Crossover IV Poison Apple (Part II)

Chapter 18 Ashes

Chapter 18

Ashes

            The snow stopped falling. Everything was still. Not a word breezed by as the Ice Queen strutted around Sahrissa's body, wearing a smirk of satisfaction.

            Vanessa leaned desperately towards Kendal's frozen body, but Derek kept a firm grip on her arm. At the moment he scanned his surroundings. Vanessa could tell he was contemplating the best escape route. She, however, did not feel his motivation. Without Aria, Kendal, or a way of getting home, she could not see the point.

            Derek tugged her back. "Come on. This way."

            "What?"

            "We need to get out of here," Derek insisted. "Trust me. It's what Kendal wants."

            "I can't leave her," Vanessa whispered, her cheeks still wet. "I can't leave my friend with that monster."

            Derek huffed. "Maybe we can come back. I don't know. But right now, we need to get away from here."

            Vanessa started to follow but then turned her head and pressed her feet to the ground. Still holding her arm, Derek was forced to stop too.

            "Wait," Vanessa said, softly, looking ahead. "Who is that?"

            The hooded man that caught Vanessa's gaze stepped forward, just behind Sahrissa's head. He pulled down his hood, revealing a golden crown.

            Vanessa gasped. "Do you think..."

            "King Victor," the Ice Queen sneered, stepping towards Sahrissa's body. "There is nothing you can do for her now."

            "You're wrong," the king retorts. "Evil cannot win here, and that's what you are. Evil."

            She lets out a frosty chuckle. "It would appear I already have won." The Ice Queen took a step towards the apple that dropped by Sahrissa's right hand. "Now, if you wish to be with her, I'm afraid this is the only way."

            The cold woman bent down to pick up the apple. The moment her fingers contacted it, she wailed in pain.

            "What's happening?" The Ice Queen whirled, clutching her fingers.

            Vanessa's eyes widened as she witnessed what was happening. The Ice Queen's skin burned red, starting with the finger that touched the apple and gradually spreading throughout her entire body. The queen clutched her cheeks as the burning spread to her face. Her screams died as the rest of her flesh turned to a decaying grey.

            King Victor knelt down beside Sahrissa and gently kissed her lips. Vanessa could see the queen's chest slowly rise up and down as life came back to her. Derek loosened his grip and Vanessa pulled away and rushed over to Kendal. She touched her friend's frozen arm, but immediately pulled away from the sting of the coldness. Vanessa's heart dropped at the loss of hope her friend would awaken.

            Victor helped Sahrissa to her feet. Her doleful eyes moved to Kendal.

            "I don't understand," Sahrissa said, putting her hand to her head. "This should have worked. All her magic should be undone."

            "Maybe she's not dead," Victor suggested quietly.

            Sahrissa took in a breath and started towards her stepmother's figure. It did not move.  Her breathing grew heavier as she slowly reached her hand towards the Ice Queen's figure and touched her cheek. At that moment, Sahrissa watched her stepmother's body crumble to the ground into nothing but a pile of ashes.