Prologue

-8 Degrees, Greenlandia Sea, Morning.

Novák Árpád, 12th February 1894, Blossom-Fall Outpost;

"Arp!" Irene, not her again, and it's Árpád for crying out loud. Her incessant humming, one octave too high, tears the blissful silence apart. She skips on over to my little room, her dirty blonde hair sticking out of her winter coat. Her breath was visible by the cold breeze she had let in.

"What is it now, Belle." She very well knew she'd gotten on my nerves. Her overtly dry sarcasm was exhausting to put up with. Although with a thankful tip from a colleague back at headquarters, I managed to get even by calling her Belle, which she strangely finds irritating.

"Well, Arp! I've come to check up on the artefact you're working on. Of course, I assume you've completed it, am I right?" No, of course not. I'd like to see you try it. She pokes her head right between me and my desk with the half-completed artefact, eyeing me with a smug look. Artefacts take time. They're not some cheap catalyst to be made in a day or two. Usually large immobile magical machines repeating basic tasks over and over. The heating system in my little cabin is a perfect example of an artefact. Just apply your mana and vola, it outputs what I would call a pitiful amount of heat to warm the cabin up. The one I've been conjuring up was much more complex, a fluxometer. Capable of reading the density of unstable magic flux in a large area. The one we had at our disposal here was broken. Thanks to a certain somebody...

"It's getting there, give me another couple of days max, and it'll be done." Now please go away.

"Ahhh I see. I thought you, one of the best artificers in all of Carpathia would get this done in no time." I couldn't help myself flinch, without realising I was frowning at her for a good long while.

"Well, Belle. If it weren't for a particular person. I wouldn't be needing to do this in the first place. So don't complain." She spread her hand on her chest, gawking at me.

"Dear Irene! You know it was an accident! I'd never try and burden you Arp, you've got a lot of work cut out for yourself." Her overuse of dramatics just made her look like a fool. I couldn't help but chuckle at her.

"What's so funny? Huh! Tell me!" Finally, her mask had cracked a little, with some irritation escaping from her.

"Oh, nothing in particular, have you ever thought about joining the circus? I mean with your acti-" Before I could finish she took the closest thing in her proximity, in which case was my pillow and targeted my face.

"Bullseye!" She's such a child, how did she even get recruited? Her smile grew so wide that she almost turned into a five-year-old about to enact her mischievous plot. I took a second, my hands gripping tightly on the pillow.

"You dropped something behind you." She took the bait like the fool she was, maybe she really is a child.

"Hey! I did no-" Just as she was turning back, I thrusted the pillow back at her with full force. It made full contact with her entire face, almost taking a step back.

"Now thats what I call, a bullseye." She throws in one last meagre attempt, which I swiftly deflect catching it and leaving it aside on my table.

"Ahem, anyways." Her expression changed, finally settling on something that wasn't deemed childish of the sort. Which only meant something serious.

"There's been sightings of wind elementals on the coast. They haven't gotten close to us yet but be on alert."

"Wind elementals? Aren't they a bit early?" From the information we managed to gather prior, they should've been popping around under a week from now.

"Are you sure?" She continued to look deadly serious ,as if she was a completely different person from what she was meer minutes ago.

"Yes, I'm positive. I saw one myself when I was on the lookout yesterday. I actually came by to let you know they want all of us back in headquarters. We're doing a head count." I couldn't quite believe it myself, but Isabelle wouldn't lie about this, that was for certain.

"Alright, I'll grab my jacket now." I take one last look at the half-built artefact. Its metallic pieces looked dull in comparison to the purple crystal engraved inside the little contraption, glowing slightly. I threw in the majority of my mana at the heater, which replied with a ghastly wail. I already felt a slight improvement in the temperature in the cabin. That should keep it safe in the meantime. We finally head out, making our way to the main building, headquarters.

-7 Degrees, Greenlandia Sea, Morning.

Novák Árpád, 12th February 1894, Blossom-Fall Outpost;

We finally land ourselves in, the cold letting out a final howl as we close the doors behind us firmly.

"Thats all of us!" A voice comes out from the back. There weren't many of us. A grand total of sixteen, all of which were visible in the room, including the two of us. We were all a fairly odd bunch. Rare to see so many different faces from all across the globe. From scientists in the Americanas to engineers straight from the Central Imperium. The one thing we all did have in common was the sheer confusion marked on our faces.

"I have an announcement to make." Francois Delamarre stood at the shadily built podium in the centre of the hall. The elf was already tall, coming around six foot two. Gaining an extra inch certainly made him tower over the rest of us. We all waited, and an indescribable feeling gnawed inside of me. As if knowing whatever it was, it wasn't anything good.

"As we know, we're expecting a hurricane to form within five days from now. Although, the anemometers have picked up some concerning amount of winds tracing around the Greenlandia Sea. It appears Hurricane Hiemalia has already formed. Isabelle Elford also confirmed sightings of wind elementals which thus far conclude our worst expectations." He was met with silence. I wasn't too much of an expert in the matter. After all, my expertise was in artefacts not in the weather. Yet with the sudden gasps and little crowds of gossip erupting, I could tell this was by far unexpected. Yet... wait. A part of me clicked inside.

"Isn't the Icebreaker Aurora currently in the Greenlandia sea?" The little crowds of gossip stopped just as quickly as they formed up. A sort of morbid realisation came over most of their faces. I even felt a slight bit of despair within me myself.

"I'll notify them immediately!" Quick to move was the engineer, Johann. He ran straight to a door labelled the telegraph room. All eyes stare across as he hastily shuts the door behind him.

"Dear Irene, I pray for their lives in hopes they survive to live another day." Isabelle tugs at my jacket, she looked down.

"I could've, I coul-"

"You tried your best to tell them to stay. They left of their own volition."

"But the elementals, If I had wen-"

"You couldn't have known it was the signs of the Hurricane. You can't make any hasty decisions like that. They're gonna be alright, okay?" I kneel to her height, and little dots the size of freckles form at the edges of her eyes.

"You know they're a stubborn bunch, the pair of them. They'll make it out safely. Pinkie promise?" She managed to form a little smile, embracing her finger with mine. I couldn't quite say if they would be able to survive, but from the knots forming in my stomach; the thought of it felt promising. Like a little star lighting in the night sky. May Irene be with them.