Coldsnap: Harbinger of Ice

Chapter 11: A Journey Begins

In about half an hour, Cassie had freed Leo from the mattress and successfully brought everyone together in the dining nook for a meeting. She, Firebird, Leo, Rosie, Kat, Alexa, Michael, Mike, and Alexis all huddled in a close circle, with the cat, Ali, also relaxing comfortably on the table. 

She had already briefed everyone on the events that had happened up until that point, and it was clear from everyone's expressions that they were concerned. 

Of course, this also meant revealing her status as an ice mage to Michael; the only person in the group who was still unaware of it. Even though he didn't really care for large crowds, he felt like he had to be there anyway; this situation was too dire to leave Cassie hanging. 

"So....you have superpowers....?" he asked her quietly. 

"Yep!" she responded. "Here, take my hand!" 

He grasped it and an immediate chill rushed up his arm, spreading throughout his entire body. He shuddered satisfyingly as the cold sensation overcame him. 

"Ahhh.....that feels so much better...." he commented. "You always told me you liked the cold, but I never really thought much of it. I just took it as another thing we had in common...." 

To impress Michael even more, she materialized a horizontal line of large snowflake shapes out of thin air, then pushed her other hand through them, causing them all to burst and create a temporary condensed snowfall. 

"She's definitely powerful, isn't she?" Alexis chimed in. "I've had the honor of getting to witness her feats of strength regularly for.....about two years or so. Man, it's been a while!" 

"Yes....yes, it has," Cassie replied. "You really made me feel like part of the family." 

She gestured to the other two Mage Aspects on either side of her. 

"Anyway, it's about time I introduced you all to these two. Alexis has already heard of one of them, but the rest of you haven't yet. This is Leo, an.....ally....of ours....." she began as she indicated the fire mage to her right. Her hesitation to call him an 'ally' was blatantly obvious. 

"And this is Firebird, my best friend during my time in the Elemental Realms!" 

Cassie looked over to Kat. "She also temporarily stole your name. Hope you don't mind." 

Kat looked up from her phone. ".....Wait, what?" 

Firebird laughed. "Yesterday, when Leo and I were traveling around Florida with her, I briefly used the name 'Kat' to conceal my identity. Kind of like how Coldsnap's family named her 'Cassie' to avoid suspicion. I don't think I'll need to do it anymore, though, now that we all know each other." 

It was obvious that this took Kat by surprise, but she'd basically seen it all at this point; there was very little that could actually phase her anymore. ".....Okay, then. Whatever." 

Phew! Glad I got THAT taken care of..... Cassie thought to herself. 

"Leo, Firebird, I'd like you to meet my four friends from Earth---Rosie, Kat, Alexa, and Michael---as well as my family; my dad Mike, my sister Alexis, and my cat, Ali," she finished, pointing to each person as she called them out. 

"So you six have been the ones helping Coldsnap get accustomed to life on this planet," Leo remarked. "Many thanks for looking after our fellow Mage Aspect!" 

"Oh, don't worry! It's been a pleasure getting to raise her as our own. With her around, I don't even have to pay the air conditioning bills anymore; she just cools the area herself!" Mike joked.