Usual disclaimer. Note at the end. Warning: there is a lot of plot in this chapter. A lot. Bear that in mind, and as always, enjoy! :)
The flight to the Totoya Island was long. Luckily, they alternated between watching movies, small talking about Anna and the date, and sleeping. Eventually though, Elsa and Tonna needed to go over what would happen and what exactly was going on. Apparently, there were two reasons now that they needed to go to the Headquarters.
"You haven't really talked to anyone else higher than myself. You are to address everyone in a higher position than you, including myself, by Lord or Lady. Anyone you are not close to or familiar with are to be addressed by the Branch or Line they head. For example, Gita Ratulemen is to be referred to as the Lady Ultimum Maleficus, unless granted permission otherwise. You may call me Lady Ek, as I am a mentor to you, but do not refer to me by my first name. Is that made clear?" Tonna explained. The younger looked slightly startled by all this information, but nodded all the same.
"You know how the Line feels about your father," she started. Elsa visibly winced. Tonna sighed, "therefore, please, Elsa. For both our sake's, prove yourself to everyone. They will judge you because of the actions of your father and your grandfather -" she stopped mid sentence, startled by a look in her pupil's eye that she only saw pre-battle:
A frightening determination.
"Well," the blonde began, "They're going to have to let it go. The past is in the past, and as much as I do love my father, I do not intend on following in his footsteps."
"Will you be able to take their hatred though, Elsa?" It had been twenty years since the event, but prejudice doesn't have a time limit. Elsa laughed, shocking Tonna.
"I think you forgot that I can freeze tears before they leave my body," she reminded her, "If I need to be strong, you'll never see me cry." She shook her bottle of anxiety pills.
"The fears that once controlled me — of rejection, of hatred, of myself — can't get to me at all anymore. I've long since lost those. All I care about is officially being inducted, getting my paperwork," she smiled, "and being able to teach other lost ice benders how to have the confidence and strength that you've taught me."
Tonna marveled at the level maturity and wisdom that Elsa had gained over the past ten years. She really had moved on from all her fears; and even better than that, she was ready to disprove everybody now that she had gotten over them. She smiled.
She is perfect for this.
"Alright. Next, after we get you registered and put in as my Dame, it will be time for the election of a new Aer Magus, since the Lady Jabari — bless her soul — was recently killed." Elsa didn't know which to process first.
"Election?"
"Yes. It's kind of like a convention, I suppose; we will get a background on all the candidates: their records, their skills, experience, qualifications, etc.. They give a speech. We then question them. Then we vote. Lady Ratulemen has the ultimate say in everything, and if she feels that the Order chooses imprudently then she will veto. Considering that she values the wisdom of the other Magi and Heads, this hardly ever happens. The results come in, and the meeting is adjourned." This baffled Elsa.
"It's not a public ceremony?" she questioned. Tonna shook her head.
"No. Becoming a Head or Magus is a very private event. You stay at the Grand Altar for a night. Of course —" she was interrupted by the pilot.
"Landing in approximately eight minutes." She and Elsa prepared for turbulence.
"As I was saying. Of course there is paperwork involved with everything; the Lady Ultimum Magus herself makes you take the Oath of Faith, Loyalty, and Service. You need witnesses and stuff for that part, and you say who you think the candidates should be if you were to die and the Order needed a new one. This, of course, can change over time. Then after that's done, everyone leaves. The next sequence is the most crucial part of the ceremony. Your God or Goddess will come to you and… I can't really describe it. It's... ethereal," she explained. Elsa's eyes twinkled with wonder.
"That's incredible…" she replied, the awe evident in her tone. Tonna smiled, but it quickly faded.
"However, there is a darker side as to why we are coming here now," she said, a serious edge to her words. Elsa's eyes became attentive and alert now, losing the fascination from seconds ago.
"Lady Jabari was easily one of the most experienced and wise members of the Order. Her advice was sacred to all of us in making decisions. She preferred to approach things by being tactical and strategic, rather than going in and being brash," her frown deepened, and the turbulence began shaking her and Elsa, "and perhaps the most troubling thing is that she always — and I mean, always — knew when trouble was afoot and who was going to cause it. She earned the title of 'the Bloodhound' by many." She could practically see the gears in Elsa's head turning.
"So whoever killed her —" they felt the wheels touch the ground as the pilot's voice cut them off again.
"We have arrived at Suva Airport. We thank you for flying Fiji Airlines; wish you a fantastic visit." The two ladies undid their seatbelts and grabbed their carryons from the compartments above.
"... Killed her before she could suspect anything was happening, and who the suspect would be," Elsa concluded as they walked out of the plane. They began walking toward the baggage claim.
"Precisely; because of this, a ripple of worry has been sent throughout the Order."
Both of them jumped as a young boy lit off firecrackers. His mother scolded him profusely and apologized to everyone in the room, ignoring the smoke rising below as she left; the match was left burning on the floor. Elsa walked over to it and extinguished the flame discreetly with her ice.
"I swear to Christ, children these days have no self-control," she heard a passer-by mumbled under his breath.
Maybe so; but she was watching him the whole time, so why the Devil didn't she stop him from the start?
Gita sat down at her throne in the Aedis, well ahead of the start of the election. She could feel the disquietude bubbling in her stomach, an angry monster that had made her sleep fretful the night prior. This was not a meeting that anyone was looking forward to.
As she watched the servants arrange the other thrones and seats of each respective Lord and Lady, she felt a warm hand appear on her shoulder.
"Gita, my friend," said a familiar voice, "you need to rest easy. It will not do for the Order to see their leader in such a state of trepidation; even if it is only noticeable externally to myself, it will be felt by everyone else. You need to keep your head about you." She sighed and rested her hand on the copper one on her shoulder. She took a deep breath.
"Thank you, temanku," Gita replied. Of course Pocahontas was right. She felt her hand withdraw as her advisor took her place on the right hand side of the her. Gita rested her elbows on the Dakua tree table and clasped her hands behind her neck.
"I'm thankful I have you as my advisor, Poca," she told Pocahontas.
"I'm thankful that you chose me. You worry much more than you need to, my friend. Have you any dreams from Vita or Plinius as of late? Anything?" the copper skinned woman replied. Gita shook her head and raised it, a long sigh coming out in the process.
"My sleep has been restive; I have only spoken with Horatius for, at maximum, five minutes. And even in that, he gave me a vague warning: the embers will be billowed. But I've not the slightest idea what he means... ," she explained. Pocahontas looked contemplative for a few moments.
"Time will tell, we should be sure," she said. The bell tower struck nine.
"We should eat breakfast, Gita. You won't be able to have a level head on an empty stomach." Lady Ratulemen's stomach growled loudly, and dual chuckles echoed in the long room.
"Alright."
Two and a Half Hours Later
A knock on the massive door of the Temple.
"Enter, Vishal."
"My Lady, the Lady Glaciem Magistri, Tonna Ek, requests an audience with you." A sigh.
"Does it pertain to the election?" A shuffle of feet, a quiet conversation.
"No, my Lady." The Lady Ultimum Maleficus rose from her cross legged position and faced the door.
"Let her enter."
Tonna breathed in deeply and looked at Elsa with a determined smile. Her pupil nodded nervously, wringing her hands.
"Frykt ikke, Elsa. Det ordner seg," she assured her. She entered the Temple and kneeled on one knee before Lady Ratulemen.
"Rise, Lady Ek," she politely ordered. Tonna stood, "What is it that brings you here today?" The Swede smiled, a warm look coming over her features.
"I have a new inductee my Lady. Alongside that wonderful news, I wanted to discuss with you as to whom I would like to be my advisor." She watched the surprise wash over the Lady's face. Her near black eyebrows almost shot up into her hairline.
"Of the Glaciem Magistri?" Gita was genuinely curious. Lady Ek had not had an advisor for more than fifteen years at this point. Tonna nodded in turn.
"It is the new inductee, my Lady," her smile faltered, "but I must ask you not judge this person based on her ancestors." Gita's brows furrowed as she cocked her head. Tonna took a deep breath.
"Elsa Isånd, daughter of Agðar Isånd," she said. The Indonesian's face lost the emotion it contained before. The lack of reaction from her superior threw Ek off balance.
"Oh." Lady Ratulemen scrutinized her. She observed Tonna; she wanted to make sure that there were no qualms or doubts about her.
"And why so?" Tonna heard the Lady ask. A beat, and then:
"I have been guarded, my Lady. I have been careful, after Rörik -," she shook her head, unable to meet the darker woman's gaze any longer, "after that happened." She noticed Gita's face soften out of the corner of her eye, understanding evident in her expression.
"I was not willing to let that happen again. While I know that is the natural order of things, I could not bring myself to even consider another to be my advisor for the first few years. I understand how selfish of me that is, and perhaps in retrospect, even more detrimental to myself than helpful. I had to take on many tasks and make various decisions that would have eased my conscience had I another behind me. In doing this, I had become more independent, more wise — and more cautious than ever before," she explained, "until I met Elsa."
"Her mother, she died years before she could have any remembrance of her. Her father refused to teach her about her heritage until she was…," Lady Ek though for a second, "seven years old, I believe. As she got older she grew stronger. Her powers quite frequently spiraled out of control, from what her father told me. When I met her, she was frightened, nervous, and timid when it came to using her powers — and at age thirteen had been diagnosed with General Anxiety Disorder. When we looked into possible treatments, the doctor had suggested her medication; and since, she has learned to control her powers." She looked back to Gita and brown eyes locked with black, an intensity evident there that it threw even the Indonesian off balance.
"I have watched Elsa grow into the bravest warrior I could have imagined. She has such a brilliant grasp on her powers that she can build anywhere from a gigantic palace down to snowflake with the most intricate designs you could ever think of. She has a level head, one that is needed in the role of a Dame. She is not afraid to speak her mind to me, and has disagreed with me on certain decisions while explaining her reasoning. She is both ethical, and logical - ," Tonna was cut off by the Lady.
"Lady Ek," Gita said with a smile, "Elsa may be your advisor, and is more than welcome into the Order — regardless of her ancestry."
Outside, Elsa was already crying with joy.
Tonna laughed loudly and called her pupil — no, her advisor — into the room. Elsa wiped the tears from her eyes as she ran in and hugged Ek, momentarily forgetting that the Lady Ultimum Maleficus was in the room as well.
Gita smiled as she watched the scene unfold. The relief was evident between the pair of them, Elsa sobbing freely now.
"Not afraid, huh?" Tonna chuckled as she wiped the tears from Elsa's cheeks. The younger of the two gave a choked laugh and shook her head, looking down.
"Never scared, Tonna," she croaked, voice shaking, "just so happy that this is happening." Her lip trembled as her former mentor hugged her again.
Vishal came beside Gita quietly, leaning over to murmur in her ear.
"Shall I get the paperwork and blood test ready, my Lady?" he asked. She nodded.
"Please."
The clock struck twelve, the meeting about to begin. A hush settled over the Aedis as the ground rumbled, the doors closing and each respective Lord and Lady rising to their feet. The gray light of the cloudy afternoon filtered through the windows, hitting the table of the Magi. The absence of the Aer Magus was not unnoticed. The room stilled as the Lady Ultimum Maleficus rose from her seat, eyes scanning over the tables that held each Line. A sense of anticipation came across the huge hall.
"Nos incipere." A ripple of movement occurred as every person in the room kneeled at the sound of their leader's orotund voice calling the start of the election. She took notice of a flash of white blonde hair in the middle of the Water Line's table, kneeling behind Lady Ek.
"Rise, and take your seats," she permitted, watching as the Lords and Ladies settled into their spots. She looked around, her fingertips pressed against the table.
"I pray you all have had safe travels. Before we truly get to the heart of this convention, I would like to address a few other things — a few happier things. First of all, a congratulation to Sir Roger Radcliffe on his newest addition to his family, and to the Ignis Magum," she told them. After each bit of happy news, she could see the tension drain little by little from the air.
"And finally, I would like to welcome a member who was not formally inducted until just briefly, and is now the Dame of the Glaciem Magistri," she said, facing Tonna and Elsa, "if you would please rise." Elsa stood, facing the audience before her.
"My friends, this is Elsa Isånd," she explained. A hush settled in the room at this news.
"I'm sure all of you that are old enough remember what occurred between Agðar and Øyndr, her respective father and grandfather." The statement sent a shiver throughout the congregation.
"However," she said, her voice hardening, "should any of you discriminate against her due to her lineage, you will be punished." Her words brokered no argument.
"Lady Ek is a wise and sagacious person; a prudent leader, and one with a clear head on her shoulders," the Lady reminded, "so I trust you will all respect her decision."
There was a nod amongst the Hall.
"Elsa, we thank you for accepting the position. You will now be known as Dame Elsa Isånd, of the Glaciem Magistri," Lady Ratulemen announced. There was an applause: one that started slowly, and then spread like wildfire. It would take much more time to heal the mark her father had left on the Order, but the acceptance of Elsa was the first stitch in closing the wound.
Anna's heart was pounding, and her head was reeling.
Dame Elsa Isånd, of the Glaciem Magistri.
Elsa.
The girl from the date, the one who had promised to see her again, the one whose voice sounded like honey and whose smile could power a city.
She was dumbfounded.
She's in the Glaciem Magistri? Not only that, she actually is a Dame?!
Anna had no prior knowledge of what exactly Elsa was capable of, but one thing was for certain:
If she was gifted enough to be Lady Ek's advisor, then she could easily be my mentor for the Ways of the Water Line.
She had but naught to go off of; was Elsa sane? Was she a facade, a mere illusion of velvet but truly made of iron? They had only been on one date, so it was unlikely that she could read her well yet. However, there was a spark, a connection, one that couldn't be ignored.
One that she couldn't ignore.
For a moment, she went back to a day she had been training with Zeus Kataigida, who currently resided a few houses down, at the center of the Fulminis Dominus branch. It was he that introduced Iakob and Anna to each other, but only after Zeus himself taught her how to control electricity. It was a shocking experience. She chuckled at her own pun as a ballot was put in her hand. She voted for Sir Dakari Jabari absentmindedly. He was a good enough man, and one who was kind to those he encountered.
Regardless, she recollected when Zeus had first taught her about lightning. She was sixteen years old, on the cusp of adult hood but still young enough to retain an adolescent-esque energy about her.
"Lord Zeus? I created a thunderbolt, look!" She exclaimed, finally happy to have gotten ahold of the bizarre technique that had taken her a whole month to get down. Anna held the intricately designed bolt in her hand, yet grimaced as Zeus approached with his own craft of lightning. His white brows knitted together, and the behemoth of a man knelt down beside her.
"Young one, what is wrong? Why do you frown so?" He asked. She glanced apprehensively between her thunderbolt and Zeus's.
"My bolt doen't look at all like yours. Yours is a neat zig zag, with one zig and one zag, and mine is ziggy in too many places and zaggy in too little places. What is that all about? I mean, I was so happy before, about having had made it. But now... Mine is not nearly as good as yours," she admitted. She reduced the bolt back into her hand.
"Well, I'm going to tell you a secret." Zeus clapped his gargantuan hands together and the thunderbolt disappeared. Anna's ears perked up, and she observed Zeus.
"The only reason I can make a perfect thunderbolt is because of Hera. Which is odd, indeed, because she cannot use lightning to her will. However, she has calmed the wild, swirling storm that used to cloud my head, in prior times. My bolt was nine times as crazy as yours when I first made one. I nearly split a tree in half," he chuckled, recollecting.
"But Hera, she made me think. She made me control myself. She sent a different kind of spark in me, one that is only felt once in a lifetime. The spark that struck the lightning, and cooled the storm altogether," he explained.
"What did it feel like?"
"It felt one hundred times more powerful than lightening, once it struck down, but as soft as a distant rumble of thunder. But if you mean the very first time I felt something... Hm. Do you recall when I made you snap your fingers till you made a spark come from each of your finger tips?"
Anna nodded.
"At first, it felt like that. But you see, with the spark I speak of, it is effortless. It doesn't require a million tries. It either happens on the first snap, or not at all."
"Anna!" Kristoff yelled, shaking her shoulder. She started, forgetting that it was time for lunch.
"Man, sometimes I swear, its like you're in another world or something," he murmured, taking the lead and turning around toward the entrance.
Behind him, Anna was snapping sparks, taking note of how Elsa had made her feel a spark easier than the ones she had practiced for years.
A few hours later, and the results as to whom the next Aer Magus to be came in. Not unlike the ancient Greeks, the voting system was ballot based.
Gita opened the result paper, expression unreadable.
She had been quietly hoping, quietly praying, that this would be the person chosen.
She stood before the Order, turning to the Line of the Aer Magus.
"My friends, before we reveal the results, I would like to congratulate all candidates: Sir Seo-jun Min, Dame Yuia Paixao, and Sir Dakarai Jabari. However, the ballot can only reveal one Aer Magus," Gita told them. There was a moment of tension, a moment of apprehension.
"Sir Seo-jun Min, rise. You are the new Aer Magus," she announced. There was an uproarious applause as the slender, ocher skinned man stood with a smile. He hugged Lord Takahiro Ametsuchi fiercely, thanking him for the experience he had given him.
It was he she had been praying for. Dame Yuia Paixao was incredibly talented, but did not have a level head on her shoulders; she thought with her heart, not her mind. Sir Dakarai Jabari would have been an excellent choice, had the person killed not been his mother. He was fiercely loyal to the Line of the Aer Magus, and even more so to the late Lady Jabari. He now had a thirst for vengeance, and the kind of power he would get being the Aer Magus would enable him to quench his desire. Sir Seo-jun Min, however — he seemed to have his wits about him. He had never wavered in his faith to the entire Order, not just the Line.
He walked up to the throne before Gita, and kneeled. She made him take the Oath of Faith, the Oath of Loyalty, and the Oath of Service. After he recited the ancient words, the promises, and the acknowledgement of responsibilities he was about to take, she pulled a sword from an ornately designed scabbard, handing it to him.
"Then you shall now be known as Lord Min. Please, take your place among us," she said, gesturing to the seat which was then to be filled by the new Lord's body.
Gita rose, and flicked flame into the torches, illuminating the now dark hall.
"My friends, now… we feast."
A/N: Hi. It's been a while, friends - so much has happened in the past year, I just... Listen, all that matters is I'm back and I'm writing again. I have some good ideas swirling around for other stories, but I know I need to finish this one out first. I hope you understand that life is difficult, and focusing on a side story in a sea of crazy ass events isn't always a possibility. I thank you for your continued support. Enjoy this chapter, hopefully another will be occurring soon.
Have a fantastic week, month, year - no matter the time expanse, I hope you enjoy the hell out of it. ~BurnsX3 :)