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[Alison]

Cassie couldn't help but smile at Drew's assessment of Nico's magic. It had been impressive and a really good start. But what the man started to do next had her interest. While he made an obvious statement that he couldn't exactly get out into the open water, well not without getting himself wet and likely freeze, from Cassie's point of view, he seemed to have some bright idea that involved heat. She looked with a smile on her face. Anything involving warmth was welcome right now!

Nico's idea of getting Merpeople to help was a good one and she was more than happy to assist with a little wind. Cassie had to wonder if Nico was wasting her time trying to butter up Tirau to go down towards the Merfolk. From the little she knew of him, he was a grouch. But to her suprise he was willing enough to go down and soon was in the water.

"Rather him that me!" Cassie exclaimed as he'd gone doing a few wing flexes to dispell the chill and to prepare. She didn't want to over do things and cause anyone injury by drafting the heat when the time came. Cassie was now hovering from the ground, looking between Nico and Drew. "Wonder what makes Tirau so darn grumpy."

[Qu33n0f1c3]

Tirau gave in rather easily. Nico was somewhat surprised. She wasn't going to complain though. And she would give him plenty of time. Even mermen were inhibited by frigid waters despite their bodies being designed to tolerate swimming in cold temperatures. If he could find even a few others who were awake and not hibernating the winter away, they'd be a whole lot of help.

"Well, some people are introverts, and some people are extraverts," Nico said, turning to Cassie. "I'm guessing he's an introvert. All it means is he don't like groups. There's nothing wrong with that."

Really, Nico had no problem at all with Tirau being grumpy. It was fun to tease him about. Besides, she had no place judging others for their lifestyle or personality. Even for demons, she wasn't the most normal of creatures. Her sect was considered a cult, even amongst the unnatural.

[McDodgerman]

"Boil ice? I'm not that talented..." Again, he thought sublimation as a rather expensive endeavor... But he still had to admire her initiative. Granted, he didn't know about Cassie's wind magic, but combination magic was a fabulous idea. He nodded his assent and started towards the coastline.

Even as he was quite literally burning, he still had to shiver at her suggestion to... Tirau was it? It was bad enough up here, but submerged in subzero sounded like an awful situation. He hoped he wasn't right about the fishmen freezing underwater, for Tirau's and his people's sakes. The merman took the suggestion easily enough, though, so he didn't suspect it as much of a problem. Maybe they had more help in this than he first thought. If there were enough to wake from hibernation, this'd be cleared in no time at all. The ice spear must've made a nice alarm clock, he mused with a smile.

Alright, business is business. "Cassie, can you come closer? I think you'd appreciate being closer to this," he said, waving his glowing hand. "I'll try to pump out a good temp for ya, but I don't know if I got enough juice for a whole lake." It depended entirely on how efficiently he could control the heat, but he had learned a rather refined sense of that from his potionery. Hey, this might even help to better train his magic, maybe stop buying cans of gas and cords of wood.

Today was a really optimistic day.

[abadlex]

Tirau continued his underwater search for any of his fellow merfolk that might be around, hopefully willing to lend their aid. It was kind of difficult to focus due to the cold...

"What the-" Tirau was felt a sudden rush of water as something zoomed by. It stopped a short distance, revealing it to be one of his fellow merfolk.

"Eh? Well, it's good there is at least one around... But what was with the speed swimming?" the merman thought as the speedy swimmer swam back over to Tirau.

"Hey~ Enjoying a nice icy swim as well?" the merman asked. "You need to swim faster than that if you want the full experience though..."

"Wha?" Tirau stared at this individual.

"What? You're not here to enjoy the feel of swimming in icy cold water?"

"Hell no! I'm here to break the ice apart and I'm finding some of my fellow merfolk to help out" Tirau responded.

"Why?" the merman questioned, tilting his head.

"Lord Alucard's orders" Tirau stated simply.

"Did you say Lord Alucard's orders?"

Another merman had approached the two during their conversation. This one seemed a few years older than Tirau and looked like a rather respectable fellow.

"Yes. Care to help?" Tirau asked him.

"If Lord Alucard has asked for it, then I shall see it done" the merman replied. "The name's McTher"

"Tirau" Tirau responded.

"I'm Zelit" the other merman piped up. "I'll help too. Lord Alucard helped us out so I gotta repay him anyway I can!"

"Ok then" Tirau pointed towards the surface. "There's a hole somewhere near here leading to the surface. The three waiting up there can tell you what is needed while I look around some more..."

McTher pointed behind him. "There are more merfolk over there. That loud crashing noise woke the lot of them up. I'm sure they'll be willing to help out, especially if it's under Lord Alucard's orders"

Tirau nodded. "Thank you"
A few minutes later, Zelit and McTher surfaced and looked up at the three before them.

"Ah. You three must be the ones Tirau was talking about..." McTher said. "What do you wish for us to do?"

"Yeah! Let's get started!" Zelit shouted in excitement.

"Don't use up your energy before your task starts..." McTher responded but the words fell on deaf ears.

[Alison]

Cassie glanced to Nico as he responded. The woman was right, there wasn't anything wrong with it. There were just more polite ways to not be so grumpy when they were here to help his own people. Especially when they were freezing their various assets off to do so.

She looked to Drew as he spoke. Oh this guy knew how to click her buttons that was for sure. A heat source was a more than welcome addition right now. She didn't get a chance to reply to either of them before two others surfaced. One sure as heck was fiesty and a lot more talkative that Tiaru. So it really wasn't linked to their actual species.

Cassie started to fly towards Drew before calling to the more talkative pair.

"If you can move some of the bigger chunks of ice towards us ready for melting?" she asked before looking back to Drew. "Dang that's nice and warm. Once these guys have started working and are not in direct line i'll make it turn up a little more. It appears to already be working on some of the thinner ice."

[Qu33n0f1c3]

Nico watched Drew approach the edge of the lake. Cassie was right there with him, by his request. As he'd predicted, she did seem to appreciate the warmth of his magic. Nico smirked a little, naughty thoughts running through her mind while Drew talked to her about not having enough juice.

Her fault, her fault. She really was the dirty one.

It wasn't long after that that two mermen appeared. So Tirau was doing his job after all. For all the cranky he was capable of, he seemed to be a competent worker. Incredible.

Cassie seemed to have the instructions ready for the water creatures, so Nico brushed off a rock of its snow dusting and sat upon the surface. She watched some of the broken ice chunks nearby already melting and felt sympathy for it. Even sitting away from them, the mild warmth of Drew's magic was annoying. She wished it could stay winter all the time. The heat of the summer was nothing she was fond of.

"Go on then, Drew, crank it up," she called, feigning to taunt the demon, but really just curious what he was capable of.

[abadlex]

"That's it? Pfft... Easy~" Zelit said causally.

"Don't be so sure" McTher advised. "It may seem easy at the moment but remember the conditions we're in. Ice cold waters, even with the ball of heat there, will make this difficu-"

"For you" Zelit countered. "I love swimming in the icy waters so I'm use to these conditions"

"Very well... Let us begin" McTher stated as the two started to work.
Tirau made his way in the direction that McTher had pointed out to him, which was too far a distance away. There were quite a few merfolk lightly wading in one spot each, apprantly waiting for something.

"Who are you?" one elderly looking merman asked. "And where's McTher?"

"I'm Tirau" Tirau responded politely. "And McTher is aiding in the breaking of the ice... Lord Alucard's orders"

"I see. Then it shall be done" the elderly merman said. "All of us here will aid you as much as possible"

Tirau took a quick glance over the merfolk present; there were five others beside the elderly merman. And they all were willing to help.

"Alright! Let's smash this ice!!" one of the merfolk shouted. Looking over, Tirau noticed her to be female and apprantly a sort of tomboy. She had punched a fist into an open palm.

"Hold it!" another merfolk, male, called out. "This is a man's job, so why don't yo-"

"Hey asswipe" Tirau interrupted. "I'm willing to take all the help I can get. It's not a hard job either... So why don't you get your head out of your ass and shut up?"

"Why you..." the asswipe started to said.

"Enough Kaser!" the elderly merman intervened. "If Mara wishes to help, she may. Gender does not decide who can do what"

"Fine. Let's go..." the asswipe simply said.

And with that, the group followed Tirau as he made his way back to the surface.

[McDodgerman]

Together, Cassie and Drew were making short work of the smaller fragments of ice, and rounding off the jagged edges off the larger pieces. He still had a large mana pool to work with, especially when he had prepared for a large solo job. Maybe he could sell off his remaining mana potions offhand, or even to the ice mage sitting a short ways away. She seemed to be resting a bit, or at least enjoying his meager work. She even dared him to do more...

Well, what do I have to lose?

A breath first, then a dial adjustment. Slow, not sudden; it's magical energy, not a light switch. Draw forth the raw power, give it form, let it loose little by little...

FOOM

He cracked one eye open. Was that a... white fire? No, it was fading down to yellow, orange... but for that instant, such intense heat... if only he could contain it... he could keep it at a lovely gold here, burning a little extra mana... but brilliant Silver, even for a split second. He could do it, just...

"Oh, sorry Cassie, I wasn't expecting that myself."

Oh yes. And flash a smile at the cryomancer.

He turned back to the lake, seeing a good number of merpeople emerging from the cracked ice. Eight or ten, not a bad haul for a first catch, and a lot already less icy than Tirau. He'd have waved, but he had to digress to a simple "Hallo!" At this rate of melt, the fish might even be overstaffed. He almost wanted to bump up the temperature again, but thought against it. Unless she pushed him again, maybe.

[Alison]

Cassie watched as Nico sat himself down, seems he was taking a back seat a bit. She smiled as he called to Drew, before her attention was drawn back to the lake. The merfolk had started to work, excellent. She noted that Tiaru wasn't back yet and wondered if more help would be on the way. But that thought did not last long as Drew cranked it up with style. It startled her a little that she had to back up a little from the sudden heat.

She soon adjusted herself to the warmth, knowing that when this was gone it was going to get pretty damn cold again.

"It's no problem," she nodded to him, focusing again watching more ice melt away as the Merfolk worked away. "You were not expecting it? Have you not upped your fire to such a level before now?"

[Qu33n0f1c3]

Nico liked the cold a lot, but she was surprised by just how many mermen it turned out had been trapped under the ice. She felt for them. Too much of it, even for her, could be uncomfortable. They must have been miserable.
 
She didn't have long to think about that though. Drew went and impressed the hell out of her. She also thought he may have singed her robes, but it was all in her head.

"Whooo-weee! Was that something or what?!" Nico didn't spend much time around flame-halves or lightning-halves. She was almost soley experienced with ice magic, and it was incredible to see the burst of energy Drew had put out.

The ice was melting pretty well by now, slow and steady, even with the energy being poured out by Drew. Nico did hope he didn't overexert himself though. She didn't want to burden the medical bay with their mana mishaps.

"If he hasn't," Nico piped in response to Cassie's question, "paint me impressed. That's some potential there for a newbie. If you ain't training hard, Drew, you ought to be. The promise in you stinks to high hell waiting to be unleashed."

[abadlex]

"Whoa! Sudden heat wave!" Tirau exclaimed upon surfacing with the remaining merfolk. "Better than the icy cold winds though"

Tirau did a quick glance around. "And it seems to be working well..."

"Enough talking! Let's smash this ice up!!" Mara yelled, punching a fist into an open palm.

"Patience, Mara" the elderly merman advised her. "Let's heard their plan first..."

"It's moving ice around!" Zelit shouted over. Both him and McTher were moving a rather large piece of ice, which was steadily melting.

"Pfft... That's it? Really?" Kaser stated. "What do we look to you people?!"

"Why did you come with again?" Tirau asked. "I don't remember requesting an asswipe"

"What did you just say?" Kaser snapped at Tirau.

"You heard me" the merman simply stated.

"Why I ought to-" Kaser started.

"Kaser! Get to work!" the elderly merman shouted. Kaser gumbled a bit but did what he was told. The elder turned to Cassie and Drew. "Sorry about that. Kaser is... Well, Tirau put it best"

Tirau chuckled a bit as he set out to work.

[McDodgerman]

"uhm... it was just a burst, not much... And, a flame is so simple..." The fire faded a little, moved to his cheeks. Had it really been that hot? He had hardly felt a thing, no temperature change at all. They were all so impressed though, especially the icy one that should've been impossible to supersede. Part of him thought she was merely patronizing, but there seemed to be at least a genuine note of awe in her words to Cassie.

A flame may be simple, but this time yesterday he wouldn't have been able to get much more than the Warm Hands from before. Maybe he just never put himself out there earlier, but... it was potential, to quote. He would've experimented more as the task went on, but work came first. Maybe if he could reserve a few sheets of ice towards the end, since apparently he couldn't feel his own heat, or at least its full force. Part of him wished he could have the rest of the lake for his experimentation, yet he probably couldn't bring himself to go it alone.

The merpeople were re-enacting his favorite comedy skit, and he almost had the mind to chide them and pass out a better script; but the ice was melting at a decent clip now, with his powers tapped-in. Maybe a few more minutes, and he'd only have to use one or two potions. Maybe offer one to Cassie too at that point, he didn't know how draining this was for her. They were making great time.

[Alison]

Cassie could not help but smile at Nico's exclimation and then follow up to her question. She could not help but agree on the Demon's potential. The Fae could hear Tiaru and another merman arguing at the lake, seems he was just as grumpy with some of his fellows. From how Drew was speaking, he didn't think it was a big deal? Psh some people needed to learn to take credit where it was due.

"Don't worry about it," Cassie called back when the elder spoke to them. "It isn't like Tiaru isn't a little grumpy himself~ Even though his heart is in the right place to agree to help."

Turning her attentions back to Drew she focused once more, she was doing reasonably well for the present time, but her small size meant she wouldn't be able to keep this up for much longer without a rest.

"We should try and finish off the big pieces while I can still keep going," she spoke to the man.

[abadlex]

The elder merely nodded at Cassie's words before turning to the task at hand. He went to help two others push a rather large chunk of ice while Zelit and McTher went to move a new piece of ice. The one that they had been moving was close enough to the heat source and was melting rapidly under the heated assasult.

Despite their small arguement, Tirau and Kaser were willing to put that aside for the task at hand. They were currently pushing another piece of ice, bringing the total to three pieces of ice being moved. It would seem that only three were going to be moved at one time, an alright and steady number.

Mara had other ideas, more specifically towards the thinner and easily to break pieces. She had begun to punch and slam her fist down onto these pieces, making them smaller and required less effort to melt. In fact, some of the broke off pieces were either gone or almost gone based on how they were broken.

[Qu33n0f1c3]

Nico smiled at the way the mermen were fighting in the water. It was a little bit adorable, like they were all siblings that just had to pick a gripe with each other. At least they were getting the job done. Nico felt a little useless now that she'd shattered the ice and was left to watch.

She glanced to Drew, searching for signs of exhaustion. "How are you two holding up?" she asked Drew and Cassie. "Do you need a break? I have a mana potion or two I could spare if you need a refill," she said specifically to Drew.