Chapter Fifty Four
The Next Step
ELSA
As Elsa staggered out of Uxzas' tent together with the rest of the Confederation members, she felt a little light-headed. She couldn't believe that this was really happening.
The Continental Anti-Sorcerers Treaty had been abolished. The League of Sorcerers was free. Free to be amongst humanity once more. Free from discrimination and hate. Free. The word sounded so good, so liberating, so cathartic. Elsa couldn't help but let out a shaky sigh as she stepped away from the other Confederation members who were heading down the hill and back to their own tents.
"We won," Anna came up behind her with Kristoff. "We actually won."
Elsa nodded in response, not knowing whether to trust her voice yet. The feeling was really overwhelming. She stood at the edge of the hill's crest, overlooking the thousands of tents that were pitched on the hillside. Somewhere down below, camped near the Arendellian division, were the eight hundred sorcerers who were about to receive the good news.
"You're all finally free." Melody said, joining Anna and Kristoff. "But what happens now?"
Closing her eyes, Elsa was forced to face reality. "The fight goes on. There's still the Empire ahead of us. And the Crimson Order."
"Way to go to spoil the mood." Kristoff muttered.
"No, she's right." Anna said. "We're in the final leg of the campaign now. We're this close to Empire territory, we don't really have a choice anymore. Not that the rest of the Confederation gave us one."
"The Crimson Order is our biggest threat." Elsa declared, her eyes flicking out to the far horizon. She pointed. "Somewhere out there, the Crimson Order is scheming against us. No doubt they'll learn about what happened here today. The High Priest will know that the sorcerers are free and that his plan has failed. He'll put his other plan into motion."
"Other plan?" Kristoff echoed.
"Remember I told you Hans revealed to us that the High Priest has been playing both sides?" Anna glanced at her husband. "He manipulated the Confederation into establishing the CAST. And he's been controlling Eleanor."
Kristoff shook his head. "So even the Empress is working for the Crimson Order. Why am I not surprised?"
Elsa glanced at him. Her brother in law used to be a skeptical man when it came to all things supernatural. But now, he'd long since grown accustomed to living in a world where sorcery was common. In a way, she felt sorry for him. Being dragged into all this with the rest; all he had ever wanted was to be a simple ice harvester, and now he was caught in the middle of a long-drawn war.
"The High Priest has been operating from the shadows this whole time. And now that the CAST is lost, he'll turn his attention to Eleanor's army." Melody said grimly. "It's full steam ahead, so we should be expecting some really tough resistance from the Imperial Horde going forward."
"Don't forget that Eleanor has a personal stake in this too." Anna added. "We're moving on her territory, and every day we're getting closer to her capital. She'll do everything in her power to stop us, with or without the Crimson Order to back her up."
"And the snow." Kristoff grumbled. "The damn snow. It's going to make the road ahead hell. And how are we supposed to fight in the snow?"
"Is there anything you can do about it?" Melody turned to Elsa.
"Wait, that's right!" Anna looked like she had a eureka moment. "You thawed the snow after your coronation, remember?"
"I wish it were that simple." Elsa sighed.
"What do you mean?" Anna tilted her head slightly in confusion. "You stopped it back then when you got a grip on your emotions. Now, I hardly think it'd be a problem for you."
"It's not that." Elsa glared at the snow covered landscape. It was snowing again, making the late afternoon extremely chilly, dark and bleak. "If it were a storm of my own making, I can thaw it. But this," she gestured at the snow, which was falling heavier by the minute. "I can't take away ice or snow that isn't my sorcery. Not even the other elemental sorcerers can. I can only create it."
"Wait," the excitement faded from Anna's face. "So you're saying you can't clear the snow?"
"No." Elsa pursed her lips. "I wish I could."
"Then…" Anna trailed off.
Melody shook her head. "It doesn't matter. Look. If we can stop the Crimson Order and get to Eleanor before the next battle, we can prevent a massacre."
Kristoff whistled. "That's a big if."
"I know," Melody formed her lips into a hard line. "But it's all we can do."
"First things first." Elsa turned away from the edge of the hill to regard the others. "We need to learn more about our enemies. This late in the game, we still don't know anything about the Crimson Order. Strengths, weaknesses, where they're based out of. If we're going to beat them, we need to know more."
"We'll all need to discuss this." Melody began the descent of the slope. "I'll rally the others."
###
They gathered on a ridge a short distance below the crest of the hill. The ridge faced away from the river bank and the city of Korynes, pointing outwards in the direction of where the Imperial Horde had retreated. Somewhere out there, General Hydrech would be laying another trap, or perhaps he was going to make his final stand together with Marshal Kane at the borders of the capital.
But that would be a problem for later. Right now, the Warriors had to figure out their next step. Jade had been left with the other League sorcerers, as Elsa was still a little cautious about bringing her back into the fold after what had transpired in the city of Korynes. She wanted nothing more than to give Jade the benefit of the doubt, but Janus had insisted earlier that it was still too great of a risk where the Crimson Order was concerned.
Janus, Tracy, Maui, Jade and Deirdre rendezvoused with them and Anna broke the good news. They'd seemed as relieved as Elsa had been. Who wouldn't be, after learning that they were finally free after months of being hunted?
"This is for real, ain't it?" Tracy gasped. "We're really free?"
Elsa nodded, an involuntary smile forming on her face. "We're free at last."
"Finally." Deirdre sighed. "I thought we were going to have to run again."
"No more running." Maui grinned. "We're allowed to stay with the Coalition on the march now, aren't we?"
"Yes." Saying the word felt so good. "We're going to help the Coalition win the war. But first things first. We need to learn more about the Crimson Order and their leader, the High Priest. Either Hans didn't know enough, or he didn't tell us. Either way, we have to find out more about them."
"All this time we've been fighting with one hand tied behind our backs." Janus said. He was dressed in civilian clothes again, his mercenary blacks and weapons left behind in his tent. "We never even knew that the Crimson Order was our real enemy. But now we do."
"If we take the Order down, maybe we can strong-arm Eleanor into surrendering." Anna suggested. "Without the Eternal King at the Crimson Order's disposal, Eleanor can't keep replenishing her army. She'll have to surrender."
"That's an idea." Tracymused. "Take the Order down. Simple, huh?"
Elsa sighed. "The problem is, we don't know where to start. Where to find them. Who they really are."
"They're even more of a well-guarded secret than the League was back then." Janus said. "And something tells me they're far worse than anything the League used to do in times past."
Elsa froze. That's it.
"Elsa?" Tracy had noticed her stiffen. "You look like you saw a ghost or something."
"No," Elsa managed to blurt out. "That's the answer."
Maui raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"
"Ingrid Grendstav." Elsa went on. "The Sixth Pilgrim. My predecessor. She knew everything about sorcery. Its history. Everything that went on in the shadows. I remember her telling me all sorts of stories back when I was being blackmailed into being her apprentice."
"Yeah but," Tracy scratched her nose. "I hate to break it to ya, but she's dead."
"You put her in prison to live out her remaining days, remember?" Maui said. "But she's been dead for close to two years now."
Elsa deflated. "I know. But she's the key. Somehow, I don't know. Is it possible that we…" she trailed off. No, she told herself firmly as soon as the thought popped back into her head. There's no way of bringing her back to life. Even if they could find a way, it would be too dangerous. Having another resurrected enemy to deal with, as if Kane wasn't enough.
Kristoff crossed his arms. "So we're back to square one."
"Looks that way." Melody pursed her lips. She'd been uncharacteristically quiet. Usually, she was the one with all the ideas, spearheading the discussions and tactical planning, but she'd been rather passive as of late. Elsa couldn't help but wonder if it was something to do with her having been away from the Warriors for so long.
"No,"
All eyes turned to Anna, who had a strange, unreadable look on her face. Her expression turned pensive.
"What do you mean, 'no'?" Tracy asked.
Anna pursed her lips and drew in a hiss of a breath. "There might be a way."
ANNA
It was a long stretch, Anna wasn't ashamed to admit. But it might be the only way they had left. The idea had come to her when the others were lamenting that there would be no other way to find out what they needed to know from the deceased Ingrid Grendstav.
Anna knew better. Or at least, that knowledge had been buried deep in the back of her mind, compartmentalised there once the war had begun. Months ago, when they were still battling the Empress for the freedom of Denmark, Eleanor had used her demon powers to send Anna, Melody and Maui to a different dimension. A whole different world.
Fortunately, the trio had managed to locate a brilliant teenage prodigy by the name of Hiro Hamada, living in a futuristic city called San Fransokyo. He'd confirmed the idea that there were multiple planes of existence, different realities and alternate versions of themselves living in those worlds. He called the place where Anna and the others lived "Earth One", the birthplace of reality.
All the other realities were different in one way or another, some remarkably similar and others literally worlds apart. Hiro had used some kind of technology to show Anna the different worlds where she had been a horrible person, and his object lesson had been instrumental in helping her gain perspective on her efforts as queen.
It had also shown her a loophole she could use, particularly right now.
"What do you mean 'no'?" Tracy asked, head cocked.
Anna pursed her lips and drew in a hiss of a breath. "There might be a way." She paused. "But it's a really long shot. We can still talk to the Pilgrim. Just not the version that we know."
Maui raised a signature eyebrow. "I don't follow."
"Me neither." As usual, Deirdre sounded agitated.
"Anna, what are you saying?" Elsa regarded her with a strange look, almost as though she thought that Anna was mad.
"Maui. Melody." Anna turned to the duo. "Remember our little adventure in San Fransokyo? After Eleanor sent us there?"
They nodded.
"Hiro helped us get back to our world." Anna said. "He told us that our reality was at the epicentre of everything."
"Earth One, he called it." Maui recollected.
"I think I see what you mean." Melody looked thoughtful. Evidently, she had caught on to Anna's train of thought. Her expression went from pensive to incredulous. "You can't possibly be suggesting what I think you are."
"Am I missing something here?" Kristoff's features were set in annoyance. "What are you guys talking about?"
"What Anna is suggesting," Melody responded, her tone clipped. "Is that we travel to another dimension of reality, find the Pilgrim of that earth, and get her to tell us about the Crimson Order."
There was a long drawn silence, as the words began to seep in. Apparently no one had been expecting that answer.
"You're going to have to explain from the start." Elsa finally said, eyes wide.
"Slowly." Deirdre added.
Anna took a deep breath. How best to begin? "There are other worlds out there. Not just our own. Eleanor sent us to one of them. The only reason why we managed to get back was because we had help.
"We were given a device. A controller of some sort." Anna went on. "The inventor who helped us showed me how to use it. I believe it can get us to a world where the Pilgrim is still alive."
Another long drawn silence.
"That is a very long shot." Janus enunciated every word slowly, looking like he had a hard time believing what he had heard.
Anna couldn't blame him. She would've thought that she was crazy too, if she hadn't seen all those alternate realities for herself. The images of her alternate counterparts flashing in her mind were too vivid, mind boggling and disturbing to forget.
"It is." Anna agreed. "But the way I see it, it's our only option." She rounded on Elsa. "If what you say is true and the Pilgrim would've known about the Crimson Order, then I don't think we have any other alternative."
Elsa swallowed and nodded, though still evidently apprehensive. "Where's this controller?"
"Back in Arendelle." Anna said, thinking back to where she had stashed it.
"Then we go back to Arendelle." Elsa drew herself up, squaring her shoulders. "If this is the only way."
"It is." Anna muttered. She didn't like the idea any more than the others did. Opening up doors to strange worlds out there that lay beyond their galaxy? It didn't sit well with her, and apparently neither did it with the rest of the Warriors. But it was the only way.
ELSA
The Crossing Point opened, and Elsa stepped out of it together with Anna, Tracy, Melody and Janus. The rest had agreed to stay behind with the League. After all, there was still a lot to be done in sorting out eight hundred sorcerers after the battle yesterday.
Melody and Tracy had come along because they had a separate task to fulfil. A backup plan, should the plan to find Ingrid Grendstav was for naught.
Elsa's blood ran cold. Just thinking of that witch's name brought a chill running down her spine. Something about how the Pilgrim had antagonised her back in the day still made her feel uncomfortable. No other villain had made an impression on her the same way. In a way, Ingrid's legacy continued to live on through Elsa. She'd passed on the mantle of the Pilgrim to Elsa after being defeated, and Elsa remembered being unable to turn her back on the League of Sorcerers after all the mess that Ingrid had left in her wake.
It was ironic really, that this mission had brought them back on this path. It wasn't the same League of Sorcerers that she and Janus would be travelling to find, and it certainly wasn't the same Ingrid Grendstav. Nonetheless, their reality would have to be similar to 'Earth One's' in order to learn more about the Crimson Order from their own earth.
None of this would work if the reality they travelled to wasn't similar. The events of that world would have to as close to this one as possible, with only one difference: Ingrid would still be alive and running the League of Sorcerers.
"Here we are." Tracy closed the portal behind her as she emerged last. "Man, it's been months since I've seen this place."
"Same for the rest of us." Melody said.
Anna nodded. "None of us have been back here since the campaign began."
"Feels so surreal being back here." Elsa glanced around. The castle hadn't changed a bit since she'd last been here. The halls were large, wide and long, luscious carpets paving the polished ground. Lights kept the interior well illuminated, as it was here and now in the evening. It was snowing outside, but a path had been cleared in the courtyard for ease of passage. The castle grounds had been well maintained in their absence.
Right now, the hallway they were standing in was the first level of the South Wing, by the looks of it. It was empty, with no servants or cooks rushing to and fro to prepare for the return of the queen and the princess. It was widely known, after all, that Anna was out on campaign, and Elsa was in exile. Not anymore though.
"Come on." Anna started off down the hallway. "We'll find it in my room. I stashed it deep behind my old stuff."
"Why?" Tracy asked.
"Because we can't afford to let it fall into the wrong hands." Melody said as they followed after Anna.
"And also because we can't afford to let ourselves be tempted into using it." Anna added.
"Yet, here we are." Janus muttered.
"It's the only way." Elsa reminded him, taking his hand. "We have to talk to Ingrid."
"And that's what unsettles me." Janus said in a low voice. It wasn't like him to discuss his feelings the way he was doing. "It feels like dredging up the past."
"In a way." Elsa agreed. "I'm not entirely eager to bump into alternate versions of ourselves either."
"That's another thing to worry about." Janus looked grim. His bag of belongings were slung over his shoulder, containing his mercenary gear.
Both Elsa and Janus would be going to this "alternate reality", as Anna called it. They would pose as the alternate versions of themselves in order to get close to that version of Ingrid. The challenge was to not run into their counterparts. If they did, the entire charade would be up, and all of their efforts would have been for nothing.
"But we'll get through this." Elsa went on as they climbed the stairs after Anna and Melody. "We didn't get through the past few months for nothing."
"I hope you're right." Janus had a faraway look in his eyes.
As they reached the landing of the third floor, Anna led the way down the path, and along the way they passed the door to the library which stood open. Inside, construction was still going on.
Elsa's eyes narrowed as she caught a glimpse of the work going on in the library. Months ago during the Battle of Arendelle, the army had been kept busy while Hans snaked his way past them all and attempted to burn the castle to the ground.
He had very nearly succeeded too, having set ablaze the library. Many of the books here in the library had been charred beyond recognition, while some others had been salvaged, though not entirely intact. The wooden shelves and tables had been burnt to a crisp, and Anna's foot had been broken during the scuffle to stop Hans.
All this fighting with Hans, all this conflict. Elsa involuntarily shuddered at the thought of his cold, calculated smile and wolfish eyes. Two years and counting. We need him out of our lives for good. This nightmare has to end.
"Here." Anna arrived outside the door of her own bedroom, another corridor down from where the library stood. She pushed open the door which creaked, and stepped inside.
Elsa looked around as she, Janus, Tracy and Melody went in after Anna. The bedroom was no different from how it had been all those years ago. Anna had always been the sentimental sort, not wanting to change anything that had any sort of emotional value.
She remembered when she used to share this room with Anna, back when they had been very young. A painful mistake, which led them both down different paths till they crossed again at Elsa's coronation. And everything that had followed was history. Would things have been different? Elsa found herself wondering. If we'd never played in that great hall as children and I didn't have to hide my magic from Anna for all those years?
Anna threw open the doors of her big wardrobe and began rummaging through the items. Old dresses that had been outgrown were tossed out, followed by torn clothes, piles upon piles of children's books, dolls, personal belongings, boxes and all other sorts of knick knacks. They all came flying out, landing at the feet of her friends.
"Why'd you bury the thing so deep?" Tracy asked as an old pink dress fell on her feet.
"So that we could forget about it." Melody said.
"Yeah." Anna continued to rummage, her voice muffled. "Hiro - the inventor guy - he told us that this thing should strictly be a one-and-done. We weren't supposed to use this thing ever again, because of the possible ramifications and unintended consequences."
"Can you imagine what would happen if we travelled to a different world and met other versions of ourselves?" Melody added.
"That's exactly what we're trying to avoid." Janus' features were tight.
"You better." Anna's head was still buried in the wardrobe. "Hiro warned us against doing something like this. Even thinking about doing this thing is risky."
"I can't believe we're actually going to do this." Janus said.
"We have to." Elsa's eyes met his. "If you don't want to come, I can take care of this myself."
"No." There was resolve in his voice. "I'm coming."
"Aha! Found it!" Anna unbent, forgot that half her body was still in the wardrobe, and hit her head on a rack, causing a loud clanging noise.
Elsa winced as Anna rubbed her head and emerged from the wardrobe, clutching something small in her hand. She stared at the device - or controller, as Anna had called it.
It was built like a thin slate, a metallic material beat into shape to look sleek and fit nicely in the palm of a hand. Rounded edges defined the four corners, and there was a slab of thin glass over the device. This thing definitely came from another world.
"This is it?" Tracy scratched her nose. "I thought it would be bigger."
"Came from the future." Melody explained. "Apparently technology is pretty crazy there. We saw all sorts of things you wouldn't believe."
"Now you got me curious." Tracy's eyes were wide with intrigue. "Maybe we can all visit one day when this is all over."
"Maybe. But first things first." Elsa turned to her sister. "So how does this device work?"
Anna frowned, looking at the slate in her hand. "I'm trying to remember how Hiro said to use it." She fumbled with the thing for a good few minutes, looking at it curiously and pressing the surface a couple of times.
Just when Elsa thought that this entire gambit might be a lost cause, Anna finally figured it out. "Got it. I found the world we're looking for."
Elsa craned her neck to get a better look at the device which Anna was holding. Everything looked foreign to her, and rightly so. This was all futuristic technology.
The slab of thin glass was lit up, with diagrams, words and a three dimensional image displayed on it. Out of all the gibberish, she could only make out the number "seven".
"Earth Seven." Anna peered closely at the device, eyebrows knitted. "League's history is almost identical to ours here, but with quite a lot of differences otherwise. Ingrid Grendstav doesn't have a terminal illness, is still the Pilgrim, and she's running things in present day." Her eyebrows furrowed further. "And on that world, they aren't called the League. They're the Legion of Sorcerers."
"Legion of Sorcerers?" Melody echoed.
"Does have an evil ring to it." Tracy mused.
Elsa shook her head, starting to think that maybe this was a worse idea that she had imagined. "And what about us in that world?"
Anna stared hard at the device. "When you went into self-imposed exile the first time, I never went looking for you. Eventually, you settled into your role as the Pilgrim's Apprentice. Her greatest assassin and enforcer."
Elsa bristled at Anna's description. She could never imagine a world where she would willingly bow to Ingrid's will and become just as much a villain as Ingrid was. But facts were facts. There were other worlds out there where she had indeed turned out differently from who she was on this world.
"And what about Janus?" Elsa asked.
"Ah," Anna went on. "Because of Elsa, he's now Ingrid's second best assassin. Eventually, the two of you fell in love after working together for quite a while."
"Sounds similar enough to me." Tracy quipped, earning a hard nudge from Melody.
"You and Janus became the Pilgrim's favourite assassins, leading the Legion of Sorcerers to exact vengeance on whoever the Pilgrim saw as her enemies. As a couple, you both killed many together on missions." Anna described in a strained tone.
"Charming." Janus looked uncomfortable.
Anna looked stiff. "And that's among a thousand other differences. Elsa, I'll be honest. I'm not exactly comfortable with this."
"So is it safe to say that on Earth Seven, I had a good working relationship with Ingrid?" Elsa asked. That was the important part.
"Yeah." Anna held the device closer to her face. "She's awfully chummy with that version of you."
"Good." Elsa set her jaw. "Then we can pull this off."
"You sure about this?" Melody asked, glancing between Elsa and Janus. "If you get caught by your counterparts-"
"We won't get caught." Elsa said, eyes flicking over at Janus. "You sure you want to come?"
"Let's get this over and done with." Janus unslung his backpack. "Just let me get into my gear to sell the illusion."
"You both better be careful out there." Anna pressed the device into Elsa's hand. "Hiro warned me against doing something like this, and I'm doing it against my better judgement. You better come back safely. If not, I'm going to be pretty pissed."
"We will. I promise." Elsa put an arm around her sister and hugged her. "I just need to talk to Ingrid. Once I'm done, we'll come straight back."
"To open the gateway to Earth Seven or to get back to our world, just touch the screen here." Anna pointed out a part of the glass slab which was still lit up. "A portal will open, something like Tracy's. Pop through it and you should be back on our world."
"Got it." Elsa looked at the device blankly. Truthfully, she hoped she would be able to figure it out when the time came, or they would be stuck on Earth Seven.
"Ready." Janus appeared in full mercenary attire, complete with his mask and hood, tight black leather and adorned with his usual weapons. He looked like the splitting image of the mercenary Prometheus who he used to be - Ingrid's top underling.
Drawing in a deep breath, she pressed the device at the spot where Anna had indicated. A blue-lit rectangular vortex materialised, pulling itself open. It looked like one of Tracy's Crossing Points, but with a much more sophisticated and modern aesthetic. Elsa glanced over at Janus, who looked back at her through the eye holes of his black mask. He gave her a small nod.
Together, they headed into the vortex, stepping out of the world that they knew and into the dimension called Earth Seven. Into the lair of the Legion of Sorcerers.
Author's Commentary:
Tracy's hoping they get to visit the future one day and see it all for themselves. Well, I hope so too. I've got one or two ideas up my sleeve, but don't expect that to happen so soon. Perhaps once I wrap up this trilogy concerned with the war.
Bringing our characters into the future of the "Frozenverse" has been on my mind for a little while, and I've been toying with certain concepts and ideas. It would be a soft reboot of sorts, where we start a fresh chapter in our heroes' lives. New villains, new landscapes, modern technology to grapple with, a whole different set of problems. I think it would make for interesting exploration. We'll see how it goes. As of the time of this upload, I am still stuck somewhere in the middle of writing Book 6, the trilogy capper. My schedule hasn't been very kind as of late, so I'm taking a lot longer than usual to write. Still, I hope to get Book 6 finished by the time Book 5 has been fully uploaded!