"W-What is that? It most certainly wasn't here when I last visited a few weeks ago," Boreas pointed at the black orb sitting embedded in the ground while Azrael was angrily stomping and kicking it.

  "We are not sure exactly what it is, but it sucks the magic out of the area and moves it to a different place," Morrigan explained.

  "A different place? Where exactly?" Boreas asked.

  "We don't know that. But there was one exactly like this one in the first sacred site that I visited," Morrigan explained, narrowing her eyes at the orb.

  "This cannot be a coincidence," Deziara stated.

  "Most certainly not. I wouldn't be surprised to find one of these orbs in each sacred place we visit," Viana said glumly.

  "But who would do such a thing? Every demon knows that trespassing on the sacred grounds is forbidden. Not to mention that most demons cannot even withstand the high concentration of magic in the area," Boreas said, walking up closer to the orb which still looked as pristine as before Azrael began stomping on it. The mage apparently overdid it, now having walked aside and trying to contain his coughing fit.

  I don't think Azrael will be able to help me this time around with how sick he is. Let's just hope I have enough magic in me to repaint this thing on my own.

  "That's what we want to know," Viana said, turning towards Boreas. "Don't you have guards watching this place at all times?"

  "We do, that is why this is all the more confusing to me," the icy demon tousled his hair.

  "We'll have to figure out who did it later. The first priority is to get rid of it," Morrigan grumbled.

  "Allow me, Princess. It will be an easy task," Boreas said before she could say anything and conjured a giant icy spear in the air, launching it mercilessly at the black orb. Morrigan quickly erected a protective forcefield around them and watched how the spear crashed into the orb and shattered into a thousand pieces, sending sharp shards of ice flying in every direction.

  "Wha–?" he blinked at the undamaged orb stupidly.

  "It cannot be destroyed by any regular means. No magic, no physical attacks can leave a scratch on it. Even moving it is impossible," Morrigan explained.

  "Then we can't get rid of it?" He blinked and stared down at his hand.

  "Morri can get rid of it! Azrael, you should–," Deziara looked at the mage who a blowing his nose into a handkerchief for the twentieth time and shook her head. "You know what – I'll go get your painting supplies myself."

  "Painting supplies?" Boreas looked as Deziara zipped away through the garden.

  "Just watch the future Queen at work," Viana said somewhat smugly as if she was talking about herself. Morrigan flushed a bit, not expecting such words from her oldest sister. Boreas, on the other hand, looked more confused than ever. In a few minutes, Deziara was already back carrying everything Morrigan would need for her painting.

  "Thank you, Deziara," Morrigan smiled at her sister and set up the canvas in the snow. She took a moment to assess the scenery in front of her. Everything around them was either white or some shade of light blue – complete opposite of the colorful Glittering Cave. Looking at the paints that she had it was clear that she'll have to use purely cold colors this time.

  "Do you have enough magic to do it?" Deziara asked, eyeing the scenery and the canvas as if to measure exactly how much energy it would take to repaint the orb.

  "There is more magic in this area than in normal places, but I'm not sure… Azrael had to supplement me with his magic last time," she replied as she unscrewed the lid of light blue paint. She would use it as a base color.

  "Do not worry, Princess. If you run out of magic, I will – achhooo! –," Azrael spoke up but was instantly defeated by his cold. Everyone looked at the mage with piteous eyes.

  "Use your magic to keep yourself warm. Besides I don't want you sneezing on Morri and making her catch whatever it is that you have," Deziara huffed, then pointed to herself proudly. "I will supply Morrigan with magic."

  "Your magic reserves aren't that high, Deziara. I'll also supply you with my magic if need be," Viana said.

  "I do not understand why Princess Morrigan would require more magic. I thought that aside from the King there was nobody else in the kingdom with such large magic reserves," Boreas said.

  "Without a doubt! And I am close third," Azrael said, blowing his nose yet again.

  "My ability is a bit demanding in terms of magic," Morrigan said sheepishly and began laying down the light blue color on the canvas in large broad strokes. With a base color set, she once again assessed the scenery, thinking of how to best paint the scenery.

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  A greyish rock cliff in the background encloses this place from the rest of the Underworld. Even though the stone's grey is rather light, it'll serve as my strongest contrast point.

  So she took the grey color, added a bit of white and covered the top of the canvas with it. It looked a bit dark in her eyes, but she decided to lighten the color once she would add highlights. Next, she turned her attention to the trees. They weren't very tall, no more than two meters high and they grew across from each other, forming a short alleyway of sorts.

  Their bark was very light with a grayish hue to them and they had gentle purple spots on them which she had completely missed on her initial inspection. They reminded her of small birch trees if they were made completely of ice. She took the white paint and added a little bit of black in it, creating a vaguely grey color, and then used it to paint the basic shape of the trees.

  Once that was done, she turned towards the ice flower bushes which in their shape vaguely resemble peony. Their leaves were a light greyish blue, while the flowers themselves were completely white. Sweat trickled down Morrigan's forehead and she mixed color trying to find the perfect match for the leaves. After painting the base color for bushes she moved off the flowers which were hanging down the stony cliff on their long vines.

  It looked absolutely beautiful, but once again the white color overwhelmingly dominated everything. After having laid down a basic form for everything excluding the dark orb, Morrigan realized that she could barely even tell what was going on her canvas. The colors were so light, they were basically indistinguishable. Even the grey cliff looked much lighter than she had initially thought.

  "Morri, is it supposed to be that way?" Deziara asked nervously, taking advantage of the fact that Morrigan had stopped painting.

  "No…" she admitted, staring at the painting.

  I don't think keeping colors as similar to reality as possible is going to work here. I need to accentuate shadows, exaggerate them even, if I want the whiteness of this place to stand out. Let me try on this cliff.

  Morrigan took the grey color and drew shadows under brushes and in places where cliffside had crevices. They stood out like a sore thumb at first, so she took a soft brush and smoothened the transition between colors. A smile appeared on her face.

  That's it. I need more effective shadows and smooth transitions, then the lighter elements on the canvas instantly begin to pop.

  "I think she's got it now," Viana said as Morrigan took the brush and began applying shadow to the trees, then the bushes and finally to the flowers. She wasn't afraid of using dark colors anymore, instead using them to her advantage to make the lighter parts pop even more.

  Most difficult part was certainly the light flowers. There was very little shadow within them so she had to use a really small brush to draw the tiny details. But at the same time, whenever she completed a flower, her heart sang at its beauty. She couldn't believe she was able to recreate that.

  "Now for the pillars," Morrigan muttered and looked at the four icy pillars that surrounded the black orb. They weren't that difficult to create – as long as you knew how to paint ice, these pillars wouldn't be a problem. The problem was of course the disgusting black orb, ruining the whole scene.

  It feels wrong to paint in it, but if I don't do that the magic won't work. Or will it? It's not like I ever had a chance to try but it feels like if the rest of the scenery is there then the magic should be able to recognize it right?

  Morrigan faltered for a bit, but then took a light blue color and began painting in the place where the orb should be. Instead, gentle petals appeared on the canvas with firm leaves underneath – an icy blue lotus bulb, not yet fully blooming but already open a little at the top. She felt her magic activating, being put to work as she drew each petal and she smiled. It was working.

  She was very careful with the lotus flower, making sure that it was as close in shape to the orb as possible but had none of its sinister nature. She made it brighter blue than the rest of the flowers in the garden, so it would stand out as its centerpiece. But as she added the final line to the lotus flower and took a step back, fully expecting the black orb to be gone, she realized that it was not gone. And she also wasn't as exhausted as she usually was after using her power.

  "It didn't work?" Deziara cocked her head to the side and frowned.

  "That's odd. I definitely felt the magic activating but it used up far less magic than usual," Morrigan said looking at the canvas and then back at the scene, wondering if she had missed something. Maybe she should have drawn the black orb first for the magic to activate. She gritted her teeth. Obviously painting the black orb over the lotus wouldn't be an issue, but some of her magic was already used up. Even if Viana and Deziara supplied her with their magic, it would likely not be enough.

  "I think I know what is missing in your painting, Princess Morrigan," Boreas suddenly spoke up from behind. All three princesses turned their heads to look at him. He walked up to the painting and pointed at the pillars. "These pillars are empty. Usually, they display memories of those within the garden but due to the proximity of that magic siphoning orb, they are unable to do that."

  "That must be it!" Morrigan exclaimed and was about to jump into painting, before pausing again. "Whatever memories I paint in these pillars will likely remain here forever. I believe that they have to be memories that the pillars would actually display. May I ask each of you to tell me one of your memories?"

  Deziara and Viana looked at each other hesitantly and then nodded. Boreas looked apprehensive at first, but after a moment of thought, he also nodded.

  "Azrael, tell me one of your memories," Morrigan asked the demon who was currently rolled into a ball behind them with a fire constantly swirling around him. Oddly enough the snow around him hadn't melted at all.

  "Azrael's memories? No way! He'll just think of something lewd," Deziara objected.

  "She's right. Your memory should be the last one," Viana said. "And it's better if it's a really strong memory. Something pillars would latch onto. If the memory is too weak then it might not work."

  "I believe it would be wiser for Lord Azrael to contribute one of his memories after all. We have just met, thus I imagine it would be hard for you to paint my memories," Boreas said, and the girl nodded in agreement and looked dubiously at Azrael. Would it really be alright to display one of his memories?

  I hope doesn't think of some bloody battle or that time he killed Haku's parents. After all, if that rainbow is anything to go by then these memories will remain here for eternity.