VERIDIAN ICE PRINCESS
In. Out. Listen. In. Out. Your breath echoes in your ears. Your heartbeat thuds in your head. You're cold. Really cold. The frosty type of cold that chills you to the bone, threatening to break you into little ice splinters.
In. Out. Hear it? In. Out. You grip the worn leather handle of a smooth ice sword, the edge sharp enough to draw blood on contact. On contact, if you're a human. But you're not. Your blood roars in your ears as you raise the blade. The light seeping through the walls of the arctic Winter Palace reflects off the razor edge of your ice sword.
In. Out. Listen. In. Out. It's coming. You know it is. The one thing you have dreaded since you knew who you were, who you should be. You hear it. The roar. THE roar. Not the roar of the Blizzard-Winds, not the roar of the Great Whale Pod, but THE roar.
In. Out. Keep breathing. In. Out. The frosty air bites your nose, stings your throat, and keeps you awake. Every small sound is amplified by the ice walls of the Winter Palace. Your heartbeat flutters in your head, your breath quickens in your ears. It won't be long now, it won't be long until you come face to face with your long-time friend: Death.
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"Mika, Mika, wake up! Wake up!" You hear someone shout, as thought they were far down a tunnel. The protective black oblivion that you so graciously welcomed receded away from your eyes. The insides of your eyelids turn a dull white, almost a light grey.
Louder, the person, a small boy, squealed again. "Mika, Mika, wake up! Wake up!" You slowly open your eyes to a small, pale face with brown eyes and framed in wild black curls.
You feel a groggy smile play on your lips. "Ai, ai. Good morning, Xeric." You say sleepily, the words slurring together. You sit up, the silken sheets and frosty blue covers slipping off of your body to reveal an azure nightdress.
"Mika, Mika, guess what!" Little Xeric dances about excitedly. Still heavy with sleep, you play along. Much of your brain isn't working normally. "Today is your birthday!" The black haired boy shouts. "You're sixteen!"
Your eyes snap open and you suck in a sharp gasp. Sixteen! You're finally an adult! Your birthday celebration is tonight, and tomorrow, you're off to a new life! But what shall you do? "Little Xeric, please leave while I get dressed. I won't be but a minute." You shoo the boy out of your room and close the large door, the blue glacier ice greedily trying to hold your hand in place.
You skip to the mirror, your nightdress flowing out behind you. Sixteen! Today, you will get your new life, your powers! You are the Ice Princess! You look in the mirror excitedly. No one else will ever notice, but you know you have changed.
Your long hair has a glacier blue streak in it that seems to always interweave with your coppery locks and mark you as Veridian. And you wear the title proudly. Your eyes are the frostiest shade of electric blue. You're pale, but not waxy like Xeric. Your skin has a soft rosy glow. You smile and your teeth are a brilliant white, just like freshly fallen snow on a crisp autumn morning.
You turn away from your mirror and see your room. The walls are blue glacier ice, the same as your door is. The door has white designs carved into the ice toward the top, which narrows towards the ceiling. Your bed is large, with deep, royal blue silken sheets and a frost blue comforter. Although it is messy, you can still see the snow capped moutains of soft, downy, and squashy pillows you are constantly rearranging.
Next to your bed, a sun bleached grey nightstand teeters on the snow-white ice underneath your feet. On the nightstand, a small picture frame and a necklace claim space. Inside the picture frame, a picture of a little girl with braided copper hair, plus a blue streak, is laughing with her arm around a very, very pale boy with black eyes and curly brown hair. His arm is around her, too, and he's grinning like an idiot.
You smile as his name comes back to your mind. Nakir. On an off note, you wonder if he ever thinks about you, remembers your name, or even has a picture of you. You walk easily to your nightstand, being Veridian. Ice does not bother you, does not trip you, does not hurt you. After all, you are Veridian, AND you are an Ice Princess.
You run your fingers along Nakir's cheek in the picture. You smile as you remember your childhood friend. The two of you declared yourselves closer than family. The Nakir had left, erased from your life. And you didn't even get to say goodbye.
You shake your head. Not on your birthday. Not the day you are to be empowered! A real Ice Princess! Oh, your heart flutters at the thought of your own kingdom, your own people! Most importantly, your powers. You've waited many, many star cycles for this. Sixteen of them, in fact. But how shall you dress? You simply cannot attend your celebration without the proper clothing. You open the wardrobe that occupies the space next to the mirror.
After much thought. You pull two dresses out of the wardrobe and place them on the bed. Oh, how you love them both!
The first dress is azure, like your nightdress, and seems to be many layers of silk wrapping around your body many times. The material is studded with pearls. The story the pearls told was one of happiness and submission. You smile as you remember the many balls you attended, intending to cause mischief with Nakir. You remember the day your father remarried. This was the dress you wore at the wedding. Alongside Nakir, of course. You remember that the dress has a back with a long V cut out of it. Along with all the good memories you had with the beautiful dress, you're afraid of the message it will send.
Upon the other foot, you have a stunning red dress with a long opening from your foot to a few inches below your waistline. The other side of the skirt, which is completely closed, traces a pattern of flames burning from your toes to just below your collar. Only because the dress is strapless, of course. At least the neckline was modest enough. The dress is many shades of crimson. You love the message of rebellion and dominance it asserts, but you are an ice Princess.
Oh, dear, which one should you wear?
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