Potent
Chapter 18: The Journey Down Memory Lane

Valentine lay there, unable to move, unable to cry. He wanted so badly to let loose his sorrows and frustrations. But crying hurt too. All he could do was wait for Morment to decide to turn off the pain.

Within several minutes, he did. Valentine never felt anything as sweet as the agony fading away. He hauled himself to his knees, crawling over to his cot in the corner. He flopped onto it, tears spilling down his face. As any child might, he buried his face in his pillow, sobbing. He had cried himself to sleep for the past two days.

I hate him--I hate all of them… Valentine seethed inwardly. They… they killed Mama and Papa. They killed Arthur… and Greg. And… and--Anne! He held his head. I swear, I’ll never forgive them.

Suddenly, his door swung open again. Two guards shoved someone inside. The door slammed shut. Valentine blinked through his tears.

A boy, almost his own age, stood there nearly in tears too.

“They hurt you too?” The boy asked, wiping his eyes.

“Yeah,” Valentine replied, his voice wobbly.

An awkward pause filled the room.

“C-can I sit there?” The boy pointed next to Valentine.

Valentine nodded and the boy sat next to him. Valentine took the opportunity to study this other kid. He had brown hair and amber eyes. He was pale and thin, probably from the pain and torture he’d been through.

“What’s your name?” Valentine asked, swallowing his sadness.

“Daniel-Kane.”

Valentine squinted.

“What kinda of name is that?” He crossed his arms.

“I know, I know. I… I get that a lot,” Daniel-Kane said, hiding a smile. “What about you?”

“Valentine.”

“Like that’s any less weird.” Both of them smiled. Then they stared at each other.

“I-I didn’t think I’d end up smiling here,” Valentine said, sadly.

Daniel-Kane nodded.

“Same.”

“Valentine--”

“Good. You’re here. I wanted to go through our plan again,” Valentine interrupted.

Valentine and Daniel-Kane stood out in the “garden” as they liked to call it, since it was the only safe haven for them in the Elite’s underground city. It was only an outside portion of the city, hidden by Morment’s magic. There were many trees connected to the forest around the city and small, quiet brook nearby. For most of the years they had been here, training in the garden but while they did so, they always talked through their plan to destroy the Masterminds.

“Yes, I know, I--” Daniel-Kane started.

“What day do we do it on again?” Valentine continued as if he hadn’t heard him. Daniel-Kane sighed.

“I can’t really pinpoint an exact day. It really doesn’t matter but… it should be done as soon as you are ready to perform the spell. Speaking of, I--”

“It’s not technically a spell. It’s just magic. But since it will require a lot of magic, I will need to make sure I can do it,” Valentine explained, seeming to not be able to help himself.

Daniel-Kane blinked at him.

“Do you have to boast all the time?”

“I’m nearly the Mastermind of Magic. I’ll be boasting of that for my whole life.” Valentine grinned.

“And I’m nearly the Mastermind of Strategy but I’m not rubbing it in.”

“Perhaps because it is not nearly as impressive?” Valentine quipped.

Daniel-Kane cocked his head, raising an eyebrow. “Never mind, I take it back, I--”

“I can think of the most efficient way to kill you with your own magic before you can even hit me once.”

Valentine’s face soured with embarrassment.

“I stand corrected.”

“Good. Never underestimate the power of strategy.”

“But how would you kill me with my own magic?”

Daniel-Kane smiled, cryptically but said nothing. “You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

“Never in a thousand years.” Daniel-Kane crossed his arms. “Can we get back to the plan now?”

“Fine. We wait until I have enough magic and then in broad daylight, we strike.” Valentine always got this dangerous gleam in his eye when they talked of their plan. Daniel-Kane guessed it was because he looked forward to seeing the Elite dead, which Daniel-Kane did too. It was going to be a huge relief and a dark weight lifted off of his shoulders. But he was afraid Valentine would take pleasure in it. Must I lose my only friend to the darkness we’ve worked so hard to fight?

“About that, Val…” Daniel-Kane began.

Valentine turned to him, his eyebrows furrowed. “Is there a way for you to craft the magic so that it only kills the Elite?”

“Of course there is. That will even take less magic but more of my concentration,” Valentine explained.

Daniel-Kane exhaled, relieved. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing.”

Blinking in shock, Daniel-Kane peered nervously at his friend.

“Wh-what do you mean?”

“Come on, you were grinning like a fool. This is about Mira, is it not?” Valentine gave a knowing look and smile. He snapped his fingers and a small flower started to grow next to his foot.

“What makes you say that?”

“I can tell when you’ve changed your attitude. And why else would you want to tweak our plan?”

“Well, I don’t want to kill innocent people. Not everyone here is an Elite. Some of them are like us; they are here by force.”

“Especially the pretty ones. Like Mira.” Valentine plucked the freshly bloomed flower and twirled it between his fingers. Daniel-Kane realized his cheeks were hot. “Grinning and blushing… I never thought you were capable of both.”

“Are you done?” Daniel-Kane huffed.

“Yes,” Valentine said, grinning at him. An awkward moment passed before either of them spoke again.

“Seriously, how did you know?”

“I was looking for you once and I saw you both talking together.”

“Val, just because we talked doesn’t mean--”

“Didn’t we already establish that you like her?” Valentine feigned confusion.

“Fine. I do. Is that what you wanted me to say?”

“Well, I would save those words for the wedding.”

“VALENTINE!”

Valentine doubled over, laughing. “If anyone overhears, I’ll never be able to--”

“Relax. Every time we’ve come here, I’ve made sure no one can hear us. I’m magical, remember? But for the record…” Valentine handed him the flower. “I think you should tell her yourself.”

Daniel-Kane nearly lept out of his skin.

“Are you CRAZY? No!”

Valentine was genuinely taken aback.

“Why not? You’ll never know how she feels and you’ll certainly never be with her if you don’t take the first step.”

“What if she doesn’t return my feelings?”

“Would you rather continue to make a fool of yourself?” Valentine said, countering the question with one of his own.

“I’m-I’m making a fool of myself?” Daniel-Kane stammered.

“Not too badly. But years from now, if you realize that she doesn’t feel the same, you will feel like one. Whereas if you ask now, you might save yourself the regret and anger.”

“How--how do you know all this? You’ve never been the romantic type.” Daniel-Kane stared at the flower in his friend’s hand.

“That’s another issue entirely. But I know this...because I’ve seen it. In books, in plays, and especially in everyday life. Men and women are both cowards. The fear of being rejected and alone trumps their reason and logic. When in reality, it is so much simpler and easier to take the risk.” Valentine held out the flower to him again.

He marveled at Valentine’s wisdom. Hesitantly, he took the rose red carnation. “Perhaps this is why we are not yet ready to be Masterminds.”

Suddenly, a light seemed to go on in Daniel-Kane’s mind. Of course! He should’ve come up with a strategy to win Mira’s heart. Why didn’t he? Why wasn’t that his first instinct? Maybe he wasn’t ready to be the Mastermind of Strategy… Jerard always said: “In order to master anything, one must use it every day until it is a habit you can’t shake.”

“But… how do I tell her? I don’t even know what to say,” Daniel-Kane protested.

“Yes, you do. Just make sure you give her an out as well,” Valentine replied, smiling.

With that, Valentine strolled away. “Let me know how goes,” He called back.

Valentine remembered the day they killed the Elite. Their plan had worked perfectly. The other victims of the Elite’s cruelty profusely thanked him. All he had said back was, “You’re welcome.” But inwardly, he had said: It was my pleasure.

The Royal Army led by Tara came and took all the others home. Valentine and Daniel-Kane had been told by her that they were invited to become Masterminds in Kalt, due to their success of vanquishing the Elite.

But he never forgot the feeling he had, staring at the mound of ashes and bodies.

Satisfaction was the best thing he had felt in a long time. Unfortunately, a sinking, hopeless, and sad feeling stuck around too. Even after all this time, Valentine still missed his family.

Now, as he looked into Gemini’s eyes he knew what he wanted was within reach.

Something inside him was urging him to take this. To take the happiness in front of him.

Valentine roughly pulled her into his arms, one hand on her back and the other cradling her head. Gemini threw her arms around his waist. Her felt her quietly sob against him just as he realized how blurry his vision was. Then he felt it.

A tear.

Two tears.

Another squeezed out.

And once he started… he couldn’t seem to stop. His breathing grew heavy and his throat close up.

Gemini pushed back from him, enough to look at him. Valentine turned his head away, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.

“No, don’t do that,” She whispered, her voice cracking. “There’s no shame in sadness.”

He blinked, causing another tear to fall. He shut his eyes. Sobs rose to his throat but he swallowed them. Gemini put her arms around his neck, hugging him. He wrapped both arms around her again.

All he could think of… was when he watched his family die. The weight of not thinking much of it for over twenty years crash down on him.

“Please… “ He own voice almost foreign to him. “Distract me.”

“Valentine… don’t push it away forever,” Gemini said, softly shaking her head. “The only way you’ll move on is to feel the sadness, grieve, and then move forward.”

She gasped again, he realized he was gripping her too tightly. He quickly loosened his arms.

“I can’t… think…”

“Then talk to me about it.” Gemini looked at him intently. This gave him more tears.

“They were all so happy… we were all so happy. They… the Elite… I had to watch…” Valentine choked out.

“Shhh, it’s okay. Don’t say anything you’re not ready to say--”

“No. It’s been more than twenty years. I’m saying it.” He wiped away the tears on his face, mentally preparing himself. “I… I love my family. I always will,” He whispered.

“I know. Me too.” Gemini blinked rapidly and Valentine realized she had been crying too.

“I think--I think we got a little distracted.”

“What?” She sniffed.

“Remember? You wanted me to let you love me?”

“Oh… ” A slow, bright blush crept up her neck and all the way to her ears. She moved away, as if just now realizing that he had been holding her.

“See your whole head gets red when you’re embarrassed.” Valentine smiled, wryly.

“And… you’re changing the subject quickly.”

“We got distracted, Gemini. And I… I’ve had enough tears for one day.” He shifted himself so he could sit comfortably on the floor. “Did you mean what you said earlier?”

“Yes.” She hesitated. “Did you?”

Valentine flicked his eyes downward.

“Wasn’t it obvious?”

Gemini’s eyes widened.

“No… it-it wasn’t.”