Rainbows of Fate
Chapter 1
He liked watching him. Whether it was because of the ballerina-like way the boy flounced around the battle field or the way he flicked his hair out of his infected eye, Flynn did not know, but the fact remained that he did indeed like watching him.
The boy, Lion, was carrying out his daily training regime in the castle courtyard and was completely unaware of Flynn's presence until the commandant cleared his throat and stepped out from the shadows.
"Who's there?!" Lion twirled around and pointed his sword (who let out a shriek that went unheard by Flynn) at him. "O-Oh, it's you, sir. I'm s-sorry, I—"
"It's all right, Magnus, I shouldn't have been hiding." Flynn said, smiling apologetically at the boy. "But it's getting late. Shouldn't you be heading home?"
"I..." Lion looked away.
"Is something the matter?" the commandant asked, stepping closer to try to look at Lion's face, only for the boy to suddenly look directly at him again, face full of determination.
"Would you like to come over for dinner, sir?!" Lion stammered, his face now bright red, much to Flynn's amusement.
"Are you sure about that?" he asked. "I doubt your father would be too pleased."
"H-He's away." the boy mumbled, desperately trying to stop himself from looking away again.
"In that case, I would be honoured." Flynn said, feeling his own cheeks heat up a little as Lion's face broke into a smile.
"Thank you sir!" The boy beamed. "I'll go tell Marian! Come over when you can!"
"All right." Flynn nodded and watched Lion dash towards the gate.
"Sir?" Lion called over his shoulder.
"Yes, Magnus?"
"Call me Emilio!" And with that he was gone, leaving Flynn to wonder what on earth just happened.
"Niiiiiice." said a horrifyingly familiar voice. The commandant sighed and turned around.
"What do you want, Yuri?" He glared at the man leaning against a tree, briefly wondering how he even managed to get there unnoticed.
"I didn't know you like 'em young, Flynn." Yuri smirked.
"W-What?" Flynn choked. "It's just dinner."
"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that." Yuri said with a shrug. "At least it's not Repede, I guess."
"Why would—" Flynn cut himself off to avoid encouraging his clearly insane friend. "I don't have time for this."
"Sure, sure, go catch up with your little girlfriend." Yuri waved. "I'll be sure to tell Sodia you won't be around tonight."
"If you do, I'll tell LeBlanc that his latest fan mail was from you." Flynn retorted, storming off towards the gate.
"Oh but it was from me!" Yuri shouted, then sighed in disappointment as Flynn kept on walking.
It was dark by the time Flynn arrived at the Gilchrist mansion. Never before had he seen such a menacing front garden; each stone in the pathway almost seemed to be leering at him, the hedges sniggered at him in the light breeze, the bench was covered in mysterious stains and the porch looked like a gateway to hell.
He gulped and began to slowly walk along the path to the front door, desperately trying to ignore the deranged looking gnome that was waiting for him by the porch. As he approached the door, he heard voices.
"What's wrong, Emilia? Are you ashamed of your dear old dad?" a man's voice boomed. Flynn couldn't help but notice that it sounded like whoever it was sounded like they really needed to clear their throat.
"Of course I'm ashamed of—" Lion quickly cut himself off as Hugo swung the door open, startling Flynn.
"Good evening, commandant! Glad you could make it!" Hugo said cheerfully and took a swig from his wine glass.
"U-Uhh, g-good evening, M-Mr Gilchrist." Flynn stuttered, feeling a sudden strong urge to turn around and run right back the way he came, only changing his mind when he noticed how embarrassed Lion looked.
"I'm sorry, sir, Hugo is—"
"Shut up, Emilia!" Hugo sang, thrusting the wine glass into the air. "And don't just stand there like an eggbear in headlights, commandant, come in!"
Flynn prepared himself for the worst night of his life as Hugo tugged him through the door by his collar.