The Zavius - code 126

Ronoa

"I feel sick," Jazlene mumbled as she took the page from the table in Bexley's and Evangeline's dorm and hid it behind her back.

"You feel sick? Are you fine?" Axerd entered the dorm, Bexley followed behind him. Jazlene widened her eyes and shook her head vigorously. "No, that's not what I meant. I feel sick of the exams and assignments. With the finals in a month and all." She replied quickly. They both nodded slowly, their heads moving in unison. "Well, we can help you, we have an hour before we have to get to our training," Axerd said.

"Uhh- do you mind if I use the restroom? I'll be back." Jazlene said and quickly hurried out. "But there's one right here- nevermind," Axerd said when he saw her leave. "She's suspicious." He turned to Bexley, who was quiet this whole time. "Wait, where's the page?" She squinted, nodding to the table. Axerd turned and raised both his eyebrows. "Do you think...?"

"No! I trust Jazlene. She would never do this. I think it has just fallen." Bexley started looking around. "She is from Scarcia though..." Axerd stood in his place and watched Bexley.

"No, Axerd. She is from Zavia. She was just brought up in Scarcia. She's a Zavian by blood. Besides, why would she betray us?"

"By blood. Not heart. She did spend most of her life there and-"

"No more talking about Jazlene. Just look around." Bexley rolled her eyes.

"Here... I hope you remember what you promised." Jazlene handed over the page to Sarah.

"Of course I remember, darling." Jazlene flinched at the word darling. "But I didn't promise it." She winked. Jazlene kept her hand on the page. "Oh, I was just kidding! Thank you for this." Sarah laughed loudly, spinning on her chair. "You better be kidding. Now I'm done with you. Don't talk to me again." Jazlene muttered and walked away.

There was a month left for the finals, everyone was nervous, especially Axerd and Bexley. Thankfully they did not have too much pressure as guardians as it was their first year, but they still hadn't found the page with the Code. "I think we should tell Ullin. He will know what to do." Bexley tried to convince Axerd. "No! That is the last thing we should be doing. We are the ones who pressured him to tell us about the Code. If he gets to know that we were irresponsible and told all our friends, I can't even imagine what is going to happen." Bexley finally gave in and agreed to make sure no one knew about it.

After their lessons, they finally got all their friends in their dorm. Celestia and Zeta sat down and Nylo and Evangeline entered the room.

"What is going on?" Nylo asked, looking at everyone. Celestia shrugged. "We'll tell you in a minute, we're waiting for Jazlene," Bexley said. Jazlene came in running. "What happened?" She panted and sat on the blue velvet couch. Axerd looked at Zeta, "Remember when you, Nylo and Celestia went to get the page from the locker?" He asked. She nodded.

"Did you turn off the security camera and erase the footage of you guys?"

"Did it myself," Celestia said, "Why? Was the footage found?"

"No, but the page is missing," Bexley said. Jazlene nearly choked on that sentence. "We were hoping you guys had seen it somewhere."

Jazlene cleared her throat. "Are you sure you didn't leave the windows open when you kept it on your desk?"

"How do you know it was on her desk?" Axerd questioned her. "I was in the room with you guys when Bexley put it there." She shrugged. She felt numb, she suddenly realised she had spoilt their friendship.

The others shook their heads and said they hadn't seen it either. Jazlene had to do something to help them without them knowing she was the one who took it. "Who would be the ones benefiting from the content of the code?" She asked, hoping they would get the hint. "Well, uh, Zavia and Scarcia. Zavia isn't working on anything currently, so Scarcia." Bexley said.

"We should get there somehow," Evangeline suggested. "But it wouldn't seem normal if seven sixteen-year-olds were randomly seen at the Board."

"Yes. so we have to split up." Bexley said, getting up. "Axerd, Jazlene and Celestia you can take off for Scarcia first thing tomorrow and the rest of us will stay here and watch out."

"Shouldn't I be going to Scarcia too?" Nylo asked hopefully. "Jazlene can switch with me right?"

"Yeah. For sure." she nodded and got up to leave.

"No. Jazlene knows her way around Scarcia. I'm sorry Nylo." Bexley replied.

Axerd sniffed the air as they entered Scarcia with the help of Bexley's charm. "Wow. I've always wanted to know what Philendra would smell like," He said, looking around.

"What does it smell like to you?" Jazlene faced him.

"Lavender."

"Indicates loyalty," She flinched as she said that. Loyal. She wasn't loyal to her friends and she felt terrible. "Uhh Celestia, what do you smell?" She asked, trying to distract herself.

"I smell honey," Celestia said.

"Well, that indicates courage." She kicked the small stones below her leg. It was for their safety. It was for their safety. She repeated in her head.

"Anyways, what are you going to do here? I mean what are we going to do?" Jazlene asked, not looking at them.

"I was thinking you could show us around here first, and then we'll get to the Board to find out if they are planning something against Zavia," Axerd said.

"Yeah. that seems like a good idea." Celestia nodded. Jazlene shrugged and started walking.

"This is the only library in Scarcia. People only care about metals here, there are very few who care about knowledge," She said, gesturing to the small white building.

"And this is the only field." The field was filled with Philendra and a few lavenders. They walked around for a little longer, Jazlene telling them what every place is until they reached the Board. "Okay, let's go inside." She breathed deeply and continued to walk. The walls in the hallway were filled with small pieces of different metals. "Aeramen," Axerd muttered, brushing his hand on the wall.

"Here." Jazlene continued after a long pause. "This is Ronoa." It looked very different compared to Olswa, the headquarters of Zavia. There was nothing that looked formal here. The sky was purple. There was mist, and of course, the scent of Philendra. There was a building, which looked more like an auditorium than a building. The circumference was bounded by circular stairs. There was a door, leading to what looked like an examination room. "This is where you get tested for what field you can start working for. It depends on what you smell when you inhale the Philendra." Jazlene explained.

"That's not fair, isn't it? I mean what do you get from the scent of honey? My whole personality, likes and dislikes and my destiny?" Celestia asked. Jazlene chuckled, "This is why I find them ridiculous. I had not a single trait that Scarcians tend to have, which is why they sent us to Zavia."

"Greedy, full of pride, traitors, dishonest. Yeah, you are the exact opposite of a Scarcian." Axerd nodded. Every time someone spoke about loyalty, betrayal and honesty her heart skipped a beat, she almost wanted to confess about everything and apologize for everything she had done.

"Let's go," she walked towards the door and the others followed her. They were standing in front of the door, waiting for her to lead them in, but she just walked away and mouthed "You go inside." to Axerd. Celestia, who found this strange, stayed back with Jazlene.