A/N: Please read my profile for any author's notes. Enjoy!
Chapter Four: Expositus
"This is just a minor set back. Just because the boy seems to have harnessed some ability…"
"It is more than just a minor set back," says Aenigma. The proud man is sitting at the end of a long table in the counsel room. The grand chandelier is blazing above, even though they are meeting in the light of day. The room is large and vast with dark, gothic undertones. Just above their heads, statues with wings are carrying candle bras. Even higher up were caped figures, bowed as if in submission, reaching high up to arched ceilings. It felt as imposing as the figure at the head of the table. The men all around him are ill at ease.
"We knew it would happen one day," says another member of the counsel.
"He must be more powerful than his father," added another.
"His father had never used the power to his full potential."
"And now, it seems Prince Noctis has," comments Aenigma, there's a warning in his voice. He's angry and it makes the other members nervous.
"I thought the video feed was unreadable."
"We recovered something off a street camera a block away from the castle. It's heavily zoomed but it's enough."
"I want to see it," says one member and the sound the other agreeing with him.
There's a nod and a large screen appears behind Aenigma. The video plays. The picture quality is very grainy, even with digital enhancements, but there is a shot of the street. They see the progression of the soldiers to where the castle is, though you cannot see the castle from the camera's angle. There is a continuous firing and there are flashes of light. The group of soldiers suddenly advance towards where the entrance would be. What happens next causes a chilly silence to fill the air of the counsel room. The soldiers fly backwards as if caught in an invisible wave with the an unmistakable blue flash of crystal energy.
"Do we know for sure that it was, indeed, Prince Noctis that caused this?"
"Who else can it be?" hisses another.
"So now, not only do we have an assassination attempt on our own soil. We have a prince who we have greatly underestimated."
"What problem do we address first?"
"What's first is how an entire regiment of militia was successful in not only breaking through our barriers but getting that close to the Prince!" Aenigma ends with a shout. It echoes around them for a moment before its back to the chilling silence.
"What about last night's break in at the morgue?"
Aenigma pinches the bridge of his nose in irritation. "The video feeds were tampered as well."
"But the alarms were tripped."
"Yes, they were but we have no video. All we have is a broken window on the third floor stairwell."
"Crystal residue?"
"Yes," he says looking at all the men sitting around the table. "There is crystal residue."
There's a pause as they all digest this information. "Prince Noctis or someone else?"
"It would be better if it were Prince Noctis."
"Too bad there is no way to confirm," though their technology had greatly advanced in the last century, they had no way to trace the crystal signatures. They knew they were there, but they could never accurately read the patterns. They had not had anyone to test them within the last couple of decades. The King and Queen had died and their son had not manifested his gifts. Or so they had thought.
"What about witnesses?"
"They say everything happened so fast, they are not sure what happened exactly. There was someone and then what looked like two, crashing through the window. It's not very dependable."
"What are we going to do?" one of the other members asks.
"We have all known this would happen," Aenigma states and they all nod with him. "The darkness will rise. The cold war is over."
The image of Aenigma's face and his last words hang in the air, even though he was not really in their presence as the four young men looked at his stern face from a monitor. They were standing atop one of the higher buildings, watching the sun as it started its descent, letting the night take over the world. There was a hard breeze circling them and they could feel the chill in their spines. The war was no longer cold. It was about to boil over.
"I don't get it. Why bother with playing the gracious host when there really is no peace?" asks a very confused Des. He taps his head with the edge of his rifle in thought.
"Naive," states Vires. His heavy arms are crossed and his head is bowed in thought.
"Its politics, Des. Backstabbing is standard issue."
"Why can't they just say, yes or no? It's confusing me," complains Des.
"The counsel will be watching all of us from under a microscope now," Sapien says looking at Noctis.
"So they did have some kind of footage," says Vires.
"You can say it, Sapien," says Noctis speaking for the first time since they had stopped the video feed from the counsel room. He's looking out onto the horizon, arms crossed, with a grim look on his face.
"I did tell you so," responds Sapien but he doesn't sound smug at all. "But at least they don't know for sure that it was you last night at the morgue."
"They're going to test you," says Des.
"I am not worried about me," confesses Noctis. "I am worried about what they are going to do to the three of you." He looks up at his three companions.
"Eh, don't worry about us, Noct. We'll be fine," reassures Des. "But it does warm my heart that you care so much."
"You have more important things to worry about," agrees Vires.
"We all chose to keep that secret for you. We can take responsibility for our actions," states Sapien.
"But I,..."
"I wonder how they'll test you. Probably all sneaky like," thinks Des aloud while rubbing his chin.
"You're catching on," says Sapien.
"You guys don't give me enough credit."
"It was you who made sure I got into the morgue last night," reminds Noctis with a smile.
"Oh yeah! You know you always freak me out when you do that thing."
"Its called teleporting," he explains.
"Too bad you can't take people with you. That would be so weird and cool at the same time!"
Noctis doesn't answer. There is no way to describe what it feels like to teleport like he does. It's hard to describe how it feels when he does the many things that he can do.
"You, like that girl, don't you?" asks Sapien, suddenly.
"What makes you say that?" asks Noctis and immediately he wants to kick himself. He's already slipped. He's just confirmed Sapien's implied question by not even bothering to hide the fact that he knew exactly to whom he was referring. He knows for sure that he's not fooling anyone with the three knowing looks directed right at him.
"Nothing to be ashamed about, Noct," says Vires with a shrug of his broad shoulders.
"You were going to find one you fancied eventually," agrees Des.
"Did I say something to suggest that I did?" he retorts. He would like to think that he was not as transparent as that but these are his friends. If anyone would see something, they would. Not that he had been all that detached at the time either.
"You don't have to," states Sapien, confirming his thoughts.
"You weren't even there," says Noctis incredulously.
"Didn't I say that Tenebrae chicks are hawt?" asks Des with a grin on his face.
"Shaddup you," warns Vires with a glare. With the light as it was, it looks as if his scar were glowing with his annoyance.
"I didn't have to be," Sapien responds.
"I saw some pretty hawt ones at the party last night."
"She's... special, isn't she?" asks Sapien, phrasing it carefully.
His three friends look at him closely. He's never really talked about the light to them but they all know his frequent glances at the night sky are not out of listlessness. They know him too well to think he stares up because he's bored. His reluctance to talk about this makes them always cautious to bring it up. Sapien is the only one that would be able to mention it if it had to come up and only when he absolutely had to.
"She seems... like me," he confesses as he looks away from them.
"You shouldn't have let her go," says Sapien.
But what alternative had he had at the time?
"Are you here to offer to show me around Tenebrae again?"
As soon as he's said the words, he wishes he had thought of something more brilliant to say. He's never confessed to be good with words but he knows he could have done better than that. Even with a wig and glasses he can see that it's her. He doesn't need his crystal vision for that. He feels he'd spy her anywhere, in whatever disguise. She could never hide her aura from him.
There are loud shouts behind them, just down the hall and they both turn to see guards running towards them. Shots are ringing through the air and before he can say anything else, she's taken off at a run towards the other end of the hallway. She's running so fast that it looks like she's teleporting, but she's not. She's only running. He has a moment to marvel at her speed as she forces her way through the stairwell door before he remembers he's supposed to be avoiding capture himself. So he teleports and is through the stairwell door in no time. He spies her running up towards the upper level and he's right behind her. His mind quickly assesses that there are windows between each floor with double metal enforcements. She's about to reach the 3rd level stairs when the door leading into the hall bursts open with armed guards pointing their guns at her.
He has no time for ceremony. So he teleports quickly at her side, grabs her around her waist and jumps towards a nearby window. What he does next is tricky and he's never tried it before but he can't risk getting caught. He channels just enough energy to shatter both the window and the metal bars just as his head is about to collide with the glass and they're both flying out into the alley below.
In the blink of an eye he's already standing on the ground and catches her body easily in his arms. She lands with an "Umph" and her arms reflectively go around his neck for support. Her glasses are crooked upon her nose but her eyes fly to his in surprise and he knows that she noticed how he did it. He doesn't give her time to ask because they need to get as far away from the building as possible. Putting her back on her feet, they both start running down the alley ways.
"Where are you?" he asks in his earpiece.
"Two blocks from the morgue," responds Vires.
"Meet us in front of the Shinjuku building," he orders.
"Us?" he hears Des ask.
He doesn't answer but he does look at Stella and realizes that she hasn't said a thing. Somehow her silence bothers him. She looks scared but she's followed him this far without saying a word. He's not given much time to think before Vires' black van swirls quickly around a corner and stops a foot before him. He doesn't look at Vires or Des as he opens the back door and lets Stella in before jumping inside the backseat himself.
"Sapien?" he asks looking at Vires through the rearview mirror and notices Des gawking at Stella.
"He got out," Vires responds quickly. He's driving at high speeds towards the tunnel and he's confident that no cameras can see through the tinted glass. It's when they're driving within the tunnel that Noctis feels safe enough to really look at Stella. Even though they're sitting together, she's sitting furthest away from him.
"Are you all right?" he asks.
"Is this why you had to go earlier?" she asks and she still looks shaken.
"I can ask you the same thing," he says but he's smirking again and for some reason that makes her smile, not her brilliant smile from earlier but it's something.
"I had to know. There was no other way," she tries to explain but the shock as worn off and her breathing is coming in quick gasps.
"Calm down. You're fine," he says.
"So stupid to trip the alarm like that," she says and she looks mad at herself.
He relaxes a little. Its better to be angry than in a panic. "You almost got us all caught," he says but he isn't upset. He wants to divert her attention.
She looks quickly at him in surprise. "Is that why you helped me escape?"
"I was escaping myself," he says casually. Though it wouldn't have been as messy if it weren't for her, he isn't bothered by that. It's set things back a bit but if anything, she made things more interesting.
"Oh," she says quietly. "Why did you have to sneak in?"
That's a fair question but it's difficult to explain why and he doesn't have time to explain all the reasons. "What were you doing there?" he asks instead.
"Our party was not allowed to see the bodies. I had to make sure," she answers.
"Make sure of what?" he asks.
"That they weren't from our city," she says. "Whatever you may think of my people, we don't go around planning the deaths of princes!" She's scooted in closer to him as she speaks. He doesn't think she notices this but her proximity makes him nervous. The only people that he allowed to get close to him were his friends, but he knows if he backs away from her it would only make her think he sees her as a threat, so he doesn't. "Most of us know that if we were to go to war, it would be to our detriment."
He notices her words and it confirms what he had felt from the Tenebrae party earlier. There were some who wanted nothing more than to steal his power and his city and then there were some who were avoiding bloodshed. "Who do you think was behind it then?" he asks, trying to keep her from noticing how much she's affecting him.
She bites her lip apprehensively and looks out the window. They're out of the tunnel and continuing on the highway. He watches her a second and recognizes the way she's looking up at the sky and realizes that it's what he must look like when he hears the whispers. The thought occurs to him then that he needs to tell Vires where to go but he thinks Vires already knows where he's going. Which is good because right now he wants to know what Stella knows.
"You know who is behind it," he states.
"If you know, we can't let you out of this car," warns Des and Noctis realizes its the first time he has spoken since he and Stella got into the van. Sometimes it marveled him that Des could change emotions so fast. He had been gawking at Stella before but that didn't stop him from threatening her if she were a threat to himself.
"I don't know for sure. There are only theories," she says earnestly. She looks at Noctis with pleading eyes behind those glasses that she's still wearing.
"What are your theories?" he asks.
"There... is a legend," she explains. "Of a group who would watch over the users of the crystals."
"Watch over?" asks Noctis.
"Yes," she says.
"I have never heard anything like that before."
She bites her lip again and looks at the two other men in the car. It's then he realizes why she's been hesitating and he's torn between wanting to grin and wanting to get far away from her again. He knows she will take either one the wrong way. So he merely gives her another smirk but there's a hint of a smile too. It's not mocking this time either. He never had been able to express such things before and he feels this large sense of relief that someone else has been going through the same thing.
"It's all right," he says and he smiles at her encouragingly. He sees the glow come back into her eyes and he feels his heart rejoice again. A part of him wants to take off those glasses so that he can see her eyes fully but he knows I won't. He knows her answer but he wants her to say it out loud.
"The light told me," she confesses softly.
To hear those words out loud does something to him. He's moved profoundly by them. The light told him many things all the time and he always felt like a freak when he had no way to explain how he knew things he couldn't possibly have known. He's never been able to share it like this before and to hear someone else, to hear Stella, say it made him feel their connection solidify. She was different as he was different and he doesn't feel so alone anymore. Now, they could be different together and a part of him that he hadn't felt missing before, was there.
She's looking at him with hopeful eyes. He can tell that she's drawn to him as much as he's drawn to her because of what they share. He doesn't think he's seen anything as beautiful as the understanding and question in her eyes. It makes him feel so wary and so joyful at the same time. He doesn't know why, but there is no taunting. No knowing whispers as they look at each other. No warnings of foreshadowed doom, nor encouragement, just them. Only the sounds of the van moving and their silence. This relieves him and it worries him and he doesn't know what this means. Her eyes furrow and he knows he needs to say something.
"What else, has it told you?" he asks carefully.
She lowers her head with a frown and he thinks he must do that as well. Sometimes, even though he hates the whispers, he waits for them to come. From the frown on her face, he knows she must only hear the silence as well. The whispers aren't talking to her either.
"It has told me to be careful. It has said many things."
He knows that to be true. Sometimes he manages to block out some of the things it says.
"Did you find what you were looking for in the morgue?" he tests her. He can't help it. He wants to know if she saw the markings as he had.
"I was not sure what I was looking for," she says but she gives him a pointed look and he knows.
"Have you seen that before?" He doesn't directly say what he saw because he wants to be completely sure.
"No," she says, shaking her head. "I have never seen a rune like that before." She looks at him as she tilts her head to the side. "What numbers did you see?" She gives him a smirk of her own. Her raised eyebrow is magnified by the fake lenses.
He smiles back at her. "Six and ten," he answers.
They're both smirking at each other a moment before she adds, "It was also blue." She adds that fact as if it were foreign.
He frowns at that.
"Please! Stop here," she cries suddenly to Vires as they near the Viator building that she and her party are guests in.
Vires' eyes dart to his in the rearview mirror and he nods his assent. He turns the corner into a small street just before they reach the building and the car comes to a halt in a patch of dark street.
"No cameras here?" she asks looking at all three of them.
"No cameras," he says and he can tell this has not been the first time she's been forced to break into a complex before. It peaks his curiosity for her and so does his desire to be close to her grows.
The van has stopped and the engine is still on but nobody says anything. Stella doesn't make any move to get out either. He knows that Vires and Des will remain quiet so he has to say something. He's just not sure what.
"Thank you, for rescuing me," she says smiling at him and he's just as paralyzed as he was before.
"I was in the neighborhood," he replies cheekily.
She laughs softly. "You really are a mean one aren't you Pr... Noct."
The fact that she's remembered to call him that causes a warmth to go through him.
She looks at Vires and Des next. "Thank you both. It would be my pleasure to show you all around Tenebrae one of these days."
Vires grunts and Des stutters a bit because he doesn't how he can respond without getting a glare from Noctis. Stella turns to smile at him again. He gives her a small smile back before he opens the door for her. He can't step out onto the street in case someone sees him so she slides closer to him before trying to lift herself out the door. He helps her and as she passes, covering the view of his two friends, she quickly and very briefly touches his cheek. Its so sudden and so brief that he doesn't have time to be startled. He doesn't even have time to grab her hand before she's out the door and closing it quickly behind her.
As they drove away, he can't help but turn back to see her as she made her way towards the main street.
"Um, why did you let her go?" he hears Sapien's voice in his ear and he can't believe that he forgot to take it out.
"Your voice went down an octave when you spoke to her," shrugs Sapien in the present by way of explaining why he thinks Noctis likes her. He hadn't realized he was lost in his own thoughts but he shakes his head. The four of them are still standing on top of a high rise and the sun is all but gone from the sky, making everything around them orange.
"It happens to the best of us, Noct," says Des reassuringly. "Pretty girl comes by. We forget to think."
"You include yourself among the best?" asks Vires in disbelief.
"Hey!"
"You need to speak to her again," advises Sapien, cutting off Des before he can start another rant.
"We can always go get her," offers Des.
"The Tenebrae party was flown back this morning," says Noctis.
"You shouldn't let this go," says Sapien. "If we have to, we need to get to Tenebrae. We have to know more about this group of people that are supposed to watch over you."
"Why haven't we noticed them before?" asks Vires.
"Secret societies man!" cries Des. "Wonder what their name is."
"I'll see what I can find within the archives," says Sapien.
"Can't be a secret society if you don't have a cool name," insists Des.
"What about Aenigma and the counsel?" interrupts Vires.
Stella. The counsel. This secret group of watchers. The Tenebrae. The whispers. The crystals. There are too many mixed emotions, too many sides, too many illusions and for a moment he feels overwhelmed. He feels the blackness creeping upon him as it has the sky above their heads and he's back in that nightmare. He's a little boy again and he can feel those tentacles attached to that repulsive thing that wants him so desperately. It's tightened its hold around his body and it starts squeezing the breathe from his lungs.
"Sun's down now and I'm hungry! What's for dinner tonight?" asks Des as he rubs his stomach for emphasis.
"Is that all you really care about?" booms Vires and he's ready to thwack him in the head again.
"Girls too!" protests Des.
To which Sapien rolls his eyes and pushes his glasses closer to his face.
That, just seeing his friends as they are now, is enough to make him start laughing. His laughter is so thankful and so joyful that it has chased away the blackness and he is able to breathe again.