"This place is like a maze," Amelia complained, "I hate mazes."

"It's because it's so big and there are so many paths," Elizabeth told her. The group had been walking around in the ice mountain for a while and they didn't care how long they've been in there. It was way too cold and they were getting confused by all the paths and tunnels that surrounded them.

"Doesn't this tunnel look familiar to you?" Kibu asked no one in particular.

"We're lost!" Ita complained. "I'a knew it!"

"Don't panic," Nancy told him, "You'll only get frustrated und more confused."

"We haven't seen anyone. Maybe they're not here?" Francis suggested. May shook her head.

"No, I doubt it. We haven't swept the whole cave. We've only search one part of it. I'm sure they're here somewhere, and so is Ivan."

Ivan didn't want to be near anyone. He wanted to be alone, he felt better that way. He looked down at his hands. It was happening again. They were getting colder again and even his gloves couldn't hold back the ice. Whatever he touched, it froze.

"What can I do to make this stop? There must be some way." He stood up from the ice where he was sitting and trenched deeper into the cave. He too was getting lost, but he didn't want to run into the ice-siblings again. And he was concerned about joining up with his friends. He couldn't even think about what they were going to say or do if they saw his hands.

"I just...I just can't letting them see."

He was sure he heard someone call his name.

"I must be imagining these things," he tried convincing himself. But he heard it again.

"Ivan!" the voice echoed from the ice, but he was sure it was close. The voice sounded like May.

"No!" Ivan said backing away from the voice. "I can't letting them see!" He turned and ran off in another direction.

"He has to be around here somewhere," May said. "He's probably really scared. Who knows what North and Antarctica are doing to him?"

"We'll find him, May. I'm sure of it," Amelia smiled. It was then that they heard someone coming towards them, and it was coming fast!

It was hard for the children to move and hide, for the ground was like a skating rank. They slipped and slid this way and that, trying to find a hiding place. Someone ran into Ita, and they both feel to the ground. They other children turned their heads to see what had happened and they all gasped.

Ivan! He was there with them. He rubbed his head and stood up, holding his side. But when he saw his friends, he began to panic.

"W...what are you all doing here?!"

"What do ya mean?" Amelia said, "We came after you to save you. But now that you're here, we should now focus of finding North and Antarctica."

"Nyet! You idiots! I don't wanting to go back home with you!"

"Why not? Why don't you want to go home?" Ita asked, now starting to stand up, wobbly.

"Because I just can't!" Ivan said. "Look, I just wanting to protect you, okay? Please don't take this personally, but stay away from me!" He ran away before they could stop him.

"What was that about?" Francis asked.

"I don't know, he looks really scared about something," Ita said. May started making her way after Ivan, but she was slipping and sliding in the process.

"May, where are you going?" Nancy asked her. May didn't stop trying to walk on the icy floor.

"I'm going after him! Something is wrong and I want to be there for him."

"But he told us to stay away from him," Elizabeth pointed out. "Maybe those ice-siblings are using him as bait?"

"I don't care! He's my friend and I'm not going to abandon him like this!"

"Vell, Ve can't schtop you" Nancy shrugged with a smile. "Go get him." May gave her a thankful smile and pushed her way after Ivan's path.

"I'll be back with him," She promised. When she was gone, Amelia smiled at everyone.

"So...how do we skate around without falling down?"

"Ivan!" May cried as she skated around the cave, looking for her friend. She saw him hunched over on the ground and holding his head as if in pain.

"Ivan?" she said, stepping closer.

"Staying away from me, May! Please! I...I don't wanting to hurt you," he told her, eyeing her stepping closer.

"Ivan, what's going on with you? You're acting very strange. You've seemed...different since we came here."

"I just...don't wanting to hurt you."

"How can you hurt me?" Ivan didn't want to answer her. Could he even tell her the truth about himself.

May stepped closer to him, "Ivan, I'm your friend. You can tell me anything."

"Okay, then. I don't wanting to be with you anymore."

"Why not? Why can't you come home with us?"

"Because I told you! I don't wanting to hurt you! 'How can I hurt you'? There are ways, May!" Ivan said as he turned away from her. May crouched down beside him. He refused to look at her.

"Ivan, I know that you have feelings for me too. I felt it when you kissed me. I was dead...well, not dead dead, but you know. I guess maybe it's because I love you, and it's because that I love you I have to be there for you."

Ivan was quiet for a moment.

"If I telling you, will you please not freak out?"

"I promise," May smiled as she put her hand on his shoulder. Ivan stared at her for a long moment as if trying to decide if he could trust her. He nodded.

"Okay, I'll telling you. A few months back I've been experiencing odd fear. And whatever I touch, it turns to ice." Ivan removed one of his gloves to show her. His whole hand was covered in frost. "Even when I am wearing my gloves, nothing changes. I am becoming my Father."

May wasn't sure what to say. This was why Ivan was so scared to get close to them.

"But don't you want to go back home at all?"

"I don't have a home. Not anymore," Ivan said, a sad, far away look in his purple eyes. May was shocked to hear this, but she didn't want to pry into his private life. In some ways, she could understand him. He felt alone and rejected by everyone, just like she felt when she had been at home. But this was all the more reason to be there for him, she figured.

"Let's go back to our friends. I'm sure they'll want to know why you feel so scared." Ivan grabbed her arm, looking scared again.

"You can't telling them! It has to remain a secret, May. Promise me, I don't wanting them to know." May stared at him for a long moment, but she nodded.

"Okay, it remains a secret."