AN: Okay, let me just say that I am very sorry for not warning you about the sudden character death and darkness in the chapter preceding this one. Sorry about that. From now one I think I'm going to have a vague run-down of things that may disturb you in a chapter. Because I think there's going to be lots of that. This chapter then...
Of Incarcerations and Revelations
WARNING: This chapter contains insults, blood, jailbreaks, betrayals, mind control, accidental forced arm breaking, chilling descriptions, sewing, gratuitous (and possibly incorrect) Greenlandic, Talmudic Hebrew and High? Valyrian, painful-looking changes in a person's body, as well as a potentially mind-blowing revelation about a person's identity! If you have a phobia of, get particularly nauseous of or just think you can't stomach any or all of this, do not read this chapter without a companion, living or non-living, to hug when the corresponding scenes appear on the screen. Thank you for reading this warning. Have a good day.
In the exact moment the Man from the Sky was halfway across the fjord, Cymund was sitting on the exact same spot and in the exact same position as Zuko had left him fifteen minutes ago. In fact, the waitresses were throwing nervous glances in his direction then and again. If they had done more than that they might have realised that he wasn't breathing either, and that his face was slowly fading away, very slowly, like a minuscule snail was leaving an equally tiny trail of blankness on his face or like wet clay being smoothed out. At that moment someone might have gone up to him and slapped him without any result. This was because the four personalities that colloquially were known as Cymund had withdrawn from the physical world and were holding a crisis meeting. The girl he had just divined, she looked so much like a younger Ginny. If it weren't for the brown hair and the blue eyes she'd be a perfect match, and the future he had predicted for her...
He still remembered the crackling of flames, the shrieks as she burned to a crisp, the jeering crowd around her.
"Maegi! Maegi! Zālā! Zālā!"
The screams, by the Author, the screams. All he could do was watch, too late to do anything else. Why hadn't he arrived earlier? He should've arrived earlier. But what was he to do about this prediction? Sigmund said they should do anything they could to save the girl. He didn't want another Ginny. Silas argued that they shouldn't, and that they all remembered last time they went against the Plot. His body jerked a bit at the memory and made a waitress jump into the air.
"Now we at least know he's still alive.", she giggled.
Cymund thought over his options and finally came to the hard decision of not helping Idun. There were more pressing matters to take care of. Cymund rose. He stopped once to let Idun and Kristina through the door. It took him all his willpower to keep Sigmund from taking control and bolting after them.
He was just rounding a corner when the fire started.
When Katara woke up she had a splitting headache and for the first time in her life felt she really needed a drink.
"You awake, eh? Witch?", a rough and unfriendly voice said. It was the bearded one of the Olsen brothers. Though now that he was the only moderately interesting thing to look at she saw that it was more of a band of hair across the bottom of his chin, well one of them at least. Katara wondered momentarily why he was standing behind bars before she remembered, and then she threw herself at them.
"No, please. This is a mistake. I'm not supposed to be here. It's all Zuko's fault.", she managed before she threw her hands before her mouth.
"Suko, huh? This gets more and more interesting for every second. Who's Suko, witch?", the shorter Olsen asked. She remained quiet. "Oh, great. I never was good at guessing.", he muttered.
"Is it another one of your wizard friends. Is it the demon you made your pact with? Or perhaps one of you are travelling under a fake name? Maybe, it's your black cat?", her silence made him visibly redden for a brief second before a terrible smirk crossed his fat face. "Well then, witch. Keep quiet for all I care. We've completely dried this chamber out. You're not getting out before you answer our questions." He let out a snicker that made his multiple chins wobble. "I'll just keep myself occupied, shall I?"
He produced a piece of cloth, a pair of tattered pants and thread and needle and began sewing the cloth on. It reminded Katara of how she always fixed Sokka's pants, a memory that right now did more harm than good. Spirits, she missed him. She never thought she would but she missed him and his pitiful attempts at jokes, his constant attempts at mucking everything up, his ridiculous love for meat, though she could do without his snores. She smiled at that. She missed Aang as well, and Toph and Momo and Appa, wherever he was, and she missed Suki and Bato and Dad and...too many to count. They had always been there and now they weren't. It was almost unthinkable.
She had to get out of here. Somehow. For them. But how? How? She could feel the drought in the chamber, where were they? Without water she was practically helpless. There was a pained outcry from her warden. He had pricked himself with the needle and was sucking on his finger. He took it out and looked on it. There was the faintest view of a small drop of blood collecting on the minuscule wound and then it flowed down his finger in a little rivulet. Flowed? Flowed! Blood flowed! Water flowed! Could she? Could she really do that? She looked out of the only window. By some luck of fate the full moon shone through it. Now was her chance, if she could do this at any instance it would be now. Carefully she lifted her arms in front of her, pointing at the guard. He looked smug and opened his mouth to laugh.
All that came out was a pained choke.
Zuko woke up a cell that was far too damp and cold for his liking. A man was grinning at him. Olsen.
"Good mornin', sunshine. Up nice and early for the big day, eh?", Olsen snorted. "A man of few words, then? Great. That makes this all the more fun.", He snickered. Zuko jumped up and threw himself at him trying to fire bend through the bars. It didn't work. Only smoke and embers came out. It was far too damp and cold for his liking.
"Huh, someone woke up on the wrong side today. Wrong side of the bars, perhaps?" The bastard laughed again. Zuko was getting tired of that.
"What do you want with me?", he snarled.
"Not much, we just want to know why the Japanese Emperor would send a sorcerer to Arendelle. If he ever sent you at all, that is. Now, what is your business here? What did you hope to accomplish by wrecking the market square? Where is that geezer that came with you?", Olsen roared.
So they hadn't found Cymund yet. He hoped that was good. He kept quiet, hoping to stall for time.
"Very well then, slint-eye. I hoped you would be helpful, but it seems like I have to clear your memory.", he said, apologetically. He brought out a large stick from a cupboard. It seemed to have something alarmingly red splattered over it. Olsen reached for the key chain on his belt. Zuko got an idea, to lay in wait for the idiot to open the door and then attack him. Zuko reckoned he could take Olsen any day of the week, stick or no. Even if he was feeling sick due to the dampness and the cold. Olsen unlocked the cell door, only for the door behind him to open as well.
"Wha...?", Olsen said, irritated that he hadn't been able to do anything.
"Mr. Fredrik Bjørn Olsen? I have a proposition to make."
Olsen's eyes widened.
Meanwhile, Katara made a little whoop of joy at her success. Jerkily, she made his unhook his keys from his belt and walk in a zombie-like gait to her cell door.
Then she saw his look of utter terror and felt bile rising in her throat. He was just a jerk, and that was all there was to him. He wasn't some ancestral enemy. She fumbled when she tried to make him unlock the door and heard a terrifying crack from his arm. His eyes watered. Panicking, she made him drop the keys and slammed him against a wall, he was knocked out cold. She hoped that was all to it. She remembered the feeling of total power that had risen in her like rot. Tears stung her eyes as she sat down and cried for all she was worth. After a few good minutes she snatched the keys from out her bars and unlocked the door. She took a look at the knocked out guard and tried to pull him into a more comfortable position. It was terribly hard what with all his weight.
It was only when he had left his sight that the exhilaration returned no matter how hard she tried to repress it. She had discovered a whole new technique. How many could ever claim to do that? It was completely amoral and should be made illegal at once but still, she felt really clever. She took the keys and carefully made her way out the door. They must have decided she warranted a special chamber. Outside she found her water pouch, empty of course, and some coin Cymund had given her. She was about to leave when she remembered Zuko. Iteq. Qutersaq. She felt those words were justified. The big jerk-face was an ancestral enemy. But they were still in this together, and she supposed, no matter how grudgingly, that perhaps it had been her fault that this had happened. He had provoked her but she should have been above it. She should have been above it, spirits damn it. She had to get him out. Damn him. Damn her. Damn all of this. She felt so done with this. Why couldn't this have happened to someone else? She never wanted to swept off to another world with an enemy prince with a temper shorter than his hair. Really nice hair, that made you want to drag your hands through it. But that was beside the point. She couldn't forget about the potentially extremely bad old man who seemed to be of the kind her mother warned her about. Her mother... No, not now. Why was her brain on overdrive right now? Oh yeah, she had just basically possessed an innocent (though not likely) man and broken his arm! That probably made you a little unstable. She heard voices from a nearby cell. She drew some liquid from a nearby tankard and realised it was beer. Whatever, you make do with what you have. The voices were talking about a fire wizard, the way they were speaking made it clear said fire wizard was there as well. So he had gotten a special cell, too. She felt less special now. Bending the beer into a whip she jumped around the corner into the open door and...saw Cymund staring awkwardly at her while the taller Olsen brother was glaring at her. Zuko was just coming out of his unlocked cell door. She heard Cymund whisper a strange word.
"Imma, help us.", and then he said, very carefully. "Katara, there is nothing to fear here. Mr. Olsen here has decided to help us for a small fee."
'Mr.' Olsen was still glaring at her. "Wha did you do to me brother?", he asked.
Shakran's lies!", Cymund said. "Alright, Mr. Olsen, here's your money." He dumped a wad of money into Olsen's hands. "Come on now, let's move."
"Wha did you do to me brother?"
"Let's go. Let's go. No looking back."
"Goddamnit, witch! Wha on God's green earth did you do to me brother?", Olsen roared.
"Nothing. I'm sure he's fine. Right, Katara?", Cymund said.
"Yes. He...he unlocked my door himself.", Katara stuttered.
"Now why do I find that hard to believe?", Olsen said, not noticing as Zuko snuck past him.
"Dunno. Let's go.", Cymund said, hurrying them to the door. Olsen rushed over towards Katara's chamber.
"Out of interest, what did you do to his brother?", Cymund asked. Katara gave him a frightened look. "That bad, huh. Gardan. Let's move before he gets there then.", he said. For once, they all agreed.
They had gotten out of the dungeons when a ferocious scream came from somewhere inside. No prices for guessing where from. Then they heard Olsen sound the alarm.
"I guess he found him. Move, move, move.", Three times were three times too many. They started running. Up the stairs, down the corridor, more stairs. They heard clattering and stomping as guards started mobilising throughout the castle. A heavy door blocked their way, but Cymund, who had gone past caring, turned it to splinters with a look.
On the other side was the courtyard, a guard gave a cry and pointed at them. Cross the courtyard, out the gates. The gates were still wide open in order to let people in to the warmth. They saw some guards trying to trap them by closing the gates, when suddenly the three of them felt the wind on their backs and rocketed out of the gates, which shut behind them.
"There's no time to rest, we have to get across the fjord. They'll never expect that and then we might get a good show when the queen returns.", Cymund suggested. Or at least he made it sound like a suggestion, the wind was still pulling at Katara and Zuko and made them follow him.
If they had looked to their right as they sped across the frozen fjord, they might have seen the man carrying the woman around the same spot where Anna and Hans had had their first tumultuous meeting. If the man had known this, he might have felt it strange. He didn't, and so he instead put the woman on the pier and hauled himself up to land. Then he once again lifted the woman into his arms, tired beyond comparison, and continued limping towards the castle gates. He was beginning to feel a distant pain in his right eye, something running down from there. Something liquid. No time to rest, no time to check. So close, so very close...
They opened the gates, guards rushed out. They stopped and pointed at him.
"Sir!"
"I can't believe it"
"What happened?"
He groaned and shouted, his voice hoarse.
"Help her! Help her! Now!", he commanded, memories of how to do so slowly returning. They looked at him, at his right eye, at her. The captain who was in charge nodded and escorted them into the courtyard. Curious servants, guards who had been thrown off the trail and ambassadors who had been rudely awakened by the noises were slowly making their way outside. Most of them gasped and started muttering and whispering at the sight of him. He dimly recognised the fact that he probably was in a sorry state. One servant rushed up to him.
"Get a doctor. See that she is healed.", he ordered her. She nodded
"Of course. But, sir. What about your eye?", she asked.
"What about my eye?", he asked and put his hand to it. When he pulled away his hand was covered in blood. It was only then he felt the pain, fierce and constant. He groaned. The bastard had taken it.
"Get me some bandages, but make her the top priority.", he said through clenched teeth, as to not cry out. The servant nodded again, Gerda was her name, he remembered. Kai's wife, wasn't she? Due to the fact that no group of disgruntled councilmen had stormed out of the castle armed with swords he supposed Kai was either not there or they had somehow travelled back in time. Or perhaps even forward. He felt that he should ask for the date but felt that would seem strange. He felt that things were different here somehow. He was going to have to find out what exactly was different.
He was about to let himself be led to the infirmary by a tutting maid when there was a knock on the gates. There was more muttering and whispering. Who could this be? The man signalled to open the gates. The sight of what was behind it was disconcerting, to say the least.
"I think they're not chasing us.", Katara said, looking back towards the town and the castle. There seemed to be some trouble at the gates. Zuko looked back in interest. Cymund trudged on.
They reached the other side of the fjord a good two minutes later before he spoke up.
"This looks like a good place to rest, we'll get a good view of the show too. Could you help me find wood for a wind shield?", he started before he caught sight of something in the woods. "On second thought, perhaps we should move a bit." He looked uncharacteristically pale. Zuko glanced over to where he was staring and caught sight of a small pinkish sphere floating behind a tree. He made to walk over to it when Cymund grabbed hold of his arm. He shook his head. Zuko pulled away and snuck up to the tree. There was nothing behind it.
"What was that?", he asked, in the same way one might ask why a person lacked a shadow. Which Cymund did, Zuko suddenly noticed.
"Nothing of any great importance, perhaps we should move to some place else.", he suggested once more. There was obviously something he wouldn't tell them, and Zuko in particular hated when that happened.
"Maybe we should listen to him.", Katara said. Zuko glared at her. Traitor. Not that he had ever trusted her anyway. To be sure.
"Well, I think we should stay here. Whatever that was it didn't look big enough to be dangerous." Zuko argued.
"Size does not always matter. Besides, that was not the whole creature.", Cymund admitted.
"So you do know what it was!", Zuko said triumphantly.
"Of course I did. But I'd rather not re-acquaint myself to it.", he said, already starting to move away from the area. They had no other choice but to follow.
Cymund stopped after a few minutes of travelling around the coast. They were nearing the opening towards the sea. Cymund told Katara to make something for them to sit on out of the snow. A few seconds later they sat in three armchair-like constructs. Cymund muttered a few words, carefully as not to attract any undue attention. Though not from the guards across the fjord. The impromptu chairs heated up, the snow somehow having lost its melting point.
Cymund held the third crisis meeting in this week. He knew what the thing was. He almost knew who the thing was. The four consciences talked about whether or not they were going after the thing. Some argued it was too dangerous. Others told them to 'stay here if they were so scared', resulting in the answer that they couldn't leave if they wanted to.
After a lot of arguing Cymund stood up. Katara and Zuko had long since fallen asleep, exhausted after the day's events. Cymund took off some of his robe and enlargened the pieces into two blanket, which he carefully lay upon them. Then he looked at the moon, high in the sky, and he looked into the dark of the woods and entered.
After a few minutes he saw something moving from behind a tree.
An eyeball the size of an apple came into view. It had no iris and the pupil was large to accommodate for the darkness.
"Where's the rest of you?", Cymund asked it. It looked further into the woods and flew away in a manner that reminded Cymund of a large tadpole, the exposed nerve endings being used as a tail. Cymund followed.
After another good few minutes they came to a clearing. In the middle, illuminated by moonlight, stood a thin robed being in a shaman's mask. As the eye drew closer the mask swung open, revealing that the 'robe' was just a piece of cloth suspended in the air. Out of it came another eye, looking exactly like the other. The two eyeballs swirled around each other in some strange greeting and then turned their gaze to him. A voice came from somewhere behind the mask.
"Cherev", it said, by way of greeting. Upon mention of that word, Cymund felt a jolt of recognition. He knew who the thing was.
"Oheldavar", he answered. "Why are you here? Has Seferel regretted his decision?", he asked.
"Sipur-harishon regrets nothing. You know this Cherev, or was that one of the things we purged from you?", Oheldavar said, as emotionless as always.
"No, it was not.", Cymund said. "Then why are you here?"
"You have once more violated the agreement we made when we decided to purge you only by half. I have come to warn you again. Last time you did this you destroyed the plot of an entire universe. You were in luck that it was only a Fenfik and thus of little value.", Oheldavar explained.
"Failure to comply will result in immediate purging from this multiverse."
"Yes, yes. I heard you last time.", Cymund said. If he had shuddered he didn't show it.
"You are not intimidated.", he stated.
"Well, what are you going to do? Bump into me? Fly in my face?", Cymund asked. It was the wrong thing to say because the robe started rippling like it was blown by an imperceptible wind. There was a rumble emanating from the robe and more eyes came streaming out of the mask until there was about thirty or more. The eyes looked ready to shoot fire. Cymund thought he could see the pupils redden. Its voice carried into the night air and seemed to come from everywhere at once.
I am Oheldavar Ayin-hashumarim. I do not act alone. We may have purged most of your memories with us. But know this Cherev Shumar-hasipurim, I am not only a messenger. If you give me cause to do you harm then I will.
The robe had flown into the air, the eyes orbiting around it like comets. Cymund edged back some. Oheldavar came back down and drew a rattling sigh.
"Once...you were the best. You were my friend. I shall give you one more chance, but heed this: if you break your oath once more, we will come...and then my generosity will be past."
He lifted the sides of the robe and made to lift off.
"Wait! Oheldavar! Is...is Cherev my real name?", Cymund asked.
"It was. You are no longer worthy of it."
Oheldavar flew off, looking like a manta ray in the sky. There was a light and a sucking sound, then he was gone.
As Cymund returned, the sun was rising. It was soon time for the final showdown. The climax. And then he could send them home. Or he supposed so. He couldn't remember exactly how to do it. As they watched he would have to think. He sighed. This time he wouldn't have a crisis meeting. If Oheldavar had noticed his presence he must have been less subtle than he thought. There was no way of telling if another had felt him, someone less forgiving. There was no time to waste.
Zuko woke as usual with the sun. He couldn't stay asleep when the sun was out. Not unless he blocked himself from it. It was calming to know that at least this hadn't changed. It was not calming to wake up on snow in the middle of an unnatural winter. Cymund was looking out over the fjord lost in his thoughts. Katara was still snoozing.
Zuko sat up and dragged a hand through his hair to smooth it out in case he had bed hair, which he usually had.
"Awake, eh?", Cymund said, finally noticing Zuko. "We should wake her as well. Show's about to begin. Just kick back, relax and enjoy. We'll be out of here soon enough."
Zuko thought Cymund didn't sound too sure himself. Cymund shook Katara gently, making her groan and yawn.
"Ugh, is it morning already?", she moaned. There had only been four hours of sleep.
"I'm not sure you could sleep through what is coming up next, even if you tried. I'm saving you the trouble of being startled awake.", Cymund explained. "Any time now." The last was mumbled.
They waited for half an hour before a man mounted on a horned animal (Katara later told him it was called a reindeer) burst out of the woods, carrying a white-haired woman and a living snowman trailing behind. Zuko let out a shocked yell, drawing some stares from Katara. He quickly composed himself.
The strange group continued down to the town, the snowman broke off from them before the bridge. Zuko heard a scream not quite unlike her own. His was of course a bit manlier. He hoped. The reindeer man galloped up to the gates, clear in view. He jumped off and went up and knocked on the gates. They must have opened because he was talking to someone. Arguing with someone. Shouting at someone. Cymund looked grim. Something was wrong. The man turned and walked dejectedly back to the reindeer and its cargo.
Fuck.
Oh no. Oh no no no no no. This was bad. This was BAD. This was so very, VERY BAD.
"Is this supposed to happen?", Katara asked.
"NO!", Cymund had thrown himself from the snow chair. He was pacing back and forth with an expression of utter fear and horror that scared the two wayward souls. He was mumbling in a language neither of them knew. In a sudden fit of confused anger he picked up a rock and threw it at the frozen fjord. The rock was big enough to shatter the ice and make a sizable splash. Then he looked at them in understanding.
"I am an idiot. I should have realised that when you throw a rock into a pond the water isn't just still, it ripples. It ripples. We have to do something.", he said.
For the briefest of moments he had five faces. He turned away from them and strained. His robe seemed to convulse and bulge until two long curved snow-white limbs grew from him back like trees, branching downwards to make sharp, brass-coloured metal plates, all done under complete silence. It took them a few moments to realise that he had just grown a set of wings. He grabbed them both by the scruff of their necks and flew over the fjord. What a sight they must have been.
When finally on the other side, Cymund drew his wings back into his robe, no clue that they had ever been present visible. The reindeer man looked startled by their sudden arrival and the reindeer itself was making a threatening sound. The woman on the reindeer however looked up and faintly smiled at them. It was Princess Anna.
"Ambassador. Hi again.", she said.
"What's going on?", Cymund demanded to know. The reindeer man looked only a little bit mollified by the fact that Anna seemed to know them.
"Um... Anna, who are these people and why do they have a giant bird man?", he asked.
"They're the ambassador of Japan and his girlfriend. The bird man's new.", Anna sounded very tired.
"She's not my.../He's not my..."
"There's no time. Why aren't you in there?", Cymund said.
"Well...", Anna started. "Kristoff talked to the guard at the gate. He told them that I needed to see Hans immediately but then they...they said...", she looked so unbelievably tired. Kristoff took over.
"They said she couldn't be the princess, because the princess was already there."
AN: Dun-DUN-DUN (dramatic thunder) What a twist. How many saw that coming. I can't see if you're actually holding up your hand right now or not. I'll assume you aren't. So, if any of you feel you are better than me at Greenlandic, High? Valyrian and/or Talmudic Hebrew, feel free to PM me. If you know more than basic grammar, you probably are.
Next time on AMIA (which somehow can also be an abbriviation of Avatar: Missing In Action if we add a colon): The gang decides to not care about the law and try to save Anna anyway, also we are introduced to the mysterious man and woman, now presumed to be some look-alike of Anna and witness some inflammatory speechifying of some sort. This and some other stuff in: Of Speeches, Doubts and Scheming Men
