Me: Whoops, forgot my author's note! 'Kay! I'm still inexplicably into this game, like, a lot. I'm just gonna warn you now, I'm making/planning a lot of fanfics for this right now. Probably kinda like a series or...something. I DON'T HAVE A PROBLEM, OKAY?

Oh yeah, the brothers don't have any official names, but a lot of people assume older brother is Nyaa/Naya/Naia and little brother is Naiee/Naii. I still don't have an idea of which one I'm using. Wikipedia spells them as Nyaa and Naiee, but an official soundtrack I found spells older bro's as Naia... Well, there I go rambling again. My apologies. Carry on.

Naiee groaned, slowly waking up to find himself lying face-down on the ground. His head pounded, feeling like it was about to explode. He shuddered as he tried to recollect his mind. His whole body ached in one way or another. He didn't know where he was either. What... had happened?

The blond lifted his head groggily, holding it in one hand, supporting his body with the other. Suddenly, a strong arm extended for him.

"Naiee, are you okay?" The boy froze at the voice. It was so familiar, a voice Naiee hadn't heard in months. Slowly, his face turned up is disbelief, not sure what to expect. His eyes met with almond eyes, those of his deceased brother's. "You fell asleep, Naiee. For like, a while now. Come on, we need to get going." He turned away with the map, trying to figure out where they were.

"N... Naia?" Naiee rubbed his eyes, then took a good look at the teenager in front of him.

"Naiee, what's wrong?" The older brother turned and helped him to his feet. Naia was as healthy as ever, no wound on his stomach or any pale flesh from venom. He was still tall and strong, his clothes not very tattered, and strangely clean.

He was HERE.

He was ALIVE.

Naiee shook his head slowly in shock. "Naia..." he whispered again.

After a moment's hesitation, Naii threw his arms around his Naia and shook into his chest. "N-Naiee?!" Naia yelped in surprise.

"How're you here?!" Naii shouted in a mixture of joy and distress. "You're... You're dead!" The orange-clad brother stopped his shaking and took in the reality.

This couldn't be real. Naia WAS dead. Naiee never felt a pulse or a soft exhale of breath the last time he saw Naia. The last time he saw him, Naia was bleeding helplessly with shaky breaths, a true picture of horror.

But even if it were a dream, Naiee relished in his brother's warmth. He was there, firm arms around the boy. Naiee had almost started to forget his voice, and the scent that only Naia had on his clothes. It was a scent that Naiee had known everyday for 11, nearly 12 years, but had already started to forget.

"Naia..." Naiee muttered. "I don't want you dead..."

"Dead? I'm not dead."

"But...you're..."

"I'm right here, silly," Naia laughed as he and Naiee pulled away.

"No, no..." The blond's eyes were shut tight, trying not to cry. He hated to, and there was no reason to. "Y-You died..."

"Naiee, look at me." Naia's hand still rested on Naii's shoulder, shaking it a little and getting his eyes to open. His other hand pointed to his smiling face. "I'm right here. Of course I'm not dead."

"But..." Naiee sniffed and brushed a hair out of his face with his gloved hand. "But I made it home after you... And then we got a gravestone for you and... But... How?"

Naia's face turned into one of confusion. "Home? Naiee, we haven't even gotten to the Water yet."

The poor younger brother was confused. He was very sure the journey ended. Naia was supposed to be dead, yet here he was, saying they were still on their quest for the Water of Life. To make everything worse, Naiee couldn't remember what happened before waking up.

"What's going on?" he managed to ask, wiping away the last of his tears. "Where are we, Naia?"

Naia pulled out his map. "We're in the mountains." His arms embraced himself, and shivered. "How are you not cold, Naiee?"

Suddenly, Naiee felt a very cold chill. He looked around. He hadn't paid attention to the scenary before, but he was pretty sure they weren't in the cold mountains before... Wait... Cold mountains. That means...

"W-Where's Araca?" His voice was filled with fear and anger.

"Araca? Who's Araca?"

"You...don't remember?"

"No. Who's Araca? I don't recall ever meeting someone by that name."

"Th-The spider lady! Y'know, 'oh-so beautiful'? She killed you," Naiee bluntly said, unsure why he had to say that.

"But I'm not dead," Naia restated just as blunt. "I'm not dead." He gestured to himself and shrugged. "I'm not dead."

"Naia?" Little brother took a step back, a little unsure.

"Don't worry, Naiee. I'm not dead."

"I'm...just confused..." Naii dropped to his knees.

"Hey, you okay?" Naia took one of Naiee's hands in his own. Naia's other hand lifted the young child's head up, then rested on top of his other hand, clasping it in warmth. Naiee enjoyed the warmth. "Come on, we still a long way to go. He pulled his little brother up, still holding his hand. Naii didn't bother to pull his hand away. Strangely, he enjoyed it.

"There's no reason to look so sad, Naiee. I'm right here, with you. Even when time catches up to me and takes me away, I'm still here. I promise you I'm not dead, as cruel as fate can be."

"..." Naiee stayed quiet for a few seconds. "Fate...is cruel..."

"Sometimes fate does torture us, and there's no way to stop it. But even so, we can't alter time, Naiee."

"It... It felt so real."

"I'm not dead. You're not dead. It was just a dream, Naiee."

"But... But I never said I was dead."

"Of course you're not dead. And I'm not dead either. I just said it."

"..." Naiee embraced his brother from the side. "I'm glad we're not dead, Naia..."

"I'm glad too. Hey, I think we should go through this cave," Naia said as he pointed to a familiar looking cave...

It was Araca's cave. The younger brother froze in place.

"N-No! Not here! Not here!" Naiee struggled against his brother's iron grip.

"Why not?"

"There's a monster in there! A demon!"

"Monster? Don't be ridiculous. There's no monster in here. The map says this might be a shortcut..."

"Naia, no!"

Naia pulled Naiee into the cave, and suddenly they were weightless. Suddenly it wasn't a cave, but a dark hole they fell through, seemingly endless.

"NAIAAAAA!"