Chapter Seven: Opening the Portal

WHIT

"Elsa! There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you! I thought I would never find you! Are you and your friends going to find a way to reopen the portals? Hey, wait up! I don't wanna miss all the fun! You wouldn't mind if I tag along, would you?" A cheerful voice behind us piped up.

Wisty, Elsa, and I were on our way to Mrs. Highsmith's house, but we all stopped and turned around at the sound of the voice. A snowman was waddling toward us, giggling. A puffy white cloud hovered above him wherever he went, and a light shower of snow drifted down from it.

Elsa's expression was a mixture of elation and shock. "Olaf? Is it really you?" She asked, "What are you doing here? I thought you were back in Arendelle."

Olaf. I remembered that Elsa told my sister and me about him. He sprang from Elsa's powers, and was by far the friendliest snowman to walk the mountains above Arendelle. He was innocent and outgoing, and he had this uncanny ability to disassemble himself.

"I followed you here after I heard about your escape. I wanted to make sure that you were all right," said Olaf, "You didn't think I'd let you venture to the City and save Anna all by yourself, did you?"

Elsa smiled and said, "You came all this way here for me?" Olaf nodded, and Elsa bent down to pull him into a long and deep hug. "I thought I was all alone," she sniffed, "Thank you, Olaf." After they broke apart, she asked him, "How did you follow me here?"

"The frost and snowflakes lead me here, of course! I said, 'Take me to Elsa,' and these snowflakes formed in the air, just like magic! They fluttered away over the sea, so I followed them. Then I went to all sorts of wonderful places, and I ended up here," Olaf told her.

"It must have been hard to keep up with me," said Elsa.

Olaf's grin only widened as he replied, "I guess I was about three or four days behind you, but the little snowflakes kept me company. It was quite a journey, don't you think?"

"Yeah, it was," Elsa responded, "How come you knew what I was up to?"

The snowman shrugged and said, "Why wouldn't I? When I got here, everybody was talking about the 'Ice Queen'! I heard that you froze this land and fought against the City's most powerful witch."

Elsa nodded, "Uh, yeah, it's something like that. Listen, Olaf, we're going to seek help from Mrs. Highsmith on how to open the Portal. You're welcome to join us. I would be so glad of your company."

"Sure!" Olaf said happily, bouncing up and down on the street.

Wisty and I exchanged an awkward glance before we continued walking, with Elsa behind us and Olaf waddling beside her. It must be very interesting to have a talking snowman for company, I thought, I don't think I'll ever get used to that.

Olaf continued, "I'm lucky to have escaped your castle, Elsa. No one could care for a snowman like me! I would gladly be with you in this City rather than be back in your kingdom under Hans's oppressive regime."

Elsa scowled, "What has this new King been doing to my people?"

"Honestly, I don't have a clue," stated Olaf, "I lived in the mountains for a short period before I went to search for you. I didn't dare to stay near the castle or the village. Whatever Hans and his comrades are doing to your people, I don't think it's anything to do with warm hugs."

"Was anybody put to death?" Elsa asked.

Olaf scratched his head in thought and then answered, "Uh…I think Hans put a lot of people to death."

Wisty turned around and commented, "That's horrible."

"That means they remained loyal to me. I'll never see them again," Elsa spoke quietly, to no one in particular. She asked Olaf later, "What about Kristoff? He was nowhere in sight the night Hans took my kingdom. Do you know what happened to him?"

Olaf replied, "I didn't see him that night either. He went up to the mountains with Sven to cut and harvest ice, but they never returned to the castle. I looked for Kristoff in the mountains, but I couldn't find him. I wonder where he vanished to."

Elsa pondered for a moment, and then she said, "I think I know where: the Valley of the Living Rock. It's his home. I'm guessing that he has been hiding with the trolls all this time."

"That's likely. Oh, why haven't I thought of that place earlier?" Olaf's voice was suddenly full of regret, "If I had found him there, he and the reindeer would've come to this City with me."

Elsa consoled him, "Don't worry, Olaf. We'll see Kristoff again, him and Anna both."

We went past a cinema and turned a corner at the end of the street. Wisty and I were back in our summer outfits. After Elsa had lifted the blizzard, life in the City had returned to normality. I was proud of myself for successfully bringing peace between my sister and Elsa. They had wanted to claw each other's eyes out the moment they met, and thankfully, I had prevented them. Their fight and quarrels was the last thing I, including the rest of the citizens, wanted right now. Wisty and Elsa were nowhere near to being close friends, but at least they were no longer fighting or disputing, and that much I was content of.

I was lost in thought and didn't realize that Olaf was padding beside me. He said to me, "You must be Whitford Allgood, the amazing wizard, gifted in healing and clairvoyance, and known for your excellence in foolball and poetry writing." He had only been here for a few days, but I was stunned by his incredible amount of knowledge about me. The snowman gestured to my sister and said, "And you must be his sister, Wisteria Allgood, the powerful witch with a splendid gift of fire. You two must be wondering who I am. Allow me to introduce myself," he greeted as if we hadn't just been with him this entire time, "Hi, I'm Olaf, and I like warm hugs. It's such an honour to meet the leaders and heroes of the City."

I smiled awkwardly, cleared my throat, and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you too, Olaf." I glanced at Wisty. She was nodding at the snowman. I noticed that Elsa was chuckling.

I jerked my chin at the cloud above Olaf and the snow falling down from it, and asked, "Does that prevent you from melting?"

Olaf cried happily, "Oh yes. It's my own personal flurry! Elsa created it for me herself." He giggled in that strange way of his.

I smiled and replied, "That's wonderful."

We gathered on the front porch of Mrs. Highsmith's house. Wisty knocked and we waited.

Mrs. H used to live in an apartment under The One's reign. I remembered that she had done a great job of blending in with the New Order drones back then. After the evil had been defeated, she had bought her own house to live in.

Elsa was engaged in a conversation with Olaf. I bet the snowman made for much better company for her than me or Wisty. I leaned in and whispered to Wisty in a voice so low that only she could hear, "This had better work Wist, or else the City might have to face another bout of Elsa's wrath."

Wisty rolled her eyes and whispered back at me, "No, we won't. I took good care of the Ice Queen during our battle that night. She wouldn't dare do something this foolish again."

"Still, we had best come up with a plan B, in case this one doesn't work," I suggested.

Wisty said impatiently, "There is no plan B, Whit. I never wanted to do this in the first place. If a witch who is as experienced and powerful as Mrs. Highsmith can't help Elsa, I doubt anyone else can. If this really doesn't work, then it's over."

The door opened before I could reply. Mrs. Highsmith stood before us, clad in an extravagant hat and an impeccable hot pink suit that remained perfectly pressed. A stench wafted into my nostrils from within.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the famous Allgood witch and wizard," Mrs. H greeted us. She peered over our shoulders at Elsa behind us, and added more coldly, "And the notorious Ice Queen." She didn't give Olaf a glance. She beckoned to us and said, "Come on in."

We entered and followed Mrs. H, who clicked around in a pair of pink stilettos, into the living room. She went to stand over a massive oil barrel that was almost as tall as she was, and began to stir a brew of the foulest-smelling business you could possibly imagine.

"Ugh, that smells awful," I heard Olaf say behind me.

"Mrs. H, you must be wondering why we are here…" Wisty started after we watched her go about her work for a moment.

The little old ninja lady immediately interrupted, "There's no need for you to explain, Wisty. I already know why. I've been expecting your arrival."

Wisty frowned and asked, "You are?"

She went to the coffee table and lifted up a dirty dishcloth to reveal a glass orb. "I saw it in the orb. It has shown me everything." I remembered this particular object. Wisty and I had talked to our parents through this globe once. I touched the glass—it felt really warm, which meant that Mrs. H must've been using it not so long ago—and instantly there was a flash of light. Some kind of power surged from me. I had felt this before, too.

"Word about you has spread to every corner of the City," Mrs. H said to Elsa, not unkindly, "I'm glad that Whit managed to knock some sense into you, and made you reverse this grim winter you had unleashed upon us all…but not without giving you permission to do what you came here to do in return. Let me guess, you thought your ice magic was powerful enough, so you tried to use it to break the seal that locked the Portal, and when you failed, you came to me instead."

Elsa nodded and responded, "That's right."

Something about the old lady's tone indicated that we would be prepared to be disappointed next. I asked her, starting to feel a little edgy, "Are you able to help her, Mrs. H?"

"Actually, I am. I'm already one step ahead of you," she answered. She took a seat at the dining table and gestured for us, including Olaf, to do the same. We did.

Mrs. Highsmith told us, "To be specific, I'm not exactly the one who holds the answer to all of your questions. After spending an hour or two looking into the Book of Truths, I managed to dig up some very useful information."

The hefty, yellow tome called the Book of Truths was the most sacred text in the Overworld. People of the City grew up revering its words. The Book was where all the Prophecies about Wisty and me came from. Every single citizen owned a copy of it. I almost felt ashamed that neither Wisty nor I had thought of it earlier.

I asked, "You're saying that the Book of Truths can tell us how to reopen all the portals?"

"Precisely," Mrs. H replied, and I could see a spark of hope and excitement in Elsa's eyes, "Elsa, you attempted to do that with your ice beams, and it didn't work because you didn't have the help of the other elements."

"I don't understand," Elsa sounded confused.

Mrs. Highsmith explained, "You need the power of all four elements in order to break the seal that locked the mother Portal: Air, earth, fire, and ice," she held up a finger as she named each one of them. She shrugged and then added, "Technically, it should be water instead of ice, but ice is the solid, frozen form of water, and it's the only thing that Elsa can conjure, so it shouldn't be that much of a difference, I hope." She smiled at us.

An old memory flashed in my brain. The One Who Is The One had been able to control three of the four elements in the Overworld. He had wanted to steal my sister's gift of fire in order to become truly omnipotent.

The old ninja lady continued to explain, "The Shadowland is a place for spirits. It's a different dimension of reality. In order to get from the Overworld to the Underworld, you need to travel through portals, and only the four elements that exist in the Overworld are strong enough to open these portals. Oh, and you need the power of darkness as well, because there is much darkness from the Lost Ones in the Shadowland."

"Is it really this complicated? I mean, I remember that The One managed to open the mother Portal by simply pointing his arm at it," reflected Wisty.

Mrs. Highsmith reminded her, "But the Portal wasn't sealed, back then, was it? Of course that had made it so much easier for The One to do it."

I summarized, "So air, earth, ice, fire, and darkness combined is what will break the seal?"

"According to the Book of Truths, yes. This was how portals were created in the first place." Mrs. H nodded and confirmed, "And it's said that if you open the mother Portal in the sun in the centre of the City, you open all of them, am I correct?"

"Yes," my sister answered.

Mrs. H clapped her hands, sat back in her chair in relaxation, crossed her arms, and said, "There you have it then: the answer you've been seeking."

Elsa said to me and Wisty, "I have the power of ice, so that's one element covered."

"And I have the power of fire; that's another one down," said Wisty.

I told them, "I'm a natural healer, which means I would have the ability to control earth." Silence followed. I looked around at everyone and asked, "Am I right?"

"Of course you are, Whitford," Mrs. H replied, sounding pleased, and I let out a sigh of reassurance, "You are a lot smarter than you think."

I smiled and then said, "All that's left are air and darkness."

Mrs. H sat up straight and leaned forward again, "I already have both of them covered. I know two magicians who have these gifts. There's a teenager called Beric; he's seventeen and he's able to manipulate air. And then there's the nineteen-year-old Titus, whose has the power of darkness. Their magic isn't as strong as that which the two of you possess, but they were deemed as the second most powerful wizards in the City by The One Who Is The One. Surely you must have heard about them before?"

Had I? I didn't think I remembered. "I think I have, but I must have forgotten," I rubbed my forehead and told her, "They weren't part of the Resistance. Mrs. H, are you sure that we can trust them? Do you think that they would be willing to help us?"

"I know Beric and Titus well. I told them about your intentions on reopening the Portal. They said that they would be more than happy to help you. Titus is wise and warm-hearted, and Beric is level-headed and genial. You can trust them. You have my word on that," Mrs. H said confidently.

I nodded, "All right, then. That's great."

Mrs. H said, "The exact centre of the square are the gold porcelain tiles that long-ago City dwellers arranged in the shape of a many-rayed sun." She went to a cupboard to fetch a piece of paper, and laid it on the middle of the dining table. It was a picture of the sun in the square. "The sun has five main rays," Mrs. H carried on, pointing at each of them on the picture, "Each one of you must stand at the tip of one of the rays. Once you're all in position, the five of you will be automatically linked by magic. Then you will be able to proceed with opening the Portal."

"Are we required to incant any spells or…" asked Wisty.

"No. No spells. However, you do need to make clear of your intention, and that is to bring back Elsa's sister, Anna, the lost girl, from the Underworld," Mrs. H explained, "If all of you incant it together, Anna should eventually come up from the mother Portal, as if she is summoned by you guys."

Wisty quipped, "Sounds like we're performing a ritual within a magic circle."

"I would say it's something similar to that," Mrs. Highsmith said.

"But how will we close the Portal after we saved Anna?" I asked.

Mrs. H replied, "Why, by putting your method of opening the Portal in reverse, of course."

Wisty smiled and raised her eyebrows, "That shouldn't be difficult," she said.

Elsa asked, "Should we do this in the afternoon, then?"

Wisty said, "Why not? The sooner we get this over with the better."

Mrs. H told us, "Head to the City square. I'll call Beric and Titus. They'll be on their way."

Elsa said with sincerity and gratefulness, "Thank you, Mrs. Highsmith. You've been a big help."

Olaf cried in excitement, "Let's go and rescue Anna!"

By the afternoon, everybody in the City knew about our intention on opening the Portal. Wisty, Elsa, and I had met up with Beric and Titus earlier, and we worked out a step-by-step procedure. After Wisty and I went around the City getting an important matter sorted, we jogged toward the centre of the square where Titus and Beric were waiting with Elsa and Olaf.

I informed them through gasps, "I just went around the City with Wisty. We had a group of magicians and teenage kids stationed at every place where the portals are used to be. We instructed them to kill any Lost Ones that come out by hugging them. Some of the kids here have done it before, so they shouldn't have a problem with it. All right, let's begin."

We went to stand in our positions at the tip of the one of the five main rays of the sun, equidistant from one another. Elsa and Wisty stood next to each other. I stood next to Elsa. Beric stood beside Wisty. Titus stood opposite of Elsa and Wisty between me and Beric. As soon as we got in our positions, I could feel the magical link holding me in place. My feet were glued to the ground, like a magnet sticking to iron. I looked at the others. They must've felt it too.

After all my friends were ready, I gave the signal, then the five of us concentrated on the middle of the sun, and we intoned in unison, "Together, we open the mother Portal between the Overworld and the Underworld…"

"…By the power of air!" Beric yelled.

He extended his arms and opened his palms in the direction of the sun. The ground beneath my feet quaked and then burst, and a vortex of wind rose up to meet the clouds above. The impact disintegrated the sun to reveal a gaping, circular hole in the ground, engulfing the smaller one that Elsa had created. The wind was so strong and intense I swear that it could've carried me up sky high if it wasn't for the magical link keeping me in place. It was my turn now.

"…By the power of earth!" I roared.

I lifted my arms upwards in one brisk movement, and a column of rocks, pebbles, and dust erupted from the depths of the earth. They whirled and mingled with the vortex of wind. Some of the dust particles flew into my eyes, and I shielded my face from them with my arm.

"…By the power of ice!" Elsa shouted.

She summoned a swirling column of ice, frost, and snow which joined the energy of the previous two elements. The air turned chilly in a matter of seconds. Immediately, I felt the temperature plummet about thirty degrees. The fierce wind blew frost and snow into my hair. My cheeks were turning blue from the cold.

"…By the power of fire!" Wisty cried.

With a swift wave of her arms, my sister conjured a column of fire, and it intermingled with the other columns that rose to meet the clouds. The heat from the flames hit me like a hurricane. This fire must be as hot as over a hundred furnaces. Before long, my forehead was bedded with sweat which stung my eyes and trickled down my neck.

"…And by the power of darkness!" Titus bellowed.

He generated a thick black murk that gyrated along with the powerful wind, rocks and dust, snow and ice, and the dancing flames, consuming them all. The column gradually decreased in height and began to spiral, until it became a gigantic black pit in the earth. This was what I saw The One create during our last battle with him. Whether this was a good sign or not, I was unsure.

Wisty, Elsa, Beric, Titus, and I uttered in unison, "Bring back the lost girl from the Underworld, so we declare."

Ashen smoke billowed out from the black pit, and I could smell the cold rot of the Shadowland.

It worked! The Portal was opened!

Author's Note:

I should've brought Olaf in the story in chapter 5. It would be good to see him consoling Elsa. Oh well…

Credits to my younger brother who had been my beta reader and who had proofread every chapter I wrote so far. I thank him for taking the time and putting in the effort to do this for me. I know that there might still be several minor mistakes here and there, but nobody's perfect, right?

Thanks a lot to those who have been reading this story so far. I love you all! The next chapter will be up soon!