"I won't go anywhere as long as you want me here!", the girl exclaimed while she petted the frowning boys head.
She had really grown to like the boys and wanted to stay with them, if they had no complaints about that.
Both Michael and Gilbert smiled brightly, like puppies wagging their tails at her response. They were happy to have her as a companion and would certainly enjoy her company even in future.
Suddenly Gilbert rushed past the two hugging companions and stared into the void of darkness ahead of him. He had an alarming expression on his face and furrowed his brows.
He felt something or someone calling for him.
It didn't take long for Reverie to feel it too, only Michael seemed to not have felt anything.
Ren took the young boy by the hand and walked next to Gilbert. The two adults exchanged quick glances of concern and headed in the direction of where the ominous feeling came from.
After hours of walking on a path of pillows and only being surrounded by darkness otherwise, the three finally arrived in front of a door.
It was just a door standing there, no walls to keep it up, no room in sight where it could lead to. Just a door standing in the middle of nothingness.
Ren looked around it and indeed could not see anything there.
The door itself was old, probably centuries, covered in many big scratches and it's color faded away over the years. The old wood looked like it would burst just by a touch and the entirety of it was covered in chains, with heavy locks keeping them closed.
It was clear, that this door was supposed to remain closed, yet the two adults felt strangely drawn to it.
Gilbert managed to keep himself from touching it, he was just too unfamiliar with the abyss and it's tricks.
Reverie on the other hand, touched the heavy lock in front of her without a care, but held onto the young boy next to her with her other hand.
The chains instantly crumbled to dust at the touch and the heavy old door flew upon at rapid speed. An immeasureable amount of shackles shot out from within it and covered the companions, pulling them in with great force.
"HOLD ONTO ME, MIK!" ,the girl screamed at the young one, while he tried his best to hold onto her hands.
Gilbert was already lost from sight at that moment and the two friends held onto each other desperately.
Bright white light enveloped them and after a short moment of being blinded by it ,the two found themselves in a snowy mountain area.
They were catapulted out of the abyss, to an unknown place, but the difference this time was, that the portal didn't close behind them. It remained open which gave Ren a feeling of relief.
-Well that's good. We will be able to return and look for Gilbert later, for now we should focus on the situation at hand. I guess there's a reason why we landed here, so I better grab it by the root. Gil is strong he will manage I'm sure of that.
"Big sis...where's Gilbert?" ,the young one asked in a concerned voice. He was holding tears in his eyes and looked like he would cry any second.
"Don't worry, we will meet him again once we work out what we are here for, also he's strong! He won't lose to anyone! But don't tell him I told you, okay?" , the girl held her pinky at him and he happily intertwined it with his.
"Okay!"
With that being said, the two look around. Reverie observed the giant mountain in front of them carefully, while putting on the set of gloves she carried in her pockets.
She couldn't help but notice the shapes of a big cave up ahead and decided it to be their goal.
The two held each others hands and walked in direction of the cave. It was really cold there, the temperature made the coldest siberian night seem like a warm summer evening. The two were freezing and especially Michael wasn't dressed accordingly for the weather. He was wearing a simple winter coat over his clothes and that was about all. Reverie decided to give him the gloves ,even if she knew that it wouldn't solve the problem at hand. He was cold and she had no way of warming him up anytime soon. She just hoped he would hold on, till they made it to the cave.
The boy didn't complain about the cold even once, he grit his teeth and made one step after another. He didn't want to be a burden.
The wind picked up in speed and Ren realized that a blizzard was building up. She gently pulled the boy after her, as she quickened up her steps. They had no time to lose, or they would be caught up in the blizzard and die. She might survive that, but the boy certainly wouldn't, so she did everything in her power to get him to this cave safely.
They were out of breath a long time ago already, but they kept on climbing the mountain. The cave luckily didn't lie as high up as she first feared, as she could make out it's rough shapes in the snowy wind, only a few meters ahead of them.
The two ran up to it with their last bit of remaining energy and finally fell on the ground inside the cave, to catch their breath.
The boy rolled himself up and shivered hard. He was probably too cold and Ren quickly got up again to make a fire.
She picked up the boy and carried him a few hundred metres inside the cave into a blind spot, where the cold winds wouldn't reach.
She couldn't see wood anywhere, so she did the only absurd thing, that came into mind. She called out to the air once again.
"Hey Mr. bunny! I could use a hand here", she exclaimed but she couldn't hear a reply.
The shivering boy watched her and thought about whether she really had lost it this time. He had heard her talk to this 'Mr. bunny' before and wondered if he really existed.
But before he could even deepen that thought, a small voice rang out.
"I'm at your service my lady! How may I help you?"
The girl frantically looked around for a portal or a bunny plush or anything that would resemble it at all , but didn't see anything.
She turned to Michael, wondering if he might have played a joke on her, when the voice rang out again.
"In your pocket my lady"
She reflexively reached into her right pocket and found a small pocket mirror. Inside the mirror, she could see the face of the plush she knew so well.
"Good to know, that I could have contacted you earlier, but you decided to not tell me!", she shouted angrily at the bunny.
The latter was sweating and tried to explain himself.
"I- uhh- I thought you knew, you had the mirror on you..."
The girl only glared back at him in astonishment, that he would dare talk back. The bunny shut up immediately in response to that.
"Listen! I need two blankets, wood, something to eat and to make fire with."
"I can comply with everything except a fire making tool my lady."
"You are telling me there's no lighter floating around somewhere in the abyss?!"
"Not that I know of...I'm sorry my lady", the bunny explained apologetically.
The girl let out a sigh and gave instructions to give her the other items asap.
She got the two blankets and covered both herself and Michael with them. They weren't as effective as a fire, but they already did their job. Michael's face gradually gained a bit of it's original color, making her believe that he was warming up a little.
She placed the pocket mirror to the sides and looked at the cave walls. They were made of volcanic stone, leading her to an idea.
She turned to Michael, with high expectations.
"Mik! I want you to place your hands on the wall next to you and focus on your surroundings. Use your magic and find me something to create a fire with!" ,she demanded from the boy.
He looked really tired and worn out but he did as he was told. Stretching his small arms from under the blanket on the walls, he closed his eyes and concentrated.
-This is a perfect way to train him. It's not the best situation but extreme situations call for extrem measures. And I believe that he can do it.
Ren kept her eyes on him, without missing a single of his moves. She knew from an earlier conversation with Gilbert, that young magicians often overload themselves, so he warned her to keep a close eye on him.
The spots under the boys hands started to glow in a grass green light and spread over the walls like a spiders web. The veins of mana light soon covered the entire cave ,even the ground they stood on and reached far into the depths of the cave.
Reverie kept her gaze fixated on him, she would step in if it got out of hand.
The boys face took on a grimace , as he seemingly focused even more. Reverie understood immediately ,that he must have found something and let him continue on for a bit.
The mana veins on the walls grew more dense with each passing second and soon almost covered it completely.
The boys face started to twist in pain and Ren decided to step in.
Pulling him from behind, away from the wall, she embraced him and rested her chin on his head. His messy hair tickled her skin a little and she smiled.
"Good job! That's as far as you go though!"
"B-but! I was just about to see what was down there!" , he protested.
"You were about to lose consciousness Mik, it's good you are so eager to work hard, but all in moderation my friend. Rushing it will only hurt you", she calmly explained. The kid listened and nodded slightly as he understood.
"Have you found ,what I asked you for?"
"Ah, yes! A few hundred metres from here are a couple of fire stones! You see, we are in a volcano currently!", he said excitingly. He seemed to have forgotten about the cold for a moment.
The girl nodded and instructed him to set up the camp ,while she fetched the stones. She expected there to be some here, after seeing the walls were made of volcanic stone. The boy did what he was told and Ren set off to get the stones, eventually vanishing in the dark.
-to be continued-