The warm breeze blew through the land, announcing the upcoming summer days and endless hot weather. It had been at least a week since she arrived Orchidia and so far, she had been enjoying the town. There were still places left to explore but she could take time in doing that. While she wandered along the bizarre streets and through the swirls and eddies of people, Snow fell upon a mission board that had been put up for mages to take the quests. She figured that she could do one, seeing that she had nothing else to do after all. Frosty eyes skimmed through the brittle sheets of paper that were pinned up the wooden board and landed upon one that attracted her attention.

It should be a fast quest, she hoped since she wanted to visit a cake store or a bakery afterwards. A day without a dessert is like going through a day without water for her. Snow took the paper off the board and read through the lines carefully. It seemed that a problem has risen at the town’s river although the details were still unknown to her, which was why she was required to meet the client, Dex Miller.

The mage entered the bar and immediately, the harsh scent of alcohol blasted into her face, much to her distaste. She was told by the locals that Dex usually visit the pub at this hour and so here she was, searching for the man. The bistro was much rowdy than she had expected, mostly men – young and old alike. They clanked their glasses of beer and roared with cheers and laughter as they shared their silly jokes among one another. Among the crowd was one that stood out particularly. He was suited entirely in black, his hair dressed as an afro. Snow walked up to him, ignoring the glances that were thrown at her. ”Excuse me, are you Dex Miller?”

The man who had been striking poses and dancing foolishly turned around to face her with his eyebrow cocked upwards, as if he was questioning who she was. Snow brought up the quest paper up to his face and instantly, the man’s eyes widened before placing his cup of alcohol on a table and dragged her out of the bar. ”You’re finally here! Yes, yes, I’m Dex Miller.” He exclaimed and she could almost see the excitement behind his eyes and how delighted he was to see her. ”No one would believe me but there is a blue object hanging above the town’s river.” He insisted, his hands flailing around in emphasis of his explanation. She wouldn’t blame the citizens of the town. The man appeared rather mentally ill to her and from the way he spoke, there was a hint of fear in his voice.

”Lead the way.” She figured that it wouldn’t hurt to check what exactly was going on and thus, followed the man to the river. Before she knew it had already gone dark, as the day comes closer the end.

The sky was clear from the ashen puffs of white cushions, a perfect uninterrupted dark blue and was lit up by the stars that were scattered on the heavens above. Moonlight was the only source of light remaining, apart from the dim lights produced from the lamp posts that stood tall on the pavements. ”It’s dark. We should be able to see it now.” The man gestured her to follow her. Snow had been waiting the entire time, in the woods, with her back leaned against the trunk of the tree for night time to arrive and she was already growing bored. She kicked the dry leaves and twigs off her feet and pushed herself up.

In the distance, she could see a sparkle of light being emitted from a source. As they approached closer, the light would only become more intense and Snow had to conceal her eyes with her hand for her eyes had not adjusted to the blinding light yet. At first, she could not believe what she had just seen but when she looked through the gap between her fingers, there was a blue ball floating and spinning above the river. It was quite beautiful, the way it glowed and scintillated within the dark although numerous questions rose into her mind. ”Why is it here?” She enquired, pushing a branch out of her way and finally entered the open space beside the river. The man shrugged in response and clung onto her desperately.

The longer she gazed at the strange ball, the more she was allured by the beauty of it. Before she knew, she was already walking towards it. Reaching over with her hand, Snow touched the ball gently and it felt as if she just touched a ball of glass. It was nothing special until a peculiar vision flashed before her eyes. In front of her was her parents, smiling to one another as they stared into each other eyes, both fill with love and passion. Snow found herself reaching towards them. Everything happened so fast, she did not even have time to think. One second she was staring at her deceased parents before her eyes, the next second, she was pushed back by an invisible force so hard that her back rammed against a tree.

”..Ngh.” The girl groaned, reaching over her aching back while her eyes searched for the man. While she survived the attack with a few bruises and scratches, Dex, on the other hand had passed out from the force that was released from the ball. She struggled to remember what happened and how she was able to see her parents alive in front of her own eyes. She wondered if the vision was telling her something that she had not known but ultimately, decided to push away her thoughts to the back of her mind. Snow crawled back onto her feet and threw Dex’s arm over her shoulder. Her priority now was to deliver him to the hospital and hoped he wasn’t seriously injured.