HI guys, it's been like..what? 6 months already? Or is it more? Well, enough with the blabbering, I hope you guys still read this fic though and I still hope that you guys will be patient enough for me :'( and thanks for your reviews. You guys are great!

And since Square Enix had officially announced the name for three guys whom Noctis hang out with, so, I decided to use the name. Unfortunately, I haven't yet changed the name for the previous chapter. So, in case some of you are confused, these are the lists :

Clyde is Prompto

Malchus is Gladiolus

Theme

Solo – Iyaz

Enjoy reading guys

Hikari no Nocturne

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Chapter 8
Cypress
~Alica~
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Once again it was dark and she was alone. It was because her turn now to guard. She was watching the dancing flame in front of her. She knelt down and hugged both her legs with her right hands. Her left hand was playing with the fire and she was trying to make the perfect warmth for everyone including her. It had just been a day since they left the Fabula Kingdom. To tell the truth, she didn't know where to go or even if this was the right thing to do. It was Snow who suggested them to go to the Tenebrae Kingdom. Perhaps at there, she could find more information about the organization which was after her. Then, here they were, sleeping in the midst of the Forest of Darkness, Cypress. She had told them that she was not in a hurry, but somehow, Noctis –she felt warmth when saying that name– said that it's better for them to arrive at Tenebrae Kingdome soon because they didn't know what might waiting for them ahead. The faster, the better, he said.

Actually she didn't like Snow's idea to invite the two lads. Hell, she didn't even suggest for Snow to join her. She just wanted to take an adventure to somewhere else, somewhere safe. But since Snow had come to decision to follow her, she might be like the idea of those two lads to join because she wasn't sure of herself if she could protect both Vanille and Snow (She didn't know if Snow needed her protection though). With them following her probably her burden might be lessen (or maybe not).

They didn't build a tent or something, she said it might be wasting of time, so, instead they were sleeping with the nature. Fortunately for them, Vanille preparation was more than enough. She brought five sleeping bags –that Lightning didn't know the princess had– with her when she packed up. Lightning thought it seemed that the princess had already known the plan to invite those lads.

"Can't sleep?" asked her when she noticed a small movement came from him. She was leaning on the tree and beside her was Vanille with her innocent face, sleeping like there's nothing wrong with this journey. The guys were on the other side. She glanced at him, who was slowly tried to stand up, covered himself with the blanket.

She saw him shook his head as his answer. 'Tsck. Typical of him.' "So, what makes you awake? It's not your turn yet, you know." asked her once again. He didn't answer her question directly instead, he was just staring at the sky. They were in the middle of the wood where the roof is the sky itself. The sky was so clear that night that they could see the twinkling stars. It was such a wonderful view that only some people could manage to see it.

Noticing that he might not answer her anytime soon, she continued to stare at the dancing flame and busied with her thoughts again. "The stars." His hoarse voice brought her back to reality. "The stars were so bright."

"Yeah, if they are not bright, they will not be called stars, you know." She hissed.

He ignored her sarcastic remark and now stared at those green eyes. They were the most beautiful emerald eyes that he had ever seen. They looked sparkled in the night and although he didn't want to admit it, he found that they were much beautiful than the stars. "Since you've woken up, I see you can take your turn now." He merely nodded.

Lightning decided to ignore the stupid feeling inside her. Maybe it was because of her lack of sleep. She quickly joined Vanille and covered herself with the sleeping bag. She just hoped that she wouldn't have another nightmare.

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The Prince and The Blacksmith felt something within them, something they hadn't known yet.

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Morning had come. The Kingdom was in peace until there's a sudden panic inside the castle. The princess was missing!

One of the maids talked to Rufus, who was in charge in the time being, "Your Highness, Princess Vanille was nowhere to be found."

"And that supposed to mean?" Rufus was in the dining room, sat on his favorite chair, and ate the food served for him on the table. For a person who had just being told his cousin was missing, Rufus sure seemed to be relaxed.

"Princess Vanille is missing, we have tried to search everywhere, every corner in this castle has been looked through and she was nowhere to be found." The butler spoke out his opinion. He wanted to tell the King directly, but unfortunately, the King was having another trouble himself.

Rufus stopped eating and stayed silent for a moment until he continued to eat again. It was like there's nothing wrong of the news Vanille was gone. It was like he had already expected that. "Maybe she is just playing with the blacksmith. Why don't you check it out?" Rufus continued silently. The butler nodded and ordered the maid to check to the blacksmith store.

"It seems that the prophecy is right." He chuckled lightly and only the wind was his friend.

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The Other Prince realized the prophecy has begun.

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"So, where are we heading next?" That question came from Snow, who was tidying up the sleeping bag with Vanille.

Lightning, who was aware with the question, just shrugged. She simply had no idea where she was going. What she knew that she had to get away fast from that kingdom or else something, something terrible, would happen and God knows what. "One thing for sure," she started, "We have to get out of here, ASAP." Then she looked onto the bright sky. "At morning, this could be the best place ever, but once it's dark." She trailed her statement, leaving them to expect what it was.

"What's going to happen once it's dark?" asked Vanille innocently. Lightning forgot that as a princess, Vanille tended to be inside the castle and was so oblivious with the surrounding. She was just about to explain when Prompto decided to interfere.

"You better not ask that." He said nonchalantly, yet Vanille could hint a worry tone in his voice. She didn't try to ask anything anymore, although she wanted to. She just shrugged it off, hopefully it was nothing.

Staring at the sky, Noctis knew something was off. The birds were flying to the North and Noctis knew it was not the season yet. "Guess we should head North, eh?" asked Snow, who also looked at the same direction as Noctis did. He also noticed the same thing the prince did. Noctis just stared blankly at Snow and nodded.

At first, Lightning didn't realize what's going on until she saw what they had seen. Seem like it was not a very bad idea to bring them along. But they had to hurry, whoever were after her, would not stay quiet once they found out she was nowhere near the Kingdom.

Kingdom.

Princess.

Now it hit her. She looked at the youngest person in the group. "Vanille," She called the name carefully. Vanille looked to where the blacksmith was standing. "How about your house?"

Once Vanille heard the question, she just smiled. Prompto knew that smile because he was the same. It was the smile he used whenever he had to hide something. "It's okay." She was silence. "I guess." She continued again.

The blacksmith knew the princess was hiding something but she didn't want to bring it up anymore. After all it was Snow and her who 'kidnap' the princess (if that could be called kidnap).

"We should hurry." Deciding to break the awkward silence, Snow said that to remind them to hurry.

And they did continue along with the silence. Prompto stayed close to Vanille, hopefully she would want to share her burden. Lightning walked in front because she was the one familiar with the forest while Snow was behind her, watching her every move. Noctis, however, decided to stay behind them. It looked like he was carefully guarding them.

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The Princess couldn't tell them the secret she kept.

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Coming to see there were so many Royal Soldiers gathered around her place, he knew something was off. He kept a distance to see what was really going on.

"Hey, have you heard? The princess was missing." One of the ladies who stood next to him said to her friends and whoever beside her.

"Yeah, and it seems like they believe the blacksmith took her." The vendor continued.

He smirked though inside he was a little bit sad. With a pace, he walked towards the shop. The Royal Soldier stopped him, yet when they realized who he was, they gave him a curt.

"General Strife!" They said in unison with respect. Yes, after all he was the legend General apart from General Fair and General Sephiroth.

He nodded. "What is wrong?"

One of the Royal Soldiers decided to reply. "The Princess was reported missing this morning and thus Prince Rufus ordered us to check if Princess Vanille is here."

"So, is she?"

"No Sir! And the blacksmith is also missing with her assistants." Cloud smirked upon hearing that, but the soldier was too busy to see it.

"Have you searched her everywhere?" asked him again without his smirk.

"Yes Sir! And we found no one."

"I see." Cloud nodded. One of the soldiers who just came out from the shop stepped to interfere.

"Excuse me, Sir." He said politely. Cloud turned around to see a young boy who had layered silver hair and bright blue eyes. According to Cloud, this lad was just about to reach seventeen and he was wondering since when did the Royal Soldier accept such a young fella?

"And you are?" Ignoring what the boy was going to say, Cloud decided to ask the lad's name first.

"My name is Hope Estheim, Sir. Pardon me, however, I do believe this belongs to you." And there it was, his beloved buster sword. He carefully took it from Hope's hands. Slowly, he opened the fabric which covered the sword.

He chuckled lightly. This led to a confusion among the soldiers. They had never seen him smiled let alone chuckled, so, whatever it was, they were curious. What they saw was nothing strange. It was his famous buster sword, shining and reflecting his owner. Only the wind could hear what he whispered, "You are a good blacksmith, Light."

"Yes, this is mine." He said to Hope. "Thank you for bringing him back to me."

He patted Hope's hair and like before, he just walked away from them and vanished into the air.

"What a lucky day for you, Hope." The first soldier said to Hope. "Not only do you get the change to touch the famous buster sword, but you also being patted by him."

Hope just nodded. "Yes, lucky me."

"Come on, let's head back to castle." All the soldiers, except Hope, were heading back to the opposite direction where Cloud just vanished before. Hope was still staring to where the General was headed before.

"Hope, come on!" Hope quickly turned around and followed the others.

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The Knight had gained back what once belonged to him.

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They were walking in a comfortable silence or at least it was what she kept telling herself. She looked around trying to find a way out of this forest. It was supposed to be an easy task, but why couldn't she find the way out yet? Could it be? Once again she turned left, but this time she didn't forget to leave a mark on one of the trees. He noticed her action and he believed all of them did too. Yet, they all stay quiet, maybe, he thought, it was because they trusted her. When the rest of the group followed her, he stayed behind, waiting near the tree where she left a mark on.

"Hello again." Snow smirked to Noctis who was leaning on the tree. Now, it was obvious someone was playing a prank on them.

It frustrated her so much. She put her right hand beside Noctis' head. "Now tell me something that I need to know."

He only stared at her directly. Neither of them tried to move away or to do something with their position. They only stood still. "Alica." trailed Prompto slowly.

"Alica? What's that?" asked Vanille with a bright smile plastered on her face. It seems like anxious was not in her book.

Hearing what Prompto had mentioned, Lightning pulled herself and sighed. She took out her sword. It had been years since the last time she used that. Hopefully she still remembered how to do it. "INCISIO!" Without a doubt she thrust her sword unto the ground and suddenly a sound of a glass shattered was heard along with the view around them.

"She is a blacksmith right? How comes she know how to do a spell?" asked Snow to Vanille, whose only replied was a mischievous grin.

"INCISUM!" An unfamiliar voice also shouted behind Lightning. Lightning just stared at him questioningly yet she shrugged it off. So, the lad knew how to fight then.

When Lightning believed the spell was broken, she asked them to quickly follow her. They dashed as fast as their feet could bring them. After knowing they were at somewhere safe, Lightning stopped. She turned around to see Vanille who was trying to catch a breath with Prompto holding her hand. Snow also tried to manage his breath. On her corner of her eyes, she could see that Noctis was standing still with his hands crossed on his chest leaning on the tree with his eyes closed.

"Lightning, next time warn us if you are being chased by a ghost!" Vanille exclaimed. She let Prompto's hand go, although she felt something's missing, and walked closer to Lightning.

"I'm sorry." Lightning replied softly. A hint of smile was shown on her face but it was too quick to be seen except for him.

"What's wrong?" asked Snow.

"Alica." A reply came from Prompto.

"I've heard that and what the hell is that?" Snow was a little bit irritated because it appeared that he was being left out.

"Alica is a spell those can be done by a priestess or a priest." Prompto explained carefully. He gripped his shot-gun tightly. He didn't know if it was a good thing. There was a painful memory behind the story and he wasn't sure if he was ready.

"Priestess? Then Light, doesn't that mean you're one?" He turned to Lightning. "I mean, you did the Incisio thing before right? Oh, and you lad also did that."

An awkward silence once again covered them. "To put it simple, she learnt it from someone, Snow." Vanille decided to break the silence. "And, it better to keep it as a secret until Lightning and Noctis are ready to tell the story, 'kay?"

Snow nodded reluctantly. He wanted to know more albeit it sounded impossible for then. "We better hurry." It was the first time he opened his mouth that day and it was the right diversion.

Lightning nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we don't want them to catch us."

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Once you're done, will you come back?

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"They are great, don't you think so? Vincent?" Gladiolus asked Vincent who was standing on the branch above him. He looked up to the red-cloak man. "What's wrong, Valentine?"

Vincent shook his head to reply the question. Knowing the red-cloak man was hiding something, Gladiolus decided to ignore it. "Now I wonder from whom Star learnt a Alica." He murmured loud enough to be heard by Vincent. "I only know one person who knows that spell."

"Gladiol," Vincent called the dark guy. "You better not mention her name anymore."

"You know what?" Gladiolus became infuriated with Vincent's warning. "I'm sick of you hiding something from me. If you want this to be done, you need to tell me everything you know or else, it won't be good for either of us." He glared at Vincent. "And don't you dare to run away, Vince."

Upon hearing that name, a painful memory crossed his mind. A girl with short black hair calling him with those stupid nicknames but he found himself comfortable with her being. "Don't. Call. Me. That." He said in a warning tone.

"Try me." mocked Gladiolus.

Glaring at the dark guy, Vincent replied coldly. "No one can call me that." 'Except her.' he continued in his mind. They kept staring for God knows how long. "You will regret this." hissed him.

Smiling, Gladiolus said. "That's why I said try me, Vincent. You do know I like challenge, don't you?"

Before they could fight against each other, Caritas appeared out of nowhere. "If you want to fight one another, this is not the right time."

"Caritas." Gladiolus hissed the name. "What is it?"

"Al asked us to gather. It looks like Hope has something to share."

Gladiolus said, "That brat, what's he done this time?"

Caritas shrugged his shoulder. "I don't know but unless it's important, Al won't ask us."

"Vincent? What do you think?" His mood had calmed down. He asked the red-cloak man nonchalantly like there was nothing happened between them before. His only answer was the vanishing man in the air. "Geez, why can't he reply in a more normal way?"

Caritas chuckled upon hearing the question. "Ludicrous. We are not normal anyway, why should we be?"

"Yeah, you're right." Then they vanished the same way Vincent did.

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Secrets are not yet unfold.

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Note :

Alica : Spell

Incisio/Incisum : Break

At least that was what the google translate told me, lol

Hopefully I can see you soon. Luph u all

Review?