When Frost Burns

hot as ice

thought too much about lucy frostblade and frostkettle. wrote this. filled it to the brim with references to anne carson's antigonick, because kipperlilly is a corrupted antigone To Me. canon is but a sandbox i play in. enjoy!

~*~

Lucy takes a step back and feels her heel sink into the cold ground, the soil soft but no longer enriched by the shimmering lake that laps behind her. Rats squeak frantically around her feet.

Rage in the guise of her dearest friend glares at her from beneath the low-hanging trees. "Don't make me hate you."

Lucy places her mace at her feet. "Your heart is so hot, Lilly," she whispers. "But the dead are cold. They'll welcome me."

Kipperlilly steps toward Lucy, face contorting beyond recognition as she snarls. "You won't die. I won't let you."

A threat. A threat laced with the world's deadliest poison: love.

Behind her, the lake's cool water inches forward and licks Lucy's heels.

❄

Lucy braids her hair. Lift up, tuck under, twist around. The rhythmic process soothes her, and right now she needs this structured calm.

What Jace and Porter were offering... Could it be such a bad deal?

Kipperlilly jumped at the opportunity, those electric blue eyes flashing with zealous light. How she relished the chance to excel, to surpass the success of Riz Gukgak. Oisin had been similarly easy to convince, his feelings for Adaine toeing the line between a crush and the desire to do such. Ivy already believed in her inherent self-superiority, and the only reason she hadn't been first to agree was because Kipperlilly never let herself be second on the draw. Mary Ann...?

Well, no one could really read Mary Ann.

Lucy's crystal buzzes. It's Kipperlilly.

Lucy's crystal rings. It's Ruben.

Lucy lets the braid tumble into loose curls down the back of her neck. She picks up her phone.

"Hello, Ruben," she says, almost a whisper. "I'm scared, too."

❄

"They never listen to me!" Kipperlilly fumes, kicking at the nearest locker. Lucy cringes at the crunch of bone on metal, though Kipperlilly doesn't flinch. She's not one to break. "Why do they want to change our party's name?"

"I think Oisin thinks it's... funny," Lucy tentatively offers.

"Oisin has a shit sense of humor. And Ivy's just going along with him to mess with me."

"I don't like it, either, Lilly." Lucy's right hand traces up her left arm, feeling the soft wool bunch beneath her palm. "'Rat Grinders' is just cruel."

It wasn't the poor rats' fault that powers stronger than they deemed them collateral damage. There was so little Lucy could do now, but if she had access to just a few more advanced spells...

She shudders at the thought. They plant the final blow on monsters to get stronger, the weight of these monsters crushes rats into the mineral sand, and Lucy needs to take out more monsters—grinding more and more innocent rats in the process—in order to become strong enough to save those same rats from eternity.

Does she truly want to aid helpless creatures?

Or is this for her own peace of mind?

Kipperlilly's brow sets in determination. "Okay. We just need to get Ruben and Mary Ann on our side."