Frozen Fire - Volume One: Fragments

9: Thawing

FROZEN FIRE IS BACK!! This chapter took so long since it ended up being nearly 3x longer than most of my other chapters T^T I swear I wasn't being lazy in between this and the last update. Next chapter will be a little shorter but Chapter 11 will be similarly long unless the plan changes. Plus I've had so much uni work recently I've been falling behind! Honestly I'm expecting a chapter every 2 weeks now since I don't think I have the luxury of weekly chapters but hey, if one is finished earlier than expected then that's a nice surprise!

This chapter is LONG (around 14k words) so sit down and get yourself a cup of your preferred beverage!

Twitter/X: @ leslayrafim [INACTIVE]
IG: @ angel.writess
Tumblr: @ angelwritess

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It shouldn't have seemed so daunting, truly. All she had to do was knock. Raise her fist against the door, be greeted by her roommates, be given the key-card to the dorm, and wait for her things to be moved in. Yet, as Sylvie stood in front of the black metal door, she found herself rooted to the spot, her hands balled into fists at her side. She let out a sigh, feeling a warm hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, you alright, kid?" Benny asked, a large box being held up by his free arm. Sylvie closed her eyes.

She tugged her shoulder away, quickly moving closer to the door. The girl knocked lightly and quickly, her hand soon falling to her side as a voice called out from the other side.

"I'm fine." Her voice was laced with ice, a slight glare in her eyes as she glanced back to Benny, who simply gave a smile and a shrug. She closed her eyes again, massaging the bridge of her nose. Being cold came natural to her – it was Sylvie's shield, keeping her protected and strong.

Don't fear others, make them fear you. An icy voice spoke from the cold depths of her mind, the girl doing her best to suppress the sudden urge to shiver. So long as she let the icy venom run through her veins and mind whenever she spoke, she'd stay strong, unfaltering.

You can't be cold like that, Sylvie, not anymore.

The girl crossed her arms as she opened her eyes, glancing down. She'd had a meeting with Andromeda earlier, the older woman catching and stopping Sylvie as she and Benny made it onto the grounds.

These people... they'll be the only people you can truly trust for the foreseeable future... they took a while to find. It would take a lot longer to replace them should anything happen, so try not to scare them off, please?

Part of Sylvie wanted to disregard the comment, to simply ignore Andromeda's words and keep up her usual frozen demeanour. After all, ideally she'd be able to move back in with Sophie and Jade as soon as possible, so there was no need to leave a good impression. Besides, most people already feared the colder girl, what were two more?

They took a while to find... The words rang in her mind again.

Another part of her, the more reasonable part, knew that causing trouble meant more paperwork for Andromeda, and the older woman already had enough on her plate. Sylvie didn't know what it was, but she'd noticed it with the older woman's behaviour from their interaction earlier; her perfectly curled blue hair was frayed, her eyes seemed to dart from place to place, and the constant rolling of the neck and shoulders gave the impression the headmaster's body ached.

Sylvie frowned, she'd known the older woman since she was in high-school. She's the reason I learned how to use my Skill properly... Sylvie wished she didn't, but she grew increasingly worried for her. She groaned quietly, her jaw clenching. She knew that if she didn't want to risk making the Headmaster any more stressed, it would be best to heed her words.