Every year, the midterms and final exams for Taayir's class had been different. There was no way to predict what they were until they were doing them. Nerluce hadn't been expecting anything less.

But he also wasn't expecting to sit in a room for this long.

Taayir had come into class late, stood up front until they were all quiet, and then called a name and walked out of the class with that student. They all sat, quiet and waiting, not sure if this was a part of the test or not. It seemed like it could be. Taayir was rather unorthodox. Howevever, nothing ever happened. Taayir just came back in, stood until they were all quiet, and called the next person out.

"Come on angel, you gotta know something," Nerluce whined, draping himself over Aristide's desk. "Are you taking the test?"

"I don't know," Aristide said.

Which was the same answer he'd given to all of Nerluce's other questions. He didn't know where the students were going. He didn't know what the test was. He didn't know which order they were going in. He didn't know why they were waiting or what was with all the mystery. Just as Aristide had said, he didn't know anything. Or at the very least he wasn't going to tell Nerluce anything.

Nerluce groaned, setting his head on Aristide's desk. Corbett, across from him, scoffed.

They'd been waiting for a while now and there weren't all that many people left. Lyana and Hamelin were two of the first to leave and now Eko had been pulled as well. The only two people Nerluce had left to talk to were Corbett and Aristide and a girl whose name he didn't even know in the back of the class.

"Just give it up, Nerluce," Corbett said. "Why are you even worried? You'll fail either way."

"Maybe I'm worried for your sake," Nerluce snapped, shooting the yellow haired boy a pointed glare.

Corbett glared right back.

He was... different from the rest of Nerluce's friends. He wasn't nearly as frigid as Aristide - he seemed to actually want to talk to people most of the time but... he still had thorns. Eko said that Corbett was like a cactus. Nerluce hadn't known what the spined desert plant was before Eko explained it to him, but he found it a rather fitting metaphor.

"You both ought to conserve your strength," Aristide scolded. "Take this time to focus." He flicked Nerluce. "You need it."

Nerluce huffed.

Taayir came in again and they fell silent quickly. There was hardly anyone left. Taayir took the girl and left. That meant there was only Corbett, Nerluce, and possibly Aristide, though no one knew if he was taking the test or not. Sometimes he did, sometimes he was just Taayir's assistant.

"I wish they'd given us the order," Corbett grumbled under his breath. "Would be a lot easier to focus if I knew when I was going. Or what I was focusing on."

Aristide turned his head, long lashing gazing curiously at Corbett. Nerluce frowned slightly. Aristide never seemed very interested in anyone or anything. What about Corbett could have possibly drawn his attention.

"Have you ever fought before?"

The question caught both Nerluce and Corbett off guard. Corbett scrambled to find his composure, not expecting to be spoken to. "Um- I... no, Head Disciple. I have not."

"In battle..." Aristide turned his head slowly as though he was thinking very carefully about what he was going to say, "In battle you don't always know what you're supposed to be focusing on. There will always be unknowns. And your enemies won't always let you pick the time of your fights." He leaned his head onto his hand. "That is something you will only learn outside of the planning tents."

Corbett frowned and then narrowed his eyes. "I don't think I said I'd ever spent a battle in a tent either," he said.

"While my task is to primarily observe Nerluce," Aristide said, placing a hand to his chest, "I have not neglected to observe the rest of this class." He smiled politely. "I've been abdicating against you continuing in the program since the beginning. And if I'm being honest, Corbett Ornirn, I still believe you ought to drop out now. Your hands are too soft to wield a blade." Aristide's face wasn't cruel but... Nerluce couldn't recognize it regardless. "You will never become a Seraph."

"Aris- Aristide!" Nerluce choked out.

Corbett's face was flushed with the humiliation of Aristide's cutting words. Nerluce wished he knew what to say to comfort Corbett but he didn't even known what had provoked Aristide into saying those words to begin with.

Then Corbett's thin, white fingers curled into fists. For a terrifying moment, Nerluce was afraid that he was about to hit Aristide. Not that Aristide couldn't take a hit but that Aristide would hit back. Nerluce had never thought about it before, but Aristide could probably beat any one of them into the dirt with ease. He was strong. More than strong, Aristide was divine and Corbett... well he was a mere mortal.

It was best when he let his fists loosen once again. A bitter laugh choked out of his throat as he looked at Aristide with a sharp glare. "I know what they say about you, Head Disciple," Corbett said. "You're an Angel of Death. You came from nothing and that's why you're able to fight like you do. People who come from nothing always return to nothingness in the end." He glared, hard and fierce. "I wish I'd known you resented me for my birth."

"I don't resent you," Aristide said. "You simply don't have what it takes."

"And what? Nerluce does?" Corbett snapped, unexpectedly fierce. "You sure don't seem to have a problem thinking his soft hands can hold a blade!"

Aristide frowned and then looked at Nerluce. Nerluce looked badk, scared and uncertain what to do. Then, Aristide turned back and shrugged. "Nerluce doesn't have soft hands. He's more like your brother than he is like you."

Corbett clicked his tongue. "You really do know everything?"

The door opened and Taayir entered before Aristide could answer that question. If he would at all. Nerluce's head was spinning with all of this. He didn't understand what Corbett was so upset about and he didn't know why Aristide was saying these things at all. Did Aristide seriously want to see Corbett kicked out so badly that he would mess with his head before such an important test? That didn't seem fair.

"Corbett," Taayir said, gesturing.

Corbett stood and wiped his face. Had he been crying? Nerluce hadn't seen tears but maybe they'ds just been prickling at the corners of Corbett's eyes, not yet fallen. He walked out of the room with his chin raised, looking every bit as arrogant as he had when Nerluce first laid eyes on his yellow head.

The door closed behind him and Taayir. Only the two of them remainded.

Nerluce turned a glare upon Aristide. "Why did you do that?"

"I don't know," Aristide said, tilting his head. Which meant... it was either a part of the test or the icy Aristide had lashed out for some reason he really didn't understand. Nerluce huffed. He didn't think either was worth it. "I figured you'd be more happy. If he fails now, that means there is one less person competing with you to become a Seraph."

"Of course I'm not happy!" Nerluce said. "It isn't a competition!"

Aristide frowned. "It... is, though."

"No, it's not," Nerluce said, firmly. "Ethera can afford to feed one more disciple if they're good enough to be here. You shouldn't just... mess up someone's chances like that. It's not fair! Besides, even if it was a competition, I'd want to win because I'm the best, not because everyone in front of me tripped and fell."

Nerluce's words only seemed to cause Aristide's frown to deepen. And then, Aristide sighed and shook his head. "You're such a good person, Nerluce."

"W-what?" Nerluce squeaked.

"You're such a good person and it makes it hard for me," Aristide said, standing up. "I am meant to be a passive observer to this story. That is my job. I am to sit in here and watch you and the others while simultaneously mastering a secondary element." He sighed. "You make that very hard, you know?"

"You weren't being a very passive observer when you told Corbett he should drop out," Nerluce said.

Aristide tilted his head, thoughtfully. However, he didn't voice the conclusion to his inner discussion, instead turning to Nerluce and asking, "Do you think I am wrong?"

"I think Corbett can be a Seraph."

"Then you are wrong."

Nerluce scrunched up his nose in frustration. He didn't get it. He didn't understand any of Aristide's logic that had led him up to this point. However, he didn't get much time to dwell on it because Taayir opened the door much faster than she had for anyone else.

Shit. Had Corbett already failed? Had whatever Aristide said to him really messed him up that badly? Nerluce gritted his teeth and pointed at Aristide with ferocious determination. "You don't know everything, Aristide," he said. "But if you want to sit around and play the passive observer then fine! I'll give you something to watch! Just don't be surprised when both me and Corbett become Seraphs!"

With that, Nerluce spun around and stalked towards Taayir. As he passed her out the door she whistled. "He really got you worked up, huh?"

"He was being an ass," Nerluce grumbled.

Taayir snorted. "That's Aristide for you. Don't take it to heart, kid. Just focus on the midterm and everything will work out."

Nerluce nodded, feeling - impossibly - more determined than before.

He and Taayir walked across the courtyard in silence. The paths had been scraped of snow but their pace was still slow due as they made their way to the main building. It was every bit as grandios as ever, the beauty of the architecture never decreasing, no matter how many times Nerluce had seen the building or how many times the doors had opened for him.

As the doors opened this time, Nerluce braced for whatever new horror was waiting for him. Instead, it was quiet and mostly empty, save for the High Priestess sitting beside a brass basin, a lot like she was when Nerluce first had his Affinity tested through oil divination. However, there was no oil in the basin today. What... what were they going to be doing?

The High Priestess smiled at him. "Nerluce," she said in greeting. "Come sit down. Rest your hand on the bottom of the basin. Palms down please."

Nerluce did as he was told. He sat down, putting the basin between himself and the High Priestess. Taayir smiled encouragingly at him as she took her place beside the High Priestess. The two women seemed to share a word before they nodded and Nerluce felt something cold and wet but most definitely solid press against his palms.

Gasping, Nerluce's eyes widened as he saw the basin fill with some unknown liquid before he blinked and he was so tired he couldn't open his eyes again.