The fog was growing thicker by the minute. The white snow beneath his feet and the surrounding grey veil blended seamlessly.

'Can't...see.' Whatever motivation had driven him to trek through the cold this far was running out. His purpose, heat and life were draining from him with every passing moment.

'This should have been my chance to start again.' Those words did little to lighten his mind as his breath grew weak. Only now, near the end, did his thoughts truly haunt him.

'I don't even remember who to blame. Julia. She was part of the Association. It was the Association that took Reina away. It must have been.'

He closed his eyes shut. But the whiteness no longer left his vision. Were his eyes freezing, too? It didn't matter anyway.

'No, Reina let herself be taken.'

Despite Rowan's new resistance, the cold just got worse. The empty darkness above was sapping heat from the world as the night cruelly continued.

'No, I let her be taken. If I'd just helped more, supported her more. She would have had the money. She could have stayed with me.'

Smirking, he stumbled, then collapsed. As his face and body were caught and cushioned by snow, he grew strangely relaxed.

'I'm the one to blame. I was lucky to get this far. Running from the Mist just to be eaten anyway would have been even more worthless... The Devoured that came after. I wonder if Andrea survived?'

He should've gotten a Defect, should've been a Defected. But clearly, something had gone wrong, and he was granted no powers. He was as weak as he had always been. As the snow piled on and continued to bury him, he smiled, then glanced at his outstretched hand curiously.

'My hand. It's so blue I don't even recognize it... so why is it? Why does it feel so... warm?'

His frozen, stiff eyelids wrenched themselves open for just a moment as he observed his left hand. Outstretched and abandoned, it was deathly blue, yet the longer he watched it, the more uncertain he became.

'The rest of me is being buried with snow... but my hand is fine? It really does feel warm. Really warm.'

As he lay face down, his uncertainty only grew. The possibility, the chance of survival, entered his head, and he hated it.

"There's no way. My mind must be tricking me. Fuck."

Cursing to himself, Rowan attempted to move his other arm, only to find it limp and useless.

"Shit. Now I want to know what's happening here. Before I freeze."

His temper was rising by the second. As if generating heat in his feeble figure, he gripped the snow ground, pulling himself forward. Finally, his other arm moved as if waking from a slumber, sprawling out next to his other outstretched hand.

'Wait. It really is warm! Something, something over there isn't cold.'

His body quaked as his arms dragged him forth. Every little flake of snow falling upon him dragged him down. Yet he rejected every last bit as he pulled his stiff, stubborn body forward.

The tip of his head finally felt it, too, and as he forced himself forth, his eyes were soon met with something incredible.

"Ha...hahaha"

Nothing could match the ecstasy spewing from his grin as he looked all around him. Peeking his head through, infiltrating some sort of mysterious veil, his surroundings changed. "I don't get it. It's, like, a different world again."

Reinvigorated, Rowan heaved and huffed as his tired figure finally crawled through the invisible boundary. All around him was flat and open like before. However, it was green, light, and, most of all, "Warm."

Sprawled across the grass, he twisted painfully on his back as he looked up at the grand blue sky above.

"I really don't get it. But all of this. It's so great."

Beaming, he took a moment to stroke the grass around him. Gleeful, like a child, he couldn't resist kissing it, too. "The smell. Even the smell."

Cackling away, he didn't spare the gentle, blue sky a moment longer as he became infatuated with the ground. Lingering on the past, finding a source of food or water. None of it mattered.

For now, it was just him and the warm green bed below.

####################################

It wasn't perfect. As beautiful, green and luscious as his surroundings were, Rowan himself was a mess. After shedding his uniform, an hour of basking in the light had yet cured his frostbite. But it did alleviate it. It was incredible what only a little heat had done for his body.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Flexing his hands with a wince, Rowan shuffled back through the grassy plain, trying to find it. It wasn't hard. He had left a slick trail of wetness on the green field for him to follow. However, it led him only so far before it stopped.

Rowan's brow furrowed. He glanced around, then leaned his head forward.

Then, his surroundings changed. The comforting calm of trees and fields no longer graced his eyes. Instead, he was presented with an awful chill and a dark night sky.

"Whoah!"

Flinging his head back, Rowan landed clumsily on the grass behind him. It was strange. The world was clearly playing tricks on him. To him, it appeared as if the green landscape in front continued forever. Hills and trees stretched as far as he could see. Yet they weren't real.

At least, he assumed they weren't.

'So... it's like an invisible barrier? Separating the cold area from... this other area.'

He turned to scan his endearing green land. Feeling the warm air tingle on his skin, he felt compelled to glance down at himself. His complexion was still deathly pale, but the aching of his body had long subsided.

'This is starting to feel weird.'

His clothes were still a way back drying. It was pleasant and warm enough for him to be in the nude, liberating even. There was something humorous about it, to be so bare in a place like this.

'But first.'

Taking a deep breath, he approached the invisible veil once more. This time, he crouched low and reached out with his bloated pink fingers, watching them vanish.

'It's as I thought.'

Scooping at something he could feel but not see. He scraped towards himself, and a cusp of snow appeared on the grass. Curiously, he watched it on the ground as it slowly began to melt.

After a little while, he bent down, cupping at the ground and slurping.

'I'm just gonna hope no one sees me like this.'

He didn't know how long it would be before finding another water source, so he repeated the process several times. Standing back up, he glanced down at himself once more. "...Yeah, I really need to put some clothes on already."

Returning to his dry uniform, he began to dress. As he did, he scanned his surroundings. His immediate vicinity was open and safe, though the distant tall trees continued to eye him. Again, though there was no sun or light source, shadows were cast throughout the surrounding forestation.

"Now that I've survived the hard part. What's next? Do I go look for others? I guess they would be Defected."

There were too many options available to him.

The size of the world beyond the Mist was not known to anyone, let alone Rowan. It was impossible to say if he'd find anyone even after a thousand years. His knowledge had not even informed him about the boundaries between areas.

'Julia was right. I had no idea I was this clueless. Those Deranged rabbit things from before were all Docile. If I'd come across anything else...'

As a tense expression overcame him, he fell back, landing comfortably on the grass. Considering anything else was pointless. If he stayed, he would simply starve. If he went back, he would freeze.

'Well, what else is there to say?'

This place, as dazzling, gentle and green as it was, was still blotted with glimpses of darkness. As he eyed the looming trees and their shadow-riddled depths, he exhaled.

"I'll go. After a small nap."

As if his words had given permission, his consciousness hastily dimmed. Rowan felt himself peacefully dragged away by the darkness. A sensation he enjoyed like it was his very last.

#######################

"Rowan. Hey. Rowan."

His eyes flickered open. He saw Civilia.

Had it all been a cruel dream? As those thoughts slipped through his grasp, he recognized the nostalgic colours around him. Pinks, yellows, greens. All sorts of patterns were scattered around. His eyes widened as he recognized them well.

'This. It's our park.' He circled around the top of the playground platform where the slide was. From there, he spotted the swings, the tarmac floor, and the see-saw below. They hadn't changed a bit, that was, except for the warmth. It was warm, light, and comfortable. Why?

The Civilia cold was absent from the park. The see-saw wasn't frozen stiff, and the swings were not littered with snow. For some reason, it was a perfect day in Civilia.

Smiling, he peeked over at the black tarmac floor. He'd never seen what lay beneath the snow. But before he could admire it further, he heard a voice again and shook away those thoughts.

"Rowan! I've told you already, we have to leave."

Drawn in by that whiny voice, he felt something pang within him. But before he could register it, he cheerfully strolled across the metal platforms, past the fireman pole to the top of the slide. At the bottom, he saw her.

"We have to leave. I've told you that if you want to stay here, you can. You're nine now, so you can get home on your own."

Rowan paused. He looked over her childish face and her stark black hair.

"Nuh-uh."

Her gentle, dark eyes squinted. Rather than a scowl, what she accomplished was more of a sulk. "Then I'll leave you behind."

Rowan's eyes widened in disbelief. Before he grinned. "Why?"

She sighed and crouched at the foot of the slide. Resting a hand on her knee and cupping her frowning face. "I don't want to, but I need to speak with the finance officer again. So I need to be at home. Besides, it's cold, isn't it?"

Rowan laughed and proudly grabbed the bar resting above the slide.

"It's not cold, not for me, it's not."

She examined him and pondered for a while. She hugged herself with her arms and shivered as the corners of her mouth lifted into a rare smile.

"I know. You're too good with the cold, Rowan. It never seems to bother you, no matter what." Suppressing a chuckle, her innocent smile grew wider, and a hint of mischief appeared in her youthful black eyes.

"But don't think I won't leave you behind. I've done it before, haven't I? Now come down. I'll watch you for just this last slide, okay?"

Puzzled, Rowan sat at the top of the slide, kicking his legs. "Reinnnnna, how come you never stay? You always need to go. Why? Just this time stay."

Eased by his words, she closed her eyes.

But then, as she opened them once more, her grin had dwindled.

Suddenly, she looked older. This calm woman who now awaited Rowan at the bottom was more familiar to him. She brushed her longer black hair behind her with an air of sternness. She no longer looked bothered by the cold.

"Sometimes I wish you would grow up a little faster."

With that, she stood up and walked from the foot of the slide, much to his displeasure. His mind raced from annoyed. To upset. To scared, as he prepared to shout. Almost out of the park, the dark-haired woman turned back, pausing.

"Stop pretending and be honest with me, Rowan. You get it, don't you? You always have."

With a stiff conviction, she turned away from the exit and back to him. She was tall now, taller than she had been only moments ago. Her dark eyes were sharp and piercing. The tired shadows under them failed to match the jet-black depths of her pupils.

"You know how hard it's been for me. Looking after myself wasn't easy, but you as well? I'm out of options. I have to take advantage of this opportunity that was given to me. I already know you're going to whine."

Rowan didn't object just yet. Frustrated, he glared. Tears dripped down his face as he prepared to protest like never before. But her words intercepted his and lulled him.

"Listen to me, Rowan. You have to get down here yourself. If you really want to reach me, you'll do it alone. Don't be slow about it. Are you sure you can catch me in time, even if you get down?"

Rather than walk out through the exit like he had seen many times. Instead, from her feet to her knees to her waist, she began to faze and turn to grey.

The warmth had been reaped from the park. It was as frozen and cold as it should have been. He could feel it now and struggled to bear the sudden cold. But he listened despite it.

"I might never forgive you for it, Rowan, for ignoring my letters. I worked hard for you. But you've been lazy. You've been immature. Even now that you have a real chance, you were willing to accept the easiest outcome. Weren't you?"

As she faded, only her striking black hair and dark pupils remained full and real.

"But that won't do. You owe me. Rowan. You can't die. Death will never cleanse you of your debts. Never."

Then she was gone.

He had been abandoned atop that slide. His feelings were as real as always. Nothing had changed, not yet. As the cold grew, so did the darkness in the sky above.

Flooding shadows soon swallowed the park and the sky as if taking what belonged to him. His childish, short legs hung down the slide as the dark liquid ebbed and pooled beneath. The abyss rose and surged as it licked his feet. He shuddered.

"Reina."

It rose to his knee. He watched it swallow his body. Sliding down would not save him anymore. The darkness was like a liquid void that kept consuming. The current continued and submerged the see-saw and swings till only he was left atop the slide.

'What is it doing to me? What's happening to me!-"

The last thing he sensed was inky darkness dripping down his throat, drowning him. Merging with him.

The world went black.

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