Chapter 12: The Game of Hide and Seek
Noel directed his attention at Noctis instead of Lightning. Narrowing his eyes and crossing his arms, he thought, He's up to something. Serah shifted her stance, looking curiously at Noel and then at Noctis. Ignis, too, was analyzing the grinning prince and became slightly worried when he saw tiny specks of red emerging against the dark blue iris of the prince. Sensing Serah's stare, the hunter looked at her and then at her sister, remembering what Serah had said about Lightning's upcoming death.
He challenged, "But you girls are still one short." Noel focused on his target, silently prayed Lightning would reconsider and leave.
Noctis grin immediately faded, noticing what the hunter was trying to do. He then glared and challenged Noel. Are you picking her side?
Lightning smirked at the warning, that's cute Noel. She shrugged her shoulders as if it wasn't a big deal that they weren't evenly matched, "I've had worse."
"Actually, I was going to take my leave," Ignis interjected, "Excuse me, but I have some business to attend to…" He gave a quick nod to the prince "in the library."
Noctis started to smile, silently thanking his loyal servant with a nod.
"With my departure, you are evenly matched. Good luck," Ignis said and promptly left before the tension rose any higher. He was very interested in the outcome and wished Noctis success.
Noctis faced Lightning once more. His eyes were mischievous while teasing the warrior in front of the group, "So, what you think? Are you up for a simple game of hide and seek?" He was determined to get his revenge. I will break her, he silently vowed.
Lightning stepped forward, unafraid. She ignored Noel's hesitation and warning. She smirked directly at the dark-haired brat with fierce determination, "You think you can win me? Let's see."
"That's great!" Vanille excitedly yelled and readied herself to run, "You guys need to give us a ten-minute head start first. Ready. LET'S GO!"
"Woah, woah, woah, there lil' lady. Let's lay some ground rules first before we begin," Prompto put on his charm and pulled her back by the hand. Serah frowned at the interaction, she didn't trust him.
"Oh," Vanille blushed, "Oopsy!"
"We need to decide on a time limit," Prompto said while slyly flexing his arms, "This castle is huge! Otherwise, the game can take forever, if there's no time limit."
"Oh, you're right! I didn't think about that! What should the time limit be?" Vanille continued excitedly.
"Well, it's an hour and a half until midnight." Glad stated, supporting the idea. "We can make the deadline at midnight. We can also give you ladies a fifteen-minute head start to hide." He winked at Fang and then smiled at Vanille.
"That's very generous of you." Vanille smiled back.
Fang just rolled her eyes, "So, does everyone agree yah?" She looked around, mainly at Noel.
With arms still crossed, he raised an eyebrow. Really? He didn't like the intentions of this game, but he had to protect Serah and Lightning, somehow. Looking at the warrior again, he silently questioned, Are you ok with this?
"So how do we keep score?" Lightning asked, eyes glued to the prince and ignoring Noel.
"Since we decided on the time, I'll let you girls decide." Noctis said confidently, his plan was working. He continued to grin as he was plotting three different scenarios of revenge in his head. He especially liked the one with Lightning on her knees, begging.
Lightning remained silent and looked at her sister for help, knowing she was the most honest.
Prompto rolled his eyes.
Serah spoke softly. "We can remove an item that belonged to the person in hiding." She demonstrated by taking Noel's necklace. "That will be the best confirmation." She waved the item in front of Lightning as she thought out loud, remembering her first encounter with the distrustful Prompto and a chicken. The warrior smiled and agreed.
Almost everyone was happily nodding, except for Noel. He shook his head at Serah, frozen in place. He couldn't believe this was happening. Had she not sensed Noctis' bad intentions towards Lightning? Did she forget about her visions?
"I'm sorry, Noel, here's your necklace back." Serah shyly said.
Game or no game, I must save Serah and Lightning. Noel thought grabbing the necklace and placed it around his neck again. "It's okay, Serah." Noel said while repositioning himself in front of the girl in a protective manner. Serah smiled softly at his back because it had reminded her of Snow.
Prompto eyes lit up as his grin grew wider. "That's a brilliant idea! And, I, 100% agree that's fair!" The blonde looked at Vanille thinking about what he wanted to remove as a memento of his victory.
"Totally!" said Van looked back at him, while Gladiolus and Fang smiled at each other.
Noctis chuckled, "So, does everyone agree?" He focused on Lightning, knowing that Noel wasn't game. He didn't care about the hunter because he knew if Lightning agreed, so would everyone else.
"Yes," Lightning firmly stood her ground.
Noel shrugged his shoulders and then nodded. "Sure." The others also nodded in agreement.
"Yay!" Vanille shouted. "Let's start!"
Noctis smirked, I win! With a commanding presence he said, "Let's do it. Everyone, meet back at the Great Hall by midnight with or without your items. Then we will decide on the winner and what they'll get." Using his knowledge of the Dragon spirit, he stepped forward invading Lightning's personal space again. His heart felt the familiar pull as he closed his eyes concentrating on it, "Your time starts now ladies."
Lightning silently gasped as her heart tugged harder towards him, wanting to close the gap. Is this how you plan to win? She furrowed her brows in disapproval. The rest of the guys followed the prince's example and closed their eyes.
Prompt began counting loudly, hands over his eyes. "One! Two! Three!..."
"No peeking!" Vanille teased. She and Serah began running away first. Fang smirked and quickly chased after them.
However, Lightning continued to look at the moody prince with his eyes closed in her intimate space. Forces unknown to her, their hearts were beating louder and faster as she leaned forward towards his cheek and softly whispered, "Try to catch me, if you can?" She then patted the cheek that she had sliced just hours ago and tenderly kissed it. Noctis involuntarily shivered at the touch. No, she is a thief and must be punished for her crime, he reminded himself of his anger. His heart clinched; his beast was unhappy to be restricted and bottled up.
Lightning smiled and quietly brushed past him and the rest of the boy's team in the opposite direction from where the rest of the ladies ran.
"Fifty! Ho, ho, HO!" Prompto laughed with his eyes still closed. "Man, that made my floppy disk turn into a hard drive."
Noctis jealously opened his eyes, flashing red. "Leave Lightning alone, she's mine!" The dark prince glared in the direction that Lightning went, the pull was growing faint. "I want revenge and I intend on winning."
"Oh, I know that tone," Glad opened his eyes. In front of him, weapons began materializing one by one. "Aren't you going to give her a ten-minute start?"
Noel peeked at the prince and was shocked! At least thirty different weapons danced around the prince. Suddenly all the hunter could see was a cloud of crystal dust where Noctis bright red eyes had been. "Where did he go?" He asked Prompto, touching the empty space. Not believing the prince was truly gone.
"After Lightning of course! Come on, we have a game to win." Prompto said while casually summoning his beast. The bright Tiger emerged from his chest growling behind him, ready for action.
"But it hasn't been fifteen minutes yet!" Noel justified, crossing his arms again.
"What's the difference? 5, 10, or 15 minutes, it's all the same when the outcome is us winning!" The blonde yelled back, climbing on to his beast. "Glad you coming?"
"Right behind you buddy." The giant said as he climbed on top of his black grizzly bear.
Noel shook his head in disbelief, Serah was right!"It hasn't been even 5 minutes, and Gladiolus you promised 15!"
"So what!" Prompto continued. "Let's go!" He rode his tiger like a horse past Noel, Glad was close behind.
"I need to get to Lightning first," Noel said looking past their disappearing figures. He remembered the prince's murderous red glare and thirty weapons surrounding him like sunshine rays. He began pacing back and forth, "Where should I start? Where would she hide?" Summoning his own beast, he created a plan. He climbed on to his lion and patted its fur, "First Lightning, then Serah." The lion let out a terrifying roar that echo throughout the hall before sprinting in the direction of the throne room.