Liar, Liar, the Mage's Desire Vol. 3 (Return of the Oumeno)

Kokichi and Himiko's Great Penguin Rescue (11)

    "Himiko, wake up," Kokichi said, gently nudging Himiko's arm. Himiko blearily opened her eyes. Kokichi was standing over her, handing her her large, fluffy coat. "Put this on." Himiko bolted up in her bed.

   "Nyeh...are we in Antarctica?!" she gasped. Kokichi smiled. 

   "See for yourself," he said. Himiko picked Pinkwin up from his icebox, and followed Kokichi out of the cabin of the boat, where the beds were, and out into the pristine, frozen world around them. Himiko's eyes widened with amazement and disbelief. Ahead of them was an enormous stretch of ice shelves, land, and mountains shrouded in nothing but snow and wispy clouds. Massive icebergs towered majestically over the bluest and clearest water Himiko had ever seen. Some icebergs glowed different shades of blue from the water's reflection. Smaller flecks of ice floated aimlessly on the water's surface, going wherever the ocean's current decided to take them. Despite the beauty of it all, Himiko had to admit that it looked rather ominous and intimidating. Never before had she seen a place so unbelievably barren and isolated, yet, magnificent at the same time. It made her realize how small she truly was.

   "Nee-heehee...pretty cool, huh?" Kokichi said, noticing Himiko's awestruck expression. 

   "Yeah," Himiko breathed the only word that she could say at that moment. Pinkwin clapped his flippers together excitedly. Kokichi and Himiko smiled at him. "Nyeh...we finally made it, Pinkwin," Himiko said to the little bird. 

   "I'm home! I'm home! I'm finally home!" Pinkwin squawked happily. 

   "You're almost home," Himiko corrected. "We just have to find your colony...nyeh, wherever that is."

    "I'm sure we'll figure it out," Kokichi said. "In the meantime, we should find the Sector Zulu 1 headquarters. They'll help us locate Pinkwin's colony, and after that, we can-" SCRAAAAAAPE! A horrendous scraping noise echoed through the air as the boat lurched to a sudden stop. Himiko instinctively grabbed Kokichi's arm in fear.

   "Nyeh...what was that?!" she asked in a terrified whisper. Suddenly, Two came rushing up to Kokichi and Himiko.

   "Two, what happened?" Kokichi demanded.

   "We hit a submerged sheet of ice," Two explained. 

   "Any damage to the boat?" Kokichi asked. 

   "Well..." Two murmured.

   "WE'RE SINKING!!!" Four screamed as he and the others rushed from the cabin of the boat up to the deck, where Kokichi, Himiko, and Two were standing. 

   "The floor down in the cabin started...'s-s-splurging' with water!!" Six stammered. 

   "How fast is it flooding down there?" Kokichi asked. 

   "Well...not that fast," Ten replied. 

    "I want you guys to grab as many necessary items as you can," Kokichi said. The others went back down into the cabin, while Kokichi looked back at the Antarctic landscape before them for any safe place to escape to. He noticed that they were drifting towards a large, flat surface of ice off in the distance. "Dammit...that sheet of ice is too far away," Kokichi muttered. He looked down at the side of the boat, which was dipping slowly, but surely, beneath the surface of the water. He looked around frantically for anything that could pull them closer to the large sheet of ice. Suddenly, he looked at Himiko. "Himiko, do you think you can use your magic to make a path using these smaller bits of ice?"

   "It'd be a lot easier if I were an ice mage," Himiko replied hesitantly. "But I can't turn into one, now...not with the others around." Kokichi gripped Himiko's shoulders. 

   "You don't have to turn into an ice mage, Himiko, but if there's a chance you can make an ice path with your magic, you really need to take it, especially since the others are preoccupied at the moment," he said with an urgent voice. Himiko took a deep breath and nodded.

   "Okay," she said. She handed Pinkwin to Kokichi and walked up to the front of her boat. Concentrating as much as she could, Himiko stretched her arms out in front of her, and focused her energy on the smaller ice blocks. Small orbs of magical energy surrounded her hands. At first, the ice blocks didn't move, but as Himiko concentrated harder, the ice started to sway slowly before picking up speed. Soon, she created a path of ice for everyone to walk across. Himiko collapsed onto the floor. Kokichi ran over to her and knelt down next to her.

   "You okay?" he asked softly, placing a hand on her shoulder. Himiko groaned as she she massaged her head.

   "Nyeh...I'm naturally a season mage, so it takes up a lot of magic and energy for me to work with the elements," she explained. "I wouldn't have had a hard time if I could turn into an ice mage." Kokichi carefully helped her to her feet. 

   "I'll keep that in mind," he promised. "Thanks for your help, Himiko." Himiko gave him a sleepy smile. 

   "We're back, boss," Ten said. Kokichi's cohorts came back up, carrying necessary items with them. 

   "The boat's sinking faster!" Six exclaimed, shaking water from his shoes. Kokichi looked over the side of the boat again. This time, the railing was much closer to the water. 

  "There's a path of ice that'll bring us to that bigger sheet of ice over there," Kokichi said, pointing across the water. "We need to get there as fast as we can. I'll go first to make sure it's safe." Still carrying Pinkwin, Kokichi carefully lowered himself onto the first step of ice, then began stepping his way across. He turned back to the others. "It's okay!" he called to them. "Make sure to step slowly and carefully!"

   "Your turn, Supreme Lady," Ten said, helping Himiko over the railing. Cautiously, she stepped across the ice, though her steps were wobbly, due to having expanded a lot of her magic just now. She caught up to Kokichi, who reached out to take her hand.

   "You okay?" he asked. Himiko nodded. "Here, take my hand. We'll go slow, okay?" Wordlessly, Himiko nodded again. Together, they stepped carefully across the blocks of ice until they made it to the large sheet. "Well done, HimiCocoa Bean!" Kokichi cheered, wrapping his arm around Himiko. Himiko smiled weakly at him before slumping to her knees. Kokichi knelt down next to her to just as everyone else made it to the large sheet of ice. They all watched in silence as the boat finally sank beneath the surface.