A Bond can Face the Cold Part II
Piotr’s eyes snap open, the air clinching from his throat as he fought to take in a breath. The room is dark, empty with the decaying scent of his Bonded still stale in the air. His barrel chest heaves as sweat clings to his brow, all of his senses in overdrive that it forces his titanium skin to clamor onto him within a moments notice. He reaches out across the empty plane of the bed, as if his steel fingers could touch your bare skin once more. Terror thunders through his thoughts as his strength accidentally tears up the sheets in his fight to get up. Something is wrong, so wrong that it makes him feel sick to his stomach. He reaches across the bond tethering his soul to yours to try and feel you across the thousands of miles separating your hearts, only to sense nothing.
Impossible.
However new your bond to each other may be, he had been able to feel you in his chest even before he had met you in person. He had always been able to feel you in some form, always knew that you were safe wherever you were, but now it was as if your side of the bond had run as cold as the arctic snow. He stumbles his way out of bed, the loud thumping of his metallic feet lost to him as he rips his door off of it’s hinges in a rush to reach the professor.
She needs me.
Cold. Why is it so cold? You feel it caress you, touch against your bare(?) arms, but you can’t move, not even a shiver passing through you at the intense sensation.
“Open your eyes.” A quiet, male voice rasped lowly by your ear, a gust of freezing air slapping against your cheeks as your eyes snapped open. The scream in your throat tapered out by the time it reached your tongue, cold encasing you tightly when you tried to move. From your vantage point, all you could make out was a blanket of white facing you, to your left, your team lay huddled together in their layers of clothing, down, a pale, white dress draped over your small figure, and to your right, was a sight unlike any other you had witnessed in your lifetime. It was a monster with what looked like ice making up his entire body, glaciers sticking from his hunched and disfigured form as he towered over you. Your eyes closed as another scream failed to exhale.
There are so many thoughts screeching through your mind that the headache warps everything. Your team, Straford with his insatiable wit and Myers with his sweet, homely personality, and God, Claudette with her laid back (lazy, so, so lazy) way of handling things.
Your Bonded, Piotr. You found him mere months ago and the Bond had only just settled deep into your flesh to the point where you could almost hear two heartbeats just before sleep happened upon you each night. Even in your terrorized state, you try to reach for him through your link, pressing into it with all of your strength- but there is nothing but silence and your fear. Without his softening presence, you’re descending quickly no matter how hard you try to fight the fear.
“Do not be afraid,” The creature rasps, his movement shaking the very ground you lay upon. Your eyes dart to your subordinates with concern for their wellbeing over your very own. You couldn’t help your nature, they had to be alright or else you would never forgive yourself for allowing them to risk their lives out here in the cold with you, the girl who felt nothing and everything all at once.
“My Atali…. Atali.” The horse rasp echoed as your body trembled from the vibrations. Atali? You overlook the strange name and brace yourself, steeling your nerves against the gust of wind billowing snow into your eyes.
“P-Please,” You began to beg, “Please let them go!” You did not know how long you had lay here but you would be fine with your immunity. They would not last long in this eternal cold growing colder.
“These humans? Atali...Atali… Must protect.. From… hu-”
“No! N-No!” You can’t stop your outburst, adrenaline pumping through your frozen veins at the thought of losing those close to you. They were your family, your remarkably extraordinary family. The monster made of ice and snow ignores your words, twisting his vast, jagged head towards your huddled friends a few feet away.
“Must… protect..” It starts to lurch forwards, a giant iced foot shifting and that motion jumpstarts your numb muscles. You scramble over the icy ground, slipping and continuing to push yourself as you nearly trip over the long loose hem of your gown. It billows against your delicate skin as you slip into a dive to reach your friends first, huddling over their emotionless bodies just as the frozen giant opened his mouth and roared, trying to shield them with your small body. Ice splashes against your body, the wetness barely felt as it quickly melts against your skin and causes it to glitter subtly. You clutch at thick winter coats with shaky hands, blinking back the wetness suddenly so present because there is no amount of genius that can get you or them away from this place.
They’re going to die here, without the proper love and care, among the cold and forgotten. If you had just stayed away and let your dream die then perhaps things could have been different. Piotr could have had the family he always wanted, the two of you could have built something so wonderful together.
“At..ali… Atali… must kill creatures.. Move aside. Atali belongs.. Belongs north.” Your eyes squeeze shut of their own accord as a silent prayer falls to the passing wind and snow.
Piotr… Piotr..
He can’t feel the heat billowing through the ventilation of the Blackbird as Cyclops focused solely on piloting and ignoring the pacing male beside him. The others are either half asleep or too nervous by Piotr to take their eyes off of him. It’s a sad sight to watch someone worry about their Bonded and by the way Piotr was pacing back and forth, it was only going to get worse from here on out. The Russian pauses in his steps once and tries to reach out to you but begins another beeline behind Scott the moment nothing is received. Fear of the unknown tears him apart and stitches him back together as Jean Grey telepathically tries to relieve him of the burden weighing heavily on his shoulders.
“You can’t blame yourself for this. You are a beautiful person, Piotre, and so good to her to let her do something she loves. You couldn’t have known that this would happen. We’re going to find her and her team so please don’t worry yourself into an early grave.” It wasn’t unheard of, a Bonded passing due to the worry and stress pushed on his soul because he’s worrying about his other half. It happened when Bonds couldn’t be felt or when one person dies in an accident, leaving a Bonded alone again. Piotr relaxed slightly as his face grew rigid and he had to clench his fists to keep his second skin from encasing his body. He didn’t want to hide his pain, he needed to experience it or else he would crumble right there and he refused to be useless. He could still remember the sound of your voice over the roaring winds, how happy you sounded about being back in the heart of snow. He would never understand what drew you to it, but you had worked so hard for a chance to study and learn, to save every cold thing from being gone forever. And he supported you in anything and everything.
“Maybe it’s the arctic doing this,” Bobby suggested from where he sat strapped into his seat, countenance scrunched up with thinking, “Or-”
“Her powers,” Kitty suggested, “Professor was never able to finish running the testing on her but we did uncover her immunity ability. Remember when you froze-”
“ What? ” The roar almost threw Scott off course as Colossus turned on his team mates, metal skin covering him within moments.
“Wait- Piotr, calm down- Power down!” Kitty tried to talk him down from his fuming rage before Jean Grey quickly set up a mental block.
“It last for two minutes, I swear. And she was completely fine. She’s immune to extreme cold, heat, pain. Professor made sure she was safe the entire time and she agreed to it,” Bobby explained, and even if he was blameless, Piotr was still pissed at him for complying when he didn’t want (Y/N) taking part. She was her own person but was it really necessary? Piotr didn’t care that you were also a mutant, not in the least, but he knew the testing could be uncomfortable and sometimes on the left side of deadly.
“She was alright. Her powers are still unknown but the immunity is a constant protection from almost everything. The only thing we do know that can hurt her is when you’re in pain. The bond you have together is one of the strongest the Professor has ever seen before,” Jean Grey reaches from where she sits to gently press a comforting hand to Piotr’s arm, “Power down. We need you calm and in control if we’re going to be able to find her. I can tap into the bond once we’re closer to the arctic, it might help.” A few moments pass before metal give ways to flesh and Piotr finally sits, too tired to stand.
You’re waiting for the end, waiting, but nothing happens. Huh? You cautiously open up one of your eyes turning your head slowly to look up at the frost-monster-giant-thing. He stopped moving at all, a fist poised above you.
“Daughter… Atali… why protect… creatures?”
Daughter.
Did the creature think you were its daughter? Even if you were adopted… it couldn’t be possible- No. You were (Y/N) and despite finding out you were some type of mutant, you were you and no one else. Not this Atali, not a monster.
“I’m not A-Atali!” You hissed in defiance, unsure of where this courage was coming for but thankful for it. You needed to protect your friends until you could get them away from this thing. The giant lowers his fist, palm slowly opening as he points at you, ice growing from his fingers across the small distance to you.
“My blood… your blood,” He speaks as shards of ice gently press against your cheek, the cold it should bring lost to you. It felt warm, normal, natural even, “North… Atali … belong… in Niffleheim.” Your mouth runs dry from the familiar word garbled through the monster- the ice giant, mostly because the realization dawns on you.
“Norse mythology isn’t real,” A classmate laughed out as she peered over your shoulder at the book drawing away all of your attention. It was a book on the nine realms, but mostly a children's book all the same. Still, you had been transfixed on it ever since finding it in a bookstore near you and you refused to put it down, even if you and Jane were supposed to be studying.
“You never know, the way the world is today, this might as well be real too. I mean, your soul bond has the name of one of the Norse Gods. It might be fate,” You joked, your eyes brushing over the creation of the frost giants from a being called Ymir. He was the oldest and most powerful being and gave birth to other giants like ice, frost, and storm giants. It was amazing to read about and with your studies being focused on wildlife in frozen or ice atmospheres, it piqued your interest a lot more than Jane.
“Oh, what ever. The second I find him, I’m going to ask him why in the world his parents couldn’t have given him something else. The whole ‘you’re boyfriend was in my mythology textbook’ bit is getting so old,” Jane complained, making you snort quietly as you finally chose a resting place and closed your book, leaning back in your chair.
“Maybe he’s still in Asgard or something.”
“Hey!”
Jane did find Thor- she may have hit him with her car twice, but she did find him- and he did save her.
But even if the Norse gods were real, this creature- this Ymir- he couldn’t be. And you couldn’t be his daughter. You refused to believe it.
“Atali.. Feel no cold… is cold.” Your stomach quivered and shrank as you turned your face away from the ice touching it, tears welling in your eyes as you caught sight of Claudette’s peaceful, sleeping face. He must have put them under some sort of spell to sleep or else they would have already awoken and freaked out. She looked cold, but her cheeks still had a small flush as her chest lightly rose and fell. You had to think of something to help them, even if Ymir was right. You blink back the moisture, shaking your head quickly.
“P-Please… don’t hurt them. I l-love them.. They are family… friends. If you let them go….” You swallowed, “I’ll go h-home. North.” To Niffleheim. Ymir roared lowly, a guttural noise that rumbled the ground as more shaking began. Frost giants that blended into the snow began to materialize before your very eyes, much smaller than Ymir, but just as frightening.
“They take creatures back to place.. Back to warmth. Atali come north. Home.” You didn’t know if you could trust him, but there was no choice.
“I w-want to go with them.. To make sure.” Ymir hissed before ice quickly shot from his fingers to wrap around you, pulling you back from the three sleeping figures and into his massive palm. Three frost giants easily pick up Claudette, Myers, and Straford in palm and begin to walk, Ymir raising you up to set you on his shoulder as he began to guide them. You look out but all you see is the frozen wasteland illuminated by the moon and sheets of white. You had no idea where you were or how far from base and without your original clothes, you didn’t even have a phone of some sort to call for help, to call Piotr. You haven’t been able to feel him at all since waking up to the cold and it scares you more than Ymir does. You know he isn’t gone, but the fact that you can’t feel him in the back of your mind or drumming through your chest feels unnatural and wrong. The trek back to the abandoned base is slow, and you continued to watch the frost giants carrying your team mates.
Piotr, you think along the silent airway of your bond, if you can hear me, please… help us. I can’t think my way out of this. I don’t know how. I don’t know what to do, but to go. I might be a monster. . Tell me what to do .. I wish you were here right now with me, maybe then I wouldn’t be so scared. Maybe then I could be stronger.