THREE : Prostration

The light in the small archives room lit up as he touched the switch near the doorframe. Looking around until he found the black-paper box he was searching for, he took it out of the ranks and read the name inscribed on it.

"Fabian, Seymour."

Squinting a little at the small amount of documents arranged into the box, he then put it down on the floor to look through the files.

"Only little schemes are on his record… All when he was an adolescent…There isn't much here that proves he could be behind a theft as big as that of the sphere… But what's this?"

As his eyes ran through a personal record of Fabian, he came across a name he recognised.

"Married to Lenne DeLucci in 1998, divorced in 2002."

He frowned, "DeLucci? As in DeLucci inc.?"

"Tidus, hey Tidus, you in there?"

He quickly put back all the documents inside the box, but held on to the one he had just looked into. "Yeah, in here Wakka," he then said, looking up to see his partner entering the room.

"When you asked me to find out what Fabian is up to nowadays, you didn't look into today's paper, did you?" Wakka said, smirking a little.

Tidus looked up from his reading and frowned, "No, why?"

"Well if you had," the redhead continued, producing a page of the 'Zanarkadian Prime' from behind his back, "you would have got seen the new headline." He held the page in front of him, letting it fall open on the front-page.

"GIANT IN JEWELRY FUSES WITH DELUCCI INC."

Tidus immediately took the page out of his colleague's hand and studied it.

"Guess he's trying to expand his business even more, huh? As if the rich bastard needs it." Wakka commented with a wry smile. "Why did you want to know about him anyway? I don't see how he can be related to those thefts…"

The blonde studied the picture of Fabian and DeLucci shaking hands before gazing up at his friend. "Malucci told me. I didn't believe him at first, but now that you've shown me this, I'm starting to believe that something is kind of off."

Wakka tilted his head to the side, "Something in his archives?"

"No, not really, but maybe a hint. Up until three years ago, Fabian and DeLucci were married. They split up."

"On what cause?"

Tidus gave him a compassionate look, "Extra marital affairs… it was DeLucci who asked the divorce…"

"Hmm. What a shame, she is so beautiful. Can't see why a man would want to cheat on that." Wakka regretfully whispered, taking the article back.

"Well, he looks gay to me anyway. I mean three diamonds in one ear?" Tidus said, pointing at Seymour on the picture.

Wakka snickered, "I didn't say anything man, but it's true that by knowing of their marriage, it makes this fusion look kind of strange."

Tidus nodded thoughtfully before glancing at his watch, "11.45." he then closed the document holder and walked passed his partner, "I'm going to have lunch with my brother. You can join me if you want."

"Then I take from that that everything is alright between the two of you?" the redhead nonchalantly asked.

"Yeah…" Tidus turned himself around and smiled while running a hand through his hair, "remember me to thank you for that, bro."

Wakka smiled back, following his partner to the exit. "If you're willing to pay for my lunch I will take that as a returned favor."

Rolling his eyes at that, the blonde investigator gestured for his friend to come along.

"It doesn't surprise me that you didn't find much in your archives."

Shuyin took a sip of coffee before opening a document holder on the table, "We've been following Fabian ever since he started his company in 1995."

"Three years before he married DeLucci." Wakka commented, frowning and looking at his partner.

Tidus said nothing but just attentively kept looking at his brother. It seemed like he was thinking about something.

"Yes." The special agent confirmed, "I take from this that you've read this morning's paper, otherwise you wouldn't be mentioning her name."

"It doesn't make any sense." Tidus spoke, "Why would she want to fuse with her ex-husband's company?"

Wakka silently agreed but turned his gaze to Shuyin, "Didn't DeLucci inc. belong to her old man before?"

Shuyin nodded, "Yes it did. The man died in 2000 and his oldest daughter, Lenne, took over."

Tidus squinted, "Did DeLucci senior have any business relations with 'Fabian Jewelleries'?"

"He and Fabian were friends." Shuyin responded, resting his chin on his intertwined fingers with his elbows on the table. "When Fabian started his company, DeLucci was one of his main investors. They both had a passion for art, although they both choose a different aspect of it to make their career from. Fabian would often ask DeLucci's expertise on new obtained jewellery and DeLucci would often ask Fabian for advise when he wanted to buy art for his own personal collection. You could say that Fabian was like the son DeLucci never had."

Frowning thoughtfully, Tidus still didn't get it. "Even if her father had been best friends with her ex-husband, I still don't see why she would want to take a man that probably cheated on her as her business partner."

"She had no choice." Wakka suddenly whispered.

Tidus looked at his partner, "She got forced to do it?"

Shuyin took hold of his cup of coffee again and smirked, "Good thinking, Luciano," he sat back in his chair, "That's what we've been thinking too."

Wakka gave Tidus a questionning look before turning back to Shuyin, "If her father and Fabian were close friends and almost business partners, could it be that..."

"He put it in his will..." Tidus suddenly whispered, realising how it all really was, "But... why merge with DeLucci inc. only now? The man's been dead for five years?"

"We've had our theories about that." Shuyin slightly chuckled, putting his cup back down and intertwining his fingers, "But it was only when we looked at the business exchange rates of DeLucci's stocks that we understood why."

Both colleagues frowned in incomprehension.

"They've been dropping since the beginning of the semester," Shuyin spoke, "DeLucci inc. is in great potential financial danger."

"So you say that her old man gave permission to Fabian to come and help his daughter out if the company were to be in financial danger?" Wakka asked, his astonishment clearly resounding in his voice.

Shuyin gave a semi-nod, "We've only been speculating so far, but that's what it looks like."

"It surely explains a lot." Tidus thoughtfully said, "And shows how much the old man had faith in his daughter."

"It must've been a blow to her stomach, huh?" The redhead sympatheticly added.

Nodding understandingly, Tidus then faced his brother again, "Okay, so now tell us how Fabian can be related to the burglary of the sphere."

"First off, I do believe that we're talking about the same group of burglars who stole the Sacred Gem of Amenon in 2003, the Shadow Diamond and the Mysterious Glow this time around last year. I've read your notes, Tidus, and I agree that these three burglaries and the recent one all have similarities." Shuyin spoke, opening another document holder that had been lying underneath the first one.

"High grade of security for the objects, all four of them of an undefinable value and antique pieces of jewelery." Wakka said, crossing his arms on his chest.

"Yes. Every item was an antique." Shuyin spoke, facing him.

"Where does Fabian fit in this?" Tidus asked, growing impatient.

"As Wakka said, every item had an undefinable value and has never been put up for sale. However for the last antique, the Sphere of Betia, there had been an auction for."

"Right, I remember it was all over the news. But it was for the musea only." The other blonde said, frowning.

"And some companies too." Shuyin added, "Guess who went to bid too?"

"Fabian." Wakka intriguedly whispered, looking up from his cup of expresso, "But he didn't get the sphere, for it went to the Zanarkadian Museum of Spiran History."

"Yes, and according to the auctioneer doing the auction that day, he was pretty pissed."

Tidus gave his brother a sceptic look, "And just because he didn't get the sphere he decided to steal it?"

Shuyin chuckled, "It is known from him that he always gets what he puts his eye on. And I'm telling you, he wanted that sphere very badly."

"So you think he teamed up with the group of burglars to steal it?" Wakka questionned, squinting.

"You don't even have any evidence, only interpretations." Tidus exclaimed, shaking his head, "You have nothing to depart from."

"Oh, but I do," The special agent smirked and pointed at the picture of Fabian and DeLucci shaking hands in the 'Zanarkadian prime' displayed next to the many files on the table.

The mirror standing above her dresser shattered in million pieces as her left shoe made contact with it's reflection, sending the silver shatters all over the white carpet in front of her bed.

"Such a failure…"

Her tired body fell down on the covers of her large bed and the tears she had been holding back for almost a year and a half threatened to rise up once again, but she oppressed them as she always did and took a deep breath.

"Oh, dad…" she whispered, staring blankly at her ceiling, "I can't work with him, he unnerves me to the point of utter madness…"

She could feel the lump in her throat tighten itself but she wouldn't give into it, "But I'm going to respect your wish… I know he's the only one who can help me." She sighed and sat up, kicking herright shoe off her foot and pulling her legs up to her body, "It's just the thought of what he did to me that is… I know he was your friend, but if only you'd known him like he really is…"

Her eyes moved up and saw the remains of her mirror on the wall, "To think that I really loved him… he's the one who made me who I am now…" her hands moved to her hair and she put them in a knot in the back of her neck and started to undress slowly. Once she was in her underwear, she then went to her bathroom where she stopped in front of the mirror above the sink.

With the back of her right hand she wiped off the purple lipstick, leaving an ugly sweep on her right cheek, "Unable to thrust myself with another man," she then rubbed her eyes with the tip of her fingertips, smearing out the make up she had applied there, "Resentful," her right hand opened the cold water crane and she cupped her hands to splash some of the icy liquid on her face before facing her reflection again, "And lonely…"

Wiping the droplets of water from her face with her hands before taking off her bra and panty, she knew that it wasn't only water she was wiping off her cheeks; she could taste the salty taste of tears on her lips.

In a sudden impulse of anger she passed with her fingers over her reflection violently in an attempt to hide it away from her gaze, "Fuck it!"

Sighing deeply and passing her hands over her face, she stepped into the shower and opened the warm water. No one could hear her cry there. Not even her dad.

"I was starting to think that you wouldn't show up."

Ruby2 chuckled softly at the blonde sitting at the head of the table, leafing through a few files.

"I thought you had more faith in me than that, Azure," She answered back, patting his hair, "I needed some more groceries, I've put them in the lab so we can analyse that sphere. I didn't see Ruby1, where is she?"

"Ruby1 is waiting for you in the conference room." Azure spoke, still not looking up.

"I'm on my way." She said, lifting her hand to push the button next to the sliding door.

"Ruby2, wait up." The blonde man inquired, turning his chair around to look at her. His one eye holding a slight hint of concern.

"What's up?" Ruby2 asked, stepping back up to him.

"How's Amber?"

"A mess." She answered, sighing, "Even though she doesn't want to show it."

Azure nodded understandingly, "Ok. Don't tell her who our current employer is then. She might not be able to handle it."

Ruby2 frowned slightly, "Why not?"

"Ruby1 will explain it all to you and you will see it all for yourself since he is in video-conference with her at the moment that we're speaking." He turned himself back around, "Go now, she's waiting for you."

She nodded quickly and opened the door that led to a hallway that led to a red circular chamber. A grand circular table was standing in the middle of it, taking most of the space. Surrounding it where giant screens, adjusted to the curved walls, occupying the whole upper half of them.

As she stepped in, she saw the most central of them lit up and Ruby1 sitting in a red leathery chair in front of it.

"Ruby2?"

"Yes, it's me. So, where is he? Did I miss it already?"

The woman in the chair stood up slowly, her long black hair reaching to the small of her back. She was wearing a long black leather skirt with a long slit showing her high black heeled boots and a matching black leather shirt of which the top buttons were open, revealing the impressing cleavage she had.

"Did you bring the equipment?" She asked in her sultry voice while walking towards a switch that was located on the left of the central screen.

"In the lab."

"Good. Then we can begin." She pushed the switch and turned herself around to face the screen again as all lights started to fade out, "Start transmission."

"Transmission starting. Incoming image."

Suddenly the giant face of a man with blue hair and stunning grey eyes appeared on the screen.

"Miss Ruby, what a pleasant surprise." He said with an amenable smile on his handsome features.

Suppressing a gasp, Ruby2, just kept looking at the screen while moving herself into the shadows.

"Mister Fabian," Ruby1 smiled in response, "We are going to start our research on the sphere."

"Good, Miss Ruby. Keep me posted on the evolutions."

"Of course sir."

"Was there something else you needed to inform me of?"

"Not yet. But we wish you good luck with your fusion, Sir."

"Thank you, I'll make sure to send in the first cheque at the end of the week."

"Thank you, Sir."

"And may I add, Miss Ruby that you look very exquisite."

Ruby1 laughed briefly, "Good evening, Mister Fabian."

"Good evening."

"End transmission."

The lights went on again and Ruby1 turned herself around to face her colleague, "Now, shall we go check out that sphere?"

"You probably didn't know that Amber and Fabian used to be married?" Ruby2 spoke walking towards the exit, closely followed by the elder woman.

"Personal and professional affairs need to be separated. I see no problem, if that's what you're implying. Amber is a businesswoman, I think she knows this too. I consider her capable of handling her emotions." Ruby1 firmly spoke as they passed through the meeting room an on to the lab. She placed her hand on the scanner to access to the smaller room. The door opened and they stepped in.

"Azure told me to not tell her about Fabian. And I don't blame him. You haven't seen her lately. She's not acting like her normal self."

Ruby1 frowned slightly while putting on her white jacket and gloves, "Do you worry?"

The other girl sighed, "I must admit that I do. I don't see this turning out good." She put her own white jacket on and her gloves, "Fabian might be our employer, but he's Amber's business partner AND ex-husband. It's not a good combination."

Walking over to a switch at the left side of the room, Ruby1 sighed in comprehension, "I'll talk to her." She pushed in the switch and a glass box containing the shining Sphere of Betia came out of the centre of the square working table in the middle of the lab. She then walked back to the table and opened the glass box, taking out the sphere.

"According to my previous research, this sphere possesses incredible abilities. But I think I discovered a new one that no one has ever found out."

Ruby2 bend over the table to look more closely at the sphere, who seemed to be emitting a slightly pulsing golden light in the centre of it's purple depths, "I never saw it pulse before."

The elder woman chuckled briefly, "Put on your sunglasses and look."

She did as told and put on the glasses as Ruby1 closed both of her hands around the round object, pressing firmly before putting it back on the table. After a few moments bright light came out of the sphere, making it impossible to see for a few moments.

"It reacts to pressure." Ruby1 whispered after the light had disappeared and the sphere just lay there, with a faint pulsing light, "We're a kilometre under the ground and there is pressure, although we don't feel it because it is so faint. But the sphere does sense it and that's why it's pulsing. The more pressure, the brighter it will pulse."

"Okay, so why did you need the extra equipment?"

"You see this small piece of carbon?" the elder woman whispered, holding up the small piece between thumb and index finger, "I'm going to put it into this lead box here," she put it in small box next to the glass one, "And," she took the sphere back in her hands and pressed firmly, "Put this in it too. Cover it up."

After a few moments she opened up the box and took out the sphere first, "Check this out."

With her other hand she took out a shining gem in between her thumb and index finger. Ruby2 took the stone in her right hand and let it fall in the palm of her hand, realising what she was holding.

"A diamond?"

"Not a pure one, but it is a diamond." Ruby1 whispered, smiling, "I needed your equipment to make some more tests."

"Did Fabian know about this?"

"I think he had an idea, but I couldn't tell him without knowing for sure."

Raising an eyebrow while she kept looking at the stone in her hand, she understood why Fabian paid them good money for this job. And she didn't like it.

"Ruby2, we don't ask questions." She heard her colleague say and she looked up to look at her face, "We just do the job and they pay us."

Sighing inaudibly, she closed her fingers around the diamond and went to the microscope to check the characteristics.

From the moment that Fabian came into the picture she had felt that big trouble was on it's way and while looking at the stone under the lens, she felt that feeling multiply itself like the light reflections who dispersed themselves from the diamond.

To be continued...

-Diamant Noir-