Chapter 22: The Real Ice Palace

Triton Lead Drake into the room and walked over to the couch. "Set her down on the couch," he said, sitting down "we can talk while she's out. Yes, she'll be fine," he said, reading the worried look on Drake's face "she's just unconscious and she had a small concussion."

"A concussion?! You call that fine?" said Drake, alarmed. He set her down on the couch and sat next to her, propping her head up in his lap.
"Well, if it weren't for her crystal, sure, she would have been injured pretty badly." said Triton
"What do you mean?" asked Drake
"Well, I figured you knew by now." he said, bemused. "The crystals all imbue their Bearers with special abilities, rather, abilities other than those aligned with their respective elements. most, if not all of the crystals grant a certain degree of health benefits, such as healing a little faster and such, but one of the key exploits of the Water crystal is that it has fantastic healing powers, able to extend out to another person. More than likely, that immense power is working subconsciously to heal her from the inside out."
"Whoa, that's pretty cool. What about mine?" asked Drake
"Well, you would heal a little faster, probably shown by the fact that those explosions didn't even appear to phase you at all. Any damage you took on the outside was healed extremely fast, or you didn't take any at all. Your crystal specifically has a special ability; you are impervious to life-threatening wounds." he said, with a grave look on his face.
"And is that bad?" asked Drake, seeing the look on Triton's aged face.
"Well, in the past this has lead to a certain arrogance in the Bearers of the Thunder crystals... Many Bearers before you have lost their lives because of overconfidence in their abilities. You see, you're immune to life-threatening wounds...those woulds that would surely kill you, such as a massive wound to the heart, or being in an explosion so massive and terrifying that it would literally obliterate every cell in your body."

Drake let that last part sink in for a moment. "So, I'm immune to severe injuries, like they won't affect me at all? What about minor injuries like cuts and scrapes?"
"Here lies the downside... you can still receive those types of injuries as you could before. This is how many of your predecessors met their downfall. They figured they were impervious to all attack and ignored all of their small wounds...those wounds which ultimately claimed their lives." said Triton.
"I can definitely see how that could happen." said Drake "But I'm determined to not meet the same end of all the others, though. I have knowledge on my side."
The Ice Lord merely nodded and glanced at Erika.

"So, I take it you're either seeking me out for training, or for information...which is it?" Triton asked.
"Well," said Drake "We're primarily trying to find your uncle and father, I guess. Erika and I need training, but with the masters of our own elements. Although, it would be nice to know where or how to find you if we ever meet up with the person with the Ice crystal."
"Hmm, firstly, the Bearer of Ice probably won't make it here for quite some time...he's only just received his crystal today."
"How do you know that?" asked Drake
"I can always keep track of the Ice crystals, Drake. I was the one who created the original, and the pieces are still linked to me, though the bond has grown slightly weaker with time and distance. If you'd like, I could give you his information to give to Beschermer...I'm sure it would help him out greatly." Triton paused. "Anyway, moving on to the other issue at hand. Zeus and Neptune will be tricky to track down... they like to move around a lot, being the lords of the skies and seas... they have plenty of room to roam about. I would suggest going to Neptune first, as I can help you in locating him more than I can with Zeus. Neptune being my father, I always have a way to contact him if I need to."
"That's what we were hoping, at least for Neptune. So, do you know where he is now?" asked Drake
"Oddly enough, he's vacationing away from the sea at the moment. He's in some lake south of here...the big one. I was never good with names of places."
"Okeechobee?" asked Drake, excited.
"Yeah, that's the one...weird name, but it's memorable, I suppose."
"That's good...I have a friend down in Okeechobee, I know the area fairly well."
"Good, good...I assume that once she's back on her feet, Erika will be of use there in the water...she should be able to find him pretty quickly. Now, unfortunately, I can't be of much help with Zeus, Drake...I know his last known location...but that was fifty years ago."
"And you think he will have moved since then, eh?" asked Drake
"Most definitely...he likes to change locations every decade or so...sometimes even a few years. I can tell you where, but I honestly don't think it will help."
"Nah...that's fine. I'm sure Neptune might be able to help us when we find him...he might have a more current location."

Another hour went by and Erika slowly roused, the crystal had healed her completely and during their conversation, Drake heard faint sounds of Erika's light snoring. "Morning, sunshine...have a nice nap?" asked Drake from his position next to Erika.
Yawning, she sat up and placed her body against his, putting her head on his chest. "Yeah, except the dream about Fern and this other...person." she said
"Well, it wasn't a dream...you got knocked out and Triton brought us here to his um...lair?"
"I prefer to call it the true Ice Palace, Drake." said Triton, seemingly appearing out of thin air behind them
"I already got all the information and all we need from Triton, we can go as soon as you feel up to traveling. It'll be dark soon and we need to get home." Drake said
"A-Alright." she said, still yawning. "Will we be seeing you again soon, Triton?" asked Erika
"Well, I suspect you'll probably be the ones to bring the Ice Bearer here once you've located him...so let's just say 'see you then.' " he said

Drake and Erika rose off the couch and walked to the stairs and on up out into the sunshine of Tampa Bay. The door closed behind them and the wall sealed up. No one would be able to tell anything was there unless they already knew about it.

"Well, back on the bus, I suppose. I'll fill you in once we get back home...you look beat. Go ahead and sleep on the bus, it's a short ride back anyways." said Drake
"Mmk." said Erika, getting in line to get on the bus that had just pulled up. "Just don't you fall sleep too, or we'll miss the stop." she said, grinning. She knew that even if they missed the stop, that'd just be more time for her to sleep in his arms.