Several heavy knocks on the Queen's study hidden doorway made the guards point their weapons at the bookshelf as one of them approached. "Who's the greatest leader in Arendellian history?"
"You better be thinking of Her Majesty or the late King because if you think its me, I'll put my foot up your ass."
The coarse answer had them lowering their weapons as they pulled the mechanism and opened the secret door allowing Stonewell, Wrath and Klein through. After doing so, they closed the door again and reengaged the lock on the study's side as they disabled the mechanism on the passageway side in case of it being compromised.
The guards saluted the Captain as he absent mindedly returned it back before he made purposeful strides out the room and toward the war room with his two followers in tow. During their trek through the passageway, none of them spoke as Stonewell led the way. The Captain's facial expression depicted that there was something on his mind but he said nothing as he continued to walk. Wrath had looked back on Klein to see him absentmindedly staring ahead before offering a small smile whenever the young guard noticed he was being stared at. It was likely that his mind was still on his little sister who was still in the castle with the other hostages and staff.
The predator had recalled Stonewell saying he had a plan for rescuing the hostages as well as crippling the enemy leadership. Him explaining the full detail of his plan wasn't what stood out to the predator, but what happened after remained in his mind even now.
"There's no way everything will go according to plan."
Stonewell had his arms crossed as he loomed over a map of the village after he just finished explaining his plan. Ahimoth had expressed his doubts of what was just explained to him. The old man's entire plan hinged on Greed wanting to kill Wrath more than capturing Elsa. While he was sure that Ian's desire to kill Wrath was strong, it surely wasn't strong enough to jeopardize the entire invasion over it and cause him to make enough mistakes to give them an advantage.
"Who's to say that he won't just leave Hans in control and go after Edward himself?"
Throughout Stonewell's explanation of the plan, he referred to Wrath as Edward to avoid telling everyone the real truth of who the young man really was. He only told them that Edward was on the wrong side during the civil war and that Greed personally blamed the young man for the death of his family. It was a simple lie that kept all the gritty details out of everyone's mind that would most likely cause either confusion or fear that they had a true predator in their midst.
"Greed would have no idea where the runt would go. Even if he decided to organize search parties and scoured the kingdom over, there would be little chance he would succeed in finding his target who could very well have fled to an allied kingdom to request support."
"But that won't be the case since Edward will be hiding near the town square waiting for your signal. If you tell him to run, he'll have to sneak out without getting caught and get away unnoticed or your entire strategy goes up in smoke."
The Captain turned to Wrath who was quiet during the exchange between the Prince and the old man. "Do you think you can get out of the village without getting caught?"
The predator nodded which made Stonewell turn back to Ahimoth with a shrug. The Prince scoffed as he crossed his arms but said nothing else. The old man turned to the rest of the attendees of the strategy meeting.
"Are there any more questions or concerns?"
One of the guard squad leaders raised a hand. "Assuming we manage to capture the enemy leader who you said had special abilities, what about the other enemies you said could be hiding among them? We have no idea what they look like, who they are, or what they can do. We could spend all this effort capturing just this one guy but there could be ten more right after him."
Stonewell nodded as that was a good question and concern. "You're right we really have no way of knowing but if we manage to capture the enemy leadership, we can force the Southern Isles and the Weselton troops to surrender which will free up our forces to tackle any additional threats."
The guard put his hand down as he didn't expect a better because he knew that they didn't have many options besides dealing with one problem at a time. Stonewell looked around the room again for anyone else who had something to say and his eyes zeroed in on Elsa who had her eyes glued to the map.
"Your Majesty, your thoughts on this?"
Elsa stared intensely at the map as she played the Captain's plan in her mind over and over. It was a plan that could go many ways and required a lot of work to make it possible. One of them being her able to convince Greed that Edward had indeed abandoned Arendelle when he would-be lying-in wait. It wasn't that lying was an issue, her enemy had invaded her home and threatened her people, lying to him wouldn't weigh on her conscious much. Her problem was that if he didn't believe her and decided to use his hostages to convince her to do so, she would have to lie again which could very well result in that hostage losing their life.
She knew how integral it was to the plan that Greed thought Edward had abandoned Arendelle, but she didn't know if she could condemn one of her subjects to die when she could save them. The Queen in her would say that a few lives were less valuable than Arendelle, but Elsa refused to listen to that. She wanted to save everyone, but remembered the conclusion she came to earlier. Her power made her special, there was no denying that, but she didn't have absolute power to make everything go exactly as she wished. She was only human and made plenty of mistakes, a few minutes ago she couldn't see a way out but Stonewell had given her a glimmer of hope.
It was small and uncertain, but still a glimmer.
She didn't want to see anyone die, but she now understood that with every choice, there was a chance someone could die. It really hurt to think like that and she felt the feeling of tears welling in her eyes at the thought of her having to lie and send innocent people to their deaths, but this was her job. She was Queen of Arendelle, this is what she was prepared for her entire life, and no amount of crying and begging was going to change the situation they were in.
Elsa finally looked up and cleared her throat to project an even tone. "Your plan is quite risky, but it is our best option. The only thing I would change is you giving me the chance to try and reach a diplomatic resolution with the enemy command after neutralizing Greed."
Everyone's eyes shot to her like she had grown a second head. They couldn't believe that after being invaded and having her people taken hostage, she would want to try diplomacy. Stonewell was the first one with nerve to actually say something. "Your Majesty, after we neutralize Greed, we will have them by the balls, we can force their surrender right then and there, why risk that?"
The blonde met his eyes with a determined stare as she spoke. "I'm hoping to reach a diplomatic solution where both parties can walk away with something. Yes, today has brought much loss but we know it isn't the soldiers' fault for carrying out the orders of their superiors. Greed doesn't care for the men he leads; he's using them to get what he wants and if they die he won't waste a thought on any of them. The same goes with Hans whose ambition is the reason we're in this war now. Rather than force their surrender and risk them feeling that they're going to be killed if they surrender, we can allow them to leave on their own terms as they realize what they are truly fighting for."
"That may be the case but this is war, soldiers die all the time and regardless if they agree with why they're fighting, most will continue to blindly obey. We are already at a disadvantage from the earlier strikes we've sustained, we cannot afford to give the enemy another chance."
The Queen of Arendelle agreed with the logical argument that Walter had presented but Elsa who knew she couldn't save everyone, didn't want to give up on at least trying to save the most lives she could. "You're right this is war and I understand the danger. They came here expecting to face a monster and her army, that's their core belief and they might believe in this cause. Forcing their surrender without attempting to reason with them will only legitimize their fear and cause. If we can show them that their belief is wrong then we have a chance to foster peace not only here but more around the world. All those soldiers have friends and family that are at home believing they are fighting for a righteous cause, instead of making enemies of them by killing their brave soldiers, why not give them the chance to learn and go back home to their families with a new perspective? I'm not foolish, if they can't be convinced then we can force their surrender but all I ask is the opportunity to try."
Stonewell frowned as he leaned on the table that had the map of Arendelle on it as he stared hard into her eyes. Personally, he thought it was a complete waste of time and he was sure he wasn't the only one in the room to think that. That being said, he could see the resolve behind those blue eyes that he had gotten to know over the course of her reign. He had told her before that she is a grown woman and she could do whatever she wanted as long as she was willing to accept the consequences. Earlier when he called her naïve and refused to allow her to surrender, he did so because she didn't think her actions through and only saw what was in front of her.
Now, she was looking ahead, past this battle into the future. Something he was somewhat proud of. She was right, the problem with soldiers who believe in their cause is righteous likely has people they left behind who believe the same. It wouldn't be much of a stretch to imagine the soldiers' families to rally behind Greed to avenge their soldiers' lives by killing the evil Snow Queen.
Again, Stonewell didn't really care about that possibility. If it came to pass, he wouldn't feel as worried as they would be mostly civilians with weapons against his trained guards which objectively, would be easy pickings. That being said, he could see some of his guards hesitating to wipe out poorly trained civilians trying to avenge their families' deaths and rush head first to 'save' the world from the Snow Queen.
The Captain likely would've found this situation humorous if it wasn't happening to him. His entire life, he achieved victory by willing to go much further than his enemies were and became their worst nightmare. For the most part it always worked until he pushed one enemy far enough to not care about anything but revenge and ended up destroying both sides to achieve it. Of course he survived but sometimes he felt that he was just the walking dead. A war-torn man who had lost his family both figuratively and literally was now charged with protecting a peaceful sleepy kingdom. Agnarr, who was just starting out as King, was the first one to ever call him out on his methods and his depravity and that the reason he lost everything was because he himself put himself on that road.
That of course didn't fly over very well and the two fought. Stonewell physically won the battle but knew in his heart that he lost the war. He broke down, everything Agnarr said was the truth and as much as he hated to admit it, the King was right. Walter was the one who chose his path that inevitably led to him losing everything because he couldn't see the consequences of taking the easier path and becoming a monster to his enemies. After their bout, he expected to be imprisoned. He had savagely beaten the King of Arendelle so much that Agnarr needed crutches and couldn't stand up longer than ten minutes without needing to sit down for a month.
However, Agnarr instead asked him to be the Captain of the Royal Guard because he knew that deep down that Stonewell wasn't too far gone. They had an odd relationship, Agnarr wanted a bloodthirsty crusty soldier protecting his family and training the guards that would do so. When Walter asked why, the King replied that because Walter had been there, had seen what could happen when people allowed their base instincts to take over what could come as a result. He believed that someone who had experienced losing everything would appreciate what they had left and make sure those under them could avoid the same mistakes.
It wasn't until Elsa was born that Stonewell realized the true meaning behind Agnarr's explanation. The King didn't want his daughter to take the easy way out that could lead her to having nothing in the future. He wanted her to see what could happen ahead and the true consequences of allowing those darker human emotions take hold.
As wise as Agnarr was, he's never been there.
That dark place where all that's in your mind is the destruction of whatever obstacle in your way.
Your mind coming up with any and all methods to ensure your victory while blocking any sort of drawback or consequence to whatever plan you came up with.
He didn't want that for Elsa. Agnarr couldn't predict what might come her way when he was gone but he knew that someday, she would be tempted. Its why he wanted Stonewell there to teach her and understand the consequences of that kind of mindset.
Ironically, Agnarr himself went into that dark place when he realized the strength of Elsa's powers and constructed those shackles just for her. Stonewell gave him an objective assessment of the threat she could be in the future but also pointed out she was only a little girl and his daughter. Kai was instrumental in helping the King walk back from jumping off that ledge and continue to treat Elsa as his daughter rather than a threat as he sought other solutions. The Captain assisted with his venture which eventually led the Captain being on more familiar terms with Sobel as well as Jorgen.
Stonewell's plan was logical but was not made in that dark space. He himself was going to accompany Elsa where he would see the hostages and change the plan accordingly if things got out of hand. He could tell that Elsa believed that he wanted to save as many lives as he could but that only applied to their side as the old soldier wasn't concerned for the enemy. He could see that she was taking the harder path and thinking about more than winning this war, which was exactly what her father wanted.
"Fine. Its likely that the leading officer of the Southern Isle army will be there. If its still Julius, then you're best bet will be to appeal to him. He was a decent guy the last time I saw him and he had a genuine love for his kingdom rather than who ruled it. If he's still the same, he'll put a higher value on the lives of his men rather than the objective of this invasion."
Elsa let a small smile grace her face as she mouthed a 'thank you' to the old man who went over the last few details of his plan. Namely, what they would do with the civilians that they rescued. Currently, there was no way to move them from the castle outside the capitol as the escape tunnels didn't extend that far and with the village burning it would be dangerous to have them moving throughout the village with a war going on. He proposed that they could be confined with the staff far away from the fighting.
"If we can capture the enemy leadership and force their troops to surrender, odds are the real enemy leader will show himself. Their target will of course be the castle which may present an opportunity for us to sneak the staff and hostages out of the castle if we can engage them in a forward position where- "
The doors to the war room opened with a guard bursting in with wild eyes. "There's something happening in the garden, we think the enemy might be digging underground!"
Stonewell wanted to say that would be impossible but as he really thought about it, he couldn't rule it out just because he didn't see how they could dig a stable tunnel underneath a body of water. Everyone quickly filed out the room and into the garden where they could see some guards already aiming their weapons at the center of the garden where they could hear rumbling. A few more tense moments passed as the rumbling came closer to the surface and a section of the garden started to give way until a small hole appeared.
The guards all rested their fingers on the trigger ready to blast the first thing that came out the hole. The sound of something shuffling through dirt alerted them before a rock popped out of the hole. One of the guards panicked at the movement and pulled the trigger hitting the rock which resulted in a loud crack as well as a louder 'OW!' from the rock that actually rolled out into a small body that started to rub the spot the ball hit with one of its hands.
"That freakin' hurt! What's the big idea, never seen a troll before?!"
Stonewell gripped the bridge of his nose as he knew his men had in fact never seen a troll before. He himself hadn't either but Agnarr as well as Anna and Kristoff described them to him. "Lower your weapons, he's a friendly."
His men were slow to obey his command as they all couldn't stop staring at the living rock that was sending each of them a glare while he rubbed his butt. After they all did so, the troll waddled over to the hole and shouted at it.
"You all can come up now, I think we've moved past the fear of the unknown phase!"
There was a moment where nothing happened when another troll nervously poked his head out the ground and looked around at the humans who were staring at the awestruck humans. The first troll got irritated and grabbed the nervous troll and pulled him out the hole by his arms.
"Come on Erend, there's no need to be scared. You weren't the one who got shot and besides, Grand Pabbie said this was important which is why he sent us ahead since we're the two fastest diggers."
Erend still looked around nervously at the humans surrounding them, the troll had remembered the stories of how humans wiped out other mythical races. Despite Grand Pabbie's habit to assist them and Bulda actually taking one of them in, Erend was very uncomfortable with being here with just one other troll. The nervous troll leaned over to whisper into his companion's ear so that they couldn't be heard by the humans around them.
"But Bast, don't you remember what the elders taught us? Humans fear anything that they don't understand and try to destroy anything different from them. We've only survived because we've remained in hiding, coming out here in broad daylight seems like a bad idea."
Bast, the troll who still had a frown etched into his face ignored Erend's worries before scanning the crowd of humans before settling on Elsa then waddling up to her. When he was close, he bowed his head in respect before speaking.
"Your Majesty, we're aware of your current situation and have come to offer our assistance. Before I go into the details, your sister wanted me to pass on a message." Elsa's eyes widened as she hurriedly kneeled down next to the troll and grasped his rock shoulders with trembling hands. She had for the most part, buried any worrying thoughts on her sister as the invasion continued because she knew that if she allowed herself a moment to consider them, she'd break down.
"What is it, is Anna ok?!"
Bast raised his hands in a calming gesture before speaking. "Both her and the baby are fine. We found her on the way to Arendelle where she was riding some snow giant who was carrying a woman in his grasp. The Princess wanted me to tell you that she's going to send Marshmallow to help you while she stayed with the Coroan forces who have also come to assist you. The Coroans are just outside the village protecting the people who have fled Arendelle. She also wanted me to tell you that she managed to capture someone called Lust and that she isn't that bad but needed to be locked up. Grand Pabbie sent me and Erend ahead since we're the fastest diggers and is currently building a large enough tunnel with the other trolls that will be able to accommodate people. This is going to take some time which is why he thought it be prudent if I gave you this."
Bast reached into his moss clothing and produced a red stone that sparked every so often. Wrath knew exactly what that was as he got closer and watched Elsa take it in her hands. "Grand Pabbie said that he put a spell on that stone to suppress its powers temporarily. He said that I should get it to you as soon as possible and if I couldn't for any reason, I was to bury it deep underground."
Elsa had a stunned look on her face as she held her hands out for the troll to put her the stone in her hands. The blonde could easily see that this stone belonged to Lust but that wasn't what stunned her. What was so surprising was that Anna had found help and was sending it to assist them and the evacuees had protection. She had worried and pained over the possibility that the people she was able to evacuate were being hunted by the enemy but forced herself to focus on their immediate problems that kept building up one after another. With the knowledge that both the people and her sister safe, she was able to let out a sigh of relief that seemed to be an almost forgotten feeling.
Closing her fingers around the stone and resolving to deal with their new captive soon, Elsa looked at Bast who stared at her waiting for her next question. "Do you know how long the tunnel will take to build and where it lets out at?"
"We started the tunnel at shoreline on the other side of the forest where the Coroans docked. We would've dug the entrance closer but when we looked at the gate, it was occupied by enemy soldiers and we didn't want them to see us. Your sister was about to charge the gate with that snow monster of hers but we found her first and convinced her to go to Kristoff who was worried sick. We then met with the Coroans where the Princess said that she personally came to offer support. The trolls all started right away to dig the tunnel to accommodate humans but given the distance it will take some time. Me and Erend with just the two of us were able to get here after about ten minutes of digging which is extraordinarily fast. If I had to guess how long it would take to build an adequate tunnel all the way here, maybe an hour or two."
Elsa recalled a map of Arendelle in her mind and knew the forest was quite large and was very impressed that these two trolls covered that distance in only ten minutes. If the other trolls could make a tunnel then they all would have a way to escape after rescuing the hostages. Waiting until the deadline looked more appealing but knew that Stonewell's plan worked better the sooner they launched in case the enemy was preparing their own surprises.
The Queen stood up and turned to Stonewell who waiting for her orders. "Captain, we'll initiate your plan after securing our new prisoner. Have your men get into position, if its possible I would like to question this Lust character."
It didn't take long for Stonewell to give out his orders while Bast and Erend dropped back down into the tunnel to help with its constructions. As they were all doing this, Elsa had taken the stone back into the castle which started to spark more after half an hour had passed. Soon, a woman's body started to form in which Elsa had quickly bound her arms and legs with ice bands that encased her shins, torso and forearms behind her back. After doing so, the blonde quickly realized their prisoner was naked as a result from reforming her body so the ice Elemental allowed a thin layer of ice clothing to cover her private areas.
After Lust was properly secured, she was moved into the war room where Elsa, Wrath, Hector, Stonewell, and Ahimoth waited for her to wake up. They didn't have to wait long as she regained consciousness shortly after her entire body reformed. The curvy woman blinked her red eyes a few times to adjust them to her surroundings. She moved to bring her hands to her face but when she found them bound, the woman instantly struggled.
"You're wasting your time."
Lust frowned as she stopped her struggling and looked up at the woman's voice to find her kneeling in front of the entire point of this invasion; Queen Elsa of Arendelle. The Lascivious Sin did a quick sweep of the men around the Elemental and opened her mouth about to enthrall them to do her bidding and capture the blonde, the one closest to her target raised a hand in warning.
"Before you do that, you should know that we know all know about your powers of manipulation. Generally all it would take is you making eye contact then convincing your victims to go along with your whims. If that doesn't work, then you can touch them and that will put them under an even stronger effect. While this is a dangerous ability for humans, it doesn't work on creatures like us, does it Lust?"
The woman took a closer look and noticed the young man's darker skin and his eyes that while wasn't red, had that deep look in them that held a longstanding sense of pain. It didn't take her to recognize this man as one of the seven. She had remembered Talib giving them their objectives for this invasion, the Elemental being one with the highest priority but Wrath was also on that list. For some reason, the Sin had gone off on its own and hadn't been under their control for some time.
When Envy was captured and Greed was forced to imprison the Jealous Sin, the others wondered what could've repelled Envy who was said to have captured the Elemental. It wasn't until Talib told them that Wrath was in Arendelle did it all make sense and explained why the alchemist had brought all the Sins he could. Pride was uncontrollable, even if he was 'educated' Talib didn't trust the Arrogant Sin to follow his orders.
Especially when he got so close to killing Father and only didn't because he didn't know about the failsafe that caught him off guard. Now that he knew about it, Talib was reluctant to engage Pride as the alchemist was sure that failsafe or not, the Arrogant Sin would get his kill if he tried hard enough.
That left the four of them to come to Arendelle. While each of their abilities were impressive and dangerous if used correctly, none of them were specifically made for combat. Pride and Wrath were most often used to engage the enemy head on given their physical characteristics while the other five were used to weaken the enemy from the inside. Gluttony was an exception that could be used for both combat and destabilization of the enemy but given his body, he'd stand no chance against Pride or Wrath alone.
Lust had wondered what kind of person Wrath was, the most she'd heard of him was that he killed a lot of civilians and was in charge of evacuating all of Rakat's forces. He was supposed to be the most vicious out of all of them given he was originally mindless but now that he was intelligent, she heard he got even more dangerous.
Talib expressly told them that engaging Wrath alone would be a death sentence as he was much faster than any of them. If they came across him, either the alchemist himself or a coordinated effort would bring him down.
Being on her knees, bound, and at the mercy of the Furious Sin who knew what she could do and that she couldn't affect him was nerve wracking. Physical pain was a subjective idea for creatures like them, they've had endless pain over the years. Lust on the other hand managed to avoid that by seeking pleasure and surrendering to Talib whenever he so much as looked in her direction. She honestly didn't want to see what Wrath would come up with if he already knew that she wouldn't die from ordinary means.
Seeing her close her mouth and remain silent had Wrath place his hand down and turned to Stonewell who crouched down so that he was eye level with her. "I am going to ask you some questions that only require a yes or no answer which you nod or shake your head, understand."
Lust looked at the old man in front of her and averted her head to the side to show her refusal of cooperation. She may be afraid of whatever pain that Wrath could cause but at the end of the day, all the predator could do was cause her physical pain, Talib could do so much worse.
She heard the old man sighed and expected some sort of blow to get her to cooperate, but he just stood up and called to someone else. "Hey Sobel, why don't you try talking to her?"
Someone got up from their chair from a far corner in the room and ambled over to the bound Sin. When this Sobel character stood in front of her, he didn't bend down to speak with her at first. She chanced a glance up and could see the man turned away from her staring at Wrath who gave him a sullen look but said nothing. After what seemed to be an eternity of the two staring at one another, Sobel turned around and bent down so he was eye level with Lust whose eyes widened in soul-stricken terror.
Seeing Talib staring at her after she had failed at capturing one girl made the Lascivious Sin try to scamper away as best she could with her legs bound. She scooted back a few inches before 'Talib' raised his hands in a calming gesture.
"Relax, I'm not who you think I am, nor am I on their side."
Hearing a voice that held some modicum of emotion lessened the terror that gripped her soul, but the alchemist's face haunted her nightmares, seeing it had the same effect on her despite the voice. Elsa noticed the truly terrified look on the woman's face and she felt a weight in her stomach. If someone who couldn't die and had the ability to manipulate others with just her voice feared someone that much, then the blonde was apprehensive to the threat they were about to face.
Garret wasn't surprised to see the terror in the woman's eyes as he knew what terrible things Talib was capable of in his pursuit for knowledge. Even without Father giving him orders, the alchemist had no qualms of using lives to further his goals due to his belief that the end would justify the means and humans would kill one another over less anyway. To him, humans should feel content that their deaths would help him achieve his worthy goal.
"Listen, I understand the fear you have for this face but I promise you, I'm not Talib nor am I one of the versions he has under his control. In fact, it'd be interesting for you to know that Talib is actually a version of me and not the other way around. As such, he has no power over me. You fear that he'll punish you for your failure but you should consider the situation and opportunity that you have right now. Talib will not make a move on the castle unless it was his absolute last option, the reason why he chose to sit back and let this all play out is because he's afraid of Queen Elsa."
The notion that that monster was afraid of anything was ridiculous to Lust but she recalled all the warnings Talib said about not engaging the Elemental and allowing Hans and his army deal with her. The Sin wondered why he himself never strolled up to the castle and capture her himself instead of just sitting in the clocktower. Perhaps he deemed it a waste of effort on his part but if that were the case, why bring all of them along with him to assist Hans if he could do it alone? She never considered the possibility that he was scared but when the thought crossed her mind, she tried to dispel it. She didn't want him to know that she doubted his power for a second, her object lesson last time left her scarred.
Lust closed her eyes and continued to scoot away from the bespectacled man, her fear of the alchemist proving all too consuming. Garret considered probing her mind and forcing her to tell them what she knew but berated himself, Talib would do that, not him. Standing up, he turned to Elsa and shook his head.
"I apologize Your Majesty, her fear of Talib will not allow her to betray him by giving us information. I understand the dire situation but will not force her to tell us what she knows. I'm sorry I couldn't be of more assistance."
Elsa shook her head. "Please think nothing of it. I do not expect you to force her compliance nor will I do so as well. If she will not tell us anything then all we can do now is imprison her underground where she can't do any more damage." The blonde turned to Wrath who was next to her. "Could you please escort her underground Edward, it'll be much safer given that you are immune to her abilities."
Wrath nodded and took a step forward to carry out his task when Garret spoke again. "If its permissible Your Majesty, I would like to accompany Edward to securing her underground, in case she has a change of heart."
Elsa narrowed her eyes at man as Wrath remained facing forward so no one could see his facial expression or get an insight of what he was thinking. The blonde was on the verge of denying the man's request until Stonewell put a hand on her shoulder, causing her to look at him giving her a nod. She hesitated but in the end she nodded and watched Wrath pick up Lust bridal style and walked with Garret behind him.
The walk to the underground tunnel was quiet between the two, as if both were trying to figure out what to say. Wrath had taken upon himself to blindfold Lust so she could not see whatever direction they were going in but as they walked deeper underground, the footsteps behind him seemed to echo louder and louder. Once they were deep enough, Wrath gently put her down and secured Lust to a torch holder and told her that they would be back for her after everything was over. She said nothing as the predator walked off passing the bespectacled man watched the two of them from a distance.
"Do you even remember them?"
Wrath halted as Garret's question filled the quiet tunnel. The predator honestly wasn't exactly sure who the man was talking about but had a pretty good guess. "Rahim does."
Sobel scoffed before laughing bitterly, the desire to say the hell with Stonewell's request and follow his base instincts grew exponentially.
"I'm sure my son remembers. After all, he became a monster thanks to you. Spent his entire life focused only on you and when he finally achieved his goal, you take his body."
It wasn't hard to feel the father's anger and his thoughts were all about the slow spiral his son went down as he became human less and less as the years went by. Wrath didn't personally hate Talib as he never wasted a thought on it since he more or less remained in his cage so he didn't have an extreme reaction to Garret like Edward did. If anything, that reaction would've came from Rahim if he were alive today.
Wrath was more logical than Edward, the lack of feelings the predator had attributed to that. At least that was the case until little by little, he began to develop his own feelings that while were independent of Edward's coincided with them multiple times. The guilt over killing his victims echoed in his soul many times over that he tried repressing that feeling to no avail. When he switched with Edward earlier, the young man was in so much emotional turmoil that it began to effect the predator. To alleviate that, he swapped places with the young man, hoping that if he focused entirely on the situation in a logical manner, those feelings would disappear.
However, a certain blonde made it easy to see that Wrath couldn't be entirely void of emotions anymore.
So, to be faced with the father of one of his victims that Wrath could feel the emotional anguish that still lingered in the man's soul, made that guilty feeling return in full force. The predator was at a lost what to do. Usually, one would apologize for whatever wrong that they committed but what would that do? Wrath had already killed both the man's wife as well as one of his sons, and to add insult to injury, he was parading around in that son's body. What would saying sorry do besides patronize the man who had spent years grieving over it?
If Garret made a move right now, the predator wouldn't have done anything to stop it. He now had a small understanding of what Rahim and Garret must've felt when he thought Lina was killed right in front of him. That all consuming rage that washed over him following the crippling sadness and panic that came from losing someone. Wrath logically knew what a family was but had no idea what it felt like to be a part of one.
He was alone, and until coming to Arendelle, it never occurred to him how terrible it felt.
Wrath turned around to face Garret and let out a deep sigh. "I've been the cause of so many people's pain over the years and it never occurred to me to even consider how they might've felt. Now that I have the ability to, I realize what I've done to you is truly unforgivable. I can't begin to imagine losing someone you loved so deeply, your anger can only give me a brief whiff of it that weighs heavy in my mind. I can't take back the pain I've caused you or anyone else, if you believe that taking my life will heal even a small portion of your pain, then I won't stop you."
Sobel's breathing picked up as his face morphed into disbelief laced with anger. Wrath the Furious, the thing that took his old life away from him was offering his life? The man had to stop himself from taking the predator's words to heart and killing him right then and there. As much as he hated to admit it, he couldn't kill Wrath because his son was still inside the predator's body.
The man hesitated, was right now his chance? He couldn't tell if Wrath was lying or not but if the predator was telling the truth and he really did feel sorry for all the things he did then it was possible that he could get his son back right now. It was tempting, so tempting but in the back of his mind, he remembered Stonewell who was counting on Wrath's help to repel the invasion. The two of them weren't friends, just acquaintances brought together by the late King, but they both had an understanding of the kind of pain that comes from losing everything.
Betraying and perhaps damning Arendelle to save his son left a lead weight in his stomach but in the back of his mind, a voice asked him what did he owe these humans?
Wasn't his first priority his family?
The answer to that question would always be yes but another voice in his head asked him, would Dawn or Haruna ever agree with this? Dawn was the first person who saw him as something more than a tool and loved him first. Haruna managed to break through his pain and rekindle the love that he thought he had discarded so long ago. Both of their opinions mattered greatly to him. He knew neither would go along with this and if he carried out his plan without consulting them, both would've been terribly disappointed in him.
But this was his son!
The one he failed the most.
He was able to be a positive presence in Shahbaz's life if only for a short time but he never met Rahim before. His first time holding his youngest was when he was pulling the boy from his lifeless mother's arms. Garret allowed Talib to take the young boy and destroy any chance at having a normal life. Talib was Rahim's father and when Sobel first met his son in that forest, he couldn't blame Rahim's reaction to him.
Garret promised he'd free his son, now was the best chance to do so.
His earlier trepidation about asking Wrath to give his life to free his son lessened as his mind continued to barrage him with thoughts of his son. He pushed out Dawn and Haruna's looks of disappointment as he opened his mouth about to ask. The lives of everyone in Arendelle were less than nothing to him in this moment, all he was fighting for was his son, Wrath couldn't possibly argue his own life was worth more than that after admitting to all the pain he caused.
Just as he was about to ask Wrath, Stonewell's words flashed in his mind. They were finishing up finalizing the terms of their deal when the Captain asked, "How sure are you that Wrath is still the same mindless creature that doesn't have a shred of feeling inside him?" Garret responded that he didn't care if the predator grew a brain or not, at his core, he'll always be the monster who killed his wife. Stonewell agreed that fact would never change but that didn't mean Wrath as a person couldn't change. The old man continued saying that if someone wanted to change, shouldn't they have the chance to?
Garret at the time couldn't understand why Stonewell was attempting to defend Wrath when they both knew that for Rahim to return, Wrath would die. Their agreement guaranteed that outcome, in exchange for his help, Garret would be allowed to free his son. Why the Captain would waste his breath trying to plead someone's case when he himself condemned them to death was unfathomable to Garret.
He thought he had completely dismissed those thoughts from his mind but with Wrath's rather guilty and accepting disposition, he found himself asking a different question entirely.
"What are you doing?"
The predator continued to stare into the father's eyes making no move to provide an answer.
"Why do you even care what happens to those humans above us? You've killed anything in front of you without so much as a shred of hesitation and now what, it all finally occurred to you that what you did was wrong? You've had a mind for some time now, and you still killed innocent families without any hesitation, what changed? What is the cause of this so-called remorse that you magically developed when your master is likely waiting out there ready to tell you to kill again?"
Wrath looked down as he considered the question for a few moments before he opened his mouth.
"I don't know…"
Garret was about to take a step forward and damn all of Arendelle when Wrath spoke again.
"For as long as I can remember, I was alone in the dark. The only light I ever saw was when I was let out to kill and honestly, I don't think it ever crossed my mind what I was doing as long as I was let out. Even when I was mindless, I think I still knew I had nothing, so I started to take weapons and put them in my cage. Every time I touched one, the memory of that kill would play in my head and it helped pass the time in the darkness. Just seeing another person even if it was just a memory kept me company I guess but now that I can actually think, I know how utterly pointless it is. I had forgotten what the sky looked like every time I was put back in my cage and now that I can look up at the sky anytime I want, I go back in my cage like a good pet. Life to me was just killing and trying to remember what the world looked like outside my cage. I didn't care about anything; why should I? Talib made it clear what I was and all I was meant for, what point was there thinking anything outside that? For a long time, that's what I thought. I just killed then returned to my cage until I was needed again…"
The predator spoke in a despondent tone that echoed in each word he spoke that illustrated the depressing reality that he had lived.
"Then I came here and gradually things began to change. For once, no one ordered me to do anything. I could do whatever I wanted. I warred with myself between returning to Father's service or going somewhere I could be alone so I wouldn't hurt anyone again. I don't know where those feelings of guilt came from but I still didn't feel them, I tried to hold on to my base instincts of being a weapon but the more I tried, the harder it became to do so. I tried to kill Elsa, but I couldn't, never has my body froze when I had every intention of killing someone. It was then I felt them, all the hate those weapons I collected had for me. They all gnawed at my soul so much, forcing me to realize I regretted doing the things I did. I don't know why this is happening to me, all I can think about is that the people here are in trouble. Each one of them I see hurt or killed is another stab in my soul that leaves me breathless. I don't know why I care but I do, Rahim's mind tells me that what I'm feeling is a connection to these people as well as a form of love for some of them but is it really possible for something like me to truly feel those things? Are those even my feelings, maybe their Rahim's. All the theories I come up with don't change the fact that my body just continues to act, that my soul is telling me, screaming at me to help them whatever way I can. But looking at you, reminds me that I'm still the monster who caused so much pain in the past and my victims deserve their chance to find peace, even that means my death."
Garret was stunned by the heartfelt explanation that Wrath just gave him. He thought the predator might be faking his remorse but the depth of his words was essentially bottomless.
More than that, Garret had felt the same way once upon a time.
He remembered when he was freed for the first time and didn't know what to do either. His soul warred with itself about returning to Father's service as it had been all he'd ever known but events led to him creating a family. His life that he never thought to question was now filled with new questions every single day. Wrath had also described how he started to feel as well, it was gradual, almost unnoticeable until they were so powerful you couldn't ignore. They screamed at you to do something and it was almost impossible to ignore them.
As sure as Garret was that he loved his family, he always questioned if this was what love truly felt like. He logically knew what it was but the feeling was both exhilarating and terrifying. It was like standing over the edge of a cliff waiting for the ok to jump. You feared falling but the excitement of being with what lied below compelled you to want to jump. The longer you waited on top of that cliff the happier you were that you don't have to jump but the longing of not being with what lied below which could be everything you ever wanted.
It was a paradox that Garret couldn't explain but knew it existed.
Such a theory would never come out of Talib's mouth who believed in only logic and taught his creations the same. Even if they were ruled by their emotions as well as their Sins, all of them believed themselves better than humans.
The Wrath in front of him though was different. Garret could easily see the emotions that swirled in his eyes, there was longing in them, great sadness, but also hope. It was tiny speck that one could easily miss but it was there. What hope did Wrath have, what could he possibly want in this bleak life that he had?
The more Garret thought about it, the more sullen he became. He had wanted Wrath to be the same monster he remembered all those years ago. Meeting him again in Arendelle when the predator acted so hostile toward him was surprising but ultimately didn't give the man any pause like this Wrath did. Dawn and Haruna would definitely be disappointed in him if he decided to take Wrath's life right now.
Because right now in this moment, Wrath was exactly like he was when they found him.
He made Rahim a promise, but he couldn't do it. He couldn't sacrifice all of Arendelle to bring him back. Garret knew now what Stonewell meant; this Wrath would protect the people of this kingdom. The man could see it in the predator's eyes, the resigned determination to try and make the most out of his wretched existence.
Garret screwed his eyes shut as a few tears went down his face and sent a silent apology to Rahim that he had to extend his son's imprisonment a little longer. "There's no sense in you allowing yourself to be killed. If you did that, then I'm sure more people would die, you should get going, the battle ahead of you will be difficult if not impossible. Arendelle will need all the help they can get."
Wrath looked up in surprise and was about to say something but thought better of it when he saw the man's face. It must've killed him to say those words so the predator didn't say anything more to make this harder for him and took off to carry out the Captain's plan. The sound of muffled sobbing behind him added even more guilt to the mountain that weighed on his shoulders.
Wrath didn't know what he should think, he was fully prepared for Garret to kill him but the man let him go to protect Arendelle. With all the pain that the predator caused him, the man was well within his rights to take revenge but he let Wrath go. The Sin couldn't begin to wonder why. Wrath knew what he did was incredibly stupid considering the situation but what right did he have to deny someone a semblance of peace? Elsa would've been pissed if she found out but Wrath honestly didn't know what else he could do.
He couldn't be a weapon anymore.
What kind of future was left for someone like him? What kind of future did he even want for himself? No matter how much he thought about it, no answer came to mind.
As he continued to think about it while heading to the war room, an echoing snap reached his ears before his mind exploded with loud indescribable voices. It was so disorientating that he took a knee which alerted Klein and Stonewell who both kneeled next to him. He could hear them asking what was wrong but all he could focus on were the numerous points of view that showed both Southern Isles and Weselton troops being torn apart and ambushed. The images were horrifying however depressingly familiar as he took a moment to adjust before being able to focus on his own point of view and spoke to the two men next to him.
"Things just got a whole lot worse."
Hey guys new chapter, hoped you enjoyed Garret and Wrath finally meeting and having a heart to heart. Hope it was impactful or well written, if it was neither, please let me know in the reviews. Also, hope you all also enjoyed the little comedy with the troll being shot in the ass which I doubt they'd say since they aren't human and shouldn't have such vulgar language. XD anyway I sorta on vacation right now but people keep bothering me so haven't had time to myself, hopefully that changes soon. Look out for a new chapter and I hope you all continue to enjoy this fanfic.