The white-haired Cathruli shivered a bit in the snow. She should have been used to the frigid weather by now, but this snowstorm was unusually cold. If she hadn't known any better, she would think some higher being willed it so, as to prevent any unwanted visitors. But neither Lunelle nor Solus would be cruel enough to do so. She had seen the volcano erupt two moons ago; this must be another unusual natural phenomenon.

Still, she needed more wood for her fire.

She was thankful she didn't have to fish in this weather. Perhaps that was the one advantage of sharing her abode. She could have all the fish she wanted in the blink of an eye. She could even have delicacies from the motherland if she so wanted.

Seeing a leaf sticking out of the snow, she dug the rest of the branch out from beneath. Perhaps this snow was his doing. She would have to ask when she returned. Ah, a few more branches were just in sight.

This should be enough wood.

She arrived back at her log cabin, kicking the side of the cabin to remove the excess snow off her boots. She opened the door and removed her scarf and hat, shaking them outside so as not to allow more snow inside. Finally, she combed the snow out of her hair with her gloved hand, something that was hard to do when the snow blended in so well.

"Why do you have me gather wood when you're capable of making it yourself?" she asked unamused.

"You've asked this before. Real wood lasts longer." Her companion rolled his eyes.

"Not a problem when you have an infinite supply." She rolled her own eyes in return. She knew he just wanted space to himself and would send her out to buy himself time. At first, she didn't trust him. After all, he just randomly showed up one day and declared her house as his own. Over time, she had warmed up to him, mostly because of the food he provided.

Besides, they had a common goal.

"Have you pinpointed the location of the Fire Spirit?" she asked.

"No. I wish they would have just stayed put." Her companion sighed. "Did they really need three temples? Seriously, one is more than enough. Thea and I never got temples," he muttered that last part.

"And it's just as well there were three. After all, one of them decayed."

"And the other was buried beneath a landslide. Like I said, should've stuck with the first temple."

"Why do you want to find them?"

"Because they're my friend."

"Once you find them, will you search for the others?" She shifted her weight between her feet, tired from having trekked across piled-up snow.

"You mean Earth. Wind and Water require no search. ...Though, I can't exactly say they'd be thrilled to see me again."

"Will you search for Earth?"

"Yes. Though, 'search' isn't quite the right word."

"So, you already know where they are."

"Of course I do. I was there when they left." His grip on the page tightened to the point where she thought he'd rip the page right out.

"You're certain that neither the Water Spirit nor Wind Spirit will help you locate the Fire Spirit?"

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"That must be a mouthful to say." He stared at her blankly. "Just say the element."

"That's disrespectful."

"They're not your deities."

"They are still deserving of respect, something you lack."

Her bluntness caught him off guard just as it had when he had first met her. "Am I deserving of respect?" He waggled his eyebrows.

"Hardly," she mumbled, rolling her eyes.

"When you think about it, I'm technically the Elemental Spirit of Darkness. Bow down and worship me." He smirked.

"No." She threw her gloves at him, hitting the middle of his forehead.

He peeled the wet glove off his face and placed it on the table, tempted to burn it where it sat. "Fiona, are you certain that was the only library in the highlands?"

"If you want more information, you're better off searching the motherland." She walked to the kitchen to boil water for her stew. While Ares may have supplied the ingredients, it was important to her that she got to cook them.

"No, the motherland won't have any information on an avalanche." Honestly, he had half considered burning the highlands until he stumbled upon the temple. Even though the highlanders were just as fond of fire as the Cathruli from the motherland, he had the feeling they would still manage to be offended by this.

But did it matter if he was planning to end the world himself?

He'd let them have this much, at least. Worst case scenario, he could employ an army of Cathruli to dig for the temple.

"Have you tried looking at a map?" She reentered the room once her water started to simmer.

"A map?" Ares raised his eyebrow.

"If the temple was buried under an avalanche, it must have been close to a cliff. There are hundreds of cliffs in the highlands, but one a couple dozen that could have caused an avalanche that great. Or perhaps one of these books provides a map before the avalanche."

"Do you have a map?" Ares asked.

She rolled her eyes as if the answer were obvious before entering the bedroom and returning with a rolled-up parchment.

Summoning a pen, he began circling a few locations that seemed most likely.

"Okay, I'll try these." He stood up and was about to teleport when Fiona stopped him.

"Wait! If you find it, you must take me too. You promised."

"I know, I know. That and spices from the motherland, that was the arrangement." He smirked as she nodded her head in approval.

In mere minutes, he returned grabbing her hand and teleporting into the frigid cold. She shivered and was about to reprimand him for taking her before she could put her hat and coat on, but stopped when she noticed the structure in front of her.

It was the temple she had seen so many times in her book. However, it looked a little singed on the sides, and there was burnt grass around them. Ares must have melted the snow away.

Inside the temple was warm to the point where she completely forgot she wasn't wearing her coat. Murals were painted along the walls that could only be seen because of the many torches that lined the murals.

In the center, however, was the Spirit itself.

"Time to wake up, old friend." Ares smiled, and it was the first time Fiona had seen him so genuinely happy.

A loud yawn echoed throughout the chamber, and Fiona fought herself to not cover her ears. That would be disrespectful, wouldn't it? "Ares? Is that you?!" the Spirit asked. Their voice was deeper than Fiona had expected.

"It's me—" Ares was cut off when streams of fire surrounded him. Despite this, he remained perfectly still and laughed. Perhaps this was the Fire Spirit's form of a hug?

"Your Excellency," Fiona bowed her head and bent her knee respectfully.

"Oh! A Cathruli! You look paler than I remember." The Spirit moved around, seemingly studying her appearance.

"Yes, much has happened during the time you were dormant."

"I was surprised to find that you had gone to sleep shortly after I died," Ares added.

"Died?" Fiona's eyebrows furrowed. How could he be here if he had died?

"Ah, well, there wasn't much point in being awake if you and Earth were gone. I figured you would wake me once you returned—" the Spirit was cut off.

"You abandoned us because he left?!" Fiona clenched her fists. "What about us? Were we not enough for you? We could have provided for you! We would have slaved over you! We worshipped you!"

"Oh, I guess?"

"You guess?! In the end, we meant nothing to you, did we? Gods," Fiona sighed, "you're all the same." She stormed out of the temple into the frigid cold that only fueled her fury. Maybe this was the reason her people had turned away from the Spirit towards the moon and sun. She only hoped the beings in the sky were more loving than the all-but-forgotten Spirit.

"Fiona!" She heard Ares calling after her. Why did he care?

She turned around begrudgingly and froze. Ares had a pained expression on his face as his body began to contort. "Ares? Are you okay?"

When he came to, his hair was far lighter, and his eyes were brown. It seemed the chill of the mountains finally got to him because he began shivering. "W-Where am I?" Even his voice was lighter — higher, even.

"The highlands. Who are you?" Fiona frowned.

"I have to let them know!"

Focusing all of his attention on his mind's image of Gwyneth, the boy disappeared before the Cathruli's eyes.

"What about my spices?"