Continuing from the last chapter...

"WHAT?!" shout Elsa and Kristoff in unison.

"You heard right." Blen said calmly whilst sipping on his drink. "I guess the situation rather awkward now, huh?"

"Why didn't you tell us?" Elsa turned to Seff.

Seff paused for a second, before finally answered. "Because I know what happened the last time you met with a prince from the Southern Isles. Besides, he also didn't know that I'd be bringing a queen with me."

"Yea, thanks a lot for that mate." Retort Blen sarcastically, as he took another sip.

"You're joking?" Kristoff interrupted and stands up from his seat. "You expect me to trust him after what his brother did?"

"Yes." Seff answered firmly. "As much it pains you, please get along." Pleaded Seff.

Hearing that, Kristoff cools down and sat back down. Blen turned to Kristoff, hoping that he can change his perspective towards him.

"I'm aware that you didn't trust me or any of my brother. But, I'm here not as a prince. As you can clearly see, I'm in disguise. I am here as Blenheim, his best friend."

"Acquaintance." Adds Seff.

"Colleague?" Negotiate Blen.

"Co-worker." Stated Seff again, ending the discussion.

"Whatever. The point is, any friend of his is a friend of mine." He said as he tried to assure Kristoff.

Kristoff in the other hand, still didn't trust him. So does Elsa, but at least she's willing to trust him as Seff's friend.

"Anyway, I'm about to be prince again in half an hour. The mayor insisted on having me to open up the festival."

"Wait, you're leaving?" asked Seff confused.

"Yea, mate."

"Aren't you going to help?"

"I will, just not right now. It's not like you need any help anyway." Blen said as he looked at an unimpressed young men. "It'll be better to attack them at night. Most of them would probably be drunk anyway."

Seff saw his point, and decided that it's a best to rescue the princess and acquire the stone at the cover of night. Now, our protagonist was faced with a length of time which he has no plans to fill in with, although he has a few ideas.

"I suppose I could scout the ship. But after that, it'll be a while before it gets dark."

"Well then..." said Blen. "I guess it's a good thing that there's a festival in town." As he smirked and left the bar, leaving the three rescuer alone.

As the group was led by the bartender, Kristoff and Elsa soon learned that the pub belongs to the prince and he's been using it as place to gather information from drunken sailor, mostly involving pirates. Elsa thinks it was a bit of a cheat, robbing people of their information whilst they're still lost in their unconscious mind, although she must admit that there's a bit of genius in that idea.

They walked for quite a while, across the crowded, busy, festive atmosphere of the town. Eventually they found themselves in a less crowded area, almost no one in fact. A single dirt road lies before them, it leads to the lighthouse. The bartender gave the final piece of direction to Seff, which was "follow the dirt track to the light house."

The message seems clear enough. Sensing that he's no longer needed, the bartender leaves the group and went back to his pub.

"Alright then, let's go." He said as he went ahead.

A short walk along the path later, Seff, Kristoff, and Anna found themselves on the foot of the lighthouse. It was no different from the Arendelle's have in its harbor. The light house stands tall, giving Kristoff an idea.

"Let's climb it, I'm pretty sure we can see the whole bay from up there."

Hearing that, Seff immediate response was. "No thanks, I'll stay here."

Kristoff was confused. Won't going to somewhere high is a good idea if you're looking for something. He was about to retort to that when Elsa suddenly barged in.

"It's ok, you can go up. I'll just stay here with him. Do you have your telescope though, right?"

"Yeah, but-"

"You can signal us if you find anything, we'll look from down here." Elsa said with a smile on her face.

"If you say so." Kristoff said complying. He then go in along whilst holding a naval telescope the bartender provided earlier.

It wasn't just one telescope, it was two. The other naval telescope is in Seff's hand. He's using it, scanning a series of ship parked just outside the bay, but there's so much he can do without the advantage of height on his side.

Elsa walked over towards our protagonist, sitting between some rocks overlooking the bay. She said,

"Hi." In a calm tone.

"Oh, hey." He said, glancing to the young lady. He smirked, before saying, "thanks for not revealing my not so big secret."

Elsa knew exactly what he meant. She simply went along with it.

"You're welcome." As she smiled. "Can I help with anything?"

"Not really. Although..." Seff paused before passing the folded telescope to Elsa. "Want to have a go?"

Elsa wouldn't decline that.

"What are we looking at?"

"Obviously two ships, but it has to be more than that." He said. He grabbed his chin, signaling that he was thinking.

"It's the festival today. Most of the crew and passenger on board any of these ships must be out in town right now. They have hostages, which mean they need more than a few people to stay behind and guard them." He stopped before glancing to Elsa. "Look for a ship with an unusual number of people I guess. That'll be a good place to start."

"Got it." Elsa nodded, scanning the ships for Seff's classification.

A few minutes later.

"Is that it?" she said as she handed over the telescope to Seff. The young man aimed it at the direction Elsa's finger is pointing.

A ship, moderate size. Nothing out of the ordinary, except for a quite a few people seen on board. It itself wasn't strange consider they're just crew, but given that those crew are doing absolutely nothing except walking around with their weapon on them does raise suspicion for Seffiroth.

"Could be." He said, half certain. "Good job, your grace." He complimented.

Elsa blushed as she then tried to split some of the credits given to her. "Your description makes it easier. And please, call me Elsa."

"Ah, sorry, I forgot." Now it's Seff's turn to hide his embarrassment.

There was a brief silence between the two, before Elsa said...

"I'm going to get Kristoff."

"Yea, you do that." Said Seff, agreeing to her proposal.

The queen then ran to the light house. Elsa looked up, whilst her hand covering her eyes and blocking it from the blinding sunlight.

"Kristoff!" she yelled up.

Kristoff escape his tunnel vision on the telescope and looked down to the ground. He was just on the balcony, still searching for the ship where his supposed lover being held captive. As he looked down, Elsa made a clear hand sign, telling the blond-ish young man to get down. So he did.

"What is it?" Kristoff asked.

"We found something." Elsa replied, before going back to Seffiroth still 'camping' on the rocks.

The young queen left Kristoff standing there, wondering, "How did he find it before I do?" he asked himself. I guess it doesn't make sense for Kristoff, as spotting from higher ground seems to have much more pros than from the ground. Apparently, he was mistaken.

He shrugged it off, then followed Elsa to Seff.

"That ship there. You see it?" Seff said as he directs Kristoff to the ship in question.

"Yep, I see it." Kristoff said. "I didn't see her though, or anyone that look like a hostage."

"They must've hid them below deck." He said, conveying his opinion.

Seff's opinion was received well by Kristoff and Elsa. However, both of them can't still their grips on why Seff is still scanning the bay.

"What are you doing?" asked Kristoff being curious.

"I'm looking." Seff answered briefly.

"Looking for what?" Adds Elsa.

"The second ship."

For a moment there, the two, Kristoff and Elsa, forgot that they're looking for two ships instead of one. A bit silly really, but Seff shrugged it off. "They could just be too excited to find what could possibly be the ship that held Anna and the captives." He thought.

Seff's eyes scan the line anchored ships close to the ship they previously suspected. However, his effort proofs fruitless.

"Damn." He cursed his luck. "I can't find the other ship."

"It doesn't matter. We could just go in there and rescue Anna and the other." Said Kristoff in spirit.

"Now? Without knowing which is one is the other ship? That'll be stupid." Added Seff.

"Why not? We have the element of surprise, not to mention Elsa's power."

Seff looked at Kristoff. Kristoff froze, as Seff gazed him with such serious look on his eyes.

"The fact that these people attack Arendelle alone should make it abundantly clear to you. These people are aware of Elsa's power, and they weren't the least afraid of her. Going in now would be stupid and wreckless. We'll wait."

"For how long?!" asked Kristoff, slightly expressing his discontent.

"I know you're worried, but we have to be smart about this. We'll wait until the most opportune moment present itself."

"Which that prince suggest? At night?" Kristoff said, being doubtful.

"Yes." Seff said in a firm tone.

Elsa grabbed Kristoff shoulder. Kristoff looked, only to find the queen looking back at him. Elsa didn't say a word, however, Kristoff knew from the way she looks back at him with such concerned, she asked him to calm down.

So, Kristoff calmed down.

"Alright then, fine. What are going to do now?" he asked after he took a long breathe.

Seff sighed. Not knowing what to do, he answered.

"I honestly have no idea." He paused as he is thinking, before continuing with, "maybe you two should go back to the ship and prepare everyone. I'll stay here to scout some more, maybe even think of a plan. After I'm done, I'll return and tell you all about it."

Kristoff agreed to this temporary plan.

"So, I guess I'll go back to our ship now then."

"You do that." Was Seff's response.

Kristoff then asked Elsa whether she wanted to come with to the ship. She however decline that offer. She feels the need to contribute more and helping Seff with whatever it is he's doing seems like good way to contribute at the time. Seffiroth however, still prefer to be alone, especially during a job, although he doesn't mind the company. So, this time, he makes an exception.

When Kristoff left and head back to the ship, our protagonist was left alone with a young queen as a company. He didn't see it, but he's an extremely lucky guy. Not many people have the opportunity to simply spend some time alone with a queen, moreover a beautiful young queen such as Elsa. He didn't see it, or rather, he didn't care. He tried not to think of such thought as it is a distracting factor, although he spent a hard time ignoring the fact, which ultimately led to him not saying a word.

Elsa in the other hand, felt a feeling that can only be described with one word, awkward. This was obviously not her first time being alone with him. But the fact that he doesn't say anything and stay dead fixed tunnel visioning into his telescope doesn't help Elsa to simply ignore the feeling. To her, Seff seems committed enough to what he's doing. So, Elsa tried to do the same using the same telescope Kristoff previously used, spotting things around the target ship that is worth noticing. Unfortunately, her ability to simply ignore this aching feeling is not as great as Seff's.

Elsa needs to get out of this situation, and starting off a conversation seems like a good idea. It's not like it's a hard thing, starting off a conversation. As open as he is to her these past few days, she still feels that the man is still holding something back. Something is also bugging her since they left the sailor's pub back in Hackwald. The coin she saw, not a coin, more like a round piece of metal resembling a coin with a carving.

She tried to remember ever since then. She's certain that she had seen that object somewhere before.

"Where? Where? Where?" she thought hard. "Where have I seen the coin before?"

Her minds however only let out the memory as bits and pieces. It was vague, vague as a dream, and she only remembered a few things in particular.

It was night, she was certain of it. She closes her eyes, in order to remember clearer. There was a man there, with a round hat and a robe. His face, she can't remember his face. The moonlight was shining that night, and it somehow his face. Elsa couldn't figure out who he was, or how she met him. All of this could be a dream for all she knows. Then again, if it was a dream, it must've been some dream.

Before she knew it, she was lost in her thought. Without warning, her focus was shattered by Seff suddenly announcing,

"Whoa, we may have something here."

Elsa, taken by surprise, can only responded with, "Eh...?" as she was brought back to reality.

Quickly, she deployed her naval telescope and points it towards the ship. She observe through the tube-like device. It looks like someone is getting on board the ship via a longboat. It was expected, since the ship was anchored nowhere near any pier. Two men, both with sword strapped to their belt. One of the man stopped, only to help someone else who's getting on board the ship. He was an old man, white hair and beard, wearing a cloak.

The two have their telescope out and pointed towards the mysterious old man. The old man, then proceed saying something to some of the men. The men replied with a salute, before breaking off.

"It seems like he's important." Commented Elsa.

"Indeed." Retort Seff with curiosity. "Let's see where this goes."

The old man gave some more order to another two men. The other two armed men did the same as the previous one, salute and went somewhere else, presumably doing whatever it is they were told to do. The old man than walked around, circling the deck of the ship. For a few minutes the man had walked, before finally stopping. He then proceed with stretching his arm and leg, twisting his neck, as if his bone was all sore.

"What is he doing?" Said Elsa, wondering about his behavior.

The man then looked around, before he finally stop, fixing on one direction. Elsa focuses to him. Right now, the man is facing away from him. But, it's as if something is bugging him from his back, the man slowly turned his head looked up and-

BUAK!

Elsa was suddenly tackled whilst she was trying to focus on the man. She dropped her telescope and now she laid down on the ground with her attacker on top of her. She opened her eyes, and was surprised by what she saw.

"Seff?" she wonders.

To her surprise, Seffiroth had tackled her into the ground, and inappropriately have her backed against the ground with him staring back down at her. She was speechless, only stutter came out her mouth. She couldn't see it, but her face was bright red due to her embarrassment. Elsa was confused, she doesn't whether to be scared or embarrassed of this shameful position. They were lucky that no one else was around to see them like that, and in that position.

"Wha-wha-what d-do you think you're doing, Mr. Seffiroth?!" she questioned him with stutter, trying to hide her feeling of embarrassment.

"Uhm..." Was his only response. He gulped, and proceed with getting off her for a start before lying flat, facing up, right next to her. He then took a breather, and said...

"That was close." Whilst gasping for air.

"What?!" asked Elsa confused.

"He's about to spot us, that man. Don't know how, but I got a feeling he knew we were here. Sorry, I had to do that." He explained and apologized.

Elsa was dumbfounded after hearing Seff's explanation. She blushed even more when Seff proceed further with asking...

"What else do you think I'm about to do?" he said with a plain tone.

Elsa didn't answer that question. She simply stood back up and try her best to hide her red face. On top of all, she felt ashamed to ever think of such dirty thought about him. A queen on top of all.

"Le-let's just go." She said in a slighly low voice.

"Yea, I think we overstayed our welcome here." Said Seff agreeing to her idea.

The two walked back through the path they previously used. A dirt path which ran along the coast back into Hackwald. Along the way, nothing happened. Seff's grateful for the fact that that man, whoever he is, didn't know they were there eyeing on them, or at least if he knew, he didn't bother sending a group of thugs to deal with him and Elsa. On the other hand, Elsa has continuously ignoring him the whole way.

She walked a few feet in front of the young man. She didn't say anything, not a word about earlier 'incident'. Not like it bother the young man anyway, but it does make the young man wonders.

In truth, Elsa was really trying to forget about what happened. She doesn't talk to him because that would certainly reminds her of the embarrassing incident earlier, that's what she thought at least.

Pretty soon, the two re-enter the busy and crowded street of Hackwald. The festival had started, and Prince Blenheim is currently having a feast and celebration along with the town and many other important officials. He won't be around for a while.

Music and dances made the atmosphere in this little town. Everyone around the two, people are dancing and having a good time. After a few minutes of hearing that festive music, Elsa lighten up a bit, allowing Seff to catch up, although she still isn't too fond to have any sort of conversation with Seff.

But Seff didn't know that, did he?

"You alright? You're just quiet ever since we left the lighthouse."

"I'm fine." She responded as she did her best to avoid any eye contact with the young man.

"You sure?" asked the Seff again.

"Yes, I am." As she walked pass Seff.

Seff catches up again, walked besides her. Elsa's head faced leftward, facing away from Seff.

"No you're not, you're angry about something."

"No, I'm not." Insisted Elsa, "I'm just..."

"Angry." Seff interrupted Elsa as she is still thinking of the correct word to best describe what she feels.

"You know what? I can't have you feeling like this before tonight. It's dangerous, so to say." Seff further commented. "Let's go." As he grabbed her hand.

"Wait, aren't we going to return to the ship?" she says as she slightly blushed.

"Nop, I figured, since we got some time to kill, though we might go exploring a bit." He said with a smile.

Elsa inclined to take the offer. But having to see his smile, she can't possibly refuse it. So, she lets the young man take her away through the busy crowd.

Of course, as inclined as she was, she still wanted to look a bit into this festival. She just feels rather guilty checking it out without her sister, Anna, or rather with her sister still endangered. Unfortunately for her, Seff won't be having any of it.

Looking at it from Seff's point of view, he knew he need to have everyone in top condition by the time of the planned rescue operation. Although he is mostly a lone wolf and prefer to operate alone, he knew how the condition of his team can affect the outcome of an operation. Experience will teach you that, as it teaches him once.

Anyway, he notice Elsa's state of emotion and figured he had to do something about it. Given that he's confronted with a queen with a lack of experience outside of Arendelle, at all, it's only logical for him to think that the best way to recover her good mood is to check out the festival with her. Of course, it was only lucky that there was a festival in town that day.

Despite having a pretty good idea, he still wasn't sure about it. Taking Elsa to check out a festival with him. Well, he did many things in his journey but taking a young girl, a queen in fact, with him is new experience to him. He wasn't sure about how he feels about this. He feels nervous, in a way, although it wasn't quite the word he's looking for. He doesn't care, the only thing on his mind was that he do this for the sake of what about to happen tonight.

So, he took a deep breathe, and try his best to hide his nervousness as he grabbed her hand and pulled her through the crowd.

One thing remain clear to Seff was that he still needs to be aware of his surroundings. Those people, the men in cloak, must also be in town. For all he knew, they might recognize his face. He's not worried about Elsa though, she had her hood on ever since the two re-enter the town. Looking for them is going to be a hard one for him. So, he thought, if he can't look for them, they're just going to have to lay low.

But, that is also going to be difficult as he about to find out.

Seff led Elsa to more crowded part of town. As you may know earlier, the town is not that big in size. This makes places tend to be crowded by the overwhelming visitor from out of town coming there for the festival. Of course, half of them was there thanks to the good Prince Blenheim effort in promoting the event. Anyway, pretty soon they found themselves back in the center of town. A stage was set up, and a band was playing on it. People are dancing to the rhythmic music.

To Elsa, the music was different. Fast rhythm played with various instrument. It was very different from the music she had on your typically royal events. In short, it made her feel excited and wanted to mover her legs and dance to it.

Despite having all that excitement, Elsa held back a bit. She tried not to dance, but she can't help tapping her feet to the catchy rhythm of the music.

Seff saw this and thought that she should participate in the folks dance.

"Why don't you just dance?" he asked

"Oh, no. I don't dance, Seff."

"I see." He said, whilst nodding, suspiciously.

As the people dancing in a circular formation, the crowd keeps getting more and more dancer from the people watching from the sidelines. There's basically no rule, no particular manner to this dance. People who wanted to dance are welcomed to join in.

Knowing that, Seff waited. Sometime later, he spots his moment as some random town folks went around to their side. Surprising to Elsa, Seff yelled.

"Hey! I got another one for you!" and proceed with pushing Elsa into a group of 4 people, who is more than willing to keep Elsa in the dance.

Elsa taken by surprise can only said, "What are you-"before she was cut off by Seff's smirk and raised right hand, effectively saying "have a good time" in a sarcastic manner.

Elsa smirked back, sending a nonverbal message of "I'm going to get you after this."

Seeing Elsa's reaction as she has no choice but to dance amongst the crowd surprising brought humor to Seff, who is watching in the sidelines. He shows it by having a light chuckle on his own.

A few minutes passed, and the music is only getting louder and faster. Elsa, now starting to get the hang of things, eventually ended up to Seff's side of the audience.

"Come on!" She yelled out, asking Seff to join in.

Seff's response was a chuckle at first, then he said, "No, I don't dance, and won't, ever."

"It's not fair for me, don't you think?" Elsa yelled yet again.

"Still not going to make me dance I'm afraid."

Before anything else, Elsa grabbed Seff's hand and pulled him in.

"What the..." Seff said as he was caught by surprise.

Seff didn't have a choice now. He had to dance, as it is customary in Hackwald that if you're in the dance formation, you're not allowed to not dance. So, the young man tapped his feet, faster and faster, following the fast nature of the music.

"I thought you said you can't dance?" asked Elsa.

"I said I don't dance. I didn't say I can't dance. So what's your excuse?" Seff asked back, whilst still moving to the rhythm.

"Don't know" she said, "I guess I never find a good reason to dance, I guess."

The crowd dance, and dance. As the music getting faster and faster, it stops in such spectacular way. The crowd cheered and clapped their hands, including the two.

Both Elsa and Seff gasped for air. That was nevertheless tiring. The two however need to keep in mind that they're going to need some of that energy for tonight's plan.

The two looked at each other, then came the notorious awkward moment that seems haunting them ever since they met. They immediately face away from one another.

"That was... fun." Elsa said.

"Yea, surprisingly." Seff retorts. "Shall we get back to the ship now?"

"Yes, I think we should." She said as she offer Seff her hand.

The two then left the town square before the band manage to play another music.

Time flies quite fast when you're having fun. Before they knew it, the sky was already in light orange color. The sun will set in a few hours. Kristoff, Olaf, and the other must've been worried sick by now. However, the two found a way to redempt their late return. Well, at least Elsa did.

The two went inside a store, located not far from where their ship was harbored. Elsa sought to buy them a little souvenir, and honestly, Seff just went with it.

"So you're going to buy Olaf this teddy bear?" Seff asked as he holds the object in his hands.

"Yes. Now, what should I get for Kristoff?" she asked herself as she browse the shelf.

"You know, you could just give Kristoff the teddy bear and not give Olaf anything. That snowman will probably forgive you anyway, since you know, you made him."

"No, I have to be fair, even to Olaf."

Seff smiled hearing that reply.

Pretty soon, three items were chosen. Seff asked, "One for Olaf, one for Kristoff, Who are you going to give that one too?"

"Anna, after tonight."

She hasn't forgot after all.

"Don't worry. We'll get her, her and everyone."

"How about your stone." Apparently she still remember about that stone.

"I'll put that to my second priority." He said with a smile.

Their conversation was put to a stop when the shop owner came in.

"Right, what can I help you?"

"Ah, these please. How much would that be?"

Then Seff interrupts. "Just so you know, I don't have any money with me. All my money are in my satchel and you know where my satchel is. I'll pay you after I get it back."

"No, don't worry. I brought just enough."

The shop owner stops and looked at the two, glancing back and forth between the two young people. He then said...

"You know what? It's on the house."

"Wait, what?!" Seff retorts in surprised manner.

"You heard me. I figured since it's the festival and all, and you nice couple must've-"

"Couple?! I mean, we're not..." answered the both of them in unison, before stopping and realizing that they had said that almost exactly at the same time. The awkward sets in again, as the two really didn't know what to say in this kind of situation.

That is until Elsa continues...

"Thank you, but, I prefer paying for these if you don't mind." Elsa said with a smile

They ended paying for the toys, and proceed with walking out of the store.

Outside still not provide refuge from the awkward back inside the store.

"Well, that was..." Seff said.

"...awkward." finishes Elsa.

The two looked at each other.

"Do we really look like a couple?" Seff asked.

"Apparently so..." Elsa answered, whilst slightly blushing.

Seff sought to break the ice, as he shook his head.

"Anyway, we should really go back to the ship now. I hope that fixes your mood."

Elsa smiled. "I think it did more than improve my mood."

As they walked to the ship, they continued on with their conversation.

"So, how do you like the festival?"

"It's wonderful." Then her face sadden. "I just wish Anna was here to see this."

"That's what we're going to do, don't worry, I'll assure you, we'll get her back. In fact, I have a plan in mind."

"Really?" Elsa asked for confirmation.

"Well, from that quick look, I manage to come up with something. I'll tell you all about it on the ship along with Kristoff and the other."

"Sounds good." She paused," How about I race you to the ship."

"No, I don't think so. I'm tired from all that dancing and you need to-"

"You don't have a choice." She said as she dashes.

"Oh, come on... Elsa!" was his response before catching up to her.

As the two returns to the ship, they were, unsurprisingly, scolded by Kristoff. The gifts helped, for a while. As sun sets, the team assembled in preparation to rescue the 13 hostages including Princess Anna. They were soon joined by Blen who snuck out of the scheduled event in order to help. He brought along a few of his body guard, which being a war minister meant that his guard was chosen from the Southern Isles elites. They're going to be real handy soon.

The team is ready, and as the festival enters its night phase, the rescue operation went under way.

Hopefully there weren't any nasty surprises waiting for them. ; )

Of course there will be a nasty surprise, how else am I going to make the story interesting?

I'm having fun writing this chapter, maybe more than any other chapter so far. As you may probably I guess, the next one will be action packed, again. I'm definitely going to have fun with that.

If you enjoy and intrigued to my story, check that fave box. If you're troubled by it, or think it needs improving, review it. Seriously though, nothing keeps me going like a review.

Also if you enjoy my story, check out VaLkErIe1234's version of my story, titled "True love above all".

That's it. Thank you for following the story if you did. I have a crazy idea about the ending of this, one which put the words 'world transcending adventure' into the story. Anyway, you've been awesome.

Legion signing out, see you in the next installment... and Taraa...~