Two figures sat on a pink couch. Isykle shifted uncomfortably on the soft cushion. In front if him on the other couch was what he could only describe as a yellow power ranger fused with another yellow power ranger. Yellow engravings on protruding yellow armor stacked on more useless yellow armor. 

She crossed her legs and glanced at her son bruised in a bed in the corner, before returning her red eyes back to Isykle. As much as every arcosian transforms their eyes rarely change, especially hers. Gelid eyes seem to always be assessing everything, cold and… evil.

Gelid asked amused with something beyond what the boy could understand: "Are you not going to answer my question?" 

Isykle: "My bad, I was thinking of a plausible lie, I couldn't. It was a game of two vs one (me) with few rules in place. I beat the shit out of him, Vanilla too."

They both stared at each other. Her still with an unreadable, unchanging smirk and him kicking his brain for being so blunt. 

Gelid:"Mmm, mmhm, mhmhmmhmhmmhm." 

She stifled a laugh with her elbow: 'Boy is funny. His ki looks weak though. But there was a strong spike of ki right as Shitty's control pad started to beep. Was that actually him? What did he do to make his ki spike?'

Her voice turned sharp. "You admit to putting my baby in such a state?!" Her ki engulfed the room. "Your guardian asks for a joint day, keeps me away from my son for some RIDICULOUS talks, runs away with is favorite, and leaves the fucking failure of a truant! 

I would have killed you now but that would make him just too damn happy, wouldn't it? Sigh"

Isykle repeatedly flexed his hand. Even after she reigned in her power the suffocating feeling remained.

Isykle: "Which is why I want to join the Cold force faster. He said there would be a recruitment exam soon, do you know where? Dying here is really not an option for me."

Gelid laughed at his words: "Krustallos could have very easily killed you after you came back, you know. You say and do a lot of dumb things Isykle… maybe thats why Dryce likes you.

Tell you what, since you disappearing again would be the most infuriating thing for that man and it would make Dryce sad if you died, I'll tell you. But the exam is pretty dangerous, you'll be facing practically adults. I don't think you're strong enough to pass. Oh what would be worse to explain your death or to tell him I sent you to it…" 

She placed her hand under her chin and stared at dryce. Isykle knew she was rather soft compared to the other but her soft spot for her kid surprised him. 

Isykle: "As long as they are not as strong as you I think I'll be fine."

Gelid: "Quite confident, why? Did you stumble upon an artifact while outside?"

Isykle: 'Artifacts? We're in that kind of setting?' "What's that? No, I made a move that boosts my power for a short period. I planned to leave a note here with Dryce actually so that if Krustallos got it from me they couldn't claim to be the creators of it."

Gelid: "Oh you get along so well with my boy. That explains the ki spike I felt." She nodded happily. "You were pretty far away last time so I didn't get a good read, could you show me now?"

Isykle sighed: "No, not yet, it takes quite a lot of energy out of me. I should be ok if I rest an hour longer. You said I'd be against almost adults in the exam. What did you mean by that exactly, in what way?"

Gelid giggled behind her hand: "So you're not completely self-assured. Good, overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer." She stood from the couch with a pop from her arm as she stretched. "Lets walk, I need something from my office, I'll tell you on the way."

The boy hesitated before complying, quick calculations on how likely she was to stuff in a room and lock him up.

………

Gelid: "There are three things that will make the military test hard.

One: you will be with every batch that decides to go. Its required for the ones who are 15 years old, but the 7th, 11th, and 13th batches will be there if they think they got the stuff. The amount of experience they have over you will be substantial.

Two: there is a small theory and structure test about our society. Honestly not too bad since we spend most out time alone (or in small groups) in space collecting planets and sending reports. Unless you plan to be Emperor Cold's right hand dont worry about it too much. 

And thr- oh were here! Guess we walked faster than I wanted." She typed in a code into the double doors. "I'll tell you the time, and loc in a second."

It was a small room compared to the extravagance of everything else so far. She stepped into the 7ft by 7ft room motioning me to wait. Kneeling bin the corner she started fiddling with the tiles. After about a minute Gelid unearthed… unfloored a large box.

Gelid murmured before getting serious again: "Alrighty, I should make that tile harder to lift.

Isykle, can you guess how many phanomnomenons there are in this world that can grant a person powers beyond what they should be biologically capable of?"

Isykle thought for a moment: "I suppose three: ki, whatever you have in that metal case, and probably something else that is yet undiscovered."

Gelid spoke through a small melancholy smile: "If we are counting unknowns then you are still missing a lot. Ki what me and you most commonly use and its variants, magic thats in this box, shinsu which we are not discussing right now."

Isykle was in a baffled silence as his evaluation of Gelid shifted once more. A strange outlier becoming even stranger. Way kinder than the other parents he met, way more loving of her own son than the others, even helping him. And now knowledge of something he thought would be rare; types of ki, magic, and something he never heard of, shinsu- it sounded like something from a different game comic.