Revelations

Disclaimer: Don't own the SaGa Frontier characters or anything else from the game.

The last bell rang for the day, signifying the end of school, and the students of Dillard High School poured out of the front gates of the Dillard Middle School, eager to get home as soon as possible. Tapping his feet in rhythm to the beats of a popular songHowever, a silver-haired boy was waitingnot among them. He was waiting outside the principle's office, obviously impatient from the way he looked at his watch every few minutes. His black backpack lay on the floor beside him.

This wasis Rouge of the Magic Kingdom, son of the now deceased Master Magician Kyle and Liang. A fifteen going on sixteen year-old, he is a first-year student atthe Dillard High School in Class 3 under Teacher Marcus, better known as Mark. Standing around one hundred and seventy-five centimeters tall, Rouge was considered quite tall for his age. His ruby red eyes, which he had inherited from his father, were accompanied by silky silver hair that hung past his shoulders to his lower back.

Known throughout the school as an occasional prankster, Rouge was a popular student and extremely active in sports. He was the school's star basketball and tennis player, and co-captain of the school's sports club. He was also well-known as an avid party-goer. He spendsSpending a lot of time with sports and parties, so his grades aren't always the highest in class, but it wasthey were pretty good. Slightly above average, one would say.

But not all of his interests revolved around adrenaline-pumping activities. Rouge also had an artistic side to him. He could draw. Really well. Most of his drawings, especially ones on people, were drawn manga-style because that kind of art really appealed to him. His drawings were quite good for someone who doesn't go for art classes, and he occasionally sends them in for contests. Most of the time, it was his manga drawings that won. He also drew comic strips for the school newsletter, and was well-known throughout the school for the wittiness and sarcasm he displayed in them.

What's taking him so long?! Rouge frowned, his lips tightening, impatience written all over it. He was supposed to be home early to go over last-minute details of his up-coming birthday party with his brother, and here he was waiting for his 'dear friend' Derek, who was currently being chewed out by the principle for the prank they pulled earlier. Or rather, they pulled earlier.

Rouge rolled his eyes. Grown-ups were so boring these days. Especially when they're teachers. Don't they remember pulling stunts like that on their teachers when they were in high school? Probably not, or else they wouldn't have gotten all worked up about something as petty as beetles in a drawer. Laughing softly, he could still recall the shocked look on the disciplinary teacher's face when she saw that her desk was filled with beetles. Big beetles. Rhinoceros beetles. Woo hoo.

Damn it, they were too good. Those beetles were kept in the lab, but Rouge had managed to sneak them out. Then, when the bell rang to signal lunchtime, Derek sneaked into the teachers' lounge and hid them all in one of the drawers. Unfortunately, the hall monitor saw him sneak out of the lounge, and put two and two together when the disciplinary teacher ran out ten minutes later screaming her head off.

So why wasn't Rouge being chewed out as well? By right, he should be in there with his 'partner-in-crime' listening to the boring old geezer talk about their 'good old days' where the men wore mini-drags called 'loin cloths' and life had no excitement in it whatsoever. But he wasn't dumb enough to be caught sneaking out. And he wasn't worried that Derek might just spit it out that it was his idea in the first place, because Derek wouldn't do that. He was the typically loyal friend.

Just when Rouge was considering the possibility of leaving, out came his dear friend accompanied by the principle, Mr. ClarkValdo. Mr. ClarkValdo was around average in height, and balding slightly around the top. That bald part was really shiny too. Word had it that he polished it using bicycle spray before coming to school. He wore wire-rimmed glasses and almost always had a stern 'don't mess with me if you want to live a long happy life' look. Which was why Rouge never pulled any pranks on him. Nope, not even one.

He was saying, "And don't ever let me catch you pulling that stunt again here, young man!" Derek nodded and grinnedactually had the good graces to look slightly sheepishly. The principle glanced at Rouge briefly, then returned to his office without another word.

Derek stuck his tongue out at the principle's backdoor, not caring that it was already closed, then scowled, "Right back at you, geezer." He turned to his silver-haired companion and grinned wickedly, "Wait till he sees what I'll put into his drawer! He'll freak out for sure!"

Rouge gave him a smirk, "Go ahead if you wanna die early. Yeah well, But next time, make sure that nobody is there to actually see you do it. I mean, Thatthat was just… dumb, Derek. Being caught by that geeky hall monitor. Really dumb." Picking up his backpack from the floor, he nodded to the front gate, "I'm heading back home now. I'm already late, so tell your mom that I'll come over some other time, okay?."

Derek shrugged, "Sure, no prob. Oh yeah! How's your party plans going?"

Rouge raised a silver eyebrow, "Well, I was going to go home and go over what last-minute plans I have, but someone over here got in trouble, don't know who though, and practically begged me to wait for him, so being the nice guy that I am…" He let the sentence hang.

"Heh... But you've already got everything planned out, don't you? All you need to do is get the stuff. So there's no point in going over the plans right?" Derek shouldered his book bag over to his right shoulder.

"Yeah. But those are last-minute plans. You do know what 'last-minute' means, don't you? Besides, Blue, being Blue, absolutely has to go over the plans one more time before we started buying what we needed. Even Mom agreed that we should go over it one more time," Rouge said as he pushed open the front gate. He shrugged, "And that's that, I guess. I know when I'm outvoted."

"Most of the time. Not always, though," Derek muttered under his breath, then said, just as Rouge was about to reply, he said, "…Well, I gotta go now. Ja!" Derek waved over his shoulder as he headed to his house.

"What did you mean by-" Damn, he's gone. Glaring at hiehis back, Rouge waved slightly in return, even though Derek's back was already turned to him, and headed to his own home.

In the kitchen, Blue was munching slowly on a sandwich, waiting for his brother to show up. He had already laid out the plans and everything else that he wanted to go over, and the only thing left was Rouge. He didn't want to start without Rouge. After all, it was his party too.

Obviously, this is Rouge's twin brother. Blue was quite different from his twin. Their features were the same, since they were identical twins, but Blue's hair was actually a dark shade of blonde, accompanied by sapphire-blue eyes. His hair reached his lower back, like Rouge's, but most of the time was tied up into a ponytail. However, a few locks of hair always managed to escape from its position and framed his porcelain-like features breath-takingly. Adding to the slight mess were his bangs, which covered part of his eyes. Standing at the same height as that of his brother, which was one hundred and fifty seven centimeters, Blue and Rouge were the exact copies of one another, if one didn't count the hair and eye colors.

However, their personalities were quite different. While Rouge was sociable and impulsive to the point of it being hazardous to his safety, Blue was quite reserved when it came to socializing, and was the more cautious of the two. He was an aloof person by nature, and from childhood found it difficult to mix with others. Especially when it came to conversation. Which explained why he was usually quite blunt and cold towards people he was unfamiliar with. The only people he felt truly comfortable with were his mother, Uncle Jalian and Rouge.

He was a also quiet young man, always letting others do the talking, but when he felt that he needed to give his views or opinions on something, was never afraid to voice out his opinions when he felt it was needed. And he was also incredibly straight-forward about matters that were extremely important to him. Not a lot of people liked this straight-forwardness of his, but Blue couldn't help it. He preferred saying it as it is rather than beat around the bush.

A first-year at Darmen High School, Blue was in Class 1 under Teacher Irena. His grades were high, one of the highest in class. Not surprising though, since he usually spent part of his free time reading the school text books. He had a whole library of novels in his room, fiction and non-fiction, consisting of various titles. He was talented in writing, and occasionally wrote articles for the school newsletter which was released every two weeks. Rouge had a library too. But it was mainly for sports magazines and manga/comics. Occasionally, Blue would read some of the manga his brother kept, but it wasn't very often. Those kind of books just didn't appeal to him. Blue was also the pianist in the school orchestra. Other than the piano, he also played the drum, flute and violin. Obviously, Blue is very talented when it came to music. He even had a hand in creating a few of the compositions performed during the graduations ceremonies.

But he did have an athletic side to him as well. He was the only one who could trash Rouge in basketball, and that was saying a lot, as Rouge was the best in the district. But only because Blue had fallen ill with pneumonia that last game. Apart from that, Blue could play mean soccer, and swim like a fish. Also, his skill with the saber and at archery was known throughout the region, and he was a star gymnast and martial artist. In fact, his other nickname was "Super-Over-Achiever".

He nibbled at his sandwich, not really tasting the tuna in it. He was too busy wondering what in the name of all three goddesses was taking Rouge so long to get home. Rouge was usually quite punctual when it came to parties, be it his or anybody else's. A white-and-brown colored furball came to his side and jumped onto his lap. Startled out of his reverie, Blue jumped, only to laugh slightly and stroke its fur.

"Cirin-neko… How many times have I told you not to jump on me, hmm? Not that you would understand, of course," he muttered quietly to his pet. It has grown quite a bit since he and Rouge found it in their garden fiveseven years ago. Its originally pink fur was now white with brown patches all over, and its features resembled that of a cat. It could even be mistaken for a cat, if only the pair of white wings located on its back weren't there to begin with. Ignoring Blue's mutters, Cirin just made itself comfortable on its master's lap. The advantages of being an animal of a rare species, at least in the Magic Kingdom: your master pampered you like crazy.

"Yo! You're home early!'

"I'm not early. It's you who's late," Blue commented, still stroking Cirin's fur, not bothering to turn around. He knew that voice. It sounded exactly like his.

Rouge rolled his eyes, "I'm only a little late. And it's not even my fault!"

"Whatever," Blue smirked and reached for his notebook, "Let's get started , 'kay?. We're late enough as it is."

"Yes sir," Rouge saluted and dumped his backpack by the door. Walking up and taking a seat beside his brother, he greeted Cirin with a pat on the head and toograbbed an apple from the fruit basket, "Okay. Let's hear it all."

Opening his notebook swiftly, Blue said, "First things first, I've talked to Mom and did all I could, but she still said that she was going to chaperone the party."

Rouge's face fell visibly. "Bummer."

"BUT, she did agree to stay in the house, and keep out of sight. Unless there's an emergency or if things get out of control, then…"

"I guess that's the best that we can get out of Mom, ehne?" Rouge grinned ruefully. No one could argue with his mom and actually have any chances of winning.

"Mmm… I've already gotten the CDs we want for the music, and Rocky's volunteered to be the deejay. Is that all right with you?" Blue asked, not looking up from his notebook.

Rouge shrugged, "Rocky's cool. I've got no problem with that. What about the food?"

Clucking his tongue once, Blue grins, "Heh… Food, of course. We have tacos, with Pop's special taco sauce of course, cakes, cookies, and every type of snack that exists in the Magic Kingdom. Mom's agreed to cook her spaghetti and curry chicken. All we need left are the burgers."

Rouge leaned back and said, "Don't worry 'bout that. I'll get the burgers. And the hotdogs.Hot dogs, too. Gotta have hotdogs. Remember that." Blue nodded, making a note in his notebook about getting hotdogs.

"Anything else?"

"The decorations. We still haven't decided on what decorations we should put up," Blue pushed his bangs away from his face and looked at his brother, "But other than that, nope."

Rouge groaned, "Oh yeah, the decorations. Y'know, I'm really not looking forward to decorating this place. Isn't there any way to go around it?"

"I don't think so, not if we want our place to look halfway presentable. It wouldn't hurt to decorate this place even a little. Umm… Since we're holding the party outside the house as well, then we might as well decorate the trees or something. Maybe we could hang streamers on the branches?"

Rouge didn't look thrilled, "Won't that involve work?"

Smacking himself on his forehead, Blue groaned, "Rouge… If you want this party to be a success, you have to work! Everyone knows that!"

He raised both hands and cried out, "Okay! Okay! I'll work. But only the streamers. Then we'll just tidy up the house and leave it that way. Deal?"

Blue grinned, "Deal," and closed his notebook with a loud 'snap', "Well, now that we're done with thatall that's out of the way, let's get moving!"