Paragon

Hisui Incursion [17]

PARAGON

Hisui Incursion Arc [17]

Chapter 69 : Hell

___

When Akari opened her eyes, all she could see was gray and white. A flurry of snow blew across her vision, burning her eyes, and she clamped them closed on instinct. But a second later, as ice water ran down her neck beneath her clothes, her eyes snapped open again and she bolted up, sucking in an invigorating breath. Her body felt stiff and she noticed her coat was crusted in a thin layer of ice.

As she sucked in oxygen greedily, she blinked rapidly, trying to restore her biological faculties. With the amount of ice on her, she must have been out for a decent length of time. Luckily, her gloves and boots were still on so frostbite didn't seem likely, but her face felt cold and she covered it with her hands as she thought.

What happened?

How long was I out?

Where are...?

Her stomach turned and she shifted onto her feet. Snow streamed across her as far as she could see, with only the vague outline of hills and the silhouettes of lonely evergreens in the distance.

She was alone.

She took one step forward, then another, then stopped. Turning, she looked around the spot where she'd just been laying, but only the depression in the snow she'd left broke the snowy monotony. She spun back around, hoping she'd see someone, anyone, but there was still no one. Surely she was just missing them. She was groggy still, after all. But no matter which direction she looked and how meticulous her search was, none of her friends availed themselves to her. Her bag was also missing.

Panic began to rise and her breath came out in cloudy puffs. "Rei...," she mumbled. "R-Rei!" she screamed, her voice breaking. If he were near, he'd hear her and come.

But he did not appear either.

Akari sniffled, but who knew whether that was to stop tears from falling or because of the frigid landscape. She almost yelled again, but caught herself just before the sound left her throat.

These were the Alabaster Icelands. Yelling and screaming would invite a predator soon enough.

Upon that realization, Akari felt up her belt. Horror billowed up from within her.

She only had two of her pokéballs: Cranidos and Staravia's. Her breathing now closer to panting, she fumbled Cranidos' off her belt and clicked the release, and he appeared in a muted flash.

"C-Cranidos...," she stammered. "Help me find Sneasel." She knelt down and started pawing at the snow. "H-Help... She has to be here somewhere."

Cranidos simply stared at her, then looked around. As Akari frantically dug through the snow around her depression, Cranidos trod around the area, never straying too far from her.

No, no, no, no... Akari crawled across the ground, shoveling aside as much snow as she could. Yet like her friends, the missing pokéball remained elusive. Please... Please...! Please!

Why was this happening?

Last she recalled, they were all in high spirits after getting through Mount Coronet and were on track to reach the Pearl Settlement within the week. Her and Rei's pokémon had both become loads stronger after Sabrina's training began, and according to Riley and Ash, they both had evolutions to look forward to in the near future.