A long, long time ago, before Dark Dawn came to be... I used to ship a certain unusual pairing.

ALEX

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Alex understands the cold. Well, that should be a given, being a boy born and raised in the ever-snowy Imil... but it's not. His understanding of cold derives from a very different source. Because Mia, for example... Imilan as she is, just as much as him, she knows the cold but doesn't understand it, not like Alex does.

Because see, Mia has never received cold. She had always been the angel of the town, the nice girl, the pious priestess, the one and only dutiful daughter of master Sergei, blessed be their names. Hence, she always received warmth.

Alex's case was different. He was two years older, a boy, and not a son but a nephew. No more than a disciple to master Sergei, as much of an honour that it still was. And boys weren't as sensitive as girls, everybody knew that. Besides, he was already very talented, that was clear as ice. There was no need to coddle him with praise and encouragement, when discipline and training suited him better. There was no need to give him warmth too.

However, that all changed after a fateful chance encounter with them, the Proxians.

"I can't stay the same Alex you knew forever."

Inhabitants of a frozen land in the northernmost part of Weyard, even colder than Imil, but so much different that it shook Alex's world upside down. Proxians were warm, in fact there was so much heat in them that it was a mystery how their blood didn't boil and their tough skin didn't blister.

Alex understood that their cold was not the same kind as his, for Prox was neither the same as Imil. Proxians gathered as a group, they worked in tandems. The success of one meant joy for everybody; the failure of one meant loss for everybody too. Proxians shared their warmth, thus never suffering the cold that Alex had.

Three years later, Alex was well on his way to escape the cold forever.

"I do not wish to inflict unnecessary bloodshed."

The knowledge of a scholar, the experience of a healer and the ability of an explorer, but not the bloodlust of a warrior.

"How undignified… and how shameful."

The hope of a believer. The ambition of an adventurer.

"So you honestly believe that even a hundred of you could stop me?"

It was even somehow poetic using the Geyser psynergy (that master Sergei had taught him) to get rid of the obstacles in his path. Alex could easily picture the ever-present frown in his uncle's face and felt an immense satisfaction in his heart. Imil's cold had already been left behind, the warmth of the rest of Weyard was waiting for him. Something that only achieving and conquering the Golden Sun would bring back.

"I am on no one's side. My only concern is to see the lighthouse beacons lit once again."

Not for the first time, memories of his born town plagued his mind and hindered his steps. Humans were, after all, emotional beings, and as much as it irked him to admit it, Alex was still very much human.

"You have no need to hide such fine exploits from me. Working hard for the benefit of others is quite noble. That's what Mia always said..."

Would things have been different if his gentle cousin had given him a little bit more of attention? Alex doubted it. Mia already had her hands full taking care of the whole town to also check him up; if anything, he was expected to support her. There was not a drop of warmth left to be wasted on him anyway.

"Even now, I want to run to Mia, to give her my aid... it seems I am weak as well."

Curious how life can turn around just with a few words... or taking an alternative course of action... or making some unexpected choices. One single decision has the power of throwing all off the tracks and carve a new destiny for those brave enough to pursue it...

"You're not like me. You can't simply discard someone who is no longer of use to you."

... as long as they're willing to pay the price, of course.

"Flee?! I can't flee! I can't even move!"

COLDCOLDCOLDCOLDCOLDCOLD...

Cold as Alex had never felt before imprisoned him.

Cold of stillness. Cold of quietness. Cold of stale air. Cold of tons upon tons of molten rock cooling and solidifying above him, under him, all around him. The cold of his Mercury psynergy, greatly empowered by the Golden Sun, reacting into self-preservation and trapping him in a cocoon shield, putting his body into stasis, in a dream-like state not dissimilar to the embrace of death.

If only it could be that easy.

The hunger, the fear, the pain of his wounds were telltale of Alex's very much alive state. The cold wouldn't let him forget that he was buried alive.

For a year, that oppressive and unknown cold was his sole company.

When the tremors started vibrating around him, Alex's eyes welled up. Those tiny shakes, that little by little grew stronger and nearer, were the first sounds of life that his ears had caught in a seemingly very long time. And then a smell permeated through the shield of his cocoon: petrichor, like rain over the earth. Which meant that casket of rock had been broken down, at least to the point of allowing soil and air to breath deep enough, reaching him.

How close could the surface be now? Alex didn't know, but the warmth of the mulled earth couldn't compare to the cold of the bedrock.

There in the darkness, all alone with his unfulfilled dreams and frustrations, the Mercury adept exerted his psynergy for the first time in a year. Nervously, he commanded Warp to take him out of the cocoon that had protected him until now... to no avail; it didn't work when he couldn't picture where exactly to warp. Geyser came next, since pulling water through the soil had been master Sergei's original intention; no luck either, because water could only be pulled from down, not pushed up.

Falling to his knees and shaking in despair, Alex raked his brain for another idea, but his mind felt like fogged by an increasing warmth. So close, so close... as if walking right above him, on the surface, enjoying the breeze and the comforting caress of the sun.

... Very well, then. If Mercury psynergy was no good, no better moment than the current to begin trying out his hardly earned Venus and Jupiter ones. Projecting out his power as much as he could, Alex commanded the wind outside to penetrate the softened earth, and the soil inside to part ways where he was. Slowly but steady, both sides drilled a way out for him until joining again.

The first ray of sunlight that reached Alex was thin as a needle, but still so beautiful and bright that he could have sworn it blinded him.

Following that minuscule rope of shine, the Imilan tracked it back up with vines, enlarging the opening until it could fit him when he attempted his escape, because Alex suspected that everything would collapse on him the moment he released the cocoon shield.

Indeed, that was exactly what happened. Though still half buried, the water adept painstakingly wormed his way up, digging through his own grave, until finally resting horizontal under the watch of the sun. The first breath of fresh air tasted like glory.

WARMTHWARMTHWARMTHWARMTHWARMTHWARMTH...

It was next to him. The heat source. That inextinguishable warmth that he could have obtained at last with the Golden Sun, but in the end had evaded him.

Alex had to reach out, had to touch it. Just like a man lost in the desert, dying of thirst. He couldn't afford losing it again. Despite the weakness of his body, his psynergy was extremely powerful. His mind disconnected, focusing solely onto siphoning that warmth that he had craved for so long.

When he regained his senses, the sun was already setting. The cold was no more. A voice was approaching.

"Kay! Kay, where are you? Answer me!"

That obnoxious voice, that Alex remembered quite well, helped him recover his wits and take notice of the situation at hand.

There was a girl on the floor, lying unconscious. A young woman, better said, with fiery red hair. Clearly a Mars adept. Healer instincts kicking in, Alex reached a hand towards her, almost praying that he hadn't... Praise to goddess Iris, she was still alive. Just totally depleted of psynergy after he had dried her up.

"Kay? Are you alright? It's been hours since you've been gone, everybody is worried!"

Acknowledging the dire situation he was in, Alex hastily stood up, preparing to flee before he could be found. One last look at the exhausted girl reassured him that she would be fine, only needed to rest a few days. Most likely (and luckily), she wouldn't even remember what happened, considering how much Alex had taken from her.

"Hey, scream if you're hurt! Can you hear me, Kay?"

The moment Garet saw his fainted older sister, the newly freed Mercury adept was already gone. And thanks to that Valean woman, he felt revitalized as never before.

Alex had always understood cold. Now he could understand warmth as well.

In case you're wondering, the psynergy cocoon shield that automatically protected Alex was the same trick that Isaac's party experienced when first arriving in Kolima or Kolima Forest.

Thanks for reading and reviewing! :D