TW: co-hosting
Chapter 54-Light and Shadow (Kiri, Inner World)
Once home, Diane sat awkwardly at the kitchen table, tapping her fingers. Kiri sat on the couch, staring at a blank t.v. Now what? She had revealed herself, granted it was under hypnosis. Should Kiri try to comfort Diane? Should she give her distance? What was the proper thing to do? Kiri sighed and looked to Diane. The woman was pacing now. "Diane, why don't you sit down? Pacing won't help you feel any better."
"I don't know if I can. All this time, Elsa had been telling the truth. At least I think she was. You aren't a demon, are you?"
"No, I'm far from it. I'm just as human as you. I only have the ability to control her snow."
"You do? Why didn't you teach her to control it?"
Kiri rubbed her eyes. "I did. But her emotions can also trigger it. And if her emotions are stronger than her will to control it, the snow gets out of hand."
"I see. So, you've been here for almost 7 years now correct?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"With how Ian was treating her already, that would have made things worse. In fact, he's part of the reason I exist."
"So it's his fault?"
"A vast majority, yes. See, Elsa has an escape mechanism, the castle. When she can't handle her real life, that's where she goes. And then I come out."
"And you deal with it?"
Kiri nodded. "Pretty much. Although when I first came around I wasn't as warm to Elsa as I am now and I tended to terrorize you and Ian with her snow. But after about 4 months I warmed up to the squirt."
"I see. Is there more than just you? Cause I've noticed that you talk and sometimes Elsa just goes completely silent, or childish or horrid."
"I can't say. Mainly for safety reasons, mine and Elsa's. You'll meet any others when it's time." Kiri had to word her response carefully. She couldn't reveal the others. That was something the others had to do. Though she had a feeling that Nassiri would enjoy revealing herself. Nassiri! How were the girls faring? Now worry flooded over Kiri as she laid down on the couch and tried to nap. Any time she could rest, she tried relentlessly to get into the castle. This time was no different. There was an icy barrier that Kiri couldn't do away with. It kept frustrating her more and more. No matter how much Kiri tried; or what she tried, she just couldn't get through. She paced the void, hands on her lower back. "What is going on in there?"
Elsa woke, groggy and sore. Where was she? It didn't feel anything like her room in the real world or the castle. She was on a cold ground, dim light filtering through a window. Her eyes slowly blinked, her vision clearing. She slowly sat up and looked to the window with a huge yawn. The window was coated with frost, thick snow falling outside. "What? What's happened? Where am I?" She went to stand up and walk to the window, only to feel something loose on her wrist tighten as she got close to the window. "What?" She looked to her wrists, seeing wrist braces chained from her to the floor. "What?! What is this?! Where am I!?"
"Glad you asked," Nassiri answered, her wings covering her entirely. "This is what was designed for me. But I've decided you are a much better fit for this place. It's distant, secluded and lonely, like you."
"Who are you?"
"It doesn't matter. Let's just say, you should have listened to Kiri when she still had a chance to protect you." Nassiri stepped back slowly, laughing. "Sweet dreams Snowfreak." She opened the door and walked out, locking it behind her.
"No! Let me out! Somebody! Help! Please! I'm trapped!" Elsa frantically tried pulling on her restraints but got nowhere. "Somebody please! Help me! I've been locked up by a psycho!" Elsa kept pulling on her chains until her wrists bled. "No….No, no, no, no, no!" Elsa fell to her knees and covered her eyes, sobbing heavily. "Why? Someone…help me…." Frost and ice were starting to cover the floor and walls, slowly creeping up to the ceiling.
Anna winced as Aya wrapped the bandage around her waist. "Thanks. Man am I lucky I found you. I might have bled to death if I hadn't. Hey, doesn't your bedroom door say "Ayalah's room?" You have a pretty name. My name is Anna."
Aya rolled her eyes, this girl could talk. But she did have a point. If Aya hadn't have found her when she did, Anna might have bled to death. Who had done this to her? Why? What could they have possibly gained from doing something so life threatening? Aya finished wrapping the bandage and handed Anna her clothes, turning so the girl could get dressed. After a few seconds, she turned around. Aya tilted her head and pointed to Anna's side, using her finger to air trace a question mark.
Anna blinked and stared for a few seconds before it seemed to register that Aya had non-verbally asked a question. "Oh, who did this?" Aya nodded. "It was weird. I was having a hallucination and shadow things were moving and I kept hearing voices. Then on my window was this really beautiful angel. But she was scary. Her wings were black and she had strange marks all over her. She shot me with a spear of ice and walked out of the room, locking it from the outside somehow." Aya motioned around her face and hair. "Uh….Looks?" Aya nodded and got something to write with and on. "Well, she was tall. About 6 feet tall, I'd guess. And she had really long bright red hair, with the brightest piercing green eyes I've ever seen. She also had a weird black tail."
Aya nodded and finished writing it down. She tore the paper from the notebook and stuck it to the fridge. So, there was a strange angel like woman on the loose who was willing to hurt them for no reason. How could they protect themselves? Where was this woman as they spoke? And where was the little white haired girl that often frequented the castle? And the older woman with the streaked black hair? Had the angel gotten to them, too? How could she find out the answers without saying anything? She looked to Anna, who was braiding her hair. Of course! Anna could go to whoever was with Diane and ask for her! Then she could come back and tell her! But how would she get Anna to go outside? Aya motioned for Anna to follow her, walking to the front door. She pointed from Anna to the door, opened it and pointed to the void. She made a few hand gestures, trying to communicate that she should talk to whoever was with Diane. But from Anna's expression, it wasn't registering. So Aya tried it simpler. She walked Anna to the void, made hand motions of talking and pointed again to the void.
"Oh! Go see who's in control and ask what's going on?" Anna smiled as Aya nodded. "Okay, I'll try." Anna walked out to the void.
Kiri sat at the dinner table, toying with the food on the plate. It was an almost eerie silence as her and Diane sat across from each other. Kiri was still unsure of how to talk to Diane now that Diane knew who she was. She sighed, trying to eat passed the huge lump of worry and agitation in her chest. Her left hand started tapping rapidly, as if impatient.
"Gee that food looks good! I just wanna eat it!"
"What the? Who?"
"Hey, lady! I forgot your name. What's going on?"
Kiri blinked. Despite Anna only talking in her head, Kiri was unintentionally voicing what Anna was saying. "Uh, bad things."
"Bad things, like what? Let me eat a bite of food and tell me."
"You dummy I can't-" Kiri was cut off as Anna ate a big helping of mashed potatoes. Kiri looked from the plate to Diane, to see her staring. After swallowing, Kiri sighed. "Excuse me for a moment." She left to Elsa's room. "Anna, what are you doing?! Diane already knows about me but be careful! She doesn't know of the rest of you yet."
"Why wouldn't she know of me? I am her daughter after all."
"What? No, you're…" Kiri sighed. "Ok, so what's going on? Are you guys okay? What happened to you, Anna? I felt some seriously bad pains a while back."
Anna tapped her chin, making Kiri tap hers. "Well, this crazy angel lady attacked me. I was freaking out and then she came along and stabbed me with an ice spear." Anna was doing hand gestures, Kiri mirroring her. " You then talked to me, I managed to get out of my locked room and found Elsa. But then a strange voice told me that she was responsible for everything and I started freaking out again. I'm not sure what happened after cause I blacked out for a short while. But when I came to, Elsa was gone, there was a trail of frost and Aya was helping clean me up."
Kiri felt a huge knot of stress unwind but another took its place a few seconds later. "Well, at least you're alright. You said you blacked out and when you woke up Elsa was gone?"
"Yep, she was gone and there was frost."
"Frost…Listen Anna, the angel you saw is very dangerous. She'll stop at nothing to be the only one of us left! You have to stay away from her! She already has Elsa, god I hope that kid is okay. She's still just a frightened child at heart. You keep Aya and Arcy safe. For some reason, I'm locked out."
"Locked out? What do you mean?"
"I'm in control right now and I can't get back in the castle. The angel, Nassiri, is blocking me. She knows I'm trying to protect you guys and trying to kick her ass. She's keeping me out with some kind of invisible wall that I can't break down. Lock all the windows and doors, don't go out unless you absolutely have to. And if you do, go in groups and take something to help defend yourselves. Don't purposely try to find her, it will end badly for you. Just stay safe for now okay? I'm still trying to get back in every chance I get."
"Are you going to be okay?"
"I'll be fine, I'll handle things out here. You just make sure everyone knows what's going on."
"Can do! Thanks, lady!"
Kiri felt her migraine ease up as Anna left to go to the castle. So Nassiri had made her first move. Kiri sighed and rubbed her eyes. She needed to get back there. She was needed. "Elsa, please be okay…" She left the room to go explain to Diane what had just happened. She sat at the table and sighed. "Uh, sorry. Sometimes, with what Elsa has, random thoughts are spoken and well, yeah…" It was hard to explain without revealing the existence of the others.
Anna ran from the void to the castle. She made sure to watch the skies for the angel named Nassiri. She ran into the doors, forgetting to open them. Her nose started bleeding but she put that aside. After getting in, she found Aya pacing in the kitchen. "Aya! It's uh…The dark haired older lady in control. And she says that angel is highly dangerous. Her name is Nassiri and according to the older lady, Nassiri will stop at nothing to be the only one left of us. There was a few other things…What were they…" Anna tapped her fingers together, thinking. "Oh yeah! We have to stay safe but more importantly, Nassiri has Elsa! I thought Elsa was a bad person but I guess she's not. We have to stay safe somehow. Oh god, what if Nassiri comes and gets us? What if uh…" Anna snapped her fingers. "Kiri! What if Kiri can't get back in? Oh yeah Kiri's locked out of the castle world by Nassiri, too. What if we can't get Elsa back? What if Kiri can never come back? What if Nassiri gets us? What should we do?"
Aya rubbed her eyes. Anna was starting to panic. She lightly tapped Anna's forehead and silently stared at her, barely shaking her head. This wasn't a time for panic. She rubbed a spot just above the bridge of Anna's nose, wiping the blood from Anna's nose with her sleeve. Aya sighed lightly and gently guided Anna to a chair to sit. She sat in front of Anna, motioning to take breaths in through her nose and out through her mouth. Anna was sobbing and shaking her head, not paying attention. So Aya stood and went to the linen closet, grabbing a blanket. From there she went to the kitchen to make some peppermint tea. With the tea ready, Aya walked out, placed the blanket over Anna and handed her the tea. She gently placed her hands on Anna's shoulders as Anna drank the tea, trying to convey that they'd be fine.
"Thanks, Aya. Panicking isn't going to help us. I mean we're only stuck in here with a psychopathic fallen angel who wants to kill us, that's no reason to panic. Well it is but it isn't going to help us in any way." Anna sighed deeply as Aya nodded. "You're right. I need to stay calm. That dirty angel would probably enjoy seeing me freak out. Thanks, thanks." Anna slowly drank her tea, wrapping up in the blanket.
Back with Elsa, she was curled in a ball on the icy floor. "I'm going to freeze to death…I'm going to freeze….This is how I die…I don't wanna die…I'm too young to die…" That was such a clichéd line. "I'm going to die before I'm 13. Please, someone…help me…" It was still lightly snowing in her room, but outside a heavy blizzard was surrounding her building.
"Elsa! Elsa can you hear me?!"
"Kiri! Thank god! I'm so sorry! I should have listened to you! I'm sorry!"
"Now isn't the time to apologize. You need to calm down. I can feel the frost of your room and your powers are leaking out into the real world. Calm down. Remember what we talked about. Your emotions can control your powers, too. If you can calm down, you can escape."
"But how, Kiri? I'm chained in a dark room! I have no clue where I am!"
"It doesn't matter if you're chained or where. Your snow and ice can get you out. Focus hard. Focus on the chains and seeing them covered in ice so thick, the chains break under the weight. Can you do that?"
"I don't know, I'm so scared and alone."
Kiri smiled a little as she talked to Elsa. "You're never really alone. I'm with you and so are the others. We're always with you. You can do this, Elsa, I believe in you."
Elsa wiped her nose on her shoulder with a light sniffle. "You do?"
"I always have, girl. You can do this. Now, can you move your fingers and hands?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, so what you need to do is aim your hands at the base of the chains. Find where the chains attach to the wall or floor or whatever and aim your powers there. Keep using them until you can't anymore. The ice will make the chains so heavy, they'll break off the walls under the weight."
"Alright…" Elsa squinted into the thick darkness and found the chain base on the floor. "Here goes everything," she sighed heavily and did as Kiri told her. "Can you help me, Kiri?"
"I'm helping as much as I can. I'm just glad you can hear me."
"Me too," Elsa kept aiming at the chain base, all her snow and ice encasing it thickly. After a few minutes, she let her arms drop, panting heavily. "Okay…What now?"
"Pull. Pull with all your strength. You can do this. You're a strong and brave young girl. You can get through this. Who's strong and brave?"
"I'm strong and brave?"
"I can't hear you." Kiri hoped her encouragement could break Elsa free.
"I'm strong and brave." Elsa's voice rose a little.
"Who is?"
"I'm strong and brave!"
"Who's strong and brave?" 'Come on Elsa, build your confidence,' Kiri bit her lip.
"I'm strong and brave!" Elsa shouted, running the full length of the chains and pulling as hard as she could. "I'm strong and brave! I'm strong and brave!"
"Damn right you are, Elsa! You've got this!"
"I've got this!" Elsa kept pulling, falling forward with the sound of heavy clanking on the floor. "I…I did it! I did it!" Elsa was ecstatic. "Oh my snow, I did it!"
"I knew you could do it, Elsa! Is there a window in your room and if so, can you reach it?"
"Yeah, I think I can. Let me guess, break it and climb out?"
"You got it!"
"I'm escaping this god forsaken dungeon. Thanks so much Kiri."
"You did it all on your own, Snowflake."
Elsa took hold of her chains and threw them at the window, hearing the glass break. "Hell yeah! I am outta here!" She scrambled up the wall, out the window and into the blizzard. "Holy….I did this, so I can stop it…Maybe. I'll just run for now." And Elsa took off. She had no idea where she was going, she just knew that she was free. "Thank you so much Kiri. You're my guardian angel."
Kiri smiled, a little teary eyed. "Glad to help, Snowflake."
Don't mind the typo fixing I'm doing. It's still the same story, just might have some little bits added in here and there.
