A/N: Greetings to my readers! I'm really sorry I haven't updated in so long... real life kind of snuck up on me! But I will try to be updating a bit more frequently in the future. I really liked getting back to writing fics and I hope my writing can keep improving! As always, thanks to everyone for taking the time to read this story!
So I guess this is where I die.
Anna's chest burned as her lungs begged for air. As soon as she had hit the water she struggled desperately to keep herself afloat, but the armor dragged her under almost instantly. She tried to undo the golden chains keeping her armor attached to her body, but they had been expertly locked in place. Usually Kristoff would help her out of it, but it didn't look like he was going to be able to this time.
I hope he doesn't blame himself for this. It's my fault for never learning to do it myself, really.
Anna's hands floated limply to her sides as she looked up at the night sky, or at least what she thought was the night sky. Everything around her was dark now. Even if she could float up, she no longer had any idea which way up was.
This isn't so bad. Dying, I mean. Yeah the water's kind of freezing, but it's nowhere near as cold as Elsa's ice.
The thought of her sister getting the news of Anna's untimely passing pierced Anna's heart like a knife.
Elsa, you sure are going to be afraid of the ocean once you hear about this, huh? First our parents and now me. I don't think our family was meant for the water. You'll probably be afraid of anything bigger than a puddle from now on.
If you care, I mean. It's okay if you don't. I don't think anyone does. Definitely no one up on that ship does, because no one's coming to rescue me and I can't hold my breath any longer and yep, I'm drowning-
Anna's vision began to fade as her mouth silently opened, her lungs filling with water. As everything went black around her, she heard a loud humming noise, and then nothing.
The next thing Anna knew, a hand was lightly slapping her face. "H-hey, stop that…" Anna frowned as she swatted at the hand.
"S-She's awake, sire!" A quivering voice said. Anna suddenly felt the air around her heat up. Her eyes fluttered open, and she saw a tall figure standing over her, blocking out the sun. Two small creatures- Anna didn't know just what they were- moved around behind the figure's long black cloak. One was light green, and the other was pink. Both had horns.
"Hello," Anna squinted up at the man, dressed completely in black, blue hair billowing in the wind. Her vision slowly came into focus as the man extended a hand. She took it, and she yelped as she suddenly felt herself pulled sharply up to her feet.
"Hey, how's it going?" The man smiled brightly, showing off pointed yellow teeth. "The name's Hades, lord of the dead. So nice to meet you."
"Lord of the dead, huh?" Anna laughed, but suddenly stopped as she remembered falling into the water. "O-Oh jeez," Anna looked around frantically. She was in a cave, that much was for sure. Water dripped down from above, and the cave was empty except for Hades and his two… minions?
"Did… Did I die? Is this heaven? It doesn't look very heavenly," Anna asked nervously. "Oh no, I didn't get into heaven, did I? Is this because I didn't eat my vegetables?!"
Hades burst into laughter. "Kid, kid, relax," he said, as he put an arm around Anna's shoulder. Anna felt a chill go up her spine. She looked up at the man and got a closer look at him. His eyes were yellow, and his skin was dark grey. The blue hair was actually hot blue flames- Anna could actually feel the air around her heat up as he leaned in close to her.
"You're not dead, first off," Hades explained, pointing over to the two little creatures cowering a few feet away. "You can think my two idiots, Pain and Panic, for that. They found you washed up ashore and brought you to my humble abode." Pain and Panic waved nervously.
"Well, that was nice of them. Thank you," Anna smiled at them.
"It was nice of them," Hades agreed, "You see, we're nice guys. When we see a powerful knight such as yourself-" Anna puffed out her chest proudly, "-in trouble, we help them. What's your name?"
"Anna," the princess replied, "I'm from Arendelle."
"Of course, of course," Hades nodded, "You know what? I like you, Anna. You seem like a girl with a taste for adventure. And if adventure is what you're looking for, I have a business opportunity that I think you'll be very interested in," Hades said as he looked down at Anna's sword, the rubies of its hilt gleaming even in the dark cave.
"Oh, yeah?" Anna asked, excited, "What did you have in mind?"
"Anna, I'm involved in a little real estate venture," Hades said. He snapped his fingers and a large table appeared before them. Anna gasped as she looked at a large map draped across the table, with various pieces placed strategically on top. But it wasn't the table that startled her. It was the fact that it had just appeared. Out of thin air.
"You're magic!" Anna squealed as she turned to face Hades. "I've never met anyone with magic before, except-" Anna cleared her throat. "I mean, I've never met anyone with magic before."
Hades, however, wasn't paying attention to Anna, as he was already at the table, arms crossed and a frown on his face. "What was that?" Hades looked over at Anna and then waved a hand. "Never mind. Anyway, I'm trying to get my Underworld back from some people who have, how should I put it? They've taken adverse possession of it. The Underworld is my home," Hades explained, "And I'd really like your help to get it back, Anna."
"Aw," Anna's smile fell, "I'm sorry to hear that. But, um, how am I supposed to help?"
Hades smiled widely, showing his pointed yellow teeth again. Seeing someone else smile usually made Anna happy, but for some reason, she wasn't filled with joy upon seeing Hades smile. "You can help with that fancy sword of yours," Hades said, as he conjured up a tiny figurine of Anna and placed it on the table. "See, one of the people that took my Underworld has a magic horse," Hades pointed to a figurine already on the table. "I need this horse out of the way. If you could take care of him for me that would be a big help."
"Take care of him?" Anna asked, raising an eyebrow suspiciously, "I don't want to hurt anyone."
"Hurt? No, of course not!" Hades said quickly, as he made a vial of green liquid appear in his hand in a puff of black smoke. "This is just a tracking spell. I'm going to coat your sword with it, and so all you have to do is poke Pegasus- that's the horse's name- with your sword, and I'll be able to track wherever he goes. That's all. I just want to make sure Pegasus is far away from the Underworld when I go back to try to reclaim it. After all, if things get ugly over there, I wouldn't want Pegasus to get hurt!"
"Well, that makes sense," Anna smiled as she unsheathed her sword and held it out. "So all I have to do is poke him, right? No blood? No hurting?"
"No blood, no hurting!" Hades replied confidently. He uncorked the vial and moved towards Anna, but Anna suddenly hesitated. "I don't know about this," Anna said nervously.
"Come on!" Hades yelled, the blue flames turning red for a second. He suddenly took a deep breath, and the red flames went back to blue. "I mean, don't you want to be a hero? This is pretty heroic stuff we're talking."
"A hero?" Anna murmured softly.
Anna remembered a portrait hanging in a room full of paintings, of a proud warrior. "That's Joan of Arc," a very young Elsa said, "She was one of the greatest heroes that ever lived."
"I want to be a hero when I grow up!" Anna's voice piped up.
"That sounds good," Elsa tickled Anna, "I'll be the queen, and you can be my knight. How does that sound?"
"I'll even sweeten the pot," Hades' voice brought Anna back to the present, "If you do this thing for me, I'll give you one wish. Anything your heart wants. Money? You'll have gold by the boatload. Fame? You'll be the biggest thing since sliced bread. Magic? I'll have you shooting lightning out your cute little butt. Now, do we have a deal?"
Anna nodded, and Hades poured the vial's green liquid out over the blade. The sword glowed brightly for a few seconds before returning to normal. "There we go. Now hop to it, you little hero!" Hades pointed towards the exit to the cave, and Anna ran out eagerly.
"Yeah, he seems a bit suspicious," Anna said to herself, as she left the cave and walked out into the sun. She blinked as her vision adjusted to the light. "But he's definitely magic. And if I do this thing for him, and he gives me my wish, I know exactly what I'm going to wish for. I'm going to wish to be teleported back to the Arendelle throne room, so I can tell Elsa all about my adventures!"