Celeste Academy Oneshots

Knightly Boutique

"Val! Val!"

Chavi called out to her friend, waving wildly to get her attention. Valeriana was pushing a cart of books to her building.

"Oh hi Chavi! What's up?"

"Drop whatever you're doing and come with me." She said ever so seriously.

Valeriana only looked in confusion at her friend.

"But I have to get these books to the Circle's building. Corvan requested this top part and the rest of it is for Charles and Rowe."

"It can wait. Come on!" Chavi suddenly gripped her friend's arm, her aura flashing a happy color as she started to run, pulling her friend behind her.

"Wha- waaaaaaiiiiiiiittttt! Chaaaaaaaaaaaavvvvviiiiiiii!" The fifth-ranker's screams could be heard echoing through the halls as she was pulled to who-knows-where by her crazy friend.

"Shiznits! Who knew you were so strong!" They had finally stopped in a random hallway that seemed, if it was even possible, more extravagant then the other hallways.

It was also more crowded then most, flooded with students of all ages and departments.

"Voila! Welcome to the Knightly Boutique! They just re-opened after the incident with the pickles and parrots," Chavi flourished her arms to bring Valeriana's attention to the large double doors guarded by some of the students. Everyone else was in a form of a line, sectioned off by red velvet ropes.

But Valeriana chose to question "Pickles and parrots?"

"I think Raziel had a hand in it also..." Her friend trailed off thoughtfully as she tapped a finger against her chin.

"But whatever. This place isn't really a Boutique, it sells everything from books to room decorations to plants! Since students can't really go off-campus anywhere while school is in session, if anything is needed it can be found here."

Chavi started to walk towards the double doors while her friend stood in awe at yet another thing no one told her about this school.

"Come on." Chavi called.

She shook out of her stupor and rushed to trail behind her friend.

"Shouldn't we wait in line or something?" The blonde asked nervously. The people waiting had realized someone was going for the front of the line and were glaring at them harshly.

"Oh it's no biggie Val, I got this." Chavi sauntered to the doors where two guards stood, a petite female on the left and a similarly petite male on the right, looking so alike they were probably twins. They were dressed in their uniforms but had their weapons out in full display, long pieces of metal with a spear point affixed to the end. They had crossed them in front of the doors as Chavi approached.

"Hiya Finnigan! Hey Mallory! How are you guys doing?"

"Hiya Chavi." The petite girl, Mallory replied.

"We're doing good." Finnigan answered.

"So..."

Valeriana waited in worry, predicting her friend would try to wheedle her way in with some sort of trickery or bribe like in the movies or books. Doug Landers pulled something like that in the last movie but it didn't turn out so well.

He was electrocuted and then strung up like a flag at the top of the building while a lightning storm raged and weird vampire bats circled him.

He got out of it intact...mostly.

"Here's my pass!" Chavi proudly displayed a shiny badge to them. When the other students got a look at it they gasped and started murmuring amongst themselves.

"Glad you remembered-" Mallory started the sentence.
"-to bring it this time." Her brother finished it.

They opened the doors and Chavi tugged Valeriana into the room.

She was dazzled by a bright light at first and when her eyes focused she was shocked.

There was shining multi-colored chandeliers, most likely of precious stones, glimmering above everywhere, shining the full spectrum of light on the goods below. There were glass cases upon cases of various items displayed everywhere. In one corner was a plethora of furniture items students could buy to decorate their rooms. On another side of the boutique was racks of clothing and accessories.

"This place is better than a mall! No, it's better than the biggest mall on Earth ever! What the heck?!?!" Valeriana exclaimed.

"Are you ready Val?" Chavi got into a starting position for running.

"For what?" She asked.

"Dress up timeeee!" Chavi sprinted towards the racks of clothing and Valeriana flopped behind her, prey to the whimsical wishes of her friend.

"This would look so great! And this one! Ooh and that one too! Don't forget to grab the blue one!" Chavi was tossing dresses behind her as Valeriana scrambled to catch all of them before she was dragged off to a dressing room.

As Valeriana was pulling on the first dress, Chavi had already changed and was out admiring herself in a mirror.

When Valeriana walked out, she gasped. Chavi looked so beautiful in the gray dress. It was beaded at the waist and neckline and many different shades of gray were interlaced to give it a misty feeling.

She was dancing in front of the mirror, pretending she had a partner.

"Ooh Val, don't you ever wish a brave hero would come in your time of need and whisk you off your feet? There are so many stories of that from Earth that you've told me about it so I've wondered if it's something you want?"

"Me? Well I guess it's a nice fantasy, but I honestly think if you want something done you should do it yourself. It's good to rely on others sometimes but you also need independence."

"But don't you think it's hard to do things by yourself? I mean, it's good to do things by yourself but working with others usually produces the best results? After you told me those stories, I thought it was so romantic!"

With that, Chavi grabbed Valeriana and started dancing around the private dressing room.

"What are you doing Chavi?"

"Having fun! Let loose Valeriana, ever since you've been in the Circle, which is this whole time, you've been stressing yourself out and doing too much work. You need to take a break and relax sometimes."

"I guess you're right."

Many hours later, if one were to enter the private dressing rooms that Chavi had made especially for her, they'd see Valeriana napping on the couch dressed in a shimmery silver ball gown with gloves of the same fabric, while Chavi was slouched asleep on the armchair next to her, dresses scattered around the room, hanging off hooks, and splashed on the ground. They both had little smiles on their faces, happy and absolutely exhausted.