A.N: Welcome to chapter 14. Thanks for the reviews I've been recieving. Slightly longer chapter than normal. More important things to say, so take note.

Warning: This chapter contains violence, mild suggestions of torture and scenes of attempted rape - relatively mild but still there.

If the above issues don't concern you, please read on.

Corrosion

Tick. Raine sighed, tapping pencil against paper. Tock. She brushed a strand of greasy hair out of her face. Tick. The guard behind her shifted. Tock. Another minute of life was gone.

Raine rubbed her forehead as she sat at her desk in the silent lab, staring blankly at the paper that was covered in scribbles and equations, genetic codes and the human body. Blood types. Mana signatures. Theories on how Aionis gave humans elven blood.

None of it could join together to form and answer to the problem.

"Problem 1017?"

"No of course not."

"Good 'cos if there was we'd have to report it to the leader."

"Of course…" she flicked a piece of eraser off the page "…you'd have to scurry back to him like the little lapdog you are wouldn't you?" she muttered

"Excuse me?"

"Thinking aloud."

"Really?"

"Well I had to be. I wasn't talking to you about mana signature relation to amino acid base pairings and Aionis' affect on them, now was I?"

"Uhh…"

"No, otherwise you'd be doing this work instead of me."

She glared at the guard "Now kindly leave me to my work."

Raine flicked the same strand of hair back behind her ear irritably staring at the page of notes again, hoping that she would notice some pattern in the equations, that it would suddenly come to here.

It had been 4 days since she'd been set the task and 'the leader' was already starting to get impatient at the lack of progress that she was making. The guards reported her findings to him every evening and apparently the fact that she hadn't made any advancements since being set the task was disappointing.

What was he expecting, a miracle? She was good. She wasn't thatgood.

But then…it was the other 'in-mates' that were putting him on edge.

They had been increasingly aggressive and rebellious towards the guards ever since she had been taken to meet the leader and they were furious to find out that he dare demand such a thing of her. They were almost at breaking and if they didn't get to escape within a few weeks…they'd never build up the confidence to do so again.

They wouldn't have to though. They'd be dead in two weeks if what she had heard about the Loras project was accurate.

The bomb was almost built, the tracking devices almost perfected…apart from her project there was only one more component that needed completing. The tunnel.

The underground pathway ran from the Saloth'sarian base to the former remote island human ranch…where there were a group of half-elves working on the release device for the bomb. The mana cannon.

If that tunnel was completed, then all the necessary materials and resourced would be transferred straight there and the bomb would be released in a matter of days after.

The tunnel was currently about 7 miles from the ranch with a group of twenty working on digging it. They were making good time too. Ever since the Leader had drafted in a professional mining company or whatever it was, the project had been advancing at an alarming rate.

The guards had detected a change in the half-elves that were digging the tunnel though. They were getting more and more 'uppity' with the guards…and Raine's influence hadn't even reached them. The two tiers of half-elves were kept completely separate…which meant that the rumours about the outer force coming up to help free the captives was true.

It was Regal who was the mining company leader who'd been brought into help and no doubt Presea was with him. They were spreading that message through the lower ranks…and Kratos was helping too, somehow. He'd be planning a diversion or attack or some such tacit no doubt…with everyone on the inside gathering information for it.

They'd come soon. She could feel it.

--

"She's to report to the leader immediately."

Raine knew that the newly arrived guard was going to say that before the words had left. She tensed instantly, a heavy hand dropping onto her shoulder.

She was standing and throwing the hand off her in a split second, backing away to the hatch that usually contained the increasingly infrequent half-elf that powered the project. The lack of familiar mana further adding to her already stressed state. The vague intimacy had proven to be something of a comfort blanket for her, even if she didn't know who it was…but now, without Genis or any form of comfort...she was teetering on an emotional edge that she felt like she was about to fall from.

"Alright, calm down sweetheart…"

"I am not your sweetheart! Don't you even dare think about referring to me like that!"

"Wow…what've you done to her?" the newer guard turned to his colleague and shrugged, looking stunned at the usual calm woman's demeanour that was now border lining on violence.

"Calm down, yeah? The Leader just wants to discuss the project with you."

" TheLeader can go fu…"

"Silence! You will not refer to your superiors that way…not unless you want your brother to die."

She immediately snapped her mouth shut but remained pressed against the wall, almost snarling at the guards.

"Now, 1-0-1-7…walk." He pointed at the door.

Raine glanced to the door and then the new soldier, eying the metal baton in his holster. She almost flinched at the sight…being hit with a wooden one had hurt enough…she wouldn't like to imagine the damage that the chunk of steel could cause.

Straightening, she moved from the wall, keeping as far from the guards as possible as she made her way to the door. The guard collected her notes and followed her.

She was lead through the same pathways, elevators and corridors as before, bland walls passing by and fading into the background as she thought ahead to the meeting.

The door to the bathroom was opened before her and she walked in silently, still noting that feeling of being watched. She stripped and showered as quickly as possible, not bothering to savour the hot water this time.

The white clothes were laid out on the table in front of her again; slightly better fitting this time, snugger as if somebody had sized her up. More disturbingly, there was a set of underwear laid out for her.

Grimacing, she held her towel that she had made sure to keep on once leaving the shower closed with one hand, the other checking the underwear's size.

Too small. But only just…it was a close fit and she hurriedly pulled away, dressing underneath the towel and checking her appearance in the mirror before leaving. She was just thankful that the shirt they had offered her had thicker material around the bust.

The bathroom had been a little chilly today, bringing her out in goose bumps.

"Speedy today." the guard commented as she shut the bathroom door behind her.

She shrugged, heading for the elevator, the guard trotting alongside. She was sent up to the meeting room just as before, and pushed into the room, alone to await the leader.

He appeared after just a few moments.

"Ah, Ms Sage," he greeted, spreading his arms in greeting "I trust you're well?"

"Physically, yes."

"I am upset to hear that."

Raine snorted.

"Untrusting, aren't you?"

"Given the situation, I can hardly be blamed."

The Leader paused, sliding onto one of the sofas that were set in the centre of the room.

"Be that as it may, Raine, this is not a situation where you can afford to not believe me. We have an agreement…"

"We do not have an agreement. We have a problem produced by your racism and blackmailing."

"Speak carefully, Raine, your brother's life is at stake."

She bit her lip.

"Good. Now…shall we discuss the real issue here…how is the task I set you with progressing?"

"Badly. Slowly."

"Why?"

"Because I don't have the resources needed to undertake this level of research. Any theory is merely conjecture and could well kill you if it's not correct."

The Leader shook his head "You'll find a way."

"Was that a statement of encouragement? Or a threat?"
"Both. Raine, if you do not succeed, I'll punish you as much as your brother."

"Don't you understand?! I can't conduct this level of research with so few materials, in such a short space of time."

"The project, aside from your task, will be complete within 2 weeks…you know this…"

"Yes and I'm saying I can't come up with anything in that space of time. I need help and better resources!"

"Denied. I'm not letting you stir-up anymore of my captives…you've done enough damage already…"

"You…"

"I know about the idea that you want to escape. I know there's some form of contact and that there are two forces at work here…they won't succeed."

"You have no idea what's coming, do you?"

"No. Do you?"

She remained silent.

"Exactly. So I suggest you work, under my conditions, as if there wasn't some pathetic attempt at a rescue coming."

"I can't…"

"I advise you to not give up before you've even begun. The ancient hero found a way to turn a human into a life form that was essentially a half-elf…and before you protest further, I have something to show you."

He snapped his fingers and a lock clicked open somewhere in the room.

Raine looked around, trying to locate the source of the sound. The Leader pointed to a corner of the room, a glass tube set into the wall, a door carved into the surface and he led her towards it, making sure she stepped in before him.

The plate below their feet was glass too, and it showed a long, dark tunnel travelling deep beneath the floor they were on.

"BS floor 1."

The platform slid smoothly down at the instruction, black sliding up to replace the view of the room. Raine shuffled back, pressing herself into the back wall, uneasy at being alone in the dark with the leader. There was something other than the racism that wasn't entirely wholesome about him and it was putting her increasingly on edge as she spent more time around him.

She wasn't aware how long they were in the dark, but when light filtered in again, she found herself wincing and flinching away from the dim glow.

The tube was bringing them into a dungeon, the walls grey and wet, moss growing on rocky surfaces, water dripping off surface.

Dim yellow light from oil lamps bathed the corridors in a depressing glow, flickering and churning…a decaying sort of light.

The glass door slid open and Raine stepped out, being greeted instantly with the smell of waste and blood. And fear.

The Leader stepped out behind her. "In there."

He pointed to a rusted door, red with corrosion but when he walked to it and tapped it, it swung inwards smoothly.

The room was black as she entered, but lights flickered into life with her movements, bright white halogen-esque lamps that all but blinded her after the dim light of the corridor.

It was an observation booth, a large blank screen taking up the wall in front of her, a chair and various electronics set up before it.

"Sit."

She slid into the chair without question, staring worriedly at the screen, knowing that she was about to see her brother.

The image of Genis flickered before settling, his wiry form clad in grey hunched in the corner of a damp cell. His head was down, white haired matted and grimy, pale hands clasped in front of him. He was shaking.

The Leader tapped at an intercom, ordering someone on the other end to do something.

Raine wasn't listening, too intent on the image of her poor brother. Her heart pounded when light beamed into the room, a man's silhouette cast up the middle.

Genis looked up wearily, bloodshot blue eyes alighting on the guard who was shutting the door behind him. He hung a lamp on the wall, pulling Genis to his feet and making him face the camera.

It was obvious what they wanted to show her.

A thin red scratch on his cheek, his chest, his right shoulder.

They were minor injuries. They would heal within days. They were a promise of more to come, if she didn't do as they asked.

"So, Raine…what would you like to do now?"

"Other than see my brother personally?"

He nodded.

Genis stared up at the camera with dull eyes.

"…I'd like to have another attempt at that task you set."

"Good girl."

The image was shut off; she was led from the room into the corridor towards the tube.

She stopped, something in the air catching her attention.

Electricity and light and wind, the smell and sense so familiar now. Mana. It was the mana of the specimen behind the project…he was here.

"Move, Ms Sage. You have four days until you have to report to me again. If you haven't found anything by then…"

She nodded. The threat needed no explanation.

--

Raine wanted to scream with frustration. She wanted to pound at the walls that enclosed her. She wanted to rip the papers to shreds. She wanted to tear the man that was corroding her to pieces.

She couldn't.

She couldn't do anything. She couldn't lead this revolt and save her race, couldn't save her brother. She couldn't even complete the task she had been set by him. She was supposed to be some kind of genius…right now, she was a failure in everyway.

Instead, she doodled. She drew images of freedom and her brother. She drew blood and she drew death. She drew her own fading mind and will.

Gods, she couldn't even think without repeating herself now. Every sentence she thought or spoke began with 'I can't…'

How had it come to this? How had it got to a stage where she had lost confidence in herself? She had always had that above all else...and Genis…she had always had him too. Now she had lost both of the things she needed to survive.

Her four days were up and she was no closer to coming up with an answer than she had been when she had first heard the challenge.

The guard was already at the door, the dry rustle of draught excluders against tiles sounding like a death herald.

She stood without question, walking from the room silently. She trudged through the glass and chrome corridors. She entered the bathroom. She showered. She dried. She put on the underwear that had been left for her. She donned the thin white dress.

She was lead into the waiting room.

But the guard was pointing to the door that the Leader always entered through and it knocked something back into her.

Curiosity?

Maybe.

Fear was far more likely.

Heart speeding up, she headed for the door, knocking before entering.

It was a small room, another glass tube on the far wall and she hesitantly entered, feeling her heart starting to pound insistently against her ribs.

Definitely fear.

The room was plush and luxuriously decorated. Reds and purples, silver and gold. Velvet curtains and silk tapestries. Large, ornate windows with views of a stunning green garden.

Green. She was drawn to it instantly. This was the first time she had seen it for almost a month now. Trees of every size and shape stood below: Mizuho sunset maples, weeping willows, firs and oaks and silver birches.

Ducks and swans glided on a silver surfaced lake, hawks with clipped wings glared from high perches.

Flowers bloomed in every direction. Pansies and petunias. Violets and ivy. Holly and snowdrops.

"Enjoying the view?"

She spun at the voice, noting that the higher pitch he usually used was gone, replaced with a ridiculously deep, grating voice.

It was lower than Dirk and Altessa's put together…it was an odd sound coming from someone who showed more elven blood than human…

The thought stuck, lodging in the back of her mind. More elven than human…

"Somewhat. But you don't have my favourites." Raine gestured to the garden.

"My apologies," Sarcasm… it riddled the tone of his voice like poison. "But then…why should I apologise?…after all you've failed me."

He strode towards her quickly, standing behind her and staring down at her.

"I…"

The blow struck her across the face, hard, cutting her sentence off.

"Speak when spoken to…and before you point out that I asked, it was a rhetorical question, as you well know."

Her hands trembled, wanting to lift and press against the stinging cheek. She resisted. It would only show weakness.

"Now, Raine, you're well aware of the penalty you'll pay for failing…" he stared down at her "but…despite what you think, I'm a fair man."

She scoffed mentally.

"You have 10 days, more or less, to complete the task, but for everyday you take now…I'll take it out on you…your brother has until then to live. Along with the rest of your kind."

He stepped forwards, unnervingly close, backing her into the window so that she was pressed against cool glass and stared down at her, hard grey eyes, flecked with blood red locking onto hers. His hand lifted, fingers resting against her hot, stinging cheek. His tongue licked slowly along red lips.

Something flared. Hot and unsettling, churning in her gut.

Anger and fear.

Raine straightened her back, raising herself to her full height, her fire back if not her confidence. She didn't know where it had come from…but it was there, and that was all she needed.

"Are you going to fight me, Raine?"

His hand gripped her cheek, tightening on the pale flesh painfully, other hand grasping her hair.

"Every step of the way." she hissed.

She kicked suddenly, catching him in the stomach. He grunted, releasing her temporarily, only to lunge for her a second later, his hand snatching her wrist, dragging her towards him.

Her shoulder blades collided with his chest, arm bent behind her back as his free hand fumbled for hers, and she lashed out again, slamming her small fist into him in rapid succession.

Solar plexus, instep, nose, groin.

Singing.

Something Kratos had taught her to do for self-defence. He wasn't even here and he was still saving her.

The Leader gasped, staggering back and instinctively pushing Raine away. Hard.

She slammed into the window, feeling it crack with the force and she hissed as her ribs crashed into it.

And he was right up against her again, spinning her and slamming her back into the glass. It shattered, sends shards of glass falling to the garden.

Below, birds shrieked as it rained on them. Above, Raine cried as it punctured her back, jamming into the flesh.

He grabbed her by the wrists and threw her across the room, sending her crashing to the floor, landing heavily on the carpet that didn't seem so plush anymore. Glass dislodged, scattering around her, its tips stained in her blood and he strode towards as she lay on the floor, steps deliberately heavy.

Raine back-peddled, slicing her hand open on a shard of glass that lay on the floor pain biting through her hand as he approached.

He kicked suddenly, catching her in the jaw, sending her sprawling back on the carpet, grinning as he watched her helplessness at the move and he dropped to her side, hands on her shoulders before she had time to recover.

The taste of blood exploded in her mouth, the liquid running freely as her teeth tore a gash in her own tongue and his hands were on her shoulders before she had time to register anything.

He was pinning her to the floor, hands holding her down as he swung his leg over her, straddling her waist and staring down at her, grinning perversely.

"Would you look at this? The unbeatable Raine Sage, lying here at my mercy…I wonder what your followers would say?"

She spat at him, bloody saliva spattering his face.

The Leader reached up slowly with one hand, freeing her shoulder momentarily as he wiped the blood speckled saliva from his cheek, before laying his hand at her waist.

Unnoticed, Raine's hand reached for something, anything that could be used as a weapon against him.

He lifted his hand from her waist, backhanding her calmly, leaving her grimacing in pain as a bruise started to form on her cheek in the same spot where he had hit her earlier.

Her hand kept searching, fingers flexing and reaching for…

His hand was at her collar, thumb stroking heavily at uncovered collar bones, taunting along a patterned white hem.

Glass! It cut her fingers as they found it, just as his other hand released her other shoulder, grasping at her neck tightly instead. Rough fingers tugged at thin white cotton, tearing down slowly revealing pale skin and soft curves.

Raine stayed still, breathing heavily as his hand began to roam into inappropriate territory, stretching her fingers uncomfortably and dragging the glass into range, blood falling onto the smooth surface making it harder to grasp.

His hand was suddenly where it had no business being, caressing roughly and heavily, kneading sensitive skin bruisingly heavily.

Fingers closed around the glass shard fully.

She lashed out, faster than she thought she could, the sharp point of the glass soaked in her blood shearing through his clothing like paper, digging into dark skin beneath.

He yelled, rearing back as red liquid, spurted from his chest, hands clasping over the wound. The leader hunched himself into a ball, cradling the injury as Raine clambered to her feet, still gripping the glass in her injured hand, breathing heavily, shirt hanging open over a heaving chest.

The half-elf glared up at her, staggering across to a panel on the door and slamming his fist into it with a bloodied hand. Seconds later, guards were filing into the room, armed and ready to attack.

Raine folded her arms over her chest, trying to cover herself up from the strangers' gazes.

"Dungeon." The leader hissed, pointing at her and she was being dragged from the room roughly.

Raine let herself be taken from his chambers, wanting nothing more than to get as far away from that man as possible.

--

The Leader growled as a doctor dabbed at his chest, staring angrily at the screen tracking Raine's movements through the corridors as she was lead past the cell he had originally assigned her.

He had done it out of kindness initially, knowing that she would appreciate being back with her brother but…following this little sequence of events…

Let's see how Ms Sage got along with her new cellmate. He was sure to give her a warm welcome given his treatment over the past few months.

--

The door slammed shut behind her with a resounding clang, plunging the dungeon into near pitch blackness.

Raine gripped the tattered fabric of her clothing tighter around her, trembling still from the ordeal she had just experienced. Her heart didn't seem to want to slow its pace either. The atmosphere of the chamber only served to increase her feelings of vulnerability at the moment and she looked around the room for any sign of danger.

She noted that it wasn't completely black, there was a soft blue-purple glow that trickled from around the corner, dim light that made the darkness seem ever more solid and oppressive.

Quiet, rasping noises echoed in whispers around the room, reminding her of a time when she had been walking in the woods. She had stopped then…heard that same sort of noise and had turned to see a wolf behind her, waiting to pounce.

It was Kratos who had come running into the clearing, not surprisingly, and fought the animal off.

But Kratos wasn't here now and Raine drew her clothes even tighter around her as she stepped forwards, hoping it was only the darkness she had to fear.

She reached the corner and stopped, standing on the threshold of discovery, heart pounding. Light and noise was filtering from the hidden creature around the corner…mana too, warm and familiar, the realisation of who it was that was powering the project slamming into her like a ton of bricks…and she couldn't believe she hadn't realised it sooner.

With a final deep breath to prepare herself, she stepped around the corner, instantly become bathed in that weak lavender glow.

"You took your time."

The voice was raspy from disuse, fragile from abuse and Raine blinked at the sound, not being able to find anything similar to the voice she was expecting in this person's voice.

Perhaps if one were to strip away the layers of pain and suffering, one would be able to recognise it for being his.

Approaching cautiously, she sat next to the figure.

"They caught you too?"

He turned his head, looking at her over his shoulder, matted blue hair spilling over his back, green eyes lit only by the glow from the tattered wings splayed out behind him.

"I would have thought that was obvious considering the situation." Yuan answered, sarcastic nature still burning in the face of oppression.

Raine made a quiet noise of agreement, trailing her eyes over the seraph's battered body, relaxing at the familiarity with him.

Like her, he was dressed in tattered white cotton, but only the bare minimum, revealing bruised waxy skin, faded to near pure white from lack of sunlight. The half-elf had been pale in the first place, blue-heads always were, but there was no natural colour to his flesh anymore, making injuries stand out in morbid contrast to the blank canvas of skin.

The flesh was stretched tightly over barely concealed bones, ribs and hipbones so pronounced that her reminded Raine of Kilia. In the dim violet light of his wings, the shadows created by peaks of bones were all the darker…hollow pits of black.

It surprised Raine that the angel's wings weren't concealed inside his body as they usually were, but as her eyes fell on them, she realised they weren't out by choice.

Like everything else in this place, they were forced out. Mounted on the wall behind Yuan was a machine port, glowing white cables trailing from it – mana restrains, solid cords of mana that were unbreakable- and they were wrapped securely around the wings where they met the skin, strangling them. If he tried to retract his wings, the coils would enter his body along with them…she couldn't imagine the amount of pain that sort of intrusion would cause.

The scars around the base of Yuan's wings though, only a few months old, testified that he certainly could.

Shuffling forwards slowly so as not to startle him by the movement, Raine examined the cables, checking the damage they had done to his wings. Where they were tied, clumps of feathers had been scraped from mana-made cartilage that formed a frame for the appendages. She pulled away, examining the rest of his wings.

They were in no better a state, thin fingers of cartilage snapped and hanging, large clumps of feathers missing, creating gaps in the gossamer structures to such an extent that it appeared most of his wings were missing.

What remained of them lay limp and ragged on the floor, the mana of them barely emitting a glow anymore, allowing the indigo wings to be seen fully – greasy feathers attached haphazardly to cartilage, on the verge of falling off and leaving a delicate skeleton behind.

"I'm in pretty bad shape," Yuan rasped, flinching slightly when her fingers slid across feathers lightly "but I guess that was obvious."

"How long have you been here?"

He shrugged. "Days, weeks, months…maybe years. It's hard to tell down here. Or up there."

"Up there?"

"The hatch that I'm put in everyday to power the project they're working on."

Raine nodded. "Except that you're not in there everyday anymore."

Yuan snorted and made a bizarre noise that was perhaps intended to be laughter. "No. Too weak and pathetic from having my mana drained now…"

"They're letting you rest and recover so that you survive longer."

He nodded. "Yes. The Loras project won't..." he trailed off, a fit of coughing suddenly overtaking him.

Raine leaned forwards, laying a hand on his shoulder to steady his weakening form. "Take it easy…"

"Thanks for the advice."

He straightened, trying to sit up, eventually giving in and reclining against the wall.

"How long have you been here?" he asked, breaking the silence.

"25 days."

Yuan nodded. "There's an escape plan underway, yes?"

"Yes but…"

"I probably won't survive to see it."

"That's not what I was going to say…"

"You were going to say that you're not sure whether it'll go ahead."

"…yes."

"As long as Kratos is leading it, it'll happen."

"You're very confident of that."

"If there's one thing that 4000 years of being Kratos' friend has taught me, it's that if there's something being kept from him that he wants back, he'll get it back."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Yuan rolled his eyes tiredly. "For a genius, you're really quite dense in some respects, Raine."

Her mouth hing open at the words and she leant on the wall next to Yuan, watching as his eyes fell shut, his breathing deepening as he fell asleep.

Enraged at the jibe Raine turned her gaze back to the wall in front of her, pondering her next move and the meaning of Yuan's words.

Well there you are. Hoped you enjoyed it and we finally have some Yuan (yay!) because I love Yuan. I think he's awesome. Also hope the more violent scenes weren't too bad.

(cough) anyway uh...please review.