Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

The snow covered ice crackled beneath her feet, breath curling opaquely as a coat collar was hiked up towards the ears. A hopeful gaze was turned forward, but before anything could be found an icy blast pelted her face and eyes. The right arm was brought up against the pelting crystals, a slight whimper escaping as the onslaught continued for several seconds. Eventually the wind subsided, and as the arm lowered streaming eyes finally found what they had been searching for.

Out of the landscape rose a twining monolith of ice, eddies and whorls carved out of its surface by the same punishing wind that had battered her just a few moments before. And yet, even with these natural embellishments the place had an aura of permanence, as if dropping it into the sun itself could not destroy it completely. Slowly the girl shuffled forward, eyes darting frantically, pain momentarily forgotten. To her left was a leaning arch, its insides hollowed out and a raised trail on the outside, both coming together to form a wicked point. She realized if she went to it and looked up it would point right into her eye, and the image whipped through her mind of it breaking, snapping, skewering her though her head and to the ground. An involuntary shiver came over her, and she hurriedly turned back towards the main structure.

The ice itself almost seemed to ripple, as if the wind had returned it to its previous form, ghosts of blue throughout the swirls adding to the illusion. One could have compared the place to a castle, with towers and rooms and loving detail, but it was no shape any human would have built, the bulbous curves, needle points, and pearlescent sheen making it both fascinating and alienating. In the base was a knot in the ice, chaotic textures blending together around the one opening, a dark hole like a pit yawning into the earth.

The girl walked right in.

Immediately the constant moaning of the wind ceased, only a slight whispering from the opening indicating that there ever had been a wind. As she went forward it became dark and black, only able to guide herself with a hand on the bumpy wall of ice. Yet soon enough light began to return, an eerie cobalt shining though the walls, and her breath quickened in excitement as she came out into the main interior of the monolith.

Everything was bathed in blue, the ice filtering the sun into a single spectrum that illuminated the massive domed room. The roof, strangely smooth, rose to a dizzying height, but his was not the strangest thing about the space. Except for a narrow path along the edge, the entire floor gradually sloped towards a hole in the center, a spiral path carved into its entire span leading straight down to it – the beginning of which happened to right next to the girl.

For the first time she hesitated, dismayed at the sheer scope of the funnel and worrying about how far of drop the pit would have, but she tightened her fists, gaze hardening. She had come too far to just stop now. Gingerly descending from the outer ledge she climbed into the trough, preparing to give herself a push, but it was not needed. The ice was so smooth that it almost seemed to yank her forward, and in just a few panic filled seconds she was on her way. The room spun around her faster and faster as she lay flat-backed on the ice, unable to get herself to sit up and unsure if she wanted to. Soon she had to close her eyes against the vertigo, but tears still squeezed their way out of the corners of her eyes.
She lost track of how far she had gone, only aware of the speed and the clenching of teeth and muscles, desperately trying to keep her on the track.

Suddenly, it stopped.

She found her herself falling, descending though the air without anchor, limbs flailing for purchase. A scream built in her throat, eyes beginning to open, but before either action could be complete she landed in the snow, breath knocked out of her in a single brutal blow. For a few moments she just laid there, wheezing feebly as the flakes tickled her face. Eventually she gathered herself up, looking around the room as she placed her hands in the snow between her thighs, legs bent and splayed to either side.

Once again she found herself in a circular room, but this time much dimmer and with a floor of uneven snow. Additionally, the circular room wasn’t perfectly circular – instead of a smooth wall there were numerous panes of ice, each around three feet wide and ten feet tall. At the top the panes turned back into rough curving ice leading to the ceiling. This continued around for the entire room.... and the panes weren’t empty. Behind each one was a form, indistinguishable behind the mottled ice, but what could be seen display a vast assortment of colors, sizes, and shapes. There were dozens, hundreds, all filled. All except for one.

Shakily the girl got her feet, only having eyes for this one blank pane even with the astonishing sights all around her. She would care about those soon enough, but for now, this, this, was all that mattered. The snow covered ice crackled beneath her feet, breath curling opaquely as she came before the pane.

She smiled, and then placed her hand on the ice.