The Black Ice Song

Gwyn's eyes widened and snapped to the door, praying her parents weren't awake. She had to hide the orb. If they saw it they would...panic. Gwyn knew that the male meant well but this may well be the last thing she does...if her father found out she had talked to someone outside of him and her mother it would be disastrous. The female rushed over to her dresser, almost slipping on the beautiful ice that seemed to be growing once more. She pulled on the top drawer, only to find that it the ice was to think for her to open it. So she stepped back and looked around the room quickly for a hiding spot. She ran to her closet which already had it's door open, and she reached up to get her hat that she had gotten several years ago for winter. She quickly opened the box and put the orb and the note inside, before putting it back on the top shelf in the closet.

After taking a moment to calm down she walked over to her window and pushed it completely closed. Then she pulled the latch to lock it, but she didn't feel it was enough though. She looked down at her hand and then back at the window. Silently she slipped a glove off and pressed her hand against the latch instantly covering it with ice, along with the rest of the window.

The breeze was still there in the afternoon but found that the window was sealed shut, most likely from Gwyn's little freak out when she read his letter. Was it going to stop him? Nope, because he was stubborn like that. Eric was sitting on the roof that was close to the window, he could easily just break the ice but figured that would only cause her more harm than good. 

His mind was working at miles to figure out some way so that he could teach her how to control her power so that she could live at least a semi-normal life. Why was he so intent with helping a girl he just met? Because he didn't lose his friends just for things to stay the same, he didn't leave his family so that people treated his "kind" with disrespect, he didn't go through all that pain just so that people would still believe that the Guardians were nothing more than monsters. No he wasn't going to put up with that at all....

He had a sudden idea that made him smile, he knew how to get into the house without the parents...or at least the mom, kicking him out or worse.

Gwyneira sat on her bed with her back facing the window and stared at the drawer. She wanted to open it...she wanted to see the orb. She bit her lip as she stared at the drawer. She quickly stood and rushed over to the door, opening it slightly and checking the hallway to see that her family was distracted in the kitchen. So she quietly shut the door and opened the drawer and pulled out the colorful orb. "......Why would he get me this. I just met him.....why.." she muttered as she stared at orb with obvious curiosity.

It was a pain to ask the church to borrow a pair of their robes but they had agreed to it, along with proving the story of his talents if the parents asked. Eric was dressed in a shirt, long sleeved shirt with black designs on the edges, along with white pants and black buckled boots. He still had his sword strapped to his hip, as if he would leave it behind.

He hated the outfit because it was too hot to wear it and it was itchy, he hoped this worked soon so that he could at least take off his coat. Eric smiled and knocked on the door, waiting for either the father or mother to answer it.

Gwyn heard the knock on the front door and rushed to put the orb back in the drawer. She she did so she heard her father's footsteps as he walked to answer the door.

The man frowned when he saw Eric and looked back at his wide. "What can i help you with today sir?" he asked trying to stay polite.

"Hello sir, I have come from the church." Eric began. Inside, he was down right pissed at the parents but kept his trained smile on, the pros of having thieves for siblings, "I have heard that your daughter might be possessed." The mother came around her husband, tucking a strand of sandy blonde hair behind her ear, "Oh what joy that they have sent us someone to deal with the evil spirits within her." Eric could only nod, he really wanted to yell at these idiots. "Please, come inside, would you like some tea or maybe something to eat?"

"No, I would like to see your daughter first, if you do not mind." Eric glanced around at the room, not a signal picture of their daughter was up, "In private."

"Praise be." The father exclaimed as he hugged his wife. "I will take you to the room." he said as he gestured for Eric to follow him to Gwyneira's room.

When he got to the door he had to beat the door to get it open, for Gwyn had accidentally made a new layer of ice on the door. The female was sitting on her bed staring at her glove covered hands. When he finally go the door open he glared at her. "A priest has come to cleanse you, monster child." Gwyn looked up and saw Eric and her eyes widened with surprise and horror and a small snip of betrayal.

Eric stepped into the room, his eyes stayed on Gwyn's for a brief moment, "If you want this to stop, play along...." He said to her inside her mind which he knew would probably scare her. "Alright than, I need to be left alone with her so I can see what is what. Do not enter the room unless I say so, the Good Spirits have trusted their gift onto me and it must not be seen by the Unholy eyes." He said. Eric knew a lot about how the church worked, they did help his brother out many times when he was younger. Eric didn't like their religion but agreed to let them continue as long as they didn't harm the Elementalist or Guardian which they were more than happy to do (in private).

Her father nodded. "Thank you sir." and with that he left the room and shut the door and returned to his wife. Gwyneira was terrified right now. The second her father was out the door she had bolted to the other side of her room, he had spoken to her in her mind and that scared her just about as much as her powers did.

"Why?" she questioned, her voice soft and untrusting. A part of her was scared that his story was true and that he was here to 'cleanse' her, no matter what he said in her head. "Why did you come here? Wasn't yesterday enough?" she questioned as she pressed her frame against the wall.

The first thing Eric did was he took off the damn coat, "Flarow, that thing fucking itches." He muttered before looking back to Gwyn, "And you think that I am just going to forget that you are being treated like shit by the people who are suppose to love you? Yeah, I don't think so." He said, unstrapping his sword and laid it down on her bed, "Now get over here so I can at least slow down the frosting."

She quickly shook her head as she stared at him, now confusion was in her gaze. She wanted to trust him, but she couldn't. "No, just stay away from me!" she exclaimed, not caring if her parents heard her screams, they would be expecting them. When she shouted she thrusted her arms forward to try and get the message across that she wanted to be alone, but the ice shot from her in cold spikes that slammed into the wall next to him. Her eyes widened in fear.

Eric was quick on his feet and moved out of the way, "Ok then, I guess I have no choice." His eyes were flaming with the quick smarts of a determined man as he skidded over to her left, out of her sight, and slammed his hands onto the ground, "Shadow Seal!" He commanded and a black design lit below Gwyn before vines of shadows came out from the ground and grabbed onto her, pulling her to the ground so that she knelt there. Her hands were bound behind her back and every part of her was secure so that she couldn't move her ice. 

"Geez, stubborn woman." Eric said as he walked over to her and knelt infront of her, "And you can yell all you want, I have control over Sound so they can't hear what we are saying. Only what they think they are hearing." His tone was low and soft as he placed his index and middle fingers on her temples and closed his eyes, "I am only trying to help you get a hold of your power and I know you can do it so just relax and breath, alright?" But even if she struggled, she had no way now of breaking free, he had her pinned and locked.

Gwyn fought the binds with terror in her eyes. "Let me go!" she exclaimed, her voice cracking as tears welled up in her eyes. "Don't touch me!" her words seemed like she was ordering him but her voice let on that she was begging for him to not touch her. The second he touched her the tears spilled and she closed her eyes tight, praying she didn't freeze him accidentally.

As his magic began affecting her, the screaming got quieter but the begging and pleading remained. She kept repeating thing but the most repeated was. "Please don't touch me." she was numb with fear but his magic in her head started to calm her brain even if she didn't feel calm. "Please Eric." she begged, her voice barely above a whisper and she stared at him with hopeless eyes.

Even as the magic calmed her, she couldn't help but feel scared. "I can't....I can't.....just leave please." she begged as she stared up at him, her eyes showing how broken her spirit was. She was scared to hurt him, she was scared he would hurt her and she just couldn't bring herself to trust anyone.

Eric opened his eyes, his once chocolate browns eyes now held a tint of red. He had to think of something so that she wouldn't end up struggling again and would actually listen to him, "And as time flows like rivers and streams." He began, doing the only thing he knew of was to promise her, "So will my trust for you." It was part of a song he heard when he was sailing, it was a beautiful song, "For no harm can come to thee, as long as I am armed. And even though your heart might break, all I can do is tune, for nothing in this world can break my faith I have in you." He said to her.

She was silent as she stared up at him, the promise calming her the tiniest bit. She wanted to know one thing though. "Why?" she began "Why are you doing this?" she asked, her ice blue eyes searched his for an answer as she waited for him to speak to her. "Why are you bothering?"

"Because..." He began, still looking into her eyes, "I don't want you to turn out like I had...."

Eric was the youngest child of Mastermind and the most gifted in the Sound Element, able to use and create heavy sound waves. But the Sound Element was unstable and so Eric was unable to control it, he nearly killed Jack who was the most gifted of the three of them. After that, Eric hid from his siblings who would always worriedly look for him. When their father killed their mother and Jack ran away, Eric was scared that he was loosing the people who he wanted to protect, it was then he swallowed his fear of himself and tried to control his element.

Even when he was an adult, Eric wasn't able to fully control his power but Jack and Raven were able to help him. He trusted them with his life and they saved him from his fear....

"I nearly lost what I had because I was too scared to do anything...I know you might think you have nothing but you have your whole life ahead of you. You are not a monster who needs to be locked away, you are a person who just needs to be shown how to control this."

Gwyn was silent. "But i am...i can't control this....i don't even want this" she responded, she had always wished that she had never been born with this 'gift' then she would have had a family.....her mother wouldn't think she was possessed. So how could she lose something that she never had. "I don't have any kind of life......i've never left this house.....i.....i can't leave this house."

"That is why I am going to help you at least control this. If you can do that, you don't ever have to use it and you can still be around people, safely." Eric said, determined to help her in one way or another, "Just listen to me, please. Face it that you are stuck with it but it doesn't have to be the end of you...." Eric removed his hands from her but the binds still held on, "I am not telling you to use them, I am not making you do anything else but to learn one simple thing. To grab hold of what you have so that it stays where you want it."

Gwyn couldn't help but feel a bit relieved when he finally let go of her. Truthfully it had been one of the first times she had ever been touched since they found out about her abilities. ".....You can really do that?" she asked softly, averting her eyes away from him. "How?"

"Simply by gaining proper control. I might not have the same element as you do but I can control your element my own way so you don't have to worry if you slip." Eric said as he smiled, glad she was finally listening, "And since your parents think I am from the church, they will believe me if I tell them that I...rid you of evil spirits...." He said it with distant, he believed that it was total bullshit, "You just have to get a feel for it and in doing so, you can learn how to keep it under wraps and you and your family can live happy."

The female stayed silent, it hurt that after 15 years. "I.....won't hurt them?" she asked, her voice soft as she stared up at him. She was slightly hopeful for once, but also terrified. She didn't want to trust him and then he use her. It scared her to think about that, just as much as hurting someone else did.