Chapter Text
Chapter 2 : "Above the Icicles, there lies Snow..."
｡⋆｡˚ ʚïɞ ˚｡⋆｡
Seele continued on her way, intending to meet up with Chief Oleg about the leave to the Surface. She sighed again. This was going to be sooo much fun ; Seele just knew it.
"Chief Oleg!" She exclaimed, seeing the familiar old man, musing himself in the usual corner. He turned around to face Seele, greeting her with a warm smile.
"Hey Seele. What brings you here?" Oleg motioned around to where they were. He was currently in the Geomarrow Mines, where all the miners were all working on farming out the Geomarrow deposits that existed there. Some miners were currently on break, although they seemed more interested in Seele's presence ; her obvious aura that stood out from the average Underworld resident or miner.
"I just came to inform you. Natasha gave me quite a hefty errand that involves lots of items to pick up for restock. Some of them require going to the Overworld for... so I will not be available in the Wildfire for a few days or so. Is that alright?”
Oleg nodded. "Of course it's alright Seele. You are far from the days when you first started your work here. I know you are a capable young lady. You don't really need to report to me everytime."
"It's a good habit too. You are still the Chief after all, you deserve to be informed regardless." Seele looked to the side. "Besides, who knows how long it will take… Not long I suppose, but it doesn’t hurt to be notified."
"Is Sampo not here to assist?" Oleg questioned in confusion. Usually, Sampo would be the go-to guide for anyone willing to go to the Overworld, because he knew better than most. Seele just shrugged, replying. "Well... I may have chased him away. Specifically because he was trying to target the gem I found while scouring through some abandoned spaces." She rolled her eyes. "It's not like I'll need his help anyway. I'm perfectly capable on my own."
Oleg just shook his head, laughing. "You are always stubborn, Seele."
"What?! It's true." She rolled her eyes but chuckled along. "Jokes aside, I wanted to inform you about my circumstances. Expect me back in a day or so. I’m sure with my skills, I will do perfectly fine."
“But-” Oleg pointed to the small bag. He noticed that there were very sparse credits in there. “Maybe you should get more credits from the fundin-”
“Oleg!” Seele hmphed. “I can go without food for a while. It’s not like I’m inexperienced with that. Besides, I’ll be back before you know it. Trust me.”
“...” Oleg just shook his head helplessly. He thought, Is this what happens when a girl with such a rebellious nature grows up?
" Alright, Thanks for informing me then. Have a good trip!" Oleg waved as Seele departed from the mines, around through the towns and up to the entrance. She took a breath, already feeling the frigid cold hit her cheeks. For Natasha, she thought as she stepped away from the comfort of the Underground, to the cold surface that awaited her.
｡⋆｡˚ ʚïɞ ˚｡⋆｡
Aeons, It really was fucking cold. Seele shivered as she stepped out, feeling a blast of air hit her. She didn't need a jacket because she was used to the normally freezing temperatures ; she didn't expect the Surface winds to hit even harder than she imagined.
"If I remember correctly, I'm in the Outlying Snow Plains... whatever." She groaned. She was glad for some assistance from a map, but it didn't do much to help her own predicament. She trudged through the snow, the terrain making it a little difficult for her to travel. She stumbled upon abandoned houses, but checked a few before realizing there was nothing in them that had any value.
She wandered aimlessly until she encountered a soldier patrolling around.
"Just great." She muttered. She tried going around on her own, but kept getting lost amidst the snow, the cold starting to dig into her bones. She had no choice but to go up to the soldier ; careful to keep her retorts of the Surface Dwellers in check.
"Excuse me sir, may I know... where Belobog is? I'm a resident but I got lost." Seele lied, hoping it stuck and she would not need to rely on other methods to get through.
“How do you not know where the city is? Any citizen would know.” The soldier narrowed his eyes in suspicion ; eyeing Seele’s get up. Seele swore in her head. Stupid fucking soldiers.
“Will you help me out at least? I’m really cold out here…” Seele shivered, feeling the cold starting to sting her skin. She was starting to get annoyed, and her patience was already thin with them.
“Alright… But if I see you doing suspicious activity, I will not hesitate to arrest you.” The soldier beckoned her forward, talking to a few soldiers before leading her from the plains, into the city of Belobog.
Although Seele shouldn’t have been surprised at the glamour, she still found the look of the… Administrative District? to be awe dropping, the glamour of the surface showing. It made her loathe the easy life up on the surface even more inside. The residents walked around, going on with their normal duties ; but it almost seemed like to Seele that they were showing off, her eyes automatically zooming on the ease of use, the items that were handled so carelessly : the simple luxury made her blood boil. It could be used to help the people that suffer down at her own place.
She clenched her fist, careful to bite down the insults that threatened to spill , resorting to just glaring off to the side as the soldier stopped at the main entrance.
“Here you are. Don’t cause any trouble.”
Seele promptly ignored him, for the sake of Natasha who might gently lecture about saying vulgar stuff about the overworld people again. Her skin warmed up as she felt the radiators all around the city start heating her up.
She took out Natasha’s list , looking at the different items on the list. Seele realized that Natasha never gave a place on where to get these items, which just made it more difficult. She walked around the main plaza, looking for anyone to ask about where she could find the stuff. Her eye caught two young girls on the other side of the square that were chatting.
Seele approached the both of them, and they gave a quizzical look, clearly judging her rugged attire.
“Ahem… Can you help me please?”
The dark haired girl with glasses stepped forward. “Sure. What do you need help with?”
“I have a list of items that my friend sent me. She couldn’t go there herself. However, I’m not very familiar with the area, so can you please tell me where the items are?”
Seele just handed the list, standing awkwardly as the two girls looked at each other once they were done.
The blonde girl perked up. “You can go to the florist boutique over there for any plants or flowers, and you might need to go to my big sister's workshop for the mechanical stuff. She’s the best at that!”
“Your sister?” Seele questioned. The dark haired girl just nudged the other with a soft nudge. “Yup. Miss Serval is great at mechanical parts. Her shop is right across the plaza.”
“Thanks.” She gave a brisk nod, leaving the two to eventually check off all the items on the list. She spent most of her day checking off all the stuff Natasha needed (At Least from the overworld.) She told herself she wouldn’t stay longer than the hours she needed , but found her eyes flitting to the atmosphere of the bustling city. It was almost startling to see such differences in the way people talked, and interacted. In the underworld, most interactions would be for survival, not for love. That stayed between family and close friends. Never further.
She took a breath of air, blinking as she shook her head. Being so soft right now? Maybe the difference was really getting to her. She was glad she kept some currency on her, and decided to spend the night at the hotel in the district. When she found her room, she plopped down in exhaustion, blowing a stray strand of her hair out.
“How exhausting…. Never knew getting this much stuff could be a hassle. Well then again, extra points because I’m on the Surface.” She muttered. She wanted to go to sleep, but decided she would take one last evening stroll. After all, it’s not like she will get a chance like this ever again.
She walked outside again, this time purely for leisure and not scrambling around to find the items. She did purposefully avoid the shop that she was introduced to from the two girls though. Not out of fear, just because she figured she would have a lengthy discussion. Seele hummed, thinking it would be a better idea to get herself a bit more familiar up here before she left.
“AH- Hey, Watch out-” Seele blinked, feeling a force bump straight into her in her walk. Her reflexes instantly shot out to catch the woman, wrapping an arm around her waist.
“Are you alright? Watch where you are going-” Seele began, but stopped as her breath literally got stolen away by the sight. The woman who was currently grasped in her arm had quite a pretty figure, grey hair curling down her back, and mesmerizing features… but Seele’s eyes locked on the Silvermane crest on her chest.
“Ah-” The woman pulled herself off of Seele, bowing. “I’m so terribly sorry for this disturbance. I didn’t mean to bump into you. My head was in the clouds.” Seele just said nothing in reply, a mixture of surprise and awe in her. She shook her head. “Just… watch where you are going.” She brushed past to leave, but felt a hand wrap around her wrist.
“Hold on… I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in Belabog before…?” The woman inquired.
“Ah… Well I just happen to come from somewhere else, that’s all.” Seele rushed through her words, feeling suspicion built in. She understood that the silvermane crest that she so despised could not just be worn by anybody. It must be someone of importance.
Her suspicion got confirmed as the girl loosened her grip. “It’s because all the Belabog citizens would recognize me in an instant.” She shook her head. “I might be giving quite a bad first impression then, allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Bronya, daughter of the Supreme Guardian Cocolia.” She held out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you…?”
Seele just stared, now in dumbfound shock. This is who she met. this…. This bitch. The previous awe and excitement she had previously had vanished. Her anger flared, remembering the state that the Underworld is in. Her head warned her dimly that this might be a bad idea, but her mouth spoke faster than she could think. “Oh… so you're the Overworld princess.” Seele was unable to keep the anger out, spitting out the words. Silence lingered in the air before she glared back. “You have no need to know my name.” She turned around and stormed off, leaving a shocked and confused Bronya.
“Shit, did I really think she was pretty and mesmerizing… ugh you really need to get your eyes checked.” Seele internally slapped herself. No way, she had to meet the fucking daughter of that sorry of an excuse of a supreme guardian. She briskly walked herself back to the hotel, deciding that she shouldn’t do anymore leisure time. It would disrupt her focus and she encountered possibly one of the worst people here. She felt dread sink in, but frankly she did not care because her anger was justified. Who wouldn’t feel mad after the place that you grew up in gets neglected by the very same people that make such lofty promises to ‘care for the people?’. Apparently, there were exceptions.
She flopped onto the bed, the encounter single-handedly ruining her day. Seele curled up, just wanting to sleep the negativity away so that she could keep grounded on her task. Yet she knew that these thoughts would not go away anytime soon.
“Go to sleep, Seele.” She grumbled to herself, tossing and turning before falling asleep, glimpses of the woman stuck in her head that night.
｡⋆｡˚ ʚïɞ ˚｡⋆｡
“Good Morning! Do you need something from my shop?” The blonde woman turned around, addressing her. Serval recognized the woman as “Serval” from yesterday.
“Morning. Yes, I am here to pick something up.” Seele just showed her the list without any more words. She had wasted enough time up here. She scoffed. “This is so stupid… What am I thinking, spending any longer in this aeon-forsaken place…” She muttered uncouthly.
Serval just chuckled, handing her the items. “Don’t have such a gloomy face. It doesn’t look good on anyone.”
“…It doesn’t concern you how I feel.” Serval deadpanned, snatching the items to leave. She wordlessly threw the bag of credits that she had on her as payment.
“Not even a goodbye? Or information? The girls told me you wanted to know more-”
Serval raised an eyebrow at the furious slamming of the door, indicating that Seele didn’t intend to be friendly. Pelea glared silently after, coldly commenting ; “What improper behavior… not even a thank you to boot!”
Serval just sighed sadly. “It’s alright Pela. It seemed like the lady was in a bad mood anyhow, I’m not mad about it. I was curious about her, but it seems like she woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning…”
Lynx just shook her head, nudging Pela along. Meanwhile, Seele stomped back heavily, shoulders tense. People just stared at her weirdly as she constantly muttered profanities that clearly did no favor towards their ears. Seele had no idea why even she was getting so worked up. Sure, she met that bitch indeed and really it isn’t fair, how she had so much power and being so gorgeous ; yet she never uses it…
Seele felt herself pause and give a double take ; Gorgeous?! Where did that word come from?!
Items on hand, she stomped back to the hotel, feeling her ears start burning. There was no way she could possibly..…possibly be infatuated with appearances? Let alone one such as that Overworld Princess. “Ugh, I need to fall asleep soon, this is driving me crazy…” Seele grumbled.
On her way, Seele kept her eyes down on the ground. Tangled up in her thoughts, she failed to notice a familiar figure once again walking unknowingly in her direction. Her head was buried in a book, and before the other person registered what was happening, they had both bumped into each other… “Again?! You again?!”
Seele stared dumbfounded at the familiar face, her head once again going to bow. “I’m so sorry, please allow me to help… Oh, it’s you.”
Bronya stared openly at the other, her friendly demeanor now slightly less than before.
Seele felt herself chuckling with anger. “It’s me indeed. Bitch.” She spat out the last word, creating a twitch of angry grimace from the other woman.
“Excuse me?”
“I didn’t misstep my words, have I? I don’t need to give respect to you just because you are the high and mighty here.” She hissed, grabbing her bag with the items, turning to leave, but she felt a hand clasp around her wrist, dragging her back.
“Don’t you owe me some kind of explanation? All I did was accidentally approach you and try to help, and here you are cursing me out like I am a plague. Have I done something to you? I apologize if I have done so.” Bronya stood bravely, calmly explaining. She felt the other woman’s anger like a raised sword ; ready to strike at any time.
“You wouldn’t understand.” Seele answered, voice frosty. With a sharp tug, she made Bronya’s grip fall away from her hand. She muttered, “Of course, you wouldn't even bother to understand.” She sharply left, leaving Bronya once again dumbfounded.
Seele cursed more after slamming the door shut to her room. Who knows how long she will be out there? Seele seriously considered going back out so she could fight Bronya out with her scythe. However, she knew better than to do something reckless on that level. Though it doesn’t help that her anger, burning through her thoughts, threatened for less than rational decisions that Natasha certainly wouldn’t appreciate.
“I was going to leave tonight, but a certain someone came by…” She muttered, rubbing her forehead. “All these thoughts about one person will really make my head explode, go to sleep Seele-”
A low grumble was heard, and Seele looked wordlessly down at her stomach. “Fuck…” She forgot about eating food from her previous anger yesterday.
Damn you stupid Overworld princess! Seele internally shook, but felt her stomach growl louder in protest. She dug around for her funds, but she realized she had already given the bag to Serval today.
“Damn it!” She hissed. Seele really thought she should’ve listened to Oleg and got more. Oh well, it couldn’t be helped anymore. “What if she’s still there…” Her stomach growled again, and Seele glared. “Shut up, won’t you?!”
She sighed, deciding she would give up her pride to get something to eat. Seele didn’t eat at all yesterday, and her energy was already depleted from walking around to collect the rest of the items.
She went outside of her room, and saw the grey-haired woman leaning against the wall, reading her book once again. She raised her head by the angry slamming of the door. Seele just glared wordlessly at her, walking past until her stomach growled again. Seele’s face flushed red, and the woman just cocked her head to the side.
“Are you hungry?” Bronya asked.
“Does it matter if I am or not?” Seele just stared, facing away from her. She heard a sigh from behind before being tugged around, feeling a heavy bag in her hand.
“Take it. It has credits in it.” Bronya said, firmly holding Seele’s hand.
“Who said I wanted your pity credits?” Seele hissed, trying to tug her hand away.
Bronya looked up at her, and Seele almost became surprised at her look. It was of cool indifference, an expression that Seele hadn’t seen up until this point.
“Who said I was doing it for pity?” She answered frostily. “You must hate me so much. If you care, You shouldn’t accept it. After all, it would turn many to see a bad example. It would only benefit me. If you want to make it worse, take it. Nobody wants to see me talking any longer with you anyway.”
Seele just furrowed her brows, but snatched the bag. “...Thank you.” She muttered, before moving away swiftly. She didn’t notice the subtle smile that flashed from the other as she left.
｡⋆｡˚ ʚïɞ ˚｡⋆｡
“Phew, that was really good.” Seele rubbed her stomach comfortably, feeling food finally satisfying her stomach ; a warm feeling spread through her. She glanced at the bag that Bronya had given her, initially doing a double take at the sheer amount that was in there. No wonder it was so heavy!
She slumped back, covering her face with her hands. Her attitude earlier was really unnecessary… even if it is the Overworld princess : one and only horrible person here in Belabog. Embarrassing indeed. She stared once again at the bag. It would be enough to feed someone for weeks, maybe a month if managed properly.
“Now I feel bad for acting like a bitch…” She got up, leaving the shop to greet the cold air. Walking back to the hotel, she simply decided that she would leave and never come back. Seele knew that she messed with someone powerful ; regardless of whether she was good or not.
Filled with exhaustion, Seele plopped down on the bed, changed in her night clothes. She mused over the woman again, bitter but unable to internally justify herself. It wasn’t good behavior at all, especially after she had gotten a heap load of credits ; strange as her words were. She tossed and turned with her own thoughts, until she fell asleep ; blurred out of reality to stoop into a dream.
｡⋆｡˚ ʚïɞ ˚｡⋆｡
“Fucking Aeons-” Seele yelled as she ungraciously sat up from the floor, her head throbbing in pain.
“Seriously…” She stood up, shaking her head. She hissed with trepidation, a new string of curses from her mouth greeting once again to a new day. Of course, it was typical with how often she fell out of bed. Even Natasha had subtly made fun of Seele for her restless movement at night. Natasha…
She quickly dressed, taking the bag with the supplies and setting off. She didn’t intend on staying very long up on the surface. She bounded off towards the main gates of the plaza and ready to leave, until she felt a familiar chill pointed on the back of her neck.
Of course, her good friend and enemy ; the tip of a spear pressed. “Don’t move. You are a suspect of a crime.”
Seele narrowed her eyes, noticing the disgustingly bright Silvermane medal on the guard uniform. “Excuse me? I haven’t done anything suspicious at all. I just want to return home peacefully.” She gritted her teeth, anger already boiling over. After all, she just had a bad encounter last night that she was not over with, why not add more?
The soldier pressed on, the spear pressed more forcefully on her neck. “Please come with me voluntarily. If you do not comply, I will have no choice but to harm you-“
Smack!
The soldier fell down in a heap as Seele roughly smacked the metal helmet, disrupting his guard for a moment. It was enough for Seele to dash off, running madly outside the city gates. She heard faint cries of more guards following behind her trail. Clenching the bag of supplies and credits closer to her chest, Seele outwitted the naive guards, which trekked aimlessly from her footprints in the snow, which quickly was swallowed by the continuous snowfall that converged on them. Seele smirked, falling into a relaxed pace as she continued.
She finally sighed a breath of relief as she went into the safety of the Underground. The last two days were certainly eventful to say the least.
“If I can even call that Overworld princess eventful…” She grumbled, walking until she noticed Natasha’s clinic. She hastily stepped inside, calling out.
“Natasha, I’m back! I have all the supplies for you.”
Natasha looked pleasantly relieved as she took the supplies from Seele.
“Thank you so much… now I can finally use more advanced materials to figure out what is going on-“
Natasha looked up at Seele and jolted in surprise. “What happened to you? Why do you look so gloomy?”
“Huh?” Seele was lost in her own thoughts before Natasha addressed her. “Sorry, I was just pretty sour up there. Had encounters that were less than pleasant…”
She smiled. “No worries Natasha. I’ll be fine.”
Natasha looked concerningly over her. “Are you sure? I didn’t want to send you up because you don’t like it, but I’m glad you did.”
Seele just shrugged. “It was necessary. Not going would’ve made things worse.”
Natasha nodded, eyes flickering to the bag of credits that was on Seele. “What’s that bag?”
“Oh… Take it.” Natasha caught the bag, surprised by its heavy weight. “It’s just some credits.”
“Credits?! Why are there so many?” Natasha gaped as she opened the bag and noticed the sheer amount inside. “You didn’t steal again, did you?”
“Of course not! Not this time at least.” Seele crossed her arms. “I got them from someone. Don’t worry about who they are.”
Natasha raised an eyebrow. “Did you thank them at least?”
“...” Natasha shook her head. “I guess not. You should thank them the next time you meet them, Seele. Giving so many credits in one go… they must certainly be quite rich.”
“Whatever. Take it. I certainly don’t need it as much as you do.” Seele waved goodbye to Natasha, sending her regards. She strolled over back towards Oleg in the mines, prepared to shout a greeting ; stopping short when noticing his distraught expression.
“Oleg! Are you alright?” Seele frowned, standing next to him. Oleg turned towards Seele, shaking his head.
“Look over there.” He pointed to one direction, and Seele’s eyes followed ; widened with surprise as she noticed a thick, frosty layer of ice that had grown over one of the geomarrow ores. There were miners around, trying to cut through the ice, but it was clearly failing.
“What…Is this the ice Natasha was talking about?!” Seele gaped. “She said that it has been causing miners to get sick. I thought it would be a simple cold but…”
Oleg sighed. “Apparently, that isn’t the only problem that ice is creating. I thought it would be a small issue, but the ice has started to cover some of our ores. The worst part is that we can’t break through the ice, and if we could, it would be extremely difficult. It has also aggravated the Fragmentum monsters, having a sharp increase. There has to be a correlation between the monsters and it. I have no idea what this ice is…but I have a bad feeling about this.”
Seele clenched her fist, looking forward to the ice that glowed ominously. “Did you already inform all the workers about this?”
Oleg nodded. “I’ve already sent out messengers to inform them. The workers understand to not spend too long near the ice. Unfortunately, it’s hard to avoid the ice. It’s been steadily creeping along all over the mines. There have been increasing reports…” He rubbed his head. “What a headache.”
Seele thought deeply about this. This was a situation that was already slipping out of their control very quickly. This wouldn’t be good for the members of Wildfire, nor the regular people who lived down here.
“How far has it spread ?”
“Not very far. It’s appeared in many parts of the mines, but all of them are relatively small. The one we are looking at happens to be the largest growth of the ice.”
“Oh great…” Seele thought carefully. “Maybe I should observe the ice up close.”
Oleg shut her down. “No. It’s too dangerous for you to get close. Until our other veterans can look closer, I don’t want to risk one of our best fighters getting involved.”
“But Oleg-”
“No. That is final.” His tone was firm, leaving no room for argument. Seele sighed, but had no choice but to comply.
“…Alright then.” She nodded. “I’ll look around for other errands to do. Bye Oleg.”
Oleg nodded, bidding his goodbye as he left to check with the other miners.
Seele sighed again. It’s just so unfair, misfortune after misfortune has struck me… she thought. How miserable..
She pondered a little longer, her hands fidgeting with restlessness. Seele furrowed her eyebrows upon realizing that there was a possibility that the ice could be present on the Overworld too, which also meant that the Overworld princess should’ve been at least aware of the problem.
“Of course she wouldn’t ever extend her delicate hand against our course one. Pathetic.” Seele took out her anger on the woman, feeling better each time she spat on the disgusting Supreme Guardian rule. It was a temporary distraction from the heavy weight of this new situation. Being able to blame it on the mother and daughter that claimed to ‘help them all’ ; noticing their clear avoidance of any matters related to the underground, for Seele to freely call them out without restriction : it felt good.
She felt lighter after a few minutes, the weight now gone from her chest. Her mind had drifted back to the face… Bronya?
Seele scoffed. She very much preferred to call her the ‘Overworld Princess’. It was a polite way of meaning ‘pampered brat’. Although it was pretty clear she had grown up well.
Seele bit the inside of her cheek, remembering the rosy face that bore itself into her memory. A round face, intriguing eyes, and a (mostly) composed attitude to boot. Her face turned red again, and she slapped herself on the head.
“Seele, get yourself together! She’s only like that because she’s been given the ability to look like that…she’s really not that pretty- Oh never mind, I should shut up before I say something idiotic…” She grumbled. “What is this, an enemy to a lover's story? As if that exists.” She spat.
For now, she decided to go against Oleg’s wishes and figure out what exactly the ice was, and why it had started growing in their mines. Her curiosity got the better of her, determination giving new motivation. She turned back to the mines, ready to sneak through her way.
“I’ll make sure to find out what’s happening…”
As she set off, her mind filled with the thoughts of Bronya, the ice, and her own life. Seele was more than content with how it was now. It was just a matter of time to see what exactly goes on, after all.