Sigh. Rox will keep bugging me.

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The room was silent as Cephiril made the proposition a few minutes later. Shin-to dropped the berry she had been holding, thankfully it fell onto her lap. Roxanne looked highly mortified, and Daray just stared stonily at Cephiril, disbelieving.

"Um, I only asked," Cephiril said. "What Aria said is true. To not be able to feel is the worst thing in the world, I'm convinced. Should we not do what we can to help? Imagine if it were you." He sat in a chair, staring around at the others.

"Yet Jasper is so cold it's strange that he still is human," Shin-to murmured. "I grant I never saw another like him tread on the ground, and yet he is so like ice that there is almost no difference between them. Would his coming along make for silent reserved nights and all?" She sighed. "Make the decision, Cephiril. I would not contradict your decision."

"But this is only a trivial matter," Roxanne said indifferently. "Let him come along if Aria so wishes. It is not as though this is a matter of life and death, is it?"

A silence filled with cold filled the room then, and they did not have to look to the door to know that Jasper was there and had heard much of what had been said. For a moment his face turned slightly pale, then he rushed away down the corridor. Cephiril sighed. "Seems we have touched a nerve. Bet he didn't know Aria had such plans."

"True," Daray said quietly. "He seemed pretty shocked, to say the least. I wonder what he would do now."

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Aria was sitting quietly at her desk when Jasper strode into the study. He knelt before her feet reverently, and she smiled, stroking his hair softly. "What is it, Jasper?"

"Is it true thou wishes to send me away?" Jasper asked, not looking at her. Aria put down her quill and took Jasper's hands in hers, drawing him into a standing position. "And whence did thou hear that?"

"The travelers spoke of it, and I heard." He did not dare to look at Aria. The Master Ice Mage sighed as she bade him look into her eyes. "Thou art already a full mage, Jasper. I wish you not to stay here with me thy whole life. There are so many things out there thou does not know about, and I seek not that you should stay here where the ice is so cold and heartless. Go with them. They will show you what life is about. It is the same reason why I sent Eren away, and he was too a great ice mage. The ice mages must not stay at Aremae. It is not worth it."

"Why?" He sounded like a child as she smiled sadly. "Should you really send me away just like that?"

"I don't want you to fall to the ice," Aria said quietly. "Please obey me this once, and don't ask any questions. That is an order." She hugged him like a mother would, though he did not respond. Then she straightened his robes quickly, and turned to walk out of the study. "Remember, Jasper. This world would be too cold without humanity's feelings."

He stared at the floor as Aria left, but something - he didn't know what, stopped him from uttering even a sob like anyone would have. Then he walked quickly out of the study, stopping only to extinguish the lamps in the room.

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It was much later when Aria came into the room where Cephiril and the others were resting. "Greetings. I come to see if you find your dwellings comfortable and to your liking." The look on her face signaled otherwise, however, and Cephiril understood. "You mean to know what we decided."

"Yes, that is true," Aria said, sighing as she twiddled a strand of her hair absent-mindedly. "I apologize for my sudden intrusion, yet I would dearly wish to know."

Cephiril looked at Shin-to, who nodded quietly. He gave Aria a small smile. "This is odd indeed, I guess, my lady, but we agree to your strange request..." Daray gave him an indignant look and Roxanne stared fixedly at the ice sculpture in the corner.

"That is good." Aria chose to ignore the two's less-than-happy expressions. "Somehow, I feel more confident sending him with you. Such power like yours should not be trifled with, and it is the safest sending him with you."

"Thank you for your confidence in us," Cephiril said. "It is a little awkward, it's true, but I'm sure things will work out over time."

Aria looked immensely relieved. "Be sure there is no greater way I could ever repay you than to give you these." She held out a small white vial. "This is the liquid light of the purest ice itself, and it will definitely protect you in times of need. Trust it, but do not put your life on its line, for it might swallow you up in its power too and bind you to the same fate that befits all the ice mages."

Cephiril accepted the gift from her and examined it closely. There seemed to be something rather like fiery white liquid swishing around inside, sparkling so brightly it was almost unbearable to look at. "Thank you, my lady."

"No," Aria said quietly. "Thank you."

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