A/N - Boredom does things to you. One of which is write up to three chapters plus a prologue for a fanfic! Yay for you, boo for me. Why? Because BOREDOM FREAKING SUCKS. Okay, enough random talking.
Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, own Tales of the Abyss. Period. End of story. But I do think Luke is freaking hot and I want him as MINE!
Chapter 1 – Seven Years Later
"Lu. . .He. . .d. . .oice. . ."
It's that voice again. . .
Luke fon Fabre cracked open his eyes, staring dazedly up at the ceiling of his room (which was separate from the rest of the manor). Once again, his dreams had been interrupted by a mysterious voice that he neither knew nor understood. Always, the messages were unclear and strange, and he couldn't clear it up even if he wanted to. It started seven years ago, after his kidnapping by the Malkuth Empire. From what he knew, he'd lost all his childhood memories and abilities and had to relearn them. He'd managed to do that just fine, and now he was back up to pace with the rest of people his age—seventeen.
Sighing, Luke sat up in bed, his hair, flaming red yet touched with gold at its tips, messy yet not quite so. It had its own sort of elegance, an elegance that many noticed. The boy stood up from his bed and stretched out his arms, relaxing when he was satisfied before he picked out fresh clothes and changed into them. As soon as he'd done that, he walked over to his window, opening it up and letting in the fresh air.
Life in the manor was completely and utterly dull. If it weren't for the servants, who he could carry small conversations with if Ramdas or his father weren't looking, Guy, his best friend and guardian, and Alex, Guy's little helper, he probably would have gone insane. He still remembered the day he and Alex had met. And since then, there was always something happening in the manor, whether it was the guards chasing Alex because he'd annoyed them to no end or it was just some important visitor wanting to meet the him or his father. . .or maybe even both. Alex was occasionally called by the select few visitors who knew of his real identity, but only for a moment. Otherwise, he was hanging around Guy. Then, Luke heard some voices. And they were pretty loud to be normal. Curious, Luke turned and walked out of his room into the courtyard, and he didn't have to go very far to find the source of the noise.
Standing by a tree, looking up into it with a worried expression, was Guy. And up in the tree (Luke noted with a wave of horror) was Alex, the blue-haired boy reaching over and trying to grab his favourite white cloak, which had most likely been blown away with the wind. So the eleven-year-old was (Luke guessed) trying to get it back without any help; he'd always been like that. He never accepted any help from anybody except from Luke.
"Alex, please! Get down from there!" Guy pleaded, though he backed up a step when Alex shot him a glare; for a kid, he could be pretty scary.
"I'm not getting down until I get it back!" Alex snapped, then turned back to the clothing article and reached for it again while clinging to the tree's trunk. After a moment's struggle, he grabbed it, happiness sprouting on his face as he pulled it to his body and fastened it around his neck firmly so it wouldn't fly again. Luke couldn't help but sigh with relief; at least he hadn't gotten hurt. But he was still annoyed by the kid right now. So, he walked up to the two while Alex hopped down two branches (he was on the 4th from the ground), looked at Guy for a moment, who was too relieved to notice, then looked back up at Alex.
"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" Luke asked loudly, startling both Guy and Alex, who jumped so much that he lost his balance and fell from the tree; Guy managed to catch him just in time, and the blonde held the boy in his arms firmly while Luke folded his arms and glared at the two of them. "Well?" he demanded.
"I was just trying to get my cloak back; that's all," Alex answered, squirming out of Guy's arms and jumping onto his feet; his cloak was almost identical to the one he'd had seven years ago when he'd first arrived. The only difference was the size and the green trimming it now had. The blue-haired boy fixed himself before dashing up to Luke and practically tackling the redhead to the ground; had the boy been any bigger, he probably would have. "What's wrong with you! You sleep in too much!" he pouted, looking up at the older boy.
"What's wrong with you? You wake up at the crack of dawn and you're still full of energy!" Luke retorted, ruffling up Alex's hair. Then he broke out of the child's embrace and took a couple steps back, examining the younger servant; Alex was wearing a plain red t-shirt, that was a bit too big for him, under a white jacket with black trimming and blue, ragged jeans that were held up by a black belt. He also wore plain black shoes that were suitable for all the work he had to help Guy with; the kid was pretty tough.
"Hey. I take pride in being able to wake up at dawn after what your parents pile on me," Guy said modestly, earning a laugh from both Luke and Alex. For a while, the three stood there and talked about whatever they could think of; seven years of being locked inside a manor hardly helped with topics. Mostly, they talked about the tutoring Luke and Alex had to go through, though they did talk occasionally about the sword practice. After a little bit longer, Alex grabbed Luke's hand and started trying to pull him along; a feat he'd yet to be able to manage. He usually did that whenever he wanted to go somewhere.
"Come on! Let's go inside!" Alex whined, continuing his struggle; Guy laughed, and Luke was finding it hard not to do the same.
"Argh, alright, alright! We'll go inside," Luke gave in, and the little boy cheered before racing to the left, one of the two entrances into the main building, and quickly opened the door. Luke followed after him, waving good-bye to Guy, who continued on with his daily chores. The redhead barely managed to keep an eye on Alex, and as predicted, he went straight to Ramdas, the family butler. Often, the child felt the need to bug him for whatever reason. Better him than the guards. I swear, they look ready to skewer him at any time, he thought to himself, walking up behind Alex as he listened in on his and Ramdas's conversations; at least it was one of the few moments of entertainments in this god-forsaken place. And yet, at any moment, Ramdas was bound to pop his regular lecture in; he always did, no matter what.
"Young Master Luke! There you are!" the butler said loudly, cutting off whatever Alex was about to say. "The Duke requests your presence in the drawing room; Dorian General Grants is there as well. You are to wait for someone to call you in your room. I'm afraid Alex may not attend, however." At this, Alex pouted, but Ramdas only remained as firm as ever; he was so hard to persuade!
"Master Van's here? But it's not a training day, is it?" Luke asked curiously.
"You may receive the details when you are called in."
"Grr. . .Rammy's an evil man," Alex pouted, causing Luke to snicker and Ramdas to frown at him, though for the most part, he ignored him.
"Also, Young Master Luke. Please stop fraternizing with the gardener Pere and. . .others." Ramdas eyed Alex, who only grinned innocently. "It is unfit for someone of your social status," the butler predictably said. Knew he was gonna say that! Luke thought proudly as he and Alex exchanged looks. They were both thinking the same thing; he could tell.
"Geez. . .alright! And quit ordering me around," Luke complained, waving his hand before turning and heading off in the direction of his room. Alex momentarily followed, though not before he stuck his tongue out at 'Rammy,' who glared after the boy but said nothing.
The two walked side-by-side, with the younger talking happily as Luke just listened; he could go on for miles at time if he dared to try! Yikes. . .that wouldn't be fun to listen to. They finally arrived at Luke's bedroom, where Alex immediately jumped onto Luke's neat bed and sat on the edge, feet hovering above the ground as he watched the redhead and continued talking still. Wow. . .he really can go on forever, Luke thought to himself, resisting a chuckle but smiling a little bit.
"Luke. . ."
Luke's smile immediately dropped; again. It was that strange voice again. . .
"My. . .voice. . .hear. . .voice. . .Luke. . ."
Luke pressed a hand against his temple, then collapsed onto the ground on his knees, clutching his head. Alex stopped talking almost at once, watching Luke for a minute before jumping off the bed and rushing to his side, kneeling down next to his sibling. But Luke was hurting too much to notice.
"Argh. . .I knew it. . .it's that damn voice again," he muttered, more to himself than anything. But Alex heard and he worried; this had happened to the redhead for seven years running, getting more and more frequent. It wouldn't take long until it became daily! And that's what Alex was really worried about; when it did become daily. Duke and Madam Fabre had called in every doctor in Baticul and even some doctors from Belkend. But not one of them knew what was wrong with Luke. Aside from the headaches thing, Luke was completely and perfectly healthy.
"Luke! What is it? Not another one of those headaches again?" Guy's voice asked, drifting into the room. Alex looked towards the open window, and Guy was there, standing on the windowsill, concern once more etched on his face; the second time today.
"Guy. . .is that you?" Luke asked weakly. The headache lasted a second longer before vanishing just as suddenly as it had appeared. And though he felt drained because of it, he knew he'd recover; he had to. He was expected to be in the drawing room as soon as he was called. Once he was sure he could stand again, the redhead did so, shaking his head slightly before looking at Guy. "It's okay. It's gone now. . ."
Guy closed his eyes, the concern washing off his face as he looked out the way he'd come in. "They're getting more frequent, ever since you'd been kidnapped by the Malkuth empire. What's that, seven years now?"
"I wish I knew what the hell it was. It's so annoying," Luke complained, placing his left hand on his hip. Alex giggled; Luke had such a wonderfully colorful vocabulary! And Madam Fabre would scold him whenever Alex was present to hear; such a rare yet lovely occasion.
Guy chuckled then jumped from the windowsill onto the ground. "Well, don't worry about it too much," he said positively, smiling a little bit; his blue eyes shone, and Alex knew what that meant. "How about some sword practice to take your mind off it?" Figures.
"Sorry, not today. Master Van's here," Luke said happily, a grin on his face. Alex flinched; this was once of the times he hated, when Luke got smug. There were even times he would whine and sometimes even snap at Alex himself.
"Van? But today's not a training day, is it?" Guy asked curiously, a questioning expression replacing his smile easily; his eyes stopped shining, too. Alex took the chance to sneak up on Guy and suddenly tackle the blonde guardian, who jumped and nearly fell over.
"Nope. Something came up," Luke replied, eyes watching Alex as the blue-haired boy laughed happily; strange little kid. But he couldn't hate him. He did pity him, though, a little bit. A lot of the maids would try to corner him and constantly try to call him cute, some even going as far as to get him dressed in some ridiculously tight outfit. Luke often had to save him. Like with Guy! Although Guy had a special case. . .
A knock on the door interrupted the three, then the voice of a female: "Master Luke. May I come in?"
"Uh-oh. I better go before I get caught," Guy said, breaking out of Alex's embrace and jumping back on the windowsill, ready to leave.
"I'll come! 'Cause Luke's gonna be busy," Alex explained, pouting a little bit at his last statement; it was so unfair! It wasn't like he'd understand half the things that the adults talked about. . .but still! Besides, Guy didn't really need his help that much; the blonde could easily manage any task.
"Alright. Hey, I'll even help you test your abilities," Guy grinned, and Alex immediately hopped up and over the windowsill. "See ya, Luke!" the blonde said before he jumped off the windowsill and led Alex around back to the courtyard.
Luke sighed as he watched the two leave; lucky them. Another knock on the door managed to creep under his skin: "Master Luke?"
"Yeah, yeah, I hear ya. Come on in," Luke called, facing his door. It swung open and one of the maids walked in, standing nice and neatly, bowing before she spoke again.
"His grace requests your presence in the drawing room," she informed.
"Alright, dismissed," Luke said lazily, waving his hand. She understood and bowed again before turning and leaving. "Guess I'll get going," he said to himself before he followed out after her and made his way to the drawing room.