whoa-

Shadow stumbles forward and grabs her head. "That was weird..." she turned and looked behind her at a closing black hole. "What the...?" she turned around in confusion. "Where was.... I-- OH NO!" she runs forward as a calendar was revealed on the wall before her. "I was captured again!" She punched at the wall in irritation, burning a hole in the date with her eyes. "DAMN IT, time/ space continuum!"

"Wait..." she fell silent and glanced over to the Dell Computer on the other side of the room on a dark-wood desk. ".... There is something I must do."

xxxupdatexxxxxtimexxx

"Are you ready to go all the way up again?" Yuan stepped forward at Raine, his arms crossed, examining her state with his full attention.

"Um-" Raine blinked, a bit confused as to why he was so attentive to her. "I'm fine. We should move on."

"Are you sure." he pressed, "You're now unarmed. So perhaps you..."

"Oh I see." Raine narrowed her eyes, "You think I can't defend myself because I have nothing to channel magic through or bash things with?"

"Well, that's obviously putting you at a disadvantage."

"Well, considering something I've done already... before one of the last battles and Zelos ended up freeing us, I was fully prepared for death. I was more than willing to sacrifice myself for a better cause. What makes you think that I'm afraid of anything that could kill me now?"

"..." Yuan looked uncomfortable at the thought of something based on what she had said. "Well if that doesn't give someone something to worry or be cautious about..."

"Oh, so you're worried?" Raine quirked an eyebrow.

"Fine, let's move on then since you insist so." Yuan hastily turned from the Sage Professor and started walking. She couldn't see the slight flushing high on his cheeks, he covered his face with one hand in attempt to make it go away.

"Hm." Raine sighed quietly. She couldn't even tell what it was. Something in her wanted him to be at least.. a little worried, right?

xxxlloydiextimexxx

"Wow. I'm really starting to appreciate having reihards now that I actually know what it's like to walk every damned place." Zelos shouted over the air current to the others. He sat behind Presea to "securely hold her from behind' as they flew. Lloyd sat with Sheena and Genis sat with Colette, the only repaired reihards were those three.

"Oh, it's Flanoir!"Colette squealed and pointed, letting go of the steering wheel.

...why was she even driving?

"Yes! Now we can get the next thing on the list." Lloyd laughed, happy with their progress.

"Lloyd, do you even know what that is?" Genis's eyes narrowed, a bit amused with his best friend.

"Uh--" He cut himself off, pausing a bit before smirking and putting his fingers in an L to the bridge of his nose and forehead in pose. "Well of course." he said.

"Uh-huh." Sheena gave him a skeptical look from behind.

"I do-- It's that Suns-uh-eye... stuff."

"No." Genis sighed.

"We had gathered Celsius's Tear after having gathered penguinist quills to bring to a man who made us penquinist gloves which automatically allowed us to proceed with making physical contact with the substance." Presea recited from sheer memory alone.

"Ah-right." Lloyd nodded. "I-I knew that, I was just testing you guys." They landed the reihards near the temple safely in snow banks.

"Let's go!" Lloyd lifted his fist in a charge motion.

"..." Everyone stared at him.

"Wh-what?"

"Lloyd, you were about to lead us directly into battle." Sheena coughed.

"Wh.." he trailed, turning his head and seeing penguinists guarding the entrance, pacing around. "I-I knew that too!" -pause- "I was just making sure that you guys were paying attention or that would have been a disaster."

"Oh! Thanks Lloyd!" Colette chirped, smiling and clapping happily.

Stepping forward and putting an arm around her shoulder, Zelos pulled slightly to bring her away from Lloyd. "Colette. You shouldn't hang around this horrible person too long. His irresponsibility will rub off on you." he smiled and looked up to the sky.

"Next time," he drew himself closer and whispered in her ear in a low voice, "You should sleep by me for protection."

"No!" everyone said simultaneously.

"Okay!"

Colette's words had sounded at the same time as theirs, but she looked around at their stares of disbelief. "Um.. I mean uh..." She looked confused, blinking at them. Wondering if she had chosen the incorrect answer to Zelos's question.

-WHACK!

"Ow!" Zelos held his head, letting go of Colette as Lloyd guided her into the temple.

xxxxx

"Okay, this is the library." Raine sighed. "We're finally here again." She hesitated, looking at Yuan. "Maybe I should type into the keyboard. Maybe the goddess will give us some aid..."

"But it's unreliable, she might not show up for a good deal of time still. The last time she showed up was only about an hour or so ago."

"..True, but we should heed her words this time."

"Any how, exactly, do you plan on doing that? Are we supposed to hold hands while simultaneously typing to the keyboard?"

"..." Raine coughed, averting her eyes as if she didn't have those exact thoughts in mind. "Perhaps I..."

Gritting his teeth under his lips, Yuan sighed. "Maybe you should just stay by me for the time being instead of looking around this time."

"Hm." Raine silently agreed. But still suppressing the uncontrollable urge to empty the shelves, right into her bag, She fell to his side in front of the desk and waited for him to do something.

"Okay." He started searching, and Raine felt a lack of obligation to watch him. The technology was the same as they had above the surface somehow.

The thought intrigued her, she was starting to wonder how long, exactly, magi-technology existed. But... no, it wasn't there for this long. Could it be that the goddess created this somehow based on what occurred modernly? But how?

"Found it." Yuan said.

That was fast. Raine thought, but not giving him a reason to hold his ability pridefully by keeping her mouth shut, she spoke not of his incredibly fast progression.

"I see. So where is it?"

"Hm...." Yuan looked up. "High shelf."

"How high?"

"..." Yuan was staring straight upward, making Raine furrow her eyebrows as she followed his gaze.

"Ah." he finally said, "I see it."

"?!" all the way up there?! Raine thought.

"This search was a big help. I should go up and--" Raine cut him off.

"Yuan."

"Hm."

"I know it's a bit much to ask, but shouldn't you somehow find a way to bring us both up at the same time considering what happened?"

"Yes, I was thinking about that as well." He pondered for a moment, but not as if he was thinking, it was more of a hesitation. "..." He suddenly looked at Raine. Seeming to be calculating something. His eyes dragged themselves reluctantly downward, needing to gather more information.

Trying to keep his mind on track, he still ended up making note of her figure. But now that he looked... she was rather petite, compared to him.

And rather thin, so she should also be pretty easy to carry anywhere. He did have very powerful arm strength, he would admit, so even if she was a heavier girl, he's still be capable. It's not like he didn't already know that, but still, he was just now starting to acknowledge it.

It, as in...

Exactly how much of an advantage he had over her now. Now that she's defenseless.

The upper... hand...

"..." Yuan swallowed, he had somehow unnerved himself by his own thoughts. No, don't think that way, now-- weight, yes, she should be okay for carrying on his back if he was going to go up that high and still carry something else.

Raine shifted under his gaze, trying to figure out if he was actually considering it or if he was just glaring at her. Biting her lip in embarrassment.

"Yuan?" Raine's cool, collected voice snapped him out of his trance. Wait.. was he staring at her chest--no... couldn't be. Considering the type of person he is, how old of a person he is... he's no longer interested in women, is he?

"Yes."

A/N: Yeah. Here I should have him say something straight forward like "You. on me. Now." Or like, "Hop on" while slapping himself on the ass.

.... O_o

Yuan turned around and brought his hand hard briefly down upon his own posterior. "Hop on." He kneeled, leaning his rear end backwards for more of a seating and giving a sexy rear-view angle.

hahaha (author laughs nervously.)

Yeah, scratch that. Maybe something else that could be taken another way. -cough- j-just forget that last paragraph. I just wanted to know what it would look like.

"I could always carry you." Yuan started to explain. "But you might have to be on my back considering the distance and that I'm going to have to travel. Is that fine?"

Authors thoughts while typing again: sorry again, but I have to point out. During piggy back rides, technically, aren't like... the rider's legs all spread and stuff and wrapped around the--

O_o

"That's!" Raine blushed, crossing her arms with glare. "I'm not going to--"

"Well, I wasn't planning on flying up without you. You don't exactly have a choice in the matter considering the fact that, "Yuan reached forward and grabbed her wrist tightly. "I can make you do whatever I want now."

"...." Raine opened her mouth to protest, closed it. Crossed her arms, bit her lip. glared. gave a pout that made Yuan's eyes widen a bit (ONLY a bit), he felt his heart leap. "Fine then. But this is only because I chose to and because I just don't happen enjoy the idea of falling into pitch blackness again."

"It wasn't as bad considering I was there, was it?" Yuan wondered aloud. Raine's eyes lit up and her lips parted. A light red tinted her face, but she shook it off.

"A-ah, yes well... let's move on, shall we?"

"... Of course." Yuan's stare was blank... or was it deep, rather? He walked before her, turning away and kneeling slightly. "Get on then."

Raine was struck with a weird nervousness. Why was she getting nervous? She had been carried by him before, so--why now? Raine hesitantly leaned in, slipping her arms forward from the back of his shoulders to around his collarbone.

Yuan attempted hiding his shivering under that contact. Raine stuck one leg forward and that's all it took for him to immediately grab it, reach back for the other one, and bring out his wings, which lifted them off the ground. Raine flinched, his wings just at her ribcage, going out on either side and levitating them upwards.

It was strange though, the wings hardly even moved and it seemed, felt, like Yuan and her were moving upward incredibly fast.

Other than that, Raine had noticed exactly how tight his grip was. Her legs couldn't budge. period. At all.

This was definitely putting her out of all sorts of control.

Flying up to a certain point, they slowed to a stop. Yuan reached forward into the bookshelf and pulled out what looked like a box. Raine furrowed her eyebrows from behind him.

"Is that...?"

"Yes, I told you this book would be large. That's why I needed both hands, it's difficult to carry a 'box' -like shape with just one."

"I see." Raine's eyes trailed up to the ceiling where a neutral, large platform of spikes rested, hanging in midair a little ways above them. It was making her nervous, she made her arms around Yuan's neck a little tighter. He grunted only lightly in response to her suffocating grip. they started to go down back at the floor now.

The moment Yuan let her out of his arms, he heard that same swift, falling sound, so he immediately reached for her hands and brought them up to his neck. Then, he grabbed for hers after simply dropping the box.

"...." Raine swallowed hard, with the ceiling gone now, there was now a platform of spikes which were about a foot above their heads. "...How are we supposed to carry the book?"

"... Forget it."

"What?"

"Leave first, If either of us dies here everything will be lost regardless."

"Hm?"

"If you die, I'll have nothing with me that Lance is after, so he won't reveal himself again, thus I won't be able to kill him."

"Yes, but vice versa I don't see now that would effect me. Though I wouldn't sacrifice another person regardless--and I don't know how to work your submarine...."

"Exactly," Yuan spoke, shifting and glancing up at the ceiling. "Ah... well, there is the fact that he seems to have some sort of control over you when he uses one of his powers. So you would be completely defenseless. And without your staff--"

"I am not defenseless!" Raine protested, contemplating her ability to....

.... get captured?

"Of course you're not. That's why I'm not here."

Damn the accuracy in his sarcasm. How much of a woman she really is without magic.

"Alright. You win." Raine gritted her teeth upon saying, "Let's just shuffle back so that we can um..." Her eyes were being mesmerized, she couldn't look straight at him. Her head moved to the side, embarrassed. "get back."

"Or maybe I'll just lead."

"?" Raine quirked her eyebrow in curiosity as to what he meant. His eyes glanced down wards, one hand moving from her neck and to her waist. Raine's eyes lit up in mild surprise, as his other hand simply reached over and took hers.

"Now just follow my lead." His voice wasn't as loud, he stepped forward and Raine was surprised by how easy it was to follow him.

"O-okay." Raine agreed, obliged somehow because of his ever-commanding tone that stayed in his voice no matter how he spoke.

They continued in stepping together calmly towards the door. As they came closer, Raine looked over to the box--err... book. She was wondering if they'd have been able to kick it out.

No.... that would damage the outside, and not to mention, they'd end up falling.

And with the way things are going now, it would be on top of eachother.

"..." Raine lowered her head with flushed cheeks. No no no! She mentally slapped herself, trying to get the annoying image out of her head, she was annoyed with the fact that a living artifact like Yuan wouldn't be thinking that type of thing.

I wonder what she would look like underneath me... Yuan narrowed his eyes in thought. it actually wasn't too difficult to picture, he was staring into her eyes dead-on. He couldn't exactly decide for himself what kind of look he might have been giving.

Well, I guess your mind only stays pure for so long.

Raine went stiff and bit the inside of her lip nervously, why was he giving her that look?! It looked like he was... contemplating pinning her to the floor or the wall.

Raine's eyes immediately darted off to the conveniently placed wall that he could have used, desperately hoping otherwise.

It felt like forever, but they finally took a step into the previous room. Yuan lead them into the center and finally just released her, taking a single deep breath and facing away from her. He looked down, wiping a bead of sweat away from his temple.

"Time to move on." He said quickly.

"Yes, my thoughts as well." Raine said.

And they made their way down back to the first floor without the book.

They walked down the stairs, a little frustrated with their lack of progress overall, their lack of end result.

"...." Approaching the submarine Yuan could hear Raine's breathing silence. He immediately turned to her and stared into the eyes of the Goddess Lacuna.

"Well? What now?"

"Aw." She actually looked saddened, lower lip pursed a bit. "You're leaving." Her gaze was tinted slightly hateful.

"...I have no choice."

"Do you not wish to achieve the book?" Her narrowed eyes mused.

"... Of course we do. But in this temple, everything seems to be some sort of game. You have absolutely no intention of giving anything to us."

"Oh but I do. You simply must play by my rules, dear."

"Alright? I'm listening, but you have to explain this to me."

"Very well." She chuckled. "You have heard of dying wishes?"

"I've heard them myself. And have been left with the burden of carrying out countless numbers of them. So of course."

"Ah! I see, so one more will suffice." She smiled, chuckling. "As the temple's Goddess. I was so have whatever I wanted, But I had given my life for something long ago." She laughed, "Something you humans, Elves and anything living today may use."

"Go on?"

".... So I had an advocate. Just one." She said. " I possessed a half-elven girl from birth, we became one. And I will admit I... fell in love."

"..." Yuan fell silent.

"Ha, so as the goddess, I could create this temple. We fled down here, but I wasn't fast enough. He never knew my feelings in his lifetime. The two of them died. It was so foolish of me. That had been such an incredibly long time I simply stayed down here with him, no contact... just being was enough for someone of my area." Lacuna chuckled once again, covering her mouth with two fingers.

"It's funny. Her will's stayed with me, I feel like a haunting spirit with but one purpose unfulfilled, so therefore It is the one thing, and only thing I will and must strive for." Eyes sparkling with a kind of mischief, she let the corners of her lips stretch back, giving a thin grin.

"What do you expect me to do? I Have nothing to do with you."

"Ah but you do. Now... I decided something. It is pointless for me to have this myself. So I had given her my will. I realize I cannot fulfill this."

"You mean Raine's--?" Yuan was thoughtful upon hearing her words.

"Of course."

"....." He stared into the eyes of the half-elven woman with kind of a mild, concern-type thing, knowing now. She also strives for contact...That's all right? Then... maybe that's what it'll have to be.

"...." Her eyes blinked alive. Raine rubbed them and yawned. "I'm feeling tired now." she paused, looking up at Yuan who, for the first time wasn't wearing an expressionless face. She was incredibly surprised by the looks of it. Whoa, Yuan with emotion.

"....Are you sick?" That's actually all she could think of that would make him still characteristically himself and not wear a stoic face.

"Hmph..." Yuan shrugged, turning his head from her to where the submarine should be, in a water-filled hole below. "....It's blocked off. That figures." He sighed.

A/N: It's like "Damnit Raine, stop wanting me."

"So we can't leave?"

"Not until I..." Yuan trailed, his voice becoming a grumble as he thought. "....Fine." He faced Raine and grabbed her shoulders.

Raine flinched at the contact. He brought her cheek to his chest, and wrapped his arms around her upper and lower back firmly. Holding her tightly to him, he rested his jaw on the top of her head.

Raine's eyes were wide, and she hesitated.

"...." Slowly reaching up and moving shaking arms around his ribcage, she breathed softly. With the entire front of his body pressed up against her, she could hear his heart beat.

A moment went by, she was calm. It felt so comfortable there. She let her eyes close. Yuan was afraid t pulled her in any more than she already was.

It was like... being afraid of holding her too tightly. But he still wanted to. Be closer for some reason...

A sliding sound could be heard, and it revealed their way out. They heard a thumping sound, and both pulled away quickly. Yuan coughed, and Raine crossed her arms, her eyes trailing the opposite end of the room.

"The book." Yuan pointed out, and indeed, when Raine looked, the book had appeared behind them.

"This is ridiculous." Raine hissed. "All it took was a hug? Damn it why didn't you do it sooner?" She glared at Yuan.

"..." Yuan's eyes were still light from the initial contact. "I'm... sorry." He stared, he seemed to be thinking, arms crossed. Wordlessly watching her.

"..."

Whoa.

She said nothing in response, that also was.... incredibly surprising. Since when did he...

Yuan apologizing wasn't supposed to exist.

xxxxxx

Yeah. another one done with.

Hey, I have to ask, is it weird that I could imagine Kratos.

Headbanging. And raving, (like, jumping around under strobe lights and doing the swingie, over-the-head rodeo thing. (Hell yes. the cowboy, and maybe I'm confusing him with myself)), hip thrusting-etc, to 'seduction' on DDR? I want a second opinion--ah, well you don't have to of course. But still...

Just put that image in your head for a second while (maybe listening) listening to the song.

(Oh, and It's actually in youtube too, if you want to hear it. Type "Seduction vocal remix" and the name of the song should be in the picture of the video.

I think it'll be at the top, titled what I just put above, "seduction, vocal remix". by this sanji-something-person.

Like... if you feel like listening to it.

....what?! I'm not weird! I (gasp) swear-Oh, and BTW

I'm going to be at a gymnastics camp for FOUR DAYS!

(that means no update for four days, not new, I know, but still.)

that I'm guessing doesn't SOUND like bootcamp to you guys but ah.... yeah, nevermind. Ignore my troubles. I'm sick too---

Kratos: stop complaining.

But it hurts!

Kratos: what?

My throat, my eyes... ohh the pain. *cough* so sick *cough* (no I'm serious)

Kratos:....

Lloyd: You baby.