago. And I was one of the last to get one. They sure didn't give you much warning.” She pulls me into the large dorm room and pulls me back to my bed where she sits me down and starts to pull out her suitcase.

“Girls, she has nothing and got her invite only two days ago. Can we get some help over here?” Josie asks of the entire room while throwing stuff out of her suitcase.

A group of gasps fill the room and then almost a stampede of girls come running towards me with make up cases and suitcases. As I look around I see that all the girls are in cute dresses and outfits. All ready to go to what looks like a garden tea party. One girl shouts that she has a dress and I can see her throwing it up over the crowd of girls in front of me. Josie grabs it and nods. She hands me the dress which at the moment looks like a wad of fabric. She points to the back wall of the room where it says washroom.

I grab the dress and other things she threw into my hands and went into the bathroom to change. Silence. Finally some silence since I got here. I took my time undressing to give myself some more alone time. After I put on the dress and shoes they'd thrown at me I looked in the mirror and I actually looked kinda cute. They had some cute clothes. I open the door and immediately get pulled to a chair where they did my hair and makeup. I was so used to my friends doing this that it almost felt natural.

I was done. I looked like the rest of them now. Ready for lunch. Oh my god lunch. I'm so hungry.

“Let's go. I can hear her stomach growling.” Josie pipes up.

Josie leads me down the hall with the other girls. We head into a formal dining room that matched the clean white aesthetic this place has going on. There are three tables set up and a buffet table at the front. They definitely decorated but not over the top. It was nice and the food smelled amazing.

Josie pulls me to the buffet table where we grab a plate of food and head to sit at a table. All the girls did the same and soon it was just sounds of girls eating and talking.

“So I'm Josie. And I am a Fae. And I want my god to be a greek one. How bout you guys?” She asks around the table. We all let out a small laugh and soon the girls are all saying stuff about themselves.

Hanna is a werewolf. She hopes her god is also a werewolf.

Michaela is also a Fae but from Ireland. She said she didn't care as long as they loved and cared about each other.

I was only catching bits and pieces while I shoveled food in my mouth. I was starving and the food was amazing. I heard silence at the table and looked up to see everyone staring at me. Josie nudges me with her elbow.

“Oh I'm Larissa and I'm Human.” I answer.

“Who do you wanna match with?” Hanna asks from across the table.

“Haha, um I don't know. Is Zeus available?” I joke.

“Wouldn't that be crazy? One of the Big 9 choosing someone.” Michaela jests.

“Who are the Big 9?” I ask.

“Oh right, you wouldn't know. Well they are kind of like the council of Sovengrad.They make most of the big decisions. They are Zeus, Hades, Poseiden from Greek mythology” Hanna starts.

“...Horus, Anubis and Seth (set) from...” Michaela goes on.

“Ancient Egypt.” I finish her sentence to show I understand.

“and then there is the Christian gods. Jesus, Michael and Lucifer.” Josie finishes,

“Well I'm not sure if I'm even going to be a match with anyone. Or if I want to be someone's match.” I say.

“Well that's never happened. At least I've never heard of it happening. Why would you think that?”

“Well according to Anaya, a human has never been here before.” I retort.

“Yeah but you have the crystal prick scar.” Josie says while grabbing my hand and showing me my gold scar and then they all show their matching scars.

“They take a drop of blood so they know if you could be someone's match or not. Hanna says.

“How?” I ask.

“Like if you could even conceive a half-god baby or something.” Josie says with a mouthful of food.

I let that sink in for a bit until I hear the room falling silent and noticed Anaya coming into the room and standing in the middle of the three tables.

“Ladies, I hope you all had a good lunch. I'd like to go over the events over the next week so that you guys can get ready for it. Tonight you will get to mingle with the eligible gods and usually most people feel the bond right away but if you don't find your match right away don't worry cuz there will be more chances to meet your god. Now its a black tie event so I suggest you guys go out into the city and find a dress and enjoy your free time this afternoon. Thank you girls.”

“Let's go find you some clothes.” Josie says to me.

“I don't have any money or gold or whatever they use here.” I mention.

“We don't need money, we'll just put it on the Reaping account” She seems to think it's funny how I don't know anything. "Come on, let's go."