The moment my body went under the water, horrors came back. But strangely it wasn't as cold as last time. 'Maybe that was just because of the crystal?'

Or it could have been because this place was warm, to begin with.

"Whoah!" This croc was fast.

Once underwater, I focused on my energy and made a small ball of plasma, and lighted the way. Zig wasn't as surprised as I thought he'd be and swam fast. Too fast.

Before long, I could recognize the surroundings. And within a minute we were out of the small hole I first went into that one time. Once we were out, Zig gave me a push up while grinning and leaving. I waved and started swimming up.

I really owed these guys.

"WHOOH!" I let out a scream and took my breath. It was cold but not as cold as the last time. Still definitely bone-chilling cold though.

"Huh?"

"Huh?"

Someone came flying on top of me, and landed on my face, eventually taking both of us underwater.

As we were both about to drown, I swam hard and pulled her up. What the hell was she thinking jumping in this cold water at night?

"Are you stupid?"

"I could s-say the same about you!" Marg fired back and glared more than necessary. She was in her swimsuit and shivering like crazy.

'She didn't come here for me, did she?'

I was also shivering so instead of bickering, I made a ball of plasma and went closer to her.

"What were you doing here?"

"We had a match today. Though I s-said you should forfeit, I never thought you would. But when I learned you came here and never got back, I wa-ss worried and-" She didn't look at me. She was still shivering, grabbing both of her arms.

Now that I looked carefully, she was actually in her underwear rather than a swimsuit.

Her dripping body looked divine and a lot more than just my hair stood up.

But then there was the shivering cold.

This was a very odd feeling.

She came near me, near the plasma. "What were you doing here?"

"First let's leave and get dry, I mean-"

"Yeah, it's awfully cold." With that said, she started to unbutton her bra.

"What the hell are you doing? I meant getting us back, not undressing!"

"I live with three roommates and-"

"Merin should be out and-"

She didn't look at me and just removed her top anyway.

I didn't know why, but no matter how I tried to steer my head, I couldn't move them: I couldn't look away, no, sir!

The hell was wrong with this girl? Wasn't she supposed to be some nonchalant girl who didn't give a fuc* about anything? What made her level up to the stripper realm?

"Let's dry ourselves first and then leave. What do you say, we get under this jacket?"

I didn't know if something was wrong with her or not, but it was roughly ten or so degrees in here and she was talking about being under a jacket together? I was freezing and so was my crotch for crying out loud.

Come to think of it. My underwear was wet all this time. Was my crotch even alive?

She cleared some dust and snow from the solid stone floor, laid down her and my dry clothes, and sat down, inviting me with something resembling a cat claw. "Get in here. Or are you afraid I might scratch?"

Did someone hijack her brain? Because she sure wasn't making sense.

But no matter how I thought about this, at the end of the day, I was a guy and I couldn't resist the temptation of sitting close to a pretty girl like that. Or was I hoping for more?

Honestly, I didn't know, cause my whole body was still shivering from the intense cold.

***

Marg had three matches today. The first one, she won with ease. The second one was a tough call. She was up against a guy who specialized in thought processing and guessing her every move. It wasn't easy but she won it too.

But then there was her third match of the day. She knew this was going to be the toughest. And yet, her opponent never showed up.

'He didn't take me seriously, did he?'

Marg knew how hurt Helio must have been. But she couldn't comprehend his level of torment, even if she wanted to. After all, she never had any grandparents.

But Helio wanted to repay her and this could have just have been because of that.

She couldn't rest easy, knowing that.

It was a bit past 6 but she made up her mind and teleported directly outside of Helio's room. It was against the rules, but she didn't care.

She knocked three times on the door. But there was no answer. 'He isn't here?'

She was a bit heartbroken but this was the extent she could go. But just when she was about to teleport again.

"I tell you, that guy is something else."

She heard a voice.

"He went to that place all alone. I mean, even if he's that powerful and all, should he have really gone there alone and not to mention it's freezing there all year long?" Apparently, Merin was climbing the stairs. And he wasn't alone.

Marg took a deep breath and headed straight for the stairs, obstructing Merin's path. She didn't even give the guy next to her, a second glance. "What do you mean? Where's Helio?" Her tone was neutral. She was concerned for her friend.

"Oh, uh he's-" Merin started but was promptly ignored.

"Oh, if it isn't lady Margeretta." The man by Merin gave Marg a courteous bow with a smile.

"Lord Vana." Marg stared at him with glassy eyes. For a second her heart almost stopped.

"Oh yeah, Helio." Merin chuckled. He knew things were about to get awkward. Rather, they were already awkward. "He's in the snowy plains. He showed me a map, let's see-" Merin brought out a small map on his Holo. "He should be somewhere around here." He was trying his best to avoid this double trouble.

"But that's-" Marg recognized the place. She took a deep breath. "Our reunion was short but I hope you can forgive me for leaving."

"Of course, my dear." The man smiled, ever so gently. But his eyes were emotionless. "But I would-"

Marg hurriedly teleported to her room. She didn't even listen to the man, till the end.

"Hey, Marg, look-" One of her roommates attempted. "Marg?"

But Marg had something else on her mind.

'What is he doing here?' In order to distract her mind, she put on some heavy clothes and teleported straight to the cave she knew she'd probably find Helio in. She knew Helio was pretty capable on his own and he didn't need her help, and yet, she went out. It wasn't for Helio's safety, rather it was for her own peace of mind. After all, she needed a good distraction right now. And Helio was that distraction.

But her feelings changed when she reached the end of the cave. There was more water than she remembered and more importantly, Helio's clothes were on the floor and there was no sign of him.

"He didn't-?"

The water was calm and from the looks of it, Helio probably wasn't coming up anytime soon.

If Marg didn't know any better- 'Did he drown?'

Her heart raced fast. Helio was her friend and though she thought more of him than just a friend, at the end of the day, Helio was just her friend: but she couldn't leave now and pretend like nothing happened.

She took a deep breath. The air was cold, but she'd made up her mind. She removed her clothes just like Helio had once done before and jumped.

'Let's hope he's still alive.'

But at the last moment, Helio's head came up out of nowhere and they both crashed.

Her feet had landed on Helio's head, but as she fell, her thigs covered his face, and as embarrassed as that was, she kind of forgot to struggle to not drown.

She'd have drowned from the shock if Helio hadn't pulled her up. At the end who ended up saving who?

Marg was shivering and her brain wasn't working: she was also embarrassed, her face a bit redder. But this was good, this was making her forget about that man.

'Maybe… just this once… I can be free? One last time?'

So, she took a gamble. The more time she'd spend here, the less she'd feel all the pressure of her mind. Because she knew, in the end, she'd have to accept her fate, whether she liked it or not.

But more importantly, she couldn't look away from his body. Was something controlling her? Since when did her heart start to beat this rapidly? Since when did her body heat up this much? When was the last time she felt so much tingling between her legs?

It was almost as though the cold wasn't even here anymore.

She was burning up.

And those feelings made her more and more daring.

"Come over here, or are you afraid I might scratch?"

But in the end, it turned out a lot weirder than she anticipated. 'What the hell did I just say?'

She had no idea how it came to this or where this was going. But at this point, could she really stop herself?

Was it even possible to stop?