*DRRRING!*
Bells chimed somewhere high above as stone corridors filled with the echo of hurried footsteps.
Enark moved among them with measured strides as he approached the academy gate, its main entrance elevated by a long flight of stone stairs.
Every breath tugged at his side.
The wound was bound tightly beneath his uniform, the cloth stiff with dried blood. It throbbed in time with his heartbeat—dull when he stood still, sharp when he moved too quickly. He kept his posture straight, refusing to give the pain any visible victory.
He bore more bruises from the night before, due to the stab wound slowing his movements. A drunken fistfight. Another robbery. Getting caught too close to a gang dispute, he had no business being near.
"Gooood morning, Narky, my man," Archie slapped him on the back.
Enark stiffened, a sharp jolt flaring through his side. He masked it with a breath and kept walking.
"Eugh," Archie continued, squinting at him. "You look horrible. And you're walking like an old man."
Enark huffed softly. "Says the one wheezing up three steps."
Archie grinned, entirely unbothered. "Actually, that's called strategic pacing."
Suzune and Kirsty waited at the top of the stairs.
Suzune glanced down at them, eyes sharp as ever. "You're late," she said. "What took you so long?"
"Sorry, sorry—next time we'll be early," Archie replied, waving it off.
Kirsty stood beside Suzune, arms folded around a book pressed to her chest. Her eyes lingered on Enark a moment longer than necessary, studying his face.
"You look tired," she said.
"I am tired."
"You know that's not what I meant."
Enark slowed his pace slightly, adjusting his stride. "Couldn't sleep."
Suzune raised an eyebrow. "But whenever we had sleepovers, you were usually the first one out cold."
"That's weird," Enark said, a faint smirk tugging at his mouth. "I could've sworn you were the one who passed out first."
Suzune scoffed. "That is not true."
"C'mon--we all remember when you used to drool on your pillow," Enark added calmly.
"What—no—I—" Suzune's face flushed bright. "That was just sweat! It gets really hot at night!"
Archie burst out laughing. Kirsty followed, covering her mouth.
Enark smiled—but only briefly.
Though he hadn't given Kirsty the answer she was looking for, she let it go for now.
They entered the classroom together, the room already alive with chatter. Sunlight filtered through tall windows etched with Xiphonian crests. The classroom filled in waves, and Enark and his friends took their seats carefully.
The bench pressed against his side, and a dull flare of pain bloomed beneath his ribs. He masked it with a slow breath, adjusting his posture until the pressure eased.
Archie dropped into the seat beside him with all the grace of a falling crate.
"Aw, man... History," he muttered, stretching his arms, "if I die in this class, tell my parents I went out bored."
Suzune sat one row ahead, already upright and attentive. Kirsty slid in beside her, smoothing the pages of her notebook, eyes flicking briefly toward Enark before returning to the front.
The doors at the front of the room opened.
A Professor entered without ceremony.
He was old—not frail but worn in the way stone steps were worn. His academy cloak bore the sigil of Xiphonos at the shoulder: a vertical blade bisected by a star. He set his satchel down on the desk and waited while he surveyed the room.
Silence spread as his gaze lingered on each student.
"Good," he said. "You all remembered how to behave."
A few students chuckled.
"Good morning, students," he continued, turning toward the board, "I am Professor Halvor. And today we begin our first survey of Xiphonian history, specifically, its foundational capitals. And before anyone groans—yes, this will be on the midterm."
That earned him a collective sigh.
Halvor smiled faintly. "Let's begin, shall we?"
He tapped the board once.
"Who can tell me," He said, "why Caldonia is called the City of Blades?"
He turned. "And why not Forgery? Or Justice for that matter?"
Archie leaned over toward Enark and whispered, "Because swords are cooler."
Enark exhaled quietly through his nose, trying to stifle a laugh.
Hands rose immediately, filling each row.
Suzune was among them while Kirsty hovered hesitantly.
Halvor pointed. "Yes, you. Third row."
Suzune stood. "Caldonia was founded under the covenant the Goddess of Ordnance had with the Caldonian royal family," she said clearly. "Sword style, and the Roundtable of the Imperial Knights were centralized here."
"Acceptable," Halvor said. "Sit."
"If Caldonia was claimed by Lady Andronika," Halvor continued, pacing slowly before the rows, "then who claimed the other capitals of Xiphonos?"
Hands rose again—fewer this time.
Kirsty lifted hers, tentative but steady.
Halvor noticed. "The young lady beside her—go on."
She stood. "One of the other two was claimed by the Goddess of the Forge," she said. "Mistress Caelith, The Eternal Smith."
"Correct," Halvor nodded. "And the third?"
Archie didn't hesitate. "Maestra Eudora," he said. "Goddess of Justice."
"Indeed," Halvor replied. "Three capitals. Three deities. Blade, Forgery, and Law."
He turned back to the board, chalk scratching briefly as he marked three symbols.
"Most citizens learn that much before they can read," he continued. "What is taught after they can read, however… is what became of them."
The room quieted.
"The end of their triune reign came about around 300 years ago,o as you all know," Halvor said, voice lowering, "both the Goddess of the Forge and Goddess of Justice fell."
"What remains uncertain… is how they fell," he continued, "As most of our records from that time were lost during the Imperial Sieges."
"But many of our historians have formed their own theory," Halvor continued. "That they were slain by a foreign god."
Archie muttered under his breath, "Dark..."
Halvor continued. "Despite our fractured archives, stories persist—passed down through oral tradition—of a being from beyond Xiphonos who came into contact with the god-queens."
He paused, letting the words settle.
"Some accounts claim that a conflict followed. That in the midst of it, the Goddess of Justice and the Goddess of the Forge fell—defending their land, their people… or perhaps something else entirely. We cannot say for certain."
A few students shifted in their seats.
"The details diverge," Halvor went on. "In some tellings, the foreign entity vanished soon after. In others, it was driven off… or destroyed. There is no consensus—only fragments."
Chalk tapped once against the board.
"What we do know," he said, voice steady, "is that when the dust settled, two of the three goddesses were gone."
"And Xiphonos endured," Halvor finished. "Ruled no longer by three—but by one."
The students shifted uneasily while Enark listened intently.
He learned of the Goddess of Ordnance's century-long reign before her disappearance. Of the rise of the royal line. And of the legend—half prophecy, of a blade bound in stone, awaiting the hand of a future king.
-----------------------------
*DRRRING!*
The academy courtyard was calmer at midday.
Students clustered beneath arches and low walls, voices softened by the open air.
Enark took a seat at the long table with the others after collecting lunch from the cafeteria.
Archie was already halfway through his meal.
"Anyone else find that explanation strange?" he said around a mouthful of bread.
Suzune glanced up from her bowl. "Strange? What do you mean?"
"We've known they died forever… but that's it?" Archie said. "Some god showed up from nowhere and supposedly killed them?"
Kirsty frowned slightly. "Well, three hundred years is a long time," she added. "And Mr. Halvor did say most records from that era were lost because of the Imperial Sieges."
"Three goddesses ruled the continent for centuries," Archie said. "Two of them get killed by some foreign god, and suddenly the history books get vague. If this was just a war between kingdoms, sure—but we're talking about gods."
Enark stirred his food slowly, listening.
Suzune hesitated.
"I have read some foreign Xiphonian stories in my father's library," she said after a moment. "They do mention the Triune Queens of Xiphonos. But not how they died."
"You have your own library?" Archie said, lowering his voice in reverence.
Kirsty smiled faintly. "Still, I know that they're dead and all, but if you had to choose one," she said, "which would it be?"
Archie looked between them. "Choose what?"
"You know... which goddess you'd follow," she clarified.
Suzune answered instantly. "Justice."
"No hesitation at all," Kirsty said.
"It's the only one that makes sense," Suzune replied. "Without law, strength and craft are meaningless."
Archie scoffed. "I'm going with Justice, too. Come on, I am trying to be a lawyer here, guys."
Kirsty tilted her head. "Hmm... Nice choice. I think... I'd go with... the Blade."
Both of them looked at her.
"Why?" Suzune asked.
Kirsty hesitated. "Well... she was strong. Even when the others fell, she survived in the end, didn't she?"
"Fair. That is true," Archie nodded.
Suzune then looked at Enark.
"And you?" she asked. "Which one do you believe in?"
Archie blinked. "Oh, yeah. You've been suspiciously quiet."
Kirsty turned as well, studying him with that sharp, assessing look she wore when something didn't add up.
Enark didn't answer right away.
He pushed a piece of food aside. The ache in his side pulsed faintly, but it wasn't what made his chest feel tight.
"…None of them," he said finally.
Archie frowned. "None?"
"I don't like them," Enark said. His voice stayed even, but there was something firm underneath it. "Especially the Goddess of Ordnance."
Suzune stiffened. "But, she's the reason Caldonia exists."
"And she's also the reason it's rotting," Enark replied.
That drew real silence.
"The other two die, and what? She just disappears?" he continued. "Leaving the city that worships her to tear itself apart." His fingers curled slightly against the table. "You guys read the news. You see what's happening even in our own neighborhoods. Is that what her legacy is?"
Suzune leaned forward, brows tightening. "That's not fair."
Enark tilted his head slightly. "Huh? Then what would you call it?"
"I don't know what news you're reading, Enark," she went on. "But the Royal Family, the Holy Court, and the Imperial Knights. They're all out there trying to keep things from getting worse."
"Yeah, and people are still getting hurt," Enark cut in. "Do you really believe anything they're doing is working?"
Suzune hesitated—but only for a second. "She's been gone for seventeen years. Ever since then, all sorts of threats have been popping up all over Xiphonos."
"Then what about us in Caldonia?" Enark said. "While the knights are off on their own, who'll protect us here?"
"That's why they created the Enforcers, Enark," she shot back. "You think the Knights can be everywhere all at once?"
"If the Enforcers were halfway decent at their jobs, maybe we wouldn't be having this conversation."
Archie shifted awkwardly in his seat. "Okay, uh… maybe we don't start a political war over lunch—"
Suzune ignored him. "You're acting like they're doing nothing."
Enark finally looked up.
"And what if I say they aren't?" he replied.
Kirsty watched Enark closely. "Then… who do you believe in?"
Enark exhaled slowly.
"Someone else," he said.
"What? Who? Another god?" Suzune asked, skeptical.
Enark paused.
"I don't know," he said.
For a moment, something flickered in his mind—
A shape… simple, intersecting lines.
Gone before he could grasp it.
"Just… not them."
Suzune folded her hands together, still watching him. "You don't know? So you don't trust the gods you do know, and you don't trust the system that exists."
"But you'd trust something you've never even seen?" Suzune remarked.
"Hey, Suze, cut him some slack... I mean... Isn't it forbidden to learn the true name of a god?" Archie blinked, then leaned in with a grin. "My grandma said if you ever say one out loud, you'll turn into a turtle or something. Or explode. One of the two."
Suzune raised an eyebrow. "A turtle?"
Enark didn't answer. A bell rang sharply, cutting through the moment. The cafeteria's hum rose louder, as if to swallow the conversation whole.
"Fine. Don't answer, I'm going for class," Suzune turned to exit. "Come on, Archie."
"Whoa-hey! Ow! You're pulling my hair too hard!" Archie cried out as Suzune dragged him along.
Kirsty stood, then lingered a little longer with Enark. "Do you think… whatever you believe in—do you think it's real?"
Enark smirked faintly, but there was no humor in it.
"I don't know," he said.
Kirsty didn't press further. She gave a small, thoughtful smile and caught up with Archie and Suzune.
Enark stayed seated a moment longer, letting the cafeteria's noise wash over him. For once, he did not withhold the truth from them—though it was only partial. Yet, unspoken words pressed against his chest. The weight of his double life bore down on his spirit and his body. There were countless truths he wanted to share, questions he longed to answer. But for now, in this moment, there were many things left unsaid…