Elsa was pacing up and down her flat, waiting for Merida to arrive.
"Are you sure he won't wake up?" she asked Rapunzel again.
"Yes." Rapunzel said with a sigh. "There's no way he will wake up on his own before tomorrow. Trust me."
Elsa continued pacing until she heard a knock on the door. She looked through the spyhole to make sure it wasn't Anna again, and she opened the door to a surprisingly non-recognizable Merida. She wore clothing that a high-school girl could wear, and Elsa realized how easy it was to forget how young Merida actually was when she had her vigilante costume on.
"Nice disguise, huh? So, where's the body?" the redhead asked in a grim tone once the door was closed behind her, taking on her usual personality.
"In the bathtub. My sister visited me earlier and we had to hide it."
"Well, you're lucky she didn't want to take a shower."
"Yeah…"
"Seeing how bad of a liar Elsa is, it would have been a complete disaster!" Rapunzel said.
The three girls went to the bathroom and stood over the unconscious body.
"Hmm… what are we gonna do..." Merida asked without really expecting an answer.
"I have no idea. He's far from harmless."
"He's got the same clothes and everything." the redhead noted.
"Except the dragon pin. He only has one." Elsa specified, pointing to the man's collar.
"Indeed."
"It may have to do with the fact the other one was his mentor. Maybe he's just an apprentice or something, and the pins symbolize their rank."
"Hmmm… he's still got a sword. And you mentioned that he blocked your powers?"
"Yeah. But his barrier was weaker and I managed to shatter it."
"But if we wake him up, he could easily kill one of us before we can do anything." Merida said, and Elsa nodded. "There's no way you can block his powers beforehand?"
"Well… no. I have absolutely no idea how to do that."
"And you?" she asked Rapunzel.
"Me? No way. Elsa is way stronger than me, anyway. But… maybe with some sedatives or drugs? We could try to put him in a state in which he can speak but isn't strong enough to channel?"
"Yeah..." Merida said doubtfully. "There's no way you could practice blocking powers on Rapunzel?" she asked.
"Well… apart from the fact it could be dangerous, I have absolutely no idea how to weave the spell. I can't just… will it and make it happen. I have to know how to weave the threads of energy. It's hard to explain but… it requires true knowledge."
"Humpf..."
The three girls stood there for a while, until Merida started calmly undressing the man.
"What are you doing?" Rapunzel asked, a bit alarmed.
"I just want to search him. I doubt he had an identity card, but he may have some belongings."
Elsa took off his sword and looked at it.
"Fancy yourself getting one of those?" Merida asked with a smile. "Apparently that's a thing for people with powers."
"What? No! I mean… it would be a stylish accessory with my costume. But I have no idea how to use it, and I doubt it would be useful. Also, I'd rather have an ice one."
"Hey girls! I found a card!" Rapunzel said enthusiastically as she showed them a magnetic card.
"Is something written on it?" Merida asked. "He hasn't got anything else on him."
"There's a number. 309. And a logo."
"Hmm…."
"Could it be a way to enter their secret lair?" Rapunzel asked, turning the card over in her hand.
Merida grabbed it and smiled. "Nope. It's the key to an hotel room. I recognize the symbol. We should check it out while he's still asleep. Maybe we'll find something there."
"Good idea." Elsa said. "But we can't really leave him alone here, even if he's supposed to be dazed for a long time." She kinda trusted Rapunzel about that, but she didn't want to take any risks. Especially because they didn't really know what this guy was capable of.
"Yeah. I'll stay here." said Merida. "Rapunzel can go with you if she wants."
Elsa looked at the blonde nurse, waiting for her answer. After all, she wasn't really a part of the group and hadn't agreed to put her life in danger to be a masked superhero. Elsa appreciated the help, but she didn't want to drag her into something she didn't want.
"Well, Flynn asked me not to do anything too dangerous. But, I mean… we're just going to search for a hotel room, right?"
"There might be people there. I doubt it, but you never know."
Rapunzel seemed to ponder the idea for while, but then she shrugged. "I'm going with you. I want answers too."
"Great. Let's go then!" Elsa said as she went to the door.
"Maybe you should change into something more adequate." Merida noted, and Elsa realized that she was still in her pyjamas.
"Huh… yeah." Elsa answered with a blush.
Elsa had changed into more appropriate clothes, but she still felt a bit weird not wearing her uniform while doing vigilante stuff.
"We should go shopping some day." Rapunzel said. "No offense, but it looks like you need some new clothes."
The nurse was currently driving them to the hotel.
"Well… it's kinda part of the plan to hide my real identity. I don't want my sister to find out."
"Hmmm, isn't it kinda weird that she hasn't noticed it yet? I mean, you do look different, but still…"
"She just can't imagine it." She would freak out so much if she knew… and she would be so disgusted. Especially knowing that I actually like her as… as a woman.
"Isn't it possible that she has doubts but isn't quite sure?"
"Nope. She has absolutely no idea."
Her phone buzzed and she looked at it. It was a text from Anna. You should have told me about her.
What the… ? What is she talking about? Elsa had no idea what her sister meant, to the point that she wondered if she had made a mistake and sent it to the wrong person.
She answered back. What? Was this message meant for me?
She looked through the window and noticed that they were entering a poor neighbourhood. Apparently, he hadn't chosen a luxurious hotel. She yawned, and tried not to fall asleep in the car.
"Tired?" Rapunzel asked, and Elsa nodded.
"I've been up for a long time. I spent the night out with Merida. What about you? Aren't you supposed to work today?"
"Na, I had a night shift. But I'm used to working a lot without sleeping. I should send a text to Flynn, though."
As Rapunzel said that, Elsa got an answer from her sister. Yes, don't play dumb. I'm talking about Rapunzel.
Elsa was a bit surprised by the tone of the message. And what about Rapunzel? Was Anna mad that she had a friend? This was weird. I don't understand. What's the problem?
She didn't get an answer, and wondered what was wrong with Anna. Texts weren't the best way to communicate, and she noted down in her mind that she would have to call Anna or go to her flat later.
They arrived in front of a shabby hotel a few minutes later, and got out of the car with the card. They went in, and the clerk just glanced at them but didn't say anything, not even hello.
"So… 309. I guess it's on the third floor." Rapunzel whispered as they started climbing the stairs.
Elsa nodded, and she opened up to the Source just in case. Rapunzel noticed, and did the same.
"I'm not even sure what I could do if you need help."
"Didn't you train to do something other than healing? Now that we know our powers are actually the same."
"Did you train your healing powers?" Rapunzel asked.
"Yeah… I see what you mean." Elsa answered with a smile. She knew it would come in handy, but it seemed too hard to pull off. "Maybe we should practice together from time to time."
Rapunzel nodded, and they got out of the stairwell as they reached the third and final floor. It wasn't long before they found the door to room 309, and Elsa used the magnetic card to open it.
"Ready?" she asked her partner, and Rapunzel nodded.
They both entered, and were glad to see that no one else was here. Elsa closed the door behind her, and opened the shutters to see more clearly.
"Well, our guy clearly hasn't got any taste for luxury."
Elsa looked around and had to agree with her friend. The room was quite small. There was a double bed in the middle, a small bedside table and a closet. A door opened into a tiny bathroom.
"Well, at least it won't take long to search through it."
There was nothing in the bathroom, and Rapunzel quickly went through the closet. "He only has another set of black clothes. These guys are seriously weird."
Elsa checked under the bed, but only found dust there. There was an old lamp and an alarm clock on the bedside table, but nothing else. She opened the table drawer, and found a book.
"I may have something." she said, and Rapunzel sat on the bed next to her.
"It's handwritten." Elsa said as she opened the book. It looked like a diary. She immediately went to the last entry and started reading.
"I still haven't found her. The rumours say she's dead, but my late mentor's employer told me what happened and I can't be certain. If anything, I have to find her corpse. Also, I can't trust them. My mentor's employer refused to let me see the body and I'm not even sure she would have told us he was dead if I hadn't known it thanks to our bond. With the bond gone, it feels as if part of me has been ripped out of me. I feel alone. But, I can't give up now. I will find her, and I will avenge my master."
"Nothing really interesting here." Rapunzel stated, and Elsa turned to the previous entry.
"I don't even know why I'm writing any more, since my mentor won't be able to read it. What's the point of writing about my progress if no one will know? Anyway, I think it helps me deal with the loss of our bond. As if he wasn't completely gone. I inquired about this Ice Queen, and found out she's a kind of superhero here. It isn't helping that she wears a mask and hides her identity, but I will find her if she's still alive. She's apparently working with a human, and I will search for her if I can't find my primary target."
"What's this bond he keeps speaking about?" Rapunzel asked, but Elsa had no idea and shrugged. "I get the feeling this diary will give us more questions than answers."
"Still, we might find something useful. Let's take it and go back to your place."
"Yeah."
They left, and Elsa started reading the diary from the beginning in the car. It seemed like it wasn't the first book though, judging by the first entry.
She had read a few pages, but hadn't learned anything really useful when they arrived back at her place. Merida was still here, and the two girls told her about the book.
"Great. Now let's just hope there's something useful in it."
"Yeah. In the meantime… what do we do with the body? I can't keep it here."
"We should get him into a hideout. Also, the last one has been compromised, so we have to move."
"Do you have medical equipment? If we intend on keeping him out for long, I have to monitor him."
"I think we should be able to find what you need." Merida said. "We will only be able to move him at night, though. We should all rest in the meantime."
Elsa nodded, feeling exhausted.
"I'll read the diary while you two sleep." Rapunzel offered.
"I'll be back later then." Merida said, and she left the apartment.
Elsa went to bed quickly, letting Rapunzel deal with the book and the unconscious man in her bathtub. It had been a long night, and she found sleep easily despite the situation.
She woke up in late afternoon, and noticed Rapunzel had fallen asleep on the couch. She immediately went to the bathroom to check on their captive, and sighed in relief when she saw him still in there. She went back to the living room and gently woke the blonde up.
Rapunzel jumped in surprise, opening her eyes, and quickly woke up. "I must have dozed off for a few minutes." she said.
"It's ok. He's still in there."
"Good. I read the whole diary, and I'm sure you'll love what's in there!"
"Really? What did you find?"
"Well, most of it is completely useless. But he kept track of his progress as an apprentice and there are some explanations about spell weaving in it. Some of them are completely amazing! I marked the pages for you."
"Does he explain how to block powers?" Elsa asked immediately, hopeful.
"Sadly, no…"
"Damn."
"But there is another way. He speaks of a certain plant called forkroot you can make tea with. Apparently it has a special effect on channellers. It incapacitates them, and can even make them unconscious at higher doses."
"That's… that's exactly what we need!" Elsa said, although she would have preferred to learn how to block someone, since she couldn't really offer some tea to someone in a battle.
"Yeah. I already told Merida and she said she's on it. I've never heard of it though, so it might not be easy to find."
"Anything else in the book?" Elsa asked.
"Yeah. You know the bond he spoke about? Apparently it's a spell you can make with someone. From what I understood, it allows you to feel and share your emotions or something when you're close, and just … feel him somewhere in your mind when you're far from each other. That's how he learned his mentor had died."
"Weird."
"Yeah. He also speaks of powers and talents. Apparently, healing is pretty rare!" Rapunzel said proudly, and Elsa laughed.
"And most people who aren't born with the talent can't learn it. It seems your elemental affinity with ice is a talent too."
"It would explain why we draw our powers from the same source but can't exactly do the same things."
"Yeah. You'll see, there's plenty of examples in it. The most impressive is Travelling."
"Travelling?"
"Yeah. The most powerful channellers can open up portals to where they want. Isn't it awesome? You just have to go somewhere once, and then you can open portals to go there as much as you want."
Elsa's mouth fell. That was indeed awesome. "Does he explain how to do that?"
"Not really… apparently even his mentor wasn't capable of it."
"Humpf…"
"There's also some information about their weird brotherhood thing. They're kind of a scary bunch of guys."
"How did they end up working for the Fangs?" Elsa asked, curious.
"They're not. Well, the one Merida killed was. But it was just like… mercenary , I'm not sure. Maybe it's just because he was an apprentice, but it seems he doesn't know much about their organisation's goals."
"Does it mean nobody knows about what happened? About me?"
"I don't know. What's sure is that they have a strong solidarity feeling. So they might want to avenge their fallen brother. But this one left on his own, and he feared there would be consequences for it."
"Hmmm…."
Elsa watched the clock and remembered that she had to see Anna.
"Can I leave you here for a while? I have to go see my sister, she was acting weird."
"Sure. I'll wait for Merida to come back."
Elsa went to fetch her spare key and gave it to Rapunzel. "Here. If you need to leave or something."
"Ok. Will you take long?"
"I don't think so. I should be back before nightfall to help you move the body."
"Ok."
Elsa arrived at her sister's new flat, and rang at the door, facing the camera. The door soon opened, and an angry-looking Anna was standing beside it.
"Are you ok Anna?" Elsa asked, a bit surprised by her sister's behaviour since this morning.
"Yeah. You?"
"Huh… yes."
She entered the flat and took off her jacket. Anna had done some redecorating and her place really looked awesome now.
"So, what's the problem?" she asked. "Your texts were weird."
They sat in the living room and Anna sighed. "I'm just mad because you didn't trust me enough to tell me about Rapunzel. And you tried to hide her from me."
"But… what's to hide? I mean…"
"Well, the least you could do was telling me you were dating someone."
Elsa opened her eyes wide and looked at her sister in disbelief. "Dating? Are you crazy?" Then she started laughing. "You thought I was dating Rapunzel? But… but why?!"
"What? You're not…?" Anna asked, and Elsa could see her sister's cheeks turning red. "But… you… she was at your place in the morning. And you were still in your pyjamas! Don't tell me she didn't spend the night with you."
Elsa stopped laughing because she knew she couldn't really tell Anna why Rapunzel was actually at her place this morning. She had to lie to her again. "She's a nurse. She stopped by after her shift to get some coffee. I was still in pyjamas because I slept late and she actually woke me up."
"Hmmm… but why did you try to hide her then? You didn't open the door, and I could hear you making noise. Then she hid in the bathroom, and only left when she realized your lies weren't working on me."
"That…." That's actually a good point. Fuck. "I freaked out."
"But why?"
"I don't know. I…" Find something fast! "You know I don't have that many friends. And you always try to make me go out or have dates. I've only known Rapunzel for a few weeks, and I feared you would overdo it and all…"
"So… so you're not with her? Or want to be with her?" Anna asked, and Elsa could see relief written all over her face.
"No! And she's married, by the way."
"I saw. I thought you kept it a secret because of that."
Elsa shook her head. "Of course not."
"Sorry for being such an ass..." Anna muttered, and Elsa laughed and stood up. Anna stood up too and hugged her.
"It's just that sometimes… I feel like you're not telling me something. I'm always telling you everything, and we should tell each other all our secrets. We're sisters."
Elsa rubbed her sister's back to comfort her while trying to keep her incestuous perverted thoughts at bay. "I'm sorry. You know I love you."
"I love you too, Elsa."
Elsa watched her sister's face and realized Anna had tears in her eyes.
"Are… are you ok?"
"I don't know… I feel alone here. And I'm still thinking about what I did to Kris. It was easy to think about something else while I lived with you… but being alone here..."
A tear rolled down her sister's cheek and Elsa hugged her tighter, her own heart clenching. She wanted to protect her and tell her that everything would be fine.
"When… when I saw you with that girl, I thought I was going to lose you too. I… I don't know what took over me, but I felt so bad. I… I think I was jealous."
"Don't be silly, Anna. You will never lose me."
A small smile appeared on her sister's face, and all Elsa wanted was to kiss her red lips tenderly.
"Would you stay with me tonight? I'd feel less alone."
Elsa thought about what they had to do with Rapunzel and Merida, but she couldn't really say no to her sister, especially after what had just happened. She feared Anna was going through hard times, maybe because of the break up, and didn't want to make things worse.
"Of course." I'll text them later to let them know.
"Thanks." Anna said before kissing her softly on the cheek. It wasn't something they often did, and Elsa couldn't help but see it as something more romantic than sisterly because of the other kisses she had shared with Anna when she had been wearing the Ice Queen costume. At least she's got a guest room here. I won't have to sleep in the same bed as her.
