The Lost Legend
"I must say, I'm impressed with you two," Hans said casually as he dragged Anna along by the neck under his arms. "You killed two of my best men and slaughtered all the rest. You two are the deadliest killers I have ever come across. If we hadn't been on opposite sides of this thing, I would have offered you a job opportunity."
"Save your breath. We're not interested in becoming cold-blooded contract killers," Anna hissed as she squirmed under Hans's grip.
"Oh, so that was someone else who picked up a minigun and gunned down all of my men then was it?" Hans chuckled dismissively. "Now that was cold-blooded."
"That's different!" Elsa said firmly. "You and your men have tried to kill us at every turn."
"And in return, you killed them," Hans replied easily. "Kill or be killed, is that it? We can argue about morality all day, but neither of you can deny that you aren't efficient and ruthless murderers.
Anna shifted under Hans's grip, causing him to squeeze tighter. "Whatever you say Hans Doucheguard, it doesn't matter. We're not the same. We don't do it for money."
"No, no, but you do it for the glory! For the thrill!" Hans said. "Don't kid yourselves, I know everything about you two. Back-alley fist fights with bootleggers, gunfights with pirates in the jungle, derailing an Russian train filled with enough arms to start a revolution just to find two missing Faberge eggs? You can say whatever you want that will help you sleep at night, but don't deny that wherever you two have been, death and destruction have followed. I mean, honestly, have you ever stopped to think about just how many lives you've taken?"
Elsa glanced backwards at Anna, and they shared a long look of tacit understanding. He was right, of course, because ever since the start of their treasure hunting careers they had both killed as necessary whenever push came to shove. Though they tried to avoid it, some of the cutthroats, pirates, criminals, or mercenaries they fought didn't always give them that option. Elsa and Anna had always justified their actions as self-defense and that they never harmed innocents. Further still, they had known from the very beginning that they couldn't have a conscience in the adventuring game.
"Ah… there it is," Hans grinned. "You understand, I know you do. Because I'm the same, I have a lot more in common with you two than you might think."
"We are nothing, like you Hans," Elsa said.
Hans smiled. "You're wrong. After my parents died, my brothers began squabbling and bickering with one another over how they would split up their empire. Of course, they all wanted the biggest share of it to themselves since they had never worked for anything a day in their lives. So, while they fought against each other over the inheritance, I had bigger ambitions. I wanted to make a name for myself and stand apart on my own. I struggled, and I fought, and when I return to the world with the lost holy grail and the sword of legend, I'll have made it," he chuckled to himself after he completed his monologue. "You see? Glory and the thrill of adventure, the same as yourselves."
"That's all this is to you?" Anna asked. "Just a way for you to feel like a big shot?"
"Yes," Hans replied easily. "I sure as hell don't need the money, I want the prestige. Why do you want it?"
"To finish what our parents started," Anna said.
"Please," Hans scoffed. "As if what they were doing was any better that what I'm trying to accomplish."
"Don't talk about them!" Elsa turned and regarded Hans with hatred in her eyes. "You don't get to talk about them."
"Or what?" Hans sneered, tapping Anna's head repeatedly with the barrel of the pistol as he looked at Elsa challengingly.
Anna made eye contact with Elsa, and shook her head minutely to calm her down. Elsa bristled, then turned forwards again.
"Truth is, you guys and your parents, Weselton and I, we're all cut from the same cloth," Hans said. "So just stop pretending, huh?"
He showed them through to the next chamber, a similar one to the last though it was smaller and the far end was exposed to the air. The latter half of the chamber they were in overlooked the northern bay of the island. A singular sarcophagus stood in the center, smashed open and baring its contents for all to see. A skeleton lay inside, and next to the sarcophagus stood Weselton, who was closely regarding a simple brass cup. Laying on top of the remains of the sarcophagus, was a pair of swords, though one gleamed more brightly than the other.
Weselton looked up as they approached, then narrowed his eyes in confusion and anger when he spotted Elsa and Anna being led in by Hans. "What is the meaning of this?" he snarled as he set the cup down and turned towards the sisters as they entered. "You were supposed to kill them, not give them a bloody guided tour!"
Hans walked up behind Elsa with Anna in tow and jabbed her in the back with the barrel of the pistol, forcing her away from the sarcophagus. Next, he released Anna from his grip by shoving her roughly to the ground at Elsa's feet.
"Stand back," Hans warned as he kept his gun leveled at the pair.
Elsa bent down to assist Anna, glaring hatefully at Hans as she helped her to her feet. Meanwhile, Anna had barely even noticed the exchange, given that she was currently arrested by the sight of the ancient relics before her.
"Is… is that what I think it is?" Anna gulped and rubbed her eyes, hardly believing what she was seeing.
"Why are they here?!" Weselton stepped up to Hans and jabbed an angry finger in their direction. "Why haven't you killed them yet?!"
Hans turned towards the smaller man. "I've had a change of heart. These two certainly deserve the reputation they have earned, and after everything they've been through, they should at least be able to see what they have worked so hard for. They deserve that much at least."
"Are you mad?!" Weselton exclaimed. "You said you were going to finish them! Now kill them, and let's be done with this! I have achieved the impossible and I will not allow these two to live a second longer, just for you to showboat!"
A dark look passed over Hans's face as he stepped up to Weselton and towered over him. "You?" he repeated venomously.
"You don't deserve it," Elsa said firmly.
Both Hans and Weselton looked up at her at the same time, and the shadow over Hans's face disappeared as it morphed into a look of amusement. Weselton on the other hand scowled and struck Elsa across the face with the back of his hand.
The blow was hard, much fiercer than Elsa had thought possible given Weselton's small stature and age.
"Be quiet, girl!" Weselton snapped then sneered at Elsa as he peered up at her. "I should have killed you both alongside your parents, and done away with the lot of you all at once!"
Anna snapped up. "What did you just say?" she asked shakily.
Elsa slowly looked down at Weselton as well in realization of the implications of what he had just said. Her eyes widened out of shock, then her brows furrowed with sudden grief before narrowing in anger.
"It was you?" Elsa began. "You killed our parents?" her eyes started to fill with tears that were hateful and sorrowful all at once.
Weselton looked defiant and unrepentant as he squared his feet and looked Elsa and Anna firmly in the eyes. "I had long suffered that insipid rivalry with your parents, and when I caught wind of a certain tablet in Italy, I couldn't risk it. So, I arranged for their plane to be sabotaged," he explained. "There was a storm, yes, but their death was no accident. I-"
Anna heard enough and squeezed her eyes shut to in an attempt to block out the heinous information that Weselton had just revealed. Her eyes stung with tears, and when she opened them again she saw only red. Elsa was similarly disturbed, though she was stunned speechless.
"I'll kill you!" Anna lunged at Weselton, intending to strangle the life out of him. "I'll fucking kill you! I swear to god, I'll end you, you sick twisted bastard!" she sobbed and didn't care if Hans shot her in the back.
For their entire lives, Elsa and Anna had thought the cause of their parent's death was no more than a cruel and random event. An unfortunate twist of fate and a deadly turn of bad luck. Their pain, their grief, and their resentment of their parents for always leaving had turned out to have been replaced and originated from something much worse. Elsa's mouth fell open in shock as she shuddered and glared at Weselton, the evil man who had been the architect of their suffering.
Before Anna reached him, a single shot echoed through the chamber and stopped her in her tracks. Elsa sharply gasped, fearing the worst when she halted and wavered in place.
Anna looked down and saw a single hole that began to weep with blood.
Weselton uttered a trembling breath as he peered down at his chest. He clutched feebly at his wound, then fell to his knees as he coughed up a thick glob of blood. Finally, he looked up at Hans as shock and disbelief colored his eyes just before he fell on his back.
Hans casually strode over to Weselton, who raised a shaky hand for mercy. He then fired two more shots directly into his center mass and killed him. Elsa and Anna stared at him in complete bafflement and dismay.
"What?" Hans asked as he turned around. "I just did us all a favor."
Elsa and Anna remained still, completely paralyzed by disbelief at what had just occurred. A pool of blood began to form around Weselton's corpse as he stared up into the ceiling with a grimace on his face.
"You should be thanking me really, he just admitted to murdering your parents," Hans nudged Weselton's body with his foot, then raised his pistol at Anna. "Now believe me when I say this, but this truly gives me no pleasure. I'm just tying up loose ends you see. With Weselton and you two out of the picture, nobody can dispute it was Hans Westguard who discovered the fabled Isle of Avalon, recovered the holy grail, and excalibur. I'll be a legend for this, and you two… well, your story ends here."
Anna shut her eyes and braced herself for the inevitable, waiting for the bullet that would end her life. Hans grinned, then settled his countenance into grim resolve as he squeezed the trigger.
Just as the bullet was about to leave the barrel, Elsa sprung forward and pushed the pistol up and away from Anna. The bullet flew past just above Anna's left ear, shocking her back to reality as she snapped her eyes open and sprung into action.
"Anna, now!" Elsa shouted as she with the pistol in Hans's grip, trying to gain control of it while he held her at bay.
"Agh! Don't know when to give up do you?" Hans hissed.
Rather than trying to push the pistol back towards his target, Hans switched tactics and pulled Elsa in, delivering a savage headbutt to her forehead once she was within range. As she stumbled back, Hans recovered in time and caught Anna's fist then responded in kind by striking her across the jaw with his elbow. A split-second later, he blocked Elsa's side kick by batting her leg away with his forearm, opening up her midsection where he delivered his own kick and knocked her back.
Winded, Elsa and Anna retreated a few paces, then glanced at each other and nodded firmly before assuming fighting postures.
Anna came in from the left first, intending to distract Hans as she lunged towards the gun in his hand. At the same time, Elsa came in from the right, attacking his midsection with a flurry of rapid blows with her fists as he pivoted his body towards Anna.
Hans was faster than any opponent they had ever fought, and he shoved Anna away before turning to block Elsa's attack. Anna used the brief window to reach down into the sarcophagus and pick up the skull of King Bors. Hans noticed this movement and attempted to raise his pistol to fire again when Elsa leaned forward and kicked the gun from his hands. Now disarmed, Anna retaliated by bringing the skull crashing down on Hans's head with all of her strength, knocking him to his knees.
Hans was stronger than any opponent they had ever fought, and with a furious roar, he recovered quicker than imaginable and caught Anna's wrist as she attempted to strike again, twisting it around painfully until she cried out and dropped the skull. With his other hand, Hans gripped her around the throat, raised her up in the air, and tossed her over the sarcophagus.
Hans was deadlier than any opponent they had ever fought, and with brutal efficiency he turned and blocked Elsa's left fist, then trapped her arm as he twisted it agonizingly behind her back. Elsa screamed in anguish, pawing at her left shoulder with her right hand as she attempted to squirm her way out of his grip. Shortly after, Hans grasped her by the back of her neck and slammed the side of her head into the sarcophagus, knocking her out.
With his foes currently disabled, Hans reached over for the gleaming sword and gripped the handle tightly in his hand. He turned towards Elsa, who was slumped over and facing away from him while he raised his sword to deliver a killing blow.
"No!" Anna shouted as she rose to her feet and saw a sword descending upon Elsa.
Her senses were kicked into overdrive and adrenaline flooded her body as she began to move faster than thought. She was guided only by protective instinct as she vaulted over the sarcophagus, taking hold of the other sword as she did. As Anna landed on her feet she pivoted and raised her own blade to meet Hans's. They met with a clash of cold steel that rang out as they locked eyes with one another.
Hans's eyes were filled with a murderous zeal.
Anna's eyes were filled with determination and love.
She redirected Hans's sword by twisting her own in a wide circle, allowing the steel to sing against each other as she turned and pushed it away. Hans was unprepared for the maneuver and staggered back to maintain his balance. A small distance stood between them now and shortly their duel would begin. To one side, Weselton lay dead and Elsa remained unconscious. To the other, the open side of the chamber stood above a tall cliff that rose above the sea. The waves crashed below, on and on they went while Anna and Hans glared at each other.
This was the moment; the beginning of the end. Everything they had endured, everything they had fought for, everything they had struggled over had led to this moment. Anna risked a glance over to Elsa's still body and as she gazed at her prostrated form, her soul filled with courage, her body surged with strength, and her heart swelled with love. Now was the time.
Anna turned back to Hans and regarded him with fire in her eyes. "I will kill you if you touch her again," she said fiercely.
Hans chuckled and twirled his blade leisurely through the air. "You know how to sword fight?" he asked.
In response, Anna assumed a fencing stance, suddenly recalling her long years of training and careful tutelage under Kai. She shifted her feet so that they were wider apart and held the sword in her right hand before her as she kept her left hand out for balance.
"En garde, dickhead!" Anna taunted.
"Oh, this should be interesting," Hans chuckled and assumed his own stance.
He also set his feet wide apart, but he held the sword before him with both hands and leaned a tad too far forward. Anna noticed this and grinned. She adjusted her grip on the arming sword and though it was considerably heavier than any fencing rapier she was used to, the weapon was remarkably well balanced.
Another few seconds passed and then, their duel began.
Hans attacked first, rearing his arms back to his right and swinging the sword through the air in a wide arc as if it were a baseball bat. Anna deftly thrust her blade outwards to deflect the blow, then recoiled slightly from the weight of the attack. She raised her sword to block again just as Hans followed through his momentum with another attack swiping in from Anna's left.
From the get-go, Anna realized that while Hans was a formidable hand-to-hand combatant, he clearly lacked any kind of formal training with a sword before. Even so, she knew she could not hope to match his strength and endurance, and instead hoped to best him by relying on her speed and technique.
Anna delicately back stepped as she blocked and deflected Hans's blows. His attacks were weighty, but undisciplined and she knew he could not sustain his assault forever. As Hans raised his arm high above his head, telegraphing his next strike, Anna planted her feet and raised her own blade horizontally above herself to meet it. As they met, Anna parried and turned her sword until the flat of the blade rested against the edge of Han's sword, then she pushed it up and away to unbalance Hans.
It was not enough to cause him to stumble, given his size and strength he possessed over Anna, but it left his defenses temporarily open and allowed her to go on the offensive.
She pressed the attack, delivering a flurry of rapid strikes starting from above before changing direction each time. Anna swiped up, down, and side to side with practiced precision as Hans hurried to block. He only managed to bring up his sword just in time to meet Anna's blade, before his timings began to slip and Anna's sword pressed dangerously closer to his body. Before long, Hans began to retreat backwards as he struggled to block and maintain distance from Anna.
Sensing imminent danger, Hans swept his sword in from the side aimed towards Anna's neck with savage accuracy. He had caught Anna mid-swing, and she quickly feinted her attack to switch directions of her guard to meet the sudden blow that otherwise would have taken her head off. She blocked and was knocked off balance by the powerful impact and stumbled backwards.
Hans spotted his opening and lunged forward, thrusting his blade out aimed towards Anna's heart. She recovered, but could not raise her sword again to block in time so instead, she sidestepped the stab, allowing it to slice through the skin along the top of her left arm.
"Agh!" Anna hissed from the hot flash of a plane that erupted along her arm. "Shit," she gritted her teeth.
She stepped back a few paces, and glanced down at the wound. The cut was not deep, but hot, fresh blood began to seep out.
"Oops, look at that. Still sharp!" Hans taunted then lunged forward again intending to run Anna through with his sword.
Anna was more prepared this time and parried the lunge by swiping downwards in an arc with her sword, catching the tip of Hans's blade and pushing it away. She responded by throwing her leading foot outwards as she leaned into a deadly thrust aimed at Hans's chest.
Hans saw the attack coming and leaped backwards to safety. He realized then that he held the advantage of reach over Anna, and that she could not hope to hurt him so long as he kept her at a distance. With this knowledge in mind, Hans adjusted his stance and held his sword further out to keep Anna at bay.
"Come on!" Hans taunted as he tried to goad Anna into entering the reach of his sword. "Let's end this already! My arm's getting tired."
Anna knew better and remained safely out of his range while they circled each other, searching for an opening. Han was impatient, which made him careless. He roared again and lunged forward to strike Anna with a heavy blow.
Knowing she could not block the powerful attack, Anna sidestepped it then cried out in shock when Hans gripped her by the shoulder and reversed their positions by throwing her behind him. Anna nearly fell backwards from the blow, but she found her footing and raised her sword in time to block another incoming attack. Once again, she was put on the defensive as Hans pressed his attack and swiped and thrust with his sword. She blocked, parried, and backed away from Hans until she felt her own back press against a wall.
Hans grinned once he had Anna cornered, then reversed the arc of his blade as he turned his hands and brought it slashing diagonally upwards. His sword rang, crying out for the taste of flesh as it flew towards Anna. She ducked below the strike and replied with her own attack aimed at Hans's now exposed midsection. As she knelt, she pivoted her body and ran the length of her sword across Hans's stomach.
"Gah! Damn!" Hans winced and backed away.
He held a hand to his stomach and when he pulled it away, blood dripped down his fingers. The wound was wide and ran across the width of his torso but it was shallow.
"Oops," Anna cocked her head and parroted Hans's earlier taunt. "That hurt?"
With a forceful roar, Hans lunged forward and rained down blow after blow upon Anna. His swings were becoming more wild and frantic as his fury overwhelmed him. Anna either deflected or dodged the attacks, but they were coming on so quickly she could not find an opportunity to retaliate. At a certain point, Anna attempted to exploit an opening by swiping her sword towards Hans's unguarded side, but he reacted quickly and deflected her blade as he closed the distance. Next, he repositioned himself so that he was standing next to Anna and trapped her arm over his shoulder to put painful tension on it as he tried to disarm her.
"Hold still!" Hans exclaimed.
In response, Anna raised her right foot and stepped down on the back of Hans's left knee, forcing him to break away as he grunted in pain. He limped away a few steps, then quickly resumed a defensive posture. Sensing her opportunity, Anna pushed forward to put pressure on Hans once more with a flurry of precise blows. He blocked and dodged as he could, and when Anna wound up her arm to deliver another attack, he rushed forward and grabbed her wrist, preventing her from following through. He then twisted her arm painfully behind her back as he held Anna in his grip.
"Now we're getting somewhere," Hans hissed into Anna's ear, his breathing manic and unsteady.
Anna attempted to wiggle free, but Hans was too strong. Instead, she quickly switched tactics and leaned forward before throwing her body backwards, bashing Hans in the face with the back of her head. Hans recoiled, but it wasn't enough to break his hold.
"The hell's wrong with you!?" Anna shouted as she followed up her attack by raising her free arm and whipping around, striking Hans against the side of head with her elbow.
Hans finally released Anna as he stumbled backwards, dazed by the impact. Anna retreated a few steps to put some distance between herself and Hans, and then, they began to circle each other once more.
"Stubborn one, aren't you?" Hans said, grinning with deranged glee. "This is some fucked up foreplay, isn't it?" he laughed.
Anna furrowed her brows and shook her head in dismay. "You might be fucked in the head, but I've been on worse dates."
"Can we get back to it, or do you want to keep being a smartass?"
"Well... being a smartass has gotten me this far in life, so why quit now?"
Again, they both came at each other as they continued to trade blows. Steel clashed against steel, filling the chamber of the tomb with echoing clangs and screeches of metal sliding and impacting against each other. As they fought, Anna noticed that the manic glint in Hans's eyes never once wavered and in fact, only seemed to deepen further and become more intense while they danced around each other with their blades. With startling realization, Anna saw how she must have appeared to Elsa throughout their lives. The lethal obsession and the deadly devotion that drowned out all rationality and fear of consequences, despite the affect it had on the one person she cared about most in the world.
With a sidelong glance, Anna took a single second to look away from Hans and towards Elsa, and in that moment, facing off with the crazed leader of an army of mercenaries, she wondered if it had all been worth it. While she was distracted, Hans reached out quick as lightning and grasped Anna by her shoulder before dragging her along and throwing her to the ground. She landed roughly, but raised her sword and braced it with both hands as Hans let his blade fall against hers.
Hans repeatedly hacked down at Anna, intending to break through her guard. "I… have sacrificed… everything, to find this treasure, and I'm not going to let… a pair of two-bit thieves… a washed-up con artist… or a senile old man take that away from me!" he hissed through gritted teeth as he locked his sword against Anna's and pressed the blade down towards her face.
Anna grunted from the effort, but her strength was rapidly failing against Hans. She turned her head away from the blade as far as she could, but screamed in pain when her cheek was cut. Just then, adrenaline flooded her body and rushed through her veins.
"Get… off of me!" Anna shouted as she drove her knee into Hans's groin, then followed up by bashing the hilt of her sword into his head when he recoiled.
She backed away on her hands and feet, putting some distance between herself and Hans. Unfortunately, her new position had placed her right against the ledge of the cliff above the rocky bluffs that met the sea.
Hans was rapidly advancing on her and began raining down savage blows as Anna defended herself once more. However, by now, the length of their fight had begun to take its toll. His movements had become sluggish and the strength of his attacks had begun to wane.
"Can't give up can you?!" Hans shouted between swings and thrusts.
Anna blocked each one, but the shock of the repeated blows was beginning to numb her arms. Fatigue had drained every last ounce of her energy, and she was not certain if she could last much longer exhausted as she was.
"Good, don't just give it to me!" Hans exclaimed. "I've had everything handed to me on a goddamn silver platter. Everything! Except! This!" he accentuated his point with repeated blows against Anna's sword.
Anna raised her blade to block once more, and at the moment their swords met, hers shattered and broke in half. She held the broken sword in her hands, staring at Hans as he straightened up and leveled the point of his blade at her throat.
Hans panted heavily from the exertion. "I earned this... all of it."
It's over, I'm dead, I've failed! I'm so sorry Elsa! Don't look! Anna thought as she shut her eyes and awaited the killing blow.
"Anna!" Elsa cried out.
She had awoken from her stupor and crawled on her hands and feet towards Anna's gun that Hans had taken. In the next second, her pistol clattered over the stone floor as it slid over to Anna right by her hand. Hans had seen this and raised his arm once more.
Anna was quicker, and with the last of her strength, she raised her arm and stabbed Hans in the thigh with the broken sword blade.
Hans screamed from shock and pain then stumbled back, dropping his sword and clutching his leg. With his other hand, he tried to pull the blade in his leg out.
Next, Anna turned over and picked up her pistol, then took aim at Hans. She screamed in fury, sorrow, and desperation as she emptied the magazine and unloaded round after round in to Hans's body. Bullets smacked into his torso, and Anna kept screaming long after her gun ran out of bullets while she kept pulling on the trigger.
Hans sputtered and fell limply to his knees. He looked down dumbly at his body as blood began to leak out from every one of the bullet holes riddling it. As he gazed down in confusion, he turned away from Anna and sank to his knees, choking on his blood as his breath became ragged and shallow.
Anna slowly rose to her feet, then bent down to retrieve the gleaming sword. Hans slowly looked up at her, hatred lining every feature of his face. He opened his mouth to speak, but only gurgles and blood dripped out.
"Happy trails, Hans," Anna said just before she brought her arms back and ran the blade of Excalibur through his chest with a vicious roar.
She kicked him away and off the edge, pulling the sword out and sending his body tumbling off the cliff. Anna watched as he rolled over in the air and landed upon the rocky bluffs. Moments later, a large wave crashed upon him and then he was swallowed whole by the sea.
Exhaustion finally overtook Anna, so she collapsed to her knees and let the sword clang against the stone. She shut her eyes and let the pain and weariness wash over her as they dulled her senses. After what felt like minutes, she distantly heard a familiar voice calling her name.
"Anna? Anna! Are you okay?" Elsa asked, kneeling in front of Anna as she held her face in both of her hands. "Please. Anna, say something!"
Anna smiled wanly and kept her eyes closed. "Something," she muttered.
Elsa released a relieved sigh and pulled Anna into a sweet and long embrace. "Oh, thank goodness," she nuzzled her face into Anna's hair.
"Yeah… you good?" Anna said as she leaned into the embrace.
"Better now," Elsa smiled and melted into Anna.
They stayed like that for a short while, until Anna finally looked down at the sword by her side and then up at the sarcophagus.
"Help me up?" Anna asked weakly.
Every muscle in her body ached and she was covered in a myriad of bruises and cuts. Elsa was much the same way, but they were still alive.
"Of course, come on," Elsa stood up first and leaned over to assist Anna.
After they found their feet, Elsa and Anna looped an arm around each other's shoulders for support as they limped up to where the holy grail lay. They passed by Weselton, and Anna could not resist the urge to rush ahead and kick his corpse out of grief and hatred.
Tried as she might, Elsa was there to stop her by resting her palm against her cheek and turning her face away. "It's over, Anna. He's dead."
"He deserves a lot worse for what he did to them," Anna trembled, then looked at Elsa with deep sorrow in her eyes. "To us"
"He died thinking he had just delivered the world a miracle, and then that was taken from him," Elsa said softly. "Nobody will know what happened here or what he did. And the world will not suffer without his presence in it. It's over, Anna. It's finished."
Anna closed her eyes to absorb what Elsa had said. It was true, and she could take solace in the fact that the death of their parents had been avenged. Turning away from his corpse, she gingerly stepped up to the sarcophagus to inspect the relics that lay there.
"So this is it, huh?" Anna muttered. She held Excalibur limply by her side as she stared in awe at their prize.
"Uh huh," Elsa said, looking only at Anna. "You did it."
Anna glanced over and when their eyes met, they saw nothing but complete, pure, wholesome, and unadulterated love in each other.
Anna had a few shallow cuts on her face, her hair was a mess, she was covered in all sorts of dirt and mud, but in that moment, she had never been more beautiful to Elsa. Without a doubt in her mind, Elsa knew this was the woman she loved.
Likewise, Elsa was covered all over in cuts and bruises, her platinum blonde hair was marred by grime, and a nasty welt had formed on her forehead where she had been struck. Even so, Anna knew her own truth then, and was no longer afraid of it. She loved Elsa.
"No… we did it," Anna smiled tenderly then nodded towards the grail. "Go on, let's have a look."
"Me?" Elsa recoiled from surprise. "No, no, I can't. This has been your journey. I can't just-"
"Elsa, it's okay. Really. I've got Excalibur in my other hand anyways, and if I take my arm off you, I might just pass out," Anna chuckled then her eyes widened. "Holy shit! I've got fucking Excalibur!"
She raised the sword to regard it for the first time. It was a simple, but refined looking weapon. The length of the blade stopped just short of a meter and connected to a golden cross shaped hilt that was wrapped in delicate threads of silver wire. The pommel bore the head of a snarling dragon that clutched a round ruby between its teeth.
"Awesome," Anna grinned as she turned the sword over in the light.
Meanwhile, Elsa had picked up the grail and held it in her hands.
Compared to the sword, the grail was much simpler, and she was surprised since she had expected something much more gaudy. The grail was made of simple brass, starting from a flared base before thinning out across the handle, then widening again to form the shape of the cup. It gave off a dull gleam as she inspected it.
"Very awesome," Elsa agreed.
Neither of them spoke for a long time as they stood in silent awe at the lost legend they had finally uncovered. Finally, it was done. Their long search was now over, and so concluded a long and tumultuous chapter of their lives. Years later, both of them would look back upon this time and decide that even through all of the hardships they faced, the struggles they endured, and the obstacles that had separated them for so long, they would not have changed it for anything in the world.
