A/N: Almost another 10 chapters into this story and the response from the last chapter were really helpful. Thank you all very much. It means a lot to me. Anyways, before I get all teary-eyed and other stuff, let me take my leave and, umm, enjoy the show.
PS: I don't own Disney's Frozen series. If I did, well obviously in the 3rd movie Elsa would be friends with an ice dragon and it would totally be the best thing ever. Just saying. :)
Chapter 19: Family and Friends
Back in Arendelle…
3rd POV
If one thing Anna was very concerned about for the last 4 months, it was the time that she received no special information on the whereabouts of her sister Elsa. Sure, she was trying her best to stay strong for Arendelle and Kristoff, but at some points, she felt like she would break and simply go into depression.
But she had to stay strong. She made herself promise that she would do it for her sister.
With a mournful sigh, she looked over the papers on her desk, simply looking over them but not paying attention to them. With her mind elsewhere, she wasn't really paying attention to her tasks as queen, but at least she was trying her best. Rubbing her hand through her hair, she slumped back on the chair she sat on in her study, the door to the room opening slightly with Anna looking to see who it was before giving a tired smile towards the person entering. "Hi, Kristoff."
"Hey Anna," Kristoff replied, closing the door and walking over to sit by Anna with a chair he brings over by her side. When he sits down by his wife's side, Anna stops whatever she's doing and lays her head on his shoulder as he embraces her in a loving caring way. "How are you holding up?"
It took a while for her to reply. "I'm doing well. Just dealing with all this paper works from the nearby kingdoms. Not only that, but there are many different kingdoms, including this one kingdom or country as they call themselves known as the United States of America, that want to initiate a trade relationship with Arendelle. I've been looking at their history and determining the pro and cons of initiating trade with each of them, but it's really hard without…"
She then sits forward, wiping the tears that come to her eyes. Kristoff notices Anna's sad expression and places a hand on her shoulder. "I know, Anna, that it's hard for you without Elsa around. But know this, we will see her again soon, or in this strange mystical case, perhaps about 8 months based on the mystical crystals recharge rate."
Anna turned to Kristoff teary-eyed. "Has Lieutenant Mattias or Yelena found anything that could help us?"
Kristoff shook his head. "Sadly no. It appears that there's nothing that could speed up the process for the recharge rate of the crystals. We tried as much as we could, but without the knowledge required for these mystical crystals, we can't do much."
As Anna sighs with sadness, a knock echoes on the door to the room, the two looking to see Lieutenant Mattias peeking in cautiously. "Is it a good time to come in, your majesty?"
Anna composes herself and nods her head, Lieutenant Mattias entering the room as she beckons for him to enter. Kristoff continues to sit by Anna's side for support as she speaks to the elder lieutenant of Arendelle. "Hello, Lieutenant Mattias. What news do you bring?"
Lieutenant Mattias clears his throat before responding. "Well, your majesty, there appears to be a boy in the royal court who claims that he knows you and Elsa, as well as the situation that you're in. He's accompanied by, well, two strange-looking magical creatures and they say to be from another place that… I actually forgot where they said to be from. But anyway, they said they know what's going on."
Anna perked her head up in interest. "What do you mean by that, Mattias? Is it possible they may have knowledge of what's going on around here? Perhaps even know where Elsa is?"
The elder man gave a slight shrug. "I'm not sure. All they asked was an audience with you."
With this, Kristoff turned to Anna with hopefulness. "Anna, maybe they know how we can find Elsa and where she is at the moment. This could be our only hope of restoring the Enchanted Forest back to normal."
Anna nodded in agreement. "Right. We better go to see these people right away."
As Anna and Kristoff stood up, they followed Lieutenant Mattias out of the room and towards the courtroom, the elder man opening the door to the courtroom to reveal Sora standing in the middle of the room, along with Donald and Goofy. The trio was currently having a conversation with Olaf, the snowman giggling as he was telling funny stories and facts he learned from history textbooks, Sora smiling from the funny stories before noticing Anna and Kristoff entering the room, turning around and bowing politely. "Hello, Queen Anna! Long time no see!"
Anna was a bit confused by how this person knew her. "I'm sorry. Do I know you?"
Now Sora was confused as well, standing up and composing himself. It was obvious he knew Anna when he came to Arendelle along with Donald and Goofy a few years ago and met her along with everyone else, so she should have recognized him. Unless…
"Oh sorry, my bad!" Sora apologized, rubbing his neck while feeling a bit embarrassed. "I haven't introduced myself properly." He then did a proper introduction pose. "My name is Sora! And these…" He gestured to Goofy and Donald, who then bowed in respect as well, "Are Goofy and Donald, my fellow companions and friends!"
The name sounded familiar to Anna. But where had she heard it? Before she could think more about it, Olaf walked to the side of Anna and Kristoff with a bit of giggling and a smile on his face. "Hey Anna, can you believe that Sora knows us from the time when Elsa had run away during her coronation? I remember like it was yesterday when he helped us out to recover my body when it had separated. Heheheh!"
The name clicked in Anna's mind. "Sora! I remember now! You helped us find Elsa when she left Arendelle to the North Mountain. How are you guys doing?"
"We're doing well your majesty," Sora replied to the Arendellian Queen, "It's been a couple of years since we came here to defend Arendelle from the Organization along with the Heartless as well. Also to help find Elsa and bring her home with you guys. But it seems that history is determined to repeat itself again towards a darker path."
Anna and Kristoff were a bit confused by what the boy was talking about. "What are you talking about Sora?" Kristoff asked Sora.
Sora's expression became more serious. "Well, I've heard rumors that there's a new group called the Peace Seekers that broke off the Organization that are determined to wipe away all forces of magic via methods of dark magic. The last time I was here was to fight off the Organization and the Heartless, but it appears this new group has made it their mission to destroy a powerful source of magic. And that magic is that of the Enchanted Forest."
Anna was now concerned. "But why would they do that?"
Sora gave a sigh. "I'm not really sure. All I know is that they're planning on striking major magic sources that are good for something sinister, and I don't know even who they are in the 1st place. They seem to be more dangerous than even the Organization themselves."
Olaf seemed very worried about hearing this news. "So these evil people want to hurt people or places that do light magic? Who would want to do something evil like that?"
Donald stepped up by Sora's side, clearly, a bit angered at the thought as well. "People who would want to hurt others that use magic for good are clearly, quack, ones who never had fun or despises seeing people happy because they can't accept the fact that magic has the ability, quack, to cheer people up in good ways. But these people, quack, also use dark magic, quack, to try to rid those that are a clear danger to their plans. Quack."
Anna turned to Sora with this new information in her mind. "You don't think that…"
Sora nodded, knowing what she was going to say based on his instinct. "I'm afraid so. Not only are they trying to eliminate the Enchanted Forest, but they're also trying to eliminate the spirits as well. And that includes your older sister, Elsa, as well."
xxx
Meanwhile, back in the real world…
Alex's POV
"Alright, we're here everyone," my mother says as we arrive at our destination, which is a parking lot with other cars that leads to a boardwalk with tourist sites and restaurants around the area. While Elsa glances outside my window amazed and Emily is as well looking from out her window, I'm dealing with 2 facts, which is that I'm glad that the singing from both my sister and the 5th spirit is finally done, and the other is that I'm dealing with the fact that perhaps Elsa is pressing against me and that although it may be pretty hot, I need my personal space to make things not weirder than it is.
Thankfully, she notices my reaction faster than I expected, moving away from me as she brushes some hair from the side of her face while blushing slightly. Luckily, Emily is there to remove the awkwardness between us, pointing to some of the attractions while Elsa listens, the two having a conversation about what to do once we get out of the vehicle and head to the boardwalk.
And as my mother gets out of the car, Emily follows shortly after by leaving out through her door, Elsa following after while I begin to open my door, only for my father to clear his voice and tell me to wait. The 5th spirit looks at me with a worried look, but I smile at her to calm her down. "It's fine Elsa. I'll catch up in a bit."
It's a brief moment, but she relaxes and closes the door of the car, following Emily and my mother while I see Emily ask Elsa something before I see her nod to my younger sister, taking her by the hand like she was a little child being held by an older figure by the hand for safe walking guidance. Emily was a child, of course, but it was cute to see Elsa holding my sister's hand while walking alongside her to make her happy I suppose. Before I could think more about it, my father interrupted my thoughts. "Alex, we need to talk."
Oh great. Just what I needed. I gave an annoyed sigh and faced my father. "What now?
"Well," my father spoke while rubbing his neck, "I just wanted to say that… perhaps it wouldn't be best if you tried to help… you know… Elsa return back to her home dimension. Perhaps maybe… let other people deal with this issue. You know, maybe people that specialize in this sort of matter..."
"Stop."
He turned to face me like I said something crazy. "What did you say?"
I simply laughed with a roll of my eyes. "I said stop. I know where you're going with this."
My father shot at me with a glare of his eyes. "I don't think you do…"
"Look," I interrupted him, not caring about what he wanted to say to me, "You're going to say probably something crazy, like alert the authorities, or I don't know, get some help from people who claim to have magical powers. But I'm not because they won't believe me, and even if I proved them by having Elsa show her powers, not only am I putting her at more risk of the public finding out that she exists in reality, I'll be risking the whole world safety of this evil group and perhaps even her own dimension."
"You don't know that…"
"Oh, what, like perhaps like everyone here is going to react to Elsa like it's a Disney movie and is going to hold hands and sing happy songs. Except this isn't a Disney movie or anything fiction going on, but this is real life. Yes, she's a fictional character who somehow ended up in my apartment and in my life, for God knows what reason, but if the public finds her existence, what's to say the government won't try to intervene and want to use her as a weapon for some sort and want to make her a war weapon? Better yet, what's to say this evil group will try to use her to wreak havoc on our world and hers without her consent?"
"Alex, listen to me…" My father tried to reason with me.
"No!" I interrupted him again in a louder voice, anger controlling my emotions with tears on the verge of my eyes, "You listen to me! I have had to deal with the fact these last 4 years that I lost my little brother because I failed to protect him when I had sworn to him at all costs from all types of dangers! Do you hear me? I failed because you were too busy with your work to do a simple task for us and so was Mom! And now that I promised once again that I would protect Elsa from all dangers at all costs, you're trying to stop me?"
"I'm trying to protect…"
"You're not protecting anything! The only thing you ever protected was your precious job, but I guess it was much more precious to you than your own flesh and blood! And that's the only thing you have ever done in your entire life! You may say that you did it for us as a provider, but the way I see it, you failed as a father!"
My father suddenly grows quiet, looking away in shame as I sit back, crossing my arms and wiping away the hot tears that drip down my eyes. Taking a deep breath and composing myself, I simply tell my father something else before I exit the SUV myself.
"And one more thing? I'm going to keep my promise and protect Elsa at all costs, even if it requires my own life."
xxx
On the beach walk...
3rd POV
"Look over there Elsa," Emily pointed at the distance, Elsa looking at where she pointed to see a ship cruising along in the far distance from the shore. Seeing how the ship looked very futuristic compared to the merchant ships she was used to seeing at Arendelle, Elsa was amazed by how the design of the cruise ship looked in this timeline.
"Wow. It looks beautiful," Elsa replied, Emily smiling at the 5th spirit and pointing to other sights that the 5th spirit marveled at. While the two looked and pointed at things they could see while enjoying the sights, Alex's mother came up to the side of Elsa, seeing how happy Emily was by the side of Elsa before smiling herself. "She really enjoys being around you, Elsa."
"Hmm? Oh." Elsa noticed that Mary was standing by her side before giving a slight nod, "I don't mind. Emily reminds me of Anna when she was younger. I'm used to it because I enjoyed spending time with my younger sister when we did fun activities while we were kids. It also helps me not feel lonely while Anna isn't around with me."
Alex's mother gave a kind smile at Elsa before looking in the distance at the cruise ship. It was a moment of silence with other people passing by and going on in their business before she spoke again. "Alexander is really different around you."
Elsa turned to face the middle-aged woman. "What do you mean?"
Mary sighed and enclosed her hands together on top of the safety rails while taking in the sights. "He's not himself when he's around you. Normally now, he keeps to himself and tries to shut people out of his life, with a few exceptions of course like his younger sister, and tends to keep his feelings to himself, but since you appeared in his life, it's like he's a bit unrecognizable to me."
The 5th spirit seemed to analyze what she just told her before realizing something. "Alex is doing what I used to do years ago before I became the 5th spirit of the Enchanted Forest when I shut Anna out of my life because I was afraid to hurt her with my powers." She faced the middle-aged woman again. "Why isn't he like this when he's around me?"
Alex's mother shrugged. "I don't know. Perhaps you may want to ask him that question yourself at one point in your life before he gets you back home safe. You may never have that chance again."
Elsa nodded before another question came to her mind. "When did he start to be like this?"
Mary sighed sadly, Elsa noticing that Emily hadn't spoken anything as well but was looking sad at the ground. "Ever since he lost his little brother Erick, he has changed a lot to the point he rarely communicated with us. I've kept my distance out of respect, but I'm afraid that I'm worried for my son on the emotional toll that he's dealing with on his brother's loss."
Elsa was heartbroken and shocked, extending her hand to the woman's shoulder. "I'm sorry for your loss. I never realized that Alex lost someone close to him. He never told me."
Mary simply sighed and wiped away the tears that came to her eyes, Elsa stepping away for respect to the older woman. She was then met with a gaze of pleading from the older woman. "Elsa, if I may ask your majesty, please help him return to the same boy I once knew before the death of his brother."
Elsa began to think this over and came to a decision that she knew was the next right thing. She faced the older woman and gave a nod. "I'll try my best, Mrs. Connor."
As the older woman thanked her, she then looked past Elsa and waved in the distance. "Oh look. Seems like Alex finished his conversation with his father."
Elsa turned and saw Alex walking with his father right behind, the young man coming up with his hands in his pockets and a smile on his face. Looking at Elsa and his mother, he raised an eyebrow. "So… what did I miss?
"Well," his mother replied, "I was just telling Elsa that the restaurant that is on the other end of this walk is supposedly a 5 star rated restaurant. Well, we might as well go check it out first, so we will let you two talk a bit before you can catch up with us." She then took Emily's hand and started walking to the restaurant with Martin. "Come along dear."
While Emily complained about wanting to stay, Elsa and Alex chuckled at the young girl's reaction before noticing they did it at the same time, stopping and looking away from each other in slight embarrassment. It was a while before they got over it and started walking along the boardwalk after his family, Alex being the first to break the silence. "First time on a boardwalk?"
Elsa nodded. "I guess. It's a bit strange for me to deal with all these new things in your time. Like how the cruise ships look in this time and how different the articles of clothing are from my time's typical dress style."
Alex rubbed his neck with a sigh. "Yeah, modern times do change how we look at the world than back then. Now we have social media and streaming platforms and other stuff that are pretty cool, I guess. It'll be pretty hard to go back to a time before all these new inventions came around."
As they continued walking side by side, Elsa briefly considered bringing up the topic of Alex's little brother, and even stopped to do it. "Alex?"
"Yeah?" He stopped in his tracks, turning to face her with a bit of curiosity. "Are you okay? Is everything alright?"
Now that she wanted to say it, she felt like perhaps it wasn't the best moment to ruin this occasion and decided to withhold it for another moment, instead shaking her head and smiling at Alex. "It's nothing. I just wanted to take in the sights."
Alex gave a polite nod. "Fine with me. It is beautiful after all."
With a giggle, she composed herself and continued to walk alongside the person that she never knew would be the closest one she could consider as a friend. And the topic of his brother? She hoped for a moment to bring it up properly, but one not too soon because she felt it might be sensitive to him. But when the moment would come…
She hoped that it would shed some light on his past.
But little did she or Alex know, someone dressed in a dark robe was watching them from the distance, a set of eyes behind a mask following the pair with a slight growl before sighing.
"Found you."
xxx
Back in Arendelle…
3rd POV
"So what are we going to do?" Anna asked Sora, the boy turning to Donald and Goofy for a conversation. It was a rather quick conversation, for the trio turned back to face Anna and Kristoff along with Olaf and did some heroic poses with Sora response bringing a ray of hope.
"We're going to help out in whatever way we can to defeat these Peace Seekers and bring Elsa home to restore the balance between Arendelle and the Enchanted Forest, no matter what the cost."
Goofy nodded. "Oh yup, we sure will!"
Donald gave a thumbs up. "You can count on us for sure, quack!"
With this, Anna felt her hopes increase along with Kristoff as well, Olaf saying that he knew that things were going to get better. However, they didn't know that from outside a window, beyond their line of sight, Darius was spying on the group, chuckling to himself before grinning evilly.
"Oh, Sora. If only you never interfered and stayed at the Destiny Islands, but now…" He simply clasped his hands together still smiling in an evil manner.
"Both your home and Disney Worlds will suffer the wrath of the "Great Beast."
A/N: Chapter 19 concluded! And the next one is chapter 20! I hope you enjoy this chapter because it means a storm is rising and now I'm not even sure what the Peace Seekers are planning with this "Great Beast." Perhaps I do, but I'm not spoiling anything.
Anyways, leave a review as usual (if you can umm would be nice to know the positive thoughts) and if you're new to this story, greetings and hello and thanks for reading to this point. And until next time folks, which may be next week due to the fact I'm dealing with online classes and assignments, keep on being safe and sound. :)
PS: Who do you think was watching Elsa and Alex from the distance?
