Hey, mo charas! (i.e., my friends. I've been learning Irish, it hasn't gone well)
Sorry for the wait, but now I am back in the country, my writing should speed up again. Yay! (By the way, have you seen the videos of the demos? It's sooo cool, and sooo frustrating at the same time, XD)
On a more serious, if depressing note, I've decided to dedicate this story to my gran, who passed away about a year ago. She loved reading, so I'd like to think she'd like a story in memory of her.
Argh, I'm in such a depressed mood today! Where's the rest of my easter egg?
"Do you and the idea of sleep hate each other?" Snow asked in a whisper in the early hours of the morning.
"Snow Villers, shut your mouth before I shut it for you." Lightning snapped, fighting back a yawn.
"Seriously though, get some sleep." He responded, ignoring the threat. He was used to them – Lightning threatened someone about once a day. Normally it was him.
"I don't need or want any sleep."
"Everyone needs sleep. So get some."
"Whether I get sleep or not is none of your business."
"Yeah, but if you fail your mission due to lack of sleep, it is my business." He gave her a long look. She sighed.
"I doubt that. My mission, my failure."
"My friend, another death on my conscience." Snow said gravely. "I still haven't forgotten, Lightning." Her face set like stone.
"If you are so concerned about sleep, then you better get some." She said quietly. He sighed and rolled onto his side. She remained sitting up until she heard his snores echo through the condemned building. She lay down and gazed upwards. Through a hole in the ceiling, she could see a moon, slightly covered by clouds. She frowned.
Do not start raining. I have enough to deal with without the weather deciding to hate us all.
Noctis was leaning back in a chair, semi asleep. He was desperately trying to make a speech that was a least partly true. The problem was that making a speech glorifying war, in his opinion, would involve a rather large amount of lying through his teeth.
War is hard... No, war is necessary... NO.... Humanity must put an end to war, or war will put an end to humanity..... True, but no.... In war, things will break, but people's spirit cannot. Ugh, terrible and cheesy, but it'll work.
Proinde, quisquis vota pro pacis, permissum him instruo pro bellum.
It was an old saying, in the annuals of history. It was a lie. But he couldn't think of anything else to end his speech with. With a deep sigh, he sat upright and wrote it down.
Therefore, whoever vows for peace, let him prepare for war.
"Rubbish." He muttered darkly. He was incredibly annoyed. There was a ringing in his ears, which he slowly realised was the sound of a clock.
One... two... three...
Three in the morning. Noctis dropped the pen in his hand and pushed the chair back with a deafening screech. He had to be awake in two hours, to leave for the conference.
He had enough. And worse, thanks to Felix, he couldn't have a cigarette.
He knew that Felix, Lexus and Placido were only trying to look out for him. He knew that, but it didn't stop him resenting it.
In a way, it would be nice when he was finally king. No one to boss him around.
Although he would have to listen to the council all the time. Oh what joy, he thought as he clambered into his bed.
Every silver lining has a cloud.
He smirked as he drifted off to sleep.
"Vanille, wake up!" Lightning yelled, standing next to the slumbering woman. It was early in the morning, five o'clock to be precise, but she wanted to get moving, right now. "VANILLE!"
"Lightning there's no point." Snow pointed out calmly from the other side of the room they had slept in. "Remember that time, when there was that hurricane? She slept through that, she's going to sleep through your yelling."
"Shut UP Snow." She knelt down and shook Vanille. "WAKE UP!!"
"Hm?" Vanille sleepily raised her head. "Whuzgoinon?"
"Well, we're awake, and we're trying to wake you up."
"Actually, you're the only one trying to wake her up Lightning."
"Snow, can you just shut up!?"
"Immawake, i'mawake." Vanille sat up groggily. "Justdonshakeme."
"It's the only way to wake you up." Lightning snapped, standing up and rubbing her back as she did. This was noticed by Vanille.
"You okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine, it's just that damp concrete and sore backs don't go well together. Now up!"
"I'm getting up." She grumbled, clambering to her feet. "Where's Sazh?"
"Beats me." Snow muttered from in the corner of the room. "All I know was he said he thought he had a lead."
"I do have a lead!" Sazh yelled, navigating his way back into the derelict building, waving a newspaper in his hand. "The Pri... Target is giving a speech tonight."
"What?" Lightning marched over to Sazh, and snatched the newspaper from his hand. She scanned it intensely, although she didn't need to. It was there, in black and white. It even had a picture of him on the front, similar to the one in the file she had read beforehand.
"You better get it done tonight Light. Or else..." Snow drew a finger across his neck.
"Yeah, I know." She grumbled darkly as she scanned the rest of the article. "Bloody hell."
"What?"
"'The Prince will be giving a speech proceeding the planned conflict in Pulse-'" She read out, before being interrupted by Vanille.
"What planned conflict in Pulse? There isn't any!"
"'-The planned conflict in Pulse, a direct result of the assassination of the counsellor Vere two days ago.'" Silence passed between the four.
"Holy shit Lightning." Snow said. "You've really outdone yourself this time. You've started a war!"
"I noticed!" She yelled, throwing the newspaper onto the floor. She swore angrily and marched out of the building into the city.
Damn it, damn it, damn it!
I need to get rid of him. Now.
"Noctis! Let's go!"
"I'm coming, hold on!" The Prince yelled, searching his room for his left boot, which he had kicked off last night. "Where the hell is it?"
"Where's what?"
"My boot!"
"On your foot?"
"Evidently not." Noctis felt under the bed, and smirked with triumph as he grabbed onto it. "Found it!" He pulled it onto his left foot quickly, stood up, then proceeded to run out of the door.
"Come on then!" Lexus was already running down the corridor. "We're already late!"
"I'm aware of that." Noctis sighed as he ran.
"Then speed up!"
Lightning was cursing herself for not thinking this through. She had run off, letting her anger rule her head, yet again.
This keeps happening.
She scowled and punched a nearby wall in frustration, wincing slightly as she realised she had not made a correct fist.
"Damn it!" She hissed, grabbing her fist in her other hand and rubbing it. She breathed out slowly and calmed herself down.
Focus on getting the job done. A war's a war. It would have happen no matter what you did.
Just focus.
Lightning nodded to herself and walked away, shivering slightly. She wrapped her arms around herself and mouthed a few curses.
Why is it always so damn COLD here? At least it's warm on Pulse... damp, but warm.
"Way to focus." She muttered darkly, shuffling her feet. This was NOT like her. Head up!
"I am a soldier, not some weak little girl!" She snapped. Lightning flinched at her own words, practically tasting the irony. "That was then, this is now." She told herself.
"I said going left would be quicker."
"Felix, do you want to drive?"
"No."
"Good. Shut up."
"Felix might have a point-"
"Noctis, I am driving you. It is not the other way around, and if your uncle found out it was, I'd get shot." Noctis sighed and slumped back in his seat. Placido, who was normally calm, seemed to go on edge whenever he was near a vehicle.
I guess it means we're less likely to crash.
"He wouldn't SHOOT you."
"He would Felix."
"This country is screwed up!" Felix yelled, throwing his arms up into the air. Noctis raised a single eyebrow.
"Oi."
"Oh... er... Sorry Noct." The blonde stuttered. The Prince smirked slightly and gazed out of the window as Lexus and Placido started arguing. He looked at the streets, barely light by the rising sun.
This was his kingdom... at least it was going to be one day.
He did love it. Well, he had a duty to it. The duty to this kingdom, and the crystal it housed, ran in him, in his mother's blood.
"Can I turn the radio on?"
"Whatever Felix." Placido sighed. "Just don't choose the airport station."
"That is an awesome station-" Felix began, as Lexus interrupted.
"Do NOT put it on Felix."
"Fine. You guys are no fun, do you hear me? NO FUN!" Felix grumbled as he fiddled with the knobs on the radio. "Crap. Crap. Crap."
"Language Felix."
"Poo. Poo."
"Go back to using crap." Placido muttered, never taking his eyes from the road.
Noctis remained leaning against the glass of the window, which was like a sheet of ice. Tenebrae was a freezing country. The streets were empty, due to the cold and the early hour.
And then he saw a flash of colour in the grey streets. His heart froze.
"STOP THE CAR!" He yelled, surprising himself at the loudness of his voice. Placido slammed on the brakes, making the car hiss to a stop. "Stay here." Noctis ordered, opening the door and sprinting after the figure. The trio exchanged glances.
"What the hell?" Felix muttered.
"Can't be anything good." Placido said, opening the car's glove compartment with a click. "Get ready."
"Lightning!" The woman spun around and locked eyes with her target.
Noctis.
She quickly noticed that he was no longer wearing a suit, but more casual clothes.
He must have been on the way to give his speech.
She saw his eyes had turned a deadly shade of red. Her hand darted back to her holster, where her gunblade was resting.
"You're an assassin." He stated. "You killed counsellor Vere, you've managed to plunge both of our countries into war." He sounded calm, but if you listened carefully, you could hear the repressed rage. "What the hell do you think you're going to achieve by doing that?"
Lightning slowly pulled out her weapon, stepping back into a fighting stance.
"So I was right." Noctis muttered. "I am your target."
"It's nothing personal." Lightning replied, keeping her eyes open for any sign of attack. "Just orders." Noctis remained still for a moment, before summoning a sword with an engine wielded onto it.
"Neither is this." He darted forwards, bringing the sword back to lash out. She blocked it and stepped back, before back flipping several meters away from him.
First rule of combat – Try to create distance between yourself and the target.
She changed her weapon into the gun and breathed out, timing her shots with her breathing, as she had been taught. The bullets speed towards him, before stopping and falling to the ground with a gentle clatter. Her eyes widened slightly.
That was.... unexpected.
There was a flash and he appeared in front of Lightning. Swearing in her mind, she switched her weapon back into a sword, and lashed out. He blocked it with ease.
"I thought you said you could defeat me." He said coolly. She scowled and leapt back again, thinking as she did so.
Bullets aren't going to work. It's going to be a sword killing... I hate those.
She landed lightly on her feet, and reconsidered. She stuck out her hand, causing a ball of flame to shoot at the prince. There was another flash, and he appeared on the other side of the street, before charging towards her.
This time she ducked down and kicked his legs away. She smirked as he fell to the floor, and drew her sword back while standing up.
"NOCT!!" There was a shot that barely went over her head. Lightning looked up to see three men running towards them. Felix was holding up his shotgun, obviously being the one who had fired. Placido had his revolver in one hand, and Lexus had his rifle in his hands, ready to fire.
Noctis took the moment of surprise to lunge at Lightning, heading her in the stomach and knocking her backwards. She landed on her back and quickly rolled backwards, changing her weapon into a gun. Crouching down, she fired warning shots at the three men.
Noctis lashed out again with his sword as she heard a squeal of wheels. She turned her head and looked at Snow, who was staring over her shoulder with a look of horror.
"You IDIOT!" He yelled. Both Lightning and Noctis followed his gaze.
Something had hit him in the chest. He felt like he had been punched. But there wasn't an enemy close enough to have hit him, and his friend's wouldn't have hit him in the chest. Strange. Very strange.
The street suddenly seemed to be running uphill. It was straight, he knew that it was flat, but now it was slanting. Also, all the colours seemed to be vanishing from his sight. There were only the occasional flashes, a black car, the pale blue sky...
...The red blood.
It was only then he heard someone scream his name.
"FELIX!!"
Noctis felt the strength go out of his legs as he watched his friend fall to the ground with a thud. Lexus and Placido knelt down next to him, Lexus repeatedly calling his name and Placido checking his pulse, his breathing...
The Prince of Tenebrae turned to face Lightning. Her face was slightly pale, her eyes wide.
"You..." His voice trailed off, unable to find the correct words. "You... You BITCH!" He screamed, summoning all of his weapons around him, his eyes turning a darker shade of red.
Lightning leapt backwards avoiding the first sword swing, blocking the second swing, and rolling away from the bullet fire.
"Lightning!" The man on the motorcycle yelled over the chaos that had erupted. "Get over here, now. That's an order." He snapped. Lightning scowled.
"You have NO command over me Snow!" She yelled, blocking another sword swing.
Noctis leapt back, and threw an assortment of weapons at Lightning, who dodged and blocked each one. Lightning lashed out with her sword again, which Noctis blocked. He vanished again, and appeared behind her. She rolled away, but was grabbed by Snow.
"What the hell are you doing?" She hissed angrily. Snow shoved her onto the motorcycle, climbed on and drove off before she could begin to react.
Noctis dropped his main sword, Somnus, onto the street making the other weapons vanish and raced over to his friends.
"He's losing a lot of blood." Placido explained, with a look of immense worry on his face. "We need to get him to the hospital now."
"Ambulance or should we drive him?" Lexus asked, who had taken off his jacket which was now wrapped around the wound in Felix's rib.
"Us driving him would be faster." Placido looked up at Noctis. "What the hell was that about?" There was no need to ask what that he was referring to.
"I'll explain later." Noctis looked down at his unconscious friend. "All I care about is Felix surviving."
Noctis... What the hell are you?!
An expert fighter, that's one thing for sure.
Your friend... the blonde one... I never meant to shoot him. It was supposed to be a warning shot... Why wasn't it a warning shot?
I've been called a bitch so much; the word has lost all meaning.
And yet... when you said it, it did hurt. It hurt like it hasn't for years.
You're making me feel again.
And that's a bigger danger than all the weapons in the world.
Felix, don't die.
You can't give up. You're too strong for that, you're too smart for that, despite what we say.
Just don't die on us. We need you... I need you.
This is all my fault! If I had let the council know about Lightning, then she could have been captured, and you wouldn't be here, lying in this hospital bed, clinging onto life by a thread.
They say that if you recover, you should be fine.
But if is such a big word.
I'll get her.
Even if I have to wait a million years.
I'm going to kill her.
*Dodges various items being throw at her*
Yes, I shot Felix! I'm sorry, I didn't want to shoot him, but someone had to get shot, and he was the one that came out of the hat! Blame the hat, not me!
Oh, and the little scene in the car is starting to turn into a fully fledged story... you'll see soon enough.
And the Latin phrase: I'll admit, I used a translation machine. I tried learning Latin for about a year... it's worse than my Irish. But I double checked all the translations and the quote was by one of those old Roman historians. I can't remember which one.
OH MY GOD!!!
Sorry, but my mum has just come into my room (to tell me about a program on C.S. Lewis) and told me that when I was six, a psychologist (don't ask, XD) said I would be a writer when I was older.
.............. That is really, really, really, really creepy.
This is a seriously creeped out authoress, saying see you soon!