Disclaimer: I do not own Star Ocean or its Characters.
Note: Alright, you wanted it then you get it. Featuring more Albel and more Sophia Albel moments. Sorry, this chapter includes no citrus fruit of any kind.
Star Ocean: The Untold Story
Chapter 12: We're All in This Together
Sophia knocked a few times on the door. The response was a hasty "Go away."
She stood still for a minute and took a deep breath. She knocked some more, determined not to give up so easily. She waited before knocking again. As her knuckles came in contact with the door for the third round of knocking, the door opened.
"I said go away!" Albel yelled over her head. He blinked, catching a glimpse of her hair before looking down at her. "What do you want?" he hissed.
For reasons that amused her, she was surprisingly calm. It seemed that nothing he did shocked her much. That thought also saddened her. Could it be that she's had to give up part of herself to cope with the mess she found herself in?
"I brought you dinner," she replied in an un-phased tone.
"Humph," he replied turning his back to her. He moved into the room and sat on the bed.
Sophia entered the room and lightly pushed the door shut behind her. His room was more elaborate then hers, but she would have expected as much. The room of a captain should be better then that of a guest. In the center of the room was a desk. Behind the desk and against the wall was a bed.
She moved to the desk. "Should I leave it here?"
"Where ever is fine." His voice betrayed his tired state.
She sat the tray down and inspected him. He sat with his arms draped over his knees and his eyes fixed on the floor. She stood still, unsure of what to do next.
"Well?"
"Huh?" She almost jumped at his voice. "Um, a-are you okay, Albel?"
His only response was a dark chuckle. She moved closer to the bed, watching him for any reaction. When he gave none, she seated herself carefully on the bed beside him; leaving a good amount of space between them.
He swayed his head slightly. "I believed you."
She looked at him, but he continued to look at the floor. "About what?"
"About being from another world. I believed you when you told me."
She winced slightly. He believed her even after the lies she had told before. Her guilt returned on her three fold. "Yeah. I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier."
"You know as well as I that no one would believe you."
She nodded in agreement. No one would believe such a story. She doubted the Queen of Aquaria would believe it if not for the Vendeeni attack. The Vendeeni had attacked and… wait, Albel had been locked up with no knowledge. But he had stated he believed her before that.
"I don't want to sound rude, but why do you believe me?"
He lifted his head and gave her a cocky grin. "It's easy to tell when you're lying."
"Oh," she replied. She couldn't help but to smile back – even if his 'smile' wasn't really a smile.
"What happened to Vox?"
Sophia dropped her smile. "Well, another force called the Vendeeni killed him."
"Vendeeni?"
She swallowed. "Yeah. They came here l-looking for me and attacked right in the middle of the battle between Airyglyph and Aquaria."
"For you?"
She nodded and looked away from him. "It would seem that I was altered and all I know is that they are determined to get me. Their reasons are unknown right now, but they have a very strong military."
There was a silence as he turned these events over in his head. "And how does the Marquis fit into this?"
"We're hoping that we can use the Marquis to carry the Thunder Arrow and fight off the Vendeeni long enough for us to leave this planet. With me gone then the threat here should cease."
"Humph, so you are running from this Vendeeni. Running is for the weak, girl. Did you not confront Vox?"
"Yeah," she replied meekly.
"And you came out untouched. That does not sound like the actions of the weak. Expect no pity from me should you choose to run away."
"We're not running. We're just leaving here so that Elicoor doesn't get mixed up in all of this. And hopefully we'll be able to find out what's really going on."
"Do what you want. It doesn't concern me." He stood and walked slowly to the desk to inspect his dinner. After a short time he plucked the roll from the plate and resumed his seat on the bed.
She stood up and gave him one last look before crossing the room. She opened the door and stepped out while saying her goodbyes. "I'm going to miss this planet," was the last thing he heard her say before she closed the door.
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Mirage was awake when Sophia entered the room. The girl smiled at her before sitting on her bed.
"Did he let you in?"
Sophia nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah."
Mirage smiled and leaned further to the edge of her own bed. "And how did it go?"
"Well," Sophia answered tapping her chin with her finger. "I think he's getting used to me. Or at least tolerating me."
"And what makes you think that?"
"He didn't call me wench once," Sophia said with a prideful smile. Mirage gave her a stunned look, causing her to giggle uncontrollably. "I know it doesn't sound like much but I noticed."
Mirage softened her expression. "Sophia…"
Sophia waved at her. "I know. I have to leave and the Vendeeni are out there and I don't understand why Uncle Robert did what he did; but…" Her voice faded and her smile dropped.
Mirage left her bed and sat beside Sophia. "Don't worry. We'll find out what's going on and maybe after all this is over we can come back."
"I don't know, Mirage. What if we can't? What if we find out something horrible? I'm not sure I want to know why Uncle Robert did this. And my dad…he's involved too. Why me?"
Mirage put her arms over the girl's shoulders and allowed the girl to empty her tears. Sophia cried for the fact she was altered and felt alien even to her own race. She cried for all the lives lost when the Vendeeni had made numerous attempts to retrieve her. And she cried for something that she could only guess to be her first broken heart.
She finally understood that fairy tales didn't exist in reality.
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It was mid-morning before Fayt and the others arrived at Airyglyph castle. Woltar greeted them at the entrance.
"Please, follow me."
Entering the castle, Fayt couldn't help but to inspect the interior. "So this is what the inside of the castle looks like."
Woltar kept his steady pace leading the group. "Ho ho. You are the first people to ever enter Airyglyph Castle alive after attempts by all three of our military branches to hunt you down."
"I guess we should take that as a compliment..." Cliff said looking over Fayt's head and at Woltar.
"That is what I had intended. Well, shall we? The court yard is just beyond those doors."
Fayt entered the court yard and paused to take in the scene. Mirage leaned against a wall in a lazy Cliff-like fashion. In the middle of the grounds stood Sophia and Albel. It looked like they were talking. Albel looked down at her, his arms crossed and his face expressing a harsh scowl. She held her staff long ways between then and was smiling up at him.
Mirage was the first to notice the group at the doors leading into the castle. She left her perch and crossed in front of the pair who were still exchanging words Fayt couldn't hear. The two turned their heads in unison. Albel scowled deeper and Sophia jumped lightly and waved before trotting toward them.
Albel shook his head slightly and reluctantly followed the young girl and the blond woman. Fayt paid little attention to Albel. His main focus was on Sophia. It was unsettling to see her talking to him, especially after the last encounter he had with Albel.
"Fayt! You're here," Sophia said ending her jog. "Hello everyone."
Fayt studied her for a while. She seemed happier then he had seen her since he had first seen her on the battle field. Thinking back, she was happier then she had been since the Vendeeni attack.
"Well, looks like we're all here," Mirage said stationing herself behind Sophia. "We're ready when you guys are."
Woltar gave her an agreeing nod. "Indeed. So, everything's settled. Try to get along."
"Aah, what can you do?" Cliff said throwing his hands in the air.
Maria scanned the new 'ally' suspiciously. From what she knew, Sophia was gentle and almost fragile. The new comer looked as if he were ready to kill them all. Maria only knew what she had learned about Albel from the others. She could not picture the man that was described as having a conversation with Sophia as she had witnessed upon entering the court yard. "I feel like I'm missing something here, but I'll do my best."
"Me, too," Fayt blurted unaware that his thoughts were shared by the other blue haired member of the party.
Nel's eyes meet the menacing stare that Albel gave everyone. "I don't like this anymore than you do, Albel," she said addressing him. "But Her Majesty has given the order...so I must obey. Just don't hold us back."
"Bah."
"Well, it's settled then," Mirage intervened to relieve the building tension. "When are we leaving for the Mountains of Barr?"
"ASAP," Cliff responded. "We need to do this quick like. There's no telling how long we have before the Vendeeni come back.
Fayt, who was still looking at his childhood friend, noticed her smile immediately lessen at the word 'Vendeeni'. She acted like she was fine, and there was a genuine happiness about her, but she was still under a lot of stress.
And to make matters worst, she was becoming an enigma to him. Someone he knew and was sure he could predict suddenly became someone he didn't know. He felt a loss in his heart. He knew that when this was over she wouldn't be the same carefree girl he had always known.
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Sophia hunched over; her hands on her knees. She breathed heavily.
"Wow, Sophia," Fayt said putting his hand on her shoulder. "You really have improved. You're ten times better then you were in the simulator."
"Only ten times?" she joked back between breaths.
He laughed while he scanned the party. Everyone was shaking off the fight they had just won with the group of dragons that had ambushed them. Everyone with the exception of Albel who just glared at him. Fayt couldn't help but to feel uneasy. Albel was supposed to be fighting on their side, but he had been giving Fayt hard looks all day.
Fayt shrugged it off as the hike up the mountain continued. He guessed Albel was still mad at being defeated at the Bequerel Mines.
Cliff broke the silence that had taken over the group after some time of walking and fighting. "The dragons are flocking like birds. Can we really make it through here?"
"An old legend says people used to live in these mountains."
"With the dragons?" Maria asked turning to Nel.
Nel nodded her reply.
"They probably had some way of communicating with them."
"Oh, that would be nice," Sophia said to Fayt. "Then we could ask them to stop attacking us."
In response, most of the group just looked bewildered at the girl – save Mirage and Albel. Mirage just smiled and Albel issued one of his famous "Humph"s.
Fayt gave her a small smile before leading the group around the curve in the path. He stopped suddenly; awestricken at the creature that loomed over them. "What the--?"
The Zombie Dragon took no time in diving for the group. Everyone dodged out of the way; separating the group into two parts. Fayt, Mirage, Nel and Maria had jumped to one side. Albel, Cliff and Sophia had jumped to the opposite side.
Before the beast could backtrack, everyone was on their feet and ready to fight. Sophia took a step back, contemplating what her next move should be. She was ready to hit it with an offensive spell, but she waited. Prior experience told her to be ready to heal instead of fight. She didn't want to be in the middle of casting something if anyone would need her to heal them.
As the dragon dove again, Cliff and Nel were the first to attack. Since the attacks came from two different directions, the dragon was unable to fend both off. Both attacks meet their mark, but only Cliff felt the dragon's rebuttal.
As Cliff landed, Fayt and Albel took their turns slashing at the beast. Sophia quickly ran to Cliff's side and helped his to his feet.
"Are you okay? Do I need to heal you?"
Cliff shook his head and grunted. "That thing is using mental attacks. Healing won't work for that." He pulled out a blackberry and ate it.
Sophia watched him leave and decided that her offensive abilities might be useful this time. She only hoped that everyone had stocked up on blackberries before they had left. Mirage and Cliff had just double teamed the creature by hitting it with a double dose of Sphere of might. The creature floated toward the ground but didn't fall. As soon as the dragon looked to be ready to take off again, Sophia released a round of Ice Needles at it.
She wasn't ready for what happened next. The creature turned toward her and literally flung itself at her. The dragon flew at an unbelievably fast speed. All she had time to do was close her eyes and wait for the impact.
But the impact never came. She opened her eyes to see the back of Albel in front of her. Somehow he had deflected the dragon's attack. The others were finishing the dragon off as he returned his sword to its sheath. He turned and gave her a hard stare.
"Um…thank you," she said hesitantly.
"You should watch yourself. When you attack, hit to kill; not to anger your foe, stupid girl."
"Sophia, are you okay?" Fayt asked appearing at Albel's side.
"Huh? Oh, yeah I'm fine. How's everyone else?"
"Been better," Cliff responded.
"Well, that took a lot out of us," Mirage said approaching the group who had gathered around Sophia. Sophia wondered if they were really gathering around her or if they were just following Fayt who had moved close to see how she was.
"Yes it did; and it's getting dark," Nel said looking at the sky. "I would suggest we make camp. Right now none of us are in any condition to continue, much less take on the Marquis."
"There's a cave over here."
Everyone followed the voice of the blue haired girl. She was the only one who had not gathered with the others.
Fayt looked up at Cliff. "Well, let's check it out. It might be what we need right now."
Cliff followed Fayt to the entrance of the cave. The others lagged behind them. Fayt stopped at the entrance. "These are...!"
"...Dragon skeletons!" Maria finished for him in an unenthused tone.
Cliff examined the area. "It must be a dragon graveyard."
Sophia just looked in awe at the scene. Every bone was clean with no gore, but a shiver still crept up her spine. A strange noise echoed through the cave, causing Sophia to jump involuntarily and grab the arm of the closest person. She had frozen momentarily before relaxing her hold enough for the person to escape her grasp. When the arm was pulled from her hands, she realized what she had just done. She looked over and turned red with embarrassment when her eyes met Albel's.
"Sounds like an air dragon! Where the heck is it?"
Sophia turned her attention to Cliff. She was thankful that no one else but Albel had noticed her scare. She would have felt better if he hadn't noticed either, but that would have been hard since he was the unlucky soul who was subject to the consequences of her startle.
"There's no need to panic," Nel said inspecting a pile of bones. "It's only the wind blowing through this bone here."
Fayt lifted the bone in question and turned it over in his hands a few times. "It's a dragon's windpipe."
"A dragon's windpipe is quite a valuable item. I've heard that flutes made from them can produce special sounds."
As Sophia watched the interaction between Nel and Fayt, she could feel that someone was watching her. She searched the group to find only one person looking her way. Albel. He was smirking at her and obviously taunting her. She quickly turned away.
"Well, I'll hold on to this until tomorrow. Right now let's just get ready for bed."
A fire was set at the entrance. While the work was done to set up for the night, the fire's heat drifted into the cave; which held the warmth in its enclosure. Before long the cave was made into a decent resting place.
Sophia looked up from the fire briefly. The whole time the others had spent on the preparations for the night, she had been at the fire preparing dinner. She had never fixed a meal by fire before and had opted to fix a simple soup for the ease. When everyone was done they had gathered around the fire to eat.
Mirage sat beside Sophia. After everyone had gotten their meal Mirage leaned over and whispered in Sophia's ear. "Looks like Mr. Anti-social won't eat with the rest of us. You should take him something."
Sophia scanned through everyone sitting at the fire. Albel was the only one missing. She hadn't needed to look to know who Mirage was talking about. She half sighed as she rested her bowl on the ground and prepared another. When she was done she lifted both bowls and headed out to search for the missing man.
No one noticed her leave the fire. Cliff was busy eating. Nel couldn't help but to watch the blonde man in awe. She had never seen anyone love food so much. She wondered how he wasn't some obese slob instead of a fighter. Mirage watched the glances Nel gave Cliff in amusement as she plotted a scheme of her own. Maria and Fayt were discussing some matter that involved which weapon we better: a sword or a gun.
Sophia ventured further from the camp then she liked before she found the swordsman. He sat alone in the shadows lend against a rock and looking at the night sky. She shuffled her feet as she approached him to make her presence known. He didn't turn his head as she sat beside him.
"Hungry?"
"Hmm..."
Sophia leaned forward a bit and held the bowl out to him. "Are you hungry?"
He finally dropped his gaze and took the offered bowl. They sat in silence for a while as they ate. When he was done he sat his empty bowl on the ground between them.
She looked up from her half eaten meal. He had repositioned himself to how he was when she first sat beside him. "Albel? Why don't you try to socialize with anyone? They're not that bad."
"Bah. What need do I have to socialize with that bunch of fools? Besides…"
"Besides what?"
"Besides, the only one I've really seen you socialize with is the blonde woman. The blue haired maggot only talks to you when he's worried about you."
She thought about what he had said. He was right. Mirage always talked to her but Fayt had changed a bit from that night at the inn in Peterny. The whole day he only talked to her after the battles to check her for injuries. Other than that, there was no conversation between her and him. He had talked to the others more. Cliff, Maria and Nel seemed to be the only ones he really held conversations with.
"Huh? Well, we've just been too busy fighting to talk. Tonight's the first night we've all been together to talk."
"Hmm, and where is everyone now? Tell me, did anyone even notice when you left the camp?"
Sophia paused. Mirage knew she was leaving, but had anyone else noticed? No. They were too busy with each other to notice her. She tried to recall how much each member had actually talked to her since they had left Airyglyph.
Mirage always talked to her, so she didn't count. Like Albel said, since leaving Airyglyph Fayt only really paid attention to her when there was a fight. Cliff and Nel just seemed too wrapped up in what was going on to really have time for her. And Maria…there was something about her Sophia couldn't understand. The girl had been looking for her but it seemed the moment she found out that Fayt was a part of Uncle Robert's experiment; Sophia had become less important to the leader of Quark.
Sophia hung her head in defeat. "I guess not, but that doesn't really mean anything. There's a lot of tension in the air and this was only the first day."
He grunted but didn't respond. After a long silence, Sophia couldn't help but to try and talk to him. To a certain point his silence made her uneasy. "Don't you ever get lonely?"
He dropped his gaze again to meet hers but he remained silent.
Suddenly she felt pinned under his stare. She gave him a nervous smile. She had already asked and there was no way to turn back now. She might as well finish what she started. "I mean…it's just that you exclude yourself from others. Who do you talk to when you need someone to talk to?"
"I don't need to talk to anyone."
"Huh? Don't you ever want to just talk about what's bothering you? You know, get it off your chest?"
He leaned in closer; his stare hardening. "I told you I don't need to talk to anyone. That is an action for the weak."
She frowned at him. "Well, it's not healthy to keep it all bottled up. It only results in…"
"In what?" he raised his eyebrow to question her.
"In being anti-social and ill natured."
"Ill natured?" he half laughed.
"Yeah," she replied softly.
"And what do you want? Want me to cry on your shoulder?" he responded in a rude voice.
She winched. "No, that's not it. Oh forget it. I'm going back now. We all need some sleep so you might want to come with me."
He watched her as she gathered the bowls and stood. Her look of discontentment faded into a smile. "Sorry."
Before he knew it he was standing. "Sorry about what, girl?"
"About trying to pressure you. You're just so different then anyone I've met before." Her smile dropped under his stare. "I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with it. It's just different; that's all. It keeps things interesting."
"Interesting?" He started to follow her as she walked slowly back to the camp.
"Yeah. You're so unpredictable. At first it was scary, but now it's not. It's…um…hard to explain."
You're so unpredictable, Albel. Really, I just don't understand you sometimes but it's not like it's a bad thing. Words haunted his mind from a distant past. He grunted.
She twisted her head slightly as she walked. "Who knows? Maybe tomorrow will be better."
He didn't respond as he followed her back. She handed the bowls to Mirage who was cleaning up and offered to help. The woman refused; shooing her off to bed. Albel watched as the girl told the blonde thank you and good night. Sophia scanned the rest of the party still gathered at the fire before disappearing into the cave.
Everyone was still as Sophia had left. Fayt and Maria had moved to a new topic. Nel was listening with half interest in the story Cliff was telling her and Mirage was cleaning up.
Albel studied the group of fools before him. It was just as he had suspected. None of them had noticed the girl's disappearance. He moved to the fire. "Better decide who's on watch, fools."
Everyone paused to look at the swordsman. Fayt scanned the area. "Where's Sophia?"
Mirage looked up from her cleaning to meet the boy's green eyes. "She's in the cave getting ready for bed. Don't tell me you are just now noticing that she's not here?"
"Well…" Fayt responded guiltily.
"Huh?" Cliff said looking around. "How long has she been gone?"
Mirage smiled. "I would say not quite an hour. Honestly Cliff, she's the target. You should be paying a little more attention."
"Naw, now why would I do that? That's your job isn't it?"
"Bah. Pathetic."
"What do you mean, Albel?" Maria asked.
"He's right," Nel answered. "We're in the middle of an important mission. All of us should be looking out for each other. We all should have noticed she wasn't here."
"So, you knew this and decided to call us pathetic just now?"
Albel smirked at the blue haired maggot. "Why? You didn't notice when I wasn't here?" Before anyone could respond he disappeared into the cave.
Fayt gave Cliff a questioning look.
"Hey, don't look at me kid." Cliff turned his attention to Mirage. "Were was she the whole time?"
Mirage put the supplies away and walked to the cave's entrance. "I don't know. You'll have to ask her or Albel."
The four remaining at the fire watched in silence as Mirage entered the cave. The blonde woman reappeared briefly. "Oh, and he's right. One of you needs to take first watch." She ducked back in the cave, leaving them searching for words.
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When Sophia woke it was still night. She looked around the cave briefly. Everyone was still asleep. She sighed quietly before stretching and standing. Careful not to wake anyone, she walked out of the cave.
Sitting by the fire was Cliff. She had hoped that it would be Mirage's turn to watch, but she couldn't complain. She just wanted someone to talk to. She sat a few feet from the man and smiled when he acknowledged her presence.
"What are you doing up? You don't have watch tonight."
She shrugged. "Couldn't sleep."
He leaned forward and poked the fire a few times. He yawned before leaning back. "Don't tell me, Fayt's snoring is keeping you awake. I swear that boy could sleep through anything. It's a wonder he doesn't wake himself up." Cliff let out a chuckle.
Sophia giggled. "No, I'm used to his snoring."
Cliff raised an eyebrow at her. "Really now. Fayt never told me you two were that close."
"Huh?" Sophia questioned looking up to meet the expression of the blonde man. A realization hit her and she blushed. "No, not like that. He's practically my brother. There have been plenty of times he's stayed the night with me so I wouldn't have to be alone."
"Riiight."
Sophia sighed heavily. The man was impossible. "I had a nightmare, okay."
"Oh…about what?"
Sophia shook her head. "I don't really want to talk about it."
For a while both sat in silence and watched the fire's flames dance around. Cliff yawned again.
"Why don't you go on to bed? I'm not tired and I doubt I'll sleep the rest of the night. I'll take watch."
Cliff examined the girl. She didn't look tired at all. "You sure? I could always wake up Albel. He's got the next watch anyway."
Sophia smirked. "What's this…you guys taking over the watch? Whose turn is after Albel's?"
"Um…well…Fayt was up for a second round."
"Just like I guessed. Really, what's wrong with me sitting guard? Or Maria or Mirage?"
Cliff shrugged. "Okay, you win," he responded standing in defeat. He moved to the cave's entrance before turning back to the girl. "If you change your mind then you can wake up Albel. You might want to wake him up nicely. The man's got one hell of a temper. Perhaps if you gave him a kiss then he would wake up happy."
"What!" She turned sharply, but he had already disappeared from view.
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Cliff sat in his sleeping spot and chuckled lightly to himself while he tucked himself between the blankets. He leaned back, well past ready for sleep.
"Worm."
Cliff sat up and quickly found Albel sitting in his own spot and looking at him. Albel gave him a warning smirk. "If you have any wit about you, you will not tease the girl."
Cliff sat dumbfounded and watched as Albel lay back down. He rested himself back into his blankets and blinked. The last thing he expected was to witness Albel defend anyone. But he should have suspected no less after what Mirage had told him days ago when she was found with Ameena in Aquaria.
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(A/N) I'm thinking of changing the title of this story to The Untold. The title was one I just threw together and I've never been happy with it – but Untold has stuck. Let me know what you think (either here or in the forums – or if you have a better idea let me know what it is).