7/28/21: Started
12/4/21: Completed
NONE
Chapter Summery: While blissfully unaware of the recent invader, Elsa and Anna get a surprise visitor at the Castle gates.
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.
Once again, no date for part 4, but I'm aiming for this week.
- Later that day, 1:54 P.M. -
- Enchanted Forest, near the Northuldra Camp -
"Ugh, even here, Nokk isn't a push-over." groaned Elsa, staggering from tree to tree, looking disheveled with her left hand holding her right side and a small cut along her left cheek. "He got a few good hits in too." she added, before she stopped and leaned against a tree. "I knew I was likely going to encounter resistance, but not to that extent. Maybe this was a mistake after all." she added, before chuckling. "They really aren't my Mother and Father; but I've come this far and Nokk let it slip that Mothers in the Northuldra camp. I should be getting close if it's similar to my reality."
Pushing herself from the tree, Elsa continued on for a few minutes, her assumption on the camp's location in relation to her own reality's, was proven to be true, hearing faint conversations in the distance and even seeing the camp. With the location spotted, Elsa slowed her advance, and circled around to the left, opting to maintain distance to not alert anyone and try to spot Iduna.
However, creeping from tree to tree, slowly advancing closer to the camp, Elsa felt a wind come from her left and a familiar whistle around her.
"Uh oh..." commented Elsa as the wind swirled around her. "Are you friendlier than Nokk?" she asked, before Elsa's eyes went wide when she heard the familiar, faint voice of her mother; not from the camp, but to her left, where the spirit seemed to come from, almost behind her and saw in the distance, two people, women, clearly Northuldra from their clothing; calmly walking by her. With the distance between them, Elsa couldn't quite see their faces, but recognized her mother's voice, even at a distance; Iduna was one of the two women! Tears welled up in Elsa's eyes, before she crouched and slowly advanced closer, pausing behind each tree.
"Is that Yelena with mother?" questioned Elsa to herself as she peeked out from behind a tree. "Looks like Mother has her hair down."
"Getting more comfortable with living in the wilderness with us?" asked Yelena, as she walked with Iduna to her right.
"Heh, it's no castle, but yeah." replied Iduna. "It feels good to be here again, with you and my family."
"That's good to hear." replied Yelena with a smile and patting Iduna's shoulder. "How are you holding up with your mother?"
Iduna gave a small, strained smile.
"I've barely been here a week, but I can see Mother declining." answered Iduna. "She's getting weaker and eating less... I'm afraid she doesn't have long."
"I see..." replied Yelena sadly. "Well she has the ones she loves at her side."
"Yeah, I'm grateful for the opportunity to spend time with my Mother while she's still with us." commented Iduna as she lifted her right hand to Yelena's on her shoulder. "She also told me not to focus all my energy on tending to her, get out and talk to others. I understand why and I do enjoy meeting everyone, but it's difficult to just leave her, even if she's rarely left alone. Between me, Magna, Honeymaron and Ryder, someones always with her, but I've missed so much."
Just moments later as the two continued walking towards the camp, Iduna caught an odd movement from the corner of her right eye and glanced over to see what she thought was a person, with familiar white hair quickly duck behind a tree some distance away, prompting Iduna to narrow her eyes at the odd sight.
"Elsa?" questioned Iduna lowly.
"What was that?" asked Yelena.
"Nothing." Answered Iduna, turning back to Yelena. "Actually, I'm going to take a little stroll along the edge of camp, you can go on ahead."
"Alright." replied Yelena. "I'll let your sister know where you are." she added, walking ahead.
"Thanks, see you in a bit." stated Iduna, giving a wave of the hand to Yelena departing, before she looked towards the direction she thought she saw Elsa again and calmly headed towards it, thinking... 'Why are you trying to be sneaky?'
"Elsa?" called out Iduna, once she was a suitable distance from Yelena.
Getting closer and given the trees weren't very thick, Iduna noticed the obvious white of clothing poking out from the side of a tree and jogged towards it.
"Elsa, what are you doing here?"
Iduna questioned as she neared and rounded the tree, but oddly, saw no one, except the lingering snowflakes fluttering down to the ground. Iduna curiously looked around, sure Elsa was behind the tree. There was even the magical evidence of her presence, before Iduna heard the snap of a branch above and a small gasp left her when heard branch falls in front of her. Looking up reflexively, Iduna clearly saw a figure in white perched on a branch in the tree. The figure was high into the tree and blocked by other branches, but they were clearly there.
"Elsa, what are you doing?" asked Iduna with a smile, before she placed her right hand to the tree, before Gale swirled around her and lifted her from the ground and towards the figure.
However, advancing in height, keeping her hand on the tree to steady herself and remain upright, Iduna saw Elsa attempt to escape higher into the tree.
"Elsa, what's going on?" asked Iduna, "Why are you trying to get away?"
Elsa didn't respond, however, Iduna did hear another snap of a branch and Elsa's gasp as she tumbled out of the tree, right past Iduna with a gasp from her and landed face-first to the ground, with a few more branches that were broken on her way down, harmlessly landing on Elsa.
"Elsa! Are you ok!?" gasped Iduna, quickly lowering down to the ground and kneeling beside her; however, Iduna pauses only slightly at the odd sight of her daughter, one being her clothing, but more importantly, her hair was much longer than before.
Iduna heard Elsa groan out an 'Oww...' as she rolled herself onto her back and immediately noticed Elsa place her left hand on her right side.
"You're hurt!" gasped Iduna.
Elsa however, opens her eyes and gasps at the sight of Iduna and quickly sits up and backs away, but not far as attempting to put pressure on her left foot brings an immediate wince of pain from her and lowered her left hand down to touch her ankle and winced again as she pulled back her hand.
"Hey, hey, what's wrong?" asked Iduna. "Why do you look so worried?" Iduna saw her daughter look up to her from her clearly injured ankle in a strangely apparent loss for words.
"I-I... uh..." stammers out Elsa, before she gave a seemingly relived smile and Iduna looked on in curiosity as it looked like Elsa was getting teary-eyed, before Elsa slowly lifted her left hand up to caress Iduna's cheek, who looked on in confusion. "You're really here."
"Uh, of course I'm here." replied Iduna curiously.
"O-Oh, right." replied Elsa with a chuckle and pulling her hand back and averting her gaze. "Of course." she added, as Iduna stared at her for a moment, before thinking...
'This is weird, it's like she's Elsa, but not. She looks so different.' before she asked the other Elsa...
"Why were you hiding and spying on me?"
"I... just didn't want to bother you."
"Well now you're all scratched up with a hurt foot and you had your hand on your side, so your hurt there too." stated Iduna. "If you're here, Anna must be too, let's go find her so she can heal you."
"W-What? Heal me?" questioned Elsa. "Anna?"
"Yeah... what's wrong?" asked Iduna curiously, before she felt the wind swirl around her and Gale spoke to her.
"She's not 'your' Elsa." said the Wind spirit, her voice calming and mature in tone.
'Not my Elsa!?' thought Iduna, while Elsa meanwhile commented...
"Oh, N-Nothing, it's nothing." quickly replied Elsa with a smile, before she created herself an ice cane with her Left hand and used it to help herself up, with Iduna helping her as well, taking her by her right hand as Gale spoke to her again...
"Correct, she comes from a different reality."
"That's not needed though." stated Elsa at near the same time, unaware of the additional information Iduna was privately receiving, who was partly paying attention to her as she thought...
'A different Elsa?'
However, with no further response from Gale, Iduna fully caught Elsa's following comment...
"I came alone just to peek in on you. I should really be going, I can get my ankle looked at when I get back."
"No way!" stated Iduna, taking Elsa's right hand and draping her arm over her shoulders. "You're injured; I'm not letting you limp your way all the way back home, that's way too far."
"T-This really isn't necessary, Moth- uh, ma- uh..." replied Elsa unsure how to address Iduna as she began to lead her towards the camp.
"You may not be my daughter." stated Iduna, which prompted a surprised look from Elsa. "But I can't just leave you injured."
"Y-You... you know?" asked Elsa.
"Gale just told me." answered Iduna.
"Gale talks to you?" asked Elsa, before she commented lowly. "Man, this place is different."
"Yep, and my Elsa has short hair."
"Ah, right..." replied Elsa, before she thought, 'I didn't notice that the first time.'
Getting closer to camp however, Elsa stopped Iduna from continuing and pulled her arm from around her.
"It really isn't necessary for me to go back to camp with you, I'll just cause confusion." stated Elsa. "I'm not even supposed to be here."
"Then why are you here?" asked Iduna, before Elsa gave a heavy sigh.
"Alright..."
- Arendelle -
- 2:05 P.M. -
Walking along a familiar pathway overlooking the town, Anna was joined by Cassandra, as well as their new four-legged guest walking in front of them just a few feet ahead, stopping occasionally to sniff the grass and pawing at flowers.
"It's a shame the queen in allergic to your new friend." commented Cassandra as they watch the kitten explore his surroundings.
"Yeah, it sucks." replied Anna. "And I don't seem to be able to heal it away permanently. I don't want to cause Elsa any discomfort, so it'll probably be better to decline Edith's offer to baby-sit him more in the future. But he's so cute and I'm already getting attached to him!"
"Hehe, guess you should get working on being able to make portals." suggested Cassandra.
"Yeah..." replied Anna, smiling, but noticeably less enthusiastic. "My first attempt backfired so violently though and I nearly caused Elsa to get hurt. I'm honestly pretty hesitant to try again."
"Well it's not like there's any rush, right?" asked Cassandra.
"Yeah, there is that." commented Anna. "... and the fact that I can work on it in parts; like being able to maintain that intense point I created. That was a first for me, plus I need to concentrate on the location."
"Heh, one step at a time." replied Cassandra with a chuckle, followed by Anna.
"Or in this case, one step of a step at a time."
Just moments later, following the kitten, a small gasp left Anna when she saw the kitten eat a flower, prompting Anna to quickly walk to the kitten and pick him up.
"Hey, no eating the flowers!"
Evidently the taste was not to the kitten's liking as it made a face and dropped the partially eating flower from it's mouth, before Anna positioned her left arm for the kitten to rest.
"No good huh." asked Anna with a smile as she turned to face the town below. "If your hungry, I can take you back to the castle." The kitten looked up at her with a meow, before looking out to the view ahead. "Like the view?" asked Anna as she stroked the kitten's chin, before she saw Cassandra walked up to her left and briefly pet the kitten's head. "Hey Cass, you've been here for nearly a week now, how are things?"
"It's been good." answered Cassandra, briefly turning her attention to Anna with a smile, before looking out to the town and the fyord. "Pretty calm and peaceful here; and the people are really nice." she added, before a calm sigh leaves her. "It's taken me a week, but I've come to a decision; I'd like to make this place my new home."
"Really!?" gasped Anna with a delight.
"Hehe, well you guys are allies of Corona, wouldn't be a bad place to call home and I might meet some friends of mine in the future if I stick around; plus, being a temporary Arendelle Guard just doesn't come off the lips right."
"Ohh, so you've officially decided on that too?"
"Yep." answered Cassandra with a smile. "I've talked it over with the King and the Captain of the guard and once things have had time to settle with the return of your parents and the other guards, my try-out will be scheduled."
"Try-out? You don't need a try-out." commented Anna with a smile.
"I don't want any shortcuts." stated Cassandra. "... Or special treatment or magic, just my own skill."
"Hehe, well it's not like you'll be tasked to fight any crazed evil spirits or monsters." commented Anna with a chuckle. "I dunno the day-to-day stuff you did in Corona, but the craziest thing you'd probably have to get involved in, in town is helping someone whose had a little too much to drink back to their home or a verbal fight, stuff like that."
"Fine by me." replied Cassandra with a smile. "Being a guard is about maintaining order AND defending the kingdom and it's royal family if and when it's needed. Plus, with my training as a handmaid and Rap's Lady-in-Waiting, I have more skills than a typical guard would have or need, so I could double as a secret guard for you two if needed."
"Heh, well I'm sure you'll pass the try out easily."
"I'm confident in my skill too; I just want to follow the rules and protocols. I don't want things just handed to me, if I need to start from the lowest rank and work my way up, I'm ready to do it. Heh, after-all, I'm a stranger from another kingdom, I don't expect to be a high-ranking guard even weeks after I'm approved. As long as I'm able to advance through skill and action, that's all I can ask for."
"Well good luck." replied Anna with a smile.
"Thanks."
Just moments later, the two heard a pair of children giggling a little further up the pathway. Turning their attention to greet the passing children, Anna was a little surprised to see Izzy's twin sisters, Samantha and Bethany, as well as Edith. The twins currently each held one of Edith's hands, excitedly pulling her along.
The trio stopped however upon seeing Anna, delightfully greeting her in unison. Anna however, only managed to smile in response before the twins gasped at the sight of the kitten resting on Anna's arm and released Edith and hurry in front of Anna.
"Aww, a kitty!" declared Samantha.
"It's so cute!" added Bethany as the two began to stroke and pet the kitten, before Edith walked up beside them with a smile.
"Well you two abandoned me pretty quick."
Samantha then asked...
"Is this Mr. Bean you were telling us about?"
"Yep." answered Edith, before she looked to Anna. "I'm surprised to see you out and about so soon, guess you didn't return home yet?"
"No, no, we did." answered Anna with a smile. "It's just, I can't permanently heal Elsa's allergy and I don't want to be the unnecessary cause of Elsa's discomfort, so I'm thinking about reconsidering baby-sitting Mr. Bean."
"Oh, well that's disappointing." replied Edith.
"I know, I'm already attached to the little guy and I wouldn't feel right about restricting him to my bedroom."
"Well your reasoning is understandable." replied Edith. "I'll take him back when I head home."
"Thanks." replied Anna, before she gasped and looked to Cassandra. "This is Cassandra by the way; a friend of mine and Elsa's."
"Hello Cassandra." greeted Edith with a smile. "I'm Edith."
"Cassandra." greeted back Cassandra, extending her right hand, which Edith takes, followed by Anna looking to the twins in front of her, continuing to give attention to the kitten.
"And these two are Samantha and Bethany; They're Izzy's sisters."
At the mention of them, the twins look to Cassandra and greeted her with a 'Hi', which Cassandra returned, before Anna asks Edith...
"So what were you and the twins up to?"
"They wanted to introduce me to living snowman the Queen apparently made, named Olaf." answered Edith with a smirk. "Quite a feat to create a living, sentient thing."
"Oh, hehe..." replied Anna nervously. "Well, Olaf's at the Castle right now. We can go back and I can introduce him to you."
"As long as it's not too much trouble." replied Edith.
"It's none at all." commented Anna. "Olaf loves meeting new people." she added, before she noticed something seemed to catch Edith's attention as she looked to her right, Edith left, with a curious expression. Anna turned around to try and see what caught the woman's attention, but noticed nothing unusual in town. "What is it?" asked Anna, before Edith extended her right hand out, pointed seemingly at the castle.
"Something's on the water, circling around the castle, coming towards the town." stated Edith.
"Huh, what the..." commented Anna as she directed her attention out to the water, the Fjord and sure enough, saw a curious figure or thing... galloping... around the right side of the castle, pass the waterway into the inlet of the town towards the bridge and Anna's eyes went wide. "It can't be... What's HE doing here!?"
"He?" asked Edith. "You know what that is?"
"Yes." answered Anna, before offering the kitten to Edith, who takes it. "Sorry, but I gotta go, this is probably important." she added, before jogging away, just moments into returning home, Anna called to Emory, whom now answered.
"Hey Anna."
"Thanks for answering this time, why is Nokk here!?" asked Anna.
"Well..." started Emory with a clearly nervousness tone. "There's been a situation."
- Meanwhile -
- Arendelle Castle -
"Hmm, I'd like to wait until Mother returns before we set a date." commented Elsa as she walks down a hallway with her father at her right. "I'd want you both at the event."
"That makes sense." commented Agnarr. "No sense arranging a celebration of our return if only one of us is present. We also need to get the word out to our friends, so realistically, it'll likely take a month to plan with getting the word out and getting the responses, then figuring out a date that works with everyone."
"Yeah..." commented Elsa. "My coronation was planned months in advance. Although..." she added with a smile. "We could arrange a smaller celebration with the people of Arendelle when Mother returns, then plan a bigger one with our allies."
"I like that idea." replied Agnarr with a smile.
"Afterall..." stated Elsa. "It hasn't been long since my coronation, we can't set a date too soon or many people may not be able to come under such a short notice."
"Yeah, there's no rush."
"Yeah." agreed Elsa with a smile towards her father.
Elsa and Agnarr soon saw one of the castle's female servants appear a little ways ahead of them, seeming to be in a hurry as they first looked down the hall, away from them, before gasping as they looked the other way and saw them and hurried to them.
"You're Majesty!" commented the servant.
"Whoa, calm down." stated Elsa. "What's going on?"
"There's some sort of weird... water horse is at the gates." replied the servant.
"W-What!?" gasped Elsa.
"Everyone is just as confused." added the servant. "The guards managed to stop it at the gates, but it speaks, calling itself Nokk and is requesting to see you."
Elsa could feel her anger rising and lifted her left hand to pinch the bridge of her nose.
"He has some nerve showing up here."
"You know it?" asked the servant.
"Yes, unfortunately." answered Elsa. "I will take care of this." she added, before hurriedly walking by the servant, with Agnarr following, who asked...
"Can you think of any reason he would be here?"
"No, but I'm going to find out." answered Elsa with a frown. "Nokk isn't welcome here."
After about a minute to leave the castle, Elsa and Agnarr saw the castle gate was closed and two guards standing beside it, shields and swords at the ready and as they neared it, heard the chatter of a crowd behind it. Stopping in front of the gate, the guards acknowledged the Queen and Kings arrival, before one of them commented...
"Another group of guards are behind the gate."
Then the other...
"The thing came from the sea to the left of the castle and circled around to the docks."
"Thank you for doing your duty." stated Elsa. "I will deal with our guest, open the gates."
The guards sheathed their swords and pulled open the gates, revealing a sight Elsa was not happy to see; The Water Spirit, Nokk, standing before her, with a set of four guards standing between them with shields raised and swords at the ready, as well as in the distance on the bridge, another set of four, keeping the curious citizens at a distance.
Elsa calmly, but with a stern look on her face, walked towards the Water Spirit, stopping a few feet behind the guards.
"Why are you here?" asked Elsa. "You are not welcome in Arendelle."
"A situation has occurred." spoke Nokk. "That requires your attention."
"What situation?" asked Elsa.
"Your doppelganger has appeared." answered Nokk, which prompted a wide-eyed look of shock to come to Elsa's face, as well as Agnarr and the guards, but the guards didn't let the shock of the information cause them to waver.
"W-What!?" gasped Elsa.
"A little over an hour ago." stated Nokk. "The other you invaded Ahtohallan. Her goal being to meet you're parents."
Elsa was momentarily stunned, recalling meeting her other self briefly, who eyed the frozen corpses of her parents.
"I attempted to stop her and while our battle was wondrous, she managed to best me and escape."
"Mother!?" gasped Elsa, before she looked back to her father, who had a concerned look on his face, before Elsa faced Nokk again with a frown. "Is the other me a threat?"
"She claims she just wants to see your parents and she comes in peace." answered Nokk. "Yet she refuses to stay put when asked."
Elsa soon sighs heavily and lifted her left hand up to rub her forehead, this was quite an unneeded dilemma. Just seconds pass, before she heard Anna's voice call to her and lowered her hand and looked up to see Anna on the other end of the bridge, running towards her, slowing to a walk as she neared Nokk and looking at him, who looked at her.
"Hello Princess."
Anna however, didn't reply as she turned her attention back to Elsa and slipping through the guards in front of Elsa.
"Elsa, I spoke to Ahtohallan! The other you is here!"
"Nokk just told me." stated Elsa, before she eyed the horse in front of her, then placed a hand to the guard in front of her to the right. "You all can stand down for now." the guards all briefly looked back to Elsa, who nodding her head, before they relaxed their stances and stepped aside to Elsa's left and right, while Elsa stared at Nokk with an annoyed frown. "I'll trust Ahtohallan over you." stated Elsa, before she spoke to Anna, but kept her eyes on Nokk. "Anna, what else did Ahtohallan say about my doppelganger?"
"The other you wants to meet Mother and Father." stated Anna. "... and Ahtohallan tried to prevent her from leaving the castle and urged her to return from where she came from, but the other you refused to listen and escaped." explained Anna, before Nokk added...
"Where she then encountered me."
"I did not ask for your input." stated Elsa. "Anything else Anna?"
"Well, Ahtohallan said the Other You claimed to come in peace, but refused to leave and refused to even wait for you to arrive when that option was given. Saying we didn't didn't need to know she arrived and she would return without a fight after seeing Mother and Father."
"Hmm..." hums Elsa, lifting a hand to her chin. "She claims peace, yet wants to move in secret and she's here for Mother and Father."
"What are we gonna do?" asked Anna. "Ahtohallan also told me the Other You is with Mother right now."
"What!?" gasped Elsa. "She's already in contact with Mother!?" she added, before Nokk commented...
"I suggest we depart and you confront your doppelganger before she makes her way here."
"Ugh..." groaned Elsa, placing a hand to her forehead. "We have no way to get there quickly."
"I will take you." stated Nokk.
"W-What!?" gasped Elsa. "You want me to ride you?" she added with a frown, before Anna leaned in towards Anna and whispered...
"Well we can fly, so..."
"Hmm, you're right, but..." replied Elsa, before looking out to the crowd at the other end of the bridge. "I'm not really comfortable exposing that trick to everyone- wait, 'we'?"
"Yes, 'we'." stated Anna like it was obvious with her hands on her hips. "I'm coming with you, of course!" she added, before Nokk also added...
"I have no problem carrying you two."
The comment prompted a scowl on Elsa's face.
"Even IF I wanted to ride you. You expect me to just leave my people at the drop of a hat? You come here, unwanted, setting off alarms in everyone and expect me to ride you away!?"
"Are you going to let your hate for me get in the way of dealing with an unknown currently spending time with your mother?" asked Nokk.
"Ohh, you manipulative motherf-"
"Hey, hey!" commented Anna, with a nervous smile. "Just calm down Elsa. I think Nokk's right here. Something's happening in the Enchanted Forest and Nokk is our best option right now."
Elsa responded with a groan and her hands on her hips.
"Fine." answered Elsa through clenched teeth. "But that still doesn't change the fact that we can't just leave."
To Elsa's surprise, she heard her father speak behind her.
"You can." stated Agnarr, prompting Elsa to turn around to her father, who smiled at her. "Yep, I've been listening. That's a lot of crazy information; heh, there's another Elsa out there. This seems like an important thing you need to check on and make sure everything is ok. So go, I can manage things while you're gone." he added, followed by a sigh from Elsa.
"Are you sure?" asked Elsa.
"Of course." replied Agnarr with a smile. "I think I can manage a few hours." he added, which prompted a small chuckle from Elsa. "You're obviously going to be worried sick if you delay and you have the means, so go straighten this out and see how your mother is doing." he added, before another lengthy, calming sigh left Elsa.
"Alright, I'll go. I'll make sure to return as soon as I can."
"I look forward to it." replied Agnarr with a smile and placing a hand to Elsa's shoulder, who smiled back, before she briefly averted her gaze in thought, before turning her attention to Anna and commenting...
"One sec. Father, I wanna talk to you in private for a moment."
Walking by her father, Anna looked on curiously, but said nothing as Agnarr followed Elsa back through the gate and to the right, before she turned to him and lifted her left hand up and created an icy marble and offered it to Agnarr.
"Take this and keep it on you. It won't melt as long as nothing happens to me. I'll ask for it back when we return."
Agnarr looked at the marble curiously as he took it, before his eyes widening in understanding.
"Ah, I see, to be sure it's you who returns."
"Yeah." answered Elsa, "If there's another me out there, who may or may not be friendly, I want you to know which has returned."
"Alright." replied Agnarr, placing the marble in his pocket, before the two rejoined Anna and Nokk and Elsa walked up to the Water Spirit with a frown.
"We will leave with you, but first, I have to do something." stated Elsa, before she walked by the Water Spirit and towards the crowd, who quickly began asking questions upon her approach, all of course being about the mysterious Water Horse that suddenly appeared.
"I can only imagine what a surprise and scare our guest has caused for you all." stated Elsa. "But there is no cause for concern." she added, before she noticed Anna walk up to her left, then also noticed Nokk join her to her right, with a twitch of her left eye in annoyance, before she returned her attention back to the crowd. "His name is Nokk and he is one of the Elemental Spirits I met during Anna and I's travel to the Enchanted Forest where the Northuldra live. He has come here because something of a personal matter requires my attention. With Nokk's help, Anna and I will temporarily depart for a couple of hours at most to resolve the issue."
Following Elsa's announcement, the crowd barely had time to respond before they and Elsa were surprised when Nokk spoke to them.
"I apologize for my sudden appearance; and any concern and/or fear I might have induced, it was not my intention. My task here is to deliver a message to your Queen."
The response that followed from the crowd were curious and excited comments about the Water Horse talking, before Elsa commented...
"We will be back soon; So you all can return to what you were doing before with your concerns calmed." Elsa then looked to Nokk and lifted her left hand, glowing with her magic before she created an icy rope. "Lower your head." commanded Elsa.
Nokk made a huff, narrowing his eyes at Elsa, before lowering his head and Elsa wrapped the rope around his head in an improvise rein, before he lowered himself to the ground to allow Elsa to easily mount him, followed by Anna, who briefly caressed his watery form before climbing onto Nokk's back and holding on to Elsa, before Nokk stood up.
"Hold on tight." stated Nokk, before he leapt off the right side of the bridge, with a gasp from Anna as she clutched onto Elsa, but the landing on the water was a gentle one and Anna looked on with wide-eyed awe as she saw them, or rather, Nokk, standing on the water, before he sprinted off, circling around the castle and towards the river.
The citizen's and Agnarr meanwhile watched in awe as they saw the Queen and Princess galloping away on the magical steed. Edith among them, holding the kitten in her arms, also watched curiously with a smile as well as Samantha and Bethany beside her to her right, amazed at the sight; as well as Cassandra standing to Edith's left; before Edith knelt in front of the twins and commented...
"Looks like I won't be able to meet the snowman today. But I also have to get going, something I need to check on."
"Aww." replied Samantha, before Bethany asked...
"Will you come back sometime?"
"Sure I will." replied Edith. "I can bring Mr. Bean too if you like."
Departing from Arendelle, Anna looked back briefly, before lowering her gaze to the water as Nokk gallops across it with a smile.
"Yanno..." stated Anna. "We can fly and we have boats to cross the ocean, but riding a horse that can do it is pretty awesome."
"Yeah well, I don't intend to make this a habit." replied Elsa. "Particularly with our chosen steed."
While Nokk opted not to respond, Anna smiled uncomfortably. While they didn't have much in 'on the spot' options for travel to the Enchanted Forest, Anna didn't like seeing Elsa so aggravated, even if it was understandable; riding on the back of the thing that murdered their mother.
"Soo..." started Anna, as she attempted to try and lighten the mood for what was likely going to be long trip for the tension to remain. "It's nice that we're even able to ride Nokk, right?"
"I guess so." replied Elsa, before she sighed. "I think I know what your trying to do, Anna. I appreciate it."
"Heh, is your crotch and butt soaking wet too?" asked Anna with a smile, and was quickly delighted by Elsa's chuckle in reply.
"Hehe... now that you bring it up, yeah."
Anna smiled and hugged Elsa from behind before commenting...
"I know Nokk here isn't on the best of terms with us right now, but I don't want you being angry for the whole trip; that's no good for anyone, especially you."
Following Anna's comment, a lengthy sigh left Elsa.
"I know..." replied Elsa, before a frown came to her face as she looked down to Nokk. "I just really don't like you Nokk for what you did and coming to my kingdom unannounced." she added, before Nokk commented...
"So, I've gone from hate to dislike?"
Elsa simply groaned in response, before Anna commented...
"Well it's a good thing Nokk did come and let us know what was happening."
"About that..." stated Elsa. "Why was it Nokk and not Emory?"
"I got that one." stated Anna. "On my way back talking to Emory, she said she didn't answer us because she didn't want to worry us and thought she and Nokk could handle the situation."
"Well the other me must be something then if she could escape the castle and beat Nokk." commented Elsa, before she chuckled. "That's two losses Nokk, some guardian you are."
"The fight would've had a very different outcome if my master did not command me not to kill her. Besides, you're forgetting the moment I had you at my mercy and saved you." stated Nokk, which prompted an annoyed twitch of Elsa's eye.
"Why did you do that anyway?"
"My aim was not to kill you, but to test you and for my own personal enjoyment." answered Nokk.
"Personal enjoyment!?" gasped both sisters, before Anna added...
"Hey, wait! I remember Emory saying those 'tests' with Gale and Brunie were YOU'RE idea!"
"Hey, that's right!" gasped Elsa. "What the hell!?"
"You were the first magically-gifted individual that had arrived in eons and one my master wanted to meet." stated Nokk. "The occasional passing ship were like ants to me, I wanted to test myself against a worthy opponent in a glorious battle and you gave me the battle I desired."
Elsa and Anna, both stunned at the revelation, both replied in near unison...
"Oh my God!"
Followed by Elsa...
"So you were just bored!?"
"Yes." answered Nokk. "Gale and Brunie liked the idea and went along with it."
"Ugh..." groaned Elsa. "I can't believe this."
"Emory's right..." stated Anna. "You ARE a jerk."
"In your eyes, perhaps I am." stated Nokk. "I'm ok with that." he added, before Elsa frowned and asked...
"Were you just entertaining yourself when you attacked an Arendelle ship and murdered our parents?"
"The ship was invading my territory." stated Nokk. "My one goal is to protect my master from unwanted outside forces."
"Are you even sorry for murdering our parents?" asked Elsa.
"I did what had to be done." stated Nokk, which prompted a frown from Elsa.
"That's not answering the question; I saw you drown our mother, she knew you, grew up with you. You looked her in the eyes as the life left her body! Are you sorry about doing that? Yes or no."
"If those are the only two options available, then I cannot give an answer." answered Nokk.
"What, why!?" gasped Elsa and Anna, who added...
"You're either sorry or you're not."
"The subject of my actions regarding your mother has been a conflicting one for me." stated Nokk. "So I can't give a definitive yes or no."
"How in the world are you conflicted about MURDERING our parents!?" declared Elsa.
"I have one task, one purpose..." stated Nokk. "Protect my master. I will do everything and anything to fulfill that task without hesitation. However, seeing the emotion and pain I had brought upon you and given your mother chose to remain, I was faced with an uncomfortable reality, I would need to co-exist with your mother. I began to feel... regret."
Elsa and Anna looked surprised by the admission and Elsa's frown relaxed, before Anna commented with a smile...
"Well that sounds like you're sorry."
"Anna's right." stated Elsa. "Regret and being sorry are the same thing. As much as I hate you for what you did, if you honestly feel regret for it, then it would help me not to hate you." she added, before Anna added...
"Besides, you may have justification for past actions, but it's also possible to look back on those actions with regret."
"Exactly." stated Elsa. "For example..." she added, before sighing. "Before I lost control of my powers, I said something hurtful to Anna. In an effort to protect Anna from me, I told her she could leave; and not just leave me alone, but 'leave the castle' leave. In my mind, full of stress and fear and wanting to protect Anna from me, what I did was right. But looking back on it, I regret what I said greatly and I have apologized to Anna. So, I ask again; yes or no, do you feel sorry or regret murdering our parents?"
After a moment of delay, Nokk answered...
"Yes."
"Great!" replied Anna, while Elsa smiled. "If you can admit that, then this relationship can be salvaged."
"Given enough time." added Elsa. "I'll never forgive what you've done, but maybe I won't want to freeze you into a statue at the sight of you."
Following Elsa's comment, the sisters curiously heard a chuckle from Nokk.
"Hehe... yanno, I was about to say I could care less what you think of me, but maybe it wouldn't be so bad to be on friendlier terms with one another."
The comment prompted a groan from Elsa.
"Let's just start with me not hating you for now."
"So..." stated Anna. "Nokk, Emory told us you approached our mother, who ran from you. Were you attempting to apologize?"
"Perhaps." stated Nokk. "I did not know what to say. I approached her to judge her attitude towards me." he added, before Elsa commented...
"And she rightly ran away from you."
"Correct." stated Nokk. "So I have decided to avoid further contact until she seeks me out herself and we can talk."
"Good idea." stated Elsa with a little frown. "I don't want you near our mother."
"Well..." stated Anna with a little smile. "This has been a productive chat."
"Yeah..." sighed Elsa.
"Anyway..." continued Anna. "What's the other Elsa like? Should we be prepared to fight her or something?" she asked, followed by Nokk answering...
"All I know is that she claims to come in peace, yet refuses to stay put. Since she made it past me, continued aggression towards her could alarm the Northuldra and cause them to be caught in the crossfire. So Elsa would be brought in to see if she can find a solution and get the truth out of your Doppelganger."
"Well..." replied Anna with a smile. "If the other Elsa has come in peace, just to meet Mother and Father, maybe our encounter doesn't have to be aggressive, we could just talk. An interesting meeting with another version of you."
"I hope this is just a simple meeting." stated Elsa. "But I'm not letting my guard down when we meet her."
To be continued