Okay, sorry this took forever but I had a neverending chain of homework and exams and will be having more (I'm very sorry). Thank you to Brillerai and RobynIvy for the feedback. I'll try to update within a month for sure but this is my toughest semester, so bare with me.
Here is Chapter 41, enjoy and as usual, feedback is very welcomed!
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
~ A Single Kiss ~
The rosy glow of early morning is slowly filtered through the large windows into a well-kept bedroom. Feeling the change in intensity of the light incident upon him, Kai slowly blinks open his eyes. Adjusting to the light, he immediately notices the sleeping features of the girl lying across the bed from him.
Recalling the events of the night before, he notes to himself, 'That's right…she fell asleep here in my room….'
He then raises his head slightly and glances over to the clock to see that it is only slightly past six in the morning. Looking back to Lux, he remembers the time she had fallen asleep. 'She's only slept for about four hours…'
Laying back down and staring at the brightening ceiling, he wonders what he should do next. He could go back to sleep but he neither feels tired nor does he lack rest since he had slept a good deal prior to waking up to the dream last night. On the other hand, he could get up, but what was he to do so early in the morning? He's already done his fair share of training when he was alone despite the laid back attitudes of his friends. Aside from that, there is something else of concern to him anyway. He turns again to Lux as the video call from the day before comes back to his mind.
"Lux, when everything is over, I'll arrange for you to come home, okay?"
"…I don't want to move back to Sweden."
"When Ventus comes back tomorrow, we'll both go talk to him."
Despite their concurring opinions on the matter, the decision, more or less, is ultimately in Ventus's hands.
'Chances are, I might not get to spend time with her often after everything is over...' Kai thinks to himself.
Watching her as she sleeps on silently, Kai brushes some stray strands that fell over her face. He decides he might as well stay with her a little while longer like this.
...
Downstairs in a steadily brightening dining room containing a long table, Tala, Bryan, Spencer and Ian consume their first meal of the day quietly as a yawning Tyson and his friends, Max, Ray, Daichi, Hilary, Kenny and their guest, Wyvynn join them. As the incoming group takes their seats at the table, Tala and his team finish up their meal.
Getting up to leave for more training, Tala mouths to the others as a greeting, "We're off."
Tyson yawns as he watches them go. He then comments, "Wow, those guys sure got up early…"
"Oh, they've been much more diligent than you think they've been during the past week." Kenny tells him after swallowing his spoonful of cereal. "Unlike you they've been training every day and even during that trip we took to Venice."
"Come on Kenny, Ventus did say that we can have some fun while we're here." Tyson says, trying to justify his relative laziness.
"He also said that we need to be ready for that Lok guy," Hilary adds to fuel his irritation. "and that we need to be up early for the next few days until he shows up."
"Well I am up early today!" Tyson retorts. "Besides, I didn't sleep in that late the last few days; I only slept until nine or ten!"
"…You mean ten or eleven." Daichi corrects him.
"You're even the last one up most of the time." Hilary sneers.
"Oh come on, who cares when I woke up the last few days. It's not even seven right now and I'm up!" Tyson argues back to Daichi. He then turns to Hilary, "And I'm not the last one up today, Kai and Lux are still not here yet."
"How do you know Kai didn't get up way earlier before and you just didn't see him?" Hilary asks.
"Actually, Lux could have gotten up earlier too. I've seen her wandering around outside during early morning hours a few times both here and back in Sweden." Kenny adds.
"Not this morning," Wyvynn cuts in.
Hilary turns to him.
"How do you know that?" she asks. She then notices something not to her liking. "And can you get your feet off the table? It's kind of rude..."
Wyvynn removes his feet from the table, albeit slightly annoyed by the request. He then answers her question, "She was still up hangin' around the kitchen past midnight. I'm assuming she doesn't have a penchant for depriving herself of sleep to go take a walk."
"I see…" Hilary acknowledges the information.
"Well anyway today's the last day we get free so how about we go on a little boat trip?" Tyson suggests.
"I'm in!" Daichi volunteers.
"I suppose I'm in too..." Kenny joins in, as he doesn't have much else to do.
"Yeah...why not..." Hilary joins them, somewhat halfheartedly.
"I'll come too if you guys want me around." Wyvynn also has nothing else to do for the day.
"Max? Ray?" Tyson turns to the two of them. "You guys coming?"
"I don't know...I kind of want to spend today training...we've had our share of fun the past week already..." Max answers.
"I agree," Ray supports him. "I feel like I haven't practiced in a while."
"Well…okay," Tyson tells them. "Then I'll go ask Kai and Lux."
"Wait, Tyson." Ray addresses him, in a more serious tone. "I think you should leave them alone today."
Tyson turns back to him, "Why do you say that, Ray?"
"They both seemed pretty upset after that call yesterday." Ray begins to explain. "If Lux is really moving back to Sweden, I think maybe we should give those two some time by themselves."
"Yeah…" Max agrees.
"Well, it can't hurt to ask." Tyson reasons. "Besides, what if they want to come along?"
"Actually, knowing Kai, he'd probably say 'no' right away." Max says.
"That's usually true," Kenny acknowledges. He goes on, "But lately I've noticed that whenever Lux goes along with something, Kai tends to go along with it too. So if you can get Lux to agree to come, you can probably get Kai to come along also."
"Well then, I'm off to go ask Lux!" an enthusiastic Tyson runs off.
"Huh?" Hilary watches as Tyson runs off. She calls to him as he runs down the hall, "Wait Tyson! Lux is probably still asleep! Don't just go waking people up from their sleep to ask them if they want to go on a boat trip!"
"We need to wake up early tomorrow, right? Then if she wakes up earlier, she'll get tired sooner and go to sleep earlier." Tyson yells back as he dashes down the hall. "She'll thank me later!"
"Oh, why did I even bother..." Hilary sighs, turning back to her bowl of cereal.
...
Reaching the second floor of the villa, Tyson takes a turn from the stairs and dashes down a short hallway to the room at the end of the hall. He stops before the door and cheerfully knocks lightly. Since no answer came, he knocks again louder.
"Hey Lux!" He calls through the door. "We're going on a boat trip today, wanna come with us?"
He waits for a response.
No response came.
"Lux?" Tyson calls again through the door. After again, receiving no answer, he mouths to himself, "I wonder if she's a heavy sleeper…"
"LUX!" Tyson calls through the door once more. As if instinctual from being bored of waiting, his hand reaches for the doorknob and twists it to find it unlocked. "Hm…"
Opening the door slightly, he takes a peek inside to see no one in the room.
"Lux?" he calls lightly into the room before stepping in just past the doorway. Looking around he finds that not only is there no one inside, the bed is also already made.
"So she is up after all…" he mutters to himself as he turns to leave.
He returns down the hall and takes the stairs again back to the first floor to rejoin the others. Passing by Kai's room on the way, he wonders out loud, "Maybe I can ask Kai. I can probably get Lux to come along so it can't hurt to tell him that she's already agreed to come with us…"
Tyson approaches Kai's door and knocks. "Hey Kai, are you in there?"
Inside the room, Kai hears the sound and opens his eyes again. As he turns in the direction of his door, he wonders, 'What does Tyson want so early in the morning…?'
"Kai?" Tyson calls through the door from outside while knocking loudly.
Lux stirs a little in her sleep. Irritated by the noise and worried that it will wake Lux, Kai grumpily sits up to get off the bed to get the door.
"KAAII!" hearing no response from Kai, Tyson places a hand on the doorknob again to find that Kai's door, too, is unlocked. "Hm, I wonder if he's also not in his room…"
As Kai makes his way to his door, Tyson pushes the door open and sees him.
"Hey Kai, wanna come with us on a boat…" Tyson trails off as he notices the other person in the room sleepily sitting up on Kai's bed.
Misunderstanding what he just walked into, Tyson freezes and awkwardly stands at the door for a second as inappropriate images begin filling his mind.
"Oh, hey…uhm…sorry about that…I hope I didn't interrupt something…I knocked and well…uh…" Tyson tries to apologize as a fuming Kai steadily approaches him. With every step towards him that Kai takes, Tyson takes a small step backwards into the hallway. "…uhm…there was no response, so…"
Upon reaching the doorway, Kai places one hand on the inner doorknob of his door.
"Yes, you did knock, Tyson…" Kai admits as he stares at Tyson with an expression of aggravation. He then tells him, "But then you're supposed to wait until I get the door."
Without warning, Kai slams the door as loud as possible, shut in Tyson's face.
Tyson stares at Kai's door for a while.
"Whoops…" Tyson mouths to himself. He then turns to go back to the dining room. "Maybe I shouldn't ask them after all…"
...
Back inside Kai's room, Lux rubs her eyes and greets him, "Good morning…"
Kai does not say anything back but simply walks back to the bed where he stands at the edge.
"What…happened?" Lux asks, suppressing a yawn.
"Nothing." Kai tells her, still irritated by the event that just occurred. He then glances at the clock. Seeing as it is only seven, he asks her, "Are you tired? I don't mind if you want to stay and sleep longer."
Lux looks around the room and then at the brightening window. She then mutters, "It's morning…"
She gets off the bed and walks around it towards the door and then mutters in a barely audible and sleepy voice, "I'm sorry…that I fell asleep last night…"
Noticing her disoriented appearance from having just woken up, Kai stops her by the arm, "Wait!"
Lux turns back to him.
"Are you…sure you don't want to go back to sleep?" Kai asks, eyeing her somnolent form up and down.
She nods sleepily.
"Well, before you go anywhere, why don't you go in the bathroom and fix yourself up?" he offers to her to try to stop her from walking outside of the room. He didn't want her to walk out looking like this and knowing Tyson, he wasn't about give anyone a chance to approach her for questions in case anything slipped out of Tyson's mouth.
Lux looks in the direction of the bathroom and then down at her clothes. "I need…shower…and…brush…teeth…"
"…I'll get your toothbrush and some clothes for you." Kai tells her. He then adds, "Your towel too. Okay?"
Lux looks at him for a moment and then nods in compliance before blankly turning in the direction of his bathroom.
...
Downstairs, Tyson returns silently to the dining room where the others are still eating. Curious how it turned out, Daichi asks, "So how'd it go?"
Tyson freezes up, not really wanting to say what he saw. "It…uh…I think I won't ask them after all…"
Hilary blinks while staring at him. "Did something happen?"
"No!" Tyson answers abruptly. "Nothing happened! It's just...Ray's right, we should give them time today!"
Max and Ray look at each other briefly.
"O…kay…" Hilary and Kenny look at each other as Tyson begins gobbling down food.
...
Some fifteen minutes later, Kai returns to his room with Lux's toothbrush, towel and some clothing. He had taken a while to get her things since he didn't know where she kept them in her room. By now, from the sound of running water clearly audible from the bathroom, he can tell the girl must have entered the shower. Knocking on his bathroom door, he asks her, "I got your toothbrush and your clothes for you. Can I put them down somewhere? I won't look."
"Okay." Lux replies from the inside, sounding much more awake.
Kai closes his eyes and enters, placing the items on a shelf by the bathroom door. He then turns to go. Before he leaves, he asks her while facing away from her, "By the way, do you...want to go to Rome today? To go sightseeing."
"Rome...the city where we were at...when Enrique brought us to a restaurant...?" Lux asks from behind the glass shower door.
"Yeah..." Kai answers. "That one."
"Sight...seeing?" Lux repeats the word.
"To look around the city and see the nice things there...like we did in Gamla Stan." Kai tells her. He then adds, "You didn't really get a chance to see much there that day."
"Will you be going there?" Lux asks.
"If you want to go, I'll take you there." Kai tells her.
She then asks, "If I go...it will be just us?"
"...Yeah." Kai replies. "Is that...okay?"
"Okay." Lux happily agrees to go with a smile and a nod.
...
Elsewhere, at a large stretch of empty land and long runways mostly occupied by armored aircrafts and uniformed personnel, a middle aged officer watches as what he believes to be a large bird hovering over the runways fly in a large circle noticeably in the sky. Beside him stands a younger, subordinate officer. Both of them appear to be on break from duty and having coffee.
"That's one huge bird…" the superior officer comments, trying to determine the exact size of the "bird" in the sky.
His subordinate looks up at the "bird" and says, "Sir, I'm not so sure that's a bird…"
"Well it doesn't look like an aircraft…" the other officer notes. "By the way, didn't I tell you not to call me 'sir' when we're on break? Just call me Gino, there's really no need for all the formalities right now."
"Oh, yes sir! I mean,…Gino." The subordinate returns.
They watch the "bird" a little longer.
"Uhm…Sir…I mean, Gino…isn't that thing flying lower and lower?" the subordinate asks.
"You're right…" the officer called Gino observes as he watches the creature descend slowly from the sky in a spiral.
However, soon, the descent accelerates and before they know it, a strange, one winged humanoid creature lands before them.
"Hello, gentlemen," the creature greets them as he stands up straight. "My name is Lok."
The two officers stare in awe as they take in the strange features of the creature before them: from his scaly black wing to his livid skin to his iridescently glowing eyes and his unusually tall height.
Snapping out of his amazement and believing the guy to be simply dressed up for some event, the older man steps up to him and says, "Sir, this area is off limits to civilians. We ask you to please leave or else we will remove you by force."
Lok smiles devilishly at those words. "No worries, I'm not here to cause any harm."
The two officers watch as the iridescent glow in his eyes begins to dance and increase in intensity.
"I ask you again, leave now or we will remove you by force." The older man repeats his request.
"You will not be removing me." Lok states, a wide grin with malice on his face. His wing begins to glow softly. "Instead, I want you to bring me to the nearest aircraft capable of transporting five or more people and teach me to pilot it."
Although at first seemingly resistant, the superior officer soon submits to him, much to the surprise of the subordinate. "Yes, my King,"
"Huh?" the subordinate reacts, surprised. "Sir! I mean, Gino! I mean, Sir! What are you saying?"
"Silence, my boy, we are to do as he asks." The man tells him in a laid back manner.
"But sir, he's a civilian!" the younger officer protests, believing something to be very wrong – or to the very least, strange – in regards to the actions of his superior. "You were just telling him yourself just a moment ago that he is to leave!"
"That was my mistake." The man states calmly, beginning to lead Lok towards a nearby hangar. "This man is our King! We are to serve him!"
"Sir, what in the world has come over you?" the other officer asks while trying to partially block the other officer's path.
"You heard me, he is our King and we must do everything in our power to serve him!" The older officer pushes the younger one out of his way.
Lok turns to the younger man. "You should help your superior, should you not?"
"What did you do to…" he trails off as his expression switches to a much more subservient one. "I mean, yes, my King. I shall aid my superior in instructing you to pilot today."
...
Emerging from the metro, Kai and Lux turn to the large, ancient structure basking in the midday sun a little ways ahead. Although the two of them had left for their trip fairly early in the morning, their trip, mainly consisting of a long train ride from a station in Orbetello to Rome's central terminal totaled almost three hours. Glad to have finally made it to their destination, Kai takes Lux's hand to begin to lead her to the large structure surrounded by crowds of tourist groups and tour guides.
"Stay close to me so you don't get separated." Kai tells her. "Okay?"
Lux nods as she follows him towards the large structure.
"What is this place…called?" Lux asks as she looks around curiously at all of the people present. This is the first time she had seen such a huge crowd of tourists in one place. "Is this place…special?"
"You can kind of call it special." Kai answers her. "This amphitheater is very old and well-known around the world. It's called the Colosseum."
"Colosseum…amphitheater." Lux repeats looking around some more at the gigantic structure. "It looks strange."
"Strange?" Kai asks, not sure what she means. "How so?"
Lux points at a missing part of the outer wall visible from where they are standing. "That. Why is it like that?"
Kai looks at it for a bit. Being no expert on the history of the building he has no idea how to answer her other than stating the obvious that it was damaged at some point. Looking around he spots a tour guide explaining the history of the structure. "Let's go over there. That guy is explaining the history behind this place so he can probably answer your question better than I can."
"…the Colosseum was constructed during the Flavian Dynasty and originally named the Flavian Amphitheater, or in Latin, Amphitheatrum Flavium. It was built in 72 AD by the emperors Vespasian and Titus." the tour guide explains to his group. "Originally, it was designed to seat 50,000 spectators and was mainly used for entertainment purposes by the ancient Romans. You've probably all heard of the gladiator fights they had here, but besides just those, they also used this place for mock sea battles, animal hunts, dramas and generally public spectacles. This is probably one of the most iconic symbols of Imperial Rome, but as you can see from here, the structure has suffered quite some damage over time. It's said that in 217 AD, lightning hit and destroyed the wooden upper levels inside. This place was again damaged from an earthquake in 443 AD. In the 14th century, an earthquake caused a part of the outer wall to collapse as you can see over there…"
Lux turns to the Colosseum itself. "I feel bad…for this building."
"The building doesn't have feelings, so don't worry about it." Kai tells her.
She reacts with a look of disappointment. Believing his last comment must have somehow upset her, Kai adds, "But it…does have quite some history to it."
Lux stares again at the large structure before them.
Kai then suggests, "How about we go inside?"
Lux nods.
...
Back at the villa, Ray and Max watch from the door to the front entrance as Tyson, Hilary, Kenny, Daichi and Wyvynn depart by car to the harbor in Porto Ercole for their boat trip. Having ended up goofing off all morning, they have actually yet to start the training they intended to do.
"Well, there's goes that." Max says, as their friends' car disappears from view. "It sure would have been fun if we joined."
"Yeah, but we've already goofed off all week." Ray says. He then jokes a little, "Besides, with all the training Tala and the others got, even Tyson might lose this year's tournament to them."
"Haha, sure, but I doubt we'd let that happen." Max says, sitting down. "There's still some time to go since Mr. Dickinson is still trying to set up everything so we should be able to catch up."
"I wonder what this year's format will be like." Ray wonders out loud.
"Hm…I don't know." Max takes out his green Draciel blade. "But however it's formatted I'm sure it'd be fun just like all the other times we participated."
"Yeah…" Ray agrees. He then turns to the door behind him. "Let's go have a practice match by the pool right now."
"Okay." Max gets up to go with him.
Before they enter the villa again, a car driving towards the villa from the distance becomes visible. Noticing it, Ray turns to the vehicle. "Is that Ventus?"
Max turns too. "Could be. He did say he's coming back today. Or, maybe Tyson just forgot something."
The car soon arrives at the front of the villa and parks. Just as Ray had guessed, Ventus emerges from the car, still in his business attire and wearing a pair of sunglasses. Seeing the two of them, he greets them, "Hello there."
"Hi," Max returns the greeting as Ventus proceeds to the entrance where the two of them are standing. "How did your business trip go?"
"It went well." Ventus replies to the small talk. He then asks, "Where is Lux?"
Max looks to Ray.
"I saw her leave with Kai earlier. They probably went somewhere together." Ray tells him. "Why do you ask?"
"I was just curious. If she's not here right now, it's alright." He tells them, going pass them inside.
As he passes them, Ray notices something different about Ventus's eyes behind the darkened lens. He had thought that Ventus's eyes were blue but visible only from the side where his sunglasses fail to hide his irises, is an iridescent glow similar to that of Lux's and Kull's eyes.
"By the way, Ventus…" Ray begins. "Do you really intend to have Lux move back to Sweden?"
"Hm?" Ventus turns back to them. "Had she said anything against it?"
"It's just…I don't think she wants to go back." Ray tells him bluntly. "She's not refusing, but she doesn't seem to want to go."
"I see," Ventus responds calmly, almost as if without care. He then disappears into the villa.
Ray stares after him a little.
"Ray, is something wrong?" Max asks.
"I'm not sure…I thought I saw a glow in his eyes…" Ray tells him.
"Like the one Lux has?" Max asks.
"Yeah…he never said anything about being a Magnanima, did he?" Ray mouths.
Unknown to either of them, Ventus stands not too far from them inside, having overheard them.
...
People circulate like flowing water in a stream down a busy commercial district in the midst of central Rome as a certain rich blonde tries but in vain to persuade a duo of girls to stay with him.
"Come on, girls, don't go," he tells them as they walk away from him. "I didn't mean to miss my date with you the other day, really!"
"Which one of us are you even talking to?" the brunette asks. "Not only did you forget you had a date with me, you were meeting someone else as well."
"I…well…I didn't forget, I was just with some friends." Enrique tries to explain himself.
"In other words, we're even less important than some 'friends'" the blonde summarizes.
"Well, they're not exactly from around here so I don't get to see them often." Enrique says.
"Yeah, sure, oh forget it. I'm not into guys who date other girls behind my back." The blonde says as she begins walking away.
"Me neither. Let's go, Milena." The brunette joins her.
"Oh…" Enrique groans as they leave.
"I see you're up to your usual." A familiar voice greets him.
Enrique looks up to see a familiar green haired French around his age. "Oliver!"
"Hey." Oliver greets him back. "How've you been? Long time no see."
"Yeah, I haven't seen you in quite a while." Enrique agrees. "What have you been up to?"
"Not much." Oliver replies. "I am beginning to practice again for the upcoming tournament though."
Realizing he had forgotten about it, Enrique grumbles, "Oh, right, I should start doing that soon…"
"You mean you haven't started?" Oliver asks, surprised.
"Eh…well…the last few days I ran into Tyson and the others." Enrique explains.
"Tyson?" Oliver is surprised. He then asks, "How are they doing?"
"Oh, they're doing fine." Enrique tells him, "They're…"
"Speak of the devil, there's Kai!" Oliver points behind Enrique.
"Huh?" Enrique turns to see Kai and Lux walking by some shops together on the other side of the plaza.
"HEY, KAI!" Oliver yells to them. "KAI-"
"Shh!" Enrique shushes him, pulling him behind a car to keep them out of view.
Kai looks around from the other side, his eyes searching for someone who might know him. Noticing him stop, Lux stops and looks around also. Seeing nothing unusual, she turns to Kai, "Is something…wrong?"
Kai turns back to her. "It's nothing. I just thought I heard my name."
Lux nods and continues walking with him.
"What are you doing?" Oliver asks Enrique from behind the car.
"Don't interrupt them." Enrique tells him.
"Huh?" Oliver raises an eyebrow. "Interrupt them? What do you mean?"
"Look." Enrique points out to him. "I think they're on a date."
Taking a better look, Oliver notices that Kai seems to be looking at some stuff in the shops with a girl with golden blond hair around their age.
"Who's that with him?" Oliver asks, assuming Enrique knows from the way he had acted.
"Her name's Lux. She's from the Alfhild family. I think she's his girlfriend." Enrique tells him. "About a week ago when some of the girls I know started hitting on him, she got all upset about it."
"As in the Alfhild group? That's the group my dad's been making a lot of deals with lately." Oliver then muses, "And wow, who'd have thought Kai would find a proper girlfriend before you do."
"Hey I've had girlfriends before!" Enrique protests.
"That never stayed with you for long?" Oliver teases.
This causes Enrique to start going on the defensive, "I wouldn't wanna date a girl like her anyway; she's not my type. I mean, from what I've seen, she seems sweet and all, but she doesn't have a lot of common sense…"
"Shhh!" Oliver hushes him.
"Hm? What is it?" Enrique asks.
"Those guys over there. Who are they?" Oliver points out two men in black suits. One of them seem to be observing Kai and Lux while the other is glancing around the area they are at. "They started looking in this direction a little while ago when I called out. I think they're looking for us."
"Huh?" Enrique peeks out and sees them too now. He had not really noticed that Kai and Lux were being followed, but more importantly, he didn't notice that the guys had been looking around for them until now. Luckily since they ducked behind a car immediately after, the two goons don't seem to know they are the ones who called out.
They watch as the men surveyed their side of the street some more. As Kai and Lux moves on further down the street, the two suited men follow too, giving up on the two of them.
"Maybe they are her bodyguards?" Oliver asks.
"Hm…Maybe." Enrique says as he watches them go. "I sure don't remember her having any during that trip to Venice though…"
"Well, for now, let's leave them alone." Oliver says. "I can always go see them later if they're busy now. How about we have our chat at a café? It's on me."
...
Taking a right, Kai and Lux begin walking down a crowded street filled with boutiques and brand name shops. A street sign above a shop at the corner of the block reads "Via Dei Condotti". Large glass windows line both sides of the road, each featuring beautifully designed items highlighted by perfectly angled lights. Kai watches patiently as Lux marvels at some of the things on display behind the glass of a nearby shop.
"It's pretty!" Lux exclaims as she stares happily at a dress behind the glass window of one of the shops.
Kai takes a look as well. The dress had indeed been very well designed. He then notices something else. The dress in fact would probably look pretty good on Lux. He asks her, "Do you want to try it on?"
Lux turns to him, somewhat startled by the question. She nods slowly.
Kai smiles and leads her inside the shop as a large group of people pass them.
Behind them some ways away, the suited men shuffle their way through the crowd and look around. Finding Kai and Lux nowhere in sight, one of the suited men reports into a microphone attached to an earpiece, "We've lost sight of the target somewhere on Via Dei Condotti."
"There goes my promotion…" the other one mutters, frustrated.
Inside the shop, a salesclerk leads Lux inside the fitting rooms at the back of the store while Kai finds a spot nearby to wait. "This way please, Miss."
A little while passes and Kai grows a little impatient. Soon, Lux emerges, dressed in a crisscross halter top dress colored mostly blue and white. Her silver heeled sandals and the iridescent bracelets on her wrist serve to further compliment her main attire. However, due to the design of the dress, Lux had to take off the red ribbon and bell she usually wears and is holding it in her hand. Still, Kai was impressed by her appearance. The abdomen of the dress hugged her slender frame perfectly yet the flare of the dress added an emphasis to her already beautiful figure.
Noticing him staring, Lux blushes and asks, "Do I look bad?"
Snapping out of his trance, Kai immediately replies to her, "No, not at all."
Lux relaxes and admires the dress some more.
"O-On the contrary, you look beautiful in it." He compliments her, turning away and blushing himself now. This was the first time he had ever complimented a girl in this way.
Happy to hear that, Lux smiles and says to him, "Thank you."
Not knowing what to say next, Kai decides to ask, "Would you like to have that dress?"
To that, Lux reacts with a little disappointment. "I forgot…to bring money."
Not really surprised by this, Kai tells her, "It's okay, I'll pay for it."
"No!" Lux tells him as he begins approaching the salesclerk with his credit card. "I'm happy…just being able to try it on…so…"
Kai ignores the protest and pays for it anyway. "Just think of it as me wanting you to have that, okay?"
Hesitantly, yet gratefully, Lux nods.
The two suited men enter a nearby jewelry store to search for their target whom they've lost on the street. As they do, Kai and Lux emerge from the adjacent shop and continue down the road in the direction of a sunlit plaza up ahead. Passing by the many shops lined up, Kai notices a beautiful hairpin on display in one of the jewelry stores. He notes the similarity between the hairpin and the one that Lux had been looking at the other day when they were on their way to a restaurant with Enrique. Thinking of getting it for Lux, he glances back but realizes he's already quite far past the shop and decides not to bother to go back.
Meanwhile, after searching through several shops and still seeing no sign of either Lux or Kai, the two men stand in the busy street at a loss.
"I guess we should call it quits." One of them suggests.
"No way, they can't be far." The other one retorts. "If we lose them then it'll be ages until I get another chance to be promoted!"
"Well by the time we manage to check this place thoroughly they would have gone far away from here." The other one reasons. "There's no point, so just leave it to the other team to capture her along with the other ones. You'll get your chance for promotion next time."
Grumbling, the other one agrees and the two of them turn to leave the way they came.
...
Reaching the plaza at the end of the street, Lux spots a large fountain up ahead before a long, wide set of steps. As if gravitated towards it, she starts moving to the fountain.
"They call this place the Spanish Steps." Kai tells her as he follows her to it.
"Spanish Steps?" Lux looks up at the flight of stairs. She points to the steps ahead, "Because of that…?"
"I suppose so," Kai answers her as she takes a seat on a bench by the fountain. He then asks, "Are you tired? From walking."
Lux nods.
The two of them had mostly just walked since they got off the metro at the Colosseum. So far, other than the Flavian Amphitheatre, they've been to the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, a museum and a few shops. Lux, who had been wearing medium height heels, was bound to get tired easily.
"Are you thirsty?" Kai asks her.
Lux nods again.
Remembering passing by a café back on Via Dei Condotti, Kai offers, "How about you wait here and I'll go get something for you to drink? It shouldn't take long."
"Okay." Lux replies.
She watches as Kai dashes back down the street they were just on.
"It must be nice to be young," a voice beside the girl comments.
Lux turns to her left to see an aged woman sitting beside her. She greets the woman as she had been taught to when she meeting someone, "Hello."
"Hello, young lady." The pleasant old woman returns. "That's a very pretty dress you're wearing."
Lux looks down at her attire; she is still wearing the blue and white dress Kai had bought for her.
"Was that your boyfriend just now?" the old woman asks. "I remember when I was younger I came here a lot with my husband too."
"Boyfriend…?" Lux repeats the word.
"Oh, nevermind me if I'm wrong." The old lady tells her. "But I just thought you two looked so happy together that I couldn't help but think you two were lovers!"
"Lovers…" Lux repeats.
"Although, a little advice to you: if you do like the boy, you should tell him while you're young if you haven't already." She goes on. "Believe me, even if it turns out that he doesn't return your feelings, at least you can move on. My husband and I regretted that we didn't share our feelings with each other sooner…"
"I should tell Kai…that I like him?" Lux asks. She does not really understand the old woman too well and guessed that this is what she is telling her to do.
"Well that's up to you, young lady!" the old woman laughs, getting up to leave. She then tells the girl, "It was very nice talking you though, young one. These days I don't have too many people to keep me company anymore…"
Lux watches as the old woman walks away with the support of her cane.
"I should tell Kai…that I like him…" Lux mumbles, thinking about what the old woman just said. She then remembers something that Hilary had told her once:
"The difference between liking something and loving something is that if you love something it means you like it a lot…"
"I do like Kai…" Lux admits to herself. "I like Kai a lot…so it must mean I love Kai."
Her cheeks turn a little red at those words. Lux looks around for him; he had told her he'd be back shortly. Instead of seeing Kai however, she ends up setting her eyes on a nearby couple about to kiss. The image reminds her of the movies, manga and fairytales that Kenny and Hilary had shown her before.
"Love…" She mumbles, remembering what her friends had said about it.
...
Since the café was the only one in the immediate vicinity, the wait had been rather long. Kai now carries two soft drinks with him as he tries to make it down the street again through the crowd of shoppers. Passing the same shops as before, he again notices the iridescent, metallic butterfly hairpin that had been so similar to the one that he saw Lux stare at before. Deciding this time he might as well get it for her since he's right in front of the shop, he enters the store to speak to a salesclerk.
...
On the villa grounds, a certain redhead and his team enjoy the fresh forest air and the soft, peaceful sounds around them as they traverse through the wooded area to return to the main building. Tala and his team had trained almost nonstop for the past eight or so hours. Deciding that anything further would likely do more harm than good, they had started to head back to get some rest and to take a break.
In Tala's mind, he wonders what would happen after things are over. He had heard the previous evening from Tyson and the others that she is to go back to Sweden, her country of birth and where she holds citizenship. Yet, he can't exactly get her off his mind. Even if they had only known each other for less than a month a long time ago, the circumstances at the time, coupled with his own rash actions then, had made the girl called Lux one of the most prominent people to him in his life.
"I wonder…" he begins unintentionally.
"Wonder what?" Bryan asks.
"Uh…nothing." Tala tells him.
"Com'on, spit it out." Bryan urges him.
"Yeah, if there's something on your mind, you should tell us." Spencer tells him.
"Look, I said nothing, so there's nothing I have to say!" Tala insists.
A rustle nearby is heard as Bryan goes on, "Don't gimme that, I know when you…"
"Shh!" Tala interrupts him.
"Hm? What?" Bryan asks in a low voice.
The rustle becomes audible again.
"Hear that?" Tala points out the sound to them.
"I hear it," Ian answers in a whisper.
"Something near us?" Spencer glances around them.
"It's probably just an animal." Bryan concludes.
"Be quiet, look there!" Ian points to something beyond the trees.
Quieting down, the team hides behind two nearby trees as they watch a dark clad stranger with pink hair shuffle through the woods, pushing tree branches, twigs and other obstacles out of his way as he walks.
"Isn't he heading in the direction of the villa?" Ian asks.
"Yeah…" Tala answers him. "He might be an unwelcomed guest. Let's follow him and see what he's up to."
...
Kai dashes towards the fountain upon emerging from the crowded street of Via Condotti. Spotting Lux right away, he approaches the daydreaming girl.
"Sorry this took so long," He apologizes to her as he hands her the drink he got for her. "It's berry flavored tea."
"Thank you." She thanks him, turning to him. It would seem he had remembered that she does not like the taste of coffee, which, is unfortunately very abundant in Italy. Taking a sip, she finds the taste of it to be very pleasant. She tells him, "I like it."
Kai smiles, glad that he picked something she likes. He then, takes something out of his pocket and holds it out to show her. "Here,"
Lux looks up from her drink to the item before her and touches it with one hand.
"Do you like it?" Kai asks her.
Lux nods happily as Kai proceeds to put it on her.
"Thank you." Lux tells him happily.
Kai admires her appearance a little. It turns out the hairpin actually suits her very well, especially with the new dress on her. He then looks around and notices the sky is now cast in a golden orange light. Knowing that this signifies that soon the sun will set, he checks the time.
"I think it's time we head back now…" Kai tells her.
Lux looks up at him from her seat by the fountain, "Already?"
"Yeah. It's too bad there isn't enough time for us to see everything in Rome." Kai then explains, "The trip back will take a while so we should get going now if we wanna make it back at a reasonable time. There should be a metro station nearby so you won't have to walk all the way back to the Colosseum."
"Okay." Lux agrees, getting up to follow him as he begins leading her to the station.
...
The sun begins to dip as a privately owned boat enters the harbor and docks. Soon after, a group of five youths disembark happily, having had a day of fun at sea. Tyson marches eagerly on the pier towards the land as his friends follow him from behind. In his hand is a bucket of fish that he had caught. The legality of keeping the fish is unknown but despite Kenny's best efforts to persuade him to let the fish go in case it is against the law, Tyson thought it couldn't hurt to keep a few for dinner anyway.
"Tonight's dinner is gonna be a feast!" Tyson grins as he approaches the spot the driver had said he'd wait at.
Kenny sighs. "I just hope no one really would care that we kept the fish…"
"Well, there's no police around, who would care?" Daichi asks him. Daichi is in fact partially responsible for Tyson's insistence on keeping the fish.
"That's not the point, a violation against the law is still a violation against the law." Hilary states.
"Well don't worry about it," Wyvynn tells her. "It's only against the law if you get caught and for something small like this, I can't imagine why the police would give a dam."
"Yeah," Daichi agrees with him.
"I bet even the police has better things to do anyway than to go wasting their time with people for one or two fishes that they weren't supposed to fish out of the ocean." Wyvynn adds.
Hilary sighs too now. "In some ways, you three are so alike…"
Their conversation is interrupted by a shriek from Tyson up ahead.
"Huh?" Hilary turns in his direction. "What is it?"
Tyson looks back to his friends, "Uhm…guys…the car's gone…"
"I'm pretty sure the driver said he'd be here to pick us up when we're done…" Daichi says.
"Well that doesn't look like it's the case anymore." Kenny notes. "I think we have to take the taxi back. In the worst case scenario I guess we'd have to walk."
"How far is the villa from here?" Hilary asks.
"About one and a half to two miles." Kenny answers her. "On foot it should take maybe an hour to two."
"Except for me of course," Wyvynn comments, "But I'll join ya if you end up walking."
"I don't know how we can get a cab from here…" Kenny ponders out loud looking around.
"Let's just walk." Daichi impatiently starts in a direction. "I bet by the time we get a taxi we could be halfway home anyway."
"Daichi, that's the wrong direction," Kenny tells him to stop him from going any further. "And I guess he's right since we don't know what number to call and waiting for one to show up isn't really reliable."
...
The sky darkens as a lone black car arrives before a villa. Kai and Lux had made it back to the station in Orbetello and arranged for a car ride home. Emerging from the car to go inside, a maid at the door greets them.
"Welcome back," she tells them.
"Thank you…" Lux returns the greeting as Kai leads her inside.
"Miss," the maid follows after them. She then relays a message to them, "Master Ventus had returned earlier and had asked for you to go see him in the study on the second floor when you are back. He had asked me to emphasize that he would like for you to come alone."
"Okay…" Lux acknowledges the information. "I'll go soon."
Satisfied with the reply and having completed her task, the maid leaves them be.
Now, alone with Kai, Lux thinks back to the words that the old woman told her back by the fountain,
"Although, a little advice to you: if you do like the boy, you should tell him while you're young if you haven't already."
Lux had interpreted that as that she should tell Kai that she likes him. 'But Hilary had told me before…that if I 'like a lot', it means I 'love'…'
She then remembers the kissing couple that was also by the fountain where she had been waiting.
"Something the matter?" Kai asks her, getting a little worried for her from the way she seems to just stand there.
Startled by his voice, Lux turns to him and shakes her head to tell him everything is fine.
Deciding that it really was probably nothing, Kai tells her, "I'm heading back to my room, so I'll see you at dinner, 'kay?"
As he turns to go, Lux stops him with a small tug on his scarf.
"Yeah?" Kai turns back to her.
"Kai…I…" Lux begins, her mind becoming a jumble of confused and nervous thoughts from everything that she had heard and seen at the fountain and everything she had been told before that. She slowly closes up her distance to Kai and to his surprise, before he has any time to react, presses her lips lightly against his.
...
Complaining, whining, and generally unhappy, Tyson makes his way through the woods with his friends. According to Kenny, although there is a road that would lead to the villa, cutting through the woods would be able to save them a considerable amount of time. What Kenny had not mentioned however was that this route meant climbing over various fallen tree trunks, and pushing annoying branches and twigs out of their way. While he had walked through the woods before, none of the woodlands he had traversed had been as dense as this one is nor with as annoying a slope to climb. What annoyed him most was the fact that behind him, Hilary was complaining about the same thing along with the presence of various insects as if to remind him of his dissatisfaction.
"Would you quiet down already!" he yells over his shoulder to her. "I've had it with hearing your complaints!"
"As if you weren't complaining!" Hilary snaps back at him. "What about all of the things you were whining about just earlier?"
Wyvynn, who normally traveled much more comfortably due to his Magnanimae powers, is equally annoyed by the terrain but decides not to join in as the last few days of hanging out with these guys had taught him that arguing with either of these two is generally a bad idea. In agreement with this, Kenny also stays quiet.
"Well one complaint is good enough, no need for everyone to say the same thing!" Tyson returns as he climbs over a fallen tree.
"Well I'm not complaining one bit!" Daichi tells the two of them as he swings onto another tree branch a little ways ahead of them and waits for them to catch up. He is the only one enjoying the unplanned hiking trip. He then tells them. "Well if it makes you guys feel any better, there's flat land coming up ahead as well as a path we can take!"
"Thank heavens!" Tyson has now found some energy to keep climbing.
Soon the group makes it to the flat land that Daichi spoke of and then to the small road that he had pointed out.
Checking their location on his laptop, Kenny tells them, "If we follow this path, we should eventually be able to join the road that leads to the front entrance in about ten minutes."
"Alright!" an exhausted Tyson celebrates as he begins down the road. "Home here, I-"
He is cut off as he bumps into a dark clad man with pink hair who had just stepped out onto the path in front of the group.
Falling onto his butt on the ground, Tyson looks up at the guy angrily and yells, "Hey man what's the big i…dea…?"
The man was not alone. With him are four familiar faces that he and the rest of the group immediately recognize: the Blitzkrieg Boys.
...
Back at the villa's main entrance, Lux stands a step away from Kai, confused and flustered by what she had just done. Kai, equally stunned by what had just transpired, watches her as she attempts, with much hesitation or fear, to express something to him.
"I…" She begins, looking away from him. She then remembers the other thing that the old woman had said,
"…even if it turns out that he doesn't return your feelings, at least you can move on…"
'But what does…that mean…? Move on…?' she asks in her mind, confused by it. Remembering the other things that the old woman had said, she comes across the same words and images that had made her kiss him in the first place.
Summoning her courage, she takes a deep breath and tells him, "I love you!"
Kai stands still and silent upon hearing that. He had wanted to tell her words similar to what she had just said to him for a while now. In fact, the night before, had he not stopped himself from saying it, these exact words were what he would have said to her in his room. He takes a step towards her, causing her to nervously take a step back. Remembering her tendency to run away whenever things got tough, he grabs her by her wrist before she has a chance to run off anywhere and holds her to him.
"It's okay." he tells her, "I love you too."
Feeling her begin to relax in his arms, he gently strokes her hair and they stay this way for a small while until she is calm.
He then relaxes his grip on her a little to let her look up at him. He smiles and tells her, "Now, you have to go see Ventus, right?"
Lux nods.
"Then I'll see you at dinner," He tells her, brushing some hair from her face.
She nods again, a little disappointed that she has to part with him.
Kai holds her closer to him again and then turns her in the direction of the stairs to urge her to go to the study.
Just as she begins to move towards the stairs, she stops and turns back to him, "I'll tell Ventus…while I'm there…that I don't want to move back to Sweden with him."
Kai nods in response, as he watches her go.
...
Meanwhile, Tyson, Hilary, Daichi, Kenny, and Wyvynn stand surrounded by the stranger with pink hair and the strangely machine like Blitzkrieg Boys.
"Tala…?" Tyson looks at them surprised as to why they have been surrounded. "Bryan, Spencer and Ian too?"
"What are you guys doing?" Daichi asks. "And who's that guy?"
"His name's Zane." Wyvynn tells them. "He's a Magnanima. Just like me, Lux and Lok."
"What's going on?" Hilary asks, confused by what the Blitzkrieg Boys are doing.
"For now, those guys aren't your friends." Wyvynn tells her. "They're under Lok's control, which means they've come into contact with him sometime not too long ago."
"His control?" Hilary turns to him. "What do you mean?"
"I mean exactly what I said." Wyvynn responds. "Just as I can fly, Lok's power allows him to bring people temporarily under his control. It only works on normal people though; A Magnanima would be immune to it with the exception of the Knight who is susceptible to long term control instead of just normal."
"But the interview shouldn't be released until tomorrow." Kenny points out. "How did he find out where we are so fast?"
"That, I don't know. I don't know how his mind works." Wyvynn answers. "But just so you guys know I had no contact with them for a while and even while I had contact, I did not tell them where you guys were."
"Enough." Zane silences them. "Wyvynn, you should be glad that I am the one who came to get you. Lok would have just killed you without warning on the spot."
"And I'm supposed to be grateful?" Wyvynn asks. "Listen, Zane. While I had been observing these guys, I learned something; something that you would probably never learn if the only person you ever listen to and hang around with is Lok."
"And that is?" Zane asks without much care.
"People are not all going to be the way you think they are." Wyvynn tells him. "I believed up until recently that people are only going to shun us or try to use us for their own selfish purposes. Why? It's because that's what I had been told over and over since I had been thrown into that hell of a lab - From the scientists, to our handlers, to my fellow lab mice. You know what's the one thing I realized that was so flawed about that assumption?"
"Go on." Zane urges nonchalantly.
"People are all different from one another, in beliefs, in acceptance of things, everything." Wyvynn continues. "Just look at how these guys treat Lux and now me. I know the people at the lab just treated us like toys and played with our bodies, but never once have these people cared that I'm different nor have they treated me that way."
"Your point?" Zane asks.
"Stop doing what Lok wants." Wyvynn tells him more bluntly. "We won't necessarily be discriminated against or experimented on just because we're different. We were abducted as kids but we can defend ourselves now and in most countries we'd have the law on our side too. We can live like normal people. I'm sure of it."
"Are you finished?" Zane asks him. "Because, I don't care about any of that."
"Wha…" Wyvynn is surprised to hear that.
As if on cue, Tala and his team each quickly take hold of one of their friends whom they have surrounded. Looking around, Wyvynn finds that he is the only one still free to move around.
"Hey Tala, let me go!" Tyson protests. He begins to struggle, "Come on!"
"Yeah! Let us go!" Daichi screams as he tries to wriggle free from Spencer.
"It's no use." Kenny says, struggling against Ian's surprisingly strong grip. "You heard Wyvynn. These guys have been brainwashed somehow."
"Let them go." Wyvynn tells Zane. Seeing as Zane won't move a finger to his request, he turns around to try to free Tyson from Tala. "Hang on, buddy I'll free you."
"Hey help me too please!" Hilary calls out to him while trying to free herself from Bryan.
"Your 'friends' will not interfere." Zane tells Wyvynn from behind him as he knocks him out with one blow to the head.
"Wyvynn!" Tyson calls out to him as Zane picks him up around the stomach.
"He's fine." Zane tells Tyson, turning to greet an arriving helicopter.
The door to the helicopter opens and a rope ladder is released to him. Tyson and the others look up to see a livid, dark clad creature on the pilot seat of the craft, his large scaly wing folded and wrapped around his body.
"Good work, Zane," Lok tells Zane as he climbs aboard the aircraft with one arm while holding a limp Wyvynn in the other. "I've already finished on my end, so let us go pick up the other two."
"Yes, I understand." Zane acknowledges as he enters the aircraft.
"Wait!" Tyson calls as the helicopter begins to ascend. "Come back here!"
Tyson, Kenny, Daichi and Hilary watch helplessly from the grip of the Blitzkrieg Boys as the helicopter begins to fly away. As soon as it is out of sight, Tala, Bryan, Spencer and Ian each let go of their captives, much to the surprise of everyone.
"Tala?" Tyson turns around.
Tala shakes his head and holds it as if in pain before falling to his knees. "Tyson, I'm sorry. I…"
"We really didn't mean to do any of that." Bryan says, also suffering from a headache. "That guy piloting the helicopter…He somehow made us do his bidding."
"It's okay," Tyson tells them. "So you guys are back to normal now, right? How are you guys feeling?"
"We'll be fine." Spencer tells him, also in pain. "But go find that girl…"
"You mean Lux? Why?" Daichi asks.
"That's obvious! She's in danger!" Ian answers him.
Tala then tells them what he had learned, "That guy in the helicopter…we met him near the villa. He's placed everyone in the villa under his control. And Ventus…"
"Hey, take it easy!" Tyson tries to give some support to Tala.
"Don't let Lux…near Ventus…" Tala manages to say. "He's under Lok's control…"
Tyson and the others stand frozen for a moment, shocked by the information.
"Go!" Tala tells them to snap them back to their senses.
"Right." Tyson agrees. He turns to Hilary. "You, Daichi and Kenny somehow take care of these guys. I'll go find Lux."
"Leave it to us!" Hilary tells him
With that Tyson nods and runs off down the road.
...
Outside the villa, Kai strolls casually through the garden behind the main building. He had gone back to his room earlier but found himself feeling more up to a walk outside. In his mind, he wonders how things went on Lux's end. She had said that she would speak her mind to Ventus in regards to the matter of her moving back to her home country. He looks up at the darkened sky to see that the moon and the stars have already appeared. Finding it a little strange that the maids have yet to inform him that it is meal time, he looks in the direction of the dining room window to find that the lights there are off.
'That's strange.' Kai walks a little closer. 'Even if dinner's not ready yet, the maids should at least be setting things up. That aside, we hadn't really returned that late so they shouldn't have ate yet.'
The sound of a loud aircraft approaching interrupts his thoughts. Looking overhead, Kai sees a helicopter flying low in the sky towards the villa. He watches as the helicopter passes him and begins to hover on the other side of the building, generating a violent breeze in the process.
'That's the side where the study is.' Kai notes. 'Wait. The study? Why is a helicopter hovering outside of it?'
Concerned, Kai runs to the nearest entrance to enter the building. 'Lux…'
Running up the stairs and dashing down the hall, he kicks the door to the study open just in time to see the helicopter ascend and fly off into the distance from where he is standing. The window is left open and the room itself is a mess, Kai searches with his eyes around the room for any sign of Lux. The girl is nowhere to be found.
"Lux?" Kai calls her name, in hopes that maybe she is hiding.
A single object on the floor catches Kai's eyes. Picking up the ribbon and bell that had been left behind, Kai recalls the dream he had the evening before.
"No…"