The sun beat down on the rocky path as Arson and Sylvia made their way through the neutral territories, their goal clear: to extend their unique form of protection - Arson through fear and Sylvia through restoration.
It was a method that, while unconventional, had worked so far.
But today, Arson's mind wasn't entirely focused on conquering.
Kairo's words about twins - about combining the elemental powers of two tribes - kept looping in his head.
He found himself stealing glances at Sylvia more than usual. Every time she summoned vines to repair damaged land or used her elemental power to sprout small forests in their wake, Arson's mind wandered. What would our child look like?
Would their baby wield the fierce, destructive flames of the Magma tribe? Or would they inherit Sylvia's gentle, nurturing touch over nature?
Or - a more chaotic thought struck him - what if their child could both create and destroy at once?
The mental image made Arson's throat dry. He rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly feeling warmer than usual.
He opened his mouth to ask Sylvia - to bring up Kairo's words, to wonder out loud what kind of children they might have one day - but no words came out.
Sylvia, walking slightly ahead of him, didn't even have to look back to know what he was thinking. She could feel his stare burning a hole in her back.
"Stop thinking about what Kairo said," she finally muttered, keeping her gaze fixed forward.
Arson blinked, caught off guard. "I... I wasn't thinking about it!" he blurted, far too quickly to be convincing.
Sylvia arched an eyebrow. "Right."
Silence again.
For a moment, Arson tried to push the thought aside, but it clawed its way back. His mind drifted again - picturing a pair of twins, maybe a boy with his fiery red hair and a girl with Sylvia's calm green eyes. Would they inherit both of their powers equally, or would one favor fire and the other nature?
Then he thought - Would they be creators or destroyers?
Would his children build forests and burn them down in the same breath? Would they struggle to balance the chaos of his flames and the serenity of her roots?
Arson shook his head hard enough to make Sylvia glance at him again.
She let out a small sigh. "You're doing it again."
This time, Arson didn't even bother denying it.
Sylvia's voice softened, though. Truthfully... she wasn't unaffected either.
Despite her calm exterior, Kairo's words had rooted themselves in her mind.
What would it feel like to carry twins? Twins with dual-elemental powers - fire and nature intertwined, possibly fighting within her from the moment of conception. Would it be painful? Or would her children naturally find harmony between their powers, a balance she and Arson had worked so hard to achieve?
She bit her lip at the thought.
Arson noticed the rare moment of silence from Sylvia - the slight flush creeping up her neck.
He opened his mouth again, but this time... decided against it.
Neither of them spoke about it again, but the unspoken question hung between them - growing with every step they took.
Glacius and Peggy's Journey
On the other side of the region, Glacius and Peggy were traveling through a aquatic neutral territory with Glacius freezing and Peggy thawing as usual.
As usual, Glacius remained quiet and methodical - freezing rivers and crafting ice sculptures as they went. Peggy, however, was her usual bubbly self, chatting about everything from Kairo's annoying smirks to the way Arson and Sylvia had blushed earlier as she went on thawing to ensure life was not suffocated in Glacius's ice.
But as the hours passed, a strange silence fell between them too.
Glacius, lost in his own thoughts, found himself fixated on one thing: Kairo's teasing about twins.
Without even realizing it, he used his elemental ice powers to carve a frozen sculpture from a nearby rock.
The figure took shape slowly - two small children side by side. One had delicate ice-like features, and the other had faint wings - a subtle nod to Peggy's Fairy tribe bloodline.
He didn't stop until the sculpture was fully formed.
Then...
"What the heck is that?" Peggy's voice rang out behind him.
Glacius's entire body went stiff.
He quickly stepped aside to block the ice sculpture, his face burning - though the cold air masked the redness in his cheeks. "It's... nothing," he muttered.
Peggy peered around him, her face already turning crimson as she recognized what he had made. "D-Did you just make an ice sculpture of... of our future kids?!"
Glacius cleared his throat. "It's... just art. I'm 25 years old - I need to practice complicated ice designs."
Peggy crossed her arms, still blushing furiously. "I'm 21. I know what that is, Glacius."
There was a long pause.
Glacius, still trying to maintain his composure, spoke again - this time in his usual cool tone. "It's hypothetical."
Peggy, her face still burning, threw her hands in the air. "Hypothetical?!"
He nodded solemnly. "Yes."
Another awkward silence.
Peggy, too embarrassed to keep arguing, finally muttered, "I... I'm not talking to you about this."
Her cheeks were still bright red as she turned sharply away, walking ahead.
Glacius watched her go, biting back the urge to say something smooth - something to break the tension. But instead, he decided silence was the safest option.
Because if he was being honest with himself...
The thought of children - twins with the frozen power of the Ice Demon tribe and the mystical magic of the Fairy tribe - wasn't something he could just brush off.
Even if Peggy wouldn't admit it, they both knew the idea had left a mark.
And so, like Arson and Sylvia, they continued their journey - their unspoken thoughts hanging in the air like a mist neither of them dared to clear.