Title: Memory Rain

Author: BiBi Tenshi

Type: Star Ocean Till the end of Time

Pairings: Albel/Nel

Summary: Ordered by the King of Airyglyph to explore the newly uncovered ruins, Albel has no choice but to get help from his former comrade Nel Zelpher. But the ruins hold something of an importance to Albel, and he may discover a past unimaginable.

Author's Notes: Hello Everyone!! This is my first Star Ocean till the End of Time fic and I hope you enjoy it!! Also, a big thanks to Nicolle who helped me clear up some info on Albel and Nel!!! Now, onto the my fic!!

Italics mark thoughts

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A tall slender figure emerged from within the veil of thick steam. His damp hair seemed to slither between his shoulder blades like the wings of a dark raven. Night ruby eyes darted from side to side as he grabbed a nearby towel, briskly padding his dark strands until they were parched. He ran the same towel over his scar-covered body, as he attempted to dry himself off while he examined the mist-filled mirror, which held his scowling expression.

Back in his bedroom in Airyglyph, the young leader began tossing his clothes out of his closet as he searched for his usual set of wine-colored clothing. After minutes of frustrated searching, a small knock was heard upon the wooden door of his room, causing the already irritated man to growl out.

"What do you want?" The harsh voice sounded throughout the large empty bedroom, causing the Dragon Brigade knight outside to jump up in fright.

"The King wishes to see your presence"

The squeaky voice had replied, causing the raven-haired man to growl out even more in annoyance, What does that old man want from me?!

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"It seems like you're as well as always, Albel!"

"What is your purpose of calling me here? It cannot be as simple as to have a chat, can it?" Albel the Wicked reply as he looked at the King of Airyglyph with menacing eyes, who only chuckled in return. His plan, apparently for this morning, was to travel to the Urssa lava caves and train until he was drain tired, but apparently, that was no longer possible.

"You and your father really are similar," The King continued to chuckle, causing Albel to want to strangle his throat, "Except Sir Glou was much more respectful"

"Did you just call me here to talk about my father?" Albel was itching to use the word 'maggot' but retained himself, for it was the king he was currently speaking to. Actually, he was quite amazed that the king had not sentenced him to death yet for his manner, "I have business to attend to, so if you don't mind, I will-"

Albel's sentence was cut short by the King's stern voice, which had instantly caused the Leader of the Dragon Brigade to listen intensely.

"Some underground ruins have been found near the city of Aquios," His voice was dark and menacing, "The Queen of Aquios has requested some assistance from the Dragon Brigade in order to look further within those ruins"

Albel was a smart kid when young, and of course, he was even smarter when he had grown, so in an instant, he knew what was coming.

"I have decided to send you and some of your men to travel to Aquios in order to help them"

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It took less than 2 days to travel to the divine City of Aquios (Let's say normally it would take a week, okay?) and it took even less time to get the to underground ruins.

Once they had reached them, the leader of the Dragon Brigade had instantly ordered his men to disperse with their dragons and help out, while he, himself went to look for the leader of this expectation, Nel Zelpher. It wasn't hard to find the young maiden in the dim lights of the tunnels. Her short ruby dragon hair was shinning so brightly, it would be nearly impossible for anyone not to notice her.

"Maggot" Albel stated as he approached the female warrior, whom instantly turned around and gave Albel an annoyed look.

"Nox" Was her simple reply as both just stared at each other for a moment, seeming to examine the other and the changes that had occurred between them.

There was an unusual pause between the two, before the young maiden of Aquios had turned away from him, her sharp emerald eyes piercing through the dark tunnel ahead of them.

"You've heard of the task, correct?"

Her calm commanding voice, throughout the months of separation had unexceptionally changed back to the way they had first met. Which had ultimately, not surprised Albel the Wicked much, for he himself, had changed back to his old ways. Not that Fayt and his crew had much impact on his behavior, no; he'd never admit that Fayt had caused him to loosen up just slightly, to feel an actual 'connection' to the outside world. It was an unbelievable thought, and the leader of the Dragon Brigade quickly cursed himself as he spat out a reply to the female warrior, harshly.

"Of course I know of the task, you fool"

Albel couldn't help but notice the redhead's back tense up slightly before she started walking away from him, which he quickly picked up his pace to catch up to.

Once again, there was an uneasy silence between the two as they continued to walk on, each covered in there own thoughts to say anything. Further and further they walked into the endless tunnels and every step they took, the air around them seemed to frost up and the aura was turning dark. There was a slight sense of uneasiness that crept up Albel's bare skin, but he had simply ignored it, continuing on.

This coldness, this dark aura, what can be hidden within these damp caverns?

Albel found himself thinking, and no sooner had that thought escaped his mind, a deep low sound had echoed along the tunnel walls. It was nearly inaudible, but after straining his ears to listen on, it was no doubt that it was clearly human. It lasted about two minutes, but the one known as 'Wicked' had clearly heard it, a series of long and drawn out wails. Albel was definitely not weak, nor was he known as being a fearful man, but the 'human' sound had uncontrollably sent chills fluttering down his spine.

"What is that?"

For once in his lifetime, he had not called the Aquairian scum 'maggot' or 'fool' which in his terms was very awkward, but apparently, Nel had not noticed the fact, but had just responded in a simple manner.

"We were able to do small series of test, and it was said that it is the sound of a human" Nel stated as she suddenly stopped, turning around to face the leader of the Dragon Brigade, "This sound was here ever since we started the expedition, and once we reached the 'gate' we were positive that the sound was coming from inside"

Albel nodded in response, understanding every word that came out of the little Aquarian scum's fine lips, as he watched Nel take a sharp turn around the corner, "So you need Airyglyph's help to open that gate"

Nel nodded, "I've tried to contact Fayt and the others but I haven't been able to find out there location" stopping in front of a steel looking door, she pointed to it, "I think they might have the ability to open the door because it looks like their technology"

"…"

The low wail came once more and they definite that the source was coming from iwhthin. Now that they were closer they were certain it was human. Maybe it even sounded slightly ...female?

Leaning closer towards the door, the young man placed his mechanical arm upon the steel, tracing the hard ends of the claw down the gate, creating a loud screeching sound that echoed loudly throughout the empty tunnels. Causing Nel to raise her hands up to her ears to prevent herself for getting deaf.

"What do you think your doing?!"

Her voice was harsh and sour, but Albel paid no attention as he continued to examine the door with his dark ruby eyes, coming to a sudden halt when he reached the area where the steel was still slightly covered by the rock tunnels. Bringing his mechanical arm far back behind him, he released all his strength as his clawed fist connected hard against the rock. Repeating the series of steps a few times until the rock was loose enough to fall down on it's own.

Smirking, the young genius pointed his finger towards the 'item' he had just been able to recover, "Ever tried using that before, maggot?"

Hidden in the area between the rock and the steel gate was a small electrical number pad, possibly used to get the door opened.

Striding up to the technological device, the 'wicked' coolly looked at it as he punched in a few numbers into the keypad.

Silence

More Silence

And still more silence

Eventually, Nel couldn't take it anymore and looked at Albel her emerald gaze pericing through his form, "What did you do?"

"What does it look like, you fool? I punched in some numbers"

Nel rolled her eyes, "Yes, I can figure that out, I was wondering how'd you know the combination"

" …"

"Well?"

"I don't, it was a random guess" Shrugging it off, Albel continued to punch in random numbers, and still no response came from the gate, "This blasted machinery!"

His frustration from earlier this morning had apparently not died off yet, and instead, his frustration was building up more and more. Being unable to hold up any longer, Albel brought back his foot and slammed it hard against the steel door, forgetting that the fact that the door was made out of a hard material called 'steel'

BANG!

Nel winced as she heard the sound of his foot colliding with the steel door, but amazingly, Albel hadn't fallen down from the pain of his foot, instead, weird mechanical noises was heard from the gate and then rumbling started.

Rocks above them started to fall down at a tremendous speed, and as soon as the gate was large enough for the two to pass through, they quickly dashed towards it, knowing that the way back was too far and dangerous to go. Dust particles were now in the air, causing the maiden of Aquious to cough loudly as her lungs took in the particles. Taking a hold of Albel's free right hand, she dived towards the ground, bringing Albel with her as she closed her eyes and placed her arm around her nose and mouth to prevent herself from gaining too much dust for her lungs to accept.

5 minutes later, the rumbling stopped, and when the coast was clear, the two old comrades had slowly gotten up upon their feet, dusting themselves off.

"What in the world were you thinking maggot?! Suddenly pushing me on the floor!" Albel's cruel words spat out, but Nel ignored them as she continued to dust herself off.

"It was for your own good" With that, said, she turned to glare at her old companion; her lips perched up in annoyance. But quickly, her expression faded as she watched Albel's usual blank face turn into something with such emotion that it shocked her like the bolt of electricity. This was the first time she had ever seen so much emotions stricken upon Albel's usual calm features, and she wasn't sure if she liked it. Not one bit, including the look of fear and shock in his deep ruby eyes, his pale surprised looking face and his slightly opened mouth. No, for once in a lifetime, Nel actually wanted to see the old stubborn, not-caring-for-anybody expression in Albel, because this expression shocked her, and the small whisper of words that escaped his dry lips has surprised her to an even greater extent.

"Mother . . . ?!"

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Hello! Sorry if any of the characters were OOC, it's really hard to get them in character OO I tried my best so please don't scold me! hides in a corner Please review and give suggestions if you wish! You can alos tell me what's wrong about this chapter, so I can fix it and re-upload it too!

BiBi Tenshi