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35.71% Reprise / Chapter 5: CHAPTER 4: Don't Break the Ice

章節 5: CHAPTER 4: Don't Break the Ice

CHAPTER 4: Don't Break the Ice

"Oh no," Ariel muttered.

She'd managed to contain the trident's power through sheer force of will. It no longer fed the storm, but still it raged with anger. Try as she might, she could not take the squall back. Maybe it would fizzle out, given enough time.

With the briefest flash, a ship appeared.

"What are they doing out here?" she said to herself. An unlucky ship caught in the storm she caused. "This is all my fault--I have to help them."

She dove under, where she didn't have to fight against the beating crests. The ship's bulging wooden belly thrummed like a whale, heaving up and down.

Ariel emerged from the waves. Shrieking winds tickled her ear. Maybe she could use the trident somehow.

She pointed it at the boat. As soon as it began its harmonic thrumming, tiny crackles of electricity danced toward the three tines. She yanked it back into the water. She couldn't risk doing more damage.

Waves and wind tossed her about as she watched the boat. The sailors seemed capable enough, she'd been on enough boats to know. Their courage kept control. Some kind of chubby white animal ran by on stubby legs. What was that? Some kind of weird dog?

"The main mast!" someone shouted.

Ariel saw it. They hadn't lowered the main sail in time. The winds had created a giant crack snaking halfway up. She ducked under the water to avoid its thundering fall.

Bubbles gushed everywhere, fogging her vision. She swam closer to the bow. No one would be there--they would be worrying about the rudder. As she rose, her head banged against something hard.

An iceberg? Here? Where did this come from? There were no glaciers in this part of the world. It wasn't even the right season. Did the trident make this too?

Ariel breached the surface in time to see a sight that chilled her to the bone. The iceberg and the ship headed straight toward each other. No time to even blast it with the trident.

The great mountainous ice chunk stabbed into the breast of the ship. The figurehead crashed into the water. Water burst out the fissure, as if it were the ship's lifeblood.

A sailor fell over the side, screaming as he hit the water. Ariel dove down and grabbed hold of him. Struggling, she lifted his heft back over the waves.

They were lowering a lifeboat. A heavy crew of sailors stood crowded together while two others worked the winches.

"Captain's still down below!" one of them yelled above the maelstrom.

"I'll get him," shouted a female voice.

The sailor turned to the unseen figure. "No! Queen Elsa! You have to get on the lifeboat."

"This is my fault!" she shouted.

"No! My queen!"

Her fault? Who would think that? She was the one who'd wielded the trident so poorly. If men were still under the decks, it was her responsibility to get them out, not anyone else's.

She whispered into the semi-conscious sailor's ear. "Head west. There's a trade route there. Someone will pick you up." She dove under and pushed the man towards his friends. They picked him up, never seeing her.

Ariel swam to the front of the ship. The iceberg had wedged itself so hard into the ship's gut the broken planks looked like teeth drawing it in. Ariel darted around the mass, but could not find a way inside. The trident couldn't pry apart the ice and her thin arms couldn't push herself in.

But she could see in. The iceberg had crashed into a cargo bay. Only two feet of space separated the ceiling from the rising water. A man flailed his arms, his foot caught in a trap of split wood.

The woman descended the stairs into the dark hull. She had bright white hair and looked a little older than Ariel.

"Queen Elsa!" the man gurgled. "Get out of here! Save yourself!"

"Grab my hand." She anchored herself to the banister with one arm and stretched as far as she could with the other. It wasn't enough.

"I can't! My foot's caught."

Elsa dove in. Swimming blind, she felt for the captain's leg and reached it. Bracing herself on the hull, she yanked his foot out of the trap.

The captain swam free and slogged to the stairs. Queen Elsa rose out, gasping for air, and banged her head against the ceiling. The water line had risen another foot.

"Elsa! Quickly!" The captain waved his arm, beckoning her.

Elsa wiped the wet out of her eyes. Without warning, a rope snapped, toppling a shelf of barrels and crates. The debris barricaded the way to the exit.

"Elsa!" the captain shouted.

Elsa took a deep breath and tried to swim forward. As soon as she hit a barrel, she veered off course and ran into a wall. With the remaining four inches of space, she took what she perceived to be her last breath. She dove down again and swam like an eel, wasting precious energy to stay in one place.

Ariel scrambled again to get in. If she didn't, that girl was going to drown. But the ice wouldn't budge. She jammed the trident in-between the iceberg and the ship, figuring she'd done enough damage already, and blasted. Shards of ice and wood burst out, leaving a new hole.

Elsa pressed against the boxes above her head, thinking they were the ceiling. Each second that passed, she flailed more, time running out.

The two saw each other. Elsa gasped. The last remnants of her air escaped in tiny bubbles. A second later, her eyes rolled up in her head and she passed out.

Ariel dragged her out the same way she came in. When they emerged, the lifeboat was gone. Maybe the ship had drifted out of position while they were down there. Maybe they had sailed off.

A gigantic wave surged toward them and the ship. Ariel tried to swim away, but the wall of water dragged them into its swell. It descended, tossing them end over end. Ariel managed to keep her hold on the girl, but when she reached the surface, the ship was overturned. No going back to it now.

Elsa coughed. She was still alive, but still unconscious. Trident in hand and Elsa in the other, Ariel began swimming for the nearest shoreline. Even as the storm deteriorated behind her, the water seemed colder than normal.

Anna watched the Freya sail until it fell below the horizon. By that time, the morning had passed. She stayed on a bench, watching the water undulate in natural rhythm.

Gerda came to check on her once. "Princess Anna, do you need anything?"

"No, thank you. I'm fine."

"Queen Elsa had a meeting this morning with the royal glassmakers. I suppose... in her absence... you were meant to attend."

"Is that now?" She gathered up her skirts. "That's right. I guess I am the queen regent."

"No, ma'am. The meeting was half an hour ago. Right now, you're free."

"Oh. Then I suppose I'll just sit here until the next thing, then?"

"I suppose. There is a document that the lord of Themocles was waiting for, but... It's not an emergency." Gerda walked back to the castle.

The truth was, Anna didn't know what to do with herself. If she went back, she'd be wandering the castle, talking to the walls. And she had spent so many years doing that. The years of lonely horse rides and picnics by the sea were supposed to be past. She had Elsa back now. She had Kristoff. And Sven and Olaf and all the people of Arendelle.

So she surveyed the sea, like a captain's widow. If there were any meetings she was supposed to attend, no one told her. No one bothered her. Nothing happened.

Until a ship appeared on the horizon.

Anna stood up. It was a schooner, like the Freya. She expected it to turn towards one of the merchant docks, but it kept sailing towards the castle.

It wasn't an Arendelle ship, the colors were wrong. Then the purple and yellow flag of Corona flapping form the crow's nest breached the horizon.

Why would they send a ship here? Especially when Elsa had just gone to them. It was too much of a coincidence.

Corona had a standing invitation to dock in the royal harbor. Anna stood on tip toes as dock workers scampered about. They caught the ropes as thick as tree trunks and wound them around pylons.

"What ho! A passenger wishes to disembark," a man above called out.

Everyone on deck stared at her. She was the highest authority here--she had to give the order.

"Oh. Oh... oh! Yes, yes, please! By all means, embark!"

The sailors on the boat lowered the ramp with a heave. A woman with blond hair poked her head out.

"Anna?"

Anna scrunched her eyebrows.

"It's me. Rapunzel."

"Rapunzel... it is you!" Anna squealed and hugged her cousin. "What are you doing here? What.... what happened to your hair?"

The last time they had seen each other, Rapunzel was brunette with short frizzy hair that reminded her of a teddy bear. Now a thick blonde trail followed her. She knew fashions were different in Corona, but this...

Rapunzel tussled with a strand. "That's part of the reason I'm here. It's a long story. I don't... it's kind of a secret," she whispered.

Anna zipped her lip. "Say no more. It looks good on you though. Are you having more fun?"

"What?"

Rapunzel took a step and slid on some wayward ice. "Whoa! What's with this? Did something happen with Elsa again? Did she-"

"It's not Elsa." Anna said. "Let's get to the castle. I'll tell you on the way."

Rapunzel took her valise in one hand and a bunched-up ball of hair in the other. They waddled like penguins down the street. Anna stopped at a street corner while a horse and cart walked by. The horse's shoes had been fitted with spikes, making it walk like the ground was made of glue.

People huddled around fire pits in the streets. Sweet sweepers hacked at the ice in the roads with picks. Rapunzel cringed at the dejected look in their eyes. Another year of devastated harvest and commerce. She'd be dejected too.

"I think you're right. Something about this is different than last year," Rapunzel said.

"Right. Last year was snow and cold covering everything. This was an ice storm that lasted the entire night. And I was with Elsa the whole time. She didn't lift a finger. I mean, to make it. Not to help. I mean, she did help. As much as she could. But it wasn't her magic, so she couldn't undo it."

"I get it," Rapunzel said. "Then where is she?"

"She's-" Anna stood straight up, her eyes widened, and her arms stretched to her sides.

"What?" Rapunzel asked. "Is it my hair?"

Anna pointed. "Th- th- th- th- th- there's a bug. On your shoulder."

Rapunzel looked at her shoulder. "Oh, that's Pascal. He's not a bug, he's a lizard."

"You keep a lizard in your hair?" Anna asked.

"Well, he's my friend. We go everywhere together. And he can do this." She held him up to an icicle. Pascal's skin rippled and turned frosty blue.

"He can turn into ice?" Anna asked.

"No, it's just the color. Haven't you ever seen a chameleon before?"

Anna peered at him. Pascal slicked his spikes back.

"I guess he is kinda cute. Can he turn into any color?" Anna shuffled her feet. "We should take him to the gallery. See what kind of colors he can change into."

"You have a gallery? With paintings?" Rapunzel's eyes brightened.

"Lots of paintings. Wanna see?"

Rapunzel and Pascal nodded excitedly. As soon as they reached the other side of the street, Rapunzel's head yanked back. Her legs flew into the air. Someone crossing the street had stepped on her hair.

"Whoops," Anna said. She began pulling the wayward tresses back, looping it around her arm like a cord. The people around Rapunzel were staring.

"Are you okay?" Anna asked.

"Yeah." Rapunzel rubbed her rump. "I think my idea of staying inconspicuous just backfired."

"Hmm," Anna muttered. "Maybe our first stop should be the royal hairdresser."

The Royal Hairdresser lay in the corner of the castle's barbery, her tongue hanging out and panting. Rapunzel twirled in the mirror, examining the barber's work. Her long, thick braid, decorated with white, purple, and yellow flowers, looked exactly like she had described it. It still looked unusual because of its size, but it fit in nicely with Arendelle's fashions. Plus she could walk without tripping again.

"I love it. Thank you so much."

"You're... welcome... princess..." she gasped. She held up her crooked fingers and whimpered.

Anna and Rapunzel headed down the hall to the gallery. Pascal poked his head out of the braid to look around, then snuggled back in.

"So where was I? Once she heard about something that could stop ice, she jumped on it like a dog on a bone. Or me on a brownie. Have you ever heard of anything like pyramite in Corona?"

Rapunzel shrugged. "I'm still learning about my country. I suppose it could be there. And even if it isn't, my parents will stop the whole kingdom to help her."

Anna took hold of the double doors by each handle and swung them open. Rapunzel's eyes quivered at the sight. So many beautiful colors, resonating swirls of muted olive-greens, bold violets, new combinations of crackled pewter and powdery coal.

"These are amazing. I've got to come in here some time and sketch these. Do you have paints at the castle?" Rapunzel asked.

"I'm sure we do, if no one left them outside," Anna grinned.

Rapunzel stopped in front of one. The portrait depicted a girl with a salmon spring dress kicking off her shoes as she swung from a gnarled tree. "This one looks familiar," she said.

"When I was little and Elsa wouldn't play with me, I got so bored I started talking to the pictures. That's Lord and Lady Peppadew."

Anna pointed at an elegant man and woman bowing to each other at a party. The woman had a floor-length white skirt in Spanish style and the man wore a decorated military uniform.

Anna said, "They're meeting for the first time. She's a peasant disguised as a woman of distinguished heritage and he's the moody son of a general who'd rather write plays. Those people laying down, having a picnic, are Hubert Cumberdale and Marjory Stewart-Baxter. Oh, and over here..."

Anna skipped to a picture of a group of people hunched in discussion. "This is the council of Science and Stars. And they are all amazed that I have just created this!"

She held up an imaginary flask. "A new magic potion which gives people horse voices or makes feet never stop dancing or a black ooze that turns spaghetti invisible. And all the people are looking around like 'mm, yes, yes, I see, very interesting, what uses could this have'?"

Rapunzel giggled. "You had a lot of time on your hands."

"Yeah, it was... kinda lonely. Elsa was so scared of her power she didn't want to be close to anyone. Least of all me, because she loved me so much. That's why I'm so confused why she took off. She just, whoop, got on a boat and left. Was it something I did?"

"I think she did the right thing. It was a dangerous situation, ready to collapse. Let's not worry about her right now. She's doing what she thinks is best for the kingdom. We should do our best from where we are."

"Right," Anna said with enthusiasm. "And we're doing... what now?"

"Find out what's causing the ice. If there's a source, we can stop it once and for all."

"Great... so where is that source?"

Rapunzel sighed. "I don't know. Do you have any ideas?"

"Not a clue. Maybe it's magic? The ice should be melting away by now. Maybe it's an evil witch."

"If it's a person behind this, what do they stand to gain by turning Arendelle into an icy wasteland? People don't do things for no reason. Either satisfaction or revenge or the crown."

"Elsa's the only person I know with the power to create giant ice storms."

Rapunzel touched her hair. Winter returns to Arendelle, stronger than before. Her magic hair returns, stronger than before. Could the two have anything to do with each other?

Anna yawned. "Maybe we could pick this up tomorrow. My brain is all pffsht. You know?"

Rapunzel nodded. "Let's go around town tomorrow and ask people if they saw anything."

"Yes! Maybe there's an eyewitness. I'll get you some shoes with ice spikes. Don't leave home without them," Anna chirped.

The door to the gallery opened. Servant Kai held up a tied bundle of papers.

"Princess Anna. We really need you to take care of this. By tonight."

"What is it?"

"The new year's budgetary guidelines. These are the final revisions that need to be signed off on."

"Isn't the queen supposed to do that?" Anna asked.

"You are the queen," Kai said. "The acting one."

"Oh, that's right, I am." Anna giggled. "And I was gone all day, wasn't I?"

"Yes. This needs to be approved so it can get to the council administrators by tomorrow. Without it, no one will be able to form their financial proposals. And without those, no one's going to send off their mercantile ships. Nothing would come in or out of the kingdom. Hundreds of people will be out of work."

Anna took the folder from his sweating hands. "What am I supposed to do?"

"You need to examine each bill and compare it to the previous. Make sure the classifications for each proposal match. Each expenditure needs to be approved..."

Her smile dropped to a droll grimace as she paged through the documents. Each leaflet held a cryptic puzzle of words and numbers.

"Can't this wait until Elsa comes back?" Anna asked. "Do I have to spend the rest of the night reading this tiny type? Figuring out costs and funds and quantities?"

"If it's not delivered by tomorrow, we'll have to start draining the treasury. And if we do that, all confidence in our economy will drop. We just can't afford that, in light of last year's snow and now this. Arendelle could go bankrupt."

Anna groaned. Rapunzel leaned over her shoulder, reading, which gave her an idea.

"Well, um... how about Rapunzel takes care of it?"

"Ma'am?" Kai looked confused. "Is that wise? You're the queen regent."

"She's my cousin. So that makes her the queen regent-regent, right? Or something like that."

"I don't think that's a thing," Kai said. "But I suppose it's not illegal."

"Rapunzel, please?" Anna gritted her teeth and pressed her hands together.

Rapunzel's eyes dashed back and forth along each line. "I guess I can take a look?"

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you." Anna hugged Rapunzel's shoulders and jumped up and down. "Come on. We can do it in the royal dining room. I'll have the chefs cook us up something snacky. Have you ever heard of a chocolate soufflé? The chef of the French ambassador made one for us and it. Is. Incredible."

Anna led Rapunzel out of the gallery by hand, leaving Kai behind.

Elsa woke herself up with a coughing fit. It heralded a bucket of saliva-imbued water puked onto the rocks.

When done purging, she lifted herself up, shielding her eyes from the cloudless sky. She was on a rocky shoal island. Waves crashed against the rocky outcroppings, surrounding it with white froth. Behind her was a small cave, only deep enough to get out of the sun. Seagulls perched on the cave's roof, oblivious to their guest.

The last thing she remembered was going below deck to save the captain. She thought she succeeded. But how did she get here?

As her eyes adjusted, something moved behind one of the larger crags. An arm.

"You! You there!" Elsa called.

The arm shirked back. Elsa stood and approached. Whoever was there struggled to stay hidden. "I see you. Are you the one that saved me?"

A young girl poked her head out. Elsa stopped.

"Yes," she meekly said. She looked younger than Anna, with voluminous hair as red as a tropical plant. Still half in the sea, she emerged from behind the rock wearing nothing but a bandeau of two purple scallop shells.

"Thank you... so much. My name's Elsa."

"I'm Ariel. I'm sorry I couldn't pull you further. I got too tired. But the coast is right there." She pointed to the beach about a mile away. A fisherman's village sat in the hazy ocean mist. Maybe Ariel was a native, hence the skimpy clothing.

Elsa remembered. "What about the ship? Did everyone make it off?"

"I think so. They all got into the lifeboats from what I saw. But the seas were too rough to get to them. The tri-... the storm took a while to subside."

Elsa sat down and combed through her dry hair. Sand came away, embedded in her fingernails, when she scratched her scalp. "Where are we?"

"I'm not sure." Ariel looked around, as if she were surveying the coastline for the first time. "I was just making sure you were all right before I left. If a boat came by I was going to try and flag it down. Is there someone I can send a message to? To tell them you're all right?"

"Before you left? You don't live around here?"

"No, I'm from... somewhere else. It's fine. I can get home all right."

"Without a boat? That would be quite a swim."

"I'm a good swimmer. Don't worry about me."

"Wait... I saw you..." Gauzy memories began to come back. Elsa pointed at Ariel. "I saw you in the ocean. You were floating next to the boat."

Ariel held her breath.

"Were you a stowaway?" Elsa asked.

"No, not exactly."

A freak wave surged behind Ariel. She recoiled as pellets of spray collided with her face. Her mermaid tail flicked up.

Elsa's eyes widened. It was only for a second, but there was no mistaking the fish tail where legs should have been.

"You're a... a... mermaid."

Ariel rubbed the back of her head. "Catfish's out of the bag, I guess." She hoisted herself onto the rock, bringing her green-blue tail with. "Could we keep it a secret? Just between us? I know that-"

"You wrecked my ship!"

Ariel paused. "What?"

Elsa pointed her finger. "You capsized the ship. That's what mermaids do, lure sailors to their doom. I saw you floating by before it sank. You led us into the storm."

"No! It wasn't my fault. I didn't mean to-"

Elsa reared back both hands and blasted out ice. Ariel twisted away, falling back into the ocean. Frost covered the rock behind her.

Elsa edged to the stone shore, searching for her. But cloud and froth obscured her view.

"You're not escaping," Elsa said.

She swept her hand across the shore, enclosing it within a wall of opaque white ice. It was too tall to jump over and sank heavy into the ocean floor. Elsa knew it worked because the red-haired head popped up at its edge.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Getting my revenge," Elsa said. She sent an icicle sailing through the air. The mermaid dodged out of the way.

"Stop it. Right now." Ariel held up her trident as a display of force.

Elsa knew myths of a ruler of the sea that wielded a trident. But that was a god-like, muscular man, not a nymph like this.

"You think your little fork scares me?" Elsa wound up an icy snowball and threw it at her.

Ariel swung the trident to bat it away. The projectile disintegrated, but bits of ice pelted her face. Out of anger, Ariel shot a lightning bolt at Elsa's feet.

The yellow blast cracked in front of her, scattering sharp pebbles. Elsa scampered backwards, landing on her rear.

Ariel swam up to shore, flipped down, and flapped her tail. A gush of salty water and sand splashed Elsa in the face.

She turned away, wiping her eyes as fast as possible.

Ariel returned to the wall and shot her trident at it. Elsa smirked. Not only did the little twerp not understand it was magic ice, but it was made as dense as cast iron.

Elsa gathered power in her hands and summoned it. Spikes of ice stabbed out of the wall. They grew towards Ariel, but she dove underwater before they hit, disappearing into the murky blackness.

"You're not going anywhere," Elsa said. She wandered back and forth, searching the tide pool for any movement.

Ariel lay at the bottom, clutching the trident to her chest. She didn't want to hurt anyone, but Elsa wasn't giving her much choice. Maybe if she could distract her she would calm down.

Huge hunks of jagged ice began falling all around her. She dodged the raining depth charges, backing against the wall.

There was a small crack near the foundation where the ice met the sea floor. Ariel stabbed her trident inside and fired. Bright light streamed out of the crack, then shivered up the center. The ice wall split apart, and a chunk of wall fell back into the water, on the other side.

As Elsa dropped her mines in random places, there was a thunderous shattering. The ice wall grew a gigantic crack in its middle. Its two sides sagged away, but stayed upright. Did that little mermaid do-

Before she could rebuild the wall, Ariel leapt out of the water, graceful as a dolphin. She pointed the trident and a bright flash of light shot out. Elsa turned away, temporarily blinded. Ariel landed in the water and turned to face Elsa. She gasped.

Elsa's eyes had turned bright white, like the palest arctic snow. She gritted her teeth and growled like a raging shark.

Stunned, Ariel didn't react in time to Elsa's blast. The trident flew out of her hands and embedded in a nearby rock. A mound of snow boosted her out of the water. She toppled down the slope and landed on a slick ice platform. The water covering her warm body fused to the ice, sticking her like a rat in a glue trap. Every pull tugged at her skin.

Elsa stepped forward. She stood over Ariel, eyes blazing with white hatred. A blue-white sparkling aura surrounded her fist.

"This is for my parents," she said.


章節 6: CHAPTER 5: Interrogation

The astrologist's chamber was built in the tallest tower, three floors up, looking over the fjord. Staff commented how he had the best view in the castle, but wasted it always looking up.

"Good morning, girls," High Astronomer Augie said, not looking up from the telescope lens he was adjusting. Its bulging end pointed through a slit in the roof to the cloudy sky. Next to him stood a desk with a wide mess of telescopes, lenses, star charts, books, prisms, and scrolls.

"Morning, Augie," Anna said.

"How is the queen today? In good spirits?"

"I assume so," Anna said. "Have you seen her?"

"Seen her? Isn't she standing-" Augie looked up and startled. "Excuse me. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought you were Queen Elsa." He gestured to the back of his head. "It's the braid."

Anna laughed. "This is my cousin, Rapunzel. Elsa left for Corona yesterday. Didn't you hear?"

"Oh... no. I was recording weather patterns. Trying to get a grasp on this ice storm phenomenon. It was the queen's last order to me."

"Have you found anything yet?" Rapunzel asked. She stepped over the many books laid out to reach the desk next to the telescope with his notes.

"It's too difficult to for manual observation because of the darkness. Everything is just gray. I've been recording temperature, pressure, dew point, every hour. Looking for trends."

Rapunzel peered over his shoulder, reading through the data. Meanwhile, Anna spun the orrey in the middle of the room. Little balls representing the planets spiraled around a central yellow sun at different speeds. Jupiter revolved the slowest. Grinning, she whacked it as hard as she could to see how fast it could go. The red planet fell off and rolled under a desk.

Anna gasped. She stood up straight, as if she were paying attention the whole time.

"Could be a front. When areas of high pressure and low pressure collide, storms can happen. Bloody unusual storm though for this time of year," Augie said.

"I've got books and books of strange weather phenomena back at home. Rains of frogs. Rainbows from the moon. Conic lightning."

Augie nodded. "I've read those. But I'm a man of science. Most of those stories are apocryphal. I tend not to trust a theory that's traveled tongue to tongue across countries."

Anna slipped away and flattened to the ground. She reached under the desk where the red ball had rolled. It was caked in dust and grime. She brushed it off daintily, then slipped it back onto its spindle.

But it didn't seem to fit on. As she turned it, a spider crawled up the top. Anna's scream seized in her throat. She flailed her arms, accidentally spinning the orrey and knocking other planets off. Anna grabbed for the balls as they fell.

"Then what do you think it is?" Rapunzel asked.

"I hate to say this, but I think it's magic," Augie said. "Normally, I'd never mention the word, but we do have a sorceress for a queen, so..."

Rapunzel giggled. "So much for being a man of science."

He smiled and shrugged. "If it's not following the laws of nature, I don't know what else to call it."

Anna crawled under shelves and couches, fetching the balls until she cradled five planets in her hand. She returned to the display, but couldn't remember where they went. The little planets were closes to the sun, right? Or was it the important ones?

Augie said, "The simple fact is, the ice isn't melting and the clouds aren't leaving. If only I could leave my post, I could do some investigating."

"We were going to go into town today to look for leads. Do you know where we should start?" Rapunzel asked.

Augie chewed the pen in his mouth. "If anyone was close to the mountains at the time, they might have witnessed the tempest form. See if anyone witnessed something strange or unnatural. The closer to the sky they were, the better."

Rapunzel nodded. "Anna? Can we get to the homes closest to the mountains today?"

Anna sat up straight.

"What happened to my orrey?" Augie asked. "Why is Earth orbiting Mercury?"

"Um..." Anna toed her foot. "Everyone always said you should change the world. I took it one step further."

Later, Anna got the servants to compile a quick list of people who worked in the mountains--miners, trappers, lumberjacks. First they interviewed all the castle guards assigned to patrol the tower parapets that night.

"Let me see," said Henrik. "I was taking over for Ivar, cause he what came down with the flu that's been going around. Emanuel was on duty with me, but had to use the tinkle pot. And then I don't remember if he came back. He had a lot of water-"

"Yes, but can you tell us what you saw that night? When the storm hit?" Anna asked.

"Right, right. I was looking at the moon. It was a clear night. And I was looking at the moon, and thinking how much it looked like a cookie. Then I remembered the cookies my mom used to make with extra butter. They were so warm and gooey-"

"Shouldn't you have been looking on the ground for intruders instead of at the moon?" Rapunzel asked.

"Oh, right. I should. Unless they're riding birds. But I guess they'd have to be awful large birds, so that's not happened, has it?"

"Not likely." Anna rolled her eyes.

Henrik was, sadly, the most helpful of the guards, who all reported the same thing--a clear night, then clouds that formed out of nothing, centering over Arendelle's castle.

The townspeople weren't much better. Kaia, an old woman, opened the door to them. As soon as she did, a giant black elkhound rushed out and battered them with its nose.

"I was out for a walk at the time, dearies. Beautiful night out. Lots of stars. Cool wind coming down the mountain. Just love it."

The dog became interested in Anna's skirt, trying to burrow into it.

"Where were you when the storm hit?" Rapunzel asked, while the wagging tail thwapped at her legs.

"Just a little ways out of town, I suppose. I take Rufus with me. Rufus, be nice."

Rufus was being nice. A little too nice. The ebony hound revolved around Anna, rubbing his body against hers. He sat on his haunches, looking up expectantly. Anna gave him a friendly pat.

"I don't think I saw anything unusual at the time," Kaia continued. "I mean besides the storm itself. Seemed to come up like magic. Everyone says Queen Elsa did it, but I don't believe that. She's learned her lesson."

"That's what we think," Rapunzel said. "It sounds a little different than her magic. Was there anything after the storm?"

"After we got into some shelter, I gave Rufus some treats to calm him down. Rufus, stop that."

If anything, the command made Rufus go harder. He jumped on two legs so he could reach his nose as high as he could. Anna tried to shove him off, but the dog was a bit bulkier than she could manage.

"Whoop!" Anna fell to the side, rather than crush the dog. This was Rufus's chance. He slobbered her face, straddling her torso to get in better position. "Help! I'm not ready for this kind of relationship."

Another old woman opened a door, but was less pleasant. Anna and Rapunzel explained the situation. "So we're hoping you could tell us what you saw the night of the storm."

Constantly adjusting her spectacles, she declared, "You're not the queen."

"No, I'm Princess Rapunzel of Corona."

"What kind of first name is 'Princess'?"

"No, I am a princess. Rapunzel's my first name."

"You don't look like any princess I know of."

"She's my cousin," Anna said. "She's helping me look into this whole thing."

"Find that Queen Elsa, I bet she did it. And her sister too. She's a collaborator."

"I'm... her sister," Anna said. "Don't you recognize me? I'm Princess Anna."

"Eh? Princess Anna? I thought you were her cousin."

"No, SHE'S my cousin." Anna pointed to Rapunzel.

"How can she be your cousin, but you not hers. That doesn't make sense," the old lady retorted.

"No, we're both cousins. We're both princesses."

"Then where's the queen? She should be handling this, like a proper diplomat."

"She is. She's gone to Corona to look for a solution," Rapunzel said.

"I thought you said you were from Corona," she pointed a gnarled finger at Rapunzel. "So what are you doing here? Is that what a queen would do? Lie to her subjects?"

"I'm not the queen."

The old lady turned around in a huff. "Should've never voted for this administration."

Johan worked at the lumber mill, which lay at the foot of the mountain. He was sawing logs when the storm hit. "I was working on a godhammer--that's about a two hundred and fifty stone log. It's hardcore. When it came down the river, I was PUMPED!"

Anna and Rapunzel shirked back. "Was the sky clear at that point?"

Johan shrugged. "I guess so. Wasn't paying attention. You start sawing the cutlets, you get in the ZONE." He bashed his head against the mill wall. "All you see is the sawdust flying. Nothing else matters but that next cut, you know?"

"Um, yes?" Anna said.

He set a chunk of black wood on a stump. "And don't let nobody tell you I was slacking off. I'll give you three reasons why I'm the best cutter in Arendelle. Number one, no one can match these pieces of timber." He flexed his chest muscles, holding out fists that were the size of babies. "Number two: a log like that comes down the river, I pounce like a tiger. Rip off a chunk and grind it in my mouth, grr." He peeled the bark from his chunk and gnashed his teeth around it, like a dog with a chew toy. "Get a real taste for it, you know?"

"So you didn't see the storm start?" Rapunzel asked.

"No. By the time I looked up, ice was all around me. No idea what happened. I was afraid I slept through summer."

"What's the third?" Anna asked.

"The third what?" Johan said.

"The third reason you're the best?"

"Oh, I... I don't remember." He looked down at the boulder. "What was I doing with this wood?"

Every house they went to said the same thing--clouds appeared, icy rain fell, and they want something done about it. Exhausted, Rapunzel and Anna finished their day in the mountaineer district. A wife answered the door, jiggling a baby on her shoulder.

She looked frazzled, but straightened when the princess entered. "Oh, what can I do for you?"

"You're Milla, right? We're just going around town, seeing if we can figure out how the ice storm came about. We know it wasn't Queen Elsa, so we're asking if anyone saw anything weird that night?"

The baby's gurgles grew from fussy grunts to outright rage. Milla ignored it. "Sure, come in, come in. Can I offer you a cup of tea?"

"Um, sure," Anna said. No one had invited them in so far, and they were tired of the unfriendly responses. Even if this house had a screaming baby in it.

The mother put the tea on the stove. "I'm sorry about Samuel. He's been colicky for the last day and a half. My husband's going to see if he can find some herbs to soothe him down."

Little Samuel did his best to drown out his mother as she balanced a tea kettle and a fire.

"I could hold him," Rapunzel said. "Can I? I love babies."

Milla looked confused, which Rapunzel understood. Why would a royal woman sully herself with the touch of a squalling baby, especially one from a commoner. But upon seeing Rapunzel's sincere smile, she handed him over.

Milla exhaled as if a twenty stone weight had lifted off her neck. Samuel didn't even acknowledge that he had transferred persons. Rapunzel took the child next to a window, cradling his head, while Anna asked questions.

"So was your husband near the mountains that night?"

"He was. He didn't say he saw anything weird, but he got it pretty bad. When he came in his clothes were frozen. We had to cut him out of his jacket."

Samuel's cries filled the tiny hovel. Anna and Milla had to shout to hear each other.

"Was he with anyone at the time? Did he see what direction it came from?"

"No, he said it came out of nowhere."

"Is there maybe another room I can take him while you talk?" Rapunzel asked.

"I can take him. I'm sorry, he's overtired. You shouldn't have to-"

"No, no, it's no trouble. I've been out all day. Even a screaming baby's better company than some of the places we've been."

"You can take him in our room if you like. That's where his basinet is."

Rapunzel carried young Samuel into the back room and shut the door. Although it gave relief to the two outside, the small room and flat walls did wonders for amplification.

Rapunzel sat on a chair and bounced Samuel up and down. Still he screamed. She twirled him around. Nothing. She was pretty sure swaddling him was the key and began a search for blankets. But all the ones she found were glazed with spit-up and other fluids. If she could just swaddle him, she bet she could stop the noise, give the poor mother some relief.

Rapunzel took a bobby pin out of the back of her head. A tress of hair sprang out and unraveled on the floor. She set Samuel on the bed and laid out a ribbon of gold. Like rolling a pastry, she wrapped Samuel tight and snug.

"Do not spit up on me," Rapunzel said.

Samuel's cries blubbered into confused gasps as he tried to figure out why he couldn't move his limbs. But then resentment returned. He was content to lay there and scream his head off.

Rapunzel sat in the rocking chair. "You need to get sleep, little guy. How about a song? This is a lullaby my mother... I mean, someone taught me." She cleared her throat. "Flower, gleam and glow... let your power shine..."

Meanwhile, outside, Anna and Milla waited for the tea to steep, sitting across from each other. Milla said, "I wasn't even looking up until the ice hit. But I do remember it seeming dark outside. I don't think I was paying too much attention at the time. If I had to guess, I suppose it centered over the castle, didn't it?"

"I think that's why people are suspicious of Queen Elsa. It's not an accident. But then, who did it? And why?" Anna asked.

Milla nodded. "That's the question."

"I mean, I could see some kind of magician trying to hurt us. Get an invasion force ready or sabotage. But then-"

"Wait!" Milla held up her finger and hushed. "Do you hear something?"

Anna paused. "No."

"I don't either. The silence... the baby!"

Both jumped from their seats, spilling tea on the floor, and rushed to the back of the house. Milla almost knocked Anna down. She tore open the door to find...

Rapunzel rocking in the chair, holding sleeping Samuel in her arms.

"Everything okay?" Rapunzel asked.

"I... the... I didn't hear anything. So I thought... what happened? Is he all right?"

"He's fine."

"H-how did you... I don't know what you did, but thank you." Milla clasped her hands together as if she were praying. Her eyes glowed with absolute, desperate gratitude. "How did you do it?"

"Just a trick I learned from my mother," Rapunzel smiled.

"Why?" Elsa hissed. She pointed the trident at Ariel's throat.

Ariel lay pinned to the iceberg, ice cuffs around her wrists and tail. She craned her neck away from the golden spear point.

"I didn't mean to. It was an accident. That's why I was trying to save them. Mermaids don't try to lure sailors to their deaths."

"Liar. That's exactly what an evil creature would say." The seabirds gathered on the island twittered like an agreeing court audience.

"No, it's true. In fact, going to the surface is forbidden. We aren't allowed to have contact with humans. We're supposed to keep ourselves a secret."

Elsa whipped back. "Then what are you doing here?"

Ariel started to speak, but realized each place to start made less sense than the last. "It's a long story. I became a human because I fell in love with one. But something turned me back into a mermaid."

"You fell in love with a human?"

Ariel nodded. "But my father didn't approve, so I went to the sea witch, and she gave me this contract to turn me into a human if I gave her my voice. But my voice was the only way he could tell it was me. It was this whole big thing."

"Sounds complicated."

"You should have seen the wedding," Ariel said.

Elsa weighed her words, but the frequent calls of the seagulls distracted her. "Then why did you cause the storm? Why did you destroy my ship?"

"It was an accident. I didn't even see you out there. I was trying to take care of this." She lifted the fluke of her tail. "And the trident turned me human once before."

Elsa held up the trident to her eye. "The trident... What is it?"

Ariel cringed. "Please be careful with that. It's... well, it's mostly a weapon. But for the ruler of the sea, it has many more powers. I thought that maybe it would work for me. But..." She shook her head. "My six sisters are the ones ruling Atlantica. I guess I'm still just a princess."

"A princess?"

"Of Atlantica. Daughter of King Triton."

"Triton..." Elsa remembered the name from her studies on Greek history. He was a god who dwelt in a golden palace in the depths of the sea. His father was Poseidon--master of the ocean--known for wielding... a trident.

Elsa lowered the weapon, now aware of its power. "This caused the storm?"

Ariel nodded. "When I went to the surface and used it, lightning and wind started shooting out. I couldn't control it. I'm sorry, I should have had someone there to help me."

Elsa flexed her fingers on the trident's shaft. "Strangely enough, I understand having a power you can't control."

"You created that iceberg, didn't you," Ariel said. "Where does your power come from? Is there a tool or a necklace you use?"

"I was born with it. But I've gained control over it now. Well, mostly. But this..." She held up the trident. "You shouldn't be wielding something so dangerous if you can't handle it."

"Believe me, I never wanted to hurt anyone. If I could go back and fix it, I would."

A sharp, crackling screech sounded behind them, among the other bird calls. Elsa looked behind her.

Seabirds galumphed along the shore. They trotted and hopped along the rocks. Each stared at them from their perches with empty doll's eyes.

"Um, does that look like more birds than usual to you?" Elsa asked.

Ariel lifted her head. "What are they all doing?"

The birds lifted off as one, amassing into a furious cloud of feathers and beaks. It squealed like a dying hog.

Elsa shielded her eyes with her free hand as their beaks sliced her arms. Looking away, she fired trails misty snow against the flock. The horde penetrated the cloudy ice, pelting her with claws and shrieks.

With her free hand, Elsa swatted with the trident. It whacked one or two light bodies out of the sky, but the mass continued its assault.

"Help!" Ariel cried. Several birds landed next to her body, pecking at her hands and stomach and tail. Pinpricks of blood dotted her smooth flesh. "Help me, please!"

Elsa thrust her hand out. The ice shackles disappeared in puffs of frost. Ariel crawled on her belly to Elsa. "Let me try." She held up her hands to take the trident.

Elsa hesitated at giving a possible enemy her weapon back, but relented.

An unearthly thrum emitted from the weapon. Ariel aimed and lightning shot into the mob of seabirds. They fluttered out of the way. Maybe one or two got hit, but a dozen more replaced them.

"They sure are organized," Ariel yelled.

"They're defending their territory," Elsa yelled. "We're the invaders."

Ariel shot one of the gulls out of the sky. It plopped in the water as another bird scratched its claw across her wrist. Ariel screeched.

"If we don't escape, we're going to become bird food," Elsa said.

Ariel pointed past the inlet of rocks. "Can you make another platform?" she shouted.

Elsa redirected her powers to the ocean space. A flat ice floe formed, bobbing in the waves.

Ariel side-rolled into the water. For a brief moment, Elsa thought she was escaping. Then she popped up behind the iceberg. "Get on!"

Elsa ran across the water. A silvering plate formed under each foot, cantilevering forward, making a cold safe bridge.

The birds swarmed in the air, streaming in different directions like a chaotic tornado. Gradually, when the mass reached critical size, it moved toward them.

"Kneel down," Ariel said. "This is going to go fast."

Elsa set to her knees as Ariel grunted, heaving the ice floe forward. Her fluke scattered spray as it beat against the ocean. Once Elsa realized what she was doing, she molded the ice to be more hydrodynamic, adding a raised lip to front and a keep to the bottom. Soon they reached enough speed to leave a wake behind. But so were the birds.

"Head towards that bay," Elsa pointed. She hoped the presence of the townspeople would scare off the birds. If not, they could hide under a roof.

Ariel kept her head down, thinking of nothing but pumping her tail as fast as she could. The demon cries of the birds pushed through her fatigue.

Elsa peered into the distance. There was something in the water. A dock running parallel to shoreline. The tide had risen high enough to cover it with a patina of water.

"Ariel!" Elsa shouted. But she couldn't hear over the rush. They couldn't stop, couldn't turn in time. Elsa thrust her hands out and created a ramp of ice. They slid up the ramp and launched into the air.

Ariel's eyes grew wide, but she clung on as they both flew as high as the birds pursuing them. Fright rendered her catatonic.

The ice floe fell from underneath Elsa. They were about to crash into the shore. Elsa grabbed Ariel's hand and aimed her hand at the beach

A mound of snow sprang up on the gray sand where they were about to make impact. They landed with a soft WHUFF. Flakes spurted up like fireworks, as if celebrating a safe landing.

Elsa landed on her butt. Ariel speared the snow halfway through, leaving her fish tail stuck out flapping. Elsa reached in and grabbed her arms.

"Whoa..." she said, taking a breath. "That was fun."

Elsa bemusedly thought of a certain sister who would have said the same thing. The birds had stopped where they had launched and were dispersing into the sky. Elsa let out a cleansing breath.

Ariel lay back in the snow and sighed. "I'll have to tell Scuttle about that one."


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