STAR OCEAN III: The Problem of War
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Ocean or any of it's characters, and or concepts...but man I wish I did.
Summary: Nearly two years after the defeat of Luther, Fayt and Co. must reunite to deal with problems resurfacing on Elicoor II before a war breaks out between Airyglyph and Aquaria.
Prologue - Something is Terribly Wrong
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
The alarm annoyingly sounded the start of the new day, and Fayt hit it violently to stop the racket. Fayt yawned and stretched lazily after rolling out of bed, his light blue mop reaching for the roof after his a night of tossing and turning. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and yawned again loudly before going to get his morning shower. It had been almost two years since the defeat of Luther, and the people of their universe were saved. That was all fine and good, but young Fayt was bored out of his mind. After something as exciting as battling for your whole universe, it was just not possible for him to return to his normal life on Earth. Plus, his college had been destroyed in Executioners' attack on his home planet leaving him with nothing after years of schooling. It didn't really bother him that much because he knew he would never have to work again with all of the grants, and compensations from the Federation. So he had moved out of his old home and into one that suited his new lifestyle a little better. He even had a his own battle simulator...which had taken him all of two weeks to completely destroy the game. He had achieved almost God-like status on the game...a perfect 2000-0-0 fight record online against other users. Most of them...he didn't even have to break a sweat...another product of his recent adventure.
"Another day...just like the one before it, and the one before that, and the one before that."
Fayt complained to himself after getting dressed and brushing his teeth.
"I wonder what I could do today...that I haven't already done a hundred times in the past week. I wonder how everybody is doing...I wonder if the federation would let me leave the planet long enough to see them? Probably not."
After the battle was over, the federation had restricted access to their new "most valuable resource"...only allowing him off the planet a few times a year. This did bother him a little, but he did understand their situation. They couldn't allow him to be used by others willingly or unwillingly. Apparently they didn't have as much faith in his self control as he did. He almost wished Cliff would just take him out of here...at least he would have some fun with the hulk of Klausian muscle...Cliff was always laid back and cheerful and had dozens of funny jokes. The last time he had heard, Cliff was flying all over the place trying to settle everyone down after the war with the Executioners. Mirage had gone to visit her sick father; Nel, Albel, and Adray had gone back home to do what they were doing before. Maria had disbanded Quark and was starting to look into their genetic alterations to see if there was an easier way to control their powers. He had returned to Earth reluctantly with Sophia who had to finish her schooling. Fayt hadn't seen most of his companions in two years...well, except Sophia, who was with him most of the time. She had even gotten pretty decent at the battle simulator, and they had actually been on a couple of dates. They even went to see a movie about their own exploits...drastically changed of course so that there was no mention of the 4D beings and the Creator...the Federation had controlled the information tightly about their actual adventure.
DING DONG! Rang the shrill doorbell, dragging Fayt violently away from his thoughts.
"Fayt! Open up sleepy head!" Cried Sophia...ever the morning bird. Fayt couldn't help but smile and mumble.
"Speak of the Devil."
Fayt opened the door slowly and ushered Sophia in giving her a light peck on the cheek, which caused her face to redden noticeably. The years had indeed been kind to Sophia...she had developed more than on the emotional scale after their journey. She had gotten taller, and as a female she had come along as well. Her face had only traces of the child that she had been on their adventure, and feminine curves stood out more aggressively than they once had, much to his embarrassed pleasure. Much to his dismay, however, this seemed to earn her rude comments and gestures on a regular basis from some of the riff-raff on the street. Despite all of this, she just kept on smiling as if nothing could dampen her spirits. He knew that it wasn't the blind optimism of a child that enabled this behavior, but rather her just being satisfied with what was going on and how her life is turning out. It had taken her a while to recover this after their task...and it had saddened him to see her down, but she had dealt with it, it seemed. He was pulled once again from his thoughts with her saying brightly.
"I didn't think you were up yet, Fayt."
"Well, It's almost nine o'clock in the morning...of course I'm awake. I don't sleep all the time, Sophia." He joked back, grinning broadly. "So what's new?" Sophia laughed saying in an overdramatic voice.
"You know, the usual...absolutely nothing." He chuckled at this, relieved that she was feeling the same way...more to comfort himelf over his own boredom.
"Yeah, I know the feeling. I wonder how everybody is doing?" He said. "What do you think they are up to right now? I miss them."
"I wonder how they are as well, but I don't think they are having any more fun than us...for the most part. Nobody seemed to be going back to anything interesting."
She replied back to him. As she finished her sentence however, something strange happened. The communicator Cliff had given Fayt began to ring. At first neither of them could believe it, and just looked at each other with stunned faces. Fayt, recovering first, smiled wholeheartedly, saying brightly...
"Well, its about time, I've been waiting forever for them to call us up. I've been going out of my mind here."
He said sprinting over to the stand to pick it up. Sophia frowned playfully, putting her hands on her hips and resuming the standing command position that all females seem to posses to a degree; saying...
"Well, what's that supposed to mean, Fayt?"
"Oh, you know what I mean Sophia. Now shuush."
Fayt said, laughing quietly at her mock anger. He flipped up the front of the communicator that showed the muscular Cliff looking not very laid back and very un-cheerful. Fayt immediately bit his tongue to stop the over-happy greeting that he had prepared for the large Klausian, and instead gave a quick...worried motion for Sophia to come close. He readied another response before Cliff could begin.
"Hey, Cliff...you look serious, is there something wrong?"
Sophia scurried over faster at the mention of trouble pushing her face next to his to get a better look at Cliff. Cliff gave a brief nod before starting.
"Hey, Fayt. Hey, Sophia. Sorry to call you up like this. Yeah, I'm afraid there may be some trouble on Elicoor II. I received a message from Albel requesting our presence ASAP. He looked stressed...really stressed. He said to bring formal clothes." Cliff finished this last with a pointed look at Fayt. "There may be some trouble brewing between Airyglyph and Aquaria again...I think we may have to do some investigating, not to mention step in to preserve the peace. If you know what I mean? I've already called the others...they will meet us on the Diplo."
"No problem, Cliff...can you come pick us up? I have to tell the federation where I am going." Fayt answered seriously to Cliff before Cliff directed a question to Sophia.
"Do you want to come, this doesn't look like it is going to be a fun trip?" Sophia puffed up slightly in agitation at the question.
"Of course I want to go. I want to help." Cliff nodded wearily.
"Fair enough. I will meet you at Federation Spaceport Five. See you then. " Cliff looked ready to leave. Faytblurted out suddenly, without thinking the scenario through really.
"Hey, Cliff, what kind of formal wear are we talking about. Dinner, Wedding?" Cliff looked at him one more time, saying. "I'll brief you fully when you all get on the ship...but for now...funeral wear...make sure they are comfy too, we got a few to go to. Cliff out." It took it a minute to sink in as Cliff's face disappeared from the screen, but Fayt wondered why this had caused Cliff to get so flustered. He no doubt had dealt with death before...unless maybe it dealt with someone close to them...he returned the hug Sophia offered gratefully...
So...what do you all think? Please read and review...try to be at least midly gentle though. I'll see about updating after reading some other reviews. Later.