Chapter Thirty Five
Veronica Mars
ANNA
Inside, Anna studied the police precinct. As mentioned by the two policemen, there was a large hole in the ceiling. Someone of demigod proportions really must have fallen through the roof to make that big a gap.
"Sheriff," the first officer ducked his head into a big office at the side of the room. "We found our mystery man's keepers."
Anna swallowed hard in anticipation of the sheriff's appearance. She had in mind a tall, cold and old man with a no-nonsense attitude who would probably see through their act at first glance.
To Anna's surprise, a woman in her early thirties emerged from the office, sipping from a cup of steaming coffee. The sheriff had blonde shoulder length hair, a petite frame and intelligent features. Her eyes were attentive as she sized up the two girls before her.
"Hi," Anna broke the silence and leaned forward to offer the sheriff a hand. "My name's Anna." She hitched a thumb over her shoulder. "And this is Melody. We're here for our butler, Dwayne?"
"Mars." The sheriff accepted Anna's hand with her free one. "Veronica Mars."
"Wow." Anna said. "I wasn't expecting a sheriff to look like you."
"Not all sheriffs look like this, I can assure you." Veronica said with a voice that sounded disturbingly similar to her own, but she decided to chalk that up to coincidence. "You said that you're here for your butler?"
"Yeah."
"Describe him for me, please." Veronica watched both Melody and Anna with her intelligent eyes. "Just for verification purposes, if you don't mind."
"Of course." Melody said. "He's tall, muscular, bald, has tattoos all over his skin, and has a deep booming voice."
"I think you forgot to mention the part where he has inhuman strength."
"Yes, and that too." Anna tried to sound convincing, though she couldn't blame the sheriff if it all sounded a little too far fetched.
"Sounds about right to me." Veronica said mildly. "He's a butler, you were saying?"
"Yes, well, he used to be a professional wrestler until he decided to live out the rest of his life injury-free." Anna shrugged. "But I promise you, he wouldn't hurt a fly."
"Tell that to the ten men who had to wrestle him into the cage." Veronica sounded amused. "Alright then, follow me."
"Thank you." Anna gasped almost a little too loudly. She couldn't believe that had worked out so easily. And to think it could have gotten messy.
Melody and Anna followed Veronica out of the main lobby and down to the basement where there was a long stretch of holding cells. Criminals of all calibre had been incarcerated in the cells, and the two girls did their best to stay in the centre of the path, far away from the bars. It seemed to Anna that Veronica wasn't fazed at all at the prospect of being near the bars. Maybe this woman was a lot more than she looked.
"Here we are." Veronica stopped at the end of the passage. She produced a key from her pocket and casually undid the lock on the bars before sliding it back to open up the cell. "Had to keep the key for this one myself."
Sure enough, as Melody and Anna had expected, Maui was in the cell, still in his Arendellian uniform which by now had been torn to shreds from the earlier conflict.
Anna was hoping hard that the Sheriff Mars wouldn't question that detail. She rushed into the cell and so did Melody.
"Dwayne! Dwayne, are you alright?"
"Dwayne" stared up at Anna and Melody as if he couldn't believe his eyes.
"We're here to take you home, Dwayne." Melody said firmly, as if to send him a very specific message.
Thankfully Maui seemed to get the message. He nodded and stood up slowly, looking apologetically over at Veronica.
"I'm sorry, Ma'am, about this morning." Maui dipped his head a little. "I don't really remember what happened."
"It's alright." Veronica said without a hint of hostility in her voice. "Just remember to limit your alcohol intake next time."
Maui nodded in acknowledgement and the two girls escorted him out of the cell and through the long passage. The narrow place was lit up by the shouts of indignation from the prisoners in the other holding cells along the corridor, and Anna hurried her companions through the passage as fast as they could manage without seeming too suspicious.
Just when they were almost clear and out of the lion's den, Veronica cleared her throat.
"Before you go," she said. "May I have a word with you in my office, Miss Anna? Melody and Dwayne can wait for you outside."
Oh no. "Ummn, sure." Anna glanced at Melody and nodded. She followed Sheriff Mars into her luxurious office, and the door was shut behind her and she felt as if she had taken Maui's place as a prisoner instead. So much for this being too easy.
"Sit down please." Veronica sat down across the table from Anna and leaned back comfortably in her chair. "Coffee?"
"No thanks, I just had one before I came." Anna said. That was probably the only truth she had told since she had arrived, apart from her own name.
"Suit yourself." Veronica poured herself another cup of coffee from a jug.
Anna waited anxiously as Sheriff Mars took her time to drink half the cup before setting it down. It killed her that she couldn't decipher if the sheriff knew anything about the truth. She couldn't decide if she found her cool or strangely terrifying.
"So," Veronica leaned forward. "Miss Anna. I'm assuming that's a fake name. Like Dwayne's?"
Anna tried to affect an insulted expression. "Excuse me? I'm not sure I understand."
"Don't play coy with me, young lady." Veronica said pleasantly in a tone which didn't match the meaning of the words. "You don't get to be sheriff without learning how to spot a lie told straight to your face. Who are you, really?"
Anna frowned. "If you already knew, then why did you let him go free?"
"Who he really is - or what he is, I can't tell. But I know enough to deduce that he isn't a criminal." Veronica said confidently. "Contrary to what the other officers believe, of course. Let me rephrase my question. Who are you guys?"
Now she understood why the officer outside had warned her about the sheriff. There really was no point in lying to Sheriff Mars since she could spot a fib a mile away. Anna sighed and relented. "Okay, fine. We're not criminals. My name is really Anna, and the other girl's name is Melody. But we're not sisters, and that man isn't our butler. His name is Maui."
Veronica steepled her fingers. "Go on."
"You're not going to believe me if I tell you the truth." Anna uncomfortably shifted a little in her seat.
"Try me."
"You asked for it." Anna mumbled. If what she said now got her really thrown into a mental institution or something, she only had herself to blame. "Well for starters, Maui is a shapeshifting demigod."
The sheriff didn't even raise an eyebrow.
"Melody out there is the Princess of Denmark," Anna went on. "And I'm the Queen of Arendelle. We were all on a mission together with some of our other friends in Quodrun. You see, the Empire of Exon has been spreading across the continent like a plague, and we were trying to stop its leader, an evil tyrant, from expanding her empire any further.
She paused to draw in a breath. "But then she used her powers to send us into a black hole, which is what Maui was rambling on about when you found him. When Melody and myself woke up, we found ourselves outside this city…what do you call it? San Fransokyo?"
Veronica was very quiet for a time, and Anna held her breath. Then she spoke. "I see."
"You don't seem surprised." Anna tried cautiously.
"I admit seeing my fair share of weird cases numbs my ability to be shocked." Veronica shrugged calmly. "But this one's got to be the craziest story yet."
"Wait, you actually believe me?"
"Unlike other sheriffs who you'd imagine to be lazy, corrupt and incompetent, I actually spent my teenage years as a private investigator helping my dad on cases while I tried to survive high school." Veronica said. "I'm a detective. It's my job to consider that nothing is too far fetched."
"Wow." This woman really was something else. "So you're not going to arrest us?"
"Like I said," Veronica leaned back in her seat. "I know a guilty person when I see one. But you're not feeling guilty for a crime, it's something else isn't it?"
At Anna's shocked expression she sighed. "Never mind, your personal issues aren't really for me to pry into. But you should address whatever's causing your guilt."
"Therapist and sheriff all rolled into one, huh." Anna murmured. "Well aren't you a prize."
"My guess is," Veronica continued. "You and your friends are from a different world. An alternate reality."
"And how did you figure that out?" The sheriff was really quite perceptive for someone who had merely spent less than fifteen minutes with Anna.
"Well for starters, places like Arendelle, Quodrun or an Empire called Exon don't exist here."
Anna blinked. "Oh."
"And your demigod friend was babbling about his powers being gone and that someone called the Empress must have done something with her magic." Veronica kept a straight face while saying all this. "Stuff like that tips you off."
Anna stared blankly at the woman, not knowing what to say.
"I know you're wondering: if I could figure out this much, then I can probably help you, right?" Veronica smiled but shook her head sadly. "I'm afraid this falls outside my area of expertise. You're better off looking for Hiro Hamada."
"Hiro who?"
"He's a brilliant inventor who builds all sorts of fascinating technology." Veronica explained and her lip quirked curiously for some reason. "He developed a few pieces of technology that already revolutionised the eastern seaboard. He'll be able to help you." She pulled a piece of sticky note from her desk and scribbled something on it before handing it to Anna. "Here."
"What's this?" Anna stared at it. A few lines of words, with numbers interspersed in between, and what was probably a street name…and…
"An address and directions." Veronica cocked her eyebrow. "You really are from another world."
"Right, I knew that." Anna stood up. "I'm really grateful for your help."
"Before you go, there's one more thing you're probably forgetting."
"What?"
"I'm guessing your world doesn't carry our local currency, do you?" Veronica asked. "You're going to need some money to take the subway to that location." She pointed a finger at the paper in Anna's hand. "And get your big friend some new clothes."
"Right…" Anna had forgotten again. She had never had this problem before. As the queen of a country, she never really had to carry money around with her because everyone knew who she was and that her royal staff would settle all her expenses in the name of the crown.
Anna thought for a second, and then undid the necklace around her neck. It was a thin piece of jewellery made out of solid gold. At the time, she had thought it to be a good idea to display Arendellian jewellery in front of Eleanor to subtly hint to her that Arendelle was wealthy enough to afford jewellery…and artillery too. But look how that turned out.
"What are you doing?" Veronica watched as Anna slid the necklace across the table.
"How much would that earn me?"
"I'm afraid more than the salary of all the officers combined." Veronica laughed. "It's obviously worth tens of thousands."
"How much do you have on you?"
"Now?" Veronica rummaged into her own wallet. "A couple of hundred…"
"Yeah, I'll take it. Pawn the necklace and keep the rest of the cash for yourself."
"You're crazy." Veronica handed over the wad of hundreds.
"Queen of Arendelle, remember?" Anna pocketed the chump change. "I can afford it, don't worry."
"If you say so," Veronica flashed a grin. "Who am I to decline a gift from a concerned citizen in need of help?"
Anna grinned back. There was a snarky personality hidden beneath the sheriff's intelligent and calculative exterior. Her hidden vibrant personality very subtly reminded her of herself.
"Thanks again." Anna called out as she opened the door.
"I'm sorry I can't be of more help. But good luck. You're going to need it." Veronica gave her an affable wave.
"Thanks." Anna walked out of the sheriff's office and out of the building. She couldn't believe she had just survived that. Walking out of the precinct, she found Melody and Maui waiting for her on the sidewalk.
"Maui! Are you okay?" Anna gently put a hand on his arm.
"Yeah, I'm fine. But very confused." Maui said. "My powers aren't working and my strength is like that of a regular man's. Melody said we're not on our world?"
"Yeah, something like that." Anna said. "I'm guessing in this world, magic doesn't exist or something."
"I guess then that gives me a long awaited opportunity to blend in with human culture then."
"What did the sheriff call you in for?" Melody asked. "For a while there, I thought she threw you in a cell and we were thinking of a way to spring you."
"She figured it all out by herself." Anna marvelled. "She really is quite brilliant."
"She let you go just like that?"
"Yeah. She actually believes us." Anna said. "I still can't believe it myself. But that's not all…" she waved the small sticky note that was stuck to her fingers. "Sheriff Mars even helped us to figure out our next move. I have our next location."
"Where to?" Melody said.
Anna squinted at the paper. "We have to take the subway."
Author's Commentary:
This was a treat to write. Veronica Mars is a character that Kristen Bell played in her earlier years, who is a teenage detective in school. By now, you might have realised that this entire book is somewhat of a mini side tribute to Kristen Bell's characters.
Anna, obviously is the main one. Eleanor is a character from the show "The Good Place" in which Kristen Bell plays a horrible woman, and where I took some reference for my own villain the Empress, and Veronica Mars is arguably Kristen Bell's most well known character.
Just having Veronica and Anna interact with each other was such a joy to write, especially since they were played by the same phenomenal actress. Imagine the two of them speaking to each other in the exact same voice.
This also sort of acts as a homage and non-canon epilogue for Veronica Mars. For those of you who watched the TV show's final season, you know what I'm talking about. It gave me some closure writing this, where we see Veronica many years later successful in her own right as Sheriff.
And that James Bond reference. "Mars. Veronica Mars." I'm a really huge fan of the Bond films, especially the later ones. Writing this chapter was so much fun. As you can tell by now, I love peppering my stories with fun little Easter eggs.
