Lena was dropped off at the entrance to Demos Educational Organization. A college that until recently, she didn't know existed. She stared up at the large building in front of her, closed off by some large, almost intimidating looking fences. Her driver helped her get her things out of the car, offering to help her inside. But Lena just waved him off. "Don't worry about it, I'm sure I can manage." The man nodded, tipping his hat to the youngest Luthor.
When Lena had been scouting out colleges her junior year of high school, Lionel had stopped her almost immediately.
"Lena." He sat her down one afternoon after she arrived home from school. He handed her a brochure. She accepted it, giving it a once over. It seemed to be a brochure for a college, Demos Educational Organization. An odd name for a college, but she just shrugged it off. "I know that you're smart enough to get into pretty much any college you want to, but it was the wish of your birth mother for you to go here." A 16-year-old Lena Luthor met Lionel's gaze. He rarely spoke of her birth family. She wanted to ask how he knew that, but she knew better than to question.
"But what about..." Lena started, but Lionel cut her off, knowing what she was going to ask.
"Lillian won't be an issue. I'll be discussing this with her later." Lena nodded curtly.
"How do you know I'll get accepted?" She asked him. He just chuckled.
"Trust me, dear, they won't turn you away." He said, giving her a knowing look. Lena blinked but accepted the answer. She figured it was because she was a Luthor. No college would probably dare turn away such an influential family. She did wonder, however, why she was being sent to Demos when Lex had gone to Harvard. But again, she didn't question it. In the back of her mind, she figured it was because she wasn't a real Luthor.
"Hey! You new here?" Lena was startled out of her thoughts to see a guy with messy brown hair and a friendly smile on his face. Lena nodded, offering him her hand. He took it and gave her a firm shake.
"I'm Winn! Winn Schott. I'm a junior here." He said. "You are?" He asked, tilting his head to the side.
"Lena Luthor." She waited for the realization to dawn on him of who he was talking to, but it never came. He just nodded.
"Well Lena, since I caught you out here, do you want help with your stuff? Or something? Do you know where you're headed?" Lena shook her head.
"I'm afraid I don't know much. My acceptance letter just said welcome and all the normal pleasantries. And that someone would show me around when I got to campus." She said with a shrug. Winn nodded.
"Ah. I remember my first day." He chuckled as if he was sharing a private joke with himself. "Well, first you'll probably want to go see Headmaster J'onn. He'll walk you through orientation. And get you set up." Lena nodded, frowning slightly.
"Does the headmaster do that for every student?" She inquired as Winn bent down to pick up one of her bags. He nodded when he straightened back up.
"Yeah. If you didn't already know, we're a pretty... exclusive college. We don't get too many new students and J'onn wants to get to know all of us personally." Winn replied as Lena went to pick up the rest of her bags.
"Oh. That's nice of him." Lena said as she followed Winn past the gates. Winn grinned.
"Yeah, J'onn's awesome. Just wait. I'm sure you'll end up loving it here. Never want to go home." Winn said brightly. Lena grimaced, knowing all how true that probably was. She enjoyed Lionel's presence, but he was gone on business more often than not and ever since Lex had gone off to college, it was just Lena and Lillian. And to say that Lillian didn't like Lena was an understatement.
The two chatted about arbitrary topics for the duration of the walk to the headmaster's office. Winn was talking to her about the new student dorm. "Baker Hall is pretty nice." He said with a shrug. "A little crowded at times, but it's not too bad. Hopefully, you'll be moved out of there soon." Lena raised an eyebrow but didn't question it. Hopefully, the headmaster would be able to answer some of the questions she was starting to develop after her conversation with Winn.
"Well, here we are!" Winn said as the pair stopped outside a large wooden door. Winn just opened the door without knocking. "Hey J'onn, Lena Luthor is here!" He said, beckoning for Lena to follow him. She walked into the office, putting on the Luthor air of presence. Before her sat a tall black man, with hard but kind eyes. He nodded at Winn.
"Thank you, Mr. Schott, I can take it from here." Winn nodded, setting Lena's suitcase down, turning to the woman.
"Come find me later! I can introduce you to some of my friends." He said brightly before leaving and shutting the door behind him. The headmaster gestured for her to sit down in a chair facing him, which she did. He blinked, looking at her as if appraising her.
"So, welcome to Demos Educational Organization, Ms. Luthor. DEO for short. I'm sure you're wondering why you've never heard of this school until your father brought it up." Lena nodded in response. "Tell me Ms. Luthor, have you ever found yourself seeing and experiencing things that you know are impossible? Seen monsters that are only found in myth. I'm going to hazard a guess that you've been diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia."
"No, sir. Actually, I haven't been." J'onn frowned slightly but nodded.
"Interesting. You'll be one of the first students here who hasn't been." Lena frowned. Was she at a school for the mentally disabled? As if being able to read her mind, J'onn spoke again.
"Rest assured, you're in the right place. Tell me, what do you know of Greek Mythology?" Lena shrugged.
"Maybe about as much as the average person. We had a section in one of my English classes in high school about it. But not much else." Lena said, wondering where this conversation was going.
"And if I told you that it wasn't all a myth. That everything was real?" Lena furrowed her brow.
"I'd say you were probably nuts," Lena replied. J'onn laughed.
"That's what I said too when I was your age. But believe me, it's all real." Lena gave J'onn a skeptical look. "I see you're someone who needs a bit more of a demonstration." J'onn furrowed his brow in concentration.
Lena's jaw dropped when the headmaster was suddenly enveloped in a glowing aura, flickering a fiery red color. He then opened one of the drawers of his desk, taking a small knife out of it. Before Lena could stop him, he thrust it into his hand. Lena watched as the knife bounced right off the aura, coming away bent before the aura faded. "The Blessing of Ares," J'onn said. "A gift from my father, given to those that have demonstrated great courage. It makes me invulnerable for a short time, hence the bent knife. I can assure you Ms. Luthor, the more you see of the school, the more you will believe that I am telling you the truth."
Lena bit her lip. In all honesty, it made sense to her. It would explain all the odd creatures that she had seen throughout her life. She had never talked to anyone about it because if word got out that the Luthor's youngest daughter was seeing things, well. Lillian would have her head. So she kept quiet about it. Lena just nodded.
"I can see that." She said. "So you're saying..." Lena trailed off and J'onn nodded.
"One of your parents was a Greek God. Yes. From what I understand, you don't know your birth parents?" Lena shook her head.
"No, they were killed and I was adopted by the Luthors when I was four. Lionel did say though that my birth mother wanted me to come here, though if that helps?" Lena offered. J'onn shrugged.
"It's possible that your mother was your godly parent. But sometimes the gods will leave mention of the school imprinted in their minds as well. Hopefully, sometime in the next few weeks, you'll be claimed by your godly parent. For now, though, you'll be put in Baker Hall with the rest of the unclaimed. Your dorm advisor is going to be Lucy Lane. She's the oldest of the unclaimed. She'll walk you through the day to day procedures. But until then..." He trailed off, getting up and walking over to the door opening it and beckoning someone inside.
In stepped a tall woman with reddish brown hair. Lena stood up to greet the newcomer who offered Lena her hand. Lena accepted and shook the woman's hand. It was a surprisingly strong grip, but Lena held her ground. "Ms. Luthor, this is Alex Danvers. She'll be giving you a tour around the campus while we get a few things straightened out for you. Please, leave your luggage. We'll see to it that it gets put in your new room." Lena nodded, following Alex out the door.
"So, new blood, huh?" Alex asked. Lena nodded.
"I guess so." Lena had so many questions, but she had no idea of what the protocol for asking them was. Was it rude to ask who a person's godly parent was? Alex could obviously see the questions written on Lena's face.
"I'm a daughter of Athena if you were wondering. Which you were from the look on your face." Lena looked a little sheepish. "Don't worry. You'll eventually know the parentage of everyone here. There's not a lot of us and you'll figure it out eventually, about everyone." Alex said reassuringly.
The two walked around the campus, Alex pointing out various different things to Lena. "So basically while you're unclaimed, you're going to be put into some basic classes so you can find your strengths and interests." She said as the pair walked past the shooting ranges where there were a couple of people with a bow and arrow, shooting at the targets.
"If or when you're claimed, you'll be put into some more specialized classes to hone your innate abilities. Like if your father is Ares, you'll be put in more combat and war strategy classes." Alex said. She said something else, but Lena's attention was drawn elsewhere. In a nearby sparring arena was a blonde haired woman with a large broadsword, fighting a tall, brown haired male.
The male seemed to be all brute strength, charging in against the blonde who was able to meet him blow for blow, and even repel his attack before he charged again. Lena's focus was on the girl, who was so graceful in her movements, spinning and swinging a sword that almost looked too heavy for her to pick up, let alone use. Alex followed Lena's line of sight and smiled.
"Ah. Watching my sister spar with Mon-El. It's always an interesting thing to behold." Lena looked at Alex.
"She's your sister?" Lena asked, looking back at the girl.
"Yeah, that's Kara. Danvers. A daughter of Zeus." Lena raised an eyebrow. "I know what you're thinking. And Kara is adopted. Her family was killed and she was adopted by my family. You'll probably meet them sometimes, they're teachers here." Alex said with a shrug. Lena looked back at Kara who was now pressing an attack against Mon-El.
"She's good," Lena remarked and Alex nodded.
"She's been practicing for a long time," Alex replied as they watched Kara push Mon-El back, before advancing, their blades meeting again, but this time, Kara twisted her sword, wrenching his out of his grip, disarming him. Kara stepped back, proud of herself, looking over to see her sister. She smiled and waved at her sister before noticing Lena standing next to her. Kara tilted her head to the side for a second, looking at Lena before giving her a warm smile, waving at her too. Lena was surprised at the girl's friendliness but waved back shyly.
She and Alex proceeded to walk over to Baker Hall, where Lena would be living. Lucy Lane, the dorm advisor was waiting for the two in the lobby. "Hey, Alex. Thanks for showing new girl around. I've got it from here." Alex nodded.
"I'll see you around Lena. Hope you enjoy it here. Don't be a stranger." Alex said before leaving the two girls.
"So, I'm guessing J'onn and Alex got you all caught up?" Lucy asked and Lena nodded.
"Yeah, mostly."
"Good," Lucy said curtly. "Your room is on the second floor, room 5. Your stuff has been brought up there already. Your schedule should be on the desk, classes start on Monday. If you need anything, don't hesitate to come find me." Lucy said, giving Lena a grin. "Welcome to Demos." Lena nodded, thanking Lucy before making her way to her room.
She quickly found it, opening the door, and indeed, all her belongings were there already. Lena sighed, walking over to the desk and picking up the piece of paper that was on it. She sat on the bed to examine it. Classes like Ancient Greek and Swordsmanship . If someone had asked Lena a year ago about how her college life was going to be, this was not how she pictured it. Lena laid back on the bed, closing her eyes. It was going to be a long year
***
Later that evening at dinner, Lena wandered over to the cafeteria. She noticed a large brazier outside with an open flame. Lucy had told Lena earlier about it. At meals, students would sacrifice food to the gods, apparently, they liked the smell. Sometimes they offered some prayers to the gods that they hoped to be answered. Lena was a little skeptical about it, never having been religious in her life, but since everyone else was doing it, she figured she probably should too.
After she grabbed some food, she walked over to the brazier and threw in a large bunch of grapes. In her heart, she prayed that she would be claimed. Like all the other unclaimed prayed daily. That someday she would know where she belonged. Lena looked up at the sky, turning orange as the sun set.
Lena found herself wandering over to an empty spot on the quad in the middle of campus. She set her plate down on a low wall, hopping up to sit on it. As she ate her food, she watched the sun set on her first day at Demos.