Snow fell slowly, ice flakes mixing in with it
The buildings were tall, well some of them
Roads leading to corners and stretching ahead
Snow piled on the roofs of the shorter buildings
Houses?
Leo was standing in a square, a frozen fountain right beside him
Its water was frozen while shooting upward
There was a pickaxe leaning against the fountain
Some of the buildings were cracked for some reason
Or had caved inward
A taller building that disappeared into the clouds had a huge chunk of its midsection missing
Steel sticking out from the damaged parts
So far the streets were empty
No Thomas
No Autumn
No inhabitants
"The fuck?" Leo muttered
The sun shone, barely
It was like it was hidden behind a thick mass of frozen clouds
While looking upwards, that's when he saw it
Far out ahead, the tallest building
A castle?
Palace?
Leo briefly moved forward, eyes locked onto the palace-like building
It was so far away that it looked faint
Maybe because of the snow
Snow and ice flakes had already begun accumulating in Leo's hair
His breath looked misty
But he didn't tremble
Not one bit
At least not yet
He made his way onto a road, that led forward
Eyes still locked onto the palace
Then—
His ears twitched
Footsteps
Leo stopped, back still turned
They moved decently quick
Stopping just a few meters behind Leo
Right beside the fountain
"What are you doing!?" a rough voice shouted. "Get back to work!"
"Work?" Leo asked himself
Slowly, Leo turned to face them
He saw three men standing there
One man had a long scar over his left eye, blue hair that looked like dreads
Dark skin
Another man, younger—blue hair also
Light skin
And another man, about the age of the previous, light skin and a buzz cut
Hair also blue
"Ay Ricky, I don't think that's a prisoner," the buzz cut man said
"Yeah, he's black," The other young man agreed
"What?" Leo asked, checking his arm
White
Definitely not black
"I think that's brown," the buzz cut guy corrected
The men talked, but mist didn't form at their mouths
Not at all
"You there! How did you get here!?" the man with dreadlocks asked
Leo didn't answer
"I'm gonna take you in for questioning!!" The man shouted
Suddenly, the dreadlocked man faded
Almost like snow
Leo blinked twice
Definitely not hallucinating
Then he felt it
The man materialized right behind him
Snow falling off his frame as he moved to grab Leo
He squeezed tight around Leo's arm, his hand icy cold
Leo eyes widened, breath hitching
He could feel his blood freezing, veins turning blue
It didn't even take long for Leo to relax, though
Momentarily, he sighed
Eyes getting low
"If you tell me what I want to know... I'll let you live," Leo said calmly
The man looked at Leo's arm. The veins were gradually getting bluer
His whole arm began to look pale
"I don't think you are in any position to—"
Leo didn't let him finish
Leo used his same frozen hand to swat the man's grip away
Mid-swat, he managed to grab the man's throat
Raising him off his feet
The dreadlocked man choked instantly
Leo looked at him
"A boy... A girl, about my size," Leo said calmly
"Have you seen them?"
The man choked but didn't answer
Leo squeezed tighter, just a little bit
The man's eyes widened, staring up at the icy clouds
"N–no–ergghh" the man gagged
"Captain Nero!" The buzz cut man shouted
The two other men charged instantly
The buzz cut guy formed a giant hammer out of ice
Mid-dash he jumped into the air to slam the hammer on Leo
Leo didn't dodge.
He raised the strangling man into the air, putting him directly in the hammer's path
Instantly, a ball of ice slapped the Buzz cut guy
He crashed into an already damaged house
It was his other teammate who attacked
Ricky.
"Hey watch out for the captain!" He shouted
Leo began walking closer
The captain was still choking from Leo's grip, his feet dragging in the snow as Leo moved
The captain had been punching Leo this whole time
Instead of seeing a bloody face, he saw blood covering his own hands
Leo spoke
"A boy and girl, my age," he muttered calmly, mist forming at his lips. "Where are they?"
"We don't know... Just let the captain go," Ricky demanded
Leo dropped the captain, but he was already unconscious
"You guys have no use to me," Leo muttered
He began walking toward the remaining guy
Ice daggers materialized in his palms
But that didn't matter
The buzz cut guy hopped out of the broken house
His hammer formed, but Leo still walked
Then—
Suddenly, he stopped.
He could hear it—they all could.
Multiple footsteps, about twelve pairs of them
They all stomped against the snowy ground, each step getting closer and closer
That wasn't the only sound, though.
A sound almost like a mix of ice cracking or creaking
Or ice sliding against ice
Instantly, it appeared
Rounding a corner with an impressive drift
Or slide
It was a wagon
Not just any wagon—a wagon made of ice
That people pulled
These people looked different, though.
They were white, some had dark skin too.
The difference was their hair
Most of them had black hair, but with red patches mixed in
Some even had full red hair
Some were basically ginger. A few also had red marks or circles on their face
Birthmarks... Maybe.
The wagon stopped a few meters behind Leo
The men pulling the wagon fell to their knees, panting.
Eyes low and heavy
Chains tied around their necks and feet connected them to the wagon
Their skin clung dearly to their bones
They didn't have a shirt or any pants
Just a cloth covering the lower area
Suddenly, the wagon door opened
The feet came outside first, blue pants that fitted perfectly, shiny black boots
Then the torso came out, just a plain jacket
It was a tall man with short, curly blue hair, light skin also.
He didn't look more than twenty-five
The man didn't wear a crown, but the two guys who fought Leo fell to their knees instantly
Two other men exited the wagon. They dressed exactly like the captain and his crew
"What is that thing?" the tall man asked, pointing at Leo
"I don't know, sir," one of his guards answered
The tall man started getting closer, a faint smile on his lips
"Such horrendous hair," he said
Leo tensed, but the man still walked toward him
Smirk getting wider
AUTUMN'S POV
It's way windier when you're on a high-rise building
It was a rooftop
Autumn and Thomas were hiding behind two huge containers
Puffy mask covering half their faces
An old man was beside them, his hair a mix of red and black
If it weren't for the many lines on his face, you would think he was young
Small red circles dotted across his forehead, almost like bubbles
"Sir! I think you want to see this." Another guy appeared, hair also red and black
The old man took what appeared to be binoculars
He peeked over the edge of the building
"Good Lord..." he muttered
Thomas moved closer to him
"Let me see."
The man gave Thomas the binoculars
Thomas' breath hitched, even under the mask covering his mouth
He looked at Autumn
"It's Leo."
Autumn stared at Thomas as if weighing his words, her eyes still distant
Then—
She nodded
She began to float
"What are you doing?" the old man asked
"I'm going to save him," Autumn answered
"No! You can't. No matter how fast you think you are, that guy is faster," the old man said
"Marquez will kill you both! Just follow the plan," The old man pleaded
"We need your help... Please" The old man begged
Autumn stopped floating
"Leo's strong, we both know that," Thomas said, looking at Autumn
"Now let's get to the core of this problem"
Autumn nodded
The old man sighed
"Thank you." He bowed gently
"No need," Thomas answered
He peeked through the binoculars again
A beat
"Holy shit!" Thomas shouted, jumping in surprise
Suddenly
A low vibration traveled from afar, rattling their building
"What!?" the old man asked.
Thomas looked at Autumn in horror
"That guy just one-shotted Leo,"he answered
"I-I thought—" Thomas stuttered, but he couldn't continue
Autumn was already airborne
Gripping the bone-like dagger
"Wait!" the old man shouted
She shot forward through the air, accelerating.
The air roared around Autumn, like a jet pushed pasts its limits
No one could stop her
End