"Once again, a woman's left unsatisfied."~ Evelynn, Agony's Embrace
Evelynn's lines are... but this was funny.
Toum is the best condiment and nothing comes close. Fuck mayonnaise.
Hopefully, I can complete another chapter by tomorrow. Then a double release.
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The next morning, Gregori awoke to his daughter snuggled into his side, holding him for dear life.
Daisy was afraid that he might leave again. She had spent the days with Braum and the other tribespeople but it didn't compare to her father. He made her feel safe in ways she did not understand.
He had come back to her, just like he promised.
And she wanted nothing more than to have her family whole again. Whole again and living in their own home. She missed her sister. She missed her mother. With everything around her crumbling and her father fighting to hold everything together, she felt helpless.
That helplessness pushed her.
Instead of sitting alone and crying, she had taken the first steps. She went along with Braum and asked him to train her. She went to Ashe and asked her to train her. Both did. Braum focused on developing her body while Ashe focused on weapons.
It hurt.
It hurt a lot.
But she went on with it everyday.
The biggest change happened when Daisy had seen people fight in the competition. For Ashe's hand in marriage. She had been sheltered from violence. And this competition was just that. Pure violence.
They wanted the strongest and only the strongest.
It was the first time she had witnessed someone getting knocked out. The first time she had seen someone bleed.
But it was also the first time she had seen someone refuse to go down. These warriors stood back up. Even in situations where their death was a surety, they stood back up. Bloody and shaking, but they stood back up.
She was taken by their willpower. That power deep inside that they seemed to pull at every time they were prone.
The moment the fights for the day ended, she ran to Braum and Ashe and had them train her harder. Her attitude changed. Instead of worrying if her dad would return for her, she focused on whatever she was taught. Not once did she pray to check if her dad was alive and safe. She believed in him.
"Flower?" Gregori called to his daughter.
Her grip on him tightened.
"Come on.... get up.... I need to talk to Braum before beating a few fools into the ground." Gregori coaxed her.
She looked at him in response, confused but the grip on his clothes remained just as tight.
"Daddy. They are all strong. Its too dangerous." Daisy pled.
He let out a laugh. Lifting her up, he said, "Flower.... I have faced dangers these men cannot comprehend. I have fought creatures as big as houses. And I won every single time. You have seen the scars I carry, when I bathed you and your sister right?"
Daisy nodded.
"Those are from all my battles."
Daisy started superimposing her father's face onto the faces of the fighters she had seen.
"Have you fought them? How do you know their strength?" Gregori asked.
Daisy replied, "Uncle Braum took me to watch the competition. They were fighting." As she completed speaking, Gregori's arms came around her in a tight hug.
"Was it scary?"
"It was so scary daddy.."
Placing soft kisses on her head, Gregori spoke, "Oh flower.... I'm so sorry."
They stayed like that for a while.
"Now, stand tall. Let me see how big my baby has grown." Gregori plopped Daisy on the ground.
He had expected her to have grown during his absence and she did. He could have checked her yesterday but he just wanted to spend time with her without worrying about what he had missed.
As expected, Daisy had grown a few inches. Her body showed some definition. The likes that shouldn't be on a six year old. She looked nine, maybe ten. Her limbs were longer. Stronger.
Gregori grit his teeth.
He missed this period of growth. His heart hurt. He was missing the changes Annie would be going through as well. They wouldn't be anything as extreme as Daisy's but it was more of a mental change. She was alone. Her mind would adapt to that.
She would gain that maturity that came with experiencing the world at its worst.
Gregori ran a palm through his hair. It had grown longer then he had ever kept it. He sighed. One daughter was growing physically and another was growing mentally and he was missing both.
"You have grown so big and strong my baby.... Daddy is proud of you..." He whispered to Daisy.
She gave him the biggest smile he had ever seen.
"Come...." Gregori led her outside. "Do you want to walk with me or do you want to sit on my shoulders?"
Her raised hands were all the answer he needed.
The changed body proved to require a little effort in balancing but he did it all the same.
Both Oompa and Loompa followed the two of them as they walked through the tents. The Avalance beasts had slept outside the tents, serving as an extra protection to both of them. Gregori did not mind the elevated safety these pets provided. They were supposedly very fierce, from the expressions on those that saw them yesterday. They were also quite good beasts of burden. But above all, two beasts for his two children.
Daisy certainly seemed to be taken by them. Annie would be too. They were fascinated by Elnuks and Elmarks, it was only right for them to be fascinated by giant cats. Cats they could ride on.
Braum was quite easy to spot. He was a large man. Even among Freljordians, Gregori himself could only look up to see the man's face.
"Daisy! Gregori! Nice morning no?" Braum spoke.
"Hello uncle Braum!" Daisy piped up.
Gregori answered, "It is Braum. It is." He then stood beside Braum and watched the man train. Daisy watched for a few minutes and then started running herself. He watched in awe at this absurd change in his daughter.
"Braum I need you to tell me which of these Daisy can wield as her True Ice weapon."
He then reached onto Loompa and pulled out his bag with the weapons. Bending down, he unwrapped the tied up bag and let the weapons roll onto the ground.
The Ikakalaka and the great axe gathered the most attention. The True Ice spikes were also looked at but with not as much shock as the other two.
Braum looked at the two weapons and the spikes.
"She cannot use the weapons. Those are only for the followers of the Ice Witch." Braum answered.
"Lissandra?" Gregori questioned.
Braum nodded in reply.
"So one of these spikes then?" Gregori continued.
"They will be made into weapons." Braum spoke. Then turning around, he called out, "Little Daisy come here."
Daisy stopped her running and made her way to the two men.
"Which weapon would you like these spikes to be made into for you?" Braum asked her.
She looked at the two then pointed at the longer one and answered, "That one. Sword."
Gregori stepped into the conversation, "Flower... but these are too small to be made into swords."
Her face fell.
"No no Gregori." Braum started, "True Ice works differently compared to normal weapons. Watch." He leaned toward his door-shield and place a palm on it.
In an instant, the shield was encased in ice. Enlarging the shield and making it more sturdy.
"Iceborn and True Ice can show their true power only together." Braum continued, "If she wants it to be a sword. The ice will become a sword. It will never be anything but a sword."
Gregori looked at the man with apprehension. He did not like to see someone else having something more in common with his daughter than him but he had to accept it. And he did so begrudgingly. It didn't help that Braum was just the nicest man. Fierce but nice.
The three of them spent time like that. Daisy training and Gregori watching Braum teach her. He could do the same but he had to admit, Braum was the better teacher in this scenario. Gregori did not know how Iceborn bodies functioned, disqualifying him from teaching her.
She needed a teacher who could help her grow and unfortunately it was not him.
A few hours later, Ashe arrived.
"Auntie Ashe!" Daisy yelled and ran to the woman.
Conflicted emotions rose up in Gregori. If he hadn't known better, he would assume them to be parent and child. A young parent and child but parent and child nonetheless.
He watched as Daisy pointed to the weapons and spikes and proclaimed that she wanted a sword out of the largest spike.
Ashe observed the spike and bent down to examine it.
"Daisy come here." Ashe called.
Daisy sat down in front of her and the spike.
Ashe's eyes landed on Gregori for a second before shifting back to Daisy. She looked the child in the eyes and spoke with as much sincerity as possible, "You have to hold the ice in your hands. It will hurt. A lot. But once it accepts you, it will not hurt anymore. Only once you have done this can we make a weapon out of this piece."
Daisy looked at the ice spike in trepidation.
"I myself could only wield True Ice past the age of fifteen. The pain was too much for me till then." Ashe continued.
"Braum did not feel any pain." Braum cut in, a little confused.
"You have to face the pain and beat it." Tryndamere spoke as he walked to them. "Forming a connection to your True Ice weapon, is letting it connect with your whole body. That is a painful process."
Daisy shivered at the thought of the pain.
Gregori reached in and held her shoulder. "You don't need to do it immediately Daisy. We have time. Daddy needs to heal up and that will take months. Only then can we go to get your sister back."
The mention of her sister gave Daisy new found bravery. Completely against what Gregori had meant for her to do.... she reached out and grabbed the spike.
Gregori would never forget that moment. Her screams. Those throat rending screams would forever come to him as nightmares.
He grabbed her shaking form and reached for the spike, to rid her of the item.
Three firm hands held him back. Braum and Tryndamere each held a shoulder, while Ashe held his wrist.
"She has to face this herself." Tryndamere spoke.
Ashe followed, "You cannot stop this. Either she drops it herself or she accepts the ice."
Braum remained silent but his eyes were sympathetic.
Ashe spoke once more, "Daisy.... the ice is not pain... it is surrender..... You surrender yourself to the ice, so that the ice can guide you."
A few more agonizing moments passed.
Daisy's hand opened and the spike fell out of it.
Ashe let out a sigh. "You were close. Very close. You lasted longer than I ever did child. That is a cause for celebration. A few more attempts and you will have fully bonded to the ice."
Daisy did not speak. Her body lay shivering against her father's.
Gregori looked up at Ashe, "Will she be fine?"
"She is Iceborn. The ice will not harm her." Ashe answered. "This pain..... it is temporary. It will fade away in time."
"Are you council members ready? He spoke.
"Yes. Are you worried for the fight?" Ashe replied, then asked.
"No. I want to let out my anger."