"Noctis! How's my favorite prince," Prompto, Noctis' blond haired, loud mouthed friend, asked as he barged through Noctis' door. One day, that door would break down, Noctis could feel it.

Prompto had run away from his country as a child, he had been blamed for a crime he never committed. Noctis' mother had found him unconscious in the street. She made the driver stop and brought the child home. He stayed at the castle as he grew up, though he was never adopted by the royal family. As an adult, Prompto moved to his own apartment. He said he liked the simplicity, that the castle was too much for him. Though, he was extremely thankful for all the royals had done for him and claimed they'd always remain his true family, blood or not.

With a silent sigh, Noctis lifted his head from his hands to look at Prompto. He was a bit stiff from being hunched over for so long, but the emotional turmoil within him was enough to numb the physical pain.

"Eh, you don't look so good, Noct," Prompto said, smile faded.

"Rough morning," Noctis responded, it came out like a whisper.

"Well, forget about that! I hear there's a lady in the castle now—who's not your mother. Who is she? Is she cute?" Prompto's smile was plastered back onto his face, it made his messy, blond hair look lighter.

Noctis felt Prompto's hand on his head, ruffling his hair. Noctis swatted it away. "Aw, come on Noctis," Prompto whined. "I'm sure seeing a lady will make you feel better."

"Don't be so sure," Noctis groaned. Facing Light was the last thing he wanted to do at the moment.

"Noctis… are you into men?" Prompto asked. "Is that why you've had so many dating issues?"

Noctis stood from his seat on the edge of his bed. "No, I'm not into men, sorry to disappoint you. That's not why I've had dating issues."

"Then, why have you?"

"I just don't click with most women. They want to be a princess and will do anything to become one."

"Yeah, but isn't the chick staying here already a princess or something?"

Noctis sighed and paused a moment to collect his thoughts. "Yes, in a still-developing kingdom." It wasn't completely wrong. She's just been a goddess in Valhalla for millennium.

"So you have nothing to worry about!" Prompto let out a 'whoop' sound as he grabbed Noctis' arm and dragged him out of his room. Noctis only told Prompto where Light's room was because he threatened to drag Noctis through the entire castle to find her.

He did his best to delay getting to Light's room as long as possible.

Maybe she had cooled her temper from their argument.

Maybe he was going to die today.

Noctis stood beside Prompto, hands deep in his pockets. In front of them was Light's door. Prompto was buzzing with excitement at meeting who he thought was just a visiting foreign noble. He raised his hand and knocked on the door three times. "Hello?" he called. "Can we come in?"

When there was no response, Noctis knew that Light had not forgiven him from earlier. He felt guilt wrap around him like chains pulling him underwater.

Prompto knocked again. "Hello?" he called again. "We're coming in, don't say you weren't warned!"

Noctis grabbed Prompto's arm to pull him back. "You can't just barge in on a visitor, Prompto!" he yelled, but Prompto had already opened the door. He stepped in.

Noctis was on Prompto's heels as he entered the room. "Do you have any idea how disrespectful this is, Prompto? She's going to be so angry. You have no idea what you've done."

"I don't think we need to worry about that right now, Noctis," Prompto said quietly.

"What? What do you mean? Why?"

"Noctis, this room is empty," Prompto said.

"What?" Noctis began. He cut his question off and looked around. He had been so frustrated with Prompto and focused on reprimanding him, he failed to realize that Prompto was right, no one was in the room.

"Oh no," Noctis said.

"You sure this is the right room?"

"I'm… I'm positive," Noctis responded. His voice sounded a bit far away.

Prompto pointed across the room. "There!" he shouted.

Noctis followed Prompto's direction. His eyes landed on the window of the room. He tried to fill his lungs with air, but they had been emptied and replaced with unmoving steel. "No," he whispered.

The window let in the light from the sun and gentle puffs of wind fluttered the curtains.

Without thinking, Noctis walked to the window and looked out. At first, he saw only sunlight. Then, his eyes adjusted to give him a view of his home, his kingdom. Right now, it seemed far bigger than it ever had before. Somewhere among the buildings and streets was Light, and he had not even the smallest idea of where that somewhere was.

Feeling a tug on his back, Noctis was pulled out of the room at a rapid pace. Prompto's boots echoed loudly as they hit the marble floor of the castle's hallways. "Come on!" he said. "We'll find Cor and ask him to send the Royal Guard out."

Noctis turned around and followed his usually dim-witted friend. If he didn't have his mind full of guilt and worry, he would have admired that Prompto came through when he was needed.

Cor Leonis—head of the Royal Guard—stood beside the king, Regis, Noctis' father. He was an older man, but he still held himself with an aura of power. Luckily, that power was used to protect the royal family and by extension, their royal guests.

"Cor," Prompto exclaimed. "I never thought I'd be glad to see you."

Cor narrowed his eyes at Prompto. "I don't care to be a part of another of your little games," the old man growled.

"It's not a game," Noctis said, catching his breath. "Lightning isn't in her room. It looks like she left through the window. We need you to find her."

Cor looked at Regis. "My king, is this another game of theirs?"

Regis shook his head slowly. "No, Lightning is our guest. She's a noble visiting from a foreign country."

Cor donned his business mask, as Noctis saw it, an uncaring, cold expression. He bowed deeply at the waist to Regis. "I will find her and ensure she is returned safely."

Regis explained what Lightning looked like before Cor nodded affirmation and started towards the door. "Wait," Noctis said.

"No time for games," Cor replied.

"Let me help look."

"No," Cor said without looking back. "You stay here for once. It will only hinder us to have to keep an eye on you and the other on the lookout for Lady Lightning."

Noctis didn't protest as Cor left, but he had to restrain himself from punching something, anything due to the mix of guild, frustration, anger, and worry.

Noctis looked out the window as the sun reached its peak in the sky. Light had been gone all morning and he'd heard nothing from the Royal Guard yet. Behind him, Noctis could hear the shuffle of Prompto's boots against the floor as he paced. The door to the parlor opened and closed. "Finally!" Prompto shouted.

Noctis turned to see Gladiolus and Ignis in the doorway. Gladiolus, with his dark hair slicked back and sleeveless shirt stood grinning. He had met Noctis when the prince had gone on an exploration of the city without supervision. Gladiolus guided him through the streets and made sure Noctis stayed safe without even knowing he was a prince. They had remained friends since then. "Hear we got ourselves a hunt going on," Gladiolus said.

"We've been banned from helping," Noctis responded.

"No," Ignis said, pushing his silver-rimmed glasses up the bridge of his nose. His light brown hair stood up, like it had since he was a child. "You've been banned, we are free to help."

Ignis was the son of two advisors for the king, he had been around the castle since he was a child and quickly befriended Noctis. Ignis had always been kind to him and answered any question he could without being condescending…most of the time.

Noctis looked between the three grinning men. "You guys are going to look for her?" he sounded breathless to his own ears.

Prompto nodded. "Sure are. We can't leave a lovely foreign lady in the streets all alone… She is lovely, right Noctis?"

Noctis felt his face grow warm. "W-well, I…" he sputtered.

Gladiolus laughed. "That answers that. She must be a real looker."

Ignis cleared his throat. "Tell us what she looks like, if you would. It would help to know what we're looking for."

"Right," Noctis shook his head to clear it of Prompto's comment. "Well, she's a few inches shorter than I am, but not much. She has pink hair that curls over one shoulder, it sort of feathers over her eyes. Let's see… she has bright blue eyes, sort of an icy blue. She's pale. I think she was wearing a white dress this morning, very simple. But, she could have changed before she left."

"That's an excellent start," Ignis said. The three men began to walk out of the room.

"Wait!" Noctis cried. They paused. "Check the guards' training grounds first. She responds to 'Lightning'," he added.

"Understood," Ignis stated. And Noctis was left alone.

Please be okay, Light. I'm so sorry for what I said… I never imagined you'd be so upset about it.

A/N: Thank you for reading and reviewing as always! Congratulations everyone on getting more than 50 reviews for this story! Let's keep it up!

Where's Lightning?