Edward, after a few seconds of shocked silence, told Will to follow him outside. Will complied, wondering what could be next on the test. He assumed there would be more to it than beating Richard in a one-sided conflict. Surely, there had to be more to prove himself worthy of supernatural power. But he kept his thoughts and questions to himself as they returned to the cafeteria building, which he now realized was sort of their central hub. He felt confident that Edward would explain himself in due time. All he could do was wait.
Edward pointed silently to the chair closest to the fireplace, and Will sat down, keenly aware that he’d just been placed in the direct center of the group, all of whom were settling back into their previous spots with an expectant air. Edward and Noratuk were the only ones left standing, and they were having a quiet discussion by the main door. Noratuk looked a little uncertain about something and seemed to be asking Edward a series of questions. He replied quietly, and she frowned thoughtfully. Then, slowly, she nodded. It seemed to be what Edward was waiting for and walked to join the group.
“So,” he said, his voice still quiet. “You’ve passed your test and settled the matter between you and Richard.”
Will opened his mouth to reply, but Edward continued to speak. “Unfortunately, this is not enough to acquire my power. I like you, Will, and I am more than willing to share my power. But my family seems to think you do not deserve it.”
Will glanced around at the others at that, noticing the stern expressions and tightly closed mouths. They didn’t speak out against them, but it was obvious that they didn’t like the outsider in their midst. Will swallowed nervously. He was so close, he thought. “What can I do to prove my worth?”
“You will get your power,” Edward said. “But, to prove their doubts wrong and earn your place in the Nexus properly, you will have to acquire it in the same way that I did.”
Will perked up at once. That sounded exciting. “How do I do it?”
——————————
It was the next day, and they were a hundred miles from Fairbanks. Noratuk and Edward were the only ones who had decided to come, which did nothing to soothe Will’s nerves. He’d been out here in the tundra before, of course. It was a bitterly cold, open plane, where the wind blew constantly in from the coast. If he’d had to guess, he’d say the temperatures were near negative sixty out here. With no sign of shelter or cover in sight, Will wondered what they could be doing out here.
“We’ll start with this,” Edward said. He put a hand on Will’s shoulder, and the thin jacket he wore began to smolder. Will gave a yelp of shock, but before he could tear the garment off, it had burnt away completely, leaving him in just his tee-shirt. Looking down at his arms, he realized that he hadn’t been burnt. The white tee shirt didn’t even look scorched.
“That’s better,” Noratuk chimed in. She looked amused as Will began to shiver with the cold. Even with his own tolerances, this cold was highly uncomfortable. “Well then. Let’s see how long he lasts.”
“We will see indeed,” Edward agreed. He held out his hand. “But first, I will give you my power.”
Will reached out one shaking hand, and Edward grasped it firmly. It was a strange sensation, and so quick that he almost missed it completely. There was a brief feeling of heat that traveled from Edward’s hand into his own, and up to his arm into his chest. He staggered back a bit, breaking Edward’s hold on him. He almost dropped to his knees as a wave of dizziness came over him, but then, just as quickly as it came, it was gone. He felt perfectly normal again. Well, still cold, but otherwise normal.
“I somehow expected it to hurt,” he said weakly, patting his chest. “Was that all there is to it?”
“No,” Edward replied coolly. “Now it needs time to take over your body and awaken. It’s not an instant process.”
“Why did my jacket have to be off?” Will asked, his words interrupted by chattering teeth. The cold had started to set in now, and he was highly uncomfortable. “Did it have to be somewhere so cold?”
“Yes.” Edward took a step back, seeming to tower over Will as he watched him shiver. “It is the only way. It is how I received my power.”
“By freezing to death?” Will shuddered. His shaking was getting out of control. “Aren’t you supposed to be immune to the cold?”
It was one of the few publicly known facts about the Fire Nexus, that their powers made them impervious to the cold. Edward Ambrose had proven this by spending a week in the tundra, wearing shorts and a tee-shirt. He’d melted the snow around him as he’d walked, and hadn’t even suffered minor frostbite. But for a normal human like Will, the effects of this extreme cold were also well-known. Negative sixty could kill quickly, freezing any moisture in exposed skin and rapidly lowering your core temperature. They’d already been at it for five or ten minutes, he realized, with a pang of alarm.
“The flame does protect us from the cold,” Edward agreed. “But you have to wake your flame up first.”
“H-how do I do that?”
“You don’t,” Noratuk put in. Unlike Edward, she at least looked a little concerned. “It will wake on its own. Sometimes it takes a little longer.”
Will stared incredulously at the both of them, his hands tucked up under his armpits. He already couldn’t feel his arms and face. Just then, he remembered that numb was a bad thing in the cold, and quickly patted his arms and face, trying to get a sense of feeling back by stimulating the blood there. No luck. He cursed quietly, and dropped into a low crouch, curling his body as tightly as he could. No use in trying to exercise to warm up. That would just make him sweat, and that was a death sentence right now. Edward remained silent, watching him as he struggled to stay warm.
After what felt like an hour, Will’s efforts to maintain his body heat seemed to be working. Slowly but surely, he could feel himself starting to warm up. But this was not a good thing, as he knew that sudden inexplicable warmth was the beginning of the end for hypothermia. It was the sign that the body was starting to shut down. In half an hour, he would be out. In an hour, he’d likely be dead. Yet Edward and Noratuk were still watching him. Edward’s face was inscrutable, while Noratuk’s eyes were wide.
“Has it ever taken this long?” She asked, turning her head to Edward. “I swear it’s always been over with by now.”
“Only once,” Edward said quietly. He was staring at Will’s pale face, and a thoughtful frown finally broke through. “This should quieten the others, at least.”
“Oh, I look forward to that,” Noratuk said, letting out a high laugh. “You’re going places, Will.”
Will couldn’t understand her. He tried to open his mouth to reply, to ask what the hell she meant but found that he couldn’t control his body any longer. With a quiet grunt, his legs gave out from under him and he hit the snow. It was soft and warm against his skin. His mind screamed at him to get back up, but he couldn’t do it. The world around him was getting dark. Had night fallen already? Had Edward dragged him out here just to kill him? He couldn’t understand why he hadn’t just roasted him alive if he wanted that option.
The warmth was spreading to his limbs now. It trickled through his body like a gentle stream, flowing through his veins, bursting out of his body like fire. It was a little uncomfortable, he had to admit. It was just intense enough that he could start sweating soon, and that would be the end of him. He closed his eyes. If he was going to die, he’d just face it. Maybe he’d come back as a ghost, he thought. Then he’d haunt Edward for the rest of his life. He and Richard. Make their life just as miserable as they’d made the last week.
“Finally,” Noratuk’s voice came to him through his angry thoughts. “I was starting to worry he’d freeze to death.”
What the fuck was she on about? Will wanted to yell at her, but he didn’t have the energy. He was freezing to death in front of her! He was fading away, and these two monsters were just watching him die like it was an amusing show put on for the two of them. But wait a moment. Was he really dying? Sure, the warmth had taken over his body entirely, but he didn’t feel numb anymore. That wasn’t supposed to be a sign of hypothermia, was it? Maybe it was the final stage, the kind that nobody could have reported.
“Get up, Will,” Edward said. His voice too was perfectly clear. “Get up, and look at yourself.”
Fuck you, Will wanted to say. I’m not playing your game. His arm itched, and he scratched it, feeling the heat there. Wait a second, his exhausted brain said. If he could feel his arm, then he wasn’t numb. But why had the skin felt so hot? Slowly, as if doubting that he could do it, he pushed himself onto his knees. Then, once he realized that he was moving perfectly normally, he got to his feet properly. Glancing down as Edward had suggested, he saw that his clothes were perfectly dry. Well, the temperature was so cold that it didn’t come as a surprise. But what was surprising was the small circle of wet grass that surrounded him.
“What the hell?” He asked. He was surprised yet again. His voice sounded perfectly normal and calm, outside of the mounting surprise. He also wasn’t shaking anymore, he realized. “Wait. Is this-”
“Your flame,” Noratuk said. She had a broad grin plastered on her face, and even Edward was smiling. “That’s a strong one, too. Been a while since we’ve seen someone melt the snow right after their flame woke up.”
Will didn’t reply, too busy staring at the effects. At first, the worrying thought came that they might be messing with him. They were both strong enough to melt the snow just by existing, so it could have been their work. But as he had the thought, he realized that, just outside their circles of perfectly dry grass, his was still visible. Not nearly as large as theirs, of course, and still wet, but even as he watched, the water there was starting to evaporate. A broad grin stretched across his face.
“How do I make the fire come out of my hands?” He asked. Then, seeming to realize that he might seem too eager, he quickly modified his face into what he hoped was a respectful one. “Sorry, I just got a little excited.”
“As you should be,” Edward said. Noratuk let out another of her high laughs, slapping her leg. “I was the same, as was every member of the Nexus. I nearly burned down a city block when I got my flame.”
Will looked at him with wide eyes. He’d never heard any stories about when the Alpha had gained his powers. He, like nearly everyone else, had just assumed that he’d been given perfect powers and hadn’t had to train or anything. Maybe that wasn’t true. “Oh. Okay then. How do I make a fire?”
“It’s easier than you think,” Noratuk said. She was all business now and stepped forward to put one hand on Will’s chest. He could still feel the heat radiating from her, but it was less severe now. “Right now your flame is spread out. You have to draw it in if you want it to appear.”
“Uhh,” Will said, staring down at his hands. It wasn’t like he could see the heat. How could he control something that wasn’t part of his body in the first place? “Okay. I’ll give it a shot.”
It turned out that Noratuk was right. It only took him a few minutes before he realized that the field of heat around him wasn’t just an effect others could feel. He could feel it too, like a warm blanket that covered his body. And, along with this new power, he realized that he also had a way of manipulating it. It was much like working a muscle he’d never noticed before; awkward at first, but it became easier quickly. Before he could really come to terms with it, he felt the wave of heat shrinking. As it did, he began to feel the cold more, but thankfully it didn’t hurt. Then, suddenly, his hands burst into flame.
