The burnt down remains of the small home had thankfully left him with enough to rebuild something small, quaint, and out of the way. Sure, it wasn't far from where the smoldering ash continued to pop occasionally from the original settlement. But he'd leave that up to Lain to explain sometime down the road as to what she used. The idea of a new fire trick capable of burning away wood in the matter of minutes and leave it alive and kicking for weeks on end? Pleasurable to the mind!

But, for now, it would seem everything was on its present course, once again.

The sun came early on that extremely chilly day, forcing him to wake up much sooner than he was prone to doing, and bundling up in thick layers the moment he slipped from the four blankets that sheltered him from the morning chill. Briskly, he made for the outside to observe the rising sun, the brittle bits of snow that clumped in jagged ice about the ground, and the morning rush of animals that were quick to inspect the new hovel he constructed.

He was thankful it was solely for a night while he gathered his strength from the return trip from Lazros. This weather was absolutely unbearable.

Tightening the outermost jacket by the drawstrings about his waist, and lifting the hood over his head to refrain from both being seen, as well as keep the warmth within, he moved in the direction of the city. The home, and the smoldering ash were left in his wake.

For good.

"Hey hey, Frostay," Lain said, chuckling. Despite the cold and the fact that it was general morning hours, she was out and about, a snowball being tossed back and forth between her gloved palms. "Yer gettin' lax in yer old age." Catching the frigid sphere, she lobbed it upwards only to catch it once more on a fingertip and watch it spin like a basketball. Harlem Globetrotters had nothing on her.

That was moments prior to her whipping it at his previously cleaned face with a wide smile of obvious mirth. "Haven't seen ya in a while, yer majesty. What's up'n schway?"

Lain folded her arms, spreading her feet a shoulder width apart and stood her ground as she watched, crystal blue eyes just glittering. She was expecting a retaliation of a sort any minute now...

"Jesus!" That exclamation practically made her double over in laughter, a sound uncommon to her for the longest time. She held her ribs, stamped her feet and tried to keep a lid on the dorky gasps that were threatening to make themselves known with her lack of oxygen intake.

" .. omigod.. You were soooooooo just... pelted, man.." She felt she had to reiterate just in case he didn't already acquire this knowledge himself. "Ah ha.. heheh.. oooh man.. Woo!"

"Warn a person before you decide to whip snowballs around!" Lain coughed and made a dramatic affair wiping very real tears from her eyes.

"Pfft, so says his highness from th'planet boring. What fun is that?" she asked, shrugging, then flexing her gloved fingers many times, with just as many joint cracks in a nearly silent answer to his question. Lain was bundled up to the very extent of fashionable; her long coat whipped at her legs, her ski cap holding down loose white hair. Regardless of everything, as he neared, he'd notice that once she stopped smiling, her face took on a very tight expression, limbs becoming rigid and not moving much. She was already inching towards the door to open it for them both. She decided to ask again.

"So what's got you up, wanderin' and not able t'dodge some puny fricken snowballs? I mean like... th'house is still fricken burning and whatever, so that's gotta be schway, huh..?" Lain holds the door for him, hoping he would hurry up and not opt to stand outside.

Lain blinked, sliding the door closed behind him as he passed, watching his back. One silver brow arched in puzzlement before she shook her head. Best not pry, even if he did say that rather quickly. At his question, though, her head tilted, thinking.

"Yanno, I kinda dunno..?" Even as she said this, she was striding past the hearth. The dying embers among the logs glowed orange and red, just about at the end of their life. Lain extended an arm and an open hand towards them. Without giving it a glance, that hand balled into a fist, and a tiny flame began coughing and spluttering into existence. It exponentially grew until it ate the extent of the unburned wood. She looks down to her hands as she explains.

"Like... I mean, I can control gravity and pressure and whatnot. If you put enough pressure on something and tug at it enough it heats up. I guess I kinda just like.. speed up th'process..? But seriously, man, sooooooo fricken schway th'thing's still up'n flames, right? Beacon t'all th'lost people out there," she says, snorting and then beginning to unbundle herself right along with him. Without the jacket, it's obvious she's still layered in clothing: primarily two massive hoodies that hang down to her mid thighs. Snug dark jeans flare out over the tips of converse sneakers.

Upon reaching the counter, she tosses her jacket, hat and gloves into a pile on it and proceeds to make a beeline straight for the coffee. "Do you wanna-.. no, no, you don't. Will totally try t'stop tryin' right? Might poison it'r somethin' oogly like that." She waggles her fingers at him as she pours the coffee, then creamer and drops in a few sugar cubes. Something then just clicked in her head.

"Dude, man, like.. where you stayin' now..?" asked in a half chuckle as she was only a touch concerned. He could take care of himself, but the little dump had been his house.. Lain watches him as she sips at her steaming coffee, letting the warmth crawl through her from the inside out.

"Sure, sounds good." Lain gave a start. That was strike two. Not to the tone, she was used to hearing gruffness from him. He barely ever accepted drinks from her though. She watched him carefully over her mug, saw his expression change, and followed him with narrowing crystal blue eyes as he moved away.

"I'm ah.. on the move, I'm afraid. Can't linger in one place for too long. You know me." Lain snorted, forcing her own stiff legs into motion, muttering to herself. As she was nearing him, he sank into the couch and sat quite rigid and still.

Strike three.

"Yeah... I do." She set her cup of coffee down first, then lowered herself onto the coffee table just before his couch. Their knees had about a foot and a half of space between them, and she reached out to give one of his a few rough taps.

"Hey.." her palm lingered on his leg after she spoke, dipping her head to catch his lowered gaze. "What happened." 'And don't you dare fricken tell me 'nothing, I'm fine,' or so help me god..' was what she wanted to follow that statement up with, but she bit her tongue, waiting for him to answer. He was obviously bothered, and he wasn't doing that bang up of a job of concealing it.

"I can't feel Aka at all anymore." Lain swallowed, casting her eyes off from his to the windows that looked out over the porch. She never could be under anyone's stare long, particularly his. The abnormally feminine hand resting on his leg gave it a brief squeeze, and she sighed before speaking.

"I've noticed.. Apart from you, she's th'most prominent magi-"

"Usually I can sense her. Even if she's in trouble, and not amongst my presence, I can tell. She's alive. At least she's alive." Lain promptly shut up as he spoke, thin lips pursing as she willed herself to look back his way. Her free hand flicked her bangs from her cheeks and tucked them behind a heavily decorated ear. "But now.."

It had never been a secret that Lain was annoyed by the little kid. In fact, she did everything to make such an issue known. Through it all, however, she put up with it because Alex cared about her so much. This moment was the first that she'd ever felt void of any such negative emotion towards Aka, brows furrowing in an easily readable expression of concern.

"I last felt her around like.. a couple of days ago, maybe less. Then her magic just seemed to bleed in with everything else until it disappeared.. Must've been th'same for you, huh.." Lain didn't know how he was going to take the news that she knew about Aka's sudden disappearance and didn't say anything. If anything, they had roughly the same capabilities in tracking people, and in her mind, she felt that they would have felt this at around the same time. It shouldn't be that big of a deal.

She watched him for an answer, and more importantly a reaction. Now that he'd divulged the information, he seemed to revert to a very fleshy stone figure before her eyes. She could feel the rigidity of his posture through the small portion of leg she was touching, something that she didn't retract, but stared at, quietly pondering the surreality of the situation.

"More than..?" she questioned, her hand slipping away so as to not be skewered with an elbow. To busy herself, she reached for her rapidly cooling coffee and took a few sips, swishing it about her mouth as she listened to him.

"Disappeared. That's not right.. Is it?" Lain arched a brow, refocusing her eyes on him. A hand waved, telling him he should continue with that thought. "Even when they die. They.. explode, sort of. Like a dying star.."

She'd not seen the death of the chick Mizer, and barely remembered Ryo's, so she was hardly any help in that department. A hand lifted just as he ended weakly, resuming his flesh-to-stone transformation.

"Alright, now lemme stop you right there.. If there's one thing I know about th'lil'kid, it's that she's smart, and you know that. She's probably comin' up with some kinda scheme t'like.. blow th'bejeesus outta everything in her path as we speak." Lain said this with as much gusto as she could, which in her case was a strong point. If anything, she wanted to give Alex another direction to go on this, or at least inject some air into the deflated balloon he had become.

One of her hands lift and grip a shoulder tightly, giving it a little shake. "I will tell you somethin' though.. Thinkin' that she's dead ain't gonna help you. Schway?" Once more, her head dipped to see if he caught her gaze and her meaning.

"Yeah, I know. Worrying is like a rocking chair. You're always moving, but you're not getting anywhere. I know better than to let it bother me. But... I can't help it. Yanno?"

Lain's hand stayed hovering in the air for a few moments after he slipped from her, and she stared at it before she brought a couple long fingernails to her teeth.

There had been a time when Lain hadn't been able to sense anything. Not life, not magic. Nothing. When they had returned to Rhy'Din, and when Alex was still sporting demonic appendages and blindness, he was taken away from the Villa, and Lain was left with the kid to find him by more conventional means. She was frantic with worry, but she somehow got through that. A dark look was given to him briefly before she too stood and stooped to catch her coffee. She wondered silently if he'd forgotten that or just chosen not to remember.

Lain watches him pop a can of water, and her eyes roll. She sets about grabbing a small glass, filling it with ice cubes, and dumping portions of dark soda and rum together. All of this was done in plain sight so as to show him that she wasn't up to anything fancy. She slid the concoction to him. "S'better than water," she managed to offer before he spoke.

"What do you care, anyway? It's not like you give a damn about me, or her." That made her scowl, and if he didn't see the first one, he definitely would see the current.

"Alright look. The fact that I'm standing here right now, talkin' to you about this and trying my damndest to get'cher brain off the worst should say something about my feelings for you that you obviously think you know." She folded her arms, sort of an odd task given the amount of sleeve each hoodie possessed.

"No, I haven't really given a damn about her, but you should know that you are different. You care about her, and her absence is messing you up faster'n if you did a face plant on a chainsaw. Alex.." Lain said his name quietly, closing the distance between them by a few feet and leaning into the counter with a hip. "Regardless of how much she gets on my fricken nerves, I want to help you. I mean, like, seriously..? Who else you got? Catnip? Fricken up and leaves at the first sign of trou-.. Omigod, I totally should'a sicked Flicker on her.. Damn, why the hell didn't I think'a that first..." She waves her hand and shakes her head violently to clear those amusing thoughts from her mind.

"You know this isn't the first time she's disappeared before, so she could just be fricken pissed at you over something or another. You didn't do anything did you..? Or she didn't leave anything out that might give you any clues'r anything..?" Lain hoped by derailing the conversation to a more positive goal, he would drop the fact that she didn't care. This was Lain he was talking about. She wore her heart on her sleeve, had a magnifying glass up to her face. The whole world could see what she felt. And she was going to make sure he understood, too.

"You don't have t'do this on yer own, yanno."

"You always were a sucker for helping me out, in some giant grand scheme to prove yourself to me."

"Tch, yeah, cuz you wouldn't believe me otherwise," Lain said, playfully of course, but the eye roll and expression couldn't have been more annoyed looking. "Unlike everyone else, I'm not here to screw you over." She gave a look to the drink she'd fixed him, debating on whether she should slam it instead. But she stuck with her coffee, chuckling as Alex continued.

"Yeah, sounds like her."

'If she hasn't randomly disappeared, then she still might have got it into her stupid little head to just as randomly go check something out.. There has to be a clue somewhe-!'

Lain jumped considerably to the sound of splintering and cracking wood. She stared at the counter as a massive crevice split its surface and sealed itself almost as quickly. Her eyes were wide, and she had to all but force them to look at Alex, quickly finding herself staring down a very long, very bloody finger.

"But let's get one thing straight. Don't screw this up, Lain. Otherwise, we're going to have worse to deal with than a failed marriage. Got it?" Crystal blue eyes flicked between him and the finger before she stooped and rolled up her left pants leg. Lain dug through all the compartments of the velcro holster as she spoke, finding it easier to talk to her knee than to him.

"Letting you down's not easy for me, man. S'one thing you don't have to worry about much." She straightened, twiddling with a small tube of goldenrod salve as she thought.

"I'll get Kiki t'help out, she's prolly dyin' for something else t'do. Also need t'refill my guns before I head someplace. Kid can prolly get me in schway enough, but if there's any new booby traps in there, and if I die before I even start, we're gonna have a problem." Lain held out the tube of goldenrod to him, not really knowing if it was the best idea. It was good that he had something else to focus on, but she didn't want him bleeding everywhere. "I need to know everything you do, too."

She watched him toss the tube of goldenrod away, and her eyes just rolled. He left blood on her fingers, which she started flicking away immediately. "Why Lain, why.. why didn't you listen to me? Because you're an idiot.. Yeah, s'fricken right you are.." Talking to herself was becoming a mild habit.

"I always come prepared. Of course there are new traps here or there. Guess you'll just have to tread carefully." As Alex moved away for the hearth, Lain crooked a finger at the small glass of rum and coke and pulled it to her lips as it zoomed into her palm. Her coffee was cold and useless by now. A monstrous swig, and a generous coughing fit later, she dumped the glass, contents and all into the sink. "God.. damn, who in th'hell drinks that crap..!"

"And what possesses you, of all people, to assume that I would relate my actions and plans with you? Let's get one thing straight, Lain... if you want to help me, you're going to focus on doing what I ask of you. Find the girl, and consider yourself lucky that you're even allowed in my presence."

Lain paused, her hand over her mouth in the midst of wiping, and just stared at him, eyebrows folding into a dagger shooting scowl. Expressing the epitome of self control, she sucked in a silent breath and let it out. Sloooowly. 'Yeah, because it's so difficult t'get in yer fricken lap, Mr. I-Defile-Public-Sitting-Areas. Don't you dare think I don't read the paper-'

"You know what, Alex? Fine. Have it your way. Not even gonna fricken try t'say anything, waste'a my energy. I'll chalk it up to you bein' ever so distraught about your lacking ability to keep an eye on a teenager." She couldn't resist that urge for long, but at least she didn't yell or get completely bent out of shape. That much made her proud. She ducked down behind the bar, rummaged around in the cooler as quickly as possible and extracted a soda bottle with one hand. The other lifted to her earlobe, and she fiddled with a pearl earring that didn't quite fit with the rest of her accessories. "Yo kid, pack up'n pack light, we're goin' on a trip. Pop down to the inn when yer done, schway?"

"Roger that," came Kiki's raspy voice, filtering in through the silence. Lain straightened, uncapping her bottle and taking a generous sip. In a few minutes, directly in the center of the floor, Kiki appeared in a swirl of multi-colored smoke, shouldering a heavy pack in a very Lain-esque fashion. Lain began to bundle herself back up, staring at Alex as she spoke, but her words were to Kiki.

"Seems your friend's gotten herself lost... again. His majesty's enlisted our help. We're headin' up t'th'Villa first, I need new crystals for my guns," Lain explained, tugging on her leather gloves, then her ski cap. It took her a longer period of time to get into her coat, but once she did, she grabbed her soda and joined Kiki in the middle of the floor. "Hit me up with yer strongest pain spells, we're gonna be outside for a while."

As Kiki closed her eyes and muttered, a soft, green glow enveloped her hands and she passed them over Lain's head and chest as if she was a priest blessing a marriage. Lain's body became instantly loose and quite comfortable, the stiffness of her joints melting away. Her head turned lazily to Alex, sipping first.

"Anything else ya wanna say before we go..? Like.. 'good luck,' 'hurry th'hell up,' or 'if ya don't get'r, I'm gonna kill you?'"

Lain just stared at him, her mouth slack, and half open ready to say something. That is until he yelled. From the corner of her eye, she saw Kiki nearly explode from her skin. The girl grabbed onto Lain?s arm with a vice grip, and she felt her shivers through it.

"Fine, you assh-!"

"We're leaving now." The pair clapped from existence and left Alex behind a swirl of colored smoke.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"There's a countless number of underground explosives all along the path and the grounds, webs of faint thin wire through the air to prevent aerial entrance. From what I can see they're razor sharp and also connected to several explosives beneath," Kiki said, positioning her glasses, now with flaring white lenses, straighter on her nose. "There seems to be a place to stand just before the door that's not covered by anything?"

"'Sides countless invisible nodes that react to magic. If that doesn't get'cha, then there are some attuned to movement. There's also a crapload of barriers up there t'stop anyone from droppin' outta th'sky." Kiki forced a sigh as she folded her arms, getting ready to hatch a plan on the very spot. The glare on her glasses flickered away. Lain grinned, happy to let the kid figure it out for her, and just stood silently, eyeing the Villa with mild nostalgia. She hadn't been here in a while.

The path was too long for Kiki to port directly within the lobby and the wires through the air completely nixed Lain flying in either as a bird or normally. Then there were the added thoughts of booby traps in the Villa itself should someone be able to somehow avoid being blasted to a billion pieces.

"I've got it!" Kiki exclaimed suddenly, pumping her fist into the air. Lain, who?d been lost, in thought jumped violently and gave her a stare. For once, Kiki didn't respond sheepishly. "Since you can't fly, and I can't teleport, and looking for another opening would be nigh impossible and highly unlikely? we'll have to run right through." Lain continued looking down at her, eyebrows rising as she thought this over.

"Excuse me..?"

Kiki sighed forcefully again, brushing her jagged hair from her eyes and shoulders. Lain mused on how long she was letting it grow, currently, waiting for the explanation. "Since there seems to be a column of free space on the doorstep, I'll teleport us within that field. Before I do that, though, you need to create a strong shield to repel any unsightly damage, and also need to force the door open once we get there. Teleporting from one side of a wall to the other is something that I don't wish to explore in this situation, and besides, most of my energy will be focused on strengthening your gravity shield."

"Simple, yet brilliant," Lain said, nodding and stretching. They'd been standing outside for nearly fifteen minutes, trying to get a handle on the amount of traps. Thanks to Kiki's pain numbing spells, Lain was feeling just fine, however, she didn't want to push it, and was glad that they'd be getting a move on. She wrapped an arm about Kiki's shoulders when the girl joined her at her side. Instantly, the invisible barrier began to grow, and bubble outwards from the pair, the only clue to its existence being the distorted image of the outside world from within. "Schway?"

"Yup," Kiki responded curtly, lifting one of her own small, gloved hands and beginning to channel a gentle stream of neon green into the barrier. The color mixed in with the already hazy bubble around them and tinted the world in a serene way.

Then suddenly, they disappeared from their location to the doorstep, and their whole view was shrouded in smoke and flame. Lain focused the rest of her attentions on the massive doors, keeping an eye on how much magic Kiki was forcing into the barrier. Her outstretched hand shook, and Lain felt her lean into her side.

The doors rattled and creaked on their hinges as Lain's gravity pushed and pulled against them. Wave after wave of flame and smoke washed over the barrier's surface as the magical detection nodes repeated explosion after explosion. After a few minute's worth of fighting, Lain lurched forward as she felt the last push blast the doors inward, and she gripped Kiki's shoulder, dragging her along. Once they were on the other side of the doors, they banged shut, and Lain looked behind them, noticing the piles of crushed metal and wood that had previously served as locks. The motion sensing crystals hanging along the walls flared to life, providing them with much needed light and heat. Lain stared at the, at least foot of dust that blanketed the floor, turning its usual dark surface a dingy grey.

"Alright then? " Lain commented, staring around like a kid in a toy store, not quite sure where to go or what to do first. She let the barrier fall once she was fairly sure nothing else would happen. "Seems t'be schway from in here. He prolly thought that anyone else would'a been blown up'r just gave up by now. Fricken door was reinforced with something. We need t'head down to the basement, then I wanna go through this place with a fine toothed comb, schway?" Lain asked, looking down to Kiki. The girl was still clutching onto Lain's side, staring at the ceiling, her bright green eyes darting around as if she was following a bug.

"There's someone else in here? I hear screaming.."

"Seriously..? I like.. don?t hear any-" She was interrupted by a rather prominent yowl that echoed through the nearby halls. Kiki grabbed at the back of her jacket, and Lain found her hand curling protectively on her shoulder. "Right, then? Let?s like.. hurry up."