This is so cool! This is the most worldbuilding I think I’ve ever seen in a ski lodge. I can’t wait to see what’s next!

Just a quick update, I won't be posting today because I have finals, but expect a new chapter tomorrow.

Chapter 7 

Barnswallow, Kestrel, Gecko, and Mcguff were in a room full of coal. It was very musty and dark, and the coal powder made Barnswallow cough, but the room was so large and dark, they were taking a while to find the door.

Suddenly, something clattered out of Barnswallow’s backpack. She whirled around, and scrabbled to pick up the jeweled egg she had in her backpack.

The jeweled egg was surprisingly similar to the one that Leafy had gotten stolen from her.

I earned it, okay? Barnswallow thought.

She hurriedly shoved it back in her backpack, where nobody could see it. A bright white light blinked on. “It’s working!” Gecko exclaimed.

Barnswallow looked at the light. Gecko had figured out how to break Barnswallow’s camera in a way so that the flashlight was always on, so now they could actually see things through the dark haze of coal powder.

“Guys, I found the door!” Mcguff said, pointing to a heavy steel vault door.

Kestrel tried the handle. “Locked,” she said.

“Hold on a second,” Gecko said, fumbling with her lockpick.

After fiddling around with the heavy padlock, Gecko finally got it open. “Let’s go!” Barnswallow said, pushing open the door and stepping through.

Immediately, a swarm of black furry flying things started screeching, breaking the silence. One bit Barnswallow, and at the smell of blood, the rest started flapping around Barnswallow, trying to bite her.

“HELP!” Barnswallow shrieked, batting at the flying things with a stiletto she had just taken out of her backpack.

Kestrel dove into the swarm of flying furry things, hitting them determinedly to save Barnswallow. There were too many though. One bit Barnswallow on the wrist, and she dropped her stiletto.

One of them dived for Barnswallow’s backpack, and pulled the jeweled egg out of it. “NO! NO!” Barnswallow shrieked, refusing to let go of the egg.

“HELP!” Barnswallow screamed again.

Suddenly, the swarm of flying things rose up into the air. The beating of wings stopped, the biting stopped, and the room was silent as the furry things flew away.

“Barnswallow?! Ohmygosh, are you okay? Do you need medical help? Are those bites bad?!”

It was Summer! Autumn was there too, along with Agent Winter, Arithmancy clutching a clove of garlic, Reese, and Night Vision.

Barnswallow looked down at her wrist. The wound was surprisingly small, just two small punctures in her skin. But it hurt. A lot.

“It hurts,” she muttered.

“Vampire bats,” Agent Winter said, “those things were vampire bats. That’s why they left when we came, because Arithmancy has the garlic.”

“Thank you!” Barnswallow cried, hugging Arithmancy, “They were going to steal my egg!”

She picked up the egg, and dropped it into her bag, picking up her stiletto as well. Her wounds stung a little, but they would be fine after a little, it wasn’t any more severe than a splinter (except that she had like 50).

“You guys,” Night Vision said nervously, “I can hear the bats. They’re coming back.”

“Then we’d better go!” Reese said, turning to a door, “Come on!”

They made a hasty exit through the door, and emerged into a room full of swirling mist. Barnswallow immediately held on to Kestrel’s hand, because she’d read enough novels to know that in places like this, getting separated was almost a certainty.

Surprisingly, Barnswallow could still see everyone, huddled in a tight circle around them.

“Come on, I think the door’s that way,” Mcguff finally said, after they’d all gotten over the eeriness of the misty room.

Barnswallow was following Mcguff, when she tripped over a hard rock and fell flat on her face. “Ow!” she exclaimed.

Why would there be a rock here? The floor was completely smooth, and it was marble.

Barnswallow looked down. It wasn’t a rock she had tripped over, it was an elaborate sapphire bracelet. Looking around to make sure nobody had noticed, she quickly scooped up the bracelet and popped it in her bag.

“You coming?” Agent Winter asked, turning around momentarily.

“Yep!” Barnswallow said, getting up and hurrying along.

“Guys? Barnswallow, is that you?”

As soon as she entered the room, Barnswallow was greeted by Heroesofolympus, Kitty, Squeaky, Gemstone, and, her eyes didn’t believe it, Emekittycon and Mahriel.

“Mahriel! Emekittycon!” Barnswallow shrieked, and hugged them.

“What?!” Agent Winter exclaimed, rushing into the room.

Their eyes widened at the sight of Emekittycon and Mahriel. “I-I don’t believe it,” Winter whispered.

“I know! They were ghosts, but I rescued them!” Heroes said joyfully.

“I’m not dead! Well I was, but not anymore!” Mahriel laughed.

Agent Winter flashed an annoyed glance at Mahriel. “It’s not something to joke about,” she muttered, but only Barnswallow heard her.

“Well, why don’t you guys come with us to the abandoned house? We found it, and we came here because we heard you guys, but we’ve pretty much set up base there,” Emekittycon said.

“Yeah, sounds great!” Reese said.

Yes! What an excellent twist! I'm very interested. :)

Chapter 8 

“Psst. Emekittycon. Wake up.”

Emekittycon rubbed her eyes, and looked up at Summer, standing over her. It was night outside, and the rest of their group were sleeping, with the exception of Agent Winter, who was sketching something on someone else’s sketchbook.

“What?” Emekittycon whispered.

“I think I heard Quill. I don’t want to give anyone false hope though,” Summer said, “so can you go with me to find her?”

“Of course,” Emekittycon said, and got up, slinging on her backpack, “Where to?”

Summer led her down the cellar, and through a passageway. It seemed to be even more dark in the cellar than before. Maybe it was just because it was night, or because of something else.

Emekittycon stepped out into what looked to be a temple. Cut stone walls with detailed engravings on them, a smooth marble floor with pink veins running through it, and flickering torches in brackets on the walls.

At the end of the wall was a pedestal with a large silver chalice on it. It was so intricate that Emekittycon couldn’t make out what was depicted on its sides from this distance.

She stepped forward, to get a closer look. Emekittycon felt a chill on her back, like the cold breath of something. She whirled around, ready to defend herself.

It was only Summer, craning over Emekittycon’s neck to see the chalice.

“Do you think we should take it? It would go to waste in such an empty place as this,” Summer suggested.

“But it might be something of religious importance,” Emekittycon said.

“Well, this place is deserted. Plus, this doesn’t look like any religion I’ve ever heard of, more like a cult worshipping cheese or something,” Summer joked.

“Then who lit the torches?”

Summer fell silent. “Have it your way,” she shrugged, “but take a torch at least so we can see in the dark.

As Emekittycon chose an ivory torch in a bracket that burned hotter than the others, she noticed Summer discreetly slip the chalice into her backpack.

Eh, whatever. This place looks ancient, I doubt whoever was here is still alive. This carving says like 660 BCE or something.

They ventured forward into the darkness, through a side door. It wasn’t exactly dark in the room they emerged into. It looked exactly like an Egyptian burial tomb.

“Guys! You’re here!”

Quill was right there, along with Harper, Ace, Galaxy, Braoin, Pepsi, and Basil, fluttering along.

“Hey, Quill!” Summer exclaimed, giving her a hug.

“I was exploring with Barnswallow and Mahriel, but Mahriel is gone and I got separated from Barnswallow,” Quill explained, “and then I picked up Braoin and Pepsi who got separated from Arithmancy. But Emekittycon, you’re alive!”

Emekittycon’s face broke into a big smile. “Yeah, I am! And so is Mahriel! We were ghosts temporarily, but Heroes fixed us! Also, Barnswallow is with us, you don’t need to worry!”

Quill blew out a big breath of relief. “Thank goodness! Can you like take me to wherever you guys set up base? Also-what is that sound?”

They were all silent for a moment, and Emekittycon could hear a faint trickling of water. It was turning into a steady dripping, and then into a roar of crashing waves.

Emekittycon bolted toward the sound, banging through doors and the others following her.

She slammed through a door, and screeched to a stop. A massive reservoir, blocked by a giant dam that she was standing on, had become a plain of whirling water crashing everywhere.

Leafy and Surroundedbybooks stood there, leaning over a railing and staring, fascinated at the water.

“Guys! What did you do?!” Pepsi yelled over the water.

Leafy turned around and waved furiously, and so did Surrounded.

Surrounded cupped her hands to her mouth and called, “We released the water from the reservoir, because we heard there was a treasure at the bottom of it!”

“Treasure?!” Ace yelled.

“Yeah, we heard there was a treasure!” Leafy shouted.

“No, treasure!” Ace called, pointing to a old wooden chest that had just appeared from underneath the rapidly draining water.

All of them watched as the roaring water abruptly stopped, slowing down to only a trickle yet again. Harper was already climbing down the dam wall, running toward the chest. Emekittycon and the others followed quickly.

Harper flung open the chest and gasped. So did everyone else. The plain wooden chest was filled to the brim was precious jewels and shiny things. A jade figurine, an enormous emerald, a fancy scepter, a jeweled scarab, a huge diamond, were only a few of the jewels and treasures the chest contained.

“Shiny!” Braoin exclaimed, and his bag engulfed the treasure trunk, snapping it up, swelling to an enormous size, and returning to normal.

“Any objections?” Braoin asked, putting on his backpack again.

Nope, not a single one.

“You guys, I think the reservoir’s going to fill up again. Soon,” Surrounded said nervously.

They all quickly climbed back up to the top of the dam, Emekittycon helping Summer up just as the water started crashing back into the reservoir.

“Let’s go back to the house, that way you guys can all deposit your treasures and stuff!” Summer yelled over the water.

“Agreed!” Emekittycon said.

Chapter 9

---

Summer slipped away in the middle of the night, taking the large sceptre with her. 

She probably shouldn’t have. It was much safer to stay with the group, and she was prone to get lost, or encounter a grue, or even worse, whoever tried killed Emekittycon and Mahriel.

But Summer would sacrifice safety for freedom, and adventure. Also, the sceptre looked magical. She could defend herself if she needed to. And there was also something else.

Summer knew that Surrounded thought she was the killer of Emekittycon. She had known that from the start. Whether it was intentional or not, Surrounded had been obvious about it. And it was pretty suspicious from the start too. Summer had been the only one who could see. She was the first to know. She hadn’t been there when Mahriel had been killed. Or when Heroes was stabbed.

It could be her.

But Summer knew it wasn’t. She knew that the killer was still out there somewhere, and she was determined to find them, and prove to Surrounded that she hadn’t done anything at all.

Could it be someone in our group?

All the more likely. Alone, at night, and wandering off, Surrounded had laid the perfect trap for someone to follow her. And all she had to do was wait.

It has to be Barnswallow.

It had to be Barnswallow. She had stolen Leafy’s egg, from what Leafy had said, even though Barnswallow had continued to deny it. And well . . . she hadn’t exactly had any alibi for whatever happened down in the underground empire either.

Summer crept through a couple of passages, leaving a trail of breadcrumbs behind her, so she could find her way out. Or rather, so the murderer could find her.

Summer passed through a domed marble room, with seafoam blue walls and pearly white veins, and sea-blue greek columns. There was a word that was carved, over and over again at the bottom of the columns.

It read ‘Atlantis’.

She noticed a glint of something shiny in the corner of the room. Summer stepped around the marble column that was blocking whatever the shiny thing was. It was a trident - mother-of-pearl prongs, sharpened to a point, and a blue conch handle.

It felt heavy in Summer’s hands, but she picked it up, and went on her way.

She climbed the rainbow, looking behind her.

There seemed to be nothing there, but Summer was convinced that the murderer was following her. She was the perfect target.

Summer sat down at the vertex of the rainbow, dangling her legs over the edge.

One little push would be all. One little push.

Summer pulled out a hand mirror from her backpack, and angled it so she could see behind her.

A shadowy figure appeared in the mirror, creeping toward Summer.

Step by step, they drew nearer. Step. Step. Step.

They stretched out their hands. Hands to push Summer off the rainbow.

One little push.

Summer jumped up, holding the sceptre to the person’s throat.

“It was . . . you,” she gasped.

“What do you mean?!” Agent Winter croaked.

Summer snapped. “What do you mean, what do you mean?! You’re the one who killed Mahriel, you’re the one who killed Emekittycon, and you’re the one who convinced everyone that I’m the murderer! You can’t lie to my face, just try!”

Agent Winter’s eyes flashed purple.

“What do you mean?! I nev-so maybe I did. What about it? It just matters that I will win. Look where we are.”

Summer looked down. She was standing at the edge of the rainbow, her sceptre pressed up against Agent Winter. It would only take one little push.

Her hands shook.

“Want to find out what happens when I move a little? A little pressure here, and over the edge you go,” Agent Winter whispered, her eyes completely a deep violet now.

“No!” Summer shrieked.

Her hand moved of her own accord. Agent Winter went flying over the edge.

A hand grabbed onto her trident. Agent Winter was holding on to life with one hand, her eyes purple and angry.

“You wouldn’t dare. It’s me, your friend. You wouldn’t kill me, would you? That would make you one too.”

Summer’s hand slipped. She let go of the trident. Agent Winter dropped like a stone.

A strangled cry came out of Summer as she watched Agent Winter fall toward the ground with a strange smile.

She fell and fell and fell through the clouds.

And then she was gone.

Summer scrambled to her feet, clutching her scepter and stumbled down the rainbow. Her head hurt. Her heart was pounding. She couldn’t breathe.

Summer ran toward the house, and burst into the living room.

“Guys!” she shrieked, her voice cracking.

How do I tell them this?

“Guys,” she said, on the verge of tears, “Agentwinteradmittedtokillingmahrielandemekittycon, andipushedthemofftherainbow, andithinktheyredeadIdon’tknowwhattodo!”

“WHAT?!”

Summer got sat down on a couch, and offered a cup of hot chocolate and a blanket, while everyone talked.

It was so loud.

“Summer, are you for real?!” Pepsi exclaimed.

“Be quiet, she’s in shock,” Harper said.

“I’m in shock, look. I have a blanket,” Summer said blandly, almost burning her tongue on the hot chocolate.

“But WHY?” Barnswallow muttered.

“Same reason why you stole my egg, because something’s gone wrong because of this place!” Leafy snapped.

“How do we know that Summer’s not lying though?” Surrounded debated.

“I trust Summer,” Gale said adamantly (Gale, Breeze, and Candy had arrived yesterday).

“But we trusted Agent Winter too!” Breeze said.

“Be quiet and let the CBers talk! I respect you guys, but ultimately, we have to be the ones to decide what to do. Because-well-it was Winter,” Gecko said.

“Winter had purple eyes,” Summer murmured.

“Winter has blue eyes!” Night Vision said.

“I think Night Vision and Reese are in shock too,” Quill whispered, “or at least denial.”

“WINTER killed me?! Winter?!” Mahriel shouted.

“EVERYONE BE QUIET!” Alex yelled.

The whole room fell silent.

“Okay everyone, look,” Alex sighed, “we all trust Summer, and we all trust Agent Winter. However, most of the evidence points to Agent Winter being possessed.”

“How do we know that Summer isn’t possessed?” Emekittycon asked.

“Well, she doesn’t have purple eyes, does she?” Alex said, “So here’s what we have to do. We have to find Winter. We have to help Winter. We have to.”

“If she’s dead, she can’t be possessed, right? I can just bring her back from the river Styx,” Heroes said.

“Yes. We should also consider that she’s not dead either, and assume that she’s constantly possessed though,” Arithmancy said, taking charge as well.

“So we split into two, to find Agent Winter?” Summer said, for the first time.

“No, three,” Arithmancy said, “We also have to find a way out of here. Because it’s this weird place that caused everything. So we also have a group to figure out how to get out.”

Everyone nodded. Things were set. They would do this.

---

Sorry Agent Winter . . . also, Kitten, next chapter's all you! Well, mostly you! asdfghjkl this was so insane to write, only four more chapters till the end! Anyone catch the Sherlock reference?