TheDisneyFan365: Whoa. Do you really hate Agni that much?
Miaka: Well, he had to have some relevance to the plot :P
Anna and Thaw: Knock it off.
The 379th Hero: Really? That's all you had to say. Some hero you are.
Strange and proud of it: Great.
Guest: I'm assuming this is Antha1. I don't get the joke about Saturday morning cartoons.
HollieC1974: Well, they were the heroes in their own film.
I am a burglar: It was inevitable, wasn't it.
Antha1: She knew her parents had a plan; didn't you read the last chapter? And even if he couldn't overpower all of them, if he killed Thaw... yeah, that wouldn't be good.
Al Drin Hoshizora: Done what again? Kill people?
When Flint returned to the town square, he was surprised to see a row of rocky shards in the streets, as well as the empty gallows. The crowd was hiding throughout the town.
In the center of the town square was Queen Agni herself. Even from far away, he could see the dourness and emptiness in her eyes as she paced aimlessly around the town square before the ruined gallows. Her fists were clenched and her face was disfigured by a nasty bruise and a few minor cuts, a result of Kristoff's bold strike against her, followed by the resulting plummet from the gallows.
It was a depressing sight for Flint, to see his queen like this. He knew instantly that the execution had failed, and Anna and Kristoff had escaped. He could see it in her eyes that she knew she had failed. Now, the princess and ice master of Arendelle were on the loose, and would no doubt form a plan to counterattack.
Trying to mask his own treachery, Flint said, "Queen Agni, the prisoners escaped. They were freed by Princess Thaw."
Flint saw the way Agni's eyes seemed to darken. She faced him, her eyes blazing with cold fury. He could feel the ground below him seem to increase in smoldering heat, and for a moment, he braced himself for the worst.
Yet it didn't come.
"It matters not," Agni declared, straightening tall and facing Flint. "These fools cannot hope to defeat me. If, and when they come back, I will crush them as quickly as I did before. And this time, I won't leave any of them left to escape me!"
Turning to face the cowering townsfolk, Agni growled, "If any of you are found harboring these escapees, the consequences will be most severe! Now get out of my sight, lest you want a taste of what awaits you in Hell!" Immediately, the townsfolk fled the town square to retreat inside their houses.
Agni turned to Flint and said, "Rally the men! I want you to go and find those prisoners and kill them on the spot. It will be your head and your daughter's if you disobey me! Do you understand."
Flint paused for a moment, and Agni narrowed her eyes at him. Then, Flint nodded before turning to leave.
As he did, Agni didn't notice the look of hatred in his eyes as he left the town square.
"So, what offer did Princess Thaw give you?" Kai asked Oaken as he and the other escaped prisoners trekked through the woods in the direction of the mountains. They had fled the castle as quickly as possible, and the kingdom was now a far distance away.
"It was simple," Oaken replied cheerfully. "She gave me the grand offer of freedom!"
". . . Oh," Kai said, looking away.
"And the side offer of being the Master Trading Person of Arendelle," He added. At that, Kai's eyes widened and he turned around to look at Thaw, who just shrugged his shoulders.
"So, how far until we reach the mountains?" Princess Circe asked. "These high heels are killing me walking through these forests."
"Just a couple of hours," Thaws said. "It took me and Elsa a few minutes thanks to her powers, but on foot. . . and with normal people. . ."
Behind her, she heard Howard shout out, alarmed, "I don't think it's going to take a couple of hours! Look!"
All eyes whipped around, and Thaw gasped when she saw a series of glowing yellow eyes staring out in the darkness of the forest, followed by low growling. Slowly, a pack of wolves with glistening orange fur lurked out of the shadows and approached the escapees. Lava dripped from their jaws as they stalked the terrified group of escapees.
"I should have known Agni wouldn't let us get away that easily," Thaw whispered, backing away slowly.
As the wolves approached her, Thaw whipped out one of Elsa's enchanted snowballs. "Stay back!" She warned the wolves. Suddenly, one of the wolves fired a blast of fire out of its mouth and in her direction, causing her to shout and drop onto the ground to avoid it. The fireball struck a nearby tree, burning the top of it off completely.
The bag of snowballs collapsed onto the ground and were immediately seared by the lava wolves. "Oh no," Thaw whispered in horror as her most efficient weapon against Agni's creations was eliminated. Looking up, she saw one of the wolves hiss and growl at her before diving at her.
Thaw let out a scream and shielded her face, only to hear a piercing sound, followed by a howl of pain.
"What?" She whispered, uncovering her eyes. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw none other than Anna and Kristoff standing over the wolf. A sword was in their hands, and they were pressing it into the wolf's head. The lava monster howled and thrashed out, followed by a squishing sound. Immediately, the wolf's body went limp, and it devolved into lava.
Turning to their daughter, Anna said, "Thaw!" Before embracing her daughter warmly. Thaw briefly returned the hug, happy that her mother was safe, but the two were interrupted when Kristoff said, "Um, guys. We're not out of the fire yet."
The group turned around to see the rest of the lava wolves approach them slowly, growling in fury.
Anna grabbed the hilt of the sword and yanked it out of the ground, aiming it at the wolves threateningly. "Come on!" She challenged, ushering Thaw behind her.
The wolves all let out a growl, and began to charge. Anna braced herself, and the rest of the group prepared for combat.
Suddenly, the group felt a burst of winter snow chill them. Opening their eyes, they saw the lava wolves get frozen into solid ice within seconds, just as they were about to pounce. After a few moments, the ice statues shattered into a million pieces onto the ground.
The group were surprised to see the fiery, accursed ground beneath them be replaced with chilling ice. As it did, the group saw Marshmallow appear out of the forest, followed by the snowglies.
Anna's eyes widened. "Elsa?" She whispered, looking around to find her sister. For a few moments, there was silence.
Then, slowly, the group saw Elsa walk out of the shadows. Anna was initially overjoyed to see her sister and rushed to hug her, but froze when she saw how Elsa looked.
Elsa's hair was partially red, and her skin looked tanner than usual. Her icy blue eyes had turned golden, and even her dress now had an orange tinge to it.
". . . Elsa?" Anna whispered, her eyes widening in horror. Behind her, everyone gasped except for Thaw.
"It's a long story," Elsa said, gesturing with her arms to calm everyone down. "But short form is, Agni put a curse on me. But we mustn't worry about that right now. Now, we must focus on stopping the Fire Queen!"
"But Elsa, you're-" Anna started, but was cut off by Thaw.
"Mom," She said, shooting a stare at Anna, who immediately closed her mouth.
Grand Pabbie walked out of the group slowly and approached Elsa. "Come close to me," The old troll requested. Elsa obeyed and knelt down to the elderly shaman's eye level. The troll felt her head, and slowly pulled away.
"Agni has indeed cursed you," He said. "It is the same curse you cast upon your sister years ago. An act of true love is necessary to revoke it; if you don't, you will die."
A horrified gasp arose from the crowd. Elsa, meanwhile, merely nodded her head in acceptance and muttered bitterly, "Well, at least I now know what it feels like to be Anna."
"Sucks, doesn't it?' Anna couldn't help but comment.
Pabbie decided to shed some hope on the situation. "Thanks to your powers, the curse may take longer to take full affect," He explained. "But even then, we don't have much time. You're the only one who's powers are equal to Agni's."
Elsa shook her head. "No, their not," She said. "We fought. She's more powerful than I am. I couldn't beat her even without the curse. But now, with the curse weakening my powers; how will I stand a chance?"
"Because you'll have us," King Andreas said, stepping forward confidently.
"Count me in," Prince Howard agreed, standing next to the king. Elsa smiled in gratitude, but then frowned.
"We have to form a strategy, but we don't have much time," She said. "How will we strike back at Agni when the whole kingdom is crawling with her soldiers."
"I believe I can be of assistance."
All heads whipped around. There, standing in the shadows, was none other than Flint.
The Fire Queen's former guard stepped out of the darkness slowly. There was a look of uncertainty on his face, as if even he couldn't believe what he was doing. He took a deep breath and approached the group.
Anna shielded Thaw. "Keep away," She said, narrowing her eyes and aiming the sword at him.
"Wait," Thaw said, lowering her mother's arm. Anna blinked in confusion as Thaw approached Flint. Taking him by the hand, she said, "He let us escape the castle. I think we can trust him."
Flint let out a sigh and looked up to face the group. "I know I may have done some questionable things," He confessed. "Me and my kingdom owe everyone here severely. But I promise you all that I want to help. Agni has hurt everyone around her, including those in Arcturus. They need to be freed from this tyrant just as much as you do."
Elsa stared at Flint, a somewhat skeptical look in her eyes. Flint couldn't bare to look her in the eyes.
"I know, you don't trust me," He said, throwing his arms up in frustration. "Who can blame you all? But if you don't trust my word, than I guess you can just kill me and be done with it." As he said this, he pulled out his sword and dropped it to the ground, disarming himself.
For a moment, there was a cold silence. Flint shut his eyes, preparing for the worst.
Then, he felt Elsa's hand on his shoulder. Opening his eyes, he saw Elsa, gazing at him warmly.
"Flint, I think your heart has been thawed," She said, smiling and with a tear in her eye.
Flint stared at her in shock. Then, he too, smiled warmly.
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