Chapter Text
"And this is where the Gift of Strength was held." Snowfall spoke, pointing to an empty gap in the frozen walls. Winter glanced at it, then at the tiara on her head, nodding softly with a small frown. He still wasn't sure about this.
Snowfall's eyes narrowed at him slightly. "I know what you're thinking, Winter. I order you to stop it."
Winter's frown deepened. "Are you sure it's wise to bring.....me….down here? This is for queens and direct heirs only."
It was Snowfall's turn to frown at Winter. "What's the point of being a Queen if no one follows your orders!" She growled while throwing her wings in the air with exasperation. "I don't care about the old rules. Icewings have been too secretive for far too long. Look where that brought us with Darkstalker."
Winter winced at that, and Snowfall's expression softened. "I want you on my council, Winter. And that means you get to know about my secret animus stash. That's the new law I decided....like...right now. Cause I can do that now."
"That's not quite how that works. There's paperwork involved, and signatures t- I mean yes, of course your highness." Winter corrected as Snowfall shot him a glare.
Then Snowfall’s glare broke into a small laugh, and even Winter had to chance a smile at it. It was so good to see his cousin looking so refreshed after the events of the plague.
He turned back to the animus artifacts in the wall, taking a mental note of them. "I still don't believe....mother.....will be pleased with your choice of council."
"Well, she can go suck a walrus." Snowfall snapped without missing a beat. "She doesn't make decisions for me. I am the Queen."
Winter hid the small smile on his snout by staring at the next artifact. "The Gift of Vision? There are no details under it...."
"Oh, very funny, Opal," Snowfall said behind him, rolling her eyes. "Winter has no intention of becoming queen."
"Becoming....queen?" Winter asked with hesitation, glancing warily at the ring. "No, no, I do not." And with those words, the ring vanished beneath a smooth sheet of ice, leaving a stunned, blinking Winter staring at his reflection.
"It shows up for dragons who come in not ready to be Queen. It's not quite the perfect enchantment, as I have found out. Effective, but not perfect." She explained, pushing him forward, away from the empty wall. "You should have seen the look on Hailstorm's face when it showed up for him. I thought he was going to have another identity crisis," she snorted. “I’m more annoyed it didn’t show up for Lynx, though!” She snapped at the wall. The ice glittered back innocently as Snowfall turned her nose up at the space.
Winter had to hold back a small snicker at his cousin, pressing a talon to his snout. Snowfall trained her eyes on him, narrowing them dangerously. Winter immediately pressed forward into the vault. “Oh, look. New artifacts to look at.” He said quickly, stopping in front of a mirror. It was silver-lined with seven different embedded gems along the edge. Each one seemed to reflect as well as the mirror itself. The mirror center looked like mercury, suspended in motion, and reflected him oddly as if there were afterimages following him as he moved. He shook his head, blinking away the oddness. He glanced down at the writing.
“Gift….of…Cleansing.” He read, looking back at the mirror. “No notes on this one either.”
“Gift of Cleansing? I don’t think….that wasn’t there before,” Snowfall said suspiciously. But Winter barely noticed. The gems on the sides of the mirror seemed to gleam brighter in the soft moonglobe light, reflecting his form inside. The ruby looked menacing and angry, twisting his resting frown deeper and toothier. The sapphire deepened it even further with fewer teeth, but drooping ears and wings. The emerald made him look small, with his wings wrapped around himself, even though he was sure he wasn’t doing that right now. The topaz was the most baffling, with a wide grin on his snout, that he was positive he never had.
“Winter, maybe you should step away from that.” Snowfall cautioned to empty ears.
Winter glanced into the amethyst, finding an image of him smiling warmly, a look he recognized as the face he made every time he thought of Moon. Next was the diamond, reflecting a Winter held at attention, in perfect poise, and above it was an onyx, its deep black surface still somehow reflecting a baleful smirk.
“Winter, step away from the mirror.” Snowfall ordered. His ears flicked back to her, but he couldn’t move. Couldn’t stop himself from looking back into the center. His after images splayed out. Seven Winters all in a circle, each holding a different face, a different side of him. The gemstones gleamed brighter, as if giving off their own light.
CRACK!
The mirror split seven ways, falling to pieces on the ground. And Winter fell with it, landing in a heap as if he were a puppet and someone had cut his strings.
Snowfall ran over to her cousin, resting a talon on his side. He wasn’t breathing, and he was colder than ice itself. No heartbeat either. “Winter!” She shouted, trying to roll him over, but his body was as stiff and frozen as the statues in the Diamond Caves. A glowing red light caught her attention, and she snapped her glare at it.
The mirror piece with the ruby floated off the ground, its shard still holding Winter’s reflection, before it seemed to shimmer in the air. The shard grew, turning a pale blue, and growing limbs, and a head...and dark ruby red eyes. A snarl upon its face as it glowered back at Snowfall, meeting her glare with its own. It looked for all intents and purposes exactly like Winter, except for the eyes.
He turned and looked down at the frozen body of Winter, and kicked it roughly with a talon. Then he pulled his talon back in pain. “Seal guts and walrus barf that hurt! You idiot! She said not to look at it, and now look what you did!” He snarled at….himself. In the very same voice as Winter’s.
Snowfall glowered at him and checked over Winter, but there wasn’t a mark upon his form. He was as still and solid as an icesculpture. “What are you?” She asked slowly. “What did you do to Winter?”
“I’m angry!” He roared, holding his talon and thrashing his tail. It launched another piece of the mirror into the icewall, as he scowled. “And I didn’t do anything to him yet! But when I get my talons on him, I swear I’ll rip his face off!”
A blue light dragged both their attentions as another mirror piece floated up. Sliding against the wall as it grew into…another Winter. This one with deep sapphire eyes, and a look that said he’d rather be anywhere else. “Oh no…I messed everything up again, didn’t I…I always mess everything up…” He said, trailing off with his head down.
“Of course you do, you useless piece of chum!” the red eye’d Winter spat. The blue-eyed sniffed slightly, tears welling up in his eyes.
“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” He cried. Actually…cried. Snowfall had never seen Winter cry before. The sight stunned her long enough for a third Winter to form in the increasingly crowded vault.
This Winter had deep emerald eyes and had his wings pressed to his sides. His tail was wrapped around his back leg tightly, and he kept his eyes down to the ground. He looked as if he were trying to take up as little space as possible.
The fourth mirror shard rose up in between red-eyed and blue-eyed Winters, forming into the happiest, and quite frankly weirdest, Winter Snowfall had ever seen. A big smile sat on his snout, accenting the topaz yellow eyes. “Stoooooop! There is no reason to be mad! This is great! Now we don’t have to be alone! We have eachother! Or…Myself? More me’s! Think of all the humans we can help like this!” he said joyfully.
“Are you stupid?” the red-eyed Winter asked with a growl. He stepped up, snout to snout with the happy Winter. “This is some kind of animus curse placed on us! Do you remember what happened last time!?”
“I’m looking on the bright side!” The yellow-eyed Winter said, never losing his grin. “We don’t know what the curse is, but I’m sure Snowfall will have it figured out! Until then, think of all the good we can do!”
“Think of how much I can mess up…” the blue-eyed Winter spoke up, sniffling under his wings.
Snowfall was startled out of her stupor as wings wrapped around her in a warm (for an Icewing) hug. She looked up, not the least bit surprised to see another Winter, this one with amethyst coloured eyes as he smiled sheepishly at her.
“Just wanted to say I love you, cause I don’t think I say that enough. And we’re family, so….I love you!” He beamed at her.
“Riiiiiight…..” Snowfall blinked, looking back down at the frozen Winter. She was starting to develop some idea of what might have happened now.
“All of you, be quiet! We are in the presence of her Majesty! You are acting like Mudwings!” another Winter snapped. This one had crystal-like white eyes that seemed to refract into many colours, just like a diamond.
The green-eyed Winter immediately sat up, yet kept his head low, as if raising it were too hard. “Sorry…” He muttered quietly. Then he scooted back enough for the white-eyed Winter to step forward.
“You don’t get to tell me what to do! Only I-” the angry red-eyed one stopped, his snarl becoming a more confused frown. Then he growled louder and turned away to glare at the green-eyed one. “Grow a spine!” He shouted, directing his anger at him instead.
“S-sorry….” The green-eyed Winter apologized meekly, his head dipping a bit lower.
“You… are way too noisy,” the seventh Winter spoke. He had deep black eyes that reflected the light of the moonglobes. “I don’t care who I’m in the ‘presence’ of, your royal buzzkill. She’s my cousin, in case you forgot.”
“She is your Queen!” The white-eyed Winter spat, moving muzzle to muzzle with the smirking black-eyed Winter.
“She probably doesn’t want any of us fighting! Unless it's a snowball fight! Oh, that would be fun!”
“I do love snowball fights.” The purple-eyed Winter spoke up beside her. “Remember that one where you had to rescue me from Hailstorm?” He said with a laugh. The yellow-eyed Winter laughed with him. “I felt so warm when you helped me!”
“It was her duty to assist a fellow royal!” The white-eyed Winter scowled.
“She should have left me behind…” The green-eyed Winter spoke quietly, his voice barely heard over the others.
“She is right here and wants you all to SHUT UP!” Snowfall snarled, talons rubbing her temples. The vault went silent, aside from one Winter’s sniffling.
Snowfall looked from one Winter to the other, then finally to the frozen one she still had a talon on. He hadn’t moved one, as still as stone. “What….is happening.”
“Well, we-”
“I’m no-”
“I’m sore-”
“Nothin-”
“ONE OF YOU!” She snapped, silencing them all again. Then she pointed to the white-eyed Winter, who bowed deeply to her. The sight of it made her shudder slightly. “What is going on?”
“I am not sure, your majesty. It would appear we have been split from….ourselves? I am Prince Winter, Queen Glacier’s Nephew, and loyal to the throne.” He said, speaking quickly, and bowing once more.
“Stop that,” Snowfall commanded, and the white-eyed Winter winced, but obliged, sitting up. “What happened to the real Winter?” She asked, resting a wing over his frozen body.
The other Winters frowned, but none had an answer. Until the black-eyed Winter stepped forward, looking down at the original with a withering look. “I don’t need him. I’m as real as he was, only I’m not a coward.” He said, clicking his jaw. Behind her, Snowfall heard the ice creak, and the black-eyed Winters shone brightly. “Oh, hello…”
Snowfall’s face turned a deep, angry blue as she glared back at the wall where the ring had appeared once more. “NOT FUNNY A SECOND TIME, OPAL!” She snapped.
“Oh, I dunno. Maybe I would make a good queen. Ahem. King.” The black-eyed Winter gave her a cocky grin. “We could do with a few….fewer regulations around here, and I’d be just the drake to make that happen.”
“I am not even going to entertain that idea,” She growled, low in her throat.
“That is treasonous talk, Winter….My apologies, your majesty, this is…confusing…” The white-eyed Winter said, bowing once more.
“It’s not treasonous if I win,” The black-eyed Winter’s grin deepened. “Then it’s just….my law.”
“You are not going to attack because I am your Queen, and you will listen to me!” Snowfall snarled, standing up straight. “You are going to help me get the real Winter to the throne room, then you are each going to find a room in the castle and STAY THERE until I summon you! Do I make myself clear?”
“Fine!”
“S-sorry.”
“Okay…”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“Okay, Snowfall!”
“Of course, your Majesty.”
“Not a chance!” the black-eyed Winter said. He tilted his head up, looking down his snout at her. “I’m not doing anything I don’t want to!”
Snowfall’s eye twitched, and her claws dug into the ice. The yellow-eyed Winter poked the black-eyed Winter’s shoulder before pointing at the crown on her head. “I know you want to be all special and heroic and stuff, and I love that for me. It makes me really happy seeing me try to be awesome, but she has the Gift of Strength.”
The black-eyed Winter frowned, his muzzle turning blue slightly before he turned to look away. “I’ll go to the castle because I want to, not because I’m being told to,” he growled, crossing his arms. The yellow-eyed Winter laughed.
“Two of you grab the real Winter,” Snowfall commanded, pointing to the frozen Winter on the ground.
“You have the Gift of Strength, can’t you do it?” the black-eyed rebellious Winter said, rolling his eyes as the white-eyed dutiful Winter started working to pick up Winter. This was already causing Snowfall a major headache.
“Yes. I have the Gift of Strength. So you are going to carry him. Because I have the Gift of Strength. Capice?” She asked, slamming a balled up talon into the wall, leaving small cracks in the ice. The black-eyed Winter stared at her fist for a long moment. Then the ring vanished behind the ice once more.
No more words were needed after that.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“And that’s why you called us here?” Qibli asked, staring at the unmoving body of Winter. He shuddered slightly at the look of death on his friend. He looked back over to Moon’s tearstreaked face and winced again at the spike of jealousy that hit him.
“He’s still alive…just in stasis.” Snowfall sighed, resting a wing on the frozen form of Winter. “From what I was able to find in our records, it’s a Gift that splits the body’s psyche into different pieces. And until they come back together, Winter won’t awake….ever.”
Moon sniffled slightly, wiping tears from her eyes as she leaned into Qibli’s side. “So there's… there's still a chance to save him, right?” She asked, hope and pain in her voice.
“Did you have to add the part where you threatened them?” Turtle asked warily, his talons tapping against each other.
“YEEEEES! IT was AWESOME!” Kinkajou shouted, giving Snowfall a big grin. The Queen managed a small smile in return.
“So…am I supposed to burn them to bits to get Winter back?” Peril asked. She kept tapping the ice of the throne room with a claw, as if wondering why it wasn’t melting under her touch.
“No. No burning. We just need them to come together and agree to reunite with Winter.” Snowfall said, shaking her head. “The problem…”
“The problem is that every piece is as stubborn as the original.” Hailstorm sighed. “So set in his ways, its a part of everything he does.” He rested a claw on Winter’s back, looking down at him sorrowfully.
“Why am I here?” Icicle asked, eying the body, before looking away shamefully. “I’m the last person he’d want to help him.”
Hailstorm looked up at his younger sister. “You were willing to start a whole new war for me. Won’t you at least try to help Winter? He’s family too.”
Icicle growled, lashing her tail, but she didn’t leave.
“What do you want us to do?” Moon asked, with more control over her voice. “I’ll-We’ll help. Anything we can do.” She added as Qibli tensed slightly beside her. He looked from her, then to Winter, then to the floor.
“We need to convince them to join with Winter. I…I regrettable don’t know my cousin as well as I should,” she admitted, hanging her head. “But you know him. You’re his family…and his found family. If anyone can help him…”
Qibli let out a deep breath before looking up again. “Tell us where they are. We-” He broke off, stumbling on his words slightly. “We’ll get Winter back.”
Snowfall nodded slightly. “I gave them each a room. Some of them are a bit easier to contain than others. I’ve also given them each names because calling them all Winter was hurting my head.” She said with a small groan.
She produced a small scroll, laying it out on the floor in front of her. “I had to put several of them on opposite sides of the castle. Anger, in particular, didn’t really like any of the other versions of himself. I’d suggest you take him, Peril.”
“Me? Taking on….Anger…right. I can do that. Just to be clear, I’m NOT allowed to burn him?” She asked. Turtle gave her a desperate look, and she raised her talons in the air. “I'm kidding! Just kidding!... But no, seriously, how bad is it if I accidentally burn him?”
“Bad,” Snowfall warned.
“Okaaaaay.” Peril nodded, pressing her wings closer to herself subconsciously.
Qibli looked over the scroll. “Besides Anger, we have…Depression, Love, Duty, Joy-”
“Oh, I’m taking Joy! I want to see Winter smile at least once before he’s back to being all frowny face!” Kinkajous jumped up her scales, shimmering a bright yellow with orange streaks through them.
“I’ll take Duty. I know how to….speak to an officer.” Hailstorm spoke quietly, looking to Snowfall for permission.
“Rebellion? Is that like his stubborn side?” Qibli asked. Moon faltered slightly before pressing her talon to the scroll.
“I’ll take Rebellion.” She said softly. Then she looked into Qibli’s eyes. “You’d better take Depression. Only you can get Winter out of one of his spirals.” Qibli looked at her for a long time, and words seemed to play between them, before he nodded. But he didn’t look happy about it.
“What’s…Sad Winter number two?” Turtle asked, looking over the paper.
Snowfall shrugged. “I…don’t really know. He’s sad. But not as much as depression. He’s quieter and doesn’t cry. But he is very….sad.” She said, wavering slightly. “I didn’t know he was this sad.”
“I’ll take that one.” Turtle nodded. “I can help with a sad Winter. Probably better than a Loving Winter anyway.” He gave Icicle an apologetic smile.
“Why am I stuck with Love? Can I get Anger instead? Or Duty? Anyone?” No one spoke up, and Icicle scowled.
“Icicle…” Hailstorm started, but he trailed off when she scowled at him.
“I’ll help, okay? But that doesn’t mean I have to like it,” she grumbled, stomping out of the throne room first, muttering. “Love. Pssh. Why am I stuck with the sappy one?”
Turtle gave Peril a small smile. “I think I can find the other sad Winter. Can you find Anger?”
“Just listen for the smashing.” Snowfall said dryly. “He keeps breaking all our furniture.”
Peril grinned, looking back at Turtle. “I can find that. Sounds like fun, actually.”
“Peril….”
“No burning! I know. But no one said anything about no smashing!” She said with a sadistic grin, charging out of the room before anyone could counter her argument.
“Joy is…in the courtyard. You’ll see him around.” Snowfall told Kinkajou. She squeed loudly, darting out the window with bright pink starbursts filling her wings. Turtle sighed, looking over at Winter, before following the trail of Peril.
Qibli turned back to Moon, resting his talon on hers on last time. “After….after this-”
Moon shook her head, looking over at Winter’s body again, where Hailstorm was still resting a talon on him. As if trying to feel for any life in him. “We’ll talk…after this.” She said, then she looked up to meet Qibli’s eyes.
He looked so sad, as if he were the one with visions of the future. As if he already knew what was going to happen. “I promise, we’ll talk after this.”
“Alright, Moon.” He said, frowning slightly. When he noticed her ears droop slightly, he immediately broke into a wide grin for her. “I’ll go teach Depression how to laugh. Can’t be that hard, since I’m a riot.”
Moon laughed, whacking his side with her wing. “If you get the embodiment of Winter’s sadness to laugh, I’ll eat a roasted scorpion.”
“Deal! No takesies backsies! One laughing igloo face of depression coming up!” he shouted over his shoulder, darting out of the throne room.
Moon took one last look at Winter before nodding to Snowfall and Hailstorm, then turning to go find Rebellion.