The break in at the government headquarters had led to a rather long week for Noctis. His schedule had completely changed, as he was now spending more time with government officials and members of the Tenebraean press trying to keep the break ins information under control. The story that the public received was that the levels below the 78th and 79th floors were attacked, rather than the actual levels.

Meanwhile, all of the resistance and anti-government group that Quinn had mentioned to him were being researched and checked for suspicious activity. Though Noctis had doubts that Team NORA was involved in the attack, more information was gathered about that group.

On Wednesday of that week, the prince joined his father for another meeting. This time, however, all discussion was on the attack. More bizarre was the prince's learning that his father would have a conference with the King of Algentia, an aged king named Phillip. He had been king since Giovanni's grandfather had taken the throne. The conversation would be less of a pleasant exchange and more like a threat.

At 12:29 that afternoon, Noctis was sitting beside his father, awaiting for the call from Elena that Philip was ready to talk.

Wearing his black suit, Noctis glanced over to his father's stone cold face. "Should I say anything father?"

Giovanni did not move from his position when he responded to his son. "No. You are here because you are to show that the royal family is a united front."

Noctis silently scoffed. What his father said basically translated out to 'you're here because for political sake, I want you to be here'. Some father and family he had. He had basically lived without a father for years. Lightning had more of a family than he.

At 12:30, the phone on the table rang. Giovanni pressed the blinking red light on the phone. "What is it Elena?"

"Your Highness, King Phillip Remus of Algentia is on the line."

"Put him on."

One of the assistants in the throne room tapped a button on the console. Instantly, part of the long meeting table, a rectangle about the width of half the table opened up. Out of it came a flat television screen that was used for certain occasions. For a moment, the screen was blank.

When the screen had fully risen out of the table and properly set itself, the royal seal of Tenebrae flashed on the screen. That image then faded away to reveal the face of an aging man, with shoulder length silver hair, winkled skin, and a heavily ornate gold crown. The royalty of Algentia was a bit more traditional than that of the Caelums.

Standing beside the king were two people. The person his left was the king's son, who was about thirty years old, with sharpened features and brown hair that graced his shoulders, just like his father. Unlike Noctis, the prince seemed uninterested in the affair of his father. On the right side was a woman, wearing a high ranking Algentian army uniform and long blond hair.

"King Giovanni" spoke Phillip, his voice weak and filled with age.

"King Phillip" replied Giovanni, remaining monotone and cold. "I also see that you have your son Prince Trion Remus and the great General Lorelei."

Each respectively nodded.

Noctis knew little about the general. All Noctis knew was that she was one of the top generals leading the war effort and was a great Algentian war hero. It was rumored that she once destroyed a whole brigade on her own with a broken leg and arm. She was cold, ruthless, and would supposedly stop at nothing until she reached perfection.

In contrast, but he knew about Trion. He always disliked the prince. Trion always seemed selfish and prideful of his position. It was also disheartening to Noctis that he was more of an adult than Trion; he had the crystal to deal with, Giovanni, the war, and life. Trion was spoiled, never working a day in his life and only caring about getting in bed with as many women as possible.

Worst of all, Phillip would not be around much longer, and Trion would be crowned king, which terrified Noctis. A boy like him in control of one of the greatest empires on Gaia would be disastrous for everyone.

Giovanni shifted in his throne and began to address the aging king. "I suppose you know of the incident this past Friday evening."

Phillip couched. "I…I have been made aware of what has happened. I am sure that in this time of war…" he coughed again, "I am sure it is a great loss."

"Thank you for the kind words, Remus." Giovanni responded. "I want you to know that I have begun searching for any leads…and I certainly hope that groups from your kingdom do not appear on the list.

"And," Giovanni leaned forward, "I will assure you that those consequences will be brutal."

Silence. Total, absolute silence. Noctis hated that aspect of his father: whatever he threatened to do, he would do.

"Well, as far as I…know, no one I know of in my kingdom has set up this attack."

"Good" replied Giovanni. "I hope I will not have to have this conversation again."

"Yes…farewell" spoke Phillip, who let out a deep cough before the screen was turned off and reverted back inside of the table. No one spoke until the room had returned to total silence.

"He's lying" Giovanni spoke out loud.

"How can you tell" asked Noctis.

"Because Trion not once looked at me; Phillip is covering for his son." He sighed. "Administer Yuri, increase security on all government buildings. I have a feeling that there will be more attacks as long as we have no idea who is attacking us."

"Do you think it's a resistance group?"

"No, this was a single person, working alone. We'll just have to keep the city on high alert."

"Sir," asked Administer Yuri, "should I put the whole kingdom on alert and eliminate anyone who we think is an enemy?"

"Do it."

At that moment, Noctis had a sickening feeling that his role protecting the crystal would become even more important.

The faces of Giovanni and Noctis disappeared from the screen in the Remus' throne room. King Phillip coughed loudly once again.

"This illness…" he spoke, short of breath, "will be the end of me."

"You said that three years ago father and your still here" commented Trion, who refused to look to the aging king.

"Trion…you should know better. You'll…" another chough filled the air, "…be king one day. How can you have respect for you kingdom…if you have no respect for your…own father."

"Your highness" came the previously silent Lorelei. "Perhaps you should get your rest now and leave all of these troubles to me and your humble advisors."

With that, a group of nurses arrived in the room, helping Phillip out of the room. He walked meekly across the room. The king was, sadly, almost eighty years old and had seen too many wars, too many policies, too many deaths.

When he had left the room, Trion and Lorelei looked at each other.

"I fear that Giovanni is not as stupid as you make him out to be" spoke the general. "He'll do what ever is needed to protect his kingdom."

"Don't remind me of that Lorelei" rebutted the prince. "Just make sure that everything is ready on your end."

"I can assure you that everything is set. I hope that you still remember your promise, Trion."

"Darling" the prince then sauntered to Lorelei and placed a kiss on her cheek, "I will make sure that you will be the greatest woman in this kingdom."

Lorelei smiled Trion as they exited the throne room together before parting again outside.

Lightning had her eyes glued to the television. The images on the screen showed the government building, with reporters outside the building. A video then appeared showing Noctis walking into the building. He was wearing a professional suit, and looked relatively tried.

Poor guy, she thought to herself.

As the reporter continued to talk about the possible implications of the break in, Lightning walked over to kitchen sink, continuing to listen to the audio.

"The Caelum family has stated that nothing of importance was stolen from the 70th and 71st floors, aside from a few lists of government names…"

That's a lie. Complete lie. Lightning scoffed. They're just saying that because of the public outcry.

Leaving the kitchen, she walked over to the dining room area. On one of the chairs was her oversized black purse. Reaching inside of it, she pulled out a handful of sealed folders, papers, binders, and a large USB device.

Carefully holding objects, she leafed through the papers until she found what she was looking for. A document with the label C.S. Plans.01,46. She then placed the other documents back in the purse, making sure that nothing was crinkled or damaged.

Now for the first act…

She then took the selected document and placed it on the table. She then spent the next few hours examining it, making sure she knew every detail, every nook and window that was on the page. Once she was satisfied that she had memorized all of the information on the sheet, she folded the piece of paper up and placed it back in her black purse.

Lightning then made a note to cancel all engagements on the third Monday two months from now.

Things were moving once again. It would only be a matter of time before she would finally have what she wanted so much.

Author's Note: The plot thickens. I should let you guys know that every character in this fic will have a part to play, so don't discredit someone just because they play a small role.

Also great thaks for all who reviewed: Dawn, SunflowerWeilder, nickJoffdaCHAIN, flower on thewind, and zm4u. Thanks for all of the reviews you guys!

All characters and locations are owned by Square Enix.