Chapter 21

The 21st Century

TALYA

Something is wrong. No. It's all wrong. Standing at the large panelled windows of the empty castle corridor in her night gown, Queen Talya stared in disbelief at the kingdom that lay before her. Except it was no longer her kingdom. Arendelle had fallen in the span of one night. One moment all was peaceful, and the very next day, the world was in chaos.

Talya had awoken about half an hour ago to find the entire kingdom in disarray, with the flags and colours of Arendelle strangely replaced by the muddy red colours of Exon. The streets were relatively empty and quiet despite it being morning, apart from a few brave souls who dared to venture outside the safety of their houses. Militia in red patrolled the streets, jeeps and convoys rolling down the wide roads. Posters and electronic billboards were no longer plastered with advertisements, but all of them all displayed the same thing: the smiling face of a man whom she didn't recognise. However, the name was familiar.

"Emperor Hans Westergaard." The crease on Talya's forehead grew even more intense. None of it made any sense. She knew from the history books that her famed ancestress Queen Anna had fought the cunning Exonian Chancellor named Hans Westergaard during the War of the Exonian Empire. The Chancellor had been a thorn in Queen Anna and Elsa's sides, and had been a major enemy of the entire Coalition, and had on several occasions nearly succeeded in killing both Anna and Elsa - at least, that was what the autobiographies detailed.

The last she checked, this Hans character had met a rather anti-climatic end. He'd died in exile, never to terrorise the world again. But then, here she was staring at his face plastered across every surface and wall. "Emperor Hans Westergaard?" She repeated to herself.

"I see the almighty queen's finally risen from her beauty sleep."

Talya whirled to find her prodigy of a brother, the Prince, stalking towards her, already dressed in one of his prim and proper dapper suits. His glasses twitched as he strode towards her with a disturbed look on his face.

"Val! What the hell is going on here?" Talya demanded. "What-" she gestured at the billboards outside the window. "Is all this?"

"We've been dethroned," Val said sardonically. "But not just us. It seems five continents has fallen overnight to a revived Exonian Empire. And that bastard," he pointed a stiff finger at the Emperor's face. "Runs the show."

"I don't understand." Talya blinked in confusion, eyes wide and heartbeat rising. "How could the Empire have done all this in a single night? And without the slightest hint of war?"

Her brother handed her his tablet. She took it with a frown. Pax Exon, the headline read. Reign of the Revived Exonian Empire. "This can't be happening," her hands shook, her entire body filled with dread. The screen showed news articles written mere hours ago about how other kingdoms were suddenly thrown into chaos, having awoken to find themselves under the colonial rule of Exon.

"And that's just the news from this side of the world," Val swiped on the screen to display even more articles and reports. "Even countries in the Far East and down south are reporting the same."

Talya stared at the tablet in utter disbelief and shock as she handed it back to him. "How the hell did this happen? How did Exon pull it off?"

"Damned if I know," Val gritted his teeth. "All I know is, majority of the world has been occupied by the Empire courtesy of this Emperor Westergaard. Who the hell is he?"

"He was the second most powerful man during the reign of Empress Tal Yin back during our ancestors' time," Talya explained, her eyes still glued to the window. "He was one of the most evil, cunning strategists in the annals of history. But he's dead. Long dead."

Val snorted. "It can't be the same guy. Look, you convinced me sorcery is real. That I can believe. But immortals?"

Talya couldn't help but agree with him. Six months ago, the two of them and their distant cousin Peggy had rediscovered the existence of sorcery in the world. But not so much for Talya. She was already an Elemental Sorceress who could wield and conjure ice, much like her ancestress Elsa before her. The one who'd been most impacted by their adventure was Val. He'd seen first hand how sorcery was real. But immortality…

"I don't believe it either," Talya turned back to her brother. "We know Elsa wasn't immortal. We saw her prove it ourselves. There isn't such a thing. This Hans character has to be an imposter of some sort. Or at least someone who's claiming the title for himself."

"Either way, it doesn't change our problem here. We're still under occupation. We may be sitting in the castle, but we sure as hell don't own it."

"Hold on," Talya turned her back on the window and put a hand to her temple. "Just give me a moment to process it. There has to be something we missed."

Talya felt like she was living in a nightmare, one that she couldn't wake up from. It wasn't just Arendelle that had fallen. It was three quarters of the whole damn world. Overnight, the free world had lapsed back into the colonial ages, all under the banner of the tyrannical Exonian Empire. But how could it be?

The United States of Exon had turned their backs on colonialism after the Empress had finally been slain in the final battle between the Empire and the Coalition of the North, and the Empire had been dissolved as Exon transitioned into democracy. The United States of Exon hadn't caused any trouble to the world since then, but now, it seemed that things had changed.

"There's no explanation, Talya." Val shook his head sympathetically. "All our databases have been compromised. I checked with our army's intelligence sector. Our cyber security has been deactivated, databases wiped, and everything is under the control of the Exonians. There's no way for us to access the archives to find out how any of this happened."

"But I do." A familiar voice came from out of nowhere.

Talya and Val both spun to see their distant cousin marching towards them with a folder in hand.

"Peggy!" Talya exclaimed, rushing towards her and enveloping her in a hug. "You have no idea what a relief it is to see your face."

"What are you doing here?" Val gaped at her. "And how did you even get here?"

"Same way we got to Ahtohallan. I hijacked one of the jets again," Peggy waved the folder at the duo. "I'm guessing you both know by now."

Talya glared out the window again. "Who doesn't?"

"You came with intelligence?" Val eyed the folder in Peggy's hand.

She nodded. "You have to believe I had no idea any of this was going to happen. I-"

"Of course not," Talya cut her off before she could continue. "We know you're on our side." Peggy, the descendant of the Pilgrim Elsa, had been with them on their quest to liberate Arendelle during the Southern Isles' invasion six months ago. The government spy by trade had been skeptical of Elsa's existence at first, but that all changed when she worked alongside the seemingly immortal Pilgrim to free Arendelle.

Peggy seemed to deflate slightly, but the tense look didn't leave her face. She held out the folder in her hand. "You wouldn't believe what I had to go through to get this. The colleagues and superiors I had to fight just to get to the archives…"

"Thank you." Val took the folder and fiddled with his spectacles. As he opened the folder, Talya glanced over his shoulder to get a closer look.

Documents of all sorts lay inside. Historical records, eyewitness accounts, treasury reports…

"This is everything?" Talya said breathlessly.

"As much as I could gather in the time I had. The ground was shrinking beneath my feet." Peggy looked unsettled as she stared at the wall. "You know this means I can never go back, right? I'm a traitor to the Empire now."

"Look," Val waved for their attention.

Both Peggy and Talya inched closer to get a better look at the document Val was holding up. It was a detailed historical report written in Exonite, dating back to the late nineteenth century.

"In the year 1893, the Empire made history when His Imperial Majesty Emperor Hans Westergaard stepped foot onto Far Eastern soil." Val read, translating quickly from Exonite. "It was a monumental day when our esteemed Emperor finally saved the Far Eastern countries and brought them under the benevolent rule of Exon."

"What horseshit." Talya remarked.

"Propaganda." Peggy looked grim.

"And there's these too." Val shuffled the papers. "More reports from the twentieth century with photographs. Here, in 1927." He jabbed at an aged printed photograph of the Emperor in royal regalia, waving to the masses. "And again in 1942." Another photo of the Emperor clad in military uniform overseeing a battle from the hills. "And again in 1986 when the nations to the South collapsed."

Talya stared hard at the photos. There was no mistaking it. Those cunning, smiling eyes were the same. She glanced out the window again at the billboards.

"It's the same man." Peggy concluded with a quiet voice.

"Hell," Val swore, his hands trembling slightly. "I don't believe it."

"The Emperor is immortal." Talya said, her own voice sounding like a ghostly rasp in her ears. "There's no other explanation."

"But how?" Val sputtered. "I don't understand."

"None of us do." Peggy said dryly.

Val's face went very pale. "Talya?"

"What?"

"You're going to want to see this."

Talya rounded on Val again, circling to see what he was looking at. He silently handed her a paper. Her heart sank. Warrior Queen of Arendelle finally slain in battle against the Empire.

"No, no, no, no." Talya chanted like a mantra, letting the paper fall from her hands. "It can't be. This…this isn't supposed to happen. She's not supposed to die during the war!"

Peggy lowered her head. "I'm sorry."

"But all this." Desperately, Talya motioned at the documents. "None of this ever happened. We won the war! How can any of this be true?"

"And yet it is."

"How?"

"I have a theory." Val began slowly. "But it's way too sketchy."

Both girls turned to him. "What?"

"You're right. None of this ever happened. Not in the timeline we know. But this isn't our reality."

"What are you saying?" Talya almost snapped impatiently.

"History has been altered." Val went on. "And at the very centre of it all, is that man." He pointed out the window.

Talya and Peggy followed his finger. The laughing eyes of the Emperor taunted them.

"Hans." Talya narrowed her eyes. "But how?"

"Somehow, he's the key to all of this. He must have known how the war was going to end." Val continued. "He must have changed something. Something so significant that not only did it secure him his throne, but also the world in the future. Our times."

Silence reigned for a good long minute. Then Peggy spoke up.

"It sounds like a real stretch."

"So was sorcery, but yet here we are." Val gestured at Talya. "And no, Talya, your sorcery isn't going to make everything right this time."

Grudgingly, Talya found she had to agree. Last time, she'd banked on the fact that the fabled Snow Queen would teach her how to master her sorcery and save Arendelle from the Southern Isles invaders. It'd worked the last time. But now Elsa was gone, and there was no way her own sorcery was a match for the entire Empire. Not even the reborn League of Sorcerers Talya was slowly reassembling could go up against the might of the Empire.

"But," Val said. "If I'm right and this is all about the timeline changing, then there may be something we can do." He beckoned hastily to them as he turned on his heel and began walking towards the rooms. "Follow me."

"What can we do?" Peggy asked as they tailed him.

"Val. What are you saying?" Talya was confident that she was willing to do anything to erase this nightmare and restore the world to what it was. A world free of the Empire and free of Emperor Westergaard.

"Ever since my freshman year in college, I've been working on a personal invention of mine." Val's voice rose in hope. "With a few more tweaks, I think it might just work. We can beat Hans."

"And what exactly are we talking about here?" Talya asked in bewilderment.

Val stopped in his tracks and turned to face them. The corners of his mouth turned upward slightly. "Time travel."

Author's Commentary:

And finally, those of you patient ones who've read Book 3.5 (Once Upon a Time in the Future) and loved the descendants will finally get to see me deliver on my promise to bring the descendants into the present day timeline (or rather, the past).

Though everything looks dark and dire now, things are going to get a lot more interesting and colourful now that the modern day Warriors are going to enter the equation. Where will they appear next?