Hi everyone! I'm back in the fandom with a new AlNel! This was formerly part of a group project where every chapter is written by a different author, but only one other person wrote another chapter. I'm continuing this story on my own, so with the exception of chapter 2, which was written by Lorelai Kline, the rest of the writing is mine.

This story will only be updated on adultfanficiton(dot)net because it will contain explicit sex scenes not suitable for this site. This is only a sample to tell all my fans here that there is a new AlNel story out. Go to my author profile and click on the 'For the Prosperity of Aquor' link to see the whole uncut version. It will be updated weekly over there.

Also please heed this warning: While the chapters shown here do not contain lemon scenes, the plot of the story will involve adult themes and you can only read it on the site where I will be posting the entire story. If you are under 18 or do not like mature stories, then click back now before you get too attached to this story.

One more thing: I apologize in advance for any punctuation errors still in here. Commas, apostrophes, and quotation marks disappeared when I loaded this in the Doc Manager. I tried to replace them all, but I might've missed some.

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Ocean 3 or any of its characters. They are the property of SquareEnix.

Chapter one

Hidden Attraction

They were both sleeping peacefully in their beds. Even the most skilled warrior would be tired after all that trouble they had escaping the Airyglyph dungeons and traveling to Arias. Nel couldn't blame them, nor could she bear to wake them. It was only yesterday in Kirlsa when she received news that her two most faithful subordinates, Tynave and Farleen were in the hands of the Black Brigade. She needed to rescue them and yet she had to abandon her mission. She didn't want to, but the safety of her soldiers came first.

Nel began to ponder why she even came into their room in the first place. She knew they were asleep, so why bother? As much as she didn't want to admit it, she grew attached to the two strange engineers. Fayt was a very kind boy who cared about other people. Nel would never reveal it out loud, but she was quite touched that he asked about the well being of her subordinates when anyone else would inquire if they had passed on.

Cliff on the other hand was a funny and somewhat lecherous man (though he was apparently joking about being a pervert) who nearly made her smile countless times. It was rare to break her out of her serious nature, but the blonde man had a way of lightening the mood to the point where she could make a few light jokes of her own.

But she had to let them go, they were not her responsibility anymore. And yet she felt the need to at least say good bye, but she instead settled for bowing to their sleeping forms and hastily left their room. The only person who knew about her mission was Clair and not even she could stop her friend. Nels mind was set so it was final.

"I'll take good care of those two, so don't worry about them," Nel's silver haired friend assured as the Crimson Blade was about to head out the front door.

"Thank you. Be careful getting to Aquios, there may still be some Glyphian agents after them."

"Don't worry about it, I can handle this, but still I'm worried about you. This is obviously a trap-"

"But what can I do?" Nel interjected, "I cant leave Tynave and Farleen in their hands anymore than us giving them the engineers. Plus, something strange is going on. We both know that Albel the Wicked doesn't take hostages. Also, why does he want Fayt and Cliff when we all know that he's not seeking a promotion? None of this fits."

"I know," Clair eventually agreed with downcast eyes, "But be careful anyway, may the grace of Apris be with you."

Nel nodded as her friend bowed. Clair bit her lip in worry as her red haired friend left.

The Kirlsa Training Facility loomed over her in the pre dawn light. This was the place where her loyal subordinates and good friends were being held captive. This was where the Black Brigade reside, where her enemies, Albel the Wicked and Shelby the Heavy Handed, were. Many lives have been lost there, mostly Aquarians and other followers of Apris. At first, the building was supposed to be a place to train dragon knights, but now it was an intimidating and dark prison. This was not a safe place to be, especially for an Aquarian spy. But considering the circumstances, Nel refused to be intimidated. This was not a time to be timid, the lives of her soldiers were at stake.

It was by far the most suicidal mission she had ever undertaken, but it was possible to escape unscathed as long as she had a good plan. All she needed to do was to sneak in, ambush a guard, and steal their armor. Then she could search for Farleen and Tynave under the guise of a Black Brigade soldier. But above all, she must not...

"Enjoying the view Aquarian?"

...be seen.

This was not her day. Not only was she caught, she knew who the voice belonged to. Of all people, why did Albel the Wicked had to be behind her? Nel hadn't had the chance to sleep and she hadn't had the time to properly heal herself. Also, she didn't have any available healing items. She was in no condition to fight someone like him.

"Albel", she spat in a low voice. She refused to turn around in fear of letting him see her doubt.

"So you heard of me." She could almost hear the smirk on his face when he said it.

He took another step closer to her, "Let me see your face, woman. I'd like to know who is intruding on my lands."

There was power and possessiveness in his dark voice, like his words were a runological spell to cast fear into the victim. Ignoring his tone, Nel steeled her nerves and slowly turned to face the Glyphian with a glare.

Albel's blood colored orbs studied her for a minute before they widened in recognition, "Why if it isn't Nel Zelpher, how kind of you to grace me with your presence."

He then gave an exaggerated bow, "What brings you to my lair?"

Nel watched him carefully as he straightened up from his bow and rested his claw over the scabbard of his sword. It was a deceiving stance and she knew she was a goner if she had tried to attack. She readied her hands to grab her daggers in case he decided to attack first.

"I'm not here to play your mind games! I came to rescue my subordinates that you are holding hostage!"

"Hostage? So Shelby is defying me, how interesting," Albel muttered to himself as he paced around her and glanced at the entrance, "I ordered him to throw your ...subordinates out because they possessed no challenge to me. Well fret not, I will have them released as soon as possible."

She tried not to look surprised. Was this some joke? At least it made sense why Tynave and Farleen were captured by the Black Brigade. Everyone in Aquaria knew that Shelby wanted to surpass Albel and become the captain. What didn't make sense, however, was that Albel the Wicked was going to let them go alive and without a fight. What was he trying to pull? They were in the middle of a war and releasing enemies like that could get him in trouble with his country not that Nel was concerned about his well being.

"Really? How unusually not wicked of you," she muttered while resisting the urge to look at him in the face.

"Don't go thanking me. Your subordinates are free to go, but who said anything about your freedom?"

Nel involuntarily stiffened before he stopped in his pacing behind her, "I should have known. But I've never known you to take hostages."

"Well what do you expect? Aquarian or not, you're still trespassing on my lands," he paused and Nel had to restrain herself from running when she felt him step into her personal space, "And you seem a bit too tired to fight me. I don't like punishing tired soldiers. Its not very fair, nor is it fun."

This time she couldn't stop herself from pulling away and sharply faced him when she felt his human hand running across her cheek, "Since when did you care about being fair? You led a surprise attack on Arias!"

"Those were orders from my king," he interjected, appearing to be amused from her reaction. What was she doing? It didn't matter if Albel wasn't acting as heartless as he was named, they were still at war and she couldn't afford to have a conversation with him outside when Tynave and Farleen were probably being tortured within the facility. The only way out was to fight.

"Fine, you say I'm trespassing and want to fight me, then lets fight!"

The rather annoying smirk on his face only grew larger on his face, making him look even more menacing, "Wouldn't you want to rest first? If you fight me in your condition, then you will die."

"A small sacrifice if it means the safe return of my subordinates," she replied with an even glance.

"You have my word that they will be released, regardless of whether we fight now or later."

"But even so, you are going to waste time by taking me to a prison cell and make sure that I won't escape while my soldiers are being tortured by your men. It would be quicker to fight now and get this over with."

"If you say so," he said, giving her an appreciative glance. In one fluid motion, his sword was out and pointed at her, "Come at me then!"

She wasted no time in unsheathing her daggers and charging at him. It was a really reckless move, but she was desperate. Maybe if she were to catch him off guard, then she might be able to win the battle. She knew it was a hopeless thought as he easily blocked her attack with his claw. Even though she wasn't in top form, most of the warriors still had a hard time in defeating her in battle, but Albel seemed that he wasn't even breaking a sweat. He had no trouble in keeping up with her fast movements. She also noticed, to her ire, that he wasn't even trying to attack her. He was toying with her!

Nel had to do something reckless again, she had to anger him so that he would strike. Even if it would cost her life, she needed the battle to end soon, for Tynave and Farleen. She began chanting a low level firebolt spell under her breath before she ran up to him and knocked away his sword with her dagger and then dodged his claw. She waited until she was close enough to his body to release the spell, leaving a scorch mark on his lower arm. She had to use a low level spell because she didn't have much mental energy left. Even if she was fighting like she wanted to die, she was still going to try to find a way to stay alive.

Albel looked stunned, but not in pain once the spell died off, she used this to her advantage and swung her dagger towards his body. He was able to come to his senses and back away before her blade could cause any serious damage to him, but a cut still managed to appear on his chest. Soon the purple shirt he always wore began to darken with crimson blood.

"Yes..." he mumbled with a feral grin, "It has been a long time since anyone drew my blood!"

Nel slightly blanched as she landed on the ground. She was supposed to anger him, not impress him. His eyes weren't calculating her movements or trying to find a weak point in her fighting stance, he was merely observing her like an instructor watching his student. What was he thinking? Wasn't he supposed to destroy his enemies?

"And to think that you are not at full strength right now," he continued, his voice void of the scorn he should have. But what he said next really surprised the Aquarian spy, "It's a pity that you're an Aquarian, you would have made an excellent Glyphian soldier."

"What?" she nearly shouted before she steeled herself to attack again, "I would rather die than to become a Glyphian!"

"What a pity," he drawled as he effortlessly blocked her attack with his sword and flung her to the ground. Her body bounced once after the hard impact, but she still managed to roll over and get up despite the pain she was feeling. If she were in her top form, the impact wouldn't have affected her as badly.

Nels jaw clenched as her fingers dug into the soft dirt in frustration. This was taking too long- and she didn't like to be toyed with like a plaything! Albel watched patiently as she reclaimed her daggers and arose to her feet. It was obvious that he wasn't going to attack her. If she were to fall, then it would be from exhaustion. It would be dishonorable if not embarrassing if she died on her own without Albel having to strike her once. She didn't have enough mental energy left to cast a cure spell on herself and her wounds were severely holding her back. She wasn't going to last much longer

"Why are you holding back? Afraid to fight a woman?" she sneered at him before planning one more assault in her mind, "Fight me! Or are Glyphian men are as cowardly as a Menodix?"

There was a faint smirk on his face as his two toned hair obscured his eyes from her view, "If that is what you wish..."

"Flying Guillotine!" It was a successful hit and he did look surprised as the dark flying disk slashed some of the skin on his right arm, but then he was able to knock it back with his claw arm. After that he seemed to have disappeared. Before she knew what was happening, his good arm wrapped around her waist and roughly pulled her to him. Her back was pressed against his hard chest as his claw arm came up before her body.

"Vampiric Flash!" She couldn't escape from his grasp and was doomed to take the full force of his battle technique. It felt as if her life was being drained from her and before she could curse Albels existence, her vision faded to black.

Albel quickly let go when she fell limp in his arms and knelt down to inspect. She was still alive, but barely. She still had enough life to survive, but she needed rest to regain her mental energy. He then moved her body so that she was lying on her back and then brushed the stray red hairs from her face. She looked serious even when unconscious, though it probably wasn't her fault with all the war nonsense going on. It truly was a pity that she wasn't from Airyglyph. She seemed more useful to him than at least twenty of his soldiers.

He soon sheathed his sword before collecting her fallen daggers and replacing them within their respectful scabbards on the Aquarian. It would be a waste to kill her, especially when he knew that he would never get the chance to fight her when she was well, but then that was the way of war. Then again, who had to know that she was here? He could easily hide her until she was well enough to fight again. He didn't care about the kings order to report any intruders that came past the Glyphian border and he certainly didn't care about Vox's order to eliminate all enemies. As far as he was concerned, it was his turf, so whatever happens was his business. Plus he had always wanted to know more about the spy and he couldn't think of a better chance than now.

But first, Albel had to get rid of the unwanted worms- and of course have Nel's subordinates thrown out. He leaned down to scoop up the surprisingly light figure, careful to make sure that his claw didn't cut her. Once he was standing, he glanced at her face one more time.

"Nel Zelpher," he sighed with a sound of disappointment lacing his tone, "If only you were mine to take."

It was true that he had a long history of blood lust since his father's death, most likely because he constantly fought to prevent another tragedy from happening again. Many thought that Albel the Wicked's only love was for battle and figured that no person, especially a woman, would ever catch his eye. Women from Airyglyph never bothered to pick up arms and fight. They were only interested in attracting men and raising a family. But fighting alone wasn't enough of a quality trait for Albel, otherwise he would have settled himself with falling for men. He only held respect for people who were strong willed and determined. Nel certainly did fit that trait.

He wasn't thinking strength in battle when he began considering her as a worthy match. He noted that she was able to overcome any tragedy and not let her emotions affect her in battle. She lost so much in her past, much like he did and yet she was still fighting. But then one cannot overlook the fact that Albel was male and that admiring a female tended to shift into something more than admiration. He wanted more than to just fight her in battle. He wanted to be the one to claim her as his own. He just wanted her. Albel did not once think that his feelings for her were a sign of weakness because they were merely another form of a battle that he would have to struggle to win. Sure he could force himself on her, but it wouldn't be as fun without her enjoying as well.

But the fact remained that Nel belonged to the kingdom of Aquaria and she had no reason to trust him because he was her enemy. She was far out of his reach at the moment, like a forbidden fruit trapped behind a tall sturdy wall. Normally rules, orders, or forbidden weren't things that he'd observe and that would mean that nothing could stop him from taking her anyway. At least that was the norm, but he respected and admired her more than he would like to believe and thus held back his desires and urges.

Considering that his foolish second in command was holding the Aquarian worms hostage, Albel didn't think it was wise to barge in where everyone could see that he was carrying an Aquarian spy. Not if he wanted to keep Nel a secret anyway. He instead used a secret passage that led him to the top floor. All he had to do then was walk across the roof and make his way to his room unnoticed, but a certain distraction down below in the arena stopped him.

There were several of his troops down there being led by Shelby as they tried to attack two new intruders. The Wicked One remembered in the back of his mind that they were the engineers that everyone was making such a fuss over. They were doing an impressive job in fighting back the best of his men and protecting the weak Aquarians behind them. Apparently they were also here to rescue them. What a bother

Albel settled Nel's unconscious form down to lean against a column before glancing back at the fight. The engineers had defeated all of his men and were now taking on Shelby himself. Perhaps if the engineers were strong enough to defeat the annoying maggot, then they might prove to be an interesting challenge. Unfortunately though, they would be too tired to fight properly once they were through pummeling Shelby. He could tell them to go rest, but then what good reason would they have to come back? They might be the type to chicken out of a challenge once they reached the safety of Aquaria-

Suddenly a thought struck him. Perhaps Albel stole another glance at Nel before facing the fight again. Maybe he could use her to lure them back after they delivered the worms and prepared themselves. If the engineers were so soft hearted to go rescue the spy's subordinates, then they must care about rescuing Nel if they thought she was in danger. Plus, while he was waiting, he could get a chance to talk to the red haired woman and get to know her.

"Ha! He wasn't as tough as his talk," the large blonde man gloated when Shelby was defeated. Albel had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. The maggots sounded like a bunch of clowns...

"Pitiful..." he muttered loud enough for the engineers to hear him. They frantically searched around for him, worried about having to face another battle.

"Over here," Albel called out when it appeared that they couldn't find him.

"Another one!" the blonde man shouted as he went back into his fighting stance. Instead of taunting the engineers, Albel turned his attention to the still form of his second in command.

"How pathetic..." he drawled, not once moving from his spot from the roof, "Shelby was always strutting, preening his feathers, but to lose to the likes of you? Heh, once a maggot himself now hes food for the maggots."

He supposed that somewhere in his wicked heart that he was going to miss the large nuisance running around and making a fool of himself. But Albel never really held much love for Shelby and couldn't grieve too much (if at all) for his death. The engineers gave him strange quizzical looks as if he were insane or something. Albel scoffed in the back of his mind. They acted as if they didn't know who he was! Didn't all Aquarians know of Albel the Wicked? Or was it true that they were from Greeton?

Suddenly the violet haired Aquarian behind them coughed painfully, sounding more like a squeak than a cough, as she cast her gaze up to his form. Her eyes widened in fear and recognition, "...A-Albel Nox!"

He let out a smirk when he saw the fear spread from the violet haired worm to the other Aquarian maggot while the engineers continued to look confused. This time it was the young blue haired boy who spoke as he faced the Aquarians, "Who the heck is he?"

"He's the best swordsman in all of Airyglyph and Captain of the Black Brigade. He's better known as Albel the Wicked..." the spy with short dirty blonde hair responded weakly before the others faced Albel again. This time he let out a short chuckle. Awfully flattering words coming from an Aquarian. He wondered if Nel thought of him in such a high regard.

"Hey!" the blonde maggot shouted again, catching his attention, "I'm gonna smack that cocky look off your face!"

Albel couldn't keep back his laugh as he rested his foot on a high ledge and leaned his arm against the knee, "Bah, the maggot talks big!"

The larger man's glare worsened at the sarcasm. Albel continued, "You might have some potential, but you are no match for me."

"What did he just say!" The blue haired engineer was beginning to have a hard time holding back the blonde man. He certainly did want to fight...

"I'm not interested in fighting a bunch of tired fools. Easy wins have never been my style. And unlike Vox, I take no joy in trouncing weaklings."

Hopefully the fools would be able to understand what he was getting at, but then again neither seemed to be that intelligent.

"Who ya callin' a weakling?" the blonde man barked furiously. Such anger... and all that Albel did was giving them a chance to rest! Perhaps he would have to use Nel after all. He shifted his position to stand upright and obtained a more serious expression. The time for joking was now over.

"Go back to your own lands and rest, fools. When you think you're strong enough come back and fight me." The Aquarians at least seemed relieved at the order, but the boy appeared to be unsure and the other engineer was still too hot headed to listen to reason.

"You're really going to let us go?" the blue haired boy inquired with uncertainty, "...What makes you think that we'll come back?"

"Well..." Albel shrugged nonchalantly as he moved out of the way to allow them to see his new captive, "...you want to rescue her, don't you?"

"Lady Nel!" The two women seemed to forget their pain long enough to express concern for their captain. Both engineers took a step forward in worry before casting angry glares at Albel.

"Let her go!" the young boy demanded.

"I will- when you come back to fight me," he smirked, almost evilly. Now it was the blonde man holding the boy back as he shook his head.

"But Cliff, he has Nel! We cant just leave her!" Typical! The boy was still too young and naive. He didn't understand the ways of war or of negotiations. Cliff, as the boy had called him, had finally come to his senses upon seeing the captive. Apparently he was the smartest of the fools. How ironic that the one with the most muscles ended up with the most brain

"I know. I cant say that this guy ain't crusin' for a bruisin', but we have to play by his rules until she is safely back with us," the Cliff maggot then moved his piercing blue eyes back up to Albel, "You promise not to harm her?"

"Feh, I just told you that I don't hurt the weak. You have my word that she will be in good condition when you arrive."

"Good enough for me. But remember, if you harm one hair on her head, then you're dead meat!" Albel chuckled at the notion of mere maggots pounding him to the floor, but didn't return a witty comeback or any reassurance that he was going to keep his promise.

"You cant be serious!" the blue haired boy yelled to Cliff as the muscled man turned to help one of the Aquarians to their feet.

"What choice do we have, Fayt? I really want to smash his face in, but we can't do that while Nel is in his hands. Plus, we got to get Tynave and Farleen to a doctor pronto. We can't be sure that they can make it back to Arias on their own."

Fayt seemed torn between helping Nel or her subordinates, but after the girls insisted that they could go on alone, he made up his mind and started helping the violet haired girl, "Fine, but lets be quick."

"Wait a minute," Albel called before he dug through his belongings and pulled out a rolled up parchment. He tossed the document down to the engineers where it rolled up to Fayt's feet. The blue haired boy carefully bent down, while he made sure that the Aquarian he was helping didn't lose her balance, and picked it up.

Go to the cave marked on the map. That's where you'll find me, he ordered as Fayt glanced over the contents. He acted like he was reading a foreign language, but pocketed the map anyway. Frankly the boy couldn't be that far off if he thought it was a different language. The map led to a recently discovered cave and one of Albel's subordinates made a poorly drawn sketch to map it and it was written in nearly illegible scrawl. It would take hours to decipher it, but at least it would give him time to prepare for their arrival.

"An how do we know this isn't a trap? You could be waiting there with a hundred of your soldiers," the blonde engineer asked with suspicion in his voice.

"And at the same time you could bring the Aquarian army," he countered with a look of indifference.

"Good point," Cliff muttered, "Well then, you promise you wont bring your army and we wont bring ours."

"Hn, not like I need the help of those worms to crush maggots like you," Albel replied as he turned away and picked up Nel.

"What was that! Come down here and say that hotshot!" Cliff threatened, but the captain of the Black Brigade ignored him as he carried the Aquarian spy with him to get away from the fools. After all, their stupidity might be contagious...

Note: As mentioned above, the rest of this chapter contains explicit sexual scenes and will not be posted on this site. Go to my author profile and click on the link 'For the Prosperity of Aquor' to see the uncut version and read future updates.

Chapter 3 is up next...because 2 has too much lemon to cut out and I only want to prove that this story IS being updated. Most people may have already read this chapter two years ago when I first started it.