Star Ocean (All Series) Fan Fiction ❯ Far From a Fairytale ❯ New Skin ( Chapter 10 )

Chapter Nine: New Skin

 

A/N: Hello everyone and I'm extremely sorry about the long time between updates! Thus, I have decided to give an overall Thank you to all my reviewers out there, I want to get this out as soon as possible, so individual reviews are not going to be done. Anyway, I had a little fun with the numbers that I gave to all the characters in this chapter, they weren't just randomly chosen; I had some fun with them. If you have any ideas about them just tell me in a review and I'll explain them all next chapter-a cookie for any person who gets it right. : P Enough of this fooling around and on to the story!

 

(-)-(-)

 

File after file, Blair checked for any disturbances or any bit of information out of place. As she clicked through the large archives, which was a job that was done once a month and could take several days, she happened to notice three strings of numbers that were out of place; three numbers that she recognized:

 

ALBEL NOX- 31331

 

SOPHIA ESTEED- 54945

 

SOUFFLE (PEPPITA) ROSSETTI- 65276

 

Those three, they were not supposed to be in the 21st century, they hadn't even lived in a time near that era in the Eternal Sphere. Thus, Blair came to the conclusion that it wasn't just a slip up in the computers filing, it was more than that.

 

The 4-D being let out a sigh, it would seem that she would have to pay the others a visit. It would now be a matter of a few minutes to locate them, and so, Blair put her examination of the Eternal Sphere archives on hiatus and began to divulge into the newest files that pertained to the game. She would have to locate the numbers of the other group members and find out what the files were unable to tell her.

 

She pinched her nose; the stress slightly overwhelmed her for a second; as if the archive examination wasn't tedious enough. She now had a problem with the system. A system that she was now the controller of, for, with Luther no longer alive, she was in complete control of the game; another heavy sigh later and her fingers began their dance across the keyboard.

 

(-)-(-)

 

“Yes, that's right, I'm her step mother. Her father and I got married about a year or so ago, but, you see, he is mute…it makes it extremely hard to find any type of job. So, for the time being we are homeless, though, I plan on moving into a support home. That way I can find a good enough job to get my family and me our own house and have a comfortable life style.” Sophia spoke very assuredly, for, she had gone over the small speech in her head all morning.

 

She could feel the eyes of the principal of the public Middle School, as he took in her rather young appearance and dirtied clothes. She had to save up as much money as she could, thus, she was unable to buy the proper clothes for herself, Peppita, and Albel. They would all just have to make do with the clothes they had on until she found a job with a steady pay.

 

The principal looked over at the two young females and nodded, “We will accept her into the school. Now, what were your names again?”

 

“Sophia and Peppita Nox, thank you so much for accepting her.” The brown haired woman gave a deep nod of her head and a small smile as a sigh of relief escaped her lips. When it came to their names, the way Sophia saw it, they were so far in the past it wouldn't matter if they used their real names or not, no one would be alive when they were born.

 

The principal just gave a smile, “I'm just making sure that when you go to the store to pick up Peppita's school uniform the expenses get billed to the school. You can pay the school back once you have found a job and are able to live comfortably. Also, Peppita will be given free lunch to help with your financial problems, as well. How does that sound?”

 

“Oh, thank you! Thank you so much, you don't understand how much this means to us. Thank you.” Sophia smiled a true smile for the first time since they ended up in this era. Maybe things would start to look up from now on.

 

(-)-(-)

 

Everywhere they went the same resolution was found-they couldn't enter into 4-D Space. Why? Mirage didn't know why, but she found this answer unnerved her greatly. In fact, she noticed how the disappearance had some affect on everyone. Though, it seemed that Fayt was hit the hardest, and the obvious message of “you never know what you have until it's gone” still hadn't made its way into his mind.

 

Mirage just sighed. At the moment they were on Elicoor II and they were camped out in front of the Firewall. Nevertheless, she had the assumption that no matter how long they stayed here, the Firewall or anything else that could possibly link them to 4-D Space in any way, would not work for them. For now, she would just have to settle with how she could give Fayt some comfort.

 

After all, he couldn't even manage a ghostly upward turn of his lips at the antics of Nel and Cliff (whom she seemed to suspect had a little more than friendship in their interactions) nor Adray (whom was humorous all on his own without the purpose to be so).

 

“Hey, why so glum, just because we can't find a way into 4-D Space at the moment doesn't mean we never will. So, why don't you cheer up?” The last part, though it was a question, was said more in a way to suggest he apply to the demand, so to speak. Mirage slipped down next to him as he sat upon the cold, stone floor. His back was rested upon the wall, which was similar in appearance to the floor, green eyes were downcast and his knees were both bent close to his chest, and his arms rested upon each knee loosely so his they hung downward.

 

Another sigh was released from Mirage's lips and she felt a small bit of frustration build within her, yet, she quickly distinguished it before it could become any bigger. Anger and frustration wouldn't help anything; those emotions would just make the situation they were all stuck in worse.

 

With her mind set, Mirage awaited Fayt's answer, “They-how close were they-Albel and Sophia, I mean?”

 

Her eyes held no surprise by the question asked; she figured that was what had been on his mind this whole time, the uncertainty of one's heart was never a fun road to travel down. Either way, she could not lie to him, “To tell you the truth, I'm not sure just how close they were, but from what I had been able to see-they were pretty close. I guess you could say they were as close as friends, but…”

 

“They were already starting to tread across that line weren't they?” She knew that her silence would only confirm the answer he was already aware of. “Through those talks Albel was able to get closer to Sophia than I ever could…It's not fair.”

 

“I won't deny that he got closer to Sophia, but I can say one thing-you will always know Sophia the best out of all of us. You saw the experiences that built her into the person she is, so, even if Sophia and Albel do cross that line, you never have to worry about Sophia forgetting about you-or Albel knowing more about her than you do. In the end, there will always be a part of Sophia that only Albel knows and a part of Sophia that only you know.” Mirage couldn't help but wonder if she had really helped Fayt or just confused him more, but, it was the only advice she could offer. He would just have to deal with it.

 

Then, as Mirage started to get up, she felt someone grab her hand-it was Fayt. He had his hand wrapped around hers and his eyes seemed brighter, if only a little, then they had been before, “Thank you.” A shadow of a grin slipped across his face, which she then matched.

 

“You're welcome.”

 

(-)-(-)

 

“Come on!” Sophia felt aspiration get hinted at in her voice as she tried to get the younger girl into the store.

 

Yet, said girl just stood her ground, “I don't want to wear a school uniform!” Her light colored eyes set in determination.

 

“But you need one in order to go to school!” Sophia argued back as stress began to overcome her body.

 

“Why do I even need to go to school? After all, according to the level of knowledge in this era, I should be in a university not a first year in Middle School.” Her rosy checks puffed out in indignation.

 

“I—Peppita, we don't know how long we may be here for, so, please, just try and make the best of whatever we can get our hands on. I had to say you were younger so the story I made for us could fit. Okay?” Sophia's voice was so soft the younger female almost didn't hear her. Despite all that Peppita caught the words as they were guided by the wind and the set rebellion in her eyes left.

 

“I'm sorry Sophia, I'll behave.” The childish voice was filled with a slight tint of guilt.

 

Sophia's hand was brought upward as her fingers messaged her forehead, which pounded due to the overload of the whole situation. “That's okay; actually, I'm glad that you're behaving normal. It makes me feel like there is a least onething that isn't changing full circle around me. Now, come on.” Her light pigmented hand reached out for the darker skinned girl's to take; Peppita grasped the said hand in hers as they made their way into the tiny shop.

 

(-)-(-)

 

Ah! There they were she had found them. A group of numbers she was quite familiar with shone back at her from the illuminated computer screen:

 

FAYT LEINGOD- 55119

 

NEL ZELPHER- 58467

 

MARAIA TRAYDOR- 62876

 

CLIFF FITTIR- 64191

 

MIRAGE KOAS- 44845

 

ADRAY LASBARD- 43725

 

They were on Elicoor and in the ancient ruins that held the entrance to the firewall; she would have to leave immediately. After all, she had no idea how long they would be there for, so there was no time to waste…

 

After a few moments passed by, and she typed in a few calculations, Blair found herself in the Eternal Sphere and found the six individuals whom she knew quite well. And, those six faces looked expectedly at her. Each black pupil etched with worry and hope, yet, her words would be unable to wash away either. In all actuality, she would most likely only increase the worry and prolong the hope. She hated it when she had to give out bad news, after all, it just never seemed to suit her-she much preferred to be an optimist.

 

“Blair.” Her name was stated simply by Maria. The blue haired female walked up to her, each step was strong and precise, as was expected from her. “Have you been informed on the event surrounding Albel, Peppita, and Sophia?”

 

By now the azure eyed woman stood in front of her. “Well, while I have not been informed of the events surrounding those three. I did find something rather odd when I was checking the archives today. It seemed that they have ended up in the 21st century. As impossible as that may be to believe, it can only be true.”

 

And, just as she had anticipated, the others held looks of confusion upon their faces. “What do ya mean archives and do ya have any ideas about how those three got there, in that era, I mean?” Cliff's deep voice asked.

 

“I figured you would question me about the archives. You all know what an archive is; a collection of past events, a good example would be what you call a website. On these websites they may have archives of old news or pictures or something of that nature. Therefore, we have an archive of every era in the Eternal Sphere, and these archives need to be checked monthly. These checks normally take a few days to a week or more depending on how smoothly everything goes…In this case I found the problem of three individuals not in their appropriate time.” Here she stopped for a moment or so, in order to let the information sink in and be processed; she could see their discomfort at the mentioning of the Eternal Sphere. She could understand how they probably didn't like to be reminded that they were just some game…then again she knew first hand that they were so much more than that.

 

Thus, she continued on, “I'm not quite sure how I can get them back to the time period that they belong in. I might be able to make some hypothesis if I had a little information on how they ended up where, or more officially, when they did.”

 

It was at this point that Fayt came forward, “Peppita was checking out this book at the museum when they disappeared.” He handed her the old Disney book Beauty and the Beast.

 

Blair's eyes widened as her irises caught sight of the children's book. The expression of shock was soon replaced with a slight frown. “I should have known.”

 

“Should have known what?” Asked Nel, her voice held a tint of ice to it.

 

“Most of you here have heard of the, now, ancient Grimm Fairytales. I was the one who made the suggestion to Luther to have them created in the first place. Since you know that at one point in time I began to see the Eternal Sphere as an alternate universe, rather than, a game in which we were gods. I thought it would be helpful to teach this other world of our past mistakes. Thus, the creation of these things known as fairytales; they were meant to teach morals-some positive and some negative-but morals all the same.”

 

“At first, these “fairytales” started off in their unedited versions, yet at a certain part in this world's history people began to become rather conservative. Each tale was watered down and made acceptable for young children. That's were Disney comes in, they made multiple movies, which were then turned into children's picture books and such, yet the morals still remained. Since the material held in each page is connected in some way to my world, Sophia's connection gene reacted upon it; yet, these books had been produced in your world and not mine. It is because of this that the gene connected those three to the time in which this version of the book was formed instead of 4-D Space.”

 

A pregnant silence was met with the large dosage of information just received. And so, no one talked for a long while, all just became lost in their own thoughts about the theory that had just been announced. Nevertheless, the silence was broken, by none other than Fayt, “So, basically, what you are telling us is that in order for Sophia, Albel, and Peppita to come back they need to find that book in that time era.”

 

Blair nodded her head, “Yes, if they find that book it should connect to the one in this time era and bring them back. I wish I could help, but I can't. Archive files are locked and are forbidden to be touched, after all, if I were to tap in or mess around with the archive files it would be consider time travel in the Eternal Sphere. Time travel is never a good thing; a major event could be changed or never even occur, thus, I'm helpless to help and so are you all it would seem.”

 

The news she had just delivered had been the farthest from what one could ever consider “good news”, but it had to be done, even if it tore at her heart to see the venerability in their colorful orbs-all at a lost at what to do. None of them had ever had to face the enemy known as time-none of them had ever sat and waited-none of them had ever had to rely on fate…Until that horrid day.

 

That terrible day when they realized that they may never see their friends again…

 

(-)-(-)

 

He watched as Sophia began to act like a child and listened as he let out a `humph'. All the same, he couldn't help but be relived to see some form of a shine in her eyes. It made her appear to be alive again…normal…as if she were her old self; for the past few days she held too much stress and concern in herself. He wanted to tell her to stop each time she fretted over one thing or another, but he was unable to. It was a factor that he had begun to get use to now; he could no longer get mad at something that was pointless.

 

One day though-one day-he would understand their language, and one day he would be able to speak it. And when he did, the first thing he would tell her would be to “shut up”, then he would tell her to, “calm down”. Yes, that was what he would do, one day very soon. As it was they had only been here for a few brief days, yet, he could already make out and comprehend a few more words other than just names.

 

And that was a brilliant start.

 

Anyway, if Albel had been able to understand the conversation between the two individuals, then he would have realized that they were in a vivid conversation about Peppita's “first” day of school:

 

“Oh! I'm so excited! It's your first day of school-it makes me feel like a mother watching her child off for the first time. I'm so glad that we were able to get one of these support houses, now we don't have to worry about disturbing anyone.”

 

“Will you shut up, Sophia, and stop bugging me?”

 

“But, well, it's your fist day of school! Oh, and it's in a completely different era, it's such a unique opportunity.”

 

“This isn't my `first' day of school though! I'll have you know that that was when I went off to kindergarten.”

 

And thus, they continued to blabber on and on and Albel had not a clue on the events that took place around him. It was horrid, the fact that he was unable to comprehend the words and languages spoken and written around him, made him feel even more like an outsider than he already was. To put it bluntly-Albel couldn't take it anymore. That anger that he had thought had been driven away by defeat came back full force. He wanted badly to punch something-anything. He was deterred away from such a thought by a sharp gasp from Sophia.

 

“Albel,” he heard his name escape from her lips and turned his head in her direction. She started to speak again he was able to pick a few words here and there; from what he was able to gather, she wanted him to come with her and Peppita.

 

Thus, Albel got up and walked over to the door, Peppita latched her hand in his good one. Albel didn't even notice.

 

(-)-(-)

 

Back and forth, back and forth, Peppita swung her legs beneath the desk. Boredom had taken over her mind the moment she had stepped into the classroom. It wasn't her fault that she knew all of the information that was spoken by her teachers and it wasn't her fault that all of her teachers were so plain. It was like they were robots all programmed to be the same, or maybe, like they were cardboard cut outs. She didn't know the answer nor did she truly care, yet, her mind had no other thoughts to muse over.

 

Soon Peppita got tired of the thought of school and turned her attention on Sophia and Albel. She noticed how Albel seemed to be able to pick up on certain words now, other than names, and it really didn't surprise her. After all, Albel was an extremely intelligent man, he understood things rather quickly; by the end of their journey last year he was even able to grasp some of the technologically advanced subjects. Though, she figured it was a minimum amount of comprehension. In the end, what her mind wanted to get at was that Albel would soon know enough about the Japanese language that he would be able to speak it. And Peppita liked that particular thought; she missed their banter and his sharp and cold voice.

 

She then shifted her mind to ponder upon Sophia. At the moment Sophia was at an interview. From what Peppita was able to remember, Sophia went for a maid job, it seemed to fit her. The older girl had told Peppita that she would be the one to work, even when or if, Albel learned the Japanese dialect around him. She spoke of how he knew too little of this world to work in it, and that he would have to take care of her [Peppita] when she was at work. The younger girl had only nodded. It made sense.

 

The young blond chanced a glance at the clock as it ticked away and found that the bell was about to ring any second. She readied her bag, honed in on the teacher just in case the teacher mentioned homework (which they didn't), and off the bell went. And, just before she practically flung herself out the door, she got up and bowed to the teacher as she was instructed to by the class officer.

 

Her long legs pounded against the plain colored floor as she fled down the stairs and through the hallways. In a matter of minutes she reached the front doors and pushed them open, her eyes immediately fell upon one person-Albel.

 

That was right, she had nearly forgotten that Albel was to pick her up or, at least, that was what Sophia had hoped she had gotten across to Albel only hours earlier. The reason Sophia had wanted Albel to come with the two of them was so that Albel would be able to know where it was that Peppita went to school. Then, through some odd form of sign language and other body motions, Sophia tried to get the idea across to Albel to pick Peppita up when school let out. That was another thing; Albel seemed to understand how time worked here, which was a great advantage. Anyway, the older females attempt to communicate with Albel had not been in vain, which could only be considered a good sign.

 

“Peppita,” she heard him say her name and rushed over to him. Then she grabbed her hand in his and they walked back to their `home'.

 

(-)-(-)

 

Soon enough a week had passed since Sophia had first went for that job and she was glad that she was able to get it. She didn't mind the work she got, maid work was work that she liked to do. Nevertheless, at first she had her worries. She was concerned that Albel and Peppita wouldn't adjust quite as well as she had, but both of them had. Once she got her first paycheck they bought some food and clothes and life began to become more comfortable. With their second paycheck Albel bought some books such as How to Learn Japanese.

 

Peppita on the other hand had great grades in school and had even made friends. Friends whom had come over, friends that she had to act like Peppita's mother around, friends that knew of Albel and Sophia as simply `Peppita's mother and father'. It was quite an odd contemplation.

 

Yet, on this day, Peppita came home and her face was not quite as jubilant as it usually was. Instead, it held concern.

 

“What's the matter, Pep?” Sophia had started to call the adolescent teenager that a few days ago because Peppita was a long name and tongues grew weak when they spoke long names all the time; long names, all of which, just screamed for nicknames.

 

She just shook her head at the question. She began to walk away. Sophia watched with confusion as Peppita passed the couch, yet, she didn't get very far, for Albel had reached out with his good arm and his hand had curled around her petite arm. The dark-skinned female glanced at Albel, his hair was loosely tied back and simple blue jeans covered his legs and a tight black shirt hugged his upper body. In his lap was laid out a book. She could only assume that it was a book on the language that surrounded him. His blood dyed eyes pierced her spray painted green ones; a stare that spoke volumes-he wanted her to answer the question.

 

“Fine, I'll answer the stupid question.” Her voice held a childish tone to it, almost like a kid who was being scolded by their parents, “Since I grew up in the troupe, I remember always moving, always being on the go, and I also learned the popular languages of Earth-Japanese being one of them. We learned these languages for performance purposes; communication devices are still expensive, so not everyone who comes to our shows has them. Like I was saying, I was always moving and changing-going from place to place. And, each time, I had to put on a new skin…” Here Peppita paused and looked at both Albel and Peppita straight on.

 

She then continued with, “But, I've never been this afraid of new skin before…”

 

Sophia could only, silently, agree.

 

(-)-(-)

 

A/N: That's the end of this chapter. I made it longer as a form of apology for taking so long to update. Real life came into the picture and writing came after it. Anyway, I'll be through with school on Tuesday, so, with summer break on the way, and multiple ideas floating around in my head thanks to some Alphia pictures, the next update won't take as long as this one did. I hope everyone enjoyed it and please tell me what you think of it in a review. : ) Take care everyone and ja ne!

 

-LilyGinnyBlack-