It was strange being back again, Arendelle was both familiar and alien to her at the same time. They had gotten in easily enough. The guard's lack of vigilance was undoubtedly a result of having the monotonous task of greeting people all day. The city was considerably larger than before, it made Anna wonder just how many resistance cells were residing here. The fact Elsa's aggressive policy was tempered within the walls ironically made Arendelle one of the safer places for a cell to hide in.
For now it was a matter of waiting as inconspicuously as possible, which was easy to do in the crowded city. They meandered their way closer to the palace, allowing time for the others to arrive and check-in. They had passed by several rendezvous areas to let the support know to provide extreme-weather clothing to prepare her group for the temperature of the caves.
Each cell had a different signal allocated to a section of the city, once Anna and Hans were approaching the palace they would signal a runner to launch everything. Jasper and Hans had not told her whatever distinctive features the runners would have but she was assured by them that each cell knew what to look for. It was likely other runners were lying in wait and on the lookout for a signal from previous runners, setting off a domino effect that would spread across the city quickly.
Anna's hood had got her through the gate and was doing a decent job of hiding her face but a few people had noticed the scars.
"I don't think I'll be recognised but we need to get this going sooner rather than later," she said. Anna did not like the idea that a disgruntled citizen would rant about a freak with weird scars in their city for the wrong people to overhear.
"I agree, let's pick up the pace," Hans said. They took a more direct route to their rendezvous point and were soon crossing the frozen lake; she recognised one of their cell members across on another of the islands. So far there had been no obvious hold-ups to the plan. When they approached one of the final islands she saw Hans nod to someone, who then proceeded to move off quickly. This was the start, everything was in place and mobilising, there was no going back. Anna noticed a sculpture as they stepped onto their final island of the lake.
"Hello again sister," she muttered under her breath. The plaque read "Our Empress, generous and caring." Anna ignored any urge to examine it further as she knew they had to keep moving.
Groups of worried looking guards were running through the square in front of them, evidently the first of the resistance's disturbances were kicking off. Hans and Anna kept their heads down as an increasing number of guards made their way past, too distracted by having to deal with actual unrest in a city that had been coddled and care-free for so long.
The tunnel they had chosen was the furthest out of general eye-line from the main city. It was a longer route through to the palace but the safest place to meet before entering. A few were already in place when Hans and Anna got there, they were greeted by Anton. Anna noticed that Nat was staring nervously at the exact spot the tunnel entrance would be revealed.
"We'll wait a few minutes more," Hans said. More arrived as they waited, one dropped a pile of extra weapons, cloth wraps and gloves on the floor. The chaos in the main city must have been building significantly if he was able to get them up to the meeting point unnoticed. Anna shrugged off her cumbersome cloak and wrapped up her face and hands. She was already an extra layer under her armour, wrapped as thickly as she could get away with without hindering her ability to move easily. The others did the same with the exception of Nat, who wore only light armour and was barefoot. Anna watched Hans, he was not covering his face and picked up a crossbow from the weapons pile and slung it over his shoulder.
"That won't be useful in the tunnels," Anna said.
"It pays to be prepared," Hans said. Anna did not follow up, Hans would fight however he wanted to fight even if she was certain his sword would see a lot more use than the crossbow. There were eight of them in total waiting outside the tunnel, no sign of any others who were probably caught up in other parts of the city as the distraction was in full swing. Smoke could be seen rising from various sections of the city and there was a faint cacophony of the havoc happening far away from them. With each passing moment the chaos would get closer as more cells would cause disturbances further up toward the palace over time.
Anna refused to make the same mistake she had at the farm and made sure to learn the names and backgrounds of the people in the cell when they were waiting back in Sigmund's. She did not get much at all out of Anton and got nothing useful from Nat, however the others were a bit more forthcoming. Tobi, Silvio, Faith and Edgar stood with them. Tobi's entire family had been killed by a drunken imperial officer when he was young, his hatred of the empire was deep rooted and he made it abundantly clear he still saw Anna as the enemy. He was putting duty over personal issues for this; Anna held no grudge as this man had every right to hate her. The other three were friendlier toward her. They were people who saw the empire for what it was and wanted to fight back. Silvio had lived in Arendelle his whole life before turning it away to stand up for what was right. They were good people, better people than she was, who had come together against the Empire over the years whilst Anna wandered selfishly trying to drink and fight her own problems away.
"We can't wait any longer without risking exposure," Anna said, weary of the heightening volume of the disturbances. Once she was sure everyone was prepared Anna twisted the mechanism. The moment the entrance slid open, two green-robed cultists armed with two short-blades each flung themselves at the group. They must have been waiting there from the beginning of the operation, Elsa's paranoid influence trickling down to her most devoted subjects. Edgar was struck down immediately by the surprise attack, taking two swords to the body. The other had dived at Anton, ever vigilant he had blocked with his shield and countered with a stab to the chest. The remaining cultist stood over her victim, swords in hand. She had leapt past Anna in her attack, as a result of this she was behind this cultist. Her sword was still sheathed so Anna grabbed the cultist and threw her up against the jagged rock wall which disorientated her for a moment. A moment was all Anna needed as she pulled her forward, put her hand on the cultist's forehead and slammed her head back hard into a particularly jagged section of the wall. The initial impact almost certainly did enough to kill her but Anna pulled her back and carried out one more forceful slam for good measure. Her victim lifelessly slid down the wall. Anna looked down at Edgar.
"We have to move, now," she said.
"Anton and Nat are taking point," Hans said. Anton stepped forward; Nat had picked up the cultist's curved short-blades and moved with him.
"Watch your footing and stay vigilant," Anna said to them all. The remaining seven of them moved cautiously in formation. Anton and Nat were at the front, Anna in the centre with Hans immediately at her side whilst Tobi, Faith and Silvio covered closely behind. The three were beginning to struggle as they side-stepped and back-peddled on the slippery floor. Anna had cut grooves into the soles of her armoured boots to help her stable footing and balance. The dark section of the tunnel was quiet. It made Anna uncomfortable with the lack of activity especially considering how they had been greeted at the tunnel entrance. Almost as if the place read her mind the words "intruders, heretics despoil the halls," thundered through the caves.
"Stay in formation, we can't afford to be caught off-guard again," Hans ordered. More shouting echoed around, these cultists were not small in number and they were angry. Freya had mentioned they don't even enter the palace unless directly summoned, so at least they were the types to immediately run at them rather than inform anyone in the palace itself of the intrusion.
Several cultists appeared, Nat dashed forward wildly allowing Anton to capitalise on the confusion and uncertainty her fighting style caused. Hans had clearly thought out the formation well as the first cultists fell, but more were emerging from all directions. The three behind them were working effectively at covering them. It pained Anna to stay there and let them do all the fighting but she knew the importance of her role in this and not to risk her life for the overall goal. It was increasingly hard for her to stand defensively instead of taking the initiative and attacking.
The disorganised nature of the cultists allowed the group to make steady progress along the route. The occasional cultist dodged the defensive lines but it was nothing Hans and Anna could not handle. She realised she had never actually seen Hans fight properly; it became obvious he had downplayed his ability in their travels as he dealt with any threat with incredible ease. The nature of their advance all changed when the cultists wearing blue arrived. They were fast, sprinting over the ice as if it were like any other stable surface. One attacked Tobi, he defended himself from the flurry of quick attacks thrown at him but when he tried to attack back his sword was caught by the ice-blue claw of the cultist. The cultist then crushed Tobi's blade in his claw, shattering it as if it were made of glass. The cultist grabbed and threw him away with such force that he was unable to keep hold of his shield. Out of formation and defenceless he was quickly killed by some green-robed cultists who had followed up the initial attack.
The blue robed cultist continued straight at Anna, she prepared herself to fight but Hans stepped in front of her. He carried no shield, just a single sword with the crossbow still slung over his shoulder. The cultist swung at him with that hideous claw. He swapped the sword to his left hand as he slipped the swing. Hans placed the sword to block the cultist's arm from swinging backhand. Hans then elbowed the cultist in the nose with his free arm, it was such a vicious strike Anna almost felt the impact herself. The stunned cultist then quickly had Hans' sword through his neck. Hans then moved on to help Faith and Silvio sure up the rear defence.
Anna turned to see Anton and Nat struggling to hold the line as well. A cultist had injured one of Anton's legs and he was struggling to keep up with the constant attacking, there was only so much Nat could do to compensate. He was only a few meters away and Anna could stand idle no longer. She was about to move forward but she sensed movement beside her. Instinctively she raised her shield as another blue-robed cultist jumped at her from a side-tunnel. The force of the attack on her shield and lack of friction in the ground made her slide back a short distance. She did manage to keep her stance and saw that Anton was only seconds away from being overwhelmed completely. Anna figured how to use the terrain to her advantage. The cultist yelled out as he wound up a mighty swing at her. The telegraphed strike allowed Anna to prepare. She rocked back then launched herself forward onto her knees. She tilted her head back, her acceleration giving her the momentum to slide under the cultist's claw. She felt the air rush past, narrowly avoiding the swinging claw. She hit the cultist's legs with her shield hard as she slid. It knocked the cultist to the floor and slowed her down enough to spring back to her feet stably right behind Anton as she blocked what would have been a fatal strike for him from another cultist. This sudden block from nowhere threw the cultist off-balance making it easy for Anna to finish him.
She caught a glimpse back as she assisted Anton further. Silvio was down and she saw Faith take a sword to the back. Hans ducked back and spun to keep all his foes in front of him now he had no support. Anna thought to help Nat as well but getting near her was too dangerous as she was a tornado of blades, even the most dedicated fanatics showed reluctance to attack her. Hans was forced on the retreat as he fought three cultists at once, artfully avoiding and parrying attacks, even took one down, as he backed up to Anna, Anton and Nat's position.
"We can't keep this up," Anton shouted amongst the fighting. "You and Hans make a break for it," he said.
"We're not leaving you," Hans said.
"I'm not going anywhere with this leg and I doubt anything could pull Nat out of this fight," he said. Anna could see that was truly in a frenzy. There was no time to dwell on the decision.
"Go," Anton said. Anna and Hans looked at each other, Hans gave a reluctant nod.
"Thank you, old friend," Hans said.
The two moved off as quickly as the unforgiving ground could let them as Anton worked around the wild Nat, occupying every cultist that emerged near them. The thinning numbers and the problems caused by Nat and Anton gave Hans and Anna a relatively clear path. The occasional cultist still emerged but Anna timed her strikes whilst sliding along the ground so lost no speed whilst dispatching those that stood in their way.
Their dash to the end of the tunnel was successful. They had made it through and they were so close to the heart of the empire. They made their way through the quiet towers. There were no guards, cultists or ice-warriors to block their path here.
"Why's it so empty?" Hans asked.
"Who knows how my sister thinks anymore," Anna said. Each tower they went through was a stark reminder of what Elsa had become, emitting her presence in a way that weighed heavy on Anna. The trophies and twisted ice intertwined with the structures being signs of the Empress' descent. All of this was expected, Anna drove onward without dwelling with Hans close behind. It was the painting that stopped her dead in her tracks.
Elsa had had the painting commissioned on Anna's birthday. They had to delay it for a few days as Elsa was too ill to pose for the thing. She tried but she was sneezing so much she could not stay still, each time creating odd little snow creatures. Anna looked after her that night, back when Elsa was kind and warm-hearted. She smiled at the memory. It was so pleasant at the time, not knowing then that the power to create such things would twist Elsa and do so much damage to the world. She reached forward and touched the damaged side of the painting where her hand had been.
"Kristoff was beside me in this," she said, looking up at the girl she once was. Hans had not followed her up to the painting, he was giving her space and time to process what she was seeing. After a few moments he spoke.
"You said you intended to marry him, were you engaged?" Hans asked.
"No, we talked about it but I said I couldn't go through with it until I knew Elsa was okay," Anna said. She closed her eyes and bowed her head. "We can't afford to waste time," she said.
Hans probably wanted to say more but she moved off quickly, cutting off any chance for him to ask anything else. Distracted by what she had seen, Anna crossed another bridge and through a doorway into another spire inattentively, she was snapped back to reality when a wall of ice was erected behind her blocking the doorway. Hans had not caught up and was on the other side of this wall, she was on her own.
An icy blast detonated near Anna's feet sending her flying forward. The way she hit the floor moved her facial coverings down over her eyes. She whipped them off as quickly as she could and drew her sword. She propped herself up on one elbow with the sword pointed toward her adversary, this was to no avail as the other woman was standing too far away to inflict any harm to. Anna watched her arms drop and the glow from her hands gradually dissipate.
"Anna? Is that you?" Elsa said.