Cold Comfort

[u/ASecondCriminal]

The ice grew another few centimeters, consuming and erasing the latest attempt at a runework solution etched into the surface. Not that it mattered. Marna stared out through the wall of frost, barely aware of her surroundings through the transparent prison walls.

"Marna, I'm sorry. I'm so very sorry. Nothing we have at our disposal is working."

Beard. Sad eyes. Her father. Well of course nothing was working. The silver dragon Artemis had tried to imprison her in sanctified ice. Hah! Even now the ice grew and grew, spilling out in waves to fill an entire warehouse! HER POWER COULD NOT BE CONTAINED!

"There are runes we modified. Designed for the Lightless Flame. Not hellfire. They've only delayed the spread. Arthur likely knew more but..."

Was he crying? Why? They had said she was sick or some nonsense. Her father's old master had hit her with some specific type of hellfire meant to corrupt souls to... something. But obviously she was too powerful for that to work. And Artemis had overreacted. Yes, that was it. Such was the nature of fools to fear greatness! A shame. Unless they let her out there would be no one strong enough to stop him. He might use the pride fire again against her-

Oh. Pride. She was being corrupted by pride. And eventually, it was going to kill her. It was going to utterly corrupt and then destroy her soul.

She was going to die.

Hah. It was going to try at least! Riva's pathetic little students had come by, attempting to bind the affliction. Barely slowed it down. Really, as if Nico of all people could stop an illness serious enough to kill Marna Blake the Firebrand! Knight of Ithacar!

"I'm sorry Marna. I've failed you again."

Anger. Pity. Love. For the briefest of moments these feelings overwhelm the haze of ice and flame that consumes her every thought. Yes, he had failed her. Left her alone as a baby. But they were past that now. At least mostly. Her decisions were her own. She'd fought Arthur Black of her own free will and they were winning. At least, until the end there. And he would take all that glory and reduce it to self-blame? Belial had done enough wrong in his life to not need to blame himself for things he couldn't control.

Marna wanted to slap him. She wanted to hug him and say it wasn't his fault. She wanted to say she forgave him for the past. For the years she'd spent alone. Some part of her knew it wasn't entirely true. That she still blamed the old man in some ways and always would. But she loved him enough to want to say it anyway. Just to make him hurt a little less.

Marna tried to reach out to her father through the sanctified prison and, in spite of her best efforts found the ice quite immovable.

Of course it was. Nothing but the strongest of prisons could contain THE Marna Blake. Mightiest warrior in th-

---

I take my hand away from the wall of ice before it expands again, almost trapping my glove with it. The sum of all our resources and all we could do was slow it down.

There's something in my dsughter's eyes. They haven't moved once but that feral intensity I know all too well bores into me as I meet her frozen gaze.

"You're right. Self-pity is unbecoming."

I wipe my eyes and straighten up as best I can manage. This is no time to give up. Not with Marna's life on the line.

"If we don't have a solution, perhaps someone else does."

Reaching into my pocket, I find a glass eye, plucked from the skull of a long-dead fire giant. My orb. Time to make an announcement.

"Attention, all channels. This is Belial Blake, Praetor of Ithacar. To anyone who can hear me, if you have skills in the infernal arts and the magics of the soul, I'm willing to make a deal. Name your price."

[u/VinesAtMidnight]

"I was in the 'neighborhood,' as they say. I just finished having a pleasant conversation with the Iter of Violence. I have some time before I must return to the Astral, I thought I would come and see."

[u/ASecondCriminal → u/VinesAtMidnight]

Back straight Belial. Compose yourself. Remember what's on the line.

"Any help is much apreciated, Guardian. What exactly do you propose doing? And furthermore, what does it cost?"

[u/VinesAtMidnight → u/ASecondCriminal]

Vashric looks down at the distinguished Praetor. His eyes burn brightly, yet his face is blank.

"Cost? I want for nothing, Belial Blake. However, knowledge is its own reward. Your daughter is rife with a hellish corruption, yes? There has been a rash of similar incidents recently. I do not think they are explicitly connected, but understanding of one may deepen my understanding of the others."

"This affliction is spiritual. It attacks her soul and mind. So, have you tried confusing it? Have you tried giving it something else to target and then isolating it?"

[u/ASecondCriminal → u/VinesAtMidnight]

"Bait it out? For study.... yes that seems wise. Fire spreads without lessening itself, but if we could draw out a piece for analysis that would help immensely!"

I'm pacing as I think. Lighting my pipe to calm my nerves and fight back against the pervasive cold of this place.

"But how Vashric? Do you have a method?"

[u/VinesAtMidnight → u/ASecondCriminal]

"I'm not sure how familiar you are with avatars, Belial, but they are an extension of being. Two mind-spaces, one mind. The corruption wouldn't know the difference. They would both be Marna."

"And, with luck, we may lure the flames into the avatar completely, imprison it, and sever the connection, sparing your daughter."

[u/ASecondCriminal → u/VinesAtMidnight]

A second Marna...

"You there, go to the palace armory and retrieve something for me."

I hand the nearest guard a slip of paper with instructions and he rushes away with a hasty salute.

"The armor you helped Marna design has a new feature. A complete personality construct that perfectly mimicks Marna's mental patterns. Basically a "dummy mind" to shield frim psychic attacks Ith'Raal built out of spare memories he had lying around."

[u/VinesAtMidnight → u/ASecondCriminal]

Vashric nods.

"Then the path is clear. It will not be easy, however. For the highest chance of success, Marna may need to be on the brink of death before the flames resolve to transition. It won't do you any good to have two infected bodies."

"Is that something you think you can do?"

[u/ASecondCriminal → u/VinesAtMidnight]

"Kill her... to save her..."

A troubling concept. Risky. But oddly less dire than many solutions offered thus far. The heart would only need to stop temporarily. No damage would be done to her at the spiritual level. Nothing paid we can't get back.

"I have methods that can bring her to the brink of death, yes. Poisons and antidotes. I'll need to consult the Lindts and manage the formula carefully. She's in a delicate state as-is and even the slightest mistake risks pushing her over the edge."

[u/VinesAtMidnight → u/ASecondCriminal]

"Corruption doesn't exist in a vacuum. Like any parasite, it needs a host. If it finds its current environment unsuitable, it will seek a new one. With the double in place, I won't even seem like a new environment. Merely moving from one 'tissue' to the next."

Vashric looks into the icy prison, then back to Belial.

"I assure you, this method would keep Marna intact if performed correctly. There are other ways, of course, but they would potentially include editing her mind or soul. Difficult processes to enact and far more difficult to revert."