Deception

.:Chapter 18: Final:.

"He fell asleep, that's it!" Malikai exclaimed, putting an end to their little debate.

Vixen huffed in anger and looked at Lucien. He gave her a little shrug.

"Fermaw has class. He wouldn't allow himself to sleep on the side of the street." Lucien didn't get it at all. He looked at Vixen once again and saw that she was chewing her lip nervously and was now rubbing her hands together in a similar manner.

She looked at Lucien, a look that said 'Can you please leave us? We have something to discuss.' Lucien nodded and left the room.

Central City was enormous and was so beautiful. He could get lost in it's beauty alone. The mayor outdone himself. The last Lucien was here was when he was still in training with Harvey. This place was a ruin once. Time moves incredibly fast.

Lucien bumped into a familiar figure and he caught Celestial just as she was about to slam her back on the ground. He fixed her posture, putting her back into balance.

"Have you seen Zack?" She asked, her voice ragged from running. "We've been looking and there's no sign of him."

Lucien shook his head. "He probably got lost or something. This city is gigantic." Celestial's face did not relax. "We can ask Vixen to find him later."

She narrowed her eyes at the name. "Why not now?"

"They're watching over Roman."

Her eyes narrowed deeper. "Why what happened to the male?"

"He—"

"Have you found him?" Both of them looked over to see Crestella, her hood on. She let it down, showing a face full of sweat. Celestial shook her head. "He couldn't have gone that far. Master won't venture alone is such a world with too many creatures."

Master. The word made Lucien feel a little uncomfortable. Of course he had a master. There was La Luna and then Vixen. But none of them he ever called master. It's such a formal name.

Crestella shook her head. "He would—"

"The wind said there were two ladies looking for me." They all turned to see the white-head they were looking for, his sleeves and the lower part of his pants gone. He noticed the worried looks they all gave him so he smiled sheepishly then said, "A rogue dog. I got away as soon as possible but some parts of my clothes didn't."

"God, then let's get you new clothes. You're a lord, for heaven's sake! You look like the Phoenix tried to burn you alive." Crestella grabbed his hands and led him to a near shop. Lucien looked at Celestial, seeing if she saw how Zack flinched when Crestella mentioned burning or the words before.

Celestial shook her head, rubbing her temples. "Should I go after them or talk to someone else I haven't really talked to before?"

"The latter seems better. They're looking for clothes, you'll never hear the end of it." He gave Celestial a smile and she laughed.

"Alright then. How do we start this? I'm Celestial but that's too long. I want to be called Celeste again, gosh, it's been over a decade since I heard someone say that name." She held out an arm, smiling.

He took the hand. "Lucien. Zack calls me Luke when Abby is around. But now, he likes to waste saliva on saying extra syllables."

She laughed, shaking his hand. "You are funny, Luke. I didn't know you had it in you. I thought you were one of the serious guys."

"Well," he gave her a grin. "You thought wrong, Celeste." The name was foreign in his mouth but with his accent, the word sounded lyrical. "I am as witty as Vixen."