Frozen Beyond [gxg]

Remember

The two fires clashing created a symphony of colors as heat expanded over the island of ice.

Elsa shielded her face with her arms from the scorching flames that danced over the ground before extinguishing.

Keahi slid back before she caught her foot on some melted ice to keep herself from flying into the water.

Elsa ran to the entrance of the ice palace, struggling to get the pick to turn in the lock. Sweat started on her forehead as her hands shook, the pick trembling against the cuffs.

Bruni let out a gurgling grumble, a pink blazing Mohawk started down his back. His eyes slitting and narrowing as he leapt from her to intercept a ball of black fire.

When the pink flames collided with black, an explosion had Bruni flying back into a block of ice.

He let out a weak gargle and Elsa scooped him up, giving him a place on her shoulder while she worked the cuffs. "Come on..." she pleaded, trying not to get frustrated with herself as she looked back to the fight between Crow and Keahi. She couldn't see anything past the scorching flames and steam that obscured the battlefield.

Another explosion rocked the island, and it threw Keahi from the shore into the water so hard she skipped along its surface once before sinking into the murky water.

Nokk immediately pushed her under the minute she came up for air.

"No! Leave her, Nokk!" Elsa yelled as loud as she could over the sound of crashing waves and thunder. She started towards the shore but Crow emerged from the sea of flames and smoke. Marching his way towards her with a sinister look like pierced her straight down to her core.

"You damn siren, you turned my sister against me!" He barked, shooting flames across the ice. They didn't quite reach her but left her with no place to go but into Ahtohallen.

She breathed painfully, taking a step back as he continued his approach and she eyed the dark waters where Keahi and the Nokk had yet to resurface.

Reluctantly, she started running down the hall of ice. She could feel the heat on her back as Crow used the tunnel as a funnel for fire. It sounded like a thundering train as it rampaged down the hall.

She leapt to the side into the open room full of ice pillars and curled into a ball to shield her body as flames exploded into the room. Placing Bruni on a pillar, she held her index finger to her lips to signal for him to be quiet.

Hiding behind the next pillar over and working the cuffs, she slowed her breathing, nearly holding her breath until her lungs begged for air.

Crows slow footsteps clicked dangerously on the icy floors. Her heart beat in tandem with each step.

She lived too long with fear controlling her, she wouldn't allow it now.

Her cuffs clicked as she finally unlocked them just as the cackling of flames started.

Tossing the cuffs to the side, she pivoted and tossed the ice pillar across the room just as Crow released a stream of flames.

She took the time to run towards the end of the room to the hall that would lead to the core of Ahtohallen. Where the strongest memories lived.

"You can't run!" Crow yelled behind her, his voice getting more unhinged the further in they ventured.

Breaking into the core of Ahtohallen, memories and calls swirled around her and she tried to skim through the memories to see if she could catch something of Keahi and Crow.

Could she kill him? When it was Keahi's only family?

She didn't think she could. She clenched her fists at her side, arms and jaw aching from how tense she held them. Maybe the Crow that Keahi had told her about was in there somewhere still.

His slow steps echoed as she twisted to greet them, chin held high and shoulders back.

When he rounded the corner, she yanked her arm upward as ice caught his arms and feet to immobilize him the best she could. A pillar of sharp ice jetted from the floor and inches close to his neck where it touched his neck gingerly. But any movement and it could easily skewer him.

"Look!" she yelled, eyes narrowing as she jammed a finger at the pink and light blue shades of ice throughout the dome-shaped room.

Images of sailing seas, laughing seagulls, blue skies, and a young Keahi danced around the room in a swirl of memories.

The muscles that bulged in his neck from straining relaxed as he gazed around the room.

Both his laughter and Keahi's drifted through the room. Keahi looked to be about seven, while Crow looked to be older teens; sixteen or seventeen.

They both ran along pearl white sands as waves as blue as the sky caressed the beach.

Then, darker images sprang forth. Keahi was on a bed, sick. Her brother climbing a rocky cliff as rain pelted his face. A witch, holding out an amulet and dagger that he took with reluctance.

"They took something great from you," Elsa started as the memories faded and the room fell silent. "But remember the love you had for Keahi. The strength it took to give up something so precious for someone you loved. I understand, I have a younger sister too and I would do anything for her." She tried to reason, her voice thick with emotion.

For a second, she thought she saw the hard lines in Crow's face soften. But they returned rigid as he slumped his head forward. A rolling laugh rocked his shoulders. The sound hollow and listless. "You thought showing me what was would give me a change of heart? Well, the past stays there, siren. Things change and there's no going back."

"All we can ever count on is change. It's what keeps us growing. Let me help you." Elsa begged, taking one cautious step forward.

"The only way you can help me is if you die right here. Don't you want your precious Keahi to live on?" He sneered.

Elsa shifted under the scrutiny of what he was saying, emotion welling up and she clenched her fist. "I can find a way to break the curse. Keahi wants to change and I believe she can."

"People don't change, just their motives." He scowled, looking down at the ruby necklace that adorned his neck. It looked faded, its power wisping away. "You know what's sad?" he asked, his voice dull and lingering like heavy smoke in the air. "The only reprieve I get from feeling nothing is when I see the look of horror and pain I inflict on others."

As he spoke, a whistle started like the lit end of a rocket. The ice enclosing him started to illuminate orange and black. "And I'm really going to enjoy your pain." He growled, the guttural sound overshadowed by the explosion of ice from around his body.

Pieces of ice shot out like shrapnel, a few colliding with her arm and one chunk hitting her in the temple as the room let out an eerie groan and started to collapse around them.