In the northern reaches of Altia, northwest of the tropical beaches of Vertelia, exists a town in the mountains named Hyperborea. The town was predominantly Virian: a race of people with no beast-like traits such as a tail or horns, the town was built with a wall around fifty feet high to protect the townfolk from monsters. Only entrances and exits were by gateway or train, requiring a visa.
"Good afternoon Dr. Vincent!" said a Virian girl with Silver-hair and eyes to match. She greeted the owner of the local pharmacy with a smile as she ran up to the counter a dropped a bag of coins on the table. The coins clinked together in the sack as they slumped onto the table displaying their shimmering golden shine as the knot that kept the bag closed became loose.
"Good afternoon Galacia; let me guess, the usual for your mother?" The apothecary replied. Galacia nodded, confirming the apothecary's assumption of her visit. The mocha-haired man walked to the wall behind him, bustling with an abundance of labeled bottles. He grabbed the bottle that contained an opaque royal blue liquid. "One-hundred and Fifty Aurum."
"Okay; also, you can keep the change!" Galacia said gleefully, equipped with a smile. The number of coins added up to two hundred; Vincent took the bag and stored it under the counter before handing the bottle to Galacia.
"Remember, Galacia, one tablespoon a day."
"Yeah, yeah, I know; you've only told me a thousand times," said Galacia as she took the bottle off the counter; she smiled and waved, bidding Vincent farewell before departing from the shopping district. She trekked along the sidewalk amongst various people of all races, some Vulpians, Draconians, others Virians, and other races. She stopped at an apartment complex that towered over her with its brick exterior; it seemed to be seven stories high; Galacia entered the building and greeted the receptionist at the desk before making her way to the amber-colored exterior of two elevators, one for ascending and the other for descending. With the push of a button, the door to one of the elevators opened, and she promptly entered before pressing a button on the panel to the right of the door. Once she was encapsulated in the elevator, the gear of the elevator's mechanisms began to whir, slowly elevating her to the third floor. Her grip on the medicine that Vincent gave her was secured in her grasp as she clutched it to her breast as if it was something she held dear to. After a couple of seconds, she had finally reached her destination, the third floor of the apartment complex; the doors opened seamlessly, signaling that Galacia was allowed to take her exiting steps out of the elevator. She was greeted by a wall that split the hallway, one path to the left and one to the right. She began walking to the right, her shoes making her footsteps echo in the silent hallway as she made her way to the end of the hall to room three-ten.
"Hey, Mom, I'm back!" Galacia said while opening the door to the apartment. The room had cream-colored walls that seemed thin enough to allow minor radio audio through it. At the same time, the ceiling only served to mimic the walls' appearance and structural integrity, the flooring near the entrance was smooth stone tiles as it was connected to the kitchen located to Galacia's left, which leads to a carpet on the far end of the room that housed a crimson red couch that seemed occupied even in its battered state.
"Welcome home, Gally," a shivered voice replied. The voice belonged to a woman with long silver hair similar to Galacia's. The woman looked to be around her thirties.
"I got the medicine from Dr. Vincent," Galacia informed her mother before walking to the kitchen and opening up a drawer that was to the right of the sink to equip herself with a spoon to pour the medicine into. She looked back at the frail woman on the couch whose condition only seemed to worsen with time despite how many times she was treated with the liquid that resided in the very bottle she was holding. "Maybe I'll just up the dosage just a little bit." She said before swapping to a bigger spoon and closing the drawer. She poured the viscous blue liquid filling the spoon bowl before walking over to her mother. Each step gave birth to a clicking sound as the boots met with the floorboards.
Once she had reached the couch, she offered the spoon to her mother, still holding it as she was under the impression that her mother couldn't hold it herself. Her immediate solution was to feed the medicine to her mother by offering the spoon to her lips, which was accepted. Galacia looked at the clock on the wall and deduced that the current time was two-thirty in the afternoon; the sudden rush of memory had implored her to realize she had to head to the academy. She heedlessly ran down the corridor to her right to her room to get herself dressed in the academy's uniform. She waved goodbye to her mother before finally beginning to make her way to the Arcanum Academy of Hyperborea.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
"Galacia, while I understand the importance of your current situation, it is still imperative that you arrive on time according to your delayed schedule." a woman said; she was fashioned with dark green hair and blue eyes that lived behind bifocals. Her tone of voice carried a sense of importance intertwined with worry for the girl's education.
"My apologies Mrs. Iris," Galacia said while stroking her arm to comfort herself. Once her conversation about her frequent tardiness had concluded, she began to make her way to her classes. The terrible excuse of a classroom only housed one seat for her as the room was separated from the rest of her would-be classmates. Galacia justified this loneliness as a sacrifice in order for her to have time for her mother when in reality, she was separated from her peers so they wouldn't antagonize her for being behind in her studies.
Since she came later than the other students, it was only natural for her to stay later as well; typically, she would be obligated to stay until nightfall which happened on this particular day.
"Galacia is stuck here again, it serves her right for coming to school late...after all, the rest of us have to wake up so early in the morning to get here, so I guess this is her punishment," A Virian boy said with a grin on his face as he walked into the room; his hair and eyes were both blonde as if made of pure gold. The boy's attitude gave off this air of self-praise. Galacia ignored what he said as she continued to study.
"Oi, didn't your mother teach you how to look at someone when they talk to you?" The boy questioned with a firm tone while slamming his hand on Galacia's desk. "Oh, right. Your mother is sick. I forgot, well you bet-" The boy was interrupted by Galacia as she stood up and grabbed her belongings before pushing past him and swiftly marching her way home.
The streets were illuminated by lamp posts; her footsteps echoed through the silent, lonely streets as it was far too late for most shops to stay open, so no one would be out at this time of night; she returned to the apartment complex without a sound other than the clicking of her shoes on the ground she walked on.
"Mother, I'm..." Galacia paused as she saw her mother lying on the couch; her initial thought was that she had fallen asleep. The girl walked over to her mother and placed her hand on the woman's forehead, only to be met with a chilling sensation. "Mom... wake up...Mom?" the girl begged with no response from the seemingly somniac woman. Tears invaded the edge of her eyes; the room slowly grew colder as the wall began to frost over. "D-did I...no...no I didn't..." Galacia muttered in denial as the frost slowly took over the room and then, progressively, the entire apartment complex. Within mere moments the entire town was frosted, doomed an eternal winter.
Galacia would take her belongings and make haste for the city gate as the train would be frozen to the tracks due to the unforeseen frost that had taken place. She planned on leaving town but would go to see Dr.Vincent, but to her dismay, his shop was closed for the night; as such, she was subjected to loneliness again as she quit the town but not before walking up to one of the trees planted in town and breaking the branches off. From there, it had been days since she saw anyone, and she lived off of melting the snow and drinking it via fire magicks she had learned from the academy, defeated by the cold, she decided to set up camp in the middle of this frosted wasteland. Galacia set the broken branches in a pile on the ground before her. "Flamma Iecit." She chanted, her index finger pointed at the pile of twigs before a small blast of fire lit the makeshift campfire.
"A lone child lost in the snow...an unnatural one at that." A man said his hair was purple along with his eyes; his clothing was a very tame and religious white robe decorated with gold accents and an emblem of a blue star on his shoulder. "My name is Cornelius Gaius, and I am the pope in charge of the Holy Providence; we heard of a girl who had gone missing along with a town suddenly frozen overnight during the middle of summer." The man said as he gazed into the girl's eyes.
"Tis true...what you say is correct, Mr. Gaius...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do it...I was just upset and couldn't control it..." Galacia said as her eyes began to tear up.
"Your apologies do not amend the sin you have commited...however, if control is needed, then control will be what you will obtain." The man said as he held his hand out to Galacia. "Come with me back to Centrum; there, you will learn what it means to be the Saint of Patience."