07-26-2025, 11:56 PM
OOC: Occurs following Deanna's roleplay and concludes the 'Villain of the Year' Arc. Thank you everyone that has been so amazing and supportive throughout this story. Posted in two parts due to length.
Eyrie Tower
New York City, New York
July 20, 2025
3:34pm
Selena lazily opened the door and stumbled into her bedroom, her eyes heavy (even rolling up towards her brain) as she dragged her feet across the floor. The noise that followed her, the third or fourth iteration of ‘Happy Birthday’ being sung as someone, another invitee, filled her ears until the door had closed behind her quietly.
She had stood at the edge of the chaos since one pm, the last two-and-a-half hours being filled smiling and greeting people she hadn’t really seen much of for the past year. People from the Black Arrow neighbourhood, friends of David’s, some school mates she had only heard of, thus being unable to identify them until the parents of said children inevitably came over to introduce themselves.
She was the host of the party after. And here I am sneaking away from my responsibilities. she thought, slightly ashamed of herself. When had her social battery become so old that she couldn’t handle a small party like this? True, her castle-penthouse was filled with people in every room, which were filled with banners and balloons with different franchises from Star Wars to Marvel, and true, the penthouse literally had tremors running through the floor at times with so many feet of children running across it, but even full, the space were only a few dozen people at best!
She was Selena Frost! The woman that could captivate an arena filled with thousands of people into hating and booing her by simply appearing. A woman that could not only stand the pressure and demands of the Rise to Greatness main-event, but would be doing it a week from today for the fifth year in a row!
Yet a penthouse full of people had drained her social battery – had exhausted her – to the point where she knew that if she showed up to Houston like this? Xander would toss her around like a beanbag and leave her lying on the apron, completing an embarrassing performance at the Show of Shows for the Snow Queen.
Passing by the large mirror as she walked across the master bedroom, Selena spied her own reflection staring back at her. To match the balloons, she had worn a dark green shirt and dark purple pants, the color scheme she had chosen for herself while she had been buying the balloons for David’s birthday party, which now hung lazily across the various ceilings of her suite – which she knew she’d probably be spending the whole week cleaning up in-between training, studying, and shooting her promo for Rise to Greatness. On the plus side, she had gotten many comments on her choice of attire, being compared to ‘The Joker’ character from Batman.
Though I was going for She-Hulk… she thought glumly as she eyed herself for one more second. Her platinum-blonde braid had held its shape for the majority of the last few hours, but she could see a few strands coming lose from the constant movement she had done throughout that time. Next to that hair, her eyes looked so tired, even from her hazy vision – all of which prompted her to turn away from the mirror, walk the last few steps towards the large bedroom and collapse onto it, not caring that her socks were still on, and releasing a long sigh as the soft mattress and pillow accepted her.
For a few precious minutes, maybe it was longer, there was little to no sound – muffled tones of speech and movement at best that seemed so far away. For Selena, she thanked whatever god had given her the idea of tapering off the hall that led, specifically, to this bedchamber, a simple ‘Do not cross’ yellow tape tied across the path near the stairs. She did not want to feel so drained and tired to the point where she had to slip away, using her mastery of her own abode to do so without detection, but after so many hours, the smile felt forced, the words sounded rehearsed.
She just needed to slip away for a bit. A few quiet moments where there was only the sound of her heartbeat, the AC pumping cold air into the penthouse (and especially this room for her), and the occasional faint echo of sound from the children below that managed to reach this far into the penthouse.
My own fault… she drowsily thought. Just had to run that 10k this morning…
She groaned a little at that memory. She knew she was pushing it doing two workouts each day – adding the extra workout since, well… since she had been embarrassed not once but twice by Cid Turner and, especially, Xander Valentine. First, both men had caught her Glass Shard kick when she had tried to make a statement early on in the match build episodes of Breakdown, but then, to have them run and get the drop on her, Xander more than Cid. She had managed to fight off Cid, thankfully, - that man had already embarrassed her enough with eliminating her from the royale – but Xander had caught her and dragged Asher Hayes over top of her, meaning the smug bastard was going to ride that little accomplishment for gods knew how long!
In short, until last Breakdown, despite spending a year holding all the cards, biding her time, and making SCW question her every move, Selena had to admit… she had been throwing garbage out there in SCW since Taking Hold of the Flame. Had she become lazy? Complacent? Was it some deep anger and hatred that she held towards Cid and, especially, Xander that was making her predictable? Regardless, she had pivoted on her plans and prep, switching gears and upping her workout regime to prepare. And to be the only person out of the three challengers – her, Xander, and Cid – that had dropped the world champion, the ‘puppeteer’ as he had referred to himself, Giovanni Aries, to the ground. Not just shoved him or struck him, but had knocked him out. Even now, that memory – standing over top of the smug bastard, William Heaven in shock and – yes, Selena had recognized that look – fear, Xander and Cid on the ground, taken down, and she the only person left standing – it all brought a quiet smile to her face.
Who cares if they get a hundred shots on me… she thought to herself. Long as the one I get in is the KILLSHOT.
That was what the three men – boys – didn’t get. Xander was all ‘smash everything until nothing was left’, which was why he had needed help time and time again to beat a precision-artist like her, Cid didn’t have the spine or brainpower to plan and bide his time, opting to just stumble his way through everything and favoring luck and circumstances over ruthlessness and dominance, and Gio? Selena chuckled at that. The ‘Master of Puppets’ had literally fallen into the world championship but dumb luck – happenstance. Because of friggin’ gravity! – and was pretending like it was some ‘great plan’. He knew how to get the drop on someone, but if history with the madman was any indication, the man didn’t know how to put someone away from good! He and The Fall of Man had failed with Xander, not once, but twice, nothing to say about his failure to try and eliminate Selena from SCW years ago…
None of them knew how to do what Selena did. How to wait. How to be patient. How to bide their time and wait for that killshot. It was the only advantage Selena had over them. By far, she was the weakest competitor in terms of sheer strength and Xander could easily give her a run for her money in terms of endurance and toughness. But her speed and strikes? Choosing the time for that shot? That would be her ace in the hole. Still, that had meant needing to focus on bridging the gap between them in regards to her glaring weaknesses…
Which is why, boom badda boom, mommy is tired! she thought, though a groan came out from deep within her throat – her attempt at speaking her thought, supposedly. She could feel the desire to fade away grow stronger – not the usual one, it wasn’t time for that – but the one for sleep. To just drift away for a few minutes and…
The knock on the door, gentle but sharp, ruined any further continuation of such an idea, Selena turned her head towards the door and one eye craning to open just in time to see it open in front of her as she lay on the bed. A head of vivid red hair peeked through, instantly recognizable to the Snow Queen, even in her tired state.
“Didn’t mean to intrude,” Deanna stated knowingly, stepping into the room despite her statement.
Still, Selena merely closed her eyes and gave a knowing smile. “I figured it’d be you.” Slowly, she stretched her arms and legs out, hearing the pop in her shoulders and one in her left hip. “Most of the kids and adults wouldn’t disrespect the ‘do not cross’ warning tape.” She added with a tease, her eyes closed as she spoke through her stretch.
Deanna smiled, soft but sure. “Ten minutes without seeing you and I get an ache. Old habits.”
Selena’s eyes opened at such a brazen statement. Not that brazen statements were not common for the redhead – and for her for that matter (given their line of work), but such a statement about them? Their feelings towards one another? It was certainly unexpected. Slowly, the former world champion sat up, brushing a hand through one of the stray locks of hair, moving it out of her eyes. “You always were good at finding me.” She opted to say, honest but also a little guarded.
“I had to be.” Deanna shrugged as she moved closer to the bed, first closing the door behind her. “You’re good at disappearing.”
“Yeah…” Selena sighed. “But getting me to stay away? That’s a lot more difficult.” She countered.
Giving an understanding chuckle, Deanna nodded her head. The silence that followed their exchange wasn’t tense or even awkward – even Selena could tell that in her tired state, to which she was grateful for. It was one of those silences that came, not from a fight or awkwardness, but from organically reaching that point in the conversation. Of knowing one another’s patterns of speech and way of thinking and that just lent itself to such moments.
Quietly reaching the bed, Deanna observed the older, resting Frost before slowly sitting beside her. Unlike Selena, Deanna had chosen a red t-shirt with blue jeans, her color scheme based on the birthday boy’s favorite superhero – Spider-Man.
“You look exhausted,” she finally said, half-teasing, though Selena could easily hear the note of concern buried within it.
“I am exhausted,” Selena replied, flopping back on the bed. “Amiliah’s party last month exhausted me.” She gave a sigh, casting her gaze back at the ceiling. “You know how I am with parties and people.” She confessed.
“I do.” Deanna nodded, speaking without thinking. “My little lone wolf.”
Hearing that remark, Selena, once more, cracked open an eye to observe the woman. Seeing her like that, smiling and comfortable, she could almost forget about the issue of the cigarettes that she been trying to ‘catch’ Deanna on for the past week. She had watched her ex-wife constantly the last seven days and, yet, there was nothing! Deanna never went out for a smoke. Never seemed to be craving them. Never smelled of the damn thing. And, for a short time – like a few hours – Selena had begun to suspect that it was all just ‘something else’. Maybe it was the cleaning team or another staff member. Maybe it was carried by a bird and dropped in the trash bin – okay THAT was a stretch. But just as she was ready to dismiss…
She had found a used cigarette on her balcony three days ago.
Just like that, her witch-hunt was resumed… and yielding similar results on the redhead! Do I gotta stick my damn tongue down her throat to see if I taste ash or something? The platinum-blonde quickly dismissed the thought. They had already gotten too close to call back in the Sage Warehouse. She had no desire to further muddy the waters when things were set they way they were.
Deciding to let the matter go in her mind, Selena simply sighed before shaking her head. “I love him, and I love that he’s happy, but I’m pretty sure if one more person tries to talk to me about school districts or fall camps, I swear to Odin that I’m going to fake a stomach bug and move back to Oberwessel.”
Deanna chuckled a little, holding the knuckles of her hand close to her lips to cover the laugh, though it still was pleasant sounding to Selena. “You did good, you know.” She offered. “For both of them.”
Taking a breath in and out, Selena’s eyes opened to scan the dark-colored walls of the ceiling again. “They’re seven and nine.” she exhaled again. “When did that happen, De? It’s like I blinked, and suddenly I can’t lift Ami up as easily anymore and David-“ she huffed. “Now he’s up to my shoulder and talking about video games and wanting to be a professional soccer player.”
“And tomorrow he’ll be asking to borrow the car.” Deanna laughed, looking around the room. “Probably will ask for The Batmobile for his sweet-sixteenth.” She playfully stuck her tongue out at Selena, who merely rolled her eyes.
Selena groaned. “Oh gods.” She shook her head. “I do not want to see that day.” She added, more absent-mindedly than anything. Not that I plan to.
“How are the girls?” she settled on asking, gently shifting the subject, her voice softening on the names. It wasn’t that she had avoided her daughters the whole day, they just hadn’t bumped into them once the guests arrived, Amiliah being a little whirlwind around the place and Elsianna… Selena sighed… Elsianna wanting nothing to do with her.
Nodding in understanding, Deanna reached out a hand, rubbing the nearby leg of the Snow Queen in comfort. “You’ll be surprised at Elsianna. She’s wearing a dress.”
Selena’s eyes shifted, confusion laced in her sapphire orbs. “So?” she asked with a shrug. “What’s surprising about that?”
Deanna smiled knowingly, her tongue sticking out between her teeth. “A brightly colored one.”
It was enough for Selena to shoot upright, back to a sitting position, though her body protested under the sudden shift. “No.” she stated in disbelief, earning a laugh from Deanna.
“I know!” The redhead remarked joyously. “She said, and I quote, ‘It’s time to be brave and wear a colorful dress. Cause this isn’t a funeral.’”
Selena smiled, still shocked, but also amused. “Well, I have to see that before the day is over.” She gave a sigh. Though she highly doubted the ‘change in wardrobe’ absolved things between her and her eldest daughter. But hopefully, that would be solved soon. “Are the Grays here, yet?”
Deanna shook her head. “But they really want to talk to us as well.”
“Oh? Why?”
“They didn’t say. Just that they’d be here today and that they wanted to talk to us.”
“Oookay…” Selena breathed before closing her eyes for a moment. So much for a power nap. Wonder if there’s any more Monsters in the fridge. “Hope everything is alright.” She turned her gaze back onto the redhead sitting beside her. “What about Ami?”
The mood shifted back to the mirth it had held a moment ago as Deanna laughed again. “Oh yeah! I was getting to that. So she saw Elsianna’s dress and- BAM!” she flashed her hands and arms, imitating some kind of explosion gesture. “Spent the last hour trying to convince me that I should let her dye her hair the same color as Elsa’s dress.”
“Which is?” the platinum-blonde raised an eyebrow, earning a grin from Deanna.
“Purple.”
“Oh gods!” Selena shook her head. “She wants to dye her beautiful red hair – YOUR beautiful red hair – purple?!”
“Seems that way.” Deanna shrugged, clearly amused by this event.
“Did you cave?” Selena winced.
“Why do you think I cave?” Deanna asked in surprise.
“Cause you’re the ‘good parent’. I’m that ‘bad parent’.”
“You’re not a bad parent.” Deanna corrected, causing Selena to hold up her hand quickly.
“No, not what I meant… Like ‘god cop/bad cop’ kind of thing. You’re the ‘good cop’.”
“I’m not the ‘good cop’.”
“Oh sure you are!” Selena laughed, giving the redhead a playful, little shove. “Elsianna’s fighting with me. Ami loves Elsa, so she’s not my biggest fan right now, and David hasn’t really trusted me since I disciplined him over that near expulsion last year.” She gave a sad shrug, looking away from Deanna. “Plus… you’re the one that was at home the most-“
“Except when I wasn’t.”
“Yeah but… they knew that wasn’t your fault.” Selena tried. “They knew you had to be away for their safety and your health. And that whole time I just… I just felt like the ‘visiting mom’, you know? The substitute.” Slowly, she gazed down at her hands, her words playing around in her ears. “Which kinda sucked.”
This particular silence, unlike the last, was not as pleasant. It was laced with discomfort, regret, and so much more things that needed to be addressed – though it was not the time for it.
With a sigh, Deanna shook her head understandingly. “Well, I held the line – just to be clear.”
“Meaning?” the former world champion asked.
“Meaning we’re going to buy purple clip-ins for Ami after this weekend.”
“Oh come on!” Selena laughed without meaning to. “She’s going to wear them for a week and then get bored of them!”
“I know! But it was either that or another hour of ‘I want purple hair!’.” Deanna adjusted her voice, upping the pitch to sound like her youngest child. “You try dealing with that for hours.”
Selena laughed again, softer this time. “That girl’s going to be a force.”
“She already is.” Deanna paused. “Like her mother.”
Selena was about to ask which mother Deanna meant, but as she turned her head to inquire, she saw beautiful emerald orbs staring back at her, answering the Snow Queen’s question without it needing to be asked. The silence settled again, but it was more intimate this time – undeniably so. Similar to that afternoon in the warehouse. Deanna picked at the edge of the duvet, her fingers moving slowly over the stitching.
“I miss this.” she said, finally.
Selena didn’t respond at first, once more her logic overruling her heart with ease. Less than seven days from RTG and everything changing the way it needed to be. Did she miss talking to Deanna like this? Of course she did. Of course she wanted more. Of course, of course, of course. But this was not how things were. She had known this from the moment she had made the decision to come back to SCW – standing in her parents’ sitting room in New Jersey, looking out the large expanse window… even then she knew the endgame that was headed her way. Knew it when nobody, not even Deanna, could see it.
The die’s was cast… Selena thought to herself. I’m just the only one that knows what side it will land on…
“Me too,” she quietly admitted, barely audible.
“I know we had our reasons,” Deanna said, carefully. “Real ones. But sometimes I wonder… If we mistook the places we were pushed to for incompatibility.”
Selena turned to look at her. “Sometimes I talk to you in my head.” She admitted quietly. “I used to see these ghosts of people – like Elsianna as a snow child?”
Deanna nodded slowly. “I remember.”
“I’d imagine Adrian when he was seemingly in love with me. My father when he disappeared. Malcolm when he died. Dawn when she broke up with me. It was like someone would appear in my mind just in time to be the voice of reason in my life. And then…” she eyed Deanna. “Then came you. And whenever I wasn’t with you, I’d imagine how you’d answer me when I’m working through something. Work, the kids, when I’ve had a bad day. Or when I remember that time we got lost in Florida the first time we tried to get to Disney World with the kids and ended up on that beach.”
Emerald eyes lit up. “The one with the driftwood shaped like a horse?”
Selena nodded. “You said it was a sign. I said you were sleep-deprived.”
“I was both.” The two shared a laugh at the memory. Deanna had wanted to keep the driftwood and take it back to Manhattan with them, an impossible task with the trunk full of suitcases and the car full of children. “I wanted to keep the horse.”
“If we had taken my limo bus, you would have been able to.” Selena teased, the two falling back into silence for a moment, though not as long as the others.
“I was scared,” Selena admitted. A confession was always needed and allowed – now was as good a time as any for a partial one. “Back then. After Elsianna was born and taken from me. I think I thought… if I could just control everything, every aspect - then I’d be safe. Then after you came into my life, somewhere along the way, that came back. We just lost more and more of ourselves – people we loved, our lives, somewhere along the way, I fell back into it until…” she sighed. “Until I couldn’t get out. Till now, I can’t get out. And I really have no other choice but to see it through.”
“With Rise to Greatness and your contract?” Deanna asked, earning a nod from Selena.
“With everything.” The Snow Queen added.
The redhead seemed to take this in rather well, though she was silent for a moment before replying. “I should’ve fought harder,” Deanna said. “For you, specifically. For us. But I thought stepping back was giving you space, not making you feel alone.”
“You never made me feel alone.” Selena corrected. “Losing you did.”
Deanna reached out, tentative, hesitantly – afraid of being rejected again… her fingers brushing Selena’s hand. Selena didn’t pull away. Instead, her fingers closed gently around Deanna’s, a pale hand holding the other.
“I’ve missed this too,” Selena allowed herself to admit aloud – a little more confessing. “The way you calm a room. The way you know when to come find me.”
“I’ll always come find you,” Deanna whispered.
They stayed like that for a long moment, hands lightly clasped. The Snow Queen could feel the joyful emotions rolling off Deanna in waves. Not any assumptions between them or regarding them, but to have this… this moment… was clearly what she had wanted for so long.
For Selena… it was both beautiful in its shortness… and heartbreaking in its uselessness. For it changed nothing.
“Come back down with me?” Deanna asked. “It’s David’s day.”
“Yeah.” Selena sighed, pushing herself off the bed to stretch her limbs once more. “But I am going to need a cold as hell bath after this.”
“I’ll make sure you have the time to have it.” The redhead promised, giving Selena’s hand a squeeze before releasing it and heading to the door. “Now come on.” She semi-ordered. “We both have to be ‘good parents’.”
“Just a second…” Selena stopped her ex-wife, regaining her hand to the surprise of the redhead. “I’ve confessed a few things to you.” She spoke slowly. “And I don’t want you to feel you can’t. So…” she took a deep breath, bracing herself for the conversation to take a rough turn. “I know, Deanna.” She admitted. “I know.”
“You know?” Deanna asked. “You know what?”
“I know about it.” Selena sighed. “And I’m… I’m okay with it. We both have suffered addiction – I’m still…” she gave slow exhale. “I’d be a hypocrite if I judged you on it while I was taking NX.”
For a moment, Selena saw Deanna’s eyes widen in alarm, her mouth hanging a little and trembling. “How…how did you know? How did you find out?”
“I found one.” Selena answered. “Last week while I was taking the trash.”
“You were snooping around my drawers?” the redhead asked in alarm. “Why would you do that?”
“Wait…what?” Selena asked. “No, I wasn’t snooping around your drawers. I found it in the trash!”
“The trash?!” Deanna asked, the shock rolling off her in waves. “What the hell was it doing there?”
“I don’t know.” Selena answered incredulously. “That’s where trash goes.”
“Did you put it there?”
“No. You did.”
“Why would I put it there?!” Deanna asked, the confusion mounting between them. “I would never.”
“Why not?” Selena asked, her confusion matching the redhead’s. “That’s where it belongs!”
“Why would…” Deanna shook her head. “Selena what are you talking about?!”
With a huff, Selena turned on her foot, marching across the master bedroom to where the nightstand stood near the bed. Pulling open the drawer, the platinum-blonde withdrew the item in question. “This.” She held the empty box of cigarettes she had found last week so Deanna could see it, though she moved back to where she had stood near the redhead. “I found it in the trash.”
Eyeing the box for a moment, Deanna’s expression didn’t change. For her part, Selena expected the woman’s expression to change to recognition or shame/guilt. Something. Not to grow more confused as she turned her gaze back to the taller Selena.
“Cigarettes?” Deanna asked. “When did you start smoking?”
“I didn’t start smoking, Deanna.” Selena stated. “These are yours.”
Again, Deanna’s eyes fell to the blue and white box of Parliament smokes, tilting her head to the left before lifting it back up. “No, they’re not.” She answered simply.
“Come on.” Selena sighed. “There’s no need to hide it, De. I just wanted to talk to you about it so we can discuss how to deal with it and the kids-“
“Selena.” Deanna pressed, staring right into Selena’s sapphire eyes. “I swear to you. Those aren’t mine. I don’t smoke.”
It was enough to crack Selena’s certainty harder than a punch from Xander F’N Valentine, causing the Snow Queen to back a few steps away from the redhead, which lead to her pacing around the room.
“Well… that doesn’t make sense!” She tried. “We’re the only ones allowed up here – aside from Gerda and she doesn’t. I mean, if it’s not yours and it’s not mine, then one of our underage children have a serious problem.” She tried, opting to try a joke at the end. “You swear it’s not yours?”
“Over and over again, I’ll say it.” Deanna shrugged. “I have no idea how it could get up here. Cleaning staff, maybe?”
“I thought of that.” Selena admitted to herself. “But then I found a used one on the balcony… though that could have been staff as well…”
She sighed to herself. Had she been fixated on solving a problem for some semblance of control? For some semblance of purpose outside of SCW and reacquiring the world title? To hide her nerves at the prospect of failing her one shot to end things on her terms with the RTG main-event? Failing her year-long plan?
“I’m…” she exhaled. “I’m sorry. I guess I made an assumption.”
To her surprise, she felt a warm hand take hers again, looking up slightly to see the patient, smiling face of her ex-wife. “I’d have done the same thing.” She offered. “And apology accepted.” She added. “Now, we need to get back to the party.”
She didn’t wait to get a reply from Selena this time, perhaps to avoid another potential ‘detour’. She needn’t of worried, however, for the platinum-blonde kept her mouth shut as she was pulled out of the bedroom, over the ‘Do Not Cross’ tape that they both leapt over with a laugh, down the stairs and back onto the ‘party floor’.
Within minutes, the pair were mingling with parents and children once more, checking on food and running the same series of tasks Selena had had to duck away from earlier. It was no less tiring, but it was a little easier for the Snow Queen after her ‘break’ with Deanna. Yet as she refilled the ‘chip bowl’ for the third time today, this time with Doritos, she spied the flash of purple out of the corner of her eye. Twisting herself around, the Snow Queen to spy, for a second, Elsianna walking across the room and entering another, disappearing from sight.
“Elsa!” Selena called out, rushing out of the kitchen area and back into the larger room that housed more parents and children, all of them seemingly enjoying whatever task or game they were involved in. The platinum-blonde moved past all of them as she entered the larger room, trying to keep her eyes on her daughter, using the purple of her new dress as a guide. The only thing that distracted her was the flash of red hair as Deanna entered the room, reaching Elsianna first. For a moment, the two seemed to talk – though they were too far away for Selena to pick up anything. Silently, she hoped that Deanna could hold her daughter’s attention long enough for her to reach them – a hope that was dashed as she drew only forty or so feet away, seeing Elsianna walk away from her mother, travelling to another room on the first floor of the penthouse.
“Dammit…” Selena sighed, reaching Deanna, who was, momentarily, surprised at Selena’s sudden appearance. “I wanted to talk to her.”
“Okay…” the redhead shrugged. “So go talk to her.” She added with a laugh before seeing the determined expression on her ex-wife’s face. “What about?”
“I wanted to tell her about the Grays arriving soon and letting her talk to Asuna.” Selena sighed. “Trying to mend fences here, Deanna.”
“Well…” immediately, Deanna sidestepped out of the room, returning less than half a minute later with something in her hands. “Give her this to start!”
Instinctively taking whatever was offered from the redhead’s hands, it wasn’t until Selena held it in her own pale ones that she recognized the toy. “Sir Crackshell!” she remarked with a grin. “How did you?”
“Sage’s the other day.” Deanna explained. “Sorry, I forgot to mention it.” She added before scooting the platinum-blonde away. “Now get going! Before you lose her again!”
Despite the desire to give her thanks, Selena could only nod before resuming the chase for her daughter, moving into the next room where several of the party-goers were settled. Amid the balloons hanging up and the numerous people running around or talking, the platinum-blonde could see no sign of the young girl.
“Dammit…” she whispered under her breath, not wanting her cursing to be overheard by any children. Carefully, the platinum-blonde scanned the room as she walked through it, eyes peeled for blonde hair and a purple dress – those were the two things she was sure of – and still, she saw nothing. Even asking several party-goers in the room yielded no positive direction. Still, she refused to give up her search.
Things needed to be settled between her and her daughter. Had she made mistakes? Yes – she was twelve. She was going to. But in so many ways, Selena realized as she searched her crowded home, she had been wrong to.
She had overreacted to Elsianna sneaking out and lying. Everything that had occurred afterwards had been a result of that overreaction – Much like the mess in SCW – focus! her mind recoiled, forcing her to stay locked on the task at hand. Onward she moved, her expertise of the suite allowing her to duck and weave around people, even whole clumps of them, by choosing an alternate path or hallway.
Though she thought, as she ascended the stairs up to the second floor, that she must have been drawing closer to her daughter’s whereabouts, after searching the third or fourth room of that floor with no luck, that hope had begun to dim until frustration was starting to take hold – more so at her inability to find her as opposed to her daughter herself. Still, she kept searching and asking.
It’s a finite space! her mind screamed after another ten minutes of looking. How hard can it be to find one kid?! Her train of thought stopped abruptly as she spotted another ‘Do Not Cross’ line, much like the one that cutoff access to her master bedroom on the third floor. This one, however, served as a ‘barrier’ to the section of the castle that housed the children’s bedrooms, for the same reason as Selena’s.
But where else would Elsianna go if she’s not at the party? Selena thought. Hadn’t The Snow Queen, herself, slipped away, yearning for a break from the large, socially-draining crowd? If only to recover for a moment? She really is my daughter… the young woman sighed, bending down to duck under the tape and slip down the hall, turning along its natural direction. She ignored the first door and the second, those being David and Amiliah’s room, stopping only until she reached the third door at the end of the hall – the one she knew lead to Elsa’s bedroom. Gazing down, she spotted a little light spilling under the door from inside, causing a smile to cross her features.
“Called it.” She whispered to herself, though she knew she really didn’t have anything to be proud of considering this was the last place she was looking.
Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Selena reached a pale hand out towards the doorknob, ready to turn it and enter unnoticed – when a flash of memory of the last time she had tried that jolted her brain, halting her hand’s journey. Closing her eyes for a second and taking a slow breath to calm and center herself, the platinum-blonde shifted the direction of her hand, moving away from the doorknob and towards the center of the door itself, enough so she could close her hands a bit and rap three times. Immediately, she heard movement from further within the room, thus confirming her suspicions as to whether the room was occupied. Again, she patiently knocked, but this time opted to call out for her daughter.
“Elsa?” she tried, doing her best to adopt the gentle, kind voice like Deanna always had. “Can I talk to you for a minute, please?”
No answer came, and for a split-second, she wondered if her daughter was sneaking a conversation with Asuna again, but quickly dismissed the notion. The Grays would be here soon with Asuna in tow. Maybe that’s why she was downstairs! Asuna told her and Elsa was looking for her! Selena tried to reason. That’s possible!
Another attempt to knock and a calling of Elsianna’s name, imploring a conversation, yielded no response, which sadly left Selena with one single option. With a sigh, she reached her hand back towards the doorknob, taking the metal into her palm and twisting it open. With a slow push, she quietly entered into the bedroom.
“I’m sorry.” She began quickly. “But this is important, Elsa. I really need to talk to you and-“
The room was empty. “Oh…” Selena’s voice trailed off in surprise as she looked around. That didn’t make sense. She had definitely heard noises from inside the room! Her first thought was to turn her head and gaze at the desk where Elsianna’s terminal was… no one was sitting there. The second guess was to check further in-
Her movement stopped after two steps as her eyes spied the flash of purple out of the corner of her eye, her head jerking towards it thesecond her brain had registered it. The first thing she notices was the glass in front of the clothing – the balcony! With the exception of Amiliah’s room, all the bedrooms within the suite had a balcony, though none as lovely as the one by the lounge – the one that Selena often frequented. Her favorite spot. – She was on the move before the thought was finished, taking the necessary steps across the floor and opening the door without thinking, her words a rush in her need.
“Elsianna, can I just talk to you, please?”
She stopped as she saw her daughter’s head jerk around in shock for a split second before suddenly turning her back towards her mother, keeping herself facing the end of the balcony and New York City below.
“Sorry...” Selena tried lamely, her handsd fidgeting nervously. Amazng, she could talk anyone in SCW under the table, and that included mouthpieces like Giovanni and onoxious blowhards like Xander and Cid. But with her twelve-year-old daughter? She was at a loss. She could not think of the right words to say, other than to apologize and explain. “I tried knocking…” Rephrase: Apologize and POORLY explain. “I shouldn’t have just entered but this is important…”
In response, Elsianna said nothing, simply keeping her back towards her mother, further adding to the ache in Selena’s chest.
“You…” Selena looked around, feeling the cool breeze of the high altitude. “You look nice.” She finally offered. “Mom said you wanted to try and be brave with a different color than black.”
Again, no response from her daughter.
“I’m…. all I can say is I’m sorry.” She stated, the nutcracker fidgeting in her hands. “I’m sorry that I have been so harsh on you. I’ve….” She sighed. “I’ve been unfair. I get that. About you and Asuna. It’s just…” she breathed, her eyes fluttering down to the painted ones of Sir Crackshell staring back at her. “It’s just that I keep thinking you of my little girl…” she shrugged. “My snowflake. And you always will be – but…” she hated to admit this part. “You’re also growing up. And you’re going to do things that I won’t agree with. Things that I’m GOING to have to punish you for. That’s just my job as a mother. But… I think I was just trying this time to keep you as ‘my little girl’ when I should have talked to you about it. When I should have let you talk to me and feel heard.”
Still, despite this confession of feelings, the young girl’s back remained facing Selena. Perhaps she won’t be able torgive me… she thought, her heart sinking with the thought. She didn’t want Elsianna to hate her like Selena had hated Anastasia DeCarlo. It didn’t matter how much time was left. She couldn’t live with herself if her daughter…
Another sigh and another glance at the toy in her hands, the symbol of her daughter’s childhood. She needed to let it all go. Her need to control everything. Her fear of losing everything. It simply…
It doesn’t matter anymore…
“Mom and I have invited the Grays over…” she offered, taking a slow step towards her daughter. “Including Asuna.” She saw Elsa stiffen a little, clearing hearing what was said. “They should be here soon.” The Snow Queen added as she took another step forward. “So… if you want to spend some time with her… well, you can.”
There was a pause, silence standing between them as Selena slowly closed the gap between her and Elsianna with each slow step. “After that, mom and I will talk with Asuna’s parents…. And the two of you… and maybe…” she tried. “Maybe we can figure something better out for you and Asuna – as a couple, I mean….”
It was her best shot, stammering and stuttering as she had been, but it was all she could. Still, Elsainna wouldn’t budge. Wouldn’t turn around or say a word beyond what Selena had noticed at the mention of Asuna. If that was all the Snow Queen was going to get, then that would have to be enough. With a nod of her head, she leaned forward, placing Sir Crackshell on the ledge beside her daughter, closer to the inside part so that he wouldn’t be knocked over and onto the streets far below.
That’s not for him… Selena mentally affirmed as she confirmed. “You know I love you more than anything.” She whispered to the girl beside her below slowly leaning back and away from the girl, fully intending to turn around and leave her daughter to her own thoughts and feelings…
Until the smell hit her nostrils — sharp and familiar.
Smoke.
Selena stopped in an instant, her stomach knotting. That acrid smell. Her years of serving drinks and food at her Uncle Liam’s Bar and Grill – a scent that stained and polluted the front door, typing her stomach into knots every time she had entered and left that place – the lowest point in her life. Alone, unloved, vilified and hated simply because she was ‘A Frost’.
Simply because she was her.
Despite this, she took another sniff, more deliberate as she stood there, ripping herself from the mental flashback the initial smell had caused her. There was no mistaking it now that she stood so close to it.
But what it meant… what that smell inferred… She felt her eyes sting with alarm, pain, fear – the mirade of emotions barely contained as she spoke. “Turn around Elsianna.” She ordered gently. “I’m not asking.”
A moment passed, but slowly, as if realizing the trouble she’s be in if she didn’t, the girl slowly turned around. In honestly, she looked wonderful. The dress matched her features nicely, her hair was done in waves like Deanna’s and she had just enough makeup (Selena guessed because of Deanna) to highlight her natural features, as well as her evolving ones like her cheeks. But her expression? The fear on her face and within her blue eyes – eyes she had gotten from Selena.
“Why…” Selena’s throat hitched. “Why am I smelling smoke?”
Biting her lower lip, Elsianna could only shrug her shoulders, sparking a frustrating ire within Selena but one that was quelled by the Snow Queen in a second due to her own fear and concern. Even so, despite her desire to deny it all, the woman’s mind (far more evolved than a mere twelve-year old. A mind that had given Vixen Cain and Ravyn Taylor a run for their money. A woman that had manipulated her way into the main-event of Rise to Greatness without needing a Trios contract or a THOTF royale ticket) could not stop connecting the dots as more and more made sense – despite how much she hated it.
“So…” she breathed. “It wasn’t smoke from the fire that stained your clothes, was it?”. She was met with silence. “It wasn’t old smoke that I kept smiling on your clothes, was it?”
Silence.
“And I’m guessing…” she reached into her pocket, pulling out the box of Parliament cigarettes. “This is yours?”
It all made sense. Who else but Deanna and Selena had access to their trash can but the children? The two mothers had just ruled them out as a possibility – opting for custodians and birds dropping it from the sky over the idea that their little angels could do such a thing.
Missing the most obvious possibility because of love…
The two girls stood there – mother and daughter – neither saying a word. Yet, in that time, Elsianna had, somehow, taken hold of Sir Crackshell, holding the nutcracker nervously between her and Selena like some kijnd of guard or shield.
“Tell me why, Elsianna.” Selena begged, her voice cracking a little as it whispered. “How could you do this?”
She was expecting silence. For the same ‘deer in the headlights’ she had seen in the last few moments from her daughter. But the girl took a deep breath before lifting her head, her eyes meeting Selena’s with a cold glare.
“Why not?” came the question, Elsa’s lip curled, not in cruelty, but in pain.
Before more could be said, the sound of a door flying open was heard. “Selena!” The Snow Queen immediately recognized the voice of Deanna.
“Out here.” She called out. It only took a few moments for the sound of steps to be heard, Selena moving just to the side so the redhead could open the door and join them. And she wasn’t alone, for standing with her with Dorian and Sybil and Asuna Gray. “Dorian and Sybil…” she stopped what seemed to be the beginning of a revelation before seeing the sight before her. The stance of the eldest Frost child. The broken, barely held together, expression of the woman Deanna loved.
“Something has happened.” She slowly spoke.
“So I’ve learned.” Selena spoke slowly. “You can smell our daughter if you need any proof.”
Instead of doing that, Deanna walked towards Selena, standing in front of her Selena and holding something out in her hands, causing Selena to look down to see the twin cigarette box to the one she was holding. The same brand.
“Dorian and Sybil found this in Asuna’s room the other day.” Deanna whispered. “They came here to talk to us about it.”
Nodding her head knowingly, Selena held up her hand, showing the box she held high enough for the Grays to see. “Found in our trash.” She stated before her eyes focused on Asuna, then at Elsianna, the two daughters trapped by the wall of parents by the door. “I think you two need to explain yourselvevs.”
“I agree.” Dorian Gray stated sternly, crossing his arms over his chest. “You’re older, Asuna. You should know better.”
“Don’t excuse Elsianna, Dorian.” Selena stated. “She’s smart enough to know too.”
“Can we just let them explain?” Sybil held her hands up, trying to get some calm within the group.
“I agree.” Deanna nodded, turning her attention. “Girls, please…”
Immediately, Asuna was on the move, the auburn-haired girl moving to stand beside Elsianna. “It was my fault.” She stated simply. “All my fault.”
“Yours?” Selena asked, raising an eyebrow and not believing a word.
“It just…” Asuna continued anyway. “It just sort of happened. We… we got caught up with it and…”
“Asuna, stop.” Came the suddenly strong and cold voice of Elsianna, surprising everyone as she glared at Selena. “It’s your fault, Selena.”
The platinum-blonde’s eyes went wide, though she was not sure which part of that last sentence shocked her more. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me!” Elsianna threw back, the anger starting to show in her tone and the way her hands tightened around Sir Crackshell. “You banned us from seeing each other! Even at school! The teachers told us what you did!”
“What did I do?” Selena asked, causing the young girl to scoff.
“You told them to keep Asuna and I apart until you said so! Of course they would listen to the ‘great Selena Frost’!”
“Selena?” Deanna asked in confusion, causing Selena to turn her head to the surprised look of the redhead, causing her to sigh.
“It was something Dorian and I thought of. But I didn’t tell them to keep the two of them separated. I simply told them what was happening and that we were trying to put some distance between them for a time. It wasn’t an embargo or anything.”
“Well, that’s not how they took it!” Elsianna shot back. “We couldn’t have recess together. We couldn’t have lunch together! We couldn’t walk to school together or anything!”
The words settled for a second before Asuna took over, her voice much calmer than Elsianna’s. “We were desperate to see one another… so we started sneaking away to other parts of the school. And… we found a place just around it… large dumpster bin on the corner away from the school.” She turned sad eyes towards her parents. “Smokers gathered there.” She explained. “And at first, we were disgusted and ran right back to the school. But as the week passed and we kept meeting there – the only place we could meet…” her voice trailed off. “It just… happened.” She repeated.
There was a pause between the parties, the explanation settling on all of them, if only for a few precious moments.
“I fail to see how this is Selena’s fault.” Dorian stated. “Sounds like you two just decided you know better than your parents. Asuna, I can’t believe you. Do you realize how disappointed your mother and I are in you?! You know what these things do?”
“Don’t yell at her!” Elsianna fired back, immediately standing in front of, and protectively, of Asuna. “It’s Selena’s fault we had to go there!”
Again, shock rammed through Selena’s frame. “You can’t blame me for your choices, Elsianna.” She stated defensively.
“Yes, I can!” came the inevitable yell from the girl, like a dam breaking as she glared fire towards the Snow Queen. “Everyone already thinks I’m a freak! The daughter of The Snow Queen!”
Reaching up with her free, gloved hand, Elsianna wiped at her eyes. “Do you have any idea what hell I go through because of you?! Because you’re you?” without a second thought, she ripped off the glove with her teeth, revealing the scarred flesh underneath. “This happened because of you! Because I tried to be like you and do the right thing and just because Aaron wanted to burn ‘the Snow Child’. I’m the girl who gets shoved in the hallway because her mom is the most hated woman on TV! The girl that gets stuffed in lockers because they’re my ‘refrigerator’! And that’s all just from you being you! Imagine what they did when they learned Asuna and I were together!!!”
Selena’s eyes went wide at the sudden realization, prompting Elsianna to continue at the sight of her mother’s dawning realization. “You outed us, mother! Asuna and I both! You outed us as lesbians! What do you think they all did when they learned that?! You think it got easier?!” Elsianna sniffled, her emotions running rampant. “The Lesi-Princess! That’s my new nickname thanks to you!!”
Selena had no words to say to such an outpouring of rage and resentment. The same could be said for Deanna, Dorian, and Sybil – all the adults were at a loss from this. For the Snow Queen, however, it was twofold, because there was no mistaking the target of Elsianna’s anger and blame.
“I…” Selena tried to find the right words. “I never intended to ‘out’ you or Asuna, Elsianna. I even asked the teachers to be discreet when they offered to watch you two.”
“As if that absolves you!” Elsianna laughed.
“It doesn’t!” Selena threw back. “But there’s a difference between what was done and what was intended! And don’t act like you are innocent in all this, young lady!” she could feel her own anger building. “You were the one that snuck out and disobeyed us. Asuna, too!”
“Which you just admitted the punishment for that was too extreme!” Elsa countered.
“Yes it was!” Selena admitted. “I still say that, but it doesn’t erase what you both did. How you broke our trust, Elsa!”
“Oh boo-hoo!” the child laughed bitterly in defiance. “Like you haven’t broken the trust of anyone? When’s the last time we even visited Uncle David and Aunt Regan? How about Uncle Jean and Aunt Zelda? Or Aunt Jessica?” blue eyes flew over to the redhead standing next to Selena. “Or how about you two?!”
The remark caused Selena’s jaw to clench, the Snow Queen doing everything she could not to verbally rip the child apart as she had countless adults in her career.
“Elsianna…” Deanna warned, holding up a hand. “Tempers are flaring right now and there is a lot to take in. We’re all feeling things – let’s not say something we’re going to regret.”
“Oh my god, mom!” Elsa looked at Deanna in disbelief. “How can you stand there and defend her?! After everything she’s done?! To me, to you! How can you just be okay with it?!” she shook her head. “You two come and go, you try to get back together, then you can’t, then you try again, then you can’t – and you don’t give a damn what that does to David, Ami, and me!”
“That’s not true!” Deanna denied. “We are ALWAYS thinking of you and your brother and sister.”
“Really?” Again, Elsianna eyed Selena once more. “Did you think about us when you decided to become the bad guy?”
Selena, who had remained silent during this exchange, simply crossed her hands over her chest. “It wasn’t a choice.”
“Of course it was!” Elsianna laughed. “Because that’s when things got worse for me! Because now everyone hated you.”
“It’s true.” Asuna added. “I tried to keep them away from Elsianna, but I…”
“You can’t guard her 24/7.” Sybil remarked of her daughter. “Especially when we are keeping you two apart.” She nodded her head in understanding, as did Dorian.
Selena, meanwhile, was still reeling. “What… what do you want me to do?” she tried. “Apologize for being me? For doing what I felt was best?” she eyed Elsianna. “I didn’t ask to be the villain out there, Elsa. You don’t get that. That’s who they saw me as. No matter what I said, no matter how much I kept trying to fight for integrity. For fairness. For good things at work… they still hated me. Can you imagine what that’s like?”
“Yes!” Elsianna laughed. “I live it every day!”
“Do you?!” Selena tilted her head. “Because from what I see, you still have both your parents.”
“Selena!” Deanna tried, but the Snow Queen was too far long. The World-Ruler was talking.
“You still have two parents that love you and would die for you! You also don’t have to worry about anything! Money, clothes, a place to live, food to eat. You don’t have to worry about whether or not you can survive the next day because you only live in half a house. Or how you’re going to raise a child that nobody believes exists! You don’t have to worry about if the next paycheck is coming in or not or if you’re taking scraps from customer’s plates or your boss takes pity on you and lets you eat there for free cause you can’t afford enough food for the week or a new stove to cook that food!”
Elsianna’s eyes went wide, as did Asuna’s, as did Deanna’s…
“And for what? What did I do, Elsa? Since you have all the answers for a twelve-year-old, you tell me! What did I do to deserve that? I was the daughter of a gold-miner my town thought was crazy. Your grandfather-“
“Grandfather-“ Elsianna tried, earning a smug tilt of the head from Selena.
“Oh that’s right. You don’t know this story!” Selena laughed. “Well, before your father was Jonathan VanHohenheim, he was Donovan Frost, a man that believed that there was gold in some cheap old mine! No one believed him but he never gave up on his beliefs. And because of that, he got a nickname. ‘The Crazy Miner’, which made me – that’s right – ‘The Crazy Miner’s Daughter’. A name that never left me! A name that made them bully, abuse, and ruin my life! And guess what? My father was right all along! The biggest twist in the story! All those years of abuse and being locked in basements, stuff dumped me – all their hatred based on their disbelief of my father… and he was RIGHT all along!”
Cold eyes glared at Elsianna, Selena Frost unable to control the words she spoke. “You want to know why I’m the villain, Elsianna? The ‘bad guy’ over there? Because those idiots can’t see the truth just like Nome couldn’t see what my father knew! And they hate that I see it! They hate that I can’t be shaken into changing! So they hate me! They joke! They abuse me! They cheer when I get beaten up! When I work so hard to get to the heights I’ve gotten, they cheer to see me get knocked down! They cheer when my family is targeted. When my wife, the woman I love more than anything in this whole damn world – is hurt and targeted!” she was too enraged to notice the slip. “And what? Things will ‘get better’ if I just ‘get along with them’? If I just laugh with them because they are laughing at me?! No! I did not suffer all I have to simply smile and say ‘keep doing it’! I didn’t give up all I have to be their joke! Not again! So, yes, I am sorry that all that has found its way to you, but that is the price you pay for all the money you have and all the opportunities and privileges you get that someone like me NEVER got! So don’t stand there and look down on me, child! Because you ‘being outed’ and a little ‘roughed up’? Pales in comparison to the scars I have – the SHIT your mother and I have gone through!”
“SELENA!”
The sound of Deanna’s voice, so close to hers, shattered through the rage and red, shocking Selena’s vision back to clear and her mind to snap out of it, as if waking from a haze. It took a second for everything to catch up to her, the last few seconds playing over in her mind – causing her sapphire eyes to widen in realization. “Elsa…” she tried, her voice cracking. “I…”
“I hate you.”
The words were deafening despite their low volume, the whisper like a killshot that shattered Selena’s heart. In that moment, she could not remember a pain like this since Deanna giving her those divorce papers. She just stood there, dumbfounded, too stunned to even speak.
“Elsa…” Deanna pressed, rushing to her daughter’s side. “Don’t say things like that. You don’t mean-“ only to be pushed away by the child.
“Don’t touch me!” Elsianna threw back, though her eyes flew back to the platinum-blonde. “I do! I hate you! I wish you had left me in that fire! No! I wish you had left me at that orphanage! I wish you had never found me! I wish I was never a Frost! I wish I never knew you!”
She was gone before Selena realized she had moved, pushing past the parents with Asuna following her, desperately calling her name. The only way Selena knew where she went was (she realized) because… because she was chasing after her daughter!
“Elsa! Wait! Please!” She called out, able to catch up to the dressed girl, stopping her near the top of the stairs that led to the ground floor, grabbing her shoulders and stopping the girl in her tracks. “I’m sorry!” she pleaded. “I didn’t mean any of that! I’m sorry for what I did! I’m sorry for what I put you and Asuna through. I never meant to! I just wanted you two to be safe, okay?” she felt her daughter struggle. “Please, Elsianna, just listen to me.”
“No, I won’t!” The child shook her head, holding up Sir Crackshell like a shield. “I won’t listen to you! I want to go home! I want to go back to our home in Black Arrow.”
“You can’t right now.” Selena tried. “It’s being repaired. But I promise you it will be the way it was soon, okay? Then you can go back! I promise.”
“You promised we’d be a family forever!” Elsa shot back. “You promised that you’d never leave! You promised that you’d never give in and be the villain!” she struggled in her mother’s arms, teary eyes finding Selena’s. “All I ever wanted to be was like you! I trained so hard to be ready to wrestle like you! Because you were…” she cried a little. “You were my hero…” She bit her lower lip hard, slamming her eyes shut. “How can I believe in you now when you’re like this?”
“I…” Selena tried but she had no answer. “I don’t know.” She smiled sadly. “Maybe you can’t believe in me ever again.” She shrugged. “Maybe that won’t matter soon. You’ll see other heroes. You’ll be inspired by other people… better people than me. That’s what happens in life. And you’ll find other ways to be a hero.”
Elsianna shook her head. “Heroes don’t lie or break their partner’s heart. Heroes don’t act selfishly or burn their house down.”
“What are you talking about?” Selena asked in confusion. “I didn’t burn the house-“
The words died on her lips as realization hit her. Why the fire had started on the side of the children’s room, why the firefighters’ had labelled it some ‘accident’ or some ‘idiot with matches’, why Elsianna had been in the family room rather than her bedroom when it had started late that night, and why she had said “I’m sorry” over and over again to her mother when Selena had found her and tried to get her out of the burning building.
You play with fire… and you get burned…
“You…” her voice trailed off as she eyed her trembling daughter. “You were the one that set fire to the house.”
Slowly, shame rolling off her in waves, Elsianna lifted her head at her mother. “I didn’t mean to…” she whispered. “I saw you and mom sleeping in bed – but I didn’t want to have hope again that you were back together. I just needed and outlet and I…” she tried to free herself from Selena’s grasp. “I’m just like you.” She desperately cried in defeat. “I got what I wanted! I’m a hopeless addict! I’m a villain! I’m unforgivable!”
“You’re none of those things, Elsa!” Selena implored, matching her daughter's desperation. “You’re just hurting but it’s not too late! You can be whatever you want! And you’re not alone! You have all of us, we’ll help-“
“I don’t want your help!”
The rest happened so fast and yet so slowly, as Elsa spoke those words, using her anger to give a solid push towards Selena, trying to free herself from her mother’s grasp. But as she did, her balance was thrown off the one leg, causing her to twist and turn on the spot on her other leg.
For Selena, her hand was placed on Elsianna’s hand for second before it was suddenly… moving away – growing more and more distant by the second as her daughter – her snowflake – fell… no… flew down the stairs, Selena barely able to hear the scream from the girl as she flew back, or the scream from Deanna as the redhead finally appeared behind the platinum-blonde.
Her eyes just remained on Elsianna as the girl bounced off the stairs once, twice, before crashing down onto the wooden floor, Sir Crackshell following her until he, too, lay there, his ‘jaw’ dislodged and lying on the floor beside the two of them as well. Both bodies, daughter and soldier were still as several of the party-goers suddenly gathered around them. Selena barely heard any of their voices…
She was too busy trying to figure who it was that was screaming her daughter’s name so loudly…
***************************************
Eyrie Tower
New York City, New York
July 29th, 2025
5:59am (approx. 1 min till sunrise)
“Deanna…”
Selena gazed at the sight of the redhead in shock, her ex-wife still covered by the shadow of night as the sun began to rise, her pale hand tightening around the balcony guardrail that stood between them. “What are you… how did you?”
“I said I’d always come find you!” the redhead’s eyes bore into Selena, watching her as the platinum-blonde stood on the other side of the guardrail. “Don’t do this, please!”
“I have to.” Selena replied sadly. “This was always how it was going to end.”
“WHY?!” Deanna cried. “After everything we’ve been through! Everything we’ve survived together! Why does it have to be this way?!”
“Because Elsa was right, Deanna.” Selena sad smile emerged, wishing with every fiber of her being that it all could have been different. “I am the villain.” She sighed. “The greatest, most hated, villain in SCW. And…” she turned her head towards the city below. “This is the only belief I have left.”
She gave a sigh, bringing her head up towards the horizon, seeing the sun lifting and the rays racing towards her castle-tower. She had forsaken so much of her own beliefs to become the villain. Adopted so many practices to control, manipulate and, subtly, push SCW’s roster into hating her. All so that someone could come along and take her down.
Nobody had. Nobody could.
And, no matter the story… she thought. Wild, Wild West, Cinderella Story, End of the World – the villain has to fall.
It was the only belief that had survived since that fated day Deanna has begged her to return to SCW a year and a half. The one belief she had accepted when she had become The Blue-Eyed Devil – The World-Ruler…
And it would be the last belief she held onto in the end.
“Maybe…” Selena smiled sadly, keeping her eyes on the sun. “Maybe I love you… and maybe I always will.”
She felt it then, the sun’s rays hitting her full force. With a turn of her head, she took one last look at what was behind her.
The gold shining on the table.
The pieces of a broken nutcracker beside it.
And the beautiful emerald eyes of her beloved redhead.
“I’m a bird…” she whisper-sung, turning gaze towards the sun and holding her free arm out like a wing. “A little snowbird… watch me fly… watch me fly…”
Then she finally let go of her hand…
Villain of the Year
”A Villain’s Last Belief”
Eyrie Tower
New York City, New York
July 20, 2025
3:34pm
Selena lazily opened the door and stumbled into her bedroom, her eyes heavy (even rolling up towards her brain) as she dragged her feet across the floor. The noise that followed her, the third or fourth iteration of ‘Happy Birthday’ being sung as someone, another invitee, filled her ears until the door had closed behind her quietly.
She had stood at the edge of the chaos since one pm, the last two-and-a-half hours being filled smiling and greeting people she hadn’t really seen much of for the past year. People from the Black Arrow neighbourhood, friends of David’s, some school mates she had only heard of, thus being unable to identify them until the parents of said children inevitably came over to introduce themselves.
She was the host of the party after. And here I am sneaking away from my responsibilities. she thought, slightly ashamed of herself. When had her social battery become so old that she couldn’t handle a small party like this? True, her castle-penthouse was filled with people in every room, which were filled with banners and balloons with different franchises from Star Wars to Marvel, and true, the penthouse literally had tremors running through the floor at times with so many feet of children running across it, but even full, the space were only a few dozen people at best!
She was Selena Frost! The woman that could captivate an arena filled with thousands of people into hating and booing her by simply appearing. A woman that could not only stand the pressure and demands of the Rise to Greatness main-event, but would be doing it a week from today for the fifth year in a row!
Yet a penthouse full of people had drained her social battery – had exhausted her – to the point where she knew that if she showed up to Houston like this? Xander would toss her around like a beanbag and leave her lying on the apron, completing an embarrassing performance at the Show of Shows for the Snow Queen.
Passing by the large mirror as she walked across the master bedroom, Selena spied her own reflection staring back at her. To match the balloons, she had worn a dark green shirt and dark purple pants, the color scheme she had chosen for herself while she had been buying the balloons for David’s birthday party, which now hung lazily across the various ceilings of her suite – which she knew she’d probably be spending the whole week cleaning up in-between training, studying, and shooting her promo for Rise to Greatness. On the plus side, she had gotten many comments on her choice of attire, being compared to ‘The Joker’ character from Batman.
Though I was going for She-Hulk… she thought glumly as she eyed herself for one more second. Her platinum-blonde braid had held its shape for the majority of the last few hours, but she could see a few strands coming lose from the constant movement she had done throughout that time. Next to that hair, her eyes looked so tired, even from her hazy vision – all of which prompted her to turn away from the mirror, walk the last few steps towards the large bedroom and collapse onto it, not caring that her socks were still on, and releasing a long sigh as the soft mattress and pillow accepted her.
For a few precious minutes, maybe it was longer, there was little to no sound – muffled tones of speech and movement at best that seemed so far away. For Selena, she thanked whatever god had given her the idea of tapering off the hall that led, specifically, to this bedchamber, a simple ‘Do not cross’ yellow tape tied across the path near the stairs. She did not want to feel so drained and tired to the point where she had to slip away, using her mastery of her own abode to do so without detection, but after so many hours, the smile felt forced, the words sounded rehearsed.
She just needed to slip away for a bit. A few quiet moments where there was only the sound of her heartbeat, the AC pumping cold air into the penthouse (and especially this room for her), and the occasional faint echo of sound from the children below that managed to reach this far into the penthouse.
My own fault… she drowsily thought. Just had to run that 10k this morning…
She groaned a little at that memory. She knew she was pushing it doing two workouts each day – adding the extra workout since, well… since she had been embarrassed not once but twice by Cid Turner and, especially, Xander Valentine. First, both men had caught her Glass Shard kick when she had tried to make a statement early on in the match build episodes of Breakdown, but then, to have them run and get the drop on her, Xander more than Cid. She had managed to fight off Cid, thankfully, - that man had already embarrassed her enough with eliminating her from the royale – but Xander had caught her and dragged Asher Hayes over top of her, meaning the smug bastard was going to ride that little accomplishment for gods knew how long!
In short, until last Breakdown, despite spending a year holding all the cards, biding her time, and making SCW question her every move, Selena had to admit… she had been throwing garbage out there in SCW since Taking Hold of the Flame. Had she become lazy? Complacent? Was it some deep anger and hatred that she held towards Cid and, especially, Xander that was making her predictable? Regardless, she had pivoted on her plans and prep, switching gears and upping her workout regime to prepare. And to be the only person out of the three challengers – her, Xander, and Cid – that had dropped the world champion, the ‘puppeteer’ as he had referred to himself, Giovanni Aries, to the ground. Not just shoved him or struck him, but had knocked him out. Even now, that memory – standing over top of the smug bastard, William Heaven in shock and – yes, Selena had recognized that look – fear, Xander and Cid on the ground, taken down, and she the only person left standing – it all brought a quiet smile to her face.
Who cares if they get a hundred shots on me… she thought to herself. Long as the one I get in is the KILLSHOT.
That was what the three men – boys – didn’t get. Xander was all ‘smash everything until nothing was left’, which was why he had needed help time and time again to beat a precision-artist like her, Cid didn’t have the spine or brainpower to plan and bide his time, opting to just stumble his way through everything and favoring luck and circumstances over ruthlessness and dominance, and Gio? Selena chuckled at that. The ‘Master of Puppets’ had literally fallen into the world championship but dumb luck – happenstance. Because of friggin’ gravity! – and was pretending like it was some ‘great plan’. He knew how to get the drop on someone, but if history with the madman was any indication, the man didn’t know how to put someone away from good! He and The Fall of Man had failed with Xander, not once, but twice, nothing to say about his failure to try and eliminate Selena from SCW years ago…
None of them knew how to do what Selena did. How to wait. How to be patient. How to bide their time and wait for that killshot. It was the only advantage Selena had over them. By far, she was the weakest competitor in terms of sheer strength and Xander could easily give her a run for her money in terms of endurance and toughness. But her speed and strikes? Choosing the time for that shot? That would be her ace in the hole. Still, that had meant needing to focus on bridging the gap between them in regards to her glaring weaknesses…
Which is why, boom badda boom, mommy is tired! she thought, though a groan came out from deep within her throat – her attempt at speaking her thought, supposedly. She could feel the desire to fade away grow stronger – not the usual one, it wasn’t time for that – but the one for sleep. To just drift away for a few minutes and…
The knock on the door, gentle but sharp, ruined any further continuation of such an idea, Selena turned her head towards the door and one eye craning to open just in time to see it open in front of her as she lay on the bed. A head of vivid red hair peeked through, instantly recognizable to the Snow Queen, even in her tired state.
“Didn’t mean to intrude,” Deanna stated knowingly, stepping into the room despite her statement.
Still, Selena merely closed her eyes and gave a knowing smile. “I figured it’d be you.” Slowly, she stretched her arms and legs out, hearing the pop in her shoulders and one in her left hip. “Most of the kids and adults wouldn’t disrespect the ‘do not cross’ warning tape.” She added with a tease, her eyes closed as she spoke through her stretch.
Deanna smiled, soft but sure. “Ten minutes without seeing you and I get an ache. Old habits.”
Selena’s eyes opened at such a brazen statement. Not that brazen statements were not common for the redhead – and for her for that matter (given their line of work), but such a statement about them? Their feelings towards one another? It was certainly unexpected. Slowly, the former world champion sat up, brushing a hand through one of the stray locks of hair, moving it out of her eyes. “You always were good at finding me.” She opted to say, honest but also a little guarded.
“I had to be.” Deanna shrugged as she moved closer to the bed, first closing the door behind her. “You’re good at disappearing.”
“Yeah…” Selena sighed. “But getting me to stay away? That’s a lot more difficult.” She countered.
Giving an understanding chuckle, Deanna nodded her head. The silence that followed their exchange wasn’t tense or even awkward – even Selena could tell that in her tired state, to which she was grateful for. It was one of those silences that came, not from a fight or awkwardness, but from organically reaching that point in the conversation. Of knowing one another’s patterns of speech and way of thinking and that just lent itself to such moments.
Quietly reaching the bed, Deanna observed the older, resting Frost before slowly sitting beside her. Unlike Selena, Deanna had chosen a red t-shirt with blue jeans, her color scheme based on the birthday boy’s favorite superhero – Spider-Man.
“You look exhausted,” she finally said, half-teasing, though Selena could easily hear the note of concern buried within it.
“I am exhausted,” Selena replied, flopping back on the bed. “Amiliah’s party last month exhausted me.” She gave a sigh, casting her gaze back at the ceiling. “You know how I am with parties and people.” She confessed.
“I do.” Deanna nodded, speaking without thinking. “My little lone wolf.”
Hearing that remark, Selena, once more, cracked open an eye to observe the woman. Seeing her like that, smiling and comfortable, she could almost forget about the issue of the cigarettes that she been trying to ‘catch’ Deanna on for the past week. She had watched her ex-wife constantly the last seven days and, yet, there was nothing! Deanna never went out for a smoke. Never seemed to be craving them. Never smelled of the damn thing. And, for a short time – like a few hours – Selena had begun to suspect that it was all just ‘something else’. Maybe it was the cleaning team or another staff member. Maybe it was carried by a bird and dropped in the trash bin – okay THAT was a stretch. But just as she was ready to dismiss…
She had found a used cigarette on her balcony three days ago.
Just like that, her witch-hunt was resumed… and yielding similar results on the redhead! Do I gotta stick my damn tongue down her throat to see if I taste ash or something? The platinum-blonde quickly dismissed the thought. They had already gotten too close to call back in the Sage Warehouse. She had no desire to further muddy the waters when things were set they way they were.
Deciding to let the matter go in her mind, Selena simply sighed before shaking her head. “I love him, and I love that he’s happy, but I’m pretty sure if one more person tries to talk to me about school districts or fall camps, I swear to Odin that I’m going to fake a stomach bug and move back to Oberwessel.”
Deanna chuckled a little, holding the knuckles of her hand close to her lips to cover the laugh, though it still was pleasant sounding to Selena. “You did good, you know.” She offered. “For both of them.”
Taking a breath in and out, Selena’s eyes opened to scan the dark-colored walls of the ceiling again. “They’re seven and nine.” she exhaled again. “When did that happen, De? It’s like I blinked, and suddenly I can’t lift Ami up as easily anymore and David-“ she huffed. “Now he’s up to my shoulder and talking about video games and wanting to be a professional soccer player.”
“And tomorrow he’ll be asking to borrow the car.” Deanna laughed, looking around the room. “Probably will ask for The Batmobile for his sweet-sixteenth.” She playfully stuck her tongue out at Selena, who merely rolled her eyes.
Selena groaned. “Oh gods.” She shook her head. “I do not want to see that day.” She added, more absent-mindedly than anything. Not that I plan to.
“How are the girls?” she settled on asking, gently shifting the subject, her voice softening on the names. It wasn’t that she had avoided her daughters the whole day, they just hadn’t bumped into them once the guests arrived, Amiliah being a little whirlwind around the place and Elsianna… Selena sighed… Elsianna wanting nothing to do with her.
Nodding in understanding, Deanna reached out a hand, rubbing the nearby leg of the Snow Queen in comfort. “You’ll be surprised at Elsianna. She’s wearing a dress.”
Selena’s eyes shifted, confusion laced in her sapphire orbs. “So?” she asked with a shrug. “What’s surprising about that?”
Deanna smiled knowingly, her tongue sticking out between her teeth. “A brightly colored one.”
It was enough for Selena to shoot upright, back to a sitting position, though her body protested under the sudden shift. “No.” she stated in disbelief, earning a laugh from Deanna.
“I know!” The redhead remarked joyously. “She said, and I quote, ‘It’s time to be brave and wear a colorful dress. Cause this isn’t a funeral.’”
Selena smiled, still shocked, but also amused. “Well, I have to see that before the day is over.” She gave a sigh. Though she highly doubted the ‘change in wardrobe’ absolved things between her and her eldest daughter. But hopefully, that would be solved soon. “Are the Grays here, yet?”
Deanna shook her head. “But they really want to talk to us as well.”
“Oh? Why?”
“They didn’t say. Just that they’d be here today and that they wanted to talk to us.”
“Oookay…” Selena breathed before closing her eyes for a moment. So much for a power nap. Wonder if there’s any more Monsters in the fridge. “Hope everything is alright.” She turned her gaze back onto the redhead sitting beside her. “What about Ami?”
The mood shifted back to the mirth it had held a moment ago as Deanna laughed again. “Oh yeah! I was getting to that. So she saw Elsianna’s dress and- BAM!” she flashed her hands and arms, imitating some kind of explosion gesture. “Spent the last hour trying to convince me that I should let her dye her hair the same color as Elsa’s dress.”
“Which is?” the platinum-blonde raised an eyebrow, earning a grin from Deanna.
“Purple.”
“Oh gods!” Selena shook her head. “She wants to dye her beautiful red hair – YOUR beautiful red hair – purple?!”
“Seems that way.” Deanna shrugged, clearly amused by this event.
“Did you cave?” Selena winced.
“Why do you think I cave?” Deanna asked in surprise.
“Cause you’re the ‘good parent’. I’m that ‘bad parent’.”
“You’re not a bad parent.” Deanna corrected, causing Selena to hold up her hand quickly.
“No, not what I meant… Like ‘god cop/bad cop’ kind of thing. You’re the ‘good cop’.”
“I’m not the ‘good cop’.”
“Oh sure you are!” Selena laughed, giving the redhead a playful, little shove. “Elsianna’s fighting with me. Ami loves Elsa, so she’s not my biggest fan right now, and David hasn’t really trusted me since I disciplined him over that near expulsion last year.” She gave a sad shrug, looking away from Deanna. “Plus… you’re the one that was at home the most-“
“Except when I wasn’t.”
“Yeah but… they knew that wasn’t your fault.” Selena tried. “They knew you had to be away for their safety and your health. And that whole time I just… I just felt like the ‘visiting mom’, you know? The substitute.” Slowly, she gazed down at her hands, her words playing around in her ears. “Which kinda sucked.”
This particular silence, unlike the last, was not as pleasant. It was laced with discomfort, regret, and so much more things that needed to be addressed – though it was not the time for it.
With a sigh, Deanna shook her head understandingly. “Well, I held the line – just to be clear.”
“Meaning?” the former world champion asked.
“Meaning we’re going to buy purple clip-ins for Ami after this weekend.”
“Oh come on!” Selena laughed without meaning to. “She’s going to wear them for a week and then get bored of them!”
“I know! But it was either that or another hour of ‘I want purple hair!’.” Deanna adjusted her voice, upping the pitch to sound like her youngest child. “You try dealing with that for hours.”
Selena laughed again, softer this time. “That girl’s going to be a force.”
“She already is.” Deanna paused. “Like her mother.”
Selena was about to ask which mother Deanna meant, but as she turned her head to inquire, she saw beautiful emerald orbs staring back at her, answering the Snow Queen’s question without it needing to be asked. The silence settled again, but it was more intimate this time – undeniably so. Similar to that afternoon in the warehouse. Deanna picked at the edge of the duvet, her fingers moving slowly over the stitching.
“I miss this.” she said, finally.
Selena didn’t respond at first, once more her logic overruling her heart with ease. Less than seven days from RTG and everything changing the way it needed to be. Did she miss talking to Deanna like this? Of course she did. Of course she wanted more. Of course, of course, of course. But this was not how things were. She had known this from the moment she had made the decision to come back to SCW – standing in her parents’ sitting room in New Jersey, looking out the large expanse window… even then she knew the endgame that was headed her way. Knew it when nobody, not even Deanna, could see it.
The die’s was cast… Selena thought to herself. I’m just the only one that knows what side it will land on…
“Me too,” she quietly admitted, barely audible.
“I know we had our reasons,” Deanna said, carefully. “Real ones. But sometimes I wonder… If we mistook the places we were pushed to for incompatibility.”
Selena turned to look at her. “Sometimes I talk to you in my head.” She admitted quietly. “I used to see these ghosts of people – like Elsianna as a snow child?”
Deanna nodded slowly. “I remember.”
“I’d imagine Adrian when he was seemingly in love with me. My father when he disappeared. Malcolm when he died. Dawn when she broke up with me. It was like someone would appear in my mind just in time to be the voice of reason in my life. And then…” she eyed Deanna. “Then came you. And whenever I wasn’t with you, I’d imagine how you’d answer me when I’m working through something. Work, the kids, when I’ve had a bad day. Or when I remember that time we got lost in Florida the first time we tried to get to Disney World with the kids and ended up on that beach.”
Emerald eyes lit up. “The one with the driftwood shaped like a horse?”
Selena nodded. “You said it was a sign. I said you were sleep-deprived.”
“I was both.” The two shared a laugh at the memory. Deanna had wanted to keep the driftwood and take it back to Manhattan with them, an impossible task with the trunk full of suitcases and the car full of children. “I wanted to keep the horse.”
“If we had taken my limo bus, you would have been able to.” Selena teased, the two falling back into silence for a moment, though not as long as the others.
“I was scared,” Selena admitted. A confession was always needed and allowed – now was as good a time as any for a partial one. “Back then. After Elsianna was born and taken from me. I think I thought… if I could just control everything, every aspect - then I’d be safe. Then after you came into my life, somewhere along the way, that came back. We just lost more and more of ourselves – people we loved, our lives, somewhere along the way, I fell back into it until…” she sighed. “Until I couldn’t get out. Till now, I can’t get out. And I really have no other choice but to see it through.”
“With Rise to Greatness and your contract?” Deanna asked, earning a nod from Selena.
“With everything.” The Snow Queen added.
The redhead seemed to take this in rather well, though she was silent for a moment before replying. “I should’ve fought harder,” Deanna said. “For you, specifically. For us. But I thought stepping back was giving you space, not making you feel alone.”
“You never made me feel alone.” Selena corrected. “Losing you did.”
Deanna reached out, tentative, hesitantly – afraid of being rejected again… her fingers brushing Selena’s hand. Selena didn’t pull away. Instead, her fingers closed gently around Deanna’s, a pale hand holding the other.
“I’ve missed this too,” Selena allowed herself to admit aloud – a little more confessing. “The way you calm a room. The way you know when to come find me.”
“I’ll always come find you,” Deanna whispered.
They stayed like that for a long moment, hands lightly clasped. The Snow Queen could feel the joyful emotions rolling off Deanna in waves. Not any assumptions between them or regarding them, but to have this… this moment… was clearly what she had wanted for so long.
For Selena… it was both beautiful in its shortness… and heartbreaking in its uselessness. For it changed nothing.
“Come back down with me?” Deanna asked. “It’s David’s day.”
“Yeah.” Selena sighed, pushing herself off the bed to stretch her limbs once more. “But I am going to need a cold as hell bath after this.”
“I’ll make sure you have the time to have it.” The redhead promised, giving Selena’s hand a squeeze before releasing it and heading to the door. “Now come on.” She semi-ordered. “We both have to be ‘good parents’.”
“Just a second…” Selena stopped her ex-wife, regaining her hand to the surprise of the redhead. “I’ve confessed a few things to you.” She spoke slowly. “And I don’t want you to feel you can’t. So…” she took a deep breath, bracing herself for the conversation to take a rough turn. “I know, Deanna.” She admitted. “I know.”
“You know?” Deanna asked. “You know what?”
“I know about it.” Selena sighed. “And I’m… I’m okay with it. We both have suffered addiction – I’m still…” she gave slow exhale. “I’d be a hypocrite if I judged you on it while I was taking NX.”
For a moment, Selena saw Deanna’s eyes widen in alarm, her mouth hanging a little and trembling. “How…how did you know? How did you find out?”
“I found one.” Selena answered. “Last week while I was taking the trash.”
“You were snooping around my drawers?” the redhead asked in alarm. “Why would you do that?”
“Wait…what?” Selena asked. “No, I wasn’t snooping around your drawers. I found it in the trash!”
“The trash?!” Deanna asked, the shock rolling off her in waves. “What the hell was it doing there?”
“I don’t know.” Selena answered incredulously. “That’s where trash goes.”
“Did you put it there?”
“No. You did.”
“Why would I put it there?!” Deanna asked, the confusion mounting between them. “I would never.”
“Why not?” Selena asked, her confusion matching the redhead’s. “That’s where it belongs!”
“Why would…” Deanna shook her head. “Selena what are you talking about?!”
With a huff, Selena turned on her foot, marching across the master bedroom to where the nightstand stood near the bed. Pulling open the drawer, the platinum-blonde withdrew the item in question. “This.” She held the empty box of cigarettes she had found last week so Deanna could see it, though she moved back to where she had stood near the redhead. “I found it in the trash.”
Eyeing the box for a moment, Deanna’s expression didn’t change. For her part, Selena expected the woman’s expression to change to recognition or shame/guilt. Something. Not to grow more confused as she turned her gaze back to the taller Selena.
“Cigarettes?” Deanna asked. “When did you start smoking?”
“I didn’t start smoking, Deanna.” Selena stated. “These are yours.”
Again, Deanna’s eyes fell to the blue and white box of Parliament smokes, tilting her head to the left before lifting it back up. “No, they’re not.” She answered simply.
“Come on.” Selena sighed. “There’s no need to hide it, De. I just wanted to talk to you about it so we can discuss how to deal with it and the kids-“
“Selena.” Deanna pressed, staring right into Selena’s sapphire eyes. “I swear to you. Those aren’t mine. I don’t smoke.”
It was enough to crack Selena’s certainty harder than a punch from Xander F’N Valentine, causing the Snow Queen to back a few steps away from the redhead, which lead to her pacing around the room.
“Well… that doesn’t make sense!” She tried. “We’re the only ones allowed up here – aside from Gerda and she doesn’t. I mean, if it’s not yours and it’s not mine, then one of our underage children have a serious problem.” She tried, opting to try a joke at the end. “You swear it’s not yours?”
“Over and over again, I’ll say it.” Deanna shrugged. “I have no idea how it could get up here. Cleaning staff, maybe?”
“I thought of that.” Selena admitted to herself. “But then I found a used one on the balcony… though that could have been staff as well…”
She sighed to herself. Had she been fixated on solving a problem for some semblance of control? For some semblance of purpose outside of SCW and reacquiring the world title? To hide her nerves at the prospect of failing her one shot to end things on her terms with the RTG main-event? Failing her year-long plan?
“I’m…” she exhaled. “I’m sorry. I guess I made an assumption.”
To her surprise, she felt a warm hand take hers again, looking up slightly to see the patient, smiling face of her ex-wife. “I’d have done the same thing.” She offered. “And apology accepted.” She added. “Now, we need to get back to the party.”
She didn’t wait to get a reply from Selena this time, perhaps to avoid another potential ‘detour’. She needn’t of worried, however, for the platinum-blonde kept her mouth shut as she was pulled out of the bedroom, over the ‘Do Not Cross’ tape that they both leapt over with a laugh, down the stairs and back onto the ‘party floor’.
Within minutes, the pair were mingling with parents and children once more, checking on food and running the same series of tasks Selena had had to duck away from earlier. It was no less tiring, but it was a little easier for the Snow Queen after her ‘break’ with Deanna. Yet as she refilled the ‘chip bowl’ for the third time today, this time with Doritos, she spied the flash of purple out of the corner of her eye. Twisting herself around, the Snow Queen to spy, for a second, Elsianna walking across the room and entering another, disappearing from sight.
“Elsa!” Selena called out, rushing out of the kitchen area and back into the larger room that housed more parents and children, all of them seemingly enjoying whatever task or game they were involved in. The platinum-blonde moved past all of them as she entered the larger room, trying to keep her eyes on her daughter, using the purple of her new dress as a guide. The only thing that distracted her was the flash of red hair as Deanna entered the room, reaching Elsianna first. For a moment, the two seemed to talk – though they were too far away for Selena to pick up anything. Silently, she hoped that Deanna could hold her daughter’s attention long enough for her to reach them – a hope that was dashed as she drew only forty or so feet away, seeing Elsianna walk away from her mother, travelling to another room on the first floor of the penthouse.
“Dammit…” Selena sighed, reaching Deanna, who was, momentarily, surprised at Selena’s sudden appearance. “I wanted to talk to her.”
“Okay…” the redhead shrugged. “So go talk to her.” She added with a laugh before seeing the determined expression on her ex-wife’s face. “What about?”
“I wanted to tell her about the Grays arriving soon and letting her talk to Asuna.” Selena sighed. “Trying to mend fences here, Deanna.”
“Well…” immediately, Deanna sidestepped out of the room, returning less than half a minute later with something in her hands. “Give her this to start!”
Instinctively taking whatever was offered from the redhead’s hands, it wasn’t until Selena held it in her own pale ones that she recognized the toy. “Sir Crackshell!” she remarked with a grin. “How did you?”
“Sage’s the other day.” Deanna explained. “Sorry, I forgot to mention it.” She added before scooting the platinum-blonde away. “Now get going! Before you lose her again!”
Despite the desire to give her thanks, Selena could only nod before resuming the chase for her daughter, moving into the next room where several of the party-goers were settled. Amid the balloons hanging up and the numerous people running around or talking, the platinum-blonde could see no sign of the young girl.
“Dammit…” she whispered under her breath, not wanting her cursing to be overheard by any children. Carefully, the platinum-blonde scanned the room as she walked through it, eyes peeled for blonde hair and a purple dress – those were the two things she was sure of – and still, she saw nothing. Even asking several party-goers in the room yielded no positive direction. Still, she refused to give up her search.
Things needed to be settled between her and her daughter. Had she made mistakes? Yes – she was twelve. She was going to. But in so many ways, Selena realized as she searched her crowded home, she had been wrong to.
She had overreacted to Elsianna sneaking out and lying. Everything that had occurred afterwards had been a result of that overreaction – Much like the mess in SCW – focus! her mind recoiled, forcing her to stay locked on the task at hand. Onward she moved, her expertise of the suite allowing her to duck and weave around people, even whole clumps of them, by choosing an alternate path or hallway.
Though she thought, as she ascended the stairs up to the second floor, that she must have been drawing closer to her daughter’s whereabouts, after searching the third or fourth room of that floor with no luck, that hope had begun to dim until frustration was starting to take hold – more so at her inability to find her as opposed to her daughter herself. Still, she kept searching and asking.
It’s a finite space! her mind screamed after another ten minutes of looking. How hard can it be to find one kid?! Her train of thought stopped abruptly as she spotted another ‘Do Not Cross’ line, much like the one that cutoff access to her master bedroom on the third floor. This one, however, served as a ‘barrier’ to the section of the castle that housed the children’s bedrooms, for the same reason as Selena’s.
But where else would Elsianna go if she’s not at the party? Selena thought. Hadn’t The Snow Queen, herself, slipped away, yearning for a break from the large, socially-draining crowd? If only to recover for a moment? She really is my daughter… the young woman sighed, bending down to duck under the tape and slip down the hall, turning along its natural direction. She ignored the first door and the second, those being David and Amiliah’s room, stopping only until she reached the third door at the end of the hall – the one she knew lead to Elsa’s bedroom. Gazing down, she spotted a little light spilling under the door from inside, causing a smile to cross her features.
“Called it.” She whispered to herself, though she knew she really didn’t have anything to be proud of considering this was the last place she was looking.
Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Selena reached a pale hand out towards the doorknob, ready to turn it and enter unnoticed – when a flash of memory of the last time she had tried that jolted her brain, halting her hand’s journey. Closing her eyes for a second and taking a slow breath to calm and center herself, the platinum-blonde shifted the direction of her hand, moving away from the doorknob and towards the center of the door itself, enough so she could close her hands a bit and rap three times. Immediately, she heard movement from further within the room, thus confirming her suspicions as to whether the room was occupied. Again, she patiently knocked, but this time opted to call out for her daughter.
“Elsa?” she tried, doing her best to adopt the gentle, kind voice like Deanna always had. “Can I talk to you for a minute, please?”
No answer came, and for a split-second, she wondered if her daughter was sneaking a conversation with Asuna again, but quickly dismissed the notion. The Grays would be here soon with Asuna in tow. Maybe that’s why she was downstairs! Asuna told her and Elsa was looking for her! Selena tried to reason. That’s possible!
Another attempt to knock and a calling of Elsianna’s name, imploring a conversation, yielded no response, which sadly left Selena with one single option. With a sigh, she reached her hand back towards the doorknob, taking the metal into her palm and twisting it open. With a slow push, she quietly entered into the bedroom.
“I’m sorry.” She began quickly. “But this is important, Elsa. I really need to talk to you and-“
The room was empty. “Oh…” Selena’s voice trailed off in surprise as she looked around. That didn’t make sense. She had definitely heard noises from inside the room! Her first thought was to turn her head and gaze at the desk where Elsianna’s terminal was… no one was sitting there. The second guess was to check further in-
Her movement stopped after two steps as her eyes spied the flash of purple out of the corner of her eye, her head jerking towards it thesecond her brain had registered it. The first thing she notices was the glass in front of the clothing – the balcony! With the exception of Amiliah’s room, all the bedrooms within the suite had a balcony, though none as lovely as the one by the lounge – the one that Selena often frequented. Her favorite spot. – She was on the move before the thought was finished, taking the necessary steps across the floor and opening the door without thinking, her words a rush in her need.
“Elsianna, can I just talk to you, please?”
She stopped as she saw her daughter’s head jerk around in shock for a split second before suddenly turning her back towards her mother, keeping herself facing the end of the balcony and New York City below.
“Sorry...” Selena tried lamely, her handsd fidgeting nervously. Amazng, she could talk anyone in SCW under the table, and that included mouthpieces like Giovanni and onoxious blowhards like Xander and Cid. But with her twelve-year-old daughter? She was at a loss. She could not think of the right words to say, other than to apologize and explain. “I tried knocking…” Rephrase: Apologize and POORLY explain. “I shouldn’t have just entered but this is important…”
In response, Elsianna said nothing, simply keeping her back towards her mother, further adding to the ache in Selena’s chest.
“You…” Selena looked around, feeling the cool breeze of the high altitude. “You look nice.” She finally offered. “Mom said you wanted to try and be brave with a different color than black.”
Again, no response from her daughter.
“I’m…. all I can say is I’m sorry.” She stated, the nutcracker fidgeting in her hands. “I’m sorry that I have been so harsh on you. I’ve….” She sighed. “I’ve been unfair. I get that. About you and Asuna. It’s just…” she breathed, her eyes fluttering down to the painted ones of Sir Crackshell staring back at her. “It’s just that I keep thinking you of my little girl…” she shrugged. “My snowflake. And you always will be – but…” she hated to admit this part. “You’re also growing up. And you’re going to do things that I won’t agree with. Things that I’m GOING to have to punish you for. That’s just my job as a mother. But… I think I was just trying this time to keep you as ‘my little girl’ when I should have talked to you about it. When I should have let you talk to me and feel heard.”
Still, despite this confession of feelings, the young girl’s back remained facing Selena. Perhaps she won’t be able torgive me… she thought, her heart sinking with the thought. She didn’t want Elsianna to hate her like Selena had hated Anastasia DeCarlo. It didn’t matter how much time was left. She couldn’t live with herself if her daughter…
Another sigh and another glance at the toy in her hands, the symbol of her daughter’s childhood. She needed to let it all go. Her need to control everything. Her fear of losing everything. It simply…
It doesn’t matter anymore…
“Mom and I have invited the Grays over…” she offered, taking a slow step towards her daughter. “Including Asuna.” She saw Elsa stiffen a little, clearing hearing what was said. “They should be here soon.” The Snow Queen added as she took another step forward. “So… if you want to spend some time with her… well, you can.”
There was a pause, silence standing between them as Selena slowly closed the gap between her and Elsianna with each slow step. “After that, mom and I will talk with Asuna’s parents…. And the two of you… and maybe…” she tried. “Maybe we can figure something better out for you and Asuna – as a couple, I mean….”
It was her best shot, stammering and stuttering as she had been, but it was all she could. Still, Elsainna wouldn’t budge. Wouldn’t turn around or say a word beyond what Selena had noticed at the mention of Asuna. If that was all the Snow Queen was going to get, then that would have to be enough. With a nod of her head, she leaned forward, placing Sir Crackshell on the ledge beside her daughter, closer to the inside part so that he wouldn’t be knocked over and onto the streets far below.
That’s not for him… Selena mentally affirmed as she confirmed. “You know I love you more than anything.” She whispered to the girl beside her below slowly leaning back and away from the girl, fully intending to turn around and leave her daughter to her own thoughts and feelings…
Until the smell hit her nostrils — sharp and familiar.
Smoke.
Selena stopped in an instant, her stomach knotting. That acrid smell. Her years of serving drinks and food at her Uncle Liam’s Bar and Grill – a scent that stained and polluted the front door, typing her stomach into knots every time she had entered and left that place – the lowest point in her life. Alone, unloved, vilified and hated simply because she was ‘A Frost’.
Simply because she was her.
Despite this, she took another sniff, more deliberate as she stood there, ripping herself from the mental flashback the initial smell had caused her. There was no mistaking it now that she stood so close to it.
But what it meant… what that smell inferred… She felt her eyes sting with alarm, pain, fear – the mirade of emotions barely contained as she spoke. “Turn around Elsianna.” She ordered gently. “I’m not asking.”
A moment passed, but slowly, as if realizing the trouble she’s be in if she didn’t, the girl slowly turned around. In honestly, she looked wonderful. The dress matched her features nicely, her hair was done in waves like Deanna’s and she had just enough makeup (Selena guessed because of Deanna) to highlight her natural features, as well as her evolving ones like her cheeks. But her expression? The fear on her face and within her blue eyes – eyes she had gotten from Selena.
“Why…” Selena’s throat hitched. “Why am I smelling smoke?”
Biting her lower lip, Elsianna could only shrug her shoulders, sparking a frustrating ire within Selena but one that was quelled by the Snow Queen in a second due to her own fear and concern. Even so, despite her desire to deny it all, the woman’s mind (far more evolved than a mere twelve-year old. A mind that had given Vixen Cain and Ravyn Taylor a run for their money. A woman that had manipulated her way into the main-event of Rise to Greatness without needing a Trios contract or a THOTF royale ticket) could not stop connecting the dots as more and more made sense – despite how much she hated it.
“So…” she breathed. “It wasn’t smoke from the fire that stained your clothes, was it?”. She was met with silence. “It wasn’t old smoke that I kept smiling on your clothes, was it?”
Silence.
“And I’m guessing…” she reached into her pocket, pulling out the box of Parliament cigarettes. “This is yours?”
It all made sense. Who else but Deanna and Selena had access to their trash can but the children? The two mothers had just ruled them out as a possibility – opting for custodians and birds dropping it from the sky over the idea that their little angels could do such a thing.
Missing the most obvious possibility because of love…
The two girls stood there – mother and daughter – neither saying a word. Yet, in that time, Elsianna had, somehow, taken hold of Sir Crackshell, holding the nutcracker nervously between her and Selena like some kijnd of guard or shield.
“Tell me why, Elsianna.” Selena begged, her voice cracking a little as it whispered. “How could you do this?”
She was expecting silence. For the same ‘deer in the headlights’ she had seen in the last few moments from her daughter. But the girl took a deep breath before lifting her head, her eyes meeting Selena’s with a cold glare.
“Why not?” came the question, Elsa’s lip curled, not in cruelty, but in pain.
Before more could be said, the sound of a door flying open was heard. “Selena!” The Snow Queen immediately recognized the voice of Deanna.
“Out here.” She called out. It only took a few moments for the sound of steps to be heard, Selena moving just to the side so the redhead could open the door and join them. And she wasn’t alone, for standing with her with Dorian and Sybil and Asuna Gray. “Dorian and Sybil…” she stopped what seemed to be the beginning of a revelation before seeing the sight before her. The stance of the eldest Frost child. The broken, barely held together, expression of the woman Deanna loved.
“Something has happened.” She slowly spoke.
“So I’ve learned.” Selena spoke slowly. “You can smell our daughter if you need any proof.”
Instead of doing that, Deanna walked towards Selena, standing in front of her Selena and holding something out in her hands, causing Selena to look down to see the twin cigarette box to the one she was holding. The same brand.
“Dorian and Sybil found this in Asuna’s room the other day.” Deanna whispered. “They came here to talk to us about it.”
Nodding her head knowingly, Selena held up her hand, showing the box she held high enough for the Grays to see. “Found in our trash.” She stated before her eyes focused on Asuna, then at Elsianna, the two daughters trapped by the wall of parents by the door. “I think you two need to explain yourselvevs.”
“I agree.” Dorian Gray stated sternly, crossing his arms over his chest. “You’re older, Asuna. You should know better.”
“Don’t excuse Elsianna, Dorian.” Selena stated. “She’s smart enough to know too.”
“Can we just let them explain?” Sybil held her hands up, trying to get some calm within the group.
“I agree.” Deanna nodded, turning her attention. “Girls, please…”
Immediately, Asuna was on the move, the auburn-haired girl moving to stand beside Elsianna. “It was my fault.” She stated simply. “All my fault.”
“Yours?” Selena asked, raising an eyebrow and not believing a word.
“It just…” Asuna continued anyway. “It just sort of happened. We… we got caught up with it and…”
“Asuna, stop.” Came the suddenly strong and cold voice of Elsianna, surprising everyone as she glared at Selena. “It’s your fault, Selena.”
The platinum-blonde’s eyes went wide, though she was not sure which part of that last sentence shocked her more. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me!” Elsianna threw back, the anger starting to show in her tone and the way her hands tightened around Sir Crackshell. “You banned us from seeing each other! Even at school! The teachers told us what you did!”
“What did I do?” Selena asked, causing the young girl to scoff.
“You told them to keep Asuna and I apart until you said so! Of course they would listen to the ‘great Selena Frost’!”
“Selena?” Deanna asked in confusion, causing Selena to turn her head to the surprised look of the redhead, causing her to sigh.
“It was something Dorian and I thought of. But I didn’t tell them to keep the two of them separated. I simply told them what was happening and that we were trying to put some distance between them for a time. It wasn’t an embargo or anything.”
“Well, that’s not how they took it!” Elsianna shot back. “We couldn’t have recess together. We couldn’t have lunch together! We couldn’t walk to school together or anything!”
The words settled for a second before Asuna took over, her voice much calmer than Elsianna’s. “We were desperate to see one another… so we started sneaking away to other parts of the school. And… we found a place just around it… large dumpster bin on the corner away from the school.” She turned sad eyes towards her parents. “Smokers gathered there.” She explained. “And at first, we were disgusted and ran right back to the school. But as the week passed and we kept meeting there – the only place we could meet…” her voice trailed off. “It just… happened.” She repeated.
There was a pause between the parties, the explanation settling on all of them, if only for a few precious moments.
“I fail to see how this is Selena’s fault.” Dorian stated. “Sounds like you two just decided you know better than your parents. Asuna, I can’t believe you. Do you realize how disappointed your mother and I are in you?! You know what these things do?”
“Don’t yell at her!” Elsianna fired back, immediately standing in front of, and protectively, of Asuna. “It’s Selena’s fault we had to go there!”
Again, shock rammed through Selena’s frame. “You can’t blame me for your choices, Elsianna.” She stated defensively.
“Yes, I can!” came the inevitable yell from the girl, like a dam breaking as she glared fire towards the Snow Queen. “Everyone already thinks I’m a freak! The daughter of The Snow Queen!”
Reaching up with her free, gloved hand, Elsianna wiped at her eyes. “Do you have any idea what hell I go through because of you?! Because you’re you?” without a second thought, she ripped off the glove with her teeth, revealing the scarred flesh underneath. “This happened because of you! Because I tried to be like you and do the right thing and just because Aaron wanted to burn ‘the Snow Child’. I’m the girl who gets shoved in the hallway because her mom is the most hated woman on TV! The girl that gets stuffed in lockers because they’re my ‘refrigerator’! And that’s all just from you being you! Imagine what they did when they learned Asuna and I were together!!!”
Selena’s eyes went wide at the sudden realization, prompting Elsianna to continue at the sight of her mother’s dawning realization. “You outed us, mother! Asuna and I both! You outed us as lesbians! What do you think they all did when they learned that?! You think it got easier?!” Elsianna sniffled, her emotions running rampant. “The Lesi-Princess! That’s my new nickname thanks to you!!”
Selena had no words to say to such an outpouring of rage and resentment. The same could be said for Deanna, Dorian, and Sybil – all the adults were at a loss from this. For the Snow Queen, however, it was twofold, because there was no mistaking the target of Elsianna’s anger and blame.
“I…” Selena tried to find the right words. “I never intended to ‘out’ you or Asuna, Elsianna. I even asked the teachers to be discreet when they offered to watch you two.”
“As if that absolves you!” Elsianna laughed.
“It doesn’t!” Selena threw back. “But there’s a difference between what was done and what was intended! And don’t act like you are innocent in all this, young lady!” she could feel her own anger building. “You were the one that snuck out and disobeyed us. Asuna, too!”
“Which you just admitted the punishment for that was too extreme!” Elsa countered.
“Yes it was!” Selena admitted. “I still say that, but it doesn’t erase what you both did. How you broke our trust, Elsa!”
“Oh boo-hoo!” the child laughed bitterly in defiance. “Like you haven’t broken the trust of anyone? When’s the last time we even visited Uncle David and Aunt Regan? How about Uncle Jean and Aunt Zelda? Or Aunt Jessica?” blue eyes flew over to the redhead standing next to Selena. “Or how about you two?!”
The remark caused Selena’s jaw to clench, the Snow Queen doing everything she could not to verbally rip the child apart as she had countless adults in her career.
“Elsianna…” Deanna warned, holding up a hand. “Tempers are flaring right now and there is a lot to take in. We’re all feeling things – let’s not say something we’re going to regret.”
“Oh my god, mom!” Elsa looked at Deanna in disbelief. “How can you stand there and defend her?! After everything she’s done?! To me, to you! How can you just be okay with it?!” she shook her head. “You two come and go, you try to get back together, then you can’t, then you try again, then you can’t – and you don’t give a damn what that does to David, Ami, and me!”
“That’s not true!” Deanna denied. “We are ALWAYS thinking of you and your brother and sister.”
“Really?” Again, Elsianna eyed Selena once more. “Did you think about us when you decided to become the bad guy?”
Selena, who had remained silent during this exchange, simply crossed her hands over her chest. “It wasn’t a choice.”
“Of course it was!” Elsianna laughed. “Because that’s when things got worse for me! Because now everyone hated you.”
“It’s true.” Asuna added. “I tried to keep them away from Elsianna, but I…”
“You can’t guard her 24/7.” Sybil remarked of her daughter. “Especially when we are keeping you two apart.” She nodded her head in understanding, as did Dorian.
Selena, meanwhile, was still reeling. “What… what do you want me to do?” she tried. “Apologize for being me? For doing what I felt was best?” she eyed Elsianna. “I didn’t ask to be the villain out there, Elsa. You don’t get that. That’s who they saw me as. No matter what I said, no matter how much I kept trying to fight for integrity. For fairness. For good things at work… they still hated me. Can you imagine what that’s like?”
“Yes!” Elsianna laughed. “I live it every day!”
“Do you?!” Selena tilted her head. “Because from what I see, you still have both your parents.”
“Selena!” Deanna tried, but the Snow Queen was too far long. The World-Ruler was talking.
“You still have two parents that love you and would die for you! You also don’t have to worry about anything! Money, clothes, a place to live, food to eat. You don’t have to worry about whether or not you can survive the next day because you only live in half a house. Or how you’re going to raise a child that nobody believes exists! You don’t have to worry about if the next paycheck is coming in or not or if you’re taking scraps from customer’s plates or your boss takes pity on you and lets you eat there for free cause you can’t afford enough food for the week or a new stove to cook that food!”
Elsianna’s eyes went wide, as did Asuna’s, as did Deanna’s…
“And for what? What did I do, Elsa? Since you have all the answers for a twelve-year-old, you tell me! What did I do to deserve that? I was the daughter of a gold-miner my town thought was crazy. Your grandfather-“
“Grandfather-“ Elsianna tried, earning a smug tilt of the head from Selena.
“Oh that’s right. You don’t know this story!” Selena laughed. “Well, before your father was Jonathan VanHohenheim, he was Donovan Frost, a man that believed that there was gold in some cheap old mine! No one believed him but he never gave up on his beliefs. And because of that, he got a nickname. ‘The Crazy Miner’, which made me – that’s right – ‘The Crazy Miner’s Daughter’. A name that never left me! A name that made them bully, abuse, and ruin my life! And guess what? My father was right all along! The biggest twist in the story! All those years of abuse and being locked in basements, stuff dumped me – all their hatred based on their disbelief of my father… and he was RIGHT all along!”
Cold eyes glared at Elsianna, Selena Frost unable to control the words she spoke. “You want to know why I’m the villain, Elsianna? The ‘bad guy’ over there? Because those idiots can’t see the truth just like Nome couldn’t see what my father knew! And they hate that I see it! They hate that I can’t be shaken into changing! So they hate me! They joke! They abuse me! They cheer when I get beaten up! When I work so hard to get to the heights I’ve gotten, they cheer to see me get knocked down! They cheer when my family is targeted. When my wife, the woman I love more than anything in this whole damn world – is hurt and targeted!” she was too enraged to notice the slip. “And what? Things will ‘get better’ if I just ‘get along with them’? If I just laugh with them because they are laughing at me?! No! I did not suffer all I have to simply smile and say ‘keep doing it’! I didn’t give up all I have to be their joke! Not again! So, yes, I am sorry that all that has found its way to you, but that is the price you pay for all the money you have and all the opportunities and privileges you get that someone like me NEVER got! So don’t stand there and look down on me, child! Because you ‘being outed’ and a little ‘roughed up’? Pales in comparison to the scars I have – the SHIT your mother and I have gone through!”
“SELENA!”
The sound of Deanna’s voice, so close to hers, shattered through the rage and red, shocking Selena’s vision back to clear and her mind to snap out of it, as if waking from a haze. It took a second for everything to catch up to her, the last few seconds playing over in her mind – causing her sapphire eyes to widen in realization. “Elsa…” she tried, her voice cracking. “I…”
“I hate you.”
The words were deafening despite their low volume, the whisper like a killshot that shattered Selena’s heart. In that moment, she could not remember a pain like this since Deanna giving her those divorce papers. She just stood there, dumbfounded, too stunned to even speak.
“Elsa…” Deanna pressed, rushing to her daughter’s side. “Don’t say things like that. You don’t mean-“ only to be pushed away by the child.
“Don’t touch me!” Elsianna threw back, though her eyes flew back to the platinum-blonde. “I do! I hate you! I wish you had left me in that fire! No! I wish you had left me at that orphanage! I wish you had never found me! I wish I was never a Frost! I wish I never knew you!”
She was gone before Selena realized she had moved, pushing past the parents with Asuna following her, desperately calling her name. The only way Selena knew where she went was (she realized) because… because she was chasing after her daughter!
“Elsa! Wait! Please!” She called out, able to catch up to the dressed girl, stopping her near the top of the stairs that led to the ground floor, grabbing her shoulders and stopping the girl in her tracks. “I’m sorry!” she pleaded. “I didn’t mean any of that! I’m sorry for what I did! I’m sorry for what I put you and Asuna through. I never meant to! I just wanted you two to be safe, okay?” she felt her daughter struggle. “Please, Elsianna, just listen to me.”
“No, I won’t!” The child shook her head, holding up Sir Crackshell like a shield. “I won’t listen to you! I want to go home! I want to go back to our home in Black Arrow.”
“You can’t right now.” Selena tried. “It’s being repaired. But I promise you it will be the way it was soon, okay? Then you can go back! I promise.”
“You promised we’d be a family forever!” Elsa shot back. “You promised that you’d never leave! You promised that you’d never give in and be the villain!” she struggled in her mother’s arms, teary eyes finding Selena’s. “All I ever wanted to be was like you! I trained so hard to be ready to wrestle like you! Because you were…” she cried a little. “You were my hero…” She bit her lower lip hard, slamming her eyes shut. “How can I believe in you now when you’re like this?”
“I…” Selena tried but she had no answer. “I don’t know.” She smiled sadly. “Maybe you can’t believe in me ever again.” She shrugged. “Maybe that won’t matter soon. You’ll see other heroes. You’ll be inspired by other people… better people than me. That’s what happens in life. And you’ll find other ways to be a hero.”
Elsianna shook her head. “Heroes don’t lie or break their partner’s heart. Heroes don’t act selfishly or burn their house down.”
“What are you talking about?” Selena asked in confusion. “I didn’t burn the house-“
The words died on her lips as realization hit her. Why the fire had started on the side of the children’s room, why the firefighters’ had labelled it some ‘accident’ or some ‘idiot with matches’, why Elsianna had been in the family room rather than her bedroom when it had started late that night, and why she had said “I’m sorry” over and over again to her mother when Selena had found her and tried to get her out of the burning building.
You play with fire… and you get burned…
“You…” her voice trailed off as she eyed her trembling daughter. “You were the one that set fire to the house.”
Slowly, shame rolling off her in waves, Elsianna lifted her head at her mother. “I didn’t mean to…” she whispered. “I saw you and mom sleeping in bed – but I didn’t want to have hope again that you were back together. I just needed and outlet and I…” she tried to free herself from Selena’s grasp. “I’m just like you.” She desperately cried in defeat. “I got what I wanted! I’m a hopeless addict! I’m a villain! I’m unforgivable!”
“You’re none of those things, Elsa!” Selena implored, matching her daughter's desperation. “You’re just hurting but it’s not too late! You can be whatever you want! And you’re not alone! You have all of us, we’ll help-“
“I don’t want your help!”
The rest happened so fast and yet so slowly, as Elsa spoke those words, using her anger to give a solid push towards Selena, trying to free herself from her mother’s grasp. But as she did, her balance was thrown off the one leg, causing her to twist and turn on the spot on her other leg.
For Selena, her hand was placed on Elsianna’s hand for second before it was suddenly… moving away – growing more and more distant by the second as her daughter – her snowflake – fell… no… flew down the stairs, Selena barely able to hear the scream from the girl as she flew back, or the scream from Deanna as the redhead finally appeared behind the platinum-blonde.
Her eyes just remained on Elsianna as the girl bounced off the stairs once, twice, before crashing down onto the wooden floor, Sir Crackshell following her until he, too, lay there, his ‘jaw’ dislodged and lying on the floor beside the two of them as well. Both bodies, daughter and soldier were still as several of the party-goers suddenly gathered around them. Selena barely heard any of their voices…
She was too busy trying to figure who it was that was screaming her daughter’s name so loudly…
***************************************
Eyrie Tower
New York City, New York
July 29th, 2025
5:59am (approx. 1 min till sunrise)
“Deanna…”
Selena gazed at the sight of the redhead in shock, her ex-wife still covered by the shadow of night as the sun began to rise, her pale hand tightening around the balcony guardrail that stood between them. “What are you… how did you?”
“I said I’d always come find you!” the redhead’s eyes bore into Selena, watching her as the platinum-blonde stood on the other side of the guardrail. “Don’t do this, please!”
“I have to.” Selena replied sadly. “This was always how it was going to end.”
“WHY?!” Deanna cried. “After everything we’ve been through! Everything we’ve survived together! Why does it have to be this way?!”
“Because Elsa was right, Deanna.” Selena sad smile emerged, wishing with every fiber of her being that it all could have been different. “I am the villain.” She sighed. “The greatest, most hated, villain in SCW. And…” she turned her head towards the city below. “This is the only belief I have left.”
She gave a sigh, bringing her head up towards the horizon, seeing the sun lifting and the rays racing towards her castle-tower. She had forsaken so much of her own beliefs to become the villain. Adopted so many practices to control, manipulate and, subtly, push SCW’s roster into hating her. All so that someone could come along and take her down.
Nobody had. Nobody could.
And, no matter the story… she thought. Wild, Wild West, Cinderella Story, End of the World – the villain has to fall.
It was the only belief that had survived since that fated day Deanna has begged her to return to SCW a year and a half. The one belief she had accepted when she had become The Blue-Eyed Devil – The World-Ruler…
And it would be the last belief she held onto in the end.
“Maybe…” Selena smiled sadly, keeping her eyes on the sun. “Maybe I love you… and maybe I always will.”
She felt it then, the sun’s rays hitting her full force. With a turn of her head, she took one last look at what was behind her.
The gold shining on the table.
The pieces of a broken nutcracker beside it.
And the beautiful emerald eyes of her beloved redhead.
“I’m a bird…” she whisper-sung, turning gaze towards the sun and holding her free arm out like a wing. “A little snowbird… watch me fly… watch me fly…”
Then she finally let go of her hand…
![[Image: hffOaUZ.png]](https://i.imgur.com/hffOaUZ.png)
SCW Supreme Champion
6x SCW World Champion
4x SCW World Tag-Team Champion
2x SCW United States Champion
3x SCW Adrenaline Champion
SCW Television Champion
Longest Reigning SCW World Champion (234 days)
Winner of Shot of Adrenaline Tournament (2016)
Winner of Best of the Best Tournament (2016)
Winner of Trios Tournament (2018)
Winner of U.S. Championship Tournament (2020)
Winner of World Championship Tournament (2023)
Winner of Tactical Warfare (2014, 2019)
Winner of Elimination Chamber (2015, 2024)
Winner of Roofed Cage Match (2019)
Winner of Last Person Standing Match (2019)
The Unbelievable Main Event (2021-2025)
Winner of Double Jeopardy Match (2022)
Winner of EOTY Invitational (2023)
Winner of EOTY Invitational (2023)
Winner of Ironman Match (2024)
Wrestler of the Year (2016, 2021, 2022, 2024)
Tag-Team of the Year (2020 - w/ Regan Street)
Match of the Year (2018, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024)
Feud of the Year (2014, 2019)
Shocking Moment of the Year (2024)
![[Image: 34zetxl.png]](https://i.ibb.co/SnpvD5T/34zetxl.png)