Disclaimer: I do not own Star Ocean.
Chapter 2: Fateful Encounter"Did you see that Tynave?" a purple haired young woman asked the woman next to her.
"Yeah Farleen, just what is that thing?" The woman named Tynave wondered.
"Whatever it was, it definitely fell from the sky. But how could such a huge metal object possibly soar through the sky?" A red haired woman commented as she and the other two watched the shocking scene out the window of a house.
There, in the city of Airyglyph, a military superpower on the planet Elicoor II, lay indeed a huge metal object. It had completely leveled the building that had been unfortunate enough to stand in its way. A crowd was already gathering, everyone completely baffled at what had just happened.
"Lady Nel, what do you suspect that is?" Tynave asked the red haired woman.
"Beats me. Wait a minute, are those people coming out of that thing!" Nel stared in wonder as two men -one tall, muscular blonde man and a younger looking blue haired one- came walking out of the mystery object.
"Uh… maybe that thing is some sort of transportation vehicle?" Farleen said uncertainly.
"Hmm… could be, but who could've built such a thing…"
"Perhaps it was one of the countries in Greeton? They build all sorts of strange things after all." Tynave suggested.
"At any rate, maybe I should go talk with those two people, if they possess technology to make flying vehicles, if that's what that thing is, then they might prove extremely valuable to us. Besides," Nel said as the three women witnessed the two strangers being dragged away by Glyphian soldiers, "we can't afford to let Airyglyph obtain such technology to use against the Sacred Kingdom of Aquaria, can we?"
Down below in the dungeons of castle Airyglyph, sounds of whiplashes echoed throughout the hall, accompanied by some creepy, almost abnormal, laughs of glee. As the door of the "interrogation chamber" opened, a young man with blue hair, the same one that had appeared from the fallen object that was still smoldering in the middle of the city outside, was dragged out by a soldier clad in steel armor. By the looks of him, it appeared that he had been on the receiving end of the whip and laughs. He was then promptly thrown into one of the many dark, dank cells, where his blonde companion awaited him. He too, appeared to have been subject to the harsh lashes of the whip.
"Hey Fayt, you alright?" The blonde man inquired the younger male, who struggled to get up.
"Do I look alright to you Cliff?" Fayt gasped out painfully, then noticed that Cliff also sported similar wounds, "looks they were rough on you too."
Cliff merely shrugged and said "Meh, I'm more used to this sort of stuff than you are. But hey, you held out pretty good."
Fayt sighed as he got up into a more comfortable position and sat next to Cliff. The two of them, along with another person, were on their way to meet Cliff's boss, who wished to meet with Fayt, when they were ambushed by the Vendeeni. In fact, the Vendeeni had attacked Hyda IV, the resort planet Fayt had been vacationing at with his parents and childhood friend Sophia. This had forced Fayt to be separated from everyone, and then make an emergency landing on the planet of Vanguard III while riding in an escape pod. This was where he was eventually picked up by Cliff, a Klausian working for the anti-Federation organization called Quark. It was Cliff and Mirage's, a Klausian woman and partner to Cliff, mission to bring Fayt to meet their leader, but the ambush left their ship's engine damaged severely, forcing the trio to crash land on Elicoor II. And here they are.
"I wonder if Mirage got out okay?" Fayt muttered worriedly. Mirage had been told by Cliff to wait until dark and slip out of the ship, then find a way to contact the rest of Quark.
"Hey, don't you worry about her, remember she's a Klausian, she can take care of herself," Cliff grunted as he struggled against the restraints which tied his hands together behind his back, "damn! These restraints are pretty solid, I can't break em!"
"Umm… I think that's why they're called 'restraints'".
"Very funny," the Klausian grumbled as he gave up the futile effort.
"Man, how am I supposed to rescue my dad when I'm locked up down here!" Fayt growled in frustation. Cliff had told him back on Vanguard that Quark had discovered the whereabouts of his father, the esteemed symbological genetics researcher Professor Leingod. He had apparently been captured by the Vendeeni during the raid on Hyda IV.
"Don't worry, I promised you that we'd help bail your father out. Besides, someone will get us out of here."
"How? You told Mirage not to bother coming after us."
"They're already here."
As if on cue, the soldier guarding their cell suddenly tumbled onto the floor, revealing the red haired woman who had attacked him. Before Fayt could figure out what just happened, the woman promptly gave them two choices: agree to her terms and come with her, or refuse and die here. Not much of a choice. The woman demanded that they lend their technology to her country, the Sacred Kingdom of Aquaria, which was at war with Airyglyph. After a short debate between them, Cliff agreed to help her out. As for their identities, they could hardly tell her that they were aliens from outer space, considering how Elicoor was an Underdeveloped Planet. So, they led her to believe that they were engineers from the technological superpower of Greeton. The woman then used a weird power to break the lock on the cell door, then proceeded to break the two prisoners from their restraints.
"Whew! Thanks for the help." Cliff said as he massaged his wrists.
"I expect you to uphold your part of the bargain." The woman said sternly, then added, "I'm Nel Zelpher, an agent of the Sacred Kingdom of Aquaria."
"My name is Fayt Leingod."
"Cliff Fittir."
With introductions out of the way, the trio turned to leave, when they were startled by a sudden high-pitched "echo!". While Fayt and Cliff looked at each other, completely puzzled, while Nel growled in frustration.
"Dear Apris…" She sighed as the clanking footsteps of soldiers could be heard.
Before the soldiers showed up, a young girl with shoulder length, straight black hair, light red eyes, and dressed in similar attire as Nel, albeit with a longer lower garment (A/N: more like Clair), came rounding the corner.
"AH! Lady Nel! Soldiers!" She squealed as she came dashing towards the group.
"I kind of noticed that, Ira, and tell me just how did they realized we were here?"
"eh… a hunch?"
"Wow Cliff, there's someone in common with you," Fayt said bemusedly.
"Shut it, kid."
"AAAAH! You won't be getting away from me, my little kittens! I still have much more FUN stuff in mind for you!" The masked inquisitor, the one who had whipped the two former prisoners harshly, came blundering into view, flanked by a couple of guards.
"Geez, remind me why I hate this guy so much." Cliff muttered as he cracked his knuckles.
"He's fat?" Ira said bluntly, receiving blank stares from the rest, "what?"
"Never mind, here they come!" Nel exclaimed as she drew her daggers.
Fayt, having received his sword and the rest of his gears, along with a new set of armor little earlier, focused on parrying the lance strokes of one of the guards, and Nel moved around swiftly, frustrating the slower guard (all that armor will kill your speed, honestly). In the meanwhile, Cliff was literally beating the crap out of the inquisitor, whose creepy laugh was now replaced by a sissy squeal of pain. All too soon, the scuffle was over, with Fayt and Nel having dispatched their adversaries, while Cliff was still kicking the unconscious inquisitor, muttering stuff like "creepy dude" and "lose some weight".
"Well, that was rather easy, they're not as tough as they act." Fayt said as he sheathed his sword.
"By the way, how come you didn't do anything?" Cliff glared accusingly at the girl named Ira.
"You want me to touch that… sack of grease? Besides, I prefer being a spy over a fighter!"
"A spy who just gave away our position…" Nel muttered.
"Heheh, sorry Lady Nel, couldn't help myself," Ira scratched the side of her head.
Following a long exasperated sigh from Fayt, Cliff, and Nel, they began to head towards Nel's suggested exit: the aqueducts. The aqueducts were a huge, sprawling series of underground caverns beneath castle Airyglyph that has stood for a long time. After cutting their way through some monsters that blocked their way. Well, scurry behind the fighters, in Ira's case.
"Uh, Nel? Not to be rude or anything, but why did she come along? I mean, she's kinda, you know, not cut out for this, isn't she?" Cliff whispered to the Aquarian spy.
"Well, she may seem to be incompetent, but she's actually one of our top spies. Also, there is her… gift, I suppose," Nel shrugged.
"Gift?"
"Well, you see, she can-"
"Err… Lady Nel, I think we have trouble."
The group had entered a large chamber that led to the exit. Only the exit was blocked by a gigantic Larva Crab, which was advancing on them, eager for its next meal.
"Great, after all that, now we have a blasted crab to deal with." Fayt sounded quite aggravated.
In order to confuse it, the three split up, with Nel using her runology (a special power utilized by engraving special runes on the flesh of the user) to annoy it, and the men hitting it from the back whenever they got the chance. Growing increasingly vexed by the hit-and-run tactics, the crab eventually started going berserk. It swung its powerful crab legs (?) wildly, which actually managed to strike Cliff, who let down his guard due to overconfidence, and sent him flying a few feet away. Startled, Fayt quickly backed away from the frenzied beast. Nel tried to gain its attention away from Fayt, but the crab just grew even more aggravated.
At last, it began a blind charge, right at the idle Ira, who was just standing where she had been all along, doing nothing.
"Watch out!" Fayt shouted.
All of the sudden, the crab fell to the ground, and seemed to have trouble moving. In fact, it seemed unable to move. Then Fayt noticed that the monster's legs were trapped in a pile of hardened mud.
'Where'd that come from?' Fayt wondered, then quickly realizing his chance charged right in, and drove his sword into the beast's thick scale (?) as hard as he could, while Nel leapt up and stabbed the weak point at the crab's neck. The monster flailed around for a bit, before a chunk of rock from the ceiling fell on top of its head. Taking advantage of its stunned state, the three fighters pummeled the crab relentlessly until it finally crumbled before them.
"Whew, that was something… Who would've expected such a thing to be living down here?" Cliff panted tiredly, then pointed accusingly at Ira yet again, "and she still didn't do anything!"
"How rude!" Ira pouted.
"Uh… Actually Cliff, I think she did do something." Fayt said uncertainly.
"Like what?"
"Remember how the beast's legs got trapped? And that rock that fell on top of it?" Nel pointed out.
"Huh? I thought that was your doing." Cliff looked puzzled.
"No, that would be Ira. She has a strange ability to control certain objects, primarily stones and minerals, I believe."
"It's tiring though, and I have my limits too." Ira indeed sounded worn out.
"Is this more of that runology thing?" Fayt asked Nel.
"No, this is her own personal ability. Frankly, I have no idea how she possesses such skill."
"I don't know either." Ira added.
"Hey, that's pretty neat."
"You bet!"
With the hectic battle, and an interesting discovery of their new "comrades", Fayt and Cliff trudged out of the cave… and into the freezer. Airyglyph, located on a high, mountainous region, was cold in normal times. This was winter, and the stinging bite of the frigid wind was quite unbearable. As inconspicuously as they could manage, the group hurried out of the city gate. Unfortunately, Ira tripped right in front of the gate, and the noise caught the attention of the guards on top of the gate. The four of them quickly dashed out of the city, with Nel scolding Ira all the way. They were greeted by Nel's two other subordinates, Farleen and Tynave, who were waiting with a wagon that would carry them away from the city.
During the ride, Nel was quite annoyed with Fayt, who absolutely refused to help building a weapon. Most of the ride was taken up with them and Cliff arguing, while Ira was snoozing peacefully, having made a makeshift ear plugs using her powers, which was basically the ability to manipulate minerals and elements such as stone, iron, and such. However, this didn't last long, as Airyglyph's famed Dragon Brigade was soon closing in on them. In order to allow the others to escape, Farleen and Tynave drove off with the wagon as decoys, while the other four leapt out and hid out of sight. Once the danger was past, Nel informed the rest that they would be heading for Kirlsa, then would head to Aquarian territory through the Kirlsa Mines. Ira seemed delighted for some reason.
"What is she so excited about?" Fayt looked to Nel for explanations.
"I think she's originally from Kirlsa. She came to the capital city of Aquios about 3 years ago, and eventually joined as a spy. Needless to say, her stealth and powers made her quite outstanding."
"Power I understand, but stealth?" Cliff sounded skeptic.
"Well, her clumsiness is a bit of a problem…" Nel sighed, and was about to continue when Fayt started acting weird.
He clutched his head as if suffering from severe headache, and dropped to the ground. Cliff quickly checked up on him. This only annoyed Fayt, who merely stated that he was no child who needed to be pampered. Nel was deeply troubled by this. It would be best for them to head through the mines as quick as possible, but with Fayt in this condition, it was not possible. Left with no other options, the group decided to stay a night in Kirlsa's inn. The moment they arrived, Nel left to check up on one of her agents in Kirlsa, while Ira ran off to who knows where. Probably to visit some of her old haunts or something.
The next day, refreshed by the night of rest, the four companions proceeded to the Kirlsa Mines, which was more or less abandoned by now, due to over mining. They had to hack their way pass numerous, abnormally large, deformed spiders, which Ira seemed interested in for some reason, muttering something along the line of "my friend would like one of these…" Then they ran into a fiend that seemed to be composed of stones and mud or something. This battle turned out to be rather easy, largely thanks to Ira and her manipulative abilities. She somehow managed to disassemble the thing into tiny little pieces, after which everyone started stepping and grinding the now miniature monsters into dust. Of course, this left the poor girl completely fatigued, and she had to be carried by a grumbling Cliff for a good deal of the journey through the Becquerel Mountain Path.
Finally, after this long, arduous trek through an abandoned mine and a mountain trail, the small group made it into the Aquarian town of Arias. They were promptly led to a large mansion in the center of the town by a runologist. Here, they were greeted by a young woman, who seemed to be in charge of operations in Arias.
"Oh, you made it back!" she said as she approached the newcomers, "Umm… why is Ira being carried around?"
The moment the words left her lips, Ira leapt off and hugged the woman like a little child who just met her older sister. Cliff, having been unprepared for this, fell face first onto the floor from the sudden lack of weight on his back, plus the force exerted from Ira jumping off of it.
"Are these the ones?" the woman asked after Ira calmed down a bit.
"Yes, this is Fayt, and the blonde one is Cliff." Nel introduced the two 'engineers' to her.
"I'm commander Clair Lasbard of the Aquaria Runological Unit. I'm honored to meet you." Clair greeted the two men.
Once the formalities were out of the way, the two 'engineers' were led to the spare room. Too tired for much activity, Fayt literally collapsed onto his bed. Unbeknownst to him, a certain Aquarian spy entered the room in the middle of the night, bowed to the two men, then left silently without a word. Unbeknownst to her, a certain blonde Klausian wasn't quite asleep yet.
Morning dawned, and once the negotiation began, Clair basically made similar requests as Nel had (more like demanded, in the case of the latter), except that the young commander was more willing to compromise. In fact, as long as Fayt and Cliff did not end up giving their technology to Airyglyph, it was more or less okay with them. After this negotiations of sorts, in which Fayt was given time to think over the issue of building a weapon before he arrived in Aquios, the blue haired Earthling inquired about Nel's whereabouts. She had been nowhere in sight all this time so far, neither was Ira. After a tense, uneasy moment, Clair began to speak, but was interrupted by Cliff.
"She went to rescue Farleen and Tynave, didn't she?"
"How did you?" Clair asked, startled.
"She came into our room last night. I'm not sure what she wanted, but she just kind of bowed and left."
"Huh? When was that?" Fayt was surprised at this bit.
"While you were snoozing like a babe."
"…yes, she did go to get them. Her chances are close to zero, but she just can't abandon those under her…"
"One of those types who just can't let go, eh?" Cliff mused.
"I'm going after her!" Fayt yelled indignantly. Clair began to protest, considering how they were so close to getting to Aquios, and hence their freedom. But Fayt wouldn't hear of it. He was tired of people all around him throwing away their lives mindlessly. When both him and Cliff was set on assisting Nel, Clair finally gave up and provided them with the location of the place. The two captive spies were being held in the Kirlsa Training Facility, the headquarters of the Black Brigade heavy cavalry of Airyglyph.
"It would've been better if Ira could go with you, since she is more familiar with this region than most, but…" Clair trailed off.
"Speaking of Ira, where is she at?"
"I sent her off on an errand early this morning… Maybe I shouldn't have…"
"We'll manage somehow." Fayt said firmly.
With that, the Fayt and Cliff began their trek towards the Kirlsa Training Facility.
A little while after the two 'engineers' had left, Clair was snapped out of her mindless pacing back and forth in the conference room by the sound of the door opening.
"Oh, you're back! Did you find him?"
"Yep, right here!"
"…"
Yeesh… I seem to always make two OCs with certain characteristics…A serious type and a hyper type… Oh wellz. Anyway, that's another chappy down! Any reviews would be appreciated (though flaming I could live without). I ask for your continued support! Thank You!
