Disclaimer: I do not own ff13 or ff13 versus. Square Enix does!

Warnings: Same as before... This fic is definitely going to be AU relative to the real game (when it comes out)... enjoy!


Threads of Fate

I Dreamed a Dream

A hand touched her shoulder.

"Lightning, what's wrong!?" Vanille asked frightened. Lightning shot up from the touch and instinctively recoiled away. Her red crystal still throbbed painfully and she struggled to calm her breathing.

"It's nothing," was her sharp, automatic reply. Vanille frowned and pointedly raised an eyebrow. Lightning sighed, knowing that she owed a more plausible answer then that. "My crystal began reacting – I don't know why. It… woke me up." Lightning lied through her teeth before she even realized it.

"Hmm," Vanille pondered while rubbing her chin, "did you have a bad dream? I wonder if the crystal was reacting to your emotions…"

"Maybe," was all Lightning said before reclining back down and rolling pointedly away from Vanille; she didn't want to talk about it anymore. 'What was that? Usually those lights should pass through objects – why did this one react like that?' she wondered. Wanting to ponder more on the subject, but refraining because she didn't want to worry Vanille; Lightning determined that silence was the best course of action.

"End of discussion, huh?" Vanille mused out loud. Lightning decided to closer her eyes and ignore her. "Aw, Lightning…" Vanille whined. "You know I was just worried! Can't you be a bit nicer about it? Sheesh! What if something's really wrong and, like, your crystal turned into a ticking time bomb! We wouldn't know until you tell us! Or what if–"

"Vanille?" Vanille blinked. Lightning's voice sounded really soft and tired.

"Um…yeah?"

"…Goodnight" was the sleepy mumble. Vanille sat still for a moment. Slowly a wry smile painted the redhead's lips. 'What can you do? That's Lightning for you- she's always like this!' she mused in her mind.

"Okie dokie! G'night!" Vanille chirped.

The fire cackled merrily into the night...


Morning came eventually. The morning air was fresh and cool – perfect for waking up and feeling rejuvenated.

"Yawn, I slept like a log!" Snow announced loudly.

"You sure as hell didn't sound like one," grumbled Sazh as he rubbed a hand over the stubble on his cheeks. 'I need to shave,' he noted.

"Look who's talking!" teased Vanille. "Sazh, you snore loud enough to scare all the monsters away! Hehehe, it's a monster repellant!"

"Monster repellant? Aw, come on! It's not that bad!"

"Ugh, why are you people always so loud in the mornings?" a raspy voice mumbled.

Vanille grinned. "Wakey, wakey, Ginny!" The white-haired boy scowled.

"Argh! My name is Gin! Never. Ever. Call me 'Ginny' – that's a girl's name!" An arm plopped casually around his shoulder. Gin turned to the enormous giant beside him. "What?" he demanded irritably.

Snow just chuckled. "How disappointing! A true hero would rise with the sun! We need to work on that, boy!" Gin scowled even more.

"For the last time, my name is GIN!"

Snow barked out a hearty laugh. "A hero also doesn't get this irritated about trivial things"

"Che. Who made you an expert?"

"I did, of course! I'm a hero, after all."

"I'm one too, right Mr. Snow?"

"Yeah, that's right Vanille. We're all heroes that are gunna save the world!"

"Tch, so uncool" mumbled Gin under his breath. He felt the arm around his shoulder curl and enclose around his neck.

"Hey, who are you calling uncool?" warned Snow.

"Uh, guys?" Sazh cut in. "Is it really okay for us to making this much noise? We're probably not the only ones getting up, y'know." His shifty eyes scanned the area. "Who knows what creatures are close by…"

Snow and Gin stared at him with blank expressions.

"Scaredycat," they both said at the same time.

"Wuh-hey!"

Vanille smiled happily. It was always like this in the morning. She let out a girlish giggle when Snow gave Gin his morning noogie and Sazh went to sulk with Hina-chan. Her emerald eyes drifted towards Lightning who was off to the side sharpening her gunblade. On the surface, it seemed that Lightning was always distant from the group – as if there was a wall between them. However, Vanille knew that wasn't true. Had the boys stopped being boys for one second, they might have noticed the small, content smile that graced Lightning's lips – enough proof for Vanille to believe that Lightning truly did care for them.

As if on cue, Vanille cleared her throat, and the boys sobered up. Their eyes seem to automatically search for Lightning's form; it was almost instinctive. The stage was hers now – she had the audience's full attention without even asking for it.

Gracefully, Lightning stood up from her crouched position. The sun peaked behind the mountain top, and rose with her – basking her with an ethereal light. It illuminated her fine locks of strawberry blonde hair, and accentuated her sharp ice blue eyes. Her newly sharpened blade gleamed as she re-sheathed it with her usual flair. In that moment, Lightning was surreal: She looked like a true hero – one that always looked forward and never doubted.

"Time to go."

The party couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement as a new day began.


"Idiot!" Noctis reprimanded himself. He knew that he shouldn't have given into temptation: he had intruded on grounds that were not to be touched by humans. The icy feeling of magic ran through his veins. Noctis willed himself to ignore it.

'Calm down…' He told his racing pulse. "Calm down…" The control he had over the powers granted to him by the crystal was barely there – it was as if they had been charged with excess energy. Was this the power of Etro? Noctis gave a shuddering breath – was this the power he could attain if he accepted her light?

Slowly, the intensity of his crimson eyes faded to a dull amber hue and then finally back to his natural cobalt blue colour. When he finally tamed the surging power within him, Noctis proceeded to scan his surroundings. The crystal continued to glow its usual radiance. Other then that, there was only the cold stone of the architecture – the floating sphere of light had vanished. Noctis frowned.

"Where did it go? Nothing's… here." he stared suspiciously at the crystal. "Earlier… just what was that?" Only silence answered him. Noctis sighed as he knew no answers would find him tonight. He turned on his heels and made his way through the quiet labyrinth and to his sleeping city…

That night, Noctis dreamt.

He stood in an endless field of wildflowers. The sky above was a brilliant sea-blue colour and the rolling clouds were highlighted by the sun's rays – causing a brilliant display of light and shadows. It was so calm and beautiful – so unrealistically real – that Noctis understood right away: he was dreaming.

"…Interesting…" he mumbled. Realizing that nothing would happen if he did not move, Noctis decided to explore the seemingly endless field.

Time and space seemed to have its own rules in this realm. Noctis was sure that he had walked for hours – yet the sun had not moved an inch. The only thing that kept him sane from the solitude was the gentle breeze that made the flowers whisper. Perhaps it was his imagination, but it almost felt as if the wind was guiding him somewhere.

"Where are you taking me?" he pondered out loud. The wind only blew harder in response. He continued onwards. The wind blew even harder causing the clouds to move above him, casting shadows in their wake. Something was changing…

Then he saw it. It was a sphere of light – almost exactly like the lights he saw every day… and yet this one was tinged a reddish hue. He stopped in his tracks and readied himself in case something should happen.

The sphere of light floated a little ways beyond him until it circled to a stop. A gust of wind blew between them, moving the clouds just enough so that a ray of light fell upon the red sphere. It burst upon contact with the sun's rays – its form dissolving and floating away like dust. In its place, a figure materialized.

It was a woman.

Her body was turned at an angle from Noctis, but he was still able to see the profile of her face. She stood, regal in front of him with her red cape flowing violently behind her. Tousled strawberry-blonde hair followed her cape, while her sharp-blue eyes scanned the distance. A hand lay upon her sheathed weapon – ready at a moment's noticed. In that same moment, Noctis forgot how to breathe.

'A queen?' he wondered. 'Or perhaps a knight?' She had the air of both.

They stood like this: he in the shadows; she in the light.

Another gust of wind blew

The moment was broken.

She turned, finally noticing his presence. He tensed, preparing himself just in case. Their eyes met, and then…


"Lightning?" Vanille's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

Slowly the image of a mysterious man with dark blue eyes faded from her memory. Last night she had a strange dream about an endless field of flowers… there, she saw a blue sphere. She had tried to follow it, but she lost it for a moment… in that moment, that man had appeared to her…. Lightning frowned. A hand waved in front of her.

Vanille giggled. " Wow, you're off on another planet" she teased.

"…Huh?." Lightning blinked returning back to reality. "Sorry, were you saying?"

"Boy, you're really out of it," teased Gin in that boyish voice of his. "You look really confused." Lightning gave him a warning glare.

"I hope you don't become an old crone anytime soon~" he said smugly. Lightning felt a vein throb on her temple.

"I really don't see why I have to look after annoying kids."

"You have to, because that's what responsible adults do."

"Brat…" she muttered.

"Old hag."

Lightning snorted. This time she didn't even dignify that with a response. She turned to Vanille. "You were asking something."

"Uuuuuh… Oh yeah! Um, Gin and I were wondering what's for lunch!" Lightning rolled her eyes. It was that time already? Just how long was she daydreaming?

Suddenly, Snow popped out of the bushes beside them holding something rather large in each of his hands…

"Look at what I found! Eggs!" He grinned triumphantly. "Let's fry these up and have a feast!" Both Vanille and Gin cheered with glee. 'Eggs?' Lightning could only stare at him, slack jawed.

"You idiot."

"What? I found us food."

"You idiot."

"I only took two!"

"You idiot!"

Before she could say anything else, Sazh came running through the group, hollering.

"I told you not to touch those!" He shouted hoarsely. Behind him, trees were toppling over. An angry roar from a triceratops-looking creature shook their surroundings. There was a moment's hesitation where the whole group looked to each other for instructions.

"Scatter and make room!" Lightning ordered and everyone moved in frenzy. The 'shling' of her blade unsheathed was drowned out by the approaching monster. She saw it charging her, swinging its horned head wildly.

"I got your back!" shouted Sazh before he shot a few rounds. Lightning barely acknowledge him. She already snapped her fingers and leaped high above the monster. She twisted midair before landing on the monster's back and began hacking its neck. The monster roared in pain and tried to shake Lightning off.

"Move!" Gin shouted before he and Vanille unleashed a powerful firaga spell together. Lightning leapt out off the creature in a nick of time before the spell made contact. While still in air, she switched her weapon into gun mode and shot some rounds. The monster belted an angry roar and angrily stomped and shook at everything it was close to.

"Kyaaah!" Vanille screamed as the monster snapped a tree. The tree was going to crush her!

"Shit!" Lightning swore. She leaped to get to Vanille, but her gravitation device had already powered down. She needed to wait awhile before she could use it again. This meant one thing: she wasn't going to make it...

Panic

"Look out!" cried Gin as he jumped out of nowhere to push her out of harms way. He held onto Vanille for dear life as the tree thundered downward. Not pausing for a second, Lightning landed beside the two and prepared to protect them with her life.

Snow moved to her side with clenched fists. "I got this, get those two outta here!" Lightning didn't argue. She grabbed the two younger fighters and half dragged, half carried them to a safer distance. Snow picked up the fallen tree like it was nothing, and started swinging it recklessly.

"Take this, you ugly freak of nature!" he swung the tree like a baseball bat. The monster staggered and fell over on its side, dazed.

"Yeeeaah!" Sazh cheered. His celebration was short-lived. The monster twitched once, twice… oh god, it was attempting to get up. "Oh…damnit." cursed Sazh. He reloaded his ammo in record time and fired again. Snow gritted his teeth and kept batting the monster with his crude weapon. In the distance he heard Vanille's voice shout something. He felt magic surround him, filling him with more energy. Next he saw a flash of pink hair dart around in the danger zone. Lightning was back in action.

Lightning ran her blade under the creature's body, leaving a bloody gash in her wake. Warm blood splatted onto her hair and face. The monster hollered in pain.

"Final blow!" Snow warned. Lightning sped from under the creature and situated herself at a safer distance. Snow gave one last mighty heave with the tree, cracking the monster's horn and snapping the tree in half. The monster once again fell to the ground. It snorted, trying to regain its bearings. "This thing isn't dying!" cried Sazh.

"It's not over yet!" Lightning grunted as her nimble body flipped over the fallen monster until she was faced to face with it. "Die." She took her blade and ran it into its skull. The horned monster struggled – moving its legs and shaking its body until it gave its last shudder and fell limp.

There was a moment of anxious anticipation – was the monster dead or alive? Lightning experimentally wiggled out her blade from the body. It made a squelching sound when she finally did pull her blade free. Blood gushed out of the opening – already attracting the insects from the surrounding area. Lightning grimaced at the stink. The party waited… the beast did not stir. A collective sigh of relief could be heard.

"So, uh… Dinosaur meat anyone?" Sazh asked.

And with that, the group dynamics fell into place once more. Snow ran to eggs that he hastily dropped. He gave a whoop. "They're not broken! We can have eggs too!"

"You and your stupid eggs almost got us killed!" growled Lightning.

"But we're fine – and now we have meat too!" protested Snow.

"He has a point." Sazh added. The sour expression on Lightning's face only got worse. She "lightly" smacked Sazh on the back of his head, which caused Hina-chan to flutter out from her disturbed home.

"Ow!" complained Sazh.

"Kewh, Kweh!" Hina chirped indignantly. Lightning opened her mouth to let them all have it.

Snow couldn't help but feel screwed…

While Lightning lectured Snow, Vanille turned to Gin. "Um… uh…thanks for saving me back there" she said softly. Genuine gratitude shone in her emerald eyes. Gin blushed and felt tongue-tied.

"I-it was n-nothing."

Vanille raised an eyebrow and pouted. "Huh? Are you saying my life means nothing?"

"Wha? N-no! That's not what I meant! Y-you're nothing- I MEAN – I didn't mean not nothing! I… Y-you mean a lot!" Vanille's eyes sparkled with something – something seemingly more mature then her usual demeanor... Not that Gin noticed, he was too busy having a mental freak out.

"Oooh… you mean a lot to me too!" she chirped, slipping back her usual cheery mask. They both erupted in a nervous giggle.

"Hey, you kids, stop conspiring and help me find some firewood! We're gonna need a lot to roast that lump of meat!" Sazh joyfully announced over Lightning and Snow's yelling.

Despite the unusual night before, it seemed like today was just another day after all. In the far distance, the dragons sang their songs of old, and the sun continued to shine brightly in the blue sky…


The noon sun barely shone any light behind the rain clouds. Despite this, the city was bustling with life once more. Noctis found his mind drifting from the conversation in favour of thinking about the strange dream he had last night…

'She had a rather strange weapon…' he thought, remembering the woman from the dream. A car honk from outside his window startled him out of his thoughts, and reminded him of the person talking in front of him. Feeling guilty, Noctis wondered if he had been caught daydreaming. The man in front of him seemed immersed in his little speech – for that, Noctis allowed himself a small sigh.

"…and so, the information that you've, uh, requested may –um – may t-take some more time to recover." The middle aged man finally said after wasting five minutes trying to gloss over his inadequacy. "I assure you, Prince Noctis that I will deliver it to you as soon as I can."

"…I see." replied Noctis, his voice was deep with authority – yet still held some softness to it. "Unfortunately, I cannot allow you much leniency this time around, Superintendent Romano. These times call for higher security measures within the city, as well as its boarders. Please have the information on the suspects on my desk by tonight. That is all the time I can allow you."

"I will have it by then, your highness." The superintendent responded evenly; however, Noctis couldn't help but notice the sweat stains seeping through the uniform. "Good day."

With that, the older man left the office. As soon as the door closed, Noctis was finally able to relax for a little while. Security measures were up since the war situations have turned for the worse. Evidence of Milites' armies advancing towards the Anaze and Rubrum countries has been reported recently. Those countries, though far away, felt too close to home. A knock on his door startled him from those depressing thoughts. He rubbed his tired face and schooled it back into business mode.

"Come in."

Horatio popped his head through the door. Noctis resisted the urge to relax right away – finally, a friend in sight! Horatio stiffly walked in and closed the door behind him. 'As proper as ever,' Noctis mentally snickered. Sometimes he didn't know if he should feel jealous of his friend's natural gift for proper mannerism, or sorry for it.

"It is noon, your highness. Would you prefer lunch in your office or will you have it out today?" Noctis didn't even miss a beat.

"Out" he said almost desperately. Horatio failed to keep the amusement from his eyes.

"Long day, sir?"

"You have no idea." Noctis muttered darkly as he loosened his suffocating tie. "Let's go, I can't stand this office any more." He stood up, eager to leave.

"You know… you could have retired to your room and avoided those meetings…it's not like it's unheard of…" suggested Horatio…

Noctis grinned boyishly. "Now that would be running away – besides, they'll find me there too." He made a disgusted noise and grumbled, "There's no escape. My house is my prison." Horatio sighed, putting on a show of condescending displeasure when he really felt sorry for the young man.

"Very well, then… don't forget to fix your tie"

"Forget it, I'm off duty."

"Off…duty?" Horatio repeated as if it was the strangest phrase he had ever heard of.

With that, the two men escaped the office (aka prison) and headed on their way down to the palace entranceway. Old men wearing similar black business suits hurriedly rushed to the side and bowed with respect as Noctis passed them. This always made Noctis feel uncomfortable, however he was just as bad when playing his own part. He passed by these men without an appreciative glance or acknowledgement – his only intent was to get through this area as fast as he could. Finally, Noctis and Horatio made a calculative detour through a lesser known hallway. Thankfully it was empty… but not for long…

Loud footsteps running towards them from behind… Noctis tensed, wondering if it was something urgent.

"Is that m'boy, Noctis?" a rough, yet jolly voice boomed through the hallway. Horatio stiffened at the crass address to his prince. Noctis stopped in his tracks and a slow grin stretched his lips. He spun on his heels to face a huge, long haired man with a scar running across his eye. The man's religious chain caught the hall light and sparkled merrily.

"Marcellus!"

"Huh? It is! I wasn't sure if that was really you, looking all professional and such. Whatever happened to the young snot-nose kid who practically begged me to train him?" Marcellus teased while striding down the hallway towards them. He pointedly ignored the distasteful look that Horatio shot him.

"Knight Grunwald, addressing the prince as-"

"Stuffy as ever, huh, Horatio?" grinned Marcellus as he rudely cut him off. Horatio's green eyes glared warningly, while Marcellus grinned wider, accepting the challenge.

"Fighting… isn't necessary, you guys..." Noctis said awkwardly.

"We are not fighting, your highness-" Horatio began.

"We just have our differences, you see." Marcellus finished. Noctis just blinked in confusion. Did they just finish each other's sentences?

"Well, in that case... Marcellus, would you like to join us for lunch?" Noctis asked. He really wanted to catch up with his old weapons teacher.

"No can do, kid." Marcellus said with a hint of disappointment. "War-measures, you know? I have to pick another snot-nosed squire from the lot and train him just like I did with you…. Though, I probably won't ever have another kid as easy to teach as you, Noct-y! You're a natural." Marcellus winked for good measure. Noctis grinned boyishly.

"You were still in your late teens when you taught me – you hardly had anything worth teaching!" teased Noctis.

"Quiet down, won't you? I don't want people wondering how old I am – I still look pretty good, you know?" Marcellus hissed and nervously looked around.

"But you're the same age as Horatio…"

"No way." Horatio and Marcellus said at the same time.

"He's older" they both said while pointing to each other. Noctis tried very hard to keep a straight face. It was only with these two – his most trusted friends – that he could finally feel like himself. Even with the loud bickering, Noctis could honestly say that this was where he felt most relaxed.

"I see." Noctis couldn't help but let his lip twitch upward as the two older men glared openly at each other. "Well then…" he said in his usual voice. Unfortunately, neither of the glaring men heard him. Frowning, Noctis politely coughed, and that caught Horatio's attention.

"I-I apologize, Noctis." Horatio amended. "Shall we continue onward?" Noctis nodded and turned to Marcellus.

"Oh, it ain't farewell yet! I'm heading that way too, I'll walk with you." Marcellus announced much to Noctis' pleasure and Horatio's displeasure.


The trio finally made it to the entrance hall before another incident distracted them from their destination.

"You good for nothing, punk!" wheezed a voice trembling with anger.

"Ow, stop poking me with that cane of yours, old man!" a much younger voice argued.

Noctis' party isolated the argument near the giant doors ahead of them. A bald old man was indeed smacking the bejeezus out of a young blond haired boy. A broken pot, dirt, and the remains of a house plant decorated the floor. Beside the plant lay an antique shotgun. Curious, Noctis decided to interrupt the argument and save the boy from any more bruises.

"Hello, Cid." Noctis courteously addressed the old man. "Is there a problem here?" Cid was the palace gardener who's been working at the palace forever. He was practically an urban legend, and Noctis knew him well enough to fear and respect him.

Coughing on a bit of spit from his outburst, the old man glared at the young men around him. "Problem? Yeah, I have a problem! This worthless grandson of mine can't do shit! What do they teach you in the country nowadays? Coming here as useless as a Chocobo with no feet – I'll make a gardener out of you yet, you-"

"You must be deaf! I told you, gramps! I never agreed to be a gardener! I came to the city to become a solider!" protested the blonde, "But noooo, the minute I got here, you've got me carrying dirt all over the place! It's a mistake, I tell ya! A mistake!"

"Che, annoying brat. Gardeners are what my family produces! What a disgrace!" The old man snorted and resumed his mumbling and grumbling while stalking off to find something to clean the mess. They boy turned to the group with a sheepish smile.

"Ahaha, aw man! Sorry, I'm a real big screw up aren't I? But hey, it's my first day here!"

By the looks of it, Noctis guessed that the boy was either his age or younger… he couldn't exactly tell with the dirt smudges on the boy's face. Frowning, Noctis wasn't so sure how to act around people his age. He spent most of his life around people who were older then him, so situations like these felt incredibly awkward to him.

"Bit of the boy blunder, huh?" teased Marcellus. "Don't worry; your limbs will catch up with your head in no time."

The boy huffed, "Boy? I'm almost 20! I'm practically a man!" This caused Marcellus to give a hoot of laughter. Noctis felt even more uneasy.

"Oh, that's a good one! I think I like you." Marcellus said while wiping a stray tear from his eyes. "What's your name kid? You think you've got what it takes to be a soldier?" Noctis curiously inclined his head towards Marcellus. There was a darker tone that edged into the older man's voice. "Cuz, you know kid. War ain't a pretty sight. It's pretty damn ugly, to be honest."

The boy's grey-blue eyes were sharp with anger. "Quit calling me 'kid'. The name's Alec and I'll be the best god damn soldier this army's ever seen! Just you wait scarface! I'll show you." Noctis wondered if Marcellus treaded on some sensitive topics… he glanced at the older man beside him who was strangely passive after being insulted.

"Tch, I see you have a pretty old looking shotgun there. Do you really think the Caelum family would allow their soldiers to use such disgraceful weapons? You're even more naïve then I thought! Maybe gardening really is your forte." Marcellus folded his bulky arms and waited to see what this kid was made of. Alec turned a few shades red and practically trembled with rage. He grabbed his shotgun and flourished it in the air.

"The royal family can shove their fancy guns up their ass for all I care! I'm only here because I have people that I want to protect – and I'll use my own weapons to do so, thank you." Alec rested the weapon on his shoulder and glared at Marcellus – challenging him. Both Noctis and Horatio stiffened, while Marcellus looked unfazed. Obviously Alec had no clue who he was talking to.

"You do know that the Caelum army uses swords as their primary weapon, right? It's an old tradition that goes back to the crystal, and-"

"So what? No crystal's going to tell me what to do!" Alec announced hotheadedly. "I'm in charge of my destiny, not some old rock." Marcellus finally grinned.

"Haha! I knew it. My gut instincts told me that I'd like you, and I do! You're perfect."

"Huh?" Alec gaped and couldn't follow the sudden change of atmosphere. Marcellus offered his hand.

"The name's Marcellus. Others might call me Knight Grunwald, but you just ignore it, okay?"

"Uh…what?" Alec said intelligently.

"Can you already use that shotgun? How about a sword?" gushed Marcellus.

"Y-yeah I'm a pretty good shot. Good at hunting things too… I don't really want to learn how to use a sword… my knife's good enough-" Alec answered, though he was clearly confused still.

"Good," Marcellus grinned darkly. "Because I never want to teach anyone how to use a sword ever again." A chill went through the group as he said this.

"What are you doing?" Horatio asked harshly – he couldn't stay quiet any longer. Marcellus gave the spectacled man a cheesy smile.

"Choosing my squire, of course!"

"This is highly unorthodox!" Horatio began.

"It's fine! He's perfect! Just what the army needs to-" Noctis sighed as the two older men heatedly argued with each other… again. Tuning the noise out, he focused his attention on Alec, who was still blinking owlishly.

"Woah… what? How did… this happen?" Alec wondered out loud.

"It seems like you don't have to be a gardener after all" Noctis mused out loud. Alec snorted.

"Dude man, did it look like I was going to be one anyways? I hate plants!" Alec made a disgusted face. Noctis let a small chuckle slip by which Alec smirked in response. "Say, you look like you're my age! Wanna hit the bars and pick up some chicks? I've never picked up a city girl before… Are they as hot as they say they are?"

Pick up… chicks?

Noctis was flustered – how does one respond to this? He tried his best to hide his blush and act cool, but Alec saw through it. "Aw, you're blushing! Don't tell me you're still a noob!"

"Well…" Noctis mumbled. "I…"

Alec laughed good naturedly, "Yo man, don't stress out over it. This settles it, we're going to party together! Oh yeah, I didn't tell you my name. I'm Alec, what's yours?" He slung a friendly arm on Noctis' shoulder.

"…Noctis."

"Woah man, You gotta speak out louder! All I heard was Knock-something! That's not your name is it? I hope not! Don't get me started on knock-knock jokes, okay? Even I know they sound lame…"

"Get your filthy hand off him." Horatio huffed as he knocked Alec's arm away. From the looks of it, Horatio lost his patience with the scared man. "Your Highness, I suggest we leave before we waste your lunch hour to these ingrates." Happy to find an escape route, Noctis just nodded and allowed himself to be led away.

"W-woah wait? H-h-highness?" Alec stuttered, aghast. "No way… I just…"

"Yep, kid. That's Prince Noctis Lucis Caelum. You just insulted the royal prince."


Author's Note: What is this monster that I've created? *feels guilty*I apologize for the length of this chapter... I will try very hard to keep my chapters shorter. A few notes about this chapter... (not in any specific order)

1) first half of the chapter was a struggle. Major Writer's block... haha I think that people will definitely notice now that I mentioned it.

2) I was really stuck on the characterization of the versus characters! I'm almost certain that I've interpreted them wrong! I also had to consciously double check my writing because my yaoi tendencies were starting to show... can you see it? It's so easy to write them in that way!

3) The Horatio and Marcellus rivalry was not planned at all. The fic started to write itself at that point... I wonder what their true character dynamics are... I wonder how much I massacred it with my interpretation? Oh god, what have I done?

4) Noctis' character is really complicated to write! Nomura said that he's shy, hiding under a cool front... and according to nomura quote:"he is not the least bit a silent, gloomy little boy." Maybe I just suck as a writer but... That's tough to capture! I apologize if I failed miserably.

5) Dream sequence was inspired by the films of Hayao Miyazaki and the ff8 trailer. Miyazaki films are so beautiful and I think that the ff8 trailer is cinematically one of the best for games.

6) Noctis fiddling with his tie is actually a small reference to SunflowerWielder's fic, Fire Escape - I suggest reading it.

7) Title is homage to my favourite broadway musical: Les Miserable! Can you hear the people sing?

8)I better stop going overboard with the footnotes. It was a fun write after getting over the initial writer's block... I wonder how I'll get over my next one...

Thank you Yuki, Sunflower, Fefisgbf13, Secretgal, and Tsuki Rae for reviewing! And the rest of you, don't be afraid to review! I love connecting with people over fandoms - it's fun!