Date: February 26th, year 1286 Location: Village of Oakvale

  The harsh sun rays were searing Nyx’s skin as she sat by the pond, yelling random nonsensical orders at the jellyfish as it attempted to sever its magical connection with Josephine without killing her.

  - “I told you to up the light’s intensity, Jelly! Why aren’t you doing that?” Nyx says.

  - “I don’t understand…” The jellyfish that she nicknamed Jelly replies.

  - “Then understand!”

  This had been their routine for more than a month now, but Nyx wasn’t showing any signs of losing patience. Eventually, when the sun starts setting she gets up to return to the farmhouse and get an apple pie. She had developed an addiction to those, and would sometimes eat them in lieu of proper meals. As she salivates at the thought, a loud cracking noise catches her attention. It came from the crate that she had just closed for the day. When she opens it out of curiosity, her eyes meet another pair of large, brown eyes that were staring at her in terror. Nyx has a wide grin, and runs to the farmhouse. When she slams the door open, she sees Andreas and Cassius playing their usual game of chess on the dinner table.

  - “Father! Cassius!” She yells. “Come see!”

  - “Can that wait?” Andreas replies, apparently very focused. “I think I’m about to win for the first time this month.”

  - “Checkmate.” Cassius declares as he moves his jester. Andreas buries his face in his hands, and Cassius turns to face her. “What is it, Nyx?”

  - “I’ve succeeded! Feel free to worship me!” Nyx smugly replies.

  Cassius immediately gets up from his chair and rushes outside, knocking over the chess board and almost lifting the entire table. Nyx jumps after him, and Andreas curiously follows them. When he makes it outside, he sees Cassius standing over the crate, a few tears falling from his face, which was obscured by his long hair.

  - “By Solomon… is she finally awake?!” Andreas exclaims. “I was just about to give up hope!”

  - “She still needs to be unfrozen though!” Nyx comments. “She can’t even talk in this state, just look at us.”

  - “I will get to work right this instant.” Cassius says as fire slowly covers his hands, and a floating flame starts hovering above the crate. Josephine’s eyes shift from panic to a calmer state, stopping to stare at the flame.

  As Nyx and Andreas return to the house to sleep, Cassius stays up all night, maintaining his spell over the ice encasing his niece until the next day.

  Date: February 27th, year 1286 Location: Village of Oakvale

  Nyx comes out of the house early in the morning, determined to see what was about to unfold. In truth, she had stayed up all night, looking out of her window and watching over Cassius and Josephine. She immediately rushed downstairs as soon as she noticed that the bulk of the ice was almost entirely melted.

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  - “Hey Cassius! How do you feel?” She shouts.

  - “You should be sleeping.” Cassius observes.

  - “I can stay awake for two days before my body forcibly shuts down!”

  - “...Honestly, I am somewhat scared.”

  - “Makes sense! How do you think she’s going to react to the fact that you let her pare-”

  Cassius reacts at lightning speed and places a hand over her mouth, preventing her from finishing her sentence.

  - “Mmmph!” She protests.

  - “I appreciate your concern, but I would rather her not learn this from your mouth, in case she is awake. This is a personal matter.”

  - “Oh, right I almost spoiled it again! Good thinking!”

  They are interrupted by a final cracking noise, and when they both look down at the crate they see Josephine, completely free from the ice. She had been sleeping for a few hours now, and being freed doesn’t seem to have changed that. Cassius delicately picks her up and places her on the grass.

  - “Josephine, it’s me.” He quietly says while tapping her on the forehead.

  - “Hmm?...” Josephine rolls over and opens her eyes. She immediately jumps on her feet the moment she sees him. “Uncle Cassius!”

  - “...Good morning.” He replies, his voice slightly trembling.

  - “Good… morning to you too? Why was I in an ice cube? Where are mom and dad? All I remember is that scary transparent monster attacking the village…”

  - “Your mother and my brother are… no longer with us, I am afraid.”

  - “...What do you mean? Where are they then?” Josephine replies, her brows furrowing.

  - “They did not survive their encounter with that monster. You are one of the only survivors from this village.”

  - “That’s… that can’t be true! You said you’d protect us! We all trusted you, you said you were so strong nothing could get past you!”

  - “I failed. Their passing is entirely my fault.”

  - “...” Josephine’s eyes slowly fill up with tears. “Now what?... Mom… dad…”

  - “You can live with these people, on this farm. There is this trustworthy man named Andreas, who I asked to do me a favor. He said he will take care of you after I leave. Don’t worry, the village is safe and we aren’t in Polemys anymore, so you won’t have to fear monster attacks.”

  - “You’re… leaving?” Josephine tries to wipe her tears.

  - “Yes. I do not wish to plague your life with my existence any longer.” Cassius replies as he gets up. He turns in the direction of the village. “I’ve stationed a soldier named Eric in the woods, go seek him if you need help. He is more reliable than I will ever be.”

  Josephine simply cries louder as a reaction, and Cassius walks away. Nyx taps her foot on the floor, raising an eyebrow.

  - “You’re really not going to address that?” She asks.

  - “Oh, you are correct. I thank you infinitely, Nyx, I am in your eternal debt.” Cassius replies, turning to perform a respectful bow.

  - “Huh? Not that!”

  - “What then?” He replies, raising his head with a confused look on his face.

  - “The… uh… what are these big animals called again?... Right, elephants! The elephant in the room! I’ve always thought that was a funny way humans had to say something that’s hard to ignore.”

  - “I struggle to grasp what you mean.”

  - “Oh come on! Alright I’ll spell it out for you. You’re the only family she has left, you know? And I’ll tell you from experience, having a family is pretty sweet! You’d be leaving her with nothing, so I thought you’d at least comment on that before leaving! Like, *Forgive me little one, your family I am no longer!* or something!” Nyx says while dramatically posing with her hand over her face.

  - “...You… you do make a good point.” Cassius replies, somewhat at a loss for words. His gaze was shifting between Josephine and the sun rising in the distant horizon.

  - “Well, what is it gonna be?” Nyx presses.

  - “I…” Cassius turns towards Josephine and walks towards her, before kneeling down to her level. “Would you rather I stay ? I will admit, I did not think of asking for your opinion.

  Josephine responds by grabbing the arm brace on his right arm with both hands, and slowly nodding as she sniffles. Cassius’ eyes widen in shock, and he hugs her as tears start dripping from his eyes. The farm’s rooster starts singing, and Nyx nods along with her eyes closed, a satisfied smile painted on her face.

  - “Not the most interesting conclusion to this arc, but not a bad one!”