The sun's heat was beating down heavily on everything its rays could touch, and the warm day was equally intense, but the trees offered enough shade to keep the two wanderers cool. No words had been exchanged between them and they had been walking in silence for hours since the time they left the Lotus territory. Kisa had tried questioning her companion insistently at first, but she soon gave up trying to talk to her, since each frustrated effort to open up a conversation was replied with dead-answers. She inferred that Axyll wasn't in the mood to talk, so out of her boredom, Kisa would hum a simple tune, from time to time, breaking the awkward silence.

They decided to rest beside a small river somewhere in the middle of the forest, where there was more shade to protect them from the scourging heat. The two tired girls settled down as Kisa dropped everything she had with her, including her weapon. She lay down in a clear, grassy spot and closed her eyes for a moment, releasing a huge sigh. She listened to the relaxing sound of rushing water allowing her exhaustion to dissipate. Axyll, on the other hand, knelt down on the edge of the river and washed her face. She then scooped some water into her palms and appreciatively watched the ripples stir as the liquid trickled off between her fingers. Kisa sat up and observed her companion with a wrinkled forehead.

"What are you doing?" she queried, eyes puzzled. She couldn't help voicing out her curiosity, although she knew quite well that she would probably get a brief, if not a nonexistent answer.

Axyll turned to the other girl, her eyes in silent contemplation before finally speaking, "In Ozro, there was none of this," the young woman looked down at her palms, and then shifted her gaze to the leaves up in the trees, allowing the sunlight that peered through the gaps to stroke her face, "None...of any of this."

Kisa was relieved to finally hear her speak more than a few words.

"I've forgotten how beautiful it is here..." the Lotus girl looked about with pure admiration written all over her face.

"I've never heard of that place before," Kisa cocked her head, "My father used to tell me stories of many different places but O...Oz.." She shrugged, "That place is unfamiliar to me."

Axyll smiled, amused at her companion, but the smile faded at the thought of the place aforementioned. "It is...another dimension...apart from this one," she took a deep breath. "A dimension not known to many people..."

"A different dimension?" Kisa's eyes widened.

Axyll nodded. "A hell prison for all the adversaries of the Lotus' leader,"

"Zymeth? He has a dimension of his own for his enemies?"

"It is not his," Axyll's expression shifted from distress to contempt at the mention of the name, "but he is the only one with the portal to it, so he feels he is free to use it as he wishes."

"Oh..." For a moment, Kisa watched a fish trying in vain to move against the strong tide of the river before looking back at Axyll. "You said 'adversaries', does that mean you were an enemy of Zymeth's?"

"Yes, and still am." Axyll paused, her face growing darker, "I was avenging my fathe..." her words stopped dead in its tracks and her green and blue eyes widened in alarm. "My father!" Her sudden outburst echoed through the forest as she stood up hastily, beginning to run back to the direction they came from. The startled dragon girl stood up as well, shocked by this new development. She also started running, in hopes of catching up with her companion, but Axyll suddenly stopped, quite hesitantly, before the surprised Kisa even lost sight of her.

Axyll's mind was racing. She had to go back for her father. She had to rescue him from the horror of unending suffering; imagining her father experiencing more pain as every second passed was a thought she could not bear. But she couldn't go back to Lotus territory alone and unready. She wouldn't be able to get through the guards, much less enter the keep or defeat Zymeth in her state. She didn't even have a weapon.

"Wait for me, Father," Axyll's eyes were shut and her head bowed down, "I will come for you" She whispered, and after a moment, turned around to saw Kisa running towards her.

"What's wrong?" the panting girl reached her at last, glancing worriedly at Axyll who looked much paler and terribly dismayed.

"I..." Walking slowly past her companion and back to the spot where they were settled a minute ago, she bent down and gave a weak smile, assuring her companion, "Nothing," she said silently. She shook her head, trying to clear her mind and organize her thoughts. She should know better than to act impulsively, because impulsive behavior and reckless decisions lead to consummate defeat, her father always told her. "We better proceed before it gets too late," she said instead.

That night, after another long and silent walk on end in the forest, they settled in a small clearing and made a fire. As the crickets hummed their nocturnal melody, the two lied down, side by side, intending to sleep. Sleep, however, did not seem to come and take the two troubled girls to a state of peaceful oblivion. Axyll was creating a plan in her head and was formulating a way to acquire a weapon. Kisa, on the other hand, very fascinated by her companion and still rather disturbed by the afternoon's events, could not let the day pass without learning more.

"Tell me about that dimension you mentioned, Axyll," she shifted her position and turned to face the other girl, interrupting her friend's thoughts. There was a moment of silence before Axyll began.

"Ozro...is timeless. The only place in existence without the element of time,"

Kisa was silent, reflecting in quiet amazement.

"One can stay there forever and still retain his age,"

"Wow!" Kisa sat up, then hesitated. "But that doesn't seem dreadful at all," she said, after a slight pause.

"I wouldn't want to go back there in a million years; I can't even stand to think about it," Axyll narrowed her eyes in disdain, recalling the dimension, "Much less endure it for another timeless eternity."

Kisa cocked her head, "How come?"

Axyll released a sigh, "There exists unending pain and infinite suffering in that dimension," Sitting up, she continued, "Many are exiled there as punishment, many, but each one is alone. There, it is like being in perpetual sleep with nothing to feel but interminable Corruption, eating away one's flesh from the inside, and unending lacerations of spears through one's chest," Axyll narrated everything as if she could feel every word, her expression showing that of pain, clearly revealed even with her eyes closed, "every non-existing second is an added agony of a painful whip across one's back, and of burning steel against one's cheeks,"

Kisa winced.

"And no matter how hard one tries, there is no escaping the terrible torture of every painful pulse. Its timeless reality denies one who is trapped in unending anguish the simple relief of death. It leaves one on the tormenting brink of demise, forever situated at the point where the pain is so great that he, in reality, should die within the next second, but instead, there, it is prolonged and made the only reality of your anguishing existence. Not one moment is one relieved from the agony of the feeling of being submerged in boiling water and the cruelty of -"

"Stop it! That's enough!" Kisa's voice shook with loathing as her hands covered her appalled ears and her lids closed tightly over her horrified eyes.

Axyll, whose eyes were shut all throughout her narrative, opened them slowly, shifting her gaze to the flames of the bonfire. She wasn't surprised at all by Kisa's reaction to her account. She listened to the crackle of embers and watched the blaze of the fire, thinking. For every tormenting word in her description and every agonizing burden that was depicted were being endured by the only person she had as her family, the one person who created her and formed her from nothing...her father.

The night was cold and dry. The humidity present in the Land of Perpetual Rain had not extended far beyond its cold and bleak territory. Nothing could be heard except the buzzing of nocturnal creatures and the soft crackle of the flames. Occasionally, a soft breeze would stir the leaves, creating looming shadows in the night.

Axyll remained in her hunched position for a time, brooding. After which, she looked at her companion who had, by that time, already fallen asleep. In the silence of the darkness, Kisa lay still to her side, with one hand still covering her ear, like a frightened child.

< What a pity... > She thought, < that hardly anyone knows what it is like to experience being on the brink of death but never falling over it's precipice; never dying and reaching the soothing comfort of freedom from the torment > She smiled sadly to herself, studying the childlike innocence on Kisa's face.

Axyll sighed, the memory of everything that has happened and the apprehension of what lay ahead suddenly draining all her strength. She lay herself down beside Kisa and prepared to rest in peaceful slumber, for the first time in what seemed to her almost an eternity.

The two wanderers traveled together for a few days more, gaining each other's trust in the process. Kisa was amazed by the stories of her new found friend, and though they never quite talked of Ozro again, she had grown to admire the other for having experienced such dreadful horrors, yet still have the strong determination to live on, not knowing that this determination springs from her will to return to the Land of Perpetual Rain and rescue her creator. Kisa felt she was made aware of the beauty of being free, of the horror of being captive, and of the things taken for granted in the world, when talking with her friend. These were valuable things, the time and lessons they shared, and Kisa knew that she would never forget them.

In the mean time, Axyll found Kisa very amusing. To her, Kisa served as a reminder of the happiness and brightness she had almost forgotten. Many times, Axyll would enjoy listening to her companion animatedly narrate anecdotes of her traveling adventures before getting entangled with Ferendil and the Lotus, and how she escaped from the eerie clutches of those mysterious bandits who kidnapped her. Axyll would listen intently as Kisa described every event, and would be able to imagine the scenes vividly in her head. She was gratified to have met this girl, otherwise, she knew she would have forgotten so many things in and about life, and that is what she realized she did not want to do. She silently decided to take the time to learn more, and felt enriched when she did so.

This was how they spent their time together, throughout their journey, learning and teaching, feeling and reminiscing. Finally, it was time for them to part ways. Axyll had decided to go forward to the Wolf clan and create her weapon there, in one or two of their old, abandoned mines, while Kisa planned to move up north to the serpent where she was to visit her uncle, a thing she should have previously done, if she hadn't been caught by the Lotus.

The afternoon sun was blazing as the two said their goodbyes. There were no tears, for there was too much gratitude on the part of both to feel intense misery, and they knew they were to meet again, in the future. No, there were no tears, only well-wishing smiles of friendship.

"Here," Kisa took off her cloak and handed it to Axyll, "Use this as your disguise when you enter the territory of the Wolf,"

Axyll took the cloak and put it on. "Thank You."

"I wouldn't need it very much anyway because I have the merchant papers Onee-san gave me when we were leaving the Lotus. I'll do fine with it. I wouldn't need a disguise," Kisa said confidently.

Kisa's companion nodded.

"Take good care, Kisa," Axyll told the other, her mouth opened into a small, awkward smile. It was still difficult for her to curve her lips into a smile since it has been so long since she last did so.

Kisa smiled back and watched Axyll head west. She kept an eye on her friend until her silhouette dissolved gradually among the trees of the forest. She could see the sun's blazing heat striking the leaves up that direction and observed the scene for a while, before realizing, after some time, that she was now all by herself. She released a sigh and turned to the path she was going to take, and finally moved forward, starting her journey alone.