Flashback
Prompto, Ignis and Gladiolus peered through the window overlooking Prince Noctis, who was recovering from a rather harrowing ordeal. The price and the others attended an event where he was to meet with prospective Queen's Candidates. However, shortly after arriving, Prince Noctis fell ill and was rushed to the hospital built within the castle.
The cause of Prince Noctis' hospitalization? Poisoning.
Ignis sighed heavily and removed his glasses before rubbing his temples. This had been a complete disaster.
"I don't know who would dare poison the price…with cyanide of all things," Prompto said in disbelief as he continued to stare at his sleeping friend.
"We're lucky he'd only had a little bit," Gladiolus added, still furious from the earlier events. "Ignis, did we send the guard to do interrogations of everyone at the event?"
Ignis nodded. "I've instructed them to not allow anyone to leave without proper investigation."
"Still," Prompto chimed in, turning around to face the group now, irritation on his face. "Who'd be so bold as to poison Noctis? The prince?"
Ignis slid his glasses back on his face, wracking his brain for answers.
This wasn't the first attempt on the prince's life. As a matter of fact, all of these attacks happened at an events where Noctis was meeting potential wives. It was inconceivable to think that any of the other noble families would dare target the prince. But in light of recent events, it seemed that this wasn't JUST a possibility, but a reality.
"Ignis," Gladiolus approached the king's right-hand man. "I think it's best we put a hold on the candidate selection for now. This has gone too far. We need to get to the bottom of this and conduct a thorough investigation before sending Noctis back out there. We were lucky but as his bodyguard, I don't feel comfortable continuing this process knowing we have someone trying to harm him."
Prompto agreed. "I'm with Gladio. At least put a pause on this for a bit. I know he needs to pick a wife, but this seems a bit more important."
Ignis sighed heavily and paused before speaking.
"I spoke to the king," Ignis announced. "We'll be continuing with the selection process."
Gladiolus and Prompto exchanged worried glances, not expecting Ignis' answer.
Ignis turned his back to the pair, focusing all his attention at the sleeping prince. "The king, while he's deeply concerned for the prince's well-being, feels that in order for us to find whoever is targeting Prince Noctis, we have to proceed. If we fall back now, we'll never figure out who's doing this." He sighed again, the stress of the day still holding tightly onto him. "But the king has a plan."
Curiosity gripped Prompto. "What's the plan, Ignis?"
"The king reached out to an ally of the kingdom a few days ago. He says we need fresh eyes. While we continue to monitor the situation, we'll have others conduct their own investigation."
Gladiolus was stunned. While the king was always known to be hospitable, he was known to be wary of outsiders. Especially after the events of the war.
"Are these people to be trusted?"
"The king seems to think so. But of course, I'll be keeping an eye on them. We must protect the prince at all costs."
End of Flashback
Prompto and Gladiolus watched from afar as Ignis and Prince Noctis crossed the busy foyer over to a prospective queen's candidate and her guest. Once the pair were sure the prince and Ignis were fine, the pair exhaled in unison. Despite it being such a lively event in the museum, complete with food, live music and drinks, Prompto and Gladiolus were still feeling a bit apprehensive.
"I hope this event is less eventful than the last one," Prompto said as he scanned over the foyer. Unlike the last time where it was maybe fifty or so guests, this time there were well over two hundred people attending. And while Prompto and the others were confident that, with the extra security from the palace, in addition to the SOLDIER presence, it would be a quiet evening, they were always on guard.
"I haven't seen Ventus or Miss Valentine yet," Gladiolus noted, scanning over the crowd.
"It's still bugging me," Prompto groaned, folding his arms over his chest. "She looks so familiar somehow. Can't put my finger on it…"
"Who are you talking about?" a familiar voice called out.
Prompto and Gladiolus nearly jumped out of their skin. As if on cue, Ventus (who was dressed sharply in a nicer version of his SOLDIER suit) appeared before the pair with a warm smile on his face.
"Thought you were hiding from us," Gladiolus teased.
"Not exactly," the blond said with a chuckle before turning his attention to Prompto. "Nice and quiet out here?"
"So far so good!" Prompto replied cheerfully. "Thank you for sweeping the area earlier."
"Mo problem. It's kinda my job," Ventus replied.
"Where's that partner of yours?" Gladiolus asked curiously.
"Oh! She's taking another walk through of the entrances. I think she's heading upstairs in a bit."
"Got it. Haven't seen her yet," Gladiolus continued.
Ventus laughed. "She's good at staying out of sight. I'm sure she'll connect with us at the end of the night."
"I hope so," Prompto said with a wide grin.
Ventus and Gladiolus exchanged knowing stares and smiled. The blond spoke first.
"You seem excited to see her," Ventus teased, much to Prompto's embarrassment.
"Trust me," Gladiolus joined in, "it's been all he could think about. He even thinks he's seen her somewhere before."
Prompto's face flushed red and he backed up. "I'm just being friendly."
Before he could say anything else, he bumped shoulders with someone and immediately whirled around to apologize by bowing deeply.
"Sorry!" He said, doubly embarrassed than before.
"It's okay. It's not a big deal," the female voice said.
Prompto immediately recognized the soft, yet firm voice and lifted his head to find that the person he'd bumped into was none other than Miss Valentine. When he lifted his head and got a full look at her, his jaw dropped.
Choosing to ditch the suit, Jasmine wore a sleeveless, floor-length black dress with a high neck and a slit that came to a few inches above her knees. On top of that, she let down her elbow-length jet black hair which was held into a low-hanging ponytail. Her makeup was minimal, but it highlighted her features with dark liner accentuating her vivid gold eyes. When he stood up fully, he realized that she was now taller than him in her heels as well.
Ventus inwardly laughed to himself when he saw how Gladiolus and Prompto reacted to Jasmine and he quickly stepped in.
"Everything good on your end?" Ventus asked, quickly making his way to Jasmine's side and taking her arm.
Jasmine, who seemed oblivious to Prompto and Gladiolus' gawking, replied with a nod. "Nothing out of the ordinary," she replied calmly. "All good here?"
"So far so good," Ventus said. "Wanna head up to the second floor?"
"Yes please," she replied. Jasmine turned to Prompto and Gladiolus, greeting them with a bow of her own. "Let me know if you notice anything strange and I'll be right there."
"Will do," Gladiolus said, having regained a bit of his composure, unlike Prompto. "Let us know if you need anything, Miss Valentine."
She nodded before taking her leave with Ventus in tow. The blond in question looked over his shoulder (unbeknownst to Jasmine) and gave the pair a quick smirk before turning his attention back to Jasmine. Once they disappeared into the crowd, Prompto nudged Gladiolus who was still staring after Jasmine.
"Be careful, Gladio," Prompto teased. "You're practically drooling."
Gladiolus whirled around and rolled his eyes, walking off in another direction. "Shut it, Prompto."
Prince Noctis rounded the corner of the winding staircase and stepped onto the third level of the museum. The prince glanced over his shoulder at the party below before scanning his immediate surroundings. Realizing he was by himself, he sighed before taking a stroll through the gallery.
"This sucks," he mumbled under his breath.
Another event, another meeting with a different prospective queen's candidate, another typical interaction.
The prince began to slow pace the hall, scanning over each piece of art that he passed while he lamented his predicament.
'He'll be disappointed that I don't want to go forward with this girl,' Prince Noctis thought grimly as he anticipated is father's likely disappointed reaction to his decision. This would be the third girl he rejected in the last two months. Pretty soon he was going to have to at least narrow down a few real options.
Noctis sighed again as he took sweeping glances at the gothic statues all around him. He'd seen all of them before as he spent some time here as a child. He'd always had an interest in art but he never could dive deep into it.
The prince snapped out of his daze when he heard the familiar click-clack of shoes approaching. He straightened up and turned around, half expecting to see Ignis there ready to scold him for leaving the party. But he was surprised when he saw a vaguely familiar looking woman approach him.
"Good evening, Your Highness," she said, bowing before the prince respectfully.
The prince was admittedly a bit embarrassed. He'd seen this person before, but for the life of him he couldn't recall her name. He scanned over her face before recognizing her bright gold eyes.
"Miss Valentine?" He asked, turning his head away so she couldn't see the flustered look on his face.
Jasmine offered a polite smile and approached the prince with her arms behind her back. "That's me."
"…you look different without your glasses on…" he mumbled, making sure to keep his eyes on the various statues around him.
Jasmine seemed visibly puzzled by the prince's inability to look her in the face. He started back down the hall, keeping his focus on the various statues and paintings. So, she decided to follow. "Is something wrong?" She asked curiously.
The prince kept walking but slowed his pace so that Jasmine could follow behind more closely. "No…what brings you here?"
"My job?" Jasmine was genuinely thrown off by the prince's behavior. "I was just making my rounds when Ignis said you took off."
"You were looking for me?" He asked.
Jasmine pursed her lips, taking a few extra strides to catch up to the prince. "Not exactly," she admitted. "But I saw you go up the stairs. At the very least I thought I should at least be polite and greet you."
Noctis casually shrugged his shoulders. Her story checked out. Besides, it wasn't the most abnormal thing for her to be near him. After all, she and Ventus were assigned to help protect him.
Jasmine noticed the prince deep in thought, wondering if she was making him uncomfortable. "Don't worry. I won't watch you 24/7," she reassured him. "To be honest, you're not someone who really needs protection."
Noctis' ears perked up. "Why do you say that?"
Making sure Noctis wasn't looking at her, Jasmine rolled her eyes. "Ventus and I know all about what happened in the war," she began slowly. "You, Ignis and the others were able to take back your homeland basically by yourselves. Prompto is good with guns, Gladiolus was your trainer and bodyguard, and Ignis also trained with the Crownsguard. In all honesty, you don't really need us."
Noctis was impressed but kept his typical stoic façade. "You did your homework."
"I have to," she replied simply.
"So, what do you do?"
Jasmine paused, thinking before giving the prince a reply. "Depends…" she replied cryptically.
"Depends?"
Jasmine broke away from the prince, finding herself drawn to a particular painting of what appeared to be some sort of dark, gothic goddess. "Depends on what's needed at the time," she answered.
Noctis didn't know how to respond. He knew she was being deliberately vague but didn't know if he should keep pressing. Then again, the prince was fairly confident she wouldn't give too much away even if he did pry.
"We're just here to give a second opinion and make sure nothing happens to you," she elaborated, turning her attention back to the prince. "Nothing else anyway…" she trailed off.
"Hmm…" Noctis was curious. "Notice anything odd about anyone here?"
"I don't want to say just yet. Still getting to know everyone. The good news is we have a lot of these events where a lot of the same people will show up. I'm sure someone will break character sooner rather than later."
"How can you be sure?"
Jasmine inhaled sharply. "They always do," she sighed. "It's only a matter of time."
Noctis allowed Jasmine to walk ahead of him, trailing close behind while keeping a firm grip on his surroundings.
"Ignis apologized, right?" The prince asked, already knowing the answer but wanting to get a feel for her feelings towards it.
"Of course," Jasmine replied. "But it's okay. I'm used to people reacting that way. Besides, he's just being cautious. I get why."
Noctis fell silent and continued to take in the art around him as while studying "Miss Valentine".
"How long are you and Ventus staying?" he asked casually.
"About a month," she replied casually. "Maybe longer, maybe shorter. Like I said, depends on what's needed." Jasmine stopped in her tracked and glanced over the ledge. Her bright gold eyes darted to the foyer and she seemed focused on something…or someone.
Before he could say anything, Jasmine bowed before him.
"I need to look into something. I'll send Ignis or Gladiolus up here."
Noctis became immediately concerned. "What is it? What's wrong?"
Jasmine lifted her head and offered a polite smile. "Nothing yet. Excuse me, Your Highness. If I don't see you again, have a good evening."
Before he could say anything, Jasmine headed back towards the staircase and headed back towards the party. He had to admit, she was quick. And within a few seconds she was gone and out of sight.
At least with Ven, Noctis kinda had an idea of who he was dealing with. When it came to Jasmine, she was totally shut off and almost impossible to read. He didn't know if all the women in SOLDIER were like this or if it was just her. But still, Noctis thought it would be a good idea to keep an eye on her.
For now anyway….