Just a note. The sword 'Revolute' is drawn on the book cover for Frozen 2: Forest of Shadows by Kamilla Benko. Simply look down at the bottom left corner and you'll see it leaning against the tree. You can google the cover image. Also, gonna be late for the next chapter as well due to exams. Hang in there people!

"Thank you, Reginald. You have been a big help," Alex said to the short, cloaked man who knelt in front of him.

"If I may ask sir, why do you want us to keep an eye on an innocent woman?" Reginald asked, curious.

"Oh, she's far from innocent Reg. You'll understand one day," Alex laughed.

"If she is a threat, I can switch out my spying skills for assassination ones within a millisecond," Reginald said. "Just say the word, sir."

Alex chuckled at the lively soul. "Relax. She isn't a threat. For now at least. As I told you before, do not get too close to her. It is bound to end in a disaster," Alex warned.

"Yes, sir," Reginald confirmed dejectedly.

"Keep me reported on every activity she does. This is your highest priority mission after your very life. Now, go take a well-deserved break for a few hours," Alex ordered.

"Understood, sir," Reginald said and bowed his head once more before getting up and hurrying off.

"You dork, you've been pulling my leg haven't you?" Kristoff asked as Alex entered the room, laughing while Cassandra held the sword openly without dying. "There's no worthy, unworthy to wield kinda system here, is there?"

"Nope," Alex said with a twinkle in his eye. "There's no system like that. I just wanted to…"

"If you say that was your idea of fun, I'm gonna shove the Revolute down your throat," Anna threatened, making Alex laugh nervously. He had only partially lost his urge to freak people out at the worst of times to watch them yell out in surprise. Another quirk of Alex that was detested by literally everyone around him.

"The sword's name is Truelove, isn't it?" Cassandra asked, bewildered.

"Err… yes, yes definitely," Anna said casually, smirking and leaning back on her chair.

"No, Cassandra! The sword's true name is Revolute. She just rearranged the letters and is trying to confuse you guys," Elsa explained, mentally slapping herself on the forehead at her sister's antics while Anna burst into a fit of giggles.

"Oh, I see. Maybe I should shove my sword down her throat instead," Cassandra smirked at Anna, running a finger over the broadsword sitting in her lap. Her face now showed simple terror making the others cough up a giggle.

The blade of Revolute was an odd shape. It had an unusually pronounced false edge, making it quite broad near the middle of the blade. It resembled a scimitar but a slightly longer version of it. The hilt of the sword was straight, unlike the replica blade that was created. The replica had a hilt that curved down to create a pommel. This was slightly different to accommodate the Flarestone in its pommel. The langets were physically attached to the blade to give it more sideways rigidity near the joint at the handle. The crossguard was also different from the replica by being a simple practical cross instead of a fancy star that simply added to the weight of the sword. The original Revolute was far less fancy than its counterpart replica which lost its practicality to display.

"It's an… interesting sword to wield," Cassandra noted, handing the sword back to Kristoff.

"I don't get it though. It's made of alchemical materials I didn't even know existed," Varian said, scrutinizing the blade. "Especially the gold plating. It is evident that it's there to protect the internal metal from getting corroded. Gold itself is a noble metal so it doesn't corrode, but something is different. The plating or the gold on this is especially hard. It just feels different from actual gold. I'm sure I could provide a deeper analysis at a lab but I think it's better tactically if the sword stays on you for the time being. I mean, if it's really as powerful as your legends say, it's a really big hope for the people of Arendelle."

"Thank you, Varian," Alex said and then turned towards the Coronan royals. "Now to the large matter at hand, did you see the vision Elsa showed you?"

"Yes. I regret watching that now," Rapunzel said with a gag. The monsters tearing through people was not a very pretty sight. Especially Narsilla just laughing away at the cruel display.

"How are we even going to fight those things if they come after us?" Eugene asked, looking disturbed.

"Don't worry. I'll inform you all of a strategy in the next meeting we have. They're the least of our worries," Alex said casually.

No one who had seen it could possibly agree to that. It wasn't the least of their worries when they had seen them literally chomp on human skulls as if they were thin-walled cups of crackers!

"Now, what do you know about the ancient trinity of our kingdoms?" Alex asked.

"Well, since I'm the historian," Varian said, "The Ancient Trinity was a pact between three kingdoms forged eons ago against a common enemy. The pact has been rumored to be signed by the king of the earth, king of the ocean, and the king of the sky. I suppose that the king of earth would mean the Dark Kingdom, the king of oceans would mean the kingdom of Corona and the king of the skies would mean the kingdom of Arendelle. After what we saw, I bet Narsilla was the common enemy they were fighting. The facts are unclear as to what post she held in this world, but many books Demanitus wrote hint that she was the queen of some kingdom."

"Good," Alex praised, "and there is some other history to it as well but it's unimportant at this period of time."

"That sounds like a story I've heard someplace," Kristoff piped in, scrunching his face and trying to remember.

"Haha! No way! Varian literally spent a full forty-two hours poring over Demanitus's records just to gather that much information!" Cassandra laughed.

"Maybe a book you read?" Olaf asked. He had a valid point. There were hundreds of novels in Arendelle's library with a storyline containing similar elements.

"Wait a second, what time are you talking about?" Anna asked Alex, visibly confused.

"It was three thousand years ago when this happened. At the time, Aren was yet to become a king," Alex answered.

"What? But didn't you just say a pact was signed between kings?" Rapunzel asked.

"I did. I suppose I better tell you the story I've gathered so far," Alex said.

"How about the whole story instead?" Cassandra asked, making Alex pause for a second.

"I am sure that the whole story can wait for a while. It would only be a useless hindrance to our future decisions," Alex said, carefully selecting his words.

"What does that mean?" Iduna asked, looking slightly cross.

"Those facts are simply unimportant. The past is the past and there is nothing we can do to change it." Alex told her.

"What past are you talking about?" Anna asked, slightly on the edge and being pushy. She didn't like people keeping secrets from her and that was completely understandable.

Alex sighed. Maybe he could try to reveal some of the things that happened after the war in the softest manner possible. "I really don't think that the facts like Arendelle and the Dark Kingdom were at war after Narsilla was defeated would make a difference. There's too much politics and backstabbing involved, both before and after Narsilla was defeated. This was especially since Aren's grandsons, who were responsible for old Corona's demise into a barren abyss. Some historical details are best left forgotten to time, especially since many other kingdoms have had rivers of blood flow in their kingdoms due to the past Trinity we had."

There was not one face in that room that didn't look horrified after that. One thing they didn't question anymore was that Alex's definition of 'soft' was very different from that of an average person.

"You… what? But why did…" Mattias started.

"I did say that I'll tell you all the details afterward, didn't I?" Alex sidestepped, patiently.

That stalled them in their tracks, keeping them from bubbling up a thousand questions.

"How do you even know all this?" Elsa asked, bewildered at the knowledge he held.

"If you read all the books in the library and piece them up with all the scattered information out there in the whole wide world, you'll see that many things match up, especially Grand Pabbie's stories," Alex said, smiling at Kristoff willing him to get the reference. He did.

"Oh, God!" Kristoff almost yelled in shock and covered his face in both of his hands.

"Kristoff, what's wrong?" Varian asked, alarmed at the unusually strong reaction.

"Grand Pabbie! He used to tell me stories of three kingdoms and an evil witch and how the good kings dominated over the witch by allying themselves with the other kingdoms! Arrgh! I should have known that he was actually telling me a true story!" He boomed with frustration.

"It's alright, I mean magical beings existing is still a very new development that happened what? Like five years ago? I wouldn't have believed a word of what Grand Pabbie said if he told me that this was a true story ten years ago," Anna consoled.

"I- but no, Anna! If it means that his stories were true, that means I knew Aren's whole story all along and I can guarantee you that it's not what you guys learned from your history books," Kristoff said, starting to laugh at the pure shock of revelation.

"So do you remember his story?" Alex asked, smiling.

"Crystal clear," Kristoff said. "It began with a hero, I'm going to assume is Aren. He was a simple boy who played around the streets of a cruelly ruled kingdom. Pabbie told me that the boy's greatest ambition was to experience the world beyond the walls of the cruel lands he lived in. One day, as he was wishing for freedom, a guard working under the queen heard him and beat him down for wishing that. The queen, I suppose was Narsilla told the guard not to beat Aren and instead made him work as a slave in the castle where she lived. He was just eleven when this happened. While working under Narsilla, he learned many things by reading the books in the library. They weren't just any books, but they were books on alchemical magic," Kristoff said.

"Alchemy! So that's what Narsilla uses!" Varian exclaimed.

"Fascinating," Alex said, slightly happy at having a small gauge on their enemy.

"Yes. I doubt if any other kind of magic actually exists apart from Spirit magic that Elsa uses and Alchemical magic that Grand Pabbie uses," Kristoff said.

"Does Necromancy also come under those? Cause I've literally died and came back to life!" Eugene said, freaking out a little.

"It wasn't exactly necromancy since the art is considered black magic. It's more of a resurrection if anything. In any case, I imagine that it would go under a branch of Spirit magic because the Sundrop was created with Spirit magic," Alex explained, recalling Rapunzel telling him how Gothel stabbed Eugene.

"Wait, what!" Rapunzel asked loudly.

"Did you just say that the Sundrop was made by the spirits!" Varian asked, wide-eyed.

"That makes sense!' Kristoff said. "After Aren learned things and was found to be practicing things of magical nature, the guards took him before Narsilla to be judged. In normal circumstances, she would have punished that crime with a death sentence, but she had grown fond of Aren. Thus she taught him more things. She used Aren to conquer and join more and more lands with her. At the age of twenty-something, he found out about the cruelty his friends had to deal with. He found out that Narsilla was the one who had his parents killed after they had approached her to beg for their son to be returned. He turned on Narsilla and retaliated against her. He joined forces with two other factions who were retaliating against her as well. I don't know, but I'd imagine the two factions would be Corona and the Dark Kingdom. To get additional help, he requested the spirits for help. That's when they granted him with four artifacts to fight against her."

"Four artifacts?" Rapunzel asked, seemingly having figured out the first two.

"They are four stones crafted by the spirits to aid Aren in his quest. Sundrop, Moonstone, Flarestone and the Shadowjade," Alex informed.

"What in the FUMBLING WAGONS?" Eugene yelled. He wasn't the only one who was shocked. What Alex said was all news for them except for Elsa.

"Wait, but there were only two stones listed in Demanitus's archives!" Rapunzel exclaimed wildly.

"That's most likely because, at the time, even Demanitus had no idea that the other two stones existed," Alex explained.

"Makes sense, but what are these two other stones?" Agnarr asked.

"The Flarestone is a stone of purity as the legends mention it," Alex explained. "It is something that only the pure heart can wield, but that's just an ancient myth. There's no such thing as a pure-hearted person. Anyway, that aside, the Flarestone is a stone created purely for defensive purposes. As per ancient legends and beliefs, it can create a powerful wall of light that cannot be penetrated by alchemical magic. That's the perfect defense to be used against someone like Narsilla. It is also said to be a stone used to give strength to its user in times of crisis, but I believe that these other mythical details are nowhere near accurate, so I cannot say much about its abilities. As for the Shadowjade, all the information about it is completely unknown. It has never been documented for unclear reasons, but is believed to have been created purely for the purposes of attacking your opponent."

"So are the four meant to create the perfect warrior against Narsilla?" Elsa asked.

"Correct. If you look closely at the functionality of these stones, you will notice an odd pattern emerge. The Sundrop has been crafted for healing injuries, the Moonstone has been created to shape the battlefield with its earth manipulating abilities, the Flarestone has been created for a powerful shielding purpose and the Shadowjade has been made for pure killing purposes," Alex explained to everyone's agreement.

"Back to the story," Kristoff said. "After Aren was given these gifts, he distributed them among his comrades as a sign of trust. Together, they were able to defeat Narsilla and overthrow her rule. The people of the kingdom had all seen Aren's struggle so they nominated him to be the king. And that was when Arendelle was created," Kristoff completed.

"Woah. How old is this Grand Pabbie anyway?" Rapunzel asked.

"No idea. He's lost count too, but I'm guessing at least a thousand years old since he was Demanitus's direct disciple," Kristoff informed.

"Wait, so he's basically a walking dictionary that's been recording for millennia!" Eugene pointed out. "Won't he know something about Narsilla that could maybe help us? Or tell us something about those other two stones like where we could find them?"

Alex chuckled. "Eugene, the sword you're holding already has the Flarestone in it."

That was another bomb he dropped on everyone. Even Elsa.

"The Shadowjade is currently in Ahtohallan," Alex added.

"Holy… how and what?" Varian whispered, wide-eyed and staring at the Revolute in Eugene's hand.

"So you were never searching for the Revolute?" Iduna asked.

"The sword is basically just an expensive piece of scrap metal without the jewel that powers it," Alex said.

Revolute, the legendary sword, and Alex was calling it a piece of scrap metal. That was harsh.

"Woah Woah Woah! Hold on! Let us just process all this. You're telling us that there are four stones instead of two and you're saying that we have three. Won't that make us all a big red bullseye for Narsilla?" Varian said, panicking slightly.

"Certainly. Especially since those stones were the ones which defeated Narsilla in the past," Alex said.

"So she's gonna come after us?" Rapunzel asked, visibly shaken and panicking.

"At some point, yes. For now though, we are rather safe, so relax." Alex consoled.

"Isn't this the best time to attack us? While we don't really know anything about her?" Cassandra asked.

"Actually, without the strengthening ritual she's currently very weak," Alex informed.

"What strengthening ritual?" Elsa asked.

"What's a strengthening ritual? It sounds pretty scary," Eugene asked.

"A strengthening ritual is where a magical being essentially increases their magic-wielding capabilities," Agnarr said.

"Increase it?"

"Think of magic like a flowing river and your body as a city," Alex explained. "If the flow of magic is too high, it will destroy the city. In Narsilla's case, her body is almost already destroyed due to her last war with Aren and the others. A strengthening ritual essentially rebuilds the city so that it can sustain the high flow of the river that it once did."

"Oh hell no! We need to stop her, right now! If she won't come after us, we could go after her, can't we?" Eugene asked.

"For once, you actually make sense. If she's weak right now, then we can take her out can't we?" Asked Cassandra.

"You just said that the Shadowjade is in Ahtohallan. Can't we just get that and then beat her?" Mattias asked.

Alex smiled. "Even if by some miracle, Elsa was able to get the Shadowjade, what do you think Narsilla's next move be?"

"She'll attack us," Kristoff deduced.

"Exactly. There are fourteen major disadvantages to that strategy that I can think of off the top of my head with three to five of them fatal enough to decimate both our kingdoms into oblivion in just an hour. Just think, we don't know anything about the Shadowjade, nor do we know anything about Narsilla and her purpose, we don't know what happened to her in the lost realm. She might even have gotten so powerful over the years that these little rocks couldn't even hold a candle to her prowess now and we also know that she has an army stationed somewhere around us or even perhaps inside us! Do you really think gathering up those stones for her is the best thing to do currently?" Alex asked.

"We could at least give it a try?" Rapunzel said in a small voice. Even her, an optimist wasn't entirely convinced that the plan they were thinking about would work.

Alex laughed. "There are no second chances in war, Rapunzel. Once we have the Shadowjade, the war will commence and only one side will survive the catastrophe."

"Okay, what do you suggest we do?" Mattias asked, slightly on edge.

"We wait for their move," Alex said.

"Are you crazy!" Anna burst out, visibly horrified. She wasn't the only one.

"She's weak right now, but she's strong enough to end our lives…and you want us to wait until she's even stronger?" Olaf asked.

"That's just counterintuitive," said Cassandra.

"Not really, this plan is gonna be a complete failure!" Eugene exclaimed.

At that precise moment, there was a knock on the door and Kai popped his head in.

"I'm sorry to bother you, your highnesses, but some insistent people are waiting for your court," Kai said, looking desperately at Anna and Kristoff. The people had given him quite the trouble apparently.

"At this hour?" Iduna asked, confused.

Alex grinned. "Let's take a break while Anna and Kristoff deal with our visitor.

"Wait, but-" Anna started, not wanting to hang the discussion.

"It's just a short break and I think what the visitor has to say might be even more important than our discussion here. Go on, shoo!" Alex chuckled.

Anna and Kristoff hesitated but made up their minds to wrap the matter quickly and hurried off to the halls along with Iduna and a curious Olaf in tow.

Alex stepped out of the room into the balcony for a fresh bit of oxygen. He heard two sets of footsteps following him.

"Sounds strange for Mattias to not have recognized you guys, doesn't it?" Alex asked the spiky-haired inventor. Mattias had already met the Coronan royals right after the wedding.

"Kinda, although I think he was too busy to notice us. It wasn't he who treated us harshly. He just told us to wait for a few seconds, but it was the other guards who almost led us to the prisons for trying to impersonate…well, us!"

Alex just laughed. The story was hilarious yet troubling. Nothing he couldn't deal with a little later though. As he kept his hand on the railing, a small drop of liquid fell on his fingers. He looked down amused and wiped the trickle off. Apparently, someone was not following his orders to take a rest. He gazed sideways at Agnarr, waiting for him to blurt out his question.

"All this information, are you sure it's just library books and rumors around the world?" Agnarr asked, making Alex grin in surprise. He had expected him to ask why they would follow the unconventional plan that Alex had selected, but no matter.

"Remember those other tunnels beneath the castle? I already explored them and found a full library of ancient history carved on stones and gold," Alex revealed.

"What? How? No wait, not those questions. Does anyone else know of that library?" Agnarr asked.

"I destroyed the access to it so no one apart from me and one other person knows of its existence," Alex said, turning to the balcony door and walking towards it. He did not want to attract attention to what was going to happen next.

"Is this person by any chance Elsa?" Agnarr asked curiously.

Alex smiled. He knew exactly why Agnarr would think of that, but it was one secret she did not know about.

"No, but I'll let you know about that person shortly. It's unsafe to discuss it in the open," Alex said, walking back into the room.

Agnarr and Varian looked at each other in confusion but walked back into the room nonetheless. Who could possibly overhear them from a tower almost seven stories up?

If only they had glanced behind them just a few seconds later, they would have seen a thick stream of blood flow from the roof above the balcony as Reginald savagely twisted his knife stuck into the Legion spy's throat. The spies were dangerous indeed, but Alex could comfortably say that they weren't because Reginald, a trusted companion, was on the job of hunting them down. Mission Jaeger was going smoothly so far.

As Anna entered the courts, she saw a small congregation in the center with many guards and a familiar smiling face at the front, but something was wrong. There was a prisoner with them being held at swordpoint.

"Mari!" Anna exclaimed as the Vesterlandian princess and ambassador gave a gracious bow and smiled like an old friend.

"Sorenson?" Iduna asked, gazing at the man held at swordpoint.

"Hello, your majesty! I suppose this is not the best of the conditions to meet you in, but good day nonetheless."

"Wait, what's going on here?" Anna asked, looking between Sorenson and Mari.

"I'm sorry Anna, only you can free him," Mari pleaded apologetically.

"Ahem, your majesty, queen Anna, this man here assaulted and tried to kill our princess Mari here in cold blood," A man said, stepping in front.

"Wait, what?" Iduna asked, startled.

"General Gilbert! Don't twist the truth like that, I order you!" Mari said, angrily clenching her fists.

"I do not answer to you, ambassador," Gilberd retorted.

"She's a princess, isn't she?" Kristoff asked him coldly.

"In other circumstances, yes, but here and now, she is only an ambassador and I outrank her according to laws of Vesterland," Gilberd explained.

Mari just slapped her forehead in exasperation and embarrassment.

"Okay general Gilberd, you may let the man go now," Anna said. "I assure you he is completely harmless."

"Oh really, and what if he was a hired assassin on an errand to kill the princess?" Gilbert asked, skeptically.

"I barely ever meet anybody! How would I be hired, least of all a hired assassin?" Sorenson asked. "I don't even know how to cut vegetables, forget about cutting throats!"

"Gilberd, we both know that it was just an accident! His cart got out of control on the slope and we just coincidentally happened to be in the way!" Mari argued, her voice rising towards the general.

"Or maybe it was just meant to look that way and the real motive was to assassinate you."

"That's the dumbest assassination plan I've ever heard," Kristoff said, looking slightly amused. If Alex heard that plan, he'd jump out of the window and die.

"Gilberd, as your princess, I command you to release the innocent man and-"

"No," Gilberd retorted.

"Okay general Gilberd, as the queen of this kingdom, I command you to release Sorenson and obey your princess," Anna said.

"But she," Gilberd began.

"She is a princess in this kingdom and you will regard her as one. This is a direct order from the ruler of the kingdom which currently hosts you and this will be followed at all times within this kingdom's borders unless told otherwise," Anna ordered leaving no space for loopholes.

"Thank you, your majesty," Mari bowed down as a courtesy again.

"And you, Mari of Vesterland, will always address me as Anna and will not bow to me anymore," Anna flexed her authority and grinned cheekily, making Mari and Iduna laugh.

The guards lowered their swords and let Sorensen go unharmed.

"You are free to go now Sorenson," Kristoff smiled at the elderly man.

"Actually, I came here to request court with Anna and Kristoff," Sorenson said. "Thank you for giving me a lift, General Gilberd!" He added in a sassy voice.

The general's shocked and blushed face compared to Sorenson's unfazed one and Mari's gleeful laughter was gold to see.

"Oh? Did you require any assistance?" Anna asked.

"No. On the contrary, I'm here to provide you assistance against fighting this unnaturally powerful foe you're facing," he said.

"On that note, I and the kingdom of Vesterland also would like to aid you in your fight," Mari said.

"Mari, your support is much appreciated, thank you!" Kristoff smiled and nodded in approval.

Mari responded with a kind nod, but an errand stayed on her mind. She wasn't sure how she was going to break the news. The terrible news.

"Sorenson, our plans are just in the early phases, so we don't yet have a designated post to offer you yet, but if you'd like to wait around, you are free to do so in one of the rooms in the castle," Anna asked.

"I'll be awaiting your orders, Anna," Sorenson beamed, "but I have some information that you might like to know about. Perhaps, we could talk somewhere slightly more private?" Sorenson asked, looking between the Arendellian royals.

"Uh, sure!" Anna said.

She was just about to dismiss the court when Mari made eye contact with her. One look and Anna could tell that she was hiding something. No, hesitating to tell her something. Mari bit her lips and clenched her hands into fists. She knew what she was about to say next was going to take a heavy toll on her dearest friend, but she had to say it.

"Anna, I've also got some critical information," Mari said, suddenly being serious.

"What?"

Mari took a deep breath and closed her eyes. There was no going back now.

"Arendelle is going to be attacked in a week by Vassar's full army," she informed.