Title: Hikari no Nocturne

Rating: T

Genre : Romance/Adventure

Summary :

She was once the 'legend' knight, yet now she is just an ordinary blacksmith. He was the prince, yet disguised himself as her assistant. But one day, the secret will be revealed and the journey of the crystals will begin.

Chapter 3

"Night"

Dark clouds will move
Light rays will come
Dark night will end
Bright day will start
But walk this night

There was an image of a beautiful young lady with long hair. The image was a close up from the face of the young lady. She had a white and smooth skin, making every guy wanted to touch it slowly. Her hair was brown with a bit of yellow and below shoulder-length. She had a pair of beautiful amethyst eyes. Those eyes were filled of sadness. At the edge of both eyes, there were tears. Slowly, the tears rolled down, showing the perfect sorrow she was feeling. Her red lips mouthed something. She mouthed the same thing again and again, but there was no voice came out of it. It looked like she was calling for someone, a very special person for her.

Snow…

Walk seeing its stars
Seeing its bright light
Seeing its white shine
It's the beauty of night
So seen only in night

The room was very dark. We couldn't see anything clearly at there. We just could see the silhouette of many things and we could tell that it was a bedroom considering the bed silhouette. There was a figure sitting on the bed. He was half seated. Slowly he got up from the bed. He walked quietly until he stopped in front of a door. He opened the door ajar making a shrieking sound. The light from that room shone the dark room a little. He walked inside to the sink. He stopped at there for a moment before washing his face.

Suddenly, he stared at his hands for long time. It was like he had done something wrong with the hands. It was shown in his green (or blue) eyes. They were filled of sorrow. He remembered something, a memory of his past. He was running, trying to catch a hand, a hand of a girl. He called the name of the person again and again, but the hand he tried to reach kept getting far and far away from him until it suddenly vanished.

He washed his hands and his face once again. In front of him was a mirror and beside it hung a towel. He reached for the towel and wept his wet face. The mirror showed a guy with blonde hair half-naked. The guy was Snow. He stared at his reflection for long time and slowly tears rolled down from both his eyes. He was crying and it was the first time since the last time he felt such great sadness.

He was going to do thing that he knew later he would regret, but that was the only thing he could do at the moment to save her. Snow was crying in a very low voice. He was trying not to make any noise that could disturb others. He wouldn't want to disturb Lightning's rest. He knew that she had worked harder than him. After all, she was also a girl. Her body couldn't hold much pain compared to his.

Speaking of Lightning, he remembered Noctis, the guy he had met before. When Noctis appeared in front of their cashier, he knew that Noctis was keeping a secret. He liked Noctis because in some ways he saw the latter was similar to him. He knew the secret that Noctis kept was the reason why Lightning refused to accept the latter. However, he somehow just remembered the prophecy that he had once heard when he was walking to the town.

Soon, the night will try to search for the light. He had once lost the moon and now he doesn't want to lose it anymore. Never will he give up until he has gotten what belongs to him.

He remembered that Noctis was called night in Latin and Light? Could that mean Lightning? He chuckled knowing that he believed in a prophecy that could benottrue. But when somebody has lost hope, even the impossible thing they'd do.

"Lightning." He whispered her name slowly. It was the voice of someone that cared for other, earning to have her for him.

So walk this night
Walk seeing its light
And awake in light
Walk seeing its beauty
And awake in beauty

"Noctis Cerilla?" asked Prompto to Noctis, who was sitting at the edge of his bed. They were in Noctis bedroom talking about today's incident. The truth was that only Prompto who kept talking while Noctis just nodded once or made a 'Hn' once. But when it came to that question, Noctis turned his head to face Prompto.

"Is there anything wrong with that?" asked Noctis with his usual cold tone, but Prompto could tell that his friend was definitely angry and annoyed.

Prompto shook his head, "Nah, I don't think so, but, I just wondering, you know."

"Well, first, I can't tell them about my truth name. If I do that, they will recognize me." He stated that clearly.

"Wow, you're right, Noct, but, that still doesn't make sense to me. If you are going to gain a trust from someone, you shall not make any secret from her let alone making any lies to her. Don't you agree?"

Noctis looked at Prompto for a moment. He knew that the latter was right. If Noctis wanted to gain Lightning's trust, he should better not make any lie especially about his identity. For the first time, he agreed with Prompto.

"You are right, Prompto." He spoke slowly after taking a deep breath.

Prompto smirked when hearing Noctis opinion. "So, now you agree with me, huh?"

Noctis stared the ceiling for long time, like he was ignoring Prompto. He didn't know it would be hard to socialize with people. He never once in his life felt such a great disappointment of himself. If only he had Prompto's cheerfulness a bit, maybe all these things wouldn't be so hard to be done. But then, it could only be a wish that would not come true because Prompto was Prompto and Noctis was… Noctis.

For the rest of the night, Noctis kept thinking over and over about Prompto's statement, "If you are going to gain a trust from someone, you shall not make any secret from her let alone making any lies to her."

Noctis was brooding about today's incident over and over again. He was hoping that time could turn back and he could tell her his real name and the reason why he came. But then, it was just a hope. No matter how hard he wished, it would never come true. If he could turn back time, not only would he tell her his real name, perhaps he would prevent the war.

That night Noctis couldn't go to sleep. It was first because Prompto was on the bed and taking over the bed, so, Noctis had nowhere to lie down. Noctis could just sleep on a sofa next to the bed, but he didn't feel like he wanted to. So, instead of sleeping, he went to the balcony and staring at the star, feeling the wind breezing him. He was enjoying the view and the atmosphere, not wanting to remember or care about everything for a moment. He just wanted to be alone for the moment and would not want any company.

Walk seeing its moon
Seeing its moon light
Seeing its bright shine
It's also beauty of night
So shines only in night

It was the same dark room again. The young lady was surrounded by 7 people with cloak. It was just the same scene like before. Difference was that the young lady had already known why they came after her.

"So, have you decided yet?" asked one of them. The young lady recognized it was the same person who offered her before.

"You haven't told me anything except that you wanted me to join you and in turn you will give me the crystal's power. So, how can you expect me to answer your offer?." The young lady glared to the person who asked her. It was shown in her eyes that they were filled with anger and confusion.

"Lightning, Lightning, you will never change, won't you?" The person who giggled at her statement before was chuckling again with her statement.

Lightning somehow felt that she knew that voice, those voices. She felt that they were someone whom she had met before and maybe the one who she called as best friend. However, it maybe just her feelings too. It was something that couldn't be proved with logic. It was just a feeling.

"Shut up, Al!" The first one turned his head to Lightning, "So, shall we continue?"

"There's nothing to be discussed and nothing to be continued. My answer is no. Whatever you are trying to offer, I'm going to refuse it."

"Why so?" The first one asked again. This time with a higher tone.

Lightning was wondering why only he and the one next to him, Al, who always did the conversation. She was wondering why the others remained quiet and why only both of them who could talk.

"Who are you?" asked Lightning, ignoring the question that had been asked to her.

"I think I've told you before. We call ourselves as Ratroit." The first one spoke again.

"I know that, what I mean is 'who are you personally?' I mean, doesn't each of you have name or something?" Lightning asked. She didn't like this situation, being surrounded by someone that she barely knew. However, for some reasons, she felt that she recognized some of them, but then again, it might be just her feeling.

Al chuckled, leaving the confused Lightning.

"No, we have name, but it isn't something important for you, there's none of your business." The first one said again, ignoring Al's chuckling.

"You still have 6 days to think." This time, the voice was softer and it came behind her. This time, it was another person who spoke.

Lightning couldn't see their face clearly, but somehow she thought that the first speaker was shocked to know that the person behind Lightning suddenly talked.

"We'll come again to your dream, Lightning. Make sure you've made the correct decision." continued the last speaker.

Then like before, everyone was vanished in the dim of light, leaving Lightning alone in turmoil. She didn't scream out them like before instead she stayed calm and woke up from the dream.

So walk this night
To wake in shine
If not the next day
It will be other day
For now walk this night
~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Somewhere that far from Fabula Kingdom, in a small chamber, there were 7 people covered with cloak making a circle. They were ratroit, who were talking to Lightning at her dream just now.

"We need to convince her before it's too late, Vincent." said the softer voice who talked to Lightning before, the last speaker.

The man named Vincent didn't say anything and didn't seem to respond to the question.

"Eclair, haven't you been told that only Al and Caritas who can talk in front of Lightning?" asked one of them, named Ardor, who had a low voice.

"I think so. I'll be careful then for the next time." Eclair said with a smirk plastered on his face.

"There'll be no next time if you do such mistake again." This time the voice came beside Ardor. It was a softer tone and a cheerful one. No doubts that it came from woman.

"Star? You are against me this time?"

"No, I never against any of you, I just try to be neutral."

"Star is right, there shall be no mistake done again for next time, because we know that the Prince has done his move." Caritas spoke once again, ignoring Hope's growl.

Vincent and the man next to him were still in a deep silent, ignoring the discussion in front of them. They were thinking of what they should do especially what they must do to prevent the prophecy.

Vincent used telepathy to speak to the man beside him, so that they wouldn't be heard by others.

'So, what do you think he will do next?' asked Vincent in their inner voice.

'Why do you ask me, Vincent? Aren't you the leader?'

'Even though I'm the leader, there's no one telling that I'm the one who shall take every decision. Besides, I'm asking you because you are the one that close enough to him.'

'If only he knew that we are just using him, Vincent.' The man spoke again with a guilty voice.

'The Prince shall know nothing about us,Gladiolus. It shall be revealed when the time has come until then it'd be a secret between us.'

'There's something that you shall know too, Vincent.' Gladiolus continued again.

'I know what you are going to say Gladiolus. Until then, everything shall be hidden.'

'Even your feeling, Vincent?'

It took long time for Vincent to answer. An image of a girl with short hair smiling to him flashed in his mind. Her voice was calling out his name cheerfully. It was all gone. Next thing he knew, he nodded to Gladiolus statement and repeated it again.

'Especially my feeling.'

Star realized that both men were talking about something. They were using the telepathy so that everyone couldn't hear it. It must be something secret. Star stared at them she realized that Vincent noticed her. She smiled to him, but they weren't staring because the cloak hiding their eyes.

'We must be careful with Star, Vincent.' Gladiolus said again.

'Why so?' asked Vincent, avoiding Star's stare.

'She is indeed smart and she is hiding a secret from us too, Vincent.'

Vincent chuckled, but it wasn't obvious enough for the cloak had covered his face.

'Everyone is hiding secret from each other, Gladiolus. She's not the only one.'

'I know that, but still, there's something about her.'

'Then what you shall do is just be careful around her or you can just ignore her.'

'Seriously, Vincent, when did you two first met?'

Vincent didn't answer the question. Gladiolus knew that he was asking the wrong question, so, he quickly changed the subject. But before Gladiolus could speak out, Vincent had already done it.

'Al is the one with more secrets, Gladiolus.'

'Yeah, you are right, Vincent.'

Then for the rest of the night, both of them remained silent in front of everybody, but inside, they were talking with each other about the next move.

So dark is the night
Devoid of humorous voice,
The night, is so dark
At the depth of dead silence;

The dark night arrives
As glowing stars
Surrounding the glittering moon
Radiate above in the sky;

The dark night stares
At overthrow of bats
Over blue spread coloured sky
Amongst the ashen white, serenity's colours.

So dark is the night
Devoid of humorous species' voice,
So lonely is the night
Devoid of love's warm arms.

To be continued

eL: Yippie, finally I updated the story! eL-ch4n is really happy. Now, eL-ch4n would like to reply your review one by one. eL-ch4n is really happy because not only can eL-ch4n updated this story, but also today is eL-chan's country independence day. Happy independence day for all of you from eL-ch4n's country (^_^)

Cags: Finally, you updated this story. Everyone is thinking that you avoid this story and won't continue it anymore.

eL: No way! I love this story, but the think is, I don't have idea for the chapter. I need some inspiration. *Just realized why Cagalli was there* Why are you here anyway? Shouldn't it be Noctis or Lightning who came?

Cags: They are 'busy'

eL: Why do I have the feeling that I don't want to know about that? Okay, now let's go to the review corner, hehehe.

Dawn FireAngel: About their names, you are definitely right! I'm making them up. This chapter will tell why Noctis use different surname. For Snow, he just didn't want Lightning and the others knew about the real him yet. About Vanille, it just slipped out in my mind that perhaps she didn't want to be known as the princess.

About my grammar, yeah, you're obviously correct. It is sucks, but I'm trying my best to improve it ^^ Thanks for reading and review and for liking this story, hehe *smirking*

-Yuki Minamoto:Bwahahaha…you can tell that too, I'm not actually doing that on purpose, you know. I'm just making up name for Lightning and suddenly that name stroke out my mind and likewise for Snow.

Thanks for your great support and review, Yuki ^^ *smiling*

-BrownSugarCandy: Thanks, I hope this chapter can at least at your liking *grinning*

-LeRouge the Rouge: You have an uniqe name, you know that? But I like it ^^. Oh yeah, I'm sorry that I can't update faster. There are some reasons why I can't do that.

-Fefisgbf13:Is that right? Because I really want to make it as a mystery. I think I've heard that too, but I just don't remember where. Anyway, thanks for reviewing n,n

-MidnightReader1 :Thank you for your support xP, luckily I can do great for my chemistry. I was really nervous when I got the result, but it turned out to be good. Oh yeah, thanks for waiting. Hope this chapter could be at your liking.

Kayano takama: Thanks for waiting this chapter. Hope you can have the patience for the next chapter which will be updated in unknown period xD

.f.R.1.3.D.a: When I see your name, I thought that you were my friend, because you have the same name with her, but then it was a misunderstanding, hehehe.

eL: Guys, I couldn't tell how much I feel grateful to have such a great reviewer like you. *crying*

Cagalli came to comfort eL. Out of nowhere, Prompto showed up.

Prompto: Well, since eL was 'busy' out there. I think it's my turn to say thank you for reading this story. Please review for eL so that she could improve her writing. Oh yeah, anyway, I have a question for you guys. Does anybody know if Hope was a girl or a boy? Because at the website it's written Hope was a boy, but when I saw the picture, Hope was looked more to a girl face. Moreover, there's some websites telling Hope was a girl.

Really, I'm confused with that, but I hope you can at least reduce my confusion.

Until next chapter then ^^. Anyway, don't forget to review. Thanks. GBU all.

Luph u all

eL-ch4n.

PS :For the poem, I took it, but I actually forgot where I got that T_T