"... I should've also requested a hat from Elias. My ears are freezing." Noel remarked, slightly lowering his eyelids because of the cold wind, and brushing snow in the atmosphere. He let out a white breath that appeared before him like a cloud in an exasperated sigh.
Gently pushing the sleeve of his jacket to cover his naked fingertips that threatened to freeze from the sheer cold of the climate, Noel moved his toes in a futile attempt capturing any warmth in this subzero domain that did not hold an ounce of mercy for him as a mortal.
"Is it always this cold, perhaps? Or is today exceptional?" He inquired, his tone subtly curious, as his eyes shifted briefly towards the rigid individual that walked as if used to this weather.
He stuffed his hands into his pockets tightly, before they slowly moved out, as he noticed upcoming odd stone stairs that descended down.
Filled with the white, glistening and still-falling snow, and the smooth, recognizable ice, they practically covered them as if flaunting their untouched color of ethereal white.
"Mr. Exile ... ?"
In response to his inquiries, the man did not reply. Instead he just focused on his path that was before him, advancing slowly, his steps balanced with his cane into consideration, which created small, careful and precise holes in the snow.
Noel who observed all of this, also took notice of the depth of snow, which was irregular in itself.
Usually, in slightly cold weathers, snow did not build up more than a few centimeters. Yet here, the snow was much more than a few inches, which suggested quite a few things in response.
There were very limited locations on a planet where the weather could be this harsh, even in extreme conditions.
Slowly raising his rubber boot that were almost fully swallowed by the white snowflakes, he looked down for a few moments.
The Mountains.
Although that seemed like the best option, or rather, the most obvious option to assume, there were many more possibilties that he still needed to consider.
For instance, Elias's cast ... le could be either in the very North, or very South, similar to the Noth pole which was freezing on Earth, and, its opposite twin, Antarctica.
If he decided to entertain the dream of his childhood; perhaps Elias was incredibly powerful, and cast a spell that froze everything near the mansion.
Sure, let's stick with the name 'Elias' for now, it seems to be the personality of that girl's that requires the most caution afterall and the most ... dominant. 'Pepa' only surfaces occasionally ... without specific triggers. So Elias it is.
Hm. Lets consider the information we have already obtained from her.
He watched Exile slowly descending the stairs, musing into empty space, but his mind filtered the infromation he had received so far.
In accord to her, we know that the castle actually belongs to Friedtzal, but from what I heard, she has quite some influence in the castle. The evidence to that is her presence, if not her full role in pulling my soul from the void which could indicate experience and knowledge, along with her predicting what I would do, or rather, how the whole situation would turn out, if I were to leave out the theory that she could see the future, which is utterly ridiculous, even to me.
But still ... we can't rule out that possibility completely. If we were to assume that she could truly see the future ... that could cause complications ... for me. I still wonder what she saw in me to trust in me in taking her place at a battlefield.
... Tch, more like she just threw her responsibility to me. Noel thought bitterly, his mind gears working.
But still, Its a fact that I don't know why she summoned me in the first place. What was even more weird was the case that 'by chance' my death was quite ... irregular. What exactly happened at that time that I can't seem to recall.... ?
Noel's thoughts turned complicated as he recalled the image of 'something' that had played the main card of his death; the sudden disappearance of the railing that did not make an ounce of sense.
And most importantly, the thought that always left a flickering light in his mind; the secret of Helio's identity. Something he saw once on earth on a random notebook, only to unexplainably see it once again here.
Something unpleasant.
At the time that he was lost in the hall, he had attempted and tried to recall the thing he had seen right before his death, yet, he had trembled in pain due to the throbbing, dehumanizing pain that had assaulted his brain.
The pain was so severe, it had made him bash his head against the wall until his blood had flowed to ease a fraction of his pain.
Noel's eyes narrowed, his gaze wandering at the fading steps of Exile that walked down the stairs gracefully, his feet sinking into the snow.
He died for a specific purpose.
It wasn't random.
And those words that appeared in his head before dying related to the game? They weren't random either. Something else was at play.
This world did not look like the game he used to play, but even so, he needed to confirm. To make sure if this world is the game world ... or something else.
Noel suddenly snapped back to reality, blinking his dark hazel eyes once that very much resembled black from afar, as he saw the outline of the backside of something distinct from the snow moving a distance away from him, and yet still moving, farther, farther, and farther aw-.
"Hey, Exile, wait up!"
Noel, who had yet to walk down the stairs and had been intently staring particularly at the fog in the weather that hid many environmental features, realized that Exile did not even spare him a glance, and merely left him in the snow as if Noel was someone else's story.
At this rate, Noel would lose track of Exile, and would be forced to return to Elias's mansion right behind him. And her ... she would do anything but welcome him back, Noel surmised.
Yes, decision made. No way he's going back there. Yup, definetly no way. Not on his life.
In a rush and a daze with his oversized jacket, Noel rapidly walked down the stairs, his feet firmly anchored in its depth, his muscles strained because of how fast he had to move with his heavy boots that resisted movement in the cold snow.
Damn Exile, he couldn't wait a few moments, not even a few minutes until he finished organizing his priorities? Did he have that urgent of buisness that he had to move right away, without even sparing a single cursed warning?
"Wait up Exile, -damn it! Just wait for a f*cking moment!"
Cursing under his breath, Noel clicked his tongue in irritation as he breathed harder in and out the white air from his nostrils, carefully avoiding breathing from his ... mouth.
Now you might ask, why?
Well, back on Earth when Noel was younger, a child of eight, he used to play a lot in the cold of the winter outside. He particularly liked it when it came to building things like snowmen and other cute figures in the snow and ice for himself and his sister.
However, due to him constantly breathing from his mouth in these periods of time, in the dry weather and rigid temperatures, he would always come down every year with a serious sore throat. It would cause a serious burn in his throat last-
Wait, WAIT, this isn't the time for this! Let's talk about this later.
In the fog, Exile's figure was becoming more obscured, the falling snow not assisting either; an antithesis to Noel's wishes.
Noel's eyes scanned the stairs as he calculated the risk of injuries if he had decided to jump several ones at a time to save time.
I guess beggars can't be choosers, can they?
Yes, he was considering the thought, but it only sounded barely plausible in this unpredictable weather, and deceivingly seemingly innocent snow.
The leisure not in his vault, Noel took two steps back, his lips formed in an 'O' as he took a sharp breath of the dry air, and narrowed his eyes. He focused his energy on his forefront leg and .... leaped in the air!
For a glorious half-second, a figure in a black oversized jacket with long sleeves and heavy boots was airborne in the foggy and snowy terrain—snowflakes glittering around him like diamond dust.
Perfect landing spot. He thought with a smile as his narrowed eyes observed the destination of firm snow. Right on—
!pǝddᴉlS