Hey everyone,
aaand update! :)
Not much to say about this one, enjoy the ride!
bevin: thank you bevin for your continuous support! I appreciate and always look forward to your comments :)! Yeah, I know what you mean. I would love to write more about young Noctis and Prompto, but I don't want to stretch this story too long. At one point they have to grow up and live out the romantic relationship I have in mind for them lol. But this won't be my first and neither my last story that I'll write about those two as youngsters ;), so stay tuned for more stories sometime in the future.
xTalOnx: Thank you so much! I won't be discouraged, I'll always continue to write :). It just makes me genuinely happy to read what my readers think, I want to know their opinions and thoughts about my stories and am sometimes sad that people on FFnet seem to shy away from typing reviews. IN AETERNUM has around sixty to seventy visitors/views per day ever since the story has gone online, and this fact alone, naturally, makes me question what I'm doing wrong when I only get two or three reviews per chapter... I don't mean to whine (lol) but is it always like this here on FFnet? :( I don't know, maybe one day I'll move all my stories exclusively to AO3... I decided to delete my entire archive on AdultFFnet, because on that website, despite hundreds of clicks/hits, no story of mine has ever gotten a comment. I love to write, I love to share my stories with everyone, but I don't do this for charity. I do this to improve my English language skills and for that to happen I really need feedback. I spend a lot of energy and time into this hobby and if by chance, a reader might like what I write about, naturally I expect a reward for my hard work, no matter how small. When I get no feedback, I feel like nobody enjoyed to read my work and I start to wonder if I should continue to write stories for the FFXV fandom, or if I should just drop everything and continue to focus only on my original projects (whose rewards actually help me to make a living in real life).
Kamuel
Chapter Ten
...
"Noct, where exactly are we go-"
"Shhh, don't move," I whisper, placing my hand quickly over Prom's lips to silence him when I hear a guard getting closer.
Hiding in the shadows, I push Prom behind a statue, squeezing myself next to him while holding my breath in hopes not to be found out.
The guard walks by, stopping once to look back over his shoulder, the helmet on his head gleaming in the darkness as it's moving from left to right, and then, thank Eos, he resumes his path and disappears behind the corner.
I glance at Prom, grinning playfully as I let go of him and I place my forefinger in front of my lips in a gesture for him to stay silent. He nods quickly, not moving an inch while staring anxiously in the direction where the guard just disappeared.
Is the guard gone? I prick up my ears, but when they meet only silence, I decide to take another route just in case. Taking a hold of Prom's hand again, we tiptoe along the walls toward the elevator, but our feet make a screeching halt when we are greeted by the sight of two guards standing already in front of it.
This is new. Why are guards stationed at the elevator tonight? This never happened before, strange...
Glancing to my friend, I have to stifle my urge to snicker at his funny expression. A look down to his belly confirms to me that he sucks in his stomach to stay in the shadows. Eos, he's as hilarious as he's endearing at the same time.
Squeezing his hand once to get his attention, I give him a signal to walk back. Careful to always stay in the shadows, we make our way to the stairwell. As soon as the door closes behind us, finally giving us some privacy where we can talk, I say sheepishly, "Sorry, but we'll need to go up the stairs. Is this okay?"
"It depends on how many floors we have to go up." Prom stares wide eyed at the stairs leading up into the darkness.
"Fifteen," I admit to him, scratching the tip of my nose. When I see him hesitating, I add quickly, "There is this place that I wanted to show you. But we can only visit this place at night..."
Blinking a few times, Prom heaves out a dramatic sigh. "Okay, lead the way. Be warned that I'm not as fast as you," he jokes, poking his belly with his finger once to emphasize the meaning of his words.
We grin at each other as we make our way up. On each floor we decide to take a small break so that Prom can gather his breath.
"Do you do this often? Sneaking out at night to visit this special place of yours I mean," inquires Prom, sounding intrigued as he raises his glasses to wipe some drops of sweat away from his brow. "Quite improper for a prince, no?"
Looking back at him, I snort amused, "Well, even a prince needs sometimes a time out. It's the only time and place where I'm able to have some peaceful moments all by myself. Besides, the view alone is more than worth the risk, you'll get to see it in a minute and then you'll understand what I mean."
"Huh, can't wait to see this place then," says Prom, an excited smile gracing his lips before he takes a deep breath in mental preparation for the next pair of stairs.
"Let's go, else the sun is going to rise before I even get the chance to show this place to you," I tease him and push his shoulders playfully forward, both of us resuming our adventurous journey.
Once we reach the top floor, I take out my key chain, hidden underneath the collar of my pajama top, and I unlock the door which leads us to the roof outside. "We are here," I motion to Prom for him to go first, and despite trying not to, I feel myself starting to grow nervous inside.
This is the first time where I invite an outsider to my favorite spot in the whole palace. Gladio and Ignis being the only two other people aside myself to know that this place exists.
"Noct, the view is amazing!" Prom swoons over the breathtaking sight, taking some tentative steps forward as if not believing his eyes, looking around with an eager expression as his mouth hangs wide open.
"I know," is my simple answer, my feet following Prom slowly and my eyes continue to take in with growing fondness all of his excited reactions to this beautiful place.
The roof looks luxurious, thanks to Gladio and Ignis who altered this place to make it a comfy meeting place. On the left side there are some chairs placed around a table, and to the right there is my favorite corner, where many, huge cushy pillows lie on the ground to allow us to chill out and to observe the beautiful sea of stars above. The active Crystal of Lucis behind us, as it fuels and connects the protective wall around Insomnia to the palace, encases the entire roof in a soft, dim, magical glow of light.
"This is incredible, look at all the night lights! I've never seen something as beautiful as this..." A slight breeze ruffles Prom's hair as he turns around to smile at me brightly.
At that moment my heart skips a beat for seemingly no reason at all. Raking my fingers through my hair, I suddenly feel shy to meet his eyes, so I walk up to his side and point up as I suggest to him, "Go on, look up, it's even more amazing."
Prom follows my suggestion and it doesn't take long until a surprised gasp escapes him. "Gosh, the stars are so beautiful! Look, there are so many, I never really noticed before..."
My eyes drift back to his face, silently admiring the enthusiasm of my adorable friend as he gazes up into the night sky. He leans his arms on the safety railing with a wide smile on his face, his eyes shifting around as if not knowing where to look first.
I just don't understand why lately my heart keeps skipping a beat whenever I look at Prom. Something strange is going on with me, it's like I start to feel sick in my stomach, only for it to feel good instead of bad.
"Come, let's sit down," I say, ignoring the confusing feelings dwelling in the pit of my stomach for now and I pull on Prom's shirt from behind to shake him out of his reverie.
"I wish I had my camera with me," says Prom suddenly, his voice sounding regretful.
Waiting for him to make himself comfortable on the cushions and pillows first, I say softly, "You can take your camera with you the next time you come for a visit."
"Really? Can I?"
His eyes glow in childlike joy and my hand ruffles his soft hair spontaneously, feeling the need to reassure him that he'll always be welcome here. "Yeah, we'll sneak up here anytime you want. You know what? I'll ask my father to allow you to stay over as often as it's possible. Most weekends I have private lessons to take, but on others I'm free to do what I want. What do you say? Would you like to come for a visit on those weekends and spend the nights with me like we do today?" I probably should be glad that I'm clueless enough to not realize how my question sounds like right now...
Prom nods his head eagerly, gnawing on his lower lip as he looks down to his fiddling hands, failing to hide his happy smile from me.
Another rush of confusing, but pleasant emotions curl and swirl inside my belly and I look away in a futile attempt to make them go away. I can't seem to focus whenever I feel like this and I don't want to make a fool out of myself by stuttering or by doing some similar foolish antics.
"It feels as if I could just reach my hand out to touch the stars...," Prom sighs out in wonder, holding his hand up as if trying to reach out for the glowing lights in the night sky.
I have to chuckle at his awed expression, which makes him appear even younger than he is, and then I lie down next to him, covering both of us with my favorite fluffy, warm blanket, the one that Ignis gave me as a birthday present a few years ago.
For a long while both of us just watch the shimmering stars in silence, each one of us lost in thoughts, feeling content in each others presence for some long minutes.
Well, I guess this is a good time as any to begin Prom's lessons.
"So, how many guards did we see on our way up here?" I ask suddenly.
Prom sends me a confused glance. "Huh? Err, let's see... five?"
"Correct, and," I pause to think, before continuing, "how many statues did we pass? I know it was dark and all, but they were unmissable."
"Uhm, I think there were seven? No, wait, there were eight," Prom answers correctly again.
"Not bad, and how many stairs did you have to climb up here?"
I admit, this is a difficult one. I only know the answer because I've been climbing those stairs a few times before in the past, when the elevator was still in maintenance.
"Hah, you've got me there. I admit I don't know, I was occupied not to stumble back down the stairs," is his cheeky answer to which I have to snort out a laugh. He nudges me with his elbow. "Now tell me, why do you need to know all of this?"
Placing my arms behind my head while staring up at the sky, I clarify my intent in a soft voice, "Prom, I did ask these questions, because I wanted to test your abilities. To successfully induce a lucid dream you're going to need to become aware of your surroundings first. The more aware you are in the real world, the better. You need to start to question everything, memorize as much as you can. You'll need to sharpen your mind."
"Heh, I see. So this is not necessarily about counting things only, but for my awareness to grow, so that I keep my eyes wide open at all times," he concludes correctly all by himself, shifting his body to the side to have a better look at me.
Turning my head to meet his blue eyes which gaze into mine quite seriously, I jest to lighten the mood again, "You can work on your awareness anywhere and anytime you want, you can even do it in the bathroom while doing heroic things like saving my royal butt from being cornered by my personal fanclub at school. Thanks for your help by the way."
He laughs softly while punching my arm playfully. "Don't mention it."
Answering his smile with one of my own, I continue to explain to him, "It's important to write all your observations down, this helped me a lot in the beginning. With this you can send messages to your subconscious mind that increasing your awareness is a priority to you. You'll be surprised, it's almost scandalous how much information eludes the forefront of our minds daily."
"Yeah, I get what you mean. It's like our brains got lazy, right? We usually are used to focus on one thing at a time and simply ignore everything else we deem unimportant. So those exercises are actually very useful," Prom remarks, looking thoughtful at a point somewhere behind me.
I can only stare at my endearing friend right now, feeling elated inside that he's able to understand the real purpose of the exercises so fast. My fascination with him only grows and grows the more I get to learn about his personality...
Clearing my throat, I add, "The next step you can do, is to remember every detail of your dreams. I suggest to have a notebook ready right next to your bed, so that in case you wake up at night for whatever reason, you are able to quickly write all the details down before they all fade away. Keep this up for a few weeks and you'll see that this gets easier with time, and that you'll remember more and more as you continue to write the content of your dreams diligently down in your book."
"Well, that sounds easy," he says, the expression on his face relieved.
I smirk at him in challenge, "Sure, it sounds easy, but in reality it's hard to keep up with the routine. Sleep has a strong allure to your mind and you'll need to learn to fight it. No matter how sleepy you are, you absolutely have to write down everything you remember before allowing yourself to go back to sleep. The hardest part is to keep this up every night."
Prom's eyes flash with mirth as he accepts my challenge. "Heh, I think this will be fun. I'm confident that I can do this."
"I take your word for it. Let's give you a month's time, and then I'm going to test your abilities again."
"For real? So, let's say I exceed your expectations, do I get a reward?"
I chuckle at his smart response. "I see already that bargaining is one of your strengths."
He has the audacity to smirk at me.
I make a show of rolling my eyes in defeat. "All right. If you show remarkable progress, you'll get a special reward."
Prom turns on his back with a loud cheer and I rush to place my hand again over his lips to keep him silent. "Not so loud," I whisper, "else the guards can hear us."
He nods his head, looking sheepishly into my eyes.
Being so close to him, I feel my heart skip once again and I remove my hand as if having been burned, trying not to think about the fact that my palm is still tingling from the feel of his skin. I take my previous position, pulling the warm blanket up to my nose in an attempt to hide the heat radiating from my face and proceed to watch the stars in bashful silence.
I don't know how much time has passed, but then Prom's soft voice reaches my ears, making me aware of the present once more. "Noct, may I ask you a question?"
"Of course," is my slightly sleepy reply, only now noticing how my heavy eyelids have closed all on their own. I can't help it, the soothing sounds of Prom's breaths and the calming effect of his presence beside me, his warmth that reaches my side, the slight breeze of fresh air that caresses my face, the whole atmosphere of sharing my favorite place with my new, adorable friend... all of this makes me feel so happy, so content inside, that if I would allow myself, I just could fall asleep right here in an instant.
The only thing holding me back is the knowledge, that in the morning all hell might get loose in the case the attendants were to notice my absence.
I feel Prom shifting under the blanket before he turns his head to look at me. "May I ask what happened to your mother...?"
Opening my eyes in surprise, I feel the tiredness in my bones vanish in an instant and my shoulders grow rigid as Prom's question manages to wake up every dark corner of my sleepy mind. To gauge his true intentions, I also turn my head to meet his curious, but sad looking eyes.
"Y-you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. It's just...," he sighs once, avoiding my eyes, "I just wonder what she is like?" Prom blushes slightly, taking his glasses down from his nose to clean them with the fabric of his shirt. "I'm sure that she is beautiful and very kind, I would love to meet her..."
My eyes widen in response to his soft spoken words and at the real implication of his compliments.
When I still don't react, he says further, "I only recently moved to Insomnia, and then I heard my classmates talk about your family. But they never mentioned your mother. Are your parents... divorced?"
Prom looks back into my eyes, his bright blue irises appearing much bigger, now that they don't hide behind his glasses, his demeanor shy, innocent and patient as he waits for me to reply.
I relax my shoulders, breathing out the air I hadn't noticed holding.
To think of my mother brings many sad memories. Truthfully, I don't want to speak about her today, but I feel that I have to be honest with Prom in return. He opened up to me, a mere stranger, yesterday. He shared with me his lonely and painful living circumstances.
I think I understand now why he's curious about my mother...
I realize what Prom is really after, his real question hidden behind his modest behavior.
But I'm afraid to say the truth. I fear to tell him of what happened to my mother, because I can now clearly read inside his hopeful looking eyes his raw need for motherly affection and love.
At this moment I truly wish my mother were still alive, not only for my sake but for his as well. She was a wonderful mother, graceful, generous and loving and pure. I truly wish, that she could meet Prom right now, and I wish, that she would be able to embrace my adorable, lonely friend. I wish she were here, because I know that she would have accepted and loved Prom dearly, in the same way she would have loved Ignis and Gladio as well.
It's been a long time since my own painful memories about my mother made me feel the familiar sting of tears welling up in my eyes that I can feel right now.
"Noct, w-what...? Gosh, I'm so sorry for asking, you don't have to tell me-" he stutters, his adorable face growing pale when he sees a tear sliding down on my cheek.
I roll over and simply hug him, trying to simulate my mother's loving embrace as I hide my face in the crook of his neck and pull him closer to me.
Prom's trembling arms hold me gently in return and a sudden sadness overwhelms me when I decide to overcome my fear, to finally tell him, in a voice sounding strangled by the need to cry properly, "My mother is not here... she's in Heaven. She died six years ago..."
When I hear Prom gasp out loud, and when I feel his arms tighten around my body, I allow myself to cry silently against his neck, feeling genuinely miserable and utterly lost at the realization that none of us will ever get the chance to grow up with a caring and loving mother by our side...
…
To be continued.