Chapter 25

All eyes were on Rapunzel as she held the two pieces of the Undoing Relic. It was easy to see how to combine them. They each were shaped like half of a pyramid and had multiple holes. But one of them had a tube where the other had a hole. Rapunzel put the two together, locking the tube into the socket. With a blue glow, the two pieces fuzzed together. From then on, it would be impossible to separate them again.

"At least that part wasn't tricky," Merida commented. "After the obstacles to get to the challenges, I'm surprised it doesn't make ya answer a riddle first."

Eugene asked, "So there weren't any attacks while we were gone? Not even a drunken beast throwing eggs at the castle?"

"Nothing," Elsa confirmed.

Eugene said, "You all know what this means, right? Aurora must have told the Enchantress everything. She knows we're here and she knows we're after the pieces. We've already speculated that she's waiting until the next challenge to attack. By the time we get to third challenge, they're be beast there waiting for us. We all know she has two more days to prepare for that."

Fauna added hopefully, "Well, at least we know what her plan is."

"Actually, we don't," Elsa argued. "The Enchantress knows that we will split up, with some of us staying to guard the castle and sending some of us to find the relic. But she has three options on how to use that information; once we split up, she could send her forces to attack the castle while half of us are gone, ambush whoever we send to the challenge while the other half stays behind, or she can do both at the same time."

Rapunzel suggested, "Maybe we should wait for an attack here before we go for the next challenge. That way, if the Enchantress attacks the castle two days from now, we'll have everyone here."

Ariel snapped her fingers at her new idea. "We could also go to the challenge's location early and clear out the beasts before they're expecting us."

"Wait," Snow White cautioned. "There's a very high chance that the Enchantress has anticipated both of these ideas. She could send in a scout to make sure half of us are gone before she attacks the castle, and she has probably told her beasts at the challenge-site to be ready for us at any time. And we can't possibly wait an extra day before going to the next challenge."

"Why not?" Rapunzel questioned.

"Because if we wait, the Enchantress could find someone who can complete the challenge before us."

Elsa added, "And if the Enchantress gets her hands on just one of the pieces of the Undoing Relic, all is lost."

"We need to be at the challenge's gates the very second it activates."

Merida thought, "Well, time to be a queen my way." Merida said out loud with a shrug, "We could just say, 'bring it.'"

Everyone looked at Merida curiously. "We almost beat the Enchantress before; the only reason Elsa didn't finish her was because Aurora was a double crosser. If the Enchantress sends twice her beasts to attack each half of us, we can take um."

The group was taken by her spirit. Some of them wondered if Merida was using their confidence to blind them to caution; however, they knew if that was her intention, she was succeeding.

"I'm with Merida," Phillip said. "We'll be ready for whatever the Enchantress has in store for us."

Snow told the group, "And fortunately, we won't need half of us at each location."

"Why is that?" Elsa asked.

Snow explained with confidence, "Because I'm going to the third challenge location alone."

Dead silence.

Everyone in that room had heard how dangerous it was just getting to the challenges or, better yet, experienced it themselves. And that was BEFORE the Enchantress's beasts were likely waiting there for them.

It felt like a full minute before Rapunzel replied, "Um . . . no, you're not. You can't handle all those beasts yourself."

"Now, now, I didn't say I'd fight them alone. I said I'd go to the location alone. Fauna, would you kindly tell them where the third challenge is located."

"Why, the third challenge is in a jungle in India."

"That's right, in a jungle; where there are plenty of dangerous animals."

"And you can control animals," Merida added.

"That's right. I may travel alone, but I'll have them outnumber as soon as I arrive."

"We can't let you go alone," Rapunzel argued. "You have to take at least one of us with you."

"I can't. You'll need all the help you can get here when the Enchantress arrives; even with M whom I will ask to assist you upon her next visit. Remember, the Enchantress didn't know what to expect at Stephan's castle, this time, she'll be ready for more of us. What the Enchantress doesn't know about is my ability to control animals."

Elsa asked, "What if the Enchantress goes to the third challenge instead of the castle?"

"She won't."

That wasn't enough. Elsa persisted, "How do you know?"

"It . . ." Snow was a little flustered by the argument, but she remained polite and calm. "It wouldn't make any sense."

"You can't do this. It's too dangerous," Rapunzel insisted.

Snow White cracked a smile. "It's so funny that you use those words, Rapunzel. Isn't that what Gothel told you about going outside of your tower? Elsa, isn't that what your parents told you about playing with your sister? Ariel, isn't that what your father told you about falling in love with a human?"

"Oh, so it's not too dangerous for you to go alone, but it IS too dangerous for us to stay with one less of us?" Rapunzel countered.

Snow White looked a little less confident and a little more desperate. "Rapunzel, I need you to trust me when I say I can do this."

"I trust you, but how can I trust your combat ability with all this when I've never seen you in action? Elsa, back me up on this."

Snow White and Rapunzel both looked at Elsa. It felt like the decision had been placed on her. Elsa thought quickly, "Maybe Snow has a point. The Enchantress will send a larger force to the castle than last time. And assuming her ability to control animals is as powerful as she says, she would have a lot to work with in the jungle. What should I put first; caution or trust? Snow seems more convinced that she can do this alone than Rapunzel is that we can handle things with one less person. I can't get over what she said earlier. My parents did tell me it was too dangerous to play with Anna when we were little. But then again, I've also been saying it's too dangerous to let the spirits out of the Enchanted Forest. Was I wrong to be more cautious than trusting then?" Elsa sighed and said out loud, "Snow, take one person with you."

"I'll go," Jack volunteered. "I'm starting to feel left out of these challenge quests."

Snow argued, "Jack, you're too powerful. They'll need you here."

"I'm afraid you're out voted here, Snow," Jack replied.

Snow White still didn't agree with this decision, but she knew she wasn't going to change their minds. "Alright. We'll just have to finish with the challenge as soon as possible."

Ariel said, "I'll get my forces prepared for the attack. The rest of you, enjoy some free time. You've earned it."

With the meeting adjourned, Jack told Elsa, "You know, we have not had enough time to ourselves recently. Also, I just agreed to go on a mission without you, so we should probably do something together now before I'm off."

"It's good to hear that, even in war times, your priorities haven't changed, Jack. In fact, there's something I want to talk with you about."

When the two were outside, Jack prepared to carry Elsa as he often did since he could fly, but she couldn't. Jack put his hand on her back, but as soon as he did, dark blue ice gushed on to the ground, creating icicles that thankfully had no one to stab into. Jack quickly took his hand away from her back and looked at the icicles. Unlike the icicles Elsa would make on her own, they were sharper, had many jagged protrusions, and curved like a crooked knife. Well, Elsa did imply that something was on her mind. He looked back at Elsa who wasn't startled by the event as much as she was embarrassed about it.

"That bad, huh?" Jack asked.

She merely replied with, "Yeah."

"Mmmmaybe we should walk instead."

"I think so."

As they walked, Elsa told Jack her doubts about her methods with the spirits and how Ariel's methods put her own to shame. As they spoke, they saw things like a human showing off a souvenir from an underwater part of Atlantica and a mermaid pulling herself out of a water-lane, transforming into a human, and walking to her nearby home where a towel was near the door waiting for her.

Elsa knew that most people wouldn't see Jack, but she had bigger things to worry about than looking crazy for talking to an invisible man. "I feel like as the Fifth Spirit, I'm supposed to know what's best, but I don't."

"What do the Northuldra think of your methods?"

Elsa rolled her eyes. "They tell me I'm doing great, but they don't think it's there place to question me. Did I ever tell you that when I first met their leader, she said something about them only listening to nature? You see, there's this nasty little rumor around the Enchanted Forest that humans are lesser than spirits."

Jack said sarcastically, "Well with that line of thinking, I can't imagine how the spirits could have such an ego problem."

"I know!" Elsa agreed, her teeth gritted. Elsa face palmed briefly before saying in a more somber tone, "The worst part is I can't admit to myself that I've been wrong. I can't . . . I can't handle the possibility that I'm still a failure after I thought I found my calling. . . . I can't go back into the dark."

"Elsa, you're not a failure; even if you need to make more adjustments. Weren't things worse before you showed up at the Enchanted Forest?"

"Well, yes, but that . . ."

"Ssshhh. Making things better than they were before isn't failure, Elsa. You give up too easily. I think you should see it as a good thing that you know more changes need to be made. Now you can figure out how to make them work."

Elsa said, "I couldn't figure out how to do that before."

Jack smirked at her. "You never asked for help with this before. Back when you were queen, you had councilmen to help you out, didn't you?"

"I did."

"There you go." Jack made the problem feel so much lighter and solvable. "This time, you can ask me for help."

Elsa looked at Jack warmly. "I love you."

"I love you too."

"Jack, I think it's safe for you to can carry me now."

Author's Note: So Rapunzel and Snow White disagreed about whether or not they should send someone to help her. I guess we'll have wait and see if Rapunzel was right and Snow White did need a little help . . . or . . . SNOW WHITE WAS RIGHT TO THINK THEY WOULD NEED ALL THE HELP THEY COULD GET AND RAPUNZEL AND ELSA'S REFUSAL TO TRUST HER WISDOM WILL PUT THEM IN GRAVE DANGER OF PAIFUL DEATH AT THE HANDS OF A FULLY PREPARED ENCHANTRESS WHO WILL OVERWHELM THEIR WEAKENED NUMBERS. But I guess we'll have to wait to find out.

Heads up. The next chapter is going to be another Anna flash back. We're finally going to see what she did after the others left Cinderella's castle in Chapter 3.