Chapter 3 A strange, new place

Disclaimer: ... ... ..If I owned Star Ocean, thenwhy would I waste my time typing about Fayt and Albel and not puting therelove for one anotherin the game? Or some offical manga? ...Please, don't insult me any more. gasps andglides out dramaticly

Strange toxic air and unnatural fumes reached the nose of the tall warrior even before their transportation was complete. When the large wall of blue finally fell from in front of the two, Albel was speechless from the sight which now lay before his eyes.

Clothes...tons of them.

And also some type of moving staircase...and too many people. Fayt smirked at the sight of seeing the normally calm and careless Albel now completely stunned. Albel turned his head abruptly and glared at the youth.

"What on this planet is that God forsaken smell!" Fayt turned to look and found what his companion was yelling about.

"It's called perfume. It's something women here put on to smell good."

"Then I guess I must prepare for a bunch of smelly wenches. And all the clothes?" The blue haired warrior began to adjust and pick up his luggage as he explained.

"We're in what's called a mall. This is where people do their shopping for clothes, obviously, as well as household necessities, toys for children and sometimes they come here to eat." Albel wrinkled his nose in disgust of the penetrating "perfume" smell.

They were soon greeted by a lady clad in pink and white. Her sandy brown hair tied back in a neat little bun, and wire glasses hung around her neck. "Hello you two! You're Fayt and Albel, correct?" Fayt bowed his head slightly and Albel only glared daggers at the salesclerk for foreknowing his name.

"Yes ma'am. I take it Cliff informed you on our appearance?" The female smiled and nodded. "Indeed he did. I'm Mary by the way." The two shook hands and some how she knew not to bother to do so with Albel.

"Well this part of the mall is off limits to regular customers, only employees of Quark and travelers come through here so don't worry about anyone seeing you. And feel free to take a few outfits for your friend here. You won't be charged for them. But only for him, okay?" "Yeah, thanks a lot Mary." The female smiled once more before going about her day.

"Can we leave now? I thought we were in a hurry." Fayt nodded. "Yeah but after I let Sophia know, we're coming back here. You need some different clothes." Albel glared at the boy but to no avail. He supposed it would be best. From what he saw Fayt wearing when he was held captive, the fashion here was very...unique.

They walked over to a huge metal door which opened as soon as Fayt pressed a button. "Come on." Albel walked into the tiny space and folded his arms. "What is this? Some type of new aged elevator?" The emerald eyed male nodded as he pressed a 1 on the pad.

"Exactly." The taller male took comfort in the knowledge that this world had a few similarities to his own.

He was also glad that Fayt had an extra communicator on hand for him so that he could probably curse others out. For he was ready to do so when the elevator stopped on the third floor.

A tall man holding an abundance of bags and a little girl dressed in pink and purple walked in. The little one looked up at the strange warrior and immediately squealed at the sight of Shi. "Daddy look at cat! I want her! Buy her for me! NOW!" She attempted to grab the kitten before her father could reply.

Fayt could only watch in horror as Albel took the girl's arm and began to twist it. The father was still too berried under bags to tell what was going on. "Umm, no sweetie. That cat belongs to the person. We can go to a pet store next if you want?.." But Albel had muffled the girl's screams with his right had and whispered something in her ear that made the color in her skin fade completely.

He then turned her lose and began to stroke Shi's head. "N-no..let's go home next daddy." At that moment the doors slid open and all four walked out. The little girl ran for the exit leaving her father to wonder where she went. "Retched brat, I hope all children on Earth are not as unfortunate as she was..." Fayt hoped so as well and led his now smirking friend to the exit.

Sophia was standing in front of a small red convertible as the pair walked out. "Fayt!" She ran over to her friend and hugged him tightly. Fayt laughed and hugged her back. When they parted the blue haired youth noticed that Albel stayed in front of the revolving doors, his eyes widened slightly.

"Albel? What's?..." He then realized that the warrior had never seen a car before. "Um, this is a car. It's one of our sources of transportation." Albel began to walk slowly over to the red machine. "I take it Sophia will pilot this...car?"

Fayt tried to hold back his smile as he nodded. "Hey Sophia, we have to go back inside the mall to find Albel some outfits. Wanna join?" Sophia's smile only brightened as she clapped her hands slightly. "Of corse! This is going to be soooo much fun!" She then stopped and looked around. "Where's the kitten?"

"Uh,..Albel has him..." The warrior turned around, now finished with his little inspection, and threw Sophia a deathly glare. "Can I see him Albel?" She asked, a little fear in her voice. Seeing as how that fear seemed to only increase Albel's insane smirk, Fayt saw where this was headed and quickly smacked his tongue on the roof of his mouth to call the kitten.

Almost instantly Shi's head popped up from the bag and turned to Fayt. "Awwwww! Come here sweetie!" Shi simply stared at Sophia and mewed softly. Sophia squealed a bit more before realizing that he wasn't going to come out from his shelter. "You'll see him when we get to your house. He's not going to come out now though." The female nodded and began to skip to the mall entrance. "Alright then, what are we waiting for? Let's go find Albel some outfits!"

As Sophia walked inside of the mall's crowded entrance ,she was smacked in the face my a passing traveler's shopping bag. "Owwww!" she exclaimed rubbing her sore cheek. Albel snickered and muttered something about the wench deserving it and with arms folded, continued to walk ahead of the party.

There were a million clothing stores of which to choose from, however none of them seemed to grab Albel's attention. Fayt racked his brain trying to think of a store that the ebony haired warrior might find appealing, but was having a hard time thinking with Sophia's constant rambling in his ear. "Oooo, how about that one!" The female exclaimed pointing to a casual wear store. "What do you think, Albel?" Fayt asked. The taller male only grunted and kept on his way. "Guess that's a no."

The three continued along the various floors of the mall, until they finally came across a store that caught the warrior's attention. "Why does this store have such a darker theme than all of the others?" Albel asked standing in front of the entrance. The blue haired youth took his place beside him.

"This is a gothic clothing store. A lot of the clothing hear is black or red or just of darker colors. Some have a lot of chains and buckles and such that come with them." Albel slowly walked into the store, not wanting to seem too interested. The entire place seemed to have a dark, twisted setting to it. And after all of the other stores he'd seen, this one seemed almost misplaced. Probably because it was the only one of it's kind in the entire mall.

The store looked as dark and out of place as Albel felt.

He began to walk around eyeing certain pieces of clothing. "Fayt, do you really think Albel will look right in gothic stuff? I mean I just can't picture it..." Sophia said holding on to the boy's arm. Fayt shifted away slightly, not liking the fact that his arm was squashed in between her bust.

"I'm not sure, but Albel will decide what he wants." He began to look around himself, just to have something to do. Sophia, to his annoyance, began to follow him around the store still chattering away. After about five minutes, Fayt went over to check on his crimson eyed acquaintance.

"See anything you like?" He asked casually. Albel turned and folded his arms. "Everything here has chains. I don't like things that weigh me down." Fayt glanced around the store, and spotted something that he thought Albel might like. "Come over here."

He picked out an all black sleeveless shirt and a pair of all black fitted jeans. Albel overlooked the two and grunted. "I suppose this will do." Fayt nodded and pulled him over to the changing room.

"Alright, now try them on and see if they fit." Albel unhooked his katana and gave it to Fayt to hold. Sophia walked over once the warrior stepped into the small room. "Fayt? Can I talk with you for a sec?"

"Of corse. What's up?" The green eyed female pulled him towards a corner on the opposite side of the store. "Why exactly did Albel come with you?" She whispered. Fayt leaned back against the wall.

"He wasn't going to let me bring Shiyuchi unless he came. He had decided to come before I could even say anything." Sophia's brow furrowed slightly. "So I take it he's staying with us at my dorm?" The blue haired youth nodded.

"Look, I know this was unexpected but I think I can keep Albel calm a bit better than anyone else. I'm sure everything will be fine."

At that moment Albel came out from the dressing room and crossed his arms. "Well?" Fayt was almost stunned at the sight. The shirt was tight on Albel's chest, much like the purple one he wore. His slim figure fit it perfectly, and the pants made the shape of his legs more defiant as well. It was a simple outfit, but on Albel it looked magnificent. Fayt felt his face grow hot and his heart speed up.

"Uh..y-yeah it looks nice on you." Albel didn't even care about Sophia's input as he walked back into the room to change back into his own clothing. "Right, now just two more to go..." The emerald orbs which were Fayt's eyes seemed to drift off into another place as Sophia stared at her flushed face friend.

"Fayt? Are you okay?..." She asked after a small while. The young male seemed to snap back to reality as he smiled and nodded. "Yeah I'm fine. Come on, we should get a head start on that second outfit."

Albel slipped on his purple stocking and went to look in his bag to check on Shi. He was curled up in a little white ball asleep and purring. The tall warrior smirked in spite of himself and slowly picked up the bag, careful not to wake the tiny fur ball. He grabbed the clothes and walked out heading in Fayt's direction.

"Are we done now? I'm getting bored." Sophia glanced up at him from behind Fayt's shoulder. "We have to find you at least two more outfits. And then we need to buy you a pair of shoes." The pale warrior was becoming very annoyed. Not only was he told the last thing in the world he wanted to here, but he was told by the last person in the world he wanted to hear it from.

A slight growl was herd from Albel's throat as he stalked off to find more shirts. "Goodness, his temper is horrible." She whispered into Fayt's ear. The youth paid her no mind however, as his thoughts were still focused around the sight from earlier.

Finally after about another hour in the gothic clothing store, and a hour in a half in a shoe store, the party was finally ready to call it a day. ("Sheesh I had no clue that Albel could act so...spoiled.") Fayt thought.

They made their way back to Sophia's car and loaded the bags and luggage into the trunk. The sun was starting to set and a slight chill was caught in the breeze. "Alright Albel you sit in the back and hold on to Shi. The car might scare him." The tall male only snorted as he slid into the back seat. Fayt hopped into the passenger's side and turned to face Albel.

"You see that strap next to your shoulder? Pull it around you and stick the metal part into the other thing near your thigh." Albel only stared at him blankly and arched an eyebrow slightly. "...never mind, allow me." Fayt slid back and plopped next to Albel to fasten his seat belt.

"When you want to take this off, just press this square button here and it'll unlock." Albel did so immediately and began to stare out of the window. "No, Albel. You have to have it on in the car otherwise we might get into trouble. Only take it off when you're ready to get out." The crimson eyed warrior sighed audibly and re did his seatbelt.

"Okay, are we ready?" Sophia asked. Fayt nodded and Albel didn't bother to dignify her with a response. She stared her car, and they took off down the street.

AN: Okay, third chappie done! Sorry it took so long for me to update. I was having trouble deciding what Albel's outfits would be. A big thank you to all of you who reviewed, and I hope to have chapter 4 up soon. Also, I'm open to any ideas you all might have for this story. So feel free to state your thoughts! ) R&R please!

MoralityOfSin