I had forgotten hands were so warm...

Mars was an element of heat, of pride, of power. But Karst didn't feel any of those things laying in the very heart of Mars Lighthouse. She felt the cold tiles and the cold draft leaking through the stones, and she heard the cold ragged breathing of Agatio.

Cold, cold, cold.

Her eyes were cold, staring at the vaulted Proxian ceiling. Her fingers were cold, gripping her iron scythe. Her heart was cold, refusing to acknowledge the end.

Cold, cold, cold.

Felix had beaten them. He had taken the Mars Star in triumph and left to light the final Lighthouse. Success flushed through her weakly. At least she wouldn't die in vain. But then the cold crept back through again.

Cold, cold, cold, cold, cold.

Karst lay there, feeling her body turn numb from the extremities inward. She did not think about the past. She just listened to her heartbeat. It was the only way she could tell she was still alive. Thump, thump, thump. Another rhythmic noise was coming in. Same tempo as her heart. Thump, thump, thump. She did not bother to see who it was. She was too busy listening to her heart.

The footsteps became louder. They were leather boots, with a toughened sole. It was a quicker gait than she recognized.

"Karst?"

Somebody was talking to her. But she was listening to her heart beat slower and slower.

"Karst?"

There it was again. The person came down and kneeled next to her. A concerned face with dark eyes and a mop of dark hair replaced the ceiling in her vision.

"Karst, are you going to be alright? The others are waiting at the Dragon Statue. They are trying to figure out how to open up the Four Towers. I don't have long. Are you going to be alright?"

Karst continued staring straight upwards. She liked the ceiling better than Felix's face. Thump, thump, thump. Couldn't he see that she was listening to her heart, trying to make sure she was alive? No, he could not. He opened and closed his mouth. He looked around him. After a while, he tried casting Cure on her.

"Karst?"

Felix wrung his hands. He looked at Karst's hands, gripping the scythe, like they were so often. A thought swam into his eyes and solidified there. He reached down and pried her cold fingers from the blackthorn staff of the cruel blade. He took his own fingers and intertwined them through hers.

They were cold, cold, cold.

He took his free hand and brushed a few strands of hair that lay across Karst's face. He encountered some wetness.

Karst was crying, and her warm tears slid down her scarred face onto the tile floor, where they froze. Thump, thump, thump.

"Felix..."

Years and miles away, a little Karst played on the ice of the river. She shrieked with laughter as a dark-haired Venus Adept chased her around, slipping precariously. Karst took a corner too fast and fell down hard on the white ice. She began to cry. Felix slid up and kneeled down, offering a hand to help her up. She extended her own to reach his. As Felix pulled her up, he lost his balance and they both fell down again to dissolve into helpless laughter...

Felix made a gentle noise and squeezed Karst's hand. She seemed agitated, but was too weak to say anything. And she was so cold.

Thump, thump....... thump...............thump.........................thump.............................

Felix hung his head and arranged Karst's arm back by her scythe, where it had been so often in life.

He stood up, and left the room, never to return.

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Duskshipping is copyrighted by Adnarel.

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