Tangled By Fate

'White… can it be snow?'

The thought had thrilled her. There was a reason behind it.

The largest amount of snow could be found in none other than the Alss mountain range.

Synetia might have had more snow if they hadn't discovered iron mines.

'But when did they discover the iron mines? Was it before the dragon war or after? If it's before the war, then the dragon's nest would be in Synetia. If it's after the dragon war, then the dragon's nest would be in the Alss.'

'I did read history but there is no date or year mentioned in the description of the dragon war. How am I supposed to know?'

Veronica thought hard but couldn't find a solution much to her dismay.

'Should I go to Arthur and consult with him? Saint Ava doesn't know I have companions waiting outside. I should secretly go in the dark and meet them. I can come back before dawn. This way, Saint Ava won't find out.'

'But how did she know that I was outside the temple and cut my hand? Is it because I used my healing power? She can only sense my surroundings when I'm using my power in a close range.'

'As long as I don't use my power, it will be alright. She won't be able to sense anything. Since I have time, why don't I go out now?'

The crazy idea came to her mind as she yearned to go out. It had been only a day since she last saw Arthur, but her heart was already craving to see him.

As he was somewhere near, the crazy thought won over her. She made up her mind to go out.

Wrapping the warm cape around her as tightly as possible, she went outside.

Just as she stepped outside, the gust of chillingly cold wind blew and nearly threw her back inside the temple.

'What?! A snowstorm?!'

Veronica gaped at the sky as snow fell and noticed the intensely strong cold wind and the snow falling profusely from the sky.

'This is bad. Are they okay in the blizzard?'

She couldn't help but be deeply worried about those four she had left in the cave.

'I did tell them to make a wall with the snow and not to use fire. But they will die without using fire in this blizzard. I only meant it for a small snowstorm, not a blizzard. I have to find them before they freeze to death.'

As she thought more about them, she became more determined to meet and help them in any way she could.

She closed the temple door as silently as possible and quickly disappeared into the snow.

Some time passed.

Veronica could barely move.

The warm clothes weren't helping much at all. The cold wind seemed to pierce through her clothes and chilled her bones as if her clothes and skin were nonexistent.

She could feel her teeth chattering inside her closed mouth. She sensed her legs shaking and going numb slowly.

She recalled it was the second time she was experiencing a blizzard.

The last time she was in a blizzard, she was only thirteen years old.

She was in a bad mood and forgot to notice the weather before heading to the cave, her favorite hideout.

However, before she could find her cave, the blizzard arrived. It was a catastrophic blizzard that threw hard, strong and extremely cold white flakes from the sky. 

The paths were almost instantly paved with a thick, cold and elegant coat of white, which also caused immense shivers to her body.

The wind had howled at an extremely high pitch and threatened anything in its undefined route. At one point, she lost consciousness.

The next day, the temple found out that she was missing and Sister Josephine sent a search party. The Senior Priests went to look for her.

Her body was found by the temple priests.

When they saw her body, they thought she was dead but they were surprised that she was miraculously alive and breathing.

However, she was suffering from severe frostbite.

They carefully took her back and sank her body in hot water.

Five days later, she opened her eyes and everyone was relieved.

Afterward, she was thoroughly scolded by Sister Josephine.

She could still remember Sister Josephine's harsh reprimanding to this day.

From that day onward, she was terrified of the blizzard. However, even that fear of a blizzard would not stop her from reaching her destination tonight.

'I need to move… I must meet them… I can do this…'

Gritting her teeth, Veronica moved forward like a spirit wandering in the darkness.

Whenever she was on the verge of collapsing, she would think of Arthur and give herself mental strength to go on.

Just like that… in the blizzard, she reached her cave.

The cave was already covered with snow. 

Thinking they might have listened to her advice and got stuck inside, her heart shuddered in an unknown terror.

"A-Ar...thur…"

She wanted to scream, but only a shaky and feeble voice came out from her vocal cord.

She couldn't properly raise her voice as her teeth were chattering uncontrollably.

She took some deep breaths and gathered more strength.

Then, she called out again, "A-Arthur!"

Even then, her voice cracked and was muffled by the strong wind noise.

'Please Goddess, don't let me find their dead bodies. Please...I beg you.' She prayed frantically in her mind. There would be tears in her eyes, had it not been frozen solid already.

Her frozen hands reached out to the snow that covered the cave's entrance and with great effort, she managed to get a chunk of it out of the way with her last bit of strength.

-------

Meanwhile, inside the cave, everyone was drinking booze.

"See? I knew my collection would come in handy. Who wants more?" Darius looked at everyone in the cave cheerfully.

"..."

Everyone was quiet. They were cold but they weren't freaking out like Darius.

Arthur took a small sip from the bottle he brought with him. 

Zinnia was sitting beside Ironin. Since he kept her warm, she had no complaints. They shared one bottle of whiskey.

When he saw no one was giving him any reply, Darius mumbled, "I can drink alone. Ahh… I miss all the beauties I left at home.

"Who knew I'd face a blizzard at a time like this. If I knew before, I would have brought all the girls with me."

"Even if we were stark naked, we would be warm with some exercises."

He let out a deep sigh. "How I miss my beauties."

Zinnia commented jokingly, "I won't mind if you masturbate here. That is a kind of exercise too."

"Won't you mind?" Darius carefully asked. 

He was always careful around Zinnia, the sexiest woman he had ever met. 

Their first encounter left him terrified. It was more like a trauma.

Long before they became partners, he met her in a bar. He wanted to bed her.

Zinnia, at that time, was looking for a job. She was staying at the inn above the bar.

When he started flirting with her, she went along. Then he successfully took her to the hotel room.

Afterward, everything was blank. He couldn't remember anything that happened afterward.

When he woke up the next day, he was completely bare and he was tied in the local market in broad daylight.

Everyone was staring at him and whispering with each other. Young girls were laughing and giggling at him.

The humiliation he felt that time, he would never forget that. Just thinking about that day made him horrified.

He was never able to step into that town again. He'd rather die than go back there. People of that town still gossip about him till now.

Darius scratched his cheek. "Can I…"

At that moment, the sharp object flew and got stuck in the ground right in between his legs. 

Darius froze.

It was a shuriken.

If the shuriken was a little closer, he would have to say goodbye to his little ancestor.

He wanted to say if he would call out her name when he would masturbate but he had to hold back.

His eyes landed on Zinnia. He thought she was the criminal.

However, she was quietly sitting there. But the man beside her moved.

The culprit was Ironin.

"Did you hear something?"

Arthur opened his mouth. His all senses became alert.

The other three also stilled and no one talked.

Ironin stood up. 

He declared, "Someone is there."

The others followed his gaze to the wall they created with snow and stones.

'Could it be an enemy?'

All four of them thought that.

Arthur quickly darted forward ready to face off any enemy. He used his fingers to dig the snow.

Ironin helped him.

However, what they saw made them dumbfounded.

They saw a snow-covered statue standing in front of them. The only other noticeable thing was that the statue was completely white. 

Even the statue's lips that were supposed to be red were pale purple.

Veronica was so cold that she couldn't shiver anymore. Her hands were on the snow wall and she just stood there.