Am I Good Enough? – Chapter 1: Frigid Moon
A/N: I totally envisioned this little scenario, dialogue and all, in my head last night in order to get to sleep. The immense urge for me to turn that little sleeping remedy of mine into a full out story exploded after listening to the song "Good Enough" by Evanescence from their sophomore album, The Open Door. I hope all of you out there who are also aboard the GuyxLuke ship (even though this story in particular isn't obvious about the said pairing but you can tell it's there) will enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Disclaimer: Tales of the Abyss is strictly the property of the Japanese production company: Namco Tales Studio. This story implies nothing about the characters nor does the plot of the story have any effect on the video game or the manga themselves. This story is pure fiction.
Note: The chapter title is named after one of Guy's (FOF) Artes in Tales of the Abyss. Also, this story will contain some spoilers for the readers out there who have not completed (or even played) Tales of the Abyss but plan on doing so in the near future. If you hate things being spoiled for you, thn I don't think that this would be the proper story for you. You have been warned.
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The long awaited moment had finally arrived, for tonight was the night when he had been bestowed with the honor of drinking from the bittersweet chalice that is revenge. It was now time for him to completely abolish his false sense of loyalty to his so called 'master' and finally receive the justice that he had been so mercilessly denied after all of these years.
He glanced over at the nearby clock next to his quaint little bed and noticed that it was just after midnight. After just lying there for a few more minutes, the blond 14 year old eased himself out of bed and made his way over towards the other side of the room, eventually stopping right in front of a large mahogany cabinet. He got down on one knee and opened up the top most drawer located just beneath the large double-doors of the cabinet's main storage compartment. From within, he fished around the piles of neatly folded clothing in search of the object that he had saved specifically for this little 'occasion'.
His small hand eventually came into contact with a solid and slightly cool object from the backmost part of the drawer. He pulled the said object out from its hiding spot and gently placed it in his lap. He stared down at the small, wooden, rectangular box – which was sealed shut with a padlock – for a few more moments before reaching within the folds of his pajamas for another crucial object: the key. After unlocking the box and carelessly tossing the padlock aside, he opened it up to reveal the relic that would contribute as the final element to his enemy's downfall.
Sitting there in front of him was the majestic form of a large dagger, displayed within a bed of the finest black velvet. He freed the weapon from its dark brown sheath and held it up vertically in front of his eyes, staring intently at the impressively crafted silver blade. He placed the wooden box aside and gently caressed the intricate design of the heraldic emblem located on the blade, just above the dagger's solid gold hilt, with a soft brush of his fingertips.
Shortly following his moments of admiration, the young blond got up from his position, and quietly walked towards the bedroom window. He spread the drapes apart, unlocked the windows and slowly opened them up, as not to cause the semi-rusted hinges to creak. After hopping up onto the windowsill the young servant glanced over at the snoring form of his elderly roommate who was blissfully unaware of the recent turn of events that were taking place.
"Forgive me Pere…but I've come too far now to let this moment pass…"
Without even bothering to put on any shoes the boy hopped out into the night air, closed the windows, and continued to follow through with his hidden agenda.
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As he stealthily crawled among the darkened shrubbery, not even caring that he was gradually dirtying up his sleeping wear; the blond eventually made his way towards the small house-like structure located at the northern most part of the Fon Fabre Manor. He quickly pressed his back up against the wall of the 'house' (which in actuality was a bedroom) and glanced back down at the dagger tightly held in his hands. A slightly cocky smirk had graced his youthful good looks after he observed the very peculiar locations of the manor guards; all of them were in pairs, standing on either side of some designated door.
What are they expecting their intruders to do, knock before entering?
He glanced over to his right and gently tugged at the nearby window with his free hand; finding no surprise when it didn't even budge. Knowing full well that he would eventually come across an obstacle such as this the boy firmly clamped on to the dagger's handle by his teeth, pulled out a small hairpin from one of his pockets and began to pick at the window's lock; working as quietly and as patiently as he could. Even though this lock in particular was a little bit trickier to undo as compared to the one in the room that he shared with Pere (the royal gardener), the flaxen-haired sleuth eventually solved the meddlesome fixture and sighed in relief at his accomplishment.
Unfortunately, the unexpected audible clicking noise resulted from the whole ordeal caught the attentions of the two nearest guards, stationed just around the corner in front of the bedroom door. Within a matter of seconds, the blond hastily dropped to the ground, and lay flat on his stomach.
"Hey…did you hear something?"
"Yeah…I think so…"
"I think it came from around the back."
"Why don't you go check it out while I continue to stand watch in front of the young Master's room?"
"Alright…"
Without even a moment's notice, the blond rolled right into some nearby bushes and lay flat on his back, staring up at the sky through the small canopy of leaves while tightly clutching the silver dagger close to his chest.
As he heard the clunking of metallic footsteps draw nearer, the blond tightly shut his eyes and sucked in his breath, fearing that even the tiniest of noises would reveal his location. Should it come to the possibility of being discovered, he wouldn't have been able to provide a reasonable excuse to his superiors as to why he was outside of his room well past his curfew. His situation would only degenerate from there due to the fact that he was also in possession of a highly dangerous weapon. His thoughts lingered on the worst-case-scenario, where he would be sentenced to execution under the penalty of treachery and attempted murder. Even if he was spared from the trialed death, his life would have ended anyway once any member of royalty had caught a glimpse of the 'infamous' coat of arms located on the dagger. He couldn't afford to have his moment of triumph end in such a humiliating and shameful way. He just couldn't…
Once he heard the footsteps come to a halt, which were located only centimeters away from his head, the blond mentally recited a prayer in the hopes of retaining his concealed position.
"Hmm…I could have sworn that…"
Go away…Go away…Go away…
"Hey…did you find anything?" said the distant voice of the other guard from around the corner.
"Strangely enough no." The boy heard a sigh. "I guess must be working too hard."
"Don't worry. Just a few more hours and then our shifts will be over."
When the realization that he had not been caught had finally donned on him, he rolled out of the bushes and made a mad dash for the window as fast as his body could take him. Without even caring how much noise he was making this time he flung the now unlocked window open, leaped up onto the windowsill, and dove through the heavy curtains right into room, performing barrel roll upon contact with the soft carpet that greeted him.
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Shortly following he rushed back to the window, shut it closed and pressed his back up against the wall right next to it, peeking ever so slightly from his position around the drapery. A cocky smirk appeared on his face when he saw the same manor guard sporting a completely clueless look from the other side of the glass.
"N-now I could have SWORN that I heard something this time!"
"Keep your voice down! Do you WANT to wake up Master Luke?!"
As much as he wanted to stick around and watch the incompetencies of the kingdom's most 'professionally trained knights' unfold, the blonde steadily made his way over to the edge of the king-sized bed situated within the very center of the room. Tenderly sleeping among layers of white flannel sheets was the defenseless form of the 10 year old, crimson-haired Fon Fabre heir loosely clinging on to an oversized stuffed rappig wearing a bright yellow bow.
"This is it…"
The blond glared at the famed Luke Fon Fabre and took one final look at the Gardios coat of arms engraved onto the dagger's blade before raising the weapon high above his head.
"Duke Fabre…you have stripped me of my country, my home, my name, and my family." The hand holding the dagger began to shake in anger. "The crimes that you have committed…the sin of your unjust genocide of countless innocents is completely unforgivable…"
His thoughts were then immediately brought to the moment when his eldest sister Mary and the family maids all shielded him from the Fon Fabre knights; permanently carving an emendable wound from deep within his heart resulted from their bloody sacrifices.
"You have taken away something very precious to me…and for that…it is my turn, to take away something precious from you. For the honor of House Gardios…and for the sake of the fallen citizens of Hod…I, Gailardia Galan…forgotten heir to the noble Gardios bloodline shall be the one…to bring an end to the accursed Fon Fabre name."
He was only a single stab away from accomplishing his lifelong goal but for some reason, the longer he continued to stare at the sleeping heir, the stronger of a resistance that his body used against his mind from actually following through with it.
"W-what's going on…?"
His hand shook, but this time, it wasn't in the name of anger or revenge. What made this predicament even stranger was that there was some unfamiliar voice mentally screaming out orders to him to counter against his hesitancy.
Just one quick thrust and it's all over!
For some odd reason, the sight of Luke's innocent smile made Gailardia's proud demeanor become jumbled and confused with an overbearing rush of emotions.
What are you waiting for?! This could be your only chance to avenge everyone that had died because of this brat's father!
As much as he reveled in the idea of avenging all of the fallen Hodians and allowing them to finally rest in peace, from amidst the discord and antagonism that clouded his rationality, there was still a small portion of his conscience that was gently telling him to 'spare the child' and to just 'stop while you're still ahead…while you're still pure'.
Kill him...Kill Him!...KILL HIM!
Gailardia tightly shut his eyes.
NOW!
With every last ounce of strength that he could muster, he drove the blade downwards.
TBC
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A/N: I had originally planned this story to be a one-shot but after realizing that I had a little bit more to write about than intended, I eventually decided to turn it into a two-shot! (maybe a three-shot depending on how long the second chapter ends up being) I know this may seem like I'm asking a lot but if I get 5 (or more) reviews, I'll post up the second and final chapter to this short little ficlet.
Oh, and my main reasons for this story being slightly AU would be that if any of you readers out there have played the game, you would all know that Guy originally believed that King Ingobert was the one who ordered the Kimlascan knights to massacre the citizens of Hod. He didn't discover that it was actually Duke Fabre until he was 21 - he's only 14 in my story. My second reason will be mentioned in the second chapter. Stay Tuned!