Mira Veltman sat in the center of a blizzard with her legs crossed, eyes closed and hands resting on her knees in perfect a meditation posture.
Frost had coated everything within a fifty-meter radius.
But sweat ran down her face.
Her pneuma only increased as she fought for control over the intensifying snowstorm.
"Master it. Don't let it master you."
Yet her mind drifted backward, seeking escape from the present struggle.
It was twelve year ago.
The Veltman estate gardens were decorated with white roses and ice sculptures that never melted.
Two families had gathered; the Veltmans and the Zhaos.
It was a wedding, and little Mira age seven sat on a stone bench watching the ceremony with a bored look in her eyes.
Her purple-gray braids were tied with white ribbons.
The groom was Konstantin Veltman and the bride was Mei Zhao, elegant, composed and stunning in that traditional white dress
Everyone seemed happy, the champagne flowed and the adults talked about strengthning the bloodline.
Mira didn't understand any of it.
What she did understand was that the small girl sitting alone near the fountain, wearing a miniature version of the Zhao family colors—white and red— looked miserable.
Mira approached her slowly. "Hi."
The girl looked up. She had black hair cut in a neat bob and wore glasses that were slightly too big for her face.
"Hi," she replied quietly.
"I'm Mira. Who are you?"
"Suzie." She turned back to the fountain. "Mei is my sister."
"The bride?"
"Yeah."
Mira sat down beside her. "Why do you look sad? Weddings are supposed to be happy."
"She used to play with me." Suzie's small voice cracked slightly. "Every day after school. She taught me math, helped me with my homework and we'd build things together."
"Now she's married. She'll be too busy with her new offspring." Suzie wiped her eyes behind her glasses. "I won't have anyone to play with anymore."
Mira considered this seriously. Then she stood up and extended her hand.
"I'll play with you."
Suzie blinked. "What?"
"I'll play with you all you want. Every day if you need. We can build things and do math and homework together." Mira smiled genuinely. "You won't be alone."
Suzie stared at the offered hand for a long moment.
Then she took it.
And smiled for the first time that day.
Several years had passed since then and Mira now stood on a bridge that overlooked the Vitalis River.
Mira and Suzie stood facing each other, no longer children.
Mira had grown tall and striking, her omega-level potential already manifesting in the way frost formed at her feet without conscious thought.
And Suzie had grown too, her Zhao bloodline giving her the analytical mind that made her top of every academic ranking.
But right now, they were just two friends having the worst argument of their lives.
"I'm sorry," Said Mira, her voice desperate. "Suzie, please, we didn't mean for it to happen...."
"Didn't mean for it to happen?" Suzie's voice was colder than anything Mira's Crest could produce."your family didn't mean to ruin the alliance."
"It wasn't like that!"
"It wasn't?" Suzie removed her glasses. "Then explain it to me"
"I—" Mira's voice broke. "I can't."
"Because you can't, or because you won't?"
"Because you wouldn't understand!"
Suzie put her glasses back on, and when she spoke again, all the sympathy had left her voice.
"I don't have a sister anymore."
"Suzie....."
"Don't call me that. We're just students who happen to be attending the same university now. Nothing more."
Suzie turned and walked away.
Mira ran after her. "Wait! Please, just let me explain—"
The bridge shuddered.
Cracks spider-webbed across the stone beneath Mira's feet. Her Crest had activated unconsciously and ice expanded inside the structural supports, weakening them catastrophically.
The section of bridge gave way and Mira fell
Time slowed down and she saw Suzie's face above her, the expression on her face shifting from anger to horror.
Then she hit the water and everything went dark.
A voice called from somewhere far away.
"Mira... Mira... MIRA!"
Mira's eyes snapped open.
The hailstorm had intensified into something apocalyptic. Ice chunks the size of fists pummeled the ground and the temperature had dropped so low that the air seemed to crystallize.
"MIRA!"
Joel, the head maid, stood at the edge of the frozen zone, bundled in emergency winter gear and still shivering violently.
Mira exhaled slowly and deliberately, and her pneuma retracted.
The hailstorm stopped mid-fall, suspended ice hovering in the air for a moment before dissolving into harmless mist.
The lush garden of the Veltman estate reappeared. Green grass, flowering trees and warm sunlight.
Almost as if the winter apocalypse had never happened.
Mira rushed to Joel's side, catching the woman as she stumbled. "I'm so sorry! I got carried away again."
"It's... It's quite alright, Lady Mira." Joel's teeth chattered. "You know I'm... used to it by now."
"That doesn't make it okay."
Joel managed a smile. "The master requires your presence in the dining hall. Immediately."
Mira's expression shuttered. "I see."
She walked through the estate's corridors, passing servants who bowed but wouldn't meet her eyes. Past portraits of Veltman ancestors with their distinctive coloring and proud expressions.
Past the empty pedestal where her family's crest of honor used to sit.
The dining hall was enormous and empty. A single figure sat at the head of the table, dressed in an immaculate white suit and eating breakfast
Q looked up as Mira entered. His white hair caught the morning light, and his expression was one of mild annoyance.
"You're late."