FireEdge: All right, I don't know how long you all have been waiting for me to update but here's the next chapter! I'm sorry I took so long, for I had to update my other fic and I was just plain busy all week.

Genis/Zelos: -=Snore=-

FireEdge: Stupid muses…

Reviews:

Obsidian Ideals: I made them sound realistic? Wow, that's a big compliment for me! Thank you!

Nagem: Thank you!

Lisa: I'm not sure why you can't get to the second chapter, just keep trying. And yes, there will be hints of GenisPresea.

Kratos/Raine forever: I can tell you like this pairing just by looking at your name. Wonder why, eh?

Lady Serefina: OMG! Thank you for reminding me about my mix-up! I keep on getting the two towers messed up. I mean, who in their right mind would name them so alike? I'm just joking. Thanks again, and I made sure to fix it up in the past chapter.

SweetMisery430: I'm glad so many people that.

Alice Kaiba: Thank you! And I know you from FE too! Okay… I'm going to stop naming people from that section now…

Sandrilene Fa Toren: Thanks for reviewing!

Quistis-lm: I screamed when I found out that Kratos was Lloyd's father too…

Lloydlover26: I'm your new best friend? Interesting.

Kitten Kisses: Okay that's nice to know… I think…

Tifa-Carbuncle: Okay. -=Makes a scratch on the "Who likes Zelos Board"=-

Serpentine Rose: I actually don't take your review as an offence, it just tells me that I have to work harder to make this fic even better. Thank you.

Meepit: Sorry if my muse sessions annoy you, but they're actually quite short compared to many others you might see. And they actually don't affect how good/long the chapter is. If you'd like you can just skip them. Also doing the disclaimer every chapter is a habit I have, and I'm not planning to change it, so I apologize.

SilverKidia: Thanks for the encouragement!

DetectiveAnna: Eep! Okay I'll write more, no need to turn all big and green! :P

Waddle Freakin' Dee: Thank you for reviewing!

Ookami Aya: Yeah, ZelosSheena is such a cute pairing.

potter29vo: I'm not sure if what the plot line is, but I'm the person who more basically explores the romance between characters as they progress through the game's storyline. So that's as close to the plot I can really tell you. And I'll try to make it longer! I know I'm capable of it (I've done it in my other fics) but for some reason, this one seems harder… Also there will be thoughts from the other characters in this chapter, a litte.

Tsutanai Shikaku: Thank you!

Ebi Ryu: Thank you! You're the second person that said that you liked how the fic went slow! :P

Devil's Little Sister: Oh, sorry. A lot of people have told me to make my paragraphs shorter. I'll try doing that this chapter.

Kratos Aurion (x2): Yes, I'm trying to make my chapters longer! But my updating times are quite slow…

Malachi: Actually a lot of people are a LloydSheena fan, but there seems to be more ZelosSheena fans. I think Lloyd and Sheena are an okay pairing, but I like ZelosSheena better.

Mistress of the Bells: Oh, sorry for spoiling, but I did warn you… :P And yes, I'm trying to make this longer!

Lindsey: Thank you for the review!

Disclaimer: I don't own of Tales of Symphonia.

Midnight Visit

Chapter 3

Genis looked up at the clock on the wall. It was a bit past midnight. He had barely noticed that the time had passed so quickly. He had been by Presea's side for almost eight hours straight. The only times he had left were to get her some food. Raine's going to be mad that I stayed up this late. But I can't just leave Presea alone.

Presea's eyes opened slightly. She saw that Genis was still sitting on the chair by her bed. Her eyes darted to the clock.

"Genis… it's okay. I thank you for staying with me, but you need rest also. I'll be fine." Genis turned his head in surprise to look at Presea.

"Presea! … O-okay. Um, goodnight. If you need anything, just call me." The young half-elf then stood up and reluctantly left the room, closing the door softly behind him. Letting out a defeated sigh, he made his way slowly down the stairs. Stopping at the bottom of the stairs, he scanned the room for Raine. His eyes widened slightly. She wasn't there.

"Guys, where's Raine?" He asked the others. Sheena lifted her head from where she sat by the fireplace.

"She said she was going for a walk."

"In the middle of the night?" Genis replied, confused.

"That's right, Genis." Added Lloyd, careful not to wake up the sleeping Colette beside him. "She said she was going for a walk. It's a wonder why, I'd go for a walk to if Zelos was hitting on me."

"What?!" Came Zelos's dismayed reply.

"How long has she been gone?" Genis asked, pulling a chair from underneath one of the many tables.

"I'd say she has been gone for a little more than an hour now." Regal stated, looking up from the book he had been reading.

"Say, Regal… how do you read with those handcuffs on?" Lloyd asked.

"Lloyd! That's a stupid question!" Retorted Genis. Regal stayed silent as usual. Taking a closer look. They saw that he was holding the book with one hand and flipping the pages with his thumb.

"Hey, that's cool! I want to try!"

"Lloyd! Raine's gone and you want to read a book?!" Exclaimed Genis.

"Hey, calm down Genis. The Professor is just taking a walk. What could possible happen to her?" Lloyd answered with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Now, what can I tie my hands together with?" The entire room stared at the young swordsman with a look on their faces that plainly read: "Lloyd, can you get any stupider?"

"What?!" He asked as he looked at everyone's faces.

"Lloyd, you are one strange idiot." Answered Zelos. As that sentence escaped the Chosen's mouth, the door of the inn creaked open. Raine stepped inside, brushing snow off her clothes.

"Raine! Where have you been?!" Cried Genis. Raine looked at Genis with a frown.

"Genis, you should be in bed."

"Raine!" The half-elf continued to protest. His sister sighed.

"Didn't everyone tell you? I was going for a walk."

"See, I told you the Professor would be fine." Added Lloyd.

"That's right, Lloyd is correct. I'm fine. Now go to bed, Genis." Raine said, crossing her arms.

"Fine." Genis growled under his breath. She's hiding something…I know it. Don't worry Raine, I'll find out your little secret soon enough, or my name isn't Genis Sage!

"Maybe we should all go to sleep. It is getting late anyway." Said Sheena, standing up and stretching her arms. The others nodded their agreement and headed to their respective rooms.


Later that night when everyone was fast asleep, a single figure could be seen creeping towards Raine's room. Hehe, I know you keep a diary Raine. I'll find it and see what you're hiding. Genis carefully opened the door to his elder sister's room and crept in, slowly closing it behind him. Now, where would she keep it?

Deciding to start with her research notes, the young half-elf began to shift through the various stacks of papers that Raine had compiled during their journey. Man, does she have to write up a hundred pages every time we find a new ruin?! Genis put a pile of papers about the Balacruf Mausoleum to one side and another about the Triet ruins to another. Suddenly he found a small notebook at the bottom of a stack of more papers. Gotcha!

Kneeling down on the floor, Genis carefully opened the clasp on the book. Using the moonlight that was filtering through the window he started to flip through the book. He saw that the pages were filled from top to bottom with Raine's flowing script. At the top of each page was written the date. Searching for today's date, he soon found the entry he was looking for. Okay, let's see…:

'I thought that we would be at the Tower of Salvation by now and hopefully with the Eternal Sword in our hands. But our journey was delayed once again. Poor Presea's down with a cold that seems to be passing around Flanoir. I long to study the Eternal Sword up close, but I suppose the welfare of our comrades must come first. Hopefully by tomorrow morning we should be able to continue on our way.

On the other hand, all this free time has given me a wonderful opportunity to resume by study of the ancient Asgard civilisation. I've discovered that--'

"Is this all she writes about?!" Genis hissed through his teeth. He was suppressing the urge to bang his head on the wall. I'm never going to find out what happened! Another voice, the more sensible one, in his head told him to give up. Nothing happened, she was just out for a walk. But of course he didn't heed it and continued to search. Maybe it's at the end of the entry?

Skipping to the end of the passage, he read the last paragraph.

'I hope Genis will get some rest, he's been worried about Presea non-stop since she first fell with a fever--'

"Do I have to read through this whole thing just to find out what happened?!" Exclaimed Genis. His eyes widened and he clamped his hand over his mouth as he realized that he had just yelled that out loud.

Suddenly the lights turned on and his face blanched considerably as he saw a shadow loom over his kneeling body.

"Genis…" Raine growled ominously. The half-elf gulped and turned his head slowly to regard his sister. Her face showed obvious anger and her eyes narrowed at her younger brother. "What are you doing here? And what are you doing with my journal?!"

"Uh, I-I can explain! I, uh, was looking for… um… notes about the Thoda Geyser! Yeah, the Thoda Geyser…" Genis smiled weakly.

"Genis, don't lie. I know as well as you do that you're not interested in ruins, that notes on the Thoda Geyser would NOT be in my journal and that you SHOULD be asleep!!" Raine cried. She then approached her brother and picked him up with one arm. Then the hand came down…

"AHH! Raine!!!"


The next morning, everyone was rested and refreshed. Except for Genis perhaps. He seemed sore and refused to sit down. Whenever anyone asked, he would simply reply with and "You don't want to know." Luckily, Presea was feeling much better that day, which meant that they could be on their way. After a long talk about what they'd do next, the group prepared for the long ride ahead. Hopping on their rheairds, they took to the eastern skies.

Once they levelled out, Raine reached behind her, into her pack and pulled out her journal. Steering with one hand, she flipped through the pages until she came to her latest entry. So Genis was going through my journal, was he? Hmm, I'll bet that he was trying to figure out what I was doing last night. She smiled to herself. Such a shame that he missed the few sentences that I did write about my little walk. But I'll have to be more careful next time. I can't imagine what would happen if Genis were to find out…

"Oh, Raaiinnee!" Zelos called, zooming up to her.

"Ahh!" She cried, nearly falling off her rheaird. "Zelos! Don't scare me like that!" Raine sighed with relief as she finally managed to balance herself once more. Zelos grinned sheepishly, but his eyes lit up with curiosity when they fell upon Raine's journal.

"Ooh, what's that?"

"Huh?" Raine looked at the notebook she clutched in her hands. "It's none of your business." She replied simply. Of course, since it was Zelos that she was talking to, the matter couldn't be left alone.

"So, what is it? Come on, let me see!" He continued to probe.

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"… Pretty please?"

"I said no!" She replied with a glare. Zelos's face fell; she obviously wasn't going to let him see whatever was in the little booklet she held. But as she was about to return her journal to it's proper place, Zelos was struck with a "brilliant" idea.

"Look! A really big ruin!" He cried and pointed in the opposite direction.

"What?! Where?!" Raine's head whipped around, her hand temporarily forgetting about the object that it held. Zelos, being the clever Chosen that he is, took the opportunity to snatch the little booklet from Raine.

"I wonder what's in here?" He asked himself. "I bet it's filled with declarations of her undying love for me!"

"There's no ruin… ZELOS!" She turned, furious, to confront the one-minded chosen. But her face blanched when she saw her journal in his hands. "My-my journal!"

"Oh, is that what this is?" He replied. Then being the stupid Chosen he is, he proceeded to let go of his handlebars and opened the journal.

"Zelos! Give that back to me this instant!" Demanded Raine. She was quite furious at him right now. "Did you not hear me?! I said-- Ze-Zelos! Your rhea--"

"My wha-- AHHH!!!" As I said before, Zelos, being the stupid Chosen he is, had let go of his handlebars, causing his rheaird to lose stability. Which in turn caused him to--you guessed it--fall.

"AHHH! HEELLPP!!" His cry for aid turned everyone's head. Their jaws dropped one by one at the sight before them.

"Oh… my… god…" They gasped, shocked.

"… Do we have to rescue him?" Genis asked as Zelos continued to plummet… and scream.

"Hang on Zelos!" Lloyd sighed and raced to catch Zelos before sweet Mother Earth did. In the mean time, Sheena attempted to recover Zelos's rheaird.

After catching Zelos, Lloyd landed. The others soon joined him.

"Zelos, are you okay?" Colette asked, walking over to him and Lloyd.

"I'm fine, sweet Colette."

"How in the world did you fall off your rheaird anyway?" Sheena demanded with a frown.

"Yes, I'm curious as to the answer of that question, also." Added Regal. Zelos shrugged.

"I let go of the handles when I was trying to read Raine's journal."

"You were doing what?!" Sheena exclaimed incredulously. The rest of them were equally surprised at Zelos for doing such a violating action.

"I thought that journal's were private keepsakes with recordings of ones life…?" Asked Presea slowly.

"That's because they are." Lloyd answered bluntly.

"Speaking of which, I'd like my journal back now if you don't mind!" Raine held her hand out, her face red. Zelos's eyes went wide, then a meek smile stretched across his lips.

"Hehe… well, you see, since I was kinda falling from the sky… and it was a life threatening situation… I uh, sort of…"

"Sort of what?" She inquired, eyes narrowing, but she had a bad feeling that she already knew the answer.

"… Dropped it…" Zelos replied in a small voice, afraid of what might happen to him next. "Uh, no hard feelings?" The rest of them shrank back as Raine's eyes flared up.

"You DROPPED my journal?! Do you know how much information I stored in there?! 'No hard feelings?' Oh, I'm sure!"

"I feel sorry for Zelos, he's got it coming…" Lloyd whispered to Genis. The young half-elf nodded in agreement. They all winced as Zelos screamed, which was then followed by a loud thud. Opening their eyes slowly they saw Zelos, on his back, out cold, and a clean ten feet away from where he was standing mere seconds ago.

"Hmph, shall we be on our way?" Raine asked, dusting off her hands. All stared silently at her, but nodded and climbed aboard their rheairds. Poor Zelos was slung across his own rheaird and towed along by Regal.

The Tower of Salvation was soon in their sights. The moment of truth would soon come for all of them, especially Lloyd. Yet all Raine could seem to think of was a single seraphim.

FireEdge: Ha! I did a longish chapter! If anyone calls that short, I swear, I will kill myself!

Genis: Really?

FireEdge: No. But who else thinks that Zelos sounds more like Sain then Zelos?

Zelos: Just a question. Why did I have to fall of my rheaird?!

FireEdge: Don't blame me, you had it coming. And it might also be the fact that I'm listening to the Kirby theme while I was typing this… just a note, don't listen to that and type at the same time. It gets very annoying and the tune gets stuck in your head so easily… -=Starts banging head on desk=- Get… it… out…!

Genis: Sigh. Please review.

-=FireEdge=-