List of music:

Alert theme – Metal Gear Solid OST

Chapter 7

There is a fact that everybody in the world, or the WORLDS, have understood: children loves stories. It doesn't matter if they are humble peasants or members of the royal family. You just need to look how Steven seemed to amuse and captivate the Snow Princess.

It had been almost two hours since the little teenager with pendants began to do a show for Elsa. Her, from the top of the bed, looked at the spectacle of a sitting upright and in a dignified way, which was looked like a noble person at the opera or the theater. That dark blue dress and white gloves making this impression more accurate.

Steven felt a bit ridiculous at first. But having already done this in a previous dream, and fueled by his passion for Tolkien's work, the geek soon hadn't any problems playing the actor-storyteller. He was telling the story with the necessary emotions, an impeccable body language and without hesitation or overacting. He simulated battles and heroic postures as if he was the heroes themselves. The noble girl was almost like seeing the story coming to life before her eyes.

"And far away on the mountain ..." the child with a strand told. "A bird landed, grabbed a snail with its beak and slammed the shell against the stone. Its impact, however slight, echoed inside the mountain, throughout the Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor, its beautifully carved stone bridges, its colossal statues until its ocean of gold coins and precious stones. The sound woke up something. A powerful blast was heard. "

The face of the crown princess revealed the concern of the listener, fascinated by the story.

"And under a hill of gold, a gigantic eyelid covered with red scales appeared. It opened and revealed an eye as green as rot and whose pupil like a diamond seemed sharper than blades. A bestial rumbling was heard ... The End. "

The princess seemed to not believe what she had heard.

"What ?!" she marveled. "It can't be. What happens after that to Bilbo? And Thorin and the others? Did they reach the mountains? And what about this necromancer Radagast talked about..."

"Wow wow, calm down little girl ..." laughed the boy. "Don't worry. It's just the end of the first part."

"Will you tell me the next one then?" Asked the blonde eagerly.

Steven smiled and said.

"Sure ... But not today. I must admit that all this show exhausted me. But I sincerely appreciate your enthusiasm."

Indeed. He had seen Elsa really worry about Bilbo during the scary parts, be astonished when he described the magical places of Middle-earth and laugh during the funny moments. It was a really good time to share his passion with a child as captivated as her.

The girl told so.

"If I'm excited, it's because I like your story and how you tell it. I have never read one like this, and yet my family has a very large library."

Steven rubbed his neck, laughing a little.

"I'm glad you like it. It really is one of my favorite, with Legacy of Kain. I love how the author has invented his own universe with ancient legendary creatures like elves and dwarves."

The sorceress looked a little surprise for a moment, before noting.

"First the symbolism of colors, now the ancient legends ... Really, you know many things besides being a good storyteller."

The metalhead didn't really hide his pride hearing that. But to not seems too proud, and have fun, he made an exaggerated reverence saying with humor.

"Oh, it is such an honor your Serene Highness."

Elsa had one of her melodious laughter that she thought, one week ago, she would never pronounce again. Having some company, even a strange one, was a wonderful thing.

'Who would have thought that interviews of Comics drawer would impress a child?' the Geek thought, amused.

But the joy of the blonde stopped when she perceived a sound in the distance. Steven tensed when he hears it too. It was footsteps. And they were quite close. The two children seemed on the verge of panic. Someone would be here in a second, opening the door.

The geek, by a reflex inherited from his hours of role-play, dove under the bed, murmuring quickly.

"Stealth Check."

The princess didn't understand but didn't have time to ask him any question. She jumped when she heard a knock at the door, thus lowering the temperature of the room and form some frost. A familiar voice said then.

"Princess Elsa? It's time for dinner."

The young magician then relaxed with a deep sigh.

"Thank you, Gerda." She said

The housekeeper put something in front of the door. The girl waited until she was far enough to open the door and took the tray on which was a delicious meal.

Locking again behind her, Elsa put the dinner on her desk announcing.

"It's okay Steven. You can come out."

She was intrigued to not see him reappear. She called him again but she neither saw nor heard anything. The princess then looked under the bed and, to her surprise, except the dust, there was nothing and no one. She looked in her room, even in her closet. But she had to admit the obvious: Steven had simply disappeared. She could not believe it. There was no way he could got out without her noticing it.

Then the girl remembered what he had said earlier about his supposed, uncontrolled, ability to travel in a split second to any location. Although it was always hard to believe, it seemed the only explanation.

Quite troubled by the idea that there could be another person with powers, like her, Elsa simply sit in front of her desk and ate as if nothing had happened. She continued to ask herself what she should think about Steven after that day. He had brightened her day and, in general, she seemed to enjoy his company. She wondered if she could even consider him as a friend. Her first friend.

She thought that was probably a little early for that. His special ability intrigued her. She hoped to ask him some questions the next time they meet. Especially as she still did not know exactly what he was. An ordinary intruder? A ghost? Or something else? All this was beginning to worry her a bit, cooling a little her food.

The boy with the strand, lying on the ground as if a grenade was going to explode, opened his eyes after being scared when someone suddenly knocked at the door. By observing around him, he realized he was no longer under Elsa's bed, but in the empty room of the little redhead.

Obviously, he teleported again. For now, it was still weird. But he felt that it was less and less strange each time.

"I ... guess that makes my check a critical hit." Assumed the young English. "What a chance! I almost heard the Alert theme from Metal Gear Solid. Fortunately, I kept my reflexes from Amnesia."

The geek raised, take out some dust from his miniaturized Jean, then said as if he was admitting he made a mistake for years.

"I will never again speak badly about the Fast Travel function in Open World Games ... Damn it, I want to play Skyrim now."

Then a familiar rumbling voice came, and Steven jumped hearing it.

"Boy..."

The minimized teenager turned and discovered the tall man in navy-blue costar he saw later.

"You again?!" Steven said, annoyed. "Could you tell me when you're appearing? I almost had a heart attack, especially with your style of dress of bad guy from The Strain."

Indeed, in front of the window, the old man was blocking the dim light of dusk, putting him almost completely in the darkness, accentuating his menacing look. And despite his mustache, which in other circumstances would make be sweetness personified, he seemed rather angry. Even more than at their first meeting. He was very afraid of him the first time, but recalling that it was not real, in theory, he could relax.

"But who are you in the end?" asked the English. "And what do you want?"

The man in costar replied with a very angry voice.

"What I want is that you get out of this world and never come back."

His Slenderman's look was not very reassuring for the small Steven. By observing him, the geek didn't just have the impression of having already seen this stranger somewhere, but he seemed to notice a detail even more bizarre than his appearances and allure: He didn't have any shadow. But as it was a dream, for him, he thought there was nothing to fear. So, Steven just crossed his arms and declared.

"Firstly, I'm not your dog, then you will change your tone right away, otherwise I promise you we will not get along, you and me."

The strange man clenched his fists, his face even more tensed. But that didn't impressed Steven.

"You would do better being careful with what you say, brat." Warned the old man, pointing him with his finger. "You do not know who you're dealing with."

"So, tell me who you are, damn it!"

The stranger lowered his arms and began to tell.

"I'm the one who observes and ensures that everything here is as it should be. I make sure that everyone follows his destiny and that the Key-Points accomplishes..."

"Uh ... Instead of acting like a Blizzard's narrator, you don't want to tell me directly who you are?"

The stranger crossed his arms.

"I'm the one of this story."

"The one of ...?"

Steven didn't understand directly. But following the logic of this conversation, he seemed to draw a conclusion that didn't make sense. He then had the same wide eyes and the same gesture that if a homeless person had claimed to be Edward Elric.

The Gamer said with disbelief.

"You are the narrator of Frozen? You?"

"Exactly." He confirmed.

Steven could not believe it. He asked him like he was a person suspected to be insane.

"And ... what's your role you said?"

"In fact, if you weren't here, I wouldn't have needed to appear."

Steven frowned to show he did not understand. The Narrator then clarified.

"This world exists only because of the story of Elsa and her sister. It is her destiny in a way. All events of their lives until the end of their adventure are planned and should happen. I do not normally have to intervene. But your appearance caused unexpected and, frankly, very unfortunate changes. "

"What kind of changes?"

"Elsa and Anna was not supposed to talk for several years. For now, your little ... discussions didn't changed any Keys-Points. But if you continue to come without thinking about what you're doing, it could. "

"And ... What is a 'Key Point' ?"

"An element of the story which must happen, necessarily. It's only after they all happen that this story will be over."

The Geek listened to what the man said as he would have done in an RPG: Carefully but without taking anything seriously.

"And what's the problem if I mess up one or two of them, and that story do not end, like you said?"

The stranger frowned and explained to the geek gravely.

"As I told you, this world exists only because this story needs to be told. This whole universe was created for that purpose. When this is done, it will continue to exist freely. But until that moment, The Key Points must occur, otherwise the very purpose of this world will not occur, and it will disintegrate. Simply put, it will collapse and disappear with everything in it. "

The younger with a strand would have consider all this as horrible and disturbing in other circumstances. But as it was only a dream for him, he was not taking any of this seriously.

"Well..." he commented. "Not a bad story. Even though this is clearly not as good as Planescape."

The Narrator gets irritated. But Steven didn't care. He already didn't like that someone look down on him, so he wasn't going to let a part of his imagination walk all over him. And now that he was thinking about it, he remembered where he had seen this this man: in a documentary about the Walt Disney Company.

Out of curiosity, the boy with chains asked.

"Now that I remember, Walter, this afternoon, you said that my presence put this world in danger, and you insisted that I need to try to not come back. What did you mean? If it was just about my time spent with Elsa and Anna, you would have simply asked me to not speak to them."

"Walter?" Said the man in costar, intrigued.

"You look like Walter Disney, who created the company which made Frozen. So, unless you have a name, I will call you like this."

He didn't seem really affected by this name. He seemed to prefer giving new explanations.

"We, the Narrators, we take the closest form of the one who gave birth to our story. If what you called Frozen wouldn't have existed without him, it is normal that I look like him."

Steven raised his eyes to heaven, thinking he had an answer for everything. Walter didn't know it but his explanations only reinforced the Steven's conviction of being in a dream. If his imagination could create a Disney world, he knew only by images seen a thousand times on the net, it was normal that he would use Walter Disney as a 'Narrator'.

"And what you said earlier is right." Continued the tall man. "If I consider that your presence is a threat to this world, it is because every time you come in or out, you create a fracture in its dimensional borders. It is almost as if you were making a hole in a big snow globe after each travel to or from another world. "

Steven had to recognize that all these explanations would have been quite good in a manga or a fantasy novel. So he thought he definitely had a more incredible imagination than he would have believed. He then asked Walter, always on the same tone, half-interested.

"You said 'We, Narrators'. There are others then?"

"One for each world. We never come into contact, it is impossible for us, but we are aware of the existence of each other. I do not know why but that's how it is."

Walter looked up to the room's door. Steven looked at it but saw or heard nothing. The Narrator began to say sternly.

"I do not know exactly who you are and how you travel from one world to another, but you better stop coming into this world right now."

Steven showed he wasn't impressed.

"Tsss ... If you could do anything about it, you wouldn't be threatening me, you would do something. You supposedly have to assure the existence of this universe, if something could put it in danger, you would stop it. That's all. "

Walter seemed annoyed. Steven was right.

"And for your information ..." Explained the geek. "I do not decide to come here by myself. I was dragged out. Like in any dream."

The Narrator looked up again towards the door. But this time, the Londoner perceived footsteps in the hallway. The tall man told to the child with some alacrity.

"Listen to me, every breach you create are repaired alone, such as a broken bone, but it takes time. And if you continue to come constantly, you'll end up breaking this world. So, I don't know what but do something about it or I will have to intervene. "

Steven wanted to replicate. But, in an instant, the Narrator disappeared before his eyes. There were no special effects, He simply wasn't there anymore, as if he had never been there. This surprised him until he realizes that the room's door opened.

The Geek then heard a little voice pleasantly surprised.

"Steven?"

He turned and saw the little Anna. She closed the door, checking that no one was in the corridor. She then joined Steven and asked him what he was doing here. He explained everything except the discussion with Walter. They then used this opportunity to chat a moment. Anna asked him how her sister was and what they talked about during her absence. The geek, having promised to not mention Elsa's powers, merely said that he continued to tell her the story of Bilbo the Hobbit. After that, Anna prayed him to tell her the rest of the story.

Steven hesitated a lot.

'Telling twice the same VERY LONG story in one day?' He thought. 'Even not considering that I hate reruns... I do not know ...'

The boy tried to sneak off saying, even if it seemed odd to him while he was asleep.

"You know ... I'm pretty tired. It's exhausting to play such a tale ..."

But he stopped, eyes wide, when princess with a white strand gazed at him with puppy eyes and a face amazingly cute.

The gamer didn't know what to do, she was so much cuter than all the lolis and other cats from internet he had seen in his entire life.

'Oh my God ...' he mused. 'I can no longer refuse now. Otherwise it would mean I'm a monster worse than Freezer. '

He eventually gave up and accepted to play again his favorite story.

The red-haired princess attended her show with the same enthusiasm and the same reactions than her big sister, but she was much more expressive. That gave more energy and satisfaction to the dark-haired metalhead, although the fact that she ate the chocolates he had offered to her, at the same time, deconcentrated him a bit.

When he finished, for the second time, the first part of the movie version of Bilbo, he completely threw himself on the Anna's bed, completely exhausted.

'Please ... Do not ask me to play the second part ...' begged internally Steven.

Anna began to jump asking.

"Please! The next part! The next part!"

'By the seven Vongola's rings! What have I done to deserve this? '

Steven went back to the foot of the bed and explained to the princess.

"Listen Anna, I'm really exhausted now ... I promise I'll tell you the next time, but for now I ..."

"Oh pleeeease!" Anna insisted. "Just the beginning..."

The Londoner was about to reply but, at the last moment, he felt very strange. He began to lose his balance, then felt like he was elsewhere. He remembered that feeling: That of being both here and on the other side of the universe. It had been like this the last time he came here.

Anna was quite intrigued, and very worried, seeing her friend who seemed to feel very bad.

"Steven? Are you okay?" She asked.

'He may be truly exhausted.' She thought. 'Oh, I hope I didn't make him sick ...'

And suddenly, the famous trespasser disappeared in front of the princess. She gasped with amazement. She remained frozen a moment before looking around her calling.

"Steven? Steven?"

But no answer. What he had told to her, and Elsa, was true. He could actually disappear without warning. She hesitated between finding that wonderful and terrible. The only friend she had was gone without having time to say goodbye. And the last time he took a week to come back. When would she see him again? Not in a long time she hoped. She took the pentacle with blue stones he offered to her and inwardly prayed for him to be okay and quickly come back.

The bedroom door opened then. Anna was a little scared and quickly hid the pentacle under her dress, but it was her mother, the queen, and she didn't seem to have seen the jewel.

"Well Anna, what are you doing?" Inquired the sovereign.

"Oh mom… Nothing. I was playing a little before going to sleep."

"And what were you playing?"

Anna hesitated before improvising an answer.

"I just imagined an adventure with dwarves, a dragon and a treasure."

The queen seemed a little surprised by that. But Anna did not find it strange. Feeling tired and wishing to think a little about something else than the events of the day, the redhead asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Do I go to take a bath then go to bed?"

The Sovereign seemed to observe a moment the happy face, although visibly tired, of her daughter before smiling saying.

"Yes, my dear. Go on, but it is another servant who will brush your hairs tonight."

"Gerda is not here?" The girl asked curiously.

"She... is absent. But don't worry, she will be back soon."

Anna accepted this simplistic explanation, but enough for her, and then went in the corridors.

But meanwhile, in her room, the mother of the young redhead seemed intrigued, and even a little worried.

Gerda was absent. But that wasn't expected. When she asked to a servant to call the so-called housekeeper, she told her that she had gone to the church to pray the entire night, saying she had seen a ghost.

It was quite troubling. But what puzzled more the Queen was to discover that her daughters had both showed interested about dwarves. It could have been a coincidence, of course, but the attitude of her daughter Elsa gave her the impression that she was hiding something.

And when she was not far from the room, she would have sworn she heard Anna calling someone named "Steven".

This day had been exhausting for everyone, including the sovereign of Arendelle, who was now really worried about her children.

What the hell was happening in this castle in the end?

List of references:

Bilbo the Hobbit, Legacy of Kain, Dungeons & Dragons, Metal Gear Solid, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, The Strain, Slenderman, Fullmetal Alchemist, Planescape: Torment, Dragon Ball Z, Reborn