Watch out for false prophets...
They come to you in sheep's clothing...
but inwardly they are ferocious wolves...
Yochanan and Merin dashed about the Forest of Fideline, their weapons ringing out in the air with each clash. The two were practically evenly matched, neither side giving up the upperhand in their duel.
Yochanan dodged Merin's double slice then retaliated with a horizontal slash, but Merin warped out of the way, reappearing behind Yochanan and throwing him forward by the collar of his robes. Yochanan rolled backwards, recovering onto his feet and returning back to his stance, his grip upon his sword firm and tight.
Merin chuckled softly at Yochanan's resistance, pacing left and right with methodical steps. "You know... You're rather resilient for an old man like yourself. We all know you're making the way for Nox, but I will not allow that to happen."
"Hmph... You know who the Messiah is, yet you choose to deny him by steering away prophecy. Usually, people like you foolishly fulfill it...but you are a strange one. You're actively stealing it," Yochanan said, his gaze focused and weary of Merin, keeping his distance for safe measure.
Merin clapped his hands in response, giving Yochanan a sarcastic applause. He let out a soft sigh, shaking his head slowly. "Captain Obvious, it's nice to meet you. Don't you think I know how this plays out already? Decades, centuries, multiple reincarnations...time and time again, my plans failed. Not this time..."
Black particles began rising from the ground around Merin's body, each speck of energy merging together to create black butterflies around his body. Yochanan grunted softly at the butterflies, his flesh feeling uneased by their very presence.
"After every Messianic Force, every generation...I have truly learned how to use their power. The power of the Messiah...it's time that I end this war once and for all. You will baptize me, and recognize me as you God!" Merin declared, launching his butterflies toward Yochanan like projectiles.
Yochanan braced himself for defense, but before the butterflies could reach him, a roar of powerful winds began blowing, creating a protective cyclone around him. The butterflies began reflecting off the cyclone, returning back to Merin's side.
Merin grunted softly at the winds, shielding his face from the dust and debris and the howling winds. The winds subsided, revealing the figure behind the random whirlwind, a great spear made from the bones of a dragon sticking in the ground.
"Well, well...look at what the lion dragged in. You make a hasty recovery, Flynn," Merin chuckled, his eyes shimmering with curiosity and interest.
"Screw you, you god complex bitch... I see right through your devilish eyes now. You traitor...you killed my parents! You ruined Nox's life! You killed Zachary! You are the sole purpose of this world's despair, and I will cleanse this world of it!" Flynn roared, taking her spear out of the ground and taking on her stance.
"Young Flynn...you need to retreat. This battle is not yours to bear let alone withstand. He holds Exzodian Abilities as well as Eyican Techniques, that is much more than what you can handle," Yochanan warned, stepping forward but stopped after hearing the dove chirp in protest.
"God will never test you with more than one can handle...if Yuvah didn't think I could handle this...handle killing someone I saw as a brother, He wouldn't have called me here," Flynn said, spreading her draconic skeleton wings, draconic aura flowing around her body.
Merin chuckled softly at Flynn's courage, using one of his butterflies to swap his katana for his signature masamune. "What courage...pray you live tonight to tell the tale.."
Flynn grunted as she sprinted forward, slicing upward at Merin, but Merin sidestepped, leaving behind a phase clone of himself then knocked Flynn away with a spinning kick to her chest. Flynn grunted as she flew backwards, using her wings to stop herself in mid air and exhaled softly.
Merin smirked at Flynn then shifted his masamune into twin daggers using his black butterflies, his chuckle cold and devious as he hatched an idea in his mind. He threw one of the daggers at Flynn, but she quickly deflected it using the surface of her blade.
Merin warped to his airborne dagger then threw his second dagger at Flynn, the weapon missing her body entirely and sticking into the ground behind her. Flynn scoffed at Merin's miss, spreading her wings to fly up to him, but before she could, she noticed Merin's airborne body was now a deep red silhouette.
"You know, you shouldn't leave yourself wide open!" Merin taunted behind Flynn, striking her back with an electrified palm strike and knocking her forward.
Merin threw his dagger forward, warping in front of Flynn then striking her stomach with a missile dropkick, sending Flynn flying backwards into a tree. Merin stood up from the ground, humming with pleasure at his victory over Flynn.
Merin watched as Yochanan hurried to Flynn's aid, making his weapons disappear and crossed his arms. "It's no use trying to aid her, old man. Instead of worrying about her, worry about me. You can not defeat me, Evangelist. It's time you stopped trying.."
Yochanan glanced at Merin with a glare, reaching down for another cross to wield but froze as he heard the sound of a gun being held at his head. Jericho stood behind him with a rifle to his head, prepared to end Yochanan's life at Merin's call.
"Now that I have you where I want you, you have no choice but to comply. You can not deny me, the word of Genesis says baptism is for all who wish to join Her kingdom. Are you denying me that chance to be with Genesis?" Merin asked in manipulative tone, his mana blue eyes piercing into Yochanan's own.
"You don't want to stand with Genesis...you want to take over Ragnarok's position, so you can become an extension of Yuvah, thus becoming God. However, you can not because it isn't as simple..." Yochanan retorted, staying strong in his stance upon the manner, his courageous gaze never leaving Merin's.
"I know what it will take, and I know it will take commanding the Zodiacs, Rulers, Dark Lords, and every Spirit within the Five Realms. And you don't have to fall with the ship, if you just baptize and worship me!" Merin urged, holding his hand out toward Yochanan, giving him his mercy.
Yochanan stared at Merin, his gaze firm as he could see through the lies behind his mask. He glanced down at Flynn, his hand holding hers tightly before turning his gaze back to Merin. "It is written: No man shall claim the title God except for the Father Himself. Anyone claiming to be God will suffer the full wrath of his judgement."
Both Merin and Jericho began laughing at Yochanan's response, clearly mocking him and Yuvah with clear disrespect. Merin snapped his fingers, giving Jericho the command to strike Yochanan with the butt of his rifle, the strike knocking Yochanan onto the ground.
Merin walked toward Yochanan and crouched down in front of him, watching him struggle under Jericho's foot with the barrel of his rifle to his head. "I will ask you one more time...baptize me...and you will live."
"No..." Yochanan answered, plain and simple with no signs of his faith breaking.
Merin closed his eyes and stood up on his feet, turning around and dusting off his clothes. "Kill him. We will find another way, but without Yochanan, Nox can't be baptized. This will be it. Our victory."
"If you kill him, you won't find another Evangelist like Yochanan," A voice sounded within the forest, the tone echoing through the forest and causing a disorienting effect upon everyone.
Merin grunted softly as he looked around, his gaze scouting around for the source of the voice until his eyes stopped upon a person standing against a tree coolly. He squinted his eyes a bit, the image of the person becoming more clear.
He wore a simple white jacket, white t shirt, gray joggers, and regular tennis shoes. He had his hands placed in his pockets with a knowing smirk upon his face, taking one of his hands out his pockets to wave at Merin.
"Chester...what the hell are you doing here? Why are you not back at base?" Merin asked, his gaze clearly annoyed with Chester's antics.
"I'm here to make sure you don't make dumb decisions. Sure, he isn't gonna baptize you...but Yochanan is the only Evangelist known with a strong enough connection to God with knowledge no one else knows. Kill him and your plan falters down the road," Chester said, shrugging his shoulders.
Merin's eye twitched with annoyance at Chester's smug and intelligent tone, knowing he was right about Yochanan. He scoffed lightly, turning away and walking off. "Leave him and the bitch. We are heading back.."
Chester smirked as he watched his leader and his lackeys retreating from his cold logic. He took one more glance at Yochanan and Flynn, humming softly at them before walking off, in his mind being their temporary savior.
---------------------
The sun began to rise over the horizon, casting its warm first light upon the world, the morning birds singing their melodies to awaken all the creatures around. The house was busy with motions, the girls all up and ready to get their Monday started with breakfast and their morning chatter.
The three noticed I wasn't downstairs yet and wondered if I was even awake at the moment. Fleur decided to tread upstairs and make her way to my room, knocking on the door to see if I was awake. After a few more knocks, Fleur opened the door and peeked inside my room, noticing I was still asleep.
Fleur sighed softly with a smile, walking inside my room and making her way toward my curtains, swinging them wide open. "Rise and shine, Prince~ You don't really expect us to allow you to sleep all day right?"
I groaned softly and turned over on the other side of my bed, avoiding the direct sunlight upon my eyes. I slowly opened my eyes, glancing around the room and slowly sat up. "Can't a guy sleep in? Do you not remember what I went through all day yesterday?"
"Oh we remember, but now we have something to do! It's time to get up, Noxie!~ C'mon!" Fleur said in a chipper mood, hopping over to my bed to pull me out.
There was a bit of fuss between me and Fleur, the two of us struggling against each other with me not wanting to get up and Fleur desperately trying to pull me out of my bed. Fleur manifested three of her butterflies to become clones, using the extra support to over power me out of bed.
I groaned lightly as I was now on my feet, moving my hair from my eyes with a slightly annoyed expression. "Alright...happy now?"
"Very," Fleur hummed, leaning into me to give my cheek a good morning peck. "Now, get ready. We have our first class soon!"
I watched as Fleur left my room then let out a soft exhale, rubbing the back of my head with a soft blush on my face. Without wasting another second, I began getting ready for the day ahead with my mind focusing on the lessons at V.J.I.
Once I was ready, I made my way downstairs and met up with the girls. Giving each other our greetings, we headed out to the garage to my cae and Fleur took the wheel this go around. We all buckled up and took off to the institution, the girls having high spirits about the lessons ahead.
After a long drive, we made it to the institution with everyone's eyes upon the regal car arriving into the parking lot. Peter, Andrew, and Ava noticed our car pulling up, a smirk forming upon Peter's face as he watched me exit from the backseat.
"There he is, the Royal Crown," Peter said, leaning against his car with his arms crossed.
"Brother, you've been pretty obsessed with Nox since the day we went home. Do you think you can control your impulses?" Andrew asked, glancing up at his older brother.
Ava scoffed lightly at Andrew's question, her gaze shifting over to Peter with doubt. "Peter? Controlling his impulses? That would be the day the sky cracks and Yuvah decides to Flood the Earth again.."
"Which will not happen because of His promise to us! Besides, who do you take me for?" Peter scoffed, rolling his eyes at Ava's doubts.
"You're the same man who crashed out because another fisherman called your Silverfin a cheap knockoff of a souvenir you'd find in the Aquarius Museum," Ava reminded, watching as Peter walked off with a groan and chuckled softly.
"You know, you really shouldn't tease Peter like that. You know how much he prides himself on his fishing skills," Andrew said, gently tugging on Ava's robes.
Ava giggled softly at Andrew's concern and looked down at him with a soft smile. "You know I love Peter and I'm just tugging his line. Besides, I know he has it in him to control his impulses."
In the distance, a man in a white jacket kept a close eye upon my group from the roof top of the main building using his binoculars, letting out an amused hum. Beside him, a woman looked down at my group as well then glanced at the man beside her.
"Chester, you're really stalking Nox? For what purpose? Merin isn't even worried about him anymore," The woman said, crossing her arms and turning around to rest her back against the fence of the roof.
"And that's exactly why I'm looking over him, Queen. There's something Merin is afraid of... something about Nox that truly scares him. I'm quite curious about him as well...the prophesized Messiah," Chester said, lowering his binoculars and slipped his hands back into his pockets.
"And what are you planning in that head of yours?" Queen asked, taking the stem of her lollipop out of her mouth.
Chester smirked at her question and walked off coolly, shrugging his shoulders. "Who knows, only God can tell.."
Queen watched as Chester walked off, unable to wrap her head around his mystery, but shrugged it off and followed behind him. "Hey, wait up!"
In the main building, Effie began leading us toward her classroom, walking backwards and explaining her only class with excitement in her tone. Along the way, we were receiving a few glances, most of the judgemental glances being shot toward me.
I glanced around as I followed behind the girls, seeing all of the judgemental looks and knew it was only due to the works of Merin's influence. Luciel and Fleur noticed as well, taken they were walking forward just as I was, but Effie was the only one in the dark of the judgement.
"Hm, it's interesting that you'd choose V.J.I out of the four institutions. Is it because of your friend here? Or do you have a hidden agenda in mind," A voice called out from behind my group, his tone mixed with probing and a hint of sarcasm.
I stopped walking and looked back, noticing a man in a white jacket leaned against the lockers with his arms crossed and his gaze facing the ground, his hood worn over his head. Beside him was a woman with a ponytail of multiple braids, her attire a bikini top and skinny black jeans and her gaze focused upon my presence.
"Nox Exzodia, am I correct? The supposed killer of Zachary Exzodia, your own blood..." The man began, looking up at me with a clever smirk.
Fleur was ready to jump on the defensive, but I held my arm out to stop her as I was interested in what the man had to say. Luciel and Effie watched the scene unfold, the four of us highly alert about both the man and his companion.
"You seem to know a lot about me. You also seem to believe in a rumor spread by a wounded man. A lost one," I said, turning around fully to face the man with a piercing gaze.
The woman behind the man slightly faltered, gulping lightly under my intense amber gaze. The man met my stare with a confident expression, his gaze eventually lowering and noticing the invisible presence of Leona next to me, her golden eyes glowing dangerously.
He closed his eyes and rose his hands with surrender, getting off the locker and taking a step back. "Hey, I don't want any trouble... I am just curious about you because I've always found that rumor to be slightly fishy.."
Quiet gossips began to spread through the halls, both girls and guys alike discussing the man's comment, unable to believe that there would be a disbeliever amongst their ranks. My group kept a discerning gaze upon both the man and the woman before me, Luciel's gaze equally as piercing as mine.
"My name is Chester Katt, and behind me is my girlfriend, Queen Ace. We come in peace, and are just transfer students from another country," Chester revealed, lowering his hands back into his pockets.
"Yo," Queen said, raising her hand for a simple wave.
"Chester Katt and Queen Ace...pshh...what names," Fleur scoffed softly, looking both Chester and Queen up and down.
"They sound like cool names to me," Effie giggled, glancing at Fleur with a bright smile.
"Yeah, of course you'd think that..." Fleur said, rolling her eyes lightly.
Luciel stared at Chester and Queen for a moment, repeating their names multiple times in her mind, both names sounding familiar to her. Once it clicked to her, her eyes lit up with immediate recognition. "You two. You both came from New Japan, Neverland Academy. Right?"
Chester glanced over at Luciel, not knowing who she was but taking great interest in her Discernment. He looked her up and down, studying her for a moment and letting out a soft hum. "You know us?"
"I have a friend who goes there, she actually used to be a Nun just like me, but ended up transferring once her dad got a job in New Japan as a mechanic. She would talk about you two a lot, both of you being Student Council members like her," Luciel explained, giving the two of them a courteous smile.
"Well, this chick has one on you, Chess..~ Should've kept your eye more peeled... Discernment is a powerful tool," Queen hummed, placing a hand upon her hip.
Chester lightly chuckled, a smirk forming upon his lips as he nodded. "Yeah, I'm aware... We got a Warden on our hands here."
I turned around and moved my hair from my eyes, glancing back at Chester and let out a soft scoff. "You're an interesting one, Chester. I can tell you're just as curious about me as I am of you, so...how about a little game before I head to my first class. A game to see how smart you truly are."
Chester rose an eyebrow with curiosity and crossed his arms with a slight smirk. "Oh? A game? How did you know we used to play games back at Neverland Academy?"
"Because our friend... Alice Miracle, she would always play games with us before she left to go to Japan. There's this one game I would like to play...it's called Middle Point," I answered, my back still facing Chester with my hands in my pockets.
The entire hallway was caught off guard by my challenge, each student whispering amongst themselves in disbelief. Luciel stared at me with sparkling eyes, holding her hands to her chest as she admired my bold challenge.
"Middle Point, ahh. I've heard of it. We both guess a number, multiply it by 0.8 and whoever is the closest to the resulting number wins. Am I right?" Chester asked, staring at me with a knowing gaze.
I nodded, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath and exhaling. "You are correct. Now let's begin. We each get thirty seconds to think of a number from zero to 100. Go."
The two of us began to think of a number from 0-100, but I had already had my number in mind. Chester stared at me, analyzing me closely to try to know what number I picked. Queen glanced at Chester, noticing how hard he was trying to read me.
Thirty seconds had passed, time was over for the brainstorming and was now time for us to give our answer. Chester stepped forward, wanting to give his number first and cleared his throat.
"My number is 64. What's yours," Chester asked, his probing gaze waiting for my answer.
I didn't look back, letting out a soft nose laugh and nodded my head. I looked up straight ahead and began walking off. "You should've went lower."
Chester watched as I began walking off, raising his eyebrow then noticed a piece of paper fall out of my pocket onto the floor. He walked toward it and crouched down, picking up the folded paper then opened it, seeing a number written in gold.
Queen walked up behind Chester and placed her hand upon his shoulder gently, using him as standing support. "Something told me he was smarter than he seemed. He read you like an open book..."
"Yeah...I can see that now..." Chester said, looking up from the page with a smirk upon his face.
Upon the page was the number 0, meaning I won the game due to 0 being closer to 51.2 than 64 was to the answer. He stood up on his feet, his mind racing with more questions about me.