Sorry for the confusion last time, the last chapter was not the end of the story, but just that, a chapter.
"How long is this passageway!" Nel said aloud as she felt her legs slowing down and beginning to grow shaky. Her ankles and feet hurt from running in the foreign white heels that she had gotten when she had talked to Nellexis, making her realize that she had been running from Albel for quite some time, and was surprised that there had been no end to the secret pathway that they had entered via the throne. She began to notice an ominous feeling growing in the pit of her stomach, and slowed her pace a little more.
From the orange glow of the fire that lit the torch in her hand, she made out a deeper shade of darkness than the shadows that she had grown used to seeing in front of her of the floors and walls.
Nel dug her heels into the earth beneath her and screeched to a halt just before the strange darkness. She could now see that the deep shadow was actually a large opening in the middle of the pathway. She swaggered a bit, trying to keep her balance from the sudden stop, and then turned around to face her pursuer.
She could see his eyes change from untamed fury to surprise at her unexpected halt, and then watched as he tried to dig his feet into the ground to stop himself before going over the edge of the opening that he was just now aware of.
"No!" Nel cried when Albel was unable to cease due to the momentum that he had built up while chasing the Aquarian down the pathway.
She sped to the side of the opening and was relieved to see Albel hanging onto the side of the gap with one hand, the other still clutching his katana.
"Are you going to stand there and watch me fall to my death, or are you going to help me, maggot?" he sneered, shifting his gaze to the abyss below him and uttering a low pitch grunt.
"Maybe if you ask nicely," she said, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at him, recalling her long and agonizing flee from the dangling man.
"Oh, stop it," he responded, now returning her glare with matching intensity.
"Why should I help you? You tried to kill me!" she yelled at him, seeing a small flame of anger ignite in his eyes.
"Oh please, you know I wouldn't have actually hurt you… too badly," he said, feeling his grip on the ledge slipping.
Nel let out a 'hmpf' and turned her back, "Apologize."
"What?" he growled, knowing that there was probably no time for such foolish games as this.
"I want you to apologize to me," Nel said simply, turning around, placing her hands on her hips and staring into his eyes.
"Don't be an idiot! Just help me up," he argued, refusing to give in to her demand.
"Not until you apologize for trying to kill me!" she said, walking away from the hole, and out of Albel's vision.
Albel could feel small rocks and pebbles shifting underneath his hand, and then felt his fingers start to slide backward.
Nel rushed back and peered down the opening at her companion when she heard him emit a strange sound, "What? What is it?" She couldn't help herself but to be concerned.
She could see his fingers barley hanging onto the ledge, and knew that he would probably die before he ever swallowed his pride and apologize.
"Here," she said, setting down the torch with a sigh, kneeling, and grabbing hold of his wrist, "Let go of the sword."
"Are you crazy!" he shouted, staring into her sparkling green eyes as if she was indeed a loon, and his echo dancing loudly off of the chasm walls.
"Albel, just drop it; you need both hands to get out of here," she argued, feeling his hand slip a little.
Albel was silent for a moment and then reluctantly dropped his katana into the hole and then grabbed hold of a different hand grip, "Are you happy now, all we have as defense is you now. Now get me out of here."
Nel gave a hard tug on his arm but he didn't budge, "You have to help me do this you know," she said frustrated, readying herself to pull again.
Albel dug his feet into the wall and pushed up when Nel began to try to haul him up once more. This time however he found himself halfway out of the opening and could grip the ground to keep himself in place.
Nel released his wrist and help pull him the rest of the way out of the opening, and then watched him as he lay on his back, heaving for air.
"Are you okay?" Nel asked, feeling a slight twang of uneasiness.
"I'm fine," he mumbled, getting to his feet and looking back into the chasm that he had just escaped, probably mourning the loss of his weapon, which was like a third arm to him.
"Now what?" Nel asked.
"We have no other choice but to jump across. We can't go back, the throne won't rotate around again," Albel said, assessing the width of the opening.
"Jump?" Nel muttered, noting that she would probably be able to make the leap with her own boots, but the white heels would prove to be a very large liability for her.
Albel made a sudden movement and Nel watched when he gracefully cleared the gap and turned to face her expectantly.
Nel inhaled and swallowed her nervousness, and made a leap of fate across the opening. She let out a cry when she didn't feel the earth beneath her feet as she had expected, and then felt a hard tug on her arm. When she opened her eyes she found herself pressed against Albel's body, his hand still gently holding onto her forearm.
Nel looked up at his face and felt her cheeks grew warmer when she realized that Albel's other hand was located on the small of her back, preventing her from falling backward into the giant opening.
Albel stepped back and released her, turning away before she could inspect him any further.
"Thanks," she said quietly, recomposing herself.
"Whatever," he mumbled, picking up the torch that Nel had tossed across the gap before she had jumped across. "Let' go," he said, beginning to walk, not looking back to see if she was following.
Nel was following close to Albel, she couldn't reason why, but something told her to stay near him. The air in the tunnel had grown dank and dreary, and cold drafts played their way up Nel's gown, making her shiver when the light wind fluttered her skirt.
"What's wrong with you?"
"Huh?" she asked, snapping to, and looking up at the man at her side.
"Are you alright?" Albel repeated.
"I'm fine, why?" she asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
"You look like you are thinking about something," he said, disguising the concern in his voice.
"Its just the weird air down here," she said, looking around at her surroundings.
"I've noticed that too," he said solemnly, instinctually touching the area where his katana would have been, and then becoming more restless when he recalled its absence.
There was a sudden loud shriek at his side, causing him to jump unnaturally, and look at Nel, who was clenching her face with her hand.
"What is it!" he asked, preparing for a fight with some unseen being.
Nel removed her hand and revealed bleeding gashes on her cheek, identical to the ones that she had received when she was attacked by the purple banshee.
She cried out again and quickly grabbed at her chest, where more bloody cuts had formed. She then arched her back and screamed in pain once more as blood began to stream down her bare back.
Albel stared wide-eyed as Nel was being assaulted by some invisible assailant. Quickly shaking his head, he snapped out of it and grabbed hold of Nel's hand and pulled her away from the area where she was being attacked, and led her down the pathway, hearing her cry out once again as the gashes on her back where crossed with new bloody wounds.
Albel had expected Nel to jerk her hand away from him after she had regained her senses, and looked at her over his shoulder when he felt no such movement. The Aquarian was looking over her shoulder as well, expecting to see the amethyst woman pursuing them, blood glistening in the torch light on her face and chest.
Albel began to slow his pace after he felt Nel stumble once or twice. He was desperately trying to think of something; he hated running away, but unarmed, and Nel being wounded as she was, what other choice did they have?
Nel looked at him curiously when he came to a stop, she seemed to have regained her fire and determination from her initial shock. She was also in a lot of pain, but didn't want to say anything about it to slow down their progress.
"You should try to do something about those cuts," Albel suggested quietly, almost sounding concerned about her. "I doubt it's very safe to walk around with gaping wounds in an area like this."
Nel nodded and then took notice of the hand still holding hers. Her cheeks, although hidden under ruby liquid, flushed fiercely as she timidly withdrew her hand from his, noting the redness on the warrior's face as well.
She began to cast a cure spell on herself, feeling more at ease after she began to feel her flesh close around the gashes that she had received when the spell was complete.
"We can't keep running away," Albel said in a serious voice, his back to her.
"But do you think we can fight her?" she asked, and then added after a pause, "Do you think we should fight her?"
"She attacked you, and has been trying to kill you ever since we entered this castle; I think that's a good enough reason to fight someone," he said, slight annoyance in his voice.
"You're right I guess," Nel said, surprising Albel when she didn't argue with him. "But for now, let's just keep going forward and see if this tunnel will come to an end soon."
Albel didn't say anything, but agreed with her by taking a few steps forward, and with one final look behind her, Nel followed.
"Finally!" Nel said aloud when they arrived at a colossal door. It looked ancient and was corroded by time. Two large statues stood on either side of the door, as if standing guard, both holding large, ornamental long swords.
Nel looked up from her inspection of the door when she heard a loud noise, like metal grating against stone.
"What are you doing?" Nel asked, watching Albel pull a sword from one of the statue's hands.
"You made me drop my weapon into a bottomless pit," he sourly reminded her, "I need to arm myself somehow."
Nel said nothing further about it, and returned to inspecting the massive door in front of her. She pulled on the ring that served as a door handle, and heard a loud, creaking sound as the door budged a little.
She moved her hand to the side of the ring when Albel carefully placed his hand next to hers on the metal circle, his hand jumping a little when it accidentally brushed against hers. They pulled the ring together, and the door slowly creaked open.
"No!" Nel cried disappointedly after peering through the door and seeing that instead of leading to the welcoming outdoors, it led into a large chamber.
Albel walked around the room and lit the torches that he had discovered on the walls. Soon fire light danced across the room, letting Nel take in all of the room's details.
The room was tall, and eerie shadows danced across the ceiling. A large statue that matching the two standing guard at the door loomed in the center of the great chamber. It stood as tall as the room itself; Nel figured that it was actually serving more as a support pillar than a statue.
"What are you waiting for?" Albel called to her, peeved that he was being slowed down by the speculation of her surroundings.
Nel sighed and made her way over to where he was standing. A large door stood agape, and a chilly draft rushed past her and caused her gown to swirl about her ankles.
There was a loud sound from behind them and they quickly spun around to locate the source of the sound. Before they had any time to register what had caused the sound, the same sound, only much louder, sounded directly behind them; the door had slammed shut.
Nel watched anxiously as Albel tried to yank the door open. She highly doubted that the small draft from the chamber had caused the two doors to swing closed.
She ventured to the middle of the room and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the purple woman, Marina, standing silently in the door way. Nel continued to stare down the woman as a draft made her dress whip every which way, causing the fabric to make a cracking noise as it whipped fiercely about her legs; she didn't know what to do, her legs wouldn't allow her to move.
Nel readied herself when Marina emitted a glass shattering screech and began to speed at her.
"Albe-!" Nel tried to scream as the banshee struck her with enough force to send her hurtling into the large statue that supported the room, knocking the wind out of her as she slid down to the ground, piercing pain shooting down her spine.
Albel had originally spun around when he heard the phantom-like woman's warcry, and was already on his way to help her. He drew his newly acquired long sword and brought it down hard where the woman was hovering above Nel.
It struck nothing; the woman had vanished.
Nel had seen Albel raise the sword to bring it home on her ghostly attacker, and had closed her eyes out of instinct. When she opened them, she found herself looking at the point of his sword; no banshee anywhere to be seen.
She looked around her and then wasted no time getting painfully to her feet and readied herself for anything.
She spun with cat-like agility and drew her daggers from underneath her dress, glad that they were still there, when she heard the same ear shattering battle cry that Marina had let out previously. The amethyst ghost lunged for Nel once more; but this time Nel was ready.
Nel let her dagger fly and wasn't too surprised when her dagger passed through the woman's face as if there was nothing but air in front of her; she hadn't thought that physical attacks would be effective. Marina sliced at Nel with outstretched claws, leaving a long, jagged cut along her throat, leaving Nel grasping at her wound, unable to protect herself.
She heard her name being called and then felt an arm wrap around her waist and pull her backward, out of range of the banshee's flailing claws. She looked up with sparkling eyes at Albel, who was currently releasing her.
"Distract her; I have to heal myself," she choked out, already beginning to cast the spell, and Marina now darting at her at full speed.
Albel was well aware that physical attacks would inflict no harm upon the apparition, and his mind raced as he tried to think of some plan to distract the woman from attempting to tear Nel's throat out.
"Hey, you purple ghost bitch, you want a real challenge?" he called to the banshee. "That's right, come and get me, maggot," he continued to provoke her after seeing her turn her attention to him, and then quickly sidestepped the woman when she made an annoyed sweep at him.
At least his colorful vocabulary came in use for something, Nel thought to herself, watching the two move about each other as if they were performing some sort of dark dance as she waited for her spell to be ready enough to cast; it wasn't going fast enough.
"Watch out!"
Nel turned her attention from her spell and looked up after the warning reached her ears; Marina was right on top of her!
The next thing she felt was her body sliding across the hard, tiled ground. She lay, gasping and still bleeding from the wound on her throat that she hadn't gotten a chance to heal, on the floor, too stunned to lift her head. She cried out in pain when some form of aura engulfed her body, preventing her from moving even a finger.
Marina hovered parallel, inches above Nel, her eyes glowing with yellow light, more so than usual now that she was holding Nel pinned to the floor with some form of hellish force. Nel tried to move away, but the energy keeping her in place was too strong to allow movement of any sort.
"Nel! Hang on, I'm coming," Albel called, rushing to aid her.
He emitted a sound as if he was suddenly being choked, and out of the corner of her eye, Nel could see that he was hovering a few feet off of the ground, grasping at his throat and definitely not looking too amused.
Nel tried to call to him, but stopped when the invisible net around her tightened. She was beginning to grow very light headed from the loss of blood from her throat; she knew she didn't have too much time to rectify the problem, or die from blood loss. Turning her attention back to her harasser, she noticed that the phantom's arm was raised high above her, poised to strike a fatal blow.
Time seemed to suddenly slow, Marina's deadly claws barreled down at her at what Nel knew was lightning speed, but it all seemed so leisurely. When the claws ripped the skin above her heart open, it didn't hurt like Nel has expected it would have. Blood slowly began to spray from her chest and into the air, pain just now making its presence known to her as the blood splattered her face and the area around her body, everything still too surreal to believe.
There was a sudden blinding white light.
After the initial loss of sight due to the luminosity, Nel refocused her eyes and time seemed to regress back to its normal pace; however, things where far from normal.
What is happening, Nel thought to herself as she lay limp on the floor, feeling the restraint of the invisible force no longer pressing her into the ground. The room was back to its normal lighting, all traces of bright light long since faded. She was then pulled into a sitting position, supported by Albel's arm behind her back; he had obviously been released when the light had exploded through the room, just as she had been.
Now sitting, she groggily took notice that the pendant that Nellexis had given her was faintly glowing around her neck, right above the gruesome opening above her heart, and that one more person was present in the room with them; Nellexis.
"Marina, you must stop this madness!" Nel watched Nellexis cry to her sister frantically.
Marina, who had quickly moved to the other side of the room to avoid the light, was now glaring at the white clad being in front of her with a look of pure blood lust. A loud shriek was sounded and Marina rushed at her true sister with more passion than she had ever attacked Nel with.
Time seemed to slow once again, and Nel watched from the safety of Albel's arms, as Nellexis embraced Marina rather than moving out of her way, or allowing the attack to strike her. Shock crossed Marina's face and she struggled to get away from her sister, but seemed to visibly weaken within her grasp.
Nel and Albel were both amazed at what they saw in front of them, Marina was changing! She was turning back into the delicate looking pale-haired girl that Nel had seen in her trip to the past.
"Marina," Nellexis softly crooned, pulling her now fully transformed sister away from her a little so that she could look at her face, "that's the little sister that I remember."
"Nelly.. I'm so sorry," Marina said, pressing herself into he sister's arms, "For everything, all the people, Mother and Father," she paused, "and for you Nellexis. I am so sorry for what I did to you."
"All is forgiven, Marina. Let us forget about all of that and leave this place…together. What do you say Marina?" Nellexis said, once again looking into her sister's face.
"Alright," Marina said, a faint smile appearing through a tear streaked face.
"I told you that that necklace contained a sister's love," Nel heard Nellexis say kindly, sounding very distant, before she and Marina faded away, leaving her alone with Albel in the torch-lit chamber.
A warm light began to glow in the core of the pendant around Nel's neck, healing the deadly wounds on her body. The healing light engulfed both her and Albel, and although still dangerously weak, she began to feel revitalized from the immense amount of blood that she had lost. She felt herself growing dizzy, and then fell back further into Albel's arms, and closed her eyes. She was very comfortable, and soon found her body forcing itself to slumber in attempts to regain some of its lost energy.
Water was pelting her face when she began to come to, making her eyes flutter wildly as she focused her eyes and looked around to gain her bearings. Her legs where straddled around something, and, after gaining complete consciousness, she realized that it was none other than Albel the Wicked. At some point he must have piggybacked her all the way outside.
"Albel?" she said, although he was already aware that she was awake.
He stopped and set her down onto the ground. She looked around and saw the castle looming not too far behind her, and the same thunder storm still raging overhead and spilling it's tears to the ground below.
"You just ruined all hope that I had for a peaceful trip back to the others," Albel joked, a small smirk playing on his face.
Nel couldn't help but smile at his comment; even after all of the events in the castle, Albel was still Albel. She felt her face tint a little as she gazed at the tall warrior in front of her, what was it that she was feeling as of late whenever she looked at him?
"Hey, Albel?" she started quietly, turning her eyes to the ground.
"Yeah?" he asked, curious about her behavior.
Nel surprised herself when she stepped forward and placed her arms willingly around the Glyphian in an embrace. She felt Albel's skin jump a little in shock, but then, slowly, and almost timidly, wrap his arms around her as well.
"Thanks for everything," she murmured softly into his chest.
"Don't mention it," he said, his voice obviously guarded, and his face slightly flushing. "Let's get out of here," he said, pulling away from the Aquarian, not looking her directly in the eyes.
Nel gave one final look to the castle that had tormented her, and swore that she saw both Nellexis and Marina, hand in hand, waving to her from the window of the grand ball room, where the fateful night, that entwined her life with theirs, took place many years ago.
She ran a few steps to catch up to Albel, who had, yet again, left without her. She didn't quite understand why she did what she did next, but she cautiously took hold of Albel's hand when she had reached his side. Albel looked down at her strangely, but made no move to withdraw his hand from hers.
"Right, let's go find the others," Nel said, knowing that things were permanently changed between her and Albel Nox.
What will the others think of this, Nel thought as she and Albel walked hand in hand, resuming their search for their comrades once again. But one thing was for sure, Nel refused to enter another castle, unless it was that of Aquios or Ariglyph.
So, whatcha think? It took me forever to write this chapter, sorry. There was a series of misfortunate events (Microsoft word breaking, email crashing, becoming emotionaly unstable for two days, the Alkaline Trio concert, and then a docotor's appointment) Buuuuuttt, i finally did it! Yay! I hope you all liked it, please review, being as they make me smile and want to give random people hugs, heh heh.
Thank you all so much for taking time to read this