Ch. 12: Man to Man
Dinner that night was a quiet affair and for the first time since I'd arrived in the nineteenth century I was not present. Elsa was still quiet and Anna and Kristoff didn't want to be the one to set off the metaphorical bomb. Eventually, though, Anna had to ask what was going on.
"Are you alright, Elsa?" she asked.
"I'm fine," the queen answered.
"I don't think so, Kristoff, back me up."
Elsa glanced at her sister's husband.
"Well, you're attitude is a stark contrast to what it has been recently," he said.
"Fine, I found out that Daniel has been lying to me for a week."
Both of the other members of the royal family looked up in surprise. Kristoff in particular almost looked like he wanted to reset my jaw. He was by no means a violent person but he was protective of his family and didn't like seeing his wife or her sister hurt in any way. He resolved then and there to have a talk with me after dinner.
"What's he been keeping from you?" Anna asked.
"There's something dangerous coming to Arendelle very soon. He doesn't know what it is yet, all he's got to go on is the word 'Ragnarok'. I'm going to have the town evacuated tomorrow."
"But where will everybody go?"
"To neighboring kingdoms that will let them in. What's important is to make sure they're not here when whatever it is that's coming gets here."
"Is Daniel even doing anything about this?"
"I don't know what he's planning," the queen answered honestly.
The dining hall descended into silence again and stayed that way for the rest of the meal.
As soon as dinner was over Kristoff excused himself from his wife and made a beeline for my room. He knocked on the door but received no response. He knocked again, louder this time, and this time he heard a voice on the other side.
"Come in."
Kristoff turned the knob and walked in to a room that had almost half of its walls covered with papers and parchment filled with equations the likes of which he had never seen before. I was right in the middle of the semi-chaos, fountain pen scratching furiously on another piece of paper. I wasn't looking my best at the moment as I had removed my tie, unbuttoned my vest, unfastened the top two buttons of my shirt and had bloodshot eyes.
"Alright Danica, how's this?" I asked and showed the paper to her.
"Well that depends. Are you trying to duplicate an inanimate object or turn a squirrel inside out?"
I looked at the equation again and found the mistake I had made. I corrected it and Danica smiled.
"That looks much better," she said.
"Thanks a lot. Alright Kristoff, what can I do for you?" I asked as I turned to face him and was met with a fist colliding with my jaw.
"As entertaining as this might be, I think I'll just go back in my crystal," said Danica before dissolving.
"I didn't see that coming. Do you really think this is wise, Kristoff, picking a fight with a wizard?" I questioned as I picked myself up off the floor.
"You lied to Elsa and endangered the lives of everyone in Arendelle," he said strongly.
"You make it sound much worse than it is. Well, the first part is as bad as you make it sound, the second half, not so much. But I digress, I actually did know what I was doing. For the most part. Except when it came to Elsa."
"Are you going to shut up?"
"Eventually. But if you hit me again I'm turning you into a donkey."
"What do you mean you knew what you were doing? You were endangering lives!"
"I wasn't endangering anyone, I'm a wizard in the service of the Protectorate! It's my job to protect innocents and I take it seriously!"
"And how is not telling Elsa that something dangerous is about to land in Arendelle for the past week not endangering lives?"
"I'm a wizard, I meditated to try and get a timetable. Whatever's coming is going to arrive the day after tomorrow at the earliest. I was going to tell Elsa today but she found out before I wanted to tell her and now she refuses to talk to me. But that aside we have all day tomorrow to get people out of Arendelle and by the time Ragnarok comes knocking on our door, I'd be ready with some defense plans."
"You didn't tell the queen the truth, how do we know you're really going to protect us?"
At last I'd had enough. All the anger and frustration that had been pent up inside me since the start of the war poured forth and I exploded at the man standing before me.
"Because it's my job and I'd do it even if it wasn't!" I roared. "I've been fighting in a war for the past three years to keep the world from falling into chaos! I've lost friends and made mistakes in the process but I did my best to keep innocents safe! I've put my life on the line for what I believe in more times than I can count, I've been keeping the darkness at bay, and it has changed me. That's what war does to a man and I'm not even sure what kind of a man I am anymore, let alone if I'm a good one. But I never stopped, I kept going. I keep doing what I think is right and I think that protecting this kingdom is the right thing to do! So I'll be damned if I sit back and let this kingdom burn! So to answer your question, Kristoff, yes, I'm going to protect Arendelle with everything I have! I don't care if you believe me or not, it doesn't matter! And you know what? You don't really have a choice because whatever this thing is, it's huge and magical and I'm your only line of defense."
By now I had backed Kristoff up against a wall and was staring him down with a fierce gaze that would make even the bravest of men cower in fear.
"Now I'll thank you to leave my room and let me get back to my work."
Kristoff swallowed audibly before turning and leaving the room, trembling slightly. After he had left, I sat down heavily in the chair and sighed before rubbing my eyes. If I survived Ragnarok then I might have to see someone about my anger.
After getting his fear somewhat under control, Kristoff walked back to his and Anna's room. From the second he stepped in, Anna knew something was wrong. Her husband was shaking and still had a bit of fear in his eyes.
"Kristoff, what's wrong?" she asked as she put down the book she had been reading.
"I-I went to talk to Daniel after dinner and it didn't go quite how I planned."
"Did he hurt you?"
"No, but he scared the hell out of me."
"What happened? Tell me."
Kristoff sat down on the bed before answering Anna.
"I went to his room to confront him about lying to Elsa and for endangering the lives of everyone here and I kind of punched him."
Anna raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
"I called him out on what he had done and expected him to get defensive, which he did. What I didn't expect was for him to explode in anger and start shouting at me. He said that the war he's been in has changed him and he doesn't know what kind of a man he is anymore but he'll still protect us, even if it costs him his life. But he was so scary, I don't know if I'll sleep tonight. He seemed almost like a monster that parents tell their kids about to get them to behave."
"Do you think we can trust him?"
"I don't know, he says he will but at the same time he's been lying for a week."
"Then it looks like until he gives us reason to doubt him, we'll have to trust him."
"You're willing to give him a second chance even after he hurt your sister?"
"Of course. I've seen the way the two of them look at each other and how they interact. Elsa was the happiest I've ever seen her when they were together. And despite what Daniel's done, I still trust him to do what's right."
"I wish I had your optimism."
"Maybe one day you will. Now come on, let's worry about these problems tomorrow and just enjoy tonight."
Fourteen hours and several mugs of coffee later I had finished the alterations to the duplication circle and had it drawn on the floor in chalk. I placed the secondary crystal array in one circle and closed it with a bit of will. The runes glowed before dimming again and I saw the subtle outline of another crystal in the other circle. It would take nearly all day but I'd soon have a replacement focusing crystal. I smiled at the thought and flopped onto the bed. It was time to get some much needed sleep. I already had plans for defensive wards for the castle and some other weapons that might give me an edge in the coming battle. Getting it all ready, especially the wards, would take a while. But preparing it all would have to wait until I woke up. The last waking thought to enter my mind was that the watch was sure to be put to use.
It was time. It finally had enough power to break the ancient spell that had been put on it. It was time to return to the world and bring chaos and destruction. For centuries it had been imprisoned underground. But no more. It was time to wake again. It was time to be free. Freedom was at long last within its grasp. This time no one would stop it. Somewhere deep underground, a massive form stirred in its tomb. A reptilian like eye opened and the slit like pupil focused.
It was awake at last.
The creature stood up and shook itself, stretching its long neck and letting out a deafening roar that reverberated throughout the cave.
It was a signal to the entire world that Ragnarok was here.
A/N: I know this chapter isn't up to my usual standards but I wanted to use Kristoff a bit more and I wanted someone other than Danica to call Daniel out on his mistakes. However his confrontation with the wizard went differently than I had planned but I figured that after fighting in a war for three years and losing his girlfriend, Daniel would have a lot of pent up rage and anger that had yet to be released and it was going to find its way to the surface eventually. Anyway, next chapter might see a step toward reconciliation between Daniel and Elsa and the arrival of Ragnarok. I hope the battle doesn't disappoint.
