A small foot, coated in black velvet, scraped gently at the ground. The makeshift canvas was soon decorated with a 'V' and an 'I' and 'R' all very meticulously inscribed, until finally, her name was spelled completely. "Virginia Maxwell," she mumbled in her honeyed voice. A sort of half smile appeared on the young woman's face as she read her own name aloud. She paused, staring at her soot covered stocking. Then delicately, with one toe, Virginia carved a frail little question mark.

Seemingly content with her work, Virginia nodded. Then, in a sudden bout of melodrama, she flung herself back, hitting the ground with a thud. She clutched an old, faded photo in one hand, and had both her hands over her heart. Sighing rather uncharacteristically, she lifted the photo over her face so that it eclipsed her view of the sky.

Still grasping the photo in one hand she brought her other hand to her mouth. Clamping on the cloth with her teeth, Virginia removed her glove. She flexed her fingers as if they had just been relieved from some great constraint, before running them across the photo. Her touch lingered on one of the seven figures: a tall, smiling man with brown hair. Her sapphire eyes hazed with unshed tears and she murmured, "Daddy… why can't I remember anything?"

She twirled her hair around her finger, almost as if waiting for some kind of reply. There was no answer, and it made her feel foolish talking to a photo like that. She sat up and yawned, stretching her arms above her head. Virginia absentmindedly swiped at the tears that had begun to trail down her cheeks. It was ridiculous for her to cry over the past… Memories are nice… But when it comes right down to it they're just memories…

Virginia set the photo on her lap, and without looking, reached for her discarded boots. The others were probably looking for her and it'd be best if she went back… A scowl crossed her usually friendly features as her hands met with noting but thin blades of grass. She had set her boots aside nearby, so that she could reach them easily, without having to get up. However, she couldn't find them now… She turned, relying on her eyes in order to locate the missing shoes…

She scanned the small area around her with little success… she could not see where they had gone. Craning her neck to the point where it caused a slight twinge of pain, Virginia looked behind her. There she saw her boots, dangling inches away from her face, and she screamed, from shock and fear of ghostly apparitions.

Still screaming, Virginia flailed around, kicking and shouting. She turned away from the 'ghost' and clutching her head, yelled, "Go away!", "Help me!" and "Don't hurt me!" in varying degrees in intensity. The photo, which had found temporary home on Virginia's lap, was suddenly tossed into the air. It wafted slowly in the breeze…

Clive, who was very distressed by the chaos he had caused, dropped the boots and crouched over near Virginia. "It's me Clive!" he yelled, grabbing her shoulders and giving her a good shake. She calmed down slightly and turned to face Clive.

There was a moment of silence as Clive and Virginia stared at each other. A smile tugged at Virginia's lips… Clive had the strangest look on his face; it was a mixture of concern, amusement and something indescribable. To top it off, his glasses sat crookedly on his face and were in danger of falling off… However, in Clive's eyes, Virginia was no better. Her face was about as red as a tomato and her braid, though never particularly tidy, was in terrible shape. Both drifters attempted to stifle their urge to laugh: Virginia covering her mouth with an un-gloved hand and Clive using his legendary self-control. However, this became impossible as, by an amazing stroke of luck, the photo landed on Clive's head.

After laughing uncontrollably for a couple minutes, Clive waited patiently for Virginia to regain her composure. A brief two or three minutes later, Virginia's laughter became a giggle and finally ceased all together. Still smiling she remarked, "Wow, Clive you really scared me…"

"Yes, I'm incredibly sorry," began Clive apologetically, "I saw you sitting there, by yourself, so I decided to give you a small shock. I didn't exactly expect it to elevate into such a fiasco."

Virginia nodded. "It's okay… But can I ask you a question?" She waited for a brief nod from Clive before continuing. "Exactly how long were you standing there?"

"Not very long… just in time to see you reach for your boots... It was a spur of the moment thing… taking your boots I mean…" Clive paused as he cautiously reached for the photo which miraculously remained on his head. "I won't look at it if you don't want me too… But your possession is still nestled safely in my hair…"

Virginia shook her head. "No, its fine… you can look at it. It's not anything you haven't seen before."

Clive pulled the photo off of his head and stared at it. Virginia meanwhile, reached for her boots and began to put them on. Clive frowned slightly as he stared at the seven scientists in the picture. So it had been all an act… Virginia still missed her father after all… It was only natural. "Virginia?"

"Yeah?" Virginia did not look up at Clive but continued to struggle with her boots.

"You miss your father don't you?"

Virginia looked up almost immediately. "Umm… no… I mean of course but that's not exactly why I was staring at the picture if that's what you want to know…"

"It's not?"

"Nope"

"Well, then what is it?"

Virginia nervously wrung her dress in her hands. "Umm… It's kind of strange. You see I feel like I know those people. Like they were family… Like… Oh I don't know," she stuttered.

Clive nodded reassuringly. "It's a perfectly logical conclusion… You, as a young girl deeply attached to her father, would definitely accompany Werner to his workplace." Clive paused and gave a nervous sort of laugh. "Well, almost definitely. After all, nothing is absolute when it comes to umm… 'predicting' the past."

"Yeah…" Virginia looked up at Clive. "Doesn't it bother you though? Knowing that your memories… the very things that make you who you are, are no longer yours? Doesn't it bother you that you can't remember your past?"

"It does… I mean I do remember some things…"

"But is it enough?" questioned Virginia. "Are you content with the scraps the Yggdrassil incident left us?" Her voice was eager and filled with such urgency that Clive could not ignore the truth of her words.

Clive stared at the ground. "No I'm not… I'm not content."

"Me neither." Virginia finished putting on her boots with stubborn vigor. "And you know what… I've been thinking…" She moved to put on her rather soiled white glove. Her voice trailed off suddenly and she seemed to lose some of her confidence.

"Please continue," urged Clive gently. "I'd love to hear more about your theory."

Virginia smiled at him and nodded. "Thank you," she whispered. She paused taking a deep breath. "Well," she began, "I've been thinking about the Prophets. I can't help but feel that my quest for justice was nothing more than a waste of time. That it was selfish… but at the same time didn't help me at all."

Clive shrugged. "Sometimes you have to be selfish in order to get anything out of life... I'm afraid most people are incapable of selflessness…"

"Maybe, but I didn't get anything out of it. We shouldn't have killed them, Clive. They were the only ones who knew exactly what happened to this world. And more importantly, to me at least, was the fact that they knew my father and they might have known me…"

"Yes, they did know… they knew everything. I experienced much of the same feelings when it came to the destruction of the Hyades Library…"

"Oh, my goodness… We shouldn't have destroyed that either… It could have told us so much more… I'm so sorry Clive…"

Clive shook his head in disapproval. "Don't be so quick to apologize… If you had let me finish you would have realized that my statement had not been as accusatory as it sounded. I was going to say that I gave in because I realized that you were right."

"I was?"

"Yes, it was a matter of choosing knowledge or life. You chose life and that, despite what anyone may say, is everyone's priority."

"So our journey wasn't a waste?"

"No it wasn't. You did an excellent job as leader… I couldn't have done a better job myself."

Virginia's eyes widened in disbelief. Who was Clive kidding? He could have done way better… "That's not true…" she stuttered blushing slightly.

"Yes it is," asserted Clive, smiling kindly. "Now, if you're done beating your self up I can proceed to tell you what solution I've come up with."

"Really?!" questioned Virginia excitedly. She leaned over towards Clive. "I'm done beating myself up…" she announced.

Clive chuckled and adjusted his glasses. "It's not really ground breaking or anything…"

"Don't worry… I don't have any ideas so yours should really be a help," exclaimed Virginia brightly.

"Well, if I recall this correctly, your father had a journal which seemed to chronicle a lot of the Yggdrassil experiment… From what little I've seen of Werner, I'd judge him to be quite the family man. So it is quite possible that he included a bit of his more personal affairs within the book."

"You're right… a lot of his old stuff is still back home… I can look at that to jog my memories!" Virginia stood up and laughed. She extended her hand to Clive who still sat on the floor. "Come on Clive. Let's go to Boot Hill!"

Clive stared at her hand for a moment before taking it in his own. Virginia began to tug in an attempt to help Clive up but she felt the seasoned drifter tugging away. "What is it Clive?" she questioned.

"I want to warn you that the journey could be dangerous and advise you that such eagerness could be rewarded with disappointment."

"Don't be silly…" scolded Virginia laughing slightly. "Boot Hill isn't far off and nobody has been able to capture us yet…"

"That's not what I mean… I mean that uncovering your past may be a bit too much to handle."

"I know what I want, Clive. I'm not a child."

Clive nodded, finally allowing himself to be hoisted up. "If you are certain you want to begin this journey… then I am behind you one hundred percent."

There was not even a flicker of hesitation as she replied, "I'm certain."

Clive shrugged. He handed her the picture and she took it. "In that case lead the way… The others and I will follow… you are our leader after all…"

Virginia beamed at him. "Thank you Clive…" She looked around. She held up one hand and pointed in the direction of her homeland. "We'll get the others and go to Boot Hill…"