Inside the hospital room, Theo lay on the bed with his eyes closed. Maeve sat in a chair on one side, one hand hooked to an IV, the stand beside her. Julian stood on the other side, his hand hooked to an IV as well.

Maeve was crying, but she was busy wiping Theo’s tears.

Julian was also crying, and busy holding Theo down.

Theo was unconscious, but his body kept trying to get out of the bed. He struggled against Julian’s hold, his mouth moving, mumbling something.

Sonia could not make out the words. But the sight of the young woman fighting to get out of bed while unconscious, tears streaming from closed eyes, took her breath away.

She was almost certain she could hear Theo mumbling Arthur over and over again.

Sonia clenched her jaw. She could not go in and ask him to stop the storm. Not now. Not like this.

She turned her head slowly to look at Liam’s face. She was curious what his expression would be, watching his friends suffer like this.

The first thing she noticed was his hand on the IV stand. His knuckles were white. He was gripping it so hard she thought he might snap it in two.

Sonia exhaled without meaning to.

She moved her gaze upward to his face.

His jaw clenched and unclenched. His lips were pressed together so hard the skin around them had gone tight.

But his eyes.

They were so, so sad. Dry, but so terribly sad.

Sonia’s own eyes began to glisten.

She did not need to think about why. Being a Light, like Maeve, she was more sensitive than most. She could feel it without trying.

At this moment, Liam was beyond heartbroken.

She instinctively wanted to say something, but caught herself at the last second.

She looked down and walked away.

"How do I do it?"

Liam’s voice. Barely a whisper. Broken.

Sonia stopped in her tracks. She turned around to face Liam again.

"How do I do it?" He asked again, without turning his head away from the window.

"I failed her. I failed all of them." His tone was flat and final. He was not asking for an opinion. He had already decided.

"I had one job. One job. And I failed."

Sonia could not find a single word to say.

Liam suddenly turned to her. His eyes found hers directly.

"How do I stop the storm? You know?"

------------------------------

"Your Highness?" Elder Loujt’s voice brings Sonia back to the present. She had drifted somewhere in her own thoughts before he called her name.

Sonia looks at him. "Yes, Elder?"

Elder Loujt smiles faintly. "You stopped after Liam Monfort asked you the question."

Sonia looks at him with a mixed expression.

"Is something on your mind, Your Highness?" Elder Loujt asks.

Sonia is quiet for a moment before sighing.

"It’s just... he confused me. That’s all." She says, recalling Liam’s expression.

Elder Loujt says nothing. He waits.

"When he asked me how to stop the storm, I was genuinely surprised. I mean, he was obviously sad and grieving. And instead of going into Thea’s room to be with her, he was standing outside asking a stranger how to stop the storm." She continues.

She looks at the snow outside.

"So I asked him exactly that." Sonia falls quiet again.

"What did he say?" Elder Loujt asks. From everything Sonia has described, Liam Monfort has caught his attention. He does not sound like the Monforts he has been told about.

Sonia looks at Elder Loujt.

"This was his answer."

------------------------------

After hearing Sonia’s question, Liam did not answer immediately. He glanced back into the room.

With his eyes still on the room, he said, "You said Thea caused the storm and that she needs to stop it."

He turned back to face Sonia. "She has enough on her plate. I’ll do it."

He took a breath.

"So. How do I stop it?"

Sonia scoffed. "Just like that? You are going to stop it? What makes you think you can?" The mockery in her tone was plain.

Liam did not take the bait. He stared at her calmly, but his eyes turned cold.

"You don’t need to worry about that. Just tell me how." He clenched his jaw.

"Monfort, if it were easy, I would have done it myself already." Sonia retorted.

"I have a theory. Tell me if it is feasible." Liam said, completely ignoring her remark.

"The storm is just wind, lightning, and water. I don’t know any wind or lightning magic. I only know Water. I will deal with the water." He continued.

Sonia crossed her arms. "Why are you asking me? You barely know me."

Liam did not blink. "Because you are the only person here that I can talk to about magic, and the only one I believe has enough knowledge and capability to answer my questions. So the real question is, do you?"

------------------------------

Liam is sitting on the edge of his bed, staring at the snow outside his window. He still cannot quite believe that he reached a higher level of Water magic just like that. He has been training and practicing for so long, pushing himself so that one day he could reach it and stand on equal ground with Arthur.

Now that he has achieved it, he feels nothing close to happy about it. He would give it up without a second thought if it meant Arthur coming back.

"Or that Thea is not hurting as much as she is now." Liam sighs. He recalls the day it happened.

------------------------------

The doctor had just finished casting his arm. He wanted to check on Theo, so he made his way to the room. Only to find Theo still unconscious, struggling under the weight of a grief his body could not contain even in sleep.

He could not bring himself to go in. He had failed his job. Theo had asked him to put out Arthur’s Fire. Just that. One thing. And he had failed. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

So he stood outside the door and stared.

He was lucky Sonia had come when she did.

He remembered what she had said to Theo, that the storm had been summoned by Theo and that Theo needed to stop it.

Theo could not stop the storm. No mana. That much was obvious. So Liam decided to step up. He wanted to do something. Anything. For Theo.

And he had asked Sonia exactly that. But the woman had just stood there and mocked him.

"Why are you asking me? You barely know me." She had said.

"Because you are the only person here that I can talk to about magic, and the only one I believe has enough knowledge and capability to answer my questions. So the real question is, do you?" Liam had answered.

Sonia had stayed silent for a moment, then uncrossed her arms. She approached him slowly, glancing around to make sure no one was within earshot.

"It is not that simple. This is not a simple storm. I believe it was accidentally summoned by Thea. And only she can stop it." Sonia said, lowering her voice.

"It has to be her? No one else?" Liam asked.

"Well... not necessarily. Other mages should be able to do it, as long as they have enough mana. But for Thea, it would take far less, since she is the summoner. And it would be safer. For everyone."

"The storm has been going on for days. You have seen what it does to people. If another mage attempts it and fails, the storm could grow stronger and more volatile. Which is the last thing any of us wants." She finished.

Liam’s mind churned.

"I still want to try." He finally said. He was not arrogant enough to think he was stronger than Theo or even Arthur. But something in him felt certain that he could do this. His body had been restless ever since he watched Theo collapse. His Water felt like it was pushing against his skin, desperate to get out. He needed to act, and he believed he had a real chance with the storm.

Sonia stared at him in disbelief. She had just finished explaining the danger of a failed attempt, and he still wanted to try.

She sneered. "You cannot just will it to stop. You would have to actively use your mana to counter it!"

Liam looked at her and nodded. "Yeah, okay. Let’s do that."

He turned and walked away from her toward the elevator.

Sonia followed. "What? Where do you think you’re going?"

Liam pressed the button.

"Rooftop."

------------------------------------

When Liam pushed open the rooftop door, he felt the power of the storm immediately. This was the first time he had stepped out into it while fully aware of what it was.

The wind howled so loud he could barely hear himself think. It whipped the rain into his eyes and against his body hard enough to sting.

The sky above flashed constantly with lightning, and thunder rolled in behind every strike without pause.

It was hard to breathe. Liam could not believe the sheer force of it. The thought that it had been going on for days was genuinely horrifying. No wonder it had been doing what it did to people.

He pulled out his IV and left the stand just inside the door. He eased his arm out of the sling.

He walked to the middle of the rooftop and closed his eyes.

He concentrated on the rainwater and slowly called his Water forward, trying to draw the two together and bring them under his control.

He failed. He tried again. And again. And then again after that.

Eventually, it began to work. He drew the rainwater in, mixed it with his own Water, and held it. He could feel it responding. But he could also feel the rainwater resisting, pushing back against his control like something that did not want to be contained.

Liam had no idea how long he stood there doing it. At some point the cold of the wind and the rain began to work its way into him and he started to shiver.

His fingers went numb first. Then the rest of him.

I have to do something about this cold. But I have no Fire to warm it. I... what if I stop fighting it? Water is cold. Water is soothing. I have no problem with Water. I should have no problem with the cold.

With that thought settled in his mind, he added one more thing to concentrate on.

Cold.

And then he felt it.