Chapter Eight

Albel found it incredibly difficult to sleep. No matter how tired he was, he couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. It had to be a trap. But how? Emptying an entire city to get them...that would take lots of time and planning, not to mention a lot of people would have to be in on it. And why? Why did they want Nel, and maybe even them too? They hadn't done anything seriously wrong, at least not that he was aware of.

Suddenly Albel heard a strange song playing-some kind of flute? He got up and went outside, looking for the sound's source. It was getting louder. He walked toward where it seemed to be coming from. As he got closer he could see shadows of people marching. He glanced around the corner of one building, trying not to be seen.

Marching were the same strange people who had taken Nel, but it looked like some normal citizens were marching as well. Where were they going? What were they doing? Albel tensed as something caught his eye-Nel was handcuffed and being dragged behind them. She looked pretty beat up.

Albel wanted to run and get her, but he knew that'd be a foolish and stupid mistake. Instead he carefully, but rather quickly followed the marching group to wherever their destination was. There wasn't time to get the others and since he was by himself, he knew he'd have to be even more careful. He followed them until they got close to the edge of town-then he wasn't sure what to do. Past the town were no places to hide and he's surely stand out if he tried marching with them. He decided he would have to try and somehow tell Nel to hang on, that they were coming. He picked up a pebble and chose his timing carefully, tossing it as gently as he could in front of Nel.

She took notice, despite feeling half-unconscious. She turned her gaze and could barely make out the shadow of Albel by the building.

"Albel...?" she muttered quietly, hardly audible. Albel hoped there was enough light for her to see him as he tried to mouth his message to her. She gave a slight nod, signaling she understood. Albel was about to feel somewhat relaxed when he noticed her eyes suddenly grow wide and she stopped walking.

"Behind you-!" Nel yelled as she was yanked forward and forced to continue walking. Albel quickly whipped around and saw one of the soldiers from before. The soldier said something quickly, but Albel didn't understand what he had said. After he had spoken, however, Albel began to feel dizzy and fell backwards, unconscious once more.


"Damn...," Albel muttered as he got up wearily. He looked around and immediately realized something was seriously wrong. "What the hell...?" He was on Elicoor, that much was certain. He tried to figure it out. It couldn't be possible, could it? Those soldiers had come here before, but...Was he dreaming again, or was he really back where he started from?
"So much for your hunch..."

"Only twice now...two isn't bad..."

"It is when someone goes missing because of it!"

"Hey, maybe he left on his own...you heard how much he wants to get Nel back. He might have just gone on his own to get her, not been kidnapped or anything like you guys think..."

"He can be irrational, but he isn't stupid. And consider the circumstances, like why we're here, before you say some reasoning like that..."

"How are we supposed to find Nel and Albel? They could be in different locations, and Albel would probably kill us if we got Nel before him."

"Well, uh..."

"Let's just keep looking. We can't keep wasting time."


Since at least he knew where he was-the outskirts of Airyglyph-he figured it shouldn't be that hard to find someone. He entered the city and immediately saw familiar faces.

"Hey," Albel said to one person, who he recognized as the owner of Airyglyph's best weaponry shop. The man didn't answer him. "I'm talking to you!" He reached out his hand to grab the man's shoulder, but his hand went right through him. At least he knew now he had to be dreaming. But how was he supposed to wake up?

He walked closer to the castle, hoping maybe there'd be some clue. Suddenly a small kid came rushing right past him toward a man who appeared to be waiting for him by the gate of the castle.

"Hey dad!" the boy called out.

"Where were you?" his father asked. "We've been waiting."

"Sorr-ee...," the kid whined. His father laughed and grabbed his son's hand. They started walking towards the castle and Albel couldn't help but feel like something about this was familiar.

"Come on, we've kept your mother waiting long enough," the father replied. Albel then realized who they were, and felt incredibly stupid for not recognizing them sooner-it was him and his father.


...and the chapter is still short...ah well. thankies for the reviews already. I was surprised that I actually finished chapter eight today, since I expected to have it be longer...but...ah well. The next chapter will be longer, that I promise. In fact, I doubt it'll be done tomorrow...probably Monday or something since I'm mostly working on this during school. (sweatdrop) If it's any consolation for my teachers, my grades have actually improved, not fallen! xD

Next Chapter: Albel realizes that reason he'd been looking for!