Lance woke up the next morning a little before six feeling slightly confused. As he turned towards the warm and familiar body beside him, his half opened eyes feel on the children carefully tucked in the other bed of their room and Lance remembered the evening's events with a worried rush of anger. Taking a few seconds to look at his sleeping wife, Lance slipped silently out of the large bed and made his way to check on their charges.
Sometime during the night, Ravus had moved until he curled protectively around his younger sister. Lunafreya tucked securedly against the older boy's chest, a hand holding tightly unto the borrowed shirt and sleeping peacefully. Ravus on the other hand was breathing harshly and his face was twisted in discomfort. Lance carefully pressed his hand on the teenager's forehead and hissed as he felt the abnormal heat that indicated a fever.
Lance turned back and quickly woke Sylva up, "Sylva! Ravus started a fever overnight." The words quickly pierced through the veil of sleep and Sylva shot up, pushing aside the blankets to get out of bed quickly. She quickly repeated the same check as her husband a moment before and the heat she could feel coming off Ravus was enough to seriously worry the nurse.
With a muttered apology, Sylva looked at Lunafreya, "Lunafreya I need you to wake up." The girl jerked upright at the sound of Sylva's voice with a muffled scream, her eyes darted around in fear. Sylva and Lance both moved back to give her space. Umbra and Pryna had woken up from their sleeping place on the foot of the bed and quickly jumped up to help calm their mistress.
"It's ok Luna, you're safe." Calmly told Lance from where he was, "We are at the hotel in their private suite. You and your brother escaped from the Niflheim's control with us yesterday evening. Do you remember?" The adults waited as the young girl took shuttering breaths and seemed to calm down thanks to the help from both pups and the presence of her brother beside her. Lunafreya frowned as she spotted the same painful expression Ravus had and the worried sister reached to touch him. "Ravus?" She asked carefully, taking a sharp breath in when she felt the heat coming off him.
The nurse was right beside her feverish patient as Luna seemed to have calmed down enough to accept her presence. "He seems to have started a fever overnight. I'm sorry Luna but I need you to move away a bit so I can check his injuries for any infections." Asked Sylva. Luna nodded, moving out of the way to stand beside Lance. Sylva offered the girl a gentle and hopefully comforting smile before concentration on the injured Ravus. First thing to do was strip off the blankets and check through all of the boy's injuries.
Sylva gently repositioned Ravus unto his back carefully, she immediately notice that the bandages around his hands were blood soaked. Carefully undoing the buttons on his shirt, she checked to see if those keeping his ribs from moving too much were clean and if the bruise on his stomach had grown since last night. Thankfully the bruise had not increased since she had checked it and the bandages on his chest needed only a minor readjustment to re-secure them. The bandage between his thighs needed to be changed and so did the ones on his feet. With quick and efficient practiced movements, Sylva started by taking off the stained bandages on Ravus' feet where she found the bleeding soles to have gotten infected despite her best attempts to clean them last evening. She swore, about to turn around to look through her medical bag when Luna was by her side with the bag in hand. ''Here. What can I do to help?'' She said, her eyes determined to help. Sylva smiled, ''Thank you, Do you think you can hold his foot up one by one while I clean them and bandage it properly?'' Luna nodded and Sylva dug through her bag to find the antiseptic and antibacterial potions to clean the infected injuries.
Lance had waited to see if Sylva or Luna needed his help with something, when Luna made her way towards him with shaky legs, he raised one arm as an invitation to hug him but the girl shook her head, knelling down to hide her face in her two dogs' fur. ''Its going to be ok, my wife is very good at her job. Your brother will be fine.'' Luna nodded mutely, face still hidden for a few more seconds before she lifted her eyes and looked at the bag she remembered emptying last evening. The young Oracle to be stood back up in order to go grab it from where it had been left on the floor and brought it back to Sylva just as the nurse was about to go look for it. Seeing Luna and Sylva would be fine without his help, Lance looked at the time and started getting ready for the long day he had ahead of him. He remembered to keep the door unlocked in case Sylva needed to come in for any reason and kept an ear open for anyone calling him but otherwise went about his usual pre-conference routine.
Sylva showed Luna how to properly put down towels under her brother's feet to prevent the bed to be stained with the cleaning agents then how to hold the foot properly to allow Sylva to clean all the marks properly. As the nurse started debriding the right foot, trying her best to keep any painful stimulus to a minimum, Ravus started groaning and shifting around. Sylva stopped what she was doing, wondering if trying to wake the boy up might be better so he wouldn't panic as much from the pain but Luna simply placed his foot down and made her way quickly to rest her forehead against his. She whispered something too low for Sylva to hear as he husband started his shower but saw a bright white light spark between them before Ravus settled down. His breathing now calmer and less pained. Luna turned around to take her place back, noticing the questioning look Sylva sent her way, ''I can't heal him properly yet but I can help him sleep.'' The young girl explained softly.
Sylva nodded and returned to debriding the injured soles, she cut off the various strip of dead skin that were peeling off and thoroughly checked for anything that she might have missed during her first cleaning of his feet. She didn't find anything and satisfied with the way the injuries now looked, still red, raw, bleeding and the edges of each injuries hot and oozing pus but much better then when she had started; Sylva bandaged the foot and repeated the same thing to Ravus' other foot. Lance had finished his shower and had put his clothes back on, leaving the suite to go grab the bags left overnight in their car so he could grab one of his suits.
By the time the two ladies were done finished with changing the various bandages on Ravus' fever ridden body, Sylva had asked and gotten Luna's permission to start an IV to give Ravus some antibiotics, liquids and something to help bring down the somewhat high fever the teenager's tired body was dealing with. Luna was a bit surprised to see Sylva got up to a closed cupboard and pull out everything she needed to prepare the IV. She noticed the surprised look and explained, ''The owner here keeps this suite as an emergency clinic in case of troubles, usually its empty in case one of his partners needs it for treatments but Lance and I always stay here when we come to Tenebrae since I'm a nurse and won't ask questions if someone suddenly shows up needing medical assistance.'' She finished preparing what she needed and brought it all beside Ravus to start the treatment. Luna stayed close to her brother, slowly threading her finger through his dirty hair in an effort to over a bit of comfort to him, ''What about if the army comes to ask for us?'' the girl wondered, biting her lower lip in worry.
Sylva finished verifying that the IV was properly infusion before answering, ''They wont find you.'' Her voice was confident and seemed almost amused at the idea. Luna looked up from Ravus, ''Why are you so sure….'' She asked, still worried. Sylva smiled at the child, wordlessly asking for permission to sit beside her and waited until Luna nodded before doing so. Before she could explain Lance arrived carrying a tray of breakfast food into the room, Luna blushed at the hungry growl her stomach produced as she smelled the scents of freshly baked pancakes among other things. Sylva and Lance shared an amused look, the nurse standing up to move a small table between both beds. Lance had heard Lunafreya's worry and set about answering her previous question, ''We are both very certain no one will find you here because this room is hidden. The suite was created for people who wanted added privacy and security for whatever reason and so it was built with this hidden room at the middle. There are only 2 ways of accessing it. One is the way we came in last night, the elevator and via the official suite but either way will only open if the person holds this unique key.'' He put the tray down between the beds and showed Luna a single odd shaped key that had seemingly random indentations on it.
''Not only do you need the key, you also need to know where the keyhole is. And if you're worried about someone trying to track you by name, the room is under ours and the suite appears booked under another name completely for added protection. The Niflheim army could walk up and look through all of the suites and room and not find any trace of you or your brother. It certaintly wouldn't be the first time Kelter did that!'' Sylva added with a laugh. Luna stared at the two who had put their lives on the line in order to help her and her brother. She couldn't decide whether they were extraordinary or simply reckless and very lucky. Luna picked up a plate, looking at the pancakes and the choices of fruits, chocolate and syrup she could add to it. A few cups were on the edge of the tray beside a coffee thermos, all three of them taking some as they ate in a relatively peaceful atmosphere. Once Lance finished eating, he finished his morning routine and after a kiss to Sylva, bid Luna a good day, '' I'll be back before supper. It's only scheduled maintenance and final checks so don't hesitate to contact me if any of you need anything.''
The rest of the morning went by slowly for Luna as she stayed by Ravus' side for all of it except for the quick shower Sylva convinced her to take. Lunch passed by with Ravus' fever dropping considerably thanks to the medicine that could be found in the room but Lunafreya was growing increasingly worried the longer Ravus spent sleeping. Sylva tried to explain that sleep was the best thing for her brother and that she should try to rest as well but the sudden change from being a prisoner in her own home to being saved by strangers made it hard for the 13 year old to get any rest. Even Umbra and Pryna could only do so much to help the young oracle stay calm and Gentianna had yet to show up since her disappearance right before the Argentum's had arrived at the Manor. Sylva kept a close eye on both Nox Fleurets while she took out the stolen pre-signed letters from Finor and amused herself with creating some chaos in between her frequent checks on Ravus' condition. She wrote a letter straight to the Emperor, detailing a fake assassination attempt orchestrated by Chancellor Izunia with the help of several high ranking military leaders and the researcher Besithia. Another one was addressed to the head of the Niflheim intelligence network, whose name and title Sylva had found on the black market auction sheet, practically blackmailing the man with the amount of money he was 'borrowing' from the Empire's coffer to sustain his sexual habits in return for Finor being protected from any attempts to remove him from his current position as Lord Regent of Tenebrae. She took a break from writing to undo the quick stitches that she had made to create the fake maid uniform and soaked the bloody parts into water with the bloody clothing of her husband. Replacing the rest in her medical bag as extra towels and wipes took care of any trace of yesterday's activities.
She returned to the small desk to write some more letters. Several of them were sent to various military commanders, requesting more troops be moved to assist in the removal of last remnants of Tenebraen resistance hiding in the abandoned nearby mines. Sylva added several orders to the men sent, as far as any of the commanders were aware, each of them were the only ones asked to help the Lord Regent in return for a title of nobility. The men had to be sent undercover and were given permission to kill all those who would show up at the mines at a time specified to be a month away. Once she exhausted all the stolen letters in similar fashion, Sylva decided to start on a small lunch. She checked one last time on Luna and the still unconscious Ravus, noticing the drop in temperature, before heading out of the secret room to call the front desk to bring up some ingredients from the kitchen to make a soup. She hummed to herself as she started getting everything she needed ready to make the meal when Lance called to check in.
Lance had left the suite by the official door, the new conference center within easy walking distance from the hotel. He waved at the 2 receptionists as he left and stopped right outside the door with a sigh of relief, basking in the warm morning sun. The walk took less than 20 minutes, Lance being one of the few walking through the streets at the early hours of the touristic area and his arrival at the conference center was greeted by shouts from colleagues, ''Lance! Glad to see you could make the trip! How's your family doing?'' asked one of them, a speaker who specialized in talks about resource management. Lance grinned in reply, ''Nice to see you too Jean, my family is doing quite well and what about yours? I heard you adopted another child not too long ago?'' Jean extended a hand which Lance shook before both men headed through the front doors, guarded by MT's.
The conference center was very large, its domed ceiling painted with various quotes that were supposed to be inspirational. The floor of the entrance was made of marble and a receptionist was quick to greet the two men as they approached, ''Welcome to the new Finor Conference Center! How may I help you?'' Jean answered evenly, ''I am Jean Talon and this is Lance Argentum, we are both invited speakers to the opening conference for this lovely center.'' The receptionist bowed low, before pointing towards one of the rising escalators, ''Please go up and enter the second room to your left. Once all the invited speakers have arrived someone will be along to commence the tour and go over the schedules and everything requested by each speaker for their turn.'' Lance nodded, offering the lady a smile before following Jean up.
They soon found themselves among other colleagues and speakers, most of whom Lance had met previously at a previous job. It wasn't long before they were all chatting and after an hour or so the scheduled verification of the equipment and order of speakers was done. Just as the group were about to stop for lunch, a commotion sounded outside the main auditorium where they were all gathered in. The door were pushed open by two MT's, standing on guard on either side as the Lord Regent himself walked through the doors, followed by his personal guards to approach the motionless group.
Finor was looking for someone as he walked determinedly over, finally meeting Lance's eye with a narrow glare of a hunter looking for his prey. The Lord Regent stopped right in front of Lance, who had gotten up and now offered the man a bow. '' Lord Finor, I am pleased to see you. Were you able to tame the fire before it caused excessive damage to the historical Nox Fleuret Manor?'' Finor responded politely, eyes looking for any signs of Lance lying or being nervous, ''As am I to see you safely reached a hotel after your sudden departure last night. The fire was contained shortly after you left unfortunately I seem to have misplaced some items of great value during the fire and I am here to see if you knew where these things might have disappeared too.''
Lance looked pensive, '' Items? Perhaps if you were to specify which items you misplaced I could be of better assistance?'' The speaker proposed, ignoring the confused looks of his colleagues. Finor was starting to bristle with impatience, ''You know of what I am talking about!'' Lance bowed to the man, ''I am afraid I do not Lord Regent. Of course, if you so strongly believe I have something to do with whatever items you cannot find then I invite you to look through my things to your hearts content.'' Finor relaxed a slight bit, looking less angry and nodded, '' Thank you for your assistance. I do not see the use of looking through your bags since the items are much too large to be hidden in such small things but if I recall correctly, you and your wife are staying at the Oracles Hotel?'' Lance nodded and Finor grinned, clasping both of Lance's shoulders. ''Good, I will order some men to look through your room then, now why don't we go out to have lunch? The food you can find here is not worth mentioning. We shall eat together at Simonie's, my teat as an apology for my rudeness and paranoia.'' Lance sighed but accepted the invitation, he grabbed his bag and then his cell phone.
Finor looked at Lance as the man dialed a number quickly, Lance explaining to the Lord, '' My wife has a tendency to take a shower at this time of the day. I will simply let her know to wait until your men have finished their jobs before she does so.'' ''Ah, of course, by all means. It would be unfortunate if she were to be put in an awkward situation though it would not do for her to be worried needlessly about my misplaced items.'' Finor waved off the explanation, his interest suddenly gone as he turned around to give his orders. Lance waited as the phone rang twice before his wife answered.
''Hey Love, how was your morning?'' Sylva asked, humming to herself as she double checked everything on the counter. Lance smiled at the sound of her voice, ''Hello yourself beautiful, my morning was ordinary as expected. Were you able to do what you wanted?'' Sylva stopped what she was doing as she heard Lance greet her, when they had first started dating Lance had been in a situation that made meeting with her openly difficult and so Sylva had half-jokingly created a code for different situations. Since Lance had moved to Insomnia, they had only used the code to tease each other as part of an ongoing game of word tag but the use of the word beautiful when Lance was talking to her on the phone was a red flag. She moved away from the kitchen and closer to the secret room, ready to move if needed. ''Mostly, I'm still waiting on someone to call me but everything else was done on time. When do you think you'll be back?'' Sylva waited breathlessly for an answer. Lance smiled, casting a look at Jean before replying, ''I meet an old friend here so I don't know exactly when but just so you know the Lord Regent has sent people to pick up some of my old speeches he asked about last night. I know you like to keep your routine as much as possible but I don't know when they'll be passing by. Can you stick around until they grab what they need?'' Sylva replied, ''Got it! I'll make sure they find what they need without any trouble. Have fun at the conference dearest!'' Lance felt a tap on his shoulder and was met with one of the guards waiting impatiently for him. With a final goodbye, Lance finished the call and with a wave to his colleagues left the auditorium escorted by the guard.
In the suite, Sylva was contacting Kelter. ''Kelter, we're about to have imperial guests, mind stalling them for 5 minutes once they arrive? I need to clean up a bit.'' Kelter chuckled, ''That would explain the cars pulling up. You have 10. Try not to clean too much.'' The conversation was brief and to the point, leaving Sylva smirking as she returned to the kitchen and put away the extra plates she had taken out for Luna and in case Ravus woke up. Once that was done, she headed back to where Luna was still sitting by Ravus' side. The soundproof walls meant that Luna hadn't heard anything and Sylva quickly explained the situation, giving Luna the key to the room as she did, ''Finor noticed you and your brother are missing, he sent some troops to check if we were involved.'' Luna tensed, her hand gripping the lax one of her brother harder, Sylva offered her a smile, ''Remember what Lance and I told you, you and your brother are safe here. I'm going to move our bags and then close the door. Don't open it until you get a call.'' Sylva pointed to the phone hidden at the corner of the room, ''Don't answer it. I'll call twice and both time let it ring 8 times before hanging up. Anything else and you stay put.'' Luna took a shuddering breath, eye wide with fear and worry but still determined to protect Ravus as much as she could. ''Alright, please be careful .'' Sylva smiled, ''Call me Sylva or Auntie if youd prefer!'' she added the last thing as a joke, turning quickly around to pick up the bags and missing the way Luna reacted to her name with a silent gasp.
Sylva quickly gathered all the bags belonging to Lance and herself, leaving Luna's things alone before closing the door firmly behind her and making sure the keyhole was properly hidden by the heavy looking bookcase. A soft click told her that the hidden locking mechanism that added the proper weight to the bottom of the bookcase was doing its job correctly. She placed the various bags into the center bedroom, only hanging the suits that Lance planned on wearing the next day but leaving the rest on the bed of floor. She didn't try to hide the bloody clothes or the medical kit, knowing that Lance wouldn't mind her excuse for their state if someone asked about it. A brisk knock on the door had her smiling as she made her way to the door to allow their guests in. ''Hello Kelter! And you must be the men sent to pick up some of Lance's stuff. I do apologies for the trouble.'' Declared Sylva as she invited the group of 10 MTs and 2 imperial soldiers that were waiting behind Kelter.
Kelter nodded to the nurse, ''Sorry for disturbing your routine Sylva, how was your morning?'' he asked as the MT went straight to spreading out and using their sensors to search the suite bit by bit. Sylva smiled to the hotel owner, ''Dont worry about it, its kinda our fault for leaving without giving Lord Regent Finor what my husband had talked about if anything I should be apologising for the trouble our late arrival caused you and for this.'' Kelter leaned against the open door, crossing his arms carelessly, giving the woman a shrug as they both watched the MTs and guards move around. ''I hope they don't break anything.'' Sighed Sylva to which Kelter shrugged, '' If they do then I'll bill the Lord Regent for it. I'm sure he'll pay for any repairs.'' Sylva had to restrain a chuckle as the two human guard tensed at Kelter's subtle threat, she could easily guess that Finor wouldn't be the one paying for any damage but rather these two Niflheim guards would be forced to foot the bill on whatever salary they were given.
In didn't take long for the bloody clothes to be found soaking in the cold water filling the bath tub, one of the guard going up to Sylva threateningly, ''Why is there bloody clothes belonging to a man in the bath tub?'' Sylva allowed herself to blush a bit, looking away to glance at Kelter as though embarrassed, '' I'm afraid that a personal matter between me and my husband.'' The guard took a step forward only to stop before doing anything else as Kelter started laughing until he had to gasp for breath, the guard staring at the hotel owner like he had grown a second head. Sylva pouting as she glared at Kelter, ''Dont you dare tell him. Its private!'' She hissed to no apparent effect as Kelter sighed, still laughing and shaking his head in amusement, ''Whats so funny?'' asked the guard thoroughly confused while the second human guard approached having been alerted by the laughter of the conversation from one of the side rooms.
Kelter grinned widely, ''Sorry, sorry; it just that Sylva and Lance came here for their honeymoon and well…'' He cast a wicked grin towards Sylva, ''We had to repaint the whole room when they left because of the blood left all over the place from their sessions. I even got invited to share with her.'' He pointed his thumb at Sylva, who hide her face behind her hands, trying to contain her laughter at Kelter's usual excuse for any bloody clothe found within the hotel when they shouldn't be there. The two guards looked confused before the younger one turned a bright red and stammered, ''I..l see…. Umm thank you for the explanation. I believe we are done here…'' The older guard stared at his younger partner in confusion but soon turned red himself as the younger guard leaned to explain what Kelter was implying.
Having found nothing unusual past the bloody clothes, the guards simply accepted Sylva's help in choosing a few speeches to bring back to their master before leaving, the room generally undisturbed by their visit. As Sylva walked back up with Kelter after having escorted the men out of the hotel, she could no longer contain her laughter at the flustered expression of the guards had been sporting as they left. Kelter chuckled as well, ''That went well.'' Sylva nodded, ''When doesn't it? Though did you have to add my invitation to your explanation?'' she teased him gently. Kelter grinned, ''I enjoyed your invitation back then and used the lessons well even today, so why not give them some truth?'' Sylva ribbed him, '' Teaching you how to plan a prank is very different from teaching you how to properly do a BDSM session with a consenting partner.''
Kelter grinned and left the nurse at the door of her suite with a mocking bow and last teasing words, ''I'm looking forward to your next invitation.'' Sylva shook her head in mock exasperation as she watched the owner leave her alone. She made her way back inside the suite, taking the phone up and composing the number to the inner room twice, allowing it to ring 8 times before hanging up both times. After a minute or so, the door opened quietly and Luna peaked out cautiously. Sylva smiled, ''They're gone and I doubt they'll be back anytime soon.'' Luna pushed the door wider, ''Thank you for your help.'' She said then cast a glance back to the hidden room before nodding once and returning her attention to the nurse. ''Is everything alright Lunafreya?'' Asked Sylva moving closer to look over the child's body into the room. The nurse tensed up as she saw a tall black haired woman standing beside Ravus' bed silently.
''Who?'' Sylva gasped as she started to move toward the intruder, Luna suddenly standing in front of her with raised hands, ''It ok! Its just Gentianna!'' Sylva stopped looking from the Oracle to the unknown lady who was turned to face Sylva, her eyes closed tightly. The woman bowed towards the nurse undisturbed by the commotion, ''I am Gentianna, a messenger of the Astrals, sent to guide the Oracle in her fate.'' Sylva frowned but returned the bow, ''You honor me with your presence, how may I help you and those you serve?'' Luna walked back to stand beside her divine guide, looking up to her expectantly. Gentianna smiled towards Luna before addressing Sylva, ''The Oracle's healing comes from the Astral's gift but it grows stronger through experience and knowledge. You have what Lunafreya lacks in both knowledge and experience. I would ask you to teach your skills to her in order to help her become the Oracle she is fated to be.''
Sylva was stunned for a few minutes then tilted her head and crossed her arms with a thoughtful hum. '' If I understood you correctly, the Oracle's ability to heal relies on their knowledge of the human body? I'm assuming so since it the only knowledge I could really teach her.'' Gentianna smiled in amusement and inclined her head in agreement, ''That will suffice to begin with.'' Sylva sighed, looked to Luna who was looking back at her, a new found confidence in her posture and hope replacing the fear previously there. The nurse smiled at the look, relaxing completely since seeing the divine messenger standing beside her patient's bed, and told Luna, ''If that's what you'd like then I have no problem doing so.'' As she turned to look back at the stranger being named Gentianna, she found the room empty of her presence. As she stared openly at Gentianna's sudden disappearance, Luna gave a soft laughter at the nurse expression. Sylva returned to look at the smiling child and with an amused sigh motioned for Luna to join her beside Ravus. '' We might as well start now and see if we cant wake your brother up before Lance gets back.'' Luna nodded, grinning and hurried to the nurse's side to start learning about the human body. Sylva only pausing long enough to send Lance a quick text saying that everything had gone without a hitch before giving her new student her full attention.
Lance was quickly escorted to where Finor was waited in the back seat of his car, Lance joining him at the back without a word. The driver quickly started the car, driving them the short distance to the restaurant Finor had mentioned in the auditorium. A valet opened the door for Finor to get out while Lance made his own way out and had to hurry to catch up to the overbearing lord. The lunch was almost a continuation of last evening's dinner, albeit a bit more tense then Lance remembered. They had been there for about half an hour before one of the guards walked up to whisper in Finor's ear. Lance kept eating as he watched Finor relax completely the more the man talked. The Lord Regent turned to smile genuinely to Lance, ''It appears I owe you an apology, my men didn't find my misplaced items. Please consider this meal my apologies for my rudeness at thinking you were some kind of enemy.'' Lance dipped his head slightly in acceptance of the apology, ''Please do not worry about such things, Lord Finor. A man in your position has many worries and must have made many enemies. I am simply wish you good luck in finding whatever items you cannot find.'' The lord smiled and got up, motioning for Lance to stay seated, '' Please do finish your meal in all tranquility. My guards will bring you back to the Finor Conference Center once you are ready to leave. I must be on my way. I believe we shall cross each other during the coming week.''
Lance leaned back as he watched the man saunter out of the restaurant, waving away the servant impatiently and leaving Lance alone with a single imperial guard. The speaker sighed and after a few seconds of contemplation invited his guard to join in, ''There is a lot of food here, it would be a waste to let it be thrown away because Lord Finor was in a hurry.'' The guard looked shocked and hesitated, Lance smiled and added, ''Please join me. I dislike eating alone.'' He spent the rest of the lunch chatting with the guard about trivialities such as his doubtless schedule and where he believes the misplace items could be, though in a more indirect manner. He received Sylva's message as he left the restaurant with his new friend and smiled lovingly at it. The afternoon passing by quickly once he returned to the conference center to finish verifying all his preparations.
Lance bid Jean goodbye at around 5, wanting to return back to help Sylva cook supper. He stopped at a grocery store that was hidden underneath one of the beauty shops, having asked the receptionist for the location of the nearest store, and purchased the ingredients he needed for some chicken pasta dish he hadn't made in quite a while. Just as he left the store, Lance felt his phone warn him of an incoming message. Lance had to reread it twice before going back in and towards the nearest worker, ''I'm sorry to disturb you but do you sell any hair dye?'' The worker thought for a moment before answering, ''I'm afraid not but you can buy some at the beauty shop upstairs.'' Lance thanked them and quickly made his way to the shop in question. He repeated his question to one of the ladies working there and was quickly brought to a section of the store filled with rows and rows of hair dye.
''Are you looking for something in particular? A specific shade perhaps? Is it for you or someone else?'' Asked the lady in quick succession. Lance was a bit shocked at the amount of choices facing him and knowing when he was outclassed, simply called Sylva. Sylva answered the phone with a laugh, ''Having trouble Lance?'' Lance sighed as he answered mildly amused at her own amusement, ''I don't know why you're asking me to buy hair dye but I apparently need more information to buy the correct thing.'' Sylva chuckled, ''I see, well our older guest finally woke up and since we'll be here until the end of the conference, I figured that they would want to spend some time outside of the suite. Hair dye will allow them to do that easily enough and we can go shopping for clothes tomorrow.'' Lance felt his body relax at the new of Ravus' awakening, ''That's great! All right then, what color were thinking about?'' He told his helper the answers to each of her questions and found himself with 2 bottles of hair dye in a shade of dirty blond that reminded him of a mix between Ignis and Prompto.
Lance quickly made his way back to his suite after making the last purchase, eager to see how the two children were fairing now that the immediate danger was gone. He opened the door of the suite to be greeted by the laughter of a young girl and the annoyed huff of an older brother being teased. Lance stared at seeing Ravus standing by himself, looking almost perfectly healthy except for the continued thinnest from malnourishment and the bags under his eyes betraying his tiredness. Sylva smiled from where she sat on the couch watching Luna pester Ravus about going back to bed and rest some more and glanced up when Lance arrived. ''Good you got here quickly.'' Sylva got up and moved to tug Lance into the suite and closed the door behind him. She grabbed the bottles of hair dye and tossed a bottle to both children with a quick, ''Catch.''
Luna caught it with both hands while Ravus struggled to move quickly enough to do so, fumbling with it until he managed to grasp it properly. ''And what exactly do you expect us to do?'' the young man asked, reaching out to touch Luna's shoulder as though needing a reminder of her presence. Sylva smiled and explained, ''We'll be here for a bit over a week and I'm sure you'll be bored if you end up being stuck in the hotel all day long. But if you dye your hair and with some new clothes and a little bit of make up before leaving the suite then you'll be able to go anywhere in town without being recognized.'' Ravus tensed up, ''No!'' He shook his head, ''Its too dangerous to stay here any longer. We need to leave quickly.'' He brought Luna close to him protectively, glancing between Sylva and Lance as though expecting either of them to get mad.
Instead, both shared a glance and Sylva motioned for Lance to do the explaining to the frightened teenager. Lance nodded, turning to look squarely at Ravus without moving from where he was, ''And that's why its safer to stay in Tenebrae for a while longer.'' Ravus looked confused, looking down to where Luna was rubbing her hands soothingly over his hand, now scarred. Lance continued, ''Finor has already looked here and by now, will have ordered a complete lockdown of the city, trying to leave now would be dangerous because that is what he expects from both of you. Except, he is looking for two platinum blond sibling, an older brother and his younger sister, if your appearance changes enough then no one will recognize either of you and you will be even safer.'' Ravus hesitated, turning over the logic in his tired mind. Luna stood on her toes to brush a hand gently on Ravus' cheek, ''I agree with them too. They've proven trustworthy so far and Gentianna told me we can trust them. Please Ravus, we both need to rest and get stronger before doing anything else.'' Ravus sighed and then nodded, ''Very well. I suppose I can do this if it make you feel better sister.'' Luna smiled, shot a grateful look at the couple and starting dragging Ravus into one of the bathrooms to get started.
Lance sighed, ''I wasn't expecting him to be up like that, and who is Gentianna?'' Sylva smiled, '' I'll tell you as we get supper ready.'' They both moved to the kitchen, Sylva taking out the ingredients Lance bought and guessed the meal he wanted to make easily enough, ''Your chicken pasta?'' She exclaimed delighted, Lance nodded pouring water into a large pot to start the water boiling. '' Is that ok for them?'' Sylva gave her worried husband a quick kiss. ''Yes, it will be fine. Now to answer your question. Gentianna is apparently one of the divine messengers of the Astrals. She has been charged with keeping an eye on Luna for a while. She appeared to speak with Luna while I was dealing with the over eager guards and asked me to teach Luna a few things to help make her a better Oracle.'' Lance stopped what he was doing to stare at his wife in shock, making her giggle at his open mouth expression of shock, ''I know! But I couldn't simply refuse so I started teaching Luna a few things. She already had a good grasp of human anatomy but it turns out that the healing of the Oracle works one of two ways. For a physical injury, the healing happens by the Oracle sharing her energy to speed up the bodies healing but she has to know how the injury should heal in the first place. The other way has to do with the scourge and we didn't really talk about that yet.''
Lance nodded, returning his attention to preparing the supper for the four of them as he listened. Sylva gently shoved him and continued, ''So since Ravus was in need of healing and the healing either works or doesn't, I had her practice healing him while I guided her through the healing process of each type of injuries. Ravus woke up once Luna finished healing the worst of his injuries but they were both tired. I explained the situation to Ravus in general with Luna's help before they both had a nap. Luna just finished healing the rest of Ravus' bruises about 40 minutes ago.'' By this time, Ravus and Luna were back in the large center room of the suite, hair carefully covered in the plastic cap provided with the dye. Lance noticed the way Ravus kept within arm's reach of his sister, recognizing the flash of fear that passed through his eyes every so often as the trauma it was. Sylva obviously shared his concern as she offered the children to watch a movie while supper was finished. Ravus followed Luna to curl together on the couch, arguing teasingly about the choices of movies available before settling on an old documentary about the natural life that existed on the Duscae Plains. Once the food was ready, Sylva and Lance carefully brought the four sets of plates to the living room, handing the food to the children before finding their own seat close by.
The adults watched with some worry as both of the children seemed to struggle with eating their portions. Luna only eating half of what she had in her plate and Ravus eating even less. Lance called out, ''Is everything alright? If you don't like it I can make something else or we can order in from somewhere.'' Luna shook her head quickly, '' No it good… its just…'' She stopped leaning a bit more into her brother. Ravus sighed, putting his plate on the small table in front of the couch and started rubbing his sister's back. ''It taste very good I simply don't have much of an appetite at the moment.'' Sylva frowned then nodded, putting her plate aside to move to stand beside them and quickly checking their temperature. ''Both of you have a small fever. I'm sorry I should have thought about this possibility before hand.'' She turned to look thoughtfully at the kitchen for a few moments before suggesting, ''What about smoothies?'' Luna looked up hopefully while Ravus frowned a bit, ''That might be easier to take in our current situation.'' Sylva nodded, ''All right then, I'll go down to the kitchen and grab some fruits and ice cream to make it for everyone. Any requests?'' Ravus shook his head but Luna grinned happily and asked, ''Can I get strawberries and chocolate?'' Sylva nodded, ''Sure. You can ask Lance to send me a message if you change your mind, Ravus. I'll be back soon!'' The nurse quickly leaving the suite and heading down to the kitchen to gather the things she needed.
Left alone with the two children, Lance finished his own meal, keeping an eye on the siblings while they watched the documentary, or rather Luna watched it while Ravus spent most of his time watching her and her reactions to the show. Lance got up, picking up the plates left on the table as well as his own to put away the food and wash the dishes, he wasn't expecting Ravus to move to stand hesitantly beside him. Lance cast a look at the teen, waiting for Ravus to speak patiently. ''Thank you. Luna told me you were the one who saved me from where I was held.'' Lance turned to look at the young man who refused to meet his gaze. ''It was my pleasure to help you both. What happened to you was.. is absolutely wrong.'' He noticed the flinch that Ravus had at the words, catching the flicker of his gaze as Ravus looked quickly up to his expression. Lance read guilt and shame in those eyes as well as deep confusion, ''Would you like to talk about what happened?'' he offered, returning to washing the dishes so Ravus would hopefully feel a bit more comfortable talking. Ravus stayed quiet then said whispered, ''I should have been there for her.'' Lance kept quiet, simply tilting his head to acknowledge the statement.
Ravus took a deep shuttering breath, ''It's my fault Luna was captured. If I hadn't frozen, if mother hadn't… hadn't died protecting me then she could have fled with Regis. She only stayed because of me…'' Lance slowly put down the dish he was washing, drying his hands before turning to look at Ravus, who looked much younger as he tried to control his heaving chest. A flicker toward the living room of the suite showed Luna looking worried at her brother's back then meeting Lance's eyes. Lance nodded to the young girl before turning to focus his attention to the shattered boy in front of him. ''Can I touch you Ravus?'' He asked just as quietly, Ravus hesitated, his hands opening and closing fitfully for several long moments before he nodded once. Lance slowly took the steps separating them, giving Ravus the time to change his mind if he wanted before gently bringing the tall and thin boy into a hug. '' Nothing that happened was your fault. I know you don't believe me but it's the truth. The only people who bear any blame in the violence that hurt you and your family are the Niflheim commanders and soldiers who ordered and carried out those orders.''
He felt the boy raise his hands to grasp Lance's shirt as he hid his face in the crook of Lance's neck. Lance slowly started rubbing Ravus' back the way he had done to Luna a few minutes ago. He waited patiently for Ravus to calm down a bit before speaking again, ''Whatever you did by choice or because you were forced you did in order to survive. There is no shame in that, your love for your sister kept you strong and alive until today. You're here with her and us now. When the conference is over, we'll leave and bring you to Insomnia.'' Ravus tensed at the name, hands grasping into his shirt even more, Lance stopped and asked, ''Whats wrong?''
Ravus didn't answer at first not until Luna walked up to join in on the hug, Ravus lifting his tear line face to look at her, swallowing before he spoke, ''King Regis abandoned us during the invasion why would he help us now?'' He hissed, voice tainted by anger but also.. confusion? Lance looked carefully at Ravus under the kitchen lights thinking thoroughly about what to say before talking, ''Ravus, why do you say that King Regis abandoned you?'' Ravus looked down, forcing his hands to relax their grip on Lance's shirt and taking a few steps away from the man, his body tense in a way that showed more fear of being hit rather than anger. Lance reacted to the body language carefully, stepping away to lean against the counter with his hands in plain sight and forced his body to assume a fully relaxed position. Ravus looked a bit surprise and some of the fear drained away as he seemed to search Lance for something.
The professional speaker smiled and waited patiently, allowing Ravus to do what he had to in order to feel comfortable enough to speak again. ''He was the reason why Niflheim invaded. And then he just ran off with his son and never looked back.'' There was some hesitation in the teenager's words, like he didn't really believe what he was saying but rather was repeating something he had been told. Lance wouldn't be surprised if that was the case, ''Do you really believe that?'' He pushed a bit, needing to see Ravus react to his question to decide how to proceed from there. Ravus hesitated, his gaze dropping to look at the ground, teeth grinding against each other as he seemed to struggle with himself then all of the sudden his body relaxed and Ravus whispered, '' I don't know… I don't…. I….'' Luna held unto Ravus as her brother slowly knelt down on the kitchen floor, curling unto himself in an attempt to keep himself together through the confusion and trauma of the last year or so.
Luna looked up to Lance who slowly moved towards the boy, stopping at a respectable distance where Ravus could still feel his presence without being overwhelmed. ''Its ok Ravus, I understand this must be very confusing for you after what you've gone through but let me repeat myself, nothing that happened was your fault. The emotions you are feeling are normal and its ok to feel like that. I wish I could just wave my hand and help you feel better but these kind of things take a long time to heal and that is also ok. You aren't alone, not anymore. You have your sister beside you and you have me and Sylva.'' Ravus gave a shuddering breath at Sylva's name, Lance looked over to see Luna mouth, 'Our mother's name' to him as she returned the backrub from earlier. Lance nodded, sitting comfortably on the kitchen floor and offered his silent support as Ravus was finally able to grieve his mother's death without fear of being injured for it.
Sylva arrived with a bag full of fruits and some chocolate ice cream, took one look at the kitchen and dropped everything to join her husband in offering her support. Ravus took one glance at Sylva through tear filled eyes and almost threw himself on her, Sylva holding Ravus just as tight as he was holding unto her and after a little while, motioned for Luna to join in which she did with her own tears joining her brother's. Lance smiled at his wife and set about taking over the creations of the smoothies for the children. The rumbling sound of the blender helping Ravus calm down and center himself around the resent moments and the cold feeling of the blended drink being slipped into his hand helped even more. The whole family found themselves snuggling on a single couch, Ravus and Luna in between Lance and Sylva until it was time for them to wash off the hair dye, forgotten until then. The two children who emerged from their separate bathroom in borrowed clothes and with dirty blond hair looked very little like the Nox Fleuret the Niflheim would be looking forward. That night, Lance and Sylva pushed two of the queen sized bed together and repeated the same position as they had on the couch.
Squished between Lance and Sylva, Ravus only woke up three times from his nightmares to be drawn out of his panicked state by both adults quickly and resettled into sleep within half an hour each time. Luna also had her own nightmare but only woke up once, taking a deep breath and feeling the presence of the other three surrounding her plus the near constant ones of her dogs before slipping back into her dreams. The next few days soon took a steady routine; Lance would wake up at 6 to get ready for the conference, leaving an hour later just as Sylva woke up. While Lance worked, Sylva would allow both children to sleep until they woke up on their own, Ravus often waking up but choosing to remain tucked by Luna's side until she woke up. They had some breakfast and then Luna would spend a few hours with Sylva teaching her about the healing process of the human body while Ravus read some books that were in the room. They had lunch and then left the hotel to go walk through the city. The first time they did so, Ravus and Luna were unbelievable tense and stressed despite the reassuring presence and confidence that was Sylva. When they realized that no one even looked at them for more than a passing glance, they were able to relax and start enjoying their new found freedom. Lance would meet them after the conference was done for the day and they would return to the hotel for supper.
On some nights, Ravus and Lance would leave again to go unto the hotel rooftop to talk about whatever Ravus wanted to talk about while on others they stayed all together to watch a movie or play some games. Sylva and Lance called Prompto every night except for the first 2 nights, checking in on their son without letting the boy know what they were doing themselves. The nights still brought about nightmares for both of the Nox Fleuret and both had moments of complete panic whenever MT's wondered too closely to them but thankfully Sylva was able to predict such situation and diminish its chance of happening. On the last day of their trip, Sylva helped Luna and Ravus pack their new things into the bags she had bought for them and helped bring it all into the car. One final meal followed by a relaxing evening ended their stay in Tenebrae and Sylva couldn't wait to see just how much chaos her revenge would cause once things started falling unto each other. She would be able to see the results of the letters and changed reports from the safety of Insomnia's Wall while teasing Cor about her success.
The trip out of the city went without a problem, none of the guards looking twice at the two children sitting tensely on the back seat of the old car, each holding unto a blanket covered dog. Ravus stared in shock as the Argentum's family car passed through the heavily guarded gates without anyone wiser to the presence of the surviving members of the Royal Tenebrae family. The trip back to Insomnia took a few days, with the addition of two dogs and two children in the car making frequent stops a necessity, not that either Lance or Sylva worried about it. A simple call made to Cor from Sylva guaranteed that their delayed arrival would not cause trouble for their jobs at the Citadel and Sylva's teasing request, ''We bring royal gifts from our trip, King Regis and Prince Noctis will want to be there to accept them.'' had the Marshall ordering the gate keepers to warn him of their arrival into the city. It didn't prepare any of them to the sight of Ravus and Lunafreya Nox Fleuret, having returned to their natural color once out of the Niflheim controlled areas, stepping out of Lance's old car while Sylva grinned in amusement at the expressions spreading in front of her like a cat at a fish buffet. Lance shook his head and poked his wife gently, ''Worth it?'' He asked simply. Sylva turned, her grin wicked as she leaned to kiss him passionately, ''Always.''
It was Noctis who shook off the surprise first, running up to hug Luna with a shout of pure joy followed closely by King Regis approaching the two children and bowing to them, '' I'm very glad to see you both safe and sound. I offer you my home as your own for as long as you desire it. I'm sorry I couldn't save you on that day.'' Ravus hesitated before returning the bow; his talks with Lance helping him make sense of what was going on in his mind even if it didn't make the whirlwind of emotions disappear. ''I forgive you and thank you for your kind offer King Regis. We have much to discuss but that can wait to a later date.'' Regis blinked at Ravus and then smiled and nodded, ''Of course, please I'm sure you are all tired. Lets retire to somewhere more comfortable for the evening.'' Bit by bit everyone made their way inside the Citadel, leaving only a few outside to help Lance and Sylva empty their car of baggage's. Cor was one of them, handing a few bags for Prompto, who had wheeled himself to see his parents as they kissed, to hold on his lap. The Marshall looked at the retreating crowd before turning to look at Sylva and Lance, ''You guys are crazy. I'm quite sure I told you not to get into trouble when you left!'' Sylva grinned, looking at her son in pure delight, ''I don't know what you're talking about Cor. We didn't get into any trouble.'' She then reached into one of the bags and gave Cor a small memory card. '' This is a gift for you. Have fun!'' She left the man standing there looking annoyed as he kept glancing between his childhood friend and the card in his hand. With a huff, Cor gave up and followed after the family as he finished helping them settle back into the apartment after close to two weeks away from their home and son. At least now that they were back, Sylva wouldn't be able to do as much damage, thought Cor to himself despite knowing that was unlikely to ever happen when it came to the nurse, he corrected himself, at least he would be able to see and help the next time she did something like that. The Marshall smiled as he closed the door behind him and waited to hear their story as Prompto told them about his time with his Uncle Cor.