One of Those Days
Moshi Moshi Mai
Chapter One: One of Those Horror Movies
"What is this nonsense?" Albel Nox muttered, crossing his arms and acting nonchalant. The crimson-eyed swordsman was in Fayt's room onboard the Diplo. The party had a few hours of free time flying through hyperspace, and Albel was getting restless, so the blue-haired teenager had suggested watching something called a "movie" with him. It didn't make any sense to him why people would call a compact disc a movie. No sense whatsoever. And why would you watch it? It seemed pretty boring to watch a disc for two and a half hours.
Albel eyed the thin disk that read Dawn of the Dead in strange font. It showed a grotesque image of a something that looked better in nonexistence, and Albel raised a questioning brow at the embodiment of Destruction.
Fayt merely smiled charmingly and took the disk from him, inserting it into a strange slot machine. "It's a horror movie from the 21st century. It's old, but who doesn't like a classic?" A mischievous glint flickered in Fayt's eyes as he turned off the lights and plopped down on the couch, patting a spot next to him. Snorting, Albel reluctantly sat down as the screen started playing and his curiosity got the best of him.
His first reaction was that of amazement. How did people who existed millions of years ago still look very alive and real? So that's why it was called a movie. Everything moved! He didn't voice his thoughts aloud, though, as he was sure Fayt would snicker at him, so he remained silent as he watched the main character drive home and go to her bedroom to sleep with her spouse.
Then it started getting weird.
Albel could feel discomfort when the door to the bedroom swung with measure open and a child no older than 10 slowly stepped into the room, her head bowed down. Her long blonde hair was a mess and the white dress she wore was stained crimson. When she lifted her head up, Albel held in a startled gasp and opted to openly stare agape, taking in the dilated pupils and eerie light green eyes. The thing that disturbed him the most was her mouth, twisted out of shape, marred to the bone, and bleeding nastily.
The swordsman couldn't help but grab some popcorn from the bowl that had magically been produced in Fayt's lap.
The husband suddenly sat up and walked worriedly over to what Albel assumed was their daughter, who was staring at them with a menacing look in her eyes. The woman, on the other hand, stayed wisely frozen on the bed. Albel could sense something was amiss, and he stopped munching on the popcorn, leaning towards the screen. As the man bent down to the child's level and placed his hands on her shoulders to ask what had happened to her face, the girl suddenly shrieked and bit down on the man's neck savagely, spraying blood everywhere.
"What the fuck is this?" Albel managed to roar out after getting over his initial shock. His heart was still pounding rapidly even after the husband had been disposed of. Fayt was hiding his laughter by munching on the popcorn, the amusement clearly evident in his green eyes. The blue-haired warrior opted not to say anything to Albel, instead returning his attention to the movie.
Albel reluctantly mimicked Fayt, leaning back into the couch warily. Did things like this happen all the time back on their Earth? Why wasn't Fayt terrified? If things like that happened back then, couldn't it happen today, even perhaps on Elicoor II? The older man just couldn't understand these Earthlings.
The scene taking place seemed innocent and natural enough. The protagonist of the story had sought refuge in the bathroom in the bedroom as the shrieks of their undead daughter and the violent banging of the door echoed ominously in the room. Albel risked a sideways glance at Fayt. Still grinning.
"She's a goner."
"Well then, the movie would be over and that'd just be a waste, now wouldn't it?" And Fayt left it at that, leaving Albel confused.
He didn't understand the logic of this 'movie' at all. Everything seemed too perfected and played out to be real, and it almost seemed like whoever had captured the scenes knew what was going on. Perhaps these people inside the screen were pretending about these situations. Maybe that was why Fayt did not seem distraught?
The room had suddenly gone quiet as the shrieking and pounding had suddenly vanished. The air was tense and suspension made itself apparent in the room. Albel leaned further back into his couch, having the sudden urge to grab a pillow and cover his eyes or plug his ears with his fingers. Of course, pride and simply being the Wicked One would not allow him that course of action.
The silence continued to stretch on and the sick sensation in the pit of the Captain of the Black Brigade's stomach heightened to an unhealthy level. Something was clearly wrong. Perhaps he should ask Leingod what was going on?
"What—" Albel didn't get the time to finish his question as the woman's husband, now undead, busted through an unseen window, his maniacal face screeching and foaming at the mouth and squirming to get through the window. At that same moment, the door to Fayt's room slid open and light streamed into the dark room, bearing a large shadow. And for the first time since he was five years old, Albel Nox screamed like a girl.
Cliff Fittir stood in the doorway of Fayt's room, a questioning look on his face. Fayt had the popcorn thrown up into the air at the sudden intrusion, his emerald eyes wide in frozen shock. Albel was gripping onto Fayt's arm tightly, his knuckles white as his face, his blood-red eyes blank and mouth opening and closing. The blonde Klausian looked over at the still playing movie before realization dawned on him and he roared with laughter. Tears sprang to his eyes as the large man clutched his stomach and he managed to blubber out, "D-Did I just hear him scream in a voice that resembles Sophia?"
Albel was slowly but surely getting over his shock and the fear in his eyes quickly dissipated into pure rage, which covered his embarrassment. Once he released his death grip on Fayt, his blue-haired companion joined in on Cliff's laughter, trying to make himself stop by popping some more popcorn into his mouth.
The crimson-eyed swordsman slowly stood up, his bangs shielding his glaring eyes as his hand came up to rest on the hilt of his Crimson Scourge. The silent threat had no effect whatsoever on neither Fayt nor Cliff as they continued to express their amusement.
"Man, I wish I had a…camera or something," Cliff managed to gasp out, breathing in deeply, coughing, and regaining his composure. "I never thought Albel over here could really be scared." That lasted about a second. Then he was back rolling on the floor in a fit of laughter.
Albel twitched.
"Hey Albel, it's ok to scream and show that you're scared," Fayt offered after he had finally gotten rid of the violent shaking when he had tried to hold in his laughter.
"I'll show you both what true fear is."
Fayt and Cliff exchanged glances and their amusement disappeared when Albel snarled in an inhuman tone, slowly dragging out his blade so that the sliding of metal against the scabbard could be heard. Cliff stiffened noticeably and Fayt felt dread building up inside of him. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to get Albel mad.
"Well, looks like the show is over!" the blonde man exclaimed and ran as fast as his powerful legs could, Albel immediately chasing after him in hot pursuit. That left Fayt alone in his room. He could hear Cliff's muffled scream on the Diplo a few seconds later and he shivered at the sound. Worse than watching a horror movie. Silence ensued.
"Well, better get a head start," Fayt muttered to himself, heading quickly out of the room and as far as possible from a certain dark-haired swordsman.
A/N – hides shamefully Yes, I know Dawn of the Dead wasn't that great in terms of horror, but it seemed like the right movie to use on Albel with the many zombies and random acts of violence that took place. xD And I just love to have Albel, Fayt, and Cliff all taking main roles in my stories, huh? xD I think I'll add on some more one-shot series of little moments between Fayt and Albel, just for my amusement and my readers' as well. Tell me if I should continue, hm?
Moshi Moshi Mai