The moment the pain in Maxwell's back flared up, his legs wobbled and his world turned upside down.
Maxwell couldn't make sense of what was going on. The last thing his brain could register was the panicked expression on Nova's face as she sprinted toward him.
What is goin—
Thud!
Maxwell felt the air in his lungs knocked out as his back touched the cold, snow-covered ground.
***
"Maxwell! Maxwell!" Nova exclaimed in panic as she rushed toward him.
What happened? One minute we were talking, and the next he was falling toward the ground, she thought as she picked Maxwell up, lifting his back from the ground.
She tapped him, calling out his name: "Maxwell! Maxwell!" But there was no response.
She placed her fingers on his wrist. Good. She checked his heartbeat. It was still beating without showing any abnormal traits.
She gently placed his back on the snow as she reviewed his body condition. There was no injury, no scratch whatsoever. Then why did he faint? Is it because of food? she thought.
No, that can't be right. Though we haven't eaten for almost a day, that still isn't enough to make him collapse. Maybe it has something to do with the Primordial again. Yes, that's the only reasonable explanation, she concluded.
She flipped him over to observe his back.
That was when she noticed.
"The diagram! It's gone!" she exclaimed in shock.
Was this the cause of his collapse? She mused that if that was the case, then he should be fine.
Nova's tense body noticeably relaxed as she sat back down on the ground.
Snowy looked at the sleeping Maxwell before going over to sit by Nova.
***
Maxwell had no idea how long he was out—whether it was an hour, a day, or a few minutes. The only thing he knew was that he was hungry, so hungry that it felt unreal.
"What is this! Why does my stomach feel like it's burning? I need to eat something, fast!" he exclaimed as he tried to stand up. But he couldn't; his legs felt so weak that they refused to follow his commands, and he fell headfirst into the ground again.
Thud!
"Dammit, second time in one day! What's going on?" Maxwell cursed his luck as he twisted his body to avoid swallowing a mouthful of snow.
He fell to the ground, fortunately avoiding hitting the snow face-first. He turned to face the sky as he lay on the cold, snow-covered ground.
"You are finally awake."
Maxwell turned toward the voice and found Nova sitting on a rock with Snowy curled in a ball at her side. Though you could barely tell it was a rock, just like everything else around, including Snowy.
"Unfortunately so," he replied with a hoarse voice as he sat up.
"Unfortunately?"
"Never mind."
"…"
"How long was I out for?"
"I'm not sure, because we obviously have no clock… but if I were to guess, it should be around three hours."
Maxwell closed his eyes for a moment, contemplating her words, then suddenly burst into laughter.
"Hahaha… 'We obviously have no clock,' good one… Hahaha—cough, ha, cough, cough!" Maxwell's sudden laughter quickly turned into a coughing fit. He lay back down on the ground, his hands clutching his stomach as he cursed between coughs.
"Dammit—cough, cough."
Pretty quickly, he lay still on the ground, his now-reddened eyes staring up at the passing clouds.
"Why did I have to laugh?" The question came out as a long gasp for air, his stomach still burning from the fit of laughter as tears slowly streaked down his face.
"Don't ask me," Nova answered, her eyes fixed on his sprawled form. "But seriously, why did you laugh?" She was genuinely curious about why Maxwell had suddenly started laughing; it wasn't like she had said anything funny—did she?
Maxwell thought for a moment, slowly sitting up. "You know…" He paused, genuinely contemplating what to say. Why had he really laughed? It wasn't like she had said anything actually funny.
"I don't really know," he began, "but it was probably what you said."
"What I said?"
"Yes, what you said: 'I'm not sure, because we obviously have no clock… but if I were to guess, it should be around three hours.' That was definitely what made me laugh," he repeated her words.
Color gradually returned to his face as the cold air brushed past him.
Nova cocked her head, confusion evident in her expression. Maxwell wasn't sure, but for a moment, he felt like he briefly saw question marks appearing above her head.
He blinked. Seems the hunger is getting to me.
Seeing her confused face, Maxwell gestured to his bag. "Pass me my bag, let me show you what I mean."
Still confused but curious, Nova reluctantly threw Maxwell his bag. What does what he wants to show me have to do with his bag? she thought.