Why ?

Interlude : A Faculty Caper (part 2)

Carmen POV

I could feel the chain pulling me forward as the professors moved briskly through the hotel's secondary corridors. Their pace was almost too much for my weakened legs to keep up with, but I didn't dare say anything for fear of being beaten again. As they approached a lift, Coach jerked forward with her wrist, causing me to lose my balance as the chain on my wrists pulled me forward. I managed to catch myself before hitting the floor and as the sliding door opened, the professors entered without so much as a glance at me despite my fall. As I entered, Professor Maelstrom addressed me.

"Did you hurt yourself in your fall, Black Sheep ?"

"No, Professor."

"I wouldn't have had to pull your chain if you hadn't been so slow Lambkins."

"I'm sorry Coach. I'll do my best not to let it happen again."

"That would be more like her leash considering what we do with it." Maelstrom chuckles softly with a smirk as Coach smiles.

Once out of the lift, a corridor lies before us and Vlad holds the back door open for us while handing Coach some car keys. We get out and arrive in front of some sort of car adapted for driving on ice.

Coach opens the boot and I see that it's been adapted so that a human can fit inside. She pushes me in and I fall hard. She removes the bracelet and attaches it to a metal bar before closing the boot. The diameter of the bracelet automatically decreases to match that of the bar. Probably one of Doctor Bellum's new inventions. Looking around the small space, I see that the back is nothing more than a metal grille, leaving me in full view of the professors sitting in the front seats. Cowering in a corner, I try to make myself forgotten, although they don't seem to be paying much attention.

Coach starts the car, and I feel myself being tossed back and forth as we drive north. After ½ hour, we leave the concrete road and arrive on an old country road covered in ice. Coach seems to want to take us as far as she can but quickly gives up as the road is too bad. She gets out and Professor Maelstrom comes to open the door for me while retrieving the bracelet he's putting on his wrist.

"We need to head north from here, we should reach Svalbard in about 15 minutes."

Coach nods as the Professor tucks his phone with all the information into his pocket and pulls out a compass. He locates north and gives a little flick with his wrist to get me moving. The professors talk to each other as they walk along and I follow them at a respectable distance, without straying too far. When I see them stop, I move closer and see some kind of engraving in the ground.

"It's the same symbol as on the relic, isn't it ?" Coach asks and the Professor nods silently.

"According to Black Sheep, it should represent a compass, so its arrow should point north ?"

I see the professors turn towards me, and I bend down to examine the engraving. I notice a small crack along the circle, as if it could turn on itself. I put my hands on it and feel the Professor move closer to me to give the chain a little slack. I try to turn it, but I clearly don't have enough strength.

"It seems that the vegvisir needs to be turned in the right direction, but I can't manage it. The mechanism seems to be frozen in the ice, Professor."

"Leave it to Mama Bear."

Coach pushes me back and I scramble to my feet as she turns the plate. Once the vegvisir is the right way round, a trap door opens revealing a stone staircase. The professors came down and I followed them. As we moved forward in silence, the Professor turned to me.

"Didn't you say that the second relic was to be found in a fortress ?"

"The fortresses were made of wood and straw. These elements will have been destroyed and damaged over time, leaving only a stone floor. The one beneath our feet, Professor."