Celeste Academy One Shots

Out of Control (pt. 2)

The voice haunting Valeriana's every waking and sleeping moments was Vladis himself...

The entire Celestial Twelve found themselves outside the fifth-ranker's living quarters. Tamara was banging her fist against the door so hard that it vibrated into the floor.

"Val! Just open the door," Rowe said reassuringly as he took Tamara's place at the door. The rest of the group, minus Corvan and Brindon, tried to console her through the door even though she couldn't hear them since she had locked herself in the bathroom. Something wasn't sitting well with the first ranker. Overall, it wasn't a surprise that she could sense the king of demons considering her capabilities as a direct controller and they knew that the war was approaching rapidly. What did surprise Corvan was her reaction to what she most likely already knew to be true.

A feeling of uncertainty settled in the pit of his stomach, and being one to trust his instincts, Corvan pushed himself to the front of the group pounding at the door.

"Move."

As if he was parting the sea, the other rankers pushed themselves against the wall to get out of the way. Corvan grasped the door knob and twisted, but his frown deepened when the door barely opened an inch and banged against something else. He quickly realized that her wardrobe had been placed in front of the door and he mumbled under his breath.

"What was that?"

BANG.

"She barricaded herself in."

BANG.

"Lord Corvan, what are you doing," Charles asked with a hint of frustration in his voice. The first ranker took a couple steps back to gain momentum for the third time. The other rankers just watched in slight disbelief as Corvan took it upon himself to break down a door. His broad shoulder slammed against the door and a violent crash sounded so loud that Keelan and Raziel covered their ears with their hands.

"What does it look like, Lord Charles? Breaking and entering," was all Corvan said before stepping through the door, avoiding the splintered wooden wardrobe. They would have to get that replaced. Charles was rattling off numbers about how much repairing the wardrobe and the scuffed floor would cost, but Corvan simply ignored him and made his way to the only shut door in the room.

"Valeriana is having a breakdown and all you care about is money! Shut it already would ya," Tamara said without hiding any of her aggravation at her younger brother while she slapped him upside the head.

Corvan knocked on the bathroom door, but there was no response. Considering that it was the bathroom, the first ranker chose to knock on the door harder to try and get a response. He did this for almost five minutes straight while jiggling the locked door knob. Once he realized that Valeriana wasn't yelling for them to leave or opening the door to tell him off, the first ranker's concern grew. With a slight huff, Corvan took a couple steps back to kick the door in when Elfre stopped him.

"Wait. What if she's leaning against the door? She could be injured."

At the newly appointed sixth ranker's words, Corvan stopped. His emerald eyes flashed with irritation as he realized that brute force might not be the best option. Another sigh escaped through his teeth creating a slight whistle.

"Allow me," Aneeka said as she stepped forward with some type of hair pin in her hand. If Corvan remembered correctly, his younger sister occasionally would have these in her hair to hold back the unruly curls from her eyes. Dropping into a squat, the tenth ranker inserted the hairpin and the tip of a knife into the keyhole on the door. It felt like it took eternity to Corvan, but something finally clicked after a few moments. Aneeka had barely stood and moved before the first ranker made his way into the bathroom.

Corvan opened the door slowly in case the stupid witch was leaning against it, but his brow furrowed in slight confusion when he felt no resistance. Looking over his shoulder, the other rankers had similar expressions of concern and confusion. His hair was nearly standing on end as he slowly pushed the door open and scanned the bathroom for the fifth ranker.

Corvan's eyes widened in alarm when he saw Valeriana laying on her side with blood leaking from her ears and nose. Without a moment of hesitation, Corvan was barking orders as he kneeled next to the unconscious ranker.

"Keelan, inform Headmaster Kylon of Valeriana's situation. Zevlin, get to the infirmary and inform the healers that Valeriana's hurt. Genevieve, come check her. We need to know if it's safe to move her."

Without a moment to waste, those with instructions took off in separate directions to follow orders. In order to maintain control, Rowe lead the remaining rankers back down stairs to wait for further orders while Corvan, Genevieve and Charles would attend to the fifth ranker.

It took less than ten minutes to determine that the unconscious girl wasn't suffering from any physical ailments, but something still seemed off.

"I think it's safe to move her, but we need to move quickly," the eighth ranker said as she made her way to the door.

Corvan gently placed one arm around Valeriana's waist and the other under her knees as he lifted her into his arms. The fifth ranker was pale and sweat beads were running down her forehead. Her head was flopped back and Corvan could see her pulse moving at an unnatural pace in her throat. His instincts were right. Something was wrong.

Corvan slightly shifted the fifth ranker's weight in his arms before he ran to the infirmary.

A/N: Don't forget to click the little star! Also, you guys should go check out my new book about! It's called Trials of the Twelve. First chapter is already up :)