From the emptiness of space, Nii replied, "Our sight deceives us; darkness reveals the light."

"What does that mean?" cried Beet.

"It means that you can see more clearly with your heart, bouncy one," spoke a tiny sparkling voice.

Beet spun about, to face the one that had spoken, but in the darkness of the cave he could see nothing.

"Who said that?" asked Beet.

A blue light flared up before his face, illuminating the tip of his nose and the ends of his hair.  Within that glow flew a tiny human girl, clothed in porous black material.  Her hair was wild and of many colours.  Upon her little face Beet could see that she bore the smile of a child.  The little one spoke again, and it was that sparkling voice of before, "I said that, for you seemed lost.  My name is Faemydi, follow me."

She then turned about, put her tiny hands to the earthen wall, and pushed aside the dirt to reveal a passage.  The tunnel was lit by thousands of light green fireflies and the walls were held together by the thick roots of age-old trees.  Faemydi flew forth down the passage out of sight.  Beet and the others hurried along, glad to escape the cave, but concerned about this new domain.

The living passage wended its way almost unnoticeably down, turning and twisting ever so slightly.  Occasionally a beetle would buzz away ahead of them or a fuzzy grey mole would poke its nose out of the wall beside them.  The blue light of Faemydi had long since left their view, but since there were no side passages, they could not possibly get lost.

Beet slowed his pace, not only due to fatigue, but also because he no longer felt the fear of being caught.  They had not heard a single sound of pursuit.  One of the Pimi-Mele told Beet that the passage entry had closed after they had passed through.  It would be a very perplexing puzzle for the hymenopteran guards indeed.  Empress Jennybee would not have their hides today.

The endless passage bobbed up and down as Beet hopped along.  Key drew up beside him, somewhat livelier than before, but still recovering from its injuries.

"I’m glad to have you back, little guy," smiled Beet.  He suddenly noticed that Key was missing something and perhaps this was the cause for Key’s seeming sadness.  "What happened to your purple cane, Key?"

Through those pure black eyes it seemed to peer at him.  Key was afraid of something.  Beet thought back and remembered the significance of the cane.  It had done some strange things in the past and it was probably more than just a support.

Turning about and looking across the many Pimi-Mele heads, Beet cried out, "Nii!  Key has lost the cane!"

"I have felt it", came the reply, "But we are on a different path now.  We must follow where time leads us."