Authoress Notes: Well, hello everyone! Yes, yes, I should be working on my other fics, but I had this story in my mind for a while. So, I hope that whoever reads this will enjoy it. I shall try my best.

Disclaimer: StarOcean rightfully belongs to SquareEnix/Tri-Ace/Ubi-Soft

Pairing(s): AlbelxNel, CliffxMirage, FaytxSophia or FaytxMaria, probably

Plot/Summary: Nel Zelpher's world turns upside down, literally, after an accident that happened in the workshop in Peterny. Then she wakes up to find Albel the Wicked in her bed! And what's this? Why does Elicoor seem so different?

Ethereal Blast

By: xKuroSeraphimx

((start prologue))

Chapter 1

Nel Zelpher, agent of Aquaria and expert runologist and Crimson Blade, was not, having the best of days.

Literally.

It had been a year since Luther's defeat, and Elicoor was still on its way towards recovery from the events that had happened during the Creator's act of sending the Enforcers upon them. And ever since, Nel had been working on her duty of watching over anything suspicious in the town of Peterny. For the most part, it was just merchants worrying needlessly over goods that need to be imported or exported on a specific date. Nothing concerning what the report Clair had sent about the restlessness that seemed suspicious. Yet on some occasions, Nel did find something interesting or two, which led to the result of the problem being taken care of, and then, a truckload of reports due next.

Of course, Nel wasn't the one to complain about working. But there were some people that could handle the stress that she was experiencing and not snap. Sure, the last few days she seemed a little agitated, but it was nothing for anyone to worry about.

But as of right now…

When Nel was patrolling her rounds of Peterny, she found that a large man, probably in his late thirties was throwing things around in the workshop in a mad frenzy and shouting until his face turned a light purple. It seemed to Nel that he was a new inventor and wanted to try things out right away, but was screwing things up with what he wanted, and began throwing a tantrum like a child, harassing the other inventors that were designated to this town's workshop. When things got really out of hand, the red-haired runologist had to step in and intervene while ordering the other inventors to leave so that she could deal with the enraged man.

Needless to say, the Killer Chef and Louise the Diviner were rather annoyed with having to leave their work, as with all the other inventors, but obeyed anyway. Now Nel was left to deal with this large, burly man who was ruining things. Of course, the Crimson Blade maiden could easily take him down despite his size, but slicing and dicing the poor man to ribbons would end in bad results, and frying him with a powerful thunder spell was out of the question. So, the red-haired Crimson Blade was left to the option of dodging, kicking and punching every chance she got.

'… Wonder what the others would do if they were in this situation…' she thought after evading a chair being thrown at her.

Speaking of Fayt and company, it had been a while since she got a visit from each of them. Fayt visited her once, but that was just a small visit, for he had to go back to join up with Sophia and his aunt, but before that, he gave her brief synopsis about how everyone else was faring. He and Sophia were taking care of things back on Earth; Cliff was floating around space, doing friendly negotiations with Lancar and several other people, Mirage sometimes had tagged along with him, but had to take care of the dojo, Maria was off trying to take things easy and avoid any of the Federations politics, and Peppita was going around, giving colorful plays and dances with the Rosetti Troupe, finally gaining a debut and becoming an instant star.

Which then turned the conversation as to how the other Elicoorians that had traveled with Fayt were doing. Well, Adray was being his fine, fellow self, trying to find a suitable husband for his daughter Clair, although, he had to do it in secret to avoid another bashing from said daughter, Roger was still doing mischievous things, more Real Man contests that always had him up with trouble and Albel... well, Albel was serving his country of course. What information about him would interest Nel in the slightest?

Nel's train of thought ended abruptly when the sounds of glass being broken were heard. The enraged inventor was now shoving away vials that contained several liquids for Alchemy and Compounding, but Nel's emerald-colored eyes widened slightly when she saw the man grab two full vials that contained a green and purple product and threw them at the fire.

With the knowledge of Alchemy in her brain, Nel tried her best to stop the action but was a second too late. The vials reached the fire, broke and sizzled the fire, making loud, popping and cracking noises before….

BOOM!

((scene change))

Clair Lasbard tapped the tip of the archaic pen on the piece of parchment she had before her, her tongue out of the corner of her mouth, her brows drawn in a tight line in thought. Obvious to the naked eye, one could see that the gray-haired Crimson Blade was in deep thought and it would not be wise to disturb her from her current task. Finally, after a long time of thought and countless tapping on one point on the paper, Clair threw her hands up in defeat, letting out an exasperated sigh. Now Clair realized that writing a report was one thing, but writing a love letter for Farleen was just…

"Clair!" Tynave called, bursting in the conference room, gasping for air, startling Clair so badly that she neatly, with some newfound strength, broke the pen she had in her hand in half.

After getting over her shock, and making a mental note to tell everyone in Arias to knock before they enter, Clair straightened herself and stared at the orange-haired subordinate of her friend Nel in the eyes and noticed that Tynave's face was stricken with concern and shock that Clair knew that it was serious.

"What's wrong, Tynave? Did something happen?" she asked, trying to keep her voice calm.

Tynave took a moment to steady herself and take a deep breath, making it obvious that she had probably ran all the way from where she was to Arias nonstop. "It's Peterny! An explosion happened in the workshop down at the west side of the town and last I checked, Lady Nel was inside the building when it happened!"

Clair's hazel-colored eyes widened and immediately, she stood up from her seat. "Get Farleen and several soldiers to go investigate and help any civilians that could have been injured. I'll be there with you."

"Yes ma'am!" With that, Tynave the left the room in a hurry, leaving a distressed and worried Clair behind her.

((scene change))

It was surprisingly warm all around her.

What…? What's going on? What happened…? Wait…

Nel tried to open her eyes, but found that they were too heavy for some odd reason to even lift them. Plus, her face was against a soft, plush pillow that it made her head feel even more sleepier and heavier than it was before she began to wake up.

Why am I here? What about Peterny… That man…

Also, her body was sprawled all over a soft bed; the blanket pulled over her head as to not let the light strike her face. Why was she not on rubble or be burned alive? Why did she still feel her limbs and no pain shooting through her body in torrents?

What is going on?

Deciding that she was at least still alive, Nel would begin to question things later on. But right now, all she needed was sleep, and…

Beep! Beep!

What the…?

Beep! Beep!

What the hell was that?

BEEP! BEEP!

What was making that damnable noise?

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!

Taking no more of that annoying beep, Nel sluggishly popped a hand from the covers and searched for where the sound was coming from. Her hand searched around the front of the bed that had a wooden board before it where the sound was mostly coming from. Her hand tapped the board impatiently before Nel decided to at least peer from the blankets and look up and she found what looked to be a clock and smashed her hand on top of the clock, silencing it, and Nel was relieved to find that it was silent again.

That was until another hand, slightly larger and the fingers slender, landed on hers.

Immediately, Nel's emerald-colored eyes snapped back open at contact and she scooted away from the hand with a loud yelp, throwing the covers and distorting the sheets around her.

'Who… Who could have--?' Nel's mind was in a state of shock and panic, millions of questions in her head forming as to whose hand could have been on hers, and why were they in her bed!

A groan—a very familiar groan—cut her thoughts as the covers next to her stirred and rose, only to slide off and reveal a mat of dark, silky hair that ended in blonde tips, a tall, slim body that was covered with a dark tang top, and a long, slender arms—the left bandaged at his bicep, and a pair of crimson-colored eyes slid open from their slumber and began to peer at her face.

"Nel? What the hell…? What happened to you? Did you have a bad dream?" Oh, and that voice. How well she knew that deep, silky voice that used to taunt and criticize her fighting capabilities.

Yet why was he saying her name…?

Her mouth opened and closed, opened and closed like a fish out of water for a while, finding that she could not find her voice. The man in front of her rubbed his eyes with his good arm before he looked at her with a questioning, almost concerned look on his face.

"Nel? Hello, did you hear me? You look like you've seen a ghost." He said, gazing at her eyes.

Finally, Nel found her voice again and she screamed, "ALBEL NOX! WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY BED!"

((end chapter))

Well… There you go! Hope that you enjoyed the chapter. Well? Good? Bad? Sucks? If you want the next, click on that button down there and review! Thanks!