The words hit me like a hammer, and my chest started to get tight as my mind ran through a wide range of emotions.

“When were you going to tell me this?” I asked, keeping my voice level and deadly calm.

[They will all join you in The Place Where Worlds Collide, and I never really thought about it till now. What does it matter?]

“What? How could it not matter?” I asked with shock as I sat down in the grass, stunned by what I heard from Harold of all people.

[You know what is going to happen if you kill him, right? When Helsin Zero is killed, this all ends Zack, you know that; you don’t need the memories for that. All these bonds, people, and everything beside me only exists in your mind.]

Harold was right, and so was Zero when he told me I would start to understand what he was trying to do. I still didn’t agree, but now I was torn about this all.

“So you’re telling me that I have to choose between this life and the people of Earth? There are what, Infinite world and realities here? The Earth was just one place, right? Aren’t all the people of Earth here with us?” I asked in confusion.

[I don’t know, Zack. There are some I know about here, like Mark, but I am missing my memories from before like you. I only have my memories from my times the first time through and now.]

When I got my memories back, I would get those feelings from that time, and I was sure that my opinion of this would change again. I was also bothered by the idea that I had done this before.

Has it been the same? Had I already lost people that I had collected like I was now?

[No, that is one thing I know. You did it all on your own, and you ignored all sources of help from your old guide. The man was a strange one, but I can’t remember his name for the life of me, but it was something strange.]

That was relieving, but I was still left with an unsettling feeling about the endgame of this all.

[Don’t overthink it too much for now; you have this world to worry about right now. Now let’s get up and start moving. Libra is the Scale of Balance, and the world will be very balanced and symmetrical if the sign is any indication of it.]

I sighed and got back up. Breathing constantly came naturally now, but it was still weird to do when I thought about it.

I stood up and started to back up, but then I bumped into something soft. I wasn’t going to be fooled in turning around, but the thing spoke.

“Owff! Watch where you are going! I didn’t mean to sneak up on you like that! I just wanted to come over here to wait for you! Then I saw you sitting here, and I was coming over to talk to you, then you stood and backed up into me!” Dani said in a matter-of-fact voice as I turned around to face my tiger-striped caterpillar.

Dani backed up from me and crossed her arms, but she just looked cute with her pouting face. Her caterpillar body wasn’t as strong as Jilly’s, and she was much smaller than her, so Dani only came up to my chin.

“Might be a good thing that you came over here. What should I expect past these walls? Also, why are we the only ones on this ring? I hadn’t really taken the time to ask you anything about this place,” I said to Dani, and she gave her own sigh but nodded.

“You will be fine; if you touch each one of the rings, you will get there without trouble. If you don’t, you will stand out in each place. I will have to come with you, and you will just have to follow me and listen to what I tell you,” Dani explained and let out a sigh like she was lecturing a student that didn’t know how to listen.

“No, you can stay here. I am not touching the rings, so you probably won’t remember me or something like that, right? What about the empty grass fields?” I asked.

“There are others here, but you can’t see them because they are here for a different purpose. You were holding on to me when we came in here, so we could see each other. The first ring deals with the separating of food, then living, and the hatchery. After that, you will reach Grixaitalax,” Dani explained to me.

“What is he?” I asked, but Dani shrugged.

“No one that I know has ever seen him, but I was curious to see. I can walk through, but you will just have to convince me that I know you. It is better to have me as your guide than trying to do this alone,” Dani told me, and I gave her a raised eyebrow.

“What can I do to remind you that you know me?” I asked, not really sure what I would be able to say.

“Just say the nickname you gave me, and act forward with me, and I am sure that I will melt back into your arms. Then you can also mention that I was taking you to go see Grixaitalax,” Dani explained, and I grinned as I stepped back up to her, placing a hand on her hip.

“Well, then what about we have one more kiss so you will have something to remember, right? This will be an easy reminder of who I am to you,” I said and then leaned in for a kiss that Dani accepted gratefully.

I stroked her smooth head as we kissed, but I was still concerned about the time I was spending here. The two of us broke the kiss, and I looked into her eyes; they were grey.

“How long till it’s dark?” I asked, not excited to hear how long I had.

“Time moves very slowly here, so you have about three days before darkness sets in outside of this place,” Danie explained, and I let out a sigh of relief.