Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy.
Xethear: *Enters in a puff of smoke* Hello everyone. Glad those who reviewed enjoyed the party! Here is the next chapter everyone. Enjoy!
Chapter 36: Double-edged Sword
"You really don't want to go in there Claire, it's a mess!" Noctis quickly slid between Lightning and his bedroom door in a panic just as the soldier reached out for the copper colored doorknob.
The day when the prince would face off against Cor was nearing quickly and Lightning had been helping Noctis prepare nonstop, honing his powers and controlling his emotions. After a training session, Lightning had suddenly gotten curious as to what the prince's room looked like considering she's never seen it before, yet the prince had been in her room on multiple occasions and was practically living with her now.
Lightning's brow angled upwards conveying her suspicion as whether to believe Noctis's excuse or not. "I don't mind." She answered briskly and unlocked the door causing it to creak open.
The austere soldier asserted her authority and gave Noctis a small shove to the side moving him out of the way. "So this is the Prince of Tenebrae's room huh?" Lightning walked over the threshold of Noctis's bedroom door and scanned her surroundings curiously. Most of the items in the room were dark as far as she could tell considering the only amount of light entering the room was through the small crack in the midnight blue curtains. She had only taken a few steps into the room when she immediately felt something brush over her boots. "What the—"
Noctis sighed and walked over to the curtains and pulled them apart allowing a flood of light to enter the room revealing the details of the prince's haven.
Lightning found that the item that caught her boot was a discarded jacket. She looked up and saw papers scattered on the prince's polished mahogany desk. The closet door was opened slightly allowing Lightning to see the loose articles of clothing desperately clinging onto their hangers. Noctis's bed was a mess of ripples and his pillow hung at the edge of the mattress. "Is this really befitting for a prince?" She asked skeptically as she picked the jacket up off her boots.
Noctis averted his gaze from Lightning as a blush colored his cheeks. He scratched his head embarrassed to have Lightning see his room in the current state it was in. "I told you it was a mess…" He muttered pettishly.
Lightning found an empty clothes hanger lying by the closet door and wrapped the jacket around its wood polished arms before setting it neatly inside the wardrobe. "No excuses." She responded vehemently with a sudden jerk of her head. "Go organize your closet while I fix this sorry excuse for a work desk." She commanded harshly already getting to work on gathering Noctis's scattered papers.
"Yes ma'am Commander Bedhead." Noctis teased with a small salute and click of his heels. Feeling somewhat agitated at being bossed around Noctis marched towards his closet and slammed the door open which he soon discovered to be a poor decision. "AHHH!" Without warning the pile of clothes stuffed inside the closet came down on the man like a sudden avalanche burying him in a blizzard of dark colored shirts and pants.
"Noct?!" Lightning quickly spun around on the desk chair to find what caused the man to yell and immediately brought one of her gloved hands over her mouth. The sight of Noctis's head peeking out from a small mountain of clothes was a golden image to note in the soldier's mental photo album. She tried her best to cover up her laughter but couldn't prevent several snickers from slipping through her fingers.
"Note to self, redefine 'pack lightly' to the maids!" Noctis shouted with a small huff. "Can I get some help Claire." The man added as he managed to wiggle one arm free.
Lightning tried to calm her laughter as she rose from the chair and walked to the man restrained by his own garments. "This is *heheh* why you organize your— nngh! Things!" Lightning pulled on Noctis's arm and with one mighty tugged, freed the man of his confines only to fall back due to the prince colliding with her. "Ouch." Lightning responded in an uncaring tone disjointed with what had just happened.
Noctis scrambled up off of Lightning once he noticed he fell on top of her and immediately helped her up with a mad blush on his face. "Sorry about that."
Lightning shrugged the incident off and gave Noctis a light shove causing him to fall into the pile of clothes. "I forgive you. Now get to folding." She shot the man a smirk before continuing where she left off with Noctis's papers. She was surprised to find that many of the letters were comprised of things having to do with Tenebrae. Various charts depicting the kingdom's status in comparison with others littered the pages with bunches of small text. Pictures with information on the native monsters roaming about the kingdom gave Noctis the knowledge to effectively combat the hostiles. She uttered a small laugh when she saw the prince's infamous sketches drawn lightly on the margins.
After organizing the charts and pictures into separate files, Lightning noticed one loose piece of paper that didn't fit with either stack. On it were a list of names and judging from the scrawled comments written in red ink, she discovered Noctis wasn't too fond of them. "Nitpicky, stuffy, annoying, won't shut his mouth, snooty, annoying laugh…" The page was filled with negative descriptions written down beside the list of names comprising one side of the page in black ink and the other in red. "Hey Noct, what is this?" Lightning waved the paper in her hands for the prince to see.
Noctis finished folding what he counted to be the tenth black shirt before looking towards Lightning. "Ah!" He rose and walked over to Lightning and leaned forward to rest his arms on the chair's headrest. "This…" He pointed at the paper before propping his head on top of Lightning's. "Is a description on nobles during the conferences I was forced to attend." He took a small pause contemplating his next words. "You would hate the conferences."
Lightning chuckled, "Are they that bad?"
Noctis uttered a dry laugh, "Those words I scribbled down by their names are putting things in a modest light." He pointed to one of the names in order to elaborate. "This guy, Mateus..." Lightning read the "snooty" word silently in her mind. "He always looks down on what he calls an 'inferior' social class and Prompto, originally being from the streets was always one of his prime insult targets." At the end of his sentence, Noctis saw the sides of the paper begin to crinkle as Lightning tightened her grip.
"He sounds like a fool." Her tone of voice easily told Noctis that the man would irk her. He moved on to the list.
"The next is a woman, Edea Kramer. Before she used to be a gentle person but now… I'm not sure what happened. She's become…"
"Power-hungry." Lightning finished as she read the word written in red.
Noctis nodded and moved onto what he decided to be the last name he would elaborate on. "And this guy… I don't know where to begin. I don't even know how he became a noble! Kefka Palazzo. He comes across as somewhat of a pierrot. No… he's more twisted. Mad at that." Noctis wondered whether he was selecting the right words to describe the jester that appeared during the conferences. He would always shoot him a smug grin and cackle after making a remark. "I could go on about the rest, but I'm sure you get the gist of it."
Lightning crumpled the paper in her hands; she was tempted to toss it in the trash bin if not for the side thought that Noctis needed the paper. Instead she opened up one of the desk drawers and let the paper ball fall into the compartment. She was about to close the drawer with her foot when another item of interest caught her eyes. She reached into the small container and pulled out a broken sword. The weapon's gilded hilt was encrusted with a small crystal which shone brilliantly under the caress of sunlight. She admired the blade's fragile beauty and ran her fingers along the cool metal surface. The severed part of the blade made it so that half of an imprinted crest was missing further emphasizing the weapon's incompletion.
Without her having to ask him, Noctis explained the origins of the sword. "I see you've found a symbol of my past mistakes." The prince seated himself on the floor by Lightning's legs and rested his head atop his folded arms on Lightning's thighs. He gave the broken sword an intense stare, as if trying to repair the broken weapon in his irises. "It happened during a coronation match."
"So in Tenebrae, you need to fight in order to ascend the throne?" Lightning inferred from the name of the event. She earned a small nod from Noctis.
"That's part of the process. Anyways, my opponent was a man wielding a greatsword. I hate to admit it, but at the time I was a judgmental fool. His background stated that he was from a rural area like that of the Wildlands. A hunter is what he called himself. I thought nothing of him because he was from the backwoods and thus hadn't the battle experience of fighting those trained under a certain sword style." A pained look appeared on Noctis's face as he recalled his prideful loss. "The match was completely one-sided. I was utterly defeated and to pay the price, I lost the opportunity to ascend the throne."
Lightning brought her finger to her mouth and bit down on the glove and pulled it off before bring her hand to the prince's cheek. Noctis saw sympathy in Lightning's eyes. "Don't get me wrong…" He sighed feeling comforted by her touch. "Looking back on it now, I wasn't ready to ascend the throne. It probably would have been disastrous." He placed his hand over Lightning's and eyed the sword. "This is the constant reminder of that past mistake."
Lightning gave the man an understanding nod. "That's good. I like that kind of goal in mind. And now that I'm here, go on and keep looking forward, because I'll watch your back and walk alongside you."
The soldier's heartfelt words produced a bright smile to appear on the prince's face. "Thanks Light." Together the two placed the gilded sword back into the drawer and closed it shut before resuming their previous chores.
After about fifteen minutes of folding Noctis was finally done and Lightning had begun to inspect his work. "Now then, isn't that better?" She commented sensibly as she slid in the last basket of clothes into the closet.
"I suppose." Noctis responded plainly with a brisk toss of his head.
Lightning rolled her eyes and let out a small yawn. After kicking her boots off she fell back on Noctis's bed and buried her face in his pillow. She took a deep breath and found that his scent was completely embedded in the cushion and mattress; she found it extremely soothing and soon found her eyes growing heavy. "So this is… where you sleep huh…"
Noctis laughed and sat by the bedside. "You make it sound as though every item in my room I've had some sort of foreign interaction with."
"I guess I just…" She let out a loud yawn causing the prince to yawn as well. "Expected some over-the-top room filled with 'princely' things." Noctis saw Lightning's hair fall in front of her face and instinctively brushed her rose-colored locks away. "It's surprisingly plain and comforting aside from the earlier mess."
"Heh, thanks." He carefully brought the dark blue blanket matching the curtains hanging by the windows over Lightning's shoulders making sure she was warm and snug in the bed before moving on to close the curtains. "Sleep tight Claire and thanks again for the training session. I'll have something for us to eat by the time you wake up."
Lightning responded with a muffled "Mmm…" causing the prince to chuckle before he shut the door.
'It's almost the day of the battle.'
Paradigm Shift
Lightning tucked her pendant beneath her zip-up turtleneck feeling the cool piece of silver against her bare chest. She felt that with it was a little piece of Noctis so that he would always be close to her. She stood off to the side along with her friends as Noctis stood face to face with Cor on an abandoned road void of any townsfolk – a perfect site for a battle. The dark grey clouds rolling overhead resembled a beast made of charcoal, consuming every bit of blue sky it could.
"Sheesh, can Cor bring a change of weather next time? This whole gloomy scene is really getting old." Prompto remarked sarcastically and threw his arms behind his head.
Lightning found the man's optimistic humor amusing and noticed everyone else did too as smiles appeared on their faces causing the tense air around them to crumble. Despite the light mood the blond managed to establish, he wasn't able to change the eerie physical scenery of the area. The cracks in the faded road were like scars on the landscape. The barren, crusty sand held dull, tangled patches of leafless twigs resembling wiry hair in place. Lightning had already taken the wasteland to mind yet was still in denial that it was part of Bodhum's outskirts.
Cor stood in the middle of the road with his arms folded across his chest; his sheathed katana locked in one hand as if a part of the man's limb. He stood unmoving even as the wind howled against him sending the loose ends of his clothing flapping about frantically. The man scanned Noctis with stern eyes, searching for any form of fear or unease and was pleasantly surprised to detect none. "Well now. Looks like you haven't been goofing off these past few days. I'll say this now to all of you so listen up. By the end of the day, whether the prince wants to or not, he will be coming back to Tenebrae."
Lightning quickly formed a fist with her hand in response to the man's threat. 'No way.'
Noctis who stood opposite Cor a safe – but hearing – distance away was anything but the spitting image of a refined prince. The dark jacket he favored wearing had several tears and singed ends making it look like he had just come from escaping a wildfire consuming a forest. His face, along with his shirt and pants were smudged with dirt, but despite his unkempt appearance, he was smiling. The prince hadn't planned on it – in fact, he wanted to face Cor while he was fully rejuvenated – but he asked his friends for a last minute sparring match as a precursor to his duel. Aside from the small frustration he held for himself for ruining his favorite ensemble, the prince held no regrets, rather he was thankful to his friends who helped him prepare.
Cor raised his brow taken slightly aback by the prince's uncharacteristic silence, "Coeurl got your tongue? Not very talkative today are we Noctis?" The man taunted hoping to get a rise out of the prince knowing full well Noctis's hubris was one of his major flaws.
Noctis turned his head and met Lightning's reassuring gaze and returned the gesture with a smile of thanks. The corners of the soldier's mouth twitched into a swift smirk before she gave him a proud nod. At his partner's signal Noctis's azure eyes became blanketed by a cloak of crimson. He took one step in Cor's direction and immediately faded into a pale blue after image of himself before disappearing completely.
"Hmm?" Cor scanned his surroundings trying to deduce where the prince was yet saw nothing but the barren wasteland and heard nothing but the moaning of the wind. "You learned some new tricks. Is it only useful for running away?" Cor goaded. He noticed a looming shadow appear on the ground next to his feet and shook his head arrogantly. "Found you." He swung his katana overhead in an arcing swipe and shut his eyes. The heavy resistance he expected to feel as a result of connecting his sheath with the prince's torso was unexpectedly lighter than the man imagined causing him to open his eyes to examine his work. "What?!" What the man thought to be the prince was simply a shadow cast by his discarded jacket. By the time Cor realized, Noctis reappeared crouched before the man with his fist drawn back.
"Do it Noct!" Lightning bellowed, her voice slicing through the wind's ghostly moans.
At the sound of Lightning's voice, Noctis shifted from becoming a nocked arrow to a lethal force as his fist rocketed towards Cor's torso. The prince clenched his teeth and released a low growl as his eyes erupted like a blazing inferno. His fist was met with solid resistance informing the prince that he had successful landed a blow on Cor. The man staggered back and used his free hand to clutch his side where Noctis had jabbed him.
"Hey now, you might have gotten a rib, and without a sword at that haha. Looks like you haven't been slacking off."
Noctis stared at his fist in disbelief. It trembled in response to his actions, not due to pain but rather, excitement. All the years of being beaten back by Cor, of living in the man's giant shadow, of having the man chip away at the prince's pride, he was finally able to push him back. He knew it wasn't enough to defeat the man, of course it wasn't, but it was a start. "Looks like the legendary war hero isn't as indestructible as he thinks he is." Noctis finally snapped back.
The goading smirk that bedecked the man's face slowly shifted into a sour scowl. "Don't get ahead of yourself boy."
'There it is.' Noctis thought to himself, "The beast's true nature finally comes out." Noctis and his friend's knew that Cor's taunts and insults was one of the many tactics he used in order to throw off his opponent so they weren't surprised to see the looks of shock on their friends in response to the man's sudden shift in demeanor.
"Hey now, that isn't exactly a warm and fuzzy look in his eyes." Sazh remarked in a low voice. The chocobo chick taking refuge in the man's afro shivered and buried itself in the man's tight curls.
"What's gotten in him all of a sudden?" Fang felt a prickling sensation on her skin soon experienced by everyone as they all stiffened up at the menacing aura Cor was releasing.
Rikku hid behind Ignis and dug her fingers into the back of his jacket. "I-Igie? What's going on?" The usually bright and cheery woman suddenly reverted to being a timid animal as she peeked over the man's shoulder to see if the situation got any better.
Ignis along with Gladiolus and Prompto stood their ground. "Normally… we would have broken into a cold sweat right about now. Cor's power seemed immeasurable before however now we can make sense of it due to the l'Cie brand." Ignis explained in his refine manner of speaking.
"I hate to say it, but we were pretty scared whenever we fought him. Noctis too… though he wouldn't admit it." Prompto added with a sullen sigh.
Gladiolus's hearty laugh became the next remedy to the stifling air around the group. "It's all good now though. I mean just look at Noct. Light doesn't look worried about a thing."
The group of friends turned their attention to Lightning who was staring down the face of adversity along with Noctis. Though they were meters away from one another, it felt as if they were standing side by side. The reassuring feeling told Noctis that he wasn't alone and after taking a deep breath, slivers of silver lights gathered around his fingertips forming the outline of Durandal until the sword had completely materialized. The feeling of the hilt in his hands and the weight of the blade no longer felt foreign after the time he worked alongside his steely partner. It was now an extension of his arm and like his friends, gave him a bigger boost in his abilities evident to the aura he now released in order to compete with Cor. The bluish silver hair like strands swirling around the prince were like polished lightning bolts in comparison to the blinding white tempest surrounding Cor.
The two sized the other up with their aura before having the display of energy abruptly stop leaving the sound of the moaning wind to resume its melancholic wail. Noctis's brow twitched with surprise when Cor wrapped one hand around his scabbard and pushed the katana by its hilt revealing a small portion of the blade hidden beneath.
The three men from Tenebrae observing the match immediately tensed up, Lightning understood why – Cor was about to draw his blade.
Noctis's mouth twitched into a nervous smile, 'Wasting no time huh? Glad to know you're not underestimating me this time.'
The hardened war general slowly drew the blade, releasing it from its seal. The faint slicing sound of the blade brushing up against the inside of the scabbard made the hairs on the back of Noctis's neck stand on end. As soon as the naked blade was exposed to the elements, Cor tossed the scabbard aside and held the weapon by the side of his face, parallel with his line of vision. With one swift swing a gust of wind followed Cor's sword stroke and opened a cut on Noctis's cheek. Noctis felt his warm blood trickle down his face. Cor waited for the prince to make the next move, but what the young man did surprised him.
Noctis held his sword out in front of his body pointing the tip down towards the ground and released the blade from his grasp immediately causing it to vanish.
Cor grunted with disapproval, "I finally draw my sword and it scares you into dismissing yours? Fine then." All was silent after Cor's abrupt sentence and for a moment, even the wind had momentarily lost its voice. The two men glared at one another solidifying the tense air around them. Noctis's friends waited for one of them to make a move; Lightning observing the match with analytical eyes. The resuming sound of the wind's ballad became the trigger to start the match.
Cor immediately swung his katana at the prince only to hit the bluish phantasmal after image the man left behind. Cor immediately tried to discern where Noctis had gone and swung his sword in a clockwise manner drawing a circle in the air around him; the sharp clang of metal against metal rung in the air like shattering glass. Cor had connected with his sword, but what he hit bewildered him for a moment. The item that had deflected his katana wasn't Noctis's sword, but a spear and just as quickly as it had appeared, it vanished leaving Noctis an opening to strike Cor in the same area he jabbed before.
'If you've inflicted some damage already, note it because that area quickly turns into a weak point.' Lightning's battle advice echoed in Noctis's head and proved fruitful when he saw Cor stagger back a few steps clutching his side. Noctis could tell Cor was getting annoyed.
"This little hide and seek game you're playing is getting old." The man growled through gritted teeth.
"Then maybe you should stop faking those pained grunts and take me on seriously."
"Just as I thought…" Lightning murmured to herself drawing her friends' attention.
"What do you mean Light? Noct is doing well isn't he?" Hope's voice wavered for a moment revealing his uncertainty towards the situation.
Lightning shook her head, "He is but that guy… he wouldn't be staggerd that easily."
"Heh... hahaha!" Cor straightened his posture as if he had suddenly recovered from the prince's attacks. "I'm impressed you managed to see through that. Alright then, but don't come crying to me after this is over." Cor walked off to the side of the scarred road and brought his callused hands over the surface of the sand. After grabbing a handful of the grainy substance in his hand the man walked back towards the road and shot Noctis an imposing glare. With a quick swing of his arm the man flung the handful of sand towards the prince.
"Hey! That's playing dirty!" Rikku shouted over Ignis's shoulder.
"No." Ignis responded curtly. "He's found out the secret Rikku."
The tiny pebbles soared through the air towards the prince but before they could make contact with the man they abruptly fell towards the blackened surface of the road as they clinked against a transparent glass wall.
Noctis sighed and extended his arm off to the side. At the prince's small motion the air around him began to bend revealing the outlines of multiple items rapidly circling around him until they gradually came to a stop. "Looks like you saw through it huh."
Cor chuckled, "Now I'll admit. That one caught me by surprise."
Noctis wasn't expected such words to come out of Cor's lips so soon which caused him to smile. "Blade curtain." He divulged the dubbed name of his new ability he honed with the help of his friends proudly. All around the prince was a small arsenal of weapons including swords of varying sizes, spears and several firearms.
"You gotta return those to me later Noct!" Prompto shouted at the prince receiving a small wave from the man.
"And my sword Noct!" Gladiolus added.
"I too would like my personal items returned afterwards Noct." Ignis ended with a push of his glasses.
Noctis rolled his eyes; he couldn't believe what his friends were saying at such a serious time. "I heard Prompto the first time!" Noctis shouted back feeling somewhat irritated.
"Noct! Focus!" Lightning commanded with a bark that asserted her authority.
The battle experienced soldier's words were met with a chuckle. "You sure met an interesting woman Noctis. I suppose I should thank her on the king's behalf for turning that young reckless fool of a prince who glared at everyone in the throne room as he left into a more experienced warrior. I wonder though… does she know?" Noctis's eyes widened at the man's remark, his calm composure was suddenly twisted into a mask of ferocity as he charged at the man blindly.
Lightning couldn't believe her eyes. "Noct what are you doing?!" Her words fell on deaf ears as the prince blocked everything out of his head save for the soul purpose of taking Cor down to prevent the man from talking.
Cor shook his head in response to the prince's impulsive attack. "Looks like that woman has also become a catalyst. I suppose I should tell her if you won't."
"SHUT UP! SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" Noctis swung both his in a sweeping motion towards Cor sending his arsenal of weapons at the man while securing Prompto's firearms in his hands. A rain of blades and a hail of bullets soared across the sky like birds of prey with Cor in their sights.
"NOCTIS!" Lightning shouted the man's name out desperately, trying to snap the prince out of his obtuse rampage.
Cor's l'Cie brand began to glow a pale white as he channeled his energy into his sword cloaking the silver blade in a hardened shell of ghostly white. "I'll end this quickly."
With one mighty swing, time seemed to stop. Everyone froze in place, their voices lost in the wind as all of Noctis's weapons were blown out of the way. The next instance chilled Lightning's blood as she saw Noctis fall forward to the ground, a pool of crimson red forming beneath him.
"NOCTIS!" Lightning's chest erupted in a burst of rose-colored light and Gagnrad immediately appeared before her. She sent her swords cracking down against the ground creating a wall of icy blue lightning bolts to separate Noctis from Cor. "VANILLE, AERITH!" At the young soldier's command the two medics rushed towards Noctis's side and quickly summoned their staves to begin healing the man's wound.
"Vanille, maintain a constant application of esuna to keep the wound from being infected, I'll work on closing it." Aerith instructed as she stopped the blood from pouring out of the prince's gashed chest.
Lightning's eyes trembled with fear as Noctis's pained face was reflected in her irises. Suddenly, a shadow glided passed Lightning and leapt through the wall of bolts. Cor's eyes grew hard, he held his katana over his head, just in time to block a would be bone crushing smash from Gladiolus's greatsword. "You've gone too far now." Gladiolus growled in a low menacing voice that sent a chill down everyone's back. The man usually full of smiles had suddenly turned into a threatening predator. The gale released caused by the collision of their swords ripped Gladiolus's shirt open revealing a glowing tattoo in the shape of a flower with petals resembling sharpened blades on his chest. His eyes had turned a vibrant shade of gold. In series of powerful strikes the prince's guardian unleashed a relentless barrage of sword strokes against Cor pushing the seasoned veteran back with each thunderous blow.
"So now, you're able to use your guardian's blessing. But you would waste it at a time like this?"
"He's not the only one." Prompto murmured sharply immediately appearing by Cor's side in a flash of silver. His finger hovered over the trigger of his ornate handgun, the barrel directed at the man's temple. The glowing tattoo of a bullet sprouting wings appeared beneath the blond's gloved hand. His eyes had shifted from blue to a steely violet. "I don't think you know what kind of bullets are loaded into this beauty's chamber during guardian release."
"In the name of Caelum..." Ignis's glasses were blown away from his face as the glowing tattoo of a flame appeared over his right eye now burning amber red. "We will, give you no quarter." A burning sigil suddenly appeared beneath Cor's feet at the end of Ignis's refined declaration.
"As much as I want to fight you all in guardian state, I'm afraid we're out of time. I was hoping to have taken the prince back by now but I guess I have no choice." Cor still stuck between Gladiolus's sword, Prompto's gun and Ignis's glare stood still and directed his gaze at Lightning. "You, soldier. You seem to be the key tying the prince to this place." 'In order for him to returns… he'll have to break the bonds he established here. He should have known he wouldn't be staying.' "Noctis must return to Tenebrae, the throne is in peril. The king is ill. And the prince…" He gave each of Noctis's guardians a glance causing them to lower their weapons before continuing. "The prince is arranged to be wed. He has a fiancée."
Paradigm Shift
"What do you mean I'm being sent away?!" Noctis glared at his father with eyes filled with rage and humiliation. He could feel his father's cold eyes looking down upon him. Noctis was always rebellious, always speaking his mind, never kneeling in the throne room, never backing down from an argument. His hotheadedness dubbed him a problem child amongst the high class nobles.
The King of Tenebrae drummed his fingers on the ornate armrest of the kingdom's throne impatiently; the wrinkles on his forehead further portrayed his frustration. "It's just as I said. That match of yours was pathetic. You've shown me now that you aren't ready to take over the throne. Either you come back with the knowledge a prince should hold or I… shall be the last to sit upon this throne."
Every word stuck into the prince like arrows which consequently fueled his anger. "Hah!" The prince mustered up all his vigor in order to expel his pent up anger through his words. "I will ascend the throne. My strength will become unparalleled. I'll make it so that no one ever looks down on me again. I'll wipe that look off your face for sure."
The king's fingers curled over the armrest. His knuckles grew white, threatening to crack the hardened surface of the throne. "Listen to yourself. How could you ever become king? I pity the woman arranged for your wedding."
Noctis shook his head and scoffed and turned his back towards the king as he made his way out of the throne room. "I've no interest in marrying her anyways." Noctis kicked the double doors colored obsidian leading to the grand hall open generating a thunderous crack to reverberate in the room.
The king sighed to himself as silence surrounded him. "Where have the peaceful days gone? He used to be such a fragile child. If only… we saw eye to eye again. What am I to do about his insolence Cor?"
The war sentinel slowly stepped out from behind the throne making his presence known to the king. "He still hasn't grown up hasn't he? Well… he will be accompanied by the other three brats. Together those four troublemakers might get something done." The man exchanged a brotherly glance with the king, "And I'll look out for him as well. He doesn't seem to enjoy it when I push his buttons, but at least it gives him drive."
The king let out a low chuckle, "I thank you my friend."
"No need Regis."
Paradigm Shift
Lightning's body felt numb, her fighting spirit drained and her heart like glass. Gagnrad slipped through the warrior's fingers and soared along with the wind once it had reverted back to glowing rose petals. Cor's words rung inside her head like an unwanted metronome. 'To be wed… wed…' She refused to believe it. She refused to believe all the memories she had made with Noctis was a proxy for another. Her mind was in shambles. The thing she feared most slowly began to engulf her. It was the reason why she didn't want to get close to anyone. She had taken part of the gamble to hand her heart over to another to trust completely and share deeply locked secrets and now, she felt that it was going to rip her apart; a double-edged sword. 'Was it too good to be true? I should have known better. Get too close to someone… and the pain of losing them is that much greater. But Noctis… you're engaged?' The seed of loneliness and betrayal had begun to sprout again.
'Forgive me Regis.' Cor thought to himself silently 'I'm going to end up hurting your son more than any sword could. He loves this woman but he's needed back in the kingdom.' Cor hid his inner thoughts through a stern glare masking his resolve. "I can see you have your doubts. But yes, the prince used you. You were just a means of escape for him to turn his back on his responsibilities."
The sudden sound of a gunshot rang in the air attracting everyone's attention to Prompto whose gun was pointed straight in the air. "Don't listen to him Light, he doesn't know what he's talking about. Noctis lov—"
"Take him to the hospital." Lightning interjected sharply. Her eyes were hidden behind her rose colored locks preventing anyone from seeing how she was feeling.
Ignis's tattoo slowly faded away and his eyes ceased glowing. "Lightning we—"
"JUST GO! Leave me alone…" She commanded sharply. Her friends remained where they were with shocked expressions on their faces. Lightning grit her teeth and clenched her fists before taking off running in an opposite direction.
Noctis turned his head in Lightning's direction weakly. He wanted to shout her name at the top of his aching lungs. He reached out with his hand and watched her grow smaller between his fingers as the distance between them grew. "L-Light…" He managed to hoarsely whisper before passing out.
Lightning continued to run against the muddied ground brought upon by the once forestalled downpour of rain. Bolts of blue flashed in the sky temporarily illuminating her path as thunder deafened any sound around her. The soot colored clouds bombarded the soldier with a barrage of heavy raindrops chilling her to the bone, but she didn't care; she continued to run.
Paradgim Shift
"Why didn't you tell us this ties into that bogus hocus pocus prophecy?" Prompto clicked his tongue and kicked the wall of the waiting room causing a ruckus in the other room. Shortly a nurse walked into the room and scolded the blond for his misconduct.
Cor sat on the opposite wall facing an unconscious Noctis fast asleep. The man himself was bandaged in several places unable to leave the match unscathed once the guardians intervened. "That's confidential and can't be told via message. I thought they told you that before you mirror addicted buffoon."
"Mirror addic— take that back you… you—!" Gladiolus interrupted the man with a strong headlock.
"Haha! He's right you know Prompto!" The man jeered as he drove his knuckle against Prompto's head.
Ignis's glasses reflected the bright screen of his phone as he read his previous messages he had received from the kingdom. "I admit, it would have saved us all this trouble."
"Yeah! And why'd you have to say all that stuff to Lightning huh?! Do you even know how much Noct cares about her? And she for him?!" Prompto hissed indignantly. "You haven't seen Noct smile so much since the queen's passing!"
"He must return to see his father!" Cor tried his best to contain his voice, but despite his efforts, his gruff tone still came out as an audible roar. "We didn't expect him to stay this long. Just enough to reflect on his actions."
Gladiolus released a sullen laugh, "Guess neither of us was expecting Noct to fall in love… or rather… all of us to…"
The three guardians all looked towards the snow white floor of the hospital room as they contemplated on how to explain their situation to the others once they came in.
"What's Vanille gonna say?"
"Fang's not gonna like this."
"Rikku is an understanding woman. Or rather… I do hope she is…"
The restless mumblings of the prince snapped everyone out of their thoughts as their attention became focused on the waking man. "Nnghh…" Noctis's tightly shut eyes slowly came to open revealing his soft azure eyes. "Where… Li… Lightning?" He whispered weakly. Noctis tried to get up but the sudden surge of pain in his chest protested against his actions. "Ack!"
"Whoa there, easy Noct." Gladiolus placed his hands on the prince's shoulders and gently pushed the rebellious man back down to rest. "We'll explain."
Paradigm Shift
Immediately after fleeing the scene, Lightning instinctively ran to GC Academy and entered the training room. All female cadets came with one pair of the signature hat, jacket, skirt and boots to their uniform. Since most of Lightning's uniform was soaked by the chilling rain, she had to change into her makeshift spare which comprised of a second coffee colored zip-up turtle neck, and taupe bike shorts.
Lightning let out a pained grunt as she drove her fists into the usual punching bag she sparred with. The poor piece of equipment endured a series of clouts and smacks delivered by the frustrated soldier causing the sound of the chain it was suspended on to clink again and again as the metal links collided with one another. The pain she felt wasn't physical moreover due to her chaotic thoughts.
She visualized Cor's face on the punching bag's dark leather surface and thrust her fist into the place where she imagined his smug grin would be sending the punching bag swinging back. Lightning fixed her eyes on the punching bag and readied her next attack as it came towards her once again. Just as she was about to send another punishing blow to it, she imagined Noctis's smiling face and immediately stopped her fist causing the punching bag to swing passed her arm and hit her squarely on the chest. She winced feeling something dig into her flesh only fueling her feelings of frustration.
"GRRRAHHH!" Lightning let out a mighty roar as her chest exploded with light and rammed her electrically charged fist into the punching bag causing the sack to burst open sending sand everywhere.
Her chest heaved as beads of sweat rolled down her face and tense muscles. The realization that she had just destroyed academy equipment caused her to mentally scold herself. 'That's some gil out of your paycheck… way to go Lightning.' She slowly unzipped her turtleneck until just below her collarbone and found what had pressed up against her chest – the pendant Noctis had given her. The small piece of jewelry was yet another thing to stir up her emotions.
Her original intent of letting out some steam seemed to backfire on her as she felt even more frustrated than ever as she marched off to the bench where her training gear rested. She let out an exasperated sigh as she sat down on the cool metallic seat and wiped her sweat away with her towel. After setting the used towel aside Lightning picked up her water bottle only to have it slip out of her hands and spill all over the floor.
She cursed to herself silently and picked up the plastic bottle and crushed it in her hands before dumping it in a recycling bin. "Even more gil wasted…" She murmured feeling more and more irritated at each small annoyance that befell her. After cleaning the spilt refreshment, the thirsty soldier decided – though it was an extra hassle she could have avoided – she would purchase another bottle from the vending machine. She swiped her ID card through the scanner causing the mechanical doors to slide open revealing another person just about to swipe his ID through the other end.
"Ms. Farron?" Cid looked perplexed as if not expecting anyone to be in the room.
'Great just what I need, a stuffy, imposing stick in the mud.' The way the man addressed her immediately vexed Lightning evident to the twitch in her brow. "Hello Cadet Raines, mind stepping aside, I need to—"
Cid held up a fresh bottle of water up to Lightning before she could finish her sentence. "You look parched." The man said with a friendly smile.
Lightning was surprised at the man's generous offer but declined. "I'll get one myself."
Cid shook his head, "I insist. I obtained this from sheer luck. The machine dispensed two." He explained nonchalantly. "If you don't take it, I'm afraid it will go to waste."
Lightning grumbled to herself and snatched the bottle away from the man's hands after recalling how much she was complaining about getting another bottle earlier. "Thanks." She said moodily.
Cid rubbed his chin and raised his brow. "You seem perplexed. Gil for your thoughts?"
Paradigm Shift
Noctis's fingers tightened around the sheets that draped his legs causing wrinkles to form on the snow white blanket. "That stupid prophecy again. There's nothing special about it! We're not tied to some scripted fate! Nngh!"
"Noct don't overdo it!" Gladiolus advised helping the prince lie down once again after another of his attempts at getting up.
Cor gave the impatient man a stern glare, "It's not just that, the nobles are starting to stir up trouble. With your father bedridden he's unable to represent the Caelum household."
"Well then why didn't you say anything to them?!" Noctis spat out vehemently returning Cor's icy gaze with a blood red stare.
Cor shook his head and clicked his tongue, "By doing so I would be shaming the family name."
Noctis let out a low growl as he fixed his eyes upon the ceiling feeling extremely bitter.
"Now the task at hand is for you to severe your bonds here." Cor finally spoke out about the obstacle Noctis was forced to face. "That woman, you must end your relations with her and—"
"No." Noctis interrupted abruptly, his voice was harsh and his body began to shake with anger.
Cor pounded his fist against the wall threatening to call in another nurse to scold the men. "Don't you understand?!"
"NO! DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?!" Noctis roared causing Durandal to appear before him. "Lightning means so much to me. She's helped me more than you'd ever know and accepted me despite my flaws. Despite my arrogance, my recklessness, my overbearing nature she looks passed all that!" Much to the guardian's surprise, tears began to stream down the prince's face. "I… I want her to be my princess. Not some stranger I have no connection with."
Noctis's guardians all stood by the prince. "We're with you Noct." Prompto encouraged the prince with a reassuring squeeze to the shoulder.
"Yeah! I'm sure Light will be happy to be with you as well Noct." Gladiolus shot the man a grin as he ate the food the nurse left the prince.
"Indeed. I'll report in on getting an extension to stay in Bodhum and—"
Ignis's plans were stopped short by Cor's sudden burst of aura. "You all don't understand. By staying here, you're putting all of those people in danger! Those assailants that came after you were targeting the prince! And all of you simply brought innocents into the affairs of the kingdom!"
"Excuse me! Please keep your voices down! Other patients are trying to rest!" The nurse's voice hissed through the closed door. Cor rebuked the nurse's words with a scowl.
Noctis looked as though he had just found out Tenebrae was swallowed up by the earth. "I… I never meant to involve—"
"Do you understand now?" Cor slammed his hands against the foot of the bed. "If you truly love that woman, you will leave today. It will protect her from further harm."
Cor's words chipped away at Noctis's emotions like diamond against ice. His words became knots in his throat and his hands grew clammy. He couldn't find a way to counter the man's claims for he found truth to them. He was the target of Kadaj and his thugs and because of it, Lightning had become a l'Cie. He suddenly thought about how her life was before he came along to complicate things.
The feelings of depression Noctis began to feel continued to build and hang his head low like weights fastened around his forehead. The whole room was silent save for the ticking of the clock on the wall.
"Alright…" The prince finally spoke breaking the petrifying silence. "I'll break my relations with Lightning."
End Chapter
Xethear: Now is the time to test the two lovers. Thanks for the thoughts on the previous chapter everyone. Til the next chapter. Stay well my awesome readers!