The Child of Light and Shadow

Frozen

JONAH

Dealing with the aftermath was not so much fun. Since we got the shit beaten out of us, and somehow managed to lose two of our group, we didn't manage to meet the deadline. The ice woman returned just like she said she would, placed frozen shackles on us, then dragged us off to a cave.

„At least there's fire," Raksha says, though I can't tell if he's talking to me or himself. „We might have died out there."

„We might die in here," I reply, keeping my hands close to the flame. Never thought I'd miss the sun so much. The cold is getting pretty ridiculous. We're all going to freeze to death unless we find something warmer to wear. „What do you imagine she wants?"

„She's a devil, yes?" the djinn asks, blowing some wind on the flame to make it burn more intensely. „I would not presume it to be anything good."

„A country for ice devils," I mutter, glancing at the cavern walls. „That would include the one I killer – the one who possessed Snow's corpse. Do you think she wants revenge?"

„No," answers Raksha, rubbing his earlobe between his thumb and index fingers. „If that was her goal, she would not have given us a chance to escape."

„So this is just the punishment for failing to get away?" I can't help but scoff. If she wants us out of Jotunheim, all she has to do is let us leave. She wants nothing to do with Nyarlathotep, and we can't well afford to make an enemy of her. It would be for the best to go our separate ways. We've got our hands full as it is.

„Something is troubling you," my ever so intuitive companion says. „You are dissatisfied with your strength."

„Yes," I reply, though he wasn't really asking. I expected to be as strong as an Apostle. What's the use in being a fairy if I can't master magic the same way a djinn can? I had too much trouble with Arrow, who was just a subordinate of Ryan's. I've got all this dormant power, and I can't do shit with it. Whenever it comes down to a fight, I fizzle out. Failing to switch from one elemental attribute to another is a mistake I can't afford to make against stronger opponents. „Rem was a joke. He's nothing like Juno and Risk, and it took all of us to fight him. Even then, we failed to find a way to put him down."

„You were not the only one to fail," he tells me, his stomach growling from hunger. „I was nearly felled by an opponent you yourself had defeated before. It was disgraceful."

„She had help. Besides, I didn't actually win against her, and even then, I shortened my life by gods know how much."

„Gods?" he inquires, glaning at the sleeping Yukiji briefly.

„I'm not big on faith."

Seemingly genuinely surprised, Raksha leans forward, hands above the flame once more. „You do not believe in anything? How is it possible to live without faith?"

„Didn't you mention you belive in mana? I fail to see how that's faith."

Scowling, he allows his mana to flare up for a moment, before forcing it back down. „I do not appreciate having the customs of my people questioned, Jonah – even if it's you."

Shrugging, I look to the cavern entrance, realizing it's snowing heavily out there. „There's proof mana exists, right? We use it all the time. How, then, can you call it faith? Isn't faith supposed to be belief in something that can't be proven?"

„That would be blind faith, and it is for fools." There's an edge to his voice as he explains himself, his fingers once against playing with his ear. „We have faith because we trust mana. We are born into it. We live by it, and we forfeit it once we die."