Disclaimer: Nope, don't own anything. If I did, I would not be writing this story, and Star Ocean would be about Albel and Nel.
He had always dreamt of blood. He knew this was the price he must pay for the lives he took on the battlefield. He could see the open wounds, the limbs hanging on by a bare thread, looking as if a breath would sever them completely, and the gushing crimson of his victim's blood. In his dreams he would hear the deathly cries that always seemed to echo his name.
Albel…
He was used to these dreams. He knew how to deal with these. He turned his back on these nightmarish decaying corpses. He could walk away without a second thought, turning his back on these monstrosities of his own creating, with a single regret. Hell, he was even coping with the dreams of his father's death. The blistered corpse of Glou Knox would attempt to embrace Albel, only to be pushed away. Albel had found this was the only way to deal with the dream, for every time he attempted to embrace his father, he would find that the corpse would melt into an unidentifiable crimson heap.
Whenever this happened, Albel felt as if he had lost his father a second time. He never wanted to have to deal with the emotions he experienced at his father's death again. These emotions made him feel weak, and he had sworn to himself that he would never be one of the aimless mob, that he would be the strongest, the most courageous, in short- the best. He knew but in truth he had become a ruthless tyrant. It was only too evident. After all, he was known as Albel the Wicked.
But now his dreams were changing. He no longer dreamt of the crimson of blood and death. Now the only thing crimson he could see was her. The Aquarian wench. She filled up every one of his senses during the daytime and took command of his dreams at night. Ever since his first sighting of her at the Kirlsa training facility, he had began to lust for her. She was all he could see before his closed eyes, as if her image was permanently branded into his memory. She consumed every one of his senses, and his dreams of her left him wanting more.
He saw her crimson hair on the battlefield. He saw her reflection in his glass of wine. He saw her face every time he killed an enemy. He knew if he did not claim her, he would be overwhelmed by the mere thought of her, and would be rendered useless to Airyglyph, probably enough so that Vox would want to have him killed. He could not dishonour his family name and the memory of his father that way, nor could he let his mother suffer the loss of both her husband and son. That left him with only one option- to take her as his own, whether she was willing or not. He needed release from his dreams.
A/N: I'm planning to have this as a three part story, with the next chapter from Nel's point of view, and the last… well you'll just have to review if you want to know!