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As soon as Vergla heard that Frigid was back, he went to see her. He opened the door while she was sitting on her couch with her legs up on the cushion. His navy blue figure stood at the opposite end from her. “Are you feeling any better?”
“Yeah…” Frigid tore her eyes away from the TV screen she’d been idly watching. She could be honest with him any other time—she had to be honest with her emotions, too. She took a breath and prepared for a difficult talk. “I talked to Valcan… He said I’m trying to work too much. We should have more management with the lower officers so they don’t have to come to me as much.”
“Valcan, hm? That’s great— And you should be taking things easy for now.”
“I know, but… I still worry about everything I’ll have to do later. I—I should tell you everything I told him. I… was afraid if I did, other people would find out and think I was being weak—“ She sniffled, looking down with misty eyes. Vergla sat down at the end of the couch. “I’ve been so tired from working. I get so stressed it makes me feel sick… and it’s hard to focus with constant headaches…” She was tired of repressing everything, too. Her hands trembled slightly as she covered her face with them, her black, pointed nails gripping below her helmet. Why am I shaking?
His expression fell from mild pity to concern, though she wasn’t looking. “Of course you can talk to me, my dear. We cannot just let you be in pain… Whatever you need, you shouldn’t hesitate to ask the rest of us.”
Frigid could feel her pulse pounding through her veins. The more she tried to restrain her ki so she wouldn’t burn herself or Vergla, the more it hurt. “I just… don’t want to feel like I’m not doing anything…” She thought, Why does everything hurt me? What do I have to do to— Her nails dug in further, piercing her scales. She didn’t mean to use so much force. Make it stop— She dragged her hands down, fingers raking over the fine scales of her pale violet face. Her razor-edged talons cut into them, catching chipped edges and ripping a couple out. Sometimes she wished they weren’t so rough and uneven. She didn’t realize how hard she had one finger pressed against her skin, which left a long cut over her left eye. Purple streaks of irritated skin spread between her scales alongside a few flecks of broken skin as blood pooled into the thin slit, forming a dark line just below her helmet, skipping over her eyelid and running down her cheek. It took a moment before Frigid even felt the sting and realized she had accidentally scratched herself. She swiped a hand below her eye, then looked at the blood smeared on it, realizing she could’ve actually damaged her eye if she’d dug her nails in harder.
“You… might be keeping your nails a little too sharp,” he said, trying to lighten the mood a little. She reached for a box of tissues on an end table next to the sofa and grabbed one, cleaning up the cut. Vergla moved closer. “You don’t need to keep trying to prove yourself; you’ve already proven your power. You are valuable—more than that. All of us high ranks are here to help you.” His voice was so smooth that just listening to him was soothing. “You do a lot of work… I’m proud of you.”
Frigid couldn’t even look at him, shakily sinking into a pillow, this time crying out of joy. She tried to think of the last time someone said that to her—no doubt it was her family. When was the last time she’d been praised like that before today? Whenever it was, she hadn’t felt it like she did now. The painfully muddled feeling in her head didn’t stop, but after a few minutes, fatigue weighed heavily on her and she could hardly stay awake. Vergla stayed next to her, even as she laid there with her eyes closed. She looked fragile, the remnants of her injuries marring her scales all across her body. All of her was long and thin, with a layer of muscle wrapped tightly around her bones. It was no surprise that he, or anyone, wondered how she contained so much power.
ㅤ It was the next day, Frigid stood outside with Demic and Vergla, ready to teach them some of her techniques. “If I can figure out how to do these on my own, then you should be able to learn them.” She still only had a portion of her strength back, her voice flat and rough and tired, but she felt well enough to attempt a little training. “My best move is called Blade Lash, but it’s also the hardest for me to use.”
“What about projectile attacks?” Vergla asked.
“I can show you Void Pulse. It’s a type of ki wave.”
“That’s more my style.”
“I’ll show you the attacks first, then Instant Transmission. Let’s do the hard one first.” She gestured at Demic with a hand and told him, “Give me a target and hold it up.” The wolf created a ball of energy about two feet wide and raised it above his head with one hand. Frigid cleared her throat and explained, “First, concentrate your energy into one point. Instead of firing a beam, it feels like an extension of yourself, like a ki blade. You have to keep control of it or the rope will unravel.” She knew she wasn’t the best at coming up with explanations on the spot, but she could explain what it felt like at the least. She held out her hand and a spiked tendril of energy shot through the sphere Demic was holding. He ducked as it exploded, dispelling both of their energies.
“Throw some more balls up,” she said, preparing another Blade Lash in each hand. He launched a few viridescent blasts into the air. Frigid fired a string of energy, lashing through them in one swing. The gust of wind generated by it blew through his ebony pelt.
“Again?” he asked, forming small orbs of ki between his fingers. She nodded, and he threw them over her head. Another streak of violet whipped through them, rupturing on contact but quickly being replaced by more of the vine of ki. She took in a sharp breath as a burning feeling ran up her arm and through her body. She tried to speak, coughing for a few seconds until she was able to again and the painful sensation stopped. “Now try it against me.”
ㅤ Demic’s palm glowed brightly as he focused his energy into one place. At first, he could only fire straight beams of light. Frigid covered herself in a thin layer of ki, which dispersed the beams upon contact. He concentrated on creating that whip-like form, going for more of a slashing strike. A sweeping blade of energy hit her and dissipated into flashing particles, stirring up a cloud of loose dirt. “Form it slowly. It takes a lot of control.”
Demic tried again, holding out his hand and concentrating his energy once more. Wisps of chartreuse ki threaded together and converged into a point. He relaxed his body without losing control and allowed his energy to flow from him, starting to create the shape of a vine. When he tried to launch it at her, though, he lost his grip and it became a regular streak of energy. His ears flattened in annoyance, and he did it again. It took a few more attempts before he successfully got a glowing thread to hold its shape, whipping it at the barrier protecting Frigid with a burst of wind. It started to unravel at its weak points, forming flares of ki much like the thorns on her Blade Lash. “Was that it?” he asked, tail flicking in pride.
“Yeah, that looked good. It’ll take some more time to get used to it—but let’s start the next move.” She looked at Vergla, who came up beside the wolf.
ㅤ “Okay, now Void Pulse. This works like a normal ki wave, but it makes the air around it charged with energy and disrupts ki moves for a bit. It should spread out evenly.” Purple energy gathered in her hand, faintly crackling. It dimmed as she aimed at the two and flicked a weak wave at them. Demic flinched as it shocked him and paralyzed him for a second, feeling it much more than Vergla. The air felt heavy for a few seconds. They could feel the pressure of it, even though they couldn’t sense her energy.
Vergla prepared a burst of energy in his hand. “How do you get it to linger like that?”
“It’s like a high energy flow but a low strength. It disperses slowly, but it’s not concentrated enough to kill.” He fired a few ki waves at her, countered by her own, trying to get what she refers to as the “flow” right. She launched another weakened pulse, which he blocked with his armored arms, noting what it felt like against his own energy. Despite how much Frigid was holding back, the ground beneath him still cracked under the force. He tried again, hitting her with an indigo surge that had the same electric feeling of a Void Pulse. “That’s closer. Do it again.” She fired a rush of energy at him—she hated to admit it, but she could already start to feel the drain from the small amount of ki she’d used—and he blocked it with a sparking wave that tore across the ground. She could feel his ki lingering in the air. “That’s a good start. Now let me show you Instant Transmission, and then we can practice everything.”
ㅤ “I don’t really know how to explain how it works—it just happens. But first, you put up two fingers between your eyes.” She did so. “Then, you focus all of your energy there, but don’t let it leave your hand. Keep it all in. Focus on where you want to teleport—picture yourself appearing there, and then—“ Purple light flared around her as she teleported about 20 feet ahead, releasing much more energy than she intended to. Frigid quietly winced and rubbed her head, a painful jolt of energy surging through it. “And then… I think you just… will it into happening?” she said in a much weaker voice. The aura faded as her power level dropped back to its previous, dampened amount.
Vergla glided over, Demic following him. “Careful not to hurt yourself,” the frost demon urged, gazing down at her. Teleporting still seemed strenuous for her. “You look a little pale. You should take a break for now.”
“Alright…” she sighed and sat down in front of them. “You guys practice together.” She watched them step back out of her way as she waited for her energy to replenish itself. She still felt mostly fine, but that sense of feebleness told her that she wouldn’t if she pushed herself too much.