7/28/21: Started
11/25/21: Completed
MILD VIOLENCE
Chapter Summery: Days later, life is good and calm for Elsa and Anna in Arendelle, but elsewhere, an uninvited guest arrives...
Disclaimer: I don't own Elsa, Anna, Cassandra or any other Disney characters or locations that appear or are mentioned in this work of fiction, Disney does.
NOTE 1: This was an unexpectantly lengthy chapter, at eight parts total and I'm sure eight is where it'll stay, it was also unexpectantly lengthy in the amount of RL time i spent on it. It's still not 100% complete, but I'm ready to start posting the earlier chapters. I don't have a schedule on the posting of the future chapters though, but I'm aiming for the second part to be posted relatively soon after this one, hopefully within the week, anyway, I hope you enjoy the new developments that come in this chapter.
NOTE 2: Yanno, after thirteen chapters, I just now realized that my mental image of Arendelle's town is waaaay off. Arendelle is actually walled off from the forest, there's no actual town entrance out to the forest, that's been shown to my knowledge anyway. Sure, one could leave the town on foot and enter the forest, but there's no 'Welcome to Arendelle' gate that separated the town from the forest. Oh well, I guess if no ones commented on it by now, it's not that important HOW Elsa and Anna have entered the forest that surrounds the town. Because of that, there will be no more mentioning of town gates or entrances that's not the waterway that lets boats in and out. Also, Anna's favorite place to train her powers isn't actually and can't be where I pictured it, the best new spot would be to the castles right behind the wall, so if anyone were to see Anna, it would be someone from the castle, not the town. Using the maps of the whole area of the town, my mental image had Anna, at best, tucked behind a shore-less cliff still within the town around the bottom of the U-shaped landscape the town is in and at worst IN the landscape at the bottom of the U. Oh man...
- Four days later, Tuesday -
With the weekend coming and going, the sisters happily settled into their new, changed life with new friends and faces in Cassandra and the returned Arendelle Guards and their parents alive and well, despite their father's disapproval of their relationship.
Only once in the past four days did Agnarr catch them in a rather tame show of affection for one another in the library; Anna with her back against the wall of books with her arms draped over Elsa's shoulders as they engaged in an intimate moment of kissing; which was quickly stopped in embarrassed haste and red faces from all three. Agnarr quickly stuttered out an apology for the interruption, before making a quick retreat. Both parties chuckled at the moment, before carrying on with their day.
Over the weekend, Agnarr, with the help of Elsa and Anna, even met with Isabelle to discuss her secret. The meeting went over without issue, and Isabelle answered very similar questions from Agnarr that Elsa and Anna had previously asked her, minus her attraction to children.
Anna and even Elsa, spared some time to talk with Emory, getting to know her with idle chit-chat, much to the trapped woman's delight.
All in all, everything was going great, no major problems or issues had raised their heads, Agnarr was doing just fine catching up and informing himself of the time he had missed; just a normal, 'boring' week following their eventful, life-endangering adventure.
However, their new, comfortable normal was soon to be disturbed...
- 1:27 P.M. -
- Ahtohallan -
Within the ice pillared Great Hall of Castle Ahtohallan, the silent stillness was disturbed as a crack of light appeared a few feet above the icy ground, before another crack appeared, then another, soon mimicking a severely cracked pane of glass. Soon, the light-emitting cracks grew in brightness, before shattering outward in a brief flash of light, leaving a person-sized, ragged tear in space, which shortly after, a female's pale hand briefly reaches though, before quickly retreating, but returning seconds later, flexing fingers and moving their hand around, before pulling back more calmly; followed shortly after by the figures foot, wearing an icy blue sandal, then the rest of her warily steps out.
Clad in an all white, flowing dress and long, flowing platinum blonde hair, the figure; Elsa, looks around curiously at her surroundings.
"Looks exactly the same." commented Elsa, looking around at the room, before her gaze turns to the still open portal and grimaced at the rough appearance of it, it's edges jagged and uneven. "Not the cleanest execution, but for a first time, shot in the dark, it worked."
However, Elsa gasped when the portal suddenly shrank to a glowing point before sparking out like a candle.
"No! No! No!" declared Elsa as she reached out to the empty space, but the portal was gone. "Ohhh crap! I didn't consider it going away!" muttered Elsa, before she looked towards the currently closed magic doorway. "I am intruding right now, but maybe this Ahtohallan would be friendly with me."
Elsa began to walk towards the door, before she heard a loud thud of something large and heavy falling behind her, prompted her to quickly turn around to see one of the large pillars had fallen, blocking the only pathway to the outside.
"Figured..." muttered Elsa with a sigh, before she flinched as a woman's voice spoke to her with an authoritative tone from seemingly everywhere.
"You don't belong here."
"Oookay, this is different..." commented Elsa curiously, before she spoke out, "I know, I'm sorry-"
"Then leave." demanded the voice.
Following a short and mild rumbling of the area, a portal appeared in front of Elsa, who looked at it with interest, it was a much 'cleaner' and visually appealing looking portal, rectangle-shaped and the edges were smooth and uniform.
"So you can make an exit to my home?" asked Elsa, looking into the portal to see the familiar white room of her Ahtohallan.
"Leave." repeated the voice.
"Yanno..." replied Elsa with a smile and backing away from the portal. "I will, but I can't right now." she added, before another pillar fell on top of the previous, completely blocking the exit.
"I can't allow you to leave to the outside."
"I'm no threat, I promise." stated Elsa, "I'm not here to cause trouble." she added, before with a wave of her right hand lifted the pillars again and began to walk towards the opening.
"I know why you're here." spoke the voice, before Elsa was surprised when every pillar in the room lifted from the ground and circled around her. "They're not your parents."
"I know, I just want to see them, that's all; I won't even speak to them." stated Elsa. "The other me and her Anna never has to know I was here."
"I can't allow that."
Elsa saw the pillars began to close in around her, clearly intending to trap her, which prompted a sigh from her.
"Sorry." commented Elsa, before she sprinted towards the gap in the pillars and attempted to jump through it before it got too small, however, the pillars suddenly moved to pin her between them at her waist.
"You will leave or wait here to meet Elsa. Those are your only options."
"Sorry, but neither of those choices are gonna work for me." commented Elsa, as her hands glow with her magic, prompting the pillars to slowly part as she fought against the entity controlling the them, allowing her to slip free and sprinted towards the opening. "You're mistaken if you think you can keep me here."
Just moments into her sprint, the pillars quickly moved ahead of her and piled in front of the opening, which prompted Elsa to come to a stop, before she extended her left hand out and the pillars shift a little, but didn't move, before she lifted her right hand to aid in moving the pillars with a small groan, which causes more substantial movement of the pillars, but the disembodied voice clearly fought against her.
However, moments into the struggle for control of the pillars, Elsa gasped when one of the closer pillars shot towards her length-wise. Reflex alone saved her from impact as she raised her left hand, launching the pillar upwards and harmlessly past her with a rush of wind from it's passing. However, Elsa's task wasn't finished as another pillar came spinning towards her; Managing to jump over it, Elsa gasped in surprised and pain when a third pillar mimicked the actions of the first and connected with her, body wrapped around the column as it carried her a few yards away from her destination and landed on the ground, pinning her.
"Stand down." demanded the voice, however, Elsa only smirked.
"For your sake, I hope you have more options than these pillars." commented Elsa. "I don't want to destroy anything here..." she added, before the pillar shot upwards and lodged into the ceiling as Elsa rolled back onto her feet. "But I will to leave this place." she continued, before looking back to the two pillars that attempted to hit her and saw one rushing towards her, bottom end first, which she easily dodged to the right, before jumping with a gasp as the back end of the pillar suddenly turned towards her.
However, focused on dodging the swing of the pillar and the remaining pillar in front of her, which hovered, ready to act, Elsa failed to notice the pillar behind her and gasped in pain when she was suddenly hit from behind by the flat end of another pillar, knocking her a few yards away, rolling to a stop face down.
"Stand down." repeated the voice. "I don't want to hurt you."
However, Elsa didn't remain on the ground long as she lifted herself up to her hands and knees and shook her head.
"Ok, fine, you want to play rough?" asked Elsa, before she looked towards her destination, seeing all the pillars, even the one she had launched into the ceiling, all hovering in front of her, ready to attack, before she returned to her feet with a smile. "Let's play then!" declared Elsa, before her hands glowed, however, she quickly paused as if she was expecting more and looking at her hands curiously. "What... I don't feel it..."
"You are not in your reality." stated the voice. "You're not connected to your Ahtohallan here. So I say again, stand down, or I will make you." added the voice, which prompted an annoying click of Elsa's tongue.
"Tch, I don't need my Ahtohallan to deal with some ice pillars." before she smirked and extended her arms out in a defense-less stance. "Come on, give me your best shot!"
However, the taunt failed as the pillars, instead of attacking, move towards the opening and positioned themselves side-by-side, forming a wall, a small gap between the pillars, but not enough to squeeze through.
"You really think I'm that dumb? If you refuse to return, my only goal is to keep you here until Elsa arrives."
"... Fine." Muttered Elsa in annoyance, before she sprinted towards the wall.
In a full sprint, nearing the wall, the extra pillars to the far sides quickly moved in front of the others, creating a thicker barrier to anticipate Elsa's next attack. However, Elsa's next action wasn't an attack; as she neared the barrier, a snowy aura began to surround her, nearly shielding her from view.
"This little exercise has been fun, but if your not gonna play anymore, then this is bye-bye." stated Elsa, as she was now seemingly a mass of moving snow, before she ran into the pillars and seemingly disappeared in a plume of snow.
"What the!" gasped the voice.
Just past the blockade and into the tunnel behind it, a thick cloud of snow emerged, before Elsa reappeared out of it stumbling forward.
"W-Whoa..." gasped Elsa as she staggered a little to a stop, before grinning and looking over herself. "Heh... It actually worked! Never tried slipping through a tight space with that, but it allowed me to pass without damaging anything." she commented delightfully, before she heard the sounds of the pillars moving behind her and looked back to see the path clear to the room.
"Hey! Come back here!" demanded the voice. "How did you do that!?"
"Heh, your Elsa can't?" teased Elsa. "... And it doesn't look like your influence reaches past that room, lucky me. I'll be back though; I promise." She added, before jogging away.
"Come back here!" demanded the voice, but Elsa ignored the demand. Although Elsa did stop at the icy staircase crossing the black void.
"Oh, guess other me made this. Just to be safe though..." she added, before before with a wave of her left hand transformed into a cloud of snow and ice and flew over the staircase and through the ice tunnel.
"Ahhh! Free at last!" declared Elsa as she reappeared from her cloud outside the entrance of Ahtohallan; however, Elsa wasn't free as she saw in the distance ahead of her, near the shore, Nokk standing before her and her delight dropped with a groan. "Of course..." she muttered.
"You do not belong here." stated Nokk as he began to walk towards Elsa, whose eye's widened in surprise.
"So you talk too." commented Elsa to herself, before she noticed the ocean rising up high into the sky all around the island.
"This will be the first and only warning from me you will get..." stated Nokk, as the wall of water quickly grew and angled inward, clearly in the process of creating a dome of water to contain Elsa. "Return to were you've come from, or you will not return at all."
With the complete encasing inside the water dome, Elsa gave a heavy sigh and a slump of her shoulders.
"Seriously, I come in peace." stated Elsa. "I won't cause any trouble; I just want to peek in on my parents; surely the other me must've unfrozen them. I'll be in and out, no one will see me and I'll come back without a fight. You can even come with me to make sure I stick to what I say."
"Unacceptable." stated Nokk, before his walk shifted into a full gallop towards Elsa, who sighed again as her hands glows with her magic.
"Guess we're doing this!"
- Meanwhile -
- Arendelle, Town Plaza -
Elsa and Anna, both clothed in their magical attire; Elsa's usual ice dress, cape included and Anna's eye-catching glass dress, delightfully walked through town, greeting and talking with the citizens.
Of the two, Anna's clothing was not as elaborate as Elsa's; a simple dress that was made of glass; a copy really, of one her her many causal dresses to prevent any future ruining of her non-magical dresses; the last thing she needed was to expose herself to the town from an errant display of her magic or forgetting the flammable vulnerability of normal clothing. Anna though was still a little embarrassed to be praised on her attire and comments about joining Elsa in her magical wardrobe.
Currently, both sisters shared a chuckle as they waved good-bye to a group of excited children departing from them.
"Hehe, well we never fail to attract the children." commented Elsa.
"Hehehe, nope." replied Anna with a giggle. "But it's great to see them happy."
"Yeah, it is." commented Elsa with a smile as she gazed around the town, not just the children, but everyone else enjoying the day; walking around chatting, entering and exiting the stores, some perusing the selection of fresh fruits and vegetables that were on sale at the center of the area and near the docks, a fisherman selling some of his freshly caught fish.
The town was alive with activity.
"Everyone's happy." added Elsa, before looking to Anna with a smile. "Perfectly boring even." which prompted a playful frown from Anna.
"Hey, boring's no good."
"Hehe, I mean there's no danger hanging over our heads or threats to Arendelle."
"Well don't jinx us." teases Anna with a playful jab to Elsa's side, who flinched with a giggle. "But even if something does come along, with you and me, Arendelle has nothing to worry about!" added Anna delightfully as she placed her hands to her hips confidently, which prompted a chuckle from Elsa, which was returned by Anna, before she took her sisters left hand and lead her away from the docks, down one of the streets, greeting citizens as they walked by.
"So..." started Anna, looking to Elsa and she delightfully swings their held hands. "Have you been working on your Wind magic?"
"Nope, sorry." replied Elsa with a little smile.
However, with their joined hands, Anna smirked as she could sense the lie.
"Oh really?" asked Anna with a grin as she lifted their held hands. "You're not lying, are you?" she asked, and giggled as she saw the surprised realization on Elsa's face.
"No fair." muttered Elsa.
"Hehe, sorry." replied Anna with a smile as she lowered their hands. "Maintaining my glass means I'm using my magic; and if I'm using my magic, I can tell when your lying. But why lie about practicing your wind powers, hmmm?" she added with a grin.
"Ugh, fine; I have been practicing my wind powers, but I'm not telling you about it." replied Elsa, before her cheeks reddened a little as she glanced around and continued to greet others, before she continued in a lower tone... "Not out in public anyway."
"Ohhh!" cooed Anna with a grin, before she leaned in close to Elsa and added in a whisper, "So it's something naughty?" Elsa however didn't answer, only looked embarrassed, which prompted a giggle from Anna. "Ohh Elsa, Elsa... you were so resistant to using your ice, but using practicing a new element for THAT, wow." she added in a whisper, before a small chuckle left Elsa as she lifted her free hand up to her face and shook her head.
"Can we not do this right now?"
"Hehe, fine, fine..." replied Anna as she leaned away from her sister, though lifted her free hand up to the side of her mouth and spoke in a lower, but not whispered volume. "Looks like I missed something interesting over the weekend with us sleeping in our rooms."
Elsa only responded with little smirk, with a hint of concern, which was mimicked by Anna as she added...
"It really sucks though; feels weird to sleep together right after revealing our relationship to Father."
"Yeah... Heh, but he caught us making up the absence though during the day." commented Elsa.
"Only once, so far." replied Anna with a grin. "We just need to find a new, less visited spot. After all, we can't let father knowing we sleep together, stop us from actually sleeping together."
"Hehe... right. Anyway, speaking of practicing new powers, you haven't mentioned anything about yours." commented Elsa.
"Yeah... I haven't practiced my Earth magic since I mentioned it to you."
"Oh really?" asked Elsa with a smirk. "You urge me to practice my new power, but you're free to slack off?"
"Heh, well I'm just giving you time to catch up." answered Anna with a return smirk, which prompted a chuckle from Elsa. "But seriously though; I realized something that day; I'm still learning with my fire magic. I wanna focus on that and my other powers before I dive head-first into a completely different element. I don't wanna spread myself thin practicing a bunch of stuff; knowing I can use Earth magic is good enough for now, there's no rush after-all. You've had your magic your whole life though; You're basically a master of everything ice, you can branch out easily."
"Hehe... well thanks for the praise." replied Elsa with a smile. "But I don't think I'm a master of all things ice; proficient, certainly; but even I'm still learning. Ice is just one half of my power after-all."
"Ah, right, water." commented Anna. "How's that going?"
"Haven't really done much with it."
"Aww."
"Heh, but I did learn something." replied Elsa as she lifted her right hand and created a palm-sized snowball. "At the moment, I don't seem to be able to create water from nothing." she added, before the snowball melted into an orb of water. "I need to create ice then change it to water."
"Ohh, nice, you'll never go thirsty if you're stranded somewhere." commented Anna with a smile, which prompted a chuckle from Elsa.
"Hehe, no, I guess I wouldn't." replied Elsa, before she freezes the water, then dispersed the orb into snowflakes.
The sisters spent the following seven minutes with idle chatter and greetings with the citizens as they continued walking through town, soon leaving the densely populated areas, trading brick-lined streets for the well traveled natural pathways up to the higher elevation of the hills where homes were more sparsely populated with more nature as a backdrop.
"So..." started Elsa with a smile towards Anna, their hands no longer joined. "Best friends with Emory yet?"
"Heh, I wouldn't say best friends just yet; Getting to know her over the weekend though, I like her. She seems like a normal person who was just unlucky."
"Heh... unlucky is an understatement." commented Elsa with a chuckle.
"Yeah... she's so eager to talk, even if it's something pointless; like yesterday, she asked me about the hairbrush I was using; what kind of wood the handle was made of and the bristles." she added, before a saddened sigh left her. "She clearly doesn't want to end conversations... she's desperate for communication and connection."
"Yeah..." replied Elsa, with a small sigh, before she looked to Anna and smiled. "Reminds me of a certain someone."
"Hehe... I had it super easy compared to Emory. I still had people around for those years; just not the attention of the one person I wanted." replied Anna with a return smile, and the rejoining of their hands by Elsa. "I want to help her."
"Well we have to wait until we meet Silvia again and judge the safety of it."
"Any news from Izzy about that?" asked Anna.
"Not yet, but I don't expect to hear anything back for a while."
"Hmm, it would be nice if we had a way of contacting Silvia ourselves." commented Anna. "We wouldn't have to bother Izzy's mother."
"Yeah, I agree."
"Well, just one more thing on the list to talk to her about when we see her again."
After just a few minutes more of walking, the two encountered a familiar face walking towards them.
"Elly!" greeted Anna delightfully as she saw her friend heading towards them, dressed in her casual clothing, consisting of a white blouse and a yellow, knee-length skirt and sandals, exposing her bare feet; Elly also carried a rectangular basket hanging from her right arm. "Hey, nice to see you!" added Anna.
"Hi!" greeted back Elly as she stopped in front of the sisters. "You're Majesty, Anna."
"Hello Elly." greeted Elsa.
"You two just taking a walk?" asked Elly.
"Yep." answered Anna. "What about you?"
"I'm headed down to buy some fish and other ingredients for a meal I'm going to prepare today for my mom and dad."
"Oh, nice." replied Anna.
"You know how to cut up and gut a fish?" asked Elsa.
"Yep, my dad taught me; Heh, still get a bit squeamish removing the guts and the head, but the delicious reward on the other end by my own hand is worth it." answered Elly with a smile, while Elsa cringed and shuttered...
"I can only imagine."
"Hehe... my fillet skills still need some work though." stated Elly, with a smile. "I tend to leave more meat on the bone than I'd like." she added, which prompted a small chuckle from Elsa.
"Well, I was pretty surprised when Anna told me you can cook."
"Hehe, maybe I'll be one of the cooks responsible for your food one day if being a handmaid is no longer an option." commented Elly.
"Perhaps." replied Elsa, before Anna asked...
"So hows that going so far?"
"Well it's only been about a week, but this extended break has been good for me." replied Elly. "I can focus more on my relationship with Izzy and I have a better understanding of her family. Heh, the twins certainly like that I'm around more and 'in the know'."
"Well I'm happy to hear that." replied Anna.
"Thanks. Well, I won't take much more of your time, I have some shopping to do and you two have a walk to enjoy."
"Alright, see ya later." replied Anna, along with Elsa as Elly walked by them with a delightful wave of her hand, before the sisters continued on.
"Nice to see she's doing well." commented Elsa, followed by an agreeing 'yeah.' from Anna, before Elsa added with a smile, "Hopefully I won't need to worry about her flirting with you anymore." which prompted a chuckle from Anna.
Just minutes later, higher up in elevation, the sisters paused to look down at the town, enjoying the view of it, the castle and sea for a few moments, before another familiar and friendly voice to their left drew their attention...
"Oh hey! What are the chances I'd randomly run into you two!?"
Looking to their left, both were surprised to see Silvia, dressed much more conservatively than before with a rather plain looking tan dress.
"S-Silvia!?" gasped Elsa and Anna in unison as the woman walking up to them and stopped within a yard, before Anna added, "What are you doing here?"
"I'm here visiting Yoka." answered Silvia. "Since I know where she lives now, I figured I could stop by for a brief visit. Oh, should I have made myself known to you that I was here?"
"No, no..." stated Elsa. "It's just a surprise to see you again, so soon."
"Oh, well that's good. My visit is over now though and I was on my way down to see what the shops had for sell before I headed back home; I had a craving for some fresh fish." commented Silvia, before Anna replied...
"Oh, well, Elsa and I were just going for a walk and talking to people on the way."
"Oh, so you mingle with your people, great." stated Silvia. "If you don't mind me asking, how have things been?"
"Good." answered Elsa. "There's been some minor snags, but nothing dire."
"Good, good; I'm happy to hear it." replied Silvia with a smile, before she began to walk by them with a raised hand. "Well, I'll let you two get back to your stroll."
"Wait!" declared the two quickly and Anna reached out her hand to Silvia's shoulder.
"Hmm? What is it?" asked Silvia, stopping and turning to face the sisters and Elsa commented...
"We've actually wanted to talk to you about something."
"Oh, really? Well good thing I decided to visit and run into you." replied Silvia. "Is it something we need to return to the castle for to talk about?"
"Not particularly." answered Elsa. "Here is just fine."
"Alright then, ask away." replied Silvia, before Anna asked...
"Do you know a woman called Emory Doul?"
"Emory Doul?" questioned Silvia. "Hmm, no; can't say the name is familiar to me at all."
"Well that's disappointing." commented Anna, before Elsa asked...
"Then what about a man called Von Ludwick? He'd be an ancient sorcerer."
Silvia lifted a hand to her chin in thought.
"Hmm, that sounds like a name I've heard in passing, but I don't know every Ancient. I'm curious though, why would you be asking me about an Ancient when previously, you didn't even know my kind existed?"
"Well..." started Anna. "Over the weekend, we've been in contact with Ahtohallan and she's come clean about some stuff."
"Really? She?" asked Silvia with a wide-eyed look of surprise, before the sisters chuckled and Elsa continued...
"Yeah, turns out, Ahtohallan is actually a person, who calls themselves Emory Doul."
Then Anna added...
"She's been imprisoned deep in that castle after pranking a sorcerer, Von Ludwick, who did not appreciate it."
"Whoa..." commented Silvia, wide-eyed. "That's a pretty big piece of info to drop on me. So let me see if I understand this; Ahtohallan, the mythical, ancient entity that caused you two all sorts of trouble and pain, is actually a flesh and blood person; a woman, whose been imprisoned in that ice castle for who knows how long, because of a prank she pulled on sorcerer?"
"Yep." answered Elsa, before she chuckled and shook her head. "Pretty unbelievable, I know."
"Emory's apologized to us though for her actions." stated Anna. "...and over the weekend of talking to her and getting to know her, she's nice and was just unlucky." she added, before Elsa pointed out.
"Also, she wants me to free her from her prison."
"Really?" asked Silvia. "As angry as you were, are you seriously gonna do it?"
"I'm considering it." answered Elsa. "The only real roadblock is the matter of the sorcerer that imprisoned Emory. We were wondering if he was still alive."
"Ahhhh, I see!" replied Silvia as the realization hit. "If that sorcerer is alive, he'd be a super powerful Ancient and you don't want to get on his bad side if you decided to go and free the person he imprisoned, bringing his wrath to you and your Kingdom."
"Exactly!"
"Hmm, that's certainly a difficult position to be in." commented Silvia, before Anna stated with a nervous smile.
"Sorry about requesting things of you, but you wouldn't happen to know of anyone who'd know if Von is alive or not, would you?"
"Hmm, well I could ask an Ancient friend of mine." replied Silvia.
"Great." replied Elsa. "What sort of payment would you like?" She asked, before Silvia chuckled and waved her hand dismissively.
"Hehe, none needed for this. Let's just say, I have a stake in this matter myself, so helping you, helps me; I won't charge for that."
"Awesome!" declared Anna. "When can we expect to hear back from you?"
"We can do this now." answered Silvia.
"Really?" asked Elsa and Anna with a surprise.
"Yeah, but I'd suggest we find a secluded place, I'll be using a portal to contact my friend."
"Oh." replied Elsa. "Well, we can head further up and closer to the wall, a lot less people, if any."
"Alright." replied Silvia, before extending a hand out for the sisters to lead. "Lead the way." she added, before Elsa and Anna lead and Silvia joined them to Anna's left, who asked...
"So, what friend of yours will we be meeting?"
"Edith." answered Silvia. "Another Succubus."
"Ohh, we finally get to meet Edith!?" gasped Anna with delight.
"Heh, well you're oddly excited about the meeting." chuckled Silvia.
"Hehe, yeah, Izzy's talked her up, saying she's gorgeous and has long, super black hair and is super, super powerful; but she's also really nice." replied Anna, which prompted a chuckle from Silvia.
"Hehe... well she's looking forward to meeting you two too after I told her about my trip with you. She's one of my best friends; I've known her since I was a kid and she's one of the oldest people I know; so she's our best bet on any information on Von and Emory."
After just a ten minute casual walk, the trio ended up near the left wall of the town, directly below one of the watchtowers and a few trees around them; All three even greeted the two guards that were stationed in the tower upon their approach with a wave of their hands.
"Here's good." commented Elsa. "We're not in line of sight but if something unexpected happens we can call to the guards above."
"Alright then..." replied Silvia as she faced the wall and extended her right hand out to it and created a shimmering black void.
"Well that's different from your usual portal." commented Anna, which prompted a chuckle from Silvia, who commented...
"'Cause it is, slightly; think of it as sort of a locked door, you can't just open it, you have to knock and wait for the other person to let you in. Same thing here since I want to open a portal to a person and Edith has placed a spell around her preventing unwanted, random portals."
"Oh, well I guess that makes sense." replied Anna, before the black void of the closed portal suddenly cleared away to reveal a youthful looking woman on the other side, standing before them, appearing to be in a forest at night, dressed in a sleeve-less blouse and pants; very casual looking attire.
"Hello Silvia." greeted the woman with a smile, a hand resting on her hip, before her attention turned to Elsa and Anna. "Ohh, are those the sisters you mentioned?"
The woman appeared to be around Silvia's 'age', perhaps slightly younger in appearance, a major factor being the difference in chest size, compared to Silvia, the other woman could've been mistaken for being flat-chested, at least with the straight on view they had of her.
"Yep." answered Silvia, before Elsa and Anna greeted the other woman in unison...
"Hello."
"I'm Elsa."
"I'm Anna."
"Edith." greeted the woman. "Do you mind if I come through the portal?"
"Not at all." replied Elsa, before Edith walked through the portal to join them, followed by the portal closing.
Coming through from the nighttime of where she was though, Anna in particular noticed a surprising detail; while Edith's hair was indeed a void-like blackness that was an intriguing sight on its own, it wasn't the ground-touching length Izzy said it was, Edith had short hair, straight shoulder-length hair. Edith's skin was light to tan, a shade or so darker than Anna and with her closer proximity, Edith was certainly not flat-chested, but a similar size to Elsa and Anna.
"Hello Your Majesty, Your Highness." greeted Edith again as she gave a curtsy, which prompted a little smile to the sisters faces, as old and powerful as Edith apparently was, she still respected their status. "I love your clothing!" added Edith delightfully, which urged a chuckle from Elsa and Anna, Edith already came off as quite friendly.
"Thanks." commented Anna. "Your hair is very pretty." she added. "I've never seen such a deep black before."
"Thanks." replied Edith as she lifted her left hand up to run her fingers through her hair, which certainly behaved like hair, if there was any doubt, though Silvia chuckled and commented...
"She's probably disappointed you don't have your super long hair you had before. Apparently Yoka's daughter has talked you up."
"Oh, hehe..." giggled Edith. "My long hair was getting to be a pain to manage; It was just a brief thing I was trying out anyway. I hope you weren't told anything too embarrassing about me."
"No." replied Anna. "Just that you were a normal person whose lived a super long time and grew incredibly powerful; you can put someone into crippling pleasure with just a glance!" she added excitedly, which prompted an embarrassed chuckle from Edith.
"Well, that is true..." replied Edith, before Anna added...
"Izzy also told me about your sister Lynn, and the story around that."
"Oh, so you know about my sister?" asked Edith.
"Yeah, are you two close?"
"We get along just fine." replied Edith. "We live together, but she does her own thing; she's out somewhere at the moment though. I'm sure she'd love to meet you two; hehe, but she can be a little aggressive." she added, which prompted a chuckle from Elsa, who commented...
"We were warned."
"Anyway..." stated Edith, looking to Silvia. "Beside meeting your new friends, is there a reason you contacted me?"
"Yeah." answered Silvia. "They have a couple questions that I couldn't answer, but I figured you could; with you being super old and all." she added teasingly, which only prompted a chuckle from Edith.
"Alright then." replied Edith, turning her attention back to the sisters. "What do you want to know?"
"First..." started Elsa. "Do you know an Ancient Sorcerer named Von Ludwick?"
"Wow, that's a name I haven't heard in a long while." replied Edith with mild surprise. "But yeah, I know of him." answered Edith. "He died a loooong time ago though, sorry." she added, which prompted wide-eyed looks of surprise from Elsa and Anna, who commented...
"Well that's one major concern taken care of."
"Concern?" questioned Edith. "Did he do something related to you and your family?"
"Yeah." answered Elsa, "But not to us, to someone else. Second question; does the name Emory Doul sound familiar?"
To the sister's surprise, Edith looked intrigued as she lowered her gaze and lifted a hand up to her chin.
"Emory Doul... That does sound familiar... where have I heard that name before?" commented Edith to herself, before sighing. "The unfortunate downsides of a being around for thousands of years; random names just fade from the mind if you don't interact with the person..."
"If it helps..." stated Anna. "Emory's a prankster and lived in an orphanage when she was young."
At this, Edith lifts her gaze to them, before averting her gaze in a brief moment of thought, commenting lowly... "Prankster... orphanage...", before she gasped...
"AH! Yeah! Emory Doul! I know that name!" declared Edith with a smile.
"Seriously!?" gasped Anna.
"Yeah, she was my Great Grandmother's friend!" answered Edith. "She'd tell me story's about her childhood and when she lived in an orphanage when I was a child." she added, before chuckling, "Oh man, thank you for jogging my memory of this; She loved telling me stories about her life and I liked listening. The two of them loved to prank people together, even when they got older; but my great grandmother lost contact with Emory and never saw her again."
"Wow!" gasped Anna happily, "So you know of her, through your great grandmother! Is she still alive?"
"No, unfortunately." answered Edith. "She died when I was still young."
"Oh, I'm sorry." replied Anna.
"It's alright, but why bring up such an old name?" asked Edith, before gasping. "Don't tell me you happened to come across her!? She'd be one of- if not THE, oldest Ancient still alive! Over seven thousand years at LEAST; And the stories she could tell!"
Elsa and Anna shared a chuckle at Edith's delight at the idea of an old friend of her great grandmother could be alive, before Elsa answered...
"We have, she goes by the name Ahtohallan now."
"Ahtohallan?" questioned Edith with surprise, before she glanced to Silvia, then back to the sisters, "You mean that adventure you all went on and the connection you two have with it? You're in contact with Emory!?"
"Yeah." answered Anna.
"Like we are?" asked Edith. "Talking back and forth?"
"Yep." answered Anna. "Wanna talk to her? Her memory isn't the best, so maybe hearing a familiar story from her friends great grand-daughter would help."
"Sure!" answered Edith delightfully.
"Alright." replied Anna, before she sung the melody, however, she and Elsa were surprised when there was no response. "That's weird, she's not answering."
"That's strange?" asked Edith.
"Yeah." answered Anna, "She's very eager to talk and doesn't want to stop." she added, before Silvia commented...
"Maybe she's had her fill of talking for now?"
"Maybe..." commented Anna. "It's just weird that she doesn't even respond. Elsa, you try calling to her." added Anna, which Elsa does so, but again, there's no response.
"Hmm, well, I don't think there's any emergency." replied Elsa. "Other wise, I'm sure we would've been alerted and mother might've even returned in a hurry if it was serious."
"Hmm, you're right." stated Anna. "Another possibility could be that Emory's 'sleeping' right now. She did say she sleeps."
"Yeah." replied Elsa with a smile. "No reason for us to jump to conclusions just because Emory won't answer our calls."
"Well that's a shame." commented Edith.
"Yeah..." replied Anna. "Anyway, turns out, Emory pranked Von, who didn't take it well and sealed her in a magic castle and abandoned her; our adventure happens and it's revealed afterwords that Emory just wants to be freed and Elsa is likely the best shot she has at that." she added, before Elsa continued...
"I was hesitant to do it in the event that Von was alive and freeing her would alert him to me and my kingdom; but if Von's dead, there's really nothing stopping me from freeing her except finding the time to go to her."
"Wow!" gasped Edith. "Well Von's certainly dead, but I would love to join you when you decide to go."
"Heh, well short of an emergency requiring us to leave on short notice, I'll need to schedule a time to leave." stated Elsa. "But I wouldn't mind some company."
"Well that's understandable." replied Edith. "You can't just up and leave your kingdom with no notice."
"Right." stated Elsa.
"Well, this meeting has been an enjoyable and enlightening one." commented Edith. "Do you mind if I stick around and see the sights of your home? I'm guessing we're near the edge, given the big wall here."
"I don't mind." answered Elsa. "Just avoid using any magic around people. I don't want anyone being alarmed from a stranger appearing in town with magic."
"Completely understandable." replied Edith with a smile, before she lifted her right hand ran her hand over her hair, which to Elsa and Anna's surprise, shifted to a brown color, turning her into a brunette.
"Whoa!" gasped Anna.
"Hehe, now I won't stand out." stated Edith, before she curtsied. "Thank you for your kind hospitality." she added, which prompted a little chuckle from Elsa and Anna, who replied...
"And thank you for being so nice and cheerful."
Edith simply smiled, before Silvia asked her...
"Hey, wanna visit Ahyoka? Her home isn't far from here."
"Sure." replied Edith, before she and Silvia gave a farewell wave of their hands before Silvia began to lead them away.
To be continued