Made Into Meat By The Goemuls, Perhaps.

AT THE HEAVENLY ACADEMY

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Before the sun had even dared to rise, Elias Nore knelt before the towering celestial gates of the Heavenly Academy.

This hour was meant for quiet meditation, perhaps, but not silence like this. Never silence like this. The school, usually alive with disciples and the soft rustle of divine wind between the white halls, held its breath. None could approach. None could bring themselves to disturb the figure of Elias, the top-ranked disciple, the son of the Sun Mother, as he knelt with his head lowered and no one yet to hear his plea.

Word of the commotion reached Lady Madeleine swiftly.

She descended the golden stairwell with grace, and when she saw him, Elias Nore, kneeling, her expression fell immediately. She stepped forward.

"What is this you're doing? Have you committed some offence?" She paused, eyes narrowing. "Though I highly doubt it."

Elias bowed lower, his forehead pressing against the sacred stone. He didn't look up. He wouldn't dare. With all reverence, he said, "I am here to plead on behalf of my sister. The daughter of my mother's twin. Please… let her return to the Academy. I take full responsibility for her, for her past, and for whatever evil you believe she carries. If it is a sin, then let it be mine. It was not her doing, but the divine's, who in their wisdom, gave me the sunblood and left her to the shadows to have their blood."

His voice trembled with duty, with light. He seemed pitiful and noble at the same time. The model son of the sun, begging on behalf of the forsaken daughter of the dark.

Of course they believed it. How could they not?

They didn't see what Elias Nore truly intended. That this kneeling, this performance, was part of his grand game.

If Seraphina Shade turned up dead or never returned, no one would think he'd done it.. even though he was last person who was with her. No, they'd believe he had punished her righteously and then, like a merciful brother, come to plead for her soul. 'These heavenlies are easier to fool than I imagined,' he thought, a smile twitching beneath his bowed head.

Before Lady Madeleine could speak, a soft ripple of awe stirred the watching disciples. Then they suddenly began to applaud him.

"Heavenly Elias Nore of the Sun Mother, you are so good and full of light!" one voice cried.

"Lord Elias! I wish I were your brother… even your sister! I'd have learned so much from you."

"You are truly the son of light!"

Still kneeling, Elias basked in their words. Every praise fed the fire in his heart. 'Yes… praise me. Bless me.'

He read their hearts easily, each one glowing with admiration, and there was not a sliver of doubt or hate or dislike among them in their hearts.

'This is how it's meant to be.'

Yet... why, in this moment of perfect adoration, did he feel...

Was he really the son of good and light and sun? Because… why did he feel like he was the bad one now and the bad in him is actually more than the little amount that was supposed to be in him? He couldn't nelp but think this.

Lady Madeleine's voice sliced through the haze of praises. "I have heard your cause, son of the Sun Mother!"

Elias stiffened. No. He didn't want her to listen to him. He wanted her to decline!

He lifted his gaze and instantly dropped it again. "I apologize for gazing into your eyes, Mother Madeleine. I was only… overwhelmed. Forgive me." He lied smoothly, just like he had been doing for the past hundred years.

Still, he asked, just to seal the play, "Will my sister truly return?"

It didn't matter. She was likely already dead, but he needed to hear it aloud. He needed her to say no.

"No," Lady Madeleine said.

Elias widened his eyes in mock disbelief. Inside, he almost laughed.

Perfect.

"But why, Mother Madeleine?!"

"When she was first banned from the Holy Academy, that act alone disqualified her from ever setting foot in another. This Academy is sanctified above all others. We will not risk a splash of shadow across our sacred white slate. Understood?"

Elias clenched his fists—not in anger, but in joy and triumph. He bowed again, reverently. "Understood, Mother Madeleine."

And behind the lowered eyes, the perfect disciple of light smiled.

He really couldn't wait for them to find out that the sister of his they discuss about is actually dead; made into meat by the goemuls, perhaps.