Nighttime saw them deep into the Florem plains, out in the open, but not nearly close enough to the entrance to the Miasma Woods. "Let's stretch our legs," Edea said. "What shall we do for dinner?"

"I'd rather not start a fire out here," Einheria said, "so let's stick to the dried goods. Agnes, it's your job to make sure the girl eats. She seems more comfortable with you."

Edea jumped onto the back of the vehicle, peering down at the unnamed girl. "So did you find out her name? Where she's from? Where she wants to go?"

Agnes shook her head. "Even to me, she doesn't seem to be willing to talk."

"Then leave her be," Alternis said. "Don't push her." He pulled out some dried meat, taking a sample bite. "Ugh. Let me cut this into chunks for you guys; it's pretty tough."

"Here, Agnes," Edea said, offering up an apple. The vestal took it, and sighed. "What's the matter?"

"I miss Olivia already," she said. "I don't get to see her that often, and it's not like I can write her letters right now."

"You'll get to see her when this is over," Alternis said. "When no one's after your life any more."

"I know, but… It seems like she should still be here, with me. And I'm worried about her."

"Don't be. She's a lot tougher than she looks. I mean, she countered my sword with a fishing pole, for crying out loud." Alternis dug out the blankets. "Okay, Edea or Einheria. Who wants the second watch?"

"I'll take it," Edea said.

"No, I will," Einheria spoke up. "I want to be watching... just in case."

In case Mephilia and Artemia came back to join them. "Let her have it," Alternis said to Edea. "You can rotate in tomorrow."

"I miss Artemia, too," Edea sighed. "None of us are the hunter she is."

"I don't think it's possible for most people to be the hunter she is, but we can play it by ear. I think we should be okay until we reach the desert, at least."

After a brief supper, the girls curled up together inside the vehicle, and Alternis crawled onto the roof, listening to the sound of the wind. It felt like it was slower, calmer than it had been on the way in. Were the effects of the crystal's dormancy already being felt? Noise drew his attention, but not from around-from below, as the injured girl half-fell out of the vehicle. "Careful!" he cautioned her, jumping down lightly. "Did you reopen your wound? Let me see."

She jerked away from his touch, trying to crawl away. That was undeniably terror in her eyes, Alternis thought. Was she reliving her injury from her attacker? Or was the aura of an out-of-control dark knight too frightening? "You don't have to look at me with such frightened eyes," he told her with a sad smile. "I won't hurt you. Just let me see your wound."

The terror didn't lessen, but she didn't have the strength to resist further. Careful to keep her modest, Alternis did a quick check of the wound on her abdomen. Still scarred over and painful-looking, but not bleeding again. "You have to be careful. Agnes doesn't know a lot of healing, so if that wound reopens, you could be in trouble."

She turned her face away, and Alternis recognized something in that self-loathing gaze. "Look, if the girls start pressing you about talking, you can come to me. You don't have to talk if you don't want to. They won't get it, but I know a bit about what it's like to not want to talk to anyone."

At last, the terror in her eyes was lessening, replaced by confusion, curiosity. "Want to go on the roof? It'll hold two," he said, pointing up.

She looked at him, looked him over, but at last gave a little jerky nod. With a smooth movement, careful not to harm her wound, he scooped her up, and stepped onto the side of the vehicle, placing her on top. Hopping up next to her, he laid back as if it were a hammock, looking up at the stars. "You don't have to say anything, but if you like, I'll talk," he said. She looked down at him, and then gave an unsure little shrug. "Actually, this reminds me of a girl I knew, a few years ago. She'd chatter my ear off whenever she was awake, and didn't seem to care if I replied or not. But I felt like it helped. Just hearing a friendly human voice, somehow." He closed his eyes, letting his ears do the lookout work. "Her name was Victoria. When I met her, she was gravely ill, but she had more life in her than I did. I wonder what became of her. I know she didn't have much of a shot to live, but… I like to think that she did and that she's back in Eternia somewhere, waiting for me to keep my promise." He chuckled. "I know it probably doesn't seem like much of a happy story, given that it's about a dying girl… but it's happy for me. I really liked that girl. Maybe it's best that I don't know, so it can stay a happy story a while longer."

She watched him, the fear now gone. "I'm sorry if Olivia didn't explain things to you, by the way," he said. "She's sort of a blockhead, I've noticed, but she's not that bad a person. She wanted us to take you from Florem because she knew you didn't live there. And we're going to be going through two countries, so maybe we'll pass by your house and you can go home. First, we'll be going to Ancheim in Harena, and then we'll take an airship to Hartschild, in Eisenberg. You don't have to come with us all the way, of course, but I'd like you to at least go as far as Harena. You're still injured, and there are a lot of bad people wandering around right now."

He sat up, looking across at her. "You should go ahead and get some sleep. If you've got somewhere you want to go, but don't want to talk, give me a sign and we'll figure something out. But the more you eat and rest, the faster you'll get better. All right? I won't let any harm come to you, promise."

"Lay off her, I said."

Edea scowled. "We can't just keep calling her 'girl' forever. And I feel bad making up a name when I'm sure she's already got one."

"If she doesn't want to talk, she doesn't want to talk." Alternis folded his arms. "Come up with something else."

"Mrgrgr. You're really something sometimes, big brother."

"But she can't read," Einheria said. "I already tried. Do you have any better ideas?"

"Not at all. But I don't want you harassing her to talk, period."

"If I might make a suggestion?" Agnes called to them. The vestal was standing on the path, a stick in her hand and the Luxendarc alphabet written in the dirt of the roadway. "Yes and no are acceptable, correct? We'll ask her the characters in her name, one at a time. And this way, she can also learn to write her name."

"Agnes, that's brilliant," Alternis said in surprise. Turning to the girl, he said, "What do you think? Is that all right?"

She looked at him, then gave him a short nod, following him over to Agnes. The vestal started at the beginning, pronouncing each letter carefully, waiting for the response before moving on. With a few trial and error mistakes, Agnes had finally written in the dirt a name that made the girl nod: Konoe Kikyo. "It's Konoe, then," Edea said, clapping her hands together. "How nice!"

"It's a nice name," Alternis told her. "A pleasure to meet you, Konoe."

Her cheeks reddened, and she turned away. "It's good that she's able to stand again, too," Einheria said. "She has a quick recovery."

"I'm betting Olivia did most of the work before we met her, but you're right, it is good. All right, let's hop back in the vehicle. I want to make it into the Miasma Woods before nightfall."

The other girls nodded, and Alternis jumpstarted the engine, keeping it moving at a brisk pace. The sun was low by the time they reached the forest, but Alternis kept the vehicle going, using its lights to illuminate the narrow path.

Slowly, the others fell asleep, but Konoe watched ahead, staring at Alternis's back. After some time of this, she finally pulled herself into the front seat, looking at him directly. "You look like there's something on your mind," he said with a smile.

She looked back at the way they came, and then to him again. "Ah, you're wondering why I didn't stop?" He slowed the vehicle down carefully as they approached a curve. "It would be safer to rest outside the Miasma Woods, I'm sure. Don't worry, I can keep going for a while."

Konoe continued to watch him. After a while, he spoke again. "Actually, not far from the entrance… We were attacked there by a woman assassin. Maybe even the same person that attacked you. She killed… our mother. That was just before we made it to Florem. It's too soon for all of us to have to relive that." He looked over at her. "What about you? Is your mother among the living?"

She shook her head. "Ah. Recently?" Another shake. "When you were a kid, then." Another nod. "Boy, I understand that. My birth mother passed away when I was six, and my father not long after. I didn't meet my mother - the person I call 'Mother' - until a year later. Your father, is he alive?" A shake.

He slowed the vehicle again for another curve. "So then… do you have any place you call home, then? Any place you want to go?"

She shook her head, tears eyeing up. "Then," Alternis said, "you should stay with us. Except for Edea, we were all adopted by that mother and father. We all understand what it's like to not have a family. Me most of all, I guess," he said with a shrug. "Einheria at least had her birth sisters. I never had any siblings, before I met Braev and Mahzer."

Konoe looked at him, and this time her eyes were sad, no longer with any of the fear she'd first had. "It's okay," he told her. "I mean, it was hard, losing Braev and Mahzer-my mother and father. But I still have my sisters. I think that even if you've got one person that cares around you, that you could consider family-that's enough. It's enough to keep you going, even if you're separated from the rest."

She looked at him, then ahead at the road, watching for obstacles. "I take it you can't sleep, by the way?" he said with a smile. She nodded. "I guess when you're cooped up in the vehicle all day, it makes it kind of hard to rest on a regular schedule. When your strength's back, you can get out and walk with the girls. I'm sure that'll help."

Konoe nodded, looking at him. It looked like she had another question, by the way she stared at him, hoping he'd read her mind. But she didn't give him any other hints, and he had no other ideas. "Are you curious about something?" Nod. "About me?" Nod. "About...something in my past?" Shake. "So, something about the present then?" Nod. "Something I'm doing?" A head tilt, and a so-so shake of the hand. "Something I did recently, maybe?" An excited nod. Actually, this was turning out to be rather fun. "Something I did in regards to... our path, maybe?" She shook her head, and pointed at herself. "Oh, so something I did recently in regards to you. "Um... Maybe you're curious as to why I agreed to take you along?" Enthusiastic nodding. Apparently this game was fun for her, too. "Well, why didn't you just say so?"

She blinked, and he laughed. "That was a joke. Maybe... it's my instinct as a big brother? You were in trouble and you needed help. Since I can offer you at least a little help, then why shouldn't I?"

She hunched down, thinking about that answer, and then straightened up again, giving him the 'question' look. "Something about me again?" Nod. "Past?" Shake. "Present?" Shake. "The future, then... You want to know what I'm doing in the future?" Nod. "Well, we're trying to stop an evil woman." She stiffened. "No, nobody here. She lives in Eternia. She's the one that killed my father, and I'm sure was behind the death of my mother. And she's trying to ruin the world for her own selfish ends. Eventually, we'll go to Eternia and fight her, but for now, we have to stop her plans. That's why we're going to Eisenberg. Well... you'll see when we get there."

Another look, and then she hunched down, grabbing a blanket and wrapping it around her. Alternis laughed. "Go take a nap, you silly thing." She shook her head. "Okay, then you keep me awake. We'll keep going for a little longer."