“It was a course on how to rescue your pet,” Axel felt the need to elaborate.
“Do I look like a pet to you?” Loki stood up, brushing the snow away. The weather was still cold and a bit crazy. “And don’t answer that,” Loki warned him.
“What’s with you waking up so grouchy from the dream?”
“You have no idea what happened down there,” Loki said impatiently. “And didn’t I warn you about stepping into the Dream Temple?”
“I’m sorry,” Axel said. “You looked like you were dying, and I had to save you. Am I in danger now?”
“I don’t think so,” Loki said. “The dream is over anyways,” Loki was still in shock from his encounter with Carmilla. Charmwill’s image flashed before his eyes again, and he tried his best not to cry, at least not in front of his friends. He looked at Snow White sleeping in the glass coffin inside the Dream Temple. She looked alright. He had to bring her back safely into the castle. He’d already lost Charmwill and he was in no way going to lose Snow White. Looking at the Waker, he saw they still had enough time.
“Why are you being nice to Axel?” Lucy said to Loki. “Why can’t you just tell him he’s useless and can’t do anything right?”
Axel’s face reddened. This time, he looked angry. He’d taken his share of humiliation from Lucy already. Loki knew that whatever Axel did, he did it with a good heart because he was a true friend, and he had no time to stand up for him against Lucy now.
Thinking about Axel, reminded Loki of Fable. He wondered why she hadn’t said a word since he woke up. Turning back, he saw Fable staring at him as if she’d seen a ghost. She was definitely worried about Loki, but there was something else in her eyes that worried Loki.
“What?” Loki snapped at her, feeling uncomfortable with her silent stare.
“Did you lose your Fleece, Loki?” Fable asked as if she was his mother taunting him for losing something precious. He had a gut feeling that losing the Fleece wasn’t good at all, and he knew Fable felt the same way.
“Don’t worry, I don’t think it’s that dangerous,” he lied again to her so she wouldn’t panic.
“What happened in the Dreamory, Loki?” Fable was curious. “We were so worried about you two.”
Loki took a deep breath, glad to be alive. “You won’t believe it when I tell you, Fable,” he dropped his head as Pickwick landed on his shoulder.
“And why is Pickwick here?” Fable squinted. “Where is Charmwill?”
“I will explain everything later,” Loki wasn’t going to tell her that Charmwill died right now. If he did, she’d get emotional and then he’d probably burst into tears as well. “We need to get Snow White back to the castle and we need to hurry.”
“You don’t need to do that,” Lucy blew on her fingernails then pointed behind Loki.
Axel was already pushing Snow White’s coffin across the thin ice toward the castle.
“Axel,” Loki hurried after him, and Fable followed, “what are you doing?”
Axel wasn’t responding. He was pushing the coffin with all his might, running as fast as he could before the ice broke underneath him. Cracks spread behind him as if chasing him, but he was surprisingly faster.
Lucy didn’t bother risking her way back to the castle over the ice. Loki and Fable tiptoed on the ice carefully and slowly after Axel. They held hands and chose different routes than the one taken by Axel because it was unsafe. When they arrived, Axel had already pushed the coffin into the castle. The Schloss was calm and showed no anger.
“I. AM. NOT. USELESS,” Axel shouted back at Lucy across the ice.
Fable let out a laugh. She actually liked how he stood up for himself for once and actually did something heroic by crossing the treacherous ice. It was the way he said that he wasn’t useless that sounded funny to her.
“You definitely aren’t useless,” Fable kissed him on the cheek.
Loki had never seen Axel smile so much. Fable’s kiss made him feel like he was her hero, which might have been all he wanted to prove from the beginning.
After Axel succeeded in pushing the coffin to the castle, they pulled the coffin back up to Snow White’s room. Before pulling the stake out, Loki told them about Carmilla’s curse and how she forced Snow White to take a bite of the apple. He explained that Snow White might be under its influence, and that none of them might be safe with her. They decided to postpone pulling the stake out, and that Loki would do it by himself. Besides, they were tired and needed to go home to clean before their foster mom arrived tomorrow.