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Chapter 2: The Lost Prince Of Aurora
When the half-dragon that had just saved Lilac's life opened his eyes, he found himself slowly standing up to see a the back of a black skinned half-dragon wearing a two piece black suit in front of him causing him to speak up.
"F-Father?"
The black skinned half-dragon turned around and got onto one knee and took his son right hand into his own two hands as he spoke up.
"Noctis... son, you must leave now. My time is about come to an end, you have your whole life ahead of you... just promise me, you won't waste it trying to avenged me and your mother son."
"N-No... I won't leave you father!" The ice blue skinned dragon name Noctis said back to his father.
"You don't have a choice! Hydra! Take my son out of here to safety! You know what to do!" Noctis' father said to someone followed by a hand landing on Noctis's shoulder yet Noctis was refusing to move forcing this person to speak up, their voice sounding female.
"You've got to go now!" Was all the voice said being forced to drag Noctis out of the room who was struggling to break free as he saw a shadowy figure bringing a sword down onto his father causing Noctis to call out to his father as tears was going down his cheeks as he closed his eyes.
Noctis suddenly woke up with heavy breathing taking a second to calm down, to find himself in what looked like the kind of room you'd find in a palace expect unlike the room he had the walls was pure white. Noctis then looked down at himself to see he was wearing only his trousers, his black laceless trainers, black jacket and top was hanging on the end of the bed near him. He also noticed the bandage that was being wrapped around his waist. Noctis closed his eyes only to open the a second later where he heard the sound of someone cowering near him and looked in the direction the sound came from to see the white Hush Basset, he saw just before he fell to the ground out cold.
Noctis looked down at the ground feeling a bit guilty, knowing he was the cause of her cowering and spoke up with a soft friendly tone as he grabbed his top, putting it back on right away. "Hey there kid. Sorry about that, just woke up from a bad dream... say did you do these bandages all by yourself?"
The white Hush Basset nodded slowly but didn't say anything back as she was slowly calming down as Noctis moved his legs to allow them to hang over the bed. "Heh, you do a pretty good job kiddo, what's ya name?"
"M-Milla... I'm M-Milla Basset." Milla replied to Noctis.
"Heh." Was all Noctis said as he gave Milla a weak smile before looking down at the ground as he spoke. "Cute name. Well Milla, I'm Noctis."
"A-Are you really a dragon?" Milla suddenly asked Noctis.
Noctis looked up at Milla with a warm smile. "Yes, I am dragon Milla. I know I don't look it, but that's because I'm only half-dragon Milla."
"Oh! Just like my friend Lilac! She's half-water dragon!" Milla said her voice suddenly taking on a happy joyful tone.
"Heh, guess that makes two of us..."
Milla was about to speak up but was interrupted by the sound of the door opening causing both Noctis and Milla to see Lilac and Carol walking in. Noctis took quick notice of Lilac's dragon horns leading him to guess right away that this was Milla's half-water dragon friend Lilac. He also noticed that wildcat with her also had something of his resting on her back but didn't say anything as Lilac spoke up.
"Oh you're awake! I guess I better go inform the Royal Magister."
Before Lilac could leave Carol placed a hand on Lilac's shoulder before speaking up. "How about me and Milla go inform the Magister while you stay here to keep an eye on him?"
"You sure? I mean it would be a lot more faster for me to go inform the Magister Carol." Lilac replied back.
"Oh come on, I'm trying to give you a chance to have a nice long talk with another dragon here Lilac." Carol said trying to convince Lilac to stay and watch over Noctis.
"I-I... fine I'll stay here while you two go inform the Magister." Lilac replied giving in to Carol.
Noctis then suddenly spoke up before Carol could leave the room as Milla walked over to Carol. "I'd like my Sniper Rifle back before you go."
"Sniper what now? You mean..." Carol pulled the weapon Noctis was talking about off her back and held it in both her hands. "This thing?"
Noctis nodded. "Yes that. My father had that made for me, as he wished to keep out of danger, yet I would refuse to stand by and do nothing, so he had that made for me so I could fight from afar out of harms reach."
Carol looked down at the weapon Noctis called a Sniper Rifle. "I can't... you're meant to stay disarmed till-"
"I understand but at the very least I would wish for it to remain within my sight. Perhaps you could give it to the dragon next to you before you leave?" Noctis interrupted.
"Well... I guess I could... would save having to lug it all the way to the throne room and back..." Carol said as she placed the Sniper Rifle leaning up the wall near the doors and left with Milla to go inform the Magister that his guest was now awake leaving Lilac alone with Noctis who just sat there quietly with his eyes closed while Lilac leaned up the wall with her arms crossed as she spoke up.
"T-Thanks..."
Hearing this caused Noctis to open his eyes as he rested is left foot on the bed side while the other foot hanged over it, while he was resting his left side elbow his left knee as he looked over at Lilac.
"Huh?"
"T-Thanks for saving me from that shadow monster." Lilac said causing Noctis to look back down at the ground with his eyes closed, a smile on his lips.
"No need to thank me. Name's Noctis... how long was I out for?"
"Two days. I'm Sash Lilac The Dragon Girl. I didn't think I'd ever get to meet a real living dragon from such ancient times." Lilac replied.
"Heh, well who could have guessed you'd find one placed in cryosleep? So, I heard from your friend Milla, that you're a half-dragon like me, I believe she said you was half-water dragon."
"Yeah, I hope Milla wasn't any trouble for you just now, she's still young and-"
"No need to worry." Noctis interrupted. "She seems like a nice kid. Plus she did one hell of a job patching me up... guess that Shadow Wolf must of got a scratch on me before Dragon Soul's blade landed on it."
"Dragon Soul? You mean that katana you used to save me?" Lilac asked with a curiosity tone.
"Yeah." Noctis said back nodding. "My father had it made for me on my 14th birthday. His way of saying I have proven that I can look after myself, and he is proud of me for that. He said the katana was called Soul of The Dragon, but I prefer to call it Dragon Soul instead. Roll off the tongue better ya know? Anyway, guessing you want to know what kind of dragon I am right?"
"Yeah, since you already know I'm a water dragon, it would only be fair if I knew what kind you was." Lilac replied.
Noctis smiled as he looked over to Lilac. "Water... well I still hope I am." Noctis joked with a smile on his lips.
Lilac smile enjoying the fact that even for a prince she found Noctis easy to approach and talk. It was also a bit shocking for her, since she was expecting him to be an antisocial revenged driven prince wanting to avenged the death of his family.
"Ya know, you are rather calm about waking up in an unknown time far from your own. I was at least expecting you to be wanting to avenge your family's death, and then your clothing, not something I'd expect to see a prince wearing, but then you are from a different time as well, so I can't really hold that on you."
Noctis chuckled as he saw his jacket resting next to him and picked it up. "Yeah well..." Noctis started to say as he was putting his jacket on. "The city I lived in had a different dress style to ones the people of this world are still likely wearing today. Plus I had a different upbringing that most princes wouldn't have."
"Huh? What do you mean different upbringing?" Lilac questioned.
"I didn't have everything just handed to me. Once I was old enough my father requested me to move out of the palace and down into the city to live on my own to become more interdependent. Even took myself a part time job to earn my own income instead of having my father give me the crystal to pay for things. If a shop would try to give me a discount because of who my father was, I'd request to pay full price only and so on. Not only did it help me mature faster, but helped me learned how to interact with my subjects on a whole different level." Noctis replied as he was slipping his black laceless trainers back on.
"Wow... I guess that explains a why you so easy to talk to right now... So, what was that Shadow Wolf thing you just spoke of?" Lilac asked as the doors of the room opened to reveal Mila and Carol had returned with the Magister, followed by Neera and Gong.
Noctis stood up and faced the Magister with his arms crossed not saying a thing as everyone in the room saw the Magister bow in front of Noctis causing Noctis to just rolled his eyes as the Magister spoke up after he stood up straight again.
"It is good to see you are finally awake. I am the Royal Magister, ruler of Shang Tu, and a descendent of someone who served under your father with a promise to ensure your safety if anything was to happen to your father, and if needed guide you down right path if you ever needed help."
"Heh, even in this time period, Hydra still finds ways to babysit me from beyond the grave." Noctis said jokingly.
Hearing Noctis' joking tone, caused Neera to almost bite her tongue as she was trying hold herself back from speaking. She couldn't believe how undisciplined this so called prince was, and how he could say that about a no longer living person as the Magister spoke up. "My ancestor only wanted what was best for you, young prince."
"I know she meant well, but there was times where she did go a bit over the top, and please just call me Noctis." Noctis then looked over at Neera and could clearly see she was trying to maintain a calm head causing Noctis to guess that she's never had to deal with such an unruly prince like himself before. "What's with Miss All By The Books over there?"
The Magister looked over at Neera who spoke up right away. "Please pardon my tongue Your Excellency, but I find it hard to believe how this is the so called prince your ancestor made promise to protect. He doesn't act like a prince should, nor dress like a prince and how can he just casually joke about a dead person in front of their own descendent along with the fact he doesn't even show any sadness for the family he'll never get to-"
The Magister was about to speak up to Neera to silence her but Noctis was quick to cut him off. A bit of anger in his voice "First, why should it matter how I'm dressed, does it matter if my bloodline went with a different style of royal clothing? Besides, what I'm wearing right now was made specially for me, infused with the essence of Health Petals to enhance the endurance of the one who wears them and..." Noctis walked right pass the Magister up to Neera looking her in the eyes as his hands formed into fists. "I know when to be serious. You think I don't know that I'll never get to bury the bodies of my mother and father!? Did it even occur to you that, maybe just maybe making these jokes is my coping mechanism to deal with that fact!? Well!?"
Neera stood her ground, her face remaining blank as she didn't say a thing while Noctis turned his back to her as Carol spoke up. "Woah woah! Did you just say your clothing was infused with Health Petals!? Like tell me I'm not the only one who heard that."
Lilac spoke up confirming Carol heard right. "Yeah, he did just say that..." Lilac then looked down at her own outfit as she spoke up again. "I didn't think even such a thing was possible."
Milla then spoke up slightly scared from what she just saw happen between Noctis and Neera. "W-Well that e-explains while his wound w-wasn't as bad as it should of been... Noctis are you okay?"
Noctis closed his eyes for a few seconds not saying a thing until he opened his eyes. "I'm fine Milla." Noctis then turned back to Neera. "Think what you want of me, but I've dealt with people like you before, and sometimes there is only one way to earn respect for those like you. Prove ones might to them."
Gong then spoke up wanting to defuse the situation before things got out of hand. "Look, you two just got off on the wrong foot. Maybe you two should start over and try again?"
Noctis didn't say a thing as he walked over to his Sniper Rifle and picked it up with his right hand and then threw it behind him causing it to disappear in a flash of blue light that was shaped like the Sniper Rifle leaving a look of amazement on everyone's face, well expect the Magister who knew of the power Noctis' bloodline granted the young prince causing Lilac to speak up first.
"W-Wha? Where did that thing go? Like how did you even do that!?"
Noctis didn't say a thing as the Magister spoke up. "That is one of the powers granted to him by his bloodline ability to harness the energy of the Kingdom Stone dragonblood."
"It ensures those of my bloodline are never without a weapon to defend themselves with." Noctis said back as he turned to Gong. "And nice of you try and defuse things big guy, but sadly the damage has already been done by Miss By The Books over there. Plus even if I was to fight her, I wouldn't need to use a weapon to beat her. Even Your Excellency here knows that, since he is the only one who seems to know what I'm able to do. Speaking of which, how do you know so much about me?"
Everyone looked over to the Magister who let out a sigh. "Yes that is very true, but things have changed, the Kingdom Stone has taken on a new form, and I do not know if that will of effected the powers granted to you nor do know if all your years of inactivity have weaken your powers and as for your question, my ancestor's diary spoke of you frequently, from your habits to your personality."
Noctis just shrugged. "Figures, that's Hydra for ya, and don't need to tell me twice about over using those powers besides my weapon summon ability."
"Huh?" Was all that left the lips of Lilac and Carol.
"There is a limit to how much I can use most of my powers within a short time frame. As I use ones besides my weapon summon one, it causes a lot of stress on both my mind and body, which can lead to me passing out at the worse of times." Noctis replied to them as he turned crossing his arms as Lilac spoke up.
"Well its not like you are in any shape to even train with your current wound Prince Noctis."
Hearing what Lilac called him, Noctis quickly put his hand up palm open as he looked down at the ground eyes closed. "Don't call me that! Just call me Noctis. As for my wounds, they won't stop me." Noctis said as he crossed his arms again keeping his eyes closed.
"Still I would recommend waiting till we see the status of your wound tomorrow morning." The Magister replied.
"But what about the Health Petal bath method you used to heal my wounds last year?" Lilac asked the Magister.
"We only save that for those with wounds that are as critical as the ones you had last year dragonblood. Tonight you and your friends will be staying here as my guests dragonblood." The Magister said back to Lilac's question and left the room with Neera and Gong following him. Noctis sticking his tongue eyes closed at Neera as she went past him clearly trying to get under her skin causing Carol to let out snicker.
"I like this guy already. He's sure not what you'd expect a prince to be like." Carol said causing Lilac to roll her eyes.
"You like anyone who tries to anger Neera Carol, but I have to say it hard to believe he is being so calm about waking up in a time far from his own."
"I-I want to know how his clothing is infused with Health Petals." Milla suddenly said causing Noctis to give the three girls a smirk.
"Sorry but can't tell ya kiddo. It was a trade secret back before my father's kingdom fell. But maybe we could trade a story for a story instead?"
"Huh?" All three girls said together.
"Your royal friend spoke of you having some critical injuries a year ago." Noctis said as he looked at Lilac.
"Oh well... that's a long story and too many painful-"
"Memories?" Noctis asked as he leaned back on the wall eyes closed. "Trust me, my story would be worse... and I still remember the day it happened... the day... Aurora fell... to the darkness... it was my 16th birthday... me, my father and mother was down in the city eating out for the night... along with their best friend and servant Hydra... it happened so fast... my mother was the first to fall... to the Shadows... I was filled with anger and rushed off, and fought my way past the Shadows and those who served the master of those Shadows..." Noctis said as the memories was playing in his mind.
"Hold on now! What do you mean by Shadows and those who served their master?" Carol said with a hint of disbelief in her voice.
"Shadows, creatures of pure darkness, weaken by the light of the day, but stronger come nightfall. They can take any form, they exists only to do their master's bidding... the enemy of Aurora... the enemy of my bloodline... but as I said it wasn't just shadows I fought that night..." Noctis said as he opened his eyes.
"Y-You mean you-" Milla started to say only to be interrupted by Noctis.
"Yes... I ended many a life that night... I was not proud of it, but I had no choice... not everyone can be saved. No matter how much I wish I could of saved my mother, saved my father... avoided the bloodshed that night... I had to accept the fact that was nothing but a illusion. I still remember the look on my father's face when he died... the old fools warm smile as he accepted his death..."
Noctis was now silent as Lilac, Carol and Milla just looked at each other with shock from what they heard while also feeling sorry for the young prince in front of them. Nothing but silence filled the air till Lilac spoke up.
"So that thing you saved me from two days ago? Was it-"
"Yes, that was a Shadow. To be more on the dot, it's form is named Shadow Wolf. Lucky Shadows can't change their forms on the go or else they'd be really hard to fight, and no I don't know if there are any more out there. But if there is they should be very small in numbers unless... no it's been too long, she wouldn't be around anymore." Noctis said interrupting Lilac.
"Who?" Carol asked causing Noctis to opened his eyes before replying to her question.
"The one who killed my father and mother. But enough about my story, I think it's your turn to tell me yours, and if need be, leave the parts you wish to not speak of."
The next day, morning
Lilac was making her way down the hallway of the Magister's palace. She was just about to pass by the room Noctis was in when she noticed the door was slightly open causing her to knock which was meet by the sound Noctis' groggy muffled voice. "Ugh... wake me up in the afternoon, me and mornings don't mix well together!"
Hearing this caused Lilac to roll her eyes. "Great... and unlike Carol, I can't use the there is Sushi trick, I normally use to wake Carol up in the morning, when she is acting like this... guess I'll have to do this the old fashion way." Lilac thought to herself as she cracked her knuckles and went into the room, which was followed by the sound of struggles and the sound of something breaking, followed by Noctis' voice yelling to let him stay in bed.
About half an hour later Noctis found himself sitting at a table with his arms crossed glaring at Lilac, clearly not too happy about having been dragged out of bed by her causing Milla who was sitting on the right of Lilac to ask Noctis something.
"Are you okay? You don't look too happy right now."
"Hpfm, the one time Hydra isn't around to drag me out of bed in the morning! I still don't get to sleep in till noon all because of Miss Purple over here." Noctis replied to Milla as he didn't stop glaring at Lilac.
Carol who was sitting on the other side of Lilac let out a yawn while stretching her arms into the air as she spoke, her voice sounding a bit sluggish. "Join the club. Can't believe I still fall of the 'there is Sushi for breakfast' trick Little Miss Heropants uses to wake me up in the morning."
"Oh come on Carol! This is hardly the place for you to be lazy! We're guests of the Royal Magister right now remember? Besides... don't you want to see what Mister Hotshot over there can do?" Lilac said back to Carol while sending a smug grin in Noctis' direction causing Noctis to mumble something under his breath.
"I'll wipe that smug grin off your face soon enough girl."
"What was that?" Lilac asked Noctis but before Noctis could reply the Magister came in and joined them at the table, Lilac also noticing that Magister also had that small version of the Kingdom Stone with him, which was being use to power the pod she found Noctis in.
"I trust you all had a good nights rest?" The Magister asked them all, with Noctis being the first to speak up.
"Yeah I was, till someone woke me up this morning."
Lilac just rolled her eyes paying no attention to what Noctis just said as she and her two friends nodded to the Magister's question.
"Good. Now..." The Magister placed the said smaller version of the Kingdom Stone in front of Noctis. "As I said last night the Kingdom Stone have taken on a new form since you last walked the planet. As much as I would like to reunite this small portion of the Stone's power to the rest of it, we do not know how your powers will react to the new form, so I leave the choice up to you."
Noctis uncrossed his arms and reached his right hand out to item placed in front of him and closed his eyes as his hand hovered in front of it as he spoke up. "Keep this small portion of it's power as it is for now... that's till my connection to this small part of the Kingdom Stone's power becomes more stable. Maybe keep it hidden here in your palace Magister?"
Noctis then pulled his hand away from it and opened his eyes as the Magister spoke up. "Very well, and what are your plans for rebuilding Aurora? My ancestors was once loyal servants of your family, so it is only right I lend you my own Kingdom's support in rebuilding your own."
"Rebuilding Aurora?" Noctis asked as he leaned back putting his hands behind his head as he closed his eyes again with sly grin. "Nah, I'm not in any rush to rebuild Aurora. I'm mean I promised my father I'd wouldn't go on a quest to avenge his and my mother's death, not promise to rebuild Aurora. As of right now I just wanna goof around for a bit, just have some fun first ya know?"
Hearing this caused something to snap inside Lilac as she slammed her hands on the table as she stood up raising her voice with a hint of anger. "It's your responsibility to rebuild this fallen kingdom of yours!?"
Hearing this just caused Noctis' sly grin to grow wider, as his tone took a sly tone. "Yeah well I heard my father once say to Hydra, 'He won't be a child forever, so why not let him play the part for now. After all, it isn't a role he'll have forever.' Plus, I don't think it would do any good to suddenly work on rebuilding Aurora without first proving that it and my bloodline aren't just mire myths."
Lilac slowly sat back down the second she heard those words. "I-I'm sorry for my outburst... I'm just used to all three Kingdom Leaders being serious about their duties."
Carol then spoke now fully awake due to Lilac's little outburst. "Now you see why I said I like this guy? Sometimes different is good right?"
"Yeah!" Milla said speaking up in agreement. "Besides we have a new friend to play with!"
Lilac couldn't but help smile at Milla. It had only been one year since she and Carol became friends with Milla, and Lilac was happy to see how far Milla has changed over that one year period going from the shy little girl to the more mature, less shy but still childish at times friend sitting next to her, but then she noticed Noctis looking down at the ground away from her and her two friends trying to hide the expression on his face from what Milla said about having a new friend to play with.
Sometime later in one of the training rooms of Shang Tu palace
Noctis was standing in at one end of the room arms crossed with his eyes glued on Neera, who Noctis personally requested to be his opponent, something that Neera gladly accept, seeing it as a chance to prove Noctis isn't cut out to be a prince to everyone in the room. Lilac and her friends was sitting out of the way with her friends, Gong, the Royal Magister and a handful of other guards. Lilac wasn't so sure about letting Noctis fight Neera, since she had in the past fought Neera, even to this day she still remembers it as one of the hardest fights in her life.
"Why didn't he listen to me? I told him last night, that I had to face Neera last year and yet he still wants to do this..." Lilac said in her mind only being brought back to reality by the sound of Milla's voice.
"L-Lilac? Are you okay? You don't seem to be yourself."
"Huh? Oh? I'm okay, I just can't believe this guy still wants to go up against Neera, even after we told him what happened last year... How can he stand a chance if I was only just able to defeat Neera myself?" Lilac replied.
"I dunno about that Lilac." Carol said back as she crossed her arms waiting for the fight to start. "He did pretty much say he fought all his way to that palace we found him in. He must be one tough cookie, if he could do that."
Lilac didn't say anything back as she returned her eyes to looking at Noctis and Neera and saw Noctis lift his right hand up to his shoulder as there was a flash of light causing the katana she found before finding Noctis in that cryo-pod appear in Noctis' hand the hilt of the handle resting on Noctis' shoulder causing talk among those guards watching as Lilac, Carol, Milla and Gong had another shock look on their faces but didn't say a thing as the Royal Magister raised his hand silencing the whole room, with Noctis speaking up a few seconds later.
"Heh, since my father told me to always be a gentlemen to the ladies. You're move." Was all Noctis said as the katana disappeared from his hand, followed by Noctis leaning forwards a bit.
Without saying a word Neera aimed her ice staff at Noctis followed by her releasing a hall of ice shards at Noctis, who just stood there not moving. As the first ice shard was about to hit Noctis, he quickly summoned his katana to hand and used the blade to block . Once he had avoided the last ice shard Noctis threw his right arm forwards as the katana from before appeared and slipped out of Noctis' hand, having clearly thrown it towards Neera as he ran at her.
Neera was quick to react as she brought her ice staff up to block the thrown katana only for it go over her head, surprising her as she failed to notice Noctis till he had landed double dropkick to Neera, knocking her to the ground as Noctis stood up quickly and summoned his katana back to his hand.
Neera let out a cough as she stood up slowly having to use her ice staff to support herself showing how much of a hard blow Noctis just dealt to her. Noctis just crossed his arms once again after his katana disappeared from his hand, as he watched Neera struggling to stand.
"Heh, what's up? Am I too much for ya to handle? Tell ya what? How about I allow ya one free hit on me to make it fair?" Noctis taunted.
"You think this is some kind of game!?" Neera replied her voice getting more angry by the second causing Noctis to chuckle.
"You really don't like me do? and besides if I was to be seriously with you-" Noctis then turned his back to her closing his eyes. "Well, I would of already broken a few of your bones-"
Without warning Neera decided to go in for a physical hit with her ice staff causing Noctis to quickly side-step and roll forwards to make some distance between him and Neera, yet failed to notice the rain of ice shards coming down on him till he noticed the shadows of them on the ground in front causing him to look up at the approaching ice shards with a worried look. "Oh fu-"
Noctis wasn't even able to finish what he was saying as he closed putting his arms up in front of him crossed his arms in front of his face as ice shard after ice shard was landing on him, only stopping when Noctis fell to his knees and hands causing Neera to let out a satisfied "Hpfm" before turning her back to him and spoke up.
"You're pathetic. Just as I thought, you're careless in battle, leading to your own-" Neera was unable to finish as Noctis interrupted her.
"Heh, you really want me to take this seriously don't ya?" Noctis then started to slowly stand up. "Then... serious is what you'll get!" Noctis yelled as Neera turned around to see Noctis throwing his jacket on the ground and rush towards her, using his speed gained from being a dragon to avoid all the ice shards sent his way by Neera, as Carol spoke up.
"Wait hold on? So all this time he was holding back?"
"Couldn't you tell he was holding back? But still... I don't see how he can beat Neera now, she did do some heavy damage to him." Lilac replied as Noctis was now in front of Neera and had just side-stepped an physical attack from her staff and brought his knee up hitting her in the gut causing her to drop her ice staff as her head connected with Noctis' fists from the recoil of the knee to the gut she just received, the blow of both attacks together stunning her.
Noctis then grabbed her with both hands and used his dragon strength to throw her up into the air in front of him, followed by Noctis jumping up and delivering a double drop kick to gut knocking her to the ground. Noctis quickly stood back up, his arms raised, hands still curled into fists as he walked over to Neera and picked her up by the neck of her outfit and leaned forwards to look her in the eyes before lifting her up fully, throwing her over his back onto the ground and turned around to look down at the panda who was struggling to move due to the amount of pain she as Noctis lifted his right foot up and then brought it down hard causing Neera to close her eyes, only to hear Noctis' foot slamming onto the ground it landing just inches from the right side of her head.
"Hpfm, who's the pathetic one now?"
"How-How is this e-even-" Neera was struggling to say as she before succumbing to her pain, her head falling to the ground eyes closed, as she was on a trip to the land of dreams as Noctis walked over to his jacket and started to put it back on as Carol's voice was heard as she rushed over to Noctis, while two guards were dragging the unconscious Neera out of the room.
"That. Was. So. Awesome! Like not even Lilac was able to beat Neera that easily, when we was on the run from her last year! You gotta teach me to fight like that!"
Noctis crossed his arms, speaking up as Lilac and Milla was waking over to him and Carol. "Heh, sorry but my style is too brutal for ya. Some of the moves I know can really break bones."
"Aww! Come on! Please teach me! I can handle it!" Carol begged causing Lilac to speak up.
"I don't know Carol. I mean we've never seen someone fight like that before, and I agree it might be too brutal f-"
"Oh come on! You fight with your hair Lilac and it's not like you can teach me to do that!" Carol countered interrupting her dragon friend.
Milla suddenly spoke up taking up Lilac's side on the current subject. "I-I agree with Lilac... Noctis's style s-scares me a-and I don't want you to g-get hurt being t-taught it C-Carol."
Carol just let out a defeated sigh. "Fine... but still that was pretty cool of you did at the start with your katana to distract her Noctis, just wish we got to saw your other powers you've not told us about yet..."
Lilac than looked over to Noctis. "Speaking of which, why would you even need to fight unarmed if you can just summon a weapon to hand?"
"Heh, can't always depend on a weapon to get me out of a jam Lie. Sometimes you gotta ya use your fists to make a point as well." Noctis replied as he saw Milla was looking over at the guards dragging Neera out of the room. "Don't worry kid, she'll be fine. Well her back might hurt for a few days, but nothing should be broken."
Milla gave Noctis a weak smile as Noctis looked over to Lilac. "What?"
"Why did you just call me Lie?" Was all Lilac asked him.
"Because I like to give people nicknames. Nothing wrong with that right?" Noctis questioned back.
"Do you have a nickname?" Milla suddenly asked Noctis.
"As a matter of fact, I do Mil. It's Noct... and I guess you could say-" Noctis then walked over to the exit of the room and stopped in the doorway turning his head to look back at the three girls with a smile. "Miss By The Books just got nocted the hell out."
Dragon Valley, Lilac's Treehouse just turned noon.
Noctis was currently outside of the treehouse that belonged to Lilac. He was currently sitting up a tree, hands behind his back with his eyes closed. Only opening them when he heard footsteps, the owner of said footsteps being Milla. "Where ya off to Mil?"
"L-Lilac and Carol are b-busy with something s-so I have no one to talk or play with... a-and I don't like to be-"
"Alone?" Noctis questioned interrupting Milla. "I can relate, I may not show it but I miss my old friends. Boy, me and the guys sure did have all sorts of fun back in the day. Heh, I can already imagine my old pal Rex, if he was here right now. He was always trying to be the comedian of the group, and was a darn good one as well. Funny thing, he was also a Hush Basset just like you as well, but not as shy as you."
Hearing this caused Milla's ears to perk up, something that Noctis noticed as he allowed her to speak fully this time. "R-Really? What was he like?"
Noctis just shifted over and patted the spot next to him, not speaking up as his lips wore a fake smile till Milla had sat down next to him under the tree. "Well as I said he was always trying to be the funny one within the group, but as well... he couldn't control himself when it came to the ladies. Heh, he'd always say the wrong thing to them, which earned him a slap right to the cheek. Hell, once, one of the girls he tried to flirt with knocked him out with one hell of a hard slap to the cheek causing me and the others to go on a laughing fit."
Hearing this caused Milla to let out a small giggle causing Noctis to smile at her. "Really? He got knocked out by a slap to the cheek?" Milla asked Noctis.
"All true, but not even that stopped him from being himself." Noctis then let out a chuckle as he closed his eyes. "I can just picture him here right now, trying to flirt with Lilac, which would go horribly wrong as normal, leading to me and Ace laughing our heads, while you'd have Specs, either laughing along with me and Ace or facepalming his face into oblivion."
Milla let out another happy giggle before speaking. "Who are Ace and Specs?"
"Ace, he was a panda and one hell of a troublemaker but would always be there to bail his pals out of a jam if they needed him to. Me and him always had a bit of rival streak when it came to gaming. We was always trying to out do the other's highscore, and he was always the one with the smartass comments at the ready. As for Specs, well that was the nickname me and the guys called him by. His name was Specter, but we called him Specs for short, plus the fact he also had to wear glasses, which of course Ace pointed out, the first time I called Specter, Specs. He was a hedgehog, kinda a rare sight back in the day... kinda like water dragons are right now I guess... anyway, he was always the one to come up with a plan, but damn that guy wouldn't stop reminding of about my royal duties, it did get annoying but I know he meant well. Damn if only I was able to see the guys one last time before that night Aurora fell."
"Huh? What happened? Did you all have a falling out?" Milla asked feeling sad for Noctis.
"Huh? Oh nah, some time before my 16th birthday they just... disappeared, not even their own family knew where they went... I'm kinda glad that did happen... or I might of lost it seeing my best pals getting cut down in front of me..." Noctis replied as one single tear went down his cheek as he opened his eyes. "They was the best friends I could of ever asked for. Not such much as a Your Highness when ever I saw them. Always something like 'Yo Noct! Ready for another day of trouble and fun!?'"
Milla just looked at the ground as she spoke up with sadness in her voice. "I-I wish I could meet them, they sound like lots of fun."
Noctis looked down at the young Hush Basset hound with a warm fake smile. "Yeah... it would be nice to see them again... but ya know what? My old bros may be gone, but as of right now, I've got some new friends to spent time with, but ya can't guess who one of them is Mil."
Milla could help but look up at Noctis with confused look causing Noctis to chuckle at her confusion. "I'm not saying, you gotta figure that one out yourself kiddo. Now, then how about we play a game of hide and seek to pass the time?" Noctis said earning him a nice big smile from Milla as Noctis was thinking to himself.
"Darn... this is going to be hard, I really don't want to hurt the kids feelings by pushing her away, gonna have to play this safe for now."
A few hours later
The sun was starting to set over Dragon Valley as Noctis was still outside the treehouse, well laying on the roof off it eyes closed as if he was asleep, while the girls was inside having just started their Welcome Home Party Lilac and Carol had spent most of the day setting up. Yet Milla herself was finding it hard to really enjoy herself and didn't know why, and was trying to hide it under a fake smile as the words Noctis said to her today was echoing in her mind.
"'My old bros may be gone, but as of right now, I've got some new friends to spend time with.' Just what does he mean by that? Wait was he talking about us?"
It didn't take long for Lilac and Carol to notice what was up with Milla, causing them both to worry about their young friend Lilac being the first to speak up.
"You okay Milla? You've been rather quiet, is there something on your mind?"
Milla didn't answer as she looked to the balcony of the treehouse as Carol spoke up.
"You worried about him? You know he won't come in, due to this being your Welcome Home party Milla, besides it just means more Sushi for us!"
"I know..." Milla said as she looked down at the ground letting out a sigh. "He told me about his best friends... and then said something to me, I didn't understand till just now..."
"What did he say to you?" Lilac asked.
"He said that while his old friends may be gone, he has new friends to spend time with... I didn't understand at first but... I think he means us..." Milla replied with a sad tone causing both Lilac and Carol to look at each other.
"You're the dragon here not me, you go drag him in here. I'll stay here and uhh... make sure Milla doesn't eat all the Sushi while you're dragging Noctis down from the roof!" Carol said quickly as she got up and went over into the kitchen causing Lilac to roll her eyes.
"Milla, please go guard Carol from the Sushi so she doesn't give herself a bellyache in the morning." Was all Lilac said as she got up and walked out to the balcony and called up to Noctis, who was just about awake taking notice of Lilac's not so friendly tone, as she noticed Noctis was avoiding all forms of interactions with herself and Carol while only interacting with Milla the whole time he had been at their Treehouse.
"Noctis! I want a word with you! You've been avoiding and pushing me and Carol away all day, yet you let Milla spend time with you! You better not be pulling her along or something like that!"
"Finally figured it out huh? Look, I'll say this only once, I'm not looking to make friends right now or for a long time! The only reason I'm interacting with Milla is because I don't want to hurt the kids' feelings. So, yeah thanks for the offer but nah I'll pass, I'm very happy laying up here on the roof. You'd have to drag me down to get me inside Lie. But in short, don't bother trying befriend me!" Noctis said with a harsh tone causing Lilac to crack her knuckles as she didn't reply causing Noctis speak again.
"Understand Lie!? You still there?" Was all Noctis said as he felt a hand grabbing his right leg, causing his eyes to snap open as he felt himself being pulled off the roof. "Oh fu-" Before Noctis could finish talking he found himself being throw inside the treehouse by Lilac causing him to land on his back. "Ugh!"
Lilac couldn't help but giggle at Noctis' reaction just now as she walked up to the half-dragon who was dusting himself off as she spoke up to him with her own harsh tone. "Well you shouldn't be pretending to be Milla's friend! It'll just hurt her even more when she founds out you're faking it Prince Noctis! And if you do anything to hurt her either physical or mental, I'll let what you told me slip!"
Noctis glared at Lilac before crossing his arms looking away from her with eyes closed. "Fine! I'll be careful around her, and one more thing... DON'T CALL me Prince Noctis! Just Noctis or Noct!"
"Good and I'll will stop calling you Prince Noctis once you start to call me Lilac instead of Lie." Lilac countered.
"Is that so... Sash?" Noctis replied with a emotionless tone
Meanwhile neither of them noticed a pair of red glowing eye among the darkness of the trees watching both half-dragons trade verbal blows between each other.
"Enjoy your time while you can pests. Without your dear Commander here to save you, I will have my revenge." The owner of these red glowing eyes said with a deep voice, yet what the owner of this voice didn't notice was there was also someone else in the trees above them, also watching both the owner of these red glowing eyes and of Noctis, Lilac, Milla and Carol as it spoke up.
"Hmm... the Mistress has waited a long time for your return young prince. Oh, she will be happy once I inform her of this." A female voice said as a pair of blue eyes looked down at where the pair of glowing red eyes once was. "But first, lets see just how much of your strength you have kept after all these years Prince Noctis."
And here's the end of chapter 2, well I got nothing to really address this time so laters! Read and Review!