Luke's Grand Adventure.

Chapter one: life is boring in a cage.

In a dark room, the edges of which are hidden in shadows, a girl stands in front of a glowing crest on the floor. She wears a dark brown high collard dress that has a military air about it.

Her long gray-brown hair falls forward to cover one crystal blue eye as she stares at the intricate blue lines of the glyph on the ground in front of her. She stands there deep in thought until, in the still, cool, air of the dark chamber, it becomes uncertain if she has been standing there for hours or just seconds.

Suddenly as if alerted by a signal only she can hear her head snaps up and her eyes refocus on the room around her. Slowly almost delicately, she walks forward as words leave her at barely a whisper.

"It's time"

She walks into the soft glow of the crest and as she reaches the center, she turns to look back the way she came.

"Prepare."

The word sounds almost like a farewell as she says it. Even as the last sounds of speech echo around the dark room, the glow from the floor flares to brilliance, and in a flash of blue-white light the girl with the blue eyes is gone.

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Batical, the Capital of Light

Kingdom of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear

Remday, Rem-decan 23, ND2018

Batical, a city which rose from the ground to reach hundreds of feet into the air. A city where thousands of people worked, lived, slept and played on the many plateaus, bridges and terraces the city was built on. A city so grand so wondrous it had been dubbed the 'capital of light'.

That's where he was, right there in the middle of all that. He was in fact on top of it, right on the highest shelf in the whole city, from which it was said you could see for miles and miles in all directions.

He had so far seen absolutely none of it, and, he reminded himself as he stared out the window at the fonstones floating through the sky, he wasn't going to for more than three years. Luke sighed and closed his eyes in attempt to banish that un wanted train of thought as he tuned away from the fonstones. Thinking about what was out there wouldn't help, it would however make him feel even worse about being stuck in the manor, but what to do to keep himself busy?

Another sigh.

He knew exactly what he was going to do, it was the same thing he always did when he felt like this. Brushing golden red bangs out of his eyes, Luke started for the door, quickly checking to make sure that his clothing was acceptable, his black pants where slightly wrinkled but that was ok and his white swallow tail coat was as crisp as when he had put it on. A quick check in the mirror to make sure his long red hair wasn't caught in his sword belt, (he had done that once and received a long talk from the princes about how nobility should take pride in there dress) and he was ready to head out the door into the courtyard.

Or at least he would have if it wasn't for an odd noise. It was a sort of warbling whistle. Looking around he could not find anything responsible for the noise.

"I must be hearing things" he said it out loud as a sort of admission, it wouldn't have been the first time he had heard something no-one else had and at least this time it wasn't accompanied buy the usual headache. He quickly completed the journey to the door that his hallucination had so rudely interrupted and left. It was time to go chat with Pere and annoy the Fon Fobre family butler.

'It's a beautiful day' Luke thought as he crossed the court yard. 'how boring'. Luke liked rainy days. He liked them simply because they where different. As he neared the far side of the yard he noticed one of the maids, the one with shoulder length blond hair, polishing one of the cast iron benches that lined the area and called out a greeting as he approached. She turned and they chatted for a bit. Before he excused himself and entered the hall.

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Myarl was hard at work just as she was every day. Someone had to support mother. Mother was sickly and if Myarl didn't work there would be no way to pay the doctors bill. Because of this she took pride in her work, she was good at it, and her efforts were getting her noticed by the head made. As much as she enjoyed her work, it was to be honest quite boring. Myarl often made up for this boredom by daydreaming. She would daydream about being an adventurous fonist who traveled the countryside helping people and saving villages from monsters.

That's when Myarl caught herself and started scrubbing vigorously at the rust spot she was working on. What was she thinking, even if she had talent as a fonist (and she was almost certain that she didn't) she could never just leave mother like that. And so giving up on being a hero of the people Myarl turned instead to her favorite fantasy. The one in which the young master of the house, Luke would confess his undying love for her and sweep her off her feet in a whirlwind romance. She had just reached the part where he asked her to marry him when disaster struck.

"Good morning!"

Hearing his voice the young made spun round and greeted Luke with a stutter.

"G-good morning S-sir Luke." She blushed as she said it hoping to Yulia he wouldn't notice. She felt like she had just been caught with her hand in the cookie jar and cast around quickly for something to say.

"Love-lovely weather again to day, isn't it." Mentally she cursed herself for a fool. Talking about the weather… now she sounded just like some air head. His response made her feel even worse

"Yeah, I noticed."

"Just as the Order of Loreli's score predicted." She tried again. Ugh! That sounded just as bad! She needed to say something intelligent something to make him notice her. "The fonestones in the sky are shinning as beautifully as ever." Just as she was wishing she could sink into the ground and disappear he… he smiled at her.

"They really are aren't they?" he said looking up at the floating rocks. Then still smiling he wished her a good day and went on his way, and Myarl, once again lost in thought about the young duke sweeping her sweeping her off her feet proceeded to work the rest of the day in a sort of delighted daze.

The entry hall was a crowded place, not with people but with junk. Not that Luke would say that aloud, he knew the weapons and banners that lined the walls where important. That they where mementos from wars long fought and enemies long ago defeated. He knew that each one had a story behind it, a story that if asked about father would know by hart and happily told in detail.

There were however, in Luke's opinion far too many of them. Rows and rows of helmets, battle flags, swords and shields cluttered the walls, there was even a cannon sitting between the rooms two support pillars. That's what made it junk. It was everywhere and made the room feel like a museum.

If the entry hall were a museum Ramdas would have undoubtedly been its curator. The ageing butler was always hanging about the place, making sure everything was in perfect order and even more perfect condition. He was known to yell at minor lords for touching the collection when they visited and he certainly was not above scolding Luke.

So when Luke saw Ramdas heading his way, with the solemn tight-lipped expression that meant some one had "committed an act unbefitting the Fon Fobre house hold." And was going to be chewed out, he decided that perhaps this wouldn't be the best time to pester the man. Instead, Luke tried to slip quietly out the door he had just entered

"Young master."

Damn! He had been spotted! Luke turned, trying his best to look innocent. He didn't know what had Ramdas' knickers in a bunch, but it was probably… well almost certainly Luke's fault.

"Good morning Ramdas, how are you today." It was best to gage exactly how ticked off the man was before Luke pressed his luck with 'that impertinent manner of speech'.

"The Order of Lorelei Maestro, Dorian-General Grants will be arriving soon." Ramdas said as he strode over to where Luke was standing. Luke felt relief flood through him. If the butler wasn't angry at him then… wait a tick… 'Dorian-General Grants? ' master Van was coming? That did not make sense. Today was not a training day luke knew that much, he decided to ask about it.

"What? Master Van is coming. Today's not a training day." Ramdas nodded sagely at that as if Luke had voiced some great new philosophical point. That's why Luke liked ticking him off, he was always so serious.

"yes." The older of the two breathed, still nodding. "I've heard he's here on urgent business. I was told they would be calling on you later young master." Luke felt one of his eyebrows twitch in annoyance.

"Stop calling me young already!" he had to resist the urge to slap a hand over his mouth. There was NO way he was going to avoid one of Ramdas' short but incredibly irksome lectures now.

"no." sure enough here it came. " until you reach the age of maturity at age twenty I shall continue to call you young master." Luke once again resisted an urge this time it was eye rolling. All that would get him was a pleasant little rant on 'uncouth expressions.'

"Fine" Luke said as he turned to leave. However, the butler wasn't finished yet. Just as the 'young master' was reaching for the doorknob, he spoke up.

"Young master…" as the butler couldn't see his face at the moment Luke made a point of not resisting the urge to roll his eyes before turning to look back over his shoulder. Seeing he had Luke's attention, the man continued. "Please stop fraternizing with that gardener Pere. It is un becoming of one of your status."

Luke raised an eyebrow at that, a butler giving advice to a noble about stepping out of his station. It was a mite hypocritical at the least. Knowing better then to point that out Luke settled for a curt nod before exiting the hall.

Back out in the courtyard Luke cast about for something to kill the time. Ah! There! Pere was busy weeding the flowerbed by Luke's room. That was perfect, he could kill a few minutes and accomplish his original goal of annoying Ramdas at the same time. He quickly crossed the distance to the ageing Gardner.

"Hey, Pere!" Luke called, as he got closer. Pere looked up and after realizing who it was that was talking to him, smiled"

"Ah Master Luke, a fine day isn't it?"

"Ah hnn" Look said dismissively. "Still digging around in the dirt old man?"

Said old man blinked at him. "These flowers won't grow themselves you know."

"Yeah but don't you get tired of doing the same thing all the time." The gardener seemed to think about this for a bit, but finally shook his head.

"Nope I enjoy working with my hands, besides its my job." Luke frowned at that and seeing his look, Pere said. "Cheer up Luke one day you'll find something you enjoy doing."

"I hope so." Luke said. "But right now all I have to do is sit around and admire the scenery." The gardener nodded and straightened.

"Speaking of the scenery." He stopped and gave a wince as a muffled pop came from his back. "I have finished with this part of it, and, if I want to keep my job I should be on my way."

"So were too next?" Luke asked cheerfully and the old man's face fell.

"I'm sorry Luke but all I have left to do is the exterior of the house…" he trailed off. He did not have to say any more. Luke was confined to the manor and wouldn't be aloud to leave for something as trivial as helping to do the gardening.

"Well good day then old man." Luke had been trapped inside the manor too long to really lose his good mood, even if the reminder did leave a nasty aftertaste.

"Good day Master Luke." Pere said tiredly, and with that he tuned and walked away. As he left Luke stared after him wondering what in the score he was supposed to do now.

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As it turned out Luke had been unable to find something to entertain himself. He had finally retreated to his room and was currently trying to stare a hole in the ceiling. Suddenly there was a sort of shooting pain and his head felt like it was going to spilt open. Luke's hands shot to his head in a reflexive motion, as if holding his head would make it stop. Through the pain Luke could make out word.

"Luke…fragm….

...oul…

…voice…"

It wasn't very clear and Luke had absolutely no clue what it meant but as the voice faded into memory so did the pain. Luke lay on the bed for a minute or two just trying to pull himself together. 'Yulia dammed voice!' Luke thought. 'I wonder what it was trying to say.' The only word Luke could remember was 'fragmatovff". What was fragmatovff? He was jolted from his thoughts rather rudely by another voice.

"Luke!" Wait a second! He knew that voice. Luke "What is it? Another one of those headaches?" looked towards the window to see Guy, his friend and servant, sitting on the sill. Guy was wearing his usual ensemble of yellow vest over a white flannel shirt which was in turn was tucked into his dark leggings. Around his waist hung a thick green belt, which Luke knew Guy hung a sword when he went out. Luke quickly pulled himself to his feet before responding.

"It's ok. It's gone." Guy looked at him skeptically.

"You hearing things again?" Luke looked away but nodded.

"I wish I knew what it was. It's so annoying."

"They're getting more frequent. They started after you where kidnapped by the Malkuth Empire. What's that seven years now?" It wasn't a question, not really.

Luke nodded "Thanks to them now I'm going crazy."

"Well don't worry about it too much." Guy hoped off the sill and into the room as he said it. "So what do you want to do today? How about some sword practice?" Luke knew the blond was just trying to get off the subject but he was grateful for it. He was about to accept Guy's offer when he remembered why he was waiting around in the first place.

"Sorry guy, not today. Master Van's here."

"Van?" Guy blinked in surprise. "Today's not a training day is it?" Luke shook his head in response.

"apparently, something came up." Luke said with a shrug. As soon as he had finished there was a knock at the door and both boys spun to look. The knock came again and Guy leapt back up to the window.

"I'm gonna leave now so I don't get you In trouble." He explained, "See ya!" and with a two-fingered salute, he jumped to the ground outside. The knock came again and this time there was a voice to go with it.

"Master Luke?"

Luke turned back to the door.

"come on in its open." As she did Luke noticed that it was the made he had spoken to earlier and made a mental note to find out her name. if Ramdas was sending her to get him she was going to be around for awhile.

"P-pardon me but, his grace requires your presence in the d-drawing room." Her stutter brought him back to where he was and he took a moment to process her words.

" Thank you." Luke said with a smile, "I'll go to see him now you can go back to what you where doing." With a blush that Luke was totally oblivious to and a bow she turned and left the room. A few seconds later, having inspected himself to see if he was presentable Luke followed.

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Luke hurried through the halls to the drawing room. For Master Van to drop by unannounced something big must be going on and he wanted to know what. The guards at the entrance to the drawing room moved out of the way as he passed and Luke nodded to them as he passed. Upon entering he took a moment to see what was what. The main piece of furniture in the drawing room was a long table that sat in a shallow depression in the floor.

Three figures were seated around the table, deep in discussion. The first, at the head of the table, decked out in the finery of his station, red hair pulled back in a loose pony tail. Was Luke's father Duke Fon Fobre. On the duke's right was the lady of the manor, Luke's mother overly worried mother.

Across from lady Fon Fobre sat a large man with drown hair that was tied in such a way that it jutted out form his head in what looks almost like spikes. he sported a crisp military uniform of the oracle nights with its orange highlights and the spikes of rank that when combined with the mans hair had always put Luke in mind of a hedgehog. His face was hard but friendly almost noble.

It was this last face that Luke was happiest to see. This was master Van. This was the man who had been the first not to see Luke as something fragile. It was Van who had taken Luke seriously when he had said he wanted to be trained in the sword. Moreover, it was Master Van not the duke that the young noble saw as the father figure in his life. There had been a time when he was younger that Luke would image Van was his father and that Luke would be able to travel the world with him. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts Luke decided to make his presence known.

"Excuse me father, but you asked to see me?" the heads at the table turned to look, and the duke spoke.

"Ah yes, Luke have a seat." Luke automatically steered himself for the chair next to Master van and sat down. After he was seated, he looked up at the General. "Hello Master Van." And then hopefully, "will we be able to get some training in today?"

"I'm sure we'll have time for that later." Van responded with a smile, "however first we Have something important to discuss." He opened his mouth to continue but the duke cut in.

"Dorian General Grants is returning to Daath tomorrow."

"Huh? Why!" the question burst forth even before Luke knew he had said it.

Master Van fixed him with a firm gaze. "As you know I am a member of the oracle knights."

"Well yeah, you're their commandant." Luke said. Of course he knew that he had been listening to Master vans stories of life in the oracle knights for as long as he could remember. Van nodded.

"Right and as leader of the Knights, it is my duty to protect Fon Master Ion."

"The leader of the Order Of Lorelei?" Luke asked.

"The same," the voice was that of Luke's mother. "and it is because of the Fon Master that the truce with Malkuth is in place."

"It may have been his predecessor that ended the Hod War," Van continued for her. "but without the work Ion has put into it the peace would never have lasted this long."

"Has something happened?" Luke asked.

"Unfortunately Grand-Maestro Mohes has informed me that Ion has gone missing." Luke knew of Mohes, he turned up a lot in Vans stories, usually as the antagonist. The man believed that every mention of "conflict" in the score meant a war, and the way Van phrased the response told Luke that the general believed there was more to the story than Mohes had said. That could mean something big. Van was about to go off on another one of his adventures and Luke would be stuck here, But he wasn't about to give up without a fight.

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Vancasdela Grants watched in amusement as the boy called Luke sunk deep into thought. Van could almost see the thoughts move through the boys mind. Suddenly Luke's eyes lit up and he straightened abruptly. The commandant almost groaned as he realized what Luke was about to try. He hoped he was wrong.

"Well then I'll just have to go with you." Damn he was right.

"Luke…" the duke started but the boy cut him off.

"Father this isn't me just asking to go out for the heck of it, the Fon Master is missing! This affects the entire world! How can I just sit around if my not helping could lead to a war?" Van had to admit the boy had come up with some good arguments, but he knew the duke would not be swayed so easily.

"It's not about that Luke." The boy's mother this time, "My brother the king has ordered that because of the Malkuth incident that you be confined to the manor."

"I think that the possibility of a war might be more important then my safety. Surely even uncle can see that! If I could just…"

"Absolutely not!" Luke was cut off by the dukes outburst. "I will not ask the king to repeal his decree just because you feel that it might be fun!" Luke opened his mouth to give what was most likely an anger retort, but Van decided to step in to avoid an argument.

"I appreciate the offer Luke, but I have more then enough men to handle the situation. Besides I can understand the kings wanting you to be safe." Luke visibly deflated at that.

"All right, I give," Luke sighed, then turned to Van with a hopeful expression, "can we at least train a bit today before you leave?" The general let out a soft chuckle.

"Why of coarse Luke!" he said, "Get your self ready and meets me in the courtyard." And with that Dorian General Vancasdela Grants politely said he's farewells to the duke and duchess and left.

After managing to get away from his parents, Luke made his way to the yard. What he saw there struck him as odd, Van and Guy where deep in conversation. Luke hadn't even realized they knew each other. He decided to let them Finnish rather then interrupt. However that plan failed when a servant gave away Luke's position with a greeting and the two swordsmen realized he was there. Luke realizing there was no point to waiting around approached them.

"Guy? What's up?" Luke asked as he drew closer.

"Well, Vans a master swordsman, I was asking for some pointers." Something about Guy's explanation didn't sit right, he and van had hardly looked as if they where discussing sword forms. He said so. But before Guy could respond master van called out impatiently for Luke to join him in the center of the courtyard.

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Jeffrey Allen had been a soldier most of his life. He had served in the Hod War and had lost a good friend at the battle of the black waters. When he had been offered a position in the white knights he had accepted in a hart beat. If protecting the Fon Fobre house was were his majesty, the king thought Jeffrey could best serve then so be it.

When he had told his company they had been ecstatic for him, as well as an excuse to eat drink and be marry. Everyone had told stories of how brave the White Knights were, about how they were paid like nobles, and how they always got all the girls.

One thing no one had told him was how incredibly boring it was to stand in a hallway all day. Furthermore it was hot inside the furnace that the white knights called armor. Jeffrey felt his head nod and realized he had almost fallen asleep at his post. He tried to sake himself awake but it didn't work. The heat was just sapping the strength right out of him. He felt himself sink to the floor but couldn't bring himself to care. It was hot and he was tired. He vaguely recognized the sounds of a fonic hymn drifting past but that didn't matter it sounded soothing. Right now all he wanted was to go to sleep, so he did.

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Back in the court yard van was trading blows with the boy. Forcing himself to ignore all but the most obvious holes in Luke's movements, creating fake openings in his own to give the boy something to practice looking for. After a few minutes he used a particularly glaring exposed shoulder to knock the boy to the ground. Luke got up quick as usual, but instead of returning to the attack, he stepped back and lowered his sword.

Recognizing that Luke wanted to talk Van lowered his sword as well, and gestured for Luke to speak.

"What's really going on? With Ion, I mean." Van considered his response for a moment. He couldn't see a reason not to tell Luke, and it might be beneficial to warn the boy off the Grand-maestro.

"Mohes most likely knows more than he is saying about the situation." Van answered finally. "By withholding the reason for the Fon Masters departure the Grand-Maestro hopes that I will be forced into working towards his objectives."

Luke tilted his head to one side and asked "so what are you going to do about it?"

"I'm going to find Ion and ask him his side of the story" Van replied, "but now we really should get back to your training." He raised his sword into a middle guard and watched as the boy aped him. They would have thrown themselves back into the task at hand if the sound of music hadn't filled the air. Van heard one of the servants say something about a seventh fonist, Van already knew that, he was already scanning the area for signs of the intruder as the first of the guards ringing the courtyard fell asleep.

When the singing started Luke was confused, he felt that he knew the song but couldn't place where. That, combined with the way the way the words flowed together, gave the whole experience a surreal feeling. Next to him Luke saw Van tense.

"that voice!" what, did master Van recognize it too?

It wasn't until he heard Pere say something about a seventh fonist invading the manor that Luke realized what was happening. Of course it sounded familiar, that was a fonic hymn! He had begged Natalia to sing them back when she was first learning. That had been years ago though and he had almost forgotten.

As the song ended Luke heard the scuff of boots on gravel and turned to look. A girl had jumped from the roof and landed in a crouch about two yards in front of Luke and Van. As she straightened Luke took a moment to look her over.

She was about the same age as him with gray-blond hair and… 'Is that an order uniform?' the thought was driven from his mind when he caught sight of the hook bladed battle staff she was holding.

She yelled, "I've finally found you Vancasdela!" and charged up the short walkway towards Master Van. Luke watched as she drew back the staff for a low slice across Van's stomach and, almost before he knew what was happening, he had moved infront of his instructor to block the blow.

"LUKE, NO!"

Despite them being yelled in his ear, Luke barley registered van's words. He was a bit preoccupied with the odd purple energy now darting between his bokkun and the girls stave. He tried to back up, to break the connection, and found he couldn't move.

"Resound…!

The will of lorelei reach you…

and show you the way."

"Not that dammed voice again!" Luke cursed, at the same time his opponent exclaimed, "The seventh fonon ?!" huh, Luke had thought that was obvious what with the energy from them being visible and all. That was his last thought before a searing pain flashed through him and the world went white. It seemed to go on for hours and Luke wondered if he was dead.

It was around then that Luke realized that he was screaming, and that he wasn't the only one. There was another voice, a girl's voice. He remembered the assassin and wondered what she was doing being dead. It was his last thought before the world-changed color again. This time it went black.

((((((((((((((((((( AN- AN-AN-AN))))))))))))))))))

Wow… I thought I'd never finish. This is my first piece anywhere near this long. i have to say though it was fun to right and I hope you all enjoy it. I wanted to write a piece where Luke acted like I thought someone who was locked his house for his whole life would act. Err… you can probably tell but I could use a beta reader if possible. I'm not sure where the scenes from the maid's and guard's point of view came from but I like how they turned out. Also, I have an omake for you all. It was just a line I put in because I was upset with being interrupted every few minutes but it was funny so I decided to put it here. Thank you for reading -bows-

P.S. is it just me or does fanfic hate the tab key?

((((((((((OMAKE))))))))))

. Luke sighed and closed his eyes in attempt to banish that un wanted train of thought as he tuned away from the phonstones. Thinking about what was out there wouldn't help, it would however make him feel even worse about being stuck in the manor, but what to do to keep himself busy?

Another sigh.

He knew exactly what he was going to do, it was the same thing he always did when he felt like the Brushing golden red bangs out of his eyes, Luke started for the door, quickly checking to make sure that his clothing was acceptable, his black pants where slightly wrinkled but that was ok and his white swallow tail coat was as crisp as when he had put it on. A quick check in the mirror to make sure his long red hair wasn't caught in his sword belt, (he had done that once and received a long talk from the princes about how nobility should take pride in there dress) and he was ready to head out the door into the courtyard.

Or at least he would have if his head hadn't chosen that moment to explode.