Double Lie {A Jelsa Tale}

I Saw Him There

The first time I saw him, I was cornered by the Blood Soldier Gang.  Don't ask me what they were thinking when they picked that name for their gang.  It's so cliche that you'd think they're a band of dumb teenagers like myself.  I can assure you they're tougher than they look, and they've got guns.

Why'd you have to walk to the dumb party? I thought to myself as I backed away.  I could feel cool brick behind me and see smirking faces in front. Now look what you've gotten yourself into, Elsa.

I wasn't dressed for a fight.  I was on my way to a costume party, too early in the month to really claim it's for Halloween and too far past sundown to be reasonable.  I was wearing a glittering blue dress and blue mask which covered my glacier eyes.  My platinum blond hair was in a carefully done braid with glass snowflake clips.  I'm the Snow Princess.  No, the Snow Queen.

Two of the Blood Soldiers began to move closer.  One of them had a squashed red nose, like it had been broken one too many times.  The other, as if to prove how unfair it was, looked like his face had been pulled from a fashion magazine.  Both had the glint of success in their eyes.  They thought they had me cornered.

They didn't.  Not really.  What they didn't know, what nobody knew, was that I had powers.  I had powers to create snow, freezing wind, ice.  My younger sister Anna knew.  She was always telling me I should become a real and true superhero.  I didn't feel like our city needed another hero.  We already had Overland, a teen hero with winter powers of his own.  He kept the crime pretty much under control and had been there as long as I could remember.  I'd never met him, but they talked about him sometimes.  The teenagers and little kids did.  Not the adults.  They didn't believe in anything they couldn't explain.  Dolts.

I could really use Overland now, I thought.  Fine time for him to be busy.

"How about you come with us, little lady," Squash Nose coaxed.  I made a small gesture with my hand, filling the barrel of his gun with ice.

"You think you're some sort of Overland?" Model growled as his buddy turned the gun over in his hands.  "Boys, teach this hero wannabe a lesson!"

One of them shot his gun and I threw myself to the side, sending out a wave of ice with my hand.  The flowing skirt betrayed me, snagging on something and yanking me to the ground.  I heard fabric tear and my braid came undone, hair cascading over my face.  Anna was going to have a fit about the dress.  I tossed my hair back and turned, ready to take on the entire gang by myself if I had to.

The job was done for me.  The gang members were either unconscious or running.  Only one person was left.  A teenager, dressed in a blue hoodie, brown pants, and carrying a hooked staff. The hoodie had frost patterns on it. He was wearing a blue mask like mine, except his was more masculine. He had a field of white hair on his head and a cocky smile. His frosted eyes gleamed in the narrow light of the lamppost.

Overland.

"I thought you could use some help," he announced, holding out a hand and pulling me to my feet. He really wasn't that much taller than I was, which surprised me. The stories always made him out to be around six and a half feet tall and all muscle. Either he was ripped under that hoodie, or the stories stretched the truth. A lot. But honestly, he was pretty good looking. Especially with that mask on.

"Thanks," I replied, brushing off my dress. The glittering fabric was tattered in places and smeared with dirt. Anna's hours of work had been ruined in an instant. "I was on my way to a party, but these guys came out of nowhere."

"You had a pretty good start, Mimic."

"Mimic?"

I was started to feel the first spark of annoyance. So maybe Overland wasn't as amazing or exciting as everybody made him sound. He was still the hero of the city.

"Hey, I'm teasing you," Overland said. "Try to have a little fun."

"Oh." The annoyance was gone in an instant. How was he making me change moods so fast? "Are you Overland?"

"That's me," he agreed. He glanced around. "I didn't know anyone else had ice powers. Have you been undercover this whole time, or did you just move here?"

"I just don't use my powers much."

"Well, you should. I could use a partner in crime."

Partner? Overland wanted me to help him? Us working together, keeping people safe and fighting Blood Soldier Gang and falling in love-

Whoa, getting a little ahead of yourself there.

"All I'm asking is that you think about it," he said. "It's a big city, and it might be nice to have someone watching my back. Call me, ok?"

"Aren't you super hero types supposed to keep your identities a secret?" I teased. I couldn't help myself. He grinned.

"Hero cellphone," he replied, holding out a white slip of paper. "Police have got it, detectives have got it, fire station has it, and any victims who might need me later have it."

"In that case, I'll take it," I said. He handed it over and glanced around. I could hear a faint buzzing. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, glanced at it, and shrugged.

"I've got to go, but call me," he announced, floating into the air. I couldn't reply. He was flying! Could I do that? I had never tried before.

And then he was gone.

I shook myself, gathering my hair and putting it back into a braid. The snowflake clips were smashed, but there wasn't anything I could do about that. And the dress was ruined, but I couldn't do anything about that either.

"Anna's never going to believe this," I said to myself as I hiked up the skirt and headed back home. Overland's number was still clutched tightly in my hand.