"Whoa," was all he could say. The lake was much bigger than he'd thought it would be. He put down his valise and surveyed the rolling waves of the massive lake that spread before them.

"It's something, isn't it?" Bookman said as he saddled up a mule. Lavi nodded as he continued to look out at the lake, ignoring the shouts and calls of men to each other.

It had taken them a little over a few hours to finally reach Lake Titicaca. After so long in the trucks, it was a relief to hear that they would be going the rest of the way either on foot or by horse. The locals that lived on floating reed islands around the edges of the lake didn't take kindly to heavy automobiles ruining the homes they'd built on the lake's surface, but they would be more than happy to accommodate the travelers as long as they left their gas-guzzling machines behind. They would set up their base of operations there with the local townspeople, and from the man-made islands make their way to destinations that seemed to prove promising. So far they had two or three - two temples on separate islands, one for the sun and one for the moon, as well as the very center of the lake in order to "plumb its depths", as the riddle had stated.

At this moment, though, it was enough to stop and appreciate the tranquility of the water.

"Nice place," Link commented as he came by with a mule. The taciturn CROW gestured to Allen, and the younger Exorcist was also pulled away from ogling the lake.

"I wouldn't mind going for a vacation here," Allen admitted as he saddled up a mule with their suitcases.

"Less talking, more packing," Bookman grumbled, and Lavi smirked.

"He's just mad that he's been here already and now he's bored," the redhead whispered to his two compatriots. Allen snickered while Link tried hard to hide a smile.

"I heard that!"

Lavi ducked as Allen broke out into guffaws, the former on the lookout for a flying shoe while the latter did his best to stay aboard his mule.

"Let's get goin', sissies, I ain't got all day. Them locals close their waterin' holes 'round dark," Darrin shouted to the boys as he whizzed by on his mule, Ricardo bouncing in a fluffy dress on the mule tied directly behind. Lavi grinned at the comical display of the cowboy spurring his small steed on towards booze while his poor scientist friend bobbed along, trying to keep up. Allen, Link, and Bookman strode atop their mules as gracefully as they could managed and set out, Lavi taking the rear as he was generally quite tired already and thought a more leisurely pace would be best.

However, in lagging back, he soon noticed that he could see a brightly embroidered coat somewhere behind him in the corner of his eye, watching and waiting amid the sea of tan Finders and hired men, walking instead of riding, and he felt something twinge within.

His hand drifted towards his chest, a bad habit that lingered. Noticing that he was itching his chest, Lavi quickly put his hand down, too aware of the itching scabs beneath his shirt from his latest mental escapade. It would do no good to add fuel to that fire. He spurred forward at a faster pace.

As they rode, the scenery slowly shifted from lush jungle to soft, rolling hills and plains. Fairly soon it was evident that they were getting closer and closer to the man-made islands made of reeds and earth that the natives had built for themselves at this sacred lake, and the verdant forest turned to farmland. In the distance, they could see farmers wearing wide-brimmed hats and carrying all manner of tools. Lavi looked on with an odd sense of deja vu, something he'd been experiencing all day.

There was something odd about how he'd felt, waking up that morning. He wasn't quite sure he could put his finger on it. It was a little like he'd awoken to find himself running along a track. The feeling was sometimes strong, sometimes fleeting, and he'd chalked it up to the effects of his new dosage. Still, he couldn't shake the idea that if he pushed hard enough, just hard enough, whenever he felt it, he could push through the barrier of deja vu and think of what was supposed to happen next.

Still, that was a silly thought. They had better things to do.

"It's nice of the locals to let us stay with them," Allen said as they walked along the edge of the water. The night had fallen swiftly once they'd reached the town where they were staying for the rest of their time in Guatemala, and after unloading all their gear, the Finders and hired hands had immediately set to helping the locals cook for their new guests. It would not be said that these Brazilians were mooches, obviously.

"Yeah, though it'd be even nicer if there was even one hot water bottle between them for my poor backside," Lavi grumbled.

"Lavi! You weren't on that mule for that long!"

"Hey, I'm an invalid. I get special privileges. No excuse for them not having basic amenities."

The two continued walking in silence by the water, letting the whoosh-whoosh of the lake lull their steps. Lavi looked up at the sky, so full of stars, and Allen did the same. Here, away from the city, the stars were like a pouch of diamonds spilled across a black blanket, winking at them over the lake as the moon hung over them.

"It's weird, isn't it?" Lavi asked, neck craned to stare at the cosmos.

"What is?" Allen replied.

"Not fighting. Not running. Just... enjoying time. It almost feels like we're on vacation."

"Oddly, it reminds me of the good times I had with Master. Sometimes, we would go places just for the fun of it, to see it," Allen sighed.

Lavi gave Allen a dubious look, and Allen caught it with a defensive huff and crossed arms.

"Well, it wasn't all ridiculously high debts and running from large women! Now, don't shortchange me - most of it was. Just... now and then there were nice moments in between as well," Allen stated, looking back up at the sky. Hastily, he recovered and said, "Now, wasn't there a reason you dragged me out here?"

"Obviously I was hoping to court you by moonlight. I heard you like long walks on the beach."

"Lord above, have mercy on my soul..."

"Okay, fine, spoilsport. I wanted to test something out and I needed a witness."

Lavi whipped out the amphithere feather from a shoulder bag, and Allen frowned at him. He pointed at it and said, "Now, why would you have that? I thought Bookman was keeping it."

"He was keeping it. And he kept it well. Now it's my turn to play with it," Lavi professed, rubbing his hands together maniacally with the feather's shaft between his palms. "I've been reading up on this little sucker right here, and apparently it has some properties that can turn it into a hard scale. And what we need is a scale of light, not an actual feather. I... just can't seem to get the translation just right. Apparently, some mystical kind of light is supposed to have an effect, so I thought that maybe I could do something with the moon. And you're here so that way I'm sure it's not just my imagination cooking stuff up on me. And Link, you're here so I can have an extra witness! Come on out, I know you're there!"

There was a rustle somewhere in the grasses behind them, but nothing more, and Lavi muttered, "I guess he's shy."

"Or he isn't there. He does trust me more as it is," Allen stated.

"Oh, as if. He's probably around more to make sure I don't attack you more than you attacking me. Anyways, let's get this show on the road. It's a little chilly out..."

Lavi took out the feather, scrunched up his face, and lifted it in the air dramatically towards the moon. The bright orb shone behind the feather, but nothing spectacular happened. The feather remained, the moon stayed still at a quarter full, and Lavi was left looking only a bit like a lunatic.

The Junior Bookman shifted the feather away from the moon and on top of it a few more times while Allen crossed his arms. Seeing Allen's knowing look, Lavi dropped his arms and said, "Look, I said I was pretty sure I didn't get the translation right."

"No, no, I was just thinking perhaps this was your excuse so you truly could court me under the moonlight," Allen jabbed back with a wagging finger and smile, and Lavi stared at the feather again under the wan light of the moon. Nada, zip, zilch, nothing. Bookman had tried all sorts of conjurations, and Lavi had exhausted his source materials on amphitheres and feathers and mystical, arcane knowledge. This moonlight thing had seemed like an awfully good idea, until now.

"Well... guess we'd better head back," Lavi said with dejection. This was only a little discouraging.

The feeling of deja vu wasn't helping matters, either. The lingering sense that he'd been here and done this before was suddenly overwhelming. In fact, he was pretty sure that if he turned his head ever so slightly to the left -

"Hey... you go on ahead," Lavi said quietly, and Allen frowned at the shift in his friend's tone. He followed Lavi's line of sight, and his eyebrows lifted at the figure of a woman in a wide-brimmed hat, a long flowing dress, and a very brightly-colored coat next to a fledgling fire. The young man took another look at Lavi, and he asked, "Are you sure? I know that you two have... had it rocky, and -"

"No, no. It's... it's alright. She's going to be here a while, and maybe it's time we sorted some things out," Lavi said calmly, putting the amphithere's feather in his bag. With uncertainty, Allen said, "Well... alright, then. But if you need me, don't hesitate to find me. I don't take kindly to people mistreating my friends."

Lavi smirked. "What are you going to do? Save her to death? Give her a strongly worded letter? Shame her with your manners?"

"Lavi!"

Properly chastised, Lavi began walking towards Esperanza, leaving Allen behind. As he turned forward, he took a large breath, aware of the bubbling anger that arose every time he looked at her, every time he even thought her name. For so long he had avoided her presence, in mind and in body, yet here he was headed towards her like a moth towards a candle's flame. How stupid was he, that he'd had his wings burned once and was again running to receive his due punishment?

Regardless, he was now too close to turn back now.

"Once more unto the breach," he muttered to himself as he trudged up the ridge towards the small fire she had going. The young woman looked up without tilting her head, merely sliding her gaze up to his face. An ache passed through him, followed by an intense frustration, as he tried to read the neutral shadows of her face. She turned away and poked at the fire with a stick before gesturing for him to sit across from her.

"You want to talk," Esperanza said quietly.

"No," Lavi grunted as he sat on the ground.

He could see that he'd confused her. She couldn't hide the slight tilt of her head or the furrow of her brow, so small that to the untrained eye they would've been imperceptible. But he knew her too well, and she probably knew it too.

"Do you want to listen, then?" Esperanza asked.

Lavi was quiet for several moments. Why had he come here? What bridges could they possible rebuild? What more could they say that hadn't already been said? He opened his mouth to answer, but he found he had no words. He... really hadn't thought this out quite thoroughly enough.

To his surprise, Esperanza stood up and walked to his side, sitting down and staring into the fire. She took a deep breath and stared into the flames with such intensity, he was almost afraid that the fire would flare up into a conflagration just from her expression. Finally, she shut her eyes.

"Senor," she started, and the formal address grated against his ears. No, he was no longer her friend, but her master and senior. The gulf, while now just a bit smaller, still yawned. He nodded all the same. It was a start.

But wait, did he want to rebuild a relationship with this traitor? Her friendship had been one, big, single, fat scam. No, she hadn't necessarily used him, but she'd definitely played him. Was that the sort of person he wanted to have connections to? Yet, he still remembered her tenderness and patience, her firmness and her resolve. He wondered if his memories were tainted with that fondness he was always trying to weed out, though. Perhaps he just wanted to believe that what they had had was good, even if it had been a lie.

Then why was she having this conversation?

"I... will be honest with you. Anything you wish to know, I will answer as well as I can," Esperanza finally said.

And, before he could control himself, as if possessed by some madness, he asked, "Then, why?"

There was a tense silence, filled with the snapping and crackling of the small fire. The lake shore hushed but a few yards away.

"Why did you leave how you did? Why didn't you just walk away?" Lavi pushed. "You could've left and let me believe that it was all real. You could've let me have my lie, but you didn't. You-you-you just shoved the truth in my face and rubbed it into the wound and... Was I really so horrible to you? What did I do to deserve that?"

Esperanza's mouth drew together into a tight, white line. She turned her face away sharply.

"I did it to... to make you hate me. I did not think I would ever see you again. I did not want you to... to reach out. To reconcile. You were not good for me, but not because you were a bad friend. You were a good friend, one I didn't want to see hurt. You would leave me, one way or another, and I would leave you. Esta es el naturaleza de la bestia. I think you call this a clean break," Esperanza admitted. "It was my job as much as it was yours for us to part the way we did."

"Yeah, that worked out so well. But now you're here again. Because Bookman called you back like a dog on a leash," Lavi spat, aware that he was getting angry and unable to stem the tide of fury. She was Bookman's lapdog, coming and going at his beck and call. Something about that sickened him, to see this irreverent woman shredded apart to reveal the servant beneath.

He had struck a cord in her, though, he could see, and he was surprised to find that he delighted in her anger.

"No. Not because he called me. If he had just called me to come, I would not have come," Esperanza quickly interjected angrily. "I came because he told me that you took too much medicine, almost killed yourself."

"Well, newsflash for you, I don't need watching. That wasn't my fault," Lavi said, bristling and standing up.

"Is that so? You need no watching because you can take perfect care of yourself?" Esperanza retorted, standing. Lavi followed suit, the two of them almost chest to chest. "I would like to beg to differ."

"Beg all you want," Lavi seethed. "But I won't have you breathing down my neck and making sure Gramps' orders get done. He can come speak to me himself."

"I am not your grandfather's dog," Esperanza snapped. "I came here for you, not him."

"Are you sure? Because it seems a lot like he's guilted you right into it," Lavi pressed as he began to walk away, but Esperanza, in her haste, grabbed his shoulder bag. A buckle came undone, and to both their surprise some of the contents spilled out by the fire, including the feather.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no," Lavi moaned as he dropped to his knees to save the feather that had fallen into the flames, and Esperanza raced to scoop up quills and ink bottles before they rolled away and down the hill. It was too late, though. The feather had caught fire already from the embers, and Lavi nearly tore out his hair, his mouth a rictus of mortification.

"Oh my god, they're going to have to cut Gramp's boot out from my head when he finds out about this. I'm going to have a size 7 boot print cut out from my skull," he lamented as he managed to fiddle the feather away from the fire. Sure enough, the feather was charred along the spines and across the top and around, much of it burning away.

"Esperanze," the young Argentine suddenly commanded, knocking Lavi's hand away as the feather burned. Lavi shot her a look before turning back to the burning feather, and his single eye widened.

"Well, good thing I didn't make any bets, or else I'd be eating my bandanna."

Bookman looked up skeptically at Lavi as he held a smooth disc in his hand, and the young man rocked on his heels, looking in some other direction in an attempt to keep from looking at the old man.

"You dropped it in a fire."

"Um... well-"

"You could have destroyed our one piece of evidence."

"But I didn't."

Bookman scoffed, and Lavi chanced to glance at the object he'd handed to the man as he walked into Gramps' tent. It was hardly bigger than the old man's palm and shone with an almost opalescent quality. Inscribed upon its surface was a number, written in the script of Bookmen. Streaks of light seemed to bounce off of the scale, creating a halo.

Bookman sighed and put it in a small cloth bag, hiding the radiant scale's glow. Lavi was almost sad to see it go. It had such a pretty shine to it. It wouldn't look out of place as a piece of fashionable jewelry.

"I will tell Darrin about this, and we will change it to the appropriate number on the cylinder," Bookman said. "Have you taken your medicine for today?"

Lavi swallowed. Ever since the episode back in that tiny village, he'd had to seriously force himself to take that medication. Honestly, for the past two days he'd neglected to take any for fear of some kind of ill reaction, not to mention the fact that he could now well and truly feel emotions again, from anger to sweetness to wonder. Perhaps today should be one of his medicated days. He could sacrifice one or two days to really be human, couldn't he?

"Not yet, today anyways."

"You should keep on top of that, Apprentice. A new shipment is supposed to be coming at the end of this little trip. They are said to be much better with relieving side effects," Bookman said.

Lavi nodded.

"Any other news? What's our itinerary? Heard we were going sightseeing," Lavi said with a smile, and Bookman closed his eyes and folded his hands over his navel.

"Aaah, yes. We will search the Isle of the Moon first. It seems most promising. Then, the Isle of the Sun, and finally we will manage the problem of... 'plumbing the depths' of the lake," Bookman said. "We will be taking a boat out to the northern part of..."

Lavi's eye drifted to a small seam in Bookman's tent, the world seeming to slow as he found himself gazing into what appeared to be a desert. Sand drifted outside in massive dunes, shifting like the waves of an ocean. Outside the tent wall, he could see a small, covered pavilion, as if it were a bed with a marquee over it. And, on the edge of the bed, drifting off of it- a single, female hand, pale and lifeless. And he knew that if he lifted that marquee and looked further in, he would see the hand would belong to-

"-listening to me?"

The boy snapped his head back to look at Bookman. His heart raced as he tried to control a sudden spur of panic, and he felt compelled to answer as if by some unseen force.

"Sorry. Drifted off there. You said the Isle of the Moon was a nunnery?" Lavi asked, surprised that he remembered so much despite losing concentration. His eye flickered back to the seam of the tent - nothing beyond but the normal farmland of the natives. What had he seen?

"Yes. They may have been protected the answer to 'plumbing the depths' of the lake. It was considered the lake of tears, cried by the sun god at the plight of humanity who lived in the dark," Bookman recounted, tapping his fingers together. Suddenly, he added, "Run along, boy, I see you're easily distracted today. Row a boat, and maybe your sense will come back to you."

Lavi quickly turned to leave the tent, grappling with the vision he'd seen. It had seemed so real... but it was obvious to him that it hadn't been. As he walked around the tent, he looked at the tent seam from the outside, running his fingers along its edge. The seam was perfectly normal, and the interior looked the same.

Lavi continued on his way, aware that he should feel much more worried than he did.

The boat ride had been fairly nice, besides the fact that Lavi, despite his 'invalid' status, had to row part of the way there. They'd taken a sailboat, but even sailboats need a good nudge sometime. The lake was a clear blue color, and the sky was thankfully clear. Allen and Link were not along for this particular journey, leaving Darrin, Lavi, Bookman, Esperanza, and a handful of other men to investigate the island. Should trouble arise, they would call for back-up, but it was unlikely.

For now they were just going to investigate the Temple of the Virgins. They all stepped off the sailboat and onto the quay that, somehow, still survived. The island had long been abandoned to burrowing owls and rodents, the virgins long gone, along with their Incan empire. The conquistador Pizarro had seen to that. As Lavi walked along the dirt path with the rest of his company, he imagined he could feel the weight of years of helplessness on this island, cut off from the rest of the empire as it crumbled.

"Them's some pretty lookin' houses there," Darrin suddenly said from behind, and Lavi looked ahead. Set into the hill were three doors, all of them built like alcoves, their outermost recesses a steep triangular shape. They were made of beautiful red brick and had weathered the slings of time quite well.

"Best we split up, take a look around. Isla de la Luna was said to be the home of the nuns, so perhaps we might find some kind of information here," Bookman said to the crew, and they dispersed into the dark maw of the temple. Though the nuns had long left, it felt a bit like invasion, and goosebumps crawled across the redhead's skin as he entered.

After some time, Lavi found himself alone in one of the rooms. It was cool and dark, perfect for the humid climate and the ever-present sun. Lavi touched the walls, a little bit in awe of how short a time had passed since they'd been built. The Inca empire had not fallen all that long ago. In fact, it was around when the conquistadors had made landfall, not nearly so ancient as people who have them believe. Their dissolution was only a few hundred years ago, and America itself had started little time after.

"It's quite amazing, isn't it?"

Lavi's blood chilled in his bones as he turned around. He knew that voice. It belonged to a woman he hadn't seen in weeks, one he'd hoped had forgotten about him entirely, or at least had been called away on other, more ignoble pursuits. He was just having one thing after another today.

"I didn't think you Noah appreciated petty things like human art," Lavi shot back, though his stomach drew itself in knots. The threat of becoming trapped in one of his most hated memories - bowler hat, immense pain, so many screams, Ranza dead - strained at his mental faculties as he turned to face her. His heart hammered in his chest, and there was a real fear that it would split the seams in his newly healed chest.

Lulu walked in, her skin a dark gray and her eyes bright gold in the dim lighting. She smirked as she answered, "I was once human, you know. Rather, it should be you who doesn't understand our art. We've been in your shoes - you have no idea what it is like to be us. And yet you criticize us."

"The wanton murder of people like yourself will do that."

Lulu's smile only grew wider.

"Anyways, I just dropped in to say that you've come to the wrong place. Your destination is over near the north side of the lake, at the Isla del Sol. Leave no stone unturned- as literally as you can," Lulu stated candidly, folding her hands behind her. She smartly inclined her head as she finished, "That was all I had to say to you. A friendly hint. I bid you adieu."

Lavi lunged for her, and she backed out of his grip, easily transforming two fingers into long, spearlike claws. She shook her head with pursed lips and said, "Naughty... nice try, though. It'd be a pity if something were to happen to that heart of yours. I'd heard you'd just gotten it fixed."

"What's your game?" Lavi asked, head tilted back to stare at the ceiling while backing towards the wall.

Lulu chuckled deep in her chest, a good and hearty laugh.

"You still haven't caught on to just what you're looking for. How funny."

The Exorcist stood at the back of the room, the tip of the spear-finger at his breastbone. His heart beat frantically through his shirt as he stared Lulu down, the Noah giving him a mock salute before seeming to disappear. He let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding on to, and he bent over his knees in an effort to get his wind back.

He sat down against the wall, heart in his throat, as he wracked his brain trying to figure out how Lulu had found them, much less how she'd even infiltrated them. It could have been any of the hired hands, or worse Esperanza herself. There was no way to know the difference, besides requesting knowledge that only that individual would know. Lavi could feel the paranoia sinking into his head, clogging his throat, threatening to close the world off to him. No, he had to go and find Bookman and get this all turned around.

The Exorcist left the room with dread pooling in his stomach, realizing that not only was he going to trust a Noah's word, but he was also unsure if the old man he was looking for truly would be the old man himself or merely an impostor. He shook his head as if to dislodge the thought. He couldn't let fear cripple him, not now.

He ran through the halls, but he was slowly realizing that the corridors were repeating themselves. His heart hammered in his throat as the low ceiling and dark, earthy space seemed to threaten to bury him. Was the temple always this big? Was he lost? Surely, he wasn't in some delusional -

"Lavi?"

He turned at the mention of his voice, and he saw Bookman standing at the end of a corridor, bathed in light. Lavi sighed with relief and began to run up to him, but the realization that Lulu was around and, even worse, that she could actually be Bookman assaulted him midway towards him. It was too late by now, though. He had almost reached the old clan head.

"You seem quite... animated. You found something?" Bookman asked with a neutral expression, and Lavi swallowed. Did he dare say? Could he say that Lulu was here? A nagging voice, almost real enough to be heard, told him he wouldn't - or hadn't.

So Lavi said, "...I think we're looking in the wrong place. There's more evidence that we should be at Isla del Sol than here at the Temple of the Virgins."

Bookman nodded his head thoughtfully.

"Astute observation, Apprentice, and I believe that idea has merit. However, I think our investigation here may lead us to Isla del Sol by a much quicker route," Bookman said with sly smile. He put a pipe to his mouth and took a few pensive puffs, the aromatic smoke filling the air. Lavi furrowed his brow.

"What... did you find?"

The doorway must have been almost ten feet high. Along its edge were the remnants of designs, astrological markers, and animals or events, all of it carved out of a deep red stone. Lavi breathed out in awe. Esperanza raised her own lantern so that he could get a better look, and Lavi flinched. The young woman frowned at him in bemusement, but Lavi didn't apologize. Instead, the redheaded chronicler walked down towards the doorway the men had found beneath the Temple of the Virgins.

"We think it might be some secret passage to the Isle of the Sun," one of the Finders said. "The path is well constructed. We are getting men with rope in here so we don't get lost while we go in. It probably runs the entire length of the lake."

"Plumbing the depths of the lake," Lavi breathed.

"Exactamente, senor. If you would please wait a few moments, we will go in shortly. We'd like to send in a few men first, just to be sure that there is nothing unsavory down below," the Finder said calmly, and Lavi nodded, never taking his single eye off of the doorway.

The dejavu was back in full force. Yes, he had been here before, and there was this insatiable urge to walk inside that yawning mouth...

"Impressive, isn't it?" Bookman suddenly asked from behind them, and Lavi turned around.

"How long do you think it took them to build all of this?" Lavi asked. He was always amazed by the feats humans could pull off when pushed to do so. Something truly horrible must have happened for them to build some kind of safe passage beneath the lake.

"No idea. The Inca were very astute builders," Bookman assured him as he puffed on his pipe.

"You think we'll find the answer to our riddle down there?"

"Of course we will. I'd say that down there somewhere is where the sun and the moon kiss," Bookman grumbled. "The sun and moon in Inca mythology were much more amicable than in the Nahua myths."

"What happened to the sun and the moon in the stories of the Nahua?" Esperanza asked as she drew up beside the smaller man.

Bookman thoughtfully took a long draw on his pipe, a habit Lavi noticed when he was thinking best how to sum up something in the shortest amount of time. The old man finally exhaled and stated, "The sun killed his sister. Cut off her head and threw her down the pyramid to bleed on a dais before dismembering her. He threw her head into the sky and it became the moon."

Lavi grimaced. Not exactly the tale of sibling love he'd hoped for.

"It shouldn't be much longer. Stay here. I'm going above to get some supplies, and I will be back shortly."

With that, he began the slow journey up the gently sloping stairs, leaving Lavi and Esperanza by themselves, with only a single lantern. Esperanza looked behind her after the old man, and she licked her lips. Lavi caught her glance nervously at him before turning back, and he sighed.

"You can go with him, if you want. He'll need help. I'll just stay here."

Hesitantly, Esperanza walked away, leaving the lantern on the ground. Lavi watched her go, and he felt an ache in his chest. What had happened? Oh yes - she'd deliberately broken their relationship into a thousand tiny, sharp shards. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and glanced back behind him...

He did a double-take as he stared at the doorway. He wagged his finger at the doorway and muttered, "No, no, no, no, no... You did not just do that."

A desert had occupied the hall within for just a moment, enough for him to catch a glimpse of it only for it to disappear when he truly looked back. Lavi stepped through the doorway and stared into the black depths of the corridor that seemed to stretch down into the earth. The desert had been as real as the walls around him. It had stretched for forever, just as it had this morning when he'd seen it through the tent seam. Now it was gone again.

As Lavi peered into the darkness, a nagging voice in the back of his head seemed to be urging him to go on into the darkness, that there was something there to find, but he knew better than to go by himself.

So why was he walking to the lantern and picking it up, and going into the dark all on his own? As if his body had found a will of its own, he saw himself starting a trek into the dark, and oddly it didn't bother him as much as he thought that it should.

There's nothing dangerous to find down here, he thought with such surety, but how he knew, he couldn't say. The dark seemed to greet him fondly as he journeyed farther beyond the door, oddly certain that he would find what he sought.

A/N: Hello, faithful readers! It has been two months since I uploaded the last chapter - which is way too long to be waiting for a chapter. So, here is the newest installment. I hope you've enjoyed it fully, and I apologize for the shortness, but this seemed like the best place to cut off (for this chapter, anyways). I'm hoping to finish this series relatively soon, so don't think I'll leave all of you hanging.

I truly appreciate the support this story has received, even after so long of a hiatus. It's amazing to see the pageviews and the people still reading it, old and new. I'm thankful for the subscriptions and the favorites and whatnot, especially seeing as it's a long story which can be daunting to start or difficult to get invested in. It really is a pleasure to write for all of you, and I wouldn't have kept writing if it weren't for the fact that others seem to enjoy it. So thank you!

And now, here are some discussion questions! There are a lot of heavy mental themes - do you think they're being handled well or sensitively? Do you think there could be a better way to handle these themes? What do you think of the progression - too fast or too slow? How well does the whole story flow now? Most importantly, what is important to you as a reader? What do you look for in a person's writing?

That's all I've got for now. So God bless you all, and have a happy holiday season!