Star Ocean: Till The End Of Time Fan Fiction ❯ The Creator's Desire ❯ Chapter 8 ( Chapter 8 )

“Hey, Luther . . .”

 

The blond lifted his head, and he tore his gaze away from the monitor he studied. Fayt sat a mere foot away from him, a soft blue and white light illuminating his features. The younger man also stared at a computer screen, a pensive expression on his youthful features. Curious, Luther rose to his feet and closed the distance between the two of them.

 

The day before, Fayt's doctor released him from the hospital's care, giving everyone surrounding Fayt some rather implicit direction. Fayt was not to overexert himself. That meant no sparring, no verbal altercations with anyone, no putting Fayt in a stressful situation, and no physical intimacy that could lead to sex for at least another two weeks. Fayt's friends figured refraining from sex would put a strain on Luther and his relationship with Fayt - Luther heard the whispered conversations when no one thought he was around. Some of them - namely Maria and Albel - snickered and pointed at him whenever they saw Luther, and they continued to whisper amongst themselves. The rest were either indifferent or sympathetic

 

What Fayt's friends did not realize was that Luther was a man of great restraint and patience. After all, he created the core programming for the Eternal Sphere, and such work required both restraint and patience. A single kiss from Fayt was enough to cool the fires of his desire and his lust. A gentle caress to his cheek satisfied Luther until they could be intimate once again, and the blond was acutely aware, each time he and Fayt touched and held each other, of how close he had come to losing Fayt. The experience was not something Luther intended to relive any time soon so he would listen to the doctor's orders . . . for the moment.

 

However, Luther was not a fool, either. Even as Fayt recovered from the more serious of his injuries, the blond sensed his lover's restlessness and eagerness to do something, anything, so he could feel useful. Fayt loved to be challenged, to figure out the solution to any problem presented to him, and he possessed a strong desire to remain active both physically and mentally. As a result of Fayt's restless behaviour, Luther had granted Fayt access to the discs containing the Eternal Sphere data. His hope was for Fayt to pinpoint any dire threat to the Eternal Sphere or anything that felt like it did not belong. With Fayt calling him over, it seemed as if Fayt had done exactly that.

 

“What is it?” he inquired, coming to a stop next to Fayt. His counterpart pointed to a patch of white on his screen.

 

“Look at this,” Fayt murmured. “This wasn't here yesterday when I looked.”

 

Luther leaned in closer to see, inhaling a little of Fayt's scent in as he did. To him, under normal circumstances, the white splotch on Fayt's screen would have indicated a group of stars and planets converging together. There were many instances when he had witnessed such events when creating the galaxies of the Eternal Sphere, and the results were always nothing less than astonishing. This time, though, the pattern was rather different. The clusters were not gathering in the center than settling into one position, as they had done in the past. Rather, the clusters, which Luther presumed were not stars or planets, were traveling outwards in a spiral pattern, and they were moving rather quickly, as if they were being spewed out by something.

 

“It's a small cluster of sorts,” Luther observed. “Can you zoom in to get a clearer look?”

 

“I can try, but I'm not sure I'll get anything,” Fayt murmured. He typed in a few commands. The motion on the screen stopped, freezing on the patch of white. Fayt typed in a few more commands, and the clusters grew considerably larger. However, the image stopped before any finite details could be seen. Luther saw mainly small orbs of blue and white lights in the shape of feathers. Silver dust encircled the orbs and the feather-like objects.

 

“Many things,” Luther said, his tone. “And nothing like I've ever seen before. Something is blocking full view, though . . . What is the velocity of those clusters?”

 

“Two hundred kilometers per second,” Fayt replied. He never typed in the parameters Luther requested. Luther turned his attention to Fayt, frowning a little, and he wanted to know why his lover had not typed anything into the computer's mainframe.

 

Fayt, on the other hand, merely sat there, his eyes on the monitor. His expression had become neutral, but his eyes were . . . droopy, Luther noticed. The blond reached out and touched his partner on the shoulder.

 

“Fayt?”

 

“This is it,” he murmured. “This is what I've been sensing . . .”

 

Luther glanced back at the screen.

 

“What is it?”

 

Fayt did not reply right away. Instead, he continued to stare at the monitor, his right hand reaching out to touch the screen. His eyes were no longer droopy-looking. They were sparkling now, and a light smile tugged on his partner's lips. His continued silence, though, alarmed Luther.

 

“Fayt, what is it? What are we looking at?” the blond demanded.

 

“The results of our union,” the blue-haired youth murmured.

 

* * *

 

“Hey, Blair . . . look over here . . . There's something you really need to see.”

 

Curious as to why Shar was calling her over, the silver-violet-haired woman walked over to where her friend and colleague sat at a console. While Sphere's building had suffered severe damages, the lack of a place to work had not stopped the programmers and the developers of Sphere from continuing with their projects. The officials at Gemity were more than accommodating with the Eternal Sphere team, and the developers were provided private areas and computers so they could resume their work.

 

As Blair approached Shar, she could not help but notice the frown on his face. The programmer also rubbed his chin and typed in a command of some kind, only to have the system fail in recognizing what Shar wanted. To this, Blair frowned as well.

 

“What is it, Shar?” she asked, coming to a stop behind her friend and colleague. An image of a white and blue cluster appeared on Shar's monitor. In the center of the cluster, something pulsed, and it sent a scurry of activity spiraling away.

 

“I'm not entirely sure,” he replied. “I was kind of hoping you could tell me what this is. It wasn't there before the Owner disappeared into the Eternal Sphere. All I can really tell is there's a lot of energy flowing from this anomaly. Otherwise, the systems refuse to lock in on anything concrete. I've tried at least five times.”

 

“Hmmm.”

 

Blair leaned over Shar to get a better look at the cluster. Whatever created the anomaly had produced a considerable amount of energy and quite possibly used an equal amount of energy. However, Blair could not discern much from the image on Shar's screen. Faint hints of feathers and spheres were all she could define, and it troubled her, especially since Shar could not clean up the image more. For some reason, her thoughts focused on Luther as she gazed at the anomaly, and she sensed he had something to do with this latest development.

 

“What do you think it is?” Shar asked. Blair shook her head, and she stood straight.

 

“I'm not sure, but I believe Luther will know,” she replied. With grim determination, she turned away from the screen and strode towards another console. Her younger brother had some explaining to do.

 

* * *

 

“We will need to leave right away.”

 

Fayt nodded as he listened to Luther talk. The two were in their assigned quarters on Moonbase, stretched out on the bed. Fayt's head also rested against Luther's chest, and he could hear the blond's heart as it beat to a slow and steady rhythm. The sound of his counterpart's heart lulled Fayt's senses a little, and he found his eyes were closing.

 

“Are you feeling all right?” Luther asked. “You are being most quiet right now, Fayt. It is not like you.”

 

“I'm fine,” Fayt murmured.

 

“You've had too much excitement today,” Luther said. Fayt heard more than he saw Luther's frown.

 

“It couldn't be helped,” the blue-haired youth said, yawning a little. “Besides, I feel fine. I'm just a little tired. That's all.”

 

“Are you saying that so I will not worry as much?”

 

“No, I'm not. I really do feel fine. Elated, actually.”

 

“Because we created something together,” Luther said. Fayt nodded again. A smile tugged on the corners of his lips, and he lifted his head so he could gaze at his partner.

 

“We did,” Fayt murmured. “And I want to see what it is.”

 

“And you shall,” Luther said. “Tonight, though, you must rest. We will leave as soon as I can get us a ship. The Diplo is much too slow to get us where we need to go.”

 

“And I can't ask them to travel with me,” Fayt added in, sighing a little. He would miss his friends dearly - they had endured a great deal together in a short amount of time - but Fayt also realized he could not drag the crew of the Diplo or his friends halfway across the galaxy or the universe. Nel, Adray, Albel, and Roger would be missed on Elicoor, Peppita had the Rosetti Troupe to worry for her, and Sophia . . . well, she could only handle so much adventure. The young girl really was not the killing or adventurous type, and she probably missed her parents a great deal. She had not seen them since before the trip to Hyda IV. If anything and out of the entire group, Sophia needed to return home the most, and, if she wished to leave, Fayt would not stop her. He would miss her, but he would not keep her from her family.

 

“Yet, you will not stop them if they wish to follow you,” Luther pointed out. “That would be their decision.”

 

“Yes, it would, wouldn't it?” Fayt exhaled softly, and he closed his eyes. He felt Luther kiss him on the forehead and say something to him - it sounded like “rest” but Fayt could not be sure - and he allowed himself to relax. Then Fayt remembered no more.

 

* * *

 

An hour or so after Fayt had fallen asleep, Luther remained awake. His blue eyes were focused on the ceiling of their shared room. Small orbs of blue, silver, and white light danced around the darkened domed lamp, traces of glowing dust falling towards him and Fayt. Sleep eluded Luther, but he did not mind so much. As long as Fayt continued to breath, Luther was content.

 

While he and Fayt lay there, the younger man's arm draped across Luther's abdomen, an idea entered the blond's mind. There were many things he still needed to atone for, and one of them was the death of Professor Robert Leingod. Fayt would miss his father, and it occurred to Luther that perhaps the professor would like to see the anomaly he and Fayt had created together.

 

`He doesn't need to be dead,' Luther mused. `Maybe a coma or something . . . That will work . . . Perhaps Blair can assist me with that.'

 

“Luther, we need to talk.”

 

Luther smiled when he heard his sister's voice.

 

“Indeed, we do, Blair,” he replied. “Indeed we do.”