Warning
Theme
You are My Love – Yui Makino
Hikari no Nocturne
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Chapter 7
~The Journey Starts~
26.04.10
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It was the same sensation, the identical feeling that she kept having when she was having the dream. The most important thing was, it was exactly the similar room, only this time the light was much brighter. She knew they would come, so she waited and waited. However, no matter how long she stood there, waiting, there was no sign of them. Not even a single shadow was seen. She realized there had to be something wrong then. 'Something's not right.' she thought. It never would be right if it's connected to the crystal.
Since there's no one –yet, she decided to take a better look at the room. It was useless to say because it was just a simple huge room with no decoration, no color, really, it was so plain. It was a dream right? So, why could she not awake now? It's like that even in her dream, she was being controlled. Time had flown yet there was no sign of them showing up. She sighed. She wanted a rest after that day and she just remembered how God really loved her.
'Geez, I can't even have a rest.' thought her. She scanned the room to find nothing, so, she decided to lean on one wall. Her hands rested on her chest, crossed. Her eyes were closed, but she could still the presence of others, though she did not sense any. No matter how hard her effort was, she could not find any way to wake up from her dream. It was so unbelievable! How long would she endure this? Was her punishment not enough? God helped her, she needed rest!
Then again, whom shall she pray to? Who will answer her prayer?
'Sigh, if this goes on and I haven't gone crazy, that's a miracle.'
-x-
He was handsome, with his enrapturing blue eyes and his status, no woman would dare to refuse him. No woman, except Vanille –his cousin, and her. His first meeting with her was quite pleasant, if he may add. It was probably the first time he had ever found something that took his interest. She was very different. There was something that she was hiding and he wanted to know what it was. After all, he liked the challenge and that girl was so full of it. Did he like her? No, that was out of question. He just liked the challenge the girl was giving him.
Noctis
That name suddenly crossed his mind. Sure he liked challenge, but that lad –Noctis, was no challenge. The latter was a threat for Rufus. If Rufus didn't act carefully, all his plans, his efforts and top of it, his toywould loss and he couldn't even imagine it. No, he could not let that new player disturbed all his plans. Soon enough, everything would go as he had calculated.
His cousin –Vanille, hadn't yet explained everything that he needed to know. It seemed that she was hiding something or maybe this time, she was not on his side (not like she always does, usually she was neutral, but not this time). As long as he still hold his ace card, he would win this –whatever it was. No one could stop him from doing so.
Moon was shining brightly in the sky as he was walking to his chamber. The aisle was lighted only by the candles hanging on the wall. A smile plastered on his face. His hands were both beside him as his feet led him to his chamber. Even if his eyes were closed, he could still go to his room with no difficulties.
Once he was inside his room, he lighted the candles. Inside the room, there were 3 other doors. One made by black teak led to a bathroom. The brown mahogany led to another room and the last, the one made by glass then covered with curtain led to the balcony. He walked slowly to the brown mahogany door. He opened it slowly, making a creaking sound. Only ajar was enough for him to peek inside.
The room was just a small one with only one small bed and two chairs beside the bed. The wall was painted in light orange. On the bed laid a girl. Her long pink hair was loose around her. She was covered by the white blanket, only her hands that were put on it so that we could see the bandage on her left arm with three bracelets joined into one on his left wrist.
He never smiled, but staring at that sleeping beauty, he could not help with the smile slowly appeared on his face. This, he thought, is going to be my triumph.
-x-
It was a lie if he said he did not care a single thing about that girl. No, it was definitely a bad lie. He knew he cared, hell, he was in the very high state of curiosity that was really annoying him. If she could not tell what it was, he was very sure that he would use all his influence to solve it. No, no matter how good it sounded, he could not take the risk. It was not yet his time to that.
His friend was no better. Like he had mentioned before, his friend was in his own world that he was pretty confidence if there's an earthquake or fire, his friend would never notice that. Great, he thought, the one I think could help is even in trouble. Oh, how God loved him!
He took a deep breath before approaching him. Approaching here meant that he was standing right in front of his friend, glaring at the latter and if that was not yet working, a clap would make it perfect.
That clap was a success. "Noctis?" Now, he had all the attention he wanted.
He didn't smile or even answer his question. He just kept staring at his loveable friend –Clyde. Clyde felt unease with the condition. Let's imagine. Clyde was sitting just now on the edge of the bed, wondering about the kiss that Vanille had given her that day, before suddenly his friend came out of nowhere, destroyed all his thoughts. Now, when his friend had succeeded taken his attention, he suddenly ignored the latter? Oh, how he wanted to remember how he could be friend with Noctis.
Maybe he knew why his friend acted like that. It was part of his mistake too. 'Damn, he knew I hate silence so much.'
"Yes Noctis? Is there anything that I can help you with?" He tried once again to composure all his courage to face his friend. No reply came from the latter. He sighed, if this went on, he could die because of boredom. "Alright, I give up." Finally, he raised both his hands, looked defeated.
The other guy just turned around, staring at the view through the window beside him. Another silence came between them. The wind breeze slowly felt inside the room. No one seemed to break the silence. It looked like they enjoyed it. "Clyde." Then he mentioned the blonde name slowly. There's a sorrow in the voice even though he tried to hide it and Clyde noticed that. The latter turned to the other side, ignoring the fact that his name was being called.
"I want you to do something for me." Another long sentence came out from his mouth. And with that, he gained all the attention he needed from the blonde lad.
-x-
Vanille was never good at hiding her feeling. How she loved to learn that from Lightning. It was so obvious that the maids were whispering about her. They were wondering about her red face and her nervous attitude. Every time she turned to the whisper, the maid stopped it and gave a smile to reply her smile. It kept continuing even after Rufus suddenly came to her room just now. She was alone in her room now and there, she did not have to hide anymore.
She knew there was indeed something wrong when suddenly her cousin –Rufus, came to her room, asking about Noctis. However, she knew better than to provide him the right information. No, she just gave him slight things about Noctis, something that she knew from Clyde. Only that Noctis and Clyde came to this country just to search for a job (for Noctis) to be Ligthning's assistant. Other than that, she didn't know. Not that she knew more than it either.
"Alright, I should tell Lightning about this, yes, indeed I should." She murmured slowly like it was only for her to hear.
It was her who first introduced Rufus to Lightning. It was merely just for an innocent act, who knows it would backfire? When Lightning said she needed help for the cashier, he suddenly crossed her mind. So, she introduced him to her and it did not need Einstein's brain to guess that they were attracted to each other. It was until later she found who he really was, the son of the infamous uncle and it changed the whole thing.
Though Lightning did not blame her for that, Vanille kept blaming herself. Why did she let them meet each other? Moreover, where the hell did she get the idea of making them as an item before? Then Vanille always cursed that thought over her mind. 'Stupid you, stupid Vanille!' And every time she said that, she will slap her forehead slightly to emphasize the regret.
She turned around when she felt someone knocked her door. 'It was so late, I wonder who it is?' she thought. And how surprised she was to find the devil stood behind the door and top of it, looked irritated. "Lightning?"
-x-
He was asleep when suddenly someone knocked his door harshly. He knew that it was Lightning because they lived in the same roof, but they lived in the different room, of course. He yawned and stretched both his hands. Looking half asleep, he walked to the door and unlocked the key. He was no surprise to find Lightning stood in front of him, but what surprised him was why she was there at that hour?
"Light?" He called her name softly, but the girl seemed so preoccupied with her own mind. She looked so sad. Her face was so messed up. "Are you alright?" Another effort to call her, but to no avail. She didn't response to him. Then suddenly she fell on the floor, sitting, both her hands crossed in front of her chest. She was trembling. Snow followed her. He also sat in front of her, trying to see her face. Never once on his life did he see Lightning so scared like that. It was like she had seen a nightmare. No, it had nothing to do with nightmare. Snow knew better that this girl was strong enough to face the nightmare. Then, it had to do with something else, but Snow did not know what it was.
"…me." Suddenly she murmured slowly.
"I'm sorry?" Snow looked so nervous. He was never good in comforting people especially people like Lightning. How was he supposed to calm a stoic girl?
She looked up to stare at him. Her blue eyes filled with sadness. On his time he had spent with Lightning, he never once saw her so weak like this. She was so vulnerable. Like a glass, if he did not act carefully, she would break. "What's wrong Light?"
"They have come to me." Finally she ended up her sentences. After that, she stood up like there's nothing happened. Snow, confused with her action, also followed her lead to stand up. "Who?" asked him.
She stared at his eyes for God knows how long. He tried to search for the answer but hell, she was so great to hide it behind those walls. "They who want me." With that she turned around, arms crossed in front of her chest. One word from Snow made her stop. "Why?" She froze at her place, not making any impression of moving. Then she turned around to face him only with a sad face.
"I don't know either, Snow. I just wanted to let you know that I will be gone for as long as it needs. I'm sorry, but I have to go." Before she turned around, Snow held her wrist, making her to stop.
"Wait, I'm going with you." He stated that. Lightning sighed. "You know you can't Snow. Besides, why else will I invite you? I need to run to find the reason."
He grinned hearing her question, "You know two is better than one? In fact, more people sound good. Why don't you invite the others too?" Now she raised her eyebrows. It was so obvious that she did not know what he was talking about.
"Yeah, you know, the others here include me, Vanille and oh of course those two lads."
Hearing he mentioned the lads made her face suddenly red, but it was so fast that he did not have a chance to notice it. "Yeah? Why so? We just barely know them anyway, Snow." She said it emotionlessly.
He smirked, "But, I know they are great in protecting themselves. In fact, I think they are good fighters."
-x-
"Geez, I don't even know why I agree at the first place." She cursed under her breath. She was then walking with Snow to sneak to Vanille's place. They had prepared all the stuff they needed to do the journey. Though she complained a lot, but deep inside Snow realized that she was far better than before and she seemed to like it –the idea.
The plan was to kidnap Vanille and invited her to join the group. The purpose of this group was to travel with their own reasons. Lightning, to run from whoever they were. Snow, to accompany Lightning because he believed she was the secret. And soon, others' would be revealed as well. For now, the purpose was to find another company to the group.
It was easy for them to sneak inside the palace. What they had to do just jumped to the nearest window on the same floor where Vanille room was located. They knew that around that hour, the maid would not pass that place. So, without any obstacle they found themselves standing in front of her door. It was Lightning who knocked the door, while Snow was looking around to give a sign if there's anyone around.
It took 5 knocks until Vanille decided to open it. She looked surprised which Lightning had predicted. "Lightning?" she asked with curiosity.
"With Snow Valentine too." Snow sneaked in between them with a grin plastered on his face. A giggle slipped from her mouth. She hurriedly let them inside the room, so, nobody would notice them. Little did they knew, from the tree outside the palace, where it could clearly see the room, two figures were watching them. One was smiling and the other just looked calm as always.
-x-
"So, care to explain me what're you doing here? Most of all, at this time of hour?" She raised both her eyebrows to emphasize her question.
"Don't ask me, ask him." Lightning simply answered that while pointing to Snow. Snow, as always, grinned to the statement. He rubbed his head, trying to find a good answer. He knew he could not tell the truth if Lightning did not allow him to, so, he simply shrugged both his shoulder. Knowing that would go nowhere, Vanille just sighed.
A few minutes passed until Lightning broke the silence, "They found me." With only that one sentence, Vanille could get the whole point of it. She abruptly prepared all the stuff she needed. She only took, some clothes (including cloaks) along with other things such as food (surprising she had it in her wardrobe), money, bracelets, necklaces.
"Hold on!" That made her stopped preparing the stuffs.
"Yes, Light?" She asked innocently.
Lightning pointed to the things the younger was holding –necklaces. "What is the point of bringing that?"
She just grinned, "Well, if the money runs out, we can sell this right? I know someplace to sell this in high prize."
The few minutes were passed with Lightning and Snow sat dumbfounded while watching Vanille preparing everything she needed. Snow wondered how did such high spirit be inside that small body and how could she survive with all those terrible things that had happened, not to mentioned she was the princess with so many obligations to do. Sometimes, Snow envied that young lady. Maybe if he had the spirit that girl possessed, he could prevent the war.
After Vanille had done with her things, they sneaked out the room like before carefully. Getting in was easy, the hard one was to get out. But, that was not a challenge for both Snow and Lightning. It was as easy as they got inside the palace. With Vanille along, it did not make any different for Vanille was not a bad jumper too.
Then, their next destination was Noctis and Clyde place.
-x-
Everything had been explained to the both lads who were listening carefully. One did not give any expression while the other seemed to show interest to the story. While Clyde carefully listened to Vanille's explanation, Noctis stood up from his place to the balcony. Lightning followed him from behind, leaving the others inside the room. Of course both Vanille and Snow realized the sudden act from Noctis, but they knew Lightning could handle it better, so, they just ignored it.
Noctis stared at the sky, realizing the girl appearance beside him. He just kept staring at the sky. Lightning did not know what to say, so, she also followed him to stare at the sky. The sky was so clear that day, no cloud, they could see the stars blinking beautifully with the moonlight. "Why?" A sore sound from him made Lightning stared more deeply to the sky. To tell the truth, she did not know either why she agreed to Snow to invite them to their journey. For God sake, she only knew him for only two days! And now she acted like she knew him longer than that.
Seeing the silence from the woman, Noctis took that she was not intending to answer. He did not do anything either. Let the silence spoke between them. "They said, the moon always lonely." Suddenly she started with a confusing statement. Noctis didn't say anything to let her continue. "So, God created the stars to accompany him."
Noctis gave a sheepish smile to the statement given. He wondered what the feeling he had inside. It was nothing he had experienced it before. He nodded slowly. "I see."
"Only then will we know the reason why God create so many people with many differences between them."
"Light?" Vanille called from inside, making the couple turned around. Lightning nodded before getting inside the room, followed by Noctis. It seemed that they all had prepared to go, to begin a journey.
-x-
Far from their place, Verzeihen was looking them with a very sad face. A sorrow was read on his face. Covered by cloak, he stood on the tree branch accompanied with Malchus, who was sitting next to the former's feet.
"There, everything has worked as we planned it."
-x-
The journey began
when the knight realized
that only her who could find the crystal
that only the Crystal
could answer all the questions
Everything soon will be revealed
The journey soon will go to the end
The prince and the knight
along with their friends
All with different reasons, but with one purpose
the Crystal's power
And to search for the future
Sometimes it took two to answer one question
This took five to end a war
-x-
To be continued
-x-
eL : There, I had finished it! Yatta! Sorry, guys it took long time for me to update this.
Noctis : yeah, the usual excuses…
eL : *glare to Noctis* Lately, I've been interested in Kuroshitsuji and D., so, yes, that took me long enough to get this chapter done. Sorry guys
Anyway, thanks for all the reviews and the supports you've given me. From now on, I promised to update this ASAP. Oh, btw, to worldreminiscence, you are right, I was making a mistake at chapter 5, it was truly supposed to be him, not it. Sorry guys T^T, thanks for correcting me.
Oh, and more intense in this chapter. Who were after Lightning? What did Noctis ask Clyde to do? Why Snow are so persistence to go on with Lightning? How could Vanille know about the group who was after Lightning? Oh, and who was the one in Rufus room? And why the hell did I have asked many questions?
Stay tuned for the next chapter ^^
Luph u all
eL-ch4n