Sophie PoV
I wake up with my hands shivering. Then I feel that my whole body is shaking, and I realize that I forgot to turn on the heater last night.
Groaning, I heave myself up and walk up to the heater. I glance outside and see the streets engulfed with whiteness. The last snowflakes float lazily down to the ground and grin to myself. Maybe there'll be no school today.
But as I look closer, I see a silhouette of a boy with a…cane? He skips and dances down the sidewalk on a frozen path. I blink, and he disappears.
Must be my imagination, I think, and turn on the heater. I look outside again. There are only a few short icicles on the roof and dripping water. Closing my eyes and concentrating, I imagine a 5-inch long icicle. I open my eyes again and see a long icicle in the place of the dripping water. It's been a long time since I let myself use my power.
I get dressed in warm clothes and walk downstairs. My mom is on the phone, looking worried, and hangs up at the last words.
"Chiron called," she says. "Somehow, all the snow got into the camp boundaries. They think it's Khione, getting her revenge, and the camp needs everyone they can get. We're leaving soon," she finishes.
My eyes widen. It's been 2 years since the battle with Gaea, and I thought Khione's essence got thrown into Tartarus. But I just reply with an okay.
"Remember, Sophie, don't let anyone, not even Chiron know of your powers. They'll think you're Khione in disguise," my mom whispers. I tug at my blonde braid and nod. I must keep my powers controlled.
[Line Break]
We arrive at Camp Half-Blood an hour later, and I see that camp is covered a foot deep in the snow. Biting my lip, I hop out of the car and clutch both of my daggers. A monster better not attack at a time like this. I'm so nervous; a part of ground becomes frozen. My eyes widen and I try to forget it. I wave to my mom, heft up my backpack, and start into camp.
"Sophie!" Hannah, my sister and best friend, runs over to greet me. I smile and hug her. It's weird despite our differences, we're still like best friends. Percy runs over with Annabeth, grins, and ruffles my hair.
"Hey!" I protest. It took my mom a long time to French braid my hair.
"Nice to see you too, Sophie," Percy responds, still grinning. "Hey, I bet since there's snow, we can melt it since it's technically frozen water and win capture the flag," he says. His girlfriend, Annabeth, sighs, exasperated.
"Seaweed Brain, first of all, frozen water is ice. And second of all, it's snow, not water. You can't control snow," she says pointedly. "Also, I doubt we're going to play capture the flag soon, because this is a really serious matter and we can't play in the snow," she adds. Now it's Percy's turn to sigh.
I try for a smile, because I can control snow. Then I remember my mom said not to let anyone know and let my smile fade.
Chiron trotted up to us.
"Good thing you're here, Sophie. We need all the campers we can if we're going to tr—defeat Khione." I squinted.
"How do you know it's Khione and not some… other force?" I asked. Chiron sighed.
"Khione is our best guess. And how would another force break through the camp boundaries with snow?" I shrugged.
"I don't know," she said finally. "It's just… you know… I didn't think even the gods could break through the camp boundaries." Chiron smiled.
"You have much to learn, my child," he said.
[Line Break]
Jack Frost PoV
The first time I met Elsa, she was trying to steal my job.
One winter morning, I was dancing down the sidewalk, freezing it and adding frost to the windows. Then I saw Elsa. She was going down the opposite side of me, her platinum hair trailing behind her. I thought she was a normal person, unable to see me. But she stared at me, watching me go down the sidewalk with my staff, freezing things on the way. She looked at me in a peculiar way and started skipping down, leaving a trail of ice and snow behind her. Elsa looked back at me and gave me a smug look. I glared back and realized she was not a normal human.
I then walked over to her with my staff.
"What do you think you're doing?" I asked angrily. She gave me an innocent look.
"Why, spreading the joys of winter, of course," she said with a smile. That's when I realized how pretty she was, with her cold blue eyes and light blonde hair. She looked like any other popular girl at a school. Except her clothes.
She wore a light blue/white dress, which shimmered in the morning light. She had a long, thin cape that looked like ice. I disliked her instantly.
"You mean trying to steal my job," I said, glaring at her. "Look, I don't know who you are, girl, but spreading winter is my, Jack Frost's, job."
"I wasn't trying to steal your job," she said. "I just wanted to use my powers, for once, for joy," she continued with a sad, faraway look. For a split second, I felt sorry for her. "My name is Elsa, by the way."
"Well, you are doing my job," I retorted. "And I don't need any help."
"I'm as capable as spreading winter as you are," she said. "In case you didn't notice, I can spread winter." At that, I noticed the ice beneath her expanding and growing.
"Who says you're as capable as me?"
"A contest, then."
"Fine. Somewhere that hasn't been covered in snow yet."
Elsa smiled. Then we started searching.
[Line Break]
So, yeah. That was pretty much how I met Elsa.
At night, I find a place.
It looks like a strawberry patch, but as I look up at the sign, it says "Camp Half-Blood". I look at the patch again, and there's also many cabins, an arena, a mansion, and kids, singing around a campfire.
"How about we start when they fall asleep?" Elsa suggests. I nod. "Also, I want to go first." I nod again.
I was so going to beat her.
[Line Break]
Elsa PoV
I rub my hands together. "Let's do this."
The contest rules are simple. Summon up as big a snowstorm as you can. The only thing that matters is the snow. Icicles, frozen ground, and frost don't matter. The one who gets the most feet of snow would win. The time limit is 30 minutes, so we won't overdose.
I run into the camping ground, leaving my hands to trail behind me, summoning up as a big snowstorm as I can. Being angry at Jack Frost enables my powers to run wildly, without control. But something stops me. Not a feeling, not a person, just something. I stop in my tracks.
"What, tired already?" Jack Frost jeers as he leans on a tree. I glare back at him and freeze his mouth shut. Ice starts creeping up the tree, and his feet are suddenly frozen to the ground. He looks surprised, then angry. I turned around again, with a smug look on my face. I am going to win this.
I dance around the camp, humming to myself "Let it go", trying to unleash my full potential. But again, the force stops me. Eyebrows furrowed in concentration, I try to use all of my power mustered up inside me.
By the end, I have only made it to 6 inches.
"Looks like we know who's gonna win now," Jack says, picking himself up.
"Something was stopping me!"
"Yeah right."
I whip around, giving him a deathly look.
"Something was. And guess what, you get 7 inches or more, I'll never use my powers in front of you again." I turned around and climb up the tree, leaving a trail of ice and frost as I go up.
Jack Frost shrugs and starts his own snowstorm, using his staff. It seems like his powers came from his staff. I smile to myself, because I have just discovered his bane of power.
After about 20 minutes, Jack Frost begins to struggle. I smile to myself again. It has only snowed about 5 or 6 inches.
30 minutes pass, and the amount of snow there was before has doubled. It is a tie.
"Told you so," I say as he passes by me.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," he mumbles.
"Anyways," I continue, "What was that that stopped us?" I ponder. Jack shrugs.
"It didn't really feel evil, but the force is probably stronger than us if it can stop me," I say.
"I wonder…" Jack starts to say.