Chapter Sixteen
Infiltration
Author's Commentary:
I will be honest, I sometimes do lose my motivation to continue writing as it gets so hard at times. But seeing the favourable reviews always encourages me and pushes me to write better and more creatively. Keep the reviews coming, I really appreciate them :)
MELODY
The sleep she had gotten had been a fantastic one, under the circumstances. One would have thought that the impending danger of returning back to her war-torn kingdom would have caused her to toss and turn in bed, unable to get any rest, but surprisingly, she had gotten a good night's sleep. Maybe she really was that exhausted. Or maybe it was because the guest beds in Arendelle's castle were truly magnificent and had a magical like quality to them. She didn't know, but she liked to think that it was both.
Melody's eyes darted across the room. Was there anything she was missing? Takedown Recurve bow? Check. Quiver filled with arrows? Check. A first aid kit just in case? Check. There was literally nothing else she could afford to bring with her. Infiltrating her own kingdom's rumoured rebellion was going to be a tricky task, and the less things she carried with her, the better it would be.
Essentials. Only essentials. And maybe a knife just for good measure. She jammed a small pocket knife into a slot in her boot. That was all she could take with her. Nothing more. After all, she was going undercover, which meant that even the rebellion couldn't know that she was an archer or a warrior of some sort.
She had collapsed her Hoyt Satori takedown recurve bow, and had stored the disassembled weapon into the spare compartment in her backpack. She had also managed to fit the quiver into her bag and conceal the weapons inside with a detachable flap. All in all, she thought that she had done a pretty good job masking the fact that she was an archer.
The door to her guest room opened without so much as a knock. Melody didn't need to look up. She knew who it was. Only one person could repeatedly ignore her requests to knock before entering.
"Morning, Tracy." Melody fastened the flap on the top of her bag.
"Morning." Tracy glanced at Melody. "You ready for this?"
"Nope." Melody said. "Then again, I'm willing to bet that no one who's ever had to infiltrate their own home and join a rebellion in the attempt to free her kingdom has ever felt ready."
Tracy snorted. "We're going to get Denmark back. Don't worry."
"I'm not really worried." Melody pulled on her quia green jacket. "I'm more…jittery."
"About?"
"Going home." Melody glanced at Tracy. "I'm not ready to face the responsibilities of being the future ruler of the kingdom."
"It has to start somewhere." Tracy responded. "And what better place to start than with liberating your home from Exon's occupation?"
Melody sighed. "The one time I decide to head back home is because I have to save my people from the Empire. What kind of princess am I?"
"A different kind." Tracy said. "Look, I know you don't wanna do this, but it has to be done. Your people are counting on you."
"I know. And I'm half eager to send the Empire packing, but I'm also uneasy about returning home and remembering that I have a role in my kingdom."
"No one else in Denmark knows that you're the princess, right?"
"They don't. But I do." Melody admitted. "And sooner or later, I'm going to have to live up to my role. And it looks like it's going to be sooner."
"Look, I don't know what being a princess means or what burdens it carries with the title. But I know you're capable of it."
"I don't know if I am."
"I know you are." Tracy said, and this was one of the rare moments that she was deadly serious. Melody could tell. "You can do this. I know you can."
Melody brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Right." She got up and slung the backpack over her shoulder.
"You should get going." Tracy said. "The rest are probably already downstairs."
"Just one more thing." Melody walked to the desk which she had placed the rest of her items. A small bag of trinkets stood in the corner. Reaching into it, she fished out her favourite golden necklace.
The necklace she had been given by her grandfather King Triton that allowed her to transform into a mermaid and back at will. It had been a valuable tool that had come in useful on previous missions, and she had a feeling that she might need it again on this one. Now she was ready. She went down to the foyer where sure enough, the rest of the team was waiting for her.
Jade and Deirdre were dressed normally like they were tourists headed to the local museum. On missions past, it had become commonplace for them to take on the roles of people who blended into the crowd. They did remarkably well in those roles. It would help them again on this mission, since her team needed to go undercover and infiltrate the rebellion.
Elsa, on the other hand, was dressed rather differently from her usual getup. She had ditched the white dress for something a lot more functional. She wore a lavender turtleneck blouse with tight black pants, boots and a dark blue trench coat. A pair of round-rimmed tinted spectacles rested on the bridge of her small nose, and her hair was done up in her traditional french braid.
"Now that's a sight for sore eyes." Melody motioned at Elsa's braid.
"Just felt like I needed something familiar." Elsa pushed the braid over her shoulder and adjusted her new spectacles which helped sell her as a mousy and introverted girl.
"We could use familiar on this mission." Jade said. "We're headed into the lion's den."
"Are you guys ready?" Anna said. She was standing nearby with Kristoff, hand in hand. Jordan and Maui were also waiting at the side together with the other League sorcerers.
"Yeah." Melody said, contrary to how she was feeling.
"Remember guys, we only got one shot at this." Anna said. "We'll be on different teams, but we'll find a way to contact you guys and regroup once we're in Denmark and have met the bad guys."
"Alright," Elsa said. "Be careful."
"Right back at ya."
Elsa hugged her sister and Kristoff, and Jade did the same with her brother. When they were all ready, Melody turned to Tracy and nodded.
Tracy stretched her hands out and conjured up a portal of purple mist. She had long since recovered from the previous day's heavy magical strain. "See you guys on the other side."
Melody nodded and led Elsa, Jade and Deirdre through the Crossing Point and into the Crossing Zone. A second portal opened up, and they stepped out of the Crossing Zone and into a back alley in Denmark. Melody walked up to the side of the wall and peered out cautiously.
"This is Denmark?" Deirdre asked.
"Yeah." Melody glanced round. She roughly recognized where they were.
"So where exactly are we?"
"New Town. It's where most of the citizens live." Melody explained. "Right now we're in the back alley of one of the most commonly frequented food streets. Restaurants, cafés and local bars. But now it's completely empty."
"I wonder why." Deirdre muttered.
It wasn't hard to imagine. By this time, whatever defensive military presence Denmark had was now gone, crushed by the Empire. The houses were boarded up with wooden planks, and there were locks on the doors. The streets, like Melody had said, were completely empty, devoid of any signs of life. People were hiding, and for good reason too. Just then, the sound of horse hooves and the marching boots could be heard approaching.
"Get back." Elsa grabbed Melody by the shoulder and pulled her away from the wall and behind a dumpster.
The four girls found cover behind large crates and a dumpster, and just in time too, as two cavalrymen mounted on majestic looking horses guided their equines past the alley. Closely behind them were a procession of civilians in chains, who looked like they had been beaten and battered before being taken away by the Exonian soldiers.
The civilians were being escorted by four soldiers clad in muddy red uniforms, who aimed their muskets with bayonets attached at their prisoners. The four soldiers marched behind the civilians in a disciplined fashion, threatening to jab at the civilians if they got out of line.
When the procession had passed them by, the four girls emerged from where they were hiding. Melody immediately walked to the edge of the alley and was just about to march off after the soldiers when an icy cold hand grabbed her wrist.
"What do you think you're doing?" Elsa hissed.
"I can't-" Melody spluttered, the heat bubbling in her throat causing her to be unable to express her anger. "I can't let them get away with that. Those are innocent people! Innocent people being taken away by the soldiers for what? To be used as slaves? Executed? Those are my people!"
"I know it's hard! But you can't just go out there and face the soldiers head on. It's suicide!" Elsa maintained her hold on her.
Melody wrenched her arm away from Elsa. "It's easy for you to say. If it were the people of Arendelle being marched off by the Imperial Horde, would you be so calm? Would you allow them to just walk on by and do nothing to stop them?"
"Melody, my kingdom is at stake here too! If we don't do our job and stop the Empire, my kingdom is going to fall to them too and my people will suffer too." Elsa said. "But we can't stop them now. Not like this."
"We can't blow our cover. You said so yourself, remember?" Jade added.
"I know it's hard but we have to keep a low profile." Elsa continued. "We have to be tactical about the mission and not get our feelings involved. You taught us that, remember?"
"It's so much harder when it's my kingdom involved." Melody caved and slumped against the brick wall miserably. They were right. She took a deep breath and composed herself before straightening up. "You're right." She glanced at the rest. "I'm sorry. I got emotional seeing first hand what the Empire has done to my kingdom. It made me furious to think what had happened to my friends. My parents."
"We'll find them and set them free. I promise." Elsa assured her. "But we have to stay on track. Keep our heads straight."
"Okay." Melody took another deep breath.
"So where can we go from here?" Deirdre asked.
"Old Town. I know an old school senior from Copenhagen High called Oliver from my archery class. He's the kind of guy who would join up with a local rebellion if it does exist. And if it does, Old Town is the most likely place that we can find them."
As the name suggested, Old Town was a part of the kingdom which had largely been abandoned and forgotten. In the decades prior to her parent's reign, the kingdom had undergone an internal industrial revolution of sorts, and it had taken part in more inter-kingdom trade. A larger harbour at the opposite side of the kingdom near where the castle was, as it was more spacious there.
A plot of land was cleared for newer industrial buildings to be built beside the harbour, which facilitated ease of trade. Thus, when the companies and organizations had migrated their businesses over to the other side of town, the buildings in Old Town had largely been abandoned. All that remained in Old Town were the old industrial buildings which had been condemned, as well as housing estates for the less fortunate citizens of Denmark who couldn't afford to live in the newer parts of the kingdom.
"So how do we get there?" Elsa asked.
Melody pointed in the general direction of east. "We need to get to the edge of New Town and cross the Sulge River via the bridge connecting Old Town and New Town. Assuming that the Empire didn't blow up that bridge."
"What makes you think this local rebellion will be in Old Town?" Jade asked.
"Old Town is where all the thieves, gangs, dockworkers, labourers and hardened citizens are. Kane wouldn't have bothered sending his troops over to Old Town. There's nothing of value to the Empress there, so he wouldn't have wasted blood and ammunition on a place like Old Town. I'm guessing he figured that the weak could hide out there under the protection of the rougher members of society."
"And the local rebellion would feel safe hiding out in Old Town." Elsa said.
Melody nodded. "It's the one place the Empire wouldn't bother to conquer. They would let the people have it while they turn their sights to the cities and kingdoms beyond here."
"Then we go to Old Town." Jade said.
"Remember our cover story." Melody reminded the rest. "If anyone spots us, you're just tourists who were invited by me to Denmark, and were in the wrong place at the wrong time when the invasion happened."
"And we can't use our powers, like we discussed. It'll draw unwanted attention to ourselves and it'll tip the Empire off that we're here." Elsa added.
"Okay," Melody checked to make sure the backpack was secure on her shoulders. "Let's go."
