The King's Remorse

Told'ja

"It's the venom that's making him freeze. Fire's not gonna do anything."

"Think you could maybe give it a try? Ice is getting really cold," I say. "We don't have any better ideas, so please?" This really isn't the time to be so grouchy.

"Why?"

"Because Ice's body is literally freezing! Look!" The ground I'm kneeling on is covered in ice crystals, and my legs are starting to go numb from the cold. Ice's fur freezes in clumps, shimmering in the sunlight.

"It's not gonna do anything," Phoenix protests.

"Do it! What do we have to lose? Ice is going to completely freeze soon. You know what that means? His heart freezes, and he's dead."

"His heartbeat is getting super slow, so shut it with the arguing and give it a shot."

My fingertips tremble with the cold, but I keep them beneath Ice's foreleg, straining to feel his heartbeat. Phoenix opens his mouth to come up with a retort, but when Ky's eyes begin to turn foggy, he stops.

"Don't do it, Ky," he growls.

"You know I will. I know what your worst memories are. I was there too. Don't be a jerk and help Ice." Ky tilts his head to the side.

"Fine. Happy?" Phoenix rolls his eyes and steps toward Ice.

Flames roll across his spine, flickering out from around each clump of fur on his body. A wave of heat washes over me when the black cat draws near me.

"Get on with it, Phoenix. We don't have very long before Ice completely freezes," Ky presses.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm getting on it."

Phoenix lowers his head, carefully looking at Ice. "What the hell are you doing? Hurry up!" I snap.

"I'm seeing where he's the coldest."

"His paws!"

"If I heat up his paws, it's just gonna send the cold blood right to his heart. What do you think's gonna happen then? His heart's been frozen before, but I think suddenly freezing it again iss gonna have some bad effects."

"So heat up his middle or something! Just start! His temperature's plummeting."

"Ok, ok. Jeez. Chillax, would'ja?" Phoenix snorts before beginning to slowly melt the frost and ice. Come on. Faster!

But Phoenix answers me before I can speak, "Dove, before you say anything, let me reply. I'm going slowly on purpose. What do you think would happen if his body temperature suddenly went way up? Yeah, there would be problems. I'm not a doctor, but it's just a bit of simple logic."

"Ok," I murmur. You're going to be ok, Ice. I'm not letting anything happen to you- we just got you back from the Amethyst Throne, and you've just found Clap and Brook again. You're not going anywhere.

Ice's temperature slowly rises, but nothing happens. "What the hell! Am I, like, the only one with any logic? Ice isn't just gonna wake up in a split second- it's gonna take some time!"

"It's been, what, like an hour?" Ky frowns, looking up at the sky to find the sun.

"Something like that." I nod.

"I like him the least out of the three of us, but here I am defending him. Ice had who knows how much venom sent through his bloodstream by the snake. Now I don't know about you, but that was a lot of venom doing who knows what to his body. Doesn't it make sense that something like him going unconscious and his body beginning to freeze happened? His heart was frozen for years before finding Clap again and having the snake's fangs embedded in the back of his neck. If you really want to, take off the bandage on his neck and see what the wounds look like. I'm gonna make an educated guess and say they're no longer healing. Any more questions that I'd just love to answer? Cuz this is pretty stupid. Use some logic."