The Eternal Winter - Book 2 - Chapter 1 - The Passage of Time (Patreon)

                                                   The Capital City of Arran
                                                         Half a year later

At first Alexia wasn’t sure how she felt about Alexander, but after he saved her life multiple times, he quickly became the only person she felt she could depend upon. Especially when she became just like him somehow.

It was why it was heartbreaking to wake up and find him gone, and just as heartbreaking when he came back and said that he would be going to planet hall.

But she still stayed inside as he told her to do. Because she understood why he was doing what he was doing.

Alexia lets out a sigh without taking her eyes off of the frozen road leading towards the bunker she’s come to calling home to over the last several months.

The city itself is a lot smaller than it was before, more of it having been turned to rubble than not from the two beings’ clash. And for some reason, unlike the other places in the world which alternate now between the eternal winter and the sun, the capital of the world is always under a lighter eternal winter. Simply a light amount of snow with no sun at all times, with the occasional frozen one wandering about and an additional occasional shard.

She raises her head to look up at the glowing blue sun that is currently shining over the planet.

One thing that never changed no matter whether we’re in the eternal winter or not…

The frozen sun seems to rise for half an hour to an hour a day now and covers the entire planet, proving to the many people on it that this planet is somehow unique in some way as compared to the rest of the galaxy they’re in. Proving that the sun is still affected by the eternal winter.

Alexia’s head jerks to the side as a wendigo – a term that the girl Cynthia said was what Alex called them – rushes out of a building while screeching, the creature’s blue skin seemingly reflecting the small amount of light in the area as she looks into its pitch black eyes and sees the glowing blue ring inside. Then, without an ounce of hesitation, she sprints forward to meet the wendigo, using some of the martial arts taught to her by Cynthia to grab its arm and use its weight to throw it to the ground.

Not that she really needed the assistance with all of the energy she’s absorbed over the last few months since realizing she could absorb it.

After getting it on the ground, she extends her claws and tears the monster’s throat out before climbing back to her feet and wiping off her claws on the creature’s corpse.

She then absorbs the energy in its body before continuing on her way towards the bunker. But as soon as she reaches the bunker and opens the door, she freezes in place.

Something’s off…

Alexia slowly and carefully enters the bunker, closing the door behind her before looking around and eventually using her senses, just to find a powerful source of energy in the center of the medical area of the bunker. Which normally would’ve been normal, as Alex is there, but one thing stands out to her.

Why is he in the center of the room and not in the pod…

The girl’s eyes widen in shock, and she immediately rushes off towards the medical area before finding Alex standing on shaky legs in the center of the room while looking around in confusion.

So she tackles him with a hug while shouting, “You’re finally awake!!!” knocking him to the ground in the process.

Alexia doesn’t let go of him even after the two hit the ground. Not even after she hears him quietly mutter, “Alexia?”

He’s finally back!!!

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                                                               Alexander North
                                                            A few minutes ago

It’s dark.

That’s the first thought that comes to mind when my eyes slowly creak open.

Very dark.

I blink several times to get the spots out of my eyes before trying to sit up, only to hit my head on something and realize that I’m in some sort of pod dock.

Huh?

I frown at that realization.

What happened? Didn’t I die?

|User Alexander has regained consciousness after six months, three days, fifteen hours, ten minutes, and fifteen seconds. Welcome back.|

I blink in surprise at that.

Wait a second, I was unconscious for how long?!

The terminal tries to repeat itself, but I just say, “No, no need to repeat,” cutting it off.

Then I let out a sigh.

I look around the pod dock for a few seconds, trying to find the inner hatch release lever before eventually finding it in the side of the pod and pulling it, making the hatch release with the sound of some sort of compression releasing. And along with it, I immediately feel a comfortable chill quickly enter into the pod.

What I find outside of the pod gives me pause because I’m pretty sure I recognize it as the bunker I dropped Alexia off in. But I store that information away for now as I slowly begin to get out of the pod, feeling extremely weird in the process and accidentally flinging myself out to land face first in the ground at the center of the room.

“Shit,” I mutter, realizing that I have very little control over my body right now. “Why does everything feel so weird? Is it sleeping sickness?”

|Negative. You have been absorbing the energy of every frozen sun period throughout the last six months, three days, fifteen hours, ten minutes, and fifteen seconds.|

Oh. That’s… oh.

Wait, but the sun shouldn’t affect my physical statistics, right?

|After you reached twenty points in energy, the energy in your body began automatically leaking into your skin, muscles, and organs, empowering them in the process.|

Twenty… points?

|Affirmative. You currently have twenty-six point one points of energy.|

Oh. That’s… a lot.

Also, is it just me or are you talking more fluently?

|Affirmative. The improvement in your energy has fed my intelligence.|

Okay, I’m not sure how I feel about that. But I can deal with that later.

I try and fail multiple times to stand on my feet until I finally manage to do it, albeit with very little stability. Like a child learning to walk for the first time.

And not long after I finally get up, I’m tackled back to the ground.

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