Tournament of Heroes

8. WINTER

Winter couldn’t sleep. Not because Cyclone was snoring up a storm, nor because his body was still recovering from the intense heat from the Fire Warden. No, the real reason Winter couldn’t sleep was because he was too busy processing all of the information which Sigil had shared with them about what happened after they entered the Dark Dungeon.

Winter didn’t want to believe any of it. Bolt was now working for Sigil as ‘Dark Thunder,’ the Herald of the Great Destruction itself? The Prophecy foretold that the heroes would fail and the multiverse would inevitably be destroyed? All of their struggles, all of their suffering, was for nothing?

In other words, we lose, Winter thought, gripping his blankets more tightly than ever. No matter how hard we fight, no matter how much we struggle, we can’t stop destiny.

Winter wasn’t much of a believer in destiny or fate, not like his mother, who often spoke of it. But if Sigil was telling the truth, then maybe it really was impossible to fight destiny after all. The presence of Bolt, or Dark Thunder, seemed to confirm everything Sigil told them.

Winter couldn’t get over how different Bolt was. Out of all of the heroes, Bolt had seemed like the one least likely to become evil. But it was true. Bolt had been corrupted by the dark energy underneath the Universal Castle, turned into an evil mockery of himself.

There’s no getting around it, Winter thought. Sigil even let me read the Prophecy. We lost.

Thus, Winter had spent the night just lying awake in his bed in his Team room thinking about this stuff. He had no idea how Cyclone was already fast asleep. Granted, Cyclone worried a lot less than Winter did in general, but Cyclone had heard all of the same things that Winter had.

Can’t expect him to take things as seriously as me, I guess, Winter thought.

That’s how Winter heard Atmosfear and Giggles get up and leave the Team room. At first, Winter assumed that they had gotten up maybe to use the bathroom or something. Team rooms were pretty nice, but unlike the Winner’s Suite on the second floor, Team rooms did not come with their own individual bathrooms. If you needed to go, you had to go to the bathrooms in the commons, which were on the other side of the commons from the Team rooms.

But when they didn’t return after more than ten minutes, Winter started to become a little worried. He wasn’t worried about Atmosfear or Giggles, though. No, he was worried about what they might be up to. He knew from experience that those two were always up to no good and he didn’t want them trying to sabotage the other Teams again in-between matches.

Guess I’d better go check on them, Winter thought as he threw the covers off his legs and stood up from his bed. Not like I’m going to be getting any sleep tonight anyway. Going to need to drink a lot of coffee tomorrow morning, though.

Winter briefly considered whether to wake up Cyclone, but decided against it. He didn’t think he’d need Cyclone just to check on Atmosfear and Giggles and make sure that the two of them were not doing anything they weren’t supposed to be doing. He could do that just fine on his own.

Besides, Cy sounds like he’s sleeping like a log, Winter thought as he walked over to the door. The multiverse could end and he still wouldn’t wake up.

Cracking the door open, Winter paused when he heard voices on the other side. He caught Atmosfear’s distinctive Southern drawl, as well as Mimic’s nervous but superior-sounding tone. He even heard a feminine voice that sounded an awful lot like Blizzard’s. Being careful not to open the door entirely, Winter opened it just enough for him to poke his head out and see where the voices were coming from.

He immediately spotted Atmosfear, Giggles, Mimic, and Blizzard sitting around a table together. That was itself unusual because Winter had no idea why Blizzard, who seemed like a sweet girl, would ever want anything to do with those three. Granted, Mimic was one of her Teammates, but Atmosfear and Giggles most certainly weren’t and Atmosfear had even tried to kill her a few times already.

Something about the situation made Winter prickle, but he didn’t go charging out just yet. Instead, he pushed the door open just enough for him to slip out and then he hid behind one of the couches. He listened closely to their conversation, trying to eavesdrop on whatever they were talking about. He considered simply charging out and confronting Atmosfear and Mimic, but decided that the best course of action was to collect information first.

“… and that’s how we’re gonna do it,” said Atmosfear, looking at Blizzard. “What do you say, toots? You in? Or you out?”

Blizzard looked more than a bit uncomfortable sitting across from Atmosfear. She rubbed her arm, looking at the table with an uncertain look on her face. “I’m not sure. It sounds like it might work, but—”

“But what?” Atmosfear interrupted. “Do you have any other ideas? ‘Cause I don’t hear you offerin’ any, girlie. Other than being very concerned about your boyfriend, of course. Do you want to save your boy toy or not?”

Winter raised an eyebrow. Was Atmosfear trying to help Blizzard save Bolt? That was very strange. No way in heck would Atmosfear ever help Blizzard out of purely altruistic motives. Clearly, Atmosfear had ulterior motives for trying to ‘help’ Blizzard, though Winter still didn’t act just yet.

“I do want to save Bolt,” Blizzard admitted. “I want my Bolt back. But I just don’t know if your plan will work.”

“See, Atmosfear?” said Mimic with a huff. “I told you involving her in our plan was a waste of time. Should have sent her back to her room where she belongs.”

Atmosfear, however, waved a hand dismissively at Mimic. “Naw. She’s just a worrier. I get it. My ma was a worrier, too. She probably just needs some time to think about it … time we don’t have, that is, if that Prophecy is true. So are you in or not?”

Blizzard hesitated, which Winter saw as his chance to step in. He didn’t know what, exactly, Atmosfear and Mimic had proposed to Blizzard, but she was clearly very hesitant about it, so Winter knew he needed to help her.

Winter stepped out from behind his couch and said, “Atmosfear, Giggles! What are you guys doing with Blizzard?”

Atmosfear, Giggles, Mimic, and Blizzard looked toward Winter in surprise. Mimic looked annoyed, Blizzard looked relieved, while Atmosfear and Giggles wore identical expressions of surprise on their faces, though there was a hint of annoyance in them as well.

“Morning, sunshine,” said Atmosfear, turning in his seat to face Winter. He nodded at the cafeteria. “Donuts aren’t being served just yet, so you should probably go back to bed and catch up on your beauty sleep. Not that it would help, though. You were born with a face that looks like something you’d find under a rock.”

“Funny,” said Winter as he walked over to their table, “because I would say the same about your face. That is, if you felt comfortable enough in it to show it to people without wearing that dumb helmet of yours.”

“Touche,” said Atmosfear, rolling his eyes. “Where’s your Sidekick? Kid still dreaming of the girls who think he’s a creep?”

“Answer my question,” said Winter, folding his arms in front of his chest. “I overheard what you said to Blizzard. Exactly what were you telling her?”

Atmosfear stood up. He stood face to face with Winter, the two about equal in height. “Like it’s any of your business, snowflake. Remember what I told you on the first day of this Tournament: Just ‘cause you’re the Team leader doesn’t mean you’re my dad.”

“I’m more concerned about Blizzard’s safety than yours, to be frank,” said Winter without looking away. “Mostly because I know you are very good at taking care of yourself at the expense of others.”

“And you’re a nosy busybody who doesn’t know how to mind his own friggin’ business,” Atmosfear replied. He gestured at Giggles. “Come on, Giggles. Now that donut cop is here, we might as well go back to our room and catch up on our sleep so we don’t lose today’s match.”

Mimic also stood up, a nervous look on his face. “I think I will go back to bed as well. I’m really not a morning person and it certainly wasn’t my idea to talk to the girl. Bye.”

Mimic turned and walked away as quickly as he could. Atmosfear and Giggles also brushed past Winter and Winter didn’t try to stop them. He did notice Atmosfear shoot a significant look over his shoulder at Blizzard as he walked, a look which Blizzard did not return. She looked rather uncomfortable.

“Sorry about that,” said Winter as he sat down at the table opposite Blizzard. “I hope that Atmosfear didn’t give you too much trouble. He’s a monster, but he’s also not quite as tough as he seems.”

“It’s fine,” said Blizzard, flashing Winter a quick smile. “I wasn’t in any real danger, honestly. We were just talking.”

Winter frowned. “Don’t tell me they actually want to save Bolt.”

Blizzard sighed and began playing with a loose strand of her white hair. “I don’t know. Mimic and Bolt don’t have a particularly good history together and I am not sure that Atmosfear cares that much for him, either. But at the same time, I want to save Bolt. I know the real Bolt is still alive in there somewhere. We just need to bring him back somehow.”

Winter nodded. Bolt’s transformation into Dark Thunder had troubled him, perhaps not quite as much as it did Blizzard, but enough to make him think about it a lot. “I hope you’re right, but you heard the Prophecy. It didn’t say anything about the Herald of the Great Destruction becoming good again.”

“I know,” said Blizzard. She looked down at the table again. “But Atmosfear’s plan … it sounds like it could work.”

“Mind sharing it with me?” said Winter. “I’m listening.”

Blizzard took a deep breath. She looked up at Winter. “Atmosfear thinks that giving Bolt something important to him might cause him to snap out of his insanity and go back to normal.”

Winter raised an eyebrow. He glanced over his shoulder at the door to his Team room. “That doesn’t sound like something Atmosfear would say.”

“I know,” said Blizzard, “but that’s the plan he told me. I’m not sure it will work, though. I was thinking we could ask Aeno to help us.”

“I agree,” said Winter. “I think Aeno would help us. Sigil told us that Aeno was afraid of the Prophecy and didn’t want to become the Great Destruction. Sigil is the one who wants to see the Prophecy fulfilled. Not Aeno.”

“Then why hasn’t Aeno helped us?” said Blizzard with more than a hint of frustration in her voice. “I thought Aeno was a god. Shouldn’t a god know about everything that goes on in his realm?”

“I’m not sure, but I think Sigil is controlling Aeno’s access to information,” said Winter, stroking his chin. “Aeno trusts Sigil more than anyone else. I suspect that if Sigil tells him something, Aeno believes him wholeheartedly. It probably never even occurs to him to question anything Sigil tells him or to assume Sigil is lying about anything. That’s the impression I got when Bolt and I visited Aeno during the second match.”

Blizzard nodded, though she still looked troubled. “Then why don’t we go pay him a visit now?”

Winter looked at Blizzard in surprise. “You mean right now? This very instant?”

“Sure,” said Blizzard. She smiled. “Why not? We still have plenty of time before the sixth match. Bolt told me that the Universal Castle has a tendency to change its layout, but I bet we could still find the entrance to his throne room anyway.”

“I know, but do I look like I care?” said Blizzard. She stood up. “You can stay here if you want. I’ll demand an audience with Aeno myself if I have to.”

Winter stared at Blizzard in amazement. He had pegged her as being, not exactly a wallflower, but certainly a much shyer and less assertive girl than the woman he was looking at here. The look of determination in her eyes was as strong as iron. He doubted he could convince her of the foolishness of her plan even if he used the best arguments in the world. Heck, he doubted he could even physically restrain her, even though he was pretty sure he was physically stronger than her.

Looks like some of Bolt’s confidence rubbed off on her, Winter thought. Or maybe she’s always had this strength and that’s why Bolt loved her.

With a smile, Winter stood up. “Actually, I think I’ll join you.”

Blizzard looked at Winter in surprise. “You mean you aren’t afraid of annoying Sigil?”

Winter chuckled. “This might surprise you, but I don’t have a whole lot of respect for uptight, manipulative types like Sigil. Doing the right thing always seems to annoy them, which is fine by me.”

Blizzard’s bewildered expression turned into a happy smile. “Great. Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go.”