Author's Note: I've just got back from my holiday in Switzerland. It. Was. GREAT! I did so many exciting things, which is why the story hasn't been updated for a while. One day I took a train up the Jungfrau to the highest accessible point in Europe. There's a section called the Ice Palace which is full of cool sculptures. It was the perfect place to pretend to be Elsa – or in my case, Felix. :) Enjoy the next chapter!
By the way, have you seen the YouTube video by Sam Tsui, "Let It Go/Let Her Go"? It's a mash-up of "Let It Go" from "Frozen" and "Let Her Go" by Passenger. It's so cool – check it out!
Chapter Nine: Finding Felix
"To love and to cherish. . ." the priest's voice boomed across the church.
"To love and to cherish. . ." Calhoun echoed.
"Till power cut do us part," the priest finished.
"Till power cut do us part."
All the guests seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. One side of the aisle was full to the brim with Hero's Duty soldiers, all aiming their guns at the giant stained glass window – just in case. The Nicelanders and other video game characters sat on the other side. Calhoun's eyes drifted to the window. Red laser dots danced across it, searching for Cy-Bugs.
She looked down again at Felix; again she was struck by his cuteness and the fact that he was still alive. So far, her second wedding was going better than her first.
The ring exchange came next.
It didn't start well when the best man Ralph dropped one of the rings. He desperately scrabbled around, luckily scooping it up before it could roll down the steps. He blew some dust off and handed it over to the priest.
Felix gestured for Calhoun to lean in. "I'll have that one if you want," he whispered. Obviously not quietly enough, because the guests started sniggering.
The red dots were rearranged to form the shape of two linked circles. Now the priest held out the rings on a pillow. Calhoun took off her fingerless gloves and picked up the ring that had not been on the floor. Felix went for the other.
"Sir?" the priest whispered to him. "The gloves?"
Felix hesitated. He took a shaky breath and slipped his gloves off as well. His hand trembled as he placed them on the pillow and took the ring.
Calhoun frowned. What was up with him? She barely heard the priest speaking as she watched her husband. A few beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. He swallowed and took her hand in his. His fingers were cold and sticky.
"Tamora Jean Calhoun. . ." he started in a wobbly voice. His eyes met hers.
Whatever was going on, Calhoun couldn't let him worry any more. Her frown quickly turned into a smile.
As it happened, the nerves on Felix's face seemed to soften and disappear. He welcomed the smile with an even bigger grin and began to speak more confidently. "I give you this ring as a symbol of our vows, and with all that I am, and all that I have, I honour you." The ring slid onto Calhoun's finger with ease.
It was her turn now. Just as she was about to speak, their bridesmaid Vanellope interrupted.
"Hello? Anyone in there?"
Jolted out of her daydream by a tug on her arm, Calhoun shook Vanellope off. "Huh? What's going on?"
"Vanellsa's been helpfully yelling directions and you haven't listened to a word," Vanellope told her.
"Oh." Calhoun braked and let the space pod hover. "Sorry. My mind was elsewhere."
"Was it a nice place?" Ralph asked.
"Mine and Felix's wedding."
Vanellsa sighed. "I love weddings. They're so romantic. And they do nice cake."
"Ralph, how long has Felix had his powers?" Calhoun asked.
"I don't know," Ralph replied. "I guess he could've always been like that. I mean, I've never seen him take his gloves off. Now we have a reason why."
"But at the wedding. . ." Calhoun paused. "He took 'em off for the rings, and nothing happened. No ice, no snow, nothing. So how come he waits until now to go cuckoo?"
"He hasn't gone cuckoo," Ralph insisted. "He panicked and then everything got out of hand. Literally."
"Well, why wasn't he panicking at the wedding?" Vanellope asked.
"Maybe," Vanellsa wondered, "something happened that made him remember why he was there – to start spending the rest of his life with the woman he loved. Perhaps that squashed any fear he had."
"If I was marrying Calhoun, I think I'd be even more terrified!" Ralph laughed, and Vanellope joined in.
"Mrs Calhoun?" Vanellsa asked.
"It's Sergeant Calhoun."
"Sergeant Calhoun?" Vanellsa adjusted her cap. "If Felix built me, and he's married to you . . . does that make you my mother?"
Calhoun gave her a sideways glance. "One thing at a time, kid. Now where's Felix?"
. . .
"Down there!" Vanellsa yelled. "Right where it says his name!"
The pod swooped towards the ground and slowed near the FELIX in the mountainside. The characters climbed out.
What stood before them was just like the Nicelanders' apartment complex in Ralph's game.
And yet it wasn't.
Instead of red bricks, the walls were made of layer upon layer of giant blocks of ice. Pixelated snowdrops poked out of the window boxes, and the windows themselves were translucent thanks to layers of frost. The whole building was blocky and awkward, like most 8-bit creations – but it also held an undeniable elegance.
Ralph, Vanellope, Calhoun and Vanellsa approached with open mouths.
"Whoa," Ralph breathed.
"It's beautiful," whispered Vanellsa.
"And look at the sign!" Vanellope gasped, pointing to the (N)ICELAND on the archway. "It's (N)Iceland! Get it?" She sniggered. "Like Niceland, but made of ice, so it's Iceland? Heh, heh, (N)Iceland?!"
"We get it," said Ralph.
The characters started to climb the steps. Calhoun admired the banister. "I can see myself." She peered in closer. "Is that a pimple on my chin?" She realised what she was saying and silently scolded herself for focusing on pimples at a time like this.
By now Ralph was at the light blue double doors. He held up a fist to knock, but couldn't bring himself to do it.
"Just knock," Vanellsa ordered.
Ralph still hesitated. It wasn't just fear of wrecking the doors that stopped his hand – it was the nagging sceptic inside him, telling him that Felix might not answer. After all, he had never really opened up to him before.
"Do you even know how to knock?" Vanellsa grumbled. She leapt up and semi-punched a door herself. It opened unaided as the hollow sound echoed inside.
"That's a first," Ralph muttered, taking a step inside. "Say, um. . ." He turned to face the others. "Do we really want to do this now?"
"You're not chickening out, are you?" Vanellope asked.
"No, no, of course not," Ralph rushed, "I just realised how . . . how hungry I was. Can't go in on an empty stomach."
"Well, what are you gonna eat out here?" Vanellope scoffed. "Snow?"
"You can drink snow if you melt it," said Calhoun.
"Melt it?" said Vanellsa.
Calhoun avoided her gaze.
An awkward silence descended. It was Ralph who broke it. "Kid," he explained, "when snow heats up, it turns into water. That's what melting is."
"Oh." Vanellsa bit her trembling lip. "I don't want to melt." She craned her neck to the top of the Ice Cream Mountains. "Maybe I don't want summer either."
"Aww, don't say that!" Vanellope put an arm around her chilly companion. "You shouldn't let a little thing like melting get in the way of your dreams-"
"You can talk!" Vanellsa wriggled out of Vanellope's hold. "You don't have to worry about turning into water when-" She gasped. "That's it! If I was a real girl, I could still see summer!" She ran inside, dashing past Ralph towards the elevator. "If I ask nicely, maybe Felix will make me a real girl!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Ralph yelped, pulling her back by her hoodie (which was sculpted from snow, just like the rest of her). "Let me talk to him alone before we all come in and start asking for big favours."
"But – but-"
"Just give us a minute, okay?"
"Sure."
Ralph sat Vanellsa down on the steps outside and continued his search. "Put in a good word for me!" Vanellsa called after him.
. . .
Ralph left the elevator and found himself on a shiny floor. He slipped a little, but managed to steady himself. The pale blue wallpaper in the foyer was patterned with a mixture of thin stripes and Tetris-style squares. Yet another set of doors stood before Ralph, this time half-open and in a shade of bright white. Snow-globes of various sizes lined the walls in neatly-arranged display cabinets, detailing scenes from every game in the arcade. The place was impressive but eerie.
"Hello?" Ralph called out. "Felix? It's me, Ralph!"
A small figure stepped out. "Ralph."
Ralph did a double-take. Patches of snow stuck to Felix's shoes. His shirt and trousers were the same shade as the ice around him. They were adorned with tiny, shiny squares and circles. Any other man wearing so many sequins would look weird, but Felix was not any other man. Felix had completely changed, and Ralph said so.
"You look different."
Felix just stared at him.
"It's a good different," Ralph added. "And this place is so cool."
"Thank you," Felix replied, politely, cautiously. "I never knew I could do stuff like this."
Ralph took a step forward. "Listen, I owe you an apology for what happened at the party. I shouldn't have-"
"It's fine, Ralph," Felix stopped him. "You have nothing to apologise for." He clasped his hands together. "But maybe you should go."
"I just got here," Ralph said, half-laughing as he spoke.
"Someone has to keep an eye on the game. For the Nicelanders."
"Why don't you go back then?" Ralph snapped. "The game needs you as much as it needs me." He pointed at Felix with a tubby finger that was shaking with rage. He was so mad, he almost forgot about the snow outside. "Your name's on the front of the console! You can't just run away like this. If you're not in the game when Mr Litwak gets home-"
"Ralph!" Felix backed up. "I get it. I promise I'll come back before then." He stared straight ahead, past Ralph, as if he was drifting away. "But for now I need to stay here. Where I can learn to control my powers. Where I can be myself. Where I don't have to worry about hurting anybody."
Ralph adjusted the collar of his jacket. "Yeah, uh, about that-"
Ping! The elevator doors parted to reveal Vanellsa, panting and clutching something shiny. "Ralph . . . I know what you said," she panted, "but I got bored . . . so I went exploring . . . and I found this." She held out a golden hammer to Felix. "Is it yours?"
"Oh, yes, it is," said Felix, blinking in surprise at his own creation. He felt Ralph's eyes drilling into him. "How'd I lose that?" he chuckled nervously. He took it and slotted it into his tool belt.
Vanellsa waited. "And you say. . ."
"Thank you!" Felix remembered. "Miss . . . I didn't catch your name."
"I didn't throw it out there. I'm Vanellsa Von Arendelle and I like warm hugs."
She spread her arms out. Felix's eyes were as wide as saucers.
"You built me," Vanellsa prompted. Her arms dropped to her sides. "Remember?"
"And you're alive?"
Vanellsa's reply seemed more like another question than an answer. "Um . . . I think so?"
Ralph knelt down beside Vanellsa. "Remember how we always built snowmen when we were kids? None as good as this little girl, but hey." He patted her back. "I know it's only a backstory, but we were so close, Felix. There's no reason why we can't be like that for real."
Felix almost smiled. But then. . .
Ralph's colossal hand brought back all the memories. They came thick and fast, like snowflakes made of pain, each scene hurting him more than the last.
The frozen blast splitting mid-air. . .
Slamming into Ralph's hands. . .
"Ow!"
Ralph falling to the ground, unconscious. . .
"Ralph!"
Ralph's hands covered with frost. . .
The rest of his body turning cold and stiffening. . .
Later . . . Ralph's hands glowing, growing, expanding. . .
"An unavoidable side-effect, I'm afraid."
Mr Trollman's fierce voice blasting in Felix's ears. . .
"Your powers . . . you must learn to control them."
Felix's face fell. "There is, Ralph. My powers are too strong now. Soon I'd end up hurting you."
"But I-"
"Please, Ralph." Felix looked at him desperately. The air chilled around him. "I'm trying to protect you." He ran into the penthouse and down the steps towards the balcony.
"You don't have to protect me, I'm not scared of you!" Ralph followed Felix. "Whatever's happened, we can sort it out – together. You don't have to worry anymore, because you have me."
Felix stopped and faced Ralph again. "Thanks for trying. But I really, really need to be alone for a while." He opened the balcony doors. "Go, and you'll be safe from me."
Ralph cleared his throat. "Not exactly."
Felix raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, not exactly?"
"I guess you don't know?"
"Don't know what?"
Ralph motioned towards the view of white-peaked mountains. "About the arcade being very, very, very . . . very . . . snowy?"
Felix was still. "What did you say?"
"You've kind of set off an eternal winter. In every game."
"Every game?" Felix still didn't move.
"Hey, it's okay, you can just-" Ralph smashed the steps. "Oops. You can just unfreeze it, right?"
Felix shook his head, first slowly, then more violently. "No. No, I can't. I don't know how."
Snow began to twirl around the room.
"Sure you can," Ralph asserted, "because I believe you can. We'll reverse the storm somehow."
The swirling snow became a blizzard. Ralph was losing sight of Felix. But his brother's voice was still loud and clear: "Ralph, stop, you're making it worse!"
"Don't panic!" Ralph yelled, trying to get through to him.
"I can't help it!"
"It's gonna be fine."
"Not if you don't get out!"
Ralph searched for the handyman, but the storm was taking over the room. "I'm not going without you! What is it you stay at the start of every game? You can fix it!"
"NO, I CAN'T!"
With that scream, Felix's fear, so strong, stronger than Ralph, sucked the snow back inside him and then spat it out again, like a knife made of ice.
The blade pierced Ralph's heart.