Loud cheers rang out all around. The brunt of the attention was completely directed towards a large circle, six or seven meters in diameter.
It was difficult to tell with all the surrounding people crowding around it.
Its inside was painted in all sorts of pastel colors, with the center-most part, the smallest of all painted parts, being bright red.
A headless bird was running around in that circle, trotting about as if it had not just been decapitated, taking its last steps at that very moment.
"So what color did ya bet on?" Trisha asked from Noctis's left, not quite interested, but more to start a conversation.
Noctis ruminated on her words for a moment before slowly shaking his head, in regret.
"I didn't bet... This isnt my sort of game."
In response, he got a disbelieving stare, as if what he had just said was totally out of character.
"Who are you, and what have you done with Nox?"
Wincing internally, Noctis shook his head in regret. What could he do? Noctis did not dislike such games, where you mostly relied on luck. It always gave him a wonderful feeling of ecstasy when he won, but when he bet on this game in particular…
Noctis's pupils drifted towards the headless chicken still trotting about one more time, a golden thread leading its future path.
The line would split and divert slightly along its way. However, all strings inevitably ended on the green painted square. For Noctis, this game was no longer one of chance, but one where he would have to choose between winning and losing on purpose.
It had lost the lure that other games held. Of course, he wasn't really above cheating, but at the moment he did not lack money, and who knew what kind of security measures the owner of the establishment had in place. There were little technical devices that could detect his actions, he knew of, but it wasn't out of the question that the owner hired an Authority Wielder or two as overseers of the establishment.
Noctis would only risk it when truly out of options. This was, after all, his favorite gambling den, as far as he was concerned.
Feeling a sudden pressure on his shoulder, Noctis subtly shifted as he looked over to the owner of the hand now ringing around him.
"This is a sure win for myself"
The yellow-robed youth spoke with satisfaction.
Not bugged by the choice of words, Noctis shot back, subtly freeing himself from the embrace.
"You bet? I thought you weren't a fan of such things."
Little Lightning shook his head in response, a bit of smugness perceivable in his posture.
"This is no mere game; it's a show of fate."
Trisha did not give the remark a second thought, as her finger traced the rim of a half-filled glass filled, before taking a sip, her eyes closing as if enjoying the taste of her beverage. Her glass was filled with some kind of bittersweet drink. Noctis had tried it once but never really enjoyed the taste.
"And what does fate show you, through betting on the place of the bird's demise?"
Noctis asked in jest.
In truth, he was quite curious about Little Lightning's knowledge of fate. Oracle was one of the most associated cities with fate. Noctis had even heard that, like the name "Oracle" suggested, it was led by true Oracles. People who read the signs of fate. Still staying cautious, Noctis didn't like to show his interest openly. In a negotiation, it was key to hide one's desires, or others would play one for all one's worth.
For now, Little Lightning was Noctis's only source of information on the matter. After all, this city had scarcely any records on fate, and the relationship with the surrounding ones was… complicated.
Noctis would eventually have to learn about it if he ever wanted to understand what he was made to see on a daily basis. It was a basic need of his if he didn't want to continue stumbling in the dark, like the headless chicken was at this moment.
The chicken was stumbling freely now, near a blue space, its thread of life slowly growing indistinct as it began floating upward.
"It's symbolic of fate's blessing. If it truly lands on green, it means I'm following its path and am there by a blessed of fate." Little Lightning said in a slightly absentminded tone. A bit out of character for the youth of similar age.
"Do you mean that you'll have good luck? Well, couldn't I have guessed that from the outcome of your winnings?"
Trisha interjected, a bit confused by the topic, but nonetheless intrigued. She was truly curious in nature, similar to Noctis, just far more direct in her approach.
Looking over at Trisha, Little Lightning slowly shook his head at the same moment Noctis watched as the thread before wrapped around the chicken completely freed itself and started drifting upward, before suddenly disappearing completely.
Suddenly, something dark flashed before Noctis's vision so quickly that it appeared a mere blur. With it, the loud exclamation of Little Lightning rang out at his win, interrupting his attempted explanation.
Trisha was amused by the guy's sudden outburst as she patted him on the shoulder, offering words of encouragement.
Noctis, however, stayed silent, a bit confused, as he stared at the scene. The chicken's corpse was lying there, its headless body pointing towards the three of them, or was it him specifically? He couldn't tell with the distance separating them.
"What was that just now?" Noctis muttered quietly. The golden thread of life, which had been drifting a moment ago, had suddenly disappeared.
It had been slowly growing indistinct and translucent, but considering the pace, it should have taken ten or twenty minutes for it to fully disappear.
He had watched this process a few times now and never seen such an exception. It always felt like they were dragged off to some far-off dimension, not simply disappearing from one moment to another.
Elijah's pitch-black thread had not been dragged off like the others, but it seemed to decay or liquefy as it lost its substance. That had been the only exception to the rule Noctis could observe, and it had been surrounded by far more factors. Clearly different from the current situation.
"What was what, just now?" The words took Noctis out of his thoughts, making him aware of his surroundings.
At some point, Trisha had come uncomfortably close as she watched with a curiosity-filled gaze.
Feeling his face grow hot at the sudden contact of her pressing against him, Noctis carefully backed off as he shook his head, his eyes subtly wandering through the room in search of any discrepancy.
"It… was nothing," Noctis answered a bit absentmindedly.
Suddenly feeling a pain in his cheek, his eyes wandered downward, this time not continuing their search. Whatever it was, he had lost it already. There was no point in continuing the search.
Watching the modestly clothed Trisha, staring at me with narrowed eyes, as if accusing him of something. At the same time, she was pulling at his cheek with enough force to make Noctis budge. Their faces coming uncomfortably close.
"WHHat isss ittt?" Noctis asked through lisped words, his face slowly pulling back.
"You know you should enjoy the here and now a bit more."
Freeing his reddened cheek from her iron grasp, Little Lightning was on his way to collect his winnings.
"What is this now? I thought I lived my life quite laid back, enjoying every intricacy of it." Noctis leaned back in his chair, his eyebrows slightly knitted.
Not getting a direct answer, Trisha simply shook her head, as if annoyed. It seemed she was already used to and fed up with the response.
All the while, Noctis could only grumble in displeasure.
'What did I do?'
When she finally spoke, her words perplexed him even more. Her first words were mostly tuned out by the loud music playing in the background, only bits and pieces understandable.
"…Filling and tuning out the truth isn't… enjoying it."
Not giving Noctis a moment to reply, she continued. This time, every word came through clear as day.
"You know, whatever you see and try to overlook will only burden you more with time.
You have to take the good with the bad."
Not exactly understanding her meaning, Noctis shook his head one last time, let his eyes wander throughout the crowded room, and let out a final deep sigh.
Sure, it's a day off, then let's loosen up a bit.
Gulping down his beverage in one go, Nocits breathed out. His breath certainly carried the stank of his sweetly brewed beverage, and he lifted his hand as if showing that he had nothing.
The beverage had little alcohol since he disliked the feeling of altering his state of mind, but the gesture was clear.
"So… is your leg fully healed?"
Trsha asked, her gaze relaxed, with a certain calm air to it, as her left eyebrow lifted barely.
Noctis took a quick glance downward and tilted his head slightly.
"What, this old thing?" Noctis jumped up from his chair with surprising energy, firmly landing on the floor the next moment.
"It has never been better." Hitting the all-healed-up leg as a sign of prof.
"If it hadn't, the Sisyphus would have probably exchanged it for a prosthetic in my sleep," Noctis added in a joking, but at the same time somehow uneasy tone.
"Ha, ha, you paint the picture of the devil whenever you speak of him." Trisha laughed.
"You aren't wrong about that," Noctis added quietly.
"But one can't deny that his devotion to his machinery is truly enviable." Noctis threw back his tone, wistful.
"Enviable?" Trisha asked back, a bit confused.
"Well, having a purpose that is more important than your life. I can't think of something like that for myself."
Falling silent for a moment, Trisha nodded along, not feeling the need to add on.
"So are you going to ask me to dance, or why are you still standing?"
Looking up and down between them for a few moments, Noctis had already gotten used to her teasing.
"The Labinnac ball is going to be held in a month. So knowing how to dance can't be harmful." In the same breath as his words left his mouth, he stretched out a hand as if to gesture for Trisha's hand.
A bit pleased by the bold move, Trisha elegantly pulled herself out of her chair with the help of Noctis's hand.