Chapter 56
After Larxene trapped them with ice, the group now stands in a room made of ice. The interior was quite nice and is decorated with giant Nobody insignias and frozen bolts of electricity.
"Anyone see a way out?", asked Goofy as he examined the walls.
"No, not me.", answered Donald.
"I got this!", said Natsu as he ignited his fist.
"That's it!", said Happy. "Burn it down!"
With his fist ignited, Natsu immediately punched the nearest ice wall, causing the room to be filled with ice powder.
"That is good thinking since your power is fire.", said Erza. "But be careful not to bring the place down."
When the area was cleared from the powder, they all saw a large melted dent on the wall. Suddenly, the liquid from the wall began to solidified into ice again, reforming the dent on the wall.
"Aw what the hell!", said an irritated Natsu.
"It must be her electrical magic.", said Laxus. "She must've fused her magic with Elsa's ice magic. The ice can reform because it is made of magic energy, but it takes a long time to reform. But with Larxene's lightning powers, the ice can reform quickly since lightning is based on speed and it is created when large amounts of ice are rubbed together."
"Laxus-san, can you do something about the lighting inside the ice?", asked Wendy.
"I can't because it will be difficult to separate the lightning from the ice and I can't eat the ice to absorb the lightning because it's not my magic."
"Now what do we do?", wondered Gajeel.
"Well, we can't stay in here.", said Sora.
"Elsa's in real trouble now.", said Goofy.
"Along with Gray and Juvia.", said Lucy.
"Yeah.", said Sora. "Larxene promised not to hurt her, but I trust those guys as far as I can throw 'em."
"They've gotta be up to no good!", said Donald.
"Then we better get moving.", said Lucy as she pulled out a silver key.
"Open, Gate of the Compass! Pyxis!"
A red bird appeared in front of Lucy. It has small wings and a beak, beady eyes, a tubby body figure, and small yellow feet. It has triangle-shaped patches located mostly on its torso region. But the most distinctive feature it has is the large blackish-gray compass on its head.
"What is that?", asked Sora.
"This is another one of my spirits. It's name is Pyxis.", Lucy explained. "Pyxis has the ability to tell directional references. When it does this, the compass on top of its head spins until it stops and Pyxis points the way with both of its wings."
"So Pyxis can lead us out?", asked Goofy.
"Yup."
"She used this spirit when we were in a maze during the Grand Magic Games.", said Erza. "Lucy, care to have Pyxis lead us out?"
"Yes! Pyxis, we need you to locate the exit to this place. Can you do it?"
The compass on Pyxis' head started to spin fast until it eventually stopped in one direction. Pyxis then pointed it's wings in that direction.
"Let's go everyone!"
Elsewhere, Gray and Juvia were running up the mountain to catch up to Elsa.
"Do you see her, Juvia?", asked Gray.
"No, Gray-sama!", she answered. This is wonderful! Being alone on a snowy mountain with Gray-sama! All we need is a warm place to stay and we'll be set!"
Suddenly, lightning sparks flew into the air and headed straight for Juvia.
"Get down!", shouted Gray as he tackled Juvia to the ground, startling her. The lightning sparks just flew right past them when they landed on the ground.
"So bold!", said Juiva with her hands over her mouth.
"Wow, that was quick thinking. You're pretty good, despite being a loser."
Both Gray and Juvia got up from the ground upon hearing that comment and saw a blond girl wearing a black coat.
"You must be with the Organization!", said a cautious Gray.
"You got it, pretty boy.", she said sarcastically. "The name's Larxene. You better remember that."
"Tch!", said an angry Gray.
Juvia gasped. Is she a new love rival for Gray-sama!? She then moved in front of Gray and shouted, "You will never earn Gray-sama affection!"
"What the hell are you talking about?", asked a stun Larxene. She then smiled and said, "Oh I see, you're his girlfriend."
Juvia's face was completely red upon hearing that. "G-girl...friend?", she quietly said nervously.
Gray sighed and said, "What do you want?"
"You were going after Elsa, were you?", Larxene answered. "Well I'm not letting that happen. I was a little annoyed that you left that group of yours, but now that I caught up with you I have some surprises for you."
"'Group'?", wondered Juvia. She then gasped. "What have you done with the others?!"
"I just dumped them in a monster maze. I wonder if they'll survive."
Larxene then snapped her fingers and groups of Heartless appeared behind her and on the snowy mountain cliffs. "That goes for you two as well.", she said as she went through a dark corridor she summoned underneath her feet, leaving Gray and Juvia alone with the Heartless.
"Gray-sama, what should we do?"
"I'm sure the others are fine.", said Gray. "Besides, they can't be easily defeated by monsters. For now, we gotta take care of these guys and reach Elsa before that Larxene does."
"That's fine by Juvia!", she said as she got into fighting position.
"Ready, Juvia?"
"Yes, Gray-sama!"
Back at the Labyrinth, the group continued to follow Pyxis along with fighting Heartless and Nobodies. Some entrances were blocked by a thin layer of ice which the group easily knocked done to reveal a new area.
"How far is this?", asked a tired Natsu.
"I don't know, Natsu.", a tired Lucy responded.
"We gotta keep going.", said Erza. "Otherwise, we'll freeze to death."
As they entered a large room, they saw a large pillar in the room.
"That's a very pretty pillar.", said Wendy.
Suddenly, Ninja Nobodies appeared in the room.
"Prefect. More enemies!", said an annoyed Donald.
"Quit complaining and fight!", said Charle.
Natsu ignited his fist and charged at the Nobody. But when he was about to punch it, the Nobody quickly flew into the air, making Natsu shock and lose balance.
"What the-?", said a surprise Natsu.
"So fast!", said Lucy.
"Its their movements! We need to match their speed!", said Erza as she requip into her Flight Armor and struck one of the Ninjas done.
"I got it!", said Wendy.
"Vernier!"
A magic circle appeared underneath everyone's feet.
"Pyxis, hide in the other room!", said Lucy.
A nervous Pyxis nodded and ran off.
With Wendy boosting their speed, group attacked the Ninja Nobodies and easily defeated them. Pyxis then entered the room again and hugged Lucy.
"That takes care of that.", said Sora as he leaned against the large pillar.
Suddenly, the pillar started to shift a little to the right, causing the entire room to shake and Sora falling to the ground.
"What was that?", asked a worried Lucy.
"Did that pillar just move?", asked Gajeel.
"Maybe it leads to another exit.", Lily.
"Then let's try it out.", said Sora.
Sora, Gajeel, Lily, and Laxus grabbed a hold of the pillar and started to push it clockwise, causing the entire room to shake.
"It's moving!", said a surprised Donald.
Next to the pillar, an exit appeared leading to another room. The pillar stops moving after it appeared.
"Hey, look! We can get through now!", said Goofy.
They exited the room and entered another one. But when they looked towards the left, they saw a long icy hill down. When Sora put his foot on the hill, a giant icicle jumped out from the ground.
"Whoa!", said a surprised Sora.
"We better steer clear of those icicles.", said Goofy.
"But how do we get down?", asked Wendy.
Erza then spoke up. "Happy. Charle. Lily. Take Natsu, Gajeel, and Wendy and fly them on top of the hill so they can destroy the icicles while the rest of us can follow. Everybody clear?"
"Yes, ma'am!", everyone responded with confidence.
Listening to Erza's instructions, Natsu, Gajeel, and Wendy flew with their Exceed partners and destroyed the icicles with their magic while the others followed them.
When they reach the floor, Natsu said, "That was easy."
The then continued to follow Pyxis through the labyrinth, defeating enemies and rotating pillars that were the same as the one they encountered before. After entering a large room and defeating all the enemies, Pyxis brought them to what appears to be a platform with a large pillar at the center. Seeing it as the same one as the other pillars, the group turned it clockwise which lifted the platform and brought them to a long hallway.
"Well, that seemed to lock everything into place.", said Sora.
"That better be the end of it.", said Donald.
They followed Pyxis into the long hallway until they reached a large room with a giant snow sphere at the center.
"This must be the exit.", said Goofy.
"About time.", said Donald and Lucy.
"Thank you Pyxis.", said Lucy. "You can return now."
Pyxis danced and then return to the Spirit World. After that, the group then entered the sphere.
Sora and the others exited the labyrinth and entered the snowy mountain they were on before.
"See them?", asked Sora.
"I think they mighta gone up in that direction.", said Goofy as he pointed at a very steep mountain trail.
"All the way up!", wined Lucy.
"It's our only way.", said Erza.
"We can do it. C'mon!", said Sora as he started to run towards the mountain trail.
"Ugh, fine. I'll do it since our friends are up there.", sighed Lucy.
"That's the spirit!", yelled Natsu as he and Happy ran after Sora. Eventually, the others followed.
"Ice-Make: Lance!"
"Water Jigsaw!"
Gray and Juvia fired their magic simultaneously and defeated all the enemies Larxene summoned in that area. They were also on the highest point on the mountain.
"Juvia think that's it.", said Juvia.
"Yeah.", said Gray as he looked around the area. "Man, we're really high up…"
"Do you think the others are fine?"
"Yeah, they're fine." Gray then saw some familiar faces running towards them. "And look who just arrived."
Sora ran up towards the two and asked while panting, "Gray! Juvia! Are you two alright?"
"Juvia and Gray-sama are doing just fined, Sora-san!", said an excited Juvia.
"We've ran into this Organization girl name Larxene and she sent us some enemies to fight.", Gray explained. "We defeated most of them for you. Your welcome."
"Since when are we thanking you?", asked a cocky Nastu.
"Shh!", said Wendy. "Listen…" Everyone looked at Wendy, who had here hands against her ears. "I hear someone singing…"
"I hear it, too.", said Gajeel as he put his hands against his ears.
"Me too.", said Natsu.
"It must be Elsa.", said Lily. "She must be close by…"
"I hear her voice from over there.", said Wendy as she pointed towards a blizzard.
"Great. A blizzard.", sighed Lucy. "I hate the cold…"
"Let's go.", said Erza as she and the others headed towards the blizzard.
While in the blizzard, the group (except Gray) was struggling to walk through the deep snow and all of them were shivering.
"This is intense…", said a very cold Happy.
"Agreed.", said Charle.
As they were walking, they can hear Elsa singing.
(Play "Let it Go" first verse)
They continued to listen to Elsa as her voice became louder as they went up.
"Yup! That's Elsa's voice!", said Sora.
They all immediately ran up the mountain to find her. As they ran, the blizzard began to disappear and they all saw Elsa at the top, throwing her glove away.
(Main theme part (The part that has been stuck in your head since 2013))
She smiled while she was singing. She then formed a snow powdered snowflake on her left palm and another one on her right palm. She then waved her hands around as small amount of snow powder began to gather, revealing to be a snowman with sticks for arms. She continued to walk as she fired swirls of snow into the air until they fall to the ground when she waved both of her arms to the side. Elsa then blew some more snow powder at her right side and then at her left. A small wind blew and her cape began to fly on her back. Seeing this, Elsa unclipped her cape and let it fly into the air.
The group then saw her cape flew past them.
"What a pretty voice…", said Lucy.
"This way!", said Sora as they ran after Elsa.
(Second verse)
Elsa continued to sing while she walked up the mountain, getting more excited as she goes. She then stopped when she reached the edge of the cliff. Seeing this, Elsa then fired some ice magic from her hands across the cliff, forming stairs with some snow powder on them. When she reached them, she put her right foot on the first step, removing the snow powder and making it nice and clean with some snowflake designs on them. She then eagerly ran up the stairs with her hands on each railing. While she went up, the snow powdered cleared as she went up.
The group then made it to the stairs and saw Elsa reach to the other end.
"Look at that!", said an astonished Sora.
"That is really impressive ice magic.", said Laxus.
When Elsa reached the other end of the cliff, she ran towards the center and stomped her right foot down hard, forming a large ice snowflake and it continued to grow until it covered the entire area.
She then lifted her hands and large ice pillars from underneath the snowflake began to rise, forming a platform. More ice pillars began to rise from the ground around the snowflake and when they have reached a certain height, ice walls began to form to connect the pillars.
The group saw in awe Elsa's creation from the other side of the cliff, which took the form of a giant ice castle.
"She formed a castle?!", said a surprised Lucy.
"That is some incredible ice magic!", said Gray.
"Gray-sama can make a better castle than she can!", said Juvia.
(Third verse)
While inside the castle, Elsa continued to sing while she formed some snowflake designs on the floor. She then lifted her hands up and ice magic powder began to rise, forming a ceiling with a snowflake chandelier.
She then grabbed her crown from her head and looked at it with a serious look. She then threw it away from her and she then dug her fingers into her hair, messing up her hair and making it a loose French braid that is swept over her left shoulder. Ice magic then appeared on her dress, transforming it into a blue dress. She lifted her arms into the air to form the sleeves and a light blue cape formed on her dress as she walked towards the balcony on a sunny morning. When she reached the balcony, she lifted her arms with joy on her ice palace while the group watched her. She then relaxed and entered her castle while shutting the doors to the balcony.
The group was still surprised at what they just saw, especially Gray.
"That… was amazing ice magic I have every scene.", said an amazed Gray. "And I have seen Ur use her magic."
"She formed a castle…", said Erza.
"That was awesome!", said an excited Natsu.
"Aye!", said Happy.
"Wow.", said Sora. "I don't know what we just saw but...wow. That...was Elsa?"
"She looked different.", said Donald.
"And a lot happier, too.", said Goofy.
Sora then gave a serious look and said, "Let's say hi."
"Yeah.", said Gray. "Besides, I have some questions to ask her."
The group then started to head towards the steps. Suddenly, a dark corridor appeared in front of them, revealing to be Larxene.
"Please don't tell me that you're spying on her now.", she said.
"It's that bimbo from before!", said an angry Juvia.
"Who are you calling me a bimbo!", she said angrily.
"Don't turn this around on us.", said Sora. "You're following her."
"He makes a good point.", said Happy.
"Ooh. Look at you get all sassy.", she responded back.
"You're one to talk.", said everyone in annoyance.
"You are so rude!", Larxene said angrily. She then took a deep breath and calmed down. "Okay. I'll admit Elsa is a person of interest to us. Maybe she's one of the seven pure lights we need-the New Seven Hearts. Gotta make sure though."
"Another one…", said a surprised Lucy.
"Like Rapunzel?", asked Erza.
"It's possible.", said Larxene. "Fortunately, we're in the best position to tell. Can't pick that 'special glimmer'...unless you're standing in the shadows. And maybe...Elsa doesn't have it. I mean, just look how icy her palace is-made of magic she forced herself to keep hidden until now. What if it's dark magic?"
"Elsa would never rely on the darkness!", Sora protested.
"If you think it's dark magic, you're dead wrong.", said Gray with a serious tone.
"Actually, it's still too early to call.", she continued. "Depends on how she sees it. If she believes her magic is darkness, that's what it will become. Accepting her power, whatever it is, is the only way she can set her heart free. So what will Elsa accept? Light or darkness? I know I wanna know!"
Sora growled. "Well, good for you, but guess what? We won't let her fall to darkness!"
"It's her choice to make, not yours."
"You have a point.", said Gray. "It's up to her how she feels about herself. I had experience that myself." He then got into a fighting position. "But if your gonna do something to her, I will fight you. And I won't hold back just because you're a chick. You stupid bitch."
"How brave of you…", said Juvia.
Sora stood there in awe. I know he was calm and cool. But I never seen Gray like this...
Larxene looked furious. "You know, I'm starting to understand why she gave you the cold shoulder."
Electric sparks came from her hand. She lifted in the air and swung it, making a large gust of wind appeared. Gray grabbed Juvia's arm and quickly dodged towards the side before it could hit them. Unfortunately, the others were caught in the wind and they struggle to move forward and they had their arms over their faces.
"Larxene!", shouted Sora as he and the others slowly move closer to Larxene.
Seeing this, Larxene said, "You wanna help her? Then stop trying to be her hero! Let her figure things out her own way!" She then blasted lightning from her hand, making the wind stronger and sending them flying off the mountain.