A Home Lost in Time
Mara saw no need to lie about her true intentions to Deren. His heart was just as black as hers, if not darker. Actually, it was impossible for anyone, not just Deren, to be more dark, more evil, or more vile than Mara was. She was pretty much the personification of darkness itself. Some may see her and think of her as the devil's spouse, and Mara wouldn't argue with whoever called her that. Instead, she would take it as a compliment and do horrible and painful things to them. It was kind of a hobby for her to cause misery and suffering to others. But, she couldn't help it. It was in her nature to do those things, and it wasn't like she could change herself. Even if she could change herself, however, she wouldn't do it. She loved herself so much. Sure, the current body she was using wasn't as great as her previous one, but it worked well nonetheless.
Mara told Deren everything he needed to know about her past. She told him about her old friends, the elementals. She told him about the power of her staff and the eternal shadow. She even told him about her fall and resurrection. He only gave half-an-ear when he was listening to her story. He didn't care much about any of the magical details. The thought of Kai's blood plagued his mind. As long as Kai got what was coming to him, Deren could care less about what would happen to the world… even if he was one of the idiots who lived in it.
Deren knew the limitation of his alliance with Mara. Once she had Kai's blood, and Deren had Kai's life, then their alliance would expire. Deren was promised safety if Mara was truly able to recreate the world in her own, dark image. Deren didn't care about safety. In fact, he loved the danger. Danger always got his blood pumped and his focus to increase. Living in a dark world might be exciting for him. There was no one in the world he actually had positive feelings for. All of that negativity thanks to years of being mistreated as a child. Deren knew that he would enjoy watching the world burn for what had the world done to him? The world, in the way Deren saw it, had to pay. He thought that the world could not mistreat him and get away with it. What Mara was doing was karma in Deren's favorite form: revenge.
It didn't take long or much at all for the duo to get to Arendelle. Mara had manipulation magic that helped them a great deal. Some minds were weak enough for her to just control, although temporarily. They got passage on a ship and were on their way to Arendelle in no time. But, they still had to bide their time. They were not yet ready to execute their plan and they still needed to work out some details on some things. First, they needed a base of operations to work in. Not many places in Arendelle offered that to two intimidating, powerful strangers.
Mara, however, knew exactly the place they needed to go. Only Mara knew that the land currently known as Arendelle was the most prominent location during the dark age of the past. The war was fought on Arendelle land. Blood was spilled on Arendelle soil. It all started there, so naturally, it would end there. Mara remembered one place in particular. A place she called home long ago with her old allies. That was where they decided to leave her on her own dark crusade. Mara was sure that it was vacant. The only four people were the elementals and Mara, and the elementals were all dead. Only Mara knew the location, and she knew that it would be best to keep it a secret to all but Deren.
The place was an old, hidden temple deep in the forest of Arendelle. From the outside, the temple just looked like a rock that was so rich with moss and other vegetation that it a lot like a hill.
The rock stood about fifteen feet high, with a smooth, grey surface showing. Deren and Mara stood in front of the rock. Deren stared at it with unamusement. His dark brown hair was long enough to reach his chin. A lot of it swept over his face, covering the left side of it - the scared side. His black clothes were as menacing as having a brawl with a lion. A lion would definitely be scared of Deren. Deren looked like the type of guy someone would want as backup for a fight, but not someone to invite to a party.
Mara wore her usual pitch black robes which looked impossible to run in. Her long staff was firmly in her hand. Without the staff, she would almost have no power. It was the only thing she had which could control the darkness she could create. She had no idea what would happen without it. She didn't want to find out, and she wasn't going to wait for it to happen if it will.
"Some temple." Deren said, staring at the giant rock. "It's as every bit as grand as you described it."
Mara glared at him. "Patience, boy." Mara ordered.
She then touched the side of the rock with the end of her staff. Deren, whose expectations were as low as can be, waited for a second for something - anything- to happen. Then, the rock startled to rumble and shake. Deren did not back away in fear as most people would have. Instead, he simply just raised an eyebrow to see if he was to be proven wrong. Sure enough, he was wrong. A rectangular piece of the rock, about seven feet tall, slowly separated from the rest of the rock and underground. Now, they could see a staircase inside the rock that led down into darkness.
Mara turned over to look at Deren and smirked.
"Sorry that you doubted me?" Mara asked.
Deren shrugged. "We'll see." He then descended into darkness.
The staircase did not go down long at all. It only took about ten seconds of walking on average to get into another large room. The temple was about two hundred meters wide and that same distance in length. The sides curved so that they made a circle. There were two layers of levels for the room. The upper layer was a platform that was overhanging on the sides of the walls. They stopped about halfway around the circle. The upper platform that went around was like a long balcony almost ten feet away from the walls. Chains hung from different spots on that layer as if the room used to be home to a few prisoners. Stone railings were on the edge of the platforms to prevent any accidents.
The stairs that led to the upper world was connected to the middle of the balcony floor. After that set of stairs ended, it was flat for about ten feet and then there was another set of stairs that led down to the bottom level The level was almost empty and all flat except for an stone table-like alter that was on the end of the room placed on the opposite end of the entrance. From above the alter, many feet high in the air, was a relatively large hole that went through to above ground. That was the only form of light in the room as everything else was pretty much dim. Cobwebs littered everywhere. It was pretty clear that this was the first time in, well, forever that someone had entered the room.
"Whoa." Deren said, his voice echoing throughout the temple. He then stepped off of the stairs that led above and onto the second level. He then rushed down the other large staircase which was about fifteen feet in width and ran down onto the bottom level. Mara had just entered the temple by that time. She took a glance around and compared it to how it looked the last time she was there. Nothing much had changed except for the fact that it was incredibly dusty and filled with webs.
"Welcome home." Mara whispered to herself.
She then walked down the stairs in manner that looked like she was cherishing every single step. She then walked up next to Deren who was spinning his head studying everything.
"We make this our home," Mara said," for now."
"So," Deren said, "when do we start?" He was too impatient to wait another minute. Victory was so close to him, and he could feel it. He could almost grasp it. They had no reason to bide their time any longer than they should. Deren let himself believe that every day that Kai was not dead meant that every day Kai could prepare himself for Deren. But, Kai did believe that Deren was dead, so that meant Deren had the element of surprise on his side.
Mara could see the blood-thirst in Deren's eyes. She knew exactly what he was thinking on doing. She couldn't let that happen, though. Deren had a bone to pick with Kai, but Mara wanted revenge on the ice user most of all. That meant Elsa was her primary target. In the past, the ice user, Eira, was most responsible in foiling Mara's plan although she had the help of the fire user, Kol, and the electric user, Draid. Mara wanted to make sure that Elsa suffer the most, and that meant using Kai. Mara would only let Deren have his way after she got hers, but her plan meant for both to suffer greatly.
"Tonight is our window." Mara stated. "That's when you'll go out there."
Deren nodded. "Remind me again what exactly we're doing."
"In order to get the eternal shadow to work," Mara said, "we'll need the blood of Kai and Elsa as well as our own."
"Yeah? And?"
"Elsa is no fighter, I'm sure." Mara said. "She won't be much of a problem. But Kai on the other hand..." Mara remembered the way in which Deren had described Kai. Mara knew that there was no way that she could beat Kai in a fight, and Deren had proven himself as an equal strength. But, with Kai and Elsa's power combined, they would easily take Deren. "Kai's a wildcard." Mara decided. "And wildcards are best manipulated."
"How can you manipulate him?" Deren asked.
"Never you mind." Mara said. "Just bring him to me in secret and I'll handle the rest."
"Lady," Deren said, "I'm only here to put Kai in a grave. Why should I give him to you when I can just kill him then and there?"
"You definitely could." Mara said. "But, I have a feeling that you would feel more complete if you continued on this path with me."
"How so?" Deren asked, intrigued.
"Elsa will suffer if you bring Kai to me." Mara listed.
"I have quarrel with the Snow Queen." Deren revealed. He truly didn't. It was only Kai he was after. He couldn't care less what happened to everyone else. They had personally had done Deren no wrong, so he did not need to take revenge on them specifically.
"In this eternal darkness," Mara said, "all will suffer."
That was what kept Deren interested in working with Mara. For those long years of his life, he had been treated differently as if he was a freak by almost everyone he knew. Kai was his only friend and Kai left, leaving Deren alone and helpless. All of this just because Deren was scarred. Deren didn't just hate Kai for scarring him. He hated Kai because he was forced to deal with all of these negative emotions alone. Deren's father was never there for him and he didn't even know his mother. How could Kai do this to Deren?
He believed that the majority of the world was just like those many people who looked down upon Deren. Because of that, he believed that everyone had to pay, no matter how severe the circumstances. He was willing to help bring the end of the world just to get back at a few people, and Deren realized that very well. He knew that was wrong but he did his best to not second guess himself. The path that he chose was already at a point of no return. He definitely could be the hero and stop Mara while her powers were limited, but no one would praise him for it. Not after everything that he has done.
"Fine." Deren said. "I'll stick with you as long as Kai suffers."
Mara smirked. "Oh," she said, "he will. You see, you and I both know that you can't take both Kai and Elsa in at once."
Deren nodded, accepting the truth that he was not that powerful.
"Elsa is easy, but Kai..." Mara said. "He's too resistant and better off-"
"Get to the point." Deren ordered.
"We definitely could use you to bring in Elsa, easy." Mara said. "But, I had a thought. What if the one to hurt her is the one she loves?"
"We use Kai to bring in Elsa." Deren cleared up.
"Exactly." Mara confirmed. "This is the best part: Kai won't know who she is to him, and when this is all over, he'll find out. By then, it'll be too late. He'll need to have the thought of him hurting his loved ones on his mind for the rest of his life."
"The short life I'll give him..." Deren whispered to himself.
"Elsa will be helpless to stop her beloved from hurting her and the others." Mara said. "We'll corrupt him, and she'll feel a pain that she never knew existed."
Deren really didn't care about that last part of the plan. Whether Elsa got hurt or not was not of importance to him. Sure, she froze his heart once a few years ago but that was nothing personal. It was nothing that Deren held a grudge against even if he did turn into ice. Although Kai revived him, the wound was already too deep. Kai letting Deren go free didn't heal anything at all as well. Kai tried his best to be a good person to Deren, but none of it made up for being the villain Deren thought Kai was.
"You really feel strongly about this, don't you?" Deren asked.
"I could ask the same to you." Mara replied. "It would seem that revenge is the only reason you still live."
"Maybe it is." Deren said. "Why does it matter to you?"
"I would lose a very valuable asset." Mara answered, coldly. She did not show any sign of caring for Deren's well being. She need his muscle, and nothing more, nothing less. They were partners, but not at all friends. They had nothing in common with each other except on how they view the world as imperfect. Mara would make it so that it will be perfect in her eyes.
"May I ask," Mara said, "after Kai is dealt with, what will become of you?"
"I try not to think or care about that." Deren said, not fully answering her question. "I'm getting my priority dealt with first, and I'll work out those details later when they're relevant."
"Ah. So you're a man with few ambitions."
"I'm a man with one ambition."
Deren realized how pathetic his life truly was. He had no reason to keep on going after he got Kai out of the picture. His only reason of living is to hurt and torment another person. It was no way to live a true life, but it was a way to survive. He would sometimes ponder if killing Kai could truly bring him peace and internal reckoned that he would have to continue the path he was on to find out whether it will be satisfying or not. Sure, Deren had dreams once. But, those dreams were made a very long time ago, and only an echo of them remain in Deren's head.
Mara, on the other hand, had so much ambitions. She wanted to create the world the way she wanted it to look. The eternal shadow would not take it's effect on people right away, and that's what Mara was counting on. There would be no sun for children to enjoy. No sunlight to grow foods. Soon, everyone would starve to death and die out, suffering in their last years. This was true beauty in Mara's eyes. Mara knew that people's true natures were revealed when threatened with death. Many people were cowards on the inside, willing to do whatever it took to save their own skin. Only a few people were brave under death's shadow, and those people died with dignity.
Mara knew that the people would try to fight back and stop all of this, but she had learned her mistakes from the first war. Only Ludicium, the great sword of light, could stop her and no one alive knew where it was. Mara liked her chances. Under an eternal shadow, Mara's powers were almost godlike. She could raise an army of creatures made from complete darkness - born from the negativity of everything alive. She called them Spawns, and soon, the Spawns will rise again.
That all would go, of course, assuming if everything went as planned. She needed to trust Deren to bring in Kai. She needed to trust herself to make Kai obey. She needed to trust Kai to bring in Elsa. Easy steps to follow. She hoped that Deren wasn't incompetent and failed his task.
Deren seemed to have the same thoughts as Mara because he brought up a question.
"What happens if it doesn't go as smoothly as planned?" Deren asked.
"Elaborate." Mara said, distantly.
"What if I can't bring him Kai?" Deren ased. "I'm not going to lie; Kai's skills are impressive."
"And yours are not?" Mara asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I didn't mean it like that." Deren said.
Mara dismissed that last statement. "If you fight him and fail," Mara said, "then he'll get his suspicions. It'll make our job so much harder than it needs to be."
"I hate it when it's hard." Deren muttered.
"I as well." Mara agreed. "Failure is not an option."
"It never is..." Derek murmured, quietly. "Then, what about Princess Anna and Kristoff?"
"What about them?" Mara asked as of the two mentioned were like annoying puppies.
"Aren't you worried that they might get in the way?" Deren asked.
Mara scoffed. "Not one bit!" She said. She had not personally met any of the two, but she has heard of them. Mara had all of Lilith's memories, and Mara definitely remembered the names Anna and Kristoff being mentioned somewhere. None of the names held any significance to Lilith though, so why should they hold any significance to Lilith. They were merely ants who faded with the other non important ants. But, she had heard a thing or two about both people.
"Anna is just a foolish child who always gets what she wants in life." Mara said. "And Kristoff may very we'll be just as foolish except he has a very unhealthy obsession with reindeers."
Deren raised an eyebrow and gently nodded his head. He had, too, heard about Kristoff's relationship with a reindeer.
"They're no more of a threat to us than an ant is a threat to a lion." Mara said. "Ignore them if you can."
Deren understood. "But," Deren asked, "why me?"
"I beg your pardon?" Mara asked, not sure if she heard him right. It sounded like Deren was questioning her authority. It was suppose to b. very clear to Deren that Mara was the one in control, or has he forgotten.
Deren didn't mean it like that, though.
"I mean," Deren continued, "wouldn't it be quicker and easier if you just did this with me."
"My powers are still very limited." Mara said. "It'll take me a while for me to master the things I can do. Plus, it's best if I remain anonymous. My appearance would be both unsettling and peculiar to those who saw me. It's best if I stay in the shadows for now."
Deren was still unsure of it, but he didn't show it in his face nor did he question her any further. He realized that it would be best for him to just do what she says. She wouldn't have chosen him if she didn't think Deren could get the job done. That was part of the reason she chose him. She mainly needed easy access to his blood. Not only was she getting it, but she was getting his muscle as well. It was like killing two birds with one stone.
"Any more questions, Deren?" Mara asked.
Deren shook his head, knowing what parts both had to play.
"Good." Mara said. "Remember, you leave tonight. Do not fail me."
To be continued in the next chapter...
Author's Note: Yes, I do realize that this chapter was a tad boring, but it was a lot of essential villain exposition. There originally was going to be more for this chapter, but I realized that it would be too long, and I decided to just hold that extra stuff for the next chapter. Also, as a treat to you guys, there's a little bonus at the end of this chapter detailing the origins of a few characters. Review/Comment! Enjoy.
Bonus: The Origins of the Characters
When I first saw Frozen, I told myself that I hated it... mainly because that was normal for a boy. But then, after seeing the movies a few more times, I enjoyed it immensely up to the point where I was begging for a sequel. When I realized that the chances of there being a full length sequel to Frozen was very unlikely, I decided that it was best that if I kept the story alive for myself and you guys through fanfiction. That's why I started writing it.
The first thing I thought about when coming up for a plot for my first Frozen fic was who Elsa's love interest was going to be. I decided that another person with powers would be perfect. Choosing the power was easy; fire. I wanted a cool, short name for this protagonist. A name which was fairly uncommon. I remembered that Kai was a character in the original Snow Queen story, and that Kai was the name of a character from Lego Ninjago who wields fire. There, Kai was born. I also wanted to have Kai's appearance stand out from the appearance of many other protagonists. That's where I asked myself if he should have red eyes. There will probably never be a Disney protagonist with red eyes, so it seemed perfect for Kai. By making him a thug for most of his life, I made him stand apart from all of those goody-good protagonists.
Deren was a huge part of Kai's character. I kind of came up with the name Deren on the spot as I was writing the first chapter of Phoenix Fire. I didn't want to take too much time on his name. Also, I spelled it wrong! It's suppose to be spelled Darren, not Deren. It was too late to change it so Deren just stuck. I wanted Deren to be the anti-Kai, just as strong, but darker. His masked appearance when he was Strife was inspired by Vanitas from Kingdom Hearts.
King Lyre had nothing that special about him. A corrupt King was all I wanted him to be, although he was the main antagonist for Phoenix Fire for the most part. Travis Summers drew inspiration from none other than Hans. A deceptive person who seems sincere on the outside. Props to whomever saw Travis' betrayal coming.
Cade and Lilith... I wanted a character to be both deadly yet seductive, so Lilith was born. I drew inspiration from Marvel's Black Widow for Lilith. For Cade, I wanted someone who was too overwhelming for Kai. Someone who shows Kai that he can't win every battle. Cade was a product of that idea.
And Mara? She was pretty much a hardcore Maleficent. I even tried to mimic their appearances. Her ambitions, however, ware far more dark than Maleficent's.
There will be more OCs in this story, you can look forward to that.
Ciao.
