10This chapter is named after a song called Night Terror by: We Were Promised Jetpacks, listen while you read if you'd like, I suggest doing so.
This is a continuation of the story.
I don't own Star Ocean.
Star Ocean: Life Unbound
Chapter One: Night Terror
Drip. Another bead of sweat fell from the bridge of his chin. Drip. As a second one fell he opened his eyes, his vision was blurry at first, but it cleared into a visage of the ground and his feet. He took a deep, labored, and painful breath before he fell back onto the ground. His lungs desperately grasped at oxygen, attempting to replenish what had been robbed from its muscles. He let himself fall back onto the dirt and stared up at the sky as he spoke, "That's it, I can't keep going." Just then he heard footsteps approaching, followed by a figure blocking his view of the overcast sky, his eyes shifted focus, revealing a man's face, accentuated by blonde hair and a smirk, "Come on Fayt, you can't be out of gas already!"
Fayt let out an annoyed groan before he gave his retort, "Don't give me that look Cliff, we've been training for two hours straight, I'm exhausted."
"Baby, ha," the large blonde man taunted.
"I'm not a baby, I would be just fine if you would just let me use a sword…," the younger man pouted.
The massive Klausian let out a laugh, "You're gonna learn how to fight bare handed if you're training with me! Ha, it seems two years of school have made you soft, I remember when we would spend an entire day fighting and you wouldn't complain one bit!"
Fayt brushed a blue lock of hair of his forehead as he rest his hand upon it, "Well what do you expect, college here on Klaus is a lot different from the one I went to on Earth, I don't get any time to do anything outside of school."
Cliff replied with a jovial tone, "We Klausians don't really take it easy, gonna have to get used to it if you plan to keep living here on Klaus. Hell, at least you got these two weeks off, we can train like crazy, but for now, lets go get some lunch, there's a little shop I've been wanting to take you to."
The prospect of food gave Fayt Motivation to stand up, but when he attempted, nearly half his body cramped up, "Ouch, Cliff, give me a hand here?"
Cliff laughed again, "What a baby!" The muscled man lifted Fayt to his feet, "Don't worry kid, the food there will perk you right up!"
After the battle with Luther ended, Fayt had gone home back to Earth, after two weeks there, he shocked both Sophia and his mother when he informed them that he had decided to move to the planet Klaus and attend college there. Despite protests from the two of them, he went through with it. After adjusting to the increased gravity on Klaus and getting settled into his new home with Cliff as a roommate, he began to enjoy himself. Though school left him no time for anything else, he'd been happy, his close relationship with Cliff played a major role in his happiness, the two had become like family. Cliff had been sad that Fayt couldn't join him at the dojo more often, but he got over it once Fayt turned 21, taking full advantage of it by having dinner in a bar nearly every night and making Fayt drink with him every time the Earthlings schedule allowed it. The two had just settled into their seats at one such bar when Cliff posed a question, "You feeling alright?"
Fayt had been used to yelling over a huge crowd of people when Cliff brought him to a bar, but now at lunch time the place was dead, so he spoke calmly, "Ya, but it's insane how much a body can slip without training. I don't know if I can train anymore today, I really would like a nap, I'm tired as hell."
"Nightmares again?" Cliff inquired with a direct tone.
Fayt sighed, "Yeah."
"What were they about this time?"
Fayt shifted his elbows onto the table and placed his head into his palms, "Niklas and Meena again, third time this week."
"Sounds rough, still can't catch any sleep then?" Cliff popped a few of his fingers as he asked.
Fayt sighed again, "Nope, not a wink, it's terrible. If I'm not dreaming about Niklas and Meena, its some of our other friends, they get killed and I can't stop it."
Cliff stood up from the table they sat at, "That's terrible, I'm sure they're fine, I mean, Nel is probably off on her Missions, Albel is probably doing the same, Roger is probably goofing off, Adray is probably with Roger, Maria stayed on as the captain of Quark after I quit for good, Mirage is floating around Klaus somewhere, your mom and Sophia are fine, I'm right here, and you're next to me right now, so everyone is safe man. We kicked ass last time, so we'll do the same if something happens again."
"Tell that to my brain," Fayt let it out sarcastically.
Cliff threw his arms up then let them fall, he told Fayt he'd order some food, then he headed over to the bartender and spoke for a minute or two before returning to the table. Once he returned to the table, he delivered a single line to the blue haired earthling, "Hey Fayt, I've got an Idea."
Fayt looked up at him groggily and asked, "Hrmm, what is it?"
Cliff leaned back in his bench chair, "How bout instead of training here for the next two weeks, we go visit everyone you're worried about? Regardless of the planet they're on, and train along the way."
Fayt perked up at the idea, "I'd love to, but where are we going to get a ship, Maria kind of left with the Diplo?"
Cliff smirked, "My old man gave me a ship a long time ago, it ain't big, max capacity of about twenty people, but it's packing a gravitic warp engine."
Fayt was puzzled, he'd been on the planet with Cliff for a whole two years but had never seen or heard of this ship before, "Where have you been hiding it all this time?"
Cliff laughed, "At my old mans place, you had to have walked past it twenty times."
A lightbulb went off in Fayt's head, he'd seen the ship at Cliff's dad's dojo quite a few times but always assumed it belonged his father, "Can we really take it? We don't have money for supplies you know."
"Not a problem," Cliff said with a smile, "I've had it fully stocked since my Old Quark days."
"Let's leave now then!"
Cliff was pleased to see the shift in the kid's mood, "Hold your horses, lets eat first, that way we can train on the ship on the way there."
Fayt just grinned and said ok.
Two hours later they had just taken seats in the cockpit of Cliff's ship, Cliff turned to Fayt and asked, "Where to first?"
Fayt didn't hesitate giving his answer, "Elicoor!"
"Elicoor it is," Cliff set the parameters for the ride, and just before he activated the ship, he turned to Fayt, "By the way, my ship's name is The Romeria."
Fayt gave him a funny look, "Isn't that the name of…"
Cliff finished his sentence, "The queen of Aquaria, yup, I named it after her, what can I say, she's a total babe."
Fayt let out a laugh as Cliff slammed a button, triggering the launch sequence. They were but a flash in the Star Ocean within seconds.
Roughly twelve hours had passed since the departure from Klaus, and now Fayt and Cliff were discussing where to land on Elicoor. Fayt was unsure about landing in a crowded area, the planet was still considered underdeveloped, so the two had decided to land in a desolate area, choosing the Mosel Sand Dunes as an appropriate place. So after about a thirteen hours, they had landed back on Elicoor, the place where so much had happened that the planet seemed like it was happy to have them home. Fayt suited up in an outfit similar to the one he'd worn the first time he was on the planet, except it had more black trim than blue, and cliff wore the same black outfit he always wore…Fayt was convinced it was just so he could look brawny. They stepped out into the hot sun when Cliff noticed that Fayt was missing a crucial item for the Journey, "Hey Fayt, Where's your sword?"
Fayt smacked himself in the head, "I left it at the House on Klaus, damn it."
"Guess we'll have to find you one while we're here, and you didn't sleep again, did you?"
Fayt raised his hand to block his eyes from the sun as he gazed out over the desert, "Nope, dreamt about Niklas and Meena again, I'd like to head over to Vanguard next if you don't mind."
Cliff shook his head, "I don't mind, especially if it will bring you some peace of mind, but let's not worry about that now, let's head to Surferio."
Fayt Nodded and they began the trek across the desert.
Luckily for the two of them, they had only landed about an hour away from Surferio, they passed through the caves that opened into the humanoid town and emerged happy as can be. Fayt remarked with a smile, "Hasn't changed a bit…" Before he could finish the sentence, he was proven wrong, the once sleepy town was bustling with humanoids.
Cliff made a comment, "Guess the town tripled in population while we were gone."
Though the town was full of people, it was obvious by the fanfare surrounding them that some sort of event had to be taking placed, there was tons of commotion coming from the center of town. So Fayt and Cliff started shuffling their way through the crowd until the came up to a massive group of people in a circle, they were all shouting and placing bets. It didn't take long for the two to realize that the betting was for a fight, and fortunately for Fayt and Cliff, all the humanoids were shorter than the two of them and they could see the fight. On a bridge crossing a stream stood two young Menodix men, one set on the far side, neither of the two human's recognized him, but on the side closest to them stood another Menodix, his back facing Fayt and Cliff, but they recognized his familiar tannish brown overalls and floppy hat. Cliff was the first to say it, "That's Roger isn't it?"
Fayt nodded his head, "I think so."
The two boys on the bridge started to shout, the one they believed to be Roger started, "Its time I show you who the bigger man is once and for all Lucien!"
The other Menodix boy screamed back in and annoyingly whiny voice, "You really think you can beat me Roger!? With that last comment they sprang out at each other, unleashing a flurry of punches and kicks at one another, though from a spectators point of few, it seemed more like a cat fight, Cliff had to comment, "Nothing manly about this fight."
Somehow Roger managed to get behind Lucien's back and put him in a choke hold, but when he glanced up, he saw two faces he thought he'd never seen again. He immediately let go of Lucian and ran towards the end of the bridge yelling, "CLIFF, FAYT, IS THAT YOU TWO?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"
Before they could answer, Lucien took a cheap shot and sent Roger flying off the bridge and into the Stream. The boy resurfaced just seconds after the fall and started screaming, "THAT WASN'T FAIR LUCIEN, HITTING ME WITH MY GUARD DOWN IS NOT HOW A MAN OPERATES!"
Lucien didn't care as he walked off with a group of young Menodix girls surrounding him, then the crowd dispersed, Roger sat in the water pissed off until he noticed a hand reaching out to grab him, he realized it was Cliff and grabbed ahold of it, allowing the big man to pull him ashore. He ushered a thanks as he shook his whole body the way a dog would to dry off, spraying everything in a five meter radius with water, including Fayt and Cliff. Both men covered their eyes and yelled in unison, "Watch it Roger!"
The young Menodix stopped and giggled, "Sorry guys! So where have you two been, it's been two years and not even a hello!?"
Fayt wiped some water from his brow, "Sorry Roger, I've been in school on the planet that Cliff is from and we haven't had a chance to travel…"
"As if!" Roger bumped Fayt's with his fist, "I hadn't seen you two since you left the planet the first time, then I find out you came back and took that ass Albel with you and left me here!"
Cliff laughed, "We took him because he wasn't this annoying."
Roger glared at him, "Oh yeah, shut up Cliff! I was by myself when those angel monsters showed up and attacked!"
Fayt looked at Roger and spoke with a more serious tone, "They attacked Surferio, how did the town survive?"
Roger got even more heated, "I had to fight them all by myself! Two of them showed up and I took them down, it took me like two hours and I barely survived! Then another one showed up and we evacuated the town to an underground hiding spot!"
Cliff looked at Roger shocked, "Wait, Roger, did you seriously kill two of them by yourself?"
Roger stepped back a step and pulled out his axe from its hanging spot on his back, "Sure did, me and my axe…I did almost die though, it was scary, but I couldn't let my friends get killed."
Fayt and Cliff gave each other the same baffled look, then they both looked at the boy confused and had the same thought, "How the heck did he…?"
Roger noticed the confusion and inquired, "What is it guys?"
Fayt knelt down to the boys eye level, "Roger, it took six of us to kill the first one we came across…how did you beat it?"
Roger got a smirk on his face, "I just fought with all my heart like a man should, guess I'm just not a sissy…should've come and got me instead of Albel."
Cliff remarked as Fayt stood back up, "Maybe we should have," Cliff glanced down at Roger and noticed something, "Hey Roger, if I'm not mistaken, you grew about a foot didn't you?"
"Did I?" Roger ran up and stood next to Cliff, "Guess I did! Never noticed till now, cool! Explains why my outfit is too small now!"
Cliff laughed at him, "So you can take down an angel but you can't figure out when to buy new clothes…"
Fayt laughed with him and Roger blushed before he yelled at them to shut up.
After the laughter calmed, Roger led the Three of them to a little restaurant near the east side of Surferio, they all entered the rustic building and had a seat, Roger was getting ready to order when a Fairy floated up, "No need to place an order you three, the chef says he's making you something on the house. Roger yelled, elated, "Cool."
Roger sat across from Fayt and Cliff, the Menodix sat on his knees and leaned across the table, "So why are you two here?"
"We came to visit, I was wanting to see everyone now that I have a break for a couple weeks," as Fayt finished he leaned back and crossed his arms behind his head. Cliff butted in before Roger had a chance to talk again, "Fayt and I are also going to train like crazy."
Roger got really eager, "Can I come!? I want to train! I've had to train alone for two years!"
Fayt grinned, "Of Course you can."
Roger hopped up and bounced up and down next to the table, he continued while Cliff spoke, "I'm gonna work you to the bone then."
Roger got even more excited, "Sounds fun! Wait, here comes our food!" Roger returned to his seat as the Fairy waitress floated up with an enormous tray held above her head, she placed it on the table and began to divvy out the food. She placed a large drink in front of each of them, then followed by giving each of them a plate of food. Cliff had a massive steak with mashed potatoes, Fayt was given a large stew full of meat and vegetables, and Roger received a massive grilled Cheese Sandwich with French fries. "My Favorite!" they all exclaimed in unison. The waitress said enjoy as she left the table. Roughly ten minutes had passed when a man approached their table, he was about four feet tall, wore a white apron and chef's hat, had shiny green skin, and a huge bubbly nose. He held a large kitchen knife in his hands as he spoke, "Pleasure to see you two again." His voice was creepy, that of a cynical tone. Roger noticed he was talking to his companions, "You guys know him?"
Fayt was the first to speak, "Yup, we met him here two years ago, he did some inventing for us."
Cliff spoke to the chef, "I see you still use that knife we gave you."
The chef lifted the knife to stare at it, "Yeah, I never put it down, I still can't believe it came from another planet, it's truly out of this world."
A light bulb went off in Roger's head, "From another planet, when did you bring that to him?"
Fayt spoke truthfully, "When we came back the second time."
Roger slammed his hands on the table and stood up on his seat, "You mean you came back here and didn't even bother to visit me, then you took Albel instead of me!?"
Cliff laughed, "Uh oh."
Roger sat back down and crossed his arms as he mumbled, "You guys suck."
The chef headed back to his kitchen as Fayt told Roger he'd make it up to him. After he cheered the Menodix back up he asked him a question, "So Roger, do you know where Nel and the others are?"
Roger shook his head side to side, "No idea, you're the first two I've even heard from in the last two years."
"That bites," Cliff glanced at Roger, "So are you sure you want to come with us, aren't your two friends living here still?"
"Nope, they moved to Aquios over a year ago."
The blonde man inhaled the last piece of food on his plate, "Why didn't you go with them?"
Roger got a dreamy look on his face as he spoke sort of towards the ceiling, "This is where I lived with my dad…I thought I should stay here, but I've been thinking about leaving for a while now, there's nothing left for me here except for memories of him….but I can take those with me anywhere I go."
Cliff smiled and rustled Roger's hair, "Seems you've matured a little bit."
Roger's face blushed a bit at the compliment as he spoke a thanks.
The three of them finished eating and headed outside only to find that the sun had gone down, the three of them made a mutual decision to sleep in Surferio and head out in the morning. Roger had started out towards his house when cliff stopped them.
The Klausian spoke loudly, "Where do you think you two are going, before we sleep, we train!"
Night had fallen faster than initially expected, training wore everyone out, but Fayt was still running, even after he'd fallen asleep. He could smell the smoke from a mile away, he could see the unnatural glow emanating from the direction in which he was running. He flew into the small town to find nearly every building had been alit with flames. As people screamed and abandoned the town, Fayt ran quickly into it, his breath choked with smoke as he kicked the door down to a small wooden house. He ran inside and screamed when he saw the two children he worried about lying on the floor surrounded by flames and out of his reach. The floor crashed under the children and they fell out of sight. Fayt screamed, "NOOOOOOOOO!"
The scream transferred over to reality as he awoke, breathing heavy and glancing around, he saw Roger asleep on a bed next to him and Cliff lying next to the boy. Through a labored breath, Fayt uttered a simple sentence, "Another dream."
Fayt heard a voice carry across the room, he recognized it as Cliffs, the Klausian hadn't sat up in bed but spoke, "You okay?"
Fayt stared up at the roof, "Yeah, it was just a vivid one, these night terror's suck."
Hope you enjoyed the first chapter.
