An hour later
Running up the side of a mountain with three riding a reindeer, trailing behind a horse with a further two on there was not the sort of thing one would think of doing late at night. Given the bad weather that had only just recently fully passed and had made way for an open full-moon sky and a gentle breeze, it would seem even more ludicrous to go out on such an endeavour. One would think that anyone partaking in this was quite mad.
Yet, that was what was happening. Elsa and Moll, the former having grabbed a pair of heels just before they left, sat on one of the horses and were trudging along a path that led from the city and into the mountains just behind the city. Behind them was Sven with Kristoff riding him, Olaf in the middle, and Anna bringing up the rear. Barely a word had been spoken between the two rider groups, the only noise being the sound of reindeer and horse hooves hitting the paved road and the sound of the wind around them, occasionally joined by the rumble of thunder from the storm moving further inland past more mountains a few miles distant, and Olaf's occasional quirks about the things they passed, muttering joyfully to himself.
The lack of silence between the groups was palpable. Anna and Elsa had barely spoken a word to each other since they left, something Kristoff and Moll had noticed. Whilst getting ready, he had told Moll what had happened just before she had arrived at the castle. The young woman had been shocked to say the least, given that in the time spent in Arendelle until they left some time ago, she had thought of nothing but how loving the two siblings were to each other. To hear that they were arguing, and not regular arguing but conflicting in a manner like this was … well, it was surprising, and worrying.
Since then, she had tried to make conversation with Elsa, though the queen had been monotone and only concerned with why they were going up the mountain and asking if Moll knew about the nightmare she had had earlier tonight. Moll had answered in the negative, and so Elsa had resorted to thinking in silence, giving small remarks or answers to any questions her companion asked her.
Behind her, Kristoff looked on tentatively at the horse and its riders, then at Anna, who was trying to stay awake and leaning on his back, breathing softly. He sighed, fearing that what was going on was only going to drive a further wedge between the sisters. It had only been today, but Anna had clashed a number of times with Elsa in the past few months, out of frustration and stress at the crisis, and fear over losing her again, given what had almost happened to the queen last year during their journey to the Southern Isles. Just thinking about that made Kristoff shiver with apprehension, and wary of what was come.
Indeed, what was to come next? Was the future going to get brighter? Was everything going to work out alright? Would Anna and Elsa go back to the way they were? Would Arendelle be a prosperous kingdom again, accepted for what it was and who was in charge of it and who lived there? Or was this the beginning of a path where everyone would be irreconcilable, constantly arguing until they stopped speaking and, possibly in the worst-case scenario, ended up shutting each other out?
An unknown future lay ahead for them. And there was no telling where it would end, or how it would go on.
"K-Kristoff!" A yawn from behind. Anna rubbed her eyes and stifled another yawn. "Sorry! I must have dozed off!"
"It's alright," he told her. "We've been on the move for a while now. Hopefully not long left."
Anna looked around them, then behind to see the distant glow of the light of Arendelle far away and below. The city looked so beautiful and peaceful from here. With the storm having passed and the night now calm, it was the perfect epitome of a sleepy city.
If only …
Turning back to the front, she looked past her boyfriend at the horse ahead, watching the two riders gently bounce up and down as they rode on. She bit her lip, still miffed at the way her sister had spoken to her earlier. How could she talk to her like that, she was just trying to help! Yet, she snapped at her yesterday morning, acting as if she never did anything useful! Then she doesn't apologise for it, and then she tells her that she's only a princess and, in not so many words, nor very subtly, that her opinions didn't matter because of her status.
If that's how she wants to treat me, then f- ah, no!
No, she could not think like that, not when they were on the verge of potential recovery of the kingdom, though being in the midst of something mysterious going on was not helping. She pondered more over this nightmare of Elsa's, wondering why she would dream of something like that, why would Godzilla suddenly show up and start laying waste to the home of those they thought he wants to protect, having even left to do so? Why would he hurt them? Was this connection between her sister and him the reason for it?
Many questions and no answers. It frustrated her more, but she had to stay calm. More anger was the last thing they needed right now.
"Don't worry, she'll apologise," Kristoff's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. He was looking back her with a small smile, hoping he could cheer her up. "Trust me."
She sighed. "I know, Kristoff," she replied. "But it's still annoying the way she spoke to me anyway," she added.
He nodded. "I can understand that, but … she doesn't mean it really, Anna. With everything that's going on, she's just under a lot of pressure and stress at the moment."
"But it still doesn't mean she has to take it out on me! And calling me just the 'princess'? I mean, that's not fair, Kristoff,"
"You're right, it isn't," he agreed. "But we'll get through this, and things'll get back to normal."
She huffed, folding her arms and embracing herself with them. "I hope you're right."
As did Kristoff.
On and on they went along the side of the mountain, eventually passing through a canyon and into a small valley. Around them, the landscape changed to being flatter and covered with more vegetation and less hills. Elsa took in their surroundings, wondering where exactly Moll was taking them. The young woman directed them on, eventually having the group pass into the pitch black undergrowth, it reminding them of the stories told to them by their parents of a haunted forest where beasts and vermin of all evil and nasty dwelled, waiting to snag any unsuspecting travellers and carry them away to feast on their bones. It was deathly silent all around them, not a bird, nor any other animal could be heard. Even Olaf had stopped his muttering and was glancing around nervously at his surroundings, fearing something was going to grab him. Anna gripped Kristoff's arm tighter. Even Elsa took one arm off the reins of her horse and created a small snowflake light in her hand to illuminate the trail before them, her own blue eyes scanning the blackness for anything abnormal, ears open like that of a cat, waiting for any potential surprises.
I wonder if this will lead to the 'Enchanted Forest' Papa told me and Anna about she wondered mentally.
For about ten minutes they carried on through the darkness until they finally emerged on the other side of the forest and found themselves in a huge clearing with mountains on the left and right, forming part of a valley that the woods went into. Though it was dark, the group could make out several large rock formations scattered across the ground and, about two hundred feet ahead of them, was a large hill that had a kind of wave shape to it. There was little light from the moon, so Elsa raised her snowflake higher into the air and made it grow until it was about twenty feet across and shining brightly like the aurora borealis.
"Moll! Hello everyone!"
Just on the edge of the field of light from above, another woman stood near a pile of rocks, each with a layer of moss on the tops of them. She looked exactly like Moll, the same hair, face, eye colour, dress, even her voice was vaguely similar. She smiled widely and rushed over to them when the group arrived, embracing Elsa tightly and doing the same to Kristoff, Anna, Sven and Olaf, the little snowman she nuzzled against her face as if he were a young child.
"It's so wonderful to see you all again!" she said excitedly.
"We missed you too!" Anna said. "How long's it been?"
"Oooh!" Lora pondered for a moment. "At least three months, likely more!" she informed them. "But anyhow," she embraced the young princess again. "It's wonderful to see you!"
Anna embraced her back, but jerked her head back when she saw a scar on Lora's cheek, running right down the side from in front of the ear to near her lip. It looked quite old, but was still pretty visible.
"What happened to your face?" she asked, aghast.
Lora felt the scar, then paused for a moment as if deep in thought, thinking of what to say: "Oh, oh, uh … I-I-I uh … hurt myself whilst climbing in-in … Iceland! Yes!" she seemed satisfied with her answer. "T-that's it, yes!"
Anna and Kristoff exchanged looks, both questioning the validity of her claim, but Lora quickly turned and urged them to follow her towards her sister and Elsa, who were walking over to the rocks.
"What are you doing out here?" Elsa asked Moll as the others joined them.
"We only arrived a short time ago, and ran into your friends here as well," the woman replied.
On cue, the group of rocks opened up into little figures with thick looking skin, messy thick wiry hair, and dressed in cloaks and rags, each with a small necklace that held a gem over the front of their necks. Trolls. The one at the front smiled warmly at Elsa, his old face happy and so serene, as if he were a grandparent seeing their grandchildren for the first time in months.
"Queen Elsa!" he greeted and bowed lowly to her, the others doing the same.
As the other trolls rose, they caught sight of Anna, Olaf and Kristoff standing just behind them.
"Kristoff! Anna!" a woman troll, Bulda, exclaimed jovially and rushed past them with the others and began fawning over them, beating them with statements of 'how are you?' and 'we missed you!' and 'are you two still not engaged?' The last question made Kristoff blush furiously and look away, sinking his head into his neck slightly, though he caught Elsa giving him a knowing look with a raised eyebrow. Luckily, Anna did not notice.
Good, I want it to be a surprise for the future!
Elsa turned back to the older male troll. "Pabbie, It's great to see you again," she spoke, giving him a nod of respect. "What are you doing out here with Moll and Lora?" she inquired.
"We were resting here when they arrived, startled us quite a bit," he explained, adding a chuckle in the second clause of his words.
Elsa gave him a confused look. "Startled? H-how?" she asked, looking at the two girls, wondering how they could startle Pabbie and the other trolls.
Moll answered by taking a step forward and, looking up, calling out: "Mosura!"
The ground rumbled a little, momentarily causing the Arendelle group to panic, thinking that they were in the start of an earthquake. Anna grabbed hold of Kristoff whilst he pulled her and Lora close. Elsa froze her legs in place, looking back at Anna and the others to make sure they were okay, breathing an internal sigh of relief that they were.
A dim sky-blue glow appeared in front of them, first right on the ends of the curved rocks that extended out above them. They formed a sort of swirls that would end in one part of the curved rock, but carry on towards each other, forming an array of patters and displays that glowed in the darkness, each one interlocking with each other. They met in the centre, where a large shape rose, as did the curved 'rocks', though they did not look like something hard now. It rose up, more of the same patterns appearing in the same glowing way up and down the body, a series of small appendages coming out from underneath and digging into the ground carefully so as not to knock the people before it off their feet. At the end of the large shape facing the Arendelle group, was a large spherical-like shape that lowered itself towards them. Elsa, unfreezing the ice at her feet, backed away a few paces to the others, grabbing hold of Anna's arm whilst having the other raised in case this thing was going to lunge at them.
A pair of large deep blue coloured eyes, each glowing like the light from the break of dawn on the morning horizon, opened before them. Upon seeing it, the nervous group eased, feeling a wave of serenity and peace wash over them. The ground stopped shaking and a low purring noise came from the creature as Moll stepped forward, raising her hand and resting it on the creature's face. A pair of large antennae came down from the top of the head and gently rubbed themselves against her, causing the young woman to giggle.
"It's okay, Mosura. I wasn't gone long!" she said, giggling.
The others stepped towards the giant creature, seeing now more clearly the body of the giant insect looming over them as they stared up at it in awe. Definitely intimidating, yet strangely so peaceful and tranquil, like an angel from heaven itself had come down to introduce itself to them, or even the goddess of peace, beauty and serenity herself! Lora walked over and rested her hand on the space between the giant eyes like her sister, receiving the same rubbing treatment from the antennae and prompting the same response.
"Wow!" Olaf breathed in amazement. "This is why I don't kill moths in the castle, I let them go."
Anna nodded, unable to take her eyes off the giant animal before her. I hope she doesn't take revenge on us for any of her little friends she thought comedically, though tentatively.
Elsa stepped forward again; Anna, Kristoff, Olaf, Sven and the other trolls following close behind.
"What is she doing back here?" the queen asked the two women.
"Mosura has returned from her home on this world, first seeking us out in Iceland, then she instructed us to come here as quickly as possible and get you," Moll explained. "She told us it's a matter of importance." She added.
"How?"
Lora spoke up this time. "It's because Father has requested your presence."
The Arendelle group and trolls exchanged another set of confused looks. Father? What did they mean by that? More importantly, who did they mean? Was it their father? Or something else?
"I-I'm sorry, what?!" Elsa asked.
"We need to go with Mosura to see Father," Moll explained.
Elsa paused. "O-o-okay, well … where is this … 'Father' you speak of?"
"On the other side of the world,"
That hit them like a brick wall! What?! On the other side of the world? They wanted them to go to the other side of the world and see this … this … 'Father'? Why would they do that?! It was not really possible to do something like that, especially now of all times! What was more, who was this 'Father' and why did he want them to go all the way over there? What could he possibly have or require their presence for?
"Girls, you want us to go to the other side of the world to see this person you're calling 'Father'?" Anna spoke up. "I mean, what's the reason for it?"
"We do not know exactly, but Mosura has told us that it has something to do with Godzilla," Moll replied. "And you're nightmare you were telling me about on the way up here might be a reason for it," she added, looking at Elsa.
For the Arendelle queen, this was certainly becoming a revelation, and knowing what to do was eluding her grasp. On the one hand, Moll and Lora and Mothra had come here telling them that they needed to go far away and see some person that they had never heard of or seen before. It was not really that feasible, considering her duty as a queen, particularly now of all times when her leadership was necessary.
Yet, on the other hand, they had told her it was something to do with him. At least now she knew where he was, or could have been, and with the nightmare earlier on she knew it was something she wanted to get to the bottom of. Still, was it going to be risky going there? After all, as stated, she had never heard of this 'Father' or what he had planned or even how he knew about her. What if it was a trap? What if it was a waste of time? And plus, there was Godzilla. If they said this was something to do with him, what of the possibility that the nightmare may have been real, that he was becoming the destructive monster everyone thought he was?
"Elsa?" the queen looked up at Lora and Moll; they were waiting for her answer whilst Mothra observed her intently with her enormous blue eyes.
Well, it will be for the best. In one way or another for me, Arendelle, and him.
"Alright, I'll go." She stated. "We leave in two days, once everything here is sorted and able to run in my absence."
A hand rested on her shoulder. "Excuse me? What do you mean 'your absence'?"
Elsa sighed and turned to face her sister. "Anna, this is important," she told her younger sibling firmly. "I need to know what's happening in this situation with Godzilla, and what this 'Father' needs me for."
"I know, Elsa, but …" Anna paused and looked past her at the girls and Mothra, all of whom were watching the two converse. "What if it's something bad?" she asked, her voice more hushed. "Something about this is wrong, I just don't think it's a good idea."
Elsa could not really disagree with her. "Likewise, Anna, but this could be the only way we can find out about him. Hopefully, we can even show people that he's not what they think he is. Hopefully, this nightmare I had is just that, and nothing more."
"And if it's not?"
Another pause hung between them, pierced only by the slight breeze and the low purring noises of the gigantic moth nearby, all eyes on the two sisters. Elsa had already wondered about the possibility of Godzilla becoming evil already, and though she still thought of it as pure nonsense, it still nagged at her that it may be true. If so, then …
She gave a light shrug. "I don't know, Anna." Was all she could say.
Anna gave a small nod, looking down at the floor, concerned over her sister's decision to go practically into the unknown without any idea of what was out there waiting for them. it made her uncomfortable to say the least, but she did not press it further.
"Alright, so we leave in three days, yes?"
A flash of surprise ran across Elsa's face. "We?"
Anna nodded. "Yes, I'm coming with you."
"And so are we," Kristoff piped up from nearby; Sven accentuating his involvement too with a nod, and Olaf giving a thumbs up and a cheerful nod as if to say: Count me in.
Elsa groaned. "Guys, no, you can't go with me. It's bad enough we don't know exactly what's going on. It might be dangerous."
"Well, the same thing applies to you, Elsa," Anna told her. "You need us with you."
"No, Anna. Who's going to run Arendelle in my absence?"
"Kai and the councillors are able to do that, they've done it before, like when we left for the Southern Isles, or to go to St Angel."
"That misses the point, Anna!" Elsa told her, voice becoming more vehement. "Who's going to protect and keep Arendelle safe?"
"Who's going to keep you safe?" Anna retorted angrily, her tone catching her sister off guard a bit, but she tried her best to hide it. Anna sighed to calm down. "Elsa, I want to be with you. You can be reckless sometimes, especially with something like this. You've nearly died because of it."
Elsa did not reply straight away, but her mind flashed to several of the times where she knew her sister was right. The time she had jumped off the cliff to turn into an ice dragon to fight alongside Godzilla and Varan against the Kraken and Ebirah, or the time she had rushed off into the streets of the Southern Isles capitol to fight Megaguirus and Battra with Godzilla and had herself been poisoned and almost been lost forever. As much as she hated to admit it, she knew her sister was right. For all her powers, she was still mortal, and the creatures in this world were more than capable of killing her if they so desired.
"Anna," Elsa sighed, taking her sister's hands in hers, staring at her with a soft, but pleading determination. "You know I love you, and that I think the world of you. The last thing I want to happen to you is for you to get hurt. If this something bad, then you could die, and I would never forgive myself."
Anna gave Elsa's hands a light comforting squeeze. "Elsa, the same applies to you, and I've told you why I want to go with you. We need to stick together, all of us," she waved her arm at the boys behind them. "You need someone to keep you in check, even if you don't like admitting it."
Another sigh from the queen. "It's going to be dangerous." She pushed one last time.
"Well, Elsa, I'll have you know that we faced a Great Winter, stopped you from behind killed by Hans, survived a fight between a load of monsters twice and managed to survive you being stabbed and almost dying for good, and the rest of us here don't have powers!" Her tone was firm and direct. "So, don't fucking argue with me, Elsa. I and the boys are coming with you and that's final!"
To say that her sister's words – the expletive especially – left her speechless was … well, an understatement. She had never heard her sister use such a word, especially to/against her. Her eyes briefly moved to Kristoff, thinking if she learned such words from him, but he gave her a: Don't look at me, you swear more than her look.
I'm so glad mother isn't alive to hear this Elsa thought to herself in a moment of comedy in light of the big decision.
"Alright, well get ready to back to Arendelle," she told Anna. "Tomorrow, we'll get things ready for the city to be ruled in our absence."
With a nod, Anna strode back to Sven, replying to the surprised looks of Kristoff, Olaf, the reindeer and the trolls with a simple: "What?"
"Well, I never thought I would hear you curse at your sister in that way," Kristoff told her.
Anna shrugged. "Just making sure my point gets through to her." She replied as she bade the trolls good evening. "But, Kristoff, you don't have to join us."
"Now don't you start arguing with me," her ice collector boyfriend told her, trying to imitate her own way of how she had just spoken with Elsa. "Besides, someone will have to look after you whilst we're out there,"
Anna smiled and hugged her boyfriend, giving him a light kiss on the cheek. She was so glad that she had someone like Kristoff around, despite the craziness of her family, the odd things her sister had created and done, and the way the world was right now. He stood by her no matter what.
Behind them, as Moll and Lora went back to conversing with Mothra, Elsa looked down and saw Pabbie standing there. He ushered her away from the others.
"Your sister does have a way with words, I must say," he told her with a slight titter.
Elsa nodded, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "I'll say! I'm glad our mother didn't hear that."
"Yes. But, Elsa, I must ask you something: do you think this will be worthwhile? This journey to the other side of the world, I mean?"
A pause hung between as she contemplated his words. As much as she wanted to be sure of herself and what she wanted to do, the queen could not really give an affirmative answer, nor a negative one. It could go either way, but which was more likely, she had no idea.
"I really don't know, Pabbie," she answered quietly, looking back at Mothra. "But from what the girls told me about Mothra, when she knows something, it's worth listening to, even if it does sound like a complete long-shot."
The elderly troll nodded. "Very well. I will keep an eye on things here too whilst you are gone. But Elsa," his tone became graver and more cautious, like a warning of impending doom. "You must take care in something such as this. It may be able to fix what is being strained, but you must not allow yourself to be overcome with recklessness, no matter what happens over there. If Godzilla does turn out to be evil, or if this 'Father' is also something malevolent, you must keep in control, or you will lose yourself to it."
Dark thoughts crossed her mind, wondering what he meant, but she had a good idea, and it worried her. She tried to suppress them, she had to. Getting worried about them now was not going to help them with where they were going.
As Elsa bade Pabbie goodnight and walked back over to Sven, she could only think about what the future was going to hold for them. Where it would lead them, who they would meet, and, most importantly, what was going to happen when, or if they found Godzilla?
Into the unknown we go she told herself. God help us if something goes wrong.