The old man was tired. He leaned up against a tree to catch his breath. The cold air made him cough. Everything made him cough. He suspected he had pneumonia, but he couldn't risk going to a doctor. Hermes' crazy daughter was after him. She went to his house and tried to capture him there, but he managed to get away. But no matter how far away from his house he got, she was always one step behind him. He had managed to give her the slip deep in Birchwood Forest, but he knew it wouldn't be long before she found him again. He used his powers to summon a blizzard and kept going.

Normally, he could manage fine in blizzards, but not today. His lungs burned with every breath. The snow started to disorient him. He took a few more steps and fell. He crawled over to a nearby tree, coughing the whole way. He grasped the tree for support, but it didn't feel right. It felt like metal. Closer inspection revealed what looked like a doorknob. He took a chance and knocked. A minute or two later, the door in the tree opened a crack. A man in a lab coat peered out.

"Hello? Oh, my! Come in, come in! You must be freezing. Zane, put a kettle on. We have company."

The old man leaned against the man in the lab coat as they descended the stairs.

"Some weather we're having, eh? My name is Dr. Julien, and this is my son, Zane."

"Hello. I am Zane. I was built to protect those who cannot protect themselves."

The old man tried to speak, but he started coughing.

"That's a nasty cough you have there. Sit down, I'll fetch some medicine." Dr. Julien gestured toward the bed. Once he was sitting, Dr. Julien went to a cabinet and started digging through it. Zane finished up with the tea and brought over a steaming cup.

"Here, this will help with your cough," Zane said, handing over the cup.

The old man nodded his thanks and sipped the tea. It felt good on his throat.

"What is your name?" Zane asked.

"Everyone calls me Ice."

"Why?"

"I ask them to. I hate my given name. This is good." He held up the cup, hoping to change the subject.

"It's ginger honey tea."

"Found it!" Dr. Julien came back over with some medicine. He handed it over to Ice.

"Thank you." Ice took the medicine and washed away the taste with the tea.

"I'm curious. We don't get many visitors. What brings you all the way out here, in this weather no less?" Dr. Julien grabbed a chair and sat across from Ice.

"Oh, well, I have to go see an old friend of mine as quickly as possible. I really should be going," Ice said, standing up.

"Nonsense, you'll stay here until this storm passes and you're better."

Ice was too tired to argue, so he put the cup down and laid down on the bed. He told Dr. Julien he would be okay with sleeping on the floor, but the doctor insisted. He managed to sleep for a few hours.

It was still dark when he woke up. The clock read eleven thirty-three. Ice got up and searched for his bag. He hadn't noticed earlier, but Dr. Julien must've taken it at some point and stored it somewhere.

"What are you looking for?" Zane asked.

Ice whipped around. Zane was right behind him, staring at him.

"Shh. We don't want to wake him up," Ice whispered, glancing at Dr. Julien on the couch.

"You should be resting."

"Yes, well, I remembered I had some herbal tea in my bag. Could you please boil some water, so I can drink it? It will help my throat not feel so sore."

"Of course." Zane went off to fetch the water, and Ice found his bag. There wasn't much in it, just some pens, gum, some trash, and tea bags from Mystaké. He sighed as he took them out. This tea was designed to force an elemental power to go to a new host. Usually, the act of having children triggered this event naturally, but Ice had blown it with the one girl he liked years ago. Now, he was sixty-eight years old with no hope of meeting someone new, let alone having children. Mystaké had given the tea to him so he could use it when he found someone worthy of his power. That was almost ten years ago, and he still hadn't found someone he wanted to give the tea to. Now he had no choice. If he wanted a chance of stopping Morgen, if he wanted his element to continue once he had passed on, he had to give up his power now. Besides, he doubted Morgen would look for his power in a robot.

"Here you are," Zane said. He placed the teapot on the table in front of Ice, along with a cup.

"Thank you. Grab a cup and join me." Ice placed the tea bags into the pot. He glanced at the clock. Eleven forty-four. He and Zane both had to drink the tea before midnight, or else he would have to wait for the next midnight to roll around for the spell to activate.

Zane protested, but Ice insisted. Not wanting to seem rude, Zane agreed and got a cup. Ice sipped the tea, staring at Zane. It took a moment, but Zane eventually sipped his tea. Ice looked at the clock. Eleven fifty. Good.

"Where is your family?" Zane asked.

"Huh?" Ice asked, caught off guard.

"Do you not have a family?"

"Uh, no. Not anymore. I never married, and my parents died a long time ago. The closest I have to family is Libby. I found her when she was ten. She was living on the streets and I took pity on her. I let her sleep on my couch for the night, and she never left until she got married."

"It is sad you do not have a family."

"It's okay. I was close with my group of friends. We were basically family. This tea really helped, but I'm tired now. I'm going to head to bed now. Good night, Zane." Ice hurried back to the bed, leaving Zane confused. He faced away from Zane and waited. A few minutes later, he was overcome with sleep. He heard Zane power down right before he lost consciousness.

In his dream, he saw a pulsating orb. It was white, and snow was falling from it. Slowly, the orb started to fade and move away from him. Eventually, he could no longer see it. When he woke up, his powers were gone. It was six in the morning, and Dr. Julien was still asleep. Zane was still powered down. Ice grabbed his bag, dumbed out the rest of the tea from last night, and left. He wished he could say a proper thank you and goodbye, but he couldn't risk Morgen finding Zane. He walked up the staircase and out the door, determined to get as far away as possible. Unfortunately for him, he was still weak, and the cold air made his cough worse, so he didn't make it very far before Morgen caught up to him.

"My, my. You're a long ways from home, old man," Morgen chided.

"You… Your father would… He…" Ice couldn't finish, he was coughing so much.

"Oh, you sound horrible. Not to worry. We'll make you all better. Grab him."

Morgen's underlings easily subdued the weakened former Elemental Master. They dragged him back to her cave and locked him in a cell. She made sure he got plenty of medicine and rest.

"Why me?" Ice asked her.

"I'm going to build a machine to extract elemental powers from their masters. Once it's done, I'm going to need a test subject, and you will do perfectly. No family to miss you, no children to pass it on to. Yes, you are the perfect test subject for my experiment."

Ice said nothing, but he hoped his adopted daughter would come looking for him. As time passed, the days blended together until he could no longer tell one day apart from the next. Morgen always made sure he was well taken care of. Years passed, and he never gave up hope that Libby would come for him.