Chapter 57: Desperate Measures
Xaldin knew.
He knew.
Xion's fist crashed against the wall, denting it. The impact made Delbert squeak and hobble back.
If those guards were still in the hall, she'd probably shattered any semblance of cover they still had, but if Xaldin knew, did it even matter?
And they had come so close. Her arms wrapped tightly around herself. She squeezed her eyes shut to contain the tears. This wasn't fair! It wasn't right! Three times now, she'd completely blown it! Just what would Chrysanthemum and Éclair think? Was DiZ right all along? Was she really just a—
"Xion! Hey, are you okay?"
Jim's voice. She gulped, struggling to swallow the explosion of sobs clawing their way through her.
But she couldn't even muster a response.
A hand touched her shoulder, and she jumped, only to find…Delbert. She slumped, catching his gentle smile before averting her eyes.
Still, all she could manage was a weak, "I'm sorry…"
To which Jim strode in front of her with his hands on his hips. "Hey, stop that."
"But I was supposed to—"
"Endanger my life?" The screech of a chair against the floor pulled Xion's focus to Amelia, who'd risen from her desk and made her way to the others. "Miss Xion, had you made a move despite Xaldin's refusal to take the bait, it would've put all of our lives at risk. I…certainly wouldn't have survived an encounter with a Nobody, and so I thank you for your restraint."
Though her voice was mostly level, there was the slightest edge to Amelia's words. Maybe what Xaldin said before still stung.
And, despite Amelia's reasoning, Xion's spirits were hardly lifted. She fiddled with a lock of silvery hair. Maybe she shouldn't have expected Amelia to lash out like DiZ, but with how stoic and stone-cold she could be…
The captain continued, "Well, regardless of when or how Xaldin came to suspect us, what's done is done." She turned to Jim and Delbert. "At any rate, I can only hope that you two fared better. Have you anything to report?"
Delbert blurted, "Do we ever!" He looked to Jim, who immediately stuffed a hand down his pocket, whipping out…a mirror?
A very fancy hand mirror, but still, what?
Amelia's ears perked, and she inched closer. "Care to explain, Mr. Hawkins?"
"Okay, so it doesn't look like much, but this mirror's what Xaldin's been using to track Riku this whole time! In fact…" He turned the surface of the mirror so everyone could see. "Show me Riku!"
The mirror's surface shimmered and flashed. Xion leaned closer. In seconds, hers and Amelia's reflections vanished, replaced with the interior of a crystalline castle and a familiar head of short, silver hair. Riku stood beside a tall, slender woman with platinum-blonde hair. Both of them glared at…
Xion's heart stopped, and she heard the others gasp. She blurted the Nobody's name—
"Xaldin!"
—and froze in shock when she realized the image in the mirror had changed, and her cry was echoed by the grey-haired young man on the other side, who called Xaldin's name at the same time she did.
A face fringed with grey hair and half-covered by bangs. Zexion, if Zippy and Booper's reports were any indication.
"Xaldin, we need to—"
At the sound of his voice, Jim fumbled the mirror. Amelia bristled. Delbert gasped. Xion skittered to the side, trying to escape the mirror's range, but only bumped against the desk, remaining in view. A prolonged silence filled the room.
That silence broke when Zexion's shock became a cold glare. "Captain Amelia, I presume. And Xion, too. …I seem to have the wrong number."
Xion clamped her mouth shut, fighting the urge to say…something crude? She didn't even know what. Just some word to properly convey the absolute terror coursing through her body.
Zexion saw her. This was it! She was through. Any semblance of cover she'd once held had shattered to pieces all over the floor.
…How long had she been shivering? How long was everyone going to stay quiet?
A firm hand gripped her shoulder again and briefly, just briefly, Amelia looked into her eyes. Then, clearing her throat, she said, "Why, yes, I am Captain Amelia. And to whom do I owe the pleasure?"
Jim gave her a funny look, as if to say, 'What are you doing?!' Delbert matched it with an equally wide-eyed stare, all while gesturing to the mirror and thumping a fist against his palm.
Zexion, meanwhile, tipped his chin up and answered, "Apparently, the newest member of your mobile family plan." Xion had no idea what that meant. It seemed like the others didn't, either. Zexion continued, "Though, I must say, I'm surprised you acquired this mirror in the first place."
"Yes, well, perhaps you and your peers ought to keep a better eye on your belongings." How was she speaking with such confidence? They'd just been outed to the enemy!
Zexion half-smirked, apparently relieved, and brought a hand to his chin. "You stole it? Then, it wasn't grave-robbed."
Amelia shook her head and lied through her teeth, "We'd considered the latter, but decided that Xaldin was worth more alive. For now. I've a message for you and your Superior."
"Oh?"
And, just like that, Amelia marched right up to the mirror, swiping it from Jim's hands. "I want you to release Sora immediately. And, while you're at it, cease this sordid invasion of Riku's privacy."
What was she doing? Xion's teeth clenched even tighter than before as she suppressed the urge for another outburst. Again, Jim and Delbert gawked at the captain's actions.
Zexion just laughed. "And, I take it this is contingent on Xaldin's continued survival? Assuming he is at your mercy."
Good question! Such a good question that, despite the whirlwind of insanity raging through the room, despite Xion's trembling hands, and despite all logic screaming at her to run and hide, she stayed put, eyes locked on the captain and the mirror.
And Amelia smirked! Like this was no big deal! How? Why? Did she really think she was a better liar than the Organization?
The answer came within seconds. "The survival of 'Dilan' and 'Hans' both. At this very moment, Nahxs is surrounded by your enemies, completely oblivious to the danger that he's in."
Jim and Delbert shared a look, and, surprisingly, Jim strutted right next to the Captain, leaning close. "And that's not all! The doc and I got a shape-shifting super spy closely tailing Xaldin. If he even considers any funny business, he'll find himself with a knife plunged through his spine before he can blink."
…Wait. So was Morph with Xaldin? Huh. Xion straightened, steadying her breathing. Okay, so…maybe this wasn't so bad. They could work with this.
"So, you see," Amelia added, "you have ample reason to comply with our terms…unless you'd risk further casualties?"
Ooh, that was good. So good, in fact, that Zexion went stone-cold at her words. …At least for a few seconds.
Then came an unsettling chuckle, and that brief glimmer of hope flickered out.
"Oh? That's funny, because Nahxs just informed me that Kairi was separated from their group in the midst of battle, and I sincerely doubt that Donald and Goofy could fend him off on their own."
…Oh no.
"But they are welcome to try. While it's true that we need Riku and Kairi alive, the same cannot be said for you or the King's fools. In fact, I daresay your deaths would add fuel to the proverbial fire and further motivate Riku and Kairi to channel their hatred toward the Heartless."
He. Wouldn't. Dare.
Xion's back arched. Her knees bent. She glared at the mirror, ready to stomp forward and half-tempted to smash it then and there.
She only stopped when Zexion turned his chilling gaze to her and said, "The same applies to you, Xion. Now that the Organization is on the cusp of completing Kingdom Hearts, we find more ambitious Keybearers such as yourself to be…superfluous, at best. An obstacle at worst. As of this moment, I'm declaring open season on malfunctioning replicas."
He… He wouldn't… He couldn't.
She sputtered back, "Xe—Xemnas would never—!"
"I'm not Xemnas." That smile… That horrible, bloodcurdling smile…
Amelia cast Xion an over-the-shoulder glance, ears flat to her head and eyes empathetic. And, unlike before, where she spoke with such confidence, not a word escaped her.
Zexion seemed to take this as an invitation to keep talking. "As for your so-called spy, I'm well aware of the Morph's capabilities, but what does it matter if he cuts down Xaldin? We're on the verge of claiming a new and even more powerful Nobody. And besides, when one of the old guard falls, the rest of us move up a rank."
Jim clenched his teeth and winced. Yet again, Xion fought the urge to shout. To attack. To do something.
Her feet moved with a will of their own, and she stopped directly between Amelia and the mirror.
Her Keyblade materialized in a flash of zeroes and ones, and she aimed it directly at the glass.
"Doesn't matter! We have the mirror. We have Xaldin. We can find Nahxs. And whoever this new member is, we'll find them, too. So you'd better let Riku and Sora go, or I'll do to your friends what I did to Lexaeus! And then I'm coming for you."
He chuckled. "You and your broken Keyblade on the other side of that mirror. I'm shaking." He inhaled slowly, then let it out in a hoarse, breathy laugh. "As I said, Xaldin is well on his way to recruiting our newest member—someone far more powerful than even you could ever hope to be. And, frankly, you can't afford to pursue him. After all, we know precisely where you are, even without the aid of Riku's sigil. And, more importantly, our fair prince informed me of a certain duke's insurrectionist tendencies."
Delbert—Delbert, of all people—scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Surely, you don't mean Weselton."
"Oh, but I do. You see, without their queen, their princess, and their beloved Prince Hans, the people of this kingdom are left without a leader they can trust. It's been a revolving door of royal replacements. It won't take much to turn these frightened, gullible people against the police state of the hour. One wrong move, and you might have a coup on your hands."
…Something told Xion he didn't mean a 'coo' like a bird's call, but this wasn't the time to ask.
Amelia confirmed this with a hiss and a grimace. "The palace guards are wise to the duke's treachery. Any rebellion that he helms would die before it ever began."
"Would it, though? How well do you know your new guards, Captain? How can you be certain where their allegiances lie…or if they're even human at all?"
"It's a bluff," said Jim, though he didn't sound too sure. "C'mon. There's no way the Organization's dug that deep, right?"
But Amelia did not answer.
Zexion, however, did. "Arendelle's been a pet project of ours for over a year. Our own Traverse Town. Just a few well-placed whispers, and you'll find this entire kingdom demanding your heads on pikes."
Not even Amelia had a fiery retort.
It was as if that mirror towered over them. Like everything in the room faded—all but Zexion's sickening, smirking face.
His one visible eye bore straight into Xion's. "So, no. I won't release Sora. I won't spare Riku. But, since you so generously revealed your intentions and your position, I will certainly spread the word. Thank you for your cooperation."
The image faded. Soon, only Xion's corrupted reflection stared back at her.
The Keyblade vanished. She fell to her knees. Screamed—loud, explosive, shrill. This was…it just wasn't… Why did…
Between sobs, Jim and Delbert's voices broke out, but she barely parsed their words. This was too much. Chrysanthemum and Éclair would never forgive her now.
If she lived long enough to see them again…
"Xion! Hey!" Jim knelt beside her, joined by Delbert. "H—hey, look. This isn't your fault, okay? We'll—we're gonna get through this. …Somehow."
"How?!" she screamed at him. "You heard what he said! Even if I got us all out of here with a corridor, there's nowhere in all the worlds that we can hide. When the Organization wants you gone, you're gone!"
The silence, the profound looks between the others proved that they understood this. And, if they'd traveled with Riku and the others, maybe they'd already considered it. Xion and all her friends were beyond lucky to have lived as long as they did, all because the Organization needed them alive.
But not anymore.
Delbert placed a hand over her back. "Xion…what did you think they would do when they no longer needed the Keyblades? You, us, all of your friends—we never had a guarantee of life under the Organization's thumb. Just the illusion of one. Their reach is simply…inescapable. We haven't lost anything that we weren't going to lose."
Sniffling, Xion wiped her eyes with the back of one of her mittens. "But I could have at least bought you more time! If I'd just kept quiet…if I hadn't caused that earthquake…if I'd just stayed out of sight—"
"Miss Xion…" Amelia strode in front of her. "I'll be perfectly frank. This is not an ideal situation."
Understatement of the year. …And now Xion wondered where she picked up sass from.
"However, death's door is neither the time nor place to scapegoat oneself. Mr. Arrow taught me that." The captain glanced at Jim, and Xion saw his discomfort at the dead man's name. But Amelia pressed on, "And, if he were here today, he would be the first to forgive us of our mistakes."
Jim's expression was unreadable, and Xion wasn't ready to forgive herself, either. It just…it didn't make sense. Their patience and compassion. If it were Donald and Goofy, sure. Maybe even Aqua, Mickey, and Yen Sid…or Ralph. "But…what're we supposed to do now? How can we save our friends and stop that 'coo' without hurting the people of this world?"
"Well, first, we need to set realistic expectations." Amelia made her way back to the desk, setting the mirror down and collapsing in her seat. "The fact of the matter is, we're on our own. Prince Hans is not the man we thought he was, and our friends are well beyond our reach. Should a coup occur, we've only ourselves and possibly the other refugees to depend upon, and there's a high likelihood that their allegiances lie with Nahxs."
Jim said half-sarcastically, "I dunno. I think BEN's made a good impression on some of them." What with the makeshift Santa suit and the reindeer Mushrooms and all.
Xion slowly pushed herself back on her feet, though Jim and Delbert remained at her sides. "But what about Donald and Goofy? If Nahxs really has them alone…"
"It's out of our hands." She said it with a straight face, completely unreadable save for the tiniest hint of a frown. "They are effectively hostages, and, if Kairi is to be believed, then Nahxs' mirroring abilities make him exceptionally dangerous."
"…I know. Especially with my strength." Just like Chrysanthemum said before. "And the Organization's way too established here. They've got the home field advantage." She wasn't sure where that analogy came from, but it seemed fitting enough. "Ugh… I know you guys are right, and I shouldn't beat myself up, but how are we even going to start turning things around?"
Jim brandished his pistol and spun it like a cowboy. "Well, step one…" He crashed the butt of the gun against the mirror on the desk, shattering the glass and dispersing wild sparks of magic. "Cut off their ears." He spun the gun once more and replaced it in his holster. "Step two: do some light reading." At this, he produced an ornate diary from inside his jacket. "Turns out, the old king and queen had this journal stuffed with info about this world, and we've got a lead that might give us an edge if that bald doofus does try sparking fires."
"Ah, yes!" said Delbert. "Those mystical trolls. In all this commotion, I'd almost forgotten!"
"…I don't get it," said Xion. "What do trolls have to do with any of this?"
Jim opened the diary and flipped to the dog-eared page. "The doc and I found something that might get us out of this mess. Or at least break the Organization's hold on this world."
He began reading, "'Despite their overall crude demeanor,' the trolls, he means, 'their leader, Grand Pabbie, is a man wise beyond his extensive years. A true mystic, it is his ability to see into the hearts and minds of others that is his greatest asset…and which saved my daughter's life.'"
Amelia said, "What are you getting at, Mr. Hawkins?"
"Don't you see? These guys can read other people's hearts, and they're established on this world. No one would listen to us, but if we can get these trolls to expose Hans and Dilan as the Nobodies they are—"
Amelia's eyes widened. "That could work."
All eyes turned to her, surprised at how quickly she'd jumped onboard, before Xion even fully understood the plan.
The captain explained, "I've encountered multiple species of creature capable of reading or manifesting the contents of one's heart. If these trolls are revered enough to command more authority than the royal family or the Organization's pretenders in times of crisis, we may just be able to win the people over to our side."
A part of Xion—the subconscious, cynical part fostered by Chrysanthemum and Éclair—questioned the point of it all. Why bother freeing the people of Arendelle from what was, at worst, an abstract threat? It was her and Jim and Delbert and Amelia that were all in immediate danger, and that danger wouldn't end by saving this world.
…Because that's what heroes do. They put others before themselves, no matter the cost.
Xion glanced at the others, all hashing out specifics, and none seeming to have even considered the same doubts that she had, and she wondered where she went wrong. Why did they not hesitate to do the right thing, but she did? Why did she speak so openly about committing murder and getting results, but they clung to an unspoken moral code?
It…couldn't have been the company she kept, could it?
…No. It wasn't Chrysanthemum and Éclair. It was DiZ. The way he designed her. Results first, ethics later. If anything, her having a conscience at all was a fluke. She owed her friends everything for accepting her as she was. She wouldn't dare question them.
Éclair slapping and screaming at her…that was necessary, wasn't it? She deserved it after—
"Xion?" Amelia called. "Is that alright with you?"
She snapped back to attention. "Huh? S—sorry, I…" She shook her head to clear her thoughts. "I'm listening now."
The captain sighed softly, then repeated, "In light of present circumstances, I believe it would be best if you and Mr. Hawkins followed the journal's map to find the trolls' village, and Delbert and myself would hold down the fort."
Xion's eyes bulged. "Wait, just the two of you? Against the duke and everyone else?!"
Delbert rubbed his neck and said as good-humoredly as he could, "Well, not just us. We would also have BEN and the Mushrooms."
Xion went on, "But, why don't we all go to the village? Why would you put yourselves in danger like this?"
The captain answered, "To keep the Organization's eyes off our true goal. If they're distracted by the chaos of rebellion here at the palace, then you should be able to secure the trolls' aid from right under their noses. I'll evacuate the staff and the refugees to the opposite wing, away from the cold yet safe from the fire."
Xion protested, "If you're scared of the duke, let me fight with you! Send Dr. Delbert with Jim and let me—"
"Miss Xion." The tone wasn't harsh, but it was strong enough to command her silence and respect. Amelia continued, "I do not fear the duke half as much as I fear the Heartless. I'm sending you where you're most needed: into the heart of the frozen tundra, where monsters dwell that I wouldn't dare face. It's the sort of task I can trust only to a Keybearer."
"And Jim," Jim fake-coughed.
"And Jim," Amelia corrected.
But, that wasn't entirely true, Xion suspected. An all-out war in the palace itself would be much more dangerous to Jim than traveling by a Keybearer's side, especially since they would at least have the troll's village as a guaranteed haven. The battle in the palace, on the other hand, would be nearly impossible to win, if not survive.
Captain Amelia wasn't just positioning the troops. She was evacuating the children.
x.x.x
"Get out." Riku practically spat his words, fingers tightening around his Keyblade.
He stopped only when Elsa extinguished the ice in one of her hands and grabbed his arm. "Let me handle this." And then, staring straight into Xaldin's eyes, she strode forward. Shoulders square and chin up, she spoke with a strong, level tone, as if unfazed by their intruder. "You're Prince Hans' advisor, aren't you?"
The Nobody grinned and bowed grandly, his off hand holding tight to the trunk he brought. "Counselor Dilan of Westergaard, at your service, Majesty. I'm honored that you remember me."
Riku grit his teeth. "Elsa, be careful. You can't underestimate him!"
Xaldin returned to his full height and shook his head, his laughter low and rumbling. "Always eager for a fight, eh, boy? No doubt, you wish to slay the dragon before you and live the fantasy of a knight in shining armor."
Elsa replied for him, "To call you a dragon would be an insult to any real dragons."
Oh. That was good. Better than what he was gonna say.
Her calm expression shifted to a scowl. "And, in light of everything Riku's told me, I have every reason to slay you myself." The surrounding air cooled. A faint, frosty mist clouded the air, and torrents of polychrome, icy javelins erupted like a supernatural bullet storm from the floor, the walls, the ceiling, all charging at Xaldin faster than Riku could blink.
The cacophony of rushing ice, the deafening crash of the partizan flood, the blinding veil of the sub-zero gun smoke that now completely obscured where Xaldin stood…
Riku stared in shock.
Except, shock wasn't enough to describe it.
A member of the Organization, a force that Riku and his friends had warred with for two years, nearly thought to be invincible for how often he'd tried and failed to stop them…and, with barely a flick of her wrist, Elsa had just…just like that…
"All the power of a goddess among ungrateful mortals," the guttural voice called from the settling frost, revealing that Xaldin stood perfectly composed in the midst of a sprawling thicket of ice-spears, completely unscathed, "and your heart is as bare as a child's."
Elsa glared, raising a contorted hand threateningly. "Don't spurn my mercy. I'm not the monster they think I am."
The Nobody smirked. "Pity." Then, despite being cornered by icy razors on all sides with no room to move, Xaldin stepped forward, twisting the air as he did. Riku blinked, thinking it a trick of the eye, but the illusion—if that's what it was—was unbroken. The unfazed Nobody seemed to walk straight through the copse of crystalline spears, bending the wind to his will on what must've been a molecular level.
Even Elsa was breathless.
Xaldin spoke as he approached, the trunk still in hand, "Make no mistake, Majesty. I am not here to persecute you for the miracles you perform. I greatly admire them."
Riku scoffed, crossing his arms. "Yeah. Admire them like a hunting trophy."
"Do you truly think me a fool, Keybearer? This very castle is proof of Queen Elsa's resilience. Any attempt on her heart would be a death sentence."
That was likely the first thing he said that wasn't a blatant lie. No, he probably just wanted to get in Elsa's good graces, just like every other puppet-of-the-week they'd ensnared throughout the cosmos. Riku squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his teeth. He had to keep cool. Any further outbursts would only make things worse.
But he was supposed to be the hero. Even here, far from his friends, still under the metaphorical microscope, he was supposed to be better than this.
But Elsa stood up for him. Elsa threatened the Organization…
She'd done so much for him in so little time. It was only fair to repay her—to look out for her, especially now, but…
How?
Briefly, Elsa glanced to Riku and whispered, "It's going to be alright." There was a hint of uncertainty to her voice, but she carried on. "If you're not here to murder or manipulate me, then why are you here?"
"Simple. I'd concerns about your recent disappearance. Unlike the simple-minded fools who saw a wicked sorceress, I saw but a troubled soul wrought with grief and blind to her own gifts." He gestured to their immaculate, icy surroundings. "Yet, perhaps my concern was misplaced, and you're ready to return?"
Elsa looked away. "I…"
"Ah. So you still have doubts."
Riku spoke up. "Why should she return? Arendelle made its stance on witchcraft crystal-clear."
"I don't mean for her to burn at the stake, foolish boy, but to rule supreme over a kingdom in dire need of some manners. Surely, respect is preferable to exile?"
Before either of them could answer, Xaldin halted in his tracks, a good distance from the sprawling tangle of icy spears behind, and he set his trunk on the floor. In all the tension, Riku had nearly forgotten it.
Xaldin said, "Well, perhaps we could discuss this over dinner?" He opened the thick briefcase, and immediately, the scent of fresh fish made Riku's mouth water.
It only hit him then; they'd gone hours without a single bite to eat. And now they hovered high above the snow-cloaked wilderness, far from any game.
Riku could've stubbornly protested anyway. He had his Glider. He could swoop down, catch some deer, some rabbits, something that didn't rely on trusting an obvious enemy…
Except, he'd never hunted in his life, and he doubted that a queen knew how to skin or cook. The thought of either of them trying was…grisly.
He looked to Elsa and saw her shift in place, eyes locked on the mouth-watering trunk.
As if reading their minds, Xaldin said, "I assure you, it's not poisoned. You're useless dead."
"Well, Riku?" Elsa's voice still carried an uneasy air. Riku couldn't blame her.
This could so very easily turn into a trap. Riku'd dealt with the Organization long enough to always expect the worst…but, maybe if he just kept one eye open, it'd be okay. They could bail the moment things went south.
So, with a heavy sigh, Riku nodded. "All right, Xaldin. I'll bite."
A smile crossed Xaldin's lips, accompanied by a chuckle. "Well, then. I don't suppose this palace has a dining hall?"
The thicket of crystalline spears behind him flashed and transformed in a heartbeat, refashioning from a deathtrap into a slick, shimmering table, long enough to carry an entire banquet's worth of food, and dozens more elegant chairs than they needed. Riku couldn't tell if this effortless power move was also her subtle attempt at humor.
Her handiwork completed, Elsa stepped toward the vacant seat at the head of the shimmering table and gestured for the Nobody to get to work.
Xaldin wasted no time, spreading plates of steaming fish fillets, potato dumplings, extravagant salads colored with all manner of fresh produce, and…wine. He…he had wine. Red wine, to be exact. Not as exact as possible, but Riku knew nothing about wine.
He gulped at the sight of it. This earned another chuckle from Xaldin.
"I suppose you'd favor warm milk?"
Riku's cheeks burned at the obvious jab, and he turned away with a cough. "…I'll just have water."
Xaldin tried not to laugh. "You're of legal drinking age on this world."
Elsa cut in, "He said water, Xaldin." Though, she took some wine for herself.
The Nobody shrugged. "Fair enough." Another clink brought Riku's focus back to the table, where another goblet now rested next to the wine. Clear, colorless. A small sliver of relief.
That relief turned to amusement when Elsa next spoke. "Red wine with white meat?" It was such a small jab, but Riku appreciated that she could spar on a field that he knew nothing about.
And yet, Xaldin took it in stride, filling his own glass with red wine as well. "As the Organization's culinary connoisseur, I find that some rules are made to be broken. Or, am I the only adventurer feeling adventurous today?"
…Well, that didn't help Riku's ego at all.
Once the table was set and the glasses filled, Riku reluctantly joined the others at the table, he at Elsa's right hand, Xaldin at the left.
Still, a formal meal was…intimidating. The utensils alone…how many forks did they need?! A salad fork, a fish fork, a meat fork, a finger fork, a—wait, that last one wasn't real—and was that a spoon or a knife or a…it was a napkin.
But he kept these fears to himself and instead turned his attention to Xaldin. When the Nobody took the first bite of fish, proving the meal wasn't poisoned, Riku grabbed the first multi-pronged instrument he could reach and threw caution to the wind.
One bite became two. Two became three. Three became seven. In no time, Riku was inhaling his meal like a human vacuum cleaner.
…Until he noticed both Elsa and Xaldin boggling at his behavior, and he froze. His fork—the wrong one, judging by the sort the others used—clattered on the icy table and he ducked his head.
"…Sorry. Been a while since I had a warm meal." Root vegetable and beef stew, prepared by old Silver himself, not even an hour before the mutiny. That was, what, two, three days ago? Enough time to forget his table manners.
But Elsa raised a hand and offered a warm, soothing smile. "Riku, it's okay. Honestly, I should have considered meals well before Xaldin arrived." She paused. "For the record, I still don't trust you, but…thank you. The meal is excellent."
"But of course." Xaldin bowed again. "As this kingdom's rightful queen, you deserve nothing less."
Elsa's smile waned again, and she prodded a dumpling with her fork. "I think we've made it clear that I'm not going back."
"Just as well," said Riku. "Turning royals into Heartless is the Organization's specialty."
Xaldin replied, "Hardly. If you're referring to Prince John or King James, I assure you they scarcely needed our help. If anything, we held them back."
Riku's eyes widened. "…King James?"
The Nobody smirked. "Ah, I forgot. You were indisposed at the time, and your friends were too preoccupied with Governor Ratcliffe to notice the crisis overseas. But don't fret. We'd arranged for King Mickey to intervene shortly thereafter. Restored the man's heart as well." He turned back to Elsa. "So, you see, allowing others to fall into darkness is the last thing any of us want. When a world is threatened by Heartless, we direct the Keybearers to save it, whether they realize this or not."
That…that couldn't be true…could it? Sure, they'd encountered the Organization on every world they went to, but that… No. It was too common to be a coincidence. Had Xemnas really been subtly guiding them all these years?
Xaldin continued, "If anything, I congratulate the boy. This flying castle is evidence enough that the queen's heart was saved before it was ever lost."
Riku said, "She was doing just fine before I entered the picture."
"A queen fleeing her own subjects is not 'just fine.'"
Riku nearly snapped back, wanted to assert that Elsa didn't need the approval of others, but stopped when she placed a hand on his gauntlet.
"Thank you, Riku. But the fact of the matter is that I fled the kingdom and left my people terrified. All of this…" She gestured with her free hand to the light-bending walls and vaulted ceiling. "It's wonderful. And, in the short time we've known each other, I've never felt so free."
Xaldin sipped his wine before folding his hands over the tabletop. "Yet, you still have reservations."
"Mm." She took a small bite, then blotted her lips with a napkin. "Tell me something, Xaldin. Why go to all this trouble? You can say you admire my abilities, but I'm not one to blindly trust strangers simply because they say what I want to hear."
"Funny. You didn't hold the Keybearer to any such standard."
"Riku's no stranger. I can't say the same of you."
"Strangers or not, we've no reason to fight. Contrary to what the boy may tell you, the Organization does not seek the destruction of worlds. Merely the collection of hearts."
Elsa raised an eyebrow. "And how do you 'collect' those hearts?"
"Simple: the destruction of the Heartless, a goal we all have in common."
Cupping her chin in hand, Elsa looked to Riku. "Is that true?"
Riku glared. "Ask him where those Heartless come from."
Xaldin chuckled. "I won't deny it." This actually gave Riku pause. "My peers have indeed gone to great lengths in order to have Heartless to harvest. I won't make excuses, for without a heart and the emotions therein, it is all too simple to lose sight of what is just."
Ha. Sure. Probably just more lip service on his part.
"And, speaking of unethical guardians, why don't you ask the Keybearer exactly why there's such a surplus of darkness these days?"
Riku's eyes widened, his fists tightened, though he withheld the urge to snap back. For now.
Elsa must've caught on all the same, as she leaned over the table and sharpened her tone. "Whatever you're implying, it doesn't excuse what you've done to him. I've heard all about the way you've monitored him."
"Only a desperate measure, I assure you. We've extended our hand in cooperation to him and his peers in the past, but every attempt resulted in his side drawing first blood. To this day, I recall clearly the image of my Superior limping into the castle, gasping for breath and clutching a fatal wound that had yet to fully heal. All because the Keybearers wanted nothing to do with compromise."
Riku snapped. "You call what you did to Twilight Town a compromise?!"
"I call it another desperate measure. And, despite all the second chances that you and your allies have cast aside, our Superior offered you another way out only yesterday, and you refused that as well. And now your dear Master Aqua is left to pick up the pieces for you."
"Sh—Shut up!"
"Enough." A glare worked its way back onto Elsa's face. "Xaldin, even if what you say is true, if you are to remain in my castle, then you will treat my friend with respect."
"Apologies, Your Majesty. As I stated, a lack of a heart is a hindrance in many regards." Xaldin's voice remained level. Unfazed. "But, back to more pressing matters, the reason I approached you is because I've seen cases like yours many times before."
Riku so wanted to bite back with, 'And you've caused them, too.' Even with the thick leather coating the underside of his gauntlet, he could feel the flat, metallic edges of his fork digging into his palm. He eased his grip and instead scowled at the Nobody in a more silent challenge.
Elsa folded her arms on the table, frowning faintly. "Similar in what way?"
"There are wayward souls like yourself who have grappled with great power. Fear and repression only hindered them—nay, led them on the path to self-destruction."
"I'm aware. He's sitting right next to me."
Riku winced. He couldn't dispute that when he'd literally told Elsa the same thing before.
"Correct. It was your acceptance of these powers, this 'darker' part of you, that built this magnificent palace, correct? What the cretins below call 'darkness' is not to be concealed, but embraced. Only fools fear themselves. For further proof, look no further than the valiant champion beside you."
Riku had no retort. No rebuttal. Xaldin's words, regardless of the dubious intention behind them, rang true to everything that Riku had spoken of earlier. To challenge them now would cast every shred of advice he'd given Elsa into question.
His fork clattered on the icy table. His eyes slammed shut. Just when he'd finally found a safe space, away from the Organization, and found a new friend willing to stand by his side, this Nobody had to swoop in and tear the rug out from beneath his feet.
"Funny," Elsa replied, unamused with Xaldin's rhetoric. She took a sip of wine and continued, "A few minutes ago, darkness was a universal threat that the Organization was intent on eradicating. And now you want me to embrace it."
"To control it."
Her eyes narrowed. "And what are you offering that Riku isn't?"
Xaldin's dark smile grew, and he savored every word that passed through. "A lifetime of experience. A guaranteed escape from unintended consequences. Tell me, Your Majesty…are you aware of what's become of Arendelle?"
Elsa's breath stopped.
x.x.xKairi's jaw dropped.
She'd expected to see a towering mountain coated in a blanket of glistening snow. Elsa's hiding place. The heart of the storm.
Instead, the icy winds were replaced with a slow, rising heat. The mountain on the other side of the horizon was nothing more than a fractured carcass, billowing smoke from the earthen cracks and bleeding crimson rivers of lava that slowly gushed into the snow-covered valley below.
The others were just as silent, shocked stiff at the sight of an active, erupting volcano where they'd expected to find the core of a blizzard. But this…they weren't at all prepared for—"Hey, quick question. Is it summer now?" Olaf asked, misreading the atmosphere.
Anna ignored him and tugged on Kristoff's sleeve. "Hey! I thought you said she was on the north mountain!"
"She was, I swear!""HOW COULD YOU MISTAKE MY SISTER FOR A VOLCANO?!" If looks could kill, Kristoff would be a goner.
Kairi turned her attention from the argument and stared further at the eruption. She'd lived on an island for as long as she could remember. An island with its own share of volcanic mountains.
So, she squeezed between the bickering duo. "Look, wherever Elsa is, we need to stay calm—"
Anna grabbed Kairi's shoulders and screamed, "THE PLANET IS LITERALLY EXPLODING, KAIRI!"
Kairi grabbed the other girl's wrists. "—to stay calm and think things through. Riku and Elsa are probably okay. Your sister's really powerful, right? And, if my school books were any indication, this is probably just an effusive eruption."
Anna opened her mouth again, taking in a deep breath for what would surely be another panicked outburst.
Kairi placed her hand over Anna's mouth and explained, "As in, not an explosive eruption."
The muffled cry sounded something like, 'Not explosive?!' And then Anna removed Kairi's hand and pointed up at the distant peak. "There's lava everywhere!"
Olaf blew a dreamy sigh, holding his twiggy hands together. "Yeah…I bet it's really toasty."
"And SUPER deadly!" Anna whipped back toward Kristoff, who, unlike Anna, kept his best poker face. "So, how can you be so calm about this?!"
"You see those gas bubbles on the lava?" Kristoff asked calmly. "That's good. Kairi was right about this being an effusive eruption. If the lava couldn't degas like that, then you'd have something to worry about. As for Riku and Elsa, Kairi's friend's a Keybearer. Your sister's the living embodiment of ice. Do you really think a dribbling mountain is gonna stop them?"
Anna raised a pointer finger, then dropped it. "Well, no. But it still doesn't add up! Where are they now? Why would the mountain just suddenly explode?"
"Effuse," Kairi corrected.
"What does that even mean?!"
"It means it's just kind've…pouring out. Really lazily."
"But that still doesn't explain why it's suddenly oozing lava. That doesn't just happen!" Anna paused, turning to Kristoff. "…Does it?"
He groaned and ran a hand over his face. "It…yes. Very frequently in fact."
"Kristoff!" Kairi warned.
"Fine, it doesn't. But I'll bet I know what caused it. Elsa."
That earned some stares.
He explained, "Look, I pass by that mountain all the time, and it didn't fall apart until your sister found it. Heck, I didn't even know it was a volcano! So, whatever kind of ice-storm she was cooking up, she took a lot of chunks of the mountain with her. Disrupted it so bad that now it's erupting for the first time in…ever."
But, explosive or not, an eruption was an eruption. It was too far to harm them, but those lava rivers were already rampant in the valley below. Animals evacuated en masse, already unprepared for a summer snowstorm, but now contending with a volcano on top of that. It was one unnatural disaster after another, no doubt causing serious damage to the ecosystem.
Olaf squinted, toddling forward and tipping his chin up. "Hey, guys? Are you sure the volcano didn't blow its top off?"
Kairi gave the little snowman a puzzled look. "Yes. Why?"
He pointed to the clouds some distance beyond the fractured mountain. "Because I don't think it ever came down."
Everyone followed his gaze, seeing only clouds at first. But, as the clouds parted intermittently, something…else appeared in the sky.
It…wasn't the displaced mountaintop. The shape was too artificial. And it really was just…floating. Or, flying at a low speed.
The more the sky cleared, the more the details sharpened. Definitely not a mountaintop, but not a spaceship either. As impossible as it seemed, a palace of ice sailed through the air.
A castle. Was flying.
Behind, Kristoff muttered, "…Am I dreaming?"
"…I think we all are," Anna said.
Olaf added, "Or maybe we're the dream, and we'll all disappear when someone much less crazy wakes up. Sven, is this your dream?"
The reindeer grunted what must've been a 'No.'
But Kairi had more productive plans than gawking and philosophizing. She stumbled back, Keyblade toward the sky, and let off another flare.
x.x.x
The blue sky burned with a streak of fire for the third time in just as many hours. Another signal from Kairi to let them know they were on the right path.
"WAK!" Donald griped as he nearly fell over from exhaustion. Nahxs couldn't blame him. They'd been jogging all afternoon. "How're we supposed to catch up to her if she won't stay still?!"
Nahxs replied, "But she is slowing down. That flare couldn't have been more than half a mile away."
He turned to Goofy to ask him how he was holding up, but was surprised to find the canid knight peering intently at something in the sky. Something besides the flare. Something that made him blink and squint and scratch his head.
"Uh, fellers? Is the altitude playin' tricks on anyone else's heads, or is that just me?"
Looking up, the source of Goofy's confusion was immediately apparent. Nahxs almost gasped, and even Donald of all people was silent. Everyone was completely speechless at the sight of the flying structure bursting through the cloud cover, and though distance made the details difficult to parse, the shimmering, crystalline texture of that castle in the sky made one thing clear.
Elsa would make a powerful Nobody.
Nahxs smiled.
x.x.x
Elsa was horrified.
Of what, Riku couldn't immediately tell, but the bright, orange glow shining through the window and bathing them all in its light came far too abruptly to be a shift in the sun's position in the sky. Riku snapped his gaze to the semi-transparent wall on the other side of the table and felt his heart sink at the sight.
"A signal flare…"
He practically leapt up from his seat, sending it crashing to the ground, and drew Oblivion anew. The Keyblade was intercepted by a pair of interlocking lances, hovering by Xaldin's side, and the Nobody remained perfectly composed in his chair, sipping his wine without a care in the world.
Elsa cried, "Riku, what—?!"
"It's a trap! Xaldin led the Organization right to us!"
Xaldin scoffed at Riku's words. "Yet again, you seek to transform me into the monster of your dreams. But, know this. There are no foes at the queen's table, boy. The real enemy is at the gates." He looked to Elsa and gestured calmly to the window. "Perhaps you ought to see for yourself…"
The queen turned to Riku, as if silently asking for his advice. He answered with a sidelong glance and a light nod. Somebody had to see, and somebody else had to keep Xaldin in check.
And so, she slowly, cautiously rose from her seat and made her way toward the translucent wall. The slightest twitches of her fingers were all it took to transform the pseudo-window into an enormous magnifying lens, shifting and adjusting as necessary until the distant ground—the origin of the flare—appeared close enough to be an extension of the room.
A group of four, five if you counted the reindeer. …Six, now that Riku realized the snowman was sentient. Aside from them, the rest of the group consisted of a tall, dusty-blonde man, a red-haired girl with a single white streak standing just beside—
"…Anna?" Elsa nearly gasped the name.
And, beside the princess…
"K—Kairi?"
Her Keyblade's tip still glowed from the flare.
In that brief shock, Riku caught too late that he'd taken his eyes off Xaldin. The crisscrossing lances still held Oblivion at bay, but the Nobody himself had risen from the table and sauntered to the queen's side, his goblet still in hand.
"What fascinating companions your sister travels with, Your Majesty. Only a day away from home, and already she's found herself a Keybearer. Just like her elder sister. You're not Princesses of Heart, by any chance?" He took another sip of red wine.
By then, Riku had withdrawn from the unmanned deadlock and joined them by the magnifying-window, standing on Elsa's right while Xaldin took the left. Just like at the table.
Then and only then did he finally notice that something was…off about the image of Kairi and the others. They moved in real time, but…the way that the air before them wavered, like a mirage in the desert…or like intense heat distorting his sight.
He said with held breath, "Elsa, can you zoom out?"
"Pardon?"
Oh. Right. That phrase probably didn't exist on this world. "Can you…pull back on the magnifier?"
She nodded, and, as the image drew back, the clouds parted. Between the cracks in the misty veil that obscured the stretch of land between the castle and the others below, an eerie, red glow drew Riku closer to the image. Billows of smoke and steam rose from molten rivers and melting snow. A volcanic eruption…?
Xaldin stated more than asked, "You've made so many rounds across the countryside in this castle, but you don't even recognize this place, do you?"
Riku and Elsa shared a look. Neither of them knew.
The Nobody chuckled. "It was the north mountain. The very same where this palace was constructed."
Elsa gasped. "Wh—what?! How is that possible?"
"Unintended consequences, as I said before. Just like what happened with Arendelle. Just as a breeze becomes a blizzard, a mountain moved becomes a land deformed." He paused for emphasis, letting Elsa and Riku take in the horror of what they'd believed was a carefree holiday in the sky. "Do you see now why we can't afford for the queen to abandon her kingdom?"
Elsa…was shaking. A sharp, pained whimper escaped her. Her eyes slammed shut.
The urge to thrust Oblivion through Xaldin's chest gnawed at every inch of Riku's being.
But instead of following that impulsive, primal urge, he moved closer to Elsa. He held her hand in his, stilling its trembling.
"Don't listen to him. You didn't know that this would happen. Nobody's gonna hold this against you."
Xaldin spat, "Bold words, coming from you, boy. Do you honestly believe that words can atone for atrocities? You know all too well the toll of abandoning the greater good for your own selfish gain."
Spiky protrusions sprouted from the floor. Riku tightened his hold on Elsa's hand. Elsa squeezed back.
Riku answered, "No. I'd be a hypocrite if I said otherwise. But this isn't an angry mob. If Kairi's on her way, if her sister's coming, then they're probably just worried. They aren't the types to hold a grudge."
"Then, perhaps you should survey those outside of the will…" Xaldin gestured with his wine glass to a cluster of figures closing in toward Kairi's group.
Gulping, Elsa opened her eyes. With a wave of her free hand, the image zoomed in on this new group.
And she staggered back.
"No…!"
Two of the figures stood out clear as day. Goofy hobbled along with Donald propped on his shoulders, joined by a tall, red-haired man whom Riku had never seen before.
"…Elsa, it's okay. Donald and Goofy are my friends, too."
"Perhaps, but…" Elsa hesitated. "Why is Prince Hans with them?" She looked to Xaldin for an answer, and it was only then that Riku remembered that the Nobody had introduced himself as Prince Hans' advisor.
Xaldin sipped from his goblet. "Ironic. Those fools claim to despise witchcraft, yet here they are, consorting with sorcerers when it serves their purposes."
x.x.x
"BURN THE WITCH!" Olaf cried, taking Anna's makeshift spear and prodding it at Donald.
The duck quacked ruefully. "I SAID I WAS SORRY ABOUT THE MUSHROOMS!"
He was saved by Kairi scooping him up into a hug. "You guys are okay!"
Goofy joined in. "Of course we are, thanks to all those flares guiding the way!"
Hans opened his mouth, no doubt ready to speak. But before he could get even a syllable out, Anna flung herself at him, sending the two tumbling into the snow. The sight of the two royals embracing on the ground and laughing their hearts out…perfectly in-character for Anna, but it was a side of Hans that Kairi had never seen before.
She and her friends couldn't help but stare amusedly. Only Kristoff crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. Olaf poked Donald with the spear again.
Anna scooted back a little on the ground, giving Hans room to breathe. "How did you find me?" she asked with the widest, goofiest grin.
He smiled right back and said, "Easy. I just followed the trail of unfinished sandwiches."
…Kairi's face scrunched up, utterly confused by…whatever Hans just said. Must've been an inside joke.
An inside joke made in only the handful of hours that they knew each other. She had to remind herself of that. Hans and Anna met only yesterday.
And then, from his seated position on the ground and with Anna still half on his lap, Hans scooped her in his arms and stood upright much faster than anyone was ready for, making Anna squeak in surprised delight. The guy was strong…and they were way too cute.
Kristoff mumbled to Sven, "Ugh. Get a castle, why don't they?"
Which reminded Kairi of the one in the sky. The one that she actually forgot for a minute because she was just so glad to reunite with her friends.
She turned back to them as Hans set Anna back on her feet and as Donald hid behind Goofy from Olaf and his spear. Kairi jutted a thumb at the flying palace and said, "I take it we've all seen Elsa's moving castle?"
Hans nodded. "So, it is hers."
"That's the working theory. We also think that Riku might be with her."
"Huh?" Goofy asked. "Why's that?"
Kristoff answered, "Saw an armored guy flying toward the mountain earlier. And, since the mountain was the source of the storm, he probably met Elsa on the way."
Donald, Goofy, and Hans all stared at the ravaged volcano and the lakes of fire in the valley ahead. Donald said, "…That mountain?"
"Yeah." Kristoff scratched his forehead, exhausted. "It's, ah…"
"It's profusive," Anna finished.
"Effusive," Kristoff corrected. "The eruption, that is. It's likely that Elsa made her castle from parts of the mountain, which messed it up and…yeah."
The volcanic valley said the rest.
Hans' face slowly turned grim. "Riku's with her? You're certain he didn't fight her?"
Anna's eyes popped wide-open. "WHAT?! N—no, why would he—?"
The prince kept his eyes locked on the volcanic landscape. "I've heard legends of the extent of the Keyblade's power, and we've all seen firsthand what your sister is capable of when she feels threatened. There are many in the kingdom who already fear that she's become a Heartless. Maybe Riku arrived at the same conclusion."
The thought must have horrified Anna. Kairi wanted to reassure her that it was unlikely, but Kristoff spoke above her.
"I'm with the prince on this one. A lot of people have been getting the wrong idea lately." He turned to Kairi, Donald, and Goofy. "If you hadn't met us first, would you really believe that Elsa's harmless?"
That…was a good question. As far as they knew, everyone that the Organization targeted tended to be selfish, vile, wicked, and cruel. Even Kuzco, despite coming around, had all the makings of a self-absorbed monarch. Elsa, on the other hand…
Kairi looked to Anna, her eyes wide and pleading, as if to say, 'Of course you'd trust her!'
But could Kairi say that in earnest? She looked at the floating fortress, silent and still amidst the clouds.
x.x.x
Their friends stared in fear below. Riku and Elsa saw everything in impossible detail from the magnified window. Her hand shook in his. The fear-red lights of the immediate area shone down on them—intensified by Elsa's anxiety, soothed by Riku's efforts to comfort her. Dark scarlet one moment, a softer shade the next. Like the whole room was an icy heartbeat.
The wine in Xaldin's glass appeared redder and brighter than ever. "Even now, they cower before their queen. You should ask yourself: have they truly come out of concern for you, or have they come to beg that you remove this frigid blight that you've cast upon their land?"
Riku shot back, "For a guy so bent on getting her back in the throne, you don't exactly make it sound worthwhile."
"Heavy is the head, as you know. You've bloodied a few crowns in your time."
The ice walls' red lights darkened over Elsa as he said that, as if to emphasize his point. Or to threaten how this would all end.
Xaldin continued, "Put yourself in a position of responsibility, and, regardless of your intentions, there will be those who seek only to judge you." Xaldin sent Riku a particularly pointed look, almost as if he was speaking about him more than Elsa. That changed in the next second. "But, as queen, you have the ultimate authority. You decide what your subjects will worship and revile. Apply the slightest force, and you'll find that hearts and minds bend so easily. And, those that don't…"
Elsa scowled. "You would have me force myself on my people?"
"I would have you assert your right to exist." The redness softened. "Was it not your own people who forced you to suppress the powers you once embraced with childlike bliss? Who locked you away from the sister who loved you, never given another choice…"
"No, I…" She squeezed her eyes shut, taking a breath. Then, she opened them once more and answered as levelly as she could, "That was my choice. I shut Anna out. I just wanted to—"
"Protect her? To decide what was right for her? You were hardly the first. It was your parents who chose to erase her memories. And it was your parents who repeatedly told you to hide when they should have shown care and compassion. And yet, their deaths changed nothing. You still put up walls, both literally and figuratively. You still denied Anna the truth. You took after your parents and learned to decide what was right for others, regardless of their pleas. I'd say you have the makings of an excellent queen."
He took another drink of wine.
Elsa glared at him. "I will not become the monster they think I am."
"Monster?" He chuckled. "Your Majesty, if anyone is the monster in this tale, it is the people. The paranoid fools who persecuted what they could not understand. It falls on you, the heroine, to rise and to show them the error of their ways. If not, then you condemn the princess to the wolves." His amused smile faded, adapting a visage far more grave and stern as his stone-cold eyes bore into hers. "Can you truly abandon your sister as easily as you cast your crown?"
Riku wanted more than anything to tell him to shut his trap. To lunge and wrap his hands around his throat. To make him beg that Elsa would forgive him for tormenting her in her newfound freedom.
And it was only then that he realized it was now his hand shaking, and Elsa was his support. The red lights had gone back to blue. His gaze shifted from Xaldin to her, and the anguish and the empathy in her eyes nearly melted him.
Again, her expression was a question without words.
…No. It was an apology.
x.x.xThe castle changed its course, slowly but surely flying closer toward them.
Anna knew it would. She smiled weakly. Her eyes watered. Everything would work out after all.
The clouds parted as the palace drifted nearer, descending cautiously over the burning valley. Keeping its distance from the volcano and staying high above the slow-moving rivers of lava. Elsa was coming back to her…
And Anna wouldn't just wait around. She took off in a sprint closer to the lowering castle, determined to go as far as she could until she reached the bank of the burning field.
Hans called, "Anna, wait!"
But she wouldn't. After years of being shut out and finally coming so close, Anna was willing to go to the ends of the earth to see Elsa again. Neither fire nor ice would keep them apart any longer.
She could hear the others panicking and sprinting behind, all of them caught between demanding an explanation and struggling to catch their breath. But she didn't owe them anything. She kept on tearing through the snowy ground, over the blades of grass beginning to peek through, across the freshly exposed earth freed from the receding snow as the temperature spiked the nearer she came to the volcanic fields.
The cliff's edge wasn't too far off. She would stop there, only because she couldn't walk on air. But she still had half a mind to try.
The crystalline palace continued its descent, still hundreds of yards above the burning rivers that spread in every direction below. Anna's heart jumped when she saw something—someone—in black armor leap from the castle's balcony and streak through the air on what must've been a Keyblade Glider.
She smiled through the new tears of joy. It didn't take much to guess who that was. Everyone worried for nothing. Besides, this was perfect! Elsa was just a…well, okay, still a fair distance away, but the castle was drifting closer! And now, Kairi's knight in shining armor was blasting their way atop his majestic…metallic… Anna squinted. What was that thing? A silver and gold, flying…canoe? No. It was too flat.
Well, no time to dwell on it! The castle hovered closer to the cliff, while the air glistened and a sparkling stairway materialized from the palace's front door, trailing just behind Riku in his flight. He swooped in just a second later, dropping to the ground in a landing that might've hurt if it wasn't for the years of practice she assumed he had. The magic stairway reached its end on the cliff's edge behind him.
But before Anna could say so much as a 'hello' or a 'nice to meet you' or a 'HOLY HECK ON A HOCKEY STICK, THAT WAS AWESOME,' Donald's squawky voice burst out from behind her.
"HURRY UP, GOOFY!" He rode on the dog man's shoulder, flailing his staff like a rattle.
"YOU HEARD THE WITCH! FASTER! FASTER!" cried Olaf, who rode on Goofy's opposite shoulder.
"I'm tryin', you fellers, but you're kinda heavy!"
Face bright red, Donald huffed and bopped his shoulder. "If you can carry a shield, you can carry us, too!"
Their bickering squeezed a few giggles out of Anna, thwarted only when a sudden breeze sent her teetering sideways, and Kairi flew straight at Riku like a human cannonball.
And knocked him flat on his back.
Just like Anna and Hans earlier. Except in full suits of armor. Clanking with every movement. Like a romantic pile of old horseshoes! Clearly, this was a sign, and she couldn't hide the impish smile as she trotted toward the happy couple.
In a likely effort to copy Kairi's magic dash, Donald pointed his staff at the ground and shouted, "WIND!" Nothing happened.
Olaf squinted and tapped his chin. "Uh…that's called snow."
Both Hans and Kristoff shared a dry look, but ultimately shrugged it off before joining Anna in her approach.
Though it seemed Kairi's surprise tackle might've hit a bit too hard, seeing how he stared up at her with an awkward look and barely managed a weak, "Uh…hey."
"Hey?" Kairi threw herself back on her feet, and though she extended a hand to help Riku, the sharp scowl she gave him spoke volumes. "Riku. You told us you were just going to 'hang back,' not disappear into a blizzard!"
Riku winced, shuffling backwards. "Look, I'm sorry, okay?"
Kairi huffed. "I wasn't finished yet!" Oof. Not quite the romantic reunion Anna had hoped for. "First of all, we didn't even know if you were safe! You didn't leave us a note. You didn't give us any hint that you were still in this world, and you expected us to just be okay with that?!"
"Of course I didn't expect you to be okay! I just…" He averted his eyes, both fists clenched and his posture rigid. "No. I shouldn't make excuses. You're hurt. Nothing I say or do is gonna change that." He looked to Donald and Goofy as they came to a stop. "By all means, let me have it if it'll make you feel better. Chew me out. Throw a snowball at my face. I can take it."
Donald was way ahead of him. He must've been, because there was no snow this close to the volcano, but he already had a snowball wound back for a throw, meaning he must've made it for this very purpose back when they were all running. He lobbed it at full strength at Riku's cheek…
But Goofy intervened, and the snow splattered against his shield. "Now, hold on a sec, Donald! Just 'cause Riku asks for punishment doesn't mean we oughta give it to him. We gotta look at it from his perspective!"
"I'd fill his perspective with snow if you'd let me!"
"That's not what he meant," said Hans, smiling gently. He turned from Donald to Riku. "I can't imagine it's pleasant being stuck under constant surveillance. I'm surprised you haven't left this world."
"…Huh." Riku slowly pulled his eyes from his friends to the rest of their group. "You're Prince Hans, right? Elsa told me about you." Pausing, he finally looked at Anna. "Which means you're Anna, and you're…" He trailed off as he looked over Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven.
The little snowman chimed in with a great big smile. "I'm Olaf! And that's Hairy Sven…" He pointed up at Kristoff. "And Reindeer Sven."
Kristoff sighed and covered his face. "…For the last time, it's Kristoff."
"Anyway!" Anna chimed in, desperate to undercut the tension. "It's great to finally meet you, Riku! Kairi tells me you're quite the charmer."
Kairi and Riku both stared at her, though it was Riku whose face turned a pretty shade of pink.
"Wh—what? You can't be serious…"
Anna's smile only grew. "Oh, but I am!" She even nudged Kairi with her elbow and winked. A silent signal. This was her big chance!
But Kairi made a sound like a sigh crossed with a laugh, and, instead of seizing this opportunity, she just said, "Look, I'm not mad at you, okay? …Okay, that's a lie, but believe me when I say I'm saving all that anger for the Organization."
"Well, then I've got some good news and some bad news." Riku pointed his thumb over his shoulder and toward the castle. "Good news: Elsa's willing to talk to Anna. But only Anna."
Kristoff crossed his arms. "And the bad news?"
Riku scowled, and he cast another look at the palace. "They won't be alone."
x.x.x
"It's funny," Xaldin said, his eyes on the group far, far below. "The distance makes everything seem small."
He glanced briefly at the snow queen to see if she'd caught the taunt. He was watching Riku when they first met. He heard everything that the Keybearer did.
But her eyes remained locked on her sister at the stairway's base.
One eye, at least.
That actually caught him off-guard. She was paying attention. Stopped him with half a gaze before he had the thought to move closer. But he would have to if he wanted this to work…
He went for a more relaxed tone. "But can you truly say you are beyond your fears' control?"
"Save it," she said, but the bite was gone. He'd gotten through to her.
He repressed the urge to smile. He couldn't move closer unless she allowed it. "This is only the beginning, you know. What you've done to your kingdom, to this earth. All while you gallivanted in your castle of dreams. But dreams always have their price, and few can afford the toll. The Keybearer was an appropriate playmate. Anna was not. That streak of hair is proof enough of her fragility."
Xaldin glanced back to Elsa, secretly relishing the subtleties of fear worming their way into her. Even with the red ice suppressed, she could only hide so much.
But she tried anyway. "I have more control now."
"Control? The world itself is unfit for your power. Look upon your works. Your mistakes. The earth is gored and bleeds fire. What will Anna bleed?"
Elsa's horrified eyes darted instinctively back to the magnifier-window, where Anna took her first, tentative step on the frost-formed stairway.
x.x.x
The sole of her boot touched the first, ice-smoothed step, and Anna reached impulsively for the railing. It…wasn't slippery. That was good. Just regular old…magical stairs…
Hundreds of feet above a valley of lava.
She gulped. Clung tighter to the rail. It would be okay. Elsa was in control of her powers now. These stairs would hold. That castle would stay floating. And that lava…would definitely stay where it was. Even though the gas bubbles on the surface kept popping fire everywhere and she imagined each one jumping hundreds of feet higher than it would and…
She looked ahead to the rest of the stairway. One-hundred feet, maybe less. Hopefully less. …Probably more.
A cold sweat came over her. Her breathing grew shallow. Her heartbeat raced as fears of volcanic death mixed with revenge fantasies of lecturing her sister on the importance of more accessible architectural design and…
And she couldn't do it. She'd come all this way and…to stop right here…
"Anna," Kristoff said, sympathy in his voice, "you don't have to do this."
That was it. She had to do it. She'd show him.
She took another step. A third. A fourth. A fifth. Never mind that her hand was starting to sprain beneath the mitten from clinging so tight to the rail. Never mind all the terror making her blood boil. She walked on and on. Eyes locked on that giant door above.
She'd kick it open in a minute.
x.x.x
A minute was all he had.
The weapon felt so heavy up his sleeve. The glass shard that Duke Weselton delivered to him in the courtyard. Nahxs' glass.
And the queen wasn't quite in reach. If her 'welcome' proved anything, it was that she was fast. The slightest concentrated twitch would reduce him to ice-mangled ribbons. He would need to break that concentration before it began.
Her worried gaze turned from Anna to him. "You promised me total control. The end of all unintended consequences. What does that mean?"
The near-empty wine glass never felt heavier. Its base was only inches away from the concealed shard. Xaldin forced himself to stay calm and mirror the queen's solemn tone. "The heart is a feeble thing. It was your fear that froze Arendelle, your elation that set the earth aflame. To control one's darkness is to control one's heart. That is something that the Keybearer could never offer you."
"I don't want rhetoric, Xaldin. I want answers. You both told me to embrace my powers, but Riku never hid anything from me. I can't say the same for you."
"He poured his heart out. Mistake number one."
Elsa spat back, "Would you rather he cut it out?"
Xaldin hid his smile behind another sip of wine. 'Something like that,' he wanted to say. The magic glass seemed to burn in his sleeve, begging for the queen's heart. He'd been inching closer all this time—not even that. Closer to centimeters.
And he was still only half as close as he needed to be.
x.x.x
Halfway there.
Don't look down. Don't look down. She kept mentally telling herself to keep her eyes up, on the castle, on the door…
But the warmth radiating from below, the ominous, orange glow… She gulped. How did these stairs even hold? Would they hold? What if her next step was her last, and this entire staircase melted right beneath her feet? Now, of all times, it became crystal clear just how far from her home she really was.
Against her better judgment, she looked back at the base of the stairs. Hans, Kristoff, Kairi, and everyone else looked so small now. From afar, she saw Kristoff inch closer to the stairway, until Hans grabbed his shoulder and shook his head. Donald tapped a big, webbed foot. Olaf fidgeted in place. Riku and Kairi shared awkward glances at each other, then back to Anna and the castle.
No point stopping now. She didn't come all this way just to back down. Now of all times, Elsa needed her. Especially if what Riku said was true.
She took another, shaking step, eyes off the lava and hurrying despite her failing balance.
x.x.x
The girl almost tripped. Xaldin almost chuckled. He hid his amusement by downing the last drops of wine in the glass goblet.
But Anna's blunder stole Elsa's attention. Xaldin inched closer without her noticing. There it was, just as he warned. The heart, making her weak.
"Your Majesty—"
"That's enough."
…He hadn't expected that. The flare of anger, the way she stepped back, wise to his subterfuge. This was…problematic, to say the least. And time was not on his side.
She glared coldly. "Riku supported me from the moment we met. Anna braved a snowstorm just to see me again. What have you done?"
"I can provide dessert if the meal wasn't enough."
"All you've served are empty platitudes and lies. Embrace darkness and abandon my heart? I should have banished you from this castle the moment you arrived. The next time we meet, I won't hesitate to destroy you and your Organization!"
Xaldin sneered. "I offer you the means to control your destructive powers, and you would cast that away?"
"My family is my power." She raised a hand at Xaldin, charging it with ice magic. "And I'll be theirs."
He scoffed. "You would put your faith in a boy who flees at the sight of his own friends? Or a girl foolish enough to marry the first man she meets?"
Something…changed then. Something in Elsa's eyes. The anger faded, replaced with… "Prince Hans… He's one of you."
…Well.
"You're his advisor. You aimed for the queen. He took my sister." That righteous fury came flooding back, stronger than ever. "And you were here long before Riku and his friends. You planned to do to my world what you've done to countless others!"
Xaldin…had no retort. Nothing to talk his way out of this one. And it…it was absurd. The Keybearers weren't meant to find this world. He and Nahxs had kept tabs on Arendelle for over a year, had taken every step to ensure their activities were untraceable beyond the Organization's radar, but they were still discovered.
All because of Xigbar. Xaldin would cut out his other eye when they returned, and it seemed they'd be returning much sooner than scheduled.
He did what he'd always done when hiding his emotions in the past hour. He raised the wine glass and took another drink.
Only, he'd finished the last drop not a minute ago. All he saw as the goblet tilted against his lip was the distorted image of the wrathful ice queen on the other side of the glass.
And Nahxs' glass shard was still tucked inside that same sleeve. The same hand that held the goblet. The goblet that distorted his failed target.
Distorted…fragmented…shattered.
…That was it. That was how he'd do it.
He lowered the goblet back to a rested position. "There's no need for theatrics. I know when I'm beaten. I'll see myself out."
The spark of magic in her hand intensified. "So you can catch Anna unaware in the halls? I don't think so."
Good. Good… "Very well. We can wait until the door opens."
The door. All it took was a mention, and Elsa took the subconscious cue, her eyes darting to the side just briefly.
And Xaldin tossed the goblet toward that distant door, utterly arresting the queen's attention with the momentary panic. The streak of a small projectile flying away, the promise of a destructive impact at the end of its brief trajectory—
Xaldin dashed toward her faster than any human possibly could've, augmented by the wind he commanded, and the hand that tossed the goblet flicked once, then grasped the hidden shard like a dagger.
Elsa panicked and recoiled, firing the charged ice spell, but Xaldin's free arm batted the spellcasting limb aside, sending the ice flying wide, and her retreat gave him more than enough momentum to knock her off her feet.
Time seemed to slow as her balance was stolen away. As her desperate shot missed his face by inches. As Xaldin poised the glass blade just above, crackling with dark energy. As the horror in her eyes fueled the predatory ecstasy in his.
Then the blade came crashing down into her heart.
The empty goblet shattered on the floor several feet away.
Elsa slammed against the floor spine-first, a shrill, breathless wail inviting Xaldin to press the blade even deeper. Shadows festered in the bloodless wound. His wide, venomous smirk leered down at her.
"I had truly hoped it wouldn't come to this." He released the shard as only the final inches of it remained, slowly worming into her heart even without his aid. Her flesh festered with shadows around it. "But, you see, Your Majesty, we're rather pressed for time these days. And besides, the only way to truly master darkness without losing one's heart is to remove it entirely."
Even without a heart of his own, he reveled in this moment. Gazing into her eyes, wide and fearful, as Nahxs' sinking shard worked its dark magic. Eyes that dilated one moment, shrank the next. Eyes that blazed with magic in one heartbeat, blackened with darkness the next. Eyes that—
Matched his own? His whole reflection?
What?
The mirror. It…floated in front of him, out of his coat pocket. And his reflection's eyes bulged in anger, growing big, buggy…cartoonish, for lack of a better word.
Xaldin scarcely got the chance to absorb what he saw before the mirror transformed into pair of equally cartoonish gloves, formed into a fist with the index and middle fingers outstretched, and—
"GYAAAH!"
Pain shot through his eyes, and he fumbled away, losing his hold on Elsa. He staggered blindly against one of the table's chairs, knocking it over and falling to the ground.
Just…what was that thing?!—The Morph. It had to be! Those fools from the Legacy were on this world as well. The captain had attempted to lure him into that trap in her office. Were the others in his room, sabotaging him? Replacing the sigil mirror with the Morph?
He released his eyes, the throbbing pain only slightly lessened, and summoned a lance in his left hand as he climbed back to his feet. He whipped back around, swinging for the Morph—
But his arm jerked to a stop mid-swing, and an agonizing sting like a shallow stab wound seared through his wrist. Elsa had intercepted his blow, one hand seizing him by the wrist as the other gripped the lance. But she wasn't the same. The glass at last vanished completely into her heart, and her skin sealed crudely behind it, but Xaldin also saw that the end of the shard was broken off. Like she'd attempted to pull it out.
That's what the pain in his wrist was. The broken-off glass must've been caught in her palm, but now she'd jammed it into him.
And, already, the glass in her heart was taking effect. Her body radiated a smoky, crimson hue. Her teeth were bared like a bloodthirsty animal. Her eyes flashed between icy-pale and shadowy-black. And her grip…it was already inhuman. Ice spread from her palms, consuming Xaldin's wrist, his forearm, his hand, his fingers…
x.x.xAnna threw open the front door, but was shocked still by the sudden, explosive burst of screams deeper within the castle. The voice was low. Guttural. Definitely not Elsa. Was that…Xaldin? Dilan? Whatever his name was?
What was going on?
She broke into a mad dash from the open doorway, rushing into the crystalline foyer. The screams intensified, echoing from high above. She ran. No, she sprinted up those stairs, no longer afraid for herself, but for Elsa.
That gave her all the courage in the world.
She passed the last flights in a blur, barreled down the halls, and practically threw herself against the final door. It blasted open into what seemed to be the dining hall.
But the first thing she saw wasn't Elsa.
It was…some kind of…vortex of shadow? Almost like what the Heartless traveled through, but much larger. Fit for a human adult. It shrank down in seconds, leaving behind only transient wisps of shadow and…
Anna fought back the nausea rising in her throat. There, on the floor, were several chunks of broken ice that, with only the slightest stretch of imagination, were once a forearm. She could even see the fingers. Two halves of a severed, spear-like weapon were sprawled just beside.
And, beyond that, Elsa.
On her hands and knees. Shaking and breathing hoarsely. Her face was concealed by locks of loosened hair, and a pink, living blob floated nearby, clearly just as worried about Elsa as Anna was. But she had no time to question what this creature was. She sprinted toward her sister.
"STOP!" Elsa cried, freezing Anna in her tracks. But it wasn't just the command, it was…was that her voice? That…it couldn't have been… It was like Elsa's voice was trapped in an echo, screeching through a cavern of glass.
Anna's blood ran cold as she stared, horrified and confused, at her sister, prone on the icy floor.
Elsa trembled violently. A flash of scarlet energy burst from her heart, making Anna recoil in terror as Elsa slammed onto her side, involuntarily casting a beam of ice and shadow along the floor, blasting apart the dining table and chairs. The overwhelming mist of the magical explosion forced Anna to shield her eyes, and the room was lost in a haze of bluish-white, like smoke from a fire choking and blinding its victims before they ever saw the flames.
But Anna wasn't afraid of fire or ice. She'd braved both just to get here. And so, she took her first, cautious steps inside the mist, following the rhythmic flares of whatever black magic invaded Elsa's heart.
"Elsa?" Anna called, one mitten covering her eyes and mouth as the other groped blindly in the fog. "Whatever he's done to you, I'm here to help!"
No response. No sign of her yet. But Anna just barely heard—far, far below—the sounds of the front door crashing open, of numerous footsteps thundering through distant halls and searching for the right stairwells.
Another flash of scarlet light. Another wail from her sister, and Anna finally found her in the mist.
Elsa's face was impossible to read, fixed on the reflective floor. Her shoulders trembled. Her shadow-tinged fingers scraped the ice below before stiffly curling inward. Her breathing grew heavier. More erratic. Anna moved closer still.
"Just…go…" the echoing voice muttered between breaths.
"No! I won't leave you!"
A gut-churning sound, like a sob crossed with a chuckle, gave Anna the conflicting urges to sprint again and to freeze in place. And when Elsa slowly, finally rose to her feet and lifted her gaze, Anna's heart dropped to the pit of her stomach.
Bright, scarlet veins crawled down Elsa's face, matching the color of her infected heart. Her lips twitched between a smile and a grimace. One shadow-streaked hand grasped her forehead, concealing one of her eyes.
The other stared back at her, glowing blood-red. Elsa's face slowly twisted into a scowl, and Anna finally understood what her sister meant.
"Anna…why did you never LEAVE?"
TO BE CONTINUED
A/N: THIS TOOK A WHILE. Let's just say a lot's been going on between work on Inverted Fate, RL, and other factors. But we're back with a huge chapter!
A lot happened here and there's still more to come. I'll leave it at that for now, but…
Guest Isa: Riku and Elsa's dynamic is just such a wholesome, healthy thing because the two have so much common ground and can connect because of it, but Elsa's also an older sibling so she has a protective side toward Riku. In a way, she's kinda projecting a bit because she never got the chance to build a healthy relationship with her sister after she got separated from her.
Riku wants to be more heroic, but he's just so burdened right now. In a way, he sees Elsa as an opportunity to make up for past transgressions and actually, truly help someone in a way that a hero should. But, well… things just got dicier.
I've definitely been trying to show that different worlds are more in the know than others. Like, Amelia had some knowledge and experience beforehand, and the TP climax also tied into the Keyblade. Other worlds are less involved- I kinda like to vary it. Like, the Incredibles world had a more recent history with Keyblades, too, since Terra and Aqua went there during their training.
As for Xaldin, keep in mind that the Org can spy on Riku, so it wasn't just Xigbar prying into Riku's space adventures.
Anyway, as always, thanks to everyone for reading, reviewing, and all that good stuff! Hopefully the next update won't take as long. :P In the mean time, I still have some weekly updates for Hurricane Heartbeat.
