The northern sector med bay buzzed with quiet urgency, its sterile corridors humming beneath the weight of last night’s chaos. Reito walked briskly beside the gurneys, Emma trailing closely behind, her eyes flicking worriedly between the two unconscious bodies.

  Emma: "Reito, sir... how are they?"

  Reito glanced at Jonathan first. The boy’s body was a mess of bruises, bandages, and tubes.

  Reito: "Jonathan's lucky. Multiple broken bones, internal trauma. But he’s stable. Mrs. Zinc already has him prepped for surgery. He’ll pull through."

  Emma exhaled in relief, but her gaze fell on Hiruzen. His body was rigid. His arms—blackened, frostbitten, completely unnatural.

  Emma: "And Hiruzen?"

  Reito’s expression darkened.

  Reito: "That's the strange part. He's stable. Too stable. His heart rate is normal, vitals perfectly aligned, and his ribs—broken last night—are healing on their own. But his arms..."

  Emma: "They’re not recovering?"

  Reito: "No. It’s like something else has claimed them. Emma, did anything happen before I arrived?"

  Emma hesitated. Her mind flashed to the moment of stillness—the explosion, the deathly cold, the sheer pressure.

  Emma: "Yeah. After the blast, he stood up and... something changed. The temperature dropped, colder than anything I’ve ever felt. And he—he just moved. One step, and a massive wall of ice erupted from the ground. Not normal ice either. This was... ancient. Alive."

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  Reito narrowed his eyes.

  Reito: "And his arms?"

  Emma: "They were fine—just encased in some kind of ice claws. Not frostbitten. Not broken. Just... different."

  Reito: (softly) "Interesting. I need to make a call."

  Emma: "To who?"

  Reito: "An old school buddy”

  Within the void of unconsciousness, Hiruzen stirred. The sounds of the med bay faded, replaced by howling wind and the soft crunch of snow beneath his feet. He stood—no, he floated—in a realm coated in frost. The sky was a swirl of glacial blues, heavy clouds looming overhead.

  He looked down at his arms. Numb. Useless. Covered in blackened ice.

  Hiruzen: "Where... am I?"

  A voice boomed from the silence. Deep. Primal.

  ???: "Come to me, child of winter."

  Hiruzen turned. From the swirling snow emerged a colossus cloaked in swirling frost and shadow. A demon, but not grotesque. Regal. Towering. Horns like jagged glaciers. Eyes glowing with cold fire.

  Hiruzen: "Who the hell are you?! What is this place?!"

  ???: "This is the heart of your soul... and mine. They are now one."

  Hiruzen took a cautious step back, breath fogging in the air.

  Hiruzen: "One? What are you talking about?"

  The demon extended a clawed hand, and snow spiraled into a reflection of Hiruzen’s past—his rage, his sorrow, the burst of power when he thought Jonathan had died.

  Iskarth: "I am Iskarth, the Demon of Eternal Frost. One of the Primordials—the first souls ever born from the split of the original source. I embody frost, stasis, stillness."

  Hiruzen: "Primordial...? You mean you’re some ancient god-demon or something?"

  Iskarth: "Not god. Not demon. A concept incarnate. When my physical form faded, I chose the path of reincarnation. I searched the world for centuries... until I found you."

  Hiruzen clenched his jaw.

  Hiruzen: "So all this power I’ve been using... it wasn’t mine?"

  Iskarth: "At first, no. It was a gift. A dormant seed. But now... your soul has grown around mine. Our powers are fused. What was once mine is becoming yours."

  Hiruzen: "Why now? Why didn’t you take over when I was weakest?"

  Iskarth’s massive form lowered until his glowing eyes met Hiruzen’s.

  Iskarth: "Because I sensed something different. You were nearly consumed by rage, grief... yet even then, something in you resisted. A spark. A light. I wish to see it burn. So instead of taking your body... I took your arms."

  Hiruzen: "Took them?! What the hell does that mean?!"

  Iskarth: "I reshaped them. Tempered them in my essence. I lent you a fraction of my form. The claws you wielded—those were mine. But now they are yours too."

  Hiruzen: "So what now? I wake up with no arms, stuck with some creepy ice demon in my head?"

  Iskarth chuckled, a sound like glaciers cracking.

  Iskarth: "No. When you awaken, you will have them again—transformed, reborn. Your body is adapting even now. But be warned: power without understanding is a frozen blade. It will cut both ways."

  Hiruzen: (quietly) "...Thank you. I still don’t get all of this, but... you gave me the strength to protect Jonathan. I needed that."

  Iskarth: "Then use that strength wisely. Because this world... it is far colder than you know."

  The wind rose. The field of snow dissolved into a blizzard of memories. Iskarth began to fade, his massive body turning to swirling frost.

  Iskarth: "Wake up, vessel of frost. The world awaits."

  Hiruzen closed his eyes.

  Hiruzen: "Yeah... I’m ready."

  End of Chapter