A Frosty World

Cael's shoulders drooped as they trudged the freshly fallen snow, the cold biting his cheeks as they crossed the vast grasslands before them. The sky was a pale blue, the clouds wispy and far off, and a layer of frost coated the ground around them.

Nearly three weeks had passed since they'd returned from the crystal cavern trip, and winter had finally come. The first snowfall had been a light dusting, but the following storms had dumped a foot of powder. The winds had picked up as well, whipping the white stuff into a swirling vortex that obscured his vision.

He really shouldn't have waited this long to tell Val.

"Oh, Cael! Isn't it beautiful!" Val exclaimed, running through the snow with an ecstatic giggle. Her dark violet hair was tied back in her usual braid as she twirled around like a top. And her eyes were wide with supposed excitement at the landscape surrounding them.

"Ahaha! I can't believe it's already winter~!" she squealed, kicking up a flurry of flakes. "I do hope that your feet aren't cold. I'm still very sorry I misplaced the snowshoes. I thought for sure I put them away properly~"

Cael sighed as several more snowflakes landed on his nose, causing it to wrinkle in irritation.

So this was the consequence of his inaction.

"Val, really… it's fine. And erm, once again, I'm sorry for not telling you sooner. I just… wanted to make sure I had all my facts in order."

"Oh? Really? Wow. You're so thoughtful, Cael~!" Val exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with admiration so real it almost didn't look fake.

Cael nearly started crying on the spot. He deserved karma, but not this.

"Is something the matter my dear romantic partner whom I trust deeply~?"

"…" No, no, he deserved this. This was his punishment. He had this coming. He would accept it.

Val's smile faltered. "You don't look well, Cael. Oh, I know. Is it because we must make our way to the city today in the cold of winter—?"

"E-enough, please. I'm sorry for not telling you. Just… I'm sorry. Okay?"

He closed his eyes briefly, wondering where in the world she had learned this.

Sarcastic Val was terrifyingly cute and frightening at the same time.

"…"

He opened them to see her smiling at him again, her eyes soft and warm. "It's okay, Cael. I understand." She reached up and brushed a bit of snow off his cheek before placing a quick kiss on his lips. "I've almost forgiven you."

Cael's face turned a bright red. He was expecting her to be a little mad, maybe make him sleep on the couch like he'd done before they'd started sleeping together, but this was something else.

What the heck was going on?!

After he'd finally broken the news about the truth of the journal—exactly twenty days after they'd gotten back to the cottage—Val had been understandably confused, hurt, and a little angry. They'd argued for the first time, and Cael legitimately felt like he wanted to die for making her upset.

Most of it was because the last vague lead Erika's journal had given was in a place in the city: the research facility where she'd worked—it'd taken a couple of rereads for him to piece together its importance.

That brought them to their current situation.

Val was understandably not too keen on venturing out in the winter to search for it, especially after their recent journey. However, they had agreed to at least try and locate it after a long discussion.

After all, it was probably best not to put off a quest that could save the world. Especially when they didn't know if its end could suddenly happen again.

And so, here they were. Walking across a snowy field, their breaths puffing in the crisp air as they trudged on. The wind whipped the white powder in their faces, leaving their skin stinging and numb.

"S-so, why exactly aren't we using windwalking again? Erm, I-I've made some progress to the point where I can sorta channel it," Cael asked, his muscles tensing as the icy wind bit at his cheeks. "Wouldn't it make this a lot faster?"

The only real upside to putting off the revelation this long was that twenty days had allowed them to grow a bit more. For Cael it was his language skills and magic, and for Val it was thoroughly reading a host of other novels and guides.

She looked at him in surprise. "Oh, that's right. You have made some progress considering how long it was… I suppose we could. But are you certain you're prepared for the extreme cold that would bring?"

"Wha-what do you mean?"

"Well, I suppose it would be best if you experienced it for yourself." Val's face lit up with a mischievous grin. "Come on, let's try it!"

Oh, crap. Why did he get the feeling that he'd just made a huge mistake?

Before Cael could protest, she grabbed his hand and took a deep breath, her mana flaring around her. He could feel the energy flowing through them as the wind suddenly picked up, bellowing beneath as their steps lightened.

Scrambling to try and mimic her spell, his mana responded too, and the air similarly—but reluctantly—stirred to life around him.

"Alright, now just follow my lead!" Val called out. "I wouldn't recommend opening your mouth though unless you like ice~!"

"W-wait, Val, maybe we can rethink—"

"Let's go~!"

Val jumped into the air and took off at an incredible speed, leaving Cael almost no time to react. His feet moved automatically to follow, but the wind wasn't as strong around him. He struggled to keep up as the air rushed past him, the snowflakes turning to shards of ice that stung his skin as Val tugged him along.

They flew over the snowy landscape in a whirlwind of motion and chaos. Cael could barely keep his eyes open against the biting chill and the icy barrage that pelted his face. Every breath he took was agony as the frigid air filled his lungs, burning him from the inside out.

He would've felt the urge to cry had it not been for his tear ducts threatening to freeze.

"VAL, PLEASE SLOW DOWN! I'M GOING TO FREEZE TO DEATH!" He screamed in a panic as his feet slipped from beneath him, sending him tumbling into the snow below.

She immediately complied, stopping as quickly as possible.

Cael on the other hand was not so lucky. His grip broke from hers as he landed face-first in a rogue snow drift—hard.

"C-CAEL?! Oh my goodness, I'm sorry! Are you okay?" Val ran to his side in an instant to help him up, her expression filled with genuine worry.

He shivered uncontrollably as Val finally broke from her uncanny valley of a smile.

At that moment, he'd never felt more grateful to see her normal, pretty face.

***

A few hours had passed since Val had finally calmed from her three-day stint of anger. She mentally whimpered as she patted Cael's head, who was currently wrapped like a cocoon in a thick woolen blanket by the fire. His teeth were chattering, and he was shivering uncontrollably.

She once again cursed herself.

She'd gone and let her emotions get the better of her—nearly killing her own partner in the process!

Just what kind of person was she?!

She rubbed a heat crystal into his back, desperate to make amends after taking that stupid advice from that stupid relationship guide. Had that even been a real book?! Who had written that garbage, anyway? 'Stay angry at him until things feel better.'

She sighed. Perhaps not every advice should be taken.

The two of them were now inside the city—well, technically the outskirts—within one of the many abandoned houses. It was a quaint little place not too far from the shopping district where most of the supplies and materials were. The building itself wasn't in great shape, with peeling paint, broken windows, and a few holes in the roof here and there, but it was mostly intact, and the fireplace wasn't blocked.

It wasn't exactly ideal. Val knew that monsters could still be lurking in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity to strike. But with Cael in this state she had no choice but to take this risk. At least they had spare warding crystals from their previous excursion to make things safer.

"C-Cold," Cael muttered as he huddled closer to her, his teeth still chattering. "S-So cold."

"I'm so, so sorry, Cael. I promise, I won't do that ever again." She gently stroked his head, trying to calm him down. "I now know to deploy the tactic known as sarcasm sparingly, and only at the appropriate times."

Cael let out a soft groan. "Y-you really are something else, Val," he mumbled. "Just promise me that you won't get too angry at me again. Y-you really turn into someone else when that happens. I-it's really scary."

Val pouted, hugging him tightly. "Understood. I'll never let anything like that happen again!"

Cael gulped. "F-for my sake, I really hope so."

Val felt a little better as his trembling began to cease over the course of several minutes.

As the roar of the fire punctuated the quiet, her thoughts slowly wandered elsewhere and eventually to the information they had gathered from Erika's journal—the thing that had prompted this journey.

She sighed and rested her chin on Cael's shoulders as her brain began to process it all again.

Apparently, this Erika had been working on a magic artifact that could potentially 'fix' the world's leylines to prevent a predicted collapse from happening—an eerily accurate portrayal of the Vanishing with how the details lined up.

It had all sounded rather complex and technical, so neither she nor Cael had understood much else. The only other things they guessed was that the world's leylines were still unstable, and it was possible that fixing it could lead to something good. They'd just have to find this 'research facility' first and hope it worked out.

Val's shoulders drooped slightly.

Despite the potentially world-changing impact it could have, she wasn't expecting much. The odds of success were likely low, and she was careful not to give into blind optimism again considering what'd happened with her pendant.

Her eyes drifted to the window. Nightfall had come and gone while she'd been lost in her thoughts, and the city was dark and silent now, save for the sound of snowflakes falling.

"Are you feeling any better?" she asked.

"Yes," he replied, his voice weak. "But I think I'm going to sleep for a while. I need some rest."

"…Would you like to cuddle with one another? I heard that it's good to share body heat on nights like these." Val suggested with pink cheeks.

Cael let out a tired chuckle. "No, I'm fine. I just need to get some sleep. And I still kind of feel bad for keeping the journal translation a secret. Just let me make up for my mistake a little longer—"

She ignored him, suddenly slipping into his blanket—and half into his shirt by accident—with a single fluid motion, wrapping her arms around his waist as she buried her face into his chest.

Ah… She had totally meant to do that.

"V-Val?! Hold on, what—"

"N-no more apologies, please." She pouted, looking up at him. "We… both made big mistakes."

His heart rate quickened. "But—"

"Shhh." She fumblingly placed a finger to his lips just as he'd done to her before. "N-no buts. You've apologized enough. And we're romantic partners, right? This should be fine."

"…Y-you really got into reading the rest of those novels, didn't you?"

"Hehe, maybe," Val embarrassingly giggled as an idea popped into her mind and her fingers danced beneath his shirt. She could feel him tensing up, his body shuddering at the contact.

Ack! This was so much more embarrassing than she'd imagined! But… this type of action—'flirting' as the books had called it—was something romantic partners were supposed to do to reaffirm their love, right? And they definitely needed to after the stunts they'd both pulled.

…Or perhaps she was just making excuses again. It was getting harder to differentiate now.

"Um, V-Val? If you keep doing that it's gonna make this hard to sleep. A-and are you feeling alright? Your face is a little red."

"O-oh, yes, I'm fine," she said, feeling her pulse quicken as she quickly retracted her hands into a more normal position.

"…Is that why you were fondling me?"

She had to keep herself from squealing in embarrassment, instead snuggling deeper into him. "I-I just don't want you to freeze to death."

He didn't respond, only exhaled as he wrapped his arms around her, pressing skin against skin.

Oh, that was warm.

Val's eyes immediately began to droop as she melted away in his arms, and sleepiness began to take to her.

She needed to figure out more excuses to do this. At least until they no longer needed them.