Bolvar: Sapphire, no.
Sapphire: Sapphire, yes.
No one knew Icecrown Citadel as well as Sapphire did. After skating with Marwyn, Sapphire's mood had improved. The Barrens had intimidated Sapphire. Drustvar and Stormwind had both stressed her out. Though the Moonglade and the Plaguelands comforted Sapphire for different reasons, neither compared to Icecrown. The pure white granite of Stormwind's walls and the boughs of Moonglade's hardwood trees paled in comparison to Icecrown Glacier and the Citadel.
Sapphire was back home. While Icecrown Citadel was slightly neglected, it still felt comforting. Sulking would not help Sapphire. Exploring the Citadel had always been her favorite past time.
The Halls of Reflection were in the thickest part of the Citadel, deep in its heart. Sapphire had not yet been up to the upper parts of the Citadel, where the most powerful of the Scourge operated. The Plagueworks, Frostwing Halls, and the Crimson Halls made up the furthest parts of the Citadel. Sapphire used to play with little frostwyrm whelpings in the Frostwing Halls. Sapphire had never been allowed to enter the other two areas without Marwyn or Falric present. The toxic chemicals in the Plagueworks would strip her to the bone if she had ever fallen in by accident. As for the Crimson Halls, the bloodthirsty San'layn were always adoring of young, small Sapphire. Yet they were always hungry. Without a guard, Sapphire would have been a drained husk in minutes.
Now, Sapphire was older. She doubted she would slip into a cauldron of plague. No San'layn could prey on her without a fight.
So Sapphire attempted to teleport up to the higher reaches at the teleportation pad just outside the Halls of Reflection, yet its runes refused to react. Sapphire tapped them with her fingers and even kicked them with her small feet, yet they did nothing. As she did this, Falric wandered by.
"Falric! Why isn't this pad working?" Sapphire asked, confused.
Falric did not even look at her. "Upper Spire is off limits. The Master has shut down all teleportation runes up to it."
Sapphire scowled. "Why?"
Now the deathknight grunted before insolently tilting his head toward her. "The Master ordered it off limits. I know you are a little spoiled bastard, but surely you remember that questioning the Lich King's orders is forbidden."
"Can I still climb the Spire up to the Frostwing Halls? I just wanted to pet some whelps."
"What part of off limits is confusing you?"
Sapphire stamped her foot. "Fine! I'll just go to the Pit of Saron. Or is that off limits too?"
"No, I guess not. But-"
"I'll just go there for some fresh air!"
The deathknight grumbled, but he did not move to stop her.
He didn't know the new Sapphire. Falric did not expect her to try and trick him. Before, she would not have had the spine to. Now, she did not fear him as much. And something told her she needed to go up to the Upper Reaches. So, Sapphire left Falric toward the direction of the Pit of Saron. But as soon as she was out of his sight, Sapphire ran off into a roundabout way toward the Spire. Without the transportation runes powered, this was the only way anyone could travel up and down the Citadel.
Though slick and neglected, the Spire was easy enough to climb. Stairs were carved along it in a winding curve, wrapping around the thick pillar of ice.
The Upper Reaches of the Citadel was most developed area. Three wings occupied this area, connected to the Spire itself with metal walkways and reinforcing chains. The higher Sapphire went, the more neglected the Citadel looked. Ice accumulated down below, but not nearly as much as Sapphire now saw. Entire swathes of the Citadel's infrastructure were coated in thick white ice. Icicles clung to all surfaces. None of them were smaller than Sapphire and hung precariously above her. If one were to fall, even the smallest could kill her.
Sapphire began to grow uneasy, yet she continued until she reached the Upper Reach's main walkway. She could now see all the wings' entrances. Frostwing Halls, the Plagueworks, and the Crimson Halls.
All these halls were blocked off with thick deep blue ice. Why were they blocked off like that? Sapphire went over to the ice covering the entrance of the Plagueworks. This was not natural accumulation. Someone had created these ice walls. Years of living amongst undead had taught Sapphire things. The way the ice seemed like a wave of shimmering layers, this looked like it had been made by a lich or deathknight.
There was a crackle of ice from behind Sapphire. She looked behind her, confused. Had a piece or two fallen off? That sometimes happened. It had not sounded like a large piece. Just a rock sized chunk perhaps.
Some of the encrusted chains clattered above her. There was no wind. The hairs on the back of her neck rose. The left side of her chest started to throb painfully. Heartbeats thundered in Sapphire's ears. She wanted to rush down back to the safety of the Halls of Reflection, but she couldn't move.
Something shone near some pieces of ice. It called to her.
Leave this place now!
Sapphire ignored the voice and went toward the bright object. Shadows flickered just out of view. Suddenly some transparent people floated into view. Sapphire was taken aback.
Suddenly she was surrounded by a crowd of armored soldiers, wispy and transparent like they were made of mist. They were all looking at her.
"Scourge filth!" One soldier yelled out, rushing at Sapphire with a sword drawn. Panicked, Sapphire recoiled backwards. The sword barely missed her and hit a chunk of ice. The soldier did not stop there to continue, and the others behind him were starting to wield their own weapons.
She had no weapons to fight back and felt defenseless. These ghosts could hurt her, but if she tried to attack them any attacks would go right through them. Why would Bolvar just let an undead attack her like that? Did he tell them to do that? She fled from her assailants, but there were very few places to flee to. All of the teleportation runes were inactive. The ghosts blocked the Spire, the only other way down.
Before she could think of a plan, she again saw a gleaming glow. This was from a different place, so Sapphire quickly ran other to it.
There, sitting abandoned on some ice, was a piece of Frostmourne. It was a huge piece, bigger than her hand. Falric had mentioned the piece in her was tiny, just a sliver of the great sword.
Something about it called to Sapphire. She needed the shard. The thought of just leaving it here, amongst the ghosts was incomprehensible. Sapphire immediately picked it up, only for it to slice open her hand. Blood coated the shard and the runes on it glowed even brighter than before.
The other glow must have been another shard. Why were they up here? Were all the pieces just scattered around the Citadel like the abandoned toys of a child? She needed all of them.
A ghost appeared in front of Sapphire as she attempted to look for the other one. A dwarf, heavily armored and wielding a hammer, glared at Sapphire with hatred. She was surrounded by ghosts.
"Did that bastard of a prince send you, beast?" The dwarf roared.
Sapphire trembled, terrified.
Suddenly a shadow passed over Sapphire and she was shoved the side. The stench of embalming fluid and old flesh overwhelmed her. She looked up.
A hulking abomination, a mass of spongy flesh stitched together, roared and swung a large cleaver at the horde of ghosts. Now their attention focused on them. Sapphire now got to her feet, and looked for the shard, but was distracted by a much shorter figure. An undead woman came striding forward, dressed in a lab coat and adorned with all matter of metallic instruments.
"I suggest we go back to the Plagueworks before they tear that abomination to shreds," She said.
"Who are you?" Sapphire asked, concerned, but followed the woman. She saw that somehow the walls of ice around the Plagueworks entrance had been removed. A few undead equally dressed as the woman ushered them in.
"Doctor Shackleblood! And you are Sapphire Menethil. Fascinating."
As soon as they entered the main entrance, ice immediately started to grow back to form an impenetrable wall. Sapphire stared up at it in confusion.
"Oh, yeah the Lich King keeps those up to prevent the hordes of specters from bothering us."
Sapphire looked back at the woman, more questions flooding her brain. But the undead all seemed oblivious to her concerns and just as quickly as they had appeared to rescue her, they started to go back to their duties.
The Plagueworks looked much the same as it always had. Shelves of alchemical ingredients clustered on the walls. Delicate glassware stood on cluttered benches. Liquids boiled and fizzed in every container. Great vats of glowing green ooze loomed overhead and dripped into pools. Abominations, similar to the one that had attacked the ghosts, lay on tables. Legs, arms, and organs were strewn about the bodies, waiting to be attached with stitching and acidic adhesives.
Doctor Shackleblood started to go off to one of the empty bench. Sapphire ran off to follow her.
"Wait, I don't understand! What is happening? The Lich King sent those ghosts to attack me!"
The undead woman had reached out to restart whatever project she had been on before, but she let out a burst of laughter.
"Foolish child, what are you talking about?"
Child. Sapphire let out a hiss. She was being talked down to again. Everyone thought she was just a stupid kid and never bothered explaining anything.
"I'm not a child! And I demand answers!" She snarled. The undead all glanced at her in surprise. Doctor Shackleblood turned back to face the girl with obvious concern.
Sapphire continued sharply. "The Lich King controls all undead! The undead attacked me. Why would he send you to rescue me when he is the one who attacked me?"
Now the undead grew a bit more serious. "The Lich King did not send those undead to attack you. He has no control over them. In fact, I'm able to tell you this damaging truth strictly because of just how little control the Lich King has over any of us."
Silence followed this damning statement. Despite the ever present cold in the entire Citadel, a chill ran down Sapphire's spine. The Lich King was having trouble controlling the undead? That couldn't be. He was the dominating presence of the Scourge. An undead couldn't even move without his permission. Even if the body was not Arthas anymore, the entity itself should still have the same power it always had. How had this happened?
The undead woman sensed Sapphire's overwhelming confusion and gently led her to a chair.
"I'll get you some tea. We still have some around here somewhere. At that point I'm sure the Captains Marwyn and Falric will have briefly subdued the specters enough for you to descend back down."
"No."
The woman was taken aback by Sapphire's response, but Sapphire wasn't done yet. She was tired of being kept in the dark.
"I need to know the full picture. I'm going up to the Frozen Throne. I demand answers!"
"The Lich King said-"
Sapphire's icy glare silenced whatever the woman had intended to say.
"You said yourself he has little control over anything. That includes me."