Alaia Skyhawk: Hehehe, I can't wait to see how you react to what is revealed in this chapter :)
Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians, the Guardians of Childhood, or any related characters etc. This story is written purely for entertainment purposes.
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Chapter 100: Progress
Two more years passed for Sophie at Yale, and with every passing week her determined efforts spread faith in the Immortals and encouraged others to reach out and grasp the power of Belief. But if Yale and New Haven had changed a fair bit, then that was nothing in comparison to the world itself.
The year was now 2031, and Jamie's hard work had paid off in pushing forward what was now being dubbed the Etheric Technological Revolution. Worldwide, all power stations had now been replaced by Etheric Turbines, and infrastructure such as pylons were now being ripped down due to every town and city above a certain size being set up with a turbine tower of their own. Isolated settlements were getting the same treatment, so power-outages in colder climes, caused by frozen power-lines, were going to be a thing of the past. People once employed in power stations were being retrained to do maintenance route round the towers, so all-in-all electricity generation companies were doing ok, if you ignored the fact that they all now had defunct stations to decommission. Electricity suppliers however, the companies that purchased wholesale electricity from the 'grid', helped maintain the pylon networks, and sold power to customers to pay for that... Less fortunate, and in fact many had gone bankrupt. But then that was the nature of change, and where one industry falls, another rises.
Most notably the car industry. What with electric cars, complete with their own internal miniature Etheric Turbine, being the new 'big thing'. Cheap to build, free to run apart from obvious maintenance for brakes, tyres, etc, the public in the more developed nations were clamouring to trade their old petrol and diesel cars in for scrap and get the new ones. Even crazier, although not surprising, more than a dozen flying cars were now seriously being considered by car manufacturers. What with the problem of power-supply and flight-range now no longer being an issue.
But industry and technology weren't the only things to change. On the matter of 'Carbon-sink Reforestation, Mother Nature and Ariko had finished making deals to get previously deforested tracts of land in vulnerable areas, signed over for permanent non-development. That is no one would build there, cut trees there, or try to farm there. Large swathes were already now host to newly rejuvenated forest, and illegal logging attempts had only been a minor issue. Hardly surprising with a dozen of Ariko's Lieutenants on patrol, with permission to wreck any logging equipment brought in to harm the newly grown trees.
But for all the positive things, there was one undeniable shadow lingering over it all... The fanatics, their organisation still nameless and faceless. Of the several thousand people now identified as being at least fairly close related to an immortal, fifty-seven had been killed. Tristan Bennett, Jamie and Sophie's uncle, had been among them.
Victories and losses, good or ill, had shaped and were still shaping the world. But there was one place where knowledge of these happenings was completely absent. In fact, life there had remained completely typical with nothing happening that was of note bar a certain incident five years previous.
It was a cluster of islands, located in the middle of the ocean somewhere between Greenland and Norway. Where it snowed nine months of the year and hailed for the other three, as the local sayings went. A place untouched by history for more than a thousand years, and still kept hidden from most by the will of Odin.
A place where on the northernmost inhabited island, a young man was at work on a small boat beached in a secluded sandy cove. His brown hair tousled by the wind, and his Viking clothing of coarse cloth, leather, and furs dusted over with a scattering of damp sand. He was leaning over to examine the anchors for one of the stays that held up the mast, when a female voice interrupted him laden with sly humour.
"You know your father is going to freak when he finds out you've gone."
The young man paused in what he was doing, to turn and glance with green eyes at the blond woman of similar age.
"I've flown around every single one of the islands, six times." He gestured towards the sea, pointing south-east. "But the thing is, we know our ancestors sailed to these islands from that direction. It can't be all that far to go if they were able to sail it back then, and I want to go look. What's wrong with wanting to see the lands of your ancestors? It's not like I'm never going to come back."
The young woman raised her eyebrows.
"Do you know how much your father is going to freak out when he finds you gone, and figures out I knew you were going?"
The man grinned.
"Want to come with me?"
She grinned too.
"I thought you'd never ask." She hopped aboard the ship, looking around. "Not much space. Is this thing even big enough to get your dragon on board?"
The man shrugged.
"He can fit on the front deck, but I doubt we'll get Stormfly on as well. You ok with leaving her behind?"
"I'll explain it to her, so I'm sure she'll be ok when I say I'm off on an adventure with you." She faced him, braced against the mast casually. "There isn't a dragon anywhere in the islands that doesn't trust you."
The young sighed, his expression changing to a frown.
"If only my father had that level of faith."
He got a thump on the shoulder for that. The Viking way of saying 'cheer up'... Well, the less violent way of saying cheer up, the other version involved a punch to the face rather than the shoulder.
"So when are we leaving?"
He looked inland, in the direction of their home village the other side of the high ridge.
"Give it a couple more weeks for the worst of the winter storms to pass, and give me time to stock the ship with supplies. I'm going to have to smuggle them out."
The woman leapt from the boat, smirking over her shoulder as she strolled across the sands.
"Leave that to me. You've got a reputation for strange schemes, but I don't. They'll never suspect me."
"Gee... Thanks."
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On the other side of the world, her morning just beginning, the now twenty-one year old Sophie walked down the path from her dorm and headed for the Old Campus Gardens. Laptop in hand and despite the chill in the air, she was taking advantage of the clear skies to do some writing outdoors. Seeking out her favourite picnic-table before settling down with snacks and a flask of hot chocolate.
She was working on the last of the study articles for the university, on the Applications of Belief, of which the earlier ones were already in circulation across many other educational institutions around the world. This last one was to cover some of the most unusual painting methods she knew of that utilised the power of Belief, which meant it was about the application of pigments to eggs using 'Etherically Adjusted Plants'. Making the last article be about Bunny and his methods was her own way of rewarding herself for all the work. A fun way to finish up what had been a long task during her residency at Yale.
It was as she was typing away on her laptop, idly floating her out-of-reach flask to her mouth, that a familiar voice spoke as she sipped chocolate through the straw placed in the flask for the purpose.
"Show off."
Sophie glanced up and grinned at Alicia, who was floating her own flask in teasing imitation. It was half the size of Sophie's.
"Hey, you'll be able to lift heavier things. All it takes is-"
"Practice and Belief." Alicia sat down on the opposite side of the table. "How's the article going?"
Sophie let out a small sigh.
"Getting there. It's nearly done, and then there's the editing after that. Are you sure you don't want to contribute? Even as a third party assistant, it would get you credits towards your degree."
Alicia shook her head.
"Nah, I'd just get in the way. I might be able to use Belief well, but I'm not the expert at it that you are. You understand it way more than I do."
Sophie raised an eyebrow at her.
"And you understand it far more than any of the others on campus who have managed to use it. You're better at using Belief in general, too, than any of the others who have different Belief Talents they've managed to discover they have."
Alicia mirrored the expression.
"That's probably because I share a room with the undisputed local master of using it."
Sophie chuckled for a moment, before a stray thought made her smile fade.
"Being good at using it, doesn't mean you're safe. It means you're a target."
Her friend turned sombre as well, and the silence held for several moments before she spoke.
"You saw the news, huh?"
Sophie saved her work and closed the laptop, her tone grim.
"My family lives and breathes any news about immortals or magic. I tend to find out about things before they've even appeared in the newspapers or on TV."
Alicia grimaced.
"Car bomb driven into the home of one of the families with a close blood tie to an immortal... Six people dead, plus the driver, and for what? It's just pointless violence."
Sophie began to pack up, the mood for writing was now broken.
"Kosmotis is trying to track them all down, but the ones that are left are driven by hate rather than Unnatural Fear. The police have a better chance of finding them than he does."
"Unless we get a new immortal who can sense hate."
Sophie glanced at her sharply, frowning in disapproval as she shook her head.
"That would definitely be convenient, but then what would that immortal's purpose be once the fanatics are dealt with? Tsar Lunar won't create an immortal for such a short-term purpose, because it wouldn't be fair on them in the long run."
Alicia winced at the reprimand, but remained stubborn.
"So how many more people are we going to see die because of those fanatics? Can't he ask for a volunteer?"
Sophie sighed, getting to her feet and setting off back for the dorm with her friend following.
"He could, but he won't. I've met him, and I know what sort of person he is. He struggled enough with my Uncle Jack, asking him to remain secret as a Guardian for the better part of two hundred years. He just wouldn't be able to create an immortal as a hunter of hate, and then have them be cast aside afterwards."
She slung her arm around Alicia's shoulders, supportive. "Sometimes you just have to do things the hard way, because the easy way would mean setting aside your morals. If he did it once, people could argue that he might do it again. That he might seek to take control of the Earth... He can't risk that. Too much of what's going on, depends on people's good will. Look at how hard it's been for the immortals local to that area, to calm down North Korea. Even then that only worked because one of them is distantly related to the 'Supreme Leader' via some obscure marriage ties from two centuries ago."
At the mention of the now delicately less-hostile nation, Alicia now looked thoroughly rebuked.
"Sorry. I guess I didn't think about it like that. Does Kosmotis at least know how many of those fanatics are out there?"
Sophie nodded.
"Kosmotis estimates there's no more than fifty left, working as one group spread over several western countries. That's small compared to some of the worst terrorist organisations of the past century, but still large enough to cause concern. Their targets aren't large gatherings of people, but rather the relatives of immortals. They want to shock people, to gain the biggest impact possible. So the higher profile either the immortal or their relatives are, the bigger a target they are... Just like my cousin Elizabeth, and my Uncle Tristan."
Another silence followed, and this time it was Alicia who did the hug of support.
"You're scared they'll come after you."
Sophie sighed.
"I'm not scared, not anymore, but I do admit the possibility. The protection charm I wear isn't full-proof, even when I'm keeping it on a hair-trigger. They got my uncle because they used armour-piercing rounds in a gatling gun. They drained his charm's power before Uncle Jack could get there in time to protect him."
"But the men were still caught and locked up."
Sophie expression became bleak.
"Two men, out of fifty... If that happens every time, or if there are more suicide bombs like that one yesterday, then what? One death for every two caught? Six dead for every one that blows themselves up? How many more will die before there aren't any of those fanatics left on the loose?"
Alicia stepped away from Sophie, allowing her to face her friend fully.
"You'll be going to work for Bunny, though, in four months. We're both graduating this year, both our thesis have been given top marks, and we've completed our mandatory residence. You'll be safe in the Warren, and I'll be able to keep my head down back home."
Sophie gazed off to the distance, frowning in concern.
"It's not myself I'm worried about. It's my brother, and all my other relatives that are working as ambassadors and representatives. The protection charms have their limits, and now the fanatics know them."
Alicia took her by the shoulders and shook her gently from those thoughts.
"But so do your family. None of them are going to sit there in their ice-sheild while being shot at the way your uncle did. If they're attacked, they're going to duck and run and make it as hard as possible for anything to hit their shield. And if your brother is ever targeted, well... He'd flatten anyone who tried."
Sophie managed a small smile at that.
"You're right, there's no point in worrying. I need to concentrate on finishing up this last article, and that big canvas with the mural of the Guardians on it."
Her friend burst into enthusiasm at the mention of that, taking hold of Sophie and practically dragging her up the path.
"Then let's go to the studio and get to work on it. I can't wait to see it when it's finished!"
Sophie's smile widened as the two of them ran back to the dorms to get their painting gear. Part of her imagination that pictured Jamie at work flattening would-be attackers, causing her to chuckle. Yes, they'd definitely get a surprise if they ever tried to have a go at him.
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Alaia Skyhawk: Yeah, this is filler, but I think the teaser I put in will more than make up for that. I'd say who the two Vikings were, but then it should be obvious heehee :D