((A/N: Spiritua Masquerade: Wh00t! I just wrote a 9,644 word chapter for my collab with dragonwings144, Project HEAT. Sorry this took so long, I just HAD to beat dragonwings144's word record. She was taunting me with it! Wah… Anyways… Confused yet? Here comes my chapter to make things worse :p
Meowzy: Nya... It may have taken some time, but this chapter is enormous too! I envy Spiritua's writing abilities.))


Chapter Seven (Kratos's PoV)
The Center.

I don't know how long we fell, or how far. I just knew that by the end, my throat hurt from screaming. I also knew that at the speed we were falling, the landing may very well kill us. I didn't tell Yuan that little tidbit, however. I figured if he screamed any harder, he might hurt himself. Heh. I just kicked back and relaxed. After all, if I was gonna die, there was no way to stop it, right? So why waste my time? Like I said, I kicked back and relaxed as the tunnel through which we were falling grew progressively darker.

After about five minutes of falling, we suddenly slowed dramatically. Well, I suddenly slowed dramatically, for I couldn't see Yuan to tell if he did as well. But I assumed he did. For a few moments we were suspended almost motionless in mid-air, before being unceremoniously dropped to a harsh, cold floor.

The drop wasn't that far, though by the ache that proceeded to spread through my body, it was far enough to bruise things up quite a bit. I pulled myself to a sitting position, and hissed slightly in discomfort at the fairly large amount of pain that followed. Eyes searching the darkness around me, I forced their powers of vision to their fullest extent, but was still unable to see even the teensiest thing. So I was essentially blind in an unfamiliar room.

I cursed audibly, though the noise felt extremely out of place in the otherwise silent area.

"My sentiments exactly," came a somewhat sarcastic voice not far off, though by the tone of his voice, the half-elf was far more apprehensive than myself.

My hand made its way to the floor of… whatever or wherever that hole spat us. Stone. So we could possibly, just possibly, have fallen into a naturally-forged hole. But that wouldn't explain how it opened up, or why we slowed down before we hit the bottom and died.

"Where are we?" Yuan questioned, and I shook my head slightly to express that I knew as little as he did about this particular subject... But then I remembered that it was too dark to see.

"In some sort of a room..." I softly replied, and I could almost sense him roll his eyes.

"Even in the darkest of darks, the dangerousest of danger, Captain Obvious never fails!" he cried in a dramatic tone, and his voice echoed around the cave.

I paused.

"Dangerousest isn't even a word." I smirked, and that shut him up. "Can you see anything at all?" I questioned, having heard that half-elves have eyesight far better than humans'.

"No, you fool, can you? We need light to see, and there isn't any of that around here, now is there?" Came his reply. Obviously he found my question to be incredibly stupid.

After a few moments, I rose to my feet, slightly unsteady in the darkness. I heard the bluenette shift slightly a few feet away.

"What are you doing?" He demanded, the edginess evident in his voice.

"I'm going to try and find a way out of here. Or were you intending to just sit around and wait for your Renegades to rescue you?"

Silence.

"They're not coming," Yuan admitted grudgingly, and rose to his feet as well.

"Watch out, or you'll usurp the current Captain Obvious and assume the title yourself." I smirked.

"Give it a rest, will you? That's why I hate it when I'm wrong, because you'll never effing let me forget it! You always have to be better than me, whether it means besting me at whatever we're doing, or undermining me in your speech. No wonder you don't have any friends." He snapped, and I cringed, clenching my fists. Half of me wanted to beat some sense into the half-elf, but half of me knew he was right, dead right. I let the natural silence envelope us once more for a few minutes, before I sighed heavily.

"Yuan, can we at least make peace until we get the hell out of this mess?" I offered hopefully, but the only response was an unsympathetic 'feh'. "Yuan, please? I-…" I bit my lip, finding it harder than I thought to say what I knew I had to say. "I'm sorry…" I whispered, the loudest I could force myself to say it.

His shock was evident, for even his breathing halted for a moment.

"So the high and mighty Kratos decided to grace me with a long-due apology. I'm touched. I-" the bluenette cut off, though I doubt he could sense my hand moving to my Flamberge's hilt. "Heh, sorry 'bout that."

"I might find it in me to forgive you." I replied, though my voice was somewhat teasing. He snorted slightly in dry amusement. After a second, I heard him rise to his feet as well.

"So what are we standing around here for? Let's get searching!"


For the good part of an hour, we felt around for any sort of crack or hole or knob or button or anything else that could signal an exit. Before long, I was so sick of dark and stone that anything, ANYTHING that wasn't cold and unyielding would be a relief.

My hand suddenly met just that. It was warm, and slightly pliable. In just that moment, Yuan let out a scream.

"What is it?" I demanded, still attempting to sort out what the object was.

"Something's touching my ass." He replied, close to panic. I silenced a yelp and withdrew my hand as if burned. Oh shit. Time for a cover-up.

"You wish, Pervert Boy." I smirked, feigning skepticism.

"No, I'm serious!" He replied, slightly irked.

"Well is it gone now?"

"Yeah, but-"

I cut him off. "Then don't worry about it."

Thank Martel that he didn't pursue the issue.

Another hour came and went, and another. I did good to stay well away from the bluenette, lest he discover what it was that had touched his ass to begin with, but I didn't find anything of use. Another hour, and another, and even another passed. My stomach rumbled; I realized it'd been over 36 hours since I'd last eaten, just before we set out on our raft. Right on cue, I heard Yuan's stomach growl as well. More like roar, however, for I heard it clear across the cave-room.

"IF YOU KEEP US LOCKED IN HERE ANY LONGER, I'M EATING KRATOS, YOU HEAR ME?" Cried the half-elf, obviously attempting to threaten his way out of our trap. Nonetheless, I sidled farther away, in case he came to make good of his threat.

"It's no use, Yuan. This is stone, they won't be able to hear you through it." I informed him, and I heard a scraping sound that told me he just slid down the wall to sit on the floor.

"But I'm hungry, Kratos, it feels like I'm being burned alive from the inside out..." he whined, and I couldn't help but sympathize with him. My hand slid to a pouch at my waist; a few scraps of meat were tucked inside, in case of an emergency. I had been saving them for when I truly needed them, but... I thought Yuan needed them far more than I would. I untied the pouch.

"Yuan, catch."

I tossed the pouch his way.

"Wha-"

But he was cut off by a dull thump. I assume he received his package.

"What's the big deal, hitting me in the eye with a-…" He paused his rant a moment, obviously examining the package. "With a bag of meat? Kratos, where'd you get this?"

"I brought it along. I was gonna eat it, but... you eat it."

"Ohhh, I get it," I could sense his smirk. "Should I be honored that the Great Kratos cares?"

My eyes widened, but my voice stayed carefully level.

"Cares? Don't flatter yourself. I'd just rather you eat my food than me." I snorted, slightly cynically.

"Oh..." He replied. Was it just me, or did he seem... disappointed? When his words continued, however, his voice was it's usual lively self. "Thanks for the meat."

"Like I said, better it than me."

While the half-elf proceeded to scarf down the food, I continued along the wall, deftly running my hands up and down the rough surface. Up and down, up and down, up and down... After a while, it got so boring that my mind began to wander. What would happen if we never got out of here? Up and down, up and down... No, we'd have to get out somehow. Would we be able to make our way back up the hole we fell through? Up and down, up and down... Was it even low enough to climb up into? And how wide was it? Would we be able to climb up, if we were back to back and both using our leg strength to push? Up and down, up and- smooth?

My eyes widened as I ran my fingers over this newfound smooth surface. It felt like metal of some sort. A door? But there was no knob... Oh well, it was better than nothing.

"Hey Yuan, I think I found something." I called and heard him scramble to his feet, then the steady hiss as he jogged my way with his fingers combing the wall so as not to wander off-course. "I'm here." I said when he seemed to draw close, to make sure he didn't run into me. I heard him slow, and soon his breathing was heard from just beside me.

"What is it?" he demanded.

"Right here, I think it's a door." I replied.

"Right where? It's not like I can see, y'know."

I presume he was groping around to find said door, because I felt a searching hand on my shoulder a moment later. Cursing inaudibly in exasperation, I reached up and grabbed his wrist, pulling his hand from my shoulder and roughly pressing it to the door.

"Right here." I said, for emphasis. My hand released his wrist, and I heard a soft hiss as his hand brushed the door, feeling for a knob just like I did. I sighed.

"There's no knob." I stated before he has a chance to point it out.

"Then how the hell do we open it!" Yuan demanded, obviously quite sick of our temporary prison.

"You have to lick it, Yuan." I replied, smirking. There was a pause, and for a moment I thought he had believed me.

"You dirty bastard," he hissed. "I bet it tastes absolutely vile, and you would have had me lick it."

"Oh, how will I ever live with myself?" I questioned in mock concern, before abandoning my charade with a snort of amusement. "But honestly, if I knew how to open it, why would I still be here?"

"...Good point."

"I know."

For the next few minutes, Yuan attempted every variant of "Open sesame!" he could think of, eventually ending with "Open the hell up, you goddamn door!" and kicking it irritably. To both of our surprise, it creaked slightly, then slid slowly open.

After so many hours in the dark, the light was blinding. I couldn't open my eyes for a good two minutes, and even then it burned. Yuan, assuming by his furious cursing, was having the same problem. When at last we could open our eyes once more, we glanced at each other in wonder.

"Never thought I'd see the day that bitching out and kicking a door would open it." He laughed dryly, and I smirked as well. We were both in better spirits now that we were released from our dark confinement, though when I thought to turn and see what the stone room had truly looked like, the door had already closed.

I chose then to look around the room we'd entered. It was huge, hundreds of feet high, and the ceiling was one huge dome of glass, through which daylight shone bright.

How come we didn't see this when we were on the plateau?" Yuan questioned, and I shook my head cluelessly.

"We probably would have, had we not fallen in that hole first." I replied, and he nodded in agreement.

We stepped out into the room, looking around. It was completely empty and bare, aside from a massive half-circle door on the other side of the room. Though it was quite obviously a door, and quite obviously meant for something extremely large, it was also quite obviously firmly shut, so we couldn't use that as our means of exit.

"We went from trapped in the dark to trapped in the light. Tell me, is it just me, or did things honestly not improve much?"

But I didn't get a chance to answer. Just as I opened my mouth, there was another screech, and the massive door slid slowly up into the wall.

"I think things definitely just got much, much worse." I replied, my eyes, as well of those as my half-elven partner, were locked on what the door had opened to reveal.

It was a dragon, though no ordinary dragon. This dragon was three, maybe four times as large as those that lived in the Temple of Earth or Torent Forest. It had claws like daggers, the bottom edges serrated to rip. It was a bright, livid red, the color of fresh-spilt blood. It's tail made host to about twelve massive, slightly crescent-shaped spikes, four facing in each direction, and they looked like they were made of the same material as the dragon's claws. That wasn't the worst part, however. Not by far. The worst part was that the dragon had two heads. Two pairs of eyes, watching us like a hunter watches it's prey. Four ultra-keen nostrils, able to scent blood from as far away as the mainland. Two snarling jaws, filled with four rows of razor-sharp teeth each. One massive, jagged row in front, then a second, smaller row, pointed inward slightly, to snag on it's prey and make it impossible to escape.

"Yuan, don't shit yourself, but I think we've got company." I managed to choke over the lump in my throat. He'd already noticed, however. He stood there, frozen, staring at it with wide-eyes like a bird in the headlights of a Rheaird.

It eyed us a moment, before its two jaws opened and roared as one, white-hot fire billowing toward us.

"Run!" I cried, racing off and snagging Yuan by the arm on the way by. This seemed to bring him to his senses, and after a moment he caught up to me. I let go of his arm, no longer seeing any need to drag him. The dragon roared once more and spread its massive wings, flapping them disappointedly. I suppose it wasn't fond of its prey running away. When it recoiled its wings and made to come after us, we took off around the wall border once more, but it was surprisingly quick on its feet. Though we could easily outrun it, it had more stamina than us, and it followed steadily at its jogging pace as we slowly tired. We knew we couldn't stop, for if we did we'd be dead, but... as it was, running from a two-headed dragon and frequently avoiding bursts of flame... was there much chance anyways?

"It's gonna eat us anyways, why don't we just stop now?" I softly admitted between harsh breaths. Yuan turned to me, his jaw set in determination.

"I'm not giving up, and neither will you, I won't let you! If running won't work, we... We have to fight it!" He declared, and my eyes widened, but I nodded. Fighting. Now this was something I could understand, amidst all the chaos. Under unspoken agreement, we whirled to face the dragon, and as I slid Flamberge from it's sheath, I heard the metal whirr of Yuan's double-bladed weapon extending. The dragon slid to a halt, one head cocking and the other lowering to our level, both eyeing us inquisitively. Obviously it's never had breakfast fight back yet.

After a minute of something resembling a staredown, it roared once more, and charged.

"Good luck." I murmured to Yuan.

"Don't die," he replied, but before I could make an 'oh, so it matters to you if I live?' comment, we were forced to charge into battle. I dodged a strike by the left head, whirling and slicing at the right one's neck. It reared up onto its hind legs, its soft throat soaring out of reach, and roared once more, obviously growing angered.

I suddenly spotted something shining where its throats met. It was a crimson jewel, its core glowing with power.

"Yuan, look at its chest!" I cried, dodging a harsh swipe by the dragon's clawed forelimb. The half-elf, however, made no response. I chanced a look over to where he was dealing with the second head, and found him locked in a power-struggle he was losing badly. The dragon had obviously attempted to eat the bluenette, but Yuan had swung his weapon up to block it just in time, and now the only thing between him and the gaping jaws was an inch of sharpened metal. The head remained with its jaw open, pushing against the weapon with all its strength, and the half-elf stood, feet apart for balance, pushing back as hard as he could. A hand was directly opposite the top jaw, and one was opposite the bottom jaw, and his jaw was clenched with determination. Sweat ran down his brow, getting in his eyes and surely burning, but still he pushed on. Slowly, torturously slowly, his feet were sliding back. He was losing ground. Yuan was going to die.

The dragon, however, didn't seem aware that it was winning. It was growing impatient. A forked tongue slid from between its parted jaws, slipping around the sword and wrapping around Yuan's wrist. He gasped in pain, and when the tongue slid away I found out why. There was a ring around his wrist, where the tongue had been, where the flesh was burned clear off.

Acidic saliva! What else do these monsters have to throw at us?

The tongue slid out again, wrapping around his other wrist. My eyes widened. It was trying to weaken his arms so his force against its jaws would falter.

I was so focused on Yuan's battle that I only noticed the right head's lightning-fast lunge when it was too late. Sure, I dodged, but not without a fang sunk deep into my shoulder. I gasped in pain, but ran Flamberge into the beast's closest eye before much of its saliva could get into the wound. It released its grip, howling in pain. A hand flew to my shoulder, only to find it bleeding profusely, the skin around it eaten away as that on Yuan's wrist was.

Yuan!

I whirled to face the half-elf once more, just in time to see the dragon's other head lose its patience and its left forelimb whip out and strike Yuan harshly across the side, sending him flying into the wall. He collapsed in a heap, unconscious.

"NO!" I bellowed, moving to race toward him, but before I could get more than two steps I felt four razor-sharp claws gouge their way down my back. Crying out in pain, I fell to my knees. With my shoulder wound and now my back, I felt like I was being ripped apart limb for limb. My left arm was next to useless, that being the shoulder that the bastard beast sunk its fang into. Part of me wanted to give up, to collapse there and let death come...

NO! Yuan told me not to die! And somehow, that meant I couldn't give up. I had to get us out of here somehow.

I stumbled to my feet, throwing myself into a run and slashing Flamberge at the left head, which had been slowly descending upon Yuan like a hunter does its cornered prey. It hissed in rage, and lunged at me with it's jaws open, and I ran Flamberge into the roof of its mouth. It roared in pain, though the wound wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. It missed the creature's brain. I knelt protectively by the half-elf's side.

Here, beastie beastie beastie... Just try it, I dare you.

Suddenly a roar erupted to our right. Another dragon was emerging from the hole, this one fully renewed. My eyes widened in hopelessness. There was no way I could fend off three heads, four clawed limbs, and two spiked tails!

I glanced to the ceiling. Glass. If I could somehow get us up there, I could break through, and we'd be free. But how? The fairly uninjured head, like the two of the approaching dragon, was eyeing me distastefully. And then an idea came to me.

I picked the half-elf up and slung him over my shoulder, almost crying out as he came in contact with the punctured wound. It had to be that shoulder, though, for I needed full mobility of the other one to wield Flamberge. I stepped out away from the wall, daring the dragon to attack. It hissed in rage, and snaked its head down at my chest, as quick as lightning... But obviously not quick enough. When it lunged, I leaped, my feet coming to rest on the beast's head. Only for a moment though, for when it felt me on its skull it jerked up the appendage in alarm, flinging both me and the half-elf ceilingward. The dragons roared in rage at their prey being lost, spreading their wings and at last taking air in pursuit. They hesitated as they came close to the ceiling, though. They seemed afraid of something. It didn't matter what though, for that hesitation gave us time to escape.

Glass embedded itself in nearly every inch of my skin as we burst through the ceiling, though Yuan's cape prevented such for him. I felt worse pain than I've ever felt in my life. Despite this, however, I hit the ground running, taking off down the path that wound itself down around the mountain to the island below. I heard a screech of triumph from above, and I paused a moment, only to shudder as not two, but three dragons soared out over the forests of the island, searching for a new place to nest.


An hour after our escape found me leaning against a tree, breathing heavily, still weak and out of breath from the experience. So many questions raced through my mind. Why were those dragons trapped there? Who created the building to begin with? What was that jewel on its chest? Those questions, as well as many more. I was too weak to even begin to answer right then.

Though I'd had a good half hour so far to rest, my vision was only growing more and more blurred. I was losing a lot of blood, far more than could be healthy. The one time I leaned away from the tree, I found stripes of crimson stained into its bark, from the claw-gouges on my back. I'd removed my shirt, for it was too torn to do any good anymore, and now blood from my shoulder trickled down my arm and the side of my chest. I didn't move to wipe it away though. If I did, more would replace it all the sooner, just to spite me.

On the plus side, Yuan was okay. I made sure of that before I rested myself. He was lying in the grass a few feet away from myself, his worst wounds being his acid-burned wrists. They were beaded with blood, though not enough to do more than sting like hell. He, on the other hand, would live. Lucky bastard. I can't say he doesn't deserve it, though.

Right on cue, the half-elf shifted slightly, making a pained groaning noise before opening his eyes. He sat up, cursing furiously in pain. I smiled slightly in amusement, leaning my head back against the tree and closing my eyes.

"You're extremely bruised, in case you can't tell. Your whole back is blue. But you'll live." I explained, my voice light, but it held a shakiness in it that betrayed my condition.

"What happened? Did we win? Okay, dumb question, of course we won. We're alive, aren't we? Better question, is the dragon dead? How'd we get out here?… Why is it always me that needs to be saved!" Ah, I knew the questions were coming. Thick and fast they came at last. Hah, I'm a poet and I didn't even know it.

"I saw you thrown against the wall, so I jammed my sword in my head's eye, ran it through the roof of yours' mouth, and got you on my shoulder. I used its head as a catapult to send us through the glass ceiling and I carried you down here to safety. Oh, by the way, our little beastie friend, as well as two of its comrades, are now loose in the forest."

"Kratos, what happened to you?" He gasped, concern evident in his voice.

I cracked one eye open, to find him looking at my shoulder with rounded eyes, all other questions forgotten. I laughed dryly.

"It's not as bad as it looks. You should see the other guy." I joked, attempting to lighten the mood, but he just shook his head in disbelief.

"Answer me. What happened?" He demanded, moving closer and extending a hand to examine the wound. I raised my good hand and weakly swatted his hand away, turning my head the other way so I didn't have to meet his gaze.

"My shoulder came from a fang and the same dragon spit as happened to your wrist." He glanced down at his wrists as if noticing the wounds for the first time. His eyes shifted and stared at the ground next to me.

"And your back? What happened to it?" He demanded, a worried edge on his voice.

I glanced down as well; a small puddle of crimson betrayed the slash wounds on my back. I looked away again.

"The damned claws…" I grumbled reluctantly.

"Are you okay though? I mean, it's not like it matters to me, but... you're not going to die, are you?" Yuan softly questioned. I hesitated, before meeting his gaze.

"I'm fine." I reassured, though I believe that's the biggest lie I've ever told.

"You're sure?"

"Of course I'm sure, I'm not a child, Yuan." I snapped. Hesitantly, he nodded.

"Alright. Then I say we should move out, get as far away from the center of the island as we possibly can," he declared, obviously seeing me unfit to take charge. After a moment, I nodded as well, pulling myself to my feet and ignoring how his eyes were soon fixed on the blood-striped trunk. Determined to prove I was fine, I stepped toward the path... Only to have dizziness overcome me, and the ground rush toward me as blackness swept over my vision.


((Spiritua: Heh, it's the second chapter in a row that I've ended with Kratos passing out. But I believe he has every right to pass out this time, doesn't he? He's just saved Yuan's asseth for the second time in a row. :p I hope you like this, I had fun writing it. :D
Meowzy:... -dumbstruck- How am I supposed to match up to this? It's way too good! Waaah!))