Chapter 2

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The magic of the Snow Queen was truly stupendous. Even for a girl who had her three brothers, and mother, turned into frozen trophies to this Malevolent Mistress of Winter. Merida was once again amazed by the sight of the ice citadel. It looked the same as the one that appeared north of the Highlands a year ago, and like that one, this was formed in mere minutes by the will of the Snow Queen.

Shrouded in a white cloak and hood, Merida perilously climbed the side of the ice wall, cursing the blond haired fool under her breath, whom she was seeking to rescue. Reaching an embrasure near the top of the wall, Merida first peered in to assure that there was no one on the other side. Finding it clear and quiet, she removed her sword, bow, and quiver and placed them on the other side of the wall first. She then painfully and slowly squeezed through the slit that was, luckily for Merida, meant for ice arrows that were three times the size of normal arrows.

When she finally pushed herself through, she fell flat on her face. Just before she stood, she heard the sound of the Snow Queen's deadliest of servants. She laid completely skill as the sound of buzzing could be heard outside. Any sudden movement and not only would the Snow bees know of her presence but the Snow Queen herself. Any action against her minions she would feel, it made it nearly impossible for anyone to do what Merida was attempting.

When the buzzing outside dissipated; Merida stood and placed her sword and quiver back on. Nocking a normal arrow, she slowly prowled the halls for who she sought. Luckily for Merida the outer defenses of the Snow Queen's lair was so strong, that she did nothing about adding guards or protection on the inside. Yet, the wily redheaded Princess wasn't taking any chances, and cleared every room and corner as if death itself was on the other side.

When she heard a sick and cynical laugh echo through the halls, she knew she was close. She peeked through an entrance way to see it lead to a balcony overlooking a throne room of some kind. With great care and silence, she went inside and crouched against a wall and peered through the thick but translucent ice. There she saw her: Princess Eilonwy with her arms out stretched and bounded in ice, her legs pulled close together with her feet incased in ice as well. Her body was held forward at an angle forcing her shoulders to support the weight of her body. It looked cruel and painful, and the young Eilonwy appeared nearly lifeless.

"Why should I freeze your heart?" Merida heard the Snow Queen hiss as she passed around her. "When I could simply kill the one who wounded it so?"

Opening her eyes, Eilonwy stared at Elsa's short bluish hair that arched up like a frozen wave of water. "I will not hurt the one Taran loves. But I cannot live with the pain of him loving another over me. So please, I beg of you, Queen Elsa, freeze my heart and end my suffering."

"Well since you asked so nicely," Elsa gleamed with a twisted smile.

"Elsa stop!" Even Merida turned quickly to the sight of a third person entering the room. She looked about Elsa's age in her early twenties, slender, fair skin, rosy cheeks, pink lipstick, long wavy hair that was black on the right side and white on the left. Her icy blue eyes glared at the Snow Queen as she entered. She rested her hands on her black-and-white gown with falling leaves and a dragonfly embroidered into the design. Fluttering around the woman were dozens of dragonflies the size of her palm.

Giving a pout, Elsa pointed at Eilonwy, "But she asked nicely Ivy!"

Placing her hand upon Eilonwy's chin, Ivy turned her head from this side to that, "Well, if it isn't the Princess of Llyr." she said staring at the young princess intently. "Would that silly old wizard," she whispered, "be that stupid to hide the Genesis Cervosa in you?" Seeing Eilonwy's confused looked, Ivy rubbed the princesses' chin as she pondered. "The Everwinter has corrupted your mind I see."

"The Princess of Llyr…" she said releasing Eilonwy's chin, watching as the girl's head hung down and her long blond hair cascading off her shoulders, "Everyone thought you were lost forever."

Peering at Elsa over her shoulder, Ivy said, "A simple summoned Exile like yourself, has no idea what the Tempests has brought to us."

Elsa thought about lashing out at Ivy, yet the sight of the dragonflies made her reconsider. She didn't like being called an Exile. Crossing her arms to prevent temptation of casting an ice lance at Ivy, Elsa stared at her ally. "What makes her so special?"

Chuckling, Ivy let the feeling of superiority over Elsa last long enough to have her blue haired partner scowl at her. "Quite possibly, hidden within this girl's heart, is the same power that brought you to this world." Tapping her chin, Ivy frowned slightly looking back at Eilowny. "Although," she began, "she should've been stripped of it, after the Folly of Prydain. The near unleashing of the Black Cauldron, the beginning of the Era of Darkness… Yes, Merlin must have been very desperate to seek you out."

"What history?" Eilonwy whispered, "Time itself was destroyed by dark, evil, despicable witches like you."

Running her hand through Eilonwy's hair, Ivy smiled, "Oh please don't stop dear, you're making me blush."

Building up enough strength, Eilonwy pulled away from Ivy's hand. "Your tempests have brought catastrophe after catastrophe to this world, I have already lost my heart, my one true love to this darkness. So end me now, so I do not have to bare this feeling of loss any longer."

Forming an Ice dagger in her hand, Elsa eyes lit up, "With pleasure."

"Elsa!" Ivy shouted, as her dragonflies swarmed around the blue skinned harpy. Pulling a silver hand mirror that was tucked in her dress behind her back; she pointed it out to Elsa. "Any possible Regni Priscas found are to be given to the Dark One unharmed. Or do you wish to defy the Lord who summoned you out of that cursed neckless."

With her blood boiling, Elsa threw her dagger into the ice wall driving it nearly all the way through. "Damn you Princess Ivy!" Elsa shouted marching out of the room, the ice under her feet glowing red with her anger. "Do with her what you like," she said opening the door, "I have an army to crush!"

When the door slammed shut, Ivy gave a small sigh and looked back at Eilonwy, "She is so mellow dramatic, don't you think?" Eilonwy simply looked at the ice below her in a disheartened silence. "What do you expect from a mere exile, an echo of a world never meant to be?" Ivy said. "Don't worry my dear Princess; I will heal you of your broken heart."

This had Eilonwy look up to Ivy with a glimmer of hope. Ivy smiled empathetically as she took hold of Eilonwy's chin once more. "Of course," she began, "one simple sting of any of my dragonflies will take a moment worth of memory away." Ivy pulled back her hand to allow one of her dragonflies to land on her finger. "Don't worry they do not hurt," she said petting it, "just tell me who you wish to forget and I shall take all of your memories away forever."

"Why would you do that?" Eilonwy shuttered in a raspy voice.

"I am not a monster," Ivy declared, "I am simply a princess looking for a kingdom of my own. I know what betrayal feels like and don't even wish it upon my enemies. So please Princess, who is it you wish to forget?"

Eilonwy hung her head. She didn't want to trust Ivy, but she was desperate to forget and so she said, "Sir Taran of the Caer Dallben, and Princess Merida of DunBroch."

After a few pets of her Dragonfly, Ivy's smile began to curl into a devilish sneer. "Princess Merida you say? Very interesting." Looking up again, Eilonwy saw Ivy's empathetic facade morph into that of pure evil. "This… Merida, is she beautiful?"

Unprepared for such a question, Eilonwy hesitated for a moment. "Not for a princess, I guess."

Ivy watched as her dragonfly took off and landed on Eilonwy's shoulder. "Come now, be truthful."

"She is a Celt, they all have a little meat on them, and speak like they have food stuffed in their mouths, and smell of liquor and ale." Eilonwy responded, unsure on how to answer such a question.

Rubbing her chin, Ivy looked thoughtfully into the distance, "Does she seem out of time? Maybe knows odd things?"

Now the questions were simply confusing Eilonwy. "What? What are you talking about?"

The usually calm and almost kind Princess Ivy snapped, and lunged towards Eilonwy, grabbing hold of her chin her eyes filled with darkness. "Is she pure of spirit, and mind?!" Ivy bellowed.

Pulling her head back as best as she could, Eilonwy felt her fear began to build. "How can anyone who takes away one's true love be pure of spirit! Just leave her alone! I don't want her dead! I simply want to be free of this pain." she paused as tears ran down her face. "Free of the pain Taran and Merida brought to my memories."

"I will remove all the memories of love and kindness from your heart," Ivy grinned with dark pleasure. "I will remove all the love from you heart, until only darkness remains. Then you will serve a new master, and under her, you will learn the power of hate, and darkness. You will help us vanquish the light, starting with betraying and murdering those you so wish to forget!"

"You are a monster!" Eilonwy shouted in anguish and shame of thinking darkness could ever be the answer.

"Let's see where your friends are, so I know where to send you." Holding up her mirror, Ivy called out, "Show me Princess Merida!"

Green arks of magic radiated from the mirror, as it glowed with a flash of green light. When the image appeared, Ivy stared in confusion at the back of a cloaked figure leaping shooting an arrow from a bow, then came the shocking realization that she was also looking at the back of her head. Merida's arrow flew past Ivy's head and struck the dragonfly on Eilowny's shoulder. When she landed she snatched a second dragonfly from the air and wrapped her arm around Ivy's neck and stuck the stinger of the dragonfly against the woman's throat.

"Speak or say anything ya witch, and we see what happens when ya get stung in the jugular." Merida whispered fiercely into Ivy's ear. Self-preservation kicked in and Ivy rose her arms in surrender. "That's a good little witch," Merida said. "Now get rid of the other dragonflies." With a flick of Ivy's wrist, the dragonflies began to leave the room. The one in Merida's clutches tried to escape but her grip was firm. "Say goodnight."

Just as Ivy looked over her shoulder at Merida in confusion, her own dragonfly was jammed into her shoulder. As the color drained from Ivy's face and she began to fall, Merida snatched the mirror from her hands before she dropped it. "This might come in handy." Merida said smugly.

Staring at Merida in shock, Eilonwy was unsure of what to say. "Merida… I-I mean–"

"Ya can apologize later ya bloody fool." Merida interrupted, "I just spent two days tracking ya down, thinking ya be kidnapped, but ya came here willingly," She drew her sword and hacked at the ice imprisoning Eilonwy. Before Eilonwy could respond, she continued, "No lassie shut it. Let's get out of here before the Snow Queen comes back."

After freeing Eilonwy and escaping the Snow Queen's lair, Merida and Eilonwy found themselves at a rudimentary campsite. Merida closed her eyes, and took a long and steading breath. When she opened them, she looked at the raging fire that was on the horizon, and then down to the silver mirror she clutched in her hand. "Show me Camelot." she whispered. After a crackle of green magic and a flash, the rim of the mirror glowed ominously as it came alive with the sight of the great castle of Camelot surrounded by hordes of snow men and giants, being consumed by fire as the mighty dragon Mordred flew overhead.

Merida sat down and placed the magic mirror face down on the snow ending the spell. She held her legs to her chest, rested her forehead upon her knees and closed her eyes. Once more she was silently crying, once more the weight of reality was making it hard to even breathe. The sound of soft padded footsteps from behind had her looking up and wiping her eyes clear of tears.

Taking a seat beside Merida, Eilonwy pulled her thick white cloak around her body and looked at the grotesque and disfigured landscape before them. Bauble studiously floated beside her; glowing a very dim deep blue.

The landscape was like that out of a nightmare. In just one year the calm rolling hills of Merica had been ripped apart, with mountain peaks and endless canyons shattered across the lands. Peering up at the stars, Eilonwy had given up trying to understand them; none were where they should be. The moon itself seems to have been drawn closer to the earth as she gazed at its new scared and misshaped form.

Finally, she built up enough courage to look at Merida, but finding the nerve to speak to her was another thing. Defeated, she looked down to her feet in shame, which had Merida finally look over to her. "I can't read yer mind."

After a glance to Taran, who was still sleeping next to their three horses and a tiny campfire, Eilonwy turned back to Merida and spoke with slight hesitation, "I am sorry."

Blowing a stand of her curls from her face, Merida looked back out to the fire blazed horizon. "Enough with the apologies Eilonwy." she said, "Ya and Taran have been doting over me for three days. Yea, I am sad ma Da is dead, yea I forgive ya for running off, and I forgive ya for wack'n me in the head."

"Do you forgive me for being a coward?" Eilonwy uttered with a shameful acerbic tone.

Merida was a bit concerned at first by how Eilonwy spoke; it looked and sounded like she hated herself. "I don't think yer a coward." she said softly, "Ya think I am not scared of the Snow Queen? No one person is capable of standing against her, other than someone just like her."

Playing with the ends of her long blonde hair, the Princess of Llyr felt resigned to her misery. "You heard what they called me," she said bitterly, "'The Folly of Prydain'. I helped find the Black Cauldron and failed to destroy it. I failed at becoming an enchantress, like my mother, I failed to stop the Snow Queen, I failed to stop Taran from…"

The conversation made Merida feel pensive, as she gazed to the fair maiden from Llyr. "Yet ya killed the Horn King. Ya didn't fail Prydain, ya saved it. What happened after that, ya have no control over."

Eilonwy frowned as she held her knees to her chest and rested her chin on them. "Only to have it be destroyed by the Snow Queen. I was too scared, I tried to use magic to stop her but I couldn't, I killed my father – your father because I failed."

With a sincere smile, Merida placed her hand on Eilonwy's shoulder. "Ya didn't kill my Da or yers. Ya didn't cause the catastrophe of the tempests." Picking up the mirror, Merida called out vindictively. "The only one to blame is that mangy Ice Witch. Once we have dat Amulet of Avalor, we will face her together, and cast that harpy back from whence she came." With the mirror held out in front of her, Merida called out, "Show me the Snow Queen Elsa!"

The mirror began to spark with green arks of magic, but unlike before the mirror shook and the magical light shifted to blue before the mirror flashed to reveal the sight of a woman with long platinum blond hair, restlessly sleeping on a warm comfortable bed, with pale gray sheets. Both Merida, and Eilonwy leaned into the mirror and stared at the beautiful woman who appeared to be weeping as she slept.

The two shared a glance, and Eilonwy spoke with concern, "Who is that?" she asked looking at the image in the mirror, "She is so beautiful."

Shaking the mirror, then tapping it on its back, Merida pouted and replied, "The dumb thing must be broken!"

Taking hold of the magic mirror before Merida broke it, Eilonwy held it tightly with both hands and said, "Show me the Amulet of Avalor!"

The mirror sparked back too green and after a flash of light revealed a shore side palace and city along a cliff. Eilonwy could feel the mirror pulling her in the direction she needed to go. The girls both stared at the red roofed palace, knowing within held the tool they could use to vanquish the Snow Queen forever.

Hearing the noise at the other side of the campsite, Taran arose from his sleep and saw the two women shouting at the mirror. "Are you girls okay?" he called hesitantly.

The two women looked at him as if he had just interrupted some top secret meeting. He winced at their cold glares and lay back down, rolling to his other side so that his back was to them. "Great, they are bonding." he muttered under his breath.

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"...And that's why they made a statue in my honor." Gaston thundered as he marched through the small dirt trail.

At his side was a red haired woman who was older than the extremely muscular man. "That was a–" Ariel stopped as she tried to understand the convoluted tale she had just heard that had more holes in it than a chunk of coral. She cleared her throat, "You are a man of many talents, Gaston LeGume. Your dialect, is it Lorraine?"

"Why yes." Gaston stated with pride. Rubbing his chin, he looked to Ariel, "Your French isn't the…" Pitching his face, Gaston wasn't sure if he wanted to continue with what he was going to say. He just felt it was wrong to belittle Ariel. He has never had problems showing dominance over those weaker than himself before. "Your French is wonderful." he said instead.

LaFou who walked in frustrated silence behind Gaston and the woman raised his eyebrow in surprise. The woman's French was poor, and sounded if anything like Belgian French. Pursing his lips together, LaFou marched between the two and after a long stare at this scarlet wench who seemed to had bewitched his best friend, he looked to Gaston.

"Gaston." LaFou whispered, "We need to talk."

Pointing to a log on the ground, LaFou looked to Ariel, "Sit there, and wait or something." After putting some distance between themselves and Ariel, LaFou pulled on his friend's shirt like a toddler wanting to get its mothers attention. "Gaston, I have a bad feeling about this girl."

Crossing his arms, Gaston wanted to defend the woman, but LaFou had a point. Something was definitely off, but as soon as he was about to agree he stopped. "Come now LaFou," he said "she's a mother who lost her daughter, it would only be right to help her." Shrugging off LaFou's fears, Gaston began to walk back to Ariel. "Besides," he said glancing at the small man jogging to keep up with him, "once we get back to Calais she will be safe and we can continue our search for Belle."

But upon clearing the forest and reaching the town limits of the port town of Calais, Gaston, Ariel, and LaFou stared in absolute astonishment of the total lack of a city. Most of which appeared to have been swallowed up by the English Channel. While the other half of the city was gone, and a towering kilometer long glacier sat in its place.

Looking to her two unlikely compatriots, Ariel realized that they were at their limit at seeing fantastical impossible things. She couldn't sing herself out of this one, even if she wanted to. LaFou fainted again, and Gaston stared back into the woods, then back to the down of town. "What kind of witchcraft is this!" he yelled.

"We don't know if that's witchcraft." Ariel spoke quickly and without thinking, when Gaston turned to her aghast, she continued, "It could have been a very dark and evil wizard."

Rubbing his chin completing the thought, Gaston declared with a raised finger, "You're right, this must be the work of some kind of dark and powerful wizardry. It isn't safe for you here Ariel. My town is just a few days ride from here, I will lead you to safety."

With little choice to the matter Gaston took Ariel's hand and began to march her towards the road that would lead them to his home. Struggling too free herself, Ariel cried out, "I am not going anywhere until I find my daughter!"

Gaston stopped and stared down at the woman contemplating on whether or not to just throw her over his shoulder and take her to safety by force, but he couldn't. It made no sense and startled him, but he respected her opinion. Her very words made him feel, happy. Letting Ariel go, Gaston tried to think of how to resolve this issue, but thinking was always a dangerous pastime for him.

Gaston spoke with a less confidant voice. "You mentioned that Morgan Le Fey or Morgana, or whatever her name was, wanted you to give her something for your daughter." he looked pointedly at her, "What is it?"

Pulling all of her hair over her shoulder, Ariel thought for a long moment on how she should answer. Even if Gaston was a bit of a jerk, he was currently under her magical spell, which made her feel bad. "It goes by many names." she said after a while, "The Greeks called it Pyrína Kósmothe, the Fey call it Ende Kuru Arda. I call it by its creator's name, the Cor Regnorumas. One of three powerful magical objects, that can change one's fate. Together, they would bring about the Aurora Regna."

History, and old things, and foreign languages simply put a very bad taste in Gaston's mouth. After rubbing his head realizing he was totally lost he looked to Ariel and asked, "Where do we get one?"

The sheer simplicity of Gaston made Ariel give a small chuckle. Then again, she could still be caught brushing her hair with forks, so she shouldn't be one to judge. Covering her playful laugh with her hand she composed herself and replied, "It isn't something you can simply get at the local market. In fact, it's appearance can only come about when multiple realms come together."

All of this talking was giving Gaston a headache and he paused for a moment from thinking and peered down the street to see LaFou regaining consciousness. "So why does that witch think you know where to get one?" he asked looking at her again.

Folding her hands in front of her, Ariel gave a small sigh. That was once again a long and complicated story. Unwilling to lie, Ariel replied, "Because I am bonded to it."

"Bonded?"

Placing her hand over her heart, Ariel whispered, "As long as one such as myself is aware of my own heart. I can sense it." Ariel looked up to the star filled sky and said, "I can feel it's existence like it is calling to me."

The statement had Gaston step back from Ariel unsure if she might be possessed by magic, but once again his natural feeling was overridden by an unseen outside force. "Then we should go. I will protect you, we find this Aurora Rengana thing, and use it to get back your daughter."

"Aurora Regna." Ariel corrected softly.

He means well, but his ignorance is beyond approach, she thought as she gave Gaston a kindly smile. Dwelling on her emotions, her demeanor changed as her thoughts turned more melancholic. Melody was her breaking point. To hell with my oath, to hell with the realms, none of it matters without my Melody.

Back to his senses, FaLou slammed his foot down and called out to Gaston, "We should get out of here! This magic is getting out of hand!"

Gaston ignored his rambling and placed his large hand on Ariel's shoulder, trying to share his resolute self-confidence with her. "Is that thing the witch wants more important than your daughter?"

Before she lost Melody, Ariel would easily and simply answer that question with a resounding yes. But that was in the past, Melody was gone now, and she could barely breathe let alone live on without her. Her mind was made up, to hell with her purity, nobility, and honor, she would do anything to save her precious Melody. "No… No it is not." Ariel said as she looked up to Gaston with conviction.

Turning to LaFou Gaston said, "You go on to the village and see if Belle is there, do not let her out of your sight until I return. My heroics of saving this lady's daughter will surely win over Belle's heart."

"B-but…" LaFou wanted to protest his idol's decision; he did not trust this scarlet woman who came crashing into their lives. However just by looking at Gaston's face, he knew that any protest would lead to physical violence. Defeated, LaFou kicked at the dirt as he turned to begin the very long walk back to his village.

Ariel felt bad for LaFou but she was glad he was leaving, for he easily noticed that Gaston wasn't acting like himself, and his suspicions of her would only lead to troubles later on. She wasn't willing to enchant a second person; one was bad enough.

Gaston stared out in awe at the ruins of Calais, "So where do we go from here?" he asked.

Closing her eyes, Ariel focused on that warmth within heart. As her body turned, she too felt the warmth grow stronger. Opening her eyes, she looked to where she faced and said, "Southwest. Towards Paris."

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