So hey there all. It's me Echo's Chime. Life has really gotten in the way of my fanficing time so here I am trying to get back at it. This is an Edit of the original story I had up. I wanted to try and keep Albel more in character so I'm taking another shot at this. Again this is the only fanfic I have posted so no flames please. Hope those of you who have read this so far like the rewrite as much as the original and for those of you who haven't read this yet I hope you enjoy. ^-^

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Ocean or any other copyrighted item.

A heavy blanket covered the Traum Mountains as snow continued to fall steadily to the ground. The area was seemingly quiet except for a certain 'wicked' swordsman who hacked his way through anything that got in his path. Anger poured from every pore as he let out his physical rage on plant and animal alike. "Filthy little maggots think they can say whatever they want! Bah! Fools. Never will they cross me again."

As it were, Albel had simply been trying to enjoy a drink at the bar in Airyglyph when a group of thugs new to the area tried to mess with him. It hadn't ended very well for them but near the end of the beating one had recognized him and mentioned several things Albel would have rather not remembered. He left after having knocked three unconscious, making one bawl like a newborn and the last release his bowels into his trousers. He stalked out of the capital city sober and in a very foul mood.

Still hacking and slashing Albel's anger began to subside, like he had hoped it would. He was also hoping he would have better luck with the drinking part when he got to Kirlsa, especially since he could head to Woltar's mansion and avoid living, breathing maggots that would tempt his wrath. It seemed luck was not with Albel today because halfway up the path he came upon a woman surrounded by a group of monsters. A wench in distress, he thought. Great.

Okay, distress wasn't quiet the right word. The woman smirked as the group tightened the circle and she calmly uncoiled a long plaited whip. With a snort one of the beast charged her, lowering its head to ram her to the ground. In one fluid motion the womans arm lashed out and the crack of the whip echoed many times against the high walls of the mountain. The beast fell without a sound, its blood pooling in the pure white snow. Screeches rang out as the remaining monsters raged for their fallen friend. Not wasting a breath the womans arm shot out again, this time ensnaring one of the beasts tightly with her whip, with a bit of effort, she swung the creature around her bashing it into its fellows. After a couple swings she released it with a swift flick and watched it fly into the cliff side. Satisfied she turned to finish her journey up the path to Kirlsa.

Unbeknown to her, however, one of the beasts managed to pick itself up on its wobbly legs and charged her. She fell hard face first into the snow. Just as a curse slipped past her lips the monster screeched and the sound of metal connecting with flesh met her ears. She looked over and saw the monster fall heavily to the ground and a long katana being pulled from its neck. Flipping onto her back the woman found her savior standing right above her. Black/blonde hair, thin yet muscular body, and most stunning of all the cold crimson eyes that glared down at her. "Aren't you a lucky little maggot. I could have left you to fend for yourself but I'm in the mood to kill things. Such a helpless fool you are." He wiped his blade and sheathed it as he watched her stand and brush the snow off her clothes.

"Well thank you for being in the right mood." she replied coldly. Without another word she turned and continued on her way to Kirlsa. Albel stood there for a moment, too shocked to move, before following her down the path. Did this woman not know who he was? Few people treated him like he wasn't the devil roaming above his territory and even then those people had known him for quite some time and though he would never admit it out loud, he had grown somewhat...fond of them all. But this woman had never met him and she treated him like he was nothing. He watched her walk ahead of him, his eyes trailing to her slim waist and down to her tight, round ass and following down her smooth, well-toned legs. Something on her legs caught his notice and he found himself lengthening his stride to get a closer look. As she took a step forward the slit in her skirt parted and he saw runes tattooed on the inside of her legs. She was an Aquarian? Maybe, but then why was she so far north? Aquarians usually never traveled this far even with the countries being at peace.

Albel hadn't noticed the time passing as he followed her until he saw the gates of Kirlsa just ahead of them. It was then that the woman spun around her jaw tight and hands on her hips. "Can I help you?" Annoyance was easily noticeable in her voice. "You've been following me since we've met." Albel couldn't help the smirk that settled on his lips. This might be fun. He had learned that women, when annoyed, made wonderful sparring partners. Even better when they were angry. Maybe he could play with her a bit before going to the mansion to drink.

"Where did you learn how to fight, wyrm? You swing like a three year old." The woman narrowed her eyes, her sharp amber gaze making his heart beat a little faster. "You Aquarians are all the same, weak. Misguided by the completely useless thing you call mercy." She was shaking her head as he spoke.

"You may see it as mercy, I see it as unnecessary. I only kill as much as I'm paid for." Albel scoffed at that.

"Why not just kill whats in your way? You don't have what it takes to be a true warrior, Aquarian, and you'll probably fall just as easily as the rest of your people." The womans back went rigid and her gaze dropped to the ground. He noticed her gripping the handle of her whip so hard her knuckles were as white as the snow and his smirk widened. Anger, anger was the perfect emotion to fight with.

"What would you know about people falling in battle. I've lost people I've loved and cared about. And you...well who would you ever care about? Who would care about you?" Her voice was filled with venom. He had definitely hit a sore spot but she had just opened up a wound as well. Albel pulled out his katana so fast sparks flew from the sheath. He held the blade up and pointed it towards her throat.

"Say that again, bitch, and you'll be speaking through your blood." The plait of her whip hit the ground with a loud thump. With the fastest move from her yet the whip sailed through the air and cracked directly in front of his face. He felt the air stir as she fell into a defensive stance. Despite being utterly pissed he couldn't help the smirk that settled back on his face. A moment later he jumped at her, slashing his katana upwards. She back flipped and lashed out, the tail of her whip just barely catching Albel's arm. He ignored the blood that flowed from the gash and swung again and again. She was quick, but she wasn't paying attention and he was easily backing her into a corner. By the time she realized this it was too late. "What did I tell you, fool?" He brought his blade up and she lashed out again, but not in the direction he expected. The whip traveled left and wrapped tightly around a tree branch that wasn't quite dead. She pulled and the tree bent to her, hovering in front of her face. Albel's blade connected with the branch as she looked up into his eyes. Leaning towards her over the branch he shifted ever so slightly to position his leg near hers.

"I don't have time for this." the woman hissed through her teeth. "Go bother someone else." Albel leaned closer and whispered in her ear.

"They wouldn't be as fun as you." She suppressed a shiver and before she could recover her feet had been swept from underneath her. Instinct kicked in and she threw her whip up watching it wrap around the throat of her tormentor. There was a brief moment where neither of them did a thing, then the woman pulled. Instead of tightening like she had wanted (or at least that's what she had thought at the time) the whip pulled at Albels weight. He lost his balance and fell on top of her, his face almost touching her breasts. Both of them stopped, suddenly hyper aware of one another's bodies.

Albel looked up to look into the womans eyes. Up close they were a warm honey colored amber and at the moment the were glazed over with a lusty haze. He was noticing things about her he hadn't before, like how full her lips were and how soft her skin looked and the tantalizing curve of her neck and breasts. Her eyes were wandering over him as well, taking in what she could, but just as suddenly as the lust was there she was able to push it away. Her eyes sharpened and she pulled herself away from him. A quick flick unhooked the whip from Albel's neck. "I really don't have time for this ridiculousness. I have a job I need to prepare for."

"What, so you can fail just as easily as you did with me?" Her lips pursed, as if she were holding back a retort, but she ignored the taunt. Albel frowned. This wasn't going to be any fun if she was holding back her emotions. Anger was always an easy emotion to bring and keep out but...he did have another option. "Admit it, fool. You can't do this job of yours." He grabbed her wrists and roughly shoved her against the wall of the cliff straddling his hips over hers. Shock ran across her face as Albel leaned towards her to whisper in her ear. "Stick around and I can show you things. Teach you things." He ground his hips against hers making her moan. The motion plus her reaction set Albel's body ablaze.

He nibbled on her ear lobe, kissed down her jaw line to her neck, and began to softly bite the skin on her neck. Small moans issued from the woman lips and seemed to course directly through Albel, encouraging his growing hard on. His hands let go of her wrists and traveled down her arms to her hips where they slipped underneath her shirt. He trailed his fingers along the soft skin of her stomach working his way up to fondle her breasts. Abandoning the skin of her neck he pushed her shirt up started sucking on her nipples and biting all over her breasts. By this time her hands hand traveled up and down his bare back and all over his chest and rested gripping his hip. She pulled him down and arched up to meet his hips causing Albel to groan.

With a sudden, solid push Albel ended up on his back, his new play toy straddling him. Her lust filled gaze locked with his. She leaned down and pressed her lips against his her hand traveling down to rub his hard member through the cloth of his sarong. He groaned into the kiss, his tongue darting out to fight with hers for dominance. They continued to kiss, she continued to rub, then as suddenly as she had taken control of the situation she stopped. Their gazes locked once again holding for a few moments. "We should probably not do this here."

"Why not? What's the difference between here and somewhere else?" A scowl settled on his face. She smiled and nodded in the direction of the gates.

"We have an audience." A group of young men stood in awe and shock at the scene unfolding in front of them. What had really made them stop was seeing Albel with a woman and then seeing said woman's breasts. Their brains started to function extremely fast when they saw Albel stalking towards them, sword in hand, and a maniacal rage in his eyes They all turned tail and ran faster then they ever had in their lives. Albel was spewing out cusses when a hand touched his shoulder. He spun and found amber eyes staring at him. "Echo."

"What?"

"That's my name. Echo Truvane."

"I have no need for names, fool." She smiled and Albel's anger subsided.

"Whatever you say oh 'Wicked One'. By the way I might take you up on your offer to stick around. You could show me how you think I should fight. Besides, I think I owe you the rest of a private lesson." She turned and walked into Kirlsa. Albel fought a strange urge to call out to her as she disappeared into the inn, leaving Albel, still sober, standing at the gates.

So let me know what you all think of the re-write. I feel this came out much better than the original but I need to take some time with the next chapter to send the story in the direction I intended. Hope you'll be patient with me and slow updates. And to the people who have favorited this story and left comments you all made my day when I saw that. My thought: "People love my writing! Yay!"