A.N: Hi, new update. After all and old update wouldn't be any use...I digress.

Bit of a short chapter here, I'm afraid. Chapter length consistency is not one of my strong points I'm afraid, so this is more of a filler chapter than anything. But anyway, read if you will.

Kidnapped

Whispers of everyday life whipped past his ears, pulling his mind from out of its self-induced fog and back into his current situation.

A bird chirped loudly, sitting on a branch outside the window and Kratos cringed at the frequency of the bird's song.

Grumbling, he opened his eyes and then snapped them shut against the bright light. He cautiously opened one eye again, letting it adjust before opening the other just as slowly, wondering how long it had been since he had last woken up with blurry vision and a blinding headache. A hundred years at least.

Rolling over onto his back, the seraph stared at the ceiling above him, trying to collect his thoughts and memories of…well, whatever it was he last saw.

'Exire…Genis! Raine!'

He sat bolt upright, gasping as pain shot up through his torso and nausea made his head swim. Looking down at his body, he pulled the bed sheets away, assessing the damage to his torso, carefully removing the blood-soaked pads that formed a line down his stomach and hip.

The wound had been roughly sewn closed, as if the person who had done it wasn't completely at ease with the idea, and the ragged, raised red line contrasting sharply to his smooth white skin.

He quickly looked over the rest of his torso, noting the bandages wrapped around his cracked ribs and the bruises that adorned his chest and abdomen.

All in all, some relatively serious damage had been done, not to mention the fact that his head was still swimming slightly.

A quiet knock on the door, interrupted his thoughts, and Kratos quickly pulled the sheets over his naked body.

The door open a second later, and a worried looking Lloyd entered the room, Colette in tow. The former visibly relaxed when he saw that his father was awake.

"Hey, Dad."

"Lloyd." He replied in greeting

"Hi Kratos! Oh my gosh, we're so glad you're awake. Lloyd found you unconscious on Exire, and he brought you back here, and we were all so worried, 'cos you never get hurt or anything. But you're feeling better now, right?" the ex-chosen babbled.

"Other than a slight headache and some pain, I'm fine Colette, thank you for your concern."

Lloyd rolled his eyes at the older man's formal response to Colette.

"So anyway, can you tell us what happened, or shall we leave you alone for a while? We can get you some food or something if you want."

Kratos shook his head slowly, trying not to start another wave of nausea off.

"I'm still attempting to gather my thoughts at the moment...Colette said you found me on Exire. How did you know I was there?"

Lloyd shrugged, sitting on the edge of the bed "When the professor saw Exire go down she sent a message to us explaining what you were going to do."

The seraph narrowed his eyes "How long have I been unconscious?"

"Two days or so."

Horror blossomed in the pit of his stomach, adding to the feeling on nausea that was already running rampant in his system.

"Two days…since you found me? How long did it take you to get the message and get to Exire then?"

"A day. The messenger came on a rhieard, so he got here really quickly…" the younger man paused, seeing his father chewing at his lower lip "Dad? Where are the professor and Genis? They weren't anywhere on Exire."

"I'm unsure. I'm certain of one thing though."

"What?"

"They're with every other half-elf that has been kidnapped over the past four years."

------------------------------------

"They've been kidnapped? Seriously?! What the hell was Kratos doing? Staring in the other direction?" Zelos snapped, flicking his long red hair behind his shoulder angrily, pacing around the living room of Lloyd's house.

"Zelos!" Sheena scolded "I doubt he just let them be taken. C'mon he was knocked unconscious and you've seen the injuries he's got, there must've been too many for him to fight off."

"I still don't trust him. He betrayed us once, why not again?"

"'Cos he's my dad. That's why." Lloyd stated, glaring at the red-head.

"It's not like you never betrayed us anyway," the ninja woman muttered under her breath.

"I have to agree with Lloyd. It would not seem to serve Kratos any purpose to betray any of our trust in this situation and there is evidence of a struggle. That aside, we need to discuss how to get Raine and Genis back above all else." Regal stated, raising his voice above Zelos who was now mumbling about seraphine conspiracies.

Lloyd nodded emphatically. "From what Dad…Kratos, whatever, says, it's been about three days since they've been taken. So wherever they've been taken to, they're definitely there by now."

"If they're still alive."

Heads turned towards Presea at her brief statement.

"I merely mean to say, they were taken and the only account we have of what happened is Kratos' and he was knocked unconscious before he saw what happened to them."

"He said that the men who he fought talked about capturing half-elves."

"That does not mean that they are still alive. I do not wish to cause grief, but I feel that we have to consider the possibility."

"Well then we assume the best before we confirm the worst!" Lloyd growled, standing up from the chair armchair he had been occupying "I refuse to believe that the professor and Genis are dead unless I see it for myself!"

"Lloyd's right on that," Sheena agreed "But…we have no idea where to start, even though we want to find them. There's nothing to follow from Exire, we don't know if they're even alive, and we don't have a clue where they, or any other half-elves that have been kidnapped, have been taken to."

"And how're we gonna get the time to look?" Zelos asked, ignoring the group's shocked looks "Don't get me wrong, I want to but…some of us can't afford to get the time off work…"

"Zelos…Raine and Genis are.."

"I know! But come on…Kratos is injured, you're working to pay for the house and you have a deadline to meet, Colette is needed in the village as a healer, Regal and Presea are working on this building project, Sheena's got some super secret mission to go on and I'm….well, stealth isn't my strong point."

"Not to mention that we can't let anyone go alone." Sheena replied offhandedly.

"So what do we do?" Lloyd asked dejectedly.

"Couldn't we ask around if people have noticed something strange going on?" Colette suggested

Regal shook his head "I doubt that it would work. People are likely to fear what would happen if they told us and it's unlikely that the place they've been taken to is as obvious as a human ranch."

Lloyd sighed "The professor and Genis would know what to do…."

"Um..I'd just like to point out that at least three people here have wings." Zelos commented "Couldn't you and Colette, maybe Kratos when he's back in action, just fly around for any signs…you could probably get Yuan to help too since most of his precious Renegades are half-elves and are probably kidnapped."

The young swordsman who had collapsed back into his armchair nodded vaguely "I suppose it's the only thing we can do right now."

"And I can use my connections to see if anyone knows anything," Regal offered "The business takes Presea and I all over the world."

"That's great. We can get started tomorrow morning and we'll find Genis and Professor Sage in no time." Colette chirped.

The assembled group murmured in agreement, discussing ways in which they could help to find the missing half-elves.

"Ah…I'm sorry guys; I need to get back to Mizuho…the chief wants me to check out some disturbances in the remnants of the old village and I've gotta head off late tonight. And you're coming too Zelos."

The ex-chosen spun towards her "What?! Since when?"

"Since you became my external support. You know the King of Tethe'alla insists that you accompany me to make sure I'm not sabotaging anything."

Zelos mumbled something intelligible under his breath, but didn't argue with the ninja.

"Yeah….but, how come Mizuho is split in two? I still don't get it." Lloyd asked.

Sheena sighed "It's simple, Lloyd, we like to keep posts all over the world to monitor activities…it's part of the Mizuho Intelligence Network. Having the old village still inhabitable just means it's somewhere to look out from, especially since it's so close to the site of the Tower of Salvation."

"Right, gotcha…so, when'll we see you again?"

"Probably in a few days. If there's nothing going on, it'll probably be a week. If there's something to report…well, less time."

"K."

"We'll see you later then," Sheena walked to the door, dragging a reluctant Zelos along with her, but she paused in the doorway, looking back at the rest of the group "Don't worry, you especially Lloyd…we'll find them soon."

The boy gave her a tight-lipped smile "I know. See ya later."

"Ok, see you in a few days."

"Yeah, see ya….if I live," Zelos shouted, following the female ninja out of the house.

"I'm afraid Presea and I will have to leave soon, too." Regal informed Lloyd "We have a new project starting in a few days and we have to sort out the travel arrangements."

"Yes, but we will start asking around for information about Raine and Genis immediately."

Presea quickly added.

"Yeah, I know you will. Everyone'll do what they can, but I won't stop worrying until I know they're safe."

"Of course you won't," Colette stated, sitting next to him "You wouldn't be you if you didn't."

The brunet laughed weakly "I guess that's true."

"Lloyd, the Professor and Genis are stronger than they look. I believe that they will be fine until we can rescue them."

He lifted his head at Presea's words "Yeah…I should have more faith in them."

"Yes…do not overexert yourself through worrying Lloyd. We do not want to find out that you've overdone it when we return."

"Don't worry guys, I'll be fine." Lloyd waved his hand "We'll see you in a few days, yeah?"

"Yes, you shall."

Regal and Presea stood from their respective positions and walked to the door.

"Give Kratos our regards once he wakes again," Regal requested as he left the house, Presea in tow.

The door shut behind them with a heavy thud. Lloyd stared at it wistfully for a moment before shaking his head.

"Guess it's just you and me again." He looked to Colette, taking her hand in his.

"Kratos is still here."

"He's asleep."

"…Do you really think that Raine and Genis will be ok?"

"Yeah, I'm sure they will be."

OK, hoped that wasn't too boring for you, although I'm aware it was a lot of talking and not much else. However, chapter 3 is already underway and it's (hopefully) going to be a good one. I can guarantee it's better than this.

Hope you'll review, see ya later.