Heart of Ice

Chapter 6 - Clash of the Kingdom of Fire and the Empire of Ice

"Good morning."

"Sis, why are you up so early? Are you sick?!"

"It seems to be a beautiful day, Erik."

"What?! It's still summer!"

I sat down on my chair and leisurely ate my breakfast. Of all adjectives to describe a summer day, beautiful, really? I can't believe I woke up before my alarm and ate breakfast before taking a bath.

The events of last night were blurry snapshots in my dreamy memory. 'Negation. I think they know.' 'Good night, my angel.' 'Them or them?'

I suddenly slumped into my chair when I awoke from my trance. The raven was real?! This is certainly NOT a beautiful summer morning! I quickly finished my meal, and then I noticed two things that were missing.

"If you're looking for Mom and Dad, they're obviously not here. Dad went to negotiate with the Syrenkes of Lady Aquinoir and the Lady Herself to secure the territory of Agua de Sol Lake and the North Pacific Ocean," Jared explained. The mermaids? "Do not worry, Xyrene. Our father may be a man, but he is still flesh and blood of Lady Aquinoir through her daughter, our ancestress Lady Ishannah. They will not bring him harm, and you are not possibly thinking that Dad would cheat on Mom, are you?"

"Of course, not! Where is Mom then?" I asked.

"She is in Iglacia in Dad's place to check on our territory and militia, and also to speak with the Elders," Meredith piped up. "Allied families were informed of yesterday's incident and the invocation of Lady Ishannah's presence and protection is supposed to be in motion once we find a safe time to return to Iglacia for a short while."

Things were this serious?! Meredith then shot me a look that said: We have training later.

"Oh... I think we should go to school now," I said lightly, trying to change the mood.

"Excited are we, sis?" Erik teased. Meredith sent a knowing smirk my way. Wrong move.

-------time skip-------

"Did you hear that the six governors of Terra et Cirro, including the King, are going to have a conference? I think it has something to do with the the neighboring countries' military forces."

"Really? I thought that only those in Orkidum were planning something. My cousin said that there are supernatural events happening somewhere..."

"Your cousin is so superstitious!"

I did not mean to eavesdrop, but I just did.

Who would expect that the neutral country of Terra et Cirro is implementing countermeasures against supernatural forces. What's more is that all the six governors including the King himself, Governor Aster of Orkidum, which are all magicians felt threatened enough that they have decided a continental conference. They already have powerful territorial boundaries and their residents are mostly normal mortals, so why bother? But then again, our damn continent, Elmentrum, is the birthplace of magic!

Supernatural elements first appear and take action, and possibly, wreak havoc, in Elmentrum. As residents of this mass of land situated in the North Pacific Ocean which is usually unnoticed by far-away countries, we are tasked to contain and neutralize malevolent forces before they spread miasma (evil) to the rest of the world. Us elementals, beings made of pure (like the Frostier clan) or partial (like Charlotte's family, the Iceblade clan) myst inherited from or bestowed by our ancestral god or goddess, respectively, have the greatest responsibility concerning supernatural forces. We also have the added responsibility of maintaining good relations with other mystical existences who also have responsibilities in the homeostasis (balance). Mother is a demon fox, a Kitsune, who is one of the guardians of fortune and retribution, the rulers of balance and judgment. The worst responsibility of all is our role in manipulating and maintaining the world's climate and weather because this leads to our creation of natural disasters, and sometimes miracles of nature, just to keep the balance.