Valeriana seriously hated being the center of everyone's attention. Every time something big happened, she always seemed to end up being interrogated after discovering something important. This time though, she was lucky. Still . . . why did this always have to happen?
Charles had fortunately sent the others away and ordered them to rest and recover the energy they spent fighting while he asked Rowe and Corvan to join the discussion. It disappointed the others who were expecting to leave immediately, but they all cheered up when food came into the discussion. It just suddenly occurred to everyone that they were hungry. However, for Keelan, it was a whole 'nother story.
Zion was sulking in one corner. His face resembled an angry bull crossed with a lost puppy while he sat on one corner within the tunnel, angrily munching on an apple. He huffed. "And I thought . . ." He grumbled.
"Thought what?" Tamara laughed, appearing in his sight. She had her eyebrows raised as she looked down at Zion.
"Nwothing." He mumbled, his mouth full.
"Venting your frustration through food? That apple won't solve your problems." She told him.
He continued chewing before biting out a big piece, ignoring her. "What are they talking about anyway?"
Tamara shrugged. "Who knows? I want to know too."
They both looked towards the small circle the other four had formed. The look on Valeriana's face said that they were discussing a very serious matter—Tamara betted that it was all about the sudden appearance of Valeriana's ability.
"How do you feel?" Charles asked.
"Um . . . fine, I guess." She muttered. "But why do we have to do this again?"
"Look, Valeriana." Rowe started. "I now know that there is more to you than it seems." He said. The look on his face was of pure concern. "You have a very strong connection with your soul that you are blessed with the ability of touching both worlds."
"Touching both worlds?"
"There are technically two worlds—where we are moving now while the other is called the 'Spirit Realm'."
"Oh . . . that." She nodded.
"So that explains it." Charles nodded. "Animals, too, have souls. Yet, seeing as we cannot understand their language normally, you listen to the words of their souls instead. That's the reason why you can talk to them."
"What I'm curious about is why this only showed now." Corvan interjected.
"The Blessing of the Sea." The words rolled out of her tongue before she could even stop it. "It just suddenly came to me a while ago."
"The Blessing of the Sea?" They simultaneously inquired, brows knitting and exchanging glances.
"I think that, it was after I fell from the ship. I knew it was a very important encounter, but I can only remember the words I was told, but the exact memories of it were erased from my head." She told them. "And I heard something about a gift and one which cannot be taken away by another."
"A gift, you say?" Corvan was more than unconvinced.
"A gift . . . " She trailed off. "From Eugene."
"Eugene?!" Charles looked uncertain. "Who in the world is he?"
"No . . . uh . . . it sounds like that. Foundin. It has a 'u' and an 'n' somewhere!" She puffed out her cheeks in frustration, narrowing her eyes as she tried to put her entire focus into remembering the exact word.
"You don't mean undine, perhaps?" Rowe corrected, a small smile toying with his lips as he scratched his forehead in amusement.
"Yes!" Valeriana clapped, jumped, and cheered. The nagging itch she had been feeling since the last few minutes was finally scratched at last. "Yes! That's exactly it! Thank you!"
"You're welcome."
"So this validates your encounter with the undines. They were the ones who saved your life. They were also responsible for healing all your wounds." Charles was silent for a few moments, his mind obviously running with different possibilities. "Still, to think that they would grant you the Blessing of the Sea is truly astounding. They must've taken a liking to you."
"What is the Blessing of the Sea stuff? What does it do?"
"That'll be hard to explain." Rowe stated. "The Blessing of the Sea . . . is very unpredictable."
"There must be an explanation." Corvan insisted. "This has something to do with her soul, right?"
"Hmm . . ." The sound of Rowe thinking to himself reached their ears. "The headache that couldn't be healed . . . it must have something to do with all of this." He paused. "Now that I remember, you were saying things to yourself. What was happening during that time?"
Valeriana scratched her head as she tried to recall what happened exactly back then. "All I remember was that everything around me went dark and I couldn't hear properly. Then that stuff . . ."
"What happened after?"
"I don't really remember what it exactly said. Just bits of it."
"You have to remember." Charles told her.
"Er . . ." She racked her mind for the right words. "To open your eyes. To open your . . . ears. That will be the final Blessing of the Sea." She said. "Or something like that."
They all exchanged glances.
"Eyes and ears probably refers to those of the soul." Rowe muttered. "Perhaps . . . it didn't come all at once." He nodded to himself, his brows creased. "The soul is a very fragile thing indeed. You see . . . how do I explain this? Exposing it to something it's not used to all at once will ultimately cause its destruction. You might've died."
Valeriana paled at his words. "Die, you say?"
"Or it would've done a considerable damage. It's very hard to put into words. But I think you know what I mean."
"Can you explain a little bit more?" She shook her head. Her azure blue eyes were full of wonder and disbelief. It wasn't easy being in her situation.
"Let's put it this way." He said. "Let us say you have abilities that you haven't used for a very long time. Compare it to the muscles in the body. Your soul cannot handle the strain of using the power you have so suddenly. It needs to slowly adapt itself. Like how much your body handles exercises. You first need to warm up."
"I think I somehow get it." She answered. "So you're saying hearing animals talk was the warm up?
"Perhaps so."
"That explains a lot, then." Charles said. "That solves a bit of the mystery. The blessing is said to differ with each individual it's been granted to. I do wonder if there is more. Is there still something you aren't telling us, Valeriana?"
While Charles attempted to discuss the matter, Valeriana happened to think of something. It felt strange for the others to be concerned about the things happening to her to this extent. Why did they even bother to discuss this with her when it had nothing to do with them? Must they actually question her for the strangeness of it all? It felt as though they were going through every little bit of information that it gave her no room for privacy.
"You know . . . I really appreciate you guys being concerned and all. What I want to know is why?"
Charles raised a brow. "Do you not want help in finding answers to this questions?"
"Well, I do. But why do you have to go out of your way to do this?" She asked. "I feel like you're all a little bit too concerned and it bothers me a little."
"Ah, so you noticed." Rowe sighed.
"Do you dislike us helping you?" Corvan questioned, crossing his arms.
"What? No." She shook her head fervently. "No. Of course not."
"Then don't ask questions." He firmly told her. "Everyone's bothered by all your whining that it's better to get this all solved before continuing the journey. There is no way we can afford anyone getting distracted by such matters."
The way Corvan put it was . . . harsh.
Rowe seemed to have noticed the confusion on her face that he started explaining instead. "What he meant to say was that we left the academy so suddenly that you weren't given proper time to put yourself together and find the answers to the questions bothering you. Do pardon us if it felt like we were invading your personal space. We were merely trying to help . . . although I guess this is a little bit too much." He turned to Charles. "Should we have done this a little bit not too obviously?"
The girl felt bewildered by Rowe and Corvan's answer. She didn't actually expect the Twelve to be concerned about her at all—they seemed far from doing something like that. It wasn't as though they weren't actually kind . . . perhaps, she just wasn't used to this?
"We're one to care for our own, Valeriana." Rowe chuckled. "Don't look so shocked."
"When did you guys plan all this?" She inquired.
"A little way back when you went missing." Charles answered. "Besides, I prefer knowing what kind of card I have in my hands."
"Card?"
"Knowing the abilities of everyone within the group I'm working with is crucial. It is so that I'll know how to make use of them properly." The fourth-ranker pulled his glasses off and started cleaning the lenses with a piece of cloth.
He looked different without glasses.
Valeriana eyed him with disbelief. "So how the heck do you guys even see me? A pawn on a chessboard?"
Charles slipped his glasses back on. "Considering the hidden potential you have right now and our current situation, probably the hen the lays the golden eggs."
"I'm no chicken!"
"I didn't mean it literally."
"Idiot." Corvan commented.
She glared at him.
"I'm saying you just might be the key to saving this city." Charles told her. "We just have to play everything right."
"Alright. Call me an idiot. I don't get this."
"Just say you never get anything." The first-ranker said, annoyance clear on his face. "God, why are you so slow? Are you stupid? You think like a child!"
"Well, I'm sorry I'm slow! Don't you have anything else better to say? Why do you keep on insulting me?" She growled at him.
"Because you're annoying."
"And you think you aren't?" She argued.
"Enough with it, you two." The fourth-ranker seethed at the two of them, his forehead creased in anger. Massaging the bridge of his nose, he tried to regain his composure and continued talking instead. "I think it's time to tell the others the plan. Let's continue dealing with this matter after we retake the City of Loquin."
With that, he turned and walked towards where the others were. Rowe, Corvan, and Valeriana followed him.
"Alright, everyone. Here's the plan I've discussed with the others." Charles walked forward as the group gathered around at the sound of his call. He crouched and flattened a map he took from inside his coat on the cold floor, but not before sweeping away the dirt. "This is the map of the city."
They all looked at the spot where his finger was pointing.
"This is where we currently are." He said, tapping on it. "Now, we've divided ourselves into three groups, with five members in each and four for the last. Corvan, Rowe, and I will be leading these groups separately. Any objections?"
Eyes glanced between the people standing beside them, but no one spoke in protest nor did anyone do anything that signified the fact that they were against the notion. Seeing this, Charles proceeded in telling them the plan.
"Now, it is possible that whoever is causing all of this chaos is now aware that we have defeated the guards of the entrance to the city. I'm quite sure that a trap is already being set for us, so it is better not to stay together to avoid getting captured all at once if ever. Rowe, Aneeka, and Valeriana will be joining different groups, since I think that they are very important in fighting with whoever we're up against."
"The problem is they haven't fully recovered yet. Do you think they'll be of any use at all?" Courtney butted in.
"Don't worry about that for now." Corvan told her, interjecting into the conversation. "The main focus in here is that we have to investigate the current state of the city. Hence, we'll be taking different directions in order to gather as much information as we can. My group will head north, Charles will head east, and Rowe's will go west. After going through the area, we'll meet up on the other end of the city, in Hamton Park."
"Now if you were ever forced to engage in battle, shoot a signal to the sky. If things take a bad turn, fire the distress signal." Rowe advised.
"What about the demon?" Elfre quipped.
Charles was the one who answered this time. "That's what we'll be finding out. If you find anything strange, we'll have to talk about it in the meeting place. That is where we'll discuss the final plan. Is that clear?"
They all nodded and murmured agreements.
"Tamara, Valeriana, Keelan and Brindon—you go with me." Corvan eyed each individual whose names he called.
"I'll be with Raziel, Zevlin, Genevieve, and Courtney." Rowe spoke.
"Elfre, Aneeka, and Zion you come with me." Charles said.
"Now, things may not go as planned. Whatever happens, try to regroup. Is that clear?" The first-ranker inquired.
The leaders looked between their comrades as the members nodded once more.
"Good. Let's head out."