I laid in one of the beds in the infirmary and stared at the ceiling. I couldn't get over how quickly I lost against Yan Mei. She defeated me with such ease.
"Feeling better?" Yan Mei asked.
"Yeah and I'm ready to face punishment." I said.
Yan Mei closed her eyes and smiled. "I'm not going to punish you."
I sat up and looked at Yan Mei. "What? But our deal.."
"After seeing your heart in that battle, I knew you were giving it your all. You are one of the few to take more than a few hits from me. Seeing you use more than one Monster Ability at the same time, it really impressed me. Taken account of your abilities...You do have Theora's powers within..~" Yan Mei smiled and stood up.
"So what's going to happen?" I asked.
"I will be your personal teacher after classes. Like I said, I like you. You aren't like the other guys in St. Hoya. Most would kinda run from me because of my personality. I am a bit more hardy than other women. I may have a graceful appearance, but I grew up a warrior. You kinda sync with me. I like it." Yan Mei said then gently pat my shoulder.
I blushed a bit and smiled. "I appreciate it..and I'm sorry. I should've knocked first in all honesty."
Yan Mei chuckled a bit. "No worries. It was embarrassing, but after you took charge...it kinda made me feel nice inside that someone had the heart to combat me. Come on, let's get you to class."
I nodded and got out of the bed.
------
"Yoshida Asato! First day and you're already late!" Chiziwa said.
"Give me a break, Ms. Chiziwa! I just got out of an orientation battle.." I sighed.
Chiziwa threw her chalk at me like a bullet. I dodged it then Rimuri squeaked as she was hit in the forehead with the chalk and fell backwards.
I gasped and turned to check to see if she was okay. "Rimuri! Are you okay?"
Rimuri slowly held up a thumbs up and her arm was shaking. "I'm...okay...!"
I sighed in relief and turned around then groaned as a mop hit my face. Fujin and Orimi sighed and smiled. The other peers chuckled at Chiziwa's and my interaction.
Mae smiled and looked at me. "Just like old times.."
"Now!~ I am the official teacher for all your core classes! First we will start with Astronomy with a bit of History, my favorite!~" Chiziwa said and quickly turned to the board and wrote on the board quickly. "We shall talk about the Zodiacs before we get into the real lesson!~ Can someone explain how do Zodiac Gems form?"
Mina raised her hand then stood up. "From the Zodiac Stars!~"
"Correctooo~" Chiziwa said in a singing tone. "Zodiac Stars are important because they are actually the Zodiac Deities themselves!~ We have four star clusters! The Fire Cluster, The Water Cluster, The Earth Cluster, and the Air Cluster!"
Chiziwa quickly erased the board and wrote on the board quickly. "Yoshida! Name the four Zodiacs from the Star Cluster!~"
"What?! I don't know! They never taught this in Fujitori!" I said.
"It wasn't in the curriculum?" Chiziwa asked.
"No! Besides, I have no idea who these zodiacs are." I said.
"But they were so important in history! Okay, can you at least name the Man who wielded the Leo Zodiac's Power?" Chiziwa asked.
"Steven?" I asked.
"See you do know it!~ Steven Hemifiru, The Hero of Origin, but before that he was a Zodiac Knight, Champion, and soon God of the Leo! Mae! Who was his enemy?" Chiziwa asked.
"Chaos." Mae answered.
"Yes, but no. His other enemy before his Hero of Origin stage." Chiziwa said.
"Uhm...Darkness?" Mae answered, unsure. "He's had a lot of enemies before his Hero of Origin stage."
Fujin raised his hand. "His name was Andrew."
"Rightooo!~" Chiziwa said. "You kids need to hit the books more!~"
"Okay, how does this correlate to the lesson?" I asked.
"You see after Steven's death, the four Clusters were wiped out. A Hypernova Blast destroyed them and a new star was born named the Hero's Star." Chiziwa explained. "The Hero's Star is actually called Henosis, The First Hero of Origin! Yoshida! Who was Henosis' parents?"
"The Sovereigns. That's easy." I said.
"Correct! You see, although I don't believe in them much, they do very much exist! Outside of our Realm, is a higher Realm named The Origin Realm. Now this is where the lesson begins, The Monster Realm." Chiziwa said then got serious.
The class noticed Chiziwa had gotten serious.
"The First Monster was born from a star. A black star with the power of Primordial Energy, a star that originated from the Origin Realm. Her name is Apeiron. She is the Creator of the Monster Realm." Chiziwa said.
"How long as Apeiron been alive?" I asked. "She never told me nor Orimi about any of this."
"That's because she knew if you two knew of her plans, you wouldn't be able to live with someone like her. Her ideals is that all humans other than her husband must die, but something happened as her plans went into fruition." Chiziwa explained.
"The birth of the Tree of Life and Death." Melody said.
Chiziwa nodded and looked at her board and drew the Tree of Life. "The Tree of Life...Also known as the Eternals. The Tree consists of Apeiron as the Crown, Theora and Cosmia as the Wisdom and Understanding, Iris as the Mercy, Foundation, and Adornment, and Zeil as Strength, Glory, and Victory, and finally Leofric as the Foundation and Kingdom."
"But there are Two Monsters...who are not one of the Tree of Life but has the power of all 10. It is known as Knowledge. Those two monsters are the first two monsters created, Yoshida and Orimi." Chiziwa explained.
"Wait what?" I asked.
"We are...The Knowledge?" Orimi asked and looked at me.
"That's not all. With The Tree of Life is also the Tree of Death.." Chiziwa said then erased the Tree of Life and drew the Tree of Death. "Based off what Melody says...There are only Two main Monsters who rule the Tree of Death, known as the Alternates. Thalamel and Lilith. Thalamel rules Five Points and Lilith Rules the other Five Points making them easily stronger than The Tree of Life to an extent."
"Apeiron still Rivals both of them at the same time, but...The Path between the Monster Realm and Human Realm has been opened hence why we have Melody, Rimuri, and Karasu." Chiziwa continued.
"What are the Ten Points of the Tree of Death?" I asked.
"Twins of Apeiron, Confusion of the Power of Apeiron, Concealment of Apeiron, The Devourers, Burners with Ifrit, The Disputers, Wings of Dispersion, Poison of Apeiron, Polluted of Apeiron, and finally Queen of the Night." Chiziwa answered.
"All of this is from a singular star?" I asked.
"Right." Chiziwa nodded.
"So that brings me back to my original question. How long has Apeiron been alive? Obviously she's the Original Monster, so how long has she been alive before coming to Earth?" I asked.
"She's been alive for as long as Origin Chaos has been alive. Not Terminus, but his first reincarnation, Origin Chaos. The Chaos that fought against the Infinity Council many many many many many years ago. All the way back in the Shangqiu Era." Chiziwa said.
"She only recently appeared 20 years ago, but her power was so great at the time not even the Rulers could combat her which forced The Sovereign of Creation to force Apeiron into creating the Tree of Life and Death with severely weakened her and allowed the humans to defeat her." Melody answered.
I crossed my arms and closed my eyes. "With the Path open, it seems like Apeiron is attacking again."
"Right and you are the key as you're the only one who can tame the Monsters that arrive on Earth. It seems when you tame them you gain Knowledge of their powers which helps you reach Perfection." Chiziwa said then turned around and quickly wrote on the board.
I looked at the words on the board and rose an eyebrow.
"Omnicron or called Ultimate Being. You and Orimi are the only two Monsters other than Thalamel and Apeiron who can reach this level of power. That power is enough to be able to rival both Trees at ONCE! There is a third monster who can reach this level, however she's only perfect if she reaches a certain level that can only be obtained through you, Yoshida." Chiziwa said.
"Who?" I asked.
As Chiziwa was going to answer, the bell rang. Chiziwa smiled and erased the board.
"I guess it's gonna have to wait until the next lesson." Chiziwa said. "Alright everyone! We are going to have a small quiz tomorrow so be prepared! I wanna rub it into Ms. Okane's face when we have the highest average in the academy!"
I smiled and began to pack my things. I began to think about all the lesson. It was a lot to take in but I understood the concept to a certain degree.
------
I sat in the courtyard with Rimuri, Melody, Orimi, and Karasu. "So every monster is capable of Alternate Power because of the Tree of Death..."
"Most of all Monsters are anyway. You see I am the child of Lilith and Thalamel...I was born an Alternate so I am not capable of power that comes from the Eternal Side which is why I turned to Theora's Guidance as a Mythic." Melody explained.
"Since Apeiron created us essentially, we are automatically made with Alternate Power." Karasu said.
"That is what you saw when I came back the second time for revenge." Rimuri said.
"So what happens when you all die?" Orimi asked.
Karasu looked in her mirror and fixed her hair. "We are resurrected once into our Alternate Form. If we die again, we can't come back for good. We are given only two chances, but if one is to destroy our Monster Soul, we can't come back no matter what."
"I see..." I said and went into deep thought for a second. "So why are me and Orimi different? I've came back to life three times and a human heart is vastly weaker than a Monster Heart.."
"It's because you and Orimi are Anomalies like me. We are created with the ability called Recovery Mode. As long as we have enough energy in our bodies to recover we can recover from literally anything from severed body parts to recovering from death itself. Our energy comes from our unique monster souls so even if our hearts were destroyed, our souls will recreate a new heart. The only way we can die is if our monster souls are destroyed." Melody explained.
"So in a sense we have one life and infinite lives at the same time..." Orimi said.
"Exactly." Melody nodded.
"So who is this Third Monster that Ms. Chiziwa didn't get to explain?" I asked.
Melody, Karasu, and Rimuri got really quiet. I stared at them and waited for their answer.
"She's known as the Time Eater. The more people she kills, the longer she gets to live. She's exactly like us, as long as she has Personal Time, she can come back from literally anything. If she kills a monster that adds literally at least 10 years of Time to her Personal Time. I don't know her name, but the Monsters call her Continuum Embodiment." Melody answered.
"She wields two Monster Energies, Chrono and Ourano. She is so powerful she is able to warp reality." Karasu said.
"She was so powerful, Apeiron had to split her into two different beings. One an Eternal and the other an Alternate. No one knows her actual name as her existence is kept quiet until maybe when I first arrived. When I ran into her, I was lucky enough to even survive. She showed mercy...and let me leave." Rimuri said.
"What's her name?" I asked.
"Bachiko." Rimuri said.
Orimi and I looked at each other then looked back at Rimuri. We could tell just saying her name made her uncomfortable. Rimuri got the chills saying her name and that's how we knew how powerful this Bachiko woman truly was.
I wanted to know more about who she was, but barely anyone but Melody, Karasu, and Rimuri knew who she was so it was no point in asking many questions. I was still thinking about what Chiziwa said Orimi and I were destined to be.
-------
The school day ended and I walked home with Fujin, Mae, Orimi, Rimuri, and Karasu. I was still in deep thought until Fujin pat my back.
"Man I haven't seen you think this hard in forever." Fujin smiled.
"Yeah, it's because my entire life I never knew my purpose. Now that I have a purpose I realize...it is a lot bigger than black and white. Humans have fought Apeiron because of her desire to destroy Earth...Because of that whenever an innocent monster appears they get treated the same. I am the only one who can tame the Monsters, but.." I started.
"But?" Fujin asked.
"I'm not nearly strong enough, and I am also half human. The humans outside this academy are afraid of Monsters and...after my performance they are terrified of me. The MHF are on my tail now also. I want to unify Monsters and Humans because I believe we can live together...but in the end I know it won't happen because of what happened 20 years ago." I said.
"I believe humans and monsters can live together in harmony. Iris is a Monster who specializes in Humanity. In the end, a human is no better than a monster. Throughout history humans have proven to be monsters in their own way. The way we show Humans and Monsters can live together depends on how you present us." Mae said.
"Right! You've proven this already with Rimuri and Karasu!~ I believe we can make it happen!~" Orimi smiled at me.
Karasu nodded. "Me too. No way are we going to let you take on this burden alone."
"Yeah! We are with you every step of the way!~" Rimuri smiled.
I smiled at them and nodded. "Thanks...everyone~"
They all smiled at me and we continued to walk home together.