I, for some foolish reason that I wish could be credited to anything other than boredom, have agreed to take on one of the challenges from Qwerty's thread in the FFXIII forum… This was the challenge:

Muhahaha I lied, you think I would tell you the challenge and spoil the story!?! If you really want to know what the challenge was check out the thread!

So I am super nervous about this because I have never written fan fiction before, let alone any other fiction! I have extensive experience as a essay writer, *sigh* (you just gotta love English professors!! Just kidding, I actually do!) but never as a fiction writer.

So this is the first chapter, feel free to have a look and if you are going to review, I give full permission to be brutally honest! I am sorry if the grammar is poor, or if there are any mistakes, I only vaguely proofread it. I figured that I would let you guys tell me if it's worth writing this story! If you guys feel that I should go ahead with it, I will tackle the story with a much more critical eye!

And I have also promised Anime something…*ahem* The names of Gareth, Durante and Felix for the Scar Guy, Glasses Guy and Shotgun guy, respectively, belong to Anime! It was her brilliant mind that created these wonderful names that so aptly match their persona. Since she did such a great job, I figured why reinvent the wheel? So thank you to the gracious Anime who allowed me to use her names for this story!

There, how was that for giving you credit Anime??

And without further ado…

It was a peaceful evening in the dark city. Beautiful stars outline the majestic silhouette of the castle and the silence floats on the dark night. Suddenly, a shrill cry is heard from the castle. It pierces the night like a knife.

Within the castle, bodies rustle from their slumber, and questioning murmurs can be heard. What is going on? Who called out? Is there trouble in the palace? These questions run through all minds that heard the cry, but none more fiercely than in the mind of Noctis Lucius Cealum.

As the sole protector of the crystal and the last heir to the Cealum dynasty, the young prince was troubled by such a cry coming from his castle. He quickly rolled out of bed and threw on his clothes, if he was to meet an intruder, he would want to be prepared. Flying out of his chambers the minute his boots were tied, Noctis ran toward the source of the commotion. With fear, he realized the visiting princess, Stella's, room was situated in the same area that seemed to be the origin of the scream. Knowing there would be dire consequences if the princess was injured under his roof, Noctis gathered another burst of speed.

After rounding the last corner to Stella's chambers, Noctis stopped dead in his tracks. He fought with the anger starting the boil beneath the calm façade he always wore. In front of Stella's door was a figure, the "intruder". Said intruder was, at the moment, doubled over in laughter, disheveled sandy hair shaking.

"Felix!" Noctis said as calmly as possible, "Why are you in front of Stella's door, and more importantly, what have you done to her?"

The intruder, having not even heard the prince's approach, stood up surprised, then seeing Noctis' stern expression sunk to the floor completely. The prince stood watching him convulse in uncontrollable laughter for a couple minutes, finally his patience broke, "Felix, what is going on? I swear if you do not tell me…."

The threat was left hanging for a couple of seconds while Felix pulled himself together. The lanky man pulled himself up slowly and took a couple of deep breaths, finally when he could control his voice he offered the cranky prince an explanation.

"Look, Noct, this is so not my fault! Gareth put me up to it! I mean he is the one who started it in the first place!"

Felix could see that Noctis was not convinced, nor impressed, or really in the mood at all to hear the whole story, so he began summarizing his antics of late.

"Well it all began that night when you and Stella first talked… Well after she had left you, she was coming down the stairs and Durante, Gareth and I had been walking just around the corner. Man, Noct, you should have been there! She jumped out of her skin we scared her sooo bad! It was the funniest thing EVER!! Then we just…well the temptation was too great Noct! Gareth and I kinda, maybe….umm…." Felix's voice died off as Noctis' face grew more and more stormy.

"You and Gareth what, Felix?" Noctis asked with a sigh.

"Started a contest to see who could scare Stella the best…Gareth scared the crap out of her yesterday by putting a spider in her hair…and I couldn't let him win that easy!"

Noctis put his head in the hand, some days he couldn't believe the situations his friends got themselves into. What made it worse was how, inevitably, every time he would get dragged into their shenanigans. You would think being a prince would offer him diplomatic immunity, but it is a well known fact that with friends, you are never safe!

"Well what did you do then, to make Stella scream like that?" Noctis asked, "I could have sworn she was about to be assassinated!"

Felix's eyes lit up, pleased that Noctis was finally lightening up. Snickering he explained his prank. "Oh nothing that bad, I didn't expect her to freak out so hardcore! I snuck into her room and put a snake in her bed…"

Noctis was taken aback, "You…snuck…a Snake….Felix that is so immature!"

"Aw come on Noct, quit acting like a grown up! Geez! It's not like it was a real snake, just a little rubber one!"

"Oh, sorry Felix" Noctis retorted sarcastically, "Because a rubber snake is sooo much better!"

"Your just mad because you have to act responsibly and don't get to take part in the fun!" Felix shot back.

Just then the first sounds from Stella's room since the piercing scream could be heard. It seemed that the snake had been discovered for what it really was, and the discoverer was not impressed.

"GARETH, FELIX….WHICH EVER ONE OF YOU DID THIS, I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!!!!" Stella screamed from behind the door.

Noctis raised his eyebrows at Felix, "Oh yah buddy, that sure sounds like "fun", too bad I am going to be missing out!"

At that moment two things happened. The more positive of the two was Gareth and Durante jogging around the corner. Gareth had an unhindered mischievous smile on his face, and Durante had a look displaying both suspicion and exasperation. Both seemed surprised to find Noctis at the scene of the crime, Gareth's grin grew even wider when he saw the prince.

The second occurrence was Stella throwing her door open in a rage. She seemed surprised to find anyone still standing at her door, but this passed quickly and was replaced by explosive anger. Her piercing glare slowly worked its way over the four, suddenly quieter men. Any trace of a smile was gone from their faces by the time Stella opened her mouth.

"Well, it is clear then who put the snake in my bed…" Stella began, her voice low, firm and all the more threatening, "I have had enough of you guys! If it's not harassing me with gross objects, it's infesting my chambers with creepy crawlers! If it's not sabotaging my chambers it's scaring the living day lights out of me. I am sick of it! I wish you guys would all just disappear!" She was shouting by the end of her tirade, pointing her finger at the guilty party.

She closed her eyes wishing with all her might that when she opened them, the hooligans in front of her, the mischievous bunch who had made her visit a living hell, would simply not be there. She felt an odd sense of release, at finally admitting to herself that they were driving her nuts. As if by acknowledging her unabated anger, she had some sort of power over her tormentors. Feeling a serenity wash over her, she slowly opened her eyes.

Stella stared in shock at the empty space in front of her, as she realized Noctis, Gareth, Durante and Felix were gone.

Where did they go? What has Stella done to poor Noctis and Gang??

There what do you guys think?? Is this story a go? Or a no go?