Goddard was the one to kick things off, since he shared a class with Samson and the Grubbard twins.

   The Grubbard twins weren't actual magical, but a pair of noble children who were vying for the position of viscount. though they would need to outdo each other, they were too similar to make apart and only start competing later in their schooling. They were so full of themselves, they bullied all of the magic students with deals and political pressure.

   As soon as the Grubbard twins approached Samson and offered him money for being their bitch, Goddard knew that things were kicking off. However, Goddard was suprised to see Samson firmly tell the twins off in his usual 'less than five words' response.

   The twins pressed him, but Samson just told them 'no' and ignored their advances.

   'Good on you,' thought Goddard, aware that the twins had tormented Samson during their Academy years. Seeing the small boy stand up to them without prompting was both gratifying and confusing.

   The class continued to teach a lesson about the history of the kingdom.

   The Consoul Kingdom was one of merit, brought to being by a coming together of great minds to create a kingdom unlike any other. The kingdom would be one where men are equal, where worth is derived from ability rather than birth right, where a man would be selected by the strength of character rather than the strength of his arms.

   This, of course, failed spectacularly.

   Never before in this world had such radical ideas been tried, so there was no foundation to create a system of government that would stand up on these ideas. Several attempts were made, but they essentially setteled on a much more simplistic approach.

   In the Goddess' Scripture, Pasaro line 15 urged the ancient nomads of the eastern tribesmen to follow seven virtues:

   Patience over Wrath

   Chastity over Lust

   Charity over Greed

   Dignity over Pride

   Empathy over Envy

   Discipline over Gluttony

   Industry over Sloth

   In these virtues, the nomads were blessed by the goddess and bestowed with fertile land on which to raise their crops and livestock.

   Thus, the king would be chosen in a battle of these virtues, the battlefield chosen by the current king.

  Something which also failed in practice, since the battlefield was almost always weighted in favor of the king's children, who have grown up under their father's teachings and know better than anyone else how to answer his test.

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   Goddard remembered the way the future king, now Prince Elestes, named the black ops magic squad by the seven sins rather than virtues. He wasn't happy that Goddard was denying his conquest plans and Paxton was courting his younger sister. It was psuedo revenge for posing a threat to his rule.

   During the class, Goddard had to wonder how much of history had actually been influenced by the angels. There were many moments in the history of the world that deities gave humans divine insight, but that could have just been the angels with a bone to pick. There were other times when armies won against impossible odds with clever tactics, but knowing those tactics would take a genius... or someone with far greater warfare skill.

   The lines suddenly became clear, and Goddard couldn't stop seeing the potential for angels to meddle in the affairs of humans.

   But Goddard couldn't let himself think like that. He needed to have the resolve to get the angels on his side, if for no other reason than their ability with magic and advanced technology.

   An image of Christina's half-alive body popped into his head, making him clench his fists.

   Goddard was only brought out of his own head when one Grubbard twin physically pushed Samson. The smaller boy fell back, hitting a wall and using it as support to get on his feet.

   This was all when the teacher was conveniently not looking.

   Words were exchanged between the two of them, with Samson giving a distinctly rebellious glare.

   Samson looked around the room and made fleeting eye contact with Goddard, who gave a look of confusion.

   After that, the twins pushed Samson a few more times, but Samson refused to say anymore.

   'Good for him,' Goddard thought, 'he's doing just fine without me. Maybe his parents can give him some courage after all.'

   That night, under the blinding cover of darkness, a single candle illuminated the boys' room. It hovered over Samson's thumb as he made a map in his mind of the layout.

   As quietly as he could, Samson crept out of bed. He walked with ginger steps over to the door, took his shirt off, and covered the glowing panel when he placed his hand on it.

   With deafening silence, the door opened and the distant sounds of night life entered the room. Looking around one final time, Samson made sure that everyone was still asleep before stepping outside and into the moonlit night.

   The stillness left behind was intoxicating. Nothing moved, the darkness enveloped all things. It was almost as if the room had died, a room where nothing moved.

   And then, the door opened, and two silent figures left without so much as a breeze in their wake.