Epica!

The sun was hot in the sky when they walked out. Merchants had yet to set up their stands and children were running amok running errands for them; a majority were taking goods to and from the stands. There were people hanging long cables with small thin sticks hung half a foot form each other from one roof top to it's opposite building across the street. Others were replacing the detonated fireworks and repositioning them in their correct positions.

"Get them while they're hot. Delicacies from the east!" A man shouted from a half assembled booth. He was screaming loud enough to be heard a good ways down the street. "We've got anything that fits your taste from camel milk, to silkworm. Anything and everything your fits your taste, or be adventures and let me choose your meal."

"I think I'll try the the pig feet." Helena said placing a copper coin on the merchant's cutting board though a sign on the stand clearly stated: pig's feet 3 copper stars.

The merchant paused a long while before saying, "A very fine choice good lady." he said as he took the copper then pulled down one of the barbecued pig feet that hung on a string on the top of stand. The merchants from nearby stands eyed them curiously as he skewered the foot. Ariel looked down at a flat bowl of small oval shaped cocoons. The emanated with a sweet smell. "That there are silkworms. Good source of protein. One copper a bag." he handed Helena the foot. Ariel wouldn't deny that their smell was tempting.

"Is pig the only meat you have?" Helena asked picking at the foot with her fingernails.

"No, no. We have all kinds, beef, duck, fish, snake, even yak."

"That's a very interesting selection." Ariel muttered still contemplating the worms until Helena handed him the foot. It didn't look as appetizing.

"I suppose you have a lot of all these meats for the upcoming festival." Helena contemplated. Ariel grimaced as the pig juices began drip down the skewer. He turned it sideways to keep the juices at bay.

"That I do, better to have more than what I need than not have enough." The merchant replied proudly before offering the worms . "I carry the greatest amount and the greatest variety. Don't let any of these stinking liars tell you no different."

Helena laughed. "If that's the case, I suppose I'll just have to take all your fine meats." Both Ariel and the merchant gave her puzzled looks. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a bundle of papers folded on to each other. When she tugged at the first paper an old pocket watch fell out of the center of the bundle. She hastily caught it before it fell and tucked it away in her pocket along with the rest of the notes. "This here is a guarantee of payment by the Archduke, it should be more than enough."

"The humble?"

"No. Not that one, the great." Helena corrected.

"Notes from the great Archduke. . . " The merchant pondered a brief moment before adding, "Now how did a little lady such of yourself managed to sneak that away."

"It's no concern of yours how these notes came into my possession, they are valid. Now you can take these notes I'm sure a traveling merchant such as yourself has accepted much more dubious deals."

"A merchant has. . ." The merchant paused contemplating the offer. "Offer like that, I just can't refuse!" He then turned to Ariel with a wry smile. "She must be quite the handful. A woman like her knows what she wants, couldn't imagine her in private."

"Don't." Ariel grumbled as the pig foot - lubricated by all its greasy juices - slid off the rod onto the muddy ground where a mangy dog promptly snatched it up and bolted down the street. The merchant laughed heartily; his golden tooth clearly visible.

"Such a shame, I'll give you another, five coppers."

"No need. Just have my order prepared in two days." Helena said after placing a few notes on his slicing board and taking Ariel's arm and leading him away. Looking back the merchant's sign had somehow inexplicably changed prices.

Immediately after many of the booths began opening for business. First the ones who had seen the transaction followed by the other booths as word spread. Many shouted their deals at them as they passed and there were many.

The amount of people swelled exponentially. Ariel had never seen so many people in Salvo before. Whole families came complete with children and maids. Some of people wore masks of animals; most were typical but choose to wear frightening masks of distorted animals. They bothered him.

The only booth that made Helena pause was the cocoa booth where she insisted she could make her own chocolate. In the end she ended up skipping it. She did end up purchasing twenty five meters of canvas then another ten from anther seller. The whole while she would occasionally check the time on her pocket watch.

When they reached the end of the long street of stands the stopped. Night was looming, slowly edging closer. "Do you think we should head back. Maybe that place with sparklers is open now. Those seemed like fun. Or we co. . . " But her words seemed to fade. They were at the edge of Salvo just by the stone bridge that connected Salvo to the rest of the world. The river raged beneath it.

The forest however, appeared to be alive. Shadows lurked there; they hadn't before. The forest gave him the sense just as it had when he had just left his castle, but that had quickly vanished. There was an impending danger that the river seemed to be warning him about with it's rushing wild waters.

"So what so we do?" Helena's voice brought him back. "Are you alright Ariel? You look confused."

"I. . ." He paused. Helena was concerned and that worry - so clearly written on her face - made him feel lucky. It had been years since anyone had so genuinely cared for him. Something so simple that made him feel loved. "You are beautiful." He told her gently placing his hand over the side of her smooth cheek.

Helena sighed crossing her arms, "Were you always this odd?" Ariel withdrew his hand while Helena tilted her head slight with mischievous smile. "I can't quite seem to remember."

"Helena. . . " She said in an effort to return the mood. He was thinking of what to say, how to say how much she meant to him. It was simple things he decided.

"Will you compare me to the sun again?" Helena cut in with a grin before Ariel could muster up the words. "I actually quite enjoyed that."

"Will you laugh again?" Ariel asked miserably.

"Inevitably." Helena chirped with a wide grin.

"Then no." a frowning Ariel replied with his shoulders slightly slumped over. He reminded her of very much of how he was before he left. Always pouting when things didn't go the way he expected. Only difference now the inexplicable urge to press her lips against his own, something she didn't hesitate with.

The kiss was short and soft, something to keep them both pacified. "You frown too much." she informed him after.

"Do I?" Any past misery washed away with the river. "I find myself quite the happy man these days. Strange. . ."

"That is quite the mystery you've got there." she said feigning confusion before adding, "Are you saying I might have something to do with that?" Ariel was quick with his response.

"I'm sure it must to be this snazzy coat." he stretched out his arms. It was sharp and simple; the very same from the feast that somehow kept away the cold. "No other explanation."

Helena playfully punched Ariel. He laughed feebly noting the sharp pain she caused but to refusing to acknowledge it. A few ways away they heard cries of a crowd in amazement that piqued Ariel and Helena's attention.

They turned a corner and found a large group of people flocking around one of the larger booths; one of the larger ones with a stage. Many more still came as Ariel and Helena made their way around the crowd. Helena had an easier time maneuvering through the crowd squeezing in the smaller gaps between people. Ariel, however, had a harder time constantly having excuse himself as people gave him glaring looks as he pushed past them. At one point a man in a fish mask refused to move and forced Ariel to weave around him.

He followed Helena through the crowd. As they neared the stage they could hear the presenter shouting over the people. "...seen. Some of you may think, 'say, don't we already have photographs?' 'this just seems like another forgettable invention'. Why use our device you ask?" The presenter asked the crowd. He wore a half mask of some kind of rodent and a top hat. They found a spot together where they could both see. Helena moved close to Ariel and he awkwardly put his arm around her waist. When she didn't seem to mind he pulled her closer to him. "Let me tell you; when your children ask 'what were you doing the day of the festival came to town?' Why settle with the mediocrity of a photograph, why settle for a dreadful and boring story, why should you compromise the validity of what you've seen. I repeat why use our device? It's simple ladies and gents, I give you the future!!"

The white backdrop behind him lit up and a collective gasp reverberated through the crowd. An image appeared grainy at first with moving shadows. Slowly but surely wooden buildings started to form out of the static, the shadows became people moving about the sandy street. A desert town. "The colonies my friends! Half a world away captured for you by our device." There was a murmur of excitement.

"Can you believe that Ariel? The colonies here in this place." Helena whispered amazed. Ariel remembered fondly how easily she could be enchanted and never seemed to want to understand what was shown to her.

"I hope you know they're not really here?" He told her. Everything he had done back at home in that Ark, she never understood any of it. It used to make him curious as to why she stuck around even after she had made her deliveries. Not anymore.

"But it's like magic. I wonder if they can see us too?" to this Ariel laughed. Magic seemed to always be on her mind even now, as unrealistic as it was.

"Helena, it's just an image, or rather multiple images turning on a reel and projected through a magnifier on that back drop with a some kind of powerful light source." he explained. It was like something clicked in his head. Since he had left the Arks he hardly thought about anything other than figuring out the secrets of somma. Yet now he had a clear head and things were easier to analyze.

Helena scoffed. "You still like to ruin things for me I see." Ariel grinned sheepishly. "A reel you say. . But where is it? I don't see it." Ariel glanced at the stage. She was right, no projector.

"In a year's time this will be the hottest commodity in all of Europe! No, no the world! Best get your order today!" The presenter was going on the stage. The image had to be coming from somewhere. That had been a similar idea for moving pictures floating around the Ark a long time ago but no one paid it much attention. The plans were drawn out for a model but Ariel never knew if it was ever built. "Do you want to see our device in action?" The crowd screamed. "A volunteer?!"

"Here! Here!" Helena called out raising her hand up in the air. Almost immediately the presenter pointed at her.

"Ah, the pretty lady in the military coat." She left his side in an instant. Racing through the crowd one word rung in Ariel's ears. Military. It hadn't occurred to him, a green coat. "Ladies and gentlemen a hand for our brave volunteer." he said she came up on the stage and tipped his hat to her before placing a kiss on the back of her hand to which Helena smiled politely. Somewhere in the distance a dog was barking.

"Stand here." he instructed and Helena obeyed dutifully. She scanned the crowd and when she spotted Ariel she smiled. "Now gents and dames, watch her closely." The backdrop lit up again and instead there was an exact image of Helena. The crowd clapped. "While our competitors down the street may claim have a similar device, ours is the only one that can transmit images as they occur, as demonstrated here." He stepped close to Helena and he too appeared in the image. This seemed like a lie. There was no possible way for an image to be transmitted in such a way. There had to be a camera that sent images and a receiver. He saw none.

"We are taking orders today but be warned; we are only making a limited quantity."

People rushed to the woman behind a table with many forms. Helena had a few words with the presenter before clamoring off the stage. "Did you see me Ariel? It was as if I were in two places at once! He even said he'd give me a still shot so that I 'may remember them.' I wonder what else they'll be showing at this festival."

Ariel remained silent as they walked away from the rapidly forming line. He couldn't figure out how the device functioned. As much as he thought the technology seemed beyond him. Had the world moved that much forward in his absence. It hadn't been very long at all, yet here he was utterly confused.

"Ariel?"

"I couldn't solve it Helena." he whispered. Helena heard him clearly. He had always been the type to figure things out; To tinker with things until they made sense.

"It's not your job to figure out everything." she said as if it were common sense. He stopped walking.

"It's who I used to be. . ." He looked at his feet. He wished he could that person for her; the one Helena knew who had a mastery of physics and chemistry. Capable of solving almost anything. Ariel now was not a very good person; this was proved by what he had done to Hanna. First getting her addicted to somma then refusing to supply her when her demands grew. She was not the only one.

He was disappointed in himself. Who could he have allowed things to get that far. He had fallen so deep into the abyss and didn't even know it. He was a part of Salvo now. A supplier, just like Mistress Nine had been before they started coming to him. Ariel wanted to tell Helena then but he couldn't bare having her disappointed in him too.

Helena watched Ariel's mood suddenly dampen before her eyes. He was ashamed; of what she would never know. It made her heart ache when she saw him this way. Something that made him so sad so quickly had to be erased from him memory as quickly as possible.

"This is you now." she said moving close to him and placed a gentle hand on his cheek. She ran her hand through his hair before settling in the crook of his neck.

"You deserve better." Ariel admitted looking her directly in the eyes. How long could his illusion last. How long till she found out what he'd done. But those eyes seemed to demand the truth which was caught in his throat refusing to surface.

"You've said something along those lines before." she said so close he could smell the light smell of gunpowder in her hair. "I say to hell with that. I know what I want Ariel. It's you, it's always you." She kissed him deeply.

Ariel pulled her as close as he could to him while Helena wrapped her arms around his neck. How easy it was for her to make him feel like a better man. Too easy. Ariel had done terrible things, it didn't matter. She would forever see him for all that he was, all that he could be. Not what he'd done in the past. Ariel realized this now. Without her coming into his life he would've remain blind. He wanted to be better.

The world around kept on moving along, yet here they stood. Two lovers in a tight embrace amongst the clamor of the festival. Many people could pass them but none of them mattered. For these two there was only each other.

"Helena?"

She pulled away so quickly it left Ariel longing for more. She glanced quickly over his shoulder and gasped before forcibly shoving him away. Ariel stumbled a few steps then turned to the man who had called to Helena.

He was roughly his age, older maybe. A year or so more. Tall and brown haired with a dark tan. A green coat fitted on his broad shoulders. Ariel frowned.

"Ah . . ." Helena was at a loss for words. Her face flushed and shifted nervously on her feet as the man approached.

"You're doing well I see." He told Helena as crossed his arms. A small grin slowly appearing on his lips.

Hesitantly Helena said, "Ariel this is a friend of mine, Harland."

"James Harland. A pleasure to meet you friend." He extended his hand in a warm gesture. Ariel had no choice, formality forced him to accept the greeting. There was a moment of silence before Helena interjected.

"Ariel can we have a moment?"

He wanted to do many things in that instant. To start he wanted to say 'no!' in the firmest voice possible. He wanted to demand who this stranger was. Most of all he wanted to strike that grin off his face. One look at his thick arms and he recalled the hustler the night he met Helena and instead said; "I suppose." rather grumbly.

It didn't matter what he had to say as Helena shoved Harland away. "Won't have long. Just long enough for-" but Helena shoved harder cutting him off mid sentence. Ariel could see Harland laughing as they moved out of ear shot.

Ariel looked to his right, then to his left but no one seemed to care for his discomfort. As he wondered if he was supposed to wait for Helena where he stood a dog with mange appeared by his side. Ariel ignored it - many dogs were running about trying to scrounge for food from the kinder patrons and mange seemed like the least of his concerns - he instead focused intently on the conversation a short distance away.

"She's quite the lass that one." Ariel turned but no one was there just the mangy dog who sat back on his haunches. He looked around but there was no one who had stopped from the hustle and bustle of the festival. The lights had just been turned on and more foreigners flooded into the streets.

Must've overheard someone's conversation as they passed. he told himself and tired to refocused on the two people standing a few ways off. Helena was smiling broadly, as was Harland. She raised her hand and took a hold of his arm.

"A fine man too. Quite the handsome couple those two are."

"They're not -" He stopped mid sentences when turned. No one. Not even a passerby close to him for him to overhear.

"Down 'ere." The dog still sat, he cocked his head to one side when Ariel turned to him.

"Dog. . ." he said skeptically. There was no possible way none at all. It's tongue poked out of it's mouth as it panted slightly. A cracked leather collar hung loosely from it's emaciated body.

"I'd reckon by now you've seen stranger." Ariel jumped back. It spoke!

"You talk." Ariel exclaimed not once looking away. No one around him seem to care that there was a dog speaking right in front of them.

"As do you." the dog replied, it's jaws moved as it spoke in an odd fashion.

"But, you're a dog!" seemed to be the only response Ariel could say. No one noticed, he began to wonder if it he had finally gone over the edge. Insanity seemed to be the only explanation.

"And you a man." He informed Ariel

"How is this possible?. . . " He paused trying to think. There had to some way. He tired to think but his critical thinking didn't seem to be awake quite yet.

"It’s not." the dog replied with a barking laugh.

"Humans are the only species on planet to develop speech." Ariel mused aloud. How? There was a breeding program established, he recalled faintly. Dogs seemed like a logical test choice that. If it had been developed a festival with the latest technology would seem like a likely place to reveal it.

"Right ya are there, but they don’t always seem to listen now do they?" he said as he scratched an itchy spot right behind his ear.

"There has to be a trick to it. A voice box hidden under the collar." he reached down for the collar but pulled his hand away when he remembered that some mange could be contagious humans.

"Look at ya, always trying to solve the unexplainable. Let me tell you what's unexplainable. " He stood and walked in a circle around him. "Look at that beauty," his snout pointed towards Helena and Harland. "Ebony hair swaying gently as she moves. Eyes like those that could start wars. And a body that-"

"Enough." Ariel snapped. The dog looked up at him, Ariel spotted a particular nasty spot of mange on it's chest that had began to turn dark green in color. The dog was mostly hairless, with a patch of fur and there; most of it's had been eaten away by the mange giving it a dark green color. The edges of its lips stretched back in a twisted smile.

"Look at yourself mate." He did. He was ragged at best. The finest thing he wore at the moment was a coat that did not belong to him. "Running along like you're a somebody when you're just a nobody pretending to have a purpose. You delude yourself into believing you're a wolf just deny that you're just another sheep in the flock." It snarled. "You're not up to par mate. Not even close. That strapping young fellow there." Again he motioned to Helena and Harland who were still talking. "He was built to be with a woman like her. He is everything you're not, has everything you don't. If he wanted to he could stamp you out of her life in the blink of an eye."

"Helena wouldn't-" he started but as he said those words Helena hugged Harland who wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace. The dog cut in with it's laughter as if knowing what he didn't.

What if they already have? Ariel heard him say mockingly. A cold chill went down his spine that made breathing difficult. He turned to the beast but it had vanished as quickly as it had appeared. The dog's laughter lingered as an echo in the wind.

"I've brought her back to you friend." his voice gave him a jump. The constricting feeling in his chest remained. "Didn't mean to give you the jump." he laughed. Helena stood by him. He'll take her from you. . the voice whispered in his ear. Ariel's hands balled into fists and his shoulders tensed. He wouldn't allow it.

"This man?" Harland asked Helena skeptically like it was some kind of bad joke. Ariel glared at him with a deep seated rage. . . . kill him. . . He thought about it. Considered it; for some odd reason every pro outweighed it's con. A pistol would do, but he currently didn't carry one.

"Ariel is something wrong?" she called when she noticed the threatening glare fixed on his face but her voice seemed to fade away. Ariel's eyes bore down at this man like a lion spotting it's rival. Harland only rose an eyebrow at the response. Kill him!

"Ariel look at me!" she put her hand on his check forcing him to look at her. Her eyes were livid under furrowed eyebrows. There was a moment of sudden clarity like he had been looking through a murky window that had shattered in front him to reveal Helena standing before him.

"I." he couldn't explain it. He was overcome with his own emotions, every insecurity magnified to its most extreme level. Exhilarating yet terrifying. "I'm sorry." he apologized sincerely. "My mind wasn't where it ought to be."

"So this man..." Harland cried again apparently ignoring the episode. "He's the one that you've come all- mph!" he was cut off by Helena who had punched him in the gut. "You have to realize," he hunched over slightly putting his hand over the tender area. "you hit like a man." He informed her over dramatic groans.

"You'd best get going Harland." Helena told him with a friendly smile. Harland grumbled lowly before turning around and walking away with a sly smile. No sooner had he turned a corner Helena turned to Ariel and shoved him on the shoulder hard.

"What is a matter with you?! He's a good friend of mine, he'll never let me hear the end of it especially right after I told him. . " she stopped and stubbornly bit down on the side of her check.

"Told him what Helena?" he snapped eager to hear any interaction between the two.

Helena breathed out. "The other day I was . . To summarize. . . he's a strong advocate for all this true love thing. I told him he was full of rubbish. He told me not to quit so easily but I essentially told him to bugger off. But now. . . " she trailed off again thinking of what the others would say. "He's never right. Now suddenly he is."

"I'm sorry?" Ariel offered. She seemed to be making a lot out of nothing, she would be wrong in a matter but he remembered how much Helena enjoyed being right.

"It doesn't matter, by now he's probably prancing about the ship telling everyone that stubborn Helena finally found someone." she grumbled lowly before walking away with Ariel at her side.

After a brief moment of silence he asked. "How do you know him?" badly feigning indifference. He wanted to ask a great many questions but that seemed the least intrusive.

"I thought that much was obvious." She tugged at the collar of her coat then froze a sudden realization coming across her face. ". .you were jealous. . . " she said slowly a wicked smile gently falling on her lips.

"I could've taken him. . ." Ariel said but doubted his words. Neither in fighting nor in brutality were his strong suits. He had always been more of a man of intellect and even as children relied on Helena for protection as she tended to be more the roguish type.

"You're as threatening as a puppy!" she laughed to which Ariel responded with a frown. "Oh, There you go again with that pout." She paused and moved closer to him, a gesture which brought Ariel delight. "Lucky for you I can't seem to resist puppies. Especially those with adorable pouting faces." she wrapped her arms around him under his coat.

"Puppies aren't so bad I suppose. . ." Ariel replied holding her close before placing a soft kiss on her lips. Even something so little caused a pulse to rush through him that rejuvenated and gave him strength. When their lips pulled apart Ariel added. "As long as it's one of those german type."

"Hmmm." she hummed coyly and refrained from damaging his ego any more by calling him a cocker spaniel. "Lets walk this way." she said wrapping her arm around his.

The wandered aimlessly like the other people at the festival. It was dark now and the festival was in full swing. Plenty of people had come, most foreigners from faraway places that traveled with the festival. The allies were cleared and used as walkways to more easily get from one street to another. Where did they go? Ariel thought as he saw none of the addicts in sight where they could normally be spotted in the alleyways crowded around flaming barrels.

The merchants had crowds of people that stood in front of their displays. Those that gave away free samples were hectic with people trying to secure the demonstration samples. Helena and Ariel avoided these booths swarmed by people where people were shouting and shoving. Children were able to squeeze themselves through people's feet and snag what dropped to the floor. When one such child emerged with a handful of small trinkets Helena remarked, "That's an awful lot of trouble for something so small."

"Have we been this way already?" Ariel asked looking down the street. Helena looked away from throng. The powder white snow had turned a dark murky color from all the people on the street.

"We have."

"Do you want to go back?"

"Back Home?"

"My, my what a lovely couple!" a strange man approached them speaking rather frantically interrupting any thought formation. "Come now!" he urged Ariel away.

"Who are you?" Ariel responded shrugging him away. Helena stared as the man from behind Ariel; the corner of his face had a strange twitch.

"Ah," his eyes shifted to Helena as he contemplated what to say. "You can both come."

"Where?" Helena asked skeptically. The people around, too busy clamoring over the booths, still payed them no mind except for this stranger. She stepped closer but Ariel outstretched his arm in front of her though it was probably best if she handled things if this was a mugger.

"Forgive his brashness, he's can't handle simple directions apparently." A voice descended on them and the stranger's eyes went wide with dread. He came out of one the alleyways nearby where people unconsciously avoided getting in his way; his coat the color of oblivion.

"I was going to get him to come I really was!" The stranger cowered at his feet. "Let me try again!"

"You're done." Mephisto said with the finality of sentence. Every protest in the stranger ceased and he froze in place, wide eyed. "Out of my sight." The stranger hastily clamored away. "My sincerest apologies the two of you shouldn't have had to see that but you see some people, they must be reminded to know their place."

Ariel stared, mouth dry and hands trembling. His most innate feeling telling him to run as his two worlds slowly collided into one.

"What my failure of a representative miserably tried to explain was this: you have been welcomed to take one of my carriages up the hill to truly spectate the nightly fireworks." Mephisto said, but Ariel couldn't move. Was it a request, or an obligation.

"Ariel you know this man?" her voice shocked him to his senses pulling him back to reality.

"Of course he knows me, we're the closest of friends. Isn't that right?" Mephisto said with a crooked smile.

"Yes." Ariel said finding his voice surprisingly meek. He cleared his throat before repeating. "Yes, I know him." And that put Helena at ease.

"Up there." Mephisto rose his hand at a distant ridge looming over Salvo. "They will set off the fireworks soon. The right way, not earlier's mistake. You can stay here and be made deaf and blind or go up and watch them as they were meant to be. What is it that they say; you can only appreciate beauty once you look at it from a distance."

"He does make a convincing argument." Helena said convinced by his words. Ariel hesitantly agreed before they were led away.

He and Mephisto had a deal in place, Mephisto had agreed to give him everything and anything Ariel wanted. He had no reason to fear him, if anything Mephisto had to fear him or risk loosing his deal. His soul. . .

Mephisto took them through the ally way he had emerged from. Just on the other side were many black carriages trimmed violet attached to black horses. People mechanically boarded a carriage before it departed towards the trail. An empty carriage replaced it immediately for the process to repeat.

Ariel couldn't pin point the breed of horse, all of them looked unnatural; tall with long arched necks, powerful, arching shoulders and a long frilly manes. Lean and rippling with muscles tensed under their dark hides as they walked by. They stood straight, their heads were raised high in the air.

"They are quite impressive beasts." Helena remarked as a carriage passed them by; the children of the wealthy family waved as they passed.

"This humble horse breeder thanks you for the compliment," Mephisto said placing a hand over heart.

"You're a horse breeder now?" Ariel remarked disparagingly.

"This one," he pressed on undaunted till he stopped front of an empty carriage. "Is yours for the night." It was identical to the others, black, all of them black. All of them identical. "May I?" Mephisto outstretched his hand towards Helena. Before Ariel could stop her she took it and allowed to be led onto the carriage. Ariel frowned. He already hated having her so close to him, yet here he was, lying to her, touching her. They were two things that were never supposed to meet; an unstoppable force and an immovable object.

"Allow me to teach you the reins." He told Ariel. An otherwise simple comment made meaningful by the look in his face. Instead of boarding the carriage Ariel followed him to the carriage shaft where the horse was harnessed. Up close they were lumbering towers. "This festival ends in the morning. Are you staying here or do you plan on moving along?" Mephisto said lowly while tugging at one of the buckles.

"What do you mean?" Ariel asked.

"I can take you anywhere you wish. Any whim or desire I can fulfill. In the morning all of this," he waved his hand in the air, "will be gone. What will happen then?" Ariel followed his gaze to Helena who waited in the back seat of carriage patiently watching the passing carriages.

One more night before the end of the charade. One more night without having to explain himself. One more night of bliss. One more night.

"She stays out of this." Ariel said determinedly. Mephisto had an untrusting face, one that always seemed to know what he was thinking before the thought it. That was the problem Ariel told himself, an untrustworthy face, but a deal was a deal and he knew Mephisto would be bound by it. "You leave her alone." He ordered before moving towards the front seat of the buggy but stopped before getting on waiting for affirmation.

Mephisto stared back, a smile spreading on his face before vowing, "That I swear."

It would have to do. Ariel boarded the carriage and took the rains. He had hardly tugged on them before the horse moved of it's own accord falling in line down the trail.

They were alone. The gap between buggies grew exponentially as they entered the woods which were silent. There were only three sounds in the winter forest; the hooves of the horse crunching on the snow, the wheels of the buggy turning round and round again, and the occasional clink of a buckle here and there.

Entranced by the forest Helena didn't say anything. Whenever Ariel looked back he would catch her staring off into the distance, examining the forest around her. At one point Helena caught Ariel watching her and said, "I feel like some duchess sitting back here all on my own."

"You're missing the gown." Ariel commented which earned him a swift kick on the back of his seat. "Besides, someone has to control this carriage." He was uncertain of his remark. The horse seemed to move of it's own accord, following the path of the previous carriages like a horse on a carousel.

Helena sighed and sat back. The forest was quiet again except for the hooves, the wheels, and the occasional buckle. One more night. . . one more. . .The hooves, the wheels, and the buckles. Shutting his eyes it was all he could hear; the hooves, the wheels, and the buckles. The cold wind nipped at his face.

There was shifting in the back seat that made the whole buggy sway. His eyes remained shut; the hooves, the wheels, and the buckles. He breathed in deeply trying to absorb the peace of that instant. The shifting in the back stopped.

He felt her breath first, warmth against the side of his neck that made him his eyes sputter open. Then her lips slowly against the soft exposed skin at the base of his neck, his hands clenched onto the reins. He could no longer feel the wind hitting his face as a rising heat began to spread over his body.

She brought a hand around from behind him and wrapped it around his chest. Utter bliss, the only things to hear were the hooves, the wheels, and the buckles. And now, the soft sound of Helena kissing him, touching him, driving him insane. Someone had to keep the horse in the path, he repeatedly told himself but it was steadily getting harder and harder to think. Helena tugged the hair on the back of his head as her kisses steadily grew harder. He was smiling, he realized.

Heavy white vapor escaped from his lips as his breathing intensified. Then he felt her bite down. . The beast knows it's way! He told himself as he released the reins and turned towards her breaking her focus. She had the wickedest smile before his lips crashed onto hers.

The buggy swayed as Ariel hopped the small divider between the driver's seat and the back using the door for support to climb over. Helena pulled him towards her by the collar of his shirt. She leaned back in the seat with Ariel coming with her.

Just then the carriage went over a particular rough spot and they both lost their balance. Having spent years on a ship, Helena was able to quickly rebalance by moving with the carriage. It was a skill Ariel had no experience in and he fell face first onto the leather seat.

"You alright there?" Helena asked helping him on the seat that she was now sitting on. Sensing distress from the passengers the horse's trot slowed to a walk before stopping completely.

"Yes." He replied a bit upset at the interruption. They were still in the woods, but they had not reached the hill. There were no hills at all in their surroundings. Then he realized with a panic, "The snow is white!"

Helena stared at him. "It's snow. . ." she mumbled before she realized what he meant. The path of dirty snow had turned white and unused. There were no hoof prints to follow but the horse had pressed on undaunted into unfamiliar and unexplored territory. "What are we going to do?"

How long had he not paid attention for this to happen. He looked back the way they had come. "There," he pointed at the snow. "We follow our own trail back before the snow takes it."

"I'll take us back." Helena declared hopping onto the front and taking the reins. They tried to make the horse move faster, but it could only move so fast in the heavy snow. It only took minutes before their own prints disappeared in the snow. "What now?" Helena asked stopping the carriage. Ariel looked up at the sky for any stars but they hid behind dark clouds. It would start snowing soon.

Helena looked at him for an answer he didn't have. They were on a slope, a steep one at that. He didn't remember one of this angle near Salvo. He didn't have any clue. He was sure, however, that the beast would have some form of connection to Mephisto and it would somehow return to him as he didn't seem to the type to have something so fine go to waste. The horse was the key.

There was a heavy breaking above them. A branch of one the trees had accumulated to much snow and it could no longer support itself. It's breaking caused a chain reaction in the branches below it. All of them came tumbling down. It wasn't too much of a noise, but it was close enough to spook the horse. It reared on hind legs, releasing a terrible shrieking whinny before it's hooves came down like blades on the cold frozen earth.

It was flying diagonally down the slope. Helena yanked at the reins to no effect. The beast raged on despite the cuts on the sides of it's mouth where the bit cut into it. He heard them again, the hooves, the wheels, and the buckles all of them. The carriage was not built for this speed, but there was no calming the beast. It flared and bucked the harness it was attached to slowly coming apart at the seams. He heard something snap in the buggy, further fueling the beast into madness.

He didn't see it until they were right on it. A large lump of snow - most likely a fallen tree covered up with a fresh coat of snow - that the beast charged right towards. "Make it stop!" But it was too late, the beast leapt over the tree the carriage going over. For a brief moment Ariel acknowledged he was in the air.

Helena landed on the back seat, she reached out to him from the back of the carriage but he was still falling. Then he came crashing down on the slope tumbling, rolling down the steep slope. He felt rocks under the snow, each one pounding him further as he fell. When he finally stopped he felt particularly faint - his head had hit a rather large stone particularly hard. His eyes saw dark spots, he blinked trying to clear them away but only made them worse. Just as they shut one final time the thought he saw a child.

He heard screams and felt the fire.