A/N: In a fit of "this direction wasn't blocked," I decided to jot down my alternate ideas for chapter four. They're in my deviantart scraps number 19014761.

Razielim Vampiress: Yeah, the login problem with FFnet was pretty persistent. Coincidentally, it went away mere hours after I decided to go whinging about it. It's odd how I haven't yet had a chick from earth meet Raziel and not have some bizarre sex-related incident with him, but this one was too good to pass up.

brett: Alright, I'm bored with you. Either point out what's making this story so "lame," or say something else mildly interesting. If you can't do that, don't bother touching your keyboard.

6/2/2005 Disclaimer: I don't own Raziel or Ico.

"Haven't we been here before?" Raziel asked as we reached one of the last puzzles.

"It's symmetrical," I commented dryly "There are some differences."

Warily, Raziel peered through a doorway. It led to a slanted hallway with water running down the floor. "I do not want to go through that again."

"It's a trick," I said, remembering a time I had fallen for it. "The player climbs along those ledges just because it was the solution last time, but this time it's just a dead end."

"How much further must we go?" Raziel asked.

"Don't worry," I said, "you'll be rid of me soon enough."

"Hours ago would have been soon enough," Raziel grumbled. He squinted at the sun; it hadn't moved at all. "It feels like it's been days."

Somehow, I could feel what he meant. We hadn't needed to eat or sleep during our entire journey, but I was tired. As much as I hated to admit it, I was beginning to mimic Raziel's desires to leave this place.

I watched as Raziel completed the final step to the puzzle. "Where do we go now?" He asked.

"The Main Gate," I weakly smiled up at him.

He beamed with a toothy grin of his own.

As we entered the courtyard again, I felt a certain sense of trepidation. The main gate was glowing with the amounts of raw power coursing through it. I walked up to it so that it would open.

I hadn't expected the experience to be so painful. Fire spread through my chest as the gate's energy ripped through me. I cried out, and then I collapsed as the gate released me.

Raziel hauled me to my feet. "Let's get out of here."

I whimpered as he tried to drag me across the bridge; it hurt to move. Raziel seemed impatient, but he submitted to my limping crawl as long as I kept moving.

As we approached the center of the bridge, I told Raziel, "You might be able to get out of the castle, but you won't be able to leave the game."

He stopped and turned to look at me, but the castle chose that moment to lash out at us. Lightening flew out from the two orbs on either side of the gate and knocked us apart. Raziel was nearly thrown off of the bridge, but he managed to catch the edge.

The bridge began to move, the two halves retracting. A gap began to form between us.

"Raziel!" I screamed, not daring to look back at the puddle of blackness that must have been forming behind me.

Raziel had clambered back onto the bridge. He took one look at the widening gap and leapt.

I knew that he wouldn't make it. I stuck out my arm and he caught it. I cried out in pain. It felt as if my arm was being wrenched from its socket. Raziel ineffectually clawed at the side of the bridge with his free hand, desperately trying to find something solid to hold on to. I bore the pain helplessly, knowing that I had to hold on for as long as I could.

Though the pain in my shoulder was terrible, even worse was the horrifying cold that was creeping up my legs. I gritted my teeth as my body became engulfed in blackness. I felt no relief as it caused my aching shoulder to go dead. I was dimly aware of Raziel's claws slipping through my numbed fingers. The last thing I heard was Raziel's echoing yell as the darkness engulfed me.

Suddenly, I could feel again. I was inside the sacrifice room; glowing coffins lined the walls. I groaned and tried to rub the strain out of my abused muscles. I desperately wondered if I had managed to hold on long enough, if Raziel survived the fall.

"It's almost over," the Gamester said.

"Is Raziel okay?" I asked.

"He landed on the suspended cages, exactly like he was supposed to." She tilted her head to one side, a small frown forming on her perfect alabaster face. "It's starting to rain, though. I hate to imagine what that's going to do to his skin."

"Oh no," I groaned, realizing what I had done.

The Gamester continued as if she hadn't heard me. "You know, he's never going to be able to swim now. These puzzles were designed for a human, after all."

I realized that the Gamester was prompting me, but it seemed like the most reasonable idea. I reminded myself that Raziel would probably prefer being human instead of being turned back into the wraith, especially since he was still pining for his defiled nobility.

"Make Raziel into a human," I said.

The Gamester smiled and spread her smoked-garbed arms. "It is done. He should be waking up soon."

My mind kept drifting back to Raziel. I kept asking the Gamester if Raziel was still unconscious. Or occasionally I would ask if he were still alive.

Finally, the Gamester couldn't take it any longer. "He's awake now, see for yourself." She waved her hands, and the viewing basin from the Sarafan stronghold appeared.

I peered into the water, but I couldn't clearly see what was going on. I saw a shadow with a red cape; I could only assume that was Raziel making his way along the narrow cliffs underneath the castle.

When Raziel jumped into the water, I got very worried. Swimming was harder when you actually had to worry about breathing. I saw him struggle, but he managed to climb back out again.

Fortunately, it seemed that Raziel's human body was in good shape. He quickly made it to the elevator shaft and down to the sacrifice's entrance.

"Let's see what he does," the Gamester mused happily.

I stared in disappointment as Raziel examined the boat and seemed to consider simply rowing away. I actually sighed in relief as he instead found the sword and used it to open the spirit gate that led back inside the castle.

"That's it for you, dear," the gamester said as she touched my shoulder. Immediately, my vision blacked out.

I found myself thinking about Raziel. Would he realize what those shadow creatures were? I imagined that it didn't matter if he did, he would still do what he needed to.

I then thought about his encounter with the Queen. I didn't doubt that the Gamester would provoke Raziel into killing her.

Just as I thought about that, the floor suddenly appeared as it rushed up to meet me. I blinked and tried to clear my vision, but it was obscured by black smoke. I examined my hands to find they were covered in the stuff, but to my relief it wasn't the same unbearable cold as the portals.

I stood and walked deeper into the castle. The building was already beginning to fall apart. I knew that I had to get Raziel out of here.

He was lying on the floor unconscious, blood oozed from a few deep cuts on his body. His Sarafan armor would have protected him better than his scant vampire uniform, but I saw that he had stripped off parts of that anyway. I picked him up easily, my supernatural transformation granted me amazing strength.

I spared a glance at the throne. The sword was deeply embedded in the wood, but there wasn't any trace of the Gamester.

Raziel opened his eyes briefly when I set him in the boat. "The only way out is to finish this," I reminded him sadly. Raziel looked as if he would argue with me, but he was too weak, and he passed out again.

I pushed the boat towards the sea and watched as it slowly floated away. I briefly worried that the falling rubble would hit Raziel, but I figured that he would probably be okay.

The tremors intensified, and huge sections of the castle began to fall away. The water swirled around my ankles. It felt unbearably hot, so I tried to find higher ground. I knew that it wouldn't be long now; the castle was already sinking into the sea. Then everything went dark.