[Zerlina]

((No I'm not back. I'm on my cousin's computer))

Titania laughed and leaned back on her palms, letting her feet hang into the water “Hm…I suppose it's do something that others will really appreciate. I want to make a difference in someone's life- for the better. I want to...I don't know. I want to do something right for once...really do something right. I feel like I can make a difference and it's in there somewhere, but I just don't know how. I want to find that, and I want to make it happen. I don't want to screw up.

And maybe this is one and the same, but I want to find what my purpose is.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well…my papa always told me that I must have some kind of purpose- it’s a long story. Anyways, I suppose I’ve always wanted to know what that was. I think that coming here has something to do with it, I just don’t know what. Being here feels right- it’s hard to explain. It just feels right.”

Syne smiled and nodded “I know what you mean. It’s the same with me. I feel at home here already.”

”It’s like this land is familiar, and even some of the people are familiar.”

“That’s right!” Syne agreed “I feel like we’ve already met.”

Titania nodded, enthusiastically “So I’m not the only one to think so! I thought I was losing it…or not getting enough sleep. Both are very likely.”

They laughed and for a moment tired eyes were lit with the glow of friendship. Slowly, the merriment dissipated and yet the girls still sat with smiles upon their young faces.

“Do you feel like you’re closer to some than others?” Titania asked.

“I do. With some I feel like family, with others I feel like…” Syne trailed off.

“Like what?”

“I feel like they’ve hurt me. But I’ve never met them before so it’s impossible.

“You feel like I’ve hurt you, don’t you?”

“…how did you know?”

“Because I feel guilty.”

“Do you think that has something to do with the Old World?”

“The what?”

“The Old World. In the portal Nichi explained to me our past. He called Palis 700 years ago the ‘Old World.’”

“Oh. I suppose that makes things easier…”

“So do you think that it has something to do with that?”

“Maybe.” Titania answered “…do you remember anything from your old life?”

“Sort of. It’s hard to explain. I see images but they come and go and they aren’t very clear. It’s almost like when you have a dream and the next day you try to remember it. You know it happened and you can almost figure it out, but for some reason you just can’t remember things fully.”

“Maybe that’s what Brian felt. Something triggered him to remember the past, though.”

“Brian’s the perv, right? Well…I don’t know about that.”

“You were once the same being, weren’t you?” Titania asked.

Syne shuddered “Supposedly. But I find it hard to believe that in my past life I was a psychotic demon warlord.”

“I do too.” Titania agreed “But maybe that wasn’t really who you were. Maybe that was who the others were. Specifically Brian.”

“Perhaps.”

“…you know what’s odd?”

“What”

“I feel like I know you. And a little less like I knew Nichi. But with Brian…it was like I’d met him but didn’t really know him.”

“That’s odd.”

”It is. How could you know one part of a person and be a stranger to the other.”

“Well…maybe it’s a coincidence. The fact that you even feel like you know me is very odd.- though I can’t say impossible, because I have the same reaction.”

“I wonder if we really have met and it’s just like you said- things come like dreams and you can’t remember them.”

“Well wouldn’t you notice?”

“Now that I think of it, I’ve had strange dreams before- ones I didn’t remember having. I can’t see anything specifically… it’s all a mess! I’m not even sure if that’s a coincidence or not, though...”

“Well, maybe we can piece something together.”

“Alright, that sounds like a good idea.”

Syne thought for a while “I think it’s safe to say you were in the Old World.”

“Maybe. I don’t want to say anything for sure.”

“Well…let’s assume. You feel guilty about something.”

“That’s right.”

“And I feel hurt.”

There was a pause.

“What kind of a hurt?” Titania asked.

“Like…betrayal.”

“That’s what I expected. Whatever it was, I don’t think my whole heart was in it.”

“But it didn’t matter, because whether or not you really wanted to, it made a difference. One that made things bad for me.”

“Difference…” Titania said out loud, thinking for a while “Do you think then maybe that’s it? All of us-all of us in the group, I mean- we all made a difference back then?

“Maybe!”

“But wait…that can’t be right. How old is Belial?”

“Perhaps old enough to remember.” Syne mused.

“…do you feel like you know Belial?”

“I’m not sure. Do you?”

“I don’t know. I’ve always avoided him.”

“Maybe then that has something to do with it. But then again maybe it’s not everyone.”

”Maybe it is.”

“Now we’re just going around in circles!”

Frustrated, Titania buried her face in her hands.

“This is too much to figure out in one night. We should rest.” Syne suggested.

“Or at least try to. Let’s head back. The others will know what to do.”

“I’m pretty sure that they’re as lost as we are.”

Titania shook her head “No. One of them will know.”

”The best they could do is pretend.”

”Well that’s good enough for me.”

Titania prepared to leave without another word, but Syne stopped her.

“Are you sure about that? It doesn’t seem right.”

“I trust them. Something that they make up will be far better than something I make up.”

“How do you know?”

“I know, because I know.” Titania answered, turning to her new friend with a sense of frankness “Just listen to them. They’ve been here longer and they are all skilled warriors. It is not our place to question them. It’s for our own good. My papa used to tell me:

‘If you are to cross a field of swords, you do not ask the blind man to lead the way.’

The stubbourn and proud fool will find her feet bloody. Understand?”

“No.” Syne answered “We are both warriors in our own right and it is stupid to pretend that we’re not. The bigger fool is the one who thinks they’re blind when they can better see the field before them.”

Titania’s cheeks flushed with silent anger- how could this girl question the word of her father? Still, she said nothing.

“Come, let’s go. We’ll find the others.” she said.

Syne sighed, seeing that her point had fallen on deaf ears.

They walked for a while in silence, until the glow of the fire came into sight. As the smell of smoke flooded them and the gentle crackle of tiny embers filled the air, Titania turned to Syne.

“…so what’s your dream?”