[Zerlina]

It was dawn when they first heard it- a ringing that was almost like the chiming of silver bells.

Pulling himself out from under his moth-eaten covers, Malice made his way up to the deck, expecting to see the source of the noise that had so gently roused him from his sleep. Swallowing a tired yawn, he pushed open the outer door and was instantly presented with a serene orange sky and the thrilling feel of fresh air. His vision hazy from the shock, he searched for the noise but found no bells or chimes. Giving up, he decided to return to his cabin; he stopped before he could go inside. Finding that the lure of the sky was far too seductive, he turned and made his way along the deck, taking in the sights of the world below.

“Have you ever been up this high before?”

Malice jumped, thinking he had been alone. Placing a hand on his dagger, he turned in the direction of the voice.

“Oh…” he said, relaxing as soon as he saw who it was “No, Titania, but I’ve never really tried.”

She leaned over the creaky deck and he could not see her expression.

“Some of the others are up already…I know at least Magus and Brain are.” She told him, dryly.

“Brain…he’s sure got a lot of energy.” Malice leaned on the deck, too “I think he’ll really be able to help us out…but at the same time, he’s really young and I don’t think he knows how to control himself.”

“Just ask Osirus.” Titania laughed.

“Poor guy. Wouldn’t wish that one on anybody.” Malice muttered, sympathetically “…so what are you doing up here this early?”

“What are you doing up here this early?”

“I asked first.”

“Fine.” Titania conceded, “I was just thinking.”

“About what?”

“Nothing.” She replied.

Malice shook his head “I don’t believe that.”

“Fine…you win.” She sighed, “I was thinking about what we’re all doing here.”

“I know what you mean” Malice said “Gracia’s still standing and we’re going to some crater. But you really have to think of it logi-”

“No, that’s not what I mean.” She interrupted, still staring downward at the sky.

“Then …what do you mean?”

“I mean what we’re all here for.” She said “Why are we here. Why am I here? Why are Magus, Brain and Glenn here? How come I’m not home, they’re not in their own world?”

“You still want to go home, then?”

“No.” she answered, “And you don’t have to hide it from me either.”

“Hide what?” he questioned, and she shuffled a bit.

“Hide the fact that no one ever goes home from here. I know already. And I know why you didn’t tell me in the first place.”

“…I just didn’t think you could handle it then.” Malice said, defensively.

She seemed not to have heard, and it made him uneasy. After what seemed like forever, she sighed and once more tried her best to make him understand.

“Did you know that when I was born, they told my mother not to bother even naming me, because I was hopeless.”

“Titania-”

“…my mother… she cried and cried until her voice was sore from sobbing…”

He turned to look at her.

“Then one day she found me and I wasn’t moving. She ran to find my father in his workshop, and when they returned they found me with my arm outstretched like this” she extended her hand as if reaching for a cloud “I wanted something on the window sill. And when they looked they saw that it was a-”

“Feather.”

Titania turned to look at Malice

“…how did you know?”

He shook his head “I guessed.”

Tilting her chin, she studied his face, once more trying to find some kind of explanation or reasoning in his eyes. There was none that she could find.

“You’re lucky you have blue eyes” she said, turning back to look off the deck “Where I’m from they say that those who are blessed with them will eternally bring with them the ocean of home.”

“The ocean?” he asked, and no sooner had he spoken did images of calm cliffs and waters flash through his mind like lightning.

“My home. It was next to the ocean.”

The images repeated themselves like persistent memories.

“…the cliffs were red at dawn…”

Suddenly, he was back on the shores of the sea, feeling the warmth of the sun on his face

“…and as children we used to run barefoot through the shallow water…”

Eyes closed, he could hear the echoing of giddy laughter, and feel the sand move beneath his feet.

“…mother helped on the fishing boats, and used to send our dinner home with the young boys…”

Instantly, the sour stench of freshly caught trout, infected his mind.

“…then at night the moon would rise above the water, and I’d go out into the sea to try and catch its reflection…”

The water rose around him, black and starry from the night. No matter how far he ran, his goal was always out of reach, pulling itself further and further into the horizon. It seemed to elude him at every turn and sprint, letting its beams ripple and shimmer in the water but never touch him.

“That’s what they named me for, you know?”

“What?” Malice asked, suddenly snapping out of whatever vision had possessed him.

“Titania. It’s the name of the moon where I’m from.
Legend says that there was once a maiden named Titania who used to wander at night with a lantern, trying to guide the ships to the shore. Back then, the darkness was impossible, because there was nothing in the sky.
When she became older, Titania fell in love with a sailor, but was discouraged when she found that she could only protect him from the shore, and that he would not bring her with him out to sea. She cried to Siren, the goddess of the ocean, asking to always be able to watch over her love. Taking pity on the maiden, but not having the power to change the sailor’s mind, Siren brought Titania into the sky where she could shine her lantern for all to see, and always be able to guide the ships to safety.
That’s how our moon was named.
They say that Phoenix was of the sun, and that the two kept each other alive. That’s what I was trying to tell you earlier- Phoenix kept me alive when I was a baby. He didn’t let me die.”

For a while Malice did not react, but after some time he nodded, letting her know she could continue.

“That’s what I meant when I said I was thinking of why I’m here. Why am I alive and why is Nichi stone? Why are you here instead of dead on the battlefield? That general could have killed you if he wanted, but he didn’t- why was he there instead of someone else? Is this the result of coincidence? Or is it fate?” She turned once more to look out to the sky “My mother told me that because I was kept alive it meant I would serve some sort of purpose. I spent so long wondering about my purpose… searching for it. Do you think that my purpose is here? Will I finally catch the moon? Or will it always just be out of reach?”

“…we all have our own moons to chase.” Malice said, after some time. “And they always seem so far away…”

Surprised at his answer, she turned to look at him.

“…we follow the moon and run deeper into water, until we can’t breath anymore.” He continued “And just when we’re about to drown we realize- the moon wasn’t ever in the water. It was in the sky the whole time. If only we had thought before we ran, maybe we would have realized that it was right in front of us, just waiting for us to look at it and realize the truth...”

“The truth?”

“That we can reach for it all we want, but unless it reaches back we’ll never touch it, and never know what it really means.”

Titania smiled “Maybe it was reaching for us the whole time we were in the water, and we just didn’t see it.”

The air fell cold and the sound of the airships propellers buzzed through the air as words ran out but thoughts did not.

Breaking the silence, Titania turned to look at her friend.

“Malice…”

“Hey!” came a voice from around the side of the airship “You should all be careful.”

It was The Captain.

“The winds are pretty calm right now, but things are going to get turbulent up ahead. I’m trying to warn everyone. Do you know where the others are?”

“No.” Malice replied.

“I do. I’ll take you to them.” Titania said, and left without saying another word.

Sighing, Malice leaned over the deck once more, his blue eyes reflecting in them the red glow of the sunset.

Those memories…they weren’t mine… he thought, remembering the odd images that had flashed through his mind.

Unsure, he went to follow The Captain and Titania, deciding that the company of the others would distract him from his thoughts. As he left, the moon dwindled behind the sunlit clouds, making its last appearance of the day before disappearing into the blue twilight.