King Agdar of Arendelle tossed and turned about in his large royal bed, flipping himself onto his right side for what seemed like the millionth time. His wife was sound asleep beside him, but he had been up for the better part of the hour, kept awake by an unwelcome sense of foreboding. He rubbed his nose, laying his head back down on the pillow and shutting his eyes.
If I just think of how very tired I am, how much I want to just sleep, how much I-
His thoughts were interrupted when he felt the end of the mattress depress, the sound of something sitting down on it: the thing was back.
Agdar kept his eyes shut, not wanting to open them and see what had come to visit him. He already knew who it was, but he imagined that if he kept his eyes closed, he could imagine his visitor wasn't really there.
"Pretending it isn't real won't make it go away, Your Majesty."
The king quietly groaned when he heard the strange, familiar accent. His eyes fluttered open as he sat up and peered toward the "person" sitting at the foot of his bed. Silhouetted against the moonlight, he could just make out his features: long brown hair, silver epaulets on his royal uniform, cape hanging down his back, the dark gray of his skin and the blackness of his eyes somehow standing out from the darkness around him.
Under the usual scenario of an intruder inside his castle, in his very room, Agdar would have immediately called for his royal guard. But his past failures to even get them to hear his shouts had taught him how useless it was.
"You again. Why do you keep coming back?"
The man moved aside his cape, revealing a black book clutched in his right hand.
"Take it."
He held it out for Agdar, who did not move to take it from him, instead remaining where he was.
"Why should I? What reason do I have to trust you? I don't even know what you are."
"I am merely a teacher, Your Majesty. A professor of knowledge, if you will. I am offering you the knowledge which you have been lusting after ever since you discovered your first tome at the tender age of 14. It is the same knowledge that humanity has lusted for throughout the ages, the knowledge which mankind so desperately seeks. In short, I simply offer you the truth; nothing more, nothing less."
Agdar stared at the book, wondering if he wanted to really take it, wondering if the dusty pages were worth it. But those doubts were short-lived as he felt something come over him. Almost impulsively, he reached out and slowly took the book from his visitor's hand.
He looked down at the bound manuscript, turning it around in his hands, feeling the leathery cover, running his fingers around the metallic clasp.
"The British could not handle this information. Unfortunate, really. But I am certain that you can, Your Majesty. I have faith in you."
"Yes...I want the truth. No matter what it is."
He was about to release the book's clasp and view its contents.
"As long as you'll leave me alone from now o-"
"Sweetheart?"
The king flinched when he felt the hand on his shoulder. He looked to his left.
Idunn, his wife, had awoken. She stared at her husband, concerned.
"Who are you talking to?"
Queen Elsa sighed, dotting the last period of her final sentence. Writing out her speech had taken so much effort, and yet it was surprisingly short. But for its intended purpose, it had to be.
"More tea, Your Majesty?"
The maid Gerda stepped into the room, a small silver tray in her hands. A matching teapot lay on top, steam still drifting out of the spout.
"No thank you, Gerda. I'm not very thirsty right now. You may take the cup."
Her maidservant did so, taking the half-emptied teacup and saucer and setting them on the tray.
"Will there be anything else, ma'am?"
"Yes."
Elsa opened a drawer, carefully placing her speech inside, then shutting it.
"I need all of the citizens of Arendelle assembled outside the castle gates, tomorrow morning. I also need all of our ships ready to set sail by tomorrow afternoon."
"...what?"
"It's going to take a while, but we should have enough time if we start soon. Inform the guards, they'll need to be making rounds through the kingdom and telling the people where they'll need to be. I will also need notices posted in town, especially the marketplace."
"Your Majesty...is something wrong?"
"Yes. Something is very, very wrong. Tell Kai, tell the rest of the servants, tell the guards. Please, Gerda. I need this done. Soon."
Gerda gave a semi-curtsy, her hands occupied with the tray.
"Of course. I will trust your judgement, as always."
"Thank you."
She waited until the maidservant had left, before unlocking the drawer to her desk.
For a moment, Elsa looked at the book that lay at the bottom. Carefully, she reached down and picked it up, holding it like it was a dead animal. She then walked over to the small fireplace, still burning bright.
The Necronomicon felt heavy in her hand, heavier than it had before, heavier than it had any right to be.
Elsa knew what she had to do next, but she suddenly felt an urge to hold onto the tome, as though what she held was a priceless treasure, and not a foul book full of untold horrors. Doing her best to ignore it, the queen raised her hand up, ready to cast the book into the fire.
Elsa found herself having difficulty even moving her arm. It was as though some invisible force was pulling on her, compelling her to move the book back to the drawer, preventing her from moving.
She started to hear voices in her head. She heard words, phrases of an unknown language. She could only guess as to the origin of the alien phrases, if they were even real at all.
Mustering up every last bit of willpower she had, Elsa heaved the book into the fire.
At first, it seemed to be unaffected by the flames, as though it were somehow resisting the heat. But soon, it began to burn. Its cover and pages were incinerated, and along with it, its disturbing contents.
Elsa watched the Necronomicon, the Book of Dead Names, roast away in the fire. Eventually, when there was nothing left but ashes, she breathed a sigh of relief, as though a great weight had been lifted from her.
It was only a small victory; there was still much more to come.
Idunn walked into the library, carrying Anna in her arms. The queen usually read a story to her daughter before putting her to bed, and tonight was no different.
"Mama, why doesn't papa ever read to me?"
"He's very busy with his work, Anna. It's his job to look after this kingdom, just like I look after you."
"Oh," the small princess said simply. But soon, another question sprung into her active mind.
"Why doesn't Elsa play with me anymore?"
Idunn sighed, setting her daughter on the couch and gently stroking the white streak that ran through her otherwise strawberry blonde hair.
"Papa isn't going to be king forever, Anna. One day Elsa is going to have to take his place and she'll be in charge of Arendelle. But being a queen is hard work, and it takes a lot of studying. Do you understand?"
Anna seemed disappointed, but she nodded.
"Now, let's see what we're going to read tonight."
Anna's eyes lit up. "I wanna pick the story, I wanna pick!"
Endeared to her daughter, Idunn agreed. "Well, okay."
The young girl moved off the couch and ran to the closest shelf, immediately spotting what she wanted and pulling it out.
"This! I wanna read this!"
The queen smiled, but her happy expression soon changed to one of shock as she saw just what sort of volume her daughter was holding.
"It's just like the one in my dreams! I bet it even has C...C..."
Anna struggled to pronounce the word, the one she had heard in her sleep only recently.
"Cthulhu."
Idunn was horrified.
"Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn."
Elsa stood outside her sister's room, not looking forward to what she had to do next. She could hear Kristoff and Anna talking, their words muffled by the door between them. The queen put her hand on the doorknob, and saw it frost over. Concentrating, Elsa slowly breathed in, then out, then in and out once more, regaining her composure as the knob turned back to normal. With one more deep breath for luck, she opened the door.
Anna and Kristoff looked up at the monarch, their conversation cut short.
"Kristoff, could I speak with you outside? It will only take a moment."
"Uh...sure?"
The ice harvester nodded to Anna, then got up from the bed and walked out of the room to where his queen stood, shutting the door behind him and leaving the princess sitting there by herself.
In less than a minute, Elsa had stepped through the door and back into the room, Kristoff noticeably absent.
"Where's-"
"Anna, there's something I have to tell you," interrupted Elsa. She breathed deeply again, quelling the fear inside her.
"...okay?"
"This place isn't safe anymore."
Anna look puzzled. "Wait, what?"
Elsa shut the door, making sure no one would be able to listen in. "This place, Arendelle. As long as you stay here, you're in danger. Which is why you, and everyone else, will be leaving here tomorrow."
Anna stared, then she smiled, bursting into laughter. "You tell terrible jokes, Elsa."
The laughing quickly faded when she saw that her sister wasn't pretending.
"I will be informing the rest of the kingdom about this tomorrow, but I thought you should be one of the first to know."
"What do you mean? And where's Kristoff?"
"He's heading down to the trolls' valley as we speak, with the same news. They need to get out of here too, and I don't know if they would believe me. But I know they would listen to him."
"But where will we go?"
"You'll be heading down south to Britain."
"...Britain? Why?"
"Because it's safer there. Because something is coming, and I don't want you or anyone else around when it gets here."
"What? 'Something'?"
"Yes. I don't know that much about it...I'm sorry, I would tell you more, but..."
"...but what? Elsa, you can trust me. Always. You don't have to hide anything from me anymore."
Elsa placed a hand on her sister's shoulder, looking her directly in the eye. "There is more to say, but this is something that I really can't tell you. Please, I need you to trust me on this. It's for your own good."
For a second Anna was quiet. Then, she spoke.
"What about you? You're coming with us, right?"
The queen folded her hands in her lap and looked at her feet.
"Elsa..."
"I'm sorry, Anna. Protecting Arendelle is my responsibility. I failed at that duty during my coronation, I won't fail at it again."
Anna moved a bit closer and wrapped her arms around her sister, pulling her into a hug.
"I don't want to lose you, Elsa. Not after everything we've been through."
"You won't lose me. Everything's going to be all right, I promise."
The siblings held onto each other, neither of them wanting to let go. But they knew they had to.
"I guess I'll pack."
Elsa tried her best to smile, only partially succeeding.
"Okay. But travel lightly. You're only going away for a short time."
She gave another brief hug to her sister before stepping out. After the door had closed, Elsa shut her eyes and leaned against the door, her back to it, a reversal of the roles she and her sister had played in their teenage years.
Idunn stormed into her husband's study. Looking up from his work, Agdar became worried after seeing the angry expression on his wife's face.
"Do you know what Anna wanted me to read to her tonight?"
She held up the black book. Its dark cover glistened in the dim light cast by the oil lamp that sat on the king's desk.
Agdar furrowed his brow. "But how did she-"
"She didn't have much problem finding it, since you so carelessly put it right on the bookshelf where she could find it! This isn't proper reading for anyone, let alone our own daughter!"
Setting the pen down, Agdar got up out of his chair and moved to take the book from the queen's hand. He held it up, viewing it with suspicion.
"Very odd..."
"I heard Anna speaking complete nonsense words to me. She said she was having dreams about that thing! She hasn't even seen it before!"
"But I don't know how she found it. I could have sworn I locked it in the safe, with the jewelry."
"Well, you obviously thought wrong. You have to take her back to Pabbie."
"We've already altered her memory once, dear. I don't want to-"
"And I don't want her head filled with all sorts of horrible dreams! I had a look inside that book, it's disgusting! I want it gone and out of our lives!"
Agdar weighed his options in his mind; on one hand, he possessed a tome filled with secrets unknown to most of humanity, which he desperately wanted to decipher; but on the other hand, the well-being of one of his children was at stake. In the end, there was no contest.
The king took his wife into his arms, gently rubbing her back.
"...all right. Tomorrow evening, we'll get those thoughts out of her head, and you'll never see this book again. Not you, not Anna, not Elsa, not me. Okay?"
Reassured, Idunn relaxed in her husband's embrace.
"Okay."
Agdar thought he felt the book squirm in his hand.
Elsa had been staring at the ceiling for the last two hours. She could not sleep; her mind was too occupied with the thoughts of what the following day would bring. The stifling uncertainty weighed on her like a ball and chain.
When she heard something small jump onto the mattress, she sat up and looked down at the foot of her bed. It was a cat, bearing a rather uncanny resemblance to the one she had seen at the beach, just a few days earlier.
"Meow."
The feline walked closer to her, putting one of its paws forward onto her leg, peering up at her with its yellow eyes. Even in the semi-darkness, its pupils were still slits. Slightly perturbed, Elsa reached a hand out to stroke the animal's fur.
"Tekeli-li."
Easily violating the conservation of mass, the "cat" turned its paw into a tendril almost as big as an elephant's trunk. It shot towards its intended victim.
The queen dodged out of the way just in time. She extended a hand and blasted her attacker with ice. It was blown back, smacking into the wall as Elsa threw the blankets off her and leaped out of bed.
As she watched the thing finish its transformation, she could plainly see that it was never really a cat: this was another entity like that which Oaken had kept hidden away in his cellar.
The creature floated 6 or 7 feet off the ground, rapidly stretching out more barbed tentacles, trying to grab at Elsa. She ducked and fired several large icicles from her hands. They found their mark, shooting into the creature's amorphous body.
It seemed unfazed at Elsa's initial attack. She only just managed to cut through a tendril as it whipped down at her. Moving her hands about as quick as she could, Elsa sent a barrage of bolts at the thing, cutting it into chunks of slimy flesh.
In disbelief, the queen saw the parts wriggle about, crawling back together and reassembling themselves. She only just managed to jump aside as it picked up her bed, frame and all, and smashed it down on the ground where she had been standing.
Thinking on her feet, Elsa remembered how they had disposed of the other, very similar creature: fire. Perhaps the cold could provide a similar result.
Dodging a few chairs it was throwing at her, Elsa snapped her fingers, proving her theory correct: the monstrosity froze almost instantly, becoming nothing more than a grotesque statue of ice. Whatever allowed it to levitate stopped working as it fell to the floor, smashing to pieces.
Having heard all the commotion, two guards burst into the room.
"Your Majesty, are you all right? We heard the noises and...what is that?"
Elsa straightened herself up.
"Have these bits swept up, then take them outside and burn them."
"But what-"
"Please, just follow my instruction."
"Of course, my apologies."
When everything had been cleaned up, and she was alone again, Elsa looked towards the small couch. It was just big enough for one person to lie down on comfortably, and it looked as though it would serve as her bed tonight. She sat down, and started to pull the blanket around her.
"Shoggoths are nasty creatures, wouldn't you say?"
Elsa shot a magic bolt to her right; the source of the voice, the dark-haired man with the silver epaulets and cape of eldritch design.
"Now, now. Is that any way to treat a guest?" he said, unharmed by the ice.
"You again. What do you want now?"
"That creature you killed in the shopkeeper's cabin, and the one you killed tonight, the shoggoth. Shapeshifters, they can make themselves appear in a wide variety of forms. Their true form is not quite so pretty, as I am sure you would agree."
Elsa rubbed her head, exasperated.
"I don't know who or what you are, but I want you gone. Now."
"Do you? Before I have even said my bit?"
"...fine..."
The man produced a golden crown from seemingly nowhere, putting it on top his head.
"That creature you killed tonight, and that one you killed down at the shopkeeper's trading post...don't think you have seen the last of them. They have a much bigger supply of servitors which they will not hesitate to use against you."
"...'they'?"
"The Deep Ones."
Frost spread around the corners of the room.
"They created these things?"
"Of course not, they merely adopted them as their own. A quite different sort of race was responsible for the genesis of the shoggoth. But that is neither here nor there."
The man put his index finger into his mouth, then bit down on hit, hard. Drawing it out again, Elsa saw an unnatural amount of blood begin to drip from the wound he had made with his teeth.
"I suggest you pay attention to this next part, your Majesty."
In a bizarre pastiche of fingerpainting, he drew a strange but simple pattern on the floor. It almost resembled a tree branch, a single line with five shorter lines breaking off from it.
"That is the Elder Sign. Draw that anywhere on a ship, and not a single Deep One will come near it. It is quite useful for fishermen, or perhaps evacuating peasantry. If you had studied the Necronomicon a bit further, instead of so rashly destroying it, you would have found this all out on your own."
Elsa was apprehensive. "Why are you telling me all this?"
The man smiled, showing his teeth still drenched with blood (why was there so much of it?).
"I find my own brethren to be such crashing bores. But you, you interest me. Out of all the humans I have ever come to know, you are by far the most intriguing. Really, I mean that. And so, I felt it would be fitting if I gave you a slightly better chance at braving what is to come. Not much more of a chance, granted, but better than none at all, wouldn't you say?"
The queen still did not trust him, but curiosity was gnawing at her.
"What are you? Really?"
The man turned, his head slowly moving to look at her.
"If you knew, you would not be able to look at anything that even remotely resembled a trapezohedron without wanting to vomit."
With that, he vanished.
Elsa placed her head in her hands; she felt like a small, scared child again, running from shapes she could only barely perceive in the darkness.