Mei- Okay, first thing you need to know - this chapter isn't funny at all. At the moment, it's like half cliffie, half filler.
Kratos- Kraine. X3
Mei- For Martel's sake, Kratos, you are not a muse for this story, so go away!
Kratos- Kraine. ;-;
Mei- ...Damned bastard.
Raine- :comes in and ushers Kratos out:
Mei- Thank you. Now we can continue.
WARNINGS: For pete's sake, if I can swear in the tabs, then I can swear in t3h storeh. Got it?
Presea- ...Kratos is behaving oddly.
Lloyd- Hell yes he is. I'm even ashamed of being his son.
Mei- W00t. Go you.
Regal- ...
Mei- Disclaimer, please. :holds up sword threateningly at Regal:
Regal- Um, um, um, we Symphonian characters and anything else from the game do not belong to Scarlet Kratos. But she does own a rather large collection of severed heads...
Mei- YOU GAVE AWAY MY SECRET, DAMMIT. D:
Regal, Lloyd, & Presea- :runs away:
Mei- ...Oh whatever. I can catch them later. :insert evil lughter here: That means I'll just have to start the story now...
oOoOo
Chapter 2: From the Weird to the Scary
The lights filtered into the car, where its riders were sleeping. However, Regal waited impatiently in his seat, trying to awaken his companions, but to no avail.
Within ten minutes, Regal sighed and decided to wake up Lloyd in a physical way. He gently tapped the swordsman on the head, who merely snored louder than ever and nestled his head more comfortably into Genis' shoulder.
"...Why must Lloyd sleep so deeply?" Regal muttered. After a few more failed attempts, he decided to move onto Kratos, who was generally a light sleeper. But light was not the word... When Regal's hand merely brushed the skin of his arm, Kratos jumped three feet out of his seat. Unfortunately for him, the seatbelt firmly held unto him, so he felt indescribable pain in his shoulders.
"Ow..."
"Heh, hello to you too."
"Oh, uh, hi." Kratos sounded unfocused, with the fact his shoulders were still sore. After a few seconds, though, he glanced out the window. "Why are we at the hot springs already? Lloyd told me that we were going to have a dinner break."
"Since you were all asleep, I figured it would be more convienant if I went straight to the hot springs." Regal shrugged. "But now I need help getting everyone up."
"Just a moment." Kratos looked back down at the sleeping form of Raine and gently stroked her cheek. She murmured something undecipherable. "Raine...Wake up..."
"...Wha?" her blue irises revealed themselves under a curtain of silvery cyan hair. "Uh... Oh, where are we?"
"At the hotel already. Come on, we need help getting everyone up."
Raine nodded, but before moving onto the two rows of sleeping 'victims', she gave Kratos a quick kiss on the lips. After this, the drowsy professor hopped out of the vehicle and opened the next door.
"Lloyd! Wake up!" Knowing how hard it was to wake the swordsman up (on past experiences), Raine grabbed a small hard-cover book from her pocket of her jeans and slammed it down onto his head.
"AAAAGGGHHHH!"
She smiled. Raine knew that if Lloyd woke up, so would everyone else.
oOo
Lloyd rubbed his eyes. The harsh glare of the lights hurt.
"You scream so loudly..." Genis moaned, stumbling face-down onto his bed.
"Yeah, well, it's not my fault the Professor thought it'd be funny to ram a book onto my head." he muttered in reply.
"But I note your mouth was practically three inches away from my ear..."
Lloyd got an anime sweatdrop.
"Well, it's not my fault your shoulder is like a pillow..."
"Meh, atleast you didn't kill Presea or something. Your arms felt like studded clubs." Genis said bitterly, subconsciously rubbing his stomach. The sweatdrop remained plastered to Lloyd's forehead as he dumped his suitcase onto the chair beside his bed.
"Yeah, but I'm lucky that you're my room buddy. I mean, if it was Zelos or something, I'd be in total -"
"- Heart-stopping endless torture. Right, Sir Bud?" Genis smirked as he sat back up on his bed, his back leaning against the wall.
"Oh, shut up, you." Lloyd growled.
Genis snickered behind his hand.
As Colette walked by their door, she wondered by she heard a loud THUMP quickly followed by another. Shrugging, she continued on her way back to her room.
She had no idea Genis lay moaning on the floor, holding his left cheek, with Lloyd stomping away, rubbing his well-used fist.
oOo
Raine changed out of her clothing, which she tossed into a bag nearby. She slipped on a cleaner T-shirt and with jean shorts and pulled the belt tight around her waist.
She felt light pressure on her shoulder and giggled as she realized who it was.
"Kratos..."
He playfully licked her neck, causing another eruption of gentle laughter.
"Come on, stop playing with me."
"Well, is that what you're going to wear? Because I think it's not Raine-like at all." Kratos teased her.
"Ah, well, we're going to eat, so... I figured maybe I'd wear something that wasn't well, Raine-like." Raine replied airily.
Kratos smirked.
Within two seconds, Raine found herself up in the air, with her limbs thrashing around wildly.
"Kratos!" she squealed helplessly.
"Heh, then let me carry you there..."
oOo
Sheena sat down on her bed, her hand sliding silently across the smooth, cool sheets. She smiled. She would probably get a good night's sleep.
Looking up at Sheena heard the door open, she found herself in the vicnity of Colette.
"Hey Sheena." Colette says, throwing herself down beside Sheena, "Are you ready to go?"
"Yep, just waiting for you."
Colette smiled and nodded, and the two girls headed out of their room.
Sheena smiled inwardly. She was just lucky enough not to be in a room with Zelos.
oOo
Regal glanced at the clock and impatiently tapped his foot.
"Presea, are you almost finished? Because the others are expecting us at the restaurant now."
He heard a muffled reply from the door with words he could not decipher. The ex-convict leaned against the wall, humming some unknown tune as he waited.
And then the door opened.
His eyes widened in shock.
Presea had tied her long, unruly fuschia hair into a tightbun, with a few long strands dangling from the top and running down to slither on her neck. Small sapphire earrings looked with fragments of her large, mirror-image orbs, and she wore a Chinese-styled dress that had golden patterns on the edges. A small sapphire pendant draped down from her neck with a silver chain, glistening cyan in the bright light.
She looked so much like Alicia...
"Um, I realize I was not asked to dress formally, but I did not know what else to wear." she said nervously.
"...It's alright. Now, come on, we must hurry."
oOo
Zelos grumbled angrily, tossing on a T-shirt and tan jeans and tying his long, crimson hair into a long ponytail. Why couldn't he be in a room with Raine or Presea, like Regal and Kratos? It wasn't fair.
But then again, Kratos and Raine were practically inseperable and Presea preferred Regal over Zelos, the two remaining people. Everyone else had paired themselves up with a close friend.
He crammed on some clean socks and sneakers, and in his blind fury, stubbed his toe on the door. Much swearing and cursing went on as he rubbed his sore foot before slipping his sneaker back on and re-lacing it.
When the door rammed closed, his forgotten key fell to the floor along with some hanged pictures.
oOo
They all met in the late-opening restaurant. Raine first refused to go in, saying Genis was too young to enter. Regal insisted that this was the only food sold at the hotel this late and there was no way he was driving at midnight. So, finally, giving in unwillingly, the group trudged in, some looking happier than others.
It was a nightclub. A wild nightclub. Raine's worst nightmare was confirmed.
Everywhere, people in both casual and formal clothing, danced, ate, and drank gallons worth of alcohol. Women danced on high platforms raised high above the wild crowd of people, who each bore their own assortment of revealing garments.
Genis and Presea had to be sent to another part of the restaurant for the children, where adults specifically weren't allowed. Raine said sternly that it was alright as long as they were safe, well-fed and had fun.
"Safe, well-fed, and 'fun' my ass..." Genis muttered quietly to no one in particular.
"Have fun at the daycare, (A/N: That really should be nightcare...) darlings!" Zelos called in a mock-concerned voice at their retreating backs. His evil comment was quickly followedby a loud smacking noise and a ear-splitting squeal of agony.
Genis smirked. He glanced over at Presea, and seeing her worried expression, his grin quickly faded.
"What's wrong?"
"I... I hope Zelos is alright. His scream was 2.2 percent louder than normal."
Genis laughed at her concern. Presea glanced at him, looking rather hurt. He quickly half-choked himself and said, "Don't worry. Sheena wouldn't want to hurt him that badly, right?"
"I...I suppose so."
Their awkward silence was shattered by the loud music and immense amount of assorted laughter and chatter. They glanced back, and saw the rest struggle to find a seating area for all of them.
They walked into the 'daycare', seeing a video game alcove that contained a few large-screen TVs and shelves and shelves full of games. Another corner had books of every color, size, shape, and kind, all placed in alphbetical order and age group upon large, grand mahogany bookcases with worn intricately carved detail. Another entire side of the room was dedicated to the artistic crowd; piles and piles of clean, unused paper were put in neat piles by large cases of pencils, brushes, pens, and markers. Crayons, colored pencils, and paint sets were clumped in groups. All materials were spread out on a large rectangular table. Chairs were pushed in unceremonially all around the table. It was a child writers' and artists' dream come true. A smaller corner contained the younger children's toys. Stuffed animals overflowed from overstuffed boxes, while other toys littered the ground like dust.
A few children, ranging from ages four to fifteen were lolling around everywhere on the scattered benches, chairs, and sofas, each doing absolutely nothing but staring absesntmindedly at the ceiling and wishing their parents and guardians would hurry up with their fun, while other had the time of their lives.
Another door led to a small hallway which opened to a large cafetorium. A huge opening in the wall revealing the counter and cash registers where the children got their meals, and tables and chairs were crammed into the room so movement was rather halted.
"Well, um, d-do you want to eat?" Genis asked Presea nervously, trying as hard as his will allowed him to stop stuttering.
"I... I am not very hungry at the moment." the ax-weilder looked at him undecisively.
"Y-you... Um... W-well... I didn't tell y-you this ear-earlier, but you l-look really pr-pretty..." the mage was amazed he managed to get that out of his mouth without gasping for breath.
"...Thank you." Presea smiled gently. She laced her finger together with his.
A blush creeped up from his neck.
So she wasn't oblivious to my infatuation... Genis thought contentedly.
Presea kept closer to him as they returned to the other room of 'fun' and went to sit down on one of the loveseat couches where two people fit quite snugly. Genis blushed as she half-sat on him, seeing at the sofa was rather small.
After a few minutes, a loud rumble seemed to ram into Genis' eardrums. He moaned.
"Genis, are you hungry? Because we can go eat if you wish." Presea's soft voice was like music to his ears. Either that, or he was starving.
"Sure... If you want to." Genis was proud the way he kept his voice clear of stuttering. They stumbled off the sofa. Presea nearly fell onto her face, but Genis caught her by the waist with his arm.
"Thank you."
Presea pecked his cheek as they entered the cafetorium. There was blushing galore.oOo
Raine seemed to be lost in the crowd. She looked around frantically. A rough hand grabbed her wrist as she squeezed through the crowd. Raine yelped in surprise and terror.
Her captor revealed himself to be-
"Kratos! Don't - don't do that!"
"I'm sorry. It's just that you would have gotten lost if I didn't."
The ex-seraph reeled in her in toward his chest, their hands clasped together.
"Where is everybody?" she asked in ear.
"They're all at seperate tables. I guess we'll have to look for one too."
Raine stretched herself up to her maximum height so she could get a view of empty tables.
Dammit! I'm too short... Raine cursed her stunted height. She looked up at Kratos, whose eyes were darting from place to place.
"Wait - I see an empty table. Come on." Kratos shoved a way through the thick mass of humans, one hand still clinging to Raine. It took them several minutes to get through - almost like hours to the healer.
Finally, Raine found herself being seated by the swordsman, who slid in the leather cough beside her. A small circular table stood in front of them, a small lighted candle in a pretty glass cup placed in exactly the center.
The swirling colorful lights flashed and flickered, nearly blinding Raine.
"I don't like this place at all..."
"Don't worry - if you want, we could leave as soon as we finish eating and tell the others."
"But don't you want to stay?" Raine watched Kratos violently shake his head. His auburn hair seemed to be tinged cerulean as a rogue blue light found their way.
"I hate these types of places as well. Let us just order our food and leave."
"Okay, if you want..."
"Well, first, wait here. I need to use a rest room." Kratos informed her as he slid back out of his seat.
Raine sat there, alone, feeling quite dizzy. Another hand grabbed her waiting wrist which had been lying there aimlessly.
"Aaah! Let go!"
oOoOo
...Nya nya nya nya, you'll have to find out who's hand that is later. X3
Review Time!
Suzu Fujibayashi: Well, here it is. :D And I didn't add that 'unbandaging Zelos' part in this chapter, but you obviously know they free him from his binds. X3
Streek-has-returned471: Sure, I'll try.
lalalalala2: Look, I'm not here to argue. Just read 'Rodeo Ride Tour' by Winged Dancer, and you'll see. And if you don't like this story, then I remind you that I'm not forcing you to read it. :o
PowHammer: Heh, thanks. I always love the friendly reviewers. :D
Roi-Tan: What? What do you mean by 'choice'?
Lil'EdtheHacker40: X3 Keep that hammer. Trust me, you'll definetely need it if you're a Kraine fan.
RavenGhost: Yeah, isn't it a miracle? Zelos is finally quiet for once. :P
Midnight Eclipse713: Um... Not lots, just some. Is that okay:D
X-Miria-X: I always hand out cookies for reviwers. Didn't you know:P Maybe I'll use your idea, but I've already got the next chapter's general shape down, so.. Yeah. But I'm not sure if they get back on the road after the next chapter of the one after that... :shrugs:
Scorch the hedgehog: I feel your pain. D:
I just have a note to say to you all; if you don't like my story, don't read it. I hate it when some people just give me a worthless review or tell me their opinions on how some of the couples won't work, and I want positive support so that I know if I continue, it won't be a waste of time.
Anyways, on a more positive note...
COOKIES FOR EVERYONE!
:throws out the cookies into the crowd:
X3
I'm telling you one thing; the more positive reviews I get, the higher chance you'll see your next chappie very soon. :P
So, cya all later!
oOo-Scarlet Kratos-oOo
