The journey down the mountain was a lot less dangerous than the journey up, but it wasn't completely safe.
The ice that made up most of the mountaintop didn't shatter into a cloud of dust like the Golems had, but it did start melting at a rate visible to the eye.
The ground beneath their feet started to give way and crumble as the ice melted and broke. And as it did, the chunks of black rock embedded within fell down one by one, each one hitting the ground below with a deafening thud.
Not to mention that the melting ice made their path extremely slippery.
As such, they still had to remain vigilant while climbing down the upper part of the mountain.
But soon, they reached the end of the icy path, and the ground below them was once again made entirely of the black rock of the actual mountain.
"I guess it was somewhere around here that we had gotten separated," Yuko gazed around and shuddered, "It was honestly quite scary, the whole ground started shaking and waves of snow crashed into us. It was like the top of the mountain had exploded."
"But then again," he looked back at the mountaintop and then glanced at the Winter's Breath in his hands, "I guess it really had exploded."
Niko, too, looked at the flower Yuko was holding.
Indeed, it seemed that the magical flower had gone on a rampage, unleashing large torrents of its magical energy that destroyed the mountaintop and turned the mountain into a strange, frozen hell.
He was sure that it was around here—whatever had frightened the mystical bloom so much.
And, indeed, he could sense it nearby—even though the magical ice was still interfering with his powers, he could sense a group of dead bodies frozen deep beneath the icy mountaintop.
There were no other corpses in that area, so it was safe to assume that those had belonged to the ones that the flower had been afraid of.
But he still wasn't sure why a magical bloom with this much power would get so scared, and eventually, he shook his head and moved on from these thoughts.
What mattered right now was that they had succeeded and found the Winter's Breath.
Yuko smiled as he glanced at it from time to time.
With this, he would be able to cure everyone—everyone would be saved.
Except, of course...
He glanced at Tai and sighed.
Tai had explained to him already that he wouldn't be able to stay for long, and Yuko had tried to be understanding so as to not burden his brother as he left.
But still...
Knowing that his brother would soon leave him forever...
The brother who had practically raised Yuko alongside their father, and whom Yuko looked up to for all his life.
The brother Yuko had shared his joys and sorrows with. The brother he had played in the snow with.
The brother he had made that embarrassingly awful drawing for...
Actually, Yuko would rather not think about that last thing. But the rest of them, they were all fond memories he had made with Tai.
Knowing that these were the last moments he would spend with his brother was a painful thing.
It made Yuko want to cry, but he shook his head and held his tears back.
Instead, he spent the journey down the mountain talking and bickering with his brother, just like he used to.
Hana smiled as she watched the two brothers.
Niko moved ahead of them all, keeping a lookout for any signs of danger so that the others could spend their time peacefully.
Thankfully, everything seemed to be fine now.
The Winter's Breath had turned the mountain into a bizarre hell teeming with mad beasts, but now that it had calmed down, everything had started going back to normal.
There were still plenty of wild animals around, but they were all of the mundane kind, devoid of the icy armor and mad eyes that those frozen thralls from before had possessed.
Even the snow covering the ground wasn't as thick as before, making walking around a lot easier.
Even the few areas that would have been troublesome to get through were no longer an issue with both Niko and Hana being able to use their powers again.
So, their time climbing down the mountain was rather peaceful, allowing Tai and Yuko to spend the last of their time together talking, laughing, and playing in the snow without having to worry about much else.
And just like that, it was time for the brothers to say their final goodbyes.
The group had almost reached the base of the mountain when the sun descended below the horizon, bringing Tai's sixth and final day to its end.
Everyone stood around the young boy as his body started to glow.
Hana's eyes welled up with tears, and she ran up to him to give him a hug.
"There there, kid..." Tai patted her head.
Leta, too, hugged him with her wings.
Tai hesitantly looked towards Yuko, fearing that his brother would be too sad about having to say goodbye.
But to his relief, Yuko seemed to be alright. Tears had welled up in his eyes, but he still smiled at Tai before hugging him tightly.
"Take care of yourself, brother," Yuko said as tears streamed down his face.
But he wiped them away and looked up at Tai, "And don't worry about Dad, I'll make sure to take good care of him."
Tai wrapped his arms tightly around his little brother as he felt his body slowly dissipate into sparks.
"Take care, you little gremlin," he spoke through a cracked voice as he cried hard, his tears falling onto Yuko's shoulders.
Tai then turned towards Niko, and nodded with a smile, "Thank you."
His voice faded away and his body scattered into countless specks of bright light.
And then, those specks quickly surged towards each other, merging together to form a glowing, silver locket that floated in the air.
Niko walked forward, gently touching the locket with his finger.
As soon as he did, the light surrounding it poured forward and coalesced to form a glowing orb, while a splotch of blood appeared on the locket.
As the rest of them watched in a strange silence, the orb of light started to ascend, floating up and disappearing into the night sky, as if joining the countless stars above.
The silver locket floated down, and Yuko caught it in his hands.
"This..." he tilted his head, "It's Tai's locket, why did he leave this behind?"
He hesitated for a moment, and then opened the locket, the others coming up to him to see what was inside.
Yuko's eyes widened.
Inside the locket, there was no note or engraving.
Rather, it was an old, folded piece of paper. And when he unfolded it, he saw a small, crude drawing of what vaguely seemed to be two boys and a man.
It was the drawing Yuko had once made for Tai, a drawing of the two brothers and their father.
A tear found its way to his eye, but he wiped it away and sighed, "So that's what it was..."
Hana and Niko looked at him with worry, but Yuko smiled, "Ah, don't worry about it, I'm fine."
His smile was a bit forced, however.
"Well, I suppose I should get going now...I need to hurry up and get this flower to my village."
Leta hopped onto his shoulder, "Are you sure you'll be alright? We can go with you if you want."
"It's alright, I—I can take care of myself," Yuko reassured her, "And besides, you all were on your way somewhere too, weren't you?"
"Well then, goodbye...a—and thank you all," he bowed.
Niko hesitated for a moment, before bowing at him too, while Hana smiled and waved him goodbye.
And with that, the Spirits and the boy parted ways.
Yuko walked forward, his steps slightly rushed.
Once he was far enough from the rest, however, his steps slowed down, before coming to a halt.
Tears fell to the ground one after another.
He had tried to stay strong, to pretend that everything was alright, so as to not worry his brother during his last moments.
He had tried to put up an act, just like Tai had done.
But he couldn't do it anymore.
His brother...he missed his brother...
He wanted his brother back.
He wanted to be hugged by him again, to talk and bicker with him one more time.
Yuko fell to his knees, sobbing as he clutched the locket in his hand.
That locket...the locket Tai was so fond of, and always carried around.
He finally knew the reason his brother held that locket so dear— it was because of that one, ugly drawing that Yuko had made.
"Brother..." his whole body shook as he sobbed uncontrollably.
The Winter's Breath in his hands glowed softly, a cool, soothing light spreading out from it.
That light surrounded Yuko's body, comforting the little boy as he cried for his brother.