“Has she done something like this before?” Nis heard Lesch asking Meric.

Following the incident in the hut with the maps, they’d taken Nis back to the bed hut so she could lie down. Since Nis hadn’t been able to bring herself to answer their questions, they’d turned instead to Meric. The problem was, Meric didn’t know much more about it than they did.

Nis tried to ignore the conversation happening just outside the hut but couldn’t help but overhear them.

“I know she attacked one of the archivists,” Meric said, “but I wasn’t there when it happened and none of the people who were there at the time wanted to talk about it.”

“Has she ever mentioned her life after Mel?” Lesch asked.

“Not really,” Meric replied. “We’ve been busy just trying to get away.”

“I see.”

The conversation ended and their footsteps on the boardwalk faded away. Several minutes passed, during which Nis was finally able to calm down enough to stop crying. In the corner of the hut was a wash basin and she used her time alone to clean her face, hair, and hands. It felt good to be rid of at least some of the dirt she’d collected since leaving Dural. As she was finishing up, Lesch stepped back inside the hut. Nis walked back to her bed and Lesch joined her, both sitting on the edge of the cushion.

“How are you feeling?” Lesch asked in a soft voice.

What could Nis say? She obviously wasn’t alright, but she didn’t know how to adequately describe her fear, her shame, and her feelings of utter helplessness.

“It’s uncommon,” Lesch pressed on after a few moments, “but apparently there have been others who seem to have had similar experiences with certain past lives.”

“Really?” Nis asked.

Lesch nodded.

“Many of them were able to make peace with their past life,” she said, “while others found ways to avoid upsetting them.”

Nis considered what little she knew about her own past life and wondered if either solution was viable for her.

“How did they do it?” Nis asked.

“I am not an expert on this sort of thing,” Lesch stated simply, “but there are others who may be able to help you.”

“Where are they?”

“Across the northern sea.”

Nis understood the unspoken part, the question regarding whether or not Nis thought she would be able to handle the journey there.

“They can’t come here?” Nis asked, though she knew if that was a possibility then Lesch would have already said so.

“We lack the facilities out here in the Shards of Patience,” Lesch replied, and then added, “We can fly you there, or if you prefer, you may continue on in your raft.”

If she could have been guaranteed a peaceful rafting trip north then she would have gone with that, but Gorvis was still out there, potentially.

“Do you really think those people can really help me?” Nis asked.

“They are the best option that I know of.”

“Are you still willing to fly us there?”

“Yes,” Lesch replied although there was nervousness in her voice, again the unspoken question hung heavily between them.

“I think that’ll be alright then.”

Lesch nodded. She waited a few moments as though debating on what to say next before patting Nis on the knee and rising to her feet.

“I will go prepare the airship,” she said. “We can leave as soon as you are ready.”

Nis picked up her pack that held her few belongings and slung it over her shoulder.

“I’m ready.”

Outside of the hut they found Meric, pacing. She looked up the moment they came into view.

“We are going to the airships,” Lesch said.

“Good,” Meric breathed out a sigh of relief. “All my stuff’s already aboard.”

“Then we are off.”

Together, the three of them walked back down the boardwalk to the docks. The crew for the airship were there waiting for them, loading the last of a few crates into the cargo hold.

“There will be some others joining us on this flight,” Lesch said in almost a casual manner.

“Who are they?” Nis asked. “Guards?”

“No, they are just people making their way home.”

Once inside the airship, Nis saw the other passengers. There were two of them, a boy and girl about Nis’ age. From the look of them, Nis guessed that they were related. Brother and sister, maybe. Their clothes were plain, not much different than what Nis usually wore, though the weave of the fabric was unfamiliar to her. They both looked nervous but excited.

“Hi!” the boy said at once, standing up from his seat and waving for Nis and Meric to come sit by them. His broad, toothy smile looked both genuine and, for Nis at least, overwhelming.

Nis waved halfheartedly and Meric returned a somewhat awkward “Hello.”

“This is Tun and Fel, “Lesch said, gesturing to the boy and girl. “They arrived a few weeks ago and are ready to return to their homes. Tun, Fel,” she added, turning towards them “this is Nis and Meric who arrived yesterday and are pretty tired so they might not be up for too much conversation.”

Her introductions completed, Lesch moved off towards the cockpit. The boy, for whom Nis assumed Lesch’s last comment was intended for, wilted slightly but still motioned eagerly for Nis and Meric to sit near them. Not wanting to be rude, Nis accepted the invitation, though she made sure Meric was the one who sat nearest them. The moment they sat down, the boy sprang into conversation.

“We’re from Sentle,” he said, “or, that’s where we were born in this life. Most of our lives are from Du’gard, along the coast. That’s where we’re going. I’ve got a son from my last life that we’re going to stay with for a few years. What about you?”

“Dural,” Meric replied and left it at that.

Nis curled up onto her seat, tucking her feet beneath herself and resting her forehead against the carved wood so she wasn’t looking towards the siblings in the hopes of avoiding any conversation.

“Wow, Dural. This life’s dad is a merchant and he took me to Dural once. It was pretty big, though I guess none of us have seen a really big city in this life, right? I hear the cities across the sea are huge but none of my past lives ever spent much time in them so I don’t have a lot of memories about them. Maybe I’ll go live in one of them this time around, eh? Where are you two going? You have family waiting for you?”

Nis buried her face down into her bag and pretended to be trying to sleep.

“We’re going to the capitol,” Meric said.

“Which one?” Tun asked.

Nis, still feigning to be trying to sleep, found herself wondering where it was exactly that she was going. In all of the commotion she couldn’t remember if anyone had actually named the place where they were going. Tun’s question about which capitol city they were going to reminded her of just how many other countries she had seen on those maps and how very small her old world now seemed when compared to the expansive world she was just starting to comprehend.

Meric didn’t seem to know much more about their destination than Nis did and she floundered to come up with an answer.

“Uh, the one that Mel lived in?” Meric replied with uncertainty.

“Quet’tzos?” Tun asked. “I hear that’s the largest city in the world! Who are your past lives? Must be really –

“Tun!” Fel cut him off. “Can you leave them alone? They’re tired and even I’m getting a headache from all your questions.”

Nis peaked out from behind her bag and caught Fel’s eye before mouthing ‘thank you’. Fel gave her a subtle nod while Tun settled back into his seat, blushing slightly.

“I was just trying to be friendly,” he muttered to Fel.

“I know,” she replied. “Just let them have a chance to answer before you rattle off a dozen more questions.”

“We honestly don’t know much about anything north of the sea,” Meric explained. “We just knew we needed to come this way.”

“It was the same for us,” Fel said. “Tun and I always had these memories that didn’t match our life in Sentle, and finally we had to find out what they were all about. We got here and they were able to help us begin putting the pieces together.”

The airship’s engines roared into life and they soon began to move back and away from the docks. It took a few more minutes before they felt the rapid acceleration followed by the odd heaviness as the airship lifted off from the lake and began circling around to begin flying north. The motion felt a bit strange to Nis but it wasn’t all that different from when Mel flew her smaller airship. Without any windows to see the passing ground or clouds it was almost possible to forget that they were flying.

“None of my lives have ever liked flying,” groaned Fel.

“I’ve always like it,” Tun said cheerily. “I should learn to fly. Do either of you know how to fly?”

“I do,” Nis mumbled through her bag without looking up, “but not one this big. Now can I get some sleep?”

There was a thump as someone, probably Fen, gave someone else, probably Tun, a friendly, albeit solid, punch to the shoulder.

“Told you,” Fen muttered.

“I was just being friendly,” Tun said moodily.

“Is it very friendly of someone to keep asking you questions if you’re tired and trying to sleep?”

Tun didn’t respond and Nis relaxed. Her past life had, so far, not reacted in any way to her being on the airship and headed for, what did Tun say the name of the city was?

Quet’tzos.

Some part of her knew that name meant ‘second home’, but what language it was she couldn’t say. Hopefully the rest of their flight would go smoothly and Nis could begin working towards resolving the conflict between herself and her past life.