Chapter 29
A strong chilling wind surged around Sheena's immobile body, ripping at her hair and clothing. With the coming of spring, the western hemisphere mornings were brisk and breezy. It was on days like these she missed Corrine's warmth on her shoulder the most.
Shielding her eyes from the rising sun Sheena continued to watch the daily scene unfold stories below her feet. Perched high atop a colossal statue of the goddess, the early rising citizens of Meltokio looked like miniature figurines going about their daily routine.
Another gust of wind whipped Sheena's black hair into her eyes, but the lithe shinobi was too preoccupied to even notice the discomfort. The newly instated chief had much on her inexperienced shoulders. It was hard enough remapping an entirely new planet with only 150 people, but add wayward summon spirits, and this new development involving Raine caused Sheena to have doubts about her abilities as chief.
Sheena was forced to put a hold on her search for the delinquent summon spirits who had yet to find a place to roost, and thus stabilize the world's mana flow. Now that the mana focal points between the planets were destroyed the spirits have been enjoying their new found freedom, which among other things included wondering around the recently rejoined planet (causing all kinds of random mana induced phenomena).
Even worse were the apparent cult followings that have been popping up all over the map; the most popular being the cults of darkness and fire. Sheena hoped Ifrit and Shadow were enjoying their newfound fame, because it gave her nothing more than a headache.
Right now the task at hand was to figure out who was responsible for the attack on Raine's group, and quickly neutralize the threat. She had already heard from Kratos about the leaked falsified information about Raine's death, other Renegade operations.
Sheena couldn't help but think that this was the perfect time to be shorthanded. With less than a dozen active shinobi, including herself and Tiga, the circumstances were less than ideal.
Sheena frowned distantly, 'Damn, at this point we'll need all the help we can get. I hope that idiot comes through.'
At that very moment an arm draped around Sheena's shoulders from behind. "Hm, lets see wrinkled brow, angry eyes. Thinking of me, babe?" the playful voiced offender finished with an added squeeze.
"Let go of me, you stupid Chosen." Sheena shoved Zelos hard enough that he not only lost his grip on her but fell completely of the huge cathedral.
"Sheeeenaaaaaaa!"
Sheena adjusted her clothes scowling and turned to face the other way.
"You know honey, sooner or later your going to crave these little moments of ours." Zelos lifted himself up on translucent orange wings and settled a safer distance away from the irate ninja.
"Moments," the ninja snorted sarcastically. "You're going to have to tell someone about that eventually." Sheena said indicating her head towards Zelos' recently acquired wings.
He smiled a whimsically intuitive smile, before adding playfully, "It wasn't my fault," Zelos shrugged. "How the hell was I supposed to know that thing activated on contact with a Chosen?"
Sheena turned to face him, eyes crinkling in worry, "Collette had a hard time during her transformation as it was… Just get someone to look at you, alright!"
Zelos placed his hand over his heart as if overwhelmed by emotion, "Aw, I'm touched. You're worried about me."
Sheena snorted derisively, before turning her attention back to the ground, where it stayed.
"Come on Shee-" Zelos' eyes drifted to the pair that caught Sheena's attention. It was his favorite cool beauty and Lloyd's biological papa. Suddenly, the Tethe'Alla Chosen's blue eyes grew bright with mischievous glee.
"Well, well, well. What have we here?" Zelos hopped onto the goddess statue's outstretched hand to get a better look, despite the fact he didn't need to. "Didn't think they'd hook up."
"Huh?" Part of Sheena wanted to know what he was talking about while the other part told her she was better off not knowing.
Zelos chuckled, "Come on, those keen, not to mention cute, ninja eyes can't detect the love in the air?" He flew to Sheena's side in a single bound. He then whispered in her ear, "Those two definitely did it."
Sheena shivered, pushed him away and scrambled to the statue's opposite shoulder. "What are you talking about? Did what?"
Zelos happily chased his most favorite cantankerous ninja babe and looping his arm around her waist. "Do you really want me to explain?" he wiggled his eyebrows.
They had-"
"Enough!"
Sheena turned an interesting shade of red, and for the second time that day, his warm breath caressed the shell of her ear. Honestly, she's been letting him take far too many liberties with her.
"You're so crude," she groused shrugging away from the clingy redhead. "How can you tell anyway?" the ninja added under her breath. Kratos didn't look any different than normal, sporting that expression of silent observer he always wore.
Zelos smirked knowingly, "Its all in the walk."
"Forget I asked, o.k.?" It was amazing how easily Zelos could sweep her up into his crazy pace.
"So you received my message?" She asked blatantly changing the subject.
"Hm," Zelos nodded affirmatively, turning more serious.
"I'll say this. Whoever tried to off Raine has a lot of balls or is incredibly stupid. I'd go with the latter," Zelos' blue eyes narrowed dangerously and his voice deepened. "I can't wait to lay down some divine judgment on their assess."
Sheena blinked, it always threw her on how quickly Zelos could change airs so quickly. "And it is imperative that we act fast to neutralize the threat before they do something rash," she rushed awkwardly.
Zelos pushed away the floating red strands that had been pulled from his braid by the strong drafts. "You said it honey. Now that those bastards know that the professor's alive things are gonna get hot."
"Yes, that's what we're counting on. The confusion from the Renegade's spread of misinformation and Raine's sudden appearance should stir up some activity. With your new station and connections, I want you to help us narrow the suspect pool."
"I am ever at the service of my beloved screaming banshee," Zelos bowed with a smile.
Sheena pointedly ignored his remark. "Here's a list of names. Any information you can glean will be a great help." The new chief slammed her fist into her palm, envisioning the tragedy that nearly killed one of her dear friends. "We have to strike hard and fast now that they're off balance."
"Hard and fast huh? I love it when you talk dirty," Zelos closed the distance between them even further, until a kunai screamed in front of the redhead's nose nearly knocking him off the statue for a second time.
"Damnit, Sheena!" Zelos eyed the throwing blade that lodged in the crevice of two massive stone blocks. "Tell that guard dog of yours to back the hell off."
"Tch! Orochi is no dog. Besides maybe you'll finally get the hint and keep your hands to yourself," Sheena crossed her arm, red faced and flustered.
"Can ya' blame a guy?" Zelos shot back playfully, though he was actually quite ticked off. This wasn't the first time a precious moment with his screaming banshee was interrupted, and if Zelos' suspicions were correct it wouldn't be the last. It didn't take a genius to figure out that that Orochi guy was in love with Sheena too.
Zelos glared off into the direction that throwing knife came from. 'Competition heh? What a bitch.'
Suddenly a bell tone reverberated across the cityscape, nearly liquefying Zelos' sensitive eardrums. He plastered a forced smile on his face, "Damn. Well duty calls, gotta go. And don't worry Zelos Wilder is on the case."
"Just make sure you act quickly," Sheena rolled her eyes. "You know how to contact me right?"
"Sure thing, later babe." Zelos fell backwards off the statue, letting himself free fall before he caught an upward gust of wind on his gossamer wings.
As he flew behind the cathedral, Zelos smiled when his hypersensitive ears picked up an annoyed, "idiot".
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………......................................................................................
"Raine-", Kratos uttered and hissed through his clenched teeth, as he fought to restrain his enflamed body. Propped up on one elbow, the seraph's other hand struggled to grab hold of Raine's sweat slickened hip in an attempted to slow her frightening momentum.
However, every time her hips rose only to come slamming back down on his hard pulsing length, Kratos would loose his concentration and fall back into the sweat soaked sheets with a grunt.
Sweat had turned Raine's silvery hair dark grey, and ran down in rivulets between her breast and down her back. There was an angry flush to her face that was full of such raw need, Kratos felt himself harden even more to the point of pain.
It was beyond difficult to restrain a body engineered to for massive strength and stamina. Each time Raine brought herself down his body wanted to react with the same vigor and aggression.
He didn't want to hurt her but the violent intensity of her quick moving hips was urging his body to repay back in kind. The mental debate was short lived when his aroused body finally won out over any form of concern. Finally grabbing hold of Rain's hips, he thrust upwards as she came crashing back down onto him.
Raine's body locked in fierce orgasm as Kratos molded their bodies together and rocked her back and fourth on top of him. She let out a choked sob as her locked muscles released and left her quaking to the point she could hardly hold herself up anymore.
Left weak from her climax. Her hands splayed across the muscles of Kratos' stomach, but her arms gave way and Raine found herself flat against his chest, shuddering deeply with the aftershocks of her adrenaline rush.
Plastered against his body, Raine responded when she felt Kratos' muscles quiver and jump as his own orgasm subsided. She was nearly limp when the seraph sat them both up and then grabbed the back of her head to guide her mouth to his in a deep possessive kiss.
Having been unable to catch her breath, Raine tried to pull away. But Kratos held firm, clearly signaling that he was far from done.
Flecks of light danced in her vision and her lungs burned, but that did not stop the quivering heat from pooling to where there bodies were still intimately joined. The resurging need in her caused Raine to roll her hips, which prompted Kratos to break the kiss suddenly and grit his teeth.
At this point Raine only had a handful of functioning brain cells. She all but fell into Kratos' ear and whispered huskily, "more."
She craved the blessed oblivion of reaching her climax, when need and pleasure crescendo into a cataclysmic release. Raine could hardly move, and her muscles burned with fatigue. However, she could not stop, would not stop. She had become wildly addicted to Kratos' body, and fiercely craved the feeling of him inside of her.
Kratos shivered as Raine's quickened breath continued to tease the shell of his ear. Still hard and ready to comply to her demand, he dragged his hands down her sweaty back and then grabbed hold of her rounded bottom. He squeezed her once before easily lifting her up and then down decisively.
Raine arched sharply, biting her lip to keep quiet. She was raw and sore, but that only seemed to heighten the perverse pleasure elicited from the passionate invasion of her body. Raine loved the utter madness and chaos of it.
Somehow it made her recent failures drift far away into a hidden corner of her mind.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..........................................................................
Kratos sat up against the headboard watching the night sky turn grey with the promise of dawn through a large bay window. His sweaty body had long cooled and Raine was practically unconscious, naked body sprawled out, next to him on the bed.
After urging and enticing him to take her body to the furthest reaches of its limitations, Raine had fainted dead away. Though Kratos did note that her stamina had improved since their first time together. It seemed she was determined to outlast him one day, which was a challenge Kratos was eager for her to see through till the end.
However, one thought weighed heavily on the swordsman mind. Why did Raine feel the need to take her body to such lengths?
Kratos reached down softly and brushed the hair from Raine's eyes. As usual it had not been an easy day on the summit floor. In fact the only reason she was still permitted to speak was due to Zelos and Regal's staunch support of Raine at risk of their own reputations.
As brilliant as his eccentric littler professor was, she was completely out of her league when it came to politics. It was only her battered pride and tenacity that kept her commitment to half-elf acceptance alive.
And he was so utterly useless.
Unfortunately Kratos' mere presence only complicated matters. The magnitude of the infighting that ensued when he set foot in the meeting hall had prompted a hasty promise to the church officials that he would only observe the proceedings and not interfere.
Kratos could not fathom why that when influential adults got together the collective mentality went straight back to the schoolyard. All the groundless arguments, and petty grievances only made Kratos want to reach for his sword rather than seek amendments through political discourse.
However he couldn't put all the blame on the arrogant Tethe'Allan government. The fallen Cruxis, had spent generations cultivating and molding this old hatred for their own agenda. And lets not forget Cruxis' puppet organization the Desians, who were vital in taking human lives to manufacture ex-spheres; wrecking havoc among the Sylvarainians.
But more than the arrogant Tethe'Allans and fear stricken Sylvarainians, Kratos was angry at himself. Angry that all he could afford her was the comfort wrought from his body as a vessel to let Raine vent her frustration.
It was obvious that sheer will and stubbornness was not going to bring Raine closer to her goals. All the fear and hate mongering had put a formidable blockade in the road to half-elf acceptance.
Raine needed help badly. Help, that he was in no position to provide.
Kratos watched the graying night sky lighten and take on color as the sun poised itself to rise over the large metropolis of Meltokio.
He lowered his head thoughtfully, absently stroking his fingers across a sleeping Raine's shoulder; her face pressed into the mattress, oblivious to the world. Kratos pulled the bed sheets up to her shoulders still deep in thought.
What Raine needed was a strategists of the shrewdest kind. One, in particular, who masterminded a world dominating religion almost single handedly.
The gears in Kratos' head kept turning as an idea, formed. He silently slipped from the bed and dressed.
She needed, a ruthless calculating mind… brazen and opportunistic even.
More and more an image was forming in Kratos' mind's eye.
A cynic he may be, but one of the smartest people Kratos had ever known.
Kratos gently opened the window, allowing a soft breeze to flutter the curtains before he jumped out. As he flew away on glowing blue wings the swordsman hoped that the person in question wouldn't be a stubborn fool about it, for he and Raine had not parted on the best of terms.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….........................................................................................
The sun had just begun its descent when Kratos touched down outside the ocean side base. Delicate light green grasses swayed in the ocean breeze atop the steep cliffs. As the Renegade soldiers had informed him, Kratos found Yuan seated cross-legged in front of a small tidy memorial. The headstone was a sandy gray while different odds and ends (gifts) were carefully placed around the base.
Long blue strands of hair fell out of Yuan's ponytail, catching the cool salty breeze in a dance around his head. It looked as if Yuan had been sitting in the same spot for hours if not days.
Yuan did not spare Kratos a glance and kept his eyes focused on the headstone before him.
"He was so young," Yuan eventually murmured despondently. "Hadn't even completed his second century." Resting his elbows on his knees the half-elf leaned forward as if to get closer to the memorial.
"Two hundred and fifty-one years ago, to this day. When I found him… when I found him… Gods he was a sight," Yuan chuckled humorlessly. "Covered in blood and filth the little brat came at me with a pitchfork. He was half crazed and nothing more than skin an bones… couldn't have been more than ten years old at the time."
'He's talking about Botta.' Kratos realized.
"I didn't realize until after I knocked him out that he was protecting a human woman and a half-elf infant… both dead and well on their way to decomposing."
Kratos did the only thing he could while his friend acted in a rare display of grief, which was to listen.
"I took him in…and made him a part of my life. I taught him everything…raised him. My goals became his goals. His loyalty was unsurpassed," Yuan's eyes were dull and distant. "Far more than a soldier to his commander, but the loyalty of a child to his parent…."
Yuan took a deep shuddering breath full of salty sea air. "Botta wasn't like any of my subordinates. He was more like a son."
As the sun set further, silence once again settled over the grassy cliff top. Eventually Yuan raised his head, not caring that long blue locks fell limply over his eyes.
"You still here?" he snapped finally taking note of Kratos' presence.
"What? Did Sage toss you out already? I told you before. A woman like her is completely out of your comfort zone. You need a woman with a little less, less…" Yuan's despondent eyes slowly became sharper and more focused as he searched for an appropriate word, "… character. "
The corner of Kratos' mouth twitched, it became clear that Yuan did not appreciate being disturbed in his little private ceremony.
"She needs your help," Kratos said solemnly.
Yuan pursed his lips together and Kratos could see the cold cynic resurface in the other seraph's green eyes. "To the point as always I see."
Yuan swept back the loose blue strands of hair from his eyes and looked pointedly at Kratos, "Are you sure you want my help. You of all people know my role in this planet's downfall.
"My hands are sullied as well," Kratos countered. "That's why it's high time we stopped being apathetic to the world's suffering and act on the hopes and dreams we had long abandoned."
"Aside from the big words, your sounding a lot like that brat of yours," Yuan said stretching out his legs in the long grass.
Kratos simply replied, "Perhaps."
"I don't do idealism," Yuan murmured testily.
Kratos calmly regarded his friend sitting in the grass like an obstinate child.
"Maybe not, but I know what a prideful bastard you can be," Kratos said evenly. "And you'd do anything to prove someone wrong, especially Raine."
Kratos now had an irate Yuan's full attention. "And what pray tell is there to prove?"
"That you're not a pathetic and petty old man that can only be bothered to act for appearance's sake. Though I have no idea who you're trying to impress," Kratos ended in a tone was a perfect mimicry of Yuan's sarcasm.
Slowly Yuan rose to his feet with a grace that belied the fact that he'd been sitting on the ground for the better part of thirty-six hours.
"Sage sure has you whipped. You even sound like her." Yuan deadpanned.
"But you are going to help," Kratos couldn't help but fold his arms smugly as the sea breeze tugged at his hair and cape.
Yuan turned his head out over the choppy waters below with a thoughtful glare. "Tch. Is she doing that badly?"
Kratos also directed his gaze to the sea, which was died crimson by the setting sun. "Raine is… very bright, but-"
"A complete failure when it comes to political game," Yuan supplied a little too readily.
Kratos checked his temper and tried to remind himself that sometimes Yuan just liked to be difficult.
"And she asked for my help?" Yuan asked, willfully ignoring Kratos' rising ire.
There was a slight pause and Kratos answered guiltily, "No."
Yuan grinned. "You didn't tell her then… This should be fun."
Kratos didn't even want to figure out what Yuan meant by that statement and held his tongue.
"Alright then. Since I can't stand to see a grown man grovel, I will help you. But-" Yuan pointed his finger at Kratos. "Not out of some overly righteous sense of justice. I just don't think I could ever stand seeing another Botta brought into this world. And Sage may be on to something here…"
Kratos quickly concealed the small quirk of his lips and said, "I understand."
With a turn, Yuan threw his cape over his shoulders and descended a well-hidden path that led back down into the base.
"Let me guess," Yuan said as he led Kratos down the rocky path, "Sage thought she could win this debate with logic and reason alone."
"That has been her tactic," Kratos admitted.
"Amateur," Yuan scoffed, he then looked at Kratos over his shoulder.
The auburn haired warrior shook his head. "She's merely inexperienced-"
"And you. Yes you," the blue haired seraph chided at his companion's raised eyebrow. "You of all people should have been aware of that scheming cesspool know as Tethe'Allan politics and at least should have warned her."
Kratos opened his mouth to speak but Yuan stopped abruptly and froze. Kratos immediately noted a full out smirk on Yuan's face that could only be described as sinister.
"…what are you planning?" Kratos asked narrowing his eyes.
Yuan's smirk grew and in the blink of an eye pushed he off the steep path and into the air.
It took Kratos a couple of seconds to catch his friend in as he streaked across the sky, "What are you doing?" he growled. "We don't have a lot of time, the summit ends next week."
"Rest easy my friend. I just secured your precious professor's victory," Yuan called over the whipping winds. "Now hurry, we have to make it to the northern peninsula before midnight."
TBC
A/N: Last chapter is on the way!
