Coldsnap: Storm's Call

Chapter 23: Remember Where You Came From

We last read Chapter 22, in which, following Coldsnap and co. revealing the Storm Sect's existence to the rest of the Mage Aspects, she and her allies begin preparing for battle against the rogue faction. To that end, while Firebird, Keena, and Geode begin helping the rest of the Aspects prepare, Coldsnap ventures to Earth to recruit her adopted family and friends, whom she had grown close to during the two years that Alpin exiled her to Earth, between 2018 and 2020. What she doesn't know, however, is that Keena has also surprisingly tagged along, leaving her duties of looking after the water mages to one of her attendants. Now working together, both girls reminisce over a couple of their past missions before they end up helping to bring an intense car chase taking place within Downtown Jacksonville's streets to a decisive end. After that, they arrived at the house of Coldsnap's adoptive family, with the heroine walking up the front steps and ringing the doorbell. This time, we see what happens next.....

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-Coldsnap's Earth Residence, Jacksonville, Florida, United States-

After a few seconds of tense waiting—with Keena still at her side, Coldsnap was soon greeted by her "older sister", Alexis, who appeared to be a girl who was taller than average, with straight brown hair, fair skin, glasses, a Legend of Zelda-themed T-shirt, and black shorts. Upon seeing who her visitor was, she was immediately taken by pleasant surprise.

"Hey!" Coldsnap greeted. "I don't know if you remember me, but—"

Before the heroine could even finish her first sentence, she found herself being pulled into a warm embrace by her adoptive sibling, with Keena looking on and smiling.

For Alexis, she wasn't sure if she'd ever see her adoptive younger sister again after the Battle at the Grand Terminus back in 2020; the decisive battle of the campaign against Alpin and Flamestar which culminated in their defeats—and deaths—and saved the entire planet from falling victim to Flamestar's fiery wrath. Back then, Alexis, as well as the other members of Coldsnap's adopted family and friends, were briefly able to cross over into the Elemental Realms using a substance known as Primordial Juice, and use magical devices called Aegis Gauntlets to temporarily be on par with the Mage Aspects. After coming out on top and returning to Earth, Alexis and the others acknowledged that between Coldsnap's new duties as the Ice Sect Leader and her tenure as one of Earth's superheroes—one of the Paragons, no less—they would be seeing a lot less of her going forward. Still, they welcomed any chance to see her whenever they could, and their love for her never wavered.

For Keena, there was just something so touching and magical about how much the two sisters cared for each other despite them not being biologically related.....or even from the same dimension. All that mattered was that, a while ago, Alexis and her father had been tasked with raising Coldsnap and loving her as if she were one of their own.....and they were happy to do just that. The scene of Alexis and Coldsnap hugging made Keena flash back to when Hydraxus was still around; back to when both of them were as close as could be. Alexis and Coldsnap, though siblings, reminded Keena of her dynamic with Hydraxus in a few ways. Though Keena and Hydraxus were student and teacher, while Coldsnap was Alexis's adoptive sister, both relationships were as close as family regardless of genetics or biological relations.

"Welcome back, Cas! What have you been up to nowadays?" Alexis asked after she and Coldsnap parted from hugging. "Cas" was short for "Cassie", which was the name that her adoptive family had given her during her time on Earth to try and conceal her identity as an ice mage from strangers. However, nowadays, Coldsnap had mostly stopped using the name; after about two years of being on the job, she had come to truly embrace her occupation as a superhero.