Chapter XXXI: "Just Between Us Girls"
Elsa lay in her bed, barely able to sleep. The moonlight shined through her large traingular window and into her room. The entire castle was silent that night. Only some of the guards were on duty as most have already returned to their families. The servants have retired to their quarters hours earlier. Pretty much no one was on duty at all. Even after Anna and the others left, Elsa did not post a guard on duty in the courtyard, mostly because there was no one else who could leave. Other people working in the castle would not dare to step foot outside of it's perimeter as they would have to face punishment. The night was not busy at all.
Ander's ships were all still in the docks. Ships were lined up blocking the bay, making it impossible for any ships to leave. The blockade was still happening and it didn't look like things would be changing anytime soon. Ander was sleeping in the Captain's cabin in the head ship while Hans slept in another ship that was docked. Ander still had his eyes set on proceeding with his plans unless Elsa could show him proof of her and Arendelle's innocence. That night marked the end of the second day, meaning the third and final day was ahead of them. If Arendelle did not provide proof by afternoon of the third day, Ander will open fire upon the city. The death count will be great.
The death count was one of the things running through Elsa's mind as she slept. There was nothing positive that showed up in her dreams, or rather, nightmares. The images of the dying people and them reaching out for her help flashed in her mind. The thought of her failing her mother and father's legacy haunted her. The image of Kai, Kristoff, and Anna dying together was what scared her the most. She couldn't bear it if they suffered such a fate. For one thing, she was glad that they had left. Originally, she was angry. She was filled with rage she tried to hide knowing that her loved ones betrayed her trust. Now, they had a chance to change things and make things alright. Elsa was counting on that.
Though she thought she was going to have better dreams, one more nightmarish scene played in her head. She saw Kai and Cade standing in front of each other spread out by about ten feet. They were both in an empty black area. No forms of backround could be seen. Only black. Kai had an angered look on his face with his sword and dagger in his hands while Cade was smirking with a sword and flintlock pistol. Kai ran towards Cade with his sword raised, swiping down on Cade's head. Cade easily blocked the sword overhead with his own, still smiling. Kai looked down to find the end of Cade's pistol's barrel pressed up against his stomach. Cade pulled the trigger, and that's when Elsa woke up.
Elsa's arms were supporting her up while she was sitting up in bed and she took quick but deep breaths. That crossed the line. She couldn't sleep anymore. She already had nightmares on Kai dying before, why would this one be so different? Well, it was because this was the first to feature Cade and because it felt so... real. Like it was going to happen. She couldn't lose Kai again. She won't lost him again.
That was the last straw. She decided she wasn't going to sleep that night. Elsa got out of her bed and walked to her wardrobe where she changed out of her nightgown and into a dress she usually wore when working as Queen. She then slowly opened the door out of her room and walked down the hallway, towards her study. The hallway outside of her room was as dim as her room itself, with the only source of light being the moon. But, things were still visible. She decided that the best way to keep her mind off of bad things was to get some work down. There were still many papers in her desk which she needed to read and sign or decline. It's funny since as a child, she always thought being Queen included more of people doing everything for you and being lazy rather than actually working.
Elsa walked through the castle interior until she reached her study that was at the end of a long hallway. She opened the door to the study and peeked inside to make sure no one was there. Of course there was no one there. No one was usually allowed in there without her permission. She walked over to the pair of doors with large windows in the middle in her study and opened them up, opening up the way to her balcony. She decided she wanted a nice view before starting boring work. She stood on the balcony, her chin resting on her hand and her elbow holding her head up, pushing down on the railing. From there, she saw her entire courtyard, the docks, and a part of the actual city. The fountains in the courtyard were shut off so no water was sprouting out of them. The guard that she had posted on duty was standing in front of the gates, leaning on his spear. It looked as if he was sleeping. Elsa normally would've ordered him to get back to work, but knowing how hard he had been working these past few days, she decided to cut him some slack. Almost everything was covered in snow. White was the most dominant color in Arendelle at the moment. Still, the snow didn't bother her view at all.
She hoped that the beautiful, serene sight of her city would last. If someone didn't save the monarchs by tomorrow, Arendelle was doomed. This may be the last time Elsa saw the peaceful sight of her city. She took a second to take in the scenery, knowing she couldn't stare at her beautiful city the whole night. One side of her asked why not? But, she knew bad thoughts would eventually come to her if she stayed idle and did nothing. Although she didn't want to break her gaze, she did it for the best.
Elsa turned around and faced her desk. As she walked toward her desk with the bakcony doors still open, she heard something out of the ordinary; quick footsteps. It was possible that the guard had just woke up and started to run around, but knowing the amount of gear and the type of clothes the guard was wearing, it was impossible for him to move that fast and make such a sound. The footsteps sounded more swift than a normal guard would make. Also, the only reason Elsa was able to hear the footsteps was the sound made by flying snow which resulted from the step of a foot.
Elsa quickly turned around and walked to the balcony to see what was up. She found that the guard had just disappeared and was no longer standing there. The only traces of him were marks left in the snow that looked like the man was dragged. Also near the drag marks were other footprints in the snow, much smaller than that a guard would make. The drag marks led under the overhang in the courtyard so Elsa could see where his body was. Something fishy was going on here but Elsa did not know what it was. That was what scared her more: not knowing. There must have been someone else down there with the guard. Someone hostile maybe.
"Hello?" Elsa asked, seeing if anyone was present.
There was no respond. Not a single sound came back at Elsa. Not even the guard responded, assuming he was still there. She hoped she said it loud enough for her to wake him up from his nap if he was still in one wherever he was, but apparently not. What happened to him? Elsa wasn't going to just stand there to see what else happened. She had to do something. She decided she was going to go down there and investigate since no one else is available. Because she isn't like Kai and does not have to show off her skills wherever she went, she decided she was going to walk down there rather than jump.
Elsa turned around and started to walk towards her door. But, after a few steps, she heard a whoosh like the wind and two steps on the ground, not belonging to Elsa. She felt a presence behind her as if someone was there. She quickly turned around to see what had happened and that's where she saw her. Standing in the balcony was a red haired woman with green eyes. Two daggers were strapped to her waist, one on her left side and one on her right. She had a devilish grin on her face as if she was happy for what was about to come.
"Hello, your majesty." The woman said.
Elsa knew instantly who this woman was. Hans' description of her fit.
"Lilith..." Elsa said with an angry look.
"I'm flattered you know me." Lilith said. "A Queen knowing the name of an unfortunate person like myself... Many others would kill for this."
"You know why I know you." Elsa said. "You kidnapped those people. Now, Arendelle is on the brink of destruction. War is coming because of you."
"Crazy turn of events, huh?" Lilith said.
"I bet you're the one who killed King Westerguard!" Elsa said.
"That wasn't me." Lilith said.
"Then who was it?" Elsa asked, angrily. "Cade?"
"People say it's your lover boy, Kai." Lilith said.
Elsa was getting sick and tired of people blaming Kai. She knew Lilith was involved somehow. Speaking of Lilith, her presence was not welcomed at all. Elsa was sure something bad was coming if she continued to be giving Lilith more "hospitality". Elsa considered not immediately freezing Lilith in a block of ice hospitality.
"That's impossible, and you know it." Elsa asserted. "He was here the whole time."
"Ah." Lilith said. "I see. He was spending time with his bitch."
Elsa immediately created an ice sword in her hand and pointed it at Lilith's throat. Lilith seemed unfazed and unsurprised by Elsa threatening her. Lilith was actually used to people pointing weapons at her. At least she could say this was the first time a weapon made of ice was used.
"You better respect me." Elsa said.
"Or what?" Lilith said. "You're gonna kill me?"
"I'm considering it." Elsa said, angrily.
Lilith managed a short laugh. "You don't even the guts to stab a pig, much less kill me."
Elsa considered Lilith's point. She could never bring herself to take a life, no matter the circumstances. Her moral code does not allow her to do such a despicable act. Elsa couldn't bear it if anyone she cared about could bring themselves to kill another. It wasn't right in her eyes. She especially thought that Kai should be careful when fighting. Careful to not take a life. Sometimes, he could get carried away and accidentally... No. He couldn't allow himself to do that no matter what. Elsa's ice sword turned into small snowflakes that fell onto the floor, and she put her hand down.
"Told you." Lilith said.
"Why are you here?" Elsa asked. "I thought you were smart but you showing up here again proved me wrong."
"It's simple." Lilith said. "I'm here to kill you."
Elsa had a feeling Lilith would say that. "I don't think so. I'm putting you in custody." Elsa said. "Stand down now."
"And stop all the fun we're having?" Lilith asked. "I think not!"
Lilith quickly unsheathed one of her daggers in the blink of an eye and threw it towards Elsa's face. Elsa barely had time to react, but she had just enough time to save her own life. She jumped to the side, the dagger barely touching her head. The only thing the dagger was able to cut was a strand of Elsa's hair. She was lucky it didn't graze her skin at all.
Elsa landed on the floor in front of her desk. The dagger stuck to the wall, right next to Elsa's painting of her father in his coronation. Lilith, instead of running towards Else, ran to the dagger stuck on the wall. While Lilith was distracted by removing her dagger, Elsa used the short time given by standing up and looking for a way to take out Lilith. She looked at her desk and smiled. She wondered how much pain a desk could cause a woman. Elsa took a few steps back from the desk and she then motioned her hands to create a wave of large ice like the ones she used when fighting the Weseltown men going toward the desk. When the ice wave met the desk, the desk launched forward toward Lilith who was struggling to get her dagger out.
Elsa hoped that that would break a few of Lilith's bones as revenge, but Lilith was too quick. With one last yank, Lilith took her dagger out of the wall and turned around. She saw a large desk coming towards her body in the air. Lilith rolled forward on the ground, the desk flying above her body. When the desk hit the wall, it was completely destroyed by turning into chunks of wood and small sharp sticks. Papers that were held inside of it were scattered and were on the ground.
"You could've seriously hurt me!" Lilith said. "What were you thinking?!"
The study was now much more open since the desk was not in a way. It made a makeshift fighting area. Lilith threw one of her daggers towards Elsa, and this time, Elsa was expecting it. She easily dodged it by moving her body to the side. The dagger flew and once again was stuck to the wall. Lilith threw another dagger at Elsa, and while it flew towards her, she shot a quick blast of ice at it. The ice met the dagger and it changed it's course from Elsa to the ceiling. The dagger stuck to the ceiling and Lilith was left without a weapon. Now, Elsa had the upper hand.
Elsa shot a blast of ice similar to the one she hurt Anna with as a child at Lilith. Lilith quickly dodged it by stepping to the side. Elsa knew one shot wouldn't be enough to take down Lilith. Elsa shot another blast of ice at Lilith, but this time, Lilith bent back, the blast of ice flying over her head. Lilith shot back up quickly and started to run towards Elsa, who was only a few meters away. While Lilith approached her, Elsa shot a wave of ice towards Lilith, coming from the floor. Lilith used this to her advantage. She jumped while the wave of ice was under her. When she was close enough, she used her right foot to push herself off the wave of ice on the tip of one of the icicles. She flew up towards the dagger on her ceiling and grabbed onto it, hanging from the ceiling which was quite tall.
Elsa was honestly surprised that Lilith lasted this long. Elsa shot a blast of ice at Lilith, but before it could meet Lilith's body, Lilith swung forward, making the ice blast miss. Lilith landed behind Elsa who did not see it coming. Lilith then ran toward her other dagger stuck on the wall and grabbed it. Elsa quickly made another wave of icicles go to Lilith. But, once again, Lilith was able to yank her weapon out of the wall before she was in any harm.
"Let's take this fight somewhere else." Lilith suggested. Lilith started to run around the room, close to the sides of it. While she ran, Elsa continued to keep shooting blasts and waves of ice at her. Every time one almost reached her, Lilith would always avoid it by dodging, rolling, or jumping. It was like playing cat and mouse. The question was, however, who was the cat and who was the mouse?
While running towards the balcony, Lilith threw both of her daggers at Elsa. Elsa was forced to go into a defensive mode by stopping her offensive one. She instantly stopped shooting blasts and waves of ice at Elsa and created an icy wall to protect herself from the daggers. Elsa closed her eyes when she created the wall, scared of the daggers coming toward her face. When she opened her eyes, she found that the blades of the daggers were almost touching her face as her ice wall was able to stop the blades by freezing the handle of the blades inside of the wall.
That was close, Elsa thought. She looked past the ice wall and found that Lilith was no longer in sight. She turned around to make sure Lilith wasn't there and found that Lilith was not in the room at all. She looked over at the open door to the balcony and knew where the only place Lilith could be.
Elsa ran to the balcony and jumped off it. While in mid air, she created an ice slide for her to go down while standing up. She then slid down to the ground, past one of the fountains. She found Lilith standing about fifty meters in front of her. Only now did Elsa realize how big the courtyard really was. It seemed like the perfect fighting ground to defeat Lilith. Also, it provided Elsa more space to use her powers. She was no longer limited to her uses.
"This is much better." Lilith said. "A showdown in a winter wonderland just between us girls."
"You're acting too positive despite these circumstances." Elsa said.
"See, I'm not afraid of a girl with some ice." Lilith said. "I'm an experienced fighter. But, I have to give you credit, I don't know what you're going to do. If I go down, I'm going down smiling."
"Oh, you're going down." Elsa said in a determined tone. "I'll make you into a nice ice sculpture when this is done."
"I don't think so." Lilith replied. "I'd rather have your head swinging from the bridge past this gate." Lilith motioned toward the gates behind her.
Elsa was done talking. She was ready to fight. She wasn't used to fights like Kai was. She honestly didn't know any fancy moves besides blasting some ice. So, this was obviously a fair match between her and Lilith. Maybe, when this was all over, she could ask Kai to give her lessons on how to use a sword. She realized how useful that would actually be to her.
Elsa motioned her right hand upward although no blast of ice came out of her hand. Lilith smiled, thinking Elsa was insane not doing anything for a first move. Then, Lilith felt a cold on her right foot. She looked down to see all of her foot and ankle completely covered in ice. The ice started to grow, slowly but surely, up her leg. Eventually, she could be completely frozen. She looked back towards Elsa just in time to see Elsa shoot a wave of ice towards her. Although Lilith's foot was frozen, she was still able to move and walk. She stepped to the side even though it was kind of hard for her. The wave of ice missed Lilith by a foot or two. Lilith then kicked her frozen foot at the ice wave. Both a part of the wave and all of the ice on Lilith's leg shattered upon impact. Lilith was once again free.
This is going to be much harder than I thought, Elsa thought in her head. Elsa saw Lilith break a long icicle from the wave of ice Elsa created. Lilith then threw the icicle at Elsa like it was a javelin. Elsa quickly created a wall of ice to protect herself which the icicle shattered upon. Elsa then turned the wall of ice into small snowflakes which floated toward the ground so she could have a better view of Lilith. Lilith was still where Elsa left her.
"I'm a bit disappointed." Elsa said. "I thought you would come in her with an entire arsenal. I hate to ask, but do you have anything else up your sleeve?"
"I got something." Lilith answered. She put her arm over her shoulder and pulled something from her back. It was a crossbow. How have Elsa not noticed it earlier? "I got this off the guy who was sleeping on the job." Lilith said. "Let's see how it works against you."
Author's Note: Cliffhanger ending! I had to split the entire confrontation between Elsa and Lilith in two parts because reasons. I am feeling so much better now that I'm no longer sick. The other chapter was a pain to write unlike this one. Please comment and review on this chapter. As you guys know, feedback is always appreciated. Also, I apologize that this chapter was a little shorter than most. It also looks like this story will end in a chapter in the high 30s or low 40s.
I want to remind you guys that the sequel to this story will be called Frozen: A Sky Of Shadows. I will remind you guys in every chapter from now on because I want all of my current fans to read it when it comes out. A lot of people who read and favorited/followed Phoenix Fire didn't show any signs that they were reading The Coming Storm. I blame myself for not advertising the sequel well. Now, I'm changing that. So, remember, the title is Frozen: A Sky Of Shadows. The roman numeral for 4 will not be included.
I want to ask you guys a few questions as well. This one isn't important. It's just for me to know what my readers are into. What is your favorite Disney movie besides Frozen? Marvel and other live action movies count. My personal favorite is probably The Avengers.
The second question is what do you like most about Kai?
My final question is who is my most badass OC? Deren, Kai, Cade, Lilith, or other?
Ciao.