Taking Hold of the Flame 2026

[SnowQueenSCW]

OOC: Royal Letter is sent to one person and only one person...

Scars of a Fascade

”The Heart in the Cavern”

The Frost Gold Mine
Outside Nome, Alaska
June 6th, 2026
8:57 PM

Selena Frost sat motionless in the darkness. She hadn't moved since she'd heard the elevator. The old machinery had groaned through the mine nearly an hour ago, carrying its passenger down into the depths.

She had known who it was immediately. Because nobody else would come...

Nobody else would be stupid enough.
Nobody else would care enough.
Nobody else would still be trying.
Except one person...

Deanna. Of course it was Deanna!

Even now, sitting in the darkness, Selena could still hear her voice bouncing through the tunnels - Calling her name. Searching and refusing to quit or leave. Refusing to let her just disappear.

Just like almost a year ago on that damn balcony... She should have just let me go... Selena squeezed her eyes shut. It hurt. Gods, it hurt. Because she had heard every word.

Every single one.

The announcement.
The challenge.
The offer.
The confession.
The scream.
All of it.

And she had sat here in the dark and listened to it all, hating herself through every part. Not for the first time, she was grateful for the darkness’ concealment. It kept anyone from seeing the tears she felt stinging her eyes – which was only beaten by the ones that had already fallen. Not that anyone would see ‘The Great Selena Frost’ cry.

That was the point.

She’d finally realized how to make SCW better – how to make everything better and fix everything. For longer than she cared to check – years it felt like – she had taken on the persona of The Blue-Eyed Devil, taking on the hate of the SCW Universe while still trying to do what was best for SCW. To fix what everyone was too afraid to fix.

Well... she had failed. Time and time again she had failed. What was worse – no matter how much she succeeded, she only made things worse in the process. Every choice, every call, every plan, she had been driven to near obsession to be just give the same chances everyone had been given, yet she had been judged and booked differently than the rest. Told she had to ‘earn it’ over and over again by CHBK and then by that scumbag, Frank Delatosso.
And the spiral downward continued, with her just wanting to do the same thing: fix SCW...

Until... until she had realized the only to fix it... remove the biggest problem to SCW.

The person stealing main-events with rematch clauses.
The person attacking contenders because they had been picked.
The person stealing her own wife’s title shot to insert herself into the world picture.

In short... the biggest problem in SCW... had become her.

A bitter laugh escaped her throat as she pressed the back of her head against the cold stone wall. She had finally done it. Done something right for SCW.

She’d stopped making things worse...

Right. she sneered at the excuse. How many times had she told herself that?

How many bottles ago?
How many pills ago?
How many sleepless nights ago?

The answer had long since stopped mattering.

In the dark, she felt her fingers tremble slightly. Whether it was from the exhaustion, alcohol, withdrawal, or fear, she honestly couldn't tell anymore. Maybe it’s all four.

Around her, the mine smelled like dust and stone... And failure. Yes, apparently, failure had a smell - she knew that now. It smelled like stale whisky, sweat, old blankets, and hopelessness.

Like sitting in darkness because you couldn't stand the idea of seeing yourself anymore.

A sharp breath escaped her and she pressed her palms against her eyes.

No. she told herself, but the thoughts kept coming. The words wouldn’t stop. Because Deanna's voice wouldn't stop:

You don't get to erase yourself.

The sentence struck again. And again. And again.

Selena swallowed hard. How? That was the question she couldn't answer. How?

How could Deanna say those things?
How could she believe them?
How could she possibly still look at Selena and see anything worth saving?
It didn't make sense!
Nothing about it made sense!!

Not after Hubris. Not after the forgery. Not after the lies. Not after all the manipulation. Not after everything I did!!

A shaky laugh escaped the former champion. Maybe Deanna really was insane. That would actually explain a lot, including their marriage, divorce and reconciliation and then... whatever this was...

Because what sane person would still be standing here fighting for me?! What sane person would spend weeks searching? What sane person would willingly hand over a Rise to Greatness main event? What sane person would stand in front of forty competitors and say—

I'm fighting for you.

Selena's stomach twisted. No. No! Don't think about it. Don't! her mind roared in whatever haze of drink and drug it was under. Don’t think about it because that hurt more than anything else!

Love was infinitely worse than anything! Because Selena knew what to do with anger. She knew how to survive hatred. She knew how to carry blame.

Those things made sense. Those things were deserved.

But love? After all this?

No.

That wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that Deanna still believed, just like it wasn't fair that Deanna still remembered the woman Selena used to be. Because Selena barely remembered her anymore!

The Snow Queen.
The Face of SCW.
The woman who stood for integrity.
The woman who gave speeches about accountability.
The woman who fought villains for SCW.
The woman who preached second chances.
The woman who believed people could become better...

“What a joke...” her voice rasped in the darkness, a humourless smile touching her lips. She had become everything she hated long ago. No, worse than everything she hated.

Syren at least knew who she was.
Grant embraced what he was.
Delatasso never pretended otherwise.

Every villain she'd ever fought had one advantage over her... They had been honest.

She hadn't.

She had wrapped herself in ideals. In morality. In virtue.

And then when the moment came... When she was scared and desperate? When she couldn't handle losing? When she couldn't handle being forgotten?

She had cheated.
She had lied.
She had forged Deanna's name.
She had stolen.

Not because she was forced. Not because she was manipulated. Not because she had no choice...

Because I wanted to...

Because somewhere deep down, under all the speeches and principles and promises... She had wanted it. The World Title. The power. The respect... Everything!

The realization still made her sick, causing her to lean forward, elbows on her knees. The darkness remained absolute. Good. she thought. She deserved the darkness. Because if Deanna could see me now...

She didn’t have to see them in the dark to know they were there...

The bottles.
The pills.
The shaking hands.
The hollow eyes.
The pathetic wretch hiding underground.

She wouldn't be saying those things if she saw Selena as she truly was now. She couldn't. Nobody would. Not if they saw the truth.

A sudden image flashed through her thoughts.

White dress.
A mane of red hair with a veil behind it
Emerald eyes.
Hope.
Love.

Selena inhaled sharply. Why was she thinking of that now?! The memory hit like a physical blow.

The wedding.
The promises.
The future.
Everything they had built together.
Everything she had shattered.

More tears slipped free, causing the Snow Queen to lower her head. The cave remained silent except for the sound of her breathing, the redhead long gone from this place – a place not meant for someone as good as Deanna. And somewhere deep inside Selena, another thought emerged. One she had been desperately trying not to think.

Deanna was entering the royale...

Forty competitors. Selena knew exactly what that meant. She knew who was in it. She knew what those matches became: The desperation. The chaos. The violence.

And Deanna -  Sweet. Stubborn. Terrifyingly courageous Deanna - was walking into that alone. Because of her.

Again...

Everything kept coming back to that! Because of her. Because she had broken. Because she had run. Because she had hidden. Now Deanna was trying to carry everything.

The same thing Selena had spent years doing. The same thing that had destroyed her! The same thing that was going to destroy Amelia!

A bitter laugh escaped. The irony was almost impressive.

The woman who spent years warning everyone not to become her had somehow managed to convince Deanna to do exactly that.

Perfect! Absolutely perfect. She wiped angrily at her face. “Conceal...” her voice burned. “Don’t...feel! Don’t....don’t feel...”

You don't have to believe in yourself.
But I still do.

The tears came harder. Damn her! Damn Deanna. Damn every stupid, impossible, beautiful thing about her!

Because Selena wanted to believe it. That was the worst part! She wanted desperately to believe them.

And that terrified her. Because hope was dangerous. Hope got people hurt. Hope convinced people to keep trying. Hope convinced people to stand back up. Hope convinced people they could still be saved.

And Selena wasn't sure she deserved that anymore. Maybe she never had...

...

Minutes passed. Or was it hours? The mine didn't care and neither did she. She had spent days down here without even realizing it. Time worked differently underground. Eventually the silence returned completely.

Selena remained where she was. Alone. For a long time she simply stared into the darkness.

But then, slowly, she reached beside her, not entirely sure what was guiding her hand. Her fingers found cold metal - the old lamp.

She hesitated for only a moment, hand resting against the switch because the darkness had become comfortable. Safe.

The moment the light came on, reality would come with it: The bottles, the pills, the mess... Herself.

A laugh escaped. As if she didn't already know what she'd become.

Finally she clicked the switch and light exploded into existence. Enough to reveal everything. The empty whisky bottle, the second bottle beside it, the orange prescription bottle – NX – with a few pills remaining, the blanket, the sleeping bag, the food wrappers... The cave she'd convinced herself was a home.

The prison she'd called sanctuary.

And there, reflected faintly in the glass of the bottle once again... Her.

Selena stared at the reflection. For a moment she genuinely thought she saw Deanna instead. Thought she saw the redhead standing there: Watching and waiting. The image lingered just long enough to make her heart jump.

Then it vanished.

Just another trick. she thought.

Her gaze settled on the phone lying nearby. The same phone carrying weeks of missed calls, missed messages - missed everything.

She stared at it for a minute. Then another. The mine remained silent - just like it always had.

Finally Selena reached forward, her hand shaking, whether from fear or something else, she couldn't tell.

The phone unlocked and the screen illuminated her face. She swallowed... Then opened the camera. Her thumb hovered over the screen...

Over the red button.
Over possibility.
Over consequences.
Over hope.

For a long moment she couldn't move.

Couldn't breathe.
Couldn't think.
Then, very slowly...

Selena Frost pressed record.
_______________________________________________________________

The Royal Letter

The video jolts and moves a little, sloppily moving until it is placed in front of a ragged, haggard face with platinum-blonde hair. Her eyes are bloodshot and her cheeks are hollow and her skin is pale. Far from the elegant, poised ‘Snow Queen’ she once was, this is a Selena Frost that looks... so much less.

Hey... old man... she whispers, sniffling a little as she runs a hand through her matted mess of hair. Bet I look a sight, don’t I? she offers a sad smile.

I don't actually know if I'm sending this. A weak laugh follows. I guess that's not true. Her eyes lower. If you're watching it then obviously I did.

She takes a moment to shake her head.
You were right... she whispers, almost in a cry. You were right all along and I didn’t listen. You said SCW was changing and I didn’t listen. You said I needed to change with it or bad things would happen and I didn’t listen.

I thought... she sighs. It doesn’t matter what I thought, does it? Doesn’t matter what my intentions were or what I tried to do or wanted to do... I know you’ve been watching... it’s still your creation after all...

She lets a cry escape her. I can’t... I can’t fix this, O.... she whispers, her voice hoarse. I can’t go back like Deanna wants me too. I can’t go back to SCW and undo what I did. This isn’t something that can just be ‘fixed’. I... I ruined so many people’s lives. I held back careers. I destroyed dreams... all because...

All because I didn’t think anyone could help SCW but me...

The tears flow freely in the barely illuminated cave and Selena lets them fall. Why didn’t I listen to you? Why didn’t I listen to Deanna? Or anyone else that tried to help me? Even... Even Xander...

All I wanted was to keep SCW wonderful. Keep it about what it stood for and I... I don’t know when it happened but I... she sighs again, angrily rubbing at her eyes with her free hand.

...I stopped caring about the people inside it. The words leave her mouth and immediately seem to horrify her. She freezes and her eyes squeeze shut. A sound escapes her throat somewhere between a laugh and a sob.

Gods... She lowers her head. I think that's the truth, isn't it? Her voice is barely audible. Not all at once. Not intentionally. Not because I wanted to hurt anyone... A shaky breath escapes her. But somewhere along the way I stopped seeing people and started seeing responsibilities. Problems. Pieces on a board.

Another tear falls.

This person could carry a division. That person could elevate a championship. This person could be trusted. This person couldn't. This person needed protecting. This person needed saving...

Her lips tremble.

And eventually I convinced myself that because I was trying to help... because my intentions were good... because I loved SCW... that somehow made it all okay... Even if I slowly lost piece after piece until... until I believed I was the only player left on the board that could win the game...

She lets out a bitter laugh. You know what the funny part is? Her eyes finally lift toward the camera. I used to hate when people said that.

A weak smile appears. "My intentions were good." She shakes her head. I used to tell them intentions didn't matter. Results mattered. Consequences mattered. Accountability mattered. For everyone that kept calling my goals and dreams for SCW ‘fake’ and ‘false’ and ‘all a lie hiding evil’... I let my actions prove them wrong... until they didn’t...

The smile vanishes. And when that happened? When that the moment became me... suddenly I wanted everyone to understand my reasons. She pauses, chuckling dryly. Funny how that works.

The cave falls silent again. Eventually, Selena wipes at her face again.

Deanna came here tonight. The sentence emerges quietly - almost reverently. I didn't see her. Not really. I heard her before she got close and I just... stayed where I was in the dark. Her voice cracks. Like a coward.

She stares at the floor. Ashamed of me yet, boss? You wouldn’t be the first. she sniffles a little, resting her head against the stone wall.

She stood maybe a few hundred feet away from me and I couldn't move. Another bitter laugh escapes her. The woman who spent years running toward every fight she could find, fighting every monster and stable she could... couldn't walk a few hundred feet.

She presses a hand against her eyes. And then she started talking.

Silence.

At first I thought she was talking to SCW. Then I thought she was talking to herself for a promo. Then I realized she was talking to me... Her shoulders shake. Do you know what she offered me?

The question isn't really directed at O. – and both she and the viewer know that. It's directed at reality itself.

She offered me Rise to Greatness.

Disbelief - raw and genuine – fill Selena’s voice.

If she wins the royale... if she survives thirty-nine competitors... if she somehow accomplishes something I’ve never managed to do... she wants to hand it over to me.

A tear slips down her cheek. To me. Her voice grows smaller. After everything.

She shakes her head. I don't understand her anymore.

A pause fills the cave, broken only by a whisper. Maybe I never did.

The tears continue running down Selena’s face. I spent years teaching people that they were worth fighting for. A weak laugh breaks free. And now she's using my own words against me.

The worst part? She swallows hard. For a second... just a second... I wanted to believe her.

The confession hangs in the air.

I wanted to believe I could walk out of this cave and somehow make things right. Her eyes close. But that's not how this works, is it?

Selena shakes her head. Some things don't get fixed. Her voice becomes hollow. Some things just break.

Another silence settles - longer this time. When Selena speaks again, she sounds exhausted.

I keep trying to figure out when it happened.

Her gaze drifts toward the darkness beyond the camera.

Was it after that Trios cash-in by Kimberly? My loss to Kandis? Was it after everyone started calling me the ‘Face of SCW’? Was it after they started hating me?

She laughs quietly.

Maybe I’ll never know the answer. She slowly shakes her head. Maybe you knew and were trying to warn me about it before it was too late...

For the first time since the recording began, she looks directly into the lens. Not through it - into it.

As though the old man is sitting right in front of her – smiling that ‘all-knowing’ smile he always had.

Tell me something. The words are fragile. When you left... did you know this would happen?

She pauses.

Did you look at me and see this coming? Her expression tightens.Because if you did... She swallows. I wish you had been louder.

The sentence breaks - not angry - Heartbroken.

I wish I had listened... she repeats with a quiet sob. But eventually, the cave grows quiet again. Only the distant hum of the lamp remains.

Selena lowers her eyes. Then, almost too softly to hear-

I'm scared, O.. she gazes back up. Not of SCW. Not of the fans. Not of what people will say. a trembling breath leaves her. I'm scared she still believes in me.

Tears well up again within the young woman.

Because if Deanna's wrong... then she's going to get hurt chasing someone that doesn't exist anymore. Her voice cracks completely. And if she's right...

A long silence - the longest of the recording.

When Selena finally speaks again, she barely manages the words. ...then I don't know who I've become.

She gazes at the camera for a moment longer before sighing. I’m sorry for bothering you. I’m sorry for wrecking your company. I’m sorry I let you and everyone else down. I’m sorry for... for...

She bites her lower lip, letting a few more tears fall before shrugging her shoulders. I’m sorry for all of it, O..

More than you can ever know...

It is all she manages to say before she reaches forward and ends the recording, as sudden and swift as it had begun.