The cold sunk to his bones and spread through them. He felt as if the marrow within had turned into ice. He shivered and the motion sent sharp pains shooting through his body. He heard a cracking sound and felt as if his bones had shattered.

A ferocious chill crossed the stage and he locked his opponents legs in ice, then washed them out of the ring with a surging wave of water. The icy gale and flow of icy water faded away completely in just a few seconds, leaving him completely dry and without a hint of frost. He commanded wind, water and snow, yet looked as fresh and untouched as when he’d arrived.

Fire blossomed within his gut, it felt like he’d somehow swallowed down a bonfire. He could feel hot air pouring out between his lips when he opened his mouth and only the strengthening of Divine Breath kept his throat from being ruined.

She trapped her opponent in a block of ice and threw them off the stage, turning around to leave before her frozen foe had even hit the ground, just as she’d done for the last five matches she was in. At that instant, an anxious feeling overcame me and I rushed onto the stage. The block of ice suddenly burst apart and a flash of black light flew through the air.

It was suddenly so cold my jaw was frozen into place, my tongue numb and lifeless.

A feeling of dread swept over me. I turned around and time seemed to slow down. I saw a dart approaching, the tip glistening with an unknown liquid. I saw my life flash before my eyes, a cold and lonely life, trying to prove myself worthy enough to see more, to have more. I always excelled at the training to hide all emotion, to detach myself from any desire to be around others. No one wanted me, so I would show them all by not wanting anyone at all. Then everything changed. A face appeared. He was smiling at me. A very warm smile. The type of smile I’d never seen before. Then he fell down and I saw darkness spreading upon his back.

The opponent that I had looked down upon landed outside the ring, already defeated, but firing a poison dart as a final farewell before they fell out of bounds and lost the match. I glanced down and one of those feelings I thought was gone forever flared to life. The world narrowed, and I heard myself screaming, even as my former opponent was transformed into a brilliant red blossom. Shards of blue ice exploded from his body, releasing all of the blood in his body into a vibrant display of violence.

His skin felt like it was sliding off, a burnt glove that was struggling to stay attached.

I woke up in a medical bed, with pain coursing through my veins. There was a Clan Elder speaking with a doctor, and glaring fiercely in my direction, but not at me. Then I noticed motion and tried to look to my side. It was her. Her fierce and cold features had melted and she was holding a hand. My hand. It was such a shame that I couldn’t feel it.

I felt like I was dropped into an ice bath. Cold swirled around me, penetrating deeply to wash away all the heat, threatening to douse the warmth even at the core of my being.

We were disqualified from the tournament, and our clans were furious. I didn’t care. I ignored them and forced my way into a black market. They gave me an antidote and in return, I killed for them. One of them was an Elder of my Clan, but I didn’t care. The man was little more than a stranger to me. How could a cold old man I’d met only once compare to what Hong Ri did for me? No matter what it took, I wouldn’t let him die.

Sage suddenly felt like he was scooped up out of a frozen sea and tossed into boiling oil, his skin felt like it was crisping and bubbling.

We ran. We ran for our lives. Her family hated me. My family hated her. I was going to be the champion, but I was poisoned to save her. I trampled upon their honor, giving up rich rewards for a complete stranger. I didn’t care. My body and power wasted away, only a shadow of what it used to be, withered up from the power of that terrible poison. It didn’t matter. She found a cure for me, and we ran. I was said to be a pinnacle talent, the peak existence in ten thousand years. The poison ruined me, making me little more than average, but to me, that identity didn’t matter. I would give it all up again, along with anything else it took to be here beside her. It was just the two of us, alone in the wilds, but as long as she was there, I could suffer any hardship.

My teeth chattered together, the cold made them brittle and I felt them shatter between my lips, filling my mouth with a terrible feeling. The broken shards grind together and I do what I can to spit them out from between numb lips.

We just wanted to be left alone. We ran to the middle of nowhere, fighting off dangerous beasts and claiming their territory as our own. We renounced everything that we were, and abandoned our clans. All we wanted was the chance to be together, but they just won’t let us be. These few months we had together were the brightest and most wonderful of my life. He is the warmth I never had. In my life I only knew the cold. He is the fire that chased away my loneliness. Our hands touch, and as the end approaches, we hold each other for the first time. When our lips touch, the world changes.

I feel like I’m melting. Like my body has entered a molten state, and I fear for my life. Is this going to be the end?

She is all that matters. They have surrounded us, and plan to end our lives, but it doesn’t matter. We have each other. Even when it all ends, as long as we are together, nothing else matters. At the last moment, we kiss and it is even more perfect than I imagined it could be. Fire and Ice. Hot and Cold. We see everything we could have been together. The knives and blades that pierce our bodies are nothing in comparison to the melding of our spirits. It doesn’t matter if they kill us. This isn’t the end. What we have can never end.

We will be together forever.

Sage vomited out blood, staining the Pool of Eternal Tears. A blemish that rapidly disappears into the glow of the blue and red particles in the water.

Experiencing three different points of view at the same time was far from comfortable, but he couldn’t help but lift his head and gaze up at the two gigantic ice statues. Hong Ri and Hei Yue. Now that he’d experienced it, he felt this place was aptly named. The Pool of Eternal Tears, an undying memory of their tragic story. He didn’t know how exactly they ended, but he knew why this place was so valued. He experienced each of their lives and the experiences that helped them to form mastery over laws, and at their last moment, those laws combined, their understanding was shared. Fire and Ice. Hot and Cold. It was the path to a Primal Law, the power of two opposite things in combination. Even just a glimpse at these laws was enough to give others many inspirations.