Celeste Academy One Shots

Pining and Regret

It was common knowledge that the Celestial Circle had impeccable control, more specifically the first and second rankers. Corvan always presented himself as detached and cold while Rowe was always seen as a gentleman with a charming smile. What many people didn't realize was that Rowe's temper was significantly worse than the first-ranker's, but he typically didn't lose his cool quickly. Rowe had the patience of a saint while Corvan would become irritated quicker than a pregnant woman who had her food taken away from her.

Despite their differences in disposition, both had a lot in common. Both men had felt the pressure of being ranked first. Both had suffered immeasurable losses as children and both had feelings for a girl that they may never see again.

Valeriana had been missing for several months by now and Aneeka had left the Twelve for reasons only known by Rowe himself. At least he could seek some comfort in that, while Corvan could only guess as to why that stupid witch had left like she did, if she had even left willingly. The only clue that had been left behind was her bracelet that had been left in his hand. Corvan's emotions had been chaotic after Valeriana had went missing, and the rest of the Twelve knew it too.

For the past few months, Rowe had been as hateful as Corvan had been quiet. The rest of the rankers knew not to mention either one of the girls unless they wanted to either be set aflame or sliced to pieces.

After another rather quiet and tense dinner, they all parted ways to do various things. Some went to the training yard to perfect their weapon handling or went to their room to study. Typically, Corvan could be found in the yard attacking some poor training dummy. Before, someone would offer to spar with him, but after he almost broke Keelan's nose, they all decided to keep their respective distance.

The sun had already set for the night, but the air was still warm. Corvan had long since discarded his shirt as sweat poured down his back. He was so focused on pulverizing the dummy in front of him that he never heard Rowe approach silently from behind.

"Lord Corvan, beating the pure hell out of that dummy won't bring her back."

He stopped his assault to send a death glare to the second-ranker. "I'm well aware, Lord Rowe. At least I'm taking out my frustrations on an inanimate object. I'm sure you realize that the rest of the Twelve have taken the brunt of your anger."

Silence settled heavily between the two. Finally, Rowe took a deep breath to calm himself as he fully faced his comrade.

"I know, and I owe everyone an apology. This whole thing...it's driving me insane. There's not many people who can relate to that around here."

"Don't tell me you came to talk to me about my feelings," Corvan said in disbelief, and even slight anger.

"Not exactly. Aneeka and I are a completely different from...you and Valeriana."

For the second time that evening, silence filled the air and Corvan simply turned away, not wanting to acknowledge Rowe's statement or continue the conversation.

"Occasionally, I wonder if I was the reason she left. I held her back from becoming what ever she wanted to be. Maybe she never wanted to be the family knight."

"She had more of a choice than Valeriana," Corvan said in a quiet voice, nearly under his breath.

"What?"

"Aneeka, you, myself...all of the Twelve for that matter. Even the students in this academy had more choices than Valeriana. She was forced into our world and to join our ranks. If Valeriana never would've saw those demons, then she wouldn't be missing or even dead for all I know," Corvan said in a breathless rant. His face had turned red from pure and utter hopelessness that he had masked as rage instead. Rowe decided not to comment on the fact that he had said "I" and not "we", but he filed it in his mind at seeing the young lord showing genuine feelings towards the fifth-ranker.

"Yes, Lord Corvan, it seems like pining and regret are plaguing both of our hearts these days," Rowe said with a sardonic smile.

"My situation is uncertain. Your's on the other hand is not. You are already the High Lord of Aethria. Should you wish it, you could track her down and make amends, but, for once, it seems as if you're allowing arrogance to cause a rift between you two. If I knew where Valeriana was, I wouldn't waste a single moment to get her and bring her back, so do not preach to me of pining and regret. The only thing I regret is not fighting harder," Corvan said harshly as he dared Rowe to discredit anything he had just said.

"It seems that you really have grown wiser in your short time here. I might...I just might follow that advice should I been given the chance. I needed to hear that, and I thank you," the second-ranker said sincerely.

Corvan didn't respond and instead gathered his training gear. Rowe left without another word, and left Corvan to his own thoughts.

If Corvan would ever be able to find that stupid witch, he would, without a doubt, bring her back and never let her leave his sight again. He tried to tell himself that it was because she causes nothing but trouble, but he soon realized that wasn't the quite the case. Honestly, she worried the hell out of him majority of the time with her reckless and impulsive thought process.

A deep sigh escaped the young Arlandian lord as he directed his gaze to the sky. Corvan liked to think that Valeriana was looking at the same night sky he was. That, maybe, they were at least under the same moon.

All he could do was hope.