Chapter 11

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"..." Raine hummed a quiet sigh in her sleep, shifting and getting even more comfortable by bringing in her arms and legs.

He was as still as physically possible, Yuan tried not to move under her head which was in her lap. He found himself becoming rather uncomfortable upon her head shifting against him, so far in, her face inches from his-- "ugh..." Yuan breathed, finally moving to reach up and rub his face.

He could bare it, but... he also could tell for himself that it was getting chillier, he looked down at Raine and could see small goosebumps on her neck.

"Mh..." Raine had crossed her arms over her chest and snuggled her face into whatever she was laying on at the moment.

Yuan's (cough cough) area.

"Ah..." Yuan gritted his teeth. Why did he let her fall asleep on him? A moment went by, he already knew why. It felt a bit weird for her to be there, but he, honestly, didn't even care. It was as if... deep down it felt like he kind of liked it.

Another moment went by, and he was getting anxious, almost bored but a little content he had something to look at and examine.

...Yes, constantly.

"..." Yuan reached down and put his hand over her neck softly. He brushed his thumb over the cool surface. She was getting cold. He felt the areas of skin where the bumps were raised. And distinct concern filled him.

He couldn't even see in himself that he was more concerned for her than he should be. But regardless, he put another hand down by her chest to grab her hands.

"Damn it." Yuan found himself irritated now. Why didn't she bring warmer clothing? Now he's going to have to take more of his clothes off to--

Her cool, clear and melodic voice cut through the silence, "Is everything okay, Yuan?" he could hear her speak, now, which startled him.

Raine didn't even realize that his hands were on her's and her neck for warmth. She was just... obviously comfortable.

"Yeah." He cleared his throat. "The room is getting colder. I think we should find a way out of here."

"I think so too." she admitted, leaning away from Yuan and stretching her arms high above her head with a small hum of a sigh.

"..." The arched point of her back drew his attention for some reason, he blinked at the realization for what that meant and averted his eyes with a small, discomforted "Hn..."

"Let's go then." The professor stood and brushed off her outfit, holding onto the coat of Yuan's that stayed on her shoulders. Yuan rose to his feet beside her. She had been sleeping a long time. He wouldn't say days or hours upon hours, exactly, but she looked more tired than she should have been. And with that in mind only ended up sleeping for five hours.... which worried him a bit, she looked rested, which would completely throw off his understanding of the human/elven body.

Unless he had...

"Hm... I wonder." he asked aloud. Raine moved her head a little to the side to look him in the eyes, listening. "Did I wake you up?"

"N-no." An immediate rush of red washed over her face. "I just... I had a weird dream about this place we're in and an... interesting woman."

"...Do you think I would consider it relevant?"

"No not really." Raine pondered for a moment, her eyes downcast as she tapped her finger against her lips, "...But it's a bit embarrassing, so I'd rather not talk about it to be honest."

"Fine." Yuan replied plainly. But the innermost part of him wanted to know what she was thinking. His stern, cerulean eyes scanned her over, and over.

Having stood there in silence with a four-thousand-year old stud staring you up and down in almost complete darkness except for a bluish light that was coming from his back, Raine was a little nervous. She could still see his eyes, they were lit by the gleam of his wings. All of the light seemed to gather in them and cause a glowing effect. It was intriguing...

"I'm sorry." Raine said suddenly, "But are your eyes always like that? Do they naturally hold the light of your own wings and cause a reflective glowing effect or is it just the abnormal structure of the--" Raine found herself ranting. She was interested at that moment, incredibly so.

Yuan was easily keeping up with what she was saying, he just didn't exactly care. But his blank, uninterested character inclined into slightly piqued. He was wondering why she looked so absent, her voice had fallen into silence. And now she was closer to him. Examining him adjacently.

Calm. He decided to say something.

"Yes, Raine. My eyes do just naturally absorb light, but light from the wings will most likely make a stronger time limit because of---"

"State thine name."

Quietude swept the two moreso than before. On top of the dead air that previously filled the stillness around them.

"Excuse me?"

"Tell me. You are a half-elf, art thou not? State thine name."

"And why should I tell you anything?" He got it now. Raine had changed again. The same force as before he took it, That posessed her.

She was quiet, all in one second, she was obvious comtemplating something, but in doing so let her scrutinizing eyes study him. She gave a considering look, and something changed about her face, the way she looked at him.

"Because I would expect you have respect for your elders." her voice was more of a rasp, but it was so crisp. He could almost say that she was seductively speaking. "I am the owner of this Shrine."

"An underwater shrine. So that is what it is." Yuan knew now, she had been evaluating his speaking. Her voice had changed. "This is devoted to you, I presume?"

"I was the Goddess here. This is the tomb site of the last incarnate. She is buried deep within the stone. Crystallized, her life drained upon creating this very dome. But now I can only posess through advocation." Raine's possessed body explained. "A woman has never stepped foot in this place. So I have never done an advocation ever since I have released my soul after my first incarnation."

"Are you planning on inheriting Raine's body?" he inquired, motioning down at her.

"...No. My time grows thin in this body. It will take much time for me to be able to do so once more." She said. "The purpose that has haunted me since back then. My first.... has left, a second never to come, tales of mind and heart weeping as they remain untold. Untouched. Unreached, time bound me away." The goddess had eyes of an unnaturally bright sea, and they looked as though they had gathered all the blue of the sky in a mesmerizing swirl.

She stared up at Yuan, and now reached up to hover her fingers before his cheek.

"But into this one, I shall not strive for my own. Though the other's heart calls. A heart is required, and you must attain. Or progression fails. And entrapment will soon engulf you, further into the shrine as you head towards that in which you seek, which is known by the temple, and thus drawn away." She pulled her fingers away from his face, and stepped back, leaving a large gap between them. "My will is left within her now."

The Goddess Lacuna held her hands out in front of her and her eyes drifted shut. Between her arms, as her head tilted back, shone a dim light. Yuan narrowed his eyes upon the direct light that shone upon them. He could see, however, a globe-like structure. As he looked closer it was rippled like hushed waves before him. It illuminated vague silver and blue lights and he could see that something appeared to be growing inside.

It grew larger, and once it came to a larger size, Yuan could make out the figure of it. The sphere of water grew as well, and the goddess, with her feet still planted to the ground leaned backwards, but flat as a board. Held up from falling by some unknown force.

"The book." He glared. And slightly agitated, he reached forward. She knew how to achieve it for them? And yet--

"Not yet." In a swift movement the ball crystallized and as the tips of Yuan's fingers slid down the warm surface, the book dissapeared within it.

"I shall give you a clue. Yuan."

'Since when did she know my name?' Yuan thought to himself.

"Only through physical contact does momentary spellbreak of the temple and progression take place. But through to the end, more may be required. The pulse of a heartbeat can dislodge the--" She cut herself off, and Raine blinked her eyes back to normal.

Her voice echoed, "but time is limited. Remember the task ahead. And the tasks around, above the surface."

"Watch out." Yuan seen her falling, no longer held up by the unknown force. He stepped forward and around her, catching Raine's lower back with his forearm and reaching for the crystal ball with his other.

It, like a ghost, slipped right through his hand, which should have caught it. It fell down to the ground and he could see it fall into and merge with it.

"...Interesting." Yuan noted, holding Raine firmly to the ground by the hips as she steadied herself.

"What just happened?" She rubbed at her cheek momentarily before speaking again. "This time I know I blanked out."

"You did. I'll explain what happened after I think of how to leave this area. It's a grave."

"A grave?" Raine repeated, blinking but now suddenly incredibly interested. "Incredible!" she opened her mouth to go on a further rant but Yuan reached over and grabbed her jaw softly. He pressed his thumb over her lips to make a point. No ranting or trying to study the tombs in the dark while he was trying to get them out.

"As I thought." Yuan let Raine go, crossing his arms and thinking. "Before, you had been posessed by something." he said.

"..." Raine didn't know what to say at first, she conprehended what he meant and thenreturned to normal thinking pace. "I was posessed? By what?"

"The Goddess Lacuna." Yuan said. "She gave me this riddle about the temple, We should go over it a few times, and I'll see what I can get out of it."

"..." Raine was silent, she was even more curious than before, now.

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"Stop." Raine held her hand up for Yuan to pause. "There. Again, I believe she must have meant that ever since her first incarnation has left. There's no-one else who it could have been."

"Perhaps, but we don't know that for sure."

"Exactly.... but also, The other part is what's confusing. She spoke of..."

"A heart is required, and you must obtain." Yuan quoted.

"...." Raine seemed to be a bit amuded by her own oncoming thoughts. "Perhaps she meant you should have more of a heart."

Yuan denied that, "Or maybe she just meant some sort of monument or statue or object." he countered.

"Yes, that's more likely." Raine agreed. folding one arm across her chest for her elbow to rest at, her forearm pointed up at her face, where her hand stood at her chin. She thought and reevaluated the words over and over again in her mind.

"And the last part--" Yuan started.

"Must mean that whatever it is that we're looking for will be further drawn away if we don't play by her rules. Anything that we want will be found out by the very being of the temple, the fact that we are within it tells it what we're thinking."

"So if we decide we want something from this place, it will lead us on a wild goose chase until we do what it wants."

"Yes." Raine agreed. "That's a pretty interesting function of a temple."

"Yes, but I'm not entirely surprised, the constant mirages and traps here are getting predictable."

"...." The professor silent, she glanced around the room and found herself shivering again. "So how, again, did you say we were getting out of here?"

"Hm..." Yuan crossed his arms, seeming conflicted about something. "I don't quite understand. She said that only through physical contact does momentary spellbreak of the temple and progression take place." He repeated the line fluently to himself. thinking more.

It took a moment, but he finally turned to Raine, lifting his hand to her face again, in the same position as when he had silenced her earlier. Raine was unmoving against the contact. She tried to avoid moving her lips, but was finding herself anxious towards what he had in mind, and towards what, exactly, he was doing now.

"Yuan?" She couldn't help it.

"Hold on." He kept his hand firmly around her jaw, but softly. He was waiting for--

Raine drew a surprised breath as a rumbling shook the air around them. Raine looked around to sight the source, and a line of light shone distantly, horizontally with the ground. That line of light thickened upward, and soon releaved a tall patch of light against a newly visible wall.

"That was your plan?" Raine quirked an eyebrow in question.

"I thought that it might work." Yuan dropped his hand from her face, and looked over to the door in mild satisfaction.

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Long enough? Sorry for the wait. I did the math and... I actually have do do like, six chapters of my geometry this month rather than the previously thought 4 chapters. I have to if I wanna test out. Which I do. So I'm really sorry If I end up taking a while to like... update.

But like I said. I still have a bit more time than before. So it's okay, I'll do so as frequently as possible.