Adventures of John: Death of Magic
Chapter 2: Arendelle Living
After the deaths of Thor, Ares, and Sekhmet, I knew that retribution was inevitable. These "gods" were too prideful, they couldn't resist trying to repair their damaged pride. Still, I hoped that as immortals they would be patient and wait until I was old and frail. Unfortunately it didn't work that way. The Egyptians struck first, sending the cat goddess Bast to kill me in my sleep. Unfortunately I woke up and ran her through with my Godslayer blade. I knew that if I didn't attempt to repay the Egyptians for attempting to assassinate me the rest of the pantheons would consider me weak and attempt their own assassinations, so I went to repay them.
Long story short, the Egyptian gods weren't happy when the saw I was still alive. They sought to kill me once I appeared and things got bloody. That night the sanctuaries of Egypt's ancient gods were torn down, the deities themselves massacred. But that was just the beginning, as by killing an entire pantheon I had unwittingly declared myself the enemy of every dead pagan religion. Beyond that, I had become too powerful for them to let me live. Egypt had thousands of gods, and I had killed all of them, absorbing their power into my blade. The pagan deities feared the possibility of a mortal wielding that kind of power.
They should have left well enough alone. With that knowledge in mind I began to travel to each of the "sacred" realms. Every few nights I had killed off another entire pantheon. Some of them were familiar, while others I didn't even recognize. Some were still immensely powerful while others seemed so powerless they were more like ghosts than gods. I didn't enjoy it. I even cried when I killed some of them, the ones that looked like they couldn't kill an insect, much less me. But I continued my slaughter. I was the Godslayer and they were gods.
. . . . .
"Sorry I'm late," I told the group as I entered the library. "There was an… issue I had to deal with."
"We understand, you are a busy man," Prince Adam stated. "I can't imagine what it must be like to live your life…" His long ponytail wagged like a dog's tail as he shook his head. He looked down his blue suit at the open book in his hands. "Maybe you could help me with this question. Why doesn't this wizard fellow use these eagles of his more often? They could have skipped straight over the whole trek and saved everyone's lives by just flying over to Mount Doom and dropping the blasted ring in."
"The eagles aren't Gandalf's slaves," Belle stated before I could speak. "They only rescued him from Saruman because Gandalf is an old friend of theirs. They would never fly him and several others hundreds of miles to Mordor, where the Ringwraiths could kill them. Honestly, it's like you barely even skimmed the book!"
Elsa just rolled her eyes at the couple from her spot on the couch, smiling slightly as she glanced at her own copy of the book. Since the end of the Order-Chaos war I have been spending as much time in Arendelle as I could, and a while ago I began introducing the family to some of the literature and other media from our world. After hearing about the strange stories Belle couldn't resist coming to Arendelle to ask if she could get a copy to read herself. Now whenever I recreate a book from our world in Arendelle we send a copy to her and Adam's little princedom and afterwards they come over to Arendelle to discuss the book. Adam is far from a genius, but Belle has proven to be just as clever as she is in her movie and Elsa and I have become fast friends with the French couple.
After another hour of discussion the two royals left to their guest room. In a few days, after they had some rest and I had given them the next book to read, they would go home and return in a month for the another book and another few days of time here. With them gone Elsa and I were alone in the study, stone the fireplace burning steadily. I stared out the window at the harbor where what seemed to be entire fleets of ships moved about or were docked, cargo being loaded and unloaded and money exchanging hands.
Even before the Invasion of Arendelle by the Southern Isles led by the one-time King Hans, Arendelle had never had much of a military. That invasion had wiped out what little navy the kingdom had, and if it hadn't been for Elsa and I the damage would have been far worse. Now the fruits of that war were still visible in the form of the Wall of Arendelle, the massive structure of enchanted ice that Elsa and I had created during the invasion. It still stood proudly over the waters of the fjord, but ships now passed freely through its massive gates, every foreign sailor reminded exactly who ruled here.
Even in the days of King Adgar and Queen Idun, Elsa and Anna's parents, Arendelle had been a trading nation. In the years since Elsa took the throne however, Arendelle has been flourishing like never before. With Hans's older brother Samuel in charge, the New Republic of the Southern Isles is now actually one of our greatest trading partners, though our trading interests stretch to far distant lands, from DunBroch to Corona. It would be fair to say that Arendelle, though little more than a single city and a few small towns, now possesses one of that world's largest trading empires. If it touches the ocean and is anywhere near the European continent, you can be sure that it has at least one ship bearing the flag of Arendelle in its harbor.
"You're doing it again," Elsa sighed, draping her arms over my shoulders from behind.
"Doing what?"
"Thinking. It's not healthy."
"I'm always thinking! You of all people should know that intelligent people tend to do a lot of thinking."
She turned me around and looked me in the eyes, somehow managing to look down at me despite my much taller height. "But you are coming dangerously close to brooding. I love your mind, but I do wish you'd spend less time inside of it and more time out here with me. It's not like we have all the time in the world. You always have your other world to return to. We need to spend what time we have together wisely."
"Wisely?" I asked, a small grin tugging at the corners of my lips. I looked around us, then wiggled my eyebrows at her. "You know, we are alone, and our rooms aren't that far away…"
She smacked me lightly against the chest, struggling to keep herself from smiling. "Not now! We still have things we have to do. I need to go and hear the problems of the people, something that you might want to do every once in a while."
"I love our kingdom, but I know nothing about ruling a kingdom. That's why I'm only the king consort. I get to stand around looking imposing while you do all the boring stuff."
She shook her head, giggling quietly. "You're hopeless. While I do the 'boring stuff' you go make yourself busy over at the school. Our half-genie friend had to fly to Agrabah for some family business. Someone needs to cover his Principles of Magic class. Think you're up to it?"
"Please, don't insult me. I was learning the principles of magic when I was eight. From faeries. I think I can handle subbing Alex's class."
"Then you better get on with it." She kissed me quickly on the lips, then turned around to saunter away. "Maybe afterwards we could find some time for ourselves."
. . . . .
The Arendelle Academy for Gifted Individuals, known more commonly as "that witch place" among the less educated people of the various nations, was founded by Elsa and I after the Invasion of Arendelle as a place where those with magical powers could come to learn how to control their abilities and remain safe from the superstitious fear of the outside world. The school and its grounds encompass the interior of the North Mountain and the land around it. Elsa's original ice palace acts as the school's front office, with the upper level being the headmaster/headmistress's office, as Elsa and I share that position. The majority of the school, including the student's dorms, are inside the mountain itself, which has been tunneled through and hollowed out by my magic, with some help from Conner, our resident druid, the last of the druids as far as I am aware. Other, smaller ice buildings were added to the exterior of the complex, serving various different purposes. All-in-all the school is a wonder of magic and architecture, with the walls of the interior just as beautiful as the icy buildings outside.
Since founding the school we have gotten far more students than we ever expected, with the three that we started with now having expanded to several hundred. Our first students are now teachers, and with the snow golem Marshmallow acting as the dean of the school the place has been running very smoothly. Even with that tiara on his head, that giant snowman is still one of the most frightening things those children will ever meet. The room I was now in was placed in the school's interior, with the décor being distinctly Arabic in origin. At the time the classroom housed a dozen students, ranging in age from young children to young adults and ranging in appearance from relatively normal to nearly inhuman. They all stared intently at me with a mixture of fear and awe, all of them probably having hear by this point the various tales of my exploits.
"Who here remembers the most basic law of magical action?"
A teenage girl whose hair had been a neon green a minute ago but was now a fluorescent pink raised her hand. "The Law of Conservation of Energy."
"Correct!" I proclaimed, gracing her with a smile. "This is the one law of magic that I have yet to find an exception to. The basic concept is that the bigger or more complicated the intended result, the more power is required. If you wanted to, say, build a massive palace out of ice," the whole class grinned at that, "it would take a lot more energy than it would to create a scale model of the same palace that could fit your hand."
"As for complicated, a perfect example of this would be our dear dean, the ever cuddly Dean Marshmallow. To create a creature like him, one that can think for itself and even have emotions, would take far more power than creating a similar creature that can only understand and respond to simple commands. Basically, we have learned today that my wife is an incredibly powerful woman that you do not want to cross." That earned another chuckle from the class.
"Now, who can tell me three more laws of magic, as well as examples of exceptions to these laws?"
. . . . .
When the class was over a bell was sounded with a noise that echoed throughout the complex, created by Marshmallow hitting a very large gong. The class scurried out and I was left alone. I knew that Elsa would still be listening to appeals for a bit longer, so I decided to spend that time wisely. I snapped my fingers and the school vanished, replaced by a nursery room that held two cradles.
"Your majesty!" a woman exclaimed, practically leaping out of her chair.
"It's alright Gerda," I assured her. "I just felt like seeing my kids." Gerda left, leaving me alone with my two adorable miracles.
With Elsa's queenly duties and my… complicated schedule we don't get to spend as much time with our few month-old twins, Zane and Alana, as we would like. Gerda was one of the two head servants but insisted on taking care of the children herself when Elsa or I could not. I suppose that is a good thing, as other than her counterpart Kai she is the only servant not shocked and frightened by my children's powers. Seeing as she and Kai helped raise Elsa, it makes sense that they'd be used to uncontrolled magic.
Zane and Alana were fast asleep, swaddled in silken blankets. Zane's blankets had swirling patterns of various shades of red, orange, and blue, giving one the impression of flames spiraling around spires of ice. Alana's blankets were a deep violet with a scattering of golden stars. If one looked closely enough, it almost looked like the stars were in motion, as if one was looking into the depths of the cosmos. The blankets had been a gift from an ambassador of a small island nation from the Far East, somehow matching the children perfectly.
If I were to open their eyes I would have seen Zane's brilliant blue orbs and Alana's dazzling golden spheres. The sight of them still took my breath away, two perfect little children that I could pour my all my heart into. Of course, it was easy to call them perfect when they were sleeping. Not even a year old and already the pair were a handful. Zane had a tendency to cause accidental fire damage, while Alana tended to teleport or levitate her way through the palace. Before long I was forced to devise a charm to limit their abilities until they grew old enough to have at least some manner of control over them. Even with that charm I estimate that it will only be a year or two before they start to find their way into all sorts of trouble.
The door opened and a red-haired woman entered, smiling at me. She was still youthful, but Anna wasn't an eighteen year old girl anymore. Eight years had passed since we first met, and Elsa's sister was now a happily married and the mother of two children of her own. "It's nice to see you John."
"It's nice to see you too Anna," I replied. "How are Kristoff and the kids?"
"They're doing well, though Avan wishes that his Uncle John would come around more often to tell him his stories."
"I would love give the little rascal another show. Do you know the next time Rapunzel and Eugene will be visiting? I'm sure Sammy and Jimmy would hate to miss another of my spectacular adventures." Rapunzel, Elsa and Anna's second cousin and the princess of Corona, also had her own children, twin troublemakers and a little girl that inherited her mother's magic hair. Of course, if you have read my other stories you should already know all this. If you haven't read my other stories, well I guess that's why I'm explaining things, but you should still go and read my other stories.
Go! Shoo! Read! I command it!
Alright, back to the story.
"It should be sometime next week," she replied. "I'll make sure to give Avan the good news."
"And tell Kristoff that when Eugene gets here we're going to have a guy's night out. And tell him I promise not to accidentally teleport us into a dragon's lair this time. I will not repeat the mistakes of the last guy's night out."
"Alright," she agreed, giggling. "I'll tell him." She quietly turned around to leave, but there was one more thing that needed to be addressed.
"One last thing before you leave."
"Sure, what's that?"
"I overheard you and Kristoff yesterday, and I don't think you two should move out of the palace. I'm only here for an average of eight hours each day. That's not nearly enough time. This place is too big for Elsa to be here alone with no one other than a bunch of servants. I don't want Zane and Alana to grow up alone here either. I think it would be better for everyone if you stayed. Besides, your kids already love the twins, and as they grow they are going to need role models closer to their age. Just mull that over as you make your decision."
"Thanks. I'll consider it."
. . . . .
"Another day done, another day conquered," I told Elsa as I entered our bedroom and began to massage her shoulders. "How were the good people of Arendelle today?"
"They weren't too bad, all things considered," she replied, closing her eyes and stretching out languidly in her armchair as I tried to work out the stress from her shoulders. "It's the nobles that I can't stand. They think so highly of themselves that they can't see anything beyond their own needs."
"I guess that's why you're the queen, Princess," I replied. "It's your job to get things done whether the nobles like it or not. No come on, let's get to bed. I am going to make sure that you get a good, restful night's sleep."
. . . . .
"This has gone on long enough," Adelmar, the King of Corona, stated, slamming his fist against the table. "This Hans nearly killed my daughter, and now he's been running free for the better part of a year! None of our search parties have been able to find a trace of the man since he escaped his prison. He could be anywhere, doing anything, and we still haven't got the faintest clue as to where he is!"
"And what do you suggest we do?" the Queen asked him calmly, laying her hand on his shoulder. "Not even Queen and King of Arendelle's magic could find him. What are we supposed to do when two impossibly powerful sorcerers failed?"
"I don't know," he sighed, running his hand through the growing streaks of grey in his hair. "I simply cannot stand the thought of that madman running loose." He thought for another moment, considering the possibilities. "We need a professional," he finally decided. "Someone experienced in hunting down criminals." He looked back up at his wife, his face determined. "We need a bounty hunter."