Prologue: When I Die

A trip to Iceland.

That was how it all started.

Emil Steilsson had been born there a long time ago. He had spent the very beginning of his life in that beautiful country. But when he turned four, he, his brother, and his uncles all moved to America. It took some time before he was able to call the place home. However, he quickly felt welcomed once he had made a new friend in school.

Lei Wang had moved from Hong Kong the same year, so it made sense that neither had any friends. The second Emil had sat down with him at lunch, everything changed from there. The two grew to become the best of friends, finding that they had much in common. They were practically inseparable, one hardly seen without the other. It was just them against the world.

But twelve-year-old Emil never could have been prepared for what happened. He never imagined that there would come a day when he would gaze upon his friend, his best friend of eight years, dressed in his best tuxedo, lying comfortably on the coffin's soft fabric.

Emil stared, a mix of emotions filling his stomach. His brain wasn't of much use at the moment, only refusing to comprehend that this was real life and not some nightmare he would soon wake up from. His eyes were emotionless and void, matching his heart, which had an emotion flow that was currently cut off.

Nothing felt real.

All of this had to have been a dream.

Lei wouldn't die.

He couldn't...

The sound of crying filled Emil's ears. The source of it was Mei Xiao, Lei's older sister by two years. She was being comforted by her older brother, Im Yong Soo, who was having trouble keeping it in.

He had to admit that he had never seen such a saddened look on Kiku Honda's usually stoic face. He also hated physical contact, so when he willingly hugged his older brother, that mean that things were really serious. Yao Wang was grieving over the loss of their youngest sibling, as they would now have one empty seat at the dinner table.

Emil turned away from them. He could not face them. Not after what had happened. Not after that.

Silently, he walked away from the open casket and from the body of his best friend. His eyes stared at the floor, but that didn't help him as he accidentally bumped his head on someone's torso.

He found that instead of a stranger like he was expecting, it turned out to be his older brother, Lukas Bondevik, handsomely dressed in a black tux, looking at his little brother with eyes full of sadness and concern. "Emil, are you alright?"

Lukas knew the answer, but still, he thought he might ask. Emil merely muttered a "sorry" and walked to the back of the church.

His eyes never left his brother. He knew what Emil was like. He usually didn't show any emotions on the outside, but on the inside, they boiled in his blood, wanting to erupt and flow free, but Emil would never allow it. He was just like the country of Iceland itself.

"He's not taking it very well, is he?" The question came from Mathias Køhler. The Dane, who was usually energetic and bubbly, seemed saddened by the event.

"Yeah. He's still in the denial stage. He hasn't fully accepted Lei's death."

Lukas watched his brother as he sat, trying and failing to process the situation. "But...I-I'm just...afraid of what will happen...when he finally realizes..."

Mathias placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Hey, it's gonna be alright. We're all here for him."

Lukas gave one of his rare smiles. Come to think to it, Emil was one who rarely smiled as well. Just one more thing they had in common.

Emil had went to his room right after the funeral, not wanting to remain in that stuffy suit any longer. Out of boredom, he sat on his bed and pulled out his phone, wanting to play a game to pass the time. He had just gotten a new one that involved fighting super villains to save the Mayor's daughter. Really enticing.

He was on the tricky level five, which required defeating one of the eight minor boss minions. A few levels later and he found himself being slowly sucked in, not wanting to put his phone down. Eleven levels in, and he was on a roll, defeating minions left and right without breaking a sweat.

A knock sounded on his door three times, although he missed it the first two.

"It's open." He answered as he paused the game.

The door opened to his two younger brothers, Peter Kirkland and Jan Vintersson. They had both been adopted a few years ago by his uncle Berwald. They all basically lived in the same house anyway, so Emil did think of them as his brothers. "What is it?"

Peter began, slightly nervous. "Um, Dad says that dinner is ready, so you can come down whenever."

"Thanks, but I'm kind of in the middle of something. I'll eat later."

Peter said nothing and shut the door. They walked down the stairs, in deep thought. "So...what will it be like now? Without Lei around?"

Jan stayed silent before answering. "I don't know. I can't say. Emil's taking it really hard, even if he doesn't know it."

Peter stuttered. "I-I'm worried about him. And...Lei is gone. So that...that means he can't teach us how to set off fireworks, or...hide us from the police when we've done something crazy, or..."

Jan rested a hand on his shoulder. "I know. Just, stop talking before we both lose it."

Peter took his brother's advice and remained quiet. Although that did not change the fact that the ice they were standing on was slowly cracking, and that the Volcano would soon erupt.