I didn't keep you waiting for nothing, enjoy this very long chapter:
Though we had gotten the notice on Friday evening, it was three days before we heard from Icicle again. I had gone back to my downward worrying spiral, but when we received her call it quickly died down.
We were eating dinner when Bethany's radio went off.
"Bethany?" We heard Icicle call on the other end. "Bethany?" She shouted a little louder.
"Yes, my queen?" Bethany had jumped when the radio went off, dropped her fork and fumbled around with the device instantly. She was quite the spastic little devoted freak.
"We're going to be home soon…we were having some traveling difficulties with the animal."
"THE ANIMAL?" We heard another voice from the radio shout. I instantly recognized it as Dojo's. "I've never been so insulted!"
"Shut up, you!"
"Ow! She's trying to freeze me to death!"
"Um…Ice Queen, what kind of traveling troubles?" Bethany asked calmly.
"Oh, he just keeps insisting that we stop."
"Of course I keep insisted that we stop; you haven't fed me in two days! I've flown across the world, back, and back again in the same week! Is a little food to much to ask for?"
"I SAID SHUT UP DRAGON!"
I tuned out the rest of the conversation to seek out my friends, who were already done with their food. I told them that Ember was almost here and we further discussed our plan.
--
Five hours later, however, Icicle STILL wasn't back and many of the dancers were sick of waiting for her. They all eventually agreed, though some rather reluctantly, that their best option would be to go to bed and greet her in the morning.
I had just about drifted off into dream world when I heard voices outside my door.
"Stop stepping on my feet!" The first voice hissed. It sounded like Icicle…
"Maybe I wouldn't step on them if they weren't so gigantic!" I instantly recognized the speaker to be Ember. My heart jumped. I rolled out of bed, pulled some clothes on and rushed outside, and sure enough they were both standing there. Icicle looked the same, except she was carrying Ember's old big black bag. But as for Ember…
I actually gasped when I saw Ember; she was looking much better than she had at the prison. Her hair had been cut to a length so that all the faded highlights were gone, but her hair was still reasonably long. It also, finally, looked like it had been brushed and properly groomed for.
Needless to say, she was out of her prison jumpsuit, but I was shocked that she wasn't wearing her old flaming clothing. Instead, she had on a pale pink T-shirt and camouflage pants. She also had on small black leather gloves. She almost didn't look like herself anymore, but her face was still the same. The face that just radiated fiery attitude.
"Ember!" I couldn't stop myself as I embraced her warmly.
"Oh…hi, Rai." She said slowly as I pulled away. She looked down at her feet. She seemed very different, like prison had really changed her. "Thanks for you know…orchestrating this whole thing…um…Icicle told me about the deal and everything. She said you also had a plan to turn me…uh…'good' is that right? I mean, I don't think it's possible but I'll go along with anything that gets me free…"
"Yeah we…wait a minute." I faced Icicle with disgust. "How did you know that?"
She smiled widely and gave a little laugh. "Do you honestly think I don't know every word muttered, whispered, and secretly exchanged in my home?"
"Well when you say it that way…" I sighed. It didn't matter than Icicle knew the plan, it was just insulting to know that she was always one step ahead. There was no foolin' the little she-devil.
"Ember, I have a question for you…I want to ask it now before I forget it…Um, when I visited you at the prison…you told me to go bother Stacy. So…um, who the heck is Stacy?"
Ember made a confused face. "Well gee…I don't remember anything about a 'Stacy' when you visited me...I don't remember much after with what they did…" She looked down sheepishly. "Speaking of the prison…hello mister hallucination…"
"Oh yeah…that…I remember that too…" I was starting to wonder about Ember. She seemed fine right now, but how could she just drop all that…crazyness like that? "Well, um, do you know anyone named Stacy?"
"The only Stacy I can think of is my childhood teddy bear. I named it Stacy."
"Um, excuse me," Icicle cut in. "Stacy-bear was my bear."
"Oh really, Eve?" Icicle cringed at her name. "Then why did I sleep with it every night?"
"Because, Mary," Icicle stressed the name loudly, "you had a habit of stealing my stuff. You thought Stacy bear was yours, but it was mine and you just liked to steal her all the time. You really have always been a thief."
"As if you haven't been!" Ember nearly shouted. I worried they would wake someone up. "And for the umpteenth time…my name is not Mary."
"And mine is not Eve." Icicle got up in Ember's face.
"Well you're certainly no queen, if that's the name you're implying." Ember seethed.
Next thing I knew, in the blink of an eye, Icicle was attempting to stab Ember with two giant ice shards she had just formed. But with a quick flame, Ember had melted both shards into two little pools of water. I really hope they weren't always this aggressive with each other…
"How many times do I have to tell you that fire will always beat ice?" Ember asked cockily.
"Until it's actually true." Icicle sneered.
Ember smiled. "Well it's gonna be true. I learned a new trick in prison. I can now send heat waves through objects up to fifteen feet away." She bragged. "I could melt this entire place in ten minutes. Wanna see?"
"No I don't want to see!" Icicle snapped. "Fine, I'll call you Ember and you'll call me Icicle and we'll call it even. I'm not calling you the phoenix, and I hardly think you wish to call me the queen." She paused. "And that heat trick is no big deal. I've been doing that with cold waves for months."
"No you haven't." Ember said quickly.
Icicle raised an eyebrow. "Really? Disregarding your accusation for the moment, on what evidence are you basing this claim off of? What possibly made you think I am lying when I am not?"
"Your nose twitched." Ember said simply.
"What?"
"I know you Ice, and I know that your nose always twitches when you lie." Icicle made a stern face. I stared at her as she spoke.
"It does not always twitch." Her nose didn't move once. "But fine, I was lying. I haven't been doing it for months, I just learned that move three weeks ago."
Ember smiled. "I learned first. I win." She said tauntingly.
"You win nothing! Who was the one who just spent the majority of the year locked in a prison with no escape, going completely utterly mad? Who is the one who just had to be rescued by her sister and now has to do everything she says while living in her home?"
Icicle had hit a nerve. Ember didn't say anything, she merely glared.
"That's what I thought."
"Um, if I could interrupt, where is Dojo?" I asked.
"Oh Dojo!" Icicle practically squealed. "Such a lovely creature...the way he flies, effortlessly, and so fast, the attitude is a bit of a problem, but…" Her eyes sparkled. "Just think, if I had a creature like that in my arsenal of weapons…"
"Hey! Dojo wasn't part of this deal; you can't have him."
Icicle swore under her breath. "You're right about that…and there is honor among thieves, so fine, I can't have the dragon. Next time I make a deal with you guys I won't let something like that slip." I seriously doubted we would ever make another deal with her.
"Well anyway, where is he?" I asked yet again.
"He said he wanted to be with Clay, so we took him into his room." Icicle finally answered.
"Yeah, and Icicle kissed his forehead while he was asleep." Ember giggled. "I see someone still has a thing for Texas-boys."
"Oh shut up, you like them just as much."
"I do not!" Ember seemed slightly offended. "I used to, but," she turned to me and winked flirtatiously, "I like Brazilian men now."
"As if Raimundo is a full grown man." Icicle snapped. Ouch…that kind of stung. "You teenagers are so frivolously stupid." Once again Icicle was acting like she was years above us.
"Well, I am a bit tired, so I'll probably be going to bed soon, Raimundo, why don't you tell Ember about the rules here." Icicle said and turned to Ember. "You also have additional rules; No fires, no heat waves, no melting things, no breaking anything, no snooping, no touching what isn't yours, in fact, don't touch anything that you don't have to…hmm, that's enough for now." Before Icicle left she had given us a list rules about living here. Most of them were about not harming the ice cavern. She kept referring to it as her 'baby' and that she'd kill any of us if we damaged anything.
"It takes me four months to carve these chandeliers, if any of them break, I swear…"
"Maintaining this place is a full time job, I have to re-freeze everything every month or so, if you knock down any walls you will so regret it…"
"It took my years to furnish this place, if you so much as chip any of the chairs or tables I'll…I don't even know what I'll do I'll be so furious!"
Her many warning were still ringing through my head.
"Okay, Ember, I'll explain the rules later, I have a quick question for Icicle." I told them.
"Well what is it?"
"How did you come up with the idea for this place?"
"There is hotel in Jukkasjarvi, Sweden that is completely built out of ice. It has eighty five rooms made out of ice. When the roof starts to melt, they close down, and the whole thing drains into the river. They have to build it up again every year. It was my inspiration for this place, but my house stays up all year." Icicle explained with a smile on her face. It was actually a genuine smile, not a cocky smile or a smirk. I wasn't sure until this point that she even could smile normally.
"Have you ever been to the hotel?" I asked her, trying to get a conversation going.
"No." She sighed sadly. "With airplane travel the way it is now…and, not to mention that I don't have a passport and I'm wanted in thirty five states, I don't think I'll be visiting anytime soon. It's my dream to go there one day though."
"I'm wanted in all fifty states!" Ember said braggingly.
"Ember! Do you always to have to one up me?"
"Whenever I get the chance, yes."
There was a silence after that as the two engaged in a silent starring contest.
"So Um…Ember," I said slowly. "What happened to your old clothes?"
"Ugh…confiscated." She said bitterly. "They took away all my items and gave them back to those I stole them from. But it doesn't matter about the clothes. The lady who made it still lives in the same place, and I bet she keeps her bank safety deposit box in the same place as last time. I'll just steal it back when I get the chance." She looked to her bag, dangling from Icicle's grasp, and pointed at it. "Whatever they decided to let me keep is in there, and the bag was locked up. Ice here ever so thoughtfully retrieved it for me…but she won't let me look in until I declare her the queen of ice."
"Well, then why don't you? Don't you wanna know what they let you keep?" I asked.
"Well of course I want to know! But my pride is stronger than my curiosity." She then snickered. "Besides, I'll just take a peak when she falls asleep."
"Oh no, you won't."
"Really? How will you stop me?" Icicle ignored her comment. She probably figured Ember wouldn't ever get the chance to look in it.
"Ahem, back to the bag, Rai, I guess you guys are enjoying the shen gong wu, huh?" Ember asked.
"What?" I said confused.
She gasped. "Those bastards! Jim said they were returning all the shen gong wu back your temple! Those bastards! I bet they're keeping it all for themselves!" I had almost forgotten that Ember had stolen all of our wu. Since then a lot more had activated, so we weren't with out wu anymore. Still, it hurt to know that the police were hording them somewhere.
"That just ain't right…hey, Ice, do you have a TV?" Ember asked, changing the subject.
"Yes, but it's small, black and white, doesn't work very well, and only gets three American news channels, and fifteen news channels from other countries. I can't exactly get a newspaper subscription here, so it's my only way of knowing what's happening in the world."
"Aw dang…"
"Let me guess," Icicle began condescendingly, "You are completely obsessed with the idea that half the world is looking for you and your face will be all over the TV news reports, am I right?"
"Actually I just wanted to watch cartoons." Ember said simply. "But you bring up a good point! Wow…I bet I'll be on every single newspaper…oh my gosh…we're talking breaking news reports…oh this cool!"
"There's nothing cool about it." Icicle huffed. "You're going to get all the credit when my dancers and I did all the work…"
"I thought you always left a 'calling card' when you pulled off a job to brag about it?" Ember said confused.
"We do…but someone here blew it up when she was screaming obscenities and throwing fire everywhere in a desperate attempt to get away, when she was indeed actually being saved." Icicle scowled.
"Oh yeah…"
"Um, about that, Ember, can we talk…you know, alone?" I turned to Icicle.
"You still have to follow my rules here, Rai, and I demand you let me stay for this conversation. It seems interesting." She smirked. I really hate that smirk.
I sighed. "All right then…um…Ember…you…I don't know to say this, so I'll just let it all out. When I saw you in China you were as crazy and insane as they get. Jim even said you should have been in the mental ward. But now…you're standing here…completely normal again…I mean, what happened? I am really confused here!"
Ember sighed several times before speaking quietly, in a tone that showed none of her usual cockiness. "I knew you would ask that, and I also know that my answer won't satisfy you, but…it's all I have."
"My first few days in prison are a daze," She began. "When I wasn't angrily lashing out at every around me, I was huddled up in the fetal position crying over my failure. I was a wreck, but I knew what was happening…but everything changed after I got my initial sentence."
"I…was moved to a different location, and I heard some of my guards talking…talking about illegal experiments with chemicals…"
"What?" I interrupted.
"I know! It doesn't make much sense. At first I thought they were talking about my father…you know, because, he used the chemical on us and then…you know now we have the curse and gift of powers and everything, but I soon realized they weren't talking about my dad. Some of the guards, had this idea that if they gave me some new drug I would be 'cured' of my powers and 'evil desires'."
"That's insane." I interrupted again.
"I know!" She shouted. Then lowered her voice again. "I thought it was silly too, but then…after a few days, there was this weird smell in my room. Like alcohol mixed with cleaning fluid mixed with…I don't know. But there was always this weird smell, and I knew that the guards prepared my food. I started realizing that the smell was coming from the food."
"Ember I-"
"I know its absurd Rai, but if you love me like you say you do, then you know you can trust me on this. It doesn't make much sense to me either, but it's the only explanation I can offer. Anyway…the food was always making me feel funny. It was like I couldn't control my thoughts, or my brain. I'd make these spastic movements I couldn't control. Jim thought I was having a seizure one day and called a doctor in…that was fun." She said sarcastically. "I tried burning my food…trying to burn off the chemicals…I don't know if it worked or not…I guess it didn't, because I was always getting worse and worse. At random times I would just feel this unbearable pain all over, like I was being tortured…I was being tortured, by those guards. They were poising me. Their intentions may have been good at first, but not after they saw the affects…they enjoyed letting me suffer, and I couldn't do a thing about it. I tried telling them to stop but they didn't listen to me. I tried telling Jim about them but he thought I was just being crazy. There were worse side affects to, but I don't really want to talk about them…"
"Okay Ember…but…they were policemen. Why would they do something so horrible like that?"
"Policemen are the most corrupt people there are Raimundo." Ember said coldly.
"I hate to cut in, but…I actually have to agree with Ember on this one. The police are just as bad, if not worse, than we are, Raimundo." Icicle said, and the sisters exchanged a glance.
"Well, Rai, do you believe me?" Ember asked. I stared into her eyes. I couldn't see a trace of a liar in her eyes, but Ember knew how to lie to anyone. I thought I saw small tears well up in the corners.
Thinking about her words, I answered. "It doesn't make much sense to me either but…this is difficult, but I believe you."
"If it helps Rai, I believe her too. She was still a little crazy after we first rescued her, but after a few days on regular food she starting being normal again."
"Yeah, that was when I told Icicle about the chemicals, so she's already heard this story." Ember paused. "She also thinks I'm going to die."
"What? Why?" I had already feared about loosing Ember enough, I didn't need that worry coming back.
"Because, we already have enough chemicals in our bodies, I mean, hello, powers!" Icicle said waving her hands in my face as small ice crystals dropped from them. "I think Ember has to much crap in her body now…I just have a feeling she might explode."
"Well I don't. Obviously, my body is used to chemicals that shouldn't be here…thank you Dad." Ember scowled.
"Well, I don't think our powers will last forever." Icicle said.
"Oh, here you go with your theory again…"
"I believe," Icicle said, ignoring her twin. "That one day our powers will desert us when the chemicals finally work through our bodies. By which point, I'll be old and not so nimble and agile anymore. I will then retire and make a fortune selling my inventions and live a life of quiet luxury."
"I disagree. These chemicals, which we don't know anything about, I might add, have been in our bodies for seven years. Who's to say they can't last another seven? We've continued to have our powers, and on top of that, they've changed, becoming stronger with us and changing into different forms. That's my theory." Ember said.
"That wasn't a theory Ember that was an observation." Icicle corrected her.
"Oh shut it."
There was another silence.
"Speaking of your inventions…" I said slowly. "You said you built them, but didn't you guys drop out of school in third grade? How can you be so smart?" I didn't like calling Icicle smart, but she seemed to be nicer the more compliments she received.
"I have a tutor that comes in every two weeks. He's a college professor, and he teaches me everything I need to know. I suppose you could say I'm college level as far intelligence goes."
"But…if he knows where you live, and surely he knows you're a criminal, why doesn't he report you? I mean, wouldn't he get a large sum of money for turning you in?"
"Not as large a sum he would get for keeping my location secret. As I've told you, Raimundo, money talks in this world. I keep Professor James well paid."
"That reminds me, Ice," Ember cut in. "Are you still doing that Vera Claythorne thing?"
"No, I quit that a while back, a fan was becoming suspicious. I paid her off to keep quiet, of course, but I didn't think it was worth risking for a while."
"Um…what?" Now I was confused. "That names sounds familiar…"
"Well if you're a fan of literature, it should. Vera Claythrone is my favorite character in my favorite book; "And Then There Were None" by Agitha Christie. I took the name as an alias, and hired a photographer and make-up artists. Using their talents I've made a small fortune modeling for some major magazine companies."
"What?" My jaw dropped from the absurdity of her explanation.
"I've always been intrigued by the fashion industry, so I was a part time model for a while."
"But…but…why didn't anyone recognize you?"
"She was a very talented make-up artist." Icicle said simply. "And of course, both were well paid, as always, to keep my little secrets. Now, I am very tired and I am going to bed. And I don't want you two talking with out me, so I command you two to go bed and not to talk. And if you don't obey, I'll force you out into the cold and call the authorities, I'm sure they'd love to have you back." She smiled viciously.
"If we didn't have this stupid deal…" Ember started muttering under her breath angrily, but I couldn't make out any more words. "Fine, Good night." She said to Icicle then grabbed my arm and pulled me back into my bedroom. It was completely dark inside, and I couldn't see her at all.
"I hope you still want to be with me…" She whispered.
"Of course"
"Good, because I really don't like sleeping alone." I laughed, my mind finally filling with the happy memories we shared together.
"I still love you Ember, I hope you know that."
"After all you've done for me…I don't deserve you Rai, but I love you, too, and…you sure you want to be with me?"
Reaching through the dark, I found her face. Bringing it closer, I kissed her gently.
"Yes, I'm sure."
(Big sigh of relief) I really hope you all enjoyed that, it took forever to write…well I hope you all like that and I look forward to your reviews. Oh, and on a side note; The hotel, the Agitha Christie book, and all that stuff is completely true; they're all real things, I didn't make any of it up. Anyway, it's an awesome book and you guys should read it. (Note: It also has a different title in some places, that title being: "Ten Little Indians.") REVIEW PLEASE!