The demon lord began to tell the story of how Winter became the guardian of winter to Marcel and since he was curious, he paid close attention to the demon lord. He grabbed Marcel’s hand and drew a rune inside his palm, then beckoned Frostbite to come closer and then drew the same in his palm.  

“Now I'm going to show you both my memories of that time. I’m sure it’ll clear up a few misunderstandings than me explaining everything, don’t you agree, Frostbite?” 

Frostbite just nodded his head and then the demon lord began talking. Drowsiness overcame the Marcel and Frostbite as each word sent caused them to feel drowsier until their bodies couldn’t take it anymore, falling asleep in the end. The demon Lord levitated Frostbite’s body and placed it on his right with Marcel on his left. He closed his eyes and finally joined the other two to guide them safely on their journey across his memories. Believe it or not, his mind’s a deathtrap that will swallow anyone who isn’t careful in there.  

He guided the two who still didn’t know exactly where they were to a place filled with numerous stars, almost infinite, like a galaxy. The galaxy of stars cleared a path for the demon lord as he walked towards a specific star, Marcel and Frostbite following from behind as the took in the beautiful scenery around them. They both couldn’t believe that they were inside someone’s mind. There was no end in sight no matter where they looked, making them wonder just how many memories this person they followed had.  

They continued walking until the demon lord made an abrupt stop, indicating that they had reached their destination. The demon lord sort of whispered something to one of the stars in front of him and then it slowly began getting brighter than the others until its shimmer could no longer be ignored. He touched it and then the bright star exploded, causing a blinding flash of light strong enough to make them unable to look at it.  

After the sudden explosion of light was over, the space that was filled with almost infinite stars suddenly turned dark. The demon lord was nowhere in sight either and then like a VR stimulation, the scenery changed. The memories started playing, causing them to perceive everything the demon lord said and felt at that time as if their own. They watched attentive as everything around them came alive right before their eyes. 

 

Inside the Memories - Demon Lord’s POV

It was on a clear summer day with no cloud in sight when he came to visit me. His mere presence invited a snowstorm. A snowstorm in summer was quite the unusual phenomenon, unless, maybe the emperor of winter wasn’t feeling well. 

A friend of mine I'd known for millennia suddenly entered the throne room and yelled, “I’m pregnant!” straight to my face and boy, was I surprised. 

This friend of mine was Blizzard, the guardian of winter, one of the four sons of a friend of mine. He lived on one of the four mountains of seasons all alone along with his siblings Clover, Sunny and Asher who lived on the other three because of their immense ability to affect the seasons. Just their a slight change in their mood was enough to change the weather and so they all lived on highly fortified mountains that’d keep their powers at bay until it was time to call forth their seasons, all alone and unable to meet the outside world. 

They lived in isolation, away from the rest of the world with just me as their friend and I'd go visit them every few years or so when my schedule was free. I could talk to them through telepathy at all times, but not being able to see them was kind of nerve-wracking since they were the only beings I could freely talk to.  

They couldn’t even meet each other as often as they wanted because of the whole mood thing. The meeting of these siblings would cause numerous odd phenomena to happen in multiple dimension, so they only met when I came to meet them, making me feel very guilty when my schedule wasn’t free. 

It’d been about a hundred years since my last visit to their mountains and I was thinking of going there soon. Blizzard was the eldest, then came Clover, Sunny and then Asher as the youngest, mirroring perfectly the order of their seasons. 

I had sent all the guards on a vacation and the palace was almost empty on the day Blizzard came to visit. 

After he entered the throne room, he said something that’d make me drop my jaw, that he was pregnant.  

But that was impossible, I thought. Guardians like he and his brothers are forced to live on their own because of their immense power, so there was no way that he’d be pregnant. And if he was pregnant, how would he know, you may ask. That’s because they’re the highest level of dragons and also guardians.  

A guardian is a creature born of a god’s power. They have a clear purpose in mind and their mission is to see it through to the end of time, meaning they can’t just shun their duty and so, they’re connected to all the other dragons and are able to retrieve the information they require to fulfill a certain purpose. This power is able to notify them of the events that happen all around, making them perceive them as if they were actually there. 

“But that’s impossible!” I said to him. He just looked at me and then rubbed his stomach. 

“No, actually. Mom told me that we’re special and that we could reproduce all by ourselves.” He said with a hint of happiness in his eyes.  

“Mom? Oh, you mean Demeter, right?” I asked him. He answered with a nod and he asked me to grab a seat so that he’d explain everything to me, although I was already in one at the moment. 

We moved to a reception room and there we began to talk. 

“But how come you just got pregnant so suddenly?”  

“I don’t know, but I think it’s got something to do with that dream I had a few months ago. My mom told me that she’d come collect me and my siblings soon, so we’d better leave an heir otherwise the earth would be enraged.” 

“The earth would be enraged? What did she mean by that exactly?” He started to pale up when I asked the question. 

“She said that they’d be no seasons meaning nature’s cycle would be disrupted and It'd be just like the time she was without our other sibling. The earth would be thrown into a whack and everything’d be disrupted. Mountains would go crazy. The forest would lose its vitality and even the spirits would start to disappear, causing the earth to slowly wither away. Eventually this universe would be destroyed, dimensions and all and then everything would come crashing down. I never knew our existence was that important to the survival of the universe and just learning that made me shudder in fear of what would happen if we were suddenly called. She also said we had about a thousand and half years left, so we should work hard to leave an heir and just bailed on me.” Blizzard looked distraught as he told me everything. He was sweating, a pretty usual thing to happen to the lord of all things cool and it wasn’t stopping. 

“So, what are you going to do?” I asked him. I was also worried about him since he looked so panicked. 

“Well, first I'm going to try and give birth to my child as per my mom’s request and then deal with everything...” As he was talking, more people barged the room. Blizzard’s other three brothers, Clover, Sunny and Asher had arrived.  

“Oh, brother, you’re here too? Wait... don’t tell me... that you’re here for the same reason as we are?” Sunny said to Blizzard, looking just as surprised as he was to learn that his other brothers were also here because of the same situation. 

Yes, the three brothers told me that they met each other by sheer coincidence when they teleported into the throne room to look for me.  

Asher grabbed a seat beside Blizzard and asked, “Did you have a weird dream a few months ago too where mom appeared?” 

“Hmm, I did. Mom was strictly warning me that I should leave an heir before she comes to get us.” Blizzard said to his other brothers who also grabbed a seat. 

The sight of these four brothers in the same place while in their human forms was quite dazzling. Blizzard, the eldest of the brothers, had long hair as white as snow and so pale skin that it was almost transparent. He also had blue eyes as clear as ice. His appearance makes him seem like an ice-prince, which he was, but he was actually the most cheerful of the four brothers. He spoke in a manner full of respect and humility unbefitting his role as one of the most powerful creatures in this universe, but that just made him much easier to approach and get along with.  

Clover, the next of the four, had bright green hair, pale skin almost like Blizzard, but not as transparent as his. His hair was way longer than his other brothers and green olive colored eyes. He was always calm and collected, unlike his other brother, Sunny who was always brash and hyper. A sun that never goes down, would be how I'd describe Sunny. Clover was always the type to try to get the logic of things, although his existence itself defied logic. 

Sunny, the third of the four, had short blond hair as bright as the sun. His skin was tanned no matter what season it was and his eyes were a bright shade of red. He was very cheerful and hyperactive and got bored easily, so him calling me was something of a usual thing. He was the most bothersome of the brothers and even though him getting out would just screw things up, he did so anyway, making his brothers lose their patience and sealing him inside his cave when their seasons were up numerous times. 

Asher, the youngest of the brothers, had bright red mid-length hair, toned skin and orange colored eyes. He always carried this sleepy look on his face when he transformed into his human form that you’d think he was bored. He was mellow to the core. You’d probably never meet anyone as relaxed as him. He’d sometimes conjure up a cloud and just fall asleep on it when I met with the other brothers, but he always seemed to remember everything that happened as if he was actually wide awake. He was also the only one of the four brothers who could visit his other siblings because of a bizarre ability of his that lets him temporarily cancel effects, meaning he had the ability to seal away his powers for a bit, although not for long. I’m pretty sure, he’s half-asleep even though he looks so wide-awake right now. 

They all looked extremely handsome and their auras will probably make anyone caught a glimpse of them in their human forms, unable to forget ever their presence. Blizzard would probably be mistaken for a very beautiful woman if he got rid of his aura and went outside, but alas, that wasn’t going to happen unless he found a way to temporarily seal or transfer their power unto someone or something like his brother, Asher. The only one who’d be capable of such a feat who’d probably be someone blessed by the gods and the chances of them meeting someone like that was very slim, a 1 in 100 000 000 chance. 

They began to talk to each other about how they’d all heard the same dreadful result from their mother and how they woke up this morning and suddenly knew that they were pregnant. (T/N: If only pregnancy worked like that in reality) 

“It wouldn’t be because of what we did that one time, would it, Mr. Longhair?” Sunny asked me, being all shy and secretive. 

“What exactly did you guys do? You aren’t the reason why we’re pregnant, now would you?” Clover asked me. The others turned their full attention towards me and I began to like a man who got multiple people pregnant, a womanizer or in this case, maninizer. It was like an interrogation and I was the highly-guilty suspect. 

“No-no. I’m talking about that one time we held hands!” Sunny said blushing as it was something that was supposed to be a secret. 

“Huh, you held hands? How is that supposed to make you pregnant anyway... and stop acting so bashfully?! Holding hands with someone doesn’t make you pregnant!” Blizzard looked angry. I’m thinking he was thinking the others weren’t taking their situation seriously enough. 

“Okay, guys, enough with the small distractions. So, what are you going to do?” I asked them. 

“Oh, I'm just going to give birth to my child and teach it all kinds of cool stuff, just like you taught me.” Sunny grabbed my arm and locked his with mine. He smiled as he stared at his other brothers. 

“Hey, don’t just do that. You might end up having another child.” Clover warned his brother who was acting childish as he looked his brother. Huh, if only looks could kill, then Sunny would already six feet under. 

“Yeah, I might want another one. That way, I can teach two children about cool stuff instead of just one... Just kidding.” He was joking? But he sounded very serious, just like that one time when he asked me to marry him. Another long story. 

He was definitely not joking and all his brothers knew it. Asher yawned and began talking. 

“I’m going to teach my child how to sleep for countless hours and maybe play with my child. It’s probably going to be a lot of fun.” Don’t say that while looking like you don’t intend to do anything but sleep! It feels me with dread thinking about how he might neglect his child, but knowing him, it’ll be fine, probably. 

“Me, I'm going to teach my child how to not be a baby like my brother, Sunny there. It’s going to be very bothersome if my child turns into a lazy bum like him.” He said with a hint of deadly intent, making Sunny flinch and unlocking his arm from mine. I don’t know why, but I think there’s something going on between these two that I don’t know about. 

“Well, I'm hoping that we don’t get called too soon after we have our children. It’d be kind of sad to just leave them all by themselves to live in that big cave all by themselves. It’d break my heart to watch my child from above to see them lonely. I don’t want that, so, I’d like it if I give birth to twins instead of just one child.” Blizzard said with worry on his face as he patted his stomach. His brothers looked at him and, “Pfft, brother, you know that the guardian is just one person, right? What are you going to do if they kill each other for the title?” Asher suddenly woke up and then said that to his brother. I knew it! He really was half-asleep this whole time. 

He filled Blizzard with even more worry, “Yes, now that I think about it, it actually might be better for me to give birth to just one. Sure, they might not be able to kill each other, since you know, they’re my children, but they might go on to despise themselves and eventually, they’ll end up destroying everything in some last battle and drag all my other nephews into it and then the world really will end, just like mom said it will.” He looked so lost. 

Wow, that’s some worry he’s got there. Asher probably meant that as a joke, but now he was beginning to think that he’d joked in front of the wrong person. Who knew that a single joke would lead to them worrying about the destruction of the universe? Now the other brothers also began to worry about what would happen if they gave birth to more than one child. The destruction of the world was now on their minds. They all looked tense. 

“Okay, enough jinxing your children. If it comes to that, I’ll just take care of it, so don’t worry too much.” They finally eased up after hearing my words and sighed in relief. Their fears also got me thinking about what would happen if I decided to have a child. My children would probably do way more damage than theirs ever could, and that thought made me break into a cold sweat. 

“Then I'll leave my child or maybe children in your capable hands. I’m sure it’ll be hard.” Blizzard smiled and said to me. This was the first time he had smiled since he came to me. It was very refreshing to know that I'd at least eased a bit of his worry. 

“Yes, I'll also be leaving you with my child, so don’t spend all your time on just Blizzard’s.” Clover said. 

“Aha, I’ll also be leaving my children to you, so make sure they call you daddy, okay?” Sunny said with a cheerful smile on his face. 

“Ahhhh-hhaaaaaa! I don’t mind you becoming my child’s daddy... but make sure he gets a lot of rest... I don’t want him looking all tired.” Asher said in between yawns. Yeah, right. You get a lot of rest and you still look tired.   

“Yes-yes. I’ll make sure to take good care of your children while you’re away, but come visit them or at least see how they’re faring, or else they really might end up all alone.” I reassured them again and then Sunny locked his arm again with mine when Clover wasn’t paying attention. Clover seemed to flinch when he saw that Sunny had done it again and he seemed a little mad. Again, I wonder why. 

So, we talked the whole day and from what I heard the day after, the weather really was bizarre on the day we all met. Hot sun, freezing snow, big chunks of hail, chilling winds, rain, thunder and lightning, cyclones and so on so forth. They all happened while we were talking to each other and almost all of my servants got sick for the next couple of days. I really should go visit them sooner, I thought to myself as I looked around at the almost empty palace the next day. 

Five years after we all sat down and talked, I got called by Blizzard and his brothers who told me it was an emergency.  

When I got there, they all carried a baby, except for Blizzard who just as he had dreaded, held two instead of just one. Sunny named his son, Solus. Clover named his Gale and Asher, Starlight. Blizzard decided to name the eldest of his sons, Frostbite and the younger one, Winter. He was very satisfied with the names he gave them. 

Frostbite gave off a fierce and chilling energy right after his birth, far more so than his brother, Winter. It was as if Frostbite was destined to be the next guardian of winter like his father, but when the twins grew up, things played out a lot differently than how Blizzard thought they would.