The tournament will begin now!
Let's get it on.
On with the show
Chapter 7: The box
Elsa could feel her sisters eyes boring into her back, not maliciously, but more of a curiosity. Elsa hated it when people stared, but in this case it may have been justified. Her behavior could be perceived as odd even for those that knew her well. Unfortunately not even Elsa knew why she was acting the way she was.
Elsa looked up from the sink seeing Anna's confused expression looking back at her in the mirror. She removed the toothbrush from her mouth, but still spoke with a mouthful of toothpaste.
"Can I help you?"
Without missing a beat, Anna asked, "Elsa are you pouting?"
Her eyes widened and her lips pursed. Is that what I'm doing? "No."
"You sure cuz you've been brushing the same spot on your teeth for like ten minutes?"
Elsa quickly brushed the remainder of her teeth, spat and rinsed her mouth out. "See. All done. Not pouting."
Elsa went about her nightly routine, but Anna still didn't seem convinced. "Then why have you been all stompy and huffy ever since you came back." She gasped. "Did Dirgelaff do something?"
Elsa had actually forgotten the unwanted advances by the sorcerer. "Nope. He was a gentleman."
Anna appeared helpless. "Ugh. Then why are you pouting?"
Elsa spun her head around, her hair whipping a stream of frost and her icy eyes narrowing. Anna went rigid under her sisters intense stare. "I. Don't. Pout."
Anna raised her hands. "Okay, okay, you're not pouting." Seemingly appeased Elsa went back to washing her face. "Why are you glowering?" Elsa grabbed a nearby brush and hurled it at her sister. Giggling, Anna ducked out of the bathroom before the brush could hit her.
Elsa went back to washing her face but could still hear Anna saying things like, "huffy" and "pouty" to Kristoff and Olaf.
She rolled her eyes. I'm not pouting…. and why would I be? Not that I am. Just because Drake went flying with some other girl. So what? He can do what he wants. It's not like flying is OUR thing or anything. Just because he's fraternizing with the enemy, who cares? That's it! She's the bad guy and he's hanging out with her.
From the other room she heard Anna open the door. "Oh hey Drake, welcome back."
Quickly realizing she wasn't wearing makeup anymore, Elsa hurriedly grabbed a nearby towel and wrapped it around her face and head.
"Hey. Is Elsa here? I was… out and I didn't see her?"
Elsa heard Anna laugh. "Stalking my sister? Huh?"
"Not stalking!" He corrected. "Concerned."
He was stalking me? Creeper!... or was he just concerned about me with Dirgelaff? Or jealous?
"Uh… Elsa?" With herself essentially blindfolded by the towel she didn't see Anna standing at the doorway of the bathroom. "What are you doing?" She heard Anna giggle.
She put her hands on her hips and responded, though it was muffled beneath the towel. "I'm drying my hair thank you very much?"
She heard another voice snort. It was Drake. "I've never seen anyone dry their hair like that. Like, ever."
Elsa huffed which only blew hot air back into her face. "This is how we do things in Arendelle. Now if you'll excuse me." She fumbled for the sink trying to turn herself around to face the mirror. "Bernard gave you and Cynthia a room down the hall for you two to stay. Goodnight."
They were quiet until Drake laughed. "I'm sorry I can't take you seriously—"
"Goodnight Drake! We'll see you early in the morning!" Elsa heard Anna guide Drake out, but could hear her muttering something about Elsa pouting. "I am not!" She removed the towel from her head, glaring at herself in the mirror. "You don't pout. So what if you wanted to fly. It's not that fun anyways." Not even Elsa could convince herself of that obvious lie.
—:0:—
11 pm the next day
Island twelve. The location for the first trial. It was easy to find, but a pain to get to. Two bridges connected the island to the tower, one going towards the island and one coming back. The bridge going towards the island was shoulder to shoulder packed, except for Elsa and Anna. Being royalty, one of the Bernards acted as security for the sisters as they made their way to the island. Kristoff and Olaf we're stuck behind them, maneuvering against the crowd to stay close.
"Do you see them?" They heard him say.
"Yup!" Anna and Elsa turned around, seeing Olaf's head, in Kristoff's hands, poking above the crowd.
Coming to the entrance of the island there were two directions to go. One would lead to the stands and the other led inside to the arena.
"You either have the option of both stepping into the arena along with your champion or one of you." The Bernard ordered. "The rest must go to the stands."
Elsa and Anna conferred with one another and once they were joined by Kristoff and Olaf, Anna decided to go into the stands while Elsa would stay below. The four parted ways, leaving Elsa at the entrance.
"And where's your champion?" Bernard asked somewhat impatiently.
"Right here!" Through the thick crowd Drake had lifted his hand and was waving to get their attention. "I'm right here." Thank goodness for his sharp hearing.
"Right then." Bernard motioned to the large door behind him. "Inside the arena there is a large platform, step onto it, smile and wave, and await further instructions."
They did as they were told, stepping into the arena and towards a raised platform in the center. Elsa felt her knees buckle beneath her walking amidst the roar of the crowd. Never had she been in a place that was so large, and so loud that it rattled her to her very core. Arendelle didn't have sporting events of such grandeur and the noise alone was enough to shake her.
Drake kept himself close and for some reason she felt a bit better knowing he was beside her.
The platform rose above the ground, a set of stairs on both sides allowing the pair to step into it with the other champions. Including them, there were twelve, they simply needed to wait for the final eight.
As they were instructed they turned towards the gathering crowd in the stands, smiled and waved.
"Wow," she muttered, "I've never seen so many people in one place."
Thankfully his hearing was able to catch what she had said with no issue. "We sort of have things like this in my home, but never to this scale." He smiled a crooked smile at her. "Glad to see you're not mad at me anymore."
It took her a moment to remember what he was talking about. "Oh I wasn't mad, just...um," pouty? No I don't pout. "Just nervous for today I suppose. I have no idea what's coming."
He shrugged. "That makes two of us."
"Are you nervous?"
Another shrug. "Just want to make sure I can succeed for you. I want to help your kingdom."
The more she thought about it he didn't technically have to win. Hans just had to lose.
Elsa's attention was pulled to the other side of the platform where Hans and Arabella took their positions. Elsa's eyes narrowed as wisps of ice came flowing from her nostrils.
"So what's up with the bad blood between you and that Hans character?"
Without missing a beat she responded. "He tried to kill me and Anna."
She could feel him go stiff. "I'm sorry I'm a little slow here. Did you say he tried to KILL you? Dead kill?"
She must have not realized how candid she had been, cuz looking back in his direction his eyes were wide with terror. "It's a long story, but he left Anna to die and tried to kill me with a sword."
Drake's face shifted from afraid to anger. He snorted black smoke and narrowed his now slitted eyes at Hans. Elsa couldn't hear as well, but she was sure he was growling. Elsa went to observe the stands until, on her left hand side, she could see Anna, Kristoff and Olaf shouting and waving at them. She smiled an embarrassed smile with a small wave to her family.
Then she realized something. "Where's Cynthia?"
He spoke matter of factly. "She is waiting for our friends to take her to Arendelle."
"Oh? She didn't want to come support you."
He shook his head. "Nope." Judging by the way he spoke he expected this from his sister.
"Well, we're here." She put a hand on his shoulder earning her a warm smile.
It took a few minutes but finally the other champions arrived at the platform. As soon as they stepped on, the crowd erupted again, this time for Master Dirgelaff. He stood with his arms outstretched from his own special box along the walls of the stands, and with a thundering boom, asked,
"ARE YOU READY FOR MY TOURNAMENT TO BEGIN?!" Elsa nearly collapsed under the sheer volume of cheers from the crowd. Thankfully Drake held onto her arm so she didn't completely crumble. Dirgelaff turned his attention to the platform of champions. "ROYALS! PLEASE PRESENT A TOKEN TO YOUR CHAMPION!"
Elsa went stiff. "Um? Token?" She looked at Drake who was just as confused. They both looked around the platform for an example as a "token". Hans was a bad example since he just gave Arabella a handkerchief. Looking at the Raptor however he was given a small comb from a child. A small Asian girl dressed in traditional Chinese garb for royalty. A child? Huh?
She turned back to Drake, her eyes drifting to his necklace and an idea came to her. "What?" He asked, but she was already flourishing her hands creating ice around his neck until it took the shape of an eight sided snowflake with each flake shaped like a diamond. To complete the small necklace, she placed a dragon in the center of the snowflake.
"My token to you." She smiled. He took the snowflake in his hand, to his surprise it wasn't melting at his touch. "It's made from the same kind of ice I use on Olaf. No melting, not even from a dragon."
He clutched it around his fist. "I'm never taking this off." He bowed his head. "Thank you."
"BEFORE WE BEGIN THERE IS ONE MORE THING I MUST AIR," a Bernard stepped onto the platform and handed a box to Elsa and to Hans. Inside the box were two iron cuffs. "YOUR CHAMPIONS ARE POWERFUL, THIS WILL HELP THINGS STAY FAIR. ON THEIR WRISTS THESE IRON CUFFS MUST GO, TO MAKE THEM AS HUMAN AS THE REST OF THEIR FOES."
Elsa looked down at the cuffs before meeting Drake's eyes, eyes wide with worry and a form of terror. "So these cuffs will make you human?"
"In a manner of speaking," he gulped, "Dragon Knights have a vulnerability to iron. One touch burns, after a moment we're powerless." He looked back at the cuffs, before slowly removing his leather gauntlets.
"Are you okay with this?" She asked.
He shrugged. "Ready or not, I don't really have a choice." He removed his gauntlets and offered his wrists to Elsa. Her breath hitched in her chest when she saw light scarring on his flesh that resembled burns. "My father used to put iron cuffs on me to train without my powers." He leaned closer to her with a wink. "Just don't tell anyone."
She chuckled, a little more at ease. "No worries." In one swift motion she placed the iron onto his wrists. He fell to one knee, growling in pain as the sounds of sizzling flesh made her sick to her stomach. "Drake?! Drake are you okay?!"
He clenched his fists and gave a nod. "I-I'm okay."
Thinking quickly she grabbed onto his hands and pushed small cooling snowflakes underneath the cuff and onto his skin. He took a few deep breaths letting the cooling take effect and settle his pain.
"Better?"
He gave a weak smile. "Much. Thank you." She helped him to his feet just as Dirgelaff spoke again.
"NOW YOU'VE ESTABLISHED A BOND THAT SHAN'T BE BROKEN, PLEASE EXCUSE YOURSELVES ONCE YOU'VE GIVEN YOUR TOKENS!" Drake and Elsa Bowed to one another, and Elsa left him alone with the other champions On the platform, her fingers hanging on to his until the last possible moment.
—:0:—
Dirgelaff raised his arms pushing the platform into the earth. The champions scrambled off in time for the platform to disappear and in its place rose a large structure, similar in shape to a box, with a single door.
"THE FIRST CHALLENGE SHALL SOON BE UNDERWAY, BUT FIRST THERE ARE SOME THINGS I NEED TO CONVEY. STANDING BEHIND YOU IS WHAT I HAVE COME TO CALL, 'THE BOX', BUT IT'S THE LABYRINTH INSIDE YOU MUST ATTEMPT TO OUTFOX. TO GET TO THE OTHER SIDE, THAT SHOULD BE YOUR AIM, DON'T LET THE TUNNELS AND OTHERS CONFUSE YOU OR YOU'LL SURELY LOSE THIS GAME. FIVE AT A TIME MUST CROSS THROUGH THAT GATE, BUT PLEASE MAKE HASTE, YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT LIES IN WAIT."
A Bernard stood at the doorway, allowed five to enter, then held out the palm of his hand to stop the others. Drake was in the second to last group along with three others he didn't care to know and Arabella, who had snuck up beside him in the chaos.
"Looks like you got a lovely token from your 'not queen'." She smirked.
He met her smirk with one of his own. "Well I don't know, I'm sure the handkerchief Hans gave to you has lovely stitching."
"Heh heh," she mocked. The Bernard let the next five enter the box.
Drake leaned closer to her and spoke lowly. "You do know what Hans is accused of right?"
"You mean when he attempted to kill the royalty of Arendelle?"
Drake grabbed her arm. "You know? And you're working for him?"
She pulled her arm away, her violet eyes narrowing violently. "Don't touch me. You know how I feel about that. Secondly yes I am aware and I don't care, because the check was fat."
Bernard waved them through the entrance into the box. The three men behind them quickly shouldered passed, but the two knights hung back. The tunnels were dark, illuminated only by small orbs of light hovering in the corners of the tunnels. Drake was hardly paying attention to his surroundings, instead his eyes were trained on the back of her head.
"I can't believe you are so casual about this? He tried to kill Anna and Elsa."
"Well honor and nobility don't pay the bills so I need to take whatever work I can find. I can't afford to be picky about my employers."
"You wouldn't have to if you weren't so damn stubborn—"
She spun around, slapping him in the face with her white hair. "Stubborn? Do you think that's why I left the 'holy order of the Dragon knights'?" He didn't respond, telling her that he didn't know the full story, which honestly didn't surprise her. She shook her head. "Do yourself a favor and keep your mouth shut about things you obviously don't understand." She turned on her heel and continued down the tunnel. Drake exhaled in humility and continued the tunnel until he heard Arabella in front of him. "What the hell?"
He broke into a jog, meeting Arabella inside a large room. The walls were lined with weapons of every kind from swords to axes, daggers, and spears from every country and time period imaginable. The other competitors had gathered a handful of weapons and were facing the entrance as if waiting for something, or someone.
"And there's the other one." A hulking man with an orange red beard and a large axe in his massive fists thundered towards them. "Two powerless Dragon Knights." Another large man stepped behind them, cutting off their exit, as the others took positions around them. "So me and the boys were talking." He swung the axe over his shoulder. "And we decided that if we wanted this tournament to stay fair, it would be best to get rid of you two." He motioned to Drake and Arabella.
"We get rid of you," Another with a rapier sword said, "we level the playing field."
Drake and Arabella exchanged looks, but the Raptor stood between them and the brutes. He was American, but was dressed in a black kimono with cloth wrapping around his bare feet and knuckles.
His crystal blue eyes narrowed. "There is no honor in defeating an opponent who isn't fighting in their prime, or unarmed."
The large man shrugged. "Fair enough. Go ahead knights," he motioned to the wall of weapons, "choose your weapons."
Without missing a beat, and without taking her eyes off of the mountain man, Arabella went to the wall to choose.
"Hold on!" Drake shouted. "You're joking, right? You're just gonna kill us? Then what?" He looked around to the other competitors, noticing that there were a few of them that were missing. At least four that could already be in the labyrinth. "And what if tall, fat, and bearded decides it would be best to kill you? Then what?"
A few exchanged looks, but the louder of the group, a blonde blue eyed man with a jaw that could cut glass, let out a hearty laugh. "Well tall, fat and bearded raises an excellent point. I'd much rather test my chances against the likes of him, then you." He raised his broadsword toward Arabella. "Now why don't you fight for your damsel?"
Arabella went rigid, Drake facepalming while muttering to himself. "Oh no he didn't."
Arabella turned to face the blonde, rage etched into her eyes. "What did you call me?"
The blonde shrunk beneath her stare. "D-damsel?" Arabella, forgoing the weapons, leapt at him like a fierce jungle cat, wrapped her legs around his neck and began beating his face in with her fists.
Drake was moments from helping her when the brute behind him put the long rod of the axe against his neck to hold him back. The blonde with the rapier sword charged with the point of his blade aimed at his chest. Drake threw his hands behind him, clapping his hands against the brutes ears until he released him. Using the iron cuff, Drake deflected the attack and pushed the blade into the brutes stomach. Drake spun around, threw his elbow into the blonde's nose, then another fist into his face to break it.
The brute removed the sword from his stomach, but before he could impale Drake with it, the Raptor threw up a katana to block it. The two began dueling leaving Drake to the bloodied blonde.
"How dare you!" He snarled. Drake got into a fighting stance by having both firsts raised by his head. More of the blonde's friends came to his aid, as he raised his sword. "Just to inform you, I know every inch of the sword and how to use it."
Drake just laughed. "You better know something."
—:0:—
What the champions didn't know was that the glowing spheres not only provided light, but also showed those in the stands exactly what was going on inside the box. Magical squares lined the stands, showing the audience what the spheres we're seeing.
"This can't be fair," Anna screamed at the glowing screen, "it's like a hundred to two in there."
"A hundred to three." Kristoff pointed, showing that the Raptor was fighting on the side of the Dragon Knights.
"Still, there's no way this is fair." Anna looked over at Dirgelaff's box and he didn't seem perturbed in the slightest by what was happening. "Unless this is supposed to happen?"
Elsa was busy looking at the screen to contribute to the conversation, but Anna seemed to get her attention. "What do you mean, that they're supposed to gang up on two of them?"
"I mean what if they're supposed to thin the herd. Dwindle the number of champions."
"Makes sense," Kristoff shrugged. There was a collective gasp in the arena, even Elsa had to cover her mouth in shock. One of the hulking bearded men had chopped off the head of one of the other champions. Thankfully it wasn't Drakes.
"Every man for himself now." Sure enough the champions forgot about the Dragon Knights and began having a free for all against each other. The gasps and shock soon became cheers when four of the champions emerged from the box. The four that hadn't wished to participate in the brawling.
"Well there's four." Olaf counted. "Hey I can count!"
Elsa nodded, but Her eyes were still trained on the screen and her champion.
—:0:—
Drake threw his fist into another champion's face, knocking him out cold. "Remind me to thank my dad for making me do this." He rubbed the iron cuffs on his wrists as he looked around the box. Once it was clear Drake and Arabella weren't as helpless as they had hoped, the other champions turned on each other leaving at least seven dead and the rest, that didn't make it out, unconscious.
One of which was being finished off by Arabella.
He tried to pull her off, but She spun around, putting her forearm into his throat and pressing him against the wall. Even when she could tell it was Drake she didn't relent. "I told you. Not to touch me."
He raised his hands. "I got it." She removed her forearm and took a look around them at the chaos.
"Guess we're the last ones out?"
"Not unless you count these unconscious guys? By my count three down for the count, including big red." Drake kicked the original instigator in the head at his feet.
"And seven dead." Arabella noted. She grabbed a spear and headed for the exit. "Might as well get going with this labyrinth while we can." Looking at his feet Drake noted the Raptor also among the unconscious.
He gently shook his shoulder to wake him, but was met with the katana inches from his throat. "Hey! Friend. Remember?"
The Raptor grit his teeth as he pulled himself to his feet, pushing away Drakes attempt to help. "We're not friends. I just wasn't going to let them kill you. Although it seems you didn't need my help."
Drake motioned to the cuffs on his wrist. "My father had an interesting training regimen for me."
"Understood." He shouldered passes him towards the exit.
"I owe you though. I don't think I would have lasted against them without you or Arabella."
The Raptor shook his head. "You owe me nothing."
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"
Drake could recognize Arabella's voice anywhere, and thinking she was in danger ran as fast as he could through the tunnels to find her. Once Drake had found her his jaw dropped.
"Are you kidding me?"
—:0:—
The stands erupted again just as Drake and Arabella emerged from the box. Both knights looking at the arena in complete disbelief.
"That was it!?" Arabella screamed. "That was the labyrinth? A couple tunnels and a weapons vault?"
Drake looked around finding the Arendellians looking astonished and relieved.
"OUR FIRST CHAMPIONS HAVE EMERGED!" Dirgelaff announced, "A FEW OF THEIR COMPETITORS THEY HAVE MANAGED TO PURGE!" While the stands were still alive with cheering, there were still others that were confused. "I APOLOGIZE IF I LED YOU TO BELIEVE THE TUNNELS WERE QUITE PERILOUS, BUT REALLY THE BOX IS TO GET RID OF THOSE WHO MAY BE UNSCRUPULOUS."
"So that's it." Arabella tossed the spear to the ground. "That was the box? Was it a set up to get rid of us?"
Drake shook his head. "Weirdly I don't think so. Just trying to get rid of whoever I guess."
"OUR FINAL CHAMPIONS HAVE SHOWN THEMSELVES! AND WHAT'S BEST IS ITS AN EVEN NUMBER. TWELVE!" Sure enough, twelve had emerged from the box alive.
Sorry if this all seems anticlimactic, but trust me, these trails and challenges are gonna get intense so buckle up. Big thanks to CGST for beta reading and offering helpful insight.