Broken Valentine
Amazon Bunny- Wow, i updated! Thanks for all the reviews!
Kratos- 'pops out from behind bushes' Ahem...we're back.
Amazon Bunny- my my my, where have YOU been?
Raine- 'comes stumbling out behind Kratos' We weren't doing anything suspicious. Zelos kicked us out and told us that the muse location moved to the waterfall scenery. 'shifty eyes'
Amazon Bunny- ...cut the cheese.
Kratos- I believe the phrase is "cut to the chase".
Amazon Bunny- No, really. 'points to block of cheese on the table' Cut the cheese. I've been waiting all this time for you to come back and cut it.
Raine and Kratos- 'falls over'
Amazon Bunny- Well?
Raine and Kratos- 'hits their head on the floor and are unconscious'
Amazon Bunny- Oh well. I don't own Tales of Symphonia.
"Dad, come on!" Lloyd panicked. "Let's get going!"
"Right," Kratos replied, herding Genis out the door, and following him. "We don't have time to pick through your stuff!" He barked at Genis, who made a mad dash to the library to grab Raine's prized relics.
"But Raine's-" Genis began. "These are her favorite stuff!"
Kratos sighed. Kids these days were so stupid!The seraphim turned to Lloyd. "Here, take her," he carefully handed the Professor to his son. "Get the two out of the village. Take them to Dirk's house, Triet- anyhwere but here in this village. The smoke will suffocate her." He grabbed Genis by his collar and threw him to Lloyd. "Get moving."
"Y-yeah...but Dad!"
"Get moving! NOW!"
"Y-yeah...sure..."
He watched, his anxiety eased slightly, as the two boys ran out the door, Raine's limp frame swaying gently. "Now for those relics..." he turned to the library and grabbed the artifacts on display. Surely this would be enough, he had thought. Not all things could be saved.
With his arms loaded, Kratos followed the complicated path out of the house, to find his exit blocked by a flaming board.
"Damn," he cursed, turning around and running back toward the library. All around him, boards and paintings, and other things fell, fire destroying their former beauty. While finding an alternative route out of the burning building, one thing caught his eye. It was...so familiar...
It was a picture, of the whole group- Lloyd, Genis, Colette, Sheena, Zelos, Presea, Regal, himself, and...Raine. It was taken back in Asgard, where they had taken a vacation to. Raine had always loved Asgard, the City of the Wind...
Kratos grabbed the picture and stuffed it into his uniform.
There was no time left. The entire house was engulfed in flames, and he couldn't find an alternative route. Was this the way he was going to perish? Forgotten, alone, unwanted?
"I'm not going to die like this," he growled. He continued his jog, then breaking into a sprint. There was no door he could go through that wasn't covered in flames...
Just damn this all, Kratos thought, and smashed his way through the window. Using a free hand, he hoisted himself out, the glass shards piercing his hand. Choking and coughing, he collapsed, on the outskirts of Iselia.
"He seems to be coming around."
Someone slapped at the Seraphim's face.
"Wake up, dude! Hey!" Another voice said. Strangely, it seemed so...distant...A bucket of ice cold water splashed his face. Kratos groaned, and tried to open his eyes. They seemed to be glued shut, but somehow the dark brown eyes opened. Towering over him were the figures of an old man and another in his mid-teens.
"W-where's Raine? And Lloyd? Where is everyone?" Kratos croaked. "Are they okay?"
"Hush, boy," said the wrinkled old man. "If you're looking for a bunch of kids-"
"One of them was wearing some wierd red clothes and carrying some cute lady with silver hair and an orange jacket," the boy said. "And a little kid with silver hair and some blue clothes. Yeah, they're staying in the inn right now. Room 35 or something. They're with some other people right now-"
"The former Chosen of Tethe'alla-"
"Oh, and the former Chosen of Sylvarant-"
"Regal Bryant, and that pink haired girl-"
"Get to the point," the Seraphim growled.
"That lady friend of theirs needs medical attention. There's a doctor with 'em, too." The old man said.
"Yeah, yeah! She's got this glowing markings all over her body. It'sall overher neck and everything. Real scary looking thing, isn't it, Grandpa? It's awful!"
Kratos sat up with much difficulty. "Take me to her," he demanded. "Now." The burns he sustained felt like they were tearing him apart.
"You're not well enough to get up!" The old man said. "Stay here and rest."
"No," the Seraphim glowered, and stood up, despite the pain. "I have to see her." He stumbled a little, and miraculously made his way out of the room and into the hall.
"Raine...I'm coming for you..." he whispered to himself. "Hang on..." He didn't notice that from his uniform, fell the picture. Where Raine's face should have been, however, was a charred hole, burned out by the fire.
"Raine...Raine! Wake up!" pleaded Lloyd, gently shaking the Professor by the shoulders. "Wake up!"
"The doctor's done all he's can," Zelos said glumly, returning from the hallway, where he had listened to the doctor's report. "All we can do is hope she'll pull through."
"Don't talk like that! Of course she'll pull through. Of course she will!" Genis said indigantly, tears welling in his eyes. "She can't die, she WON'T die!" He buried his head in her sheets, pounding a fist against the matress. "She's not going to die..." He said, his voice muffled.
"Yes, let's pray for Raine's speedy recovery," Colette said, forcing a smile on her face. "Oh Great Protector of the Giant Tree, please keep Raine safe, and..."
"And she won't be alone in her time of need," Lloyd finished.
"Of course she won't be alone, you idiot,"said Sheena. "We'll be with her all the way."
"Yeah, Lloyd, what were you thinking?" Zelos added sarcastically.
"Shut it!"
"Quiet, you two. The least Raine needs now is you two arguing at the top of your lungs,"snapped Regal. "If you want to keep on arguing at this time, then take it outside."
That shut them up immediately.
"Sorry," Lloyd said softly.
There was a silence for the next few moments, where the only sound was the soft rhythmic breathing from Raine, and sniffles emitted from Genis and an occasional "she's NOT going to die" until someone knocked on the door.
Sheena sighed and stood up, peering out the eyehole, and then opening the door to let the person in.
"I have brought the towel," Presea said, holding up the damp cloth and then laying it across Raine's hot forehead."Her fever should go down a little now." Her eyes traveled to the Professor's neck. "What's that?"
"What's what?" said Colette curiously. She looked to where Presea pointed. "The...what is that?"
Across her neck was a spindly marking retreating along her skin at an alarming rate. The blonde angel folded her collar down to reveal her neck. At the sight, she gave a small shriek and toppled backwards onto Lloyd and the drawer.
The marking glowed ominously, in the shape of a broken heart with wings, an hourglass behind it. However, the sand at the upper portion was nearly spent, the bit that was leftover enough to cover the eye of a needle.
And all they could do was watch helplessly as the last bit of sand fell into the bottom chamber.
He didn't know how he did it, but Kratos managed to stumble down the hallway, coming face to face with Lloyd.
"Lloyd..!"
"Dad! I was just looking for you...! Dad..." Lloyd said, surprised his father was up and running about in his condition. "Dad...something happened earlier...Something..." he broke off, a frightened look in his eyes. The expression Kratos had was enough to scare even Yggdrasill, if he was still 'alive'.
"Where's the others?" Kratos asked sharply- a little too sharp, because Lloyd jumped at the words. "Where's Raine?"
"Dad...That's what I wanted to tell you..." said Lloyd, his voice cracking, getting higher and higher pitched as he continued. "We got her out of the building alright, she was fine...But...but... the curse...We saw it, it was actually there-"
"And?" the Seraphim felt his heart plummet. "What happened?"
"And...and...Dad...She didn't make it." At those words, he broke down. "She didn't make it, Dad. She's dead."
To my reviewers:
Hamano Ayumi- 'squeals and falls over' You reviewed! Don't worry, I don't mind if you're not the first to review! 'hugs' You haven't updated yet! GAH! update update update! before I explode!
Raine's Tears- Thank you thank you thank you!
Cathree- lol I've updated.
duDe- Thanks!
A Fading Shadow- Wow! Thank you very much!
Karina Gomez- lol thanks
Miss Raine Sage- Thanks! oh, and nice to know that you've joined the KratosRaine forum!
Amazon Bunny- I'm soooo sorry this chapter is so short, and I promised to update "What is this thing called Love" but I didn't! GAH! 'gets hit by flying boulders'
Kratos- you should be!
Raine- yeah!
Amazon Bunny- look, cheesecake!
Kratos and Raine- WHERE!
Raine- I love cheesecake!
Kratos- I love you!
Raine- Me too! 'soap opera scene'
Amazon Bunny- Nyahahahahahaha! 'runs away'