This was it. We finally found the girl who saved the bird. Exactly like what Mrs. R told us. Now we just have to observe and find some clues concerning The Snow Phoenix. That's the only thing we can do for now. But that didn't last long though. Why? Because Mrs. R only told us a short version of the fairy tale. This time, we're getting a front seat to the full experience.
"It's dying." Zen softly said.
"What are we going to do, sister? Is there anyway we can save the bird?" pleaded Astral.
Hosuke steps in and said, "I'm sure there is a way. Am I right, Zen?"
Zen nodded and said, "There's only one way to stop the bird from dying from the never ending blizzard."
"Wait." I stopped her. "Never ending blizzard? This happened all the time?"
She replied back to me, "Precisely. We've been enduring this for decades. Even before I was born."
"So...we're going to get something in your house?"
"Not exactly. We need a medicine called Blizz and we're already ran out of Blizz. Our parents are at the town to get some of it. But we don't have much time and I don't want our parents to know that I'm keeping this bird."
"I see. Then, is there any other way?"
"There is but...it is dangerous."
"Dangerous you say?" said Hosuke. "We're actually ready for that you know?"
"You guys are...strong wizards?"
"Uh...yes." Hosuke was not confident with his words.
"I see. Then maybe we can make the medicine."
Then I asked her, "What are the ingredients then?"
"It's not really far from here. And it's not really hard to make the medicine. We have all the ingredients inside our house except for one."
"What is it?"
"We need some Ice Troll fur."
Ice Troll. We know that this was a storybook but we didn't expect to actually finding an Ice Troll for real. Yes, those kinds of things does exist in back in our world but we never would have thought that we would be finding it just to make a medicine to save the bird. And here we thought it would be easy. Then again, we didn't know the full story. I guess Zen went on her own to get the furs. But isn't that a little bit dangerous?
"We can do that." Hosuke agreed.
"Hold on, Hosuke. Don't you think it would cause some trouble if we interfere with the story?"
"Don't worry about the little things, White. Besides, Zen is also going with us, right?"
Zen nodded, "I can show you where to find them"
I responded by saying, "What about your sister, Zen?"
"She'll be fine. She can take care of herself. Right, Astral?"
Astral nodded and sits on the sofa. She looked happy even though she knows that she was going to be left alone. I guess she was already used to having this kind of situation before. That's a bit sad to be honest.
"Astral, you keep watch on the bird, okay?"
"Okay, sis!" Astral happily agreed.
"Alright then...let's go." Zen lead us to where the Ice Troll was located.
Before we went out, we made sure to wear some additional clothing just in case. As soon as I stepped outside the house, I was already shivering. It was like being trapped inside a refrigerator. A really big refrigerator.
"Goodness! This blizzard is so insane!" Hosuke shouted because of the blizzard.
I shouted back to him, "What do you expect?! A warm welcome?!"
The blizzard was harsh. It was hard to move around the blizzard. Even both of us ended up swallowing some snow thanks to it. As we keep on complaining about the harsh conditions, Zen remained calm and unfazed by the weather. The people over here must have been adapted well with the crazy blizzard. I mean, they have been doing this for decades already.
We kept on walking and trying our best not to get caught up by the blizzard until Zen stopped her track and pointed to a cave. We decided to take a little break in the cave. As we were about to reach the cave, Hosuke suddenly started to slowly submerge like he just stepped into a quicksand. He probably stepped on something that was not on the same level as we are. Zen captured his arm and dragged him. I grabbed his other arm and helped him emerge from the swallowing snow. We safely dragged Hosuke into the cave.
As both of us were catching our breath, Zen took out a compass from her pocket and looked around. This was embarrassing to say the least. A little girl, unfazed by the harsh weather. She didn't even broke a sweat. While on the other hand, both of us were already gasping for some oxygen to fill our lungs. How can this girl manage to do such a feat? I cannot imagine how it would really feel if we were actually in the real world and feeling this same blizzard.
"Here." Zen gave us some heating pads.
"You should have gave us earlier, Zen" said Hosuke as he was still catching his breath.
"I thought you guys were the adults here..."
"That burns a lot in a way. And we're not even an adult. We're still 16 until our birthday later on this year."
"I couldn't care less. Both of you are the oldest one in this group. You two should act more like an elderly."
"What is wrong with this girl, White? And why are you laughing?"
I couldn't stop laughing, "It's okay, Hosuke. You just have to endure it for now."
"But why are you okay with this kid? Don't tell me because she's a little girl that..."
"No." I fought back his words. "She reminds me of myself."
"Really? I never see you like that girl."
I nonchalantly replied, "Can you please shut up, you animal loving sea-god."
"Jeez. If a Snow Queen was not enough. Now we have a Snow King"
"We're almost there." said Zen as she closes her compass.
"Oh jeez. How much can we go on until we drop?" asked Hosuke as he was beginning to worry.
"Don't worry. The trolls are inside this cave." Zen looked deeper into the cave. "Come on, we have no time."
We carried our bearings and continued the journey. At the very least, the blizzard was the least of our worries. Even so, the walls and the floor of the cave was too cold and once again, Zen remained as she used to be. Just what was this girl? In any case, as we continued to walk further into the cave, as far until the light was getting dim.
"Are you sure we are going the right place, Zen?" Hosuke asked.
"Yes."
"It's getting darker guys..." Even I was starting to get a little worried.
Suddenly, Zen took my hand and guided me through the dark cave. Once again, I embarrassed myself by letting myself being guided by a little girl in a dark cave. But there was also one thing that I noticed...Her hands was cold. Even when she was already wearing a glove it was still cold. I cannot even understand how she could hold on with the cold. She wasn't shivering at all. But then suddenly, my whole body became warm for some reason. I didn't know what happened. But I didn't say a word at all. I'm done being surprised by this little star named Zen.
"Okay. We can't see anything. You got something to lit, Hosuke?" I asked Hosuke.
"I have a magic lantern in my bag."
"Then why don't you take it out earlier?"
"I didn't know it would be this deep."
Magic Lantern is a lantern that was powered by transferring some of our Infinitum energy to the lantern. The transfer is possible by simply touching the lantern and having the intentions to transfer it to the lantern. There's a lot of device made to be used with Infinitum energy. The latest one was probably the usage of Infinitum energy on a car. Not many people could afford that car though.
Anyway, Hosuke pulled out his Magic Lantern and transferred some of his Infinitum to the lantern. It was at that moment when I finally know why my body was becoming warm. Ice Trolls were surrounding us. There were about a dozen of them. They stared at us with their monstrous eyes. Their breathing were a bit nasty.
"Zen...come here..." I pulled Zen toward myself to keep her safe.
One of the Ice Troll growled. I carried Zen and stopped the time. I slipped through the trolls and put Zen down away from the trolls.
"Hosuke!" I ordered Hosuke to fight.
Hosuke took out 2 large water bottles from his backpack and manipulates the water inside of it. He used the water to create a watery trident and used it to fight against the trolls. I took out Seven from my pocket and gave it a little of my magic. I threw Seven to the floor near the trolls and Seven spews out a magic aura that reaches about 6 metres. It was actually my Time Slowing ability. Additionally, the time slow only affects the trolls. Hosuke was not affected by it at all.
This was possible thanks to Haz technology and my training. Haz have upgraded Seven to be able to use my ability. My training have made me able to control who am I targeting at. With the combined force of Seven and me, fighting an enemy will be a lot easier.
Hosuke and I swept the trolls down to the floor and then Hosuke threw his trident into the air. The trident then exploded an turned into rain. The rain was not the average rain, it was a very sharp rain that pierces through the trolls skin.
"That was easy..." Hosuke wiped his sweat on his forehead.
"Wait...that's only 11...where's the other one?"
We looked behind us and saw an Ice Troll was about to smash Zen. We tried to stop the troll but thanks to the icy floor, we slipped. The Ice Troll smashed the little girl into snowy pieces...Wait. Snowy pieces? What?
Suddenly, we saw Zen begins to materialise from the snow. Then in a flash, the troll turned into a pile of snow. What just happened? I didn't see Zen did anything to that troll. Was it just an illusion or something? But then again, I hit my head when I fell down. I must have been confused when I saw Zen was destroyed into snowy pieces. What a lousy person am I.
"We're done. Let's go home." Zen woke us up.
I guess the job was done when we finally woke up from the confusion. We grab our bearings and headed back to Zen's house. The harsh weather was still a problem for us both however, Zen looked a little bit different. She finally showed a sign of fatigue from her. In the end, she was still a little girl. I grabbed her and gave her a piggyback ride.
"What are you doing, mister?"
"You looked tired. I'm just doing what I'm suppose to do. Deal with it." I harshly replied.
She didn't respond back as she accepts my help and begins to wrap her arm around my neck. By the time, we were almost reaching her house. She was already asleep. At first I was panic thinking she could have died because of the freezing conditions but then I saw her breathing. Yeah, she was tired alright. It was a lot to take in especially during this blizzard...We finally got to return back to Zen's home and made the Cold Medicine, Blizz.
TO BE CONTINUED