The next few days were...hard.
Erin struggled to keep warm, and I just struggled. The longer the winter hung around, the more anxious I got and the more anxious I got the worse the winter got.
Gem's supplies came the day after, and Erin helped hand it out to the citizens. We both didn't think it was safe for me to come in contact with people. At least, normal elves.
I spent my time pacing up and down the halls. We lived like that for 5 days before we got our first visitor.
"Scott..." Erin called from the entrance hall. "It's Fwhip."
"What!?" I said, sprinting down the stairs as I started to panic for the fifth time that day.
"Calm down." She said, entering my room. "Grab the crown, go talk to him. Act normal."
"How do I act normal when everything clearly isn't normal!?" I cried and wrung my hands. My hands were shaking, and my lips were bleeding again.
"Scott." Erin said, copying the tone I'd always use to calm her done. Our roles had reversed drastically in the last few days. "Just do it."
I'd just like to say, I think I'm better at it than she is.
I put the crown on and walked into the entrance hall. Erin gave me an encouraging nod and I grabbed the doorknob. It froze and turned brittle just from my touch. Oh no. I ignored it and opened the door.
"Hi?" I said when I saw Fwhip standing there. He was rubbing his upper arms.
"Hi Scott, gosh its cold here." He said and let himself inside, although I had never invited him in. He stared curiously at the frost that had crept up the walls. "What is going on in here...?" His eyes landed on Erin, sitting on the bottom step on the staircase. "What happened to you?"
I thought this might be a good time to share with Erin what had happened. Maybe she would chase Fwhip away. "Oh, I dunno, maybe you shot her out of the sky?" I growled.
Fwhip looked confused for a second but then realization lit up across his face. "Oh right. Just reinforcing your rule." He said with a smirk.
"THAT WAS YOU?" Erin shrieked and limped over. "YOU ALMOST KILLED ME!"
"And she has a flight pass." I said. I felt the storm intense with my anger, but I didn't care at the moment.
Fwhip pointed at me. "That is exactly what I came here to talk to you about. I had to drive a car here and that isn't really easy in your empires eh condition." He said. "I came here to do some trading for a flight pass. Or of course that shiny on your head." He stared hungrily at the crown.
I considered this for a second. Trading to give him a flight pass would get him out of here quicker. "Trade what? For the flight pass of course." I added when I saw the excited look on his face.
Fwhip smirked. "Just wait one moment." He said and left the palace.
I exhaled quickly.
"You knew, didn't you. That it was him." Erin said angrily.
"Yes, but I didn't want you marching into the Grimlands to kill him." I said impatiently, tapping my foot. "I just want him to leave." I finally moaned. "I- I can't take this right now."
"We'll get him out of here as soon as possible." Erin reassured right as Fwhip came back in, carrying a back over his shoulder.
"Gold." He said and opened it. The bag was filled to the brim with gold. Erin looked at it greedily and I stared at it in awe.
"Wow...that is a lot." I said. "Tell you what, your one of my closest alliances. You can have a flight pass for the gold."
Fwhip whooped and handed the bag to Erin. "Oh my god this is heavy." She grunted and put it down against the wall. I scribbled a flight pass onto a blank sheet of paper, trying not to frost it up too much, before handing it to Fwhip.
"Perfect!" Fwhip said. I was anxiously waiting for him to go, but he didn't. "Are you doing ok, dude?" he asked. "You seem a bit panicky. Is it because of the snow?"
I bit the inside of my cheek. "Yeah- yeah because of the snow. Uh, do you mind standing over there?" I pointed to a spot a few feet away from me, instead of right in front of me. "Perfect.
"Why-" Fwhip looked around at all the frost and then at my hands, which were also layered with frost. He gasped. "Are you the one doing this?" he asked.
"Well- yes but no. I don't know." I said and squeezed the bridge of my nose. "Listen, I have no idea what's going on, but can you please go before. I don't want- I don't want to-"
"Alright." Fwhip answered quickly. "Just- why don't you go see Gem? She might know what's happening." He suggested.
"Yeah, ok." I said. "Now, out."
Erin shoved him out the door and shut it. "Phew." She said and slid down the door into a sitting position. "Glad we got rid of him."
I nodded before taking the emperor crown off. "This is going to bring a lot of attention...isn't it?"
I was right. It did.
The next morning, I was downstairs. Erin was still sleeping when I heard someone knock on the door. "Not again." I muttered. I held the crown under my arm and approached the door before opening it a crack. Jimmy.
"Scott, what's up with all the snow?" he shivered. His scales were more pronounced in the snow, his version of goosebumps. "And why are you acting so weird?" he added when I didn't open the door all the way.
"I think you just answered your own question." I sighed and opened the door more. Jimmy frowned.
"What are you talking about?" he asked. I gave him a helpless looked and held up my hands. He was the one person I didn't want to lie to about this. His eyes widened slightly, and he brushed my hand with his fingertips. "Your freezing Scott." He said, looking back up at me. "You're- you're making it snow?"
"Maybe." I mumbled and ran a hand through my hair.
"Can you stop it?" he asked.
"I don't know." I answered.
"Have you tried?"
"Yes."
Jimmy looked seriously concerned now. He took a step towards me, and I stepped backwards. "Jimmy- Jimmy I don't want to hurt you." I said.
"Have you hurt anybody?" he asked quietly.
"Not yet."
"You should see Gem. I mean, she's an expert in this stuff, right?" Jimmy asked.
"Yeah, I was thinking about it." I mumbled. I really didn't want to talk to Gem about this but now Jimmy wanted me to go too.
"It'll be ok." Jimmy reassured and instinctively grabbed my hand. But he flinched away as soon as he felt how cold it was.
"Sorry." I cringed.
"No, Scott, it's not your fault." He said, but he looked upset. "Just- just tell me how it goes with Gem." He smiled sadly and left, making me feel even worse.
Erin came downstairs an hour later.
"Why do you look so depressed?" were the first things that came out of her mouth.
"Jimmy came." I said simply. "And thanks a lot." She got it.
She sat down next to me and grabbed my hands. "Maybe- maybe we should go to Gem. We're out of ideas." She said.
I nodded in agreement. Then someone else knocked. "I swear this crown is getting way too much attention." I groaned. I rolled off the couch and headed back into the entrance hall
"Who is it now?" I asked grouchily as I opened the door. Fwhip. Again.
I stepped outside and shut the door, so Fwhip wouldn't have a chance to come in. "Hey, Scott." He said with a smile.
"Uh, can you back up a bit?" I asked with a pained smile.
"Right." Fwhip said and stepped three feet away from me. "Anyways, I'd like to sweeten the deal on this crown of yours." Fwhip smirked.
"Oh," I said. This crown was definitely getting too much attention.
"You see I have even more gold and-" he started.
"You can have it for the gold." I interrupted.
"Seriously?" Fwhip asked with wide eyes.
"Yup. Give me the gold and you can have the crown." I said, taking it off.
Fwhip put the bag of gold on the ground. I picked it up and tossed the crown on the ground in between us.
"Oh gosh. Me? Ruler? Yes!" He went over to grab it, but all of a sudden, a purple blur sped in between us, picking up the crown.
"YOINK!" Someone shouted. That arrogant voice could only belong to one person.
"NO COME BACK!" Fwhip shouted as Joel glided off with the emperor crown. "THAT'S MY CROWN!"
"Well," I said, staring at Joel.
"Can I have my gold back?" Fwhip peeped.
"Thanks for the gold Fwhip, byee." I said, slamming the door behind me.
Erin was peering through the curtains and cracking up. She was practically crying with laughter. "That was amazing." She snorted, clutching her stomach.
I snickered. It was the first time I had laughed in days. "We'll go to Gem's tomorrow and see if we can deal with this." I said and gestured to myself.
The next day was even worse.
The large spikes of ice rose even higher out of the ground, and they seemed to have multiplied. I collapsed on the edge of my bed after looking out of the frozen shut window and covered my face with my hands.
"Scott?" Erin asked from the door. She was already dressed. She had done a good job at taking care of herself, like waking up in the morning, while I've been dealing with this.
"I know, I'm up." I sighed and stood up.
"I messaged Gem yesterday; she knows we're coming." She said. "She doesn't know why though. You prepared to tell her?"
I nodded. "It'll be fine." I said and forced a smile on to my face. Erin wasn't convinced. But I could tell she didn't know what to say.
"Let's go." She ended up telling me.
Once we were all ready, we stood outside. I rolled my shoulder blades a few times, my wings were practically frozen thanks to everything.
Erin pressed her lips together. "Are you sure you'll be able to fly?" she asked.
"Yeah, are you sure you'll be able to fly?" I asked back. She had insisted she could do it herself. I had wrapped the wound in the joint. Erin had taped up the hole with duct tape. She said she's done it before, and it worked so...
"Yep." She said and took off without any warning. "AS LONG AS YOU DON'T MAKE IT SNOW, I'LL BE FINE!" She called down.
"Alright," I said and shot up into the sky after her. "But I can't promise anything."
As we flew over the Crystal Cliffs, dark storm clouds started to gather.
"Oh no," I muttered.
We landed in front of the tower and Erin rapped on the door. Gem opened and looked curiously at both of us. "What is going on...?" she asked and stared at me. "Why..."
"It's not a cold wave that's hit Rivendale. Its me." I said quickly before I changed my mind.
"Wha-" Gem said for a second, not understanding what I meant. But then her eyes widened in surprise and fear. "You're doing that?"
I shrugged apologetically.
"How?" Gem asked incredulously.
"I don't know. That's the problem. I can't make it stop." I said. "Please, I need help."
Gem turned to Erin. "You can't-?"
Erin shook her head. "I have no idea what's going on. Believe me, I tried to help. But I'm an expert at using magic, not exactly controlling it."
I could tell the look on Erin's face made Gem believe her. "I mean- I know I run a school for magic but this?" she said, tugging at her braid nervously. "I thought something like this might happen considering your siblings and all the weird things you've done but to this extent? Freezing an entire empire?"
"Please, Gem. If I can't learn how to control, it- what will happen to Rivendale?" I pleaded.
Gem twirled her red hair through her fingers. "Alright," she finally agreed. "Everyone's in their classes at the academy. We can use an empty classroom." She looked up at the dark clouds circling overhead. "We should probably go now if we don't want to get stormed on."
We quickly made our way to the academy. It was a large building, bigger than the tower. Probably the largest in Azurite.
Two staircases led to the front door which was on a balcony. The walls were smooth and white and there was a giant tower in the front. Students from their late teens to their early twenties were roaming the grounds with backpacks, either heading to the greenhouse or back inside.
All of them stared at me and Erin in shock, curiosity or with a sneer. Erin shrunk down, trying to make herself smaller as she received glares. I guess they didn't like elves too much.
Gem led us into an empty room. There was a desk in the back and several student desks lined in four rows. Gem pushed them all to the walls, giving us an empty space.
"So, where do we start?" Gem said to herself and leaned her staff against the wall. "Erin?"
Erin looked behind her to see if Gem was talking to anyone else before pointing to herself. "Me?"
"Yes, you. Maybe his magic works in the same way as yours. Try." She said.
"Uh, well...is there anything I can destroy?" she asked awkwardly. Gem pointed to an empty bookshelf. "Uh, alright?" She raised a hand to the bookshelf. Magic twisted around her forearm as her eyes started to glow red and gathered around her hand. She sent a blast but instead of hitting the bookshelf, it imploded on her palm, blasting her backwards and into the wall.
She slid to the floor, grabbing the back of her head. "What?" she said and crinkled her nose in confusion. "How did-" She stood up and tried again, but the same thing happened, blasting her into the wall. "What the heck?" she asked herself, shaking her hand as if that would help.
"I'm guessing you didn't mean to smash into the wall?" Gem asked. Erin shook her head.
She smacked the side of her skull with the heel of her hand. She must have hit a little too hard because her eyes began to sporadically flicker red. She rubbed her temples and muttered something to herself before opening her eyes again. "I have no idea what's going on." She said.
"Well, then. Let's start with you Scott." Gem said. I could hear the anxiety in her voice. "Maybe try creating ice so we can practice unfreezing?"
"I've never done it intentionally." I pointed out.
"Scott, you have to work with me here." Gem groaned. "Just- just try."
I nodded and raised my hand like Erin had. In a second I felt a twinge of pain in my gut and then- Something exploded out of the floor. All three of us smashed into the walls as the force of the thing blasted us backwards.
I blinked and opened my eyes. In the center of the room, a humungous spike of ice had pierced the ground, breaking through the panels of wood making the floor. It had broken through the ceiling as well. Snow seemed to hang motionless in thin air... "Oh gods." I peeped. "Sorry?"
"Sorry!? This is amazing." Gem said in absolute awe. She brushed the ice with her fingertips and circled the pillar.
"Again?" Erin moaned as she staggered up from the ground for the third time, rubbing the back of her head.
"I've never seen anything like this before." Gem muttered to herself. "Can you thaw it?"
"I- I don't know." I said.
"Try." Gem insisted.
I exhaled deeply before placing one of my hands on the ice. I tried to concentrate on running water and the sun, but that did nothing. Fire? No that just made me think of Xornoth and when I thought about Xornoth I got confused and that just made everything worse.
Frost started to creep along the ground around the base of the spike. "I can't do it." I sighed.
"Yes, you can. Just concentrate." Gem encouraged.
"What do you think I'm doing?" I snapped and closed my eyes, trying again. Nothing happened.
"You can do it! Keep trying!" Gem said. It wasn't helping.
"Gem, I don't know what you want from me." I stressed and pressed my palm harder against the ice. That made the frost worse.
"Just keep trying." Gem repeated.
"Gem, I think your stressing him out." Erin said slowly with a slight look of concern. Gem ignored her.
"Try harder." She said.
And I snapped. "Gem ENOUGH!" I shouted. A flash of white light clouded my vision. I felt the twinge of pain in my gut again, but it was worse.
When I opened my eyes, I had been blasted backward a few feet, ice covered every inch of the room. Icicles hung from the ceiling and snow covered the floor. Gem had been thrown to the wall. On the side of her chest was a black mark, like frostbite. Her skin was pale, and she shivered. One of her irises had been changed from bright green to the lightest shade of blue.
She tried to stand up, but her knees buckled, and she slid back down to the floor. "Scott...?" she said with as much fear in her voice as I felt.
I stumbled back from what I had done. "No, no, no, no, no." I mumbled. "I knew something like this would happen..."
"I'm fine, really." Gem said, shivering as she attempted to stand again.
"No, Gem, you're not." I said, my voice shaking as much as hers. I froze, what happened to Erin? I whipped around. She was standing, her hands shielding her face. She lowered them and looked around.
"Oh my god..." she said slowly.
I started to hear commotion outside, and a look of fear crossed Erin's face. "We got to get out of here!" she said and grabbed my wrist. My fingers were practically blue. "They'll be here in seconds!"
"Scott- Stop!" Gem said in a panic.
Erin smashed the window in the room and jumped onto the windowsill. I took one last look at Gem. "I'm only going to hurt people, Gem. I'm sorry." I said, before jumping out of the window with Erin as students and teachers began to pour into the room.