Author's Note: I have already finished Chapter 32 so I'm trying to upload more chapters per week which means that I have to check them a bit faster. I hope that you don't mind a few typos which I may have missed.
Chapter Twenty-Nine – Who was it?
This cannot be possible.
There was no chance that this was real.
This cannot be real.
No!
It cannot.
No!
Arthas can't be dead.
I had waited so many years. I had been patient for over a decade and had always hoped that he would return to me one day. My patience had paid out because I had gotten him back almost a year ago.
But now, everything turned out to be meaningless. My efforts were for nothing. All the energy and strength I had used had been for nothing.
Arthas was dead.
The forgery of Frostmourne stuck deep in his body. Only the hilt stuck out, meaning that the blade had pierced through his flesh and organs.
I noticed that cold tears ran over my cheeks but I didn't care. I didn't wipe them away so they fell to the floor. I collapsed. A wave of pain rushed through my body when my head hit the floor. It felt like my non-beating heart was torn apart in millions of little pieces. I felt shattered. Lost. Worthless. Useless.
Useless without Arthas.
I was sobbing. Crying. Rivers of tears ran down my checks. I was so lost in my grief that I almost missed that another person came in the room. I didn't look up when the person gasped, a shocked sound came out of her throat. I didn't need to look up to know that Calia was standing behind me.
"NO! Arthas" she cried out and began to sob. She rushed to the lifeless body of her brother and kneeled next to it. I looked up but it was hard to see something because my vision was blurred by all the tears which were coming out of the corners of my eyes.
I got up a little and wiped the tears out of my face so that I was able to see something. Calia's hands clasped the fake Frostmourne's hilt. She tried to pull it out but she was not strong enough because her entire body was shaking as tears ran down her cheeks. She collapsed onto the ground, face buried in her palms as more and more tears rolled over her cheeks.
I pushed her aside, not carrying that she was grieving as well. I clasped the sword's hilt with my trembling hands. I closed my eyes, trying to stop my body from shaking but it didn't work. I tried to pull the sword out but my body felt weak.
My strength left me and my knees gave away causing that I fell on the floor. I pulled myself together and used the remains of my strength to stand up. My knees trembled but I was able to stand without falling again. I enclosed my hands around the sword's hilt, pulling on it with all of my strength.
Somehow, I managed to pull it out but I stumbled over my own feet and landed on the floor once again. Meanwhile, Calia had stopped burying her face in her palms and had looked up at me, wondering what I was doing. Her skin had become paler and her eyes were red from crying. I kneeled next to Arthas' corpse and put my hands under his torso. I didn't need to say something to make Calia understand that I needed her help.
She returned my staring and put her hands on Arthas' left side. Together we turned him around and laid him on his back.
The loud sob from Calia echoed through the room when she saw the huge hole in her brother's chest. Tears ran down her cheeks and mine as well. She wanted to put her head on her brother's chest and just cry but I pushed her away and put my hands on the yawning wound.
"W...What are you doing, Jaina?" her weak stuttering voice asked. She regarded me with widened eyes but her look didn't stop me from casting a spell. A sharp fragment from the mirror reflected my appearance, showing me that my eyes were pitch-black as I drained power out of the real Frostmourne on my back.
Calia's bottom lip was trembling and her facial expression told me that she was afraid as well but I didn't care at this very moment. I didn't care about her feelings at this very moment because I had to do something very important.
A pitch-black aura wrapped around my hands as I pressed them on the yawning wound. I had closed a lot of wounds with the help of necromantic spells over the past years but none of these wounds had been so huge like the one in Arthas' chest. I was able to see a few tips of his rips and his inner organs. Like I had expected, closing the wound required a lot of strength but it went faster than I had thought.
Calia was still sobbing after I had closed the wound and caused that Arthas' corpse didn't look like the victim of an animal attack anymore.
"Jaina, what are you doing?" her trembling voice asked. I ignored her and stared at Arthas' pale face, noticing that his blue-eyes were widely opened. It gave me the impression that he had been surprised by the attack. I was wondering who or what had been so strong that it would cause such a wound. I wasn't figuring it out even though I wanted to know who did this so I could plan my revenge.
I knew that it was not the right time to plan my revenge because I had other things to do. I couldn't let Arthas lay there like this. I removed his upper body armour and pressed my hands on his pale torso, draining more and more power out of Frostmourne.
I heard Frostmourne's voice in my head. It was very loud but that was good because it whispered the correct words which I had to say for the spell I was casting. I repeated Frostmourne's words loudly, ignoring the alarming look Calia was giving me. I pumped the magic, I took from Frostmourne, in Arthas' body. I felt that I became weaker and weaker but I didn't stop as long as Frostmourne spoked to me.
I didn't know how long I had pumped magic into Arthas' body when the sword's whispering stopped. "What have you done?" Calia asked. Her face was a mask of shock.
I looked at her and then at Arthas. "The only right thing" I responded and stared at Arthas' body. Nothing happened in the first ten minutes. I stayed calm and didn't comment about the frown on Calia's forehead and the worried look on her face.
I got the impression that my spell hadn't worked but I remained calm and waited. I didn't lose my patience nor did I break out in panic when nothing happened during the next ten minutes. My gaze rested on the still motionless corpse between us.
Suddenly, after half an hour of waiting, Arthas began to move. His body twitched and he startled up suddenly. He looked around wildly, acting like a paranoid teenager. I threw my arms around his neck, hugging him closely. I did my best to calm him down, speaking soothing words to stop him from freaking out.
"Jaina" he said quietly after he became calm.
"I'm here, honey" I whispered. Tears ran down my cheeks
"Why are you crying?" he asked and gave me a worried look. "Is something wrong? Did someone hurt you? Tell me who it was and I will make sure that this bastard will wish that he was never born"
"Oh, Arthas" I whispered and buried my face in his neck, sobbing quietly. He put his hand on my back and rubbed it slowly while his other hand caressed the back of my head.
"What happened to your hair?" he asked after a few moments of absolute silence. I turned my head a little and looked into the fragment of the destroyed mirror. My eyes widened in surprise when I noticed that my hair had a similar light-blue colour as my skin.
"I don't know" I stuttered, obviously surprised and shocked about the discovery.
"Your hair looks so... different" he spoke and looked around as if he wanted to find out if something else had changed. His eyes widened when he noticed that the room laid in ruins. His eyes widened, even more, when he recognized the pale, shocked woman who was sitting to his right.
He was speechless at first, his jaw was wide open and his eyes hung on her. He caught himself after a few moments, then he cleared his throat and asked. "Is this a dream or are you really sitting next to me, dear sister?"
Calia bit her bottom lip nervously and wiped the tears out of her face before she answered. "No, this is not a dream. I'm real"
"But how... I thought you died during the horrible events of Lordaeron"
"One of my closest friends smuggled me out of Lordaeron before your men found me. I fled to the exile and lived there until now" she explained and did her best to keep staring in Arthas' eyes, which was not that easy for her after she had been so emotional.
Arthas remained silent for a few minutes. He was staring at his older sister as if he didn't know what to say. Eventually, he parted his lips and spoke "I'm so sorry, Calia. I'm sorry for all what happened to our family and to Lordaeron"
"It's okay, little brother. I know that you didn't do it on purpose. I know about you and Ner'zhul. It's alright" she said quietly and put her arm around Arthas' shoulders, hugging him and resting her head on his shoulder.
"No, it's not... It's not okay" responded Arthas quietly but neither Calia nor I said something in return. We just sat there and hugged Arthas who was still not knowing what was going on.
"I thought I would lose you forever" I whispered and rested my head on his other shoulder, slipping onto his lap.
"I thought that too" responded Calia and put a hand on Arthas' cheek, not shrinking back even though his skin was as cold as ice.
"What happened exactly?" asked Arthas. He regarded Calia and then me with an inquisitive look on his face.
I remained silent for a few moments and stared at Arthas while I was figuring out if I should tell him that he died or not. Calia had also seen that he had been killed so there was no point in lying to him. I closed my eyes for a few moments, beginning to speak after I opened them.
"Someone has attacked you"
"Someone has attacked me?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Who?"
"I don't know how it was but this person killed you" I responded sadly and took his hands in mine, caressing the backs of his hands with my thumbs. I noticed the change in his expression. His eyes widened even more, his lips were pressed to a thin line and his skin seemed a lot paler.
"What do you mean with that this person killed me?"
"I saw you lying on the ground with a massive sword in your back. Whoever has attacked you, was successful" I responded, trying hard to not burst out in tears. At least only a few tears rolled over my cheeks. Arthas noticed them and wiped them away with his index finger.
"So, this is the afterlife?" he asked, giving me a confused and worried look.
"No, this is not the afterlife. This is the cruel reality" I responded, trying to hide my sobs as best as possible. I kept looking at Arthas whose face was a mix of worry and shock.
"How is that possible?" he asked and continued to wipe my tears away.
"I have brought you back from the dead" I spoke, staring in Arthas' eyes as if I expected a response from him. But he was silent and didn't say something in the first few moments. I noticed that he looked troubled as if he was assimilating something or thinking about something.
"Arthas are you okay?" asked Calia after a while. Her voice sounded soft and comforting, securing Arthas' attention with ease. He turned his head a little and looked at his older sister who was giving him a small smile but also a worried look.
"I don't know" he responded eventually and stared in his sister's eyes. "This is too much... I'm confused. I don't know what I should think and what I should do"
"We can let you alone if you want. I can understand that you want time for your own to think about everything" I suggested and turned away from him, standing up. I was about to walk away to give him some space as his cold hand grabbed my wrist and stopped me from moving away.
"No" he whispered quietly and looked at the floor, the corners of his eyes were filled with tears. "You have sworn that you would never leave me again, Jaina"
"I'm not leaving you. I'm only giving you enough room to think about everything"
"I don't need time alone" he responded, pulling me to him with all of his strength. I stumbled and landed on his lap. He didn't hesitate and wrapped his arms around my body, preventing that I could get away from him. "You have promised me that you would never leave me again in a moment where I need you more than anything else"
"I know, Arthas and I want to keep this promise but I have the impression that you want to spend some time alone"
"I don't need time alone. I need you right now and Calia as well" he whispered and buried his face in my neck, placing a soft kiss on my skin.
"I will stay with you if you wish so" I responded and intertwined our fingers, bringing one hand to my lips. I kissed his knuckles and the back of his hand softly, leaving a purple lipstick print on it. We stayed like this for a while, not saying anything at all.
We got up eventually. Arthas regarded the destroyed room once again before he walked to the door and stopped right in front of it. He turned around and extended his arm, offering me his hand. I knew what he wanted to do without needing to ask him.
Of course, I couldn't refuse him so I took his hand and intertwined my fingers with his. I noticed that Calia was giving us a small happy smile as she regarded us. I left the room with the Menethil siblings and walked with them along the corridor to the throne room.
The guards were making curious faces, wondering who Calia was. They didn't recognize her but that didn't matter right now. What mattered was that we had to report to Varian what had happened so we walked through the corridor as fast as possible.
Varian entered the throne room at the same moment. He plumped on the throne and stretched his legs out, heaving a loud sigh. He looked very exhausted from whatever he had been doing. His hair was messy and he was tired as well. He looked up at us when he noticed our presence.
"Jaina, Arthas... It would be nice if you tell me how I can help you and who this beautiful woman is" he said and regarded Calia with curiosity.
"This is my sister Calia"
Varian was making a surprised face. "For real? I though she is dead" he stuttered.
"Fortunately, I'm not, your majesty" responded Calia shyly and made a curtsey.
Varian chuckled about her gesture. "You don't need to do that"
"I know but I want to" she replied and gave him a small smile.
He returned the smile and then looked at us. "How can I help you?"
"Can we talk privately?" I asked, giving him a serious look. His smile faded, signalizing us that he understood that we wanted to discuss a serious topic.
"Alright, come with me to my office" he spoke and stood up, walking towards the corridor as fast as his tired legs allowed it. We came to his office after a walk of five minutes and entered it as soon as the door was opened. We sat down on the chairs in front of his desk. Varian fell in his chair and rested his head on his palms. He looked very exhausted.
"Was the meeting so stressful or why are you so exhausted?" I asked and regarded him closely. He took a glass of water from his desk and drank it in one go. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and put the glass back on the edge of the desk.
"Well" he started and looked at the ceiling as if he was figuring out what to say. He was silent for a few moments but then he eventually told us that the meeting with the Horde had been a real challenge.
He explained how Sylvanas and her beloved Velonara had tried to sabotage the meeting. He told us about the argument between the night and blood elves and the argument between the forsaken, Whitemane and Aegwynn. He explained that the meeting would have led to nowhere if Thrall wouldn't have intervened and caused that Sylvanas had shut up.
"So, you met with Thrall alone and then what?" asked Arthas, looking at Varian with a very interested expression on his face.
"We talked about everything. I managed to convince him that you have not the intention to harm anyone. I told him that you are on the good side and that we don't want to use you and the Scourge against the Horde. Thrall has told me that he believes me but he wants to speak with Arthas before he agrees to cooperate with us" explained Varian and took a sip from his glass of water which he had refilled a moment ago. He poured water in a second glass and handed it to Calia, apologizing that he hadn't offered it to her earlier. She took it and told him that everything was fine. She returned his smile and took a sip of water.
"So, we have to meet with Thrall if we want to secure peace with the Horde" I statemented.
"Well, only Arthas has to meet with Thrall but you can go with him if you want"
"Of course, I will" I responded immediately. Varian chuckled about my resolution and ran his fingers through his long brown mane.
"Anyways, you have told me that you want to speak with about something, right?" he asked and leaned back in his chair.
"Someone has executed an assassination attempt on Arthas"
"Wait, what? Did you just said that someone tried to assassinate Arthas?" he asked, looking at us with worry and heavily surprise written all over his face.
"You have heard right. I don't know how it was but someone has attacked Arthas and killed him. It has taken a lot of Frostmourne's power to bring Arthas back" explained, glaring sadly at Varian.
"Do you have any idea who it was? Normally, I would have assumed that it was Sylvanas but neither she or Velonara could have done it because they attended the meeting. I don't believe that it was one of Sylvanas' minions because she wants to kill Arthas personally with her own hands. She would never send an assassin after him who would kill him in Stormwind City. No, she would have sent more than just one assassin to bring Arthas to her so that she can have her vengeance. Who do you think was it?"
"To be honest, Varian, I have no clue"
"Then, we have to check the records of the vision orbs"
"You put magical recording-orbs in our room?" asked Arthas, sounding scandalized. "I thought you trust us"
"I do but Genn doesn't. He didn't stop getting on my nerves me until I have agreed that I would hide these orbs in your room to find out if you are planning something behind our backs. I'm so sorry"
Arthas had an angry expression on his face. I knew he was about to say something that wouldn't contain anything good. I squeezed his hand and spoke before he was about to scream at Varian. "It hurts a little that you are still spying on us but I can understand you why you are so careful with everything. A lot had happened over the past years and who knows what could happen. It's only smart to be careful. I hope that the records of these orbs will show us who attacked Arthas"
"I can show you the records right now if you want" responded Varian and took a blue glass globe out of the highest drawer of his desk.
"Yes, please do that" I said and gave him a barely recognizable smile.
Arthas' POV
I stared at the projection on the wall, not saying anything at all. The record showed about twelve undead creatures which appeared out of nowhere in Jaina's and my room. My past self in the record leaped up and grabbed my hammer.
The undead creatures wore clothes adorned with the symbol of the Forsaken on their chests. Their leader was a pale elven woman who was wearing a black and golden coloured outfit which consisted of a tunic and leggings. Her cloak was pulled over her head and covered her pale blond hair. She carried a longbow made out of bones from an unknown beast.
The projection showed the fight between my past self and the attackers. I managed to kill the dark ranger's followers quickly. The holy light was very effective against them and seriously hurt the undead. Only the dark ranger wasn't affected by this because she was attacking from the distance. The battle continued even after the Forsaken foot soldiers had been taken out by my past self.
This meant that only my past self and the dark ranger were left. I wasn't believing that where was a way how my past self could lose this duel because the holy light seemed to protect me and she was just an undead creature which weakness was the holy light.
I couldn't tell how she had managed that but somehow, she had hit me with her poisoned arrows. I tried to analyse how this could have happened but I was too focused on the projection to concentrate on the analysis so I stopped doing it. Instead, I kept watching the record.
The dark ranger managed to trick me and get behind me. Somehow, she managed to snatch the hammer out of my hands. Even though holy light was wrapped around it, touching it didn't bother her. I noticed that this woman was a lot stronger than the average minion of the Banshee Queen I had seen.
The woman and myself from the projection fought but without my hammer, I had no chance against her. My past self tried to hit her with the last remains of his strength but the dark ranger disappeared. The past Arthas looked around, trying to figure out where the elf was. Suddenly she reappeared and jumped in my past self's back, causing that he landed on the ground.
She pushed him down and prevented that he was able to get up. She spoke a few words in a language I didn't know and rammed this sword, which looked exactly like Frostmourne, in the past Arthas' back. The dark ranger regarded her victim with a satisfied smile before she turned around and pulled an item out of her pocket. I wasn't able to see what it was but I assumed that it was a hearthstone which was able to teleport her away. My assumption turned out to be true when she disappeared suddenly.
I remained silent. Neither Jaina, Calia or Varian said something. I kept staring at the wall on which the glass globe had projected those images, even though there was nothing which I could regard.
I turned around when I felt Jaina's soft hand on my shoulder. I turned my head a little, looking at Jaina who was having tears in the corners of her eyes. I turned around and opened my arms, allowing her to embrace me. She pressed her body against mine and hugged me so tightly as if she was fearing to lose me if she would let me go. The corners of my lips formed a small smile as I looked down at her and ran my fingers through her light blue hair.
I turned my head, my gaze shifted to Calia who was standing not far away from me and was looking at me with a worried and shocked expression on her beautiful face. Varian was sitting behind his desk and was having a thoughtful look on his face.
None of us said something in the first few minutes. Varian was the one who broke the silence eventually. "This should prove that it was the Banshee Queen who ordered Arthas' execution... I hate to say this but this doesn't make sense for me. She would have wanted to enjoy her revenge and torture Arthas slowly to death. Sending someone else to kill Arthas as fast as possible wouldn't make sense at all. This doesn't look like the Banshee Queen even though it was her servants who attacked Arthas"
"You are right" spoke Jaina. "There is something shady about it"
"Maybe, she just wanted to see me dead because her previous tries had been failures" Varian responded.
"No, I don't believe this. Sylvanas is a patient woman. She would wait for the perfect opportunity to get Arthas even if she has to wait for decades. You have to consider that the dark ranger could have captured Arthas and brought him to Sylvanas but she didn't"
"So, either this dark ranger betrayed her or someone wants us to believe that Sylvanas was the one who ordered the execution" concluded Calia.
"Exactly" said Jaina and gave Calia a nod.
"This means that we need to find out the truth" I said and received nods from everyone.
"To be honest, I'm not hoping that the dark ranger betrayed Sylvanas because that could mean that the original plan was to bring Arthas to her. I don't want any more conflicts between us and the Horde. It has been pretty hard to convince Thrall that you and Jaina are not their enemies. It would be a shame if a possible peace will be prevented because the Banshee Queen decided to go to war against us. I don't want to lose more soldiers in a senseless war. I hope that Sylvanas will finally realize that Arthas is not her enemy. She has to realize that Ner'zhul was her enemy and was responsible for her death. Arthas was only the vessel but Ner'zhul was the mastermind behind it. Ner'zhul is already gone so she has no real reason to kill Arthas" spoke Varian, making a strained face.
"So, who do you think would profit if the Alliance and the Horde would go to war? I can't think of anyone who wants us think that the Banshee Queen did this" I responded.
"I can't think of anyone either" responded Jaina and looked at me. Worry was clearly visible in her beautiful blue eyes.
"We have to investigate this as well. We have to find out the truth" replied Varian and came closer to us.
"I don't know where we should start. It will be not easy to find out the truth" I said.
"We should speak with the Dragon Aspects. I'm pretty sure that they can help us" Jaina said to me and took my left hand, lacing our fingers together.
"That's a pretty good idea" admitted Varian and walked towards the door. He opened it and said "Let's go. The earlier we find out who it was, the more time and options we have to react to it"
I nodded to him and wrapped my around Jaina, walking with her towards the door.
Somewhere
"You have asked for me master?" a croaky voice asked.
"Did I?" I asked, my voice perfectly reflected the absence of interest.
"Yes, you did" spoke the demon and stepped out of the shadows. Her voice sounded self-confident and the look in her eyes told me that she was not afraid of me. I stared at her, scrutinizing her beautiful form. Her skin had a felgreen colour and looked very firm. Her dark green eyes stared at me and her beautiful lips formed a provocative grin.
"Did I really?" I asked, giving her a doubting look.
"Yes, master" she responded. She didn't lose her patience even though I was asking the same questions again for three more times.
"Alright, what do you want to tell me?"
"I have executed the mission successfully" the female dreadlord responded and came closer to me.
"The mission?" I asked and looked at her, trying to figure out what she was talking about.
"You have ordered me to kill Arthas Menethil and let it look like the Banshee Queen ordered it. Don't you remember?" I chuckled when I saw the questioning look on her face.
"Now where you mention it, I can slightly remember that I have given you this task. I'm sorry, Rissya. It seems that my memory has suffered during the process. I haven't expected that the transformation ritual would have side effects of such magnitude.
"At least it has worked pretty well" she responded with a flirtatious tone, her eyes roamed all over my body. I found myself smirking about her behaviour and the desire in her eyes. I allowed her to stare for a few minutes before I brought her back to reality.
"I'm sorry, I've gotten distracted a bit. It won't happen again" she spoke and bent down to ask for forgiveness.
"It's okay, Rissya. You can't get up if you want" I responded and leaned forward, resting my elbows on the armrests of my magnificent throne which was made out of hardened felglass.
I looked down, noticing that the bilious green material was reflecting my appearance. I regarded my handsome face for a while, only looking up when warm hands touched my cheeks. Rissya was standing directly in front of me - Between my legs to be exactly.
She stroked my cheeks while her eyes stared into mine. I put my hand on one of hers, stroking the back of it while my other hand caressed my tapered chin.
"What is bothering you, honey?" her sweet voice whispered. I stared in her beautiful eyes but I didn't respond to her. She came closer when I refused to give her an answer, sitting down on my lap.
"I'm running out of time. Lord Sargeras want to see results and I didn't get much further since the demise of Lordaeron. My plan to draw Arthas Menethil on our side went pretty well but then everything went down. Mal'Ganis was killed, Arthas made the Scourge independent and Lord Archimonde was defeated on Mount Hyjal. Lord Sargeras is not pleased with the current results of our campaign" I spoke, my voices sounded a little depressed.
"Don't worry, my love. We will find a way to make the campaign successful" she spoke, sounding self-confident as always.
"Do you have something in your mind?" I asked, raising an eyebrow as I looked at her in interest.
"First of all, killing Arthas and letting it look like Sylvanas has ordered it will cause conflicts between the Alliance and the Horde. They will go to war and weaken each other. We will take advantage of the chaos which will be created and capture Jaina Proudmoore"
"Why do we need her?" I asked curiously,
"You will see"
"You know that I don't like surprises. I hope that your plan will be successful"
"My plans are always successful. Don't worry, my love" she responded and stood up, walking towards the room's exit. "Are you coming, Thel'zaron?"
"As you wish" I responded and moved my heavy body, slowly walking towards the only trustable person in my life. She was the only constant in my life, the only person I trust. A lot of people had betrayed me over time but she hadn't. I knew her very well to know that she will never betray me.
I followed her out of the room, knowing without needing to ask that she wanted to show me something of great importance.
