(Night. Balloons approach Garden, and balloonists slide down ropes. Kai is still in his box of earth, singing Yo A O. Stan is sleeping on a bed of ferns, but the sound of someone moving around wakes him up)

STAN: Lyekka?

(Stan looks around, then runs to the moth)

STAN: Kai?

(There are people moving in the shadows. Stan goes to Kai's trough)

STAN: Kai, Kai, I can't find Lyekka anywhere and I, er - look, I think we're being attacked
KAI: By whom?
STAN: Well, I don't know, does it matter? Look Kai - I hate to break the news to you, but you're not a plant! You're a Brunnen G warrior, and then you became an assassin for the Divine Order, you're not meant to rot in a garden! So get up out of there and kill!

(Kai doesn't move. Stan grabs his shoulders and pulls him into a sitting position. The dead almost look pissed off)

(Elsewhere in Garden, Xev is sleeping on a bed, when some people grab hold of her. Men with crossbows are moving around stealthily. One is near the moth, when Kai surprises him from behind)

KAI: May I help you?

(Balloonists shoot arrows into the man - and Kai. Kai casually pulls arrows out of himself as he walks to the alarm gong in the courtyard. He hits it, but none of the gardeners appear in response)

(Xev is tied up, put into a sack, and carried away)

(Kai sees Stan approaching)

STAN: What's happening?
KAI: We are being attacked
STAN: I know that, but by who?
KAI: Balloons
STAN: From Fire?
KAI: Likely

(Lyekka arrives on the scene. Stan hugs her)

STAN: Lyekka!
LYEKKA: Stan

(But from behind, it becomes clear that Lyekka has several arrows in her back)

STAN: No

(Stan leans her back, cradles her head)

LYEKKA: I just wanted to make you happy Stan
STAN: You have - you do! Listen, Lyekka, are you OK?
LYEKKA: I didn't see them coming. Stan?
STAN: Yes?
LYEKKA: I have to say goodbye now
STAN: No no no no no, we have to take you back to the Lexx and we can fix you up
LYEKKA: You make me happy

(Stan is nearly in tears)

LYEKKA: I'll always be in your heart. If you cry, you'll lose the memory of our love

(Stan kisses her, and her head falls back. Kai checks her neck)

STAN: No
KAI: She is dead
STAN: No!
KAI: Yes. And Stanley, you are in danger. I can protect you, but I cannot protect you and the moth and Xev at the same time unless you stay together
STAN: Yeah. I guess you're right

(Stan places Lyekka's body on the ground)

STAN: Where's Xev? Xev!

(They see someone getting into the moth)

STAN: They've got the moth!

(The moth flies away. Stan and Kai go to check Xev's bed)

STAN: Xev! Xev!

(They go back out into the courtyard. Kai looks up at the moth)

STAN: Can you reach it?
KAI: Yes, I can

(Kai readies his brace)

STAN: Kai?
KAI: Yes?
STAN: I'm coming with you

(Stan puts his arms around Kai)

KAI: Hang on

(Kai's brace shoots out, gets hold of the moth, and they are pulled up to it. Kai pulls the balloonist out of the moth, and Stan and Kai climb in. There is a bundle in the back of the moth)

STAN: Xev? Kai, you fly, I'll help Xev. Xev, is that you?

(He feels the bumps on the front of the bundle)

STAN: It is Xev. Xev, Xev?

(Stan starts untying the bundle - but it's not Xev. It's a Xev shaped bomb)

STAN: I don't get it

(The 'breasts' ignite, sparks flying)

KAI: Let's go
STAN: Where?
KAI: Out

(They jump out of the moth. Prince is in a balloon, watching all this through a telescope. The moth explodes)

PRINCE: A moth, it doth go boom

(Moth debris falls into the sea. Stan and Kai fall, until Kai's brace catches hold of a balloon. He throws the balloonists out)

(Prince's balloon. Apart from Prince, the other passengers are two balloonists, a red robed priest, and Xev. She is standing with her hands tied up above her, and a bag over her head, which Prince removes - the bag, that is, not her head)

PRINCE: A moth, it doth descend. Kai and Stanley assumed that you would be in the moth, exactly as I had anticipated
PRIEST: It was an excellent plan
PRINCE: Clever
PRIEST: Brilliant
PRINCE: Insightful
PRIEST: Genius
XEV: Stupid!
PRINCE: Stupid? Do you doubt me, Xev?
XEV: Kai can't be killed, he's already dead
PRINCE: But Stanley can. And Kai does not float. Correct?
PRIEST: My prince thinks of everything

(Priest gives Prince a wonderfully grovelly look)

PRINCE: So, we have you, and Stanley and your dead man are out of the picture, isn't that excellent?
PRIEST: Wonderful
PRINCE: Satisfying
PRIEST: Exciting
PRINCE: Inevitable
XEV: Evil

(Priest moves to stand next to Xev)

PRINCE: I won't disagree with that
PRIEST: That's what we do
PRINCE: We're bad
PRIEST: It's our job
PRINCE: Our lives
PRIEST: Our commitment
PRINCE: We're the opposite of good
PRIEST: Anything but
PRINCE: You see Xev, that's what Fire is all about. It's the repository of all that is not good

(Prince stands next to Xev, on the opposite side to Priest)

PRIEST: Precisely
XEV: (to Priest) Don't you have a mind of your own?
PRIEST: Oooo... (he looks at Prince) No
PRINCE: Am I beautiful?
PRIEST: The most
PRINCE: Witty?
PRIEST: The sharpest

(Prince touches Priest's cheek)

PRINCE: Do you love me?
PRIEST: Completely
PRINCE: Would you die for me?
PRINCE: In an instant
XEV: I think I'm going to be sick

(Prince lets go of Priest)

PRINCE: You see Xev, Priest lives on Fire and I am its ruler. And he knows that the least hint of disobedience would mean an immediate return to terrible pain and suffering, and as you know -

(Prince strokes Xev's arm)

PRINCE: I'm very good with pain (chuckles) However, as he is my priest, he does not suffer much - for now, at least

(Priest looks through the telescope)

PRIEST: My prince - we have a problem

(Prince goes to the edge of the gondola and looks up through the telescope, to see Kai and Stan in a gondola above. Stan is peering over the edge at the balloons - dozens of them)

STAN: The sky's full of balloons. They're everywhere. They're all around us
KAI: And one of them likely contains Xev (shouts) Xev! Can you hear us?
XEV: Kai!

(Priest puts his hand over Xev's mouth)

STAN: That was Xev, did you hear that? (shouts) Xev! We can hear you! Xev, where are you?

PRINCE: Now the game will become more interesting
PRIEST: A challenge
PRINCE: A test
PRIEST: A contest
PRINCE: A battle
XEV: Which you will lose
PRIEST: A defeat
PRINCE: A defeat?
PRIEST: For them. Victory for us
PRINCE: Precisely

(Prince sits on the edge of the gondola)

PRINCE: You see Xev -
PRIEST: Flying a balloon -
PRINCE: Flying a balloon is not a science. It's not an art. There's a lot of luck involved. Sometimes you get an updraft -
PRIEST: Sometimes you don't -
PRINCE: You never know. But if you have a lot of balloons -
PRIEST: As we do
PRINCE: Then you're more likely to get a favourable wind than if you have only one. It's a simple matter of mathematics. In order to destroy their balloon, our balloons must rise higher
PRIEST: Or at least one of them must

(Prince looks at Priest)

PRINCE: What?
PRIEST: Rise above all the others
PRINCE: We need to shed some weight

(Priest looks at Xev)

PRIEST: Her?
PRINCE: No

(A balloonist walks past Priest - who pushes him over the edge. Prince stands up and looks at the other balloonist - who jumps over the edge)

PRINCE: Thank you!

(He looks at Xev)

PRINCE: We need you more than we need them. You could be useful

(It's now sunrise)

STAN: We gotta make it to another one of those cities
KAI: Don't you want to rescue Xev?
STAN: Well, yeah Kai, but we gotta get some help first
KAI: I have observed that the residents of the various cities on Water suffer from - or perhaps, benefit from - a certain complacency in relation to the potential dangers they face
STAN: Yeah
KAI: They seem to live for the minute, in a kind of continuum, and will likely show no interest in our problem
STAN: OK, what do you suggest then?
KAI: Engage the other balloons in battle, to save Xev now - on our own
STAN: But what - but they're all around us, how can we attack them all?
KAI: We will not have to attack them. They appear to be organising themselves to attack us
STAN: Oh, come on, there's way too many. They're gonna beat us
KAI: Likely you are correct
STAN: OK, I'm correct. What are we gonna do?
KAI: Whatever we can
STAN: You know Kai, that's easy for you to say because you're an assassin. You see, I'm a security guard class 4, formerly an assistant deputy backup courier. You know, doing battle's not part of my nature
KAI: You are captain of the Lexx, the mightiest weapon in the two universes - what's left of them - and have been so for more than four thousand years

(Stan thinks about this. The balloons float over Water, which is quite pretty apart from the screams of the men who are thrown overboard. On their balloon, Stan is working the pump)

KAI: They seek advantage by rising above us, so they are shedding weight to gain in altitude
STAN: I'm pumping this thing as hard as I can

(In a nearby balloon, men get their crossbows ready. Prince gives a signal and they fire. The arrows bounce off the side of the gondola - apart from one which sticks in Kai's chest)

STAN: Did they hit us?
KAI: Not where it matters

(He pulls the arrow out)

KAI: They are not trying to hit the gondola. Their strategy is to puncture our balloon's bag and make us descend

(Stan looks up. Kai readies his brace and aims at Prince, who is watching through the telescope. He sees Kai lower his arm)

PRINCE: Make sure they all stay out of range of his weapon
PRIEST: Excellent plan

(Priest grovels, then goes back to the pump. Prince steps down to Xev, takes out his phial and offers it to her)

PRINCE: Would you care for a drink?

(Xev turns her head away)

PRINCE: Very well. I won't bother to offer you one again

(Prince drinks. The balloons are rising higher now. Stan stops pumping and looks. All the archers are aiming at them)

STAN: They're rising above us
KAI: Correct

(Stan resumes pumping)

STAN: Well what can we do?
KAI: We can wait
SAN: Wait for what?
KAI: For them to make a mistake
STAN: That's our entire plan?
KAI: Yes
STAN: Yeah, well what if they don't make a mistake?
KAI: Then they will succeed and we will fail
STAN: What does that mean?
KAI: It means, that you will die -

(Stan stops pumping)

KAI: And I will sink to the centre of this planet

(Stan goes over to the side of the gondola and looks down, then goes back to the pump)

STAN: Why is it that I do all the pumping and you do all the standing around?

(Prince gives a signal, and the archers fire again. Kai grabs a crossbow bolt out of the air, inches from Stan's face)

KAI: I will pump if you request, but then I will not be able to stop darts
STAN: Oh, that's OK, I like to pump

(He starts pumping again)

STAN: Did they get the balloon?
KAI: Not yet. Close

(An arrow hits the deck near Stan, who ducks)

(Meanwhile, on the bad guy balloon - )

PRINCE: You seem so far away from me now - and we used to be so close
XEV: We were never close

(Prince stands behind her, with one arm around her waist, the other hand on her breast)

PRINCE: I remember your kisses well. They were warm and close
XEV: I was vulnerable, and you took advantage of me. There was nothing real

(Prince walks around her)

PRINCE: I see hate in your eyes (chuckles) You should be one of mine, you should be with me. If you can hate me, you should be able to hate others. It's a small step for you to take. Take it Xev. Be mine
XEV: No

(Prince moves away, with his back to her)

XEV: Why do you do this?
PRINCE: I tempt those who can be tempted, and I punish those who deserve to be punished. That is my function, my occupation, my job - my joy

(He turns around)

PRINCE: What is wrong with that? And I also punish some who have done nothing wrong, who slip through the cracks - but then, no system is perfect

(He moves behind her again, kisses her arm)

PRINCE: You may not understand why I do what I do, but even less do I understand why you make the choices that you do

(He moves forward)

PRINCE: I can see into you, Xev. I can see things inside you that even you do not consciously remember

(He puts his hands on her head, leans toward her)

PRINCE: You have every reason to hate

(An image: a baby standing in a small box, being patted by robot arms. On a view screen a recording of a matron drones on, with pauses for a name to be inserted)

MATRON: Good baby. Good baby. Good baby. Good baby. Good baby - Xev of B3K

(The robot arms give the baby food)

MATRON: Good food. Good food. Good food baby - Xev of B3K

(The image disappears when Prince takes his hands away from Xev's face)

PRINCE: Do you remember that? Your childhood, Xev of B3K?

(He strokes her hair)

XEV: No
PRINCE: But you were raised in a box
XEV: I was raised in the wife bank on B3K, yes. But I really don't remember much of it
PRINCE: There was not much about it to remember

(He strokes her hair again)

(The archers fire again - and this time hit the balloon bag)

STAN: We've been hit

(Stan and Kai look up at their balloon)

STAN: We're losing altitude

(Stan pumps, but air is hissing out of the balloon. Priest watches through the telescope, Prince stands behind him)

PRIEST: We have punctured their balloon bag. They are going down. Soon they will be in the water and we can shoot at them at will
PRINCE: We do not want that
PRIEST: So what do we do?
PRINCE: We wait

(Prince goes back to Xev. He puts his hand up to her head, but she pulls away. He moves behind her, and she pulls away again, so he grabs her head with both hands. Another image: Xev is now a teenager, fat, with braces, still dressed like a baby. She is sitting at a desk in the box, watching the matron on the view screen)

XEV: Good morning matron
MATRON: Good morning, Xev of B3K. Lesson 376. Your husband asks you "Do you think I'm fat?" What is the correct answer?
1. No!
2. It's not what you look like on the outside, but the man on the inside that matters to me
3. I like a man with a lot of meat on his bones! Can we get naked now and play ride the tower of power?
XEV: It's not what you look like on the outside, but the man on the inside that matters to me?
MATRON: Wrong! The correct answer is - I like a man with a lot of meat on his bones! Can we get naked now and play ride the tower of power? (angry) Xev of B3K - always flatter your man. Never admit his failings. Use any occasion to please him in bed. Xev of B3K - at this rate you will not graduate from the wife bank for - 5.9 years
XEV: I'll try to do better in future, Matron

(Back on the balloon. Tears are running down Xev's face)

PRINCE: Do you remember that?
XEV: It's all a blur. Hard to remember exactly - but also hard to forget
PRINCE: So much pain

(Xev forces back the tears)

PRINCE: So?

(Xev takes a deep breath, then looks Prince in the eyes)

XEV: No

(Prince walks away, to Priest)

PRIEST: Should we fire everything at them now?
PRINCE: Firing everything at them will have no effect on the dead man. It is now time to change our strategy
PRIEST: The right thing to do
PRINCE: You should have come over to me Xev
XEV: Never
PRINCE: I once gave you the chance to let Stanley Tweedle destroy this planet, but you refused my chance because you are a good person - which means you are my enemy, which means you have to die. Throw her over the side
PRIEST: With pleasure

(Priest lets Xev's arms down, then wraps rope around her and takes her to the edge of the gondola)

PRINCE: But, we will attach a piece of string to her, to improve our negotiating position

(Stan is pumping, when he hears a scream)

STAN: What was that?
KAI: Xev

(Xev has been thrown overboard, and is dangling at the end of a rope beneath Prince's balloon)

PRINCE: (shouts) The time has come for you to make a deal!

STAN: He wants to make a deal, what now?
KAI: We wait for him to make a mistake
STAN: Well, he hasn't been making too many so far. Listen Kai, why don't you just, you know, do the assassination thing with your brace and get this over with?
KAI: I would, if my brace were fully functional, but it is not
STAN: (shouts) What, what's the deal?
PRINCE: The dead man will jump over the side and sink into the sea. Unless he does that in ten seconds, Priest will cut the cord on Xev, and she will sink into the sea. 10
XEV: No
PRINCE: 9. 8. 7.

(Kai moves to the side of the gondola)

XEV: No! Don't do it, Kai!
PRINCE: 6. 5. 4.

(Kai gets up onto the edge)

STAN: No Kai, don't do it. You're our only hope
PRINCE: 3. 2. 1.

(Prince leans over to Xev)

PRINCE: Look! He's climbing over the side for you. Isn't it sweet?!
XEV: No, Kai!
STAN: No, Kai!

(Kai dives off the edge. Priest cuts the rope holding Xev - and Kai's brace gabs hold of the gondola. Xev falls into the water, bobs up again)

PRINCE: Why did you do that?
PRIEST: The ten seconds were up, so I cut the cord like you said
PRINCE: I did not tell you to cut it
PRIEST: I am deeply sorry, my prince. It will not happen again - but I don't know what I did wrong
PRINCE: You - made a mistake

(Priest grovels for all he's worth)

PRINCE: Look

(Stan leans over the edge of the gondola, looking at Kai swinging below)

STAN: Kai!
KAI: Bring me down to Xev

(Stan works the controls. Air escapes, and the gondola goes down. Kai swings on his brace cord, and pulls Xev out of the water)

PRINCE: There is a faint possibility that your stupidity will lead to my opportunity. We certainly have the advantage of height now

(Kai drags Xev onto their balloon, hands her to Stan)

XEV: Thank you
KAI: You're welcome
STAN: Oh, it's nice to see you Xev

(The archers fire. They hit the balloon bag again - and again. They keep firing)

STAN: Why don't we just crash, down in the water?
KAI: In that case, I would be fine, but you and Xev would become very easy targets

(Kai finishes untying Xev, and moves to the front of the gondola, looking at the balloons. Stan starts pumping again)

STAN: Kai. Kai, I hate to interrupt your meditation, but things are not looking very good for us here
KAI: Release the stays

(Stan stops pumping and looks up in surprise)

STAN: Release the stays?
KAI: Yes, we must release the stays which suspend the gondola from the balloon - now

(Prince watches through the telescope)

PRINCE: Fire everything. We must kill them now, before they get any higher
PRIEST: How can they get any higher?

(Prince does not reply)

PRIEST: (shouts) Fire everything! We have to kill them now!

(More arrows fly. Stan, Xev and Kai are now above their gondola, standing on the metal base the balloon bags are attached to. Kai detaches the balloon section, and the gondola drops down into the sea. They all hang on to the ropes as the balloon rises higher)

STAN: Good move, Kai. Look

(They can see the Lexx in the atmosphere above them. Prince watches through the telescope)

PRIEST: Shall I release the mainstay?
PRINCE: Yes

STAN: The balloon's losing air. How can we make it to the Lexx?
KAI: We will have to be very lucky
XEV: We're already slowing down
KAI: Soon we will start to drop, rapidly. We must shed weight
XEV: What weight?
STAN: Oh no no
XEV: Look!

(Priest is climbing up to the balloon section of the gondola. Prince is already there)

PRINCE: Are you ready?
PRIEST: Nearly
PRINCE: We're losing time. What are you doing?
PRIEST: I have to release the mainstay from up here or else I will go down with the gondola
PRINCE: You're going down with the gondola
PRIEST: I'm sorry, I'm not clear -
PRINCE: I have no further use for you. You're dead weight. Now please fall to your death with the gondola, and don't waste anymore time about it. Is that clear enough for you?
PRIEST: Very clear. You are my prince
PRINCE: Your mistake provided my opportunity. Their balloon is losing air, ours is not. It will be easy to rise above them and pick them off
PRIEST: You are my prince
PRINCE: Now get on with it
PRIEST: I will get on with it!

(Priest climbs up to the balloon, and stabs Prince in the chest. Prince falls, landing on his back in the gondola)

PRINCE: You, you fool! What do you think you will gain?
PRIEST: What else would you expect? Now I will rise to the top
PRINCE: No (laughs)
PRIEST: And I will rule this planet!
PRINCE: You will suffer!

(Priest releases the mainstay. The gondola drops down, and Priest laughs - but he doesn't know that there is a crossbow on the deck of the gondola. Laughing and coughing, Prince takes the crossbow, and shoots Priest, who falls from the balloon. Prince dies. The gondola falls into the sea, while the balloon shoots upwards)

STAN: We're not gonna make it, are we?
KAI: No. Our balloon is losing too much air
STAN: Well what, what now?
XEV: Look, there

(Prince's balloon is racing up from beneath them)

STAN: Oh no. No no no no no no. You're not actually suggesting that I let go and throw myself down there, and if I'm incredibly lucky land on Prince's balloon, are ya?
KAI: No
STAN: No. Well that's good because, you know, I wouldn't die after I missed the balloon and hit the water, because my heart'd stop long before that
XEV: We have to jump Stan
STAN: No Xev. I'm informing you right now that I am in no way equipped for a jump like that. You know, my fingers won't respond to the instructions from my brain to let go. My brain wouldn't even produce an instruction like that
KAI: I will jump, and then I will bring you over
STAN: Well how?

(Kai holds out his brace arm)

STAN: No no no no. Your brace isn't working right, remember?
KAI: Hopefully, you will still be close enough

(Kai looks at Xev)

KAI: I think I must pick up Stan first, then I will grab you

(Kai jumps. He lands on top of the balloon, then crawls down to the base. He fires his brace, which grabs Stan's arm)

STAN: Ah! I'm not ready for this Xev. You go
XEV: Captains first

(Xev smiles, as San is pulled screaming to the other balloon. Kai catches him, and he gasps)

STAN: My heart's still working. I don't believe it

(They are nearly at the Lexx. Kai readies his brace - then Xev's balloon rips)

STAN: Xev's balloon is outta control. Fire your brace Kai, fire now!
KAI: She is out of range
STAN: Well we have to go down and get her
KAI: We will, but in a moth
STAN: A moth? We don't have time. The other balloons'll get to her first
KAI: We are now in the divide between the atmospheres of the two planets. Xev - will land on Fire

(Kai raises his arm)

KAI: We can reach her in a moth, before the other balloons

(He fires his brace, which latches onto the Lexx, pulling the balloon along)

(Xev's balloon is tossed around. She hangs on as it crosses the atmosphere divide, and is soon floating over Fire)

(On the Lexx, 790 is wheeling around the bridge on his trolley)

790: All night by the Kai, Kai
All night by his corpse I did moan
I dreamed he was tweaking my circuits
While I was tweaking his bone

(Xev is now lower over the desert, air still escaping from the balloon)

(Stan and Kai are in the moth chamber, getting into a moth. The mothbreeders ignore them)

STAN: Do these mothbreeders ever stop?
KAI: No

790: All night without Kai, Kai
I'm lonely, I'm blue, and I'm sick
I dream of his frozen kisses
And fondling his frozen -

(790 hears the moth)

790: Kai! You've come back to me! Come here, oh dark dead and delicious one

(But the moth just chirrups and flies away)

790: Kai!

(790 rolls forward - and falls off his trolley, landing in the well)

790: Kai, I'm here. Come back. Come back! Come back. You'll come back. You need me. You're just in an awfully big hurry. That's all. I understand. It's OK. No, really, it's OK

(790 sobs)

790: It's not OK! It's not OK! I love you Kai!!!

(The moth flies to Fire. A mothbreeder, walking across the desert, sees a balloon drift close to the ground. Xev jumps down onto the sand, and the balloon disappears behind a dune. The mothbreeder falls over near Xev. She walks to it, and kneels down)

XEV: What are you doing here?
MOTHB: I must build more moths
XEV: Are you one of the mothbreeders who were taken to Duketown?
MOTHB: I must build more moths
XEV: I know this probably doesn't mean anything to you -

(She holds the mothbreeder's head on her lap, stroke its face)

XEV: But like me, you were a prisoner on the Cluster, and they turned you into what you are now. But you were once a real person. A real person who lived a real life. Can you understand that, even a little?

(The mothbreeder does not respond)

XEV: You were a real person!
MOTHB: I must build more moths

(The mothbreeder dies)

XEV: Poor you

(She lays the mothbreeder's head down)

XEV: Poor me

(She gets up, and goes for a walk in the desert. Over dunes, across dark sand. She is heading for one huge dune when through the heat haze she sees someone approaching. It's Prince. He stops a little way off)

XEV: You again
PRINCE: Me again
XEV: How did you get here?
PRINCE: I died
XEV: You don't look dead
PRINCE: I'm not. I died, and now I have been reawakened here, for you
XEV: Why?
PRINCE: I want to be with you when you die. I've never seen anyone die for the first time (smiles)
XEV: What makes you think that I'm going to die?
PRINCE: You're on the surface of the planet Fire, the sun's up - you cannot last the hour
XEV: And you?
PRINCE: Oh, I will also die
XEV:(sarcastically) How sad
PRINCE: Not for me - I'm used to it (smiles) And it will not be so bad for you, although your friends will miss you

(Xev walks towards him)

XEV: Do you know what a Cluster lizard is?
PRINCE: Not really
XEV: A Cluster lizard is a very nasty animal, that I think originally came from a very hot place
PRINCE: How does that matter?

(Xev walks past him)

XEV: You will see
PRINCE: When?
XEV: In less than an hour

(Prince follows her)

(Elsewhere, Stan and Kai are in the moth, looking for Xev)

STAN: We'll never find her
KAI: We will search for the balloon

(The moth flies over a dune)

(One hour later. Prince is struggling to crawl up a steep slope. Xev is further up the dune. Prince stops, and rolls onto his back)

PRINCE: How are you going?
XEV: Fine, thank you
PRINCE: I'm not. I'm hot, I have to stop

(Xev smiles)

PRINCE: Why aren't you dying?
XEV: I'm very good with heat
PRINCE: Ironically, I'm not

(She walks back down to him)

PRINCE: How is it that you're not dying?
XEV: I'm not all human

(She sits down, and takes Prince's right hand)

XEV: Can you still find whatever memory you want with your hand, like you did before?

(She licks his index finger)

PRINCE: Yes
XEV: Think Cluster lizard

(She holds his hand to her head. An image of a screaming Cluster lizard appears. Prince laughs)

PRINCE: Then I guess you get to see me die

(Xev stands up)

PRINCE: Do you still feel anything for me?
XEV: A little
PRINCE: You shouldn't
XEV: I agree

(Prince dies)

XEV: Well - I didn't admit it before, But I'm hot, too. Really hot

(She turns away, then looks back as Prince's body disappears. She walks on)

(In the moth, the search continues. Stan sees a balloon dragging on the sand)

STAN: Hey, look, look, do you see it?
KAI: Yes
STAN: She's not in it
KAI: She may be somewhere upwind
STAN: I hope
KAI: The dead do not hope
STAN: Yeah, well Kai - the living certainly do

(The moth flies past the balloon. Elsewhere in the desert, Xev is still walking. The planet Water hangs in the sky before her)

© Filking Fairy