Thank you to those who reviewed! I really appreciate it! I'm sorry for the delay. I know I said I'd update two or three times, but unfortunatly the computer at home refused to turn on until recently. So, this is chapter 14, and I will try to update it again this weekend.
Disclaimer: No, Star Ocean 3 doesn't belong to me.
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Nel and Aiden watched the castle guards patrolling the castle grounds. There were so many of them…
Nel frowned, hoping that Albel would be all right. She stared at the castle entrance in silence, wondering if she'd be able to maybe sneak in.
"There are too many guards around to try and sneak in…you'd probably just get captured again…" Aiden whispered, as though reading Nel's mind.
Nel blew out a frustrated sigh. "There has to be something we can do…" Nel looked at the ground. Albel had been captured because he wanted her to get away. Nel had thought that Albel must have injured himself…but now when she thought about it, he had been acting a bit differently, ever since they had been transported outside the ship.
"What do you think we should do Nel?" Aiden asked.
Nel continued to stare at the castle. 'Yes…what should we do…'
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Fayt had wandered into the conference room, and saw Maria talking with Steeg and Marietta. They were talking in low tones, appearing to be on edge and nervous about something.
At length, Maria nodded to both of them, and they left the room, passing Fayt on the way.
Fayt approached Maria, and she turned to him as he spoke. "Is something wrong?"
Maria looked away. "...Steeg and Marietta noticed some kind of frequency going off on the planet, near where Nel and Albel are. Steeg said it was too advanced for the planet..."
"What does it mean?" Fayt asked.
Maria looked at Fayt silently for a moment. "...It means that Albel and Nel could be in trouble. We need to locate them as soon as we can." She left the room, leaving behind a confused Fayt.
'Something too advanced...I wonder what it could be...' Fayt thought, sitting down in a nearby chair.
Outside the room, Roger snuck around, plotting ways to annoy the crew members of the ship.
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Albel had his eyes closed, trying to ignore the guards assulting him with questions. Didn't they understand that he wouldn't answer them, no matter what? They had given up trying to beat the information out of him, and it seemed like they were going to give up soon. 'About time too...they'd have all been dead by now if I had my weapons.' Albel thought, glancing at the guards.
The guards had grown silent, and seemed to be considering Albel.
Albel didn't like how they were looking at him.
The silence stretched on until Albel thought he was going to go crazy and maybe find a way to destroy them.
"Let's bring him up to the king." One guard suggested.
"Yeah!" Another agreed.
Albel was hauled upright by some of the guards and led out of the dungeon. Albel walked along in silence, amused that these guards didn't do anything without consulting their leader. 'Pathetic maggots...'
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Ven was still pacing in the throne room. He stopped short when he saw the guards enter with Albel. No one spoke, so Ven did. "Well...have you learned anything?"
One of the guards fidgeted. "N...no sir...he won't say anything..."
Albel held back a snicker. The guard looked about ready to faint.
Ven rubbed his temple, eyes closed, sighing. "Then why did you bring him up here?"
The guards glance at one another uncertainly. "Well sir..." One began.
"...What should we do to get him to talk?" Another finised.
"..." Silence.
Albel saw that the king, Ven, was looking very stressed out and annoyed, seeming to have no answer.
The calm, mellow voice spoke suddenly. "It seems your guards are incompitent."
Albel started, glaring around the room. It was that voice again, the one he had heard in the dungeon! Albel narrowed his eyes. "Show youself fool!" He growled.
"Don't worry, I will...very soon..."The voice replied.
Ven looked bored now. Since the voice wouldn't reveal itself to Albel, there was no point in even asking. "Did you come here to voice a suggestion, or just insult my guards?"
There was a pause. "A little of both, I suppose."
Ven frowned. He hated the voice's sarcasm. "Well...?" Ven prompted.
"I suggest that you leave him in the dungeon for a bit...I might drop by and get some answers from him for you." The voice said after another pause.
Albel was frowning in irritation. He knew he had heard that voice before.
Ven shrugged. He spoke to the guards. "You heard him! Take him back to the dungeon and lock him up."
The guards saluted, and led an annoyed Albel back to the dungeons.
Ven glanced around, gave up, and spoke. "You think you can learn something?"
"I can be more pursuasive then your guards." The voice answered.
Ven sighed and began to pace again. The voice was still irritating him. Whenever it revealed itself, it was going to be punished. Then life in the castle would be back to normal, like a few months before.
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Nel was walking slowly through the forest with Aiden, thinking. They were still close to the kingdom, but Nel knew that it would be useless to barge in alone... She stopped walking suddenly.
Aiden stopped as well, and looked up at Nel. "What is it?" He asked.
"Aiden...do you think your parents and the other villagers would help me get Albel back?" Nel asked.
Aiden fell silent. "They might...I had heard a few of the villagers saying that they'd like to take out some frustration on that kingdom..." He glanced up, seeing Nel dashing off. "Where are you going?"
"Back to your village. Even some help would be great!" Nel called over her shoulder.
Aiden hurried after her, wondering how many villagers would actually go back with them to the kingdom. Aiden sighed. He'd probably have to convince some of them.
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Albel had propped himself up against the dungeon wall, his eyes closed as he considered what he could do. Not much, seeing as he was locked up in a dungeon, weaponless. Again he hoped that Nel got away. Albel grumbled to himself. Why was he thinking about her again?
'Because you like her.' A small voice said in his head.
"Hmpf." Albel huffed, expecting the voice to speak again. It didn't. Albel scowled, then sighed. Did he like Nel? Albel's thoughts were interrupted as the calm, mellow voice spoke up.
"Trying to figure out a way to escape...Albel Nox?" The voice asked, sounding faintly amused.
Albel opened his eyes. That voice again...it sounded familiar. Albel snorted. "Shut up fool!"
The voice laughed, and Albel knew he should know who the voice belonged to...but who?
"It's hard to do anything without your weapons...especially the gauntlet..." The voice said.
"!" So the voice knew about the gauntlet. Albel looked around more carefully. That meant that whoever the voice belonged to had been the one to steal his gauntlet. Albel narrowed his eyes. "Show yourself...and give me back my gauntlet fool!" Albel snarled. Whoever it was would get a severe punishment for stealing the gauntlet.
"Very well..." The voice said.
Albel braced himself against the wall. Very well to what?
There was a slight flash, which caused Albel to close his eyes momentarily. When he opened them, he saw the person to whom the voice belonged. "You..." Albel said, shocked.
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Nel and Aiden had reached his village, and had gone around, asking if anyone would go back to the castle to help Albel. Nel had been suprised at the number of volunteers, over fifty, which left her wondering how many actually lived in the village. Aiden's parents stayed behind with many others to watch over the village. Aiden tagged long with Nel and the other fifty, which consisted of males and females, all in their early 20s (Nel assumed). All of them seemed excited to storm the kingdom.
"It's about time! I can't wait to get there!"
"Yeah! It's long over due!"
"Those soldiers won't be a problem!"
Nel walked along the forest path silently. 'How can they be so excited?' Nel turned her attention to the tower in the distance. 'Albel...'
Aiden walked along, excited that he'd get to see an actual battle, instead of just hearing them from others.
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Albel glared at the person standing on the other end of the small dungeon cell. It was Luther! He pretty much looked the same, except looking thinner and tired.
Luther sneered nastily at Albel. "What are you staring at?"
Albel glared at Luther, and calmly said. "I thought you were dead...so did everyone else..."
Luther gave a short laugh. "Ha! Well, that's you and your friends' fault." Luther looked away. "Though I thought that after deleting everything, you and your friends should have ceased to exist. How did you avoid that fate?"
Albel smirked at the word fate as he answered. "I'm not sure myself...but we were all still around, and so were the worlds...the universe..." Albel glared at Luther again. "Why aren't you dead?" Luther was about to say something, but Albel interrupted him. "Actually, just give me back my gauntlet fool!"
Luther gave Albel an offended look. "I didn't die. I managed to get away, but ended up here. I couldn't get away from this planet, so I decided to get some control over this kingdom. It was quite easy." Luther paused. "I waited around for a few months, waiting to see if any ships visited here. The only way I could get off this planet is to get on a spaceship. Either that, or wait for my powers to return." Luther smiled slightly. "Then I heard the soldiers talking about how their king, Ven, had gone deep into the forest with a few soldiers, and had spotted two intruders."
At this, Albel frowned. So Luther had know about him and Nel before anyone else. At least, their identity.
"I managed to get a description from Ven, and realized it was you and another. I thought Ven had been mistaken, it couldn't have been you." Luther continued. "But then I saw you, and I assumed that your other friends would probably be looking for you. If the ship gets close enough, I can board it. It looks like I'll have to wait though, and let your other friends locate you." Luther finished.
"You talk too much. Give me the gauntlet!" Albel demanded.
Luther waved a clawed gauntlet at Albel teasingly. "You mean this?"
Albel struggled upright, but found that Luther had vanished.
"Nel's headed this way..." Luther said in amusement, then left the area, leaving behind a faintly blushing Albel.
Albel sat back down. How much had Luther seen? Albel stared at the ground. Nel was coming back? "Nel..." Albel muttered. He hoped she wouldn't get herself hurt.
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Nel, Aiden, and over fifty others hid out of sight from the castle guards.
One of the over fifty slid over to Nel and Aiden.
"What should we do?" He asked.
"We wait here until it's night." Nel answered. She assumed that it would be easier to storm the castle at night.
The human nodded, and drifted back towards the others waiting, to relay the message.
Nel looked up at the castle in silence. 'Albel...' She hoped that Albel hadn't gotten himself killed by insulting anyone...
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There! What did you think of this chapter? Please review and let me know! I enjoy hearing what others think of this story. I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible(and update my profile). The computer should work, so I can actually type. Again, please review!