Avalanche: New Haven

II. The Message

Lena, Raina, and Aria strode along the beach, as the sun shone down on them and the sea breeze blew by.
"There's this mall near my house," Aria was saying, "We could go there over break!"
"Eh," Raina dismissed.
Aria gave her a pouty look, "Well, what do you do for fun?"
"Train," Raina replied bluntly, "Or game."
"Haven't we done enough training before the tournament?" Aria asked, "Also, we fought, like, a real battle."
"Always good to keep your skills up," Raina advised, "Gotta be ready in case a situation like that comes up again."
Aria scoffed, "Try relaxing once in a while."
"I just said I also game," Raina retorted.
Aria shook her head dismissively, "What about you, Lena? What do you do for fun?"
Lena paused, "Well, I like training too."
Aria, in disbelief, dropped her arms in defeat.
"Other than training??" she asked, aghast.
Lena paused once more, "I like to play the piano sometimes."
"Ooooo!!" Aria cooed, "You play piano??"
"Sometimes..." Lena said, "Though, I have wanted to learn bass guitar."
"Hm," Raina acknowledged, "Kai plays acoustic and bass, I'm sure he'd be happy to give you lessons."
"Do you or Dai do anything musical?" Aria asked.
"We took an interest in musical theatre," Raina said, "Never been in any shows but we both wanna try acting."
"Do you guys sing?!" Aria asked excitedly.
"Yeah, sometimes," Raina answered.
"It's hard to imagine Dai singing," Aria chuckled, "But regardless, you guys should form a band or something and make music! There's something you could try over break."
"Ehhh... maybe, I guess," Lena shrugged.
"Yeah," Raina agreed.

As the other two carried on the conversation, Lena felt her phone buzz. She pulled it out of her pocket to see she got a text message from Jace's contact. Upon opening it and reading its contents, her eyes widened.
She stopped walking to read it, Aria and Raina noticing they were leaving her behind soon after.
"Lena? What's the matter?" Aria asked.
Lena took a moment to read the message again before turning her phone around to show them the message. Raina and Aria both felt their eyes widen in surprise.

❄️

Lena placed her phone on Danford's desk and quickly rejoined Raina and Aria on the sofa in front. Danford and Ryū both read the message, each looking suspiciously at it.

"So... what do you think?" Lena asked.
"I find it suspicious someone just got possession of Jace Verrater's phone and is telling you of his whereabouts," Ryū said.
"Agreed," Danford added, "This is most likely bait."
"Can we be so sure?" Aria asked.
Ryū took Lena's phone and read the message aloud.

"'Lena Prasylova, I am not Jace Verrater, but I happen to know where he is. I am using his phone to contact you so you can come and rescue him. He is being held at the Bàs Fuar's base on Mt. Ibuki. Come quickly'," he recited.
He then placed the phone back down on Danford's desk, looking skeptically at the three girls.
"Listen," Danford said, "I understand you want Mr. Verrater to be found, but we cannot act on this text alone. I will send it to the proper people so it can be verified-"
"But what if Jace really does need rescuing?!" Lena interrupted, "We can't wait for whoever you're gonna contact to pick up and go look at Mount Wherever!"
"Mt. Ibuki," Ryū corrected.
"Where even is that?" Raina asked.
"It is the coldest mountain in northern Japan," he explained, "Relatively remote."
"Why is Jace in Japan?" Aria asked.
"The Bolt teleported the Gifted he controlled all over the globe," Danford reminded, "It's hardly surprising."
"Even still," Ryū said, "While I admire your spirit, I cannot allow you to go to Japan by yourselves."
"Then come with us!" Lena pleaded, "This person is asking me to rescue him, from the Bàs Fuar or whoever they are!"
"On the off-chance this message is legit," Ryū said, "I especially cannot allow you to go because it is the Bàs Fuar."
"Who are the Bàs Fuar?" Aria asked.
"From what I understand," Raina said, "They're a mercenary guild of solely ice Gifted. They won't accept any other Gifted, and they work so secretly that their existence is debated on the internet. They're also kind of a meme, like the Illuminati."
"Except," Ryū said, "They do exist. If their base really is on Mt. Ibuki, then it would be a major breakthrough for many countries. Governments believe politicians that have been assassinated were done so by the Bàs Fuar. For their existence to finally be confirmed..."

"Well, why not go to Japan?!" Lena asked, "If you come with us Ryū, we could totally obliterate them and save Jace!"
"It's not that simple, Lena," Ryū said, "We still aren't sure of the legitimacy of what this person claims."
"...Might I suggest you go to Mt. Ibuki and check?" Danford suggested, "You are given a location, so just teleport over and see. Then come back and let us know."
Ryū gave her a look, "This coming from the woman who was so hesitant to let children fight with me?"
"This is obviously important to Ms. Prasylova," Danford said, "I'm sure confirmation would be the least we could do."
Ryū looked from her to the girls, before letting out a sigh.

Flames engulfed him a moment later, and he disappeared.
Danford turned back to the girls, "Why don't you three go on and spend the rest of your afternoon together? I'll have him come to you with whatever he finds. Would that be alright?"
Lena paused, then hesitantly nodded.
"Thank you, Ms. Danford," Aria said gratefully.
Danford nodded in response as the three girls made their way out of the office.

Once in the hallway, Aria and Raina both looked to Lena.
"He'll check it out, Lena," Aria said, "Though... it'd probably be wise to not get your hopes up."
Lena just looked back at her and nodded.
"And here I was hoping for a chill winter break," Raina sighed, "You're gonna wanna go get him if it comes back true, right?"
"How can I not??" Lena asked, "I wanted to find him before and now he needs rescuing? From some criminal group?!"
"Lena, I know how you feel but you said it yourself; they're professional criminals," Aria said, "We might not stand a chance."
"I'm not even asking you guys to come with me," Lena huffed, "So."
"No," Aria countered, "If you're going, I'll go with you. I'm sure the boys will too, and Raina."
"I mean," Raina started, only for Aria to snap a glare at her.
"It'd be life-threatening, no doubt," Lena said, "So I understand if people don't want to come."
"Let's just wait for Heat to return," Raina suggested, "We shouldn't get this ahead of ourselves."
"Mm," Aria reluctantly agreed, "I'll text Luke and tell him so he can tell the twins."

As she pulled out her phone, Lena just looked out the window, worried.