"Where the north wind meets the sea
There's a river full of memory
Trust the Ravens watch them soar
For they lead to something more."
"In the waters deep and blue.
Odin 's singing
resound from down below—
Upon his side and where he lies.
You might meet his cloudy eye.
To those who seek for all he knows
What he sees is the great unknown.
But can you brave what you most fear?
Can you face what his eye foretold
Where the north wind meets the sea
There's a river full of memory
Watch it settle, watch it slow
Can you face what the river knows?"
O
The first thing that he registered was the cold, how bitterly cold it was out at sea on nothing but a dingy wooden boat . Very primitive, not his preferred method of travel if he was to be honest. The man rubbed his hands together deep in thought. He had his best linguists, cartographers and archeologists work on this for months. Who would have guessed that the breakthrough was a half forgotten lullaby he had found scrawled in one of his wife's books. Well very badly translated lullaby but that can't be helped, The ancient Northuldrans were known to have been a group of people who conveyed their history orally. But no matter, it didn't take him long to teach himself and master a dead language. Wasn't like it was hard or anything. He looked up as the caged raven, attached carefully to the boat's mast head released an ominous screech. Quickly , he released it ,watching with growing anticipation how it took to the skies. Placing himself at the boat's rudder, he followed the black bird, steering tirelessly until he saw the raven disappear into a cloud of mist.
The man smiled, if the song was to be believed, Ahtohallan should be coming right up… Oh sure it was stupidly located at the furthest point of the Dark Sea… (of course it was) but if he were actually to find it... Well all this trouble would have been worth it. He really owed his wife big for this one.
There! And the hooded figure grinned as he pulled up to mystical landmark's icy shore. Cautiously, with nothing but an oil lamp to guide his way, the figure made his way down the icy cave. Strange, he had expected *more* if he was perfectly honest. The Northuldrans have described Ahtohallan as some sort of visual archive. That by *magic* it was able to project scenes from history along its icy walls, that Ahtohallan allowed its visitors to learn all there is to know about their past, and the people connected to them. He also heard that traversing Ahtohallan's caverns could be extremely treacherous. Not that treachery was something he was unfamiliar with. As he traversed deeper and deeper into the cave, he began to feel…. Worried… There should be *something* by now... anything really… Removing his hood, the man checked his notes. Yes, past the pillars, the lime stone, stalactites, stalagmites, the rock formation that resembled a man lying on his side. The man frowned as he clambered over the structure, sliding down to its centre. This was where… This was where he was supposed to find it… but there was nothing. NOTHING AT ALL, Ahtohallan was just… It was just a glorified ice berg at this point if it didn't contain what he was looking for. It was a few minutes before the man moved again. This was fine… moving onto Plan B then.
O
In another time, another place, King Runeard staggered to where the unconscious body of Adgar lay, after all this trouble to obtain what he wanted from the Northuldran people, he wouldn't let it be for nought. Even if it meant he'd never get to see the power of the Odin's Eye himself. The fabled gem, forged by the king of gods himself , his all seeing eye encased in the very ice of Ahtohallan. Runeard smiled, he WILL become ruler over both Arendelle and Northuldra. Carefully, he wrapped the precious gem in Adgar's coat before hastily returning to the battle, his hubris being that his thirst for power would land him on the wrong side of a sword, never being able to see or use the gem he had spent so long trying to steal. It was nearly half a century later when someone else would.
O
Elsa took a deep breath finally allowing herself to relax slightly as she backed away from the large wooden oak doors. She enjoyed the castle late at night, no hideous trade and tax meetings, no lessons and more importantly, no people. She could be herself. With a sigh the platinum blonde peeled off her gloves and folded them neatly onto the desk but as she did that, Elsa could already feel the frost gathering at the tip of her fingers and she inhaled sharply, closing her eyes, trying to keep that crackling energy beneath the surface. It was getting more and more difficult to keep that side of her in check, Elsa rubbed her eyebrows, feeling completely exhausted, for now she was ready to chalk this all up to nerves. Her coronation was tomorrow, and the soon to be queen felt woefully unprepared for such an important event.
"I'm sorry papa, I just… I just don't think I'm ready." she whispered as her eyes travelled up to Adgar's painting on his own coronation day. How regal he looked but there was something about his eyes that gave hint to hesitation, even fear… Elsa smiled slightly, something about that expression was just so familiar, just so much like him… She folded her arms before hesitantly reaching for a candelabra and inkwell.
"Calm yourself, control yourself… You can do this." and Elsa took a deep breath before mimicking the pose on the painting. One day, she only had to do it for one day… Elsa closed her eyes and held her breath.
"Do it for papa… Do it for mama…" but her hands were already trembling.
"They're all counting on you… How do you expect to be queen when you can't even hold yourself together." and Elsa flinched as she felt the energy crackling beneath her fingertips leave and when she had looked down, she gasped in shock. The candelabra and inkwell had completely frosted over. Elsa bit her lip and quickly slipped the gloves back on, the blonde biting her lip in fear as she curled into herself… She… She couldn't do this….
It took a few minutes for Elsa to compose herself. Whipping a stray lock of her out of her face, the young queen decided to just move on.
"It's not what I'm here for anyway…" she reminded herself before pulling out an envelope Kai had handed to her that morning. The contents had shocked her when she read it that morning and while it could have been some childish prank orchestrated by Anna… Elsa sincerely doubted it. It wasn't even like her sister talked to her anymore… Well, not that she could blame Anna. Trembling, she very carefully pushed the painting aside. To her surprise, it moved fairly easily just as the letter had said and there… again like the letter had said, there was a brick in the wall coloured differently the rest, and right in the middle… a keyhole.
"I shouldn't be doing this… What am I even doing?" but Elsa was intrigued at this point, TERRIFIED but intrigued. Quickly, she unlocked it and to her surprise found something akin to a very large diamond and attached to it, a piece of parchment rolled up, the size of her ring finger.
"To grant power and insight…" Elsa read aloud in confusion. Was this… Was this meant to be bestowed onto her like the crown and sceptre? Her father's last coronation present to her now that she was the ruler in his stead. Elsa felt her stomach twist, the very thought always made her shudder.
Unsure, she turned to the diamond in question, marvelling its beauty as she weighed it in her hands, rolling the weight with slender shoulders. For its size, it was surprisingly light. Elsa always had an eye for things that sparkled or glittered but this was different. She couldn't explain it but… there was something pulling her, compelling her to put on the gemstone.. The blonde paused, she wondered how it'd look around her neck. Turning to a mirror Elsa carefully secured the chain and for the briefest of moments was awash with an overwhelming sense of calm, but that of course was shattered when a thunderous flash overtook her and Elsa screamed as through the blinding white light she saw the necklace seemed to cling painfully onto her...digging… clawing burrowing hungrily into her skin, and by the time the guards had burst through the door to investigate the noise, they found their queen kneeling there breathless. The gem was nowhere to be seen.
Reviews are always appreciated (I know some of you have burning questions right now but pls be patient with me, I promise its worth it)