the Frozen Cube

chapter 12

The north pole is supposed to be one of the coldest places on earth, void of practically any life except maybe polar bears and bacteria. So to find an entire city made of ice, to be trapped in a guillotine made from ice, before a group of people with hearts as cold as their ice powers, seems practically impossible. Even though the news had reported this ice civilization, I hadn't imagined castles and Colosseums. I had thought it would be as primitive as the stone age without the need for fire.

As I was opening my eyes, I saw the people in the colosseum stands. Their faces blue from the cold, and their eyes filled with a killer frost. There was one that stuck out from the rest though. She was wearing a regal dress and a crown as shiny as any royal crown but still made of ice like everything else here.

"You are trespassing in the ice kingdom of the North pole! We do not allow outsiders in our kingdom! And we especially don't allow meta humans except those with ice powers! Being a different kind of meta is punishable by death here!" The queen was clearly pissed

I gulped because they assumed I was a meta human. But I had no powers. I only survived in the belly of the whale.

Someone whispered in the Queen's ear, and then the queen decided to question it. "You got here by coming out of the ice in a giant geyser. But my guards are saying you do not have the genetics of a meta human, and seemingly no powers. So I'm going to give you one chance to explain yourself!"

The queen launched an icicle at my head but missed by half a foot. "That's a warning. If you do not have a good reason why we should let you live, we will execute you."

"I was told by God to come here and warn you of a disaster that will happen if you do not change your ways. Stop stealing, be kind to outsiders, and stop hitting people with loaves of frozen bread."

"This God you speak of, we do not worship him. We worship the Greek god of the sea, Poseidon. Now you shall be executed."

"Wait!" I shouted in a desperate last ditch effort to save myself. I knew it wasn't likely I could convince them with the truth that I had been in a whale, but I figured I would try, "you said you worship the god of the sea! So the fact I got here literally from within the sea should convince you that I speak the truth. I spent three days in the belly of a whale! The whale, a creature of Poseidon's domain kept me alive in the water under feet of ice for three whole days! So if that doesn't convince you, I don't know what will!"

A murmur went through the crowd, the executioner awaiting orders; holding the rope so the sharp ice blade was barely touching my neck. A little blood trickled from my neck, staining the snow with a crimson liquid. My neck had been cut only a sliver but if my argument didn't convince the ice queen I knew my whole head would be in the basket soon enough.

"Smell the prisoner!" The queen shouted, "if he smells of whale digestion we shall let him go, and heed his warning! But if he doesn't, there will be an execution tonight!"

The executioner made a spike of ice on the ground and tied the rope to it. Then she took one sniff of me, "he definitely smells of a whale's insides." She barely got out before passing out from the stench of me.

With that, everyone started talking to each other. The queen made an icebridge down to me before smashing apart the guillotine. "Then the God of Christianity is the God we shall worship now. If changing our ways will save our people from a disaster, we will do it. And we will help you if you ever need help. Thank you."

I held up my thumbs, the only thing I could do at this point with my body now completely numb from the cold and bit of bleeding. But I was going to be happy as the queen led me to an igloo with polar bear fur blankets and pillows.