As usual, Star Ocean is not mine.
Chapter 25
"What?" the too-familiar face grimaced in confusion as Fayt realized that he had made a very embarrassing mistake. Close enough to be Albel's twin, Fayt noted sadly. But the blond hair that gently accented Albel's features shot through all the way to the scalp, and the stranger's left arm was inarguably whole.
"Um, welcome to the world of the living?" the stranger said in a voice that was definitely not Albel's, edged with an unidentifiable accent. "You've been out forever. Even the Incantatrix woke up before you. Lightseeker and I—I'm the Lover— were getting pretty worried, I must admit…"
Fayt struggled to sit up, and looked around. If appearances weren't deceiving him, he was in a cabin not unlike the one he had stayed in for a few short days on the planet that had once been Vanguard III before the Justice had scoured it.
A little away from him, his friends and the small crew of the Diplo had gathered around a fireplace. The cabin was much larger than the one on Vanguard III, he amended.
There were two unfamiliar faces. One was the Incantatrix, awake and quietly animated in conversation, and a carbon copy of Nel Zelpher, wearing goldenrod robes.
"What did I miss?" Fayt wondered aloud.
The Lover laughed out loud. "What didn't you miss? Well, I'm sure you realize that it was our good friend the Justice that attacked you. Fortune smiled upon you all and sent you straight to our little hideout here on Paldin IV."
"Then why hasn't she attacked?" Fayt asked immediately. "If I've been out so long, I mean."
"The Incantatrix taught her a bit of a lesson, which is the other big thing you missed. But you might want to join in on the present conversation because it's about to get pretty interesting," the Lover indicated with his head in the direction of the fireplace.
Fayt staggered to his feet and wearily moved himself to a seat by the flickering heat of the fireplace.
"Fayt!" Sophia chirped and hugged him tightly. He grimaced, not too painfully, but felt relieved when she sprung back to her seat.
The Incantatrix looked startlingly like Maria. The very same, in fact, but with hair black as the vacuum of space and eyes the warm color of honey. Those were the plainer changes. The greatest difference—the difference that had Fayt staring few a moment after he met her eyes—was the labyrinth of tattoos that interwove itself on nearly every exposed inch of her creamy skin.
"Think of it as one very large runology marking," she assured him when she caught him staring.
"There were eight of us, of course," the Incantatrix continued. "Counting myself. We are the other key members of the Eternal Sphere's development team, besides Luther and Blair."
"But what about those other people—the people who worked with Blair?" Fayt interjected.
The Incantatrix took the interruption with nothing but a momentary look of displeasure and a sigh for patience. "We would never be so brazen as to insert ourselves into the mythology of our creations. All of those programmers joined the team post-release, despite what they may claim. Blair was not perfect, even though she was considerably more so than that obsessed Luther.
"I was responsible for the symbology system—and may or may not have slipped a few notes of inspiration into Dr. Leingod's research."
"Wait—you actually helped Dr. Leingod with his research?" Maria wanted to know. "How can you be stuck here now?"
"I was overseeing as the Metaphysicist hacked the ramifications of Fayt's Destructive ability and inflated the stats for Sophia's Connection ability when your world suddenly declared independence."
"Oh," Fayt said quietly.
"Don't worry about it. I'm sure my corporeal form is quite fine in whatever hospital in Arkives I was taken to when I fell into the coma that keeps me here."
The callousness she took towards her own situation in her real world both frightened and awed Fayt. She hadn't spoken with a sliver of irony: it was apparent her only true concern was here in the Eternal Sphere.
"But listen. There's something important I need to say to you that could prove very beneficial, indeed. Technically, it's about your gene, Fayt Leingod, the Destruction gene. You know it can be duplicated?"
Fayt blinked, but Maria answered first. "What do you mean, duplicated?"
"Funny that you asked, Maria," the Incantatrix smiled, "because the method lies in your Alteration gene. With a touch and concentration, you can replicate the structure of Fayt's Destruction gene inside another. For obvious reasons, this will not work on those whose genes have already been changed, and it might not be compatible with everyone. But the possibilities…"
"I wouldn't do that to anyone," Fayt interjected. "You're a 4D being, so I suppose you wouldn't know what it's like. The fear that I might lose control and obliterate everything around me—and everyone—isn't something I would wish on anyone. It's bad enough with all of this going on, not knowing when the Justice or whoever else is going to bring about some insane Armageddon, without wondering if that person's going to accidentally be you."
"Fayt?" Sophia murmured.
Fayt didn't realize how his voice had grown.
The Incantatrix looked at him strangely. "The question I'd like to ask… is why you feel constantly on edge as such. I deliberately designed the gene so that, until tempered and controlled, it would not react except under immediate threat."
Fayt opened his mouth to reply. "I don't know how to answer that, or even what you're trying to ask me."
"That's all right," the Incantatrix answered obliquely. "And conversely… there are those who do not need Destruction simmering inside of them to feel as though their hand may cause more damage than they would intend, as you know well, Fayt."
What? Fayt frowned, as the conversation turned in favor of a more easily discussable topic. As he kept his silence, he had the creeping impression she was talking about Albel.
In the half-darkness offered by the great room's fire, Helgrave Nox mused over his brother's silence. He had been so quiet, so calm, that it frightened him. He could deal with Albel's rage, and Albel's anguish. But Albel's cold quiet, Albel's frigid façade, this was something he was not much used to.
So he had hesitated to speak, even though he knew that not forcing Albel to communicate was a bad idea. He did not know where Albel was at the moment. Instead, he turned towards Alex Barker and voiced a concern that he could deal with.
"Question, Alex," he said. Apparently he had taken the young man by surprise; Alex twitched in his seat and glanced up with fright on his face. After a moment, Helgrave continued. "Why exactly did you come with us?"
Alex blinked, and resettled the frames on his nose before answering. "Well," he said. "Put simply, remaining in Aquios was becoming a serious threat to my life."
"Oh?" Helgrave said, eyebrows raised. "Well, that makes sense."
"Now is not a good time for members of House Amarantine. I was given my position because my House wanted to give its future a chance to make its voice heard, but a senior leader of Amarantine took over and bid me to take my leave."
"What about your sister?" Helgrave wanted to know.
"Oh, she's fine. Your Airyglyph guards are worth their weight in gold," Alex reassured him. "No, the problem is with House Izmaria. The Queen may rule, but if the Circle of Voices garners enough of a majority in the opposition, there is little that can be done."
"Funny way to rule a country," Helgrave commented.
Alex chose to ignore Helgrave's sentiment. "There are people disappearing, all of them House Sylphide's supporters. And if House Sylphide loses this power struggle, then peace between Aquaria and Airyglyph will die. And war will resume with renewed vigor. The worst part is, all that is needed is for one sword to fall in the wrong place at the wrong time—oh, Lady Nel, you're back!!"
Helgrave smiled as he turned around, but frowned as he caught the strange smile on Nel's face.
"You didn't think you'd be back for another day or so," Helgrave said, a little confused. "But I guess… where are Tynave and Farlene, then?"
"Later, Helgrave," she said kindly but oddly. "Alex Barker. I need to talk to you immediately. It's about House Amarantine," she elaborated.
But Alex Barker's ordinary expression had changed. His eyes were analyzing, his face set in a put-off frown. "Of course," he said emptily. "We do need to talk."
Helgrave watched Alex leave, and wondered immediately why there was the sudden, frozen strangeness between them. Then he heard a battle cry.
It took Helgrave only a second to rush out of the door, but he felt that he could not have been quick enough to catch what it was that had sliced open Alex's shirt, leaving a trail of blood flung from the grass and joining with a separate stain on a small dagger he wielded in his left hand.
"Where's Lady Nel?" was Helgrave's first question.
"Still after Tynave and Farlene," Alex breathed. "That was not Lady Nel."
"Then who was that?" Helgrave demanded.
Alex sighed, wiping down his blade on the grass. He took a moment to look around to see if there had been any witnesses. Thankfully, the streets of Arias were silent this time of night.
"Did Albel ever tell you where he went when he disappeared with Fayt?" Alex questioned him.
Helgrave frowned. "No. Never."
Alex closed his eyes for a moment. "No, everything's already messed up beyond all control. It would do no harm for another to know. Helgrave, do you know there are other worlds up in the sky?"
"You're trying to be funny," Helgrave scowled.
Alex shrugged. "Believe my words, or not. The explanation is the same. Fayt came from up there, not Greeton. But even those worlds are like this one, in the same plane of existence. There is another plane of existence…"
"Like where the gods reside?" Helgrave tried to reason.
Alex's eyebrows rose. "Well. Different in that sense, but those who live there are not gods like you would think, even though they do have similar power. Helgrave, when Albel left with Fayt, it was to go to that other place. And when they came back, some people from the other place accidentally ended up stuck in your world. Some of which are kind… some of which are not. The one who we thought was Lady Nel is one of those who are not."
"What about you?" Helgrave said threateningly. "No offense, Alex Barker, but I can rightly assume you're one of those. So where do you stand?"
Alex sighed. "Those like me would wish to simply be returned to our home. The others would destroy yours."
Helgrave thought for a moment. "Does the imitation I just saw do that very often?"
Alex was taken aback by Helgrave's perceptiveness. "Why, yes, I'm afraid," Alex said, stammering. "I've already seen her take the form of both your brother and Fayt Leingod. She is also the reason that House Izmaria is so stirred up by Albel's peculiar presence in the Circle of Voices."
Helgrave narrowed his eyes. "That part, I'm not following."
"She murdered the Head of House Izmaria and took on his shape and mannerisms in a most convincing charade. My last act in the Circle of Voices before I fled Aquaria was to expose an inconsistency between her impersonation and the real leader. I threatened her position in the Aquarian government… and she wants me dead."
"Got it," Helgrave said in comprehension. "Anything else you'd want to share, while we're here?"
Alex breathed in shakily. "I drew her blood," he whispered.
"And… that's a bad thing? She's wounded. We can go after her easily," Helgrave reasoned.
But Alex quickly shook his head. "No, you don't understand. There's another, the Kriegsbringer. He… he prizes her. She causes turmoil for him so that he may fulfill his title as the bringer of war. The slightest threat to her, and he avenges with death. And death… will come for me, I fear. I can go after her, but you cannot. If I stop her…"
But Alex did not finish his sentence. Instead, he slipped the knife into his belt and nodded once, a faint echo of confidence glinting behind his glasses. "Tell your brother what I said to you. He does not know of my people's presence," he said, and then dashed off in the dark direction of the imitation's departure.
Death did come, regretfully, to Lady Nel's feet as she leaned heavily against the quaking trunk of a young tree. It was in the outskirts of Arias, by the gently caressing shore of the lake, that she encountered her once-loyal assistants.
They had chosen death over trial, struggle over conscience and understanding.
A strange thought in her mind realized that she found herself wanting Helgrave's simple embrace.
The best spies made the worst pacifiers, Lady Nel's mind murmured as she stared into the darkness. Their very devotion to their kingdom became their ruin when that single-minded devotion was no longer needed. When the time came to open their hearts, they instead shut them tight in the darkness of subterfuge that spies knew too well.
Nel supposed she should begin the trek back to Arias. She dreaded leaving their bodies alone even for a few hours. She did not even want to consider the state of their burial, traitors as they now were.
Lifting the small of her back from the trunk, she took one last glance at the peaceful, drained faces of Tynave and Farlene.
She set a quick pace through the brush, until she came to the road. The staggering scent of fresh blood struck her across the face, and bolted her to the ground where she had first sensed it.
Tynave and Farlene were not the only ones to lose their lives this night, she realized with sickening dread as she found the trail of blood that led her to the tortured corpse of a blond-haired young man.
The shimmer of broken glass winked at her in the moonlight, and the sheen of golden frames. She settled down on her knees beside the body.
"Who did this to you, Alexander Barker," she breathed. A cursory glance at his fatal wounds revealed a curious pattern. If her mind had not known better to deny the possibility, she would have likened the wound to the countless bodies that littered the battlefield in the wake of Albel the Wicked.