Ignition

Chapter #

A New World

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, it's time for our first serious council meeting," Arianna said, standing at the head of the room next to Elsa and Anna.

Several council members scowled, but were wise enough not to immediately piss off the impatient fire elemental princess.

"Before we get started, everyone who has a problem with my abilities or the abilities of my sister, feel free to resign and walk out that door," she continued, indicating the wide open double doors of the council chamber.

"Now hold on a minute," came an annoyingly proud tone.

Arianna rolled her eyes and glared at the speaker. "Yes, Stion," she acknowledged with a growl.

Stion was continually a pain in the Royal family's rear, and was one of the first Arianna had assumed would take the offer of leaving. Apparently she underestimated his pride.

"I'm getting tired of your high and mighty attitude, young lady," Stion scolded, seemingly oblivious he was speaking to the princess. That or he didn't care. "You do not have the right to dictate what this council does or does not do."

Arianna looked to Elsa with a pleading look. The Queen shook her head, prompting a pout to appear on her face. Anna sealed the decision when she crossed her arms and glared at her twin. She let out an exasperated sigh and glared at Stion.

"My sisters have decided that my response to your insubordination isn't going to happen. Shame," she grinned, "I was hoping to share some Stain-on-the-cob with Sven tonight."

Some of the council members and Anna snickered at Stion's less than dignified nickname, while Elsa barely managed to contain a smirk.

"Stion, you have continually acted against the best interests of Arendelle. My sister's offer at the beginning of this meeting was a way for you, and the several who believe like you do, to resign with honors," Elsa announced, queenly tone on full throttle. "Even though you continued running your mouth, I'm still willing to give you that chance, despite what the Protector may want to do to you."

Stion visibly gulped as Arianna lit a fireball in her hand, sporting a maniacal expression.

"Make no mistake, Your Majesty," he spat in reply, "Your reign will only bring doom upon Arendelle."

Elsa's eyes flashed white, and her voice layered over with power. "If you do not leave now, you will not be alive to see it," she threatened.

Stion held up his hands in surrender. He took off his badge of office which had been secured above his breast pocket, and laid it down on the table. Then, muttering curses, he left through the open doorway and went down the hallway out of sight.

"Anyone care to join him?" the normally happy Anna asked with a dangerous tone.

Seven other council members laid down their badges of office and followed Stion out the doors.

Elsa slowly took a breath and exhaled. They knew a large number of council members were uncomfortable with her rule, but eight out of sixteen? Half of them? The thought disturbed her more than she let on. Not for the first time, she briefly wondered if stepping down would be the prudent thing to do. Then she saw the supporting gazes of her sisters and the remaining council members, enough to push those thoughts away for other days.

"It is sad to lose so many from our ranks," Elsa began, "but Arendelle will keep moving forward. You are probably all wondering why an emergency session was called." Nodding to Arianna, she continued. "Before we begin, the Protector has something to show us."

Arianna nodded her head, and abruptly snapped her fingers. A low hum was heard coming from the center of the council table, and a previously hidden cavity opened up. It was about the size of a large serving platter, and contained some kind of metal cylinder. Before anyone could inspect it, a loud SLAM was heard from the doorway. Everyone except the royals snapped their attention in that direction, revealing a solid metal wall that had covered the open doorway.

"What the-," Adrian began, but was cut off by more loud slamming noises echoing through the chamber. Merely three seconds later, every wall and window was covered with metal walls, including the floor and ceiling. The metal walls were inlaid with Arianna's signature magic lines.

"Hell," he finished, looking around the room in awe. Every other councillor seemed fascinated by the walls, completely forgetting the mysterious metallic cylinder.

Arianna rolled her eyes. "This is the main attraction, knuckleheads," she lamented, pointing to the metal cylinder which had at this point been pushed up out of the hole in the table. Parts of it had turned transparent, so all could see the glowing ball of orange light inside.

"What is it?" Leo, leader of the Engineer's Guild asked with awe, several other council members nodding in agreement.

The Protector smiled deviously. "This, my friends, is going to change the world. I'm sure you've heard of the growing might of the United States. Norway will eclipse them starting today, led by Arendelle as the capitol."

Ellen, the Royal Treasurer, chimed in with wide eyes. "What could possibly affect the global distribution of power like that?" Having a sudden thought, she voiced her concern. "It's not a... magic weapon, is it?"

Seeing the concerns on everyone's faces, even her sisters who should have known better, she laughed. "No, this is not a weapon. Nor is it magical. This is the first commerce-grade fusion reactor in existence."

"Fusion?" Leo asked, bewildered.

Arianna rubbed the bridge of her nose in irritation. "Right, I forgot how primitive this century is. Suffice it to say, contained in that cylinder is a larger version of the power source that Ignis has instead of a heart organ."

Adrian whistled in approval. "That's what you've been doing all week."

"Yep!" Arianna clapped happily.

"So it is a weapon," Ellen said in disgust.

Ignis took this chance to stand up from the chair she'd been sitting in, silently watching the meeting. She looked straight at Ellen. "Ellen, am I a weapon?"

Ellen looked offended. "Of course not. You're as alive as the rest of us, even if you're made of different materials."

The metal maiden nodded. "You're right. And yet my abilities, the power to sink fleets and wipe cities off the map, easily qualifies me as a superweapon. I could single handedly conquer any nation in a day."

Ellen looked a little intimidated by that. "But... You don't use those... powers except in extreme circumstances... right?" she squeaked.

Ignis nodded again, laying her hand on the top of the cylinder. "Just like me, this invention is not a weapon. Could it be used as a weapon? Of course. But the benefits make the cons look like nothing."

Ellen seemed to see the logic in that. "Well said, dear."

Ignis sat down, then looked to Arianna to hand her the floor.

"As Ignis said, the benefits. They are immense. And after the story I am about to tell, you will know why."

Leo raised his eyebrows, rubbing his hands together gleefully. "I love a good story."

Arianna smiled at his antics, which never failed to entertain her, then lost the happy expression. "You won't like this one." Her face turned to gloom as she recalled that which had not yet occurred.

"The year is 1914, June 28th. Archduke Ferdinand and his wife are in Serbia on a peaceful diplomatic visit, open topped cars forming a parade twisting through the streets," she began, then saw the puzzled looks on everyone's faces. Arianna sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose again. "For reference, cars are carriages that pull themselves."

When the gasps of awe died down, she rolled her eyes and continued. "Bombs go off; Serbian nationalist fighters are caught, and he is rushed away to City Hall. He is unhurt, as is his wife, but several civilians were harmed by the bombs. The Archduke, being the friendly guy that he is, wishes to visit the hospital where they were taken.

He and his wife return to their car, but their driver is not Serbian and thus has no idea how to navigate the streets. A wrong turn is made, and they stop outside a sandwich shop. The sole Serbian national who managed to escape capture is having a sandwich at this shop. He pulls a gun; both Ferdinand and his wife are killed.

This trigger begins a spiral of events that cause all out war in Europe, with even the United States joining in. Britain, the US and France team up to become the Allies, defeating Germany, the aggressors in this war, and her allies over a bloody period of four years.

Germany suffers under sanctions and punishment, giving rise to the Nazi party with their leader, Adolf Hitler. This horrible man gains complete control of Germany, and on September 1st, 1939, he invades Poland. Two days later, the Allies declare war on Germany, and the second World War begins.

During a period of six years, Hitler's Third Reich imprisons and brutally slaughters nearly all Jewish people in their reach, with a death toll in the millions. April 30th, Hitler commits suicide, and soon after Berlin is taken by joint Allied and Soviet forces. Mussolini in Italy, one of the allies of Germany, had fallen before that.

But the most horrible thing is what had to be done to finally end the war, because Japan, also an ally of Germany, would not give up. The Americans invent a superweapon called an Atomic Bomb, and drop the first two ever made on the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki."

"Atomic Bomb?" Adrian asked, everyone else too horrified by the story to speak.

Arianna just stared past him into empty space. "Atomic Bombs split atoms to unleash extreme levels of energy. Both Hiroshima and Nagasaki are flattened, the ground turned to glass. Scorch marks on the ground are all that remain of people that were walking there just a few seconds before."

Even Elsa and Anna looked horrified. What monster would create such a weapon?

Leo seemed to regain his words the fastest. "1914 is over 50 years away. It's a horrible story, don't get me wrong, but nobody knows what will happen then," he scoffed.

Arianna's eyes grew hard, a blank expression of barely controlled rage on her face. She turned to him, causing the rather tall man to assume a dwarfish stature. "A ways back you asked me where I came up with the designs for all the machines I've made with my magic. I told you it was my imagination. That was partially a lie."

Leo raised his brow in response, still quite terrified.

"To protect the timeline, it was decided that my true origin be hidden. The attack on Anna's life yesterday and the fact I had to turn her into an elemental to save her have shown my presence is already causing ripples. Thus, we feel it is finally time for the council to know the truth. If the world is changing, my gloves are coming off, metaphorically speaking," Arianna continued, gaining a glare from Elsa at her pun.

"Your 'true origin', Ari?" Adrian asked.

"Wait, Princess Anna's an elemental?" Leo chimed in.

"Not the time, Leo," Arianna glared at him.

Turning back to Adrian, she continued. "I'm sure you suspected this, Adrian, so it likely won't come as much of a shock to you," she said, letting out a deep breath. Looking back to the council, words that shook the timeline were uttered. "I know what will happen in 1914, 1945, and in Japan, Leo, because I studied it in school as relatively recent history. By blood and power I am the sister of Elsa and Anna, but not by time. The year 2046 is my home."

The gasps of shock that rang out around the room were loud enough to be heard in the dungeons, and the council member's horrified expressions looked like they were permanently engraved. Several people were in tears at the revelation of what would occur, including Ellen. Ignis stared in shock at her mother, appalled at how low humans could sink.

Adrian crossed his arms, quite pleased with himself. "Called it," he announced with a smirk. He quickly lost that smirk when everyone in the room sent deathly glares.

-LB-

Grand Pabbie was at the peak of the hill of the Valley of the Rocks, watching the aurorae for any clues about the future. That small pulse of new magic he'd felt yesterday evening didn't seem to have done much to the world, but the magical signatures of Arianna, Elsa and Anna had washed over him that day. It meant the promise he'd given to the late King and Queen had been broken. Anna had awoken and he was unable to stop it. Something was off in the surge though; Anna no longer gave off the feeling of heat, instead making him think of the sea. But that wasn't possible. She was a fire elemental, the opposite to her sister. Unless...

"The new elemental," he realized with a gasp. Of course! Fire and Ice were balanced, but that put the other two out of balance without beings to embody them. And if Elsa and whoever the newcomer was had a combined hand in reawakening her, their powers would combine to make water. That also meant a fourth would have to come forward soon, or the scales would be tipped. The rock troll chieftain sighed, glancing mournfully down the hill towards his daughter. He'd hoped this could be avoided, but it seemed Fate had a different plan. All he could do was prepare her, teach her what she would need to know...

He was shocked out of his thoughts by another pulse of magic that ripped across the land, emanating from Arendelle. This had so much more power in it than what he'd felt yesterday, he knew no mortal could have created it. So why did it come from a place where the most powerful beings were only elementals?

A flicker of light behind him caught his attention, and Grand Pabbie turned back to the aurorae. Hoping he was wrong, but being proven right, he watched as the lights in the sky turned red, detailing a very different future. Instead of the picture of peace previously shown, a war-ravaged planet met his eyes; oceans turned to sand and civilization crumbled to dust. Whatever made that pulse of power had changed the course of Time itself. The troll chieftain turned away from the scenes of destruction and rolled down the hill with urgency, only one thing on his mind.

He had to get to Arendelle. Quickly.

-LB-