TICK, TOCK, TICK, TOCK.

By this time, the sun was gone. With the season this far into winter, it grew dark early. Already, the crimson moon was rising, giving everything outside a dark red hue.

Fifteen minutes were left of the nixie’s power holding Snow White’s ribs and lungs together. Taerynn sat on the edge of his velvet-covered bed. He focused on replenishing as much mana from the surrounding earth as he could into his soul core. Slowly but surely. Little by little.

The curse made it feel like he was being filled with poison instead. His core wanted to reject it. Taerynn began sweating. The pressure gradually increased as if the world pressed on his entirety, dumping the weight of their sins and cruel deeds onto him. Soon, he’d have to release this energy or it would collapse his insides—just a lovely side effect of the cracked Magic Mirror.

Damn it. I cannot get stronger like this! I need to fix that damned thing before I go insane!

The elf was so tired of it all. To go another 45 years searching for the remaining shards and live in a kingdom even worse off than before? The thought made him sick to his stomach. Literally, his belly churned with nausea, though he couldn’t tell if that was from collecting mana or stress.

Ten minutes until he had to take action. Needing a distraction from the increasing discomfort, Taerynn looked down at the human lying on his back. It was like he was sleeping, just as peacefully as when he found him in the glass coffin. Without Snow White’s face twisted in pain or frightened, he could see why Ascelin gave the nickname. It was fitting. If the Queen hadn’t hidden his true status as a prince, the ladies would’ve been lining up for miles.

Seeing those remains on the mountain of princes and knights from faraway lands… They were attempting to find the “princess.” It makes sense why they’d risk it all.

Because in a way, wasn’t Taerynn doing the same? Risking to bring Snow White here, upset his head servant, and make the fae souls go feral that fresh human flesh was in their midst?

The prince turned his head weakly and stared at Taerynn’s sheathed sword leaning against the corner. His half-closed eyes kept drooping shut. His stubbornness wouldn’t let him pass out. 

“That’s Veran the Peace Maker,” he observed in a quiet voice.

Taerynn wanted to test him about his supposed knowledge. Such as if he really knew his name. “And how do you know that?”

He doesn’t seem as nervous as before. I wonder why that is.

“At the tavern, I saw the cyan-colored diamond on the hilt. My book said it’s the only gem of its kind in all the Yggdrasil realms. Cyan is the perfect balance of blue, which means peace, and green, which means new beginnings.”

That is correct.

Snow White added, “Just like 1111.”

But to me, 1111 means the opposite of new beginnings.

“So you know angel numbers,” Taerynn said as a matter-of-factly.

“Doesn’t everyone know them… Taerynn Luxidor?”

And there it was. His true name. The little twinkle in Snow White’s eye was too innocent.

Ah, I see. You don’t feel as scared now that you have a name to my face. “So you finally remembered.”

“Mhm.”

This made Taerynn curious about what humans said about him nowadays. “What else do you know?” 

“Not much. I only know it from an old book at Nordenstein Castle in the restricted section. You are the ruler of Myrkrheim.”

“And?”

“Uh, it is a section in Hel, the lowest realm where every evil or wrongdoing soul goes. This area is the afterlife of evil fae souls. I didn’t remember until I saw Veran. The info I read about Myrkrheim was when I was really young so...”

“Is that all you know?”

“Yes,” Snow White replied. A coughing fit started. 

Well, how disappointing. He truly was forgotten. Soon, it would be like he had never existed. Did the Queen have something to do with that? Or this boy’s education?

It must be why he lost the fear of being near me. This human didn’t learn the terrible things I’ve done. What an ignorant creature. They say I’m the devil himself in battle. I was ruthless during the Wild Hunt before being trapped.

“And since remembering some of those old memories,” he said, changing his focus to Taerynn, specifically his hair. “I’m really bothered by something.”

“What could that be?”

Ten minutes. The elf let him ramble out of kindness; otherwise, he’d demand silence. Tearing apart his soul was soon approaching. And Snow White was oblivious.

“I don’t know why, but… your hair color. It reminds me of when I saw a light elf after my eye, er, was injured pretty badly by glass. So I couldn’t see what they looked like properly.” 

Taerynn then noticed a very faint scar line in the inner crease of his left eye. No one would realize it unless it was mentioned.

“I also have many questions about this place.”

“It will have to wait for later.”

“Why does ha—Ah!” Snow White choked like he couldn’t breathe and gripped his chest with tense fingers. “Not agai—ugh!”

The ten minutes were not up yet. This was an entirely different problem that needed him to intervene now and finally extract the mirror shard. Whether he had enough mana or not. Shit.

He hurried to crawl over Snow White, straddling his legs between his. Long, white hair splayed around them like a billowy shield. Taerynn studied his harrowing expression and trembling body. Mortals were fragile. Just a knife stab to their torso sent them into a fit of complaining, moaning, and oftentimes, death. Assuming their poor pain tolerance, Snow White was in grave agony. 

He will go into shock if he stays awake.

“Before I help, I will put you to slee—”

“NO!” Snow White roared in an unnatural full-volume that must’ve been heard around the nearby corridors. A grayish light glowed from his heart. It had begun.

At the authoritative, useless command using his Gray mana, Taerynn’s nose flinched in annoyance. “Stop using my mana! Fine. Then don’t sleep for all I care, human. Do not forget. It is your choice to decline my merciful offer.”

In reality, he did care since his empathetic side wanted to inflict as little pain as possible. But he could do nothing if the prince didn’t want it—especially when he just used some mana to order it.

“When this is over, I’ll heal the damage.” Taerynn hovered a hand over Snow White’s chest where the mana showed itself. “Unless your body gives out before then.”

He opened his eyes and cried, “What do you mean by th—UGH!” His spine lifted from the bed and arched dangerously. Blue eyes opened so wide, they seemed to pop out any second. A silent scream stuck in his throat, unable to make a sound.  

Gray lightning sparked from Snow White’s heart. It was responding to Taerynn, but not in the way he hoped. And then he sensed where the mirror shard was.

Hmm?

Interestingly, the piece was not in his soul core. But it would be soon. Good. That would make it much easier to extract from his body, perhaps through a simple incision. There would be no soul dissecting today. How lucky.

He slightly moved his hand upward to the sternum. The fragment was so small, barely a sliver. Still, at least the minuscule piece was okay. There weren’t as many shards to collect at this point. Even the littlest one made a huge difference in completing the Magic Mirror.

And then this nightmare would be over.

“Numb.” Taerynn used mana so he wouldn’t feel the surgical area. The elf lifted the white shirt and poked his patient’s sternum with a dagger-like nail. He went to cut throu—

The air became static. The gray sparks changed into lightning bolts. They zigzagged across the bed and sizzled the blanket. It even burned him, plus parts of his clothes. The brightness left dots in his vision. What in the world was happening?!

There was an overflowing amount of mana he somehow hadn’t detected before! It was as if Snow White’s core had tried hiding it. This amount was too much.

Is this the cause of his chest pains and vomiting blood? I believe so.

What was worse was that the Gray mana was hurting Taerynn, its original master.

Snow White’s silent scream let out. It rang in the room. The candles and fireplace blew out. Besides the moonlight and lightning strikes, it was dark. 

“It’s… telling you… no!” he wailed. 

Taerynn was deeply alarmed by this. “Who?”

“I can… hear it! ‘Here!’ ‘Here!’ I don’t know! Please… stop!” The bodily tremors shook the entire bed like an earthquake. The mana was going crazy!

One more time, the king thought in a frenzy. 

“Be still.” 

Again, he went to slice open Snow White’s sternum to retrieve what was rightfully his. As his nail touched and drew bloo—

Taerynn was stopped through physical force.

The prince, who was so frail and on the verge of blacking out from fatigue before, had grabbed Taerynn’s finger with massive strength on par with his… and perhaps stronger. If he were to squeeze his digit any harder, it would brea—

CRACK.

The king didn’t react. A broken pointer finger was nothing. To actually cause such an injury to the elf king, the death glare in Snow White’s eyes, his dark aura, the inner voice, and the amount of mana and its defensive response, this wasn’t good. Not good at all.

He shouldn’t have been able to go against my command. I think I understand.

Though it didn’t explain the overflow, the shard was using this poor human as a host. Like a parasite. 

A human who, based on Taerynn’s analysis of his soul core, did not have an affinity for mana. For whatever reason, the shard had attached itself to Snow White. If he were to remove the shard, this mortal’s soul might be taken with it through absorption. That was an assumption. Anything could happen and all of them resulted in him dying.

He stared straight into Snow White’s crazed, almost-black eyes. Yes, the mana was definitely doing something to him and warning Taerynn to back off. He considered what to do next. There were mere minutes until the nixie’s power vanished. 

And that dim scar on the corner of Snow White’s left eye…

Taerynn recalled what he said earlier: "I don’t know why, but… your hair color. It reminds me of when I saw a light elf after my eye, er, was injured pretty badly by glass. So I couldn’t see what they looked like properly.”

Saying he saw a light elf and was hurt by glass... They cannot be coincidences.

Before removing it, I need answers. A dead prince on my bed can’t tell me those secrets.

So, he stopped the process completely and stood up. “I won’t continue tonight. Calm down.”

“Grrr.” Snow White’s guttural growl was suspicious of him. Where did the confident human who over-shared information go? Or even the timid thing in the dungeon?

“You have one minute to decide,” Taerynn told the mana that had turned Snow White into a powerful beast. “After that, you are dead.”

After growling again, the darkness clouding those blue eyes cleared. Life returned to them. It had agreed. The prior chest pain unrelated to the tavern injury returned, coughing up blood. Snow White was drowning in excess mana.

Thirty seconds. 

“Bear with me.” Taerynn positioned his hand directly on Snow White’s chest, skin-on-skin, and commanded, “Heal.”

Gray mana shot from his palm and lit the room. Ribs mended. Muscles sewed together. Lungs expanded. It must have felt relieving to breathe again.

The phenomenon that followed shocked even him. Taerynn gasped. The pressure from his cursed soul core lifted bit by bit. Feeling alive. Feeling invincible. Feeling the earth. Feeling one with it. The stinging, poisonous flow of mana cooled like water. It almost made him emotional. Him. He couldn’t say for White or Black mana, but this was how using Gray mana was supposed to feel. And he had missed it so badly.

Still, it was odd how he used mana, but his soul core was… recharging simultaneously. Now that was new. 

They both let out a relieved sigh. It was done. Time passed of them catching their breaths, figuring out what the hell just occurred.

When the curse decided to end the brief peace, Taerynn’s soul core was back to how it was before healing Snow White. Limited. Malignant. 

The incredible moment of being curse-free… how was it possible?