Chapter Six: Opposites Assault

WISTY

The entrance doors of the government building swung wide open and crashed against the walls behind it with a thundering bang as I stormed out towards the centre of the plaza. The weather seemed to have calmed a lot, and I was glad of that. I was aware that it was around two thirty in the morning and that I should have been asleep long ago, but the sound of shattering glass outside and the slight quaking of the ground had jerked me awake. I hastily dressed before I rushed out.

Elsa was doing this. I knew it had to be her.

Whit and I each chose a building that ringed the City square to stay in for a while in order to keep a watchful eye on the Ice Queen. She didn't leave the City like we instructed her to, which was enough to arouse our suspicions. We spied on her for three days, but truth be told, there really wasn't much for us to spy on. Elsa appeared to be living in solitary confinement and she never came out of that building…until tonight, it seemed.

She had made a promise to me and Whit that she would not open the Portal, but I should've known better than to trust that she would keep it. I should've known that she wasn't a very good listener and removed her from the City earlier. Elsa had brought nothing but dread and terror upon us and our land ever since she arrived: first the snowstorm, then the argument and the threat she made against the people, and now her attempt to open the Portal which could bring back the Lost Ones from the Shadowland, where they could destroy the entire world. I already had a bad feeling that this would have to happen at some point, since Elsa chose to linger around instead of returning home, so I wasn't totally astounded by the news. However, the anger that was building up inside me turned into fury and then rage. What part of "You must not open the Portal and jeopardize everyone in the City" did Elsa not understand? I had endured enough of her sorcery and her wickedness. This craziness must end now. She would pay for her defiance and face my wrath tonight. That bitch does not get to bring doom upon our City, walk away, and live, I resolved.

I dashed forward. The Ice Queen was too focused on disintegrating the porcelain sun on the ground to notice me. I stopped when I got close enough and sent a long wave of fire towards the ice beam she was creating from my hands. It melted the ice with a satisfactory hiss and instantly intercepted the beam. Before Elsa was able to spot the source of the sudden interruption, I gave both my hands a sharp wave in her direction, and she was thrown to her right, pushed aside by my magic. I watched as she landed with a hard crash on the ground, tumbling against the hard stone.

She propped herself up on her elbows and stared at me. I advanced on her, my eyes blazing with hostility, and asserted, "I can't let you do this, Elsa. I won't! You shouldn't have broken your promise. You should've listened to us and left this City."

Elsa glared hatred at me. She sat up and, quick as lightning, created a wall of jagged ice in front of my feet with magic. It increased in size and moved towards me, the sharp crystals growing longer and longer as it tried to impale me. It came after me as I backed away from it.

Elsa had gotten back on her feet. The ice wall nearly reached the height of my shoulders, but I could still see her. She began to walk toward me, following the ice wall as it advanced on me. "I reconsidered what you said," she called, "I thought about it long and I thought about it hard, and I decided that leaving was not the right thing to do. I reminded myself of why I'm really here. I have a sister to rescue, people who need me, and a kingdom to take back! I will not let you stand in my way!"

Using her powers, Elsa sent a gust of frost and snow that hurtled at me. I ducked and it missed me by the head, just barely. I felt the sharp ice wall against my skin and I had to leap away in order to escape it. With a wave of her hands, Elsa caused the ice to move towards me with incredible speed. I wheeled round and ran as fast as my legs could carry me. The chase persisted for another few minutes before my courage re-emerged. I came to a halt and turned to face the razors of ice reaching out for me. I concentrated, feeling the ever-familiar heat rise throughout me. Twenty feet tongues of flame leapt from my whole being. My red hair danced around me wildly as flames erupted from it. Sparks were shooting out from me as I stalked toward the ice wall with my arms spread out wide. The ice rushed up to meet my fire. It immediately began to melt away under the fierce heat. The edges of the rough, sharp points protruding from the wall turned blunter and shorter. They almost seemed to cower before me. My flames had now reached thirty feet, and a moment later, forty. I could imagine what I looked like to Elsa, a human inferno, terrible to behold. A puddle was forming beneath my feet, getting larger and larger by the second. I smirked at Elsa after I melted the last remnants of the wall. I stepped over the large puddle in a single stride and charged toward her. She conjured another wall, but before it could grow taller than my knees, I leapt over it.

"You can't fend me off like that forever," I said to her tauntingly.

With an angry cry, she fired a beam of ice at me, but I made my roaring flames even hotter, and the ice quickly melted away. A fireball formed in my hands. It careened towards Elsa before she had time to react. She tried to dodge it, but she wasn't fast enough. The fireball brushed against her mid torso before it struck the snowy ground. I heard Elsa scream in pain. I watched her stagger about, a hand covering her injured torso, and felt a bubble of contempt. The night was still dark, so I couldn't see the wound and tell how badly I hurt her. But she refused to fall to her knees and let the pain take over. In a few minutes, she was trying to gain her ground again.

I levitated a few feet above the ground, the flames dancing around me in the wind. I would not let myself feel sorry for her. If I finished her now, I would be putting an end to this snowfall, and the threat would be removed. So I conjured up two more fireballs, one in each hand, and directed them at once towards Elsa. She ran from them this time, just managing to get out of their reach. By then, I got another two burning in my hands. In order for them to travel a greater distance, I sent them flying upwards into the sky before arcing down at Elsa. She stood up straighter, raised her arms above her head, and snow and frost shot out from her hands. They met my fireballs in the air and put them out.

Elsa shouted, "I know I'll jeopardize the City by opening the portals, Wisty, but you already found a way to kill the Lost Ones. They'll try to feast on human souls, but your people can hug them to death! You guys will stand a chance against them."

I shook my head and retorted, "I won't let them out from the Underworld, not again. Many innocent people have died at the hands of the Lost. I'm sorry, Elsa, but it's too dangerous. It is not a risk that I'm willing to take."

But Elsa refused to back down. She tried a different tactic. "You love your brother just as much as I love my sister. If the situation was reversed, if Whit was the one trapped in the Shadowland instead of Anna, would you endeavour to reopen all the portals no matter what the cost? Would you do the same thing as what I'm trying to do right now?" She asked.

There. She had caught me in a trap. If I said no, it would mean to her that I didn't love my brother as much as I had shown I did, but if I told her yes…

My hesitation had already given Elsa the answer. "Of course you would," she confirmed.

"I would try to find another way to save him," I replied, but I knew that I was beaten.

Elsa shook her head sardonically and said, "There is no other way, Wisteria, you and I both know that."

I sassed, "You can't persuade me to change my mind about this."

"I know," Elsa sounded disappointed, "You are stubborn, impulsive, and recalcitrant. You always will be. If I can't persuade you, I'm just going to have to end you instead."

She lifted her arms up to summon a gale, along with large snowflakes and frost, before I could respond. The wind hit me full-force, chilling me to the bone. It whirled around me. I felt as if ice water were flooding through my veins. Elsa was controlling and manipulating the wind, causing it to increase in speed and strength.

Whit, where are you? I wondered all of a sudden. Help me! I screamed my brother's name and called for help, but the howling of the wind was so loud that it drowned out my voice. The wind, frost, and snow were swirling around me so fast that I could barely see more than a few feet. The twisting air blew my hair into my face. In a few moments, I was gyrating and rising, higher and higher into the sky. Imagine yourself on a roller coaster and going over a vertical loop nonstop, again and again and again, and you would be close to how I was feeling right now. The gale picked me up as if I weighed no more than a teddy bear, tossing me around with ease. The air seemed to be growing thinner. I could no longer see the ground anymore. All I could see was the spiralling frost and snow. The Ice Queen was going to blow me to the ends of the earth!

Just when I thought this nightmarish experience would never end, I felt myself falling and the concrete ground rising up to meet me. The gale gradually decelerated around me and the snow and frost began to fade away. A few heartbeats later, the night was calm again.

I was still traumatized by terrifying ride. My head was so dizzy that I saw patches of black. I lay there on the ground, stared up at the night sky, and let the snowflakes gently fall and melt on my face. If you stood over me, held up five fingers, and asked me how many of them I could see, I swore I would've counted ten. I wanted to forget about Elsa and my fight with her. I closed my eyes for a while, wishing I could just drift into a nice and peaceful sleep, but somehow I felt like it was a bit difficult for me to breathe. The gale may have gone, but the wind was still quite strong. The air seemed pretty thin to me. Where am I? I wondered curiously.

Slowly, I forced myself to get up. I was standing on what appeared to be the roof of a very tall building. When I looked around, I could pretty much see the whole City beneath me. I carefully crept towards the edge that overlooked the square and looked down. I saw a hole in the ground at the centre of the many-rayed sun and the jagged ice walls Elsa had created, but where was the Ice Queen herself?

"Did you enjoy the ride?" I was startled by the sound of the voice. I spun around, and there she was, carried by the spiralling wind, snow, and frost around her legs and flying towards me. She arrived on the roof with a perfect landing. I moved away from the edge. She smiled and commented, "It must have been exhilarating."

My body felt weaker from all the M I used earlier on fighting Elsa. Her ice magic was strong and very powerful. It didn't seem to have sapped away her strength or weakened her at all. She looked perfectly fine. How long did I have to keep this up? How could I find the energy to keep fighting?

Elsa took no chances. She conjured up rows and rows of spikes of ice. With a rush of rime and snow from her hand, she pushed them towards me. The spikes were getting increasingly tall, and there were several rows, so I couldn't jump over them. They spanned the width of the roof, so I couldn't go around them either. I had no choice but to back away, and it was only a matter of time before it reached the edge and pushed me over the roof. My body wasn't just trembling from the cold now, but from fear as well. My heart pounded faster in my chest.

I held my hands out in front of me to try to defend myself. I dared, "What are you going to do, Elsa? Kill me?"

"If that's what it takes to get my sister back," she replied.

I told her bravely, "Come now. We both know that you don't have it in you."

"Do I?" She looked up at me and hurled back, "Watch me." She pushed the wave of rime and snow against the ice, harder this time. I retreated further.

I coaxed her, "Stop it. This isn't you. You are better than this!" She refused to listen, so I raised my voice, "I have friends everywhere. If you kill me, my brother will never forgive you. Everyone in the City will come for you. You didn't give the people a very good impression in the first place. In their eyes, you are nothing but a monster."

Elsa demanded, "Allow me to open the portals and save Anna, and I will put an end to this winter. We will leave this City together, never to return. You have my word."

I answered, "I'm sorry, Elsa. I can't let you do that. It's for the good of the City that the portals remain closed." It was hard getting those words out.

She stopped what she was doing and the ice spikes came to a halt. She held my gaze and walked towards me. "Do you really think that I give a damn about what your brother and everyone else thinks and what they will do to me?" She challenged, "I could've frozen them all with no more than a wave of my hands…but before I move on to that, I'm going to have to get rid of you first."

Waves of snow and rime formed in her hands again, and Elsa pushed it against the spikes of ice with all her strength. It charged at me. I leaned my back against it, trying desperately to force it back towards Elsa's direction, but the ice was unyielding. The only thing that could stop it was fire. I summoned up my M and willed my body to ignite once more. My flames licked at the spikes of ice. I felt the back of my clothing soaking wet as the ice melted. Unfortunately, there were over a dozen rows of them and the process was incredibly slow. Behind me, I heard Elsa cry in effort. The ice spikes lurched forward. I was pushed all the way towards the edge, over the roof, and then I was tumbling down into thin air.

Falling.

I was going to die!

The world blanked out and span around me.

No! I thought, panicking. I don't want to die. I can't die. I can't die! I can't—

You can do this, Wisty. You can stop this fall, a voice inside me encouraged.

How? I asked, scared as hell.

Use your magic, the inner voice replied.

My magic. I had totally forgotten it all of a sudden.

But I can't concentrate on summoning my magic, I protested. All I can think about right now is my body and brain being smashed to a bloody pulp!

Levitate. Repeat the word with me over and over, the voice within me urged. Levitate. Levitate. Levitate…

And so I did. I repeated the word together with my inner voice over and over in my head. This was the only word that mattered to me now. I clung onto it as if my life depended on it, never for once letting go.

Levitate. Levitate. Levitate. Levitate. Levitate. Levitate. Levitate!

I felt myself suddenly stop in midair. I shut my eyes tight and couldn't help but cry out. I was no longer falling. I peeked over my shoulder timidly and realized that I was floating, levitating about ten metres above the ground.

Yes, I did it! I stopped the fall!

"Oh my God," I let out a huge breath of relief, feeling grateful and happy for the help that inner voice gave me.

Then using my powers, I descended the rest of the way slowly and peacefully, as if I was a light feather. I gently landed in the square. My fire had gone out, I noticed. I looked upwards and saw Elsa flying down from the top of the building, carried by the spiralling wind, frost, and snow around her legs. She landed gracefully in a distance in front of me. Her expression was dumbfounded.

"How did you survive that fall?" She asked me.

I brushed the snow off of my hands and answered, "Well, I used a bit of magic and managed to levitate instead. What you did up there, that was impressive." I shrugged, "But I guess it wasn't time for me to die just yet."

I was just planning my next move when Elsa sent a blast of ice and frost in my direction. It came at me so fast that I didn't have the time to react. It struck my chest. I felt a sort of frigidness within me like never before. It travelled through my lungs. Suddenly, I had difficulty breathing. I felt ice slowly forming around my heart, preventing it from beating and stopping it from pumping blood through my body. My circulatory system began to shut down. It was as if my organs were turning into ice cubes. Elsa was freezing my heart. I would be happy to just lie down and rest for a little while. My legs gave away and I collapsed onto the ground. I closed my eyes…

…But I forced them open straight away. No, no, no, this felt wrong! Since when did I, Wisteria Rose Allgood, the most powerful witch in the City, allow myself to give in to a fight? I had faced countless battles in the past few years. I defeated The One, I brought down the Wizard King's army, and I triumphed over Pearce and the monstrous spirit of his father. I was so much stronger than this. I could do better, much better. After everything she had done, Elsa did not get to win tonight.

If Whit was here, he would heal me, but since he was probably still fast asleep, I figured I had to find a way to save myself. Perhaps my fire could counteract Elsa's powers and thaw the icy clutch around my heart. I wasn't entirely sure whether this would work, but I had to try before my heart was completely frozen, before it was too late, or else I would become an ice statue like Anna once did. My mind concentrated on my heart igniting and burning. I imagined a spark lighting up in its centre, expanding, making my heart glow yellow, orange, and then red. I pictured the flames dancing wildly around my heart, roaring. I focused on the fire thawing the iciness that had been put there by Elsa's evil sorcery.

And then, slowly, I felt it happening. My heartbeat returned to normal. The organs in my body warmed up. Blood began to circulate through my veins. I could breathe properly again. My magic worked!

I brought myself into a sitting position and then allowed myself to stand up. I flexed my fingers. I felt stronger now, rejuvenated. I turned to face Elsa, who was flabbergasted, and gave her a victorious smile.

"Impossible," whispered Elsa.

"No ice can freeze a fiery heart," my voice sounded confident.

By now my M had built up. Therefore I brought my arms upwards to generate a ring of fire around Elsa. I used my powers to make the wild, roaring flames grow taller. They danced in the wind and grew closer toward their target, like a predator seeking its prey. She was trapped. I watched her cringe and shrink away for a few seconds, and I relished every moment of it. I summoned a glowing spear, its head surrounded by flames and spitting crackling embers. I ran forward a few steps and threw it at Elsa's chest, watching it sail through the air.

She was quicker than I accounted for.

With a rapid gesture, the spear was tossed aside, landing metres away and shattering in a matter of seconds. I scowled, but by then, the ring of fire had already reached Elsa and began to burn away her icy dress. Quickly, she retaliated by sending blasts of frost towards the flames, extinguishing the ring. As I watched, I had already created a fireball, burning it in my hand. I aimed it at Elsa's head, and while she blocked it with a lump of snow, I conjured another one and sent it flying straight at her legs before she had the chance to melt it. The knee-high slit of her dress revealed her lower right leg behind it, and that was where the fireball struck her. Her shrieks of pain pierced the quietness of the night. I smirked. She totally deserved that.

I concentrated for a moment, conjuring up a fiery soldier, wielding a sword made of pure fire. He stood as tall as Elsa, coated in blazing armour. The soldier lunged, slashing, but she anticipated his every move and dodged away from his attacks with an almost flawless sense of timing. As the soldier advanced once more, Elsa materialized a longsword coated in a blanket of verglas, parrying the soldier mid-blow. She backed to a safe distance from the soldier and resumed a fighting stance, grinning. I watched carefully as they fought. Elsa wasn't properly dressed for combat, and I could tell she wasn't at all expecting a sword fight, but I found that she was excellent at it. She delivered downward cuts, high and low strikes, backslashes, and counterstrokes. She parried, met, and defended herself from the soldier's blows. When the soldier charged and brought his fire sword down on her with both his hands, Elsa blocked it with hers. She gave the soldier a hard shove, and then danced away from him. Her ice weapon was melting, so Elsa tossed it aside. Using her magic, she directed snow from her hands at the fiery soldier. There was a loud hissing sound as they met. The soldier soon disappeared under the heavy mountain of snow, and its fire was put out.

I produced another fiery soldier, an almost perfect replica, without giving Elsa a moment of respite. This one was armed with a longbow and a quiver of arrows, all of them made of fire.

"Let's see if you can dodge a barrage of arrows better than my fire!" I shouted at Elsa.

The soldier pulled an arrow from the quiver strapped to his back, nocked it to the bowstring, aimed it at Elsa's neck, drew, and released in one fluid motion. To my surprise, Elsa instantly froze the arrow with her mind. The frozen arrow stopped in the air and fell to the ground before her feet. However, the soldier now had a second one ready. Elsa quickly generated an ice shield, thick and as solid as stone. As the arrow flew toward her, she brought the shield up over her face to block it. The arrow was caught in the ice. The soldier released several more in her direction, and Elsa managed to block every single one of them with that shield of hers. She then simply gazed at the archer, watching as walls of ice began to creep over its armour. It was not long before the warrior was frozen mid-draw, its flames hidden under the unyielding ice. The Ice Queen created a dagger with her magic and threw it at the stricken man. The moment it struck his chest, the ice statue cracked into pieces and collapsed in a heap on the ground.

Elsa dropped the ice shield, turned to face me, and yelled, "Come on, Wisty. Send me another soldier! You know you want to."

I gritted my teeth and muttered under my breath, "Gladly."

Using my magic, I summoned the third fiery warrior. He held a real trident in hand, engulfed in flames. Elsa sent pieces of jagged ice flying towards him. He moved away from some of them. Those that hit him proved to have little effect. Elsa bent and picked up her ice shield, keeping her gaze on the soldier.

It looks like she's actually enjoying this, I thought angrily, but I was still determined to watch how this round of combat would turn out.

The soldier threw the trident with superhuman strength at Elsa. It smashed the shield when Elsa held it up in defence this time, but at least it managed to stop the trident. The weapon dropped to the ground with a clink. Crusts of snow and ice formed over the trident as Elsa froze it with her mind. She sent a blast of ice at it from her hand, and the weapon exploded. I had to bend down and shield my face from the pieces that were thrown my way. Next, she created gusts of wind mixed with snow and frost which surrounded the soldier. At first, I thought she was trying to douse him, before I discovered that she was transforming him into a warrior made out of snow. When she was done, she used her magic to make him grow, bigger and bigger and then even larger still, until he became a giant snow monster.

The hideous creature let out a menacing roar when he saw me. The huge gust of cold wind that came out of his mouth nearly knocked me off my feet. I probably looked about the size of a kitten against the giant. Elsa had turned my own soldier against me. Great. The snow monster started to stump towards me ferociously. The ground beneath me trembled with every step it took. I went for the only course of action I had in mind right now: I ran. I ran to the edge of the vast courtyard and then along its perimeter. I braved a glance over my shoulder and saw the giant coming after me. I was a fast runner, but I couldn't outrun the snow monster forever. I tried to come up with something in the meantime. I could produce a dagger, spear, trident, or a cudgel and fling it at the monster, but I doubt that would badly wound him, let alone destroy him. I could conjure a sword, mace, or a war hammer to fight the monster, but I wouldn't know how to wield one. And I didn't excel at archery either, so generating a bow and arrow was out of the question.

I supposed fire was my only option. Hang on. A sudden thought popped into my head. I could shape-shift into a creature of fire…a phoenix, perhaps? I didn't have much time. The snow monster was gaining on me. There was no room for hesitation. I summoned my M from within. I recalled a picture of a phoenix from a book I read when I was a little, and focused on my body transforming into one. In a few moments time, I felt it happening. My body was covered by red, orange, and gold feathers, my mouth elongated into a sharp beak, my legs shortened, my feet was replaced by a pair of talons, my vision sharpened, and what were once my arms had now become a pair of large wings. I soared into the night sky, my wings beating in the air, and gave a loud cry. I had turned into a phoenix, wonderful and majestic. I flew the perimeter of the square. My body burst into flames.

I felt joyful. I felt triumphant. I felt freaking invincible.

After I had my few moments of delight, I circled the giant snow monster below me, pondering for a method of attack. I swooped down on the giant and raked my talons on its left shoulder, the snow instantly melting as it made contact with my fire. When the giant tried to swat me, I retreated and made for the sky. I managed to repeat what I just did over and over. The giant was ungainly and clumsy, and I was fast and clever. Every time when it tried to strike a blow, I moved out of the way. Before long, I had severed its left arm from its shoulder. The snow monster roared in pain. To be honest, I didn't think it could even feel any pain. I didn't know how long I could keep up the shape-shift, but the sooner I was finished with the giant, the better. I knew what I had to do next. Cut off the head of the beast. Therefore I dive-bombed the giant's neck and ripped off a chunk of snow with my beak, the fire surrounding me making it a lot easier. I continued to attack its neck, flying out of reach every time the giant made a grab for me. I paused in the air to observe the snow monster. Its neck had melted away completely and its head was on the verge of sliding off its shoulders. One more push should do it, I judged. Hence I dive-bombed the creature's head and brought all the strength of my body behind it. It toppled over, tumbled down, and smashed in a heap of snow on the ground. The rest of its body collapsed soon afterwards.

The snow monster may be dead, but my battle with Elsa wasn't done yet. I turned to the Ice Queen, who was gazing at me in awe. Now it's your turn, I thought. I charged at her as she flinched and shrank back. I ripped her power-blue sleeve and lacerated her upper right arm with my talons when she held it up to defend herself. Blood rushed out from the gashes and trickled down her arm. Her screams echoed in the black night. Elsa touched her wound and her hand came away red. Fighting back and enduring the pain, Elsa sent a large wave of snow and frost my way. I virtually froze to death just a few moments ago, and I wasn't going to let her frigidness touch me again. I let out a loud cry and hurriedly flew away, but by then my fire had been quenched. My magic was wearing off. Before I knew it, Wisty the Phoenix had faded and I was back in my human form.

I breathed heavily for a while. The shape-shifting and ignition took every ounce of magic from my body. The fight with the snow monster had been a great deal of effort as well. Elsa was crying from the pain of her terrible wounds, and she was in no shape to retaliate. I was thankful for that. I needed a few minutes to recover.

I went to the centre of the square, where the gold porcelain tiles were arranged in the shape of a many-rayed sun. There was a hole in the middle of the sun where Elsa's ice beam had disintegrated it. It wasn't too deep. I could see the bottom. It would've turned into a gaping hole if I hadn't been there to stop her.

I had to finish Elsa before the sun came up. I looked up and spotted her stalking in my direction, looking determined to fight again. Her right arm was slick with blood. She yelled, stretched out her left arm, and created a beam of ice which careened towards me. Luckily, my magic was ready. I yelled as well, extended my right arm, and conjured powerful waves of fire her way. The two met somewhere between us. Fire and ice pushed against each other, both trying to overcome the other. My fire was succeeding so far. It gradually drove Elsa's ice beam backwards, causing it to become shorter and shorter. I didn't even have a plan on how I would kill Elsa. I was just going to freaking burn her.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a colossal boulder erupted from the ground in front of me, intercepting my waves of fire. I frowned. I glanced over at Elsa. There was a boulder in front of her as well which had cut off her ice beam.

What the hell? Where on earth did that come from?

Someone shouted, "Stop this insanity right now!"

I turned to see my brother Whit walking across the square toward us, a furious expression on his face. His arms were lifted up high and he dropped them to his sides. Of course he came. The noise from my fight with Elsa was loud enough to wake the entire City. To my disappointment, however, my brother wasn't here to help me bring down the Ice Queen.

I yelled at Whit, feeling incredibly annoyed, "Why did you just do that, Whitford? I was this close to defeating the Ice Queen!"

"One of you is going to get killed if you two continue to fight each other!" Whit snapped.

I argued, "Elsa tried to open the Portal, after she promised us that she wouldn't. What other way is there for me to stop her? You should be helping me, Whit!"

Whit put up his hands and affirmed, "I'm not going to get involved in this mess." He turned to Elsa, hesitated, and then said to her, "I understand how much you love your sister, Elsa. I'm giving you permission to open the portals."

"What?" I screeched. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Had my brother taken leave of his senses?

Whit jerked his chin to the sun in the centre of the square and instructed Elsa, "Go and save her."

Elsa nodded, stepped around the boulder, and began to make for the sun on the ground. I strode forward and shouted, "Whit, are you out of your mind? Have you forgotten how hard we strived for peace in this City? If we let her open all the portals, the Lost Ones will come out and devour our flesh and souls. Do you even know what that means? It will mean the end of any chance for freedom, or any hope of peace. It means living every single moment of our lives in fear. The Undead will destroy everyone in the whole, entire world!"

Whit disputed, "You are not getting anywhere near to bringing peace to the City by fighting Elsa just now!" He lowered his voice a bit, "Listen, Wisty, I am just as aware of the risks of reopening the portals as you are, but we found a way to kill a Lost One, didn't we?"

"That was just what I had been saying to her," Elsa joined in, "Your people are able to stand a chance against them."

Whit convinced me, "Elsa had already lost so much. Hans took everything she had from her. We both know how it feels like to lose everything we have, Wisty, just think back to those awful times under The One's reign. Elsa is in the same situation. She came all this way here from Arendelle for her sister, seeking our help to save her. It'll be wrong for us to order her to leave and then simply slam the door in her face. That's not what a good person will do. We have to stand together against our foes. You once said to the people of the City that we have to do what's best for each other, Wisty, remember? And that means we have to be willing to take the risks and make some sacrifices," he looked to the both of us, "The two of you fighting each other accomplishes nothing."

A long silence hung in the air between the three of us. I wouldn't feel any better by killing Elsa. Everything my brother said to me was right.

I asked Whit quietly, "So we are really going to allow Elsa to reopen all the portals, then?"

Whit nodded and confirmed, "I believe that'll be the wisest thing to do."

"All right then. Go ahead," I told Elsa.

Elsa limped a few steps towards the centre of the square before she cried in pain and fell to her knees. Oh, right, I injured her lower right leg. I had injured her a lot.

"She can barely walk. She needs help. I think you're going to have to heal her," I told Whit over Elsa's cries.

My brother walked towards Elsa and stopped when he got close enough. "I will heal your wounds with my magic, but before I do that, I need your word that you'll put an end to this snowfall and bring back summer to this land," he said.

"I will," she promised.

Whit bent down and helped Elsa to lie back on the ground. His hands hovered above the bleeding gashes on her upper right arm. Then he sent waves of healing energy into the wounds. I watched as Whit staunched the flow of blood and slowly closed up the gashes with his magic. Now there were only long red lines on Elsa's arm where the wounds were supposed to be. The skin around it remained a soft shade of red. Whit moved on to heal her mid torso, and then he turned to her lower right leg. After the last of the burns on her skin had faded away, he assured her, "There. You're gonna be fine."

"Thank you, Whit," Elsa smiled and told him, her voice filled with gratitude.

My brother gave her a nod as a sign of welcome. He stood up and then came to stand by my side.

Elsa got up. She used her ice magic to fix the damage I did to the sleeve, waist, and hem of her dress. Then she concentrated on reversing the winter she brought upon the City. As she gradually brought her arms upwards, the snow that covered the square, the streets, the porches of people's houses, and the tops of buildings lifted and faded into the night sky. All the mess we made from our battle in the square vanished and had been cleared away. The temperature rose and returned to normal. My hands and feet warmed up. It was good to feel the nice summer breeze on my face again.

After she was done, Elsa studied me and Whit from head to toe and then commented, "I think you two are overdressed."

Whit and I looked at each other, and we couldn't help but chortle. Elsa joined in. After my last few days of consternation, it felt amazing to laugh again. I was so glad that Elsa brought back summer. I was thankful of Whit's help too. If he hadn't arrived on time to intervene, Elsa and I would never have stopped fighting, and eventually one of us would've destroyed the other for sure. I didn't admit this out loud, but Whit was the hero tonight. He was the one who saved us both.

Elsa said to me sincerely after the laughter died down, "Wisty, I'm sorry for hurting you, for everything I did to you tonight…"

I shook my head and replied, "It's okay. I'm sorry too."

We smiled. We didn't need to say anymore to know that we had forgiven each other.

Elsa turned away and walked to the sun in the centre of the plaza. We watched as she stretched out both of her hands and fired two bright and powerful beams of ice into the hole in the ground that she created earlier. It emanated snow, mist, and frost. The wind picked up around her. The square was lit up in a polar light. The ground beneath our feet quaked and trembled.

It went on like this for a very long time. After another while, Elsa disengaged her ice beam from the ground and turned to us. She was panting from the long-lasting effort. She shook her head and said to us in frustration, "I can't do it. It won't open."

Whit and I ran to the edge of the hole in the middle of the sun. I noticed that it remained the exact same size and depth as before. There was no sign of any progress.

"My magic is not strong enough," Elsa told us dejectedly, "The mother portal was sealed. I don't think opening it will be that easy."

"Oh," I managed, staring down at the hole, "That's a problem."

Elsa shrugged and said, "You guys did tell me earlier that there isn't a way."

"We'll figure something out," Whit assured Elsa, "My sister and I will do everything we can to help you get Anna back."

Elsa didn't look convinced. I could tell that she was disheartened.

I paced the lip of the hole for a while. Suddenly I came up with an idea. "Why don't we go and talk to Mrs. Highsmith?" I suggested. Mrs. Highsmith was my parents' long-time friend.

Whit scowled and remarked, "You want us to talk to that little old ninja lady?"

I continued, "She's an experienced and powerful witch. She might know something about how to open the portals. Maybe she can help us."

"Wisty, are you sure about this?" My brother asked.

I told him, "No, I'm not, but it's definitely worth trying."

Whit looked upwards to the sky, which had turned from black to a dark shade of blue. I followed his gaze. It would be dawn soon. Whit turned back to us and agreed, "Okay. We'll go and talk to her tomorrow. For now, I think it's best for all of us to get some rest. I can tell that you both are tired. Elsa, you won't mind the delay, will you?"

She shook her head and said, "No, that's fine. You're right. I really do need to get some rest. I haven't had a proper sleep since the night Hans took my kingdom."

"There's a free apartment on my street. You're welcome to stay there if you like," Whit told Elsa.

Elsa smiled and said, "I would love to."

We exited the square together.

Author's Note:

I made Elsa a bit aggressive and I was slightly more creative with Wisty's fire powers. This chapter was pretty challenging for me to write. Yeah, I know it was a long one, but I hope you guys have had fun reading it all the same!