Permafrost

53: Glare

⭐️Chapter 53: Glare

The Infernos had taken a surprisingly short rest. So short, in fact, that they'd woken up before Corrin got back. They'd noticed Fang was gone beforehand as well. As Corrin burst into the room and set down the snacks on a nearby desk, the Infernos stood up from the ground they had been resting on.

"Is this about Fang?" Cosmo asked. "He left, and we don't know where to!"

"No, but some suits and weapons went missing and usually when that happens that means someone's broken out of their cell!" Corrin exclaimed as he ran back over to close his door. "Trust me. Prisoners try to arm themselves the second they can once they escape..."

The Infernos exchanged worried glances. Ryn looked up at the other two.

"You don't think Fang could've..."

"Broken the rest of the Wave Crashers out? Yup," Jack replied.

Corrin's hands flew to his head in a panic.

"Oh no. Nononononono. This is bad, very very bad! Now we have THEM to deal with while also having to deal with my dad and the cult and-"

"Hey."

Silvia gently rested her hand on Corrin's shoulder.

"Take deep breaths. Let's figure the out slowly, okay?"

Corrin nodded, and slowly began breathing in and out. After a minute or two, Silvia spoke slowly.

"So we THINK that Fang and the rest of the Wave Crashers might've broken out, but do we have proof? Can we go see for ourselves?"

"But...how? What if you guys are spotted?" Corrin asked.

"Well, maybe you can disguise us as guards?" Jack suggested.

"Not sure if that's worth the risk when some armor just got stolen of all things..."

"Right, right...maybe you could carry our squid forms in a bag and pretend you have to deliver something? We can hide under papers or other materials," Ryn offered.

"That...COULD work..."

"I think it's worth a shot!" Cosmo said.

"Me too! I don't think we have the materials for "proper" Rinkling disguises, so we might as well go for the next best thing: hiding!"

"Alright. Let me find a bag first."

Corrin scurried off to his closet to see what he had. He should've brought a bag when he'd taken all that food, and now he regretted it. The Infernos in the meantime, took the snacks and ate some while they could. They needed to be prepared. Soon enough, Corrin came out with a medium sized cloth bag.

"I found one, are we ready to go?" Corrin asked.

"Yeah!"

The Infernos hopped in, and Corrin put several crumpled up pieces of paper from his desk over the cephalopods to hide them.

"Can you guys breathe?"

"Yup, we're alright!" Silvia responded. "Okay, cool! Let's go!"

Corrin opened the door to his bedroom and left down to go to the halls. He assumed that going to the storage room was the best option, as the thieves might have left a trail. Chances were, they weren't there now, but it was a place to go to. As he ran across the halls, he kept a lookout for other people. He didn't want suspicious looks stopping him now.

Jay was luckily not in the halls, and he'd kept his promise. Corrin was just hoping Zane or Rehl wouldn't show up now. His breath quickened as he neared the halls. All of them hoped they wouldn't have to deal with anything bad, and that this problem could easily be fixed. As Corrin and the group reached the storage doors however, they immediately noticed something.

There was a trail of dirt and dust on the ground.

Well, Corrin was glad he decided to check here at all. First thing was first, though.

"Okay, I can't carry you around like this for much longer, it's hurting my arms," he said, setting the bag down.

"You can leave your bag here, and we can all run," Jack suggested.

"Sounds good to me."

The Infernos popped out of their cephalopod forms as they hopped out of the bag. Corrin slowly set the bag down by the door and turned to face the trail.

"Now let's go," he said.

Everyone was now running as they followed the trail. The Infernos mostly followed Corrin, because he knew his way around the castle best and could probably predict a trap or two. Corrin didn't recognize the path yet, but as it kept twisting and turning, it soon became clear.

"It's leading us to one of the main ballrooms!" Corrin exclaimed.

"I can only hope nothing serious happened...." Silvia muttered.

"You can say that again," Ryn said.

"But even if it WAS the Wave Crashers, why would they go THERE of all places?" Jack asked.

"You never know..." Cosmo sighed.

As they kept running, the Infernos kept a lookout for suspicious people fleeing the scene. So far they had nobody, but they were on guard. The hallways were beautiful though, and it was a shame the group didn't have the time to look at them at the moment. They were patterned with ice designs, a few areas even being decorated with crystals of sorts. It was amazing.

"So, if it IS the Wave Crashers, what do we do?" Jack asked.

"I say we fight them, because they definitely don't seem to be the bargaining type," Ryn replied.

"Yeah, they'll probably use any advantage they can on us. Then again, we'll see what they have to say IF it's them," Silvia said.

"Listen, I just want to get those thieves. If they're not the Wave Crashers or whoever, you guys can go split off and find them," Corrin explained.

"Well...if you say so..." Cosmo mumbled.

The group nearly stopped as Corrin ran up to some doors the trail had gone under. They looked like they were made out of an opaque glass to resemble ice.

"They should be just through these doors! Hopefully the thieves haven't gone too far," Corrin huffed as he pushed the ballroom doors open.

Silvia tried to get his attention.

"Remember, we still have to find F-"

The whole group skidded to a halt as they ran into the room.

There, standing in front of them, were  Thrash, Thorne, Spyke, and Fang, all in the Rinkling suits.
And they were all wielding Rinkling weapons as well.

"Well, at least we found him."