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Angels to Some	By : IggyLovechild Category: +S through Z > Star Ocean 3 Views: 2020 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I DO NOT own any part of Star Ocean: Til the End of Time. I am making no money off this fic.

Chapter List
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Near dawn, I sit on the grass in the plains outside of Peterny. I keep on stroking the green blades, examining them. If I look at it long enough will I see the hard edges of virtual image? If I pick the vegetation will it vanish?

My thoughts are wild. I try to think about any strange instances that would have revealed that I am living in a virtual reality. I know what glitches look like, but I can't think of a single thing off hand. It frightens me.

I wish I could be like Albel. He thinks it's irrelevant and maybe it is. Philosophers have been trying to figure out the meaning of life for decades and I've discovered the answer. There's no great mystery. No voices in the sky. It's pretty depressing.

I lay back and feel the dew dampen my skin and hair. It disturbs me that nothing feels different. The virtual reality games I've played for most of my life has nothing on this Eternal Sphere. They were advanced but most of the physical sensations felt contrived. Pain never lingered, the elements were brief, and only the best games featured substantial contact with NPCs.

This is on another level entirely. It is real. Being in Arkives had felt no different than this. Kissing Albel...kissing Albel...had been...

My thoughts scatter, at once lost to the memory of that one kiss. The taste of him; the smell of him; the feel of his body pressed against mine. Those memories are etched into my brain. If I am a program, they're all just data in a file. Can someone just...go to a computer console and check out my stats? Can they access my memories? The idea is pretty chilling. All I can picture is crowd of programmers watching scenes from my life and commenting like they're watching a movie.

Well, I suppose I'll find out soon enough. The creator will reveal all, I'm sure. A part of me doesn't want to know.

XxXxX

Peppita and Sophia are sparring. I fret as I watch Sophia jog around the designated battlefield, trying to put some space between herself and Peppita. Despite her outward appearance, it's pretty clear that Sophia is not exactly in the best of shape. She's slow and somewhat clumsy. I suppose since she's not a fighter like Cliff or Albel it won't matter but I worry about her not being able to get out of the way.

By contrast, Peppita is graceful and surprisingly adept at turning her art as a dancer into martial skills. I'm glad I'd allowed her to come with us. Even Albel seems to grudgingly approve of her.

Maria sighs beside me, "It's going to take so much work to get her up to speed."

Cliff strokes his chin thoughtfully, "We could always make some kind of charm to help with her reflexes."

"Hmph," Albel scoffs, "She'll never learn if you give her a crutch."

"Says the man wearing bunny shoes," Cliff drawls.

Albel sniffs dismissively, "There is no crime for a warrior to use enchantment to enhance the skills he already possesses."

"I could teach her some old sprinting exercises I used to do before basketball games," I point out.

"And we'll put a ring of haste on her," Cliff adds insistently.

Albel rolls his eyes and groans. Peppita and Sophia are running out of steam. Sophia is complaining of a headache and Peppita is starting to feel bad.

"Ok, fine," Peppita sighs, "Let's just call it a draw."

"Tch," Albel mutters, "It's clear the dancing girl won."

"Hush," I scold.

"Piss off," Albel replies without much harshness, "If amateur hour is over, I should like to challenge you to a duel."

He's looking at me greedily. Bloodlust mingles up with...well, lust-lust, and I feel a little strange. Should we be doing this in front of the others? Of course I was being ridiculous. It's not like he'd proposed sex, but sparring with Albel is always on a completely different level than with-say-Cliff. We play for keeps and it gets a little violent, and I can just imagine Sophia freaking out if Albel draws a little blood. Yet I know I can't deny him. Fighting him is just too much fun.

"Sounds great," I nod and we separate from the others as Sophia and Peppita joins the group.

"Ooh," I hear Peppita practically squeal, "This should be good!"

Sophia sounds uncertain and then I forget everyone else because Albel is getting into position. He looks like a snake ready to strike and I'm his prey. Well, I won't make it easy for him. I never do.

"No energy attacks or magic," I lay out the rules.

Albel nods briefly, "Agreed."

He charges me quickly, starting the match aggressively. I hear a gasp from someone in our little audience before I get my sword up to block his attack. Metal on metal shrieks as it connects and Albel grins. He's toying with me. I use the little bit of weight I have on him to push him back.

"Be serious," I taunt him, "Or do you want me to win?"

Albel's eyes flash fire and his grin turns nasty. "You'll regret allowing my strength to flourish. I'll be on top by the time this match is over!"

I wonder if he knows how bad that just sounded. My mind threatens to wander and I stare at Albel's sword extra hard to try to dispel images of Albel being...well, on top. This tension between us is really adding a new layer to our sparring.

The match lasts for a long time. We're more or less evenly matched when we aren't using energy or magic. Albel's a bit faster and more agile, and he has more finesse. His great weakness is that he has a bad tendency to leave himself open during critical moments in battle. He would say that mine is my mercy.

We're drenched with sweat as our blows become more decisive. I'm tired. So is Albel, though he'd never admit it. His reaction time is slowing down, not by much, but maybe enough for me to exploit it.

He raises his arms to deliver a punishing blow and in a split second I make a decision. I drop my sword and grab his arms as he brings them down. Using his momentum against him, I use a throwing technique I'd learned ages ago in a self-defense class. Albel tries to fight it and we end up falling together, tumbling over and over in the soft grass. Somewhere in the scuffle, Albel loses his sword and he scrambles to take control of our positions. His raw strength sometimes surprises me and I find myself being straddled by him. Albel's eyes are alight with malicious humor.

"That was a neat trick, maggot," He grins wickedly. "However, it seems that my prediction was quite accurate."

His gloating is insufferable but I'm all too aware of the others watching us. If we were alone, it would be a completely different story. We'd probably be fighting for another hour or until we were completely exhausted.

Or maybe we wouldn't be fighting at all. Albel isn't getting up and I grow uncomfortable in my awareness of his body. Judging from the heaviness in his gaze, he's feeling the same thing.

"I really wanna kiss you," I tell him quietly.

"The feeling's mutual. Perhaps a re-match is in order. Without an audience, of course," Albel drawls.

"Definitely," I grin.

Cliff's voice breaks the spell and I turn my head to look at the others. They look uncomfortable but maybe I'm just projecting.

"Ok," Cliff calls, "You want to call that a draw or what?"

"A draw?" Albel exclaims and gets up to confront Cliff. "Are you joking? He may have put me on the ground but I clearly overpowered him!"

As they argue, I get up. I brush grass off my clothes and shake it out of my hair. For the most part, I'm uninjured. A few bruises here and there, but that's about it. Not bad for a sparring match with Albel the Wicked.

TBC...
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Angels to Some