The Guardian Demon (The Guardians of Nine Heavens #3)

Chapter 12: The Force of Perfection

"As we've said, there are three primal rulers in this world - High Forces, Black Energy, and Nature," Bartholomew Corsaire began, "But there are four primordial forces and thus four primordial guardians. Out of these four forces, the three are existent - Creation, Transformation, and Destruction. Thus, they all belong to the Nine Heavens, the world where the High Forces' light can reach - our world. Creation is the force of High Forces, the light energy - it serves to give birth to substances. Destruction is the force of Black Energy, the darkness - it serves to destroy substances so that they would not overwhelm the world. Transformation is the force of Nature, the mix of light and black energies - it serves to balance the forces of Creation and Destruction, and connect the two.

"You have learned all of it at school. As you know, the High Forces created one of the first angels, Samael, from the darkness they had stolen from the Black Energy and gave him a light core, thus applying kindness and morality to him. Due to this, they gained control over the force of Destruction and were able to create substances so that they would not be immediately destroyed by Black Energy anymore. This gave a base to the creation of the Nine Heavens.

"To hold this newly formed world in check, and to prevent the balance from being shaken ever again, the natural forces gave birth to Yuehong - a nine-tailed golden lotus fox that would represent the force of Transformation, the path between the light and the darkness. Thus said, Nature is neither kind nor evil. It strives to have everything in order. Order and balance between the constantly fighting forces are what drive Nature and mark its existence.

"Thus were born the three primal guardians - Michael of Creation, Samael of Destruction, and Yuehong of Transformation."

The students carefully listened to the lecturer, even though they had already learned all of this information in school. When Bartholomew finished introducing the information about these three forces, Miko raised her hand:

"So, what about that fourth power?"

"I'm getting there, Miss Hanamoto." The teacher smiled. "Your question was quite logical - I've told you everything about the three forces you already knew and said nothing about the fourth one. However, I did it on purpose. It is because the fourth force, as I've said, does not belong to the Nine Heavens and is, in fact, quite peculiar and different from the other three. The force of Perfection, unlike the three other ones, is abstract and non-existent."

The students gasped in a stupor - non-existent?! Then how come they were talking about it and knew about it if it never existed? Now one of the boys raised his hand and asked the common question of the class:

"Mr. Corsaire, if the force of Perfection is non-existent, how come we know about perfection?"

The lecturer smiled as if amused that they hadn't discovered the trick.

"That is a good question, Mr. Roberts. As I've said, Perfection is abstract, so we do know about it, but it does not exist. How to put it more simply... It exists, yet does not exist, all at the same time, and because of that, it is perfect in its own self," he tried to explain, rendering the students even more confused than before.

"Exists yet does not exist, and all at the same time?" Miko stared at the professor dumbfounded.

"So, is it like Transformation? That one too changes between the opposing forces... Existence and non-existence are also opposing forces, right?" Azula tried to dig deeper.

"No, Transformation is sometimes existent and sometimes non-existent, while this Perfection thing exists and does not all at the same time. It seems kind of different." Irene shrugged.

"You know, I've understood it all."

"Huh?" 

The students stared at Johanne in astonishment - there was someone who had understood all that gibberish?! The lecturer glanced at her with hope in his eyes - so, at least one student understood what he had explained?

"So, how can you explain it?" Mr. Roberts, the young boy, asked her.

"I've understood that... all of it is nonsense."

Johanne shrugged. However, she said it with such an innocent face that the whole class burst into laughter - damn, she had put into words the one thought all of them had in common! The professor instead furrowed his brow and banged his hands on the table, making the class hush:

"I see you're in the mood of jokes, Miss Green, but I do not think you'll be as amused at the end of the term when you have these topics in your test."

Johanne blushed and cast her eyes down in embarrassment.

"I can explain it in simpler words if this class of goons has a hard time getting it."

All the children flared up - "class of goons"?! Who the heck had said that?! They all turned around, to notice it was Balthazar who had spoken. Johanne flushed with anger - this stuck-up lad... Hmph, he wasn't that good at all, as it seemed.

Bartholomew nodded at him, so he began:

"This whole world strives for perfection, doesn't it? Like, we all fight, live, and die, and are reborn, for the sake of becoming better beings, and ultimately, perfect beings, right?"

"Yeah..." Azula shrugged with a frown, "So, what are you getting at?"

"Now imagine it in larger scales: the light energy of the High Forces creates, Nature maintains, the Black Energy destroys, all for the same purpose - to reach ultimate perfection, right?"

"Yeah, now that you put it that way, it's true..." Roberts nodded - he had explained it in very simple terms.

"But nothing can ever become perfect, can it? Because ultimate perfection means immobility, stillness - if something is perfect, it needs nothing to add, nothing to remove. It needn't be kept tenderly or anything - it is absolute existence, absolute non-existence, right? It has absolute power. It has absolute shape, absolute colour, everything is absolute about it. That is what a perfect substance is. Such a substance does not exist and never did (if it ever did exist, neither Creation nor Destruction, or Transformation would ever be needed). However, since we all strive for this 'perfection' which we have a name for, yet cannot imagine, it means it somehow still exists - I mean, you cannot have a name for something that does not exist, right? And yet it exists neither in material nor in higher forms... So, only one answer is left - it exists and does not, all at the same time."

The students widened their eyes - yeah, that was quite logical...

"Thank you, Balthazar. At least one student can understand the material well enough."

Bartholomew scoldingly eyed the other students and, particularly, Johanne, making her flush again. The lecture continued, but she barely listened - she felt extreme anger and shame in her heart:

All of this lecture is so foolish... I have to look up information about this 'Perfection' force in the library! How come no one has told me about such a force if it truly existed? Both Yuehong and Samael are practically my uncles! If there were such a dangerous power as this, which does not belong to any primal rulers and yet governs over all of them, they would surely have told me! 

She crossed her arms with displeasure - this institute was so annoying... No, she definitely had to find out more about this weird stuff! She couldn't afford to make any more mistakes. She hated being scolded or laughed at. She hated making mistakes, even if it was a common feature of all humans. She just couldn't stand it. 

I'll show them who's boss...