Star Ocean: Into The Vast Darkness

Chapter 3: Alen the Obsessed

Claude woke up early in the morning, confused as to where he was. Instead of a cold, uncomfortable Federation cot, he was in a soft, warm bed with sheets and blankets. He sat up and looked all around. Slowly he began to remember the day before on Milocinia when he wound up in Arlia. Claude was inside of Regis' house. When the boy came to this house the night before he was stuffed with food and exhausted. After a long nights sleep he could observe and appreciate this fine manor.

Though it was early in the morning, light flowed in through the window casting a faint myriad of blue and crimson shadows on the furniture. The room Claude was in had a bed, a wooden desk, a few small chairs and an ornate door that looked to be carved out of the finest woods. As the earthling slowly crept out of his room and down the hall, trying desperately not to wake anyone up, he noticed artwork on the walls. Pictures of battle scenes, portraits of Regis and who Claude assumed were the mayors before him were spread out on the walls from one end to the other giving one the illusion of being watched.

As the young man reached the stairs he noticed that the rails were even more exquisite than the ones he had admired at Rena's house. People on Earth would pay an arm and a leg for this stuff. Maybe I should get into the business of selling goods from underdeveloped planets...Absorbed in thought and not paying attention, Claude bumped into Regis upon reaching the bottom of the stairs. "Please excuse me, I am so sorry." pleaded the boy, not wanted the older man to get mad. "Quite alright," started the mayor, sounding only a wee bit annoyed. "Take this. I asked you last night to no longer use your sword of light, so please use this instead."

What the old man had handed Claude was a long sword. It was rather ordinary, pretty well balanced and relatively light. The young man thanked Regis for the sword and went on his way. He had to find Rena and see if she was all right. Finding out that he was not The Warrior of Light had upset her quite a bit. He started looking at her house, but her mother told him that she was not home. Next Claude tried asking some of the neighborhood people if they had seen her that day. Mr. Hearn, the priest, and the lovey-dovey couple that Claude had met the day before did not know for sure, but they suggested she may be in Shingo Forest, for that is where she often spent her time.

Shingo Forest... thought Claude. That must be the place where I saved her from that monkey. Wow, she sure is a brave girl to go back there again. The earthling made his way through the thick forest, once again admiring the beautiful trees and flowers and inhaling the pleasant aroma of nature. Much of the forest was cast in shadow except for where Rena stood. The trees seemed to part and bend in her wake, allowing warm sunlight to shine on her soft hair and make her appear an angel in the darkness.

Claude approached her slowly, trying not to startle the poor girl. She turned around as he got closer and he assumed that she had heard his footsteps. "Rena... I wanted to talk to you about yesterday," the young man started in a warm and comforting tone. "I know you and your mother were really hoping that I was this Warrior of Light. I am sorry I let you two down." The boy looked at the ground, embarrassed that he had caused such a commotion.

The pleasant girl put her hand on his shoulder and spoke back equally as comfortingly. Claude thought it strange that even in times of worry and doubt, this girl could stay so cheerful and positive. He had only known her for one full day and already he admired her. "Don't worry, Mr. Claude. It was an easy mistake. I apologize on behalf of my mother, Regis, and myself. We are all hoping so hard for The Warrior to appear, I guess we all got a little carried away. Could you please excuse me? I would like to think for just a bit longer." The girl turned around once more.

"Certainly, Rena. Do you think we can still be friends even though I am not the warrior?" The girl turned around and grabbed Claude's shoulders, smiling, nearly knocking him over. "Of course! I would love to be friends with you, Mr. Claude, warrior or not." Claude returned the girls bright smile. "Thank you for understanding, Rena. And please, just call me Claude." Rena nodded and gave him a hug, then turned back around and resumed her thoughts.

At the entrance to the village, the young man spotted another young man that struck him as rather strange. The man, sporting black armor and a cape, stood about five and a half feet tall. He had short, dark green hair and looked about eighteen or so. His eyes were the strange part about him. They seemed empty and without feeling as the man stared off into the distance at something Claude could not see, not moving one bit. The young man thought it best to avoid this stranger as he headed back to Arlia.

-

Rena stood in the forest for almost two hours after Claude left. She was still a might sad that The Warrior of light had not yet appeared, but at the same time excited that she had made another new friend. He was also a handsome traveler at that! The sweet girl daydreamed about showing Claude more stuff in Arlia, showing him Salva, maybe even going on one of his journeys with him. Going on a journey would be so neat! And I would come in handy, too. I just hope Mr... I mean Claude doesn't think I am weird.

The girl's thoughts wandered as they often did when a tap on the shoulder all of a sudden interrupted them. Rena turned around, startled at not knowing where the tap had come from. The familiar figure that stood before her startled her even more. "Alen, what are you doing here? I haven't seen you in weeks!" The figure did not respond, just puts his hands on her arms. The hands felt cold and uncomfortable at the touch.

"Rena," started Alen, his voice sounding slightly different from usual. "Rena, I have come to make you my wife." The girl backed up shocked and confused. "Alen, what are you talking about? I have told you a million times, I just want to be friends!" The young man in black did not pout or whine like he had thousands of times before; he did something very strange. Alen reached up into the air and snapped his fingers. Suddenly, without warning, two figures that Rena could not see grabbed her arms from behind. They tied her in rope tightly and picked her up, falling in line behind their leader and following. Rena was being kidnapped.

The three carried Rena straight through Arlia, being seen by the old man, a young boy, and Westa and Regis who were doing some shopping. The whole time Rena was kicking and screaming, even hitting Alen in the head a few times but they continued on their path. Westa tried to stop them, but Alen knocked her out of the way. The group was heading to Salva, the town neighboring Arlia where Alen's father was mayor.

Rena got tired from all the screaming and kicking and eventually passed out. On their way back to Salva, the group spotted a figure in the distance and decided to cut through the forest instead of taking the road. The forests here were very dark and thick, allowing very little light to pass through the scrunched together branches. Few birds chirped, and the only signs of life were the many lizards in the forest. It seemed as the group was enveloped in a shroud of darkness that choked out all life.

By the time the men got to Salva they were exhausted. All exhausted except for Alen how had not changed at all. The men entered the Salva drifts and headed for the place where the ceremony was to happen. Alen now had everything. Power, wealth, and the girl he had practically worshiped from the day he had met her. For some reason he was not smiling, he was just in a trance, and his henchmen worried.

Okay, well I apologize for that short chapter. It is just that I am trying to average one a day until I get up there really high, and also, this is super suspenseful enough to be two chapters. I bet you can't wait to see what happens next... Bwahahaha!