A/N: Alright here we go again, once again pardon me if this chapter was sloppy, I've been itching to get writing again though! SO here it is.
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Ocean
Chapter 5: Fugitives
Back On Elicoor…October 29th, SD 772
Albel was still laughing, and the soldiers still had their rifles aimed at them.
"Albel if we live, I swear I am going to grab two katanas and shove them up your damn ass!!" Nel yelled.
"Quiet wench, we have to focus on the damn situation at hand, after all you got us into this mess…" Albel slowly trailed off.
"How did I get us in trouble Albel? I am going to KILL you!!" Nel screamed. Her face was growing a crimson red, similar to her hair.
"Guys let's not overeact, we gotta stay calm….or try to," Fayt said hopelessly.
"Umm, I don't know if you noticed you fool, but we're surrounded," Albel growled.
"We all know who's fault that is," Maria whispered.
"Yeah….good job Nel!" Albel yelled. Nel raised her dagger but one of the soldiers had had enough.
"Shut up!" he yelled. He had been wondering if he should let them kill each other or not.
"Drop your damn weapons or we will shoot!" another soldier yelled.
"Why would we drop our weapons, we could easily defeat you maggots!" Albel yelled.
"Who does this guy think he is?" the soldier thought. He just smirked at the grinning Albel just rooted to the spot. He blinked, and he dissapearred. Wait? Where did he? Too late. "Ughh," he choked.
"Too slow worm," Albel whispered from behind. The soldiers were completely shocked since Albel instantly disappeared and re-appeared in the middle of their troope. What was he? A god? A demon? Their questions weren't answered. Nel sparang into motion and agily leapt into the fray.
Instead of killing them, like Albel. She tapped into her training, Pal Che De form 1. The Snake pattern. She attacked swiftly and powerfully. She broke their weapons with her daggers and hit them in their pressure points. Her face was taut in deep concentration. Then her face contorted in panic…she missed one. As the man rose his blade a blue blast issued from Maria's gun. The man was impaled on the spot.
More soldiers readied their weapons and Albel gave them a death glare as he rose his blade threateningly. They threw away their weapons and ran away. Albel let out a loud 'hmph'. "Weaklings, that teaches them to mess with me!" he yelled. He turned around to see Fayt, with his blue angel wings alit. "Oh…" Albel said plainly.
"Good job Fayt, you scared them," Maria said as she turned to the blue-haired boy. However, the energy around him was mounting. He couldn't release the energy. The blue symbols appeared on the ground and an angel's image appeared. "Fayt! Stop!" Maria yelled.
Albel and Nel winced and pulled their cloaks up. They watched in horror as Fayt was on the verge of blowing up the city. Soon enough the ground was embroidered in blue symbols as far as the eye could see. Almost like a quilt of symbological symbols. The prettiest death mark you would ever see.
"Fayt, you maggot stop playing around!" Albel yelled, half scared.
Maria walked toward the angel of destruction floating in front of her. Tears fell down her face as she saw him in that state. She closed her eyes and focused on her power. Blue wings formed on her back. She floated up to him. Clear, ethereal blue eyes looked into an identical pair of clear blue eyes.
However one of the pairs of eyes was in full control. She conjured huge ice pillars to surround them. But, no not ice, pure blue energy shielding the two. It seemed like they were two beings floating for eternity. The blue symbols on the ground instantly disappeared, except for the symbols within the pillars.
Nel and Albel looked on as they watched the most beautiful sight they had ever seen. A blue pulse of energy flooded in the pillar Maria formed. Then the energy dissipated into the ground. While the rest of the energy was absorbed by Maria, she let out a small whimper. The two braced themselves expecting to feel a shock, but there was nothing.
In the pillar Maria was embracing the Angel of Death. "Fayt…it's ok, calm down, you're safe, Nel and Albel are safe, I-I'm safe. But it hurts me to see you in pain like this, please… it's alright," she said lovingly.
Fayt's eyes dimmed and Maria and gently floated to the ground. He fell unconscious in her arms and he felt heavy in her embrace. The energy pillars disappeared and Albel helped her with Fayt.
"Fayt! Fayt! NO!!" Maria yelled. She looked at his face and madly shook him. She stared in horror, thinking the worst.
"Calm down Maggot," Albel hissed. "He's fine," he said feeling Fayt's pulse, it beat normally. Fayt's face was calm, as if nothing had happened.
"Albel? Can't you be a little considerate? Let's get him to the Aquarian/Airyglyphian Embassy," Nel snapped.
"Bah! The fool is weak, he can't even stand up after his own attack. An attack is supposed to meant to hurt your enemy more, not yourself," he spat back.
Nel growled but held her head up high. "Guys let's just go, I'm really worried about him," Maria said. She handed him over to Albel. Albel looked like he was holding the dead body of the devil. Then again, he'd probably look happy, Albel Nox, Demon-Slayer. Heh he'd like the sound of that. (As the author I won't give him that satisfaction, hahahahahahahahahahahah!! Erm-let's get back on track).
Nel glanced up and down the now deserted street, she led them back within the city limits. She stopped before they reached the North Gate. She placed her hands on her hips and turned around to look at them.
"You guys are going to need disguises, the Greetonians are very punctual about law enforcement," Nel said.
"Oh of course," Maria said. She took out the communicator she had snagged from the guard. She flipped it on and set it to 'change appearance'. She hit it once and ran it over her face like a scanner. Her hair changed as a red light ran over her. Her long blue locks became shorter and blonde. It accentuated her blue eyes and made them seem brighter. Maria examined her tights, that somehow got torn. She pulled on the ends and ripped them off, cutting them shorter. This revealed her long, slender legs.
"Hmm not bad…" Albel said. The two turned around, before he knew it, Maria and Nel had slapped Albel, leaving two red marks. "WORMS! You dare touch Albel, The W-," Nel cut him off in his outrage.
"What? Albel the Wussy of all that's perverted?" Nel teased.
"WENCH!" Albel yelled. He chased her up a large tree and back down. They chased each other for another 10 minutes. All the while, throwing back insults at one another.
Maria sighed and turned to Fayt, and she ran a hand through his hair. She examined his features and noticed he was quite good-looking, she shifted her gaze towards his lips and felt an urge to... WHAT!! Did she just? Yes she did. She had it bad for Fayt Leingod…but how long? She knew the answer to it…but avoided the truth. "He wouldn't return my feelings anyway…" she thought.
She sadly ran the communicator over his face, turning his blue hair to dark brown. She only looked at him again and blushes deep red. She ran her hand through his hair again. "Brown works for him," she thought and smiled. She heard a soft laugh only to see Nel and Albel looking back at her.
Nel had a small smile and Albel had a gigantic arrogant smirk that would put the snobbiest brat in the Universe to shame.
"Having fun?" Albel jested. He couldn't help it any longer and burst out laughing.
"Maria likes Fayt! Maria likes Fayt!" he mocked. "Fayt and Maria sitting in a tree F-U-C-K-I, AHHH!!" he screamed out. A blaster bolt whizzed past Albel's face, centimeters away.
"Would you like to think before finishing that sentence?" Maria smiled grimly, almost deathly. Her gun was pointed at Albel.
"Try me….N," Albel said, still smirking.
"Last chance…" Maria said, and loaded an energy burst attachment.
Albel took a deep breath, then said, "G." He yelped, before he could finish, she fired. The burst left a singed and crispy Albel. He let out a wheezy cough and toppled to the floor.
"Good job Maria," Nel said approvingly, clapping her hands. She was silent, then gave her a sly look. "So you really do like Fayt don't you?"
"You know Nel I only used an eighth of the power pack on Albel, meaning I have a pretty much full pack to use," Maria said waving the blaster, cocking the gun.
Nel cringed and said, "Never mind let's get to the Embassy, let's go Albel." She walked over to the groaning Albel, and pulled him by one of his braided hairs.
Albel suddenly came to life, "Lemme go 'ya wench!" he yelled, kicking and screaming like a kid.
"Not a chance," she said simply and dragged him towards the North Gate. Maria laughed and slowly hoisted Fayt on to her shoulders. She walked around a bit to guage his weight and found it manageable.
They walked about half a mile on the dirt road leading away from the facility and passed through the North Gate without a hitch. Maria presented herself as one 'Kairi' and Fayt as her 'boyfriend' 'Sora'. The guard thought they were weird names but let them through.
Albel commented from the ground that there was a reason Fayt was lights out and suggested a sexual reference, before getting bonked on the head by Nel. Maria chuckled and waved her gun, and he quickly hushed up.(Poor Albel, not really)
They made their way to a big rectangular stone white building. There was a nice little fountain in the courtyard, before entering the building. The building was simple, 5 windows were positioned above 5 more windows on either side of a big door in the center. 2 Aquarian guards stood in front of the building.
"Lady Nel! Sir Albel!" the guard saluted. They looked at the group and let them pass through. They greeted the men back end entered the building. They entered a richly decorated room and heard a single booming voice resounding from the Front Desk. A big, muscular blonde man was waving his arms in hysteria at the frightened young woman at the desk.
"I'm looking for Nel Zel-phur and Al-belle Nox-uh. You know the grand heroes of Elicoor or something!" the man asked. It was Cliff.
"Sir they away on a mission and left this morning, and it seems they have just returned sir, look behind you," the woman said calmly.
"Hey, don't play games with me!" Cliff yelled. "Albel's a girly little fellow, he wears a skirt and wears womanly clothing, we're actually unsure if he's mentally stable or not."
"Maggot!" Albel yelled and miraculously found the strength to get up.
"Oh, hey Albel, Nel is a red-headed lady…a TOTAL babe, but a little uptight. Nothing a little Cliff magic can't fix; if ya' catch my meaning," Cliff said to the woman. Completely oblivious to Nel standing next to Albel.
"Cliff," Nel said irritably.
"Oh hey Nel," Cliff said. Then he turned around. "N-Nel! A-Albel! Umm how long were you guys there?" he said, scratching his head.
"I'm gonna have fun shoving my Katana down your throat you maggot," Albel said menacingly. He brandished his blade running his claw down the steel blade.
"No Albel wait-," Nel said raising a hand to stop him.
"-Thank Apris!" Cliff boomed.
"Let me help you," Nel finished, lowering her hands to her daggers. Albel laughed wickedly. Nel gave Cliff a death stare, one that could challenge Albel's.
Cliff cringed, but then saw Maria. He completely forgot his fears and ran through the two. He knocked them over like bowling pins. Then he grabbed Maria and Fayt, mind you, in a crushing bear hug.
"OH MY GOD!! You two are okay! I thought you two were goners, me an' Mirage's STUPID plan…" Cliff continued to sob and didn't realize his confession.
"Cliff i-it's alright just let me go!" Maria yelled. Fayt woke up and didn't take kindly to be rudely awoken.
"What the bloody hell is going in ya' big lummox, and what the hell happened to your freakin' cold!" he yelled. Cliff quickly let go of him and began apologizing to Fayt.
"I'm so sorry for letting you two go on by yourself to the meeting, me and Mirage's stupid plan and my fake cold…oh..damn…" he suddenly realized what he was saying.
"Cliff? Kindly repeat that last sentence and explain," Maria said menacingly, cracking her knuckles, doing a good impression of Cliff.
"Uh… I dunno if that's the, Erm-wisest choice…" Cliff stammered. He started fiddling with his fingers
"1...2..." Maria counted, she cocked her gun and put the good ol' Energy Burst capsule in.
"Uhh..Ok..I'll tell you...you see Me and Mirgae well we sorta..." Cliff started. Then he told her everything...sorta.
"Wow...well that...changes everything," Maria said tearfully.
"Yep, everything's the truth," Cliff said.
"I can't believe you guys wanted to help Mirage's ailing dad! Why didn't you just tell me?" Maria asked, wiping a tear from her eye.
"Well...we didn't want to seem like a...burden," Cliff said innocently.
Fayt was just looking and blinking the whole time at the fiasco. "What the hell happened?" he thought.
Just then the two enraged Elicoorians wanted to remind Cliff...things weren't over. "Oh Cliffy!" Nel's voice rang shrilly.
"Yeah?" he turned around smiling. He faced Nel with daggers drawn and Albel. "Oh shit..." he said. he ran in the opposite direction of them and yelped every so often when Nel fired Runology at him.
"Umm what the heck?" Fayt asked with a mega confused look on his face. He watched amusedly, at Cliff's peril. He looked at Maria and noticed her hair.
"Long story..." she said shaking her head. Fayt only continued to stare, and when she stopped shaking her head, he gazed into her blue eyes. Which he noticed seemed brighter do to her blonde hair. He found it really attractive, and his eyes trailed to her legs...Damn those god-forsaken hormones, he thought.
"Er I like the umm blonde hair...and uhh what hapenned to your pants...it looks er..torn," he stammered. He tried to keep his eyes from staring...but couldn't. He kept trying to giver her subtle glances, but she noticed all of them. She blushed and only laughed bemusedly.
"Uh yeah, having neck problems?" Maria asked.
"What? No!" he said nervously.
"I like the brown hair too mister," she said cutely. "Oh damn...I'm flirting with him," she thought.
"What? What exactly hapenned? How did we get away? Will someone explain to me?" he inquired.
Albel popped out of nowhere and stopped chasing Cliff for a second. "Oh, you see you lost control of your powers and went berseko, now you're the most wanted on the Greetonian's hit list," he said simply. He continued chasing Cliff, and yelled 'maggot'.
"Oh...great..." Fayt said. he obviously looked like he had an inner conflict within him. "So? I regained control though right?" he asked weakly.
"Umm no...I calmed you down...but it's ok no one got hurt," she said soothingly.
"...I'm gonna go for a walk," he said and sulked off.
"Fayt..." Maria said softly. She dashed after him.
Cliff stopped quickly and yelled, "ENOUGH!" Cliff turned to face Albel and Nel coming at him at full speed. He prepared for an attack.
"Any last words maggot?" Albel asked, as he prepared to strike.
"Only 2...MAX...SHOCKWAVE!!" Cliff yelled and sent a powerful tremor of energy toward the two Elicoorians. They jumped out of the way and the attack broke the statues of Arzei and Romeria in the center of the hall.
"Haha...Maggot!" Albel chuckled.
"Shiiiiiiiiiiiit!" Cliff yelled.
"You're going to have to pay for that Cliff," Nel teased.
"Ahh whatever, where's Fayt and Maria?" Cliff suddenly said. They looked around and saw them nowhere in sight.
"Fayt! Get the hell back here!" Maria yelled at him. They were in the garden behind the Embassy.
"Why? Why should I? I'm a monster Maria! Every second I spend with you guys...I'm putting you in danger! I could blow up at any second!" Fayt yelled savagely.
"That's not true! Don't you dare call yourself a monster Fayt...because you're not!," she yelled back. For some reason she was fighting back tears. He wasn't a monster to her...he was everything for her. Despite the fact that she would deny it.
"Maria no...I can't bare the fact of hurting any of you," he said, walking closer to her. "Especially you," he said softly. He brushed aside one of her blonde locks. He looked deeply at her.
Maria looked up at him...did he just say? "Look we all trust you...you don't know it but we all look to you for leadership...we need you!" she pleaded with him. "I need you," she thought.
"I...," Fayt was speechless.
"She's right kid," Cliff said calmly. Fayt looked up to see Cliff, Albel, and Nel walking toward them.
"Bah! I don't need him!" Albel spat.
"Shut up Albel!" Nel yelled back and pulled on one of his braided hair strands.
"Look, kid I dunno exactly what hapenned, but I can guarantee that we all look to you for leadership. So don't break down on us now, we're gonna need you more than ever," Cliff said grimly.
Everyone looked at him confusedly. "What are you talking about Cliff?" Maria asked.
"Hold that thought, Nel do you have a conference room we can use...to talk?" Cliff asked.
"Yeah, follow me everyone," Nel said.
Everyone began to walk but Fayt held Maria back. He grabbed her hand.
"Fayt? Woah!" she yelped as she turned around and he pulled her into a hug.
"Thank you, Maria thank you...it seems I really need you to put me straight sometimes huh?" Fayt asked smiling. He let go of her and continued to smile.
"Oh... I didn't do much really," she replied flustered.
"No, you did and thanks a lot," he said confidently and gave her an even warmer smile.
"Uh N-no problem," she stammered.
The 5 were gathered in a square room with a big polished oval, oak table in the center. Wooden chairs lined the table.
"Alright time to get serious now," Cliff said with a grave look on his face.
"If the big fool is this serious something is up," Albel smirked. And surprisingly, Nel laughed.
"Umm Nel? grow up please?" Cliff sermoned, only to get a dagger thrown at him.
"So what is really going on Cliff?" Maria asked.
"Let's start with the Strange Ships orbiting Elicoor," Cliff said, expecting Maria's next question.
"You mean the Golden ones?" Maria asked.
"Yeah, they're called the Nedians, I'm lucky I was able to get through their bloackade," Cliff said proudly.
"Hold on who are these damn Nedians?" Fayt yelled.
"We'll get to that, Maria what's up?' Cliff asked.
"Where's the Eagle II?" she asked.
"I left it in Aquaria with Adray, the queen gave me a royal escort here," Cliff replied. "Anyways let's begin with this video from Earth News Daily that I downloaded," he finished. He placed a cube on the table, the cube was completely black. However the sides were polished which gave it a shiny look. The cube projected a screen on the wall, so that everyone could see it.
The screen depicted the Madam President in her office. The headline said 'Madam President found! Alliance with Saviors!'
"Hello citizens of the Pangalactic Federation, I have been rescued by the gracious citizens of Energy Nede, who found my pod floating through the Zeta Sector, I would like to tell you all everything is alright. Our war with the Aldians and Vendeeni is over, we have all been united under one banner! We have formed an Alliance with the Nedians who will be providing us protection, as we are all still reeling from the Executioner incident. They have agreed to lend us their protection, in exchange for political power. They will have reign over the Beta and Alpha Sector as well as have a Representative here on Earth. Do not be Alarmed I will still be the the political figure in charge," She said, but then something strange hapenned, it was as if the volume was suddenly muted. The background music continued but the President's voice stopped, but her lips were still moving.
Cliff paused the video. "I'm assuming you caught what she said, correct Maria?" Everyone else was puzzled, how could they know what she was saying when there was no sound?
"Yes I did, I suppose it is MuteTone?" Maria asked.
"Hold on a sec, MuteTone?" Fayt asked.
"Yes, it is a way of speaking, with only your lips, there is a complete dialect, quite fascinating actually. Only a handful of people in the Universe know it though. All Quark members learned it in case of capture though," Maria explained.
"So what is the worm saying you fool?" Albel demanded.
"Well she said 'I'm being held hostage, a gun is being pointed at me as I speak, they are making me read cue cards everything is a lie! The Nedians took Earth in a bloody struggle! The Nedians are in control now! Please someone help! Save us!' and that's all," Maria said grimly.
"Cliff...who are these bastards!" Fayt exclaimed.
He only closed his eyes he looked at him and said, "Let's watch the next clip first, then I'll explain."
He pressed resume and the screen blanked and played a new scene. The headline said 'Fugitives'.
This time a man with red hair and red eyes was on the screen. He had a sinister presence about him. He was dressed in rich golden robes. He wore an arrogant expression that made Albel look like a selfless ninny.
"Hello, my name is Indalecio, Grand General of the New Tri-Ubulum Empire, I have disturbing news to present to you...The president was assassinated this morning in her sleep by these two fugitives," Indalecio said.
Maria and Fayt gasped as they saw their images on the screen. "How the hell is this happenning?" Fayt exclaimed. "Where's their proof?" he demanded and he hit the table and it shook violently.
"Wait there's more and it gets better," Cliff said.
"These are their accomplices, they are part of the terrorist group known as Quark, it is believed they were behind the attempted takeover of the Federal City, here is footage from yesterday," Indalecio said sadly. The pictures of Sophia and Peppita appeared. on the screen along with a label that said 'Wanted'. It shifted to a scene where they saw Peppita kick a huge man to the ground. Sophia was also there fighting the huge man in red armor. He wielded a huge sword and shield. The scene shifted to where Sophia was in one place then re-appeared behind the man. A single shot of the assault rifle was heard as it killed Berle.
"These two have yet to make an appearance and are still on the run out there," he continued. Pictures of Cliff and Mirage were shown. "They are the masterminds behind this operation, however luckily the Federation seeked us out and we stopped the Terroists' takevover, however I lost a comrade that day...a close Friend too...But his death was not in vain it helped preserve the Federation! Don't worry Justice will be upheld and we will avenge the President's death...we will catch those murderers... To you I promise that, in wake of recent events I have been elected President of the Federation, acting as a lowly servant to my Lord, King Nede. I will not abuse my power whatsoever," He finished...sinisterly.
"This is an outrage! That man spilled utter bullshit! And can you believe it the President dead?" Fayt yelled. He pounded the desk again and it broke in half.
"Fayt! Calm down, we must be reasonable!" Maria said sternly. She gave him a look, and Fayt sat down.
"Ok... so this man, Indalecio who is he? And what the hell is going on!" Fayt said, feeling helpless.
Cliff was silent, and everyone looked at him with inquiring eyes. "Have you heard of the 10 Wise Men?" he asked calmly.
Fayt gulped and felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. He had heard them before alright, and it was associated with his father's research. More importantly his powers were derived from these beings. "Yes...I have what of them?" he replied, fearing his answer
A/N: Ok so I lied, questions won't be answered, probably the next one though, erm like I said a little rough, but i rely wanted to type and get it out.
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