Celeste Academy One Shots

Fight me (pt.3)

Corvan's back had barely touched the ground as he leaped to his feet in one fluid movement. He stood there encased in flames as he made direct eye contact with the girl who actually challenged for nothing more than to prove a point. He had told himself he wasn't angry or upset. Corvan had unintentionally upset her, but was a duel worth all this?

The intense battle continued and it seemed that it would never stop. The audience had went completely silent because they were so enraptured in a fight that nearly looked like a dance. Neither was willing to back down. Tamara was right when she said Valeriana had an impeccable defense and that it was nearly impenetrable.

"I've had enough of this," Corvan nearly shouted as white flames encased his body. The fight had lasted nearly four hours at this point although it felt like minutes to everyone watching. Nobody had lasted that long in a fight against the Cold Prince. The first and fifth ranker could feel the exhaustion begin to settle in their muscles. Corvan spat blood out of his mouth, but the copper taste remained on his tongue. His right eye was heavily bruised and was beginning to swell shut.

Valeriana wasn't in much better shape. Her nose was busted and blood had dried and crusted to her face. There was a constant ache in the left side of her ripcage, which assured her that one or more of her ribs were likely broken, and she was walking with a slight limp.

"Enough of what exactly, darling? Getting your ass handed to you," the fifth ranker taunted for the millionth time that morning it felt like. The first ranker had purposely remained quiet as not to make a bad situation worse. Every so often, she would weasel in an insult which under normal circumstances Corvan would've simply shrugged off or ignore, but today was different. Each offhanded comment got under his skin. Eventually, his ice cold disposition began to crack. Then, Corvan finally exploded.

"I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR BULLSHIT!"

Valeriana's eyes widened as she realized that she had pushed him too far. Her goal had been to anger him enough to cause him to lose focus. Not to lose control. She hit the ground flat on her stomach and covered her head with her hands as a wall of flames pushed out from Corvan's body. The nearly white flames crashed against the arena's stone and sent fissures up to where the audience was seated. The audience themselves could feel the vibrations from the first ranker's violent outburst. A small scream escaped Valeriana's mouth as she stood on shaky legs.

The ten members of the Circle who were watching the fight saw how bad this duel could end. Corvan wasn't called the Cold Prince for novelty's sake. He never reacted that way to anything during

"He need to calm down," Rowe said as his eyes widened in shock.

"Oh no."

"This is bad."

"Bad," Brindon echoed as his eyes widened," Corvan's gonna...lose it."

"Tamara, get ready. We might have some work to do very shortly," Charles said as he took off to the right wing of the arena and Tamara shot off to the left. Everyone's mind went back to the duel between the twins. If Zevlin could nearly destroy the arena, what the hell could Corvan do if he completely lost control?

Corvan's chest was heaving with each breath. Valeriana noticed that his aura was in turmoil, but it wasn't the kind that came from a quick onset of anger. His aura was presenting something long-term and was a mix of blazing red and stark white.

"Corvan, I'm-"

"SHUT UP YOU STUPID WITCH."

A fireball the size of Valeriana's body was shot towards her which she barely managed to evade. Corvan went into overdrive. He fought ruthlessly like a demon and he left a lot of openings. Unfortunately, the fifth ranker couldn't take advantage of it because she was busy trying not to get her head chopped off. Her hands were hurting with each strike she countered. Eventually, their swords were locked together and the duelists were nose to nose. This was the first time Valeriana had really looked at him since she had returned. There were shadows from dark circles that you could still see under his left eye. His emerald eyes were full of pure rage and hurt. Corvan was wearing a gruesome grin that seemed horrific because of the blood coating his normally white teeth.

Corvan was like a soda bottle that had been shaken up, and Valeriana stupidly decided to crack open the cap.

"Corvan, I'll concede. Please, calm down," the fifth ranker managed to get out as she was roughly pushed back. Her legs were locked, but Corvan was simply pushing her backwards and her feet were getting buried in the dirt of the arena.

"I searched everywhere except hell itself for you for an entire year and you have the audacity..." Corvan trailed off. This seemed to be another moment when he was choosing to be quiet instead of articulate. Finally, the first ranker pushed with his sword causing Valeriana to go flying through the air and into the wall of the arena. Her head made an audible crack against the stone as she slid down and landed on the ground rather ungracefully.

Valeriana's vision swam in front of her, but she could see her opponent closing in. Corvan didn't take advantage of her clearly incapacitated position. Instead, he waited. His chest was still heaving as he trembled and struggled to control his breathing.

Valeriana was still conscious when Headmaster Kylon made the announcement.

"Lord Corvan has successfully defended his title as first. Lady Valeriana will remain as the fifth ranker. The Cold Prince wins!"

The silence erupted into applause as Corvan dropped to one knee where he stood and coughed into his hand. Blood coated his palm and hefocused his steely gaze on the girl laying in the dirt in front of him. Corvan had went extremely pale and was swaying slightly. Silence settled heavily over the crowd again as two medical teams rushed to the heavily injured duelists.

The last thing Valeriana saw before passing out was Corvan's eyes rolling into the back of his head as he slumped forward.

•••

Corvan had always walked out of the arena after a duel. Sure, he had his injuries attended to by the healers afterwards, but not in front of the entire school. He most certainly had never woken up in the infirmary.

A massive headache was bouncing off his skull and he scrunched his eyebrows together in frustration. There was something warm wrapped around his hand and Corvan forced his eyes open to see what it was. The fifth ranker's head was being held up in her one hand as she snored softly. Her other hand was carefully wrapped around the first ranker's knuckles.

"Valeriana."

With a gasp she jerked in her seat and rubbed her eyes.

"I-I'm awake. Are you okay? What do you need," the fifth ranker questioned as she quickly stood from her chair.

"Why are you here," Corvan questioned softly. Now that he was awake, he could feel every ache in his body and his chest hurt the worst. Corvan knew that she probably wasn't much better off.

Instead of responding, Valeriana's eyes filled with tears and her lower lip trembled. Corvan's frown only deepened at her reaction.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think about you probably not wanting to see me when you woke up. I did break your ribs and basically punctured your lung. And...I think I hurt your feelings! I went too far a-and I'm really sorry, Corvan."

Valeriana cried and Corvan opened and shut his mouth a couple times before finally pushing himself into a sitting position. When he released a large exhale, Valeriana hiccuped and moved towards him as if to help but stopped herself short. Once he was settled, Corvan released a sigh.

"That's not what I meant, Val. From what I remember, you were injured and needed rest."

His words did nothing to comfort the crying girl and she continued to sniffle and apologize.

"You stupid witch. Come here and sit back down," Corvan finally half yelled to capture her attention fully. Valeriana returned to the chair she had been sitting in previously and pulled the handkerchief Corvan had given her in Larkovia to dry her eyes. With a deep breath and a lot of mental preparation, Corvan forced himself to swing his legs over the edge of the infirmary bed.

He gently grasped the fifth ranker's hand with his own and locked eyes.

"I'm not upset with you. I shouldn't have made you feel inferior in the first place. If I am to become the High Lord of Arlandia, then I should know better. I apologize for upsetting you and for losing control in the arena," Corvan said as he rubbed his thumbs across the back of her hands before pulling her towards him. Corvan kissed her forehead tenderly and Valeriana let herself relax into his embrace.

Eventually, her tears stopped and both laid back down on the bed. After a few moments, they fell asleep in each other's arms.