Authoress Notes: Well, you wanted it you got it! Thank you all for the magnificent reviews for this story! But enough of my talks please enjoy this second installment to my story!
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 chapter))
Chapter 2
Thick, black smoke emerged from the burning debris that began to slowly swirl around the west part of Peterny. Local guards and many pedestrians tried their best to calm or fully douse the hot flames but it only led to little being saved as the fire seemed to move over some parts of the houses adjacent to it, while others played bystanders at the sight before them.
Truly, it was scary.
Clair Lasbard finally reached this part of town a few short hours after Tynave had given her information about the accident. Her hazel colored eyes searched among the many heads as she politely pushed through the crowd that had gathered in a semi-circle around the accident to get a better view of the situation, but mostly she was hoping, and praying that Nel was still around.
Once the gray-haired Crimson Blade maiden finally shifted through the crowd, Clair made a quick scan of the area ahead of her and her eyes widened at what was standing before the ignited flames.
"Y-You!" Clair called, a look of bewilderment crossing her features.
((scene change))
To say that Nel Zelpher was surprised would've been an understatement.
No, she was downright SHOCKED.
Well, who wouldn't be if you suddenly found the man that you despised during a war in your bed? Not to mention that same man calling you by your first name instead of 'maggot', 'fool', 'worm', or 'Aquarian scum?' Oh, Nel was surely surprised.
And if it weren't for Nel's better judgment, she would be screaming every gutter word and profanity at Albel the Wicked right now.
And speaking of Albel the Wicked…
Right now, Albel Nox had his hands over his ears at the redhead's sudden outburst at him sharing a bed with her. What the hell was wrong with her, he thought. First thing he woke up, and then in the next second, she screams at him. Obviously, she wasn't right in head now.
Albel looked straight in her eyes and wished he hadn't for a moment. The look on Nel's face would have frozen hell twice over. She was breathing heavily, her deep, emerald-colored eyes wide with fury and surprise, a scary mix one would say if it was coming from someone like Nel, and she looked ready to explode again and beat him to a bloody pulp.
'Right… First things first… TRY to calm her down…' he thought as he slowly, cautiously, set his hands away from his ears.
The dark blonde-haired man opened his mouth to speak, but Nel beat him to it. "ANSWER ME, NOX! WHAT THE 'HELL' ARE YOU DOING IN MY 'BED'?" she shrieked, causing his ears to vibrate again.
Immediately, annoyance sparked within Albel at the outburst, but quickly leashed in his temper, knowing that if he answered back with a tone that matched anger, she would no doubt decapitate him, even though he wouldn't actually let her do that without a fight.
"Listen, Nel—"
But Nel refused to listen. "WHAT ARE YOU PLOTTING, NOX! IF THIS IS SOME TWISTED JOKE THAT YOU'RE TRYING TO PULL ON ME, YOU'VE GOT ANOTHER THING COMING, YOU DAMN BASTA—"
This time, Albel could take no more of this senseless shouting and finally got the courage to speak, "IF YOU'VE FORGOTTEN, I'M YOUR HUSBAND, NEL! AND I HAVE THE RIGHT TO SHARE A DAMN BED WITH MY 'WIFE', DON'T YOU THINK?"
Utter silence filled the room soon afterwards.
Albel finally reigned in his temper again, taking a few deep, calming breaths before he peered at her face.
It was blank, totally, completely blank. Her skin had gotten pale than a mid-summer moon's light, her eyes had shrunk to small little dots in their sockets, and her body went rigid like ice while her jaw was hanging loosely from its usual place.
Oh, this didn't look so good….
Something inside Nel had caused her to just…freeze up. It felt as though her spirit had just flown out of her body, leaving a lump of flesh in its wake. Maybe it had, maybe it hadn't. Maybe it had just shrunk so deep inside her body at what he said, she couldn't find it anymore. She didn't know. But his words kept repeating slowly in her head, her blood seemed to have stopped circulation throughout her whole body for her to even move an inch.
'Husband… Bed… Albel… Nox… My… My… H-Husband…' was what Nel was thinking about right now. But in all actuality, her mind was in a state of disarray at his words, yet thankfully, it didn't reflect the expression the red-haired Crimson Blade was having on the outside.
Basically, Nel was pressing the 'holy shit' button in her sanity.
Nel giggled slightly. Well… Let's not say 'giggled', more like a maniacal, crazy, Dr. Jackal-Mister Hyde sort of giggle combined with the added insanity only Nel could provide when she was in this sort of situation.
Which, in this case, Nel never had been in this sort of situation, so in short, the outcome would be unpredictable.
And possibly, not pretty.
The redhead began to speak in a small, raspy voice that spooked even Albel the Wicked out of his wit. "H-Husband…? You… You said husband? Why… That's a-absurd! Not true! What evidence do you have of this… this… 'Husband' thing anyway?"
Albel stared down at her, completely scared at how she was taking this, all because of him waking up next to her. What was wrong with her, he wondered. Not once had she acted this way after just waking up in the morning.
Unless…
Letting out an exasperated sigh, and hoping that the heavens above would keep him safe, Albel slowly lifted his bandaged left hand, showing the gold band that circled his ring finger to Nel.
Nel stared long and hard at the thick gold band that encircled Albel the Wicked's left ring finger. If possible, her eyes shrunk even more at the sight of the ring on his hand, and for a fleeting moment, glanced at her own left hand and found a ring that had an emerald stone between two hard diamonds rest on the base of her own ring finger before her attention reverted back to Albel's face, staring at him as if he was some sort of strange creature that popped out of nowhere.
'… Husband… Albel… Wife… Oh, Apris… NO…'
Before she knew it, all went black.
((scene change))
Humming a soft tune to himself, Cliff Fittir playfully pushed the doorbell to his friend's house, waiting patiently for the occupant of the house to open their door while holding a small bouquet of flowers in his other hand. Next to him, carrying a small med kit was his long time friend, Mirage Koas who also eagerly waited to have the door before them open. No response came to them and Cliff pushed the doorbell once again and decided to have a small conversation with the woman next to him.
"Are you really sure that she would be waking up soon? Remember that the accident was pretty bad, and even though she fully recovered and got out of the hospital, she needs more rest than we—"
"Cliff," Mirage interrupted politely. "Don't worry about it. Knowing her, she's probably up and about arguing with Albel right—"
The door finally opened, revealing a thoroughly annoyed Albel with an unconscious Nel in his arms.
"—now…" Mirage finished, surprise lighting up hers and Cliff's faces at the sight before them. "Albel! What happened to Nel?" She questioned, motioning a bit closer to him while examining the redhead for anything that might have caused her harm.
Albel took a deep intake of breath and replied through gritted teeth, "I don't know… One moment we wake up, the next, she's shouting at me about why I'm in the same bed as her."
"Say what? What the hell did you do now, Albel?" Cliff asked, glaring at the dark-haired man.
Albel glared back at him, double the intensity put into it. "How should I know, fool? You know that she's just recovering from her accident months ago. It could've done something to her head to have her yelling at me and in the next, pass out right in front of my eyes. I did nothing wrong!"
Mirage glared at both of the men, causing their little spat to end. "That's enough you two. We need to get Nel back in to recuperate. Come on, Albel." She ordered, ushering them back in.
Immediately, Albel did as he was told, settling Nel back in bed before Mirage suddenly shooed him and Cliff out of the room and slamming the door in their faces. Then, Albel was sipping a cup of coffee with the blonde, muscular man, with a deep frown on his face.
"Yo man, sorry about what I said back there." Cliff said after a long pause of silence between them in the kitchen.
Albel merely shrugged, taking a sip of his coffee.
"It's like you to act that way, fool. I've gotten used to it." He replied back, closing his wine-colored eyes.
"But why would Nel act that way to you? I mean, sure, you're a heartless, pain in the ass jerk, but she's always tolerated that side of you." Cliff began, placing his cup down on the mahogany table.
"Cliff…" Albel called, the subtle hint of a threat beneath his tone of voice, but the blonde chose to ignore it.
"And yeah, sometimes you say things that don't mean exactly what you said, but—"
"You say one more word, I'll gut you," Albel threatened, the dark hiss in his voice cutting the larger man off. Knowing that he was way out of turn, Albel sighed, taking another sip from his coffee.
"I just don't know what's wrong with her now, maggot. After all, she was in a bad car accident…"
((scene change))
Nel moaned softly, signaling that she was beginning to wake. She felt a mild headache pounding on her mind, making it hard for her to open her eyes for it eased the pain slightly. Yet surely and slowly, she did, and was soon greeted by another familiar face.
"… Mirage!" Nel cried out after her vision cleared and she saw the female blonde-haired Klausian again, grateful that it wasn't Albel. She tried to sit up, but Mirage gently, but firmly pushed her back down against the pillows.
"Ssh… Nel, take it easy. Right now, you shouldn't be moving so hastily, it'll only damage you a bit more if you do so." Mirage soothed, pulling up the blankets more around the red-haired Crimson Blade as if she was a child.
Soon, Nel was faintly aware of the bandages that circled her head. An injury, she thought. But when? Oh, right. The accident that happened in Peterny…
Suddenly, Nel shot up, despite what Mirage had told her, and grabbed Mirage by the shoulders. "Mirage! Tell me the situation in Peterny! How is Clair handling the situation? And how long have I been—"
"Whoa, whoa! Slow down, Nel! And what are you talking about? Peterny? What's that?" Mirage questioned, utterly confused and bewildered at her friend's behavior.
Nel was taken aback by what the blonde-haired Klausian said. "What are you talking about, Mirage? You know about the town of Peterny! The accident that happened with an inventor inside the workshop… And has Her Majesty heard about the explosion? And you know the planet Elicoor! Tell me, Mirage!"
Though, a sudden jolt of pain erupted through her head, causing Nel to cringe back. Noticing the recoil, Mirage gently pushed the Crimson Blade back against the pillows again while trying to digest all that her friend had said.
"I'm sorry to say Nel, I don't understand of what you're talking about. Peterny? That's a town? And why are you saying Her Majesty? You don't serve royalty today, and last I checked, the planet that we're on is not Elicoor." Mirage replied.
That sentence alone stopped Nel short. What the hell was going on? First she finds Albel the Wicked in the same bed as she, next, she finds that she's his wife and that he's her husband, and now she's having this weird conversation with Mirage Koas that made no sense to her at all.
What exactly 'did' happen to her in that explosion?
Elicoor… Her Majesty… Aquaria… Peterny…What had happened to it all?
Slowly, Nel let go of her friend and stared at her hands, showing that at several places on her arms she had bandages wrapped around wounds. Then, she spoke, "So… Where the hell am I? And… How did I turn out like… This?" Nel asked, pointing out her head and arms to empathize what she meant.
Sighing, Mirage took her seat next to the bed and stared straight into Nel's emerald-colored orbs.
"Nel… You were in a car accident a year and a half ago… And… This planet isn't called Elicoor. It's called Earth."
((end chapter))
Well… I hope I didn't confuse anybody with this chapter! And I hope that his explained some things as to where this story is going! So, if you want to see what happens in the next chapter, click on that button down there and review! Thanks again!
