Quick shoutout to the visiter who dropped a review yesterday. Thanks for that it was a real morale booster and I would like to assure you that this fanfic will not go unfinished. I already know how it's going to end and am excited to write future events. The only way I will not finish this is if I am physically incapable to and I highly doubt that will happen. So thank you for the review and I hope you enjoy this next chapter.

Wrath burst through the front doors of the castle surprising the guards and looked around in a panic. Before they could ask him what was wrong, he was already speeding down the hallway. He heard Sven enter behind him which meant that Anna and Kristoff were here. Part of him remembered Elsa's desire to keep the two of them away from Hans but with the current situation, he found that he didn't care.

About Hans, not the couple.

As fast as he went, he made sure that the three of them were right behind him and in his immediate vicinity. He didn't know why he was keeping an eye on them but didn't waste the effort to consider the matter. The same way he didn't consider why Elsa being in danger put him on edge.

As he got deeper into Arendelle, he lost the images of what Rahim was seeing after the avenger was captured by Elsa. Hopefully that meant he was gone and the blonde was safe but he wouldn't relax until he was with her. Luckily Rahim didn't attack in earnest and played with them so there weren't any casualties except for the deep wound that he left on Stonewell's legs. If he was the blonde, he would likely see to those first before anything else, that's why he made a beeline for the infirmary.

He hopped up the stairs quickly and was somewhat comforted that there were guards posted outside the doors. He passed them without a word and shouldered the door open. Everyone in the room whirled in his direction in surprise but he didn't care, all he cared about was the beautiful blue gems that still had life in them.

Elsa looked at him in shock and was about to say something when she was enveloped in a tight hug. At first, she was somewhat worried about Hector and Doctor Steward being in there with them but when she felt the subtle shakes his body made as he held her and took deep breaths, she decided to melt into the embrace. They had been apart for a short time but with what has been happening, she was happy to be in his arms again. It helped ease her mind and make her feel that everything would be ok.

She wrapped her arms around his back and felt him bring her in even closer and held her as if she would disappear if he let go. The blonde supposed that he knew what was going on and was worried about Rahim coming for her and was relieved to see her unharmed. The subtle shakes that he made her think that he might be crying but she could hear him shudder as the shakes began to subdue. He was likely panicked and was just now calming down.

The blonde heard the door open again and peeked from the hug to see Anna and Kristoff staring at her with wide eyes. Well, the ice harvester's eyes were wide while the redhead had a smirk on her face. Elsa then felt herself released from the hug she got and saw the young man stalk away from her with his back turned. She was about to say something to him when he spoke first to the Captain who stared at him with an eyebrow raised.

"How are you doing Stonewell?"

That made Elsa look at his back with a confused expression. As far as she knew, she never heard Edward call the man by his name. Whenever the two of them spoke, the young man would always refer to the Captain as 'old man' or some variation of that. It was odd hearing it come out of his mouth and judging by the man in question's expression, he felt the same.

"As well as I can be with my legs cut up. You know I've heard a lot of things about that damn katana and if I'm being honest with you, it doesn't seem all that special."

The young man chuckled ruefully. "You lucked out, if someone put enough force behind it, the blade is liable to cut through whatever it comes into contact with. If he wanted to, he could've cut off both of your legs even if they were frozen solid."

"So you were aware of the attack?"

"Yes, for the most part I know where he came from and what he's done but after getting here I have no idea where he is or what he's doing."

"Well we captured him but there were a couple of gunshots a while ago and we have no new information."

The young man sighed at the news likely thinking the exact same that the Captain was. Elsa watched the two speak before she was enveloped in another hug from her little sister to which she eagerly returned.

"Elsa, it's so good to see you! I've missed you so much and wanted to tell you of all the things that I've done on my honeymoon! Me and Kristoff went to a few different places and had so much fun! There was this one time we-"

The blonde chuckled before raising a hand to interrupt her. "Anna I've missed you too and as much as I would love to catch up right now, I want to know why you and Kristoff are here. I sent Edward to make sure that you two were taken to somewhere safe away from Hans, you two shouldn't be here right now especially with what's going on right now."

The mountain man walked up and gave the smaller blonde a quick hug before speaking. "Yeah, he took us to stay with the trolls until you came to get us but then he was attacked at the Valley of the Living Rock. I don't know how, but he said that Rahim, the guy he used to be, has come back to life and was out for blood. He told us that he felt Rahim was heading to Arendelle and he ran after him so we followed after."

Elsa wasn't exactly happy that the newlywed couple was here right now even when they both knew that a killer was on the loose but she was glad they were with her right now. She had heard the earlier gunshots and couldn't stop Ahimoth from running to investigate because she didn't know how to tell him that his best friend had come back to life. Hopefully with him and Edward here plus the remainder of the guards, they could more effectively subdue the avenger without anyone else getting hurt.

She was about to get everyone's attention and air her thoughts when the doors again burst open and a guard rushed to her. She first noticed his panicked face as he was huffing trying to catch his breath and speak.

"Y-your...M-m-majesty...there's a...situation…"

The woman put her hands up in a calming gesture before she spoke. "Please, take a breath and explain what's wrong." The guard did as she asked and took a deep breath before he spoke more clearly.

"Your Majesty, an intruder has taken the Prince of Blackdust hostage and demands that you come to the throne room alone or he'll kill him."

Everyone in the room froze when they heard the news.

They were all stunned into silence when they considered that someone as formidable as Ahimoth was taken hostage. With the current situation, there was only one person who could and would go to such lengths to have her come to the throne room. Elsa didn't know what to think, she would've thought that Rahim would leave Ahimoth alone as they were friends in life but taking him hostage and threatening to kill him showed how murderous the warrior was. Stonewell was the first to get over his shock as he once again tried to get out of his bed.

"Tell that shithead that the only thing he can demand is my foot up his ass when I get out of this bed." Doctor Steward struggled to push the Captain back down onto the bed and only succeeded when Hector joined him.

"You can barely walk, you are in no condition to fight right now. The best thing you can do is heal." Stonewell would've given anyone else choice words but held his tongue in the face of the doctor as he gave his pseudo granddaughter a stern glare.

"Don't even think about it. We already know that he plans to kill you, if you go you'll be walking right into his hands. He was trained to kill Elementals, and no offense, but you stand no chance against him in a one on one fight. You may have the power to beat him but he has far more experience fighting and last time in the study, he wasn't fighting his hardest."

All those were good points but Elsa couldn't bring herself to leave Ahimoth to the mercy of his friend. Beside the political ramifications of having another Prince murdered in her kingdom, she would be letting someone who loved an Elemental with his whole being, die. She remembered Edward's explanation of how people like her were treated around the world and was appalled that they were treated like monsters. She was lucky that her people didn't look at her that way and couldn't describe the happiness that came from Edward not being afraid of her abilities.

She didn't want Lilian to lose someone who obviously loved her with all of his heart.

Which made her start walking toward the door when she felt a hand grab her wrist. She wasn't surprised to see the young man looking at her with a stern expression also. He had beaten her sister and brother in law at their turn for trying to talk her out of it. His eyes had a hard edge to them that had lessened when he looked into her eyes but still conveyed that he was against what she planned to do.

"Edward, you know-"

"You're not the one he's really after."

She knew that, Rahim wanted Edward to feel the pain of losing someone he loved, her. The avenger wanted to show off her corpse to him in an attempt to make him feel what he felt when his mother was killed so long ago. The blonde had no intention of letting that happen. Rahim wanted her and he was going to get her, she knew that she was going up against a trained killer but she had more powerful things to fight for than revenge.

"Yes I know, but he asked for me and I can't leave Ahimoth to die. You know I would never let anyone die when I can do something to help them."

"And you know that I would never let you march right into your death. Rahim won't kill Ahimoth, they were best friends when he was alive, the only one he wants dead is his me, his mother's killer. You're just a way to make it more painful."

Elsa could see in his eyes that there was guilt swimming in them at the mention of Rahim's mother. She had told him time and time again that it wasn't his fault but the feeling in his eyes told her that he thought differently. She raised a hand to his cheek and saw him begin to rest his head against her palm but jerked it away when to keep the hard look in his eyes.

"I told you that wasn't you-"

"But it is. It is my fault that she's dead. I'm the one who cut her head clean off in front of her son and could feel her anger at me for threatening her son. Rahim was a small child looking ready to piss himself in fear when he saw me and I left him with the dead body of his mother only to be taken in by a monster of a father who turned him into one. What he's done since then has been because of me. I was his entire reason for living and in his death, I took his body as my own. All of his life spent readying his body to end my life was now sustaining it. This is on me."

"Edward-"

"I'm not Edward."

Elsa's eyes slightly widened when the young man in front of her said those three words and she watched him take a step back from her as he let go of her hand. She was surprised to know that she was speaking to Wrath this whole time and it was actually Wrath who said and did everything in the last few minutes.

She really felt the warmth and worry that came from his embrace that was completely identical to when Edward held her. She didn't expect Wrath to hug her so tightly or say that he wouldn't let her walk into her death. The blonde looked into his eyes and could see all of his feelings laid bare for her to see.

Fear, apprehension, guilt, worry, all of these feelings and more swirled in his eyes and she knew that they were all genuine. It made him look even more human than he probably felt. Before she could say anything more, he walked past her toward the door and was about to walk through when she heard the Captain speak.

"Remember what happens if you fall or hesitate."

Wrath stopped at the door before replying over his shoulder.

"I'll do neither."

With that he walked out the room leaving everyone left inside. Anna alternated looking in between looking at the door and Elsa likely considering who to go to but Hector finally decided to speak.

"Alright, I've had it. There's been something going on for too long…" Everyone turned to the noble who threw his arms up in exasperation before marching to the Queen. "That guy Rahim knew the castle and our men inside out and was able to completely sneak in without anyone noticing. Then Edward admits to killing his mother and subjecting him to hell, on top of that, Edward says he's not Edward and was aware of an attack when he wasn't even there…"

He whirled around pointing at Stonewell who frowned at him and Elsa who grimaced at his words. "You two have been hiding something and it's starting to get men killed, it's time you come clean. Now." Silence weighed down on the room as everyone considered his words. Anna wasn't too surprised to hear Hector say all that and couldn't really blame him for doing so. He may have been a butthead but he had a point.

Stonewell once again broke the silence first as he found his voice and responded with apparent anger. "How dare you speak that way to your Queen, it's not your place to demand or criticize, only protect and serve!"

"Don't you even start with that title and standing bullshit!" The Captain closed his mouth with a glare and waited for the noble to continue speaking.

"You yourself never gave a rat's ass about it and you know I'm right. Ever since he's come here, shit has been hitting the fan and we've been besieged by the impossible left and right. We just got attacked by a guy who survived getting his head skewered and smashed, who also knew the layout of the castle and fought like he knew us personally. Now he's demanding that the Queen comes to him so he can kill her all so he can hurt some guy who brought all of this with him. He's a security risk, a BIG one. You want me to protect and serve, then you should tell me what I'll have to expect and give me all the information so that I can respond to anything that happens. You don't want to tell me fine, I'll just let the council know you've been deliberately holding out information that has already comprised Arendelle's security."

When Hector finished, he took a breath to calm himself down before turning to Elsa who looked at him with an unsure expression. He walked up to her and looked down at her with a stern look before gesturing to her to speak. Normally he would've remembered his place and continued to remain quiet but the intruder bothered him, a lot. The way he casually deflected his strike before having him by the throat and lifting him in the air was not something to sniff at. The way he spoke and his words also seemed to point to a connection between him and Edward, one the noble couldn't decipher at the time.

Now that Edward or whatever his name was, explained that he killed the intruder's mother and left him there, Bowman could understand why he would go through so much trouble of attacking the castle.

There was also the fact that he knew that Edward loved Elsa, how did he know when very few people didn't? It was unlikely that Edward told him since they seemed to know each other and would've likely killed one another if they came into contact. There was also the question of how Edward knew about the attack when he wasn't there?

It was like the two of them knew what the other was thinking, or maybe they were just the same person and the Queen was being led into a trap.

Hector didn't know and Elsa seemed to be holding out on information that was paramount in the situation at hand. He couldn't let that continue. So he waited for the blonde to organize her thoughts and speak.

"You're right, there have been some things that we've kept quiet. First let me assure you that Edward isn't in league or planned anything that followed his arrival here. He originally was going to leave after staying here for a while but I convinced him to stay to help overcome his past."

The raised eyebrow on the noble's face showed he already had questions but he kept them to themselves as he let her continue. Within a few moments she shared with him everything that had happened to Edward, unaware that the same young man was on the other side of the doors to the infirmary.

When he walked out the room, he was about to head straight for the throne room when he heard Bowman's outburst and decided to stay to hear what the guard had to say. He couldn't exactly blame the noble for his suspicions as they were well founded and actually proved that the man was trying to do his job. As much as he didn't like Hector, the man was committed to his duties, even if he was spying for the council.

Wrath could've stayed to listen to what Elsa told the noble but he had somewhere to be so he jogged toward the throne room, ready to face his past both figuratively and literally.

Klein groaned as he shook his head and opened his eyes. His mind was still hazy but he remembered what had happened. While he waited for the guard to report to the Queen, Rahim broke through the ice with a roar and went on a rampage. The other guards tried to stop him but were no match for his frenzied state. The young guard looked around the study to see body parts littering the room and blood sprayed everywhere.

Whatever was holding the avenger back evaporated and he turned into a monster. He moved so much faster and hit so much stronger that he didn't even wait for them to attack like he did earlier. Those two men from the Southern Isles were able to put up a better fight but even he could tell that they were no match for the intruder.

Klein tried to help them but Rahim had grabbed him by the neck and slammed him on the ground before getting above him and swinging something down on him. He thought it was dead but there was too much pain for that, his body parts were all attached and he didn't have any serious wounds, only a painful throb on his head. It seemed that Rahim used his sheathe to knock him out instead of cutting him in half like he did the others.

The young guard wondered why he was the only one to be spared but didn't complain too much. He needed to get up and warn the Queen, hopefully he hadn't been knocked out for too long. Struggling to his feet, he grabbed a nearby sword as all the rifles and pistols had been torn apart and hobbled out of the room. Despite not being gravely wounded, the world around him spun as he used the wall as a support to keep moving. He left the room and went down the hall when he noticed there was a trail of blood leading up ahead.

It took him a moment but he was able to follow it to the source and found the bodies of the two guards that belonged to the Southern Isles. One of them was cut in half from the waist down while the other had his head removed from his shoulders and a stab wound to the abdomen. They were still bleeding so they couldn't have been dead for too long which gave him hope that the intruder hasn't been gone for too long.

He slowly moved past them until he found another trail of blood only this one had small droplets that would only show up every few feet which meant that whoever was bleeding wasn't too injured. Klein decided to follow the trail since he knew Rahim couldn't bleed so if this was someone else's blood, they might've known what had happened.

He followed the trail all the way to the doors of the throne room where many guards were all on the ground. They were all badly beaten and battered but thankfully still alive. Klein hobbled to the closest one before his legs gave out and he had to use his sword as a crutch to keep himself from falling on his face.

"Garen...w-what happened?"

The guard Garen, had dusty blonde hair that was covered in blood as it flowed down his face. His face was covered in bruises and it seemed his left leg had been broken in two places, at the ankle and knee. He looked delirious with pain but he was cogent enough to look up at Klein and respond.

"We...were attacked by something wearing some black coat and had a sheathed sword in one hand and dragging someone behind him in another. This guy was impossible...he knew all of our moves and took us down like we were children...after he finished with all but one of us, he sent them off somewhere before dragging whoever he brought with him into the throne room…"

Garen coughed up blood every so often as he spoke but was able to lift his arm up to grab Klein's collar. "Listen…I think that guy is after Her Majesty...you've got to warn her and get her far away. There's no stopping him, all of our attacks didn't even phase him and he was strong enough to throw us around like we weighed nothing. Even if she has ice powers, I fear the Queen won't be able to stand up to him, she has to flee."

The young guard nodded and watched Garen's eyes grow heavy before his arm dropped and he fell silent. Fear overtook his heart for a moment as he checked the guard's pulse and was happy to feel that he was still alive. He likely just passed out from exhaustion after getting his message across. Klein agreed with the guard as he had seen Rahim go all out and decimated them. He didn't want his Queen to have to face a monster like that. He needed to get to her and warn her before Rahim did.

The young guard heard some footsteps and struggled to his feet ready to face whoever was coming. If it was Rahim again, he'd fight to his dying breath if he had to, even when he knew he didn't stand a chance.

Fortunately, a familiar face turned the corner that made him drop his crutch in relief and fall to the floor. "Edward, you're back!" The young man closed the distance between them and helped prop Klein up against a wall. He looked around to the wake of Rahim's charge and grimaced. He could pick out quite a few of his students and knew that they fought as hard as they could. The problem was, Rahim was in a class of his own and if he shared the same brain as the one who trained these men, he knew how to dispatch them.

Wrath was no stranger to carnage but seeing all the men that trained under Edward being reduced to this state with broken bones, made his blood boil. Klein looked better than the rest of them and he was surprised that the young guard had survived fighting Rahim and made his way down here from the Queen's study.

"Klein, are you alright?"

Cameron looked up with a smile to try and play off how bad he felt but it was obvious he could barely stand. "Y-yeah, I'm just taking a quick break, give me a minute and I'll be right as rain." Wrath chuckled a bit before his face grew serious. He looked toward the throne room doors as he could feel lingering traces of anger coming from within that no doubt belonged to the one responsible for this.

It shouldn't have come to this, Rahim had Wrath by the throat earlier tonight and should've stayed and finished the job instead of running and causing all of this damage. The demon knew he went to retrieve his katana, how he knew where it was still baffled the predator, but the avenger should've gone back to get his revenge. Instead he decided to attack the castle and threaten everyone in it.

Wrath could understand the justification of his death but couldn't accept that hurting so many people in Arendelle was right. Even from someone who had little experience with morals, what the warrior was doing was wrong to him.

Klein looked in the direction of the doors as well and weakly grabbed the young man's hand. "Edward, you need to be careful. That guy in there was nothing like I've ever seen before. I know that you are really good but I don't think you should be doing this alone. You should wait until more men arrive to help…"

Wrath looked down before giving the guard's hand a confident squeeze. "You stay here and rest up. I'll take care of it. There should be some more guards heading here, tell them to get all the wounded to the infirmary, I don't want anyone else going in after me." Klein looked ready to argue but was given a smile and a thumbs up before watching the man pick up two nearby swords and walking through the doors of the throne room.

Good luck sir.

Wrath walked through the throne room doors and made a quick sweep of the room searching for his opponent. There was no sign of him and from what the demon could sense, he was in this room yet the inferno of anger somehow covered the entire room, so sensing his position was out of the question. As he gave the room a more thorough look, he noticed someone slumped against the throne. Even from here, he could tell that they were severely beaten. Crossing the room quickly, Wrath knelt down to get a closer look at the person.

While he knew Ahimoth had been taken hostage and expected a pretty bad sight, what he found horrified him. The large man had been beaten bad. Bruises were the least of his injuries, his eyes were swollen shut as well as he could see cuts on his chest and arms as well as several of his fingers being broken. Wrath had never tortured anyone but Rahim certainly was a natural, the demon gently shook the man hoping to rouse him.

"Ahimoth, you with me? Come on, I need you to wake up."

Upon hearing a familiar voice, the Prince began to speak in quiet raspy breaths. Wrath had gotten closer to hear what he was saying but could only make out little snippets here and there. Most of them being; 'I'm sorry' or 'we can fix this'. The demon had little doubt Ahimoth was aware that it wasn't Rahim he was speaking to right now, so he could guess that the avenger had took his anger on his old best friend. Regardless of what the reason, the predator felt that this was going too far. He put both his swords in his belt loops before putting one arm over his shoulders and helped the barely conscious Prince to his feet and helped him shuffle toward the doors of the throne room. He would leave him outside so he could be sent to the infirmary before he faced Rahim.

As the two of them slowly shuffled toward the doors, Wrath heard that distinct ring that always sent a chill down his back. He turned around to see Rahim standing not three meters away from them with his katana drawn.

"I thought I asked for Elsa to come here alone. I'm sort of new to this so I wanted to practice on someone, I could make a few mistakes on. Didn't expect to see you here so soon. Oh well, all I have to do is remove your spine, so you can watch me take my time with her."

After Elsa finished explaining about Edward's history, she watched Hector's frown deepen even more as he turned to Captain. "You knew all of this and didn't do anything about it?"

"I took him on that field exercise to address my concerns."

"And you felt that this wasn't important information to share with the Queen's personal guard."

"You know I might've considered it, if I knew you would've kept it to yourself and not report it to the council behind her back."

And there it was. That cat was finally out of the bag. Hector wasn't too surprised to be honest. Stonewell was a very sharp individual, their meeting before he officially became the Queen's guard more or less confirmed that he knew what the noble was up to. Yet despite that, he let him be without any threats, only that he protected the Queen as a guard should. The Captain knew of his friends' deaths and asked him if it would compromise his ability to defend the Queen.

Bowman of course, answered no and that was the last he heard about it but he could tell that Stonewell kept an extra eye on him. The old man probably knew of the council's intentions of seizing more power from the Queen and turning her into a figurehead while using her as a deterrent as well as a prod with her powers during negotiations. However, the Captain still left him to his own activities. The noble wondered why that was but didn't pay much mind to it.

Until now when he found out that the old man was hiding something from him. While it was hypocritical for him to fault the Captain from hiding something, there was a line when it came to Arendelle's security. Queen Elsa's life was an aspect of that security and the secret they've been hiding did jeopardize her life.

"Alright and what's stopping me from telling them now? Just because you-" Hector made air quotes with his hands. "-addressed the issue, doesn't mean that it was dealt with. Obviously it wouldn't have if Rahim really has risen from the dead to have his revenge. Everything that Edward knows is likely in that rampaging maniac's head right now. Royal protocols and security measures that he helped instill are all in the enemy's head. Not to mention half of the guards' combat ability, he could pick them off easily since he basically trained them."

"You won't tell them because it would upset Grace."

Hector narrowed his eyes while everyone in the room looked confused for a moment. "What does she have to do with this?"

"Simple, you know that Grace is completely loyal to Her Majesty since she has done so much good for Arendelle. The council may have taken care of Arendelle, but Elsa has made it grow. Life here is better thanks to her, if you helped the council limit the Queen's ability to continue improving her kingdom, then Grace would never forgive you, especially if you're doing it over a grudge."

If looks could kill, then Stonewell would've been a dead man. Everyone else remained silent as the two of them had a silent staring contest before Hector cursed as he moved to the door. When he put his hand on the knob, the noble didn't look back to who he was speaking to but the Captain knew it was to him.

"You're sure that he can handle Rahim?"

The old man's answer came without a shred of hesitation.

"Without a doubt."

Bowman opened the door and called for the two guards stationed right outside. "I want one of you to put the entire castle on alert, have men patrolling the courtyard come in and help move the wounded to the infirmary and form a perimeter around the infirmary and throne room, no one gets in or out unless I say so."

The guard saluted the noble before hurrying to carry out his orders. Hector then turned to Elsa and fixed her with a glare. "Don't think this is over, we have a lot to talk about. Right now, our main priority is to keep you safe and get a count of all the men we have left. Hopefully, your pet demon can avoid being killed by the same guy twice."

It was Elsa who answered with nothing but confidence in her voice.

"He'll win."

"Then he won't mind me grabbing the Prince. We can't have another regicide in our borders. While he's keeping Rahim busy, I'll sneak by and grab him and bring him here. Do me a favor and stay here, you'll be a distraction if you walk into that throne room."

The blonde watched him walk through the door and slammed it with some anger that was likely aimed at her. She may have acted calm and composed but on the inside she was slightly panicking. Now Hector and Doctor Steward knew about Wrath, she had wanted to keep as many people from knowing as possible but it just seemed to keep growing. The noble also made that pet remark that likely meant he knew that she and Edward were a lot closer than what she told him. The hug earlier didn't really help her but she wouldn't regret that, it was nice being enveloped in those warm arms again.

Yet she couldn't help that her mind kept coming back to the fact that Wrath was the one who hugged her like Edward would've in this situation. It also made her wonder where he even was, Wrath didn't seem too disturbed about his absence but was also acting unusual. She wished that they could've talked more before he decided to leave.

Anna, noticing her sister's expression went over to her and gave her a little side hug. "It's weird isn't it? When he first told me that he wasn't Edward, I had half a mind to start running because of his first impression but today he still just felt like Ed you know? The way he talked may have been different but you should've seen him when he was running here. He looked so panicked, I mean I didn't really see his face as he ran but he looked like he wanted to run so much faster but slowed down because we were right behind him. Like even though he was racing to get back to you, he still had a mind to keep an eye on us."

The older sister looked at the redhead for a moment before agreeing. "Yes I can understand. Believe it or not, Wrath was actually the one who spoke that wedding speech for you two. He said after that it was annoying that Edward actually practiced it but it was nice on his part to actually say it instead of just walking away."

"So that's why he froze for so long. I should be sure to thank him when he comes back… you think he will right?"

Elsa faced Anna with a face filled with complete confidence. "Of course he will." The blonde truly believed that and conveyed it but the younger sister had actually watched Wrath get his head beat in by Rahim earlier that night. She didn't want to tell her sister but she wasn't a hundred percent sure that he'd be ok going against the avenger.

While the two spoke, Kristoff tried to sneak out the room without anyone noticing. He was at the door when the Captain turned his way and fixed him with a narrowed glance. The mountain man looked like a deer caught in someone's sights and thought the old man was about to alert the others that he was trying to leave but instead, started a loud argument with the Doctor that made everyone look at the two and giving the mountain man time to slip out without anyone noticing.

The ice harvester made his way toward the throne room where he stopped at the room before and saw guards being carried away toward the infirmary. Hector was organizing the effort and when he spotted the mountain man, he frowned and walked over.

"You do realize that now you're married to Her Highness, you are technically considered a Prince even though you are a consort. So that now makes you an important target and that should motivate you to remain safe and guarded."

Kristoff shrugged his shoulders in an uncaring manner that probably grated on the noble's nerves but chose not to say anything. "You've seen Edward yet?"

"You mean Wrath and no I have not. I've already established a perimeter and have men going around the side of the castle to look in on the room and get an idea of what's going on before we make our move."

"So you've already got a plan?"

"If the Prince is not in any immediate danger and Wrath can keep Rahim busy, we can break the windows and drop in from them to extract the Prince then storm the room with our remaining men. From there we will try and pin the intruder and take him into custody."

"T-that...won't work…"

The two men turned to see Klein being carried next to them by one of the guards. He looked quite worse for wear but didn't seem too bad. Hector was surprised yet mildly pleased that the young guard hadn't been killed. Since arriving here, he's been informed that the men stationed in the Queen's study room had all been killed. Hopefully the young guard had some insight being the only survivor.

"Why not?"

"That Rahim guy…he's a complete monster. There were seven of us in there guarding him when he went on a rampage and completely broke through the Queen's ice prison. Then he proceeded to slaughter the rest of us without getting so much as a scratch. What we saw before we captured him was nothing compared to how he was after. I tried to warn Edward that he would need some help but he said he'd be fine but I'm not convinced. There's no way you can capture a guy like that, somehow, someway, you're going to have to take him down for good or no one's safe."

The two men looked at one another as they took in the young guard's warning before looking back at the doors to the throne room. Kristoff had a lot of confidence in his friend since seeing him fight Envy but he had to ask.

"How long until you get men on the windows."

"They should be moving into position as we speak."

Even though Rahim didn't have a face, Wrath could tell there was a predator's grin on his face. The demon couldn't blame him, he had his prey catering to someone who was too weak to move. If he wanted to, the avenger could've stabbed them both through the chest before announcing himself. Yet the Sin knew that just his death wasn't what Rahim wanted, he wanted his prey to feel pain and fear before knowing the sweet release of death. Which didn't really scare the demon but it made him apprehensive given that he had some impactful weight on his shoulders.

"Oh come on, don't you have anything to say? Don't tell me that you're crippled by fear already, we haven't even started yet."

Rahim took a step forward which made Wrath take one back closer to the door. He didn't want to fight the avenger before he could put down Ahimoth, but something told him if he tried then that he would be asking for a cut from the blade that already killed him once. He said nothing as he tried to think of a plan, something that would give him enough time to get the large man out of the throne room. As he continued to take more and more steps back, he noticed some shadows covering the moonlight coming from the windows.

Masking a discreet look by readjusting his hold on the Prince, Wrath was pleased to see that there were guards staged at the windows with ropes around their waist seemingly looking ready to bust into the throne room at a moment's notice. They were likely there to rescue the Prince and assist him, while he appreciated the help, he would rather deal with Rahim on his own.

"I'm not afraid, just taking the fact that you tortured your oldest friend. You think I'm a monster but I never tortured anyone let alone my friends. Makes you wonder who's the real monster here."

Rahim chuckled as he expertly spun his katana in his hand while continuing to walk forward. "Do you think I care about what others think of me? I was a monster ever since I decided to dedicate my life to hunting you down. As for Ahimoth...he knew how much your death meant to me and even when you admitted to everything, he let you go on living despite the fact that you repeatedly told him that I was dead. You see that in itself negates all my ties to him, only reason I haven't killed him now is because he could be of use to me. I was going to use him to bring Elsa here but now that you've showed up, I guess he's useless to me now."

Wrath kept moving toward the door hoping he could either make it there to get the Prince to safety or get closer to the windows so the guards could get to the wounded man easily. "So what, you're really just going to kill your best friend? If you're that cold then why even spare Klein?"

"I couldn't bring myself to kill him. Perhaps a little piece of you got in my way and stayed my hand. Not that it matters much, he's no threat to me."

Just a few more steps…

He was close to the doors and basically under one of the windows where he made eye contact with the guard and motioned his head toward the Prince. The guard replied with a nod showing that he understood. Wrath turned his attention back to Rahim who stopped walking and sheathed his katana. The demon raised an eyebrow in curiosity as he heard the avenger chuckle.

"Did you really think that I wouldn't have noticed?"

Rahim then made a beeline toward one of the columns that lined the room and jumped up on it before grabbing an edge and pulling himself up until he was at the edge of the window. Wrath was too late from putting the Prince down to stop the reanimated warrior from reaching his hand through the window to grab the guard and yank him through while keeping him in his grip. The Sin was about to tell the armored warrior to let the man go but he was too late when he heard the distinct sound of a neck breaking and the guard went limp in the avenger's grip. Dropping the body and letting the rope catch him and leave as a morbid reminder, Rahim chuckled before speaking.

"Why don't we take this somewhere we won't get interrupted?"

Wrath watched Rahim crash through the window and instantly moved to follow him hoping to catch him before he killed any more of the guards that were on the roof. Before he could follow, the doors to the throne room opened and Hector and Kristoff ran in after hearing the sound of a window breaking. Before they could ask what was going on, Wrath was already at the opening of the window before he turned back to address them.

"Take care of Ahimoth, I'm going after Rahim."

With that, he jumped through the opening and balanced himself on the icy rooftops of the castle. He always appreciated the way the castle looked when Elsa added the thin sheet of ice that made the roof glow against the moonlight but it made getting a foot hold somewhat difficult. Pushing that aside, he found his footing before going around the side looking for any more guards that were positioning themselves to enter the throne room.

It wasn't until he went a little further did he find the guards.

They were all dead, hanging from the ropes along the sides of the castle. Wrath grinded his teeth, just how many people did Rahim plan to kill before he faced the real one he wanted. The demon was almost hit by a large object that slid toward him but he moved out the way in time and turned to see what it was. It was once again another guard that was dead but there was something different about this one.

He was missing his rope.

No sooner had the thought crossed his mind, did he feel someone tackle him right off the edge off castle rooftop. He tried to get his bearings and reach a hand out to grab a ledge as he fell but the person who tackled him already grabbed one and swung both of them into a small open balcony where Elsa told him the Yule bell was held during the holidays.

He tried to quickly shake off his daze and face his opponent but he was kicked in the face before being lifted by the collar and coming face to face with Rahim.

"Having fun?"

Before he could answer, he was thrown against the edge of the little balcony when he was now aware of something around his neck. He looked up to see Rahim had quickly thrown a rope in his hands over a hidden pulley for the bell before taking it in his hands. Wrath followed the rope and realized too late what the avenger planned on doing with it.

He couldn't get the noose off his neck before Rahim kicked him off the balcony then pulled and hung him from the edge.

While he was happy that his neck didn't snap at the jerk of Rahim holding him up, he could deal without the suffocating as the coarse rope burned into his neck. All the while he could hear the avenger above him laughing.

"Cause I know I am!"

Hello guys, new chapter up and I hope you liked it. Rahim sure is a twisted fuck huh, thought he was supposed to be a serious dude right? Well then maybe you should keep reading. Anyway like I said, I would have 6 day work weeks but right now I'm in Quarantine for a few days where I can't leave my room. Part of the time I'm stuck in here will be divided between playing Sekiro for some inspiration on how Rahim should fight and playing other games to alleviate my boredom. I'll likely drop another chapter in a few days, maybe 2 if i'm pushing it. Please drop a review or pm me if you want to talk and I hope you all stay tuned.