Usual disclaimer. Band camp whooped my ass this week. I'm exhausted. I love you guys, though... So here's another chapter! I have decided that smut will be included in this story (later on, albeit, but it will occur). Enjoy!
Update: A Spade is a person who has Elemental heritage, but inactive genes. If you've ever read Harry Potter, this is much like a Squib, minus the fact that they can still pass on the genes.
"My Lady, the Four and their advisors are here. Shall I see them in?"
"Yes, Vishal, if you would be so kind as to do so."
His heavy footsteps left her presence, and Gita heard quiet talking outside, three masculine voices and one feminine voice present. She pressed her fingers into the stone of the Temple floor, channeling her energy into her fingertips as she rose up the table they would be using for their meeting, one that had been ingrained in the ground of the Temple since the rise of Lady Flora Fae – three generations of Ultimum Malefici ago. She rose up each of their thrones and chairs before sitting at hers, cape on the back of her chair.
As they came in, Gita could tell on their faces that they all had dreaded this meeting just as much as she had. It wasn't that they didn't want to solve the problem at hand, that being the rebellions across the world; it was that they had all been silently praying that there wouldn't ever be a problem to solve, hoping that things would be resolved by each individual.
After everyone was settled, Vishal and the other Temple servants brought in wine and food for the Magi. Vishal looked up and over at her, the question in his gaze being answered by her nodding, a silent confirmation to grab the papers they needed.
"I trust your travels were well and good, my friends," Gita began, "and that you have rested well prior to coming here." Vishal reentered the room and place each Line's paper in front of their respective Lord or Lady, handing the advisors extra copies.
"Can anyone, in such a time of strife as this?" asked Lord Mickey Luch. There was a hum of agreement amongst the table, Pocahontas included. Gita sighed.
"I agree, Mickey. I have gotten no dreams from the Gods that prove to be of assistance as of the time being, aside from Horatius paying me a visit and saying 'They Rise', of which the meaning is incredibly vague. Now that things have started to happen in the Terra Magus, I'm sure your sleep has been restive as well." He and his advisor, Sir Donald Sorsa, nodded gravely.
"I just can't seem to put a grasp on the whole thing; there's been no cause for uprisings in any way, shape, or form! Especially now that it is extending beyond beyond Fire, this gives me reason to believe that this is extending beyond just the realm of our Order," said Lord Seo-jun Min. Pocahontas leaned forward at this point, exchanging a look with Gita. When her Lady gave her a small nod, she began the explanation that she and the Indonesian had form.
"Agreed, Milord. Henceforth, we," she began, gesturing to Gita and herself, "have formed a hypothesis on this group and their motives. Let's begin with the physical traits, shall we? If you look on the first page of the debriefing papers, you'll notice a few bullet points, of which we have gathered a collective of different traits all regarding the common physical appearances of the members." There was a shuffling of papers as the Magi began to skim the text. Gita steepled her fingers as she scanned the reactions of her fellow Lords and Lady.
"Dame Rolfe and myself have come up with a name for these outstanders: the X-Rebels, taken from the fact that they all have X's branded into their left arms. From what we've gathered, the Rebels are a predominantly male force, of varying physical stature and nationalities, throwing the possible idea of an Elemental neo-Nazi cult, or something of the likes." Lord de l'Eau clasped his giant hands in front of him, corners of his mouth pointing southward.
"You said they all had X's on their left arms, correct Lady Ratulemen?" He asked. When she nodded her confirmation, his frown deepened. "So did the group from twenty years ago…"
"... The Usurpers," finished Mickey with a grimace. "While many of you did not hold the office you do now at the time, the Usurpers were a group that tried to kill the Magi, such as myself and Lord Lezigha, and the Heads of the Houses and Branches for about five years. They really only succeeded in taking a handful lives—luckily, none of the Magi or Heads, as the attackers were either Spades or non-Magic users—, one of them being the late Rörik Nordin, may he Rest In Peace." While some of them didn't hold the office they held now, they were all old enough to know the tale of Sir Nordin. The knowledge had only been contained to the Magi; it still weighed heavily on many of them that they had never told Tonna, but they could not risk losing her should she had decided to go after the Usurpers for revenge.
"Yes, indeed; I did my research. I attempted to draw some similarities between the Usurpers and X-Rebels, but unfortunately, the only thing I really found was the X's on their arms. From what I've seen, the X-Rebels are Elementals, which proves a much bigger threat to us than the Usurpers posed. So far, though, the rebellions have stayed contained to just that: rebellions," said Gita.
"Except for the late Lady Jabari," said Sir Ron Jon, the Advisor to the new Aer Magus.
"Exactly, which is what confuses me most. The rebellions started after her death, which makes me question if their goal is similar to that of the Usurpers, or if they are simply attempting to form a separate organization aside from the only one that exists: us," replied Gita, more to the whole table as opposed to just Sir Jon.
"Which brings us to our next point: the organization and structure of the X-Rebels. So far, we have found no solid evidence of if they have a leader, or if so, who," began Pocahontas. "We don't know if they have a ranking system, or what their motives are. We don't know if they have a creed, or motto –"
"Wait," Lady Sydalnnar interrupted. All eyes turned toward her with the realization that she could have precious information on the X-Rebels.
"I believe they do have a motto of sorts," she said, pulling out a stone from her pocket. As she pressed her thumb into it, it shined bright orange, and her eyes glowed a dim yellow. A phrase flew out into the air above the table, ropes of floating fire being projected into the air.
An rí teacht. Scriosadh bheith leis an ordú.
"This is what my sources found. When we captured the five people who were found attacking a group from the Line of Water unprovoked, we tried to get as much information as we could out of them. The phrase you see above you," she said, nodding at the letters before them, "is what they kept repeating, over and over; nothing more, nothing less. This is, as you can see, a language separate from what any of us are familiar with or use."
The Magi and their advisors studied the phrase, wondering what in the Devil the phrase meant. That is, until Sir Sorsa opened his mouth.
"I… may actually be of assistance in this instance, Milady," said Sir Sorsa, "If I'm not mistaken, that looks like ancient Gaelic…" He observed it more, tilting his head. "Of the Irish variety. I have not the slightest idea what it says, but I'll be sure to take the phrase to a linguistics expert. I have many connections I can speak with." The air in the room seemed to lighten considerably, the first step being taken toward finding out who exactly made up the X-Rebels; and, perhaps more importantly, why they were doing what they were.
Two weeks had passed since the day that Anna learned to freeze a bucket of Water and turn it into Ice, and since then, her training had been progressing at an astounding rate. Elsa was thoroughly impressed, not only by how quickly she picked up her Ways, but also with how hard Anna worked. She put every ounce of effort into her training, and it was paying off for her prettily.
Today, they were working on shaping Snow and forming Snowmen. Not bringing it to life – not yet, Elsa had said – just forming the Snow and shaping it into the image that their creator had in mind. While Elsa could do this with practiced ease, she realized that this was one of the first things that Anna had created on her own.
They had done their normal routine: wake up, physical training, then worked on new things. Elsa had Anna working harder in PT now; since Anna's Water energy threshold was expanding the more she practiced, she could afford to expend more physical energy in PT.
Of course, it was an unspoken observation between the two that Elsa enjoyed watching Anna workout; her physique was impeccable, and very alluring to the blonde. Anna would occasionally catch Elsa blushing as she called out a new exercise, and shoot a smirk her way in return. The reaction that Elsa gave her varied; sometimes, it would be a more intense blush, sometimes it would be an eyeroll, and sometimes, if she was really feeling confident that day, a smirk and a wink back. This reaction never failed to make Anna's ears turn as red as her hair.
Anna was surprised that this flirtatious side was coming out of herself. Or, maybe she wasn't; this was the gorgeous Elsa Isånd she was pursuing, and Gods be damned if she wasn't going to give this her all. That's just the way she was; she put her one hundred percent into everything she did.
Snapping back to reality, she visualized a Snowman in front of her, feeling the cold flow from her hand and create a Snow flurry. Almost completely blocked out from the world in her concentrated state, she just barely heard Elsa yelling words of encouragement above the mini Snowstorm.
"You're doing it!"
I am. I am doing it.
Soon, she opened her eyes and looked at the figure in front of her. She – yes, her creation was a Snowwoman – resembled Olaf greatly, though her intention was to have completely round body pieces.
"She's gorgeous!" cried Olaf from across the room, bounding up to the unnamed Snowwoman. He bowed in the best gentleman-like manner he could, shaking the Snowwoman's twig hand – speaking of, did Anna place that on there from the ground? – and smiling as bright as the sun.
"What's your name?" he asked, clearly awaiting the response to be given back to him from a Snow creature that so closely resembled himself. There was a cough from behind him, Elsa looking apologetically at the kind Snowman.
"I'm afraid she can't talk, and therefore doesn't have a na–" Elsa began, until Anna cut her off.
"Her name is Ingrid, Olaf," Anna interrupted, a simultaneously sad and happy expression crossing her face, "and as soon as I learn how to, I promise I'll bring her to life for you so she can be your girlfriend. Sound good, buddy?" He leapt into her arms, steam emitting from between the pair like the last time. She gently flurried him off of her, smiling at his actions.
"That sounds awesome! And Ingrid is such a pretty name, you know? Fitting for such a pretty Snowwo–" There was a sudden crack above the trio as a heavy plank broke from the ceiling and plummeted toward Anna. Elsa shrieked and covered her face, subconsciously sending Ice Anna's way to protect her. There was a groan in the ground and a snap in the air as both women finally came to.
The Earth around them had been pressed upward toward the plank in a protective manner around Anna, the stone creating almost a dome around her and effectively snapping the piece of wood in half.
She can use Earth's energy, too…? Elsa thought, more and more questions pouring into her mind as Anna lowered the Earth back into the ground.
"What in the hell…" Elsa started, confusion clouding her features. Anna looked everywhere but her mentor's eyes, looking like a child who just got exposed eating chocolate cake in front of their parents.
"So, Elsa… I suppose I should have you sit down before I tell you all the information I'm about to tell you. Why don't we go up to the cabin and sit down for lunch?" She asked. Elsa shook her head, brows furrowing. She crafted two chairs and a table between them, leaning in close.
"No. Tell me here, and now. What in the name of the Gods was that," she asked authoritatively. Any other time, Anna would have been flustered at that tone of voice; but in this moment, it just made her incredibly anxious.
"Well, I'll give it to you the easy way first," she began, "I'm currently in training to become the next Ultimum Maleficus."
A/N: Cue set up for a big reveal on Anna's past in the next chapter (or rather, her parent's past...). I hope you all enjoyed, that one; I almost forgot to update the story this week! I'm in process of writing a one shot with these dorks, set in a m!AU at a college dorm. We'll see if I can get it out in the next week with school starting back up for me and all. So!
The reviews! (Thank you to everyone who favorited, followed, reviewed and PM'd this week! Y'all kick ass!)
Strasza: This is an awesome chapter, the rebels now have a name, Elsa and Anna are getting closer, and Anna finally met Elsa's father. If I didn't know better, I'd say that the upcoming fight will play out like the Civil War questline in Skyrim, where Elsa and Anna will basically be the front line.
Burns: Thanks! And perhaps. I have a general idea of what I want to do with them as far as the fighting, but I haven't decided upon the logistics. We'll see!
Not Strasza: Great Chapter, this is my favorite fanfic on this site. You should definitely add smut to this. After all, it is rated M, so why not? So I just want to say, good luck.
Burns: I'm truly flattered! Thank you so much. Yeah, I already have found a way to weave smut into the plot, so that's covered XD Thank you for the kind wishes, I won't disappoint!
Alright guys, that's all for this week. See you next time! ~ Burns