Chapter Seven

"Nel, I...I love you," Albel said finally. His voice started quietly, but slowly gained confidence. "I'm going to save you. No matter how long it takes, and even if you could care less about me...I'm going to save you. I'm not going to be weak anymore! I'm going to be strong and save you!" He smiled gently at Nel, tears still streaming down his face. The fake Nel was taken off guard as Albel stepped forward and hugged her close to him. "I'll be strong...and I won't let go of those I love anymore!"

"Good. Then I'll be waiting," Nel replied after a moment, pulling herself away from him. He let her go.

"Don't wait, fool. I'll be there soon enough," Albel smiled, his tears finally stopped. Nel smiled kindly and then vanished. Albel closed his eyes after she left. I will be strong and save you. You can count on it!


"Ah, he's awake!" Albel opened his eyes and saw everyone around him. Fayt and Sophia kneeled next to him, Cliff and Mirage just standing over him, and Maria was pacing, but then stopped. He sat up and put his hand on his face, which he realized was wet. He laughed at himself softly.

"You alright? What happened?" Cliff asked.

"We were worried about you...," Sophia continued.

"Yeah, and it looked like you were having a really bad nightmare," Fayt added. Albel felt suddenly surprised, like he was hearing them speak to him for the first time. Had they always care about him before? Had they always been like a friend to him? He couldn't recall.

"I'm fine," he answered, getting up slowly. He had been tempted to say "fools" or "maggots", but they didn't deserve it. Not right now anyway, maybe later. He smiled at them, which seemingly surprised everyone.

"You sure...?" Fayt asked as he and Sophia stood up.

"Yeah," he laughed. "Now...let's go save Nel." No one said anything-they were too shocked at how Albel was behaving.

"Alright then-let's go," Cliff said finally. Albel glanced around at the planet-it wasn't much different from the place in his dream, but there were some plants around. After taking quick note of the place he followed them on their way. Albel felt a lot better than he had in a long time, and he felt strong-confident that this time he wouldn't fail and he would save her.


No one really spoke much as they walked, and most certainly no one asked what his dream had been about. Even if he did seem in a better mood now, they didn't want to risk losing a limb. Eventually they spotted what appeared to be a city in the distance. It didn't look very high-tech at all.

"So, what town is this?" Fayt asked as they got closer.

"I'm not positive, but I think it's the capital based on the estimated population," Maria told him. They entered the town in silence and wandered around almost the entire place without finding a soul.

"Where is everyone?" Fayt asked aloud, becoming hungry and tired now.

"If this is their highest population, I wouldn't want to see their lowest," Albel said. He was starting to feel tired as well.

"Let's just go in one of the buildings and stay the night," Cliff suggested. "No one will notice."

"There's no one to notice," Mirage replied, shaking her head.

"I don't know...It could be a trap," Albel added.

"He's right. Doesn't it seem a little suspicious?" Sophia agreed.

"I have a hunch it's not a trap," Cliff said as-matter-of-factly.

"A hunch...," Everyone groaned simultaneously.

"What? Don't you trust me?" Cliff said, acting offended. Everyone more or less shook their head.

"We'll stay one night," Fayt sighed. "I hope your 'hunch' is right..."


Is it just me or do the chapters keep getting shorter and shorter? Ah well. We're getting to the climax! Dun dun dunnnnn! I keep putting Sohpia instead of Sophia...darn her! Oh yeah, there might not be updates for a while because my computer's internet isn't working so right now I'm using the really stupid computer of doom that I'm just waiting for it to blow up in my face...

Next Chapter: note to self-don't listen to Cliff.