Street Signs

Chapter 30

CHEVEYO

"How is the camp, hm?"

It was a decent morning in the garden. No noise. No disturbance. There was no enemy that had invaded these past few days. Everything was just quiet, but deep inside our minds, I knew it was not at peace.

The Nokunis we're currently preparing for the fight against the Baspiritus. Maybe that was also the reason of the Baspiritus why they were so quiet these days; they knew that we were preparing for a battle, so they gave us time to ready ourselves. As a Nokuni, I found the enemies being complacent to what was going to happen.

The Baspiritus were thinking we could not win against them. They were probably laughing at us now, thinking that we were just wasting time preparing because we would never achieve something.

The king and queen of the Baspiritus had planted evil in the mind of their members. They brainwashed the former Nokunis. They made them strong, but actually, it was not the gain of the members, but theirs. They were strengthening their force to also solidify their power.

Power and position could indeed make a person out of his mind. The world was full of abusive actions and greediness. Almost every government, wherever part of this rotating and revolving planet, there was a corrupt and avaricious government. The way of governing the people was just now a way of lifting themselves up— those who were sitting on the throne.

I looked at Verena and after she asked me about the camp. "It's fine," I answered. "I'm actually enjoying it, but I cannot deny the fact that I am bothered."

"Good, you're having fun there," Verena rolled her eyes at me. She was not still fine with me, yet she was still talking to me because she wanted to. She would use to check on me, but she could not set aside her grouch towards me.

"Can you please stop staring at me like that?" I told her, yet she just glared at me even more. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing!" she pouted as she turned her glance away from me, crossed-arms. "By the way, how is Brielle there?"

I heaved a sigh. "I think she's fine, but I haven't seen her last night. Good thing she went home safely. I am that worried because the queen is still looking for her. I hope she didn't know that Brielle is a human."

The last night, there happened an issue at the university. The worst thing, who made it was my team who did a ghost hunt in the laboratory. They made a prank, saying that they had seen the nun and it was trying to kill them, and because of that, the score we got from the second game was taken from us.

I was so mad that night that I gathered them in one of the rooms and scolded them about what they had done. I got even more stressed out when they told me that they just did that prank in order to catch the attention of the crowd; in that way, our team would become famous. I crossed my arms at them and told them it was being infamous that they were talking about; getting famous because of a bad doing was being infamous, and that was the most embarrassment to me ever.

Really embarrassing.

As the leader of the group, what they had done was my responsibility. So, I asked pardon to the coordinators of the camp and explained my side. I did not really stop them from ghost hunting, what they would do would define themselves, so I let them. Besides, I could stand with the fact that they were old enough to know what was right from wrong. I was just disappointed that they had not operated their superego during that time. Indeed disappointing.

But speaking of Brielle, her situation right now was still at stake. Even when she went back already to the human world, the queen could not still forget her and her deeds in the Serinokuni.

The queen thought that she was part of the Nokunis and that she violated the basic rule to not use the invisible wings while we were still waiting for the fight. She could doubt her as a trespasser in this community, but because of the invisible wings that Brielle had used, she might be thinking about it again. However, the queen said that no matter what was Brielle's identity, she must receive the punishment.

Verena smirked as she said. "You are not sure about that," she looked at me then again. "Who knows one of these days I'll tell the queen about her."

I looked straight at Verena's eyes. "Do it and you'll see what you are not expecting to see."

The queen had told me as well that when she found out that Brielle was not a Nokuni nor a Baspiritu, she would give her a heavier punishment for illegally invading Serinokuni. Her blood was boiling as she was telling me about Brielle, and her entire face literally turned red.

I could still remember her last words to me after I talked with her in the palace: "I won't let that girl live a life."

That was why the moment I heard Verena's warning, my eyes went blazing. I would not let an innocent girl's life be ruined. Neither I would let the queen destroy Brielle, not Verena as well.

Verena swallowed her saliva as she tried to turn her glance away from me. She was silent for some time but then, she slapped me on my shoulder in a playful manner and told me she was just kidding about it. "It's like you don't know me, Cheveyo," she said. "You're always serious. Have a life!"

"I'm really serious about it, Verena," I told her in a very firm manner. "When I knew that you've said something to the palace, you must start expecting the unexpected."

Verena did not talk anymore after that. She was just staring at the green little mountains below us while her hands were shaking a little.

I could not remember myself telling Verena about Brielle's name. I just shared my thought about that one girl who I decided to protect, but I did not mention any name. But knowing Verena, I was not surprised anymore that she happened to know Brielle's name since she was good at investigating, at stalking.

I let out a sigh before speaking again. "Would you mind telling me what exactly had happened? Why was Brielle able to enter our world?"

"I thought you know?"

I shook my head. "I would tell if I know. You've been insisting to hear the truth, but now that I am giving it to you, you don't want to believe it. There is no reason for letting Brielle enter Serinokuni. I will not put her life at stake."

"If it's not you, then who?"

My eyes were directed to Verena. I had taken time looking at her reaction and the tell of her eyes that were like the hue of nature.

Verena was also looking at me without feeling awkward or with no sign of hiding anything. What could be seen to her was her redness, maybe the thrill of glancing at me for about a minute. Nevertheless, the little smile on her face turned into frowning when the tiny voices of the girls aroused in the place.

"What are you doing here again?" Verena asked those girls who walked towards us and greeted me.

"We are just checking on Cheveyo," they answered. "We are not here for you, Verena, so shut your mouth."

Verena's eyes widened. "Wow. Where did you get the guts to say that to me? You are the ones who ruined the scene here and now you are telling me to shut my mouth?" She stood and pinched the girls' ears one by one which made them groan in pain. "Now, getaway, or I will make it more painful."

All the girls ran away while shouting cursed words at Verena.

Nonetheless, Verena did not get pissed off about that; instead, she grinned as she rubbed her palm together. "They can't even pinch me back," she said. "If the girls are weak like that, just strong with the oral, I don't think so we will be able to make changes in our world."

"You shouldn't have done that with them," I told her. "You can talk to them in a nice way. We won't be able to make changes with that kind of attitude you have."

Verena sneered. "Whatever, Cheveyo. I'm just learning to fight back 'cause they are really getting into my nerves."

"How is the prince?" I segued.

Verena get back to her seat and said, "He is currently locked in his room for disobeying the basic rule."

"I mean, I know he was locked there, but how is he there?"

The last time I heard about the prince was when the men caught him in the caves, but not with Brielle anymore. I knew he was locked in his room the queen told me about it. And since I had not visited him yet, I did know what was his condition there, but probably— messed up.

However, I had witnessed Valor's come back to the palace. I had seen how calm he was when he confronted the king and queen again, that although he was being scolded, he did not give a hint of being pissed off. I could say that he was feeling ecstatic to help Brielle get out of the palace, but at the same time, worried about being locked in his own room. As far as I knew, he would be staying there for a year.

Locking Valor in his room for a year would be a big hole for the Nokunis, especially since the war was coming. He was one of the great warriors in Serinokuni, and not having him during the preparation would make a big difference to how prepared were we.

"I'm not sure yet if when they will be releasing him, but after a year, I think," Verena said, which made my assumptions true. "I somehow feel pity for him, but at the same time, mad. He didn't surrender Brielle to the king and queen. He's also the reason why everything is getting messier."

"Brielle is innocent, after all. She does not know a thing about us. She just got lost in here. She has nothing to do about the punishment given to her because she did not deserve it. I am actually glad to Valor for protecting her."

"So, what do you mean?"

"I want to also help Valor. He must get out of his room as soon as possible. This is not helping us to resolve the issue against the Baspiritus. It's just getting tougher for us. We are supposed to be helping each other and training ourselves to fight, not suffering from the punishment."

"I oppose. No matter what season we are facing," Verena turned her look at me, "we must do our responsibilities. Rules are rules, Cheveyo. And whoever disobeys should be punished."

"Right, but I don't think so the two of them had violated a rule. But because the king and queen didn't know that Brielle is a human, they would not think she is innocent and ignorant to our world."

"How about Prince Valor? Does he know that Brielle is a human?"

"Possibly, and that's why she helped her out. But looking at that side of the story, it makes me think of something about Valor."

Verena folded her brow. "What do you mean?"

I stood and gave her a last look. "Can you find it out yourself?" I asked and left her hanging.

Verena's last reaction was imprinted in my mind. She was dumbfounded as if she was shocked by that sudden idea I left her. Maybe she immediately got an idea about it, and that was why she appeared surprised.

If ever that viewpoint was right, then I would not know what to do with Valor. I loved people with clear and clean intentions, but those who seek to harm someone for his own desires would be a different side of the story.

I head to the palace and went straight to Valor's room after I asked for the king and queen's permission to let me talk to their son. After three knocks on the door, a voice finally came, asking who was me.

"This is Cheveyo," I told Valor.

"What do you want?" he asked.

The two of us were just talking through the door since he could not get out of his room. Nevertheless, the sound wave was still clear and it could reach ears.

"I just want to check on you," I said. "How are you doing there, Prince?"

Valor chuckled. "Maybe you're thinking I am miserable here, well you think wrongly, Cheveyo."

I tsked. "I didn't tell you are. But good thing you're just fine there." I wandered my eyes all around and made sure that there was no one that could hear us. When I was certain only the two of us could hear one another, I said, "Don't worry, I didn't come here for an argument."

"Then why did you come here? To help me?" Valor giggled. "C'mon, I don't need that, Cheveyo. I was able to help Brielle get out of this place, I can also help myself escape from this room."

I did not talk for I was overwhelmed with what Valor had told me, the never-changing Valor. I brought to silence in the place for some time, but when it was becoming deafening already, Valor broke it, saying,

"I want to protect her. Let me."