The skies were now brighter than they were the previous night. What was once a town bustling with people was now nothing more than a sight of a disastrous aftermath in complete silence. The smoke from the fire still lingered in the air.

A woman and a boy walked into the destroyed town, heads turning frequently to gather the aftermath around them. It was certainly terrible. The boy had wandered away from the woman to take a better look at something that caught his eye while the woman stared in front of her. Then she heard a sound. It was clear to her in such a deserted place. It was a scratching type of sound.

"Lyon, come over here! We've got a survivor!"

The boy known as Lyon whirled around quickly in shock before bolting over to where the woman was. Underneath the rubble, was Gray. He was awake and crying from the mix of despair and anger he was feeling.

Lyon crouched down in front of the rubble to take a better look at the other boy.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Deliora… I won't forgive Deliora… never."

The woman gently pushed away Lyon, "Lyon, stand aside."

"Ur…?"

"Go look around and check if anyone else is still alive." Ur told him as she began to move away some rubble that was on top of Gray. It was crucial to check if there were anymore survivors like the boy.

"Oh, okay." Lyon nodded his head and walked off in a random direction. He whipped his head around several times to try and spot a living person. However, he couldn't tell which ones were dead and which ones were alive. So, he decided to cup his hands around his mouth and yell.

"Hey! Is there anyone alive?!"

…

…

…

Karissa's eyes opened. She was confused. Instead of laying inside a bed, she was outside lying on the cold concrete floor. Her right arm was hurting. There was also some wood on her back, trapping her underneath it.

Then, the memories of the previous night just flashed into her mind. After that huge explosion, she couldn't remember anything else that happened. What was going to happen now?

"Mister Silver… Miss Mika… Gray… where are you?" she mumbled sadly, scared of the overwhelming feeling of being alone.

"Hey! Is there anyone alive?!"

Karissa's head rose when she heard the voice.

"Can anyone hear me?!"

There was someone there. With little strength she had, she tried shimming her way out in hopes of seeing the other person.

Lyon, who was standing not too far from her, heard her movements and gasped. It was a girl! Immediately, he started running over to where she was. "Wait, I'll help you get out of there!" he shouted when he saw her futile attempts to get out. When he was in front of her, she looked up at him with her dark brown eyes, feeling helpless. The wood on her body was long and a bit thin yet still capable of trapping her underneath with its weight. He sucked in a deep breath as he summoned up all of his strength and then crouched to put his hands underneath. He lifted the wood off her body and looked at her.

"O-Okay! You can get out now." he wheezed.

Karissa did her best to hurry and get on her knees and crawl away. When she made it out, she just sat on the back of her legs and looked around. She couldn't recognize anything. The place didn't even look like home anymore. It felt empty.

When Lyon finally dropped the wood, he let out a relieved breath and dusted his hands off. Then he fanned away the cloud of smoke that flew in the air from dropping it. When he turned around to look at the girl, he saw how lost she looked as her eyes took in the sight around her. He frowned, unsure of what to do. From his peripheral vision, he saw Ur waving him over.

Karissa felt Lyon hold her hand, causing her to look at him curiously. "Come on." was all he told her before gently guiding her to where Ur was. Lyon made sure to avoid any rock paths since she was just wearing a pair of socks. Karissa just kept her head down and looked at the concrete under her. What was going to happen now?

"Karissa…?"

The girl lifted her head when she heard the familiar voice. Gray was standing there next to a woman who most likely found him too. Karissa let go of the boy's hand and hurried over to Gray, super relieved to see a familiar face. Her world felt just a tad bit brighter now. He was also relieved to see her; she could tell from the small smile and the slumping relief of his shoulders. But then his face darkened and his eyes started threatening to spill more tears.

"I'll never forgive Deliora." he stated angrily while looking at the ground. "That monster did this...!"

Karissa's eyes widened. The name of that demon. It was a demon of destruction that destroyed everything around it. She heard tales of it but she never thought it actually existed. She first heard about it while shopping in the market with her siblings. Pandora had told her that it was just some myth that people talked about because they were bored. Pandora had lied to her.

She figured that Gray must have seen it the previous night.

Karissa gazed at Gray numbly.

Ur gazed at the two observantly. Unlike the girl, the boy was slowly falling into darkness with his thirst for revenge.

"Don't worry, I won't leave you two alone."

They arrived in Grandell, the town up ahead, which was the town where Pandora and Van traveled to go grocery shopping. Karissa had told Ur about her situation and Ur decided to take them there and wait until her siblings arrived. If it was possible, then perhaps Pandora would take care of both Karissa and Gray. There was a place proving shelter for the people who were homeless thanks to Deliora's rampage. Karissa was still in her pyjamas when she saw a familiar lady running a food stand. It was the lady who was always giving her family a discount due to their tight financial situation. Her names was Lilith. She went to her immediately.

"Oh my goodness!" Lilith covered her mouth when she saw the ragged state that Karissa was in. She had already guessed what had happened to Karissa. She went around her stand and went to embrace Karissa tightly. "You must have been through a lot, Karissa." She pulled away to put a hand on her face. "Are you alright?"

Ur, Lyon and Gray went over to the stand to catch up to Karissa.

Karissa held up right arm that was bandaged thanks to Ur. "Yeah I'm fine. But is Pandora and Van here?"

Lilith looked taken back by that question. "Pandora and Van…? They left town two days ago."

Karissa was surprised. They already went home so soon?

"Two days ago?" Ur repeated. "Then that means they must have arrived the day Deliora attacked the town. It's possible that they might have been caught in the destruction…"

Pandora and Van did not take any carriages or train to get to Grandell. They usually walked since Pandora felt like it was best to save money, it took them three days to get there. They only took a vehicle when they traveled home since they couldn't carry everything on foot. By train, it would take them a day to return home.

Gray clenched his fists tightly.

Lyon looked up at Ur silently, she really wasn't going to sugar coat anything.

Karissa didn't say anything. Could they really be gone too? She didn't know what to do now.

Lilith suggested that they stay in town for a day just in case Van and Pandora returned to find her. It's possible that they were on their way back to look for her in Grandell. Lilith told Karissa to hope for that chance, providing some more light to her dark world.

As Ur said, she didn't leave the two alone. She agreed to this suggestion and decided to wait a day in Grandell for Pandora and Van. She also took this opportunity to buy Karissa and Gray some new clothes and shoes since they couldn't keep walking around in ragged sleepwear clothes. Ur paid for a room in an inn an informed one of the people in charge of the shelter to send Pandora and Van to the inn in case they asked for Karissa.

They waited for a day.

But Pandora and Van never came.

…

…

…

Karissa had learned that Ur was a mage who just happened to be passing by with her disciple Lyon. They lived up north in Iceberg. While Karissa was glad to have some type of distraction to ease her worried mind, Gray was just quiet and as he listened. It was only when Ur had mentioned that she was teaching Lyon magic that Gray showed some interest.

"What do you want to do?" Ur asked them. "I could leave you with an orphanage… or—"

"I want you to also teach me magic." Gray declared seriously, prompting Lyon to whip his head in his direction with a shocked face. He glanced at Gray and then at Ur and then at Gray once more. "What?! Why—" Lyon was cut off when Ur put a hand on his mouth. "Are you sure?"

Gray nodded. "Yeah. I want to learn." He clenched his small fist tightly. "I want to become powerful enough to take revenge on Deliora."

Ur didn't say anything in response to that, she just gazed at him thoughtful for a few seconds. Then she looked at Karissa. "And what about you? Do you want to come along and train under me as well?"

Karissa absolutely didn't want to be sent to an orphanage. Never. She didn't even want to live with Lilith if it was possibility. She didn't want to be alone. She wanted to stay with Gray. Her choice was obvious. "I want to come too. I'll learn magic with you." she said while playing with the hem of her shirt.

Ur nodded. Despite Lyon's silent protests, she had decided to take on two new pupils. All that was left was to buy them some clothes in town since they were going to start living with her. Then, they took the train to head north and then walked up a mountain where Ur's house was.

They were walking higher up the snowy mountain.

Ur was leading the way while Gray walked behind her. Lyon and Karissa were walking together in the back. Karissa had her hands in her pockets while Lyon just had his hands behind his head, he didn't seem to mind the cold as much as she did.

"So, how old are you?"

Karissa looked at him. "Me? Um, I'm eight."

She felt a bit uneasy about being around Lyon. She could remember the way he acted when Ur decided to take her and Gray in; he wasn't pleased at all. He didn't even look at the two of them for a while. He just crossed his arms and looked sour during the whole trip on the train. But now he was acting friendlier since he was asking her questions and stuff about what she liked to do. Gray was kind of irked at the way he just bounced back cheerfully since he wasn't used to it. Karissa was content compared to Gray since she rather not be on someone's bad side.

Lyon grinned. "Hey, I'm older than you. I'm nine." He pointed at Gray. "What about him?"

Gray looked over his shoulder with a scowl. "I'm right in front of you." Lyon just ignored him.

"He's also eight." Karissa smiled. Despite Gray's current obsession with Deliora, it was still him underneath it all.

Ur finally stopped. She put her hands on her hips while her back faced them. "First, the basics of ice magic." She turned around to look at her new students. "Gray, Karissa, can you handle it? My training is hard."

She was probably referring to the open snow field around them. They would be training in the cold.

"Um, I'll do my best." Karissa said nervously, unsure of how she should give her answer.

"Yeah! I'll do anything! As long as I can get the power to defeat Deliora, I can do anything!" Gray boasted confidently in front of Ur.

"Sheesh." Lyon muttered next to Karissa before sighing. She heard his clothes rustling next to her but she didn't pay attention since her eyes were on Ur… who was now stripping down to her underwear. Gray let out a choked gasp while Karissa just took a step back, wondering what was happening. Then she felt Lyon nudge her side with his elbow. He was also in his underwear.

"Come on, you have to do it too." Lyon grinned.

"Seriously…?" Karissa grimaced.

"I know it's weird at first but it's part of training." Lyon told her with his arms crossed.

It was embarrassing and it was ridiculous. But in the end, she still stripped too. She was clad in her panties and a cropped undershirt that Ur had bought for her. It didn't take long for her to start shivering. The cold was overtaking the amount of embarrassed meant she was feeling. Her clothes were dumped on the side next to Lyon's.

"Lyon, it's cold..." Karissa whined while removing one barefoot from the snow to try and somehow heat it up by not touching the snow.

"You think I'd strip in this snow?!" Gray turned around. "Karissa, Lyon! Back me up!" He shouted. The sight of a smiling Lyon with his arms crossed and a frowning Karissa who just shivered silently nearly made his eyes pop out. "You guys are naked too?!" He exclaimed out in disbelief. He was also embarrassed from seeing his friend in her underwear.

He looked at Ur with a scowl and blushing face. "You're a woman, right?! Aren't you embarrassed?"

Ur just laughed. "Being in my underwear in front of kids? Not really." she waved her hand dismissively, "Now, come on, take your clothes off. If you want to control the cold, you have need to become one with the cold."

After Gray stripped, all three of them were shivering.

"You'll get used to it soon." Ur reassured with a smile.

Lyon, who claimed he was already used to it, was actually shivering just as much as they were. It made Karissa snort in amusement.

"Come on, we're going to run." Ur announced suddenly as she started running off.

"Hey! Teach me magic!" Gray shouted behind her.

"Just run," Lyon groaned. "Even I am doing the basics for you."

Karissa shivered. "My feet…" she moaned. "They're cold…"

Ur was teaching them ice molding magic. According to her, it was a type of magic that was unrestrained, it was the greatest freedom. Each individual's molding magic is unique. It's type of magic that best show's the caster's personalities.

…

…

…

Ten days after Deliora's attack, Gray and Karissa were already making some ice. They weren't at Lyon's level just yet but they were gradually improving each day.

The three students were friends. It made Ur feel glad to have accepted to teach Gray and Karissa since Lyon could have someone around his age to hang around with. Gray and Lyon were rivals while Karissa was the mediator since she was always the one that had to try and stop them whenever they started fighting.

"Alright, time for bed time." Ur said after closing the lights in the kitchen. Her three students were sitting on the couch in their pajamas after brushing their teeth instead of just heading upstairs to sleep. Gray was the first to hop off the couch while Lyon just sat there looking at Karissa. She was sleeping next to him, curled up next to the arm rest of the couch.

Ur looked at Lyon when he called her. "Karissa's fast asleep on the couch." Lyon pointed with his finger. Ur and Gray walked over to them and stared at her sleeping face. The reason she was fast asleep was because she trained hard earlier. She actually spent a lot of her time improving a specific ice creation several times until she was satisfied, in other words she was literally spent of magic power.

"That girl." Ur sighed, "She needs to learn to conserve her strength. In a real fight, she would definitely lose." Ur said as she scooped her up and went to the stairs.

The two boys looked at each other and then shrugged at the same time, they followed closely behind after shutting the living room lights. "She can be reckless..." Lyon whispered.

Gray snorted. "Tell me about it."

Soon all the lights in the house was shut off, except for one room. Ur gently placed Karissa in bed, and instantly the little nuzzled her face in the pillow. Her spot was right next to Ur and Gray. When Gray slipped under the blanket he shared with Karissa and Lyon, she let out a tired sigh and stared up at the ceiling. She might have sensed his warmth since she just turned towards him and scooted a bit closer. Gray just flinched and grimaced at how close she had gotten.

"What the...?!"

"Shh! Be quiet, you dope. You're gonna wake her!" Lyon whispered a little too loudly.

"Shut up, you know-it-all!" Gray snapped at him.

"Alright, you two shut up and just go to sleep." Ur hissed, not wanting Karissa to wake up because of them.

"Fine."

…

…

…

The girl felt someone's knee prod her butt followed by a cool chill. It was enough to wake her from her sleep. With squinted eyes, she pushed herself up a little and twisted around to look behind her since she was facing Ur. Gray was sleeping messily, limbs practically askew.

Karissa narrowed her eyes at him in annoyance for disturbing her sleep. "Geez." she uttered before sticking her tongue out at him.

The clouds hiding the moon slowly began to clear the way for the only source of natural light at night. The moonlight began to seep into the room, touching Lyon first before slowly stretching towards Gray, Karissa and Ur. Karissa could see the dust flying in the light.

She was feeling something quite familiar; it was something she felt not too long ago.

Her hand reached out for something.

Karissa blinked.

… It's not with me anymore.

Her stuffed animal. She lost it after Deliora attacked her hometown.

Her hand slowly fell back to her side. She sat there quietly for about a minute.

Karissa quietly pushed herself up so she wouldn't wake Gray with how she was moving the blanket. Her feet barely made a sound when she went to the door, then she left the room.

She went to the bathroom and sat on the toilet cover. She let out a sigh and looked down.

Maybe… Maybe they're okay?

Her eyes started stinging but all she did was keep staring at a single tile.

I just want to see them again.

Karissa played with her fingers.

I miss them.

"Mommy… daddy…" she said in a quiet broken voice.

…

…

…

Ur awoke to the faint sound of crying. As a trained wizard, it was in her nature to be alert thus being able to wake up to the slightest odd sounds was a must for her. The first thing she noticed was one of her students missing from their bed. It immediately got her concerned; it had her glancing around the room several times. The more she stayed awake, the more she was able to clearly hear the sound of crying coming from somewhere in the house. Without another thought, Ur got up from the floor and quietly exited the room to avoid waking Lyon and Gray.

She followed the sound to the bathroom where she could now hear soft hiccupping.

Ur took hold of the handle and slowly opened the door.

The sight of Karissa crying on the toilet with her arms up horizontally to bury her face in them just made Ur's heart ache. Seeing the manner in which she cried made Ur believe that she was in emotional pain. It was resonating with her motherly instincts.

"Hey, Karissa." Ur called her name softly while entering the bathroom. The girl didn't say anything but grit her teeth in an attempt to stop herself from crying anymore. Her teacher kneeled down in front of her and held the side of her shoulders. "What's the matter?"

Karissa may be her student but she was still a child.

Karissa just shook her head. "I-I'm fine."

Ur smiled a little. "You're not okay if you're crying in the bathroom in the middle of the night." She pointed out. "Was it a nightmare?"

Karissa shook her head again while biting her lip.

"I just miss my family."

Ur stilled for a moment.

"… I-It's not the first time. I already lost my mommy and daddy before… now I lost my big sister and big brother… It's not fair." Karissa sniffled. "I feel alone."

Karissa lowered her arms and looked down at her arms. They were wet from her tears. Ur leaned up and embraced her, she rubbed her back softly. Karissa understood that death was something inevitable and out of her control but she was feeling the pain and the sense of loneliness that came from it. Ur had made the mistake to focus a bit more of her attention on Gray who was wrapped up in his desire for revenge. She should have realized a bit sooner that Karissa was also feeling quite sad despite the strong front she put on.

"It hurts, I know it does." Ur said while looking forlorn. "But you're never alone. As long as you have other people you care about and have people who care for you in return, you won't be alone. I'm here, Gray and Lyon too… we're all here. That's what we humans do; we look out for each other."

Karissa just hummed to acknowledge Ur's words.

…

…

Lyon and Gray looked at each other in the dark. They were out of bed and standing near the door of the room so that they could listen.

"I feel bad for her." Lyon mumbled.

"Damn that Deliora…" Gray gritted his teeth.

They both ran back to their beds when they heard Ur and Karissa coming back.

Ur watched her students put their clothes back on. Karissa was panting heavily compared to the other two from the exertion of too magic power. Again, she overdid it. No matter how many times she warned her about it, Karissa kept repeating her mistakes. The girl was insisting that she was trying her best to follow Ur's instructions, she felt like she was. But if Ur kept lecturing on it, then it was obvious she wasn't trying hard enough. She saw talent in Karissa, she really did, she just needed to learn to be reasonable in how much magic power she spent.

"D-Damn it… I k-keep losing…" Gray's teeth chattered. It was colder than what he was used to. Both he and Karissa were shivering from the cold.

Lyon just smiled proudly. "Of course. I'm the senior here, so I'm way above you."

"O-Oh y-yeah?! We'll see about th-that, pointy eyes. I'll get better than y-you in no time." He shoved Lyon away from him.

"Keep dreaming, droopy eyes." Lyon shoved him back.

"Ahh, keep th-th-the fighting for wh-when we're back at h-home, okay?" Karissa stepped in between them. She really just wanted to go home and warm up by the fireplace.

Lyon just shrugged as he gave in to Karissa's plea while Gray just wrapped his arms around his small body in attempt to warm himself up. Karissa had her arms inside her jacket and inside her shirt, and did the same as Gray. Seeing her two students shiver like that made Ur chuckle softly.

"Are you two cold?" she squatted down in front of them.

"Wh-What does it look like?!" Gray scowled.

Ur reached into her jacket's pocket. Karissa noticed how round and bulky it was. Ur pulled out two dark red scarves from her pocket. She wrapped one around Gray first and then Karissa.

"This will warm you up a bit."

Gray hid his face deeper into the red fabric. "Y-You should have done that before." he muttered.

Karissa still kept her arms inside her clothes since it was somewhat able to generate more warmth. The scarf was definitely keeping her warmer too. "Thank you." she smiled behind it, her nose red from the cold.