Frozen Creed
Requiem
Chapter 3
He who increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow
"It is good to see you again Tsitshio" Connor said as he released Anna from their embrace.
"What happened" Anna asked shaking her head.
"I was hoping you could tell me" Connor said as they sat down at the stone table. Anna went to a shelf and found the dusty bottle of scotch she had taken years ago. Opening it she sniffed it and found that it was still good. Taking two glasses she set them down and filled them both and slid one over to Connor before taking the other and drinking.
"my parents had my mind wiped and my past as an assassin erased" Anna said as Connor took his own drink.
"A piece of Eden?" Connor asked and Anna shook her head.
"There are old things in this part of the world with powerful magic. My parents had them erase my memory" Anna said taking another drink and then pouring more of the scotch into her glass as Connor nodded in understanding.
"Too many in this time no longer believe in the spirits and the old things that walk the world" Connor said as he drank.
"Thank you Connor, for bringing me back to my senses" Anna said raising her glass in a salute.
"It was your aunt. When you stopped communicating with her and disappeared she grew concerned. It took a year after your sisters coronation for us to make sure there was something wrong, and then to decide how to fix it" Connor said.
"The Tsithio I know would not be so foolish as to marry a man she just met, among other mistakes" He said giving her a small smile as she almost chocked on her drink.
"Don't remind me" She groaned rubbing the bridge of her nose. She raised the glass to drink again when Connor reached out and put a hand over her glass.
"It is morning, and I think your sister the queen would be concerned and suspicious if you arrived to breakfast drunk" Connor said. Anna's eyes widened and putting down the glass made to race up the stairs.
"You'll let yourself out right?" She asked and was up the stairs before he could reply. She quickly and quietly emerged from her sanctuary and went back to her room. She brushed her teeth washed out her mouth and changed her cloths before going down to the dining hall arriving before Elsa for once. Sighing she sat down and waited silently for her sister to show up while she thought.
"It's been two years. I'm still in reasonable shape but not like I used to be. I'm going to have to retrain myself. If this were three years ago I could go with Connor to America and spend half a year whipping myself back into shape, but I can't do that now not without telling Elsa everything, and I'm not ready to do that, not yet" Anna thought as her sister walked into the dining room and started in surprise.
"Don't look so surprised" Anna said smiling.
"I'm sorry, you just don't usually get up this early" Elsa said sitting down.
"I didn't really sleep well" Anna partially lied.
"are you alright, your not sick are you?" Elsa asked putting her hand to Anna's head.
"Elsa I'm fine. I just had a bad night, it happens to everyone" She said looking into her sisters eyes and smiling.
"Alright, but if you have a bad night like that again, come and tell me alright" Elsa said her eyes full of concern which actually surprised Anna a bit.
"I will, promise" Anna lied.
"I'm not about to burden her with my problems. And I'm going to have to work on my lies in the future" She thought with an inner cringe at the fact that she would be lying to her sister for the foreseeable future.
"So lets eat. I'm starving" Anna said changing the subject. The two of them ate and chatted about their day. Elsa mostly had paperwork to sign and a few meetings to take including a rescheduled meeting with prince Rocco which nearly made Anna choke on her oatmeal.
"I'm going to be their with you for that" She said after taking a drink of her milk.
"Anna I don't need you to protect me" Elsa said.
"No, but you haven't met that swine in person. Believe me you'll at least want one or two of the guards at least" Anna said making her blink.
"If you really think that, then alright" She said.
"Good when is it scheduled. I want to make sure I'm there, but I don't want to be underfoot all day while your working" Anna said offhandedly and saw Elsa frown.
"What?" Anna asked concerned.
"Nothing. It's at five o clock" Elsa said.
"Great. I'll be there" Anna said finishing her meal and standing up.
"So what are you're plans for today?" Elsa asked.
"Well since Kristoff is off on his harvesting trip for the next few days and you'll be queening most of the day, I think I'll just bum around town for a few hours, see if I can find some trouble to get into" She said smiling and winking which made Elsa laugh, a warm rich sound that still surprised her.
"Alright, just don't cause to much damage" Elsa said.
"Elsa, when have I ever do any damage?" Anna asked in mock outrage. Despite the joke they both knew that though Anna was clumsy sometimes she had never broken anything really important inside or outside the castle.
"Alright, go on, find something to do so I can work in peace" Elsa said shooing her away jokingly. Anna stuck her tongue out and skipped lightly out of the dining hall and once she was out of sight slowed down and analyzed what just happened, and the warm, happy feeling that threatened to make her heart burst.
"This is what I always hoped for back when I first started hunting the oricalcus…except that I was hoping mama and papa were here as well" Anna thought and pushed down the upwelling of anger at her parents that threatened to sour her happy feelings.
"That's in the past. It's not worth thinking about" Anna thought as she went to the library and for the first time in forever opened her senses. It was hard, like using an atrophied muscle, but the world went grey and she could see the silhouettes of the servants moving through the hall, and her sister going to her office. Walking into the library she entered into her sanctuary to find Connor was still there.
"Hey" She said surprised.
"I wanted to be absolutely sure you were alright before I left" Connor said.
"I'm fine. Better than fine" She said smiling brightly.
"I have my sister back. My kingdom has a ruler again, and I'm whole again" She said and he nodded.
"Then all is well" Connor said as Anna walked over to her robes.
"I hope these still fit" She said as she took them behind the changing screen. Amazingly they did fit, still being comfortable even after she had grown about a foot since she had last worn them. Even her boots and gauntlets still fit. She flicked her wrist, and her hidden blade emerged for the first time in years.
"Hello old friend" She thought as she stepped from behind the screen to see Connor give her an appreciative look.
"It is good to see you in your robes again. Seeing you in a dress was…disconcerting" Connor said.
"What, seeing me as a woman" She said stepping forward and putting a hand on his shoulder and staring up into his eyes.
"Now that I think about it, he is really handsome" She thought as he gently put a hand on hers and moved it away.
"Apologizes Tstshio, but I will always see you as a little sister" He said in his native tongue.
"Can't blame a girl for trying" Anna replied in kind winking up at him and earning a smile.
"You do seem happy and brighter than before. I think I like it" He said.
"Excellent. Would you mind helping me with a little something?" She asked.
"What?" Connor asked.
"This pig of a prince who's lusting after my sister. Something about him really creeped me out even before I got my memories back" She said.
"And now you wish to look into him?" Connor asked.
"Very well, where do we begin?" Connor asked.
"Fortunately I know where he sleeps" Anna said. Together they left the sanctuary and entered the city. They scaled up a building and as Anna stood and looked out over the city, her city, she felt something inside of her crystalize.
"I'm back" She thought.
"Which way?" Connor asked. Anna led the way over the rooftops toward the harbor. It wasn't as hard as she thought it would be, but wasn't as easy as she remembered and she had to slow down a time or two.
"This stinks" She said breathing heavily while Connor was not even out of breath.
"You have not trained or worked in over three years. It will take time to regain your full strength" Connor said.
"Which is why I wanted you to help me. I don't think I could do this on my own, not like I am now" She said frustrated.
"Which is one reason we work within a brotherhood, so that none of us is really alone. You should think of re-establishing the brother hood here" Connor said as the continued on.
"I'm not sure but I think this land is still neutral territory. I don't know how the brotherhood and Templar order on the continent would react if I started a brotherhood here. Besides, I wouldn't know where to start" She said as they arrived at the port.
"At least consider it Tsitshio. If you had a brotherhood to watch out for you, You would not have lost your memories for three years" Connor said. The two of them ended the conversation after that as they went to work. Descending into the harbor Anna led them through the crowds around the harbor to the giant galleon the prince had arrived on.
"here" Connor said handing her a blowpipe.
"It is a new one, as the one I gave you fell into disrepair" He said. Anna nodded in thanks and together they took aim and each put a sleep dart into one of the men guarding the ship. Quickly climbing up they knocked out the sleeping guards. Anna hid behind some cargo as another guard patrolled near her. She lunged out and wrapped the man in a choke hold quietly putting him to sleep and dragging him behind the cargo. The guards dealt with they descended into the hold of the ship. They separated, Anna going toward the main cabin while Connor went deeper into the ship. Anna entered into the luxurious stateroom and gaped at the decore. The entire cabin was one large canopy bed made of oak with purple silk sheets. Looking closer Anna saw that on the bed was a set of golden manacles for restraining hands and feet. Anna felt her stomach drop as Connor pushed open the door.
"Tsitshio you need to see this" Connor said in a cold voice. Anna followed him suspecting what she might find, but when he opened a door at the end of the hold she still had to work to keep her composure.
"I've gone soft. I'll need to work to regain my edge" She thought to herself as she saw the group of young women huddled in the cramped cabin. There were half a dozen of them all young and beautiful with skin running from fair to dark with hair going from blond to deep black. They were chained together with regular chains and they all had vacant broken looks.
"So what do you wish to do?" Connor asked.
"Free them, take them to safety, burn the ship and kill the prince" Anna said and Connor nodded.
"It's alright, We're here to free you" Anna said but they just stared at her blankly. Connor walked forward and extending his blade carefully picked the lock on the chains.
"I don't care, that frost bitten whore will be mine" a familiar voice grunted. Anna pressed herself to the door and extended her senses, seeing the red figure of Prince Rocco.
"She dares to feign sickness and sends her incompetent ugly spare of a sister to me. Stupid slut would probably open her legs to the first man who came along if what happened with prince Hans is any indication" The man said with a guffaw as he and another man approached.
"And find out where the damned guards went" The man growled stepping just outside his cabin door. Anna took a deep breath to calm herself and stepped out to see the two men, the fatuous Rocco and a smaller pinched looking man. She burst into a sprint and the giant prince had an instant to look surprised before Anna crashed into him putting her hidden blade into his throat. The pinched looking man gasped before turning and running. She looked behind her to see Connor ushering the woman like a herd of sheep out of the room.
"Can you get them off the ship?" Anna asked. Connor nodded and Anna went further into the ship rooting through the supplies and cargo until she found number of full lamps and a leather sack of oil to fill them. She smashed the lamps onto the deck and taking the bag of oil soaked the bed. She extended both her blades and struck them against each other to create sparks setting the bed alight. She moved quickly back up the stairs out of the hold as she heard the fire spread. She walked down the extended gangplank and turned back to see smoke coming from the large ship. She turned away to see the captured women in the care of the Arendelle guard as she moved quickly away as someone shouted. Ascending to the roofs she found Connor standing and looking at the burning ship as people milled around trying to put it out.
"Was burning the ship necessary?" Connor asked.
"No, but it felt good" Anna said.
"And how will your sister react to this?" Connor asked.
"I should go and see" Anna said.
"Then I will take my leave" Connor said.
"So soon?" Anna asked.
"You will be alright on your own. You just need to work to regain your strength and that will not take long" Connor said.
"And you need to get back to America and help defend democracy" Anna said.
"you should try it here, you might like it" Connor said.
"We will see Ratonhnhaké:ton" She said smiling. Connor turned and raced away back to the ship that had brought him here while Anna turned and walked back to the castle. She hung up her robes and emerged back into the castle and taking a look at the clock in the library saw that it was not even 1'o clock.
"I think I need to take things slow" She thought as she wondered about putting her robes back on.
"Besides, there's someone I need to see" Anna thought. She went and found who she was looking for sweeping the floors of the hall.
"Oh your highness how can I help you?" the older woman asked. Anna made sure no one was around before asking her question.
"Gerda, was it you who made sure no one found my sanctuary?" Anna asked and the woman stared at her, the broom dropping from her hands.
"Your highness?" She asked breathless.
"It's alright Gerda, I'm back" She said smiling.
"Oh thank heavens. When their highnesses took you away and you came back without your memories I was so frightened" Gerda said loudly.
"Gerda hush" Anna said.
"Highness?" the woman asked and Anna took a deep breath.
"As far as my secret is concerned, it's still our secret" She said.
"But your sister" Gerda said.
"Can't know, not yet" Anna said.
"But Anna" Gerda said.
"I know how this sounds Gerda, but this is different from Elsa's powers. I've actually killed people, and I'm going to again. I don't know how Elsa will react to that" Anna said. Gerda looked at her and sighed.
"your right, especially after the way you've acted the past few years" She said shaking her head.
"Don't remind me" Anna groaned.
"But you're with me right?" Anna asked.
"I am at your service your highness" Gerda replied.
Okay third chapter of the re-write and I'm liking it. I'm going to try to show how Anna isn't quit as good as she was due to being out of practice but that those skills are never completely forgotten. Also the way she flirted with Connor is me trying to merge the mature Assassin with the bright bubbly Anna.