Road to Ruisea

❆ ❆ LXII. KUMARI ❆ ❆

Kumari, who had been sitting still — upset with Chiro and trying not to cry, for fear the tears would simply freeze on her face — suddenly hears whimpering.

She starts to turn around, to maybe check on her friend, knowing that the only noises in this empty crystal cave could only come from herself or Chiro, and also knowing that it definitely wasn't coming from herself...

But she snaps her face looking straight forward, not letting herself be tempted by the desire to console her friend, whose whimpers become louder and even more pitiful by the second, echoing across the empty cavern.

I won't look, she tells herself, trying to deny the fact that she's telling herself in vain. I won't! He said Alexei was just trying to hurt me... He's wrong, and I'm mad at him.

But could she really stay mad, at her sweet illusionist? The boy who spent more than a year putting on shows, just for her? Even if she hated them, even if she spent so long being ungrateful...?

Jae once got upset because Kumari never thanked him. She wonders how many friends she has yet to thank...

A quick glance behind her reveals Chiro, lying on the ground, curled up into a ball.

"Chiro?" She whispers, to get his attention. There's no answer except for another muffled whimper.

I won't go to him.

"Yes I will," she whispers, this time to herself, raising herself from the ground, and quietly but quickly skidding to his side, kneeling beside him.

She tries again, putting a hand on his shoulder and shaking him. "Chiro?"

He rolls over on his back, face facing Kumari's, but his eyes are closed.

Kumari gasps, "You're asleep!"

That might have seemed an obvious statement to anyone if they'd been able to overhear, but to Kumari, it was deadly serious. Deadly being the keyword...

Her hand flies to the only part of Chiro's body with exposed skin — his face, specifically his forehead — to feel his temperature.

Kumari isn't exactly warm herself. The air around her is cold and brisk, and her body is not meant to survive in cold temperatures. She belongs in a country of fire, and she's stuck in a trap of ice. By all means, she couldn't have been any warmer than Chiro, a sun-based magician who's usually just as warm, if not warmer.

But despite all that, as soon as her fingers make contact with Chiro's forehead, a violent cold shiver wracks her body.

She yelps in pain and surprise, pulling her hand away, and then immediately putting it back, but this time on his shoulder, with her other hand flying to Chiro's other shoulder.

"Wake up!" She yells, right in his ear. "Chiro! Chiro!"

She shakes him, hard as she can, desperately trying to wake him. She can see streaks of frozen water on his face, and fresher tears coming down from his eyes... He's still alive, but for how much longer?

"Chiro!" Kumari feels something hard on her cheeks, and when she reaches up to feel them, she realizes they're exactly what're on Chiro's face — frozen tears.

Crying out in frustration and sadness, she gives one harsh shake to Chiro, screaming in his ear, "WAKE UP!"

There's no reaction.

Not from Chiro, that is...

But there is noise from elsewhere. Specifically, from right behind her.