Snow felt a warm tingle on her finger where she had put on the gift that Dairen had given her. She wasn’t sure what it would do, but she had a feeling that it was somehow connected to Dairen. Confused at first, but she didn’t have enough brainpower to figure out what it was.

“Are you alright?” Dairen asked softly. He helped her up.

Snow legs shook, unable to hold her full strength. She gripped the edge of the jacket tightly. It has been so long since she was able to stand on her own two feet, and it wasn’t even listening to her. With frustration, she tried to move her leg, but the only thing it did was twitch.

“Let’s get you to a room.” Dairen picked her up in a princess carry, startling her. Her left hand grabbed tightly on the jacket, while the other hand grabbed onto Dairen’s shoulder.

“Wait!” A scientist came over, scrambling to stop them from taking Snow. Their hands flailed out to reach out towards Snow, but Dairen’s cold demeanor prevented them from taking the next step.

“What do you want?” Dairen said with an icy tone that made the scientist freeze in fear. “You guys had done enough with your experiments, and now you want to stop us?”

The threat, in his words, made the scientist shiver.

“You don’t understand,” the scientist burst out in panic, “she is the core of this ship, if she leaves now in the next thirty minute we will all die!”

Dairen couldn’t refute their words, he knew that taking her out now was a big sacrifice, but they needed too as she was about to die and be completely converted into a power source.

“You want her to get back in there?” Dairen pointed back at the tube. “Is that what you wanted?” His voice lowered into a growl.

“Well, no. That’s not what I was trying to say.”

“You guys tried to kill her!” Dairen shouted, spitting out saliva in anger.

“We had no choice,” said the scientist, becoming smaller and smaller.

“Dairen.” Snow reached out to calm him down. Glancing up at him, she locked eyes. A raging turmoil of emotions spun out of control, but her soft approach changed the anger's trajectory into concern. Even her voice lulled him. “He has a point.”

“But Snow, you have been stuck in there for over two weeks!”

“I know.”

“You want to go back in there?”

Snow shook his head, telling him that this wasn’t what she wanted. “But, this ship will fall out of the sky in less than thirty minutes.”

Dairen faltered. He opened up his mouth to say more but stopped.

“Is there no other way?” Angie squeaked, catching everyone’s attention.

“There is one way, but it might cause her a bit of harm.” The scientist had said with great difficulties to speak.

With a quick answer, Dairen spoke in a harsh tone, “Denied.”

“What is it?” Snow asked, ignoring Dairen’s word. She had an inkling of what it could be. Her mind was slightly foggy.

The scientist made an uncomfortable motion, he peeked over towards Snow with a bit of hope in his eyes. Choosing his words with care, he said: “Only if you give some of your power to last us until we arrive at the castle.” He threw up his hand to quickly explain more before Dairen could burst out with anger. “We have a special crystal that stores up emergency energy at such times like these, if you can charge a few, we should make it with the reserve we have. The only problem we will have is when we fight against other pirates, but it's highly unlikely to get closer to the castle.”

With silence, the scientist waited for an answer. They uncomfortably shifted, knowing full well that one wrong move or word could cost them their life. There was too much at stake, and the lives rested once again in Snow’s hands.

“Where is it?” asked Snow, she wiggled a bit out of Dairen’s hold, which he wouldn’t let go.

In delight, the scientist ran towards one of their desks, pulling out a large pan of crystal gems. Grabbing a handful, he rushed back to hand her a few.

Snow rolled the few crystals in hand. They were unusually soft for a crystal with a bit of a salty texture, wondering what kind of crystals they were to have such odd properties.

“These are?”

“Selenite Crystals.”

“These are actually Selenites?” Snow was amazed at what she was given, mostly because these crystals were rare. Their pure white qualities and a knack for being easily dissolvable made it a tough crystal to have around water.

“One crystal will fuel the ship for two days straight.” The scientist, he eagerly stated.

Snow flipped it around a few more times, realizing how easily the energy from her own was sweeping into the crystal. It was strangely exhilarating, amplifying her powers even more. She didn’t understand how this was possible, mostly because she thought it would drain her and make her tired.

Quickly, she summoned up her magical energy from her core, creeping through her fingers and into the very Selenite Crystal. The more she poured her energy, the more powerful she felt. It was an odd trade-off that she didn’t actually hate.

It didn’t take long for her to fill up all three energy crystals—each radiating with a soft power of light.

“Here.” Snow dropped it in the scientist's hands. “This should be enough?”

“Yes!” The scientist hurriedly took it; he ran over towards the tube that she was just in and threw one of the crystals inside the very tank.

Liquid mana once again, pooled into the very tube, filling it up to the brim. The Selenite crystal glowed, pulsating with light. With a hiss and a crackle, the crystal broke as it was gobbled by the machine, powering up the very ship once again.

The scientist turned around, bowing his head. “Thank you!” He exclaimed in happiness.

Snow waved her hand, not really minding.

“We’re done, right?” Dairen voiced out his words, which he wanted to hurry up and get out.

“Yes!”

“Good.” Dairen turned around, leaving the two scientists who were diligently trying to get things back on track.

Snow silently stays in Dairen’s arms. For some reason, she felt a sense of peace and warmth. She peaked up towards Dairen, pleased that her friends had come to save her.

Thinking back on it, she didn’t realize when she had put both Dairen, Mike, and Angie in the category of a friend. Usually, she would keep people at arm’s length, mostly to protect her fragile self and hide behind a facade that she was strong.

She wasn’t as strong as many people thought nor brave or a saintess. Many times, she felt like everything was a joke, ready to tear her to pieces with the obligation and expectation of the people.

At first, she blew it away as she didn’t want to disappoint the people around her, but she slowly changed her mind.

To know that there were people who counted on her and believed in her made her warm. Even if it wasn’t for the others, she was grateful for their support and words.

She leaned into Dairen’s arm, sighing. Two words bubbled out from her mouth in a whisper.

“Did you say something?” Dairen gazed down towards Snow. A soft warmth and concern spilled out from his body, he pulled her in a bit more tighter, allowing her to feel his warmth.

“Thank you.” Snow said it a bit louder this time. She felt her heart flutter with embarrassment but pleased to finally say something that had been stuck in her throat for a while. She disliked how she bottled up her emotions, stuffing them in a chest until something drastic happened.

“For what?” Dairen took a moment to search her face, trying to decipher what she was trying to say. But so far, he could not think of anything.

“For saving me.”

“You know us,” Dairen softly chuckled. “We are your friends.”

“Exactly.” Mike, who had heard Snow, spoke up from the side. “We’re aren’t going to leave you behind. What are friends for?”

Snow felt a bubbling sweetness of happiness. A beautiful smile blossomed on her lips, dazing everyone around her. They all felt some form of peace with her reaction as they silently continued through the hallway. The rhythmic pacing of their steps slowly but surely lulled Snow into a dull drowsiness. She sunk even deeper into Dairen’s arm and quietly slept.

Dairen, Mike, and Angie continued to whisper among themselves, trying not to wake Snow up.

“You know, she sleeps very well anywhere.” Mike held in his chuckle. His hand reached up to brush away her hair, which Dairen pulled her away from his touch. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we find her in a strange place sleeping.”

“Are you saying my arms are a strange place to be sleeping?”

“Absolutely not.” Mike feigned a smile, but he nudged him with a wink. “Though you have a naked Snow in your hand.”

“Shut up.” Dairen hissed, turning red. He was trying his best not to think about that.

“I swear, sometimes you are like a monk, who have staved off sexual desires. Are you even a man?”

Dairen wanted to kick Mike, but he couldn’t because of Snow in his arm. He frustratingly did a weird kick that Mike dodged effortlessly. “When I put her down, you’re going to get beaten up.”

“Right...” Mike pretended to be hurt. He burst out laughing and patted his shoulders a few times.

“Um, Mike.” Angie squeaked. She was looking at Mike and then at Darien back and forth. The intensity between the two became stronger, making Angie feel suffocated. She gulped, unable to say a word.