The Lord detests dishonest scales...
But accurate weights find favor in him...
When pride comes, then comes disgrace...
But with humility...
Comes wisdom...
"Can we skip the opening verse, Mr. Proud? I have an important meeting to get to dealing with Ms. Laneret and Abylon in the Libra Building," A woman said, standing next to Leonidas's seat with a clipboard in hand.
Leonidas chuckled softly at the woman's slight impatience, glancing up at her with a warm grin. "Now, now, Lady Anna... The Lord wants most if not all of your time if possible. I understand you're a busy woman, but you can slow down. Laneret and Abylon aren't going anywhere any time soon."
Lady Anna, aka Anna Justice, St. Meishi's top scientist, specific in forensics and works very closely with Laneret in the fields of wisdom and science. She had sort light colored hair, light brown eyes, and fair skin, also donning a white button up tucked inside a fitted black skirt.
Anna was a woman of science, but her research focuses more on proving and revealing the existence of Yuvah to the world in a way the world knew. Her greatest mission is to prove to the world that The Messiah is currently walking amongst the Earth.
"You know...all that stress can really dumb a person down. You should try to be more calm," Chester suggested sarcastically, leaning back in his seat with a slight grin.
"I am calm," Anna replied back immediately, shooting Chester a slight glare. "Besides, Mr. Number 9 of the V.J.I Student Council, don't you have important tasks to be doing instead of barging in other's lessons?"
Chester shrugged his shoulders, his hands still fitted inside his pockets. "The Sagittarius Department can wait. It isn't like they are in any rush. The Lead Teacher isn't back from his trip from the mountains."
I listened in on their conversation quietly, sipping upon the tea that was prepared for us for the lesson. Since Effie's grandfather was still away as well, we decided to join Leonidas's class outside in the Main Building's courtyard.
"So, I have a question. What am I supposed to be learning here? I know the Genesian Chronicles front and back, in and out. My mother would read chapters to me everyday since I was born to her death," I asked, looking out in the distance and watching Looni play with Effie, Fleur, and Luciel.
"That's the thing, you know everything about the Chronicles, but it doesn't hurt to have a little reminder. You see, Nox, it's more than just knowing the Chronicles. You have to teach it, live by it, and show others," Leonidas answered, closing his book and rubbing the smooth cover gently.
"Back then, barely anyone got into their Word. The Human Realm was in the clutches of the hands of Chaos, Terminus's best incarnation. Chaos had actually won truthfully, casting the Realm in darkness," Leonidas continued, his gaze shifting toward Effie and the others as well.
"It's like it said in the Book of 2nd August...After he had died for the first time, in five years Chaos' Spirit took over and no one believed Yuvah would save them until he resurrected as Cipher," I said, leaning back in my seat with a soft groan.
"But, I don't want to have to relive through that, or have anyone else go through a season without Yuvah after it happened once before. I want to save everyone who can be saved, and beat Terminus once and for all," I said, my eyes meeting Leonidas's golden gaze.
"Noble ideals...but how exactly will you even get there without the Sword of Spirits? After all, there's no use in hiding the fact, Merin has it. So how will you get it back?" Chester asked, his gaze looking down at his cup of tea.
I closed my eyes at Chester's question, taking a deep breath then exhaling softly. "It's true that I can't beat Merin as I am now, even with the Holy Flame. He has the Crest of Sheol, but only few can see it with high enough Discernment. I will just have to grow strong and wise enough to beat him."
Anna stared at me for a moment, her index finger gently tapping against the edge of her clipboard thoughtfully. She glanced at her watch and let out a soft hum, putting her sunglasses back over her eyes. "Mr. Proud, do you mind if I borrow Nox for a moment?"
"Borrow me?" I asked, looking up at Anna with slight confusion.
"It will only be for an hour or so. I think I might have found a breakthrough in my theory," Anna answered, looking down at her clipboard and tapped upon the surface, a translucent screen lighting up.
Leonidas shifted his gaze between me and Anna, a knowing smile stretching across his lips. He looked up at the sky, seeing the sun nearing its zenith. He began to stretch dramatically, letting out an exaggerated yawn. "I bet Laneret is asking where you are right about now."
Anna's eyes lit up at Leonidas's comment, knowing it was her okay to slip away to her meeting. She turned toward me and snapped her fingers. "Prince, come with me."
"Ah, seriously..? I wanted to stay outside a bit more...the sun is actually perfect..." I said in a stubborn tone, leaning back in my seat with my hands behind my head.
I noticed there was no response, but I could feel a gaze piercing through my soul, causing even Leonidas to slightly shiver. I cleared my throat and stood up from my seat, grabbing my bag. "Yes, ma'am."
"Good. Follow me," Anna said, turning on her heels to make her way toward the northern gates of the courtyard. "I'll be off now, Mr. Proud."
"Don't do too much to him now! He's still learning how to walk in divine shoes!" Leonidas called out to Anna, letting out a quiet chuckle and sighed, his gaze shifting over toward me. "Good luck, Prince Nox."
"Yeah, I might actually need it.." I said shuddering lightly and hurrying behind Anna's quick steps.
Chester stood up from his seat as well and looked at his watch, inhaling sharply and looked at the sky as well. "Oh, would you look at the time. Looks like me and Queen finally do have something to do."
"I thought we went over this, Chess..." Queen sighed softly, standing up from her seat and grabbing her bag before following behind Chester.
Leonidas chuckled at the two and began watching over the girls and Looni, enjoying the gentle sight of the girls playing together. He opened his Chronicles once again and began to read, spending his free time hearing the voice of God speaking to him.
I grunted softly as I stumbled down the stairs of the Libra Building, trying to keep up with Anna's haste. "God, would you slow down, woman? What's the big rush anyway? Laneret probably isn't even here yet."
"And what makes you suggest that outcome? The meeting is at 12 pm. It is 11:55 am, she is there waiting for us. Now, would you put some haste in your steps, Prince?" Anna replied surgically, her heels echoing down the halls with each step.
"I'm telling you, she will be late. Do you not know the distance from one of the St. Meishi Kingdoms to the Academy? That's at least an hour to three hour travel depending on travel, plus, she's Nagini's Perfect Descendant, she's has all of her traits," I said, grabbing Anna's wrist and stopping her for a moment.
Anna snatched her wrist back from my hand, letting out a soft exhale and turned around to face me. "Alright...so what? Why are you stopping me from going to the lab myself?"
"I don't know...to talk to you? You kinda stole me from my group on short notice and I guess...I would like to know you better," I said, shrugging my shoulders with a friendly expression.
Anna looked me up and down, studying my body language then began to slowly lower her guard. She exhaled softly then placed her back against the wall. "Fine. What do you want to talk about?"
Chester watched from around the corner, his hands in his pockets as usual with an intrigued expression upon his face. "You see that..? Tamed the Wisewoman herself without barely any struggle. How can you doubt his existence?"
"Your sarcasm is kinda funny, but what are you planning to achieve here? Stalking Nox again? You're crazed y'know.." Queen said, taking a bite out of her pocky stick.
"Yeah, I know...but maybe...it's just that I'm more curious about him ever since that game. He's one mind I have to test.." Chester said, keeping a watchful eye upon me and Anna.
Anna took off her sunglasses and rested them atop of her head, looking up at the ceiling with a distant gaze. "Before being led to come here, I used to work in New America as a forensic scientist... I always hated the violence, but loved the data. Then... I had to collect evidence from a certain crime scene at a church..."
"I was always on the fence about my stance on religion, but after that day...I had no choice but to believe that there was a Supreme God. The hate someone could have to do such a thing," Anna continued, letting out a deep sigh.
"I see... And what led you here?" I asked, my eyes looking at my reflection upon the white tile floor.
"God did... He led me here. After that day, I've wanted to prove to the non believers that the attack was more than hatred. It was a silencing, but because of that I was outcastes, forced to flee to the only place I knew would accept me. Exzodia," Anna said, closing her eyes and clutching her clipboard tightly.
"Now, I am Number 4 of the V.J.I Student Council, working as the Proof of Justice for the Libra Department. Collecting data, scanning evidence, even working with Laneret...I will bring the truth to light. The Messiah walks amongst us," Anna finished, looking down at her clipboard with a serious expression.
I nodded at her statement and exhaled lightly, raising my head and looking over at Anna with a sympathizing gaze. I couldn't see any light in her gaze, just cold focus and a high faith, yet her Spirit seemed...dead.
I looked straight ahead, wanting to shift the topic and get her mind off her past. "I see...I know you mentioned something similar to ranking around here. What's the deal with that?"
"Every Institution has a Student Council, 12 members per Council, then the four districts have a Main Council they respond to, The Holy Resistance and their Squads from one to 12. Here, the Council is broken into four groups," Anna explained, stepping closer to show me her high tech clipboard.
Upon her clipboard, the translucent screen began to show me the layout of the entire campus and the way the council was ranked. Each Department had three council members within each building, the first of the three in each building being that Department's leader.
"The Main Department has Ranks 1-3, the Libra Department holds Ranks 4-6 and I am the leader of the Libra Department being Number 4 of the V.J.I District. The Sagittarius Department holds Ranks 7-9, and the Virgo Department holds 10-12," Anna finished, looking over at me and noticed me studying the display.
"So who's Number 1?" I asked, looking up at Anna from her clipboard.
Anna slightly hesitated to answer the question, whether it be due to not knowing or knowing but not liking the answer much, but there was a lot of hesitation. "I will just say, it's someone you know."
"C'mon, seriously? That's all you gotta say?" I asked, raising an eyebrow and watching Anna get off the wall.
"Congratulations, you managed to stall me until 12 pm. We're losing track of our reason for being here. Come on, it's time to get started," Anna said in her no nonsense tone, continuing down the hall to the lab.
I sighed softly, getting off the wall as well to follow behind Anna, preparing myself for whatever she had planned for me. Chester and Queen glanced at each other then began following the two of us, their curiosity becoming more evident.
---------------------------
Abylon stood next to the alter of Imogen's Temple, her arms crossed as she watched Laneret inspect every corner of the room. She rose an eyebrow, curious of what Laneret was looking for. "Lanni, we're gonna be late for the meeting we promised Anna we would show up to."
Laneret sucked her teeth at Abylon's worry, adjusting her square glasses upon her face as she crawled upon the floors with a magic magnifying glass. "Calm your nerves, Abbie. You forget I can just rewind time and teleport there. Besides...I'm not letting that whitewashed whore get away with sneaking around here.."
"Whitewashed wh— Laneret! Watch your language in one of Genesis's Holy Temples! You ought to keep your decorum, no matter how sneaky and wretched that witch Dahlia is!" Abylon corrected, walking over to Laneret and sat upon the stairs of the choir stand.
"What are you searching for specifically? Crumbs from yesterday's communion?" Abylon asked, her tone half joking as she watched Laneret stand on her feet.
"Haha, you're hilarious, my friend," Laneret said with great sarcasm, dusting off her lab coat and exhaled softly. "I was looking for hidden tracks. Dahlia wears shoes that leave no prints, so it's hard to track her at times...but with these, I can see her prints."
"Okay? So what's the discovery?" Abylon asked, raising a curious brow and lifting her head slightly.
Laneret exhaled softly, placing her hand upon her hip and shrugged her shoulders. "Nothing. She's clean, too clean. My Serpent Mind is sensing something off, and I can feel it...she isn't gonna hide anything from me."
Suddenly, the doors of the temple opened, a man wearing a red leather long coat walking inside with his hands behind his head. Two more men walked in behind him, one with short silver hair, and another with black hair worn in a short ponytail, the two escorting Dahlia into the Temple.
"Seriously man...why'd you drag me here to this wasteful Kingdom? The women here aren't all that, and it's way too holier than thou for me," The man in the long coat said, looking ahead and noticing Laneret and Abylon.
Laneret scoffed at the three men and Dahlia, putting away her magnifying glass then slipped her hands into her coat's pockets. "Well, well...The Infamous Crowns of Squad VII, Reid, Shion, and Merin. Escorting a lone Nun aren't you?"
"It's all a part of our good deed, Ms. Klein. It isn't often I see you outside of your den. What's the occasion?" Merin asked, walking ahead with Dahlia's hand in his, giving Laneret a cordial smile.
Laneret looked at Dahlia and Merin, noticing their intertwined fingers and sucked her teeth lightly, raising her eyes to meet Merin's gaze. "We are headed to V.J.I for an important meeting. We were just on our way.."
Dahlia hummed at Laneret's answer, giving her a sweet smile. "How wonderful!~ You're going there to spread the Word to the fellow students?"
"Yeah, something like that," Abylon answered hastily, standing up from her seat and summoned her staff in her hand. "We should be heading off now."
"Wait, Abylon— I have to reverse ti—"
Before Laneret could finish her warning, Abylon warped herself and Laneret away from the Temple, leaving Reid and Shion confused on their hasty leave. Merin and Dahlia glanced at each other with a knowing grin, the two shrugging off their leave and making their way toward the main office of the temple with Reid and Shion following behind.
"—me so we aren't...late..." Laneret finished, looking around and noticing she was inside of the Libra Department's main lab and sighed softly as she could feel Anna's piercing gaze and rose her hand to rewind time.
Abylon placed her hand upon Laneret's wrist, slowly lowering her hand and shaking her head. "It's too late...she already heard us.."
"You're damn right I did, and you're literally 20 minutes late. Tch. Physical Goddess," Anna scoffed lightly, finishing setting up the equipment then stood up to smooth out her skirt. "Plus because of your absence, we unfortunately have two extra guests..."
Laneret rose an eyebrow and turned her head to the other side of the room, noticing Chester and Queen sitting at the large folding table then sucked her teeth. "Chester. Queen."
"Ms. Klein, it's nice to be in your presence," Queen greeted back, standing up to give Laneret a formal bow.
"Yo," Chester said, leaning back in his seat with a casual demeanor and a light smirk.
Abylon sighed softly and giggled softly, resting her chin upon the palm of her hand then turned over to see me sitting at the main desk with my phone in hand. "Ahh, Prince Nox! I didn't expect you to be here as well!"
I looked up from my phone and looked up at Abylon and Laneret, giving them both a smile and setting down my phone. "Abylon, Laneret. It's nice to see you two again."
Laneret looked over at me, noticing a change in my appearance then let out a soft hum as she walked toward me. "So, you did his trials huh? How do you feel?"
I watched as Laneret slithered her way toward me, sitting still as she inspected around my body. "Uh, good, I think. Why?"
"Just asking..." Laneret responded, standing up straight and tapped her finger upon her lips slowly with a thoughtful expression. "Anna, you do remember what we are researching correct?"
"Of course. Proof that the Messiah is walking upon the Earth, also searching for a candidate for our new system. Why?" Anna answered, watching as Laneret began helping me get hooked up onto the equipment.
"System?" I asked, holding my arms out as Laneret placed the last pieces upon me.
"Yeah, it's called G.R.A.Y," Laneret said, grunting softly as she stood up straight and dusted her hands off. "It stands for Genesis, Ragnarok, Ascea, and Yuvah, a system that'll help with mainly keeping track of yourself but also tracking dormant Dark Lords, Zodiac Cores, Rulers, and more."
"Sounds epic, sounds like something not even the smartest humans could make even with our current tech," Chester said, tilting his head slightly with a hint of intrigue.
"Don't get too excited, this isn't like those other systems. This a System built by God Himself. Yuvah made G.R.A.Y. through me. Not even I have the knowledge of such a perfect creation," Laneret said, walking over to her desk and sitting down then logged into the computer.
Everything was now set for the meeting to start, Laneret and Anna both going over their current evidence and information while also gathering information from me. I stood still while they worked, being sure to not mess up their work.
While the two women worked their scientific magic, Chester, Queen, and Abylon played a quick card game at the table to pass the time. Chester's gaze occasionally lifted up to watch the experiments, his curiosity growing as he watched small amounts of blood flow through the tubes into a machine.
A chime played on the computer, signalling the comings of the results from the experiments. Laneret typed on the keyboard, recieved the results and displayed them for everyone to see on the projector. "The results are in...after studying Nox's DNA and running multiple tests, here are the results.."
〘Results Acquired!〙
〘Name: Nox A. Exzodia〙
〘Ancestry: Exzodian - 100%, Eyican - 100%〙
〘Genealogy - Direct Relatives/Messianic Beings〙
Hisumi Nomura - 100%
Ryoma Miyazaki - 100%
Misaki Eyica - 100%
August Eyica - 100%
Luca the Tyrant - 100%
Henosis - 100%
Adamiel - 100%
Yuvah - 100%
"Well, isn't that a surprise...this guy," Chester said, looking at the list of Messianic Beings with a soft scoff of disbelief and a smirk. "He really is...what Merin feared.."
"Yeah...I guess you were stalking for a reason..." Queen breathed, unable to look away from the projector screen.
Anna stood in silence with a gaze of disbelief, but also pure satisfaction that she finally got her answer. Flashes of the crime scene began to play in her head, all of the evidence that soon led her to Exzodia appearing mentally. 'It wasn't for nothing... they will soon finally find peace...'
Laneret hummed at Anna's reaction then looked at the computer screen, her eyes slightly widening as she looked at the extended results. She paused the projector screen so she could scroll on her computer to look at the results for herself.
〘Genealogy - Distant Blood/Genesis Only〙
Leonidas Proud - 60%
Effie Proud - 40%
Flynn Foster - 70%
Fleur de Lissa - 20%
Luciel van Genssei - 80%
'Flynn and Luciel I expect...but the Dean, Effie, and Fleur..? They come from the same tree..? It would explain their attunement to Mana and the Butterflies...' Laneret said mentally, glancing over at me subtly, now becoming more curious about me.