The adventurers were silent for the time they had been riding. Sjin was still upset about what happened back in the arena and Lalna didn't know how to console him so he stayed quiet. The two hadn't been walking for too long when they encountered a stone brick staircase near the base of a mountain. They cast their gaze upwards to the snowy caps and noticed a settlement based at the top. Lalna expressed his concern that it may be a goblin castle. Sjin hoped it was a normal town. One with a wizard at that. With that, they took their chances and climbed up the steps. They went higher and higher, to the point where temperature began to drop and the snowflakes began to fall, covering the ground with a thick layer of snow. Lalna shivered. His leather armour was not good at fighting back the cold. He also noticed Basil didn't like the cold either. He often shook the snow off his green feathers and shiver. Sjin and Blackjack didn't seem to care however. They were too busy trying not to slip on ice.

An stone arch that read "New Camelot" welcomed them as they approached the settlement. Lalna was taken aback. This town was built upon a reclaimed goblin castle. The houses, farms, stables and barracks became homes to many families that swarmed the streets as they went about their day-to-day lives. The town looked very uniform, with the buildings being stone brick cubes of varying sizes. It did look prosperous though, with many people bartering with the stalls that lined the snow-covered streets.

A local woman was walking past them until Lalna stopped her and asked where they could find a mage. The woman frowned and continued on her way. The two asked several more people. They all frowned at them and walked away without a word.

"You know what?" Sjin started. "I don't think these people like magic."

"Maybe they just hate outsiders?" Lalna suggested. He then asked a local man if there was an inn here. The man smiled happily and gave directions and details of the inn. The rambles included that it was very popular with tourists and adventurers and had stables and fields for their mounts. Lalna then asked if there was a mage in the town. The man frowned and stated yelling about how they were "unnatural" and "evil nether-dwellers" before storming off in a huff. Lalna stared at the local, trying to figure out what just happened. Sjin sat there, smiling smugly at the fact he was right.

The two then decided to check out the inn. The outside of the inn looked rustic and welcoming. It was made of logs and planks of different woods with large stained windows that were impossible to look through. A small hanging sign that read "The Sleeping Creeper" with a cute picture beside it made the inn look much more appealing. Opposite the inn was several stables that held both horses and chocobos. Beyond that was a large training field that was available to everyone with a mount. On the other side of that was a nature trail that people could ride down. Lalna had never felt so at home.

They put their chocobos in the stable to give them a well-earned rest. Adults and children alike crowded the pens, like they always do, asking supervisors if they could help take care of the chocobos. Basil and Blackjack were spoiled. They were given many treats and were groomed until their coats were sublime. Lalna rambled on to the others about how chocobos look different due to different biomes they lived in while Sjin nearly fell asleep against a fence. He was startled awake as a sharp pain stabbed his wrist. A young girl gasped at him, wide eyes staring.

"Mister, you're bleeding!" she cried, pointing. Sjin inspected his arm to see that she was right.

"My daddy's a doctor! I'm his helper!" she said proudly. "He can fix you! Come on!" Before Sjin could protest, the girl grabbed his hand and dragged him away. Lalna only laughed as he cried "Help!" as he was taken away.

Soon after, Lalna tried out the training field with Basil. They had a great time trying the courses until someone caught Lalna's eye. Strolling through the snow on top of a purple chocobo was a small woman with big brown eyes, tan skin and long black hair adorned with red flowers. She wore a fluffy red coat with golden buttons, white leggings and red boots that were perfect for the snowy weather. The purple chocobo walked along, strong and proud, heading towards the nature trail. Lalna observed them for a few moments before he approached them.

"Uh, hi," he started. The woman stopped and turned her head towards him.

"Um... hi?" she replied.

"Can I ask you something?" he asked hopefully. The woman looked at him suspiciously.

"Sure," she said eventually.

"...Where'd you get your chocobo? I've been raising them for a while and I've never seen a purple one before." The woman then frowned at Lalna and rode away into the trail. He made a confused face. All he did was ask a question. Still curious, he followed the woman into the trail. When he caught up, the woman rolled her eyes.

"What is it?" asked Lalna. "I only asked you a question." The woman scoffed.

"You're weird," the woman replied. "Why d'you want to know where my chocobo came from anyway?"

"Well, I'm a chocobo breeder," he answered. Her frown deepened.

"You're a sick man," she stated and carried on further. Lalna was baffled. What did he do? Was it himself? Yes, he was covered in dried blood and dirt but he got most of it off. Undeterred, he tried talking to her again.

"I'm Lalna," he stated politely. The woman looked sideways at him.

"Lalna. Hmm," she mumbled, playing with his name. "I'm Nano." The adventurer smiled happily.

"Nano," he repeated. "Appropriate." Nano finally started to smile.

The two rode down the snowy forest trail, getting along quite well. They both had a laugh and Lalna learned a bit about Nano. She lived here in New Camelot, she ran a very small restaurant in town, though she liked to help out at the stables sometimes, and her purple chocobo was called Billy.

"You do know that purple chocobos can fly, right?" asked Lalna. Nano's frown returned.

"No they can't," she replied.

"Yes they can."

"They can't."

"Can."

"Can't."

"Can!"

"Can not!"

"Not!"

"I win!" she yelled triumphantly, her chocobo flapping his wings. Lalna smirked evilly. He then told Nano to pull back on the reins. She did so, looking confused. He told her to lean back. She followed. Her feet touched Billy's wings and he started flapped them. Very soon, the pair were taking off. Nano screeched and panicked while Lalna burst out laughing. Soon the shrieks turned to laughter as she soared over the treetops with Lalna and Basil running behind her. With some more guidance, Nano landed with her chocobo with a proud grin on her face.

They then reached a viewpoint. From there, they got off their chocobos, sat on the stone wall and admired the view. They could see the valley floor below them, the plains slowly transitioning into forest. In the distance they could see the colosseum that Lalna and Sjin had just been in. Nano didn't believe him. She changed her mind when Lalna reached into the saddle bags and showed her a beautiful sapphire he had looted. As she gladly inspected the sapphire, Lalna remembered something.

"You still haven't answered me, you know."

"Hmm?" she mumbled, enthralled by the sparkling gem.

"Where'd you get your chocobo? He's pretty cool," Lalna continued. Nano's expression then turned solemn as she scratched Billy's neck.

"I'd rather not talk about it," she muttered.

"That bad, huh?" Lalna said sympathetically. Nano was quiet for a moment.

"It just sounds so crazy," she said. "You'll think so too."

"Try me." Nano looked up at him, contemplating her choices. She then sighed and petted Billy's head.

"I didn't find Billy; he found me," she explained. "Years ago, I woke up in the Nether. It's exactly how it is. It's terrible there." Lalna's eyes widened in surprise.

"I was tired and lost," she continued. "But Billy woke me up. He let me ride on his back. He may have been flying but I guess I was too tired to realise. We kept going until we found a nether portal and ended up in the middle of nowhere. We kept walking and walking... and now here we are." Lalna was listening closely to the whole thing. Nano sighed again and stared out into the horizon.

"The worst part," she added. "is that I can't remember a thing that happened before I woke up." She finally turned back to Lalna.

"The whole thing is just so crazy. Do you know how maddening it is? All these questions? Not knowing who you were?" Lalna stayed quiet for a while before he answered.

"I do, actually." Nano blinked in bewilderment.

"A couple of years ago, I woke up in a middle of a field. Not as terrible as the Nether though." He smiled sadly before continuing. "I don't know a thing about my past. No parents, no home, nothing." The two stayed quiet for a minute, staring at each other, not knowing what to say.

"So you do know what it's like," Nano commented quietly. Lalna shrugged and smiled.

"Yeah, but does it matter? I've done many cool things and I'm happy. You've got Billy and your restaurant. Why do I need a past when that's all it's gonna be?" he explained. Nano smiled up at him and relaxed. Suddenly, Billy pushed her. She fell sideways with a yelp, grabbing onto Lalna's arm for balance. Afraid of falling off the mountain, they both stayed like this for a while, enjoying the view and each other's company.

Sjin finally made his way back to the inn. After meeting with the doctor, he couldn't help as he was not experienced with magical afflictions. The best he could offer was chopping his arm off. He went over to check on the chocobos, only to see that Basil and Lalna were gone. He scanned the field for them. On the other side of the field, he could see his companions and a woman riding along, laughing and joking around. Interested in this development, he watched as they played tag on their chocobos, dismounted and then made snow angels. He still stood there, smiling knowingly as they all exited the field.

"Hey, who's your little friend?" he teased. Nano frowned and the tip of her ears turned pink.

"This is Nano," Lalna introduced. Sjin laughed even harder at the appropriateness of her name, only to get punched on the shoulder multiple times.

"How was your abduction?" Lalna joked, noticing the brace that was still on Sjin's arm.

"Could have gone better. Also could've left earlier but I passed out when they brought out the saw."

Afterwards, Nano invited the adventurers to her restaurant. They travelled through the busy streets until they reached a small red building that was decorated with paper lanterns and flowers. As they went inside to eat, she bragged about how the restaurant was popular and the place was almost always full. They all had their dinner and relaxed as they talked and looked out at the snow-covered treetops.

As the sun was setting, they made their way back to the inn. Sjin was about dragging himself tiredly through the door with Lalna following behind. He stopped when he heard someone yelling after him. He turned around. He then saw Nano was rushing up the stairs towards him.

"I-I forgot to give this back to you," she gasped. She then held out the stunning sapphire in her palm. Lalna was taken aback by the fact she ran all this way to return a rock.

"You keep it," he offered. It was now Nano's turn to look stunned. She spluttered before she said: "Thank you." They smiled at each other. Nano then asked if she could hang out with him tomorrow. Lalna's smile faded.

"I'm sorry, but we're leaving tomorrow morning," he apologized. Nano's smiled faded as well. She opened and closed her mouth, unable to speak.

"Can I come with you?" she blurted out. Lalna smiled sadly.

"Do you really wanna do that?" he asked. Nano lowered her head.

"Well..." she added. "Are you gonna visit me some day?" Lalna's smile turned into a grin.

"Of course! I'd walk across all of Hexxit to eat at your place again." he exclaimed. The two said their goodbyes and soon the adventurers made their way into bed.

Lalna lay there in bed, staring at the ceiling. He felt tired but there were so many thoughts jumping around his head. His first memory of waking up, saying goodbye to Nano, what they were going to do next. He looked over at Sjin's bed on the other side of the room. He didn't notice Lalna as he sadly inspected the brace and the trails of dried blood on his arm. Lalna did feel a little bad for him but didn't dwell on it any further as he tried to get to sleep.

He was in a strange place. The world was dark and the only thing in front of him was a green mirror. The mirror contained a man that wasn't him but seemed familiar. The man was tall and had brown hair, bright blue eyes and a goatee. He also wore strange casual clothes that didn't look like anything that would be worn by a villager. The man spoke. He couldn't hear the man properly; the voice kept fading and then sharp again.

"...-can't stay-...corrupted-...Do you remember, Lalna-?"

The smashing of glass woke him up.