Hello again people, and welcome back to Frozen: Lords of Storm and Stone. Now for a chapter I've been itching to do since before I even started this story...
After Dietrich fled, Anna rushed back into the fortress, went to Sigmund's room, and knocked on his door frantically.
"Sigmund! Sigmund! Open up!" Anna yelled.
"I'm on my way...!" Sigmund groaned, and Anna anxiously waited for Sigmund to come out.
"Come on, come on, come on...!" Anna breathed out before sucking in a deep breath. Sigmund eventually door, and he was rubbing his eyes...and wearing just his pants. Anna only saw his shoulder, part of his chest, and abdomen, but that was all it took to see how lean he was. He was no where near as big as Kristoff, but that wasn't surprising; Kristoff was harvesting ice for almost two decades, and ice harvesting is pretty strenuous work.
"Do you know what time it is...?" Sigmund asked.
"I know, I know, but..." Anna trailed off.
"What?" Sigmund asked seriously.
"It's Dietrich. He's gone." Anna said, and Sigmund recoiled.
"Gone? What do you mean he's gone?" He asked..
"I mean he left the fortress." Anna said.
"Why?" Sigmund asked.
"He...didn't say..." Anna said.
"Anna?" Sigmund asked.
"Look, I got up early, I didn't know what time it was, so I went to go outside and see if it was sunrise. Then I spotted Dietrich going down the halls, so I followed him to see if he was doing the same thing, but he went for the exit. He then kept walking so I asked him where he was going, and he was all like, where does it look like I'm going? Then I told him he got off probation; he took a step in the right direction, so I wondered why he wouldn't take the other steps too. Anyway, so he told me he's not part of our group and doesn't want to be-" Sigmund cuts Anna off.
"Anna! Where did he go?" He asked.
"Well...I tried to stop him, but he just pushed me to the ground, told me not to follow me, then he just...flew off." Anna said.
"Which way did he go?" Sigmund asked.
"He went north. Past the mountains between here and the ruins we just came back from." Anna said, then Sigmund started thinking.
"Wake everyone else. I'll get dressed and we'll meet back here." He said.
"Alright." Anna said then Sigmund closed his door. Anna then rushed back to her and Kristoff's room. When she got there, Kristoff looked at her, then sat up, but Anna went straight for her closet.
"Anna? What took you so-" Anna cuts Kristoff off.
"There's no time to explain. Get your day clothes on and let's go to Sigmund's war room." She said seriously.
After they got dressed, and Elsa and Olaf came out of their room after hearing the commotion, then they went to Sigmund's war room.
"Where is Dietrich now?" Sigmund asked.
"He went out through the same passage we always use, then went north." Anna said as Sigmund looked over a map, then he looked away.
"He's going for my last fortress..." He said.
"Why?" Elsa asked.
"I don't know." Sigmund said.
"Maybe he wants to have his own fortress." Olaf said.
"Not likely." Sigmund said.
"What if he wants to come back later on?" Kristoff asked seriously, and Sigmund's eyes widened.
"We have to stop him...!" He breathed out.
"Wait, if he wanted to destroy this place...why didn't he do so already?" Elsa asked.
"He definitely has enough power to do so- Wait a minute..." Anna trailed off.
"He said nothing about destroying the valley, only me." Sigmund said.
"That, plus he knows about Elsa's magic, and with the two of you working together, Dietrich probably thinks he can't win." Anna said.
"So he went to my old fortress to either hide...or go back to Absalom..." Sigmund said.
"Well, let's go get him." Kristoff said.
"Then what? Put him in chains again?" Anna asked, and Kristoff shrugged.
"I don't know...!" He said seriously.
"I'll go get him." Elsa said.
"What?!" Kristoff asked.
"Are you kidding?" Anna asked.
"Absolutely not." Sigmund said seriously.
"I have to. We've seen how dangerous Dietrich is, and I'm the only one who can face him." Elsa said.
"Elsa...I've seen him set an entire mountain pass on fire..." Anna said seriously.
"And I've frozen all of Arendelle without even trying, plus I can disable his magic. I'll be fine." Elsa said, and Anna sighed before hugging her.
"Just be careful..." She said softly, and Elsa returned the hug while smiling.
"Like I said...I'll be fine." She breathed out before letting Anna go.
"My old fortress is right here..." Sigmund said while pointing at the map, right in the middle of a series of small mountains.
"How are you going to get there?" Kristoff asked.
"There is a path that leads into the fortress of course, but it was wise on Dietrich's part to fly there. as the map shows, it's surrounded by mountains, and I have not been monitoring it." Sigmund said.
"I'll find a way." Elsa said.
"I'll go get Sven-" Elsa cuts Kristoff off.
"No...I'll go on my own." She said.
"Huh?" Kristoff asked.
"If Dietrich can fly there, so can I." Elsa said.
"Have you tried?" Sigmund asked.
"No...but now is a good time." Elsa said, before forming her own suit of plate armor out of ice, and hovering over the ground.
"You've gotten better at making your armor after trying only once prior? Incredible." Sigmund said.
"Oh that's nothing. You should have seen her since we discovered her magic. She even said she didn't know what she could do after I mentioned how amazing her ice palace was." Anna said.
"I still need to get a feel for this..." Elsa breathed out while continuing to hover in mid-air.
"That does look fun though..." Olaf said simply, and Elsa looked at him.
"Remember I did it with you on Christmas once?" She asked.
"Oh...right...!" Olaf breathed out.
"I'll do it with you again when I get back." Elsa said before moving out the window.
"Godspeed Elsa..." Sigmund said before Elsa flew away with her speed increasing more and more as she drew away from the fortress.
As Elsa flew over the mountains, she marveled at the view itself. The entire Valley of Stone was visible, from Sigmund's fortress, to the ruins they came from, to the monastery, to the farms and houses, all of which left little to no room for imagination. There was a bounty of places yet for her and her family to look into, but that could wait...
For now, she had a mission to do; despite the distraction, and the ones that came from how many mountains were within view from her place in the sky, she continued flying over them without delay. She still had yet to be adequately versed in flying in this manner, but it was worth it for how exhilarating it was. The mountains themselves may have been numerous, but they weren't very tall either, but that was for the better since she could see Sigmund's old fortress in the distance...or what was left of it.
Towers were collapsed around it, the wall had massive holes punched into it, and even the mountain itself had suffered damage. She then flew closer to it, then noticed there was no melting or fire damage; whatever happened here, Dietrich was not responsible. She then looked inside the fortress from the outside, but there was no sign of him, so she went inside through the front door...what was left of it.
Elsa searched the hallways one by one, making sure to stay out of sight in case Dietrich was watching and planned on ambushing her...but he never did. In her search, she noticed how similar this fortress was to Sigmund's current fortress, the layout, the sconces on the walls, everything was an almost perfect match. Hall by hall, room by room, her search for Dietrich was fruitless, so she went to the top floor of the fortress.
When she got there, she entered the throne room, which was almost completely ruined. The pillars had fallen, the throne itself was in pieces, the walls and ceiling had holes in them big enough for a person to see for miles out of them. She also noticed a floor above the throne room thanks to one of the holes; maybe Sigmund's current fortress had more to it than she thought.
She then spotted a mirror, one that was as tall as she was...but there was something off about it. She could sense something strange about it, and it was effecting her magic, so she decided to investigate it. The closer she got, the more potent its effect on her became, and once she got close enough, the mirror began changing. When she focused her vision on it, she could see images forming...
There was a town in the middle of a forest, with houses, shops, and farms aplenty, as well as a small river close by. The mountains in the distance, and the partially clouded sky added to the natural ambience of the area in which the community lived. Hundreds of people were living out their lives, talking and greeting one another, and doing their respective tasks to keep the town thriving. Elsa didn't recognize the area the mirror was showing; it certainly wasn't the Valley of Stone, nor was it any province near Arendelle.
She also couldn't figure out why the mirror was showing her this, until she witnessed a little boy and girl running around a small farm.
"You're it!" The girl yelled as she tapped the boy on the shoulder and ran off.
"Hey! Get back here!" The boy yelled before chasing her.
"You'll have to catch me!" The girl yelled before changing directions just as the boy was about to grab her. He then growled before stopping and going after her, only for the girl to change direction again while laughing. The boy then kept going after her, and kept up with her, even as she kept changing directions.
The boy then caught up to the girl as she lost her breath, and groaned as the boy patted her shoulder.
"I've got you." The boy said while pointing at her.
"I got you first." The girl said.
"So?" The boy asked with a smirk.
"You...!" The girl groaned, then the boy laughed at her, before they both calmed down and wandered the farm. Eventually, they ran into a young goat, who spotted them, and the two children went to the goat who bleated the moment they got close. The girl then knelt to the goat's level, and started petting it, much to the goat's delight. The boy joined in and smiled along with the girl as they spent time with the goat.
Elsa couldn't help but smile; whoever they were, they were too adorable for their own good. Eventually, a woman spotted the pair, and she must have had the same idea based on her smile. Based on the striking resemblance to the boy, it was likely she was his mother.
"Dietrich! Come on inside. It's getting late" The woman said, and Elsa's eyes widened. She was watching a younger version of Dietrich having the time of his life the whole time How sharp of a contrast could there be?
"I'm coming Mama!" Dietrich yelled.
"See you tomorrow." The girl said.
"See you tomorrow Lisa." Dietrich said before running off...and Elsa recoiled. The girl looked remarkably similar to the Lisa back in the Valley of Stone, and it's not likely that was a coincidence. She then noticed the mirror's image shifting and swirling; another vision was coming.
The image changed to show a building on fire, and people scrambled to throw buckets of water on it, with minimal success. Young Dietrich then rushed towards the fire, and started absorbing it into his body. Elsa paid particularly close attention to the display; Dietrich wasn't just able to cause fires, but also consume them.
The people stared at him in awe...the same awe the people of Arendelle had when Elsa froze the fountain before fleeing her kingdom.
"The boy has magic..." A woman whispered.
"He stopped the fire." Another woman said and the people continued whispered among themselves.
"He saved our home..." A man said.
"He saved our home!" Another man yelled, and everyone began cheering, pumping their fists into the air, or like Lisa, just stared at Dietrich in awe.
"My son is a hero!" Dietrich's mother said before hugging her smiling son with the crowd continuing to applaud him.
"How do we know he didn't cause this fire?!" A man asked.
"He wasn't even there when the fire started. There's no way he did that." Another man said.
"That's right!" Lisa yelled.
"Besides, he's a little boy. There's no way he'd pull a stunt like that." A third man said.
"And when he grows up, his magic could be useful in fire used for, but also in defense of this town." A fourth man said.
"I'm not so sure..." The man who accused Dietrich trailed off, and Dietrich continued bathing in the praise of his fellow townsfolk.
The mirror's image then changed to being one of a more grown-up Dietrich preparing a bag full of items...and a grown-up Lisa approached him from behind.
"Dietrich?" She asked, then Dietrich smiled before turning towards her.
"Here to see me off?" Dietrich asked casually.
"Yes actually, and to give you this." Lisa said before handing him a small wheel of cheese.
"I can taste it already." Dietrich said softly before taking the wheel.
"I'll miss you." Lisa said softly.
"Lisa...I'm just going to help the lumberjacks. I'll be back in a few hours at the most." Dietrich said.
"Still..." Lisa breathed out before Dietrich pulled her into a hug.
"I'll miss you too." Dietrich whispered before Lisa smiled and returned the hug. When he finally let go, Dietrich grabbed his bag and left the village without turning back. Lisa meanwhile kept her eyes on Dietrich until he was out of sight, then sighed deeply.
Elsa couldn't keep her thoughts from racing; the Dietrich she saw in the mirror was so radically different from the hateful destroyer she's been exposed to recently. How could such a transparently innocent and benevolent child grow up to be a reasonably successful man with Lisa clearly having a place in his heart, then become what he is today? She then recalled how Dietrich and Lisa both said that their home was destroyed by a storm...but there was clearly a piece missing, so Elsa continued watching.
The mirror then showed Dietrich in the woods, working alongside some lumberjacks. Multiple flashes showing how long and strenuous their work was, from Dietrich helping a group of men move a fallen tree, to chopping and sawing through the wood, to loading it onto carts. When it was done and over with, Dietrich bid farewell to the lumberjacks, and made a trek back home...only for his excitement at returning home, to turn into horror.
A storm was in the distance, right where Dietrich's hometown was...and it was showing no mercy.
"Oh no..." Elsa breathed out, then she saw Dietrich rush down the road, despite the violent winds pushing him back. He eventually took cover behind a tree to catch his breath, composed himself, then cut through the woods to get to his hometown just as the storm's power picked up. Each moment his anxiety grew; the storm was incredibly turbulent, and Dietrich was miles from the epicenter.
When the storm finally and suddenly died down, Dietrich rushed down the road to his hometown. Despite how far he was, he wasn't going to slow down for anything except for how much stamina he had. Even then, he didn't stop any longer than he had to before he continued charging down the road. The entire time, his heart and lungs worked as hard as they could to fuel his approach, and he hoped and wished with all his being that not too much harm was done...but it was for nothing.
When he finally reached his home...it was all in ruins. Every house was smashed and scattered across the area, the trees were torn asunder and flung in every direction, even countless toys and books were littering the ground. To make things worse, plenty of people were pinned under rubble, and Dietrich in his desperation, tried to pry the rubble off of them, but everyone he uncovered wasn't moving.
He even found a young goat under some rubble, and it wasn't moving either...as Dietrich found out as he knelt down to its level.
"But...but how...? How did this...? I came back...I came back...I CAME BACK!" Dietrich yelled as tears poured down his face. He then held the goat's body to his torso and caressed it while trembling with intense grief. Elsa couldn't help but tremble at the sight; it was no wonder Dietrich wanted nothing to do with the goats back in the Valley of Stone.
Eventually, none other than Adrianna approached Dietrich from behind, but he was too wrapped up in his misery to react to her.
"My name is Adrianna...and I know your pain all too well. This storm is not the first one to ravage part of this country, nor was it an accident. Great magic is at work here, and there is actually someone who claims to be trying to save people from these storms, Sigmund, the Lord of Stone. The people see him as a savior and a hero...but it's a facade. He may come off that way, but in the end, he serves no one but himself. It is he who failed to save your home, while he baths in the people's love. Join me...and together, we will give him the justice he is owed." Adrianna said, and Dietrich's sighs turned into growls before he slammed his burning fist into the ground while looking ahead of him.
"Someone must pay...!" Dietrich exclaimed, then his whole body caught fire as Adrianna smiled.
The mirror then stopped showing its story, and Elsa backed away while trembling.
"I can't believe it..." She whispered...then she heard a voice she knew all too well behind her.
"Tragic...isn't it?" Dietrich asked, Elsa then turned around, and there he was.
"Dietrich..." Elsa breathed out.
"I am surprised you would tail me so casually, since I nearly killed you and your family the first time we met." Dietrich breathed out.
"I'm here because I need to talk to you." Elsa said.
"What is there to talk about? You've already seen everything you have to!" Dietrich said.
"But that doesn't explain how you...changed." Elsa said, and Dietrich stood there glaring at her.
"You cannot possibly imagine. What could a pampered royal who's adored by her entire kingdom, a kingdom which still stands firm possibly understand what it means to lose everything that's worth holding onto?!" He asked.
"I have seen and felt loss before, but neither me, nor Anna, or anyone else we know let's it drag us down." Elsa said seriously.
"You simply forget that whom you lost...and you dishonor their very meaning. I will make no such mistake." Dietrich said.
"We had nothing to do with that storm, and neither did Sigmund. Why won't you understand that?" Elsa said.
"He may not have caused it, but he failed to save them, when he could have easily done so." Dietrich said.
"You don't know that!" Elsa said seriously.
"And what do you know?! I lost more than my parents, and I caused no such misery with my friends and family. I was faultless, and that storm took everything from me!" Dietrich exclaimed.
"I know..." Elsa said.
"You have seen with you own eyes the depths of my fall. When I was little, I had everything one could ever wish for, and once that storm hit, all that joy, all the hope, all that love, was immediately replaced...with hate." Dietrich said as his hand caught fire.
"Dietrich, we don't hold onto what we lost because we don't cling onto the pain of the past. Your anger is caused by that very thing, and it's making a monster out of you. You have to let it go." Elsa said, and Dietrich's eyes sharpened.
"I will never let it go!" He yelled, then he conjured a fire whip, whirled it over his head, then lashed at Elsa. She countered with a small but intense burst of frost that actually weakened the whip, but didn't stop it. Elsa narrowly avoided it at the last moment, and Dietrich lashed at Elsa without stopping or holding back. She was now in the open with Dietrich's whip covering half of the room with each strike.
He lashed from one side, then immediately lashed to the other, tried several diagonal lashes in a pattern, then wound up to lash from a further distance, and even flicked his whip at Elsa in a straight line. Each strike was narrowly avoided like the first strike, or Elsa blocked with another burst of frost. Unlike her first few attempts in which she had to recover from the shock of being caught off-guard, Elsa was now countering Dietrich's lashes with frost that was concentrated enough to keep even Dietrich's unnaturally potent flames at bay.
Dietrich eventually drew his whips into a pair of fireballs, joined them into one, then hurled it at Elsa who conjured a wall of ice and snow...the same she used against Sigmund. Dietrich continued his assault by hurling more fireballs overhand and underhand, with some fireballs splitting into multiple, or remaining whole. Elsa continued to pour her magic into the wall to repair it after each of Dietrich's fireballs caused an explosion violent enough to shake the ground.
As a byproduct of their struggle, the fire turned the ice wall into mist and eventually, the entire room was obscured.
"Where did he go...?" Elsa whispered as she looked around...then she heard rapid footsteps and Dietrich came out of the mist, charging and shouting at her with his fists on fire. He then threw a flurry of punches at Elsa, and she retreated from her furious opponent, or just dodged Dietrich's wild strikes. She remembered that Sigmund fought opponents just like this, and could now see why he looks down on being angry in battle: it made you predictable.
She eventually froze her hands and formed scale armor over her torso, then gripped Dietrich's forearms, and he struggled against her. His forearms started steaming as a result of his fire melting Elsa's ice...but then he looked at his forearms frantically as the steam stopped, and his forearms were being iced over. He then wrenched his forearms out of Elsa's grip, headbashed her, then kicked her in the abdomen hard enough to make her roll along the ground.
"I'm not falling for that again..!" Dietrich growled before charging up a fireball over his head, then trying to slam it into Elsa, but she countered with a massive burst of frost that cancelled out the large but weakened fireball. Dietrich then covered his face as some leftover frost washed over him, then he looked back at Elsa who was standing up. When she finally did, she was more determined then before, as the look on her face showed.
Dietrich then looked at the cracked scale armor she wore which was now repairing itself, and sucked in a deep breath.
Elsa then unleashed a stream of frost from both hands as Dietrich spewed fire from his mouth, and neither of them gained any ground. Even with Dietrich's frustration bolstering his power, and Elsa recovering from a brutal kick to her abdomen, Dietrich was unable to push Elsa back, let alone overpower her. The effect she had on his magic was long gone as well...so this was a case of two equal forces pushing against one another.
Dietrich then added fire from his hands to the mix, and Elsa struggled to push the fire back, and eventually struck Dietrich himself with another burst just as Dietrich prepared for another clash. Dietrich then shouted to the ceiling, set his whole body on fire, and Elsa wound up covering herself in a dense cloud of frost and a shell of ice. Her preparation was immediately justified as Dietrich unleashed a barrage of fireballs from his entire body that flew around him before crashing into Elsa's defense one at a time.
Elsa struggled to keep the fireballs from breaking her defenses by pouring as much power as she could into them, but it didn't help. Dietrich broke through and knocked her down once again, and despite his difficulty breathing he was still very much able to fight. Elsa simply sat there watching him, and then laid there catching her own breath as the mist enveloping the room continued obscuring their vision.
Elsa then cleared the mist with a wave of her hand, and Dietrich looked around to see what happened, then Elsa channeled the mist into her hand.
"Why do you want to keep fighting me?" Elsa asked.
"A better question is why do you keep hounding me." Dietrich said.
"This isn't right Dietrich." Elsa said seriously.
"Who are you to tell me what isn't right!?" Dietrich snapped before shooting a fireball at Elsa, and she put up an ice wall that withstood the impact without trouble. He then threw a fireball at the side, which was weaker then the center, and when it exploded, Elsa was knocked down once again. She barely had enough time to compose herself before Dietrich charged at her.
When he reached her, she was on her feet, only to be tackled to the ground once again. Dietrich then shouted at the top of his lungs as he charged up another fireball over his head, and brought it down on a bewildered Elsa. She then pressed her hand into the ground, and a small pillar of ice shot upwards from the side, and Dietrich's fireball misfired as he was launched back from Elsa, while spitting up from the impact.
He then laid on the ground reeling from the impact, and struggling to catch his breath, and Elsa stood up once again while looking Dietrich over. He laid clutching her abdomen, coughing violently, and gasping for air as Elsa looked at the pillar she struck him with. She had used a sharpened pillar of ice against Sigmund, but this time she was fighting someone who wasn't wearing plate armor, and was now intentionally trying to keep herself from killing Dietrich. Looking at the miserable state he was in at the moment was putting paid to her thoughts however.
"If you keep this up, you're going to get hurt even worse." Elsa said, and Dietrich continued laying there gasping and snarling. He then sat up halfway, continuing to gasp for air...then throwing a fireball at Elsa that got bigger as it flew through the air. Elsa narrowly avoided it...and just in time; once it hit the wall behind her, it blasted the entire section of the fortress out, and the stones above it came crumbling down.
Dietrich then finally rose to his feet, and charged at Elsa, who turned to see him at just the right time, then she froze the ground he was running on, then he slipped a fell before Elsa side-stepped him. Dietrich then fell out of the hole he made, then used his fire to fly back into the fortress, then threw another fireball at Elsa while charging at her. Elsa then flew up the floor above, then Dietrich followed her up to the top floor, then stared at her. The two then stood there staring at each other, and Dietrich was clearly more tired than Elsa given how heavily he was breathing. Regardless, he still had plenty of fight left in him, and Elsa herself wasn't worse for wear either.
"I guess I was mistaken. I assumed that in spite of your unwillingness to end lives, that you would be an easy target." Dietrich said.
"Dietrich, this war is Absalom's, and you have to know he's behind these storms somehow." Elsa said.
"And you have to know that he can't do that. Didn't Sigmund tell you better? He's been looking into Absalom's doings for who-knows-how-long afterall." Dietrich said.
"Then why are you fighting us!? Don't you want this to end?" Elsa asked seriously, and Dietrich glared at Elsa.
"Tell me...do you ever forget things? Well I don't...I remember everything I lost, everyone I loved. Every face of every person I held dear, every word they said to me and each other, every time I petted those goats. And now...I'll never experience it again..." Dietrich said.
"What...?" Elsa whispered.
"It used to give my life meaning, now it does nothing but mock me with its absence. It's vile, and I'm forced to relive it every day!" Dietrich growled.
"I can't believe-" Dietrich cuts Elsa off.
"And what's worse, is that all of you kept me prisoner in my mortal enemy's home! Do you know how humiliating that is?!" Dietrich asked.
"You attacked us first, and it was clear you couldn't be trusted. I had no choice." Elsa said.
"Neither do I..." Dietrich trailed off before he conjured another fire whip and lashed at Elsa. Once again, she countered each lash with a burst of frost...but Dietrich changed his pattern, and went for what was left of the floor. Elsa conjured an ice bridge between where she was, and another part of the floor, as it collapsed beneath her, and she had just enough time to get to safety before her bridge collapsed.
She then picked herself up, then Dietrich breathed more fire her way, and she had yet another case where she had to use frost to keep it from overwhelming her. Eventually, she succeeded, and even pushed Dietrich's fire back at him, which launched him towards the wall, but he landed just in front of it. Elsa then rushed over to him as he stood up, then side-stepped a punch from Dietrich, then wrapped one arm around Dietrich's throat and pulled him back to the ground.
"Enough Dietrich!" Elsa said seriously, then Dietrich elbowed her in the side, then flipped her over his head. He then tried to slam a fireball into her, but Elsa rolled away...and the fireball doesn't explode. Dietrich then looks at his burning hand and sighed.
"Damn...!" He growled, before Elsa stood up and Dietrich tried to punch her, but Elsa dodged his wild and exhausted strike, but tackling him into the wall.
"Stop this! It doesn't have to end in death!" Elsa yelled, then Dietrich shoved her back.
"Shut up...! Just shut up!" Dietrich snarled before tackling Elsa over the edge to the floor below. Elsa then flipped them over at the last moment, and Dietrich landed on his back, and cushioned Elsa's fall. Once again, he had the wind knocked out of his lungs, and this time, he wasn't going to continued fighting.
Elsa then sat up and looked Dietrich over...and he looked defeated, not just in their fight, but as a person. Breathing was a struggle thanks to the fall, but it was clear he no longer had the will to fight. The memories of his loss clearly fueled his rage and made him stronger, but it also drove him to push himself to his limit. Now it was finally catching up with him, and Elsa sighed in response.
She then stood up and backed away from him before looking away.
"I'm sorry..." She breathed out.
"Sorry...? You only lost your parents, and they wronged you deeply. You have no right to be sorry." Dietrich breathed out.
"No, they were also faultless. They didn't understand what they should have done, and did what they could. I don't blame them for anything." Elsa said.
"They paid for their sins with their lives; they failed you...just as Sigmund failed me, and countless others...and he will suffer for it." Dietrich said.
"I could hold my parents' failure against them too-" Dietrich cuts Elsa off.
"Yet you judge me?" He asked.
"I'm no more guilty! I kept myself away from Anna for years on end, even when she begged me not to." Elsa said.
"Stop comparing your plight to my own...! The two cannot be compared." Dietrich said before struggling to stand up.
"They don't have to be. I'm trying to tell you that something else can come from loss. It doesn't have to end like this." Elsa said seriously, and Dietrich shook his head.
"No...it very much does, and it will. I cannot forget what happened...nor will I forgive it." He breathed out.
"Dietrich..." Elsa whispered.
"Stop...saying...my name!" Dietrich yelled before charging at Elsa, only for her to move aside, and Dietrich fell out of the fortress through the wall that was blown apart earlier. Elsa then watched him fall to the ground hundreds of feet below, only for Dietrich to use his fire to stop his fall just before he hit the ground. Elsa then watched Dietrich struggle to stand up, then after a pause, Dietrich flew off into the distance as Elsa continued watching.
She flew back to Sigmund's fortress, without bothering to admire the view, and came in through the same balcony she exited through.
"Elsa's back!" Olaf yelled, then Anna, Kristoff, and Sigmund came into the war room.
"Elsa! Are you alright?" Anna asked before looking Elsa over.
"I'm fine..." She breathed out.
"You don't sound fine." Anna said.
"It's...I'm not hurt too badly, but..." Elsa trailed off.
"What about Dietrich?" Sigmund asked, then Elsa looked at him, before looking away.
"He's...not coming back." She said.
"Where is he now?" Anna asked.
"After our fight, he-" Anna cuts Elsa off.
"You fought him!? She asked seriously.
"Anna, please let me finish." Elsa said.
"Sorry..." Anna said.
"Anyway, after we fought, he continued flying north." Elsa said, and Sigmund sighed.
"I was afraid you'd say that..." He said.
"What do we do now?" Kristoff asked.
"Nothing." Sigmund said.
"Nothing?" Anna asked.
"There's nothing we can do aside from get ready for what's next. Dietrich is no doubt too weak to be a threat to anyone now...but that doesn't mean he won't be in the future." Sigmund said.
"I also discovered why he is the way he is." Elsa said.
"He told you?" Kristoff asked.
"No...I saw it." Elsa said.
"What? How?" Anna asked.
"There was...some kind of mirror..." Elsa trailed off, then Sigmund's eyes widened.
"The Mirror of Recollection...I had forgotten that even existed." He said.
"What's that?" Anna asked.
"The mirror is able to show the past, so it's highly likely that Elsa saw Dietrich's memories." Sigmund said.
"I did; Dietrich confirmed it shortly before our fight." Elsa said.
"And what did you see?" Anna asked.
"Anna...he was telling the truth. He really did lose his home to a storm." Elsa said seriously, and Anna recoiled.
"What...?" She breathed out.
"He didn't just lose his parents either...he lost everything. His friends, his neighbors, even a goat he was fond of. To make things worse...he relives it every day." Elsa said.
"That's terrible...!" Anna said.
"But...why does he hold that against us?" Kristoff asked.
"He blames Sigmund for not being there to stop it, and believes we're just as guilty for being here." Elsa said.
"That's not even a little fair." Anna said.
"I told him that before..." Elsa said.
"What else did you see?" Kristoff asked.
"Well...apparently Adrianna found him after the storm." Elsa said.
"That dreadful woman has likely been feeding him lies about what happened, and why ever since that day." Sigmund said.
"Why?" Anna asked.
"Adrianna has always been envious of those around her...and now she's finally shown how far she's willing to sink." Sigmund said before going to his throne room, with the others following him.
"By driving someone to hating you?" Elsa asked.
"And ruining their life in the process?" Kristoff asked.
"Apparently so." Sigmund said before sitting down.
"Do you think Dietrich could ever let this go?" Anna asked.
"No...I know his type. He lives for revenge." Sigmund said seriously.
"But why would he killed those outlaws?" Anna asked.
"Who knows? He could hate them as much as he hates me, or he has a history with them we don't know about." Sigmund said.
"O.k..." Anna asked.
"I hate to bring this up but...Dietrich also saw quite a few things here in the valley, so...now Absalom is going to know about it before long." Kristoff said.
"Then it's settled...Dietrich is now an enemy of the Valley of Stone." Sigmund said.
"What?!" Anna exclaimed.
"He's shown that he's too far gone, and it's not likely he's going to be redeemed anytime soon." Sigmund said.
"Sigmund...the rock trolls once told me that people make bad choices when they're mad, scared or stressed, and Dietrich is likely all three of those things." Anna said, then Sigmund looked at her.
"That changes nothing; he is too much of a threat." Sigmund said.
"Please...reconsider. He hasn't harmed anyone innocent. He's even saved my sister, this valley." Elsa said.
"Elsa...he almost killed you twice." He said seriously, then Elsa sighed.
"I know..." She breathed out.
"Well, until Dietrich makes his next move, there's nothing we can do but prepare, so that's what the Valley of Stone will do." Sigmund said.
See why I wanted to write that fight between Elsa and Dietrich? Ice vs fire, love vs wrath, strength vs stamina, quality vs quantity, an unstoppable force, vs an immovable object, the list of opposing forces goes on and on. I couldn't do everything I wanted to do, but this story is far from over. That being said, the chapters are coming sooner like I promised, so be sure to Rate, Review, and Share while the rest comes your way. Stay tuned.