The Beats Go On

Chapter 58: Ice To See We're Making Progress

❄️Chapter 58: Ice To See We're Making Progress

"I-It's heading to the mountains!" Ina called, pointing at the creature which was now just a shadowy blob in the distance. 

"Well we surely can't fly so we can't catch up with it!" Coco responded, looking up at the sky. 

"Maybe we can-" Cas started. 

"No catapults." Ami hissed, looking at the shape. 

Cas started at him before opening his mouth again. 

"No cannons." The square narrowed his eyes as Cas looked at him again. 

"No rockets. No flying. We can't do anything stupid like that." 

Cas finally stayed quiet after his ideas were blown out of the window. 

"Well what are we gonna do now?" El asked. 

 "Ina? Do you still have the map?" Ami asked the Diamond. 

"The one we use for traveling? Yeah, it's right here." she said, reaching into a small bag at her side. 

 She then pulled out a small diamond shaped stone, and as the group gathered around it, she set it onto the ground, and a digital landscape appeared before them. 

"W-What is this?" Digo stammered. 

"Pretty..." Ari whispered quietly, poking the digital map only to have it phase through. 

"This map is way larger than the one we have..." El whispered. "How did you get this?"

"Ami and I do a lot of traveling, so we use these stones to hold and contain information about the places we've traveled too. We've been around but never bothered to stick around..." she replied quietly. 

"You mean to tell us you've had this the entire time and not tell us?" Coco muttered. 

"Not the time pipsqueak." Ami huffed, turning to the map. "Depending on the direction that thing went..." he muttered, swiping the map to end up in a digital model of a mountain range. "It'll be somewhere here. The Diamond spirals." 

 "The Diamond Spirals..?" Digo asked. 

"The entire place is basically pure ice, rock and snow, and the mountains are actually spirals made of ice, so it's difficult to climb, especially with snowstorms." Ami said. 

 "Why would it be there?" El asked. 

"Amphitheres are mostly creatures that stay in warmer climates but are known to migrate to cold mountains to nest. I will say this is mating season so there are bound to be a lot of them." 

"If only we had your brain all those other times." Coco shot back, still upset about the insult but Digo nudged him gently. 

"How are we even going to climb it? If it's entirely ice and such, wouldn't it be extremely dangerous?" El said. "I know we need that Treeangle piece but..." 

"Ina knows how to navigate that entire mountain range. It's actually where we first met." Ami added quietly. 

"You do?" Coco asked, slightly surprised but also hesitant to believe them. 

The Diamond nodded. "Yes! The mountain range is very hard to navigate but I know safer sections throughout the mountain trails. Although the Amphipteres will be on edge the entire time..So if you guys are ready for that challenge then we'll all be set."

"Well...As long as we have people that know what their doing then..I'm in." Digo said. 

"Same here!" El cheered. 

"Yay we get to go rock climbing!" Cas said excitedly, Ari nodding in agreement. 

"Yes, Fun!" 

 Coco looked at the others before sighing. 

 "Let's do it." 

 They then headed away from their current location, soon being met with a Long Beach that stretched out into a large Ocean. 

"Now...How are we going to get across?" Digo mumbled. 

 "Hey you all!" The group heard a very familiar voice, soon looking further out to see a boat speeding towards them. 

Ina gasped, "Elis! Long time no see!" She smiled, running up to the edge of the water. 

"What a coincidence..." Coco sighed, following her over. 

"I'm so glad you're here, we need your help actually." Digo said. 

 "Well, what can I do for you? I'll help in any way I can." the ship responded. 

"We need you to take us to the Diamond Spirals, can you do that? An Amphiptere took away that treeangle piece and were expecting it to be heading that direction." Ami asked. 

"Oooh, I know the Diamond Spirals. However it is risky...I heard the weather would be horrible, and with those creatures flying about it's going to be hard...Are you sure?" Elis asked. 

"Yes! We need to get there right away!" El responded. 

"Very well, hop on!" 

 The group climbed aboard, and away the boat sped into the ocean. 

"I hope you guys don't mind bad weather, the snowstorms are awful." he called up, Ina smiling down at the water as she leaned over the bow. 

"I don't mind cold weather, if anything I crave it, we've been getting too much sun and tropics...you know?" she called back down.

Coco watched from afar, Ari fell asleep again, and Cas and El were talking as always. Digo and Ami seemed to be conversing about the map and such. He sighed, sitting down against the ship's wall. He was happy that they were trying to fix these corruptions but at what cost? They were almost killed, they had to do stupid side quests for people he didn't really care about. 

He was corrupted and then they found out horrible experiments done on shapes and now they were going into a freezing death mission. It was...meaningless. Why did he ever agree to doing... 

 "Coco, you alright?" He looked up to see Ina hovering over him. 

"Oh..I.." He looked away from her. "How do you do it." 

"Hm?" 

 "How are you all able to do these crazy things that could get us killed- all for a world like this? The corruption is spreading but just think- we could all be in hiding and being safe- we would be able to be happy if-" 

 She smiled at him. "That would be...selfish right?" 

He looked up at her, surprised. "Selfish..?" 

She nodded. "Yeah, I can't speak for anyone else...But I care about this place. I don't want my home to be taken over- or the people I love having to hide away in fear of being corrupted. Yeah..we would be a lot safer in hiding. But I can't do that. I want to help others it's just who I am.." 

"What do you want to do Coco..?" 

 The two stared at each other. 

Coco was processing everything, unable to get an answer to her question. 

"I..I want-" A cold shiver of air swept through, making everyone besides Ina shiver from the chill.

Coco slowly stood up, walking to the edge of the boat with the others following behind him. 

"We're here!" Elis called from below. "I'll try to find a safe place to dock."

The Diamond Spirals...marvelous and grand spirals of ice reached for the skies as snow blew in from the top. Icebergs shifted silently beside the ship as an eerie and mystical glow came from the icy terrain. Overcome by awe, the group stared at the sight before them as Elis slowed down to a halt. 

 "This place is amazing.." Digo whispered. 

"Yeah..! it's so cool!" Cas replied. 

Ina turned away, heading off of the boat and onto the snowy ground, her color palette matching in with the icy background behind her. 

"Let's find that Treeangle piece!"