Previously in Chapter 2:
"Claire, where's mommy? Where's daddy?" Serah let go her hug. But Claire only gritted her teeth. Noctis even could saw her shoulders shook even if she tried to hold it. He quickly understood what she meant and he couldn't help to feel sad too.
"For, forgive me Serah. I, I was, such a-" Claire held her down even more. Noctis could see tears were dripping from her face. Somehow, Noctis' body reacted on his own, he reached for his handkerchief and wiped the tears away from the girl's face. Claire looked up surprisedly, their eyes met. It torn Noctis' heart to see the most beautiful eyes, a pale aqua eyes that's swollen, and redden. That eyes is full of sadness, desperation, and somehow full of emptiness.
King Regis decided to adopt the two girls, making them the princesses of Lucis.
"Does Lucis have military power?" Claire asked from behind.
"What? Military power? Of course." Noctis looked at Claire. He had a questioning looked on his face.
"I'd like to join it." Claire said. She looked to Noctis' face. There, he can see her eyes were full of determination but what scared him the most is that look. The look of a wild animal that's ready to charge, ready to get revenge.
Maybe now Noctis understood why he was so desperate to help Claire, why he really looked forward to cheer her up. It was all because he wanted to see those pale aqua eyes to shine, to be full of happiness, freed from any look of sorrow. But now, maybe those eyes would never be like that.
Lucis, King Regis' Residence, 12 years later
Knock! Knock! Knock!
"Milady, I bring you your dress!" There was a moment of silence.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
"Excuse me Lady Lightning but you have to get dress now! The party will be started in a few hours!" the maid said in panic.
"You won't find her in her room at this time." A low voice interrupted the maid.
"Lord Noctis, the head maid is looking for you." the maid bowed her head.
"Yeah, I've met him. Lightning must be in the GC office right now." Noctis walks towards the maid. "She won't be happy to use this dress." He scanned the dress.
"But this is-",
"My mother's choice. I know. I'll call Lightning to get here soon. You can leave the dress in my room." Noctis said.
"Will do, Milord." the maid bowed her head and left.
Noctis took his phone and scanned his contacts. Searching for Lightning's number and dialed it.
"Light, you-"
"I'm already at the front door Noctis. You don't have to remind me when to go home." Lightning said from the phone. She sound irritated. Noctis couldn't help but chuckled at her tone.
"Better be a bit more cheerful Light. We're going to have a party." Noctis said.
"Oh, today can't be worse." Lightning end the call. Just a minute later, she's already heading up the stairs and met Noctis.
"Let me guess, pink?" Lightning put her hand on her hips.
"Almost there. Salmon pink to be exact." Noctis chuckled, Lightning growled. "Don't be so rude Light. The dress is gorgeous." Noctis reassured her.
"I respect your mother's choice Noct, it's not that she has terrible taste. But,-"
"You just don't like dresses." Noctis said.
"Exactly." Lightning rolled her eyes.
"Unfortunately you have to wear it. Remember this party is important. Lots of notable people will come, not to mention they are crucial for creating further relation." Noctis said.
"I know. Where's the dress?" Lightning walked past Noctis.
"In my room."
"Okay." Lightning quickly walked pass the hall. Lots of pillars, chandeliers, sculptures. Basically it's a beautiful antique building. After passing a few pillars, Lightning turns left, just beside a great sculpture of a Goddess. She entered Noctis' room.
"Do you mind if I use your shower?" Lightning quickly unbuckling her belt, dismissing her saber and started to undress herself.
"Umm, of course no. Could you just go inside the bathroom please?" Noctis tried not to look at Lightning.
"Thanks." Lightning quickly grabs her dress and go inside the bathroom. "Lend me your towel okay Noct?" Lightning said from the bathroom.
"Yeah, yeah, do as you pleased, Light. Hhhh, haven't change a bit, have you Light." Noctis smiled softly, taking a necklace that Lightning put off and put it on his desk, right in front of a photograph. It was a photo 12 years ago, about a month after Lightning and Serah arrived at Lucis. Noctis, Serah and Lightning were sitting under a maple tree, it was autumn, the scenery was beautiful, but all of them have an awkward smile on their faces. Looking at the photograph always brings back memories to Noctis.
Lucis, 4 years ago
"She's even more deadly than ever, right?" some soldiers whispered.
"Yeah, Lady Claire, I mean Lady Lightning sure is dangerous. But since she's in our side, that would be a huge advantage." the other soldier said.
"Well, sure she's amazing. That nickname really well suited her anyway. If it's not because she's a princess, she might have been the head of military." the first soldier added.
"Yeah, she should have if she wasn't a princess. That hurt my pride." A huge man said behind the soldiers.
"Lord, Lord Gladiolus, we're, we're very sorry. That's not what we meant." The soldiers seemed extremely terrified.
"Ahahaha, I'm just joking. No need to be so tense. It's true anyway. I respected her so much, she's very potential. Looking her make me so fired up to work my ass off anyway." Gladiolus said.
"Well you should have done that earlier though." Ignis stated.
"Noctis is doing well too." Prompto added.
"Yeah, it kind of surprised me seeing the prince join the military training routinely. I mean, yeah he's good at it but he's not a great fan of fighting." Gladiolus chuckled, looking at Lightning and Noctis' battle.
"Maybe Lightning made him changed his mind." Ignis said.
"Yeah, but that sounds like a lovey dovey couple you know." Prompto snickered.
"Rather than a lovey dovey couple, Noctis seemed to suit the protective alpha male type you know. Making sure that he always there around Lightning." Gladiolus laughed.
"You've got a point." Ignis said. "By the way she's getting her position right?" Ignis asked.
"What? Lightning? Yeah, of course. Today she'll be a lieutenant." Gladiolus answered. "Such a unique princess, isn't she?"
"Noctis, have you seen Claire?" a sweet voice called him. He smelled a peach eau de toilette, typical Serah.
"Right in the shower." Noctis smiled.
"Good grief." Serah sighed. "Oh and you should have prepare yourself too Noct! I'll give you some touch of makeup and you're good to go." Serah said excitedly.
"Wait, what? Make up? Sorry, I'll pass." Noctis said trying to turn away her offering.
"Oh, there you are my Claire. You should have prepared sooner. Come, I'll do something for your hair and makeup. No is not an option." Serah said, taking Lightning's arm and dragged her. Lightning could only groan. She knew there's nothing that could stop Serah right now. Noctis mentally said his praises to God for saving his life from Serah.
Once Serah slammed the door, Noctis prepared himself. But then, he looked again at the photograph. Will her eyes be as bright as Serah's someday? Will I ever make her feel happy? Suddenly, he recalled the memory when he first met Claire, when the first time he saw those beautiful eyes cry. And how now it changes into cold eyes, even if sometimes it softened a bit when she's around Serah or her friends.
Leviathan Grand Ballroom, Accordo
The room was decorated with lily flowers and carnation, with such a beautiful lighting came from the chandeliers. The great Leviathan sculpture adorns the whole hall. It was perfect. Many aristocrats came by, trying to get a good relationship with King Regis. It was his birthday anyway, he must be in a perfect mood. The word "Cheers for the King" echoed in the whole room before the party goes on.
The King and his family were in front of the Leviathan sculpture, conversed with Fang and Vanille, the princesses of Eden, as well as Lightning's best friends.
"By the way Noctis, where's Cloud? I haven't seen him. Is he coming? It's not his habit to came late." Fang asked.
"Cloud? Yes he's coming. He said his trip was kind of delayed." Noctis sipped his glass.
"Well, so sorry for the inconvenience. But Cloud's having trouble with directions. Miss me already, Lady Fang?" a feminine voice called from Fang's back.
"Tifa!" Fang said and hugged her.
"My apologize, Your Majesty for coming late. Without any means to dishonoring you, please accept my apology from the deepest of my heart. Happy birthday, King Regis, may good odds always on your favor. I hope this won't ruin the good relationship between Midgar and Lucis. " Cloud and Tifa bowed.
"Oh dear, no need to be so formal, it makes the air so stuffy." The Queen waved her hands.
"There's nothing to be apologize for, Lord Cloud. Please, enjoy the party." King Regis smiled.
"Excuse me girls, what about a little scroll around the party?" Tifa said cheerfully.
"Oh, of course." All girls are agreed except Lightning, but she was dragged by Serah anyway.
"Dad, please excuse us." Noctis said, referring to him and Cloud.
"Oh, sure, sure. Go on mingle to the party. I'd like to greet other guests too." King Regis said.
"Thank you, Dad." Noctis and Cloud bowed before heading to the second floor, they greeted some people on the way before they came to a spot where it's quiet enough without any people nearby.
"What is it Cloud?" Noctis asked seriously. Cloud sighed. "There's no way to hide things from you, eh?" Cloud said.
"We're being followed by." Cloud gives a serious look. "They're up to something and whoever they are, they don't mind to involved common people. They followed me in a main road, Noct. I must go quickly and trick them, taking hidden route, which takes more time." Cloud inhaled. "I've sent Vincent back right away to Midgar and warned everyone there."
"Any information from Vincent?" Noctis asked.
"He has reached Midgar in a perfect condition fortunately. Nothing else he said though." Cloud sighed.
"You can't come back there for now right? You're unarmed. What if they're waiting for you?" Noctis asked.
"The exact question is what they are up to." Cloud said. "I bring all of my swords here. But I don't have my Fenrir with me."
"Do you have someone in mind who might be the one behind this?" Noctis asked. Cloud stayed quiet for a moment.
"I don't know. Midgar was in a perfect condition. No riot, no suffrage. They're only motive would likely to be expansion, taking Midgar." Cloud said. "But there's something that make me unease. I feel like there's something else, something much more crucial than this." Cloud put his fingers on his chin.
"I'll come with you to Midgar." Noctis said.
"No, you can't leave Lucis. If anything did happen, Lucis will be their target Noct, you know this. Midgar and Lucis share the same characteristic, no matter what attract them to Midgar, it will attract them to Lucis as well." Cloud said.
"It's okay, Lucis is fine without me. Gladiolus still here, Ignis and Prompto also still here." Noctis negated.
"Putting my cousin in trouble is not my line of duty Noct." Cloud grinned a bit.
"Damn you, Cloud." Noctis chuckled.
"Let's head back to the party, Noct. They must be looking for you." Cloud said.
Just when they're headed to the stair, a loud crash was heard followed by a violent shake, making both Cloud and Noctis must hold on to the nearest pillar. The whole crowd screamed. Some chandelier even blown off. People were running here and there, trying to go out from the hall, but then a strange noise heard. Making the whole room fell to silence. The atmosphere was so intense, Noctis felt numb, he can't even move a single muscle. Then, under the moonlight, a huge grey scales were seen, going up from the water, before roaring. It was a Leviathan.
"Noctis! Noctis!" Lightning ran to him, both Noctis and Cloud stood.
"Yo, Noct! What the hell is this? This is bad!" Gladiolus followed from behind, as well as Prompto and Ignis.
"Glad, how many guards we have here?" Noctis asked.
"About 100, Noct. Fully armed. I've asked Cor and and 50 of our troops to escort the guests as well as the King and Queen. The other 50 goes out to handle the Leviathan." Gladiolus said. Then, a huge crash came. The Leviathan broke the window and roared. Lots of guests screamed and ran, while some troops fired their weapon to the Leviathan, caused it to rage even more.
"Don't let the guests harmed, Glad, Prompto, came with we face that Leviathan. Ignis, find out what's wrong with the system, the Leviathan should have been locked away from this building. Lightning, tell Serah to cure everyone that's injured, and please deploy our navy, then come with Ignis, no matter what's wrong with the system, please fix it. Go!" Noctis ordered. Then everybody run to do their job.
"Cloud, I don't ask you to come! You're a guest!" Noctis said when Cloud followed him.
"Well, a guest or not my conscience says I should help people." Cloud answered calmly.
"I thought putting my cousin into a trouble is not my line of duty." Noctis smirked. Cloud laughs at that statement.
"Guys, split up. Once you reach that hole on the window, Glad come with me. Promp, go with Cloud. Clear?" Noctis said.
"As clear as crystal." Prompto said. Right when they're almost at the hole, the Leviathan turned to face them and roar.
"Now!" Noctis shout.
BANG! BANG!
Prompto shot the Leviathan, made it drew his neck back a bit. By this, Noctis and Gladiolus jumped to the right side. Noctis summoned one of his spears and aimed for the Leviathan's neck.
"Prince Noctis! Stop!" Just when he was about to release the spear, Cor shout from behind.
"You can't kill that Leviathan! We really need it for our military defense!" Cor shout.
"What? And you want to kill the entire guest here as well as the King to protect a monster in its rampage?" Noctis snapped back.
"Noct, look out!" Gladiolus quickly jumped before him and warded the Leviathan's attack with his huge sword, however the hit from the beast sent them crashing to the water. Noctis felt numb, his whole body ached from the high force of the angry Leviathan.
"Noct! Glad!" Prompto shout, he quickly jumped to the spot where Noctis and Gladiolus fell. But before he reached the spot, Gladiolus splashed out from the water, holding coughing Noctis.
"Prompto, watch out!" Gladiolus shout. Prompto turned his head and saw the biggest terror in his entire life. The angry monster swung its neck, ready to hit the blonde. Prompto screams, the monster came closer and closer, but just when Cloud's about to throw his blade to stop the Leviathan, the direction of the monster's hit shift, barely grazed Prompto. But what came to their realization is even more horrifying. The Leviathan moved towards the main bridge, where the guests were being evacuated.
"Oh, no no no no!" Gladiolus shout. Noctis quickly teleported to the bridge, summoning his blades, he jumped to the Leviathan, while creating his crystal shields.
"Noctis, don't!" Suddenly, something hit Noctis forcefully, slammed him back to the bridge, pinned him on the ground.
"What the heck!" Noctis growled, but then he realized the 'thing' that hit him was Lightning.
"Lightning what are you doing? Watch out the Leviathan!" Noctis quickly shift their position, placed him in front of Lightning, protecting her. The monster's was only a few meters left before a knife pierced to the Leviathan's flesh. The Leviathan roared and turned his head, facing Ignis, the one who threw the knife.
"Shit!" Noctis quickly reacted and about to jump again to protect Ignis, before Lightning held him back.
"Wait!" She said. The Leviathan was ready to charge Ignis, but suddenly it let out a howl before it felt to the water, sending huge waves and splashed to the surroundings. Noctis gaped, he was speechless.
"We smeared the knife with anesthetic Noct. No time to explain, we have to clean up the mess." Lightning said, before quickly jumped from the bridge, leaving Noctis puzzled.
It was a disaster, half of the hall broke down into pieces. Even though there was no fatalities, but lots of the guests were injured badly. The paramedic sent them to the nearest hospital in Accordo. The King and The Queen came personally to every single guest, apologizing and taking a lot of harsh criticism from the angry guests. The soldiers were working hard to transfer the unconscious Leviathan to the quarantine zone. Lucis was devastated.
"How were the others?" Noctis asked solemnly while Serah cured him on the bridge.
"Prompto is fine, he got some scratches and bruised all over his body but no fatal injuries, so does Cloud. Gladiolus got some fracture on his arms, Ignis is fine-"
"Where's Lightning?" Noctis cut.
Serah sighed. "She's fine Noct, she's handling the Leviathan relocation right now. There were no fatalities in this incident–fortunately-, but I'm sure they're all pissed up. The guests I mean. This issue will spread widely and," Serah sighed again. "Anything could be happened after that. It will be hard for Lucis." Serah dropped her head. Noctis remained silent for a moment. Then he stood up. "Thanks Serah, I'll look for the others and give some help. Thank you." His face was expressionless, but Serah knows, he's stressed out.
Noctis walked slowly past the bridge. He visited his friends for a while, asking their condition, before came in to the destroyed hall, looking at the Leviathan sculpture mournfully. How could this happen?
After having a long night, cleaning up some mess, put the Leviathan at quarantine zone, and lots of other works, finally they had the time to rest. The Lucis' nobles were back to Insomnia, as well as some close acquaintance from Midgar and Eden.
"Thanks Cloud for your help. I'm really sorry for troubling you." Noctis said in front of the room for Cloud. "See you tomorrow." Noctis turned his back.
"Noct." Cloud called. Noctis turned back. "Never let your guard down." Cloud said. Noctis nodded then Cloud closed the door.
Noctis walked slowly through the stairs, there are a lot of things in his mind. He felt there was something fishy with the accident. The only explanation came from Ignis was the Leviathan went into rampage, and broke off from its cage. Noctis took a deep breath and sigh. To say it was a coincidence was more than bizarre.
Noctis was so deep in thought until the moment a sword was pointed right to his neck when he walked past a dark alley. 'Oh and I was just being warned not to let my guard down.' Noctis thought sarcastically.
"It's me." A familiar feminine voice was heard. Loud enough to be heard by Noctis, but soft enough to be drawn by the night wind. Noctis barely saw the slender figure under a black cloak beside him.
"Light?" Noctis whispered.
"I need you to be fully armed, change your suit to your combat attire, and meet me in the backyard in 5 minutes. Make sure nobody see you." Lightning said. "And wear this. I'll explain everything later." Lightning handed him another black cloak. Noctis nodded and quickly walked past the alley to his room and quickly changed his clothes to his usual combat attire, and wore the cloak. He checked his surrounding to make sure there was no one else, before silently jogged through the dark alley and headed to the back yard.
"This way!" Lightning whispered, right beside the back door that headed to the backyard. Noctis followed her, both of them made no noise. They headed to the back gate, it was slightly open. They silently went out through the gate. There, under the shade of a tree, a black car was waiting with Ignis on the driver seat. After they got in, the car started the engine and went out from the residence, then going to full speed after it.
"So what's this about?" Noctis asked, unleashing his cloak.
"It's about the accident." Lightning said.
"So finally you're going to tell me a logical explanation?" Noctis arched his eyebrow.
"It's a bit complicated Noct, and we can't reveal it in front of other people." Ignis said.
"Even Glad, Promp, or Serah?" Noctis asked.
"We're heading to the Leviathan stall in Accordo, we'll explain everything there." Lightning said. Noctis scoffed, feeling dissatisfied with the answer. After a few moments, they arrived at the stall. There were some Lucis' army on the qui vive. They walked to the quarantine zone and came in to the observing room.
"I'm hoping for a satisfying answer." Noctis said once they were left alone in the observing room. He saw the great Leviathan was still under anesthetic effect. "And I'm expecting a logical explanation on why our guards here can't tackle down the Leviathan." Noctis said, facing both Lightning and Ignis.
"The first time we arrived here, right after the accident. Everyone here was dead." Ignis said, looking at other direction. Noctis shocked, his eyes widened because of the news. No way, they said there were no fatalities. Noctis also saw others Leviathan there, and they are alive. There's no way an angry Leviathan didn't attack the other Leviathan. Noctis clenched his fist upon the realization. Someone had arranged this.
So far for this chapter, long enough huh?
I hope you enjoy it and please read along for the other chapters!