The archives, it appeared, was at the top of one of the snowy mountain peaks Sophia had seen earlier. Samantha had managed to get them to where the green of the trees hit the beginnings of the powdery snow by riding the wind before all mystiks stopped working. She supposed it made sense to block mystiks near a place like the archives, but it was annoying all the same. They touched down on a small, grassy area; before them stood the towering rock wall of the mountain peak. This high up, there was already wisps of fog surrounding them as they entered into the clouds. Looking up, all Sophia could see was a thin coating of snow on rock before it was swallowed up in the haze.

She loved being this high up, feeling the wind brush past her and inhaling the fresh, cold mountain air. It reminded her of home. She stood there for a minute, taking it all in.

"I think this is how we get up," came Valentino's voice from her right, and she turned to find him staring up at something, head tilted. It looked like an archaic version of an elevator, a glass tube built into the side of the mountain that extended up into the clouds. The elevator car was at the bottom, and Valentino had already stepped on, looking around him. "I think this was meant for just the archivist. We could probably fit two people in here at a time. Max."

"I'll go," Sophia said. "I have the key, anyway." She walked forward and stepped into the elevator car. A thrill shot up her spine as she thought about being in the tube with him alone, and she pushed it to the side, annoyed with herself.

"Meet us up there," she called to James and Samantha as she pressed the button attached to the wall of the tube.

"Okay," Samantha called back. "Be careful, you guys."

The glass door slid shut and they began to rise slowly, all of Kerrios, and beyond into the rest of Avalon, emerging before them. She walked up to the glass, taking in the rolling hills and the sparks of light glinting off the Adamantine Bay. If they weren't hurtling towards possible danger, Sophia would've enjoyed this view. Hell, she was enjoying it regardless.

She was painfully aware of Valentino's presence behind her as she stood there, and turned to find him leaning casually against the side, feet crossed. He was typing on his phone, a look of irritation on his face. She wondered who he was texting.

"I thought phones didn't work in Avalon," she said, leaning back against the glass.

He sighed, glancing up at her. "I guess whatever's blocking mystiks is affecting that too." He looked back down at his phone. "Although I'd prefer to go back down."

Sophia took a wild guess. "Marilyn?"

Valentino's lips quirked up in a sardonic smile. "Marilyn."

Although she had expected it, she felt her test tighten and her stomach harden at Marilyn's name, but she brushed it aside. The elevator- if it could even be called that- rose slowly, and she slid to the floor, figuring that it'd be awhile before they reached the top.

Valentino was already sitting, one arm resting casually on his knee. His eyes were dark. Sophia watched him for awhile, staring- hopefully inconspicuously- at the wild mess of tousled, raven black hair and the muscles of his arms outlined in the black combat suit. After a while, he let out a sigh, dropping his phone to the ground and tilting his head back so it rested on the wall of the tube. He closed his eyes, the gold extinguishing like a flame.

"Do you love her?" Sophia asked, afraid to know the answer but curious all the same. Valentino opened his eyes, blinking at her. "Who, Marilyn?" She nodded, and he thought for a moment, silent. Gazing into the expanse of green and blue spreading before them, he said, "I don't know. I've known her for so long, so of course I care about her, but I don't know if I love her." Valentino paused for a moment, looking at her. "I guess that means I doesn't, right? It shouldn't be a question whether or not you love someone."

Sophia hadn't expected him to answer so honestly, but she was glad he did. Shrugging, she said, "I wouldn't know. I don't think I've been with someone long enough to love them."

He raised an eyebrow, a spark appearing in his eyes. "Really? I'm impressed, Sophia. I never would've taken you for a player."

She flushed. "I'm not! I just haven't found the right person yet, I guess."

Valentino laughed out loud. "So you believe in all that true love, soulmate crap?"

Sophia glared at him. "Yes, and it's not crap. Don't you?"

He shook his head. "True love's for fairytales and bedtime stories, Sophia. Everyone learns that at some point." There was a darkness in his eyes that made it seem like he was talking from experience. What had happened to him that had made him like this? There was always a wall between him and the rest of the world, a world he viewed with a dark amusement.

Valentino stood up as the elevator car came to a halt, glancing back at her. "Well, good talk," he said, and exited as the door slid open without a sound. Sighing, Sophia pushed herself to her feet, brushing off the dust on her combat and stepping out into a world washed with white.

There was snow everywhere- coating the ground in a thick, packed layer, falling from the sky in a light flurry. She found Valentino a few steps in, scanning their surroundings.

"Where are the archives?" she asked, squinting into the snow.

Valentino nodded his head in the direction of a huge stone wall, a couple yards away. "There's a door there, I think. It's built into the stone. Probably a good idea."

Samantha and James arrived minutes later, and the four of them trudged through the flurry towards the archives.

The inside of the archives was what Sophia had expected. It was a single, large room, the walls lined with shelves of books. The room was warmly lit, similar to a library with its lamps and couches.

There were years and years of Avalon's history recorded in them, each marked with gold lettering on the spine. Some of them were faded, and Sophia could just barely make out the years that it contained.

"So, what's the plan?" Samantha asked, gazing dubiously around the room. "Are we planning on going through all of these books to find something on Anadeus?"

"What else can we do?" Sophia answered. She sighed. "If only we had the Internet."

James sighed. "It would be a lot easier."

They got to work, each of them taking a section of the archives and flipping through the records, each searching for any mention of Anadeus within them. It was tedious work, scanning book after book, stack after stack.

Occasionally, something would catch her eye, but it would always end up as something like anatomy, or amadeus (which, she learned, referred to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart).

She could've sworn that fighting to keep her eyelids from dropping was the hardest battle she ever faced. After all, who could resist sleep? But she read on, the words beginning to blur before her.

Finally, she heard a voice- James' voice- call out. "I think I got something!"

The three of them rushed over to where he was sitting, bent over a book so old its spine was cracking and the pages were brittle. The page they were looking at was the copy of a letter, written by Anadeus and addressed to Kaiden Altus. Sophia frowned.

Dear Kaiden, 

The people are restless today. It appears they can sense that something is happening, but they will never understand the magnitude of what is at stake here. When we united our two kingdoms, we will be powerful enough to bend the others to our will. If they do not follow us, then we can and will destroy them. It is simple biology after all, the law of natural selection. Perhaps Darwin was the brightest of us all, recognizing that it is the strong who survive. 

We must be the strong.

Once we have the Elementale world in our grasp, then we can finally turn our attention to the mortal world- the ultimate goal. Don't forget this. As Elementales, we are inherently superior. Mortals take us for granted, but they should worship us the way they worship the gods. We must exert our influence, and exterminate all Elementales who cannot wield the power of the gods- mystiks. The lowborn will have two choices: to be cast down into the mortal world or face execution. 

It is the only way. This is a reminder to remain vigilant. Victory is in reach. 

Your loving brother, Anadeus Altus, 66th Praetor of Asteri and King of Avalon 

They were all silent for a moment, staring at the letter in varying stages of disgust and horror. Sophia felt a repulsion similar to what she had felt in the Senate meeting, nausea rising in her stomach. Anadeus Altus. This man- if he was even human- had been related to her.  Was related to her. And Kaiden Altus, the revered ruler of the Ice Kingdom, had been involved in his plan.

She saw the others glancing her way and she turned away from them, unwilling to let them see the array of emotions on her face. she wasn't even sure what she was feeling.

Sophia felt Samantha reach over and squeeze her hand, the warmth and the pressure reassuring, grounding her. she shot her a grateful smile.

"I don't even know what to make of this," said James, a look of shock on his face.

Valentino took a seat on the velvet green armchair in the corner, leaning back with a smile on his face. "I always knew this guy was fucked up. At least now we know just how much. Finally someone lives up to my expectations."

James shot him a look and he grinned, propping his feet up on the ottoman. "I'm just saying."

"Well, I guess now we know why he targeted Sophia," said Samantha, glancing at her with concern in her gray eyes. "You're his blood."

"What year was this letter from?" Sophia asked james.

"16th century," was his reply.

"16th century?? What kind of mystik kept someone alive for 500 years?"

"What the hell?"said Samantha with a frown, echoing her thoughts. "How is he still alive?"

"Wait," Valentino spoke up from where he was still reclined on the armchair. "The letter says Anadeus wanted to subserviate the mortal world and the lowborn, but didn't he make Sophia a weapon to destroy them?"

"That's true," mused James, blue eyes thoughtful. "He could be lying."

"Also," Samantha interjected. "Kaiden Altus and Anadeus were brothers? Really?"

Wait until Ice gets a load of this one, Sophia thought darkly. Guess his portrait was going to have to be taken down from the lobby. Poor Kaiden.

"I guess," said James. "But I'm still confused. Why would Anadeus wait until now to do this? He had, what 500 years? Why'd he wait?"

"I think," said Sophia, "we can agree that we have a lot of questions and very few answers. We should just take the book back with us and give it to the Praei and the Senate or something. They'd probably be better at figuring this out."

James nodded and grabbed the book, shutting it firmly. They all stood, making their way to the door.

"We should give the archive key to them too," said Valentino as Sophia locked the door behind them. "It's probably the safest place right now, since the archivist is dead and all."

"Yeah," Sophia assented.

A flash of black caught her eye and she squinted, staring into the snow. She could tell the others had seen it too; they had all frozen, eyes scanning cautiously.

"Well," said James, "here we go again."

A/N: as always, thanks so much for reading haha and please vote and comment! tbh it feels weird to be writing again