(How long ya been waiting on this one eh?! Well i finally got done with this semester and am now prepping for my summer semester...dammit...but anyway i hope you enjoy! Reviews are nice ya know!)
(Also to clear up any confusion that may happen "..." means tie has passed in same timeline while "." means years have passed to Elsa and Anna's time.)
Melted Heart Chapter 3
Crescent
The King and Queen had left Arendelle under the assumption of "Routine Trade Meetings", and would be gone over an extended period of time. They normally would not have left their children behind, but Harriet had warned them that if the children tagged along she could not guarantee their safety. So this led to the Royal couple leaving their daughters in Harriet's care.
Idun stayed on the top floor of the ship, watching as their home shrunk in the distance. Her daughters waved them off when the ship departed docks. Her heart rang out to them. A sting aching her chest when Arendelle wasn't in sight. King Adgar approached her side straightening his posture. "We'll be back. It's not like we'll be gone long."
Idun wrapped her arms around herself. She still had this uneasy feeling creeping up her spine. This voyage was all to visit this witch. The Crescent Witch.
Adgar placed his gloved hand on her far shoulder trying to calm his wife. Idun leaned into his chest as the couple looked out upon the vast sea. They stood there. As stoic as statues guarding a castle. Anyone could tell that they both had troubling thoughts on their minds. Most likely of the same thing. Could this Witch really help their little girl?
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For what seemed like days the Voyage to this Island seemed never ending. The King and Queen both were nervous and tense, the closer they believed they would arrive.
"Adgar..." The King turned to his wife at his name being uttered.
"What,...can this doll,...this raggedy ripped doll really help us? Help Elsa?"
Idun was sitting on a chair that was placed at a small desk in their quarters. She held the doll in her small hands, her thumbs brushing over the rough surface of the smiling cloth. She had always remembered Elsa playing with this doll. She would play with Anna and her Ulfric doll all the time. Until recently. But even now at this young age despite trying to avoid her sister, she has witnessed lonely Elsa gently caressing Olenka. Playing with the dolls's locks of cloth for hair and smiling. The smallest of smiles would appear. It would warm her heart every time she would see her child smile.
"Harriet reassured me that this can help Elsa. She told of her mother's ways." Adgar spoke low and cautious. Idun looked up at her husband's eyes. He looked apprehensive himself. But he also held much more confidence than the Queen.
"She's a witch. I would imagine she not be of any kind words."
"No. She wasn't. Though Harriet mentioned that she was a mother. Hopefully that's a sign of some compassion."
Adgar leaned against the wall crossing his arms before deciding to continue. "Her name is Jarjia, but Harriet warned me of calling her that. We are to speak to her as formerly as possible. As if talking to other royals."
Idun saw his hands grip his arms as he spoke. His tenseness infected her as well.
A sudden sway of the ship and feet echoing through the lumber alerted the already tentative King and Queen.
"Your Majesties! We have entered a dense fog." Shouted a sailor on board. King Adgar immediately left Idun's side to walk upon the surface of the ship. Once he was gone Idun stared down at the doll again.
Adgar could barely see anything through this fog. It accumulated from the sea and rose up passed the sails. The King approached the Captain.
"My King..." The Captain was a burly man with fraying hairs and bushy tangled beard. An underbite of smiles graced his lips as he watched the King approach.
"It is as you said. This place would be shrouded in a white blanket. We must be close then, sir."
The King nodded looking ahead hoping to catch a glimpse of anything. "
'Shrouded to Those who don't have purpose for being here. But clear to those who do.'
"Unknowing to the crew the King could see very clearly after several minutes had passes. He saw the monstrosity that was this place. "Slow the Ship to almost a halt. The Queen and I will take a few men on a long boat to shore. We are almost there."
The King's shoulders tensed as he gazed upon the beach. The trees that bordered the dry lifeless sand drooped in crooked angles till their branches stabbed the very earth they lived on. No greenery flourished on these huge plants. Everything was dead. Shriveling and tilted was the island.
The small group took off towards land. The King and Queen never blinked while approaching shore. They felt as if anything they didn't see would jump out after them. Nothing was heard except for the waves gently fondling the gray sand.
When the boat reached land the squad of guards got out creating a point formation that held the King and Queen inside. Better for protection and safety. Though no one here knew of the wildlife,...if there was any.
With a huff of false courage they marched on into the bog that was Crescent Island.
The gray light from the sky dimmed the further they traveled. A darkness shrouding the shadows. The natural silence created an echo whenever they walked. When someone snapped a twig they all could've sworn it was as loud as shouting next your ear. The longer they trekked the more eerie it became.
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Some of the crew from the burning ship were already jumping overboard to escape the scorching flames. Some row boats were also filled with escapees.
"Where is your Captain?!" Shouted an Arendelle guard. The crew all responded the same. Lifting their exhausted arms and belting out with their last expense of energy, "Save our Captain! Our captain still remains on the ship!"
Elsa heard every one of their replies and felt all their emotions of worry and dread. How they must hold their Captain in such high regards for grown men to about drop in weeping. Elsa went to work. She had to save a man such as this.
Waving her hands, steps and ramps were created to enter the bow of the ship with ease. The ice earned awes from the ship's crew. She turned to look at them as her men ran passed her to try and douse fires. The look in their eyes were all of wonderstruck. Staring at her works and then back to her. Before she believed their looks would change she turned away and went to assist her men.
The small fires on board were put out but the sails were all but gone. Elsa whipped out a stream of ice and snow towards them. Dancing among the flames mixed her snow shining off their light before melding the flame. A hissing came from the touch of the elements. Echoing out to Arendelle and its inhabitants was the sound of pain and death of the furious fire. Elsa summoned her powers to spread wide over the ship and search for other spots of burning wood. More water from the sea was being brought up by her guards. Everyone was doing their part and pulling their weight. When the Queen began searching for more fire her ankle was grabbed by a searing hot object.
She about screamed from the sudden touch but when she saw what had reached for her she gasped in horror. "Get this man out of here!"
She knelt down to the man in red at her feet. He was covered in ash and burns marked his body. He was grimacing in pain searching for something to grab hold of. Elsa grabbed his hand hesitantly but once they touched he squeezed. Elsa cupped his hand with both of hers hoping to not freeze him.
"The...Captain...is below..." he huffed. His piercing eyes full of rimming tears from pain but Elsa saw a huge amount of worry.
She slowly let him slide out of her grip as her men picked him up. When she watched him be taken off the ship he never stopped looking at her. She quickly whirled around to find the passage below.
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They had finally found it. The King and Queen stared in terror at this fog ridden hut. There wasn't even a door. The King looked to one of his men and nodded inclining him to knock on the side of the entryway that was bordered by rotting wood. Before contact was made a massive hot wind bellowed out as if a roar of a monstrous creature force out. The force about knocked them all over. Idun gripped Hadgar's arm in fear.
Small crunches of footsteps could be heard from inside the hut. A rhythm of foot falls on the ground getting closer and closer with each passing second.
A dark figure loomed inside getting clearer as it approached the door frame before it stopped.
"The two in finer clothing... What is it you have come here for...?" came a snarly raspy voice. The king and Queen felt shudders run down their spines at her voice. Idun curled into her husbands arms. Adgar answered the hag. "We...we have heard you may be able to help us. To help our daughter..."
"She is cursed...inside now." Shallow foot falls were heard. The Queen and King began to follow along with their guardsmen. Upon entering the hut a bright light flared upon everything. And there was a lot to be shone on. The witch was hunched over with many burns now shone on her face and her wispy dark hair kept under a hood. When the guards tried to enter a force blasted them away! "Only those with a purpose for me may enter my home!"
The witch growled at them. This left the royal couple alone with her. The hag layer out to wooden seats covered in cobwebs and dust for the two to sit on. "You want me to help with your daughters curssssse..."
"She was born with it M'lady." Idun remembered she had to approach he as if she too were a royal. The witch stared back at her with a brow rose to an awkward height. "You know of me...otherwise one wouldn't be so polite."
Grabbing a slew of things the witch Jarjia sprawled them out onto a table. "Who told you of me...?"
Idun and Adgar looked to each other before Adgar went against better judgment. "Harriet had told us of you."
A cackling hoarse laugh escaped her. "Harriet?! So she went and worked under Royals after all?! Hahahahahaha!"
Idun then spoke up. "She told us that you could help our daughter."
With her laugh dying Jarjia answered. " Yes the cursed one..."
"She was born-"
"Tis a curssse! All beings born or spellcasted upon with such abilities is a curse! Nothing good can come from such a travesty!" The witch roared. Pulling down her hood all the burns could be seen from her. "All they are ever capable of causing is pain and destruction..."
Turning back to her ingredients she lined them all up accordingly. "If Harriet was the one whom has sent you then you must have the last ingredients I need for such a summonssss..."
The King and Queen both looked weary. "Summons...?"
"YESSSSss! A summons for a being that can take away the curssse."
"You can do that? Just take it away?" Adgar was baffled at the idea.
"I can deary,... I can do much more than that. Now where are the souls?" She demanded.
Souls? What and how could they be with souls? Idun decided to speak first. "I beg your pardon?"
"Souls! The Souls that Harriet encompassed to you! The conduits!" the King didn't wish to anger Jarjia so he pulled out the dolls.
The witch's eyes lit up at the sight of them. She grabbed them with her scarred fingers. "Ahh you have brought me two I see..."
She twirled her fingers around the Olenka doll and it began to glow a white bright light before an orb of that light emerged from the toy. "Such a playful spirit."
A small joyous laughter echoed from the orb. It swirled around midair around her hand. While the royal couple stared in awe at the spectacle the witch made a discovery and at it she couldn't help but cackle at it! She laughed so much that the spirit left her control and began to wisp around the two Royals. Its small giggle and trail as it flew around was contagious for smiles. A tiny grin appeared on their visages. It made loops around the couple in joyous glee. "I dare say that young Hare had more of me in her than she realized! HAHAHAHA!"
Adgar turned to the witch at the mention of their trusting maid. "What is it you mean?"
Jarjia swirled around and locked gazes with Idun who before that was trying to play with the spirit. The shock from the Crescent Witch suddenly putting her attention on her was unnerving and eerie. Jaria then crept closer to the Queen before grabbing the spirit by her. "You have a child now,…yesss? Any more?"
Adgar grabbed her hand as she shifted in her seat from the invasion of personal space. The little spirit was trying its best to go to the queen and king but try as it might it couldn't budge. "We,…we have another daughter. Anna. She is normal."
Adagr and Idun were even more apprehensive than before. Why was there any need to tell of their family? Jarjia turned with the crying spirit. She approached a closet of sorts except it was much too big and decrepit. "Any more…?"
The king and queen exchanged glances. "No,…no we don't have anymore…."
The queen began to curl in on herself. She didn't like where this was going at all, nor did the King. "What are going to do with the spirit? How will that help our little one?"
"Patience King….you will see soon." With that she opened the closet and inside were clay figurines of all sizes and forms. The witch dragged her hand over a smaller one. "You had another didn't you Queen…? One who didn't make it?"
Both the rulers of Arendelle gasped at the Witch. Idun almost burst into tears at the memories of the premature child. It never cried. Never took a breath of life. Never got to open their eyes. Adgar was angered at her intrusion into their private life. How did she know? "How is that you know that?!"
"I'd also like to guess that if that child were to have lived it would be around 8 or 9 years old?" She tortured the duo. A sleazy smile crept on her as she continued to talk. "You also most likely tried to have another because of the heartbreak,…that little Anna was it you named her?"
"Enough! You cease this talk of our lost one and explain how you will help Elsa!" At his outburst a force has slammed him through the chair and to the ground next to Idun, whom rushed to his Aid. "Adgar!"
"You will NEVER speak to me like that. YOU came to me for help! And help I will!" Jarjia leapt onto Idun and grabbed her face before snatching some hair. Adgar went to jump onto the Witch but Jarjia drew out a knife and sliced his arm making him jump back. Jarjia then bolted back to the clay figure and threw on the hair and the spirit, before stabbing the blood covered knife into where the heart would've been. A bright along with a scream so distinct to a child echoed from the hut and blinded the King and Queen.
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Elsa had frozen all the steps and the roof above her to keep it from falling above and beneath her. With her ice she still felt beads of sweat inch down her face. The heat was so intense! Some planks of wood were still falling to embers ahead of her and holes from the flames kept sizzling against her ice. She endured the blistering heat and flickering flames below. The heat was draining her energy as well as herself using her powers to neutralize the temperatures.
"Captain?!" She called out accidently inhaling smoke. The debris caused her to cough horrendously that she had to lurch over. With her focus not on her powers her added weight to the deteriorating floor she fell through but caught herself with a sudden snow cushion. Gaining her ground she stood and realized that the source of flames was in front of her. Her snow was melting quickly with the close proximity. Elsa was struggling with putting up a cold front to oppose the inferno. The dancing swirls of fire soon tried to encircle her. She could feel her powers waning with each second. She tried summoning more ice and snow to aid her to fight this fire but it wasn't coming fast enough. It tickled her skin at the touch and hissing of her powers failing combined with her cries. Once though a small shriek escaped her mouth the fire suddenly withdrew following a shout of denial. "NO!"
All at once the flames followed back into its source and expiring smoke and soot all over the boat and Elsa. The Ice Queen fell to the floor at the disperse of heat. Perking up she saw an ash covered figure before her. Without hesitating Elsa ran to the person. "Captain?"
She turned them over to see a woman unconscious. Her dark chocolate hair fused with ash was cropped so short she could be mistaken as a male from behind. A distinct scar over her left eye mawed her smooth features. Elsa tried to lift her up over her shoulder but felt how heavy she was. With a quick inspection that she was wearing chainmail. Elsa summoned a sentient snowman of a large stature to assist her since the fire was out now and wouldn't melt the creature. The snowman grabbed the two of them and made its way out of the boat.
When the Queen of Arendelle emerged out of the smoking ship a roar of joy and cheers echoed out. Anna and Kristoff were waiting at the dock watching the Snow creature carry out Elsa and another. Anna breathed out with relief. "Geez….didn't think I'd be this scared…."
A massive arm wrapped around her. "Id worry if you weren't scared for your sister."
Elsa reached the docks where her guardsmen made way for Anna to come in and hug her sister tightly. Then cringe when soot got on her dress. But before celebrations were to be had the same man from earlier came rushing over fighting Guards. "Captain!"
At his shout the rest of the crew came sprinting over ignoring wounds and the like. All were yelling for this women, their captain. The man in red broke through and landed on his knees before her. Elsa grabbed his shoulders making sure he didn't land on her. "She's going to be ok. She's just unconscious…"
The man just looked down to her. His arm was in a sling and bandages decorated his body. His shaking form made him lean into her hands, using her for support. Elsa and all of Arendelle looked around at the spectacle. This ship's crew were all calming down from her words of reassurance. They all shared the same look as the one in Elsa's hands. They were all so happy to hear that their Captain was alive. Elsa looked down at this woman. The person who had dozens of men's respect. The person who had all these men on the verge of tears.
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(Done! i made this one a long one to try and make up for the time you had to wait, so i hope it makes you happy! Please give input if you have any I appreciate it all.)
