The high spirits of Corona seemed to sail on for time immemorial. After the princess had been found and married, few worries struck the everyday civilian. It was truly a time of peace.
After the honeymoon, the newlyweds, Rapunzel and Eugene, spent much of that peace being taught the intricate politics of running a kingdom. If Rapunzel was to be queen, she needed to catch up on years of teaching that she had missed, and Eugene needed to be equally prepared in his role for the royal consort. He kept insisting that it was called 'king', but everytime he did Maximus would shove him with a hoof.
It was in this time of peace that Eugene became very confused by being summoned by King Fredrick to the meeting room with several guards. A somber, more serious note filled the air, which clashed with the dancing and singing that had happened for the past eight musical numbers. His wife and mother in law were there as well.
"Son," King Fredrick called. Eugene wasn't so used to being called that just yet. "Come to the table, we have much to discuss."
Eugene stepped up to where everyone seemed to be gathered. On the thick oval surface lay a large continental map, yellowed with age but still very clear. Several bits of metal were scattered in an unrecognizable pattern across the surface. On a closer inspection, Eugene say that on of the metal bits was Pascal trying to blend in.
"Did you call me here to play a game?" Eugene asked, completely lost.
"A dangerous game," Fredrick responded. "You remember going to Elsa's coronation, right?"
How could he have forgotten? As a nearby political city state, it was only tradition for higher-ups to see the trading of powers. And even though it had been late-spring, the queen had caused a flash winter that had him and Rapunzel stuck there for days. It was wholly and unpleasant experience.
"Yeah maybe next time can we go see a coronation somewhere tropical? Unless we're going back to Arendelle?" Eugene rubbed the back of his head.
"We are, dear." Rapunzel said. "But this time we're bringing an army."
Eugene spat out the drink he hadn't been drinking in a vain attempt to be funny. He looked around the room, to the queen, king, guards, and even Maximus and Pascal, whom all nodded. "We're invading?"
"That's right!" Fredrick affirmed, "The time had come to expand our kingdom, and Arendelle is the best target, with it being in political turmoil and set-back by it's loss of trade routes."
"I understand it just stopped it's major shipping lane with Weaseltown, but a queen is back on the throne, and don't you forget she can literally summon blizzards!"
"Which is why we attack in the summer." Fredrick defended. "He powers will be less useful if she has to concentrate on a blizzards, besides, it's not smart to invade northern kingdom in the winter, just look what happened to Napoleon and Hitler."
"Dad, that hasn't happened yet," Rapunzel butted in.
"Oh shit," Fredrick cursed under his breath, realizing he was using meta-knowledge. He collected himself. "Regardless, me and Rapunzel have developed strategies to deal with Elsa, which involved you."
Eugene didn't like being ordered around, but he'd do anything to ensure Rapunzel's success. He put on his stupid grin. "What do you need?"
"Here is our strategy:" Fredrick began gesturing at the map. Pascal moved the pieces as Fredirck spoke to illustrate the scenario. "Our navy is superior to Arendelle's by a longshot. I will command it and attack the front, which will distract most of Arendelle's forces and perhaps Elsa herself. Meanwhile, you take a vanguard with Rapunzel and start a land invasion to soften up the ground troops. They can't fight on two fronts. Once we make land, the battle is as good as over."
"You want me to command a vanguard?"
"Nonsense, you main task is to protect Rapunzel, as she will be healing our troops on the frontline. Maximus is commanding the vanguard."
Eugene turned to see his fellow horse dressed in a full plate military garb, a badge of five stars showing his superior rank. He was jealous for just a moment, but figured he should be proud of the accomplishments of his friend. "When do we start?"
"Tomorrow is the first day of summer. We set sail then."
It was a cloudless day in the northern city, and Elsa and Kristoff were enjoying it by taking a walk in the castle grounds. Normally Kristoff would be with Anna, but she was still sleeping, and Kistoff had literally nothing else to do.
"Say, uh, your grace…." Kristoff started.
"You don't have to call me that, you know," Elsa replied.
"Ha, right Elsa. Listen, you're okay with me and Anna dating, right?"
"Kristoff, it's the 1800's, I'm honestly surprised you two haven't married already."
Kristoff nervously laughed at the odd remark. Still, he was glad to have the sister's support in his relationship, but his small moment of pride was soon cut off.
"MY QUEEN!" a guard shouted from the ramparts of the wall in a much louder voice then was necessary. Elsa and Kristoff looked up to the man.
"THERE'S A FUCKING FUCKTON OF FUCKING SHIPS SAILING RIGHT FUCKING FOR US."
"Whoa!" Kristoff called, raising his hands in a 'calm down' motion, "let's keep it PG, you're looking at some boats?"
"FUCK YES I'M FUCKING LOOKING AT SOME FUCKING BOATS!"
Annoyed that the man hadn't taken his suggestion, Kristoff drew his ice-climbing gear to scale the wall. It took him only a few moments to come to level with the harsh-voiced guard, when he himself too say that the horizon was lined with dozens of vessels. Not trading vessels, though. These clearly were armed with ballistas and soldiers.
"Holy fuck!" cried Kristoff.
"Kristoff!" Elsa called his name in an accusatory tone, mad that he had abandoned his kid-friendly language.
"Elsa get up here!" Kristoff called. Elsa responded by creating an icy stairway to lead her to right where Kristoff and the guard were standing.
"Why doesn't anybody use the fucking stairs around here?" The guard thought to himself. "And why does she feel the need to remind everyone she had ice powers every five fucking seconds?"
After the spectacle, Elsa herself gazed upon the visage of the invading army. Her eyes caught the sails carrying the sigil of Corona, a kingdom to the south.
"Holy fuck," was all she could say.
As they were staring, Olaf made his way across the wall, eager to see what his friends were all staring at. He pulled out his carrot nose and pointed it at the ships to try and getting a better look at the ships, however, this didn't work because he is a dumbfuck.
Anna consciousness fell in an out in her bright room. One side told her that the warning bells sounding off would be a good reason to get out of the bed, while the other told her that the was fine just where she was. He followed the latter and rolled over. However, some knocks at the door would see to the end of that.
"Anna, it's time to get up!" a voice came from the other side of the door.
Anna thought to herself, what special events were happening today? There was no-one's coronation, no-ones birthday, any holiday was a long way off…. What could possibly be happening?
The voice called again. "Anna, please, the kingdom is under attack!"
Attack? Anna didn't remember reading that in the schedule. Shouldn't people tell her these things?
"Coming." Anna called back, mainly to make the servant go away. She rolled over to fall out of her bed, then getting herself up to prepare for the day that the 'attack' happened, whatever that was.
The town of Arendelle was now in a buzz, and by buzz I mean full out panic mode. The peasants rushed to the safety of the keep with the guards formed ranks upon the walls, readying their crossbows. It was a shame that Arendelle had no navy; their only ship was suck over a decade ago, and the last king and queen were on it.
The ships drew nearer. With each passing second the guards grew more anxious for the invasion to begin. But Elsa would not have that.
On the highest of the castle's towers, Elsa, Kristoff, Sven, Olaf, and Anna joined together to look over the invading forces. Anna was still very confused as to why this was happening, but it wasn't really her problem; she wasn't the queen.
"No one touches my kingdom." Elsa said to the others. She raised her hands, causing the cloudless sky to soon become thick with clouds. Not a second later, the air dropped several degrees, causing even the sturdiest of the Arendelle's guards to shutter. The ocean water soon stopped moving as the waves froze still. Elsa watched as the ice slowly made it's way toward the ships.
Fredrick stood at the helm of his vessel, looking at the castle of Arendelle. This charade had gone on for too long, it was nearly a decade ago when his men took down Arendelle's king and queen in that ship. After Corona's loss of their princess, Fredrick couldn't afford an invasion with all the grief filling his kingdom. But no times had changed. He would finish what he started.
"Follow the bay, keep close to the shore!" He commanded.
The men on the ships followed his command, and the ships slowly followed suit. Fredrick was concerned about having to battle the ice sorceress, but he had a couple strategies up his sleeve.
Suddenly the sky went dark, and a wave of ice came from the castle, heading straight for the fleet. It was a moment he had been waiting for.
"BRACE!" He called.
A moment later the ships came to a sudden halt, throwing most of the men forward. Fredrick winced as the cold seemed to cut through his thick clothing, but there was far too much adrenaline in his system to worry about that. He looked over the edge of the ship. There was no way it would move in these conditions. Fortunately, there were several means to get to the castle.
"Now men!" he called. "Lower the bridges! Make for land!"
Elsa and Anna watched as the ships made a sudden stop, essentially freezing (LOL) the army in their tracks.
"Well that was easy." Kristoff stated. Elsa brimmed a smile at that; no army or navy would make it to the castle so long as she was here.
It was then that the ships began to open up.
"What's happening?" Anna called, but no-one could answer. They simply watched as the men un-boarded their ships and began marching toward the keep.
"They think they can make it here on foot?" Elsa cackled. "I don't think so," and she began to ready her powers to melt the very ice she'd created.
"Elsa! If you melt the ice now the men will drown!" Anna cried.
"Anna, I don't know if you've noticed, but those people are FUCKING INVADING!" Kristoff explained.
"Yeah, fuck 'em," was all Olaf contributed.
Elsa resumed her casting, watching as the ice vanished and was replaced by the waves of the ocean. They watched the enemy forces scatter, some running for the land, some getting back on the ships. A few didn't make it. Sven used his hoof to point to the large company that was now landside.
"Yes, I see them!" Kristoff yelled at Sven.
"And the ships are still coming to!" Anna cried.
Elsa frowned. So they had found a way past her atmokinesis. When she froze the land, they would walk, and when she would thaw the land, the ships would resume. She would have to come up with something else to stall the army.
Eugene guided the men through the wilderness, eventually ending up at the opposite end of Arendelle. It was a great vantage point of the city, and an excellent attacking position; they had the high ground.
"So are we going to attack with these tubby-shits?" asked Eugene, gesturing toward the siege engines the men had been rolling through the wilderness. Maximus shooved Eugene at the gross mispronunciation.
"It's a trebuchet," explained Rapunzel. "And yes, this is the position."
The two looked toward the city, seeing the Corona navy filling the bay. Occasionally, ice would shoot from the city tower in an attempt to freeze a ship. Some of the ice shards would crack the ships in half.
Maximus looked at Eugene. Not a word was spoken, but Eugene understood fine. "We need to divert her attention." Eugene spoke.
"Right," Rapunzel turned to the men. "Ready the trebuchets."
The men took no time in hoisting a rock into the sling. The sling was put onto a slide and attached to an arm, which was at an angle. At the other end the arm bore a heavy weight that would be used to hurl the projectile over three hundred meters. For every flavor, the projectile was coated in oil and set afire.
Maximus raised his hoof in a signal to fire, and the men cut the rope, watching the counterweight fall and the arm raise, hoisting the projectile in a wide ark before flinging it toward the city below.
A low boom on the wall indicated a direct hit.
Elsa, Anna, and the rest turned toward the noise that was a little too close to the castle for comfort. Sven was the first to spot the rogue force on the upperside of the slope.
"We're surrounded!" Anna bellowed in despair.
"Kristoff, take a unit and cover my rear, I still need to deal with the navy." Elsa commanded.
"Right," was all Kristoff said as he mounted Sven.
"Wait, I'm coming with you!" Anna cried, getting on Sven behind Kristoff.
"This is a warzone, Anna!" Kristoff yelled.
"Yeah, but I'm already on."
Kristoff couldn't argue with that logic. With a 'hiyah' Sven rose his front legs and began a mad dash out the castle and up the hill with several cavalry units to back him up. Unbeknownst to them, Olaf had also gotten on Sven as they rose to meet the new adversary.
Rapunzel and Eugene had seemingly gotten into the rhythm of the trebuchets firing at the castle when they spotted what they were looking for: Arendelle forces coming to meet them.
"Darn," Eugene said. "It doesn't look like Elsa is with them."
"We'll just have to defeat this unit and hope she comes soon after," Rapunzel said.
"Fair point," Eugene readied his sword. Maximus made a gesture at him and soon Eugene was riding his horse companion.
Maximus gestures to the Corona troops to hold firm. It would be wiser to wait for the intercepting force to expend most of their energy coming up the hill then to charge down and meet them halfway. They waited until the soldiers were just in front of the trebuchet line, and then charged in.
The air was soon filled with clashing blade and the yelps of those who would die unceremoniously. Eugene and Maximus pranced into the fray, with Maximus shoving other horses with his hooves and Eugene stabbing the riders as they fell.
"Just like old times!" Eugene yelled, even though this had never happened before.
It was then that Eugene caught the eye of the Arendelle general that was leading the forces. Princess Anna was riding the back of an elk with another figure Eugene didn't recognize. There was also a small snowman with them.
"GET THAT FUCKER!" the snowman pointed at Eugene, and Anna dismounted. The elk and rider soon did a mad dash at Eugene. Maximus matched pace heading right for the adversary. The two steeds crashed into one another and soon Eugene was right next to the rider.
Eugene swung, but his blade caught metal, and metal that grabbed the blade and tossed it into the battling crowd. The rider sat smug as he revealed his ice picks, one of which came right for Eugene. Eugene ducked just in time and delivered a punch that knocked the rider right off. Now it was Eugene's turn to be smug, but the moment caught up to him as the elk turned his head so that the antlers knocked Eugene to the ground.
Anna had gotten off the horse, ducking through the blows of combat. She managed to steal a sword from a corpse, with which she would stab aggressors she thought belonged to Corona, of which there seemed to be quite a few. Too many in fact; it seems Arendelle was far outnumbered in this clash. After some walking, she soon saw why.
Rapunzel sat near a wounded Corona soldier, taking out a vial and pouring it onto his gut wound. Anna watched as the wound seemingly closed itself up so well one couldn't tell it was even there. The solder stood back up and charged back into the fray.
Anna had heard that Rapunzel's tears could heal, but she never imagined that Rapunzel would bottle them up and use them as instant med-packs.
"RAPUNZEL, YOU BITCH!" Anna cried, charging at the princess. Rapunzel had barely a moment to look up before she brought her frying pan to deflect the blow. Soon they were trading blows left and right, each on seemingly unable to get a leg up on the other.
It was then that a chameleon came out of Rapunzel's pocket and hurling himself at Anna, landing square in her face.
Anna yelped and ripped the poor creature off, sending it to the ground, giving a much needed distraction for Rapunzel as she smacked Anna over the head.
Elsa kept trying to freeze the ships. She had abandoned making large blizzards and had switch to just launching giant icicles at the enemy. She watched as one came from her hand and cleaved a ship in half, sending the poor sailors to the water.
It was then she heard the all-too-familiar yelp of her sister. She turned to the invading forces on the hill, seeing that her soldiers were hopelessly outmatched. The invading force didn't even seem phased.
Elsa became worried for her sister and kicked herself for letting her go with Kristoff. Her frustration got the better of her and soon the entire land was encased in a winter blizzard. She had to go rescue her sister, but the invading army was in the town and practically at the castle's doorstep.
Elsa left for the castle doors. As she exited, she waved her hands and watched as an ice golem appeared before the enemy. Their attacked would be ineffective, any sword cut would be instantly replaced with more snow. Elsa watched it begin picking up the helpless Corona soldiers and throwing them into the sea.
With the castle covered, Elsa ran up the hill.
Eugene got up from his prone stance, a little dazed from being knocked off Maximus. He watched as his horse and the elk kept butting heads; their hooves tearing up the ground and stomping all over the poor, talking snowman he had seen earlier. Eugene's eyes spun around and he soon caught the gaze of the elk's rider, who was already coming at him with ice picks drawn. "The name's Kristoff!" he said as he swung.
Eugene managed to duck just in time, but he hadn't noticed the leg also coming for his stomach. He was soon knocked again to the ground, just about the same time Anna was knocked down right beside him. Eugene took the opportunity to shoot Anna a smile. "Hey there," he said softly.
His charm was as ineffective as ever, however, as Anna kicked to get back in her feet, hitting Eugene's leg in the process. He grunted from the pain, and then rolled to avoid the ice picks coming right for his face. He somehow managed to regain his footing and rose to meet the rider.
It was then that the air became filled with a chill. Eugene looked down to see himself in a foot of snow. Just then a powerful blast of wind came in, and Eugene leaned forward to resist falling over.
He opened his eyes to see all the Corona soldiers covered in frost. They were frozen stiff. Eugene caught the figure of the Arendelle queen approaching him casually, as if she was in no rush at all.
A breaking of glass was heard, and Eugene turned to see his wife throwing vials at the frozen soldiers. As they hit, the soldiers thawed out and recovered from the tissue damage and run toward Elsa. These efforts were in vain; as they charged Elsa could just freeze them into statues again. As soon as she saw where the vials were coming from, she would shoot them with ice bolts right out of the air.
"Come on, there has to be a limit to how many ice bolts you can cast." Eugene stated, trying to throw Elsa off guard.
"It's a cantrip, I can cast this indefinitely." Elsa was unmoved.
SHIT! Eugene thought, cursing himself for not fully readying the D&D player's handbook. He moved to intercept Elsa, but then felt a stab through his chest, as Kristoff had driven an ice pick into him while he was distracted. Soon Eugene was using his full effort just to stay standing.
Elsa gently walked right up to Eugene. She spoke in a commanding voice. "You thought you could take Arendelle for your own? Even as you stand here defeated, your navy cannot get into the castle. My powers are beyond you."
The speech was ticking Eugene off, but not as much as Kristoff's dumb smug face. All his years of thievery hadn't prepared him for getting stabbed, let alone dealing with an ice witch. It was then that a different noise brought him out of his painful daze. It came from up high, as if a fighter jet was cruising the sound barrier right above them. This comparison was lost on Eugene, however, as that metaphor was mostly for the reader's sake.
Elsa turned her head toward the sky, and sure enough a streak of cloud could be seen, as if something fast had moved through the stratosphere. She traced the line with her eyes, seeing that the wind trail lead to a place right behind her. As she slowly spun around, she saw a new figure, clearly not from Arendelle or Corona.
"Gwarsh, it seems like there some kinda war going on here," the figure spoke.
Eugene's pain was quickly replaced with paralyzing fear. In his studies back in Corona, he had read myths of the Calamity Man, also known as the WorldEater. It was said that destruction followed his wake, and there were no survivors on the encounters. His true name was…..
Elsa didn't wait for Eugene to finish the thought. "Arendelle will not be intimidated!" With that she casted a powerful frost ray at the newcomer, enveloping him in an snow visage. From the obscuring cloud a chuckling could be heard.
"H-h-hYUCK! That tickles!" The figure soon stepped out of the cloud, completely unharmed.
"HOW!?" Elsa though to herself. She had hit the figure's heart with the most powerful force of ice she had; only a fraction of that energy had nearly killed her sister on two separate occasions.
Her question went unanswered, as the figured vanished in a flash, reappearing directly behind Elsa. She barely felt the grip at the back of her neck as everyone else heard the painful cracking of bones. Soon the body fell to the ground, then the head. As soon as this happened, the snow and ice covered the land vanished, as well as the life force of Olaf.
"NOOOOO!" Anna screamed, seeing her sister's lifeless corpse. Kristoff was equally thrown off guard, not sure what to do at the sight of the queen's body. The only one steadfast was Sven, who charged the figure. The newcomer effortlessly put a hand up to knock Sven into the air, which he then caught and brought down upon his knee, breaking the elk's back. And by breaking the elk's back I mean severing him in half. The figure wasted no time; grabbing the antlers of the dead beast and yanking them off. Using the makeshift weapon, the figure swung at Kristoff. "See ya, Christiff," he laughed.
Kristoff would have corrected the figure, but he couldn't, because he was dead, having his head impaled by his steed's antlers. He fell as well.
This was enough to send Anna into a pure fit of rage. She grabbed one of Kristoff's ice picks and swung with all her might. The figure didn't bother deflecting and Anna watched helplessly as the pick bounced off the skin, the metal tip heavily buckled.
"You need to learn to play nice!" the figure retorted in a stupid voice, lifting a hand and slapping Anna with the back of his wrist. The force alone broke her neck, and her body flew over the hills, making various disgusting noises on the way down.
Eugene knew he was doomed, however, there was only one known weapon that could defeat this figure. If he could get to it in time, he might just escape with his life. Ignoring the pain from his cheat, he broke into a sprint toward Maximus.
As he ran, a shield flew past his face, presumably thrown by the newcomer. He briefly caught a glimpse of a sigil he didn't recognize right before the shield found its mark on Maximus, cutting his head clean off. Eugene fell to the corpse and ruffled through the bags and found what he was looking for, a glock.
He spun around and fired. The shots echoed through the valley, but the bullets fell short, as the figure rose his white-gloved hands to deflect the attacks. Eugene saw the sparks fly off the figure, doing no damage.
"Why?" he mumbled before the figure's foot came for his head, flattening it against the ground. At this point Rapunzel ran to Eugene's corpse, dosing him in the liquid from her vials, although it was hardly necessary; she was sobbing all over him. With a few painful rearrangements of bone, the body of Eugene repaired itself. After it was done, he opened his eyes wide.
"AH! I'm ALIVE?!" Eugene screamed, reeling from the experience of being curb stomped.
"Yes, we need to leave." Rapunzel stated before looking back at the figure, who was watching the spectacle with some mild curiosity.
"H-yuk, we're goin' nowhere!" The figure explained, grabbing the heads of the two. Eugene and Rapunzel fought and kicked, but it was to no avail. The figure clapped his hands, shoving the two heads together and shattering them both.
From the pocket of Rapunzel came Pascal, leaping at his princess's killer. The figure gave a casual flick, atomizing the tiny creature into a fine mist.
The figure turned to Arendelle, seeing the two armies clash within the castle. After the ice golem had melted, nothing had prevented Corona's forces from starting the siege. The figure raised his hands and struck the ground, shaking the earth. He watched as a fissure erupted and cracked toward the kingdom, destabilizing all the structures in the city. Soon the entire ground was shaking, and the figure saw the earth collapse downward, dragging the castle, town, and invading army with it. The bay came down rapidly to fill the new hole and immediately turned to steam as the water hit lava coming from below. Soon the entire valley was nothing but a volcanic soup.
At the edge of the vast hole that was created, a lone figure crawled away. The figure recognized him as the king of Corona, Fredrick. He strode up to the figure, watching him use the last of his energy to keep crawling away from the sinkhole.
"At least Corona is safe from this wrath." The king managed to get out.
"Gwarsh, I don't know how to tell you this, but Corona is now just a hole in the ground." The figure explained.
"Wait, you mean, my own city….no…."
"H-YUCK!" the figure yelled as he kicked the king head off, watching it fall back into the sinkhole and get melted and crushed amidst all the hot rocks. He looked around; no-one else was around. With that the figure lifted off and ascended back into the Astral Plane.