The Icy Quest

Chapter 8

"Tilepátheia, were they telling the truth?" Pagoniá questioned, sitting back up after their guide left the room.

"They believed they were," Tilepátheia answered with a shrug.

At that moment, a stern-looking woman entered the room.

"My name is Ms. Potter," she announced, looking at Pagoniá. "I have been instructed to educate you about the use of your abilities."

She then turned her gaze towards Tilepátheia. "Your teacher is on the way," she informed her.

Gesturing for Pagoniá to follow her, Ms. Potter headed for the door. Pagoniá wearily got to her feet and followed. Ms. Potter led Pagoniá into a room that looked vaguely like an arena.

"Let's begin your lessons. First, you must learn to make ice. To do that you close your eyes and feel the water in the air. Then, you press it together with your mind. It sometimes helps to press on the air with your hands, though this is not strictly necessary. Now, this room is extra humid, for obvious reasons. Feel that humidity, and mentally press it together.

Pagoniá closed her eyes and concentrated on the moisture in the air. Then, she tried to press it together. She opened her eyes and noted that there was a disappointing lack of ice anywhere in the room.

"Let me demonstrate," Ms. Potter offered. She raised her hands and dazzling ice crystals formed around her. The crystals moved in synchrony, causing showers of sparkles to dance across the room.

"Now it's your turn," Ms. Potter declared. Pagoniá closed her eyes once again and concentrated on the water in the air, causing the room to grow colder and colder.

"That's enough, please," Ms. Potter interjected sharply. "We're not trying to make it snow."

Pagoniá relaxed her concentration. When she opened her eyes, she saw that frost was starting to form on the walls. It was also at least thirty degrees colder than it had been before.

"Okay, let's try to concentrate the cold into one area," Ms. Potter told her. "Press it together in your mind. Use your hands if that will help you with the mental process."

Pagoniá felt the cold, and she pressed it into an area above her hand. She lowered her head and imagined ice forming in her hand. She visualized it so intensely that she could feel the chill from the ice. When she opened her eyes, there was a wimpy little ice cube in the palm of her hand. The ice cube was only a few centimeters wide, but it was still the first intentional thing she had done with her powers.

"I did it!" she whooped, throwing her hands up in the air. As a consequence of this action, the ice cube flew up into the air and then landed on her head.

"Oops," she giggled, brushing it out of her hair.

"Now, can you make it move?" Ms. Potter asked. "You need to be able to control ice, not just create it."

"How do you do that?" Pagoniá inquired.

"Once you have created the ice, you then pull or push it with your mind," Ms. Potter explained.

After watching Pagoniá fail to make the ice move several times, Ms. Potter finally dismissed Pagoniá, saying, "You can practice in your room."

When Pagoniá returned to her room, it was empty. There was a note saying that Tilepátheia and Pozhar had both gone off to training sessions, so she flopped down on the bed for her long awaited nap.

"Ice person training is exhausting," she decided as her eyelids drifted shut.

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