Peering into the world through the eyes of another, Andrey studied the altar. The worn steel looked normal, and the red pillars of Arts still ebbed with power. Yet it was as if Andrey was looking at the world from behind foggy glass, only constant Arts clearing his "vision."
"Abnormal energy levels; this one is interesting." A distant, muffled voice.
His vision turned, revealing a man in a heavy winter coat, kneeling down beside an Originium crystal. A steel mask covered much of his face, a strange instrument in his hands quietly beeping.
He didn't recall the Yetis having such advanced equipment.
"Researchers might want it. Keep it somewhere secure." A woman this time, from behind him.
Researchers… who were these people? Not the Yetis, for sure.
"Got it." Again, his vision moved, and a pair of hands picked up the crystal and stowed it away in a padded box. The world cleared up somewhat as the crystal neared the man's hands; faintly, he could feel the crisp winter wind blowing at the man's coat…
And then it was gone again.
"I've got the sample." A Cautus walked towards them, the woman similarly in heavy winter outfit; gloves holding up a small chunk of the steel. "It's some very tough metal."
"For something to hold up to Catastrophes for so long… it would need to be. Come on, let's go. Directions were to turn back at the Icefield; we're late because of this little detour." Again, the woman – their leader?
"I'd say it was worth it. Good job with the Arts sensor, Fredrich." The Cautus said, throwing the piece of metal around in her hands.
"Was hard to miss." The man with the sensor replied, standing up and stowing the device. "I'd much rather take the entire altar, however."
"From my experience in Transportation, I can confidently tell you the costs would bankrupt your entire extended family." The man Andrey was spying on replied.
A round of laughter.
"Just wishful thinking, Ben." Fredrich replied, before turning to see their leader's form already quickly disappearing into the distance. "Let's go."
The three quickly caught up to their leader, and Andrey watched the icefields around them as they descended the steps. They were the same as he remembered, a freezing, harsh landscape of ice and snow. He pondered revealing his presence, before deciding against it. Best to study them further first.
"Speaking of Transportation," the Cautus groused, "who decided to only give us enough fuel to reach Chernobog?"
"The company's got no shortage of researchers, Anne. Our time isn't worth much money." Ben replied. "And these areas are mostly unmapped. It would be a disaster if our transport was destroyed by a Catastrophe."
The Cautus – Anne – sighed. "Guess so."
"If this continues, finding a job elsewhere is always an option." Their leader interjected from ahead of them. "Colombia, maybe."
"Levina, none of us are ready to make that decision just yet." Fredrich replied.
"It's an option." She simply said.
The four-man team continued walking through the ice, their winter gear protecting them from the snow blowing past.
Andrey took the time to study them in more detail. All of them were clad in featureless white coats and masks, yet Andrey slowly began to distinguish them. Anne was the most obvious, her Cautus ears unique among them. As for the rest of them… Andrey was looking through Ben's eyes, Levina had a light gray badge stitched upon her right shoulder, and Fredrich…
Oh, he was a Caprinae, wasn't he? The cloth-covered horns were a dead giveaway.
Most likely, he was from Leithanien, then. He was all too familiar with the prevalence of Arts there. Making a quick note to avoid probing Fredrich too much, Andrey went back to studying the group.
They were a surprisingly small group. Andrey was expecting something far larger; but then again, the far north wasn't exactly a point of interest.
Ah, right. Where was Frostnova? In the excitement of finding himself freed once more, he had almost forgotten about her Yetis. It seemed unlikely she would come and find him, and even less likely that she would succeed now that he was being carried away by a group of scientists.
If everything else failed, he could always find her himself. Possessing one of them and killing the rest would be easy. But they felt like interesting people… and he didn't have the heart to kill innocents for such selfish purposes.
Revealing himself, however, would have to wait.
So Andrey kept watching, and waiting.
Frostnova walked through the icefields, Yetis in tow. It had been a while since she had felt this happy. And though she wasn't opposed to the feeling, she took care to avoid showing it.
A rebellious thought crept into her mind at that; why did she have to? Emotion was a normal part of life.
No, she had to maintain her image.
And so, she kept walking forwards through the cold winds, their vanguard against whatever laid ahead. The wind was picking up, blowing past with increasing force.
It wasn't unmanageable. Frostnova kept her pace, making sure not to tire the other Yetis out by speeding up.
How far away were they, anyway? Unfolding her map, Frostnova kept a tight grasp on the cloth as the wind rustled it, studying the crude line she had drawn upon the map. Half a day, maybe. There weren't many landmarks to go by.
Essentially, the map was useless right now. Frostnova pondered why she had taken it out in the first place as she stowed it back away, eventually chalking it up to a combination of habit and excitement.
Again, she couldn't deny the half-nervous, half-ecstatic energy running through her now. Though she tried her best to avoid its effects, she could still sense her thoughts changing bit by bit as they approached.
Looking at the sun, Frostnova realized it was already late noon. They should have stopped by now. Quickly, she called the tired Yetis to a stop, allowing them a half-hour to eat something before they continued.
Munching on a piece of bread, Frostnova wondered what their reunion would be like.
Not long after, they departed, a few Yetis cleaning up the remains of a campfire as they made to leave again. The early afternoon sun shone upon them, providing them with some warmth in the snow.
The cold energies of her Arts remained ever-present around Frostnova, depriving her of this luxury. Not that she cared; it was a minor inconvenience at best.
Unbeknownst to her, her steps quickened bit by bit as she walked, some of the Yetis eventually breaking into a slow jog just to catch up.
The wind was picking up slightly, a gust of snow-laden air blowing towards the Yetis; a dash of pure white against an off-white canvas.
Brushing a few flakes of snow from her face, Frostnova looked back at the other Yetis – only then realizing that she had been moving far too fast.
"Need to slow down…" She reminded herself, taking care to allow the other Yetis to catch up.
Empty silence. What had she been expecting?
Their shadows drew longer as they walked, Frostnova checking her map occasionally as they passed anything particular.
Nothing could go wrong now, so close to her – their – goal.
The afternoon passed, and the sky slowly darkened into the empty shadow of night. Seeing Frostnova didn't look to be stopping anytime soon, Petrova organized a few Yetis to carry some makeshift torches, casting the snow around them in warm light as they walked.
Frostnova absentmindedly thanked him for that as they walked, eyes scanning the horizon.
Moonlight glinted off some massive object in the distance, and almost instinctively Frostnova's heart tensed, before she calmed down again. The altar… good.
A quiet happiness welled up within her, and she had to restrain her features lest a smile break out. Not that the Yetis could see her face, with how she was walking ahead of them; but it always paid to be careful.
One mistake, and Petrova would be teasing her for at least a month.
"Am I the only one seeing the metal mountain ahead of us?" Petrova quipped, pointing forwards. The other Yetis strained to look, and near-collectively sucked in a breath of chilly air. Frostnova remained unfazed – a fact that didn't escape Petrova's notice.
"Our destination?" He guessed.
"Mn." Frostnova didn't deign to explain further, and Petrova didn't press.
They kept crossing the ice, Frostnova subtly forcing herself to remain steady as she stepped towards the steel pyramid that now encompassed much of the horizon.
"When you found this place, did you ever wonder how they built it, Sister?" Petrova asked as they reached the steps to the altar.
"It didn't matter." Frostnova deflected.
"Huh… by the way, what happened to the 'Infected village' you said was here?"
"This is more important than that."
"Well, you still deceived us." Petrova said, faking annoyance.
"It was necessary."
"Why?"
"I can't… explain fully." Frostnova sighed.
Frostnova decided that she would be better off avoiding Petrova, if only for the time being. Quickening her steps, she walked up to the core of the altar, boots clicking against the steel as she walked.
Now… where was it again?
Quickly walking around between the pillars of light, Frostnova inspected the steel around them for markings. A blank surface here, a deep gouge there… but nothing she could recognize.
And then, as she stepped beside another one of the Arts-powered prisons, she saw it. Three intersecting cuts, like an asterisk, etched beside…
An empty space?
Beside the marking laid a depowered Arts instrument of some sort. Likely the mechanism for the red pillars of Arts around her… kneeling down and picking the machine up in her hands, Frostnova turned it around in her hands, mutely inspecting it.
A small hole had been punched into its side, the metal warped and bent at the edges as if it had been melted by some sort of flame.
It had been destroyed intentionally.
Hearing footsteps behind her, Frostnova stood up, schooling her features and turning towards the source of the sound – Petrova. The other Yetis had elected to simply find a sheltered corner and wait, presumably caring little about whatever it was they were doing.
"Didn't find what you were looking for?"
"No. The object contained by this machine… has been taken." Frostnova replied.
Had it been her own actions? The marking… that was the only thing differentiating Andrey from the others, wasn't it?
"If it helps, we found some footsteps leading away from the altar, near the south side."
"Where?" Frostnova's head snapped towards him, almost faster than she thought possible. "We need to move immediately."
"It's almost midnight, Sister." Petrova chuckled. "It's that important?"
"No, it isn't…" Frostnova trailed off, pressing down the emotions and indecision running through her heart.
Not collapsing from exhaustion took priority. "We'll stop here for today."
AN: Did you really think I would make it that easy? Nope. Anyways, despite the 9-10 days it took to write this chapter, I'm still quite satisfied with it. Mostly because I get more characters and angst to play around with.
To Draedon's Forge: Thanks for telling me! Yeah, this website is pretty dumb, what with removing links and barely having any moderation. I should probably consider publishing on AO3 too. Then again, I'm a boring person who gets stuck with whatever status quo I arbitrarily set. So maybe not.
To Patatas-Potato: Good to know it was understandable, and I'm glad you liked it!