[Chapter 01 - SCENE] An interrogation and a battle of wits

[sarcasticfonist.livejournal.com]

Who: Jade and Luke
Where: A cabin on the Tartarus
When: Right after he finds Luke and Tear in Cheagle Woods

Tugging once again against the shackles that bound him to this uncomfortable chair, Luke fon Fabre once again scanned his surroundings. The Tartarus' cabin was rather bland looking compared tot he luxurious and well-lit Duke's Manor, but Luke certainly was exposed to a lot of different locales... but this one was definitely boring. Being separated from Tear, he didn't exactly know what was going on, or what to say. But if Malkuth was determined to take him again, he wasn't going to go down without a fight. Still, all of this was new to him... but should any harm come upon him, his father would certainly make sure they'd regret it.

“My, you really shouldn’t tug at those. Well, unless you do wish to harm yourself. Far be it from me to not let you indulge if you are that sort of person.” Jade commented while staring at the boy intently. He knew that the redhead was hiding something, and honestly wasn’t surprised. If his guess was right, his prisoner was Kimlascan, and probably also a noble judging from what he saw so far.

“Now, down to business. A Seventh Fonon hyperresonance came from the direction of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear and converged in Tataroo Valley. When you were found in Cheagle Woods, there were Seventh Fonons coming from both you and the woman with you. That would make you guilty of illegally trespassing into Malkuth, or are you going to say that wasn’t you?”

Half of those words went over Luke's head, though he vaguely remembered them from stories his mother read to him. But as Tear warned him back in Engeve, it was probably not a wise thing to divulge too much information. "Hey, it's not like I wanted to end up here, old man! I didn't even intend to cause a hyperresonance with that chick. In fact, if you want to send me back home, then by all means, go ahead and do so!" Luke's face contorted in discomfort mainly due to the shackles, but attempted to keep his cool. This guy was actually a little scary.

It seemed Jade was getting somewhere. He had doubted the hyperresonance was intentional, they usually weren't. But so little was honestly known that it was hard to begin to theorize what could have happened. "Oh, is that so? Then perhaps you could tell what happened, beginning with your full name?"

Luke tried to read that smiling face, but that was to no avail. He didn't exactly seem like the most helpful name, either, and as tear told him before, there's no telling what could happen if people knew that Duke Fabre's son was back in Malkuth. "Usually it's better manner to offer your own name before asking somebody else's isn't it? In any case..." Luke sighed, those shackles were really irritating. He's take the Manor over this any day. "I don't know. They say hyperresonances happen between two seventh fonists, but my cousin is also a Seventh Fonist and nothing like this ever happened! if anything, I bet it's that girl's fault, so you should be asking her!"

"Oh, I do apologize for the lack of introduction. Colonel Jade Curtiss of the Third Division Malkuth Military Forces."

And this boy was definitely a spoiled one. But he would keep control of this situation, and as curious as he may be about the other things said, first he needed to know how Luke got here in the first place. "I'm quite aware of how a hyperresonance occurs, even if you are not. Perhaps you and your cousin didn't have close enough contact to cause one. So did you and Tear perhaps have a lover's quarrel and that caused it?"

"Oh, please, Tear would kill me if I went near those melons of hers." Luke scoffed. "And no, the moment we met was the moment the hyperresonance occurred!" Luke growled a little bit. "Fine, if you must know, I'm the very person you Malkuthians attempted to kidnap seven years ago. So, isn't it about time you apologized to me and returned me to my home? I really don't feel like suffering another bout of amnesia; keeping that diary, I can assure you rereading it would not be fun."

A kidnapping? He didn't recall any Kimlascans having been kidnapped by Malkuth. And a kidnapping causing amnesia, that was a rather strange sounding thing. He would definitely have to ask more, but first he needed the boy's name.

"Ah, but it seems now you are the one being rude. You recall your situation here. As it stands you are here illegally, now perhaps along with your name, you could give a reason why I should even consider your request?"

A /reason/?! Luke became suddenly very agitated. He DESERVED to have his requests fulfilled. "I am Luke fon Fabre, does that name ring a bell, old man? You guys kidnapped me seven years ago, and because of that my damn memory's been wiped! How about an official public apology, you assholes?!"

Hmm, that name did ring a bell. It made sense now why he was keeping quiet about it, this boy would be the son of Duke Fabre, one of Malkuth's greatest enemies, and one in line for the Kimlascan throne. That now made him curious as to why the boy would end up here of all places. Tataroo Valley wasn't too far away from the Kimlascan capital.

But he did not recall anything about anyone kidnapping this boy, at least not someone from Malkuth. There had to be another explanation, because he doubted that such a thing would have happened and escaped his knowledge.

"My, I'm so terribly hurt. So you would be the son of Duke Fabre who married into the Kimlascan Royal Family, correct? But what's this about a kidnapping and amnesia? And what brought you to Engeve and the Cheagle Woods? You were much closer to Baticul before."

"It's all Tear's fault!" There was very little to do with stopping Luke's tirading nature now. "She thought we were still in Kimlasca, so we hired a carriage to take us to the Capital... which, turns out, to be when we came across the bombing of the bridge on our way to Grand Chokmah! Then we stopped, and that's when we ended up at Engeve, and now all this happened, and AAARGH!" If his hands were free, they would be running through his own hair in aggravation. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to hear the other part of the question.

Getting anything out of this boy was definitely going to be an exercise in patience. It was like dealing with a child. He would have to get more details on this amnesia, though he was already gaining some suspicions about what could have caused it.

But truly, what educated person could be so clueless about where they were? Or even not know to ask the coachman if they weren't sure. He was surprised that Tear would have made such a mistake being a soldier, but she was young, and youth did make errors.

"Oh, so you blame the woman then? Is this how all Kimlascan nobles are taught to behave then? Are they that poorly educated about the world?"

Yes, that dig should work well. At minimum, it would anger the young noble. At best, it would give him what he needed to confirm his suspicion.

"Gaah, dammit!" Luke was exhausted from this. Saying anything else obviously wasn't going to do any good for him. "... fine, so Tear was just trying her best. I'm useless, okay, since I obviously don't know half what anything any of you are saying! So, considering if I'm so dumb, why don't you just leave me alone?!"

Well, at least the young noble was honest. It did seem like he was very ill educated, and that seemed very strange for a young noble from what Jade had seen. "Oh, no, I can't do that. I still need to know a few things so I can determine what to do with you. As it stands now, your actions could be considered an act of agression towards Malkuth. Was that House Fabre's intent? That and you have not mentioned how you and Tear even met."

"I don't know the entire story." Luke responded. "I was training with Master Van in the courtyard of the Fabre estate. All of the sudden, Tear came by, trying to assassinate Master Van. When I tried to defend him, that's when we came into contact and a hyperresonance occurred. I only found out shortly before you captured us that Tear's Master Van's little sister.

Now that definitely sounded like a rather extreme case of sibling rivalry. Hmm, so Tear was related to Van Grants, the Commandant of the Oracle Knights. She was an Oracle Knight herself, but obvious dislikes her brother enough to attempt to kill him. Rather odd, Jade thought.

"So you are saying then that this is an issue with the Order of Lorelei rather than an act of agression from Kimlasca? Or perhaps it is just a case of sibling rivalry?"

"I don't know either way." Luke responded. "As I said before, I only found out the fact that Tear is Master Van's sister right before you captured us. I didn't have any chance to be able to ask her what was going on. In any case, I can assure you that I, a Kimlascan, mean no aggression towards your country." At least, that's how Natalia would put it, wouldn't she? "But Tear was definitely aggressive toward Master Van back in Baticul, that much I witnessed. As for her reasons, I don't know."

And it seemed Jade wouldn't get much more on that. He'd have to keep it in mind when he spoke with Tear later, even if it was doubtful she'd talk, especially if it was a personal matter between brother and sister.

"Well, then now that we have all that settled, perhaps you could tell me more about this kidnapping you are accusing me of?"

"What part of the story didn't you understand?" luke sarcastically spoke. "My. Memory. Is. Lost. I don't know how to make it any simpler than that." Luke was tired and it's not like he was trying to give Jade an attitude, but in his current state he could do little but that. "I was just told by everyone else afterwards that Malkuth was the force who kidnapped me."

So he only thought it was Malkuth because he was told it. Obviously this young noble lacked the ability to think for himself as he was showing rather well. The best solution at this point was to find out where this accusation came from, and the extent of this amnesia.

It was obvious the story of Malkuth kidnapping the boy was a coverup of some sort. But why, and who would have done such a thing? It was a surprise Kimlasca did little about it if that was the case. Kidnapping one in line to the throne would be an act that could very well cause a war.

"So you say you were told that you were kidnapped by Malkuth. Was it Duke Fabre who told you? And why didn't Kimlasca act on something that could very well have caused a war between the two nations? It just seems rather strange and very unpleasant indeed."

"It was Master Van, mostly, since Master Van was the one who rescued me." Luke mentioned. He wouldn't dignify Jade's other comments with a response.

This was getting stranger by the second. The number of times Van Grants' name has come up in this could not be a coincidence. Tear had to have a very good reason to risk so much in attempting to kill her own brother. Whatever that reason was, the man was probably up to no good.

Which made his story given to Luke all that much more suspicious. It was obviously a lie, but what would the Oracle Knights' Commandant have to gain from such a lie.

What to do about this? It was not exactly something he could determine now. But at the very least, it was evident that there wasn't a reason to restrain the young noble. However, for his own safety, and until he knew more, it was probably for the best to keep him confined to a cabin. He unlocked the shackles binding Luke for now.

"Until I know more, you won't be restrained, but I will have to confine you to this cabin until I know more and for your own safety."

"Where is this landship headed to, anyway?" Luke asked, rubbing his wrists. Those guards didn't look like they'd let him out, either. "This is the same one that chased the Dark Wings at Rotelro Bridge, right?"

Well, the young noble wasn't going to get the truth that easily. It was possible that he could be of use, but he needed to know some more first, that and Ion had to agree since he was an important part of this mission. At minimum, returning the missing heir could aid his mission greatly.

"Ah, so that was the coach you were riding. Considering what you saw, wouldn't our destination be obvious?"

"You're talking to somebody who knows nothing about geography." Luke muttered underneath his breath. "You're gonna tell me that you're in this landship to declare war on Kimlasca or something?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "It's not my fault if you weren't paying attention. As far as our mission, it is confidential. At this time all I can say that no harm will come to you or Tear."

"Hmph." Luke crossed his arms. However, he was secretly relieved that Tear would be okay. "Despite all I said... from my point of view, I can't think of Tear as a bad person. So at least be somewhat nice to her, okay?" Luke sort of asked, without making eye contact. "I know for sure she wasn't trying to be aggressive toward Malkuth, either."

"Now why would I wish to harm a woman? Or have you claimed her for yourself already and feel a need to protect her?" Jade asked the boy looking at him rather intently.

"Nothing that crazy!" Luke angrily retorted. "Besides, wouldn't that be gross, her being half your age, old man?"*

His rather quick and angry denial showed he likely had an attraction to the Oracle Knight. Not surprising, she was an attractive woman. "And when did I say I have any interest in her besides getting her side of this story?"

"Dammit, stop using your mind games on me! Just because you have fonic artes you think you're all so hot! If you had to fight me weapon to weapon I bet I'd kick your ass!" Luke angrily shouted.

Jade just shrugged his shoulders. "You'd only be at an advantage because I wouldn't wish to harm one in line for the Kimlascan throne. It would rather cripple relations between our countries. But then, if you were to attack me, matters would be different."

He wondered if the young noble was truly considering attacking him. It wouldn't be surprising, he was doing his utmost to provoke the boy into revealing more. "However, as entertaining as your attempts would be, I do have other duties to attend to, and unlike yourself, my time is quite limited. I will be leaving two soldiers to keep watch."