Susumu decided to bring a new party with her to the Traveler's Hub this time. She walked down the street alongside Konade, Neal, and Vinny, chattering the entire way.

However, Susumu looked a bit nervous about this whole thing. "Susumu? Is everything okay?" Konade asked.

"...Eh?" Susumu looked up at Konade. "Oh, everything's... Everything's fine. I was just... Just thinking, that's all."

Thinking about how weak she was, and how powerful Martcha was. Thinking about what was going to happen if they tried to challenge her. Thinking about how easily Martcha could kill her-

She didn't even notice when something grabbed her. "GAAAH! What are you doing?! W-who are you?! Put me down right now!"

"Susumu?! Susumu, what's going on?!" Neal demanded. Before he got a response, however, he saw something fly up into the air, carrying Susumu with it.

"W-what is that thing?" Konade screeched. "Where is it taking Susumu?!"

Junpei came running up to the group. "Oh! It's terrible!" he exclaimed. "You're Susumu's friends, aren't you? Something just grabbed Susumu and carried her away!"

"We know," Neal replied. "But where did that thing even go? We've gotta go save her!"

Junpei pointed off into the distance. "I saw it take off toward Powdered Peaks," he answered. "I can fly us up there, but... I have to warn you. That place is cold. Like, seriously. REALLY cold."

"No problem, no problem!" Neal declared. "The cold doesn't bother me at all!" ...But then he remembered what Susumu told him. "Ack! Susumu! She... Doesn't do well in the cold at all!"

"That just means we should save her faster then," Vinny said. "She rescued us back in Karkaton. Now it's our turn to return the favor."

The group wasted no time in hopping back into Junpei's helicopter. "Take us to Powdered Peaks as fast as you can, Junpei!" Neal instructed. "Susumu isn't gonna hold out for too long in that place!"

It didn't take long for the group to reach Powdered Peaks. As Junpei set the helicopter down onto the snow, he turned back to the party. "I, uh... Think I'm gonna sit this one out," he said. "I... Don't do so well in the cold myself. Besides, I've got to stay behind and watch my helicopter."

Neal hopped out of the helicopter as soon as he opened the door. Konade carefully touched down and stepped out. Vinny, however, was far shorter than the others, and had a bit of trouble getting out of the helicopter on his own. "...Hey, give me a break. I'm just a dog after all," he said.

The group tried to scan the landscape, but the snow was coming down too hard for them to see much of anything. "I don't see Susumu anywhere," Konade remarked. "At least, I don't think so..."

"We're going to have to go looking for her, aren't we?" Vinny asked.

"We are," Neal replied. "Anyway, this place can't be all that big, right?"

Once the group set off, however, they began to realize that this place was much bigger than they had expected. ...And much colder, too. Not only that, but the further in they went, the harder the snow started to fall. Eventually, the group had completely lost sight of where they were.

"Urgh..." Konade's petals were beginning to droop. Being a flower, the cold was pretty bad for her. She knew she had to stick things out for Susumu, but even so this was starting to hurt. "I-I have to..." And then she slumped over into the snow.

"Wha-?!" Neal rushed over to her. "Hey! Konade! Are you alright?" he asked. "Come on, you've gotta get up!" He gave her a few shakes, but she still didn't get up. Looking around, Neal could see a small cave not far away. "Vinny, come help me!" He then proceeded to attempt to pick up Konade. It was a bit of a struggle, since they were both so small, but eventually they managed to pick her up and carry her into the cave.

Once they were inside the cave, Neal and Vinny put Konade down, and Neal took a closer look at her. "Neal... Thank you," Konade said. "I-I'm so sorry, I know we have to find Susumu... I should've told you I would freeze out there, and..."

"Hang on, I'm not done yet," Neal informed her. With that, he removed his claws and began rubbing his hands together. It took him a minute or so, but... He was starting to generate heat between his hands! Before long, Konade was feeling warmed up again.

While this was going on, Vinny took a minute to look around the cave, when something on the ground caught his eye. As he walked over and picked it up, Neal followed him. "What you got th-"

His eyes widened when he saw that Vinny was holding a pair of purplish-pink colored glasses: The same ones that Susumu always wore. "These are Susumu's, aren't they?" Vinny asked. "She must be in this cave somewhere."

"Then we're getting close!" Neal declared. "Konade, you wait for us here! We think Susumu might be in this cave. We just have to go find her!"

Before Konade could say something, Neal took off into the cave, with Vinny close behind. "Where do you think she might be?" Neal asked.

Vinny continued walking, until he ended up bumping into something. "Um. Ow." Looking up, he seemed to have bumped into some sort of ice statue. The detail on this thing was incredible! "Oh, hey, look at this. I wonder who made this. It looks exactly like Susumu." Without thinking, he reached up and put the glasses on the statue's face.

...And that was when Neal noticed what had happened. "...This IS Susumu!" he exclaimed. "Vinny, she's been frozen solid! What are we gonna do?!"

"Hey, you're the fiery one," Vinny said. "Do what you did for Konade."

Neal looked a bit uncertain at first, but then he nodded, and began rubbing his hands together in front of Susumu. Slowly but surely, the ice around her began to melt. "Hey! It's working!" Neal declared. "Just a little bit longer, and I should have her..."

But then a strange noise began to echo throughout the cave. The noise didn't even SOUND like it was made by something human. "Looks like we'd better hurry," Vinny pointed out. "I think the thing that took Susumu is coming back."

"Ack!" Neal began rubbing his hands faster than before. Just a little bit more, and Susumu would be able to move again. "...I think I've got it!"

And sure enough, Susumu was completely thawed. "Urghh..." She was having a bit of trouble standing, but at least she was still alive. "...What's..."

"Wha- hey!" Neal grabbed her hand and started running. "It's me, Neal! We came to save you, but we can't stay here! We've gotta get out before that thing that ran off with you comes back!"

Neal stopped to grab Konade on the way out of the cave, and he dashed back towards the helicopter, helping the girls in as he did so. As ever, Vinny had some trouble climbing into the helicopter. "Come on, we gotta head out!" Neal exclaimed, picking up Vinny and helping him inside as he closed the door. "Junpei, get us outta here!"

As Junpei took the helicopter off the ground and away from Powdered Peaks, Neal clung to Susumu, trying to keep her warm. "Just hang in there, Susumu," he tried to comfort her. "We'll get you home as soon as we can, okay? Just... Please, say something..."

Susumu was quiet for a minute. "Neal... Everyone... Thank you..." She finally said. "I-I was so scared I would freeze to death in there, but then you all came back for me..."

"Of course we came back for you, Susumu," Konade said softly. "We're your friends. We care about you. And if anything were to happen to you..."

"It's just too bad we didn't get the next jewel," Vinny said.

Susumu, however, reached into her pocket, producing an orange jewel that looked just like the previous one. "I... Managed to pocket this off that monster before it froze me," she said. "I'm just so glad it didn't break when I was..."

Neal's eyes widened. "Whoa, seriously?! Maybe that's why it froze you! It must've been protecting that jewel!"

"Well, at least we have it now," Konade said. "But Susumu still needs her rest. Junpei, take us straight back to the inn. We can't set out again until Susumu is back on her feet."

Susumu said nothing, holding onto Neal as she stared out the window.

"...Thanks, everyone. I don't know what I would've done without you..."