She was known as Lady Raine Sage; authoress, poet, magic extraordinare, and extreme manhater. And who was he? To her.. he was nobody. AU, pairings inside.

AaB II: Geeeeeniiiisss!

Genis: Aaw, what?

AaB II: Disclaimer. :3

Genis: -sighs- She doesn't own anything except her OC's.

AaB II: This gets a bit deeper on Raine's thoughts and character, so I hope you don't mind. x-x; she's yet to develop as the plot goes on, so I thought we should get a good look at each character before events happen.. And here teh temporary Raine-angst kicks in!

Pairings:

Kraine (KratosxRaine)

Zelloyd (ZelosxLloyd)

Gesea (GenisxPresea)

ColetteOC (ColettexMade-up character)

SheenaOC (SheenaxMade-up character)

Slight Regalicia reminiscing

Nobody

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"We're finally headed to Iselia!" Colette exclaimed happily, spinning around once, but falling on her rear.

"Colette, are you okay?" Raine helped the younger girl up.

"I'm fine! Don't worry about me."

"Just be more careful.." the two exchanged smiles.

It was true. The duo was traveling to Iselia, where all of their companions were invited. The older of the two, an indigo-orbed maiden, looked to the sky and watched the slowly falling droplets of rain. They say when rain falls, it's really the Angels crying.. It sounds a bit far-fetched, but it's a reassuring thought when your life is tumbling, I suppose. It almost seems like they're crying for the person in pain.. The shimmer in Raine's eyes died down at this thought, only a small glimmer of sad curiosity left. Staring at the ground, she asked herself the question. ..I wonder who they're crying for this time? A side-glance towards her blonde companion made her raise an eyebrow. She seemed to be thinking the same thing, as far as she could tell.

"I wonder who they're crying for?" Her suspicions were indeed correct, a slight jump coming to her throat at the thought.

Oddly enough, the success wasn't enough for Raine. Any answer she got right, whether spoken or not, felt like a short uplift in her weary soul. It made her feel possible, and real, that she had thoughts and wasn't just a dream. At this, the maiden remembered a quote she'd once read-- "When pondering a dream, ask yourself, 'Am I not the dream to ponder upon?'"-- and that's where it had started. Depression settled down deep within her wistful heart, causing extreme stress to come in and work the woman to almost tears. The more logic she could calculate in her mind, the more real Raine felt. She didn't know or understand why-- does anyone understand why such thoughts occur? If anyone wanted to know, she did.

..Or, so she told herself. When she found out the truth, would she be able to handle it? The maiden did not know-- nor did she want to, to be completely honest. She was afraid of being insane, of being invisible-- of not existing. One day, would she not awaken? One day, would everything disappear and leave only the dust in the sky? ..Would she even know if she disappeared? So many questions and doubts ran at Raine's head that she shook it furiously, no doubt spraying water about; water that she didn't even notice she was soaked to the bone with. Colette threw her a very worried glance, not as wet as her older companion but still indeed cold and dripping.

"I-I'm sorry.. I.. just got lost in my thoughts. I think I may be getting sick is all."

"Raine.. we're almost to the House of Guidance, we can rest there, alright?"

"I-I guess.. if you don't mind.."

"Mind? We're both soaked and freezing anyway!" both laughed quietly.

"Look, there it is!" The crystalline-eyed girl exclaimed, grabbing Raine's hand and running into the doors, earning odd looks for the both of them.

"Hehe?"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"They're gonna be here tomorrow!" Lloyd yelled, jumping on his bed, chocolate locks bouncing as well. Genis, who was staying the night, stared at Lloyd oddly but nodded silently. Dark brown eyes met light indigo as the older boy hopped closer to Genis, becoming serious. The silver-haired half-elf looked at him, confused. His best friend's trademark lopsided grin lit his features slightly dreamily, and soon, the magic user's head shot up, laughter echoing throughout the wooden house. His pale fingers held onto the edge of the guest bed for support, joints bending more and more as he laughed and almost fell off.

"You're just happy because Zelos can stay the night!" Lloyd's face suddenly went completely scarlet. After a few moments of silence and Genis' laughter, he spoke.

"..Yeah, so?"

"Ahh, sick!" The younger boy threw a pillow at Lloyd, who blocked and threw it back.

"Not as sick as you and Presea..." that made them both pause.

"..Shut up." His chocolate-haired best friend burst out into laughter. Both still feeling completely immature, they took to a total pillow fight, complete with wrestling.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Raine, you have a fever!"

"..D-do I?"

"Yes, now lie back down.. you're burning up.."

Raine lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling, Colette fussing over her, but the silver-haired maiden paid no mind as her pale, sickly features creased with worry and doubt. Still lovely as ever, the maiden sighed, looking at her red-stained arms. She had frostbite on most of her, including her stomach and back. The blankets folded over her neatly, and slightly angry at herself, Raine took to counting each fold. Feeling her lids start to drop over her indigo orbs, she also felt her conciousness slowly slip away as the world faded to nothing but a dream.

The meadow was wind-swept, each blade of grass a different shade of green, blending together beautifully. She lay in the grass under the moon, her own pale locks matching it's silver shine and the planet reflected in her eyes. In her right hand, she clutched a dagger that was painted with blood on it's edge. Fear pounded in the heart of the sleeping maiden as she watched, only an observer in this dream of hers. A figure approached her, sword drawn. It was only a silhouette, so she couldn't tell who it was. She then stood, almost floating, white dress flowing around her ankles; but there was no wind to cause this. Eyes completely dull and drained of life, the silhouette approached her, holding it's sword in front of her. Shaking her head and floating backwards a bit, the Raine in her dream took the dagger and dragged it across her chest, the white dress being stained with cerise.

Next she knew, she was watching herself bleed in complete darkness; her body like a lifeless doll on the floor, eyes more blank than before and pale limbs stretched out before her. Suddenly, in a flash of light, the bloody body was floating again, in the darkness, holding out her arm, palm upward and fingers outstretched as if to grab someone's hand. A red shadow behind her, the doll Raine didn't even notice as it was about to drag it claw right through her body.

-x-x-x-

x-x; How was it? I don't think it was as good as the first chapter.. -glares at her friend Robert- Thanks for breaking my inspiration! Oh, and thank you for the reviews Addi-Lee and Lightning-dono! They really brightened my day. :3