Disclaimer: I do not own Star Ocean 3.

Chapter 4: The Meeting

"Here's something hot for you to drink, Sophia." Cliff said as he approached Sophia in the lounge of New Diplo. "Are you feeling a bit better?".

"I'm better now, thanks Cliff." Sophia said gratefully as she looked out through the windows at the millions of stars flashing by at faster than light speed.

"There is no need to worry, Sophia. You're safe here. One thing the New Federation upgraded was our ship. We're now loaded with top class artiliery and defense shield, no one will break through it!" Cliff said proudly.

"…" Sophia had no comment, seemingly spaced out in thought.

"Oh right… sorry..." Cliff said scratching the back of his head. "I'm still sure that Fayt is alive and well. He's not the type to go down quietly you know. And we all know the powers he is capable of when you really tick him off… don't worry. We'll find him soon enough."

"I hope you're right Cliff" Sophia said, holding on to but still not drinking the tea Cliff gave him. "But I'm just wondering why those demons wanted us; our powers no longer serve any purpose… so why did they want us?"

"I'm pretty sure they wanted his power, just like the Vendeeni two years ago." Cliff claimed. "I have a hunch that they are looking for Maria, too."

"Yeah… I hope we find her soon too. I'm really worried" Sophia said. "anyways, how is the situation around other planets? Is it getting worse?"

"Afraid so…" Cliff said disappointingly. "the demons already took out the city of Linga in Expel, and moving towards Lacour. But they've been in this situation before… I'm sure they will get through it. Klaus will be fine. Mirage is in charge of defense there! She'll make sure everything goes all right… Earth and Resonia are dealing with them easily for now but we're sure that the number of demons will increase; we have to take out their base as soon as possible before they increase in numbers"

"Yeah… I hope we hear from Lancar soon." Sophia said worrily.

"I really hope so too" Cliff said as he looked out to space. "I just hope that Albel doesn't give him too much trouble"


As Albel entered the riverfront village of Arias, he noticed that things have sure changed from when he was here two years ago. The town had been rebuilt fully from the war, and bustling with people more than ever before. One thing was for sure – it was the strong will of its citizens that brought the village back to how it used to be, maybe even better.

"Psh… Aquarians." Albel said in disgusted voice. "They make me sick. Let's hurry to their headquarters and then leave this place!"

"What's wrong with the people here?" Lancar asked. "If anything, they are full of life and spirit… maybe you need to get it through your thick skull that they are no longer your enemies. You don't need to be so hostile all the time!"

"Beh… whatever, let's go." Albel brushed him off as they headed to the lord's mansion.

"Welcome, Mr. Nox. Lady Clair is expecting you in the conference room" The guard told Albel at the door. "By the way, who is the man with you? We were informed that it will be just you coming".

"Ah me, let's just say I'm his comrade… from Airyglyph… yes." Lancar said.

"Is that true, Mr. Nox?" The guard asked, suspicious.

"Whatever he says. I'm going through." Albel said as he walked past the guard.

"Pardon him… I think his girlfriend dumped him this morning!" Lancar apologized to the guard.

As the two walked down the hall to the conference room, they were greeted by Clair, as well as Tynave and Farleen. "I welcome you here Albel. Nice to see you again." Clair said to Albel. "Oh… is that man an acquaintance of yours?" She asked, looking at Lancar.

"Let me just say I'm a friend of Fayt, Cliff and Maria. Nice to meet you, Clair… heard lot about ya. My name is Lancar". Lancar said as he shook her hand.

"I see… nice to meet you too Mr. Lancar". Clair said as she bowed to both men.

"Enough of silly formalities" Albel said. "Let's get down to business".

They sat down the conference table, and Clair, Albel and Lancar all explained their own stories.

"I see… so this is not a problem that is unique to our own world… so many other planets are being attacked by demons that are similar to the ones found here, is that right Lancar? And they have Fayt captive?" Clair asked.

"That's right… and you say that Nel had been captured as well?" Lancar asked back.

"Well, we have no proof that she is captured, but that's what I'm highly suspicious of." Clair said with her head bit down. "She was sent on the mission a week ago… she should have been back by now. Nevertheless, we must carry on with our own mission."

"Alright. So we are supposed to head to the land of the mutants?" Albel sneered.

"They are humanoids, not mutants… and yes, we are to head out to Surferio." Clair answered, albeit a little annoyed. "Let's move out at once. I will pick out one of my top class subordinates to aid us in our quest. They are still learning, but are quite capable in battle. Tynave, Farleen, please come in."

"Yes, ma'am" Both said as they came in through the door.

"What the… you mean those two weaklings? Bah… I beat them effortlessly two years ago. They'll just get in my way!" Albel complained.

"HOW RUDE!" Farleen retorted in her high-pitched voice "We aren't as weak as we were two years ago, we've improved a lot under the teachings of Lady Nel! And you're still mean as ever, mister!"

"It's true!" Tynave said. "We don't like working with you as much as you do. I won't ever forget what you did to us in Kirlsa Training Facility and Becqurel mountains… but these are our orders!"

"Stop it you two!" Clair yelled out at them as she looked back to Albel. "Do not worry, Albel. I assure you that they have improved. They will be of an asset in battle, I promise."

"Fine. Let it be… I guess another loser won't make a difference." Albel muttered.

"GRRRR…" Farleen growled as she tried to calm herself down.

"Alright everyone. Let's move out." Clair said.

"Alright, Farleen, you are to come with us. Tynave, You are in charge of protecting Arias and the front from the Demons. I have trust in you." Clair said.

"Yes ma'am. Don't worry about Arias… I'll keep it under control. May the grace of Apris be with you." Tynave said with a salute.

"May the grace of Apris be with you. Alright. Let's go everybody." Clair said as the group headed out.


Chapter 5: Fiasco in Peterny

The group made its way through Palmira Plains on its way to Peterny, from where they will head to Surferio. It was a nice sunny day, with crystal clear blue waters flowing from the seas shoreside, as usual.

"From here to Peterny will be a relatively short trip." Clair said. "Still, there are some monsters and perhaps demons lurking around. Let's be on our guard at all times."

"Heh heh…" Lancar laughed. "You are just as serious faced as Nel was. It almost seems like you two were sisters or something!"

"Well, we grew up together… and she's my best friend. She might as well be my sister. I hope she is alright… anyways, I have to be serious when I am on the mission, but I assure you, I'm not as stoic as Nel can be. I do know when you have to take things easy for a while." Clair smiled as she explained it to Lancar.

"That's good!" Lancar said. "Mr. I don't care about anything that is traveling with us here should learn a thing or two from what you said!"

"Shut up, worm!" Albel shouted, very annoyed.

"It's true!" Farleen yelled at Albel. "Are you ever nice? Just what is your problem, meanie! And WE'RE NOT WORMS!"

"I hate to interrupt all of us getting to know each other better, but it looks like we have company…" Lancar said as he looked ahead to see three scorpions and one big turtle-like creature.

"Alright." Clair got ready as she reached back to waist to grab her weapons, the twin daggers, just like Nel.

The two Scorpions attacked Clair first with their tails as she flew up out of the harm's way. Effortlessly, she dived behind the two monsters and yelled "SHADOW WAVE!". The dark waves cut through the two scorpions like paper.

"AIR SLASH!" Albel yelled as he swung his katana across. The wind blast took the third scorpion out without much trouble, sending it across over the edge of the cliff.

"Alright, leave the last one to me!" Farleen said. "FIRE BOLT!" she yelled as the ball of fire flew towards the turtle creature, homing in on it. A spectacular blast filled the plains.

"That should take care of it… HUH?" Farleen yelled as the Turtle creature emerged from the smoke, seemingly undamaged.

"I told you your skills are too weak, fool!" Albel said as he swung his Katana again. "AIR SLASH!" he yelled as the wind blast knocked the turtle creature on to his back.

"That's how you do it, maggots…" Albel said cockily. However, as he turned away, the turtle creature rolled back up, seemingly unharmed. "What the…!" Albel yelled in surprise.

"Take THIS!" Lancar shouted as he flew up. "HAMMER OF MIGHT!" The impact sent the creature on its back again, but still not out.

"Damn…" Lancar cursed. "His protective shell is too strong. We can't break through it."

"If that is so, I have a plan." Clair said as she rushed forward. The creature also rushed ahead and tried to impale Clair with his horn. Clair dodged the thrust barely, and landed behind its back. She said "He might have a hard shell, but he is still a living creature.", as she got ready for her technique. "POISON CLOUD!" she yelled out as the green mist of poison engulfed the monster. It rolled over, wincing in pain as its life force slowly drained away from it.

"That'll take care of it." Clair said as she walked away. "Let us carry on, then."

"She's as good as Nel if not better, that's for sure..." Lancar commented, impressed.

"…" Albel walked along without any comment, though he was little impressed.


"Here we are." Clair said as the group entered the Trading Town of Peterny, which have become busier than it had ever been in history after the peace had come two years ago. With the threats of war now gone, the economy became more free and stable; making Peterny even more prosperous than it had been before.

"It's almost sundown. Let's all rest here tonight then carry on to Surferio tomorrow morning." Clair said. "Feel free to look around, and stock up on what you have to. We'll meet back at the Inn at West side of the town in couple hours."

"ALL-RIGHT! I'm going to go look around and do some shopping! The Charms and earrings they sell here in Peterny are the BEST!" Farleen said as she ran off with obvious excitement.

"I'll go look around as well." Lancar said. "I think I remember Cliff telling me there was a killer bar around here! I'll go check it out. See you guys later."

"I'm going to go to the Inn right now and make the reservations with my subordinates." Clair told Albel. "What are you going to do, Albel?" She asked.

"Hmph." Albel grunted . "Perhaps they may actually sell some decent equipments around here. I'm going to go check out the weapons shop, and whatever I do after that is none of your business."

"…Alright. Just meet back with us in an hour, then." Clair said as she left, again a little annoyed at Albel's response.

Albel wondered around the town looking for the weapon shop. As he was walking around, he came across a church. It had grey brick walls, and old brown wooden doors… just like any other church, it seemed. Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind in a microsecond. A similar church, but another place… from seemingly long, long time ago. Albel just sort of shook his head a little bit, annoyed at the thought. These flashbacks happened often to him, it seemed, but everytime he tried to remember them it didn't seem to have any meaning, and made things just hazier. Shrugging it off, Albel continued his search of the weapons shop.

"Hmm… no good. How can they sell a crap like that over here… and I thought this was supposed to be the best town to buy such things?" Albel said in disgust as he examined the weapons. "All of these are useless. I will keep my old sword… it's better than these hunk of junk" Albel said, as he looked back to his trusty Crimson Scourge.

As he came out of the weapons shop, he saw another merchant by the corner. He seemed to be selling musical instruments.

"MOMMY! Can we buy that music box? Pleeze… please?" One kid cried out to his mother.

"Well, it does look pretty old… sir, can we listen to its sound first?" the mother asked.

"Sure thing! You can trust us; we are the best music shop in Peterny! You can listen to it for yourself!" The shop merchant said enthusiastically as he gave the music box couple turns. The music box played a bittersweet but beautiful melody which soon filled that corner of the town. Albel looked on, almost hypnotized, bewildered by a mysterious nostalgia which he couldn't really understand himself.

"Hey!" A voice interrupted Albel's thought. "What are you staring at? Wha… at that music box? I didn't know you would be into things like that!" Farleen asked as Albel snapped out of his throught. "Beh… get lost, fool!" Albel yelled out in disgust as he turned and walked away from Farleen.

"Err… RUDE AS ALWAYS!" Farleen complained.

Back in the Peterny Inn, Clair was in her room taking a nice, warm bath. As the ever-refreshing water trickled down the curves of Clair's milky, smooth body, she got immersed in her own personal thought. 'That Albel Nox… he is still the same…Rude, cold, and sarcastic at everybody. Still, something is telling me he's not showing his true self… he seems to be hiding something… actually, it seems like he's not even sure of what he is hiding himself. Like a troubled past… I did hear that his father died in a battle, somewhat like what happened to Nel…'

'Nel…' Clair thought as she stepped out of the bathroom and reached to cover her moist body with a white towel. 'Please be okay. We'll be there soon'.

At the exact moment she stepped out of the bathroom, Albel entered the room without a knock. "AHH!" Clair yelled as she covered herself as best as she can with the towel, her face blushing beet red. "…! um… hmm…" Albel, in shock, had his eyes frozen on her but was trying to look away as hard as he can. He struggled to say anything at first, but then gathered himself, his eyes now looking away. "… my apologies.". Clair was mortified, just standing there frozen with herself covered. "… I'm…. I'm sorry." She muttered as she just looked away. The silence then went on for what seemed like an eternity, until the door opened once again.

"I'm back Lady Clair! Look at the things I g…. WHAAAAA?" Farleen yelled in surprise as she dropped everything she was holding on the floor. "YOU PERVERT! Get out of the room! Lady Clair, this way!" she said as she pushed Albel away and rushed Clair back into the bedroom.

Albel, still somewhat stunned, slowly walked out of the room without responding to all the curse words that Farleen yelled at him.

"Ahh! Are you okay Lady Clair? He didn't try anything, did he?" Farleen, still in panic, asked Clair who finally somewhat regained her composure. "I'm… I'm fine. Don't worry about it Farleen… this was… a big misunderstanding. It was my fault." Clair reassured her.

"Errrrrrrr!" Farleen growled to herself "I have no idea what in the world that man is thinking, or what he is trying to do! He is soooo frustrating to deal with!"

"It's okay Farleen, it's not his fault…" Clair said once again, still blushing a little.

"It's always guys like him! Err, the ones that have such good looks, are all really nothing but BIG JERKS!" Farleen complained angrily.

"…" Clair had no comment.

Outside, Albel just stood there in front of the inn, mad at himself. 'Sorry? Why did I say that! It was her fault for just barging out like that. Bah…' he thought to himself in disgust, but with the memory of the scene still vivid in his mind.

"Hey." Lancar said to Albel as he walked towards the inn. "Sorry I'm late. I didn't miss anything major, did I?"

"…" Albel said nothing as he walked back into the Inn, ignoring Lancar's question.

Lancar, puzzled at the lack of any response, told himself "I guess that's a no…" as he also walked into the Inn.


Chapter 6: The Motive

Albel was surrounded by hoard of Dragons once again. With the King, Woltar, and his father looking on, he dashed at the dragon with all his might. All of a sudden, a winged creature appeared out of nowhere, and said "You broke the pact. You broke your promises. For that, now you will pay" A burst of flames shot out at Albel, who stood in place frozen. His father pushed him out of the way, taking a direct hit.

"FATHER!" Albel yelled, with his arm and his father burning in flames…

"know… who you really are Albel… look within… yourself… find your own… truth…"

"…!" Albel sat up violently, with sweat trickling down his forehead.

"…. Another dream…" Albel told himself. He looked at the clock, which read '2:12 am'. Albel got off from his bed, and walked out to the balcony for a nice, fresh breath of cool outside air.

'The same old dream… always.' Albel thought to himself while looking at his metal arm. 'What did he mean by finding out my own truth…'

"Sorry to bother you…" a voice came from behind Albel, taking him by surprise.

"!…. Oh, it's just you." Albel looked back out as Clair walked into the balcony.

"Why are you still up? Can't sleep?" Clair asked, standing next to Albel on the porch.

"It's none of your concern. Go back to your sleep." Albel said without looking at her.

"I woke up because I just had some things that I wanted to think about…" Clair told him. After a brief silence, she spoke again. "About earlier today, I'm sorry. That was my fault."

"You could have had the doors closed, you know. It's something people do when they go to the bathroom…"Albel complained. "Watch it next time."

"I didn't know you'd be back so soon, but you're right. I'm sorry once again." Clair said as she bowed to Albel.

"Hmph. Just forget about it." Albel said as he looked up to the starry night sky.

"So… why did you decide to fight in this mission?" Clair asked him.

"The King ordered me to… why else?" Albel replied.

"You mean you have no personal reason? Like something or someone you're fighting to protect from those demons?" Clair asked again.

"I don't care about protecting anyone or anything stupid like that. Others are not of my concern. But if you ask for a personal reason, I may just have one." Albel commented with his eyes still glued to the sky.

"What might that be?" Clair asked curiously.

"Revenge." Albel said. "Those demon bastards killed my father and made me lose my arm." Albel spoke with his hand now clenched into a fist. "I won't rest until I get my revenge on those scums."

"!…" Clair was surprised. "Your father, the great Glou Nox, and your arm? But I thought… that it was from the Accession of the flames' ceremony… at least from the rumours I've heard…"

"It was indeed at the ceremony…" Albel said. "But it wasn't a dragon. It was the demons."

"But why would they…" Clair asked, only to be interrupted by Albel.

"I do not have the answers to all the questions, fool. Just know that I won't rest until I get my revenge!" Albel told her.

"Right… sorry for asking." Clair apologized, looking away.

"So why did YOU accept this mission…" Albel asked, still not really looking at Clair.

"I'm here… because I want to find Nel. I am really worried about her." Clair told him. "Something tells me that she is in great danger… I need to find her."

"That women won't die so easily. She survived against me once, after all." Albel said.

"Right." Clair agreed. "But besides that… I have another motivating reason. I want to protect my country, my family… and my friends from these evil demons."

"Protect your home? Your friends? How pathetic… something like that won't motivate you anyhow. People are selfish creatures… people ultimately only care for themselves." Albel commented with a bitter grin.

"I don't believe in that" Clair said. "You've never been in the situation where you wanted to protect something, have you?"

"…" Albel had no comment.

"Well, that's my true reason for fighting, and my main motivation." Clair went on. "My father always told me the same when I was growing up and training… though he may be stubborn and paranoid in lot of his beliefs, having gone through so many things throughout the years myself, I now believe him. He said that you couldn't reach your true potential until you can find that motivation. And that the feeling of revenge or aggression will only take you so far."

"Hmph…" Albel sneered, still not looking but listening.

"Perhaps you can think a bit about that yourself." Clair said as she turned and walked away. "I think we better get back to sleep, it's getting late. See you tomorrow morning… good night." She turned back, bowed, and went back into the room.

"… night." Albel said as he turned back for the first time on the night, long after she had gone back.


"Alright. We are off to our destination, then, to the Lost City of Surferio." Clair told the group outside of the Inn in the early morning. "We will head out straight through this road leading west, and we should be able to reach our destination by mid afternoon. Let's head out."

"OKAY! Let's GOOO!" Farleen shouted cheerily, as the group exited Peterny towards the Sanmite Steppes.


Chapter 7: The Four Relics

The group reached the Lost of City of Surferio without any problems. The four fighters easily disposed of any monsters along the way, with their strength completely outclassing anything that was native to Elicoor II. No before long, they had finally reached their first destination.

"Yaaay! Surferio! I love this town, it's so quiet and peaceful… not to mention some of the humanoids here are sooo cute!" Farleen said excitedly as she ran in ahead of everybody else.

"Hmm. Land of the freak shows." Albel commented. "Where do we go from here, then?" He asked.

"We have to go to the Mayor's house. Our agents notified him of our situation couple days ago. He should be expecting us." Clair said.

"HEY! WHO IS THERE?" A familiar, loud voice echoed throughout the road, its source apparently being top of the tree. "You demons! I, the protector of our sacred town and the real man's men, will destroy you!…. Huh?…"

"That tone…" Albel said, "Don't tell me…"

"Can it be?" The mysterious person said as he dropped down to below from the tree. "It really IS you! It's been so long!"

"I knew it…" Albel mumbled in an annoyed fashion.

"It's me! Roger! You guys surely remember the main hero from two years ago!" Roger said in a welcoming voice. "Albel looks the same… and you guys are Clair, and Farleen! And I don't remember the big guy, but I'm sure I've seen him from somewhere! Anyways, nice to meet you all again!" Roger had now grown about a feet over the last year or so… as tall as any Menodix would ever get. He still sported the same helmet, but now with a simple short Green T-shirt and a baggy khaki pants; he had the same furry tail, of course.

"Ohhhh… right. So you're the famous Roger… now I remember you!" Lancar said smiling. "How can I forget? I've heard all those of stories about you from the Captain! Well, they weren't particularly nice or anything… but good to see you again! I'm Lancar, we may have met on the Diplo."

"Likewise! So good to see you all again! But wait a minute… aren't we missing a couple people here? Where's Fayt? The big bonehead? And miss Nel? And others?" Roger asked.

"Well… Clair started to get serious as she started to summarize the basic story to Roger.

"I see…" Roger said in a serious voice for once "So Fayt have gone missing, and so have Miss Nel and Maria… and you guys are here to find out how to beat the demons?" He asked.

"Yes. We're looking for the ancient document that describe how we can get to their homeland, called the Daemoneum. We need to defeat them as fast as we can… and we're on our way to the mayor's house so we can find the documents." Clair explained.

"The mayor's house? No problem, leave it to me! Come on; follow the leader boys and girls! This way!" Roger said confidently as he lead the group out towards the Mayor's house.

"He's exactly as Cliff described him." Lancar said with a grin. "Hahaha! What a funny kid!"

"The same annoying brat." Albel said as the group walked into the Mayor's house. It was no different from any other houses in Surferio – completely made of wood, not too big, but nice and cozy. As they entered, a Woman greeted them at the hallway.

"Ah! You must be the ones that my husband is expecting. This way please." She said as she led the party to the living room.

"Greetings! I'm the mayor of this town, and I have been expecting you." The mayor said, shaking Clair's hand.

"Nice you meet you, Mr. Mayor. I have to thank you for agreeing to cooperate with our nations." Clair said politely as she bowed.

"It's not a problem… we are just glad to be of some help. So, you wanted the documents from the days of Kingdom of Aquor on how to enter the Daemoneum?" Mayor asked, as everybody now settled down in their chairs.

"Yes sir. That's what we are looking for." Clair answered. "Would you happen to know where it is?"

"Well yes! Actually, I heard about the situation earlier from your agents, so I went to my archives and found those documents as soon as I could!" The Mayor said as he reached towards the book lying beside him. "This book was written entirely in ancient characters that were used back in the days of Kingdom of Aquor, but luckily, we knew how to translate them; so we translated the words and found out the basic details on what we need to do to enter the Daemoneum."

"That's excellent!" Lancar said excitedly. "So there IS really a way of reaching their home. How do we do so, mayor?"

"Rest easy, I will explain it to you." The mayor said as he went on. "The book described that there are four special relics that will create a special gateway to enter the Daemoneum… a place that exists in another space that is totally different from ours."

"In another space… totally different from us?" Farleen asked.

"It must mean that they exist in a totally different dimension than ours…" Lancar explained. "That would explain why they are also appearing everywhere else in the galaxy, too."

"So where can we find these relics, Mayor? I'm assuming they are hidden?" Clair asked.

"Indeed." Mayor said. "There was once a war many years ago… where the evil demons tried to take over this land. Their strength was unmatched – not even the combined power of the Kingdom of Aquor and the Kingdom of Greeton were strong enough to defeat them. But when thing were looking bleak, we discovered a strange object, which glowed red and emitted a great power. Using it, our scientists were able to create a device that enabled us to seal their point of entrance for good."

"…" everyone was silent as they listened closely.

"Those were the four relics." The mayor continued. "After we sealed the demons off from our land, fearing the potential danger that it can also work the other way around, the four relics were hidden away at various places around our world; so that it won't fall into the wrong hands."

"So where could they be? Does it say where they are hidden?" Clair asked.

"Yes. According to the records, there should be one hidden in each one of the nations in our land. One is said to be right here in Sanmite, somewhere in the Passage from Parch to Plenty. The second one is at the Aquatic Gardens of Surferio, in Aquaria; the third is hidden in the Cave of Greeton in Kingdom of Greeton… and the last relic is said to be hidden somewhere in the land of Airyglyph." The mayor told her.

"!" Albel's eyes opened wide in surprise as the last part of the mayor's paragraph caught his attention. "In Airyglyph huh… by any chance, does the relic, look like this?" he asked as he reached for his pocket and took out a small, triangle-shaped red glowing object.

"My! Why yes, that is exactly how it looks like! What a coincidence!" The mayor said in excitement. "Where did you happen to find it?" he asked.

"In Airyglyph dungeon" Albel answered. "So this is perfect. We know how this relic exactly looks like now."

"Let me examine that" Lancar asked as he took out his quad scanner and started analyzing it "Let's see… uh huh… right.. wow.." he mumbled to himself in amazement. "It's the real deal. This object is indeed of great power… looks like we just found another OPA."

"OPA… you mean it's something like the Sacred orb." Clair asked.

"Something like that. But with this, I'm certain that we'll be able to enter their dimension." Lancar told the group.

"Alright. Good then. We already have one. So you said there is a place where we can get another relic somewhere near here, is that correct?" Albel asked.

"Yes." The Mayor answered. "Somewhere in the Passage from Parch to Plenty."

"Alright then." Clair spoke as she stood up. "Now we know what we have to do. So let's move out to the Passage from Parch to Plenty at once. There is not much time to waste."

"Okay everyone, let's head out." Clair told the group as she turned to face the Mayor outside near the entrance to Passage from Parch to Plenty. "Thank you for all your help, Mr. Mayor." She said as she bowed to him.

"I'm glad to be of help. I will pray for your success." The Mayor answered.


With everything ready, the group turned back and headed towards the entrance to the Passage. But before they could enter, they heard someone yelling from far away.

"HEY… WAAAIT! WAIT FOR ME!" Roger yelled as he ran down the bridge to meet with the group. "You weren't going to go without me now, were ya? How can you guys just leave your leader behind like that?"

"Huh?" Clair said, surprised. "But Roger, this will be a very dangerous mission. You shouldn't come with us…"

"Err…! Have you guys already forgot all the guys I defeated two years ago?" Roger asked in an angry, annoyed voice "I defeated guys like Crosell! Vox! And Luther!" He claimed. "And you guys are worried that this adventure will be too dangerous for me? HAH! Nothing is too dangerous for Roger S. Huxley, men among real men!"

"But…" Clair said hesitantly.

"Don't worry, I can take care of myself! I've have become even stronger over the last two years, you know!" Roger said proudly. "Besides, I really want to help out you guys rescue Fayt and Nel… if it wasn't for them… I might still be stuck in that cage in Duggus Forest. I owe it to them… so COME ON! Please?" He begged.

"I like the kid's attitude, guys. Let him come along." Lancar agreed. "I remember Cliff told me that he might be an annoying kid, but that he could surprisingly hold his own in a fight!"

"What did that idiot call me?" Roger asked in annoyed voice.

"Alright… if that's the case, I welcome you to the group, Roger." Clair agreed. "But what does everybody else think about this?"

"I'm fine with it… the more the merrier!" Farleen said.

"Let him do whatever he please, I don't care" Albel said as he walked into the Passage. "There is no time to lose. I'm going in."

"YEEESSSS!" Roger jumped up with excitement. "Okay! LET'S HEAD OUT, TEAM!"