Chapter Text
The Grove was a little out-of-the-way area, tucked away but not forgotten. Its most remarkable feature wasn't the landscape, no, it was its talent.
Many years ago, when a young doctor decided to open a university, accompanying the local earlier schools, was when the scene changed for the better, though slow it may be. A few years later, the same doctor who had left town to do her surgery specialization, leaving the university management in the hands of 7 trusted friends, came back and opened the hospital.
A hospital that had stories to tell, the different variety of patients they treated, the different thoughts and clashes they had. She came back and was said to seem changed, but it was quickly dismissed as the ambition of the young doctor once again shone through.
Yet it hadn't always been that way. Most young adults and older still remember the fearful times when The Grove was once the nameless area of nothing but unease, conflict and shouts in the sky. Anyone who had medical knowledge was quickly dragged in to act as field medics, with or without their consent. Anyone who had even the slightest bit of martial arts training had to use it, for their own protection or for others' purposes.
"The Grove once had no name. It was the barren, nameless town, too strife-ridden to earn a name, too fast-paced to keep one. Learning how to fight and defend, learning how to treat oneself, was a necessity just some time over a decade ago. No one remembered how it used to be before then, though it had lasted only a few years, the legacy was tainted by those dark times. Yet ambition and hope is what brought peace and a new form of life."
"From what was once a drug and crime-riddled area, transformed into a lush green town known for its intellectual and serene lifestyle, many of the current famous geniuses came from here." A professor with an obvious blinded one eye spoke to a class listening, enraptured.
The Grove was now a prestigious place to be for scholars and those looking to make a difference in society. Yet, it was also isolated from the rest of the towns, in both good and bad. At least, the conflicts from other towns would not take root in the town.
"Epiphany University evolved massively when the founder and still our dearest principal returned, from what was just a medical school, now evolved to include common courses and the newly established New Energy Course. And has also expanded to accommodate for Epiphany College, where you are now."
"And the hospital, sir?" A student asked. There was obvious bias in history classes, depending on the topics. Talking about The Grove, however, was always a hot topic.
"I was getting to that. The hospital, Epiphany Hospital, became the hospital where even outsiders choose to visit if possible. Their fields of specialization grew, and could accommodate potentially every incident. Both the university and the hospital has a handful of graduates and doctors that launched our town's name into prestige, can anyone name some of them?" The professor scanned his class with a well-hidden nostalgic look in his eyes.
Hands shot up in the air, almost everyone was eager to answer. But of course they were, all of these students were plastered on the university and, depending if they were medical graduates, hospital walls. A quiet pride simmered throughout the room.
They were equivalent to idols.
"I expected that much. How about this, we will list out 10, and the other 10 will list out their achievements, that way, everyone gets to have a turn." The students eagerly nodded and beamed.
Never in any other schools outside of The Grove would students be so eager to participate. The pride of having transformed a disgusting crime-riddled town into one of famous intellect was embedded in them since the town's swift transformation.
It only served to churn out more students with bright futures ahead of them, in and out of The Grove.
"Very well, let's start."
"Doctor and Professor Anaxa!" A cheerful girl immediately launched into action. "He's the principal's adopted son and-"
"Save some for us, Sarah!" A boy in the class hollered, making the rest of the class laugh good-naturedly. Nothing malicious, after all, rarely were there any Epiphany College students that didn't idolize one of their renowned graduates.
"Sorry..."
The professor laughed. "Why not the next student list out something about Anaxagoras? Do keep it brief, I'm sure you all wouldn't want to be late for Professor Anaxa's special talk."
The room bustled as everyone launched into practiced in-turn speaking, smooth and efficient, but cooperative.
A special talk indeed, especially for these college students. Some wanted to follow in his and a few others steps into the field of medicine, some wanted to follow others into research, some wanted to strike out and make their own legacy and leave their own footstep behind. The talk would aid the students in separating what they really wanted to do, to prevent anyone from regretting their path forward.
For all intakes, it would either be him or Hyacine giving the talks, merits of being children of the principal. Yet, the professor thought in amusement, not many of the other 'geniuses' of the university were eager to step in, preferring to not interfere.
"He's the youngest to join the university and through his own merit, skipped a year in medical school and the youngest Doctor to graduate. He hates being called Anaxa but we all do so anyway, he loves animals and the best teacher's day gift is stuffed animals or merchandise of dromas! He works as a surgeon and doctor at the clinic, hospital, and is a part-time lecturer here! His favourite food is-"
"Why do you know his favourite food?! You, you're a stalker!"
"I wasn't stalking! It's- It's common knowledge, okay?! Don't you know there's a whole page dedicated to Professor Doctor Anaxa and-"
The professor in the class laughed to himself, determined to relay this little situation to the principal later for a laugh. Anaxa would be annoyed but well, he had quite the fanbase in The Grove. Just like all the other prodigies.... he was the most famous and respected though. He wondered if he knew the so-called "fan-page" existed, he doubted it. Maybe he did, and was just expertly ignoring it.... as usual.
The principal most likely already knew about it, and the other fan pages of the other graduates. Hopefully the pages were being moderated to keep the safety of the graduates at least...
"Enough, next please, else you'll be late."
"I'll go! Doctor Hyacine, Professor Anaxa's adopted younger sister!"
"Doctor Hyacine is an absolute angel! She was one of the second youngest to join the university! She opened a clinic last year called Twilight Courtyard and works with Professor Anaxa!"
The professor nodded and smiled, gesturing for the next to go on. After the first pair, everyone was keeping it brief, even though he knew some of them would really love to go on full-blown rants. The urge to make it on time to one of Anaxa's guest talks overrode that, thankfully.
"Professor and Doctor Veritas Ratio!"
"Professor Ratio's class is so strict.... he's a neurologist and a big name in the research circles. He throws chalk at students who can't answer, I heard from an upperclassmen!"
"Madam Herta!"
"Madam Ruan Mei!"
"Miss Serval!!! She's so cool!"
"There's Madam Himeko, I want to be just like her..."
"Madam Himeko's rival, Miss Kafka!"
"Doctor Natasha."
"I can't believe no one's mentioned Professor Screwllum yet!"
The professor sat back and let the students continue on themselves, to let the students have a time where they could... as people say, geek-out, over the people they admire was rare in the university. Classrooms were filled with discussions and debates, and such gushing behaviour was usually left behind closed-doors or clubs.
He turned his gaze out to the window, taking in the scenery that was The Grove and Epiphany University, as memories of how this town once had been flew through his mind. Truly, a massive change for the better.
The students' lively discussions were suddenly interrupted by the bell as they all hurriedly packed their belongings, waiting to be dismissed. He chuckled to himself, looking at the abundance of nervous energy, this was often the reason why if any of the renowned graduates came to do a special talk, they had to be at the venue way earlier. Otherwise, they would likely get mobbed.
"Alright, go, and remember Professor Anaxagoras' golden rules."
"Silence is Golden!" A student shouted.
He laughed as the rest of the class laughed with him. The rule that Anaxa often spouted was always ignored, 'Never call me Anaxa, it's AnaxaGORAS'.
"Thanks for the class, Professor Oronyx!! See you tomorrow!"
"Have you heard, Cerces' son is now an official surgeon?" a young woman said with a grin to another, who in contrast to the mischievous woman, was more regal and imposing. "And that sweet girl, Cerces' daughter, their clinic is now into its second year of operations."
"Anaxagoras.... and Hyacinthia." The other woman mused, looking at the papers placed on her table. Faces, place of residence, place of work, likes, dislikes. The only daily routines included was their morning coffee run, aside from their occupation. They had no observable habitual routines, but it could be due to their priority as medical practitioners. All information from either the fanpages, or through observation, as close as they could get with her protecting them.
Both files were rather thick, Anaxagoras' more so as he was older and they had their eyes on him first.
It was rather hilarious to see the items under his likes and obsession. Dromases and animals, dromases of all animals. She remembered one of her members sigh and mutter something about how teacher loved Dromases to the point of obsessed, something about splurging his entire month allowance on carnival games just for him to get dromas plushies. There was even muttering of taking the then-student the a zoo outside of The Grove for him to actually ride a dromas.
Something to think about, if he had come to Okhema earlier, perhaps....
Turning back to the files, she noted how more private the other file's details were.
She must admit, before Hyacinthia's enrollment to the university, the first time they publicly seen her, their guardian had hidden her well. The same can't be said for her brother, Anaxagoras would make waves even as a child. The people of The Grove were annoyed at first, but slowly warmed up to him and found his antics rather endearing.
The Grove...... It remained out of their reach -- not by force, but by protection. Unlike Okhema or Castrum Kremnos, it was the area that they had the most trouble getting a hold on.
Oh, they had their time with the area before it was The Grove, for sure. Well, perhaps not her, her predecessors, but the area seemed to have forgotten the dark days.
What worth did they have? Only the finest scholars and talents, they could scout any, but it was those two in particular that they really wanted. And yet, the trouble came from three members, passive but a threat.
"Any updates on the ex-Titans?" she picked up Anaxagoras' file and flipped through it idly, she had already read through both files. It was just for fun and a refresher, anything that could help, though it seemed like there was nothing of the sort.
"Well," the other woman said in a sing-song tune. "Ol' Oronyx is still a history teacher, no changes to his routine or health whatsoever. The princess' sister still rolls around in that wheelchair, I think there's new upgrades! Cerces is still the principal of that university. So no, no changes."
"I see...." she frowned. She could have sworn that security around that town had tightened up... maybe it had, but it was only in regards to Hyacinthia and Anaxagoras, being directly protected as they are. How utterly annoying...
Those three.... how troublesome, they weren't even acting against them or doing anything, but she found it frustrating that they, or at least Cerces, was standing in the way of what they want.
She could not blame her, after all, she cared for her adopted children very much. It was common sense that she would go to far lengths even if only just to ensure their peace and safety. Yet, she still hated it, knowing that she could have had things done quicker and smoother if that woman wasn't in the picture. Perhaps even years ago.
"So~ we still scouting?" The woman smirked knowingly, already knowing that they have their targets set.
"No." the elegant woman, the obvious leader, put down the file and stood up. "We're past that stage. We need to approach this delicately, bring them to us, recruit them, hopefully with success, or at least some amount of consideration. But we cannot let them go."
It may have taken a long while of waiting, but now, the two prospects have fully bloomed. They had always kept a close eye on the two, ever since their early enrollment into Epiphany University. Oh there were multiple factors, the cards seemed to be against them from the start.
At first, it was their relation with that ex-Titan, the only surviving Titan member. Then, their early intellect shone through, and both following their mother's footsteps in different areas too. They would have been satisfied leaving them alone if it was just their relation, but she knew, there was no way those two would fly under the radar.
They were too stubborn, too ambitious, too hopeful.
"Can we really, though? You know how much Snow-boy gushes about that professor, their morals are solid. And that was back before he even started residency."
"There's always a crack, that's what reconnaissance is for. Their skillsets are too useful, too valuable to let go." her eyes narrowed at the face of the eye-patched man. Indeed, too valuable indeed.
Both of them, taking after their adopted mother in more ways than they could ever know.
"Fetch Mydeimos for me, will you, Cipher?"
"Of course, Agy."