A/N: Due to me trying to sort out continuity errors in this (because when writing I didn't have access to my WHOLE fic most of the time), I've made Lea call Isa "Moon" or "Blue" when he's not being as serious as he could be; this also helps remove my "Isa!" content which could get annoying too, and sometimes Lea's eyes will randomly switch between green and blue (some days when I try to remember him, I think of Tyrell (his sprite especially))
"Hey, Blue!" Lea yelled, jumping up and down and waving him over. Isa rolled his green eyes and turned to gaze coldly at his redheaded friend, stunned to see him even more fiery than usual. "Quit hollering, Lea! I'm worried that the residents wont be happy to catch you breaking and entering. Did you find something?" Lea nodded enthusiastically, his head of red hair dancing like flames as it bobbed, and Isa couldn't help but smile at the sight. "Do you still have that Tiger's Eye or whatever it is you called it?" Sighing, Isa held out the dark green stone. "It's a Cat's Eye, Lea – you know that you own the Tiger's Eye. This better be important." Again Lea vigorously nodded, almost smacking him with a thick, brown, leather-bound book in the process. Swiftly dodging the accidental strike, Isa scowled and snatched it from his hands, carefully opening the tome. He cared more for books than his own companion, sometimes. His finger followed the movement of his eyes on the page, scrolling down the index until it stopped at a single word. Isa. Eyes widening with stunned curiosity, he flipped to the page that his friend had previously been observing. The first thing shown was a large picture of a stone the same colour and shape as the one he now held in his hand, only with a strange white symbol carved into the surface. His mind began to wander until he broke himself out of it, focusing his attention on reading the passage.
Isa. Ice. The creeping darkness that chilled to the bone, manifesting into cold hearts. There is no room for sentimentality or self-delusion, no time to play the fool. Symbolized by the cat's eye, keen and observant, Isa is most at home at night – especially in the moonlight. Those who are weak will fall prey to Isa, paralysed with fear at the eternal nothingness. Isa the strong, beautiful and deadly, brimming with excellence, the bridge between worlds. Survival of the fittest, the brightest, the strongest. When life is at a standstill, review the past to unlock the future. I wait, and the mystery within is contained and revealed. Should one have need of Isa, said one knows the way.
"Moon. Mooooon. Blue!" Isa snapped out of his trance at Lea's persistent calling of his nicknames, inhaling sharply. "Something wrong, man?" Shaking his head more to clear it than deny Lea's concern, he unzipped his hoodie and dropped the tome down his front, immediately redoing it. "Hey! You can't take it! That's against the law!" Isa snorted in derision, sharply replying "that's rich, coming from the person most likely to become a felon later in life!" Lea snorted, giving his arm a soft punch before turning to leave. "Let's go. C'mon! Before they catch us!" The boys ran out of the basement, Isa clutching his stomach where he kept the tome.
"I can't believe you took it!" Lea groaned, touching his forehead dramatically once they were safely in his home. Isa smirked, rolling his eyes as he retorted "I can't believe you broke into the place. What incentive did you have to break into some random's home anyway?" Nothing stirred. "Silence, Lea? That's rare for you. What's wrong?" Still no reply. "Lea?" Looking over towards his silent friend, Isa's green eyes widened in shock. Lea was downcast, staring timidly at the floor. Lea, timid?! This can't be good. Walking over, he placed a comforting hand on his companion's shoulder. "Lea, look at me. What's wrong?" A quick glance at his blue-haired friend showed hints of fear and submission in his eyes, before he lowered his gaze again. He mumbled something incomprehensible. "Sorry?" The redhead growled at him, glaring hotly. "I said I thought I felt something!" Isa blinked in surprise, warily scanning his friend's features while he was still looking up. "What kind of something?" With a sharp tsk, Lea turned his head away, eyes burning holes into the floor. "Something I can't explain. It really annoys me!" Chuckling, Isa pulled the tome from his jacket for the first time, sarcastically muttering "I couldn't tell." Groaning softly, Lea smacked his own face with a palm. "Enough with the sarcasm already! It's not like it's going to help our current situation!" Current situation? Oh, right. If we get found out. "We'll be fine, Lea. They can't get in here. Besides, I need to find out more…"
I lie in wait and he who seeks me shall know the way… What does that even mean? "What was that, sorry?" Lea reluctantly repeated what he'd said. "I said I admire your ability to be so studious and so… calm all the time!" Where was this coming from? "Where are you going with this, Lea?" Calm… like the book said… Frowning, Lea looked away. "Nowhere. It was a compliment. You should learn to accept them, Isa." Each narrowed his green eyes, neither looking at the other. "…Been awhile since you last called be by name. Something's eating away at you, I know it. Tell me, Lea! You're my best friend and I don't know what I'd do without you – right now there's too much at stake for us both to not be here in mind, body and spirit!" The redhead blinked, opening his mouth to respond, but closed it again when nothing came to mind. "How can you sound so certain about something so enigmatic?" Enigmatic? It seems he's taking a leaf out of my vocabulary. "I honestly don't know…" Both gave each other another look, sighing heavily. "Guess all that's left is to start unraveling this mystery."
Isa began studying the book, and Lea ran up and down through the house, fetching him papers and writing implements, pausing to watch Isa work when he couldn't be of use to him. "Found anything yet?" Isa frowned, staring intently at the book before him, loaded quill and paper in hand. "Hard to say. There was only a single page on this Isa, and anything seemingly relevant is either not a page, or leads me to a dead end. I can't even get more information on my Cat's Eye." Peering over his shoulder, Lea quickly scanned the page and grinned, pointing at it. "How about this word?" Reading over it, Isa said the word rune over in his mind several times before turning to the marked page.