The forest was damp and the hue of blue washed over the Mysidian Forest. Long gone were the colors of yellow, red and orange from the sky, replaced by the beauty of night. He didn't know how long he had been walking. In fact, he didn't know what time it was either, for the sky was blocked out by the canopy of trees above, making it difficult to see even a single star. He knew, by the calm silence and the cool breeze, that it was indeed nighttime, but his guess upon the hour was as unknown as the heavens above. Only the soft streams of milky light from the moon lit his path.

Decca. Where could she have gone off to? Kain sighed and found his lips curving into a small smile. She always went where she wanted, said what she thought, did what she pleased...but never at anyone else's expense. An elf if he ever saw one.

What did Valzer say again? Kain squinted through the pale light. Out scouting the area? Trying to track an elf... It's as impossible as it is stupid. Still Kain kept walking through the lush woodland. Going along the leafy path, Kain began whistling a tune that Decca often hummed to herself when she was alone, or at least when she thought she was. It was similar to the one Rubin always sang, if the not the same.

Another voice was humming with Kain. A soft voice, obviously being carried towards him by the wind.

"Decca?" Kain immediately stopped his whistling and poked his head through the tall, leafy shrubs.

The elf laughed upon seeing him, green leaves sticking out from his longish, black hair. She strode up to him, picking out the foliage one by one, apparently enjoying herself while doing so.

Kain smiled as well. "Trying to get away from us, eh?" He grabbed her hand before she could take out the last jade colored leaf and held it firm within his own. Though he was still smiling, something was almost melancholy within the gesture.

Decca tilted her head to the side. "What's wrong?"

"Something... I don't know yet." Kain was no longer smiling, only now watching her with his deep, bottomless blue eyes. "But everyone else seems to know what it is. So what's the big secret?"

The elf placed her hand upon Kain's cheek, the rough stubble of a week's growth brushed against her fingers. "If I told you where would the fun be in that?" She wanted to smile, wanted her words to seem lighthearted, but her tone betrayed her words.

Her eyes shone bright under the faint light. They nearly shimmered.

"I don't understand." Kain laid a hand over her own, warming it in the chill of the night. He thought he felt a few raindrops as well, but he wasn't sure if it was simply dew from the coming morning or his imagination playing tricks once more. "Everyone else sees it, feels it, I know they do. I see it in their eyes. Why can't I see it?"

Decca pulled her hand away from him and held her wrist where Kain had touched it. "You don't want to know, Kain."

"Yes I do--"

"No. You don't want to know. Believe me. It's better if you didn't." Decca closed her eyes slightly, a small smile still on her face, seeming to brighten her eyes even more. "They don't know, Kain. Sure, they feel something, everyone feels something, but they don't truly know. If they ever did... If they felt what I feel..."

"Then tells us!" Kain's sudden boom echoed through the quiet forest, and the soft patter of rain fell around them, soon causing their hair and clothes to be plastered to their bodies. He lowered his voice. "Tell me. You're not alone."

"Yes... I am."

Kain reached out to her face again and his fingers curled when they fell to her cheek. "Why do you think that? Look around you, little one. You belong here as much as the rest of us do." His voice was impossibly low, as if he spoke only for Decca's long, pointed ears. "How can you think you are alone when you are surrounded so completely?"

"Nimerèl." Decca took his hand within her own and guided it slowly away from her face. "You of all people asking me that... You can be in a room crowded with people and still be alone. I don't think I am alone, I feel I am alone."

With his finger, Kain traced her lips, causing them to quiver slightly. I felt so alone for the longest time. Then I met you... He smiled suddenly, though it looked painfully sad. "Great. Me too. Let's run away together and leave everything behind."

"I would love that, more than anything." The silver tears from the sky glided down her face and onto Kain's hands. "But I can't. I have a job to do. We both do." She looked away from the knight, watching the wet grass beneath their booted feet. "Maybe...after this is over." She gazed back up, this time her own tears descending from her eyes and mixing with the rain. "Promise you'll take me away."

Kain nodded as the rain beaded on his glossy hair, causing it to look nearly silver, and it draped over his eyes. The droplets slipped down the strands and fell onto his face, blurring his vision. "I promise. When this is done," He leaned closer and as if his voice wasn't low enough, whispered, "we can go wherever we want."

Decca moved a piece of his hair from out his eyes and watched them silently. With the steady drizzle falling down Kain's face, she couldn't tell whose tears it was that made his skin glistened and glow a beautiful shade of blue. His shirts were plastered to his chest and his black pants shimmered with the sapphire tinted water.

The fresh smell of rainwater surrounded them. And when the cool breeze blew, the drops of water on their skin slid down to join the earthen ground. Kain kissed her softly, enfolding his fingers together once his arms were around the elf entirely.

"I should hope that is as far as you will go. I don't appreciate you lovebirds outside of my hut doing...that."

Decca and Kain immediately separated from each other and drew their weapons in unison at the sound of the haggard voice.

What stood before the two was a tall man with dark cloaks. Kain would have guessed Olvin in the blurry haze of the rain, but once he cleared the raindrops from out his eyes it became obvious that the cloaks were a chocolate color, not black. That and the man's face could be seen well. It was only his hair and ears that remained in the shadow of the hood.

"Sorry for ruining the moment." The man ribbed, grinning widely. "But now that I have gotten your attention... What are you doing lurking outside of my--" He trailed off once his eyes fell upon Decca. The man smiled slightly, but the smile was more forlorn than his earlier mischievous one. "You've returned."

***

"Kain! Slow down!" Valzer called from behind the Dragoon. "This guy can't be that important--" The young wizard halted in his quick pace once he and the small group were before the very same hut Kain and Decca had discovered.

Cecil stepped up from in-between Valzer and Rubin. "And this man didn't tell you who he was?" When Kain shook his head, more droplets of water flying in every direction, Cecil sighed quietly. "And you left Decca here? By herself?" Kain wasn't always one to think things through.

Kain's eyebrow raised with Cecil's words. "Decca is more than able when it comes to taking care of herself. Besides, he seemed to know her."

"He? The man in the hut?"

"Yes."

"Whose name you don't know?"

The Dragoon's smile faltered slightly and after a moment's hesitation, "Cecil, a monk who lives in the forest, by himself and most likely did for many years, doesn't seem to pose much of a threat. I've seen inside the hut. There's nothing to worry about."

"Well, I suppose..." Cecil placed a hand upon the small hut's roof, which came to stand leveled to his chin. It didn't seem much, but from closer inspection one could see that the tiny home sloped downward and into the ground. The hut's walls were composed of sticks and bark, which were bound tightly together by string. The whole structure was green from leaves and moss and, despite its size, looked quite lovely. The hut was easy to overlook, trapped between two tall trees. "After all, we are looking for a monk. Maybe he is--"

"Get your hands off the roof, boy!" The man appeared in the doorway, which was draped with animal skins, with Decca standing besides him. "You know how old that thing is? I'd hate for your sacred hands to get all dirty."

"Sacred?" Cecil repeated the word quietly.

"You know what? I think I like this guy." Valzer's lopsided grin was back upon his face.

The man walked up to Cecil from his hut, showing now that there was small wooden steps leading from the door down into his house. "Well, you are a Paladin, are you not?"

Kain slipped an arm around Cecil's shoulders. "Not only a holy Paladin, good sir, but the King of Baron Country!"

The man didn't seem to hear that last statement, or didn't care, because he walked away from Kain mid sentence and went back into his house--leaving Kain and Cecil to stare absentmindedly in the direction he had hurried off into. A few minutes after he did this, however, the man poked his head back out from in-between the animal skins. "You people gonna come in out from the rain, or do you want some soap?"

Valzer overlooked his hands, as well as his companions. "Well, now that you mention it..."

The man frowned and disappeared again inside the house.

"Guess we better go in then." Kain padded his way to the door, or what passed as a door, and casually peered in-between the wet furs. He glanced back to his friends, shrugged and stooped down into the doorway.

"Are you sure this is safe?" Cecil motioned to follow Kain, but hesitated instead.

Rydia went to the animal skinned door and closed her eyes, allowing the cool water of the skies to trickle down her face. Almost as if in a trance, the girl smiled slightly. "This place is safe. I feel no negative energy." She opened her eyes, blinking rapidly to clear her vision from the rain, and descended the stairs into the home.

Valzer followed after Rydia with no protests, but before Cecil could enter the house, Rubin's hand fell upon his shoulder. "Let's go back for the chocobos first." Cecil gave a little nod, a bit relieved to be going opposite of the house's direction--he wasn't all for small, closed off places.

Inside the hut the man showed his guests to a few crude chairs to sit upon. Once fully in, Kain got a getter look at the house. Assorted weapons, mainly axes and broadswords, were furnishing mostly all of the walls visible to his eyes. So much for safe... Kain mumbled in his mind. A few colorful paintings, which stood out against the rather gloomy décor, were upon another wall that led to yet another room. When the man finally lit a lantern, the weak light showed that his small hut was actually the entrance to a room that led to various tunnels.

"By the gods..." Rydia breathed. "It's amazing!" Her large, aqua eyes searched every tunnel visible to her. "I've never seen anything like it."

"Damn..." Valzer chuckled, coming to stand by the Caller. "There must be a tunnel for every part of Mysidia's forest!" He moved closer to the nearest tunnel. "Where's this one lead to?"

The man, frowning, turned his head towards Valzer. "Don't touch anything. Don't follow anything. Don't play with anything."

Valzer inhaled sharply. "Is it all right if I breathe on something?"

"Yes, but I'd rather you do it outside."

The wizard smiled, taking no offense to the grumpy man's words. If anything, Valzer actually liked the man more for speaking his mind. Instead of merely ignoring his comment, Valzer bowed slightly, "Yes, sir."

"No, not sir. The name's Jorhan, as your lovely elvin warrior here already knows." Jorhan motioned towards Decca, sitting now next to Kain.

"Jorhan the monk, I presume." Rubin's unmistakable voice filled the space of the little hut and soon he appeared in the doorway, Cecil behind him. "Wrote a journal did you? On a particular...individual?"

Jorhan grinned broadly, folding his arms before his assortment of robes. "Yes, I did write a journal, but on which particular individual would you be talking about?" His smile faded when he realized the title by which Rubin had addressed him. "'Jorhan the monk'..." He smiled faintly. "I haven't been called that for years, old man. You found my journal then?"

"Yes, we did." Decca motioned towards Valzer, who seemed a bit hesitant in handing over the book. "It's all right, Valz. He's trustworthy."

"Yes, Decca, and I would love to know how exactly you know that..."

"I'll explain later." When her brother's expression did not change, "I promise. Later."

Valzer had barely enough time to pull the leather-bound book from out his robes before Jorhan snatched it away.

Jorhan stared at the tome as if it had been a lost child he hadn't seen in years. "When was the last time I saw you?" The monk's expression was more melancholy than pleased. "Fourteen years is a long time..." His face suddenly twisted and he quickly pivoted on his heels, motioning for Decca to take the book from his hands.

"What's wrong?" Decca had to grab for the book fast or else lose it to the dusty ground. When she didn't receive a response and Jorhan's look of aguish only increased, she stood up to face him. "Jorhan?"

Jorhan balled his hands into fists and bit down hard upon his lower lip. "I'm fine." His words were hard to make out through his clenched jaw. "It'll pass..." Decca grabbed the monk's arm and lowered him gently onto the seat of her chair; despite his tenacious personality he did not voice disagreement, but instead seemed to welcome the chair with a relived sigh. Before Decca had a chance to release her grip upon the man's upper arm, he took her free hand within his own. "Thank you...Decca."

The elf merely nodded a response, unable to break her gaze with the man's bottomless eyes.

"Jorhan?" Rydia's quiet voice came, growing louder as she stood. "We brought herbs with us. Perhaps whatever sickness you have--"

"A Caller, eh?" Jorhan laughed coarsely, and before Rydia had the chance to question him, "the hair is a dead giveaway, girl. That and your essence...very strong. No doubt from your mother's side." The monk smiled softly, which seemed somewhat odd accompanied with his pain-twisted face. "I ail from no sickness. You can call it a curse if you wish. Thank you anyway..."

"Rydia."

"Rye-dee-a." Jorhan laughed again. "Pretty name."

Rubin, the only one in the group who chose not to sit down, calmly padded his way to monk. "Let's make something clear, Jorhan. I have very little patience and as the night dies to morning, along with it goes what little tolerance of mine is left." The old man stood before Jorhan, towering over him.

Jorhan bowed his head, his smile quickly vanishing. "Aren't you going to offer me your healing hands, wizard?" His tone was neither harsh nor sarcastic; rather, it was nearly feeble.

Rubin pursed his lips before speaking, which he did in a low, steady voice. "This sickness of yours..." With his eyes closed, the old wizard extended a hand towards Jorhan, his fingers inches away from the monk's forehead. "I doubt I can cure it with a simple healing spell. It has been placed upon you with a deep, seeded hatred." Rubin opened his eyes, the monk's worn, sad face reflecting in them. "You really must have angered a powerful sage."

Jorhan scoffed. "You could say that..."

"I knew something was off about him." Cecil glanced at Kain, then towards Decca, who was now standing on the opposite side of the monk's chair.

"Now..." Rubin alternated his staff to his left hand, "about this White Light character..."

"Queen Undene of Valqua--that is her real name, in case you wanted to know." Jorhan rose from his chair again, looking even paler than before. "She is--she was the ruler of Valqua." He smiled again, the same forlorn smile he gave to Decca when he first saw her face. "She was very beautiful." He glanced at Decca, then back to the older wizard.

"Good. We're finally getting somewhere." Rubin sat down upon a table, a little ways left from Jorhan's chair.

"Was? Then she's dead." Decca closed her eyes, trying to take everything in. "Now I've lost her twice."

Jorhan shook his head. "Not dead, Decca, not her."

"You've met her then?" She could hardly hide the eagerness in her voice. "How can we get to Valqua? Where can I find her?"

"Whoa..." Jorhan chuckled, which ended in a dry cough. "Slow down. I don't know her personally. But I did see her...once. And that was all I needed--"

"Only once?" Kain stood up from his chair, pointing to the table Rubin was sitting upon and to the book, sitting besides the wizard. "How could you have written an entire book on her if you only saw her once?"

The monk reached for the book once more, flipping through the yellowed pages. When he seemed to find his page, he thrust the book towards Kain. "Look. Only part of this book has writing in it. If you would have read that far, you would have seen that the other half of this book is blank."

Kain took the outstretched book within in his own hands, looking it over with disbelieving eyes. "But--"

"Like I said, I lost the book fourteen years ago. I saw Queen Undene then, when I wrote this, like the date so states at the bottom of the pages."

"Still, how can you write nearly half a book on a person you only saw--once?"

Jorhan shot a withering glare towards the Dragoon Knight. "Have you ever seen her? I mean, really seen her?" As fast as his glare came, he fell back into his chair, rubbing his throbbing temples. "Have you felt her?"

Kain closed his eyes, smiling slightly with remembrance of a day that seemed like years before. "Once. In the Shrine of Amyl. It wasn't truly her. It was her energy."

"Imagine what you would have felt if you had seen her. Then you would have known the feeling of warmth, of belief--of utter completion, not just for a fleeting moment or a far off memory, but for the rest of your days. I never knew true harmony until I actually saw her. I could have written more than just one book. I could have written hundreds."

"Then what stopped you?"

Jorhan grinned, picking up the lantern by his feet and holding it up high above his own head until it practically touched the mossy ceiling. "Who said I stopped?"

The light of the candle within its glass case seemingly spilled out from its cage, lighting dozens of small lanterns hidden in niches within the room. When the flames flickered on, every part of the once shadowy, small room was covered with an intense glow. It was easy to see, in this new source of light, the tunnels in the back, the pictures upon the walls, the weapons hanging from wooden mantles...and the hundreds of bookshelves filled with leather-bounded tomes. Suddenly, the room was no longer small, but vast, each wall covered by something.

Cecil stood up immediately and spun around to see the room fully again. It didn't appear to be the same room they had been in only a few moments ago. It was as if their monk friend had teleported them somehow.

Valzer whistled and scratched the back of his head. "Would you look at that..."

"Have you ever seen so many books in one house?" Rydia smiled, her fingers itching to touch each one, to see what knowledge was to be found on their pages.

"Your father would have loved this, Decca." Kain reached out to feel a book before him in its place upon the dusty shelves, just to see if it was truly real. When his fingers came in contact with the hard leather, Kain pulled the book out of the case.

"You...wrote all of these?" Decca turned around to face Jorhan. "Just after seeing her once?"

"They're not all on her, but many are. Still don't believe me, Decca?" He stepped closer to the elf, so close that she could feel his breath upon her face. "She is an extraordinary person. She has powers...beyond human comprehension. And she is waiting, Decca, just for you."

Kain and Valzer practically spun around in unison upon hearing Jorhan's words.

The Dragoon Knight's brow furrowed; he did not like the sound of those words and they left a twisting pain within his stomach. "What do you mean, monk?"

Jorhan placed both his hands upon Decca's small shoulders. They felt strangely rough against her skin. Decca wanted to pull back at that moment, push Jorhan away from her, for she did not like this strange feeling that came upon her so suddenly. But she couldn't; the earnest look within his eyes froze her to her very soul.

"Decca, it's time for you to return home."