The wanderer looked at the sea. What was supposed to be water was merely a reflection painted on the sky. Silence has a price that only a few beings could afford. Silence is expensive. The sun vanished from the sky. It was dark, but they were moving on.
The wanderer is one of those fools who fall in love. Slave to passion. Sometimes in control, other times guided solely by his desires. He pulled her closer and, speaking as if dreaming yet with caution, said:
— Do you know? Are we still heading in the right direction?
— You tell me, you are the one who has been here before...
For a moment, the wanderer not just realized but wished to be the one to always be around her and protect her.
— The path I passed through was another. It's different to run away and come back home. You come back another version, lighter, even carrying you upon my shoulders...
— How is that possible, if you're chained with me, stuck? I am your burden now... your responsibility, your doom...
— My doom is true...
They laughed about it and forgot for a moment everything. Their world became each other's smiles.
— You could be all of that, but you are also my source of power, my reason, my goal, my precious little sun. As long as you live in my heart, inside my body will be a light shining endlessly, seeking for you...
The wanderer knew, at that moment and beyond, that he would do anything for her.
— I'm conducting the dance, and we're going: Back down south.
In the wanderer's mind, his experience with Andromeda's Ghost had been good, but it had ended. After all this time, he had found a similar, false, "better" love—one that came with side effects but was easier to manage. The good moments with it ranged between merely good and deeply satisfying, though never reaching perfection.
They crossed back down south, as the wanderer had said. They arrived safe and sound on BACU Island. "If the one who goes is different from the one who comes back, is there truly a comeback?"
— You know you can use somebody. Now you can choose: follow me as my muse, lover, and partner, and I promise to keep you safe as long as you stay by my side. But I won't force you. Follow your will, whatever it may be.
— Do you think I'm free from the spell?
— Yes. You have legs now.
Everything was different from before, even though they were still in the same world. The wanderer and Aesa'Es walked toward the Fountain of Good Memories. The cold night air and the wind surrounded them. The fountain, a circular pool of water, was adorned with plants that grew alongside the structure of the few remaining buildings. Above them, the sky was a soft, deep blue.
— My love, you don't even call...
Far away, Andromeda's Ghost regretted—sharing the same night but separated from him. Both feared what might happen if their paths crossed again. Something undesired but perhaps still... pleasant.
— Ly'U, do you believe in love?
— Do you?
— I do, for you. Can't get over you. I don't want anybody else but you.
— If you ask me...