Fate had a funny way of handling itself, leaving Lumina to giggle as there were moments where surely, the Chairman would or should have turned to look at the two. Except he didn't and it was a wonder if he knew what the two were up to. His body language didn't provide much hints, only deep and hearty chuckles. Mog seemed to occupy his intentions in full, sparing any consequences that would have been had.

Caius squeeze of her hand, only brought on a guilty expression. The kind which meant she'd gotten into mischief and was clearly in way over her head. So perhaps it was no surprise when she delayed this news for a moment, latching onto Caius remarks regarding her Father. She raised her visible left brow, before shaking her head and laughing. "Dad...is Dad. My 'butler', as I like to call him, is actually my cousin, Lorenzo. Since I'm usually away, he handles a lot of stuff and recently, he's been taking care of someone on my behalf. A fellow Outlander, she has...amazing powers but her memory is gone completely. I've never seen it this bad, when he told me, I made sure to let him use all my resources to take care of her." she explains though in doing so, she clearly changed the subject completely. That wasn't the only thing, she had slipped into character, as it were. Referring to Clarissa's cousin and Clarissa's adoptive Father, as her own.

That slip was just the beginning, this was why she had to stop him at the door. It was one thing to let Caius into her own life, she'd happily done so and went with the flow. This was Clarissa's life that was about to be breeched. Attempting to keep the two divided, when they 'neatly' coalesced was impossible. So, she searched his eyes, with an expression not her own, that she had trained to attain. Claire had a bashful expression, one more fitting of Clarissa at the mention of what did she do.

Thoughts swirled through her mind and distracted her from the morbid curiosity bubbling within Caius. She didn't stop him, largely because he had surprised her by the somewhat intimate touch. Parting her bangs to the side, revealed blackened sclera and a bright, star coloured iris. "Ah..." her reaction was mild, a soft gasp of surprise before maintaining a brave and inviting disposition. She wouldn't look away, nor close her eye. Instead she kept a faint smile before replying. "I broke an Outlander out of a noble's dungeon."

Setting the stage with that remark, she shifted to what likely mattered more, "I left Torensten after that, to lay low. I had a board meeting coming up here, so I had to return home." it felt strange to call Sonora home but it was the first of the cities that she came upon and thus, the unaccounted tales started here.

"When I arrived in Sonora, I learned of some distressing incidents regarding...My company, Radiant Dawn Corporation. The 'guest' that's trying to steal my body, felt that was an opportunity to embrace Motherhood. I didn't know that she could do that. Needless to say, the infection count has risen. They're being kept at a private hospital to prevent the outbreak spreading. While I'm...out here, being quarantined." she sighed now and that front of bravery, shattered.

A tear streamed down from her now exposed right eye. "What a way to kick off my third birthday, as Clarissa Fairborn..." only then did she look away. Eyes distant as she began to recollect her first time in Mount Hotan. A caravan of scholars had went north from Metaia, through Kahiko and settled here. Only to be caught up in a terrible incident, an assassination attempt. Really, they had succeeded, calling it an attempt was just publicity. All because an outlander of similar size and features was caught in the crosshairs. On that day, an outlander was declared deceased and Clarissa was spared.

"It should have been me, I'm so sorry..."

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Marco Dubois was a name that Light very much knew, from her perspective as Lumina. He'd been getting in her way for quite some time. To be foiled in some regards by a "kid" was not something he could take lightly. Try as she might have in passing, to explain she was older than she looked. After awhile, whilst it did seem Lumina had been aging, it didn't remove the perception of being young. Nor did it prevent Marco from using her youthful appearance to screw her on some deals. Yeah, this was a bit personal and getting him back seemed like a great idea. Especially now that she finally had the means to do so.

So how exactly was she going to settle her own debts with Marco Dubois? Well, it started with a sympathy letter and compensation for his stolen airship. Made certain by certain law enforcement that Fran's crime was compensated. What a generous benefactor Fran had earned. There was supposed to be a little dinner to celebrate two rivals putting aside their differences. Another way in which he could undermine Lumina and her youthful inexperience or so he thought! Reality was different, for Lumina had regained her true appearance sometime prior. Both sides of her heart had merged back together, resulting in a much older Claire Farron also existing in Torensten.

Using her change in appearance to her advantage, the ex-Saviour managed to get inside. Leaving the Airship proprietor to wait for a young lady that wasn't coming. Instead, whilst she couldn't claim to be the ever dashing Balthier, she was at least a bit dashing, surely? From the confident stride of her footsteps within the dungeon hallway. The black ankle boots slightly accentuated with hot pink, the form fitting black pants, the classy black corset, the long light pink hair and the amused sea blue eyes that now peered into the cell completed the look. Oh and there was also a Moogle floating to her right.

"Fran, I presume? Aren't you the ill-begotten prize." the woman remarks because first impressions were everything.

There she was, the leading lady of the hour, not at all who was expected to be here. "We don't have much time. Getting you out of here isn't an issue. Keeping you out of here, is going to be the real challenge. Has he fed you at all?" the Moogle by her side proceeded to look about, it was dark in this dungeon. Spare the torch lit segments to aid would be jailors and a certain owner from checking in on their captives, of course.

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As Caius listened in, Lumina wasn't particularly secretive with her whisper, so he'd hear the following:



It was one thing having to rewind her age to twelve once, then she had to do it again when arriving in Zephon complete with a fragmented memory. This second time around had more complications and worse, she had to manage her aging too. This just proved it was all fun and games...until it was serious. Also another reminder of "be careful what you wish for". Having thought it'd be nice to get a redo on her lost childhood, really her teen years, Zephon had granted her wish. Complete with a twin sister so she'd enjoy it twice as much!

All the complication, which she'd deftly handled for nearly three years, paled in comparison to the simplistic problem she faced presently. How does one present the person they like, to their Father? Hindsight being twenty-twenty, maybe... maybe, she should have gone easier on Snow and Serah. Certainly explained why Serah hid him from her, even though; like every good parent, she'd met him in spite of Serah's best efforts. Talk about getting her just desserts now!

Caius, in contrast, seemed to handle this far better than she is. A little reminder that Lumina wasn't as mature and wise as she projected. Really nice save with the Provo mention, she was impressed, still embarrassed, but impressed! Further contrast then, was the chairman, who maintained his stony visage in the wake of this introductory exchange.

this was when that exterior melted to reveal...a rather earnest, worrywart of a man.

"Father, I'm fine, really." at the time and even in the immediate aftermath from flying away, the traumatic impact hadn't fully processed. She had been kidnapped and experimented on. Only for the facsimile of chaos that she wielded, to screw up her captor's experiment. "Besides, Mr. Caius was there~" well, if she was going to suffer, no sense not giving in to her own capricious nature. Her twin was always referencing Caius in such a fashion, so why not try it out, see what it was like?

Said Father sighed and wiped his brow. Giving Caius a sympathetic look before proceeding to further embarrass "the Saviour".


His words left Lumina looking rather guilty, as the real Clarissa hadn't survived that first kidnapping. In her place, blood soaked and seemingly left for dead, was Lumina. For that day, an outworlder died and Clarissa survived. At least, that's what the records showed. She'd been separated from the scholars she accompanied to Sonora. Finding out sometime later that two had died and the others...still not found.

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There was a stark difference between propaganda and intel. Intel must contain truth so that government might act. So that they may then disseminate that truth, to create the propaganda accessible for all. Leaks...were dealt with swiftly and with proper administrative procedure, one could identify the origin of any leak, leading to...unfortunate accidents. Still, no matter how much one wishes to conceal truth, it was...a necessary evil. Well, evil for those coveting it, for a freedom fighter, it may as well have been the Ark to lead Sonora to a new world.

Speaking of Arks or rather, ships, Caius mention an interesting analogy about love. Lumina nodded along, "That's how it feels, yeah..." she was taken a back because of how accurate that was. She would let Caius continue, keenly interested in what he had learned and how he was processing things thus far. Seems the protocols of dating he'd learned were confusing, she couldn't fault him, they'd likely confuse her too especially if she lacked much cultural knowledge. It meant that Caius would have to pick it up using his favourite teacher; experience. A harsh taskmaster that left one enduring many a faux pas and cheeks hotter than Torensten's summers. That's why she likened the beasts of feelings to instinct.

"Instincts help you to man the ship. The rules you've read surrounding dating, are more like protocols for guiding your ship in the storm. Every situation you face at sea won't be exactly as you're taught but it's a reference. Learn from it where you can but always be yourself and follow your feelings. Given how considerate you are, you don't need to be afraid of a mistake or two, not with me certainly. That's because...I'm the one trying to win you over. Which makes you the storm and me, the helpless Captain sailing the ship. Thankfully, I'm not afraid of a little lightning~"

As Lumina described so did she feel about the state of their relationship to date. It was quite exciting for her, especially because it was so new. The surprise of her own feelings through their date, as well as what she desired, told her that she wanted to experience new things. Specifically, interactions and the memories that came from ordinary things. If it weren't for the Parasite, she'd be even more carefree! That bug was certainly bugging her now. Dare she admit she preferred it's old arrogance. Especially now that she had a playbook on how it used to work. Now, she had to face a similar problem to Caius, it was presenting new variables and the memories she was getting always felt too slow.

"Ah, I probably don't own them, surprisingly. Erm...that's not the kind of stuff I keep at the house in Torensten, eheh..." translation: Leave evidence of her softer side for Serah to see? It was bad enough she was letting Mog hear, whom she turned to look to. When he whistled, seemingly inconspicuously she had the usual Lightning scowl on her face. "So, thank you. Who knows, it might help me to understand you more too."

Being a genuine fan was surprisingly a bit of an understatement, especially given her favourite song. Having the memories of teasing herself about such was surreal. Having to conceal it from everyone else was like a taste of her own medicine. Even if she liked to think she was much more carefree now (and given how she was handling her crush on Caius, she made great strides no doubt) but every once in awhile, she felt like being her old private self. Her entire second life was just fuel to the fire on that. Why she thought she could hide her grand plan from Serah for this long, was hard to say. That she was getting away with it, was a thing of beauty. Even if it was just ammo for the conniving Parasite to leverage.


No time for future dilemmas, Lumina was living in the present~! Present Lumina enjoyed that Caius knew the etiquette of dating quite well. Certainly brought a smile to her face. "Someone's been doing his homework, yes, that's how it's supposed to be. I'll even give you extra credit for an aerial lift home." she admits and that would have settled things very nicely, now wouldn't it? Alas, this was Lumina he was speaking to, there must be CHAOS...ahem something to keep him on his toes. In this case, Lumina was also very considerate!

"I'd rather see that you're home safe tonight. Vordun too~ The night stroll is an excuse to take everything in from our date, reflect on it. The stars are so beautiful too, they'll give me a sense of calm, so that I can rest better when I get home." plus she had Mog with her and he could and was likely more willing to fight. Nevermind the friends she could call on if she needed to.

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