Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, but I am blessed to have played and gotten to know the characters and story of some of them!

Xethear: Hello everyone and welcome to the start of "The Rose of the Night." Hope you all enjoy and feel free to share your input via review or pm!

Chapter 1: Blinded by Light

*Tick tock, tick tock…WARK! WARK! WARK!*

The sound of a chocobo's cry filled the dimly lit bedroom as the gold feathers representing the hands on the alarm clock struck 6:30 a.m. *WARK WARK WARK!* The cries of the chocobo increased in volume as seconds passed, then minutes; Noctis rose up slowly from his bed sitting in an upright position, kicked off his blanket and slowly turned his head towards the alarm clock and stared at it in disgust before getting up and pressing the snooze button, silencing the clock and restoring the quiet peace in the room. Noctis sighed in relief as he slowly fell back plopping his head on his pillow closing his eyes once more seeking a few more minutes of sleep; it didn't last long. In a mere instant a flood of light filled the room as a familiar voice spoke out to him.

"Time to wake up Noct! If you don't hurry I'm going to eat your breakfast! You don't want to go around with an empty stomach on the first day right?" Noctis tossed and turned on his bed before rising up once again, he rubbed his eyes and groaned before staring at the blurry sight of a man with blonde hair, his upbeat friend Prompto. As his eyes began adjusting to the light Noctis saw that Prompto was standing by the window brushing his teeth, he had spread the curtains wide open explaining the flood of sudden light now enveloping the room. The blonde wore a white tank top black pants and black boots, half of the assigned uniform for Bodhum Guardian Corp Academy. The only missing articles of clothing were the brown collarless shirt, light brown tunic adorned with blue pauldrons, brown gloves and black cap.

Noctis yawned once more, clenched his fists and stretched his arms. He turned towards Prompto and saw him grinning ear to ear; the corners of his mouth were covered with toothpaste. "You look like a mess Noct!" The blonde said cheerfully.

The young man scratched the back of his head and yawned before retorting, "I could say the same about you."

Prompto laughed, "Heheh, can't argue with you there. Well it doesn't matter because…" he pointed his finger at Noctis "…I'm almost ready so your breakfast belongs to me!" And with that the energetic blonde dashed out of the room laughing cheerfully chanting "A second helping of food for Prompto!"

Noctis chuckled and slowly walked towards the bathroom dragging his feet on the carpet floor. By the time he reached the door Prompto had already finished brushing his teeth and was on his way downstairs. Noctis placed his hands on the bathroom sink and looked up at the mirror groggily before jumping back in surprise, "W-Whoa, I really do look like a mess!" He said as he tried smoothing out the wild strands of dark blue hairs on his head only to have them stick back out. He sighed and opened the medicine cabinet taking a fresh new tube of Shiva Toothpaste out from its box squeezing just enough on the bristles of his toothpaste. The dark haired man began brushing his teeth and yawned once more as he made sure he brushed all of his teeth; he stared at the box of the toothpaste and laughed at the slogan "It will make your teeth shine like diamond dust" he said out loud before discarding the box in the trash bin; "How original." He said as he rinsed his mouth out with water.

After a quick shower Noctis returned to his room, shut the door and stared at his brand new uniform hanging in his closet as he dried his hair with a towel. After several minutes of drying Noctis removed the towel and carelessly tossed the damp cloth on his bed before dressing into his uniform. He scanned himself with the bedroom mirror several times fixing his hair, adjusting his cap and making sure he looked presentable. "I have to make a good first impression" he told himself as he nodded at his reflection finally satisfied with his appearance. The man took one final glance at the mirror before grabbing his bag and stepped outside his room. He closed the door and inserted the bedroom key in the lock turning it clockwise until he heard a click signifying that the door was secure. Noctis slipped the key in his bag and made his way downstairs.

The smell of striped apple pancakes grew predominately with each step Noctis took as he descended the staircase; the mere thought of the sweet, golden brown, flat cake made Noctis's stomach grumble in anticipation. 'If Prompto really did eat my breakfast he's going to start the first day off with a few bruises' Noctis said in his head as he reached the bottom of the staircase. He could see Prompto sitting down at the dining table stuffing his mouth with large amounts of pancakes only taking a few seconds to drink some milk.

"Hey! Look who deshided to join ush!" the blonde managed to say with a mouthful of pancake. "Mishter The Prince himshelf!"

Noctis scoffed as he pulled a chair for himself and sat down across from Prompto, "It takes time to look presentable you know." Noctis scanned Prompto's messy appearance; he had on the missing half of his uniform from earlier but the belts of his tunic were undone and there were syrup stains on his shirt. "Don't tell me that's how you're going in on the first day."

Prompto swallowed a mouthful of pancakes and blinked several times before looking down at his uniform. He looked up at Noctis and grinned, "It shows character right?"

Noctis shook his head and opened his mouth to protest but another interjected. "Just leave him be Noct it's the first day, maybe the Guardian Corp instructors will go easy on him."

Noctis chuckled "You really think so Ignis?" He asked sarcastically turning his head towards his other friend who was cooking the pancakes fully dressed in his uniform same as himself. "It's our first day, we're transfer students."

The brown haired man turned to face Noctis after pouring some fresh pancake batter in the pan and adjusted his glasses, "No, but at least this way he might finally learn his lesson and dress more appropriately in the future."

"Yeah! And if the instructors scold him we'll have a good laugh on the first day!" Noctis smiled and turned towards the man who made the clever remark.

"Your right Gladiolus." The tall, built man Noctis had just addressed let out a hearty laugh and threw one arm around Prompto quickly pulling him into a choke hold and ruffling his messy blonde hair.

"Gah! I give! I give!" Prompto yelled as he tugged on Gladiolus's arm feeling the hold drain him of energy. Gladiolus chuckled and reluctantly released Prompto from the headlock. The blonde sputtered and couched and rubbed his neck gingerly as he tried catching his breath, "Augh, I almost passed out from lack of oxygen and pancake overdose."

Noctis laughed as he helped himself to a plate of pancakes. "I'm glad there was extra for you to eat."

"And why is that Noct?" Prompto asked as he chugged down a glass of milk.

Noctis swallowed his first bite of pancake before answering; "Because you would have woken up from your food coma with a black eye." he said pointing his fork at his friend.

Prompto nearly spit out his milk, "Heyyyy, not funny!" He said and crossed his arms. Gladiolus let out a loud laugh and even Ignis snickered at Noctis's remark.

After a few more minutes of conversation, laughter and consumption of breakfast the four friends phone alarms went off in unison.

Noctis quickly set the alarm of his black phone off, "Time to go guys." He said slipping his phone back in his pocket.

Ignis had just finished washing the dishes and was drying his hands when he saw Gladiolus take the car keys down from the key rack. "Hey Ignis, think fast!"

There was little to no time to react as the car keys flew across the room, but Ignis merely adjusted his glasses and easily caught the keys. "Shotgun!" Prompto yelled eagerly as he dashed out the front door like a little kid heading for the toy store.

"Oh no you don't!" Gladiolus yelled as he ran after the energetic Prompto.

"Noct, can you lock the door?" Ignis asked looking over his shoulder as he headed towards the door. Noctis grabbed his bag once more slung it over his shoulder and nodded as he took the house keys down the key rack. Like his bedroom door, Noctis securely locked the front door of the house and sat in the back seat of Ignis's car beside Gladiolus.

Once all four were in the car, seat belts secure and doors locked, Ignus turned the ignition on and the car roared to life. Prompto thrust a fist in the air, "Let's go guys! Don't want to be late on the first day!" And with that, the four were on their way to their first day at Bodhum Guardian Corp Academy.

Paradigm Shift

Lightning walked the empty halls of Guardian Corp Academy enjoying the peaceful atmosphere as she heard the sounds of her boots echo with each step she took. The young woman was a star cadet at the Academy and always liked getting some combat practice in the training room as a warm up before starting the day off. It was like a weekday ritual for her; first she would get up, take a shower and dress, eat breakfast with her sister Serah, see her off, go to the Academy early and then practice.

She reached the door of the training room and swiped her ID card through the scanner; she heard several beeps and then a small ding before she heard the lock unlock with a click. The doors slid open and she stepped into the large training room already occupied with five other familiar faces. There were two young women doing stretches, one was Vanille, a perky red head who always seemed upbeat and the woman next to her was Fang, a dark haired woman with a protective complex towards Vanille; although they were not blood related, they were as close as sisters and very dear friends of Lightning. The next was a young boy whose silver haired shined like morning dew, the little brother of the group, Hope. The sound of a punching bag being assaulted only meant that Snow was warming up as well. He was a tall built man whose dirty blonde hair stuck out from under his black skull cap and to Lightning's resentment, was her sister's fiancé. The man supervising them all was none other than Sazh, a dark skinned man with an afro housing a chocobo chick.

Hope turned towards the door as he heard them open and shouted "It's Light everyone!" Vanille ceased her stretches and squealed to see her friend and ran towards her with Hope not far behind. Fang smiled and walked towards the star cadet as well.

Vanille pounced on Lightning as soon as she was a good jumping distance away from her, happily greeting the other woman with a big morning hug; Lightning smiled softly and returned the gesture, both actions which were rare for others aside from her friends and family to see. "Hi ya Light! How was your morning?" she said enthusiastically as she released Lightning from the hug.

"It was…alright." She said nonchalantly as she tossed her bag aside and removed her overcoat and cap leaving her in a zip-up turtleneck which revealed her naval and naval piercing, her shorts, stockings and boots - the bottom half of the Guardian Corp uniform for women. She didn't want sweat to get on her coat as she began her workout starting with a few stretches to warm up her body up.

Hope waited for Lightning to finish her stretches before greeting her as he didn't want to interrupt her routine. "Hey Light," he said once she finished stretching her legs, "Did you hear about the new transfers?"

Lightning patted Hope on the head before walking towards the nearest punching bag. She unleashed a barrage of kicks on the stationary 70lb bag which instantly sent it swinging back and forth. Everyone stared at her, she never failed to impress them; she was strong and beautiful. Lightning stopped the punching bag from swinging making it stationary once again before answering Hope's question. "I've heard a bit from Serah," she jabbed the punching bag a few times and continued, "She says they're from that far off city called Tenebrae is it?"

Hope nodded and sat down at a bench with Vanille watching Lightning's workout. Fang yawned and walked up to the punching bag beside the one being assaulted by Lightning and kicked it several times matching Lightning's power before continuing the story about the transfers. "That's right Sunshine," the dark haired beauty said calling Lightning by her own personal nickname for her, "Apparently one of them is supposed to be royalty or something, what was his name again?" Fang stopped kicking the punching bag and crossed her arms as she pondered. "No... Nostalgia? Not this? Noc… Noc…"

Snow grinned as he found an opportunity to insert some humor in the conversation, "Whose there?"

Fang waved her hand dismissing the comment. "Haha, you're very funny," she said sarcastically.

Sazh chuckled and sighed as he sat down next to Hope relieved to take the weight off his legs. "I'm gettin too old for this" he whispered to himself before turning to Fang. "Now why would someone be named any of those things lady?"

Fang shrugged as she paced back and forth still trying to think of the mystery aristocrat's name. "Beats me, I'm not the guy's parent, I wouldn't know their reasons for giving him a strange name."

Lightning laughed a bit as she grabbed a towel to wipe off her sweat. She rubbed the cloth over her face letting it absorb the small beads of perspiration, after which she slung it over her shoulder, took a water bottle from her bag and sat at a bench. She opened the cap and drank some water before speaking, "As long as they're not stereotypical, snobby rich kids that wave their money around in people's faces we can-" Lightning stopped to take another drink of water, "scratch that, we might be able to get along."

Paradigm Shift

The four were able to arrive at the front steps to the Academy with five minutes to spare, they didn't recall roadwork on their usual route; luckily at every red light Prompto formed a gun with his fingers and said "Bang! You turn green." And at every instant he did so, the light responded accordingly which amazed Prompto himself as he stared at his fingers in disbelief.

"Let's go guys, hurry! We still have to introduce ourselves!" Prompto yelled halfway up the steps already. Noctis and Gladiolus followed suite with Ignis bringing up the rear after setting the car alarm.

"Hey Ignis! You're the first for introductions so you better hurry!" Gladiolus yelled over his shoulder as he reached the top of the steps.

It was a mad dash to their classroom seeing as how it was located on the second floor. Prompto nearly tripped on the steps which would have sent the three others following behind him to fall as well. With one minute to spare they arrived at the front door of the classroom to meet their instructor before their personal introductions to their fellow Corp members. Their instructor was a big man named Amodar with dark skin, short, spiky, brown hair and brown mustache. He wore a uniquely colored Guardian Corp outfit indicating his position as lieutenant. The man raised one eye brow and eyed each of them suspiciously wondering why they were sweating and panting so much. Noctis regained his composure and stepped forward clapping his heels together and saluting Amodar, "Sorry we're late sir! We had a bit of trouble with traffic!"

Amodar crossed his arms with a stern look on his face like that of a father discovering his child had misbehaved. "Is that so?" he asked as he looked each one of them in the eye.

"Yes sir!" they said in unison saluting their commanding officer once more hoping that they had not ruined the day already.

Amodar stared at all of them once more before smiling and letting out a hearty laugh confusing the four men. "Take it easy guys," he said cheerfully, "It's the first day, relax a little! There will be plenty of time to get serious in the future! And besides, according to my watch you all have one minute to spare so get a move on!"

The four smiled at one another before grinning at Amodar, "Yes sir!" they all said at once.

Amodar grinned, "Alright then!" The big man slipped his hand in his pocket and pulled out a roster tracing his finger along the paper searching for the name of the person to introduce himself first. "Mr. Ignis is it?" he asked looking at Prompto.

Prompto laughed at the mistaken identity, "Hahaha! Afraid not lieutenant! I'm Prompto! The one you're looking for is the stick in the mud over there with the specs!" he said pointing a finger at Ignis who gave Prompto an annoyed look.

Amodar smiled and looked at Prompto then at the annoyed Ignis, "Looks like you all get along just fine." he said chuckling. "Let's go then Mr. Stick in the Mud, you first!" Amodar said as he opened the door to their classroom.

All the cadets were seated organizing their papers or talking amongst one another. Lightning and the others sat in the back of the room conversing with one another - with the exception of Sazh who was actually another instructor teaching another class - when Amodar opened the door of the room. "Looks like those transfers are here," Lightning said as she stared at the door wondering what the new cadets would be like.

Amodar cleared his throat and announced in a clear, loud voice, "Attention cadets! Please meet your new members starting with this man!" Ignis walked through the door while Noctis, Prompto and Gladiolus remained out of sight outside the room waiting for their turns to be called in. Ignis stood at the front of the classroom, faced his fellow cadets, clapped his heels together and saluted them all like he did Amodar with his friends earlier. "Cadet Ignis reporting! I hope we may all get along and work hard together!" All the cadets saluted Ignis.

Snow laughed and cupped his hands over his mouth and whispered to the others, "He looks like a real bookworm,"

Lightning unamused by the comment sat back down after saluting, crossed her arms and one leg over the other and turned towards Snow giving him a nasty look, "Be quiet you idiot." She said coldly.

Snow shrugged his shoulders, "Jeez sis, no need to be so harsh."

"I am not your sister! Don't get involved with Serah!" Lightning snapped back glaring at Snow.

Hope sighed as he reached into his bag to remove his notebook and pencils, "There they go again."

Fang leaned back in her seat, placed her hands behind her head, put her feet on top of her desk and laughed, "Can't blame her. I would be pretty irritated if I found out a blockhead like Snow would be going after Vanille."

Snow turned towards Fang and opened his mouth to return the remark when Amodar cleared his throat again as he introduced the next transfer. Again all the cadets stood up and saluted with the exception of Fang who remained seated confident that all the other cadets standing and saluting would be enough to conceal her from Amodar.

Prompto nudged Noctis and Gladiolus on the arms before saying, "Wish me luck guys!" and walked inside the room twirling his cap around his finger. The blonde confidently strutted up to the front of the classroom and tossed his cap in the air which landed perfectly on his head. "How do ya do everyone? I'm Prompto! Try not to fall in love with me~" he said teasingly. Several girls swooned at his bravado and charm including Vanille to Fang's shock.

"You can't seriously like that right Vanille?" Fang asked in a slightly panicked voice.

Vanille giggled like a love-struck schoolgirl, "Oh I dunno~" she said rather shyly.

Prompto scanned the classroom and spotted Vanille whom he immediately found attractive. He shaped his fingers into the form of a gun point once again, aimed at her and winked which caused the red head to blush and got Fang to glare at him. Prompto saw the malice in Fang's eyes and gulped as he walked to his seat next to Ignis's. "H-Hey Ignis? I think I've made a few enemies already."

Ignis pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes obviously annoyed. "I would be your enemy too! You acted like a complete fool."

Prompto slouched on his desk, put his head down and groaned. "Lighten up Ignissss."

Fang glared at Prompto from the corner of her eyes when Vanille tugged on the sleeve of her uniform. "Please take it easy Fang, he was just teasing."

Fang turned towards Vanille and said in an almost scolding voice, "You can't just fall head over heels like that, you don't even know the guy!" She turned her attention back to the front of the class as Amodar introduced the next transfer, "You'll never see me falling for-"

Fang stopped midsentence as her eyes were glued to the man that walked in next.

Gladiolus grinned at the whole class; such a happy expression conflicted with his intimidating stature. "How is everyone? I'm Gladiolus, though I'm not as flashy as little Prompto over there, I hope my introduction isn't too boring." Many of the cadets laughed and Prompto groaned even more.

"Give me a break" Prompto whispered to Gladiolus as he sat down.

Gladiolus smiled, "It's alright Prompto, besides I helped you!"

"Whaddaya mean helped me?"

Gladiolus pointed behind him and Prompto stared at a giggling Vanille who waved at him with her fingers. Prompto blushed and waved back before turning his head back to the front of the class. At the same moment Gladiolus saw Fang whose face had turned slightly red as well. Gladiolus gave her a friendly smile before turning his attention to the front of the class as well leaving Fang stunned.

Vanille grinned and poked Fang in the ribs, "You like himmmmm~" she teased.

Fang tried to change the subject, "So Sunshine! What do you think of 'em?"

Lightning turned towards Fang, "The one in the glasses seems intelligent, just from his actions and words from his introduction. The blonde makes me want to punch Snow and the big guy doesn't seem like a bad fighter."

Everyone was then thinking of the same thing 'What is this so called prince like?' Their question was about to be answered as Amodar introduced the final transfer. "Please give a warm welcome to the last transfer to Guardian Corp Academy!" The whole class seemed to hold their breath as they heard Noctis footsteps echo on the floor. Noctis stood up proudly at the front of the classroom and said in his cool and collected voice. "Noctis Lucis Caelum, I'm pleased to meet all of you."

Some of the female cadets whispered to one another about his stunning looks and some of the guys questioned if he really was the heir to the Caelum throne at Tenebrae.

Fang snapped her fingers finally realizing the man's name, "So that's his name! Noctis." Everyone turned towards Lightning to hear what she had analyzed about the fourth man but she only said one word. The same word Noctis said as he locked eyes with her. For a moment it seemed like they were the only two in the classroom as they stared into one another's eyes.

"…interesting."

End Chapter

Xethear: Thank you for reading Chapter 1 of "The Rose of the Night!" Stick around to find out more!