Genis rarely became so aware of his own heartbeat. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, though, panic settling in like a lead weight.

It hurt. It hurt in every way it could hurt. His chest hurt, his stomach hurt, his heart hurt. He felt like he had tunnel vision as his eyes moved from one person to another without really seeing them. And in a way, he did have tunnel vision. Everything and everyone but Raine seemed so inconsequential at that moment.

"W-what?" he mumbled in a small voice. That couldn't be right. They were only gone for a little while. Raine hadn't even shown any symptoms until today. They were all trying to help her, even Zelos. This wasn't supposed to happen. It wasn't possible.

It couldn't be possible.

In the end, he snapped, body going rigid as he looked up at his friends' faces, "What are you saying?! Raine— What happened?!"

He was shaking, and as much as he wanted to run past his friends to his sister's side, he couldn't move. If he did, he'd...know exactly what they meant.

He just couldn't let it be that way.