Some say eating food should be something you treasure. That you should be savouring every mouth full of the said dish in front of you; a delicacy. Though, no one could possibly enjoy their meal if there was a whining teen sitting in front of them.

"Do I look like a rabbit to you?" Outraged, the blonde female pushed the tray of food away from herself. A frustrated pout resonating on her lips. She was honestly such a picky eater, perhaps one of the pickiest eaters you knew. So you could imagine, eating lunch at the headquarters was always a long and painful process for Zel.

The headquarters cafeteria; a place full of laughter and cheerful chatter. Well, all except for a certain someone sitting in front of you. As operatives, you are 'supposed' to eat healthily, so the cafeteria is required to provide operatives with meals that give them enough energy to keep up with training schedules (a new rule). So the cafeteria menu was changed a few weeks ago. You had the pleasure to say it wasn't always like this.

Speaking of which, you never knew the cafeteria could be so busy. It was the largest part of the headquarters because it was designed to house a lot of operatives. It was usually used as a place where operatives can relax after a long day of training and get some food together. It had blocks of smalls bushes around which separated the room into little sections. Zel and your favourite place to sit was on a two-seater table next to the window. The overall aesthetic was very clean- but what else were you expecting from an agency as big as this. 

You ignored Zel's complaining and eyed the line at the front of the cafeteria before popping a piece of capsicum into your mouth. You can't remember the last time it was this busy. In the past, the max waiting time for servings was maybe between ten to twenty minutes. Although recently, it had been about an extra fifteen minutes. Come to think of it, there are a lot of new and old faces around. Even the corridors were swarming with people.

Something wasn't adding up here.

"At this rate, my shit is going to turn green." Chocking on the cherry tomato you had just placed in your mouth, you quickly went to grab the cup of water sitting in front of you. Zel slumped further down into her chair and eyed the garden salad like it was some sort of Satan spawn.

"Zel I'm eating." You exclaimed after swallowing painfully. You could feel the half-chewed tomato slowly going down your esophagus.

"I'm only speaking the truth." She snapped back before crossing her arms over her chest.

"And there goes my appetite."  You were looking forward to finishing your garden salad, but all it looked like now was unappetizing weeds. Instead, you reached for the lone banana sitting next to the salad. "It's not like they only serve salads." You said whilst peeling the banana open, earning a scoff from the blonde.

"(Y/n), tell me what we had for lunch yesterday." Looking up, you tried to recollect what they served yesterday for lunch.

"Bean salad."

"And the day after that?"

"Salmon salad."

"Now say what you just send to me again." Zel bluntly remarks before raising a brow.

"It's not like they only serve salads~but okay that's only been the past~"

"Don't give me that BS." Zel interrupted, forehead banging on the table in the process. As a result, the table top shook violently causing your utensils to move along the table and a fork ending up falling to the floor. "I need reeeaalll food." She whined again.

"Then eat your banana." You said before ducking your head under the table to pick up the dropped fork. Your hand went to reach out for the utensil but halted when a familiar pair of black doctor martens glided past out of the corner of your eye. It barely missed the metal utensil and your fingers. Picking up the fork you turned to watch the shoes halt a few tables away from yours and take a seat. Your eyes then averted upwards only to be faced with one of the males from last night. You finally got a clear look at him; the male who wielded the diligence weapon. He was slimily built with lazy cat-like eyes. He didn't seem to like colours as he was decked out in all black, along with black hair. This heavily contrasted with some of his other friends sitting around him.

"(Y/n)?" Joining you under the table Zel had also ducked her head under. "What you doing under there? Inspecting the gum?" Nearly frightening you out of your seat, you let out a yelp which resulted in your head colliding with the table top.

"Dam Zel you scared me." You scowled before lifting your head up from under the table, sending her a glare in the process.

"Sorry." She winced before lightly patting your head robotically, that was her poor attempt of comfort. "So what was so interesting under there?"

"The Virtues." You murmured under your breath. Eyes averting to look to the side, gesturing Zel to look behind you.

Your partner's inquisitive expression dramatically transformed into an annoyed one once noticing the group sitting behind the two of you. "I knew it! I told you it wasn't just a rumour. They are the reason we don't get the good missions." Her usual loud and high pitched voice dropping a few octaves, now speaking in a hushed tone. 

The Seven Virtues was a name which had been floating around the headquarters for as long as you remembered. It was one of those rumours that was never disclosed to the public or even the operatives under V.I.R.T.U.E themselves. You had asked your father about in the past when you first heard about the rumours. He didn't tell you much just that it wasn't something to be spoken about so carelessly.

The rumours you had heard of specifically was that they where a special task force of seven which completed background missions, the best of the best. But the biggest rumour flying around was not the operatives themselves - although their identities kept a secret - but in fact the weapons they wielded. Divine weapons which possessed the powers once wielded by the seven Archangels. It was one of the agencies biggest secrets. If the information of there being a secret unit within the ranks of V.I.R.T.U.E was to be leaked out into the public who knows what could happen. 

"Zel calm down. Don't want people overhearing you bagging the agencies best operatives." You chuckled whilst shaking your head in a disappointed manner.

"Good, let them hear. I didn't know high classes operatives could be so rude." Childishly, Zel squinted her eyes and stuck her tongue out at the males seated a few tables down.

"So I'm rude?" Quickly gaining Zel's attention she immediately shook her head.

"You know that's not what I meant." She deadpanned, earning a chuckled from you. She knew you where joking but sometimes you liked to pull her leg and annoy her a bit. She was fun to tease. She kicked you under the table which halted your laughter, you replaced it with a low click of the tongue. "Dude I'm being serious, the one wielding the swords of patience was rude as hell yesterday."

You didn't talk let alone get a good look at the patience wielder so you had no idea what Zel was on about.

"I mean what makes them so top dog anyway? Take away their fancy-smancy weapons and they are normal operatives like you and me. What's so important that the virtues had to be called back?" 

"I have no idea but I think it has something to do with the increase of operatives recently." You rested your elbows onto the tabletop and took a bite out of your banana.

"You noticed that too? I thought it was just me." Zel pressed her lips into a thin line as her gaze wandered the full cafeteria.

"Not to mention that weird thing the Incubi said yesterday."

"Yeah something is defiantly going on behind the scenes and I don't like the sound of it." Silence engulfed the atmosphere for the first time between the two of you, both shooting each other knowing looks.

"I am sure we are just overthinking things." You lifted yourself out of the plastic chair and hastily went to clean up your food all while trying to wipe the idea out of your head.

"I sure hope your right."

.

SURPRISE LOVES!

It's holidays right now so I thought I would work on the first chapter and surprise you all! I honestly didn't expect to finish it but I did. This book is still in the works and the updates will definitely pick up after hitlist finishes as my full attention will be on this book. So I'm sorry but this book is still 'coming soon.'

I saw some of you voting and adding Ascendant into your lists and I'm honestly so happy you are liking the prologue. I was kinda afraid of publishing a story because this as it is a completely different style from my usual writing.

Thank you and I love you all!!