Shaun was thoroughly out of breath, and even Rebecca was panting. Desmond didn’t even wait before starting up the mountain, and Lucy stopped him by grabbing his robe collar.

“Give them a second.”

“We don’t have a second, according to Shiva!” Desmond said, scowling. “Besides, we don’t need them. Shiva invited only you.”

Lucy gave him a disapproving look, and he scowled. Shiva danced before his eyes, beckoning him to go, to follow, and he squirmed with excitement. He waited all of two minutes before he took off up the mountain. He could see the image of Shiva moving in front of him, beckoning him, eager to be reunited with his brother. When Kadar paused in front of a treasure chest, he knelt down and opened it.

“A gift,” he heard whispered in his ear. “My brother has long expected you, and the disappearance of the colors in the sky has signified you have come for him.”

He watched a key of ice appear from nowhere, and he opened the chest to see a tent laying there. He tilted his head.

“Bloody hell, you ignorant prat! Couldn’t you wait for us to—”

“No way,” Rebecca yelped, peering over his shoulder. “A tent? Seriously? Just… waiting on the side of the volcano?”

He smiled at her. “Yup. A gift, from Ifrit.”

“A gift from Ifrit, indeed,” the dorky boy said, smoothing out his robes. “You are the most delusional, ill-mannered, arrogant young man I have ever seen!”

“Shaun,” Lucy snapped. “He’s just excited. This is the first time he’s ever experienced something like this.”

Shaun harrumphed, and he tensed when Rebecca held out her hands for the tent.

“Just trust me, Des, I gave you the money yesterday from our fights, didn’t I? That was all I had. ‘Sides, I’m the only one who can carry it.”

He gave her a suspicious look as he held the tent, feeling like a child again. This was a cool thing, and he had found it, and he wasn’t too keen on letting Rebecca hold it.

“And while we’re on this subject of convenience,” Shaun started, “please tell me you aren’t wearing that into the fire caves.”

Desmond scowled. “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”

“This is a fire cave,” the boy spit. “Ice is weak against fire, and vice versa. You’re wearing the weakness we should be avoiding!”

He didn’t fight as Rebecca gently pried the tent from his fingers, making it vanish into that mysterious pouch at her side. He hated this boy.

“I don’t care if it’s the weakness. I like the coat.”

“You’re an idiot—”

“Boys!” Lucy snapped, glaring at both of them. Desmond noticed with no small amount of pleasure her gaze softened considerably when on him. “Look, this is no way to start out. Let’s just see how he fares as we progress, and if it makes it too much of a hassle, he’ll take it off.”

Desmond scoffed, pulling his cloak tighter around him and pulling the hat down farther. He had to admit, as he trudged off following the faint image of Shiva, that he really liked the cloak. And the volcano wasn’t too hot, despite what he had been told.

He yelped when large, maliciously-grinning thing materialized in front of him, laughing as he stepped back, Lucy and Rebecca rushing in front of him. Shaun stayed beside him, and he watch as Lucy focused hard. Shaun was flipping through a notebook.

“What is that?” he asked.

Shaun rolled his eyes. “It’s a bomb. It’s weakness is ice and water, but, seeing as how you’re completely ignorant to anything that—”

He snarled, bringing two fingers to his lips as he focused on Shiva.

“Shit, it’s growing bigger!” he heard Lucy shout.

“That’s the specialty of bombs,” Shaun shouted. “They take three hits before they explode!”

“Can we beat it in three hit—”

The ground shook as he twirled around, three large crystal of ice driving into the ground as he danced. When he felt Shiva behind him, he stepped aside, letting him walk forward and catching the cloak when he threw it to him. Lucy and Rebecca backed off, and Desmond smiled as Kadar dropped a large block of ice on it. The bomb was getting bigger, and when Shiva danced out of the way of the fire sent at him, he grinned. He looked over at Shaun, watching as his expression turned into one of astonishment as Shiva did his strongest attack. When it was over, and the bomb was nothing more than a pile of ashes that Rebecca was digging through, Kadar turned to him, smiling.

“Ready to keep going, Desmond?”

“Yeah!” he breathed, grinning and getting ready to dismiss him before Lucy caught his sleeve.

“Hold up, Desmond. God Shiva—”

“Kadar, I insist,” the god said, still smiling warmly.

She nodded, holding out her weapon. “Will you turn these…”

He was already making them before she could finish, transforming them into a nasty looking set of icicle claws. Lucy thanked him profusely before he vanished partially and becoming a thin wisp again, leading Desmond off. He followed faithfully, encouraged by the loot they got from monsters and the brand new knife they found. It was just like his, covered in ice, so he let Rebecca keep it, and before they knew it, they were standing outside of the entrance to the cave.

“Are you going to take it off?”

He turned to see Rebecca looking at him curiously. He tilted his head. “Take what off?”

“The cloak? To protect yourself?”

He looked down at it and sighed, shrugging it off and pulling off the hat, only to get hit with a huge blast of heat. He staggered, dropping them without realizing it, blinking as he tried to gather his bearings. He inhaled deeply, fighting the instinct to breathe rapidly and trying to calm the sudden quick beating of his heart.

“Desmond?” he thought he heard Lucy say, but he shook his head and turned toward the cave, stepping in.

His vision was swimming. He felt as if he were roasting alive in the cave. His legs felt like jelly, and his stomach hurt from all the sudden heat. He staggered, feeling his leg give out beneath him, and he fell awkwardly onto his side, hardly remembering to catch himself on his hands.

“Desmond!”

He swallowed thickly, watching as the ground rippled and waved beneath him. He couldn’t help but wonder if the others were dying of heat as he was. It was ridiculously hot in here. He was panting, he was sure of it, and he could feel his heart speeding up even more. His eyelids were fluttering in front of his eyes, and he collapsed.

He was immediately surrounded by snow and blessed cold after he met black, and he could see Shiva in front him, frowning.

“Don’t listen to them, Desmond. They don’t know what they’re doing. We give you these gifts for a reason. Do not let them persuade you otherwise.”

“I didn’t know it would be so hot!” he snapped. “I felt fine otherwise! Nice and cool!”

“That is because that hat and cloak regulate your body temperatures. The others can handle it. Even Lucy, who has been trained for fighting here. You cannot. I will protect, but you must let me.”

“But Shaun said—”

“It’s a risk you’ll have to take, Desmond. Besides,” the god said with a wink, “Rauf will take good care of you, and my brother has left you another good gift farther in. Perhaps not so excellent as mine, but whatever.”

Desmond blinked, and he was jolting awake with a huge gasp of wonderful, refreshing, cold air. He sat up, his hands clasping his arms as he felt the ice cloak beneath his fingers, and he grinned. Shaking his head, he noticed Lucy sitting beside him, and he nudged her. She jolted awake, staring at him. He smiled.

“Desmond!”

He felt arms around his neck before he knew what was happening.

“Don’t do that again,” she hissed, hugging him tighter. “The cave closed after we entered, so we had to find an alcove to wait for you in.”

He laughed, hugging her back. “I’m never listening to them again.”

“I’ve already told them to not order you around.”

“Awesome. Thanks, Lucy.”

She sighed, and he could feel her chest heave with the movement. Dressed in his robes and hat again, he felt much better. His hands curled on her sides, and he inhaled deeply. They stayed like that for several seconds before he felt Lucy pull away, and he met her gaze.

“Ready to get going?”

He smiled. “Yeah. And Shiva told me there’re treasures in here, too, so we should go treasure hunting!”

She rose and helped him up, stepping out to where Rebecca and Shaun were talking. They paused as they emerged, and Rebecca waved.

“Sorry about that, Des!”

He shook his head. “That’s okay. I went along with it, didn’t I?”

“If you two are done,” Shaun hissed, “I would greatly enjoy if we could get moving. I would like to get out of here.”

Desmond rolled his eyes but said nothing more as he led them off, wandering proudly through the caves. With the ice claws, Lucy was able to take down a bomb in three hits, and Rebecca’s sticky fingers were rapidly improving (as well as her skills with a knife). Shaun would prattle on uselessly about whatever they were fighting, and they all agreed that Desmond should stick to summoning Leonardo for most of their fights. He did, actually, summon the Wyrdhare once, laughing as it bounced around on the ground, giving out potions like candies or occasionally throwing around a healing spell.

After the fight, it hopped into his arms and demanded to be carried, nuzzled down nicely in his cloak. Shaun rolled his eyes, thoroughly displeased, and Rebecca cooed over it briefly before a giant slug made of fire attacked them. The beasts in this cavern were aggressive, and every few steps something would climb from the wall, or fall from the ceiling, or crawl out of the lava, and by the time they reached another little alcove, they were all wiped out.

“Can we rest here?” Desmond asked.

He was sporting a new hat, one made of woven red crystals, and it helped cancel out the weakness of his ice cloak. He also had a knife made of lava tucked into the back of his belt, so Rebecca had the two ice knives. Lucy had a brand-new headband that nullified some of the power of fire, and even Shaun received a new book. Rebecca had taken their old gear and stuffed it into that small little pouch, one that had a portal to some sort of space where she could store everything. Desmond didn’t understand, just nodded, smiling, and hugged the Wyrdhare tighter.

He watched as Rebecca pulled out the tent, and he set it up as Lucy went hunting with a little help from the Wyrdhare. When the creature came hopping back in, Lucy had a dead wolf in her arms, black as the dried lava and streaked with red. He helped her spit it and cook it before serving it up. Shaun was distracted by the new text, and by the time they were done eating, all of them were packed into the tent, sleeping comfortably in a pile in the alcove. They could bond at a later date.

He was the last one to wake, stepping out of the tent groggily and stretching. He could feel all three sets of eyes on him as he grunted, feeling his shirt ride up underneath the cloak. He blinked as he let his arms fall down to his sides, and there was a few seconds more of silence before he heard Shaun speak.

“About time, Mister High-and-Mighty. We’ve been waiting.”

“Sorry,” he slurred.

Lucy smiled at him. “It’s okay, Desmond. You aren’t used to such exercise.”

He smiled back at her, shaking like a dog and stretching one last time. All of his muscles were sore, but he felt refreshed, and he knew he could handle Ifrit. He could feel the nervousness settling in the pit of his stomach, clenching all his insides. This would be a tough battle—tougher than the ones yesterday, which he didn’t actually remember much of from being so exhausted. Rebecca and Lucy were set and ready to head into the next room. He looked back at the tent.

“It’s useless now,” Rebecca said. “It’ll break if we try to take it down.”

Desmond scowled, but adjusted his cloak and nodded, taking the small snack she handed him. Shaun had wandered over, and he could see the nervousness in his eyes. He wondered if they could, actually, handle Ifrit. Rebecca winked at him.

“Ready?”

He grinned. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

They stepped into the next room, where a large red crystal hovered over a huge pit of lava. There was a path that led to it, and Desmond could feel himself drawn toward it. He led them around to the path, and he trudged upward until he could reach the crystal, and he leaned out to touch it.
Only to have it shatter when he did, followed by a hiss.

“Who dares disturb my slumber?”