Anna's POV
There was a distinctive feeling when Hiccup shut the door, leaving the two of us alone. A feeling that I last felt when Elsa was still keeping her power as a secret. It really did feel like so, although he was just walking away to probably check on the others, not to leave me for eternity.
Not even being told, Elsa continued her work on my wound again. Her expression screamed pity, but I could tell there was a hint of disappointment, too.
"…Did I mess up real bad?" I asked.
"…You did," my sister replied.
A sigh escaped my mouth. "You know… it's not like you don't get mad to your enemies—"
"Anna," Elsa cut me, "Listen to your sister well. When I saw you dashing towards the Lieutenant, I didn't see my sister, I saw an entirely different person. That was not the Anna I know. The Anna I know would not do something like this. Yes, my life was at stake, but I had others backing me up, right? A Terrible Terror literally saved my life at one point, that's how good our teamwork was back then."
I raised a brow. "A Terrible Terror?"
She shrugged, smiling slightly. "I don't know if you noticed, but I was cornered, so I entrapped myself in a dome of ice. Some men broke through, including the Lieutenant himself, but a Terrible Terror caused some havoc by biting the man on the face, giving me a chance to run away."
The story made me cringe a little. "Oh god… Must've been the experience to have one of those little guys bite your face."
"Yeah. But you get the point. Others had my back, too! Valka, Tuffnut, Eret, Hiccup. And of course…" She lifted her wounded hand, appearing to try to summon her magic, but nothing appeared. She frowned at the sight. She tried with her other hand and it worked; a flurry of ice materialized out of thin air.
"I have my power to protect me, as well," She smiled proudly.
"What's wrong with your other hand?" I asked suspiciously.
"Eh?" Nerves filled her expression right away. "Well, a battle axe cut it?"
"I know it was cut. But, why couldn't you summon ice out of it?" I asked again.
Only before a sigh did she confess while applying a bandage on my wound. "It's um… I don't know, it's something new for me. Apparently, the wound disables me from summoning ice from it… I've never experienced something like this before."
"Huh?" I gently took her hand. "That's funny… Well you and your power could barely defend your dear life, evidently," I continued.
"Anna, I could just freeze everybody by sending ice to every direction, but you wouldn't want that, would you? I could hit some of our ally too in the process, hence, my careful approach in using my power in situations like this," she argued back.
She did have a point. I could merely nod down slowly in acknowledgement.
"There."
With one last tape, Elsa finished patching my wound. I placed my legs off of hers after so, looking down to the floor.
"I'm sorry," I said. "I guess I need to… control my temperature more."
"You do," she firmly grabbed my shoulder. "Now you better apologize to Hiccup, too."
Now that she had mentioned it, I was feeling more nervous with myself. I genuinely never stumbled upon a really angry Hiccup ever before. He never even seemed angry during her stay in Arendelle because of the fact of his homeland being raided by outsiders. And the very moment I faced an angry Hiccup, he threw a hatchet to the wall. I guess I really did reach the patient guy's limit.
"Don't worry, he won't throw any weapon to you," Elsa added. She caught me looking at the hatchet planted onto the wall ahead of us.
"Well, I guess…" I deeply sighed. "All right. I'll go."
"I'll accompany you," she smiled slightly. "Come on."
With that, we left the cabin. Immediately, we were greeted by a grim view. Every Viking was clearing out the mess our previous battle we just had. The dead bodies were carried to life boats I assume they took from the Therondian ship and were piled on each other. When I looked to the bonfire on the other side of the cave, I noticed Hiccup and his mother chatting about.
I took a deep breath and took my baby steps to the guy I was owing an apology. I hopped off the boat and walked my way to him, but it didn't take long for me to stop in the middle of the track. His body language as he was talking to his mother screamed… disbelief and irritation, a clear sign for me that he was still pissed. Seeing so, I took steps backwards, but only to hit my sister in the process.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
"M-Maybe the timing is not right, maybe I should let him cool down first," I excused.
"He will accept your apology, Anna. Just be honest. Let's not postpone this," Elsa replied.
"Elsa, please…" I said. "Maybe… I can… make it up for him, by doing something. Something helpful," I suggested. "That ought to make him feel better about me."
She crossed her arms. "What do you have in mind?"
What did I have in mind? "Uh… I can…"
"Help the others clear the bodies?" She suggested.
I cringed at the suggestion. "Anything but that."
I looked around to see if there was anything that could be mended, but nothing seemed as so. I kept looking around and stopped at the Therondian ship that was still laying in the water. The sight of the ship gave me an idea.
"Let's salvage the ship! See if there's anything useful in there!" I pointed to the ship.
My sister put her hands on her hips. "Not a bad idea."
"Good! Could you, perhaps, place the ship back to its original position?" I requested.
"Sure."
We approached the ship and stopped at the closest point we could get to from the beach. With confidence, Elsa began to walk on the water, ice materializing on it as she took her steps. I followed her lead until she stopped in the middle of the track. With her okay hand, she summoned a giant pillar of ice from the water. Upon making contact with the hull of the ship that was underwater, the ship slowly tilted upwards. It kept doing so until the ship finally stood upright.
Of course, our activity attracted some attention. I saw most Vikings were looking at us with suspicion, including Hiccup, who was by the beach.
"What are you two up to?" He asked from a distance.
"We wanna salvage the ship, see if there's anything useful on it," I smiled, giving that 'ok' finger with my hand.
Initially, he gave a weird look. But he nodded in approval afterwards. "Okay. Do try to search for blacksmith equipment, okay?" He requested.
"Will do!" I replied.
With that, Hiccup left to mind his own business. When I turned around to the ship, I discovered Elsa had already constructed a set of stairs just for us to reach the deck. "Huh, neat."
"You are very much welcome," she attempted to crack her fingers but only ended up hurting herself. "Ouch!"
"Careful now, you don't want to open the cut even more," I reminded.
"Okay, okay."
Grabbing the railings firmly, I climbed the stairs and hopped onboard the ship of our enemy. I scanned the deck thoroughly as I walked around it aimlessly. Elsa merely followed my lead aimlessly, too.
"See anything interesting?" I asked.
She stopped by a mast and inspected it by circling around it. "Nothing."
"We're not gonna find anything around here—oh!"
There was a hatch by the central sail mast that was open, leading to a set of stairs to reach the interior of the ship's hull. This immediately drew my attention first.
"Let's go down there," I pointed to the hatch. Elsa nodded in agreement.
We took our steps down into the lower deck. It was nearly pitch black, so Elsa had to summon a crystal of ice to brighten the area. Once illuminated, we discovered that the interior of the room was filled with supplies in the form of food and weapons stored in crates that were opened. There were barrels filled with gun powder and flammables fumes, crates filled with rifles and crossbows, compartments with swords and axes, you name it. However, the one that attracted me the most was the food crates.
I approached a crate filled with apples. "I guess we will be okay for the next few days," I said, grabbing an apple and taking a bite of it.
"Yeah. I can totally—oh look!"
Elsa pointed to whatever was behind the crates of food. She moved and moved some crates to clear the path and discovered a box of blacksmith equipment, all in one box! How convenient.
"I'm not an expert in blacksmith, but you do need a hammer, a saw, some nails…" she began naming the objects inside the box itself until she stopped at ones that neither of us could really name.
"Uh huh," I replied.
"Tell you what?" She lifted the box slowly. "Oof, this is heavy. I'll place this in the workshop, you continue searching for more goodies, okay?" She suggested. I didn't really buy the idea right away.
"You sure? That seems so heavy, and with your hand…" I pointed to the box. Before I could even continue, with a wave of hand, Elsa placed a crystal on the ceiling of the room to illuminate the area. She lifted the box again and walked her way to the stairs.
"I'll be fineee. Try to search for something in the cabin once you're done with this area!"
She made her way up the stairs until she was out of sight. I sighed and looked around again. I checked every corner and found nothing new apart from weaponry and food. For a ship that randomly entered the waterfall, it was sure very much stocked in supplies. I could only wonder why.
There were small cubicles with barred doors filled with the same crates of supplies. But other than that, there was nothing else.I looked for another possible way that could lead to the room below the floor I was in, either a hatch or set of ladders, anything. But I found nothing. Seeing so, I made my way back to the main deck. Right away, my eyes were locked to the door on the upper poop deck that could only lead to a cabin.
I made my way to the door and opened it slowly. The interior was not as dark as the previous lower deck I was in, mostly due to the large windows on the other end of the room, which gave a view to the rear of the ship.
Since the ship was tilted by our surprise attack, aka Elsa's magic, everything was not so in order. There was a desk completely upside down, books and papers scattered everywhere, bottles of wine on the floor, it was a mess. However, despite the mess, everything was luxurious, as I inspected further. It must be where the Lieutenant would spend most of his time.
As I circled around the room, my eyes caught a hint of map on the under the flipped the desk. Slowly, I lifted the desk with a grunt and placed the map on top of it.
"What is this?..."
The shape of the land drawn on the map was not something I was familiar with. I made sure I got the best lighting from the window and had a closer look.
CLUNK!
"Who are you?"
I sensed something pressing against the back of my neck. I've never felt such sensation, but I knew that it was a barrel of a gun. Slowly, I raised my hands.
"Answer me!" The voice sounded feminine.
"Will my answer even benefit you in any way? You're the only one left!" I answered sarcastically.
"Huh?" The woman gasped slightly. I could feel her no longer pressing the tip of her gun's barrel against my neck, so I used this opportunity to turn around to face the woman. Of course, the movement was sudden and it took her by surprise, but it allowed me to really see who she was. A woman, black short wavy hair, wearing a distinctive Therondian royalty outfit, though it was the casual version. She was most likely in her twenties. Her dark green eyes screamed fierceness.
"What are you doing in here?" She cocked her gun with a thumb.
"Mommy?"
The voice of the toddler emitted from the bed. Under the blanket, something moved about. From under it, a little boy revealed himself.
"You brought your son along?!" I asked in disbelief.
"That is NONE of your business! Less asking, more answering!" She now pressed the tip on my forehead. The action made my poor heart skip a beat.
"Okay, okay! Geez! I'm Anna! Happy?" I answered, deliberately not mentioning my title for safe precautionary. "I'm just looking around for information, that's all!"
"Where's my husband?" She asked, desperation sounding in her tone.
"How am I supposed to know who your husband is?" I answered.
"Lieutenant Xander, wore a royal Therondian armor, wielded a battle axe," she explained. There was no worse description of a man she would like to know, as it was the very man whom I last killed in cold-blood. I just made a wife become a widow, and a child lose a father. There was no greater guilt.
"ANSWER ME!"
Her bark made me realize that I was inside my own mind for a period of time she found irritating. Of course, I was not going to reveal that I was the killer of his husband.
"H-He died in the battle!" I replied.
My response earned a deep gasp from her. In the background, I saw her son doing the same before he hid under his blanket. Ever so slowly, she lowered her gun, breaking down. I merely watched the lady from where I was.
"HARGHH!"
For briefly, that is.
She rose and hit my cheek with the handle of her gun. I almost collapsed due to the contact, but I kept my footing steady. When she was about to aim her weapon to me again, I grabbed my inferno blade and released the blade during mid-swing, hitting the gun. With that move, I unarmed the lady, as the gun was thrown to the other side of the room.
I took steps forward, earning more bravery. "You don't want this… your son is here…"
She took steps backward. "You monster! Y-You killed my husband!"
As if she really meant that I was the killer, more guilt built inside me. "He was trying to kill my people!" I replied sternly, inflaming my blade in fire. The sight caught her by surprise.
"Fucking bitch…" she complimented. Without my awareness, the lady grabbed a model sword on the wall and swung it against mine, very much attempting to unarm me. But I kept my grip hard. She gave me another swing and upon contacting, she used her weight to push against mine. I fought back with the equal force, gazing into her eyes that were filled with hatreds.
Almost simultaneously, we let go of each other with a push. This time, I swung my blade as hard as I could. The lady blocked it by grabbing each end of her sword horizontally. Upon making contact again, I kicked her by the belly to at least inflict real pain on my opponent.
"Oof—"
The kick stunned her, giving me a window to attack. I swung my blade from above, but only to hit the floor. Her amazing reflex had apparently made her evade by taking a step backward. Seeing so, I swung from the side again after closing the gap between us. She ducked. Slightly irritated, I leaped forward with my blade pointing right into her. With a mere jump, she evaded the incoming attack to the right. Because of my momentum, the blade's tip accidentally dug the wooden wall. I tried pulling it out, but the lady pulled me by the back and threw me to the floor recklessly. For a slender looking woman, she really had powerful muscles!
My head knocked against the floor hard. The second I opened my eyes, I saw the lady standing on top of me, about to land her sword onto my very face. Right at the very last millisecond, I tilted my neck to avoid the sword. Fortunately, the sword landed on the floor instead, and the same fate welcomed her; it got stuck. She tried so hard to pull it out, but it didn't seem to budge. During the process, she kept me left hand still by stepping on it. I elbowed her foot in hope that she would lose balance of herself, but it didn't budge. I received a kick on the face instead, stunning me for a few moments.
As I was recovering myself, a familiar voice sounded.
"Drop it."
After regaining my vision, I saw who it was. Hiccup!
I stood back on my feet as he dragged the lady away from me by planting the blade of his hatchet on her neck. Once I was within a safe distance from her, the Viking recklessly pushed her against the desk and began tying her hands on her back.
"Mommy!"
I looked behind to see the boy no longer under the blanket. He had tears building up on his big eyes. "Don't hurt mommy!"
"You brought your son along?!" He asked.
"Again, NONE of your business!" She barked back. Still retaliating, the lady tried her best to see her son. "It's gonna be alright, Gideon! It's gonna be fine!"
Of course, it was a vain attempt. The boy still looked worried. "B-But!"
"What's going on in here—Jesus!"
I looked to the entrance of the cabin and saw Elsa there, along with some Vikings. Their jaws dropped upon seeing the scene.
"You monsters…" The lady cursed.
We had the woman tied against the mast we used to tie the Therondian Sergeant. Although the scene did attract attention of the Vikings, they preferred enjoying their dinner and calling it a day after the sudden and tiring battle. But not for Hiccup, as he and I were to accompany the mysterious lady for the night.
"Your son is in safe hands. We will let go of you and your son once this is over," Hiccup explained as he casually sat on a barrel.
"Mind defining what 'this' is?" She asked.
"You don't get to know that," I replied. "Your name, please."
She clicked her tongue, sighing in defeat. "Cassandra of Therondia."
"You're the wife of the Lieutenant, I assume?" Hiccup asked.
"I am…" She replied.
"Okay. Just how much do you know about the…" Hiccup grabbed his chin, pondering for a moment. "The man who controls the dragons?"
"Drago Bludvist?" She asked.
The name rang a bell for me. It was a name I had definitely heard of.
"Drago… Bludvist?" Stating the name again had apparently really reminded me of the man. "Hiccup!" I turned to him. He clearly had already remembered the man earlier than me.
"D-Drago…" He spoke softly, his voice stuttering. He palmed his fists altogether. "I thought he…"
Silence filled the air.
"Anymore question?" Cassandra asked sternly.
Hiccup looked up to the lady. "Why does Therondia have a big interest in putting dragons in their market? Isn't human trafficking already enough?"
"Human what?" Cassandra raised a brow. "What are you talking about?"
"Human trafficking, for Odin's sake. Clear your ears, woman!" Hiccup barked.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, man!" She replied in the same harsh manner.
Right when Hiccup was about to reply her, I stepped in front of the Viking to calm him down. "Hiccup, calm down. She's telling the truth."
"How do you know?" He asked.
"Elsa counseled me on seeking the truth. She shared her experience with people to me. This, I know well enough. The lady is telling the truth," I spoke the last sentence with full confidence to convince him.
He sighed in defeat. "All right."
I stepped away, turning to Cassandra. "Explain to us. Why did your ship enter the waterfall?"
"…We were searching for the missing eight men we have sent to map the underground maze. They have been missing for a full week. We thought we could find the tail of the maze from somewhere by circling the island. Xander spotted the waterfall and commanded his men to steer the ship into it. I was turned unconscious when something hit the hull of the ship, tilting the ship drastically. I hit myself on the head when it occurred," Cassandra explained.
"Lucky call," Hiccup commented. "Very well. That's it for now. I will ask more later."
"That's it?" I asked, turning to him. The brief interrogation was too brief for my liking.
"That's it. I still have more work to do, Anna. And I'm already worn out," he excused, taking his hatchets away with him.
"My son, Gideon! Take me to him!" Cassandra suddenly pleaded.
"We will take you to his cell in the morning. In the meantime, spend the night without your son," Hiccup replied, not even turning to her while walking to the workshop under the deck. I understood that he was tired, both mentally and physically, but I couldn't help but to feel that Cassandra didn't deserve it; to spend a night in which her son was absent.
I turned to her and forced a smile to assure her. "Your son is safe."
"How can he be safe without his mother? Please, take me to him, now! I won't retaliate! I have nothing to lose but him!" Cassandra begged. It hurt me to see a mother like this, despite the fact that she was a Therondian. Seeing that I was the only one around, I decided to do the job.
I checked for the Sergeant who was tied as well. He's asleep. Good. Slowly, I loosened the knot on the mast for a brief moment, long enough for Cassandra to get out of it. Once she was free, I quickly tightened the knot again and took out my blade, pointing the tip to her afterwards.
"Thank you. I am a woman of my word," she calmly replied. She walked to the railing of the boat and hopped over it onto the ice Elsa made previously to reach the ship. I followed her lead from behind.
"How come there's ice around here? And the stairs made out of ice?" She pointed to the stairs ahead of us.
"Would you believe magic?" I asked.
She turned around to me, sticking her bottom lip out. "I would. You won't believe how much magic I have witnessed in my life."
Hate to say that I was interested in hearing more, but she was my hostage. "Right. Keep walking."
Once we reached the stairs, we climbed it carefully, knowing it was made out of ice. I kept my eyes onto her back, readying myself for any action she might pull to escape. However, until we reached our destination, which was the lower deck, she pulled nothing on me.
Almost like her motherly instinct telling her where her son was, Cassandra turned to the cubicle in which her son was kept in.
"Gideon!" She called, grabbing the bars once reaching the door. "Are you okay?"
"Mom! I'm okay! Where have you been? Did the Vikings hurt you?" The little boy asked, innocence sounding in his tone.
"They didn't," she knelt down to meet his level. "Oh my boy…"
Cassandra hugged her son through the bars. While she was doing so, I unlocked the lock of the cubicle.
"Cassandra, inside," I instructed. Obediently, she opened the door and entered the cubicle. She sat on a crate and her son jumped right onto her lap right away. Seeing so, I locked the cubicle again, saving the key to it afterwards. I watched the mother hugging her son fully without bars between for a brief moment. Inevitably, the same guilty feeling returned.
"There's um… a pillow, inside, that I grabbed from the cabin," I said. Hearing so, Cassandra looked around and found the object from behind, hidden behind the crate she was sat on.
"Ah, thank you," she replied. It was hard to determine, but I think that was a smile that I saw on her lips.
"Good night," I walked away.
"Anna!" Cassandra called. I stopped on my track and turned to her.
"Thank you," she placed a hand on her chest.
"Thank you, too," her son, Gideon, added.
I couldn't stand the gratefulness of the Therondians, so I rushed my way up to the deck. It only added more guilt onto the already piling pile of guilt. My heart began to ache. I just killed a father of a son, and a husband of a wife. Not to mention the ones I had killed before I killed Lieutenant Xander! Perhaps it was only a matter of time until the universe makes me meet the wives and the kids of the men I had taken their lives from.
As I headed back to the boat, I heard clanging from it, indicating that Hiccup was working. After climbing the boat again, I descended down to the workshop. There he was, continuing his postponed work.
"Hiccup…" I called, wrapping my arms around him from behind. "Aren't you tired?"
He sighed deeply. "I am. Very. You should go to sleep, Anna."
"…"
Hiccup stopped forging the piece of metal in front of him because of my silence. He turned around to face me. "What's wrong?" He asked.
"I… would like to. I really would like to sleep, but… I can't…"
He wrapped his arms around me, caressing my back in a soothing manner. "Shh… there…"
Tears began to form on my eyes, and they streamed down my cheeks as I closed my eyes when burying my face in his shoulder. "I-I just took the life o-of a father, Hiccup… T-The little boy will never see his father anymore!..."
Soon, even my own feet couldn't support my own weight. I knelt down on the floor. Hiccup followed my movement to keep me inside his arms while tightening them. "Hiccup, w-what do I do?"
He answered nothing. He remained hugging me as tight as he could.
