Chapter Fifty Two

No Time to Grief

ELSA

They ran as fast as their legs could carry them, and as they approached the door, Will raised a hand and clenched his fist. The door barring their exit crumbled in on itself as if someone had squashed it like a paper ball, and fell off its rusty hinges. The six of them filed out of the building as fast as they could, and Elsa froze the exit with a thick, solid slab of ice, which would box the First Imperials in for a while.

Ragged cheers erupted from the crowd of insurgents and civilians who were gathered outside in a mass. They had all made it, every last one of them.

"We made it." Deirdre muttered nervously as they staggered outside, Will at the rear of their party. "I can't believe we're still alive."

Elsa looked around to realise that she had lost Janus, Ivon and Oliver somewhere in the crowd upon emerging from the building. Nevertheless, she didn't have to worry. They were all out safely.

She watched as black smoke began to escape from the building. The First Imperials had begun setting fire to the entire compound, to ensure that everything the Insurgency had built was burnt to ash.

"Wait, in there!" An elderly man shouted from amongst the crowd.

Elsa turned to look where he was pointing, and to her dismay, she saw a young mother with two children in another room of the building, clawing at the window of the building as smoke had begun to fill the room.

"No, no, no." Elsa glanced back at the doorway which she had frozen over. The room the civilians were trapped in was right beside the one they had just escaped out of. When the First Imperials see that their exit is barred, they're going to turn left into the next room, and….

Elsa shuddered and turned to her companions. "We need to get them out."

"How?" Deirdre ran a desperate hand through her hair. "The place is swarming with First Imperials by now and it's all on fire. If we go back in, no one's making it out alive!"

"Can you put out the fire?" Elsa asked hopefully.

Deirdre shook her head. "You know I can't."

Terrific.

"I'll go." Will took a step towards the building but Elsa caught his arm.

"Will, I don't know what you're thinking, but this is no time for heroics. Please," Elsa said desperately. "I know you want to save your home and get rid of the Empire once and for all, but-"

"I'm sorry, Elsa. I made a promise to defend my people once and I failed. I'm not just going to stand by and watch innocent people get slaughtered. Not when I have a chance to stop it."

"Will, please!"

But it was too late. Will had already tugged himself free from Elsa's grasp and was pushing past the crowd towards the window where the three remaining civilians were clawing at. Elsa shot a glance at Deirdre, and both of them started off after him.

"Stand back!" he shouted, waving wildly at the mother and children to back away from the window. Then, with the rapid clench of his fist, the glass of the window pulled in on itself and shattered into pieces. Thick, black smoke billowed out of the building and coughs could be heard coming from inside. Will climbed into the building, coughing as he did so.

Waiting with bated breath at the window of the building, Elsa watched as Will began helping the first child out of the building. He handed the first child, a young boy, down to Elsa, who held on to him securely, and lowered him to the ground.

By this time, Janus, Ivon and Oliver had rushed to their aid, and were gathered outside the window to receive and comfort the remaining civilians who had just escaped.

When both children had been handed down safely, Will helped the young woman to climb out of the window, but as he was doing so, shouts could be heard coming from the near vicinity inside the building.

"Will, get out of there!" Oliver shouted.

"No, there's no time!" Will finished handing the young woman down to Janus and Ivon, and he whirled around. "If I don't stop them here and now, they're going to come out and slaughter everyone. I have to end this. I'm sorry."

"Will!"

Before Elsa or anyone else could stop him, Will charged further into the flaming building which was now glowing red hot and smoke obscured their view. Elsa coughed and covered her mouth and nose with the crook of her elbow, and shot out a blast of ice into the building, hoping to extinguish some of the flames.

But there was too much fire for her little blast to vanquish. The flames grew way too hot, and the people surrounding the window had to move away from it to avoid getting burnt.

Elsa wanted badly to leap into the building herself to go to Will's aid, but she knew it would be foolish. The next thing she knew, she heard the sickening cracks of musket fire and the building began to creak. Then, to her horror, it began to crumble.

"No…" Elsa put both hands over her mouth, realising what Will had just done.

"He's going to kill himself!" Oliver surged forward, but Janus caught hold of his arm.

"I think that's what he's trying to do."

The entire building's foundations groaned and the walls began to cave in on itself. The glass on the windows shattered but they fell inwards instead of outwards towards the crowd. That defied the law of physics, since an explosion would direct the force outwards, but somehow the entire compound was caving inwards.

This is Will's doing. Elsa felt a lump caught in her throat when she realised that Will wasn't going to make it out of this alive. She watched helplessly as the once multi storied building collapsed into rubble and debris, and when the smoke and dust cleared, all that remained were the flames and the ruins of the Insurgency's base.

"Elsa!"

She heard her voice ringing distantly in her ears amidst the shouting and general ruckus of the crowd, but she was too dazed to realise that she was being called.

"Elsa!" Someone shook her shoulder and she finally snapped out of her trance.

She turned to see Charlotte, with her one good arm clasped on her shoulder.

"Elsa, you have to use your powers. The ice." Charlotte said desperately.

Blinking without so much as a word, Elsa glanced back at the wreckage. She'd been unable to tear her eyes away from the atrocity, but now when she looked at it again, she was filled with nothing but dread and her eyes began to water. She was pretty sure it wasn't from the smoke.

Charlotte and some of the others ushered people out of the way as Elsa stepped towards the rubble silently. Lifting both her hands, she pointed them at the orange blaze of light before her eyes. Her vision blurred and she blinked away the tears which were obscuring her sight. This can't be happening.

Two strong streams of ice flowed out of her hands incessantly and hit the fire. A loud hiss could be heard as if the fire was a snake that was being slowly skinned and killed, and steam emitted upon impact, mixing with the thick, black smoke.

She kept the ice flowing for a long time, feeling herself grow weaker as time wore on. It took a lot out of her, but the fire was finally extinguished. The flames were out, but so was her strength. Blood trickling a little from her nose, she dabbed a finger to it, and felt dizzy.

Staggering, she almost hit the ground but Janus flew in from somewhere and caught her before she could hurt herself. Elsa looked up weakly, her muscles trembling slightly from the exhaustion. She felt incredibly dehydrated, lightheaded and dizzy.

"Are you alright?" Janus sounded a million miles away.

She closed her eyes and shook her head to clear the cobwebs. Her double vision finally aligned and her ears stopped ringing, and she stood to her feet wobbly. Elsa's eyes met Janus',

"Are you alright?" he repeated, concern on his face as he held her arm. He extended his other hand and gently wiped away the remaining bit of blood that had dripped from her nose and smeared on her upper lip.

"Yeah." Elsa managed a croak, and she coughed unhealthily, feeling heavy soot in her lungs.

"Here." Janus took off his mask hurriedly and handed it to her. "Breathe. The air is filtered."

She took it gratefully and held it to her face. After what felt like a few minutes, the feeling had cleared and her lungs no longer felt too clogged. A splitting headache and exhausted arms still plagued her though. She handed the mask back to Janus, and he snapped it back on, the mask nesting securely on his face.

"Thanks." She said.

He stared at her for a few moments, and then looked at the still smoking wreckage. She followed his gaze. The fire was out and the late afternoon sun was hidden behind some ominous clouds, giving the entire atmosphere a gloomy feel which suited the moment.

"Come on," Janus took her arm. "Let me get you somewhere to rest."

"Will…" she whispered.

Janus shook his head slowly, and behind him, Elsa saw Deirdre rummaging inside the wreckage frantically, with Oliver standing helplessly by her side. Ivon and Charlotte were busy directing traffic nearby, guiding the people to another nearby building to seek shelter from the impending storm.

There was a crackle in the sky, and rain started falling like great big beads of sweat, fast and furious against whoever remained in the open.

Elsa ignored the rain and walked up to Deirdre and Oliver who were deep in the centre of what was left of the base. Charred bodies lay everywhere, with some still clothed in fragments of the muddy red uniforms which were covered in black soot, now being dampened by the increasingly heavy downpour. By now, the torrential rain had put out any other small fires and the smoke had cleared.

Elsa knelt down beside Deirdre as the latter scrabbled around in the rubble, pulling away bits and pieces of the crumbled building. Her hands were covered completely in ash and a few cuts here and there.

"Elsa, help me." Deirdre scratched away furiously and relentlessly at the wreckage, ignoring the fact that the rain was falling and making her impossible task all the more unachievable. "We can still save him."

Elsa looked at Oliver, who returned her gaze with a silent one that screamed defeat.

She didn't know what to say or do. It was evident that there were no survivors in the wreckage. No one could survive this. But she had no clue how to break the reality of the situation to Deirdre. Maybe it was better to let her cling on to whatever sliver of hope remained. But what would be the point? Any false hope would crush us now.

Tucking damp strands of hair behind her ear, Elsa hesitantly placed a hand on Deirdre's blackened one.

"Damn it, Elsa. Help me!" Deirdre snapped and tugged her hand away and continued rummaging tirelessly. "We can still-"

"Deirdre." Elsa said quietly, her voice very nearly drowned out by the furious pattering of the rain on the wreckage. "Will's…gone."

She muttered something incoherent and continued.

Elsa placed her hands more firmly on Deirdre this time. "There's nothing more we can do. I'm sorry." She felt just as helpless as Deirdre, and a hundred times more guilty. If only she'd stopped him from being a hero…

Deirdre sank from her kneeling position, resting on the back of her heels. Her hands dropped to her sides and she was very quiet. She looked up at Elsa.

"He's…"

Elsa nodded, her own eyes welling up with tears again.

"The fool." Deirdre said angrily. "Why did he have to go and be a hero?"

"He gave his life to protect everyone." Oliver finally spoke, solemnly. "He saved us all."

Elsa blinked away the tears and stood stupidly over Deirdre, who was still kneeling in the rubble. This could have all been avoided, couldn't it? But no matter how she looked at it, she found no other alternative. This was the only way, and Will had known that too. That was why he had run into the burning building and brought it down on top of himself and all the First Imperials.

"Come on," Janus gently tugged her away from the rubble, and Oliver did the same with Deirdre, who was a lot more subdued and compliant now.

They found Ivon and Charlotte still guiding and taking charge of the entire evacuation, though the crowd had now thinned and many of them were cramped into the Ten Drinks, the only bar that would hold a large number of the insurgents and the refugees. The rest of the people who couldn't fit into the bar had to seek shelter in the adjacent building, which was small, but large enough to house the remainder.

"Oliver. Elsa." Charlotte's hair was soaked, and the sleeve that was tied around the stump of her left arm was now damp and saggy, dripping water and swinging heavily as she moved her body. "Did Will…"

Elsa shook her head gravely. "No."

"I'm sorry." Ivon came over to them, having overheard. "He…he was a good soldier. A good man."

"Come on, we all need to get inside." Oliver said, still holding on to Deirdre.

"Yes, please." Charlotte motioned for them to all follow her, and they sought shelter under the building adjacent to the Ten Drinks.

Once indoors, Elsa squeezed her hair dry and loosened her braid. Her hair hung loose and heavy, and she wrung it again, the water dripping onto the ground and joining the puddle around her feet that her wet clothes had created. Her clothes clung uncomfortably to her skin, and she shed her heavy, damp coat.

The rest had shuffled away somewhere else, but only Janus remained behind with her near the window.

"Are you alright?" Janus asked again, his black hood dripping wet.

"No," Elsa admitted after a long pause as she pulled off her boots which had somehow filled up with water.

"Why would I be? My friend just died."

"I'm sorry." Janus said. "I didn't know him personally, but I saw enough to know he was a true Warrior like the rest of you."

"You know what's ironic?" Elsa dropped her boots and looked at him. "He never wanted to be a Warrior like one of us. And now…" she gave a sigh and shuddered. "He's…he's gone. We've won this round, but at what cost? How many more do we have to lose before this is all over?"

"Elsa, there's no time to grief now." Janus said, and his words sent a spark of blind rage through Elsa.

"How can you say that?" Elsa looked at him angrily, even though the anger wasn't directed at him. To some extent, she was angry at herself just as much as she was at the Empress, Hans and the First Imperials.

"I'm sorry. It wasn't meant to sound cruel." Janus said quietly. "What I mean is, you can't let your emotions get the better of you now. We need to focus, stay on task and not let your anger or grief cloud your judgement."

That sounded like something Melody would say. But then again, she wasn't very good at taking her own advice.

"Easy for you to say," Elsa slumped her shoulders as she slid down into a seated position against the wall. Her hair, skin and clothes were still soaked, but she didn't really care at this point. She was too exhausted and overcome with anger, grief, guilt and a whole other slew of feelings which jumbled up together, making her feel very confused and clouded. She hugged her knees close to her chest. "You're a trained mercenary. You've been doing this your whole life."

Janus gave a little sigh and pulled back his hood, revealing hair that was still dry and unsullied by the heavy downpour outside. He removed his mask and knelt down beside her.

"I know it's hard." He said quietly but firmly. "But it's the only way we can get through this alive. If you entertain your emotions now, you won't be able to pull yourself out of them while on mission. You won't be thinking straight. What you need is to bottle up your grief and keep your head in the game."

She pushed a dangling strand of wet blonde hair out of her face and looked up. "I just…never thought I would see a friend die."

"I know." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "I've seen my fair share."

"Does the grief…the pain ever get easier?"

He shook his head. "I wish I could say yes."

Elsa looked at Janus for a moment and closed her eyes. A part of her felt like it was her fault. Sure, he had chosen to run into the building, but she could have done something to stop him. After all, she was the leader of the League of Sorcerers. Well, then again, he was never a member. He never wanted to be. But still…this could have all been avoided somehow.

And then what? Will lives, but then countless other lives are put in jeopardy? What if the First Imperials had broken out of the building and began spraying lead balls into the crowd of insurgents and civilians? Women, children, elderly people getting massacred?

Maybe Will was right, and it cost him his life.

"Guys."

Elsa lifted her eyes to see Oliver at the doorway to the inner parts of the building. He was soaked and dishevelled too, and had apparently punched a wall in anger. This was evident by the fact that his knuckles were bleeding. At the sight of Elsa staring at his hand, Oliver hid it behind his back.

"Charlotte's calling a meeting out back." He hitched a thumb over his shoulder.

"Outside?" Janus looked out the window. "It's still raining."

"There isn't enough space to hold everyone in here."

"Everyone?" Elsa had a horrid feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Yeah." Oliver nodded gravely. "She's calling for an all out assault on the Empire.

"You can't be serious." Elsa levered herself to her feet. "In our state?"

Oliver shrugged. "It's now or never."

"You saw what happened outside." Elsa gestured outside the window angrily. "My friend just died out there, and our base is gone. We aren't ready for any of this."

Oliver kept silent, as if he couldn't argue with that. He probably agrees too.

"Is Deirdre alright?" Elsa asked.

Oliver nodded. "Still angry, and I don't blame her. But she's stable…somewhat."

"Where is she?"

"Out back." Oliver repeated. "With everyone else."

Elsa shot a glance at Janus, who had at some point silently donned his mask and hood again. He dipped his head in a tiny nod. She gave a tiny sigh and picked up her coat and boots. Oliver beckoned for them to follow him, and turned. He led them further into the building, likely to cross over to the back exit.

Elsa had thought that there were others seeking refuge out in this building as the other ones were packed full, but now they were empty. Whatever Charlotte was going to say was obviously going to be big, and an angry, indignant mob was ready to listen to someone who would take charge in a time of turmoil like this.

Outside, it was as Oliver had said. Everyone was there. All active members of the Insurgency were there, of course, but they weren't the only ones. The number of insurgents had seemed to multiply in such a short span of time. They were now joined by dockside workers, labourers, bartenders, businessmen, farmers and just about any man from any trade one could imagine.

And even then, there were more still. Boys in their teens - and some who weren't - looked like they were too young to be serving in any kind of army, but that hadn't impeded them in any way. They were gathered in the crowd together with the insurgents, with their chests puffed out and drawn up to make themselves look as tall as they could possibly manage.

Nearer to the back of the crowd, women of all ages were present, ranging from girls as young as in their early adolescence all the way to little old ladies with walking aids.

Suffice to say, literally everyone was there.

"How did Charlotte manage all this?" Elsa mumbled, half to herself.

"Wasn't very hard." Oliver said. He had somehow managed to find a bottle and took a long pull. "All it took was a building being burnt down for the rest of the city to rally together. Everyone's tired of the Empire imposing their presence on us. It's time we really did something drastic."

"He may be right." Janus said when Oliver moved on ahead and the two of them forced their way through the crowd to keep up. "It's time to end this once and for all."

Oliver led Elsa and Janus to the centre of the crowd, where they found Deirdre by herself, looking a little the worse for wear. Grime, dirt and ash still clung to her lower arms, and her hands had a few slits from where they had been cut by the sharper fragments of rubble. Her clothes and hair were still wet too.

"Deirdre."

The fiery blonde looked up at the mention of her name, as if being called out of some deep trance in the middle of the raging crowd and the still-persistent storm.

"Are you alright?" Elsa asked. Funny that I should ask. She wasn't exactly feeling too great herself, and didn't really see herself in a position to be offering someone else comfort.

"No," Deirdre rubbed her arms sullenly. "Not really."

"Neither am I." Elsa admitted. "But it looks like we won't have time to mourn. Not right now anyway."

"Looks that way."

Charlotte got on top of a crate which had likely been salvaged from the wreckage and waved her one good arm to get everyone's attention. She looked incredibly tired, and no wonder, she had spent all her time directing the rest of the insurgents and trying to get everyone to safety. Being a leader takes its toll.

"Everyone!" Charlotte's voice rang out over the crowd, and it got everyone's attention. They fell quiet, with the only remaining sound the relentless staccato of raindrops falling. "I'm sure by now you know why we're all here. The First Imperials destroyed our refuge, and one of our own died stopping the First Imperials. But there are more, waiting to pounce on us again. I'm tired of waiting and I'm damn sure you all are!"

A loud cheer of agreement came from the far side of the mob.

"We've given the power back to you, the people!" Ivon roared from somewhere in the front of the crowd. Elsa could see the top of his head above the many others. "You're armed with weapons from the Empire's cache. It's time we did something with them!"

A ragged but louder cheer broke out from various parts of the crowd, and Elsa could feel the atmosphere changing.

"This ends tonight!" Charlotte yelled over a rumble of thunder. "We're going to take back our kingdom! Our homes! Storm the castle, kill the Empress, and reclaim what is rightfully ours!"

This time, the crowd let out a unified roar, raising their fists and whatever they were holding on to. That an all out assault was on the near horizon was evident and unmistakable, and the storm that raged physically only pointed to another foreboding one that would take place later in the evening.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Elsa managed to catch Charlotte after her speech, as she was headed back into the shelter to meet with some of the other senior insurgents.

"What choice do we have?" Charlotte had a grim look plastered across her face. "If the Empress decides to strike again, we're finished. It's time to take the fight to them all and end this. Tonight."

Elsa grabbed her arm as she turned to go. "You know better than most that charging straight into the castle with armed guards all around is going to be a massacre. You better have a good plan for actually getting inside."

A tight smile crept to the older woman's lips, and she turned to look round at the small band with Elsa. "Come inside. We've got a lot to discuss before nightfall."