Chapter 6 – Unexpected visitor

By the time Lucina returned from her training, the sky had turned a deep navy, and the Elysian stars had rose into the sky. The hallways of the orphanage were empty and quiet, with most people had shutting themselves in for the night.

Lucina headed straight for her room, she then showered and put on fresh clothes before lying on top of her bed resting her head on her arms. Staring up at the ceiling, she recalled her earlier training session, she drifted into a meditation like state as she mused over what mistakes she'd made and where she could improve. She was brought back to reality by the loud growl of her stomach. She had got home from training later than usual and had completely forgot to eat.

Lucina left her room and travelled downstairs into the kitchen, where the leftovers from dinner were in the fridge. Grabbing a plate and some cutlery from a cupboard, she then made herself a plate of food, consisting of meat, vegetables, and rice. After re-heating the food, she then headed into the dining room. The room was made from a dark wood with grey stone walls, and rows of tables and chairs. To her surprise, she saw her brother sat on the table closest to the door with a plate full of leftovers, he glanced up and gave her a smile.

"Working late?" she asked while sitting across from him.

"Yeah, Becka had a bunch of stuff that needed doing once me and Eri got back" he informed her,

"Where did you and Eri go?"

"We got some lunch and went around some shops she wanted to go to" he answered. He then looked down at the plate she was currently eating from.

"Didn't you eat earlier" he asked, "or are you just that hungry".

She shook her head and rushed to finish chewing her food "I stayed late at the training facility with Eric".

"Eric stayed late with you?" Lewis questioned.

"He told me he'd train with me this week. But then he showed up late, so he said he'd stay later with me" she told him.

"He arrived late?"

"Yeah, Emily got there like an hour earlier than him and she told us they both left the meeting at the same time" she answered. Staring at her brother she could tell his mind was wandering.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Nothing" he said casually before returning to his food. She knew he was lying but she also knew she wouldn't be able to get him to talk, so quickly shrugged it off. She then began telling him about her training as they ate. As she came to an end, Lewis glanced up from his food with a curious look that drawn in her attention.

"Do you train with Jager much?" Lewis asked. Once again he'd called her 'Jager' Lucina was always confused on why he called Emily that but had learnt to just roll with it.

"A little bit, but she normally trains with the people from her squad" she told him "But when we do she always compliments me on my hand-to-hand combat ability. Always asks who I learnt from".

"What do you tell her?"

"I say you train me" she stated however then went silent, something about her interactions with Emily these last couple months had been bothering her "Hey."

"hmm"

"Whenever your name is brought up she always gives this weird stare like she's both embarrassed and intrigued and Eric always laughs when he sees her do it … Why?" she asked her brother curiously. However, to her frustration Lewis just started uncontrollably laughing, in a similar manner to Eric.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Nothing" he replied while wiping his eye "it's nothing"

"Oh come on. It got to be something" Lucina questioned baffled.

"I'll tell you another time" her brother said as he ate the last of his food and got up. Annoyance flared up inside her, she hated when he said that. Lucina quickly finished her food and followed him.

"Come on, tell me" she pleaded, as she followed him into the kitchen.

"Not tonight" he said with a stupid smile "Put your plate on the side, I'll wash up". She placed her plate to the side like he requested and lent on the kitchen counter beside him.

"Can I ask you to do something" she said with a concerned manner "I promise it's not about Emily".

"Go on".

"Can you come to training a few times over the next two weeks" she asked politely. He finished cleaning their dishes and then dried his hands before turning to her.

"You want me to train you?" he asked, and she responded with a hopeful nod.

"Alright". His response completely stunned Lucina, it had been a long time since he had trained with any of them, ever since … well she didn't know. Around a year ago he stopped 'being active' and Kate was the only who knew why, and Lucina had a feeling she was willing to take it to the grave.

Apparently the response had stunned her more than she thought as she hadn't even noticed him walk off. She quickly strode off after him and found him climbing the main stairs when suddenly there was a knock at the door behind them. They both looked at each other confused.

"Who's knocking at this hour" she asked, "Has not everyone come in for the night yet?"

"No everyone's in" he told her as he walked back down the stairs. Through the satin glass on the door two figures could be seen, but due to the nights darkness, she couldn't make out any defining features except one was considerably taller than the other.

"You're going out with Eric and Kate tonight right, could it be them?" she suggested.

"Doubt it, we agreed to meet at the bar" he replied. He gestured for her to stay put as he approached the door.

Uncertainty lingered in Lewis's mind. He reached the door and looked closely through the satin glass however, in that moment he sensed a familiar mana presence that wiped all hesitation from his mind. He quickly unlocked and opened the door revealing two figures concealed in black cloaks that blended in with the darkness night brought. The closest figure had some blonde-white strands escaping her hood.

"Princess, it's been a while" he acknowledged her with a welcoming smile and moved to the side to let them through the doorway.

"Prince Noctis" he gave the second taller figure a nod as he passed him before closing the door behind them. They then both removed their hoods, revealing the princess's long blonde-white hair and large royal blue eyes and the prince's matching eyes and wild black hair that spiked out at the back looking like an arsenal of blades.

"I wasn't expecting you" Lewis stated.

"Well I wasn't going to miss seeing Eri on her birthday" the princess told him.

"Eri!" Lewis called out.

"I'll go get her" Lucina quickly said, she then rushed off up the stairs and darted right. Lewis began heading towards the living room opening the door to expose an empty room.

"Lewis do you know where Becka is?" the prince asked.

"I think she's in her room" he informed him while gesturing upstairs. Noctis gave him a nod before heading up the stairs and turning left towards Becka's bedroom, Lewis didn't bother to direct him the prince knew the way.

"Want me to take your cloak your highness?" he teased. She turned and glared at him, she hated when he didn't use her name.

"Follow me Sera" he stated as he walked into the living room, ignoring eyes digging into the back of his head. She followed him in there and sat beside him on the couch.

"Really. Out of all the seats in this room, you pick there" he grumbled.

"Stop moaning" she cut him off and then went silent for a moment "I need to talk to you. It's about the Atlas games". Suddenly Sera went silent as Eri burst into the room, Lucina right behind and then to Lewis's surprise Ike walked in after Lucina.

"Sera!" she exclaimed diving into her for a hug.

"Hi" Sera said to Lucina and Ike by the couch.

Once Eri released her, Sera took off her black cloak, laying it on her lap, revealing casual black bottoms and a white top that Lewis could have sworn he'd gotten her as a joke last year. Unlike most royals he knew she didn't really like to wear expensive clothing or her royal garments unless she had to, usually asking Lewis where he buys his clothes.

"What's the Atlas games?" Eri asked them confused.

"The event we're going to soon. You know in Thalassi, the thing getting advertised all over the city" Lewis stated but sighed as the confusion on Eri's face remained and he let out a sigh. "It's a worldwide event that happens once every five years. The top military schools from across the world come to together and participate in combat-based events, this year it's in the Thalassi isles, I'm pretty certain it's in the capital Palgia".

"Whoa cool, so we get to see everyone fight" she asked, a large grin then grew on her face when he nodded.

She then turned to Sera "What were you going to ask Lewis about it?" she asked curiously.

"That's a secret" Sera informed her.

"Do you want me to leave?" Eri asked quickly wide eyed.

"No" Sera said laughing "I also came to see you". In a flash of blue sparks that looked like stars she pulled a card from her subspace.

A subspace worked similarly to the pendant Lewis had gotten Eri but required no medium only an affinity or technique towards the type of magic however, usually they didn't have a large storage capacity, but there were rare exceptions.

"I forgot to put it with my present" the princess informed Eri. She then whispered something in the girls ear out of Lewis's range, but he could've sworn he heard something about money. Eri giggled while thanking her as she politely took the card from Sera's hands and placed it into her pendant, she was already getting good using it Lewis noted.

"How did you like my present" the princess asked intrigued. Eri quickly looked behind towards Lewis he imagined she couldn't remember which one was Sera's, so he pointed at his finger and Eri's eyes lit up.

"It's amazing, thank you" Eri stated thrilled as she gave Sera another hug. Not wanting to get Eri Jewellery and clothes like she knew others would Sera had come to Lewis for ideas. After listening to him she decided to get her a relic that could suppress the users mana output, knowing it would aid in Eri's mana training.

"It was a very cool gift" Lucina commented.

"Is that two gifts that have beat yours now?" Lewis teased.

"No one said it's a competition" she tried to defend herself, but Ike turned towards her.

"You did" he spoke up causing the others to laugh and Lucina to go quiet "pretty much every day the week before her birthday".

"Now at the end of the day it's not about who got Eri the best gift but that she has enjoyed her birthday" Sera stated quickly calming the situation, "Have you Eri?"

"Yes" the girl answered happily as she sat between Sera and Lewis.

"Sera's right" Lewis spoke up with a grin forming on his face "But, if it was I would've won". The princess glared at him, but he just ignored her, satisfised with his actions and the annoyed scowl his sister was giving him.

"So what have you been up to lately?" he asked changing the topic now feeling everyone staring at him. His question quickly sparked a conversation, and everyone began telling each other what they had been up to. Eventually prince Noctis appeared in the doorway with Becka.

"Sera you ready to go?" he asked.

"Yeah" she replied standing up but then suddenly turned and eyed Lewis. He then remembered she wanted to speak with him and gave her a nod.

"I can take her back. I'm meeting up with Eric and Kate tonight anyway" Lewis offered as he stood as well. The prince stared at them confused but then suddenly noticed his sisters expression and nodded.

"Sure" he responded, he said goodbye to everyone and exited through the front door instantly vanishing into the night. Soon after everyone began leaving the living room and travelling up the stairs, Sera waited by the door putting on her cloak while Becka spoke to Lewis.

"Should I lock up?" Becka asked and Lewis gave her a nod before turning to Sera.

"You ready?" she nodded, and he opened the door.

"Bye everyone" she said. Everyone said their goodbyes as they left the orphanage, closing the door behind them, the nights darkness consuming the street as the Orphanage's light diminished.

The streets where quiet so Sera kept her hood down.

"So you're meeting up with Eric and Kate" she asked him.

"Yeah just grabbing a couple drinks" he informed her "I haven't seen them as much since they moved out". Eric and Kate had moved out from the orphanage a few months ago. Eric now lives on his own, and Kate lives in the Crown's intelligence apartment.

They walked down King's Road, it was well lit by magic artifacts integrated into the white railing. Due to the time the outer layer of the city was quiet, and they passed very few people who didn't even notice the princess, or at least pretended not to after seeing her with Lewis.

"How private is this thing you want to tell me?" he asked.

"Well it technically doesn't have to be a secret" Sera admitted, "But I think it'd more fun to not tell anyone" she said with a childish smile. Lewis sighed and began to curl his fingers, the air around them grew wild and gathered beneath them. He offered out his hand and she cautiously took it. Suddenly Sera yelped as they were launched into the sky, flying high above the buildings around them and disappearing into the night. They soared across the city and Lewis watched as the princess, practically floating next to him, stared out at the view. The outer layer of the city, the Axterius, was dark and silent, as it mostly consisted of housing. It was the complete opposite as you travelled towards the city. The inner layer, Anterius, consisting of mostly shops, restaurants, clubs, and bars was completely lit up, illuminating a plethora of colours and the sounds of laughter and cheering could be heard in the streets below. However, those sounds quickly disappeared as they flew further into the sky until they were higher than any building around.

"The Cathedral?" she asked confused, as she saw the monument they were approaching.

"There isn't anywhere more private than here?" he informed her. They finally came to a stop, hovering above the cathedral and the air began to slowly calm down. They gently descended onto the greatest spire of the cathedral, which was large enough for them both to sit down on it. Lewis carefully placed Sera down on the spire before landing next to her, she stared out at her city with wide eyes.

"It's beautiful" Sera said in awe as she stared at Elysi. She wasn't wrong, Lewis had been to many different places all over the world however this was still one of the greatest sights he's seen.

"Best view in the city" he said taking a seat on the dark grey surface "So what's the big news". Snapping back to reality, Sera took a seat next to him however, instead of matching his gaze she stared at her feet, it remined him of how Lucina was acting earlier.

"Well at the Atlas games this year they're adding some sort of special event" she began to tell him nervously "and I've been asked to pick a partner".

"And you want me?" he asked a little stunned, but he didn't let it show.

"Yeah" she nodded.

"hmm" he began staring up into the sky "Is it combat based, or do you not know?"

"It's combat based, and I think we would be competing against the other royals".

"Are you sure your allowed to pick me? Would it not have to be someone in the military?"

"No it can pretty much be anyone"

"Are you sure you want me to do it?" he asked her seriously his eyes fixing onto hers

"Yes" she replied trying to radiate as much confidence as possible.

"Alright" he shrugged before standing and staring out into the view.

She turned to him unable to hide her astonishment "Really?".

"Yeah why not" he replied smiling "But I do have one condition".

"What?" she asked.

"We win" he stated calmly.

A large smile grew on her face, and she stood up next to him "Obviously".