Ex: Alright, that's it.
Elsa: What?
Ex: I don't work today and my schedule is free. It's time to write.
Elsa: So we're finally going to move on from that cliff hanger last chapter?
Ex: Yes, so I know i've made you guys a lot of promises, and I've broken a lot of them as well, and I'm sorry for that. However, this update did not take six months, so I didn't lie this time, haha! Just three months and a cliffhanger that opened that whole, "M rating" can of worms again.
Elsa: People didn't seriously-
Ex: Unfortunately yes some did. Seriously, some people disgust me.
Elsa: Okay, enough of that, on with the show!
"You're...pregnant?" Elsa asked, shock evident in her voice. Anna nodded, a weak, timid smile on her face. Elsa remained silent for a moment before her features relaxed and she smiled."Oh Anna that's wonderful." She said as she embraced her sister in a loving hug. "I'm so happy for you."
"You...are?" Anna asked confusedly.
"Of course I am. You and Kristoff have been married for nearly six months. I expected that you two would…well you know." Anna blushed at the statement before coughing awkwardly and saying,"Well yes but...it's not too soon?"
"Anna, I'm your older sister and in certain ways in charge of you, but this was your choice. I can't tell you when the right time is for something like this. But I am happy for you." Elsa restated as she hugged Anna again, turning to Kristoff afterward."Both of you."
"I agree, this is a happy time for you both." Mathias added, smiling at the pair.
"Thank you Elsa, Mathias." Kristoff said, a look of relief on his face.
"We'll continue this discussion in the morning, for now I think we should all be getting some rest." Elsa said.
"Alright, thank you Elsa. For you know, not being mad." Anna replied.
"I'm only bothered you didn't want to tell me."
"Don't worry, next time you'll be the first to know. Anyway goodnight." Anna said with a smile as she and Kristoff entered their bedroom."Well, it certainly has been an...interesting day." Mathias said as he and Elsa made their way down the hall.
"It was a little shocking, but the ending has been good."
"Sounds like the night we met." He replied he stopped at Elsa's door, but was surprised to see her keep walking."Where are you going?"
"I'm honestly not that tired. Besides I doubt I could sleep anyway."
"So where are you going?"
"We never did finish all of that paperwork earlier today, working through some of it may tire me out."
"Would you like some help?"
"You don't have to."
"I'm not all that tired either." Elsa nodded and they made their way back to the study. They entered and mathias sent a bolt of lightning into the fireplace, setting the logs inside aflame from the sparks. As he took his own seat, he noticed a letter already opened on his desk. He picked it up, realizing it to be the winter hunt invitation. Elsa notices him looking over it again. "Have you thought more about if you'd like to go?" She asked.
"I have, but I'm still not sure."
"Mathias, is there more to this than you're letting on?"
"What do you mean?"
"You just seem to have an aversion to the idea on the whole." Mathias was quiet for a moment before replying."When I said I just didn't want to go to the last one, that was sort of a half truth. Remember that night we discussed times our powers have gotten out of hand?" Elsa nodded, waiting for him to go on." Before the last winter hunt I was out in the city, watching all the different people arriving for the hunt. I heard a strange sound a few buildings down the street. I followed it to the alley it came from, and I found the sound."
"What was it?"
"Some kids about my age had chased after a fox, and cornered it in the alley. They claimed to be practicing for the hunt, but they were just torturing the poor creature. I told them to leave it alone, they didn't listen, and my powers had a small flare up."
"A small flare up?"
"It wasn't that bad, nothing like what I could do now. Still, when you accidentally injure an entire group of boys who are the sons of a visiting duke, it seems the best to keep your head down."
"So they didn't even know you did it?"
"My father knew, I'm sure of that. But he didn't say anything." Mathias finished his story. Elsa remained silent after for a while, thinking about what he had told her. 'I can't blame him for not having good feelings about the winter hunt after something like that.' Elsa couldn't bring herself to return to her ice castle for a while with thoughts of freezing Anna's heart during the great winter. Elsa remained silent for a moment longer before saying,"I can understand the fear of returning to the event where something like that happened. But maybe it could help to go back." Mathias' features showed contemplation before he replied,"You know what, I think you're right. I've stopped running from all my other fears, I can confront this one too." Elsa smiled and said,"So we're going?"
"Yes, I guess we are."
Alan pulled his hood closer around his face as he walked the rainy streets of the city he once called home. Now a criminal for crimes against the royal family, he could no longer waltz around the city the way he had grown accustomed to throughout his life. Any other time of the year the streets would be dead at this time of night, but more and more people were out and about either arriving for or preparing for the great hunt.
"Having to hide my face in my own home. I was their prince, now a banished criminal. How fortunes change."
"Oh please tell me more." Hans replied sarcastically as they rounded another corner, the crowd thinning as they ventured closer the the city outskirts.
"Has your sarcasm ever helped anyone?" Alan stopped in front of a large old house."This is the place."
"Really?" Hans asked, looking the house over."It looks to be in poor shape." The house was three stories tall, built completely out of stone. Moss had overtaken most of the building, growing deep into the cracks and crevices of the stone. The shingles of the roof appeared to have once been a lighter shade of brown, now dark and stained with the wear of time. Only four windows dotted the front of the building, all but one of them boarded up. The remaining window was on the upper floor, black drapes drawn over it.
They approached the door, Alan reaching for the handle. Before his hand reached it, the door slowing creaked opened. They exchanged a glance before entering the door. The room they entered was large, with a balcony on the far end and a staircase the the right leading up the it. A chandelier hung from the ceiling, bathing the room in a yellow light. As they moved further in the door swung shut behind them. "Looks a little bit better from the inside." Hans said, looking around the lavish entryway.
"I occasionally have a taste for the finer things in life." The flames of the chandelier disappeared for a moment and were replaced with green flames. As the flame relit the room, Cyrena appeared from the shadows on the balcony, Tanas a step behind her. "I did miss this house while we were away." The witch spoke, scanning the room as she descended the stairs.
"It has been too long, mistress." Tanas agreed.
"I still wonder why we're here, not taking the fight directly to Arendelle." Alan said.
"And watch you two fail the same way twice, I think not." Cyrena replied."Your faces are too well known there, we would be spotted before we even entered the city. Here, we can blend with the crowds come to share in the glory of the winter hunt."
"How do we know if Mathias and Elsa will even show up?" Cyrena's face showed slight levels of irritation before she replied, "Let's just say, I have a feeling."
"Relax Alan, I'm sure our dear sorceress has a plan." Hans said. Cyrena smiled his way before turning to Alan and saying,"That I do. Now, make yourself at home. We have a few days to relax before they arrive." Hans and Alan bowed to her before wandering deeper into the house."Alan's wavering loyalty concerns me." Tanas spoke once they were out of earshot."He grows discontent with lack of progress."
"Progress is soon coming, his loyalty will last as long as I need it." Cyrena replied, returning up the stairs and toward a large door deep into the upper level of the house"And I have Hans wrapped around my finger."
"As you say, mistress."
"Now, I believe it's time we reminded our enemies that we exist. Make certain I am not disturbed." Tanas nodded as she closed the door behind her. A lone candle in the center of the room provided the only light. Cyrena knelt in front of the candle and raised a hand to the flame, the flame seemingly drawn to her hand. As the flames danced around her fingers she spoke,"Consurget servum meum, terrorem inimicorum nostrorum!"
Elsa and Mathias had finally decided to head to bed after making as many of the arrangements for travel as they could on their own."When do you suppose we should leave?" Elsa asked.
"The real festivities for the hunt begin in about two weeks, so a few more days to plan won't hurt-" Before he finished, a crack of thunder was heard outside in the winter storm. Elsa looked at Mathias."That wasn't me."
"Then it has to be-" A deep roar echoed from the skies above the castle."Tempest." They said in unision, running toward the nearest window. Sure enough, the wings of Mathias' dragon sped by the castle with another deep roar. Mathias opened the window and Elsa calmed the falling snow. "Tempest, what's wrong?" Mathias called to the dragon, who turned back toward the window. "Another pair of those foul creatures flew over the mountain headed toward here." Mathias quickly jumped out the window onto tempest holding a hand to Elsa to do the same. Tempest took off high into the sky, Circling above the castle in search of the shades. They spotted them over the city spiraling around each other, occasionally dipping into the streets with a screech. As tempest let out another roar, the shades took off back toward the mountain. As they followed in pursuit, Mathias said,"Why would they come here if they're just going to run?"
"I don't know." Elsa replied."It could be a trap. Tempest, lead them back toward the peak of the mountain."
"A good plan." Tempest replied, spouting a blast of lightning from his mouth to keep them on course. Elsa and Mathias did the same with their own powers, forcing them toward the peak. As the ice castle came into view, another deep roar rang into the night, and a large ball of ice flew from below and hit one of the shades. Elsa took advantage of the distraction, creating a large spike of ice and hurling it toward the shade. The spike hit it's mark and the shade screamed in pain as it fell to the ground. The other let out a nervous screech and tried to retreat, but Tempest was faster.
Caught in Tempest's teeth, the shade thrashed around trying to escape. As Tempest clenched his teeth tighter, the shade turned toward Mathias, looked him right in the eye and spoke."Mathias…" Even through the gravelly echo that shades appeared to speak in, Mathias recognized the voice. The voice from his dream.
An angry growl rumbled from Tempests throat, and he released the shade only long enough to unleash a large blast of lightning from his mouth, destroying the second shade. Tempest let out a triumphant roar as he flew toward the ground. Just below the cliffs, Marshmallow was waiting for them, picking up the ball of ice he had thrown. "Mama!" He cried as Elsa stepped off Tempest. "Hey Marshy, nice throw." Elsa said with a smile, causing the snowman to do the same. He turned to Mathias,"Papa!" he greeted happily. Ever since Olaf had explained the nature of his and Elsa's relationship, Marshmallow insisted on referring to him as "papa".
"Creature fall from sky, I smashed it." Marshmallow said proudly, hefty his rock.
"You sure did, good job big guy." Marshmallow smiled again before saying,"You're going back to the castle now?"
"For now yes, but we'll come have a proper visit tomorrow." Elsa replied. Marshmallow nodded happily before walking up the mountain with his ice ball. Tempest laid his neck down once more for Elsa and Mathias to climb aboard. As he took off into the sky back towards the city, Mathias began to hear Tempest's voice in his head. 'That creature spoke with the voice from your dream.' Tempest new about the nightmares Mathias had been having, but had kept silent on the matter at his request. 'I know.' Mathias replied.
'It could just be a trick those foul things play on your mind.' Mathias didn't reply, but Tempest remained quiet for a while. He only spoke up again just before their journey ended. 'You should tell Elsa about this.'
'I know.'
'You're not going to, are you?'
'Not tonight, i'll bring it up in the morning.' Tempest let out a frustrated growl as he stopped by the window close enough to let them off. As he flew away, Elsa turned to Mathias and said,"What were you to talking about? And don't say nothing, I heard that growl of his."
"Many things. I'll tell you what, let's just go to bed for now and I promise to tell you everything in the morning, no more secrets." Elsa gave him a look like she wanted to argue, but yawned and replied,"Okay, sleep sounds good." They followed the hallway to their sleeping quarters and stopped at Elsa's door. Mathias leaned down and kissed Elsa on the cheek, stroking her other cheek with his hand."Goodnight Elsa. I promise, tomorrow I'll tell you everything I may have been keeping from you."
"I'm holding you to that, with ice shackles if I have to." Mathias laughed at her joke as she opened her bedroom door."Goodnight Mathias." Elsa said before closing the door. Mathias walked to his own bedroom. As he prepared for bed, he thought more about what Tempest had said. Was it just a trick being played on his mind, or did his dreams have a connection to whatever Hans and Alan had planned. As he laid down to try to get some sleep, he could only hope the dreams and the voice would not plague him tonight.
Ex: Okay, I know that was a heavy chapter with little to no fluff, but now that I'm through the first few set up chapters, we can get to all that good fun stuff. It should also help with update times, but I've stopped making promises.
Elsa: I really, really, really do not like that witch.
Ex: Get used to her, she's here for the long haul. Speaking of, that line she speaks before we cut away from her is Latin for, "Rise my servants, terrorize our enemies." if you were wondering Anyway, time for a bit of me rambling. Before I start let me just say the majority of the blame for these long waits is on me. I slack, I get discouraged, and I have a semi busy non fanfiction related life. That being said, for those of you who really want me to finish this story fast, I can only say review, follow, possibly favorite? Mostly though if you've done the second two things, review. Even if you have no suggestions or criticisms to give, reviews are the lifeblood that gets me writing faster and in my opinion, better. A simple, "Hey Expero, get the icicles out of your pants and write a chapter." Will probably get me to sit down and write for a couple of hours. Also, for those of you following Thundersnow as well as this(Why would you be following this and not Thundersnow 0_o) I'm going to update Thundersnow, but only to let some of the people following it know that the sequel is published. So you don't need to go and read that.
Elsa: Okay, that's enough for this chapter, start writing the next one.
Ex: But Elsa I just finished this o-
Elsa: Review, follow, possibly favorite, and see you guys next time!