A Strange Encounter
Luke fon Fabre cursed his friends under his breath, walking half-asleep along the streets of Daath. He understood that the party needed to stock up on gels, and a game of 'nose goes' was a perfectly reasonable way to choose which of them would buy those gels, but doing so before he had even woken up was just playing dirty. There was no way he could possibly win in that situation!
It was probably Jade's idea, he thought to himself, kicking a nearby pebble to the side. Or maybe Anise's. I would expect that from either of the two of them. But even Guy and Tear went through with it! What did I ever do to deserve that from them?
"Um, excuse me."
A voice from the left interrupted Luke's train of thought. The swordsman turned his head toward it to see that the source was a gently smiling green-haired boy a few years younger than himself.
"Oh, hey Ion!" The redhead perked up a bit at the sight of a friend who hadn't betrayed him in that morning's sucker-punching game of 'nose goes.' "Long time no see!"
"Hi, Luke," the boy cheerily replied, coming closer to his friend. "What brings you to Daath?"
"Just…picking up a few gels," Luke answered, deciding not to bring Ion into his own personal drama and omitting the details of why he was the one doing the shopping.
Ion's smile grew bigger. "What excellent timing! I happen to have a few gels on me, if you'd like them."
Luke lifted his head somewhat higher, his mood having changed for the better upon Ion's offer. "Is that really okay?"
"Of course," the boy insisted. "I have no use for them anyhow. Here, take them." He reached out his hand to reveal six lemon gels and five pineapple gels in his palm, illuminated by the sunlight."
"Thanks, Ion! You're the best!" Luke replied with a big white smile. "That's exactly the amount I needed! How did you know?"
"Coincidence, I suppose." Ion chuckled in an almost mischievous manner. "I'd best get going now. Tell the others I said hello."
The older teen waved as the younger one walked back toward the cathedral. "Okay, bye!"
Luke exited the town and walked down the dirt path to the Tartarus, unable, for some reason, to shake the strange feeling that something was just off. It was more than Ion giving him the exact amount of each type of gel that he needed; something about Ion's presence in itself just didn't feel right.
I'm probably just feeling weird from exhaustion, he thought bitterly, eager to return to his sleeping bag.
Anise energetically greeted Luke at the airship's door. "Got the gels?"
"Yeah, yeah," he mumbled, placing the gels down on a nearby chair.
"That was certainly quick," Natalia observed.
"Well, I didn't have to wait in line at the store, since I ran into Ion and he gave me some gels. He says hi to all of you, by the way"
Suddenly, every eye in the room turned to Luke. He shifted his weight alternately from one foot to the other during a brief moment of complete silence, the strange feeling in his gut getting worse.
It was Tear who broke the silence. "Luke," she said in a slightly timid voice, "did you just say that Ion gave you gels?"
"Y-yeah," he said somewhat loudly out of nerves. "It's fine; he said he didn't need them."
Just then, before Tear even said the words, Luke realized exactly what was wrong, and it took all of his effort not to vomit or faint. How he could forget about something so important was beyond him, and he was seriously freaked out.
"Luke, Ion is dead."
THEN WHO WAS FON MASTER?
Author's Note: If you don't get the ending, you don't read enough Creepypasta.