Star Ocean: Till The End Of Time Fan Fiction ❯ Yaoi Ocean 3 ❯ Chapter Thirteen: Seperation ( Chapter 13 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Chapter Thirteen

Separation

Exactly as they thought, it had been a trap, though the man waiting for them clearly didn't know how they had bypassed the security. That was certainly confusing; they had been invited, after all.

Naturally, a fight ensued, and the win was hard-gained, but none of the group was hurt seriously. However, Azazer, the one they had been fighting, activated the security system before he died, cutting off their escape route.

Sophia cast Fairy Light on everyone to heal their wounds before they moved on. With the security system activated, they ran in to the occasion guard, and there were robots and even tanks littered about each floor they came across.

If this was it, their relationship was not going down in the dark. Frankly, Albel was tired of the other two hiding it. Tired of hiding it for their sake. Just fucking sick of it. And if they hated him for what he was about to do, so be it. But he had to do it.

It had to be Cliff first—while he was off-guard. Then Fayt.

Albel straightened and strode over to Cliff. He could feel the rest of the group's eyes on him, wondering why he was walking with everyone else instead of trailing behind them like a creepy stalker like he usually did. Now wasn't the time for stage fright. He grabbed Cliff's head in both hands, rose to eye-level and kissed him. The kiss was angry, frightened, and anxious all at the same time. But he felt good about it. Cliff's eyes were wide open. His lips didn't move; he was too shocked. Albel let go of him and spun around. He stalked over to Fayt. Fayt's eyes widened as he realized what the Elicoorian was planning. Before Fayt could try to escape, he grabbed his head in both hands to keep him still. He leaned down and kissed Fayt. Fayt's mouth was frozen in shock. His entire body was frozen. Albel's tongue rolled over Fayt's lips. He felt more confident now, but how long would that last?

He let go of him and walked ahead of the group a ways, back to them. “Are we going or not?”

No one said anything. Sophia's brain refused to process what had just happened and, in a fit of protest, caused her to faint rather than deal with the truth: That Fayt had just been kissed by a guy. Maria looked from Cliff, to Fayt, to Albel, and back again in open-eyed astonishment. Nel blinked several times as she tried to sort out what had just transpired and, more importantly, why.

Finally, someone moved. Nel knelt to help Sophia. The brunette came to quickly and looked at the three men, pointing to each of them in turn as she spoke. “Did… that… I mean… Did Albel just… and Cliff… and Fayt too?” she stammered.

Maria hesitated. “I'm… not sure I saw it all myself…”

“No, he did,” Nel said.

“Cliff, breathe,” the leader of Quark commanded. Cliff's face was turning as blue as Maria's hair as his body forgot how to breathe. She hauled back her first and punched him in the gut and he exhaled, then inhaled desperately. “What was that about?” Cliff was still too shocked for words. Fayt hadn't moved since Albel had let go of him. Maria glanced at Albel. “Hey, you. What the hell are you up to?”

Albel turned back around. He opened his mouth to reply with the most straightforward answer that came to mind, but Cliff and Fayt had suddenly regained themselves and lunged simultaneously at the swordsman. Fayt clamped his hand over Albel's mouth. Cliff pinned his arms down. “What the hell has gotten in to you?” Cliff hissed in his ear. Albel scowled down at Fayt's hand. Obviously, he couldn't reply with Fayt covering his mouth, but neither of them trusted him enough at the moment to relax that hold.

“Excuse us,” Fayt said to the rest of the party. Cliff and Fayt hauled Albel off around the corner. Once they were out of earshot, they let go of him.

Little did they know that the girls were conspiring to spy on them. They watched them go. Maria tilted her head toward them, looking at Nel. The redhead nodded once that she understood. Nel motioned to Sophia to be quiet. The issue with this area was that, though they could walk out of earshot, there were enough corners to hide behind that spying on them was no problem for Nel. Maria pulled the scope off of her gun and watched them through it for as long as she could before they rounded a corner. However, no indication of what was going on could be made just from them dragging Albel off. Nel crept after them.

“What did you do that for?” Fayt demanded, letting go of Albel's mouth. Cliff released his arms.

Albel glared from one to the other. “I'm tired of pretending. And I'm sick of lying about it and hiding it like it's something I should be ashamed of; I'm not.” He suddenly looked hurt. “Why are you?”

Cliff again lost the ability to speak—something about the sorrowful look in Albel's eyes and the hurt tone of his voice. He just didn't know what to say. Fayt's facial features softened. “I'm sorry, Albel. What else can we do?” Fayt said softly. This is when Nel got within earshot again, but no one was aware of her ninja-like presence.

Cliff crossed his arms and pried his eyes away from Albel. The kicked-puppy expression on Albel's face rendered him utterly helpless; it may have been the point. He looked in the other's general direction instead. The swordsman knew the difference. “Albel, this is almost over. Leave it be.”

The kicked-puppy look somehow got more sorrowful. “You're both stupid.”

Fayt broke in. “Albel, I want to return to my life after this!” he pleaded. “I want to go home. I don't want to have Sophia think of me like that.”

“She already does,” he said bitterly. “Unless she convinced herself it was a dream.”

Cliff felt a headache coming on. “What about me, then? Maria isn't gonna just forget about it.”

He looked at them. “But if they're only your friends, how is it different than if Fayt and I were women?”

The blonde tried to say two different things at once and ended up stuttering instead. He cleared his throat. How could he explain his relationship with Mirage? He had always had feelings for her, and he had an idea that she felt the same way. Neither of them had ever acted on it though. He was grateful that she wasn't here. And this thing with Albel and Fayt—that was a fling. He wasn't willing to jeopardize Mirage for a fling. Besides, Maria was like his adopted daughter as well as his boss. To hell that this incident wouldn't taint her thoughts about him either. He didn't think she would tell anyone about it, but all the same… “Mirage,” he finally said with a deep sigh. “I won't give up her for either of you—or even both of you.”

Albel looked like Cliff had just punched him in the gut. Fayt jerked slightly, as if he were shocked. Of course, he knew that. He would probably still choose Sophia over Cliff and Albel… it was less weird, less confusing. More natural. Fayt was the first to recover from it. “… Y-you're right… This should end now.” And never look back, he thought.

Albel actually backed away from both of them. Nel decided that now was the time to return to the other women. Things were about to get really ugly.

Maria had been watching what she could see through the scope, but she hadn't seen much. The other two were eager for information.

“So what's going on?” Sophia asked Nel upon her return. Maria reattached her scope.

Nel hesitated and glanced back at the direction she had left them in but they hadn't started back yet. “Honestly…” She hesitated again. Should she dare say what was going on? She decided that, to spare them their privacy, she should lie. “They're having a few words with Albel about appropriate conduct.” It wasn't exactly a lie.

“So… What about him kissing them?” Maria wondered.

Nel shrugged in a helpless gesture. “I don't know what's wrong with him, but it was about to get bad, so I left.”

“Are they fighting?” Sophia asked.

Nel's mouth twisted into a frown. “Sort of. Let's wait for them to get back.”

Back with our favourite threesome…

“What the hell is wrong with both of you!” Albel demanded. “Is that it?” He looked down. “We just spend all this time having sex and then that's all?”

Thoughts of a thought echoed in Fayt's mind. It can't last. It won't last. “Albel…”

It's all because we're men, Albel thought miserably. If I were female, would they still abandon me like this? Or would their previous relationships mean more? Why is it all right to do this to a man, then, and not a woman?

Albel looked up. “Fine. So be it.”

Fayt and Cliff had won the argument, but they didn't feel victorious. They felt like they had lost too. But lost what?

“Let's go,” Fayt said quietly. Upon their return, the girls almost asked about the entire event, but one look at their faces silenced them. Nel was the only one who had a real idea of what had transpired, and she hadn't said one word. Albel seemed to have grown even more distant, detached, and mean. Cliff was a little more arrogant, a little more interested in the minor battles they came across. Fayt was silent and nothing more. He didn't feel like fighting so Maria took his place. Cliff only wanted to fight. Albel seemed to want to, but didn't.

While Cliff and Maria were dispatching a minor enemy and Sophia and Fayt talked a ways away, Nel noticed Albel's sorrowful disposition. She wondered if she should say something, but it really wasn't her place and, besides, he would probably only snap at her. Still… She walked over to him. “You look like you just got dumped,” she commented.

He looked at her. “Only because I did.”

Nel hadn't been expecting him to be so blunt about it. She glanced at the others. “I think we all need a short break before we go. It's been a long ways.” She looked up at him. “Will you come for a walk with me?”

He hesitated, then agreed. She told Sophia and Fayt what they were doing before they left. Albel tried trailing behind her, but she kept slowing down to a snail's pace when he did, so he walked beside her. Nel took a deep breath. “I overheard some of what transpired.”

“You were spying on us.”

“You could say that.” He scowled. “So what really happened?” she asked. When Albel didn't respond, she added, “I won't tell anyone. Who would believe me anyway? You can trust me.”

He snorted at that. “I don't trust you.”

“Did you trust Fayt?” Nel asked him. He missed a step. She nodded wisely. “I see. Well, so they dumped you. How come?”

He studied her for a moment. “They're worried about what people will think of them.”

She nodded encouragingly. “Go on.”

Albel paused for a long moment. “Fayt apparently… Well… Sophia…”

Nel pursed her lips in thought. “Yes, Fayt does seem attached to Sophia.”

He felt a bit relieved that she had said that. “Cliff likes Mirage,” he spat out immediately. That came out much easier. Maybe because their relationship wasn't so obvious to Albel. “And Maria is his boss… So…”

Nel quickly saw where this was going. “And they're both worried that… their relationship with each other… and you… was going to ruin it?”

He sighed in relief. “That's right.”

“But if they were really more interested in the other girls, wouldn't they have never gotten involved?”

Albel very nearly smiled, because she understood. His mood lifted. Someone got it! Would she help, though? “Exactly!”

Nel paused. “However… What was your relationship like? Was it just sex, or did you care about each other?”

He looked away. He knew that Fayt had feelings for Cliff and him. He could very probably love them, and was terrified of saying it aloud—largely in part by what he had said and done that night on the Aquaelie. Cliff seemed to care about Fayt and Albel. The swordsman sighed. And… somewhere, deep down… so deep that to find it required conscious thought and concentration, he cared about them too. Though he had a hard time admitting it aloud. He gritted his teeth for a moment. He had to say something. No, he had to say the truth or she wouldn't be able to help. “Yes,” he spat out. “We never said anything, but we did.”

She glanced at him briefly. “That was probably part of the problem.”

He frowned at her. “Doesn't any of this bother you?”

(Author's Note: This is extremely out of character, but, oh, I just couldn't resist the temptation from the fanfic devil and if I go to fanfic author hell and burn forever in the flames of angry readers for it, then that's my… fayt. It was well-worth it!)

An uncharacteristic grin spread across her face. “Actually…” She reached in to her pocket and pulled out a small rectangular, laminated card. It was a membership card with Nel's name and a member number printed on it. She flashed the front of it to Albel. It read, quite clearly, “Boys Love Fandom: There is no girl who doesn't like yaoi! “ It depicted two naked bishounen making out. She stashed the card back in her pocket. “Maria and I were talking and once she heard that I liked yaoi, she convinced me to join the club--literally.” Her grin broadened. “So Maria is a yaoi fan too. So, you see, Cliff only has to worry about Maria acting fangirl-ish.”

Albel realized his mouth was hanging open in astonishment and snapped it shut. The world felt like it had suddenly gone quite mad and reality was out to lunch. He blinked several times as he tried to process this news. “You're… a… yaoi… fangirl.”

“That's right.” She suddenly turned serious. “So what do you want to do? Do you want to accept that they dumped you? They both have feelings for you and each other. I think we can work something out.”

`Yaoi fangirl?' Albel's head spun. He shook it to clear it. “Are you saying that I can get them back?”

“Yes,” Nel said. “Maria will want to help. Is there any more information you could tell me?”

He hesitated, then told her about their problem with Sophia. She couldn't help but giggle a little when he told her about how she had walked in on them. Nel nodded for a moment as she considered this new element to the situation. “Well, her apparent problems with Boys Love will pose a problem if Fayt is concerned about his relationship with her.”
“Anything you can do about it?”

A wicked grin spread across her face. “'There is no girl who doesn't like yaoi.' We'll think of something. So don't worry about that. I'll let you know once we've properly converted her.” They stopped walking and started to turn around. She put her hands on hips. “Then, we can begin to work on your relationship with Fayt and Cliff. I think I've got a few ideas.”

Albel's affection for Nel suddenly skyrocketed. (For anyone who follows their affection gauges, his affection for her suddenly doubled.) This woman, who he had thought was just “Aquarian scum,” who happened to fight well, had just offered to help him. More than that, she had some ideas and even seemed a bit excited about going about it. “Nel…”

“You're welcome, Albel.”

“… Thank you.” He sighed in relief. He had been so upset. So downhearted because of all that had just transpired. And now it might all work out. So… perhaps… There was hope after all. But now they had the Creator to deal with.

Fayt couldn't help but be jealous. Albel and Nel had walked off alone. Could he be so angry as to seduce Nel too to get back at them? Was he the type? A lot of people were. Fayt hoped not, but… They had been gone an awfully long time.

When they returned, they seemed a lot closer than before. Fayt sensed no animosity between them anymore either. Jealousy coursed through his veins like lead. His heart dropped down to his bowels in despair. Had they…?

Albel and Nel did look a little sweaty, but there were plenty of enemies. It could have been a fight on the way back or something. But Fayt's fears led him to believe the worst. As it turns out, he was right the first time, but he certainly didn't know that.

Fayt managed to talk to Cliff alone during a battle while they were using standby healing and letting the others fight. Nel and Albel were doing really well together. The jealousy welled up again. “Do you think Albel seduced Nel?” he whispered. “They were gone for a while and they came back kind of sweaty…”

“There are security guards everywhere,” Cliff pointed out. “It coulda been a fight. But if they wandered off to talk, what'd they talk about? It's not like Albel really likes Nel.” He frowned, watching the two of them together. They had just taken down the security guard and were talking in hushed tones now. Nel hid a smile. Cliff narrowed his eyes. “Or does he?”

Fayt groaned. “No… But…”

“Fayt, it's not like…” He almost said that “it's not like they were together anymore” but he stopped. They were never “together.” That wasn't how it had been. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Well, let him do what he wants. It's none of our business.”

Fayt tried to protest that, but it died on his tongue. No, it wasn't his business. Not any more. Not after what he had just said. Albel had been upset and hurt. Nel had been the person to come to him. Fayt had been the one to make him upset and hurt. Fayt felt miserable for that.

Cliff looked away. “We should get goin'.”

On the fifth floor, when they couldn't continue any farther, the security guards swarmed around them like roaches before spilled food. Fayt stepped nervously behind Cliff. He felt just a little safer that way, but what could they do against this many guards?

A locked door opened. “This way!” a woman shouted from behind the formerly locked passage. They hesitated, but only once before running after her. If this was another trap, they were already cornered and outnumbered anyway. What did they have to lose? The door closed behind them, sealing the guards outside.

After a brief introduction, the woman led them to a safer place up ahead. Her name was Blair, and seemed to know all about what was going on.

Blair and the others who constructed the Eternal Sphere were opposed to what “the Creator” was doing, and they wanted the Eternal Sphere placed in a museum where it could no longer be interfered with.

The programmers gave Fayt an uninstaller that seemed like it would solve their problem with the Executioners. The only real issue was that it wouldn't work unless the program ran inside the Eternal Sphere. Thus, the problem was getting back to the Eternal Sphere, considering that they couldn't get to Gemity from the Sphere Company any more. Blair told them that there was a way there, but the location proposed a slight problem.

No matter; they had to do it, so any problem they encountered, they would just have to tackle.

As they made their way there, the Owner, Luther, held a brief conversation with Blair that more or less proclaimed her a traitor. He also mentioned something about “corruption.” Fayt wondered at that. What was corrupted? What was wrong with Symbology? He didn't think too much of Symbolical Genetics himself, but why was it considered “corrupt”? Or was it because it made them dangerous—their existence in the 4D world being proof of that?

As expected, security showed up soon. Blair seemed to know them and pleaded with them not to attack, but they did anyway. One of the security guards mentioned something that Fayt didn't like. What was wrong with the program Blair had written? What had the Owner done?

Before he could get any more information, the man died though, and Blair commented about their power. Maria regarded her with open suspicion, bordering on aggression. Blair was thankfully not offended, and it helped that Maria apologized.

They headed on to the elevator up to the 211 floor where the terminal was.

They were transported to Planet Styx. Sophia yelped in terror. Weapons were drawn; there were Executioners there, as if they had been waiting for them. They probably had.

The first fight was with a Proclaimer, but Sophia still wasn't finished by the end of the fight, and they were soon attacked again. After the second fight with the Enforcer, the uninstaller activated. Sophia looked extremely relieved that she hadn't let everyone down.

The Executioners were gone. Just vanished.

Fayt felt relieved—the threat was taken care of and the sense of accomplishment was pleasing. However… it also meant that he had to decide what to do now. He glanced at Cliff, then to Albel. Was it goodbye then?

He didn't get far in his thoughts, though. The ground shook in a way that was like an earthquake, but it wasn't anything natural. Fear raced through the group. What now?

A dark-looking enemy loomed toward them. It was smaller than the others, but more powerful. When they defeated it, the victory was close. Sophia cast Fairy Light, and had to heal Fayt a second time to get to full health. His HP had gotten pretty low in the fight. He had pushed Cliff out of the way of an attack near the end, saving Cliff from more or less instant death, but had paid for it and lost most of his health in the process. He hadn't been able to help it. He had seen Cliff about to get hurt and his body had just reacted.

Blair managed to contact them and informed them of the trouble that the security guard had mentioned. The Owner had prepared a security program in the event the uninstaller ran, which had been the new Executioner, the Convictor.

That left only one thing to do: They had to get to Luther himself and convince him to uninstall the program, and they were prepared to use force if necessary.

As it turned out, they needed what they called an OPA to get to the Creator. The path was already open; they knew where one was: The Sacred Orb on Elicoor II.

They headed back to the shuttle they had left in the hopes of it still operating. However, they found it in ruins.

Fayt felt like he might throw himself on the ground and wail. All this, and they were stuck. They had found out where to go, they had a way to save their galaxy now, and this?

Maria and Cliff desperately fiddled with their communicators.

“Any transmissions?” Fayt asked hopefully. It was a bit much to hope for a transmission way out here. Styx was so far away from the other planets and was pretty much useless anyway, and off-limits besides. What ship could be close enough for their communicators to contact? Moreover, what ship could be left out there?

Hope flared anew though. The Diplo was close enough for contact. Apparently, they had gotten worried and came to Styx in their absence in hopes of news. The relief was evident on everyone's facial expressions that they weren't stranded.

It took a few minutes for the Diplo to set coordinates for the teleporter and to get close enough for it. Fayt fidgeted anxiously. Cliff glanced around, looking for any more Executioners that might be lurking nearby. Albel stretched, pacing restlessly. Sophia finger-combed her hair apprehensively. Maria kept glancing at the sky fretfully. Nel kept touching the hilt of her daggers; it was a comfort thing. It was hard to sit still with disaster so close.

Nel walked over to Maria and said something to her. The two wandered away from the rest of the group, still within eyesight. Fayt looked at them as they spoke, straining and failing to hear the words. Their voices were too low. Maria glanced at Albel. Fayt paled. Had Nel just told her about her recent relationship with Albel? Girls did things like that—they gossiped and networked. They told each other about things like that.

Maria looked at Albel, Fayt, and briefly at Cliff as her eyes trailed back to Nel. She had only looked at Fayt because he was watching though, he was sure. He quickly averted his eyes, sinking to new depths of despair. So Albel really had moved on to Nel. But Fayt had more or less dumped him. Shouldn't he expect him to move on? But—so fast? Had Fayt and Cliff meant so little to him? Had he only been upset because it meant no more sex?

Why did it upset Fayt so much anyway? It wasn't like… No, he stopped himself in his thoughts right there. No, it wasn't like that at all. But he still felt jealous.

Cliff glanced at the girls. Could Fayt be right? He worried about that. But why worry? Cliff had dumped him. Why should he be worried? Even though it was unreasonable, he was still concerned though.

Finally, they were teleported up and they set coordinates for Elicoor.

Nel pulled Albel aside on the ship. “Fayt's jealous already,” she said, looking pleased. He frowned. “This may be easier than I thought if he's already jealous of me.”

Maria assigned all the guests rooms. She had been let in on the goings-on and assigned Fayt and Albel to the same room, as they didn't have enough spare rooms to give everyone a separate room. When no one was looking, she winked at Albel. He caught the meaning. They really were helping. Moreover, the girls' scheming was working.

Nel and Maria conversed again briefly and Nel took Albel to her room so they could discuss a few more things. To give them some privacy, Maria gave Sophia a tour of the ship.

Fayt's jealousy burned with the white-hot intensity of a thousand suns. Could they make it any more obvious? Albel was in Nel's room right now! Right now! Alone together!

He paced restlessly inside his room, then walked outside. He paced again then found himself staring at the door to Nel's room. He hesitated and walked over to the door, listening, his curiosity getting the better of him. He just had to know if his suspicions were correct or not.

Nel suddenly lowered her voice and finished what she had been saying as they went over their game plan. Albel was feeling suddenly rather good about this. And, that the threat wasn't over was actually beneficial in a small way; it gave them more time to follow-through. “I think he's listening at the door.” She grinned. “You want to work on the jealousy factor a little more?”

Albel knew how jealous Fayt was already. Too much more and he might just burst—and when he did, Albel knew what to do. In fact, getting him to burst was the entire plan. “Yes,” he whispered. He dropped down on the bed noisily, making it very obvious that the bed was moving. He let out a long, deep, exaggerated and feigned moan. “Nel…”

Nel stuck a finger in her mouth, noisily sucking on it to mimic another sound. She let out a deep, throaty moan. Fayt's eyes widened. Albel fell on the mattress. With his legs, he moved the mattress back and forth against the headboard. Nel tried not to laugh—and that was the most difficult part. Albel remembered all the sounds he had made with Fayt and Cliff and mimicked the lower, quieter ones. Fayt's jealous rage couldn't tell the difference. Nel raised an eyebrow. She pulled her finger out of her mouth, tilted her head back and moaned as loudly as she could without it sounding false. “Oh, my goddess!” she cried. “You are amazing!”

Albel knew what she meant. “Amazing” as in “an amazing fake.” “Nel… Ah! You feel so good…” he said as he sarcastically rolled his eyes. She smiled and choked back a laugh, ending up making a strangled choking sound.

Fayt had heard enough. Face completely red and horrified, he fled.

Nel paused. “He's gone.”

Albel sat back up. “Finally.” This was going to be one interesting night though. The two resumed going over the game plan. When they finished, Albel left the room to go to the room he and Fayt shared. However, when he got there, Fayt wasn't there.

Fayt had gone to Cliff's room, begging him to let him sleep on his couch. “I can't face Albel,” he pleaded. “I heard him having sex with Nel.”

“You're just jealous,” Cliff pointed out. “And you dumped him for Sophia. So don't get pissy about it.” Being so rude was how Cliff was coping. Furthermore, he had to tell himself much the same thing—over and over again. And he didn't dare say out loud what he felt when Fayt had told him what he had heard. The envious feelings were overwhelming. And even still, he felt attracted to the two warriors. Was it really the right decision to end this? Yes, of course it was. It made more sense. It was the natural way of things. But…

“But doesn't it mean he was just using us? And now he's using Nel?” Fayt said. He looked so hurt.

Cliff wanted to hold him and comfort him. Take him to bed with him… No, he couldn't let his thoughts go there. Not anymore. “Fayt, get over it. Go to your own room.”

“Cliff…” But the Klausian was adamant and eventually picked him up and set him down outside the door. Fayt, feeling sullen, walked back to his room. He had been expecting to find it empty, but Albel was inside. Already finished with Nel? Looking at him made Fayt want to cry. Albel had never had any feelings for them at all? They were just sex toys to him? But of course they were. It was wrong to think otherwise.

Fayt turned his back to him as his eyes watered. He still wanted Albel. Still wanted Cliff. And why couldn't they… No, he knew why. That was how it had to be—how it must be. He had even said so. But…

He kicked off his shoes, and removed most of his clothes. He grabbed the blanket on the end of the couch and curled up on the couch, pulling it over his head, both to block out the light and to hide his face, and his tears.