“Mr. Freeze…” The man coughed a chuckle. He did his best Arnold Schwarzenegger impression “Call me Mis-ter-Frrreeze... Or... Mikkel...”

The man raised his finger and pointed it toward Charles, his finger was stiff and black. “You [i]can’t[/i] help me. Don’t you dare lie to me, not even by accident.”

“I [i]can[/i] help you… Normally a proper magician gives away nothing for free, but, I finally find myself with nothing to barter. Even my own soul is spoken for… Now, look at what I have earned… A warm place in hell...”

He traced circles in the air with his frostbitten hand. 

“I’m tired of making deals anyway…”

“We were searching for a soul… Everything was going according to plan… The three circles were complete… It was when the blade cut into the vessel that something went wrong… Suddenly there was a light and heat and… It looked like a god dam dragon… It it… Chaos… F-fire... d-death… m-monsters… I was… thrown… I was crawling in the snow… So-c-old...

He closed his eyes.

“I tell you this only because I fear more what we may have wrought upon the world than than even my master… If he sends me to some hell, so be it… I’m so… So cold… I’ll welcome hellfire, I think.” His voice became soft and pitiful.

“If his old friends start dying, then you will know I’m right. Look for him. Don’t ask about him. They are going to pretend he never existed… He is the one who has always been there but never belonged here… They called him ‘Slay’… Ironic… they killed him. They killed him… Or… Perhaps they only thought that they did... Or perhaps they only told me that they did...” The man seemed to ponder this for some time. “They should have left this place alone. The price was paid, and it should have been accepted.” 

“As I have accepted.” He closed his eyes.