It was the absence of pain that drew Aaron to waking, luring him on waves of warmth and peace. ''This has to be a dream. My lumpy, worn bed smells of sweat, my room of piss and fear, It is always too warm or too cold, I am always hungry or hurting. This has to be a dream.''All of this came into his mind, drifting on the cold ache of fear.


    And then he opened his eyes, looking about. The room he was in was nice, a mix between a hippie''s house and a nurse''s office. He could see a scale, six beds to his left and soft, soothing, warm daylight oozing from the window just above him. Far as he knew, there was no one there, and yet the all too familiar sensation of eyes on his person filled him with dread.


    However, before he could fixate on that, memories exploded in his heart. Disjointed, distant but still painful.


    "Dad, slamming my head into the table... after choking me. I was so tired, so hungry, I remember... kind of just letting go." Absently, his fingers moved to his throat, the memory of fading oxygen and focus hitting him hard. "How am I alive? I felt my skull cracking..."


    "That is a good question, dearest."Jumping, he turned only to see a lovely lady looking at him as she walked in through the door on the far end of the room. She had a pink pixie cut, and looked maybe thirty. Her general air made her seem kind. "Sorry to startle you, I am Lilac, the School nurse."


    He froze. " School... wait, where am I?"


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    "Elysian Academy, in the Nurse''s Office."


    "Wait, Elysian Academy... the elite boarding school, just outside of Rochester? That''s almost two hours from where I was when... how am I even alive? My Father almost killed me, I am pretty sure he DID kill me."


    The Nurse sighed. Then, to his utter shock, she held out her hand and an orb of red light appeared. "This place, is not like anything you have ever known. It is a school of magic and divinity. To come here, you must be the legacy of a deity, or be of magical blood."


    "There is no way I am magical anything or tied to any Deity."


    "You are now." He frowned, so she continued. "Someone, we do not know whom yet, saved you. A god of great power. You appeared in a swirl of white light, near death. Covered in dirt and blood, someone had buried you alive. That someone, they kept you alive. I am not sure how, be it a spell, a blessing or something else. Then, you appeared in our system, as a student, marked by this deity. You do not have magic, but it can be learned and since you are now... essentially the ward of a deity, you are to taught magic, and accepted into our school. A school designed to honor and empower the gods in this modern world."


    All he could do was nod, looking at her in shock. "I feel... happier, healthier. Whatever you or they did, it healed years of aches. I am better, in a way I never saw possible. So thanks." He smiled at her. "Lilac, can my father ever get ahold of me again?"


    Her eyes went cold. "Never, your documentation says that you were fully emancipated from your family, they will never see you again. Not unless it''s your choice."


    And then, he cried. Fully and without hesitation, sobbing freely. "Free,... I am finally, free."


    The Nurse grabbed his hand, squeezing tight. "Yes, you are... now... I will be summoning a student to take you to your dorm room. Your roommate, actually. He is a very nice young man, Aubrey VanBuren. You are just going to love him."