He's a Mess of a Man

Book Two ~ Chapter Ten

Freezing air hit Leviathan's lungs, brutally wrenching him back to consciousness. Leviathan laid on his back, looking up into a snowy sky. "Ugh... whozzat..?" Someone stirred next to him, voice slurred and groggy. "Stupid snow. Stupid cold. Stupid-" they stopped beating the snow from their clothes and stared directly at Leviathan. "Levi? That you?!"

"Lucio!" Leviathan struggled to sit up, but his freezing limbs wouldn't obey him.

Lucio was up in an instant. He caught Leviathan firmly around the waist. "Hey, Levi. I'm glad it was you who woke up next to me."

"Who did you expect?"

"With our luck? I was expecting worms. Or demons. Demon worms."

Leviathan managed to crack a smile, despite his chattering teeth, "I promise I'm not a demon worm in disguise."

"But if you were, you'd be the cutest demon worm," Lucio said before planting a swift smooch on Leviathan's forehead, his longer hair tickling Leviathan's cheek.

"You look... different."

"Huh? Whaddya mean, different?" Lucio drew his sword, examining his own face in the bright reflection. A huge smile replaced his puzzlement. "Hey, looks like I lost a few years! Not sure how though. My memory's all... fuzzy."

"Mine too..." Leviathan closed his eyes and strained his mind, "The last thing I can recall... We were on a magical island, racing through the sea. And there were other people with us, though their faces elude me... Our island suddenly crashed into something, and then... nothing. I remember nothing after the crash."

"This sounds crazy, but I could've sworn there was a talking dog with us."

Leviathan gasped, "Scout!" Their guide's name came rushing back to him, along with a few tiny scraps of memory. "Scout was... we were looking for The World!"

"Hate to say it, but I don't think we're gonna find a turtle in a blizzard. Actually, how did we even get here?"

Leviathan shook his head, "Let's just not worry about it right now. Whatever we've forgotten, hanging around in the snow won't bring it back."

"I just hate being jerked around by all this stupid magic stuff." Lucio peered through the swirling white snowflakes, shaking his head. "First thing's first, we gotta move if we're gonna stay warm."

"He has a point," thought Leviathan, "I'm already shivering..."

"Can't see a thing with all this snow. We could be anywhere. But there's a lot of wind, so I think we're up on some kind of ridge. We should walk around it. Whenever the snow clears, we'll have a better view."

"It's not much of a plan... though it certainly beats standing here and turning into icicles," thought Leviathan. The going was slow and the cold was more than just an inconvenience. Before long, Leviathan's hands and feet were completely numb.

"What gives?! I thought cold couldn't hurt us in the magical realms!"

Leviathan shook his head, blowing on his fingers through chattering teeth, "T-that was before The Devil's ritual. But now, w-who knows..?"

Lucio's eyes widened, "We could actually freeze to death?" the worry was prominent in his voice.

"I'm n-not sure. But just to be safe, I'll t-try a spell." A shell of warm air expanded to surround the two, swirling the snow beneath their feet. It wasn't warm enough to be comfortable. The wind still bit through Leviathan's clothes.

"Thanks, Levi. I.. uh..." Lucio's smile quickly soured and his hands clenched into fists.

"What's wrong?"