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Description
Penelope was the first to wake up, just before the sun rose. She sat up, rubbing her eyes and taking stock of her situation. First, she was uninjured. Second, she was sitting in what seemed to be grass. The thought shocked her at first; she had always been taught that plants were the most scarce and valuable resources they had. As she looked around, though, she found that there was nowhere that wasn't covered in green. She quickly realized she must have ended up far from home, somewhere completely different from the barren wasteland she had come from. Third, the others were all near her, sleeping on the ground. They all seemed to be unhurt as well. As her sleepy gaze turned to Weiss, sleeping face-down next to her, she smiled. Satisfied that all was well, she lay back down and fell asleep.

. . .

"Could you be any less mature about this?" Penelope's voice was upset and shrill, waking Weiss up. "I mean, you're acting like a little kid!" She was yelling at Manfred, who was leaning against a tree with a sly smile on his face.
"Oh look," he said, breaking out into a grin, "he's awake!"
Weiss groaned. His whole body ached, and he felt like he needed much more sleep. "What are you yelling about?" he mumbled into the ground.
"I think Penny here's got something to tell you."
"I do not!" she cried.
"Oh yes you do," Manfred said gleefully.
"What is it?" Weiss sat up and looked at the two of them. As he did, Penelope quickly turned away.
"Nothing," she said quietly. "It's nothing. Manfred's just being… mean, that's all."
"Well, you're-"
Anemonae silenced the argument with an uncharacteristically harsh shout. "Quiet! All three of you!" She sat cross-legged on the ground, staring angrily at the ground. "Weiss, Edaniel and his beloved daughter are arguing because she was sleeping very close to you last night. He wants to pressure her into telling you, probably to embarrass the both of you." Anemonae sighed. "You mortals are so trivial…" The others stared at her, dumbstruck, and she got to her feet and started pacing. "You're completely ignoring what's really important here! Have you already forgotten?"
"Forgotten… what?" Manfred asked, backing off from Penelope.
"Are you serious?! You're telling me you've forgotten everything that happened, the Worms, the Evil Eye… all those people we couldn't save? You're that thick?"
"No!" Penelope cried. "Of course we haven't!"
"Then why are you arguing like children?"
Weiss went to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Anemonae, we haven't forgotten. There's no way we could. But I think you need to calm down-"
"Calm down?" She shot Weiss a glare. "We just left hundreds, maybe thousands of people to die at the hands of the Evil Eye, who, by the way, is still out there, I have to deal with you children, and you want me to calm down?" Her glare softened, and she shook her head. "No… I can't calm down."
"Look, Anemonae, let's not worry about that right now."
"Not worry? How could we-"
"No, please, listen to me. Obviously, that didn't go as well as it could have. But right now, we have no food, no shelter, and we have no idea where we are. I say we discuss it when we're safe… "
Anemonae sighed. "You're… right." She took a look at the field around them. It was definitely the Neutral Realm, but she couldn't recognize the area. It seemed peaceful and remote: there wasn't any sign of human interference with the wildlife. Tall grass stretched out for miles, with a few trees dotting the horizon here and there. Smooth rolling hills gave texture to the land. The weather was beautiful, but Anemonae could sense something wrong. It was the presence of the Eye. It wasn't close, but she could feel that it was somewhere in the realm. Shelter, she thought, would be a very wise idea.
"Oh!" Penelope looked around, confused. "This can't be right… I'm picking up one of Father's radio transmitters fairly close by. It's old, though… It marks an entrance to the Labs."
"Really?" Weiss asked. "Well, you know he did have Labs before he came to your homeworld, right?"
"I suppose…" She concentrated for a minute. "It's a few miles to the east," she said decisively. "We should be able to make it there in a couple of hours.
"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Manfred started to walk away from the others. After a confused glance between them, they followed him.

After an hour or so of hiking across the field, the four of them took a break by a small stream. The water was clear, so they drank from it and rested for a short while. Penelope sat by the calm water and used it as a mirror, twisting her hair into long braids.
"Hey, Penelope," Weiss said, taking a seat next to her. "What's with the braids? With all that hair, isn't it kind of a pain to keep doing that?"
"My mom," she muttered. "It's one of the only things I have to remember her by. When I was little, she would always tell me to keep my hair braided like this, because with it down it could be dangerous. There were a lot of things it could get caught on in the Labs, you know? When she left to head the Resistance… I was miserable. Father didn't want to see me sad, so it was actually him who suggested I braid my hair to remember her." She finished, tying a green ribbon around each of her pigtails.
"I suppose I don't need to anymore, not here." She looked around, smiling. " I can't believe this is where I was born. This place is so beautiful… There are plants everywhere!"
"You didn't see many of them in that other world, did you?"
"No! The only plants I know of are in the Labs, in the oxygen gardens. But those were just a few ferns, nothing like this… I guess you're used to it, aren't you?"
Weiss nodded. "Yeah."
They were silent for a while, as Penelope stared into the water. Suddenly, she looked at Weiss, smiling broadly.
"This is my home now, isn't it?"
"Yeah," he said, confused, "I guess so. Why?"
"Thank you, Weiss."
"Well, I didn't really-"
Before he could finish, Penelope reached over and hugged him. She was still grinning when she pulled away from him, but her smile disappeared as she saw the look of dismay on his face.
"Oh… I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking, I shouldn't have… done that…"
"No, Penelope." He sighed. "It's not your fault. You see, I-"
"Hey!" Manfred yelled at them, beckoning them over. "If you two are quite finished, I want to get going!"
"Manfred's right," said Anemonae. "We shouldn't stay here for very long, we need to keep moving."
Weiss nodded. "We'll talk later, when we're safe. Come on." He got up and helped Penelope to her feet. "Lead the way."
Penelope looked at him for a moment, then started to lead them away from the stream, through the fields, and towards the laboratory entrance. As they moved closer to it, the sparse trees thickened into a dark and quiet wood. The trees grew tall and old and their leaves blocked the sun. When it seemed like the foliage couldn't get any more dense, they encountered a man leaning against one of the trees.
He was tall, with a stern face and jet-black hair. He regarded them carefully, and after a moment, a small smile formed on his face. His clothes were just barely rags, and for shoes he had tree bark tied to his feet. There was an unusual air about him: he seemed washed-out, pale, and ethereal compared to the forest around him.
Weiss recognized him: he was the man who had come to his home, sending him to the Labs. He had been taken by surprise then and didn't have time to think, but now, with a level head, he realized that he had seen this man before. His mind went back to the memory that Anemonae had shown them.
The man who stood before them was Samaiel, from before he had been turned to Death. As he got up and approached them, Weiss's mind raced. He couldn't be alive, so how could he be standing there in front of them? Had they traveled back to his time? To Weiss, it seemed entirely possible, until he realized that if that were the case, there would be no radio signals for Penelope to find. He turned to Anemonae, who was smiling blankly, for an answer.
"Anemonae," he said, "What… what's he doing here?"
"He's come for me," she whispered.
"What?! No, Anemonae, what are you talking about?"
She ignored him, shoving him aside and running to Samaiel, passionately embracing him. "Samaiel," she said ecstatically, "You've finally come back! I've been waiting for so long…"
"I know, my dear… I'm terribly sorry." From his voice, it was certain that it was the same man who had been their enemy, but there was something strange about it. It had a certain emptiness to it, giving it an almost ghostlike quality.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
"Yes, of course!" Anemonae glanced at the others. "Oh, but… they deserve an explanation…"
Samaiel nodded. "You're right. Go on then, we have a moment."
"Right." Anemonae turned to the others. "Weiss, Manfred, Penelope… this is Samaiel. You remember when we went to the Ang-" She caught herself, shaking her head. "The home of the girl with the cauldron?"
Weiss nodded warily. "Yeah…"
"I brought her a piece of clothing from Samaiel's old home, and from that, she was able to bring him into this world… for a short while."
"What do you need to be ready for?" Penelope didn't seem too concerned, just curious.
Anemonae sighed, her smile fading slightly. "I don't need Samaiel here for a very long time… You see, I have… lived longer than I was supposed to have… and it's time for me to leave. Samaiel's here to escort me out of this world."
"What?" Weiss yelled at Anemonae. "You're telling me that after all of that indignant rage about how we were ignoring what we had to do, you're just going to disappear?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," she muttered. "Why can't you just be happy for me? I've been waiting for this moment for decades now!"
"Anemonae," said Samaiel, "They won't understand. Reasoning with them will be useless… why don't you just come along with me now?"
"Yeah, I think I will. Goodbye. Perhaps we'll see each other again…"
Anemonae and Samaiel walked arm in arm away from the others, quickly getting lost in the thick forest. Weiss started to run after them, but Penelope grabbed his arm.
"Just leave them alone, Weiss! Didn't you see how happy she was? I mean, I don't really get what's going on here any more than you do, but I think Anemonae knows what she's doing."
Weiss shook his head. He could feel something wrong with the whole situation. It was all so unexpected and sudden, and Anemonae had accepted it like she had seen it coming. She wasn't one to have a sudden change of heart like that. Besides, they needed her, especially if they were to ever survive another encounter with the Evil Eye.
"Penelope, something's not right. I'm going to go after them."
"No, Weiss!" It was too late. He was already disappearing into the woods. After a quick glance between Penelope and Manfred, they chased after him.

Description
Penelope was the first to wake up, just before the sun rose. She sat up, rubbing her eyes and taking stock of her situation. First, she was uninjured. Second, she was sitting in what seemed to be grass. The thought shocked her at first; she had always been taught that plants were the most scarce and valuable resources they had. As she looked around, though, she found that there was nowhere that wasn't covered in green. She quickly realized she must have ended up far from home, somewhere completely different from the barren wasteland she had come from. Third, the others were all near her, sleeping on the ground. They all seemed to be unhurt as well. As her sleepy gaze turned to Weiss, sleeping face-down next to her, she smiled. Satisfied that all was well, she lay back down and fell asleep.

. . .

"Could you be any less mature about this?" Penelope's voice was upset and shrill, waking Weiss up. "I mean, you're acting like a little kid!" She was yelling at Manfred, who was leaning against a tree with a sly smile on his face.
"Oh look," he said, breaking out into a grin, "he's awake!"
Weiss groaned. His whole body ached, and he felt like he needed much more sleep. "What are you yelling about?" he mumbled into the ground.
"I think Penny here's got something to tell you."
"I do not!" she cried.
"Oh yes you do," Manfred said gleefully.
"What is it?" Weiss sat up and looked at the two of them. As he did, Penelope quickly turned away.
"Nothing," she said quietly. "It's nothing. Manfred's just being… mean, that's all."
"Well, you're-"
Anemonae silenced the argument with an uncharacteristically harsh shout. "Quiet! All three of you!" She sat cross-legged on the ground, staring angrily at the ground. "Weiss, Edaniel and his beloved daughter are arguing because she was sleeping very close to you last night. He wants to pressure her into telling you, probably to embarrass the both of you." Anemonae sighed. "You mortals are so trivial…" The others stared at her, dumbstruck, and she got to her feet and started pacing. "You're completely ignoring what's really important here! Have you already forgotten?"
"Forgotten… what?" Manfred asked, backing off from Penelope.
"Are you serious?! You're telling me you've forgotten everything that happened, the Worms, the Evil Eye… all those people we couldn't save? You're that thick?"
"No!" Penelope cried. "Of course we haven't!"
"Then why are you arguing like children?"
Weiss went to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Anemonae, we haven't forgotten. There's no way we could. But I think you need to calm down-"
"Calm down?" She shot Weiss a glare. "We just left hundreds, maybe thousands of people to die at the hands of the Evil Eye, who, by the way, is still out there, I have to deal with you children, and you want me to calm down?" Her glare softened, and she shook her head. "No… I can't calm down."
"Look, Anemonae, let's not worry about that right now."
"Not worry? How could we-"
"No, please, listen to me. Obviously, that didn't go as well as it could have. But right now, we have no food, no shelter, and we have no idea where we are. I say we discuss it when we're safe… "
Anemonae sighed. "You're… right." She took a look at the field around them. It was definitely the Neutral Realm, but she couldn't recognize the area. It seemed peaceful and remote: there wasn't any sign of human interference with the wildlife. Tall grass stretched out for miles, with a few trees dotting the horizon here and there. Smooth rolling hills gave texture to the land. The weather was beautiful, but Anemonae could sense something wrong. It was the presence of the Eye. It wasn't close, but she could feel that it was somewhere in the realm. Shelter, she thought, would be a very wise idea.
"Oh!" Penelope looked around, confused. "This can't be right… I'm picking up one of Father's radio transmitters fairly close by. It's old, though… It marks an entrance to the Labs."
"Really?" Weiss asked. "Well, you know he did have Labs before he came to your homeworld, right?"
"I suppose…" She concentrated for a minute. "It's a few miles to the east," she said decisively. "We should be able to make it there in a couple of hours.
"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Manfred started to walk away from the others. After a confused glance between them, they followed him.

After an hour or so of hiking across the field, the four of them took a break by a small stream. The water was clear, so they drank from it and rested for a short while. Penelope sat by the calm water and used it as a mirror, twisting her hair into long braids.
"Hey, Penelope," Weiss said, taking a seat next to her. "What's with the braids? With all that hair, isn't it kind of a pain to keep doing that?"
"My mom," she muttered. "It's one of the only things I have to remember her by. When I was little, she would always tell me to keep my hair braided like this, because with it down it could be dangerous. There were a lot of things it could get caught on in the Labs, you know? When she left to head the Resistance… I was miserable. Father didn't want to see me sad, so it was actually him who suggested I braid my hair to remember her." She finished, tying a green ribbon around each of her pigtails.
"I suppose I don't need to anymore, not here." She looked around, smiling. " I can't believe this is where I was born. This place is so beautiful… There are plants everywhere!"
"You didn't see many of them in that other world, did you?"
"No! The only plants I know of are in the Labs, in the oxygen gardens. But those were just a few ferns, nothing like this… I guess you're used to it, aren't you?"
Weiss nodded. "Yeah."
They were silent for a while, as Penelope stared into the water. Suddenly, she looked at Weiss, smiling broadly.
"This is my home now, isn't it?"
"Yeah," he said, confused, "I guess so. Why?"
"Thank you, Weiss."
"Well, I didn't really-"
Before he could finish, Penelope reached over and hugged him. She was still grinning when she pulled away from him, but her smile disappeared as she saw the look of dismay on his face.
"Oh… I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking, I shouldn't have… done that…"
"No, Penelope." He sighed. "It's not your fault. You see, I-"
"Hey!" Manfred yelled at them, beckoning them over. "If you two are quite finished, I want to get going!"
"Manfred's right," said Anemonae. "We shouldn't stay here for very long, we need to keep moving."
Weiss nodded. "We'll talk later, when we're safe. Come on." He got up and helped Penelope to her feet. "Lead the way."
Penelope looked at him for a moment, then started to lead them away from the stream, through the fields, and towards the laboratory entrance. As they moved closer to it, the sparse trees thickened into a dark and quiet wood. The trees grew tall and old and their leaves blocked the sun. When it seemed like the foliage couldn't get any more dense, they encountered a man leaning against one of the trees.
He was tall, with a stern face and jet-black hair. He regarded them carefully, and after a moment, a small smile formed on his face. His clothes were just barely rags, and for shoes he had tree bark tied to his feet. There was an unusual air about him: he seemed washed-out, pale, and ethereal compared to the forest around him.
Weiss recognized him: he was the man who had come to his home, sending him to the Labs. He had been taken by surprise then and didn't have time to think, but now, with a level head, he realized that he had seen this man before. His mind went back to the memory that Anemonae had shown them.
The man who stood before them was Samaiel, from before he had been turned to Death. As he got up and approached them, Weiss's mind raced. He couldn't be alive, so how could he be standing there in front of them? Had they traveled back to his time? To Weiss, it seemed entirely possible, until he realized that if that were the case, there would be no radio signals for Penelope to find. He turned to Anemonae, who was smiling blankly, for an answer.
"Anemonae," he said, "What… what's he doing here?"
"He's come for me," she whispered.
"What?! No, Anemonae, what are you talking about?"
She ignored him, shoving him aside and running to Samaiel, passionately embracing him. "Samaiel," she said ecstatically, "You've finally come back! I've been waiting for so long…"
"I know, my dear… I'm terribly sorry." From his voice, it was certain that it was the same man who had been their enemy, but there was something strange about it. It had a certain emptiness to it, giving it an almost ghostlike quality.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
"Yes, of course!" Anemonae glanced at the others. "Oh, but… they deserve an explanation…"
Samaiel nodded. "You're right. Go on then, we have a moment."
"Right." Anemonae turned to the others. "Weiss, Manfred, Penelope… this is Samaiel. You remember when we went to the Ang-" She caught herself, shaking her head. "The home of the girl with the cauldron?"
Weiss nodded warily. "Yeah…"
"I brought her a piece of clothing from Samaiel's old home, and from that, she was able to bring him into this world… for a short while."
"What do you need to be ready for?" Penelope didn't seem too concerned, just curious.
Anemonae sighed, her smile fading slightly. "I don't need Samaiel here for a very long time… You see, I have… lived longer than I was supposed to have… and it's time for me to leave. Samaiel's here to escort me out of this world."
"What?" Weiss yelled at Anemonae. "You're telling me that after all of that indignant rage about how we were ignoring what we had to do, you're just going to disappear?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," she muttered. "Why can't you just be happy for me? I've been waiting for this moment for decades now!"
"Anemonae," said Samaiel, "They won't understand. Reasoning with them will be useless… why don't you just come along with me now?"
"Yeah, I think I will. Goodbye. Perhaps we'll see each other again…"
Anemonae and Samaiel walked arm in arm away from the others, quickly getting lost in the thick forest. Weiss started to run after them, but Penelope grabbed his arm.
"Just leave them alone, Weiss! Didn't you see how happy she was? I mean, I don't really get what's going on here any more than you do, but I think Anemonae knows what she's doing."
Weiss shook his head. He could feel something wrong with the whole situation. It was all so unexpected and sudden, and Anemonae had accepted it like she had seen it coming. She wasn't one to have a sudden change of heart like that. Besides, they needed her, especially if they were to ever survive another encounter with the Evil Eye.
"Penelope, something's not right. I'm going to go after them."
"No, Weiss!" It was too late. He was already disappearing into the woods. After a quick glance between Penelope and Manfred, they chased after him.