Bright light...

And like the sudden rush of light that filled the room once the curtains were parted, her forgotten dream flooded back into her mind. Decca winced slightly at first, as she had done before when she was a small child and awoke from a strange dream. Only now her mother wasn't there to tell her they were simply dreams.

And she knew better. They were not just dreams of little girl late at night. They were distant memories of life left behind, but not forgotten. It was as if she was being tormented by the dreams of a life she was never meant to leave from a world that just wouldn't let her go. And as her head ached she shivered in the slight breeze of morning, though it was warm and should have been comforting.

The light was unbearable now and she could hardly keep herself from crying out, which she could have sworn she did, when she stumbled backwards into someone's chest. She cursed herself silently for being so clumsy in that moment. An elf could bend themselves in the most impossible of poses, but here she was, falling backwards from the light of the sun. Then she felt this person's arms wrap around her from behind and she would have guessed Kain, if not for the person's next remark.

"Falling down? You? Your elvin ancestors would weep!"

Decca flung her arm behind her and smacked Valzer upside the head lightly, but he wouldn't let go. It took her a few minutes to shake off her daze and figure out why. "I'm all right, Valz." Decca stood up now, but Valzer still kept at least one hand upon her shoulder.

"I know, kid. I just..." Valzer's tone was almost thick, but his crooked smile still played across his lips. "Did you have another dream?"

Decca grinned for a moment, but it faded to a frown with her next words. "About my mother."

Valzer nodded, sitting down upon the windowsill and motioning for Decca to do the same. "If it's any consolation, I still have dreams about her too. Well, not as much dreams as memories--"

"No, Valzer. My mother. My real mother..."

Valzer's face visibly dropped, but he said nothing. He merely stared towards her with his warm, brown eyes. And for a moment she could have sworn there were tears in those chocolate orbs of his.

"Valzer?" She finally sat down next to him.

There was a long and awkward pause that lingered in the air for seemingly minutes before Valzer said anything. He cocked his head to the side, his messy hair falling from his forehead to his temples, and smiled. "What did she look like?"

Decca laughed and leaned her head upon her brother's shoulder. "She was beautiful, eerie..." the elf sighed as Valzer stroked her cheek and her voice fell to a soft murmur. "And so cold."

Valzer placed his arm around her small shoulders and held her tighter to him. "Decca, we're getting deeper into this. And I don't like it." He paused as Decca glanced towards him, her large eyes fixated upon his own. "I don't want to lose you to a place that gave you away to begin with. You belong here; this is your home."

The wizard sighed, his usual carefree facade now gone, warn away and melted down by his own worries. "But Valqua was your home for the first few years of your life, and I know you have a right to see it. You should know of where you came from and who your real family is...or was..." Valzer's voice trailed off and he would have kept talking if it was not for Decca placing a finger to his lips.

"Valzer, you are my family."

"I know." Valzer whispered. "And I know I'm greedy for not wanting to let you go, but you must understand, you are my family. You and father are all I have."

Decca wrapped her arms about his waist and squeezed him slightly. "Yes and what would you do without me?"

He looked down to her smiling face and grinned slightly himself. But Decca's attempt to lighten the mood and bring Valzer back to his usual self failed, for something more profound was upon his mind and refused to release its invisible grasp. "I don't think I'd live a day more, kid." Though he was indeed smiling, his tone was cheerless when he spoke.

"I was joking, Valz." Decca sat upright and watched him, her eyes serious and her head moved to the side, the look she usually had about her when something was confusing her.

The wizard nodded, but said nothing. He stood up and smiled and after a moment more said, "Yeah, I know."

Decca pushed him slightly from her position on the windowsill. "Don't do that. It's not funny, Valzer."

"Yeah and it wasn't funny when you got up and left me to wake with Kain's face in mine." Valzer flopped back down on the sofa, waking Rydia, but not Kain, who still slept like the dead.

Rydia rubbed her eyes and for a moment had to strain to remember where she was. Yawning, she asked, "what time is it?" She blinked, as if to clear her vision, and looked around the room.

Decca, still by the window, gazed out of it. The sun was halfway up the eastern sky, large and ginger, looking like a bloated orange amongst thinning, purple clouds. "Early morning."

***

(Remember you? I never knew you.)

(How? How can you know me? Do you even remember my face? Do even remember me? How can you know me so well but never actually know me?)

(I see everything, but I see nothing. I see what no other can, but I see them through the eyes of the blind; forever wondering, but never truly knowing; being told, but never knowing if they be false; always watching, but never being allowed to truly see.)

Decca watched the world around her. The birds, the trees, the heavens above, all watching back, all looking through her and all wondering what she was and why she was sent to their world. What purpose did she serve? What was she? An alien to their culture, a lost soul to their ways, a faint wind to their skin, invisible to their eyes?

The birds with their flaming orange beaks and their brightly painted feathers allowed their shadows to fall upon Decca, washing over her as they flew by overhead. They chirped melodies of the old days and ruffled their plumage to show their worth. They jumped from tree branch to tree branch with scarcely an impression that they were ever there, aside from perhaps a few rustled leaves, which could have very well been moved by the unseen breeze.

The trees shimmered in the morning's new rays, which pushed through their emerald leaves and fell listlessly in golden shafts upon the forest floor. Home to a variety of animals and provider of shade and shelter, the forest whispered its own tune and the trees murmured the truths of others never told, for trees see and hear everything, even when no one is watching. Trees older than Mysidia and as large as the mountains off in the distant sky stood tall with pride as people gazed upon them.

The sky above was dimly lit by the rising sun, and yet its new light was powerful enough to make the few stars still scattered about fade into the clouds around them. Near the horizon, the pale colors of orange, red and pink remained and refused to leave, their hue a mere splash upon the edge of the canvas above. The breeze was warm, but its invisible breath chilled the back of her neck. The forest's plants mixed together as one to form its own unique aroma, which scented to outside world.

Decca lowered her head as the breeze picked up her long hair and brushed threw it, like silken fingers reaching out to grasp something they could never truly hold. The stone around her neck glowed softly as it trembled in the wind.

"And it is hell indeed, Decca..." Olvin had said.

(Hell? Is that what Valqua is now?)

(No, you're wrong, Olvin. Here is nothing like hell...)

(What hides, Olvin? Is all of what I see here false? No. If I believe him then... But there is something in the air. Something...unmistakable. Something that came with him. What is it?)

(She sent me here? But why? Was Valqua in some kind of danger? Was this Akin trying to kill me? Is that why she sent me away? Olvin said Akin wanted me alive. But she brought me here. She who?)

(Asana? Who is Asana?)

(My own kind...)

(Who are you, Olvin? How do you know of me? Are we the same? No... I'm nothing like you; I can't be like you. But I need to know. I want to know!)

Decca lowered her head in the wind, the sun's light playing across her face, her skin now appearing faint silver rather than her usual dark, gray-blue. All of them had gotten dressed, polished their weapons and bought any supplies needed for their journey at the armory and the various stores. They now stood outside of Arkane's home, talking, planning in vain of what was to come.

The elf stood away from the others, nearest the Mysidian Forest, nearest where she felt most at home. Decca placed her hand palm flat upon the bark of a smaller tree trunk. At that moment, it was as if the hand of another was against her own, someone's soul who was trapped inside the tree perhaps, reaching out to her. The tree bark felt so cold. Decca flinched away and slowly arched her fingers until they touched her palm.

Voices echoed from the conversation in the distance. But someone's voice stood out amongst the rest. A smooth voice, a voice that always made her feel safe. Kain... It took her a moment to realize that this voice she was hearing was no longer coming from the present, but from the past.

"How can you have hope, even now?" Kain had asked her once.

(What was the answer I gave you, Nimerèl? I do not remember now.)

(Would you, Kain? You are already damned, damned for what you have done, damned for all that you will do. But it is not a higher power that has cursed you. Nimerèl, you did it to yourself. What did you say before? That we are cursed to forever fight and never truly win?)

(Can't you see? You couldn't see it then, neither could I. You already are losing me...)

(Not anymore.)

No longer the memory of Kain's voice. It was in the present, but it still belonged to the Dragoon warrior.

Kain turned his head away from the conversation around him and onto Decca, off towards the Mysidian Forest. She looked so beautiful there, amongst the world she had come to know as her own. And he smiled as he watched her, her eyes closed, her hair adrift in the breeze.

Decca opened her eyes slightly, and her fingers unconsciously wrapped around the stone that dipped from the chain about her neck. It shimmered and it glowed softly. She looked to Kain, who watched her silently. For the longest time their gazes remained locked with one another's.

"Kain!"

The Dragoon Knight blinked hard, breaking his gaze with Decca and spinning around to see Valzer, along with the rest of his comrades, staring blankly at him. Kain scratched the back of his head and murmured, "What's wrong?"

"You've been zoning out for some time now and you're asking us what's wrong?" Valzer allowed a small, playful grin to spread across his face. "I would say maybe you didn't get enough sleep, but that would be somewhat of an understatement."

"Sorry. I've just been thinking... That's all." Kain lowered his head slightly, but he brought it back up when Arkane rested his hand upon the knight's armor clad shoulder.

"She'll be all right. She has to figure this out on her own. Allow her that much, Kain." Something in the old man's eyes forced Kain to lock gazes with him, and he could not break the wizard's watchful stare, no matter how he tried. But fortunately for Kain, Arkane broke the gaze when his hand slipped away from the knight's shoulder and he went back to Rubin.

Kain watched them as they began talking once more, but soon he turned his attention back to Decca. Their voices grew distant again...

"When did Cecil say he would be here?" Rydia.

"Dawn. He said dawn." Valzer.

"Well, how damn long is that kid gonna be? I'm old and I don't have forever you know..." Rubin.

"You've lived this long, old man, I doubt a few more minutes will hurt you." Arkane.

At least Kain guessed that last voice belonged to Arkane, for now all the voices were blurred together and no longer audible for him. Pull yourself together, Kain. You pick now of all times to zone out? Now, when the most important journey of your life is about to take place? Idiot! Kain shook his head, his longish black hair thrashing his cheeks. "Snap out of it..." He muttered.

Decca was off to side more, further into the forest, but still visible to his human eyes. She is so beautiful. So...sad. I never thought how lonely she must be sometimes, being the only elf among humans. Or perhaps she never noticed... Kain began walking towards Decca, who was now kneeling amongst the tall, slender grass blades and drooping emerald leaves. The grass blades bent somewhat in the wind and through them a song was hummed.

Kain joined her amid the forest leaves that carpeted the ground in an array of green shades, as lovely as the elf's emerald eyes, which stayed closed even when he leaned closer to her. Her eyelids neither fluttered nor twitched; though her ears did so when the wind blew, and her lips parted slightly as if she was in deep concentration, forming a spell of some sort. No physical evidence of a spell being summoned could be seen other than her stance, but Kain could very well sense the aurora of magic that was around her. And he opened his mouth to speak, but Decca cut him off.

"You know, I have heard of other elves and I have heard stories of them, but I have never seen one." She opened her eyes and looked at Kain, a strange look that grabbed his attention quickly. "Are there no elves on Earth? People talk as if there are. I suppose I've seen them on Valqua, but I do not remember..."

Kain, a bit stunned by her sudden question, stared at her for only a brief moment before answering. "I've never seen one, other than you. I've heard of them as well, but mostly in legends and in stories of long ago. I guess elves are rare on Earth anymore..." Kain looked away, as if he was ashamed that he had no concrete answer for her. "Why do you ask that now?"

"I was just wondering how I could be the only elf in all of Earth..."

"Well, perhaps they live in other forests, in a community somewhere around other nations?"

"I do not sense them." Decca said simply.

"Underground with the Summoned Monsters and the dwarfs maybe? You can ask Rydia about it--"

Decca rose up from her kneeling position and pointed bristly towards their companions near her home. "Cecil." She brushed off the fallen leaves that had wandered on her and waited for Kain to rise to his feet. When he finally did, they both walked silently back to their companions, and to the King of Baron, dressed in his silver armor and white cape.

"I'm sorry if I kept you waiting..." Cecil began. "Rosa had some last minute things to give me; mainly some herbs that she insists will do me good if I brew them in some kind of tea..." The Paladin King began laughing uneasily.

"That is quite all right, King Cecil. I'm just grateful that you have decided on accompanying my children and our friends on this dangerous journey." Arkane bowed slightly and the faint thump of his staff could be heard when he sat the end of it upon the ground. "I hope the queen is well."

"She is indeed very well. And happy to be running things while I'm gone." Cecil nodded his respect to the man. "And please, sir, no need to address me so formally. After all, you are the Master of Tongue. I should be bowing to you."

"So, you have heard of me then?" Arkane's smile widened and he jabbed Rubin in the gut, chuckling for emphasis. Rubin pushed the wizard's hand away and rolled his eyes.

"Yes, Master Arkane. The Elder has said much about you. I kind of took a little detour before I came here and visited him..." When the group raised a collective brow towards him, Cecil added quickly, "for old time sake."

"Enough of that, let me see those herbs your wife gave to you." Rubin brushed past Arkane as Cecil rummaged through the bag that had been hanging loosely over his shoulder. Handing the herbs to Rubin, the old man squinted one eye at them before smiling. "Ah, yes! Your wife has a good eye..." He sniffed one of the darker herbs. "And good taste as well."

"What are they?" Rydia asked, standing on her tiptoes and straining to see past Kain and Valzer's heads.

"The black one he is holding is ternè. It's usually only used for tea, nothing special." Decca explained, standing next to the Caller. "That brown one is called tyne. That is used for healing. Sometimes White Wizards will mix this with healing potions for faster results. That tan one is--"

"Trúll. I recognize that one from the Land of the Summoned Monsters. Asura used it when I first arrive there as a child, to heal some of the wounds I had. I don't think I have ever seen the other ones though."

Decca smiled, noticing Rydia's intense curiosity. The girl had a great interest in spells, books and now herbs. The elf pointed to the brown herb tyne once more. "You probably have not heard of that one. It is hard to find and can be bought only here. Though not many wizards are eager to give it to people not of this town. I guess they made an exception for Rosa." She shrugged, laughing somewhat. "Greedy wizards, eh?"

Rydia grinned and nodded. "I would love to see how it works."

"And no doubt you will..."

Decca watched as Rubin sorted through Cecil's bag for more of the herbs, sniffing some and tossing others he deemed "unworthy". And all the while Cecil was nervously asking if Rubin should get rid of the herbs he was throwing away. But with a wave of his hand, Cecil fell silent. It was obvious that Rubin did not appreciate being questioned on his choices and Cecil soon realized this. So better than argue with an old man like Rubin, the King of Baron simply shrugged and allowed the wizard to continue on with what he was doing.

Soon Decca's attention was brought away from the men and to Valzer, who was shaking his head while watching Rubin scold Cecil for second-guessing him. And then she noticed the monk's journal tucked under Valzer's arm, amidst his layers of fine, blue robes. In fact, she remembered that Valzer had fallen asleep on the couch last night with it by his side, as if he was protecting it. She moved slightly, wanting to ask him about it, then thought better of it and just stood where she was.

Who was the man who wrote that journal? How did he know those things about the White Light? The elf watched as the book moved slightly with Valzer's shift in position. I guess we will get the answer when we find him--wherever he is. I just hope he is still alive.