Well, that was a delay and a half. Big apologies to everyone who was waiting. I've been getting slammed with prep for transferring to a college that's over three hundred miles away, so I haven't had much time to work on this story. That shouldn't happen much though. I like to keep to a schedule, so I hope to avoid missing updates again.
ThatGuyThatComments - Updates usually come around every Thursday/Friday unless something comes up that takes priority. If it's something big, you can check my profile under Long Live the King for an estimation on when the next chapter should be out. As for other characters, I've said before that I don't plan on including any more in this story since it would make things too cluttered. Not to mention that at this point it would be very difficult to introduce them with the direction I have planned. Thank you for the suggestion though.
Dara999 - Never. Your pun has been recorded and stored away for future generations to enjoy and or despise.
As his senses slowly came back to him, Wilson became conscious of several things. One; the act of being forcibly thrown through a hole in the fabric of reality was just as unpleasant when you knew what to expect. Two, the whole thing probably wasn't very good for him as it left him feeling terribly nauseous and gave him a splitting headache. And three, whatever world they'd just been transported to had one painfully defining feature that even his disoriented senses couldn't ignore.
It. Was. Cold.
Seeping, gripping, bone-chilling cold. The kind that sunk into your body and turned your blood into slush. Wilson tried to push himself up to get a better idea of where he was only to have his hands sink into soft substance beneath him. Prying his eyes open, he was greeted by the sight of pure white stretching in all directions. A massive blanket of snow, broken up occasionally by the interspersed skeletons of old trees.
Trees and one particularly unwelcome figure.
Maxwell looked somewhat different than he had the first time. He was now wearing a fine fur coat that looked about as expensive as a moderately sized home, but his clothing was only a minor change. What really struck Wilson was the frown that had settled on his face. Up until this point, the scientist had only ever witnessed a smug look of self-assured superiority from him. The sight of his displeasure, however slight, was unsettling.
"All still alive eh?" Maxwell questioned as the group got to their feet, shivering heavily in the frigid air. "You seem to be missing a ghost though. No matter, she should be along shortly. Those things are irritatingly hard to get rid of."
"W-We beat y-your first test." Wilson declared, trying and failing to keep his teeth from chattering. "I-Is a bit of c-cold the best you've g-got to follow up with?"
For a second, Maxwell's eyes fixed on him and the grim expression on his face deepened. All noise stopped dead. Not even the rustle of the wind disturbed them. The scientist gulped, stricken by the thought that challenging their captor likely wasn't the smartest of moves.
The moment passed, and the easily recognizable look of controlling satisfaction spread across his features once more. The ambient sounds of their wintery surroundings followed.
"Now, now, no need to be hasty." Maxwell remarked with a light chuckle. "Beating a bunch of angry pigs is one thing, but you've got Mother Nature after you now. This place should be more than capable of putting your survival skills to the test. And, in the event that you find it a bit too easy, you're running on a clock. I've got a friend wandering around here. Take my word for it when I say that you don't want to run into him."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Willow demanded, making her way up beside Wilson. "Who's out there? Who's looking for us?"
Her distress seemed to amuse Maxwell further, his grin now revealing the barest hints of teeth.
"Don't worry; you won't have to deal with him so long as you make it out in time. If you don't… heh… you won't have much time to regret it. Oh, and before I go…"
He took that opportunity to point behind them, drawing the group's eyes to a decent sized pile of firewood. The lumber was partially buried in the snow as though it had been prepared long in advance.
"Wouldn't want you to freeze to death before things even get started now would we?" He asked. "Good luck now. You've still got a couple trials after this so be sure to pace yourselves."
A cheeky wink and a mocking bow marked Maxwell's disappearance as his form faded away. Once he was gone the cold hit Wilson full force, prompting him to shudder violently and wrap his arms around his body in order to preserve body heat.
"W-Wendy?" He called, getting the girl's attention. Up until that point she'd been huddled in on herself, doing what she could to stay warm. "What d-does the divining rod sound like? How f-far away from t-the door are w-we?"
Understanding that he wasn't asking for an exact measurement of distance, she checked the device. It only took a couple moments for her to determine her answer.
"T-Too far. Much t-too far. We will f-freeze long before we f-find it."
"Wolfgang is not afraid of puny cold!" The strongman stated, standing tall. "Muscles is mightier than snow!" Despite his confident words, he couldn't quite hide the shivers that shook his body.
"We need a f-fire." Wilson said. "Once we g-get a fire set up, we c-can worry about the r-rest."
"Way ahead of you!"
He was pleasantly surprised, something he hadn't been in a very long time, to find Willow already having cleared away a small patch of ground to set up a fire pit. The snow hadn't been as deep as he'd feared, and she'd swept away enough that they'd all have some room to group together around it.
"All right, l-let's hurry." He said, shuffling his way over to the pile of lumber. "The sooner we g-get this going the s-sooner we can start getting out of here."
They arranged the logs into the shape of a fire quickly enough, though even with their speed the chill still numbed their fingers by the time they were done. Wendy was taking cover behind Wolfgang, using his bulk to shield herself from the wind while Wilson rapidly paced in the hopes of keeping his extremities warm.
Willow struggled to flick her lighter on. Her hands were shaking so badly that she couldn't get the grip she needed to activate it. Her desperation and frustration grew each time the flame failed to appear, finally boiling over as the tiny case slipped from her hand and fell into the snow.
"Come on!" She shouted, kicking out at the nearest object to vent her growing stress. As luck would have it, that object happened to be the staff that she'd been gifted with before they had left their makeshift home.
As soon as her foot came into contact with it, the gem suddenly burst with brilliant crimson light. A streak of fire erupted from it, exploding into a miniature bonfire as it hit the fire pit they'd been making. All four of them jumped back with cries of shock, landing heavily on their backsides. None of them budged. They could only stare in wonder at the newly crackling flames.
"No way…" Willow remarked, eyes wide with disbelief and uncertainty. Even she didn't know what to make of the sudden occurrence.
This staff will let you spread the joy of total immolation with the rest of the world from a safe distance.
The words from his note came rushing back to the forefront of Wilson's awareness. It didn't seem possible. It shouldn't be possible, but somehow his venture into insanity had allowed him to create items that broke the laws of nature. First the divining rod, then the amulet that brought Wolfgang back from the brink of death, and now this.
"No way." Willow repeated, her voice holding something akin to excitement this time. "It actually… you made… it…"
After having spent so much time around the young woman, Wilson would have thought that there was nothing she could do that would surprise him at this point. He was wrong.
Emitting a high-pitched girlish squeal that sounded nothing short of disturbing coming from her, the fire starter leapt up, nearly toppling him over as she tackled him in a crushing hug.
"Look!" She shouted, as though there was anything else that any of them could have done in that moment. "You didn't tell me it starts fires! This is incredible! Just look at that!"
"Gah! Willow! Please, my ribs are breaking from the amount of punishment everyone keeps putting them through!" Wilson pleaded, struggling to keep from being crushed. While not as physically overwhelming as Wolfgang's embrace, hers had much more energy behind it.
"I had no idea it could do that!" She shouted exuberantly, releasing her stranglehold on his body and turning to fawn over the device. "You made me a staff that can shoot fire!"
"Uh…" He didn't have an answer to that. On one hand, a device that could hurl flames would no doubt have its uses and it certainly brought a smile to Willow's face. On the other, giving her what appeared to be the equivalent of a magical flamethrower didn't seem like the sanest of ideas.
"Just… be careful with it." He said at last. She nodded in response, but gave no other indication that she'd even registered his words. She was too busy examining the staff with a grin that was reminiscent of a child finding hidden presents.
Wilson cringed to himself, wondering just what crime against humanity he'd just inadvertently committed. Brushing aside some of the snow, he fished her lighter out of the white blanket. She accepted it back with an almost mechanically automatic gesture, never taking her eyes off the gem.
One look at the sky told him that they probably wouldn't be going anywhere tonight.
"It's getting late." He pointed out, getting the attention of the others. "I vote we make camp here for now and see what we can do about moving forwards in the morning. I don't think that keeping the fire going should be a problem for the time being."
"What about the warning?" Wendy asked, apparently having warmed up enough to take part in the conversation. "Maxwell said there was something out here with us. Shouldn't we be trying to find the exit as soon as possible?"
"And food!" Wolfgang chimed in. "Is not much food in snowy places and Wolfgang is hungry!"
Wilson held up a hand, signaling that he would be answering their questions one at a time.
"I heard the warning." He assured. "But running around in the night when it drops to freezing temperatures would kill us just as certainly as any monster. We aren't equipped for doing something like that. Besides, he might be bluffing."
The skeptical look she gave him made it clear that she didn't believe he was trying to mislead them. If Wilson was honest with himself, he didn't really believe that either.
"As for food, we can go foraging tomorrow." He said, turning to a dejected looking Wolfgang. "We'll have to tough it out tonight. I just want everyone to be clear that we're probably going to need to ration out our supplies while we're here. Things don't grow well in the cold."
Judging by the look of pure sorrow on the strongman's face, he may as well have said that they were all going to starve to death. Wilson knew how much he ate but surely he could stand to cut down on some of those calories couldn't he? A temporary diet wouldn't kill him.
Settling down in a relatively snow-free patch of frozen grass, he settled back to get some rest while he could. He couldn't shake the feeling that it was going to be a long night and he'd need all the energy he could get.
It was funny in a way how sleep refuses to come when you know you need it most. A horribly infuriating, mind-numbingly rage inducing way that is.
That night was one of the worst Wilson had ever had to endure. He couldn't figure out exactly what the problem was, but no matter how much he tossed and turned he couldn't let himself drift off. He'd lain awake during all the other's shifts on fire duty, and now that it was his he'd finally resigned himself to getting no sleep at all.
The chill in the air was bitter to be certain, but he didn't think that was it. After having spent such a long time learning to sleep in the elements something like this shouldn't have been a problem.
Letting out a hopeless sigh, Wilson turned over for what was likely the hundredth time the past couple hours alone.
His mind was wandering. He couldn't help it. There were so many questions that he had, but no answers to sate them with. Even with his intelligence, Wilson couldn't help but feel that things were rapidly spiraling out of his control. It was frightening to be so worried when he had no clue what was even bothering him.
Lying on his back, he looked up to the stars. They were different than the one's they'd all left behind. The night sky was darker. Fewer points of light drifted through the inky blackness above. As though encouraged by the lack of surrounding competition, the moon was much brighter than he was used to. He had a few theories behind that, but it wasn't important enough to dwell on.
What was important enough to dwell on was their oh-so-sinister host. Something was wrong with him. Wilson couldn't put his finger on it, but he knew that Maxwell was playing a game with them. One that only he knew the rules to.
Frowning in concentration, the scientist closed his eyes in an attempt to focus. He could figure this out. He would figure this out. There was too much at stake for anything less.
What was it that disconcerted him so much right now? Was it his creepy attitude? No, that couldn't be it. Wilson had grown quite used to being looked down on by him. It wasn't the tests either; they fit pretty well with what he would have expected of Maxwell. It was something else. Something subtle.
His mind wrestled with this conflict, snatching at its slippery tail and struggling to drag it into the light. He created and discarded idea after idea, none of them fitting with what he knew about their captor. His subconscious refused to reveal it, fighting him every step of the way.
After what had felt like a miserable eternity of silent contemplation, the answer dawned over Wilson's head like a gathering storm cloud. His eyes opened slowly as he gave a light gasp.
It wasn't something Maxwell had been doing directly that had gotten under his skin. It was the things he'd been doing behind the scenes.
It was his inconsistencies.
Wilson had been pushed into the wormhole by a hand that the others had described as being made up entirely of shadows. Ignoring the impossible nature of such an occurrence (shadows aren't even a solid substance for crying out loud! They're the absence of light!), there was no doubt that such a thing would have had to come from Maxwell himself.
Such an action would imply that he'd wanted the scientist to fall in, perhaps even wanting him to create the divining rod. That however, didn't match up with their reception. Maxwell had seemed aloof at first, and in their second encounter he'd even looked unhappy. If he was the one who instigated the whole thing why would he be bothered by it? As far as Wilson could see, there were two main possibilities.
One; Maxwell wasn't behind his fall. Someone else was. It wasn't entirely out of the realm of possibility. If he had so much power than it would stand to reason that there may be others like him. Creating worlds… tormenting innocents… maybe even harboring grudges and rivalries against each other. Had they been pulled into a turf war between two manipulative madmen?
While an interesting concept, something was missing from it.
The second one, and this scared him quite a bit; Maxwell was faking it. He'd proven to be capable and willing to mislead them in order to get what he wants, so the idea of him pretending that he had nothing to do with the device was entirely possible. If it was true, it held one major question.
Why?
What could he possibly gain by putting on an act? Did he think it would make them more cooperative if they believed they weren't following his directions? Wilson didn't know. Even though it was a likely prospect, something about it still didn't feel right.
Maybe… maybe he wasn't lying for their sake at all. Maybe he was looking to fool someone else. A chill that had nothing to do with the cold ran through Wilson's system at that thought. Was there someone else they didn't know about? Watching them? Watching him? Who could do such a thing?
Rolling over onto his side once more, Wilson forcibly shut his eyes and curled up near the fire. The normally comforting warmth couldn't chase away the cold that had settled in his body.
Something was happening in the shadows. He didn't know what, he didn't know how, and he didn't know why. All he knew was that it was much larger than he could see. As the countless arrays of increasingly malignant scenarios played out inside his head, he became aware of something.
He'd been correct. It was a very long night.