Frozen Memories – 1.8 Bridge
Hidden Past - Back Cover
Nara paced behind DiT, the tasks were done where they not ? So why were they still there ? Xeir was not yet woken, but the others were, and Mark was already reunited with Anna in the other room. Thankfully neither had chosen to explore the old crumbling manor any further then they had so far. And Diamond had snuck off somewhere into Arendelle itself looking for something important to her.
DiT was typing at the computer but halted. "What is it ?" Nara asked at the sudden halting of the womans movements
"Nothings. At the very least a good dozen." DiT replied calmly as she observed on the screen. "A good dozen, and multiplying by the pair"
Nara growled. "That is not good" He drew his sword and turned to leave the computer room.
"Take care of it how you see fit. What happened to Jarius ?" DiT asked as Nara turned to leave
"He is still at his place" Came the reply. Giving DiT a hard look the silver haired man smirked. "Our goals are not the same, remember that" He left through a portal.
DiT went back to waking up Xeir.
Xeir Awakening
Chapter Zero
Prologue
3 July 1987
Scala ad Caelum
Wolfe Family Compound
Xeir and Marks bedroom
Dawn
The rain hammered on the rooftop as thunder roiled
For long moments the two slept soundly in a tangle of arms, legs, and blankets, dead to the world. As Charity stood in the open doorway, Almost tempted right then to have Anna and Marion sit outside the door to not let the two out of the room or anyone inside for that matter. But no, She had grounded Xeir to the forge for the next day or so, that is how it was to be. But for long moments Charity stood in the open doorway of her two eldest childrens bedroom. All their life they shared their bedroom, never once truly having a fight like normal siblings had. It was as if they were literally insperable. Charity could not really explain it.
Charity had to marvel at what her kids had become. Her oldest, Mark, had become a fine strong and capable young man, able to hold his own in a fight. And then came Xeir, her elder adopted daughter, she and Diamond had come to the family like a bolt from the blue. Both girls had arrived by burning ship 17 years before! Without their memories, or so Marcus, her beloved husband had assumed such, since the girls never cried or wanted their parents. So naturally Charity wanted to give them a home, a proper home by adoption; the girls original clothing was stained in seawater and items that Charity would rather not wonder about. Diamond had said that Xeir was seasick, and Chairty promptly changed the topic.
Xeir had grown into a beautiful young woman the last few years. Her and Mark were inseperable no matter what they tried to do with the pair. But it didn't really matter at that point. Charity had given Xeir her punishment. But she still marveled at what her eldest daughter had become. Breathtakingly beautiful, and skilled with both sword and forge. And the Snowgies, and the items Xeir could make with her magic. Charity marveled at it, as Xeir grew so too did her magic.
But the words of Jarius rang in her mind, Xeir had made a isnowman/i and it had come to life! And what was more, the Queen, Idun, of Arendelle, and her sister, Princess Tiri, were following that same snowman to Scala ad Caelum! Charity knew why that alone was dangerous, Xeir was scared of the soldiers at Arendelle, they had her face on a poster, plus they had the crocus pattern all over their uniform! The same flower pattern Xeir kept around her neck at all times.
Charity smiled remembering the last few weeks and months. Xeir had a temper tantrum during the winter seven months ago, which was odd for two reasons, one, she actually wasn't feeling well to begin with, and two, she caused a insane blizzard and went out in it stark naked, which in itself wasn't a bad thing really, because for one thing, she had no clothing that really fit her as she had hit another growth spurt at that point. But it was ten minutes later when the blizzard died down and Xeir came back into the house in a beautiful blue dress made of ice and a little cloth.
Xeir had also taken after Marion in terms of fighting style, using two swords, mostly because of the speed and natural balance of the weapons in each hand. Xeir had made her first pair of short swords with both Marcus and Marion's help, and as the years passed, each sword Xeir made got better, prettier, and longer, to the point where it was too long to even be considered a longsword in one hand! Nearly two meters in length for both swords Elsa had finally crafted of the rare metal she had at first chosen.
Charity let the past fade to the present as Jarius' words rang in her ears 'iThey will find who they seek through that snowman, that type of guide will lead them directly to Xeir no matter where you hide her/i' Did that include the Family Vault ? Charity shook her head, no she was not going to lock Xeir away, if the Queen of Arendelle only wanted to speak to her, they'd let her speak to their daughter, but it would be on Charity's terms.
On that note, she chose to wake them up, grabbing up a passing Snowgie as he ambled past, Charity chucked the little guy at the pair of sleeping siblings like a regulation football "Mark, Xeir, wake up you two! Breakfast and forge! You know the drill!" Charity always took risks with her kids, waking up them up was one of them, thankfully the Snowgies easily put themselves back together after Mark sometimes broke them apart, slowly they learned the limits of how long to do the foxtrot on the young man to wake him up
The little Snowgie, named Stuffin by Diamond when they were kids, danced on both siblings faces and bodies trying to wake them up before Xeir rolled over, got a faceful of snowgiebutt and fell clean off the bed with a loud PLUFF of snow and a grumbled "Stuffin! Get outta my face!" She rolled over and clonked the bedpost "Ow!" A brief scuffle and Stuffin went flying back onto the bed and back to dancing on Mark's sleeping form as Xeir pulled herself to her feet. Her mother could see her eyes were bloodshot, as if she was crying ? Seeing who woke her up with Stuffin, Xeir shyly said "Oh, morning Momma." Charity noticed the bloodshot eyes. Xeir had indeed cried during the night at some point. But what about ?
Charity smiled softly, "Good morning Xeir, what happened ? Your eyes are bloodshot" Their mother always looked out for them even when adults. Heck honestly, some said that Charity doted on her now adult children. Some might say that was true too, when Xeir didn't reply right away Charity nodded "I understand this whole thing is troubling you. Come on, Xeir, sweetie, tell me" She heard grumbles from Mark thanks to Stuffin finally just sitting on his face, stuffing his snowy ass into Marks open mouth and nose "Tell us" Charity corrected herself as her son slowly woke up "What happened, why did you cry ?"
Xeir had indeed cried during the night, one of her dreams was when she and Diamond were little girls, before they met Mark, before Mark saved their lives! She sniffled to try and clear her nose that dripped a bit with hot tears. "I had a nightmare. It was before Mark rescued me and Diamond, I there was a woman, she had a dress that had this on it. But the cloth was torn." Her hand clutched at the necklace of cloth around her neck as she spoke. "The woman had Diamond in her arms asleep. I" Xeir looked to her locket, the cloth, the Arendelle Crest itself, staring right back at her, "I... think I dreamed about myself when I was younger..." She sat on the bed, trying to not cry, trying to think how things worked in her life. She had a wonderful family. But why was she dreaming about a past she could not remember ?
"What do you remember of the dream ?" Charity asked. If Xeir dreamed of the past, maybe it was her memories ?
Xeir shivered as she sat on the bed, "I remember hearing cloth tear. in my dream I saw my hands, holding this cloth, it was torn from something, someones dress I think" Xeir explained, "The woman I saw held Diamond close, we were on a ship, It was dark and rough seas. in my dream I kept throwing up. I heard myself screaming for my mother in my dream. A young maidservant helping me to her, then drinking something... And then meeting Mark" Xeir let go of her necklace and hugged herself as her mother came in the room and sat on the bed next to her, hugging her.
"It will be alright, Xeir. your father and I will see to it that when this woman, the Queen of Arendelle, gets here, all she does is speak to you, nothing more, but when she does speak to you, it will be on our terms. She may be a queen of a country yes, but you are our daughter." Charity said giving Xeir a hug
Xeir nodded "Momma, I'm scared, what if this woman, this Queen of Arendelle, really is my mother ?" Xeir looked to her mother, Charity became more then her adaopted mother, as far as Xeir was concerned, Charity had given birth to her and Diamond, it was all she could remember! All her life, working in the forges, making swords, learning with Mark, it was as if she was born for this life!
Soon enough the Snowgie went flying across the room; thrown by a grumpy Mark, who with tired, annoyed eyes, looked to the door. Upon seeing Charity, he paused; was sleeping really worth the punishment? Was it really? Was an extra few hours worth cleaning the stables by himself? Nope. Screw that. Grumbling he got out of bed, stretching out his body with a loud yawn and multiple groans. He gently patted Xeir's shoulder and quickly hugged his mother as he passed them, heading towards the bathroom to wake himself up with a shower.
A quick hug to Mark after ducking as Stuffin went flying and splattered then reassembled himself before scampering out of the bedroom, his job done. Charity smiled, giving Xeir another hug she said simply "Dont worry, if the Queen so much as tries to take you away, your father wont let that happen, from what Mark said, she only wants to talk, but if she tries to take you away, your father wont let her, I promise." Charity said, Xeir nodded and hugged her mother. She had a forge to work at that day and she didn't want to tarry too long.
"Thanks Momma, where is Papa right now ? If she just wants to talk, even so I want Papa within earshot in case of trouble" Xeir said, little did anyone know that trouble was soon on its way in the form of a young Princling from the far south.
Scala ad Caelum
The Wolfe Forge
An Hour Later
KLANK, KLANK, KLANK
HSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
KLANK, KLANK, KLANK
With a clatter the third sword in an hour was set on the cooling rack. It was crazy, the only time this many swords were produced for pieces of artwork alone within a sixty minute timeframe was when Xeir was nervous, or scared, or jittery, or something. Maybe all of the above if Mark was given that as a multiple choice question. Xeir slaved in the forge, not even bothering to wear a blacksmith apron either as she hammered away and created sword after sword. her ice blue dress was beautiful, so much so that the sparks and fire that exploded from the forge and smelters had no chance to affect the dress before the sheer cold that went into the the dress alone froze the sparks and coals by touching her dress. Even with the new cape, it did not hinder her movement, nor did it catch fire either.
Xeir picked up a fourth mostly done sword and got to work. the hour was nearly up, and three swords were finished, sparkling as if inlaid with gemstones of some form or another, almost instantly getting down to work with the weapon, the hammer ringing against steel every two seconds, if that. Sparks flew everywhere in the forge as Xeir worked the steel. She could not get it out of her mind, the woman in her dream, holding Diamond, reaching for her as well, the cloth around her neck, torn from apparently her dress, but she couldn't see the design. But she saw her arms, her own arms reaching for the woman.
Xeir was scared, worried, nervous, jittery, you name it. But even so, each blade came out like a complete work of art. Someone had to calm her down before she made too many swords they couldn't sell them all! That meant one of two people, her father, or her brother.
Both of whom were in the front of the forge in the shop area helping a customer pick out just the perfect sword for them. After the sword was chosen, the deal made, and the money handed over, the two sighed and looked at Elsa through the door way.
"You should go calm her down." Marcus said.
"Me? You're her father." Mark replied
"And you're her brother. Need I remind you of your tone?" Marcus gave his son a hard look
Marks bravado faltered and broke. "No Father...No..."
"Then get your ass in there, and give your sister a much needed hug or something. She'll give us a useless surplus of swords and the forges will go cold!" Marcus growled, smacking Mark's forehead causing him to stumble backwards a step or two. As Mark turned to see to Elsa, a disgruntled look on his face, Marion called for him in the other room, and he turned to his father, who sighed and grumbled in annoyance. "Go see what your sister wants. I'll calm her down." He said.
Mark nodded and left to see what Marion wanted, while Marcus entered the smithy and sighed. "Xeir, sweetie what's wrong ?" He asked calmly over the sound of the hammer hitting the metal. "Come on, come here and tell your papa what's wrong." He said, opening his arms.
At her fathers voice the hammer halted midswing. His calming tone stopping her movements. Fuck she was scared, Why did she have that dream ? She dropped the hammer, it hit the floor with a loud CLACK and she all but fell into her fathers embrace crying. No not just crying, sobbing as she clung to her father, for a good minute she cried, finally she said softly, "I dont want to lose you Papa, Please, dont let me leave, I dont want to leave you or Momma!" She started crying again, truly well beyond scared, she was scared that she'd have to leave them, lose her only family! Xeir did not want to leave her family. If the queen wanted to take her away, back to Arendelle, Xeir did not want to go, this was her place, this was her family.
Marcus hugged his daughter tightly and for as long as she needed him to, wanting to make her feel safe. "Shh it's okay, Xeir. It's okay. Whoever this woman is, Queen or not, has no power here in Scala ad Caelum. She can't demand to take you away from us. That'd be like me trying to demand free swords from a blacksmith in Arendelle. It just doesn't work that way." He assured her calmly. He gently wiped the tears from her cheeks and kissed her forhead. "Hey, relax alright, it'll be alright, sweetheart. Trust me."
Xeir sniffled, she had told her mother, and Mark, about her nightmare, so she had yet to tell her father, so she did just that, explaining to him everything she remembered from the dream, from the cloth tearing to the womans face, to seeing Diamond in the same womans arms, and her own arms, those of a small child, reaching for her too. And then, nothing. "Papa, I'm scared, I know I am your daughter, by adoption, but what if, what if I am..." She couldn't bring herself to say it, what if she was a Princess with Diamond ? No, she was a Blacksmith, a soldier, a sister, and a daughter to an amazing family. She had a gift as well. But. Was she really a Princess ? Or was she the daughter of a powerful wonderful and well respected family ?
If she had to pick, she'd forgo riches, and be with her brother and sisters, and parents.
Marcus merely listened and kept his arms around his sobby daughter, rubbing her back soothingly. "If you are a Princess, then big Whoop. You're still my daughter." He said; half joking as he tilted her chin up with the other hand to make eye-contact with her. "And as long as you say so, you always will be." he said calmly, his voice resonating with wisdom previously not heard; not that Marcus wasn't wise; not that at all; Marcus was one of the wisest men in Scala ad Caelum, but he rarely spoke with the sort of tone a wise-man would use. If there was a specific tone, that is.
While still hugging her father she said still crying softly "If I were given a choice between living in a castle, and living here with you and Momma, I'd pick you and Momma. You raised me as your own. I wouldn't leave you for all the gems in the world!" She said, but she was still sad, and scared. the Queen of Arendelle was coming, but Mark said she only wanted to talk to her. So it wasn't all that bad was it ?
For a long moment she and her father just stood there, hugging, she tried to stop crying, but she was scared, her dream scared her, the pending visit from the Queen of Arendelle scared her, she did not want to have to leave her family, or suddenly find herself gone from her family.
Outside the window of the forge a massive dragonfly watched the two, father and daughter with each other, Oooo this was going to be good! It buzzed away before it could be noticed by anyone in the city. Going back to its master, a black kobold. who too disappeared before being noticed. This was going to be good!
Three days west of Arendelle
Kethend's compound
About two hours later
As the Kobold returned into the proper zone he reached to the dragonfly, with a gutteral squeaky tone he said to it, "Show me your secret my little friend!" Before poking a nail into its wings and back, seeing it all. Yes! the girl was traumatised! and her father was comforting her! And ontop of that, the Queen of Arendelle had arrived in the outskirts of the city as well, the Master will want to know! With a gut wrenching squltch the kobold took its finger from the dragonfly and let it back to its nest to heal, he'd have more need of it later, for now it was time to report to Queen Kethend! Witih a happy chirp the Kobold darted for his Queens chambers with the good news.
"Look, all I'm saying is that while in combat, you should go for the kill immediately, not play with your opponent." Masor said to Nymeth. They had just sparred; and Masor not the least bit surprisingly won. "That's how the rest of the Shadowlings died, remember?"
Nymeth rolled her eyes and growled softly as she spoke. "Yeah, yeah whatever. It's more fun to play with them though." She said.
"Forget it. You're too fucking stubborn to talk to." Masor shook his head, walking away and down the corridor, grumbling to himself the whole time. He turned his head. "It's also why you lost to that Dragon up in Arendelle; you disappointment." he added, leaving Nymeth with a shocked, livid expression on her face before she stormed off to go kill something.
As Masor rounded the corner, he noticed a Kobold practically skipping in glee heading towards Draco and Kethend's throne room. He furrowed his brow and vanished into the nearest shadow to follow it.
In the Queens throne room Kethend stood at the window looking out over her training army of Kobolds, "The Queen of Arendelle has arrived at Scala ad Caelum you say ?" She asked her Kobold commander
The Kobold nodded, in his gutteral squeaky voice he said "Yes Master, The Queen and her sister have also taken on a guide in the forest. A snowman creature."
"A snowman ?" Kethend giggled, it sounded weird coming from her, but still. But she could not help but giggle at the mere thought of a snowman helping a human as a guide, they were all snow, no brains "Anything else ?"
"Yes Master, the girl is scared, so scared that she has produced three swords within sixty minutes. If her fears keep up like this, she'll be too busy trying to do other things to get her mind off what is happening around her" The Kobold reported everything the Dragonfly had observed.
Kethend smiled as truly evil smile, for once her plan was working. It was truly a flawless plan now, "The Crown Princess is now nothing more then a blacksmiths daughter, she is scared to lose her family and become a Princess again, perfect! Good, you are relieved of duty until I call for you personally, you may go." The Kobold nodded and and with a happy chirp he skipped off, this normally meant a doublehelping of meat and a good full night of rest.
As soon as the Kobold was gone and the door closed behind him Kethend spoke up again, this time speaking to the shadows around her. "How much of that did you hear ?" She asked to Masor, whom she felt near. Before he could answer she waved a hand, as if dismissing his answer "No matter. I have a task for you. Send our puppet on his way, he is to reach Scala ad Caelum by tomorrow at noon."
Masor stepped forward and bowed. "I heard just the tail end, my Lady." he answered truthfully. At her command he nodded and within a second smiled. "It is done; he is on his way as we speak." He said. "Is there anything else you require of me, My Lady, or am I dismissed?" He asked calmly.
Draco, meanwhile sat on his throne; drenched in thought as he stared out into the great abyss that was the wall on the other side of the room. The Princess was in a panic? Good and not good. He was trying to figure out specifically why it wouldn't be good, but as of yet he had no such luck.
"Yes" Kethend said turning to face Masor, she knew he heard what he was meant to hear "Send the twins, and go with them, observe only, of what and who, the Queen of Arendelle speaks with, and for how long, do not, under any circumstances, engage anyone in battle of any kind, am I clear ?" Her arms were crossed behind her back, her silver eyes piercing at Masor directly. There was only the matter now of Taztan and his assignment. Which was easy, he was already on it. As a sword merchant seeking to buy swords of art instead of combat to keep Elsa busy.
"Any questions ?" She meant that if Masor had any questions, or if Draco wanted to speak up, then was the moment to do just that.
As Masor nodded, Draco stood. "One last thing, Masor." He said; voice booming as his eyebrows furrowed. "Make certain that Jarius does not spot you or sense you. If he notices that all of the Shadowlings are both alive, and in Scala ad Caelum; he won't hesitate to try to kill you and declare war on us. Regardless of our old friendship." He said, roughly grabbing the collar of Masor's coat and lifting him up with one arm easilly. "Am I understood?"
Masor didnt even struggle as Draco lited him off his feet, keeping as calm as he was able he replied "Intimately, Sire."
"Then begone; I want you in Scala ad Caelum in four hours." Dreaco said as he set him on the ground
"But it's at least four days awa-" Masor started, before realising there was a way t oget there so quickly./
Draco simply raised a hand, a pointed finger at the Shadowling. "Four. Hours. Or do I need to do it myself ?"
Masors mind was working rapidly, formating routes for the fastest route to Scala ad Caelum. Masor shook his head "N-no Sire. We will be there. Ahead of time"
Draco smirked and pointed at Masor again. "Do not fail me, Masor; or its a week in the deepest pit I can find."
Masor gulped and nodded, bowing deeply to his Master and sprinting out of the room, hauling ass like never before to get Nymeth and Belyrr and get them to Scala ad Caelum within four hours. And he already knew the fastest route
"They will make it Dear One, they will make it. Taztan is already there. The more swords the child makes, the more focused on her 'family', she will be" Kethend said with a devilish grin as she gave Draco a longing look, one that was simple yet plain. There was something they had to ensure in case of things going sour. And that was ensure their line continued to harass that of Arendelle. But in order for that to happen they had to have some hatchlings!
Kethend turned to Draco, he seemed more agitated recently, "Dear One, what is troubling you ?" She went to his side and with a gentle loving hand she guided him to a low couch and they sat down. "Please, tell me" Her tone was sweet, loving and motherly. Oddly so, normally her tone was cold, deadly and calculating, so when did she become so tender all of a sudden ?
Draco merely glanced at Kethened and sighed, he knew that look. He knew it all too well from her. "What is troubling me is all of the recent failures; despite this success we've had. If Jarius does declare war on us; I can't save you. There's no way we can kill him; he's too powerful, too strong, compared even to me, he is too old." Draco's anger turned to mild depression as he sat on the couch and sighed as he stared at the cavernous ceiling. Sometimes the big-bad Shadow King could be soft too. But it was rare, even for Kethend to see it.
Kethend smiled softly raising her hands to his shoulders before giving him a nuzzle. "Dont worry, if it does come to war and we perish, our children will carry our line" She always had a backup plan no matter what happened, and their nestful of huge dragon newborns were proof of that in her bedroom.
Shadowlings Chambers
At that same moment
"Did Masor really have to bring up that bitch of a dragon that bested us ?" Belyrr grumbled, after nearly being run over by groups of kobolds since returning home after their successful yet painful as fuck mission, Belyrr was happy to finally be on her feet again. "We could have been just fine if he didn't bring that silver bitch up in the first place!"
Just as Nymeth was about to answer; Masor slammed into the room panting and sweating. "The Master has spoken. We are to be in Scala ad Caelum within four hours or it's a week in the deepest pit he can find for all three of us." Masor said while simultaniously trying to catch his breath. "We're also to not let Jarius notice our presence, lest he declare war on our Masters and kill us." he added before running back out the door to prepare for the journey.
Belyrr raised an eyebrow confused. Four hours. Seriously ? "Four hours. That's impossible, Scala ad Caelum is four days away. how can we get there in four hours ?" That wasn't really possible. Wait, no actually it was, they just had to find the thickest shadows in Scala ad Caelum downstairs! Belyrr snickered They'd make it in half that time if they needed to "Just our luck, maybe you can take down that dragonbitch after all!" Then again silver dragon magic outpaced them completely!
Nymeth growled. Four hours? Even for the Master that was crazy. But they'd do it; they had no choice. She stood and began to pack her things, grumbling lowly and hissing every now and again out of anger and hate. Man she didn't want to be anywhere near that Silver bitch again; but now she was practically being forced to charge face first back towards her. Ooh how her anger boiled.
Belyrr noticed her twins grumblings, and knew what it meant. That Silver Bitch could send them both to the Pits without a care in the world! Grabbing up her scant items, the Shadowling turned to her sister "Nymeth, look, I know you dont want to see that Silver again, but orders are orders. Besides, you think we're going to fight ? I doubt it, that kobold... wait, what's that one doing here ?" Belyrr turned to the kobold
The kobold in question had gotten his double helping of meat and was about to eat when he was sent to inform through Queen Kethend of something important "Yes, me" He squaked in his gutteral nasal sounding tone. "The Masters impress importants of not being seen by anyone, observe only. The Queen of Arendelle should not know she is watched. The Puppet is in enroute now, he will have a retinue with him. Use it as cover. None will suspect spies."
At this point in Kethends plan was simple, keep Xeir busy as much as possible, and keep an eye on Idun herself until Hans got there. Because when Hans was to arrive was when the next part of the plan got into motion as a letter was also sent from the South the same moment that Hans left. A letter to the King of Arendelle. A letter of trade. The Throne of Arendelle for his wife's life. The letter was to arrive the same moment Hans was to arrive in Warforge.
"So we dont get noticed. Use the puppets crew as cover. Sounds like the normal Observence mission" Belyrr said softly, casting a glance to her sister. They had four hours to get to Scala ad Caelum, then half a day or more to wait for Hans to arrive with his retinue.
Scala ad Caelum
Wolfe Family Forge
At that same moment
The bell rang inthe front half of the shop, a different merchant was there, yet Taztan loved his job. His latest mission was to ensure that Xeir was engrossed in swordmaking for as long as possible. Man Taztan had to fight within himself of going as the same merchant as before, but no, he had to make this believable. He rang the bell again. Come on where was that thrice damned woman or even her twice as damned brother ? He'd seen brtiefly in the shadows the quality of the work that Xeir did in three artful pieces inside an sixy minute cycle. Taztan wanted to ensure that Xeir was working for as long as possible, and that meant sixty of those swords. By that night.
Now where the fuck was that shadowblasted blacksmith girl ?
Marcus looked up from the book he was reading in the smithy; under request from Xeir that he not leave the room. The bell was ringing. He looked to his daughter, and cleared his throat, standing up. "Think you're up for some business?" He asked her calmly before turning and pushing aside the curtain, squinting for a second before looking to the man ringing the bell. "Welcome to the forge of the Wolfe Clan. How may we be of service to you this fine day?" He asked with a polite, jolly tone as he spread his arms as if seeing an old friend after fifteen years.
In the two hours it took for her to calm down Xeir had taken the fourth sword she had started work on and with her magic had experimented with it. the blue steel glittered brightly as she used her magic to make weird designs on the blade. It was no more then an ornate knife of some form. She had no idea how long she had cried and hugged her father, but she did know that he remained with her, her anchor, so to speak. She was just getting started on some ring making experiments when the bell in the shop rang repeatedly. Wasn't Mark or Marion manning the front inplace of their father ?
Moving from the mold she was working on Xeir nodded, "Yes, I think so" So far only Mark, her mother, and her father knew of her dream before waking up that morning, Marion and Diamond had yet to find out. If ever. She then followed her father to the front part of the shop behind the counter and ducked under his arm as he held the devidor curtain for her. Seeing another merchant, unlike any Xeir had ever seen, the man was plain appearing in light robes of a traveling noble of some form.
Taztan smiled, it was about time! Within his guise of a noble merchant trader he spoke "Yes, I was directed here by another shop. I am seeking a certain type of ornate piece" He said, meaning swords made to display, not actually use in combat."My guild requires sixty of the pieces by nightfall tonight. I was recommended to here for that same reason." As it stood, only Xeir had that skill, she and her brother both in a way actually.
If this guy only wanted swords for display, she could do that easily, those were easy to make. Xeir found herself wondering however of why sixty for the order ?
Marcus nodded and wrote down the order in the book, calculating the cost in his head. "A job this big and this quick will cost a little extra, I hope you realize, my friend. Normally these swords go for about ten Gold pieces per inch of the blade. For this order, however, fifteen Gold per inch sounds fair. considering that the swords are approximately a meter in length." He said. Once the price was set he turned his head. "Mark! Get to the Forge, boy, your skills are needed!"
There was clamoring outside as Mark rushed to drop his training gear and head into the shop, all sweaty from training with Marion on raising his speed and endurance. "At once, Father..." He said, huffing as he looked to the order, then to Xeir, then to the Merchant. Only to be smacked in the back of the head by Marcus. "Ow! Why?"
"Where's your decency boy ? You come in looking like you fought off fifteen wild boars and expect to grow the business ?" Before Mark could answer Marcus jabbed his thumb to the forge and Mark nodded, huffing as he disappeared behind the curtain.
Taztan nodded, the gold per sword was easy to come up with. All of it was from the South to begin with. He could handle it when the order was completed. Once the work was done the gold could get handed over as planned.
Xeir smiled seeing her brother come in soaked in sweat. iwell, no chance to dry off/i she mused seeing his condition and tried not to laugh when her father smacked him, she gave one more look to the merchant before she too ducked behind the curtain in the wall and through the back area to the forges. Picking up the three swords she'd begun, and finished already two hours before. and setting them on the work table. "The merchant wants these, but not just these three. he wants sixty of them, by tonight. But should they all be identical, or different ?" The merchant had said nothing of the designs of each sword of art. Xeir looked to Mark, There was really no chance to not choose, they had a very major order to fill.
Mark thought quickly, and shrugged. "I don't see why they would want them all to be unique; that'd cost more." He said, looking over one of the three Xeir had made carefully, feeling the edges and the intricate details. His brown eyes flashed bronze and it was almost if he had scanned the weapon, and memoriezed the blueprints for it as well. He then shrugged and put four buckets of metal into his smelter, waiting for them to melt with the insanely hot coals he hoarded like a Dragon hoarding Gold. He didn't even let Xeir have them! They were his, and his alone.
After a little while, he pulled out the molten metal, pouring it into the mold and beginning to hammer away, whistling a song, mostly to himself, as he did so.
Xeir nodded, Mark was right, the price could simply go up if they tried for each blade different from the last. Within moments she too went to her own forge and smelter, ready to work. Her own forge burned with hot coals with a bright blue almost icy fire. Within an hour there was the sounds of hammering once more from in the Wolfe Forges.
Scala ad Caelum
At that same moment
Outside the Wolfe Forge
When Mark was called by their father the three of them had halted, yet when Mark pretty much tossed his gear, almost all of it at Diamond, his youngest sister had to dodge fast to avoid getting knocked out by her brothers hastly released shield "Oy! Hey! Mark! Call your shots next time will ya!" Came Diamond's panicked cry as she barely avoided even getting hit by her brothers speartip. What had gotten into her father to call Mark so suddenly to the Forge ?
Diamond was about to go after her brother when a calm voice called out "Hold a moment Diamond Wolfe, if you will" Jarius stepped into the massive yard of the Wolfe compound, his silver eyes bright when he saw Diamond and Marion both in the yard, Marion and a servant picking up Marks dropped gear. "Your sister has been requested of something, hence why your brother was also called upon to aid her. No doubt a major project like her swords"
"The only major projects we've been working on was that last order, the guy wanted mostly simply lead balls for something, and who wants a unlimited number of those ? Its just useless lead and iron balls, the guy called them bullets or some such." Diamond retorted, she sheathed her sword and handed her sheild to a servant who took it to the weapon rack. "What other project could there be ?" Diamond had no idea of how scared Xeir was about something that two hours earlier she had produced three art quality battle ready swords. "So what do we do ? We were sparring, Mark, Marion and I, but now Mark is called away, what is there for us ?"
"As of right now there is only a few things that need to be done, Once I speak with your mother at the very least. Go into the city, keep watch, a few visitors will soon come here looking for a few someones." Jarius knew certain things. One of those things was that Queen Idun was not just looking for Elsa, but for Anna too. "Stay together, dont split apart from each other, best case scenario the people you meet wont recognise you, worst case scenario, you have to fight... well... argue at the very most. Hope for the best"
"Right, ok, best case scenario whoever it is wont know us, worst case scenario I have to prove I am not who they think I am ?" Diamond said, trading looks briefly with Marion who raised an eyebrow while casting a glance to Jarius.
"Pretty much that yes. Good luck" The Ancient Brass dragon then turned and headed for the Wolfe family home itself. the sounds of hammering from the forge clear as a bell, literally. Diamond was briefly lost in thought, then she nodded, and the two girls then left the massive yard, moving along the street as Jarius watched them. As soon as the girls went around a corner he spoke anew, a nearby hooded fellow stood there. "Follow them, but do not be seen or engage anyone in combat, observe only." The hooded fellow nodded and quickly disappeared
A few minutes later and the girls were on the main throufare through the market in the dead center of the vast city of Scala ad Caelum. the two sisters wandered among the sellers of various stalls like normal, as if nothing were amiss, there were all manner of people in the market, some spoke of the storm the night before. All sorts of chatter about the storm made Anna wonder about it herself. As they passed a group of people chatting they overheard various conversations. But it was the conversation that concerned the storm last night connected to trading troubles that made the girls stop and join the group to listen in carefully.
"Every time a heavy storm occurs, It seems something is afoot in one of our trading partners cities. Take that one place called Arendelle for example. They say that Their princesses are missing. Presumed kidnapped it is said." Said one man, "I think it they was lost at sea in the storm, only logical explination"
"Impossible, You always think the sea took them, what matters is, how long ago was that ?" Asked another, the men did not notice as Diamond and Marion joined them
"Hard to say, one voice says it was yesterday, another, twenty years ago, still another, last year" Said a third
"Your both wrong" Broke in a fifth before the fourth could speak "Its just rumor, everyone knows that kingdom only has a queen and her sister, so maybe its them that's missin'!"
"Doubtful, posters were seen on merchant vessels. Has word been passed to the centeral Clan compounds ? It is possible they may know of it. Perhaps Bashain or his son could be of aid ?" Said the fourth after rethinking what he was originally going to say when it got shot down in a manner of speaking
"Twenty years ago" Marion said then thoughtfully, "Wasn't that the big storm when the Bandit King showed up here ?" She traded looks with Diamond, the other girl nodded as she remembered that storm, how could she not ? Xeir was so seasick!
"Aye lass, it was, like the storm we had last night, that storm was a killer one fer sure" Said the first man to speak.
"Aye, like that one near oh twenty years ago was it ?" Said the second man
"Seventeen actually I should think" Said the fourth
"You should think ?" Replied the fifth, clearly confused "Well when was it, twenty or seventeen years ago when the last major storm happened like last night ?"
"Clearly the storms mean something is about to happen, We best be on the watch to find out what. Best be prepared Says I" Said the first man, the others in the group aggreed, then they all headed for the nearby pub to get soused up, leaving Marion and Diamond in the street,
Marion watched the men leave then turned to her sister. "Well, that's that, Come on, we, Diamond is something wrong ?"
"That storm, eighteen years ago, like the storm last night" Diamond mused thoughtfully, "Xeir and I came here, to you and Mark, Momma and Papa, in that storm seventeen years ago, Do you think something, or someone could show up, because of the storm last night ?"
"At this point, after seeing all the Snowgies that Xeir's made over the years, none of them ever melted whatsoever, and they eat. Nothing'll faze me at this point" Marion replied, "Why ?"
"I'm not sure, but I dont think the Snowgies will be our worry. Come on, Jarius said we can't split up, lets head for the Smithies Town area, its possible whatevers going on is going to start there" Diamond said, Marion agreed and the two girls darted off.
Scala ad Caelum
Smithies' Town
A few minutes later
When the two girls arrived in Smithies Town the place was, like normal, an absolute madhouse of activity, sounds and heat, smiths of all sorts worked their forges, the place was always in a state of smog, and hammering noises, heck, the armor makers alone never stopped working, a recent order from a place called Arendelle apparently. As they wandered among the various market sellers they came upon a eatery seller and took some food, dropping a few gelts for the tip and paying before sitting down. Diamond never taking a bite.
Marion, halfway through her meat and cheese, saw that Diamond never started to eat hers. "Sis, Why aren't you eating, something on your mind ?"
"Those people we mingled with. One of them mentioned posters, like our bandits wanted posters sometimes up around the city." Diamond said
"Yeah so ? What about them ?" Marion asked around a mouthful of food
"Xeir mentioned that the soldiers of Arendelle had such a poster, But it had iher/i face on it. They were looking for her, to take her to their queen, Mark said all the queen wanted to do was talk. But what if it is something more then just talk ? What if the queen wanted Xeir for something; whose to say that she doesn't have a poster with me on it and she's looking for me too ?" Diamond said as she looked at her sister thoughtfully
Marion thought nearly a good minute before replying "I think you're overthinking it, Xeir did mention that to Momma and Papa, but Mark cleared up confusion that the Queen only wanted to talk to them, Nothing more then that!" She took another bite of meat, "So why worry about it ? Like Jarius said, worst case scenario; we argue with whoever thinks they know you or Xeir, best case scenario they dont recognise either of you. Besides"
Diamond finally took a bite of her cheese as their ale was brought out ot their table, she gave Marion a look as if asking 'besides what ?'
"Mom and Dad, Mark and I, hell this city itself wont let either you or Xeir leave, you grew up here, we're your home. That simple. The swords we make fetch a pretty gelt. Hell, those swords that Elsa made won fame recently too remember ?" Marion replied
"How could I not ? Mark burnt the core of the city for three days with his insane forge heating of his!" Diamond replied with a smirk
Two women happened upon them, one of them in a silver dress oddly familar, for a moment Diamond and Marion thought they were looking at Xeir, but then again Xeir did not wear silver, Xeir always wore turqouise or ice blue. Not silver. Marion spoke first "You two seem lost. Can we help you ?"
"We're looking for someone; we were told we'd find them here." Tiri replied after giving Idun a quick glance. Hoping to keep her sister calm. Finally her search could end.
"Who you trying to find ?" Diamond asked. Idun's unblinking stare making her slightly nervous as she tried to focus on her drink and food.0
"The person that made this" Tiri replied, unwrapping the parcel she carried at her sisters insisting. The sword hilt glittered like ice. Marion raised an eyebrow. It wasn't the ghost blade that was missing, but one of Xeirs own iDuradaeden/i swords!
"You might want to try the Clan forges, You wont find any swordmakers to make something like that here in the main markets." Marion said calmly after a long drink of ale
"Try on the centeral west area. One of the larger forges. You might find who you're looking for there" Diamond confirmed as Marion nodded "While there however, Do watch your step"
Idun nodded, Tiri smiled and wrapping the item back up she said simply "Many thanks, lets go" With a nod to her sister the two women left the two sisters eating.
Diamond watched them leave as she slowly set her ale mug on the table. "Did you see that ?" Sje asked to Marion
"See what ?" Marion asked around another mouthful of cheese
Diamond nodded towards the retreating backs of the two women "That woman, no not the one in silver, the one with her, she never took her eyes off me"
Marion stopped eating for just a brief second and looked at her confused. "And that's a bad thing ?"
"Maybe, not really, well. It made me feel nervous." Diamond replied, leaning close to Marion she said softly, "What if she wants to talk to me after talking to Xeir or someone else ? I mean, what if the entire reason that woman is even here is... because she's..."
"Your birth mother ?" Marion turned to look as Idun and Tiri left the marketplace. turning back to Diamond she gave her sister a confused look "What makes you think that ?"
"Did you see how close of a resemblence the woman in silver is to Elsa ?"Diamond asked her
Marion thought a moment before her eyes went wide as she realised what Diamond meant and she stood up, grabbing up her twin swords from leaning on the table edge "We have get home, If the queen that spoke with Mark is here, we need to warn Xeir, we need to tell Mother. Come on"
Diamond stared at Marion motioning to their food "But what about our meal ?"
"Take it with us. get a bag or something, but hurry, we need to get home before they get to Elsa and Mark" It took a few minutes, but Diamond soon had a bag and their food safely in it, grabbing up her sword the two girls took off to the rooftops nearby. Nobody paid much if any attention to two girls freerunning on the rooftops lately, the kids did it constantly to begin with
Scala ad Caelum
Wolfe Family Forge
Several hours later
Today was weird, Xeir hammered away at yet another sword, fifty seven down, three to go... she hoped. The guy wanted sixty, She got started on number fifty eight. With Marks help they'd managed to make it, but it was still almost dark at that point too. Just after dinner and Xeir was back at the forge working. Never expecting anyone to visit the shop that late. Heck she was not even expecting anyone other then her father or brother or sisters either, maybe her mother. But that was it.
Outside the shop three people came to a halt, the twins looked upon the signage, saying the shop was closed as the snowman walked right in. Cheerfully saying "I think she's in here!" Before disappearing into the dim light of the store. Idun and Tiri traded looks and followed him inside the blacksmith shop. Idun went through the front part of the shop, clearly enthralled by the design, and beauty of the weapons surrounding her and her sister as Tiri went to a rack of beautiful white swords and went through them carefully.
"Did you find anything ?" Idun asked her sister
"Nope, none of these swords have the same hilt as the one the shadowling carried" Tiri said, "Nor does it match the blade we got with us"
Idun nodded "This might be a dead end on the sword, But its the only lead we have on my girls, I hope it..." Idun was cut off by a sudden shriek from back in the forges behind the shop. Idun's heart soared when she heard it and recognised it instantly her gaze locking on the door Olaf went through to the back part of the shop.
That scream, was the voice of her eldest daughter.
-8-8-8-
Elsa aimlessly wandered the market roads of the city of Scala ad Caelum, there was no Session that day, and summer was nearly over for that matter. She had nothing planned for that day either. And couldnt find her sisters or brother at all. Had they gone on their own plans ? Didnt they have a plan for the last day of summer before the fall Sessions began ?
Or was it the dreams driving them crazy so they wanted to each go off on their own to try and make sense of everything ? The latest dream hurt her head as she walked, she tried not to focus on the dream, but the more she tried not to think about it, the more she was drawn to it. Was it truly a dream, or were other powers at work ? Was it memories, or something else entirely ?
Unable to figure it out on her own, Elsa chose to find her brother. Moving through the packed streets of Scala ad Caelum she soon found herself going with the flow of people towards a newly built arena of some form. People were shouting and jostling to get closer to the arena fence that overlooked the lower pit area. People tossing credits to make bets on certain fighters in the pit.
Elsa stared at what she saw in the pit below, or rather who. "Sapp ?" Elsa wondered, what was she doing beating the senses out of another much larger man ?
"Amazing isnt she ?" Asked a calm voice, turning to look at who was speaking, Elsa did not recognise the man in the black coat watching the fight as he had pretty much appeared out of nowhere.
"I'm sorry ?" Elsa said in reply. "But,"
The coated man smirked. "Relax, everyone here roots for her, Sapphire is good at what she does, the last several fights alone she had beaten up to five enemies at once. Mirrors are a fun thing to play with at the time too" Long spiky black hair framed a sharply edged face. Xiaoden was a good one to send. But sometimes others had to go and visit. In this case it was Xercine. The man Elsa had put in charge of Arendelle when she had left on her yearlong sabatical.
Looking hard at the man Elsa finally spoke. "Do I know you from somewhere ? I could swear you are familiar to me somehow"
"Quite possible" Xercine replied calmly. Sapphire below them won another fight easily before exiting the arenahappy people and upset people had begun leaving the arena vewing areas. Xercine smirked. "See you" Patting Elsa on thre shoulder he turned and walked past her. Quickly disappearing into a plexus pattern and disappearing from the simulation.
-8-8-8-
Nara stalked through the simulation of Scala ad Caelum, taking down groups of shadows, even kobolds not recognised, shadows screamed unsettling sounds as they were slain by his weapon.
He made his way towards the Arena. He remembered the Arena. So why did it manefest now of all times ? When Xeir was about to wake up ? Xercine had visited the ancient crumbling mansion, and now it was time for things to really get moving. Nara headed for the combatants enterance at the arena edge and came upon a woman leaving, he recognised her as Sapphire Wolfe, Mark's cousin. The woman paid him no heed as she passed him.
Entering the combat preparation area, Nara took stock of who was present, at that moment, it was just him. But he overheard grumbling near4by and staood at the wall. He did not have long to wait as Xercine arrived. "I take it there are some rather unsettled folk in Arendelle ?"
"One could say that" Xercine replied, giving Nara a look the man continued. "When Elsa put me in charge, she was leaving the kingdom in good trusting hands."
"And now ?" Nara asked him. "The council was formed by the Star Council, and proven to be trusting enough with this task. What has them so unsettled ?"
"Half of the council controls the military, the finances, and the merchants. The High Priest calls the shots of all three groups carefully, any money that is made not as profit for personal use by anyone, is given to the church. In the past year, the church, and the High Priest controls it"
"I knew trusting the bishop was a bad idea." Nara grunted. "please, continue"
"That same half of the council also refuse to believe that Elsa will return and want to end the queenship and place a new queen on the throne." Xercine said
"And your plan ?" Nara mused. "Surely a man like you, so low on the Star Council can at least have some pull."
"Only so far, the High Priest, though controlling everything, is leaving final choices on matters pertaining to the leadership, decrees, and laws, to me." Xercine said. "I never trusted the High Priest. I fear there may be troubles in the days ahead. The sooner Xeir returns, the better."
"Indeed" Nara sighed, this was going to be a long day for sure. "I now have a new question for you"
"Ask it." Xercine said
"Have you seen a white haired woman, calls herself Diamond ? Wears a pair of swords upon her belt. Though recently has aquired more than a single pair." Nara asked
"Yes, she came to me in the Council chamber. She said she had to sneak in to do it. I can understand her needing to do so, the council has become rather hostile to anyone they do not recognise. Diamond is one of them" Xercine said.
"Did anything happen ?" Nara asked
"Thankfully no. I was the only one in the chamber at the time" Xercine explained what Diamond told him. "It seems that Princess Tiri is on the mark, Emisary has told her to seek out the Duradaedens Chosen. Whatever that means"
"It means that Elsa will be returning, but not in the way one will expect." Nara explained, he was happy that Diamond was awake. "Xeir will return and take the throne like a thief in the night. Be ready, be watchful, war is coming." Nara said. He nodded to the man. "You may go" Xercine bowed and took his leave.
It was time to lure Elsa towards the proper room while in the simulation.
-8-8-8-
As she went back to the packed streets Elsa failed to notice Sapphire leaving the arena grounds, and even failed to notice Xercine entering and then later leaving, she had spoke with the guy herself and didnt recognise him whatsoever. As she walked she failed also to notice that the ground she walked on became not the paved walkways of Scala ad Caelum, but the outskirts of Arendelle.
A voice echoed around her as time slowed to a halt. She found herself standing, staring at her brother, no, not her brother, something about Mark was more than just her brother. The man looked more regal, with him was a woman at that moment that she did not recognise to be her own sister, Princess Anna. The two of them were walking towards, Elsa turned and saw where she was.
"Elsa, come to the old manor house, it is time." The voice echoed, clearly deep, yet also clearly female. Old manor house ? It didnt make any sense why go there ?
Turning from the two people she knew in her heart, Elsa started running rapidly. Behind her shadows grew and began to give chase. As she left the outskirts of Arendelle and entered the woods that surrounded the kingdom before giving way to high mountains to the north and west she found a path.
She heard pounding footsteps behind her. Turning she saw a dozen shadows forming into ghostly people and running after her. Dodging around trees and vines, Elsa ran along side a creek before finding a well kept path the shadows grew rapidly around her as more joined the chase.
Coming to a locked gate she halted, "Get me all the way here and lock me out ? Really ? How the hell am I supposed to get inside ?" Elsa screamed. Then she remembered, how had Xeir used that strange weapon ? It was a keysword thing right ? Her twin swords matrialised into one weapon, unique and strange, the keysword sparked as Elsa swung it like a baseball bat, unlocking the gate with ease. She ran through.
As the gate closed a cloaked man faded into being as the shadows halted at the gate. Elsa spied a strangely rather plain looking weapon in his hand, a long curved blade, a common katana of some form. "Come and get it" The black coated man said. The shadows rushed him all at once.
Elsa of course wanted to help the man in the fight, but she felt a need to go into the old mansion. The building was old, crumbling and rotted. Coming apart, windows were broken. The door hung off its hinges. But as she stepped into the building and went up the flight of stairs she came t oa room, ornate yet clean. Paintings upon the walls.
And as she stood in the doorway one painting caught her eye, it was of two women, sisters, and with them, a snowman.
I was walking along the corridor of the castle. "its only for one year" I told Anna
"Yeah, one year, away from the kingdom ? Who would run it without us ?" She asked me
"Roadtrip!" Olaf shouted as he hugged my leg. "Can we go someplace warm ?" he asked me and Anna both
"Hopefully, Mark is the one who is driving" I replied. Mark stepped into view. "Is everything ready, dear ?" I remembered we had just gotten married. And Mark looked nice in his Assassin suit. He had promised to show us Eguypt, where he spent a lot of his life, and meet the rest of his family.
"You two ready ?" Mark asked us.
I nodded. "I just need to assign the one who will rule in my stead over the Council appointed. The High Priest favors a young man named Xercine. I should like to speak to him before we leave to give him his duties in an offical manner"
Mark nodded and smiled, which made me blush slightly seeing him smile like that. "As you wish" was all he said
Then she remembered. iI was a queen ?/i She found herself staring at a painting of the castle of Arendelle. "Arendelle, I was its queen ?"
"Queen, crown princess, its not easy to tell" Said a older mans voice, that she recognised. Elsa turned to the man who spoke. The landscape painter, Jarius stood there. "Good to see you Elsa, you look good for a girl who'd been asleep for a year"
"Do I know you ?" Elsa asked him, the man seemed calmer than normal and held a paint brush in hand. When he didnt answer right away she went back to viewing the paintings the man had made. There was a painting of her, it had to be her, and Anna, during the summer for a birthday party it appeared.
She started laughing. Jarius looked up from his painting briefly. "Is something funny ?"
elsa waved his question off and took a breath. "Its just, I newver expected to find inside a building like this, a room filled with masterpieces of art" Elsa lied.
"Dont lie kid, its not your best skill" Jarius said simply to her. Elsa stared at him, the tone he used, the words he used, they sounded hauntingly familiar. Seeing her confusion he then asked. "Something the matter ?"
"No its just, somehow those words you just said I heard before." Elsa said, she had heard those words before. As Xeir, when she and Diamond were about to begin their training, when Xeir first met Kalda. Elsa went back to looking at the paintings. She found one that felt oddly familiar yet ioncredibly unfamilar at the same time.
The painting showed two women, one dressed in the Scala ad Caelum battle dress, but with the addition of certain colors. The other dressed in a corset like set of armor with what appeared to be lines of bones of some form covering the torso and arms, along with the draconic head shape
"Did you paint all these ?" Elsa finally asked as she viewed the next painting, a dragon she assumed, casting out of her soul and sacficing her body as a huge ball of beautiful light being cast over a castle of some form.
"Yes. Each one. Even those" Jarius replied. The painting gear gone as he stood nearby, closer to her yet far enough away to not scare her. Elsa looked at the paintings he indicated, one was of a woman holding a newborn baby, another of a family. "Each painting is a scene of a memory, of a lifetime, of happiness, of a family. Its a good means of making money, and a good hobby" Jarius told her
Elsa remained silent as she stared at a painting, it showed Elsa, or rather a woman named Xeir, hugging a woman with bright white and silver hair, the second woman having two swords on her hip. Little did she know, Jarius had painted a reunion of sisters, and not Anna and Elsas reunion. But of who they dreamed about.
-8-8-8-
Dit finished her goals on the computer, it was time to finish things properly and to do so she had to tie up loose ends, the digital version of Jarius had to be done away with, the true version was unharmed and elsewhere at that moment.
It was not often, DiT mused thoughtfully. Had Nara chosen to betray her, he would have done so long ago, but he did not, instead they worked together. Xeir was about to wake up. All they had to do was lead her to the pod itself.
DiT watched the shadows and the mist as it fell to Naras sword, she could help him in the fight, easily overwhelm the shadows with her own skills and power. But instead she felt she had to do something else entirely. In this case she had to focus on waking up Xeir.
And to do that she had to go even deeper into her bag of tricks.
A portal opened. "You are late" DiT mused
"Pardon the delay but you had guests outside the house and they had to be dealt with first" Replied Xiern. The first of the Star Council was a calm man. "its not often I meet those of good standing, Lady DiT, to what do I owe this visit ?"
"Shadows freely haunt the woods, why would the head of the Star Council, come to see me ?" DiT asked him
"For one thing, you amuse us" Xiern replied calmly. Dressed in black, his blue eyes took in the room. "Quite the set up you have here now. Trying to wake her up by returning her memories in proper order ?"
"That is not your concern" DiT said simply
"Oh, but that is where you are wrong. It is the councils concern. Waking up Xeir as fast as safely possible is on everyones minds now." Xiern said to her. "What is your plan of attack ?"
"I plan to have Elsa visit Xeirs pod to wake her up" DiT explained
"The Nothing ?" Xiern asked
"The one and the same. The woman who put Councilor Xercine as her replacement in the leadership of Arendelle, is but a Nothing, an empty shell. A body without a heart." DiT explained
"So the similation ?" Xiern asked
"A means to an end, by using the simulated town of Scala ad Caelum we could wake Xeir up in relative safety and not worry of others getting in and yet, here you are" DiT said. Xiern merely smiled
-8-8-8-
Diamond moved through te packed streets of Arendelle as quietly as she could, she had to be fast, taking the rooftops would have been easier. The cloak covered her body and clothing in darker colors instead of the white and lime green she was used to as a Dragon in Light's Court. As Marion she wore darker colors.
Ducking into an alleyway she cut across a district and started up a flight of stairs. Stepping and leaning against a wall as a pair of soldiers stepped into view, the two men passed her without a second glance. Stepping up the stairs lightly the white haired woman looked around before ducking into a building.
"About time you showed up, those soldiers were giving me the mirana warning just showing up in here demanding if I'd seen the queen" came the voice of a rather upset man, that of Xendras. "Lucky for them I didnt resort to striking them"
"Had you done so, this whole district would be down on us both like a ton of bricks" Diamond replied
"Woulda been worth it too" Xendras said. "What's up ? Why send for me ?"
"You're the one that woke us up. Marion and I, so naturally as of right now, you're the only one we can trust with our life." Diamond replied after bolting the door and ensuring the curtains were closed.
"Alright that makes sense of some of it. Now, what about the rest of what you need me for ?" Star Councilmembers werent exactly errand runners.
"Have you seen Mark, or Anna, or even Xeir ?" Diamond asked him
Xendras thought a moment then nodded. "Yes actually. Mark and the Princess, Anna, were seen on the main rtoad heading into the city proper. The guards were ignoring them for some reason. Some acting as if the Princess wasnt even royalty to begin with. Why ?"
"Where are they now ?" Diamond pressed.
"Broken Arm Tavern" Said Xendras, Diamond smirked, trust Mark to go there.
"I need to see Mark, but I dont think he will want to see me" Diamond said after a minute, "At least, not like this. I will have to disguise myself as Diana again, easy task"
"Hey whoa, time out!" Xendras made the universal signal for time out with his hands. "You really want to see the guy ? In that get up ?"
"Yeah, why ?" Diamond replied
Xendras thought a moment then sighed. "Even in this time and point I dont think he can recognise you as Diamond, though he has trained his Sight further, I dont think he can see through the magic defrenses you have in place" He said
Diamond smirked. She had nearly forgotten that her brother, when he was her brother, had trained his Sight to be so strong to the point of needing to wear lead lined underwear. "Point taken. Last I knew he gets upset when he tries to decern me with his Sight."
"Fair enough then, good luck, anything you need me to do ?" Xendras asked
"Try not to get into a fight with the soldiers here, the last thing I want to do is have to bail you out, or break you out" Diamond said before leaving the building which caused Xendras to smirk at that point. Jailbreaking was fun.
Twenty minutes later at the broken Arm Tavern mark and Anna sat at table, the table overlooked the lower floor, but also had a good view of the outside at the same time. Mark sipped a drink. Anna was upset, none of the soldiers recognised her as a Princess and refused to follow her requests. And all of the soldiers they had come across flat out ignored Mark directly "I cant believe it, this is Arendelle, my home, and I'm being treated as if I am not even important here" Anna grumbled.
Mark down his drink. "Relax, Anna, please, the sooner Elsa is back the sooner we can get the lowdown on things going on in the kingdom" Mark tried to calm her down.
"You heard what Xercine said, half the council controls the military, and the High Priest controls them, Xercine has no power other then having final say, even if he gets that his word isnt exactly the law anymore, and those council members who are in control of the military, money and the church, also refuse to believe Elsa is coming back and want to put someone else on my sistersThrone" Anna all but screamed at him.
"All we have to do then Anna is get in touch with my cousin, Sapphire, she guarded your sister, and once we find her, we have our way into the palace as a whole" Mark said. Anna had to remembver, Sapphire was Marks cousin, and was a skilled pit fighter, and before their vacation for a year, Mark had appointed her as Captain of the Honor Guard, the Sword Corps had been not been desolved per sei, mostly renamed.
That meant that by getting ahold of Sapphire, and ensuring she was on their side, allowed for at least the Palace Guards directly to be on their side. But there was something fishy about the High Priest. "Good, you got my note" Sapphire said, joining the two at the low table and sitting down on the coushin.
"What is this about the High Priest ?" Anna asked rather blunty as Sapphire picked up a drink.
"First thing is first, before you ask, the Honor Guard, the palace Guard, the Sword Corps, we're still on your side, so even if the High Priest tries to denounce you, you have an army. Though small in number." Sapphire said holding up a hand before taking her drink and downing it in one shot.
"But what Anna asked, what is this about the High Priest ?" Mark then asked his cousin.
"Rumor has it he dabbles in magic, he has bonsai trees scattered through the kingdom. And uses leaves to transport items, and people across vast distances, similar to your transport arrays" Sapphire explained
"Do you have anything to combat against his transportation abilities ?" Mark asked
"Just one so far, a woman named Kiyomori showed up about a week ago, offered me her services and called me her older sister. I took in in stride and didnt make much sense of it myself. But the woman has proven to be a strong deterrent in the High Priests movements. Whatever magic she possesses allows her to stay one step ahead of his transport leaves and spells. And also allowed our soldiers to remain at their posts unharmed by him as well."
Mark went silent, Kiyomori sounded familiar to him. "What kind of magic does she rely on ?" he asked
"Essence Flames" Sapphire replied. Mark smirked, figures. "Something wrong ?"
"Nope, Essence anything will fuck up transport spells. Kiyomori will have to teach everyone how to attian such thing and enable them or disable them at will when needed to do so." Mark explained
"I can talk to her, shes on duty in place of me right now. But rest assured Princess, the Sword Corps are at your command." Sapphire said, oh what she couldnt give to be guarding Elsa unseen again. But soon she wouldnt have to.
Because Mark then asked as a new woman stepped into view of the upstairs window of the tavern. "Who is Emisary ?" Sapphire stared at him, how did he learn of that name ?
RESTORATION AT 98%