FILLER QUEST: DRAGONSPINE, ACT I: INTO THE MOUNTAINS, PART IV
As you guys ventured deeper into the Starglow Cavern, you could feel the effect of the food is slowly wearing off with the chills creeping up in your skin and Paimon also shivering as she hugged your head for warmth. "So c-cold... Is it because t-there's no s-sunlight around here? Or does it have to do with those weird b-blue plants or that weird i-ice?" Paimon pointed at the ice as you approached the ice as you reached your hands out for the ice but were blocked by a shield that was enough to give someone frostbite.
You immediately retracted your hand and somehow blew to it as if it would make better. You shoved your hand into the pocket of your jacket to keep it warm before letting out a sigh. "That hurts a lot than I expected it to be..." You commented which made Diluc wonder why did you think it was a good idea to reach out for the ice if you are gonna get hurt.
The cold had completely taken over you before you began to sneeze again before you let out a grumble. "Oh please not again." You mumbled to yourself trying to look for the time challenge to drop the barrier before seeing it from afar but as you walked on the ice, the ice broke into pieces, which made you fall into the water. "Fuck," was the last word you were able to shout before falling into the water.
Somehow your Cryo powers didn't work when the ice broke, leaving you falling into the water but thankfully for you, the water isn't that deep and you can just hop your way out of the water but now you are freezing to your death.
After you managed to get out of the mini-lake, Aether immediately pulled you up before taking his coat off and wrapping it around you as you were shivering terribly. Diluc immediately went near to you before sharing a glance at Aether to let him warm you up since he had Pyro Vision.
Even though Aether looked dismayed by the idea of you being with someone else, he had to prioritize your health as he watched Diluc bring you close to him and awkwardly hugged you with Pyro being lit up in his hand. As Diluc warm you up, Aether thought it would've been better if he cooked up some soup with the hilichurl pot he came across earlier before entering.
Your mind was too occupied with how warm it feels rather than thinking of Diluc was hugging you rather gently. That was until... "Do you feel better?" Diluc questioned as you looked at him, just realized how close your face and his. You could feel your cheeks burning up before averting your eyes and nodding.
"Yeah... I just didn't expect to fall in the lake." You forgot that there's a lake to be more precise. You wondered if your face turned so red that Diluc had to take off his gloves to touch your forehead, guessing he wanted to know if you had a fever or not.
"You don't have a fever... That's good, your face suddenly went red made me... worried." He said rather quietly as you tried to hide your urge to let out your own degenerate side taking over so you just smiled rather nervously.
"It's probably because of how cold this cavern is. D-Don't worry about it too much. And I'm fine now. I feel warm enough. Thank you." You said before slowly pushing him away from you, already feeling warm. Too warm in fact.
He just watched you getting flustered to yourself before breaking into a small smile before Aether returned with a bowl of hot soup in his hand while Paimon just looked at it with her mouth just drooling at the sight of the food presented to her. "Y/N, I made you a soup to warm you... up." He looked at you in confusion why you suddenly just snatched the soup and said thanks so quickly before scarfing down the soup while also sharing the soup with Paimon because you can't eat too much if you were going to move so much.
His eyes glanced at Diluc who immediately returned to an unbothered look before Diluc looked back at him and just shrugged. Aether frowned at Diluc's reaction before rolling his eyes, exasperated by the thoughts of you and Diluc did something and you prefer Diluc more than him.
He just let out a sigh before going to your side, looking at how happy yet awkward you were while feeding Paimon. It couldn't help but put a smile on his face before sitting down next to you. "Was it okay for you to eat?" Aether asked as you turned to him and nodded.
"It's so good! Thank you for making this for me." You smiled at him before finishing up as the bowl just disappeared in thin air after finished eating. Game logic, you have to understand. He was glad that it was to your liking before he stroked your head just a bit before standing up. You immediately stood up, looking a bit more energized as you let out a sigh. "Alright then... We'll gonna have to fight so get ready." You warned them as Diluc took out his claymore while Aether called out his sword.
Paimon just wished good luck before disappearing in thin air. You still wondered how it worked before you went across the small lake to start the time challenge while you felt something just returned into your head as the challenge started.
Hilichurls began to spawn as icicles were about to rain on top of you guys but you conveniently create a whole barrier on top of you while Aether and Diluc started to fight off the hilichurls. You watched the icicles just falling down each time because you couldn't really fight while you were busy shielding.
Diluc understood why you stood still while Aether was anxious by the fact that you stood but he was at least glad that Diluc was covering for you and he didn't have to be constantly glancing at you if you were in danger. It took quite a while to take them all and thankfully managed to wipe them all out.
You let out a sigh before the dust of ice fell down to you guys, rather gracefully. You managed to somehow make sure that the ice isn't too sharp to land on top of any of you. "Are you guys alright? Is there any injury that needed healing?" You questioned them, making sure of their safety before Diluc just give you a thumb up while Aether just muttered that he is fine, totally didn't dip his feet into the icy water.
"I- I don't know how to help with that... Do you want to warm up your feet?" You asked him before he just looked at his shoes and looked back at you.
"Never mind. I'll just deal with it."
"You sure?"
"Yeah." You were still worried but if he insisted. You began to melt the special ice away before watching another piece just fly to the summit. "So where do we go next?" He asked before you dread the idea of going there.
"Well, next... We go to the summit." You were hoping that no one had done the Skyfrost Nail yet or else this going to be a waste of time. Paimon reappeared, looking as ready as ever with her hands on her hips before smiling to herself a bit. "But we should camp, for now, it's getting late and it will be very cold to even go outside." You advised as they hummed.
"I'll go steal the hilichurl's pot so we can have a campfire and also food to eat," Diluc told you before walking away before Aether looked at Paimon for a moment. She disappeared for a moment before reappearing with a bag and handing it to Aether.
"I'll set up camp. While waiting, you can rest somewhere if you want." He said gently and patted your head as you giggled at his touch while Paimon smiled to herself seeing you and Aether. She's definitely gonna write this down in her diary. Just so she wouldn't forget the moment that she had with them. She won't know when will she change.
TO BE CONTINUED
Author Note:
I procrastinate so much on this chapter and yet I didn't make it long enough. Sorry for disappointing you guys with a not really good chapter today. I just found a new obsession and that is a movie called Encanto. The movie is so good even though there are a few shortcomings in the story but what is a story without its own flaw. If not for me just watching a concerning amount of Camilo just turned into a baby and called out for Mirabel while thinking how to improvise this chapter, it might take me a month to update this.
Don't ask why I watched that clip so much, I don't even know. It just hits my brain for some reason. I'm also on the verge just want creating just a book for how I think Encanto gonna be after the movie ended and just delved deep into the story, the characters. I can do it because I've written down everything I think about it but I don't want to create another book if no one wants to read it but if you guys want to, I will.
Anyways, I hope you all have a wonderful, nice and lovely day. Bye <3