It was cold.

So, so cold.

Takara couldn't feel a single part of her body as she trudged through the snow, her only confirmation that she was moving at all being the trees moving past her. The pain from the cold had long since faded, and had been replaced with numbness. Her eyes were practically glued shut by the ice, but she could still barely see Jason moving ahead of her, stumbling as he did.

"J-Jason..." she called out weakly, her voice creaky and unstable. "W-We're going to freeze to death..."

She got no response from him.

"J-Jason?" She asked, forcing her eyes to open more to get a better view. They widened even more in surprise. Jason had hid the dirt, and he wasn't moving. Fear powering her, Takara moved quickly and picked him up, feeling his body. He was just as cold as she was, maybe even worse after the fighting had wounded him and tore his clothes. What was she supposed to do? She didn't have the strength the pull him! Looking around wildly, Takara looked for something, anything, they could use to shelter them from the cold.

She soon saw it.

Off in the distance, hidden in the trees, she swore she saw a cabin. It was obviously made of local trees, as it blended in so well she nearly missed it in her delirium. Steeling her resolve, Takara grabbed Jason by his shoulders and pulled with all her might. He barely moved, but she wasn't going to give up. Not yet. She pulled and pulled, using her near useless arms and legs to drag them both towards the cabin. It felt like hours, but she finally felt her back hit a door. They both fell through the doorway, Takara nearly hitting her head on a nearby chair. Scrambling to her feet as best she could, she looked around for some kind of heat source. She could see a fire pit in the center, and off to the side there was a pile of logs. She needed to move quickly, or she'd be a goner. She grabbed some logs and kindling, tossing it into the fire pit. She scanned the nearby surfaces, looking for some kind of lighter. She soon saw one. Seemed to be one that required you to squeeze metal together. It would do.

Grabbing it in her hand, Takara nearly fell over the pit to get to it. She squeezed the lighter as hard as she could, but her frozen fingers could barely summon any strength. Gritting her teeth, she used both hands and squeezed as hard as she could. Over and over again, she wasn't able to summon the strength to get sparks. Growling angrily, she used all the strength she had and squeezed. Sparks flew from the lighters, but just once wouldn't be enough. She squeezed over and over again, all over the wood, to get it to light. Over time, the wood began to light up. The kindling obvious went first, and then the flames spread to the logs. Takara hadn't made a fire in years, but she still knew how it seemed. She stoked the fire and added as much kindling as she could, using up pretty much all the wood in the cabin. She'd have to apologise to whoever owned it if she met them.

Before long, the flames were roaring hot. Takara could feel the feeling returning to her limbs, which she assumed was a good sign. She'd set up the one bed in the cabin right next to the fire, putting Jason on it covered in blankets. She herself took the chair and the rest of the blankets, keeping right up next to the pit. She'd found some cooking equipment and canned goods in a nearby cabinet, so she helped herself and used her magic to open a can of beans. She set the pot on the metal over the fire, curling back up in the blankets as she waited for them to cook. Honestly, she wouldn't be surprised if they both had frostbite. She had no clue how long they'd been out there, but it must have been a while. The gemstone boots she'd made for them had become far to uncomfortable, both having ditched them who new how long ago. How much time had passed, anyway? Hours? Days? She didn't know anymore. It was getting dark out, so at the very least the current day was about to end.

Takara looked up as Jason stirred, bolting up in the bed in surprise.

"Morning sleepyhead," Takara said as he looked at her wildly, feeling his bare chest.

"W-Where are we?" He asked weakly.

"Some poor bastard's cabin," she replied. "Want some beans?" Jason looked down at the boiling pot in confusion, his stomach answering for him as it roared.

"Sure," he answered. Takara removed the pot from the fire and used a ladle she'd found to scoop some of the beans into a bowl. Once she'd filled it she passed it to Jason, who took it hungrily. By the time she'd filled a bowl for herself, Jason had already dug deep into his own serving.

"God that's good." He mumbled through a mouthful.

"Suppose it helps we've been eating slop for ten years," she said as she helped herself to her own. It did taste pretty good. While she was beneath the blankets eating her food, Takara felt something overcome here.

Calm.

As she sat in the cabin, under a blanket with a fire going as the winter attacked the cabin, she felt so calm. She hadn't felt so alive in ten years.

"Is there more?" Jason asked her. Takara gestured to the pot, where the rest of the beans were waiting for them. Jason helped himself to the rest, seemingly ignoring her. Not that it mattered, this place was stocked up on canned goods.

"Good thing there's no more of us," Takara muttered as she stared at her beans. "Three would be a crowd in here."

Silence came over the both of them, Jason staring down at his bowl after this comment. Takara wasn't sure what she wanted him to say, but anything would be a good start.

"What do you want me to say?" Jason finally asked. "Do you want an apology? An explanation?"

"I don't know what I want," Takara replied. "I'm just confused and angry. Mainly at you." Jason frowned at this, setting aside his bowl.

"Taka, listen to me." He said. "If there was a way for us to have saved 545-"

"Nashi," Takara interrupted. "Her name is Nashi."

"If there was a way to save Nashi, I would have gone for it." He continued. "But you need to stop living in a fantasy land and look at reality. Nashi was surrounded by guards and Thanatos. She got captured before the portal closed. What were the two of us going to do? Run back in there, let the portal close and get captured with her? Is that what you wanted? Cause you know neither of us had the strength to fight all of them off."

Takara sighed at this, watching the fire flicker quietly. Deep down, she knew he had a point. Nashi being overwhelmed by the guards had practically sealed her fate. There was nothing they could do to help her.

Still...

"Why don't you tell me why Thanatos seemed to know you personally?" She asked, leaning back in the chair and pulling the blanket up to her neck. "From what I heard, seems I may not want you around." Jason let out a pathetic laugh at this.

"I figured you'd ask," he said. "I guess I don't have a glowing character background right now." He looked down at the fire, any trace of mirth disappearing from his face. "Guess there's no harm in telling you. I used to work for The Olympians."

Takara felt a surge of anger go through her body, but she withheld it as best she could.

"It was a long time ago, when I was just a kid." He said. "I didn't know any better. The Olympians, Zeus, Hades, they told me that I was destined for greatness. The others and I, all just kids."

"Others?" Takara asked.

"A secret unit in The Olympians," Jason answered. "They called us the Children of Nyx. Apparently, the name comes from an old mythology. The names we were given were the personifications of certain aspects in said mythology. Thanatos, the personification of death, is a perfect example. Moros, Hypnos, all of us were just kids...Including my sister."

Sister?

"Her real name was Sarah," he said, a dark look in his eyes now. "But Hades gave her the name Apate, the personification of deceit." Takara didn't say anything, she just watched Jason play with his hands.

"What name did they give you, again?" She asked. Jason exhaled loudly, still glaring at the flames.

"Dolos, spirit of trickery and guile." Jason replied. "The same name as Apate's brother from the mythos. Fitting, I suppose." He furrowed his brow at this. "My sister was leagues above me in strength. Her magic was so much stronger, and everyone always looked to her when we got in trouble. That just made what she did even harder to accept."

"...What did she do?" Takara asked. Jason seemed to grow even angrier at this.

"She tried to escape The Olympians," he said. "At the time, I couldn't comprehend why. They had never been cruel to us, given us everything. I couldn't understand why Sarah would want to abandon that."

"Why did she?"

"Same reason I did," Jason replied. "She found out the truth about The Olympians. What they were doing. Kidnapping kids, taking violent dark guilds under their wing and allowing them to run wild...But that was just the start. The grand plan they had taken us in for, apparently, revolves around utilising a girl as a weapon. This girl, whoever she is, is apparently extremely strong. And Zeus wants her power in order to fend something off. I don't recall a lot of the specifics, but what I do know is that he's wholly prepared to toss her life away once he's done with her." He glowered at this. "If that was just it I could have lived with it, but it wasn't over. They had this entire, convoluted plan. How they were going to draw out this power of her through torture, or rape, or any means necessary...The thought made me vomit."

"That's disgusting," Takara said weakly. Jason nodded solemnly.

"You didn't read the profile," he replied. "The things they suggested doing...It was horrific. So, I left. Or, I guess I tried to. I didn't get very fair before Hades and the Children of Nyx caught up to me. It didn't matter what I said, Thanatos and the others weren't listening to me. They wholly believed Hades and Zeus. I didn't stand a chance against them."

"Wait," Takara said. "What happened to your sister? You never said."

"She's dead," Jason replied coldly. "She couldn't accept that Zeus would do something so horrible, and went to ask him directly. When he confirmed it to her, there was a fight...He killed her. Didn't even hesitate from what I heard." Takara watched Jason as he stared down at the fire, the only sound in the cabin being the crackling of the fire and the snow hitting the cabin from outside. He looked so strained and angry, so much so Takara could hardly believe he didn't want to go a few rounds with Thanatos.

"So why did you want get out?" She asked. "You were the one who came to me about escaping. What's driving you?" Jason looked up at her, a steely look in his eye.

"I want to stop Zeus," he said. "The things he's been allowed to get away with are unacceptable. My sister died because she couldn't accept the sins he's committed. I'll make sure he's stopped."

"Good luck with that," Takara replied as she turned to look out the window. "I've got other things to do."

"Like find your brother?" Jason asked, Takara nodding. "I almost forgot 5-Nashi gave you a lead. What guild did she say?"

"Fairy Tail," Takara replied. "It was her own, ever heard of it?"

"Vaguely," he said. "I heard it's home to some of the strongest wizards on the continent. Or any continent."

"She said they can find my brother," she said. "So that's where I'm going. Second we get to civilisation, that is. Where did you send us anyway?"

"Honestly, I have no idea." Jason said as he looked around the small cabin. "I just made sure we were on the right coordinates to not fall into the ocean or out of the sky."

"So we could be anywhere is what you're getting at," Takara replied with a sigh. "Great."

"At least we're out of that cursed place," Jason said.

"Yeah...I guess."

The next few days were the warmest Takara had ever been. Both of them decided that hanging around in the cabin for a bit was best, and Takara never felt better. The food had reinvigorated her after their starvation in Tartarus, and the fire warmed her long cold bones. By the time they decided to leave, she felt ready to trudge through the snow. Both deciding they had nothing to lose, they raided the closet they found for any warm clothes to wear. Takara took one of the huge puffy parka's, Jason taking the bigger one. They'd both strapped boots to their feet and scarves around their necks, ready to brave the cold weather for whoever long they had too.

"Ready?" Jason asked.

"Just about," Takara replied as she shoved as many cans of food as she could into the bag she'd found. It was obviously foolish to leave here without taking supplies, so they'd both agreed it was best. "Just one more thing."

"Which is?"

"A note." Jason raised an eyebrow as Takara placed the very poorly written note on the table.

"I don't think we need to leave that," he said.

"If I didn't I'd feel bad that we just robbed this poor persons cabin," she replied. "It's the right thing to do." Jason just snorted as he watched her pull her hood up.

"You're a righteous one, huh?" He asked.

"Don't patronise me, child of darkness." Takara shot back, making him wince. "If it were your cabin, you'd want to know too." He shrugged at this as he opened the door.

"Do what you want," he replied. "Let's go, we're burning daylight."

"After you," she said. As Jason left the cabin, she turned and looked at the cabin one last time. It had grown so homely over the last few days, but it was time to go. Time to find Fairy Tail, and then her brother.

Time to make a plan to save Nashi.

To whoever's cabin this is,

Very sorry we robbed you. We've been lost and freezing to death in the woods for I don't even know how long. We only took what we needed. Very sorry if the coats meant anything to you. All the best.

Chapter 353: Meeting in Minstrel