Chapter 7 Among Shadows
Shade's POV
When I was finally able to, I made my way down the corridor to Tessa's cell. The girl – now woman – was sitting on her bed, her back to the wall, her head on her knees with her arms around her head. Her shoulders shook as though she were crying.
I placed a hand on the glass, peering in at her. "Tessa?"
Her head snapped up, her hand rushing to wipe the tears from her face. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be doing something horrid to someone else?"
"I never wanted Ember and Contortia to do that to you," I murmured.
"But you let it happen," she pointed out. "You didn't stop them."
"I couldn't blow my cover." Her expression changed to that of faint curiosity. "I'm helping the Guardians. I'm being their spy."
She raised an eyebrow, looking exactly like her mother as she did so. "And I'm supposed to believe you? How do I know you're not tricking me to make me tell you something to betray the Guardians?"
"You don't," I replied. "You're just gonna have to trust me."
She shifted on her bed, so her wings weren't in a cramped position. "I don't know if I can do that."
I shrugged. "And that's fine. I'll win it somehow." I looked at her closer. "How come you still have that pendant? What is it for?"
Tessa lifted the silver stone to look at it. "It's called a glowstone. It's part of a Legend that will… why should I tell you? Like I said, you might just be here to gain information."
"And you could be right about that," I agreed. "But I already know about the glowstone. It's part of a Legend that says you need the glowstone and the shadowstone to help two friends defeat the darkness, and save your mother."
The pendant fell back against her chest as she sighed. "You're right about that," she admitted. "We don't know who the shadowstone belongs to, though."
I smiled at her. "The good news is, my friends and your parents should be examining it to see who it belongs to right now." Something occurred to me. "I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself; I'm Shade, Isabella's brother."
Tessa's face brightened for a second, then crumpled as realization hit her. "I'm now fifteen years older than her. And my parents, what will they think of me?"
"I think they'll love you just as much as they already have," I assured her. "I wish mine would feel the same."
"What do you mean?"
"My parents never intended to have me. No, not like that," I added at Tessa's pitying expression. "My mother is linked to yours. Meaning that when Elsa was pregnant, so was Isla."
Tessa jerked up so fast, she lost a few feathers. "Your mother is Isla?!"
I nodded. "And I'm just like her, aren't I?" I shook my head as I sighed. "I never wanted to be evil like they are. Evil isn't born, it's made. And I certainly don't want to be evil; I'd rather be good and fight with the Guardians, not against them."
"'One must be born, birthed in darkness, seeking light'," Tessa mumbled.
"I'm sorry?"
Tessa looked at me with an astonished look on her face. "Open my cell."
"What?"
"Open my cell," she insisted. "I have an idea."
Glancing down the corridor, I did as she asked, and the young woman stepped forward, holding out her silver pendant. It began to glow and move around, as though searching for something. When it didn't find what it was looking for, the glow dimmed, and the pendant lowered back against Tessa's chest.
Tessa stared at me with an amazed expression on her face. "You're the one birthed in darkness," she whispered. "The shadowstone belongs to you."
Tessa's POV
After I had told Shade the shadowstone belonged to him, he vanished into shadows, leaving me alone in my cell. I waited for him to appear as he had before, but he didn't, and I sat back down on my pallet.
It must've been the next morning when I heard a tap on the glass again. I rose from lying down and turned to the glass to see Shade. He held a tray of food in one hand, and a canteen of water in the other.
The glass opened, and Shade set the tray down inside my cell. "I made it myself; to make sure it wasn't poisoned, or drugged, or something." He was stumbling over his words, clearly not comfortable with me being there. He wasn't the only one.
I didn't move. "How am I to know you didn't do something to it yourself?"
"You don't. But I didn't, promise."
I didn't trust him in the least, but I sat up and rested my bare feet on the cold stone floor. I stood up, the pale silver dress I had awoken in falling to just beneath my knees, and padded over to the tray of food. I was starving, but I wasn't about to tell him that.
"Thank you," I managed stiffly. "For the food."
Shade smiled, the familiar gesture reminding me of my father. "You're welcome." He stepped away from me, the glass once again sliding into position. As Shade turned to leave, he glanced back again one last time, before walking a few steps and disappearing into shadow.
A few days went by. Shade continued to bring me my meals, assuring me time and again that nothing dangerous was in them. On the second day, he brought me a surprise. A pad of paper and a pen. For me to entertain myself, he said. The pen never ran out of ink, and the pad was always full of paper. I used my pen and paper to journal whatever I thought, even if the thoughts seemed strange to myself.
It was on the fourth day that I finally snapped, seeing no one but Shade for the past ninety-six hours.
"What are you doing here?" I demanded. "You can't keep coming here like this! You're going to get into trouble!"
"You should get outside to stretch your wings." Shade glanced down the hall. "You're going to have to trust me."
"Oh really? I've only known you for a few days. How am I supposed to trust you?"
He gave me a small grin. "That's why it's called trust, Tessa."
I sighed and shook my head. "I suppose you're right. Okay, I'll give you a chance."
Shade opened the glass wall, resting his hands on my shoulders, and causing them to tense up. "Put your hands on my shoulders," he directed. I did. "Good. Now, whatever you do, don't let go."
We vanished in a puff of shadow, the rush of air in our ears, and an accidental gasp of shock from me. Before a few seconds had passed, we halted, and the shadows surrounding us pulled away from me, and wreathed around Shade again.
I turned slowly in a circle, catching my breath, while Shade stood and watched me. We were somewhere outside of the underground lair, in a clearing with trees around us. I smiled in wonder of the beauty of simple nature, taking a deep breath of the fresh air for the first time in too long.
I rolled my shoulders and stretched out my wings, grimacing at the stiff muscles, and testing the new weight of them. "Okay, here I go."
"Wait!" I looked to Shade, puzzled at the look of panic on his face. "What are you doing?"
"I'm going to fly," I stated as though it was obvious. "What else would I be doing? Isn't this why you brought me out here?"
"I – just want you to be careful," he cautioned. "You don't know how different it's going to be from when you were younger."
I hesitated. "I guess you're right." I rose my wings, then let them slowly fall to the ground, before doing the cycle again and again, stretching my muscles, and getting used to the weight. I looked to Shade again. "Can I fly now?" I teased.
Shade smirked a little. "As long as you're careful."
I flapped my wings hard, rising slowly but surely into the air. I pulled on the air with my wings, making myself go higher until I was able to hover at the treeline. I gazed around, not recognising anything around me, but smiling at being in the air again after such a long time of not. I looked down to see Shade, a dark smudge on the green grass below me.
I tucked my wings in, falling until I was a few feet from the ground before pulling them out again to stop a foot from the ground. Shade's eyes were wide, but he relaxed once I was safely on the ground again.
"Well?" he prompted. "How was it? How were your wings?"
I was breathless with tiredness, and excitement. "Great!" I breathed. "It was so nice to get back in the air again, and these wings let me go higher much faster."
Shade smiled. "I'm glad. But we should get back before you're missed from your cell. Ready?"
I put my hands back on his shoulders and nodded. Shadows covered us once again, air rushed around my ears, and then silence as we appeared in the stone hall again. I let my hands fall to my side as Shade opened my cell.
"Thanks for letting me do that, Shade." I smiled at him for the first time as I stepped into the cell.
"You're welcome."
Jack's POV
I looked down at Elsa in my arms, and my heart caved. The only other time I had seen her in such pain, was when I had brought her to that hospital after she had died. There, her ribs had healed, but because time was moving in reverse, her ribs were slowly, and painfully breaking again. She managed a small smile, as though to tell me it was alright, when I knew it really wasn't.
"Should we call Pitch?" Ally suggested. "He might know who the one born in darkness is."
"And you would be wrong about that, Alli –"
Ally whipped around, waving her arms frantically. "My name is Ally, Pitch."
The grey-skinned man looked puzzled for a second, then nodded. "I'm afraid I do not know who the shadowstone belongs to."
Volcana appeared beside him. "Neither do I. Hi, Alli –"
"Ally," the girl insisted again. "It's called a pseudonym."
"A-alright." She looked as confused as Pitch, but she turned to North, who held the shadowstone. "Maybe the stone will tell us who it belongs to. Could I have the stone please?"
North looked sceptical. "How do we know you're not one of Jake and Isla's henchmen in disguise?"
Ally seemed to get an idea. "What was your human name?"
"Emily."
Ally seemed satisfied. "She's good! Now, Pitch, your turn. What was your human name?"
"Peter."
Ally gave a single nod. "Okay, go, North. They're clean."
North handed the shadowstone to Volcana. It floated in her open palm for a second, before lowering back to her skin, as though disappointed she wasn't its owner.
Volcana looked around at everyone. "We need to remember who was born in darkness, or from darkness. Such as Raya." The stone was still. "Ember." Nothing.
"Jake," Pitch tried. "Isla." Again, nothing.
"Isla had children," Elsa whispered.
"Thanks, Snowflake," I murmured. I raised my head. "Elsa says Isla had children."
Ally face-palmed. "Of course! I forgot about them! Isabella." The stone glowed a little, then went its regular black again. Ally smiled. "Of course, I would choose him," she muttered. "Shade."
The black stone glowed a deep purple colour, and rose from Volcana's palm to rest in Ally's, the girl's eyes now wide. "You're a long way from home, Allison," a voice boomed. "You shouldn't be tampering with things that need to happen by themselves."
"I-I'm not!" Ally exclaimed. "Who-who are you?"
The voice chuckled, settling down to reveal it was male. "You know who I am. And I know more than anyone that tampering with fate may only make things worse. Watch what you do."
Ally's POV
"What are we supposed to do about my wife and daughter?" Jack demanded once the voice had gone.
"Just chill, Jack, I'm thinking," I told him. "I think we'll need to go back to Jamie's to get Illusion and Forge, so we can rescue Tessa. And Elsa needs her pendant back. We should also tell Heidi and Raya about what's happening. If I know someone based on me, she won't be very happy to learn she's missing out on things. Nor will her mother."
We rounded up Forge and Illusion, then went to Arendelle, appearing in the infamous ballroom. However, it wasn't empty. Wedding things were everywhere, and Heidi and Anna were running around, with Andrew and Kristoff at the doors, looking exhausted.
"What if we put the chairs here, the tables for the food here…" Heidi trailed off as she noticed us in the middle of the ballroom. "Uh, hi! Who are – Uncle Jack! Aunt Elsa!" She rushed over to them, a deeply concerned look on her face as she took in her aunt. "What happened to you?"
"Affects of the legend," Elsa murmured. "It shouldn't be for much longer, though."
"What do you mean by that, Elsa?" Anna asked her sister. "You'll be fine!"
"I'm not so sure about that. We only have a couple weeks left before –"
"We only have one," I interjected. "We were at the North Pole for a day. We really need to find Shade and Tessa."
