Lui woke up with a grimace. He was still sleepy but his mind would not rest. He sat up stretching and got out of bed to leave the room.

He didn't pass anyone until he heard his screams again from when he first arrived. He followed her sounds again and found the snake pit. The last time, he almost died in it. And that's also where the counselor died because of him.

He approached the edge and listened to the sounds of the snakes hissing for more food. He felt a presence behind him, and the shadow that went with it that towered over him. He didn't need to turn around, he already knew who it was.

The person walked up to him, watching him carefully. His gestures, his posture, he had to identify any kind of action on his part. Then the person spoke. "I would like to take you somewhere, and it won't be like the last time."

Lui slowly turned around to face Free. He squinted his eyes, "If this is another suicide thing, you can go alone."

Free shook his head, "You took the test, you passed. There will be no more danger between us."

"There always is." said Lui as he simply turned to stare at the emptiness and blackness of the cave. "You don't know me, not my past, what I've been through. And I don't know yours. I can't trust you if I don't know anything about you."

"So...let's do all that right now." said Free as he offered her his hand.

Lui turned his head to Free and looked at him septically. "Are you serious?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"What if you're lying to me."

"Oh dear, my dear little human, if you distrust everyone, you won't get very far." said Free sarcastically. Then he smiled, "Come on, you wouldn't want me to take you by force, would you?"

Lui grunted, "That would be very humiliating, I must admit." He walked towards the entrance around Free, Free lowered his raised hand and followed the boy. They both walked down the hallways and passed no one. "Where are Valt and Shu?" asked the celestial pelican.

Free shrugged, "Maybe fishing and gathering. There are places like that where there's nothing but peace and sunshine, but they're places hidden from humans."

"It must be weird to live in a place like that."

"No, it's not if you don't live in an ice kingdom all year round, like you did."

"Haha." said Lui wryly, "I'm sorry but I do think I was deprived of going anywhere without a royal escort."

"It must be boring, being followed by dogs that are worthless."

"They can't help it if they were born human. I never chose my place in society and they didn't either."

"Neither did I. I mean, I was born human but...the rest is complicated."

"Hm, so much theory is floating around the kingdom about you."

"Well, I'll tell you about it when we get to the place I want to show you."

They left the place and walked through a forest that did not make walking easy. A path, there were nettles. Lui looked at the path while stopping. Free knew the problem and suggested that he climb on his back. The sky blue boy looked away and accepted with a little shame, since he didn't usually need help from anyone, and asking for it is putting his pride aside.

When this path passed, they continued on to a clearing. There were swamps with it, and there were snakes and alligators. Lui had a lump in his throat, not even wanting to continue on to see what was next. Free noticed this and looked back to see Lui paralyzed. He smiled, "This is where we raise our creatures, the ones from the pit. When we don't hear much noise in the pit, it means we have to come here to get some because the others are dead. It's often from starvation that they die, they have to kill each other to survive if we don't give them enough flesh."

"You're sick." Lui said simply, and then a question came into his head. "What do you use this place, this pit for? You can kill humans and keep them only for yourself, right?"

"That's right but...Many humans venture onto my land. Every time I kill some, more come. I can't keep up with it. Shu doesn't eat meat, he drinks blood, I do the opposite. So you have to understand that when we are not hungry anymore, we need someone to finish the meal. His reptiles are meat eaters, so it's ideal."

"Hmmm, more will come." Free looked at him. "If I don't join my father, he'll send his whole army and he might even come himself."

"I will defend you."

"No, Free!" said Lui, trying to explain, "I'm not the one who's going to be in danger, for them, you kidnapped me. You're the one who's going to get killed!"

"Are you worried about me?" asked Free with a smile.

"Queeee?!!!" shouted Lui, "NO, OF COURSE NOT!!!"

"Hehe, as I always thought after meeting you, you are very tender and cute, my dear human."

"No, I'm not cute! And I'm not yours!"

"Oh yeah? Do you really think so?" asked Free, still with that sly smile on his side.

"Yes, I'm nobody's!"

"Well, as you say but you will be soon." said Free as he continued on his way, hands in his pockets. Lui raised an eyebrow at this statement and followed him.

He had to avoid the snakes trying to bite him and not pay attention to the alligators' eyes watching him. He felt a sharp pain in his leg and looked down, a cobra had bitten him injecting its venom. The pain intensified and he dropped to the ground, falling face to face with the venomous snake.

Free could no longer hear Lui behind him. He turned and saw nothing behind him. He muttered, "He didn't get away without me knowing..." Then he heard a shout, "Free!" The blond man reacted quickly and ran towards the voice. He found Lui on the ground with a snake, which stood with its mouth wide open, being ready to attack and definitely kill the little one. Free was surprised because snakes usually didn't attack him, so they shouldn't do it with Lui. But the idea that the smell of the human attracted them did not go unnoticed in Free's head.

He took a weapon from his pocket and quickly threw it right into the snake's head. The animal died instantly, leaving a shaken Lui. Free noticed the torn fabric on the white dragon's pants and stooped to examine it. He took the edge of the garment and lifted it up, noticing the blood flowing with a trace of the bite. "I'll heal you, come with me." said Free, taking Lui in his arms. "I know a friend who is a healer, she will make you an antidote."

"Is she a creature again, your friend? Like your friend was a dragon."

"No. Of course not. She's a magician."

"Okay, but make it quick. The pain is unbearable." Lui grunted and wanted to heal it quickly, especially since they had just lost time and the road ahead looked like it would be a long one.

Free tried to make it fast even though he didn't like it. He liked to take his time. He felt Lui's grip tightening on his shirt, he tried to bear the pain. The blond could hear Lui moaning, the blue head was on his neck and it was getting wet. The golden dragon tried to reassure the boy by stroking his hair. "We are almost there."

"I feel like I'm going to die...My body won't respond..." Lui began with difficulty, "I feel like I'm going to throw up...My head is spinning..."

"Shh, just rest."

Lui simply closed his eyes and did not answer. He clutched tightly to Free's body and held on as best he could.

Free finally saw the cottage where his friend lived. It was a charming environment. There was a deer grazing in front. "Hello, my friend. Is Chris here?" The deer tilted its head to the side. "Good, thanks." He walked in and saw his friend nursing a rabbit with a bleeding leg. "Chris!"

She turned and looked at Free, "Oh, Free! How are you?" Then her gaze fell on the boy the blonde was carrying. "Free, you have...a human...? How come?" She asked as she walked over to examine the blue boy.

Free entrusted her with her protégé, "you could save him, that would be nice."

Chris nodded, "I'll do what I can." She laid him down on a table and looked at him. "Who is he? He's not a normal person if you accepted him."

"He's the prince of the Glace Kingdom, you know, the one where the king is-"

"Crazy. Yes, I know that. And isn't that little one too?"

Free shook his head, "I don't know, but I don't want that."

"It doesn't surprise me that he is the prince of this kingdom. His pale, cold skin says it all."

"Yes, but you could fix him up. He got bitten by a marsh cobra. And you know those are..."

Christina opened her eyes wide, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?! He can die now!!!" Chris ran around grabbing vials and herbs. She took a jar and made a liquid mixture. Then she took out a needle, "It's not something you can see, this object, but I made it myself. " She handed him the object. "I'll let you prick it." This passage goes too fast...

Free took the object then looked at Lui, who was almost unconscious now. He approached and took his leg to stick the object violently into the white skin. He pressed the syringe to advance the product into the human's body. He closed his eyes as he heard the cries of pain from Lui. He felt someone's hands gripping his arm tightly, as if they wanted to tear his limb off. He opened his eyes and saw Lui trying to stop him. He mumbled to the boy, "I'm sorry but this is for your own good."

Free finished and he let Chris give the boy a potion to drink. The healer made him drink the whole pot, and Lui felt his eyes close. She laid him down and went to get her equipment to clean the wound and bandage it.

Free sat down next to the body of the celestial pelican, he caressed her cheek with the palm of his hand. Chris noticed the gesture and smiled, "He's cute, isn't he?" Free said nothing. "You could say that since he's the youngest, he's the most darling. That's not the real truth, it's all a lie. Precisely, it is the runt of the litter that is set aside and forgotten. I think, that boy suffered a long time ago, and is still suffering."

"What exactly are you getting at?" asked Free. He knew his friend had an ulterior motive.

Christina smiled, "Well, you should keep doing what you're doing. You should help him and give him the love he needs."

"For a long time, love left me. And I didn't feel it afterwards."

"Free." began Chirs, taking his hands. "Everyone has a heart, and everyone's heart belongs to one person. Who do you think this boy's heart belongs to?"

"No one."

"But you want something else, don't you?"

"Yes, and I'll have it."

"All right, you do as you please. Let's let him rest."

Free nodded and they left the cottage to walk with their friend the deer.

FAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSTTTTTTTTTT......................