Elsa Awakes and Sidus Serpens Shudders
A young Elsa stood before Ardyn; the arrogance of youth had her standing straight, a smug look on her face and an inability to listen to others. Ardyn stood there—feeling ever so slightly deflated—trying to think of a way to help her teacher. She was not one to give up easily, and she had learned to believe all was possible.
They were higher beings; she had The Life Way. Why couldn't she save her teacher? She looked to Sidus Serpens, and her heart called out.
And Sidus Serpens answered.
The realm hummed with power. It shimmered, and, before their eyes, it changed. The wide fields of luscious grasses transformed into vast, vibrantly colored deserts; then it changed again, and Ardyn and Elsa were hovering over a vast ocean of shimmering iridescent waters.
As the changes occurred, Ardyn felt her sleeping second hibiscus stir, and with each change, another petal opened. She felt the magic of creation, water, and terra firma flow through her. Her soul hibiscus stirred and rose higher above her soul plain, and as it did, the plaza with the seven pillars rose in Sidus Serpens.
Elsa gasped as she saw the pillars rise—a beastkin sitting atop each, petrified into the same marble they sat upon. They all looked like massive ancient sculptures. Elsa walked to the pillars that her parents sat on—they sat across from each other—she ran her hand along the cold marble and looked at each high on their huge thrones.
She looked back to Ardyn—rage, despair, and a hint of curiosity in her eyes—and then she was standing in front of her.
"I have been looking for them for eons and you call them in moments." A small, maniacal smile spread across her face. "There does seem to be a chance." She cocked her head. "Do you actually have a plan? How were you to save me?"
Ardyn's eyes went wide, and then her teacher laughed—she laughed like the Elsa Ardyn knew. Ardyn calmed, and her two hibiscus began to rotate in tandem. As they spun, Ardyn understood. She nodded as her eyes began to glow with a deep inner fire.
"Come. We need to reconnect you to Sidus Serpens properly. Your connection has been frayed for eons." As she spoke, a power circle opened up before her. Her ethereal voice was filled with power that fueled the circle.
The circle flashed, and six more quickly formed around it. The concentric circles pulsed with power seven times and then began to spin. Several ear-shattering cracks rang out, and giant pieces of marble fell from the petrified Emperors and Empresses. Ethereal sounds echoed around Sidus Serpens in a rhythmic way, and both Ardyn and Elsa's hearts synchronized to the beat of the realm.
Elsa rose into the air first. She rose up higher than the pillars and their seated Emperor or Empress—her body slowly rotating as she rose. The iridescent waters rose up in a great rush and swallowed her as if she had been baptized by Sidus Serpens. As the waters receded from her form, Ardyn felt it immediately.
Her teacher had returned. Elsa was back to her full power—she may even have been a bit stronger.
Ardyn smiled, but before she could fully gain understanding, her body rose into the air. It felt as if a massive hand had taken her up, gently rotating her to examine her and bringing her up to a specific eye level. The waters rushed toward her, but beams of light from each pillar struck her as well. Ardyn's body contorted, and power and knowledge flowed through her like electricity through a closed circuit.
In an instant, she understood Sidus Serpens and her place within the realm. Her body relaxed, and she understood the connections, the purpose of Emperors and Empresses, and their hierarchy. She rose higher, into the center of the pillars, and she actively sent magic out into the realm and directly to the Emperors and Empresses on the pillars. More of the marble fell, and the Emperors and Empresses began to move.
Ardyn sensed that no more could be done, and her body lowered to hover above the iridescent waters. Elsa smiled at her.
"Good work, little one. I knew you were an Empress, but I never imagined you'd be a High Empress." Elsa hugged her tightly and whispered in her ear, "Thank you for saving them."
"You have returned, Elsa."
Ardyn and Elsa turned as one, then bowed as one to the fox beastkin.
"I have, High Emperor."
The fox nodded, but his eyes never left Ardyn. "A High Empress has been born—within the human clan."
The Emperors and Empresses were not fully freed and some of them were still disoriented, but they all murmured in response to this revelation.
"For now, I am merely Ardyn Stronghood, High Emperor. I have not truly found Sidus Serpens yet. Once Emperor Varric and I truly return, we can talk."
She spoke with confidence and authority. She bowed, turned to her teacher and bowed again, and then she left the realm.
Ardyn awoke beside Varric. Elsa's body had shrunk back to her beastkin form, Varric had dropped the containment field, and Ardyn's vine cage had returned to her vine battle staff. Varric looked to her with a smile.
"You saved her, love." He paused and looked at her with narrowed eyes. "And you seem to have gained even more."
Ardyn looked at her teacher, then to Varric. She smiled broadly, and he could not help but lean over and kiss her passionately. They pulled apart and looked at each other breathlessly.
Ardyn smiled again. "We need to build and secure Serpentia and begin our quest to save Sidus Serpens, my love. It cannot be put off any longer."
Her fingers stroked his jaw as she spoke. Varric smiled and nodded in agreement.
"Then we prepare. I will go wherever you go. I will never let you leave my side again."