10Enjoy. This Chapter is a bit shorter than my norm, but it's been too damn long and I was excited to get something out, I may have rushed a tad.
This Chapter was named after a song Called Electric Love by Borns.
I don't own Star Ocean. (Disclaimer)
Chapter 8
The ride from Airyglyph to Kirlsa was certainly faster via a dragon, however it was far less possible to speak between the travelers, flying in a snow storm certainly causes that. As a result, Fayt, Adray, Cliff, Roger, and their newest addition Albel hunkered in on the back of their dragon escort until they were above Kirlsa. Cliff hollered to the driver called Grover through the wind, "So where in Kirlsa will we be landing?!"
The elder man didn't break his attention from the flight, it was quite impressive, he must have been suffering from the weather exposure, snow murdering his frostbitten face, but he never broke focus as he answered, "Count Woltar's mansion has a nice lading area."
Cliff cried, "Works for me!"
Fayt and Roger's interest had been peaked by this point, riding a dragon was cool. They both moved to where they could watch the ground and the surroundings. Roger was elated, as it was his first time riding a dragon. For Fayt, even though he'd rode before, it was for a cause outside of war, so this time he really enjoyed himself, taking the time to observe the snowbound world around him. Roger spoke to him in elation, "This is so cool Fayt!"
Fayt's cold puffy face lit up as he replied, "I know, riding a dragon is far cooler than in a ship, it almost feels like I'm actually flying!"
Next to them sat Albel, who muttered to himself about their carefree elation, "Idiots."
Though the two boys didn't hear the jab, Cliff did, and the big Klausian laughed at Albel, "Oh don't rain on their parade, you still don't know how to just enjoy things, do you?"
Albel scoffed and looked away, "Whatever."
Fayt and Roger both noticed as Kirlsa came into view over the horizon, being marked by their pilot hollering, "We've arrived, brace for landing!"
The massive air Dragon landed smoothly and gave a loud shriek, it seemed overjoyed to see the ground instead of the snowy sky that chaffed its wings. All the men who were present leapt down, with the pilot being last, he lead the dragon to what Fayt discerned to be an indoor corral for dragons. The man returned to the group, and it took everything they had not to laugh at the old pilot. When they'd first met him, he had a foot-long beard on his face, and now the beard was one giant icicle. Roger pointed at the man, "Hey Grover, that beard looks like a big chunk of ice!"
The elder man seemed unphased, "Occupational Hazard."
All their attention was drawn to the sky above them as the dragon carrying the cargo load of glass landed next to them. Grover immediately started to unbind the load as he called to Albel, "I'm sorry Sir Albel, but would you and your friends mind going to fetch two carts to haul this load with? Unfortunately, we were unable to send ahead to make arrangements on account of the storm."
Albel placed a hand upon his Katana as he walked in the direction of Woltar's mansion, he'd walked a few paces when he noticed no one else followed. He turned towards his group and slightly snapped, "You coming!?"
Adray answered, "You guys go, I'll stay here and help unload." So, the rest all jumped to follow Albel, quickly heading through Woltar's courtyard and on into Kirlsa. As they walked, Roger commented while looking at the snow at his feet, "One foot of snow sure is nicer than Five feet!"
Fayt nodded, "Yeah, nice to be off that mountain."
At this point, they'd only gone a few yards into town when Albel stopped and opened a gate. When they entered through the gate they all watched as Albel walked up alone to a small wooden house and knocked on the door. Almost immediately the door swung open and an old man without many discerning characteristics save a massive scar across his face stepped out and spoke with a broad smile, "Hello Albel, what brings you here?"
Albel spoke with a bit more respect than usual, his voice didn't have the bite it typically did, "May I borrow the wagon?"
The old man nodded, "Sure, just grab the horses and go for it, just try not to keep them out in the cold for too long. Want to come in for food?"
Albel shook his head no, "No sir, we must hurry."
On the word we, the elder man looked out and saw the others standing at his gate, "Those friends of yours Albel?"
Albel simply nodded, "Indeed...I must get going."
The old man smiled at him, "Bring them all round sometime."
Albel just silently nodded and waved towards the group to follow him around the house. Soon they had a large wagon rigged up to two horses and were riding it back to where the dragons had landed, On the way Fayt asked Albel, "So who was the old man?"
A flake of snow landed on Albel's eyebrow, so he wiped it away as he answered, "His name is Adrian, when I was younger, my father died...Adrian took me in until I became a soldier."
Fayt nodded, "That's cool."
It only took a few minutes for them to arrive and to load up all the glass panels. They all shook hands with the two dragon pilots and boarded the wagon. With Albel at the reigns, they slowly crept their way out towards the east side of Kirlsa, but just before they got out of town, Fayt called for Albel to stop and climbed out of the wagon, "I'll be right back guys."
Fayt's nose had picked up the scent of fresh cooked bread, so he followed his nostrils into a small bakery where he purchased baked bread for all his companions. He hustled back to the wagon and climbed up shotgun next to Albel, then commenced handing the driver a chunk of warm bread, then tossing a piece to Cliff, Adray, and Roger who all rode in the back of the wagon next to the glass. So, they continued this way, enjoying the warm bread's feel in their bellies on the cold day. Adray, Cliff, and Roger all chattered about random things as the wagon moved. Fayt and Albel both sat silent. They made it out of Kirlsa and had gotten about halfway to Arias when Albel noticed the hazy stare Fayt held, sort of just staring out into the falling snow. Albel commented, "What's the matter with you?"
Fayt shook his head as he snapped out of the trance, "Oh nothing really, just being in Kirlsa made me remember my father."
Albel was aware of Fayt's father's death in the Kirlsa training facility, he just nodded his head and responded to the earthling, "Your father was an impressive man."
Fayt didn't look at Albel, but he still smiled broadly, "Thanks."
A few moments passed in silence when Fayt laughed and spoke, "I think that's the nicest thing I've ever heard you say."
Albel snarled, "Screw you!"
Out of anger, Albel snapped on the reigns, encouraging the horses to speed up.
Fayt laughed aloud as the wagon sped off.
...
Clair had left Arias in utmost haste, her foolish father and friends needed saving! She and a few of her subordinates had bundled up to prep for the trip then sped off on foot for Kirlsa with the plan to head over the mountain. When Rouge explained that it was a bad idea to send even more people over the mountain, Clair's response was simple, "We'll just figure that out when we get there."
So now they were on their way to Kirlsa, they'd gone about a mile when Clair's subordinate Aster cried out, "Watch out!"
Immediately they all snapped into fighting stances, prototypically the words watch out meant a monster was coming, but Neither Rouge or Clair saw anything when Clair asked, "What is it?"
Aster pointed off in front of them, "Over there!"
Both of his comrades followed where he pointed and noticed the same thing. A large horse drawn wagon was speeding down the road towards them like a bat out of hell! They all quickly leapt out of its way, but as it passed, they were greeted with quite the crazy sight! The driver of the Cart didn't have ahold of the reigns and was laughing like a maniac, he heeded the spectators no mind. On the back of the wagon an old man was desperately holding some large bundle onto the wagon, trying hard to keep the item from falling out. Though the craziest sight was on the side of the moving wagon. A blue haired man was hanging upside down off the side about a foot away from his face crashing into the ground. The only thing preventing this was an even larger blonde man hanging over the side holding onto the blue haired man's leg. Most impressive was the small Menodix that stood with his feet planted in the cart holding onto the blond man's pants, keeping both the men from flying away out of the cart. This all was seen in a flash when the cart passed, quickly Clair's subordinate Aster yelled in shock as the cart disappeared towards Arias, "Wasn't that your father on the back of that cart Lady Clair!?
Clair's jaw had dropped, she rose it long enough to answer, "It was, and that was Cliff and Fayt hanging off the side of that thing!"
Unlike the others, Rouge seemed less shocked, more excited, "I think that was Albel driving the cart," the dark-haired woman took off running towards Arias, "Come on! I want to challenge him to a match!"
Quickly all of them bolted towards Arias in pursuit of the runaway wagon.
...
Upon reaching Arias, Clair's group immediately began searching for the wagon, soon to find it parked in front of her father's house. Aster was sent to check in at headquarters as Rouge and Clair made their way around Adray's house and walked up to his smithy shop out back. Outside of it, staring up at the cloudy sky stood Albel, who glanced at the two approaching women, he didn't pay any more mind than that, just looked back up towards the sky. At sight of him, Rouge walked right up to him, "Albel! Do you remember me?"
Albel didn't look down from the sky as he answered, "You're Rouge. Leader of the Demon Legion."
Rouge didn't speak it, but she was pleased that he remembered her as she spoke, "Want to do some sparring!? I've improved a ton since our last battle!"
He looked down and walked past her, "Let's go."
Rouge glanced at Clair, "Later Clair."
Clair nodded, "Don't die."
As those two descended towards Adray's outdoor training ground, Clair stepped into the Smithy shop, the first thing she noticed was how the fire had warmed the room and her skin responded with pleasure. When she glanced towards the fire she saw both Fayt and Adray leaned over it melding some small pieces of metal, she shook off the shock from seeing her father wearing a vest on his typically bare torso as she continued surveying the room. On the opposite side of the building she spotted Roger fast asleep in a chair, after smiling at the Kid's cute state she spotted a target in the middle of the room, quickly remembering her intent in coming over here in the first place. Cliff met her eye contact and saw the irritancy on her face, he knew what was coming so he laughed out an, "Uh oh."
When she heard him say it she puffed up her cheeks in anger, Cliff just found it cute, which fueled his next statement as she walked up to him, "You sure look cute when you're mad."
She stuck her arms to her side defiantly in balled fists, "What the heck is wrong with you, how could you be so reckless! That was pure idiocy to cross that mountain!"
At this Fayt and Adray both looked over, seeing what was happening Fayt whispered to Adray, "Looks like he's getting one of your usual lectures."
Adray smiled to himself, "This is going perfectly."
They watched as Cliff responded, "Please, it's nothing that we can't handle. So, no worries, right?"
She got right up in his face, craning her neck to look up at the tall man, "Yes worries! I was worried sick about you! What if you got stuck and froze to death!?"
Cliff laughed, watching the reserved girl unconsciously fighting her natural calm demeanor was fun, "Look, we're okay, and we got what we needed to finish the house out there, sorry you were worried, but we've really been through far worse."
The lightbulb clicked in her head, "You got all the materials?"
Cliff nodded, "Yeah, Arzei donated it all."
Her tone immediately softened as she looked towards Fayt and her Father, "Thank you all," she walked to the door to leave, "But next time be smart about how you do it please, no need dying for a few materials."
All three answered her in unison, "Yes mam."
Once she was gone, Cliff spoke to Adray, "I'm surprised, she sure can be a tiny little firecracker."
Adray laughed, "She IS my daughter."
Cliff nodded, then grinned, "Lightning in a bottle."
Fayt laughed, "Perfect Metaphor."
Cliff glanced back at the door she'd walked out of before he spoke to his friends, "So how are those tools coming along?"
...
They were simple, but Fayt had made a few screws and a screwdriver to make the window installation as easy as possible. After that, the small house they'd built had windows in a flash, they simply bordered the glass with wood to make a frame, then Fayt screwed them in. The last thing to test was the fireplace they'd installed, so Roger and Adray built a fire while Fayt and Cliff headed to find Clair in the Arias headquarters. Upon reaching the building they made their way down the hallway where they knew the main hall sat the last time they'd come to the planet. Fayt railed on the door, it hailed a random male voice to speak, "You may enter."
They stepped into the room to see four men sitting at the large table that occupied the bulk of the place, two men Fayt recognized from the prior day, "Hey Leon, Dante, how's it going?"
Dante spoke up, "Oh! Hey guys, were just going over mission details here, what brings you here?"
Fayt answered, "We finished up that first house and wanted to let Clair know."
Dante answered again, "Oh, that's cool! Well she should be here soon."
"Cool," was Fayt's simple reply. No time passed when one of the two men Fayt didn't know came up and extended a hand to Fayt, he spoke from under a mop of red hair, "So you're Fayt, great to meet you! I'm Aster! The other guy over there is Vaan."
Fayt shook his hand, "Nice to meet you two!"
Aster then shook Cliff's hand, "So you must be Cliff?"
Cliff spoke in his typical booming voice, "That's right, Cliff Fittir, nice to meet ya."
Vaan came walking around the table, "So you're the guy who's wooed Lady Clair!"
Fayt gave Cliff a humored look when Cliff laughed, "Am I? I wasn't aware she was wooed."
Aster pried, "So did she ask you yet?"
Cliff didn't know what he was talking about, "Ask me what?"
Aster went to answer when he noticed the angry figure in the doorway, "Never mind, I'll just stay out of it."
Clair had just walked in with Rouge, but apparently, they were there long enough to hear what was said, so she gave her best death glare to Aster, inspiring the man to scoot across the room away from them. The silver haired woman walked up as Cliff asked, "What did you need to ask me?"
Cliff and Fayt knew it was probably juicy, so they weren't' surprised when Clair ignored it, "It's nothing, did you two need something?"
Cliff decided against teasing her and answered, "Yeah, we finished the first house."
Clair smiled broadly, "Already!? Is it ready for someone to move in?"
Fayt answered, "Well we can insulate the walls later, but it's certainly fine for someone to come move in."
Clair stepped past them and called to all her subordinates, "Let's go get one of the families at the church moved in before the day is out!"
Everyone save Rouge stood up when Clair shifted focus to Fayt and Cliff again, "Meet us at the house?"
Cliff nodded, "Sure."
The room was quickly emptied, leaving Rouge in the room, she stood up and went to leave as well when they noticed her face was all beat up, Fayt called to her, "Rouge!?"
She had just stepped into the archway of the door, she leaned back and popped her head around the corner to answer, "What's up?"
Fayt cocked one eye, "What the heck happened to you?"
Rouge laughed aloud, "Albel kicked my ass again!"
She continued laughing all the way out of the building, Cliff sighed, "Crazy chick."
Fayt put it simply, "Bonkers."
...
The smiles on everyone's faces were broad as two young boys bounced all around in their new house. Fayt and Cliff gave Adray and Roger a simple thumb up to express the mutual pride they all felt watching this family just about cry of happiness for receiving a new home. Clair and her soldiers didn't make it easy to be humble when they spoke unabashed gratitude. It got even worse when the mother of the two boys started crying out some thanks, planting a soft kiss on the cheeks of all four men involved in building the place. Roger sat twitter pated afterwards, but the other three stepped out of the house along with Clair and her soldiers. Cliff stood next to Clair, he stuck his palm out and caught a few small snowflakes then spoke with a boom, "Well, we still have about half a day of light," the Klausian glanced to Fayt, "How about we get another one of these up before nightfall?"
Fayt nodded, "Let's do it!"
The Runologist Vaan stepped forward, "Do you mind if I help, I'd like to watch the way you built it?"
Fayt nodded, "Sure, we could use the extra hands."
Clair spoke for the rest of her soldiers, "Well, what if we all help?"
Fayt nodded again, "Let's do it then!
In the next few hours a whole new house went up. Everyone present knew how hard of a worker Adray was, but Fayt, Cliff, and Roger's work ethic blew these Elicoorians away. They learned quickly how to help and build on their own. So, it all flew buy quickly, another of the homeless families was moved in right as night fell. To celebrate, Adray invited everyone out to get drinks at the small Arias Tavern. So now that night had fallen, the snow had slowed, and the Tavern was lively with a powerful toast. Adray stood on a table with a pint of alcohol held high, everyone present held theirs up with him as he yelled, "To our friends Fayt, Cliff, and Roger! Whose presence has brought nothing but good in our town!"
Several Runologist's in the tavern sat at a long table together and yelled, "YEAH!" They all took a large swig of their booze as Adray hopped down from the table, his daughter sitting down next to him shook her head with a slight blush, "Father, must you be so obnoxious?"
Adray's response was a booming laugh, he patted his daughter on the shoulder, "Lighten up Clair! This is a celebration!"'
She shook her head and smiled at his antics, it was bewildering how someone so calm could have been bred via Adray, most people assumed that Clair's mom must have been the most passive person who'd ever lived. This line of thinking fueled Fayt, who sat across from them at the table, to laugh, "It's funny seeing the contrast between you two like this."
Cliff sat next to Fayt, the Klausian took a big swig from his own pint and boomed, "I agree with Adray, you should lighten up Clair!"
Clair made a small sour face at Cliff when the whole table of her subordinates jeered, Rouge being the leader, she sat right next to Clair and slid a drink towards her friend, "Drink something Clair!"
Around the table they all joined in. Aster, Vaan, Leon, Dante, Rouge, Adray, Cliff, and Fayt all cheered, "Drink! Drink! Drink!"
Clair picked up her drink ever so daintily, "To Cliff, Fayt, Roger, And my Father."
She proceeded to take a small sip of the booze, everyone cheered with one massive breath as a response to her caving. She sat the drink back down and spoke to Cliff, "Happy now?"
The Klausian smiled broadly at her, "Oh yeah!"
Clair shook her head again with a smile on her face when Aster posed a question towards Fayt and Cliff, "So guys, what the heck was happening with that wagon earlier?"
Clair and Rouge both felt a light bulb go off as Cliff laughed, "Oh that was a damn blast wasn't it?"
Clair followed up, "What did happen?"
Fayt got a tad fired up, "We were driving when one of those small goblin monsters stepped out in the road and threw knifes at us! Albel was driving, one of those knives nearly hit him and stuck into the wagon next to his head! Instead of stopping to just fight it, Albel started laughing like a mad man and just sped the horses up!"
The earthling had pushed all that out with a single breath, when he stopped to breath he noticed how into the story everyone was, Aster pried further, "Then what happened!?"
Fayt threw his hands up in the air and stood with vitriol, "That crazy bastard actually ran over the damn goblin! The horses freaked out and started getting erratic, Albel lost control of the wagon! Then we go over a big hill, hit a rock and I went flying out of the wagon when I tried to grab the reigns!"
Everyone save Clair began laughing like crazy, Fayt kept ranting, "If Cliff hadn't caught me I would have face planted, Roger had to lift both of us up of the side of the wagon, and all the glass we worked hard to get was nearly busted, Sheesh!"
Fayt's anger didn't seem to be mutually shared, they all were slapping their knees and falling over laughing, obviously the alcohol had taken its effect. Fayt returned to his seat when Clair asked, "How did you stop the wagon."
Cliff and Adray made their way up to the bar to order more drinks as Fayt answered, "Your dad jumped on one of the horses and calmed it down."
Rouge cut in, "Leave it to Adray...Hey," the dark haired drunken beauty had a thought, "Where the heck ARE Albel and Roger?"
Fayt thought, "Oh, those two, they went to train I think."
After that, the party was bright for several more hours.
...
"So, what do you think mam?"
Three sullen faced women sat secluded in a dense forest clearing around a fire. Night had turned the area pitch black. The mood shown on their faces was all one needed to ascertain that something was amiss. The question that broke the silence was intended for the leader of the three. As an air bubble popped inside a piece of firewood the leader took a breath. She stared into the fire from underneath a mop of long red hair as she softly spoke, "We don't have a choice, one of us will have to go back now, the other two will follow after we do one more check on the gate."
"Which one of us should head back now mam?"
The Leader thought for just a moment before her soft voice passed through the darkness, "You go Tynave."
...
A familiar scene fell upon Adray's home in Arias. Night had fallen as Cliff and Clair sat together upon the small loveseat that faced the fireplace, a dark brown blanket pulled over the two of them. Around the room several other people lay asleep, Albel sat with his back against a wall in a corner, one hand on his Katana, one leg bent at the knee held the other arm, and his head lay drooped in slumber. Roger was curled up asleep within a blanket in front of the raging fireplace. In a strange turn of events, Fayt had passed out in the large bay window sill once again. The earthling was mumbling to himself in his sleep when Clair commented, "Is he alright?"
The massive man who sat quietly next to her glanced at his friend across the room, "He should be okay...I feel bad though, he said he didn't feel like drinking again. At least I cut him off this time."
Clair watched Fayt roll over in his sleep before turning her focus back to Cliff, "He sure does mumble a lot in his sleep."
Cliff gazed about the fire that burned before them, "He doesn't always do that, here lately he's been having rough dreams making it hard to sleep, he mumbles a lot during them."
Clair nodded, "I see, did something happen to trigger them?"
Up till this point, they'd been sitting on opposite sides of the loveseat, but as he replied with an ever so slightly concerned tone, Cliff shifted long ways and put his legs out next to Clair's lap, "I'm not sure, he started having the dreams about a month ago, apparently, they're always about people in his life getting hurt...it kind of makes me worried it's a precognition thing, but nothing bad happened yet. It should do him good to see all our friends are safe and sound. Either way, all the more reason why this training trip is good for him, Hell, it at least gives him a break from school. That guy works harder than anyone I've ever met."
Clair hadn't expected such a thorough explanation, but she had listened eagerly through the entire thing. She waited for him to pause long enough to be sure he was done before she spoke with warmth, "It's nice to see how much you care about him."
Cliff scratched the back of his head bashfully, "Well, he is family."
Suddenly, Cliff was given a jolting shock. Clair had always kept her long silvery brown hair pulled into massive long pony tails, but for the first time ever the Klausian watched as she untied the long black wraps that held the ponytails in place. The hair fell to its natural state, framing her face. Had Cliff ever thought her pretty face could never grow even more alluring, he certainly would have been proven wrong in that moment. Something about flowing hair just added an essence of femininity that would always crush even the most modest of men, and Cliff was no exception. However, Cliff being bolder than your average man, made note of this as he looked into her eyes, the vibrant pools seemed unnaturally large in the dark shaded room, "Man, you sure do look gorgeous with that hair down."
Clair smiled at him, a little boldness of her own kept her focused through the light flutter, "Thank you."
She was relieved when he broke eye contact to watch the fire, it gave her an opportunity to let go of the tight hold she held on her blush. After the fluster passed, she asked, "Are the two of you going to be on the planet through the end of this week?"
Cliff laid even farther back on the loveseat, snuggling in as Clair shifted her legs to adjust for the massive man's movement, he ended up on his back, looking up at the roof as he answered, "Yup, that is the plan."
"Then there is something I'd like to ask of you."
Cliff was sleepy as he answered, perhaps the days earlier alcohol was beginning to get at him, "What's up?"
Clair spoke calmly, just a slight hint of anxiousness was traceable, but Cliff missed it in his lumbering state, "At the end of this week, In Aquious, the castile is having its annual Winter Fete...would you care to accompany me there?"
Cliff's eyes widened a tad, "What, like a date?"
Clair stayed the path, "Well, you would be my escort, so I suppose it's like a courtship."
Cliff sat up, laughing quietly as he did so, the action brought him just a foot away from Clair's face, "Courtship, what a fancy way to say date."
Just then he noticed the embarrassed blush on her face, so instead of picking at the girl, he answered directly, respecting the woman's need to hold onto her propriety in a nervous moment, "I'd love to go on a date with you, will there be food there?"
The beauty beamed, the propriety was gone now, given way to excitement, "Yes! The best cooks from all over Aquaria!"
Cliff fell backwards back to his lying down position, "Then you've got yourself an escort."
Clair balled up the elation to the best of her ability, but it leaked, "Excellent!"
Cliff thought a moment, "Not often a lady asks me out! Though I should warn you, fancy dos aren't my thing, so I'll only want to dance a little before I hit the food table."
Clair giggled, "Fine with me, I'll join you at the food table since I'm not so light footed myself."
Cliff gave her a thumbs up, "Deal!"
They grew silent after that, Clair stared into the fire for a while as Cliff fell asleep. Then she slowly gave way to slumber herself, rolling around until she and Cliff made quite the pretzel on the couch. So night fell, in slow pursuit of the next day.
There will be more soon!
