The ocean breeze brushed lightly against Valeriana's cheeks, bringing the faint scent of the brine waters wafting under her nose. The docks looked indeed busy as men with finely defined, flexing muscles loaded dozens of different cargos aboard the ships anchored by the port. In total, there were about more than a dozen. Valeriana didn't make any effort to determine the specific number so she simply made an estimate inside her mind.
Amidst the noisy chattering of people, the sound of rolling waves, and the gentle twittering of birds, Charles instructed the group with things about properly doing their job before going off to negotiate with the captains in charge of the ships.
Valeriana followed him curiously. "Are you sure he'll allow us?" She asked him, watching the fourth-ranker as he climbed the wooden board angled towards the ship's deck.
"He will."
"How can you be so sure?"
"He'll have no choice but to agree when I show this." He flashed a ring on Valeriana's face so suddenly that she leaned back slightly in instinct. The golden band was encrusted with sapphires and gemstones the color of blue, including small diamonds. The sapphire on the very middle had a symbol etched on top of it—something Valeriana wasn't quite able to discern.
Before she could ask, Charles opened his mouth. "Go back to the others and say your goodbyes." He said.
Valeriana heard a seagull's faint squawk as she reluctantly headed back towards her group where the other Twelve were gathered, glancing towards Charles whose form disappeared from a distance. Silently, she wondered what exactly the ring was about. Was he planning to pay it to the captain?
She stopped before the Twelve and the other addition to their group, watching as Tamara pulled Keelan by the shoulders and gave him a noogie. Keelan, meanwhile, was uttering protests while Tamara continued boisterously laughing.
Keelan, who was trapped under the third's arms with her knuckles painfully brushing against his skull, moaned in pain. "Let me go, Tamara! Please!"
"Let's see you try, you ol' glutton." She teased.
Rowe was unable to wait for them to finish and started speaking. "Let's see each other in the academy again, alright? Come back safe, all of you." He told them. "The Twelve cannot be twelve without the others after all. So make sure to finish the job quickly."
"You don't need to tell us that." Corvan said. "We know that perfectly."
"I'm just reminding you in case you forget." The second-ranker told him.
"Rowe's right, though." Valeriana quipped. "Do come back safe."
Corvan eyed her indifferently, remaining quiet.
Tamara, on the other hand, broke her iron hold around Keelan and bounced towards Valeriana cheerfully. She put her arms around the other girl and smiled in an overoptimistic manner that she practically radiated with her usual outgoingness.
"Aw! Is Valewiana worried for us?" She asked teasingly.
She playfully pushed her off. "Of course I am!" She exclaimed. "You guys were all jerks when I met you, but—"
"Ouch, Valeriana!" Keelan said. "That hurts."
"But you're not all that bad." She continued, chuckling.
"Well, you're not bad either!" Aneeka said and patted the girl on the shoulder. "You're kinda . . . well . . . if it's you who'll be saying it, I think you'll choose awesome as the word to describe it."
"Well, compared to me, you're all amazing!" She said.
"Now I want a group huuuug! Let's do it! Like the one in the movie!" Tamara shouted, screaming out the very last word that everyone from the Twelve practically ran forward and encaged both her and Valeriana in a tight embrace, their arms interlocking with one another to form a huge and compressed circle.
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Legend | Celeste Academy Series BK #2
Fantasy|Celeste Academy Series BK #2| The Twelve has left the academy walls to explore the the Larkovian continent, seeking the enigmatic brother of the king. While getting the archduke to come with them was easier than they'd hope, his conditions pose as...
