Rise of The Guardians 2: Just Like Fire

Chapter 18: Jack

Aria's eyes flicked to mine, so quickly that I almost missed it. Realising my face was probably crossed between horror at her story, and curiosity at what Kronos was talking about, I forced myself to raise an indifferent mask.

Kronos' eyes stayed glued on Aria's even as she blinked quickly several times, her eyebrows furrowing as though she was in pain, or struggling to hold a thought. Her head shook slowly from side to side.

He grinned, almost triumphantly. "I thought you stronger than this sweetheart." He told her, and her eyes narrowed at the barb.

"Are you sure you want to insult me?" She asked him quietly, acid practically dripping from the words.

"What are you going to do?" Kronos shrugged it off with a smirk. "Kill me?"

She grinned, and in that moment I became slightly scared of her. Her eyes had hardened to icy marbles that rivalled the chilly cavern, and her smirk held nothing but violent promise. "Don't tempt me."

"Well, you'd better hurry up, because you'll be dead in a matter of minutes."

She shook her head, and he laughed. "Don't deny it sweetheart. Ice always trumps fire."

That's when her legs, progressively going blue with cold, gave out, and she fell to the ground beside the barrier.

I yelled her name, and that's when I realised she was shaking.

I turned to Kronos, my veins burning with anger, and my voice turned deathly quiet and hard. "What did you do to her?"

He laughed at me. "I didn't do anything to her. It isn't my fault that ice saps her fire and her strength."

I raised my staff and went to move towards him, but he waved his hand toward the barrier. The outline of an arched doorway formed, etched in a thin line of white light. The ice, coming into contact with the light, fizzled like acid before melting into nothingness.

"Go on." Kronos said, strangely quiet. "I don't know how much longer she's going to last."

Not needing to be told twice, I ran into the cell and knelt at her side to check for a pulse. It was weak, but there. She was so cold.

"Kronos." She murmured, so quiet that I almost missed it.

Realising that I had turned my back on him to check Aria, I whirled around on my knees to see him smirking at me. The doorway shimmered, then was sealed again. I swore, standing up to face him. His grin widened, before he turned wordlessly and walked out of the cave.

I swore again, but when Aria moved slightly behind me, I kneeled by her side again.

"Is he gone?" she asked, opening her eyes to look at me.

"Yes." I said, equally as quiet as her.

"I tried to hold out." She murmured slowly. "I really did... but the pain... was too strong. I... couldn't stop it." her face screwed up in obvious pain.

"It..." I almost said it didn't matter, what either Kronos or I thought of her. That she's still strong. But somehow, I knew it was wrong. It was obvious she had a past with Kronos, whatever it was, but she had lost, and now there was a need to prove something to him. It did matter to her whether or not she stood up to him, I couldn't just pretend that it didn't.

"I know you did." I said instead. "I have no idea what you're going through, but I probably would have fallen before you."

The edges of her mouth quirked up in a grateful smile, before she grimaced again.

We sank into a silence for a moment, Aria curling up into a ball and me staring at the barrier. "Aria, can you move?" I asked her. "We need to get out of here, but Kronos sealed us in."

"No... the ice... sapped all... my strength. I can't even... make a spark... anymore." She said slowly.

"Shit." I murmured. "What's happening to you? Is there any way I can stop it?"

She gasped and moved, rolling away from me as her face scrunched in pain.

I was more confused than ever when she sat up and looked at me, her face serious.

"We hold our magic in our blood. Mother Nature, or Gaia, if you like, gave it to us when we were resurrected. That's what makes us different from all the others. But it also means, that when you come into contact with your polar opposite, it saps your strength, and your magic slowly weakens, then vanishes completely.

"We're polar opposites Jack. Ice weakens me. If I had been brought here while I was awake, it would have taken longer, but when I was knocked out by Kronos, he deadened my magic. By the time I woke up, I was already powerless. Otherwise I would have melted the entire place. When our power is gone, the remaining magic in our blood is affected by the other element. Basically, I'm getting ice crystals forming in my blood. It's very painful, and the spasms have already started. It's also why I collapsed earlier. I would say I have moments until the next one, and then I don't know how long I have left."