"Very chilly day, it is," Aaron muttered as he shut the door behind him.

Fiera had been sitting in his office for the last five hours during which the icy sleet of rain had turned to snow, letting her fingers burst into flames every now and then to keep herself warm because the fireplace would respond only to Aaron's touch, which she figured out after spending an hour on it. The moment he snapped his fingers, the fireplace burst into flames, warming up the room considerably.

She hadn't expected to be treated like royalty as her welcome, but the moment she saw the resentful glares the people in these premises had thrown her when she heard snippets about her bloodline, her powers and her eyes when she sensed a low tremble of fear among their ranks coupled with disgust and meaningless hatred, she decided that it was the safest for her to be in Aaron's office, secure under various enchantments put to place, as opposed to accompanying Rose to their Medical Hall.

She'd rather wait it out.

"Do I have to see her?" Fiera asked, focusing herself on the question that most bothered her at the moment.

The room was brought to life from the flames, in a thick orange glow that shined off the table-tops. She caught a glimpse of the steady serious portraits strapped to the walls in their ornate frames and felt a chill down her spine.

"Unfortunately yes." Aaron was saying, "You cannot say no to the Crown."

Silence filled the room like a mushroom cloud, as Fiera lowered her head. The Letter of Revoking Banishment burned a hole into her pocket. She had read it so many times, over and over that the words were burned into her head. But it was the seal of the Crown that burnt the most. She had known when Godspin had given her the letter, that she would be at the mercy of these people, in exchange for protection. Something she had desperately sought in the last ten years of her runaway life.

"But it will be fine," Aaron said, arranging the binders on his tabletop, "The Crown has already forgiven -"

"Me, of crimes I did not commit," Fiera muttered.

"Fiera," Aaron said, and she looked up into his eyes, pools of twenty-seven years of condensed wisdom, "Lay low. You will be fine. It's such lovely weather, why don't you go take a walk?" There was something chilly about his words, that made Fiera stumble to her feet and make her way out of the room. The last thing she wanted to do was make him mad at her. Her possibly only ally.

Aaron's office, was one of the most eye-catching rooms, in the Institute located closest to the entrance. And just as she closed the door behind her, she felt a chill down her spine. A nauseating feeling came over like a cloud and she tried not to breathe.

"Could you move aside please?"

The voice was frosty, not just in the sense of the tone, but also in the sense of his blood. Fiera had spent a considerable amount of time with Rose, a Water-Practitioner, but Fiera never felt as heavy or horrible as the presence behind her, made her feel. She instinctively stepped away caving aside, to let them pass.

It was as if his veins had water and ice instead of blood.

What was she doing, here, really?

What was she doing in this gods-forsaken place, having to force herself to dine and sleep among people who not only hated her guts but hated the very proof of what her existence stood for?

Was that one Letter Revoking Banishment worth all this turmoil she would be putting herself in?

She tried to shake off her thoughts.

Survival.

"Quite cunning isn't she?" a sharp voice cut through nausea. Fiera instinctively looked up, coming eye-to-eye with a seemingly middle-aged gentleman. He was dressed in a dark fur coat, with snow boots & gloves, completely equipped to face the snow day outside.

Fiera wondered how she should respond. But he didn't wait for her to, taking the chance to step closer to her, under the pretext of examining her face. Startled, she took a step back,

"Pardon?" she said.

"Oh my, so you can speak?" he chuckled, "Don't those barbarians cut the tongues of their children so their spell-work & sorcery is mastered at a younger age?"

"If you'll kindly excuse -" Fiera tried to cut in. She could feel her irritation shoot up. A puny thirty-year-old man was trying to provoke her. She knew that if she engaged, it would be more about her harming him than him provoking her.

"So what magic tricks can you pull?" the man curtly asked, "Other than showing up at our doorstep on the First Snow -"

"I have work to do," Fiera said making her voice louder than his. She would absolutely not engage. She would leave the situation. Thankfully there didn't seem to be anyone around except for that chilly presence that had walked into Aaron's room after her, who had chosen this moment to walk out, she continued, "Excuse me."

She was about to take a step, assuming that the conversation was finished, when the man grabbed her shoulder, his earthy heaviness forcing her to stop.

"Don't you dare speak to me like that - mongrel!" he hissed. Her face reddened and blood rushed to her ears. She could feel the fire in her body rise up inside her. If he laid a had on her, that should be enough proof to defend herself right?

That meant she could fight him, right?

Her fingers itched.

She sensed the chilly presence behind them grow stronger making her feel more nauseous.

"Leave her alone, Mr Blake." The voice dripped in frost, and she shivered, but the hand holding her let go. She flinched aside, and finally took a look at the chilly presence.

It was nothing more than a boy.

Probably her age, maybe a year older. The only head-turning thing about him, aside from his chilly presence, was his shockingly white hair. The last time she saw such hair was on Godspin's head.

Mr Blake straightened his collar and gave a cool look at the boy.

"Don't stick your head in others' business, Laiken."

"Leave, Mr Blake." The boy called Laiken said.

Laiken?

The name was familiar to Fiera. She had met a certain Neer Laiken a few years ago, a woman of tremendous power and even greater charm. She wondered if this boy was related to her somehow and if the boy didn't have any whatsoever fear over authorities.

But she didn't care really, as long as she didn't have to engage herself in a fight far, far beneath her.

Mr Blake snorted before he walked out the doors, leaving behind a lingering of the chilly winds that sprung in.

"Thank you," she said, feeling a wave of nausea when he met her eyes. There was just too much coldness in the boy, for her as a Celosis to feel comfortable addressing.

"You must be Fiera Celosis." The boy called Laiken said.

"Yes, uh, can you turn that off?" Fiera said, holding her hands to her face to filter out the air she was breathing, "Your Ice is too powerful, for me to stay around you -"

"Oh -" The boy said, and performed a series of clicks on his joints from his wrists and shoulders to his ankles and toes. It was an age-old technique of masking one's elemental energy temporarily. Aaron must have purposefully kept his mask off so that she & Rose could sense them. "Better?"

"Yes -" she took a large breath, "Very much, better."

"My name is Kai Laiken," he said, with a slight tilt of his head, "You would know my mother I believe -"

"Ah, that's why the name sounded so familiar. You must be Neer Laiken's son -"

" - yes," Kai said. "Aaron asked me to escort you on a walk outside." He pulled up two stickers, "I can't go out if you don't come with me so -"

"Oh. But, uh, but the weather is not really to my -"

"It's cold, ah, it's cold. Um, but this will likely be your only chance to get supplies," Kai said, "Because it gets very, very cold here in Inima, better get supplies, like snacks, clothes, maybe scout around a little to get the lay of the land - you do have money on you right?"

Finally the correct question.