Phantasy Star: Fringes of Algo

Epilogue- Quantum of Mercy

(The Rie household, Camineet on Palma, late at night)

"N... no! No! Please! NO!"

Alisa's eyes shot open as she bolted upright on the battered couch. Gasping for breath, she looked down at herself, making sure she was all right. To her relief, she wasn't wearing the black and red dress she wore in her dream; instead she wore some work pants and one of Rainy's old T-shirts, the word "Academy." printed across its chest in white block letters.

"I... I swear to God, Alisa, I wasn't trying to kiss you in your sleep or anything!"

She blinked, then turned to her left. Cutruss was sitting on the coffee table beside the couch, a small box of breath mints next to him.

"Get out of here, you little pervert!" Alisa said, throwing a small pillow at the young man, sending him running deeper into the house. As she settled back on the couch, she could see a light shining into the living room from the kitchen.

Realizing that she wouldn't be getting back to sleep any time soon, Alisa got off the couch and entered the kitchen. Rainy was sitting at the kitchen table, sipping a small box of juice with a large bendy straw. When she saw Alisa, she smiled. "Oh, heya, Alisa!" Rainy said happily. "You finally woke up! The guy from the hospital said you'd be out of it for a week, but... wow, it's only been three days!"

"Hospital? I... I can't remember too much," Alisa replied, sitting down across from her. "Rainy, what happened?"

"Oh, Mister Lutz told me. You guys went to Baya Mahlay, went to this nice castle in the sky..." The pink-haired woman paused to sip some of her juice, and Alisa watched the juice flow through the loops of the straw. "Ah, fruit juice. Anyway, when you got to the castle, you fought a bunch of monsters, and LaShiec was up there. Mister Lutz said he wanted you to be his queen..."

"Every king needs a queen, you understand. With all the expertise you have in combat, and all the magic you know, combined with your tremendous beauty..." LaShiec laughed again, and Tairon resisted the urge to drive his axe clean through LaShiec's skull. "...You would be my perfect queen. We could rule Algo together... forever." He waved his hand, and a tiara appeared on Alisa's head. "What say you, my dear?"

Alisa replied not with words, but by swatting the tiara to the ground, where Myau promptly sent it across the throne room, resting to a halt at the foot of LaShiec's throne. Shrugging, LaShiec raised his staff. "Very well, then," he said. "You shall soon see the grave error in your judgement!"

And then, there was a fight- swords, scepters, and spells flew- the details were a blur to Alisa, but one distinct memory came through: Her raising her hand into the air.

"Let's finish this, guys! Flaeli!"

"Right, Alisa! Brose!"

"Tandle!" Lutz called behind them.

"Collabo Magic... DELTA BLASTER!" they had called. The lightning bolt carried Alisa's fireball and Myau's frost bolt, and LaShiec screamed as he was entirely consumed by the magical radiation.

"Now I remember," Alisa interrupted. "Lutz was surprised- he didn't think three people could Collabo magic together! What happened after that? Rainy, what color are my eyes? What's today? Oh, God, Rainy, what-"

"Alisa, chillax, willya?" Rainy asked, setting her hand on Alisa's shoulder. "It's the nineteenth of Six-month, 342. King LaShiec's dead because Delta Blaster turned his boots into an ashtray. Your eyes are blue-green, which kinda makes me jealous. And Tairon and Mister Lutz brought you to a hospital, then here, because Tairon didn't feel like paying the bill."

"Oh, thank God," Alisa said, visibly relieved. "Then that dream wasn't real..."

"Yeah, Mister Lutz said you might have some bad dreams because of being exposed to LaShiec. I don't want to harp on it, but do you want to talk about it?" Rainy asked Alisa, concern in her eyes. "If you don't, that's fine."

"I don't know... it's..." Alisa sighed, then said, "Maybe some other time, Rainy."

"S'cool." Finishing up her juice box, Rainy stood up, throwing it into a trash can after she pulled the straw out. "Yes! Three points! Night, Alisa! See ya in the morning!"

"Night, Rainy." As she rose to head back to the couch, Alisa stopped, then turned to Rainy. "Hey, uh, Rainy?" she started to say.

"What's up, Alisa?"

Alisa sweatdropped as she looked at Rainy. "What, uh... what's with the nightgown?" she asked, curious.

"Oh, this. Hehe... ^_^;" Rainy started to explain. "I thought after Mister Lutz went to sleep, I was gonna go throw some Star Mist and some makeup on, creep into the guest bedroom he's in, and... hehe. Snuggle."

"...'Snuggle.' And what would Lutz think?" Alisa asked, amused at Rainy's (rather dumb, she thought) plan.

"I haven't told him, so that makes it a surprise."

"Look, Rainy, there's something you should know about Lutz..." She hesitated, seeing Rainy tilt her head sideways quizzically. She wanted so much to tell her, "Give him some time to warm up to you, Rainy. You really shouldn't keep throwing yourself at him, playing Seduction in Satin, y'know? Let him meet the real Rainy Rie."

Instead, what came out of her mouth was, "Noah. His name's Noah. Lutz is just a title, that's all."

"No-ah. Well, I've been calling him Mister Lutz since I met him, so I think I'll keep calling him that. See ya later, Alisa!"

As she watched Rainy saunter upstairs towards the guest rooms, Alisa sighed. I hope that's the last of the dreams, she thought. Nekishe... I know it was a dream, but... I'm sorry we had to fight. Nekishe...

"Wait a minute..."

The brown-haired woman turned to the clock mounted on the stove, its "5:38 19/6M/342" staring back at Alisa. Wheels started turning in Alisa's mind: Nekishe should be home in a little bit, she thought. I have to talk to him! But how...

-=-=-

It had been a very, very long day- soreness, fatigue, and the last dying vestiges of an adrenaline rush coursed through Nekishe Eushys's veins as he staggered weakly through his front door, practically dragging himself forward as he headed towards his bedroom.

He had nearly made it when he heard the familiar (and at this particular moment, extremely unwelcome) ring of his telephone cutting through the silence of his house. Grumbling under his breath, the youth decided to ignore it, and lurched forward onto his bed with a loud thud.

"Heya, it's Nekishe." He heard his voice from the phone's answering machine, accompanied by a sweet female voice- her voice- adding in, "And Alisa!" "Leave your name and number, and I'll call you back. Unless you're Malcolm Washington, in which case, would you kindly go eat #### and die."

"Nekishe? It's Alisa. This sounds dumb, but... I had a very bad dream last night. Can we talk?"

Nekishe's eyes opened in surprise, and he found some reserve to stay awake. As he approached the phone, he paused. His bedroom was not the way he had left it. Something was lying crumpled on his bed.

"Uh... h...hello?" he asked nervously, poking the thing on the bed with a broom. "Hey?"

He managed to catch a piece of the object with the broom handle. As Nekishe lifted it, he could see it was part of a suit of armor- diamond-coated Laconia chainmail, made for a woman, by the weight of it. A pink skirt and tunic lay under the armor, and a pair of white boots was tucked neatly beneath Nekishe's bed. For some reason he couldn't fathom, Nekishe swore he could smell Star Mist coming from somewhere in his house.

"Hello?" he asked, louder this time. "Is somebody in my house?"

Click. Click. Click. The sounds of something scraping against tile. The subtly intensifying scent of Star Mist. Nekishe was now very confused- someone was definitely in his house; he was sure of it. The who and the where were the puzzle. As he checked the clothing piled on the bed again, he saw a familiar gold design on the armor. He had seen its owner somewhere before.

"Alisa?" he asked, now sure of who he was talking to. "Are you here?"

"Ssssh. Right behind you, Nekishe."

He turned at the sound of Alisa's voice, then proceeded to nosebleed as he saw her, resplendent in a set of lacy black lingerie. Alisa laughed gently as she took a step towards him, her hair swinging from side to side with her motion, brushing her shoulders. Reaching out to him, she smiled, closing his nose shut.

"Heal!" she said, her voice cheerful. Healing energy radiated through her hands, healing Nekishe's nosebleed as she released him. "So... whaddya think?" she asked, striking a pose.

What Nekishe Eushys was thinking was OhmyGodohmyGodredlipsblackheelshalfnakedAlisaohGodwhatdoIdo, with varying frequency and coherency. He raised a finger to point at Alisa, his jaw dropped, and he managed to stammer, after a few seconds, "Oh God, oh my God, red lips black heels, oh God, my best friend's sister is right here and half naked and holy crap Alisa you're hot, oh God, what do I say what do I do!?"

Alisa sweatdropped, then smiled and laughed as Nekishe valiantly tried to compose himself. He wasn't succeeding, particularly as she sat down on Nekishe's bed. "You all right, Neks?" she asked, a hint of tease in her voice.

"Holy hell, hot!" It was clear that Nekishe was a bit overwhelmed, to say the least, by Alisa's presence.

"Nekishe, do you say that to every girl who has a belly button piercing?" Alisa continued, shifting ever-closer to Nekishe, leaning towards him.

"I... Iiiiii.... Alisa, what gives?! Not... not that I'm complaining at all, mind you! But, uh..." He sighed, tore his gaze from Alisa, then took a deep breath. Nekishe heard Alisa giggle slightly as he asked, "What's this about?! You don't usually dress like this!"

"I know. Nekishe, I... I was thinking lately... you've had a crush on me for a while."

"This isn't helping!"

Rolling her eyes playfully, Alisa continued, "I know. I was wondering, though- Tairon, Lutz, Myau and I- we're gonna go talk to Governor Hope real quick. Tell him the good news- LaShiec's dead."

"Dead!?" Nekishe asked, very surprised. "Oh, oh my God. He's dead. You guys did it. You actually did it!"

"Mmhmm. Governor Hope asked us to talk with him after we killed LaShiec," Alisa continued. "We're probably gonna talk about finding a replacement for him- undo the things he's done, right his wrongs, you know. Standard liberator stuff. I was wondering, though, Nekishe..."

She traced a line across Nekishe's chest as she spoke, the pink-polished nail barely scraping his skin despite his spaceport uniform. "When we get back from Paseo," she continued, batting her eyelashes, "Did you want to go to Burger Knight? And go see a movie, maybe?"

"I... we do that all the time, Alisa," Nekishe stammered.

Giggling again, Alisa continued, "I know, Nekishe. Silly, silly Nekishe. I was thinking that, after the movie, we could come back here, and..."

She finished her sentence by bringing her lips to Nekishe's, closing her eyes. After feeling Nekishe nervously murmur and squirm for a minute, she pulled away from him. "And maybe do some of that?" she finished, putting her arms around him.

"I... I'd like that, Alisa. Really."

"Oh, Nekishe! ^_^" Alisa pulled herself closer to Nekishe and kissed him again, more passionately this time. After a minute, she pulled away again, and said, "I'll be right back, Nekishe. Right around dinner time or so, and then we'll have all the time in the world, y'know?"

"Of course..." Nekishe was blushing and smiling. As Alisa changed back into her clothing and armor, he added, "Hey, Alisa. Thanks."

"You deserve it, Neks, silly," Alisa replied. As she strode to his front door, she turned to face him. "Love ya, Nekishe! ^_~" she called, blowing him a kiss.

Nekishe watched as Alisa skipped off, humming to herself. He thought about what happened over the past few minutes... and promptly passed out, his nosebleed returning with a vengeance.

When Alisa got back to Suelo's house, she reached for the door's handle, only to see the door swing open. Myau bounded out and said, "Hey, Alisa! Welcome back to the land of the living!"

"There you are, Alisa," Tairon said, Alisa's Laconia sword and shield slung along Tairon's equipment. "We were wondering where you went."

"Oh, just visited Nekishe for a bit, that's all," she replied, taking her gear back from Tairon. "Sorry I didn't tell ya, guys."

"It's fine, Alisa! Really!"

Myau skipped past Alisa's feet, and she moved aside so Tairon could leave Suelo's house. Behind him, Lutz stood, his hair frazzled and his normally immaculate mantle and jacket heavily wrinkled. Raising an eyebrow, Alisa asked, "Umm, Lutz? What... exactly happened to you?"

"I do not want to talk about it."

"And what's that on your neck, Lutz?" Alisa asked. "It's all over..."

Sighing, Lutz hung his head, embarrassed, and told the group, "Tairon wanted to know, too. As did Janey. And her parents. And for some reason I don't want to fathom, her brother. It's Rainy's lipstick, shade Papillon Rose Pink. And before you ask, yes, Alisa, it was also all over my face and chest, too. She tried to seduce me last night as I went to get some water."

"Wow, I thought you had more willpower than that, Lutz," Tairon joked. The death glare coming Lutz returned caused him to promptly recant.

"I thought she was kidding," Alisa told Lutz.

"So did I. Unfortunately, she was quite serious. As a result of her amorous desires and intentions, she and I..." A blush crept across Lutz's face as he spoke, his voice lowered. "She and I got to be quite intimate last night. Several times. Her parents are a bit upset, so we should depart for Paseo. Now."

"Woo-hoo! Lutz finally got laid!" Myau cheered, as Alisa grasped her forehead. "Man, Tairon, looks like I owe you some Meseta."

"We'll talk later."

As soon as Lutz set foot outside the house, he heard Rainy's voice call to him, "Mister Lutz?"

"Oh, God... yes, Miss Rainy?" he asked. Behind him, he felt his companions silently urging him on.

"You're leaving already?" Rainy asked, her pink hair out of its ponytail and an unkempt mess. "You can't stay for coffee?"

"I really can't right now. We have to go to Paseo to speak to Governor Hope. I'm sorry."

"Oh. But..." Averting her eyes from Lutz's, she asked, "You'll come back, right?"

"Of course. We should only be a few hours, Miss Rainy."

Lutz embraced Rainy, then dipped her as if they were dancing. She gave a yelp, then smiled as Lutz gently kissed her. "I'll be right back!" he finished, before running to meet up with the group.

"Wow, Lutz! That... I've never seen that side of you," Alisa told him as he adjusted his mantle around his head.

"I'm a man of many surprises," he replied. "Hapsby, are you at the ship?"

"Of course. Is Alisa all right?"

"Yep!" Alisa said, speaking into the visiphone Tairon held. "We're heading to Paseo- get the ship ready."

"All right. Just be careful- the law enforcement robots are on the fritz. It seems Lord LaShiec was murdered last night."

"Good riddance to him," Alisa spat. "Let's go talk to Hope."

"Hey, Alisa," Tairon realized. "We have a spaceship with a radio, and Hope has an office. Why don't we just call him?"

"Oh, be a little more sociable, Tairon!" Alisa said, smiling and crossing her arms. "We're just going to talk to Governor Hope! What could possibly go wrong?"

The End
Phantasy Star: ALTERNATE Project
June 21 2008 ~ Mar 14 2009