A/N Thank you to all those followers! I'm surprised that this many people are taking interest in this story haha. I thought people would be like, "wtf is this shit" honestly 8')
...Some probably still are.
Will be listening to the first opening song of Fate/Zero (Oath Sign by LiSA) while writing up this and the next few chapters!
Oath Of Kings And Knights
Chapter 2 - Disappearance
"Let's go build a snowman, Elsa!"
She heard that line every single time her next door neighbor, Jackson Overland, came over to pester her. There was never a moment's peace with him around. He would come by no matter what - rain, sleet, hail, and Elsa had no doubts that he would come by even if there was a hurricane.
The young blond haired girl crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her sapphire blue eyes at him in annoyance. "It's past my bedtime, Jackson - "
"No, no, no," the brunette shook his head with a slight chuckle. "Don't call me that, it sounds so...adult-y. Call me Jack."
She rolled her eyes. " - You mean 'formal'. 'Adult-y's not even a word, Jackson."
"Yeah I guess so, and it's Jack," he reminded her with an immature snicker.
Elsa refused to believe that he was a year older than her. He hardly acted like it. She also refused to believe that he was the eldest sibling in his household. Like her, he also had a little sister and as an older sibling, Elsa believed that you should be the one to set a good example for them. However, Jack had a different idea of how to treat a younger sibling - one that involved pulling immature pranks on them just to get a cheap laugh out of other people.
The twelve year old frowned deeply at the young boy that stood at her doorstep. "It's late. Go to sleep," she said curtly before moving to close the front door.
"Oh come on!" he urged her with a stubborn persistence. He rocked back and forth between the ball and heel of his feet excitedly. "I want to see your magic!"
Elsa sighed heavily, holding her head. "Jack…"
"Pleeeease?" he asked, clasping his hands together, practically begging her.
"My parents said that I shouldn't use it freely - especially when it's not necessary, like right now."
"I know, I know - Jaime's parents say the same thing, but - "
With suspicion, Elsa tapped her foot on the ground and asked, "speaking of him, why don't you just ask Jaime to play with you?"
Jack kicked at the ground, scrunching up his mouth to one side as if he was pouting. "I would, but his parents are strict with curfews…" he shrugged, "plus, his magic isn't that interesting to look at compared to yours."
"You think telekinesis is boring?" She gave a dry laugh. "It's very nice to know that you think of us mages like we're animals at the zoo or attractions at the local fair, Jack."
His dark brown eyebrows knitted together in confusion and Elsa could tell that he was about to retort with what he thought would be a clever, but amusing quip. However, she quickly cut him off before he could open his mouth once more.
With a loud exasperated sigh, she placed her small hands on her hips and asked him, "you should know the struggle that we mages go through by now. Both your mother and father are proficient mages that teach magecraft at the Mages' Association. Surely they must have told you about what the public thinks of us."
Jack looked at the haughty young girl sheepishly. He felt as if he was being scolded by his own mother whenever he spoke with Elsa. "Of course I do," he responded with a goofy grin, prompting Elsa to roll her eyes once more.
Even when they were toddlers taking their first steps, his parents told him that Elsa always kept him in line in regards to his tomfoolery and kept him out of trouble. While he was a free spirit, boisterous at times, and a clown that lived to make people laugh, Jack was usually the target of bullying by the students at the association.
Despite his parents being some of the best mages in Burgess, Jack had absolutely no affinity for magic. His mana channels were dry and his magic circuits were fragmented, thus he was unable to perform even the simplest of any magecraft. Of course, he still attended lectures and classes at the Mages' Association upon his parents' request, a final hope that if he absorbed some information about magecraft, he would suddenly get the ability, but so far it has been futile. Of course, being the only non-mage in the entire institution, it made him a target for other students that liked to use their magic to torment him.
Elsa made a little face out of concern when she spotted a light red abrasion on his forehead. It was slightly covered by his bangs in his own vain attempt to hide it. She stepped forward and pushed aside the hair to get a better look at it. "What happened?"
Jack laughed and held the back of his head. "I fell."
She narrowed her blue eyes at him and glanced at the injury again. Upon closer inspection, she noticed that it looked less like an abrasion and more like a light burn injury. "...Jack...did Hans do this to you?" she questioned, her voice growing in volume due to anger.
He chuckled lightly, making it sound like a dragging scoff. "Was it that obvious?" he asked her.
"He's the only mage at school that would dare lay a hand on you still." Elsa pulled back her hand from him and let out a disgusted sigh. "I'll have to deal with him tomorrow - "
"Don't - " he cut in, reaching out to grab at her hand. "I can handle him," he reassured her, only to have the blond raise an eyebrow at his request. Although Jack was forever grateful that she saved him from bullies since they entered the Association at the age of five, he couldn't just keep relying on her all the time.
"Fighting with your fists isn't exactly effective against a mage that can throw fire at you. You'll get burned before you even land a hit on him," Elsa replied back flatly.
Jack cocked his head to one side, flashing her a look of confusion. "And you think spraying a bit of ice at him would make it any better?"
"It worked last time," she said with great confidence.
He laughed at the fond memory of the last time Elsa squared off against Hans when she caught him tormenting Jack. Without a second thought, she created pillars of ice that immobilized Hans and his friends, leaving them in a very awkward position at the Association's courtyard until they were found by the groundskeeper the very next day. "It took the entire day just to free them," he said, snickering into his hand.
"See?" Elsa said, smirking. "I'll just do the same thing the next time I see him."
Jack's smile fell a little at her comment. "You really don't have to," he responded nervously, hoping that she would get the hint and not push the conversation any further.
"Why not?" she questioned him skeptically. "You know I can handle him."
"I know you can. You're considered a prodigy at the Association after all, but - " his voice dropped, setting an uncomfortable atmosphere between them.
Elsa blinked, trying to figure out what Jack was keeping from her. "Jack - what's wrong? What aren't you telling me?"
He eyed her a little and eventually mumbled out a response under his breath. "Hans...he - uh - thinks that I'm not able to fight my own battles."
"...What?"
The young brunette boy clenched his fists out of embarrassment for admitting this to her. His voice dropped to an attempt at a gruff, mocking voice of him trying to sound like Hans. "'Are you even a guy, Jackson? A girl has to protect you. You don't even have the balls to fight me properly before you go running to your little icicle for help.' - or he said something like that."
Elsa fumed, her blue eyes wide with anger. Under her breath she whispered dangerously, "ugh, he's such a little prick. How dare he! Wait 'til I get my hands on him - !"
"Come on, Elsa - don't," he pleaded with her. "He's gonna think that I came running to you again for help."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Isn't that why you came over?"
"Of course not!" he retorted strongly. He held that expression for a while before he looked away timidly. "I just wanted to see your magic - "
" - Absolutely not."
"Oh come on! Please, Elsa! I'm injured!" he exclaimed, pushing back his bangs to allow for a clear view of his reddened forehead.
"You think that's going to give you my sympathy?" Elsa asked in an annoyed tone.
"...Maybe?" He laughed sheepishly again, eliciting another eye roll from his childhood friend.
Elsa pursed her lips tightly, drawing in a sharp intake of breath through her nose. She held it as she gave Jack a scrutinizing glare, before finally she gave in with a heavy sigh. "Fine," she muttered, defeated, as she invited him inside her family's house. "Just a for a few minutes, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah, of course - !"
"And keep it down," she hissed, gently closing the front door behind them. "My family's asleep. I don't want to be scolded by them for bringing you in here at this time of night."
"Your parents are friends with my parents," Jack snorted, prompting Elsa to shush him sharply. "It'll be fine," he reassured her with a wave of his hand.
"Whatever. Just be quiet."
The two tiptoed towards the back of the large house and into the spacious backyard of Elsa's house. Luckily for her and for Jack, their families lived up on a hillside community, giving them privacy without any nosy neighbors being able to peer into their backyards. It was the perfect area for Elsa to practice honing her magecraft without being seen. Also in this case, it was the perfect area for her to show off her magic to Jack, who was eagerly awaiting on the magical display.
Jack grinned almost ear-to-ear, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he stood a few steps away from her to give her space to work. His brown eyes instantly lit up in wonder when he saw the first flurry of snowflakes float out from her palm. Her ice magic looked wonderfully beautiful. She could produce delicate little snowflakes mixed in with sparkling ice crystals that never failed to mesmerize him.
As Elsa showed off her magic, she lost herself in it. Although she felt the constant danger of being hunted down by the Trinity, she loved being a mage and could not imagine her life without magic. It was the love of her life and she would not give up anything in the world for it.
With a delicate twirl, causing her nightgown to billow out, Elsa created a spinning swirl of ice and snow behind her with each step. A swell of pride and confidence rose in her chest when she heard Jack clapping for her and cheering her on. He was always easy to entertain when it came to magic. He found solace in magecraft as well. Elsa knew far too well on how much Jack wanted to be a mage himself. With his entire family, including his little sister, being able to perform some type of magecraft, she could only imagine how he must feel being surrounded by the one thing that he desired most.
Deciding to wrap things up, Elsa slammed her foot down on the soft piles of snow she created and beautiful blue-purple spikes began spreading out across the ground. The pattern eventually grew to be of a snowflake and Jack stared in awe as the ice crystals beneath his feet. They seemed to catch the light of the moon beautifully and create what looked like a dazzling light display of different hues of blues and purples.
"Woah," Jack breathed out, breaking into a soft laugh in amazement. He raised his head to look at her and gave her a toothy grin. "That was awesome!"
She had a haughty smirk on her face and with the slightest lift of her arm, she conjured up a perfectly built snowman out of ice. "And there's that snowman that you wanted to build."
His eyes went wide as he touched the glassy looking ice sculpture. When Elsa saw him inspecting it as if it was a foreign object he had never seen before, she couldn't help, but laugh.
"What's the matter?" she asked, trying to stifle down her laughter in order to talk. "You always act as if it's the first time you've seen my magic."
"It's just so pretty!" he exclaimed excitedly, laughing like a little kid as he rubbed the top of the ice snowman's head.
Elsa's smile drifted into a frown as she watched him, a sudden feeling of sullen darkness filling her conscious. "...If only the rest of the world saw what you saw."
Jack stopped. "Huh?"
"Regarding magecraft…" she muttered, kicking a pile of snow she created. "I wish I didn't have to keep it a secret...I wish people wouldn't treat us like we're freaks of nature or fear us." Elsa sadly bowed her head, closing her eyes as a cool, crisp fall wind gently blew through her backyard.
Jack stood there in silence for a while, quietly studying his friend before grinning widely. He bent over, scooping up some fluffy snow that she had created and balling it up into a perfect little sphere before throwing it at her with a light toss. When it hit her temple straight on, he cackled, holding his stomach as he remained oblivious to Elsa's deathly glare.
"Jack - son!" she enunciated with a sharp scream, fuming as pieces of slippery snow slid down the sides of her face. Her temper flared when she heard his unceasing laughter. She let out a frustrated growl. "You're so immature - !"
"And you're too uptight!" he fired back playfully as he tried to stifle down his laughter. When his laughter ceased, Jack said to her, "you don't have to keep it a secret if you don't want to."
Elsa wiped away the excess snow off of her face and stared hard at him. "It isn't that easy, Jack." Her expression fell slightly as she muttered, "I'm sure you're well aware of what eventually happens to mages that get found out. The Trinity will not only take them away, but also their families - even if they're not mages, like my parents and sister. I can't possibly put their lives at risk just because I want the world to accept me for who I am."
Jack watched the blond as she waved a gentle hand over the snow, making it disappear. It seemed to dissipate into ethereal blue orbs, softly floating up into the air and fading away at a certain point just before they could hit Elsa's hand. He noticed her downtrodden face, indicative of how much this situation was bothering her.
Elsa watched as the snow she produced, retreated, melting away. "...They didn't show Queen Elsa of Arendelle any mercy. You should know this too Jack since you attend lectures at the Association. She was the greatest of all mages - " she whispered as the snow and ice completely disappeared before her. Her delicate arm dropped to her side, limply. "They probably won't hesitate to kill me or my family when they find out that she's one of my ancestors."
The students slowly filed out of the large lecture hall. It was going to be a long weekend and many were excited to hang out with their friends or simply stay home to relax. As a rush of students ran past Elsa, she took out her smartphone to call her parents, wanting to inform them that she would be home a bit later.
A long weekend for her meant that she had the leisure of practicing her crafting skill of catalysts and she required materials for it from the Association's storeroom. The very thought of being able to craft such valuable items that could boost her magecraft brought tingles of excitement shooting through her body. She couldn't wait to get started -
"Elsa!" No sooner did she hear the all too familiar voice belonging to Jack, did she feel a heavy arm thrown around her shoulder.
"...Jack," she said with a certain level of disdain. She frowned at him and immediately her frown turned into a grimace at the sight of a white bandage plastered across his forehead. It made him look ridiculous. "Are you trying to become a target for Hans again?" she asked him as she tried her best to ignore his goofy grin.
"What?" Jack drew back incredulously, widening his brown eyes. "Of course not! My mom told me to wear this," he said with a heavy sigh. "It got a little more red since last night and she refused to let me go out without a bandage." He snickered, leering at her. "I pull it off well though, huh?"
Elsa rolled her eyes and shoved him away. "Don't flatter yourself, Jackson. If Hans has any brains left in that skull of his, he would stay away from you from now on. You told your parents, right?"
The brunette nodded vigorously. "You said that would be best, so I told them last night when I came back home."
"Good." Although Jack was a handful at times, Elsa appreciated the fact that he normally listened to every word she said. He was loyal, respectable, and kind to her and quite frankly, she couldn't ask for a better best friend.
"Where are you going?" he asked, holding his book bag that was standard issue to all of the Association's students.
"To the storeroom," Elsa replied curtly. "My professor signed off on allowing me to create catalysts. He thinks that I'm ready."
Jack scoffed as he walked alongside her, keeping up with her brisk pace. "Of course you are. If you aren't qualified to make cata…'cataracts' - "
" - Catalysts."
"Yeah, those," he laughed sheepishly. "Then who is qualified? You're the best mage this Association has ever seen!"
Elsa held her head just a little bit higher as she was showered with praise by her friend. "I suppose you're right."
Jack smiled at her, happy to be the source of her confidence at the moment. He then, contemplatively looked up at the high, arched ceilings as he asked out loud, "come to think of it, I think we learned about them in lecture today. They're those things that boost your magecraft, right?"
"Correct," she answered him and returned the grin that he wore on his face with one of her own. "I need to start creating some now."
"What for?" Jack asked as they reached the storeroom. "It's not like you need extra power for performing the spells they teach here."
Elsa held out her right hand at the door, palm facing upwards. An intricate, light blue seal appeared briefly on her skin before the heavy stone door rumbled open. The seal itself immediately disappeared, indicative that it was a one time use access key. The two young students stepped inside the massive storeroom and paid no mind to the oddities that decorated the shelves, for they had been in there multiple times in the past to be surprised by anything in the room.
As she perused the shelves, looking for the ingredients she needed for the catalysts, Elsa answered him in a soft tone, "you still remember what I told you last night, Jack?"
"Huh?" He quirked an eyebrow up in brief confusion. "You mean...about Queen Elsa?"
"Yeah." Elsa hopped up slightly to reach for a jar of rare blood crystals. She studied the contents for a while before taking out a few of the red minerals. "I need to start creating catalysts because I feel like they would be useful in a few years time."
"A few years?" Jack asked curiously. "What's gonna happen in a few years?"
"In nine years, to be exact, there will be another Lunar Night War," Elsa calmly stated, picking up another jar that looked like it contained a white powder of some sort.
His eyes widened in astonishment. "A 'war'?" he asked incredulously. "What do you mean? I think Burgess' president is doing a decent job at his diplomatic affairs - "
"No," Elsa said exasperatedly, setting the jar she held back down onto the shelf. "Not an actual war. It's a Lunar Night War. It occurs every 100 years and the next one's going to happen when I'm 21. That's why I need to be prepared now."
Jack blinked at her for a while before he asked, "wait, wait, wait - you're thinking about participating in a war? Are you crazy, Elsa? Okay, I know I said that you're one of the best mages at the Association, but this is insane. Why the heck would you - ?"
"This is my decision, Jack," Elsa retorted sharply. She turned back to the shelves and explained in a calmer tone of voice, "when Queen Elsa sacrificed herself to the Moon on the night the Trinity attacked Arendelle, she made a wish," Elsa explained calmly, catching her friend's attention. "Her wish was to keep magecraft protected."
The brunette young boy furrowed his brow. "Well...no offense to Queen Elsa, but that didn't work at all. Mages are still being hunted down by the Trinity and you guys still need to live in hiding."
"I suppose that was the only flaw in her wish," the blond replied back with a dry chuckle. "Magecraft should be protected - not mages themselves - that's why the Moon granted her wish by creating the wars. The mage that wins the war against six other mages can have their wish granted."
"Any wish?" Jack let out a soft whistle, impressed with the idea. "So you just gotta fight the other mages and win?"
"It's not as simple as beating them in a fight. ...A mage can only win by killing the other participants."
The brunette's expression turned into that of a worried panic as he suddenly exclaimed, "and you're still going to participate? Elsa, what if you die - !?"
"I won't, Jack!" Elsa snapped at him.
"But there's a possibility you can! Are you sure this 'war' is even beneficial to mages? How could the Moon set it up so that it's to preserve magecraft? Isn't it counterproductive to the cause? It sounds like something the Trinity would concoct to lure skilled mages into a massacre - !"
Hearing Jack speak out against the one thing that she had set her mind on, Elsa stubbornly refused to listen to what he had to say. "The Moon created the wars after Queen Elsa's sacrifice, as her final dying wish. Being a neutral party, the Moon cannot favor either the mages or the Trinity, so that's why the mage that wins the war can have any wish of theirs granted at the expense of six other lives. It's a small price to pay in the grand scheme of things."
Jack watched her as she continued to inspect the mason jars filled with colorful minerals. "...That's a little dark," he commented.
"Of course," she replied softly, looking pensively at the jar she just set down. The tips of her fingers lingered on the smooth glass just ever so slightly. "You take what you receive...that's the natural order and balance of the world and the Moon judges that. You cannot get what you did not give."
White - the color was omniscient.
'How strange…'
The sound of a young woman crying echoed throughout the vast icy wasteland. It was soft lament, no heaving sobs or choked gasps. The grieving young woman had a beautiful head full of platinum blond hair, tied in a messy french braid, and wearing the most beautiful of dresses. It seemed to be adorned with ice crystals that sparkled and made the teal dress shimmer exquisitely with the light from the Moon. She was crying as she was held in the arms of a knight clad in shining white-silver plate armor that he wore on his chest and shoulders.
The knight's face was not visible as he kissed her cheek tenderly. He raised one armored hand up to gently stroke the top of her head and in the other hand, he held a large broadsword, plated with steel and embellished with gold. The wind stirred, tousling his wild white hair, as he held the beautiful woman against him protectively.
His pale lips parted, murmuring something to her as he gave her a final parting word before he started disappearing in a soft blue ethereal light. Just as the woman screamed, reaching out to grasp at his hand, he dissipated, turning into hundreds of brilliantly lit blue orbs that were carried away by the whipping icy winds.
With a gasp of shock, Elsa's eyes shot open. It took her a while to realize that her alarm clock was blaring beside her head, screaming at her to wake up. When the young girl sat up, a flurry of papers - notes on catalysts - fell off of her, some fluttering to the floor of her bedroom. She wrinkled her brow as she held her head.
The dream she just had felt all too real. It almost felt surreal in a sense, but before Elsa could linger upon it any longer, the sight of her small black cauldron caught her eye.
That's right - her catalysts.
She slammed her hand down on her alarm clock, cutting off the blaring noise, and hopped off her bed in a rush to see what became of her extensive weekend-long labor. Surely enough, when she approached the black pot, a wide grin adorned her pale face and a victorious cheer followed.
Jack stared in amazement at the glittering teal gem Elsa held up to the brightly shining sun. His chocolate brown eyes widened as his mouth formed a perfect 'O' shape. "Woooooaaah…" he breathed out, excitement mounting in his voice as Elsa turned his attention down towards her other hand, where several more gems where. "These are catalysts?"
"Mhm!" The platinum blond smiled broadly at her work. She handed one over to Jack, who gladly took it for further inspection. "I was a bit nervous when I started working on them on Friday after classes, but I woke up today and saw that they were near perfect."
"That's awesome!" Jack exclaimed, bouncing happily as he walked alongside his friend. He made sure that the contents of his bookbag didn't spill out onto the sidewalk amidst his excitement. "Are you going to keep making these from now on?" he asked, handing the glittering gem back to her.
Elsa nodded. She dropped the catalysts carefully into a small glass jar she produced from her bookbag. "Most of the professors know and are encouraging me to participate in the Lunar Night War, so they're letting me take whatever materials I need from the Association to create catalysts." She smiled as she dropped the last gem into the jar. "They all want me to do my best...and win once they found out what my wish was."
Jack raised an eyebrow as they barefully slid down a small embankment, down to an underpass. As he helped Elsa down, he asked her, "what is your wish anyways? I don't think you ever told me."
She sighed exasperatedly, smoothing out the pleats on her white skirt. "I told you several times before, Jack."
"Come on. I wasn't paying attention!" he exclaimed, as they walked into the underpass of a noisy roadway.
"That's your problem!" she fired back sourly. A grimace spread across her face when she stepped in an unknown green sludge with her clean brown uniform shoes. "Ugh - I swear - this shortcut to school gets worse and worse every single day - "
She got cut off when she heard a loud roar behind them. With her fast reflexes, Elsa produced a strong blast of ice just as she turned around, blocking the fiery attack and saving both her and Jack from being badly burned. When the effects of the two elements colliding finally cleared, she narrowed her eyes at who she saw standing before them.
"Hans," she growled from behind gritted teeth.
The auburn haired fire mage grinned smugly as he and a few of his friends stepped out from the thin covering of smoke produced from his magic colliding with hers. "...So," he began, "I hear the great Elsa Strom is planning to participate in the upcoming Lunar Night War?"
"Yeah - and? What's it to you?" she spat out.
Hans chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest. "You really think that the Moon's going to choose someone like you over the hundreds of other mages that are far more experienced? Or did you forget that part?"
Elsa frowned. She was well aware of that fact, but it hardly bothered her. Magecraft was something she took pride in and she refused to believe that she wouldn't be chosen as one of the seven participants in the upcoming war. With a wry chuckle, she fired back at the young boy, "with how much you're concerning yourself, Hans, I wouldn't put it past you that you sound like you want to join as well."
"Maybe," he replied, languidly brushing off some dust on the lapel of his white school uniform blazer.
At his response, Elsa snorted. "You aren't even half the mage that I am. I'm much better at magecraft than you and you know it."
"Want to find out who's better then? Right here, right now?" Hans asked maliciously as a red magic circle appeared on the ground beneath his feet.
Jack took a step back, wary of the fight that was about to ensue between the two mages. However, he felt more at ease when Elsa responded with, "you know you're risking your life by performing magecraft out in public like this, Hans. You never know where the Trinity has eyes."
"In a dirty underpass like this?" Hans asked, shrugging arrogantly. "Please. You're just scared I'll win, Strom."
His friends snickered, making fun of Elsa and agreeing with what Hans said. Despite egging her on, Elsa refused to take the bait. Instead, she sharply turned away, beckoning that Jack follow closely by her. "Let's just get to school, Jack," she whispered.
"Aw, she's scared," Hans mocked, laughing alongside his friends. "Hey, Overland!" he shouted out after them, addressing Jack this time. "How about you? Finally got the balls to face me head on instead of waiting for your little snow princess to save you?"
Elsa shot Hans a deathly glare and tugged at Jack's arm. "Come on, Jack. Don't listen to him - "
Taking his arm back from her grasp, Jack turned around on his heel and marched back towards Hans, who seemed impressed by the brunette's sudden display of aggressiveness. His normally kind brown eyes were narrowed in a ice cold glare as he faced the fire mage, baring his teeth. Before Elsa could stop him or before he could gather any sort of rationalism, he brought back his arm and threw a punch directly at Hans' head.
The young auburn caught his fist in his hand and sneered at Jack's futile attempt to fight him. A low chortle escaped him as he yanked Jack forward by his arm and knee'd him hard in the stomach. The brunette gagged, but was offered very little time to recover before he was kicked away with an added burst of mana.
"Jack!" Elsa ran forward to help her friend, who had fallen flat on his back, several feet away from Hans. She knelt down beside him as he propped himself up by the elbow, coughing out a bit of blood. At this, the blond snapped her head sharply towards Hans and shouted, "you coward! This is too much against someone that isn't a mage!"
The soft bluish glow of his magic circuits disappeared from the leg that he used to kick Jack away. He dusted off the white pant leg and smirked. "Well, Jack wanted a hand-to-hand fight last time, so I gave it to him."
Jack glared at him as he wiped away the bit of blood that lingered upon his lips, staining the white sleeve of his uniform.
"Oh don't give me that look, Overland," Hans chuckled. "Not only are you a failure at magecraft, despite having proficient mages as parents, you can't even fight like a man. Someone should have paid more attention during self-defense classes," he taunted with a final cackle before leaving the two for school.
Elsa growled lowly under her breath as she watched Hans and his group of friends leave. She then turned back towards Jack, who still struggled to get back up onto his own two feet. Letting him use her as a support, Elsa managed to help him up. "I told you, Jack, we should have just left - "
"What? And let him get away with talking to you like that!?" he suddenly yelled, startling the blond.
She blinked with wide blue eyes as she stared at him in shock. Jack rarely talked back to her, especially in such an aggressive manner. "Jack…"
Upon the realization that he had scared her, the brunette drew back slightly and avoided her curious eyes. "...Let's just go. Sorry," he muttered.
Elsa felt him brushing past her, but she didn't follow him until he was a few paces ahead of her. "Sure," she said quietly, worried if she had maybe done something wrong to anger him in such a way.
Unknown to either of them, the sound of a camera shutter went off in a car parked high up near the busy roadway. A black haired woman smirked as she flipped through the photos that she had taken so far. She then looked out towards the two children again, walking away from the busy roadway.
"Does it bother you that they're just children…?" the middle aged man sitting beside her in the driver's seat asked as she inspected the photos.
Her steel gray eyes inspected the photos she took of all of them - Elsa, Jack, even Hans included. A cruel smile spread across her beautiful face. "...Not at all, rather, it disgusts me that such pure souls are tainted by magecraft. We must free them from their sinful vessels, Weselton...that is the will of our Savior, is it not?"
He shared in her twisted delight and chuckled. "You are right." With a gloved hand, he touched the cross necklace he wore and muttered, "we will free them soon Gothel - soon."
Elsa trudged back home in the darkness of the night. Her small lips were turned into a frown as she gently tousled her blond bangs. She never realized how long the walk from her home to school was. Normally, she had Jack to keep her company, telling her all sorts of things that happened to him throughout the day. However, tonight was different because tonight - she was alone.
Aside from the usual ambient sounds of the night, Elsa found herself missing the sound of Jack talking. She felt slightly pathetic. It was only since this morning that she and Jack spoke, but she was already missing his presence. He indeed brought excitement into her otherwise strict life of studying and practicing magecraft.
A desolate sigh escaped her as she made her way up the large hill towards her house. She knew that Jack wasn't with her now because she pushed him away. Ever since the encounter with Hans that morning, she avoided him during breaks and when he asked if they wanted to walk back together after school ended, she lied and told him that she had a meeting with one of her professors. She could still picture the confused, yet heartbroken expression he held on his face as he simply said, 'okay' and left.
So now, here she was, walking back late at night just to avoid suspicion from Jack for lying about staying behind at school. It was pathetic.
"I'm home!" Elsa called out as she opened up the front door to her family's modest house. As she slipped her house key back into the front pocket of her bookbag, she heard the sound of footsteps rushing out from the dining room. She blinked in confusion when she saw Jack's parents emerging from the room, along with her parents. While it wasn't out of the norm for Jack's parents to be over for dinner at her house, Elsa knew that something was out of place when she saw how worried they looked.
"Elsa - honey," Idun whispered in relief as she rushed over to her daughter. She captured the young girl in a tight hug and asked, "we're so glad you're okay."
"Mom?" she asked, her eyes wide with curiosity. "What happened?" She eyed Jack's parents, who began to hold each other for support as if they were in great distress. "Why are - ?"
"Honey," Agdar intervened, coming up to her. "Was Jack at school with you?"
"No…he left when classes were dismissed." Elsa nervously tried to read the atmosphere that surrounded her. "Why? Didn't he call?"
An anguished sob escaped from Jack's mother. She cried, shaking her head, as her husband held her close. "I knew we should have commuted together. Maybe then the Trinity wouldn't have taken him!"
"Don't say that Helena…"
She sniffled. "It was only a matter of time, Erik! Jack's going to die at the hands of the Trinity because he's our son and we're at fault because we didn't take the necessary precautions to protect him !"
Elsa's stomach lurched at the sound of the Trinity. Had Jack really been kidnapped by the Trinity? Would he really be killed even though he wasn't a mage? She started to panic. "I - I'm sorry!" she blurted out towards Jack's parents, who stopped grieving for a minute to focus their attention on her. Elsa clenched her fists tightly and fought back the urge to cry out of guilt. "I know you trusted me to go with Jack to school everyday because I could protect him, but -"
"Elsa…" his mother whispered. "Please, it really isn't your fault. It's ours. We never thought Jack would be targeted since he doesn't even have magic circuits to utilize mana. But...it seems as though we were wrong."
"Are you sure he was taken by the Trinity?" Idun asked softly. "Maybe Jaime was wrong - "
"No, no," Helena responded tearfully, wiping away at her soaked cheeks. "Jaime said that they wore the signs of the Trinity around their necks when they took Jack. He caught a glimpse of it from across the street as they took him into their car. He said he tried to stop them, but they drove away too fast. Oh god - " the brunette woman wept softly. "My poor son...he must be so scared right now."
"We'll find him. We'll find him," Erik reassured his wife, gently kissing her temple. "We'll perform a tracking spell. With any luck, we might be able to get at least some type of direction as to where they could have taken him." His slate gray eyes moved to Agdar and asked, "I'm sorry, but do you think you could watch our little Emma while we're out? She's...really worried about her older brother and maybe being around your girls would help distract her."
Elsa's blue eyes moved towards the entrance of the dining room, where she saw Jack's little sister poke her head out nervously from behind the wall. She seemed timid and scared with the situation that was unraveling right now. The little girl ran to her father's side and clung to the soft fabric of his slacks. "Papa…? Is Jack coming back home soon?"
"Soon darling, I promise. We'll bring him back," Erik said with a gentle smile. He raised his head to look at Agdar, who responded with a nod of his head.
"Of course. You go out with your wife and find your boy. If you need help, Idun and I will do our best to aid you...even though we aren't mages."
"Thank you."
Elsa watched Jack's parents rush out of her house to begin the search for him, she then looked to her parents, who seemed just as worried about Jack as they were. The cold reality dawned on her that Jack was in serious danger and there was a high possibility that she could probably never see him again.
He could die tonight and it was all her fault.
"Come on, honey...why don't you go play with Anna and Emma?" Idun gently suggested with a somber smile.
"...Okay."
No - this wasn't how Elsa was going to let this play out. She turned back to look out the front windows and saw the gentle light from the full moon filtering in through the sheer curtains. A strength began flowing through her as she silently clenched her fists tightly by her side.
"I know you're worried about Jack, but...his parents will find him. I'm sure."
"Yeah…"
Elsa followed her mother silently towards the back of the house, but in her mind she knew that she had to do something. Jack was her best friend and it was her fault that he got kidnapped by the Trinity. No matter what, she had to find him.
It was the only way she would ever forgive herself.
Next chapter: The Knight From Her Dreams
A/N Ironically, Jack is currently kidnapped and held against his will in both this fic and Marionette. Hah. -brick'd-
Thank you to those that took an interest in this story!
Yes, so the first chapter was about Queen Elsa, who is actually the ancestor of this modern day Elsa. Her death will be further explained, as well as what happened to the King of Burgess, his army, and Jack Frost. This is still a bonafide Jelsa fic, so please sit tight! :)
I like doing stuff out of the norm and there's way too many stories out there where Elsa's the one bullied and Jack's the one who saves her. I thought in this case, it could be switched and still work, while giving a refreshing change of pace!
Please review! (And no, I wasn't inspired by Harry Potter in the very slightest for this fic, before anyone decides to mention it.)
-ZERO-
Review Responses:
Furiyan - Y - Yes qq I actually deleted my dystopian AU fic because the central theme was going to be similar to this one, as well as the plot, although the time lines and concepts are different. But thank you so much! I'm happy you took an interest to this! ; u ; If you ever want to give it a try, I definitely recommend you check out Fate/Zero! I think it'll suit your tastes since it's for a more mature audience with some of the themes in there!
ElsaTheSnowQueen2 - Thank you!
Guest 1 - Thank you and yes, Queen Elsa did die. Her death will be further explained throughout the story.
Guest 2 - Thank you! Glad you've enjoyed the first chapter!
