Liv approached the altar of Ice, a carved block of ice in the shape of an altar, anchored in the ground. It wasn't contained inside a museum, or held at all. It was simply open to everyone. Stepping up to it, Liv put her hand on the altar, ready for anything.

  Before the altar could cause anything, Liv was smashed away, a fist punching her hard enough to break bones. Liv turned to look at her attacker, but barely caught a glimpse before another strike laid her on the ground. Attempting to push herself up, Liv stopped as her ribs groaned in protest, cracked in too many places. Then she restarted her attempts, pushing her body upright once more. Liv stared into the cool blue eyes of a woman before a dagger was planted in her side with enough force to carve directly through her organs. Liv coughed out blood, surprised by her opponent's viciousness.

  Liv, given a small opening after the dagger attack, attempted to strike back with a wind blade, but her opponent wasn't even in front of her anymore. She felt a huge impact against her back, her ribs taking the brunt of the attack once again as she smashed into the altar. Seeing her chance, Liv kept her hands on the altar, attempting to release the power within. Her opponent slowly approached behind her. Suddenly, Liv felt a hum from the altar as it reacted to her. Yes!

  Liv started sending energy into the altar, and it became colder to the touch, threatening to freeze part of her body. Liv pushed on, dumping massive amounts of energy into the altar until it became unresponsive. Then Liv pushed herself around, so she could see her attacker, smiling at them. Her opponent, worried, looked around for any traps. Finding none, she continued forward as the altar activated. A burst of frost from the altar shot hundreds of icicle spears out of the ground, a small radius around the altar safe. Liv's opponent desperately avoided the jagged spears shooting from the ground, and almost made it through unscathed.

  Liv added another spear.

  Her spear crashed through the woman's left thigh, leaving a large hole when she retracted it. The woman grunted, without any more indicators of pain. Liv frowned, shooting more spears from the ground. This time, however, her opponent was ready and easily stepped around the spears, her left leg somehow still functional.

Her opponent stepped up to her, pulling back the pommel of her knife to knock Liv out. Liv desperately looked for something to win. Then the altar released it's second blast

  Liv stood as her opponent was physically pushed back by the wind that emerged, flying back into the spikes and, somehow, failing to get pierced by any. Liv turned to the altar, to see what had changed.

  An illusory portal stood above the altar, a mirage created to show her a different land. Liv watched as the other girl struggled against her opponent, a woman who controlled fire and was about to defeat her. There was someone coming to save her, but he would be barely too late. The girl would have to survive this attack. Without thinking, Liv found the connection between them, clicking it together without any further notice. She turned to her opponent. The girls looked at each other through the link before smiling and mentally joining hands. They planted their feet, both generating a full-powered storm to resist their opponents.

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  Liv looked at the eyes of her opponent as a Cloak of Storms sat around her, the hand of the other girl comfortable in hers. She smiled, a invitation that the woman took.

  Liv's opponent rushed towards her, as did the flame-wielding woman in the other world, but both were repelled by a hammer of air, slamming them away and directly through a bolt of lightning shot along with it. Flesh fried as the women screamed in unison. Liv's opponent was the first to recover, using a technique for the first time, sending a dark wave of energy at her. She easily repelled it, breaking the wave in front of her, as she lent her power to the other girl to punch the flame wielder in the face.

  They jumped back, to give themselves a little bit of time to call a true storm. The other girl Sung, and her notes contained power, as Liv found the power to Ask the spirits to help. Twin storms generated in two skies as the man who was supposed to save the other girl stopped and looked at the sky, then looked at her, and sat down.

  As soon as the storm was finished, they immediately changed their power combination without any notice, simply knowing what the other was going to do. Twin beams of ice and fire shot out, utterly destroying the landscape in front of them as both of their opponents were enveloped by the strike, their frozen ashes coming to a rest on the ground, where they were carried away by the wind and water. Now that the impending crisis was over, Liv turned to the girl in her mind.

  "Who are you," Liv asked, mentally facing the other girl.

  "I'm Vivian. What's your name?"

  "I'm Liv," Liv answered. "You didn't talk to the spirits. You sung to the world. It appears we have different methods of using our power."

  The other girl nodded. "Have you figured anything about this connection yet?"

  Liv shook her head. "It doesn't seem like it'll close again, but I don't know anything else."

  Vivian looked directly into her eyes. "How would you like to be friends? I like your personality, from this short conversation we've had, and I don't really have any other candidates for friends, only mentors."

  Liv nodded. "Me neither. Also, combined, we can put out quite a bit of power. Don't get left behind as I get stronger."

  Vivan nodded to that, and it was a fact, not a promise, that she wouldn't lag behind. Almost reluctantly, they cut the connection, Vivian's hand fading from her own. Liv looked down at it and smiled, walking through the sea of spikes.

   After taking a few days to recover from her injuries, Liv was off once again, to her next destination. Crystallien was not just the Gate of Ice, but also of Crystal and Cold.

  Now, she was heading to a... darker area. No one lived here, but this mountain range was known as the Gates of Shadow. To find out what exactly the gates were doing with her connection to the other girl, Liv needed to open more of them. Whistling a tune, Liv walked down the path, mountains looming in front of her.