The result of the tests was out. Thank Astrea that it finally ended but now, the moment of anticipation and dread arrived.
"I got only eighty-five points," Bridget whispered as she looked down.
"Wowee, that's pretty high!" Ria patted her on the back for reassurance to which the former was grateful.
"Heh, guess who got top on the class." His lips painted a smug smile as he leaned back on his chair with both of his hands behind his back. He puffed his chest and pointed at himself— "Me!"
Ria abruptly turned to him. The rise of her eyebrow expressed skepticism at his bold claim. "Eh?"
"You want proof, people? Bam!" He slammed the table with his test paper. They all peered and saw his almost perfect score. "Bet the prodigy won't be able to surpass this. Take that!"
"Ehhhh?!" Ria couldn't believe her eyes that she leaned her face too close to the paper while Hayden laughed smugly.
Adeleine hummed with her brows crossed as she stared at her paper. "I have ten mistakes."
"Wait, what?! Why are you all high? Back in my day, we could barely even get seventy-five on Arvistia History Studies! This is rigged!"
"Heh, what can I say?" Hayden said with a shrug. "I'm the best."
"I'm pretty sure the questions were all easy…" Adeleine groaned as she wiped her face. "How did I get mistakes?"
"Celestial above!" Bridget gasped. "You look worse than before. Have you been sleeping well? You don't have to push yourself like this."
She sighed at the other's concern. "It's okay… I just couldn't sleep last night so instead of wasting time, I just studied."
"Studying up all night but still have mistakes? Tsk. Tsk. That won't do." Hayden shook his head. "If you guys wanna know the secret to my outstanding academic performance, I'll let you in it."
He winked.
"Come close," he beckoned them and they all leaned in. "You just need an analogy."
"An analogy?" Adeleine scrunched up her brows, clearly not in the mood for messing around. If he's joking then and that's all there is to it, she's leaving. There are far more important things she should be attending right now.
"Yup, an anology."
"Oh! It's like how I use cupcakes to remember their names!"
"Uhhhh, how exactly?" This time, Hayden asked Ria with the same level of skepticism and sarcasm soon to follow.
"Look here, this is Mr. Neil la Liga Ares-Blaisqe," she said as she pulled the sweet out of nowhere.
"You brought food here?!" Adeleine almost shouted but managed to keep her voice in a low whisper. "You're going to get us kicked out! You know fully well that we aren't allowed to bring food here, not a single crumb."
"Oh, pffft, relax! They'll kick us out if only we get caught, which we aren't. As long as we keep it low-key."
The letherian glared at her. "Recall the last time we got into trouble? You left me hanging!"
"What are you guys talking about?" Hayden interjected while Adeleine realized that she let her tongue slip. Fortunately, Hayden didn't pursue it any further as he cleared his throat. "Well, at least the color of the icing captured the actual theme of the Fire Royal family's insignia. But that's personification, not analogy."
"Phooey, it's the same." Ria harrumphed and cross her arms.
Hayden gave her a challenging stare. "Iz not."
"It is."
"Iz not-"
"It is. Then let's see what's yours then?" The senior matched his competitive attitude.
"Um, guys, let's all calm down-"
"Hah! Compared to your inconsistent method, I use the calendar," Hayden remarked. "The calendar system is referenced to the high-ranking people who participated in the second Celestial War. Today is the eighteenth day of Saoir with the twelfth-morning star. Twelve morning stars appear at dawn periodically throughout the year, each of their names is based on the twelve people who closely served the celestials. The twelve morning stars were used during the Golden Era but when the second war broke out, only four of them remained loyal to Her Holy Brilliance while the others are bewitched to join the darkness. The Sun Celestial blessed the remaining four while she erased the other eight morning stars from appearing at dawn. Now, they could only be seen at night just like any other stars. She also changed the calendar system to be based only on the four's names as a reward and since then, it's what we currently use. The four Royal families—their descendants—carry the legacy and the legend of the names. Saoir, Pierre, Azura, and Blaisqe."
Ria whined as she threw her head back. "Ughhhh, too long, too many details. All I know is cupcakes and if I get their name right, I eat them."
"All you know is about sweets, anyway." Hayden crossed his arms with a smirk. "You see here, the twelve morning stars are what used to be the basis for months but now, only four. It represents the other eight's betrayal. Although in formal writing, the full date still includes the morning stars because of old documents but people majorly use the four months alone for efficiency since it accurately goes along with the seasons too."
"But that's not analogy, that's whooey phatooey!"
"Iz not. You're just saying that cuz I pointed out that yours is not analogy, and mine is."
Ria gasped and slammed the table. "Lies!"
"Um guys…let's keep quiet, please…" And typical Bridget was ignored by the loudmouths.
"Can you all shut your mouths?" Adeleine snapped as she slammed the table, cutting everyone off. "It doesn't matter whether it is or not, everyone has their own method. And I can't comprehend the text when you all are being distractingly noisy!"
"Say," Ria tapped her chin as she asked out of curiosity, "what were your mistakes?"
Adeleine speedily reviewed her paper and noticed that majority of them were long names. "Huh, I'm certain I got those people right…"
"Lemme see." Hayden took her paper and as soon as he got on the first one, he paused. "Oh…" Then the second, "oh…" Until he fully scanned it. "Uhhh, I could barely understand it but you... You spelt their names wrong," he guffawed as he handed it back to her.
To think someone would get their spelling wrong… they're prominent figures existing in lore and majorly in history. It's new but understandable since she's a letherian, she grew up in a different culture where different names are hailed in glory.
It's funny to see the confused but serious look on her face as she scanned it again. Quite refreshing to see someone care so much about the written tests compared to the physical and elemental aptitude as the academy, after all, focuses on harnessing and mastering affinities.
Truth to be told, Adeleine could only feel satisfaction from acing mental tests since it's apparent that she falls flat when it comes to other departments. She's on the borderline of doubting her ability to be able to wield an affinity and she lacks the physique fitting for a swordsman. The only thing that kept her from falling deeper into a hole was a faint hope of Moon returning to her side. By then, she had no idea what to make of Moon's presence nor does she know anything regarding the voice other than being, what Adeleine assumed, a spirit beast.
"What do you mean? I know I spelled it right…" Adeleine scanned her answers once again.
Hayden chuckled. "What do you mean you spelled it right? Look at that. The "i" is supposed to go after the "e". And some here—"
"BUT that's what I did!" Adeleine stressed her words, frustrated.
The boy looked shocked. "What…? How… how is that an- how is that-" Hayden snatched the paper out of her hands to take a closer look in disbelief. "Is this what your "k" looks like? What is this penmanship? Man…" He scratched behind his ear.
His voice almost sound mocking together with how he pointed at her handwriting like it was some sort of abomination. "Give me that." Embarrassed, she yanked it back and stomped away.
"I thought my handwriting is already crude like mother said but you know, that is like Luna spawned the demons."
Ria slyly grinned. "Was that pun intended?"
Adeleine popped a vein on her forehead as she yanked the doorknob open. "I can still hear you, you know."
~~
Not long after she left the library, she already gained the spotlight as she walked through the hallways. She groaned. Whispers passed from ear to ear as the students either avoid her or stare at her in contempt but surely enough, among the words she ignored, there was one particular discussion that piqued her interest, also confusion bubbled up inside her.
"I heard the closest attendant of Headmaster Verkel is going incognito in Letheria."
Adeleine leaned on the wall as she hid her presence behind the corner as the two unsuspecting girls conversed, pretending to look at her test papers with the utmost seriousness to cover up her agenda.
"You mean the Heskian woman? I often see her around now in the academy. Do you think there's something going on?"
"I'm pretty sure they were for keeping the… *Letherian* in check."
"Don't you think it's unnerving?"
"Yeah, why would they let in a Letherian to study here anyway. They're utterly inhumane."
"No- I mean, yeah but, I was talking about the Heska. If you look closely, they really have dark skin, almost like the night."
Dammit, she almost fell asleep.
She shuffled her papers with a sigh and fixed her posture, revealing herself at the turn much to the two girl's shock. She paid them no mind; she was done hearing what she needed after all.
She held her chin up. With brazen strides, she walked past them. The two girls watched her with caution as they kept their faces directed to the central garden enclosed by the building as if they weren't talking dirt about people a while ago, randomly changing their topic in a split second with fake joyous laughter.
As soon as she was out of earshot, the first one frowned. "Ugh, look at how arrogant she is. She should be keeping her head down and be grateful that we even accommodated a demon like her."
Lavin popped from another turn with a flowery smile, scaring Adeleine out of her wits. She could feel her heart jump in shock. "This academy only lets in gifted individuals, those who only has affinity but, what would become of us if there's an enemy freely roaming in our grounds? Does the academy still have aligned goals that benefits us? Would Heloire Academy still be the hope of Adhelis Empire? Or would it be the means of our demise?" He provided a scholarly insight, seeing the scene transpire. "Now, please do understand their animosity. Like wild beasts, humans are territorial."
"I'm used to it. No need to worry." Adeleine irritatedly sighed. Although she is sure sick of it. "And I'm astounded by your analogy of comparing humans to wild beasts."
"Why? Other than level of intelligence, humans are no different form beasts." Lavin chuckled. "And please don't take the Adhelians' behavior to heart. It's a while to get used to but, others are either obstinate or inflexible to change."
"And there's you, who seems to be excited having me here."
"Well, needless to say..." he fixed his glasses. "It's a rare opportunity to have an anomaly."
"Pardon?"
Lavin stopped dead in his tracks while the girl paused, confused. He leaned in and squinted as she held her breath. "But you don't seem to act like a Letherian. Your accent is perfect and in pitch as well but, it's more on the...nobility side? Quite fascinating. You must have trained and studied hard in perfecting mimics. If you hid your black hair, I would have mistaken you for an actual Adhelian."
She sweated as she took three steps back, holding up her palms in a defensive manner. "Uh, yeah. I get some of those quite a lot recently."
Why does everyone keep invading her personal space? Is that concept not recognized here?
"If majority agrees, then it is what it is."
"I should be on my way."
"Ah, yes. I saw you in the library but, you had company. So, I waited. This is farewell for now." Lavin bowed as Adeleine did a slight grimace, not knowing how to respond.
"Yeah..."
As soon as she heard the news, Adeleine went on an accidental tour around the academy looking for a certain albino. A few occasional cases where she would get lost or zone out and forget about the purpose of why she was there in the first place.
It was really hard performing on daily tasks if her brain felt high like Celestial Realm and lacking in oxygen, much less focus and thinking. She could have ended up with a broken skull moments ago while walking outside. Due to her sensitivity of basically being a zombie, she thought she heard a shuffle up on the fifth floor as her hair stood up. A shadow that looked like a shape of a box was right under her.
Without much thought, relying solely on instinct, she hastily moved to the side, letting the object barely slip past her but, it made contact with her arm before it bounced and shattered on the ground. Another misfortune and another bruise to her collection.
Her arm turned jelly afterward. It took a while and a trip to the infirmary for the pain to subside.
It was like disaster tailed her everywhere or the Celestial of the night bestowed her great misery and misfortune. Would that entail that the Moon Celestial favored her or does it mean they despise her?
It was a weird thought that randomly came to her mind. And a laughable one at that.
On an important note, why in all of Arvistia would they put a large clay pot beside the window?! Or it could be intentional. She wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. With her being that black rose in a white-petal garden, she'll surely be weeded out.
But it's just like she said, she's sick of them.
Unfortunately, even with risking her life, she wasn't able to find Kellie and had to go to her next class—Devotion Theory, much to her annoyance...or more like, disdain.
Adeleine took her usual spot with Bridget beside her.
Be it because of the natural laws of the universe when it comes to two opposing forces, or because of her teacher, as much as the subject is interesting—interestingly dumb—Devotion Theory rubbed her in the wrong way.
"Good afternoon, class. May the Sun shine through you."
This is only now, she noticed another familiar form sitting beside the shy girl, short blond hair with freckles and a haughty attitude. What is she doing here?
It's been a while since she last had a close encounter. All she had been doing was avoiding her every time they cross paths like how she shut the door close of her room as soon as she got out and found the woman passing by. The awkward silence and the surprise each have on their faces as they met eyes. She only realized by then that just like her other three Mir classmates, Hera, who was also a Mir ranker, lives in Mir dorms.
Common sense, of course! Common sense, Adeleine! She reprimanded herself. If only Moon was here, the voice would be doing this job instead.
She also heard that Hera comes and cleans the arena at a later hour than her. It seems like they're both on the same page of having no plans to interact. But then, why now?
And it's Devotion Theory out of all subjects! Is Hera here to get a closer look when she gets singled out in one of the discussions again?
Adeleine poked Bridget to get her attention and whispered, throwing an eye of mistrust towards the freckled girl. "Why is she sitting with us?"
"Why? Is there something wrong, Letherian?" Hera confronted her with a sneer. "Am I not allowed to sit beside a dear friend of mine?"
Friend? Adeleine was about to retort but then, she added.
"Oh, and you better listen to the teacher this time. It's just the start of the class, but he's already gettin' angry."
She could do nothing but scowl and drop it for now. The tides are clearly not in her current favor as the teacher cleared his throat, unamused with them—her—talking. After taking a large calm of breath, she glanced at Bridget, who kept her head down and fidget with her hair.
That vile woman blackmailed this poor girl for sure.
A troubled sigh escaped her lips as she kept her attention focused on the teacher, lest she wanted to be called out. Even worse, this specific teacher likes to pick on her.
"Focus your eyes on front, everyone. Unless, you want to stand in front here instead to teach the whole class." He raised his brows as he swept the classroom with an invidious gaze. Seeing them silent, he continued, "I want a recap of our lesson for the past week. Those who can't keep their mouths shut a while ago seems to have lot of things to say. Why don't we put it to good use and share it to your classmates?"
As his eyes swept the whole classroom again, Adeleine had a feeling that it isn't her lucky day.
"You." He pointed at her. "Share your insight to the class."
Even though reluctant, she stood up properly to avoid getting any more unnecessary punishments she had to endure for the rest of the class. Like the time she had to stand up all session just because her back was slightly slumped due to exhaustion.
"Uhhh, yes, insights…" she muttered under her breath, stroking her chin as if thinking deeply. Truth to be told, she was too tired to retain any information that it only went in from one ear and out in the other.
Master Demire impatiently tapped his foot, his eyebrows crossing. "Well?"
"It's—"
The door slammed against the wall, interrupting her but fortunately cutting short the nonsensical explanation she was about to spout. By the door was Hayden, scratching behind his ear with an apologetic smile. "Oops, I got lost on my way."
"Again?" The teacher shook his head. "Fine. Take your sit."
"Hehe. Yes, teach~"
"But tell me the recap first of previous week's lesson. If not, you'll be taken to the Dean's office to settle your punishment for tardiness." He may be giving out punishments left and right but, not as cruel and humiliating as hers. She did nothing wrong yet she receives judgment she does not deserve.
Taking this chance as a diversion, she sat down and hoped that the teacher would forget about her. But of course, it was her wishful thinking.
"Oop, oop-" The teacher pointed at her with a warning. "Stand up. We're not finish yet."
Adeleine's jaw dropped, her eyebrows meeting at his ludicrous demands. However, knowing that complaining would only lead to heavier punishments, she wordlessly stood up with a dead stare but if looks could kill, he would have a large hole through his head.
"Go on, we don't have all day," he urged Hayden.
The boy scratched behind his ear as he lightly laughed. "Devotion is the path to where we follow Her Holy Brilliance Astrea. A path to enlightenment so that when we ascend to the Celestial Realm and fall to Nirvana Falls, we'll be already cleansed by the impurities of this world. But there's another type of devotion—which is the ability to see the energies of this world in exchange for sight. Temple elders pursue this kind of devotion. And uhhh…"
Master Demire raised his brow. "Lesson fifth: The Sun Celestial?"
"OH haha," he nervously scratched his ear, "Astrea symbolizes light, luck, love, and life. She is the epitome of all things good and divine. The sun, which gives us warmth and protected us from the cold night, rises and falls at her will. Her Holy Brilliance led the empire to an age where darkness cowered in the shadows and the sun children no longer have to fear the dark. That is an age known as the Golden Age. As child of the Sun, we must thank the Celestial for her grace and compassion."
He nodded. "Alright, you may go take your sit."
Dawned the Golden Age after Astrea banished Luna for her misdeeds. With the dark horse headless, it soon collapsed. Adhelis Empire prospered; no wars, no disputes, people slept through the night, no longer watching out for shadows outside their windows in fear of being eaten by monsters or tortured by demons.
"Master, I have a question." Master Demire arched a skeptic brow as he saw Adeleine raising her hand but, he let her continue. "Where did Astrea banish Luna?"
"Well, only Astrea knows-"
"And instead of banishment, why didn't she put an end to all of it by destroying Luna?" Adeleine couldn't help but question. "The reason why the second Celestial War happened was because she only banished Luna, and when she escaped her banishment, she gathered her people and ignited the Great Celestial War."
To question the actions of the celestial... By the looks of her classmates' disbelief and shocked faces, it felt like she committed an unforgivable sin. Imagine someone waltz in and started questioning the existence of life...and in the process, asked why you existed. Not the perfect analogy but, it works.
Adeleine completely understood their reaction to offense, not that she intended it to be.
The master, too flabbergasted to even think straight, stuttered with his words. "You- well... How dare... Completely, utterly- Atrocious!" He gasped, enraged but, he regained his composure as he cleared his throat. "Excuse me. I understand your ignorance and will let it pass due to your-" He paused, trying to tread the ice lightly. "-background. Astrea is a kind celestial. She would never go against the system of her beliefs. Every life is precious. What would be the symbol of life if she were to take it away?"
"But wouldn't sparing one life that causes the death of thousands would only defeat her job as to protect her people? What would the symbol of life be if she didn't prevent something that causes death and disaster."
"That simply is what Luna is—the moon and celestial of the night, the harbinger of darkness, disaster, and death."
"Pardon me but, that doesn't answer the question."
Master Demire, who's completely absorbed in the conversation, rubbed his chin while muttering distant thoughts. After a few seconds, he came back to himself and faced her, "Although it is a speculation, a not well-accepted theory, some records hinted that Astrea had a sister who used to be the night celestial until Luna, striving her ambition of power, consumed the original night celestial and took over her position. Astrea cared for that person ever-so dearly that she kept her posterity alive. But of course," Master Demire nonchalantly shrugged, "It was only just a speculation after all. No one can enter a celestial's mind. We can only pick up from what they left us."
"…I see."
"Yes. If you have any other questions, you may now take your seat."
Adeleine almost failed to bite back her laugh. He was preoccupied with his thoughts that he completely forgot his habit of humiliating her. This turned out to be a success rather than getting kicked out because she questioned the 'almighty', Her Holy Brilliance, Astrea.
Classes went by smoother than anticipated and she's finally free. Brushing back a fringe, she yawned tiredly as she trudged the hallways.
She was supposed to do something right after, now, she forgot. It has to be related to why she scoured the academy grounds a while ago, but she can't remember what she was looking for nor its urgency.
If she can't remember, it's probably not that important, right?
She could use some good sleep too while she has free time. The only problem was her reoccurring nightmares. It felt worse than before or it's because she hasn't gotten any good amount of rest and it's affecting her mood.
"Are you Aneline?"
She stopped as someone stood in front of her, blocking her way.
"No," she replied and swiftly went around her.
"But you're the Letherian."
She sharply turned back to her. "Yeah. But I'm not Aneline." And continued on her way.
Before she could advance any further, the female student caught her attention. "Wait, wait, it's something about Master Kellindrea."
"Master who?"
"Master Kellindrea. The woman from Heska."
Kellie? Adeleine wondered. It's about time the lady finally explains the rumors of sudden leave.