"John, you sure you know where you are going? We have been walking for hours now. You have been holding your weird device again, is that thing even working?"
Belle said at a fast pace, a mix of frustration and anger. They were still in the large snow desert in the middle of nowhere. John held a device ahead of them, directing the way.
"Yes, I know where we are going, and also my device is working. We just have to keep going."
John's device had broken several times, and he had to keep fixing it.
Belle was growing impatient, he had changed direction nearly six times over a short distance.
The device tracked a faint trail of cosmic energy left behind by the Void, but whenever it faltered, the energy would fade, making it nearly impossible to follow.
Dorothy stayed close behind Belle, still lost in thoughts about the tragedy from hours ago. Death had left her with no memories, and she felt incomplete.
Seeing a family that had helped and accepted her made it worse, she never imagined she would witness them being killed right before her eyes.
As they walked, Dorothy closed her eyes, desperately trying to recall anything herself, her real parents, childhood memories but all she saw was darkness.
While Sofia and Belle fought the Void, she drifted toward Sir David's body. She noticed the necklace she had been wearing sticking out of his pocket and carefully took it, putting it around her own neck. It was the only thing she had that connected her to her past.
She clutched the necklace tightly in her hands, rubbing it against her chest as if it could unlock her memories but still, nothing came. Lost in thought, she didn't realize she had drifted away from Belle and John.
Frustration and anger bubbled inside her, and her hair began to lift and float around her like it was weightless, stirred by the energy surging from her.
Her eyes glowed a fierce green, and three Toa mandala rings appeared around her arms. She pressed her hands to her face as tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Why, why, why,"
She repeated, her voice shaking. A burst of energy spread from her, and the snow around her lifted and followed her power, swirling violently in all directions.
Flakes and ice chunks spun through the air, moving with her every pulse.
"Ermmm, is she alright?" John asked, looking at Belle.
"She's not alright. Come on, let's help her."
John and Belle ran toward her, but before they could reach her, Dorothy fell to the ground, pressing her hands into the snow.
Suddenly, the shift in gravity lifted them both into the air, along with the snow beneath them, pulled up by the force of her power.
"No, no, no, no, no."
John reached for the device as it slipped from his hands, but before he could grab it, he and Belle were pulled down hard.
They hit the ground with a thud, and the device smashed into the snow, breaking apart.
"Oh no…" John muttered under his breath.
He picked it up, staring at the cracks as if hoping they weren't real. Dropping to his knees, he dug into his pockets, pulling out a few small tools, trying desperately to piece it back together.
"We won't be able to find him if this device is broken. Do you know what that means?" John said sharply, trying to remind them how serious things were.
Before Belle could respond, Dorothy's voice broke in, soft but certain.
"I can feel her… I can feel Sofia."
They both turned toward her. Dorothy was still on her knees, her hands pressing into the snow as if searching for something buried deep. Her eyes were distant, unfocused.
Then her breathing slowed, her ears caught a sound no one else could hear. A heartbeat. Slow and steady, echoing inside her head.
She couldn't hear John or Belle anymore. Only the heartbeat. And deep down, she knew, it was Sofia's.
Something inside her had awakened.
"Where, Dorothy? Can you really feel her?"
Belle shot up from the ground and rushed to Dorothy's side.
Dorothy's eyes were still glowing, faint rings of light circling around her hands, which floated slightly away from her body. She didn't look at Belle or John, her gaze was fixed straight ahead.
"There," she whispered, pointing.
Her direction was different from what John's device had shown. Belle turned her head slowly toward him, her lips curling into a sly smile.
Without another word, she grabbed John by the chest and shoved him toward the path Dorothy had revealed.
"Hang on," Dorothy said, her voice trembling. "I don't know how to control this ability yet… but we have to try."
"What ability?" Belle asked, narrowing her eyes.
She got her answer before Dorothy could explain.
The three of them began to rise, weightless, as though an unseen hand had lifted them from the ground.
Snow swirled beneath their feet, falling away as their bodies floated higher. John flailed, trying to steady himself midair.
Dorothy stretched her hands outward, and in an instant, she was carrying them both. The air hummed around them as they shot forward, gliding fast across the white expanse, deeper into the snow lands.
At last, the pull inside her stilled. They had reached the place.
"Landing… how do I land?"
Dorothy was still figuring it out when they lost balance, and before she could react, the three of them crashed straight into the snow.
She looked at the others with guilt, brushing off the flakes clinging to her hair.
"Sorry."
"There's no need to be sorry. At least we got to where we wanted to be," Belle said, forcing a smile while hiding the pain in her back, holding it.
They dusted the snow off their clothes and adjusted themselves. In front of them stood a massive pile of snow wedged between two mountains.
It looked completely blocked off, though there had to be a way through.
"Are we even in the right place?" John asked, glancing from the snow to Belle and Dorothy.
"Hello? Is anyone going to do something about this snow, or are we just going to stand here?"
"Shut up, John. I got this."
Belle stepped forward, pressing her hands together. Slowly, the snow began to shift, melting into shape until it cleared away, leaving behind a smooth, gleaming road of ice.
They walked through the snow, with two rocky walls rising on either side, as if the mountain had been split in half to form a narrow passage.
At the end of the rocky walkway, they stepped into a place that felt entirely different. The ground here was flat, smooth, almost like a clear road laid out in the middle Of nowhere.
Scattered around were small metal tents and rows of military vehicles.
It was an abandoned military base. A flag still clung to one of the cars, its fabric faded and edges torn, swaying lightly in the wind.
Around it, military trucks sat half-buried in snow, airplane wings were melted and twisted, and some skeletons still rested inside the cars, their deaths left a mystery.
"What happened here?" John asked, even though he knew there would be no answer. The place looked as if it had been attacked, now nothing more than a graveyard for many.
"Let's keep moving. This isn't why we are here," Belle said. She took the lead for a moment, but then slowed, realizing Dorothy should be the one guiding them.
Belle stepped back to hold Dorothy's arm, and together they walked straight toward the metal bunker door ahead of them.
The structure was heavy and rusted, built thick like the old military base doors from war bunkers, scarred with dents, its paint long eaten away by time. As they drew closer, they noticed the massive door was slightly ajar, something that shouldn't have been possible.
They all exchanged uneasy glances before Dorothy pushed it open.
A deep wave of invisible force blasted out, slamming into their faces like a sudden gust of wind.
There was no doubt.
"He's here. Brace yourselves."