Points of View
A Star Ocean 3 fanfic
by Intrasonic
Setting: The Traum Mountain Range
"We'll take a breather here."
"That works for me."
Nel wore a slightly vexed expression. "Are you going to try and claim you're not the least bit tired so far?"
Cliff shrugged, but was displaying nothing more than a slightly increased breathing rate. "Well, yeah, I'm a little tired. But I'm a Klausian - I could do this all day."
Apparently that was supposed to explain everything, Nel reflected. It didn't, not by a long shot.
In this case, it wasn't so much a matter of being surprised over Cliff's strength and endurance; it was simply his casual acceptance of the fact. Apparently, to judge by his reply, simply being a member of his race automatically meant being a physical superhuman. He didn't even seem to be trying to hide anything from her - he just took it for granted.
Just like so many other surprises recently, she supposed wearily.
When the need had arisen for someone to go talk with King Airyglyph over the procurement of some air dragons to bear the Thunder Arrow against the Vendeeni ship, Nel had immediately volunteered herself as a logical choice. Not only was she ranked high enough to serve as the Queen's intermediary, the wartime had given her opportunity to learn some very direct, fast, and effective routes that didn't involve towns or villages.
Granted, the routes involved treacherous mountains and near-suicidal passes, but Nel was sufficiently skilled that they involved little risk. And considering that this mission was being executed in the interest of getting rid of the Vendeeni ship, the extra risk was more than justified.
Cliff's reasoning - that Airyglyph would be more receptive to an outsider than an enemy - was absolutely correct, and as a bonus, Nel had been confident that he wouldn't slow her down during the journey. In fact, if anything, the opposite was rapidly proving true.
"You're sure you know where we're going?" Cliff inquired, looking around with the expression of a person admiring the view and trying not to admit that they're completely lost.
"Trust me," Nel assured him, "I've lost a considerable number of Airyglyph pursuits in this area over the last few years."
Cliff glanced down a different face of the ridge they were on. It wasn't quite a perfect 1000 foot drop, but only by a few degrees. "Huh. And I'll bet a few of them never even made it back home again afterwards. We're not going to look like spies if we show in Airyglyph by this route, will we?"
Nel shook her head, grudgingly giving him some credit where it was due. For a 'field grunt', Cliff seemed to be quite capable of considering matters beyond the ends of his fists, when he bothered to bother. "We'll cut south a short distance before coming into the castle's view. At that point, both of us will probably be recognized, especially you."
"That works for me."
Nel found a dry patch of stone and took the opportunity to rest her legs, noticing Cliff opting to lean against a nearby wall, but remain standing. Every so often, his eyes would quietly sweep the area, indicating that he wasn't entirely willing to lower his guard.
"Aren't you cold?" Nel inquired.
He raised an eyebrow. "Nah. Klausians can take a lot of cold before we really start to feel it. We're not so good in the heat, though. What about you? That uniform doesn't exactly look designed for winter."
"It's not, but in the last few years, I've spent more time in Airyglyph then in Aquarias, so I've become conditioned to the cold. It's when I get home that I become uncomfortable."
"Yeah, I guess that's to be expected. If I'm away from home too long, it can take me a day or two to get used to it again."
"Is it that bad?"
"Not in a weather sense, but it's the main reason Klausians are the way they are."
"Your home is the reason? How is that possible?"
Cliff shrugged. "I don't quite know how to explain it to you, but... the world's mostly responsible for it. Do... you know what gravity is?"
"It's what makes things fall," Nel informed him, trying to not feel irritated over the fact that he hadn't automatically assumed she knew such a fundamental thing.
"Right, it's a downwards force. Imagine if you lived in a world where the gravity was more than twice as strong."
Nel raised an eyebrow. Somehow, as ludicrous as it sounded, Cliff's question obviously wasn't theoretical. "Your world... Klaus, is like that?"
"It's over twice what it is here," Cliff confirmed. "Maybe three times. That makes a huge difference, really. For starters, you weigh twice as much. So every step or jump takes twice the effort and everything is twice as hard to lift. Not only that, but your skeleton and muscles have to support twice as much weight and strain, which makes them a lot denser and stronger. And of course, all that takes twice as much energy, so your body gets used to burning a lot of energy all the time. And to top it off, the air's not very good on Klaus, which means your lungs have to be more efficient at taking in air."
Nel frowned. "So it's an... environmental factor, then? Which accounts for your strength and endurance?"
"To begin with, yeah. Even a normal, inactive Klausian would probably leave someone like Fayt in the dust, and that kid's no slouch. Me, I've been training hard in martial arts for a long time now, under those same conditions. So you're probably getting the picture, right?"
She was, Nel had to admit. It was a strange picture, but once you accepted the premise, a powerhouse like Cliff suddenly made more sense. "So... in effect, you're only moving a fraction of your body weight right now?"
"Right. That make more sense?"
"I think so... It does seem rather bizarre, though. And your world, Klaus, is just another world like ours?"
"Aside from the differences I mentioned, pretty much. Not much in the way of mountains, though."
"And there are many other worlds as well?"
"You better believe it. New ones are getting discovered every day, really."
Nel sighed, shaking her head wearily. "You make it sound so normal."
"It is normal. When you really look at it, nothing's any different. Things are a lot bigger, but the people are still the same. Heck, that's why I work for my organization in the first place."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. There's a lot of big organizations out there that would rather just plow over the smaller, independent worlds than give them a fair deal. The organization I belong to helps to level the playing field. Whether it's advice, representation, a third-party witness... we help out where we can."
"Your organization is... diplomatic?" Not to put too fine a point on the matter, but on a list of potential diplomats, Cliff might have ranked slightly higher than Adray Lasbard. And that was mostly on account of wearing a shirt in public.
"Mostly, yeah. Of course, sometimes the big guys take our interference a little personally, and try to shut us up through other means. Of course, if they're willing to do that, it just makes our job that much more important."
"Ah, I see." Nel's lips pursed, as though something had finally just registered to her. "You've been training for quite some time?"
"Almost eleven years now. I got off to a bit of a late start."
"How old are you, anyway?" It wasn't exactly the most tactful way to pose the question, but Nel had to admit to being a little curious. Cliff was obviously a few years older than she was, but the combination of his attitude (immature and annoying) and his aptitudes (admittedly impressive) made it hard to guess.
Cliff raised an eyebrow. "I'm 37."
"37!"
"Ah, don't worry, it's an easy mistake to make. After all, I am one heck of a stud, so-" A well-aimed snowball silenced him. "Peh! What was that for!"
"Being yourself," she replied dryly. "I suppose you'd account that to being Klausian as well?"
"Yeah, probably. From a physical point of view, we're pretty much top notch, after all - we even age pretty well. On the other hand, my amazing intelligence and intuition are all me."
"Yes," Nel agreed dryly. "Somehow, I could tell from the beginning. What about... how old is Mirage?"
Cliff grinned. "Yeah, I can see why you'd be curious. I mean, she almost looks younger than you, doesn't she?"
Somehow, the air suddenly seemed to grow even colder. "For someone surrounded by tall cliffs and no witnesses, you certainly have a big mouth."
"Sca-ree."
end