Agnire woke to a furious throbbing throughout his entire body. A bright white light behind his eyelids as a frigid cold embraced him from below. With a heavy head and heavier limbs he forced himself up onto his palms. His eyes blinking in the unrestrained wrath before him.
Wood, rope and metal laid all around him. Broken pieces of the ship laying in nearly unrecognizable heaps. The cloth from the sails rippled ominously over the black choppy water. The bob of the masts that were felled. A high-pitched scrapping sound, like nails on a blackboard, of the metal riggings grinding against ice as they were pulled towards the sea.
His heart thumped heavily in his chest, spurring his body back to his feet with a dangerous sway and a pulsing throb through his injured leg. His eyes went wide as he looked throughout the wreckage. The ship appearing to have been lifted high into the air before it was smashed without prejudice against the bank of…Agnire turned slowly, Ahtohallan.
"Anna?" A deep breath turned him on his heels and a his fingers wiped the blood from his blow. His boots slipped on the ice causing him to slide over a rise. When he managed to stop himself his heart gave a painful flip, "Anna."
As quick he dared, Agnire moved towards a pile of wood where just the smallest of hands could be seen from beneath. Their fingers still. He slid down to his knees, his hands pushing away the boards with a strength he didn't know he possessed. His breath sticking just a bit when his eyes caught sight of the small river of red that ran down the ice into the black sea. Another push exposed fire burnt locks. Anna's face inches away from the water that lapped up against the ice.
Agnire moved quick to pull her further from the water's edge. The wood that had covered her frame slipping into the icy water as he pulled her out from under by her shoulders. Once he was sure they were a safe distance away he laid her down as gently as he could and pressed his ear over her chest. quieting his breaths. When the soft tick-tock of her heart thrummed in his ears he let out a deep breath before taking hold of her once again, dragging her as carefully as he could towards the entrance.
Once he was sure she was safe and away from the creaking wreckage he turned his eyes back out, "Where are you…?" His eyes narrowed, his hand resting over Anna's heart to assure himself that it had remained beating.
Most of the ship lay in pieces floating adrift in the stilling waters, the storms rage leaving chopping waves in its wake. Pushing himself back to his feet, he brought himself up as tall as he could, allowing him to see the a broken mast that denoted the top deck just over another rise.
oO§Oo
Anna found herself standing in a place she could never have imagined. Her body felt weightless and warm. As though she were simply floating in an endless space. A darkness like nothing she'd ever experienced wrapping all around. Though she was sure she could feel a floor beneath her feet, when she turned her head down she found herself looking into what appeared to be an endless reaching mass of tiny stars. The sort that filled the darkest of the night's skies.
"Anna." A gentle whisper, a soothing caress, a familiar tone.
"Mama…?" Anna's eyes widened, her body turning around in the space to try and find the source. When nothing but blackness greeted her she turned her eyes back down. Her heart skipped when a sharp flash, like a shooting star, zipped across the floor. She didn't know how, or why but she knew she needed to follow it and so, she did.
"Anna."
"Papa?" Her heart beat just a bit quicker, and her feet moved faster, the smallest of lights flickering to her at an impossible distance. Though her feet made no sound and her body felt no fatigue she still felt as though she'd been running for years. Images flashed by just in the corner of her vision but when she'd turned her head to see they were no longer there.
Anna's eyes darted around the space, trying to find anything to mark her way, to show that she'd at the very least been moving forward at all. The light that had previously guided her had remained as it had been despite all her efforts and her heart began to pull her in a different direction. A furrowed brow slowed her steps and chest heaving, she tried to understand, tried to listen. Her eyes closed and she felt an unfathomable stillness grow around her. Then, just as she peeked open her eyes, out of the darkness gradually appeared a set double doors. Familiar in design, and heavy on her heart. Would the throne room lie behind if she were to throw them open?
Another whisper, another small push brought her hesitantly closer and closer until finally she found herself standing inside the very walls of the castle she called home. The blackness eerily melting away to form the floor and walls around her now. A beautiful light was streaming in through the windows and she could almost feel the warmth of summer on her skin.
Her hands trembled as they took hold of the handles. Her heart racing in her chest. When she pushed forward a brilliant white light stole away her sight and her arms came up as though to shield herself from its beauty.
"Anna." A warm loving smile.
Anna could feel a warmth—a love—she hadn't felt in so long wrapping around her. Her eyes closed tighter as she let her chin lower down over a strongly beating heart, a smell so soft she was not sure she'd smelled it at all. The feeling that encased her very soul, brought a new meaning to this world. Her lashes fluttered with the hope—the fear, of what awaited her should she opened them.
"Open your eyes, sunflower." A voice so real it couldn't possibly exist.
Anna could feel tears rolling down her cheeks as her hands trembled at her sides. Her entire being shuddering with an emotion that could never be named. A slow breath rose her lashes and her hands; her fingertips running along firmly pressed fabric, "Papa…?"
Agnar smiled down so kindly at his daughter, her age, her beauty, her strength radiating in the pride on his face, "My sweet, Anna."
Anna could hardly contain herself as she lurched, her arms coming up to hold on tight, her nails scrapping against the fabric of his jacket as she struggled for purchase, though in a dark little corner of her mind she had expected to fall straight through. His hold as safe and strong as the day he'd left. The thump against her chest as she fell into her father so solidly made her heart spark with a joy she hadn't felt in a long time.
oO Ahtohallan Oo
Agnire panted against the cold that turned his breath to smoke, his hands digging through the debris in search of something to aid him. He had found Elsa's twisted body among what was left of the pillory. It's podium broken and on its side beneath the long main mast leaving one of her arms dangling high above her stilled form. Like an angel whose wings had been cut the blood that dripped down from her back onto the ice below forming a small pool around her turned legs.
Agnire pushed the body of one of the men that had aided Alrik in his devious plans. His arm completely gone by the weight of the helm that had crushed it against the ice, "Yes."
His fingers curled around the dagger held in the man's belt and gave a sharp pull to free it from its sheath. A steadying breath raised him back to his feet where he pulled himself up onto the remnants of the top deck. It's angle tilted dangerously so that he had to hold onto the wood to move across it. A small jump back down landed him inside the small cavern, as though even the world could not look upon its own sins.
"Agh!" A cry ripped through his throat as he slammed the hilt down onto the manacle that rested on the ice. The yellow sapphire inlaid inside the intricate metal work gave a mighty crack and he quickly turned the blade around to dig out the pieces. Once cleared away he pressed the tip into the small lock and gave it a sharp twist.
A sharp spark licked at his fingertips as the metal cracked open it's weight sliding it across the ice, "Almost…" His foot lightly pushed against the arm he'd just freed as he came to stand. The blade in his hand reaching high as he slammed it between the pillory's metal bindings. Another sharp twist and his body jolted back to catch the one he had just released. The dagger safely pointed towards himself as his arms wrapped around Elsa's chest, her head heavily falling back against his shoulder with the softest of breaths against his chin accompanied by a faint trickle of blood along his throat, "I've got you…just hold on…"
oO Enchanted Forest Shore Oo
The roar of the storm vibrated through the air, Honeymaren's hand trembling a she held tight to the staff she'd foolishly planted into the stones, as though making her last stand. To protect her people, the forest and all those who dwelled beyond its borders. Her hand shook dreadfully as the wind stole the very breath from her lungs. She could hear her brother crying out from the behind the trees where he and Kirstoff had taken cover, but she would not be felled without trying— trying to do something.
Then—a miracle. The black light of the sun gave way to crisp golden light, the world flooding with color and grace. A sharp sound, a familiar crack of water turning ice in an instant, opened her eyes. The staff in her hand slipped, falling forward into the edge of the sea where a bright light raced towards it through the waves. Parting them with unbelievable force. Frigid air frittered into her lungs as her eyes widened in unadulterated awe. Her knees felt weak, her body shivering with emotions she could never explain and her eyes turned to just take in the sight before her.
The waves of the black sea lapped at the large wall that parted its waters. The ice spiked, like the sharp spears of war, reaching towards the dark sky, flashes of light hidden in the clouds that crept outward. A heavy wind blew down the path, raising grains of dark sand that glittered like fire.
Her reverence was cut short when heavy arms wrapped around her from behind. Causing her to stumble and turn to cling to her brother. His words of adoration pressing into her ear before he pulled back with the same look of terrified awe, "How did you do that?"
"I didn't…" Honeymaren shook her head looking down at her hands, she'd never had powers, she couldn't even talk to the spirits in her dreams. A gift that her grandmother carried.
Ryder shook his head in disbelief his hands coming back around to pull her in close, his voice turning to that of a younger brother who nearly watched his sister be swallowed by the waves, "You could have been killed!"
"But I wasn't." Honeymaren swallowed heavily turning her head back towards the sea, though she didn't dare to release Ryder as she was sure she'd fall to her knees, "I think…Ahtohallan wants us to go to her…" She didn't know how, or why but the voice inside her heart spoke so clearly. It was a feeling she had longed strove for but had never achieved. The voice of the spirits.
Kristoff joined them just as breathless, his arm wrapping over Ryder's, "Then we should go."
oO§Oo
"I don't understand…How are you here…How am I here?" Anna had taken only a moment to relish in the feeling of her father's embrace before the very real logistics of the entire situation crashed down upon her like a winter's waterfall.
"Do not worry, all will be revealed soon." Agnarr brushed her hair over her shoulder before cradling her jaw. His eyes closing as he gave her a soft kiss to the center of her forehead.
Anna breathed in his love, but when she opened her eyes, she suddenly found herself standing alone. A sharp breath left her chest as she turned back towards the doors to which she'd come only this time, they were different. In their place a door she knew the texture of every single grain, a door that had stood before her more than any other. Impassible.
Would it open for her now?
As she neared, she could hear a new voice. One that she'd always known but never knew. Its timber gender-less but powerful. Safe and warm. Her heart pulled her ever closer but when her fingers curled around the handle she found no strength to test its lock. Instead, as she had for so many years, she pressed her ear close, closing her eyes to listen.
"I have been watching you Elsa. There is no one else I would trust with my power."
"But I-I took so many lives…"
Elsa's voice was weak, filled with sorrow and remorse. Anna could almost see the tears running down her cheeks.
"You saved so many lives."
"All I've ever done is bring pain and suffering into this world."
Anna could actually hear her sister's heart breaking. See the sorrow in her eyes as fresh and clear as the day she'd seen her in the ice palace.
"No Elsa, that's not true. You've done so much more."
The voice was kind, soft and filled with no judgement. There was a long pause, a small piece of the conversation that she could not hear, Elsa's voice murmured but she could not make out her words.
Anna could no longer restrain herself, her hand turned almost outside of her command as she pushed herself through the doorway and into an entirely new space. Her heart beat somewhere in her throat when her eyes turned out fully expecting to land on her sister. Head bowed, on her knees, her arms down at her sides as though they were much to heavy to lift. But she wasn't there.
The world around her had transformed, filling with a cold that could not be restrained. Large pillars laid in ruins all around the central floor. Thrones shattered nearly beyond recognition. Though she could see no faces, she could feel the weight of many sets of eyes looking down heavily upon her.
Despite the risk of this new world. Anna pressed herself forward, the small light that she had seen before in the darkness guiding her through the destruction. Her only thought was to see her sister who she heard let out a broken sob that became muffled as though she curled down even further towards the floor. Was it merely a memory? Or something more?
A soft flurry of snow began to float past Anna's face, and her heart fell to her feet. As she rounded one of the still partially standing pillars she found herself not standing before her sister but rather the silent fall of the last snowflake. Larger than the rest, it spun on its axis. It's six points gleaming with a rainbow of color before it too fell down to the floor.
oO The Black Sea Oo
Honeymaren had not been able to wait any longer. Having left her brother and Kristoff behind as they went in search of something her ears just simply did not hear. Her steps led as though following the call of a siren. Her eyes held towards the horizon that seemed to hold no end.
The walls to either side of her glistened in the ever rising sun, the shadow that had taken the color from the world steadily slipping away. She held no fear in her heart though in her mind she knew she would not survive should they fall. Though the sound of waves echoed through the path, the ice did not crack, did not tremble at their power.
The staff at her side pulsed with a magic she couldn't even begin to understand and it was with it that she held strong. Though when a deep rumble reverberated through the sand beneath her feet she did feel a spark of terror wash down her spine but as she turned to look behind her she spirit lept.
"Thought this would be faster!" Ryder called out from atop his trusted reindeer. Kristoff in his shadow pulling a now empty cart that the armies had used to bring their supplies. Sven's tongue waving as though to say Hello as the they thundered ever closer.
"What would I do without you." Honeymaren smirked as she raised her arm, her body being quickly swept up onto the back of her brother's reindeer.
"You can thank me later." Ryder grinned looking back at her as she wrapped an arm around to hold on tight, "Chocolate would be nice."
"I'll consider it." She playfully smacked his chest before turning her eyes towards the rising bed of the sea.
oO§Oo
Anna could no longer feel her knees beneath her as her body sunk slowly down to the icy floor. Her fingertips lightly grazing the snowflake that had somehow become apart of the ice beneath her. Her eyes flooded with tears as she tried to understand what she had just seen, what it all meant.
"Anna?"
"Elsa?" Anna had never turned so fast in all her life, she was sure she'd left some organs behind when she shot to her feet, her eyes wide and her heart pulsing somewhere in a different time zone, "You-You're…"
Elsa stepped out from behind the last remaining pillar, she'd taken a moment to just find herself, and decide what she'd needed to do. What she knew must be done. Her conversation with Ahtohallan herself having left her with one last thing to do.
Her body jolted as Anna nearly brought them to the floor with the force of her hug. Her arms rose slowly but no less tight, a soft smile on her lips as she pressed her nose into her sister's neck just taking a moment to enjoy the feeling.
"Oh, Anna…" Elsa lovingly chastised. Her sister shook heavily in her arms, a deep echoing sob breaking past her lips. Elsa's brow curled with confusion but she didn't deny her sister the affection she obviously needed in that moment, that was until a thought fluttered in her heart, "Wait…How are you here?"
Anna pulled back with a heavy sniffle, her face twisted with her tears. She hastily tried to wipe them away and calm herself down enough to speak, though her hands just went back to Elsa, her fingertips digging into her arms. Another series of deep gulping breaths gave her enough strength to speak.
"I don't know…I just woke up here…" A gentle hand to her cheek calmed her further and she could feel herself relaxing enough to speak without a dreadful whine in her voice, "Where are we?"
Elsa was ever patient as her sister composed herself, this world was nothing new to her and she knew that sometimes things didn't make sense at the time but they would in the end, "The spirit realm…"
"The spirit realm?" Anna sniffled again turning her head back towards the snowflake that seemed to pulse with a slowly growing light, "Ho-ow?"
"Only Ahtohallan knows…" Elsa knew she had to trust in herself, trust in what was spoken to her. Despite the fear, despite everything standing before her telling her that it couldn't possibly be true. In the darkness of her mind she knew something had happened to them, something that she may not be able to bring them back from. But instead of focusing on the weight that threatened to drag her down, she turned her focus on just taking one more step in front of the other.
Anna turned her head back towards the snowflake one more time, her brain jumping between too many things to make sense, "I thought….I thought you were gone and…and that…" I killed you.
Elsa turned her eyes towards the snowflake resting in the center of the room. Resting over the very spot that she had met all the other physical embodiments of the spirits on. The spot to which they had looked down at her from on high. The spot to which she believed she would never be able to stand. Never be able to stand along side the other spirits as an equal. As someone worthy of the gift she'd been given.
Then, she smiled, "Oh, Anna…you are the light in my darkness…What would I do without you?"
"W-hat?" Anna swallowed a withered laugh as Elsa took her fingers in her own pulling her towards the center of the room, "I don't understand…"
"Neither do I, but I trust in this…in us…Together." Elsa placed herself along the rim of her element, her eyes turning down when the other ribs seemed to glow as if being called from somewhere she could never know.
Anna could only shake her head in disbelief as she was pulled to stand in the center of them all. Her hands still connected with Elsa's own as she tried to understand the intricate patterns coming to life beneath them.
Elsa turned her eyes towards the rim to her right, its light not there and she just knew, "Come on, Anna. We have one more spirit to find."
Anna raised her brows with disbelief shining in her eyes as a mighty power shot up around them, wrapping around her body and encasing her soul with a power she could never imagine.
Unlike when Alrik had forced Elsa's power through her, this was something so much more. So much more powerful. Like falling into the embrace of someone you had loved since before you could talk. Like the feeling of finding strength to be yourself when you stand alone but feeling even stronger when you realize there is someone to standing right beside you.
Anna's eyes closed as the lights flurried between them, shattering the world around them soundlessly. Her feet found no footing but the hands that held her own gave her purchase, it was amazing.
"Anna? Open your eyes."
Elsa's breath whispered over her parted lips and she blinked her eyes open to the sight of a goddess come to earth before her. The beauty of her white dress and train like wings just like the first time she'd seen her sister after she'd saved Arendelle from her nearly irreparable actions.
Anna let out a heavy puff of air before she realized that she too was dressed in something just as breathtaking. Her skirts longer than Elsa's but not in the slightest restricting. Her colors fading from a ethereal white to a beautiful green. Gold sparkling against the silver that made up her sisters beautiful detailing.
"Two sides, remember?" Elsa gave her a proud smile before a movement out of the corner of her eye turned her head wiping the happiness from her features.
Anna didn't have a chance to respond before she too had turned her attention, her eyes going wide as she saw her own body laying prone on the floor. A horrible out-of-body like feeling wrapping around her head but before she could really excogitate on it, her attention turned further.
"Alrik."