The group moved forward, yet the air that hovered above their faces was no longer as it was before. It was a mixture of odd emotions. Their pace slowed down significantly and they made sure to examine every direction.

Artorias's words had truly resonated with them. He seemed like a wise man. The more they pondered over his words the more that the realization and possibility dawned on them. What he spoke could have very well been the truth, after all, many things pointed towards it.

Regrit had stopped heating Hikari due to the chances of another problem, which left her shivering and struggling to keep up with the relatively slow pace of the group. Regrit had even given her a blanket from his storage ring, but that seemed to make little to no difference other than to limit her movements.

Still, it did not take them too long to reach the glowing sign that began to lose its light when they drew near. It was one taller and thicker than they expected, made out of that same blue wood seen all around them. The sign itself was in the shape of an arrow, the tip pointing towards the downwards slope ahead.

Despite the tattered state of the material, the words etched onto it were more than readable, in some ways it could be argued that it was well maintained.

When they reached it, Artorias wasted no time translating the unknown words.

"The city of Vestora," was what it read.

Indeed, as expected, it was pointing to civilization, one that lied beneath that downwards slope and thick, raging fog.

It was the only way conceivable for them to head, and Artorias wasted no time taking the lead as he walked onto the now slippery terrain.

They were even more cautious than before walking on this unstable ground. The wind was picking up and any wrong move would send them hurtling down the mountain.

The journey felt like it was taking forever, the sign from above had long disappeared in the fog and Hikari was on the verge of freezing. Even still, despite her anguish, she refused Regrit's offers for help as to not be a possible hindrance to the team.

However, eventually, she could endure no longer… Her knees felt like they were frozen ready to crack, and in a sudden wave of pain, her legs gave out, and her barely conscious body slid down the mountain as her teammates shuddered and watched in shock.

"HIKARI! Shit!! I knew she wasn't okay!" Regrit roared, and without a moment of hesitation, he jumped and gave up his footing in order to slide down behind her.

"You idiot! Don't be so reckless!" Moby's voice followed suit as he as well took the plunge, a hint of concern on his face.

Their teammates were still lost for words. They were not as enthusiastic jumping down an unknown mountain of fog, all they could do was watch unmovingly. But, that was when Artorias smiled and spoke.

"Onwards! Let us follow suit!" Artorias announced, using his blade to surf down the mountain like a snowboard.

"I'm coming too!"

"WHA-"

This gave Elizabeth the motivation to do the same, leaving a still hesitant Kai behind who eventually dived down as to not be the only one left.

Other than the thick, howling wind blowing on their faces, there was not much danger down the much quicker slippery path. Had it not been for the state of their teammates, they may have even considered it fun.

The further they went down, the more the fog began to subside until at one point, small triangles were seen in the distance getting ever so larger until the shadow of an entire city came into view.

However, none would have enough time to fully inspect the rapidly accelerating figure until suddenly...

*CRASH*

"Owwww… Hikari… Hikari where are you!?" Regrit was the first one to speak, his head and vision shaken up from his head first impact to the point that everyone in front of him was but a blur.

>

A high-pitched, female-sounding voice suddenly entered his ears.

"Hikari…"

*BEEP*

>

"Huh…" Regrit mumbled, the incomprehensible voices he once heard now in a tongue he understood yet sounding the exact same.

He rubbed his blurry eyes that only saw a mess of white and blue, until that mess began to slowly take shape into reality.

>

"Wha…"

His previously dull-looking eyes grew wide, and his vision immediately shifted towards where he heard that voice.

There, he witnessed a small little humanoid girl, her skin whiter than the purest snow. Her wavy hair was ashen blue and fell down towards the center of her back, curling slightly at its ends. Her aqua dress was thin as paper and appeared more like tattered rags, she did not even wear any shoes as her feet were exposed to the harsh, freezing fluffy snow.

Yet, despite that, when she turned around, his perspective completely changed. Despite her attire, her eyes shined like the brightest of stars, the light blue sclera encircling her yellow pupils appearing more like an entrancing sea surrounding an island of gold, and her smile could cheer up even the most depressed of men as she jumped around and celebrated, holding a white ball in her hands and jumping up and down.

>

>

Around her were many other children that bore her exact same golden-eyed pale-skinned appearance playing with her.

But, his vision did not last on her for too long, instead, it shifted towards the city. It was one that was rather large, yet it bore absolutely no outer wall. Most of the locals wore clothing not too different from the children. They did what he would expect of normal villagers, conversing with one another, some working the fields, cleaning, setting up shop.

However, what was something that took him completely off guard was how every single person in the city with no exceptions bore a smile not too dissimilar from that of the innocent children. It was unlike anything he had ever seen in his entire life, it almost did not feel real, like a utopia that only existed in dreams.

>

Despite everything in front of him, Regrit stood motionless, that was until another crashing sound struck his ears, snapping him out of his daze.

"Hey! Regrit! What the hell are you doing? Where is Hikari!?" Moby spoke, gazing around at his new environment with a look of bewilderment.

"Hikari… Hikari… … HIKARI!? HIKARI YOU HEAR ME?" He panicked, scouring around the hills of snow until he felt something hard hit his hands from underneath a pile of snow, pulling it out only to be met with a ghostly Hikari, her skin pale as ice. Yet, she still breathed and was fully conscious.

"Hikari!" Regrit did not hesitate to light a flame in his right hand as he held her up with his left, heating her up all he could.

It did not take too long for her to finally open her eyes and speak with a blank-faced expression.

"Re-Regrit… Is… Is that you?"

"Right! it's me! Regrit! Are you okay?"

"Yes… *cough* *cough* I'm okay… Can you please let me down…"

"No! I can't do that!"

"I SAID LET ME DOWN, YOU IDIOT! I'M FINE NOW!" She suddenly screamed, and only then did he notice her pitch-black hair that flowed down her back, making him panic and set the annoyed Yami down.

"Hey! *Fefefefefe* Who told you to turn your fire off! Keep that up!"

"Yes ma'am!"

Yami shivered and neared Regrit, and only near his flames did she finally feel somewhat comfortable.

"I see all is going well down here…" Artorias finally arrived surfing elegantly down the hill, Elizabeth right behind him, Kai appearing not too far afterwards.

"Yeah, all is well… But, what's up with those guys…" Moby took a look over towards the gathered villagers all vividly beaming towards them.

"That… That…" Artorias was almost lost for words looking at them, which greatly confused Moby.

It was indeed an odd sightseeing so many positive faces, especially compared to what would be found on earth, but he did not find that it would warrant such a reaction.