Prologue
Ice, thick coats of ice encased the small figure, confining his movement to the breadth of a hair.
The glacier stretched on for miles on end, seemingly never-ending in its length.
Jack Frost looked murderously through his prison with a fiery hatred.
How ironic. Imprisoned within his own element. Athena's idea, no doubt. The sadistic goddess always had an appreciation for irony.
The mere thought of the Olympian goddess forced his anger to the forefront of his mind. Hatred, a powerful hatred, rippled through the ice, threatening to crack the confines.
For a moment, it looked as if the hatred might win; then the ice bounced back, as if elastic. Jack growled.
This ice… it wasn't normal. He had control over all of the cold in the universe; and that included all shards of ice. No. This was something special. Poseidon must've been coerced into making it; a salty aura seemed to be suppressing his natural strength.
For the hundredth time that hour, he roared.
~oOo~
"Was it wise?" Artemis asked for the umpteenth time. "Was it wise to imprison such a powerful ally?"
Athena glanced at the goddess, her grey eyes cold and unrelenting. "Of course. We can't have a primordial striding about the Earth; he'd join Gaea at the hint of her wake. Couple that with the fact that he's not restrained by the Ancient Laws… he could be a powerful enemy."
"Or a powerful ally." Artemis countered.
Athena frowned. "Since when were you so defensive of a man?"
The silver-eyed goddess flushed. "Say that again, and I will put an arrow in your skull. I am not defensive of him; I'm simply questioning the Council's judgement. He's a primordial; if he breaks free…"
Athena's laugh rang through the hall. "Impossible! I've ran the numbers. No, that trap will hold against all the forces of nature."
~oOo~
The S.S. Abrams roared through the Pacific waters, slowly cutting its way to the Timburg Glacier.
Large knives hacked at the ice with a fueled vigor; thick sheets split cleanly in two, creating a narrow channel. The Icebreaker continued slowly down the channel, still hacking, still cutting.
The glacier loomed like a castle of solid ice over the, by comparison, small and insignificant ship.
Captain Green crawled to the stern and surveyed the monstrosity, his eyes bright. "Boys!" he growled. "Let's cut this thing!"
A roar of assent rang through the crew. Green smiled and signaled to the massive, steam-powered Splitter behind him. The two ships slowly maneuvered their way to the ice, their engines revving.
Two hours later, they hadn't moved an inch. The ice was unyielding; their blades couldn't find purchase anywhere along the surface. Captains Green and Green (the two were brothers) surveyed the massive structure, their eyes shaded.
"Hank?"
"Yeah, John?"
"We're not making any headway."
"I've noticed."
"... Think it's time to head back?"
"... Yeah, probably. We'll call HQ for backup."
Nearly a week later, a crushing drone, two passenger helicopters, and a word-classing Icebreaker hacked at the unrelenting ice. The sheets of ice could not be dented.
Captain Hank Green stalked out of the shadow of the glacier and dropped his pickaxe, panting hard. The ice didn't budge. This job would be harder than they'd originally anticipated. Much harder.
Inside the glacier, something stirred. Something ancient. Something excruciatingly powerful. A small figure opened one startling, ice-blue eye.