And new chapter! Took me long enough right? Sorry about the delay, life is crazy and I've never been very good about commitment :/
Title: Revloution of the Moon
Author: HuaiYin
Chapter: 1: Writing and Ice Upon the Wall
Arendelle City was like a glittering crown against the horizon of the earth, tall skyscrapers rising from the middle, proud and unshakable. When the sun rose from the east it shot through the glass spires with rosy beams, turning it into a city of gold and light. When the sun set the moon would rise, diluting the gold into a quicksilver that turned into dreams. It was really a beautiful city.
It was really too bad Arendelle was more corrupt than sin.
The city was ruled with an iron fist by the family for which it was named. The Arendelles were cold, and cruel, and calculating, squeezing the city of all free will. They dabbled in everything, arms dealing, drug dealing, human trafficking, all things immoral and lucrative. Any sign of rebellion would be quashed with no mercy.
People whispered that the Arendelles must have made a deal with the devil to be so successful and have circumstances so perfectly aligned in their favor. They called the head of the Arendelle family King Arendelle because no one knew his real name. King Arendelle was their ruler and master, of that there could be no doubt. All bowed before him and feared his power.
King Arendelle had a wife and family, though they were equally as shrouded in enigma as he was, perhaps even more so. His dark haired wife rarely appeared in public, unless she was being arm candy for King Arendelle. And the daughters were a complete mystery; the masses had never seen their faces. In fact, no one was even sure they existed; they had been shut up in their home since almost the day they were born. It was rumored that they were dead, or perhaps ghosts
But they were not.
Anna Arendelle and Elsa Arendelle were very much alive inside the house, and, despite the fact that they had been shut away their entire lives, were flourishing. And this…this is where our story truly begins.
...
"Conceal it, don't feel it, Elsa."
Ivory teeth gritted, sweat rolled, and hands shook. The slim girl of eighteen stood alone in the middle of the large drawing room and trembled like a tiny snowflake in the wind. In her hands she held a silver star of a gun that rattled as it rode the shockwaves of her fear.
"Elsa…" a sigh came from a dark corner of the room, "Conceal it – "
"Don't feel it, I know, I know!" the howl was terrified and desperate; spewing out of the girl's open mouth, "I just can't!" the gun flew across the room, slamming against the opposite wall. She breathed heavily, eyes watery with tears.
Dark frost seemed to crawl from the corner and douse the room in a cold commandeering blanket. The shadows in the corner heaved a sigh and parted, revealing a tall imposing man. He came over to the still shaking girl stared at down her. She flinched at his snow globe gaze, where things fell gently in beautiful patterns of destruction while the centerpieces remained unchained.
"One day…" the man said softly, "You will take my place, Elsa. All this," he swept his arm across the room, highlighting the priceless artifacts, the ornate furniture, the beautiful décor gained from a life time of exploiting and lying, "and more. It will all be yours, if only you can school yourself to conceal your emotions and not feel."
"But I never asked for this," Elsa replied, just as softly, tears streaking down her moonlit face like silver furrows dug in too deep in the snow, "I never wanted to be an Arendelle, I never wanted to hurt Anna, I never want to hurt anyone!" her voice had risen in fear by the end, high pitched cry of uncertainty. The dark frost in the corners reared up and swirled through the room, freezing all it touched, swiping past the king who smiled benevolently at his eldest daughter though it looked more like sliced curve of an untold lie.
"But you are an Arendelle," the quiet voice wormed gently through the ice chilling the room to something dangerous and unknown, "you did hurt Anna, and Elsa…you did hurt someone." He gestured to the man lying on the floor in front of them. Elsa flinched back from the prone figure, hands flying to her mouth to protect her soul from the sight.
The man was bruised and battered, his arms twisted in the wrong direction, protests gone awry, his legs shackled with chains that made heavy his plight. He gurgled softly, a low broken birdsong in his throat, and looked up at the two of them through eyes ringed with purple and blue of royalty. Elsa bit back a cry and breathed heavily. The scent of gunpowder, metal, and sharp copper rust hit her nose in a haze of wickedness and she flung her hands away from herself.
King Arendelle smiled again and retrieved the gun from across the room. He handed it back to Elsa who could barely hold it, her hands were so unstable. He put a comforting arm around her and directed her gun straight at the whining man.
"Shoot him." There was no room for error in his command.
Elsa shook her head rapidly, white blonde strands falling out of her bun in frantic wisps, "I-I can't…" she whispered terribly.
The King finally seemed annoyed, his arm tightening like a vice across the girl's shoulders as the cold, cold ice of the room became a vast ocean of unending white. "You've hurt him this much already," he snapped, black danger creeping along that white beyond and into his voice, "Why can't you finish the job?"
"Because HE ATTACKED ME!" Elsa cried out, her weapon nearly jolted out of her hands, "I had no idea he was there! I was afraid, he caught me by surprise, he - !"
"Be quiet, you sniveling coward," the King cut across her desperate tirade, "You are an Arendelle and as such you must uphold a certain level of decorum. You will inherit my kingdom, Elsa, you will be my heir. You are an Arendelle and so you will be feared and revered and forever shunned. You are the monarch and you shall dole out the punishment to those who dare betray you like this wretch who dared to try to assassinate you." He reached over and steadied the firearm in Elsa's hand. She could not tear her gaze away from the moaning mess bleeding all over their Persian rug. His pain struck brown eyes screamed out at her, icing her veins with uncertainty.
"Now, shoot him."
The sound of ocean ice breaking rang through the room.
...
"Jack Frost, what did you do?"
An insolent grin met her worried eyes. She frowned and twitched her shoulders, uncomfortable with being out in the open, longingly wishing she could conceal herself in the nearby shrubbery. "Jack," she said again sternly, "Tell me what you did."
"I didn't do anything," the boy said arrogantly, tossing back unruly strands of moon seeped hair, "Haven't a clue what you're talking about, Tooth." He grinned again and reached over, poking the tip of her sharp nose.
Tooth glared at his nonchalant position and jerked herself away from him, "Jack, you don't want to antagonize the Arendelle's," she warned, "nobody can take them on."
"Aren't you and your precious Guardians trying to?" Jack sneered, baring his ice teeth in fangs, "Aren't you all trying to recruit an army to kill the Arendelles?"
"They're not my Guardians," Tooth snapped, "I'm a Guardian! And you shouldn't insult us. We're the closest people able to defeat the Arendelles. If you joined us…"
"Tooth," Jack sighed, finally rousing himself off the grimy sidewalk, "Please don't start that again. I'm not joining the Guardians."
Tooth's thin chest puffed up in a decidedly birdlike fashion, "Why not?" she demanded, "What's wrong with the Guardians? We do noble work! We're saving lives, Jack! We give back to the poor, we spread hope and joy and love. Isn't that what you want?"
"Tooth," Jack said very gently, "You're a walking apothecary with a skewered sense of morals and an eye for poisons and perches from which to shoot people. You're a sniper that takes the teeth of the dead for trophies and leave silver coins upon their eyes so they can't see their sins. You work for Manny of Moon City, a person no more virtuous than King Arendelle. Don't you preach to me about being better!"
His voice had risen in passion by the end of his rant and his eyes spat venom hate. Tooth stepped back nervously, her hand sliding under her baggy tie-dye t-shirt for her gun. Jack heaved in heavy breaths and clenched his fists, trying to regain control.
"Well, riddle me this, Jack," Tooth broke in finally, "why did you say the revolution was beginning? There is no way, no way that you can take on the Arendelles on your own."
A horrid smile split Jack's face in a great divide. He cocked his head slightly and considered the blank wall before him, daring it to sing him a tune of the moon.
"That's the thing, Toothiana. I can."
...
A knock sounded on the door and it opened, cutting the room back to the world. A shy servant stuck his head in, assessing the scene.
A tumbled heap of a girl, limbs splayed on the floor, stains of broken dreams upon her pallid cheeks, a wishing star of a silver gun in front of her. A proud man, back straight, too content with the fortune he had amassed to concern himself with the shattered pieces of humanity falling like everlasting snow about his feet. And a body, asleep within a carmine puddle that seeped deeper into its place.
The servant swallowed nervously, a crack of ice inside the frozen scene.
King Arendelle's eyes snapped to him and he had to swallow a shriek. "Yes?" the King asked, voice deadlier than a viper writhing in the grass.
The servant swallowed again and rolled his eyes heavenward for peace of mind. He spoke in halting shades of fear, grey and blue clinking in uncertain tones about himself.
"Your majesty…there's been some interesting graffiti around the city…"
Chapter One Fin
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