Potenkiah, the deathgiver

Chapter 6

“Let me take a look, Annie,” said Paty, taking the plasma with the notes for the next debate.

“Wait.”

Annie highlighted the text with her finger and drew an imaginary line in the air towards Paty’s ProCom, so she had a copy of her own. They were in the greenhead’s room, finishing their homework.

Paty turned on a lamp and read.

“Some scholars argue that Erol’s idea of global unification came from the humans, recently arrived from space, as it was them who provided the weapons for the assault, as well as the spaceship for the Priests’ exile. Others are certain that humans were involved in Aeviniah’s disappearance.”

“What do you think?” asked Annie, while she brushed her hair in front of the mirror.

“Mmm… It needs a quote or a reliable source. We can’t say ‘some scholars’. It would be a stronger argument if we mentioned a famous anthropologist. Besides, you know they’ll counter it saying that whatever happened behind closed doors so long ago has no solid basis.”

“What about the theories about accelerating our involvement in the Galactic Community to exert influence on us?”

Paty sighed while she pondered the relationship between both ideas.

“I could say that from times immemorial, human mythology included winged beings or angels, and they found them in Eloah,” proposed Annie. “They knew intervention in our development as civilization was forbidden, so they staged the accident. In the end, it was the ‘unintentional’ part that saved them from sanctions by the Galactic Community. Then, having befriended the northerners and knowing about the existence of a stone that granted immortality…”

“Mmm, maybe. Where is Bridget? What’s taking her so long? It’s almost time for the concert.”

Every forty days, the Philharmonic Orquestra of Eneviah granted them a recital.

“I’ll ask mom.”

Annie stood and stepped into the entrance hall. She found William bidding goodbye to her mother. She waited for the teacher to exit.

“Your sister has gone to bed early tonight, Annet,” announced Daphne. “Are you ready?”

It was unexpected news for Annie.

“Almost,” she replied, after a moment of distress. She hadn’t missed the look on the elder’s face, or the low voices. “I’ll go tell Pat we’re leaving.”

***

Bridget woke up to the sound of her alarm ringing. She was contracted in fetal position, numb but sweaty. It took her a few seconds to realize that she had spent the night in the same spot.

Goddess! My family must be worried, why am I still here?

Either they were plucking out their feathers looking for her or William, having figured out where she was and that she was out of danger, had decided to remain at bay, informing the mothers of the situation. If that was the case, Daphne would have heard a plausible lie. Either that she had slept at the Obriens’ house with his niece Paty, or that she had retired to her room early.

She was puzzled, she didn’t understand her mentor’s reasoning. Had he wanted to, William wouldn’t have had a problem locating her, and taking her to bed. The elder had refrained from helping her. Why? If he was hoping she would learn something from this, he had failed. She really did not see the moral of the story.

Or maybe that conclusion was premature.

Bridget looked through the vent. The boy was gone. As it was to be expected, there were no guards nearby either. She pulled on her boots, and as she tied them, she suddenly became aware of the time. It wasn’t the first time the alarm went off; she had not heard it the four previous times. And she would be late for class again.