Chapter 10: Can you brave what you most fear?
Immediately when they walked out of the tunnel, they found themselves in a gigantic area. The cavern seemed even larger than the dome of memories Elsa was used to walking in during her numerous visits in Ahtohallan.
"Waow, this place is huge!" Exclaimed Anna, and the two others let out impressed gasps as well.
Elsa nodded solemnly, and her head fell heavy doing so. She couldn't tell if it was due to the overpowering aura of the room, that felt like crushing on them by its size and might, or if it was something else, but she started to feel dizzy. The blonde frowned at the sensation; it was odd, especially how it was a feeling that seemed to come from nowhere. She turned to her lover and sister, and they seemed to feel the same way. It wasn't unease, however, analyzed the Snow Queen as she frowned again, looking down when she focused on the sensation. It wasn't claustrophobia either. Anna may be scared of the dark, but she wasn't, for she had been used to it for so many years, just like closed spaces. This cavern was so big though, that it made no sense for anyone to feel drowsy at it. Yet it was the exact sensation now more and more weighing on her head.
A yawn behind her made her turn around again.
Honeymaren put her hand in front of her mouth, but she couldn't have helped the loudness that escaped her. She had an embarrassed smirk.
"Sorry. I'm just… Really tired. This journey is undeniably exhausting, and the day has been long, not talking about the long descent of stairs we had before. Maybe it's the darkness of the cavern that lulls me…"
Anna snorted. "For a second, I thought that you were getting bored. Come on, this place is so epic and mysteriou-ah-"
She interrupted herself with a loud yawn as well, even louder than Honeymaren's. Elsa lifted an amused eyebrow, and the Northuldra giggled at the light of her magic blue torch.
"You were saying?"
The Queen blushed. She had enough regal decency to usually hide her yawns behind her hand, but there she simply didn't get the time. Judging by her surprised and blushing face, the two wives understood that she got overtaken by her own gesture.
Honeymaren frowned and wanted to ask 'Did you plan to yawn? Or did it suddenly take you?' but her jaw opened up and large again, and she closed her eyes as another yawn came from all her body. Tears of tiredness appeared at the corners of her eyes like pearls, and she slowly blinked, feeling completely wasted.
"Hmmm…" She muttered. "You know what? Maybe we should take a break for a moment. So we'll have full capacities when we arrive at the core of the source."
"I agree." Immediately said Anna, before Elsa could even reply.
She actually was about to retort, and her eyes got even wider when she saw the two women taking off their backpacks to put them on the ground.
"Wait, are you serious? It's barely… The early afternoon!"
"Is it really?" Blinked slowly her sister, holding herself on her thighs, and she looked as exhausted as if she had run from the end of Arendelle's village to the castle, without stopping. "Because this place kind of makes me lose track of time."
"Same." Admitted the brunette. "What time was it when we entered the pit? Those stairs seemed to go forever… I should have noted the position of the Sun in the sky…"
Elsa's breathing hitched up a bit as she realized that herself had no idea of the time it was. Was it still the afternoon? They couldn't even tell because of the darkness in the cavern. And the lukewarm temperature didn't help to guess. She stuttered as she walked back to them.
"W-wait, we can't stop walking right now!"
Her insistence had zero effect on the others. Even worse, as she was about to raise her tone to give another advice, the air seemed to go warmer. It wasn't a menacing warmth, but rather... The most comfortable Elsa had ever felt. She blinked in confusion. Wasn't the room oppressing two minutes ago? Or maybe it was an hour ago… She shook her head as she blamed herself for not being able to pinpoint time correctly.
"Damn it." She muttered. She thought that Anna and Honeymaren would joke or snort at her slight curse, but they remained silent; except maybe, for lulled sighs of comfort.
The Fifth Spirit squinted at how they seemed very satisfied at the idea to stop entirely what they were doing for now. It surprised her of them both. She knew them enough to find it weird that Anna, her forever stubborn and energetic sister, agreed to have a sudden break, and that Honeymaren, her brave, intrepid and dedicated wife, wasn't insisting on them to continue to free Elsa of her burden.
But now the blonde slowly forgot that she was even finding it strange… And she wanted more than ever to indeed do nothing and just stay here. The air, that already was filled with magic as she had felt it since the tunnel, now felt like it was ringing with music. It wasn't really there, she could tell, and it was nothing but loud. Anna and Honeymaren seemed to hear it too; it was soothing, and calm, and welcome, like the chirping of birds. It wasn't perceptible with the ears, it was with the heart. Like the rhythmic sounds of drums that echoed in the body. Elsa admitted herself to be lulled by it, and listened to its sound without questioning if it were normal or not. She came closer to the two others, ready to slack, when she noticed that Anna's head wasn't nodding at the same rhythm than Honeymaren's. They had equally blessed smiles, her eyes still slowly blinking, but it was like they weren't hearing the same thing. And none of them were nodding at the same rhythm than what Elsa was hearing.
Elsa's eyes suddenly widened as everything clicked together in her mind. Was this cavern… No, it couldn't be…
As she thought, Anna started sitting down, and her move clearly indicated that she was about to lay and go to sleep in a few seconds. Her sister's behavior confirmed Elsa's suspicions.
"No, wait, Anna, don't lay down!"
The blonde panicked, and looked at her lover. Honeymaren still was standing a few meters away, but she seemed to stumble in her slow walk, and she would soon cede.
"Y'know what, Elsa… Let's just stop and continue tomorrow… " Mumbled Anna, in a voice so low and tired that it frightened her elder. The redhead's back was tilting down. "This place is comfortable… The perfect place to sleep..."
Elsa blinked, aghast. "Anna, this is a cavern."
"Comfy…" Mumbled her sister, lower and lower.
The blonde hurried to grab her arm and prevent her from laying down. "No, Anna, you don't understand... You might never wake up!"
"Who cares…"
The Fifth Spirit grabbed her shoulders, trying her best to get the redhead looking at her, but it was tremendously hard. Firstly, because Anna's head kept tilting down, like she fainted continuously. Secondly, because she had very tired and slowly closing eyes, and Elsa had to struggle herself not to indulge in sleep that seemed to float in the air like spores. And thirdly, and it was the most difficult, Anna kept yawning, and it was the most contagious body language.
Clenching her jaw not to yawn, Elsa shook her younger's shoulders violently.
"Anna! Don't fall asleep! This is a sin! I mean, one of the four of the cluster! Don't you get it? This is all a test! Like when I faced the Elemental Spirits! It's like a stage! This place... It's the chamber of Sloth!"
The redhead kept mumbling. "I like sloths... Sloths are so cute... I love them so much I wanna sleep along with them and cuddle and-"
"Don't close your eyes!" Screamed Elsa, panicking more with every passing second, and she held her sister's head up.
"Hey, don't shout over there. I'm trying to sleep." Mumbled another voice behind her, and she twirled with horror when she recognized Honeymaren's tired tone.
"No, nononono…"
The brunette had almost buckled her knees before laying down with a satisfied smile.
"That's the comfiest I've ever been…" She muttered in delight, not even using her backpack as a pillow and simply dropping her head on the rock ground.
Elsa's breathing hitched. It was a good thing that her ice was unbreakable if she decided so, because they had both dropped the torches on the floor. She shook one more time Anna's shoulders - in vain - then ran to Honeymaren to shake her shoulders too. It was completely ineffective.
"No, no! DON'T CLOSE YOUR EYES!"
A stumble behind her announced that Anna had fallen entirely. Her eyes started to close…
"NO! BOTH OF YOU, WAKE UP!"
She stood up, in panic and anger. "WAKE UP!"
Her screams did nothing else than a useless echo in the cavern. She couldn't do anything. It was unfair. What could three humans do against such a magical test? Then it hit her.
She didn't try magic. How did she not think of that?
"I'm the dumbest idiot of the land…" Grumbled Elsa, and she chose not to facepalm to instead focus on twirling her wrists.
She pointed with one hand to Anna and the other to Honeymaren.
"Sorry, not sorry." She winced.
A cascade of ice cubes appeared in mid-air and fell along their collars and backs, making them wake up instantly in a spasm.
"GYAH!" Screamed Anna, sitting up immediately.
Honeymaren let out a whining noise that was a mix of 'Holy hell that's cold' and 'Seriously, Elsa? Again?' that made the blonde smile for the first time since they entered the chamber.
They shook their clothes to get rid of the ice cubes she had crafted, but Elsa purposely made them float out of their reach and roam all along their backs. Given their faces, it was horribly uncomfortable. Therefore, perfect.
"ELSA!" Grumbled her younger. "Get those off at once!"
"Not before we leave this room." Replied Elsa resolutely.
She grabbed Anna's bag, then Honeymaren's, and waved her free hand to make the ice cubes nudge them to follow her as she searched for the exit.
As she expected, the way out was blatantly obvious with its large opening, but the spell that had fallen on them had made it kind of forgettable. The cavern had two dark spots on opposite walls: one being the end of the tunnel they had come from, and the other leading to another tunnel, but its shape was different. She recognized the kind of leading pattern she had seen on her first visit to Ahtohallan, and grinned in victory.
With annoyed but helpful nudges, she led the group out, and when she reached the tunnel, the magical music, the soothing sensation and the dizzy feeling all briskly disappeared in a snap.
Suddenly, it was like Anna and Honeymaren had been taken out of a transe. They shook their heads, in disbelief of what just happened.
"What the…" Muttered Anna. She looked at Honeymaren, they exchanged a gaze, then looked at her elder.
"Woaw. Oh my goodness. Elsa, I owe you my life." Blinked Anna.
The Fifth Spirit understood that the magic of the cave had no effect on them anymore, so she melted the ice cubes. It was relieving, but the two women were too busy gasping in shock to appreciate their warm backs again.
"Wait, you remember everything?" Realized the blonde.
"Yes." Gasped Honeymaren. "But it was like… I couldn't do anything. I saw you helping me, shaking my shoulders, but it was like I didn't care. Like nothing mattered anymore, I just wanted to…"
"Sleep?" Finished Anna and Elsa with one voice.
The Northuldra gulped as she nodded. Her wife saw in her chestnut eyes a bit of shame, like she couldn't believe she didn't resist the magical charm.
"It was a trap, and we both fell head first into it. I'm so sorry, Elsa, I should have seen it coming…"
"It's okay." Assured Elsa, because she was relieved it was all over. In the moment, it wasn't okay at all.
She then tilted her head with a squint as she analysed the situation.
"I don't think it was a trap, actually. It was more a challenge."
Anna, who had been massaging her neck, turned to her. "Wait, so it's exactly like when you faced Nokk? And I faced the Giants?"
The Snow Queen nodded. "Yes. Except, those challenges were about Air, Fire, Water and Earth, so we had to actually face them, even fight them. Here, we're talking about sins, so the challenge is to go through them with a sort of simulation. Here, it was Sloth."
"Instead of being challenged on the way to Ahtohallan, in Piruluola the challenges happen inside… Just like the emotions they represent." Summarized Honeymaren poetically. She then widened her eyes. "Wait... Does that mean…"
They all stopped looking at each other to stare at the tunnel continuing in front of them, and it kept going deeper and deeper.
Elsa gulped. "That we still have three other sins to face."
She turned to the two other women, and they had worried and sad expressions. She had a pinch to the heart then, because what she was about to add would make those expressions worse.
"And... I'm ready to bet that not only the challenges will be harder and harder, but that for each chamber, we won't be able to tell when we start getting mesmerized."
"Great. Great great, great great great."
Anna's voice was echoing in the tunnel as they walked to what would be the next chamber. And she hated that clearly, none of them could tell when they would be under another spell.
"Juuuuust what we needed. Go into an adventure, I thought, it will be awesome, I thought, changing from the daily life and paperwork and stuff, I thought…" She mumbled, so low the others couldn't hear. "Awesome." She blurted in a final point.
As they walked in the tunnel, Honeymaren winced at her sister-in-law. Not only she also had the bad feeling that this visit in Piruluola wouldn't end well, but she also felt immense guilt for not being able to help Elsa when they were cursed.
"Snømus, I…"
The Snow Queen turned to her at the nickname, and when she saw her artic blue eyes staring at her, she gulped and looked down.
"I…"
"What?" Replied Elsa.
"Th… Thank you for picking up the torches. We, uhm… We had dropped them, and…"
She gulped, and sighed. Why was she so bad at this? She rarely had found herself in a situation where she was useless. Sure, they were times in their couple life where only Elsa could act, and she was only watching. But here, she felt weak, and it made her feel like an incapable idiot.
"I screwed up. I should have listened when you said we shouldn't have stopped, you were right and…"
She looked up during her ramble, and her wife was grinning, which was objectively surprising. "What are you grinning at?"
"You're clenching to the ice so hard, I could feel it kilometers away." She giggled.
Honeymaren blushed a bit. In her stressful admission, she had clenched her fists, but one of them was holding Elsa's creation. She looked at the torch distractly, then equally blue eyes stared at her again.
"Hey. Honey. Relax, it's fine. I'm not gonna blame you. I've also been under that spell too. It wasn't a challenge made to target you, we all had to go through it. It's okay."
The brunette bit her lip, and exhaled longly through her nose. "But if you hadn't been there…"
Elsa slipped her hand in Honeymaren's. "If you weren't there, I wouldn't have the courage to walk to the core of this dark magic source that awaits in front of us. So if we stay side by side, what can possibly happen?"
The Northuldra leader was about to reply, when her belly rumbled. She blushed and Elsa laughed out loud. "Well, here goes the proof that time went on enough for you to get hungry. You should have extended your lunch like Anna did."
The redhead stuck out her tongue when the elder turned to her, and she smiled. "Let me look in my bag if I have some wholemeal bread…"
"Uhm, Elsa…"
"Wait, I'm sure there's some of it in a napkin at the bottom of it…" Frowned the Snow Queen, taking her backpack in her hands to look into it and search better. "Where did I put it?"
"Elsa."
Someone tugged on her arm, insistent.
"What?" She groaned, annoyed by the pressure of her sister. She wanted to feed her wife, let her do so!
"I don't think you need to find a snack in your bag."
Elsa lifted her eyes, and widened them immediately. She didn't have to follow Anna's flabbergasted stare or Honeymaren's dropped jaw to see the miracle in front of them.
They had reached the next room. While until now, they had been in the dark, the place seemed to suddenly have filled with bright white light, but not only; hundreds of thousands of dishes, fruits, vegetables, meats, fishes, cakes and more wonders were taking up the entire cavern. They all were presented on shiny golden plates with cutlery at disposal everywhere. Every few dozen or so dishes was a spot with beverages, in a large choice as well. There seemed to be an infinite amount of water but also wine, whiskey, cognac… Name it.
Honeymaren, speechless, walked slowly to the closest food she could see, which was a pastry with a mountain of whipped cream on top, and it seemed incredibly tempting. She couldn't help putting her finger in it, and she brought the finger into her mouth. It didn't only look perfect, it really was in terms of texture and taste.
"Holy waow." She muttered, letting out a long sigh of pleasure, her eyes closing at the perfect amount of sugar that melted on her tongue. "That's the best whipped cream I ever tasted."
She didn't get to eat some that often, because it wasn't a typical Northuldra meal, and she was delighted to have tasted this dessert first.
Anna's eyes were deeply attracted by another kind of dessert; the biggest kransekake she had ever seen was rising in front of her, further in the room, and she walked to it with drool pouring at her lips.
"My goodness, do you see what I see?" She asked out loud, a smile stretching her lips.
"Yeah…" Muttered Elsa, but her shocked expression soon turned to a happy one too.
Honeymaren was too busy having her mouth full with cream to answer. Anna didn't notice; now nothing could separate her from tasting that delicious-looking kransekake. It even smelled divine as she ran to it.
While they both ate desserts, Elsa looked around for something salty, her cravings a bit different. Something shone at the corner of her eye. She found it fascinating enough to make her smile and approach, because all the tableware was shining. Why was this dish so tempting from afar? Her face lit up with happy surprise when she recognized a bowl filled to the brim with gåjkkebierggo, and her pace sped up a bit as she eagerly reduced the distance between her and the dish.
Elsa couldn't really remember when she started eating; it was like, in a flash, she was right into her tasting, and it was obviously heavenly. The bowl seemed to refill eternally; another piece of dry meat added itself to the rice when she was certain that she ate the last bit. It was exactly how she loved gåjkkebierggo, with the same care than her wife had when she cooked it.
She wondered how it was possible that Honeymaren's exact recipe was present in this room, especially since even the other Northuldra were unable to reproduce her specific seasoning despite many tries. But she shrugged and kept eating. Who cared anyway? This was utterly delicious, and any second of reflexion was a bite away from it, and a loss. She grabbed a bigger golden spoon and devoured the dish.
How long had she been eating? Would the bowl ever be empty? She didn't want to empty it. She wanted this moment to stay forever… This taste to be eternal, this smell to stay in her soul for all her life…
And suddenly someone slapped her.
She blinked, dropping the bowl and the spoon, which she couldn't hold due the force of the cuff anyway, her whole body twirling at it.
"What the-"
She felt like her gaze sharpened, and a pair of teal blue eyes stared at her.
"I'm so, so so sorry for slapping you, I really am, but it was like you couldn't even feel me pulling your arm."
"Wh-what?" Blinked Elsa, utterly confused.
Where did all the light go? Why were they in the dark again? She didn't understand a thing.
"Elsa, stay with me." Insisted Anna, seeing that she was looking behind her to see if she could see the room filled with light again, that delicious room filled with light and dishes and so many wonders...
"Please don't make me slap you again." Whined Anna.
The blonde's left cheek started to feel intensely warm at the force of the slap, like a ghost mark which now anchored Elsa to reality. Her brain focused on it fully, and it was like she woke up from a dream.
Now it was crystal clear. Honeymaren and Anna were staring at her, they were in a tunnel again, and the light had completely gone. So did the smells, so did the taste on her lips and in her palate. In fact, it was like it never had happened…
"She's coming back to her senses." Said Honeymaren, inspecting her face.
"Yeah, I think so…" Squinted Anna.
They each were placing a hand on her shoulders, and Elsa gasped.
"Oh my gods, did I…"
Honeymaren let out a long sigh. "Yeah."
"We all did, in fact." Shrugged Anna. "But I'm glad you're okay."
Elsa nodded slowly. She absentmindedly rubbed her sore cheek. Anna's heart broke in two, and she hugged her warmly.
"I'm so sorry for slapping you, I just… I was scared, and I had to think fast, and…"
"It's okay", murmured Elsa. She was a bit elsewhere, stunned by the undeniable fact that what had just happened didn't actually happen, that it was another sin challenge and that they indeed couldn't tell they were cursed. So she had been right… Despite their predictions, they would fall right into the spell each time.
That horrible conclusion made her return Anna's hug, and she kept her close. She passed a hand along her back, and extended her arm to pass a hand on Honeymaren's smiling cheek as well.
"Thank you, you too. I'm so sorry, I wasn't able to see through the challenge this time…"
"Actually, it was Anna who woke me up too." Admitted Honeymaren.
Elsa detached from the hug and looked at her smiling sister with pride.
"Gluttony is a nasty flaw." Said the redhead.
"And we would be nothing without your skills." Complimented Elsa.
The Queen shrugged with a nervous laugh. "I've actually had several rings of kransekake before realizing something was wrong."
"About that, how were you able to tell?" Asked Honeymaren.
"I'll tell you later, right now we should hurry up because I can still smell all the delicious meals from the tunnel and let me tell you that this chocolate seems divine."
The second she pronounced the word, Elsa instantly smelled a strong chocolate fragrance, and it was mouth-watering. They all admitted it was time to go and basically ran to the next room.
Right when the Snow Queen was remembering herself to be careful because it would present a new challenge to them, the thought disappeared in a snap and she completely forgot the danger.
"Kristoff?"
Her eyes snapped up when Anna's voice echoed in front of them, as she was leading the way. Honeymaren and Elsa exchanged a look, and joined the redhead, who had stopped at the entrance of the new cavern.
The Queen's teal blue eyes went large. "What are you doing- How did you even enter? When-"
"You're asking a lot of questions." Chuckled Kristoff in a smooth way. "Just relax, Anna, it's okay."
The redhead lowered her tensed shoulders. After all, why stressing out? He surely wanted to surprise them, and had arrived before them in the pit… Or maybe he had found another entrance… Anna's thoughts weren't much coherent anymore, anyway, for she had just noticed that Kristoff was shirtless.
"Aren't you cold?" Worried his wife.
"Never in your presence." Teased the man with a smile.
Anna giggled, and put a hand on one of his pectorals. Her eyes widened when she lowered them and noticed that Kristoff was not only entirely naked but also… Currently was sporting a really good physical condition in the lower region.
"...Oh my goodness."
She looked away with a blush, feeling awkward, and wanted to see where the others were. But surprisingly, it was like they were gone. She walked around to search for them, with a suspicious frown, when a familiar silhouette slipped in behind her.
"So, feisty… It's just the two of us now..."
A shiver of pleasure went up Anna's spine, and she let out a whine that was a mix of a relieved sigh and a moan. The muscular arms circled her tenderly, and she felt like she was lulled instantly in that amazing sensation she loved so much. When she was in Kristoff's arms, it was like she was safe from everything, and it was a feeling she had been craving for since they entered the pit.
Speaking of feeling, she knew very well the sensation against the back of her thigh, and what it meant.
Her breathing sped up and she smiled.
Further in the cavern, the Northuldra leader felt like she had lost the others too, which was odd to happen all of a sudden.
"Say, Honeymaren… Is it me or the room got hotter?" Said a suave voice behind the brunette.
She turned around, surprised that such a tone was coming from Elsa's familiar voice, but a bigger surprise was waiting for her.
"Ah, there you a-"
Smiled Honeymaren, and her voice vanished in her throat at the sight.
Elsa was slowly walking to her and unmelting her clothes with a flick of the wrist, now standing in front of her in full exposure. Honeymaren blushed so hard the tips of her ears felt like burning.
"Yeah, it got hotter." She muttered.
She found herself in loss of words. Her lover's beauty was unparalleled, but it seemed enhanced now for some reason. The way Elsa's hips rolled exaggeratedly when she joined her was suspicious, so she frowned. Also, wasn't Elsa standing on her other side when they entered the chamber?
Her rational thoughts got blown away when the blonde placed her arms around her neck.
"Well, that's a gluttony I like to have…" Murmured Honeymaren heavily, almost purring. Her hands cupped Elsa's chest and she bit her lip at the sensation.
Elsa suddenly kissed her deeply, and the brunette let out a gasp. It had been brutal and intense, but definitely not the way she was used to, and neither actually liked; the blonde actually had hurt her teeth doing so.
Honeymaren reluctantly brought her hands up from Elsa's chest to grab her shoulders and push her away.
"Wait, that hurt."
The Snow Queen didn't seem to care, and went back to her administrations, pressing her naked body against the brunette. The latter's breathing hitched at the sensation, and she felt her senses heating up.
"Hold on, snømus…" Warned Honeymaren. "There's Anna right here, she'll see us…"
But Anna couldn't possibly notice. She was clinging to Kristoff so hard it seemed like she had forgotten the world existed. The brunette frowned as she looked over to where she was, when Elsa's perfectly soft hand grabbed her face and brought her attention back to her.
"I don't mind." She smiled, and the leader didn't get the time to admire that smile because she practically smashed her lips on hers again.
The Northuldra felt conflicted about that kiss, and she got angry at herself for being so. What did she not like about it? It was perfect, enthralling, and she loved that Elsa was in control.
But... That was exactly what she found weird. Since when Elsa was that confident?
With another frown, she put her hands out of Elsa's hold as the blonde was guiding her to her lower parts, and pushed her shoulders again.
"What's going on?"
"Well, we're about to make love. Isn't it obvious?" Smirked Elsa seductively. "Do you want to go slower?"
Honeymaren's entire body and mind were screaming no, and her only desire right then was to seize her wife's body and devour her. She wanted to cover her with kisses, to touch her in every spot, to grab her all she could… Her chestnut eyes danced all along her lover's body as she admired the curves she loved dearly.
"That's what I thought." Grinned the blonde when she received no other answer from her than a strangled gasp.
Elsa started to kiss her pulse point at her neck, and Honeymaren gladly turned her head for her to have even more access. The Snow Queen smiled as she kissed her lower and lower, and as she did, the brunette's eyes noticed something now that her face was turned.
Was that… Elsa, over there? There was another blonde woman having a striking resemblance with the one currently in her arms. The Northuldra squinted to focus at what she saw in the dark cavern while she kept going, and indeed, it was totally Elsa.
Wait, two Elsas? How was it possible?
Honeymaren frowned, her face alternating between the two exact replicas of her wife. She felt dizzy. Now that may be a fantasy of hers on another day, but here she felt really weird about it. What was going on? She started walking to that other Elsa, but before she could even analyze the situation, the naked Elsa near her grabbed her collar and brought her closer.
Honeymaren let out a gasp and a shriek, and looked at her wife unbuttoning her clothes.
"Wait, snømus…"
The blonde didn't reply. She was opening the leader's coat way too fast to her taste, or rather, thought Honeymaren, way too fast for Elsa's taste.
She frowned and stared at her.
"You're something else."
Elsa smirked and rolled her hips against her. "Thank you for the compliment, dear."
"No, I mean you're not my wife." Blurted Honeymaren.
She pushed away the woman in front of her, one more time she wanted to be the last, so hard and powerfully that the blonde stumbled back, and fell on the rock floor.
Honeymaren's breathing was heavy with her shock. The woman grinned and laid on her elbows in a flirty way. She spread her legs, and made it a show to her.
"You want to do it on the floor? Oh, gladly." Invited the woman with a deep tone, and everything in her voice and attitude made Honeymaren struggle to look away.
The brunette chook her head in resolution, and disgust, but it was ineffective. She chose to close her eyes. Instantly, it helped; she could focus better, and she turned to where the other Elsa had been standing. Her Elsa.
She opened her eyes now that she was certain to not be attracted by the fake one, and walked to the Fifth Spirit.
A few meters away, Elsa was blushing hard at a surprisingly very horny Honeymaren's advances, and about to comply after a moment of hesitation. When suddenly, she jumped in fright as another Honeymaren high kicked her face with a yell, and Elsa shrieked when she saw the naked Honeymaren fall on the rock floor of the cavern with an echo.
Azure blue eyes blinked at the scene in an adorable puzzled manner, and Honeymaren knew instantly that it was the real Elsa. She smiled and stood in front of her to try to take her out of her daydream. It seemed to work: the Snow Queen's gaze stopped being aghast and started to melt at her presence.
"Thank you." She said with a smile after a while, her brain catching up with what had happened, and grateful she had a clever lover.
She then lifted her eyebrows when she saw Honeymaren's bruised lips and open collar. "What happened to you?"
"Same thing than you." Replied the brunette.
She didn't want to elaborate, or things were going to be awkward. She checked around and saw that the fake Elsa and fake Honeymaren had disappeared. They had exited the spell. Now, for Anna… The Northuldra leader picked up their torches from the ground and gave one to Elsa, then walked to the redhead.
"Wait!"
Honeymaren turned around at her wife's grab. She had a suspicious frown. "What?"
"I don't want you to come near my sister if you're not Honeymaren. What proves to me that it's truly you?"
The brunette smiled at her wife's care for her younger. After all, she would have done the same in her situation.
"Well, I don't know, ask me a specific question. Wait; it can't be a question linked to intimate stuff. I mean, Piruluola clearly knows our deepest desires, so try to find something else."
Elsa blushed and looked down as she thought. That sole reflection from her would have been enough by its intelligence, but she wanted to make sure. What could Piruola be unable to know? She had to ask something about its opposite source.
"When you visited Ahtohallan for the first time, what was the first memory you wanted to see when I suggested that I craft one for you?"
Honeymaren smiled as she remembered the moment. "A memory of your parents. I wanted you to make a happy one of them as adults, of the last time you saw them before they left, one where they are smiling at you. So you could make an ice statue of them and replace the one in the ship wreck."
Elsa's eyes glistened at her answer. Her mouth trembled as she smiled.
"Yeah, it's really you."
Honeymaren smiled tenderly and caressed her cheek. "Of course it's me. Okay, now we better wake up you sister, or the reason why I'll call her 'fire head' will be completely different."
Elsa had a nervous laugh, and they rushed to join Anna.
Both women blushed at what was in front of them. It obviously was a very explicit scene, and they knew they had to intervene. Honeymaren gulped.
"Uhm… Kristoff did tell me once that Anna was quite… Eager in private moments, but I didn't expect-"
"Okay, this is very awkward." Mumbled Elsa. "Let's do something."
"Right." Coughed Honeymaren.
Still blushing, they decided to take Anna away from that fake Kristoff by force and as quick as possible. Elsa went to grab her arms while Honeymaren lifted her legs. The whole situation was embarrassing, but they went away from the illusion so fast that it was effective.
Elsa, who had lifted her sister's bag and discarded clothes with her magic while they crossed the room to the tunnel, nearly tossed them at Anna once they were safe.
"Wakey wakey, you naughty."
The redhead shook her head and blinked confusedly, looking around. Elsa understood her sensation, for she had been in the same one when they exited the Gluttony challenge.
"Lust really got us all, uh?" Winced Honeymaren, however unable to hide a smirk because that was objectively funny. "Though, some more than others…" She added, looking at her sister-in-law.
The two wives looked at each other and burst of laughter, and Anna blushed as hard as the bright red tomatoes of the previous room.
"Stop it." She mumbled. Now that she remembered everything, she felt infinitely awkward. It was a good thing they had taken her out of the spell before she went further into what she was doing with the fake Kristoff…
The Queen put her clothes back on, not daring to look at them. Thankfully, she hadn't taken off much, and she cleared her throat once she was done, setting her backpack and dusting her clothes.
"Let's just… Move on, okay?"
Elsa and Honeymaren stopped laughing and remained respectful, for it would be hypocritical to mock her when they all thought that it was real.
"You're right. Let's move on."
"Ugh, my feet are starting to hurt…" Winced Anna, and she nearly limped. "How long have we been walking?"
"I don't know, this tunnel seems longer than the others…" Noted Elsa.
Anna stopped to hold onto the rock wall and massage her feets through her boots, twirling her ankles.
"We don't have time to stop, Anna, you said it before." Reminded Honeymaren.
"Sorry, but my feet really hurt. I feel like we've been walking in this tunnel for hours now."
"This might be real." Noted Elsa, trying to look behind them to see how much they had walked, but it was as dark as the way in front of them.
"You think this is painful? Try to have a whole week of trail in the Forest." Smirked the Northuldra leader.
Anna gave her a stare. "I'm more used to sit for hours straight with my meetings."
"Aww, poor Queenie." Mocked Honeymaren. "That's what you get from doing nothing all day. You know, proper leaders both manage and train."
"At least I have manners!" Blurted Anna back. "I'm not boorish like you."
Elsa frowned at their argument. But instead of telling them to calm down, she made everything worse.
"Anna, stop complaining like you always do, and Honeymaren, stop showing off."
The brunette scoffed and turned to her with a dropped jaw. "Showing off? Are you freaking kidding me?"
"No, I'm serious. You're always doing that. You think you're better than everyone because you've seen it all and did it all?" Frowned Elsa, staring at her wife with unprecedented anger.
"I'm the show-off? Have you ever LOOKED at yourself before, miss Extra?"
Elsa scowled and frowned even more.
Anna snorted. "She's right. You're unbearable. It's like 'Hey, look at me!' all the goddamn time. Always having the attention on you when you don't even deserve it."
The blonde gasped, outraged.
"The hell did you just say to me?" She blurted, throwing her torch aside, and it rolled on the rock floor.
"Yeah, you heard it right. You're a bragger bitch!" Yelled Anna.
She also threw her torch away, and they were walking to each other, about to come to blows.
Honeymaren ran to place herself between the two, distancing them. "Wait, wait…"
They looked at her, and a short silence passed.
"You guys don't even know how to fight." Mocked the Northuldra with a giggle. "That would be silly."
"Excuse me?" Threw Anna, while Elsa dropped her jaw.
"You really don't!" Cackled Honeymaren meanly. "You Arendellians have no idea how bad you are at it."
"Oh yeah?" Grumbled Anna.
She grabbed the Northuldra's collar. "We'll see about that."
Honeymaren gladly agreed to punch her, and took off her backpack to have more space, already placing her fists correctly. Anna released her collar and did the same, and Elsa couldn't stop her, for the redhead purposely had thrown her bag to her, and she fell on the floor with the shock. When she looked up after a groan, the two women were walking around in a circle and staring at each other like they were about to jump and bite.
"Well, it'll be my pleasure to beat the shit out of you. You took Elsa away from me, alluring her to stay in the Forest all those years ago." Hissed Anna.
Honeymaren puffed. "You think I have the most influence on her? You're the one who doesn't want to let her go. You think I don't notice, you think I don't mind, but I do. You're pathetic."
Anna clamped her teeth. "You'll never have even a fraction of the strength of the bond we share! You only dream of it!"
The Northuldra clenched her fists. "At least I do dream, unlike you who rests on what you have, instead of what you could do! At least I made her discover who she truly was!"
Anna exaggeratedly lifted her arms. "Oh, and let me guess, you're gonna tell me that there's no 'going out of the closet' when one lives in a forest, right?"
"Exactly!" Blurted Honeymaren.
She approached Elsa, who had been standing up, and grasped her forearm. "Elsa is mine, whatever you think, and I protect her better than anyone on this Earth."
The blonde frowned and detached herself from her. "Stop smothering me, I don't need your help. You're always over-protecting me!"
"What's wrong with over-caring?!" Retorted her wife.
"I'm not a baby!" Yelled Elsa. "You're always behind my back!"
Anna chuckled in a snark way, staring at them raising their tone against each other. She crossed her arms and looked at the couple with a sarcastic posture. "Honeymaren only keeps you on the side because she doesn't want you to shade her."
"What?" Frowned Elsa.
Honeymaren gave her a death stare. "Shut up, Queenie."
"You know I'm right."
"I said SHUT UP!"
"What is she talking about?" Asked Elsa.
The Northuldra was about to throw hands with the redhead, but twirled around to Elsa. "Please, don't play clueless cutie with me. You're always getting all the attention on your amazingness, especially within the tribe. I'm the leader, you should have some respect!"
At the last word, Elsa's nose puckered. "Respect?" She groaned. "You have none!"
Anna huffed. "She has more than you. All you do is shut people out."
"What?" Blinked Elsa, turning to her sister.
"You've been ignoring me for my whole childhood! You're the worst, don't you see it? All these years, you purposely fled from me, pretending to protect me, but you did the exact opposite. That's not protection, that's just cruelty!"
"Who do you think you are to talk to me in such a tone?" Snarled Elsa. "I'm your elder."
Anna was unimpressed. "And clearly not the smartest. You've said it yourself the other day, I'm better than you at being Queen. What did you do in your poor little 3 years of reign? Before abdicating because you're a coward? Nothing else than useless politics and being super polite with diplomats, what a fierce queen we have here."
Elsa's azure blue eyes seemed to fill with ice as she approached her younger. "Don't call me a coward."
"That's what you are, though." Replied the redhead, lifting an eyebrow. "Look, you don't even dare to use your powers on me. Go on, have a try." She then bent to smile closer. "Coward."
Elsa's left fist clenched and her veins there filled with magic. She wanted to punch her so hard, and prepared herself to make it as painful as possible.
"Nope, I'm the one who'll get to punch her first." Intervened Honeymaren.
The Snow Queen didn't appreciate at all to be interrupted, even more to be dragged back by the brunette. "Hey!"
"Get lost, this is my fight."
Elsa lost her balance as she strongly was flinged aside. She watched Honeymaren roll her sleeve. Before she could lift her hand, Elsa snatched her belt and pulled her away from Anna. The move made the Northuldra just as angry, and she started pushing her wife away again. They started to fight, and Anna watched with anger. Were those two idiots done? Could they just stop? Wait… That's it… To stop…
Anna's frown of rage slowly turned into one of confusion. Why did this moment feel so familiar? It wasn't like a déjà-vu, but more like this moment felt… Fake.
And she really wanted it to stop at once.
"This is a nightmare!" Exclaimed the redhead.
Honeymaren didn't detach her eyes from her wife, still grabbing her to toss her against the rock wall. "Yeah, Elsa is a real nightmare to live with!"
Anna shook her head. "No, I mean this is exactly like a nightmare of mine!"
Elsa turned to her sister with clenched teeth. "It's always about you, uh?"
The Northuldra scoffed. "Oh, look who's talking."
"Shut up!" Twirled Elsa.
Then the Snow Queen realized something. Anna's sentence about the nightmare still was echoing in her mind, and also, she actually never had told Honeymaren to shut up before. In her entire life. The Northuldra had told Anna to shut up earlier, but never would she insult her. She frowned, and looked at her wife. "No. Don't shut up. I like your voice. I need it. I mean… Wait, what?"
She started to groan, holding her head, and she felt like it was exploding. She wanted to yell and apologize at the same time, and it hurt her brain not be able to make a choice.
"Oh, you like my voice?" Blurted Honeymaren, still enraged. "Then why do you never listen to me when I talk? When I give you advice? You always end up nearly dying in dangerous places! Dangerous… Places…" She frowned all of a sudden, like something had just been reminded in the back of her mind. "Hold on, what was I saying?" She asked after a moment. "I was talking about… Here?"
She groaned as well, her head hurting just as much.
Anna looked at them as she held her forehead. "None of this is happening because of us…"
A silence passed, and suddenly Elsa and Honeymaren resumed their fight, like they had been told to by a higher power at the exact same moment. Anna panicked.
"Elsa, Maren! Listen to me! This is exactly like when I dreamt we were fighting in the library with Elsa. This is all exaggerated! We're not… That much hateful towards each other."
"Oh, are we?" Frowned Honeymaren, gripping hard to Elsa.
Anna winced and massaged her temple, trying to give more arguments, but it was so much easier to just yell at them… They deserved to be yelled at, they were such idiots…
"LISTEN TO ME, YOU MORONS!"
"You're the morons!" Retorted Elsa.
"No, you don't understand!" Insisted the Queen.
"None of you understand a thing anyway." Groaned Honeymaren.
Anna held her head with both her hands, whining at the pain it procured to try to think straight and objectively.
"This is the chamber of Hate! And we're struggling with it because it's the hardest challenge so far. Sloth was first, Gluttony second, then it was Lust and now it's Hate! Wake up, we're under a spell! We're in Piruluola, remember?"
The two women stopped their fight to turn to her. Anna thought they were going to spit another mean comment or even hit her, but it looked like they were frowning, as if they were searching for their way in a thick fog.
"Piruluola…" Muttered Elsa.
"Why is it so familiar…" Murmured Honeymaren.
Anna exclaimed, raising her hands. "Because we're right into it! This is it! A magical challenge that is so powerful we forgot there even was one waiting for us, and we didn't notice when this one started!"
"...Like the others", noted the Snow Queen, who was trying to grasp fragments of memories she had a few minutes ago but felt like several centuries prior.
"Is that why nobody had raided the source before?" Thought out loud Honeymaren, looking around, her gaze still confused at her own mind scrambling. "Because they all failed the challenges? Just like people with bad intentions get drowned in the Dark Sea by Nokk?"
"Yes! Precisely!" Jolted Anna, overjoyed that Honeymaren and her astute brain were back by her side.
She rushed to clench their hands in each one of hers. "Look. We're usually never angry against each other. That can only be that."
At the touch, it was like Anna had provided her own magic as well. They looked down at her freckled hands, then up to her smiling face. Elsa's eyes widened. "The Bridge…" She murmured.
The Queen's smile stretched, her cheeks full. "Yes! Why would we hate each other when we have been chosen to form an unbreakable bond?"
She turned to Honeymaren. "And Maren! We're both leaders of our own lands. Why would we be envious of the other when we have the same roles?"
It indeed made no sense, and the brunette frowned with a firm nod, her logical side waking up.
Elsa was starting to feel the magic in the air of the cavern, like she had been unaware of it until now. It felt like someone just unclogged her ears.
"Magic… It's everywhere…"
She lifted the hand Anna wasn't holding to stare at it lengthily. "Magic…"
The Fifth Spirit popped some snowflakes in the air, watching them go, and she had a little smile.
Honeymaren's eyes widened at the apparition, and her face melted in eternal admiration. "Yeah… I remember now… How can I possibly yell at you when you do such wonders?"
She turned to them two. "Girls…"
Elsa did the same. "We…"
"Okay, as much as I'd love to have a group hug right now, we have to get the hell out of this room." Advised Anna. "Hurry up, grab your bags, we have to get out of this tunnel right now before we get a wave of anger against each other again."
Elsa looked at the way in front of her while she put her backpack on, and seemed worried. "But another room of Hate will wait for us at the end…"
"No, I don't think so." Theorized Honeymaren, who was picking up the magic torches. "The whole trick was to make us think we were safe until we reached the next cavern, but in fact, this very tunnel is the Hate challenge."
Anna nodded. "I'm certain of it too. Let's go."
They all exchanged a look, making sure that they were all out of the spell and had retrieved their stuff, then fled, running as fast as they could in the echoing tunnel.
Panting, they reached a new gigantic cavern, and slowed down to retrieve a normal breathing. The tunnel they just went out from had seemed way shorter than before since they knew they had been cursed in it. However, that didn't change the fact that they were out of breath.
Anna hung to her sister as she wheezed for oxygen, and the latter smiled. She placed her fingers on hers.
"Are you okay?"
The Queen exhaled. "I'm pretty sure I've ran a marathon since we entered this place. So the good news is, I'll be very good when we play tag with the kids."
Honeymaren giggled. It was great to see they had been retrieving their normal mood. That last challenge was a big contrast… Her smile vanished.
"Elsa was right, we didn't even realize we were mesmerized each time we got to face a sin…"
Anna shivered. "Damn, that's really creepy."
The Snow Queen had to admit that this dark magic had ways she despised. That was mainly why she still refused to use the powers that currently coursed in her body.
Anna looked at her family. "It's a good thing we all have different personalities that allowed us to help and literally save each other, otherwise we would never have made it through."
"You're right. If Elsa hadn't saved us in the first room…" Winced Honeymaren. She then smiled. "I got to say, your insomnia is what saved us, snømus."
"It is?" Said Elsa, lifting an eyebrow.
"You were the only one to stay up because you naturally fight against your own tiredness when you're concerned." Noted her wife.
"That's true." Said Anna. "You do that constantly. Hey, it actually has become a good thing. Without it, we probably would be sleeping to death right now."
"Lovely." Snorted Elsa. She remained modest. "Maybe I helped at first, but I wasn't very useful in the last chamber."
"We all were yelling at each other." Admitted Honeymaren. "Eventually, we all realized how wrong this was and saved each other. Though Anna is the first one who gave the nudge by saying this all felt like a nightmare."
The redhead smiled, a bit proud of how she helped. Elsa turned to her younger. "You also saved us in the room of Gluttony. What happened? How did you know?"
Anna had a cute giggle. "It was easy to tell something was up. The kransekake there had a too-perfect-for-me taste."
Elsa and Honeymaren shared intrigued expressions. She shrugged.
"The kransekake made by the baker in the Arendelle village always is too sugary, and that's why I love it. If this one was a random kransekake, it shouldn't be exactly like I want it, right?"
Her elder giggled. "Thanks gods we have your discerning palate on our side."
Anna smiled, then pointed at her sister-in-law. "For the room of Lust, though… Honeymaren, without you, we would have been doomed."
The brunette's lips slightly curled up. "I realized that it was all an illusion because Elsa would never jump on me like that."
Elsa bashfully smiled. A peaceful silence passed, and she nodded.
"You're right, it's great that we got to point out things through the challenges. It also proves that magic isn't perfect, because we could see its flaws and take advantage of it."
Anna had a dreamy sigh. "Their rendition of Kristoff's body was entirely correct, though. It's really impressive."
Honeymaren giggled. "Well, glad to see you had a good time."
"Wait, 'their'?" Repeated Elsa.
The redhead motioned to the cavern around them.
"Yeah, we refer to Ahtohallan as 'she' because she mostly uses Mother's memories to communicate, but we don't know the gender of this source yet. Say, does it even have a gender?"
The blonde blinked when two pairs of eyes stared at her. "What? How am I supposed to know?"
Honeymaren shrugged. "In 16 years of knowing you and 4 years of marriage, I still discover new assets of your magic everyday. Can't you, I don't know... Feel it?"
"How the heck could I even feel a gender?"
Anna laughed. "Never mind."
They smiled as their breathing turned to normal, and now that their huffs and puffs weren't the background sound of their conversation, they started to realize they weren't exactly alone.
Something in the air, in the ground, even in the walls, seemed to pulse.
"Wait… Do you feel those vibrations?" Murmured Anna.
Honeymaren used her hunting experience and crouched to touch the ground. She closed her eyes, and opened them wide when another pulse clearly went under her digits. "Yeah. There's something… Alive... Nearby."
"What, another challenge?" Worried Anna, her hands clenching on her torch in apprehension.
"No, that'd be weird… We are done facing the four Spirits. That's… Something else." Analyzed Honeymaren, standing up to look around.
Elsa, who had been silent until now, walked further in the cave, her eyes wide and curious about what was further.
"Elsa?"
They followed her to understand what had caught her attention, and when the blue light of their torches reflected against something moving in front of them, they let out gasps.
The heart of Ahtohallan was made of bright light, and naturally, Piruluola was its opposite. In front of them floated a huge liquid sphere of pitch black goo, like night itself had materialized in the center of the cavern. It was pulsating like an actual heart in a hollow room made of cold stone.
Elsa let out an impressed gasp. "That's sin itself. Alive."
Honeymaren lifted a hand and approached it near the sphere.
"DON'T TOUCH IT!" Warned Elsa, and she held her lover's arm.
"Obviously." Smiled Honeymaren. She wasn't smirking, but rather touched by Elsa's care. "I wasn't trying to. I just wanted to feel the pulsations closer."
Elsa allowed her to bring her hand near again, and when the heart beated once more, they all sensed it, but Honeymaren particularly felt a recoil in her wrist.
"Waow. It's really strong."
"You have no idea." Murmured the blonde.
She turned to the Fifth Spirit, who had a wince. "It's harmonizing with the dark magic in me, and it's incredibly powerful…"
Anna approached, worried. "How does it feel?"
Elsa had a huff, and a smile. "I'm not gonna lie, it… It feels wonderful. Like the dark magic has been brought home, you know?"
Honeymaren smiled. "Like when you entered Ahtohallan for the first time."
"Exactly." Nodded Elsa.
Her eyes were shining with emotion. "I feel… At peace, for the first time in so long…"
She closed her eyes with a sigh that communicated an immense relief, and the two others weren't surprised to see tears falling on her cheeks. They didn't erase them. Elsa deserved that state of mind fully, and she started to breathe in and out in a relaxed way.
"It's interesting to see that the source isn't kicking us out." Noted Anna. "I mean, I know that Ahtohallan doesn't, and besides, we won the challenges of the four Sin Spirits, but… I mean… It knows that you have Ahtohallan's magic in you, right?"
"Of course." Smiled Elsa.
"And… It's okay with it?"
The blonde turned to smile at their concern and care. "I've come to return what belongs to the core. And I'm not planning to disrupt the balance between good and bad. I'm only here to give back what is due, and I feel like it likes it."
"How do you know?"
"Well, now I'm completely bonding with it, I can tell its intentions." Smiled Elsa.
"Oh, just like Ahtohallan." Concluded Anna.
"No, not quite. For instance, Ahtohallan talks, and Piruluola doesn't."
"Why not?" Asked her sister.
Elsa inspected the core.
"I think it's because Ahtohallan is a source of life. This one is a source of death. It's dead. Dead things don't talk."
Anna and Honeymaren turned to her with concerned eyes.
"Sorry, was that too dark?" Winced the Snow Queen.
"Is it willing to help you transfer the magic, then?" Asked Honeymaren after a while.
The Fifth Spirit lifted her eyes to the core. "I might need some help on that, indeed." She smiled, talking to the heart.
The sphere started to blob at some parts, and expanded in size, growing and growing. It became threatening and scary in every way, and Honeymaren and Anna stepped back, grabbing Elsa with them.
"This is not reassuring at all." Said the Northuldra leader, looking at the black core with wide eyes.
"Let's get the hell out of here." Suggested Anna.
Elsa held both their hands and brought them back near it.
"ELSA!"
"Love, what are you doing? This is dangerous!"
"Trust me." Smiled Elsa.
Her confidence was suspicious.
"Wait! Are you doing this because you're allured by it?! Is it asking you to do it?" Panicked Anna.
"No, because I have to. We have to."
"You seem oddly determined. You have to resist it if it's calling you!" Advised Honeymaren.
Elsa snorted. "You've insisted on coming with me, and we've been traveling for three days, all that for you to give up when it comes to it?"
"Because it's scary!" Whined Anna.
Her sister's distress made Elsa's smile vanish. She turned to her family, and noticed for the first time how frightened they were. "Wait… You find it menacing?"
"Yes!" Gasped both Honeymaren and Anna, their faces distorted with anxiety.
The blonde blinked. They were two of the bravest souls she had ever met, how come they were scared of that floating sphere? And then she understood. That was because she had darkness in her, and they didn't. To her soul, it felt familiar, and welcoming. To theirs, it felt horrible…
She turned around to face the gigantic blob of dark goo, which had stopped growing and seemed ready for the next step. "Tell me, Honey, what do you see?" She asked with a soft voice.
"What do you mean?" Muttered the brunette, her voice slightly trembling, and she hadn't let go of Elsa's hand, just like Anna.
"How does that core look to you?" Asked the blonde.
"Enormous and menacing, that's a stupid question." She replied.
It wasn't that stupid. To Elsa's eyes, the sphere simply was the origin of the black, sticky, acid and viscous matter that Victor, and before that Niks, were able to master. Nothing much.
"This sphere is enormous, Elsa." Murmured Anna, and she could feel her warm hand clenching her fingers.
"It's okay. I'm right here."
She refused to go further in the process if they didn't feel comfortable with it. "Listen. It's the opposite of Ahtohallan. It's normal that you're scared. Ahtohallan is made of white ice and snow, Piruluola is made of pitch black rocks. It's light against dark. You've said it before, Honey. It's a glacier rising in the sea and a dark cavern hollowing the earth.
The Northuldra was no less flabbergasted by the size of it in front of them. "But it's exhaling so much evil. Elsa, we have to destroy it!"
The Snow Queen's eyes widened. "What?"
"She's right." Joined Anna. "It's bringing everything bad in the world! If we destroy it, there will be no more evil, no more sins. You just have to craft us new weapons made of ice, and we stab it! It's easy!"
"What the- No!" Blabbered Elsa. "Don't you understand? Without shadow, there is no light. We can't destroy a balance that exists since the beginning of time."
They didn't seem very convinced. She turned to her wife.
"Love, you said that this sphere is enormous. But in fact, it's the same size than Ahtohallan's dome of memories." She informed. "The two deities are balancing each other constantly. Now it's about to do the transfer for me, I can sense it."
Honeymaren gulped. "Okay."
She didn't say anything else, but seemed to follow her lover's faith. Elsa turned to her younger, who still had some apprehension.
"Anna, how do you feel about it?"
"Frankly? I really don't like this at all. I mean, look at that thing! It looks like a puddle of black blood, pulsating like a heart… It's living black blood…" She shivered. "Wait, is that mean to say? I'm sorry, Piruluola, I didn't mean to…"
Elsa chuckled. "Actually, for them, it's kind of a compliment, I think."
She squeezed gently the hands she had been holding. "Okay, are you two ready? This is the moment we've been waiting for."
"Yeah." Replied Anna.
"I am." Replied Honeymaren at the same time.
Elsa smiled and lifted her eyes to the heart of the source. "I'm ready. You can take the dark magic back."
A silence followed.
"What is happening?" Wondered Anna.
Elsa winced. "You… Uh… You have to let me go. I mean, stop holding my hands."
"What? Why?" Panicked the redhead, not willing to let her face this alone.
"It's the procedure." Said Honeymaren, heartbroken. "It's like when Victor did it on the Dark Sea shore, remember? There's a safety distance."
It took a long while, but the two women finally agreed to step back, not without holding Elsa tight before doing so, just in case something bad happened - which they dearly wished wouldn't.
Elsa felt a bit awkward for the next step. Did she have to simply stand up? Adopt a certain posture? Though Piruluola went quick on its answer; a huge beam of light, contrasting with the darkness of the cavern, suddenly shone from Elsa, and the two others winced and moaned at the brightness.
Anna tried to shield her eyes from it, but also had a glimpse at what was happening. A sphere of light detached itself from the body of her elder, but it wasn't quite like the process Victor had done; here, the white sphere surrounded a black one. It was transporting it, and looked like a three-dimensional yin and yang symbol. It carried the black magic like a gift, an offering even, and Anna was happy to see that it appeared this way and wasn't just slinged at Piruluola. The blob of dark matter slowly and gently returned to its core, its origin, and both the heart and Elsa startled when it entirely penetrated it. The light vanished and the process ended just as quickly as it started, like with Victor. The room was dark again, only punctuated with the three blue torches Elsa had made float above them.
The latter let out a long sigh, her shoulder slumped. Honeymaren ran to her wife to catch her if she were to fall, but actually, Elsa caught her balance quickly. It was like she had retrieved all of her senses, like all weakness was gone.
"Snømus, how do you feel?"
Elsa smiled at the sentence and the tone that accompanied it. She placed a hand in Honeymaren's.
"I'm fine. I'm feeling really good, even."
"Better?" Understood Honeymaren, smiling.
"Yeah." Grinned Elsa.
Anna arrived right behind, and inspected her whole body for any sign of harm. Her elder returned her a smile.
"And… About the…"
"It's completely gone." Assured Elsa to her sister. "I can't feel it anymore, I mean, apart from the one residing in the core right now."
"And how is your magic?"
Elsa smirked and lifted her hands. She jolted them up and a huge spark of ice and snow magic exploded from it, covering the two women in sparkling snowflakes.
"I haven't felt more myself in a long while."
Honeymaren's face melted at her joy, and Anna's eyes filled with tears at the sight of her magic. The brunette stepped closer to circle her hips with her arms and she kissed her deeply on the mouth, a more than welcome gesture that Elsa was happy to return. It felt much better than the fake ones she had had in the chamber of Lust, and she wondered why they didn't kiss earlier. It was the first time that her wife's lips gave her such a sensation of achievement. When Honeymaren detached from the embrace, Elsa lifted her arms towards her little sister, and the redhead squealed before jumping in for a warm hug. Elsa laughed on her shoulder, and her blow made fly up the snowflakes that had fallen on Anna's clothes.
The heart of Piruluola started to move, and they returned their attention to it. The blob of dark goo seemed to exhale an energy that went beyond the walls of the cavern, like it was scanning the entire world.
"What is happening?" Asked Anna, her eyes darting around.
Elsa smiled. "I bet it's choosing its next Fifth Spirit."
"The next Fifth Spirit of Piruluola…" Murmured Honeymaren, observing the process. She turned to her lover. "Do you think it's someone we already know?"
Elsa shrugged. "I really can't tell. Which is a good thing, because I'm not supposed to."
"Please don't be Hans, please don't be Hans…" Muttered Anna, crossing her fingers with eyes closed.
The blonde chuckled. "I doubt that it will be him. And if he suited the role, he would have had dark magic decades ago, no? And... Things would have gone very differently."
"True." Snorted the Queen.
Elsa smiled, then stepped back close to the heart with a serious expression.
"May you find a perfect new Fifth Spirit of Sins. I'm ready to meet them if needed. Or fight them if destiny chooses so."
She looked back at the two that accompanied her, and looked at the core again.
"We'll be ready."
Author's Note:
/epic music starts playing/
Y'all I love to write about that badass trio SO MUCH
I hope you all loved this very dramatic chap lmao
What was your favorite moment?
Cheers to you back while I'm at it coz your support is giving me life and I love you sm. Anyway this was the penultimate chapter! Next will be a cute epilogue!
With some angst peppered on top of course lol who tf do you think I am. Our girls have to talk about what happened in the chamber of Hate hehehehehh
See y'all! Comment and share please :D