It was night now and the sun was nowhere to be found. The night sky was a hue of purple and a dull pink. It was scattered beautifully with dazzling bright stars. The moon however retained its common shiny orange appearance. On rare occasions, it could be a blood red or even a blinding white.
The students gathered around a huge bonfire. They waited patiently for the large pig on the fire to be roasted. Though hunger was getting unbearable, their attention was easily diverted from that.
They were witnessing one of the fine wonders that came into existence some 6,000 years ago.
Xania.
It was that time of the year, the second time namely. The 'twin planet' as they would sometimes call it decorated the sky even further. This planet being visible at this time of the night would cause the night to appear a little brighter than usual. Though the colours that would light up the place weren't all that shiny, but they made seeing at night a little better.
However, a part of the earth at this hemisphere experiencing nighttime, would have complete darkness. This part was mostly determined by where the planet was visible in the sky, which would most likely be vertically above.
During the day, the part of the hemisphere directly under Xania's shadow would experience a Scarred Eclipse. The Scarred Eclipse occurs when Xania directly blocks the sun and earth, making it impossible for light to travel to earth.
This happens for a short period of time, lasting about 8 hours before allowing the view of the sun. During this time, the place directly under Xania's shadow may have weirdly coloured skies.
This said, the eclipse wasn't always bound to happen whenever Xania appeared in the sky during a cycle. There was a 40% chance of it happening in fact.
Everyone couldn't help but stare at how beautiful the sight was. Soon, the instructor called them over for dinner. They, again, sat round the huge bonfire. The pork was placed into plates and passed round till everyone had one plate to himself.
Nyx sat beside Orion with Freida on his other side. Sitting on the other side was a human that kept staring at him. It was someone he knew but he wasn't so sure why she was staring at him.
There were more Nexuses than humans in this class of students. This made the humans feel a bit intimidated at times.
This particular girl was Daphne. She was the richest of all of them in the class. She was everyone's favourite person, aside from Nyx that is. She wasn't spoilt and bratty like most rich kids. She was quite the opposite.
So this made him wonder why she was staring at him.
"Sir Claudius," Petal spoke up. Mere hearing the name was enough for everyone to be quiet.
"Yes?" Claudius answered.
"How did Xania actually come about?"
Everyone scoffed. Who didn't know the story?
"You know it already, don't you?" Claudius said.
"I know. I just want to hear you say it." She was positive that his version of the story would be better.
Claudius cleared his throat. "Xania was created as all of you know, by a Xanian himself. He went by the name, Cosmic."
"I personally don't believe that!" Orion objected.
They looked at him.
"Why?" A boy asked. "That's like common knowledge."
"How can a Xanian be as powerful as that? It just doesn't make sense," Orion explained.
"It doesn't have to make sense, Orion," Daphne laughed. "That's just how it is."
"He created Xania to bring end to the war that was fought some 6,000 years back," Claudius got up and walked to the fire. He stood in front of it and continued his story.
"So he's basically so overpowered? Doesn't that cause a little imbalance?" Orion spoke up again. It was obvious he felt that the story of The 6,000 Year Universal War was a bit tweaked. "I mean why should someone that strong exist? He could just decide to do anything and even rule supreme over the entire world."
Thinking about it critically, made a few of them start to murmur in agreement.
"That is reasonable of you to think...but then you're forgetting the fact that there are other Xanians." Claudius turned around with his back to the fire. "He could've decided that, but there were others who, if they combined forced, would stop him."
"How are you so sure about that?" Orion argued.
"Why do you think he waited till the entire race was in accordance with his plans?"
Everyone paused. The story Claudius was telling was correct, at least to what they formerly knew, but the fact that he was bringing reasons for occurrences that took place in them was a bit questionable.
No one really knew the real story of Eleanor. Over the years, much of the story was lost, some of it altered and others completely omitted.
They'd all believed that Eleanor created earth itself after Cosmic destroyed it. That was why she was considered the mother of earth.
What Eleanor was however, was left to the individual's belief. Some said she was a blessed human, others say she was a Xanian. Some even claim she was a higher celestial being compared to any life form.
"So he destroyed the earth and built Xania, what actually killed him then?" Petal asked.
"Implosion due to overload," a silent voice spoke amongst the students. It was Kerith. He hadn't said anything all night so hearing his voice caused a general shift of attention.
"That's true," Claudius said. "That was his cause of death."
Equivalent exchange. He destroyed a planet to make another. At the cost of his own life? Nyx thought.
He had no intention of joining in on the conversation but a question kept ringing in his mind. As a matter of fact, it rang in all their minds. But they were aware that anyone who could answer it was either lying, or saying a version of the story they never heard before.
He was going to ask regardless.
He's a Legionnaire. He should be able to know this. I mean aren't they granted more knowledge than the rest of us about these kind of things? He thought further.
"Sir Claudius," he spoke up. "What was Eleanor?"
The silence extended some more.
Claudius walked over to him and stood before him. Looking down at him, Nyx could see his eyes judge him.
No, they aren't judging eyes. He's confused! Nyx shifted a bit.
The fact that Claudius was confused surprised him greatly. Surprised and perhaps scared him.
Then Claudius asked him something he would've never expected.
"What are you kid?" Claudius asked.
Nyx didn't know what to say to answer his question. The question itself seemed out of place.
"I don't understand—" Nyx said, confused.
"Just answer it plainly."
It was a simple question yet so mindboggling.
"I'm a Nexus." Nyx finally answered.
"What can you do?"
Orion tried to get up in annoyance. He thought Claudius was trying to mock him once more. But then he paused when Claudius spoke again.
"I'm not talking about your powers. I'm talking about your accomplishments. However small they are."
"How does that have to do with what Eleanor is?"
"I don't know what she is, Nyxander. What she did however is what makes her a source of inspiration and a figure to all." Claudius walked back to the fire. This time, he stood there and looked round at all of the students. "It doesn't matter what you are, it matters what you do. The Legionnaires aren't what they are because they're Nexuses, they're Legionnaires because of the feats they accomplish."
Some of the students giggled. They found it funny that Claudius was trying to maintain his aura amongst them even after not knowing the answer to Nyx's question.
But Nyx understood exactly what he was doing.
He isn't trying to avoid my question. He's talking to me. He's... encouraging me?
It was subtle, but that was what Claudius was doing. Nyx felt he kind of understood who Claudius was.
Yet, instead of feeling assured, Nyx felt something else.
Anger.
He gritted his teeth and looked down. Freida noticed his fist clench tightly. She shakily placed her hand on his fists.
Nyx pushed her away and ran off into the woods. Everyone watched him go and the little giggles disappeared. They wondered what happened to him. Before Orion could get up, Freida ran after him. Orion paused and sat back down.
He understood Nyx more than anyone and knew what he was feeling at this moment. Asides from the prejudice that Nexuses faced, Nyx hated something else:
Being looked down on.
Though it was something that he'd faced all his life, one may have thought that he ought to get used to it by now, he still hated it more than anything. It was simply because they were right.
Claudius refused to look at him run away. He did realise that Nyx understood what he was doing.
Perhaps if the violent and aggressive approach didn't work, a more subtle way would, Claudius thought.
Claudius believed in ruthlessness as mercy. He was trying his best to shield Nyx from an option he could choose—being a Legionnaire. He knew for certain that Nyx couldn't stand a chance and he would throw away his yet meaningless life.
Saying Eleanor's essence was simply through what she did may have reached the others as encouragement to keep on going so they can make a reason for people to remember them, but to Nyx, it was just pure mockery.
Nyx knew what you were as a person mattered. It played a role in determining who you can be. As a human, you could never be a Legionnaire. Telling a human what they were didn't matter if they wanted to be a Legionnaire was mocking the fact that they had no powers.
That was what he did to Nyx.
"Stop believing in mundanity, 'Fate Bender'," Claudius muttered quietly.