Hello people, and welcome back to Frozen: Lords of Storm and Stone. Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've been dealing with a case of writer's block that I managed to kick. Plus...life happens. Anyways, Happy anniversary to me; a year ago, I first started writing, and I have a celebration in mind...which I will not spoil for anyone. Now, quite a mess to clean up thanks to our old pal Dietrich eh? Well, let's find out what his deal it.
"This is not what we talked about!" Sigmund exclaimed.
"I know, but we had to-" He cuts Anna off.
"Get rid of him!" He snapped before walking towards his war room.
"Wait, Sigmund!" Anna said.
"I want him out of my fortress, and out of my province!" Sigmund exclaimed.
"Sigmund please! Just listen!" Anna said, and Sigmund stared at her before crossing his arms.
"You have my attention..." He breathed out.
"He...well, he could have information about Absalom for one thing, and who knows what else he could do for us." Anna said.
"Anna...he tried to end your life, your sister and husband's as well. He's a threat to my home, and he wants me dead, you told me all of this yourself, yet you lock him up in my dungeon...in the heart of my territory! I questioned your sanity before, but now I question why I asked you to come here." Sigmund said before walking into his war room.
"We know about him!" Anna exclaimed before Sigmund stopped walking. "The rock trolls, they told us about him. Dietrich isn't evil, he's just too angry to think clearly, and the trolls once said that anger, fear, and stress leads people to make bad choices. Elsa even figured out that the rock soldier we told you about when we first came here was destroyed by Dietrich, not Adrianna."
"And...just how does she know that?" Sigmund asked.
"Because...well, I can't say too much, but she became stronger a year ago. Alot stronger..." Anna said.
"Because of the spirits?" Sigmund asked, and Anna sighed.
"Yes...and it's thanks to her that Dietrich can be imprisoned without us being worried that he'll break out." Anna said.
"And how can you be so sure of this?" Sigmund asked.
"Elsa once told me that she can do more than just sense people's magic. She didn't say how much, but I trust her." Anna said.
"I see...where are she and Kristoff now?" Sigmund asked.
"Kristoff is in our room resting. Elsa...I'm not sure..." Anna said and Sigmund sighed.
"I will question Dietrich in the morning..." He said.
"I'm glad I could help." Anna said, and Sigmund raised an eyebrow at her.
"Who says you helped?" He asked.
"Sigmund..." Anna trailed off.
"If you're wrong about this, and Dietrich harms someone too badly, you yourself will take part of the blame, as you should." Sigmund said seriously before walking off and leaving Anna dumbfounded.
Meanwhile, Dietrich woke up in the dungeon on a bed, and when he finally recovered from the minor confusion, and looked around to see where he was, he stood up, and heard a rattling...he was chained to the wall, by shackles made of ice. He then tried to melt them with his flames...but nothing happened. He was understandably surprised by this, then started growling as he tried to channel his magic even more...but it did nothing.
"Your powers don't work." Elsa said and Dietrich snapped his head to glare at her.
"What is this?!" He asked.
"As long as those chains are on, you're powerless." Elsa said, and Dietrich sat back down.
"So...it's come to this. First you take sides with my sworn enemy, humiliate me in combat, and now you have the audacity to insult me by taking my powers and keeping me in Sigmund's dungeon...!" He growled.
"You tried to kill us just for coming here, so until Sigmund says otherwise, you cannot be trusted." Elsa said.
"And until then, I'm nothing more than a common criminal..." Dietrich breathed out.
"Sigmund is a wise and fair man, I'm sure you'll be out of those shackles in no time." Elsa said softly...and Dietrich shook with fury as she spoke, and eventually stood up and tried ripping the shackles out of the wall.
"Wise? Fair!? There is nothing fair about what he's done!" He yelled.
"He hasn't done anything wrong." Elsa said, and Dietrich just glared at her.
"Just leave me...you've said enough." Dietrich said, and Elsa simply stood there watching him fume before slowly walking away, and leaving Dietrich to continue trembling and snarling before finally sitting down and even weeping.
Elsa then went back to the throne room, met up with Anna, and they walked to their rooms together.
"So..." Anna trailed off.
"Not now please." Elsa said as they continued walking, and when they finally got to their rooms, Elsa went into her own, then Anna joined her older sister.
"Elsa?" Anna asked and Elsa deflated.
"I...paid Dietrich a visit." She said.
"And?" Anna asked as she walked over to sit with Elsa.
"Nothing..." Elsa whispered.
"Well, maybe Sigmund can get some answers out of him tomorrow." Anna said.
"I doubt it; Dietrich can't stand being around me, I don't even want to think about how he'd react to Sigmund." Elsa said seriously.
"Is it really that bad?" Anna asked.
"Yes, it is. You've seen how he fought us; it was personal for him." Elsa said.
"I noticed...he was so angry..." Anna breathed out.
"Worse still is that his anger made his fire stronger." Elsa said.
"That's...not good." Anna said seriously.
"No it's not, that's why I had to disable his magic." Elsa said, and Anna's eyes widened.
"Wow...when did you learn to do that?" She asked.
"About a month ago, I noticed that the spirits, myself included, don't just have magic, but can do things with it that shouldn't even be possible, yet are still possible, such as my ability to use water's memory to make those memories take physical form." Elsa said.
"And, what? You took control over Dietrich's fire or something?" Anna asked.
"In a way, yes." Elsa said.
"Wow..." Anna breathed out.
"Wow indeed. New questions keep on coming with that one." Elsa said, and the two sisters sat there letting the time of unrest wash over them.
"Do you think the other spirits can come help us?" Anna asked.
"I doubt it, they sensed something odd about these storms, just like I do." Elsa said.
"Odd how?" Anna asked.
"Odd as in, they're not good." Elsa said.
"Not good how?" Anna asked.
"Not good...as in there's more to them than meets the eye." Elsa said.
"Well...this Absalom is behind it, we know that much, but..do you think he got magic from the spirits too?" Anna asked.
"I hope not; this kind of power is a nightmare in the wrong hands...just like it used to be for me." Elsa said.
"Elsa..." Anna trailed off.
"We both know it's true. Yes me losing control like that is water under the bridge, but it's still a cautionary tale for what could happen if spirit magic was used for evil. Accidental, not accidental, it doesn't matter, the damage speaks for itself." Elsa said.
"Alright, point taken, but I still don't want to see you go back to that." Anna said.
"Nor do I wish it on anyone else, and if I'm right...Absalom wants to do just that." Elsa said.
"Do you think Sigmund or Dietrich know about that?" Anna asked.
"I don't even know myself, I'm just guessing." Elsa said.
"For once, I hope you're wrong." Anna said
"So do I Anna...so do I." Elsa said.
"Well, do you think there's a reason why Dietrich's power is tried to how angry he is?" Anna asked.
"Most likely, but I doubt the source of his power has anything to do with Bruni." Elsa said.
"Bruni?" Anna asked.
"The fire spirit." Elsa said.
"Oh...right, I forgot." Anna said.
"Anyway, Bruni's power was never tied to his anger directly, unlike Dietrich." Elsa said.
"Maybe Absalom did something to him." Anna said.
"Maybe, but for now, there's no point wishing we knew why he's mad; we'll just have to wait until Sigmund sees Dietrich." Elsa said.
"I could try talking to him." Anna said.
"Do you think he'll listen to you?" Elsa asked.
"I have to try." Anna said.
"Right. Here's hoping it works." Elsa said.
"Me too..." Anna said before hugging Elsa.
"Good night Anna." She said.
"Good night Elsa. Love you." Anna said before leaving.
"Love you too..." Elsa said as Anna went to see Kristoff in their own room, and to fill him in on what was said and done.
In the morning, Dietrich sat up and recalled his fight with the group...especially Elsa. There were rumors about Arendelle having a queen who once froze her entire kingdom years ago, and based on the type of magic she used, her...ethereal appearance, and how much raw power she possessed, she must have been that very same queen. The memories of their skirmish, even the smallest most seemingly-insignificant ones came flooding back to him ...
From the time he used his infamous fire breath to incinerate her, only to have his effort stopped by an ice wall that was strong enough to withstand fire that could melt stones, to the time he tried using his fire whips, and she managed to deflect them...despite the fact that they could burn through stones with a single lash, to the time he tried to strangle Elsa...only for Anna to knock him unconscious. He barely had the time to register who could come up from behind him...but Kristoff was given the most serious thrashing among all of them, and Anna was relatively unharmed. He even caught a glimpse of her auburn hair
Who were these people?! How did they defeat the infamous Red Wolf? How were even the non-magical pair unharmed by his flames?
Next thing he knew, the door to the dungeon was opened, and Anna approached his cell.
"Dietrich? Are you awake?" Anna asked, but Dietrich remained silent. "You know, something occurred to me last night: You're part of a group of people, but you came after us alone, do you even like working with them?" With that, Dietrich deflated, but remained silent. "How old are you?"
"19..." Dietrich whispered.
"I wasn't much younger when I went on my first serious adventure, but then I wasn't being taken advantage of by a group of people I shouldn't have been with. Afterall, either they abandoned you, or you abandoned them, which means you don't belong with them either way, so please...give us a chance. Whatever is bothering you, we can help...and you can help us." Anna said.
"I do hate Absalom for what he turned me into, but that doesn't mean I stopped hating any of you; it just means I have more people to hate..." Dietrich breathed out...and Anna walked away disturbed and joined the others in Sigmund's war room.
"He threatened you?" Kristoff asked.
"Technically he just made it clear he still hates us." Anna said, and Sigmund sighed as he looked out the window with his hands behind his back.
"Well...what are we going to do with him?" Kristoff asked.
"Could he have wanted you to capture him and acquire information about us?" Sigmund asked.
"No, he made it very clear that he wanted us dead...and probably still does." Anna asked, and Sigmund took a moment to think.
"Then we should get information out of him instead." He said.
"How can we get him to cooperate? He wants us dead, especially you." Anna said.
"I'm used to people trying to kill me for one thing, for another, this can help my people in the long run. Now, aside from his ability to use fire magic, what can you tell me about him?" Sigmund asked.
"You mean you really don't know him?" Anna asked.
"I have not lied to you a single time since we've met, now please answer me." Sigmund said.
"Well...we don't even have any guesses about how it works, or where his magic came from, but we do know his magic's strength is tied to his anger." Anna said.
"That's not good. Someone with that ability, who clearly has a great deal to be angry about has a nearly unstoppable amount of power to draw from. Sigmund said seriously.
"Wait, what about...what's-her-name...?" Kristoff asked.
"Adrianna? Her power has nothing to do with her anger, but she does still enjoy causing havoc. As for where they're power comes from...I have been investigating that very thing for about a month now, and I have yet to come up with any more than you have. In fact, you all have a greater chance of finding out than I do, even with all the scouts and spies at my disposal." Sigmund said.
"And Absalom himself?" Elsa asked.
"All I know about the source of his power is that he has complete control over it; he had a bounty of chances to end my life, but as you can see, he took none of them." Sigmund said.
"Well...this just leaves us with Dietrich, and how we get him to cooperate." Anna said.
"Is he still in my dungeon?" Sigmund asked.
"Yes, and he's not leaving anytime soon." Elsa said.
"How can you be so sure?" Sigmund asked.
"Because I disabled his powers." Elsa said simply, and Sigmund stared at her.
"You...disabled...his powers?" He breathed out.
"Yes. I only learned how to do so recently, but it works wonders." Elsa said, and Sigmund took a moment to think.
"Which means now is my chance to see him." He said before walking off, and the others followed him to the dungeon.
When they arrived, Dietrich was still there, bound in his ice shackles, just like before, and when the group arrived...he took one look at Sigmund and tensed up.
"You...!" Dietrich growled as he slowly stood up and approached the bars...only to be stopped by his chains.
"Dietrich of Sweden I assume?" Sigmund asked.
"Yes, come to face the echo of your sins?" Dietrich asked.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Sigmund said.
"Don't play stupid with me! My home was destroyed because of you!" Dietrich snapped.
"I am more than alittle offended by that accusation..." Sigmund said seriously.
"Only because you don't wish to be reminded of the damage you failed to prevent, is that it!?" Dietrich asked while struggling against his chains.
"I speak nothing but the truth." Sigmund said.
"You speak nothing but lies!" Dietrich snapped.
"It is Absalom who is lying to you. If you would control yourself for but a moment and hear me out." Sigmund said, and Dietrich finally calmed down. "Very good. I know little to nothing about you personally, but as for your home...I have never been to Sweden, and I do not know of any recent events that took place there, let alone any catastrophes, so expecting me to have been there to prevent something is madness. That being said, I am willing to uncover the truth of this, and on the off-chance I did cause or fail to prevent anything major, atone for it, but I will need your help."
"I will give you nothing..." Dietrich said.
"I don't think you grasp just how dire your situation is. You're in the heart of my fortress, there are guards everywhere, you're in the company of the three people who soundly defeated you, and now they have my support as well. In addition to that...I know who you are now, and are a threat to my home Were it not for Her Majesty's counsel, I would crush your neck, bury you somewhere near my home, and get on with my day, but I didn't. I'm giving you a chance to make a positive impact on the world in spite of everything." Sigmund said.
"How noble...but don't expect me to thank you." Dietrich said.
"Keep your gratitude; from this point forward you are under strictest probation, and will remain so until I decide you can be trusted. Refuse, and you can continue rotting in here until you conquer your fury." Sigmund said, and Dietrich sat down and took a moment to think.
"I accept..." He said.
"Very good." Sigmund said, and Elsa stepped forward.
"I'm going to let you go now, but I expect you to stay true to your word." She said, and then absorbed the ice Dietrich's shackles were made of. Once she did...Dietrich flexed his hands and made them catch fire, then his whole body caught fire for a few seconds, making the group recoil, and Sigmund made some pieces of stone on the distant wall levitate.
"Did it amuse you? Seeing me trapped like a mouse in a box?! You should be aware I have scorched the flesh from my enemies' bones for far less! However...Your Lordship is correct, my situation is dire, and I have been quite rash, and it lead to me getting captured in the process...but believe me, I have no intention of making that mistake twice." Dietrich said before slowly walking out.
"You're welcome." Elsa said, and Dietrich pounded on the wall as he walked out of the dungeon.
Well shucks, I guess we have a reluctant ally in our midst don't we? Anyway, just for giggles, I'm pretty sure you all figured out by now that Dietrich belongs in the Red Lantern Corp of rage thanks to his behavior, and his desire for vengeance, and the latter especially qualifies him, because the Red Lanterns LOVE revenge. Kind of ironic since the Red ones are at-odds with the Green ones, which Sigmund qualifies for just as intensely thanks to not only his mannerisms, but also his accomplishments, some of which require the ability to overcome great fear. Anyway, enough about that, I promise I won't wait an eternity for the rest one to roll out, so be sure to Rate, Review, and Share in the meantime. Stay tuned.