❆❆❆❆Ten❆❆❆❆

The Death of Snow Regalia

[Snow]

Snow couldn’t open her eyes anymore. If she did, she could see nothing. She felt as if she was encased in lava, her body, locked into place. Breath escaped her. All she could do was lay there and writhe until the rhythmic count of time paused into nothingness. Snow was floating in space with nothing but her last thoughts.

Gravis, Lussuria, Lilly, Randal and Lamille. Her sisters, close friend, and caretaker came into her thoughts. No doubt they would miss her, and she would as well. But, the calming memory of their past turned her last moments into that of peace.

“She is dragging this family down.”

Then, her mother came to mind.

“You contribute nothing.”

Her mother, even now, refused to let her be.

“I do not love you.”

Snow’s peace was shattered. She grew angry, not at the fact that she was about to lose everything but that her last memory would be of her mother.

The anger converted itself into energy. Snow commanded her legs to push and her arms to pull. She didn’t even know if she was moving. Her sensory feelings were all unreadable, but still, she forced herself. Expending everything she had into trying to crawl forward. Her sense of direction was lost, orientation scrambled, she didn’t know which way was forward, but forward she pushed.

She had to live, if not for love, then for spite.

The suffocating grasp of death was dragging her towards the abyss. She scoffed and pulled back against it.

“Forward.”

Her thoughts fizzled.

“Forward.”

Her body made a corpse.

“Forward.”

A corpse that only knew one thing.

“Forward!”

Then, her body actually felt like it was actually moving.. around.. really fast.. She started rolling downward. The pain was succeeding a lot, so she could finally think again. The spinning feeling ended with a big crash as Snow’s head slammed against a hard wall.

“Oww.”

Snow could now separate pain from reality. Breath filled her lungs, and she could open her eyes. Something wet swiped at her face, and air could be felt.

Was she being licked?

Snow’s eyes were open, but she couldn’t see. Her vision was black. When she tried to move, it took all her energy just to shift an inch. She was forced to lay there as whatever was licking her began pushing her.

(“Great, all that effort, and now I’m going to die to some animal in a cave.”) Snow thought to herself.

Snow couldn’t resist or move; she was at the complete mercy of whatever this thing was. While she was being pushed, she heard the scraping of stone. It was then that she realized most of her body had been encased in ice as whatever pushed her was now lying on top of her. The ice on her slowly melted, and the searing cold receded. Then shockingly, Snow felt something she had never felt before, it felt like a mild burning sensation, but it wasn’t hurting her. On the contrary, it felt nice.

Her thoughts soothed, her eyelids shut, and she drifted asleep.

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It was a beautiful day in the brand-new garden. The sun was shining, construction noise filled the air, and the whole area was full of life. A new kingdom was being built under the garden view. The new Kingdom of Regalia, being built by several races under one lotus banner. Doves were unafraid as they ate the feed on the ground. Snow sat on the fancy garden bench, swinging her legs and watching the beautiful birds gather, only to fly away when a small Gravis jumped on top of them.

“YAA, I got you now!” The doves flew away as Gravis tried to reach out and grab them from the air as the birds slipped out of her reach.

“Come now, Gravis, let the birds eat.” A white-haired woman holding their newborn sister chuckled. Their mother had tired eyes but was happy.

“But I want to hold one!” Gravis stomped her feet, watching them fly away.

“You must be patient. Here, observe.” The mother said before motioning to Snow. “Snow, open your hands.”

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Snow opened her hands as her mother poured some seeds into her palms.

“Good. Now, hold it out and wait.”

It took less than a minute for the doves to flock around her. Snow’s eyes widened as the doves landed on her hands and arms as they ate some of the seeds.

“Wow, mommy, look!” Snow said as the doves were landing on her. Even when no more seeds were in her hands, the doves didn’t fly away. It was like she was a part of nature.

“Give me some seeds. Let me try!” Gravis cried out.

“Ok, ok, here, open your hands.”

Gravis impatiently held her hands to the air, but no doves flew to her, only flocking to the feed that spilled on the ground.

“Why aren’t they coming to me!” Gravis pouted in anger.

“Dear, you just have to be calm. Here, sit in between Snow and I.” The mother replied,

Gravis squeezed in between them on the bench.

“Here like this.” Snow said with a dove on her head, motioning at Gravis. Gravis held her hand out, and one by one, doves came to her hand. “Woowww, this is so neat!” Gravis squeaked out.

The mother leaned back and closed her eyes for a moment, and just like a switch, the baby started to cry, seemingly waking up from its sleep. She held the baby closer to her bosom and fixed the thick blanket that wrapped around it in an attempt to warm the infant.

“Mommy, why is Lilly always crying,” Gravis asked.

“It’s because she’s cold.” The mom looking down at her baby, said

“Why is she cold, mommy? It’s not cold at all.” Gravis, confused, said

“You and Snow are used to it, but Little Lilly isn’t yet. I wish she could be warm, but I could only make her warm for so long, she will get used to it, though, and when she does, she won’t cry anymore.” The mother, with tired eyes, spoke with a kind voice.

“What does it feel like to be warm? Brutus says its the opposite of cold, but I never felt it.” Snow innocently questioned.

Gravis jumped off the bench.

“I heard being warm feels like your body is on fire! But not a painful fire.”

“Well, Brutus told me warmth is in the heart. Mommy, try putting her closer to your heart!” Snow suggested.

The mother smiled at her innocent children.

“Well, you’re both right.” The mother smiled, humming, while rocking the crying newborn in her arms.

“Mommy, why aren’t we normal like the servant’s kids?” Snow asked.

“It’s because we are special, dear. When you are older you will understand.” her mother’s smile turned into a frown.

The infant started crying louder and louder as their mother rocked her, with increasing motions.

“But mommy, why can’t Lilly be warm even though she’s special. It’s not right to let her cry like that. We should do something!” Snow declared.

“Lilly is lucky to have sisters as caring as you both. Yes, you're right, Snow, how about this? You and Gravis get some more blankets and baby food from Brutus and meet me at the living quarters. Let’s see if we can make her more comfortable.”

Gravis grew excited and agreed, “Yeah, Snow! We got to help little Lilly stop crying! Come on, let’s go find Brutus!” Gravis pulled on Snow’s hand, and they both ran off towards the hall to begin their mission. Snow glanced back at her mother one last time before entering the castle. Her mother smiled, but her appearance was contradicted by the tears falling from her eyes.

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When Snow came to, she rubbed her eyes, and vision returned to her. The walls of the cave were coated in gold-glowing moss. A stream of light fluttered in from the entrance, and her body was… a playground for several small fawns and cubs? They were jumping all over her.

“Hehee, hey!” Snow recognized one of the fawns that would have been wolf game if it wasn’t for her. It must have followed her all the way back here, she reasoned.

Snow could feel the breathing of a larger animal lying down right behind her, almost spooning her. After realizing she was awake, the animal got up, stepped around the fawns and cubs, and sat next to them. The animal was a large majestic deer with gold markings all over its body. It seemed to be the protector of the small animals - and of her, apparently.

“So, it was you who was warming me last night.” The elegant deer, seemingly understanding, bowed its head in response. The fawns and cubs were still playing on her, craving attention, and she couldn’t help but laugh as she gave them what they wanted. While Snow was playing with them, she noticed her arm was completely healed.

“Okay, okay.” Snow got up and stretched, cracking almost every bone in her body satisfyingly. “Ahhh yeah, that’s so good.”

Snow saw her frostblade in the corner where she crashed into coming in here. Looking down at it she remembered how the magical weapon came to her during the battle. There was no way it actually did that, she thought. But… just to be sure, Snow held her hand out.

“Come!”

The sword rattled and flew to her hand. She gasped before shouting with excitement.

“I knew it was me!”

After a short celebratory jump, Snow sheathed the weapon. Even though she still couldn't activate her frostblood, she was able to interact with the frostblade. She looked up the tunnel, at the fluttering light, and made her exit.

Snow emerged out into the blinding sunlight. She paused to let her eyes adjust, and in doing so, the sounds of nature rushed into her ears. Birds sang their cheery songs, creaks flowed freely, and critters scurried about. It seemed so peaceful. The trees, leaves, and rocks were no longer iced over as if the previous night had never happened.

Snow felt different; she no longer felt cold, and even the stress of being here had withered away in her mind. She looked at herself. Her hands and fingertips had very faint golden lines that slowly faded away. She reached down and grabbed a handful of snow. She weighed it in her hands and was surprised that it didn’t feel cold or harmful at all.

“What happened to me?” Snow didn’t feel the same. Instead, she felt calm and, more importantly, stronger. Her body had changed, and so did her mind. Something in her mind that felt like a constant weight was no longer there.

The cold of this place was no longer a problem for her, at least the daytime cold. She had a plan of action: first, she would look and see if there were any civilizations or people here. Then, she could see if there was a portal or something to return home. Reassured that she wasn’t just floundering about, she set off, full of vim and vigor.

As Snow was exploring the forest, she was piecing together what she knew about this place. “So, at night, the temperature drops abnormally, and then suddenly it’s normal in the morning?” The temperature change was too abnormal to be natural. There had to be some magic involved. The lines on her body were another thing she had no clue about. It didn’t look anything like frost power. She remembered the same lines that appeared on her when she touched Warden Flora back in Regalia.

After some exploring, Snow saw a small rocky mountain in the distance. That was the perfect place to get a good view of the landscape. That was her destination. She could survey the land from there and see if there are any towns nearby.