50

Arthur had shrunk to such a size that he was unable to see the seal. The seal was too big for his eyes to encompass in all of its entirety. It was like an ant looking at a full grown person, it could only see a part of it with one glance.

While Arthur was figuring out what to do, the snow kept falling. His shirt became increasingly white and the pressure weighing down on the young man increased. It was as if invisible hands had appeared from underneath the ground and they were trying to pull him into the layer of snow.

Arthur believed if that happened, he was never going to get up again. In essence, the snow he was stepping on was no different from quicksand. He was slowly submerging into it.

In other words, time was running out.

When Arthur saw the entire seal previously, it was because he was looking at it from beyond the painting. He had the bird's eye view.

Therefore, he needed a different perspective. He was literally too close to see the seal for what it was. If only he could have a different vantage point, one from high above... but wait a minute, perhaps he could.

Arthur stomped his feet on the ground and it undulated, signifying its buoyancy. Arthur collected a huge breath in his stomach, turned his face to the ground and shouted.

The force from the vocal materialization carried him straight upwards. Essentially, he had transformed into a rocket.

A huge crater was formed on the ground as the force sent the snow flying. As the snow settled, Arthur was already high in the sky. It reminded of the flight that he had on the white owl's back.

Arthur felt like he was suspended in mid-air for a prolonged period of time before he started to fall.

When he was way up high, Arthur could not see anything because the snow clouds had blurred most of his sight. However, as the young man started to plunge, the sight became clearer and clearer. The snow flurries floated all around him and in that moment, Arthur had the sensation that he was inside a snow globe. It would have been quite romantic if not for the lurking danger.

As Arthur dove through the fall, he kept his eyes on the ground. He needed to spot the seal. That was why he had risked this danger. He believed the squishy snowy ground would have cushioned his fall but it was still quite a risk to take.

As the young man rushed past the falling snow, the seal on the ground became more conspicuous to him. It was much clearer seen from above. As Arthur took in the seal, the seal seemed to respond in kind. The circular edge of the seal started to bleed black and it leaked to the pattern inside.

Against the white background, it could not have stood out more. After the whole seal was dyed black, the thing started to glow. Before Arthur realized what was happening, it exploded in a haze of brightness and swallowed Arthur whole.

...

Arthur felt someone shaking his shoulders. His eyes flew open and he immediately jumped back, thinking it was an enemy. The person who was shaking him earlier was also given quite a shock from Arthur's sudden movement and she staggered back for a few steps.

Arthur shook his head multiple times as he tried to orient himself. It seemed like he had been transported to a different world again. The falling snow had already disappeared and when Arthur looked down at his shirt, the sign of all of the snow that stuck to his clothes had disappeared as well.

If that was not evidence enough that he had been moved out of the painting entitled, 'Snow', Arthur just needed to take a look around him. The scenery had shifted completely but this time it was still something familiar.

The young man was standing on a surprisingly barren plain that stretched down into the horizon. There was no trees or rocks blocking the horizon. The line of horizon was as smooth as a baby's skin, giving the impression that the plain extended to the end of the world... perhaps it did, Arthur did not know much about the logic that existed in the painted world.

However, the thing that caught Arthur's attention the most about this new world was the moon that hung in the sky. It washed everything under it with its golden glow. Even Arthur's skin had a burnished sheen to it.

As much as the young man wanted to stay and admire the beauty of nature, he had to move his attention to the lady who stood not far away from him. She was the one who was trying to shake himself. Arthur believed she harboured no bad intention towards him or else she would have harmed him earlier when he was vulnerable.

Arthur took a closer look at the woman. She was much older than Arthur, he put her at about the same age range as Lady Morgan, just stepping into middle-age.

However, she was not as pretty as Lady Morgan and her dress size was several times bigger. She wore a black dress and it had some slimming effect to her more rounded body shape.

Her face was creased in a frown. While Arthur was studying her, she was reading the young man from his head to his toe as well.

It was the lady who spoke first. She uttered in a voice that was proper but Arthur could hear the caution underneath it, "Young man, name yourself. Where did you come from and what is your purpose of being here?"

After connecting all the dots in his mind, instead of answering that question, Arthur asked one of his own, "I'm sorry but are you Lady Myra?"

The caution on the woman's face heightened, "So you do recognize me. What do you want?!"

As a person of great stature, it was common for Lady Myra to be approached for favors. She assumed Arthur was one of those people but she did not consider this, who would jump into her paintings just to call in a favor from her...