Winter Moon (Jelsa)

Chapter 12: Elsa

"Light," I muttered. "We need light."

In hindsight, it had been foolish to try and find Merida with only two working lights.

I couldn't do much with my ice. Light just wasn't one of my specialties.

"I can do the thing," Rapunzel replied. 

"What 'thing'?" I asked, confused.

"Do it," Jack urged. "Like you said, we can trust her. And besides, we don't have much of a choice."

"Flower gleam and glow. Let your power shine. Make the clock reverse. Bring back what once was mine," Rapunzel sang. 

Suddenly, the golden waves of her hair lit up, sending an aureate glow throughout the chamber. The darkness seemed to recoil, scalded by the light.

"Heal what has been hurt. Change the Fates' design. Save what has been lost. Bring back what once was mine," Rapunzel continued to sing, her voice light and sweet, and I instantly felt better.

Then, it hit me. This was magic. Rapunzel could do magic, which meant she was an Elite. Clearly, Jack knew about her power. Was he an Elite as well?

"That's magic," I watched Rapunzel's hair shimmer with light. "Are you an Elite?"

"Of a sort," she admitted. 

I turned on Jack. "Are you?" 

For a second, I thought he might deny it.

"Yeah," he said instead. "Just... don't tell anyone. We're sorta undercover."

I was in a room full of enemies. It was hard to believe that they would trust me with this secret, but then again, they didn't have a choice.

I gave them a brief nod. "We have to get out of here."

"It would definitely suck to be in here the rest of our lives listening to Rapunzel's horrible singing," Jack frowned and tapped the door with his staff from which the dead lantern hung.

Rapunzel swatted Jack on the shoulder and stuck her tongue out at him before going back to singing. They were a bit like siblings.

I turned back to the desk. The word 'TRAP' had been carved into the wood in capital letters. There had to be a way out of this.

"The ceiling is pretty high up. Maybe it's at surface level? We could climb up there and break out," I offered.

"Climbing sounds like a waste of time," Jack drawled. He lifted his staff and shot a few feet into the air. I gawked at him. To think that I had thought he brought the staff just to carry a lantern.

Swooping down, he slipped an arm around my waist and lifted me off the ground. I let out an undignified squeak, wrapping my arms around his neck, I squeezed my eyes shut. My heart was pounding, and it wasn't just from the sheer shock of flying. 

Jack chuckled. "Keep singing, Punzie! I'll come get you in a minute."

It was much dimmer near the ceiling, but Rapunzel's hair was bright enough that I could dimly make out the domed ceiling.

Setting me down on the top of a dusty bookshelf, Jack reached up and tapped the roof with his staff. I sat down, letting my legs dangle over the side.

"The roof's made of stone. It's rock hard. Literally," he grinned at his own joke, but his smile disappeared when he added, "I can't break through this without bringing the whole roof down on us." 

"Figures," I grumbled as I ran one of my fingers absently along the edge of the wall, right where it met the ceiling. My finger slid into a groove. With a little start, I realized, I could feel the edge of a button.

"What is it?" Jack asked, reading my expression.

"I'm about to find out," I jammed the button with my finger.

There was a groaning noise as the dome split open like a blooming flower. It peeled into five parts and unfurled, revealing the brilliant day sky above. I could hear the noises of the city in the distance.

"That was too easy," I eyed the sky suspiciously. Was this a trick?

"That's it?" Jack demanded incredulously. He flew into the air, looking left and right.

"What's going on up there?"Rapunzel shouted. She had stopped singing, but I didn't think it mattered anymore.

"We're out. I think." I responded, standing up. I grabbed the edge of one of the dome parts and pulled myself out. Jack flew down to grab Rapunzel. I was standing at the edge of a domed cupola. We were in the midst of Skyara, close to the Tower. If I had to guess, we not in the Dawn Sector anymore since I could see the edge of the school in the distance. 

"Is this a temple of some sort?" Rapunzel asked as she and Jack landed next to me.

"Yeah," Jack frowned uncomfortably.

I narrowed my eyes. He was lying. One of the few things I had learned was how to tell when someone wasn't telling the whole truth. I had wanted to be able to keep my secret, so I figured if I learned how people lied, I could avoid giving something away.

"A temple for who?" I pushed. The temple was old, no doubt, and the entrance was underground. But why was the interior only a tiny room full of books?

"One of the gods," Jack replied. "Varda, maybe?"

Varda. Vana. Goldred. Moon. The four celestial gods. Everyone in the world worshipped them, including the king and queen of Arendelle. The Elites were rumored to be able to communicate directly with them.

"Do you think Hiccup and Eugene are okay?" Rapunzel interjected, changing the subject.

Right. Hiccup and Flynn. 

"I hope so," Jack said worriedly. "I would fly us back to the Dawn Sector to check, but someone would probably see us. We can't go back through a railway because we're supposed to still be in the Dawn Sector. Maybe we could sneak on to a skyship?"

"Are we in the Night Sector?" I asked for clarification.

"The one and only," Jack responded.

Rapunzel chewed anxiously on her lip. "What if Eugene isn't okay? What if Hiccup isn't okay? Do you think Merida's even still... alive?"

"Worrying won't help us," I said soothingly. "We have to get out of the Night Sector first. Now, unless you want to go back down there," I pointed at the open dome, "you need to help Jack and I find a way out."

"I bet I could hijack a passing skyship," Jack mused. His eyes were alight with mischief.

"That won't be necessary," boomed an unfamiliar voice.

The three of us whirled and found ourselves face-to-face with a gigantic bunny.

"Oh," Rapunzel grumbled unhappily. "You."

"Who-" I began.

"Ella," Jack said, "meet the Easter Kangaroo."