Damish's Group:
Damish goes one by one, casting a soundproof barrier and taking his time with each student—spreading joyful tears, slight smiles, and relief across.
'Everyone who talks with him, always comes back with a smile. Will he be able to ease my regrets?'
Damish turns his eyes toward Kailus and puts a barrier around them. He studies his face for a moment before starting the conversation. "I can sense you have embarrassment within your soul. Is it lifelong or short-term?"
Kailus stutters at the immediate grasp of his life: "U-uh, I have embarrassment for everything. I um—"
Danish stops him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Take your time, I'm not here to be problematic. I'm here to help, not prolong it. Speak thoroughly."
Kailus breathes slowly and answers: "I can't live down the embarrassment, sir. Everyone says to let it go, but I cannot, even if my life depends on it. I've embarrassed myself so many times, thinking of something I should've said back then, but came too late to say."
Damish ponders his conviction. "Well Kailus, do you have any trustworthy friends to share with?"
"No, I've always been a weird and awkward kid. I was the one who whined about everything. I had no friends, was always arrogant about everything, and spread false accusations amongst them." Kailus' eyes start to water.
Flashbacks scorch his brain with the past immaturity of a lost boy. No one wanted to associate out of fear of being disciplined, so they bubbled him in his own zone.
Kailus starts to cry. "And how I was made to carry others' items, thinking they were friends, but they only treated me as a storage unit. But I changed, and I want to leave that behind, but it always comes back no matter what."
Kailus goes into the past: "I was spoiled for twelve years, taking everything ungrateful. It wasn't until my thirteenth birthday that I realized my mistakes and my uselessness. And it crushed me when I realized I'd ruined my reputation. I never told my parents out of fear, and I want to erase the MEMORY!"
Damish sighs at his pitiful state. "You've been coddled in your zone for so long you've forgotten the outside world. You are a man, Kailus—a good one. You realized your mistakes far sooner than most. But if you keep trying to rewrite history into a perfect story, you'll notice it'll never be achieved. I will ask you this one question. Will you embarrass yourself one more time to free yourself?"
Kailus thinks all the time: he had none to share with, none to cater to, none to laugh with, except for Damish.
Kailus speaks in a soft voice. "Yeah, maybe I do."
Damish, still not satisfied, asks him. "Can you love yourself, Kailus? Regardless of what you do, you will have enemies targeting you. Do not be a people pleaser; be a person with standards. Pick a side and indulge in ostracism. Why worry about past mistakes? It's already done and written. What you can do is make your present self greater. Dance in embarrassment as evil masks itself in mass, while good masks itself in strength. You'll be best suited with Maumus or Chiro. But fret not, you can change your morals at any time and come back here, client."
Kailus, for once, felt full—a refreshed spirit that had broken the chains he once placed on himself. He smiles genuinely for the first time.
Damish waits for a moment before leaving. Kailus wipes his tears and calms himself.
Reinhard and Pymei's group:
Mikel and Pymei pull a book about the strife and war of kitsunes. Pymei grins. "Heh, I thought we didn't have it. It took a long time to find in this legendary place! Thanks, Deliah~."
The library assistant bows and returns to her desk.
Reinhard: "Now that we finally have it, let's read your history, Akiro."
He flips to a page. "Powerhouse kitsunés were known as 'sly speedsters' for their ability to grow an infinite number of tails. The greatest war they've ever fought was…"—he flips through the pages—" thirty powerhouse kitsunés versus three thousand soldiers, and the kitsunés won with minimal damage. Hey, talk about power."
Akiro thinks.'Kitsuné history will always be surprising to an outsider at how much we've fallen.'
Reinhard smirks at Akiro. "Sly speedsters~, I like it—I like it. For now, you must wear it with pride. And with such, you must show why you have it! Now for the fun part, you must train to earn it, for that is what gives true pride!"
'Yeah, I might've overestimated my opinion of him. Ugh, I haven't trained since I was 5. Wth the exception of my legs, which have given me this sweet, voluminous rear. I wish he's joking though.'
Ulrus's team:
No one dares to speak; every breath and footstep sounds louder than it should, bringing unease to their location. The various rooms in this labyrinth stretch endlessly, coming across a kitchen, hallway, multiple bedrooms, and other natural yet ominous rooms.
Ulrus: "When they couldn't find any evidence, they conceived a lie. A woman named Canapy falsely accused Ghana of rape and threw accusations that the two wives of his were secretly lesbians. For context, they allow gay marriages but draw the line at lesbian. It shows how… stupid the citizens were. Besides the point, they took her lie, even though their system values a woman's word half of a man's, so you would've thought he won?"
'It's very impressive how much a person can hate. It almost rivals my hatred of humans.'
A student murmurs at an earshot. "He lost unfairly and was executed?"
Ulrus nods. "Indeed, they did their best plea, but who cares? They're rich and they deserve nothing."
"You said they were a family. Did they have kids? And if so, what happens to the kids," another student asks.
Ulrus answers bluntly. "Yes, they had kids, and yes, they were executed alongside their parents. They argued a fallacy that was so absurd, even the people didn't believe in it. Yet they couldn't accept the kids inheriting so much wealth, so the three and seven-year-olds' heads fell."
"Canapy gets a quarter of the money, while the government keeps the rest. She starts a makeup business that thrives till this day. Human historians will tell you that this the correct choice, yet they're paying one hundred times more after Ghana's monopoly."
'So, the humans were stupid enough to get rid of a monopoly that favored them for their own profit? Typical humane behavior.'
"To end on an ironic note: historians later discovered the accounts of Canapy, which had details of Canapy having a wife. This came as a surprise since that era was commonly associated with inbreeding. She instead used her younger brother/'boy husband' to create a business in his name and built her empire off of false accusations against competitors."
An elf student stares at the ceiling. "I was gonna ask that question, but you took it right out of my mouth."
Ulrus faces him. "I do not leave details in my works. I merely place them unevenly across to give some buildup," she responds with slight annoyance.
"The lesson here is that sometimes good is just good and evil, evil. But people won't believe it, even if you put it in their face and say it with proof. Evil will always win because there's always someone who assumes something DEEPER when there's nothing at all."
Ulrus kicks a wall piece on the floor. "Ignorant, stupid, useless, wannabe, smug, arrogant, dumbass people are always making excuses to ruin a paradise they could've had by their skepticism—just like Buford—but I digress from such idiots."
Ulrus calms her voice: "Though a great tragedy occurred, the market were freer by their deaths. Atleast they died as a great legacy and a show of good monopoly, than someone down the line ruining it."
Everyone looks around at the paintings on the walls. Ghana smiles with his firstborn child in his arms. Another is Ghana with his wives with one of the mistresses holding a baby.
"Everything is meaningless, as evil always wins, but it'll always die—whether by justice or age. It's our duty to give the next generation a sense of hope for a better future. For the best thing we can do is to lead people out of such illusions. For when impossibility stands in your way, life can flourish with meaning, for now you have absurdism—fighting the impossibility to show there's hope!"
Ulrus stops as they stand in front of a huge living room with two curving stairs. In front of them stands a molding, torn painting of the family, consisting of Ghana, his two wives, and children.
Reinhard and Pymei's group:
Akiro is sweating like a slime during the summer.
She gasps toward Reinhard. "Hey, this is too much."
Reinhard retorts. "Eh, 'too much'? You only did twelve, there's eighty-eight more pushups left!"
Akiro whines. 'If the bell doesn't ring anytime soon, the nymph behind me will suffer indefinitely.'
As Akiro was about to give up, Reinhard and Pymei's watches rang.
'The bell?!'
Reinhard and Pymei shed tears. "Our torture program has ended, I was hoping you didn't last this long."
Akiro falls to the floor, panting. 'What the hell type of morality is this? A preparation for hell?'
Reinhard and Pymei cry on the floor as the librarian hits him with a staff. "Get up and stop causing a scene."
He whines playfully at her attacks. "Stop it, Michelle. Stop it~."
"Reinhard that's not even my name. It's Kreta."
She charges her staff and shocks Reinhard, causing him to jump in the air. "YEEEOW!"
In Morality Class:
The teachers all came back around the same second.
Chiro's cheery voice rings out: "Now back to your desks to be teleported into the next class~!"
Chiro's students look oddly traumatized and dull.
One angelic student says breathless: "You left us when we were calling for you."
Chiro squints her eyes. "Did you think when I said I practice self-interest that I'll save you? Hello~, I literally teach survival of the fittest."
The student pauses for a moment. "I guess you're right…"
Buford's students came back with excited faces.
"You're very impressive with how you're easily able to impress an elf such as me. I find your guides quite useful, rather than just sourcing bland information in the library." Alanze remarks.
Buford smiles. "I appreciate it, my dear student. Toodles."
Maumus' students had an odd aura within them.
Rhychill says. "I didn't realize I was accepted because of my body and not for myself."
Maumus sternly says. "Don't let it happen again."
Kailus sits back at his desk, feeling amazing, yet lonely. It crept back slowly and steadily.
"Is this what a friend is like?" He wonders.
Akiro sits back in her seat, panting heavily. "Kailus darling, thank God you didn't come with me. We were doing push-ups nonstop. I almost gave a nymph a piece of my food, so to say."
Shalius sits between them. "Don't bother going into Ulrus' class. She'll put you in danger and give a bland quote at the end of it. I was expecting a nihilistic perspective with how the story was going, but it was merely absurdism. How's your class, Kailus?"
He felt their eyes on him and their need for his attention. No, their connection is more than classmates, maybe an actual friendship? He feels their connection, but it's not comparable to Damish's warmth.
Akiro was about to comment on his quietness, but the teachers raised their hands for silence.
Reinhard says. "Ok, the teleportation magic will begin."
He scratches his back.
"Kreata hit me really hard," he whispers to Pymei. "It's very itchy."
Pymei looks at his back. "Reinhard, your clothes is burnt…"
Chiro takes a peek. "Nice ass, Reinhard."
Reinhard says to the student. "Everyone close your eyes for the countdown."
All the teachers, except Ulrus, yell in unison: "3, 2, 1, GO!"
The students are engulfed by the blinding light yet again, accompanied by an ear-ringing sound. After the ringing ends, they open their eyes into an empty classroom.
Shortly thereafter, a playhouse kitsune enters the room, wearing only a tank top and sweats, with a basketball spinning on her finger. "Ready for PE?"
Akiro and the other students from Reinhard's team whined when she said those very words.
"Stop the whining! Get out of the classroom!" the gym teacher orders
Outside, there's a huge gymnasium. It includes sections of physical training: sports, weights, yoga pads, and other exercise equipment. The students look around at the variety of activities.
The Kitsune teacher, Akumazi, looks at the students: "Now, class, it seems that some of you were trained by my great friends. But because I'm such a GOOD~ teacher, I'll let you slack off. Normally, I'm supposed to torture you with thousands of exercises or dodgeball, as I do love pain—but I need to win Teacher of the Year."
The students lay happily on the cold, hard floor. Akiro wraps Kailus' wings around her. "I need your wings, darling. Would you mind cooling them for me?"
Kailus brings his wings to freezing temperatures.
Other exhausted students notice him: "Hey can I take cover, too?" "You got a spare wing?" "I need to cool off. I'm tired." "Room for more?"
Kailus, overwhelmed by the various pleas, musters courage. "Sorry, bu-but I only do it-t for my friend."
Akiro snuggles into his wings with a smug look. "Heard the angel, go cuddle with someone else."
They sigh irritably and leave far away. Kailus felt free for the first time, not serving under anyone.
He looks down at Akiro. 'As much as I value her, does she really need to know about my past?'
He remembers all of his embarrassing moments flooding him, trying to chain him again, but Damish's voice penetrates his mind. "Don't run away. Dance with it."
Kailus asks. 'Dance with them? D-dance?'
He looks at all of his past embarrassments. 'In all of my life, I've been the loser, a poser, a draft dodger, a carrier, and a liar. But now, I can finally get rid of these emotions… these regrets.'
He starts to hum and imagine walking through his memories. He hugs one as the accountability scorches his soul, but that's not him anymore—he's grown.
A memory yells at him. "Remember when you—" "Reminder when—" "Did you forget that—"
Voices clog his head in one final push. Memories come in fast motion, yelling and mocking him— "It' mine!" "Haha, you got in trouble~." "You can't be forgiven, STOP!"—until he stands in an endless void.
The floor was flooded with what seems like water. He walks around the dampen floor, as the tingly feel expan throughout his body.
Shadows appear out of nowhere, pointing again. Their eyes were vicious, angry at him.
"YOU DID THIS!" They yell in unison. "YOU ARE IRREDEEMABLE!" It demands, tearing his body into skin off. "LOOK AT YOU. YOU'RE DEFENSELESS."
Kailus felt cold, his skin gone, and his blood pouring onto the floor. 'I never felt this before. I feel lonely.'
"IF YOU IGNORE US, YOU WOULD DO THE SAME THING OVER AND OVER!" The shadows say, faster, more sharper. "REPEAT AFTER ME, I. CANNOT. LIVE. WITHOUT. GUIDANCE!"
'I do remember very well and I know I can't be forgiven. I should focus on the future—'
"YOU WOULDNT DARE." The shadows begin to come towards him. "KAIL—E—US!"
'Shit, they're walking on their own. I didn't imagine this.'
With one decisive act, he leans in and punches the shadows. They emit a high pitch scream as a child-like voice shouts one last time—"IM SORRY!"— as the scenery turns white. The floor became cloudy and butterflies went around his mind.
"You did it champ," a voice says from afar.
"I'm proud of you," another voice says, waving as wisp of air passed through his fingers.
Kailus looks back to see his parents standing nearby, smiling.
And for once, he smiles back.
After a while, he opens his eyes. "So, Akiro, how long until you'll be done?"
Akiro mutters. "Until you leave. I'm too comfortable—."
He doesn't pay attention to her rambling. He felt free for once. He felt.. somewhat free.
His old classmates look at him.
"Is that Kailus?" One whispers.
"Yes," another replies. "He's very different than last year. I wonder what changed."
"No, he's the same as he was before and after. I can see it in his eyes. He's deceiving her." one says
"Yeah, I saw him with a fairy, all close together. She was with them. It seems she didn't like it." Another rambles.
"We have to stop him—no matter the cost."