Chasing the Rabbit: Chapter Ten -Fire and Ice

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Present Day

A stroll through daylight made Maleficent uncomfortable, but the journey demanded it. From a distance, the large rock before her appeared to be a mountain, but she knew otherwise. It was nothing more than a massive rock, disguised to be something it was not.

At the base of the structure resided the skeletal remains of what must have been a magnificent beast; jaws long enough to swallow a man whole. She imagined at its full height, the creature would have met a third floor balcony at eye level. Now this titan of yore was reduced to little more than a skull and ribs embedded in the stone. Rest well noble being, she thought.

A crow's glide to the right stood the man of the vines; Tarzan, if she recalled correctly. He stood guard at one of the many cavern entrances, which made Maleficent's search significantly simpler. He clearly sensed her presence, but couldn't see her. No need for dramatics. She drifted behind him and filled his mind with the weight of fatigue. "Sleep now," she whispered, and Tarzan was no longer on guard.

The darkness of the cave invigorated Maleficent. A colony of bats hung from the ceiling above her, their glowing red eyes taken to fascination with her entrance. She smiled as she maneuvered past them. The area beyond was much larger, dotted with stalactites that dripped an unknown source into small pools below. Each droplet hit the surface with a ripple that hummed, like a pilgrim in meditation, and a circular rainbow waved out to the edges. The very rocks gave off a low glow that Maleficent had not witnessed before. There was magic in these caverns. And more.

Elsa was easy to find as the magic within her gave her an aura of luminescence. She sat next to one of the pools, scooping up a handful of the water and pouring it into the wound in her side. When it touched her skin Elsa stiffened as if it was burning her, but she kept herself from making a sound. Self control, thought Maleficent. So much wasted potential.

Elsa felt that she wasn't alone and pushed herself to her feet. "Who's there?" she whispered.

Maleficent brought herself into the light. Elsa stumbled backwards creating a glowing ball of frost in her hand. "Don't insult me," Maleficent scolded her. "If I meant to bring harm to you I would have already done so."

"What have you done with Tarzan?"

"Your friend will awaken when I allow it." Maleficent glided across the cave floor, stopping in front of Elsa, who had yet to relinquish her magical projectile. A green flare appeared where the ball was, causing it to melt in the Queen's hand. "It is you I will speak with, Elsa of Arendelle."

"You know me?"

"I do," evil's mistress eyed her suspiciously. "Do you know me as well?"

Elsa shook her head. "You have me at a disadvantage."

"You have yourself at a disadvantage. So much power within you and all you can think to do is repress it." She pushed past Elsa towards the spray of an indoor waterfall. "I am Maleficent. And like you and your-" she ground her teeth before saying the next word, "-kind...I am a prisoner in this place."

"We're all trying to figure out why we're here."

"Yes," Maleficent smiled an unsettling smile. "But one of you isn't forthcoming about what they know. Or haven't you noticed?"

Elsa gave her a puzzled stare. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Then allow me to illuminate you." Maleficent waved her hand in front of the sheet of water that poured from the ceiling. "Would you be so kind?"

It took Elsa a moment to figure out what Maleficent was asking her to do, and another to agree to it, but with the command of a conductor Elsa solidified the curtain into a beautiful smooth screen of ice. Maleficent twirled her fingers around the top of her staff and images of Kronk, Jasmine, and the rest projected where the waterfall had just been; snippets of conversations resonated through the crystalline sheet. Tarzan and Bagheera's fight, the Yeti attack, the strange silhouette that emerged from the brush; Maleficent wasn't just showing her these things as a random display. She'd been watching them. And she was flaunting it.

Maleficent smirked as the memory she'd selected for Elsa appeared; the moment Tarzan had taken Elsa's hand and she'd blasted him with her magic. And run from him, repeating the words "This was such a bad idea." The image faded but the words 'bad idea' continued to echo through the cavern, a deliberate flourish from the dark fairy.

"You know," she feigned an interest in her own fingernails, "if one were to...imprison...a collective ensemble in an artificial setting, for whatever reason, one would most likely want a pair of eyes from within. Do you understand what I am saying to you, Elsa of Arendelle?"

Elsa leaned away from Maleficent. "You think I had something to do with this?"

"I'm only going to ask this politely one time. Perhaps you'll be the first to refrain from making yourself a fool." Maleficent inhaled deeply. "What," she said, "was a bad idea?"

Elsa stared at her. She didn't want a fight, but somehow she felt her answer was not going to appease Maleficent. "I chose this."

"What do you mean, you chose this?"

"I don't know." Elsa could feel the furnace in Maleficent's eyes flaring, but she held her ground. "I'm telling you the truth," she insisted. "I can't remember anything, except I just...know."

"Then let's start with that," Maleficent huffed. "You chose this, because?"

"Because my sister encouraged it. She wanted me to-" Elsa trailed off as her mind beyond that point was a complete blank.

"What would your sister most likely be encouraging you to do?"

"Anna thinks I need...people...friends."

"Foolish girl," Maleficent sneered.

"Watch it!" Elsa snapped. "That's my sister you're talking about."

"No, I was talking about you. For listening to her."

"Excuse me?" Elsa had been more than intimidated by her visitor up until that point, but now she felt an unnoticed seed of courage blossoming. "Maleficent, is it? I don't know what your station is, but be aware that you are speaking to the Queen of Arendelle."

"Really? Is that who I'm speaking to?" Maleficent's featured softened into an uncharacteristic smile that slowly transformed into laughter.

"You think I'm lying?"

"No." Maleficent was laughing harder now. "I believe you."

"Then why is that funny?"

"It's not," the laughter was turning into a cackle now. "What is funny is 'Princess' Jasmine so eloquently flaunting her rank over 'Judge' Claude Frollo while the Queen of Arendelle kept that tidbit of information to herself."

Elsa grumbled. "You've been studying us."

"Yes I have, Queen Elsa, and you have just become significantly more interesting."

"Well, if you're this entertained why don't you tell me what you've figured out?"

"Agreed." Maleficent composed herself. "We both accept that this place is a construct and at least one of us is here by choice. But you see, I have no memory of choosing to be here. Or not choosing. I'm as blind as your minions."

"Friends," Elsa corrected her.

"Whatever you call them. The question is, why would you be granted an added memory?"

Elsa thought carefully. "To keep me from panicking. From doing something that would hurt someone."

"So that suggests there is a non-malevolent intention behind this realm." Maleficent turned her attention away from Elsa and began pacing. "We may be part of a collection."

"If that were true, I would never have chosen to be a part of it."

"And you think you're incapable of being lied to?"

"Of course I can be lied to. But if my sister encouraged this it's because she thought it would be an opportunity."

Maleficent glowered. "That's a blind leap of optimism."

"Well it feels right to me," said Elsa, throwing herself by the phrase that she'd never uttered before.

"Then if feelings are what the Queen of Arendelle is looking to for authority, how do they explain an opportunity that feels like an elaborate prison."

"Something's gone wrong," she answered. "Terribly wrong."

As if it had been waiting for its cue, a rumble could be felt throughout the floor of the cave which took Elsa's footing away from her. Back at the entrance the bats abandoned their base and took to the outdoors.

"What was that?" cried Elsa.

Maleficent gave her a smug glance. "That seems to be a chance to test your theory."

The rock shifted more violently as Elsa had to hug a stalagmite to regain her feet. One of the more medium sized rocks from overhead dislodged, landing in the pool next to her and splashing all over the area. Whatever had been causing the luminescence in the cave was fading now. Elsa looked back at where Maleficent had just been standing, but the mistress of evil had left her behind. She ran.

The cave was getting darker now, and her shoulder scraped against the wall. Something next to her caught her dress and Elsa tumbled forward, smacking hard against the floor. A few feet ahead of where she'd sprawled came a massive bang that sounded like thunder in her ears. She had no idea what part of the cave had fallen from the ceiling, but the snagging of her dress may have just saved her life.

Instinct told her she wasn't getting out this way anymore. Elsa tore her dress from the snare and scurried back in the direction she'd come. The floor had subsided to a mere vibration but pieces of the structure were still coming loose. She ran up the slope as best as she could make it out, muttering to herself "Please don't be a dead end. Or a yeti."

The cave opened up into a flat area with sunlight poking through the cracks. Elsa still couldn't see an immediate way out, but the rays were at least a hopeful sign. The final sounds of rocks being dislodged were well behind her, and she took a moment to rest.

She tried to catch her breath, but as soon as she inhaled Elsa started coughing. The air in this area had the taste of ash. She pushed on, concerned that something may have happened there.

A welcomed opening to the outside came into view, but by then the ash was infecting her eyes causing tears to swell up. She steadied herself against the inner wall, but jerked her hand back when the touch felt like it would burn her skin.

"Ouch!" She blinked rapidly, trying to focus her vision on the place she had just touched. Was this some sort of volcano?

No, it wasn't. Although it took her a moment to comprehend that. At first she thought something had opened up, like a door; a round door, leading down a tunnel of red. She was wrong. It was an eye. Larger than Elsa. And she would soon learn that it belonged to a creature that had either sprang from or was made out of the magma of the earth itself.

And it had fixated on her.

Maleficent had been premature in calling Elsa's logic a blind leap of optimism. For as she dove through the mouth of the cave and into a free fall with the firebird pursuing her, this would be the most literal representation of those words.

Continue to Chapter Eleven
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