Shoutouts to sovietgod03,,Guardian246,Power Is Everything for the favorite/follow
In response to reviewer Visitor: thank you for the opinion, it feels a little long in my opinion but I'm glad you're liking it.
In response to reviewer OGGuy21: thank you so very much for that I am happy you this is your very first fic and hope you continue to stay tuned
In response to reviewer Pup: in regards to Elsa's abilities I can only say that you must wait for her character arc to have your answer. As for the lore, thank you for thinking so and there is actually a lot more in store lore wise as the whole story isn't revealed yet. Much of it will be finished in the character arcs as Edward still has to come to terms with what he is.
The doctors had been really frantic today as they gathered all the patients and tried to rush them out of the hospital. For Lina, it had been a regular day when she was sitting in her bed and looking at the ice sculpture Queen Elsa gave her when she visited with Edward. Thinking about the young man made the little girl feel weird. She remembered all the times he was such a nice person to her and all the nice things her big brother said about him but the other day, he was completely different.
She watched him toss around other people doing their jobs and even her brother before beating an older man who asked him to stop. That wasn't like the Eddy she knew, the Eddy she knew would talk and try to work things out. She was scared of the Eddy she saw that day, he had such an intense look on his face that he didn't even look at Cameron when he tried to calm him down. The little girl wondered what could've happened to her friend to make him act such a way.
As she continued to have these thoughts, the noise outside got louder and louder until a nurse opened her door and told her to come with them quickly. Lina didn't know what was going on but the fearful look on their face had her get out of bed and follow the nurse while holding onto her ice sculpture. The nurse took her to the front of the building where all the other patients were there and she was grouped with all the other dozen little kids.
There was a commotion going on at the front entrance that had men wearing the same uniform as her brother running in with rifles and swords on their belts talking to the doctors. The grown ups talked for a moment while the commotion outside got louder and louder. Lina held on tightly to her sculpture and wished her brother was here right now.
After the adults finished speaking, one of the men with a uniform faced the kids with a stern look in his eye. "Listen, you all will follow me and do what I say. Stay together and keep your heads down ok?" He spoke in a harsh tone but Lina could tell that he wasn't aiming it at them, she could see it in his eyes that this was really important. The kids nodded and the man walked to the entrance and spoke to some more men then gestured for the kids to follow him.
When the doors to the hospital opened, the little girl now knew what the sounds outside were. She could see burning buildings and other men in uniforms down the road pressing themselves against buildings and firing their rifles. There was yelling all around her and the gunshots made her want to cover her ears but the man in uniform pointed away from the other guards and toward the gate into Arendelle.
"We're going this way, follow me and stay together!" The man gestured for a few other guards to follow him and their group began to move. They were following a route that had guards a few buildings ahead of them shooting at something so their route was relatively quiet compared to a few buildings down. Lina could see other people running along the route being guided by guards toward the gate. As she ran, she briefly wondered if her brother was one of the men protecting them next to the buildings ahead of them. Even though she knew that he was a castle guard, he told her that he patrolled the village every once in a while.
She wanted to ask the guard leading them toward the gate if he knew where her brother was but he was too busy looking ahead and at the line of guards defending their route. Her group passed a few buildings before getting to the town square which meant that they were halfway there to the gate. Lina could see the large clocktower that stood in the town square and as she looked at the top, she saw someone sitting there near the edge. She couldn't make them out as they were too high and the smoke covered them but she could see their outline.
The little girl wondered who was up and why would they be sitting up there with so much going on? A loud bang made her jump as the man leading her group stopped and pointed his rifle in front of them. Lina looked from behind him to see three scary men with the same skin and hair as Edward but their eyes were glowing red as they stood in their path. The guards in her group all moved forward and made a firing line in front of the children, all of them pointing their weapons at the scary men.
"Move now or be shot!"
The guard leading her group shouted at the men with his finger on the trigger. The men said nothing and the guards prepped their rifles to fire. Lina, not wanting to see anyone die, closed her eyes as she expected to hear gunshots go off any second.
"Drop your weapons!"
Another voice behind them made the little girl open her eyes as men with different uniforms than her brother's, all aimed their rifles at the guards. The guard leading them grimaced as he looked at the scary men in front of them and the men behind then finally at the children before laying his rifle down. The other guards followed his lead and laid down their weapons as they placed their hands on their heads and kneeled down.
The other uniformed men quickly surrounded them and separated the children from the guards. The guards were being watched by the men with rifles while the children were left with one of the scary men who just stared at all of them. Lina watched more people get caught and brought to the town square, guards always being separated from the civilians. The little girl kept holding onto her sculpture of her big brother and hoped that it would make everything ok but the scary man above her started to stare intensely at her and she closed her eyes so she didn't have to meet his gaze.
Cameron, please come get me...
Kristoff was sweating bullets right now, he knew they had been gone longer than three hours and Stonewell was liable to take away his ability to have more kids if they didn't hurry back. The problem was that once everyone found out that Anna was pregnant, they got really excited and started celebrating. As always the trolls went over the top and the entire valley was abuzz with the news.
All except Grand Pabbie who seemed terribly bothered by something.
The mountain man hadn't noticed it at first but the elder troll had been staring off into the distance for the longest time. His features were troubled before growing grimmer and grimmer. Anna had been too busy being bounced around but Kristoff, knowing how to navigate the sea of trolls without getting caught, walked over to Grand Pabbie and nudged him.
"Are you ok, you seem distracted?"
"Kristoff, did you see anyone following you on your way here?"
The mountain man had not been asked that question in a long time. He knew of the trolls' preference to remain secret and taught the ice harvester when he was young how to avoid people following him. Kristoff took these lessons to heart and always hid his tracks well when he came out this way. Even when he was bringing new people he would still take the long way here that if one didn't have a map or traveled it often would get lost.
"No, I made sure to check behind me and take the long way around. Why do you ask?"
The troll's face grew dark as he answered. "Because someone is here, and they are not human."
As the troll said that, a shouts started coming from the gate to the valley. The trolls all heard them and immediately turned into stones, dropping Anna in the process. Kristoff, Anna, and Sven looked to the gate to see Arendellian guards rushing their way with a look of fear on their faces.
"Your HIghnesses, Arendelle is being attacked! An invasion fleet has approached by sea and has already taken the harbor. The Queen has ordered a full evacuation, and asked us to bring you to her right away!"
Anna gasped as she heard the news and quickly runned to the guard and looked at him with panicked eyes. "Is Elsa ok?! How is this castle?!"
"The castle has not been attacked yet but the enemy is still on the move we must hurry!"
The redhead agreed wholeheartedly as she turned to Kristoff and Sven then called for them to hurry up and come on. The reindeer immediately hopped to while the mountain man stayed where he was. Grand Pabbie's earlier warning was still playing over and over in his head and he also wondered how the guards knew how to find this place. He made sure on his way here that no one followed them. While it had been longer than three hours, any guards sent wouldn't have found them this soon and even if they were dispatched as soon as the couple left, Kristoff was sure he'd see an invasion fleet approaching as he was leaving.
Elsa could've given them the map to where the trolls lived but why not send Edward who definitely knew where they were? Even if the young man was busy and she had to send regular guards to find them, one thing didn't add up.
If Arendelle was really being attacked, Elsa wouldn't want Anna anywhere near the capitol.
Kristoff looked at each of the mens' faces and he knew all of them. Garen, the one who was speaking, had gone out drinking with him the night before he got married. All of them were loyal and good men to be around so that made him more inclined to trust them yet something was still off. His reluctance to go must've been obvious as Anna ran up to him and shook a few times trying to get him to move.
"Kristoff, we need to hurry, Elsa needs us!"
The mountain man placed his hands on his wife's shoulders and leaned down so he could whisper to her. "Anna, wait a second, doesn't this seem a little fishy to you? How did these guys get here and do you really think Elsa would want you in a warzone? The Elsa I know would send you far away for the same reason she ordered an evacuation."
The redhead looked at him and was quick to argue against his logical thinking but was interrupted when Garen spoke again. "Your Highnesses we must go now, before Wrath goes on a rampage!"
That made the two royals freeze as they stared at Garen. How did he know about Wrath? That was a closely guarded secret that Elsa had explained would remain secret for as long as possible. Even after Rahim's attack and Edward coming back as Wrath, no guards were present for that event. Plus, Edward was on their side, judging by the way he spoke, it sounded like the guard was afraid they were fighting a devil.
The redhead started to agree with her husband's points and was reluctant to go with them as well. While she desperately wanted to go see her sister, she had to play it smart right now and try to figure out what was really going on here.
"Garen, you did good to come here but I think it would be better if we remained here. No one knows where this place is and if Wrath does go on a rampage, it'll take him time to get up here."
Kristoff gave his wife a look as she tried to put on a convincing mask to make it seem like she was serious. Garen must've thought so because his face froze and he then started to mutter to himself. The other guards behind him also looked indecisive before all at once they looked up and aimed their rifles at the couple.
"I'm sorry, Your Highnesses, but it's for your own good, we must return to Arendelle for her."
The ice harvester instantly pushed Anna behind him as he faced down their firearms but then vines shot out and grabbed the rifles out the guards' hands then another set tied up their ankles. The vines jerked and all of them fell to the ground before roots dug themselves out of the ground and pinned them to the Earth. As soon as they were immobilized, the trolls all revealed themselves and looked less than pleased that someone dared to threaten the royal couple.
Bulda even rolled up and had the angriest expression that Kristoff had ever seen on her face. She waddled over to Garen and looked him in the eye while speaking in a low dangerous tone. "No one hurts my babies, got that, no one. I hope you don't have plans tonight because I'm about to show you some of our old fashioned hospitality."
Garen began to mutter to himself while his face grew desperate as he fought hard against his restraints. "Mustn't fail her. I must show her that I'm the one. She must be mine!" He continued to thrash in his bindings as did the rest of the guards who also muttered more or less the same thing.
Grand Pabbie unrolled himself and waddled up to Garen and placed his hand on the guard's head and closed his eyes. The troll could feel that something was going on the man's head. It felt like there was a disturbance in his mind, like something was interfering with his thoughts, the more the elder troll tried to look into the guard's thoughts, the more the disturbance fought back. The troll focused even harder on trying to carefully clear the veil as he didn't want to damage the guard's mind, it took some effort but soon he was able to see the memories he was looking for.
Garen and the other guards were sent out by Captain Stonewell to keep an eye on the royal couple in case something went wrong. The guards pursued the couple at a distance and were able to get a general idea where they were going. As they continued following the trail, they came across a woman. She asked for their help and when they went to assist her, that was when the interference began.
Her voice entranced them, then her touches made them bow to her will. The memories were clear but the mind wasn't, all it could feel was want, it longed for her touch, the men wanted her more than they wanted air. She told them to bring Anna and Kristoff back to Arendelle before Wrath went on a rampage and she would give them what they wanted. All the guards fervently continued on their way to do what she asked them to do.
The troll opened his eyes and turned to Anna and Kristoff who looked betrayed as they saw the look on the guards' faces. "Do not blame them, their minds are not their own. Someone is influencing them to act this way."
"Who?"
Grand Pabbie removed his hand from the guard's head and an image appeared, in the image was a tan skinned woman with red eyes. She had a sweet smile on her face but the expression on the troll's face said she was anything but.
"I believe she is the one who ordered these men to come after you. From what I can tell, I think she is like Edward, one of those creatures I told you about."
Kristoff took a hard look at her and could say that she was very beautiful but still couldn't compare to his wife. From what he could see, her eyes weren't as glaring as Edward's used to be whenever he or Wrath had red eyes, hers were just dull and looked natural. He wouldn't have been able to tell if she was like Edward or not just by glancing at her. Anna on the other hand looked at her and could see right past that sweet smile of hers and got a bad vibe off her.
"Well if she thinks she can lie about my sister being in trouble and get away with it then I'm gonna give her a piece of my mind!" The redhead started to march off in the direction of the entrance to the valley before Kristoff ran in front of her to stop her and calm her down.
"Woah there feisty pants, what part of 'one of those creatures' did you not understand? I get that you can handle anything and all but I don't think you should rush off to fight one of those things, trust me, they are really bad news."
Memories of his encounter with Envy were still fresh in his mind despite not actively being in the fight as Edward and Ahimoth were.
Anna's face beginning to go red with anger was about to argue against the mountain man when the troll spoke again. "I'm afraid to say that she might not have been lying." The redhead turned to the elder to see a very grave look on the troll's face.
"I sense that there is much more dark magic in Arendelle now than it has been ever. I fear that something horrible is occurring right now and if nothing is done, then a terrible path will be set for us." Anna's face lost its anger and it turned to worry as her mind could only think of one thing.
Elsa…
"We have to go back…"
Both Kristoff and Grand Pabbie heard her mutter that to herself but didn't say anything but look at her in shock. She repeated what she said louder and with more urgency that shook the two of them out of their stupor. The ice harvester had a nervous look on his face but the desperate look on his wife's face had him reluctantly nodding while the troll seemed deep in thought. He watched the two call for Sven and were about to ride out of the valley when he called after them.
"You will not be going alone."
All at once, all the trolls rolled up together ready to go with the married couple. The usually reclusive inhabitants of the Valley of the Living Rock were about to reveal themselves to the world once again. Those who came before would have objected to this but Grand Pabbie was not one to abandon those he cared about.
Lust was sitting on a high branch on an extremely tall tree that overlooked Arendelle. From there she could see over the ice wall that covered the ridgeline and could see the village burning. Such a sight should've elated her but in reality, it made her sad. While she detested humans and viewed the males of the species as hormonal dogs who didn't have a shred of decency, part of her felt that this was wrong.
Whenever she slept with a man, she could get them to tell her essentially anything. All the dark little secrets that they hid so they could go out into the world without being seen as the sick twisted people they are. She would learn their darkest secrets and would then kill them as was her pleasure. It was admittedly a petty way to exact revenge on the rapists who had their way with Rin but it felt so damn good to stoke a man's disgusting lustful urges and kill them, as she was sure they would go and hurt another woman later.
Yet there were some sweet boys who longed to find the love of their lives. They would have lust for sure but they longed for a connection that Lust couldn't bring herself to snuff out despite wanting to. She'd leave those few alive and erase the encounter from their minds so she wouldn't have to kill them if they ever sought her out again.
As much as she tried to say that humans needed to be educated, that they needed to be made better; part of her mind couldn't help but think that there were good men down there dying protecting what they loved. Gluttony would likely tell her that she needed to remember who she was and why she was who she was.
She's not Rin anymore; she's Lust, and her desire was to educate all the men in the world so there wouldn't be anymore victims like Rin ever again. It was a noble goal and sometimes those goals required spilling blood. James spilled plenty of blood to protect Rin, in fact he spilled so much that some would call it over-indulgent. It was probably what got him the Sin Gluttony, just the slightest provocation that someone wanted to violate Rin and James would kill them in an instant.
James was the best man she's ever known. He protected her as much as he could and would feel genuine sorrow for when he failed her and would beg for her forgiveness. He made her feel like she mattered more than being just a piece of ass for the next desperate soldier. If he says what they're doing was right then she'd believe him. Those few good men who were dying because of their actions would be the price paid to better humanity.
Lust had to believe that.
If she didn't, then her own human emotions she tried so long to suppress would plague her with guilt.
Even those guards she ensnared recently to capture the Prince and Princess, all those men weren't bad. She could just tell they were loyal soldiers who were good natured. Some of them might even have girlfriends that they haven't reached the love stage yet. After capturing the royal couple, she was going to have them return to Arendelle to protect their home. While it did add to her enemy's battle strength, if only marginally, she knew that at the end of the day, it really didn't matter how strong the enemy was.
Talib was in Arendelle, the monster that made seven nightmares was watching the war unfold from his vantage point. Ready and waiting for the invasion to fail so he can do things his way that would undoubtedly turn Arendelle into a graveyard. The only likely survivor would be the Elemental he was so curious in and he'd probably capture Elsa after wiping everyone else out.
As far as Lust knew, no one could match Talib.
While she had a healthy fear of Father, the alchemist's temper tantrum in Weselton showed her that he was a monster on his own. Ever since then whenever she would see him, flashes of what happened would go off in her mind and she would do anything he'd say to remain on his good side. Even if that meant potentially endangering Father's plan by attempting to capture Queen Elsa rather than kill her.
The alchemist seemed awfully curious about the Elemental as he heard the stories of what she'd done at her coronation and suggested to Greed that capturing her would be beneficial. Lust didn't particularly care why he was so interested in the Queen but she did feel a pang of sympathy for the Elemental.
Because every interest of Talib's always ended up dissected so he'd know all their secrets.
The things Talibs was sure to do to the Queen were far graver than the atrocities ever committed to Rin. Because of that, Lust actually hoped that the Queen could avoid such a fate as the Sin didn't want any woman being violated by a monster. However, her fear of the alchemist as well as her identity left her no choice in the matter.
The woman sighed, she had to just believe that it was ultimately best for humanity in the long run.
The lascivious Sin heard the rustle of bushes below her and assumed that those guards had returned with the royal couple. Hopping off the branch, Lust raced toward the ground and before she could smash into it, a surge of black dust erupted from her body slowing her descent and allowing her to gently touch the ground. She expected to see the men with the royal couple but was instead met with the sight of the royal couple racing her way on what seemed to be a reindeer being followed by a rock slide.
Lust recognized her targets were coming her way and that she should capture them but standing here and doing so would cause her and them to be hit by the rock slide. She'll heal but she'd rather not have to drag their bodies if they were killed or crushed by the rocks. Which left her no other choice but to hop onto a branch and allow them to pass underneath her.
The redhead on the reindeer looked back with a glare at the red eyed woman but continued forward to Arendelle with great speed. As Lust continued to watch them go, she estimated it would take them a few minutes before they could see the gate to Arendelle. She wished she could've let them go but like she thought earlier, it wasn't up to her. Her red eyes began to grow brighter as black dust started to leak from her.
She hated doing this but she would not go through what Talib did to her and James again.
Even if she had to become the monster that she kept hidden inside.
Edward stuck to the rooftops as it seemed that the invasion force did not have the capability to traverse the buildings and would rather fight on the ground. The smoke from the fires provided excellent cover for him to quickly move through the warring village without attracting attention. He hadn't seen the soldiers that first attacked him for some time but he did see squads of Weselton and Southern Isle soldiers.
They moved as a unit and continued to fire at the defending forces of Arendelle, their vast numbers giving them the manpower to continue pushing the guard back. The young man wanted to jump down there and help repel the enemy but he was smart enough to know that blindly jumping in would result in chaos.
Even if he jumped dead center in the enemy midst, he would be surrounded by all sides and despite how strong or fast he was, sooner or later one of them would get a lucky hit if he didn't keep them all in his line of vision. He could try to pick them off one at a time but that would take way too long and there was also the possibility that the Arendelle guard could shoot him by mistake firing at the enemy.
Besides, he wanted to know what was with that shrill sound coming from the town square. It was vaguely familiar that teased his mind and convinced him that he had it on the tip of his tongue. It pulled at his instincts in a way that made him wonder if that noise was specifically for him. As he headed toward the source of the sound, he had to do his best to ignore all of the feelings of rage that were all around him.
The battlefield brought out such negative emotions easily and he could feel from both sides their anger. Such a feeling should have been rejuvenating but it was distracting as it sounded like a thousand people whispering in his ear at the same time. The young man did his best to block it out and refrain from trying to read the thoughts of all those throes of rage.
The repeating iterations of flintlocks were a welcome distraction as they would fill the air and drown out the whispers in his ears. There were some soldiers who would see his silhouette and fire at it but he was already out the way before they pulled the trigger. It didn't take him too long to reach a building overlooking the town square with the clocktower on the adjacent side. Crouching down on the side of the off and looking over the lip he could see that the enemy were capturing civilians and guards then separating them.
Usually, this would throw up red flags in his mind as he expected the enemy soldiers to execute the captured combatants but fortunately that didn't seem to be the case. It was likely that they planned on using the prisoners to force Elsa to surrender in fear of her using her powers. While they might assume she was an omnipotent force of nature, the young man had a better sense of her abilities.
Those two ice walls she created to block the incoming cannon fire would take a lot of stamina and would surely leave her in a disoriented state. In such a state, she couldn't be expected to be able to conduct her magic in such a pinpoint way that only the enemy would be affected and not her people who were captured. She was more likely to create a minor snowstorm to put out the fires of the buildings to lessen the structural damage.
Edward expected that quite a while ago but remembered that she had fallen off her horse and had no idea the state she was in. He tried not to, but images of her falling on her head and bleeding to death flashed through his mind or her hitting her back and a rib pierced her lung drowning her in blood. Even more flashes of multiple ways she could've died filled his mind and he tried to force his mind to focus on the situation at hand.
Fortunately, it seemed that the blonde's magic had a mind of its own because the mark on his shoulder actually grew colder and sent a refreshing chill through his veins. Edward didn't know if he was imagining it or not but didn't care, the chill helped banish the grim visions his mind created and got him to focus on the enemy below him.
So far, he could see several armed squads surrounding the captured guards with their rifles trained on them. The civilians were all being seperated into groups of what seemed to be twenty or so and were all guarded by one soldier each. As the young man focused his attention on the single soldiers, he realized that they were the ones who ambushed him with Greed.
He could count out only four of them guarding civilians while there were roughly thirty or so soldiers securing their prisoners. They were all in an open space with tall buildings surrounding them. If it were just him and the enemy, he could wipe them out on his own but as they had hostages, he knew he couldn't charge in blindly. The tall buildings surrounding them would make great vantage points for some allies to see their targets before getting in position and getting the drop on them. With a synchronized assault, they would be able to save the hostages without anyone getting killed.
It was a good plan, one that Rahim had employed multiple times with the Mystic Guard that were usually successful. Only problem being that he was currently alone right now and the only Mystic Guard members were likely with Ahimoth. Edward had seen invasion troops search the other ships and was sure that Ahimoth would see it coming and act accordingly. The Prince of Blackdust was likely to realize that he couldn't take an entire army with the men he brought in a head on confrontation.
Instead, he was likely to hide and destabilize the enemy by taking out their powder stores, assassinating any form of command, compromise communications, etc. As nice it would be for the young man to find the envoy from Blackdust and come up with a refined plan to save the hostages, Edward knew they would be hard to find busy doing what they did best.
So for now, he was on his own.
As he considered his options, he continued to skim over the hostages searching for anyone who was killed but stopped on a group of children being watched by one of his ambushers. From here, he could make out Lina grasping something tightly in her hands while curled in a ball. The shock upon seeing her was staggering but his mind went silent save for one thought.
I need to go get her now.
He commanded his body to drop down and tear a path to the little girl but his body jerked and he was frozen by his own muscles.
Calm down, going down there without a plan will make things worse.
Edward ignored the predator's words and tried to fight against his hold. Lina needed help now! There was no telling what those guys planned to do with her and the young man knew that if one hair on her head was hurt and he could've done something, then the guilt would eat him alive. What would he tell Cameron if something did happen? That little girl was all he had since his parents died.
He was her big brother, he basically became a parent when they left her to him and he would be devastated if anything happened to her. The old on his body began to give as he continued fighting, preparing to hop down when Wrath spoke again.
You need to stop. There are thirty men down there all armed with flintlocks. If you go down there, it's almost a certainty that you could reach her but what of all the other hostages? Do you think the enemy will sit back and let you take her without trying to stop you. What if they fire at you while you're taking her away, she could get hit as well as the others. What if they decided to demand your surrender in exchange for the hostages lives? Too many things could go wrong and right now, you can't afford to make any wrong choices.
The hold on his body disappeared as he finally found himself free to do whatever he wished. Edward felt how tense his muscles were as they were prepared to leap over the roof and tear through all of them. His body was ready yet his mind conjured up those scenarios and allowed them to play in his head. He reasoned that he could get Lina and escape but that didn't guarantee the rest of the hostages' lives. For all he knew, they could take his targeted rescue as reason to suspect the others weren't worth as much as her and kill them.
Edward couldn't take that risk, no matter how much he wanted to.
It pained him to do so but he turned his back on the town square before he swore to himself he would be back for Lina. With that promise made, he leaped off the building's roof to the next one in the direction of the castle. If he could rally some guards from the castle then they could start to free the prisoners and turn the tide of the battle. As he made his way along the rooftops, he saw an enemy patrol below him.
Halting his movement, he crouched down and watched the patrol from overhead. There seemed to be some men down there discussing a strategy or something as they pointed ahead of them. Edward looked in the direction and remembered the castle was in that direction, it seems these men were planning an attack on the castle. The thought relieved the young man as he assumed that the enemy hadn't attacked the bridge which was the only way in and out of the castle.
It was a well defensible position that Stonewell was sure to have utilized fully which would make getting to the blonde quite difficult. Edward was about to go on ahead and forget them but he heard the sound of smoke hissing. He looked back down and could see a thick cloud of smoke enveloping the patrol.
Figures ran in and there were the sounds of gunshots as well as yells before it went quiet. When the smoke cleared, the patrol was lying dead on the ground. Edward could tell that the soldiers were killed by bladed weapons from here and could see that all the corpses had the same uniform. That meant that their attackers didn't lose anyone and as he couldn't see them from up here, they must've ran into an alley or building to hide.
The ambush attracted more troops as they came walking down the street with their heads on a swivel and the whole squad alert. Edward ducked out of the way as the new squad looked in his direction and barely angled his body off the side of the rooftop to keep them in his line of sight while remaining hidden. They approached the bodies of their fallen comrades and just as they started checking them, a distinct 'clink' sound rang out before the entire squad was blown away by an explosion.
The young man didn't have to go down there and confirm if the soldiers were all dead or not as he knew that they likely got hit with poisonous shrapnel from the landmine they set off when they checked the bodies. It was a pretty standard plan of attack that Blackdust has used in the past.
First they would ambush an enemy element then after they were neutralized, a landmine would be set for the next enemy element. When it went off, a clean up crew would kill the survivors or interrogate them for information. Edward didn't have to wait long as two Blackdust soldiers appeared out of the building and started checking the bodies for any intel.
Neither of them were Ahimoth's build so Edward knew that it couldn't be him, nevertheless, he hopped down and approached them both. He turned his claws and talons to regular human appendages then put his arms up in a nonthreatening manner. The two men heard him get closer and drew their weapons aiming them at him. The brief staredown reminded him of the civil war but he shook that thought away as he spoke.
"My name is Edward, I am a combat instructor for Arendelle. I'm looking for Ahimoth, I'm sure he hasn't been captured and is probably disrupting the enemy movement, I need him to help me rescue some hostages."
The two soldiers glanced at each other as they kept him at bladepoint. He guessed they were considering if he was the enemy trying to find their commanding officer. It was a fair assumption as he very well could be considering that their forces were heavily outnumbered and their only means of retaliation were hit and run strikes while setting traps. Despite their rather illustrious reputation for warfare, Blackdust soldiers were still human and regular people. The only thing that set them apart from others were their tactics and strategies.
The use of fear and the element of surprise were very powerful tools if applied correctly. That was emphasized when they were turned to soldiers. If you become the enemy's worst nightmare then they would panic and make mistakes. If you had a reputation of being stone blood killers that only moved forward without retreating, the enemy would fear your approach and focus entirely on heading you off and not paying attention to their surroundings.
Which was usually why most Blackdust troops specialized in ambushes from the high ground.
The initial attack from above would guarantee one kill then another or two if they were close by. After that, they needed to move fast and take advantage of the enemy's attempt to retaliate. Most armies in the world preferred flintlocks and would rather reload than charge with bayonets in a small room. Blackdust soldiers relied primarily on melee weapons, sure they could use firearms efficiently but once they closed the distance…
Any Blackdust soldier would say they would prefer a knife to any firearm if they were within arm's reach.
Seeing the two soldiers in pairs made Edward think that Ahimoth had split up his men to spread out and cause as much damage as possible while allowing them to disappear effectively and remain undetected. It was a good idea but it also meant that finding him would be a chore on its own. The young man hoped that the Prince had made a rally point of some kind or had a specific target in mind so he could assist the large man.
"Sorry to say, we don't know where the Commander went. Our orders were just to disrupt the invasion as much as possible and give the Arendellians time to reorganize their defenses. If you are truly who you say you are then I'm sorry to say we can't help you rescue those hostages."
Edward groaned then dropped his hands in exasperation but wasn't all that surprised. They were all taught to think for themselves in case they were cut off from command, it would make sense the Prince trusted all of his men to act accordingly without him having to order them. When in an unfamiliar region without a main force, it paid to be able to think effectively and move in small teams.
The young man had to stop the image of Lina igniting his irritation that this meeting was almost no help. He at least learned that Ahimoth was out there likely making it easier on them by doing whatever he was doing. Edward thought about asking these two to come with him and help free the hostages but they had their orders and it would take more than three people.
"Alright, I wish you two good luck in that case. I'm going to head to the castle to request additional help. If you run into any more of your guys or Ahimoth, tell them to avoid the town square, there are hostages there as well as a decent amount of soldiers. If you try to take them out in small increments, they could threaten the prisoners."
The two soldiers nodded and the young man took off in a jog down the street. When he turned the corner and made sure he wasn't followed, he turned his hands and feet back into claws and talons then ascended the wall to get onto the roof tops. He crossed from rooftop to rooftop until he could see the bridge to the castle. In front of the bridge was a line of guards with bags filled with likely sand ready for an attack.
Edward was happy to see that the castle hadn't been attacked yet and he descended to the ground then changed his appendages to normal again before jogging over to the formation. He was met with rifle barrels being aimed at him but when the guards recognized him they lowered their weapons.
"Hey it's Ed, word around the castle says you got kicked out, what are you doing here?"
The young man grimaced as he stepped over the sandbags. "You're half right, I was temporarily put on suspension from visiting the castle due to a...disagreement. I would've stayed away but with what's happening, I thought it best that I report to the Captain."
The guard he was speaking to nodded and as he took a step forward the same outstretched a hand to halt him. A questioning look was plain on the young man's face as the guard spoke. "Nothing personal Ed, but if you were put on suspension I can't let you inside. We'll have one of our guys run in and ask for the Captain so that you two can speak, for now, you need to wait here."
Part of him wanted to argue that he needed to go inside now but after his lapse in control the last time he was here, he was reluctant to act irrationally. Plus the guard had a point, he still hadn't been allowed back into the castle yet, even if it was an emergency, the guards still had to do their jobs.
Which meant all he could do right now was wait.
He was about to take cover behind the sandbags when a guard came running from the castle. The young man turned and caught the newly arrived guard speaking with another in hushed voices. His ears could pick out what they were saying and frowned when he heard what they said.
"Her Majesty has collapsed from over use of her powers so even if we carry out the Captain's plan, we can't utilize the cannons with those ice walls up. The Captain has moved Her Majesty to the guest quarters with the staff so she may get some rest. He also wanted me to pass on to the vanguard that we are to follow the same plan as before however upon destroying the bridge we man the battlements and keep them out for as long as possible."
Edward watched the messenger run back to the castle and the guard in charge said nothing to his men, likely to preserve their morale now that their Queen has temporarily fallen. Edward wasn't pleased with the news but was happy to hear that rather than she had been gravely injured and was dying. Now that he knew she was just resting, he could focus on the battle ahead. As he made his way to the castle, he got a good estimate of the enemy forces.
From the harbor he could see two dozen ships along the port deploying soldiers before that ice wall went up. After the ice wall went up, he stopped counting soldiers as there were too many of them to count. He was just able to note how much territory they had taken up as well as how many people they've captured. As large as their attack force was and how long it's been since they've landed, they could've been pushing onto the castle already but they had deliberately been taking their time with capturing civilians as well as cutting off guards and capturing them as well.
Edward assumed that the other ships were creating a blockade for any potential reinforcements so Arendelle wouldn't be getting help anytime soon. With them in the town square, dispatching a messenger to call for help from nearby forts would be difficult if it hadn't been done already. If Arendelle's main army could converge on the capitol then the enemy would be outnumbered but that didn't seem like a possibility. Both the sea as well as the mountain escape routes were cut off and their Queen was indisposed, in all honesty, Arendelle was screwed if something didn't change.
Along the way, the young man kept a lookout for a large enemy presence to scout out a possible command point for the enemy. If he knew where the leaders of the invasion were, they could organize a strike to take them out and take a step toward victory. Greed couldn't have been the one in charge of the entire invasion. The Southern Isle and Weselton forces had their own interest in taking Arendelle and leaving it to the Avaricious Sin would be too much of a gamble for them if he decided to take the kingdom for himself.
That also bothered Edward, Greed leaving when he had the young man outnumbered and cornered was odd. There was pure bloodlust in the man's eyes and Edward knew that he wanted the predator's life. Leaving when he had the upper hand made no sense.
There was also the fact that those soldiers that ambushed him with Greed also ran while they were fighting him. He may have gained an advantage over them when he figured out how to traverse his surroundings quicker but they still outnumbered him. Yet they retreated and he saw that they had started to round up people. The castle would likely be the last place they attacked and would only do so when they had the maximum amount of hostages.
An evacuation started before they landed so it was possible that some people got out as well as a messenger or two. There was no telling what had happened outside the capitol as it became increasingly apparent that they had been surrounded. He didn't know how Elsa would take this and couldn't help but be glad that she was unconscious right now. If the blonde was completely aware of the situation, she would definitely surrender herself if it meant all of this would end.
Arendelle would always come first for her after all…
Wait, where's Anna and Kristoff?
There was something else that Elsa valued above everything else, her little sister. If the enemy got their hands on Anna then it would be essentially game over. Edward hoped that the redhead was in the castle with her sister but he couldn't confirm it until Stonewell got here. The young man hated waiting around but some movement ahead of him cut his thoughts off.
From the buildings, he could see a large group of soldiers marching toward their position. Their uniforms revealed that they were Weselton troops and the amount of them was easily triple the amount of the vanguard. The guard in command ordered their rifles to be aimed at the enemy and wait for his command. Edward got in cover and waited for the inevitable signal to fire but the enemy soldiers in front split apart and made way for Greed who walked out from in between them and addressed the vanguard.
"Lay down your weapons! Your village burns, your people are at my mercy, you're isolated with no hope of reinforcements! To avoid any further grievances, I require Queen's Elsa's surrender of both her kingdom and herself. Should she do this, this invasion will end and your people will be released."
The young man glared at the bald man as he spoke. He was making it seem that their situation was hopeless and that their best course was to surrender when Ahimoth was still out there and there were still many guards alive despite being captured. A move like this was only used when the enemy had an overwhelming advantage over their enemy or wanted to end the conflict quickly before something happened.
Greed's face didn't have an ounce of fear in it and looked to be perfectly at ease despite the rifles that were aimed at him. The Avaricious Sin didn't even look Edward's way as he stared intently at the vanguard trying to pick out any among them who had doubts. A few of the guards cracked and they hesitated, seemingly considering the man's offer as the enemy had a great deal of prisoners.
Almost no one noticed Stonewell rolling over the bridge in his wheelchair and stopped upon reaching the sandbags. He was now in full view of Greed as well as the enemy forces, the former which stared at the Captain.
"My name is Walter Stonewell, Captain of the Arendelle Royal Guard. Her Majesty is currently preoccupied at this time so I will be dealing with you in her stead. Your terms are logical however we cannot trust you will hold up your end of the deal as you've attacked us unprovoked. Release the civilians you have detained and we will know your intentions are genuine."
Greed remained silent before he started walking over to the vanguard. The guards all primed their rifles and were about to fire when Stonewell raised a hand to signal them to remain calm. As the Sin continued to walk forward, Edward felt the urge to pounce when his target got close enough. Greed seemed to be completely ignoring him and honestly that was fine, if he could get close enough while the guy wasn't paying attention, then Edward would be able to take his head.
The consequences of that particular action had dawned on him but as he looked over to the enemy soldiers who still had their weapons up, he rationalized that he could kill them before they could warn anyone else. He was about to prepare for his lunge when Stonewell looked his way and subtly shook his head. The young man locked eyes with the Captain and wanted to argue but the gravity of the situation, plus his respect for the older man's wisdom stayed his tongue.
So reluctantly, he kept a relaxed posture but still had kept a sharp eye on both Greed and his soldiers.
The Avaricious finally reached the barrier of sandbags and after stepping over it, he sat down so he was directly in front of the man in the wheelchair. "You are in no position to make any demands here, we outnumber you, have your ports under our control and have taken many prisoners. What makes you think that you can demand anything from me when all it would take is one word from me to destroy all of you?"
Stonewell didn't look concerned at all, in fact he actually took time to think about the question in a way that it was obvious to everyone that he was pretending. After a second or two of 'thinking' he finally looked up with an expression and shrugged.
"The fact that you haven't done what you described shows that our situation isn't as dire as you make it out to be. You may outnumber us but most of your troops are focused on keeping our civilians detained. Our ports are being blocked off by an ice wall made by Her Majesty meaning you can't even deploy anymore troops or use your cannons."
Stonewell interlaced his fingers and changed his tone to one of a school teacher teaching a child. "Truly how many men do you have available to attack the castle? Is it enough to force your way through the single entrance into the castle that has no cover for your men and enough space for our cannons on the battlements to continually bombard you? That's assuming of course we just don't destroy the bridge and cut off the only way to efficiently move your troops into the castle. I suppose you could just wait us out and hope we run out of food but you forget that our Queen can create ice, she can make water for us out of thin air and we have enough bread inside to feed us for weeks. During which rotations for our army will cycle through and notice the enemy troops and will likely mobilize a large offensive to take back the capitol."
The more the Captain spoke, the more patronizing he became and judging from the smolder of anger that began to course from Greed, Edward could tell it was getting to the Sin. "So to better answer your question in fewer words, what makes me think I can demand something from you is that fact that you can't take this castle with the men you have left and if you decide to execute your hostages then Her Majesty will have no reason to hold back her abilities and incur casualties to her people when you have murdered them."
Stonewell ended his explanation by pulling out a cigar and smoking it in front of Greed then made an insulting gesture of telling the Sin it was his turn to speak. The guards all looked a bit worried at the angry expression that formed on the bald man's face as he got a whiff of their Captain's abrasive personality. They feared he might order his forces to kill all the people they captured and commit an all out assault on the castle.
Edward on the other hand tried to keep his face neutral, he didn't want to betray any confidence in what Stonewell just said. The Captain's logic was flawless except the fact that Elsa had passed out from overuse of her powers. If Greed knew that then he would see that all this was a bluff. Sure they could definitely slow down the enemy and secure the castle for a time but eventually the enemy would construct a way to get troops into the courtyard. Even if Elsa was awake, she wouldn't use her abilities in the capacity that the old man described, even if they started killing her people, she would rather surrender first.
Greed likely knew this, the Avaricious had the training to combat Elementals and had the ability to move himself a cloud of black dust. In a one on one battle he could probably defeat Elsa, however the fact he chose to publicly ask for her surrender rather than just go into the castle himself must've meant something. His earlier retreat from their battle also came to the young man's mind and he was curious what was going on.
Fortunately with Stonewell's little performance, Edward had a chance to peer into Greed's mind.
I'm going to kill this pretencious old shit head. He acts just like Talib, pretending to know everything and always holding all the cards. If it weren't for Weselton's idiot fanaticism I could kill them all myself without worrying about them turning on me for using 'witchcraft'.
Edward almost smiled, so that was why he left and decided to have this public show; Weselton didn't tolerate 'witchcraft'. They were so fanatical that they now feared Elsa because of her magic but if Greed showed what he could do then they would fear him as well. That must be why he left when they fought earlier, with Weselton soldiers beginning to make landfall, he couldn't risk them seeing him.
The Avaricious took a deep breath before exhaling it, diminishing all traces of his anger and ending the young man's link to his thoughts. His face took on a neutral expression as he crossed his arms and tilted his head to the side.
"You're absolutely right, with the way things are now, we are at a stalemate. Your Queen can't use her abilities to destroy all of us while we hold your people hostage and you are trapped here. Which is why I offer you this, we will order a ceasefire. At ten' o' clock tonight we will allow a delegation to come to the town square to negotiate. It is my hope that we can end this without any further loss of life however, be warned. Should we not come to an agreement, I will execute one civilian every ten minutes afterward and bring their head to this bridge. You may be able to watch such horror but I doubt your Queen will sit by and do nothing, her kindness is well known after all. The question is how many will she be able to watch as they are killed one by one, knowing that any attempt to rescue them will end with us killing all of them."
With that heartless tangent finished, Greed swung his legs over the sandbags and headed back toward his men. As he did so however, his eyes briefly met with Edward's and a tiny sliver of anger allowed the young man to hear one thought before it went out again.
Before this night is through, I will have your life.
The Sin walked back to the group of soldiers he came with and went into the buildings disappearing from their line of sight. Stonewell watched him go with a frown then turned back toward the bridge and started to wheel himself back over it.
"Stay in formation in case they have some unexpected surprises for us. Runt, come with me."
Greed returned to a building that was a few blocks ahead of town square and was surrounded by many soldiers. The ones guarding the door opened for it as he approached them and inside was the Duke of Weselton, Hans, and General Julius. The building that they were was a noble's house which helpfully had a map of Arendelle's capitol inside. A table was put into the study where they all were and the map was laid on top where the three were discussing their troop positions.
The Avaricious had chosen this building as he didn't want the three near the town square and it was a good forward base for their command. With them between the castle and the square, they would know if the guards at the castle had something planned as they would have to go through them. He pushed open the door which called attention to himself and the little old man noticed him first.
"So, how did it go? What did that witch have to say?"
Greed walked toward a cushioned chair then sat in it while crossing his legs at the ankles and relaxing into it.
"I wasn't able to see her. I gave the message to the Captain of the Royal Guard and told them to send a delegation at ten tonight."
The little man's mouth dropped as he heard what the Sin said. While they had agreed to offering the Queen a chance to surrender, they were also on a timetable here. Greed had said that those two ice walls would've made the snow witch weak and offering the chance to surrender now especially with the hostages would most likely get her to accept.
Giving her time to recuperate was not what they agreed to.
"B-b-but she's weak right now! We must seize this chance to get rid of her or she'll unleash her cursed powers on us!"
Greed nonchalantly waved off the little man's concern. "She won't unleash her powers on us even if we give her time to rest. Despite us having her people in our custody, she is still tactically worth more than any of them so those around her will likely try and make her see that. During which she'll use the time we give her to come up with some kind of plan, while she does this, we can focus on capturing Princess Anna and her husband. When ten o'clock comes and goes and we execute one hostage, the Queen will be completely overcome with the fear that her little sister could be next. They also won't try anything before ten as it could provoke us to lessen the time they need to come up with a plan."
The Duke shut his mouth and continued to glare at the man in the chair for being brushed off so easily. General Juilus who was intensely staring at the Sin's face for any sign of emotion spoke after the interaction. "There's also the risk that if we give them more time, other kingdoms will come to their aid or the messengers who were sure to get away before we arrived will have more time to get to the other forts located throughout the kingdom. We should try to end this as quickly as possible and make the legitimate transfer of sovereignty before anything happens."
The Avaricious looked at the General with an annoyed expression before closing his eyes and trying to relax once again. "If reinforcements do come then we will just go on to the contingency plan."
Irritation resounded in the General's tone as he shot back. "You mean the one you haven't shared with us and involves turning Arendelle into a graveyard?"
"Yes, and as for the other kingdoms…"
Greed recalled why Talib had Gluttony and Sloth with him.
"They'll have their hands full."
In Corona, the lockdown was still in place and there were still patrols all around the kingdom searching for the insurgents. With the gates closed and the harbor shut down, there was no movement of goods and so there was an impending shortage of goods as they couldn't replenish them.
All they could do was live off the goods that were brought in the past.
These goods came from far and wide and in many different modes of transportation. To maintain their integrity, they were sealed in crates so they wouldn't break during travel. As such it was easy to load them and put them in with other goods to have them transported.
In one of Corona's storehouses was a crate that was brought in weeks ago by a trader that had come and gone. The contents of the crate was listed to be sand to help dry ink on parchment. Why such a large crate of it was delivered instead of small ones were beyond the custom officials but there was only sand in the crate so who cares how much was in there? That singular thought passed the minds of many other kingdoms who also had a crate of sand for various uses.
The problem was…
...those crates all had a singular purpose and it was finally time for them to fulfill that purpose.
The sand inside the crate began to shift from side to side until finally a hand made of sand busted through the crate. Another hand broke its way through as well before a figure exploded out the crate. It laid its two hands on the ground while the sand from the crate formed two legs. The figure then got to its feet and rocked from side to side as if it was dizzy.
The figure was about six feet tall and had thin arms and legs, looked like an outline of a person made of black sand. Its wraith-like body continued to rock until it suddenly stopped and stood up straight as if it got a hold of its senses. The fingers and toes all sharpened into claws and talons and a thought echoed in its mind.
Kill the King and Queen.
All these figures from all the crates around the kingdoms heard this single thought and went forth to fulfill it.
From their vantage point, Talib turned to Gluttony and Sloth where the former was holding the latter's shoulders. The Voracious Sin had a look of concentration on his face while Sloth who was on her knees in front of him had a blank expression on its face.
It being the skeletal face of Sloth the Indolent.
Sloth had looked like a literal skeleton yet her eyes were glowing red and black dust fell off her bones in a steady stream. The black dust would fall off her and pull around her with her fingers submerged into the pool of black dust like a tree and its roots.
The alchemist had felt that it was time for their part of the plan to be executed. In truth, he found it quite redundant to have Greed deliver those crates of black dust to the remnants around the world especially when Pride would just kill them sooner or later. The crates were then looted by whoever happened to be there at the time and would eventually find itself in a kingdom that had need for sand to help dry ink on parchment. In those crates of black dust was a tiny sliver of Father's soul which allowed Sloth to control it from however far away provided she had enough black dust herself.
That's where Gluttony came in, the Voracious Sin had the most out of all the others as he was the only one that didn't absorb the particular emotion that he was named after. No, Gluttony the Voracious did just as his name implied, he whenever he killed someone, he'd take the entire soul echo they had. Doing so left their individuality that plagued his soul often enough that he shied away from doing so. His soul was in no danger of breaking down from all those soul echoes fighting one another due to him being smart enough to keep his soul and theirs separate and only allowing them access when he used his abilities.
Their voices constantly plagued his mind and would've driven him insane if not for Lust being a constant presence for him, a decision that Talib made when he chose them to become what they were. Given that he had the entire soul echo of all his victims, it was possible for him to share black dust with any of the other Sins as they could just take their namesake from him.
That was what he was doing right now for Sloth, allowing her to take enough black dust to remote control her phantoms to have them do what she wished while not burning her own soul out. The other kingdoms would be too occupied with their assassins to send help to Arendelle if any messenger even made it to another kingdom, so a siege was possible. Even if the phantoms failed, that particular kingdom would likely go into lockdown to find the culprit and since their culprit was sand from an unmarked crate then the search would be time consuming and pointless.
Talib turned away from the two Sins behind him and closed his eyes to focus on Lust who he could tell had assumed her true form.
It's just a little girl and an ice harvester, how hard could it possibly be to capture them?
It was foolish of Lust to assume her true form as there was a chance Weselton soldiers would see her but he really didn't care. Regardless of if she succeeded or not, her part was done. She was able to get the Duke to convince his King to ally with the Southern Isles to attack Arendelle giving them a smoke screen to do what they came here to do without anyone being the wiser.
The alchemist had three objectives for being here.
One being the capture of the Ice Elemental as he's only experienced meeting just one in his long life and that particular one being long dead.
Two, to confirm if Wrath was truly here.
Talib hadn't been able to interact with the Furious Sin for some time and there were things he still wished to know. One of them being how Rahim seemed to be the dominant persona when Wrath first awakened. The memories may still remain but the emotion his son exhibited was genuine. From the moment he came here, something felt off about those two sources of black dust. He wanted to know which one belonged to Wrath and what had changed in the Sin to make him feel this way.
Finally, he wanted to know what that last source was. It felt clearly different from any of the other Sins and it somehow bore a resemblance to Father's soul. It was barely enough for the alchemist to consider that Father was here but if that were the case then why wasn't he up here overseeing the invasion? In fact, why would it be in the castle?
His first thought was that maybe Father had decided to kill the Elemental himself but shook his head. As much as Father hated Ice Elementals, he was smart enough to know what would happen if Elsa struck him with his magic. He wouldn't be able to remedy that situation the same way a second time. Perhaps Father was just hiding among them and interacting with Wrath for some reason?
That was a possibility, one that Talib decided was most likely.
He felt that Wrath was now inside the castle, maybe Father was going to kill Elsa using the Furious Sin.
Talib hoped not as he knew that the Wrath he remembered would tear her into little pieces without an ounce of hesitation.
Hey guys chapter 66, idk how I feel about this one. Life has been busy and I haven't been able to work on this even though if I had some free time like maybe 4 hours I could've had this out days ago. Anyway I'm about to leave and go into 14 days of quarantine which means I'll probably be able to get out three chapters before I get out. My goal is to end this arc by March or mid Feburary. If you wish to contact me please don't be shy and pm me or drop a review. Stay tuned for the next chapter, I might knocked it out in the two off days i finally got.