Star Ocean: Till The End Of Time Fan Fiction ❯ Yaoi Ocean 3 ❯ Chapter Sixteen: Reconnection ( Chapter 16 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: excelsis
In which Cliff slowly starts coming around. There's also quite a bit of silliness in this chapter.

Non Anime: Star Ocean: Till The End Of Time Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Shounen / Romance / Fantasy / Drama / Adventure / Action | Type: Yaoi | Uploaded On: 09.01.2009 | Pages: 5 | Words: 11.4K | Visits: 144 | Status: Work In Progress

Chapter Sixteen
Reconnection
 
The guardians they had defeated in the Cavern and the Shrine had somehow returned, stronger than before too, and mutated. Was it the result of the Executioners? Could be.
Albel was dispirited, and refused to fight. The way he felt, he didn't much care about the galaxy getting destroyed. He knew that wasn't quite true, but if it got destroyed, it'd fit his mood pretty well.
Fayt had tried to cheer him up, but had failed miserably. Instead, he tried to talk to Cliff, but Cliff just shooed him away again. It all made him feel pretty useless and Albel's mood was contagious to Fayt. Nel and Maria seemed vaguely worried. They whispered to each other about what to do. Fayt didn't know if they made any conclusions or not.
Cliff still had to think about everything, put everything in perspective. He was getting no where with that, and when he looked at Albel, he felt terrible. He wanted to apologize, but how could he? They should never have been together to begin with. Staying separated was for the best, wasn't it? He wasn't so sure. Fayt gave Cliff a pleading look. Fayt was wordlessly begging Cliff to come around, to consider himself and Albel as a part of his life again. He looked away.
They made their way through the shrine and in to the room with the moving blocks of doom. The group was obviously too large to be able to make all the turns together, so they split up. Sophia and Mirage were the first group, and Maria and Nel the second, leaving once the timing was correct to get going again.
Cliff started out. Fayt pulled him back. They could take as much time as they needed and just say that they had complications. “Cliff, please. Let's talk. Let's talk now,” he said. Albel stood in a corner, head down. He looked like he would very much like the corner to be dark and dreary, but it wasn't.
“What about?” Cliff snapped. His voice had come out a lot harsher than he had intended. Fayt's eyebrows raised in shock. “No… I mean… What about?” That was better.
Fayt blinked twice and recovered. “I want the three of us to be together again,” he insisted. “I want you again.”
Cliff hesitated and glanced at Albel, who hadn't moved. “Fayt, we already talked about that.”
“And I already told you that it shouldn't matter—that it doesn't matter.” Fayt glared at him. “I don't care any more. I don't care if Sophia knows. I don't care. I want to be with both of you. That's… all that matters.”
Albel lifted his head, his mood lifted a little after he heard that. At least there was that. At least Fayt felt the way he did. Cliff crossed his arms. “That's all well and good, but that doesn't mean I'm jumpin' on the bandwagon.”
Fayt's glare deepened. “You should apologize to Albel,” he hissed. Cliff blinked in surprise at the venom in Fayt's voice. He didn't know the kid could do that. Must have picked up something from Albel. While Albel might be pleased about that, Cliff was not; he liked Fayt being cute and innocent… but it was his fault that Fayt was angry enough to say something with that tone of voice. “I don't know what happened between you two, but you need to apologize to him. Whatever you did to make him this upset, I know that Albel doesn't deserve it.” This is only half-true. There are things like “dramatic repercussions” and “karma” and such that do exist and are active in life, and usually true as well.
Albel wanted to kiss Fayt for finally being bold enough to both proclaim that he no longer cared about hiding their relationship or not, as well as standing up for him. Instead, he continued sulking in his corner.
Fayt glared a moment longer at Cliff. “I'm going to get going. Please apologize to Albel.” He stomped off alone.
Cliff glanced at Albel. The silence was awkward and uncomfortable. It hung in the air like a swarm of angry gnats—difficult to ignore and eager to be away from. Cliff looked away. “Let's get going.”
Albel's mood sunk again, even lower than it had been before. He might as well have had a black storm cloud hovering over his head. He followed Cliff into the short maze. He was staring at the floor and just following Cliff as the Klausian maneuvered through the maze, dodging the moving blocks. Because he wasn't paying attention even remotely, he didn't notice when one suddenly came up from the side. Cliff turned in time to see it. He grabbed Albel's wrist and just managed to pull him out of the way. The momentum from the movement propelled the smaller man into Cliff's chest. Both of them froze. Albel started to angrily pull away, powered by hurt. He remembered all too vividly what had happened the last time they were in such a position. Cliff pinned him in one place though, pressing him against his chest. Albel's eyes widened.
“I'm sorry,” he whispered. “I'm sorry I hurt you.” Slowly, tentatively, Albel wrapped his arms around Cliff. He leaned his head against the Klausian's shoulder, but still a little cautiously, as if it might not be real. “I do want to be with you and Fayt, all right?” He let out a deep sigh. “I just need some more time to think about it, okay? Give me some more time.”
Albel nodded against his shoulder. “Mm-hmm.”
“It's not safe here; we need to get moving.”
Albel let out a deep, annoyed sigh. “Fine. You owe me though.” He broke away and the two made their way through the maze. In the next room, there was another. The others had kept going in their absence. That was fine. Before they went in to the maze, Albel grabbed Cliff and kissed him—fast, passionate, and deep. It sort of startled Cliff, but what the swordsman said next eclipsed the kiss. “I…” Albel felt his face heat. He stared downward. “I need you to carry me.”
“What?” Cliff wondered quizzically. Had he heard him right?
“When you pulled me out of the way of that block, I sprained my ankle,” he muttered. “If you don't carry me, I might get hit by one of the ones in this room. It's your fault, so you should take responsibility.”
“That's `coercion,'” he pointed out. Cliff smiled crookedly. “On my back?”
Albel's face heated again. “Carry me like you did when I was sick.”
Cliff couldn't resist the temptation. He leaned down and kissed Albel. “Sophia can heal your ankle, I think. I'll put you down before we get to the door.” He scooped Albel up. He readjusted himself a bit so he had one free arm. Albel was light for someone his height—he was so thin though. Albel hooked his right arm behind Cliff's neck to help steady himself. He leaned his head against Cliff's shoulder and helped watch out for the moving blocks.
Cliff wasn't 100% certain that Albel's ankle was actually sprained, or if Albel just didn't want Cliff to let go of him, but he liked carrying Albel anyway. He had enjoyed carrying Fayt too. Both at the same time might be impossible though.
He made his way to the other side without incident and set Albel down. “How's the ankle?” he asked him.
Albel shrugged a shoulder and limped out the door. On the other side, the rest of the group was waiting for them.
“What took so long?” Mirage asked them.
Cliff jerked a thumb in the Glyphian's direction. “'Albel the Wicked' over here sprained his ankle.”
“It was your fault, idiot,” Albel snapped.
“Yeah—I could've let you get run over,” Cliff said conversationally. Fayt smiled. Cliff had apologized. Good. Albel seemed to be in a better mood too. The blonde glanced at Sophia. “Can you fix it?”
She nodded assuredly and cast “Cure Condition” on Albel. Apparently, it worked on sprains too. He supposed that a sprained ankle was a “condition.” They continued onward. Fayt trailed to the back of the group with Albel. He whispered, “He apologized, then?”
Albel nodded once. “Yes.”
Fayt looked at Albel. “Is it enough?”
A slight pause, then a small smile. “Yes.” Fayt smiled knowingly. Something had transpired between them. Maybe Cliff was coming around then. The next thing Albel said assured Fayt of this. “He said he needed more time to think about it, but he is interested.”
“I'm relieved to hear that,” Fayt commented. They came to the Sacred Orb.
 
*please refer to script or gameplay*
 
On the way back, Fayt finally took some initiative, and walked beside Albel instead of the front like he usually did. Sophia glanced at him curiously, just in time to see Fayt rise on his tiptoes and kiss Albel. Albel blinked in surprise that Fayt would do that with people around—especially everyone in the party. He was glad that he did though. He so wanted to not hide this any more.
Sophia turned completely around. She didn't feel as shocked as she had before though. In fact, she had come to realize it some time ago. She had thought that it might be hard to see this. She had always liked Fayt, the way a girl likes a boy. But Fayt always just seemed to think of her as a kid sister. Besides… he seemed happy. And if she liked him at all, and she did, she could be happy because he was happy. So, even though she felt a little sad at her personal loss, she still felt happy for Fayt.
“Hey, Fayt, how about you switch with me and play warrior for a while,” Nel was saying as she turned to look at him. She froze in place, then smiled. Fayt and Albel had stopped. Fayt had his arms around Albel's waist and they were kissing.
“Nel?” Maria wondered aloud. She turned and looked too, and froze. She grinned. Cliff turned and looked, then guffawed. Sophia blushed. Mirage looked, but didn't see anything worth getting excited over.
“Somehow, they seem incomplete,” she commented.
Fayt blushed, leaning against Albel's chest. “Uh…” He wasn't sure if it was more or less awkward that only Cliff seemed to be shocked by it. The girls all just took it in stride. Albel seemed perfectly content to just stand there.
“They do,” Maria agreed. She grabbed Cliff and pulled him over to them. She shoved him toward them, winking at Albel and Fayt. The two quickly grabbed him. Albel wrapped his arms around Cliff's waist on one side of him. Fayt nestled contentedly between the two. Cliff seemed oddly frozen in place, staring into space like a rabbit staring in to headlights.
Mirage raised an eyebrow, looked at them from a couple different angles, then grinned. “Perfect.”
Albel leaned in and kissed Cliff's neck. Maria took a picture with her multi-functional communicator. She made a mental note to send it to her yaoi group later.
Nel grinned. “Fayt, you too,” she urged. Fayt reached one of his arms up to Cliff's shoulder, the other on Albel's hip. He leaned against Cliff. Cliff continued not moving. Maria and Nel walked to either side of Cliff, grabbed his arms and placed his hands on the other two to encircle them properly. One of Albel's arms around Cliff fell away so Fayt could lean more against Cliff; the gauntlet was too in the way for it to be effective. He set the claw gently on Fayt's shoulder, closing off the ring of limbs. Maria took another picture.
“Something needs to be done about Cliff's facial expression,” Mirage said. “It'd be much more visually appealing if he'd stop staring straight ahead.”
Maria looked at Cliff. “I'm pretty sure we traumatized him.”
Mirage and Nel laughed good-naturedly. Sophia chuckled a little. They decided to stop traumatizing Cliff for the time being and moved on. Fayt felt amazingly good over how that had gone. Sophia walked beside him. Fayt was between Albel and Sophia.
“Are you two… together then?” Sophia asked.
Fayt blushed and looked away. Albel decided to answer instead if Fayt was embarrassed. “You could say that,” he said. You could practically see the yaoi fangirl-ism radiate from Nel and Maria like Three Mile Island.
“Wow. Then, Fayt, are you going to stay on Elicoor after we defeat the Owner?” she asked.
Fayt missed a step. “Well… I hadn't really thought about it. I'll figure it out when the time comes.”
Sophia nodded. “I'd miss you if you stayed here,” she confessed.
Fayt was just relieved she was taking this so well—relieved and shocked anyway. Nel and Maria had certainly done their work well. Mirage didn't seem to have any issues with it either—even when Cliff was involved. Of course, that part hadn't been “real” per se. Still… it was something.
 
Cliff dunked his head in a bucket of cold water. Not so much out of cleanliness, but to make sure that he was awake. The second dunk was to make sure that he was alert. The third was to refresh his memory and make sure that the events had actually transpired. They had. He dunked his head in a fourth time for certainty. Yep, that had definitely happened. The fifth dunk was for no reason at all other than sheer horror, and to muffle his scream.
He continued screaming, only coming out of the water when he needed more air to scream with.
The first scream was because it had happened at all. The second was because Fayt and Albel were conspiring against him. The third was because Nel and Maria were in on it—this he knew now, for certain. The fourth and longest scream was because it was working against his will. He took a long, deep breath and grabbed the bucket. He held it over his head and flipped it over. The freezing cold killed his erection more effectively than the screaming and dunking of his face had.
Why did he want Fayt and Albel back so much? He still wasn't so sure about Mirage though. Just a little longer to think, to make sure. He needed to consider what would happen after this Creator business. He had to be absolutely certain. Or, if not that, at least certain that he wasn't losing something.
He paced as he air-dried, then went to the throne room.
 
Fayt and Albel went to the White Dew Garden. Albel filled Fayt in a bit more on what had happened in the Shrine, leaving out how Cliff had carried him; that was private and a little embarrassing.
“I don't think he'll leave us,” Fayt said. Fayt wrapped his arms around Albel. “Thanks for not just giving up on us.”
“I would have if not for Nel, so you should thank her.”
Fayt kissed him. “I will then.” Fayt kissed Albel again before he wandered off to find her. Nel was pacing in the hallway. Fayt thanked her, and told her why he was thanking her.
She smiled. “I wanted to help, but you're welcome.”
Fayt wandered around the castle a bit, and eventually came in to the throne room. Apparently, they had heard from Blair and had even figured out where the place was. That realized, they needed to head out. They still had a few hours of light left, so they could probably make it to Peterny by then.
 
*please refer to game play again*
 
*Adray joins party*
 
They set out for Peterny and bunked for the night in the inn. Giggling, the girls assigned Albel and Fayt to the same room.
“Oh, but you two only need one bed, right?” Maria said suggestively. “How about a single, then?”
Albel didn't miss a beat. A sly smile snaked across his face. “One of the beds is for sleeping, and the other is for… intimacy.”
Adray fell over, landing on a chair, to his fortune, instead of the floor. Fayt's face reddened horribly. Nel grinned. “Don't stay up too late, and don't keep everyone else up by being loud either.”
Albel grinned, snatched Fayt's collar, and drug him down the hall to their room. Fayt made half-hearted (and ignored) protests all the way to the room. The Elicoorian wasted absolutely no time and threw Fayt into one of the beds immediately. Fayt couldn't say he didn't like it. His impatience was infectious. They helped each other out of their clothes. Albel took a few minutes to rip his arm out of his gauntlet before he pounced on Fayt again.
Delighted that they weren't hiding, ecstatic that there was no more point in trying to keep quiet except to not annoy others (and Albel cared nothing about that), and simply happy to be together, their bodies intertwined. Fayt shuddered, feeling Albel push in to him. His fingers twisted into the blankets as his lover moved inside him, the Elicoorian giving sucking kisses to his neck. Albel moved against him just right, and Fayt's whole body stiffened in ecstasy. His body trembled. Seeing this reaction, Albel attempted the maneuver again and happened to get it right a second time. Fayt's back arched and he screamed. Albel pounded in to him, shuddering with the sound of Fayt's cries and the way his uke felt. Fayt's fingernails drug across Albel's back, the skin breaking in places.
The bed creaked, the headboard slammed against the wall—loudly. Maria and Nel, who were sharing a room, suddenly looked up from what they were doing. They looked at each other, looks of astonished glee on their faces. They raced out of the room and skidded to a halt outside Fayt and Albel's.
They could hear gasping, panting, and moaning on the other side. Amidst the sound of the headboard hitting the wall, they also heard skin slapping skin. Fayt gave another loud cry he couldn't hold back. Maria kneeled in front of the keyhole, trying to get a look.
Cliff found Nel and Maria taking turns peeking through the keyhole. He stared at them for a moment, debating on what to do about it. They hadn't noticed him, as they were preoccupied.
“Wow,” Nel said. “That's hot. Albel has nice legs.” Oh, didn't Cliff know the truth of that.
“I like his ass,” Maria said. So did Cliff. Neither of them had become aware of Cliff's presence, so intent were they on watching live porn. “And Fayt looks good.”
Nel nodded appreciatively. “I agree. He's cute.” He certainly was. Cute enough to get Cliff interested to begin with…
Cliff realized that he was quickly becoming aroused, and retreated to his room, which was as far away from Fayt and Albel's as he could get. He burrowed under the blankets, ignoring Adray when he came in, and trying to ignore his throbbing erection. He desperately wanted to kick Maria and Nel to the side and jump in bed with Fayt and Albel. He wanted to so badly. He wanted to join them, to make Albel scream like he had that one night in this very inn not so long ago. He wanted to watch Fayt quiver, gasp, and pant. He wanted to be with them, inside them, on top of them, feel their dampened skin, moist hair, listen to their panting, smell the sweat and the semen. And after it was over, he wanted to lie in a pile of sticky limbs, their bodies intertwined, utterly exhausted. He wanted to fall asleep with Fayt curled up against one side and Albel snuggled up against the other like they had only once before.
He stayed in bed alone instead, his body's carnal urges overruled by his common sense.
Maria and Nel tiptoed away after it was finished, back to their room. Fayt fell asleep with Albel's arms wrapped loosely around him. But the two still felt like the bed was a little empty.
 
Before they left for Mosel, they refined some of their weaponry again, as this would likely be their last opportunity. While Albel was smithing, Fayt happened to notice something. Fayt strayed to the back of the group as they exited the building.
“Albel, may I ask you a somewhat personal question?” Fayt asked casually.
The other frowned. “Sure, but who says I'll answer?”
Fair enough. “Is there any particular reason… that you're wearing a thong?”
Albel's face didn't even heat. “Yes.”
“What's that?” Fayt asked flatly.
He glanced sidelong at him. “I'm tired of you and Cliff staring at me every time the wind blows or something. And while the drooling and such is very flattering, I feel as though I am a distraction to the two of you on the battlefield.” He said all of that as calmly as if he were highlighting the finer points of mathematics to a gaggle of school children.
Fayt's mind reeled as he tried to decide which flaw in this argument he wanted to pick at first. He decided on the most obvious. “But a thong only covers the front.”
“So?”
Fayt massaged his temples. Albel's “logic” always gave him headaches. “Besides that, thongs are for fetish stuff…”
“Your point?”
Fayt pinched the bridge of his nose in open frustration. “That hardly helps!”
“But now you two won't be staring at my crotch so often.”
Fayt felt his own face heat. “That's not the point. We can still see your ass.”
Albel's mouth twisted in a frown. “Yes. So?”
Fayt wanted to strangle him, but the collar was quite in the way. This may have been the overall point, as Albel is a frustrating individual, seems to know it, and most people have hands, which means most people are capable of strangling someone, unless there was something in the way… like a large iron collar. “Why don't you just wear normal underwear?”
Albel regarded him as if he had just suggested that he wear socks as mittens in the heat of summer. “Obviously, because then I would have a `panty line' and you could see the side of my underwear, worm.” He pointed at the slit in the skirt as evidence of this.
“How about wearing pants?” Fayt suggested.
Albel ended the debate by kicking Fayt in the rear, knocking him to the pavement. He stepped lightly on his back as he caught up to the others. Fayt still had one more question for him though. Completely undeterred, he picked himself off of the ground and pulled Albel aside again. “Isn't it uncomfortable?” he asked. “Having a piece of string up your ass?”
“No.”
“Oh.” End of discussion. Fayt wasn't interested in pursuing the topic further, as he would probably end up on the ground again, getting stepped on.
 
They camped out before heading in to Mosel, on the Sanmite Steppes, right outside of Surferio for lunch. The girls decided to cook, the explanation being, “If this is going to be our last meal, it's going to be good,” Mirage insisted. This was an understatement, being that they ate after this, but those meals were travel-ready and thus do not count as being real food.
“And that means everyone is helping,” Maria added.
Albel, Cliff, and Fayt slowly started edging away. “That includes you three,” Nel growled. They froze momentarily, and then bolted to avoid this chore. They did not get far, however. Mirage grabbed Albel's hair, hauling back on the rat tail. He let out a cry of surprise and pain. It didn't feel good when she did it. She shoved him on to a fallen log that they were using as a bench, glowering at him, daring him to move. Albel judged that she could probably tackle him faster than he could make an escape, so wisely stayed put. He sat dejectedly, and she guarded him, looking for any signs of trying to run away. Nel launched herself at Fayt and shoved him back toward the group. He stumbled awkwardly. Mirage grabbed him and set him forcefully beside Albel.
Maria didn't have to move to take down Cliff, and her hand never strayed near her handgun. “Cliff, if you take one step farther, I'm going to hack your computer terminal and erase all your porn,” she threatened. He froze, turned around, marched over to the log, and sat beside Fayt. Albel and Fayt scowled at him.
“None of us have any cooking skills anyway,” Fayt complained.
“No, but you can still work,” Nel said. The girls sorted out what they wanted prepared. Adray fetched water and worked at gathering wood and other such things, as he hadn't bolted like the other three and thus was rewarded by not having to help with the real cooking.
They put Fayt to work peeling and chopping vegetables. He occasionally cut himself with the knife, but that didn't seem to deter them from insisting that he cut and chop vegetables. Cliff was handed a sort of mallet-like object and a pile of steaks and told to tenderize them by pounding on them. Albel sat around being ornamental, occasionally providing sarcastic commentary when Fayt cut himself. Fayt threw a bit of turnip at him. It landed somewhere in his hair.
“Hey, Turnip Head, how about shutting up?” Cliff suggested (kudos to anyone who gets that). Albel found the chunk of turnip and threw it at him. The Klausian tossed it aside.
Sophia finished washing and cutting out the bad parts of the potatoes. Nel handed the bowl of potatoes to Albel and gave him a fork.
“What the hell am I supposed to do with this?” he demanded, staring at the fork as if she had insisted he assassinate someone with this very fork, using only the fork.
“Stab the potatoes. Repeatedly. All over them—all of them.”
“Why?”
Nel sighed deeply and explained, “Because they need to cook evenly.”
“If I must to stab it, can't I use my sword instead of a fork?” He held the fork outward, away from his body, between two fingers, as if it might bite.
“No. Use the fork.”
She marched away before he could protest further. Albel stared at the potatoes for a moment, and then started stabbing them repeatedly in an angry manner. He got squirted with “potato juice” this way, and then, on reflection, stabbed in a less angry manner. This was all well and good, because he probably would have stabbed himself if he kept that up.
None of the three could be remotely considered “happy” after this was all said and done. The girls sent them away after proclaiming that they had dish-duty.
They sat in a triangle away from the girls and Adray. Fayt stared at his bandaged fingers. “I'm never doing that again,” he muttered.
“I'd be happy with take-out for the rest of my life,” Cliff muttered. He had been squirted with raw meat juice (blood) several times.
“I hate potatoes,” Albel muttered. To understand Albel's pain, please go stab about eight large potatoes repeatedly with a fork, all over them, without taking a break to rest your hand. No further explanation is needed.
Fayt and Cliff laughed.
Mirage came and got them when dinner was ready. Fayt and Cliff followed her. Albel flopped down on the grass and attempted to fall asleep instead. By the time Fayt walked back over to him, he had nodded off. Fayt grinned wickedly and jumped on him, making sure to aim for his left arm. He threw all of his weight into pinning his gauntleted arm down.
“Ack! Fayt!? Get off!” Albel growled.
Fayt laughed and tickled Albel's ribs. The others looked up and watched when they heard the laughing, screaming, and cursing. Fayt was giggling madly. He had a good hold on Albel's arm (he was now sitting on it), and could freely tickle Albel, so long as he avoided the other arm. Cliff couldn't resist. Absolutely could not resist. He joined in, pinning Albel's other arm down and tickling him. Albel bit him, but immediately released because he couldn't help but laugh, and the laughing only made him angry.
“No! Get off me!” he wailed amidst the half-restrained laughter. The rest of the group watched on in rapt interest. Cliff laughed, tickling Albel's ribs. Albel flailed his legs around a bit uselessly. He screamed something only half-intelligible, the topic about desecrating Cliff and Fayt's corpses.
“Oh, whoa!” Cliff said, taking that totally the wrong way. “You're a necrophiliac? That's kind of… gross…”
Fayt paused. Albel paused, then swung one of legs up acrobatically. His foot collided with Cliff's head. Cliff wheeled, stumbling off of him, holding his head. Albel lunged at a surprised Fayt. Fayt made a noise very like a frightened pig and scuttled away. Cliff grabbed him and hauled him to his feet. The two darted away. Albel unsheathed his sword and chased after them. The others watched them.
“Hey, dinner and a show,” Maria commented, watching Fayt and Cliff run like hell to escape Albel's wrath. The two took off running down the hill. Albel caught Cliff first. He slammed the flat of his sword against the back of Cliff's head. Cliff stumbled and rolled lifelessly down the hill. Albel paused momentarily. He marched over to him and kicked him in the ribs experimentally. Cliff didn't move. He peered at him. He was breathing… Unconscious? Cliff's arm darted out, grabbing Albel's ankle. He jerked his arm back. Albel cried out in surprise and landed on his back. He kicked Cliff in the head again.
“Stop that!” Cliff complained. For a change, Albel kicked him in the chest. He jerked his leg that Cliff was holding, trying to free it.
Cliff grabbed his other ankle and pinned them down. Albel pushed himself up to a sitting position. He held his left hand out. Cliff flinched, but didn't have time to dodge. “Aura Wall!” Albel took off after Fayt while the attack juggled Cliff. Fayt had got some pretty good distance in during this time, but Albel was faster than Fayt and he soon overcame him. He hit him with the blunt side of the blade in the back. Fayt fell down. He rolled on to his back.
“Albel, don't—“ Fayt stuttered. Albel tossed the sword aside, grinning wickedly. He pinned Fayt down. He kissed his neck, his mouth, his chest. He yanked off Fayt's shirt, and took his shorts off. The greaves came with them. Albel got off of him, presumably to take his own clothes off. Instead, Albel snatched his sword and ran back up the hill, chuckling maniacally. Fayt screamed curses at him.
Cliff was sitting back at the camp site when Albel came back. Mirage handed Cliff a couple blackberries and Sophia healed him. Albel sat down, looking pleased with himself. Everyone else's suspicions rose dangerously high. Any time Albel looked pleased, something bad was happening to someone else.
“Where's Fayt?” Sophia asked worriedly, staring at his pile of clothes sitting beside Albel.
“Good question,” Adray said suspiciously.
Nel frowned. “Albel, what did you do with Fayt?”
He pointed vaguely down the hill. “He's down there.”
“Why do you have his clothes?” Maria demanded.
“Punishment.”
Sophia looked horrified. “But I thought he was your lover…?”
 He looked at her flatly. “He is. That doesn't exempt him from punishment.”
Everyone was just finishing up eating. The girls sent Albel and Cliff to do dishes, as Fayt hadn't returned yet. Mirage was set as a guard to make sure that Albel didn't try running away again to escape dish duty. Cliff washed, Albel dried. Sophia took Fayt's clothes and met him at the bottom of the hill, a look of embarrassment adorning her face. She tried not to look at him as she handed him his clothes again.
“Thank you, Sophia,” Fayt said gratefully. “I didn't know what to do.” He took his clothes back. She turned around and waited for him to dress. When he finished, they walked back together. Nel and Maria immediately sent him to wash dishes with the other two. Fayt took over Cliff's job of rinsing dishes.
Sometime during the dish washing, Roger dropped by.
Nel found a hot spring nearby, and decided that the girls would go take a quick bath before they set out. This is a recipe for disaster, clearly.
“And no peeking,” Sophia said seriously.
Mirage raised an eyebrow at Cliff before following the other girls. For about ten minutes, nothing particularly interesting happened. Then Roger, ever the perverted little kid, realized that all the girls were naked just around the corner.
“The girls are all naked,” he said with glee.
Cliff's eyes widened. Mirage and naked equaled a pleasing figure to his mind. “Mirage…” Cliff murmured. Albel's face reddened in anger. Fayt glared frostily at him. Roger was off through the brush before anyone could blink an eye. Cliff snuck off too. Albel ground his teeth and marched after him to give him a piece of his mind.
“No!” Fayt yelped. “They'll—the girls…! Sophia…!” Fayt darted after Roger, deciding that Albel and Cliff could probably take care of themselves.
Adray's eyes widened. “No—don't go!” he insisted, running after Fayt.
Fayt spotted Roger's tail. His body was obscured by a small shrub, except his happily wagging tail. Fayt couldn't help but look; it was automatic. He was so surprised that he let out a yelp he hadn't intended to.
On the other side of the path, Albel smacked Cliff in the back of the head. “What are you doing!” he hissed under his breath.
Cliff pointed down at the hot spring. “Mirage is hot.”
Albel ground his teeth, hauled back his fist, and let loose, letting his jealous, angry rage do the thinking for him. “Hand of Doom!” he screamed. Fayt's yelp and the sound of Albel's voice and his fist colliding with Cliff's face happened almost simultaneously, and were sort of a dead-giveaway that someone was watching. Maria and Sophia sunk down in the water, covering their breasts self-consciously. Sophia shrieked. Maria fumbled for her gun with one hand. Nel dove for a towel. Mirage flexed her fingers, searching the brush, not bothering to cover herself. All the men and Roger froze in silent terror. Maria fired random potshots into the foliage. To avoid the shots, four of the five scattered. Roger crouched low. Mirage came tearing out of the water, still naked and heedless of it. She flew at Cliff, grinding his face in to the dirt. She hauled back her fist and punched him square in the back. He was down and staying down. She looked up. Fayt was frozen in place, gawking at her openly, as he tried desperately not to. He couldn't summon to mind any thoughts about Albel or Cliff to save his life and keep him from looking. It was like his eyelids were taped open and his feet were glued to the ground. It certainly didn't help that Mirage was an attractive woman.
She lunged at him. He reacted, but too slowly. She punched him, kicked him, and threw him into a tree. Mirage chased after Adray next. Nel caught up to her and the two of them blackened and bruised the older man before chasing after Albel, who was the only one who had managed to escape thus far. Once Maria had fired a shot a scant six inches from the side of his head, he had bolted through the forest, not sticking around to see what happened to everyone else, and wasn't stupid enough to look back when he heard one of the other men cry out in surprise and pain when the girls caught them.
He realized that he had abandoned Cliff and Fayt, but he decided that the blonde deserved it anyway, all things considered. In fact, it pleased him that Mirage had ground his face in the dirt. Maybe next time Cliff would think twice about catching glimpses of Mirage bathing, and pay more attention to Albel and Fayt, like he should. Fayt, he was a little remorseful about, but that's life.
In the meantime, that didn't help him though. He ran through the forest recklessly, trying to dodge trees, tripping over exposed roots, and clambering over rocks and any other obstacle that might be in the way. He could hear Mirage running behind him, and Nel too. They were splitting up—not a good sign. They would try to close him in for the beat-down they had given the others.
He was absolutely furious with Cliff and Roger for this. He knew how angry the girls were. And it wasn't an “if” they caught him either. If he could manage to run far enough, they might give up and maybe when he returned in the morning, they wouldn't be so angry, but they'd catch him eventually; both of them were fairly fast—and angry.
Albel turned on a dime and leaped over a small spring. He slammed almost directly in to Mirage, who was still naked. He jerked in surprise, tried to say something along the lines of “I wasn't peeking,” realized this was futile as he couldn't seem to help staring at her body, and decided to flee instead.
Back at the spring, Maria had wrapped a towel around her and was taking more potshots at the shrubs. Roger screeched and went careening out of a shrub she shot at. Maria leveled her eyes and shot him in the rear twice before he scampered away.
Maria smirked and climbed out of the water. Holding the towel with one hand and her gun with the other, she marched off after Mirage and Nel. This ended up being perfect.
Albel took a risk and glanced behind him. He could see Mirage's outline, and could hear Nel hurtling through the brush, heading off in a circle. Years of studying military drills and strategy warned him of what was going on. He skidded to a halt, thinking desperately. Mirage darted to the side. Yep, he knew this routine—commonly known as the “pincer attack,” and with good reason.
He kept moving forward, right about to the point where they would probably just start closing in. He could hear them moving toward him. Yep. He skidded to slow. He turned on his heel, using a limb to propel him. He turned and ran back the way he had come. It avoided things for the time being, but he needed to think of something fast.
He heard Mirage swear and the two came after him again.
“Shit,” he muttered, leaping over a fallen log. A red light pierced the trees and found his torso. His eyes widened as he realized what the red light was. “Shit!” Maria squeezed the trigger. Fortunately, this is a video game and it didn't tear the bloody fatal hole in his chest it would have in real life. Instead, it made him pause long enough for her to shoot him two more times in the chest, keeping him still just long enough for Mirage to kick him square in the back with her muddy feet. Nel punched him in the stomach. After he fell down and stopped moving, the three girls marched off to resume their bath.
Albel staggered back to camp and gave Roger a dirty look. Cliff, he set with such a look of rage that one would have expected Cliff to burst in to flame. He strode over to Cliff. Cliff smiled weakly at him. The Elicoorian smacked Cliff in the side of the head.
“Never again!” he yelled. Fayt applauded him, a bit sarcastically.
“Ow!” Cliff nursed his head. “What the hell?”
Albel, his jealous rage quickly returning, hit him again—violent little bastard that he is. “Idiot!” he screeched.
“Hit him once for me too,” Fayt said flatly. Albel kicked Cliff in the shin.
“Damn, you're a jealous little bastard, aren't you?” Cliff wondered sarcastically.
“Argh! Worm!” He hit him again. For good measure, he hit him one last time before he dropped down beside him, glowering at him as he waited for an apology of some sort. Fayt stared at Cliff. Between the two of them, Cliff started feeling a wee bit uncomfortable.
Cliff rubbed his face tenderly. “Ah…” He glanced nervously at the others. “Well… Mirage is really hot…”
Albel ground his teeth and prepared to smack him again. With effort, he restrained himself. Fayt did not. He smacked Cliff in the side. The Earthling stalked off angrily. Albel went with him.
The girls came back from their bath, and the men were allowed to go if they wanted to. As they had all been ground in to the dirt, they did so. Fayt and Albel glared at Cliff and Roger practically the entire time. Albel attempted to drown the little Menodix, but Fayt and Adray rescued him. After the bath, they got ready to move on. Roger bid his farewell and good luck, then hopped off home.
After all of this was done, they continued through Surferio and on to Mosel.