The question took me aback, and I refrained from immediately answering it. I walked in silence for a few seconds before replying.

  “I only do it when I need to survive, when I need to ensure I live another day.”

  Cosette clicked his tongue, nodding. “I see, that’s primal; it’s instinct to want to do that. Others may hide and cower, but you choose to fight, to confront danger head on.”

  “I… I used to not want to do that.”

  My hands found their way to my pockets, squeezing the interior fabric. “My father was one of the worst people I’ve ever met. He was terrifying, his presence was like a phantom that never stopped looking at me. I felt helpless, I’d cry to the moon, not wanting to look like a loser to others because I was afraid to confront him.”

  “Is that all?” Cosette chuckled dryly, moving forward and stepping over a fallen log.

  “N-no, it isn’t.” I gulped, recalling the night that I had tried to murder him.

  “One night I just snapped… I tried to kill him with a butcher knife, but he was too strong and I couldn’t land a hit on him. H-he hurt my mother…hurt me…then I randomly woke up on the park bench where my friend helped me and brought me back to his home.”

  “Your friend?” Cosette looked back at Clifton. “Is he here with you in Clifton, Silas?”

  “No…” I replied, my stomach twisting slightly.

  The blonde-haired man sighed, rolling over a rock in the snow. “I heard you're from Seraphis Kingdom, the Jewel of the North, correct?”

  I nodded. “Yes, I-I was.”

  Cosette nodded in understanding. “I went there once; I was about your age. It was before I came here, I was afraid, callous of the world… a lot like you in a way.”

  After analyzing the rock and seeing that nothing of value was in the snow beneath it, he rolled it back over and brushed his knees off, standing back up and moving forward.

  “I had a friend named Isaac… he was a kind boy who offered me temporary shelter whilst I stayed in Seraphis Kingdom—you should have seen the apartment prices back then.”

  Cosette slowly took the flowers in my hand, tucking them into the satchel slung over his back. “When I told him I’d come to Clifton for an affordable life, he offered to come with me. But…”

  He paused mid-step, fist clenching around the cold air of the hilltop, as if wanting to suffocate us both. “He never came… he had laughed with me, we played cards together, and I had eaten with his family. But he broke his promise, like a damn liar, a damn fool condemned to rich-living city life.”

  Cosette looked back at me, his eyes filled to the brim with irrefutable pity. “To walk to Clifton from here is manageable if you rent a carriage. If your friend was wise, they would have taken that option and surely came looking for you… after all, this is among the nearest towns from Seraphis.”

  “Maybe he’s on his way right now.” I replied, feeling a little warmth in my body.

  Cosette shook his head. “I’d have to say they aren’t coming for you; we would have received intelligence of a vehicle within a few miles from our position.”

  “What if he’s running on foot like a lunatic?”

  The possibility of Shinso running here was a far stretch, but something told me he’d want to do such a thing. When we first kissed under the moonlight, first confessed our actual feelings, and when guilt and trauma were gone for just a moment, I saw everything about him in his eyes. He would run many miles to protect those who he cares about.

  He may be gruff, indifferent, and almost cold at times, but he has the heart of a warrior, determination and perseverance flowing through his body like blood. I couldn’t help but feel a little jealous.

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  Cosette heard my question, but he didn’t immediately answer. “Well, that’s a bit of a suicidal option, isn’t it? He could get mistaken for a deer and get shot on sight.”

  Without waiting for my response, Cosette turned around and continued walking through the forest. “Since your friend isn’t coming for you, make one here. The children love to play, they have full stomachs, and the sun never truly stops shining upon Clifton.”

  He suddenly spun in a circle, flopping back into the snow with a spalt. Cosette laughed under his breath. “If you are to truly begin anew and forget the old, the dreary, you have to just toss it away and make new friends, make new memories…”

  “I’ve… Kael…”

  Cosette looked up at me, flaring his lips. “Kael? Has he already told you that?”

  I nodded, leaning on my walking stick. “He’s already begun to fill my head with those thoughts… he makes it sound awful what I’m doing; it’s more despair than comfort.”

  “That’s because Kael doesn’t have fun, bud.” Cosette suddenly reached beside him, fisting the snow into a ball which he threw at the back of my head.

  “What the!—” I turned around, looking down at him with a slight scowl. “Warn me next time!”

  The blonde-haired man leapt back to his feet, chuckling to himself. With a sudden thrust, he grabbed the tree branch above him, propelling himself upwards, landing on it with precision. Cosette moved almost like an ape, falling backwards and hooking his legs around the branch to ensure he wouldn’t fall.

  “Are you that much of a baby if you can’t take a snowball to the head? Please, be grateful I didn’t mix ice inside it!”

  He extended his hand, pointing to the snow beneath him; it was the spot he had made a snowball out of.

  “Rememeber when I asked you a few minutes ago about fighting?”

  I nodded, easily recalling the interaction. “Yes, I do.”

  “Well…” Cosette flipped down from the tree, rolling to his feet as he quickly made another snowball, hurling it at my chest.

  I dodged the attack, arching to the side. “A-again?”

  Cosette nodded, throwing a few snowballs up and down in his arms. “Y’gonna fight, or y'gonna hide away?

  My lips curled into a faint smile as I reacted quickly, kneeling down and bunching a snowball, hurling it at Cosette. It landed him square in the face, catching him off-guard. He stumbled back, adjusting his goggles.

  “Hah! Nice shot!” In the middle of his compliment, he bee-lined two snowballs at me, which I managed to dodge in time.

  I rolled back, making two more with which I returned my fire with. They hit Cosette in the chest like white, powdery explosions. Instead of immediate retaliation, the blonde-haired man laughed out loud.

  “Fighting isn’t always shedding blood or doing something bad. This is a fight, too—doesn’t it feel good?”

  He spread his arms, dropping the snowballs to the ground. They disappeared into the snow beneath our boots as if they had never existed.

  “Tell me, wasn’t that nice?”

  I fell quiet for a moment, my heart still racing with excitement. That snowball fight, whilst short, was also intense and driven—I had hit Cosette a few times, and he returned the favor. He had riled me up, and I retaliated with snowballs. It was a fight, a fun one to say the least. The Apocalypse sigil on my palm began to buzz softly, ebbing with a crimson light.

  This sensation wasn’t painful or burning, but it felt… nice. Usually when I used my abilities, the sigil would react with burning and pain. But now, after that snowball fight, it reacted with pleasure. I knew the sigil, and my powers, had sentience to an extent. Back at the medical facility with Damien, Ruth, Daisy, and Oscar, after I had given them food, the pathway reacted negatively and had me vomiting in the toilet.

  There were a few other times the pathway had reacted, but I never truly knew if it was that sentience to an extent or just my inner thoughts manifesting.

  “I-it was, yeah.” I chuckled, smiling.

  Cosette laughed, turning around and running deeper into the forest. “If we don’t gather everything quicker, we’ll be late for the Flamesrite Passage!”

  They had mentioned that back in the safehouse, but I still didn’t have context on what it was. I felt the inclination to ask, an urge that quickly bubbled to the surface.

  “What’s that? Someone mentioned it earlier.”

  Cosette leapt over a log as he replied in a hurried tone. “It’s a ritual held every so often to connect us with the deity we worship, which the entirety of Clifton worships! He likes offerings for his grace and glory, and we like to please Him and keep Him happy.”

  “Who do you guys worship?—” My question was cut short as the Umbridge abruptly manifested, an illusory tendril of energy covering my mouth.

  “It’s not time yet, Isaac.”

  I looked back at the enigmatic figure, scoffing behind the bonds. “Cosette will think I’m crazy if I’m talking to no one, let me go.”

  The Umbridge huffed, releasing the bonds over my mouth. “If you do ask about anything related to deities without proper guidance and protection, you will lose control and go mad easier.”

  I watched as they disappeared into the trees, their form turning illusory as they slithered away like a black snake of energy.

  “Y-comin?” Cosette’s voice pierced the atmosphere, startling me a little.

  I looked back to him, nodding casually in an attempt to deter the previous interaction. “Y-yeah, I’m coming!”

  I hurried up, running beside him as we made our way deeper into the forest.