"Everyone alright?" Zidane asked as he walked towards the area where everyone, except Dagger, was gathered.. They were in the Invincible, the most powerful aircraft in the world. Dagger was the aircraft's navigator.

The rest looked at him worriedly. They were not sure that they would survive the operation. Zidane shrugged his shoulders in an attempt to be casual, but they could see from his tousled hair and red eyes that he was more worried than all of them put together.

Zidane cleared his throat. "Everyone, I'm really confident that we'll enter the evil-looking globe successfully. But in case we don't, I just want you to reflect on what happened in your life...what achievements you made, what negative points there were in your character and so on. If you had any conflicts with anyone else, resolve them, for we all need to cooperate. And above all, have hope. Think of all we've gone through. Remember, if Dagger fails, we all die. So, believe me, if we confirm our thoughts and put our mind at ease, we'll be able to die peacefully, if the mission's not successful."

He paused and gazed at his friends. His eyes became moist. "I'm scared, too," he whispered hoarsely. "I'm scared. I know you all are. But please, have hope and courage. You can never achieve anything without trying." And with that, he left.

"You mean there's a high chance we might die? But I'm still young! I'm only six! I've got a life to live!" Eiko wailed.

Three of the six people turned around and gazed at the red eye. All their thoughts and memories, long-forgotten, came rushing back to them...memories they'd rather not divulge.

To be continued...