Cold. 

Everything felt cold. Unnaturally so. 

Seoyeon woke up with a harsh jolt, looking around the dark surroundings at an attempt to figure them out. 

What time was it? What day was it? Where was she? 

The faint, yet iminent rocking that the wood around her was swayed in told her they were in a boat. As did the moss-like smell and humid environment. 

There was a strange pressure against her back, and as Seoyeon slowly came to her senses she realised that the pressure was a person. She was tied back-to-back with someone else, though not with a rope. With ice. 

A thick, frosty layer of ice was wrapped around her wrist and lower back. 

Then, the presence behind her flinched, and she in a breath in an act of caution. This could be anyone. 

”What the— where are we? Who is behind me?” 

At the sound of the familiar warm voice, Seoyeon relaxed and exhaled, shutting her eyes in exhaustion. 

”It’s you, Seulgi.” 

”Seoyeon?” the latter asked, craning her head to try and meet her gaze, so the attempt failed as her captured arms could only get her so far. 

”What is happening? Where are we?” 

”I don’t know,” she breathed. ”The last thing I remember is someone freezing me to the bed and throwing some ice daggers at me. Then I woke up here.” 

”When I woke up this morning someone was trapping me on the bed. I wasn’t frozen, but he used some kind of power to hold me down and knock me unconscious. It was some kind of wind.” 

Processing the information, Seoyeon gazed around what now seemed like a small, wooden cell. ”It seems we’re alone here. Where are the others?”

”Maybe they’re caged somewhere else. I don’t understand how something like this could’ve happened so suddenly—”

”It wasn’t sudden,” she cut her off, remembering Kyungsoo’s observation from the night prior. ”Last night as I was talking to Kyungsoo, he mentioned that a boat passed by and docked at the other part of the Island. Whoever this is, must’ve waited in on us,” speaking her suspicions out loud made her process them better as she came to a realisation. ”Baekhyun said Ventias was abandoned, no? Well then these must be some kind of mercenaries or pirates that steal from newcomers.” 

Seulgi let out a gasp, a small tune of realisation escaping her parched throat. ”Mercenaries, of course. Why didn’t I think of this before?” 

”What didn’t you think of?” 

”The ice explains everything, these aren’t pirates, these are the Jökul. They’re the people who originate from Jökulborg. You know, in the grand fall the city was destroyed. There are only small scattered villages around its peninsula but there’s nothing left to nurture or feed them, so most of the Jökuls are small tribes travelling by sea and stealing for survival. That’s probably why they took us.” 

”It doesn’t make any sense though,” Seoyeon countered. ”Why didn’t they just freeze us and leave us there? Why bring us with them?” 

A few seconds passed in silence before Seulgi spoke up again. ”You’re right. Either way we have to find a way to get out of here.” 

Seoyeon nodded in agreement, feeling surprisingly at ease with the girl despite the dire situation. Maybe it was the fact that she was the only familiar face in an environment so cold and unwelcoming. ”I can try using my power.” 

”Wait,” the girl stopped her before she could reach for the dormant spark in her chest. ”I can use mine, it’ll be quicker. You might hurt your hands if you struggle too much, I can melt the ice right away. If anything, try to create a shield around them so my magma doesn’t hurt you.”

Albeit hesitant—because she wasn’t sure how much she could trust Seulgi’s abilities—Seoyeon did as she was told and focused the fire opal nestled in her chest to her hands, feeling a faint surge on the very tip of her fingertips. It was weak, but it was something. 

Seulgi leaned back, and a second later there was an overwhelming heat gathering around her hands and lower back, before it was gone just as quickly. 

And then her hands were free. Clammy and cold, but free nonetheless. 

She emitted a gasp of relief as she slowly stood up, trying to regain control over her sore muscles. 

Seulgi did the same, and turned towards the metal bars that were caging them. The tip of her fingers were glowing a bright red, almost as if they were translucent as she skimmed them through the frozen iron. ”I can melt it.” 

”Move aside,” she insisted. ”I’ll get rid of them quicker. Save your powers for later.” 

The latter moved aside, raising a curious eyebrow as Seoyeon summoned her powers. It was still hard to properly move her hands, but the magic thankfully worked to warm them up, and after a few seconds she managed to weakly clap her hands twice together, crossing them so as to create an x-shape with her arms, and retract them sharply. From her wrist there extended sharp fan-like shapes. 

She increased the intensity of her powers, and slashed at the metal.

It cut. 

So she did it again. 

And again. 

And again, until the metal had weakened enough for her to send a sharp kick towards it and have it collapse on the ground with a loud thud. 

”Wow,” the girl behind her commented. 

She ignored her, and climbed out of the small cell, only to step back inside as quickly as she had gone out. ”Don’t move,” she hissed at Seulgi, whispering sharply. ”We’re in a corridor. There are two guards right beside the exit. I think they’re asleep which is why they didn’t hear the metal.” 

”Okay,” Seulgi breathed carefully. ”The door’s probably locked. If you distract them I could burn it down.” 

At her suggestion, Seoyeon froze in doubt, feeling the familiar hostility rise up inside her. What told her that she would later help Seoyeon get rid of the guards and not escape for herself? How could she trust her? 

The latter seemed to have catched up to her thoughts, because she soon sighed softly and said, ”look, I know we don’t know each other well and you don’t trust any of us, but right now we’re both stuck in the same situation and unless we help each other, we won’t get out unscathed. I am not your enemy Seoyeon, you can trust me.” 

The words resonated deep within her; they bounced in her heart echoing endlessly inside her, and the more it sounded the more scared she became. 

Was this high time to finally let go? 

”I’m going to count to three, and then I’ll push you out, alright?” 

She swallowed thickly. 

Trust. 

”One,” 

She looked at Seulgi, who nodded reassuringly, and the anxiety inside her subsided just a tad bit. 

”Two,” 

But she had spent her entire life living alone. She was alive today because she didn’t trust anyone so how—

”Three, now!”

Her thoughts were cut off by Seulgi’s warm hands shoving her back forward, and she stumbled outside the cell, tripping on the molten metal. 

This time, the loud sound did wake them up, and Seoyeon readied her powers as a mere reflex. 

But it was once she glanced back in Seulgi’s direction that she caught the girl’s determined stare fastened on the exit door. She looked decisive, and involved. 

In the end, there wasn’t much for her to lose anyway, what would trusting her for once do, really? 

What would for once letting go of the lifelong cage she had built around herself do? 

Just this time, she thought to herself. Just to survive. 

The two men looked visibly disoriented as they jolted from their seats, trying to figure out the cause of the thud as the corridor was still relatively dark. She couldn’t tell for much how they looked either, not until they neared her with careful steps. They were whispering between each other, though it was a language she did not recognise. 

With a flicker of her wrist, Seoyeon materialised a spear in her left hand, letting it descend down her arm until she had fastened a proper grip on it. 

The light emanated from her weapon caught the attention of the guards, who soon enough lunged in her direction. She gave a brief nod in Seulgi’s direction before countering their attack. 

A sharp, long blade bounced against the laser texture of her spear, and she admired the pale-faced blonde man before her. The amber-like light that was reflecting upon his face contrasted to the ice daggers that were his blue eyes. As he drew his sword back, she noticed the strange armor that was wrapped around him. Each shoulder plate was formed differently; as if it was taken from two completely different sets of armour, the chest plate was of bronze color with a strange gem nestled in its middle but what had to stand out the most in the ill-lighted environment was the thick cape of fur that had been attached to each shoulder blade and was cascading stiffly down his back. 

The Jökul, Seulgi said. 

Just who were these people? 

The other male held an axe in his hand which he swung eloquently in the direction of her free arm. 

No time to think. She drew another spear from her other wrist and parried the attack, spying the other girl in the tail of her eye. 

Both men were pressing hard on her grip and her arms were still sore from the cold, and so with the strength left in her, Seoyeon increased the intensity of her spears—so much that the frozen metal of their weapons started slowly melting. When the guards noticed this, they jumped back in horror, freeing her in the process. 

Seulgi was at the door now—Seoyeon just needed to distract them long enough. 

To do this, she got rid of her spears and smashed her hands together once again in order to throw two strings in the direction of each of their weapons. It caught them and the men stumbled back in surprise, but they both looked briefly at each other before fastening a grip on each string. 

She frowned in confusion at first, but everything fell into place when a small layer of frost started travelling down the string.

They wanted to freeze her powers. 

With a small smirk, Seoyeon watched as the frost dissipated as soon as it had come. 

”That won’t work I fear,” she remarked, and tugged harshly at the string, causing them to stumble forward into her range. 

With the help of her powers and their proximity she could now see them, which prompted her to latch two ulterior strings this time around their waists, and the men grunted painfully in response. 

”Now, Seulgi!” she said, tightening the grip on the strings so much that her knuckles turned white.

The men struggled in her grip, yelling something in the same language as before. 

Another light surfaced; the reflection of Seulgi’s magma burning down the wooden door right ahead. 

The restraint against the guards started faltering due to their strength, and Seoyeon grit her teeth, pulling harder. ”How much longer?” 

”Just hold on a few seconds more, it’s locked so I’ll have to kick it down once it’s burned enough.”

But those seconds proved to be fatal. 

Her hands gave up on her and the strings that were holding the men caged dissipated in thin air. Seoyeon stumbled back from the force, but kept her guard up nonetheless. 

The guards got up on their feet and readied their weapons. They were both tall and buff, and in her current state Seoyeon would waste all of her energy on them, and not on the actual fight that was waiting for them outside. She didn’t have time to deal with them. 

So instead of fighting them, she focused her powers in the muscles of her legs; strengthening them, pushing them far beyond human limits as she planted them on the damp wood beneath her. 

And the second they lunged in her direction, Seoyeon used the power in her legs to jump over them, not bothering to turn around and watch as their bodies crashed against the wall. She landed with a thud by Seulgi, who had managed to burn down a large portion of the door. 

”Stand back,” she instructed the latter and stepped back a few steps, keeping the artifex focused on her legs. An incredibly sharp and fast kick later, the door was down, and in came the terrorising stream of light that caused the both of them to flinch back. 

”Okay,” Seulgi covered her eyes with her hands. ”What do we do now? There are probably multiple men like that on the ship.” 

Taking into account the angry yells from the two presences behind them, Seoyeon said; ”I don’t know, maybe find the others. Either way, we have to get out of here and hide before those two catch up to us.” 

The girl nodded, and they both ran as fast as they could into what looked like a cargo room that was shockingly empty compared to the dimensions of the chamber itself. What boat was this, to be so big? The room itself was bigger than any storage cabin Seoyeon had ever laid eyes on while travelling by boat. And travel boats were big ships. 

Hearing the distant yells, Seulgi nicked her head forward. ”Hide behind some barrels, I’ll take care of them.” 

Seoyeon froze in doubt, once again against her own will and the latter merely sighed. ”We don’t have much time.” 

”Fine.” 

As she walked towards one of the barrels, she admired as Seulgi reached into one of her boots, and stealthily pulled out some kind of shiny object—at a closer look, a gem. One in a dirty shade of turquoise, that the girl threw on the floor. 

”What are you going to do with that?”

Seulgi turned to her, smiling reassuringly. ”It’s a hallucinata fumogena. Once you crack her open, a gas emits from it that if inhaled can cause strong hallucinations. It’ll last for a couple of minutes to buy us time once they get in here, so for your own good, hold your breath.” 

That was a smart move. Extremely so. ”Do you always carry around these things in your pockets?” 

She shrugged sheepishly. ”Only a few small gems for emergencies. I’ve been carrying this one since after we escaped Kim Junmyeon.” 

Without thinking about the fact that she was having a horrendously normal conversation in a situation that wasn’t very much so, Seoyeon opened to speak, but was cut off by the sound of footsteps. 

They were here. 

She whipped around and held her breath when the voices of what now seemed many more than just two men echoed through the room. Judging by the fast pacing, she assumed they were charging at Seulgi. 

Seoyeon didn’t hear the cracking sound of the gem breaking, but she saw the magenta-colored smoke spreading around like a snake, until there wasn’t anything else she could see. 

A few confused grunts, then the clang of metal weapons being dropped onto the ground. The men then sounded scared, pacing around in a rhythm that was anything but controlled. 

Seulgi succeeded. 

Speaking of which, a hand grabbed hold of her arm and Seoyeon almost drew her powers before she realised that it was Seulgi. The girl held a finger to her nose, signaling her to not breathe, and dragged her towards what she assumed was the exit. 

S