Episode 2: Blizzard

14th of Cassus

Jeremie woke all of the other Heroes early that morning. "The snow is starting to pick up," He told each of them, "and we don't want to be sleeping when it gets to be too cold." They a quick breakfast then packed up camp, surprised by how much snow had collected in the short span. Aelita used her magic to dig out the aravel, and had to keep several paces in front of it to keep it from getting stuck in the frozen ice. It was soon obvious, however, that the road was gone, covered by snow.

Any landmarks had also been covered in snow, and as the winds began to pick up, it was harder to see. The Heroes pulled up their hoods, and Yumi wrapped many blankets around Rorkal to keep him warm as the snow picked up in speed. Aelita tried her best to keep the ice away, with Laura clearing the path in her place, but after a few hours she had tired, and the winds overpowered her magic. Odd pulled his bear skin hood closer to his face. "Damn, this place is colder than Jeremie's shoulder on a good day." He shouted over the whipping wind.

"Go fuck yourself, Odd!" Jeremie shouted back, clearly not in the mood.

Unbothered, the Scout shouted, "I'd rather fuck your cousin!"

Jeremie groaned, inhaling flakes of ice as he did so. He started coughing, dropping the map. He cursed and chased after it. The wind offered no assistance, and while it slowed him down, the parchment flew further away until it was out of sight. Groaning, Jeremie tore at his hair. "The map is gone. We're hopelessly lost!" He screamed, his aggravated voice piercing the winds.

"Replika is only half the size of Lyoko. I'm sure we'll run into someone out here." Yumi encouraged him.

"That's assuming we don't freeze to death out here before then." Laura muttered.

Ulrich shook his head. "It could take days to find our way in this snow." He motioned to Aelita. "Can you make Murray do that thing? That beam of light that pointed us to the dungeon?"

Aelita hesitated. "I don't know. He's only done that once." She looked to the others, knowing that, while she could probably survive longer in the cold than any of them, it would only be a matter of hours before they were unable to move from exhaustion. She opened her palm and cut it with her dagger, and Erahalam pierced her stomach. She pulled the staff out, and then drove the blade into the snow. "We need to find shelter to wait out the blizzard. Can you help us?"

There came a glow to Murray's eye sockets, almost argumentative. Aelita told him flatly she would not tolerate shenanigans, and a red light shone to what they had believed to be the south. "But Cortex is north of here." Jeremie argued.

Laura placed her head in her hand. "Please do not tell me that you're going to start talking to sticks now."

The light faded, and Erahalam drove itself back into Aelita's chest. Having no other way to go, they began to head in the direction Murray had indicated. However, as they walked, the forest around them grew denser, and the blizzard grew steadily more barbaric. Ice ripped at them through their coats, clawing at their faces like wolves. Their movement slowed, and the fires of hope started to dim.

Odd tilted his head, as if he'd heard something. "Did any of you hear that?"

They listened, and through the snowy fog they saw a figure. She stood not much taller than Aelita, and she was dressed in white. She watched them for a long time, undeterred by the snow and unmoved by their cries for help. She was joined by two others, also in white, and then by four more. Now eight figures stood intimidatingly still despite the cold snow. "They look elven. Some of yours?" Laura asked Aelita.

"There are a lot of clans, you know. We don't all know each other." Aelita said. She pulled her hood closer and walked up to the elves. "Ir abelas. Have we wandered too close to your camp?" She asked.

The elf that had appeared first looked nervously at her peers, and then she stepped forward. "You could say that," She said quietly. "Lethallan, who are these shemlen you travel with?"

Aelita looked over her shoulder. "These are my friends." Aelita proceeded to introduce them, and then smiled at the elf. "My name is Aelita Durgenbora. We are looking for shelter from the storm. If you could point us towards a cave, or a settlement, we would be ever so grateful."

The elf looked back to her peers. "Are you with these 'friends' willingly, or are you their slave?"

"I am here willingly." When the elf seemed skeptical, she added, "I used to be a slave, but I escaped long before these people. They had nothing to do with my enslavement." Aelita almost mentioned that Laura had allowed her father to permit it, but she held her tongue.

This elf still seemed skeptical, and hoping to smooth the process, Jeremie joined Aelita, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Andaran atish'an. Na nuvenin dara ma nuvenin."

The elf seemed unamused at first, but her frown broke. "Your accent is terrible. And you speak it through your nose." As if to add insult to injury, she pointed to her nose. Jeremie groaned, and she laughed. "My name is Nim Sarethari. I can bring you to a safe place, but lethallan, you must convince your friends to tie their weapons into their sheaths, and any weapons that cannot be sheathed must be given to us." Sighing, she admitted, "It isn't that we do not trust you, simply that we cannot trust shemlen."

Aelita looked at Jeremie, and he nodded. He gave the sword-gauntlet to one of Nim's peers, and reluctantly, Laura did the same with her wand. Yumi surrendered her Tessen fans and her kunai. Ulrich, Odd and Yumi had the elves tie their weapons into the sheaths, and when Nim seemed satisfied, she ordered them to pull out. Then, she offered blankets to the teenagers and Rorkal.

Nim led the Heroes further into the forest with every hour. Now, they grew closer to a mountain, and there was still no shelter in sight. Odd, concerned that Nim was leading them to their deaths, reached out to grab her. "Nim, wait." He said, making the mistake of reaching out with his clawed gauntlet. Nim spun around and jabbed her fingers in Odd's pressure points, causing his arm to go limp. He was unable to move it, and he slapped it. Realizing that Odd wasn't hostile, Nim covered her mouth with her hands—or that is what she appeared to do; the only part of her body not covered in thick white cloth were her eyes. Odd looked up, and flatly he said, "You'll have to forgive me; this is a first for me. I don't usually have trouble getting it up."

Nim laughed. "Okay, you're cute. But you aren't that cute, flat-ear." She turned and kept walking.

Odd seemed confused, and embarrassed, Aelita explained it was a derogatory term for a half-elf, similar to 'knife ear' for elves and 'shem' for humans. He laughed it off, and Aelita shook her head with a half-smile.

Nim led them to a clearing, though this clearing was large enough to hold a large city, and then she motioned to one of her peers. He summoned a small green light and gently set it free, but instead of floating into oblivion, it struck a solid surface. An invisibility illusion dispelled, and a tall gate built of wooden pikes guarded entrance. Aelita's eyes widened as she realized that Nim had led them to an elvhen city.

The gate opened, and Nim waved them inside. The first thing they noticed was how warm it was; far too hot for their coats. The Heroes removed their coats. Nim smiled and removed her white hood, revealing curly strawberry red hair. "Welcome to Halamshiral!"

Jeremie looked at Aelita as she absorbed the sights, though even he had to admit, he'd never seen anything like it. Darkness came from the tree branches overhead. They towered higher than any human building Jeremie had ever seen. Homes were built out of the twisted trees, though some of the fancier buildings were in the back of the city, whether carved into the mountain's face or built out of stone. This seemed to be the market district, and smells filled their noses. Overgrown mushrooms served as tables and chairs, while crystals that were twice Jeremie's size lit the dirt road. The crystals gave off light, mostly dim shades of green and blue, though some crystals were pink, white and yellow. Everything around him was natural and relied on magic long since thought extinct. Aelita looked as though she was about to faint.

Laura looked to Nim, her face twisted up in confusion. "I thought Halamshiral was destroyed during the Surface Wars, and Arlathan was the only remaining stronghold."

Nim looked to Laura. "Halamshiral was destroyed then. But that was a century ago; we've rebuilt."

"Why haven't you told anyone of this? Don't you want to communicate with Arlathan?" Yumi asked.

"Of course we would. But it is dangerous for us to do so. Arlathan has too many supporters of insurrection. With our numbers bolstered, we would surely engage Lyoko in war, where we would be decimated." Nim explained.

"After Xana is defeated, you may want to talk to Arlathan. Lyoko will be very weak." Ulrich suggested, with Laura shooting him a glare that sent lava down his spine.

Nim looked to Ulrich, and in that moment she saw Aelita. She hadn't been paying attention, and now Nim could see who she looked like. "Aelita," She said, ignoring the Mercenary's suggestion, "Aelita, you must go see the High Council. There is someone there who will want to meet you."

Aelita turned, reluctantly tearing her gaze away from the marvelous city, and asked, "Who would that be?"

Nim hesitated. "My aunt, the Matron Mother of House Sarethari." She motioned over her shoulder, down the dirt road. "Just go down this road. The High Council meets in the Destruction Wing of the Chantry. You'll know it when you see it. We'll take your things to the estate." With almost sisterly affection, she added, "Stay out of trouble! I'll see you tonight." She grabbed Rorkal's bridle and led him down a side path.

Jeremie looked at Aelita. "So they're just going to leave us to ourselves in a city known for hating humans?"

"You're already inside the city. The elves here may not like your presence, but if Nim belongs to a powerful family, they won't challenge her, so long as we behave." Aelita shot a look at Laura, and then carried that look to Odd. She looked at the bag where she had stored the ribbon given to her by Asha'bellanar Yolanda. She pulled the ribbon out and started down the dirt road. "I'm going to the chantry. The rest of you are free to explore the city, if you'd like, or you could go to the estate."

Jeremie ran after Aelita, smiling as he caught up with her. She smiled back. They walked together towards the elvhen chantry, enjoying the scenery. Aelita pointed to a large building, identifying it as a library. She claimed many scrolls must've been stored there, or at least the ones that survived the destruction of the original Halamshiral, and an Eluvian. Jeremie smiled at her, suggesting they visit later.

The chatted all the way, eventually coming to a building. There were two reliefs carved into it, each to the inside of a wooden door. The first was of an elvhen man, holding a lush forest in his hands. From his fingers hung vines and moss, as well as flowers. On his shoulder rested a noble-looking eagle, a rose in its claw. Knowing what he did about the elvhen culture, he assumed this was a statue of the Creation Father. The second was of a woman holding decaying city, from her fingers skeletons that appeared to be dancing. On her shoulder was a spider, weaving a web on the side of her face and shoulder. He assumed that she was the Destruction Mother.

Aelita motioned towards the door to the side of the Destructor statue. Jeremie politely pulled it open for her, and she smiled at him before entering. Inside were a group of elves, apparently discussing issues in Halamshiral. "Aneth ara?" Aelita announced herself. "Nim Sarethari told me to come here? She told me to speak to her aunt."

Suddenly, glass shattered. A woman on the opposite side of the room seemed to falter, and Aelita looked at her strangely. Jeremie looked at this woman too, and he saw what Aelita likely didn't. This woman was not a carbon copy of Aelita—no, she was older and taller, age taking a toll on her face. Grey hairs had stained her pink hair, which was long and sort of wavy. Her eyes were blue, like a clear sky, and their noses were different. But their face shape, their hair color, the way this elven woman's mouth hung in surprise—Jeremie was confident that Nim had asked Aelita to meet her birth mother.