The 84th night of Yule of the 476 A.F.W. year was known to many as a particularly foggy night. A rare phenomenon occurred, causing snow to lift from the fields and slowly change and mix with the air, surrounding the areas in a white mist. If you were to look far into the distance, you'd see nothing, and it'd reveal itself the closer you got.

However, it was especially dense near the waters. The shadow of the peaks cascading over the reflective surface seemed to minger for a bit, before fading into obscurity, and the massive landscape present, with the night lights painting the road towards a small corridor erected in between the White Mountains, couldn't be made out.

"I can't see anything," muttered Jyuzou, fixing his glasses, and rubbing them against his sweater. He squinted his eyes.

"It's not your glasses," Morio mentioned, staring forwards. "It's so foggy!" he raised an eyebrow.

"Is it your first time experiencing something like this?" Atomu stood up, after putting the boat at the lake's edge. "Lignoria's full of fog in Dear."

"No, definitely not," Jyuzou uttered. "But never to this degree."

"Don't worry about anything, though!" The Morian raised his voice. "It's a very simple road, I can assure you. Just follow my commands."

"Are you strong enough to row?" The other closed an eye, sighing.

"Of course, Jyuzou!" Morio then tried to prove his strength by grabbing the boat by its rope and pulling it as hard as possible. He quickly grew red, and then let go. "Ha. Ha." he breathed in and out. "My muscles are sleepy," he said.

"Surely, Morio," Jyuzou smirked, crossing his hands.

"Glassy idiot," he spoke through his teeth.

Atomu put his hands on the rope and tried pulling it back, but was unsuccessful. He ground his teeth, closing his eyes, and the boat barely teetered above the water.

"Where is Chyuuichi?" Morio asked.

"Here!" he raised his hand, sitting up on the boat Atomu pulled. "The boat's comfy enough! Why don't we sleep here for the night? Eh? Maybe? Okay, no." he turned to the side. "But there's some writing on the side." he pointed. "A boat for ya, Christina!" he read. "Who is Christina?"

"Shut up!" A Morian stepped out of his hut, not far from the four, and yelled out, visibly blushing. He quickly shut the door.

"Do you think he's in love with Christina?" Chyuuichi looked up.

"Chyuuichi, get off the boat," Atomu said, in a serious tone.

"Huh? But we're riding them, aren't we?" Chyuuichi stood up.

"I can't untie the rope if it's not on the shore!" Atomu explained.

Although Morians didn't travel as much with boats, they were very protective of them and needed lots of convincing to lend them to people who weren't Morians. Sometimes, they'd even get mad if a Morian that didn't live by the lake tried to borrow them.

Since then, they created special ropes that would turn incredibly slippery if they touched water. It was a simple method, but very effective. A few years ago, a bunch of people from Wendigo managed to waddle over through Lapida, and then tried to ride the boats in a drunken haze, but were very unsuccessful. Even the ones that sobered up couldn't seem to find the solution.

"Then just move the whole thing! You're strong, huh?" Chyuuichi continued.

"You're too heavy." Atomu shook his head, closing his eyes.

"Are you." The Mirillian blinked. "Are you calling me fat?"

"Wow." Jyuzou opened his mouth slightly.

"Rude." Morio muttered.

"STOP PUTTING WORDS IN MY MOUTH!" Atomu grabbed Chyuuichi by his collar before his hand accidentally landed on his chest. He felt something thick and metallic underneath those strangely thin layers of Mirillian attire. He furrowed his eyebrows, pushing his palm behind the scarf. "Chyuuichi. Why are you wearing armour?"

"I am?" he asked. "Why would I possibly be wearing armour?" he smiled.

Atomu put his hand on his face and walked away, breathing out, sitting down on a rock. Chyuuichi stepped off the boat, and unzipped his vest, revealing a big chest plate, ending near his pants. "Wow! I AM wearing armour!"

Morio pulled the boat in. "SEE?!" he signalled to Jyuzou.

"Sleepy muscles," Jyuzou repeated before something caught his attention in the distance.

"I don't get it, how d-did you not know? Wasn't it any heavy?!" Atomu moved his hands around.

"Oh! OH! I remember, Atomu!" Chyuuichi tapped his shoulder twice. "Mirillians wear armour all the time!

"Really?" Atomu looked at him.

"Yep! Stupid old me, haha." Chyuuichi gave himself a thumbs up, before easily taking off the armour and carelessly throwing it to the ground. It made a loud thunk sound and vibrated for a moment. "It's essentially a part of our lifestyle!"

Atomu stood up, putting both hands into the armour, and crouched, trying to lift it. "Mmm!" he sucked in air through his teeth, and his cheeks grew bigger. "Ah, gaah! There!" he yelled out after it finally came undone, in his hands. Atomu quickly glanced at Chyuuichi, who lifted the other side without much of a problem.

"What?" Chyuuichi asked.

"Gah!" Atomu was shocked and disturbed at the same time. "Let me see your arm!" he immediately put his hands on his undershirt's sleeve and moved it, seeing a normal-looking, albeit maybe bigger than normal arm, coated in a different material. "You're wearing chainmail too?!" Atomu looked at him, with shaky lips.

Chyuuichi scratched the back of his head. "I guess so!" he answered. "It's part of this armour, but it can disconnect into two pieces! Ain't that neat?"

"I'm giving up." Atomu moved back, quickly calming down. "How on Errarion is s-someone of your build this strong?"

Chyuuichi shrugged, with a tight beam.

"All ready, all set!" Morio announced, sitting comfortably near the wooden boat's bow. He put his backpack behind him, and put two of the four oars in both hands, dipping them in the shallow water.

"This isn't the Christina boat, right?" Chyuuichi pointed.

"M-m." Morio shook his head.

"Good! I already reserved that one!" Chyuuichi stated, lying down in the other boat.

"Stop mentioning that name!" The Morian opened the window.

"CHRISTINA CHRISTINA CHRISTINA CHRISTINA!" Chyuuichi repeated those words a few times before the Morian threw a dead fish his way, and it hit his head. He grabbed it, put it into the boat and smirked. The Morian breathed in twice and loudly, before slamming the window down. Chyuuichi stuck his tongue out.

"Move, there are only two boats," Atomu noted.

"You guys will fit three in one. I have to take my armour with me." Chyuuichi nodded.

"Are you serious?" Morio made a strange face.

"We're not taking that massive baggage." Atomu shook his head.

"Unfair. You're taking your backpacks!" he pointed.

"They have items of the utmost importance!" Morio raised his voice. Jyuzou wondered where Morio had heard such a difficult word.

"...and I'm cold without it! It is also of the utblabala impromptu." Chyuuichi informed, nodding in confidence.

Atomu sighed loudly. "Won't it be better if Morio gets in one boat with me and Jyuzou does so with Chyuuichi? I feel if a Mirillian and a Paladian plus... potential armour sat in one, it'd sink."

"Oh yeah, you're right." Morio nodded. "Balancing out the weight."

"Heeh?" Chyuuichi squinted his eyes, as Atomu tiptoed over to the other boat.

"I'll sit in the back since I'm heavier. Armour goes in the middle of you and Jyuzou." Atomu explained.

"I'll be cold."

"Hug the boat!" Morio raised his voice.

"Genius, genius right there!" Chyuuichi hugged the boat and Atomu covered his face again. "By the way, where is Jyuso?"

"Jyuzou?" Morio furrowed his eyebrows. "Jyuzou!" he called out.

Atomu stepped around into the mist before something struck his knee. He backed out, in slight pain, before spotting Jyuzou, lying on the ground, kicking his feet up and down. He held his journal in one hand, and the red book in the other. He quickly put them to the side and moved his hands, holding up his chin.

"Do you see that?" Jyuzou's eyes were shining and reflecting in his glasses. "I finally found it! The second variant of the Callothia flower!" he pointed, and Atomu crouched. "Isn't it pretty?" he smiled.

"Yeah, it's very pretty!" Atomu answered, giggling.

"UGH!" Chyuuichi put his hand on his scarf, closing his eyes. "Thank ya, Morin!"

"For what?"

"For not being interested in that flower."

"Dude, no way." Morio shook his head. "All that plant stuff is boring."

"You take that back right now!" Jyuzou yelled out.

"Boring, stupid flowers," Morio repeated.

"Says the one who willingly ate food out of snow. TWICE." Jyuzou's hand shook, pointing at Morio.

"What? Ew..." Atomu covered his mouth, moving closer.

"You ate snow?" Chyuuichi asked, gulping.

"I didn't eat snow-"

"I saw him do it! Grabbing fists full of orange snow into that greedy little mouth!" Jyuzou pointed.

"Gh! Gah! Pwah! Bh!" Morio made strange noises, before putting his head on his knees and turning around, angrily. "NOT THE ORANGE YOU THINK OF!"

"Snow eater," Chyuuichi muttered.

"I'll push that chest plate into the water." Morio stood up, threatening him.

"Ooh! Sorry! SORRY!" Chyuuichi put his hands together, pleading. "I'M SORRY, MORIO!"

"Now that I think about it. Don't you have something to do Jyuzou?" Atomu eyed him, with a quiet word.

"Right." Jyuzou moved his glasses up to his eyes. "Mark the flower on the map."

"You're taking the boat with Chyuuichi." Atomu's voice slowed down a bit. "The answer should be obvious."

The Morian breathed out, before nodding.

Finally, Atomu stepped over to the boat and sat behind Morio's backpack, grabbing the two oars.

Jyuzou opened his mouth slightly, and then put his hand into his coat's pocket. He breathed out, and Chyuuichi kept waving at him. He sat in the front, and soon, both boats found themselves traversing through the foggy lake

"L-Let's follow them, okay?" Jyuzou proposed.

"Yer saying all that as if I know where to go." Chyuuichi shook his head.

"Right," Jyuzou muttered, closing his eyes.

***

The four swam out to the middle, permeating the fog, revealing more and more of the area. In the distance, you could start making out the trees that led down a river towards Magna, as well as the first, arguably shallow peaks of the surrounding landscape.

The full moon, dancing with the night lights reflected on the water's edge and illuminated some of its depths.

Morio glanced down, trying to spot something through the darkness.

"Are these waters any dangerous?" Atomu asked. "I know I ought to h-have asked earlier, but... you seem to be cautious."

"Pff, are you scared of some water?" Morio smirked.

"It's r-rightful fear." Atomu put his hands together. "Especially if you don't know what hides in its depths."

"Welp, I always try to be cautious when I'm in new places. I heard thousands of stories about this lake, some good, others... a little worse, but people can't seem to agree on anything." Morio explained. "For example, Jyuzou thought this place would be full of those stupid Stem and Callothia flowers, but he only found one."

"They're not stupid." Atomu frowned.

"Victoria told me that many animals roamed around the edge, but there are none. Some say the waters are full of tasty fish, others, told me that some demonic whale lives below the ice, sleeping..." he looked at Atomu.

"Gah!" Atomu was slightly startled. "I regret it asking! We could've just walked around the lake after all. We're not that much faster anyway, are we?" Atomu pulled the oars closer to his body.

"Time shall tell, and much like with all those other stories, my answer is the same, all across the board!" he added. "It's better to see it all for yourself!"

Jyuzou swam up to the two. "Morio's right. There's a current where the lake meets with the river. It speeds up things immensely." he explained. "I guess we could've trod the shore a bit longer. Maybe we'd find more boats there?"

"This one's comfy! Never leaving!" Chyuuichi stated, closing his eyes.

Jyuzou ground his teeth. Atomu gave him a quick glance, and Morio sped up a bit, leaving the two alone.

As the silence grew, Jyuzou eventually turned, spotting the Mirillian.

"Um. So," The Morian tried starting a conversation, hearing Chyuuichi humming something, albeit very quietly.

"Oh, yeah?" Chyuuichi immediately sat up and looked at him.

"I'm not sure if our c-camraderie started on a high note," Jyuzou said, very slowly, stressfully looking around, and Chyuuichi made a strange face. "...and I said some things, that, were pretty far from the actual truth. Maybe it was the stress surrounding it all but..." he gulped. "What I'm trying to say is-"

"I don't get what you mean! We just ran far from that deadly creature, that's all there is to it! Look, if it's about your boot, I'm sure there's a neat store for that somewhere in Magna!"

"It's n-not about the boot, okay?" Jyuzou uttered. "I wanted to say that I'm..." he cleared his throat. "That I'm sorry."