Memories Of Ice

The Wild Rose soared over the still grey skies, the sunlight barely managed to shine through the clouds. Roisin and Anya were in the living room talking.

"So, when you call Bryan your father, do you actually have any memories of him, or... is it just like, because he made you?" Roisin asked.

"Hmm, I'm a little unsure myself, when I close my eyes and dream at night, I do have memories of running around the Fyre family manor, back in Raryst. That can't be though, because I was created only a couple of years ago" Anya sighed.

"Hmm..." Roisin pondered for a moment. "Maybe it is just a dream, I sometimes dream I'm in a world made of marshmallows. That said, if its recurring, maybe it means something?" Roisin asked.

"I guess it could basically be a dream, of something I wanted. To be normal, to be human..." Anya sighed.

"To me, you are human" Roisin smiled slightly.

"Thanks Ros" Anya smiled back. "I've always wanted to just be like the others, even back at Pyre, I used to see the students all walking past me every day, each one of them having a whole life's worth of stories, then me, with my year or so of existence" Anya sighed.

"I can't imagine how that feels, and I wish you could have experienced it too" Roisin nodded. The doors to the living room opened and Ariel walked in.

"Wassup guys" Ariel greeted Anya and Roisin as she jumped over the couch and took a seat.

"Uh..." Anya laughed.

"I gotta say, that wasn't very 'Ariel'" Roisin laughed.

"Not very... Ariel?" Ariel asked.

"Yeah, you aren't usually this chipper" Roisin chuckled.

"Oh, so I gotta be moody all the time, is what you are saying?" Ariel teased.

"Oh, no! I just meant..." Roisin began.

"I'm teasing you Ros" Ariel smiled. "I just spoke with Wes, and we're making decent time on reaching Northan, but the snow isn't letting up" Ariel explained.

"This weather... was it really caused by me?" Roisin asked.

"I doubt it, it's not as if the Fire Crystal was snuffed out, like the Mystical and Earth Crystals. It exists on in you" Ariel replied.

"I guess" Roisin sighed.

"Hey, don't look so glum, we'll find something at the ruins of Raryst, no doubt" Anya smiled.

"I just hope we make it in time..." Roisin said as she looked at her cup of coffee that was sat on the table in front of her.

"From what we can tell, the temperatures are no longer in free fall, for now, so it's not as much of a ticking clock" Ariel explained.

"Hmm... strange" Anya pondered. "Do you think my Father could be... manipulating the Ice Crystal?" She asked.

"It would explain things a little more, but why would he do that, what does he gain from framing me?" Roisin asked.

"You're powerful, he doesn't like that" Ariel stated. "He's likely going to try to keep Abyssia busy too" She added.

"I mean, I won't complain about that" Roisin shrugged. Ariel smirked.

"Maybe, but I have a feeling Fyre would be more dangerous with power than Abyssia, he's an ex-middle manager turned CEO..." Ariel said as she readjusted the cushions surrounding her.

"Good point" Roisin chuckled.

"So, what is Northan like?" Anya asked, changing the subject.

"Hmm, it's kind of out in the middle of nowhere, an old mining city, it's pretty rough" Roisin explained.

"The Empire once tried to march on Northan, but the terrain surrounding it proved too difficult, and they were beaten back they the city folk" Ariel explained.

"You mean the army?" Anya asked.

"No, the city folk... they're hard people in Northan" Ariel replied.

"Whoa..." Anya pondered.

"The fact it was never successfully invaded means its a pretty independent city who doesn't bow down to anyone, not even Crystech exist there" Roisin explained.

"Interesting, so I guess they won't be rolling out the red carpet for us?" Anya asked.

"They don't attack people on sight, they're protective, but not nasty" Roisin smiled. "They have a refuelling station for foreign trader's airships" She added.

"Sounds like you've been, Ros?" Ariel asked.

"I have, when I was young, Uncle Atlas stopped by there to trade a few things, and took me and Syl with him" Roisin smiled.

"I hope Atlas is okay..." Ariel sighed, thinking about the last time she had seen him.

"He will be, he's been through much worse scrapes" Roisin smiled as she took a sip from her coffee.

"Against my former people, and mother, yes" Ariel laughed.

"If those two met each other again..." Roisin chuckled.

"Yeah, I'm not sure who'd win that fight" Ariel joked.

"Atlas, obviously" Roisin raised her eyebrow, Ariel burst out laughing.

"I mean, probably, yeah" Ariel laughed.

The three carried on talking as the airship carried on toward it's destination in Northan, a city state in the north eastern end of the Eastern Continent.