“Almost there…! Any second now…!” Marina hastily ran in front of us, shoveling the snow with her every step, “Finally, we’re out!!!”

I took the chance to look up at the sky, it was pale white. Looking around the perimeter, there was nothing more than a frosty wonderland. With such a description, you’d think we’d be just as glad as Marina was, but both the Old Man and I felt nothing but wary as we trudged through the landscape.

We had our coats on, but even still it was as if each snowflake pierced through our clothes and landed directly on our skin. That’s right, I thought, we’re in Sibirus, the world’s North Pole. I suddenly recalled all the times I had felt cold in my life, but they all paled in comparison to the terrifying frostbite we were experiencing right now.

Not but a moment more, and I felt that navigating through the snow had gotten a lot more difficult all of a sudden. Certainly, we were tired, but we had more than enough stamina to make it back to the lodging. I noticed Marina’s pace starting to slow down as well, but the Old Man held his pace to the point where he was (ironically) the fastest of the bunch.

“Big Bro, use Spark.” Marina suggested.

“You cold already?” I mocked her for not holding out longer, “Sorry, but I ain’t talking with any of you anymore. The second we get on the boat back to the mainland is when I’m leaving both of your asses.”

“What? No, not for me, dummy! It’s for your finger!” She shot back almost immediately, “Your finger is really susceptible to the cold right now, so heating it up is gonna do you good.”

So that’s why my hand has been feeling the frostbite more than the rest of my body! But still…

“And how do you expect me to use my Spark without the two most important fingers needed for it?” I noted with a snide remark.

For context, the best and most comfortable way I’ve found to activate Spark is by channeling all the flames to my pinkie and ring finger. Back when I trained with Aaron on how to use it, it took me a fair bit of time just to get used to activating Spark with one finger. From what I’ve gathered, the more fingers I use, the more concentration it needs. Apart from that, it seems that starting from the pinkie and moving your way up is a solid way to ease into it.

It’s precisely because of these reasons that the pinkie and ring finger are crucial for Spark to work properly. Activating it on my middle finger would be like starting up a transport wagon on the third gear, it’ll just stall out and stop working altogether.

“Boy, if you’re gonna be snarky, then at least pick up the pace!” The Old Man said as he ran circles around me, seemingly with ease.

“How the hell are you so quick and nimble all of a sudden, you Old Geezer?” I couldn’t help but ask, even as fumes erupted from my head.

“Hahah! Simple – I’m from Montes, born and raised.” He proudly put his hands on his hips as he aimed his chest at the sky, “If you’re ever in the area, check out their hand warmers, they’re a lifesaver!”

I was getting quite conflicted by this point. It’s in these moments that the past me would nag him endlessly and ask nigh infinite questions about these ‘hand warmers’ and how living in Montes is like. But even still, this is the man that cut off two of my fingers before even stopping to check for alternatives. He even had the gall to be completely honest and admit there were plenty of ways where he could’ve saved me without cutting them off, but he still chose to be lazy for no other reason than “It was the easiest way to get you out.”

I don’t trust Linus. He’s a treacherous scumbag that’ll talk his way out of any situation with that snake tongue of his and he’ll refuse to atone for his mistakes and shortcomings no matter what. Writing this off as just a one-time thing would be naïve, because he’ll definitely do this again if I do. I tried being a good person to them, made sure to endure anything and everything they threw at me, be it leaving me behind or just being greedy ungrateful jackasses for no apparent reason, but even still they refuse to cooperate. So, I’ll be the one to distance myself from them.

Marina is… I’m not sure. She’s definitely been on my side for the majority of our time spent together, but it’s suspicious how she only decided to be like that after she ate the Golden Apple. I’m not saying she’ll revert to her bitchy self once the effect completely wears off, but I’m also not gonna stick around and find out. She’s someone who I can probably trust, even now, and she did so much for me even after I told her there’s no need, but that’s also her problem. She butts in way too much, and at this point I’m wondering why it is that she’s so nosy. Am I just being paranoid? Well, if my finger gets infected because of this on the spot surgery, I’ll just haunt her after I die (just kidding).

Traversing the snowy wonderland that seemed to spread out in front of us without end, there were many times where we’d get our hopes up and think we’ve made it back to the lodging, only to then realize we just saw a mirage. Be it weird, brown rocks that resembled the wooden logs of our lodging, or just a random animal herd, our disappointment grew ever more immeasurable, and our day all the more ruined.

It came to a point where we started placing bets as to whether or not we’ll make it home.

“Ooh! Ooh! I think I see the lodging!” Said Marina as she pointed to what she had seen.

“I bet ten silvers she just found another rock.” I said without a hint of optimism in my voice.

“Alright then, ten silvers says she’s right, and it is the lodging.” Said the Old Man, “You better uphold your end of the deal, y’hear?”

“Didn’t take you for the gambling type, Old Man.” I tried egging him on, “Where’d this come from?”

“Hey, I’m just trying to pass the time.” He shrugged with an annoying grin, “Even so, you’re the one that suggested the bet in the first place, your mother would be ashamed of you.”

This jeer that he thought to be lighthearted in fact tugged on my heartstrings the most. As someone who left his home and parents from a pretty early age, having some random Old Man go on about my mother made me quite mad.

“The fuck do you know about my mother?!” I yelled out, surprising Marina with my sudden increase in volume, “Hey! Say one more word about her and you’re dead!”

I had expected him to start mocking me once again, or perhaps get a bit angry himself, but this didn’t happen. What instead happened was that he shut up almost immediately and apologized after a moment.

“… Sorry. I obviously struck a nerve. I won’t ever mention her again.” He said quietly, but loud enough for us to hear him, “Lune, I didn’t mean to offend you, honest, but you have to calm down for now. Hate me for cutting your fingers off, heck I’ll even let you do the same to me when we get back to safety.” He went up close to me to show me his sincerity, “But for Gods’ sakes, please wait until we get home. Now’s not the time for bickering, and you know that.”

The words he said had struck deep. I knew from the bottom of my heart that there was never a problem that was solved by being stubborn or angsty. But it’s not that simple! You’re the man that permanently removed a part of my body! If I could just let go of these negative emotions, I would, but I can’t! I hate you from the bottom of my soul!

“…” I stood quietly in the snow as he held my shoulders, “Fine. I’ll try to forget what you did for now, but heed my words: I will never forget!”

“Spoken like a true adventurer.” He smiled honestly at my proclamation, “Seems you’ve learned a valuable lesson. You’ll meet loads more people who will do the same (if not worse) things that I did back at the cavern. In these situations, no matter how difficult it is, you need to think about the present and simply endure.”

“Oh? Sounds like you’re speaking from experience, heh!” I tried to poke fun at his overly-serious advice.

“…” He did nothing but stand there, gripping my shoulders tighter with each passing second. It was only for a split second, but I could feel his hands getting warmer. After that, all the strength in his grip had dissipated as he let go of my shoulders, and I could see in his eyes a single tear start to form.

He shook it off and started hopping around in the snow to where Marina was headed. Maybe I went too far, I should apolo- NO! He doesn’t deserve an apology. If anything, I can’t wait to chop off two of his own fingers! Let’s see how you like it, Old Man!

After Marina’s prediction was in fact proven wrong (it was just a weirdly shaped boulder), I had gotten an interesting idea.

“You think we’d see something if we scaled that there boulder?” I asked, “I know it sounds a bit dangerous, but a high vantage point would do us plenty good in my opinion.”

“Scaling a boulder?? Uuugh, I can barely walk on this snow and now you want me to go all the way up there?” Marina complained, ”Apart from that, I’ve just recently learned that I’m really not good with heights, so it’s definitely not a good idea!”

“I dunno, I’m with Lune on this one.” Said Linus, “I understand your worries, girlie, but in these situations getting a good bearing of our surroundings is the best thing to ask for.”

She kept groaning at the prospect, but after a while of Linus continually naming off all the pros of this plan as opposed to the few cons, she finally caved and started climbing (the complaining didn’t stop on her end, though).

“Wait, before we start.” Said Linus, “Let’s check what the Book says. Maybe there’s something we missed.”

“Nah, let’s just go. I’ve got a good feeling about this.” I said, refusing to take it out of my backpack.

He seemed displeased with my answer, so he started his whole spiel on why we can’t take any risks at this point and so on, but I couldn’t care less. This Book is the whole reason we’re in such dire straits from the beginning! I’m not holding onto it to use it, I’m keeping it from people like you who can’t think for themselves!

“Boy, if you’re gonna be difficult about this, then hand over the Book.” He said with a more serious tone, “Don’t keep me waiting now.”

“Like I said: My gut’s never been wrong. Have at least some faith in me, it’s the least you could to if you ever wanna atone for your actions.”

The air was getting quite heavy around us, but Marina quickly interrupted the ordeal before it got too out of hand. She jumped in between us and basically defused the situation outright by mentioning how she trusts my gut instincts and doesn’t want any one of us to butt heads anymore.

“See?” I said, smugly looking over to where Linus was standing, “At least someone’s got the right mindset. Thanks, Marina!”

“Heheh, no problem!” She accepted the praise without a moment’s notice.

Linus stood there, begrudgingly suppressing his rage, all the while we climbed the boulder. The sounds of our pickaxes hitting into the hard rock echoed far into the foggy wasteland, and before we knew it, we had made it to the top.

“See anything?” Linus asked upon scouting out his side, “Because all I see is snow. Not even our footprints from the Cavern can be seen anymore. That’s just how scary this weather’s getting. We’ll soon have a blizzard on our hands.”

“I can’t see anything either.” I reported, “Ugh, this hand’s killing me! Marina, you sure you couldn’t have stitched it on better?” I went to cup it with my right hand.

Just then, I felt something welling up from my stomach. I was getting excited, since this is the exact feeling I get when I use Spark. The thought of experiencing the warmth from my flame made me almost jump for joy, but something was off. The feeling that trickled slowly from my torso was quite strong. It was as if all the rage had been building up for this moment.

Slowly, slowly making it’s way from my chest, then through the shoulder, moving its way to the forearm, then finally…!

“OW! FUCK!” I screamed in pain.

What I had expected to be a bit of warmth pop out of my finger stub was actually something more akin to molten lava. I immediately tried to get it to calm down, and even tried burying my hand in snow, but it was to no avail.

The other two were now getting progressively more worried about me and offered to help in any way they could. In the end, I imagine our party looked quite goofy, panicking atop a lone boulder in the middle of Sibirus, but at the moment I couldn’t care less.

I then realized that instead of tried to hold this painful fire in, the best course of action would be to let it burst out instead. Since the best way to describe it is as if a pipe was clogged, the best course of action would be to let it all out before normal operations could continue.

As such, I counted in my head “1, 2, 3!” and pointed it in front of me in a random direction. The flame that had popped out was one the size of my whole body, and the speed at which it travelled sent me flying back in the opposite direction, with both Linus and Marina barely being able to catch me before I fell off.

We stood there in awe for a while, and since the heat had warmed us up quite nicely, we had all the time in the world to observe this spectacle as it raced through the sky, seemingly without losing any speed whatsoever.

“You…” Marina finally broke the ice (metaphorically), “You good?”

“Yeah. I’m feeling better. The pain’s mostly gone too, like when you barf and then feel better after.” I explained this feeling to the best of my abilities.

“Ew, gross!” She hit me in the head, “Find a better analogy!”

“Guys! Screw that! Thanks to Lune’s fireball thingy, the fog got a bit clearer! I can see something that looks like lights from the lodging!” Linus said, looking at where the fireball went.

For the record, Old Man, it’s not a fireball thingy, it’s Spark! Well, I guess Fireball would be a more adequate name for it…

“But why (and how for that matter) did you do that, Big Bro?” Marina turned to ask me as we descended the boulder carefully.

“Dunno. Like I said previously, similar to throwing up, I just felt the need to let it out suddenly. As to why it was so strong this time, my only guess is because I lack the finger to properly channel it, similar to how a cannon with a shorter barrel would pack a stronger punch in exchange for accuracy.”

“Look at you, Mr. Weapons Expert!” Linus praised me offhandedly. I genuinely can’t tell you if he’s being serious or sarcastic.

“I just read a lot of books is all. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve never even seen a cannon in real life,” I tried to explain myself, “I’ve never been to Sulfury, after all.”

“Here’s to hoping you never even visit it.“ Said Linus with a complicated face, ”That damned place is nothing more than an endless warzone designed to pit two factions against each other. Although according to your story, you said you’ll have to go there eventually.”

“Yeah, but I did make a point to visit it as my last destination, so who knows when that time will come.” I answered back truthfully.

“Smart, as it’s such a dangerous country, you won’t ever know if you’ll make it out of there alive.” Marina joined the conversation.

“Who knows, I might just swoop in there with my newly discovered ability and wipe them all out!” I said as I chucked another snowball sized fireball into the distance.

It appears as though unleashing this giant fireball had caused my Spark to finally mature enough for me to be able to use it in combat a bit more proficiently. Nonetheless, I can now use both Spark and Fireball in controlled amounts! (Well, it’s still extremely draining to pull off a fireball even if it’s this small, so I’ll probably stick to Spark for now…)

We finally started to open up to each other once more after a bit of hope was tossed our way, but who knows how long this warm ambient will last. After all, a fire in a blizzard will always die out sooner or later.