[Flashback continued...]

-

"It...f-feels like I'm....going....to freeze....t-to....d-death....."

Emily said as she tightened her arms around her body to save herself from the cold that was making her feel like she was a piece of an iceberg rather than a human.

Shadow stopped fixing the contents on her study table and finally turned to look at her. Ever since Rylan and Shane showed up, he had been keeping his distance from her. He still answered their questions, helped when they were trying to help her with the pain, but when he was not doing that, he was wandering around her room cleaning and organizing everything.

"C-can...can't you c-come....here.....a-and.....help me...? I'm....really....abo-about....to...freeze...to d-death..."

She once again spoke in her whispering voice as she fought to even open her mouth properly.

The darkness was once again looming in front of her eyes but still not close enough for her to finally close her eyes and give in to its alluring call.

Emily felt movements beside her and before she could move her eyes to see exactly what was going on, she felt a pair of arms pulling her in a warm embrace as Shadow settled beside her on the bed.

The instant warmth that his body brought made her snuggle closer to him. However, she soon realized that even his warmth was not enough to keep her from freezing.

Shadow moved one of his hands to her forehead, feeling her temperature as if he was unable to comprehend her situation even after holding her in his arms.

Or maybe he was not checking her temperature at all because a few seconds later, Emily felt a warm feeling emerging from inside her and started spreading all over her body.

"W-what....is...it?" she asked as she rested her against his shoulder and closed her eyes when she found that even though that warm energy failed to defend her from freezing but it still kept emerging and spreading all over her body which really helped her mentally.

"It's your little treasures. They are spreading their warmth all over your body from inside. You are in this state not because of an outside factor but because it's happening inside you. Unless something is fighting this cold inside your body, no matter how warm we try to make you from outside, it won't work," Shadow explained as he pulled away from her and stood up.

Emily watched as he slipped out of his shoes, socks, coat, and watch before he closed his eyes, and the next second, she was looking at a very familiar lion. The good thing was that it was smaller in size than the last time, almost two-foot or something.

The lion/Shadow jumped on her bed and laid on it beside her, looking at her with its beautiful eyes.

A weak smile appeared on Emily's lips as she struggled to move but eventually succeeded in snuggling in the warmth of her friend. His lion was way warmer than him. His soft skin and silky hair made her relax even more.

After hours of torture, she finally found her body relaxing. The warmth that her three little treasures were generating inside her was slowly making her body capable enough to withstand the cold.

She was so relaxed and tired that it did not take her even a few minutes to close her eyes and get lost in the abyss. But the good thing was, she finally got to sleep this time.

***

6:15 pm

-

"Goodness! After this, you are forbidden from scaring us like this ever. I could hardly concentrate on anything that the teachers were teaching as I was too busy worrying about you." Shane complained as he pinched her cheeks softly, making sure to not hurt her.

Emily just remained silent as she watched the cartoon on Rylan's laptop.

"What's wrong with her?" asked Rylan as he looked at Shadow with inquiring eyes.

"She slept through the entire day and just woke up around forty minutes ago. Since her body was completely back to normal, I told her to take a bath. Before entering the bathroom she was silent since she was still sleepy but after coming out of it, she's being like this," Shadow told them genuinely as he too had no idea why she suddenly having mood swings.

"Guys...." Emily called her friends in a tired but firm voice and when she had their attention, she continued, "I'm hungry. I wanna eat something spicy."

"Yes, Mam! Give me some time, I'll go and get us dinner and I'll bring something spicy for you especially," Rylan told her as he picked up his phone and headed towards the door.

"Let me come with you," Shane shouted as he fumbled with the blankets. "Finish this cartoon and then we will eat dinner. We will be quick," he told Emily before scurrying after his friend.

"Are you alright?" Shadow asked as soon as both the boys were out of the dorm.

"En! Just feeling emotionally unbalanced a little bit. I just wanna be lazy for today," Emily replied with a smile on her face as she looked at the man who had taken out a wooden box from somewhere.

"What is it?" She asked as she looked curiously at the box before moving her eyes to his face as she waited for his reply.

Shadow moved to sit at the edge of the bed as he contemplated his words. "I know that you have a lot of questions about everything that just happened and it's time that you will get answers. This box...it holds those answers. The truth of your real identity."

He was silent for a few minutes before he spoke again, "But.....let me warn you. What you will find inside it is even more shocking than what you experienced today. I'll advise you to only open it when you are mentally prepared. I want you to decide this time.....and I hope that you will choose wisely."