Celeste Academy One Shots

Holly Jolly (Part Three)

A couple days after Corvan and the rest of the Twelve had put their plan into action, they decided to ask Valeriana some very pressing questions about the human world. They had gathered all the information they could from Lord Lienhard, and no one was able to contact Lord Aeron. The library had little to no information regarding the subject, so it was best to just ask Valeriana herself. After her small breakdown, as Corvan had labeled it, she had seemed to bounce right back to her normal bubbly and talkative self and should be able to answer some generic questions.

That night at dinner, the Circle carefully steered the conversation towards earth, but inconspicuously. Charles pretended to be gathering research about human traditions, and Valeriana was more than happy to tell them stories from back home. She was from a place called the United States of America, but she explained that each culture on earth had different popular celebrations. Finally, she directed her focus to Christmas.

"My favorite holiday is Christmas! As most holidays are, it's very family oriented. If you're a Christian, then you celebrate Christmas as the day Jesus Christ was born. If not, then it's seen as a time to gather with your loved ones, bake treats and decorate a Christmas tree! Typically, each family has their own traditions," Valeriana said with a sparkle in her eye. She was so excited that she continued to explain who Santa Claus was and tell various stories from her childhood.

The Twelve were listening so intently to her story that they had forgotten about dinner completely. Charles had his handy notebook out, but hadn't wrote a single thing down. Corvan still had a book propped up in his lap, but he paid it no mind. The rest were leaned in to listen to her better and were amazed by her life back on earth.

Eventually, and much to everyone's dismay, story time did end and they all dispersed to take care of their other responsibilities. Once it was obvious that Valeriana had retired to her room for the night, the other eleven gathered in the common area to continue with Operation Christmas, as the twins liked to call it.

"I think we have all the information we need. All that's left is supplies and approval from the King," Charles said as he adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

"Supplies," Tamara questioned and a few others seemed just as confused as her.

"If Valeriana is not given permission to go home, then we thought maybe we could celebrate Christmas here," Rowe explained with his characteristic smile.

"Wow! That's a great idea!"

"I say we do it anyways! I want to celebrate Christmas," the twins said at the same time.

"Does that mean...cookies," Keelan asked hopefully as he looked at Charles with big green eyes.

"Cookies," Brindon echoed.

"Everyone, calm down. You're all talking at the same time and it's making my headache," Corvan said as he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. He had to acknowledge that it seemed like a good idea, but there was still one thing they had to all figure out.

"Valeriana mentioned presents. That means we have to buy each other the most exquisite of gifts," Raziel said.

"There's twelve of us, you arrogant bastard. And we can't let her know what we're up to! Are we all supposed to buy a present for every person and keep them all hidden," Elfre exclaimed in exasperation.

"No. There's an even number of us, so we could each buy a gift for one person," said Charles.

"Okay! That could work, but how are we going to determine who gets to buy a present for who," Zevlin asked as he scratched his head.

"I say that's a pretty simple solution. Remember our pairings for our duels at the Summer Festival? Let's just use those! That way, since it was Corvan's idea, he has to buy Valeriana's gift," Tamara said with a mischievous smirk on her face. Corvan tried to argue, but nobody was listening to him. They all agreed it was a great idea, even Charles.

Since the matter was settled, they all finally made there way to their bedrooms, but excitement was still in the air. Corvan eventually made it to his own room and closed the door loudly.

What the hell was he supposed to get her?

///

Several days passed without any word back on whether the fifth ranker would be allowed to go home, but the eleven conspirators continued on with their plan. Valeriana had noticed their stranger than normal behavior, but chose to ignore it. It seemed like everyday someone was leaving quickly to head off to someplace unknown and when they returned, they would run to their room as quickly as they could. Surprisingly, Corvan had been the most suspicious of them all.

He had left to go to some mysterious destination almost every day, but unlike the others, returned with nothing. The rest had returned with parcels wrapped in plain brown paper or something similar at the least. Valeriana simply shook her head at their antics and continued on with her week as usual.

Finally, the weekend arrived. Since no classes were to be held that day, Valeriana was looking forward to sleeping in, but that didn't happen. She was startled awake by feet running up the steps to her room and several hands banging on her door. Jumping to her feet, Valeriana quickly made way to the door and flung it open.

"Why are you wak-" Valeriana started but stopped herself when she saw the rest of the Circle standing outside her room. They all looked like they were ready to burst from excitement, minus Corvan and Brindon.

"Come on! We have to show you something," Tamara said as she grabbed the fifth rankers wrist and dragged her out of her room. As soon as she stepped out of her doorway, Valeriana quickly realized that they were all in their pajamas.

"What's going on? Why are you all in PJs," Valeriana questioned as she scrunched her brow in confusion. She was only answered by laughter as they rushed her down the stairs. Before she reached the common area they all shared, the twinkling of bells reached her ears. They all burst into the room, and Valeriana gasped at the sight in front of her.

Their was a Christmas Tree with what looked like some kind of lights wrapped around it, and there was a somewhat crude star being used as the tree topper. There was music coming from somewhere and she registered that it was Christmas Carols. There were twelve stocking hung above their fireplace, and there was a pile of present resting under the tree.

"You guys...you did all this," Valeriana said in between sniffles.

"We knew you missed home, and once Lord Corvan told us about your Christmas, we couldn't resist," Aneeka said as she wrapped an arm around the blond's shoulders.

"I DIDNT GET YOU GUYS ANYTHING. OH MY GOSH," the fifth ranker exclaimed.

"Who cares? Let's open those presents," Tamara said as she ran towards the tree and started jumping up and down on the balls of her feet.

A/N: there will be one more part, then the Christmas series will be all tied up! Don't forget to comment and all that jazz!