A/N: Holidays are over, so I won't be able to update as frequently as before I think. Whatever, here comes the next chapter (finally)!

I'm glad you like the tempo as it is now, so I don't need to change my plans, heh. Thanks for your reviews so far, nothing to comment this time. Keep sending them in!

I hope you don't mind me answering the reviews of my other story here, seems to be the best way for me.

Well, I asked you about the voice. In general the voice symbolises every 'author', everyone who creates own worlds, characters or whatever. So practically everyone I guess. In particular it is indeed me, simply because I was the one writing that story (and the demon is part of a different story of mine). As a conclusion, you all were right more or less with your assumption.

However, I want to say something regarding Digicowboy's point of view: When you think of the voice as an author, what kind of story would it be if everything is nice, everyone is happy and lucky? Don't you think it would be really annoying? I think it would, so there is pain, suffering and sorrow as well.

That's also a way how I could imagine a god: He (or she if you like, I don't care) is simply someone who wants to write a good and entertaining story, so there has to be the full range of events and emotions. ;)

Well, that's enough on that, enjoy the new chapter!

Weeeeeee!

You're on your way, Lloyd, Sheena thought as she sat on the bed and watched the necklace he had given to her. I'm sure you're on your way. You won't lie to me regarding this, right? I'll be there waiting for you... I only hope I can open the gate for you. It's already been locked for so long, and I still can feel all the wounds I've received.

Suddenly, the door opened and Colette entered the room. Sheena quickly put the necklace into one of her pockets.

"Hey, what do you have there?" Colette asked excitedly.

"Uh, nothing", Sheena answered.

"Well, I just saw you sticking your hand into your pocket", she said smiling, the eyes closed.

"Er... I... just wanted to put my hand into my pocket, that's all..." Sheena faked a smile.

"Oh, all right. Anyway, you're ready? The others are in the foyer already, I think Raine and Regal will arrive here soon, too."

"Yeah, I'm coming."

"Fine!"

"Uhm, Colette? Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course!" Colette called out and clapped her hands.

Sheena stood up and closed the door silently. "Well, er... you've known Lloyd a lot longer than me, right?"

"Yep, I can't even imagine not knowing him, hehe", she giggled. "Why?"

"Uhm, I... just wondered - has he ever talked with you about his future plans? I mean before you went on your journey to regenerate the world?"

"Well, he's Lloyd", Colette giggled again. "I guess he doesn't think about the future at all."

"Yeah, he mostly does what he wants to, but that doesn't mean he never thinks about his future. Well, I just thought you might know, since you're best friends, aren't you?"

"Oh, we are not just friends!" Colette called out, clapping her hands once more.

Sheena held her breath and felt an impact in her stomach. What? No, that can't be, I never thought...

"We are like brother and sister, you know?" Colette continued over-excitedly.

"Huh? B-brother and sister?" Sheena repeated with widened eyes, her feeling changed from despair to hope.

"Yeah! - Oh, is anything wrong?"

"No, no, everything's fine!" Hope changed into great relief.

"Ah, I know! You never had siblings, right? You can become our sister, I'm sure Lloyd is okay with that!"

"Oh - er... well, I'll think about it", Sheena answered, being slightly embarrassed. I don't want Lloyd as a brother... "Anyway, let's go down then."

"All right!"

As he saw the two females walking down the stairs, Zelos reached out his hands. "Ah! My two favourite hunnies! Come and give me a hug!"

Sheena frowned. "Say, Colette, did you just hear something?"

"Yeah, Zelos said -" Colette said, but then interrupted herself. "Oh... er... no, didn't hear anything", she continued embarrassedly.

Zelos faked a heart attack.

"Ha-ha!" Genis called out. "Zelos got rejected! Colette screwed it up!"

Lloyd just smiled and looked over to Sheena, as if he wanted to say "aren't they cute when they play together?" Sheena tried to hide her broad grin with her hand - without much success.

The general mood cooled down a little when Raine entered the foyer. "As I see, everyone's here. Let's waste no time, pack your things and mount the rheairds", she demanded.

So they did. Outside the town where they wanted to take off, Sheena turned to Genis. "Hey, you'd like to ride with Presea, wouldn't you? We can swap if you want to", she said quietly, seeming selfless.

The little boy blushed. "Uhm, yeah, I'd like to, but... Raine will never allow me..."

"Ah, leave it to me", she replied with a grin. Following, she 'accidentally' knocked over her bag, causing its contents to fall into the snow. "Oops! I'm sooo sorry!" she said exaggeratedly and knelt down. "No, all those tiny things! This will take a while..."

"Don't worry, I'll help you out", Lloyd offered and started to collect the items.

Sheena blinked at Genis who understood. "Oh, I'll help you, too!" he said.

"Thanks, you two", she replied. "I think you should leave, Raine. Then you can investigate the temple already. We will follow as soon as we're finished here, okay?"

Raine wanted to object, but her desire to get into the temple was too strong. "Well, all right", she answered, forcing herself to sound calm. "However, don't dawdle." These words said, she and Colette ascended into the air.

"We'll join you, great beauty!" Zelos shouted and started the rheaird, Regal behind him.

Not wanting to just sit around, Presea helped the others repacking the bag.

"Uhm, Presea...", Genis asked hesitantly. "May I... fly with you? I mean, if it's okay with the others..."

"No problem", Sheena said instantly, trying hard not to grin.

"Huh? Oh, sure, if you want to", Lloyd stated.

"Okay", was Presea's answer.

"Really? Cool!" Genis called out - and blushed.

Soon, the task was done and the four mounted the rheairds. When Genis and Presea were already in the air, Lloyd didn't move.

"Lloyd?" Sheena asked.

"I'm thinking", he answered. A little later, he continued. "That wasn't an accident of yours, was it?" he suspected, turning halfway around to Sheena.

"I have no idea what you're talking about", she giggled slightly and snuggled against Lloyd's back. Sometimes, you can be quite clever, Lloyd.

"Yeah, sure..." he commented, then finally started the rheaird. "Sending the professor into the temple first, heh, that should lift up her mood for sure. Wouldn't have thought about that."

"Oh, Lloyd..." Sheena sighed. Well, only sometimes...

"Huh? What is it?" Lloyd asked, but he didn't get an answer.

Genis and Presea had already been waiting for about five minutes when Lloyd and Sheena arrived.

"There you are! What took you so long?" Genis asked as they approached him.

"Er... nothing", Lloyd said. "I guess our rheaird is just a little slower than yours."

"Oh, come on! The rheairds all fly with the same speed! Even if I considered the higher fraction due to your bigger frame you wouldn't be that much behind!"

Sheena giggled slightly. "Lloyd, you really should know better than trying to fool Genis."

"Oh man..." Lloyd sighed. "All right, I just didn't find the temple at first, okay? It's all white and looks the same!"

Genis laughed.

"Stop that! Or I'll show you what the snow looks like from underneath!"

"Don't take it so seriously, Lloyd", Sheena intervened. "Are the others inside the temple already?"

"Judging from the footprints leading to the entrance I presume the answer is yes", Presea said.

"All right then, let's get in there."

The others murmured in agreement.

On their way to the entrance, Lloyd noticed the intense smile in Sheena's face. "Hey, you're looking really happy", he said. "Is it something in particular?"

Sheena turned to Lloyd. "Oh, I just can't wait to kick some monsters' butts again! We had more than a full day off."

"Yeah, right, I could use some action, too!" he claimed and clenched his fist.

"Sounds like they better prepared for some serious pain since nothing can stop us! Right?"

"Right!"

"There comes my voluptuous hunny!" Zelos called out as they reached the entrance. "How about some kisses?"

"Shut up!" Sheena shouted. "The only thing you gonna kiss is the moon if you don't shut up!"

"You're always so mean..." Zelos complained dejectedly.

"You have absolutely no idea how mean she can be", Lloyd commented and grinned.

"Yeah, and you neither", Sheena added, crossing her arms.

"I can't help but finding that sounds really scary when I think about what you've done to me..." he replied, frowning.

"Good!" she stated, grinned and walked into the temple, Genis and Presea followed.

Lloyd and Zelos stood there for a moment, baffled.

"Well, I guess I don't want to know how mean she can get then", the Chosen said.

Lloyd scratched his head. "Er... yeah. However, let's go."

Shortly after the two caught up the others, they heard a familiar voice echoing through the whole temple. Unfortunately, no one was able to understand what the voice was shouting.

"I guess she's found Celsius' Tear", Genis answered the question nobody had asked aloud.

Then, an insane laughter boomed into their ears.

"No, I'm sure she's found it", the boy corrected himself after the laughter had finished.

"I hope Regal and Colette are okay..." Lloyd said.

"She behaves unpredictable when she is in ruin-mode", Zelos added. "I guess I should be glad that she commanded me to wait for you, heh?"

"Well, I'm definitely not", Sheena stated cynically.

"We have to find the others", Lloyd hastily interjected.

So they walked along the snowy and curvy path leading upwards. Soon, they arrived at a plateau revealing the size of the cave. To the right lay a bridge made of ice leading into the deeper area of the temple.

"Hello there!" they heard Colette's voice, as cheerful as ever. She was located several feet above the others, looking down from another platform to the left.

"Hey Colette! Are Regal and Raine with you?" Lloyd asked.

"Yep, they're here with me. Raine's found Celsius' Tear up here! Great, isn't it?"

"Yeah, great..." he said without much enthusiasm. "How do we get there?"

"Just over there is another exit", Colette replied and pointed to her left. "Then you just walk along the wall until you reach a higher level. You should see the entrance to this place then."

"Okay, we're coming up then."

"There's no need to", Regal claimed, appearing at Colette's side. "We're done here and will come down to you."

"All right, I don't mind."

"Hey, Lloyd", Sheena said. "We could already check out the area for some monsters if you want to?"

"Sure!" Lloyd agreed happily.

"Don't go too far", Genis said.

"Ah, Genis, you sound like Raine already! We're no babies, we can take care of ourselves!" Lloyd replied.

Genis sighed. "Do as you wish..."

So, Lloyd and Sheena went along the path leading to the bridge. After a short time, however, they saw the first enemy approaching.

"What's that? Looks strange..." Lloyd said, causing Sheena to use a magic lens on it.

"Penguinist", she told him. "No match."

Having said that, the two released a battle cry and dashed towards the monster, cutting it into pieces before it was able to fight back.

"Oh, how disappointing..." the warrior complained. "If that's all it is gonna be really boring..."

"Don't worry", Sheena said. "There are already some others coming!"

They both used some magic lenses.

"Ice warrior and Lobo here", Lloyd said.

"I've got a Bigfoot here", Sheena added.

"Heh, that looks promising." He readied his swords. "I hope they don't fall too quickly!"

"Here they come! Let's go!"

Again, they let out a fierce battle cry and attacked the group of enemies. The warrior and the summoner supported and protected each other well, knowing they could rely on their partner. Being a well tuned team, their foes didn't stand a chance, unable to deal the slightest damage.

"Now, that was definitely more fun!" Lloyd claimed.

"It's not over yet, there's even more!" Sheena said and pointed down the path.

"Got it!"

A few battles later the monsters in this cave seemed to be eliminated. The two fighters were quite out of breath, but they looked very satisfied.

Sheena smiled at Lloyd confidently. "Are my seal spells amazing or what?"

Lloyd smiled back. "Yeah, your moves are definitely awesome!"

They kept standing there and smiled at each other.

"Hey! What are you doing down there? I told you not to go too far!" Genis shouted to the two from above, causing both to blush.

"Er... well... there were enemies..." Lloyd said.

"Many of 'em!" Sheena added.

"Whatever, just don't move, we're coming down to you. While you two were having fun, we were able to figure out where the seal most probably is located."

"If he's coming down anyway, why does he complain about us being here already?" Lloyd asked Sheena, unable for Genis to hear.

"I don't know. Maybe he's just envious that we're a great team even without him?" She smiled again.

Lloyd scratched his head. "Yeah, maybe. As long as he doesn't become a control-freak like Raine..."

"Uhm, where are we after all?" Sheena asked while looking around.

Lloyd did the same. They were near a spring which constantly supplied a lake with a fair amount of water. The lake was about the size of that part of the temple they could see from here, practically allowing movement only on the higher level of the cave. The only path leading up from here was located directly at the cliff, running all around the lake.

"I guess the entrance must be up there", Lloyd said and pointed in the corresponding direction.

"Say, Lloyd", Sheena began and sat down on a rock nearby the shore. "Have you ever thought about what you want to do after all this is over? I mean, how are you planning to live your life?"

"Yeah, I've thought about it already. Well, the first time I seriously thought about it was the night... you know, when I... ran away", he said and dropped his head in shame.

"Oh... and you couldn't think of a way how to live on?"

"Well, I mean, I could think of some ways, but... they seemed... I don't know, not at all satisfying."

"I see", Sheena said, than padded the place to her right on the rock. "Come, sit down."

Lloyd looked up at Sheena, then walked towards her and sat down on the rock by her side. "I know it's dumb. I mean, most people live their lives somehow, so why can't I?"

Sheena grabbed his left arm. "It's not dumb, Lloyd. Actually, I think I know how you feel."

"Really?" Lloyd asked and frowned.

"Yeah. Well, when you are a child, you simply don't think about these things, plus I had my ninja training and tried to get better and better. Besides that, if there was something I was worrying about it was my failure with Volt. And since I was sent to assassinate the Chosen, I had something to work on - even if my objectives changed. But... I haven't found anything I want to do all life long, you know? I don't want to spy around all day, but that's what my skills are for..."

Lloyd sighed. "I didn't know you felt that way... I really should have talked with you that night. It's kinda funny when I think about it: I had to run away to figure out I didn't have to..."

"Well, sometimes it's good to do it the hard way. I mean, you now know that we all care about you, and we know that, too. You also met Geoffry on your journey. And you got me that marvellous necklace." Sheena grinned.

"Yeah", Lloyd chuckled slightly. "But I still don't know which way to choose for my life..."

"Maybe you can never know, maybe you just can't know now. We are both young, so how much can we know about life? I bet there are things for everyone of us we just haven't discovered yet."

"You think so?"

"Sure! Many people for example work hard every day because they have a family they care about. We can't know how that feels because we don't have an own family, right?"

"Hm, yeah, I think you're right. So we better just go on searching, heh?" Lloyd smiled at Sheena. "I'll better have you watch over me."

She smiled back, then leaned her head against his shoulder. "Don't worry."

A little later, they heard footsteps coming nearer.

"I guess the others are coming - took them quite a lot of time", Lloyd said.

"Yeah", Sheena replied and stood up, so did Lloyd.

Soon, their companions turned around the corner, Raine, as usual, leading the way.

"Go ahead, Genis", she commanded before anyone else could say something, causing Lloyd and Sheena to frown.

Genis approached the shore of the lake mutely, raised his hands and started to cast a spell. A light blue line the shape of a snowflake appeared at his feet, the air around him began to flicker. "Freeze!" the boy then shouted, causing the lake to be covered with a layer of ice, accompanied by loud crunches. "Done", he said.

"Good", Raine commented. She just wanted to walk onto the ice when several cracks spread out and separated some floes from another. "What?"

"The spring seems to be too powerful", Genis assumed.

"But he have to get over the lake! Try it again!" she ordered.

Genis sighed. "All right, but I don't think that will change anything. - Wait! Isn't Celsius' Tear able to freeze everything?"

Immediately, Raine's eyes started gleaming. "Oh! That's right!" she said excitedly and started to search her bag.

"Er... Raine?" Genis asked slowly.

"Not now! Don't you see I'm occupied?" she answered hastily.

"You still have Celsius' Tear in your hand..."

Raine's actions stopped, her eyes wandered slowly to her left hand. "I know!" she suddenly called out and let go of the bag. Then, she approached the shore, knelt down and moved the flower slowly towards the water. At the touch the lake and the spring froze immediately with a deafening bang which clanged through the temple.

After a while the sound died away.

"Wow..." Lloyd commented.

"That was impressive", Regal added.

"Did you say something?" Colette asked while having her fingers stuck in her ears.

"Let's go", Raine said, but stopped right before she was about to set her foot onto the ice. "Zelos, you go first", she ordered.

"Why me?" he asked, but after Raine's look had hit him, he obeyed. "All right..."

The Chosen approached the ice and sat one foot onto it. Nothing happened, everything remained quiet, so he also put his other foot onto the ice. Carefully, he went further and became more confident. Soon, he was gliding over the frozen lake. "Weeeeeee!"

"Looks like it's safe to walk on", Raine claimed. "Let's go."

Everyone except Zelos walked and slipped over the ice, trying not to fall. However, Colette fell quite soon.

"Ouch!" she shouted as she landed on her bum - and fell down again as she tried to get up.

Sheena giggled. "Why don't you use your wings?"

"Oh, yeah, silly me", Colette said.

"Weeeeeee!" Zelos made as he passed the group in high speed.

"How do you do that, Zelos?" she asked.

He turned his head to Colette. "I just do it, it's very simple", he simply answered.

"Watch out!" she shouted.

Zelos looked straight forward - and just had enough time to notice he would crash into Regal's back.

"Urrfff!" both men gasped at the impact. Being greatly trained, Regal was able to keep his balance, but Zelos smashed onto the ice and hit a rock with his head, causing him to remain motionless.

"Ouch..." Lloyd said.

"Idiot Chosen", Sheena hissed.

"He's not moving!" Colette seemed to be the only one who was worried about Zelos, so she flew to him and knelt down by his side. "Professor! Do something!"

"Is he breathing?" she asked, showing no emotion.

Colette checked it. "Yeah! But he's bleeding!"

Raine took a quick look from the distance. "Nothing severe, he just lost his conciousness. I'm not going to waste my energy on that."

"Professor!" Colette shouted.

"Calm down! If you want to help him then pick him up and wrap him into a blanket."

She did so while the others passed the ice without further interest for that incident. They reached a small plateau bordered by cliffs with four statues standing in the centre. In the rear cliff was a door Raine immediately checked from near by.

"We have to open this door somehow...", she said.

Lloyd pulled faces in front of the statues, causing Sheena to giggle. However, his activities drew Presea's attention to the statues.

"The statues' heads look exactly like the rock Zelos hit", she stated.

"Really?" Genis asked. "I'll have a look at that, could be important." He got to the respective rock as fast as he could and examined it. "I can't see anything special!" he shouted to the others.

"Maybe there are some hints around it!" Raine shouted back.

Genis scanned the surroundings. "Hey, there's another rock that looks the same! - I bet there are two more!" He continued his investigations and found what he was looking for. "Yeah! We got four rocks arranged in the same way as the four statues! If that's not a hint then I don't know!"

"Try to find out what it could mean!" Then she addressed the others. "Let's check the statues for holes, switches or whatever!"

Everyone started to search the statues for anything unusual.

After a while, it was Genis who shouted again. "Hey! Two of these rocks are looking in the same direction! Maybe we have to follow a certain path?"

"Well, if I were that door, these evil eyes would scare me. I would only let the one through who destroys these things, heh", Lloyd joked.

"That's it!" Genis shouted happily.

Lloyd was baffled. "Really? Then... shall I crush 'em?"

"No, you idiot! Try rotate them!"

"Oh..." he replied, but put his arms around the statue in front of him and tried to rotate it. "Hnnngh!" To his surprise, the statue moved. "Hey, it works!"

"Great! Now turn them into the direction I tell you!" So, Genis instructed Lloyd which statue to turn in which direction.

After they were done, the door still didn't open.

Lloyd scratched his head. "Hm, doesn't do anything..."

But then, a little later, the ground began to quake with a rumbling sound and the door slowly moved aside.

"Oh, well, it did", he corrected himself.

"Fantastic!" Raine called out. "I wish we had time to study this mechanism!"

"Let's check the inside", Sheena suggested.

"Yeah, let's go", Lloyd affirmed.

"Shouldn't we wait until Zelos is okay again?" Colette asked.

"Speaking for myself, I can fight better when he's not around", Sheena said.

"This applies for me as well", Raine added.

"But... we can't just leave him here!" Colette claimed.

"You can stay with him if you want to, I don't care."

"It'll be all right, Colette", Lloyd tried to calm her down. "I'm currently in perfect shape, so the pact will be no problem without you two."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Fine, then I'll wait here for you."

Lloyd nodded before he and the others went through the door.