Author: Sorry about very late update. I've started a couple personal projects that's taking up more of my time, plus school. Also, creating a lore is surprisingly more difficult than I thought. I'll explain at the end of the chapter.

"Alright, where should I start?" Isolde asks Lilian inside of her while she walked through the forest.

(I thought you were ready to tell me all the stuff you've been keeping?)

"I am, I just don't know where to begin. Why don't you start?"

(Start with what?)

"A question, was there anything you wanted to know?"

(... I guess the big thing that's been bugging me is which one of us is the original personality.)

"Original personality?"

(You know we've done research on multiple personalities. Some of the explanations for multiple personalities include the original getting split apart, or another personality invading the body.)

"Honestly, I don't know how you came to be, but I do know that I'm the original."

(...)

"Lilian? Are you okay?"

(I think so, but I had a feeling it would be the case.)

"A feeling? How? When?"

(Ever since that Magneto incident, when the Mental Out scanned your memory.)

"I guess that would tip you off."

(But why did you let me take control most of the time?)

"You're better with people than I am. Don't you remember how I was when you first woke up?"

(You were so quiet, so distant.)

"Despondent is more accurate."

(You didn't even want me to talk to you since it was bothering you.)

"Yeah," Isolde smirks. "But you kept trying to talk to me anyway. I remember people looking at you weird whenever you did that."

(You started some of them, you kept making snide remarks.)

"Even when I didn't, you still tried to talk to me."

(If I was going to be stuck with someone in my head, I want to be able to talk to them.)

"I didn't have much to talk about, and there were some things that I didn't want you to know."

(I was okay with that.)

"Lilian..."

(It took you a while, but you finally opened up, even if a little.)

"Heh, I guess I have you to thank for that."

(You probably should.)

"Some other time, I'm not that emotional yet. Is there anything else?"

(... What about... our mother?)

"... Not yet. If my hunch is right, we'll be talking about it at the temple."

(We?)

"There's a whole lot you don't know, a lot of it you won't believe. Most of it even I didn't believe at first when I found out."

(Like what?)

"Like where mom really came from, and how we came to be. I won't say anything yet, you'll probably pick up on them at the temple."

(If you're not going to talk about those secrets now, can you at least tell me how you found out about them?)

"Mom's diary."

(A diary? Oh, that! Wait, you managed to read that? How? There was no key!)

"You're right, there was no key. Not even mom had a key."

(Then how?)

Isolde held out her hand, some mist gathers above it and solidifies into a key shape.

(REALLY?!)

"Yup."

(That's... I never would've thought of that.)

"This is actually quite easy to do with other locks. Use the mist to feel the shape that you need and freeze it in that shape. Of course you need to make the ice extra strong."

(Isolde, you didn't-!)

"Don't worry, I've never used to break into anything else. Well except when I needed to get back into the hotel last night."

(Ah! That! Something happened last night didn't it?)

"It's the same group we're going to be meeting now. I don't know what they wanted last night but me and Kamijou stopped them."

(You and Kamijou? Did you have a fight?)

"A short one. I could've taken them by myself though, we just made a lot of noise that woke him up."

(How come I didn't wake up?)

"I dunno, you were extra tired maybe? That's the only explanation I can think of."

(Hmm... I don't think so. But why are we meeting up with them?)

"One of them had a tattoo. I recognized it from mom's diary, it's the symbol of one of her friends from before we were born."

(So you think...)

"It's only a small chance, but I'm hoping I'm right. I've got a lot of questions myself."

(...)

"Is there anything else?"

(Mom's diary, whatever happened to that?)

"I gave it to someone."

(You what?)

"For safekeeping. You know that our powers are much more different than everyone else's Esper powers. That diary explains why, there may be a tight seal on it but it won't stop anyone for long. I figure that he's the best person to entrust it to, since he seemed like he knew about us, our origin, just by examining us."

(Who could possibly-?)

"You remember that one strange faced doctor?"

(Huh? Strange faced… That one?!)

"That one. I even unlocked it before giving it to him."

(Why would you do that?)

"I told you, he was able to figure out that something was… different about us. But he's keeping it a secret, and he's been helping us since we've moved into Academy City."

(How's he doing that?)

"I don't know exactly, but I do know that he's keeping those underground scientists from becoming too interested us. It's thanks to him that we can freely roam about in the open instead of some lab."

(…)

"I wish I was joking."

(I know. Did he read it?)

"I don't know, I just gave him the book, and we've never brought it up again."

(When we get back, can I… read it?)

"… Alright. You deserve to know what kind of person our mother was."

XXX

Isolde arrives at the temple. Standing long across from her are the two that attacked last night, as well as a third figure, covered in shadow and holding a spear like weapon. In contrast to the girl and the young woman, this third person was unbelievably huge, it was all muscle and it easily towers the other two.

"[Glacies...]"

"[Glacies?]" the younger one turns up to the tall figure in surprise.

(Glacies?) Lilian repeats. (And why are they talking in Latin?)

"[No,]" Isolde answers, ignoring Lilian's question. "[Her daughter.]"

There was a low groan of surprise coming from the big figure. "[Leave us.]"

"[Yes sir,]" the young woman acknowledges the order and walks forward, followed by the girl. They walked past Isolde, who doesn't turn her head and stays focused on the large figure.

At the edge of the shrine grounds, they dashed through the forest.

"[Hey Kanon,]" the little girl starts.

"[What is it Sienna?]"

"[Do you really believe that girl is Glacies' daughter?]"

"[She knew about the Admiral, and his reputation,]" Kanon answered. "[It's very possible.]"

"[Do you think that there will be trouble between her and the Admiral?]"

"[She's the one in trouble if she tries anything,]" both girls stopped just before Isolde's ice wall. "[Our orders are just to make sure no one interrupts them. For instance...]"

The ice wall suddenly shatters, flakes of ice floats around as two figures emerged from the other side. One of them is a young man with black spikey hair, the other is a girl about Siena's age and size, with short light brown hair.

"[At least we won't be bored,]" Sienna summons her staff.

Isode watches as the big, shadowy figure stepped forward into more light, revealing the face of an old man with a large mustache. He wears a white jacket as a cape, the weapon is a pole with a curved blade, a glaive of sorts.

"[So you're Admiral Gates?]" Isolde asks. "[Mom's diary did describe you to be larger than life, I didn't think she meant it literally as well.]"

(Admiral?)

The big man takes a second before responding. "[I am. Your Latin is rough.]"

"[I haven't had a good reason to speak it regularly. Can you speak Japanese?]"

"Well enough," the man answers.

"That makes things easier," Isolde replies with a sigh of relief. "So, how do we do this?"

"You can start with your name."

"My full name is Lilian Isolde Sterling," Isolde introduces herself politely. "It's a pleasure to meet you, 1st Admiral Edward Gates of the Atlantean Fleet."

(Atlantean?)

"How did you find out about us?"

"Through mom's diary," Isolde answers.

"A diary. Hmm... she's certainly changed. She was never the type to write a diary."

"Let's make this easier both the both of us. I'll summarize what I know from reading mom's diary. You were both Admirals, equals in the army. Because of her power and loyalty to the throne, she was chosen to take part of an experiment. But something changed... she wanted out. She managed to leave and later gave birth to me."

"She never told you any of this herself?"

"No. She probably wasn't going to tell me, ever."

"'Wasn't?'"

"She's..." Isolde hesitated to speak. "She's dead..."

There was silence between the two. Both of them held their emotions together. The big man looked up to the night sky.

"I see..."

Isolde looked down. "It's my fault, she died protecting me..."

"So she protected you... she really has changed."

"What was she like? Before she left?"

"She was very powerful, and very efficient. She joined the army at a significantly young age and climbed through the ranks surprisingly fast. As an Admiral, she was the very best, and she proved it time and again.

While she looked after her company, she wouldn't hesitate to leave them behind if it was necessary. Despite that, she had the respect and admiration of the whole military, as well as the royal family."

"That's... that's really hard to imagine." Isolde tells him. "She was a kind, caring mother. Always there for me whenever she could. She even first showed me how to use my power, helped me to control it. She could do things with ice that were... impossible. What do you think caused her to change?"

"It was her loyalty to the throne itself. And you..."

"[Glaces!]" A big man stood in front of a running young woman, he was prepared to fight if necessary.

"[Admiral Gates...]" the young woman stopped running and stood her ground. Her body and clothing was already racked with damage from battle.

There was silence in the air for a moment, but neither moved. After a few quick breaths, Glacies relaxed herself and stood straight. "[Heh heh... Of all the people I could've run into, it had to be you.]"

"[You left quite a mess back there,]" Admiral Gates pointed with his weapon, behind Glacies.

Glacies turned around, behind her was a facility with gigantic icicles bursting out of it and getting covered in snow from a ferocious blizzard that seemed to only fall around it.

"[Heh,]" Glacies turned back to Gates with a smirk on her face. "[It was just a chill.]"

"[What are you planning to do? You know that this treason of the highest order.]"

"[Treason for whom, Edward?]" Glacies asked ferociously. "[I've always been loyal to the throne, to the royal family. Every mission I've done, every enemy I've killed, was for them.

This... experiment, is not for the benefit of the throne, but for the council! You've seen the king's face whenever it was brought up. Doing this will not only bring disaster for the kingdom, but for the whole world as well!]"

"[Do you really think that just by leaving, they'll stop?]"

"[I know they won't, but at the very least, I'll have the means to stop them again if necessary,]" Glacies places a hand over her stomach.

"[Are you mad?!]"

"[I would rather not, if I can help it. It's a cruel fate to be raised only to fight. I understand that better than anyone.]"

"..."

"[But being born just to be killed is even crueler.]"

"[What can you do by yourself?]"

"[Well first... I'm going to go through you,]" Glaces enters a fighting stance. A cold wind begins to blow though the area.

"[Once you start running, you'll keep on running,]" Gates holds his giant glaive in a battle ready position.

"[Not just anyone can kill me you know.]"

The old man raises his glaive, Glacies charges forward and creates twin ice swords. Gates swings his weapon with such a ferocity that the ground behind Glacies rumbled and roared. Large chunks of earth were ripped out of the ground and spiked up.

Glacies stopped just as her sword is at Gate's neck. The sword is shattered, Glacies turns around to see the ground behind her in utter chaos. She turns back to the Admiral.

"[Why?]"

"[My loyalty is also to the throne.]"

"[Admiral...]"

"[Go now!]"

"[Thank you, and good bye...]"

There was silence for a moment. Isolde paced slowly, trying to recollect herself.

(Isolde...)

"What now?" Isolde asks the Admiral.

"How did she die?"

"About five years ago a man found her and killed her. He had messy black hair, wrapped in black robes, used a blood red sword and casted magic using his own blood."

The Admiral remained silent.

"I want to know who that is," Isolde demanded.

Edward just stood quietly.

"Admiral?"

"Go back."

"You know who it is? Tell me!"

"Go back, kid."

"Why?"

"You're not strong enough for this world."

Isolde quick shots an icicle at the Admiral. The old man catches it with unbelievable speed for someone his age.

The Admiral inspects the icicle, "This ice... is lifeless."

"What?"

"It doesn't have the same amount of power as any ice your mother used," Gates crushes the ice effortlessly. "You don't stand a chance. Go back, don't waste the life you've been given."

"Life? What life? Ever since that day, my nightmares... my... memories... haunt me. I've spent these five years trying to get stronger, trying to improve my powers."

"Clearly you haven't done enough," Gates tells her. "You're far outclassed."

"That's what I hated the most, I'm supposed to have all this power within me and yet… I'm helpless… Every day my guilt grows, every night my nightmares worsen. Now the only thing keeping me moving forward was the thought of revenge."

(Isolde?)

Isolde materializes a sword in one hand. "I'll ask again, tell me what you know about the man that killed my mother."

"Very well," the old man slammed the butt end of his glaive onto the ground. "Come at me with all you have. Try to wound me."

"Arrrgh!" Isolde jets forward to attack Admiral Gates.

Two swords clashed in the trees of a forest. One made of paper, the other was made of iron sand. Mikoto and Kanon pushed each other away, Kanon launched paper stars, Mikoto shoots them down with electricity. The Tokiwadai girl uses her magnetic jump to match Kanon's ninja like jumping speed. Their swords clash again.

A large wind blast travels through the floor of the forest and is stopped instantly. A boy charges through the shrubbery towards a girl with a staff. Sienna swings her staff, launching another blast of wind. Without stopping, Touma stretches out his right hand, the wind disperses as soon as it hits the hand.

Mikoto unleashes a stream of electricity at Kanon, whom blocks with a thick paper shield. The electric attack stopped, Kanon pulls the shield away to counter, but sees Mikoto surrounded in cackling sparks, with an arm stretched out and a coin falling down to her hand. Kanon quickly pulls her shield back and creates barriers wither her paper powers. Mikoto fires her railgun, it shreds through the paper barriers, heavily impacting Kanon's shield. Kanon's body is knocked back into a tree.

Kanon groaned in pain, Mikoto lands on a branch a couple trees in front of her.

"What do you want with Lilian?" She asks angrily.

"Us?" Kanon replied with hostility. "She was the one that wanted to meet with the Admiral." Kanon fired a barrage of paper knives at Mikoto.

"What?" Mikoto jumped away and shot down the knives with her electricity.

"You came for her last night too!" Touma throws a punch at Sienna.

Sienna scatters her staff to the wind and dodges Touma's fist. "You're wrong!" The young girl punches Touma's face, elbows his stomach and jump kicks his chest.

Touma stumbles backwards, tripping over a thick root and crashing onto the ground. "Ugh. What are you talking about?"

Sienna reforms her staff from the wind, "Our orders that night were to kill you, the Imagine Breaker."

"What?"

Kanon jumped between trees. "Our council, ngh," Kanon started to answer, but had to fend off Mikoto. "Our council wanted you gone. You were considered a threat of the highest magnitude. But that girl stopped us."

"So how does Lilian know you?" Mikoto fires an electrical bolt and follows up with a sword slash.

Sienna spun her staff around a couple times and finishes by holding the staff up straight. "Even we don't know that." A pentagram appears from her feet, she releases her staff, it falls slowly to the ground, it falls slowly through the ground… "Let the twilight winds blow…" Larger versions of her staff crawl upwards from the ground behind her on either side. "… Autumni Typhonis." The staves disintegrate into powerful wind and maple leaves that circle around the young girl.

"'Autumn Typhoon'," Mikoto translates under her breath.

"Sienna's serious," Kanon smirks. "So am I." A couple trees around Mikoto have suddenly turned into paper. They scatter into the air like a swarm of bees, but are quickly arranged to encircle the electromaster.

Touma picks himself up and glares at Sienna. "You know that your wind can't hurt me."

"I know," Sienna smiles. She points a hand forward. The wind and leaves surge forward.

Touma braces himself with his right hand sticking out. But the wind suddenly stops and swirls ferociously in front of him. Touma's limbs and eyes loosen from confusion. The swirling wind picks up chunks of dirt, rocks and branches from the ground.

"Oh cr-!" Touma dives to the side as the wind launches debris at him. He turns around to see a stream of whirling wind rise up and dive down onto the ground, launching chuncks of earth as it presses onward to Touma.

Mikoto jumps from branch to branch, just before flying paper knives hits them and explodes. She sends a wave of lighting to intercept half a dozen exploding knives. Kanon flies through the smoke with her paper sword in hand.

Isolde tumbles along the pavement, her ice armor repeatedly shattering and reforming with each impact.

Her body hits an arch. "Ugh!" Her body slumps down at the foot of the arch, its been ravaged by intense battle. Isolde stands up slowly with help from the arch. She wipes her lips, which was bleeding.

(Isolde, please stop.)

"No, I can't," Isolde pushes herself away from the arch.

(He's too strong! He didn't even move from that spot. He's only using one hand!)

Isolde plants her feet and unleashes a massive amount of mist at the Admiral. The gigantic mist cloud surrounds the old man. Isolde closes her fist, the mist freezes instantly with the old man in the middle of it.

Isolde collapses onto one knee, breathing hard. Loud cracking noises can be heard from the ice. Isolde looks on as her ice rumbles and cracks up.

"I hate super strength..."

Gates completely destroys the ice from the inside with a roar.

"Perfect..." Isolde smirks. She sprouts her icicle wings and jets forward. "Eat mist!" Isolde flies right in front of Admiral Gates's face and launches a large mist blast right at his face.

Gates swings his free arm to swat Isolde away with ease. Isolde recovers mid air and smiles at the Admiral, she holds up her fingers and snaps.

Gates feels intense pain from inside him he leans forward but catching himself with his glaive.

"I've frozen your lungs," (Well, more like just your throat, freezing someone's insides is very difficult with their body heat, so I had to cool the air around first) Isolde walks forward slowly. "You'll die in a matter of moments. Now, agree to tell me what I want to know and I'll break the ice."

Without a word, Gates raises his free hand. There is a strange glow around it.

"What are you doing?" Isolde steps back.

Gates punches his own chest, the aura around it disappeared, in its place are cracks in the air.

"No way!" Isolde took a step back from amazement, uncertainty, and fear.

(What happened?)

"He shattered the ice inside himself," Isolde explains as the Admiral coughes loudly, sometimes spewing out chunks of ice.

(Isolde, that's enough. You've done everything you can. You're already hurt.)

Isolde ignores her and flies forward, she created a massive sword with boosters, jetting out tremendous amounts of mist. Admiral Gates regains his composure and stands up straight. He catches the sword with one hand.

"Nngh!" Isolde increases the power of the mist jets. The Admiral isn't budging.

Gates pulls on the sword, Isolde is yanked in. She crosses her arms in front of her body and creates thick ice. Gates punches Isolde, breaking her ice armor and sending her flying backwards. The girl struggles to straighten up, eventually controlling her spinning. She hovers in the air, coughing out blood.

"I thought you said Glacies had taught you how to handle your powers," Gates tells Isolde.

"She did, what of it?"

"Then why is your ice lifeless?"

"What are you talking about?"

"The ice that Glacies used all had life within them. They weren't just constructs that she created, each one was given a little of her own life energy."

"Mom, mom! Look!" A young girl races to her mother with a simple flower of ice in her hand. "I made a flower!"

"Haha, that's great!" Glacies looks at the flower. "You made that much faster than I thought you would."

"Heeheehee!"

"Soon you'll be able to make things like this," Glacies waves her hand above the table. Ice grass grows out of it, followed by flowers that actually grow and bloom.

"Uwaa! Can I do that?"

"Of course, you just need to practice." Glacies smiles.

Isolde creates a simple ice flower bud on her palm and looks at it. She tries to make it bloom like her mother did. Ice spikes spew out of it, shattering the bud. Isolde crushes the spikes.

(I-Isolde?)

"You said you remember that your mother was kind and caring," Gates tells her. "What do you really remember? You seem so focused on her death that you can barely remember anything else about her."

"Shut up!" Isolde steps forward, but suddenly stops. She lost control of half of her body. "Lilian! What are you doing?"

"Stop this Isolde! You're going to get killed!"

"I don't care! Don't get in my way!"

"What would your mother think of you doing this?"

"Don't talk to me about my mother!" Mist erupts from Isolde's body and whirls around her.

"Isolde!"

"Get out of my head!" Isolde holds her head with the arm she can control.

"Isolde don't-!"

"I said GET OUT!"

Lilian is suddenly ejected from Isolde. The wind surrounding Isolde blows her away even farther. Both Lilian and Isolde fall to the ground as the wind dies.

Lilian tries to pick herself up, one of her arms is broken, completely shattered from the landing. She sees the feet of the Admiral very close to her.

"What are you?" The Admiral asks Lilian.

Lilian looks up at the Admiral, whom now stands right beside her. She then looks at her unbroken arm and at the rest of her body. She was entirely made of ice. And yet, she could move it like it was her own limbs. "I... I don't know..."

A sudden gush of cold wind gets their attention. It's coming from Isolde's mysteriously levitating body, her head is hanging. Isolde's body is upright, just floating there like a puppet as mist and wind blow away from her.

"Isolde!" Lilian gets up.

"It's awakening," the Admiral mutters as he places the blade of his glaive in front of Liilan. "Get back!"

Lilian extends her arm against the blowing mist. "What?" She looks at her hand made of ice, confused. She tries again. "Why can't I control this mist?"

"The mana I feel from her now is different than the mana I feel from you."

"Mana?"

"Hmm… your mana feels incredibly familiar, it's mana that I haven't felt for 15 years."

"15 years? Glacies? Isolde's mother?"

"For a child to have almost the exact same mana signature as their parent is not unheard of, but incredibly rare. Unless…"

The wind suddenly intensifies, forcing Lilian to grab hold of Gates' glaive. Isolde's body floats upwards as thick ice forms around her into a long, serpentine shape.

"Isolde!" Lilian can barely see with the strong wind and massive amounts of mist. "What's happening to her?"

"The Leviathan…"

The ice finally forms into a large snake like dragon, the size of a train car. It roars out, echoing across the whole forest. Lilian can see the beast more clearly as it hovers above and in front of her. Inside the beast, about the neck area, Isolde's head lifts up, her eyes open, revealing flowers of crystalline ice.

XXX

Author: Lore is surprisingly difficult to flesh out. General lore is easy, such as "this ancient city was destroyed by X", but going into more specifics are more difficult like "this ancient city was destroyed by X because they did Y". And for the lore of this story, I want to link several myths and mythologies into it. You've probably figured it out by which two legends are the major sources for Isolde's backstory.

The problem is I wanted to try to add more myths into that, but the ones that I want to use change constantly. For example, I like the background of this myth so I'm thinking of implementing that, but then I look up the background of that myth and decide to use that instead. I really need to fix up the lore of Isolde's backstory, but for now I've decided to keep it general.