20:41 - Chapter 2: Urgotocin, The Magic Chemical

One week after the coronation, all academic activities started. It was the beginning of a new academic year. All the students at Advanced Nurturing Highschool were excited to see their new classmate, a 19 year old King. It was the hot topic of day. Everywhere, everyone was eager to see him, his admirers quite happy that they get to spend an entire term with him. That morning was a bliss.

[Indistinct clatter of the radio on the thundertrain] "Today marks the beginning of a new academic term. Hope to many students who will graduate, excitement to new students stepping into highschool, a day of honour for academic achievers turning scientists and researchers, and to all those teachers who are happy to see their students faces' again! But most of all, today is such a special day, because our former Yellow King will be attending school! Most of his classmates must be excited, and some might loathe him, as they might be supporters of the Crimson King! What awaits the young lad at school? Only time will tell us!"

[Clarissa: excited] "We're finally going to meet him! I just cant wait!"

[Arjun: annoyed] "How come you're acting like Parvati, while she's sitting in that corner, without speaking a word?"

Just then, Parvati comes turns towards the both of them and gives them a nervous smile. Arjun and Clarissa observe her hands. They see that Parvati is holding her hands tightly, making sure nobody can see that they're shivering with excitement.

[Arjun: kind of afraid] "Oh no! She has that look and that weirdly nervous smile! And she can't stop her hands from shaking!!"

Arjun turns to Clarissa and she nods in agreement. Their stop arrives. Without uttering a single word, Parvati got down the train. Arjun and Clarissa followed. The entire time they walked to the auditorium, none of them uttered a single word. Everyone was equally excited.

The Auditorium. Advanced Nurturing Highschool. A grand structure just by itself, this school-cum-college boasts the highest success rate in terms of employment of their students, research and academics. Using state-of-the-art teaching techniques, this institution prepares its students to face the real world. Needless to say, the auditorium is humungous. With a capacity to house the entire student body, teaching and non-teaching staff, this auditorium runs on the highest floor of the massive 300-acre building in a 500-acre land. Let's also note that the school has a train station of its own, and located inside the campus. The thundertrain has its usual course from the dormitories to the school at the exact time the school starts and ends. Every single student, including new admissions have assembled in the auditorium waiting for the Principal to give his usual 'start-of-the-term' speech. But following the speech was what everyone was waiting for. They'd finally be able to meet Noct, their former Yellow King. As usual, some haters were also present, who originally hail from the White District, and now that their king is the all supreme Crimson King, reek in the scent of pride and power.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Green District, sector 2. Centre for Nanoscience and Enzyme Technology.

[Researcher 1:Reporting to the Head] "All analysis complete. The chemical isolated is very new and affects unknown. Although, tests on mice have shown increased metabolism overall, while each mice excelled in something different than the other. It's like, they excelled at something they wished for."

[The Head: intrigued] "That opens up room of lot of improvements. But can also be dangerous if it were to reach the wrong hands. Or if we were to wish for something unruly or …….. "

He takes a pause, almost as if searching for the precise word. A huge wave of silence.

[The Head] "….. Disastrous."

Another wave of silence. Broken by the footsteps of the reporting researcher leaving, a familiar voice calls out.

[Marcus: clearly annoyed] "Ok Noct. What are you doing in here? Shouldn't you be in school? It's almost time to start! And you're going to be late on your very first day!"

[Noct: happily whistling] "You didn't have to stress the word 'school' so much Marcus. Take a break. I'm just going to get the teachers' hopes high by punctual the very first day!"

[Marcus: worried] "Do you plan on being tardy then?"

[Noct: still whistling] "No. Not really. I just want to enjoy the phase!"

[Marcus: annoyed] "For god's sake! You have a throne to reclaim!"

[Noct: almost teasing] "I have the 'Urgotocin' for that!"

[Marcus: bewildered] "The WHAT now?"

[Noct] "It's that chemical about which the researcher was telling me. I've named it 'Urgotocin'".

[Marcus] "You surely come up with some weird names. Explain why you named it so later. But for now, stop being notty and leave for school already!"

Noct almost fell off laughing at the way Marcus pronounced 'notty'.

[Marcus: confused] "What?"

[Noct: laughing] "It's N-A-U-G-H-T-Y. Not N-O-T-T-Y. Get that? That's the one thing you always get wrong!"

[Marcus] "Well, alright. But I think 'notty' suits you better. Rhymes well with Noct. As in 'Notty Noct'!"

[Noct: ticked] "That wasn't funny. And, are we leaving? I'm going to be late!"

[Marcus: relieved] "Sure, lord Noctilius. This way please!"

Marcus points towards the exit as Noct leaves his majestic 'Head-of-the-Establishment' chair, clearly annoyed by Marcus having called him 'lord'. Marcus is silently relieved as, for a change, Noct laughed, setting aside his usual monotonous tone.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Advanced Nurturing Highschool. Class 11-B. Supposedly the class of our Yellow Prince Noct. {We'll call him Prince since he's young now}

All the students, for the first time ever, are waiting for the teacher to show up. Because only the class teacher introduces the new students. Everyone is excited, foes and allies equally. All the students can hear now is the ticking of the clock on the wall, as they wait for the teacher to come. Not much of waiting, the door opens and the teacher enters, but she's visibly worried. The students also start worrying seeing the teacher. She checks everyone in the class, and glances furiously at her watch, growing impatient by the minute.

[Noct: from the last bench] "I believe you're looking for me, madam?"

[The teacher: shocked] "How and when did you get into the class, Your Highness?"

[Noct: a bit annoyed] "Well, seeing that I'm no longer the king, you can just call me Noct. And that goes for everyone in the class too. Also, about how I came in-"

Noctilius is interrupted by the sudden entry of the principal, carrying a tad cold expression in his eyes.

[Principal: glaring at Noct] "Well, you see Mr. Noctilius, you are to enter the room by the doors provided and not through the window. You managed that feat since the classroom is in the first floor, but I expect that you'll come through the door from tomorrow?"

Everyone is clearly astounded by the act of the Yellow Prince. Arjun, Clarissa and Parvati let out a little smile.

[Parvati: mumbling to the other two] "Well, he's not as decent as we imagined him. He seems a little mischievous and a little-"

[Noct: interrupting] "-Notty?"

[Arjun, Clarissa and Parvati: in unison] "What?" The three of them were stunned by how powerful Noct's hearing was. They were towards the front rows while Noct was at the back. Yet, he perfectly heard what Parvati barely whispered.

[Teacher: smiling] "It's 'N-AUG-H-T-Y', not 'N-O-T-T-Y' Noct."

[Noct: returning the pun] "Definitely not 'N-O-T-T-Y' Noct."]

The whole class had a laugh. The Principal formally introduced himself and after a brief session of classmate introductions, everyone settled in their seats, Noct moving towards the front to take seats with Arjun, Clarissa and Parvati. Clarissa and Parvati were overjoyed, barely able to concentrate the first two hours. Arjun smiled, knowing he'd been noticed by Noct. It was a new beginning. A new life for Noct, a new friendship for the trio.

Lunch time. As the teacher left, all the students almost immediately turned the where Noct was sitting, ideally. But everyone were surprised to see Noct's seat empty!

[Classmate 1: shocked] "It hasn't been a minute since the teacher left! Where did he disappear in such short time frame?"

[Classmate 2] "Are you even sure he was here for the last hour? He did leave the classroom after the fourth hour because he had a doubt, and wanted to clarify it."

[Parvati: excited] "YES. Yes he was present for the last hour. I was staring at him the entire hour!" It took her a while to realize what she just told. Clearly thrown off and embarrassed, she tried to defend herself. "I mean, I was just making sure he was comfortable, with the material and other stuff-" she couldn't stop shaking.

[Clarissa and Arjun: teasing] "Uh-huh! We saw, we saw, Parvati. That was so noble of you!"

The entire class had a good laugh. Not finding Noct in the classroom or adjacent areas, everyone proceeded to eat their lunch, while some progressed to the cafeteria. Parvati, being adamant on eating with Noct, dragged Arjun and Clarissa along with her. SO, inevitably, in the end, the three of them set out to find Noct, only to stumble upon Marcus near the staircase.

[Marcus: recovering his balance] "Woah woah! Slowly there. Watch where you're going!

[The Trio: helping themselves up] "Sorry!"

[Parvati] "We were just in a hurry to find Noct! He slipped away at the start of the break!"

[Marcus: laughing] "Well in that case, follow me!"

The trio make their way to the terrace following Marcus. They are shocked to see Noct sitting over the edge, his legs flailing in the air, enjoying the beauty of the skyscraper-nature mixture in front of him.

[Marcus: teasing] "You sure enjoy the breeze, isn't it Noct?"

[Noct: completely ignoring Marcus] "I see that I have visitors."

[Marcus: returning the favour] "First. This isn't the palace anymore. Two. You're getting no lunch!"

As Marcus proceeds to turn away just to teach Noct a lesson for ignoring him, Parvati snatches the parcel of lunch from Marcus and makes her way over to Noct, leaps over the edge and sits beside Noct. Startled at first, Noct became ready to catch her but she had perfect balance. Just as she was getting comfortable on the edge, Parvati heard Arjun and Clarissa tell her something.

[Arjun, Clarissa: in unison, almost smirking] "Parvati! Did you forget you're afraid of heights?" And as her fear came back to her, Parvati started shivering. Just as Noct was about her reach her hand to calm her down, she panicked and slipped over the edge. Whatever happened next happened in a flash. All that Marcus, Arjun and Clarissa saw after a blinding flash and a loud thud was a huge crater on the ground, Noct holding up Parvati completely in his arms and his yellow flames slowly subsiding away.

[Marcus, Arjun and Clarissa: in unison, worried] "Are you ok?" They were yelling from the top of the building.

[Noct: barely hearing what they shouted, but still guessing and yelling fine] "Yeah, we're fine!"

As they made their way down, Arjun and Clarissa seemed confused, and Marcus clearly was worried about the same thing that the two were confused about. After reaching Noct and Parvati and checking if they were okay, Marcus and Noct shared a long stare, almost as if they were communicating via their eyes. Just then, Arjun and Clarissa blurted out, unable to contain themselves.

[Arjun, Clarissa: curious] "We heard over the news that you lost your powers. But just now, we saw they yellow flames. Be honest Noct, you still have your powers wi-?"

In a reflex response, Marcus takes Arjun by the torso and muffles him, while Noct does the same to Clarissa. After checking that nobody were around, Noct and Marcus release the two.

[Arjun, Clarissa: gasping for breath] "You almost killed us! What were you thinking suffocating us like this?"

[Noct: still being cautious] "We will talk about this after school. Don’t take the thundertrain back to dormitories. Wait for me near the main entrance."

The following two hours and recess hours went by in silence. Noct was greeted my most of his classmates and got to make a few friends during recess hours, Parvati still in the high that she was held by Noct, Arjun and Clarissa waiting for an answer from him, Arjun, starting to get jealous about Noct.

As usual, Noct slipped away by the end of recess hour. Parvati tried to go in search of him, but Arjun literally dragged her towards the main entrance, Clarissa trailing them and wondering what had gotten into Arjun.

[Parvati: wriggling free from Arjun] "Hey! Let me go search for Noct!"

[Clarissa: confused] "Arjun what the-? Don't worry Parvati, Noct's gonna come in a while! Arjun be a bit more gen-"

Just then, Arjun felt someone snatch Parvati away from his clutches. He turned to see who it was, and it was Noct. Arjun knew best not to make a scene, so he scoffed and tagged along. A huge limousine showed up and picked up our Yellow Prince.

Clarissa was getting impatient by the minute. As they settled in the limousine, Clarissa asked away again.

[Clarissa: asking impatiently] "What is all this Noct? As far as we heard, you lost your position as a King and also your powers. But just today, during the break, we saw you use your power. What is going on?"

[Marcus: controlling Clarissa] "I know you want answers Clarissa. I'm sorry but I want to wait till we reach a particular place. Our 'notty' Noct here has a knack for stirring up trouble."

[Marcus: internal monologue] "I'm actually surprised Noct managed to make friends on his very day of school. And not to mention he did deviate from his usual monotonous tone. Will these three be the key to making him better?"

Just as Marcus was wondering, they reached the Centre for Nanoscience and Enzyme Technology. As they got down the limousine and proceeded inside the centre, they are greeted by two people they hardly ever hoped to meet: President Eldridge and the Crimson King, Merodach.

[Mero: sneering on Noct] "Fancy meeting you here Noct. Do you think you still own this centre?"

[Noct: in his usual cold, monotonous tone] "Why of course! I still own this place. It was not built as part of my rule as a king, but as an educational institution, so I technically still own it, despite losing the royalties.

Also, if you might have forgotten, I am 19 years old. Which means, I'm a major and perfectly capable of running the institution.

Merodach gave a furious look to Eldridge. Eldridge nodded in acceptance.

[Marcus: backing up Noct] "Also, if you should know, my Crimson Highness, that our friend Noct here is not only the owner, but also a leading researcher here."

Noct makes his way to his majestic seat that indicates him as the head of the institution.

[Eldridge: mockingly] "You do realize Noct, that you no longer are the king right? As you lost your power, all your royalties and possession are transferred to the Government until you resume your post. So, wouldn't it be a violation if you used the limousine?"

As Eldridge finished his sentence, a few documents came flying and hit him in the face. It was Marcus. Enraged by the disrespect shown, Eldridge grabbed the papers and read through. Merodach also peeped in from the side. It seems that Noct had transferred over some of his possessions to Marcus the night before the fight, as a precautionary measure. His limousine, his personal drones and a few other 'essentials' were transferred over to Marcus.

[Merodach: snarling] "Smart move, Noct! But you know that still won't work right?" BY this time, Mero's snarl had turned into an ugly smirk.

Amidst all this commotion, the trio were confused about a lot. But they were more interested in why the transfer wouldn't work.

[Arjun: finally realizing] "Wait, I think I know why! I heard my father say this once. Any person who signs up to be a part of the King's command, either a soldier, spy or a courtiers, would be considered as Kingmen. If they King were to lose power, all his men would be transferred over and would serve the victorious king, while the royalties and possession are transferred to the Government. So technically, Marcus belongs to Merodach, and so does the limousine and other possessions transferred to him. Marcus has only been with Noct because they're best friends."

[Clarissa: curious] "Is that how everything works? And how did you realize that they were best friends?"

[Arjun: clarifying] "It's quite obvious. You just have to observe really close."

[Parvati: panicking] "This is bad. This is seriously, seriously bad. What do we do?"

[Clarissa: worried] "We can't do anything but wait and watch. And whatever is going to happen, I dread it's going to be nasty.

As the trio murmured among themselves, Noct seemed to have realised the same. He got up from his seat and furiously marched towards Mero. Under normal circumstances, a fight would ensue, but Noct was trying really hard to control his anger, and trying not to show Mero he hadn't lost his powers.

[Noct: snarling] "Why you little-"

[Merodach: smirking] "I'll cut to the chase, Noct. I'll be a gentleman and let you keep your best friend and all the possessions you transferred over to him. But….. [He gave a long pause]….. I need something in return."

Marcus signalled Noct to let him handle this. Quite a subtle signal, but Noct understood. Clarissa saw this and smiled at Arjun. He was right in guessing they were best friends.

[Marcus: questioning] "And what exactly do you want in return?"

Mero's smirk grew even wider.

[Mero] "Oh it's very simple. Give me the new 'magic' chemical you discovered three days ago. I believe your researcher gave you a report this morning, before you went to school?"

Marcus was shocked. That chemical Urgotocin was supposed to be topic secret.

[Marcus: sweating] "How did you kno-"

[Noct: interrupting] "We don't fully about it yet!"

[Mero: glaring at Marcus] "How do I know? The Termites of course!" [Turning towards Noct] "Come on, Noct. You must not tell lies." Mero snaps his finger and the researcher who gave the report that morning came out with the reports. Everyone were shocked. Mero handed over the file containing the details about the chemical.

[Mero: glaring at Noct] "Not ready…. Is it?"

[Marcus: interrupting as he knows Noct's next move] "Noct no!-"

[Noct: in his monotonous tone] "Take it."

[Mero: smirking] "I was planning on taking it anyways."

With that, Mero, Eldridge and the researcher leave with the data and the chemical.

[Marcus: furious] "Why? WHY DID YOU GIVE IT AWAY! YOU KNOW HOW DANGEROUS THAT CHEMICAL IS! DON'T YOU?" But he was instantly calmed down as he looked at Noct.

[Noct: breaking a smile with teary eyes] "Nothing is more important to me than you buddy. I'm sorry, but I wouldn't ever give you up, Marcus."

Noct and Marcus share a long silence. Marcus finally breaks a smile. "I know." he replies, as Parvati jumps into hug Noct.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile. Underground facility, Aelos Tower. Secret room for the King's meeting with his spy network. The spies are known as 'Wolves'. There are five wolves with one leader, the Alpha. As Alpha enters the room, he notices only three in the room. Just then, his network mobile beeps.

[Alpha Wolf] "We have pledged our oath to the Yellow King. He might no longer be our King, but we are his eyes and ears outside. We need to meet up with the Prince as soon as possible, since this building is now under the Government's control. He will guide us forward. Do you copy?"

[Remaining Wolves] "Yes Alpha!"

[Alpha Wolf] "I have info that one of our men has been compromised and now works for the Crimson King." He proceeds to show the message to the three present. "I've asked one of our men to trail the Prince. He sent this just now. If anyone of you has such plans of betrayal, I'm going to have to warn you against my wrath." The Alpha glares on the three.

[Remaining Wolves] "No Alpha! We swear this instant that we will stay loyal to the Yellow Prince!"

The Wolves all, including the Alpha, as they make this oath, kneel before the portrait of the Yellow King in that room.

{NOTE: This work is purely fictional. Any resemblance of any characters or concepts mentioned in the story is completely unintended. This is a fictional story.}