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Sutai didn't really want to.

She reeeeaaaally didn't want to.

But Delphi was counting on her! Delphi assured the Squire that everything would be fine. She needed to eventually climb that mountain, and Mister Alphubel would likely be accompanying them. However, this particular run to the Wonder was strictly for practice, she told herself. No pressure. No need to get all the way to the top this time. Not this time.

Right?

With a whine, Anandi Rai powered up behind an old, abandoned office building in near a section of the city familiar to them both - near where they first met. The coffee shop was a simple block or two away. Just before she assumed her Squire form, Sutai sent a text to Winterlynn with her location. She kept, in a small backpack she brought with her, a heavy coat and fleece pants in the vain hope she could keep cozy while on the shivering star.

Miss Winterlynn! I think I'm ready to return to Polaris. Could you please meet me about a block south of the coffee shop? Please please? Maybe I should have brought a thermos for some coffee to take with us... :C

Whiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine

Sutai looked up and tried to hide her intense anxiety over Wonder-travel from the more experience Squire. Her cheeks were red and puffed, hands balled into small fists and she flailed a little bit. "Miss Delphi, I... I'll try my beeeest."

With a huff, the Squire bent over and let out another whine for good measure. "I met another Page of Polaris, his name is Mister Alphubel, and he said he might like to join us on the mountain so I thought... maybe this could be a practice run? I've never climbed a mountain before and I don't want to disappoint you or Mister Alphubel so... maybe... maybe we can go just a little way up and see how bad the weather is and prepare for that!"

Yes, that sounded like a good idea. Maybe. Sutai smiled at her superior and asked if she was ready to depart. Once the younger girl got the affirmative, she concentrated on their home star and the world around them shifted, melting into the snow and ice that made Delphi's coat look so cozy. Sutai squeaked and quickly pulled the pants and coat from her backpack. "It's so COOOOLD~!!"

Sutai was quickly scrambling to clothe herself in heavy winter wear, pulling her windbreaker pants over her boots and tucking it up under her tutu. She looked ridiculous. Huge, cumbersome heavy coat with hood, a tutu protruding in the middle, and then mismatched gray windbreaker pants. Sutai thankfully didn’t forget gloves, which were much bigger than her hands. With the hood cinched, the Squire’s whine was muffled, but still audible.

With a loud sigh and dramatic flailing, Sutai turned away from Delphi to face the mountain she was so afraid of. Indeed, the pair had landed directly at the base of the mountain with an enormous stone staircase awaiting their ascent. Chilled wind howled through their hair and clothing, sending Sutai stumbling to the right a few paces. The staircase rose high up the mountain, disappearing into the fog that draped the upper half. Neither was able to see the snow covered peak from where they stood. Sutai turned back to Delphi and whined again.

“I didn’t know it would be so windy, Miss Delphi…” came the muffled voice. “...but, this is my mountain, I suppose… I wonder why I have a tutu then, it doesn’t seem very fitting for the weather!” That fact never really bothered Sutai since… she never really thought about it any further. Previous to Delphi, she’d only visited Polaris one time, with the Princess. The then-Page spent so much time simply attached to the Princess that she didn’t notice the cold.

One more whine for good measure, and Sutai set foot upon the first step of the staircase. Looking up, the wind raged quite forcibly against them. What was so great about a crummy old snowy mountain, anyway? With a huff, the Squire started to climb very slowly.

On either side of the staircase was a raised, carved edge, a sort of ankle-high railing filled with depictions of eight-pointed stars. The stone was a cool slate color though very, very solid to the touch. It didn’t seem as though this type of stone could be easily carved without specialized tool, and there were no hairline cracks or fissures Sutai could see. On either side of the railing sat a great many snowy stones in various sizes, all of a different composition than the staircase. Perhaps the stone they walked on was imported from elsewhere on the star?

Sutai's whine was thankfully muffled by the cinched hood of her snow jacket. She was relatively comfortable thanks to the winter clothing, all things considered, but the jacket wasn't long or wide enough to overlap her tutu in an appreciable way. Delphi was right - her outfit certainly didn't seem to fit a mountain. Something was wrong. Maybe this mountain wasn't her Wonder after all?

That would be terrible!

Another great gust of icy wind nearly knocked her right off the staircase if it weren't for Delphi having a hand at her back. With a sigh of relief, Sutai profusely thanked her superior with hugs and happy noises still muffled by the hood.

The plucky Squire had a strange feeling on this staircase though... that they were only one-third of the way up the ascent. At this junction, the staircase widened considerably into what appeared to be a seating area. It was a figure 8 in shape with the staircase continuing opposite the two Squires, and two stone obelisks, one on either side of them. Sutai seemed confused. All around the obelisks were large, pale stones, about knee height on Sutai. They were untouched, it seemed, and unlike the stones that made up the staircase. They each had a dusting of snow upon them from the wind and weather, resting against a slate-colored obelisk.

The obelisks themselves were roughly nine feet tall and three feet in diameter, rectangular in shape with a pyramid atop it. Sutai walked up to one of these obelisks, quite puzzled, and looked back at Delphi.

The Squire seemed quite enamored by the obelisks. Each side was carved with symbols she did not understand, but Sutai found them interesting nonetheless. She circled the obelisk to Delphi’s left slowly, pondering. The large, pale stones formed a circle around the base of the obelisk, nestled in powdery snow. They must not have been moved for a very long time, or the snow constantly streaming down upon them covered up whatever tracks had lead the stones to their final resting place.

The wind was still rough even on this small plateau and if it weren’t for the windbreaker clothing Sutai was wearing, she was certain she would be a popsicle by now. Deep within her, she had the distinct feeling the pair of Squires wasn’t even halfway up the mountain - that there was still quite a bit of staircase left to climb.

Delphi’s request shook the younger Squire from her thoughts and she turned around to face her superior, tilting her head in confusion. “You need a rock, Miss Delphi?” she asked, the wind howling as she spoke. Sutai had to repeat herself, louder this time, to be heard over the gusts. “I’m not sure we can move them but… I will try!”

Indeed, while magical powers gave them physical strength above and beyond what they might have normally, Sutai doubted her ability to carry a boulder down such a long staircase without slipping and being crushed. However, she was a problem-solver, at least in her civilian job, and Delphi needed her help. Since the older Squire was kind enough to accompany the younger on such an arduous journey, Sutai would do everything she could do move this boulder.

The plucky Squire climbed atop the boulder and pressed herself against the obelisk, seeking to gain some leverage by pushing against the rocks with her feet, using the obelisk as an anchor. The boulder budged slightly, slowly, aided by the cushion of dry snow on the ground. “Miss Delphi… I might need your help! If we can push this rock from this tower-thing, then maybe we can push it down the stairs!”

Between each push with her feet against the stone, Sutai rested and tried to answer her superior's thoughts. "Ah... I haven't gotten any memories yet... I don't think." She found it odd, that she was on the mountain now, but had no memories of it? Was that normal? Maybe she wasn't in the right portion of the mountain. Either way, the pair got what they came for - Sutai received some experience and could gauge what to expect when bringing Alphubel along for the ride, and Delphi received a... rock.

With one last combined effort, pushing and pulling, the large rock shrugged itself free of its resting position, sliding with some effort across the dried, powdery snow. Sutai squeaked and plopped onto the ground without injury at the sudden removal of the rock she was standing on. She didn't expect it to move so quickly. Dusting herself off, she made to push the stone while Delphi pushed.

"It's probably too heavy to lower with rope but... we could always push it down the stairs? Let gravity do some of the work? I'm not sure how far your buildings are from here..." Sutai gave another great push and found it was more difficult to move. Perhaps 'walking' the stone would work better? "Miss Delphi, how about you push this side, then I push my side... like a big piece of furniture! Then maybe it can slide right down the stairs..."

She had a feeling the stairs were an unusual sort of stone, the type that would not easily be damaged. This was hard work! "I sure hope your buildings are close by, Miss Delphi. We're going to get this rock where you need it, don't you worry! I promise!"

Sutai flopped over the stone once most of the work had been done, wheezing with the physical exertion. Despite their superior abilities when powered up, moving boulders was still hard work. "...waaahhh, Miss Delphi, this stone is so heavy..."

Delphi's idea about teleporting them from here, straight to Delphi's own Wonder, was brilliant. Sutai perked up immediately at the suggestion. "That's a great idea, Miss Delphi! If you could do that, it would save us an awful lot of work... and it would probably be safer, yes indeed. Whew." The Squire flopped back over the boulder for a rest. They wouldn't risk throwing out their backs trying to move it further from the bottom of the staircase, if the boulder even made it that far once they pushed it over the edge. Who knew how far Delphi's Wonder was from their present location?

Sutai waved at her superior tiredly, dismissive of Delphi's comment. "I... I think I've seen enough of my Wonder for one day, Miss Delphi, and besides..." Another wheeze. "...I promised Mister Alphubel that he could come with us. He's never been to Polaris so having three of us would be even safer than two..."

While she did in fact make a promise she didn't wish to break, Sutai dearly hoped Delphi didn't think she was being a wimp or a flake. "...is that okay with you, Miss Delphi?"

Sutai squeaked the moment she became a Squire Sandwich, but was so relieved to find that they'd arrived at the familiar warmed fountain of Delphi's Wonder. As soon as the other Squire stood up, Sutai dashed for the fountain and attached herself to it for a few moments. The water within the pipes was warm, and for the first time since arriving on the snowy star, Sutai could finally feel her fingers.

"Ahhh this is so much better than that super cold, super windy staircase! Ugh Miss Delphi, it's so nice to be on warmed ground again!"

Ungluing herself from the fountain, the Squire stood to brush off some of the powdered snow that had attached itself to her heavy coat. She went to inspect the important stone Delphi spoke of - the entire reason they needed the stone from the mountain in the first place. She leaned over the old stone, the one that needed replacing, curious. "Ah, so this one... it has very old carvings in it! I see, I see! Should we move this one, Miss Delphi? Then we can put the new stone in its place?"