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"I don't think many traders fly in dreadnoughts from the U.P.A., especially if they aren't comfortable," Nulix replied harshly. He leaned slightly to the side on his outdoor bench, letting the leaf fall off his chest as he did. From a bench opposite of him sat a blonde haired Avetein Voltz, his business partner and co-founder of the Princeton Corporation.
"I just don't see why its necessary to pull such a charade on the Princeton Five when we could do it here when we have something to show," Avetein said slowly.
"Here? In heartland S.C.Q.K.?" Nulix spat, stretching his neck to look at his partner. "Do we just want to go out and say to the foreigners that they're dealing with loyalists to the end?"
"We're Sora based, inviting them to Cael, a city that's on the other side of country from the capital, by the way, will not give them the impression that we are loyalists," Avetein replied. "And you think its a good idea having it out there when the Crotov is after us."
"Misha Crotov is not physically capable of coming after us," Nulix muttered, resting his head on his forearms. "He doesn't have enough to come after us, especially not in space."
"Or here in Cael," Avetein replied. He was met with silence. Avetein paused, before laying down on his bench. "Is this about the UO then?" He asked after a minute.
"No Volts, it isn't," Nulix replied, standing up in annoyance. "And its not about Crotov, and its not about the goddamn Vinds either. Maybe I just want to have a cruise in space."
"To have the Princeton Five, a below average dreadnought, run in space for that amount of time will cost the company at least six million," Avetein pointed out.
"Roughly what I invest in paper weights per year," Nulix replied. "I'm throwing my party in space. Cael isn't fun. Space is fun."
And space was fun. Nulix watched from the window of his dressing room. Out of it was the Capima Islands in orbit, the sun behind it. Nulix smiled at the sight as he looked at himself in the mirror. The Ultimate Organization would be there. He hadn't seen most of them since the mass funeral held nearly three years ago. Nulix swallowed tightly as he examined his finely tailored suit. Voltz didn't realize it but there was a reason the party had to be held in space. Because space couldn't be owned. You couldn't look at the sky and know it as Sora or Ulfire, you just saw stars. And when you were on a ship you just saw the ship. When the men and women of Vindico and Tryptia came, when the common folks came, when the Knights came, when the Ultimate Organization came, all they would see was Princeton. Not Sora, Princeton. Nulix gave himself a smile in the mirror, before cracking his neck and heading toward his door. He opened it and was blasted with golden lights from above and the sound of music and laughter. Nulix smiled as he made his way down the hall and into the main ship hold, where thousands of men and women stood and talked, the walls around them surrounded with the purple banners of the Princeton Corporation...
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"The man of the hour has arrived." He whispered before draining the cup he held in his right hand.
He looked around the room, trying to find any other familiar face, but there were simply to many people. Nulix was the head of a powerful company, it was only natural thousands of people would turn out for such a special event. Not only was it Nulix's birthday, people were also celebrating peace. It had been three years since the war, three years since Wing, the Ultimate Organization, had been needed.
He started across the room, but a pair of eyes stopped him dead in his tracks. "Lauren?"
Lauren, an old comrade. The had met at a Knight academy a few years before Wing met the Ultimate Organization. The day he was betrayed she hunted him, meeting in battle a few times. Now here she was, silky black dress and pale white skin. She was stunning, but underneath it all, she was a cold blooded killer. He'd always wanted to tell her what had happened, but her blade did the talking, forcing him to do the same.
"I'm not going to kill you...here, traitor." Her voice sounded like the only one in the room.
"I'd hope not, you're outmatched." Wing said, with a smirk.
"You'd be surprised." She narrowed her eyes, their pink color more menacing than one would think.
"Maybe someday you'll understand the organization you work for. It's not just colored armor and missions. It's betrayal and corruption." He sighed, "Though this isn't the time to talk about such heavy matters. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a friend to wish a happy birthday to." He smiled, his trademark smile and walked passed her into the crowed and out of sight.
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"Ah, Asche. There you are," came a satisfied voice to his left. Turning to the voice, Asche nearly dropped his wine glass, as he stared at the U.P.A officer standing before him. "G-go away," he waved his hand at the officer, splashing him with wine. He ran as fast as he could, trying to get away from the officer. His face pale, his eyes wide, he stared behind him, not knowing where he was going, when he ran into a wall. "Oof," was all he said, before running towards the crowd, trying to hide from the officer.
"Asche?" Asche whirled around, his hand, instictively going for his sword, and his senses were raised. "Asche, its Stara." He turned to see a woman wearing a formal Red Knight's haulbrak over a flowing crimson gown. His eyes grew wide as he looked up to the person's face, and nearly feinted from shock. The woman's features were sharp, and her eyes looked as though she could read you like a book. Her hair fell to her shoulders, and was dyed crimson, to match her gown. "Stara," he whispered, "Is that you?" He reached out and pulled her in a close hug, then released her blushing furiously. "S-sorry," he mumbled.
Stara smiled sweetly, "Of course it is, silly." She took his hand and pulled him away from the crowed, to the farthest wall. "Hawkins said that I'm to keep an eye on you while your here." She looked around with a smile, "Isn't it wonderful?"
"Yeah," Asche muttered, "Wonderful."
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Her exhale was accompanied by fidgeting with the curve hugging black dress she wore that bore intricate silver designs on the upper half and part of the bottom. She looked beautiful with her hair in a bun and no jewelry save a dull metallic necklace. It was long and wrapped around her neck several times with little stars, moons, and roses. Bella fixed a stray strand of hair that had fallen across her left eye, momentarily distacting her from what she was searching for.
It had been three years, three long uneventful years, since she had seen them. Her life had turned into a satisfactory one, but a rather routine one as well. Her look itself hadn't changed much, still like the same old Bella but a little more mature. Her fighting had definetely changed. A shield was her main weapon now. She had put down her chains in the fight for peace long time ago and now that it had come, a little part of her still missed it. What she really missed though were her dear friends she had met all those years ago. The ones that had stayed on her mind through all these years even though she hadn't talked to most of them.
The one she had managed to talk to was around here, somewhere among the throng of guests. They had agreed to meet at the party and now, she wondered if he was even here. The two had met a while back, when she had gone off for one of her usual weekend trips. She had walked into a cafe to see if they had any appetizing pastries when he had been passing by. Bella looked out just as he walked by and without a second thought she had ran out and after him. As soon as she caught up, the two struck up a conversation and spoke often after that. Bella sighed, remembering their last conversation in which Noxas had agreed to meet her at the party.
But where was- Bellatrix suddenly picked up her pace as a familiar face came into sight. Well there should be more than one familiar face but first him.
"Noxas," Bella said as she approached him, a sweet smile on her face, "Looking for me?"
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such a long time and he didn't forget a thing about them or the great battles they went through together that time.
"I wonder how everyone has been" he said with a smile. "I'm sure they all have their own stories to tell!". He was getting exited to arrive and meet them all once again. Memories of him and his friends laughing and having great times when not fighting for they're lives.
Within the blink of an eye, he was already there. it was a ship...
"So this is it huh? I wasn't expecting it to be in a ship!" Noxas entered and saw the guys talking. But there was one person missing.. He wondered wherever that person had not arrived yet or if would attend at all.
"Well, no use staying here" He said. He started walking around and he saw a table with snacks served.
"I haven't seen Nulix yet. I wanted to greet him. After all, it's his Birthday today". He looked around but couldn't see him anywhere, but he knew he'd appear sooner or later, so didn't give it much a thought.
He went ahead and tried some as he enjoyed the moment and memories that kept appearing as time passed. "I wonder... if she's here yet?" were the words that automatically came out of his mouth without him even realizing. They met some time ago in the town where he lived after the war, for 3 years. You could say it was an unexpected day, as he felt like cooking for the very first time in 2 years. He mainly either went and eat in a cheap place or ordered food home. He didn't really mind it. he got used to it, and it was inexpensive. Noxas went to the grocery store and asked the lady there for any tips and tricks since it was a long time he last cooked. He got what he needed and before going home, he stopped by the park nearby. That's when he soon heard someone call his name. He turned around, and to his surprise, it was an old friend, who he hadn't seen for 3 long years. He was happy that she saw him. otherwise they'd had probably never talked to each other until the party itself.
Noxas looked around again, but this time, wondering if she was in sight
"Where are you.. Bella?" He asked himself as he scanned the room. He then heard his name being called by a female voice. He turned around and could see her, walking to him. She was wearing a Black dress, adorned in silver, and her hair in a bun. She looked beautiful.
"Looking for me?" where her words.
"I was" He said, smiling. "You look beautiful". Noxas blushed a little bit as he said that.
"Glad you could make it! I was thinking you'd have better things to do" He said teasing her a bit..
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She added the last part teasingly, wanting to see if she could make him blush any more. If there was one thing she enjoyed from their talks, it was the little tease wars they always started, trying to see who would end up the reddest. Of course, they always took it in good, simple fun. Bella didn't think there was any meaning behind it at first.
"Hm, for a second I thought you had ditched me," she replied with a small pout, "I was about to go the other members and see if they had seen you or not. Heh, have you even talked to the others?"
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He knew what she was up to. It's been like that since he met her again. They would tease each other until one gave up blushing heavily. it was always fun to spend time to her.
Noxas thought of a way to tease her back again.
"I knew you couldn't stay away" He said, moving his face really close to hers, inches away. He knew she wouldn't blush at least a little from it.
"Well, maybe I was hiding from you, I wanted to see how you'd react if you thought you didn't know I was here" He said laughing slightly. Noxas enjoyed looking at her reactions. It'd normally bring a smile to his face quicker than a little kid on Christmas.
"I actually haven't. I was looking for the Birthday boy to greet him, but there's no clue of him yet" He said relaxed.
Noxas could see a slight reaction on Bella when he talked about Nulix. He didn't know the exact details, but knew that she didn't like him ever since he left the Organization without saying a word. She was destroyed, and now pretty much despise him like no tomorrow.
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"Hm, maybe he's just hiding from you," Bella replied with a small smile as she took a step back, her mood suddenly a bit more serious, "Just because I can't stay away, doesn't mean the rest of them can. Nulix does seems to evade people doesn't he?"
She bit her lip, shaking her head.
"Ah, sorry. I have no idea where that came from," she said quickly, "Ah, well we should go look for the others. I bet they're looking for us." Bella suddenly looked a lot cheerier and tugged at his arm, indicating they should walk around.
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"what's the matter? Cat got you tongue?". He laughed a bit as he teased. He then saw her getting serious and stopped laughing
"Hey... I know how you're feeling..." Noxas tried to comfort her. It was clearly hard for her. He hugged her gently. "Try not to think about it". He whispered to her ear as he's holding her in his arms without letting go.
He could feel her arms hugging him too. He knew that she was grateful, but even then, she'd have to get things straight.
"Yeah..lets go say hi. I bet they'd be glad to see us". He decided to not think about it for now.
"I know I'm glad to see you" He said smiling.
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"He bombed out of the company in spectacular fashion, then returned, then bombed out again, only this time we don't know where he went," The officer muttered before sipping his martini. "You know the Hairis is Misha Crotov now, right?"
Nulix glanced down at the name, before returning his stare to a banner with his face on it. "Yes, I've heard," He muttered. The two stood in silence for a moment as their gazes traveled over the guests. "Did you bring a date by any chance?" Nulix asked at last.
"No, I'm sad to say I don't have any one datable at the moment," The officer replied. "You?"
"Not here," Nulix said, before downing the rest of his drink. "It was nice talking to you Bradley."
"And you, Mister Princeton," The officer replied. "And happy birthday."
Nulix placed his cup down on the stone floor and began to walk through the crowd of people. Nearly everyone he passed reached out to give him a pat on the back or a birthday wish. A plump man with a defined gray mustache gave Nulix a lasting impression, saying for him to have long life on May the fifteenth and long life for his child on the February the seventh. Nulix paused for a moment when he heard this and gave the man a pass to the after-party before continuing on his way. After a minute or so more of walking he had come across no one he had wanted. He had seen one of the Olimons, a family who had a bit more than a presence on the Princeton board of directors. They were harmless enough though, from what Nulix knew. Ahead Nulix saw one of the people he was least keen on seeing. Lexicon Klüppel, furiously drinking out of a wineglass, wearing a brown suit. Nulix shook his head at the man and began to walk in the opposite direction but quickly paused. Ahead of him was someone he hadn't seen for over three years. The last thing he said to her was I'm going to bed. See you in the morning. Nulix paused at the memory. He had left that night, in Vecked's ship. I found an opportunity beyond... this. An escape, Xane. That's what he had said that night. Tera Roth said that he deserved to rot in prison and Xane called him a coward; the rest were asleep. He had fixed his relationship with Xane, he had thought. He did not see Xane often but he had seen him more than the rest. And Bellatrix Swan was the one he had seen the least. The least being not at all. Nulix looked over her dress, before looking up at her face. She was talking to Noxas. Nulix turned away and began to walk over to Lexx, not wanting to talk to the two former UO members.
"Lexicon Klüppel!" Nulix exclaimed, wrapping his arm around the man. "Its good to see you again."
Lexx gave a smile before pulling Nulix off him. "Nulix Princeton," He spoke. "I can't say its good to see you."
Nulix frowned. "Oh, whys that?"
"Because you stole a billion trinari from me," Lexx replied bitterly. "And you used it to do... all this."
"And yet here you are," Nulix said with a smile. "At my party."
Lexx nodded slowly, "I was invited."
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Once Xane stepped inside, he was met with quite a strange amount of looks. It was to be expected seeing as he was still wearing his Blue Knight Prefect armor, which was half covered in soot from his encounter with the gang. "Uh, hey," Xane asked, tapping a Universal Government agent, standing guard at the door on the shoulder. As the employee turned to look at him, Xane drew out a crystalline object from the backpack he was trudging along with him. It was a rare diamond, the object of the Tian Ren's desire.
"You work for the government, right?" Xane asked. "Make sure that get's put in a museum or somethin'." He stated, before looking over at the tables. Locating Mellodia who seemed to be putting her head down for some reason, Xane walked over. grabbing a handful of appetizer's from a passing waiter as he walked by. "Hey, Mellodia!" Xane greeted, all too happy. Mellodia didn't look back at him.
"This is a formal affair..." she started.
"See, there was this gang-," Xane started.
"You knew this..." Mellodia continued.
"They were after this diamond and I had to go stop them-," Xane continued.
"And you show up, looking like you were hit with a grenade," Mellodia finished.
"Four grenades," Xane nodded. "But, at least everyone knows I'm a completely awesome Knight Prefect now, right? Aren't you happy to be my date?"
Mellodia gave Xane a tired glance, before continuing. "So, how did your mission go?" she asked after a minute.
"Cool, I managed to shoot the engine of the Tian Ren's ship. They scrammed, I returned the diamond to the Universal Government. Everything's cool," Xane smiled, leaning backwards in his chair. And then he fell over, as Mellodia simultaneously put her face in her hands and groaned. There were quite a few distasteful looks in their direction..
Xane quickly sat up, laughing as he did, patting Mellodia gently on the back. "So, who else is here?"
"Well, there's Nulix of course, and Lexx, Wing, Alyt, Bellatrix, Noxas..."
"Hey, Bellatrix and Wing are here?" Xane asked. "Haven't seen them in a while. Nulix and Noxas too! But..."
"But?" Mellodia questioned.
"Bellatrix and Nulix, from what I know," Xane started. "Haven't exactly been getting along."
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She always thought he was a nice guy to talk to and lately she had become more appreciative of him. In the old days, she had seen him as nothing more than a sibling type of relationship. But now, well there was a possibilty it could grow into a different kind.
"Same here," Bella replied, noticing some movement out of the corner of her eye but her focus was on Noxas at the moment. Besides, it was probably just more guests.
"Thank you Noxas," Bellatrix replied with a genuine smile of utter delight.
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"C'mon, let's grab some snack. I bet you'd like something to eat" He said. He took her hand and walked her to the food filled table.
as they walked though, he looked cross the room. It was Xane. He was in his armor and looked like he'd taken quite a punch. "Why does it no surprise me?" he thought and smiled a bit. Somehow he had a feeling he'd be like that next time he'd meet him.
Noxas looked at all the food there was. you could some exotic dishes which looked tasty. then some normal and generic stuff. He looked at Bella and blushed lightly. "Here, try this". He offered her some cake.
He kept making eye contact as he stayed with her.
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"I'll-" Bella paused, her eyes noticing something that made her stop talking. The surprised look quickly turned into a frown as without a word she started walking in a certain direction. Her carefree demeanor quickly turned into a business like one as she noticed the one person she had dreaded to see as soon as she stepped on board.
The delicious piece of cake left behind on the floor.
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Lexx refilled his drink, "Don't mock me Mister Princeton. Just because I had a better throwback plan than you doesn't mean I deserved what you did to me."
"You seem quite still, Lexx," Nulix commented. "Especially considering your in a ship celebrating what could of been yours."
"I've learned that this world is but a stage of life, Mister Princeton," Lexx said with a small smile. "In the after life we will see who is the rich man and who is the poor. When you burn in Hell's fire and I stand in white robes in the Kingdom of Heaven we will see how sure you feel."
Nulix gave a large toothy smile at his former business partner before looking over his shoulder to check if Bella and Noxas had left. Bella's eyes caught his. Nulix quickly turned around again and filled his drink up.
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She was looking straight through the room. It was him.. Nulix.
This was serious. Bella wouldn't turn around and leave.
"tch..". Noxas knew it was time, she was about to confront him. Her look in her face said it all.
"If you think it's time, go for it." He said. "I'll be right here if you need me." determined to help her, also looking at where Nulix was standing. You could tell he didn't care one bit as he refilled his glass.
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"Nulix, its been a while," Bella greeted him with a small smile, "And here I thought I wouldn't see you till morning."
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He paused... Her eyes were the same.
"Hello Ms. Swan," Nulix said as he turned to face her, giving her a small smirk as he did. "I hope you're enjoying my party, and my ship. I see you brought Noxas with you. I hope he's comfortable."
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"you can do it... Bella" those were his thoughts at the moment. Noxas then went talking to the rest of the org. but still keeping an eye on her from time to time.
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A small chuckle escaped her lips, "So what have you been doing lately? Not running away anymore I hope."
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"To tell you the truth," she resumed, still refusing to look at him, "I haven't really seen or heard anything about you. Business was never one of my interests and considering you're involved in such matters, well let's just say I don't think I shall ever even think of forging one. I'd rather watch something more honest and at least, interesting."
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