Soul Collisions

Moment of Frost

         His smile fades as he’s immediately surrounded by armed guards, their spears all pointed at his head as the captain steps forward. “How dare you interrupt a ceremony as sacred as the Dawning Age,” he says as he draws his sword. “Listen, buddy. I didn’t even know about this thing,” he says casually. Just standing there calmly as if this weren’t the first time this has happened to him. As the guards watch him closely, one of them whispers something under their breath that Maria can’t hear. Whatever it is, it seems to put the rest of them more on edge. Making the guards take a step back and train their gazes on him more. He only sighs and watches them. “Silence, as if we would believe the words that come from the mouth of a demon,” the captain shouts. “A demon?” she had heard of them before in tales from long ago and bits she heard her father speak of, but had never seen one herself. Did they really just look like ordinary people? That’s all he seems to be to her. The circle of guards all shift themselves as the boy raises his arm, pushing one of the spears out of his face with a finger. “Hey, if you’re looking for a demon, I know a few that’ll be here real soon,” the guard captain remains stern as he raises his blade, “Is that a threat against us?” they ask. He shrugs, “Nah, it’s more of a warning,” a rumbling noise seems to resound against the cathedral walls as he finishes speaking. Everyone in the room goes dead quiet as the sound grows louder. The guardsmen looking around in panic as the boy just stands there and watches silently. “Is this your doing?” the captain asks in panic as he stares up at the shaking ceiling. He just throws up his hand to gesture behind himself with his thumb as he doesn’t even bother answering, “You may wanna get back.”
         The guards beside the princess usher her back behind the podium. The light fading from the windows as the soldiers surrounding the boy turn their spears to point at the opening in the broken one. Moving to stand behind him as suggested, if only to brace themselves for whatever is coming. He stands his ground, staring up at the growing shadow in defiance as the sounds of shrieking quickly join the rumbling all around them. Everything is calm inside before a cloud of dark winged creatures swarm in through the gaping hole, flying around near the ceiling as they funnel in. The people around him cry out in terror as the horrid winged beasts shriek and claw at the statues surrounding the hall, not yet noticing the people below. The guards raise their spears to the ceiling, readying themselves for the oncoming assault. As they turn their attention away from the young man, he takes his chance and sprints for the altar. Mari watches as he jumps from in front of the podium back to where she is. Before the guards surrounding her even unsheathe their swords, he’s knocked them aside, his arm slipping around the awestruck royal, “I’m just gonna borrow this.” “Wait-,” she tries to stop him as he grabs her, but he doesn’t recoil in pain. That fact alone shocks her enough for him to sweep her up onto the altar in the ensuing panic.
         As he dips her down, she’s knocked out of her spell by the events unfolding. Her attention brought to her left where the people around her are panicking. “Hey,” she turns her head back to see him looking down at her with a smile “just relax and focus on your heart,” she can only stare up at him as she feels it pound. “I-,” her breath is taken away as he leans down and presses his lips to hers. The action shocking her so much she can’t even react. This is the first time she’s touched another person for as long as she can remember. Let alone in this way. He’s so warm. She reaches up to hold onto him, lost in the moment and not wanting it to end, but it does. He quickly breaks the kiss and spins her away to face the crowd, “Better take cover.”
         The pounding in her chest that she feels starts to grow stronger. She holds her hands against it as she winces, not knowing what’s going on. It echoes in her ears as she feels strangely relieved. Her mind races but all she can think about is what just happened. His words come to mind as she breathes deep and calms herself once more, her body feeling light. She looks up as the swarm of creatures notices her and starts to fly closer, but she stands still and watches. A bright blue light suddenly blinding her before everything grows quiet. When she opens her eyes, everything is covered in brilliant blue flames, her chest feeling still again. Not even a moment later the fire solidifies, leaving the building encrusted in jagged ice. “What…” she says out loud in wonder as all the people who were panicking slowly rise up from behind the aisles, looking around at the frost covered seats. Hanging from the ceiling is a makeshift chandelier of pointed ice. When she looks closer, she can see the figures of the creatures trapped in the frozen flame.
          “Nice work, kid,” a voice breaks the silence, making her turn her head to see the boy hop down from behind a statue. “That was pretty good for your first time,” he grins as he steps up to her nonchalantly. She just looks down as she blushes faintly, her chest beating fast again, “Um, thank you,” she says, not knowing what he means. He frowns and leans down on her level, “Don’t just go along with what I’m saying. It’s annoying.” She’s shocked by his brazenness and only nods as she looks at his eyes. A grin splits back across his face a second later though, “Relax, I’m just messing with you.” She really can’t tell if he is or not, and the expression on her face clearly shows it as he starts to laugh. She looks down at her hands as specks of frost cover them before she whips her head up to look at him, “Wait, first time for what?” He stops his laughing fit to turn and look at her blankly, “Your magic.” The distance between them is quickly overstepped as her face brightens, “I have magic?” “Yeah,” he says cocking an eyebrow and pushing her away a bit, “Pretty much everyone does. If you have a soul, you have magic.” His words cause her to feel a bit less special in that regard, but she still beams at the thought of being a magical princess like in her story books. The distance between them grows further though as she’s pulled back and he’s once again surrounded by the group of guards. “Hey!” she yells as she’s pushed aside so that she’s no longer close to the boy. “How dare you lay your dirty hands on the princess,” the head of the guards states as the boy sighs at having sharp objects shoved in his face again. “It worked didn’t it?” he remarks as he glances up at the hanging ice, smirking a bit at the way it turned out. “That doesn’t excuse everything that you’ve done here,” they say as they keep their weapon drawn, “Bringing those beasts upon us and disrupting the ceremony of the royal family.” The young man shrugs, prompting more yelling from the captain as Mari tries to fight her way back through the guards, “Hey, let me through.” They only hold her back, not wanting her to be caught up in what’s happening, “Princess, please stay back for your own safety.” She grabs at them to pull herself through, “I don’t care about that.” Her words trail off though as she realizes the guards no longer notice her touch. She looks at her hands again before touching one on the arm, they don’t respond as they keep an eye on the intruder. She just looks at her hands again in awe, the frost gone now, before looking back up as her father steps up onto the altar.
          “What is going on here?” he questions as he marches up to the group, looking quite stern. Having just arrived to the confusing scene. The guards go to answer but are cut off by Mari, who starts to run towards the king, “Father!” He steps back in hesitation before she latches onto him, “Maria, what are you doing?” She presses her cheek against his chest as tears well up in on the edges of her eyes, “Father.” The king looks down in surprise as the guards and the boy glance over at them in confusion. Her father’s arms slowly wrap around her, hugging his petite daughter tightly, “The cold is gone.” Tears start to bead at the corners of his eyes as well as the guards stand in silence. The few people in the aisles that haven’t left let out quiet whispers as they watch the touching moment. The boy stands there for a while, just watching as he feels kind of weirded out at the fact that everyone is stopping to watch them hug. After a minute though the king turns to look at him, “How did you do it? I’ve consulted so many over how to disperse this curse on my daughter.” The boy seems to share in his confusion as he wonders what he’s talking about. It shows on his face, prompting the king to explain. “Ever since my daughter was a child, she’s never been able to touch others,” she holds herself to him as he speaks, not wanting to let go. “Whenever she would do so, the cold touch of her skin would freeze theirs on contact,” he gestures to the soldiers around him, “I even had all my guards and staff wear padded clothing for when they escorted her.” “Oh,” the boy says as he looks between the princess and the king, “Yeah, the curse, of course” He shakes his head as he composes himself, “I don’t know really, just tried something.” The king looks at him in thought for a moment before he smiles a bit, “Well, regardless of method, I thank you for helping us.” He moves to bow as the guard captain tries to interject, “But, your majesty-“ The boy cuts in as he completely ignores the guards, “It was nothing. Just needed something to get rid of those annoying bats,” he smiles a moment before the captain butts in again. “My lord, this vagrant brought those filthy creatures here and disrupted the holy rite!” they shout as they motion towards the disinterested lad, “He should be punished for his crimes, not commended.” The king’s face becomes colder along with his tone as he stands back upright, “You would deign to chasten my daughter’s savior? The princess of this land.” The captain seems perturbed but stands with his statements, “As the captain of the guard, I do.” Their eyes stay locked for a hard moment before the king turns to the boy again, “Young man, what is your name?" he asks politely. "Cinder," they state flatly, not showing much in the way of pleasantries. “What an interesting name,” he remarks, "And why have you come here?” They scratch their wild hair some as they think, “Just entered the kingdom really. Guess I was heading to get a pass or something foe moving through.” The royal smiles a bit as he continues to question him, “And what were you doing with those beasts?” Cinder start to grin back as he answers, “I saw them nearby. Thought the best thing to do was lead them somewhere they could get trapped and wiped out all at once. Never thought the whole kingdom would be attending service.” The jovial king turns to smile at his guard, “See, just a simple mistake. No harm done.” The boy smiles with him as the captain maintains his frown. “What of the assault of the princess?” he asks as he motions to her. She’s been quietly listening as she leans out from behind her father. “Maria?” he questions in thought. Not having been around to witness this alleged assault. As he moves to the side she’s put out in the open once more, “Do you feel the boy should be punished?” She looks over at Cinder in deep thought, so many things swirling through her head at the moment. He looks at her with concern for a moment, seemingly thinking deeply about something too before he flashes a grin at her. Her decision is immediate, “No. I don’t.” After, she steps back behind her father again, but he’s too busy smiling happily to notice. “Fine, then it’s all decided!” he turns to the boy who stops dead in his tracks, seemingly having gone to step away from the group as soon as the questions stopped. “This is a time of celebration. Since the ceremony has been interrupted, it shall be postponed for the cathedral’s repair,” he states as flakes off ice fall from the frozen ceiling. “But that doesn’t mean the festivities must end. The festival shall proceed as planned. With our new guest as the man of honor,” the hunched over boy turns some, letting them see his grimace at the mention of a party. “Guards, start the repairs immediately after the celebration has ended,” the whole group of guards turn to show their own discontent, leaving the king to look at all the unhappy faces in bafflement. “Um…Maria!” he turns to his daughter who squeaks at the sudden mention. “Why don’t you guide our guest to the castle!” he quickly changes the subject to shift the focus. “O-okay,” she looks over at Cinder as he continues to grimace, clearly unenthused with this turn of events. “Come, I insist!” the king moves to push them towards the cathedral’s entrance, shards of glass and ice falling behind them in the ruined pews. “Sounds great…” Cinder remarks as he’s prodded into the same carriage as Mari.