Authors note: I want to thank you all for reviewing and reading the last chapter. Hearing your opinions means a lot and they also help if I need to edit or make something better.
Darkphoenix: Lol that's great! But I cannot tell you cause it would be a huge spoiler...
Guest: Your right, she is very benevolent. :).
Dreamsandimaginations: Yes, Clara is a spitfire, she has to be to take care of her man. lol when in the Southern isles always listen to Clara, she is probably the only one with common sense around there lol
Any way I hope you all enjoy this chapter and please leave a review when done, opinions are most welcomed.
It was sunny, which was what one could expected when a place was called the Southern isles along with spectacular beaches and beautiful scenery, it was really a nice place.
But of course as nice as it was Elsa was not there to vacation or enjoy scenery as she was focused on the task at hand.
After getting to the nearest town and asking around she found out that yes she was in the Southern isles, how she got there she was not sure, but regardless she was there, so she moved on and started asking about Lars and where he lived, as soon as she mentioned his name peoples faces went from cheery to scared before they moved on to other things without bothering to answer her questions.
That happened to everybody she asked and soon it became clear that nobody wanted to talk so she decided in looking around and finding out for herself.
"His home has to be around here somewhere" muttered Elsa as she walked through a cobblestone path with a map in one hand and the umbrella on the other. As she walked pass the green pastures and animals Elsa hoped that she would find the Southern isle palace soon or at least another town to ask directions.
"At least I am here" though Elsa before she saw a flash of red up ahead, at first she though it was a trick of the eye, till she looked again, sure enough she had seen clearly a red cloak with gold fire motifs, the very same one Hans wore.
Upon realizing that Elsa felt her heart race, she wondered why was he out there but she did not care, she was just happy to see him. So she ran over, "Hans! I am so glad you...".
Elsa slow down to a stop as she realized, how did Hans escaped? and if he did why was he there in the Southern isles instead of returning back to Arendelle?
The more she though about it the more alarm bells rang on her head as she backed away slowly from this...poser... hoping he did not hear her, but he did and it became apparent as he turned to face Elsa.
With a swift move he pulled down the hood to reveal it was not Hans but Lars,
"What did you do?" whispered Elsa gripping the umbrella, Hans always had that cloak, if Lars had it it meant that something happened to Hans, that maybe even Lars did something to him,
"I should be the one asking as I do not know how you got here to the Isles" began Lars as he took a step only to jump back when Elsa shot ice against it,
"I won't miss the next time" warned Elsa before demanding "I will ask you again, what did you do to Hans?!",
"I did nothing, but I need you to come with me" snapped Lars,
"I am not going anywhere with you! I don't trust you and for good reason" said Elsa, snowflakes dancing around her as her magic was reacting to her anger,
"We don't have time to argue Elsa! You can be mad later! But right now I need you to come with me, no questions asked" said Lars, he sounded urgent, he even looked worried, but Elsa was not going to take chances.
"I am not going with you! Not till you tell me what's going on" said Elsa, this time holding her umbrella up, pointing it at Lars. Seeing it apart of Lars wanted to laugh at it, how could he be scared of a measly umbrella? But another part warned him not to be fooled by appearances, that the umbrella was a dangerous weapon.
Taking a breath Lars head those warnings and said "Its Hans, he is very sick... possibly dying".
Those words hit Elsa like a punch, her eyes widen and watered, her mind a mile a minute, she must have heard wrong, surely Hans was okay, he could not be sick or dying! How could it even happen?!
"Come with me.. please..." begged Lars.
Nothing is as it seems, this was becoming apparent to the Fateweavers as what they had though for a long time was proven wrong. Which left distrust among them and even anger as they blamed one another for their mistakes. It was only when surprisingly Marius who was not the most serious set them straight.
"Won't you all stop that! Its all your faults what happened! Even I am at fault! But playing the blame game is not helping! So stop arguing or yelling at one another how's about we do something useful for a change! Like finding Rohan!" Marius said.
Looking away Agathe knew he was right, even worse it seems that everything they did for "the good" was so horribly wrong as they just jumped into conclusions without thinking or researching more into it. Not rely on the past and let themselves be influenced by fear.
Sitting on their thrones the Fateweavers were busy discussing one thing or the other, at the corner of her eye she saw Hans leaning over his throne, because of his small size he had to rely on cushions to raise him up to see better, even getting on it was a chore as he had to climb unto it. But Agathe knew he would grow into it, he was due for a growth spurt at any moment now.
Soon their talking was interrupted when they had visit, it was the Headmaster, nodding Agathe turned to Hans and said "Would you please go to the training room? We will get you when done", Hans looked like he was going to complain, but decided against it and left saying nothing.
Once Hans was out of the room Agathe and the Fateweavers asked "What are the results?", clearing his throat the Headmaster pulled out a scroll from his bag, holding it he pushed his glasses closer to his eyes and said "Hans has no discipline, has not mastered any of the basic magic or has any control of his magic as whenever he uses magic it comes out in explosive and destructive quantities",
"So he failed?" asked Agathe slightly disappointed but not surprised as Hans was just a child and you cannot expect too much of him especially since compared to them he had little to no experience about magic or life.
"No... Hans is not in the level of my pupils... or even in the level you all are" said the Headmaster.
"He is a child, he will grow into it" said Marius defending Hans,
"He just needs time" said Rohan agreeing.
"Well I say" began Sylvia,
"Hold it! I am not done yet" said the Headmaster silencing the Fateweavers before taking a breath "Hans is nowhere near the level you are..." the next words he spoke shocked the Fateweavers to the core "Because he is far beyond it",
"Beyond it?" asked Flora shocked, the Headmaster nodded before saying "Yes, in fact, I have never seen anything like this since Phoenix Bak... I say their in the same level".
As soon as he said that chills ran up and down the Fateweavers spine. Bak was the strongest of the Phoenix, even stronger than they were and they never met him, but they know full well what he was capable off as he had destroyed two of the greatest empires the world ever knew.
So if Hans and Bak were in the same level...
The though was terrifying...
Fear, it blinded them from the real enemy, the real betrayer was not Hans, never was, but who it was, for a moment they feared it was Sylvia. In their mind it could not be Sylvia, she was dutiful, she loves Rohan, does she?
The doubts in their mind made them fear, it got worse as the more they though about it the more they began to suspect that Sylvia was the betrayer, but she could not be! It was not possible... right?
"I hope its not" though Agathe, for if she was, they had nobody but themselves to blame for letting that monster live and thrive among them.
Blinking her eyes Elsa looked around to find that she was in a strange hallway, her stomach felt a little squeamish as she and Lars traveled through shadows. Turning he looked at her before asking "Are you alright?",
"Yes" said Elsa as she held her umbrella, if Lars did anything she would attack.
Nodding Lars walked away, Elsa followed keeping some distance just in case. Going down, left and right, Lars lead Elsa to a room, it was a beautiful room, but the smell was awful, it was the same smell you would smell in a place where people who are deadly ill.
Soon after the smell, the room, it became non existence when she saw Hans, for a moment Lars began to worry as fury began to shine in Elsas eyes as she turned and snarled "What did you do to him!?",
"I did nothing" said Lars lifting his arms, he did not want her to fight, but luckily Elsas attention was turned from him, back to Hans as she immediately went to Hans side, taking his hand, it was cold, clammy, it was like holding the hand of a dead person.
Holding it she kissed the palm of his hand before saying "Hans, its me Elsa, I am here", Lars walked closer, he felt guilt as he stared at the scene, he did what he did to protect his brother, he never wanted to hurt him.
Elsa closed her eyes as she pressed his hand against her cheek, much to her surprise it moved a little, stroking her cheek, Lars eyes widen, since Hans fell in that state he had remained unresponsive to everything and everybody. Elsa was the first person who got him to respond. Turning his head a bit he looked at Elsa for a moment as if trying to decide whether he actually seeing what he was seeing or not.
"Elsa?" he asked softly, weakly, Elsa nodded, barely able to hold her tears as she got up and kissed his forehead, leaning to the side Hans closed his eyes to sleep, the first sleep he had in a long while. Pulling away Elsa ran her hand through his hair in a comforting motion before looking at Lars, there was no words, but she knew he wanted to talk to her.
Moving away Elsa followed Lars outside, closing the door gently Lars turned to Elsa and said "Thank you",
"This should not have happened" said Elsa still angry,
"If its what you think your wrong, I did not do this to my brother" said Lars angry,
"Maybe you did" said Elsa crossing her arms "Unintentionally, but you did hurt him".
Lars face darkened with anger before he calm down and said "Lets us be honest here, what if you were separated from your sibling because of a mistake you made? And because of said mistake you never saw your sibling again and when you finally have a chance to be reunited you decide you would do anything to keep your sibling safe, to actually be there for your sibling.. in the end.. how far will you go?".
Elsa said nothing as she could relate to Lars more than what he though, but why did he mistrust her? At first she though that maybe it was a jealousy thing, that he may have though that she was getting in the way of him being reunited with his brother, but it did not seem to be that, what it was she was not sure, but she wanted to find out so she said "I can relate, more than you think Lars",
"Then you will understand why I took him away in the first place, his safety and well being is my top priority" said Lars,
"But your hurting him" said Elsa this time softer "Look, I know you do not trust me and for that I am willing to compromise till I gain your trust",
"Compromise?" said Lars crossing his arms in distrust "What do you have in mind?",
"For now I will stay here to make sure Hans recovers well, but once he is better we will ask him to make a doorway to Arendelle, from which I will be allowed to visit every day" proposed Elsa, in truth it was a very generous offer for she could just take Hans and leave as them being married in the eyes of the Underground Kingdom meant they could not be apart so she really hoped that Lars agreed as she could see that he truly did care about his brother.
For the first few minutes Lars said nothing as he stared before he nodded and said "Alright, but Hans will not be allowed to leave the isles or this castle till you gain my trust",
"Thank you" said Elsa then paused before saying "Maybe, with time, I can convince Hans to have some form of relationship with you, but I cannot promise anything for it will be up to him to decide on what he wants".
Lars eyes widen in surprise, he could not believe that despite what happened she wanted to help him,
"See if you had listen to me this would have happened sooner!" they heard, mentally groaning Lars turned to see Clara walking down the hallway, she had the biggest most satisfied smirk on her face before turning to face Elsa and said "Hello my names Clara, I am the head palace keeper and part time Lars common sense, I apologize for the way he acts, he is book smart but when it comes to people he is as dumb as a rock",
"Clara" groaned Lars rubbing his forehead,
"You are mister" said Clara pinching him then added "The council is waiting, they want to know if you approve on the new trade routs",
"I sware their the neediest people in the world" muttered Lars as he turned and left, once gone Clara said "You must be some kind of saint, for it was me in your shoes I would have smacked him till the end of times... actually I do hit him with a book, but its usually to remind him when he is being an idiot",
"And he lets you get away with it?" asked Elsa covering her mouth in an effort not to laugh,
"Yes, although he has threatened to fire me from time to time I know their just empty threats" said Clara "He could not live without me, literally, you have no idea how many times I had to drag him out of the office so he could get some much needed exercise and fresh air or remind him to eat",
"I see" said Elsa,
"So enough of that, guessing if he made the smart decision you will be staying as our guest for the time being, so I have a room for you all ready" said Clara,
"What if he did not?" asked Elsa curious,
"Lars will have a date with France" said Clara, Elsa looked confused so Clara said "The encyclopedia, that's my usual item to hit him with when he is being an idiot, I would not have to use it if he stopped being so stubborn and took a moment to listen",
"I understand, Hans can be pretty stubborn from time to time, but he listens" said Elsa,
"Your lucky then, Lars usually does not tend to listen to me, when he does its usually because its either too late or almost too late" said Clara shrugging her shoulders, nodding Elsa said "I thank you for the trouble, but if you would not mind, I rather stay in Hans room, to keep an eye on him for the time being",
"Its alright, I understand" said Clara with a smile "Will bring extra blankets and a pillow, oh and if Lars makes an argument about it you tell me and I will set him straight",
"Thank you Clara" said Elsa with a smile, it felt good to have somebody who was friendly in a place she did not know. Turning Elsa went back to Hans room only to freeze at what she saw.
At the foot of Hans bed was the stranger, the very same dark skinned, blue eyed stranger she had seen in the Underground Kingdom and in the palace before she mysteriously was teleported to the Southern Isles. For a moment Elsa closed her eyes as she was startled but when she opened them again she saw the stranger had all but vanished.
Baffled Elsa walked over and looked around the room, trying to find an explanation to what she saw, the windows were closed, the door had also been closed so nobody had entered, there was no shadows or trick of the light.
"Did I imagined him?" asked Elsa confused before shaking her head, of course she imagined him or maybe it was a trick of the light, surely she or Lars would have known if somebody else had entered the room.
So with that in mind Elsa took a chair and pushed it closer to the bed before sitting on it and placing the umbrella besides her. Her goal had been partially completed and in time she hopes things would be resolved without the need of tears or hurt.
To be continue...
Authors note: Seems Elsa is being stalked, but the question is who or what is that person. Any way I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, please stay tuned for the next chapter and please leave a review to tell me what you think of this one.