[revised on 2 July, 2007)
The sun started to rest for the night, which gave off a colour palette of violet mixed with rose that filled the entire sky. There weren't any clouds in the sky, making the hues more visible as the sun laid on top of the horizon. Even though it was dusk, the sun shone brightly, giving light to the land.
Albel waltzed unto the balcony from his bedroom at his estate, gazing out into the land while taking a sip from his bottle of winkling sage cider. He dumped his arms over the rails, hunched over, as he gave a sigh and took a gulp. Giving a "bah," he threw the bottle into the scenery, watching it smash into fragments metres below him. He lowered his face, resting them on top of his hands with his face drooping down, almost melting unto the rail.
A few moments later when the darkness started to slowly take over the sky, a light orb sparkled in the sky almost competing with the deep indigo palette, and flew towards the ground within seconds. Albel's head jumped up, as he stood up straight in full attention, thinking: "This can't be a shooting star." Sprinting out of his house, he raced towards the stable and grabbed the first horse he found. The horse neighed, giving out a battle cry as it galloped towards the east across the hills.
Two soldiers gathered around, encircling a strange metal disk that was just short of three metres long and one metre wide and deep. One solider began to kick something as Albel got off his horse. A cry squealed out, yelping in pain, which caused Albel to look down. A young pre-schooler girl held her hands into fists on her eyes, and began to bawl her little heart out. She wore a dress with several layers and laces that was elaborately decorated, but in design that he had never seen before.
"What's going on here?" Albel spat, as he marched towards the soldiers. They began to shuffle towards the side, allowing him to see the girl and the bizarre machine that looked like something from Greeton. A small teddy bear ripped to shreds had all of the batting shattered around had lain beside one of the guards. He picked it up and examined it with his eyes wide in shock. The girl ran towards him, trying to yank it out of his hands, but he raised it up preventing her from doing that. Her dark eyes began to water even more as the tears poured down her face.
"When we came here this girl was coming out of this... thing." The man on the left explained, pointing to the mysterious object. "She held that bear in her hands, but we snatched it away from her. We destroyed it along with this piece of metal she had that way her homeland would be prevented from finding out where she is. It could be a bomb or tracking device." The second man added, while handing him fragments of metal into his other hand. Albel looked at the pieces with his eyebrows crossed, then threw the shards at them and growled, "Fools, this 'piece of metal' allows us to communicate with her! Now we can't ask her questions! Also, how is a teddy bear some sort of bomb?"
"Sorry," they apologised, in a fearful tone, while kneeling on the ground before him, "We thought that if we destroyed all she had her homeland's plans would be foiled."
"Bah," Albel grunted, crossing his arms around his chest, still holding unto the mangled teddy bear. "Look inside this... I think is a pod, to see any clues. From my experiences when I was with the warriors from another world, they used this 'pod' in case of an emergency while travelling; like a lifeboat on a ship. Search it just in case."
The young girl jumped beside him, still attempting to get the bear from him. Without realising it, she successful grabbed it, holding it on for dear life. Albel felt it escape from his hands, causing him to unsheathe his sword and turning his attention to the girl. She started to sob again, clutching unto the torn-up bear for support. He put the katana back into its sheath and bent his knees, making him around the same height as she. Her eyes stopped watering as she covered her face with the bear. Albel looked back into his memory trying to remember the strange language those warriors spoke in.
"My... name... is Albel Nox." He said, slowly, trying to recall the words, but she didn't respond. "Stupid worms destroying the communicator," he rolled his eyes and sighed. He repeated the same sentence but each time she took a step backwards, away from him. He placed his hands into the pockets of his black pants and pulled out a wrapped steamed bun. Obviously, torturing a girl into answering questions wouldn't do anything since he wouldn't be able to know what she had said. Also, by showing the person trust first, (even if it's false and manipulative) they will return the favour. Unwrapping it, he reached his hand out, offering it to her. The bear slide from one eye of her face, as she looked at the food. He broke off a piece, placing it into his mouth, showing her that the food is safe. Taking one hand away from the bear, she took the bun and shoved it into her mouth. After consuming it she let out a smile and said something foreign to him, which he presumed was "thank you" since her expression changed.
"My name is Albel Nox." He said again, in a friendlier tone. After a pause she replied to him in a cheerful tone, but the only word he could understand was "Esteed." His jaw dropped, as his eyes didn't blink for a moment. He rose in a slothful way, turning his body to face the pod and the soldiers. They were fiddling around with the buttons like some idiotic teenagers who had been drinking too much, causing his expression to turn to a hostile one.
"Leave it!" Albel commanded, as they did what they were told and stood side-by-side in a straight line. "This girl must be related to one of those warriors from the other world. I don't think she is a threat, but we can never be too safe. I'll bring her to the king. Carry this pod to the castle for a further investigation."
"Yes, sir!"
He turned back towards the girl with his usual glare. She had been gathering the batting and pieces of fabric to her bear and tried to stuff it in. Walking towards he, he lent out a hand, trying to see the bear, but she darted it towards her body defensively. Crying children wasn't something he could handle, so he let the idea fall. He brought the horse to her; her eyes lit up as she began to smile and jumped up and down. Picking her up, he was surprised that she didn't squirm or cry. Whenever he went near a child it would scream and run as fast as they could in the other direction, but this girl was related to Sophia, and like Sophia, she was a friend to everyone. The idea of traveling with a smelly child was something he loathed, but it was almost nightfall and the king needed to see this girl. He placed her sideways since she was wearing such a frilling dress and got on behind her. An arm wrapped around her to steady her and prevent her from falling off, (he didn't care if she did but the king did) as he kicked the side of the horse and trotted towards the castle.
By the time they reached the castle the sky was pitch black and night had begun. He jumped off the horse, and then grabbed the girl who was still asleep and still holding the bear. "Wake up." He ordered, gently pushing the girls shoulders. Having a screaming child wake up wasn't something he wanted, but the king will have questioned her. She groaned a bit as heard a yawn. After barking orders to the guards to take care of his horse, he entered the castle and led her by placing a hand on her back behind her shoulders. Children always wondered off on their own, almost as if they needed a leash on them. The torches lit the castle dimly, making it hard for her to climb the unfamiliar stairs to the audience room. After rolling his eyes after so many times tripping; blood started to trickle down her legs as bruises began to form all over her body. When they reached the room, he bowed, motioning her to do the same as the king entered the room.
"I found this girl about a kilometre east from my estate in what the people of the other world would call 'an escape pod.'" He explained. "We don't think this is a declaration of war, but one can never be too sure."
"Can she speak?" The king asked, sluggishly as his eyes were half open. "Where is she from?"
"I don't know. The soldiers destroyed a device allowing us to communicate with her. The only word I got out of her was Esteed."
"If she's just a relative of that warrior then it shouldn't be a problem. Didn't they say when they were with us almost four to five years ago that they were not to associate with us, and us vice-versa? Take care of her while her family comes looking for her since the public shouldn't be involved with her. Maybe it's her niece."
"She was an only child. Can't be her daughter, she has the same last name as Sophia and would have changed when she married. Also, she looks too old and we would have known when Sophia was here." He thought to himself out loud, but his tone changed when he asked: "Why should I take care of her?"
"You found her and you've been to their world. We'll take more about this is the morning." He yawned, exiting the room towards his bedroom.
Albel got up and starred at the girl for a moment. Her hair was the same colour as Sophia's and had the same facial features. Sophia was short with long, lean proportions, much like the girl only her legs were longer than Sophia's. The child's eyes were the colour of black coffee, which was the complete opposite to Sophia's sea green ones. The thing that his eyes rested most on was the mangled bear that she held on so dearly.
"Aw, this is such a cute teddy bear, Albel!" Sophia squealed, holding up a small bear with a red bow wrapped around its neck. "Thank you so much! Whenever I look at this bear I will surely think of you."
He gave a growl, fed up with trying to figure out this child and went to find a woman to be this girl's nanny. Taking care of children was something he couldn't handle. He hated children. They way they cry over nothing, and were smelly and dirty, but he hated the most how they were so clingy. He also didn't like how they were babied and lived in an imaginary world, unable to comprehend the harsh realities in life. That's what nannies are for. Also, it was depressing how she was so attached to that torn bear that looked like survived the torture area in the Kirlsa Training Facility.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AN: I don't think I will update this in a while since I have four other stories that I'm in the process of writing. One is going to be at least 28 chapters and I'm on chapter three, not even. I finished the Pimp Master C! one so I decided to take on another story. Oh well, this is one of my non-crack fics since I'm a crack fic writer. Oh, the black pants. I like his 3P outfit a lot better than the defalt one because it isn't nearly as gay looking. Well, I can see him being gay. So, when this story imagine the 3P outfit only with his normal hair. Thanks for reading and please review!