Hydros was the Ice Alpha One, and he was extremely proud of that title. As Alpha One, he was the strongest Ice Alpha alive, and yet he still had much to learn before perfecting his power. And that’s why he went to Rain View.
Rain View was a private school for only the most powerful magic-wielders. He had been going to Rain View since he was eleven, when his destructive power had first come in. He had accidentally frozen the orphanage he had lived in, and harmed his best friend. Almost as soon as the news had aired, he had been given his spot at Rain View. And here he was now.
As he was eating his breakfast in the school cafeteria, the loudspeakers cracked to life. “HYDROS!” The Headmaster’s voice barked through the speakers. Hydros jumped at the sound of his name. “In my office. NOW.”
“Uh-oh,” The boy sitting across from Hydros said. “What did you do to make the Headmaster mad?”
“I don’t know,” Hydros admitted, getting to his feet. Whatever the Headmaster wanted, he certainly didn’t sound happy about it.
Hydros traveled through the school hallways to the Headmaster’s office. He knocked on the door. “It’s me, Hydros,” he said quietly.
“Come on in.” The Headmaster said. He sounded very grumpy.
Hydros opened the door and walked into the office, softly closing the door behind him. The Headmaster’s office was plain except for a long desk, a TV, and two chairs. And in one of the chairs, the Headmaster sat.
“Sit,” the Headmaster said, gesturing at the empty chair. Hydros felt his anger rise at being told what to do, but he quickly quenched it and sat.
“So, what did you call me here for?” Hydros asked casually, hiding the fear he felt rising inside. He was getting good grades in all of his classes, and he wasn’t being disruptive, so what could the headmaster possibly want?
“Look at the screen, Alpha Inverted, and you’ll know.” The Headmaster said.
“I’m Alpha One, not Alpha Inverted,” Hydros said, infuriated by the fact that the Headmaster had called him a lower class than what he really was.
“Not anymore,” the Headmaster said, tilting his head to the TV. Hydros glanced at the screen, wondering what on earth the Headmaster could possibly be talking about, then froze.
“What the…” He murmured, unsure if what he was seeing was real.
It was the middle of summer, and yet an entire village had iced over.
Hydros turned back to the Headmaster, throat dry. He simply did not know what to say.
“When I first recruited you, I thought you were a wonder. I thought you were the most powerful Ice-Wielder out there.” The Headmaster said, and Hydros felt his blood chill, “But a nameless face has proven me wrong. Get out, Alpha Inverted, and never come back.”
Shade sat in the darkness of the prison, trying to hold as still as possible. Above her, her friend, Winter, stood, swiss army knife in hand, attempting to cut the thick ropes that bound Shade to this horrible place. Nearby, Gardien Du Temps stood, palms open, face concentrated as she freezed the time of the world around them. Vida stood guard at the entrance, in case anybody managed to somehow break through Gardien’s time freeze.
“You shouldn’t have come for me. I just put you in danger…” Shade said.
“Stop being so negative, Shade. We stick around for each over. That’s what friends do.” Vida said.
“Yes, and stop squirming or you may get a very nasty cut,” Winter said, cranky as ever, and Shade tried to hold still again.
Finally, Winter cut through the last rope, and Shade was free. She stood up, rubbing her sore arms. “Thanks, guys,” She said.
“No problem. Also, couldn’t you have just summoned your awesome shadow dragons and freed yourself?” Vida asked.
Shade shook head. “There wasn’t enough room for them.”
“Well, I don’t know about you, but I think we should try and escape while we have time in our favor.” Winter said. “Gardien, do you think you can freeze time long enough for us to escape?”
Gardien nodded.
“Okay, let’s get out of here!” Vida shouted and raced out of the prison. Gardien, Winter and Shade quickly followed her.
Outside, shimmering in the bright sunlight, the village was covered in… Ice.
Shade gaped at the shining expanse of water crystal. After a moment or two, she turned to face Winter. “You did this? Dang, girl, you’re strong!”
Winter blushed. “Well, um… Thanks, I guess.”
“No time for that, I can only freeze time for a bit longer!” Gardien said.
“Okay, let’s go!” Shade said, and the four Misfits ran into the woods.
Hydros sat on the park bench, slowly eating a roll as he attempted to process what had just happened.
A nameless, faceless Ice Alpha One had just frozen over a small town. Hydros had lost his title. He had been thrown out of the school, along with a backpack that held his few possessions. The Headmaster had told him, “Get out, and never come back.”
But… Never couldn’t mean NEVER, right? There must be SOME WAY to please the Headmaster and get back into Rain View.
Maybe if he proved that he was the real Ice Alpha One, and defeated the new Ice Alpha One… He could get his place back into the history books and Rain View. But first, before he got that deep into the plan that was forming in his mind, he needed shelter.
As if the clouds had heard about his lack of shelter, it began to rain.
Hydros had found an abandoned building and was currently huddled in its depths. He dumped the contents of his backpack on the dirt floor, to see what he had.
In the end, he found his wallet (With $631.35 and his driver’s license), his notebooks from school, a pencil and eraser, his toothbrush and some toothpaste, some deodorant, some spare clothes, a jacket, and his phone. What could he possibly do with those objects to impress the Headmaster and get his place back in Rain View?
He should probably use his money on water and food. And maybe he could use his phone to get more information on whoever froze the village to gauge his opponent’s strength, and come up with a plan for defeating them.
He put everything back into his backpack before laying down on the dirt floor. It wasn’t as comfy as his bed, but it was better than nothing.
He closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep.
Okay. He could work with this. He had a month’s worth of money; a month to complete his plan. He could do this.
Because if he didn’t… he was a goner.
Shade paced around the Tower, checking the wards she had set up when she first had set up base in the Tower. The wards were as strong as ever, so she prowled back to what The Misfits had named the meeting hall, yet it mostly served as a dining room. Except in cases like this.
Shade’s friends were seated in their spots around the table. Gardien Du Temps was glancing around worriedly, as if something was going to strike from the shadows at any time; Vida had fallen asleep, her face pressed against the table, and snoring quietly; Winter had frozen her glass of water and was drinking it as if it was a slushy; one of Shade’s dragons was hanging from the ceiling, keeping a watchful eye on the room and ready to fight if necessary. Shade noticed that everyone (except Vida) seemed to relax a bit when she entered the room.
Shade took her spot at the table, and her dragon flew down from the ceiling and landed beside her.
Vida, woken by the sound of the dragon landing, yawned and stretched. “Is the meeting starting yet?”
“Yes.” Shade said, then began the meeting. “You probably all know why we are having this meeting. I got captured, and Winter iced over an entire town. The point is, people know that us Misfits exist now, and are extremely powerful. We need to be ready for anything.”
Winter grumbled, “it was a small town,” but Shade ignored her and went on.
“Vida, will you animate some weapons and armor to stand guard at the Tower and keep watch? Gardien, can you practice your magic so that you can hold time still for at least an hour if need be? Winter, can you design some traps and keep tabs on the news so we know what the outside world is doing about this?”
When Vida was given her job, she nodded. “I can do that! I can do that right now, even!” And then she ran off, disappearing into the hallways to the armory. A few seconds later, Shade heard the unmistakable clanking of metal as Vida searched through their stock for the sharpest swords and toughest armor.
Gardien was more hesitant to begin. “But if I use my power now, I might be too tired and drained to use it later!” She cried.
Shade sighed. “The point of practice is to improve so that you don’t get tired. But if the dragons and animated objects detect anything unusual, you can stop practicing if you want.”
After a moment, Gardien nodded. “Okay, I guess I can do that,” She said, and then walked slowly out of the dining room, thinking face on.
Shade turned to Winter as Winter said, “I’ve got no problems with what you’ve assigned me to do, but what are you going to do, exactly? We all need to be doing something and working together in order to succeed.”
“I’m going to set out my dragons to collect information and guard the Tower,” Shade said, “And I’ll strengthen the wards, set new ones, and spy on people who are participating in suspicious activity that might have something to do with us.”
“The wards are already strong enough, but what new ones are you thinking of placing?” Winter asked.
“A ward of pass without trace on the nearby streets, so nobody notices our coming and going.” Shade said.
Winter nodded. “That sounds good to me. Alright, I’m off.” And then she slowly walked away.
