It was past midnight and Albel Nox felt somewhat restless. If the blasted wench hadn't gotten herself poisoned, they wouldn't have had to stop by Peterny. The place brought back bad memories for the man. Muttering a bit, and knowing it was a good time to get rested up for the next day, he shut his eyes, forcing himself to pause all thinking in order to manage to sleep. Right when he had just gotten relaxed enough to rest, his eyes flitted open and he rolled off of the bed, growling as one trademark dagger landed where he had been lying a few moments back.
"What are you doing, worm?! Are you trying to kill me!?"
Nel Zelpher stood at the door, shaking her head. She looked rested up, he noted, which was a good sign. She'd better not think to get herself into any more trouble that would cause time wasting. He watched in irritation as she shut her eyes once and then reopened them, a smirk appearing on her face as she wandered over to retrieve the weapon. "Of course not. If I was, I wouldn't have missed."
Albel recognized the words easily-- the ones he had stated when he had first spoken to her at Peterny as well. What was she doing, mocking him again? If only they weren't in the same mission, he would have had her head by now.
No, if only it wasn't Nel Zelpher, he would have had her head by now.
"Bah." he stated, folding his arms and keeping a wary eye on her figure. She was putting the weapon away, seeming to have accomplished her purpose. "What do you want, wench?"
"I have a question for you." she snickered faintly, to his irritation. "That would mean that you have to answer it."
Worm. Now if it was going to be about the hatred talk again, he was sure he would maul something. And do it in the most painful way possible. "What now, maggot? Make it quick. You need to sleep." And so did Albel, for that matter.
To his utter annoyance, she took a seat on his bed, her arms folding slowly. He rolled his eyes, heading toward the only window in the room. This was Peterny, and there wasn't much of a view from it, spare two trees whose leaves were blowing harshly to signify another cold day. As if on cue, he felt a shiver come through him and he shook it aside. She seemed to be content with the silence, and for once, he was unhappy with it. If she wanted to say something, she needed to say it. Quick. Before he had to force her to leave his room to get some sleep.
The man was just about to do so when she spoke, her voice so quiet that he needed to pause to catch the words. "I just wanted to make it clear," she started. Her voice gradually became louder, almost forced. "A year ago.. we made a deal that we would visit each other if duty called for it."
Albel frowned, glancing aside. Somehow, he knew where this was headed. She was treading dangerous ground now, mentioning a topic than neither seemed too thrilled to speak about.
The woman took a moment to take in a deep breath. "Well, duty has called for it, hasn't it."
"................"
"I got over you, Albel Nox." she stated, confirming his thoughts.
He wasn't surprised. He was the fool, anyway, for not forgetting her in the year apart. Thinking of a snide comment, he opened his mouth to speak, but before he could shoot it out, she continued:
"I could have sworn that I did. Until I saw you again.."
-- wait, what? He turned back toward her, his eyes narrowing. "Out with it, woman! We don't have time for--"
"I just want to know what our standing is, Nox!" Nel shook her head two times, putting one hand to her forehead. "I want to know if you lost what you felt a year back. If that's the case-- then I understand. A year is a long time. But if not.. could you stop being so d--- distant!?"
He watched as she put a hand to her mouth, seeming to surprise even herself with her words. The man paused, letting them sink in. If he was to back down, it was the last chance he had. The last chance to--
A dozen thoughts swirled in his mind, making him stop to catch his breath before speaking. "A year is a long time, wench." he stated, keeping his tone cold. "And if you don't remember, you chose your duty over me that time."
"Do you think I had a choice back then?" she shook her head again. "You did nothing to stop me, either."
"Nothing I would have said would have stopped you, maggot."
"But you didn't even try!"
"There was no point in it!" he hissed. "There's no difference then as opposed to now!"
It was true. They were both born in rival countries, and although they were at a truce, they functioned independent of each other more often than not. Nel went silent for a moment, as if realizing this as well. Nothing had changed. Other than time. Just time.
"Now, wench, if you're done talking--"
"Am I supposed to take that as a yes?"
Albel blinked a few times as her gaze shifted to his, her eyes blazing in obvious annoyance. "Yes to what, worm?"
"Oh!" she shot out, her expression suddenly dropping all signs of anger. She slumped back a little, lowering her gaze and looking defeated. "Oh! Nevermind. I understand. I don't even know why I bother with you sometimes."
Actually, the man didn't really know why either. He shook his head, allowing his voice a tinge of warmth when he spoke. "What are you talking about now, wench?"
"Just nevermind." the redhead had buried her face in her hands now and was looking, well, miserable. "This is so embarrassing."
Albel's well built resolve was beginning to break. With a sigh, he took a seat next to the woman, using one hand to move hers from her face. "Speak up."
Her only response was a slow shake of the head, and he realized that she was blushing faintly, her face close to the shade of her hair. Blasted scum. Why did she have to be so beautiful? He was tempted-- very tempted-- to brush aside a stray strand of hair from her face but he kept his hand to himself.
"What's wrong?" he tried, his voice little more than a soft whisper. It was hard to keep a harsh tone in such a quiet voice, and he found he lost the edge to his speech for the moment. If she had noticed, she didn't let on.
"..there's plenty wrong." she finally muttered, shutting her eyes. To his surprise, when she reopened them, he thought he could see a trace of sadness in the emerald orbs.
Oh goodness, please don't let her cry. Out of all things, not that...!
Lucky for him, though, she wasn't the type to do so. Not so easily at least. Her voice was trembling, signifying enough emotion as is without having to even look at her face. "I love you, Albel." she said quietly. "I know we haven't seen each other for a year. I know that we still have our duties and our lands that we need to account for." she paused, her gaze lowering. "And I know that you don't care for me in that way anymore. I'm sorry."
The words were so plain but they sent a faint throb through his whole entirety. A half of him wanted so desperately to deny this-- he still loved her. He would give up his soul for her-- but the other half of him shut the whole concept out. Not again. He wasn't going to give in again.
He didn't want to get hurt again. He just didn't want to--
---
Emerald eyes met with crimson and Nel felt her heart skip a beat when she saw the tinge of warmth come across the man's face for a moment before he seemed to clamp down, reverting to the mask of cool that he wore prior. "Get some sleep, maggot." he stated, his voice cold and commanding.
The words made her freeze for a moment. It was as if she had just been stricken with an ice block. She could have sworn her heart stopped for a moment as well, and when she recovered, she felt rather horrible. For the first time in years, she felt warm tears threatening to spill from the corner of her eye and she immediately glanced aside, wiping one aside hastily. Nel Zelpher did not cry. She did not cry when she had heard about what had happened to her father. She did not cry when she her people were slaughtered by Airyglyph soldiers. She did not cry when her subordinates had gone off on a mission thinking that it was riding to their deaths.
And she refused to cry over a man. Especially one as apparently heartless as the one in front of her. True, she had allowed her duty to come before her relationship, but that wasn't something only she had done. He had done the same. Placing the blame on her-- that was just cruel. She supposed she couldn't expect much better from Albel the Wicked, though. She cursed herself inwardly for not having enough self-restraint to keep her thoughts to herself.
And her tears to herself at this rate.
She needed out. And fast.
Swiftly, she jumped up, turning and heading toward the door without another word. He made no attempt to stop her, and she shook her head to herself. Truth be told, she would have no idea what to do if he had said that he still cared for her, but it would have at least made her feel better than how she was feeling now. The morning was going to be utter hell. She was sure of it.
---
Albel watched her as she rushed out of the room, not quickly enough for him not to have spotted the beginnings of tears forming on the redhead's face. He at first refused to believe that the strong woman that he had known would actually shed tears, and then turned on himself for allowing it to happen. His words had slipped, and he had no idea what to do with himself. Letting her run off was probably not a good idea, but he knew well enough that all should be well in the morning. The woman wouldn't back away from a mission. If she did, there would be something most terribly wrong. At first he debated about going into her room to apologize, but then figured that wasn't such a good idea. First of all, Albel wasn't very good with apologies, and second, he'd probably only end up making the woman feel worse. He put a hand to his forehead. Any prospect of getting rest was slowly fading. He didn't want to hurt her, on the contrary he was willing to make sure she was safe, but he hadn't been able to prevent himself from doing so.
Nel would be happier without him, he decided, which was the only idea that allowed him enough peace to rest in a dreamless sleep.
When morning came, the man was dreading his encounter with the redhead so much that he allowed it to become noon before going to visit her. To his surprise, she seemed as if she was still resting, and when he opened the door to her room, his thoughts were confirmed. Nel was sleeping soundly in her bed, a small smile placed upon her lips. She must be dreaming, he figured, and he frowned a bit. He owed her enough to let her dream for a little longer. She seemed happy enough anyway. Waking her up wasn't going to make her feel any better.
He recalled the previous night and cursed himself inwardly. If he had only admitted how he had felt to her... this time it might have worked out. He had been too stubborn though, and not only was it hurting him, it obviously hurt her.
Quietly, he approached her, admiring her sleeping form. She had fallen asleep in her normal clothes, he noted, and figured she had woken up early and then fallen back asleep when he had not called upon her for some time. Breathing a slow sigh, he leaned over, adjusting the covers around the woman.
Albel shook his head. He had been the one wanting to leave early before and now he was letting his temporary companion extra time to sleep? Bah. As if they had time to be slacking. He waited for a slightly moment, then lifted a hand to the woman's cheek. "Nel." he stated, waiting for her to stir. "It's time to wake up."
Her eyes flitted open and her gaze lingered on him for a moment before seeming to notice the hand on her cheek. She slapped it aside, to his surprise, and sat up, putting both hands to her hips. "Well, you let me sleep in for an awful long time, didn't you Nox. Or did you sleep in too for once?"
Her tone was harsh, but he couldn't blame her. Apparently he had mistakenly broken her heart anyway. Not that it was only hurting her. It was hurting him just the same-- just that he wouldn't admit to it. He wouldn't dare show it either. It also hurt now how he had noticed how the woman had not shown a single smile through the entire few days they had been together. Plenty of frowns, but not a smile. Only in her sleep. And not directed to him.
Albel was beginning to feel his hatred for himself enlarge ten-fold. If he could press rewind on his life story, he would have gladly done it. For now, it was useless to fix what he had messed up.
"Hmph." he stated. "Now that you're up, we're leaving, maggot."
"Alright."
Her expression was indifferent, and for a split second Albel wondered if the previous night had been just his imagination. The woman in front of him was as calm and professional as she was toward the others now, her expression masked almost as well as his own. Her tone betrayed no malice, although he clearly sensed it from her aura.
There was no way such a woman could harvest any sort of feeling toward him, right? Maybe she had managed to kill them off during her sleep. The thought irked him. If that was the case, he needed to do the same. Albel glowered toward one of the men in Peterny as he caught one of his random blurbs about Lady Nel. This random man seemed always to be talking about either Lady Nel or Lady Clair. Clair, he didn't mind, but Nel was not someone Albel was planning on allowing most everyone to talk about. She was his-- or was at some point. At the moment, any prospects of this being truth in the present was fading rapidly.
The man watched as Nel examined the areas around the ruins quickly and professionally. She was the one who pushed aside the blocks to get through the ruins, and she was also making it a point to finish off any of the encounters they went through. Albel frowned a bit, noticing that the woman's arm was bleeding slightly, but she seemed not to care, instead taking her time to investigate. He knew that he should be doing the same, and he kept his gaze wandering as much as possible and alert for anything new.
It was when they reached the end of the ruins that they saw the teleporter. It was a a portal similar to the one they had used to go from the eternal sphere in Gemity to Aire Hills. It also looked active, glowing a faint blue in color. Nel stepped up toward it, her gaze shifting to look toward him for a moment. "Let me test it." she stated. "If I don't come back in a few minutes--"
"No."
He grabbed her by the shoulder before she could step in.
"You're not going alone."
Dull emerald eyes lifted to look toward his, calculating. He frowned inwardly. The spark he was so used to wasn't present, and it dug into his consciousness. What was wrong with her?
"What if it's a trap?" she shook her head. "It might not even be a teleporter. We shouldn't take chances. If one of us gets trapped into another dimension, at least the other will be able to--"
"Listen to me, wench! I'm not letting you go alone." Albel kept his hand on her shoulder, forcing her to stay still.
"What? Do you want to go instead?" Nel rolled her eyes. "Albel, we both know that it would be safer if I went ahead instead. If there is civilization on the other side of the teleporter, then I can talk to them. You might kill them, and that won't help us at all."
Good point. He rolled his eyes. It wasn't that he'd kill them right off the bat anyway. Only if they annoyed him enough.
Nel reached up to swat his hand away but he squeezed her sharply enough not to bother.
"Albel." she stated, her tone half a command and half a plea.
"I'll go with you, maggot."
The redhead looked irritated. "But what if--"
"If it's a trap, it would be easier to get out with two people. If it's somewhere new, it would be easier explored with two people. If it's a device used to trick people to their deaths, so be it. In that case, I'll die with you. Besides, it's ridiculous to allow one of us to go on without some sort of communicating device."
---
So the man could think when he put his mind to it. Nel frowned a bit but nodded. At the very least it would make her feel a little better to have someone come along with her. Even if it was Albel Nox, who was causing her way too many more problems than he was worth. The man released her shoulder for a moment and she was just about to step away when he shifted, wrapping one arm around her and bringing her to himself. She couldn't help but feel a flash of anger, considering that he knew how she felt toward him and yet he could still do such a thing. She figured that it was the only way to get on the teleporter at the same time, though, and so forgave him this time, allowing him to hold onto her. Instinctively she placed her arm around his form, taking care not to allow any mistaken show of feeling to get in the way. Warily, she shut her eyes, allowing him to guide her to the portal. There was a long silence, and once, she considered that they had indeed passed away. The only reason she knew that wasn't the truth was because she could hear the faint sound of his heartbeat. Once, she thought he gave her a quick squeeze to reassure her, but she wasn't sure. She dismissed it as a figment of her imagination. His tone was enough confirmation.
"...we're here, fool." he finally spoke.
"Here?" she tried, slowly opening her eyes. She gasped; the light was much brighter there than any other place she had been in. "W..where are we?" she attempted, allowing him to move aside as she glanced around in awe.
The woman gasped again when a girl ran by, wearing clothing that reminded her faintly of Sophia's. She had an odd looking bag on her back, held up with two straps. If she remembered correctly, Fayt explained that it was a backpack. It kind of looked silly, she had to admit.
He shrugged. "Not on Elicoor anymore." he muttered, his eyes on the girl who had rushed off. She was entering a large building of sorts with a huge machine that looked like a clock centered at the top middle.
"I could figure that myself." she commented, forcing herself not to tear away when he moved over and grabbed her arm.
"Stay close, fool." he stated, "I don't need to waste time looking for you if you run off."
Nel grumbled to herself. It might be a good idea to run off actually. Not that he was making anything easier by being around. She knew that the two would most obviously stand out wherever it was that they had arrived at-- and she wished to Apris that he would let go of her. Didn't he figure that his touch was still enough to send chills up her spine and warmth to her cheeks? Apparently not. Either that or he just didn't care. When she glanced toward him, he wasn't looking toward her but was instead looking behind her, his expression marking slight confusion. "....Fayt?" he grunted, obviously not liking the sound of the name coming from his own mouth.
"Fayt?" she echoed, turning around. Sure enough, a few paces away, the young man was wandering alongside a girl with long brown hair. He was holding onto a pile of books and looked more than uncomfortable. When the girl turned, the two Elicoorians could tell that it was indeed Sophia Esteed, her hair pinned up in a swan's fashion. Her already large eyes seemed to go wider and she immediately started to tug on her friend's sleeve.
Nel put a hand to her forehead as she watched all the books fall from Fayt's arms. He shook his head sheepishly, then raised his gaze toward the direction that Sophia was apparently gesturing to, and suddenly the two were both a few feet from the Elicoorians, the brunette's arms flailing about in surprise. The books were left in a pile behind them. Fayt was the one who spoke first. "Nel! Albel! What are you doing here?"
"More as what are you two doing here?" Nel questioned, taking a glance at the two. Sophia hadn't changed a bit, and she was wearing her school girl uniform. Fayt also looked similar to how he had been before, though he had grown out his hair just long enough to have a small ponytail behind himself. He was wearing some sort of uniform as well, and he looked slightly more mature than he had been a year back.
"What do you mean by that?" Sophia asked, letting out a giggle. "This is Earth! We live here."
"Earth..?" Nel Zelpher paused, glancing around the area. So this was where they had originally come from. It looked nothing like Elicoor, she had to admit. The sky even seemed artificial. When she noticed Albel had released her, she moved over to exchange hugs with both of the humans. "We came here by..transporter." she said, trying to recall the wording. "It was our mission to investigate it."