HEART OF JOTUNHEIM (Ch. 102)

Watching Jayson drudge on robotically for yet another day then old heavily bearded man in dark shades and taoist robes nods approvingly as he brushes his fingers through his beards,

"You one" he calls appearing suddenly beside Jayson,

"Whatttt" Jayson sighs exasperatedly, his face frozen in it's permanent down cast expression,

"Learn this" the man replies handing him an old note book, Jayson sighs collection the book,

"Home work now too?" He mumbles in exasperation, moving his perpetually weary body into a seated position,

"I will be back to survey your progress soon, remember to finish double the amount of your course as well"

"Kill me" Jayson replies lethargically, the old man grins,

"I just might" the man replies blurring away, "survive though, and i promise non will be your match" his voice eco's of the very air encompassing the mountain,

"Kill me" Jayson mumbles again surveying the books contents.

Raven takes a lotus sitting position, withing his palms is a ice white frozen ball seventy centimetres and twenty eight in diameter, Raven holds the sphere carefully between his palms, one placed bellow the other atop it, running a constant cycle of 'Force' as he absorbes the freeze, Kevin's Domain falls, a mental connection is established, Kevin and Anya stand beside each other from just over a mile away,

"How long do you think he'll take" Anya questions,

"To do what?, Achieve a symbiosis or dominance, or perhaps to which advancement he can absorb it before giving?",

"All of it" she replies,

"I don't know" Kevin responds,

"That's a new one" she replies,

"I'm not god",

"For once we agree" she quips,

(Not yet),

White, Raven could feel his flesh freezing within the blistering cold, or perhaps his Incorporeal form?, He couldn't tell,

'ANOTHER ONE SEEKING POWER', an eco calls, the tone indistinguishable, neither malevolent or contemptuous,

"Do you want to know why?", Raven questions?,

'WHY WOULD I IMPLORE IN REGARDS TO SUCH A MORTAL QUESTION' the relics awareness replies,

"Then what are your requirements" Raven replies.

The scene warps,

Raven turns to see his friends,

James, Jayson, Yanick, Konan, Dennis, Nathan, Warden, Laura, Maya,Mari, Amy, Kaytlin, Ari, Elaine, Alexa and Ari, those he'd come to care for, Raven turns again to find himself among them, donned in heavy winter clothing,

"What're you waiting for Rave, we need to move man" Jayson croaks, his cracked and frozen lips managing the words out,

"We need to hurry" Yanick follows, "if we don't they'll catch up",

"They?, Who..." Raven began when a spear bulleted into Yanicks skull, Raven's mind froze, another followed into Laura's before he could think,

"LAURAAAAAA!" he screams in holding he fallen body, the shattered pieces of what was once her head littered around him in a mix of red and ice, frozen, his friends scatter, all running for safety as spears bullet into one of them with needle precision, Raven watches, knelt before the scene of giants of blue, towering meters, seated in high chairs holding spears that appeared no bigger than a tooth's pick to them, each flick of their fingers resulted in another fallen body, each flick another round of laughter, Raven gives a roar, one of the giants pointed, the rest gave him heed, then they burst, not to splinters but into laughter, Raven's roar boomed louder still, till it didn't, for after another glimpse of a flick, he saw black,

'MORTAL, WHAT IS YOUR ANSWER?' the consiousness questioned,

"I..." Raven began,

'YOU LACK CONVICTION!' the voice boomed with a disgusted sneer,

Thr scene changes, Raven whips to see his mother, beside her a child of about a decade and a half in years, the same black hair, the same soft smile, his same black eyes, the two clothed in heavy garbs, shivering within a mountain cave, their heat frozen over from a blizzards wind, their game frozen, their hands cracked and bloodied, but even that was frozen over, lips chapped, lips scaled,

"WHY..." Raven turns to the sky to bellow a speech, he finds himself younger, his lips chapped, scaled, his fingers frozen, freezing, his eyes following closely behind, his mother shivering desperately, trying to wrap his frail weary body with her's to maintain temperature, Raven's icy throat expand to speak, his speech comes weak, luckily he can,

"Mom" he croaks, she turns to him with a smile,

"Hey bay boy" she smiles, her hands shivering, shaking as she caresses him,

"I'm sorry, i sorry" she smiles, a tear falls down her cheek, it freezes, her reddening eye bursting, blood flying, his face coated in rapidly freezing warmth, Raven's hands shiver as he grabs her up by her neck, her breath silent,

"MOM" he calls again,

"MOM!" HE SHOUTS THIS TIME,

"MOM!, NO! NO! NO! PLEASE NO!, PLEASE NO!" He shouts as his tears flood out in a freezing dam, he sees black.

"STOPPPP!!" Raven roars,

'YOU LACK DEDICATION' the voice booms with a sneering tone,

'WE DO NOT CONCERN OURSELVES WITH A TEST OF WILL, FOR IF YOU LACK WILL YOU WILL FREEZE!, WE DO NOT QUESTIONS YOUR HUMILITY OR PRIDE, FOR IF YOU LACK EITHER OR NEITHER YOU WILL FREEZE!, WE DO NOT CARE FOR YOUR AMBITION, FOR IF YOU LACK ONE YOU WILL FREEZE!, WE ARE THE GIANTS OF JOTUNHEIM, WE ARE ICE!, WE ARE COLD, WE ARE FREEZE, WE ARE WINTER!, TELL ME MORTAL, WHAT IS COLD?!' the awareness booms,

(What is cold?) Raven questions again?, (What does the cold mean?, Winter?, Unforgiving, merciless, prioritizing only surviving?...but is that how i want to live?) Raven ponders, as the cold wastes no time in assaulting him, a conversation he'd long had with Silver comes to mind,

(Why do i pursue power?), He questions again as his body and mind begins to succumb to the freeze, (What was my answers then?) He questions again as the cold seeps into his mind, his soul, his flesh, (Ah yes, i remember) Raven mules, (I...i...i...why?) He questions as his eyes glaze and body slowly heels to the force of ice,

"RAVEN!" a voice booms like hammer against skull, Raven slumps into the ground beneath him,

(Silver) he recall, "yes that's right", (I remember, i remember now),

'YOU LACK...'

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Raven bellows, "I'm no matry, I'm no hero, I'm no chosen, I'm me, i do it for myself, for those i love, for those i care for, to protect my beliefs, to defend my truths, my answer?" Raven replies,

'SPEAK IT'

"GO FUCK YOURSELF!" Raven roars his 'Force' igniting, his body cycling the cold into him,

"I don't give a shit if winter's hard, i do as i please, because i'll RULE IT!" He declares with a scream, the sphere begins to spin with his palms, with every revolution the cold invades, seconds to Raven, day's to the outside, an explosion of 'Force', Kevin's Domain holds just, as it had for a month now, he exhales dropping his Domain,

"He's done it" he smiles, for from within the boundaries of the ice within his forests stepped out a being that rippled with power, Raven Nathaniel Voss, eyes white, skin pale, steams of ice rolling of him in waves, and most noticeably his frame, towering six and three, standing muscled like a being of ice, he now was. Raven glances up to the sky, exhaling steam of cold, he glanced to the calendar miles away just beyond the terrace window, just beside Kevin,

(A month) he mules, (it's time).