SerapheX

All characters of SerapheX [a novel of the Macabre Prince] are (c) to Kyokukou/MacabrePrince 2005-2006. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination or used fictionously. Any resemblance of characters, businesses, establishments, events, or locales in either actuality or by a work of another author is purely coincidental.

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“What?! What the hell did you just say?” There was coke running down the prince’s chin. It was downright undignified, but Zexy was too shocked by the the news to care.

Of course, there was an equal amount of coke running down the faces of the two across from the prince. They both had closed their eyes in the process, so they didn’t see much of Zexy’s startled face when he just splurted coke out of his mouth onto them. Like practiced choreography, they wiped some brown liquid—that was mixed with some various bits of food—from their face.

Sceadiel, the ever-so dependable audience, laughed at Asaence and Michael. Oh, the humiliation couldn’t get any more ugly for Zexy’s roomates. They were wrong, of course. The prince had stood up to make a scene, making their table the center of unwanted attention.

“I’ve been here not even half a week and already they choose me to lead a pack of students because we fit the bill for being more stupid than most and having raging hormones as proclaimed for the Fire Virtue Pillar of Akur Calaph. Courage and lust. What kind of sick school is this? Argh! Lemmee go, Blake!”

The white snow leopard had the prince in an head lock. “Say Uncle.” He gave Zexy a Wet Willy. For those of you having never experienced a Wet Willy, the situation could get very ugly. First, the giver—that would be Blake in this case—puts his pointing-finger in his mouth, bringing it out to have it coated in saliva. Then the giver sticks the saliva-finger into the victim’s—in other words, Zexy’s—ear, twisting a little to let the saliva coat the inside of the ear. There you have it, folks. The ugly part comes after.

“Ah! I fucking hate you, Blake! Kill you when I have the chance!” Zexy tried to twist away, but Blake was one step ahead.

“Say it.”

“Damn you. Uncle! Uncle! Dammit, motherfucker, I said Uncle. Let me—” Blake let go, letting Zexy fall face flat onto the floor.

The frosty haired youth wiped his hands on his clothes. “Good boy. Now, since your status at this school has been altered by one title, that is, you now being the Virtue for Akur Calaph, I expect you to act like one.”

When Zexy sat up, he just glared at Blake and flipped him off. “I didn’t choose to be a Virture for anything. Why should I act like the proper leader?”

“I’m afraid the kitty’s correct, Blake. Why don’t you just let him roam like the beast he is? After all, the worse he acts, the less we have to act sophisticated compared to him.” Sceadiel cocked his head, smirking at Zexy. “I can just see the headlines now, ‘Worst Prince Walks the Halls of Palazzo del Ceres’. ”

“Hn, yes, that would be true, cousin. I can also see the headlines right below it, ‘Has school standards of sophistication gone down?’. Wouldn’t we be just be the laughing stock of the world’s top schools?”

Sceadiel shrugged. “You got me.”

“Now,” Blake sat down next to Asaence, waiting for Zexy and Sceadiel to sit down across from him at their table, “we need ideas to design this year’s uniforms.”

“Design uniforms? What’s wrong with the ones we have now?”

Knowing Zexy had clearly not read of any of the guidelines of the school, Asaence informed him. “Each clan for a Pillar must design its own uniforms, sort of like a signature. The limitations to the designs are the clan’s, shall we say, personalities. For instance, as the Virtue for Deselva of the Earth, I would have to put into account for the designs that my clan’s protector is Inymion Who Sighs, that our specialty runs through magics, that what makes us Deselva is our pride and fate, and have to include the symbol and color of Deselva itself.”

In thought, Zexy nodded saying nothing. He was now the Virtue for Akur Calaph. They were of the fire and loved the dyes of reds. The protector of Akur Calaph was Seras Who Weeps. Their specialty was in fighting for the lust—that didn’t just run into raging hormones—and the courage. Zexy knew that the lust part fit him. Being known as the Macabre Prince made it known that Zexy had the thirst for blood. The symbol? It was two crescent moons with the curved part back to back on eachother and a diamond in the back of it. Now, what would be the perfect complementary color to red? White? Black? Orange? Wait, scratch out orange. It worked well in fire, but not as a color for a uniform. Besides, what if they also rugulated that Zexy make a theme song for Akur Calaph? His face darkened. It would be a true catasphrophy, for there were no known words that rhymed with orange.

The others clearly knew Zexy was in turmoil when he started hitting his head on the table, murmuring about orange. They ignored him as best they could. It was never anything good when they speculated about Zexy.

Before we continue with our story, its important to know what the Virtue Pillars are. There are Six Pillars, each with a clan of its own. The origin of the names of the Pillars is never a sure thing. Perhaps there were six actual people with these names, or perhaps they were the names of small countries no longer existant in this time. No matter.

Since we know the protectors of Akur Calaph and Deselva, we shall now learn the other four: Ryon Who Cares protects Yellow Tenovan of the Wind Pillar; Relena Who Dreams protects Blue Mizeir of the Water Pillar; Elios Who Sings guards White Hinokyo of the Light Pillar; Désha Who Scares shields Black Sadayne of the Dark Pillar.

Each pillar also had its good characteristics and a sin that followed. Deselva held a hand in fates, but pride became their sin. Akur Calaph held courage in their hearts, only, lust became their achilles heel. Wisdom became the way of Tenovan, but it was soon diseased by greed. Mizeir could weave the best of dreams, and they could weave the worst as envy settled in their hearts. Hinokyo was known for their love, but even that eventually faded as many fell to sloth. Whether one could say Sadayne’s best characteristic and their sin was both good in one way or bad in another, was up to whoever’s view for Sadayne held such melancholy and such wrath that it was hard to judge.

Now, as a student went through the halls at Palazzo del Ceres, they were taught equally of general classes by their year. The only part they were not taught equally was through the specialty of their Pillar. You already know that Akur Calaph could fight and Deselva could use magics. Tenovan specialized in hunting and taming, better known as the daylight ninjas for they used the elements to hide from enemies and to better catch their prey. Their opposites were Sadayne who used shadows for secrecy, the assassins of no mercy. Mizeir learned the to apply trickery to their illusions, becoming masters of shifting into faces not of their own. Hinokyo, on the other hand, hardly fought unless needed to. They were healers using and studying natural sources of the universe. Beware, though, and don’t trust too much into their smiling faces, for their studying uncovered the properties both good and bad of livings things and unliving things alike.

Last but not least—that is, Pillar symbols are irrelevent right now—we come to the Virtues for the Pillars themselves. Asaence of tigers became the Virtue of Mizeir, Zexyphrus of ligers became the Virtue for Akur Calaph, Michael of hawks became Virtue for Tenovan, Blakect of snow leopards became the Virtue for Hinokyo, and Sceadiel of panthers became Virtue for Sadayne. Are we missing someone? Yes. The Virtue for Mizeir is yet to be known. Patience, my dears. We will come to that particular character soon.

We left off with Zexy banging his head away and the others ignoring him. So, lets get on with our story and learn the meaning of the title for this chapter, shall we?

“Did you guys hear something? Sounded like an explanation about the Virtue Pillars.” Zexy looked around, wondering if it was only him going crazy.

Sceadiel smirked. “Maybe it was your conscience saving you time from reading the history of Palazzo del Ceres, so that you are up to date.”

Too ignorant to rise to the bait, Zexy shrugged.

“Besides knowing you are to design a uniform for your clan, Zexy, are you also aware that you’ll need to make way for the Trials of Initiation?” Sceadiel was so serious, unlike his usual self, that Michael hissed in breath. Not waiting for Zexy to ask his question, Sceadiel went on, “Trials of Initiation are for the Six Virtues only. They are a test to show how well a Pillars leader is. Out of a hundred different kinds of tests, each Virtue will choose a trial out of the ‘bag’ and another will be chosen by the headmaster to make a total of six trials.

“None of the Virtues may be absent for any trial no matter what, and no Virtue will be kicked out of their leadership seat if they do not complete a trial. It is all entertainment, sport for the rivalry between the Pillars.”

“What? Rivalry? What rivalry? The students here don’t looks like they are trying to compete with anyone.”

Zexy was correct. Each pillar was rival to the others, but it did not start until the clans for the Pillars were announced. When the season for large events like the Trials of Initiation came, the campus could get viscious. Very viscious. Friends became enemies in a matter of minutes.

The root of the vie, the rivalry was due to the main importance of the school. The Pillars? Yes, and no. It was because of a Pillar, but not the one you thought it would be.

There were in truth Seven Pillars. In the center of the tall columns, known as the Six Pillars, there is the Stone Altar that stands there. Just because it did not look like the other six, did not mean it wasn’t a Pillar. The Altar belonged to no one. It was everything, and it was nothing. It was the Altar of chaos and gluttony; the Altar of the beginning and the end. Did it come before the other Six Pillars, or was it a product made from the remains of what made the Pillars itself? Its not known for sure, but what is sure is that its the center of all the discord that had befallen Palazzo del Ceres, even before it was remodeled into a school.

The others nodded at Zexy. They had already seen how far the competition between clans went. The prince would soon see, and he would soon learn what awaits him.

“This is a sick school,” said Zexy, so revolted about the ugliness of the school that he snarled. “This is like playing kings to countries who fight for one thing: Power. I don’t give a shit about power, and I don’t give much of a shit for this kind of twisted game.” He got up and started to walk away.

Before the white-haired prince was out of earshot, Asaence said, “If you don’t play the game for power, Zexy, you will play the game of survival. That is the reason behind the fight for power.”

The prince turned back. “I haven’t known the four of you for a long time, but this I do know, I am sure: you guys do not want to play the game either. So, why don’t you stop?”

“In case you didn’t notice, Prince,” Sceadiel put a lot of force into the last word, “there are Six Pillars and only five of us here.”

“You have a point to make. Make it. I am tired of all this fucking tap dancing.”

“It is the last of the Six Virtues you have to worry about, Zexy. Not us. Oh no, not us. Kross is as malicious as you can get. Compared to me, compared to Asaence, we are like ice cubes compared to his iceberg. A far more malevolent bastard than I am,” informed the black panther to the liger, not looking at the prince in the eye, but looking into his cup of punch as he swirled it with the straw. “There is a story behind every lycanthrope that passes these halls. Just like the rest of us, there is a reason he is the way he is. Nobody can blame a child, but when that child grows into someone who has a choice, the fault is blamed at them, no matter if it had all started in when they were helpless.”

“I cannot stand this school anymore.” Zexy shook his head, willing his vision not to be so blurry. “Even if we got together to fight against this Kross, it would still be playing into the game.” His chest was hurting. It was burning. The prince touched his hand to his chest, over his heart. “There has to be another way.” It was hard to breathe. “I do not want to fight anymore.” And he was falling forward, his eyelids too heavy to lift.

The snow leopard had caught him, putting the prince’s arm around his shoulder, and his own around his waist. Students watched as the four with the prince started to leave the cafeteria. What happened to the prince? I heard he was the first to see the murder. Yeah, he’d been out of it for about a day because of how bad it was. Who was it anyways? Some girl. They say she had black hair and that she blind. Really? That’s truly sick. Maybe it was the prince himself? I heard that he had known a girl with black hair, and she had been blind too. Thats just a coincidence, right?

“He’s still in a state of healing,” whispered Blake after a minute of silence when they had entered the hall. When they had been walking out of the cafeteria, Zexy had already been going under into unconsciousness from his weakened state. The high pressure from the news they gave him that upset him very much took so much energy from him. As a lycanthrope, part human and part animal, Blake had very good hearing, so with Zexy this close to him, he could hear the prince’s breathing becoming labored, his heartbeat slowing down.

The black panther led the group, his gaze watchful. “Something, or should I say someone, woke him up.”

“A guardian?” Michael asked.

“Maybe. If so, which one and why?” Sceadiel frowned, not liking the situation at all. He knew he shouldn’t have talked to the prince at all, to have known him. That it would only cause him grief, but there was something about Zexy. It was something Sceadiel saw at first glance, but he couldn’t pinpoint what exactly it was.

Asaence said nothing. He was behind Blake and Michael, not wanting to be too near Sceadiel. He could tolerate the panther, but near and alone with him? Never.

“You . . . ” murmured Zexy below his breath as Asaence carried him with the one arm around his waist. Lycanthropes were physically stronger than human, so Blake couldn’t lifted Zexy as if he were a pillow if he wanted to. He didn’t though. “You . . . ”

The others shut up, wanting to know exactly what was going on with Zexy. Maybe it was a clue.

“You . . . came . . . to . . .”

The others wanted to yell, “You came to what!?” They didn’t, of course because Zexy was dreaming.

“. . . to see . . . me . . .” Zexy grunted in pain, his hand automatically clutching the cloth over his heart. “No . . . Arkaron . . . no . . . they’ll . . . they’ll . . . catch you.” Beads of sweat ran down his face. They were tears running down from his eyes.

The other were quiet, somewhat shocked. Why would the bird guardian speak to a cat? They had been thinking the cat guardian or at least the hybrid guardian. Catch? Who wanted to catch the bird guardian?

The snow leopard faltered, going down to his knees and holding the prince’s head face down in his lap while the rest of his body was sprawled on his stomach. Sceadiel turned back to see what was going on. Michael and Asaence had stopped about to ask what was the matter. They stopped dead.

Flames.

The cat with the frost hair moved back, yelping, holding his hand to his chest.

White flames tinged in blue was enveloping the prince’s body. It wasn’t burning him nor his clothes. It was just, well, there. The light was blinding too, but they didn’t dare turn away. Something was happening. Something important.

There was no smoke from the flames. Nothing but a warmth. Blake had not moved away because he got burned. He’d moved away because he thought he would get burned. The brown frosted-over haired youth studied his unburnt hand, not understanding.

Michael moved towards the still form on the floor, to the white fire. He hesitated a little before he touched the fire. Without another thought he put his hand through the white-blue embers quickly.

Nothing happened.

“It . . . it doesn’t burn.” The hawk made it sound half ways between a question and a statement. Decision made, Michael moved his whole body into the flames to wake the prince, who was unaware of what he was doing. He thought, ‘Whatever Zexy is dreaming, it had burst into reality.’ So, the hawkling softly and cautiously shook the prince by the shoulders. “Zexy. Zexy, wake up.”

Zexy gasped, but he was between dreams and reality. His eyes were in confusion. Instinct, a rush of a familar feeling to the liger beast of Zexy, came first. It felt scared and threatened. It needed to protect itself from everything and anything.

Michael felt the a fire change. Its comforting warmth started to become searing heat. His last thoughts were, ‘Will I die, finally die like this, the same way I was reborn?’

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End Chapter. Next Chapter: In Pandemonium

AN: ... I have no idea what to say about this other than, yes, it can be confuzzling. :sweatdrop: