Sorry about the late update but I've been kept busy already (namely by my quantum professor...).
So, as usual, any feedback you have for me would be very welcomed. Enjoy the chapter, and thank you to erikamakino and Brillerai for the reviews!
CHAPTER FORTY
~ Panna Cotta ~
Tyson stretches cheerfully as he steps out of the car and into the warmth of the early summer afternoon.
"Man, that trip was awesome!" Tyson happily marches towards the Alfhild's Villa. "Especially that buffet…"
Hilary sighs after him as she steps out of the car next. She then questions the appropriateness of his current behavior as she watches him approach the villa's front door, "How is he still so carefree when the big day is only the day after tomorrow…?"
It has been about a week now since they had begun to stay at the Alfhild's villa in Monte Argentario. The group had just returned from a two day sightseeing trip in which they toured most or all of the best places in Venice with Enrique as their guide. Enrique, having felt bad for the disturbance caused by the two girls whom he had brought along for lunch some days ago, had come by to visit at the villa to even things up. Initially, Lux had been somewhat unhappy to see Enrique as she was afraid of having to see Cornelia and Flavia again. However, upon being reassured that neither of them will be near her or Kai, she quickly switched to a friendlier disposition towards him. The idea of going to Venice, though, was brought up randomly in conversation and consented to by the group on a complete whim.
Simultaneously, Wyvynn, who had helped the group locate Kai and Lux when the two were stranded, had slowly begun to hang out more often with the group. They had decided ultimately, that since he could follow them wherever they went anyway, they might as well openly let him tag along. Ventus had frowned upon their choice when first informed of the matter but approved of it after some thought and a brief chat with the guy. So far, that decision has not been a disappointment; although a little arrogant sometimes, Wyvynn has been a willing source of aid whenever asked. He has also proven himself very knowledgeable of the world, in contrast to Lux who still lacks some common sense. Kenny had also found Wyvynn to be an expert in hacking and IT security. He had admitted to the group that he, like Lux, is proficient in a vast number of programming languages. When asked for the reason of this, Wyvynn informed them that they were individually forced to either learn the skills or die of oxygen deprivation in a sealed room. Lux had somewhat of a response to his statement as if it triggered something in her but gave no verbal comment.
The others soon emerge from the cars that carried them as well.
"It's fine for now, Hilary." Ray justifies for his friend cheerfully. "It doesn't do any good for us to build up anxiety early and it's not as if anything has appeared to have gone wrong."
"Yeah, I agree with Ray on this one." Kenny adds. "If we become overly nervous, we're actually more prone to mistakes when the big day comes."
"Hm…I guess you're right." Hilary agrees with them. "I just can't believe how close we are to resolving all of this."
Watching Tyson some more, she adds, "…Or the fact that this has more or less became a vacation for that matter."
"Hey, just relax and have some fun." Max tells her as Tala and the rest of the Blitzkrieg Boys join them.
They soon begin to approach the villa as well to enter. Once inside, one of the maids approaches them.
"Welcome back," the maid greets them. She then turns to Kai and tells him. "There is a video call for you from Master Ventus."
...
Elsewhere, in an office brightly lit by the afternoon's golden rays, a man in his thirties dressed in a black suit stands before a large, neat desk. Behind the desk, before the large polished window, sits another man hidden completely from the first by the large seat.
"Have you delivered it to him as instructed, S.S.?" the man behind the desk asks.
"Yes, I have." S.S. reports. "I have also directed him to Berlin as you have requested, sir. According to the monitoring system in place, he has been spotted at various high points in the city at nighttime between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m."
"Good." The man tells him. "Your work is done for now. I will have a different team follow up with surveillance and capture. Once we have them, you shall resume your previous post as B1-101's caretaker. You may go."
"Yes, sir." S.S. responds politely as he steps out of the room.
...
It has been more than half an hour into the video call now. Ventus had mostly called to say hi and remind them that they will start their operations soon but this quickly became a discussion of their vacation in Venice when a vacation-mode Tyson joined the conversation.
"…and I still can't believe there were Italian dishes I haven't tried yet." Tyson finishes after having listed or described every dish he had at the buffet.
Sighs sound behind him as Kai mentally and sarcastically concurs with him, 'Yeah, I can't believe that either.'
"I thought I've tried them all the last time I came to Italy." Tyson adds.
"I am glad you have had such an enjoyable experience in Venice, Tyson." Ventus comments in as pleasant a tone as he could muster to hide his indifference. "Now if you are done, I'd like a word with Lux."
"Oh, yeah sure." Tyson happily brings the doll-like girl to the front of the camera by her arm. "Here she is!"
Nervous and somewhat uncomfortable to be the center of attention, Lux faces the display with a more or less confused look on her features. Lux had been familiarized with the concept of a video call within the last few days but this is the first time she was directly in front of the camera and microphone for one.
"Hello, Lux." Ventus greets her with a friendly smile.
The girl nervously replies to her cousin, "…Hello."
"Did you enjoy your visit to Venice?" Ventus asks her.
She simply nods slowly in reply.
"I'm glad." Ventus comments with a kind smile. "I am enjoying my trip here in Berlin as well."
He then takes out a small object from the pocket of his suit.
"I've also bought a souvenir for you." Ventus shows her the small, jeweled hairpin he had pulled out. It seems to be in the design of an edelweiss flower.
"Souvenir." Lux repeats. She shifts her gaze to the hair pin for a moment.
"Do you like it?" he asks her.
She turns back to him but does not answer.
"As I've said earlier, I should be back tomorrow." He tells her.
Lux shows no response to the statement.
He then adds in a brotherly tone, "Lux, when everything is over, I'll arrange for you to come home, okay?"
"Come…home?" Lux looks at him confused.
"Our house in Sweden." Ventus clarifies. "I'll arrange for you to move back there."
Kai froze for a second and got off the wall he had been leaning on. He listens eagerly for what Ventus says next.
Lux looks over to Kai as if hoping for his input and then turns back to the screen as some men approach Ventus and whispers something in his ear.
Before she could say anything, Ventus speaks again in somewhat of a hurry, "My meeting is about to start now, so I'll talk to you later, okay?"
With that, he hung up, leaving Lux staring with disappointment at the desktop displayed on the screen. Kai leaves the room silently as the rest take in the information that had just been disclosed in the call. Silence dominates the atmosphere of the room for a moment as everyone present has their eyes fixed on either the display monitor or on Lux. Lux who had been her normally curious and shy self only moments ago appear depressed now. She stands, staring still at the display as if waiting for Ventus to reappear on the screen so she could attempt to express something on her mind.
Seeing her the way she is, Ray approaches her and places a hand on her shoulder lightly. He calls out to her, "Hey."
Lux turns to him but does not say anything. The others in the room, including Tyson, Hilary, Kenny, Daichi and Max approach her too now.
"Is everything okay?" Max asks her.
She turns to him for a few moments but does not reply before turning from him and staring into the floor.
"Do you not want to move back to Sweden?" Ray asks her.
She initially remains as is but nods a few moments later, without looking up at anyone.
"Well if that's the case, then the next time we see Ventus, we can just all tell him you don't want to move." Tyson tells her.
She shakes her head in response to him.
"Huh?" Tyson is confused. "No?"
"Kai has been taking care of me…for a long time already." She tells them. "He has bought food for me to eat…and clothes for me to wear…and took care of me when I got hurt…so…I feel I shouldn't trouble him any longer…even though…I don't want to be far away from everyone either…"
"Well you do have family there…" Daichi reasons. "Ventus is the only family you got left, right?"
Lux does not reply but continues to stare at the floor.
"Lux," Ray addresses her. "Mind if I ask something?"
She turns to him.
"How do you feel about Ventus?" he asks.
"Feel…about Ventus?" Lux repeats. She is not really sure how to answer.
"Do you think of him as family?" he asks again.
"Think of him…as family…." She turns from Ray again.
"Hm..." Max thinks for a moment. He then asks the rest, "Now that I think about it, hasn't Lux been hanging out mostly with us or with Tala so far?"
They turn to him.
Kenny points out, "…And even after we met Ventus, she doesn't really see or interact with him all that often since he's always busy."
"…So even though she hangs out with friends all the time, she probably doesn't know the feeling of having a family member around." Hilary concludes.
Lux looks at her friends, somewhat confused.
"Lux, what comes to mind when you think of Ventus?" Tyson asks her.
Lux thinks for a moment and then replies, "A tall man who is familiar…and…polite."
"Is that all?" Daichi asks.
"Well do you feel he's in any way important to you?" Max asks.
"Important…" Lux repeats. "I don't know."
"Well…Would you be sad if you didn't see him anymore?" Tyson rephrases Max's question. "Do you care about him?"
"I…" Lux pauses and thinks back to the few interactions she's had with him. Sure, he has always seemed familiar to her, but she can't really say she cares much about him. In fact, due to their lack of time spent together, he feels little closer than a stranger or at best an acquaintance to her. Yet, from everything she has learned, even she knows what "family" means and how one should regard it.
Lux looks around at the faces gathered around her. Seeing everyone waiting for the answer to the question, she felt pressured and somewhat scared to say anything.
'Ventus…is 'family'…I am supposed to care about 'family'…so…Ventus is supposed to be someone…I care about…but…'
Looking around her some more, she sees everyone around her taking notice of her change of expression.
'…but I…I don't…'
Lux almost finishes her thought but chooses to stop. The fact is, she didn't care about the only living person in the world with close blood relations to her. She stares back to the floor. Now no longer wanting to answer the question at all both for fear of being told that she is a bad person and because she herself felt awful, she turns in a swift movement hoping to leave the room before anyone asks again.
"Forget it." Ray stops her by the shoulder with a smile before she could go anywhere. From his experience the other day in Rome, he had somewhat anticipated her attempt to run away when he noticed her growing discomfort and decided as a result that it'd be better to call off the entire question.
"Forget…?" she repeats.
"You don't have to answer the question if you don't want to." Ray tells her.
Lux turns back to face them properly.
"Look, even if you end up moving back to Sweden, it'll be okay." Tyson tells her.
"But…I won't get to see you guys…" she protests.
"Oh come on, it's not that bad." Max tells her. "My mom lives in the U.S. and I still get to see her. We just have to visit each other."
"Visit?" Lux repeats.
"Yeah," Hilary joins in to cheer her up. "You can come by to see us anytime."
"So don't worry so much about it." Ray tells her with a smile. "Okay?"
"Hm…" Lux still does not like the idea.
Seeing as she is still worried about it, Ray decides that for now, it would be best to try to distract her from it for now, "Hey Lux,"
Lux turns to him.
"Remember that dessert you had for lunch?"
"Dessert…" Lux remembers the white, pudding-like, dish with fruit and caramel on it that she had consumed. "Yes…Panna cotta."
"Right," Ray acknowledges with a smile. "How would you like to learn how to make it?"
Lux looks at him confused why he all of a sudden is offering to teach her to make food. The others look at him almost equally puzzled.
"I want to learn." Lux tells him anyway.
"Great!" Ray turns to Kenny. "Kenny, would you mind finding a recipe for us to follow?"
"Huh?" Kenny is very confused why Ray is all of a sudden changing the subject of the discussion. "Wh-"
Ray signals for him to trust him on it with a brief wink.
"Uh…sure. Just a sec." Kenny complies.
In a few moments, he pulls up a website with a video tutorial. He hands Dizzy to them, "Here."
Accepting the laptop, Ray signals for Lux to come closer to read the recipe with him and she joins him.
"Let's see…ingredients…" Ray mouths as he scrolls to the list. "Sugar, heavy cream, vanilla, and gelatin sheets…hm…"
"Do we even have all that here?" Tyson asks looking over his shoulder. The thought of food had effectively distracted him too although the others are still somewhat confused.
"Well the maids here make desserts often so I would imagine there is some." Kenny inputs.
Ray reads the recipe briefly, "First soften the gelatin sheets, then score and add the vanilla into the cream and add sugar…"
...
Upstairs, Kai slams the door to the room he is staying in shut. He stands behind the door with his bangs covering his eyes. For a while he stays this way.
"Lux, when everything is over, I'll arrange for you to come home, okay?"
"Our house in Sweden…"
"I'll arrange for you to move back there."
These words have echoed through Kai's mind the entire way up from the room downstairs. Finding himself very much perturbed by them, he sinks to the floor into a sitting position with one knee up and rests his arm on his knee.
He thinks back to the reason he took her in in the first place: his curiosity. He had wanted to know why he had been seeing her in his dreams for a whole month. So far, he still has no leads on that other than that at least some of what he dreamt of is real.
'Would I ever even find out why I had those dreams?' Kai questions in his mind, looking up a little.
Ever since he had met the girl, he has found her to be a sink for the emotional stress that the dreams have placed on him. The dreams have even begun to decrease in frequency until they have simply stopped altogether. Yet, as time had passed, this simple dependence on her that she herself was not even aware of had morphed.
He recalls the way she played in the fields when he had unintentionally led her to the spot he usually liked to lounge around at, her cheerful smile whenever she prepared food for the two of them, her delightful reaction to the first piece of cake she ever had and the times he had either taught or corrected her when she tried to learn something. He also recalls his promise to protect her that night when he had found her injured by her kidnapper, the day when they were both stranded during the storm and had to wait for help, and all of the times when he had to go look for her and how worried he had been for her each time.
Even if he had seen her as a mere form of comfort from those dreams, he had grown genuinely fond of her and he had been aware of this for a while now.
'The reason I had those dreams hardly even matters to me now…'
However, he knew from the start when he had taken her in that she wasn't meant to stay with him for too long. He had only intended to let her stick around until his curiosity was satisfied and even if not for that, it was clear to him even back then that she was likely not from Japan and likely would not be able to legally stay in the country for far too long anyway. Now, after all that's transpired, once things are done, it would simply be her time to go back to where she belongs.
'Things would just go back to the way they were before…wouldn't they?'
Kai thinks back to his life before he had met her and before he had even had those dreams of her. He had always more or less just hung out by himself until he met Tyson and the others. Even then, he still preferred to be away from people as he was rather introverted. Despite that this was true only three months ago, he cannot help but feel that it is a distant lifestyle to him now.
He then imagines what things will be like after she leaves. He would no longer have to take care of her and he can go back to being a loner without a clueless golden blonde tagging along behind him. It'd more or less be just like the way it was before. If ever he wanted to see her, he could always just go visit her in Sweden. Conveniently, there isn't even a need for a VISA for him to enter her native country. Yet, this simply does not satisfy him; he doesn't want to only see her a few times a year.
Unable to just let her go, he admits out loud in the silent room, "I don't want her to leave."
He stays silent for a while however as even he knows that this is not something that was simply up to him.
'But what can I even do about it?'
Technically, Lux is a citizen of Sweden. She doesn't really need a VISA to visit him in Japan either but she certainly isn't supposed to be there for long periods of time let alone permanently reside there without proper documentation. On top of that, she has a home in Sweden and a living relative who has dedicated years of his time doing everything in his power for her sake. Who was he to fight with that person for the privilege to live with her?
'I'm neither family to her nor have I done anything for her that could compare…'
Then there was the question of what she wants to do.
'Does she even want to move back to Sweden?'
He recalls the way she had looked at him only a little earlier when she was conversing with Ventus. It was as if she was looking to him for help but at that moment, he did nothing to help her. He had selfishly walked away to cope with his own feelings over the matter before even hearing what she had to say about it all.
'What if she hadn't wanted it either?'
Kai rests his face on his knee and stays that way for a while.
...
A waxing crescent hangs in the evening sky. Some clouds drift slowly, glowing in a slightly muddy hue from reflecting the city lights below. A particularly well lit premise beneath this glows and compliments a tall hotel complex amidst Berlin's dark blue cityscape.
"Well, then," a man politely speaks. "I suppose this seals our deal, Mr. Alfhild."
With a final shake of hands, the man thanks Ventus and wishes him a lovely final evening in Berlin. Ventus returns with the appropriate formal gestures and watches as his client leaves the conference room. He then exits the room himself where his two bodyguards await him.
In concise words, he tells them, "Before departing to my next appointment, I'd like to use the restroom here."
The two of them comply and traverse with him down the second floor hallway where one of the guards briefly inspects the restroom for safety. Once determined safe, Ventus enters and leaves the two guards to wait outside.
The sound of running water soon becomes audible. Moments later, Ventus emerges expecting to be awaited again by his bodyguards but to his surprise finds neither of them at their expected post.
'That's strange…' Ventus mentally notes.
Ventus eyes up and down the empty hallway. Having hired from a trustworthy firm and done a background check on each of the bodyguards he had hired, he is certain that his bodyguards would not have both left him unattended; it would be far too unprofessional. Deducing that something is amiss, he steadily checks out his surroundings while attempting to figure out what is going on or who is after him.
...
A gentle night breeze sweeps through the premise of the Alflhild's villa. Some time has now passed since the call from Ventus and during this time, Wyvynn had dropped by for a visit. As he had come by around dinner time, the group thought it rude not to invite him to stay for dinner and so he stayed. With the exception of Kai who had not come down for dinner altogether and Lux who had gone off to the kitchen after she ate, most of the Bladebreakers have decided to hang out for a while on the terrace. Wyvynn, who had not left immediately after dinner was also invited along to hang out with them while Tala and his team had decided it best to go to bed early so they can wake up early the next morning for practice.
Carefully, Hilary cuts off two slices of the watermelon on the table and sets it on a plate. She hands them to the guys next to her, "Here you go,"
Without hesitation, Tyson and Daichi gobble it down and spit out the seeds messily. Having finished at the same time, they hand the plate back to Hilary and in unison demands from her, "More please!"
With a sigh, Hilary complies with their request.
Wyvynn, having been watching their competition since the start turns to Max and Ray near him and asks, "So how long do they usually go at this for?"
"Quite a long time, usually." Max replies watching them with a bored expression. Tyson and Daichi's watermelon eating contest has already gone on for a while and he had already gotten used to this ages ago anyway.
"If you want a slice, you can go up to Hilary and ask." Ray tells him in a friendly tone. He then jokes, "She'll probably be more than willing to give you a slice just to annoy Tyson and Daichi."
"Nah, I'm not interested in fruits." Wyvynn returns.
"That's not a very good thing health-wise," Kenny comments while still typing away on Dizzy.
"Fruits are a good source of vitamin C and A as well as fiber." Dizzy adds.
"Yeah well I eat plenty of other things to make up for it." Wyvynn dismisses her argument. Not that it was true, since he mostly just eats junk food but thought it best not to say anything about that part.
"If you say so!" Dizzy chimes.
The three of them watch a little longer while Kenny continues to work on his laptop.
"I wonder how Lux is doing." Max wonders out loud.
"Didn't she go off to the kitchen to check on the panna cotta or whatever it was she made?" Wyvynn asks, recalling from when she had left the dinner table.
"Well, she was a little upset earlier because Ventus called and told her he will have her move back to Sweden." Kenny informs him of the ordeal.
"Oh. Lemme guess, she's not willing to go back?" Wyvynn asks without taking his eyes off the watermelon contest going on in front of him.
"Well, no. She is willing." Kenny answers him, stopping his activities. "It's just that she doesn't wanna say her goodbyes to us."
"After the call, Kai shut himself in his room and hasn't come out once either." Max adds.
Wyvynn turns from the watermelon eaters now. "So that's why he wasn't there at dinner…"
"By the way, Ray," Max turns to Ray.
"Yeah?" Ray turns from Tyson and Daichi.
"Why did you all of a sudden decide to teach Lux how to make dessert back there?" Max asks curiously.
"I just thought it'd be best to take her mind off it for now." Ray answers. "But to be honest, it was probably not very effective."
"You think so?" Max turns back to the watermelon contest.
"You remember what happened when we arrived in Rome?" Ray asks him.
"Yeah." Max answers.
"She's very fond of Kai and very attached to him." Ray then tells him. "When Cornelia and Flavia started throwing themselves all over Kai, she was actually very upset. She just didn't say anything about it to anyone."
"She has always been shy…" Max notes.
"But it's understandable why she wouldn't want to go back to Sweden." Kenny then explains, "She remembers only a little less than ten months of her life and most of that was either memories of her time with us or with the cats she lived with before she met us. The closest person to her is in fact, probably Kai."
"Well then why not just have her stay with Kai?" Wyvynn asks. "I bet Kai's equally upset about this if he's locked himself in his room over it."
"It's not that simple." Kenny tells him. "Lux is legally allowed to stay in Japan for only three months without a VISA. She entered the country using a one year VISA but that expires in about a month or two."
"But she's from the Alfhild family." Wyvynn argues. "As long as Ventus agrees to it, I'm sure he has more than enough influence to arrange for her to stay there longer. Money's got a pretty big say in things in this world, as far as I know."
"Maybe so, but if you think from Ventus's point of view…" Kenny closes his laptop.
"Yeah, yeah, I get that she's all he's got left in the world." Wyvynn mutters. "I've only read all the files back at the lab…"
"Speaking of which," Kenny turns to him. "Do you mind if we ask you about that lab? And also about the Magnanimae."
"I don't see why not." Wyvynn then tells him, "Ask me anything you want. If I know it, I'll tell ya."
...
Having scouted as much of the second floor as he possibly could, Ventus discovers that there is not a single person in any of the rooms or hallways there. Moreover, the main central stairs leading to the first floor lobby and main entrance has been blocked off by some arrangement of heavy boxes that he could not remove. Knowing for sure now that someone has set this up, he decides to try to leave as quickly as possible. He considers calling the police for help but decides against it for now as they would probably do little for him if he is not in any clear danger nor is he even certain that he has been trapped on the second floor of the hotel.
He heads to the elevators and presses the downwards button for each one. A good while passes but none of the elevators arrive on his floor. He looks up and notices that for some strange reason, the elevators are all on the bottom most floor of the building and staying there.
'Crap…' he mentally curses.
Deducing that whoever is after him have likely tampered with the elevators, he dashes to the nearest emergency stairwell but finds it inaccessible due to the door being bolted shut from the other side. He then checks some of the other stairways in his wing to find the same. Now arriving at the end of the hall where the only remaining stairway he hasn't checked is located, he pushes the door carefully to find that this one alone had been left accessible.
He takes a careful peak around the stairwell. No one seems to be present and everything in this set of stairs seems to be perfectly normal. He descends them quickly but upon reaching the ground floor, he finds that the exits, both to the outside and to the hallway have all been locked or bolted shut from the other side.
'Whoever this is has done a superb job planning this out.' He comments in his mind as he turns around to climb back up in realization of the fact that he has no choice to.
As he climbs up the stairs, he checks each door on each floor he passes.
'…locked….locked…locked…locked…and locked...'
He was beginning to grow tired from having climbed up the past ten floors. As every door so far has been locked, he begins to suspect that there will not be an unlocked door until he reaches the roof. Continuing to climb up, he then notices a dark, semitransparent object with a violet luster on one of the steps. Backing up just a little and bending down to pick it up, he realizes what it is. Having figured out who had done this, he realizes now that calling the police would be out of the question. He quickly looks around and once certain that he is not in any way being observed, he takes out his phone and checks his signal. Upon confirming that it is sufficient, he sends a text message to Traumgeber before erasing his contact information, call history and message history from the device. Putting it away, he continues up the steps until he reaches the final floor and then the roof. Calmly, he opens the door to the rooftop.
"Greetings, Ventus," a familiar voice greets him as he steps into the open air.
"Well greetings to you as well," Ventus returns the greeting. "Lok,"
Ventus lets go of the door and it closes. The one winged being descends to a spot in front of him facing the other way.
"So what brings you here on such a fine evening?" Ventus begins with some small talk. "If you wanted to chat, you really only needed to have it arranged with my secretary. There's no need to beat up my bodyguards over it."
"Now what might you be refering about?" Lok returns with a deranged smile. "I never beat anyone up. I merely 'spoke' to them and asked them to give me some private time with you."
"…I see." Ventus realizes now how Lok had emptied the second floor of the hotel. "I take it you 'spoke' with the staff of the hotel as well to arrange the blockade on the second floor?"
"And the shutdown of the elevators and locking of the stairwells as well." Lok adds for him. "Are you impressed?"
"I suppose you want me to say I am." Ventus decides it is now time to get to the point, "So what business do you have with me?"
"What business?" Lok turns to face him. As he does, Ventus feels a pair of strong arms grab him from behind, effectively immobilizing him. He then proceeds to remove his contacts. "Well…"
...
In a small town, tranquil and dark at this hour, a light breeze picks up the ends of Traumgeber's purple drapes as it carries the sound of his low snoring further into the narrow alleyway in which he is sleeping. A repetitive vibration causes an equally repetitive rumble to sound from the ground. The snoring stops and Traumgeber shifts a little. He reaches a hand into his ragged clothing and pulls out a phone. Seeing a text message for him, he opens it reads it.
"…'and don't message back', he says." Traumgeber reads the message. He looks around him in the darkened environment. "Looks like I have work to do…"
He puts the device away and begins to steadily walk down the road.
...
Lux opens the refrigerator and peaks in. Bending down, she examines the cups of panna cotta in the fridge and she tries to remember what she had been told earlier about when they are ready.
"They have to look like they won't spill out…not like water…but like pudding…and…hm…what else…" she thinks for a moment.
As she searches her mind for the instructions from earlier, she finds her mind wandering. The call from earlier soon begins to dominate her mind again.
'I know I really should move back…' She recollects the call from earlier.
Thinking of all the things she had been told about the man called Ventus and her past life, she remembers the pictures she had been given before of her when she was young.
'I probably…really did love him when I was younger. He probably still loves me too…that's why…he is doing so much for me…'
She recalls the edelweiss hairpin he had showed her over the webcam.
'He is family…even if I don't remember…but…'
She thinks of Kai and the times she has spent with him.
'Moving back to Sweden…means…I won't get to see Kai….'
"My mom lives in the U.S. and I still get to see her. We just have to visit each other."
'Visit each other…but…'
"Hm…" Lux rests her chin on her knees as she remains lost in her thoughts of the matter.
'I really don't want to say goodbye to everyone…especially Kai…'
Lux then wonders what Kai thinks of all this. He had been in the room with her during the call but he hadn't said anything at the time. "Kai…"
"What about Kai?" a voice interrupts her.
Lux turns to see Wyvynn standing beside her near the open refrigerator. "Mr. Wyvynn?"
"Yo." He greets her. "And stop with the 'Mr.', really."
"You are still here." Lux notes the obvious.
"Well, yeah…it's kind of late so they just offered to let me stay the night over." Wyvynn explains.
"Oh" Lux did not seem to care much.
He then takes note of the things in the fridge. He asks, "Were those what you were making?"
Lux nods. "Panna cotta."
"I see." Wyvynn looks at them a little. He had to admit they didn't look bad. Tempted for one, he asks, "Mind if I try one?"
"Try…one…" Lux look back at them. She reaches in and tilts one slightly. Seeing it not spill out, she decides, "Okay…you can try one."
"By the way…" Wyvynn addresses her. "You might wanna close the refrigerator door. I notice you've been staring at them with the fridge open for a while."
Lux turns back to the fridge and realizes she had left the door open for quite a long time. "…Oops."
After closing the fridge, Lux finds a clean plate and sets it on the kitchen table. She gently and carefully empties the panna cotta from its mold onto the plate and pours some caramel over it. After decorating it with some strawberries, she gets a clean spoon for him and hands it to him.
"Here," she holds it out for him.
"Thanks," he accepts it and takes a bite. "Wow…this is good."
Lux watches without much of an expression as he consumes it.
"Thanks for the treat," Wyvynn thanks her again after finishing. Despite the compliment, she didn't quite look happy. Seeing this, he decides to ask her "What's wrong?"
Lux does not answer but simply stares into the floor.
Taking a guess at this, Wyvynn asks, "This about you moving back to Sweden?"
Lux looks up at him curious how he knew. "How did you know?"
"Uh…the others mentioned it after dinner." Wyvynn admits. "So?"
Lux bluntly admits, "I don't want to move."
"Well you know what, then don't move." Wyvynn tells her.
"But…I feel like I've been a burden to Kai…for a long time already…and Ventus would be unhappy…" Lux explains her reasons.
"You really think so?" Wyvynn walks closer to her. "Because I sure don't."
Lux looks up to meet his gaze.
"Oh yes, Kai shut himself in his room the whole night after he heard you will be moving out of his place because he was overjoyed. Why, he must be having a party in there!" He then asks her, "Does that sound about right to you?"
Lux is confused by his sarcasm.
"Look, just go with what makes you happiest." Wyvynn tells her. Her confused look already told him she didn't quite get the point of his previous statement. "And I'm sure Kai doesn't want you to move either. If you don't believe me, then just go talk to him but I'm a hundred percent certain."
With that, Wyvynn walks pass her to leave.
"Wait." Lux calls him back when he was at the entryway.
"Hm?" he turns back to her.
"Thank you." She tells him.
"No problem." He returns as he walks out.
Feeling a little better, Lux returns her attention to the dessert.
...
Dazzling sunlight, bright and warm, permeates the fresh, fragrant air. Everywhere around him are florid fields of whites, yellows, pinks, blues, and purples. Kai treads steadily through the flowerbeds as a zephyr gently caresses him and decorates the endless azure sky with a dance of the softest colored petals. He eventually spots a charming, white gazebo situated on a rock in the far distance by a lake. As if called towards it, he begins to walk to it. A soft humming grows steadily louder. He stops before a small collection of white roses around the rock. Looking into the gazebo, he notices a familiar, golden haired girl, standing inside in a white dress and staring out into the lake. Recognizing her and elated to see her, he quickly approaches her to join her.
As he takes a step towards her, however, the gazebo and everything around him vanishes and morphs into a nightmarish sight. The skies, previously bright and decorated with petals, are now hollow, dark and filled with columns of rising smoke. The lake that had been beyond the gazebo and the floral fields that were behind him have now become a field of flames that glows in a bright spectrum of yellows, oranges and reds. Turning back to where the gazebo had been, Kai finds Lux unconscious on the ground and with her is a familiar one-winged figure.
Kai watches as the one-winged platinum blonde, bends down to pick up the fallen girl on the ground. Wishing to stop him for fear he would harm her, Kai runs forward but as he is about to reach the two, someone lands before him, effectively barring him from the girl he wishes to save. As the new figure stands up, the one-winged figure begins to walk away from them with Lux in his arms. As Kai attempts to pursue him, he finds himself opposed by the second figure. Taking a closer look at the features of the second figure, Kai becomes shocked as he recognizes the light blond hair and familiar face.
"Ventus…?"
Kai wakes up to the sight of a waxing crescent in the sky outside his window. Looking around him, he sees everything had grown dark and realizes he had fallen asleep behind the door sometime during the late afternoon or evening.
'Have I been asleep this whole time?' he gets up to stretch his legs.
He then remembers the dream just now. The flower fields, the gazebo, Lux, Lok and the strangest part to him, Ventus.
'Why is it coming back now...? And why was Ventus in my dream?' Kai asks in his mind. In all his previous dreams, he had only seen Lok and Lux. His previous dreams were all largely the same with minor differences between them yet, for some reason, Ventus had appeared in this one.
'Could Ventus be an enemy?' Kai reevaluates the figures and their roles from his dream. At this point, he already knows that Lux, Lok and Ventus are real people. Lok and Lux's allegiances in the dream relative to him have also been fairly accurate compared to that of their real life counterparts. However, Ventus has done many things for Lux's sake. 'Is it possible that there is something Lok is doing that is good for Lux?'
Kai then notices his emotional state. Usually, after waking up from one of these dreams he would be in some form of emotional distress. Most often, he would be scared for an inexplicable reason for Lux's sake. This time, however, although he is still concerned for her, he is quite clear minded.
'Maybe this is different from those dreams and I dreamt of this just because of this afternoon…' Kai theorizes, as he remembers the call from earlier.
His thoughts are cut off as a voice and some sounds outside his room catch his attention.
"…Are you hungry?"
Some sounds of scratching or squeaking continue to be audible.
Recognizing the voice, Kai turns to his door. 'Lux…?'
"Here you go." The voice says again.
Kai opens his door to discover the girl sitting on the floor right in the middle of the hallway not too far from his door. There are two plates of dessert, one in her hand and one on the floor. While she holds an untouched plate in one hand, she seems to be feeding a small mouse with her other hand from the plate on the floor. At the sight of him, the small furry rodent scurries off and leaves the dessert unfinished.
"Mr. Mouse ran away…" Lux notes after it.
"Lux?" Kai could not help but be astounded by the fact that she was feeding a mouse outside his bedroom door.
Noticing him there, she gets off the floor and quickly approaches him, greeting him back happily in the process. "Kai!"
"Uh...Why were you feeding a mouse right outside my room...?" Kai asks her.
"He seemed hungry." She replies simply.
Kai looks at her strangely but then decides to tell her, "It'd probably be best if you don't feed them anymore."
"Why not?" Lux asks innocently.
"Mice are generally considered household pests." Kai explains to her.
"Household pests..." Lux repeats.
"Insects, Mice, Spiders...things you don't want in your house." Kai explains further.
"Mr. Mouse was cute." Lux protests.
"Even so." Kai insists.
Lux responds with a look of disappointment but submits to him anyway, "...Okay."
Kai then glances over to the clock in his room. He then turns back to Lux and asks, "So what are you doing here so late?"
Lux recalls the reason why she came here and holds the untouched plate out to him, "Here."
"For me?" Kai looks at it. He accepts it but asks, "Thanks, but what is it?"
"Panna cotta." Lux answers.
"You made this?" Kai asks.
She nods.
Kai tries a bite. Finding it quite good, he compliments her, "It's good."
Lux smiles shyly upon being praised but moments later the smile fades away. Kai takes notice but waits first if she has anything to tell him.
"Uhm…" Lux begins trying to say something.
Kai waits a small while but seeing as she has failed to continue, Kai urges her on a little, "Yeah?"
"Hm…" Lux seems to be having trouble with her words again or she is simply too shy to say them.
"Something you wanna tell me?" Kai asks her more directly.
Lux nods.
Taking a guess she is having trouble expressing whatever it is, he looks both ways in the hall. Finding no one there, he invites her into his room, "Why don't you come in. That way, you can take your time to tell me whatever it is."
Lux simply nods and follows him into the room.
Flipping the lights on and closing the door behind them, Kai tells her, "You can sit anywhere you like."
Lux nods slightly and makes her way to a nearby armchair where she takes a seat. Kai places the plate of dessert down on a nearby dresser and simply leans against the nearest wall.
"So?" Kai watches her as she pulls her legs up onto the seat. "What did you want to tell me?"
She takes a little while to find where she wants to start but eventually says, "About moving…"
"You mean what Ventus told you earlier, right?" Kai glances away from her and into the reflection of the room in the glass of the window. "Back to Sweden?"
She nods, "Yes…"
For a few moments, they stay silent.
"What about it?" he asks.
"…Am I…" She hesitates for a moment but then goes on, "Am I a burden to you?"
"Huh?" Kai shifts his gaze back to her.
"Have you ever thought…that I was a burden?" she repeats the question, looking away from him. "To live with…"
"Why are you asking this?" Kai asks.
"Because..." She shifts her gaze down to the carpet. "For a long time...you've taken care of me...and you had to buy all sorts of things for me that I needed…or wanted...so...I've been thinking for a while that …maybe…"
"Do you really think any of those things can mean more to me than you do?" Kai asks her not waiting for her to finish.
She looks up at him to see him getting off the wall and approaching her. "I…"
"You're a person." He tells her, stopping right in front of her. "To me, there's no such thing as an object or any amount of cash that can be worth more than a living person."
"...And especially not you." Without warning, he swoops down and pulls her into his arms. "…So don't ever think you're worth any less to me than that because I..."
He hesitates to finish his sentence. He had wanted to tell her how he felt for her but he knew that doing so right now will only complicate the situation of her moving back even more. Just as she was about to reciprocate his embrace, he pulls away from her and stands up. Her arms fall back to her side and he turns from her to hide his face from her.
Curious what he was going to say to her before, she urges him to finish his sentence, "Because?"
"Nevermind." Kai tells her without turning to her.
She watches as he begins to walk away from her.
"So is that all?" he asks, stopping after making it a little ways from her.
She continues to stare after him and does not say anything for a while.
"Well if there's nothing else, I'm going to go get some water." He tells her, beginning to leave.
"I don't…"
He stops to hear what else she has to say.
"…I don't want to move back to Sweden."
He does not answer her immediately but continues to stand still. In his mind, he wonders if he should tell her how he feels about the situation. It would be true that he does not want her to move back to Sweden either. However there was the question of how strongly Ventus feels about having her move back.
"Is it…selfish…to want that?" She asks.
Unable to come to a conclusion, he tells her, "I don't know if it's selfish or not."
"Hm…" Lux rests her chin on her knee and remains silent.
"When Ventus comes back tomorrow, we'll both go talk to him." He tells her. "Okay?"
"Okay." Lux answers him as he leaves the room.
...
About fifteen minutes later, Kai returns to his room. The kitchen had been empty as it was almost two o'clock in the morning. Although not conclusive, he had taken the time to think of what he would say to Ventus the next day while there. For now however, he was certain of at least one thing: neither himself nor Lux are fond of the idea of her moving back to Sweden. He did wonder if the fact that Lux does not want to return to Sweden permanently would be enough for Ventus to change his mind. He has heard while he was there that Swedes are rather open-minded people, but he knows full well that it does not hold true for every individual from there.
Kai opens the door to his room. The room seems quiet and nothing seems to have changed. Lux is still in the armchair she had been sitting in before he had left for water. However, it would appear she has fallen asleep during the time he had been gone. He stands in the doorway for a second. Checking the time, he wonders if he should wake her up.
'I could wake her and send her off to her room but it's already really late…' He then weighs the other option. 'If I don't wake her, I have the choice of either carrying her to her room upstairs or I could let her stay here for the night and just carry her over to the bed…'
Kai closes the door behind him gently as he begins to make his way to her. He thinks about it a little more as he does, 'She's probably very tired by now since she's rarely ever stayed up past ten. I should probably not wake her.'
'But… if I were to carry her up to her room, I'd run the risk having to explain this to anyone who might happen to be in the hallway.' Although he has nothing to hide, he didn't exactly have a penchant for awkwardness. He then imagines the way up. Carrying her up a flight of stairs at two in the morning didn't exactly have any appeal to him either.
He glances over to his bed. Seeing as it is certainly large enough for an extra person, he decides he might as well let her stay for the night and just share half of his bed with her.
'I suppose this is the easiest option if I don't wanna wake her...'
He carries her gently to the bed and then tucks her in. Brushing some stray strands from her face, he whispers to her, "Goodnight, Lux."
He then closes the lights and walks over to the other side of the bed and climbs in himself.