1.6. The Snow That Forgot Its Color

A foul cold enveloped the once-cozy and warm room. Something residing within the shell of a boy named Elian opened its eyes. His body immediately began to shake from the intense cold, even though he was under a blanket. It tried to stand up but immediately fell to the floor. The loud sound of the impact against the wooden surface echoed through the space.

Less than a minute later, the door flew open, and a girl named Aria entered the room with a displeased look on her face. She was wrapped in a huge white coat made from the hide of some beast, and in her hands, she held a similar coat, though larger in size.

"They dragged you in from god knows where again, and penniless to boot... I won't even ask what you were doing at work," she said. "Put on your jacket and get out to your friend; he's been waiting for you," the girl pronounced, throwing the fur coat onto the floor and disappearing behind the door.

Elian's body smiled; it slowly stood up and threw on the coat. The trembling slowly left the body, and the cold became distant; in its place came a pleasant warmth that the entity inside Elian's guise hadn't felt in a long time.

When he walked out of the house, he was met by a young man named Darian, wearing a goofy smile and wrapped in an even more massive fur coat.

"Bro, there you are! I was so scared when you lost consciousness!". He placed his hands on the shoulders of Elian's body and paused slightly, looking at him. "Were you really that surprised by this beauty?".

With a smile, Darian removed his hands from his shoulders and began to gesture at the space around them, but Elian's body wasn't particularly concerned with the snowy view of the once-warm island, so it simply nodded.

"Well, alright, let's get moving, Pops is probably getting a little angry by now!" Darian said, and together with Elian's body, they moved away from the village.

The appearance of the village had changed: something resembling snow covered the entire space, and the ground was no longer visible. Carts pulled by cow-like creatures rolled slowly past; many animals had grown weak and dropped dead, never pulling their carts to the end of the journey. The miraculous flowers that once filled all the land outside the village were hidden under a thick layer of cold white dust. The trees still stood in their places, but at their bases lay what were once large, red fruits. Nothing of their former appearance remained: now these fruits resembled rotten apples; they were shriveled and had lost their bright hue.

After a laughably short time, they reached a small camp located in the forest. In the middle of the camp, sitting around a fire, men were roasting the meat of some huge beast. Darian and Elian's body approached the fire; they were immediately called over by the largest man of them all.

"Hey, son, and his friend, help yourselves!" He walked up to Darian and Elian's body, holding out a large haunch of meat skewered on a spit.

"Father, where did this beast come from, and why is everyone celebrating? Isn't it hunting time?" Darian asked with bewilderment on his face.

"Oh, son, we hauled in so much meat this morning that it will last for many weeks to come!" The man placed a hand on Darian's shoulder.

"B-but... How?". Darian didn't understand how this could be: it was simply impossible to catch so much game in such a short time.

The man grew serious. "It seems the forest is dying. The animals cannot survive this phenomenon like we can, and they are simply dropping dead. If this continues and it doesn't get warmer, we'll have to forget about hunting. The farmers aren't doing any better, apparently: Torkell couldn't even provide bread today".

Darian was greatly surprised. "You mean we're left without bread? What about the people in the village?".

The man removed his hand from Darian's shoulder, raised a mug of foaming drink that was nearby, and after taking a couple of gulps, said: "Don't worry, the Queen has issued a decree. People will have to tighten their belts, of course, but I think we will survive this bad weather. And until the decree takes effect, we can gorge a bit, so sit down and eat with your friend". The man walked away and sat in his seat.

"Well... nothing to be done. If we have to eat less, we eat less, but for now, let's chow down, bro!".

Darian pulled out the skewer and, placing the knuckle on the wooden table, began to slice it into many small pieces.

"Bro, you're kind of quiet today, haven't said a word. Are you feeling alright?" he asked Elian after slicing the meat.

"Yes, I feel much better than before," Elian's body pronounced with a smile.

"Bro, you're smiling at one hundred percent now!" Darian smiled happily and hugged Elian. "This is the kind of bro I like more. It's a pity there's no hunt today; I think you would have shown your true colors right now".

He stopped hugging Elian, jumped onto the wooden bench by the table, and began devouring the meat. "Sit down before it gets cold!" he told the body, patting the seat next to him. "I think I'll step away for a bit. I need to piss so bad, bro. As soon as I take a leak, I'll come right back to you".

"I'll be waiting right here," Elian's body said with somewhat exaggerated gesticulation and headed toward the forest exit.

"Alright, bro!" Darian nodded. He continued to devour the fatty, tasty, warm meat, which had been skillfully sliced by his dagger. He ate with such passion that he didn't even notice the disappearance of his most valuable possession: the one his own father had once given him; the one his own mother had forged; the native dagger he called "Astralis".

Having finished the meat and wiped his mouth with the back of his fur coat, he reached for the dagger to slice another piece lying nearby on the table, but he couldn't find it.

"Wait, I just... Maybe Elian took it? But why would he need it?". He stood up and ran toward the figure that had long since disappeared far behind the trees.

The Farm

"What?!" Aria screamed. "All my crops... Did they die?".

She sat on her knees in front of a lonely stalk of grain that was still standing; the other stalks surrounding it had long since been buried under layers of white sand or lay pressed against it. A robust man approached her from behind and, leaning down, placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I think this will be a very difficult time, but don't be upset. This has happened before, and we coped, and we are still alive. So it is not the time to despair; get up and help me with my Drums. They have it worse than us right now, and without the livestock, things will be very bad," the man named Torkell said, smiling.

Aria slowly stood up. "Yes, it is not the time to despair, we need to be strong now. Let's go, Elder Torkell, let's help the poor Drums!". A fire lit up in her eyes, and a smile even appeared.

The man laughed. "That's the little Aria I've always known!".

The Flower Shop

The once beautiful multitude of flowers filling the lovely shop had become dull echoes of their former colorfulness and resilience; they lay on the earth in which their roots were buried. The room was quite warm: a loud, old electric heater, connected to something by wires, warmed the space.

A lonely girl named Prima sat behind the counter, her face buried in the table, tears slowly flowing from her eyes.

"Why are they dying? What did they do to deserve this?" She stood up, wiping her tears. "My sweet little flowers..." She ran her hand over her beloved flowers, which she had carefully and lovingly grown over a long period. "You brightened my worthless life, I am good for absolutely nothing, I am... without... you... NOBODY!".

"Only you and those pleasant dreams gave me even the slightest desire to live, but both they and you... Everyone has left me... Even my mother... She has gotten even worse, every night her breathing gets heavier and heavier...".

The front door slowly opened. Prima quickly wiped her tears and stood up straight, trying to fake a smile.

"Sorry, unfortunately, the shop is closed!" she said, trying not to let her voice tremble.

"Prima, it's me!". She opened her eyes and saw Darian in front of her.

"Darian? What are you doing here? Isn't it working hours right now?" Prima asked.

Darian replied: "Prima, have you seen Elian anywhere? You know, that guy who said he knew you, but you didn't remember him? He has such snow-white hair!".

"No, when would I have seen him? All my darling flowers are dying here, I don't have time to keep track of some guys," she said, leaning toward a flower that was holding on with its last strength. "Oh god, and this one is still alive...".

She picked up a terrarium with many dead flowers, in the middle of which was that very flower. "Look, Darian!" she wanted to show this miracle to Darian, but he was already gone, and the front door was slightly swaying.

A light tear ran down her cheek. She walked to the front door and locked it with the deadbolt. Then she moved up the stairs to the second floor; opening one of the doors, she found herself in a dark room with a solitary bed on which a woman lay. Prima took a chair and pulled it up to the bed.

"Mom..." Prima's eyes blurred with tears, "please... be strong, like this single flower".

The mother's hand slowly rose. "Mom!" Prima took her mother by the hand. "Mom, are you feeling better, Mom?".

"K...I...L...L..... M...E...".

"Prima... I..." The mother began to cough violently.

Prima silently looked at her mother's face; her eyes wouldn't open....

"Prima.... K... Kill me... Daughter!" Her mother's body began to shake, and she began to cough even harder.

Prima looked at the terrarium in her hands. "Mom, I don't want to... I don't want you to..." Tears fell one after another onto the lonely flower, lightly rocking its petals, which resembled the blades of a windmill.

The mother continued to choke and cough loudly; her cough didn't resemble a normal cough—it was more like the grunting of a pig whose lungs had been punctured by a heavy boot.

"Daughter... Do you hear me... Little daughter??? Please... KILL ME!" could be heard between these disgusting and vile sounds.

Meanwhile, the flower continued to feed on the salty liquid dripping from the tear ducts of the girl Prima. The drops were so frequent that the flower began to dance a dance, rather than just lightly sway.

"KILL ME... DAUGHTER..." "MOM, I... I... I...".

The mother slowly opened her eyes and saw her daughter raising the terrarium over her head. Prima brought the terrarium down with all the strength she had. It shattered against her mother's head, and many shards embedded themselves in her mother's eyes and face. Blood was everywhere, especially on Prima's hands: there was so much of it because a couple of shards had pierced her palms right through.

The mother began to scream like a pig at slaughter; the sounds were very loud.

"Mom... I..." Prima uttered before ripping one of the shards out of her palm. "AAAAAAAAAA!" Prima screamed in pain but tried to stifle it, clenching her teeth with such force that a couple surely cracked.

"Mom, I'm sorry..." Tears flowed with redoubled force.

She brought the shard to her mother's throat and, with one deep, sharp movement, drew it across. A powerful jet of blood from the throat struck Prima, covering her and her clothes in blood. The mother stopped choking as she had been; instead, bubbles with gurgling sounds emerged from her bloody throat.

"Mom, I... sorry..." Prima brought the shard to her own throat.

Her gaze fixed on the flower shaped like a windmill, which was now dyed the bright scarlet color of blood; it continued to stand in the piece of earth, having never fallen.... Prima smiled, looking at the flower, and without hesitating anymore, she drew the shard across her own throat as hard and fast as she could.

Blood gushed from her throat, and Prima fell to the floor....

After a short time, only one living creature remained in this room... It was the lonely flower living in a small piece of earth. It had no one left; all its little friends were scattered around the room, leaving it completely alone.

The Farm

"How bad you feel, you poor things..." Aria said, running her hand along the snout of one of the Drums. "You are cold and sick because of this weather, don't be afraid, everything will be fine!".

The Drum mooed approvingly. "What a good boy!" Aria smiled.

"Aria, it's already quite late, you go on home, I can handle the rest myself," Torkell said.

"Alright, Elder, until tomorrow then?" Aria said, stepping away from the Drum and picking up a bag next to her.

"Yes, you worked hard today, here, take this." Torkell took coins out of a pouch and held them out to Aria.

"Wow, Elder Torkell, that's too much! are you sure you're ready to pay this much?" Aria said in surprise.

"Everything will be more expensive now, better to take it. I know how hard it is for you with your mother, you absolutely must survive this cataclysm," Torkell said, after which Aria nodded and took the coins in her palm.

"Thank you so much, Elder Torkell, I will never forget your kindness, I am already grateful to you for so much. If not for you, I don't even know how I would have pulled my family through".

Aria smiled, a light tear ran down her cheek. She moved forward and hugged Torkell.

"Oh, Aria, no need, I am doing what I must do." He smiled and patted Aria on the shoulder.

"Why aren't you my father? Why is my father some... some fool who abandoned me and my sick little brother..." Aria burst into tears, burying her face in Torkell's.

Torkell placed his large warm hands on Aria's back, shielding her from this cold, stupid, and harsh world.

"I don't think your father wanted to abandon you. After all, it was the King's order, and he couldn't disobey it," Torkell said.

"But why? Why didn't he send this King for our sake? He didn't even try to refuse; on the contrary, he went to them himself..." Aria buried herself even deeper into Torkell's chest, not wanting to show her tears.

"Because your father is a hero. He went to explore the lands of the earthly humans, went to the forbidden, dangerous territory to save the survivors and send them to us, to the homeland of people in the sky!" said Torkell, looking somewhere upwards.

"Stupidity, it's all stupidity! Mother and I didn't ask him to do this, we didn't ask him to go down and save other people. He didn't even manage to save us... What other people are we talking about?" Aria burst into tears even harder.

Torkell hugged Aria tighter to himself and quietly said: "I'm sorry".

Queen Aetheria's Castle

Outside the window, flakes of a white substance were slowly falling; the once huge green fields and forests were painted white.

"Just like back then... Do you remember, Damion?" Aetheria said, observing the cold picture outside the window.

Damion approached from behind, lightly embracing the Queen.

"Of course, how could I forget that day? If not for him, then who knows where we would be, or maybe we wouldn't be at all," Damion said into the Queen's ear, looking at the scene outside the window.

"Thank you for that day," Aetheria said.