Thank you all who reviewed. Anyway, onto the disclaimer:
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Ocean.
Chapter 3: Maria enters the stage
We arrived at Aquios and put Fayt in the bed in the guest room. We sat there, waiting for him to wake up. The room was dead silent.
"This is an unexpected turn of events," said Nel.
"Yeah, it sure is," I agreed. I would never have expected that Fayt would be able to symbology on that great of a scale. Then again, how could anyone have expected that?
"Not only that, I am concerned about the battle with Vox."
"What is there to be concerned about? Vox is dead and that's all there is to it," said Cliff. Nel shook her head.
"That's not it. It's just... I have fought Vox on the battle field before but he wasn't that strong last time. That was about a year ago, no one gets that stronger within a year," said Nel with a tone of concern.
"That does seem a little odd. But I agree with Cliff. There really is no point in talking about it. Or even as much as thinking about it. Vox is dead and he isn't coming back," I said. But the truth is, even I am concerned about Vox. Somehow he knew that I was a System Moderator and somehow he knew who I was. It's too bad that he had to die because there were so many things I wanted to ask him.
"I suppose you are right." The door opened and a soldier walked in.
"Lady Nel..." Said the Soldier. Nel looked over at the soldier.
"How is Dion doing?"
"Not well," said the Soldier gravely. Oh yeah, that's right. That Dion person got badly injured by the Vendeeni.
"I see..." The soldier left and closed the door. I heard a groan and I looked over to see Fayt slowly get up. Nel looked over at Fayt as well.
"What a relief. I thought you might never wake up again," said Nel.
"What about the Vendeeni?" Asked Fayt. It didn't surprise me that he would ask that question.
"Don't worry about them, so how are you feeling?" Asked Cliff.
"I'm aching all over," grunted Fayt. He looked over at Nel. "What about Dion? How is he doing?"
"His chances aren't good..." Said Nel gravely.
"No... I am going to go see him," said Fayt. He stood up and started walking towards the door.
"Hey Fayt, don't you think you should be more concerned about yourself? You aren't exactly in tip-top shape at the moment," I said.
"I am more concerned about Dion right now," said Fayt as he opened the door and left the room.
"One of these days... he's going to end up killing himself by doing this sort of things..." I said while I shrugged.
"Yeah, most likely," said Cliff. I sat up from the chair I was sitting in and started walking out of the room. "Where are ya going?" Asked Cliff.
"I am going to take a look at this castle." I looked over at Nel. "If I may."
"I have no problem with it. Since you sided with Aquaria in that battle you have become one of our what we call: Foreign Allys. So as far as anyone in this country is concerned, you are one of us," explained Nel.
"I see." I walked out of the room and closed the door. I started looking around and saw various places like the chapel. Being here reminded me of when we were making the Eternal Sphere. I had been on the team that developed the landscape of Elicoor II. I had taken extra care into developing this planet, and so did the rest of the team. I continued looking around the castle. As I was walking down the hallway on the other side of the first floor I heard the sound of Fayt's voice.
"No! Dion!" Exclaimed Fayt. "You had your whole lives ahead of you. I failed you, Ameena, I'm so sorry!" There was dead silence. "Ameena? Ameena!" A few more seconds of silence passed but that passed when there was the sound of Fayt screaming out: "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" So these two people that Fayt knew died, I didn't need to see what had happened to know that. The door opened and Fayt, a girl with long blonde hair and an outfit similar to Cliff's, Cliff, and Nel walked out of the room. Fayt looked really sad, with the death of someone you know I can understand why he would feel sad. Lately I have been able to understand what some of these people are going through. Then again, they are based on our own emotions so that's why I can understand them. I followed them back to the guest room. Fayt started complaining about how it was all his fault that this happened and Cliff tried to tell him otherwise. But that didn't do anything.
"I don't know what you are talking about, but those things... the Vendeeni... what are they?" Asked Nel. Cliff sighed.
"Very well, since you guys are part of this now I will tell you. The Vendeeni, they are..."
"We've got trouble! Another one of those ships have appeared in the sky!" Exclaimed a soldier as he ran into the room.
"What?" Exclaimed Nel.
"Isn't that the best news of today?" I asked sarcastically.
"Damn!" Cursed Cliff. He looked over at Fayt and I. "Come on you two, let's go outside!" We nodded and followed him, Nel followed us as well. We went outside on the porch outside of the audience chamber. Sure enough, another Vendeeni ship was coming down.
"Well this isn't good," I said.
"Damn! What now?" Asked Cliff.
"Cliff, you guys were able to chase away the Vendeeni before... why not do it again?" Asked Fayt.
"But..." Said Nel.
"Perhaps you should chase them away again," I said.
"It's just as I thought," said the woman with blonde hair.
"It looks like you don't remember a thing," said Cliff. Fayt looked at us like we were all lunatics.
"What are you talking about?" Now how are we going to tell Fayt: Hey Fayt, guess what? You are capable of using powers of mass destruction. It's not that much of a shocker is it? How could you tell anyone that? And how would anyone in the right mind believe it?
"Wait another one is coming!" Exclaimed Nel. I looked up and saw another ship coming, yet this one was smaller than the Vendeeni ship and it was silver. It looked more like a shuttle.
"Cliff, is it?" Asked the woman with blonde hair.
"Yup, it's them. About time." The ship fired at the Vendeeni and managed to do some damage to the ship but the Vendeeni fired as well, damaging the shuttle. The shuttle started to fly towards the ground and the Vendeeni ship retreated up into the sky. Suddenly I heard the sound of something being transported down.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," said the voice. I spun around to see a young woman with long blue hair and blue eyes.
"Took you long enough," said Cliff.
"Sorry, we had a few difficulties finding you," said the woman.
"Yeah I suppose... hey wait. Don't you think it's not a good idea to be transporting down onto a planet like this?"
"I looked over the situation a few times before coming down. Besides, now that this planet is part of this mess we don't have to hide anything anymore."
"True, but I bet that Super Square Champion of the UP3 over here would disagree with you."
"Ha, ha, very funny," said Fayt. He walked towards Cliff. "By the way, who is she?"
"Oh yeah, I am slacking in my intros. This is the leader of Quark, Maria."
"What?" Asked Fayt in disbelief.
"I'm Maria Traydor, but just call me Maria," said Maria.
"Nice to meet you, I'm..."
"I know who you are, Fayt Leingod. The only son of Dr. Robert Leingod. You were born on earth and you are 19 years old." I don't want to know how she knows all of these things about Fayt. Does she not have any hobbies or something?
"How do you know so much about me?"
"Quite simple, I did some research."
"Is someone going to explain what in the hell is going on here?" Asked Nel. "No more concealing the truth!" Nel started to look a bit mad, with all of these weird things going on her reaction is understandable.
"That is enough, Lady Nel," said a voice behind us. I turned around to see an elder woman dressed in an outfit that hinted she was of royalty. She had brownish black hair and red eyes. It would be safe to guess that she is the Queen of this country.
"But..." Nel Sighed. "Yes, Your Majesty." The Queen walked over to Maria.
"I know not who you are but I would like to hear an explanation to all of this, one that makes sense to my ears."
"Please forgive me for my rudeness your majesty. I will explain what is going on, but first I need to speak with them. We have a lot of catching up to do."
"So be it." The Queen looked over at Nel. "Show them to the Conference room."
"Yes your Majesty." We started following Nel to the Conference room.
"Your not from this world are you?" Asked Maria as I almost walked past her. I looked back at her.
"How did you know?"
"You don't look like your from this world. The clothes you are wearing are completely different from what would be expected to be seen on a planet like this. Besides, that thing that you have strapped to your back looks more like an extremely advanced weapon."
"I'm a dead give away, huh?" Maria grinned and nodded.
"Yeah you are. So what are you doing on this planet anyway?" Asked Maria as we started walking.
"Err..." I hesitated for a moment and started talking. "I was on Styx with a few other people. We were investigating the planet, trying to find any sign of the ancient civilization that once existed on that planet. However, we were getting low on supplies that would help us cross the tough terrain. So I decided to head to the nearest place that would have the things we need."
"Why did you go to Elicoor II? This isn't the place you should have gone to."
"If you would let me finish. As I was saying, I was heading for a place that I could find the supplies we needed. But I had some engine troubles and my ship ended up crash landing here."
"I see. Well then, once Quark settles a few problems, we will give you a ride to Styx. Plus we will give you anything you need for your investigation." Alright, I have a trip secured.
"Thank you very much. But I do not need supplies, during the time I have been on this planet I checked some of the maps I made of Styx while I was there. I found an alternate route that will lead to an area that we believe has ruins of this ancient civilization."
"Don't mention it, just helping out a person in need," said Maria. We finally arrived at the conference room and Nel left us. I was relieved that Maria believed my story. If things go well and the Executioners don't come until I walk through the Time Gate then I won't have to tell anyone anything about where I really come from.
From the conversation that went on in the conference room I learned that Fayt was genetically modified by his own father. This same man also genetically modified Maria too. She showed off her ability to manipulate the structure of matter. One was bad enough, but two are even worse. Maria especially is currently more dangerous than Fayt. She actually has some control over her powers. Fayt on the other hand does not. If they are allowed to gain knowledge of how to use their powers it could prove to be a disaster. Fayt agreed to help Maria in rescuing his father from the Vendeeni. Then they talked about how we were going to get off the planet. With the Vendeeni lurking around it would be difficult. We decided to use Aquaria's special weapon as a diversion to distract the Vendeeni while we transport off of the planet. But before we could use the weapon we had to get permission from the Queen. The other thing I learned was that the woman with blonde hair was Mirage. We headed over to the Audience Chamber. Maria, Cliff, Fayt, and Mirage took the time to explain their story. Then I told mine about how I had come her by accident.
"You say you are from another world? Nonsense, stop wasting Her Majesty's time!" Scolded the man standing to the Queen's right. He had a cold, stern face and he had black eyes and long black hair.
"Silence Lasselle," said the Queen. She looked back over at us. "Will it be possible to fight the Vendeeni with the Thunder Arrow?"
"It's not enough to defeat them, but it is enough to distract them long enough for us to leave this planet and fix this situation," said Fayt.
"Very well then, we shall lend you the Thunder Arrow."
"Thank you, Your Majesty," said Maria.
"But what are we going to do about the range? I doubt it will be able to hit the Vendeeni since they are really high up in the air," said Cliff.
"That's our biggest problem," I said. If I could summon an Executioner and have it attack the Vendeeni ship then we would have no trouble of getting off this planet. But since they aren't completed yet I can't exactly do that. Besides, that sort of thing is beyond my powers in the Eternal Sphere.
"We have a serious crisis!" Exclaimed a female soldier as she ran into the audience chamber.
"Watch your tone!" Said Lasselle.
"Someone has infiltrated Kaddan!"
"WHAT?"
"Who is it?" Demanded the Queen.
"It was one of those ships. It landed next to the shrine. The runologists are trying to fight them but they can't do anything against the weapons the intruders wield. These strange weapons glow and they shoot out light!" Explained the female soldier, trying to be as calm as possible.
"Those would be disrupter rifles..." Said Maria.
"But why are they going after Kaddan? What about us?" Asked Cliff. Maria was silent for a moment.
"Your Majesty, which way is Kaddan?" Asked Maria as she looked over in the direction of the Queen.
"To the East of Aquios," replied the Queen. Maria pulled out a device that looked like a scanner. She aimed it towards the East and she started pressing various buttons on it.
"I see..." Said Maria with a tone of interest in her voice. She signaled for Mirage to come over to her. I walked over as well, mainly out of curiosity.
"What in the world?" Asked Mirage. I read what was on the screen. It said: 'Unidentifiable wave length'.
"What's wrong?" Asked Cliff.
"There is a wave length coming from Kaddan. It's beyond our ability to identify," answered Maria. Maria looked over at Nel. "What's in Kaddan?"
"The holy relic of our country, the Sacred Orb," replied Nel. Sacred Orb... could it be?
"Maria... may I see your scanner for a sec?" I asked.
"Sure, here you go," said Maria as she handed it to me. I pulled back my left sleeve and activated my debugging tool. I selected wave length identification and put the scanner next to the screen of the debugging tool. On my screen came the message: 'Wave Length Identified'. The sound pattern changed from static to a deep humming tone. No question about it now. This really is THE Sacred Orb. The debugging tool that I had created for this country.
"Here," I said as I handed the scanner back to Maria. She took it and gave me a confused look.
"What did you just do?"
"I converted the wave length into a format that can be played on your scanner."
"Convert wave lengths? How's that possible?" Asked Fayt.
"It's quite simple, I used this device that I made. It can do various things, like convert wave lengths so they can be played on any scanner."
"Your saying that wrist guard has the ability to identify wave lengths that for some reason all the up to date scanners can't?" Asked Maria seeming completely stunned.
"Yeah, that's what I am saying in a nutshell," I said.
"Man, if you put that on the market you would make a lot of money," said Cliff.
"But why would they be after the Sacred Orb?" Asked Fayt as he brought us back to our original subject.
"Based on the fact that we couldn't identify the wave length it is clearly an O.P.A.," said Maria.
"So you are saying that the Vendeeni are after the Sacred Orb?" Asked Nel.
"I believe that's the case. If you look back on history, anyone who obtained an O.P.A. gained incredible power. It goes without saying, they'd want it."
"But actually, the people who obtained power from those Debugging Tools, or O.P.A.s as you call them were actually people from our universe who had been sent into your galaxy to maintain balance," I said in my thoughts.
"That's terrible! We can't let them take our Sacred Orb! We must send soldiers to Kaddan this instant!" Exclaimed Lasselle.
"Damned straight, I won't let those Vendeeni bastards touch MY Sacred Orb, which I made!"
"Assembly your forces and head to Kaddan at once," said the Queen as she looked over at Nel.
"Yes, Your Majesty," said Nel.
"But the soldiers don't stand a chance against the Vendeeni equipped as they are," said Fayt.
"We are aware of this, but we have no choice," said the Queen.
"Then I will go to Kaddan," I said as I took a step forward.
"I will go too. It's my fault the Vendeeni are here to begin with," said Fayt.
"No, Fayt. Just the two of you going would be suicide. If you die, then I have come here for nothing," said Maria.
"She's right Fayt. The Vendeeni came here for you. If you go there, you will only be playing into their hands," I said. I walked past everyone. "I will go on my own, I can take care of this myself."
"The same thing applies to you. Going alone would be suicide. I don't care if you die or not, but it would be foolish to throw your life away. What about your friends on Styx?" I sighed, I could take care of this by myself but I can't tell them why I could take care of this by myself. I can't afford to tell them the truth about me and where I come from, or the truth about their Universe.
"Very well, if you guys want to come, then so be it," I said. Nel looked back at the Queen.
"We have decided Your Majesty. We will go to Kaddan and stop the Vendeeni from stealing the Sacred Orb," said Nel.
"Best of luck to all of you. I will allow you to use the secret passage that will take you directly to Kaddan," said the Queen.
"Yes, Your Majesty." We left the Audience chamber and Nel led us to the Chapel. She stood in front of the statue in the front of the Chapel. Suddenly, Nel's finger started glowing. She moved it in some sort of sequence and an array of symbology symbols appeared in front of her. Then another one appeared on the metal grate on the floor that sat above the flowing water. The metal grate slid back and a stair case appeared. They have the ability to seal off passages, another thing I should report to Luther when I get the chance. We proceeded down the stair case and into the caverns beneath the castle. I looked around at the abandoned passage ways.
"So this place will lead us to Kaddan?" I asked.
"That's right. It will take us underneath the lake and directly to the shrine. It will save us a lot of time," said Nel.
"That's a good thing," said Fayt.
"Right, we have to stop the Vendeeni as quickly as we can," said Maria.
"And the one way to do that is: Less talking, more walking," suggested Cliff.
"Your right, let's go," said Nel. We started walking through this cavern towards Kaddan. Finally we reached a large room with a stair case leading to a door. Looks like this is our destination. Suddenly I sensed something... a summon program. Oh yeah, now I remember. I had created this program to protect the Sacred Orb... not that it did any good.
"Wait," I said as I put my arm in front of everyone to bar their path.
"What is it?" Asked Fayt.
"There is a summon circle here, if we get any closer a monster will appear and attack us," I explained as I looked over at everyone.
"A summon circle? I don't sense anything. What is a summon circle anyway?" Asked Nel.
"It doesn't surprise me that you can't sense the summon circle here. Very few can." I snapped with my right hand and the summon circle appeared, spun around, and then disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"Alex, can I ask you a question?" Asked Maria.
"Go ahead," I replied.
"How do you know all of this? You aren't from this planet. There is no way you could know of something that Nel didn't know about. Plus you were able to identify the wave length of the Sacred Orb. Just who exactly are you?"
"Simple question, I am me," I said with a grin. Everyone gave me an annoyed look.
"That's not what I asked you, idiot," said Maria.
"Heh, what a smart ass," said Cliff.
"We'll talk about this later. First let's take care of the Vendeeni," said Fayt. We went inside the Shrine of Kaddan and started heading towards the room where the Sacred Orb was. Along the way we found various corpses of soldiers from Aquaria and Runologists. I don't know why but I find it sickening that the Vendeeni would do something like this. Could I actually be starting to see these collections of data as equal, real people? We finally arrived at the door to the room with the Sacred Orb. We cautiously opened the door and rushed in.
"Get away from the Orb!" Exclaimed Fayt. The four Vendeeni soldiers turned around to face us. This was the first time I had seen a Vendeeni Soldier. They had the oddest sense of fashion and they covered their faces with a mask. You could still see their eyes which were slitted like those of a shark.
"Wait a minute, isn't that the Leingod kid?" Asked one of the Vendeeni soldiers.
"Yeah, it is. Today sure is our lucky day. We got this O.P.A. and now the boy," replied one of the Vendeeni Soldiers.
"Not happening!" Exclaimed Cliff.
"You got a bit greedy, let's get them!" Exclaimed Maria as she pulled out a gun. I activated my swallow and got ready to fight.
"Get your hands off the Sacred Orb, NOW!" I yelled.
"Don't tell us what to do!" Shouted one of the Vendeeni soldiers as they pulled out their disrupter rifle and shot at me. I blocked the blast with one of the blades of the swallow and sent it flying into the nearby wall.
"Like that will ever hit me," I said. We charged in and fought the Vendeeni, and of course we won.
"The Sacred Orb is safe, what a relief," said Nel.
"Yeah, your right," I said in agreement.
"Let's go back to Aquios," said Fayt. We went back to the cavern and soon we were back in the castle and in the Audience Chamber.
"Thank you for your help. We can't thank you enough," said the Queen.
"It's no problem," said Fayt.
"Now, we are back to square one. What are we going to do about the range problem?" I asked.
"If you had the ability to carry the weapon in the air, then range would no longer be an issue. Am I right?" Asked the Queen.
"That's right," said Maria.
"But we don't have any means of carrying the Thunder arrow into the sky," said Nel.
"Then we shall request cooperation from Airyglyph," said the Queen. Everyone looked shocked that the Queen would suggest something like that, especially Lasselle.
"A-are you serious, Your Majesty? How can we trust that they won't betray us?" Demanded Lasselle.
"I do not believe that this will happen. Airyglyph has suffered a lot of damage from the Vendeeni, we do not have the time for foolish struggles." The Queen looked over at Nel. "I would like you to go to Airyglyph and explain the situation."
"Yes Your Majesty," said Nel with a nod.
"I'll go too," said Cliff. Cliff looked over at Nel. "Don't you think he would trust me more? And I don't think that someone from this planet could explain the whole situation as well as I can."
"Very well, you two will go to Airyglyph," said the Queen.
"What about the rest of us?" Asked Fayt.
"You will wait for Nel and Cliff to Return," said the Queen. Maria looked over at Fayt.
"Fayt, can we talk outside?" Asked Maria.
"Sure," said Fayt. They walked outside, and now only Mirage and I were left in the Audience Chamber. Now would be a good time to report everything I have seen to Luther. I walked outside of the castle and went into an area where there was few people. I activated my communicator and Luther appeared on the screen.
"Hey, Alex. What's your status?" Asked Luther.
"I guess you were expecting me to make another report," I said.
"I figured that you would probably find something else to report. So what have you found?"
"I have found another individual who is capable of using advanced symbology. Unlike the other one, this one's powers seem to be based on manipulating the structure of matter," I said.
"Like your powers?"
"Well not quite, she hasn't attained the level that I am at. She is also able to control her powers a little bit," I explained.
"I see... anything else?"
"Yeah, it seems that these people on this planet have the ability to seal off passage ways via symbology."
"They are more skilled with Symbology than we thought. Is there anything else?"
"No, there isn't."
"Very well then. I recommend that you try to pick up the pace of getting out of the Eternal Sphere if possible. The Executioners will be coming in soon."
"Understood, I will do my best." Luther nodded and the screen went blank. I sighed and looked up at the sky. I looked down at the ground beneath the platform I was on to see Fayt and Maria talking about something. I started to feel worried, did they overhear me? No, no I'm fine. It looks like they are too busy talking about whatever they are talking about. It's better that they not find out the truth. Let them be ignorant till the Executioners come to get rid of them. My look changed to a frown. "It's better that they die. Their kind don't deserve to..."
"Can you really say that after what you have seen of this universe? " Asked a voice. I looked around but I saw no one.
"Who's there?" I demanded.
"Can you really condemn you r comrades to death?"
"They are not my comrades! I am just using them to get back to my universe!"
"Do you really mean that? Can you really just cast aside the things you have seen in this universe?"
"I... I..." I couldn't say anything and I went silent. The voice started laughing.
"Ha, ha, ha, ha, as I thought. You can't practice what you preach."
"Shut up!"
"It seems you still need to think over your actions and what you say. We shall converse again someday."
"Who are you? What do you want from me?" There was no reply. "Damn! He ran off!"
"Who are you talking about?" Asked a voice behind me. I spun around to see Mirage standing behind me.
"Oh, it's nothing," I replied with a shrug.
"Talking to yourself isn't a good idea. It tends to freak people out," said Mirage.
"Yeah, Cliff told me that once. I guess I will have to watch myself," I said with a chuckle.
I was a little concerned about the voice that had spoken to me. What was it's motives and objectives anyway? At the time I was mostly worried about getting off Elicoor II and getting a ride to Styx in time before the Executioners come. Little did I know that my problems at the time were nothing compared to what I was going to face in the future...
What will happen next? Find out in the next chapter. Anyway, please review.