Verium

Chapter 1 Act 2

Chapter 1 - Eternal Ice

Act 2 - Lonely Path in the Mysterious Woods

"Hey Snow, is it just me or has your hair gotten more blue lately?" Ishi had a joking tone, as if completely unaware of the danger we could be walking right into just be doing this.

"My hair is still the same blueish-white as always." We weren't even half way through the so called 'short cut' to the village. Evidently, it would be a long and boring walk.

Perhaps I could give Ishi some credit for trying to make it less boring.

Mere seconds begun to feel like minutes which soon began to feel like hours. No one had an actual inkling as to how much time has passed, though. We just kept walking.

"...What makes me most annoyed is how incomplete the memories of my past are. Glimpses of a girl who could heal any injury without even touching someone. Sightings of a boy who defied the flow of time. Then there's you, of course, though you seemed to already have been throwing ice shards around then. I can't even remember why we were traveling with those two in the first place. Aughhh."

"Well, shouldn't you at least be thankful that you've regained more memories than I have? I can't even remember what became of my siblings. It's even worse for-"

The sudden splitting headache I had certainly contributed to the frustration I felt over the matter. With the headache came a mass of confusion. Numerous words flashed through my mind, most if not all of them unfamiliar to me. Then, just as soon as the headache came, it went away as if it were the wind.

"Hey, you okay!?" Since I was leading the two of us due to the front being a convinient postition for spotting potential enemies, me clutching my head was practically an alert that something was wrong. If there were any stalkers wanting to attack us for any reason, they surely would have seized that oppurtunity right then to do so.

Maybe that headache had been good for something after all: Ensuring that no one was trying to harm us. Then again, it was somewhat ridiculous to think that someone would want to attack two random people passing through an abondened path. Overthinking something continues to be one of my bad habits.

"...I'm fine, I guess." If 'slightly confused' is still counted as fine. Within moments, I turned from 'slightly confused' to 'can't make sense of anything'.

With speed seemingly equivalent to lightning, something shot down to the ground and then flew back up the what seemed like the trees, leaving behind a piece of paper lying on the ground directly in front of me. A note...? Paper doesn't randomly fall from trees, after all. Not even from the trees of these curious woods.

As I took the paper and unrolled it, I wondered how this 'postman' had delievered this 'mail' to us. Something went down at first, with the paper attached to it, most likely. Then how did the object return up to the trees, detaching the paper in the process? It made no sense. I would probably never know the answer to such a mystery.

"Pardon my choice of words, but please don't set foot into the village unless you would like me to deem you an idiot. Both of your timelines will collapse if you really care so little about your own existence. In the end, all you'll be filled with is regret, anyway...!"

All of that gibberish almost made my head hurt. What was this written by, a deranged person?

The neat and slightly cursive handwritng suggested otherwise, though. If the king wrote the same message, the handwriting would probably be really similar. That may just be my own stereotype of rulers, though.

The note seemed to suggest that I would die, though. It's not like I would let my own life slip away so easily. Besides, how would the writer know my future? And such a depressing one at that. I didn't believe a word of it.

Nor did I mention a word of it to Ishi. The note had landed in front of me and not him, after all. There was no need to get him concerned.

"Whazzat note say? You had better not freeze it before I get a peek!" Though Ishi's tone of voice lightened my mood, I used that opportunity to use his idea and encased the note in a block of ice which instantaneously appeared at the twitch of my finger.

"Thanks for the idea!" Chucking the block of ice away, I couldn't help giggling as Ishi flailed his arms around, still arched over my shoulder, still attempting to reach for the note. "Why's there such a need to be so secretive over a small note anyway!?"

There was no point in showing it to him if it only made his head hurt.

"If you're not going to show it to me, at least start walking again. We should be nearing the village soon, right?" Ishi sighed and walked on.

I would be more surprised if we didn't near the village soon.