DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the characters.
Please R&R^^
Tripping over a rock, Rei let out a soft yelp. Geez, how long would this circle go on? Exhausted, he dragged at Ruka's hand to retain his balance, but felt his angel nearly falling in response to that. "Sorry," he mumbled quietly, trying to smile apologetic at Ruka. His beloved merely smiled back at him, gently squeezing his hand. The look in his beautiful crimson eyes was far from energetic, Rei could see that easily. "I hope we're near the exit. Honestly, I don't know if I can face another circle without getting some rest first."
"Same here," Ruka sighed. "The shadows seem to get darker, though. Maybe it's a sign that the exit is close?"
"Maybe," Rei nodded, not allowing himself to doubt it. Even if it was like lying to yourself, every bit of motivation was welcome at this point. Still, the notion also frightened him a bit, knowing the true identity of those shadows. "Ruka, can you still see the floor?"
"Not really," his angel replied, some nervousness audible in his voice.
"R-Ruka… Aah!" Suddenly feeling the ground underneath his feet disappearing, Rei couldn't help but to scream. Ruka didn't, instead he pulled the smaller angel into his arms. Thankfully, they didn't fell far, though the sudden impact to the ground did knock the air out of him for a moment. Gasping, he tried to sit up, warning Ruka to quickly get off him. "Ouch… You really shouldn't make that an habit, you know?"
"Sorry," the silver-haired angel responded, before quickly checking Rei's body. "You didn't get injured?"
"No. Are you all right too?" Worriedly, Rei wiped some hair away from his angel's face. Ruka only nodded, leaning slightly into the soft touch. "Should we wait here for the others?"
"I don't know if that was the only way down," Ruka replied quietly. "It wasn't exactly an 'exit' like the other ones. But even though it's dark in here, there's nothing instantly attacking us. So I think it should be safe to wait here for a while."
Looking around, Rei realized they had ended up in yet another cave, heavy doors blocking the only visible way out. At least there were no shadows around here, apart from the one right above them. "Just in case some of our friends end up here too, let's move a bit. Being landed on twice is enough for one day."
That last remark earned him a soft chuckle from the silver-haired angel, and Rei couldn't help but to feel happy about that. Together, they moved a bit away from the back wall, settling back down at a side wall. Just in time, it appeared, as a scream sounded and Shin and Yuda dropped to the ground. Shin immediately sat up, Yuda followed a lot slower. "Yuda, Shin!" Rei practically yelled.
As he looked up, the relieve was obvious in the blue-haired angel's eyes. Yuda's eyes were rather pain-filled, though, and Rei worriedly looked at his friend's shoulder. "Rei, Ruka, are you two okay?" Shin asked.
"Yes," Rei nodded. "Are you too?"
"I am, but… Yuda, how is your shoulder doing?"
"It's hating me, and currently trying it's hardest to make me know that," Yuda groaned. Still, he tried to move his arm as usual. Worriedly, Shin wrapped his arms around the other angel, forcing him to relax. "Shin, I'm all right," Yuda sighed. "Don't worry."
"You're in pain, and I'm supposed not to care?" the blue-haired angel responded quietly. "Not a chance."
"Have you seen Goh or Gai anywhere?" Ruka asked, after a few moments of silence.
"No, but they might end up in a different passage," Shin replied, then explained what the angelic souls had shown him of the past. Rei couldn't suppress a faint shiver at hearing that new information. At least they were away from there now, although it made his worries for Gai and Goh increase. Hopefully, they'd find this exit too. Or at least reach the other exit soon, so they'd be safe for the moment.
"So… we have to defeat Antenora first, before traveling on?" Ruka asked.
"Indeed," Shin nodded. "And we'll only be able to meet up with Goh and Gai after that, if they end up at the exit that leads directly to Caïna."
"But… in that case they'd have to defeat one of the strongest demons, with only the two of them," Rei realized with a startle. "Will they stand a chance against it?"
"They'll have to hold out long enough for us to reach them," Yuda responded, as calmly as he could manage. "Which means we might better not stay here for the night, but instead go on to fight Antenora as soon as everyone has rested enough." He heard the faint tremble in his own voice, betraying how stressed he really felt. Besides the concerns about Gai and Goh's safety, it wasn't like they were in such a safe place themselves either. They were strongest when all six of them were together, but even then it'd be hard to defeat an upper-class demon. Even though four was still better than two, it wouldn't be an easy fight. And he had to admit, with how much his shoulder hurt right now, he wouldn't be of much worth in a fight.
"We can do this, right? We're the Saint Beasts, after all. And Zeus wouldn't have given us this task if he didn't thought we are up to it," Rei said softly, making it sound like a question rather than a remark. The fear in those dark golden eyes was obvious, even though Yuda didn't look at him for long. To see his friends in this situation made him feel more horrible than it should, as he couldn't help but to feel responsible for the actions they took as a team. A soft kiss onto his cheek startled him a bit, and he looked up at Shin.
"We can do this, as long as we work together," the blue-haired angel said, almost in a whisper. "If we fail, then both Heaven and Earth will be destroyed. Zeus wouldn't risk sending us if we were that probable to fail."
Hoping to stop this conversation, not liking at all how much under pressure it made him feel, Rei started playing with Ruka's hair. At least that distracted his beloved, and Shin couldn't help but to need to do the same with Yuda. Looking up, Rei saw Ruka chuckling softly at him, obviously understanding what the smaller angel's intentions had been. In response, Rei smiled apologetic and then kissed him quickly onto his lips. "Sorry, I just didn't want to think about it anymore."
"I understand. Just do your very best to defeat evil, and try not to worry too much about failing and the consequences." Having Ruka whispering that in his ear, made it a lot easier to comply.
"I guess they've ended up in a different passage," Goh remarked, after hours of waiting. Gai only nodded, uncharacteristically quiet. "Hey, they'll be fine."
"I know." He couldn't exactly tell his friend that wasn't his biggest worry at the moment. Right now, being alone with Goh wasn't any less than awkward. Geez, why couldn't the brunette just understand how he felt? He usually knew everything Gai felt, so why was he being so clueless about this subject? Was he clueless, really? Or did he just refuse to know it? Damn…
"Gai? We might better go to the next circle, and hope we'll meet up with the others later."
"Probably," the small blonde nodded, refusing to look up at his friend. "What can we expect there?"
"I think Shin mentioned a rather powerful demon, and the deepest circles are supposed to be the circles of treachery. Either way, it's possible that they'll try to somehow take over our actions again, like in the fifth circle, so we should be careful."
Something in the back of his mind started nagging at him at that, telling him that there was something he was missing. Something he should be aware of. Whatever, it probably wasn't even important.
"Weird, those doors."
Looking up, Gai saw what his friend meant. Indeed, large opened doors were in front of them, almost like an invitation. Creepy. And the closer they got, the fuzzier his mind seemed to become. Wait… "Goh? I-I think the demon of this circle already noticed us."
"What… why do you think so?"
Before even being able to reply, his mind went completely blank. All he felt, was the deep feeling of hurt about his friend not noticing his love, and before he knew it he attacked.
The ending of this chapter was pretty… lame, sorry. It's been rather busy at the petting zoo where I volunteer, so I don't have as much time to write as I hoped ^^'
