I'm back baby!
It's a new year and time for new posts! Next week will be a Valentines Sisters and Seasons and following that will be a MASSIVE Black Diamond Princess post(it's so large I'm considering breaking it into two, and even then, it will be about 2-3 times longer than most BDP's).
Thank you everyone who stayed with me during my time off, I am coming back hopefully renewed and refreshed. I have all of February written except the end of the Valentines Sisters, which I will finish sometime this week.
See you again real soon! ;) /TAO&SNZ/
Stepping out into the hallway, Anna walks down the hall towards the nurses station with Kristoff.
Rapunzel asks as they walk by, "heading home for a bit?"
Happy to see her new friend, Anna explains, "just going to go home, shower, and change. I'll be back in maybe a few hours." Somewhere between accepting the limits of herself and learning that powers like Rapunzel's, Kristoff's, and her sister's exist, Anna hesitantly shifts towards Rapunzel.
"Don't worry, Anna", Rapunzel tells her, "I'll keep her company and safe while you're away." Her reassuring smile kept Anna's nerves slightly at bay.
Anna pulls out her phone, "is there any way I could give you my number so you can text me if anything happens?" Clearly still nervous for her sister, Anna holds out her phone anxiously.
"Sure", Rapunzel laughs as she take Anna's phone, types in her number, and sends herself a text, "there!" Handing back Anna's phone, the screen says, 'PuNz', right across it. "If anything happens, you will be the first to know", she smiles, giving Anna a wink.
Kristoff, not quite as convinced as Anna, "I am less worried about Elsa going berserk again and more thinking about what would happen if someone came after her while I wasn't here… Would you be able to protect her?" His grim tone scares Rapunzel slightly. Worse, his stare makes Rapunzel feel like she's just as much a suspect as a solution.
"I can handle myself, thank you", Rapunzel snips back, "have more faith in people."
Narrowing his eyes, Kristoff glares at her for a second, "the last time I had faith in someone he won this same battle we're fighting right now and turned this town to shit. So please excuse me if I don't have the same bright-eyed optimism you do", and with that he turned to walk away.
Rapunzel purses her lips, "he's in a terrible mood…", she sits back in her chair, crossing her arms.
"I think he's just worried about everything", Anna says as she watches him walk away, "he and Elsa have known each other for a long time. He's worried about her and from what he's told me about all this, it's not exactly going to be easy. I think he was relying on Elsa a lot to handle anything that got out of his control." Smiling warily, Anna couldn't help but worry about her sister, as well. She worries that Elsa won't recover, more over she worries that she will and so will whatever came out of her.
Anna bids farewell to Rapunzel and hurries to catch up with Kristoff while Rapunzel waves them out. When the door closes behind them, Rapunzel stands up and stretches, "okay, time to do my rounds!"
After a few uneventful visits to her patient's rooms and some distribution of pills, Rapunzel approaches Elsa's door. Taking a deep breath, she knocks and enters, "good morning, Elsa!", she says in the cheeriest voice she can muster.
Elsa, leaning up against her backboard, "I want to leave…", her voice burning with agitation. She stared out the window, "there is something going on out there. A fight that we should be a part of", finally shifting her gaze to Rapunzel.
"With the healing I did last night, you can function, walk, hell maybe even move around more than that", Rapunzel says, knowing Elsa wouldn't respond to anything but tough love, "but you are in no way ready to fight. We can't even pinpoint what caused your powers to flare out as bad as they did." Rapunzel grips her clipboard tightly as she approaches the bed, "you are not ready."
"Then make me ready!", Elsa yells, "heal me again! Push me back to where I need to be. I can't let anything happen to her!" Her eyes fall to the bed and her voice weakens, "I feel so powerless… I've hurt so many people, attacked Anna, and now I'm just sitting here." She curls her hands into fists around the bedsheet, "I should be out there! Fighting! Doing something to make up for the mess I've helped create", Elsa's determination shines from her eyes.
Placing her hand on Elsa's shoulder, Rapunzel explains, "I cannot pump you full of anymore magic. There is a limit to how deep my healing can mend." She sat down on the bed next to Elsa, "I have healed you physically, but mentally I cannot force you to recover. Your stamina and psyche need to get better on their own." Her honesty only serves to frustrate Elsa more.
"Why…?", Elsa asks, "why the hell is there always something in my way?" She glances at her hand, "I have all this power inside me, but can't even use it", she slams her hand against the bed.
Understanding Elsa's pain, Rapunzel explains her ideas on her powers, "the way I saw, my powers were like another part of me. Do you actively think about having to move your legs to walk or does it just happen?" Placing her hands on Elsa's, "our magic seems to be based off our minds, the stronger we are mentally, the stronger we are magically."
Elsa tries to process everything Rapunzel says, "can I be honest with you?"
Smiling, Rapunzel nods.
"And I can use that wonderful doctor-patient confidence thing to guilt you to death should Anna ever find out?", Elsa jokes.
Rapunzel laughs, "yup!"
Elsa looks down at the bed again, "I've not been okay in a long time." Her free hand clutches the bedsheet again, "I've been fighting a losing battle since our parents died years ago. I had to take the reins on everything... Anna's schooling, upkeeping the house, keeping us fed and healthy, but all those things take money." Elsa struggles against her words, trying to think how to admit something she'd never admitted before, "I needed a lot of cash and I needed it fast. That's when I met Aladdin and he taught me about how life works when you are desperate and alone."
"Aladdin…?", Rapunzel wonders out loud, "why is that name familiar?" When Elsa looks at her, she just shakes her head, "never mind, continue."
Her hands wrap around herself, "Anna thinks I work at a bar, but I've spent the past few years of my life mugging people for the cash I've needed." Elsa shakes violently, but something about getting it off her chest makes her feel better, "the worst part of it is that I enjoyed it. Something about having that control over someone, it made me feel better about the lack of control over myself."
After a few moments, Rapunzel says, "so you did what you needed for you and Anna to survive?"
Elsa blinks a few times, "wait, what?" Her eyes swirled with confusion.
"I don't say I agree with your approach, but you did what you had to", Rapunzel put both her hands back on Elsa's shoulders, "and now you are trying to make things right. You are trying to make right of a situation you were forced into." The next four words Rapunzel says makes Elsa feel both amazingly relieved and incredibly guilty, "it wasn't your fault…"
Every emotion bleeds through, showing on Elsa's face. She looks back out the window, arms still around herself, "no... It was."
Staying with Elsa, Rapunzel talked about their powers, about their pasts, and what they hoped for for the future. Eventually Rapunzel had to go check on her other patients and left Elsa to get some rest.
Elsa gets herself settled and lays herself down after a few minutes alone. As soon as she gets comfortable however, she hears the door open from behind her. Without even rolling over to look, Elsa taunts, "forget something, Rapunzel?"
"Actually, your highness", a familiar man's voice quips, "I'd say I just found what I'd lost."
Sitting up as fast as she can, Elsa looks at the door. Her eyes widen as she sees Facilier standing in the threshold, "no…", Elsa's eyes welling with tears as her voice weakens, "no, no, no."
Facilier smiles, "I'm afraid so, my dear White Queen", shutting the door behind him. "You know, it's funny. Last time we met, I believe your exact words were, if I ever 'came near your friends again', you will 'end me', so go ahead then… End me", smirking the entire time he talks.
Elsa backs away and falls to the floor when she tries to get out of the bed.
"Come now, chérie, don't disappoint me", his laugh echoes, "give me one little icicle, one ice bolt right to the face, you can do it!"
Lifting her arm, Elsa tries to fight, but not even frost forms on her palm.
Facilier mocks her relentlessly, "aww, now darlin', don't you fret", his mouth twists into a evil grin, "I've got plenty of power to go around."
"Who are you!?", Rapunzels shouts from the door.
Throwing his hand back at her, Facilier shoots a puff of purple smoke at Rapunzel, "never you mind."
Rapunzel jumps out of the way and the smoke hits the door and plumes in every direction. She inhales some of the cloud and coughs uncontrollably. Her breaths became haggard and desperate.
"Now where was I?", he turns back towards Elsa, "ah yes, dethroning the royal bitch."
A warm glow fills the room and Facilier barely manages to duck a tray swung at his head, "not my patient!", Rapunzel stood again ready to fight.
"Well, well, what have we here? Another rat swimming in the rogue's pool…", Facilier sneers at the girls as Rapunzel stands between him and Elsa. "I'll give you the same warning I gave The Snow Queen over there, I'm in a whole other world, you can't even begin to understand the levels I work on."
Another man's voice breaks their conversation, "No… but I can."
All three look at the door, where an asian man, neatly dressed in a black suit with a bright red shirt and yellow tie, stands tall.
"Ha!", Facilier barely contains himself, "walk away buddy, I could kill you before you even knew what happened. In fact…", Facilier throws a puff of purple smoke at the new man.
He did not move, "funny about that", the cloud came close to him then billowed every which way right before hitting him, "I was thinking the same thing." He cracked his knuckles and pounded his fists as flames engulfed his hands
Facilier, groaning loudly, asks, "does anyone not have some sort of powers anymore?"
The man advances on him, "the price of living life in a comic book." Swinging at his opponent, he falters off balance after taking a blow from Facilier's cane after he dodges the punch.
"Come now, old boy, surely you can do better than that", Facilier jeers at the man.
Letting a small smile fall through, the man laughs, "How 'bout this!" He jumps and kicks, flames fly from his feet as he attacks.
He pushes Facilier back towards the wall, "your Highness, you are either the luckiest girl I've ever met or the most resourceful." The purple smoke swirls around him as he laughs one last time, "this isn't over."
Rapunzel is already helping Elsa up, "who are you now?", she asks warily eyeing up the newcomer.
The man reaches into his jacket pocket, pulls out a badge, and says, "I am Detective Muu Shu, I took this case when it looked like it was turning out to be a bit more supernatural than anyone else could handle."
Trying to stand on her own legs, Elsa can't help but wonder, "okay, what the hell? Now the police have a superheroes division?"
Putting his badge away, Muu answers her directly, "Actually, I am the only one who has powers, and just between us, Miss Kaldt, we have a lot to talk about…"