One day. It had taken me one day to start suffocating. Why? Why did my body have to do this to me? Was it because the air was thinner? If the lake gave me three days at sea level, it seemed it was a lot less higher up.

Rogue had packed a thick winter coat for me, but I was still certain I'd get hypothermia by the time we found his damn lich. Whenever he and Frosch weren't looking I would gulp down a fistful of snow. It only barely helped ease my breathing, and it was keeping me constantly chilled, but it helped my breathing, and if I had to struggle four more days in the mountains then I was going to need all the help I could get.

Thinking about it was almost enough to send me into hysterics-but I couldn't afford to waste the air.

Dammit. I missed the ocean.

"Sting," Rogue called out, hesitation for just a moment when he saw I was shivering.

"I-I'm c-c-com-ming," I responded, not able to raise my voice quite as much as he had.

And Frosch was just sitting on Rogue's head, perfectly content with her fur and frog suit. Damn her. Damn Rogue too for making me come out somewhere like this. And damn that lich for being so hard to find. I wasn't going to last five days. I'd be lucky to make it two. If this job had come with a hotel to return to each night I could have tried to eke out a bit of 'swimming' in a tub, but all we got was instructions on how to safely camp in avalanche country.

"Is Sting alright?" Frosch asked. "Fro thinks he looks shaky."

Rogue gave me a more thorough look over then declared, "we'll be far enough into the mountain soon that it will be too time consuming to go back, but if you're having trouble the air shouldn't be as thin once we get into the next valley."

So I looked more like I was suffocating than freezing? Great. Just great. "M-m-maybe we c-could j-j-just g-go back."

Rogue shook his head. "You're healthy. You can survive thin air."

Healthy he says. I can choke on oxygen and he thinks I'll be fine. I grumbled about it, but with my teeth chattering so badly that it came out sounding so awkward that Rogue had to stifle a laugh.

Whoever coined the term 'not a snowball's chance in hell' didn't realize how hellish snowy mountains were. I was still wheezing by the time we'd gotten into a low enough altitude that my head wasn't swimming and Rogue decided to set up camp. The only upside was that he got a nice fire going, and I spent the evening standing so close I could easily roast myself and turning cupfulls of snow into warm drinking water.

"Rogue… if we don't… find this thing… tomorrow morning… I have to go…"

Rogue glanced over at me, starting to protest, but stopping when he saw that I was still breathing heavily. "Are you sick?"

An easy out! "Y-yeah. I wasn't feeling… so good yesterday… and in this cold…"

The living lie detector kicked in. "If you don't want to tell me the real problem you don't have to."

And if I tell you in the first place that I really don't want to do a certain job you should listen!

He didn't make me speak anymore, at least. When dinner was done cooking he served me silently and confirmed through questions that I could answer by shaking my head or nodding that I wouldn't suffocate overnight. I wasn't actually sure, but by that point I doubted I could make it back to town without being carried, so if he tried to send me back in the middle of the night I was screwed anyway. I insisted that I'd be fine until morning.

-o-

I was not fine until morning, though I had developed a great deal of sympathy for people with sleep apnea. I was no longer breathing heavily, but only because it hurt to take in more than the smallest gasps of air. Rogue took one look and me and decided we needed to head back immediately.

Frosch sat on my head as Rogue hiked back up out of the valley, but only because my chin was resting on Rogue's head while he carried me. I couldn't reach for snow to try and extend my breathing time a few more seconds, so I poured energy into assuring Rogue that I would be fine to leave in a hotel room while also giving him a sense of urgency. The thinning air was starting to make it hard to stay conscious when the trail gave out beneath Rogue's feet and all three of us went tumbling down. Frosch caught Rogue, but I landed hard on my back just when getting winded was the last thing I needed.

I blacked out, so I couldn't say what happened next. When I came too I heard fighting, but it took a lot of effort to push myself up and see Rogue trying not to get killed fighting a giant mass of translucent rags with a skull sticking out the top.

Oh. That was the lich he wanted my holy magic to fight. No way was I getting up and moving over to that thing. A breath attack… still sounded stupid, but Rogue needed help. Ignoring the burning feeling as I forced my lungs to take in a big gulp up oxygen and blasted a laser at the creep.

"Sting?"

Rogue looked over at me like he was afraid I might die at any second. Certainly felt that way. If nothing else the coughing fit wasn't helping. Nor was that unholy screeching noise the lich had started making. Nor was the way if pulled a scythe out of thin air and charged at me, raising the weapon up in a perfect arc to cut my face in two… Shit.

Rogue lunged towards me too, but Frosch got their first, knocking into the lich with all her little kitty might just as it brought the scythe down and throwing off it's aim the slightest bit. The hair it cleaved off would grow back, but I couldn't brush off the way its weapon shattered the ice beneath me.

Or could I? It was so cold it burned, but we'd landed on a frozen lake. Would Rogue notice if my breathing was suddenly fine? Yes, but who cared? Breathing was way more important than having him wonder why I was breathing, and if I was already that close to suffocating then the only difference with developing hypothermia was that it was going to get a later start.

It took my numb fingers too long to get my clothes off. I had to hold onto them this time, which would make swimming hard, but if I tore my clothes changing forms then it it would be harder to explain why I resurfaced naked-assuming I managed to resurface.

The shift to my siren form was only mostly painless. The rush of cold water through my gills sent a sharp chill through my whole body, but I was breathing again, and I'd almost thought I'd get see Lector, so that felt good to say-in a bitter sweet sort of way.

The cold was murder though. I clutched my clothes tighter to try and keep my arms from going numb and felt something slip out from my pants pocket. But what… the amulet! I lit the water and swam after it. Lakes can't get as deep as the ocean, and the odds of their being another monster here were slim, and it was getting warmer so…

…getting warmer?

It was definitely getting warmer. The water went from frigid to pleasant in the blink on an eye, and as I swam deeper it actually became hot. Messing with unidentified magic, which was almost certainly what I was doing swimming through a hot spot in a frozen over lake, was dangerous, but so was suffocation and hypothermia-which I'd still be risking when I swam back up. I went deeper.

The old, worn stone on my amulet glowed, letting me watch as it hit a smooth rock of the lake floor.

No, that wasn't quite right. There was something carved into the stone. Intensifying the light in my hand, I tried to read the runes carved into what was actually a large, sunken tablet, but they were the same archaic alphabet as on my amulet. I could easily admire the image carved in with the words, depicting a battle of angels and demons, but I'm not a huge art person so I didn't admire them for long.

In one of my greatest moments of failure since I let Lector die, I reached down with my free hand for the still glowing amulet.

If you've ever grabbed hot metal and had it melt onto your hand, you'd know how frightening it is. I yanked my hand back, trying to get what I assumed to be molten whatever metal that was from burning me. The amulet-turned-goo stuck to me, slipping between my fingernails more effectively that the clay I'd picked out of it had. Pure heat oozed up my arm, down my chest, and settled into my stomach as the amulet disappeared completely.

The stone cracked, sound booming out and echoing around me. Red mist seeped out. I decided I'd gotten enough swimming in. I could breathe long enough to get out of the mountains and way from the lich and my second bottom of the lake monster for July. Never before in my life had I encountered any trouble with lake monsters and now I found two in one month.

I shifted back in stages as I swam back up. Changing my arms and torso back but keeping my webbing so I could still swim somewhat while I wiggled back into a shirt and coat. I waited until I'd found the break in the ice where I'd fallen through to get rid of my tail and put my pants back on. No sense in slowing down when I could see red mist drifting up and coiling around to follow my own path.

Rogue wasn't waiting for me by the hole in the ice, but he was locked in battle with the lich so I forgave him for that. I'd help, but I was busy trying to scamper out of the water.

"Sting!" Frosch cried.

"A hand, please," I grunted. It hadn't been as cold coming back up, but now that I was back out of the water…

Rogue glanced over at me for a second, and took a scythe to the leg while he was distracted. There was no cry of pain, and Frosch didn't notice until she'd helped drag me out. I held her back when she tried to fly for him and readied another roar. I wasn't shaking so badly that I couldn't hit the damn lich… probably.

Red mist erupted from the hole in the ice, rapidly spreading around the lake then condensing between me and the lich and Rogue. Tendrils of mist wrapped around one another, twisting and tightening until the mist took the shape of a humanoid lizard, maybe Elfman's height.

The lich fled. I could feel dark magic radiating from this thing and the lich fled. Holy magic or not, I wasn't taking on something that could emanate enough dark magic to scare off the undead.

And there was Rogue, staring at it misty eyed, a goofy grin and a goddamn blush on his face.

I tossed Frosch towards my partner, snapping the shadow happy idiot out of his stupor when a pink frog suit connected with his head, and made a run for it. I heard some mild argument and looked back to see Frosch dragging Rogue away as well. Frosch disagreeing with what she was told was actually more impressive than Rogue deciding to stay and let some red mist monster kill him. I'd have to buy her fish. Just as soon as we had the money for rent and moving fees and food.

-o-

I didn't stop running until my breath began to catch again, having ignored the cold as my drenched clothes all but froze around my skin. Frosch deposited Rogue beside me. The idiot seemed fully himself again, calm and serious and scowling at the world.

"Your breath again?"

I nodded.

"I can carry you two. I've had some time to rest after fighting the lich. Are you cold?"

Another nod. Though… not as much as I should be. By this point I knew I ought to have frost bite, but the heat in my stomach was still strong enough to keep my extremities from icing over.

Rogue helped me onto his back, and Frosch climbed back onto his head. I could see the nearest town from there. It looked so warm and inviting. I'd have a warm bed and a hot bath and there'd be members of the army posted about to fight off any mist monsters that might seep down from the mountain.

Rogue had made an idiot of himself when that monster was around, so I returned the favor and ignored his order not to fall asleep.

-o-

I woke up as Rogue was setting up camp, and while I wasn't thrilled not to get a bed a thick sleeping bag would do just as well. Especially one set by the fire.

"You need to get out of your wet clothes," Rogue said when he saw me sitting up.

I dug through our camp bag for my regular outfit. The one I'd had to get retailored after fighting Natsu. But as I was putting it on I looked down and decided that it might not be the best idea.

Rogue raised an eyebrow as I came over wearing his samue. "It looked warmer," I told him, which got a nod and kept me from having to argue over stealing his clothes.

Rogue had made tea and a fast soup while I'd spent time finding clothing that would hide my navel. I was more than happy to take in more warmth, gulping down my servings of both in record time. Afterward I crawled into my sleeping bag and, as a thank you to Rogue for getting me the rest of the way out of the mountains, didn't snap at Frosch when she patted my head and sang a lullaby.

After the previous night I thought sleep would have come easy, but I'd forgotten that I'd napped for half the day. I spent the night lying awake, wondering what I was going to do about the glowing red rune that were wrapped around my belly button.

-x-

STA: Hey, look. I changed the summary. Now that Sting's actually released the demon it occurred to me that I should probably put the actual plot in the summary. If it doesn't go over well I have the old summary saved.

I think Rogue was wearing a samue, but I'm not an expert on Japanese clothing so I might be wrong. That's not what I wanted to say, though. I wanted to say that I've never watched Lost, but the rest of my family was fanatical about it and it's my understanding that there is a smoke monster which can also turn into a dead guy. Not sure how close the mist thing comes to that, but any relation is purely coincidental. It wasn't even supposed to be mist so much as a presence, but as I was writing this I figured mist would be easier to present.

Also, you people are welcome to leave a review. You don't have to write a deeply analytical critique of the chapter. You can just say "I did/didn't like X," and the feedback would seriously make my day.

Next chapter: Natsu hasn't done anything useful yet