The world is nothing but pure white. Blanched to meaningless perfection. The only movement is the howling wind, raging snow, and a figure trudging through it all.

  Three pokémon lean on each other as one and drag themselves down a steep, lifeless mountain. Two froslass and a glalie. One froslass mounts the glalie, her body limp. The other uses the glalie as a mutual counterbalance whilst clutching her mangled body plugged with ice. The glalie in extraordinarily thick ice armor guides the way.

  "How long do you think it'll take to get back?" Arctina mumbles.

  "Who knows?" Shivian buries her face in the glalie's head. "We have all the time in the world, anyhow."

  "It only took us a few days getting here, though."

  Yes, their silly little journey is but a blip in time. Frozy knows it only matters to them, no matter how monumental their achievement is.

  Gratitude will likely be directed at a stupid prophecy. Frozy sneers as she remembers something Shivian told them: apparently, the basis of the false legend is the story of the clan's first generation, of befriending an outsider and enjoying life together on their snow-capped mountain. That must be all there is to the opera, not a hymn for the sake of a Frozen Gigant most uninterested in their quaint ditty.

  Shivian laughs heartily. "Our ancestors are idiots. The ones who thought the opera was for that piece of work."

  Imagining all the froslass with sticks up their butts singing the heartfelt tune with a straight face… In hindsight, it is all truly ridiculous.

  Frozy chews on the words, but stays alert despite her still-maimed body. It is useless as it seems they are the only three remaining in this world. It seems the severe weather finally chased off every living being from this previously-mild mountain. Their destination, however, must be bustling.

  "I didn't even get to show off my hail," Shivian says as if their confrontation with "Them" was a minor inconvenience. But nothing about that face-off went according to plan, so it is nonsensical to regret anything. "And now it's too cold."

  Ever the queen of complaints, Shivian blabs on. Frozy shares a look with Arctina and they roll their eyes knowingly.

  "Do you think we'll be welcomed back home?" Arctina interjects.

  "We ought to. I still doubt it, though." Shivian huffs and whips her head, but groans at the sudden movement. "We all forsook them. I sacrificed my cloak—er, sash, you abandoned your duties, and Frozy is a fake. It will be a miracle if that cruel elder will have us back."

  "Even if we saved everyone?" Arctina asks in a daze.

  "Yes. Have you lost your mind?" Shivian lightly knocks on her head.

  "I think so. Haven't you?"

  Frozy snorts. She glances over only to see Shivian staring at her. "Don't pretend you're not part of this conversation. You tried to kill us, after all." Her lilt verges on disturbing. "Several times, wasn't it? I always knew you were twisted. Don't think I forgot."

  Frozy reaches out and pinches Shivian's cheek. She promised she would forget. The froslass whines and flails her arms. "Stop that! I will fall!"

  And she does. She slides off Arctina and disappears into the tall snow. Deciding to tease further, Frozy digs Shivian out with a devious smile and reaches a hand out for her throat.

  "Wait, you fool! That deal we struck is void!" Shivian squeals.

  Frozy pauses to think. Indeed, they had an agreement: she would facilitate the Frozen Opera and in exchange, she would claim Shivian's life. Frozy had forgotten all about it.

  "It's not like we're all sinless." Shivian tries dusting the hand off her wrist.

  Frozy releases her grip and helps the froslass back onto Arctina's head. Maybe that was too far a jape.

  They fall to a lull quickly broken by Arctina's chortling.

  "What? Have you gone mad?" Shivian clears her throat several times to choke it out. It only makes Arctina laugh harder.

  "You know, your voice really sucks, Shivian."

  Frozy almost falls over guffawing, relying on Arctina to keep herself afloat.

  "And you're one to talk?" Shivian shoots back.

  "Yeah, I know. But I still like it." Arctina replays Shivian's Frozen Opera in her head and beams. "I really, really love it."

  "Oh. Thank you."

  "Maybe if you rest for a really long time, your voice will come back."

  "That's a nice thought." Shivian coughs harshly. "Define a long time for me."

  Frozy cuts in, shoulders shaking. She cannot help it. She softly and repeatedly smacks Shivian's arm to get her attention and spreads her arms wide to say, Forever.

  "You little…" Shivian seethes a long breath, but sadly does not fall for Frozy's provocations. "Yes, you are surely younger than us, child."

  She dredges up that conversation they had? Frozy shrugs and snickers one last time.

  "Hey, don't look down on me!" Shivian snaps. This is the funny froslass Frozy has come to tolerate! She uses a finger to trace along Shivian's lips to hush her.

  "I'll make you rest for a long time."

  Frozy waves a hand to say, Stop! Any more and she will turn into a laughing mess. And, seemingly more humble than before, Shivian joins her. Arctina does too.

  "I just wish we could have been like this earlier." Arctina sighs.

  "Yes, indeed. Perhaps in a different lifetime, the three of us would have met in different circumstances." Shivian bites her lip. "If only. But we have the rest of out lives to make up for it."

  "I think it'd be better if we started from the beginning." Arctina giggles to herself. "I'm Arctina. Just a regular ol'... glalie."

  The mood shifts when Arctina sniffles. Choking on nothing, she manages to say, "I'm sorry, Frozy. I'm not gonna battle anymore. I can't stand to be the guardian."

  Frozy expected as much. Arctina was never cut out for battling, clear as day. With all the physical and mental anguish it brought her, very little of her disgraced physical self remains within her ice armor. Frozy cannot relate, but Arctina never should have had to do what she did not want to.

  All Frozy does is pat her chest and nod. She does not mind battling, so she has no qualms being their sole defense. It is all she is good for, after all.

  Before, she reveled in blood under Mommy's command, but after their many near-death experiences, she realizes she should not be so eager. She would rather this peace, and she will protect it with all she has. Looking Arctina in the eye, she mouths, I will protect you.

  "Nonsense." Shivian cuts the moment short. "The both of you have fulfilled your roles and will retire with valor."

  There will always be a looming threat in the distance. It is the truth of this cruel world. This blizzard will hide them well, but Shivian is far too optimistic to think it will safeguard them for time eternal. But Frozy decides against poking this hole for now as Arctina's face visibly lights up and a strange warmth spreads through her at Shivian's words.

  "Ahem. I'm Shivian. You?" She picks up the previous conversation smoothly. She points at Frozy and smirks knowingly, reaching a hand out to Frozy's jaw and puppeting her mouth. In a higher pitched voice, she says, "I'm Frozy. I'm a bully, but I suppose I'll play nice with you. Blah blah blah."

  Frozy swats the hand away as Shivian alone guffaws, covering her own upturning mouth with frost creeping on her face. Arctina giggles and picks up her pace.

  Shaking it off, her mind wanders. Is Mommy even there with the others on that mountain? Maybe she fled after everyone discovered Frozy was missing. Strangely enough, Frozy does not feel anything lost at this uncertainty. Mommy never cared if she lived or not. These two by her side did everything they could to preserve her life. These two mean more to her than Mommy now, and she will follow them wherever they go. It is her debt. After all they went through together, this is fact.

  Frozy never wanted much. Only to live. With Arctina and Shivian, she has a feeling she can do so truly. At the very least, she can find a way.

  "It's a long trek," Arctina muses. "But at least it's not lonely."

  Indeed. Together, through this endless and lifeless snowscape, the three venture forth to where they once called home.

  The Gorged Gorge is no more. It is completely filled with snow and ice. Who knows what carnage and life lies buried beneath. Though the least experienced with this land, Shivian keeps her head bowed as they traipse above what used to be a valley.

  Though unlike Arctina, who traverses with closed eyes likely due to trauma, and Frozy, who shoots intrigued glances everywhere perhaps out of nostalgia, Shivian only has thoughts for what lies ahead.

  The Gorged Gorge lies quite close to the cave of their clan. Traveling on the snow filling it is a shortcut. They will reach their destination shortly. Quite the contrast from the slog that was escaping the gorge initially.

  Shivian takes a deep breath. She was the one who suggested coming back here, but she does not know exactly what she wants from this. "I think I just want to laugh in her face." She tells it to herself more so than to her two companions. "What is the proper justice to be meted out to someone like her?"

  "Yeah, let's make her eat her words!" Arctina lowers her head to help her slide off to the ground. "Everyone needs to see what we traitors accomplished."

  The bitter edge she has is perfect. Shivian knows that their hearts are one as they stand before their destination, separated by the once-feared border of the trees. Frozy simply shrugs and pumps her fist as if to cheer with them.

  "And after that, we should find somewhere to settle down."

  "Why don't we kick them out?" Arctina has gotten bolder. "We brought on the blizzard. Why should they enjoy it and not us?"

  "You speak the truth!" Shivian firmly pats the glalie on the back. "Now then…"

  And so, with a deep sigh, Shivian leads the way past the snow-cloaked trees and enters the grounds of her old clan. Just like the mountain to the north, there is nothing but snow to be seen. What used to be a sunny dirt clearing littered with greenery is painted white like they used to pray for.

  "There's no sign of anyone…" Arctina spins about as she drifts through the area.

  Shivian floats the fastest she can all about, desperately whipping her head left and right. Arctina is correct, but she cannot be. It is impossible.

  "You all… Show yourselves! Brainless sycophants! I know you are here!" It finally hits her in full force. Though a ghost does not process sustenance like the living, Shivian feels bile rising in her perpetually scratchy throat. Eyes blurry with sudden rage, Shivian calls out again, "You must acknowledge me!"

  There is no reaction. This land is utterly barren. No one is around to respond.

  "They left?" Arctina's lips quiver.

  "Impossible!" Shivian grinds her teeth. "After all you've come to know, do you believe them the type to flee this mountain? No! There is no way they would have left. They would have kept waiting to perform the Frozen Opera, and even if they failed, they would remain here for the rest of their pathetic little lives! That is what the stupid tradition dictates! There is no other possibility for those sick dastards!"

  But cry as she might, nothing changes. In this land where froslass once rehearsed a hopeless ritual, there is now nothing. This is not home. In looks, in right. Shivian ought to be unbothered. Why should she waste misery on those undeserving?

  "Where are you? Stop hiding! Come out and face me!" Shivian screams into the white void. Why is she getting so riled up? Oh. It is ingrained in her brain so deeply is all. Arctina drags her body through the snow to dig through it with matched zeal.

  A hand on each of their backs stops them. Frozy sighs, then sends out several thunderbolts that melt holes in the snow with a severe clap. They freeze over just as fast.

  "She will smite you all if you…" Shivian cannot finish her threat.

  All is calm for a moment.

  "Why?" Sudden passion finally calming, Shivian drops to the snow and crunches it in weak fists.

  How can it be that there is no justice, no comeuppance in this world? Pokémon who cursed them to such hapless existences. Adhering to meaningless tradition that surely doomed them. They need to beg for their lives at the feet of these three, and yet…

  Arctina falls beside her lifelessly. "They didn't even say goodbye."

  Seeing it as fact rather than convincing herself of it hits Shivian worse than the false Frozen Gigant. Suddenly stricken with a deep grief that rots her heart, she hates that she even feels this way. What has that clan done to deserve her tears? Absolutely nothing. But still, Shivian weeps.

  There is no point in grieving. There is no more that can be done.

  "We did everything right. We should be proud," Shivian chokes out.

  They stay there in silence for what feels like an eternity. This reality is constant. No one will appear to welcome them home, tasteless as it would be.

  Shivian's eyes set on the cave used for shelter. It is all that remains. She takes off without waiting for the two, but knows that they follow her. A sinking feeling overtakes her chest, but she does not waver. "They died. I bet my everything on that. And I will laugh until my last breath."

  "Don't say it like that." Arctina grimaces. "You're getting creepy, Shivian."

  They move as one once more. Ice coats the ground and cave wall. It seals off every alcove and branching way off the main corridor, pointing them straight to the sleeping area.

  In the center of the chamber foreign to them is a circle of ice statues perfectly preserved, no longer in need of Elder Glaciari's regular loving maintenance. Brave guardians, proud frost maidens. And a snorunt torn to shreds.

  Shivian gulps at the sight. She forgot about Glaciari's disgusting little hobby. The figures have an entirely new meaning now. Shivian bows her head in shame, but her eyes linger on the snorunt. Having bore witness their fate, she curses the foolish child she herself used to be.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  Arctina has less restraint. She hurtles forward, stops before the same snorunt, and throws her face to the ground. "Fridgette, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

  As Arctina repeatedly slams her forehead to the floor, Shivian reminisces. Fridgette simply wanted to play. She cared not of the Frozen Opera, rightfully so. And her punishment for being a child was a vicious mauling, only to have Arctina finish her off under Glaciari's command. And Shivian praised Arctina for it.

  Sick to her stomach, Shivian shuts her eyes tightly and retreats into herself. Fridgette did nothing wrong. Only now does Shivian see that. So why did she have to end up like this?

  "I'm sorry!" Arctina says over and over. But there is no forgiveness. This simple-minded glalie, wracked with guilt over that wicked Glaciari's orders, makes Shivian weep alongside her.

  She cannot hold it in. Slowly approaching the two, Shivian lays a hand upon Arctina and says, "It is not you're fault. And there is nothing we can do."

  Arctina only cries harder.

  Shivian prostrates, forehead on the ground, at the feet of the frozen statue of a mangled snorunt. "Fridgette… I am sorry I celebrated your death. You were right, and I was wrong. So terribly wrong. May you live freely in your next life."

  Shivian cannot say or do more. Apologizing like this is self-serving, even. They hold a long moment of silence for the child long gone, along with the adults beside her who no doubt suffered deaths equally unjust.

  It is interrupted by a tap on the shoulder. Shivian and Arctina turn to see Frozy awkwardly scratching her head while pointing to the center of the ring of statues.

  They peek around Fridgette and jolt at the sight. A corpse lies there, bare of ice. Fresh. Miasma leaks from her waist.

  "I cannot bear to…" Shivian covers her mouth. A vile taste dances on her tongue. This is too much. Yet another life wasted.

  Her vision is suddenly shrouded in darkness, and she flinches away to see Frozy using her arms to block her vision along with Arctina's. With that infuriatingly bored expression she usually dons, she approaches the corpse in Shivian's stead.

  Bowing for Fridgette one last time, Shivian musters the courage to follow Frozy to the deplorable mess the clan left behind. She pulls Arctina along, lest she lose herself in despair.

  "How can I atone?" Arctina smashes her face into Shivian's back. "For all the lives I've taken?"

  Frozy pauses for a moment Shivian cannot ignore at the questions. The blood-stained hands of these two… Shivian cannot imagine what must weigh on their minds.

  "You only killed for survival," Shivian assures her. "In no way are you sinners."

  Frozy scoffs with a self-deprecating smile before hovering by the head of the body. Upon closer inspection, it is a froslass. Frozy violently shakes the corpse and flinches back at a droll groan.

  "Show her face." Shivian gulps.

  Frozy is swatted away with a weak hand. An uneven, croaking voice says, "There is no need for that."

  She rises on her own, holding her head. Sitting on the snow, her vocal chords are on full display past a cover of ice on her throat. Not that her voice did not give her identity away already.

  "Elder Chillena." Shivian hugs herself. She does not know who she was hoping it was. "You remain."

  "Goodness, what is wrong with your face?" Chillena asks callously, ignoring Shivian and casually tracing the flat plane that is now Frozy's face.

  "Only I can insult her," Shivian says, snapped out of her sullen mood.

  "Shivian. You have evolved. And Arctina. You've all returned." Chillena puts a finger to her chin. "What terrible timing."

  "What happened here? Explain. Where is everyone?" Shivian manages to keep her voice steady.

  "Well, what does it look like, child?" The elder rises with help from Arctina and a reluctant Frozy. "They've all fled."

  "You lie." Shivian can barely utter it. "Those devout zealots… In what world would they forsake their very essence?"

  "Oh, how I believed the same thing." Chillena manages to float at a low height. "But it is true. Look above."

  Following her boney finger, the three look at the frozen garland hanging from the ceiling. What hosted dozens of red sashes of "traitorous" frost maidens along with a certain snorunt cloak now appears to hang seven and a half fresh sashes.

  It can only mean one thing: Chillena speaks truth.

  "That fateful morning, we woke lacking the prima donna of prophecy and our sole guardian. Glaciari declared she would reprise her role as prima donna, and I would be the guardian." Chillena stares out the cave.

  "What's so dreadful about being the guardian?" Arctina flatly asks.

  Chillena adverts her eyes as she hesitantly replies, "No one ever wanted to be the soul sacrifice."

  "I see." Arctina clenches her jaw. Her lips quiver as if to say something else, but with a weak grin, all she adds is, "Then what happened?"

  Shivian eyes Arctina, the ice armor Frozy formed on her excessively thick refracting the brilliant rainbow of the glalie's pure soul left exposed. I don't wanna be the guardian. The pitiful snorunt of the past will never be remedied. A wasted youth, an unjust present, a meandering existence now toeing the line of life and death. Shivian admires how Arctina can continue to press on with a smile.

  "I am so sorry, child." Chillena closes her eyes. "Glaciari basked in her former glory until just the other day. A terrible heatwave struck. The children could barely move. We almost lost Elder Flurrita. They all asked Glaciari why she could not save them."

  "And so she excommunicated them?" Shivian weakly guesses.

  "No." Chillena plugs where her sash once was with a hand, miasma thinning. "Glaciari declared us doomed and made her decree: we would flee the mountain in search of newfound hope."

  Shivian slaps both hands over her mouth, but fails to stifle the muffled scream.

  "Pah." Chillena glares out the cave. "I objected. My whole life, I've bowed to Glaciari and accepted her rhetoric as my truth. So I fully believed we should have stayed here. But she cast me aside, called me the renegade."

  "Why are you so complacent?" Shivian's fists shakes terribly. "You should have said something much sooner!"

  "She took everything from me, and indeed, I let her, so I believed I must have deserved it." Chillena's usually unemotive face flares with madness. "My voice, my role, my child… She stripped me of everything and shamelessly flaunted it whilst trampling them to dust. There is nothing I could have done except obey her. I convinced myself I enjoyed it."

  "She is nothing but a coward." Her whisper is almost lost in the wind. Shivian commiserates, knowing all too well the siren that is Glaciari.

  Continuing her recounting with a sigh, Chillena says, "They abided by tradition in their last moments here. Before abandoning this mountain, Glaciari had everyone tear their sashes off and hang them alongside the very ones they so loathe." She gives a dark chuckle. "All except Glaciari, of course. The outsider Agnice, always clinging to her, escaped unharmed as well. I objected, questioning where their integrity lay. And so, in their place, Glaciari sacrificed my sash."

  Shivian stares at the sash-half on the garland. If she inferred correctly a story Chillena told her before, Glaciari claimed the other half a time ago.

  "She only wished to save her own skin!" Shivian blurts.

  After a long, thoughtful pause, Chillena nods her head. "Yes, she is quite good at that. All my respect for her and our clan evaporated the moment they fled without looking back. How beautifully ironic that immediately following their departure, this wondrous snowstorm hit!"

  "What if they were still here when it started?" Arctina asks.

  Shivian scoffs. "There is no possibility Glaciari would allow them to return. Not if she wishes to avoid mutiny." She hugs herself. "If every vain one else endured the pain and shame of sacrificing their sashes, what would happen if she told them to return, that it was all for nothing?"

  "How true!" Chillena guffaws.

  "Oh…" Arctina bows her head.

  "How can you laugh so freely?" Shivian snaps. "When everything has amounted to nothing?"

  Shadows cast over the three children's faces as the elder chortles to herself like a maniac.

  They defied fate. They saved everyone. And what do they get? It was all for naught.

  Shivian thought she was ready to face this place, but this was not a possibility she could have predicted. Their clan truly defies all logic.

  Settling down, Chillena wipes a tear from her eye and clears her throat. "I think it best to forget them. Anything else is an exercise in futility."

  The three stare blankly at her. She is not wrong, but Shivian hates to accept it. This world is so cruel. Why should she have to be the better pokémon when those cowards are soaked in sin? Because, as always, this is the only choice they allow her.

  "But what of you? Where have you been?"

  It is a long story. Arctina tells it with little embellishment and energy, glazing over every battle, even the finale.

  "So we came back here," Arctina deadpans.

  "I see. Well, I am proud of you all." Chillena reaches her hands out to pet Arctina and Shivian, but stops herself. "It must have been a harrowing journey. Thank you for making it back alive."

  "You are not the one I want to hear that from." Shivian slaps the suspended hand away.

  "I can say it," Arctina offers.

  "Maybe later." Shivian stops herself from laughing at the absurdity of it all.

  "You are but children forced to grow too fast." Chillena shakes her head with a grimace. "We have failed you."

  "You should have realized that sooner."

  The temperature drops impossibly lower when Frozy, who had been casually leaning on the cave wall as if the conversation did not involve her, jumps to life. Rather, she hobbles, body still ravaged, but she ventures forth with killing intent.

  Cautiously, the other three trail her and brace themselves. They stop behind Frozy at the mouth of the cave, where she looses a warning shot as several shadows take form.

  They come face-to-face with a large group of strangers, those with relevant appendages with their arms raised in surrender.

  The three gawk as one speaks up. A male glalie leads the pack. "We come in peace, seeking a home. We do not wish to fight!"

  Scanning the many tired, weary faces brimming with hope, it is hard to believe he is lying. And yet, Shivian cannot contain herself.

  "You are naught but strangers!" Shivian barks, sweeping her arm out bearing the same jaded authority as Glaciari. "Stand back! Our proud guardians slew the Frozen Gigant!"

  The outsiders, a good couple dozen or so pokémon, watch the heaving Shivian with sheer confusion. "Please allow us entry to your clan," the same male glalie implores.

  Shivian cannot understand. How can there be anyone who does not know of the Frozen Gigant? They ought to have fled by now at her admittedly bold exaggeration.

  Against the blizzard, the strangers all appear in their element. Some are glalie, froslass, and snorunt. Their ignorance threatens to drive Shivian mad. Where did they come from? "The Frozen Gigant…"

  "Who do you speak of?" a froslass with an intact sash timidly asks.

  Shivian's rage snuffs out in an instant. It turns into defeat. Arctina pushes her to the side and huddles together with her and Chillena as Frozy aims a menacing charged attack that paralyzes the newcomers.

  "What shall we do, Shivian?" Chillena asks.

  "Why are you asking me?" Shivian scoffs and hugs herself. "Aren't you the elder?"

  "I am afraid I am not fit to rule. At best, I can be your advisor. That is all I know. Unless you wish me to emulate Glaciari."

  "No!" Her eyes lose focus and she falls to the snow.

  Arctina dazedly asks, "Do they not realize what we accomplished?"

  "This world is vast," Chillena simply notes.

  Chewing on the situation for a time, Shivian finally quietly asks Arctina, "What do I do?"

  "I don't know, either!" Arctina looks at all the outsiders with a solemn face. "But they look lost. They kinda look like us."

  Shivian cannot disagree. Bodies clearly weathered by battle with a heavy air clinging to them, desperate for a scrap of anything good as they hold each other close. It almost hurts looking at them.

  Shivian yelps when a snowball whizzes past her head with a large margin of error. Frozy rolls her eyes as if to hurry them. She finally says, "Let's direct them to the mountain to the north. It is just as good. I want a quiet life from now on. We saved this land, so we shouldn't be the ones to flee."

  "Are you sure?" Arctina and Chillena ask simultaneously.

  "Why are you questioning me when you asked me what to do?" Shivian asks incredulously. All the while, Frozy laughs at their ineptitude as wavering awe presents itself on all the newcomers

  The glalie leader comes closer with a gulp. He floats before Frozy, who blocks him from the others. "We are simply lost nomads. For countless moons, we've been trapped in a hellish maze of a gorge fending for our lives. Lured by this faraway paradise, we only seek somewhere we can belong."

  Shivian's hand immediately darts to her throat. Her breath catches as a silly song plays in her head.

  A castform comes close and gives the glalie a multi-colored stone that visibly resonates with him. "But if we must, I will not back down from a battle. It is all I am good for, after all."

  A blinding light encompasses him as his jaw slacks, breaks. It is now that Shivian sees his constitution beneath his ice armor is almost identical to Arctina. He expels a blizzard that matches the current extreme weather and looms above menacingly.

  "Surely you can be more than a sacrificial guardian." Shivian stares him down despite panic spreading through her body. He bears terrible resemblance to the false Frozen Gigant in this form.

  She sighs in relief when the castform takes the stone back and the glalie reverts to his usual constitution with a civilized face just barely hiding painful agony. "I do not wish for bloodshed, either."

  Glancing at the mountain to the north, Shivian knows what she will do as she and Arctina join Frozy's side.

  This is not the life they wanted, but they will have to make do.

  Now a clan anew, the awkwardness never leaves. Instead, it fades slightly and becomes the norm.

  This clan is simple. It exists with tranquility and freedom at the forefront. There is only one rule Shivian imposed the day the two groups united: if anyone were to encounter a froslass named Glaciari or Agnice, they are to deliver their heads to Shivian and Frozy.

  It is peaceful. It is still new. It is somewhat uncomfortable.

  As long as Arctina can stay together with Shivian and Frozy, she believes she will be okay. But she wishes things could be more than simply okay. Though living with these new souls injects a fresh ambition into them that they surely would have been lost without.

  The days are idle with the exception of one responsibility bestowed upon Arctina and Shivian.

  A gesture of goodwill, Chillena had called it. Their sole contribution to the culture of the clan. The only thing they know. Arctina was the one who suggested it. But rather than a necessary ceremony constricted by arbitrary tradition, it is a festival. The Frozen Opera borne anew.

  It is held every full moon. A friendly lunatone helps track the time as the blizzard never thins. All who wish to participate are welcome to, but it is mostly children who are eager to prance. Shivian and Arctina teach them the words and steps. It is all they can offer.

  Arctina gives an encouraging nod as the frost maidens look to her. It is charming how the boys don the title with pride. Arctina does not keep count, but this is yet another iteration of the Frozen Opera where the clumsy children have yet to master the facets. But that is what makes it so lovely.

  A golduck stands inspecting the ice veil she wears, her beak stuck up in the air. Arctina weakly laughs and leans close to Shivian. "Your protege is ready."

  Cheeks puffed, Shivian glares at the golduck before waving her hand as if to shoo her away. Similarly, none of the other frost maidens try to interact with her. The prima donna leers at the others as they fool around to get the nerves out.

  Arctina sighs at an irony she does not name. It will be righted soon, she is sure. She looks over to a shaking conspicuous pile of snow very close to the Frozen Opera stage. She floats over and brushes it over, revealing a makuhita who jumps up and pretends as if nothing is wrong.

  "Go join them, Maya." Arctina gently pushes her back.

  "What? Why would I be a frost maiden?" The makuhita breaks into a cold sweat and speaks too loudly. "It's impossible!"

  "But you're always watching rehearsals. I'm sure you know it all back and forth." Arctina smiles warmly. "Go ahead, it's not too late to join."

  "But I can't!" Maya's face goes red. She presses her large stomach and looks down. "I can't do it. I'll just mess everything up. My voice sucks, and I'll just fall on my face. Everyone's gonna laugh at me."

  "There's nothing wrong messing up. Just have fun. Enjoy yourself!" Arctina's insides twist at the child retreating into herself. "I'm cheering for you."

  Maya must have mulled this over for some time. She plays with her hands as she shyly asks, "Really?"

  "Totally!"

  Maya perks up and stands straight. She whips her head between the frost maidens and Arctina. "I'm gonna do it."

  "Then what are you waiting for?" Arctina pushes her forth. "The show won't start without you!"

  Awkwardly ambling, running the fastest she can, Maya charges ahead. She trips and stumbles on the way, but she does not stop until she carves a space for herself on the stage.

  Shivian rejoins Arctina, cheeks still puffed, as she anxiously eyes the prima donna. She wildly shakes her arms in the air until she grabs the golduck's attention. Pointing at the other frost maidens, Shivian then sticks her nose in the air and pretends to slap herself before miming a variety of motions Arctina cannot begin to parse. Only then does the golduck hug herself before staring at her fellows. Shyly, she approaches Maya and says something that spreads delight on the makuhita's face. She moves on to the others and does the same.

  Shivian releases her breath and her face takes on a more natural hue. Arctina says, "She's a good kid." Arctina stops herself when she remembers the current prima donna is actually older than the two of them. "I mean, you taught her well."

  The frost maidens now stand unified behind the prima donna. As it should be. Frozy comes along and nods at Arctina. She shoots an angelic smile at Shivian, who keeps Arctina between the two of them like a wall.

  Chillena appears. She claps and announces, "Let us bask in the Frozen Opera."

  And so it begins. The howling wind is the music. The children come to life, their nervousness spurring them to do their utmost.

  Maya fumbles along, but her smile never leaves her face as she belts out unintelligible words. The others welcome her participation. Arctina knows she will be alright. All the children will.

  They bump into each other. Their voices peak and fade. They forget the lyrics. They forget the steps. They get disheartened. They try to showboat.

  They are imperfect.

  They have fun.

  An anthem of joy. This is the Frozen Opera in all its glory.

  These children are the epitome of innocence. They spin about with sheer jubilation as the audience cheers them on. As the progenitor of sorts of the Frozen Opera, Arctina makes sure she shouts loud and clear.

  "Why does the Frozen Opera always make Elder Arctina and Elder Shivian so sad?" a non-participating child asks their mother a little too loudly.

  An uncomfortable deja vu runs through Arctina. She blinks rapidly and realizes that fat tears fall from her eyes and freeze on her cheeks. And her cheers have devolved into pathetic sobs. She turns around, lest the frost maidens see her and the opera is ruined because of her.

  This Frozen Opera is too beautiful. Arctina cannot stop crying. At the corner of her eyes, she sees Shivian covering her mouth and quietly weeping into it.

  Arctina truly wishes this is what the performance of her, Shivian, and Frozy could have been. It is too unfair. Alas, there is no changing the past. All they endured must be forgotten for the sake of everyone else. It is for the best.

  The adults invited Shivian to be the next prima donna. It is a rotating role, changing every performance. She did not want to accept, but they would not take no for an answer. They mean well, and Shivian is taking it seriously, so there is something to look forward to. It warmed Arctina's heart to hear Shivian's one condition was that the two of them would perform together.

  Still, the happier the renewed Frozen Opera makes Arctina, the more it pains her. She shares a commiserating look with Shivian before she swallows it and turns back to watch the splendid performance.

  Frozy gasps. Without warning, she springs to life and excitedly pumps her fists in the air. Had she a voice, she would surely be whooping like no tomorrow. She punches the air to the melody as she crassly and silently hoots and hollers.

  Shivian makes a noise like vomiting as her eyes twitch and her face grows purple, cheeks puffed once more. Frozy claps erratically, louder than the choir can muster. She energetically whips her head back and forth to a nonexistent tune. Finally, she drifts towards the frost maidens.

  "What is wrong with you?" Shivian explodes as she yanks Frozy back by the sash. Her voice is still a shredded rasp. "In what world is your inane cheering warranted in the middle of their performance?"

  "Aw, Shivian, you broke your vow of silence again!" Arctina has to hide a growing smile.

  "Oh, shush." The froslass heaves to collect herself. "If only a certain someone would stop such trite instigation!"

  "Then why do you keep falling for it?" Arctina shakes as Frozy takes cover behind her, absolutely quaking with laughter. "You already know she's gonna do this. How many times is that?"

  "I thought you were on my side!"

  "Not if you keep self-sabotaging." Arctina speaks frankly.

  Sputtering terribly, Shivian cuts herself off with a toothless growl. "Oh, whatever."

  "Your voice will never come back like this."

  "You—Frozy!"

  "Shush!" Arctina wipes the slate for them with a giggle. Together, they resume bearing witness to an ethereal performance.

  Knowing here, I do belong. It is the universe's song.

  The refrain echoes through the clan. They follow along, hinging on every word. They smile because they have to. They smile because they want to. They smile because of the Frozen Opera that has saved them

  When the performance comes to a close, the three of them give a passionate standing ovation.

  I started this story with a vague idea. I came up with the title as a play on words of sorts. In the sense of, they should refrain from singing the Frozen Opera lacking faith in their tradition and the Frozen Gigant (their precious hymn sung by heathens), or the repeating line in the anthem sung by those who do not belong (the refrain from the hymn of a heathen). Kind of pretentious, but that's what I was aiming for.

  A big thank you to everyone who has read to the end! Until we meet again~