Chapter 392: Thalia Is In The Underworld

Victoria started walking, each step sinking into snow that came up to her knees. The wind fought her with every movement, trying to push her back, trying to make her stop.

But she kept moving.

After thirty minutes of brutal progress, she saw something dark against the white.

A structure.

Rising from the snow like a frozen monument. Ice and stone fused together by centuries of magical cold. It looked ancient....pre-dating pack civilization, pre-dating modern coven structure, maybe pre-dating supernatural society entirely.

The compass pulled harder. Pointing directly at the structure.

Victoria approached carefully.

The building was massive up close. Walls made of ice blocks larger than Victoria was tall. A doorway carved with symbols she did not recognize. Windows that looked like they had never held glass, just empty spaces that let wind howl through the interior.

And everywhere....frost patterns that looked too deliberate to be natural. Too organized. Too much like writing.

She touched one of the frost patterns and felt magic spark against her fingertips.

Morvaine magic.

Thalia had been here.

Victoria entered the structure through the carved doorway.

The interior was colder than the outside somehow. The wind did not reach here but the cold was absolute. Ancient. The kind of cold that came from magical sources rather than weather.

The main hall was empty except for ice formations growing from the floor like stalagmites. And carved into those formations....

More symbols.

More Morvaine sigils.

More evidence that Thalia had been here and left.

"No," she whispered. "No, not again."

She searched the structure desperately. Looking for any sign that Thalia might still be here. Any clue about where she had gone.

She found a chamber at the back.

Smaller. More enclosed. Protected from the worst of the cold.

And in the center of that chamber....

A circle drawn in frost. A ritual space. And at the center of the circle, frozen into the ice itself....

Another journal.

Victoria’s hands shook as she used magic to melt the ice and free the book.

The pages were frozen but intact. She opened it carefully.

Thalia’s handwriting again.

The entry was dated three days ago.

"Victoria will search the obvious places first. The quarry. The swamp. The ocean. All locations where I’ve left traces. All places designed to waste her time.

But she’s smart. Eventually she’ll realize I’m not hiding in any of the obvious locations. Eventually she’ll understand that I’ve been planning for this. That every move she makes is one I predicted.

So here’s a gift, dear cousin. A clue you probably don’t deserve but I’m giving anyway.

I’m not in the mortal realm.

I’m somewhere between. Somewhere the living don’t go unless they’re desperate or stupid or both.

You want my help? You want access to the Underworld entities I’ve been dealing with for years?

Then come find me where the dead walk and the living fear to tread.

The Underworld awaits."

Victoria felt ice that had nothing to do with temperature settle into her bones.

The Underworld.

Thalia was in the Underworld.

Had been there this entire time.

All the searches. All the false locations. All the wasted hours....

Thalia had been laughing at her from the realm of the dead.

Victoria screamed her frustration into the frozen chamber.

The sound echoed off ice walls and died in the cold.

"THALIA!"

No response.

Because Thalia could not hear her.

Thalia was in the Underworld and Victoria was still searching the mortal realm like a fool.

Victoria pressed her hands to her face and tried to think past the rage and desperation.

The Underworld.

To get there, she would need a guide. Someone who could navigate between realms. Someone who knew the territories and could keep her from getting lost in spaces that operated on different rules than mortal reality.

The swamp guardian had offered exactly that.

But Victoria had left the swamp. Had moved north searching for Thalia. Had wasted more time chasing false leads.

She pulled out the communication mirror.

Elena’s face appeared immediately. She looked more exhausted than before. More worried.

"Victoria?" Elena said.

"She’s in the Underworld," Victoria said, her voice shaking. "Thalia. She’s been there this whole time. All the locations I’ve searched....they were just decoys. Traps to waste my time."

Elena was quiet for a moment. "How do you know?"

"She left another journal," Victoria said. "Another message. Basically laughing at me for searching the mortal realm. Telling me to come find her in the Underworld if I want her help."

"Victoria, you can’t just..."

"I know," Victoria interrupted. "I need a guide. Someone who can navigate the Underworld. The swamp guardian offered passage but I left before accepting. I need to go back."

"How long will that take?" Elena asked.

Victoria did a quick calculation. Portal back to the swamp. Find the guardian. Make the deal. Actually travel to the Underworld.

"Four hours minimum," Victoria said. "Maybe six."

"You have five days left," Elena said quietly.

"I know," Victoria said.

"And once you’re in the Underworld, time moves differently," Elena continued. "What feels like hours there could be days here. You could run out of time before you even realize it."

"I KNOW!" Victoria shouted. Then she took a breath. "I’m sorry. I know. But Elena what choice do I have? Thalia is in the Underworld. I need her help to access death magic. I need death magic to resurrect Lilith. There’s no other path forward."

Elena was quiet for a long moment. Then: "Then be fast. Be smart. And don’t trust anything you see down there. The Underworld shows you what you want to see. What you fear. What you desire. It’s designed to trap the desperate. And Victoria, you’re very desperate right now."

"I’ll be careful," Victoria promised.

"And Victoria..." Elena paused. "If you don’t come back in four days, I’m telling the Alphas the resurrection failed. I won’t let them hope for something that’s not coming."

Victoria felt her chest tighten. "Understood."

She closed the mirror and looked around the frozen chamber one more time.