The last bits of sleep fell off her as she stretched herself back against the plush ground, her arms outstretching towards the sky, toes curling. She let out a yawn and wiggled her toes, feeling something tickle against her skin. Eyes peeling open, she pushed herself up to kneel. Her eyes widen significantly and her brow scrunched as she peaked at the lush green grass the sprouted from the earth where her feet had lied. Astonishment coursing through her, she turn her body as she felt the same sensitive sensation against the palms of her hands the pressed into the ground. She twisted her body and lifted her hands, seeing that the same green grass had touched her hands too, but not throughout the entire ground. It all was in the shape of her body, the curves of her fingers and toes. She sprang up, gazing down at the olive plants that surrounded her, outlined her sloping figure and limbs curled close to her body in sleep.

She stepped a few paces back, glancing down at where her feet came into contact with the ground, anticipating the grass to shoot out, but it never did. Her brow scrunched and she recalled when she had touched that dingy stream, and from her fingertips magyk had buzzed and shot out, purifying it. With such a beautiful gift, how could anyone accuse her of being malevolent?

Distantly, she could recall dreams of the same illustrious place, with impeccably beautiful faces swarming her. They had all been so warm and so light, so encouraging. She wondered how she could travel from that world to here, what could've possibly sent her here. But she felt her heart fill whenever she thought of the strange place of her dreams, the place that was her home. A place that felt like that to her, with such sweet beings, could not have intended to punish her, to abandon her.

"You did that?" Alias grumbled from behind her, his shock zapping her through their bond.

She turned to face him. She noted his current jagged hair, uneven and short. She hadn't had a chance yet to pay attention to such distinct details of him in the frenzy of the meeting hall, in the dark of the cave, or when Beast had attacked them. But she saw it quite keenly now as her fear had dissipated and a good night's rest had settled and satisfied her mind. She noted the dirt the smudged the side of his forehead and right cheek bone. His eyes were bright and shining despite their coal depths. He was aware, and to see him so vibrant caused relief to gush through her as she remembered him limp in her arms and bleeding.

"Yes. I've done something similar before, with a stream, but I'm not sure how. It's different than healing or like removing the venom from your body. I'm not sure how I did it."

"Try it, now," he urged, curiosity peaking.

She paused for a second, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. She gave a curt nod. "But only if you let me fix your hair."

He frowned, hand running up to run through the uneven chunks. "What's wrong with my hair?"

"It looks like someone blindly took a pair of scissors to your head."

He huffed. "It was not scissors, but my blade."

She stifled a laugh. "That's much worse than I suspected. Allow me to fix it?"

"Surround me in a field of flowers first," he challenged.

"Easier said than done," she grumbled beneath her breath. She shut her eyes, drew in a deep breath and expelled it, flexed her arms and hands. She relaxed the muscles in her body, and tried to touch the magyk the swarmed inside of her. It was difficult to capture, so far out of her reach, but as her fingers skimmed it, she gasped as images hit her. A shining face of a woman, long ebony hair and glowing white eyes. She beamed, revealing sharply cut teeth that glowed, behind pulled back plump pink lips. She laughed, the sound reverberating in her eyes, twinkling.

Acacia, my darling, where have you gone from me? She sang.

In her mind, she was entranced, locked in place as her body began to buzz in a far away realm, energy swirling in pools inside of her, and flushing out through her feet grounded in the brown and black earth.

I'm searching for you, my love. Come back to me.

Who? How? Where? She trembled under the pressure that began to beat down on her, the intensity of the woman, of the...goddess.

I'm waiting for you.

Their words were not threatening and anticipatory as Beast's had been. They were tender and joyous, so lyrical that they produced a melody of their own. Her voice held many inflections, all which swirled around her and encased her, warmed her and penetrated her. She was dazing and magnificent, humbling and glorious. As her presence began to fade, to wash away, Acacia struggled to reach out to grasp her to reach her, but something within her held her back, prohibited her from revealing herself and location.

The goddess was connected to her in a bond like hers and Alias', but it did not work both ways and did not possess the same depth. The goddess could reach her, but she did not have the same access, and she could determine what she saw and if she reached her. She broke through in moments when Acacia was vulnerable, open to her magyk or dreaming, but when the connection buzzed it ignited her magyk like no equivalent.

Her eyes fell open to Alias and she was immediately aware once more of his astonishment, of their tie. Her eyes drifted from him to the ground, to the brilliant violet and yellow flowers that had blossomed around them, spreading around the boulders they took shelter near, to the mouth of the cave, and for meters onward around them. Their vivacious color was invigorating and dizzied her thoughts. They were the same flowers in the field where she had woken up.

She subdued her shock and puzzlement and turned to face Alias. "I believe you owe me a haircut." She glanced through the field. "Now where did you put that knife?"

***

Visions of the goddess and her eerie familiarity danced in Acacia's head as they trudged on.

Through the caves Alias had always been the one to lead, had been the one in charge and the one aware when they had been in his Community, but now he looked to her. With her abilities and quick expanse through the charred world above, she had become their guide. It had taken a bit for her to muddle through their choices, and still stunned by the leadership, she had decided to retrace her steps, to find the place where she had first awoken in the forest in daze.

Alias had immediately agreed and insisted they move on, investigate her origins and arrival. "I've got nothing left to search for, but you still have much to find."

She didn't know what they were searching for, but she felt the same tug in her magyk that told her she was on the right track; the same instinct that had led her to Alias. It drew them through the same boulder path that she had slept in, explaining as they went, "This where Beast first found me. I had been sleeping in the rocks, and it awoke me and chased me until I bumped into you."

He had watched her with a strange admiration, a far cry from the annoyance and contempt he had first approached her with. And then he had jogged ahead, pausing as the exited the boulder line trail and glancing down at the dirt path that led through brown fraying grass.

"What is it?" She had asked.

He had shook his head in reply and trekked on in silence, growing numb through the bond.

Now she stared at his back for what must've been the hundredth time. He had remained distant and withdrawn ever since the path had began to change, and wondered if it had to do with memories that haunted him, that made him cry out in his sleep sometimes. Some nights he had awoken her across the hall with his shouts, and her heart would always lurch at the sound.

She traced his shorter hair with her gaze. She had done a fine job. It was shorter than he typically preferred, but it was even and much less choppy. She had cleared away his uneven bangs and eradicated the longer chunks. Now it was cropped short, not shaved off by any means, but shorter than any male she had seen wore in Community. "A deal is a deal," he had sighed reluctantly as he had handed her the knife.

She sighed herself as she trotted up to him, trying to keep up and maintain his brisker pace. "Your hair looks nice."

He quirked a brow. "Why would I care what my hair looks like?"

"Most people care how they present themselves. I thought it was normal to do so."

"Your appearance is a trivial thing. You should never look clueless and vulnerable - that's just asking for trouble - but you should never feel the need to prove yourself through your looks. They are a frivolous thing, a thing for the weak." He stated, voice monotone.

She shook her head. "Your appearance can act as a form of self expression. Like the way you usually cross your arms over your chest, like you're doing now. That's a sign that you're closed off, you're guarding yourself, and fear letting people in. All the back your people wear, that's self expression too. It shows how you see yourselves, mute yourselves. Emotions are weakness and to remain as stoic as possible is the safest option." She mocked.

He turned to glare at her, dropping his arms to his sides. "You prove my point entirely. Self expression is a form of weakness. Look at how much a person can expose from it." He sped up, flashing his back to her. "And I do not fear letting people in."

"You're right," she agreed. "You're afraid of what they can do."

***

They traveled on in silence, Acacia's words swirling around the two of them as they continued.

The dirt trail eventually developed into pressed gravel and a flash of panic lashed at her through their bond. She glanced to Alias walking beside her and his face was a solemn mask of control. She allowed him space and decided not to ask now. Revisiting the very world that had chewed you up and spitted you out in pieces couldn't be a pleasant experience for any individual.

Acacia knew they were on the right path when the rolling hills tumbling on their sides, cracks and scars tracing the ground where she imagined it had split open in the time when humanity had all been wiped out like Alias and Edmund had described to her.

Thinking of Edmund left sadness in her heart. He had grown very close to her before the end, had always been the one to look out for her. He had told her many of their secrets that the others had not wanted her to know, and had believed in her first. Until the end. In the end he had been like all the others.

Alias' eyes snapped to hers and she feared that he somehow had sensed her thoughts; that somehow he knew what she sulked over. She looked from him to the scorched hills and their black and brown rough surface. She yearned to restore them, and felt her magyk swell at the concept, but she withheld herself. She was not yet ready to face what faced her on the other side.

Alias grew slower as they passed the hills, lagging behind her, and a deep melancholy poured from it. She gave him the gift of silence and marched on, into the residue of what once had been a small neighborhood. Some houses were decimated beyond recognition, while others were still partially intact. Their stone frames and cobbles walls still stood against the quiet world. They were sullen beneath the dark sky, and she tried to walk past them as quickly as possible; the thoughts of what horrible things had happened here biting at her.

She walked faster, but she came to a stop a she sensed his absence.

She turned and looked to see Alias had stopped far back, in front of one of the few houses that were more together than the others. A half collapsed roof lied limp across the ground, jagged pieces spreading out for some distance. Only two of the stone walls still stood, one facing the hills.

He slowly tumbled up to it, body faltering as he went. He began to shake as he neared it, hands running across the pieces of roof and wall, of stone and wood. He stopped before the back wall that remained and he pressed both of his hands against it, face peaking through the hole in its surface that out looked the hills in the distance.

Acacia was hesitant as she approached him and the house, careful to avoid the debris littering the ground. She stopped behind him, worried sick. "Alias..." She tried at first, unsure of how to approach him. "Alias... Was this your house?"

He didn't turn from the pitiful window or the sweeping hills, but he answered her, voice alarmingly steady. "This was my home. This was where my parents, sister, and I lived. This is the last happy memory I have," he whispered.

She took a step closer. "What happened to them?"

He grew tense, the muscles in his arms bunching, fingers digging into the hard wall.

"The gods killed them."