Hitomi managed only a couple hours of sleep in her bunk. The constant hum of the ship, and only mild sensations of motion were beginning to make her feel ill. Her conversation with Van that evening kept knocking around in her head as well. Would it ever become easy? Would he ever be able to understand? She knew most of what he said was out of frustration, but it still upset her. She climbed out of bed and made her way to the deck yet again. She wasn't sure what time it was, but she wasn't likely to sleep any longer.

Once on deck, she could see the faintest hint of light on the horizon. She leaned on the railing and sighed deeply. Her pendant hung almost past the banister. She touched it lightly and turned it in her fingers. The faint light of the early morning reflected on one side, giving it an unearthly glow.

"It's beautiful isn't it."

Hitomi jumped. She hadn't heard anyone come up behind her. She turned to find the speaker just as Daniel approached the railing.

"The sunrise, it's beautiful isn't it. I love the sunrise. It always gives me hope for the coming day. It's clean and clear, and unspoiled, like a child." Daniel took a deep breath. "The air is fresh this morning." He turned to Hitomi, seemingly expecting some kind of response.

"Yes, it's beautiful." Daniel's eyes moved to the pendant Hitomi was still caressing with her fingers.

"That's a very unique jewel. There must be a story behind it."

"My grandmother gave it to me when I was a child."

"Oh? So this is a treasure of the mystic moon, then? It's lovely." Daniel returned his gaze to the distant sunrise. "I've always been curious about the mystic moon. I always wondered if there were people up there, people like us. When I heard about a girl from the mystic moon helping the dragon stop Zaibach I knew I had to find a way to meet her. I must admit I never actually expected to find you at the palace in Fanelia. What fortune I must have." He turned and looked at Hitomi with a joyful grin on his face. Hitomi was instantly put at ease. She laughed and dropped the pendant underneath her shirt.

"I never wondered about Gaea. We can't see it from Earth...err.. The mystic moon."

"Earth… is that what you call it? That's a strange name."

"I suppose it is…"

"You can't see Gaea… can you see the other moon?"

"We can, it looks just the same to us. I used to look up at it and wonder how we ever made it there."

"You've been to the moon from your world? How could you manage that?"

"I don't really know actually… we sent a metal rocket… kind of like the leviships we have here, but they are sent up with big explosions… I don't know exactly how it's done. I used to look up at the moon and wonder how it was possible at all."

"Such amazing abilities your people have… I look forward to hearing all about them." Hitomi sighed, this time of relief. "What is it, is something wrong?" Daniel seemed genuinely concerned.

"No, it's just that it's been awhile since I've been able to just talk to someone. At the palace I had Merle, but even she seemed to have expectations of me… Merle! I just realized she isn't here!" Hitomi was suddenly anxious. Daniel picked up on her anxiety.

"Now something is the matter"

"Merle isn't here. I didn't' even think about the possibility of Van not bringing her. I didn't get a chance to say goodbye. Who knows how long we will be away. She's going to be so angry…" Daniel rested a warm hand on Hitomi's shoulder.

"I'm sure it will be fine. The young King probably had a very good reason for leaving her behind. For the moment, there's no use worrying. "

"I'll have to ask Van…" The sun rose above the horizon and lit the fields below the ship. Hitomi could just make out a glint in the distance. Daniel noticed where she was looking.

"That is the Asturian bay. We will have to cross it in order to get to Palas. It isn't wide, but it is beautiful, and deep. Pallas is built on a peninsula that stretches out into the bay. When it was built, the technology of levistones had not yet been discovered, and the location made it strategically advantageous. Now, though, there is not much difference between land and water for leviship travel. Our safest course of action now is to keep the peace, something we don't seem to be that good at doing." Hitomi looked up at Daniel. His forehead was creased as he looked out to the bay on the horizon.

"You don't like war do you?"

"I don't. It's why I became an ambassador. I want to do everything in my power to keep Asturia from having to endure another war like the one with Zaibach."

"I don't like war either." Hitomi said. "I don't like to see people get hurt, not even the enemy."

"I know how you feel." Daniel turned to Hitomi with a serious expression. " This whole business with Holdenton has me very unsettled."

"Holdenton?"

"I'm sorry, it is a small town on the coast of the Asturian bay. It was attacked recently. This is the reason we are on our way to Palas."

"I know… I didn't know the name. Do you have any idea about what happened?"

Daniel sighed. "The reports say it was a melef, but the way it's described, that seems hard to believe."

"Van thinks it's Zaibach again." Hitomi leaned forward over the railing and looked down at the grasses below. She could see some animals bounding through the reeds that appeared like deer or antelope.

"He does, does he? I don't think the Asturian council is going to like that theory. Everyone seems determined to put the Zaibach war behind us. They would rather bury their heads in the sand."

"Do you think it could be Zaibach." Hitomi watched Daniel as he responded.

"I don't want to. If it is, than we are in trouble. There may be no way to negotiate a peaceful resolution, if it is. The town is on the coast between Zaibach and Asturia though, and they are one of the few nations on Gaea with an army of Melefs. It's been a long time since we've heard anything from Zaibach, and that makes me nervous. Who knows what has been going on within their borders since Emperor Dornkirk and his Fate machine were destroyed."

The deck of the leviship was slowly becoming more populated by deckhands and passengers as the morning wore on. Crewmen adjusted ropes that were coming from the levistones, and turned the large fins that steered the ship. The bow slowly turned towards the shimmering water in the distance. "To tell you the truth, I'm actually a little apprehensive of your return to our world now." Daniel fixed Hitomi with an unsettling stare.

"What do you mean?"

"The last time the girl from the mystic moon appeared on Gaea, it was to save us from the Emperor Dornkirk. No one knows how or why, but everyone knows the Emperor feared her, and the dragon. Now you are back and reunited with the dragon, is this a sign we are headed for another war? Will you be able to save us a second time?"

Hitomi was unsettled, and somewhat offended by Daniel's idea. However, she had the visions… weren't they part of why she came back? "I'm not a sign. I came back because I wanted to…I didn't really have anything to do with us beating Zaibach. I really just got in the way most of the time... It's not like I have any special powers…"

"Don't you?"

Hitomi was not liking the way this conversation was going. Did he know about her visions? How much did the people of Gaea know about her? She heard some shouts from the upper deck. Crewmen were giving orders to deckhands below. Van stood up on the upper deck speaking to one of the crewmen. His gaze met hers and she looked away. She peered into the distance across the Asturian bay, which was now much more than a glint on the horizon.

Hitomi suddenly felt light headed. Her vision blurred, and her head swam. She felt like there was thunder in her ears. The sky turned dark, and she saw something large burst from the water below them. Large tendrils flew forth from it and slammed into the side of the leviship, tearing a large hole in the hull. Hitomi could barely hear indistinct cries through the roaring in her head. She put her hands over her ears to try and shut it out, but it didn't help. A blast of fire came from the large melef that was now hovering next to the ship. She could feel the heat all around her as the ship began to list under her feet. Hitomi let out a cry.

"Hitomi! Are you alright?!" Hitomi found herself in Daniel's arms. He was looking down at her with a worried expression. Behind him, Hitomi could see the blue sky, and she felt a cool breeze brush her skin. The ship was not moving beneath her and there was no fire.

"Van! I need to get to Van!." Hitomi disentangled herself from Daniel's grasp and dashed along the deck towards the upper level. "Van!" It was a vision. It had to be. She hadn't had one so vivid in a very long time. She had to warn Van. The thought that now Daniel knew for sure flitted through her mind, but she was in too much of a hurry to care. If she told Van now, perhaps it could be avoided. As she ran, Hitomi noticed dark thunderclouds in the distance. Great, that's all we need. Van met her on the stairs to the upper deck.

"Hitomi, are you okay? What happened?"

"Van, we can't cross the bay! There is a melef waiting. It will ambush us, we wont be able to escape!" Van put his hands on Hitomi's shoulders to calm her and slow her down.

"What happened, what did you see?"

"We wont make it across the bay. As we are crossing a melef will come from the water and destroy the ship." A crewman came part way down the stairs and addressed Van.

"My Lord, there is a storm coming from the north. We have to cross the bay before it gets here or we will be caught in the open."

"Okay, increase speed. We need to make it across the bay as quickly as possible."

"Van, no! Find another way!" Van turned to head back to the upper deck. Hitomi grabbed for his arm. Van half turned to face her.

"There is no other way. If we stay out here we will be caught in a storm in the open. That could destroy us. There is no where to land here to get out of the storm. We have to make it to Palas before it hits or we may not make it at all." He dashed up the stairs away from Hitomi.

Hitomi looked north to the oncoming storm. It seemed too big to only just have been noticeable. The clouds towered into the sky, dark and sinister. They didn't seem natural to Hitomi. She didn't know what to do. She looked back to where Daniel was. He was still standing by the railing, watching her. She ran back towards him. She shouted as she ran, "Daniel, we have to stop them, we have to do something, we can't let them cross the bay!"

Daniel caught her by the arms when she got to him, out of breath. "What's going on Hitomi, what happened just now?"

"I saw… I saw a melef come out of the water and attack us. There is a storm coming. If we cross the bay now, we will be attacked and caught in the storm over open water!" Hitomi tried to catch her breath, but there wasn't time. " We have to stop them… I don't know what to do…" She started to feel faint, and then collapsed.

Daniel swept Hitomi up into his arms and carried her below deck to her cabin. She regained consciousness as he was laying her onto her bed. "No… what… where am I.. we have to do something…"

"We will try, but breath. Explain to me slowly what is going on now. We were standing on deck talking, when your pendant began to glow. Then you screamed and collapsed. What was that?" Hitomi looked up into Daniel's warm face. He seemed genuinely worried. He reminded Hitomi again of Allen. She had to take a chance and trust him. All of their lives might depend on it.

"It was a vision. I have them sometimes, but it's been a long time since I've had one so vivid. I wonder if my pendant makes them stronger, Van only just gave it back to me this morning."

"You said there was a melef?"

"Yes, it came up out of the water. It blew fire at the ship. I could feel the heat of it, and I could feel the ship beginning to fall. If the ship goes down over the water there will be nothing we can do."

"I saw you tell the king, what is he going to do?"

"Van, yes. He is speeding the ship up. He says we wouldn't survive being caught in the storm over the plains either. He's trying to make it across the bay before the storm reaches us. We wont make it Daniel. The storm is moving too fast. We couldn't even see it yet when we were speaking this morning, and now it is almost here. There is something unnatural about it. I don't know how to put it exactly, but it seems like it's part of the attack." Hitomi was at a loss. She couldn't think of anything they could do. "How long was I unconscious? How close are we to the bay?"

"You weren't out long, I brought you directly here. I don't' know how close we are though. You are right about Van's plans. The ship has sped up. We may be almost to the bay by now. I'm not sure there's anything we can do. Since Van knows of your vision, he may still be able to do something. At least it won't be a surprise if anything happens."

"I have to get back up there." Daniel helped Hitomi out of the bed and followed her back up on deck. The winds had picked up and almost blew Hitomi into a wall, but Daniel managed to catch her just as he came through the door behind her. The crew was battling with the lines attached to the levistones, and the sails were being withdrawn to prevent the ship from being blown off course. The bay was just ahead. The storm was not above them yet. Hitomi began to think maybe Van had the right idea. If they were actually able to make it across before the storm hit, maybe they would be able to avoid her vision after all. As they reached the edge of the water, though, she felt a sharp strike of water on her cheek. they had not outrun the storm. Hitomi heard thunder overhead. The water beneath the leviship was kicking up large waves with white caps. The ship bucked underneath them as a large gust of wind caught it from underneath. There were shouts from the crew calling orders across the deck. The ship bucked again, and dipped low enough when it fell back down for waves to splash over the railings. The rain began to come down. Hitomi shielded her eyes from the rain as she searched the deck for Van. He was on the upper deck at the helm of the leviship. Of course he wouldn't let anyone else drive the ship into danger.

Hitomi pushed against the wind and headed for the upper deck, with Daniel on her heels. The wind caught Hitomi once again and almost threw her overboard. Daniel caught her arm and held her as they pushed on up the stairs. Van was struggling to keep the helm on a trajectory to Palas as the winds tossed the ship back and forth. He saw Hitomi emerge on the upper deck.

"Hitomi! Get below deck, hurry, you shouldn't be out here!"

"Van!" The wind nearly drowned out their words. It was beginning to howl, and Hitomi became aware that it was probably this wind that roared through her ears in her vision. The ship tossed beneath them and Hitomi almost lost her balance. When she regained it she looked back where they had come and realized they were nearly halfway across the bay now. With enough speed, they just might make it to Palas before the worst of the storm reached them. Hitomi finally meade it next to Van. "Van, can we go any faster?"

"No, the levistones are at their limit. If we push any harder, the ship may come apart." The ship jerked hard again from a gust to the right, and nearly everyone was knocked off of their feet. Van was gripping the helm, and pulled it hard right as he fell, which turned the ship sharply to the right. He stood up and tried to regain the course to Palas.

The vision of the giant melef suddenly flashed before Hitomi's eyes. When it cleared she screamed to van, "Van, turn left!"

Van pulled the helm hard left just in time for a huge column of water to spray up from the bay where the Zephyr had just been. In the wake of the geyser was a giant melef, bigger than Hitomi had ever seen. It lifted an arm and pointed it directly at the ship. Long tendrils flew from the end of the arm. They scraped along the lower deck, pulling up boards and sending deck hands flying.

"Daniel! Take the helm, keep us moving towards Palas. We must make it there at all costs!" Van's shouts were barely audible above the howl of the wind, but Daniel heard him and took his place at the helm. Van unsheathed his sword and sprang down the stairs towards the massive tendrils from the melef. Hitomi chased after him. What was he thinking? He couldn't take on a melef that size by himself!

The tendrils whipped around on deck and returned inside the arm of the melef. Van raced across deck and grabbed a flare from a storage container and lit it. It flew up into the sky and exploded as a red firework. Van turned his attention back to the melef. Hitomi watched in horror as the melef shot its tendrils through a group of crewmen that were trying to tie down a loose levistone line. It skewered two of them and sent the third over the side of the ship. Van ran towards the tendrils and slashed through them with his sword. What remained of them was retracted back inside the arm of the melef. It raised it's other arm and a red glow began to grow inside the end. Hitomi knew what was to come next.

"Van!" The melef heard Hitomi's scream and turned towards her. It raised it's tendril arm again and aimed at Hitomi. The tendrils came at her so fast she would not have had time to get away, but just before they reached her she was knocked off her feet as Van slammed into her. The tendrils missed both of them, slamming into the cabin under the upper deck instead. Van sprang to his feet and stood over her sword raised towards the melef. At that moment, a blast was heard from the direction of Palas. The melef shifted to the side to avoid the cannonball that flew past it. It was not able to avoid the second one, though, and it was caught it the side by the blast. Hitomi looked toward Palas and realized they were almost there. A second cannonball made contact with the melef and before Hitomi could register what was happening, the melef disappeared into the storm clouds above them. The rain stopped, and the winds died down. In the sudden silence Hitomi surveyed the damage to the leviship.

The deck was completely torn up, with a large gash down the center. One of the levistones was coming loose from the side of the ship still, and the whole ship was listing to that side. The two crewmen who had been skewered by the melef were bleeding where they had fallen. There seemed to be very few of the crew left. Hitomi had a feeling Van was seeing the same things. His sword dropped to his side. She stood and put her hand on his shoulder.

"I should have listened. We should have found another way." Hitomi couldn't see his face from where she was standing.

"Van… you were probably right, there may not have been another way. That storm seemed like it came just for us. At least this way, Palas was able to help us."

One of the remaining crewmen rushed up to Van. "Sir, we do not have enough crewmen left to safely manage the levistones to land the ship." Van shouted up to Daniel to keep the course steady, then to the crew to tie down the levistone lines that had been left undone by the men who had died. There was nothing Hitomi could do but stand and watch. They were not losing much speed as they approached Palas. Van was shouting to those on the shore to clear the way. Daniel turned the ship and aimed for the open coast rather than for the docks. They were still approaching at an incredible speed.

Van ordered all of the fins opened, and had them turned vertically in order to produce drag. The ship began to slow, but they were too close to the shore now. With the levistone out of position, there was no way to raise the ship any higher. The hull dipped into the water. When it met land Hitomi was thrown a few feet across deck. The leviship still plowed on through the soil of Palas. The hull began to break apart beneath them as the stress caused it to give way. Hitomi grabbed and held tightly to one of the railings. The ship, and everyone on it was speeding towards the outer city walls of Palas. When they were nearly there, Daniel turned the helm hard to the left and the whole ship twisted. When they made impact with the wall, it was the right side of the hull that made contact. Hitomi heard the sickening crack and crunch of the hull and all it's cargo before she was thrown from the deck herself.