Ignis silently walked in first then made way for an expressionless Gallius holding the laptop which he had placed on my desk. Prompto walked in last and leaned with his back to the wall obviously feeling sorry for me. The two older retainers stood silently at the foot of my bed as if they couldn't find it in their selves to take a seat nor did they know where to begin their soon-to-be lecture of a lifetime. Wow. My impressive feat must have rendered them speechless. I totally felt like a child whose parents found his porn magazines.
It was deathly quiet among the five of us until Ignis grunted and took off his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose. While Gallius closed his eyes for a sigh through his nose then opened them revealing an irritated narrow-eyed amber gaze. Prompto was giving me and Yozo sympathetic looks as if mentally warning us and wishing us luck for the upcoming storm.
This level of suspense was beginning to make me gradually anxious. Yozora, bless him, must have sensed my distress cuz he hugged me tighter not letting his eyes off of Gallius, as if he was expecting him to jump me and squeeze the brains out of me to see if I was damaged in the head.
And after what he has just seen, it sounded like a pretty reasonable reaction by this point. I have done the unthinkable, after all. Ignis, on the other hand, didn't look as enraged considering his calmer nature. But that doesn't mean his reaction was gonna be any prettier. However gentle Ignis is, you don't wanna mess with a guy who knows his way around a knife.
"Noctis Lucis Caelum." Now I know I'm absolutely fucked. "Of all the things you could have done…"
"Galli, listen-" Yozora tried to rescue me but it was futile against the Shield's rage.
"OF ALL THE THINGS YOU COULD'VE DONE!" he repeated, this time hollering like a walrus. "You go and fool around with some ghostly motherfucker who can and will hurt the shit out of you when you could barely fight back against it!"
"Gallius! Listen to me! J-just calm down and let me talk! Me and Noct - we didn't know any of this was gonna happen! We were just exploring and it happened too fast!"
"Too fast?" he scoffed in disbelief. "As if all the shit that happened around wasn't fast enough? There were moving objects and dead bodies for goodness sake! you should have taken the hint and got the fuck out but you had to put on a brave front like you're invincible or some shit. And now look at the both of you! you almost got killed!"
"There's a fine line betwixt bravery and stupidity and you bloody crossed it!" holyshit. The way my advisor growled his sentence, especially at the word 'bloody', indicated that he was more pissed than he let on!
"What happened has happened, you two. We are okay now and Noct is close to recovering. I understand your anger b-but please calm down. We made a mistake and it won't happen again."
"It will be for your own good that it does not happen again!" Hissed Ignis making me flinch. He rarely ever speaks in that tone making him surreal to listen to. Which makes me wonder who is scarier when angry: him or Gallius?
"Mhm!" nodded Yozo rapidly with wide eyes. Guess he's not the only one freaked out by the seemingly harmless tactician. Keyword: seemingly.
"And you…" snarled Iggy in Yozo's direction. The latter looked about ready to beg for mercy. "Why, pray tell, did you not stop him?" demanded Iggy pressing a palm to his forehead as if he's tired of all the bullshit he has overdosed on recently. "You've seen Noct willing to embark on such a perilous and foolish journey, and you went along with him!"
"He tried to stop me, Iggy!" I started. "But when he saw that I wouldn't listen, he tagged along to keep an eye on me." I desperately hoped that my reasoning would calm him down enough to cut Yozo some slack, but I guess I had hoped for too much.
"Ultimately putting the two of you in danger, I presume?" he said waving his glasses between me and Yozo who kept shrinking under Ignis's livid gaze.
Gallius, however, stayed unnervingly silent. He closed his eyes, crossed his arms and shook his head as if the massive disappointment and stress from the recent events must have finally begun to take their toll on the usually cocky and sassy protector. But what he said next really stung, I'm not sure I even deserved it. But considering what I did, it's not far-fetched. "I'm especially disappointed in you, Noctis. Damn thing was all your idea. If you wanna play around with ghosts, be my guest. But don't get someone else hurt in your illogical shenanigans! Yozora got injured because of you!"
"I never asked for anyone to come along!" my voice cracked as I yelled back feeling genuinely hurt by the accusation. "The reason why I kept it a secret was because I didn't want anyone else hurt with me!"
"I chose to go with him, Gallius. It's not fair to put all the blame and responsibility on him! He even considered cancelling our plans just to protect me!" rushed Yozora to defend me.
"Well His 'Majesty' didn't exactly do a good job at protecting you, did he? Pfft. Some king he is." Did he just say that? Even Prompto silently gaped and Ignis visibly flinched at the bold remark.
"Gallius!" barked Prompto from behind him.
"That was an uncalled-for thing to say, Gallius." Hissed Yozo between his teeth. Now it was his turn to get angry.
"Gallius. That's enough. That was such an unnecessary input." Agreed Ignis squeezing the bodyguard's shoulder as if reprimanding him. His other hand still holding the glasses as if he forgot to put them on again.
"Alright. Everybody, calm down." Prompto, being the peacemaker he is, has finally moved himself from his previous spot against the wall and walked over to stand next to the older guardians. "We have had a stressful time recently and we are all tired and say things we don't really mean." He said emphasizing the last words narrowing his eyes at the Shield. "But this ordeal is almost over now so might as well put all this shit behind us and-"
"He's right." I mumbled but it was loud enough for everyone to pause and look at me.
"Noct, don't-"
"Shut up, Yozora! Don't sugarcoat it!" I snapped. "Let's face it. If I hadn't been so obsessed with this stupid ghost hunting make-believe, I would have saved us all the trouble. You wouldn't have gotten dragged down with me. And I wouldn't have gotten sick to further cause you all more trouble than necessary." I sniffed as I began to become emotional with guilt. "You guys have been working hard to take care of me for the past damn week. This all could have been easily avoided if I wasn't so dumb and acted like a responsible leader. But now it's like I'm making you pay for my own mistake!" I grabbed my hair feeling immense regret for getting my only family through so much pain for no legitimate reason. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean for any of this to happen! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" my words were interrupted by uncontrollable sobs. The guilt. The trauma. The stress. The emotional and physical exhaustion. This was all too much.
Ignis, who can't stand seeing any one of us crying, rushed by my side and began hushing gently and rubbing my tense bare back in circles. Prompto wasted no second in rushing to my side as well and squeezed himself next to Yozo to put me in his embrace and nuzzle my hair. "Shh. Don't cry, Noct. Don't cry. It's okay."
Everybody went quiet except for my guilt-filled weeping and sniffing voice echoing throughout the room.
"Nobody is paying for anyone's mistakes, Noct." I heard my advisor say as he gently massaged wherever his hands could reach. "Remember we are a team. We are bound together through thick and thin. Whenever one of us falls, the others are there for support. So don't be afraid to let us share the load."
"You have given me quite the scare, Noct." Started Gallius calmly. I looked up to him from my bloodshot eyes. "During the time I have been watching that video, I kept telling myself 'What the hell were those two thinking?' You have no idea how concerned you got me. When I saw those heads in the fridge from your video… I- I imagined you and Yozora among them!"
"Oh God no, Galli-" started Ignis.
"You could have faced the same fate!" he has entirely lost his composure by this point. Can't say I blame him. "If something ever happened to any of you…" Then he continued his sentence with a heavy sigh putting a hand on his eyes visibly upset. "I just can't handle such a horrible thing happening to one of my own." He said after he has collected himself a bit. Now I began to completely get where he was coming from. Witnessing such death scenes can be scary enough as it is, let alone the thought of having your own beloved be the victims. Then I remembered the dream. I recalled back the sight of possessed Yozora and the decapitated heads of my three retainers. I almost became mentally damaged when I witnessed the terrible fate of four of the most important people in my life even from the point of view of a dream. Let alone the possibility of it happening in real life. Just imagining the whole thing alone was terrifying enough to make me tear up more. And Gallius most likely is feeling that way right now. Must have given him one hell of a heart attack. What have I done?
I'm such an idiot.
Literally all my instincts told me that this was all a shitty idea but in my fucking curiosity, I went against them. Every fiber in my being had been sending alarm signals to my brain but I brushed it all off in favor of treading a mighty dangerous territory for no reason on Goddamn purpose. Even after my attempts to predict the results knowing that they're not going to be pleasant, I still paid no heed and went through with it anyway.
And what were the consequences?
We went through nothing but trauma and terror. We pissed off and got attacked by what seemed to be an otherworldly creature. We almost got killed. I got sick in the process. And now everyone is downright distressed. And you know the situation is this severe when it causes even my own tough and level-headed bodyguard to lose his cool, and my calm and collected advisor to snap.
I have officially fucked up big time.
Smooth, Noctis. So very smooth. I mentally gave myself a sarcastic clap.
I blinked causing more tears to fall down and buried my face in my hands knowing full well that no amount of apologies will amend the blunder I just committed. I couldn't believe that my selfishness and irresponsibility has caused things to escalate that far. There is a darn reason why I wanted to keep it a secret after all. But I guess it was never meant to be. As if I'm destined to be punished for what I did but if that was to be the case, it would be bold of me to say I didn't deserve it.
"Ssshhh. Everything is alright, Noct. Breathe." I tried to control my sniffles as I listened to my advisor's smooth and calm voice. He hugged me further against his chest and I didn't turn down the invitation of nuzzling the front of his shirt. I could smell his nice scent and feel his jaw against my head as I swallowed hard and rubbed my cheek against my advisor like a baby kitten seeking comfort. And thanks to Mama Iggy's soothing magic touch, the sobs stopped wracking my body and I began to gradually calm down enough to breathe without getting interrupted by hiccups. But not for long…
I heard Gallius half sigh half grunt and I snapped my head up when he began quitting the room. Probably too disappointed in me to even look at my face. Who he used to trust as a mature and responsible royalty has gone to fool around with unknown beings from the other side and even provoked a satanic maniac. I couldn't bear the thought of one of the important people in my life to be this immensely upset with my very being to the extent that he even wouldn't want to be in the same room with me. I couldn't handle the thought. Anything but that!
"Gallius! No, I'm sorry! Please don't go!" I began to get up and catch up with him but I was pinned down by Ignis, Prompto and Yozora to keep me from moving.
"Noct, stop! You cannot leave the bed yet!" I could barely hear Ignis over the depressing thoughts invading my head as Gallius left my sight.
Will he ever trust me to be on my own again? Did I ruin the foundation of trust between us? How much worry may I cause him every time I go somewhere alone?
That wonderful jerk works so hard to protect me knowing full well that I can take care of myself and I took it for granted. He takes his bodyguard duties so seriously and never leaves me completely vulnerable in his presence and here I am, doing the exact opposite of his labor. No matter what happened, he never stopped working for me - not because he has to or because he swore an oath, but because he wants to. Yet all that effort, everything he has done for me all this time since we were kids, would have been washed out in a single night. By doing what I did, I'm practically shitting on my bodyguard's efforts to keep me safe and well protected. He does everything in his power to ensure my wellbeing despite the fact that he is by no means obligated to put so much work in it and I spat at that by pulling one reckless stunt.
He cares so much. He cares and I ruined it.
And what the fuck about Ignis? The man whose ass got stuck with mine ever since we were knee-high. The man who had spent all of his childhood slaving for this idiot prince who is too much of a lazy fuck to even get up early. The man who would practically shove the spoon of salad down my throat for how much he fears for my whole being down to my health.
And Prompto… oh, Prompto… he's the only retainer who got involved with me out of his own volition, not because of my status. He never gave a damn about me being a prince or what the fuck ever. He looked at me as a person – as a human, not some authority figure. He chose to join the Crownsguard purely out of his simple desire for us to be together, not because it's a family career that got passed down to him unlike the other two. He literally left his previous life behind and started anew so he could be with my dumb ass and here's what he got in return.
All these thoughts alone were enough incentive to use whatever squat energy I had to warp free of my friends' grips to run after my very upset protector. The protector who has just received the shock of a lifetime as a reward for everything he did for me. He didn't deserve it. He fucking didn't.
When I got out the room, he was standing in the corridor as if my voice made him hesitant to leave. He turned around at the sound of my footsteps and sadness turned to surprise on his face when he saw me coming for him.
"Gallius! I'm sorry! I was stupid, selfish and irresponsible!" I cried as I squeezed his thick waist in a hug. "You have every right to be mad at me. You are free to kick my ass however you want but please…" I wasn't even sure what I was pleading for; to forgive me? To not leave me? I was too shy to ask for something I didn't have the right to. Instead, I buried my face on his solid ass pecs – promptly getting tears and snot on his favorite cup noodle tanktop – as if letting my emotional breakdown do the talking for me.
"Easy! Easy! It's alright! Don't cry, little guy!" I heard his deep voice coo softly in a comically higher pitch voice as if talking to a child. I felt his firm yet gentle tattooed arms embracing my bare back and my crying stopped instantly save for a few ragged breaths. "Everything is okay. Calm down, champ." He said playfully. "You're going to be alrigh- Noct?" I could barely hear the rest of his words over the ringing in my ears, or make out his troubled face from behind my darkening version. I almost fell to the ground but I was held securely by my protector's strong arms.
"He got dizzy. We told him not to leave the bed!" I heard Yozora's distressed voice. In the heat of the moment, I didn't even sense the others approaching.
"Let's just move him back before he faints again." Urged the advisor. In seconds, I was back to my resting place with Gallius's hand checking my forehead whereas Ignis and Yozora cooperated on rubbing my face and chest with the rags respectively. Prompto sat crossed legged
propping my feet on his lap to massage them.
"Dammit, guys." Grumbled Yozo breathlessly as he was running the wet rag across me. I wanted to ask him to go for the nipples again but my sense of timing was what kept my mouth shut. "I get it. We were wrong. We deserve to have our fucking heads bitten off. But couldn't you at least have waited until Noct was good enough to walk without losing his balance?"
"Yes, it is true that was a lapse in judgement on our end." Agreed Iggy. "Noct's body can barely handle the stress of standing up, much less an intense argument that would surely drain someone in his condition of what little energy he has left. We shouldn't have rushed with the reprimanding." As he talked, I watched my advisor's concerned expression through a squinted eye as he carefully wiped my face with the rag to clean off the sweat and tear stains. He looked five years younger with his glasses off. And five more years when he lets his hair completely down. But tonight, he stuck with the hairstyle where he pulls his hair back letting a few bangs hang on his forehead and, without his glasses, it made him look five years older again. In all cases, I have a sexy advisor. Sue me.
"Not that I'd mean to pull excuses out of my pussy. But in our defense, we were too damn distracted by what we just saw to think about anything else." Reasoned Galli still keeping his fingers in my hair.
"Me and Noct didn't think our actions through as well, that's for sure, but you aren't any better by yelling and raging at a sick person!" spat Yozo stopping what he was doing. The rag laid forgotten in his clenched fist causing it to drip on my shoulder. And I'm quite certain I heard a small 'dammit, not again' from Prompto.
"If I had known the effect our little 'chitchat' would have on Noct, we would have shut up about it until he is better. We are not that heartless, Yozo!" Snapped Gallius back. Dang, when Yozora said that he was gonna ask them to have it easy on me because of my miserable state, I hadn't expected things to be this heated. Then again, neither had he.
"I know that you are as sweet as a little lamb, Gallius-" The sarcasm in Zora's voice almost made me laugh but I also happen to have a sense of politeness to keep from even grinning.
"Um, guys?" I tried calming things down but damn, they were really too into this to listen.
"-But if you had half the decency you claim you have, you will know when to keep your mouth shut!"
"C'mon, you guys. That's enough." started Prompto with the peacemaking again.
"You think I meant for him to get sicker?"
"Gallius. Yozora. Stop bickering this instant." But Iggy's attempt to stop this little tennis match of smartass comebacks had fallen on deaf ears.
"You meant to lay waste on a person who still needs to rest! You know how sick he is yet you still went bananas all over him when he barely has it in him to talk back! How inconsiderate is that?"
"You freaked us out! Don't you get it? you freaked the shit out of us! How the hell do you expect us to react?"
"Guys, please-" I tried again.
"How to react? Just look at him, Gallius!" Yozo almost poked me in the eye with the way he was pointing at me. "He could barely keep his eyes open and you're asking how to react? If you had the common sense-"
"You're one to talk about common sense cuz at least I didn't go sneaking into a haunted mans-"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" man, it felt good! Amusing to see the four of them jump from my much needed outburst even if it left me out of breath a little. But either that or they won't cram it. "I have caused enough damage as it is. I can't bear to see you fighting because of me. I really don't need that. None of us do."
"Don't blame yourself on this one, Noct." grumbled Gallius from between his teeth not letting his eyes off of Yozo. Clearly still seething from their friendly exchange. Can't agree with him frankly. Even if I wasn't directly responsible for the fight, who do you think caused all this shit in the first place?
"Yeah, Noct. Don't blame yourself." Mocked Yozo. "Don't blame yourself over others' douchebaggery." Prompto bit his lower lip with wide eyes while the still miffed bodyguard looked about ready to tear off Yozo's nose in a single bite. Luckily, Ignis spoke up first to prevent any casualties.
"That's enough from the both of you." His voice was strict enough to imply that he wouldn't take no more shit from no one. "The majority of us have made a mistake at some point throughout this ordeal. But fighting each other over it is and will always be futile. Let us stop now and focus on amending what was done before things escalate further than they already did."
Could anybody argue? Nope.
From then on, it was silent for a short while with Iggy and Yozo wiping me with the wet rags as if they were washing the cars or something. Prompto was doing his best to massage my feet occasionally complaining about them smelling like a monkey house. Good thing Iggy managed to shut Yozo and Galli up. So many things have happened because of me. Having them fight each other as a result of what I did would just add to the guilt-o-meter.
"Gall…" I began.
"Champ, don't talk."
"I just… don't want you and Iggy to be mad at us." I squeezed out the words in my exhausted state. "I know I'm too much of a dipshit to ask for forgiveness but-"
"Don't say that!" he interrupted playfully pinching my lips shut. "I got mad, yes, but that doesn't mean I won't forgive you and Yozora. The reason why I yelled earlier was because you two assholes have given us quite the scare." Despite his words, I still felt uneasy about something else.
"Do you still trust me?" I must have caught him offguard because his eyes went so wide, I almost held my hand beneath his face so I could catch his eyeballs in case they fall off.
"Noct. If my trust in you lessens every time you make a mistake, I would never have let you out the doorstep without me breathing down your ass!" he stated with an awkward smile.
"You couldn't even look me in the face. You were disgusted by me, weren't you? Isn't that why you left the room?" Again, I know I deserve it. but that didn't stop me from voicing my thoughts in a hurt tone.
"Wow. The fever must have gotten to your brain like you have one." he sneered crossing him arms but it was out of being upset over what I said and not out of meanness. "You practically drove me mad by doing what you did, that much I won't deny. But nothing you do can lessen the deep love and respect I harbor for you. I'm sorry for ditching you like that but I just needed to cool down a bit, not because I thought any less of you. You knuckleheads all mean the world to me and I couldn't handle the thought of something ever happening to you."
"Yeah. Don't we all get that feeling?" mumbled Yozora averting his eyes clearly feeling as shameful as I did.
"And…" I heard Gallius start with a deep breath. "…I'm sorry about what I said. You're an awesome king. The best royalty I have had the honor of befriending and protecting and I take absolute pride in my duty as your Shield. Everyone does something stupid once in a while no matter what their status is. I shouldn't have used your position as a king against you."
"True, Noct. Sometimes we spout crap when we're angry so don't take his asshat comment too personally." Agreed Prompto absent-mindedly putting his fingers between my toes. Then raised my leg to his face level for a disgusted sniff. "Dude. It's bad enough you sleep like a bear. You don't have to smell like one." his remark earned a couple chuckles from everyone.
"Do trust that nothing will change how we feel about you. Even the greatest kings and queens aren't above committing blunders." added Iggs once the giggles have died down. "That's not just part of being king; it's a part of being a human. It's a well-known reality that everybody makes mistakes, king or not. We shouldn't let this come between us." Wish he could talk more cuz, fuck, I never realized till now how soothing that voice can be.
"Aren't you home with us right now? Because that's all I really give a damn about at this point." I heard Prompto say as I felt his hands momentarily leaving my feet and when I looked at him, I found him sniffing his hands with a grossed-out face.
"Yeah, you just scared me a whole lot. Tis all. I didn't mean to make you feel bad."
"Trust me, big guy. We both feel bad enough before you could say anything." Said Yozo as if reading my mind. Both he and Ignis renewed the rags' water one more time before leaving them to settle on my body. "But nobody blames you for your anger. What we did was no small deed by any means and we apologize deeply for that."
"All I ask that you don't do stupid shit like that again. Can you at least do that?" pleaded Galli in a much calmer tone which was a nice contradiction to the yelling a few moments ago.
"Simmer down, now. It's obvious these two have learned their lesson." Assured Iggs. I can say with utmost confidence that he is damn right.
Nodded Gallius as he caressed my hair with a concerned yet fond look on him face. The lamp light made the scar over his left eye stand out more. "Poor Noct has had it rough recently. He and Yozo just survived a traumatizing shitstorm then got sick like a dog and yelled at. Enough is enough for him."
"Though a bowl of salad should be up for good measure." Grinned Specs as he adjusted himself to lay down on his elbow next to me, Yozo sat cross-legged on my other side, Gallius on him knees by my legs, and Prompto laid backwards leaning on his hands seemingly done with my feet stink. But not without smelling his fingers one last time.
"I'd take the ghost over the fucking greens any day." I mumbled electing a few chuckles from everyone.
"I wouldn't be too sure about that." Stated Iggy sounding a bit serious. "We have seen the videos, Noct. We have seen that ferocious entity chasing after you and Yozo and what it could do and you would pick that over the vegetables? I cannot believe you survived that!" He chuckled putting his forehead against mine lovingly. He must have put his glasses back on at some point cuz I could feel its frames rubbing against my face which meant that he grew the rest of the five years.
I was tempted to plant my finger prints on those super shiny and clean lenses but lucky for him, I didn't have any more energy to fool around.
"I felt especially horrified for you two when you were sitting helplessly in that room and that thing could be heard growling from the outside. Talk about a horror movie!" added Gallius, him eyes wide with bewilderment at what she had seen earlier.
"I almost screamed when you opened the fridge, man!" Prompto's voice cracked. "There were guts and shit everywhere. Seriously, what the fuck was that house?"
"A fucking ghost house of a murderous psycho demon, that's what it was!" I scoffed.
"Did it smell as bad over there as your feet?" sneered the gunner through his teeth with a raised eyebrow.
"Less whining and more rubbing!" and I felt his hands on me again accompanied by another grumpy comment about my feet smelling like a bats' cave.
"Though I have to admit, not all the scenes were frightening to watch." Said Iggy with a grin. Oh no. he doesn't mean…
"Those two idiots wouldn't stop laughing at the moving chair." pointed Gallius at the amused strategist and photographer.
"Dude! That was like the best scene in the whole video! This is the type of horror comedy I would rather sign up for!"
"I'm so glad I got it on camera so you're welcome!" damn you, Yozo. "Seriously, if there is one good thing that came out of this shit trip is that I managed to get Noct on camera looking like a clown!"
"Even beings from the other side have little tolerance for His Highness!" said Iggy as he playfully flicked my cheek.
"I hope you assholes get chased by pieces of furniture." I mumbled.
"Well, there goes another movie night. Thank you for the entertainment!" Troll Iggy strikes again causing Gallius and Prompto to snicker a bit.
"I'm glad you guys had fun at our expense." I sneered rolling my eyes.
"Yes, be sure to visit haunted mansions more often. That was quite the show!" retorted Iggy with a shit eating grin earning chuckles from same idiot pair.
"Fuck you, Iggy!" both me and Yozo yelled laughing.
"Thank you! Gallius could definitely make that into a reality!" this time Glads and Prom exploded laughing at the disciplined advisor's dirty joke earning a facepalm from Yozo and a silent glare from me.
And thus, we spent the rest of the night discussing the videos' contents, how me and Yozo have been feeling throughout those terrifying events, paranormal activities in general, haunted furniture and Ignis's desire to be fucked. Despite the drama that happened earlier, things have finally begun to settle down between us.
As much as I would have deemed myself deserving of getting my ass condemned, I couldn't help but feel like I have already received the punishment I deserved. I think that having a heavy iron helmet thrown at your head, get dragged away by an invisible entity while barely conscious, escaping from an angry demon, getting stabbed by a sharp bacteria-infested iron rod followed by a sickness that made me go bonkers, is just more than enough to never repeat this screw-up. But out of the two of us, I'm the one who paid the bigger price. Which is fitting considering that I was the master mind behind it all. Still, I'm glad Yozora was spared of this one. I felt guilty enough as it is even when I'm the one who got sick, let alone if it was Yozora who took the bullet. Only then will it take a great deal for me to ever forgive myself.
"Moment of truth?" asked Yozora.
"Moment of truth." I replied. I felt somewhat refreshed thanks to a good night sleep after yesterday's events. Ever since I got lightheaded and I haven't been able to leave the bed for the rest of the night due to the stress of the entire situation on my already sick body. After a quick breakfast this morning which Iggy had pulled out of his ass and I managed to get my strength back a little.
I was kinda feeling dreadful to relive the events we have been through at that cursed hellhole. But the fact that these were mere recordings being watched from the safety of our home was what encouraged me to it. Besides, there's something I need to check out.
Once the video has started and I patiently waited for the painting scene. I have to know whether the canvas really did move or my brain was just fried. First, we had to watch the scene of the room where I became acquainted with Rapunzel. A few minutes in and I listened to my own voice shit talking the hairs and their owner and I had to listen to Yozo's giggles from both the video and from next to me.
"Wow. You were so moody back there." I felt my boyfriend chuckling on my shoulder as he talked. He tried to sip from his apple soda without laughing. "No wonder the ghost tried to hit you with a chair! Tehehe!"
"At least I wasn't flattering my way out of it." I deadbanned with an expression far from amused not letting my eyes off the screen. I raised my lemon mint soda to my mouth and chugged a few impressive mouthfuls followed by an even more impressive burp.
Of course, I had to put up with Yozo being all hoho and haha and hehe at the scene when I almost got assaulted by a chair. "HAHAHA! -Burp- HAHAHAHA!"
Should I smash my bottle on this guy's head?
Finally, after the scene of the giggles was over, it switched over to the one I have been waiting for. The camera view closed in on the painting revealing the three heads stacked together on a pole like a Dango.
"Eh?" I expected answers. Not for the screen to become static. The so-called piece of art became less and less visible as the screen was glitching and twisting.
"What gives? Is something wrong with the video?" he rewinded back to the previous scene when the view was clear, hoping it would fix the issue somehow, but the screen went back into static state again right at the same timing. "That's weird. Maybe I should close the video and start it agai-"
"Wait." I held his hand away from the touch pad. I think I'm beginning to understand what the issue is but I wanted to watch the scene all the way to the end in order to make sure.
As expected, the static only lasted during the moment when I was tranced by the moving canvas allowing everything to be visible again thereafter.
"I don't understand." Said Yozo shaking his head. But I did. And thus, I paused the video and began telling him what I saw on the canvas. Maybe I didn't get the scene I was expecting, but the static alone was enough proof that something did happen. That this really was a paranormal moment and not me getting off the deep end.
"You really couldn't move?" he raised an eyebrow.
"Best way to put it is when you have just woken up from sleep paralyzes. You couldn't move at first and your ears would feel like they've been plugged and when you wake up, it's back to earth again."
"And the picture was moving? Well good thing that we didn't stumble on He Who Must Not Be Named." He giggled.
"I know, right? I got the same vibes too!" I said amusedly as I took another sip from my soda. "We had enough trouble -burp- we don't need Fish Face to come fuck shit up more than it already was."
"You shall not pass~"
"That was Gandalf." I reminded him.
"Oh." I deemed that as the end of this riveting conversation so I pressed the Space button to keep watching. To make a long story short, there was nothing else significantly new about the recordings except that they were taken from different points of view with each of us reacting to what the other has seen alone.
"That mannequin head has moved? Why didn't you tell me?" questioned Yozo.
"I was going to tell you but you were busy filming the pigeon's spot sooo… I forgot." He didn't say anything so we kept watching. Nothing new except for the one specific part I have been waiting for. "Over there! See? I knew it!" I said as I pointed at the monitor to the shadow figure facing me from the screen. It really was standing in the window reflection at the top of the stairs so I guess I wasn't seeing things after all.
"Wow. I didn't notice it at all. Good thing you got that on camera." We stayed silent except for the small comments and remarks we kept throwing here and there. Until Yozo finally witnessed the toilet ghost encounter from my perspective.
"You weren't kidding! That thing really showed up behind you!"
"Well I didn't look like I was kidding back then."
"I wager that's what got my shirt when the door closed on me."
"Maybe it wanted to see you shirtless?"
"Oh you!" he pumped my shoulder playfully before we carried on watching.
"Here's the part when you got trapped in the toilet."
"I can see that, Noct. It's creepy enough without you saying it out loud."
"I have a question, though." I said pausing the video.
"What?"
"Why didn't you teleport out the toilet?"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"Just continue the damn video…" he grumbled and I did with a smirk. The video went on and all was going normally until we reached the dreaded part when things began to escalate at which my heart started beating in anticipation.
Yozora literally flinched at the creepy shit I saw in the rooms I have been discovering alone. He also looked especially disturbed when he got an eyeful of the hanged pigeon with the shadow bastard behind it looking more diabolic upclose and personal until my boyfriend's recorded scream came within hearing. My camera view was shaky and sporadic and Yozora was whispering words of remorse when he saw me panicking back then. He didn't feel comfortable seeing his own bloody face on the floor then gasped when he watched himself get dragged away and locked up. From then, he learned what I have been doing during the time he was semi-aware.
"Oh, Noct. I don't know what to say. Dealing with my unconscious ass must have made things harder for you back then." He said in the midst of the commotion coming from the laptop.
"Not like it was your fault, was it? It couldn't have been helped. I would feel dazed too if I got bonked on the head by a thick helmet." then we stayed silent as we witnessed the very events we have personally lived through. Moments later and the video ended at the spot where Yozora was examining the major stab wound on my back at which I visibly cringed then he ended it there.
"I shudder to think what would have happened if we didn't make it." started Yozo. "Had things gone any worse, we wouldn't be…" he shut himself up. I knew what he was implying and I didn't have the heart to continue the sentence for him. "There's still one more we haven't seen yet." he raised his head then leaned forward to open the recording in question. Clearly changing the topic that I frankly didn't care to continue.
Now it was my turn to see how it was from Yozora's perspective. Everything was pretty much the same and it felt kinda weird to see myself talking and recording. We listened to our own conversations as we relived the recorded version of the events. There was nothing noteworthy as we squatted silently by the screen. That is, until we reached the part when Zora went to look under the bed…
"AH!" I jumped totally freaked in the midst of Yozora's laughter when I suddenly became face-to-face with a pale mug with large eye sockets and an open mouth. I was staring at a deformed humanoid who was clinging to the bottom of the bed making it face Yozo's camera upside down. I didn't see anything at first but the camera suddenly moved the other direction to reveal that shitface! "Oh my God! What was that thing just now? Is that what you saw under the bed cuz I can't believe you saw it without so much as a squeak!"
"Haha! Oh yeah I was so freaked out, I forgot to scream!" he said still laughing. "But really though, what was it? Hard to think that fellow was under the bed this whole time in the room with us."
"That was a jinn, no doubt about it. They sure know how to manifest into such freaks though. Must have been the reason why the bed was shaking." After I have calmed down from the initial spook, I continued watching as the video carried on to the ghost in the toilet scene. By this point, we found our reactions in the video absolutely hilarious and what used to scare us then made us laugh now. When we got spooked by the midget ghost inside the bathroom, we literally wheezed at the sounds of our own screaming voices and how the camera views comically jumped back.
"Well. Even with the absence of electricity, the paranormal energy can momentarily turn the lights ON!"
"Hahaha! Talk about a dramatic way to finish your sentence! I'm surprised I didn't laugh back then!"
"I couldn't help it! The bitch scared the hell out of me! Besides, who would laugh in a situation like this?" We giggled like the morons we are for the next few seconds until our voices died down making way for the ones coming from the laptop. We have finally gotten to the scene where me and Yozora parted ways and now I could see what he had seen while I was busy investigating my own half.
There wasn't much to it seeing as I have already been through these rooms when I rushed over to rescue him. There was nothing new except-
"Huh?" I was helplessly shocked at what I saw next. When Yozora fell to the floor, the camera was aimed at the large wall gap and a terrifyingly familiar head with long black hair peeked from behind the wall.
"Hey look. Isn't that your buddy?" pointed Yozo at the screen.
"The princess haired Jinn I found in the lower floor room, yeah." I paused the video to make sure it really was the same entity that scared me shitless on my first exploration. "It followed us upstairs?"
"Wonder how long it's been watching us before it decided to make itself visible." He mumbled before he replayed the video and stared at the head overlooking onscreen Yozo's helpless form on the ground then retreated back again, followed by Yozora getting dragged out of the camera view by whatever ghostly powers that got him back then. Seconds later, I walked in to grab the camera and turned it off, and that was the last of the recordings we have been through a lot to acquire. The rest is already known.
I closed the laptop and leaned back on the headboard. We both stayed silent looking anywhere in the room. Each one of us waited for the other to say something. Until Zora was the first to break the ice. "You know, back then, I could feel something dragging me. I thought it was you helping me but I was too out of it to realize that you can't have dragged me that fast!"
"You have no idea how terrified I was. I was looking for you thinking I'd stumble across your body at any moment. If something ever happened to you, the guilt will stick to my conscious like super glue for the rest of my life. Not to mention how it will compromise my relationship with Gallius, Iggy and Prompto. They would never forgive me. I know I wouldn't." I adjusted my position to squeeze him in a hug and nuzzled his neck. "I'm so glad you're okay. I'm really sorry." I mumbled the apology in the midst of my kisses.
"Hey now. It's alright. I'm here now. The potion took care of my head and, in a few days, you should make a full recovery and it's like nothing has happened." He said as he hugged back and nuzzled my hair. I could feel the tip of his nose against the side of my head.
"And… truth be told; it was kinda comical to have the helmet be the last thing you see before the camera view toppled over!" I snickered and in return, I received a playful jab in the shoulder.
"By the way, lemme look at your back." I wasn't sure what he was aiming at but I complied and turned around anyway. "Yup. Like expected, the scratches that were on your back are beginning to fade." Oh yeah those. I have completely forgotten about them.
"These things heal super fast." I remarked. It can't have been the doing of the potion as they can't heal slight injuries like scars, bruises and dislocated joints cuz said curatives don't recognize these conditions as real injuries. Flesh wounds, broken bones and other injuries, however, fall under the category of what a potion could handle. "Still, I kinda feel bad that our first ghost hunting experience went wrong like that." I sighed turning around to face him again. "I mean, if things went as expected, I could have turned this whole ghost investigation thing into a hobby. Maybe we were just unlucky this time."
"You just picked the wrong house. But if you went into any other haunted place, the paranormal activity wouldn't be as severe." I kinda expected Yozora to slap me for implying to go for another investigation, not after what happened, but he made sense. Surely not all haunted houses are this deadly, yes? "Don't tell me you wanna give it another shot somewhere else?" he said with an awkward smile.
"Nah. Who knows what kind of scary shit we are putting ourselves up against? True, other haunted locations may not be as punishing as the one we went to, but they are still dangerous territories nonetheless and we might get hurt just as bad if not more. I say they are not worth the risk."
"So you're calling it quits? The idiot has learned his lesson?" he smirked.
"This idiot should have learned the lesson 50 videos ago. But I guess that unless I'm taught the hard way, I will never learn." I sighed again then turned to look at Yozo. "Perhaps it's for the best that we leave these things for others to do it on our behalf. The mansion experience has left me quite shaken up and I don't think I can do another investigation even if given the chance."
"Better be safe than sorry – well, sorrier than ever." I nodded at his sentence.
"By the way, I never got to thank you for saving me when I got injured."
"Thanks as well for staying with me. Who knows what that ghost could have done to me while I was under its mercy?"
"Don't 'mansion' it!" and yet another jab was aimed at my shoulder.
A few days have passed and I was back to my healthy state again. What happened a week and a half ago felt like a year so even though the memories from the mansion still haunt me, I was quick to get over it. Which was the opposite of my expectations that included having nightmares every night, getting PTSD flashbacks and imagining ghosts everywhere. But besides the couple of nightmares I had when the incident was still fresh in my head, there was none of the previously mentioned. Like Yozora said, it was like nothing has happened at all. He even stayed with us a few more days to make sure I have made a complete recovery. Quite thoughtful of him, no?
Do I still regret it? Maybe a little seeing as it was done at the expense of Yozora's wellbeing and my three retainers' feelings. But if there's one good thing that came out of it is that we have had one hell of an experience. True that it wasn't worth getting us almost killed or to have Galli or Iggy flip a lid but it's no use regretting it all when everything has returned to normal.
This all has taught me that paranormal beings are not always just folklore or horror stories to scare the little shits into sleep. And that if you ever decide to infiltrate a haunted zone, you do it at your own risk. And who knows? Maybe I will repeat this experience only if I'm obligated to, like it was part of a mission or something, not out of curiosity or for the sake of exploration. And at the slightest chance of things going wrong, I call it quits. No question. We have seen what those things can do.
Which was exactly the reason why I'm gonna issue a complete lockdown on that mansion today to ensure that no more break-ins take place that could potentially lead to more casualties. I almost wanted to retrieve that body I found for a proper burial but let's face it; the risk is too damn high. Not gonna avoid death by an inch only to go back willingly to that hell on earth just to retrieve a random corpse. There's just no guarantee we're gonna survive this shit storm twice. Even if the chance of something happening during day time seemed much smaller, a risk is still a risk.
Gallius suggested we should just summon his Behemoth, Jared, and have him demolish the entire premises. Or summon my Infernian, Cerberus, to have him just burn it all to the ground until no evidence is left. But take it from me as a ghost expert that this might as well be asking to be haunted until the brink of our sanity. It could somehow follow us home or possess the Familiars for all I knew. Who knows what the hell else that otherworldly motherfucker is capable of? I neither know nor even care to find that out. All I know that I have squat interest in becoming the target of a vengeful demon.
"Noct! Iggy just came up with a new recipe for lunch! You're gonna love it!" I heard my bodyguard calling to me from downstairs.
"Coming!" I said as I clumsily put a shirt on in my rush to get downstairs to have another one of Iggy's delicious as hell meals (and I mean the ones with no veggies in them) Just as I was about to exit the room, one of the books had fallen off the shelf by itself. Just as I put it back on, my eyes fell on the laptop. Pretty sure I closed it but the screen was left wide open. And I remember hanging the jacket on the chair and not the desk. You must be thinking what I'm thinking right now. Which raises the most important question:
Was it real? Or was it all just an elaborate hoax?
You decide.