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Scott.
Of course it was Scott who hurt his sister. Of course it was him. Couldn’t have been anyone else, could it?
Scott.
fWhip was fuming. He’d gone to Gem for a favor – and to get some head back he left there ages ago – and instead found her barely able to stand in her apothecary, looking through shelves and drawers for the right potion.
She told him she was fine. He knew she was lying – she drank the potions, but they had no discernable effect. Gem assured him everything was fine; she was training Scott to control his ice power – very latent uncontrollable powers, if fWhip had to believe Scott’s own words – and there had been an accident after which he'd fled.
‘Accident’. Just an ‘accident’.
And now his sister was weak as a newborn, her legs shaky when she stood, a strand of hair that was completely white and cold to the touch. Yeah, nothing happened, Gem, I believe you, Gem. Scott totally didn't just try to kill you, Gem. He advised her to seek help from Katherine. She might be able to find a cure or something. She was doing well with the corruption, maybe she could do well now. Gem said she’d visit Katherine and fWhip left to see where Scott was hanging out.
But he couldn’t find Scott, and it was irritating. Rivendell was completely frozen over and Scott had run like the coward he was. That wouldn’t be a problem if fWhip had known where that coward had run to. Instead, he was left to search for clues of eternal winter to find out where he hid. How hard was it to find a singular ice spike in the world that was out of place? How far had that Elf traveled away?
On second thought, that was good. The further away Scott was from everyone and everything, the better. The further away he was, the less likely he was to hurt people again. To hurt Gem again.
But he couldn’t find the Elf and it had been weeks since he last saw Gem—
Gem.
Gods, Gem.
He immediately turned around. The anger toward Scott was still very much present, but in his fury, he had forsaken his sister. His stubborn sister, who may not have reached out to Katherine by the time he arrived. His sister, who was likely to do her own thing and try to fix something she couldn’t fix on her own. His sister, who had a track record of not listening to the – admittedly, sometimes horrible – advice he gave her, and why hadn’t he realized this sooner?
Because he wanted to hunt down Scott and kill him ten times in a row and maybe some more.
Because hurting Scott was not the answer, but the most immediate action he could take.
Because he’s a moron and you should’ve checked on Gem sooner, you idiot.
He landed in the Crystal Cliffs. Apart from the now almost completely frozen-over cod sanctuary, everything seemed normal. No sign of winter if you turned your back on that pond. But now worried citizens ran over to him, and that was never a good sign. Her rowdy students – fWhip would’ve called them delinquents – had never been too happy with Gem’s idea of reforming them, but they did seem to care about her. They’d recognized him and were all talking at the same time, all twelve or so, and fWhip couldn’t focus on any of their voices. Why were their voices so similar?
“Slow down!” fWhip said, and he pointed to the one closest to him. “You. Explain what’s going on. Just you.”
And the delinquent – student – spoke. It was about Gem; she’d been making trips to the Nether, wasn’t seen for days and then emerged, only to return again. The last time she returned, she apparently didn’t seem as recharged as before, and that white strand of hair wasn’t the only one, it was spreading. Now, she was almost permanently shut into the apothecary.
If they said anything else, fWhip didn’t hear it. He pushed past the crowd and toward the apothecary. He pushed against the door and…
Gem lay in a bed; almost hidden underneath a minimum of ten blankets placed on top of each other, her head barely visible. But she opened her eyes, and he noticed that her hair was whiter than before. It was losing all the color it had; such a shame. The worst part was that, through the cold, she smiled at him. She smiled when she realized who had just come in.
“Gem,” he breathed and he approached her.
“fWhip.” Her voice was weak – why was it so weak? – and frail, like it was hidden under a blanket itself. “That’s a nice surprise.”
There was no chair in the immediate vicinity; fWhip sat on his knees by her bedside. One of her hands poked out from under the blankets; she wore gloves. She was fully dressed under this blanket pile, the hood of her cloak pulled over her head. Even then, she shivered like she wasn’t warm at all.
fWhip slowly reached for the hand he could see. He grabbed it – even through the gloves, he could feel the cold. She held on to him as if her life depended on it. Maybe it did.
And they sat there in silence, while fWhip tried to come to terms with the scene before him, while Gem was glad to have her brothers close.
“Gods, Gem…” fWhip eventually said. “Why didn’t you go to Katherine’s? She could've helped.”
“I didn’t want to bother her,” she responded. “And I thought I could find it—”
“On your own?” fWhip huffed and he shook his head. He hadn’t expected anything else. He should have come sooner. “Why do you have to be so stubborn?”
A smile came to her lips, but briefly. “I know someone else who’s like that.”
And she stared directly at fWhip for another second before she closed her eyes again. Shivering, cold… probably incredibly tired, too. And weak. Weaker than the Grand Wizard should ever be. It was a miracle she was still awake. And he stroked the gloved hand with his thumb, and Gem smiled and could feel it. Part of him wanted to pull off the glove and hold her hand; the other part of him didn’t want to bring her any discomfort by removing a glove; another part of him didn’t want to see how much color had drained from her fingertips.
“How are you?” he asked quietly, leaning closer to her.
“I’m cold,” she whispered.
“I know.” fWhip nodded. “I know.”
She was cold. She was cold and he couldn’t do anything to help her. He could maybe tinker a little, but whatever he’d come up with, it may come too late. He’d rather spend time with Gem now than waste it on something he may never be able to use.
Gem squeezed in his hand, bringing him out of his thoughts.
“Don’t hurt Scott.”
fWhip frowned. “Why not? He put you here.”
“fWhip…”
“This does not look like an accident.”
This was not an accident. Nobody accidentally hurts their friends by sprouting ice powers literally everywhere. fWhip had seen the room where it happened; that was not an accident. Hell, not even Gem’s own council had figured out what exactly was going on because it’s apparently been so long since someone with elemental ice magic has shown up on their doorstep and now she was suffering because of it.
You don’t hurt your friends by accident. Not with this scale.
“Please,” Gem said, and she squeezed his hand again. “Promise me.”
The silence hung between them, tangible for but a moment.
“Fine,” fWhip grumbled, and now held her hand with both his hands. “Fine. I promise I won’t seek him out to hurt him.”
fWhip could probably stop himself from looking for Scott. He could sit at home, or here, and not hunt him down like the coward he was. But if fWhip was going about his day and Scott came into view – well, fWhip couldn’t promise he wouldn’t attack. He wouldn’t be able to hold himself back, and he was certain Scott would just let it happen anyway.
“Good,” Gem said, and she closed her eyes again. They stayed in silence – it seemed Gem had drifted to sleep, and fWhip didn’t want to disturb her. So he sat with his back against the bed, still holding on to Gem’s hand, alone with his own thoughts and emotions. Anger, righteous fury toward Scott – sadness, worry, guilt toward Gem. He should’ve come to check in sooner.
But they were together now. That’s what mattered. He hadn’t arrived too late.
He could kill Scott some other time.
Today, he was with his sister.