After being herded into one of the few remaining houses in Kohlingen, the townspeople heard the two leaders speak. Merine had been very surprised and hurt when she had learnt that one of her own childhood friends, Sascha, was one the head honchos.

<How could she?> she thought, tears in her eyes. <Sascha used to be gentle... not to mention sensible. It must be that horrid man, Afkek. Who knows what he could've done with her, with all that technology he had? I have to help her.>

Up to the point Sascha burst out crying, Merine had been deep in thought and regret. She snapped to attention. She felt uncomfortable when they started speaking of rebuilding the town again. In fact, Merine felt uncomfortable with the whole thing.

<Wouldn't it have been cheaper to come, warn us and spend much needed money on troops to attack Figaro, rather than to barge in, destroy the town and then warn us?>

Murmurs of approval went throughout the crowd.

"That Sascha, I always knew she would come out successful."

"No you didn't. But I always had faith in her. I told her the night before she left, 'Go child, and show the Kohlingen spirit!'"

The squabble raged on between the two old ladies, at least until the crowd started cheering. They had to give up; it was too noisy.

Despite the happiness of the once angered crowd, Merine still felt uneasy. But there was this force in the back of her mind, pushing her to realize that they told the truth. That if she went with them, she would view triumph. But the conscious part of Merine's mind was stronger; she continued being queasy.

*******************************************

In the charred ruins of her house, Merine had found some items that had survived the menacing fire. Among the items she found included her fire proof safe, much burnt armor and, to Merine's relief, her mother's sword. Other than the few thousand gold in the safe, these were all the remaining Mersens' possessions.

"Guards! Get her!" A red-faced woman pointed at Merine. She looked nothing like Sascha, but that was exactly who it was.

"No! no no no....." Merine was sobbing, trying to run. But her feet weighed a hundred tons, and refused to move any quicker than one pace a minute. There was this scary laughing behind her, as the guards swiftly grabbed Merine's arms and began to take her away. In her dream Merine cried loudly, but wasn't heard because of the heartless laughing in the distance.

Up she went, through a stone spiral staircase, her legs hitting against every step. It went on and on and on, the laughing still ringing in her ears. So familiar... she couldn't place her finger on it... wasn't even sure she wanted to know.

But before she figured it out, she was rudely dumped onto the floor. And before her lay a maze... one of the types she had made for ants out of twigs. Except the walls were made out of stone, and stretched on farther than she could see.

"Find the end, ant driver!" commanded Sascha's voice, stopping the laughter for a moment. "And starve in the process!" Merine got up and began to walk toward the entrance... her legs disobeying her mind.

After only walking in the maze for a minute, Merine got lost. Every corner looked exactly the same, every wall had the same picture; one that overlooked the maze, filled with skeletons. Shuddering, Merine knew the same fate lied for her. Hunger.

* - * - *

Merine woke up. She found herself all huddled, shivering and crying. Rubbing her eyes hard, she discovered the insane laughing had ceased. And that morning had awoken.

<Another day, a new hope.....> Merine's smile was doomed; she had remembered where that laugh had come from.

After Sascha's and Afkek's speeches, Merine had remained hidden in the room, hoping to find out something to use against Afkek. The only thing she heard that no one else did was Afkek laughing.

And if Merine could remember correctly, that was exactly how Kefka had sounded. Evil.

She looked at the finally clean pool with a slight hint of relief. "That's another one finished," she sighed wearily.

Yawning, she sat back against a nearby mossy boulder. Glancing distastefully at the sunlight dancing through the leaves, she pulled the cowl of her heavy velvet robe further over her eyes. Yes, the time had come for a short nap.

At the familiar rustle of the leaves in the trees, she knew that someone else had other ideas.

*You did good work on Dinosaur Pond, Xyo.*

Xyo didn't even look up, but rolled her back away from her visitor. "Spare me, please, I've done this too many times. Praise gets annoyingly tedious after the first few thousand cleanings."

*Fine... fine... I will leave out the formalities.*

"Well, obviously, you're not here for chit-chat. Where do you want me to go this time? More of Kefka's pollution to clean? Time to scrub down the tower of *Bab-il*? Can't I even rest for an hour?"

The being gave a small chuckle. . *The years have been 'good' to your disposition, I see.*

"I have had a wonderful road companion." Xyo was silent for a moment and sat up and looked at the Dryad sternly. "And could you *please* try to use your vocal cords every once in a while? My mind is tired enough without you sending to me.."

The Dryad smiled. "Alright, I can bend to that."

Xyo smiled triumphantly and pushed a stringy wisp of violet-grey hair out of her eyes. Then her face turned serious again. "Well? What is it? What will you have me do?"

The ancient Dryad seated herself on a rock opposite of Xyo. She took in a deep breath. " We've known each other for a long time..."

"Long?" Xyo scoffed, "Now *that* is the understatement of the ages."

The Dryad sighed. "... you have been working so long at repaying your debt to me."

"So I get another vacation? 200 years of deep sleep? That would be lovely..."

"I was thinking more along the lines of final redemption."

Xyo arched an eyebrow warily. "Indeed? Have I cleaned my one-millionth lake?"

"I'm being serious," the Dryad urged. "I think I have a final task for you. Then, you can dream as long as you like."

Xyo sat silently, staring off into space.

"Xyo?"

She turned away from the Dryad's eyes. "What's the catch?"

"Catch? You mean the task?"

"Yeah, what do I have to do? Under what conditions?"

The Dryad began to explain...

* * * * * * * *

"ADVENTURING?" Xyo cried in anguish. "Do you see a person capable of slaughtering monsters? Saving heroes? Goddess, Look at me!"

Xyo pulled open her robe to emphasize how gaunt and malnourished she had become. The Dryad regarded her gravely and shook her head.

"I know you have let yourself slide over the eons, Xyo, but if you want the reward... no pain, no gain."

Xyo's face darkened. "That was low, Gaia."

Gaia shifted from Dryad to Tree. "I know this will be hard on you. But this is what the Goddesses had originally wanted."

"I could have been warned beforehand..." Xyo muttered. She stared at her pale white-grey skin that had not seen direct sunlight since the War of the Magi.

"Really... then it wouldn't be so much of a trial, would it?"

That brought out a small smile from Xyo, but it quickly faded away. "If it means my death... a truly peaceful death... I will do it."

Gaia nodded solemnly, the leaves rustling. "I wish you the best of luck. For I can only send you with what you have yourself. I will not be able to aid you directly."

Xyo nodded. "I figured as much..." She bent over a moment, doubling in pain.

Gaia watched her sadly as Xyo recovered herself.

"I'd say that was a nice 5.7 quake." She gasped as she wiped the blood off her lips.

Gaia said nothing, as she shifted back into her Dryad form.

Xyo glanced around and motioned for her mount, a young purple chocobo, to be ready for riding. She turned back to Gaia. "Will I still be able to talk to you?"

"Only on occasion," she said sadly. "Don't get into too much mischief."

Xyo flashed a twisted smile as she mounted the feathery beast, "Have no fear, my planet, for I am *immortal*. I will always be on my *best* behavior for my *own* sake!" Her sadistic grin was still colored in bloody crimson.

Xyo turned the chocobo and started to head out of Dinosaur Forest.

* * * * * * * *

Taking to the air, Xyo realized she had no idea where she was to go. There were no towns to speak of on this island and she had very little to go on. How was she to go about this task if she didn't know where to start?

She glanced at the glaring sun and muttered, pulling her cowl down. 'This was the most ridicules thing in the world', she thought. 'I can imagine what the villagers will say of me as I walk into town. They'll think I'm either ill, or undead.'

She looked at her bony, white hands and quickly took out her gloves to cover them. She took her scarf and brought it around her face to act as a veil. She felt a little more at ease now that she looked more nomadic instead of necromantic. It was hot, but she had endured worse.

Satisfied that she would not scare the townspeople, she leaned down to the chocobo's head, "Head east, over that big triangular island, and land at the first town you see. I am going to try and sleep."

The chocobo chirped a response, broke out of its aimless spiral, and headed towards the sea.

Xyo sighed and wrapped her arms around the chocobo's neck. For a moment she felt a bit at peace. The large gash in her chest, caused by the earthquake, was closing up nicely. Absentmindedly, she fingered the wound gingerly. With one last, pointless breath, she drifted off into a fitful sleep. The living heartbeat of her mount felt strangely comforting...

She spied a large clearing to the south with a large mound in the center. She hated the idea of staying outdoors, but her chocobo needed a rest and she needed to get away from the hundreds of muffled despairing and angry emotions coming from the town.

She pulled the chocobo's reins and pressed for the clearing. Muffled? She always felt the emotions clear as a bell. But these were masked... hundreds of people masking their grief? Things were not making sense. She turned her attention to the approaching clearing. She did not remember a mound here. Of course, she had not been here in a thousand years, so that could be easily explained.

Landing without too much of a hitch, Xyo stumbled off of her chocobo and slumped down next to it. Curling into a fetal position, she quietly gasped and sobbed as she tried to push out all of those people's emotions of hatred, anger, and loss. She felt horrible; all those tears she felt as if they were her own.

She didn't even bother with a fire. The chocobo had curled up next to his mistress, keeping her warm. Xyo wasn't sure if she slept; she hated this curse... she just wanted to die... to sleep...

She thought about the thousands of years she had had to endure this "torture". Hundreds of mental breakdowns had happened. At least Gaia was kind enough to let her sleep now and then. How she wanted to be normal, take a walk thought the park, oblivious to everyone's mind. To be happy.

But she knew that would *never* happen; death was the only answer. One problem: try as she might, she always lived. Every possible death imaginable, she tried. Even phoenixes had a better chance at dying than she did. She even had someone scatter her ashes once... she still came back, unscathed.

She shuddered; each time she "died" it was torture in itself. Healing from a dismemberment is hardly pleasant. All because she once had the power behind her to defy the Goddesses. Because *she* brought the source of the terrible corruption to the land. She had summoned *him* to being and thrown the world off balance. Now she had to live with all the pain he'd caused. Now she had to put him back...

She sighed and drifted off into a mindless daze.. sleep was an unlikely possibility.

"If this keeps up," she whispered to the ground, "I don't know if I'll ever die."

The chocobo stirred for a moment then went back into its blissful slumber. Xyo sat up wearily and glanced around into the comforting darkness. It was quiet; only the faint chirping of nearby crickets could be heard. She pulled off her veil and gloves and tossed them carelessly to the ground. Opening her robe a bit, she inspected her rib cage and found the wound was no longer a gaping gash, but healing nicely. She briefly thought of trying to stitch it but ceased the thought for it was not worth the trouble.

The relentless flood of other people's emotions advanced back into a trickle and she was able to think more clearly. Xyo had not been affronted with such on onslaught in years; she had to once again get used to the burden.

Her mind turned to the memory of all those muddled fears and angers. She noted that there was one emotion that she remembered she once felt. She felt a singular spark of ambition. Ambition that was very strong and very vengeful. She also noted that there was one anguished emotion that was still clear. Not muddled like the rest.

It was also very close by...

Xyo's eyes snapped open at the realization that there might be danger and hurriedly grabbed her gloves and veil and pulled them on. She tucked her robe closed. And unsheathed her dagger.

She glanced scathingly at the blade, for she didn't know how to use it. It had almost always worked to scare away potential assailants, though.

She stepped out from the clearing and cleared her mind to try and track the direction of the intruder. The emotion was strongest to the left, so she turned and began to creep through the dense forest.

She almost tripped over the sleeping form of a woman.

The woman was young, and had very long hair. The color wasn't dicernible in the darkness, but, Xyo could see that it was very curly. Most of the other features were hidden. But, Xyo could sense the fear being suppressed by the dream state.

Xyo saw the body shiver and decided to bring the girl back to the clearing and at least get her warmed up. Xyo looked at herself scathingly. Who was she kidding? She would never be able to even budge the girl more or less lug her to a clearing.

Xyo glanced about and searched for some dead branches. The chocobo had woken up and wandered over to watch Xyo work. She built a poor campfire; she had no skill in the matter, as her robes kept her relatively warm. As the fire danced weakly, Xyo could now see the girl had red hair and seemed pretty healthy.

Xyo inwardly sighed and muttered as she settled once against the chocobo. She looked at the still sleeping girl and wondered how someone can sleep so soundly. Then shrugging off the thought she sat and stared at the fire and watched it as it slowly died out.

* * * * * * * * * *

The woman woke up as the sun was beginning to peek over the horizon. Xyo watched her critically as she stretched and finally came to realize that she was not alone.

At which point, the woman scrambled up and moved back a few feet into a semi-defensive stance. Xyo kept deathly still as the woman studied her surroundings, eyes lingering for a moment on the campfire's ashes and also on the chocobo, who had gone to eat some leaves off of the nearby branches.

She stared coldly at Xyo. "Who are you?"

Xyo, raised an eyebrow. "So this is the thanks I get for giving you a warm fire to sleep by and scaring away any harsh predators? A defensive stance and an interrogation?"

The woman blinked for a moment, "I have a right to know. I am not in the friendliest of moods, and this area is full of dangerous people. Now, I'll ask again: Who are you? Are your intentions of malice or not?"

Xyo chuckled; her voice was still hoarse and it rasped and rattled in her lungs painfully. "My name is Xyo. I suppose I have no malice against you.. but you would be a fool to accept my paltry word in such a *dangerous* area." Xyo leaned forward. "But as you can see, I am sickly and frail, and I have no visible weapons. So I suppose I should just leave the decision of *my* intent into your hands. As it would be, in all right, your decision ultimately."

The woman glanced around at the empty, lightening forest and then cautiously sat down again, keeping her distance still and eyeing her warily. "Is your illness contagious?"

Xyo shook her head. "No," she rasped, "not unless you anger the Goddesses."

The woman looked at her doubtfully and Xyo began to laugh harshly.

"Now, what is your name? And where are you from? So that I may have a better time addressing you." Xyo asked her after a moment of sarcastic mirth.

The woman eyed her suspiciously for a moment and then sighed, "Merine. I am from Kohlingen, the town to the north."

"The one that was devastated?"

Merine nodded solemnly. "By Sascha and Akfek... they took the town and did something to the people. I don't know what, but they all love them!"

Xyo felt Merine's anger and confusion and flinched painfully.

Merine stared at the ground silently for a moment and then looked up "You knew the town was destroyed. Were you there too?"

Xyo shook her head, "I was heading for the town and I saw the columns of smoke. I redirected the chocobo to the clearing over there."

Xyo made a gesture to the south, and Merine nodded nervously. Xyo could definitely tell that this woman would be very hard to win a friendship by.

Xyo frowned. Did she really want to start an acquaintance after all this time? The girl still hadn't seen her face, so there was still the risk of her running of screaming that the dead had risen from the ground. Xyo had lost too many friendships, as people grew old and died around her, even those poor elves. Did she want to risk more loss? This would take some time to think about... why had she helped Merine out in the first place?

"Why were you going to Kohlingen?"

The question brought Xyo out of her pondering trance and back to attention. "Hmmm?"

"Why were you going to Kohlingen?" Merine was still suspicious.

"I was going for supplies. I don't even have any food."

Merine realized she too was hungry.

Xyo asked, "Do you know if there are any unoccupied towns in the area?"

Merine shrugged. "Not anymore, I know there is a big coliseum up north. Jidoor, Zozo and Maranda are all to the south of us. But whether any are safe is beyond me. Things are happening too fast now."

Xyo nodded and picked up a charred twig and scratched the dirt with it. "Well, obviously we can't stay here, the troops will be patrolling the outlying areas soon." Xyo looked up at her. "Do you want to come with me? Right now my Chocobo can carry two, as I am not even heavy enough to faze it."

Merine looked surprised. "Travel together, but I want to help Kohlingen. All the citizens, they need help, even if they don't know it."

Xyo tossed the stick back into the ashes. "Take a town? Only you? I doubt you'd even make a dent."

"I have to try..." she murmured. "I have to do... something..."

Xyo leaned forward, her voice hissing, "Then remember, patience! The town will wait for you. But if you go back now, it will be for nothing and you will have saved no one!"

Merine looked at her sullenly, somewhat shocked at the tone of Xyo's voice. "I still don't trust you."

"A wise decision."

"Why are you so against yourself?"

Xyo tilted her head. "If you stick around... someday, I'll tell you."

Merine sighed and looked glumly around her, "I start from nothing."

"Not quite," Xyo breathed. "Nothing only begets more nothing. You must have something."

Merine stood up and began to brush the dirt off her clothes. "Well, if I *do* travel with you, I want to at least know what you look like. All I know is that you are female."

Xyo sighed, "If you must... I am not that 'pleasing' to the eye."

Merine folded her arms stubbornly. "Try me."

Xyo raised a shaky, gloved hand to her veil and then quickly yanked it off. Closing her eyes, she waited for the girl to scream, faint or something. But there came no sound.

Xyo slowly opened her eyes to find Merine studying her. "Well?"

Merine looked at her somewhat sadly. "I bet you were really pretty once. How old are you?"

"I was. And I am... I think 28... I'm not sure," Xyo replied darkly as she quickly refastened the veil.

Xyo looked coolly at Merine and changed the subject. "Where should we go then?"

<But... she's the only person I've got left in the world.... My town has gone crazy, my family as well. Rachel died years ago, Sascha.... well, that's who I'm trying to help. And Locke, he had disappeared so long ago... who knows how many years ago.... Yes, everybody is gone. Or else might as well be brain dead.>

Controlling herself not to bawl right then and there, Merine suggested, "Jidoor. True, I can't help my friends without any allies. The least I can do for now is to warn other towns... and maybe then the towns will help Kohligen." Xyo looked a tad suspicious, as if she thought no one ever helped another unless they were forced to.

"It's south, right?" Xyo was already mounted onto her chocobo. Hesitatingly, for Merine had never ridden one in her whole life, she joined her.

"It was before the two end of the worlds. Hopefully, it'll still be there. If it isn't... well, we'll deal with it then." Merine nearly choked on 'we will'. She wasn't even sure whether she'd stick around overnight with the old hag.

Xyo stuck her heels into the chocobo's side, and off they were.

**************

"I'm so tired...." She knew she was being a pest, but she couldn't help it. They had been ridding the smelly, dirty and wet chocobo all day, and it was all Merine could do from falling off and falling asleep. Xyo grunted irritably. Merine couldn't blame her; if she was in her place, she'd feel the same way too. Maybe even worse.

Much to Merine's relief, the darned chocobo stopped. <I swear, one day I'll outlaw 'em... see if I ever ride one again... by choice, that is.>

"I'm going to slee..." Merine never finished the sentence; she tripped over the prancing chocobo. "Ow!" She held her left foot in her hand gingerly. "That chocobo will be my death yet. I think my ankle's sprained! Stupid, idiotic, moronic...." Merine mumbled on, not caring whether if Xyo might be close to the dumb animal. <The stupid old thing did it on purpose!>

Xyo inspected her ankle. "I don't think it's too bad. Can you walk with it?"

<The real question, my so called friend, is, can I kick you with it?> "I don't know.... and I don't want to try yet." <Catch her off guard... yeah, that'd be good....> Merine felt embarrassed to be so mean, even if only in her thoughts, as Xyo tried to treat it.

"Don't move it. Maybe it'd be best if you slept," advised Xyo.

<Next to an insane murderer? I'd have better luck at trying to sleep next to a dead man... oh yeah, I forgot, she might as well be dead....> Despite all the nasty thoughts flying through her mind, Merine was still able to sleep a nice, long peaceful slumber.

She turned a solemn eye to the sleeping Merine and sighed. *She hates me,* she thought. *I can feel it even when she is asleep.*

She turned back towards the sky and gazed into its darkening depths. She spied something to the north, a large flying object... an airship, perhaps? It was to far away to tell, and it was not heading in their direction.

She turned her attention to Merine. Riding the chocobo was dangerous for her ankle now. Xyo had tried to use magic to heal her, but nothing had happened. Apparently, when Gaia said she could not be involved, that meant her magic, too, was gone. Now she really had nothing to go with. The first person she found hated her and now the chocobo was no longer good because Merine did not look where she was going.

Could they walk? That was about as bad as the chocobo. She looked aroundand surveyed the land. She could see the sea coast to the east. There was some trees around here; no string, though. She looked about and started collecting logs.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Merine was woken out of a startled sleep when a pile of logs came crashing down next to her. She rubbed her eyes which were being pained as the dawn's light began to show. "Rise and shine," Xyo greeted her in a mocking tone.

Merine looked at the wood, trying to shake the sleep off of her. "Didn't you sleep at all?" she asked.

"No. I have been trying to figure out a way to get us to Jidoor in time for winter harvest." Xyo snapped as she plopped herself down on the other side of the logs and began to twist the long prairie grass into a semi-thick rope.

Merine grumbled, "It was that stupid bird's fault..."

"Oh, I know," Xyo replied matter-of-factly, "and I have been trying to come up with a suitable punishment for it." Xyo tapped her temple in thought. "I could just kill it. Its intestines would make a far better rope than this prairie grass..."

That woke Marine up. "Kill it? No, it wasn't... I mean... I... oh!"

Xyo smiled evilly and Merine realized she had been set up. Merine flushed and grabbed a handful of grass and began to twist.

"How is the ankle this morning?" Xyo inquired after a long moment of silence.

"Not much improvement," Merine replied. " When we get to Jidoor, I hope we can rent a room."

"You have money?" Xyo asked.

"Well... no."

"Hrm..." Xyo pondered, and shrugged. "We'll figure out something."

Xyo looked at her chocobo. It was useless baggage as long as Merine was along. She really had no intention of killing it; she wondered what she would have done if Merine had called her bluff. She could just release it and it would go back to the Dryad. She could also sell it at Jidoor to get enough to get a few night's sleep possibly. That idea fell through as the dilemma of getting it to Jidoor was going to be a problem if they were using the raft.

Xyo set her rope down and stood up. Merine watched as Xyo slowly approached the chocobo. Merine asked nervously, "You are not going to kill it... right?"

"Of course not!" Xyo snapped as she rested a hand on the chocobo's neck.

Xyo stroked the birds feathers lovingly and smiled at it. Merine sat amazed at the sight of Xyo being 'tender' with something. *Perhaps.. no, I don't trust her, yet,* she thought.

Xyo whispered something to the bird and it turned and began to fly away. Xyo stood there watching it until it was a mere speck on the horizon. Heaving a sigh, she pulled the cowl of her robe over her head and turned back to Merine and the woodpile.

Merine quickly bent her head down and concentrated on the grass as she heard Xyo shuffle by and sit down. Neither spoke till late afternoon when the grass weaving had been finished.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Both Xyo's and Merine's hands were bleeding by the time they started to use the grass twine to bind the twigs and branches together.

"Just curious, but have you ever built a raft before?" Merine asked.

"No, but I had to make rope once, I am only guessing on the raft thing. We'll probably catch pneumonia before were done..." Xyo trailed off into a mutter.

Merine was doing her best to bind the logs, but her lack of maneuverability made it difficult to do. Merine was also getting very hungry. The last time that she had eaten was before Kohlingen was overcome. Biting her lip she decided not to complain.

Xyo finished tying her third branch when she decided to stop and rest for a moment. Her whole body ached; she had not put up so much exertion in a while. She looked glumly at her bleeding and blistered fingers. *I am still 28... hard to believe I let my body go so far downhill.* She remembered how she had looked when the Goddesses had frozen her body's aging process. Maybe she could become that healthy, beautiful woman again?

She sighed and returned to the raft.

* * * * * * * * * * *

They finished the raft in the middle of the night. It was rickety, and they doubted it would even float. They decided to rest the rest of the night and start out in the water in the morning. The game plan was to pole their way along the shore till they were near, or at, Jidor. Hopefully, the raft would float.

Xyo reluctantly decided to be the pole bearer, as she was the one who could stand. Xyo herself doubted that she was strong enough to push, but there seemed no other option. When she got tired, they would just go ashore for a while.

Merine decided to try and fashion a net out of the remaining grass twine. There was the slim chat that she might catch a fish or two while they were floating. She would be at least some use.

They both slept that night hoping that the raft would work.

With Xyo's help, Merine clambered clumsily onto the home-made raft. "Now it looks like this raft will be my death..." Merine mumbled, not loud enough for Xyo to hear. But her feeling was strong enough for her to feel.

"Hey! It's supporting us!" In Merine's excitement and pride for making something that actually worked, she forgot to be sullen. "Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day... I've got a wonderful feeling... everything's NOT going my way..." She sung off tune, giving a sly smile at Xyo at 'not'. She returned it. <Maybe she isn't so bad after all.... I just hope we can make it to Jidoor before either of us strangles the other.>

*******************

"I think I've caught something!" pierced Merine's surprised voice. Xyo dropped her post to check on Merine. "I think... it's too strong... for me... in this condition..." Indeed, sitting with your legs straight in front of you wasn't the best position for fishing.

"Let me try." She took the bamboo pole Merine had miraculously found that morning, and pulled. Merine immediately put some water on her sore and red hands.

"Shouldn't you let go? I don't think the raft can take such stress..." Xyo shook her head. She knew both of them were too hungry. Xyo knew she wouldn't die; but Merine would, and despite her unfriendliness she didn't want to lose the only companion she had had for maybe hundreds of years. "I'll just keep trying..."

After a minute of intense pulling and reeling, the two of them caught their first sight of the fish. Merine whistled. "Would you look at that." It was huge; although she was exaggerating, Merine guessed it to be three times the height of her head. Its scales glittered a bright silver in the late morning sun. The fish seemed to be tiring. But glancing at Xyo's sweating face, Merine could tell Xyo was loosing her energy even quicker. "Wait a sec."

Merine knew that what she was planning to do could very well kill them both. But they would die anyway without that fish for food. She took out her sword, and prayed to the gods to help her. "Here goes nothing..." Waving her sword , she lunged for the fish. Encouraged by the gash of blood spurting out of the fish, Merine again poked her sword at the fish. "Here, little fishie fishie fishie..." The sword heartlessly cut the fish to death. Now that it wasn't moving at all, Xyo took her chance to pull the remaining inches of twine back.

But she did it too soon. The sword was still out there, and the weak rope was ripped by the sharp blade. "NO!" Merine plunged into the water to get her hard-earned fish.

<You fool! You barely could 'swim' in the pond, and now you've throne yourself VOLUNTARILY into the sea. Smart, Merine. Very smart. Can we say 'idiot'?> Kicking her legs frantically, Merine managed to remain afloat.

"Swim to the raft!" Xyo held her hand out, offering to help as soon as she got close enough. Shivering, Merine started to kick in direction to the raft. But in the corner of her eye, she saw the fish bobbing aimlessly next to her. <Go for it. You've already risked your life twice for it...> She snatched it, and continued in the direction of the raft.

********************

Merine had no idea how, but Xyo managed to pull her out of the water, fish and all. "Are we going to have to eat this RAW?" Merine asked sulkily, poking at the cold scales.

"See any spots to set up a fire nearby?" True. Oh well, not as if it made a difference to Merine's stomach. She ate it up hungrily, ignoring the coarse taste in her mouth.

After eating her share of the fish, Merine had nothing to do, for the bamboo sick was useless without rope. So instead she gazed at the sea and thought of all the memories of the recent events she had been trying to avoid.

This raft trip was turning out to be less boring than thought. Or at least this day turned out to be 'interesting'. She heard Merine burst into song - *truly a bane for the critics!* - and they suprisingly caught a fish, Merine nearly drowning herself in the process.

Finished with her fish, she stood back up and began to pole the raft again. The sun was already beginning its descent for the evening and land had not yet come into sight.

"I don't think we'll reach land by nightfall," Merine remarked.

Xyo nodded. "I know. I hope we keep going in the right direction."

Merine glanced up at the sky,"Just keep heading with the sun to your right."

"And when the sun goes down? What star do we go by then?" Xyo looked skyward, squinting her eyes. The sky was clear and there was no hint of cloud cover.

Merine sighed. "I would give anything for a compass."

Xyo chuckled. She was actually beginnging to enjoy this little expedition. If they did ever make it to Jidoor, she would sell her dagger for some real food. Maybe even cooked fish.

* * * * * * * * *

The sun began to touch the sea waters and Xyo began to feel the work wear at her bones again. "I need to rest, Merine."

Merine nodded; she had begun to fish again. This evening was exceptionally quiet. The sound of the sea was the only noise they heard. They didn't talk much, which one could suppose was a plus. They just kept to their respective work. Xyo didn't want to talk much; she had to admit that being out in the middle of the sea was peaceful to her mind. She would hate to open her mouth and let a nice peace crumble into bitter retorts.

Xyo sat down on the uncomfortable logs and watched the sun drift down until it was out of view.

"I think we'd better sleep, Xyo." Merine said softly as she began to put her fishing pole out of the way.

Xyo nodded. "I guess we will have to bet on that the currents still take us to the south." Xyo yawned. She actually felt sleepy; this work was wearing her body down to near collapse.

Merine curled up and sighed, "'Night then. Don't try to dream too much."

Xyo arched an eyebrow at Merine. "Why not?"

Merine shrugged. "My nightmares might be contagious."

Xyo snorted and tried to settle herself as best she could on the small raft.

As the gentle rocking of the raft put both of the tired souls to sleep, Xyo began to dream... a dream that in her own definition was a nightmare. She dreamed that she was with a man, but she couldn't see his face. They were together, they were happy... who was he? Then he pushed back her hood to kiss her and gasped. He stumbled away from her in horror. Xyo begged him to come back and as she grabbed his wrist, she noticed that he was aging rapidly. He soon began to crumble into rotting flesh. She could do nothing but watch. Soon, he was gone and she was left with nothing but blowing dust. Standing alone in a burning wasteland of nothingness and the Goddesses laughing at her.

Laughter and nothing...

* * * * * * *

When Xyo awoke it was Merine who was shaking her shoulder. "Wake up! I see land!"

Xyo sat up, her body feeling more sore than ever. She looked to the south the see the vast shore line approaching them. It was still a good hour away, but if they were still on course, they would want to start veering down the south-eastern coast line. But at least they could beach and stretch out for a while.

She looked around for the pole and sighed. It must have rolled off while they were asleep. She decided to just watch the land and hope they hit it.

Fortunately, they did beach on the coast and both of them promptly passed out sprawled on the sand. Merine turned her head towards Xyo. "You think this is the right continent?"

Xyo grimaced, "I don't know. We won't know till we come to our first town and find out where we are."

Merine sighed. "I dread getting back on that raft."

Xyo snickered. "Oh, but the fish love you!"

Merine laughed. "But I don't love fish... unless it's cooked, that is."

"I see. The fish will be hurt when they find out."

"I'm sure they will be crushed."

Xyo closed her eyes and let her body rest.