Chapter 15

By: Zosocrowe

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Ocean: Till the End of Time

I have merely borrowed a couple characters to create

a silly fan story. I have no money either.

5/23/05

Re-uploaded to see if that helps the people who are having difficulty getting chapter 15 to load.
The clinic was stuffy inside, the small inner office smelling strong of medicinal herbs and stale air. The walls were bare, painted with curling off-white paint that made the room seem even more claustrophobic and stuffy. Albel leaned against the furthest corner, his back to the conjoining walls where he could have full view of the waiting area. Across from him was a shabby door that at one time had probably been bright red, but time had faded it to a dingy pink.

Nel had gone through that door nearly two hours ago.

Albel shifted his weight, first from one foot, then to the other. He pressed his back against the corner; the frown on his lips actually straining the muscles in his face. He would not start pacing. He wouldn't. There was nothing for him to be concerned about--unless the Aquarian's stupidity was infectious. He was just impatient. He didn't like this country--or rather this continent. It was unfamiliar, different. Fighting battles on foreign territory was always difficult, not that he minded a challenge, but this time the stakes were higher. War had been declared against the demons today. The repercussions would come--and soon.

That stupid woman. She had no idea what she'd done. Hell, he had no idea what she'd done, but nothing good would come from it. That, he was certain of. What had she been thinking? He'd warned her that the demons might make her a target, but now she'd all but painted a bull's-eye on her chest--affiliated with him or not.

Did that make him responsible for what would happen to her now? Albel's frown darkened into a scowl, his eyes sweeping away from the door and across the wooden floor. Zelpher was a grown woman, one capable of making decisions on her own. Albeit, bad ones on occasion, but they were extensions of her own will and not his.

That mattered not to the demons.

Albel pushed away from the corner and strode across the small office on his long legs. There would be no demons if it wasn't for him. None of this would be happening if he'd been man enough to finish the job he'd started so many years ago. How many people under his protection had been hurt, killed, because he was too weak to do his duty?

Protecting people had been a responsibility he'd never wanted. He'd known he wouldn't be good at it; his passion was for fighting and accruing strength, not babysitting the shivering kneed weaklings in his life. However, like a fool, he'd bowed to the pressures of society and taken the oaths his father had wished upon him. Those oaths made him accountable and no twist of logic would change the truth.

But Zelpher wasn't weak. Certainly, she wasn't as strong as him, but the woman had definitely surprised him today. He'd known she was a formidable fighter, but he'd never expected her to stand alone and win against a foe such as Avarice. Was it a fluke? That had to be it. Besides, he wasn't convinced Avarice was truly dead. Still, that didn't mar the fact that Nel had stood against him and won.

Albel made another pass in front of the worn door before he realized he was pacing. With a grumble, he ran his hand through his hair and went back to his corner, tucking himself in between the walls tightly, as if hoping they'd hold him in place.

The street-side door opened and a middle aged man with short black hair peppered with gray stepped inside. He wore a long tunic and a pair of baggy linen pants tucked into shiny leather boots. A bright blue scarf was tied around his neck, held in place by a gaudy gold and ruby broach. Upon spying Albel in the dark corner, he hurried over, his expression almost pained. Without even asking, he reached out and took hold of Albel's forearm, not noticing how the taller man flinched at his touch.

"You must be Sir Maira." He pumped Albel's hand up and down vigorously. "I'm Lord Pasaunt, the governor of Tup'ni." Albel's brow twitched hearing his mother's maiden name, and he vaguely remembered giving it to the one of the local medical attendants earlier in the day. His sur name was too well known, even in Greeton, to give freely. "I wanted to give you my apologies in person in regards to this horrible incident, and assure you that this sort of tragedy isn't common in our fine city," the man continued.

Albel jerked his hand away. He glowered at Pasaunt as he wiped his palm on his cloak and tucked his arm back into the safety of the heavy fabric. "I'm sure it's not," he replied cryptically, hoping the man would go away. The less the Tup'nians questioned them, the less likely the truth was to come out.

Oblivious to Albel's stagnant attitude, Pasaunt spread his hands wide. "Of course it isn't!" he exclaimed. "A workshop exploding like that is unheard of, I assure you! We take great care in the maintenance of our public facilities! Whatever that poor fool we pulled from the rubble was trying to create was obviously against the regular code of safety." He shook his head and grimaced.

Albel remained silent. If the Tup'nians believed it was an accident, so be it. There was no need to cause mass panic. He was fairly certain the demons wouldn't be coming back any time soon. Romero would plan something far more extravagant for them at a later date--that he was sure of. Besides, if things went well, they'd be gone from the city by nightfall.

"We have a wonderful medic here. Your friend will be just fine," Pasaunt was saying. "It was very unfortunate that she happened to be passing by when the accident occurred. If there's anything you need from us, let me know and I'll make sure you get it." He gave a slight chuckle and turned to leave.

Albel looked up. "Supplies."

Pasaunt cocked his head, looking over his shoulder. "Supplies?"

Never one to let an opportunity pass by him, Albel gave a stiff nod. "Enough water and food to get four people through the Rebyc Plains. Medicinal supplies as well. And my steed's saddle needs to be finished by nightfall."

Pasaunt stared at him for a moment before giving him a weak smile. "You sound like you plan on leaving tonight? That's a tall order for a small trading village such as ours."

"You offer hospitality and then deny it?"

Startled at Albel's frankness, Pasaunt shook his head. "No, no. Not at all. It's just that it might take awhile to…"

"Then instead of babbling at me, shouldn't you get started?"

Blinking, Pasaunt hesitated for a moment, then gave a curt nod. "So be it. I'll have the goods you wish for delivered to your hotel before dark." Face stripped of all previous friendliness, the city officiant tossed his scarf over his shoulder and strode out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Technically, the Tup'nian's owed them nothing, but the deceit did nothing to Albel's conscience. He was doing the village a favor by leaving early. The natives would be cannon fodder if the demons decided to come back--not that he cared much about what happened to them, but they'd only get in his way once the fighting became inevitable.

The inner door opened and Albel looked up as a tall, slender woman dressed in white stepped though. She peered at him over the rim of her square spectacles, her tight features almost as unfriendly as his own. "Are you Maira?" she asked.

The tension in Albel's face lessened into surprise. It lasted only a moment before he scowled at her in irritation. "It's Sir Maira," he said.

The woman gave him a dull stare. "Your knighthood isn't important to me. I asked if that was your name, all I required was a simple yes or no." She looked down at the ledger she was holding and scribbled something with her quill pen, ignoring the angry glare in the opposite corner of the room.

Albel ground his teeth. As much as he wanted to quip back and tell her how little her life meant to him, he held his tongue. Threatening the doctor was a sure way to ruin any of his plans. "Yes, I am Sir Maira," he growled, emphasizing his mother's maiden name.

"Good. You can follow directions," the doctor replied. "I'm Dr. Hel. Follow meplease." She pushed her glasses up with her index finger and gestured to the door with her ledger.

The hall to the inner area was a palette of dull gray tones. The light was dim, casting solemn shadows into the corners and the air was cold and damp. The atmosphere was oppressive and sad, as if there was no room for hope inside the tiny medical facility. "This place reeks of death," Albel muttered, stifling a shiver.

Dr. Hel shrugged. "The world of medicine is often wrapped in despair. We can't save everyone, so people die."

"Death doesn't frighten you?" Albel asked with a snort.

"Why? Should it?" Dr. Hel replied, turning to face him as she stopped in front of the recovery room door. "I've seen more death and hopelessness than you can even begin to dream of."

Albel met her confident gaze with one of his own. "I doubt that," he stated, his voice a hiss. "You can lecture me about death and hopelessness when you walk through the very midst of it day after day, night after night, wench." He felt his eyes go cold as he slipped into that place where nothingness resided, and he watched as the doctor's haughty arrogance folded slightly.

Looking away, Dr. Hel adjusted her glasses once again and cleared her throat. "Well, you won't be despairing over your friend. She'll be just fine after she's rested." She gestured to the door, motioning for Albel to go in.

Inside, the room was even darker than the hall, making it difficult to make out the sleeping form of Nel resting on a bed in the center. Albel picked his way around the small tables and shelves holding various medicines and books, stopping at the foot of the bed to stare at his companion's quiet body. The doctor came in behind him, looking around him with a bland expression.

"She needs to rest, but you may stay if you're quiet," she said.

Albel nodded. "Leave us," he said, crossing the foot of the bed and pulling up a short wooden stool. He ignored the offended huff from Hel, and settled himself next to Nel's bed.

When the door clicked shut, he pushed back his cloak and leaned forward. "I know you're awake, Aquarian," he whispered, his face so close he could feel her breath blow lightly across his cheek.

Nel's eyes opened and for a long moment, they stared at one another, noses almost touching. Despite himself, Albel smirked at her. When Nel heaved a heavy sigh of irritation and pushed his face away with her hand, he didn't flinch or complain. Instead, he scooted back and let her struggle to sit up.

"You're a pain in the ass," she grumbled, rubbing her newly healed wrist.

"My, aren't we cranky," Albel replied, crossing his long legs and lacing his arms around a knee. "And to think, I carried you all the way here…to get this kind of gratitude."

The Aquarian stopped fussing with her wrist and looked up at him. "You carried me?"

"No, but I thought about it."

Nel rolled her eyes and began undoing her bandages. "Then who?"

Albel shrugged. "Your little fray attracted a lot of attention. I pulled you from the rubble, but some of the braver citizens found us and carted you away here. Lucky for you, I suppose, since I probably would have gotten lost in the rat maze of this town. You might have actually died…"

"Too bad too, huh? You might have gotten to go home then, right?"

Like a wick dipped in kerosene, Albel's temper flared. He reached out and snagged Nel's arm, pulling her across the bed, his grip crushing. "I searched high and low for you, wench. I ran myself ragged trying to find you. When that explosion went off, I thought for sure you were dead. How could you be so stupid! What were you thinking? I was…" He stopped himself, the surprise in Nel's eyes stripping away his rage. With a guttural snarl, he tossed her arm back at her and slumped back on his stool.

Nel stared at him, absently rubbing the red marks on her wrist. She'd seen him enraged and furious before, but this anger was…normal. Just a basic, plain, human emotion. He was mad at her because she'd made him…worry? She didn't dare say it. She hardly believed it herself. There had to be a more selfish reason behind his outburst. Albel was only concerned about Albel, nothing more, nothing less.

But still…

"Listen," Nel said, shaking her head. "I apologize for any inconvenience, Albel. But what did you expect me to do?"

"I don't know. Why don't you tell me what happened and then I'll tell you what I expected you to do," Albel snapped.

Nel frowned at him. And he had called her cranky? She wasn't in the mood to argue with him. "It was Avarice. He said he was a merchant from Mota traveling to our continent. I knew he was suspicious, but I thought I could get some information from him, so I went with him."

"You willingly went with a monster like that just to glean some information?" Albel shook his head. Now he'd heard everything.

"I wasn't certain if he was a demon then. I had my suspicions, but I figured I'd handle the situation if it arose," Nel argued. "I am a spy, you know. It's my job to gather intel…no matter how dangerous the job may be."

"Oh, you certainly handled it alright," Albel remarked with a sneer. "Though your choices weren't very spy-like if you ask me. You mind telling me how a Molotov managed to blow up an entire city block? "

Pursing her lips, Nel looked away. "He left me no choice. Things got…complicated," she said.

Albel raised his brows skeptically. "Complicated indeed," he replied, still waiting for her explanation.

Sighing, Nel resigned herself and sat back against the headboard of the bed. "Honestly, I didn't expect the explosion to be so destructive. The Molotov was just the catalyst. Have you noticed all the barrels stacked up along the outer edges of this city?"

After thinking a moment, Albel shook his head.

"They're everywhere," Nel continued. "I got curious earlier and took a closer look. Those barrels are full of waste, probably both human and livestock--most of which are hogs." Albel made a disgusted face and Nel nodded. "Yes, I know, but it's ingenious actually. Somehow these people have managed to "ferment" waste and create explosives out of the gasses. If you look on the barrels, most of them have what appears to be a warning written on them. I suspect they use these homemade bombs to carve out pieces of the mountain." She glanced at Albel to make sure he was following along.

"After I took out his eye and he broke my wrist, I knew I would lose with just one arm and my blades. Not only that, casting magic against something like him was pointless. Spells take time and he was far too quick, even as injured as he was."

"You cut out his eye?" Nel frowned at Albel's interruption, but nodded slowly, watching as his face slackened in disbelief.

"I'd noticed some of those same barrels on the wall behind him, so I used the Molotov to blow up them up, hoping to throw him off guard enough to buy time to cast a spell. What I didn't realize was the small warehouse adjacent to the workshop was full of them. The first explosion took out half the warehouse, and that's when I saw what I'd done. It was only seconds later and the entire building exploded. Neither of us had any time to run." Nel shrugged nonchalantly, as if to say that was that.

Albel gazed at Nel, unable to hide his shock. The Aquarian's recklessness had nearly gotten her killed, but he couldn't help but admire the intelligence and astuteness she utilized, even in the throes of battle. Her ingenuity was a beautiful, yet deadly thing, and he knew he would never again take her intellect for granted. However, her common sense was another matter. "You don't have anymore bombs do you?"

"That was the only R-1 I had," Nel replied.

Albel frowned. "That wasn't what I asked."

Nel stared at him blankly. "You have your tools, I have mine," she said after a moment.

"You blew up part of a city, Zelpher. Under normal circumstances, I'd be impressed, but this time I'm not," Albel said. It was a partial lie. He was impressed, but not by her pyro-tactics. He could do without any more of those.

Nel frowned. "We really don't have time to argue over technicalities. You do things I dislike…"

"And you complain about them."

"And you ignore me, so I figure it's a fair trade off if I do the same."

Albel was about to tell her he didn't ignore her, but she was right. Damn her infallible logic. Instead he changed the subject. "Did Avarice say anything to you?"

Nel paused, looking away to study the dim outline of daylight bordering the heavy drapes. Avarice had told her many things in very few words, but they were things she knew Albel wouldn't want to hear. "Nothing much. Romero knows where we are. He told Avarice he could 'have' me, for ruining his fun in Plum. Other than that, he made it sound like Romero wasn't much interested in what we were up to," she said.

"That was it?" Albel asked, his voice skeptical. The Aquarian was hiding something.

Nel nodded. "Yes. Pretty much. He seemed quite intrigued by me."

Albel's face darkened. "I bet he was."

Nel noticed the deadly change in her companion's voice and quickly asked another question. "So, what now?"

Albel blinked at her, his anger fading. "We leave. At dusk."

Eyes widening, Nel replied, "Can we do that?"

Albel nodded. "I've made arrangements. We'll have our supplies readied by nightfall. I don't see any reason to stay here and have a repeat of Plum. We'll travel through the night and rest in the morning."

"We'll be well off the mountain by morning. Probably a good idea we get used to traveling by starlight, since the trek across Rebyc will have to be done at night anyway. Do Rusia and Leylan know?"

Albel shook his head. "I had a messenger sent to them earlier. I suggest you get some rest. Your wounds will be healed by the time we leave."

"What about the demons?"

Albel stood and moved his stool to a corner of the room. "They'll be back. I guarantee it."

"And you don't have a plan?"

Albel sat back down, leaning his back against the wall. He pulled the Crimson Scourge from his belt and laid it across his lap. "You don't plan for demons. You just wait for them," he said, closing his eyes. "Considering you are now involved in this mess, you'll learn…or you'll die."

With that, Albel grew silent, leaving Nel to chew on his words. She was now a player in his dramatic nightmare, and she would soon learn how terrible the malevolence of demon kind could be. It was only a matter of time.

Sorry for the delay. I've been busy. Thanks to Kryssie and Sharon for looking over this chapter! I appreciate the help! Next chapter will be up in a few weeks! Thanks for reading everyone!