The Pillar of Enera

[Chapter 5] Wise - Anxious Waiting

They'd gathered high in the fortress to snoop. We're all curious, even me. For once, his foresight hadn't ruined the surprise.

"Sneaking closer wouldn't work, would it?" Light leaned against the window.

"No, she's set up a barrier." Rose's finger tapped impatiently on her crossed arms.

Curled up in blankets, he and Hope were sitting on one of two 'sofas' facing a 'coffee table'. More like ice benches. They weren't designed for comfort. We live below, where it's warm. Here, the howling winds were ripping the heat from them. That's not all...

In the corner, Dawn sat crossed-legged and closed-eyed, her frozen armor disintegrating and reforming in an endless cycle. Her hair wavered under the intense channeling. The more you use magic, the easier it becomes. His sister took every opportunity to 'cultivate' her talent. She's likely the only one calm enough.

While a bewitching sight, he wished she'd stop. It's cold enough already. Sadly, he knew asking wouldn't work. She'd tell us to go back. While that idea was attractive, Hope would refuse, and he couldn't abandon her. If she's going to freeze, it'll be easier to predict from here.

"Are you alright?" Wise asked.

"I'm fine." Hope said. "Also, I'm not going anywhere."

As expected. Anytime he asked a question, before speaking a word, he already knew the answer. Every time. He could probably go through life without making an single inquiry. But I don't want that. He hated how his foresight robed him of human interactions.

Wise looked around. Rose and Light were still spying. Free was pacing, lost in thought. She thinks too much. Soul was installed across from them. No doubt out of concern.

"I wish I could read lips." Rose muttered.

Hope leaned over, "What's that?"

"It means understanding what someone is saying by watching their mouths move." Wise said. With their Martial Arts, it would've been possible, even at this distance.

Rose overheard and glanced over. Drats. Soon she'd come interrogate him. Once I would've welcomed the attention. Today, he found it far less pleasant, especially when it came from Rose. Because I know the answer she wants so badly... Or at least part of it.

Sighing, Wise touched his headband. Back when his abilities were at their wildest, he'd dreamed of what lay below the ice. Outside the fortress, far from the surface, he'd seen a network of metallic structures. Monsters crawled everywhere, frozen still. They were diverse in their features, similar to Astra's creatures, except made of living flesh. Twisted flesh. Even in his sleepy torpor, he'd sensed their malevolence. They weren't dead, merely inactive.

The next moment, he'd been flying through a winding maze of steel. He saw machines humming and tanks containing horrors. Dread-inspiring forms wandered the halls. The undead... Other parts he couldn't or wouldn't remember. That place was wrong, full of things which shouldn't exist and secrets not mean to be known.

Eventually he was in a large room, two stories high with metal walkways. Thousands of tanks, smaller in size, filled the space and lined the walls. In each, a little corpse floated. Endless rows of dead babies. Whatever had kept them alive had failed long ago. A few were empty. Eight of them.

When he'd confronted Astra, she'd gone pale and swore him to silence. It's not as if knowing is useful. He still faintly hoped it'd been a meaningless vision, but knew it wasn't. If Rose found out, she'd want more. She might ask me to take my headband off. If she pestered him as she did Astra, he wasn't sure he could take it.