The large moon's light reflected off the water and bounced on the soaring glass ship. The nameless vessel was completely made of glass but quite unbreakable. Cruising on her was not for everyone- only for the richest of nobles and Alice just happened to be one of them. This summer she had turned eighteen and tonight was her cousins wedding. But unlike most, she felt sorry for the young woman. Alice always thought marriage was the loss of freedom; shackles that bound you for life, that you could only be free off by death.

"Oh lighten up Alice!" her mother told her as she sipped more of her wine. She was sparkling. Beautiful in her pale blue gown, her long red hair that she had passed on to Alice was tied in an elaborate bun. Alice had been told many times that she was the exact copy of her mother. The same long red hair and stunning green eyes. She looked nothing like her deceased worthless trash of a father. That was why she dreaded marriage. Her mother had spent countless years in misery because of her father. It was more of a celebration than a loss when he died from sickness. At ten years old then, Alice had been more than grateful.

"Mother, you know how I feel about marriage." she said looking down at the shining water as every so often the ship broke its gleaming surface. "Why should a woman give up her freedom? I shall never want to get married."

Her mother's smile faded. "Alice, you're a beautiful girl and I too fear that an ill mannered man will seek your marriage. But one day you will realise how love works and then you will want to get married. Now let's celebrate! You're making your cousin nervous. Come on dear." Alice smiled but her mother could see through the fakeness. Alice followed her and sat beside her cousin and together they talked. Everybody was too busy celebrating to notice the danger ahead.

It happened so fast. The ship crashed. Alice went flying and hit the glass rails of the ship. The glass broke and she fell through. Her mother screamed and ran to where she last saw her daughter- struggling to stay balanced. Alice was gone.

"Queen Alanna! Alanna! Come quick!" Alanna was in shock. But she knew that the best thing to do now was to get to safety. Her sister took hold of her hand and pulled her into one of the small lifeboats. They were completely made of wood and only travelled on water. There was nothing magical about them. Alanna stared into the water- hoping that maybe she could see her daughter and pull her in.

Those who survived quickly went to the nearest village. They had been traveling for 13 days on the ship and were very far from home. The village people were very friendly. It was discovered that four people had been killed, Alice supposedly being one of them. People tried to comfort Alanna. Were they dumb? She would be depressed for many months and even after that, would still be upset. Her daughter was her only child. That night as others ate, she sat by herself. Thinking of how wonderful her daughter was; her bravery, her independence and her uniqueness.

The nest morning Alanna woke up to find that the rest of the crew were having a meeting. She was the last there.

"Why did no one wake me?" she growled.

Her sister walked up to her. "My sister, you have lost your daughter. We thought it would be best to let you rest."

"REST?" she growled. "You think that because my poor Alice has been taken from me that I am utterly hopeless?"

"Of course not Alanna!" her sister replied fearfully. Alanna was upset before butnow she was upset and angry.

"Well what is your plan?!" she demanded.

"W-we have decided to journey to the capital city Ascer. The king is most kind there and extremely powerful. But we must leave quickly. We shall leave tonight, after gathering some supplies of course."

They sold the remains of the ship and in return bought a giant animal by the name of Aluax. The creature was absolutely massive. Among its fur and giant white wings, it carried 60 seats, enough to take the big family safely to Ascer.

The villagers warned them of the dangers they would have to encounter. "Always follow the path. It may be safest route to get there from here but it is still quite dangerous. Aluax can fly but he will get tired sooner or later."

The family left that night and Alanna cried for the first time. She felt as if everyone she loved abandoned her but little did she know, the one person she loved the most, Alice, was alive. After falling into the water, she had drifted to the shore. There she lay for hours until finally she woke up……

Alice opened her eyes. Her head felt like someone had hit her continuously with a hammer. All she could remember was her mother's screams as all the chairs flew off. Tears filled her eyes but before they could spill, she heard some one's voice calling for her.

"Miss, miss!" he called. "Thank the stars you are awake. I feared you were dead when I pulled you out of the water!"

"Where am I?"

"You are in Eidos of course. I guess you don't have any lodging than? You had better come with me." He pulled a giant sack onto his back. "Its not safe here for helpless girls like you. I'll take you to the nearest inn!"

Alice fought the urge to growl at her rescure. Hopeless was she?! But she wisely kept her mouth shut and instead inquired about the whereabouts of Eidos. The man rattled off about geography that she had no understanding of all the way to the inn. As they entered all the occupants looked up and stared at her. A fat man who looked as if he hadn't washed himself for days grinned at her, making her shiver. The man told her to take a seat as he headed behind the counter. She sat down beside a young man. He looked handsome but worried. He had black hair and hazel eyes. Alice couldn't help but to smile.

"Now what's a pretty girl like you doing here?" he said looking her way.

" eh…I don't- I don't know." she replied. Suddenly all her problems came back. The man laughed and took another gulp of his drink.

"I'm Dean." he finally said.

"I'm Alice…I'm lost." she replied.

"Oh yea? That makes two of us-…I'm sorta lost too." he replied. "Well I must be on my way; nice meeting you milady." A gust of wind from the door blew his hair around his face and hid his eyes from view. He put his coat around his shoulder and began to walk out the door, his masculine gait only highlighting his tall height.

"Wait!" Alice called after him. "Where are you going?"

Dean gave a surprising look at her. Why did she care? "To Terell." The men behind him laughed. Annoyed Dean turned away and quickly walked out the bar. Alice followed.

"What do you mean Terell?" she called out behind him.

"To see the powerful soothsayer, to prove my innocence."

Alice was confused. "What soothsayer?"

"One that can help you with anything" he replied, his voice fading as he slowly disappeared from view.

"A soothsayer who could help you with anything?" Alice whispered.

"Dean, wait! I'm coming with you!" Dean stopped and looked up at Alice running towards him.

"You cant."

"Why not?" she spluttered out. "Oh just because I am a women I'm unfit to travel with you!" She patted down her skirt and pulled her hair behind her ears. "Us women are just as capable of doing these so called "manly activities"! It suddenly occurred to Alice that she was letting her feminist nature get away with her in front of a total stranger, whom she had just met! How embarrassing! But when she looked up his eyes were gleaming with open humor and he was grinning. He let out a laugh and shifted his coat to his right shoulder.

"Fine. You can come but keep out of my way. I want to get this done as quickly as possible." He let out a sigh and Alice could sense the sadness in his tone of voice. Together they began walking. It was going be a very long journey.