This steady burst of snow is burning my hands,

I'm frozen to the bones, I am. | Iron

Somewhere in between Earth and the Gods’ premises, somewhere in there, you can find the seasons. The four of them, Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall, restlessly rotate and play around with the weather. Allowing the sun to graze Earth’s polluted crust or letting their anger out through feisty storms, the four dictate what each day feels like.

But, as someone said a long time ago, great power comes with great responsibility.

Forever trapped within their own power, the seasons don’t know what a different weather than their own feels like. Not that they have been curious anyway. Too used to even think what something different means, the seasons stay forever imprisoned inside of what they consider the norm. Well, that was until recently.

As we, the Gods, stare from above, down to the corrupted human world, we had never expected the four to self-destruct in such a way and leave our world so disoriented. We had created them to bring joy and terror to the human species; to create different emotions throughout the year. To keep the humans entertained and forever vulnerable under their powers. Yet, we forgot that, at some point, dullness is unbearable.

I guess it’s our fault. That things have turned out so badly.

But I must prepare now, for the war that is impending.

***

Cold. That’s all he’s ever felt. But he was no longer feeling the coldness. No, no, he was freezing. And he hated it, the dull feeling that the snow he used to love left on his body. He looked at his bare shaking hand and laughed mockingly. Laughed at himself. Laughed at the blue color his skin had started radiating - he was frozen from the inside, to the core.

Winter, he thought to himself. I hate winter.

Looking up, he cursed as wet snowflakes got in his emotionless eyes and left him blinded. The never ending whiteness left him blinded and angry. He didn’t even know what was going on, as he didn’t use to feel like that. But something had changed and as the realization hit him senseless, he started hating who he was and how boring everything in his never-ending life had been. Up until now.

Winter was going to change his world. Winter was bored of the infinite winter in his life. Thus, he formed a plan.

--

As Winter was due and was supposed to change with Spring, the two seasons mended together. Until the two figures met up at their borders and passed on the power to control the weather, Spring and Winter became one.

The warm breeze and disappearance of snow made Winter feel elevated, yet it was too mild. Winter wanted more of it. But Spring didn’t share the feeling. As he felt the cold wind and raging snowflakes reach him, he was ready to run back to his lands. Spring never fully understood, never comprehended, how Winter and Summer bared living in such extremities. He wondered to himself what would happen if the two met up, as they were the complete opposite. What would happen, he wondered.

One was cold and intimidating, whilst the other was b with literal hotness and you in. He shuddered at the thought.

But even before he finished his own thoughts, Spring lay still. As he felt his heart stop and freeze, he didn’t have time to scream before he was nothing more than a giant ice cube.  

--

Winter ran around aimlessly, as he began dripping, his body not used to the warmth enveloping his body. He began melting, his soul warming up, the ice leaving involuntarily. For the first time in a long while, a genuine smile appeared on Winter’s face.

Looking around, he began laughing hysterically. The whiteness was gone, long forgotten at the border he had just passed, long forgotten there and beyond. Instead, he was surrounded by greenness and blooming trees. Fascinated by the leaves, which he had never seen before, Winter almost screamed when a pink petal landed on his open palm.

It was beautiful. But it wasn’t enough. He liked it here, but the clouds angered him, as Winter wanted to feel the scorching sun on his porcelain skin.

Almost there, he spoke to himself. His voice hadn’t sounded so cheerful, ever. He kept walking, no matter how tired he was, no matter how scared he really was. No matter how wary of the many pairs of eyes looking down upon him, wondering what the hell he was doing. Angered, he could feel their fury in the air.

But, he talked to himself again, they don’t understand, the Gods, what it feels like to be trapped forever in the cold and agonizing winter.

And then he saw it, the border he had been dreaming of. The border he had fantasized about for such a long time. Every step felt so incredibly empowering that he almost gave up. Stepping onto the mended ground, where Spring and Summer became one, Winter looked up yet again. The clouds were gone and the sun was blinding him.

But this time it was different, the blindness; it wasn’t cold, it was warm and it made him nauseous. He was already loving it. There was only one thing left to do. So, he moved forward.

A second later, out of nowhere, coming straight from the nothingness above him, a heavy rock fell right in front of him. He looked at it; Winter looked at the sharp edges of the rock and shuddered.

A warning, he said. Looking up, he widened his eyes as someone from his past glared down at him. The Goddess of War was staring right into his soul, making the depressing sound of a clock ticking with , as her skinny fingers moved to the sound. His time was running out; Winter knew that.

Not wasting another second, he sprinted ahead, in a territory he had never even seen, lost but infinitely happier than he had ever been. The sun burned his snow-white skin; the sound of a sea reached his ears and the feeling of sand beneath his feet made him too excited.

But then, there was a distorted scream that surrounded him. He didn’t know where it came from but he knew who it came from. Frantically turning around, he smirked as he was met face-to-face with the last peg of his plan.

Summer. In all of her glory, she stood in front of him. Tanned skin, long, brown hair and an alluring body that captured his whole attention. She was more than he had dreamed of. But then he saw the fear in her eyes and laughed, why was she afraid?

Who are you, she asked, confused and wary.

Isn’t it obvious, Summer?

As if it clicked together, Summer gasped. Winter, what are you doing here? You’re breaking the rules. You cannot be here, under any circumstances, she screeched.

Yet I am, so what are you going to do about it, he asked her defensively. She wasn’t as nice as he had imagined.

You have to leave, now. Don’t you know the chaos this would create down there?

I do, but I don’t care, I’ve existed far too long as a slave to humanity; it’s time for me to act as I please.

What do you want me to do, then?

Just let me stay here, he said firmly. Winter had already made up his mind.

Never. This is my land, you do not belong here.

There’s no one to stop me anymore.

The scoff that came out of angered him. What was with her? He just wanted her to shut up and let him do as he pleased.

You are forgetting, Winter, that we are not the ones in power. Maybe to humans but the ones above will have none of your bull. You’ll be put back in post, in your season.

There’s another option, he suddenly said and looked at her, smirking.

What have you done with Spring? How did you get this far? You’re forgetting we’re never supposed to meet, we're the opposites.

I said, there’s another option, Summer, he insisted.

What is it, then, your grand solution?

Switch with me.

Her heart nearly stopped. He wasn’t serious, was he?

Winter smirked before he encircled his cold hand around , mercilessly. All she could do was look up, wordlessly pleading for help. No one came to her rescue. Not too long after, she was gone from his steel grip.

--

Opening her eyes, Summer knew where she was. Where he had sent her off to. She felt the coldness down her spine and on every part of her body. Looking down at herself, she noted the heavy armor she was wearing - clothes to protect her from the unforgiving winter.

Summer was well aware of her predicament - she was trapped, that much, she was aware of. Looking around, she looked for small traces of the border she could cross, but something else caught her eye. Somthing much more captivating.

Walking towards it, she gawked. It was a chair. No, actually, it was a throne. The throne of Winter, looking as grand and powerful as ever. She didn’t even dare admitting it but they all knew, the four of them. They all knew who possessed the most power amongst them, they knew who possessed the ice throne. Winter.

The snow cracked beneath her feet as she slowly approached it, in awe, ignoring the numbing feeling of the cold weather she had never felt before.

It was huge; the throne. On top of it, as a signature of the season it belonged to, there was an engraved snowflake that was black. Slowly climbing it, she wanted to feel it, the essence of power - the infamous throne.

Sitting down, scared that she was going to be condemned by the Gods, Summer was not prepared for what was to come.

As she sat, a surge of ice ripped through her veins, numbing her. She saw her tanned skin, getting paler and paler, until she almost blended with the snow surrounding her from every possible side.

The area around her started shaking, something was coming out from the ground. An ice wall; of course he had thought of it. It surrounded her from all places, immobilizing her and giving her no other option but to stay on the throne. Unmoving, yet with a wicked thought on the back of her mind.

Maybe the cold’s getting to me, Summer thought. But her patience was wearing out. So she began speaking, to no one in particular, yet hoping that a certain someone would hear her icy words.

You want me to switch places, while you look for your happiness, Winter? There will be no going back, as you have made your decision already.

For as of now, I shall be Winter, colder and more unforgiving than you have ever been.

The new Winter smirks, as she sees the Goddess of War, for the first time, staring down at her, smiling evilly.

Thus, a new era has begun.

Hyuna wakes up from her dream and looks around, panting. She looks at her hands and sighs in relief, as the ice-blue she had seen on her arms seconds ago, is gone.

Summer. No, Winter. What was the meaning of that? She thinks, as she gets off the couch she had been laying on and grabs her keys, running out of her apartment frantically.

When she reaches the front door of the building, someone pushes her from behind and shakes her - it’s the owner of the apartment complex.

Hyuna-ssi, what are you still doing here? Why haven’t you gone to the shelter yet? Haven’t you seen the weather, there was a warning a few hours prior? We have to leave. Now.

Confused, once more, Hyuna looks outside and feels her heart accelerate to an unnatural speed. Fear runs through her body, as she sees what’s on the outside.

There’s a snowstorm, whilst the summer sun is shining above the city. Wind too, there’s a strong wind that scares her.

Hyuna runs outside, disbelief evident in her eyes. What has happened?

As she looks around, there’s no one. But then she sees him, staring at her, recognizing her as well, just as she does.

Winter and Summer have met yet again, though this time, in the midst of the mess they have created.

***

And so it has begun, the war I’ve been preparing for.

But can you blame them, the seasons and humans, all too scared of trying out something new; searching for who they are, rather than following the path set out for them? Because it’s too difficult to be different; to be something extraordinary.

That is why I have created this war; this irreversible situation.

For the old time is running out and my time is approaching.

For war is always the answer; for war runs in my veins.

For war is an indication that innocence is gone and one must fight, until the other is dead.

Until power fills their veins and drowns them as well.

Deep in the ocean, dead and cast away

Where innocence is burned in flames

A million miles from home, I'm walking ahead

I'm frozen to the bones, I am...

A.N: If you did not understand anything you just read, I'm sorry. ^ ^' You have to take in this story with a grain of salt and a wider perspective, I guess. That's why there's three layers of it, three points of vew - seasons, Gods and humans. I hope you understand what the message is, haha. 

PS. Sorry there wasn't too much Myung-Ah, next part will (hopefully) have more. No lovey-dovey stuff though, that ain't my style. Angst ftw (lol).

PPS. If you didn't get it up to now - Summer = Hyuna, Winter = Myungsoo, though by the end, it's the opposite XD.

Hope you liked it, please leave your thoughts below (enjoyed it, hated it, didn't understand anything, let me know!) and have a great week!

Yours truly,

wintress

2013.06.02