The Academy: psh, speak for yourself homeboy

“mos nunquam operor quisquam huic universitas vacuus virtus. Is est maioribus species of mens tunc ut veneratio"

Nicodemus was not an old creature by years. Not much younger than Nighteyes, barely the peak of his own tenth year. But Nicodemus is possibly far older than this Nighteyes mentally. He has seen so much that many could not even fathom. He saw his own mother murdered before his eyes, heard the threat by the man who had killed her. “If you ever come back…I’ll kill you and your little brother.” He remembered the words like they were new. He remembered the smell of his mother already decaying, he remembered the vibrant crimson upon the stallion. He even remembered feeling inside of him, innocence dying, his eyes had changed forever in that single moment in time, hardening from the child’s softness. So many things that he had seen morphed him into ten times his own age. Though he didn’t look it outwardly, which made so many shocked by his own intelligence and wisdom. The only give-away to the fact that he may be older than he looked were the many scars that graced him. Some were scratches, others large and prominent. The one in particular was the long scar that ran from his ear to the bridge of his nose, crooked and pale against his prominent scarlet coat.

He knows so much for one so young. He knows of love, betrayal, anguish and rage.

Nicodemus did not enter the academy for any particular reason other than to be alone. So many things were blocking him in the Range. In particular his revealing of his own deepest kept secret. Something he had never even meant to reveal. Requiem was his half-brother. He had known from the moment he saw the stallion, but Nicodemus thought it best that he should never know what really happened to their mother. In his mind, it was best to forget, because he would give anything to not know the things that he knew today. But Requiem and so many others thought differently. His mind goes to Choke then, and his eyes drift to the new wounds that graced him from their encounter. And so he wonders from the Range, to the ruins and temples that made the Academy. There is an old broken stairwell that led to a shrine that the stallion sees, and so he climbs them. His eyes trace over the relics, admiring the grand architecture of them. If only he could understand what they meant other than appreciate their beauty.

There is a sound of a small rock hitting the ground to his left, and his head twists sharply to the source. There, before him stands another stallion, one that in color resembles Kale. Nicodemus’ curiosity seems to have bested him, and so he turns to face the stranger. Caoimhe takes to hovering above them, watching the two with a faint interest. Nicodemus’ voice is strong and echoes in the temple. “What brings you to this sacred place, stranger?”

LVL I

**NICODEMUS//CAOIMHE**

To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe.

Picture Copyright to Blinck at Deviantart