Just a few things:
Standard disclaimers apply, pretty sure everyone knows the like, if any o' us really came up w/ the charas from anything on prolly wouldn't be writing stuff about them. xD
Warning: Not-so-subliminal character hatred. (Mostly Maria.) Not really too distracting, but ahh, it's there. XD (Yeah, I'm biased. Can't you tell? .)
I actually didn't try to stray too far from the storyline, but if they're probably inconstancies 'cause I only played through once. (And you'll be able to tell who I recruited..ehehe.) Maybe some OOCness. (I just can't tell anymore! X.x But in the case, mostly Nel. Hey. I tried.)
K, finally, if you didn't figure already by the summary, it's just a lot of Albel/Nel interaction going on. (And some um, Clifayt implications but nothing much there either. I don't write that kind o' stuff sorry.) And by now, you're probably not even reading this part so I'll shut up.
Part 1
Out of all people in Elicoor, Nel Zelpher had never expected that she would have to travel with one of the most famous (though not much in a good sense) captains in Airyglyph. Sure, she had seen him a few times, and she had heard her share of this "Albel the Wicked," but the thought of being anywhere near him and having to do so willingly had never crossed her mind. So, when he had been assigned to be going along with Fayt Leingod's group to the Urssa Lava Caves, she had immediately felt an impeding sense of doom. If she had not been so loyal to her duties, she knew that she would have already attempted to take revenge on him for hurting her subordinates earlier. If she had attacked him, more than likely, he would have killed her in less than a minute. She had to admit, her loyalty was a saving grace at some times.
The woman tried her best to avoid the ex-captain as much as possible, but at the same time look as though she wasn't. It worked well, for the most part. Even speaking with him was dangerous ground, she knew, so most often, she only commented to him when the whole group was around. Then again, she barely saw him when he wasn't with the others. The first time that they spoke when the others were gone was in Peterny. Before entering there, she had spoken with Woltar, and although knowing that he had been the one who had slain her father, her own pride was high enough not to allow any mixed emotions to enter her voice as she spoke to the old man. He was old, but not one to underestimate. Again, if she had attacked him, more than likely, she would not have been of this world anymore.
Nel said nothing when the others proposed to first gather supplies at Peterny and then head to Barr to get to the Caves. It made sense, since Peterny was the largest city around, and, at the very least, comfortable for all of them. As soon as they got there, they separated as they always did, though Cliff Fitter did follow Fayt a few paces before sneaking off into the tavern. He was always on the lookout for the younger man, which seemed to make a certain Maria Traydor just a tad snappish at times. Jealousy? Perhaps. But toward who was another question.
The group gathered at the city hall soon enough, and Fayt spoke about staying a night before having to return to Airyglyph. The idea of speaking to the Marquis was tiring enough to make for everyone to agree, minus Albel, who seemed rather annoyed at having to waste more time in the petty town. Still, the group knew as well as he that he was not so sure about picking a fight with Crosell either.
It was that night that Nel first had a chance to speak to Albel Nox one on one. Did she want to? No. Did she have a choice? Probably not. The fact that he had basically entered her room and attempted to slice open her neck was probably a major deciding factor for this.
She had been sleeping rather soundly for some time when her senses told her something was utterly wrong, and her eyes opened suddenly, her hand instinctively reaching for a dagger and raising it to parry a slightly familiar sword. She followed the sword to the side, her gaze resting on the wielder's claw arm for a moment before swooping up toward Albel's.
"What in the name of Apris do you think you're doing!?" she demanded, right before she remembered that it was nighttime and it was not a good idea to cause a fuss when there was no need to.
"Hm. Not bad." was his response as he shrugged, sheathing the sword like a seasoned pro.
Nel stood, her arms folded and her eyes blazing with unspoken threats. The words she did speak weren't half as harsh. "Not bad? What are you doing? Going around and testing how well everyone's senses are? I'm sorry, Albel, but if you do that to Fayt and even Cliff, I don't know if they're going to make it alive. You know if you kill them, you'll be in a ton of trouble."
"Bah."
She glowered toward him for a while, finding herself slightly annoyed at how he had simply turned away from her, but didn't seem at all like he was planning on leaving. "So." she finally continued, "What do you want. If you wanted to kill me, I'm sure you wouldn't just be standing there right now." One of her hands went up instinctively toward her neck. "Plus that wouldn't have been such a nice way to leave this world."
"Ah, I wasn't trying to hit you."
"Of course, if you were, you wouldn't have missed." She shut her mouth when he turned his head faintly, his crimson gaze showing annoyance as well.
"Hmph. You're right." he stated simply, turning aside again. "I have a question for you, worm, which means you have to answer it."
"A question?" Out of all things...
"You hate me, don't you?"
Nel blinked a few times, watching the warrior's back quietly for a moment. She glanced down faintly, almost surprised to see her hand somewhat shaky. Of course, it wasn't a surprise; he was the enemy for a long time, and he wasn't the most stable of all personalities, she knew. Why else would he be Albel the Wicked? Plus, she knew, he could easily beat her in battle one on one. The first time they had fought she had been surprised that she had more or less escaped unharmed. A few responses swirled in her mind for a moment, and she shook her head to clear her thoughts. "W--what?" Maybe he would give up if she pretended not to hear him.
"You heard me."
Okay, that wasn't such a good idea. She took a deep breath, then spoke, knowing it was easiest to speak the truth in such an occasion. "Of course I hate you. You're from Airyglyph. You hurt my subordinates. You killed many of the people from our kingdom." she shook her head. "I told you already. I don't like working with you as much as you don't like working with me, but we don't have a choice. At least..for now."
She felt somewhat surprised and relieved when the man chuckled faintly, turning back to face her. Looking closely at his face, she had to admit he had been worthy of all the women's admiration toward him, but his rotten personality was also showing through as much as his facial beauty. He sneered, to make things worse. "Well, at least there's someone who can speak the truth around here."
"Huh?" Nel raised an eyebrow.
Albel shrugged a bit. "I just asked that blue-haired maggot the same question."
"You asked that to Fayt?" she shuddered, hoping that Fayt was still left in one piece after the interrogation.
The man took a few steps toward the door, pausing to speak quietly, "You know what he said?" without waiting for a response, he continued, "He said 'not really.' After all that I've done." he shook his head, showing his disbelief. "I thought dreamers wouldn't make it this far in the world. How can someone like him trust someone like me?"
Nel paused for a moment, hearing a quiet tremor in his voice as he finished speaking. She sighed finally, taking a seat on the bed. "You like him, don't you?"
Albel immediately spun around, his functioning hand reaching toward his blade and Nel raised both her daggers up to protect herself in case he ran at her. "I am not like that, fool!"
The redhead blinked a few times, then let out a soft laugh. "Oh, I didn't mean like that. He will be a good leader, I think. He has the power to place trust in everyone, regardless of their past. That's the part I like about him too."
His hand lowered from his sword. "........bah."
"As her majesty says, everything begins from trust. If you can't trust someone, how can you expect them to trust yourself?"
"..............."
"..and anyway, my subordinates were at the very least safe after getting taken back from you, to which I have Apris to thank." she frowned faintly. "If you had done worse I would probably not have been able to exercise restraint even with Her Majesty's orders."
"Hm?" Albel raised an eyebrow, a faint smirk appearing on his face. "Done worse?"
"I'm just glad that you didn't think to take advantage of them."
"Who said I didn't?"
Nel paused, her eyes narrowing faintly. She knew he was testing her, but the topic annoyed her greatly. Her subordinates were dear to her, and anyone harming them would be sure get a nice taste of her own blade. "I'm sure that someone who was in an honorable position as you were would never do such a thing."
"You're right." he stated simply. "But it would have been easy for me to do as I pleased. They were weak fools. The only thing that caused anyone pain was the little one's voice."
The redhead gripped one of the bedsheets to restrain herself. "I have to admit, with due respect to our kingdoms, as a thought that comes from myself and only myself....you're a real bastard, Albel Nox."
".......bah."
He turned back toward the door just in time to see Cliff barge in, wearing bunny slippers and gray pjs. What a sight to behold. He skidded to a stop when he noticed Albel in the room, his eyebrows raised toward his odd attire. "Oh...." the blonde man said rather lamely.
"Hmph."
Nel watched as Albel pushed out of the room, not bothering to speak again. Cliff looked toward her, then tilted his head. "What's up with him?"
"More like what's up with you?" Nel retorted, stifling a yawn. "Doesn't anyone sleep at this time?"
"Ah, actually I was sleeping, and I thought I heard some kind of weapon sound coming from your room. You know, like ching ching ching? Or somethin'? So I thought I'd take a look, you know?" he eyed her up and down. "Looks like you're all fine and dandy. But what was up with Albel being in here?"
The woman shrugged. "Actually, I have no idea either. You might have been on his list of visitors even."
"Huh? List of visitors?"
"Oh, nevermind."
"Well, alright. I better get some sleep now come to think of it. Don't wanna sleep in and make you all late." Cliff turned slowly, giving her a small wave. He paused at the doorway, then spoke, his voice all seriousness. "Hey. By any chance, did that guy try to hurt you?"
Nel blinked a few times, then sighed. "Other than the fact that he tried to slit my throat, I don't think he meant any harm."
"Fayt can make him stop."
"Cliff, no."
Cliff turned, one eyebrow raised. "Huh? Hey. Don't worry, Fayt can talk him into it."
The redhead shook her head a few times. "Don't tell Fayt about this."
"What?!" the blonde frowned.
"Don't worry about me. I don't want Fayt to have to work out how Albel and myself will get along. He has better things to think about."
Cliff looked about to object, then shut his mouth, nodding his head solemnly. "Alright. But you know, if that guy tries something on you again..." he slammed one fist into the palm of his opposite hand. "Just let me know and I'll beat some sense in him."
Nel hid a small smile, nodding. "Okay..good night."
---
After that night, nothing out of the ordinary occurred for quite some time. A lot of things happened, including defeating Crosell. A few times Nel felt somewhat tempted to question the other Elicoorian about the night, but she kept her mouth quiet, knowing that unless it was necessary, she didn't want to be wandering around with the man alone. Slowly, though, she could see that he was changing--probably due to the whole group's nature. Once, she thought she caught a small smile on the man's face, but when he noticed she was looking toward him, he immediately glanced aside, his expression cloudy when he returned back to his position. The more they were in the same group though, the less she began to fear the man and the more she could almost feel like they were mere partners. They were both Elicoorians, which was one, and both had an odd habit of leaning against the wall while the others investigated. If one wasn't away from the group, the other was.
That, and she found after Fayt had given Albel a tome to learn symbology as well, Albel would take time to heal her when he noticed she was hurt. Of course, she could just as well heal herself, and she most often did, but it was a definite change from how he had been before. And a decent change at that. But outside of battle, it was exactly as it was a few days back. Albel always had a cool disposition that many times even Fayt was unable to break. Not that she minded, though, because he wasn't one of the main things on her mind. If anything, he was the one she paid the least attention to. She was more worried about how her majesty was faring, though if Clair was taking care of her, the queen would be in good hands.
Soon enough, the group was wisked away into an adventure that would be very unforgettable, and eventually Fayt, Cliff, Maria and Mirage were headed away from Elicoor. Nel betrayed no emotions as she watched them go, but when they left she felt somewhat empty. It would mean that there would be nothing left for her to do for a few days, and doing nothing made her restless. She had no idea whatever happened to the other Elicoorian of the group, nor did she really care. Airyglyph and Aquaria would be at peace for some time, so she knew she didn't have to worry about a certain black-blonde haired warrior attempting to cut her open again when she slept.
A few weeks later, though, she found Fayt entering her room, basically just to say hi. She immediately jumped on the chance of being able to join him again on his adventures--for he seemed to ignite plenty, and couldn't help but be surprised to note that Albel had already beaten her into their party. Later on, she heard from Cliff that he had saved them somewhat and had insisted on staying around to fight stronger beings, since Aquaria wasn't an option anymore. She also was introduced to Sophia, who she had originally thought was Fayt's sweetheart, until Fayt cleared it up and said she was just a childhood friend. Nel had caught the hurt look on her face and shook her head at that comment, but said nothing.
When she saw Albel again, he seemed as cold as he had before they had ever met, and any sense of hospitality and connection she had felt with him the first time they had joined completely vanished. He had stopped with the symbology, saying it was a waste of energy, and charged head first into battle as he had toward the beginning of their journey. This annoyed her to some extent, enough for her to sit down and ponder at why she felt so irritated to see that he had stopped being as he had before. It wasn't like she was particularly close to him, and they hadn't corresponded at all after Fayt had left their planet the first time. Nel felt somewhat disappointed at this, since if she had stayed near the man, she would have been able to join Fayt's party a little earlier. Cliff was the one who briefed her on everything that she had missed, including a place called Gemity and Arkives, which he said they would return to shortly. She had to admit she felt somewhat happy to know that they had visited her first thing when they could get to Elicoor. Then again, she doubted that they knew anyone else, minus the one kid named Roger, who was more than annoying anyway so would be better worthwhile left alone.
Albel's sudden revert to his prior persona seemed not to surprise anyone else though, and Nel wondered if she had been the only one to have noticed his initial beginning to change. Sure, they weren't traveling for long, but she could have sworn that he was changing a bit. Whatever happened between then and now must had changed him back. Or perhaps, it was just because of the gap between their adventures with Fayt Leingod. Whatever the reason, Nel didn't like it. In fact, she didn't like it enough to approach Albel when he was in the Gemity weapon shop. When she entered, he looked toward her briefly, then away, his eyes looking over the odd weaponry of the area. Laser weapons were hardly anything of the technology of Elicoor. The way they could change form was very interesting, but Nel found she didn't like the way they handled. She kept her father's weapons equipped as much as she could, more as a memento over anything else.
She glanced around the shop once before stepping over to the man. "Albel?"
He turned back toward her, his expression neutral. "What do you want?"
Nel slowly felt like her idea had turned into a foul one. "Well, someone seems like they're in a bad mood."
"Bah. If you don't have anything better to say, get out of my sight, maggot."
If she knew she could do it, she would have ripped one of his braids out of his hair. She knew well enough that he would more than likely kill her if she did so, though, so if only in order to preserve her existence, she held back, instead relaying a message that Mirage had spread a moment back. "We're going back to Elicoor for a few days to gather supplies before we head to Sphere. I was making sure you knew about it so we don't leave you behind." she folded her arms a bit. "Not that I'd mind if you don't come along, of course."
"That one wench stopped a while back and told me that already."
So Mirage had beaten her. There went that plan. Nel shrugged. "Well, alright then. I thought I'd come by and make sure, that's all." not knowing what else to say, and noting that Albel wasn't going to speak any further on his own accord, she left, feeling somewhat unfulfilled. She continued to feel rather unfulfilled even when they reached Elicoor, stopping by Peterny once more.