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Destinies Intertwined by Fate	By : dreamingvision Category: +S through Z > Star Ocean 3 Views: 1286 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
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Once the overhead screen blanked out, Maria refrained from letting out an exhausted and heavy sigh. She really didn't want to be searching for Luther, not when the Vendeeni were threatening innocent lives over Fayt.
'It isn't something he wants,' she thought with anger, frustration, and sadness coursing through her. 'I know this. I heard him say it repeatedly. He never wanted people to be killed because of him. Why are they being so adamant on having him? What is it they plan to do with him? The threat from the Creator is over. Could he still be on Elicoor II and we just never knew it?'
Returning to Elicoor II wasn't something Maria relished. There were people there, one person in particular, who figured out that she had a crush on Fayt Leingod and that she wanted to make Fayt hers.
Albel Nox.
The thought of his name alone sent a shudder of revulsion over Maria, and the thought of asking him about anything related to Fayt (and now Luther) made her want to vomit and violently so at that. Albel never really had been kind to anyone, though Fayt and Mirage were slowly becoming the exceptions for the Glyphian swordsman. He never hid his disdain for most everyone in the team, especially her, Nel, and Sophia. Because he made it a point to be exceptionally cruel to most of the women, Maria thought Albel to be a misogynist. Her aggravation with him only heightened when he started to taunt her over her feelings towards Fayt. She knew he taunted her to get a rise out of her, to provoke her, and the horrible thing, in her mind, was it worked.
"He will never be yours, fool," Albel had said. He'd kept his voice low so the others wouldn't ever hear, something that mortified and relieved Maria. "People like Fayt Leingod are untouchable for scum such as you and I. It'd be better for you and for him if you let him go now before he hates you entirely."
"Fayt would never hate me."
"So certain are you?" Remember the smirk on his face even now heated Maria's blood. "Well, I'll admit he doesn't seem to hate anyone. In fact, he's quite forgiving. Too forgiving, if you ask me, but even he has a limit as to how much he can endure from me and from the rest of the world."
"You sound certain of yourself when in reality you don't know anything. You don't know Fayt, you don't know me, and you sure as hell don't know where things can lead."
"You're right about two things." The smirk on his face had grown. "I don't know you, and I don't know where things can lead, but you're wrong about me knowing that pitiful fool Fayt. I know him better than what anyone could ever realize, and I know this. He will come to hate you, the same way that I've come to hate you. There are some things you have no right telling someone."
Maria scrubbed at her eyes as she willed the phantom conversation to leave her alone. Still, a part of her wondered if Fayt did truly hate her now and if that was why he left in the first place. She also wondered what it was that Albel knew about Fayt that she didn't know. Albel had joined the party after being an enemy. Maria only knew this because Nel and Cliff had informed her of what transpired before she located Cliff, Mirage, and Fayt on Elicoor. Why Fayt had chosen to forgive someone such as Albel Nox, whose nickname the Wicked was obviously well-deserved, baffled Maria. It didn't help matters any when both Nel and Albel chose to follow Fayt's lead over her, the same way Cliff and Mirage had.
She glanced at Cliff, the blond Klausian man working away at his console. He was more of a fighter than he was diplomat, yet he possessed enough smarts to start Quark and lead it successfully before she assumed the leadership role. Cliff had somehow managed to attain Big Brother status with Fayt, much like he had with her when he first found her. She knew Cliff wanted to find Fayt and to help protect Fayt from those who would use him and abuse him. There were no doubts in her mind over Cliff's feelings towards Fayt. Fayt had become the younger brother Cliff actually liked to hang around with and let loose, something he couldn't say about his siblings back on his home world. No one could deny Fayt possessed a rather easy-going, if somewhat serious manner about him, and he befriended just about everyone who came into contact with him, including Albel the Wicked.
Still, when Cliff suggested that they return to Elicoor II, Maria felt it had just as much to do with reuniting with Nel Zelpher as it did with finding Fayt and Luther. The two of them were considerably close, closer than what Maria initially suspected. During the course of their travels on Elicoor, Maria had caught Cliff and Nel sneaking off to somewhere a little more secluded more than once. When she approached Fayt on what the two were doing in those moments in an effort to confirm her suspicions, the young man simply shrugged his shoulders and said it wasn't his place to say. Of course, Albel had stood right next to Fayt when she asked about Cliff and Nel's activities, and he'd smirked the entire time, as if he knew what they were doing and that it should have been obvious to everyone else.
'He wants to hook up with her again,' Maria mused. 'Not that I blame him. I know he and Mirage are close, but they act more like a brother and sister than two potential lovers. I just hope his desires to get back with Nel don't hinder his ability to do his work. I wonder if we should investigate another planet first before heading to Elicoor so I can talk to Cliff about his relationship with Nel. They can't be together.'
"Maria . . ."
She blinked when she heard Lieber's voice speaking low and quietly, and her heart almost leapt out of her chest. Maria turned her head to see her lover standing to her right, a concerned expression on his face. She'd become so involved in her thoughts and memories that she hadn't noticed him walking up to her. He held a clear clipboard in his hands.
'I hope he isn't going to ask about us sneaking back to our quarters,' she thought. 'I can't afford that distraction right now. Not with so many things needing to be done.'
And there were many things to be done. Before heading to Elicoor II or any other planet to search for the missing Creator and the wayward Fayt Leingod, The Diplo needed to stop at the next outpost to at least stock up on supplies. Replicators were great for space travel, but even they needed some raw materials to keep functioning. She also needed to consider arming everyone onboard the ship in case they found Luther before they found Fayt, and she wanted to talk to Steeg and Lancaster about somehow neutralizing Luther's powers in the event they did find him. She didn't hold out much hope on being successful where Luther was concerned, but she intended to at least try.
'What did I get myself into?'
"Yes, Lieber?" she asked.
"Are you sure we should be heading back to Elicoor II?" he asked. He knelt next to her. "Fayt wasn't anywhere on the planet's surface when we left there six months ago. We even checked underground locations where he could have hidden himself away. I know because we looked for him at your request. We know his D.N.A. and personal energy signatures. They didn't appear anywhere."
"We're hoping that maybe we'll get lucky and somehow Fayt's managed to return there," Maria replied. "We're not even sure how he was able to leave Elicoor II in the first place. But Fayt isn't the entire reason why we're returning there. Blair said Elicoor II was one of Luther's favourite places in our world. It's possible he's in hiding among the populace there."
"And how will we find him exactly?" Lieber frowned as he spoke. "Are we sure this isn't an excuse for Cliff to hook up with his Elicoorian girlfriend again?"
"I would say don't be stupid, that Cliff wouldn't be so foolish," Maria said, sighing, "but the thought did enter my mind as well. I'm sure he misses her, and I can't fault him for who he fell in love with. However, Cliff isn't entirely wrong about possibly finding Fayt on Elicoor II. I saw it for myself, how quickly he adapted to that way of life and how attached he became to the people he met along the way. I wouldn't blame him for leaving to keep everyone safe while at the same time I wouldn't be surprised if he had found a way to disguise himself so no one would recognize him. Hiding on an under-developed planet would actually be a very smart thing for Fayt to do."
"At the same time it would be foolish, Maria," Lieber replied. "If the Vendeeni find him first . . ."
"We'll make sure it doesn't happen. We'll find him first, and we'll let him know of the ultimatum from Vendeen. Perhaps he can help us think of a way to alleviate any fears the Vendeen might have and help us keep a universal war from breaking out."
"And if we find Luther first? I remember what you said about that final battle with him."
"I honestly don't know," Maria said. "I have no idea of how to even plan for such a confrontation. It's possible Luther wasn't exactly in his right mind when we fought him, and he was quite the formidable and difficult enemy to combat. With Luther . . ." She sighed and shook her head. "With Luther, we're just going to have to wait and see. Given where he hid his Workspace in our world, it wouldn't surprise me if we found him on Elicoor as well as Fayt. Odd how both Luther and Fayt seem to be so attached to that world . . ."
Maria let her thoughts trail off, and she leaned forward in her seat. The overhead monitor displayed only the vastness of space. Even in gravitic warp, it would take a week, perhaps longer, to reach Elicoor II, and the nearest outpost resided twelve hours in Elicoor's direction. As much as she wanted to leave Luther wherever he was, she knew that she couldn't leave him to run amok in her world, the world she fought so hard to protect. She promised Blair she'd help search, and Maria Traydor was not one to go back on her promises or to tell someone a lie.
"Marietta . . ."
"Yes, Captain?"
"Set our course for Elicoor II with a stop at the Quark Outpost. Since we're going to do this, we're going to be prepared. Let them know we're on our way and that we'll need weapons and ammunition in addition to the essentials like food and bottled water. Any maintenance to The Diplo needs to be done then."
"Roger that, Captain."
As she listened to the sounds of her orders being carried out, Maria felt the faintest of flutterings in her heart. She was finally returning to the place where it had begun and ended, and she knew she'd be seeing Fayt once again. She wanted him as much as she wanted Lieber, and she felt her fantasies about Professor Leingod's son could finally come true. Lieber remained an obstacle, in a sense due to his dislike of Fayt, but Maria also knew she couldn't live without knowing, without saying something to Fayt and learning how he truly felt about her.
'He'll understand . . . I don't want to lose Lieber, and I won't lose him, either. But I can't live without knowing about Fayt. I want him to be mine as much as Lieber is mine. I can at least explain it to him before we reach Elicoor. I know he'll understand. After all, he took a chance in approaching me . . .'
Maria tilted her head, knowing Lieber still stood beside her. She knew he always would, though it did baffle her on occasion, his devotion to her. A light smile touched her lips.
"Lieber, I think I'll take a break before we reach the outpost . . ." She lowered her voice. "I'd like for you to join me . . ."
xxX-Destinies-Intertwined-by-Fate-Xxx
There were days when all Ryoko Leingod wanted to do was curl up in bed with a bottle of strong, red wine, a box of chocolates, and rifle through the collection of home videos she and Robert had created over the years or stare at photo albums of her family. There weren't very many of the home videos of her small family of three, just those of rare family vacations and holiday gatherings, but there were many videos the nannies, her best friend Kyoko Esteed, and other family members had filmed of Fayt when she and Robert couldn't be home. She also owned the many interviews she and Robert had given over the years as well as the recordings of Fayt when he participated in school sports.
Ryoko exhaled a shaky sigh, tears spilling down her cheeks, and she wiped them away to keep her vision from blurring. Next to her sat a photo, a photo she constantly stared at whenever she was alone. It was of her, Robert, and Fayt when her little boy had turned five years of age, and it'd been framed in silver vines and roses – a gift from Fayt. They'd taken him to Virginia Beach for the day since they'd been unable to take more than two days off for their son's birthday, but she and Robert had wanted the day to be special as well for their little boy. Therefore, it'd only been the three of them celebrating, and they'd been fortunate enough to find someone more than willing to take a picture of the three of them together. While it had been an attempt at a posed family outing picture, it'd turned into more of a candid picture. Even at five years of age, Fayt had become a bundle of energy. She and Robert had tried to balance him between them and kept reminding him to be still long enough for the picture to be taken.
Sitting still for a scant five seconds had proven difficult for her only child. At the last possible second, as the camera snapped the photo, Fayt had tossed his arms into the air and bounced on their shoulders. His position between them had been precarious enough, but when he unexpectedly bounced and cried out, "Yay!", he'd started to fall backwards. Ryoko still recalled how she thought her heart would stop beating in those seconds when she and Robert both grabbed their son to keep him from hitting the ground. He'd been so happy that day to have them home and all to himself that she and Robert hadn't the heart to scold him for scaring them so. They'd laughed when he claimed he wanted to do it again, and, with a smile, the stranger handed them their camera. It'd been such a perfect day, and she lamented the fact she and Robert hadn't spent much time with Fayt as a child. Perhaps she'd have more happy memories and no regrets.
'I can never get those days back,' she thought. A small whimper escaped her as she stared at the picture. 'We wanted Fayt so badly, and we kept trying and trying until he came along. But we never had much time for him . . . why? Why did it have to be this way?'
Regrets and sadness were all that were left to Ryoko. She didn't recall the young officer's name – she'd been too numb in her heart and soul at the time – but she never forgot the words he told her.
"Ma'am, it's about your husband . . . according to Commodore Whitcomb's report, your husband, Professor Leingod, is dead. It's said it was a Vendeen attack on an under-developed planet . . . He died protecting your son."
It felt as if someone had reached into her and grabbed her by the heart, crushing it in a vice grip. Robert . . . dead . . .
"What of Fayt? Where . . ."
"The last we knew, ma'am, he was with Commodore Whitcomb on The Aquaelie and they were heading for a planet called Styx. I'm sorry to say . . . we lost communication with them as well . . ."
The following days and weeks were agonizing for Ryoko. Like so many others on the Federation outpost and across the universe, no one knew the fate of her son or those traveling with him. The number of the Executioners remained the same, and she wondered if it was truly the end. Her death, she knew she could deal with and accept. Her son's death after losing her husband . . . it was simply unbearable, and she wanted to die with each day that remained silent.
Then it happened. The Executioners, in the time it took to blink, were gone. Rumour started to spread that the Creator had been defeated and by the hands of none other than her own son. While many worlds were either destroyed or very heavily damaged, people started to breathe easier and to celebrate. Parties were thrown at the Federation outpost, but she didn't have the heart to join the festivities. She still keenly felt the loss of her husband, and something else inside her told her something else was terribly wrong. She would feel better once she saw Fayt again and could hold him in her arms, to be sure he'd survived and that he was safe. Ryoko kept her gaze to the stars.
Several days later, rumours proved to be true in the form of a Quark vessel called The Diplo, and Ryoko learned more the moment she talked to Sophia and Quark's leader, Maria Traydor. Fayt still lived, though he hadn't returned with them after the final battle. In fact, in the moments after the Creator's defeat, Fayt had somehow managed to pull the greatest disappearing act of all time, and no one knew how or why, even.
'I can't blame him for disappearing like that . . . he saw Robert gunned down in front of him in an effort to protect him . . . he saw so many people die that didn't need to . . . that shouldn't have died in the first place . . . I just wish I knew if he was safe . . . There's so much that I want and need to tell him . . . I want him to know how much I love him and miss him . . . and that if I could've spent more time with him when he was a child, I would have done so in a heartbeat. He really was our miracle baby.'
Most days, since Robert's death and Fayt's disappearance, Ryoko could muddle through and survive. She kept her mind occupied with continuing her husband's research into Symbological Genetics and with attending charity events for displaced and homeless people as well as orphaned children. The planets that survived the direct attacks from the Creator were still in the process of finding bodies and reconnecting loved ones, though they were finding less dead bodies. They were also talking of rebuilding, the triumph of the "human spirit", as it were. Knowing loss and feeling it keenly every single day drove Ryoko to great lengths to provide others with homes and with closure.
Some days, however, such as this day, Ryoko wanted nothing more than to drown her sorrows in something. She wanted to go back before the vacation to Hyda, to spend more time with her husband and her son before they were torn from her so violently. Such days the tears, the demands, the heartache, the happiness, and the fear overwhelmed her, and she needed to be by herself. Ryoko lifted the picture and shuffled towards her kitchen, with a single pause to kiss the images of her son and husband. There, she kept her much desired box of chocolates – the kind Robert bought her for their anniversary, her birthday, and Valentine's Day – and strong, red wine for days such as this.
'I know you wouldn't want me to grieve like this, Robert, but I can't help it . . . I miss you and Fayt so much . . . I never thought either of you would be taken away from me like this . . . if only I knew how Fayt was doing, maybe . . . just maybe I could bear these days a little better and this house wouldn't feel so big . . .'
Her home . . . indeed, most of her neighbourhood . . . had sustained very little damage in wake of the Creator's attacks. Ryoko knew she should attempt to find a new place to live, something smaller and more suited for a single person, but her heart kept her in her home. It was the only place she and Robert had looked at when they were looking to buy a place to live. Memories walked along the halls with her – the day they moved in, which had been shortly after their honeymoon, the day they learned they'd finally conceived a child, when they first brought Fayt home, his first steps . . . everything that had happened, the good and the bad, were contained within those walls, and Ryoko didn't want to leave any of it behind.
'Besides, if and when Fayt comes home and I've gone, what will he think? Will he think I've abandoned him? Would anyone even tell him I found a new place? Would he look for me, fearing he lost me the way he lost Robert? I can't do it . . . I can't leave here. This is home, this is my home. This is where I belong.'
For Ryoko, the thought of her son never returning home or never contacting her again were impossibilities. They were all they had left of their family. All children returned home at some point or another, and whatever pain he endured, she wanted to be there to help him and to guide him through whatever difficulties he faced. Wherever he was, he still hurt from his experiences. Ryoko knew it as sure as she felt herself breathing.
'He needs to know . . . it's okay to cry . . . I wonder if anyone let him be so he could grieve his father's loss . . . that had to be as hard on him as it has been on me. Oh, my dear child . . . wherever you are, please . . . please be safe . . . and know that I love you so much . . . and it's okay . . . it's okay to cry . . . to mourn . . . if you don't, you'll lose yourself . . . just don't let it consume you . . .'
Ryoko exhaled another heavy sigh as the lights turned on in her kitchen. It was advice she knew she needed to follow a little more often than what she did. She just didn't want her grief to overwhelm her.
'Maybe I should see a grief counselor . . . this drinking of wine and eating of chocolates can't be too healthy for me . . .'
She'd just pulled down a wine glass and opened the wine to pour it when the door chimes activated. Closing her eyes for a moment, Ryoko willed the person to leave her be. Today was her day to mourn and to drown herself in guilt, wine, and chocolates. Then she opened her eyes and stared at the glass.
'If I don't answer and it's Kyoko, she'll worry . . . the least I can do is alleviate any fears she might have . . . I'm not going to kill myself . . . I can't do that . . . not to Fayt . . . he's lost as much as I have in this . . . maybe even lost more than what I can imagine . . .'
She cleaned her face off quickly then strode to the front door as the chimes activated again.
"I'm coming, I'm coming," she said under her breath as she reached the door. "The world isn't going to end if I don't answer right away."
The monitor next to the door lit up, showing a young woman and two men. Ryoko frowned a little when she saw them.
'I don't recognize these people . . .'
"Mrs. Leingod," the woman called out. "I know you don't know who I am, but I need for you to trust me. I have very little time to get you to safety so please . . . open your door. Timing is very crucial."
"Who . . . who are you?" Ryoko asked. Her eyes widened with alarm, and she took a step back from her door. "And how do you know who I am?"
"I'm a friend of your son . . . Fayt," the woman answered. "Please . . . I need for you to trust me the way he trusted me . . . the last thing I want is for him to experience more tragedy . . ."
"Fayt!" Ryoko hit the button to open the door as quickly as she could. Her heart leapt about in her chest with fear and excitement, hoping this woman, this stranger had news for her about her wayward son. "Where is he? Is he all right? Please tell me he's all right!"
"I can't say that he is. I wish I could tell you more, but I'm afraid that I don't know where he's at," the woman said in a solemn voice. "But please know that I'm going to do everything that I can to help find him and keep him safe. Right now, though, you're my main concern. Please . . . come with me before it's too late . . ."
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Destinies Intertwined by Fate