Sitting there in the small abode they had stayed in for so long now, Puck couldn’t bring himself to feel happy about the fact that they would soon attempt their escape.One slow movement after another, he went over the thick rope they had created for the hundredth time. Now and then, he would take out his bone needle and add support to the rope in places he thought were lagging. His craftsmanship had improved by leaps and bounds, but his feeling of inadequacy had only increased over the last month.His worries didn’t stem from not trusting Scarlet enough. He would gladly put his life in her hands and feel safe, like an unknowing baby while doing so.Each and every time Puck had seen Scarlet’s bedraggled, gasping form emerge from the water of the raging river though, something felt like it broke inside him.Why couldn’t he help more? Why did she need to shoulder this burden all alone?But there was simply no way for him to help. His body, though much improved, was far from as strong as hers, and he would only be a hindrance.

Getting caught up in his thoughts, Puck remembered the one time when the rope had snapped. Having stood atop the cliff and awaited Scarlet’s return like every other time before, Puck’s heart had nearly stopped as the normally taut rope suddenly lost most of its pull.Puck had nearly jumped into the water then and there, but his own fear, and the knowledge of the additional problems his actions would cause Scarlet, had held him back.When Scarlet finally resurfaced, at least two minutes later than usual, Puck had already been crying and shaking. Wanting to help her in any way, he had used the time to climb down the rest of the snapped rope to the surface of the raging water.As Scarlet’s head finally emerged, he gave it his all to hold his emotions together and simply tried to hold her above water as all the muscles in her body went limp, her eyes wild and unrecognizing.Only after twenty terrifying minutes, during which Puck held onto Scarlet for all he was worth, had they managed to climb up together.After that particular incident, Puck realized the truth: Scarlet wasn’t immune to fear or anger. She simply bottled it up so deep inside that it only emerged on the rarest of occasions.That time had been one of those occasions.

Stabbing himself in the thumb, Puck cursed himself for letting his mind wander like this. What if he made a mistake because of it and the rope snapped again?Looking up from his work as he paused his inspections, Puck tried to be inconspicuous as he turned to check on Scarlet.There was no need for subtlety, though. Behind him, on a bed of moss atop the eternal ice, Scarlet was sleeping fitfully, rolling from one side to the other.Slowly standing and walking over, Puck felt his sense of inadequacy grow again. Why did she have to shoulder this burden all on her own? Why couldn’t he do more?Kneeling beside her, he carefully reached for her forehead. Thankfully, it felt normal to the touch. More than once, he had noticed her temperature rise or fall after she had exerted her mysterious bloodline too much or when the battles within her soul overwhelmed her.

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Wracking his brain for anything he could do to help her, Puck came back to the one thing he knew might work.When using an ideal, there were many possible applications, and one of the hardest was infusing or using it on another living being.Today, though, he was determined to make it work! He couldn’t bear for it to fail once more.Sitting down beside Scarlet, he placed his hands on either side of her head and slowly tried to calm himself again. It took much longer than usual to reach anything close to a tranquil state of mind, not helped by the fact that Scarlet kept turning in her sleep.Finally managing it, Puck called for his ideal, willing it to fill his body and even his surroundings in a passive state of freedom and readiness.It wasn’t easy, as his ideal was still backed into a corner by the fact that they were still trapped. But when Puck finally managed to direct it, it reacted all the more strongly, as it somehow understood that Puck wanted to use it to help free them.

Knowing that trying to force the ideal of freedom wasn’t wise, Puck tried to produce a feeling and mental image of what he wanted.Feeling irritation and restlessness in the ethereal energy around him, Puck knew it would soon dissipate into the surroundings. It didn’t fully understand his intent, or at least wasn’t entirely willing to fulfill it.Pleading and pushing his emotions of selflessness and helplessness forward, Puck mostly received indifference in response. The key word here was “mostly.”Feeling just a sliver of acceptance and understanding from the ideal, Puck seized it.Trying to speak only to that part of the ideal, Puck willed it to the forefront. This was the part that had been shaped when he decided to help others also gain freedom, and now it was here to help.Trying to appeal to that part of the ideal, Puck nearly lost it again before he understood the problem in his approach.The ideal didn’t care about Scarlet herself. Not truly, at least. It only cared about her freedom, about the freedom of any living being.Focusing ever deeper on this, Puck wrapped his ideas to fit the ideal better in certain points, negotiating bitterly with the ideal for others.

Then finally, it was done, and the vision expanded in his mind as Puck started infusing energy into Scarlet.Already knowing that the energy he had pulled so far wouldn’t be enough for what he wanted to do, Puck drew more and more from his soul and ideal, running himself dry.Feeling his soul barren and the ideal unwilling to give further, Puck didn’t care; he needed MORE!He pulled and pulled, and with each pull, something came back.Then finally, it was enough, and the effect snapped into place.Looking down at the still-sleeping Scarlet, Puck felt like the first effect of his spell should have been that she looked even more beautiful than before.Then he passed out, falling to the side only centimeters away from Scarlet.