My Time in Teyvat [Tales of Luna, Book 2]

Chapter 19 - The Woman Trapped in Ice

Eula led Luna's group deep into an icy cavern, towards what seemed to be the very center of the large mountain they had been upon. There was a sense of urgency in the air ever since they had seen the giant wall of ice out at a distance.

The speed with which Eula moved their new ice platform through melting ice was nothing compared to how fast Luna's Blue-Eyes dragons used to fly when they broke the sound barrier, but it was still alarming when she couldn't see past the melting walls.

"We are getting close." Eula let them know without slowing down even a little.

Luna remembered that the others had found feathers here before and wondered how they had even made their way here without Eula.

Maybe Kaeya is as amazing as Eula when it comes to Cryo manipulation.

"So what's the plan, you want me to just thaw whatever is in there out and you guys try to deal with it?" Eula asked.

Luna hadn't thought much about it to be honest.

She glanced towards Diluc, who looked as determined as ever.

"Yeah. Assuming it is one of the Winds, we'll deal with it here and now." Diluc said, his eyes unwavering as he kept looking forward. "You still have no idea what's inside?"

"No idea." Eula answered flatly before explaining further. "It was here when I was assigned to keep an eye on it. Varka didn't tell me what was in here, just that I should never let it out."

"And you sure you are okay with helping us out with this?" Luna asked, seeing as Eula had declared herself so strongly about carrying out the orders given to her.

"I wasn't at first, but Kaeya is the acting Grand Master." Eula said, seemingly pensive. "He said I can pick my next assignment, anywhere in the world once we deal with whatever is inside here."

Luna risked taking a look at Barbara, but the short priestess seemed just as determined as anyone there.

"We are here." Eula suddenly said as the melting walls in front of them suddenly gave way to a large opening with a single large red crystal in the center of a very spacious cavern.

Even before the platform came to a stop, Luna felt a sudden oppressive presence that made her instinctively take a deep breath.

She looked at Diluc to see if he had felt it too and found him looking back at her.

"Whatever's in there, it is powerful." Diluc voiced what Luna had been thinking.

"You guys can sense it too?" Eula sounded disappointed. "I thought I was chosen for this task because I was special."

"You guys are sensing something?" Barbara asked, seemingly lost.

"It is definitely stronger than the Dragon." Diluc said, sounding more like an observation than a worry.

"Whatever is in there, has been trying to break free this entire time, even before me." Eula stated. "And I admit, it has slowly been making progress. That crimson cell melts a little, more and more every time I take a look despite my best efforts to keep it completely frozen."

Luna wondered if that was the real reason that Eula agreed to unfreeze it. Perhaps she was afraid she no longer had things under control.

The platform they were on simply dropped onto the icy cavernous ground with a surprisingly soft thud.

Eula got off the platform first before turning around to face the group.

"Are you guys ready for the fight of your lives?" She asked, seeming more serious than Luna had ever seen her.