ic Polar Vortex [IC]

[Gizmo]

Avro let out an annoyed warble as the massive boar continued to buck about, forcing the diminutive manticore kitten to hunker down and dig in his claws just to keep from flying off of the monster's back. It offended the little predator's sensibilities that a full dose of his venom had failed to bring his quarry to its knees. He enjoyed a challenge as much as the next manticore but at some point other creatures just needed to learn their place in the order of things. With a brassy growl he bit down on the icy hide his venom had weakened, ripping away with his claws and teeth.

[Gizmo]

Floating around behind the Vetrgoltr again, Kimber scooped up a protesting Avro with her poltergeist telekinesis and twisted about in the air so that she could slip her ghostly hand into the boar's back. Flying back toward its head she ran her insubstantial fingers along the monster's spine, draining the strength from what passed for its muscles until she was once again hovering in front of its face, hands on her hips and glare disapproving. "Well?"

The beast continued forward a few more steps but eventually its knees began to wobble then buckle as it collapsed to the ice covered street, wounded and tired.

[trollthumper]

"Snorri! Snorri!"

 

The voice rang out like a fog horn across the neighborhood, startling Temperance. Thunderous footsteps soon followed, and two individuals came barreling around the corner. They were dressed in thick furs and leathers, the likes of which one might see at a very strange Renaissance Faire. But details like that were quickly drowned out by the fact that their skin was light blue, and they stood a head above the gigantic boar. One of them - who looked like the younger, from what Temperance could tell, started petting the felled boar tenderly. His eyes fell down on the two. "What did you do to him? Is he hurt? If you --"

 

"Suttungr." The older brother pointed to the disturbed snow and toppled cars. "It appears that the Midgardites simply feared him to be a rampaging beast. You knew Snorri was rambunctious. I told you to keep a close eye on him. I even warned that he should stay home --"

 

"I know, but if anyone can find that thing, it's Snorri. He can smell out a single truffle under permafrost!" 

 

"And if we were looking for truffles, that would be one thing. If you would just --"

 

"Excuse me?" 

 

The two giants looked down to Temperance. "I'm sure you two have very important business, but when somebody unleashes gigantic livestock in my town, I'd like to know why." 

 

The younger giant's expression darkened. "And who are you, little ones, to give orders to the children of Jotunheim?"

[Gizmo]

Flying over next to Temperance, Kimber frowned at the frost giant's rudeness. Turning to the hydrokinetic she turned sunny and held Avro toward her with outstretched arms. "Hi, I'm Ghost Girl, hold my manticore for a minute and close your eyes, okay?" With Avro seemingly perfectly content to curl up in the crook of Temperance's elbow with a brassy purr, the poltergeist turned back to the jotnar with a dangerous gleam in her eye, sniffing the air in an unsettling manner.

"Who are we?" she asked in a voice colder even then the frosty air of the blizzard, hovering higher off of the ground. Her tattered reaper's cloak billowed outward and the phantom's entire form swelled and stretched horribly like a skeleton trying to claw its way out of its flesh. By the time she settled she was on par with the giants, standing easily two storeys from the street. Her features took on an ageless, regal quality, her hood a great horned helm, her costume an archaic winter cloak trimmed in fur. Something about the gauntness of her cheeks and the pupil free glow of her eyes spoke of death now more than ever.

"Who are you, impudent whelps?!" she boomed, hair streaming wildly behind her. "Mind your tongues, for you are not in Jotunheim and there things far larger, far colder and far more deadly than you in the Nine Realms!"

[trollthumper]

Suttungr cringed and fell backwards to the ground, his rear colliding with a sound like ice cracking on a frozen lake. "Please forgive us, Maiden of Helheim," he said. "We meant you no disrespect, and do not wish to mar this world --"

 

"Suttungr. Calm." The elder jotunn looked over Ghost Girl, looking her right in the eye. "That's a very good impression of Hel. Angrboda's is much better, though." He ran a hand over Snorri, as if to comfort the gigantic boar. "We came on too strongly. Consider it the conceit of giants."

 

"I've got a lot of words for it," said Temperance. "You might not want to hear any of them. Why are you here?" 

 

"The storms. They're quite intense, you'd agree? More intense than normal?"

 

"Perhaps a bit strong for the average blizzard, yes. Are you saying this has something to do with you?"

 

"Us, no. Jotunheim, yes. You see --"

 

"Velkr."

 

The giants turned to see a man at the end of the street who had not been standing there a second ago. He wore full plate of burnished gold, which stood out strongly against his skin, which was as white as the snow around him. His hair was blond, and his eyes glistened like light run through a prism. "What have you done with the Heart of Ymir?"

[Gizmo]

With an abrupt smile, Kimber was immediately back to her five foot eleven self, floating at eye level with the elder jotun. "Aw, you think? Was 'impudent whelps' too over the top? I don't get a lot of honest feeback, y'know?" Turning to the younger brother, she placed her hands on her hips and gave him a more stern look. "I'm sorry to scare you but being a pet owner is a big responsibility and you can't just let Snorri there run into traffic like that! Please be more careful, okay?"

When yet another strange figure appeared on the street, Avro raised his head in interest, butting it into the bottom of Temperance's chin and making an inquisitive sound. "Hello!" Kimber called with a big wave, flying between the two giants to get a better look. "He was actually just about to say when you interrupted him, I think. I don't want to be the Canadian telling everyone to be more polite but honestly you guys, what would your mothers say?"

[trollthumper]

The pale man looked to Kimber, his fingers slipping over a horn hanging from his belt. "Canada," he said. "I am familiar with the land. It speaks to me in many ways." He looked to the young ghost. "Perhaps a little politeness would help. Greetings, young shade. I am Heimdall of Asgard, Lord of Himinbjorg, Steward of the Bifrost, and watcher of the Nine Realms." He looked to the two frost giants. "These two, of Jotunheim, have introduced a great hazard to Midgard."

 

"It wasn't us, Asgardian," said Suttungr. "If those eyes of yours were so great, you'd know that."

 

"You know the pact that keeps me from looking into Jotunheim. One that you're happy to abuse."

 

"I also seem to recall a Pact --" The way Suttungr said it, one could easily hear the capital "P." "--that keeps you from striding down Bifrost as you please."

 

"And there are loopholes for a dire situation such as this --"

 

"Excuse me." 

 

The parties turned to Temperance, who was working on keeping Avro calm while focusing the rest of her attention on the three others. "I believe she asked for something approaching diplomacy. Could we please avoid further unpleasantness for at least a minute, so that we can discuss what exactly is going on?"

 

The frost giants and the Aesir traded glances, but nodded slightly. Velkr turned to Temperance. "What Heimdall is trying to say is, there is a relic of Jotunheim that dates back to the days before the formation of the world. It is the Heart of Ymir, whose body once formed all of creation and whose blood flooded the world with his... passing." He looked to Heimdall on that one, with a dirty look that just barely escaped whatever restraint he was demonstrating. "However, there has been some slight instability in the firmament of Jotunheim, and in a moment of chaos, the Heart fell out of our realm and into yours. Around here, I believe."

 

"And this relic..." Temperance glanced around the neighborhood, where the wind and snow seemed to be picking up with every minute. "I'm guessing it has something to do with the nature of Jotunheim."

 

"Ymir's remains reshaped our world immensely," said Suttungr, "and his Heart holds it together. He was born of the venom from the icy rivers of Elivagar, but our land has long since been tempered by that venom. Your world, however... if the Heart remains here any longer, that power may cause its blood to curdle in its veins."

[Gizmo]

"Ooh, ooh! A giant heart is just a really big dead thing and dead things are my specialty!" Ghost Girl announced, clapping her hands and giving the visiting Norse an enthusiastic thumbs up. "Give me a minute and I bet I can track it down, no problem!" Concentrating, the specter's eyes turned a milky white as she scanned the area, turning about in midair.

As she spun about to face the direction of Wharton State Forest, Kimber abruptly stiffened with a surprised gasp that moments later turned into a pained shriek of terror! "AIEEE!" Plummeting out of the air as if gravity had suddenly decided to reassert its hold over her, the ghost huddled into a ball on the pavement in front of the giant ice boar before winking out of view.

Yowling, Avro forced his way frantically out of Temperance's arms and ran across the street and began butting his head into his mistress' invisible form. "Mrrowr? Mmrrr..."

[trollthumper]

In Kimber's mind, there was a sense of... everything. Her body stretched beyond the course of the world, her head brushed the stars. Freedom City in its totality was but a mote in her eye. She could feel the coursing of life all over her, crawling on her body. She was both inert and vital, stone and flesh, powered by cold blood running through her veins. 

 

And then, there was pain. Sharp and direct, right to the heart. She could feel herself falling apart, her bones shattering and her flesh crumbling. Tears and blood ran from her body, the salt falling into oceans and the pure blood falling into rivers. Fire fell from the skies all around her, scorching the newly-formed earth where it struck. She was dying... but she wasn't. She was retreating, watching as what was left of her coalesced together, forming worlds hanging on the branches of a spectral tree. And she watched it all from walls of ice, in what was once her heart.

 

The hallucination passed as Avro gently padded her with his paws, trying to rouse her from the vision. The frost giants and Heimdall stood over her, their expressions frozen but betraying the occasional flicker of concern. Temperance was there as well, offering her a hand - for all the good that might do. "Are you all right now?" she asked. "What happened?" 

[Gizmo]

Ghost Girl gradually faded back into view, starting off as a faint tracing of an image, practically blending in with the snow and ice covering the street and slowly regaining more of her blue colouring. It was tough to tell with the transparent teen but comparing with the beryl freckles running across the bridge of her nose her face seemed a bit paler than it had before. If took another few moments of rocking back and forth, eyes squeezed tight, before she was able to look up at Temperance and form coherent words. "F-fire," she managed weakly, giving her head a shake. "Sorry, sorry, I... I saw Ymir die and it was all bigger than I expected and then there was fire and I'm - I'm - I'm not good with fire and I slipped and it was me dying again and I miss being able to throw up for real, yeaugh..."

Waving away the offered hand with a game attempt at a grateful smile, the phantom got back to her feet unsteadily. "I, um, I think I found the Heart thing, though. Yay..." Raising a fist in the air she mustered what encouraging cheer she could for the giants and Aesir. "S'over that way, in the forest, probably? I think he might also be awake in there a bit, still, which I gotta say seems like a pretty raw deal. I can lead everybody to it if you give me a minute to focus on not screaming, 'kay?"

[trollthumper]

Heimdall looked to Suttungr and Velkr. "If you would be interested in setting aside the dispute..."

 

"Well, we weren't exactly the ones who --"

 

Velkr cut off Suttungr with one raised hand. "We are." He turned to Heimdall. "If you keep your blades tucked away, we'll keep ours tucked away. Do you agree?"

 

"I agree. But keep in mind, sons of Jotunheim - know that if you make any stray movement..."

 

"Yes. I know. You'll be watching."

 

"Well, I'm glad we could all agree to be gentlemen," said Temperance. By this time, Avro had crawled back up onto Ghost Girl's shoulder, glad that she was back to her hale self. "So, now that we've reached some form of truce, could we go to Wharton and find the Heart before this world gains a third Pole?"

 

---

 

It had taken Temperance some time to will together an ice sled that would support the weight of two frost giants and Heimdall. The giants had taken the time to send Snorri back to Jotunheim - now that they had more of an idea where the Heart was, they didn't wish to risk having their beloved boar go wild again. "So," said Temperance to Heimdall, "if I remember my books right, you have the ability to see anywhere, right? So can you nail down the Heart for us?"

 

"The Heart is the last spark of that which birthed all creation. Have you ever tried staring into the sun?" 

"Yeah. Once."

"Imagine that sun comprised the entirety of the sky. That is what trying to glimpse the Heart is like for me. I have generalities. Nothing more. But we are getting closer..."

Temperance could see that. The wind was picking up, and the snow was falling more furiously than before. Something whooshed past her head with the speed of a bullet. Hail. And by the sound of it, the stones were possibly as large as soccer balls. 

"I'm setting us down," she said, "before we get put down."

 

The sled touched down in a small thicket, and was swiftly reclaimed by snow that came up to Temperance's thighs. She looked around. The forest seemed more... primeval here. Even with the clouds blotting out the sun above, the shadows loomed far too long. The wind whistled through the trees enough to make dissonant movement. And there was the feeling that they weren't alone...

[Gizmo]

With a much put upon Avro curled up against the cold in one of her cloak's voluminous sleeves, Ghost Girl hovered slightly over the giants' shoulders, matching speed with the sled. She was still wavering about a bit and largely quiet except to give brief directions, attempting to gather her strength and regain some measure of dignity. "So, um, sorry about the major meltdown back there," she eventually mumbled with a sidelong glance in Velkr's direction. "I normally make a much radder first impression, honest. I feel like a major dork for trying to spook your little brother now, too." The phantom's downcast expression was momentarily disrupted by a hailstone passing clean through her face, though she seemed too preoccupied to bother reacting, simply following Temperance downward and looking around the imposing forest.

[trollthumper]

"There is no need to apologize," said Velkr. "I do not know much of this world, but you seem to present yourself in a fairly subdued fashion. On Jotunheim, there is a good deal of posturing during first encounters. Everyone must try to best everyone else. Your style is familiar for us, though it may not be for this world."

You'd be surprised, thought Temperance as she forded her way through the snow. The group remained closely knit, but this close to the crash site, even she was starting to feel the cold. It didn't help that the shadows seemed to be growing thicker...

"Halt."

Temperance stopped as Heimdall said it. And as she did, she heard nothing but the howling wind - and the distant sound of feet crunching down on semi-frozen snow.

"We are not alone here..."

[Gizmo]

"Probably not so much the screaming and stuff, though, eh?" Ghost Girl noted with a small sigh, lifting her knees in the air and adjusting her hovering to give the illusion that she'd seated herself atop Velkr's shoulder, a trick she'd perfected for plane rides and bus seats. "Still, sounds like a pretty fun place. Easier for a blue gal to blend in at least! Have to remember to visit sometime."

As the group stopped at Heimdall's warning, Kimber slid forward and dropped back down to Temperance's height, looking about the snowy forest. "Um, I think I'll just keep my extra senses to myself this time, if that's cool with everyone? Do you see anything?"

[trollthumper]

Temperance scanned the white wilds around her, trying to trace what movement there might be through the curtains of snow. "I'm seeing nothing of the ephemeral," she said. "Whatever is out there, it's of the flesh."

Or whatever close equivalent to that it's managed to heap together.

Heimdall looked out into the blinding landscape, listening for the sound of crumbling snow. "Whatever is out there... is almost jotunn. But at the same time... nowhere near." Off in the distance, for half a second, Temperance swore she saw something tall, looming... and entirely too gaunt to support itself.

Heimdall turned to Kimber. "Ghost Girl, you are called? It may serve us best if you scouted ahead."

[Gizmo]

Kimber gave Heimdall a flat look with pursed lips. "Oh, sure, make the dead girl go check out the super creepy slenderman giant ice heart thing, she won't mind. It's not like you're the god of checking stuff out or anything." Sighing, she closed her eyes for a moment and raised one hand to support her cheek. "Sorry, sorry, that was really snippy. I'm still kinda on edge after the vision thing but I shouldn't take that out on you. Here." Scooping up a shivering, testy Avro, she placed the manticore atop the Aesir's head and flew off further in the direction they'd been traveling in, fading into invisibility along the way. She had a sneaking suspicion that whatever was out there wasn't the sort of creature that relied primarily on conventional sight but it seemed worth a shot anyway.

[trollthumper]

Kimber drifted through the whipping winds, which blew through her like knives. Fortunately, knives did little to her, and neither did the wind. Still, somewhere deep down, she did feel a chill in her ectoplasm. Through the snow, she could see something looming like a mountain in the distance, given form more by shadow than by anything distinguishable. But even cloaked in shade, Kimber could tell that mountains didn't usually throb...

Closer than the mountain were figures that strode across the blanketed landscape, so thin they were almost translucent against the blinding white. They were almost like the jotnar - almost. Their skin was too clear, like the thin sheet of ice over a barely frozen lake. Their limbs were the length of trees and the width of icicles, but still they supported the giants. And their faces, where they had them, were shallow, half-carved things, with glassy eyes and needle-like teeth.

They stalked the barren landscape as the mountainous heart pumped away. Kimber was starting to smell something through the clean snow - something bitter, with a scent like blood and rotted apples. An unnatural blue liquid was starting to pulse through the snow, forming unnatural rivers that refused to freeze.

[Gizmo]

Oh, good, Ghost Girl gulped silently, actual need to breathe or physical throat aside, lots of them. Covering her nose with the sleeve of her tattered reaper's cloak, she flew invisibly back toward Temperance and their visiting friends, making good time as she passed immaterially through trees and building snow drifts.

Arriving in short order, she faded back into view with a wave to draw attention. "Hi! So, good news: outrageously huge, pulsing chunk of dead giant god, pretty tough to miss! Less good news: there's a bunch of spindly icicle guys stomping around, like this." Lengthening and thinning her own limbs and pulling teeth back from suddenly long, pointed teeth, she did her best impression of the monsters she'd seen. Snapping back to her normal proportion and massaging her jaw with both hands until her teeth returned to normal, she added, "Extra less good news: I think the heart is leaking. Or bleeding, I guess? Either way it's making a real mess."

[trollthumper]

"That," said Heimdall, with the hesitation that served as a portent in and of itself, "is not a good thing. That is eitr, the very blood of Ymir."

"Which I take it is producing these spindly ice giants," said Temperance.

"Well, yes," said Suttungr. "That and it's poisonous to mortals and gods alike."

Oh, joy. As if the blizzard weren't enough; now I'm in the middle of a divine superfund site. She shook her head. "It might be possible to freeze this eitr before it gets much further than the clearing. That would certainly--"

A strange, thin bellows split the whipping winds. The ground beneath their feet convulsed - no, not the ground. The snow. A thick wall of green, glassy ice rose up in the distance, blocking the already quite obstructed view of Ymir's heart.

"It appears they have had the same idea," said Heimdall. "They're moving towards us. They know we're here. They appear to be fencing us in."

[Gizmo]

"Pfft, 'fences'," Ghost Girl scoffed without concern. Everything Heimdall and the jotun were describing sounded pretty awful, admittedly, but the poltergeist didn't have much to fear from cold nor poison nor walls. "I swear, if it's not some space computer jerk with space computer metal it's a magic ice heart with magic ice juice making a mess of the place instead. Alrighty." Rolling up the sleeves of her cloak, though they fell back down to their usual length immediately, she floated a little higher in the air, leaving Avro perched atop the Asgardian's helmet. "I'll go keep the icicle men distracted for a bit while you guys figure out a way to clean this all up, okay?"

[trollthumper]

Heimdall's expression didn't change as Avro took shelter on his helm; however, he did instinctively reach up and help the young manticore find a place that would better suit, and shield, his bulk. "You will see where I cannot," he said. "Take care for the eitr. It can be poison even for that without flesh."

Velkr handed Kimber a small pin, one that seemed to be made of rusted iron. "Take this," he said. "If the Heart has grown to this size, it may need to be punctured again. This is a sliver of the blade that undid Ymir. Do not lose it. And once that's done --"

"You will return the Heart to me, to be taken to Asgard for safekeeping."

Velkr and Suttungr looked to Heimdall with shock. "What?" sputtered Suttungr. "No! You can't do that!"

"You said it yourself. There is instability in Jotunheim. The fall of the Heart has caused the risk of widespread catastrophe on Midgard. I cannot allow it to happen to any of the other realms."

"You'd take our birthright and store it in the vaults of Odin?" said Velkr. "He who slew his father?"

"If it cannot be trusted to the care of Jotunheim --"

"Enough!" The jotnar and the god turned to look at Temperance. "I cannot believe I'm saying this to an actual god and two giants, but --"

The sound of cracking ice cut Temperance off. The wall of green, glassy ice was shattering... and reforming. The icy wall brushed right past Kimber, and she could feel the metaphysical weight of it as it passed. Temperance dove out of the way, nearly avoiding getting crushed as it surged out like a freight train - and cut her off from Heimdall and the ice giants.

She and Kimber were fenced in, save for one narrow gap at the edge. And at that mouth appeared two thin, spindly giants, their red hailstone eyes lighting upon the girls.

"And those would be the more important matters," she muttered to herself. She turned to Kimber. "Get to the Heart. I can handle this."

[trollthumper]

Before Ghost Girl could move, there was a hideous cracking noise. In the distance, one of the emaciated jotnar's thin, spindly fingers was detaching with a sound like a crumbling glacier. Before the finger could fall to the ground, the jotunn caught the thing in its remaining fingers, and hurled it like a javelin. The large icicle struck Ghost Girl right in the chest - and disrupted the ectoplasm as it passed through, sending a brief shot of pain running through her system.

"Looks like they're --" Before she could finish the thought, a plume of ice rushed out towards her. It bit up around her ankles, but she was able to get out of the way before it could seal her up. "-- not giving us an inch. We've got to give the same in turn." She'd learned her lesson from the giant boar - if these creatures came from the same origins, then odds were ice wasn't gonna do much. But this eitr stuff sounded all kinds of potent...

She extended her will into the ice around her. Forcing it to shift was like forcing a mountain to move. But slowly, the frozen eitr began to thaw, with rivers of venomous blood flowing down from the ice. Before it could hit the ground, though, it rose into the air, forming a shimmering ball in the windswept sky.

This was hazardous waste. She didn't even want to think of what would happen if a drop spilled on her or Kimber. So she was just going to have to be extra careful about it going where it was supposed to.

[Gizmo]

Ghost Girl doubled over in the air as the icy spear ripped through her immaterial chest, as much from surprise as injury. Clutching at the already closing hole, she straightened out and met the eyes of the skeletal giant who had attacked her. The young woman's face shifted subtly, becoming sunken with deep shadows around her eyes and an angry scowl on her lips. "That. Hurt." The words emerged like wind howling through an open door and cutting down to the bone, chilling and primal.

Without further warning the poltergeist blurred into motion, her form half flesh and cloth and half vicious tornado, surging toward her foe. When she slowed enough to be seen clearly again, her arm was plunged deep into the giant's chest up to her shoulder. Very deliberately, she squeezed.

[trollthumper]

Shoving her hand into the spindly giant's corpus, Ghost Girl found that it was both more rigid and more fragile than she expected. There was this metaphysical weight to the ice - it was the sort of thing that absorbed eons and epochs the way a sponge absorbed water. But for all of that, it was still freshly formed, and that weight could just as easily be drawn out. The creature slumped on limbs like brittle sugar cane, staring at Ghost Girl with blank, icy orbs. But it still had enough strength to shake its arm, sending a storm of piercing crystals right towards Temperance. She was able to dance out of most of the volley, all the while keeping the sphere aloft, but took a few blows. The giant's compatriot, of full strength and composure, reached out for Ghost Girl, a tide of frost emerging from his hand - but even then, the specter was too quick, and danced out of the way.

"Excuse me."

The giant turned at Temperance's voice. "I'm not exactly the kind of girl to throw boiling water on a snowman, but I always wondered what would happen..." With that, he hurled her arms, and the tide of water struck the giant right in the face. The eitr did not freeze upon contact with the beast; in fact, even though its temperature was just above freezing, it seemed to boil across the creature's frosty skin. It struggled to remain aloft, bellowing like a heavy blizzard.

[Gizmo]

Ghost Girl's face seemed to flicker with a light bulb about to burn out, flashes of pearl white bone interspersed with sunken eyes as she widened her mouth to shriek horribly in the monster's face. Beyond death though it might have been itself, the gaunt giant was clearly unnerved by the display but continued to stand tall even as the poltergeist attempted to sap more strength from its skeletal limbs.

Floating back a pace midair, Kimber's appearance beneath her cowl immediately resumed its more human, albeit translucent, qualities. "Um, Temperance, I don't think this is working so well! I can't do very much against these guys! Do you have a new plan yet?"