More than a Myth

Mysterious Meeting

"Would you please come with me?" He asked again.

Who is this guy? Lightning thought. He had black hair that was spiked in the back, his eyes a deep blue. He wore all black with short leather boots. His voice was silky and even sexy. He was a few inches taller than her and not very muscular.
"Don't worry," one man with glasses said, "We won't hurt you. We can tell you're not from around here."
This one had brown hair and wore a silk jacket with a white shirt underneath, complimented by his black slacks. His square glasses made him seem sophisticated.
Another one spoke out. "Yeah, we're here to help." He was taller than the rest of them. His hair was slicked back, revealing a pale scar over his left eye. Just like the others, he too wore black.
"We won't bite. We ain't monsters!" Said a blonde one. He, unlike the others, wore a grey jacket over a white shirt accompanied by grey jeans. He carried a brown shotgun, although his finger wasn't on the trigger.
Lightning was no fool. She didn't let her guard down, prepared for a fight.
Noctis had seem some commotion from a window of his castle and decided to stop it himself. He, however, did not expect to see such a pretty woman hurting his soldiers.
Noctis was astonished by this stranger. She wasn't bad looking, but abnormal. She had pink hair that was cut short at one side and long on the other. Her white shirt was littered with belts, making her seem fierce and ready to pounce on any danger. A red cape was hanging from her left shoulder that went down to her ankles. It didn't hang across her back, but it was clipped to one side. Her legs were bare thanks to her petite brown skirt. Her knee high boots completed her odd look. Her attire is actually what made them assume she wasn't from around this region. If she wasn't from around here, then she could just have the rules explained to her and be let go. A pardon from the prince would settle everything down. But now it didn't seem that easy.
She ignored his request to come with him. Noctis knew she was on guard, unsure if it was because she was paranoid, or just scared. It was then he noticed blood trickling down her arm and a slash across the front of her waist.
"Did my men do that to you?" Noctis asked, feeling sorry that she was hurt.
"What's it to you!" The girl yelled. Clearly she wasn't one to fool around.
"Look miss," said Gladiolus, "We don't want to hurt you. Our buddy Noctis here can heal you up and then we can get this whole thing straightened out."
"He is right, " Ignis jumped in, "We can help you a great deal."
Prompto said, "Yeah, and it's not every day we get a girl coming to our place!" Noctis slapped the back of his friend's head, embarrassed that he had uttered such a rude comment.
"Please ignore him." Noctis apologized. She still didn't lower her defenses. This will be a tough one, Noctis thought.
The crystal provided the Caelum family with many powers, such as telekinesis, the ability to summon weapons, teleportation, and magic to cure wounds.
"I can heal you now, then we can explain to you how things work here."
Lightning tensed as the man called Noctis walked closer to her. Heal me? She thought. How? Is this the crystal powers Fang mentioned? Am I in the myth?
His hand began to glow a pure white. But instead of starting to heal her, she writhed in pain. Lightning fell to her knees, clutching her chest. The place where her brand was burned with agony. She yelped in pain as he walked closer. What is this? Why does it hurt? And why only is it affecting me?

Noctis couldn't believe his eyes. The healing power he displayed was hurting her.
What the hell?
He dismissed the power, but it was too late. The woman passed out from the pain.
"Dude, what was that about? You were trying to heal her, right?" Prompto asked, kneeling down by the girl.
"Yeah, but I don't know what happened." Noctis responded, feeling guilty that he hurt the girl so.
"Doesn't it sound like that myth?" Gladiolus said.
"Now that you mention it, it does." Ignis said.
"Huh? I don't get it." Prompto stated. Although it wasn't very common that Prompto understood something when he first heard it. He was a little slow.
Ignis began to explain. "In the myth, the L'Cie were said to be ordered to destroy civilizations. Or, at least some of them were. But in order to stop them, the crystal caused them pain with their power. If they got too close to it or was in the presence of its power, it would hurt them."
It does explain this, but it's just a myth. Noctis thought it over but quickly abolished the idea. It was ridiculous. It was just a bedtime story. No way was this woman a L'Cie.
"Well, we can't just leave her here." Gladiolus concluded. "What do we do with her, Noct?"
Gladiolus had a point. So Noctis made his decision. "It was my men who injured her and I who caused her so much pain. We will let her stay at the castle so she can heal."
Noctis began to lift her up so he could put her in the car with them. Ignis took her blade before Prompto jumped into the car. Gladiolus then took the wheel and drove to the castle that they each called their home.

Lightning woke up to a room lit by a single lamp and a comfy bed. Her head ached, as did the place where her brand was. She sat up, wanting to know exactly where she was or how she got there.
A maid entered the room, wearing a blue, knee length, short sleeved dress with a white apron. She had black nylons and brown ankle length boots covering her legs. Her eyes were a dark brown that matched her hair color. She smiled at Lightning.
"Please don't push yourself. I don't want you to get hurt anymore." She said.
"Who are you? And where am I?" Lightning demanded, her voice's volume gradually increasing.
"Don't be upset." The maid responded. "My name is Wen. I am the head maid of this castle. So I direct all the maid's work." She explained. "And you are in King Caelum's castle. His son, Prince Noctis, was kind enough to let you stay here."
Lightning remembered now. The fact the man who called himself Noctis hurting her with his power, the pain she felt; It all came rushing back...and that idiot thought he could just take her home with him!
Lightning was infuriated with his arrogance. He had the nerve to hurt her then take her as his prisoner, just because he's a prince! Lightning could feel her blood boiling.
A light knock sounded at the door. The blonde man walked through, shotgun in hand once again. "Heya Wen! Noct wanted to know if new girl was a-ok!" He said with a happy tone in his voice. He looked over at Lightning sitting on the bed. "Well, you look okay to me!"
Lightning gave him a nasty glare. The blonde man's smile faded.
"Ok calm down, I know you hate us and all, but we're here to help. My name is Prompto." He walked over to Lightning's bed and held out his hand for her to shake. She just kept glaring.
Prompto slowly let his hand fall, feeling defeated. "Well, Noctis wants to see you in the throne room, if you can walk, we-"
"I'm fine!" Lightning snapped.
"Fine then. Let's go." Prompto insisted.
"No!" Lightning defended.
Wen decided to step in. "Miss, think about it. The sooner you see him, the sooner you can find out everything you need to know."
This Wen was clever. She was correct and Lightning knew it. Reluctantly, Lightning got up and walked towards the door. As she passed Prompto, she challenged, "You coming or what, blondie?"
She walked off. Prompto looked over at Wen. "Blondie, huh? I like it!" Wen smiled and followed him out.
The two caught up to Lightning. Prompto lead the two women through the long corridors of the dark castle, and straight to Noctis.
Noctis sat in his throne that was next to his father's. Gladiolus stood next to him and Ignis in front. "You think she's actually going to come?" asked Gladiolus.
"I wouldn't think so. She was in a lot of pain." Responded Ignis.
Noctis stood, annoyed from hearing the conversation. He felt bad for hurting the stranger. His friends weren't helping him forget it by reminding him every few minutes. He was about to tell them to drop the subject when the door creaked open. Prompto stepped through with the maid Wen close behind. What amazed Noctis was the mysterious woman following them.
"Got her, Noct." Said Prompto.
She stopped walking and faced Noctis, looking very annoyed and angry. They stood in silence for a few moments while they stared at each other. Gladiolus decided to break the silence and their gaze by introducing himself.
"This is really awkward. I'm Gladiolus, and this is Ignis. You've met Prompto and Noctis." He said. "And your name?"
Lightning looked up at him and stay silent until she said "Why should I tell you?" Ignis intervened, "You shouldn't show such disrespect in the presence of a royal."
"I don't care. Just tell me why did you bring me here?"
Ignis was about to respond when Noctis signaled for him not to. "I deeply apologize, but it was my men and me who hurt you. Therefore, I must be the one to make sure you are alright. But since I can't use my crystal powers on you, you will have to stay here until you're fully healed." He could see the anger and disbelief slowly building up from her facial expression.
"You mean you're keeping me here? Sorry but I think that's kidnapping.. I don't plan on staying here. If you return my weapon, I'll leave without killing any of you first.." She said clearly appalled by Noctis' decision.
"Hold up! We don't mean it like that!" countered Prompto. He shouldn't have spoken. She approached him, getting ready to punch him. Noctis saw this coming. He quickly seized her hand as it swung towards Prompto's face. She seemed surprised that he caught her fist.
"If you will refrain from hurting my friends," explained Noctis, "we can assure you that you will return home as soon as you are healed."
She pulled her fist away and took a few steps backwards. Noctis was attracted to this girl. He didn't even know her name. But she was good looking. Noctis never cared for looks though. He admired how she never treated him with respect. Everyone did because he was a prince, royalty. She didn't care. She treated him like he was human. He hadn't had anyone treat him this was before. Not by anyone other than his close friends.
Noctis smiled, "If you would like, I can show you your room now. It should be a lot more comfortable there."
He could see that she knew she didn't have a choice. "Shall we?" He asked walking to the door of the throne room. The girl looked back as the other three men then followed.
So much is happening because of this girl.. thought Noctis. What is it that makes her so strange? It's almost like she's from a different world.