Suddenly, an overwhelming aura surrounded Lucius.
A cold, frozen, shattering aura.
I can’t stop!, he shouted inside of himself. There was absolutely nothing he could do.
His nerves froze under the ice, cold gaze of a King.
…
Captain Lucius was conflicted.
This is unusual, because Captain Lucius isn’t the type of man to be conflicted. In fact, he’s infamous for knowing almost exactly what the enemy will do next, rarely ever being incorrect in his predictions. He once defeated an army of 20 Navy Battleships with his own 5, which gave him the title.
Confliction is the feeling of being unsure of your own feelings or your own resolve. This is also unusual, because Captain Lucius is a pirate, and pirates aren’t known to wallow in their emotions.
I’m sure you’re asking yourself, “Why is Captain Lucius conflicted?”
What he saw before him was what could be only described as frightening. It was cold, too.
He had anchored himself to a merchant ship for the purpose of pirating and sent a necessary amount of men to do the usual pirating show. After they hadn’t returned for almost an hour, Lucius took it upon himself and 4 other volunteers to board the merchant ship and see for himself as to what had happened.
“Those bastards are probably busy drinking. I should have sent more disciplined men.”, Captain Lucius muttered.
“Captain, make sure to chew them out for me!”, said one of the deckhands who was incharge of watching the back of the merchant ship.
As he boarded the ship, he noticed the air had gotten much colder, and stood on guard.
In this world, even the slightest mistake or error can be your death, especially for a man with only hits wits and skill like Lucius.
His cautiousness was correct, and what he saw was 26 shattered bodies.
“Get back.”, said Captain Lucius.
His crewmates were confused. He realized the probably thought those shattered bodies were statues. “Huh?”
“Get back, damn it! That pile of shards are almost definitely what remains of our old comrades. Brace yourselves, men.”
And once again, he was correct. A pale man with pale white skin and even paler white hair came from behind the pile of frigid remains. He wore a large white cloak, which made him stand out among the ship.
For a moment, the two forces gazed quietly at each other, perhaps waiting for the other to make a move.
“Hey, that’s pretty rude. You killed all of my men, and you didn’t even take any hostages.”, Captain Lucius jeered. This was a warning and a test for the enemy. He already knew that the pale man standing in front of him is probably the one who killed his crewmates, and judging from how they died, he’s probably an ice or snow mage.
“Where are the merchant crew members?”
“So, you’re the one who sent these guys?”, said the pale man.
“Don’t answer a question with a question! What happened to the merchant crew members? If you’re a pirate too, I’m okay with letting you have the ship.”, Captain Lucius yelled, swinging his sword out and pointing it at the snow skinned man.
“Surely you don’t think you can actually beat me. Come… I’ll let you take the first swing.”, the pale man answered, in an almost mocking tone.
Lucius didn’t like the situation. He especially didn’t like the look that this “pile of snow” was giving him.
It wasn’t a judgemental look, it was the look that you would give to a child that just tripped and fell. Maybe you’d find it funny at first, but then you’d try to help that child up.
It was a conflicting look. Something was off.
“…Cocky, are we?”, muttered Captain Lucius, circling around the man.
I’ll kill him with the first swing, as fast as I can. There will be no room for error.
Those were the exact words that went through Captain Lucius’ mind as he tensed his muscles and put all his focus into decapitating the man in front of him.
…
…
He swore to himself there would be no room for error, and there was no error.
The following events took place in less than 1 second. Fast enough for the average person to blink and it’d be over.
It was… perfect. A beautiful, swift cut. Captain Lucius took pride in this flash strike.
But instantly, he realized his mistake.
In the middle of his swing, he totally realized his mistake!
No… what the hell? He’s…
…looking at the sword. The pale man was looking directly at Captain Lucius’ sabre, and perfectly tracking it’s movement to his neck.
What is his plan? Is this some sort of special spell scroll?
Just what will happen if my blade meets his neck?
Suddenly, a devastating, frozen, will shattering aura overtakes the area. The pale man gave Lucius a look that, if looks could kill, would have totally crushed him into a pulp.
Like an already dying match in a blizzard, Captain Lucius’ burning desire to behead the pale man instantly evaporated.
Am I going to die like this? In such a pathetic way?
No… I’ve gotta stop!
Lucius put every fibre in his body into stopping his swing, stomping in the ground, causing an earthquake like shockwave to erupt from the bottom of the merchant ship.
“Remarkable. I never thought you’d come to the conclusion that you have to stop yourself. You instantly recognized the obvious difference in power, and gave up the fight.”, said the pale man.
“A man like you has use to me. I am Cryonical. Join my kingdom.”
Lucius found himself kneeling down and yelling his name out loud.
At first, he felt shameful. But then, a strange feeling of gratitude overtook him.
Gratitude that he is still breathing? Maybe… but one would describe it as the feeling a wolf would get after being spared by a hunter, after being taken in.
The gratitude to serve.
…
-a new and improved Cryonical love letter!!
-i love women
-CRYONICAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL