“Alright, boys.” Captain Swift scans the crowd of pirates gathered in front of him in his room, stopping on me and Vio. “And girls.” He swings his arm back and slaps the map on the wall behind him with an open palm. “Since the villagers of Illis wouldn’t cooperate with us, we have to take things into our own hands. So, let’s go into the mountains and find this master guy!” He thrusts his fist into the air to rally his crew.

The crowd groans at the thought of going back into the icy mountains and blindly searching for someone.

“Come on, where’s the enthusiasm?” Captain Swift asks.

A single monotone cheer comes from the crowd. 

“Thank you, Ian.” The captain nods. “We’ll do what we did last time and split into pairs to cover ground quickly. Try not to get too far from the next group, so that if something goes wrong, you can call for help.” 

Joshua puts his hand on my shoulder. “Found my pair.”

The speed of his declaration catches me off guard. 

“Not splitting up the aethers this time?” Captain Swift asks. “Do you have a good reason for that, Jellyfish?”

“It’s Joshua.” He shrugs. “It’s because she’s warm and I hate the cold.”

Finally recovered from the shock of his previous statement, the stupidity of this one dumbfounds me and stops me from speaking.

“Good enough for me,” the captain says. He pushes through the crowd and opens the door. “Now, let’s get out there and find this guy quickly. Never know when The Third might catch up to us.”

The pirates funnel out of the door and back onto the deck. Before I can follow them out, Vio walks up next to me and pats my back. “Please make sure you don’t do anything stupid this time.”

I flinch. “I-I’ll try my best, but no promises.”

Her face fills with concern.

“Don’t worry, I’ll watch her,” Joshua says and grabs my hand. “Let’s go. Good luck, Vio.” He drags me out onto the chilly deck before either Vio or I can speak.

“Hey, what’s going on with you today?” I ask.

Joshua remains silent as we leave the ship and begin our ascent back into the Barren Mountains. The icy winds cut into my skin and the sun continues to mock us despite not doing its job properly. Pairs of pirates split off and spread out across the mountain, leaving us alone with our own section to search. The blindingly white snow covers everything as far as the eye can see, and it makes me wonder how we’re meant to find anything in this landscape.

“Joshua,” I say, trying to plant my feet in the deep snow. “Please, talk to me. What’s the real reason you wanted to pair up with me?”

He glances over his shoulder, shivering. “I have no ulterior motives. I simply wanted to be warm while exploring this snowy hell,” he says, his teeth chattering the entire time. “So, can you please do that warm aura thing? I’m going to freeze to death at this rate.”

I narrow my eyes. “How stupid do you think I am? You can do the same thing I did yesterday.”

He releases my hand and turns around to face me. “I tried to, and I almost set myself on fire. No idea how you do it.”

It’s surprising to hear that he can’t do something I can, but he does have less experience with aer than me.

I take a deep breath and touch my red crystal. A shock runs through my body and a link forms between my mind and Flandre’s. Without speaking to each other, I channel his borrowed power into warmth. It spreads throughout my body and expands outward to encompass the area around me. Despite the heat, the snow beneath my feet remains unaffected. 

Joshua shuffles closer to me and thanks me for my efforts. 

We continue up the white slope in silence. Something tells me Joshua’s hiding something from me, but I know that no matter how many times I ask, he won’t tell me. 

Thinking of people hiding something from me, I take a deep breath and prepare myself. 

“Flandre, can you talk to me?”

“I can. What is it?”

“I think you already know. Joshua said aer can’t talk to humans, so why can you and I talk like this?”

A minute passes and he says nothing.

“Flandre, please talk to me.”

“You’re really going to make me say it? Alright, fine. I… don’t know.”

Those are words I never thought I’d hear from Flandre. He’s the kind of aer that would rather die than admit he doesn’t know something. In fact, I can’t believe he chose to willingly say that. If I know him half as well as I think I do, he’s only saying that to avoid giving me the real answer. His diversion makes me more curious to know the answer, but I don’t want to confront him about it. Just like with Winry taking over my body, I want to know, but knowing won’t change the fact that I’m going to die in four years. But, even still, I want to know.

My heart beats against my chest and I take a deep breath. “I don’t believe you. You know the answer, Flandre. I know you do.”

“You…” Flandre pauses, probably just as stunned by my words as I am. “Of course I do, I know everything.”

“Then—”

“Just because I know, doesn’t mean I’m going to tell you. So, stop asking.”

Scared that I might upset him further, I silence myself. It already took more courage than I thought I had to confront him the way I did, so asking myself to do any more than that is impossible. I’m annoyed that he won’t give me a real answer, but one of these days, maybe I’ll have the confidence to ask again.

The snow crunches beneath our feet as we enter a lightly wooded area of the mountain. Tall thin trees attempt to block out the sun, but their sparse foliage prevents them from doing so. 

Joshua claps and a family of furry rodents scurry out from beneath a nearby tree. “So, uh, Princess.” He pauses, likely waiting for my response, but I say nothing. “Do you like Vio?”

I look him deep in the eyes as a moment passes in silence. “Yes… She’s a great friend and someone I feel comfortable around.”

 He averts his gaze. “That’s not what I meant.”

I tilt my head. “Then, what—”

“More than that. Do you like her more than that?”

“More? You mean, like a best friend?” I don’t know what else he could mean, but his question is very strange.

Joshua sighs and shakes his head. “It truly is impressive how clueless you are sometimes.”

His words strike a nerve in me. “Maybe I wouldn’t be so clueless if you would just ask what you wanted to.”

“Fine.” He crosses his arms and stops dead in his tracks. “Do you like me?”

For a moment, I pause and try to find a connection between this question and his questions about Vio. The only thing I come up with is that he’s jealous for some reason. Maybe he wants me to tease him like I tease Vio. Whatever the reason, I need to answer his question.

“You’re a good friend to me, Joshua. I think.”

A moment passes in silence, and he chuckles to himself. “I knew this was coming ever since I heard the way you talk about her. It’s why I didn’t want to ask. I took too long to try to make any real progress, huh?”

“Progress?”

He shakes his head. “Forget about it. It doesn’t matter anymore.” He chuckles, but it’s tight, forced. His eyes don’t meet mine. “Guess I’ll be rooting for you as soon as I get over you.”

“What do you mean—”

The wind picks up and whirls around me and Joshua. A torrent of ice and snow combines with the whirlwind to block our escape before we can react. Dark clouds form overhead and a shadow covers what little room we have to move.

“I knew I smelled that accursed man. Human girl, why have you come here?” a booming voice asks from all around us.

My breathing becomes ragged as I search for an answer. “A-are you the Master of the Mountains? We’re here to talk to you because Reimel Strauss said—”

The whirlwind grows more violent, and the wind whips my face. “Don’t you dare speak his name,” the voice says.

Even with my aura of warmth, the voice’s words send a shiver down my spine. “S-sorry, but we need to talk to you.”

“I will give you one chance. Leave these mountains and never return, or you will forfeit your lives.”

“Or you could just talk to us like a reasonable person,” Joshua says.

The wind picks up once again. “Silence, boy.”

I cover my face with my hands to protect myself. “S-sorry, but we can’t leave until we talk with you. Reimel Strauss’ letter—”

“You are truly foolish.” As the voice speaks, the swirling wall of ice shards and snow rushes towards us. “Not only are you choosing not to leave, but you spoke his name when I specifically said not to.” 

The whirlwind grows ever closer, swallowing me and Joshua. 

“Your punishment will be most severe.”