Work Text:
13/10/2018
Painting
Noctis knew every corner, every nook and cranny of the palace, not only because he was born and raised there, but also because of the long days of exploration with Ignis.
There wasn’t a better way to deal with the boredom, running through endless corridors, moving statues and curtains to find secret passages.
Because Noctis was sure of it: somewhere, well hidden, there must have been a room with a treasure.
Ignis didn’t agree, and he often complained, suggesting the little prince to do something else, reading or playing chess, boring stuff like that.
The kid was laying on the floor sketching marks with a wax crayon on a sheet of paper, his tongue out as to stay focused, his eyebrows furrowed that gave him a serious expression, almost mature.
« Are you done? » Ignis muttered, laying on the bed, leafing through a book he had already red a hundred times.
« Almost! » The prince exclaimed.
His eyes were burning, but they were still staring the paper and the thick lines he was tracing.
« You’re aware that this is a waste of time, aren’t you? We could go in the garden and play ball. »
« I don’t wanna play ball. » His complaining, spoiled tone. Noctis rarely addressed Ignis that way, because he knew that his friend couldn’t stand him when he acted like the “prince heir of the throne” making difficult to him going against his will.
« Noct. » Ignis sighed, closing the book and bending towards him to look at him. « There is no treasure and even if there was one we wouldn’t be allowed to look for it. There must be a reason if something is hidden so well, right? »
« Yes. » but clearly Noctis wasn’t listening, not so well at least. Seven years and he was as stubborn as a seventeen-year-old: the little one was off to a good start. « It’s the last time, I promise. If we don’t find anything this time too I’ll stop trying. »
Another sigh, Ignis rolled his eyes. « Fine, we can do that. » he got off the bed to reach his friend, their little head close, one black the other blond. « Let me see. »
Noctis showed him the map he had drawn on the paper. It was sketched, confused, and a lot of corridors didn’t make sense, that’s why Ignis took the red crayon and started correcting where he had been imprecise.
At the end, even if it was full of cuts and erasures, they had before their eyes a complete map of the higher floor of the palace, the last one left to explore. That’s because it was the floor that the King had designated for politic councils or lunches with the ambassadors. They weren’t allowed to go up and wander through the rooms as they pleased but…Regis had left for a diplomatic mission, and he wouldn’t be back before two or three days.
« See. » Noctis said, pointing at the dining room, a black square of wax. « There must be something here. Dad spends here a lot of time, it has to be important. »
« It’s just the dining room. »
Noctis send an ice grey glance at his friend. « It’s not just a dining room. Can I talk to Ignis the Explorer and not Ignis the Nuisance? »
The blond snorted, as if he had just heavily offended him. « Okay, okay. Shall we go? »
Noctis smiled widely and jumped on his feet, holding tight the map with his little hand.
« Let’s go! To the third floor! »
To their childish eyes the palace looked full of traps, intrigues, guards that wanted to catch them and put them in prison.
They spent almost half an hour to go up to the first set of stairs, because two soldiers kept guarding the floor and the thing almost made them give up.
The third floor though was desert: since the King was away, there was no reason to control that part of the palace.
Noctis placed a finger on his lips to warn his friend to keep quiet and, with their backs against the wall, they slipped towards the dining room.
The high ceiling, the huge window on the internal gardens, the heavy brocade curtains, the long table made of lucid wood, made that room scary, adult, so much that the kids went on on tiptoes afraid of being found out.
Noctis looked at the bleached-out map, surprised that there were not all the useful details, while Ignis had that obnoxious expression, the one the used someone who was about to say “I told you so”.
« The statue! » the child exclaimed, pointing at what must have been some divinity’s statue.
« Well, it’s a statue. » in case Noctis didn’t notice.
« No, no! » the prince sighed. « It must be like in that book that you read to me. If we move the statue something will happen for sure. »
« We practically moved every statue in the palace, how would it be different this time? »
« It’s different because it’s the only one we haven’t moved yet. Come on, help me. »
What have they got to lose at that point?
Ignis nodded, even if he was slightly annoyed, and they approached the statue. Placing side by side to it, they started pushing.
At first nothing happened, at all, so much that Ignis was going to give up, then they heard a click, and the statue moved forward at once.
Before the kids’ wide open eyes a secret passage opened, just behind the statue.
This time it was Noctis that looked at Ignis with the “I told you so” face.
The got into the passage, careful to where they put their feet. The smell of mold and ‘closed space’ filled the nose, but they didn’t hesitate.
The went down a flight of stairs and found themselves in what looked like a sort of storage. Dust and spider webs were in every corner, and Noctis, holding Ignis’s arm, couldn’t help but wondering where the spiders that had made those were.
« Look at that! » Ignis muttered.
Against the wall, covered by a dusty cloth, there was something that looked like a painting.
Looking at each other with complicity, the two kids uncovered it. They raised a lot of dust, that made both cough. Noctis rubbed his eyes to shake away the burning sensation, his nose was stinging.
The painting, so high that it almost touched the ceiling, portrayed a family of crowned nobles, father, mother and two children, not older than Noctis and Ignis.
« Who are these? » Noctis asked, his eyes fixed on the older kid. Violet hair, amber yellow eyes, he looked so serious, so determined, something that you wouldn’t expect from someone his age.
« I don’t know. I don’t think I ever read anything about it. »
« He’s got dad’s crown. » the little prince pointed at the man, tall and statuesque, that stood out between the members of his family.
« I have…I have no idea, the crown is inherited from the members of the royal family, from the Lucis. I don’t think I remember two princes. »
Noctis felt a shiver, and backed away grabbing Ignis’s hand.
« Let’s leave. » he muttered. « Let’s leave at once. »
« Noctis…are you trembling? »
« Let’s leave, please. »
He looked like he was going to cry, his voice shaking.
Ignis nodded.
The run together out of the room, up the stairs, like they had the Devil at their heels.
When they got out, heavy breathing, the statue went back at its place, silent and still like it was before they touched it.
« We will never tell anybody about this. » said Noctis, still shaking, his face pale. « Enuogh with exploration, forever. Let’s go play ball. »
Ignis nodded, holding his little hand.