The darkened skies continued to snow. Not even a second did the skies look clear. Casitas remained on the uncomfortable seat as he watched over Levi carefully. Constantly, he had to put his cloak back onto her shoulders because the wind kept brushing them off. She remained stiff as a statue, only her fingers were moving to continue playing the song. Even though it felt like hours, Levi showed no signs of fatigue. She remained focused.

In her mind, she was traveling in the skies while the icy snowflakes hit Beryl's feathers and face. Still, she continued to fly deeper into the storm. Casitas couldn’t bring himself to leave Levi alone, not even for a second. It felt like hours but it was troubling him because he couldn’t ask her questions such as ‘what do you see’, ‘are you there’, ‘how much longer’. Still the main question he wanted to ask her was ‘are you alright’. He noticed that her fingertips were trembling with each note change. A thought occurred about him getting her another stone, but there was the risk of leaving her alone and he couldn’t ask someone to get it for them because they would die. Sadly, the only thing he could do was wait.

As he listened to the soothing melody, another memory surfaced into his mind.

“Let me see!” said a cute childish voice. A young girl in a gold colored coat leaned in close to the young boy in torn clothes. He carefully opened his eyes one at a time and saw the young girl only inches away from his face. The boy screamed and backed away from the girl.

“Don’t get so close!” he whined.

“I just wanna see your face!” said the girl. She scooted herself closer to the boy and kept her eyes wide. The boy looked creeped out and uncomfortable, but he didn’t move away from her this time. “I knew it!”

“What?”

“I knew you were the cutest boy I had ever seen!” the girl smiled. The boy's face turned completely red and jerked his head away from the girl.

“Don’t say that. Boys can’t be cute,” he pouted.

“Why not?”

“Because I am not cute! I am strong!” the boy said. He sat up and stood proudly with his arms crossed and looked away from the girl. She kept her eyes on him and tried to stand up, but only found herself falling to her knees. The boy noticed the girl curling herself up into a ball and trembling. “What’s wrong?”

“I am really cold,” she shivered. The boy leaned down and unknowingly wrapped his arms around the girl. The both of them began to blush, the girl from happiness but for the boy because it was embarrassing.

“Is this better?” said the boy.

Sadly, his body felt like it was making him colder, but the girl was so happy that she didn’t even notice. “A little.”

Suddenly, the boy hoisted the girl on his back and had her arms and legs wrapped tightly around him. The boy began walking through the thick mist of snow into a further sight.

“Where are we going?” said the girl.

“You are going to get sick. I have to take you back,” said the boy. The girl gently rested her head on his back, feeling the cold slowly taking over her body.

“But I want to keep playing with you,” she mumbled. 

The boy couldn’t help but to smile brightly at her words. His heart started beating faster than it ever had before, the grip he had on her got tighter.  He could softly feel her warmth touching him, only this time he found such comfort from it.

Casitas looked upward towards the castle. Seeing that the windows were too dark to see through it and how tall and quiet it was, it seemed like there was no one living inside. The icy snow touching the castle made it look like it was frosted into an ice cavern. Still, Casitas only saw it as his home.

“Levi, I doubt you can hear me now; but I feel like this is the only time I can speak to you without judgment,” said Casitas. He relaxed his shoulders and pressed his back against the cold surface of the bench.

“I remember when my home was just my people trying to survive living in caves. It was hard for us to do anything, let alone survive. No one ever told me why we didn’t leave this winter nightmare but I knew at a young age it was because the other parts of the world hated us. I don’t understand why. Right now, I don’t look that different from you and you Baellon are treated like idols that the world has to bow to. I tried not to think about it but it had bothered me. All of my thoughts were that we were going to die but we learned to adapt to the cold so much that we hate the warmth of the sun. Still, it wasn’t enough. We needed food, shelter, a place where we could live happily. Then Lord Rauf came. He was the first outsider I met and he was so kind to everyone. There was so much food and supplies that helped us start to build our home. He would come maybe once or twice a year and everyone loved it.”

Casitas stopped himself. His calming blank nature turned into a hidden anger that caused his eyebrows to furrow into an arch. “Then he stopped coming. My people became so reliant on him that they didn’t know what to do without him. It was like they were brainless without leadership. As helpful as he was, we couldn’t just make him our only help, I wanted us to help ourselves. So I took charge. I made myself into a fighter for my people, made us thrive and made the outside world fear me. Knowing if they entered my domain, they would die. I think the world knows we are not struggling and want to see what we’ve become. A part of me refused to help them. They hated us and I hate them. That wouldn’t change.”

Casitas turned to Levi. She still remained unresponsive to him. His face looked angry but for a moment it softened. He saw that she was still playing the melody even though there were signs that her body wasn’t going to handle the cold much longer even with the help of the ring. His hand flinched to reach out to her, but backed away. A small part of him wanted to take her inside and end this but another part of him made him wonder why he wanted to help her. 

Exhaling loudly, Casitas tried to gather enough courage to speak openly now. He gazed at Levi and felt his unsure feeling all over again. “Levi…”

Suddenly, Levi opened her eyes and gasped loudly! Her hands dropped the flute as she started coughing. Casitas jumped and hurried by her side. He grabbed her side as she kept gasping for air. He saw the veins on her face being exposed, especially around her golden eye. Then a small trail of blood seeped out of her eye. Her body began to shake. Unable to speak, Casitas held onto her tighter. That was when a soft cooing was heard coming from behind. Casitas saw that Beryl was flying to him and perched by the bench.

“Levi, what happened!?” he asked. He knew she was unable to talk but couldn’t help but to ask. Her body felt as frail as paper. Carefully, Casitas hoisted Levi in his arms once again as she struggled to cradle him close. She pressed her head against his chest and heart, his heart beating wildly. Quickly, he hurried to the castle door.

“Beryl…” she spoke. Casitas stopped in his tracks to listen to her. “She has a letter from Galen for you.”

“Don’t worry about that now. You have to get inside,” ordered Casitas.

Casitas took Levi to her room and tucked her into her bed. She had many thick blankets but it felt necessary for her. Slowly, she started to look better; but that didn’t stop Casitas from leaving her side. He pulled a chair by her bedside and watched her just as before. It was late and everyone was already asleep by now. After what happened, he couldn’t bring himself to fall asleep. Levi softly groaned in pain and her eyes began to open. She looked as though she was half asleep.

“Casitas…” she moaned.

He leaned down to her and patted her head. “Go back to sleep. You exhausted yourself.”

“The mountains are pretty,”

“Stop,” he said as he gently brushed strands of hair away from her face. “Just rest.”

“Are you mad at me?” she asked as she started to drift back to sleep. Casitas looked at her face once again and saw the toll she took for him. He lightly placed the palm of his hand on her cheek. That small touch started to make her smile.

“No, I am not mad,” he said. “Since we were kids, you’ve always pushed yourself too hard, huh?”

He got up and tucked her in once again. Levi curled up tighter in her bed and softly whispered. “Do you remember me Cas…?”

His eyes flinched as she said his name. Now, she was back to sleep without any knowledge of what had just happened. He pulled the blanket to her face and looked at her one more time.

“Yeah, I remember you,” he said.