I remember being dragged through the sea of endless snow while the blizzard froze all my senses. I could barely open my eyes but the warm touch of the soft skin on my face made me feel safe, as if I was being carried home. I had no idea who this kind person was, that was lugging me through all this cold, on a steep mountain that knew no beginning nor end.

Her blonde hair tickled my neck, and though I could feel barely anything, her touch was like little fires, waking my dead body back to life. Her weak arms carried me without fail.

When I opened my eyes again, I believe she had brought me to a cave. I think I smelled fire, but its hard to imagine a fire would have been possible in a place like this, when there was a blizzard outside. Perhaps I was just imagining what I wanted to see.

I was just grateful for the warmth she was sharing with me. Her bare skin pressed against mine, and through my delirium, I wondered who this person was, so filled with kindness. No, it wasn't just kindness. She was sharing her intimacy. I can't say I remember much beyond feeling what a body feels, but I know I caught a glimpse of her. She didn't even look like she was feeling it. Why then, did she have to put herself through this?

When I came to, I was clothed again and there was no sign of her. I sat up cradling my head for a while, wondering if I'd only dreamed her. But then, how had I been rejuvenated like this? Who brought me to this little cave? There was no explanation for these questions. Besides, I could tell, just by feeling my body being alive as it was, that she wasn't just some dream.

Regardless, I knew I couldn't stay here wasting my time. I may have been saved but Agartha was nowhere near, for all I knew. I got up and checked if all my limbs were functioning perfectly. They were, to my relief. I did feel hungry, but it was something I had to live with. Just then, I found a small bottle of water, affirming my belief that I hadn't been alone there. I downed the water quickly, there wasn't much to begin with. Then I exited the cave and looked around, feeling like a new man, with my strength restored, albeit not completely.

I was beginning to wonder how far up or down this cave was from where I had collapsed, not that it'd matter in the long run, since there was only one place to go. The fog was gone now and so was the blizzard. I started up again, thinking of Lubbock and the figure that had been guiding me until now. At first, I wondered if the figure and my rescuer were one and the same. In which case, I'd have slept with a ghost. I wasn't so sure what to feel about that. As for Lubbock, when I began thinking about him, I felt like a murderer on the run.

For some reason, I was thinking that Lubbock had died, and I had killed him by abandoning him back there. I had no reason to think that, considering Lubbock had the compass, and more rations than I did. If anything, chances were that he'd survived in a far better condition. But as I continued to climb up the mountain, I accepted the idea that Lubbock was in fact dead, as if he needed me for some reason, in order to survive here, even though he was a better climber than me.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Thinking that, I decided on my own what I'd tell Lady, that he fell off a cliff in the fog, or that he died in the blizzard. I began imagining all the things that could possibly kill a man. At some point while I was traversing up the mountain, I had turned into a murderer trying to hide his crime. I was no longer thinking about our mission in Agartha. I was thinking about getting away from the crime site. Agartha was my safe haven now. Perhaps it was that resolve that hastened my pace, as if I was running away from something.

I knew that the harder I pushed myself, the sooner I'd collapse. Yet, I kept going with that pace. I could remember a scent, of her who saved me before. I wondered if she'd come save me again if I were to fall down now. For good or for worse, that never came to pass. Before I knew it, I was standing in front of the gate to Agartha, disappointed that my imaginations had not come to pass. Lubbock was the first thing I caught sight of. He was sitting right outside the door, apparently waiting for me.

"Ah! You finally made it!", he exclaimed, as he jumped up with joy and came up to me.

Now my journey felt like a joke to me. The idiot had survived, outpaced me, and saved himself. And now he was acting like we were partners. Did he too forget that I had cut the rope? That I abandoned him? Well, regardless, I wasn't going to remind him. I nodded calmly.

"Did I take long?", I asked casually.

"I've been waiting for a week! I ran out of food too!", he pointed to his bag which seemed much lighter than what I remembered.

He didn't just outpace me, I realized. I was the one that had been left behind, as irony would have it.

"Well, since you've finally made it, we can finally enter the city. I've been waiting so long, you know!", he was getting excited again while I felt like dying, inside and out.

"There are supposed to be guards standing at the gate, but I guess it's been abandoned. You know, Seraph, no one's walked in and out of there ever since I got here. But it says Agartha here", he pointed to a sign on a side which was dangling lose, ready to fall off, "So we must be in the right place, right?"

I didn't exactly have the energy to reply to him.

"I wonder if we should walk right in, there wouldn't be a problem, right? I didn't hear anything from inside either. Maybe things aren't right inside."

That was the whole reason we were there in the first place. The town may be all ghosts, if there had been no sound for a week. I was rather convinced of that. But, considering I had slept with one, I had no reason to be afraid of ghosts.

That being said, the two of us proceeded towards the gate, Lubbock seemed to be completely oblivious of my physical condition. Well, it wasn't that I was hoping to get him to sympathize with me. As I'd expected, demons are really bad with the cold.

"That won't work", a third voice spoke to us from behind as we were working on the gate to open it, "Can't you see? It's military made, not the real one."

Indeed, it did have a symbol on it. So, Agartha must have been turned into a camp or something.

The two of us followed that voice to a woman. I was a little taken aback, to see the same striking blonde hair again. I stared at her a little too wide-eyed, which must have thrown her off, though she made a point not to show it.

"Are you a resident here?", Lubbock asked.

She thought a little before speaking, "Not quite. Follow me, the entrance is just around the back."

The two of us looked at each other, then nodding to her, followed her lead.