Unless you've read the DaVinci Code, you probably won't get the title. Sorry…the chapter isn't very good, either. Asher's chapters will get better, I swear. He'll stop being paranoid. I think. Again, my apologies, friends.

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-Asher-

What with the next island approaching, Talia was fairly preoccupied with our destination and was not bringing up the odd subject of flashes and voices. I would have very much liked to ask about those flashes and voices, but I wanted to wait until I could talk to Talia alone (I mean…you know…erm…so no one else heard about them and thought she was crazy, or something…don't give me that look!!), and that probably wouldn't happen for a little while. Maybe at the next island…who could tell? So until we arrived, I would have all the time in the world to ponder about Pandora's true intentions.

Out of curiosity, about two days before we arrived, I made the decision to listen to a conversation between Chess, Ryan, and Pandora, seeing as a good deal of the time they were all huddled near the side of the ship. Of little interest, it seemed a lot like, if you were not an invisible, you didn't have to work, but who knew? Knowing the crew, that was probably true. Anyway, it went something like this;

"So…the unanswered question, Pandora--why would you come back to Talia?" Ryan asked, triggering laughter from his companions. Pandora shook her head, dropping a card.

"Well…to be honest, it was mostly so I could be with someone who knew the past, too…but I guess that didn't quite work out, eh?" A few chuckles. "What about you two, have either of you remembered anything?

"…Are we supposed to?" Chess replied. Pandora merely shrugged. "Well…no. I haven't. I'm assuming Ryan hasn't, either."

"Nope." Ryan seemed halfway distracted--contemplating a move, no doubt. "Has Talia remembered anything that you're aware of?"

"…Kind of. But she won't tell me what it is." She glanced over at Talia, who was reprimanding an invisible for tripping over a rope. Reprimanding is somewhat of an understatement. She sighed. "I don't know. Maybe I just dreamed it all up."

"Probably not. No one is that creative," Chess interjected. "…Even you, Pandora." She laughed lightly.

"I suppose you're right."

"You look like you've got something on your mind."

"…Not really…just something that's always there." At that point, she sat back against the rail and glanced at me. I froze under her gaze. Oops. "You listening over there, Asher?" She asked me. I blinked. "If you're going to listen, you might as well come sit down."

Well…it was a change from Talia, who probably would have yelled at me. I came over and sat down. She half smiled at me, then turned back to the game, placing a card. "Pandora, you say I…die in the alternate past, right?" I asked timidly. She looked at me again, a thoughtful look on her half-turned face.

"…Yes. Why asking? I didn't think you believed me?" I smiled sheepishly.

"Maybe I still don't."

"And maybe you're just asking?"

"Y-yeah." What? I couldn't ask questions anymore?

"…Hm." She smiled. "Talia wouldn't be happy with you, seeing as she's hardcore against the idea of another timeline." Indeed she was. I had, only once, tried talking to her about it, and it flung her into a long rant about how ridiculous that idea was. It was quite an amusing conversation, actually.

"…So?"

"So…join the fun, Asher. Follow the word of Pandora, convert religions," Ryan butt in. "It's ever so much more fun knowing about what happened in an alternate time." I frowned, laughing a little. It seemed, like Talia said, ridiculous, but it was even funnier to hear it called a religion.

"Alright, alright, you've got my attention."

As I listened to them, I still couldn't dispel my feeling of suspicion toward Pandora. It seemed like she was poisoning the minds of the crew, and soon the disease would spread through out the Death Lily and soon the ship would be overrun with followers of Pandora!

Then I rethought that statement and realized that I was making it sound like it was a cult. And it wasn't. But I still couldn't believe her. It just couldn't be true--I would never accept it until I had complete, solid proof.

After a while of listening to them, Talia called me over to complain about invisibles, which didn't really bother me. At least it got me away from Chess, Ryan, and Pandora, who were still talking about the past. And their card game was getting monotonous anyway.

That night, I went down below deck with the intent of visiting Talia to ask about the flashes, but something else caught my attention--a small noise coming from Pandora's room. Confused, I inched over and listened through the door. Which didn't help, because wood generally didn't allow for a clear sound from beyond it. I knocked on the door, then waited for an answer, of which I got none. Now even more puzzled, I slowly opened the door just wide enough for me to peek inside.

Inside, she stood at the window (if you could call it that) with tears pouring down her face. Her fingers were lightly pressed against the glass. After a few moments, she sunk to the ground and sobbed, burying her face in her arms. I silently closed the door and was thankful that she had not seen me.

For once, I was not suspicious of her. The only thing in my mind was…why had she been crying? It was perplexing enough to keep me from visiting Talia. Even the next morning, when she seemed alright and was, again, merrily speaking with Chess and Ryan, I couldn't get that picture out of my head.

Maybe I should mention it to Talia. After all, I certainly had a great deal to discuss with her.

I glanced at her. "Hey Talia? Can I talk to you?"