Chapter Two ۞ Takes One to Know One
Valeriana could not help but sigh heavily after seeing that wild blue hair and electric blue eyes. Seriously, what got into his head this time that he ended up on the roof of their carriage? Could he really just not leave Valeriana alone for a day? He was seriously grating on her nerves.
"Tch." Corvan grunted in displeasure. "Your insolence astounds me as ever, non-ranker." He said, putting away his sword slowly back in its sheath. "To think you will go as far as jumping on the carriage's roof . . . how amusing."
He tapped on the window and spoke to them through the glass. "Yeah, well . . . I did tell Valeriana I'll never give up. So, why don't you open the door for me? It's kinda freezing out here."
"Open the door for you?" Corvan huffed loudly at the statement and gave him a sadistic grin. "Why would I do such a thing?"
"Wha—-" The shocked look on Zion's face was not any short of comical. "Bastard! And what are you doing to Valeriana? You damned first-ranker! Just because you share the same carriage, it does not give you the right to touch her!"
Valeriana, as though electrocuted, scampered back to sit properly from where she previously sat before the incident. "This . . . it's your entire fault you know! Why do you think we ended up in this sort of position?! Anyway, no open doors for you, idiot! If you wanna be here, stay outside! Mr. Driver!" She knocked on the wall. "Can we please move on?"
"Uh . . ." The driver still seemed somewhat shaken by the sudden appearance of Zion that he was unable to focus properly. "S-sure thing, miss. Uh . . . but the horses are still feeling unrest. Winter horses are easily very scared and it will take a while for them to calm down."
Valeriana heard him getting off the carriage to tend to the animals. Corvan could not help but rub his temples in frustration.
"Your impudence delayed our trip to the ports! Are you not aware of how much trouble you've brought forth because of your own selfishness?" Corvan growled at the freezing boy hanging upside-down outside their window, seething angrily as an irritated expression crossed the other boy's face.
"Well, who do you think's actually selfish keeping Valeriana all to himself?" Zion bit back.
Knowing she could do something to help, the fifth-ranker willingly disembarked the vehicle and stepped into the cold wilderness, let her feet sink into the snow. The two were busy arguing that they hardly noticed her leaving, but Corvan's perceptiveness enabled him to catch the sight of her silently weaving her way through the cold breeze.
"Valeriana, where on Valemnia are you going?" He asked her.
"Finally." Zion happily jumped off the carriage roof himself, landing in front of the fifth-ranker with a persistent grin. "Came to fetch me from out here yourself?"
Valeriana rolled her eyes and pushed him aside. "Don't flatter yourself, Zion. I didn't come out here for you."
The carriages ahead and behind them stopped as well, with Tamara's head poking out of the open window among one of the vehicles yelling questions all over the place. Charles had gotten off himself, coming to where Valeriana stood in order to investigate.
"What's going on?" He inquired. "What happened?"
Valeriana gave him a small sigh. "It's Zion. He scared the horses, now we can't move."
A look of annoyance flashed in his eyes and he threw a glare Zion's way. "For goodness's sake, what is the matter with you lot? You cause so much unnecessary trouble, especially you, Zion." He started angrily. "If you are forgetting, you forcibly tagged along uninvited and now you're causing such a liability within the group! Our ship is destined to leave the port tonight and we're already twenty minutes behind schedule! If we don't get there in time, we'll have to wait for another week for the next available one. I am sure you are quite aware of how troublesome it is, taking into consideration how long it takes to get to the Central Continent from here!"
Corvan stepped down from the carriage as Charles lectured him. "Valeriana, I assume you are planning on talking to these horses." He said.
"Yes, that's what I'm planning to do. I wanna give this communication with animals thing a try, since I've been working on it during the whole trip. I've gained a little bit of control over it really, so now I can choose to hear or not hear. Which is very cool, don't you think?"
"With the current temperature, I'm perfectly contented with how it is."
"That's not—-well, whatever."
"I meant to jest."
Valeriana gave him a stare. "When it comes from you, it doesn't sound like it." Instead of pursuing the conversation, she made her way towards the panicking animals, unsure of how to approach them.
Sure thing was that they were needlessly throwing their hooves all over the place as the driver tried to calm them down to no avail. Their unrest was starting to get to the other horses nearby, which made the man increase his effort into cajoling them to a state of tranquility.
"Please, madame." Said the man to Valeriana as she approached. "Do not come nearer if you do not wish to get hurt."
"It's alright, sir. I wanted to try something, if that's okay?" She said.
He hesitantly stepped back, but remained gripping the reigns of the horses to prevent them from lashing out. "If that is what you want . . . but please make me take no responsibility should you obtain any injuries."
"Sure." She nervously answered, her hands gradually numbing from the cold.
Focusing on her newfound ability, she called forth the 'openness'. Although she told Corvan that she gained a little bit of control over it, there was still something. Sure, she could block out the voices until she wanted to, but when she listened to them again, there was this annoying 'ringing' that would bombard her ears. It was as though the voices had built up to some degree and would directly overpower her senses, creating a huge headache of some sort. Fact was, she could choose not to block it out, but she found it hard to sleep at night without doing so.
And that was when it occurred to her. "Oh, dang. Maybe I could do it before sleep and just open it up at the morning instead. Stupid. Why the hell didn't I think of that before?"
The man stared at her as though she was some sort of weirdo so she gave him a grin and decided to get into work instead. The ringing was uncomfortable, yes, the pain made her eyes burn. She tried not to let it show on her face though.
When it came to pass, the voices of the horses came softly to her ears and she couldn't help but smile.
'Oh, seriously, that man is just rude!' The other horse started. 'I still cannot believe he would just fall out of the sky like that, he is not a bird! I almost mistook him for a demon.'
Valeriana could not help but laugh. "Zion's annoying everybody, even the horses."
Corvan quirked a brow at this. "That is not really a surprise."
She approached them.
'And who is this child?' This horse had a longer mane, with beady eyes, a stockier build, and shorter legs. The one beside her was taller, sturdier and had a stronger frame. 'She isn't going to try and calm us down like Harris? Seriously, nobody in here understands!'
"I was going to try and calm you guys down because they said you were scared, but that isn't the case, is it?" She told them.
'Oh, how weird.' Said the male one. 'This one seems to somewhat get it. Well, dear child, the only way you can please us is to remove that blue-haired mongrel from our sights! Perhaps then we'll feel better.'
"Okay, you guys! The horses say to remove Zion from their sights." Valeriana called behind her before turning to the horses. "We'll try our best, but as you can see, he's quite a handful."
The girl felt an enthusiastic smile stretch her lips at the pleasant rush of the thought about 'being useful'. She approached the group and delivered the news. Immediately, Corvan ordered the others to tie the guy up, cover his mouth, and shove him into the trunk of the carriage to contain him. The first-ranker seemed to enjoy the thought of Zion being nowhere in sight, but Valeriana could not help but feel somewhat guilty about it.
They were practically violating human—-whatever—-rights doing this to him. This seemed almost like bullying, and Valeriana hated that matter very much.
"I think it's a bit cruel." She said, causing Corvan to look her way. "I don't think he deserves all that being done to him. I know he's annoying . . . but really."
"Then what do you think we should do?" He asked her. "You're too sympathetic."
"Is it fine if he comes with us?" She suggested, causing the first-ranker's eyes to widen.
"Absolutely not!" The temperature in the vicinity around Corvan shot up. "You know I despise the mere thought of his presence, whatever in the world got inside your head to suddenly think of that?"
"He's acting that way because we don't give him what he wants. And, seriously," Valeriana sighed. "I gotta talk to him about serious business to clear things out. Just avoiding him all the time isn't right. I've got to spell it out. If you can't remain in the same carriage, then, do you mind riding with the others?"
"How utterly distasteful." His words were sharp, full of anger. The young lord's eyes were even more smoldering than usual in their emerald glory. "It is you who invite me to ride along with you in this pathetic trip to the port and you dare cast me out?"
Valeriana cringed. "I'm so sorry, Corvan." She tried to camly apologize, cowering under the glower of the first-ranker. "I swear to do anything for you after we arrive in the academy. But, just this once, let me talk to him—"
"I do not see the reason why I have to care." He bluntly told her, turning his back while brushing down the feathery trim of his coat. "Tch. Do what you want."
"I—"
He then wordlessly worked his way through the snow towards the farthest carriage down. Valeriana watched him pull the door open, throwing one last look over his shoulder—-at the girl—-before slipping inside and banging it close.
Charles stared at the sudden misunderstanding between the two and blew out a misty breath, wondering what in the world happened for the recent clash. But, he got the idea, he just didn't know what to make of it.
"So, then, Valeriana," he approached the girl and waved towards the tied-up Zion watching her closely with questioning eyes, apparently confused himself. He had stopped struggling amongst the numerous suitcases he was lying against. "Shall I leave him to you?"
"Uh . . . yeah, sure." An overwhelming feeling of despair washed over her she couldn't speak any longer.
"Do you need help or can you free him alone?"
She silently shook her head and took out a glinting knife that even Charles made a sharp intake of breath at the sight of it.
". . ." He did not know what to say. "Make sure not to take too long."
He then proceeded to his carriage and disappeared out of sight.
Valeriana approached Zion and cut him free from the ropes that held him, working out the knot the kept his mouth bound. A little bit afterwards, the non-ranker looked up to see a solemn look on the girl's face, her eyes cast down and the corners of her lips turned downwards.
"You know . . ." He started, scratching his head unsurely. "You shouldn't have done it if you weren't happy."
"I . . . chose to do this, so I'm pushing it through." She told him. "Let's just go inside before Charles starts raging again about the schedule."
They boarded the carriage, Zion being the last to enter. However, he wasn't even fully through when they started moving, causing him to stumble slightly. He wanted to yell and complain, but forced himself to keep quiet. He did not want to cause more trouble with the way things were now.
Grumpily, he took the opposite bench from Valeriana's and lounged, brushing his midnight-blue hair aside. He took a brief glance the girl's way, grimacing from the awkwardness as he caught sight of her face deep in thought.
"Look . . . I'm sorry if I caused you big trouble, I just wanted to—-"
"You don't have to apologize." She told him, looking up to meet his eyes. "I was mean towards you too. I kept on ignoring you and hurting you physically when you . . . do something . . . I guess I started getting too violent ever since the duel thing."
"Really. Valeriana . . . it's not your fault. It's mine for coming too strongly to you. And, I guess . . . I kinda enjoyed having you throw me around . . ." He trailed off, grinning widely.
Valeriana glared at him through her lashes. "Please, not now."
He fell silent. "Al . . . right . . ."
"Look." She started, chewing on her bottom lip as her fingers played with her clothes. "I think this ought to stop. It's kinda not helping with you acting that way and all."
"I knew you would say that." He sighed.
"I don't feel anything for you, you know. Your feelings flatter me, really." She told him. "But if you keep on hoping like that, you'll end up feeling hurt all the more. So, I suppose it'll be better if we keep a certain distance from now on. I don't mind staying friends, though. I-I mean—-" Valeriana coughed, her face heating up. "Yeah, that's all."
She leaned forward leaned against her elbows, which rested on her knees. Covering her face with her hands, she thought back to what happened a little recently and couldn't help but feel her chest tightening for the second time.
"Geez. What is up with this?" She breathed. "This is the first time this happened. I never thought he would react that way."
"Look who's affected." Zion huffed.
Valeriana shot him a look. "Stop it. You're not helping."
"You like him, don't you?"
She jumped. "Wha—-"
"Let me speak." He cut her off, looking irked. "I don't get why the hell you two deny it so much, but there's obviously something. Even the Twelve can see it, especially me. You two are the only ones here so oblivious to that and, seriously, it's annoying."
"He doesn't feel that way—-"
"How do you know?" He irately inquired. "Even if you ask that guy, he'll just say, 'How dare you assume such a worthless notion'."
He really got that one right. Who knew Zion knew more about Corvan than obvious?
"If you aren't already aware, he's the type who's not very verbal about his emotions in exception for his prideful aristocratic whichever. I'm not sure if that guy is aware about what he feels himself. He's too caught up being the perfect guy—-first-ranker, prodigious heir to his family, practically good at everything, hard-working . . . heck! Good-looking." Zion rubbed his face, throwing irascible gestures in the air as though it wasn't enough to express his frustrations. "He's the perfect opposite of everything I am, what the hell."
"Yeah . . ."
"But the perfect façade he keeps going makes it the obstacle for him to be his real self." He whispered. "I know exactly how it is."
Valeriana was silent as she listened.
"You know what?" Zion cocked a brow at the girl. "I guess you two really suit each other."
"That's—-"
"You bring out the best in Corvan and he brings out the best in you. Fact is, that guy can be himself when he's with you. No putting up fronts, no holding back. Maybe it's the reason why you yell at each other all the time."
"I don't know."
"Just admit that you goddamn care already. Why do you think that guy was so pissed off when you ditched him for me a while ago?"
"His pride." She answered.
"He's jealous." He corrected. "He admires you more than you think, Valeriana."
"Hey! Wait a moment! How do you know all this anyway?"
"'Cuz it takes one to know one."