Prince of Salvation

The gang left the cathedral amidst the chaos going on, with people moving everywhere.

" How much do you guys know about the other schools?" Noor asked.

There was a pause, an awkward one. The group was still feeling each other out and so they were a bit hesitant to straight up start speaking. Azrael felt bad about it and decided to answer her. He was about to speak up when he got cut off by Orion.

"I barely know much about them, I would appreciate you telling us about them."

" Okay Orion, oh and there's no need to be so polite. We of the Sun...haha I know I say that a lot, but we generally have very comfortable relationships even between ranks. It might take time to get adjusted to our way of living and you might even have questions about why we live as such. Actually I'll tell you all about it later." Noor remarked

" Okay Master Noor." 

"That reminds me we did not get acquainted properly did we?" Noor turned her head to look at her new students. They were getting close to the station now. It was not that far from the plaza.

"Master Noor....my name is Azrael of the Mazrui family. I come from the Byzan area."

" I am Bilach ,Master, I am from a commoner house from close to the capital."

"I am Luene Griffith, from the Griffith family, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am honoured to be under you."

Noor paused a bit before smiling radiantly.

"I'm honoured you know me, Luene. Pleasure to be working with a family such as yours. I love your tone Bilach and it is nice to finally talk to our prodigy"

Azrael felt a little bashful but deep down he appreciated the quick glances the three shot at him.

"Anyway, there are 5 schools for the blessings we receive. We mainly have the sun path of the Lord of Justice, the void sea path of the Lord of War in our empire - as a dual religion state. We also have the Earth path but that is a bit rare; the deity of Love tends to favour the elves and they are almost entirely in the southern continent. In the case of one awakening in any of the other two paths of the moon and stars, there are a few churches that teach them to utilise their blessings. Although that is usually rare and far in between. Generally, such people are given the option of settling in the Republic Nation. It is somewhat of a treaty between the 2 empires . The Republic nation acts as a neutral power that hosts all the deities' churches as well as members of the 5 schools...heh exposition dump am I right?" Noor concluded with an attempt at a joke.

Azrael was laughing inwardly and let out a smile involuntarily but everyone else shuffled awkwardly to the dismay of Noor.

" Anyway yes that is basically it. So back in the cathedral there were only really 3 paths represented. Everyone else would get trained and stationed in the Republic. A bit cruel to take them away from their countries but one could not afford to anger the deities by employing their children against them. And the 2 empires do not trust each other with their precious respective apostles. Although I'm certain some are kept in their home countries for research or espionage."

"Oh we are here" Noor said, " let's just join the first cabin, it has been reserved. I'll be in my quarters. Take your time to get to know each other and take off those veils." Noor said as she went on ahead faster to talk to what seemed like a guard.

" Have you guys heard of Truham before? I am not sure what or where it is ." Azrael said lightly.

"I've heard it's a border city, pretty close to the eastern frontier so it's really hectic and full of apostles." Orion chimed in.

" Why would it be hectic? I thought we were at piece with the Corville empire" Bilach asked

"You see it is all a lie, there is no peace. Why do you think we keep enlisting soldiers to send to the eastern border? Fighting is still happening but under the pretense of banditry and what not." Luene opined.

"Ooh yeah that makes sense. they wouldn't make us fight though, right? We only just awakened to our blessings." Bilach added nervously.

"Yeah I doubt they would. Most people find out they are apostles by luck when an apostle notices them or if they awaken to it via other means." Orion added

"On that note how well can you use your blessings?" Luene asked curiously eyeing Azrael the prodigy, 

" I was born with the ability to produce my flames and heal wounds subconsciously. They are not that strong so I haven't found much use for them yet." Azrael responded.

"That's impressive!" all 3 of his peers noted. 

"I mean I can't produce my flames but I did get taught how to feel it but we did not get much into it since according to the emperor's decree, we are not to learn until our coming of age ceremony." Luene said.

Both Orion and Bilach commented on how they were yet to produce any flames or any other traits but had lucked out by being noticed in their churches. Supposedly trained apostles could look at people's spirituality and feel a certain amount of gravitation to those of the same school.

When they entered the cabin, they all took off their veils. Orion had his short auburn hair about 2 inches long. He had hazelnut eyes, sparse eyebrows and a long crooked nose. His lips were thin and almost drawn into a line as he smiled. Azrael cast his gaze towards Luene who he could now see had long dirty blonde hair. Her eyes were a deep azure colour and her skin fair and supple, she was very beautiful. On her pale skin hang a gold necklace that seemed to pair well with her sharp but thin features. Her face was squarish but breathtaking. Bilach on the otherhand was a very plain girl. She had short dark hair, only 2 inches longer than Orion's ,a pretty button nose and with deep impressions on her cheeks. Her eyes were sunken into her skull and her lips cracked. Although when she smiled there was something about it .

The youths all sneakily stole glances at each other. Azrael felt the need to turn his head when he saw this. He had an insecurity about his somewhat wide forehead...Mariam had mentioned it a couple of times. The short staring match did not last long before the cohort broke into conversation again. They were pleasantly surprised to find out they all did not have siblings. In fact, save for Luene, the others were practically orphans. Bilach lived with her aunt while Orion was raised in his local parish, Azrael was well... the last of his line.

The group continued talking about their experiences and expectations for the future. They laughed and shared in the cabin and spent the whole night journey talking.

Azrael was beyond himself with joy, he had feared his reputation as somewhat of a prodigy would deter them from being friendly with him but they were not. It was freeing to be free of the weights and expectations of people. Back home it was almost delirious what interacting with people was like. As Orion shared his experiences of being a 2 metre behemoth to the glee of his companions, Azrael reminisced about his life back in Byzan, the life of a Messiah was not easy. The adults looked up to him and had expectations of him. The closest thing to a leading figure in his life and a friend was Mariam....and he was not sure how he felt about her now...

Morning came as the train slowly pulled into Thuram. It was a city situated at the foot of the Affendor Mountain ranges, surrounded by a dense pine forest on the mountain side and the Thuram river on the other side. It's sight was breathtaking. It's architecture resembled the brutalism of the capital but without any of the contrasting gothic buildings, giving off the feeling of being robust and strong. This was one of the most populated cities in terms of apostles. It was surrounded by simple brick houses grouping up into villages with barracks in between them. One had to admit it was very pretty.