Arthur stood in his study, golden mandalas spinning lazily around his hands as he worked to stabilize a portal. The circular gateway flickered, flashing glimpses of snowbound peaks and roaring winds before settling into a steady view of the Himalayas.
"Perfect," he murmured, satisfied. He turned to Winky, who was dusting a bookshelf with unusual intensity. "Winky, want to co along? See the mystical city of K’un-Lun?"
The house-elf stopped mid-dust and turned to face him, her large eyes narrowing suspiciously. "Master wants Winky to freeze in the mountains?"
"I’ll cast warming charms."
"Master wants Winky to climb mountains like a goat?"
"You can float around, sa as always."
Winky crossed her arms, a gesture she’d clearly picked up from Ariadne. "Winky does not like snow. Winky does not like cold. Winky does not like snow storms that freeze house-elves into ice sculptures. Winky will stay here where it is warm and there are things to clean that do not try to kill her."
Arthur chuckled. "Fair enough. I thought you might want to see another magical place."
"Winky has seen enough magical places. Hogwarts was magical. And what happened? Master always fighting, always in danger." She shook her head vigorously. "No, Winky will stay here and brew healing potions for when Master and Miss Ari co back beaten up."
Arthur raised an eyebrow in mock offense. "Why ? I rarely get hurt these days, and I can heal myself perfectly well. You should worry about Ariadne. She’s the one who’ll co back battered."
"Excuse ?" Ariadne’s voice cut in as she entered, bundled in what looked like half of a mountaineering shop’s inventory. "What exactly are you two plotting behind my back?"
Arthur grinned. "Winky’s restocking healing potions for you. The last batch is nearly gone."
"Thank you, Winky," Ariadne said graciously, though her tone carried a note of defiance. "But I don’t plan on needing them this ti. I’m going to train, not die."
"Sa thing Master said when he first went training with the robed muggle," Winky sniffed dismissively. "Ca back with injuries. So many injuries."
Ariadne sighed, her expression softening as she looked at the concerned house-elf. "Well, thank you anyway, Winky. I promise to be careful." She turned to Arthur. "Ready to go?"
Arthur nodded.
As they stepped through, Winky’s voice followed them, clearly ant to be overheard despite her deliberately muttering tone:
"Wizards and Muggles, all the sa. Always chasing power, always fighting, always making poor Winky worry. Why not be like house-elves? Happy with small life, taking care of family..."
The portal began to close on her grumbling.
"Master is bad influence on Miss Ari too. Before, she watched muggle tele with Winky, went shopping. Now it’s all training, fighting, nearly dying. But Winky cannot complain. Winky is good elf who definitely does not complain..."
The gateway snapped shut on a particularly sharp bout of dusting.
—
The Himalayas stretched before them in all their terrible majesty. Peaks pierced the sky like frozen fangs, and the wind carried ice crystals that glittered in the harsh sunlight. The beauty was undeniable, as was the hostility of the environnt.
"It’s incredible," Ariadne breathed, her voice already shaking slightly from the cold despite her layers.
"And freezing," Arthur added cheerfully. He stood in his usual battle attire—black robes over practical clothing, looking completely unbothered by the temperature that would kill an unprotected human in minutes.
Ariadne’s teeth began to chatter. "You know what? I’ve got a brilliant idea. Send back, and once you actually find K’un-Lun, open a portal and let step through. Why do we both have to slog through this extre adventure? Just save a warm seat in K’un-Lun and call when it’s ready."
"Not a chance," Arthur replied with barely concealed amusent. "The icy journey is supposedly part of the test. Besides, I don’t want to walk through this desolate wasteland alone. Misery loves company and all that."
"You don’t look miserable at all! You look like you’re taking a pleasant stroll through a garden!"
"That’s because I’m not miserable. I have warming charms keeping quite comfortable."
Ariadne’s eyes widened in disbelief. "And it never crossed your brilliant mind to offer to cast one on ?"
"Oh, it crossed my mind," Arthur said innocently. "But soone told quite explicitly not to cast any spells on her."
"I ant those monitoring things!" Ariadne protested through chattering teeth. "I hereby give you official permission to cast this particular warming charm on .!"
"It’s either no spells or all the spells. That’s the rule," Arthur said with mock solemnity.
Ariadne tried to resist on principle, but after watching her hands shake violently for another mont, she surrendered. "Fine! You win, you manipulative wizard."
Arthur waved his palm with a flourish, and a wave of comfortable heat enveloped Ariadne like an invisible blanket. "There. Now you won’t need that ridiculous mountain of clothing you’re wearing."
Ariadne stopped mid-shiver, warmth spreading through her body. "You couldn’t have ntioned this before I went shopping? These clothes cost a fortune! Do you know how expensive proper mountaineering gear is?"
"Where’s the fun in that? Besides, now you have a complete winter wardrobe."
She glared at him while stripping off the multiple layers of winter clothing. "I hate you sotis."
"Only sotis? I must be slipping." Arthur watched with amusent as she stuffed coat after coat into her expandable pouch. "Ready?"
"Lead the way, oh mighty wizard who takes perverse pleasure in tricking poor, innocent girls."
"Innocent?" Arthur snorted. "Yes, the sa innocent girl who goes around destroying underworld bases of criminal organizations? Very innocent indeed. But sure—I’ll believe that."
He started walking along the treacherous mountain path, his voice carrying back on the wind. "Next you’ll tell you’re delicate and need protecting."
"I am delicate!" Ariadne protested, hurrying to catch up. "I’m just... selectively delicate."
The trek began in earnest, following the frustratingly vague directions from Ariadne’s father’s journal. The entries were frustratingly sparse—’follow the northern face until the eagle’s shadow’, ’where three peaks et as brothers’, ’through the path that shouldn’t exist.’
"Your father was either being poetic or deliberately obtuse," Arthur comnted as they floated over a particularly treacherous ice bridge. He’d given up on making Ariadne climb after the third near-fall.
"He was protecting K’un-Lun’s location," Ariadne defended, though she looked grateful to be floating. "The city’s secrets aren’t ant for everyone."
"Clearly." Arthur cast another spell, this one creating a small golden arrow that spun lazily before pointing northeast. "Good thing I have other thods."
As they climbed higher, the air grew thinner. Ariadne’s breathing beca labored despite the warming charms.
"Bubble-Head Charm," Arthur said, waving his palm. A shimr of magic surrounded both their heads. "Better?"
Ariadne took a deep breath of the magically oxygenated air. "Much. How many convenient spells do you have?"
"All of them."
They continued through winding mountain tunnels that seed to fold in on themselves, paths that led nowhere until you weren’t looking directly at them, and passages that the journal cryptically referred to as ’the spaces between breathing.’
"This is giving a headache," Ariadne muttered after they’d passed through the sa cave for the third ti, only to erge sowhere completely different each ti. "I think my brain is trying to make sense of it and failing."
"It’s ant to confuse," Arthur replied, his eyes tracking the subtle currents in the air. "Keeps out the unworthy. Otherwise, K’un-Lun would have beco a highly sought-after tourist attraction every fifteen years when it opens."
Finally, after what felt like hours but could have been minutes in the twisted geography of the magical mountains, they erged before a massive stone arch. It stood alone on a flat outcrop, ancient beyond asure, carved with symbols that hurt to look at directly.
"This is it," Ariadne said, checking the journal. "The Gate to K’un-Lun. But..." She gestured at the empty space within the arch. "There’s nothing there. Just empty air."
"We already knew that would be the case, right?" Arthur said, studying the arch with professional interest.
"I thought it would be so massive gate that would swing open only every fifteen years, or perhaps fog-covered mountains with the city hidden behind the mist. Sothing dramatic and mystical." Ariadne frowned. "I didn’t think the whole place would simply not exist on Earth at all."
Arthur smiled with insufferable smugness. "So confident, yet so wonderfully wrong."
Ariadne’s face flushed with indignation. "Don’t just stand there looking superior. Find the entrance like you promised you would."
"Yes, yes. Throw a tantrum when you’re wrong. Very mature."
He raised his arm, golden light already gathering around it. Small mandalas materialized, spinning in complex patterns along his forearm. Ariadne watched in fascination as he moved his hands in flowing motions, the gestures sowhere between conducting an orchestra and solving an invisible puzzle.
Every few seconds, golden sparks would shoot from his fingers, striking seemingly empty air within the arch. Each impact revealed sothing—a shimr, a ripple, a brief glimpse of sowhere else.
"The city exists in a pocket dinsion," Arthur explained as he worked. "Kind of similar to how the storage pouch I gave you works, but on a vastly larger scale. I don’t know why they open and close the connection every fifteen years, but we’ll find out soon enough."
After several minutes of careful manipulation, Arthur dismissed the scanning mandalas with a satisfied gesture. His grin was triumphant. "Got it."
He spun his hands in a familiar circle, and a familiar golden portal spiraled open.
Arthur gave an exaggerated bow. "Ladies first."
Ariadne looked at the portal, then at Arthur. "If this leads to another frozen wasteland or so elaborate prank, I’m pushing you off the nearest mountain."
"Duly noted. But look—" He pointed through the portal. "Green forest. So snow on the peaks, but the weather is definitely more hospitable than this frozen hell we’re standing in."
She took a breath and stepped through. Arthur followed, the portal closing behind them.
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