Chapter 24-Three Are Missing

"Sorry about what happened," expressed Elsa, as she continues to gently cool her cousin's head with her ice magic. "We should've collected your hair sooner; it would've saved you a lot of pain." Earlier when the people were celebrating the sun's return, they had forgotten the magic hair that was still in contact with them. So when they all moved simultaneously, the sudden movements served to be a great disaster for Rapunzel, resulting in her being pulled painfully back.

"It's alright now," Rapunzel assured. "Besides, how were we supposed to know that the sun would appear right there and then, and that the people would go wild about it." The two of them were making their way back into town with Eugene, who was helping to hold majority of Rapunzel's hair, while Anna was picking the grasses and leaves out as they walk. As for the Private Guards, Elsa had instructed them to help finish the evacuation, when their task is complete, they could report back to her, or to Arendelle's military Commander Gorm.

"Are you sure you're alright though," ask Eugene, "for a moment there I thought your hair was going to be torn right off."

"Don't be silly Eugene, it's a full guarantee that my hair can no longer be cut now. Not after becoming a Guardian and a half-spirit and all."

"Speaking of which, your magic was amazing," expressed Anna excitedly, "you really can cure anything—and on a major scale too!

"I won't lie, I surprised myself back there. I have never healed so many people all at once before—"

"Oh wait! Do you think you may have healed the elders by accident?"

"What do you mean, why would I healed them by accident?"

"You know, made them younger; of course that's good news for them, but that would be a real big surprise there."

Rapunzel had stopped breathing for a sec, trying to recall if there was any mention of elders missing, or people rejoicing in suddenly becoming young again. "No—no…I don't think so. If anything, the most I have done to them is healed them of any aches and pains they had before the Nightmares attack, a-and if I have accidently made them younger, there should've been some commotion of it."

"Oh, that would be true, sorry for bring that up."

"By the way Rapunzel, what was that you did with the violin?" Elsa asks. "It served profoundly affective against the Nightmares."

"I guess you could say it's a new ability of mine, but I'm still developing it though. Since I am the Guardian of Life and the Spirit of Spring, my job is not only to protect life, but to inspire it from time to time. It occurred to me one day that since music can make one feel alive at times, I thought I should try projecting my magic through music."

"Why didn't you add it to your promises during our Pact?" Anna asks. "I bet it would've have made that ability of yours more powerful."

"I did give some mentions of it—vaguely though, I was afraid to be too detail with the music just in case it fails me during times when I need it. Remember, the music thing is still a relatively new skill; it works well during normal situations, but I have never used it as an attack or a defense before. If it hadn't worked the way I intended it to, then that would've weakened me and cause more harm than good."

"…Then, does that mean you have other skills that were veaguly mentioned?" Elsa asks.

Rapunzel nodded, and answered, "Still in development."

"…Wait a minute!" said Anna, "At my parent's memorial ball—during the first half of dancing, did you use your magic then?—was that your little special ability at work?" Rapunzel didn't say anything. But a big smile did grace her face, and she brought a finger to her lips. Anna was more than happy for having figured out her cousin's little trick, evident by the expression on her face.

"Rapunzel," addressed Elsa, "Have you considered including Kristoff, Lipso, and Grill to the knowledge of your identity?"

"...I have, but I really don't want too many people knowing about my identity."

"Nor are you supposed to tell anyone beyond the exceptions," pointed Eugene.

"…Do you think it is necessary Elsa?" ask Rapunzel.

"It's only a precaution; if anything happens to us, then we need others to control the dolls and to cover for your absences."

"What about the other Guardians?" Anna ask, "Not that I don't want Kristoff not to know—it would be great that if he know, but can't Jack and the others control the dolls?"

"They can for a few hours, but because of their position in this war they would be in constant danger as much as we are, if not more. I don't think the soldiers would stand to have the Princess of Corona risk the chance on getting caught in sudden attacks, just to spend hours with them. From their perspective, it would be unreasonable."

"I see…" said Rapunzel, as she nods in agreement to Elsa's reasoning. "Not to mention my Spirit doll can't actually fight or heal, so we can't use it much. Not for critical situations." Rapunzel's eyes widen as a thought occurs to her. "Pitch—he may have told Hans about my identity!"

"If he did, then we're in a tighter spot than we thought," said Eugene. "And it wouldn't be long before Pitch figures out there are fake Rapunzels covering for the real one."

"So what are we going to do?" Anna ask, "Not only do we need to manage your absences, but we need to make sure your dolls are safe."

Rapunzel remains silent for a long while, with her mind intensely thinking over what to do indeed. "The answer is clear I guess…but let's wait until we have a chance to talk it over with the others, and if possible, run it by the older Guardians before going through with it. I know Bunny would have thing or two to say about this."

XxXxXx

Nearing the town, Eugene brought out the clay doll while Rapunzel comb her hair again, neatly re-braiding it so it wouldn't be drag on the ground. It was decided that Eugene and Rapunzel should make their way towards the castle and meet up with Lukas, that way; she could use her magic and heal the majority soldiers that are brought there for healing. As for Elsa and Anna, they would make their way back to port to check up on Jack and the others.

On their way to the port, they saw the result—the destructive damage the nightmares have brought upon their town. A great number of the buildings are still standing, but there were clear signs of struggles left upon their body with stains, ash marks, cracked walls, broken windows, and smashed doors. And to the sisters' great horror, many of the soldiers were in critical conditions. The sisters did what they could to help the men as they struggle to make their way towards their destination. Elsa created many sleighs so then the injured could be taken to the nearest medical station. And though the sleighs were cold, they were all slick and smooth enough to be push with ease without too much resistance from the stone road. As for Anna, the best she could do to help was transferring the men onto the sleigh, secretly wishing she had Rapunzel's magic.

The sister found traces of snow the closer they got to the port, to the point where there were more snow clumping together, layer upon the ground. When they reached their destination, the snow was three inch high. There was a clearing right near the entrance of the dock of their ship, and there was seven sailors sitting within the clearing—Southern Isles based on their uniform, huddling tightly close to a roasting flame, with the only thing sustaining its life was a single arrow struck between the pavements. "Welcome back." someone greeted them. The voice had come from their ship, and they saw that the greeter was Merida. The sisters mad a dash over towards her, as she descends the brow with an armful of blankets and towels stacked in a messy pile. "Glad to see the two of you are all right. But where's Blonde?"

"She and Eugene are making their way to the castle," Elsa answers. "What about Jack and Hiccup?"

"The boys are doing a final sweep of the water before going fishing. The sailors over there are so far the only ones we found on the surface."

Anna gasped and brought both her hands up to her face, placing one on each of her cheeks. "You mean, the rest are…"

"—Possible, but don't give up yet, the sailors said that most of their crew were still inside their ships when the Nightmares sunken them, so the rest of them may just be trap."

Elsa quickly walks over towards the sailors. "How many of you were there?"

"Forty of us Malady," answers one of the men, "eight in total on each ship."

Elsa spun in Merida's direction. "You should go and help the others Merida, let us handle the sailors here."

"—And let's go and get Bellflower as well." suggest Anna, and she was about to dash off too, but Merida stop her before she could take a step.

"—Hold it there lass and give me a second, I'm not about to let these fellows here catch their death, not after barely surviving their last one. And don't bother wasting your energy fetching Blonde; she'll be more needed at the castle then here. If anything, we can just fly the rescued sailors there if need to. Besides, have some faith in the rest us; we may not possess any healing magic but we know a few tricks about saving lives."

XxXxXx

Once the sailors on land were warm enough, Merida and Angus took off to help Jack and Hiccup with the search. To make it easier for the sailors to report back to Lukas, and their Southern commander Atlas, Elsa melted the snow on port and sends them off once they were well enough to walk. By the time Merida joins the boys, they had finish searching the surface of the water with no success. Their only choice left was to search under.

Because of Toothless' speed and slick hide, both he and has rider were able to make a swift and smooth dive, reaching the first vessel the fastest, leaving Jack with a good distance behind them, and Merida in third place. They circle around the ship a few times but didn't attempt to enter, and then they try inspecting the deck but no progress was made. There was no safe entry point; Hiccup saw that there were trapped airs inside the ship, meaning it hasn't been completely filled with water yet. There's still a chance that if there are sailors inside, then they are alive. However, there was no way to enter the ship to do a detail search without increasing the speed of the growing water level. Eventually Hiccup couldn't hold his breath any longer, and his dragon was reaching its limit as well, so the two were force to momentarily abandon their search and resurface for air.

Reaching the first ship, Jack noticed the same problem as Hiccup, so he decided to use his magic to form ice on the bottom of the vessel. Once the bottom was completely covered, he started building more ice below to push the ship up. However, Jack was having a difficult time keeping the ice balance as it forms under water, resulting in the need to layer the bottom of the ship with thick ice to hold it firm, while also trying to prevent it from falling off. The next problem was size. Keeping in mind that there are four other vessels close by that needs space to surface as well, Jack tries to bring the first ship as close to the surface as possible but saw that there was no way to do so without creating a giant iceberg.

Merida and Angus couldn't plunge as deep as Hiccup or Jack, they could only go mid-way before the water push them back up. After five failed attempts to reach the others, Merida saw what Jack was doing, so she decided they would wait for Jack to bring the ship as close as possible, before diving in to help search for the sailors and getting them to safety.

Meanwhile back at the port, Elsa and Anna had started a second fire by burning wood from a broken cart they've found. Afterword, they started handing out all the available blankets they've collected from their ship to the rescued sailors. Thirty minutes have passed: two ships been search, six been found on the first, and all eight sailors have been found on the second. But this took too long. After each search, the Guardians were force to resurface for air, and take a short minuet break to get their heads cleared. By the time they completed the investigation of the second vessel, the water level in that one was more than half way. Wanting to speed up the search, Jack told Hiccup to let him dive with Toothless and him for the third search. Reaching the bottom again, Jack started forming ice under both the third and fourth ship. His plan was caught on right away, with Hiccup taking investigation of the fourth vessel, and Merida with the third.

Before attempting the last rescue on the fifth ship, Jack shot out of the water gasping for air. Bringing up two vessels at once had slowed Jack's progress a bit; compare to bringing up just one at a time, he had to stay underwater much longer then what his lungs could stand. But he soon dives back down for the last ship, alone. Merida and Hiccup were still searching through their vessel. Seven sailors were found from the third, three from the fourth, and five in the last ship…Three navy sailors are missing.

After taking the rescued men to port, the three spirits conducted one last, thorough, search for the missing sailors. With the water being colder now because of the ice, Jack once again goes to the seafloors. Hiccup searches the surface by flight, while Merida re-searched the ships. When an hour have pass, they returned to port to find Elsa and Anna being the only ones there.

All three of them were breathing heavily, and their eyes were a bit red from having to be exposed in the sea water so much. "Did you send them to the castle?" Jack asks, wiping waters from his face. Elsa handed him a towel, but he didn't take it, nor did the others take theirs when Anna offered.

"We did," Elsa answers.

"…So you couldn't find the others?" Anna finally asks. There was no answer from them. "Is there a chance they'll show up somewhere later?"

"…There is a chance, but don't go hoping for too much," said Hiccup. He dismounted Toothless to allow him to shake off some of the water, while Hiccup took off his fur vest to squeeze the excess liquid out.

There was a gleam in Anna's eye, and Merida saw it too. For some reason, Merida didn't look too kindly upon Anna's reaction, and was about to say something, but Jack stop her. He placed a firm hand on her shoulder and looks sternly into her eyes, in which she responded with the same expression. Harshly, Merida brush his hand off and then turns to look in a different direction as she tucks her wet locks over her shoulder; she then simply said, "Aaah—but this is a war Hiccup, don't forget that, and you know the truth about wars…" She takes a glance towards the ocean before turning her sight on Anna. "Don't go hoping for too much indeed." Merida then took a towel from Anna and went to join Angus by the fire. Hiccup followed her with Toothless right beside him.

What Merida said brought the sisters to a reality of war; it was a big blow to Anna's spirit as well as Elsa. Death is prone to war—they have yet to see anyone die or a dead body lay before them—it would be a miracle if they don't see it at all throughout this war, but the numbers will pile. Many more will go before this is over. The sisters felt ashamed of themselves; they thought they knew death better after the experience with their parents, but they were far from the truth...

Their legs felt weak, and Anna had such a hurtful look, she seems on the edge of crying. Elsa could only give her sister a comforting squeeze by the hand and pull her close, for she honestly didn't know what to say to make her feel better, let alone stable herself. "Aaah, that Merida," said Jack gently. "She has never been the type to be sensitive, but you would think after all the years she's lived; she would learn some sensitivity by now." He went over to Anna and nudged her softly on the arm. "Our fate lives within us," he quotes from Merida, "You only have to be brave enough to see it…Fate is a realm of reality you know. Right now, Red wants you to face a realm of reality that is cruel and true…It's good to be hopeful and optimistic at times, but don't let them cloud your eyes of the world. Otherwise, it can come to harm you later on. But if you can face it 'bravely', then you can only grow from it."

Anna took in a big breath, held it, and then releases it. "Better to face this one now then latter hur?" Jack didn't say anything, but continues to look at her softly. Slowly, Anna gave in to his kindness and smiled a little, after letting it all sink in. "…Now why couldn't she just say that sooner?" she asks, feeling somewhat better.

"Because I don't know sensitivity!" answered Merida, in a sarcastic tone.

"Plus you don't know how not to eavesdrop" Jack shouted back, resulting in the sisters favoring him with small giggles.

"And that's another one to the list of flaws—Ow!" Merida had just punched Hiccup for his interference, causing the sisters to reach a short laugh, and Jack to chuckle quietly. "It always has to be violence with you doesn't it?!"

Jack lightly taps Anna to refocus her attention. "You know, Hiccup still needs a towel for himself," he said.

"Oh—right!" She rushes off to reoffer one to Hiccup, in which it was now received with gratitude.

"Now with that settled," said Jack, "we should get going soon to the castle. There are still a lot of things to do before night comes."

"…Jack…" said Elsa. He turns to look at her with a raised eyebrow in question. "…Thank you Jack," she said with sincerity. "Thank-you for saying what you said, it helped a lot."

Jack smiles, and pointed to the last towel in her hand. "Can I still get one?" She handed it to him. He took it and held out his staff, asking her if she could hold it for him while he dries off. Though Elsa felt silly about it, she very much likes how the staff feels in her hand, and could tell that time have work with Jack to worn the wood down to its current perfection. The staff only felt cold from where he last touched it, but otherwise, the wood felt cool in a soothing manner, and it was smooth to that of an apple's skin. And when she handed it back to Jack, their fingers brushed each other. In similar, just like the staff, his skin was also to that of an apple.