So Peter hooking it up with the Ice Queen herself, Elsa.
This story, like many others I tend to write, will be a bit, sorta, very darker than the actual source material. The bug bad in this story won't be one of Peter's usual go to guys like Venom, Dock Ock or the Green Goblin. Who it'll be is a mystery for now but with what I plan to do in this story, I think it's fitting.
Also a quick note, Elsa and Anna's relationship will be a bit more strained compared to the movie itself.
And another quick note, Gotham's Webbed Warrior will be updated sometime tomorrow afternoon... so yay?
Disclaimer: I don't own any Marvel or Frozen characters seen, mentioned or used.
Things were actually turning out to be going quite smoothly, Elsa had decided.
Yes there was a brief moment of panic during her coronation where she had to remove her gloves to hold the Kingdom's Scepter and Orb with her bare hands but luckily she didn't accidently freeze them in front of everybody. And now they were all here, at the post coronation party, drinking and dancing. Elsa envied them, wishing she could partake as well, but the fear of touching someone and harming them with her ice was too great a risk. The whited haired beauty was prepared to spend the whole night simply watching her people, and those from visiting kingdoms, enjoy the night away before her sister Anna had appeared.
After some initial awkwardness, the two seemed to just click back into place, like when they were children.
'Before I almost killed her' Elsa thought sadly of the last time she felt truly happy in her life.
"Hey, is something wrong?" Anna said when she noticed the depressed look on Elsa's face.
Elsa blinked at the sound of her sister's voice cutting through her thoughts and gave the younger woman a small reassuring smile "I'm fine, just... thinking, is all"
"Oh, about what?" Anna asked with curiosity.
"Just... things" Elsa said as she returned her attention to the party.
"Anything specific?" Anna asked though Elsa could detect the barest hints of annoyance in her voice "Maybe I can help?"
"It's nothing to worry about" Elsa said with a sigh "Just my mind's wandering is all"
"Well-" Anna began before Elsa gave her a sharp look.
"I said it's nothing!"
Anna flinched at the sudden coldness of her voice, causing Elsa to immediately fill regret at snapping at her little sister. The whited haired woman sighed and hesitantly reached out to take her sister's hand with her gloved one before she thought better of it and spoke in a quieter, gentler voice.
"I'm sorry, I'm just... I'm just a little nervous with everything at the moment" Elsa admitted as she reached up and rubbed her brow.
"What's there to be nervous about?" Anna said with a look of confusion "Your Queen now"
"I know, it's just..." Elsa tried to find the right words to describe what she was feeling at that moment.
For the past several years she'd been coming to dread this day, the day she rose to the throne and took command of her people. So many thoughts haunted her at night with each passing day, what would they do when they found out about her ice? Will they grow to hate her and try to rebel like she's heard of other distant kingdoms? Will they call her a witch and grow to hate her for something beyond her control?
Will her own sister live in fear of her?
The last thought scared her more than anything.
Anna watched the unease her sister was in and slowly reached out and took Elsa's gloved hands into her own, causing the elder woman to look at her in surprise. Anna smiled gently as she nodded towards the crowd of party goers in front of them.
"Hey, I'm here for you. If you ever need help with them, you know you can always count on me" Anna said in a sincere tone.
"Really?" Elsa asked with some hesitance.
"Of course" Anna said with a chuckle "We're sisters silly. Come hell or high water, I'll be with you when you need me"
Elsa smiled at this before the two noticed a short man approaching them with Kai, her advisor and royal tutor, acting as his escort. The newly crowned Queen frowned as she took in the man's attire, trying to recognize where he could be from. He looked a little like a weasel in Elsa's opinion, and not because he seemed to be as big as one, but the sort of air around him. Kai cleared his throat before stepping aside and gesturing to the man.
"You majesty, may I present to you, the Duke of Weaseltown" Kai said.
It took every bit of self control that Elsa and her sister had to not break out into a fit of laughter at the name of his home. The Duke didn't seem to find it funny and snapped a glare towards Kai who looked equally amused.
"Weselton!" the Duke snapped with anger before he turned his attention back to Elsa and Anna and cleared his throat "It's Duke of Weselton your majesty"
'Ah, our closest trading partner' Elsa thought as she gave the Duke a warm smile "Good evening Duke, I hope the journey here wasn't too much a burden for you"
"Not all my lady" the Duke said with what Elsa assumed was supposed to be a charming smile even though it looked more like a grimace if anything else "And as your closest partner in trading, I find it only fitting that I offer you your first dance as Queen!"
Elsa's eyes widened at this as the Duke did some sort of odd hop before he spun on his heel before finishing with a rather over exaggerated bow. The bow had also revealed that the Duke's white hair, at least on the top of his head, was fake as it peeled over and exposed a rather large bald spot. Elsa and her sister were only just able to bring their hands up to cover the laughter and snickers that escaped from them.
"Uh, thank you Duke..." Elsa said in a strained voice as she tried to keep her laughter at bay while the Duke straightened himself and mercifully, his fake hair fell back into place "But, I don't dance I'm afraid"
"Oh..." the man said with a less than pleased look on his face.
"But my sister does" Elsa added quickly as she gestured to her younger red headed sibling.
Anna nodded with a amused grin before Elsa's words clicked and she shot her sister a look of confusion "What-"
"Lucky you!" the Duke said as he quickly slid his arm into the crook of Anna's and pulled her towards the dancing floor.
Elsa smiled as she saw her sister dragged away by the Duke of Weselton, a look of embarrassment and reluctance that only grew once the man began to show his skills of... dancing.
'If what he's doing can even be called such a thing' Elsa thought with a grin as she watched the man dance around her sister like some sort of odd bird.
Seeing that the duke was taken care of, Elsa turned her attention to the rest of her kingdom's guests when she noticed someone approaching her. Elsa studied the person, a woman, as she tired to connect the face to anyone that she may know before it clicked when she noticed a large prominent tattoo of a black spider on the woman's chest, between the valley of her breasts.
Queen Adriana of Aracnia... the Queen of Spiders...
'What is she doing here?' Elsa thought with wide eyes at the approaching monarch.
While Arendelle and Aracnia were allies, in that in the event of military action against one of them by another nation, they were obliged to aid them, the dark Queen had never attended any events hosted by Arendelle in the past. She normally sent simple emissaries in her place who departed just as quickly as they appeared, as if to simply claim that they did attend and nothing more. As Elsa watched Adriana make her way to her, she noticed the other Queen's guard, large men clothed in dark red armor trailing a few feet behind before their Queen made some sort of unseen signal that commanded them to halt while she continued the rest of the way alone.
"Queen Elsa, a pleasure" Adriana said with a purr that set Elsa's hair on end as she came to a stop a few feet away and bowed towards the younger woman.
Quickly, years of royal protocol kicked in and she gave the elder monarch her best diplomatic smile she could muster along with a respectful bow of her own "Queen Adriana, the pleasure is mine. I was unaware that you'd be attending my coronation"
"I make exceptions when one of my allies' newest ruler ascends to their respective throne" Adriana said as she stepped closer towards Elsa.
at this distance, Elsa realized Adriana was a tall woman, much taller than herself and just about every other woman in the room, even some of the men. Her deathly pale skin, midnight black hair and intense amber colored eyes struck an imposing visage while her black dress, far more revealing and provocative than Elsa thought appropriate for such a gathering, drew stares of lust, envy and jealousy from all, even Elsa herself. Elsa knew she was beautiful, but the woman before her was a grand dose of lust given physical form, built to give unrivaled pleasures' to anyone lucky enough to be so intimately close to the dark Queen.
Everything about her screamed forbidden, exciting and dangerous where's Elsa just screamed... well the exact opposite.
"So tell me little snowflake, what are your plans going to be after today?" Adriana asked with a sly grin.
"Snowflake?" Elsa said with a raised brow.
Adriana's response was to nod towards Elsa's gloves while her grin grew wider "Come now dear, you don't honestly think I'm unaware of your... predicament"
Elsa's eyes winded at this and found herself stepping back from the taller woman as fear began to grow "How do you-"
"Your father contacted me once, not long before he closed the gates to your palace here" Adriana said as she looked around the ball room "He thought I'd be able to help you, or at the very least provide some sort of insight on how you could control yourself"
"What'd... what'd you tell him?" Elsa asked nervously.
"Your... predicament, and mine, are vastly different in all manner of ways" Adriana said with a simple shrug "I told him to look elsewhere for help. Which I'm assuming he didn't before his unfortunate... demise"
"No... he tried, but he found nothing that may be able to help me" Elsa said with a saddened expression on her face.
Her parents had promised that when they returned from their trip they'd have a solution to her curse, either a way to better control her powers or remove them entirely so that she wouldn't hurt anyone... like how she hurt Anna all those years ago. But their ship was lost and her parents were presumed dead, leaving Elsa to rule when she finally came of age while a regent ruled in her stead.
"Well that's a pity..." Adriana said in a dry tone.
Elsa couldn't help but tense as the elder woman's eyes raked over her. It was liking being eyed up by a predator that was judging if she'd be worth the effort to kill and feast on later. Though if half of the rumors about Queen Adriana's rise to power are true, she may very well be doing just that.
"Are you well little snowflake?" Adriana asked with a small, grim smile that caused Elsa to almost shiver in dread "You look quite... uneasy"
"Oh, it's n-nothing" Elsa said with a nervous smile as her hands grip on one another tightened "J-Just still a little nervous about my coronation. I'm sure you felt the same on the day you became Queen of Aracnia"
"Actually I was quite happy" the dark haired monarch said with a throaty chuckle as her face adopted a look of nostalgia "Thousands chanting my name as I threw down my predecessor, his army beaten and butchered, his great palace in flames... it was a glorious feeling I had. I never felt greater than I did that day"
Elsa swallowed thickly at this "Oh... uh, I'm... I'm glad?"
Adriana grinned at this, her eyes flashing with a sadistic glee before she glanced towards the buffet table and nodded towards it "Do you see him? The short one?"
Elsa followed the Queen's gaze and found several of Adriana's guards standing at the far end, glancing back and forth between the food and the people around them, unsure of who to focus their attention on. One of them, Elsa noted, was shorter and smaller than the rest by several inches to a whole foot, though she guessed he stood a good head taller than her. At the end of his arms, around his wrist, were a pair of beautifully crafted silver bracers that were decorated with a web like pattern that stretched up to his elbow. His head, like the rest of Adriana's guards, was completely covered by a dark red helm with two large pale 'lenses' made of some sort of glass like material.
"Yes..." Elsa said with a frown as she turned towards Adriana with a raised brow "Who is he?"
"A distant cousin of mine" Adriana said with a shrug as she watched her guard with narrowed eyes "He hails from the same village I grew up in. Quite intelligent, especially given how simple and ignorant my kinsmen were when I finally returned to uplift them from the dung heap I left them in"
"That's... very kind of you to do. For them" Elsa said, causing the Queen to chuckle.
"I suppose, though to be honest, I just did it so that others wouldn't think me any more of some harlot from a back end village anymore than they already do. Much easier to rule a kingdom when the people adore you" Adriana said with a sigh before she glanced at Elsa out of the corner of her eye "I also needed him to finalize the agreement I made with your father when we aligned our kingdoms not long after your birth"
Elsa felt a sense of dread build in her. She's spent years learning what was to be expected of her, what her, her sister and perhaps one day her children and one of the many subjects she was taught were the various ways kingdoms aligned with one another.
The fact a agreement was reached when she was born, and it involved a man made it a bit obvious on what this 'agreement' may have been.
"And what would this be, if I may ask" Elsa asked, hoping what she was expecting was wrong.
For the first time since speaking with the Queen, Adriana's smile held genuine amusement in it rather than some cruel edge.
"Why, to be the betrothed of Arendelle's new Queen"
Elsa felt as if someone had knocked the wind out of her "I... I see..."
"Oh don't tell me your parents never mentioned this little tidbit to you before" Adriana said with a chuckle "It was the main reason I ever agreed to this ridiculous alliance between our two kingdoms in the first place"
Elsa gaped at Adriana as she looked back towards her guards and made some sort of hand signal that caused one of them to shove the shortest of their troop towards the two monarchs. Elsa watched as the man stumbled forward before shooting what she assumed was a glare over his shoulder at the taller man before he quickly, or as quick as one could move in such a crowded room, towards his Queen and Elsa herself.
"My Queen..." the man said with a young voice, putting him around the same age as Elsa, give or take a year.
'At least he's not twice my age...' Elsa thought, though the thought did little to help.
"Peter" Adriana said as she gestured towards Elsa "Meet Queen Elsa, the one I mentioned on the journey here. The one you'll be marrying at some point in the coming weeks"
Elsa, still trying to comprehend the fact that her parents had arranged a marriage for her, and not a damn person mentioned it until now, watched as Peter turned towards her and stared at her with a hidden gaze. The young Queen couldn't help but feel unnerved by the pale lenses staring at her, showing a somewhat distorted reflection of herself. She wished that his face was uncovered so she could get a better read on the man, seeing someone's reactions was much easier than if their face was covered.
"My Queen, she doesn't seem all that pleased" Peter said as he turned back towards his ruler, or more accurately turned in her direction while his gaze went to her feet.
"Really? I hadn't noticed" Adriana said in a sarcastic tone "Thank you Peter, for being my eyes despite the fact they work perfectly fine"
Peter flinched at the condescending remark "I apologize my Queen, I didn't mean to imply that you were blind or that I had better vision than you-"
"Peter?" Adriana said with growing annoyance.
"My Queen?" Peter responded.
"Shut up"
"Yes my Queen" Peter bowed at this while Adriana turned her attention back to Elsa.
"Now than, shall we discuss the wedding now, or tomorrow when we've all had some time to come to terms with this?" Adriana asked with amusement.
"I... I..." Elsa tried to think of a response to the older monarch's words before Adriana held up a hand, cutting her off.
"I agree, we should wait until the morning before we further discuss this" the elder Queen said with a nod and turned to leave before she stopped and glanced back towards the white haired woman "Oh, and Elsa?"
"Y-Yes?" Elsa said only to frown when she saw Adriana gesturing towards her hands.
Elsa blinked at this before looking down to see that her gloves had begun to develop frost on the palm and along the fingers. The young Queen paled at this while Adriana simply chuckled as she turned on her heel and made her way back into the crowd of well wishers, sycophant's, and potential allies and enemies.
"You gonna be okay?" Peter said, causing Elsa to almost jump and turn to see that he was looking at her, undoubtedly seeing the frost covering her gloves.
"Y-Yes... I'll be fine" Elsa said before she cleared her throat and brought her hands closer to herself in the hopes that her body heat will help melt the ice or at the very least prevent anyone from noticing it until she returned to her chambers.
"Well... if you uh, need any help, just uh, let me know" Peter said as he shifted his weight from foot to foot.
"Your not... bothered by it?" Elsa asked hesitantly.
She was under no illusion that Peter wasn't told of her powers before hand, but seeing them was a vastly different experience from being told what to expect.
"I once met a guy that could control sand and turn himself into sand" Peter said with a shrug "And a guy that could do the same with water... and another with lightning. Though I will say, your much nicer to look at in comparison to any of them"
A small grin grew on Elsa's face "Thanks... I think?"
"No, really you are. Like your really nice to look at" Peter said before he realized how he sounded "Wait, I meant that your very pretty. Well not just pretty, your more than pretty obviously-"
"Thank you... that's uh, that's very kind of you" Elsa said with a faint blush on her face.
No one had complimented her like that before. True a few of members of the staff had commented on her beauty but it was said with obvious respect and out of politeness. Peter's clumsy attempts to compliment her were... refreshing.
"I mean, your beautiful to look at like a really well drawn painting or a really good sculpted statue, bust... thing"
Now if only he'd just stop while he was ahead.
"I'll take your word for it" Elsa said with a sift laugh as she looked up at Peter's lenses.
They were rather unnerving, their shape and the fact they reflected everything they saw.
"Peter?" Elsa said as she gestured towards Peter's helm "Can you perhaps remove your helmet?"
"Is something wrong?" Peter asked, his head tilting to the side slightly.
"No, as far as I know" Elsa shook her head before she frowned "But it's a bit impolite to speak to someone with your face covered like it is. At least I think it is"
"Oh..." Peter sounded as he stared at Elsa for an unnervingly long time before he reached up and gripped his helmet "Well, I don't want to be rude. Bad way to start off a marriage"
"Y-Yeah..." Elsa said as she watched Peter slowly slide the helmet up and expose his face to her.
She was greeted to the sight of dark, warm, brown eyes, skin that was a bit paler than her own and a mop of short messy brown hair. He was... much better looking that she was expecting, and he seemed a little older too in appearance.
"I know, I know, no wonder the Queen had us cover our faces" Peter said with a nervous laugh as he reached up and rubbed the back of his head with one hand while the other moved to cradle his helmet in the crook of his arm.
"No, it's not that" Elsa said with a small smile "Your... much better looking than I thought"
"What were you expecting?" Peter said with a confused look on his face "Some scarred looking guy that looked like his parents were a tad bit closer in blood than what's considered socially appropriate?"
"Well with how your Queen described the area your from..." Elsa trailed off and winced as a sheepish smile adorned her face "The thought had crossed my mind briefly"
"Hey I'll have you know that my parents, grandparents were at least cousins four times removed from one another!" Peter said, as if he was offended at the notion they were even more closely related by blood.
"That's a relief" Elsa giggled, causing Peter to chuckle.
"I have to say, you aren't quite what I was expecting" Peter said as he passed his helm back and forth between his hands.
"Oh?" Elsa said with a quirked and amused brow as she rested a hand on her hip "And what were you expecting?"
"Well..." Peter said as he gestured towards her hands "I was expecting someone a lot... colder"
"Colder?" Elsa echoed with some confusion.
"You know, someone that wasn't as... happy. Distant and cold to everyone. A little bitter maybe" Peter said.
"So your saying that because of my... predicament" Elsa said in a unsure tone "You thought I'd be some cold heartless person?"
"Isn't that how it usually goes with these kinds of things?" Peter inquired "Fire, your all angry and destructive. Water your all kind of laid back and just go with it. Ice your... well cold"
"I wouldn't know" Elsa replied with a frown "I've never met anyone that was... different, like me"
"Well, you've met one now" Peter said as he casted a quick look around to make sure no one was watching before he slowly raised his hand towards one of the nearby tables chairs and to Elsa's astonishment, shot a line of web from his wrist and snagged the back of the chair.
With a small yank, he pulled the chair a few feet from the table before he dropped the line as several others had turned towards the sound the chair moving. Elsa gaped at the line of web on the floor before she looked back up towards Peter.
"H-How..." she said as she gestured towards the line of web and the chair "How did you-"
"A gift from my Queen" Peter revealed "They don't call her the Queen of Spiders just because she made them her crest... and keeps them as pets"
"I thought those were just rumors" Elsa exclaimed with shock.
"Nope, all true" Peter said with a nod before he frowned in puzzlement "Or at least most of them are true. There's a few that are really embellished and some that are so outlandish that even the Queen can't make heads of tails of it"
"Like what?" Elsa inquired.
"Some say that she can turn into a giant monstrous spider and turn others into them as well" Peter answered as he held up the hand that shot the line of webbing "I mean, she can grant you abilities similar to her own, but nowhere near the same level. And certainly not to the point you turn into some kind of monster. Though I like to think that I could make the multi eyed thing work"
Elsa briefly imagined Peter with more than two eyes and quickly shook her head at the image "I... I don't think you could. Or anyone really"
"Well has anyone tried before?" Peter asked.
"Why would they?" Elsa asked with a amused grin "Two's more than fine"
"But what if you wanna be able to see behind you without turning your head?" Peter asked as he gestured to the back of his head "No one can sneak up on you at that point"
"Or you can just use a mirror" Elsa countered with a snort.
"But than that'd mean I have to carry a mirror with me all the time!" Peter complained with a huff "Not very practical"
"Neither is having eyes in the back of your head" Elsa countered with a giggle "All that hair in your eyes, it'd be a nightmare"
"Than keep them closed" Peter offered.
Elsa gave Peter an amused look as she folded her arms across her chest "I don't think you can ever justify having more than two eyes to me"
"I'll find a way" Peter said with a snort.
"I can't wait" Elsa giggled before she cleared her throat. She looked around and noticed a server passing by with a try of full glasses on them. With a slight gesture, she signaled the man to stop and allow her to retrieve two glasses, one for her and the other for Peter.
"What's this?" Peter asked as he accepted the drink and gave it an experimental sniff.
"Wine" Elsa revealed as she took a cautious sip of her own.
Peter hummed as he took a sip of his and swished the liquid around in his mouth a bit before swallowing it "Ooh, tarty"
Elsa grinned as she gestured for Peter to follow her towards a nearby table so they could sit before she noticed something off about the crowd, or rather somewhat that wasn't in it.
'Where'd Anna go?'
...
And done.
Next chapter, Uhh... what?