The true horror happened on the third day, when we reached the hinterland. An aurora australis appeared in the sky in the broad daylight.
Solar flares and the coronal mass ejections that came with them caused the aurora to appear so bright that it was almost blinding.
Friele saw it as a warning. She said that exploring the hinterland was a profanation of the Creator.
Koht, however, stood against her. He said that the snow brick windbreak we made would protect us and we couldn't let all those days of hard work be in vain.
No one knew that the real terror was beneath the snow, deep below our feet.
Team Member I: The sextant was right. As long as we stick to this direction ...
Team Member I: AAAAAGGGHHHH!!!!
Day 5. Eide has been left behind.
Team Member II: This is an emergency situation. We need some people to shift focus to rebuilding the windbreak.
Team Member II: Those of you who're fixing the communication devices and getting rid of the EMI—drop it for now!
Team Member II: Devil! D-Demon! Hahahahahaha! AAAHHHHHHH!
Day 7. Koht is gone. The situation is getting worse.
Team Member III: Finally, this damned place has shown its claws. I told you we shouldn't have headed so far into the hinterland! We're in way over our heads.
Team Member III: Farewell, everyone. There's no escaping it now. The voice in my head has become one with me, so, so let it end with me. Hahaha. Once I'm gone, it will be gone forever too.
Nautika's Diary: Day 10.
Nautika's Diary: Day 15.
Nautika's Diary: Day 23.
Day 30. Everyone is gone. Only Friele and I have survived.
Team Member IV: It's okay. Don't worry about me. Any passing fishing boat will be able to see our distress signal. You just need to go back and wait.
Team Member IV: Here. It's a Neptune bar—my favorite. It'll keep you warm a little longer.
Nautika closes her diary.
Nautika: That's why you cannot go to the hinterlands.
Nautika: In fact, you-you should leave as soon as possible.
Sonetto: I see. So this is your concern.
Sonetto: But rest assured. We are taking every measure to ensure our safety. That said, even a draft map would be extremely helpful to us.
Vertin: Ah, I get it.
Sonetto: Timekeeper?
Vertin: Please take this GPS device. I've pinged its location. Help will arrive soon.
Vertin: My apologies that we can't stay with you until they arrive. I'm afraid we're on a time limit. Excuse us.
Nautika: ...
Nautika: Why?
Nautika: W-Why don't you give up, even after all my warnings?
Vertin: We have our reasons.
Wind and snow batter their coats as the two step outside.
Nautika: W-Wait!
Nautika, finding some hidden reserve of sanity and strength, shouts to her visitors.
Nautika: This land of ice is alive! It's alive, and it eats people! I'm not lying! You have no idea what horrors lie in the hinterland!
Nautika: Even if you somehow escape, you'll go insane! Just like—like Rolf, my grandfather!
The footsteps of those walking toward the snowfields slow.
Nautika: S-So, you have to stop! You have to! You have to ...
Nautika: For your own safety.
Breaths hang in the silence.
After a pause, they turn back.
Vertin: Rolf Amundsen?
Vertin: I know that name.
Nautika: What?
Vertin: The outstanding human explorer. His research has formed the basis for understanding many applications of arcanum. Countless arcanists have benefited from his work.
Vertin: It's said that your family holds a particular set of beliefs about the unsolved mysteries of the world, and that every one of you holds a passion for arcanum.
Nautika looks down.
Nautika: Are-Are we that famous?
Vertin: Indeed. It's widely known that many members of the Amundsen family became explorers. Their passion was so strong that it's been recorded in arcanist textbooks.
Nautika's eyes widen, cheeks red from coldness and excitement.
Vertin: I assume you're here in pursuit of something, just like the rest of your family.
Vertin: And that's why you're reluctant to leave, even after all the misfortune you've encountered. Is that right?
Nautika: Reluctant to leave? I pray to the Mother Spirit to take me away every single day.
Vertin: This station is close to the shore. There are many ways you could've got the attention of passing ships if you'd wanted to.
Nautika: ...
Vertin: We're also here in pursuit of something.
Vertin: A person, to be specific.
Nautika's eyes widen again, this time with confusion.
Nautika: A-A person?
A sigh echoes through the small station.
Are you familiar with Manus Vindictae?
In a dark cavern, ritual symbols have been carved in a massive array drawn in blood and papyrus ash.
The Lion's Tail is placed at the top.
Tides run in blind by their ever-be routine,
Sacred Scarab Wings at the left.
Staining that Heaven with obscene calamity.
A seashell holding a spirit is embedded in a skull at the right.
The breaker of death's shackles shall rule us all,
Black soil from the rebels is placed above the idol.
The Fountain of Youth elixir from a cursed alchemist completes the offering.
From this day forth, and evermore.
The young Preacher stands at the altar's edge, watching distant shadows.
The figure she awaits traverses the narrow passageway, entering the altar cavern at last.
Sophia the Preacher: You've arrived, as the prophecy foretold.
A blind woman approaches barefoot—in one hand a cup of Hauma, in the other a bundle of Basam.
Finally, she stops at the ritual's sole vacant corner, completing its shape.
Sophia the Preacher: The preparation of the ritual is about to enter its final stages.
Sophia the Preacher: The Inculcator of Arcanum, Lady Arcana, has revealed to me the final revelation and oracle. Hear ye:
Sophia the Preacher: The blind visitor shall start the great ritual on our behalf.
The black-clad believers kneel and prostrate themselves before the blind woman, their chanting synchronized and unceasing.
Her sightless eyes seem to pierce through eternity before finally settling on the ritual's center.
There stands a golden Spinning Wheel, locked in silent communion with her.
