Whoot! I can start doing the updating stuff again. Exams are OH-VAH!
xxxxx
"A door." Yuan noted quietly from behind the professor with crossed arms. He was still only for a moment, he didn't want to wait for her decision and quickly took control. "Let's move on." he sighed, walking past her and casting a light breeze.
"..." Raine closed her eyes and followed.
xxxxx
"Interesting." Approaching the large, thick column in the center of the room with a computer keyboard and tall black screen above it embedded into the front surface of it, Raine brushed her fingers lightly over the keys.
"This time, you're going to scout. I'll look through whatever's on this computer and you explore, clear?"
"Fine." Raine replied simply and walked away from him, His pride's just damaged from something, I can tell, She thought.
Her eyes trailed the ceiling, tall like the last one, all of the rooms so far seemed to be circular. And so would the other ones, she was guessing.
The bookshelves that lined the wall all the way around reached the ceiling and all of the books were packed in tightly. Raine squinted up at it, "Yuan," she said in a mildly loud voice so that he could hear her. "What will the book look like?"
"It's by far the largest real book that I've seen on spells yet... but maybe I'll be able to tell you where it is, because this system seems to have a tracking system on all of the books."
"Convenient."
"It is."
Raine waited, but continued to walk, tracing the side of the far wall away from the pillar slowly. "I wonder how high up this really goes." she wondered aloud, "... I could have sworn that there were far more than three or four floors here."
"There probably are... but if we find the book then there's no reason for us to venture further."
"Unless there's something we're not seeing."
"Unlikely, but I wouldn't doubt it too much."
"Yes." Raine agreed, pulling a book from it's place on the shelf and scanning over the title. "...." her eyes suddenly widened.
From his place in front of the keyboard and big screen, Yuan scrolled down the page and typed something again in what looked like a type of search bar. "... I see... Hey Raine. I think you should tell me what you think of this, I'd like your impu---"
"INCREDIBLE!!!"
"......." Yuan was silent for a long time, before finally muttering in mild confusion, "Raine?"
"This text is the lost one of the seven collections in the series on the after-war effects and at the time of the first few chosens of Mana!" Raine exclaimed, holding her face in amazement and immediately starting to open and scan through it.
"Raine, come here." Yuan sighed and typed the name of the book in the search bar before he stepped past the pillar so that he could see her. "I'm searching for the book now. But be careful because this place was built to fend off certain people, so I wouldn't mess around with things too much."
"..." Her blue eyes were so focused on him, as though she stared past him, or into him. Yuan paused, but regained his train of thought in a matter of seconds.
"I... I think you should look at the image given when the book comes up, I believe that a visual will be included with it's description and" His voice struggled to not trail into a low mumble or a flat, struck silence, "...genre."
"I see, thank you." Raine blinked her eyes into narrowing towards the ground. She was currently standing with the book she chose from the shelf in both hands.
"Of course."
"Let's l--"
'ERROR, ERROR'
Beeping loudly from the computer, making Raine jump, and Yuan grow wary with suspicion, a small, low siren started sounding from the computer and they circled around to the front to look and see what it was that caused it to make the sound.
"Ah, protection against intruders. Damn... that means we can't get any further in." Yuan rubbed his temples and took a step back. "I would say that I'd leave it to your new split personality but I'm not absolutely sure how reliable that it is."
"...What?" Raine blinked and quizically looked at Yuan.
'NOW PREPARING FOR EXTERMINATION OF INTRUDER(S), SEQUENCE SET'
"Yuan?" Ranie breathed, looking around as the room suddenly became dimmer. It dimmed into darkness and they looked around through it. Yuan could still see through it, and stood still, as he observed the flooring.
"Where are y--" he could hear her shifting through the darkness.
"Don't move, Raine." Yuan said suddenly.
Stopping dead in her tracks, Raine decided against disobeying him, because he had to know or see something.
Eyes like blades cutting through the darkness, he could see the floor moving, the tiles started moving to the side, certain, individual tiles would move under the others where a drop took place. As if they were waiting to be tripped on, to be fallen into.
"...That's obvious for me, but... wait." Yuan mumbled, squinting and trying to see down into one of the holes without moving, he looked, once again around the room, and heard a tension-building creak that sent a distinct chill up his spine.
"..." The seraph looked up, towards the direction he heard the noise from.
"Raine!" he shouted suddenly, the loud noise of his voice barking at her made her stumble backwards. Yuan lunged forward and grabbed her shoulders, his arms folded over her back, he pushed both of them forward into one of the holes as, all at once and in a swift motion, the entire ceiling collapsed in a heartbeat and crashed violently into the floor which was now above them.
"Ah!" Raine shreiking momentarily but was slightly reassured being held tightly by him.
They fell into something even the angel couldn't see. Yuan's eyes darted about through the darkness, he released his wings and caught them in midair, that single light allowed him to see downward. As if before, particles of light simply didn't exist. His wings caught on the air and brought them to level, so now they no longer moved.
Which wouldn't be surprising considering they were down so far.
"Wh-what just happed?" Raine whispered.
"A trap triggered itself, it thought that we were intruders, thieves."
"....But now that I think about it, aren't we?"
Yuan nodded, but realized Raine couldn't really see him. "Yes, basically." he agreed. "Which is what confuses me, why is it being deffensive now?"
"I'm not sure," Raine wondered. "Maybe It's because we're a certain level in. Something that it doesn't want us to take."
"... I'm going to have to land eventually."
"I know."
Silence, they stood there in the blank lacuna, it came close to being awkward, but they were moreso concerned for their lives and what would happen to them next.
Down, Yuan slowly brought them, he watched carefully, examining both Raine's blind, confused-looking face and the quiet, empty flooring he could see below. He looked around, and the walls were closer in than the other room.
Raine breathed with ease at him landing, she could feel the steady, flat surface below his feet halt them in the air.
"I think that there won't be much trouble here, it was a pretty far drop. This room is empty, but front the looks of the room, I don't think it was designed for people to get out."
"They expected us to have died." Which I would have without you there, she thought.
"I believe so." Yuan released Raine with one arm, his other securely around her lower back so that she would be supported as her feet shakily found the ground, they shifted around, trying to feel for a flat surface.
Her arms, however, remained wrapped tightly around the back of his neck. She still couldn't see really.
"....I'm just going to guess that you want to be lead to somewhere secure before you're sure we're not going to fall through another hole."
"Y-yeah, that's it." Raine laughed almost nervously, removing her arms and finding his with trailing hands. She looped her forearm through Yuan's at his elbow and held on securely. Yuan's other hand crossed over and held her hand in place.
Swallowing as they started to walk, Yuan relaxed a little against the warmth her hands gave off. He let her cling, not minding much, he tightened his grip slightly, or adjusted it to be more firm.
The professor let herself be led by the seraph, he seemed so tall, so firm, stiff, ancient, professional. His long hair pulled back like the old-fashioned style, it still floated behind him as he walked.
This, she would admit, wasn't the first time she found herself incredibly intrigued with them. Yuan and Kratos, Remiel and Mithos or... rather, Yggdrasil. They've lived for so long, and contained knowledge from so far back...
Raine knew that there was a certain level of maturity and mutual, self contentment that almost everyone reached, Yggdrasil for example still contained mental illness and couldn't supress it himself regardless of the infinite time he was supplied with to do so, but either way, they remain so active, so animated, yet ancient, old, with those cold, striking war-ridden eyes. Yuan was....
...She couldn't put an exact word to him. You couldn't put anything to him, there's no real way to describe him effectively, because he's so different.
She wanted to know how much he knew, how much he thought, what he thought,
'everything': it was becoming. 'Every' thought that went through his head, how he thought, the way he processed his...
"..." Yuan cleared his throat, having taken note of her staring at his face with intense thought, he decided to leave himself the conclusion that it was only because there was nothing else to look at.
Besides his wings of course, he was leading her through complete darkness.
"Oh, sorry. You're just..." Raine trailed, blinking and shaking her head once to re-gather her thoughts, having gotten lost in them.
"Hm?"
"...Nothing."
"A wall." Yuan said simply, "I'm sure you want to rest against it for reassurance."
"Well, considering the fact that we just fell a couple dozen or maybe even a hundred feet, I am, yes, in slight need of reassurance of floor stability."
"...." Yuan almost laughed at the fact that she was scared by the darkness. "Of all the things to be scared of, you chose darkness and water, you're not even scared of me, you hardly obey my commands."
"I-I'm not afraid of the dar--- wait, why should I be obeying you?"
"I posess more experienced judgement over things." He said.
"Experienced..." Raine repeated, "In war-making decisions, after all those years of battle."
"Exactly."
"Years of battle and solitude, under the rule of a man who wasn't even close to sane."
"..."
"Just you, and a few other ignorant followers who wouldn't change their views, not even for thousands of years, together perfecting one thing. Fighting and keeping a poker face. And yet Lloyd and the rest of us came to better, more reasonable decisions that worked a lot better and brought peace to everyone."
"Reckless, very reckless decisions." Yuan reached a little further up and grabbed her wrist. He brought it forward and touched her fingertips to the cold wall.
"That saved even you..." Raine found herself turning and sinking to the ground against the wall. "I think that I'm capable of making some decisions considering we saved all of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla both, or... Lloyd did. He should get the credit for almost everything, talking everyone into a healthy mind-set... stopping fighting... helping everywhere he is."
"... I should thank him." Yuan admitted. He took a step forward and leaned against the wall nearby. He breathed in the empty air that drifted around the room. There were no doors and he couldn't see the ceiling.
"So, you're tired?"
"People tend to get that way."
"I see, You shouldn't strain yourself." Yuan attempted to keep his chin up and his voice solid, glancing down at her before scanning the room again. He felt weird, awkward, different, he was actually considering what she felt. His soldiers usually just pushed themselves to rediculous lengths regardless because they were afraid of him.
And he liked it that way. But now, it would be senseless if Raine collapsed. Then it would be slightly harder to move along. He'd find himself stopping and caring for her because there wouldn't be any medics.
"Nh...." Raine closed her eyes and pressed her palm to her neck.
"Are you okay?" Yuan immediately fell to his knees and started examining her. A moment later, he mentally slapped himself for letting himself get so worked up.
"I'm a little sore around my head, like something rushed in and out of it. But I'm mostly fine, it feels minor."
"I don't think it would be that good of an idea for you to stay here long, you have nothing to really lay on."
"Hm..." Raine leaned forward from the wall and started unlatching the front of her orange coat. She pulled it from her shoulders and folded it. She set it down to her left where Yuan stood inches from her 'pillow' and lowered herself over onto it.
"It's still to thin." Yuan said simply. He stripped himself of his own upper clothing and draped it over her. He reached down and took her head in his hands, surprising her to a... degree... and lifting her head up into his lap.
"You should have more elevation, or that sore spot will only get worse."
"I-I see." Raine tried to keep herself from stuttering, taking another calming breath and closing her eyes. Letting the calmness in the air sooth her nerves. She took advantage of the silence, the darkness, the stillness, and became mentally balanced.
She could focus, with nothing to listen to but Yuan's occassional breathing, (As if he keeps forgetting to) and quickly let the unconsciousness overcome her fading mind.
"..."
xxx
Okay, I think I ended that well enough. G-night.
