Noctis arrived at the Caelum palace by late afternoon. It was too late for him to make any arrangements, so he would have to spend the rest of the afternoon at the palace. He thought he could spend the rest of the day in peace. That was until Quinn stopped the limousine halfway up the driveway.
"What in the world…" he exited the car, distracted by something.
Noctis also exited the car. Looking around, he saw Quinn stomping over to the familiar figures of Rex and Adrian, who were holding a gold colored vase and were playing hot potato with it.
"WHAT ON GAIA ARE YOU IDIOTS DOING!"
Quinn's yell was startling enough for Adrian and Rex to stop messing with the vase. Unfortunately, Rex had already thrown the vase before Quinn yelled and it was now in the air. And unfortunately for Adrian, he was too distracted by Quinn's stream to pay attention to the vase. And unfortunately for the vase, it flew over Adrian's head and landed on the ground, shattering into dozens of cracked pieces.
As the sound of broken china echoed in the air, Rex instantly yelled, "It was Adrian's idea" and pointed his index finger at his young blond companion.
"No, no, no" was Adrian's plea. "It was Rex! Come-on Quinn, you know I could not have thought this up myself!"
"YOU TWO ARE SO DEAD" screamed Quinn. He was not amused by the two men's behavior and ran over to them and grabbed each by an ear, muttering something about them working for a week in the kitchen, laundry room, and car cleaning. This was on top of the consistent cries of ow.
Noctis had remained in the background for this. It was just like Adrian and Rex to somehow find a way to get into trouble. They were like a pair of four year old boys trapped in the bodies of a eighteen and seventeen year-old teen. If they were not so entertaining, Noctis would have started ignoring those two years ago.
And Quinn…always the father figure. He was always looking out for others, not caring about himself. Everything he did was done with speed and perfection. Dependable and reliable, without Quinn, Noctis was not sure where he would be.
Smiling, he decided to leave Quinn alone with the troublemakers and chose to walk the rest of the way up the driveway to the palace's entrance, even though it was now terribly cold. Glancing at the sky, he noticed the tell tale steel gray cloud that signaled winter Tenebrae had finally arrived.
A small ring came from his pocket. He pulled his cell-phone out of is thick charcoal colored coat pocket, and looked at the caller ID. It was Stella. So much for trying to keep her at a safe distance, he thought to himself.
"Hello" he answered.
He then heard Stella's constant joyful voice fill his ears. "Hi Noct!"
"How are you Stella?"
"I'm well. How was the meeting with your father?"
"Same as always. He, um, mentioned you and Lightning."
"Did he learn that from Quinn?"
"Yeah. Kind of annoyed me because I wanted to tell him myself."
"Well, that is his job Noct: keep your father informed."
"I know, I know." Noctis realized he needed to change the topic quickly. "So…how was your day?"
"I had tea with Lightning."
"Really, how did you get her to do that?"
Stella giggled. "I have my ways. And before you ask, I invited her."
"Good." There was a slight pause before Stella began again.
"Noct, would you be interested in going to see Lightning perform again?"
"Is she playing?"
"She's playing at the Bevelle Night Club next Saturday night. I was going to attend but a last minuet event came up."
She was lying. It was too convenient for something like that to happen. Stella was always careful about scheduling things so she could attend as many events as possible. At one time, she went to three different events in the same night and made a decent showing at each. For her to not attend this, something was up. "That's not true Stella. You want to go but you're afraid of being in the same place with me, right?"
Another pause. "Sort of..."
It was well known by the prince that Stella had feelings for him and made no attempt to hide it from him. Noctis, on the other hand, was unsure. Stella was attractive and joyful, and he certainly cared about her, especially with her being connected to the goddess.
Did he love Stella? No.
Lightning, however, intrigued him. He was unsure what it was about her. Her eyes, face…there was something about her that made her more interesting than Stella. But these feelings were not that of love. It was more curiosity than attraction.
Yet while they were not in a relationship, Stella was still a good friend, a sister even, to Noctis. "I'll go Stella."
"Thanks Noctis. I really appreciate it."
"Goodbye Stella." With that he closed the phone.
Just when he thought Lightning was out of his head, she came right back in. It seemed like ever since meeting her, the pianist could not leave his head. He wanted to be with Lightning, to learn more about her. But…there was no way his father would approve of Lightning. Yet there was nothing wrong with thinking of her as an acquaintance.
With that thought, Noctis walked into the palace.
The following Friday...
Looking at her schedule, Lightning noted that she had been hired to play at the Bevelle Night Club from 7 to 10 tomorrow. She had all day to herself, which she would spend practicing the piano and doing a few chores.
The pianist had an apartment in a nice area of Tenebrae in a converted office building. Though it seemed abandoned, it was actually a homely place. It had a small kitchenette, sitting and dining room, a full bathroom, and two bedrooms. There was even a small balcony that gave her a view of downtown Tenebrae. Though Lightning would have preferred a larger kitchen, and she hated being on the top floor with no elevator traveling to the 13th floor, the room had an upright piano already in it. In her mind, a cramped kitchen was enough of a sacrifice to have a real piano in her room.
Lightning had just finished cleaning a few of the scant number of dishes. Glancing out the window, she saw thick white snow flakes falling from the sky.
Smirking, she turned off the water in the stainless steel sink, dried her hands with a blue washcloth, and walked over to the window. It was quite unusual for her to see snow around this time of the year or even see snow at all. Perhaps Tenebrae wasn't as bad as she had originally assumed.
A week had past since her afternoon tea with Stella. She had received a few calls from the princess, yet nothing from Noctis. The two had set up trips to the mall, a few more afternoons for tea, and even a sight seeing tour of Tenebrae. Stella said she would even attend her performance at Bevelle. It was very generous of the princess to spend so much time with Lightning. While that was wonderful, Lightning could tell that Stella was hiding something. She was unsure of what, but at certain moments, Stella appeared to be struggling with a deep secret.
Just like…him.
Lightning scoffed. For some reason all of her inner thoughts and observations led back to Noctis. The comments usually came in the form of that's just like him, or Noctis is much more handsome, or he does a better job, or anything. It was weird. Lightning just could not get the prince out of her head. She had no idea what the feelings she had for him were or what was making her think about him. But it was dangerous for her to get close to him.
He was lucky acquaintance. A little boost for what her plans were in Tenebrae. Nothing more, nothing less.
Her cell phone started to ring. Lightning had placed it on the dining room table while she was cleaning. Sighing that her focus was drawn away from the snow, she reluctantly walked over to the phone.
Grasping it in her hand she checked the number of the caller: 800-555-0186. It was a familiar number to the pianist. After an extra ring, she pressed a button on the phone's screen and started to talk.
"Hello."
A deep, commanding male voice came over the phone. She began to pace around the room.
"I'm fine. Taking every precaution necessary to stay healthy and alert."
The caller quickly replied with a question, like he was going down a checklist.
"Yes, everything is in order."
Her face remained in a frown as she listened to the person.
"I don't think that was on the original list."
She continued to walk in a circle around the room.
"I have a list. Don't worry; I'll make sure to add that to it."
She then walked over her makeshift study table at the end of a hallway that separated the bed and bath rooms from the rest of the apartment. Reaching the table, she located a pen and a piece of newspaper, and then scribbled #2469-0A6K (Op. DA351 Code Name: Storm) in a corner of the paper.
The man continued to talk to Lightning as if she were a child. She knew that he was keep everything in order, but Lightning was very capable of taking care of herself.
"I know what to do, alright."
The person apologized.
"Fine, when should I hit the target?"
Lightning waited for an answer.
"A week from now? Fine. I still need the scans though."
The man started to explain something, but Lightning was too annoyed to let him finish his sentence.
"Well, if I don't have that information, you're plans are going to be hard to complete now, will they? Do you want the information or not?!"
Apologizes began to flood Lightning's ears.
"Look, I needed those documents a month ago. And without them, I'm afraid that there is no way for me to do what I need to do. Just get them to me ASAP."
The voice promised to send her the data and then abruptly changed topics.
"The prince?" Lightning raised an eyebrow. "Yes, I've met with him. But how would you…"
Her eyes widened and a smirk formed on her face.
"Did he now? So he did some homework. I'll be sure to keep that in mind, but at this point, I think he suspects nothing."
The voice agreed with her.
"Don't worry about me. You can count on me to take care of everything."
With that the man wished Lightning farewell.
"Goodbye sir."
She turned off the phone. Lightning was surprised with what she had just learned. It was just another piece of a tangled web that she would have to ignore for now.
In the next week, her life was about to get a little more hectic.
Author's Note: The plot thickens. Love feedback and suggestions! Thanks to the ever loved sunflowerWeilder and flower on theWind for feedback!
All characters and locations are the property of Square Enix
