Progress!

In the several hours we spent in that room, I had managed to 'melt' layer after layer of the ice. It was less like melting and more like absorbing. I got more and more hopeful every passing minute, and Jimmy's encouragement was the best thing I could ask for as I practiced at pulling the frost and cold back.

I was taking another break. I was exhausted now, performing the acts was continuously draining my energy. I sat down against the wall, resting my head against it and looking at the ceiling.

Jimmy sat down next to me. "I-"

"I know. You told me so." I cut off, smirking at him slightly before looking back up and closing my eyes. "You've said it a dozen times already."

"Because its true! Your actually doing it! A little more practice and you'll be able to unfreeze Rivendale!" Jimmy said, practically buzzing with excitement as he grabbed my arm and shook it.

"StOoOoOOop." I said, the movement making my voice shake as if an earthquake were taking place inside of my body.

Jimmy snickered, but at that moment the door swung open. Gem peeked her head in, her large wizard hat barely able to fit through the crack in the door she was looking through. She smiled at us. "How's it going guys?" she asked.

Jimmy didn't say anything, just pointed to the wall. Gem had come earlier to see what it had been before. She blinked in surprise. "Wow- your actually doing it." She said in disbelief.

"Thanks for believing in me Gem." I said sarcastically, a small smirk playing across my lips.

"Oh shut up you." Gem snapped back, glaring at me. She fully entered the room, crossing it towards the semi-melted sheet of ice. She brushed it with her fingertips, looking mesmerized. "Wow."

"I know, I told him he'd be able to do it." Jimmy said, grinning at me. I rolled my eyes at him for what felt like the millionth time, but I smiled.

"Yes. And you've told me you told me so more." I replied, which earned me an elbow to the ribs from Jimmy.

"Shut up ice boy. I have the right after all your arguing and whining!" Jimmy said, narrowing his eyes at me, but still smirking.

"He's right. You whine. A lot." Gem agreed.

I turned my glare to her.

"You do! You literally can't deny it-"

"I can and I will. Because I don't." I snapped.

"You know what, fine. I'll let you believe that." Gem sighed. "Anyways, we're having dinner if you two want to join-"

"No." I said, but at the same time, Jimmy said yes. "No." I repeated. "I'm not going."

"Come on Scooooott." Jimmy whined, shaking me back and forth. "You haven't eaten since breakfast-"

"Just bring me something afterwards." I suggested.

"No, just come eat with us." Jimmy said stubbornly.

"You know what happened last time-" I started.

"Yeah, it better not happen this time though or I'll whoop your-" Jimmy began, his eyes narrowing at me.

"It was once Scott, it'll be fine." Gem said with a bit of an exasperated sigh, cutting Jimmy off. I glanced at Jimmy, and he was now wearing a pleading look.

"Please?" he asked with a bit of a pout. I melted at his expression. I mean...how could I say no to that?

I groaned. "Fine! Jerk..." I murmured the last part. Jimmy elbowed me again.

"How am I the jerk!?" He asked, his voice going shrill at the end, before shoving me.

Gem rolled her eyes. "Ugh, boys." She said. "I'm going down to the dining room. Please don't kill each other on the way down. Or do, I don't care." She added, before striding out the door with attitude.

I blinked in surprise, before me and Jimmy both slowly turned our heads to look at each other. As soon as we made eye contact, he tackled me. "JIMMY!" I shrieked as he slammed me to the floor with a laugh. He wrapped his scaly hands around my wrists, pinning me to the ground with a smirk.

I narrowed my eyes at him, before wrapping my legs around his torso, twisting so now I was the one pinning him, my face in inch from his, my nostrils flaring in agitation with the other man.

Jimmy yelped, and I watched a blush spread across his face like a wildfire, dusting his cheeks and nose with pink.

I felt the back of my neck heat up, but I was frozen in front of Jimmy's face.

"Uh-" Jimmy said, sounding a little out of breath, before he laughed nervously. "You win I guess..."

As soon as I gained control of my limbs I clambered off of him, sitting on my knees a foot or two away. "Sorry-" I said awkwardly, rubbing the back of my neck which was drenched in slowly crystalizing sweat.

"Um, its fine." Jimmy replied, his voice a bit shrill as he sat up, fluffing his disheveled hair. "Its my fault, I started it..."

"True, you did." I agreed, nodding my head as he talked and trying to fight back the blush from my cheeks.

"Let's- let's just go to dinner." Jimmy said quickly, scrambling to his feet and brushing himself off. I ignored the hand he held out for me to help me up, and instead got up myself.

"Fine." I grumbled. "Let's go."

I entered the dining hall.

More like stalked into the dining hall, close behind Jimmy. Joel shot me a glare, but I ignored it. Katherine looked rather happy as she watched me walk inside.

I again sat at the end next to the head of the table, away from everybody. That was until Jimmy sat down next to me. The glare Joel was sending me intensified, and even Lizzie gave me a look that made me fear for my life.

I stared down at the table and instead of the others, not wanting to meet their eyes and see the anger and disappointment behind them that I had grown so used to when I saw them.

"Scott its okay, just ignore them." Jimmy whispered, giving me a reassuring smile. It took me a moment to break away from his eyes, but I nodded in response. I felt Giselle's eyes on me from a little ways down the table, and I lifted my head to look at her, my blue eyes meeting her dark ones. She raised her eyebrow slightly, as if to say. 'Better. Now keep it up'.

She broke eye contact, before announcing that it was time to eat as the last person, who was Fwhip, sat down at the table. I hardly paid attention to what was being served. I only did as Jimmy slid a plate loaded with food in front of me. "Come on, eat." He urged, nudging me gently with his elbow as he started on his own meal.

I stared down at my plate, on it was a bowl with some sort of soup with a heap of salad on the side and a rough slice of bread. It was so much different than what I was used to, all of it seeming fresh.

"You don't have to eat all of it. Just try some." Jimmy said gently.

I didn't reply, instead continued to stare at the plate and bowl in front of me. I finally sighed, giving in, and taking the spoon. But before I brought the spoon to my lips, I caught a snippet of conversation down the table.

"...I feel like he just feels he's entitled." Came Lizzie's voice. My ears perked up to try and catch their muttering, knowing exactly who they were talking about.

"I mean, what do we do if Jimmy continues to take his side? We don't know what he's planning. What if he uses your brother?" Joel asked, trailing off with a hiss.

"Guys, I think you are being a little overdramatic- though Jimmy is spending an abnormal amount of time with him." Fwhip's voice joined the bunch now, and I watched from the corner of my had as he ran a hand through his hair, the blue streak slipping through his fingers.

"Exactly. I'm starting to get worried. I mean, what if that elf breaks his heart again?" Lizzie said through gritted teeth.

I slowly lowered my spoon back into the bowl, losing the little appetite I had had. Did they think I wanted to? Did they see me as a player? Was that it?

"Something wrong?" Jimmy asked after swallowing, raising his eyebrow at me. I looked up, glancing past Jimmy and making eye contact with Lizzie. Underneath the blue scales freckling her face, she turned red as she realized I had heard them.

I turned back to Jimmy and the concerned expression he was wearing, before shaking my head, unable to speak.

Lizzie, Joel and Fwhip's conversation I realized, got more hushed and I wasn't able to hear them anymore, just mindless muttering. I sighed, turning to look back at my food, before pushing the plate away from me.

"Scott- please don't lie to me." Jimmy said, putting down his own utensils.

"I'm not lying. I'm just...not hungry." I said, my voice low as I continued to stare down at my plate, watching the last ripples in the soup die down from when I had placed my spoon in it.

"You haven't eaten since breakfast. Just a few bites. Please?" Jimmy begged. "You've done so much work today you've got to be hungry."

I didn't respond, zoning out staring down at the food.

"Scott, you're worrying me. Please." He said again a bit more desperately, and it hurt to hear him like that.

I was about to respond when this time I heard Katherine. "I wonder what's holding Lavender up. She said she'd be right here when I talked to her." She said, frowning slightly. In perfect timing, just like everything seemed to be in my life except when I needed it, Lavender burst into the dining hall, looking panicked, her chest heaving.

"She's waking up."

My head snapped up to look at her as Katherine and her mom both stood up. "What?" Giselle asked sharply.

"Phoenix. She started moving-"

I stood straight out of my seat, almost knocking my seat over at the news,

Jimmy grabbed my sleeve. "Scott-" I simply ripped my arm from his grip and sped walked out of the room, ignoring all the talking that had erupted at the announcement, before breaking into a sprint down the hallways towards the exit. Erin was waking up.

I ripped past one of the corners before pushing the doors open and running as fast as I could down the pathway down towards the apothecary, jumping rocks and roots in my way, the air around me whipping past.

The cold stung my cheeks and nose like needles, wind blasting me in the face as I moved against its current, the whitewashed building coming into my sight. My side was aching now from the sprint, but adrenaline kept me going from the prospects of seeing Erin, awake and hopefully, herself.

I burst through the door as soon as I had arrived, rushing into the room. Lavender was right. As I approached her bedside, I saw her charcoal-black fists clenched tightly around the blanket pulled up to her chest. Her face was screwed up in something like pain and struggle.

I stood there, frozen, my chest heaving with deep hoarse breathes, trying to recover from my run. But after a few moments I hurried to her side, sitting on the edge of the bed, and placing my hand on top of hers. "Please, please, please..." I muttered to myself, almost desperately.

After a minute of excruciating waiting, every second feeling like an hour, the door burst open and my head snapped up to see Gem, Katherine, Giselle and Jimmy bursting in, followed by everyone except Lizzie and Joel.

I immediately got to my feet, trying to hide the panic in my expression, the panic flooding through my very bones, as Erin's strange red, airy substance pulsed around her wrists as if trying to break free from her body which it was bound to.

The other's stared in silence, before Gem and Katherine broke the threshold even further, approaching the bed as well to stand by me. Fear gripped my chest as I watched her expression contort in different levels of pain, and I wanted so badly to reach out, tell her it was okay and take all of it away. But I couldn't. I had to watch.

But slowly, the signs faded like marks in the sand as the tide pulls in, and again she was peacefully sleeping, her chest rising and falling with her steady, even breaths. Again, she was just an unconscious figure, no signs of life except for a pulse, as if she had never been there in the first place.

I heard someone breath sharply and turned to see Giselle exhaling a sigh of...relief. "Thank god that was a false alarm." I heard her murmur to Lavender, just loud enough for me to hear.

One of my ears twitched in irritation, and I felt a few of my earrings click together. "What?" I asked, my eyes narrowing the slightest at Giselle.

Giselle looked up to meet my eyes, raising one of her dark eyebrows. "Pardon me?"

"What did you just say?" I asked, attempting to keep the sharpness from my voice, but failing as it pierced towards the woman like a knife. I felt a gently hand wrap around my wrist and looked to see Jimmy looking up at me with a pleading expression, asking me without words not to start a fight.

"I was simply saying it was a false alarm." Giselle said, giving me a challenging look of superiority. Anger flooded my body at her lies, but I restrained myself, keeping my lips sealed shut to stop words of fury exploding from my mouth.

I clenched my fists, but didn't respond, instead turning to look back at my sister.

"I know it doesn't look it, but this is good news Scott." Katherine said, approaching me. "It means she's certain to wake up, even if it isn't now. She's still in there."

I jerked my head in a nod, not taking my eyes off of the sideways moon imprinted on Erin's forehead.

The rest began to file out slowly, leaving me, Jimmy, Gem, and Katherine still here after a little more than five minutes.

We stood there for a while, in dead silence, before Gem spoke up, her voice breaking the still quiet. "Why don't we head up to the living room? We can relax there for a bit." She suggested, with a barely noticeable timid shake to her voice that I had taught myself to pick up when people spoke to me.

"I don't want to." I said, my voice monotone and void of emotion as I stared at Erin's practically motionless body.

"Just for a little bit, Scott." Jimmy said, prodding me lightly in the shoulder with his knuckles. "You can't sit in here all day again, it's not good for you."

"I don't care." I replied.

"But I do, come on, we're going." Jimmy said, taking my wrist and tugging me towards the door. I sighed, knowing he would keep persisting until I agreed, so I just followed him, letting him half drag me along out of the apothecary.

After we had arrived back in the castle, Jimmy led me into the lounge.

I shuddered when I remembered what had taken place here in my dream. I could imagine the pile of dust laying on the floor at the farthest end of the room-

"Come on, let's sit down." Jimmy said, cutting off my thoughts as he pulled me farther into the room. As soon as I penetrated the threshold though, leaving the doorway, the fire in the fireplace instantly died down, as if a strong wind had shot through the room to stifle the flames.

I swore under my breath to myself, chewing on my chapped and raw lower lip. I tasted blood immediately, the crimson liquid gushing through my teeth to my tongue.

I heard Katherine and Gem enter behind me as cold swept through the room, choking out all the warmth that had previously been in it.

"Scott it's okay-" Gem started, but I shook my head, retreating to a corner of the room, sliding to the floor and pressing my back against where the walls met, hearing my wings crunch underneath me. I tucked my legs up slightly as the cold followed me to the corner.

Gem sighed, rapping her staff on the ground. The crystal flashed orange for a moment before orange streams ran up the wood between the ridges up to the gem and fire shot from it, relighting the fireplace. From my spot, I didn't put it out by accident again. Katherine watched me for a moment with something like pity before following Gem and sitting down on the couch.

Jimmy slowly approached, sliding to the ground beside me. "What are you doing? Go enjoy the fire with the others." I said, a little harsher than I meant to apparently because Jimmy flinched.

"I'm not going to leave you to mope." Jimmy said, brushing the shards of ice that had fallen from my wings. "Where..." he started, before running a hand up my side to feel my wings, frozen and crumpled and useless. Chills that weren't from the cold ran up my side at his touch, but I stayed tense, not moving. "We've got to do something about these." He said after a moment, accidentally crushing one of my feathers with his fingers.

"How?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You've been getting better at taking away the ice, right? So now, let's try to stop it and get you closer to the fire. Maybe we can defrost them if we can get you close enough." Jimmy suggested, giving me an encouraging smile.

"That's never going to work." I said, instantly putting down the idea.

"It wouldn't hurt to try, Scott." Katherine said from her spot on the couch, her head turned to face us.

I frowned slightly. "I mean, I could try. I highly doubt it'll actually do anything though."

"That's what you said earlier, and I said, 'not with that attitude it won't'. So come on, get up." Jimmy said, getting to his feet and tugging on my arm to get me to stand with him.

I exhaled slowly as Jimmy began to drag me towards the fire. "It's just gonna go out again-"

"So, try not to put it out." Jimmy answered simply.

I exhaled slowly as I came closer. But just as I had expected, the cold swept over the fire again stifling the warmth and heat of the flames. Gem just rapped her staff on the ground, the orange flashing a second time before it relit, almost immediately getting put out again by the cold.

"Okay, Scott, take a step back, I'll relight it, and then you'll try again." Gem instructed.

I sighed, getting frustrated, before retreating from the fireplace. Just as she had said, she relit it. But this time I focused, forcing my body rigid, and just as I had done with the ice earlier, tried to pull all the cold I could back, but this time from the air around me. Every fiber of my body was concentrating on pulling it back as I took a step forward. And another. And then another. Soon I was close enough to feel the fire's warmth, its warm glow bathing over me, something I hadn't felt in years by choice and not by my brother flinging fire at me. Heat.

My jaw tensed as I got even closer. Slowly, I lowered myself to the ground to sit in front of the fire, mesmerized by flames that I hadn't watched up close in a long time. I watched as sparks danced, flitting across the logs and against the marble the fireplace was crafted from.

I felt something brush against me, and I looked up to see Jimmy sitting beside me with a smile. "I-"

"I know, I know, you told me so." I cut off with a roll of my eyes, despite a smirk twitching across my lips, unable to stay hidden.

Jimmy just let out a breathy chuckle, shaking his head slightly. "It's true."

Katherine then came over as well. "C'mon, lets warm up those wings of yours. Turn around." She said, also crouching down by me.

I obliged, shifting so that my back faced the fire.

"Alright, I know you're not gonna like this, you never do, but you need to take off your shirt. We need the heat to reach your wings." Katherine said.

I narrowed my eyes at her, fully aware that Jimmy was still in the room. Did I have to? "Fine." I muttered, pulling the blue knit shirt off and shaking off the frost that had collected on it. Katherine adjusted my wings, and I tried as best as I could not to wince, so they could better reflect the heat to defrost. I tried as hard as I could not to meet Jimmy's eyes.

After a few minutes though, the heat beating against my back was starting to get unbearable. Sweat had already begun to drip down my forehead along with the frost melting in my hair. I began to pant slightly, trying to cool myself down by spreading frost across my body.

"Scott, stop it!" Katherine said, slapping my upper arm. "You're making it worse."

"It's so hot Katherine-" I shot back, wiping my forehead with my forearm.

"Stop being dramatic." She scolded, readjusting my wings.

"He's sensitive to heat, remember Katherine?" Gem reminded her, crouching down in front of me and feeling my forehead. "I'll be right back with some water, kay?" She told me, before straightening back up.

I nodded, trying my hardest not to list onto Jimmy beside me as I felt even more melted frost drip down my body. I didn't like it, not one bit. I'd rather be in my corner; in the pleasant cold I was used to. Not here feeling as if I were getting roasted like a marshmallow.

"Don't worry Scott, just a little longer." Jimmy said after another few minutes, nudging me lightly with his shoulder.

A moment later, Gem reentered with a glass of water, and I drained it quickly. My wings had begun to feel heavy on my back, weighing me down as the melting frost soaked into the feathers.

"I think it's all gone..." Katherine said, readjusting my wings for the third time. I just nodded, trying not to hyperventilate from the overwhelming heat.

"Come on then, let's get you away from the fire." Jimmy said gently, standing up and helping me to my feet. I couldn't help leaning on him, my feet had gone numb from sitting so long and needle-like pains shot up my right foot. "Try not to let the frost come back that bad, okay?" He said as he led me to the couch.

I dramatically flopped face first onto the piece of furniture with a groan. I heard snickering come from a few of them, and I felt Jimmy sit down close by. I felt someone drag their fingers through my hair, presumably Jimmy, and I was very glad my face was buried in the couch, or everyone would have seen me blush.

"You need a haircut." Jimmy said after a moment.

"Where was I supposed to get a haircut in Rivendale in my condition? I don't think the North Pole has any barbers." I deadpanned, looking up at Jimmy, resting my chin on the cushion and narrowing my eyes at him.

Jimmy snickered. "You look tired." He added, moving my hair into my face playfully.

"Well yeah, it's hot in here now-" I complained, burying my face in the cushion again and swatting at Jimmy's hand.

"We'll have to find you a room up here." Katherine said pursing her lips slightly. "We have plenty though so that won't be a problem."

"I thought I already had a room...?" I said, scrunching my face slightly in confusion.

"No. That was my room, remember?" Jimmy explained to me. "I stayed on the armchair."

"Oh." Was my only response as I remembered vaguely him bringing me in to his room last night. But it was all very hazy.

"Mhm. And you should probably go to bed now. It's starting to get late, and you did a lot of work today. And you'll be doing even more tomorrow." Jimmy said with a small nod.

"But-"

"No buts Scott, he's right." Gem said, cutting me off with a stern tone.

I glared at her as I sat up, rubbing my eyes to try and get rid of my sleepiness. I ruffled one of my wings irritably and was surprised when it actually moved. My head snapped backward to look over my shoulder. I tried moving it again, and the white feathers shifted over the couch. "Wha-"

"It feels nice, doesn't it? I can't imagine what it would be like to have mine frozen in place for years." Katherine said, giving me a smile.

I replied with a nod, ruffling it again and smiling to myself.

"Alright, now let's get you to bed." Gem said, handing me my shirt, I slid it on gratefully, glad to have my chest covered again, which still ached horribly every once and a while from what had happened with the Xornoth crystal.

"Fine." I mumbled, getting to my feet and rubbing my eyes again.

"Let's find you a room, Scott." Katherine said, leading me out of the room. I saw from the corner of my eye Jimmy wave to me.

"Good night, Scott! See you in the morning." He called after us.

I waved back. "Night." I replied sleepily.

After Katherine had brought me to the room I'd be staying in, I collapsed on the bed, falling asleep within minutes. But not an easy sleep. As always, it was plagued with nightmares.

I woke up, sweat unrelated to the fire pouring down my face. Images from the dream flashed in front of my eyes of Erin playing hide and seek with me. But it ended so much different. A dark figure had dragged her out of the room, and her screams for help still echoed in my head as if it were an open cavern.

I sat up in the bed, one of my hands gripped so tightly around the bedsheets I was surprised I didn't lose circulation. The other I used to wipe my face. I looked around the dark, shadowy room. It had to be well past midnight now. I was jumpy after the dream, and I practically flew after I heard a tree creak outside my window. 

I didn't want to be alone. At all. I wanted comfort, like last night when I had awoken from that other dream. I wanted Jimmy. So, I swallowed my pride and slid out of bed, creeping to the door, and pushing it open.

I remembered the room from last night, and I quietly crept down the hall as to not wake anyone else. It was almost pitch black in the castle, and eerily quiet, just like my dreams. I felt goosebumps race up my arms, my head whipping in every direction every time I heard the littlest noise.

I moved as quickly as I could, until I finally arrived in front of the door to Jimmy's room. I slowly opened the door, peering inside before I stepped inside the room.

"Scott-? What the hell are you doing-?" Came Jimmy's voice as he propped himself up on his elbows, turning the lamp on his bedside table on, bathing the room in its yellow light. He had clearly just woken up because his voice was still hoarse from sleep. He squinted at me from the bed, looking extremely confused.

"I- uh- um." I stuttered. I hadn't thought this through. "I just- I had another nightmare and...I didn't want to be alone." I mumbled, rubbing the back of my neck as my cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

Jimmy blinked. "Oh." He said, clearly surprised as he sat up even more.

"I'll sleep on the armchair-" I said quickly. "You don't have to move."

Jimmy nodded. "Alright...you don't have to sleep on the armchair. The bed's big enough-" he said a bit awkwardly. "If you don't want to of course that's fine, I'm just saying the chair's really uncomfortable."

"I- okay." I answered quietly, shutting the door behind me and crawling onto one side of the bed, staying as close to the edge as I could.

Jimmy smiled at me. "Alright, I get the right, you get the left, okay?" He instructed.

"Mkay." I replied, rolling over so my back faced him and shifting my wings to cover me like a blanket, something I had missed horribly when they were frozen.

"Goodnight, Scott." He said, before shutting the lamp back off, and I felt as he laid back down on the mattress. I closed my eyes, feeling much safer in the same room with Jimmy, and this time as I drifted off, I didn't wake until morning.

***

OH. MY. GOSH. WHY DID THAT TAKE SO LONG?

I am so sorry this took two weeks; I didn't think it would take me this long to get it done. But here it is. I'm pretty sure I wrote half of this today because I wanted to get it out and over with, so sorry if it seems a bit rushed.

Thank y'all for your patience, and hopefully I'll be able to get the next chapter out sooner as I have a better thought-out plan for it. Get ready for some drama :)