Project Prometheus (Original Setting Superhero Quest)

A Chill Wind and a Bright Sun

You are Opale Houdin-Reyes. And you feel cold.

But you're trying not to think about that feeling. There are so many other ones you could be focusing on, instead.

You could be focusing on that sense of responsibility, so heavy it's almost crushing. Sure, if you fail here, no one would say it's your fault. This is the Frozen Throne -- an icy line cuts through your train of thought, There must always be someone on The Frozen Throne -- but you're Justice Unlimited's second-in-command. It wouldn't be your fault, it would be your responsibility. That weight doesn't fall on the teenager who just got powers she barely understands, or the literal child who apparently was all that remained of the terrifying foe who had almost killed you and Sunlight Knight as an afterthought. It doesn't fall on Rhys, whose skills you're leaning on but would be the first to admit he's no leader, and it doesn't fall on Dr. Hawkins, who knows the place better but was still caught with the rest of you. No, you are in charge here, and it is on you to get your team out -- or at least, to keep them alive, until Lady Leizi can mount a rescue.

You could be focused on that sense of despair, which feels heavier still. You had fought off Crusade, you had fought off those clones of New Dawn, you had fought off the woman you loved. You had won, and then you had lost, utterly, to a degree so painful you shy away from remembering it in detail. Then there was the moment you looked at yourself with unclouded eyes -- not bad, per se, but not easy. The opposite. And then you had found yourself in a strange gallery watching an even stranger trial, adjudicated by a stranger-still figure it's hard to imagine was Ellie. Your memories of this are murky, though you recall a sudden pain which came to a sudden halt -- and then you were here. Your body may be fine, but your mind... you haven't even had the chance to cry, for fear the tears would freeze if you do.

You could be focused on that sense of fear, turning your veins to ice. This is the one place in Horizon everyone knows never to go to, because as long as you're outside the Frozen Throne's domain, it won't bother you, and you don't need to bother yourself with it. You've now made that mistake. Even worse, this is a Frozen Throne that's been unleashed, or somehow empowered, from what you recall of Ellie and Lady Leizis' reports. It's a Frozen Throne that's hungry, and one that is coming for you and those you love. There must always be someone on The Frozen Throne.

You could focus on any of those. You face challenges worth thinking through.

But you are Opale Houdin-Reyes, and you have had enough of distracting yourself from the feeling that something is wrong with a myriad of seemingly more worldly, seemingly more pressing, concerns.

So yes. You feel cold.

Except...

Except?

Except not quite as cold as before.

---

That's a nice thing to observe, even if it's strange. What game is the Frozen Throne playing at now? You look into the distance, your vision tracing over icy wastes, as you search in vain for a clue.

And stumble upon one. There, in the distant horizon of Horizon, there is a light. And it feels... warm?

No, that's not quite right.

It feels like Mona's laughter as Rhys messes with Madeline under a bright sun. It feels like Abigail, holding you in her arms after you cried your heart out to her. It feels like love.

You sense a power great and terrible taking offense. And you sense another power, one not as great -- one frankly, kind of dumb -- not letting that stop it for a moment.

You've read Wolong's report on Steelheart's experiments: The world beyond the Frozen Throne is infinitely distant. But some things ignore the strictures of space, and this is one of them.

You hear a sunlit knight, swearing an oath. You hear a noble steed, whinnying proudly. You hear love in the distance, and there is no power in this world or any other that will stop it from coming for you.

You are Chatelet. You will not put down your responsibility, you know despair has been beaten back but not beaten for good, and your fear will keep you razor-sharp. But as you bask in sunlight, for the first time since you entered this gelid realm, you smile.