Things were going exactly as planned.
Charles allowed the briefest smile to brush his lips before letting his face return to its apathetic state. He could not wait to have the curtains close on this case. This was a good record to add to his achievements as one of the Twelve, and he would be proud to list it down without any hesitation.
Fact was, it was not every day that the Twelve managed to solve a Level A assignment—in fact, there wasn't a single record in the history of Celeste Academy that any of the previous Celestial Circles had accomplished such a great feat.
Well, looking closely, the assignment was as actually a Level B or C, but Charles would let the people think what they were going to think. In the records of the Celeste Dispatch Division, the assignment was a Level A—considering that a lot of soldiers had lost their life. Most of the danger was actually at the entrance, but once they broke through the shell, everything had been a piece of cake.
He forced a smirk back as he fixed his glasses.
Of course, he couldn't have done it alone. He admitted to himself that the presence of the others had been a big help. The fourth was sure that he would receive a reprimanding from the Headmaster, since . . . he basically broke a few rules and went against the orders—but he would let the Circle find out about that themselves. Rowe, Corvan, and a few others were already aware. He doubted they would miss this for the world. But of course, there would be Valeriana's reaction . . . perhaps it was only her.
Once they finally got outside, Aneeka swiftly appeared beside him.
"Charles!" She said, a bit breathless. "It's as you foretold." She made a special emphasis on the last word, making another smile find its way on his lips.
This what he liked—when everything went as he predicted.
"Alright, assemble in the assigned groups and do the jobs I asked you to do."
With a nod, she dashed to the direction. The fourth turned to the first.
"You know what to do."
Corvan gave him a brief nod, albeit a little irritated at the way he put it before setting off to do his part of the plan. Charles made his move.
-*-
Valeriana didn't know what in the world was happening.
Of course, the trip to the dungeon had been fairly short and uneventful (save for the occasional rattling of the ground due to the battle probably happening between the demon and the Twelve). Valeriana was particularly grateful she wasn't being involved in the fight. As much as possible, she disliked the idea of violence and would rather not be around whenever it happened.
However, she also felt the strong need to watch the Twelve whenever they fought. Wherever they were, there was sure to be some good action scenes to watch out for. The only thing missing was popcorn and/or potato chips. . . and a sofa.
Movie marathons were Valeriana's weakness. However, in this case, she was actually a part of that scene so she pushed the urge to just sit down aside and got to work.
When they arrived, it appeared that Tamara did not need any help at all. She easily broke out of the cell she was being kept in, with a slightly drowsy Courtney right behind her. It appears as though she had just recently woken up, judging by the messy hair and groggy eyes.
It was a refreshing sight to know that Courtney could look the way she was looking now. She seemed to be always primped and proper whenever she went around, with a seemingly permanent frown—if not a scowl—on her face. At least to Valeriana.
But, really. Though obviously cool, Tamara was a show-off.
Valeriana wanted to admit that the third ranker was plain awesome, but then she would be blowing some more air into her head and make her even more cocky than she was now. Instead, she bit her tongue and cocked her hips as she stood back and let Tamara break through the bars of another cell.
"Get outta there, you old man." She kicked the bars which weakly vibrated upon the impact while a voice groaned from under the darkness.
"Do I really have to?"
"Come on, know your responsibilities." Tamara grunted.
She should really say that to herself.
"Good lords." With a sigh, a man emerged from the cell.
Valeriana quirked a brow at the sight of him. He had wild, unkempt brown hair and a thick beard that covered the entire area around his mouth. His face was marred with dirt, a pair of mismatched eyes peeking from under the thick fringe of poorly kept hair.
They exchanged glances.
"Ah!" The man exclaimed, walking over to Valeriana. "Who are you? A friend of Tam?"
"Tam?" She questioned. "That's a good nickname. I gotta call you Tam from now on."
"Yeah, sure, Val." Tamara laughed as she shook her head. "Anyway, that's Valeriana."
"Lazaro. Laz for short." He grinned. "Oh, we'll be very very good friends, I assure you. You're just my vibes."
"Huh? Do you mind me asking how old you are?" She asked, quirking a brow at his attitude. Well, it didn't matter. Older Valemnians were easier to get along with than the current generation.
"I'm hurt." He sulked. "I'm young at heart."
"So I guess you do mind." Valeriana turned to Tamara instead. "Did you really need me to fetch you?"
"Mm." Tamara tilted her head, as though innocent. "Not really."
Valeriana rolled her eyes. "I shouldn't have bothered."
"Can we just get out of here?" Courtney impatiently quipped, massaging the bridge of her nose and pushing Tamara aside.
"Yes," Marcy cleared his throat. "I do believe I can lead you to a safer place."
"No. We have to meet up with Corvan and the others. With all these quaking going on, there's gotta be a fight, right? I'm itching for some action." Tamara said, swiftly following the path Courtney began treading.
Valeriana shrugged as she exchanged glances with Laz and just went along.
"Wait! Do wait a moment!" The old butler exclaimed, going after them. "I need your help with something even more important."
"Something better than a fight?" Tamara turned with a questioning look on her face. "What the heck is that?"
Marcy merely gave them a solemn look and went ahead. "This way."
While Valeriana started scratching her head in confusion as she watched the old butler. Tamara sighed in disappointment, Courtney gave a displeased grunt of impatience, and Laz acted entirely indifferent.
"God." The third ranker's shoulders sagged. "This had better be worth it."