Points of View
A Star Ocean 3 fanfic
by Intrasonic
Setting: Castle Aquaria, post-aborted-war...
What exactly made the difference?
If there was ever a question that Nel wished had never been answered, she knew it now.
Hundreds, even thousands dead.
She could rationalize it anyway she wanted to, but the central fact remained the same: a single, giant, flying object had appeared from nowhere, and proceeded to completely massacre both Airyglyph's and Aquarias' armies in a time span of minutes.
Damned minutes.
And even more telling had been the lack of surprise from Cliff and Fayt. They had been worried, but they had known exactly what the object was, and what it was capable of.
Nel wondered how far her people would have to advance before they could take something like that for granted. As far as she was concerned, it was painfully obvious that a more advanced civilization didn't bother with sharper weapons - they'd simply made swords obsolete altogether.
Somehow, that concerned Nel far more than Fayt's strange display afterwards that had destroyed the giant object. At least she could attribute Fayt's actions, involuntary though they might have been, to some incredibly powerful runology...
On a related note, Fayt was still recovering from his ordeal, and Cliff was keeping an eye on him. Not trusting herself to stay patient and quiet while waiting for the boy to recover, Nel had instead opted to see how the girl, Ameena, was faring. It was perhaps rather strange that she would be so concerned about one person, when so many were already dead, but she could at least rationalize that, after rescuing the girl from the forest, she had a vested interest in the girl's welfare. And having her safe would give Dion additional incentive to recover from his own severe battle injuries.
"Any change?" Nel inquired, quietly entering the room where Ameena lay resting.
Mirage shook her head regretfully, still sitting in the same chair that Nel had seen her before the battle had started. "I'm afraid not. If our people were here, we could possibly do something, but..."
"Do you expect them to come?"
"It's only a matter of time."
The third outsider to enter the picture, Nel still hadn't been in contact with Mirage long enough to get used to her, but a few things had seemed fairly obvious before long. To understate the matter, she was a marked contrast to Fayt or Cliff. Calm, placid, and quite reserved, she almost seemed out of place compared to her male companions.
"How did you arrive here?" Nel wanted to know.
"The way Cliff and Fayt did."
"That flying object? But they captured Fayt and Cliff-"
"Cliff had me stay inside when he and Fayt gave themselves up. I left under the cover of darkness."
"I see."
"Two groups can do more than one, and I'm better at being stealthy than Cliff is."
"And what if you'd been discovered?"
A shrug. "I can take care of myself."
"Oh really?"
"Do you really think Cliff and Fayt would abandon someone who couldn't?"
Point. After all, Nel reflected, neither had shown any hesitation about rushing to back her up on her rescue mission. And Cliff had vouched for her earlier when asking Fayt if he wanted her to back to them up...
Except that Mirage didn't exactly look like a fighter, having a definite air of non-combativeness about her demeanour and stance. She was also, to put it mildly, strikingly beautiful. Were Nel ever inclined to be so petty, the woman in front of her would have definitely managed to spark some jealousy in her.
Then again, looking harmless could be both useful and deceiving, as Nel knew full well herself. "If you're such a good fighter, why didn't you back us up before?"
"Because Cliff asked Fayt what he wanted, and Fayt wanted someone to watch over Ameena."
"And because of what Fayt wanted, you just sat back and waited?"
"If I hadn't, Fayt would have been worried, which might have distracted him. My coming along would have done more harm than good."
As alien as the logic was to Nel's operational style, she couldn't argue it. "I suppose you're a lot stronger than you look, just like Cliff?" she inquired.
"That's right. We're both Klausian."
Nel's brow furrowed. "Klausian? That's... your race?"
"That's right."
"I've never heard of your race."
"I wouldn't think so." Mirage agreed. She smiled, as though enjoying a private joke. "Most of us live a long ways away from here."
It was starting annoy Nel. "Do all Klausians enjoy double-talk so much, or is it just you and Cliff?"
"I'm sorry?"
"This secrecy is beginning to get irritating. Apparently my people are so primitive that we don't deserve complete answers to our questions."
"That's news to me."
"Oh really? Cliff told me that there's some sort of law preventing you from interacting with so-called 'primitive tribes'."
Mirage shook her head ruefully. "Cliff and his 'explanations'... The proper term is 'underdeveloped cultures'. And the organization that Cliff and I belong to doesn't follow that law."
"But you want to stay on Fayt's good side, right?"
"There is that, but that's not the only reason. We don't specifically uphold that law because we don't agree with the organization that made it. But that doesn't mean it doesn't have some good reasoning behind it."
"I would certainly hope so," Nel snapped. "A good enough reason for my people to be kept in the dark after being slaughtered like cattle!"
Mirage didn't even look perturbed by the outburst. "As opposed to what was happening already?"
Nel gritted her teeth, deliberately ignoring any grains of truth in the statement. "There is huge difference between the war and what just happened. And I don't appreciate being kept in the dark on a matter that threatens my country!"
"We're sorry, but unfortunately, we're in the dark about a great deal of this ourselves, especially regarding Fayt's little display earlier."
Somehow, Nel almost found that comforting. Almost.
"You should keep an eye on Fayt," Mirage suggested. "I'll stay here and watch Ameena."
Nel gave the blond-haired woman a level glance, which might have bounced off for all the effect it had. "Fine. I'll do that."
"We've got trouble! Another one of those weapons has appeared in the sky!"
"Damn!"
"Is it a weapon from Greeton?"
"Then what is it? What is a 'Vendeeni'?"
The White Dew Garden was a balcony that had originally been built to allow the ruler of Aquarias to survey a considerable portion of the land she ruled. Located immediately to the rear of the throne room, it was a conveniently located, but private place that had doubtlessly served as a place of solitude for many rulers, both past and present. It was also, to believe some rumours, a conveniently located, but private place for many illicit affairs.
It was also, Nel was realizing for the first time, an excellent place for scouting for aerial attacks. She doubted the designers had ever intended it as such, but it was hard to argue with the crystal clear view of the massive flying object that slowly floated towards the castle.
The 'Vendeeni', the outsiders had called the harbringer of death. She would have cheerfully settled for "Mass murdering bastards", but all name-calling would do was remind her how vulnerable her kingdom was in the face of that monstrosity...
"Damn!" Cliff growled, apparently no less pleased than she was. "What now?"
Fayt had the look of someone who had been thinking far too much recently. "I'll give myself up. Then they'll leave."
Which was probably the reason, Nel decided, that she was having so much trouble hating the outsiders, despite the trouble that had followed them to her kingdom. It wasn't as though the notion hadn't already occurred to her, but she had quickly determined how repugnant the idea was to her. Enemies were for killing, but friends - and that was what they were, she was certain - were to be protected. Somehow.
"Fayt, no!" It was about time that Mirage finally showed some signs of agitation.
"That's enough of that!" Amazingly enough, Cliff looked genuinely angry as he glared at Fayt. "You say that again and I swear I'll smack you one!"
"Cliff, calm down. Anger won't solve anything." Mirage gracefully interposed herself between the two, her back to Cliff. "But he's right, Fayt."
"..." was Nel's contribution to the issue. Somehow, the two Klausian's sudden vehemence didn't strike her as a run-of-the-mill burst of morality. In fact, the woman was beginning to seriously doubt Mirage's earlier claim about being in the dark over this entire matter.
"Then what should we do?" Fayt demanded of them, looking frustrated. "This country's military doesn't stand a chance against the Vendeeni ships!"
Ships. Nel had already picked up that the giant, flying, killing object was known as a 'ship' by the outsiders, despite its obvious lack of any need for water. And in case the earlier references had just been coincidence, once again she was hearing the word deliberately used in the plural sense. Which suggested that, even if a miracle occurred that allowed them to stop this ship like the earlier one, there were plenty more that could be sent afterwards. Simply wonderful.
"Hey..." Fayt seemed to have an idea. "But you chased away the Vendeeni ship before! Why not do it again?"
There was a moment of stunned silence.
Nel blinked, trying to understand the statement. Chase away?
Mirage sighed wearily. "It's as I thought."
Cliff mirrored her gesture as he shook his head at Fayt. "You don't remember a thing, do you?"
The boy drew back under the sudden scrutiny. "What are you talking about?"
The others exchanged strained glances, possibly trying to decide on a diplomatic and tactful way of telling him that a strange light had burst from his forehead and erased the first Vendeeni ship from existence. When there were no takers, fate provided a diversion from the topic at hand.
Nel was the first to hear it, almost sounding like a slightly higher pitched echo of the Vendeeni's ship's ominous rumble. She immediately swivelled her gaze towards the sky again, scanning for the cause...
Another floating object was breaking through the clouds, the silvery appearance contrasting sharply with the red-orange colouring of the first. It was also moving faster, and clearly headed directly for the first ship.
"Another one's coming!" she exclaimed, cursing inwardly.
Mirage's face broke into a smile. "Cliff!"
Cliff grinned. "Yep, it's them. Finally."
It took a minute for Nel to understand the implications behind their conversation, but when it did, she dared to match their smile. All this time, they'd been on the receiving end of the attacks, but was it finally possible that a ship had arrived that was on their side?
Even as she watched alongside the rest of the group, repeated blasts of white energy lashed out from the silver ship, impacting squarely along orange ship's side. Within seconds, flames and smoke could be seen to pour from the reeling ship. Several seconds later, a similar salvo of energy leapt back from the orange ship to the silver ship, rocking the target similarly.
Several seconds later, the sounds of the explosions finally reached the group, sounding like nothing so much as a mechanical combination of high powered runology and a thunderstorm combined. More flashes of energy were exchanged between the ships, the sounds once again reaching them only after a prolonged period of silence.
Nel sucked in a breath, having only just realized she'd been going without. As absurd as it sounded, she knew she was watching a duel. A duel between two giant ships, each one more than capable of obliterating an entire kingdom with their weapons, but evenly matched against each other...
And to judge from the expressions on Cliff and Mirage's face, they didn't find anything unusual about it. They looked concerned, but the scene before them was apparently commonplace enough to warrant nothing further.
Nel exhaled noisily at the realization, unable to keep from feeling a little embarrassed at her own awe. The massacre by the first Vendeeni ship had been bad enough, but to learn that such power was normal...
Just how accurate was Cliff's 'primitive tribe' comparison after all?
What else was considered 'normal' by these outsiders?
Drama lives for such questions.
Even as Nel's ears heard the beginnings of a quiet humming noise behind her, she turned to address it. And was treated to the sight of a person appearing out of thin air, at the top of the balcony steps.
It was a young woman, with long blue hair, dressed in what could possibly be combination of a dress uniform and combat armour. She carried no obvious weapons that Nel could see, unless the strange contraption attached to her belt somehow filled that duty.
The woman smiled as her gaze immediately focused on the group. "Sorry to keep you waiting."
It was, a small part of Nel reflected, entirely possible that Cliff had been right in calling her a chronic evesdropper. But there was, she would have insisted, absolutely nothing wrong about what she was doing at the moment.
After all, what she had done was provide a room for the outsiders to conference between themselves, exactly as her majesty, the queen, had ordered.
It was simply coincidence that the room Nel had chosen happened to have a thin door. And Nel would trust no one but herself for the duty of standing guard outside to make sure they weren't disturbed during their conferencing. And she'd been feeling very tired lately, with all the commotion lately, so much that she felt the need to lean against something, such as the door, for support. And it was quite accidental that one ear happened to be resting against the door.
No, like it or not, it appeared Nel was stuck having to overhear any conversations inside the room. She would simply have to endure it quietly. Very, very, quietly.
It wasn't as though she was disobeying any orders from her queen. As per orders, she had refrained from pestering them with questions. And it was only natural for her to be concerned about a group of people who had been closely tied with to the recent cataclysmic events. And if they happened to alleviate some of her (admittedly) near-rabid curiosity, what harm could there possibly be?
It's unknown whether Aquarias' religion has an equivalent to Hell, but Nel probably would not have appreciated being told what the road to it is paved with.
Further fruitless contemplation was halted in favour of listening to the conversation inside.
"Maria, please tell me what happened. Why did the Vendeeni capture my dad?" That was Fayt, who apparently really did have a kidnapped father. "Why are they after me? ...What is it about me that they're so interested in?"
"Relax, there's no need to rush things, and there's much to explain." That was the newest arrival, Maria. "But first... his powers manifested, didn't they?"
"They did, just once. He was stronger than expected. Particularly, his destructive capabilities are far beyond yours." That was Cliff, sounding remarkably not in awe of recent events.
"And his memory?"
"Nah. The whole thing was completely wiped from his mind."
"I see..."
"What in the world are you guys talking about?" Fayt again, probably tired of being talked past by people who knew more than he did. As far as Nel was concerned, it was about time he found himself on the receiving end of it.
Apparently, to judge from the conversation, Fayt also had a kidnapped friend named Sophia. And both her and his father were being held by the Vendeeni.
"So tell me what's going on!" That was Fayt again, once again growing impatient. Nel once again marvelled at her own lack of sympathy for him in this matter.
"Fine. Your father took it upon himself to carry out forbidden research."
"Forbidden research?"
"That's right. He researched and designed a genetically modified, living weapon - forbidden by the laws of the Pangalactic Federation."
"My father? I can't believe it!"
"Of course he didn't talk about it. Other than those involved, only the top levels of the Federation government knew anything."
"Then how come you know about it?"
"I was one of his...guinea pigs."
"What...?"
"I'll never forgive them."
"My dad... I-I can't believe this! Living weapons? You...a guinea pig? You just look like an ordinary girl!"
There was a brief pause.
"Exactly. Watch this."
Even as the room went silent, Nel strained to make out any sounds that might suggest what Maria might be doing to demonstrate that she might not be so ordinary...
Suffice to say, Nel was not expecting a loud explosion, coupled closely with the sound of breaking pottery. Whatever was making Maria so extraordinary, it clearly involved some violence. But even as Nel braced herself to charge the room, she could hear the young woman resume talking...
"This is the power I received from the symbological genetic modifications that Professor Leingod and his lab performed on me. I possess the ability to manipulate the structure of matter. So...still think I'm an ordinary girl?"
"But...why would my father do such a thing?"
"And not just to me."
"What?"
"I wasn't the only one they modified. Another came before me - I was the second subject."
"What are you saying?"
"The first subject...was you."
"Me? The first subject? What are you talking about? My dad would never do something like that to me!"
"I can understand if you don't believe me. Your power hasn't fully awakened yet. But if I'm not telling the truth, can you explain the thing for me? Who knocked that Vendeeni battleship out of the sky? Why are the Vendeeni so relentless in going after you and everyone else related to the Leingods? Everyone who was there knows the answers to these questions... Everyone but you, that is."
"Well..."
"I know you don't want to admit it, but there's only one truth. I'm going to steal the Professor and everyone else back from the Vendeeni and ask him why he did what he did. But to do this, I need your help, Fayt. I can't do it alone... I wouldn't expect you to object to saving your father and Sophia... I know how important they are to you."
"Of course I want to rescue them. They mean everything to me... All right. I'll help you."
"All right, now that we're decided..."
Nel exhaled, finally letting her attention wander from the conversation inside. She didn't even pretend to understand half of the conversation, but it obvious that these outsiders were involved in a great deal of political intrigue.
Fayt particularly... somehow it was easy to imagine his bizarre display of power stemming from some highly classified weaponry. Not unlike the Thunder Arrow, except on a far more advanced level. So advanced that it had actually been prohibited in the first place. And the boy's father was apparently the one responsible for bringing such a development about in the first place...
And perhaps unsurprisingly, there were numerous other parties who wished to get their hands on such power. Not unlike Airyglyph and her own country upon Fayt and Cliff's initial arrival...
Unfortunately, despite her most recent learnings, Nel was forced to admit that the list of 'Things that made no sense' had actually managed to get longer, rather than shorter.
It was starting to get frustrating.
end