Anna passed through the busy streets of Pohjola with street vendors trying to earn her attention, foreign citizens paying their respects or merely acknowledging her existence, and children walking up to her - awed by the simple fact that she was a princess. It took a moment to sink in that each and every soul in this place were Artyom's people. The most obvious matter was more people in the streets than the entire population of Arendelle and this made her feel small in a good way. What had also fascinated her were the strange contraptions that transported many from one part of this small city to another and she guessed it would take a day to map everything out.

The princess continued on the sidewalk until she heard the regimented clicks of boots loudly grab her attention. On her right was an open plaza, but it was filled with hundreds of soldiers standing in formations. Anna was quite surprised by this development as she walked forward to take a closer look at the Russian soldiers. The last group of men had marched into place as she recognized a familiar face inspecting each and every soldier on horseback. Her initial impressions of General Morozov was quite colorful as he rode past each formation with the attention of a hawk. After passing through the rows of infantry, he returned to the front of the soldiers and gave an approving nod to his officers. "Comrades, you are dismissed." As the soldiers broke formation, he noticed her standing alone before approaching her on horseback. "Princess Anna, I didn't see you there. What brings you here?"

Anna took a good look at the general and was still surprised by his age. "I was just passing through and then I stumbled upon this scene. Quite a sight since Arendelle doesn't much of an army anyway. What's this all about?"

The general looked over his shoulder to see the dispersed soldiers move into their barracks. "They are one of many units that are going to be liberating your home, your highness. I'm inspecting them before they head off and join the others."

"Are they going to push out the pirates?"

He nodded his head.

"I didn't think your people would be this fast to get rid of them."

"That's because we have a history with the people who attacked you. The quickly we deal with them, the better for both us."

The young woman sought out a question about his people. Specifically, a question directed at the tsar. "So I heard about Artyom was once married, but I haven't seen his wife yet. Where is she?"

His facial expression darkened with a somber look. "Ride with me, I'll show you where she is."

Anna was surprised by his willingness to share a horse with him. After he had brought her in the saddle, Pavel was quick to ride forth and earn the attention of many throughout the streets. Yet, it appeared that they were slowly leaving the city until they reached the outskirts of the city. Unlike the condense areas that were closer to the medieval castle looking over everyone, the buildings were sparse and so were its people. The general slowed down his horse as they arrived at the snow-covered gravestones. Two guards were waiting at the entrance and after he showed them his papers, they dismounted from the horse and walked into the graveyard. Anna could feel an aura of sadness where she was.

After minutes of looking, they arrived at the place where Artyom's wife resided. "This is where his wife rests. He's a widower."

The princess glanced towards the general. "What happened to her?"

"After Artyom sent his Christmas presents to your family in person, a group of people sought for power and broke a truce between our peoples," Pavel began, "Their leader saw him as a threat and decided to execute my friend and his wife. He survived the firing squad by sheer luck, she didn't have that luxury."

"Odd how he would mention his father-in-law, but never his wife. It must have been painful for him. How could he act like he is right now without grieving?"

He let out a sigh. "My friend is no stranger to grief. He went on a lonely adventure just to cope with her death for some time. It was a pain in the ass trying to find him in the meantime." Then he grabbed her full attention. "We should go."

She took a closer look at the gravestone to see it written in Russian. "Before we leave, what was the name on her gravestone?"

"Her name was Anna Sviatoslavovna Mel'nikova."

The princess paused for a moment, realizing that she shared the same name as Artyom's wife.

The kitchen of the Russian castle had found itself busy with Princess Elsa organizing a lunch for the Arendelle refugees with the help of her servants such as Kai and Gerda. Yet, they were not the only help in this endeavor. Her Highness watched as a man, by the name of Bourbon, had entered the kitchen with crates in his arms. He was one of the few people that Artyom had relations with and could spare him for this one occasion while he was busy with regular government work. "Gerda, where do you want these boxes?"

The old woman was quick to point them in one part of the kitchen. "Put them right there, the cooks will know what to do with them when they arrive with their tools."

Bourbon noticed the princess standing in the room and let out a chuckle. "It's a good thing you're organizing this."

Elsa was confused by what he meant by that. "Pardon? I don't understand."

"This lunch might have been a good thing to do. Some of the stuff we're going to use might have been sitting in kitchen storage until Arendelle is free."

"Really? Your people were never going to use them in the first place."

He shook his head. "Our people's cooks are gone. They've accompanied the army down south to feed them so that leaves us being the only people to make use out of whatever ingredients the navy liberated from the pirates."

This was enough to make her pause at the situation. Were Artyom and his people really going to free her home right now? "So how long until the cooks return and make use of these supplies?"

"It's going to be awhile, but depending on how things go we might have to use them conservatively."

"I see." As more Arendelle servants arrived, Elsa became curious about the strange man who named himself after a drink. "While we're waiting, tell me more about yourself. Word has it that you were Artyom's teacher a time ago. Is that true?"

He nodded his head. "More or less. I remember back in my world when I first met the kid. A nerd who had no place for traveling in the tunnels of the Metro. Given that we made a particular agreement to benefit each other at the time, it was better to use my experience as a stalker to help him out."

Elsa noted that the term 'stalker' had earned the attention of the servants working within the confines of the kitchen. "What is a stalker?"

"Stalkers like myself are those who had a good history of running into bad areas for a variety of reasons." He answered. "The older generation of stalkers might know what it truly means back in the day, but only a few knew all of the acronyms that formed the word."

She couldn't help but sate her curiosity. "Do you know what it means?"

His nod became a confirmation. "Yes, your highness. Ever letter in the word is a meaning for the type of people you'd find. Scavengers, trespassers, adventurers, loners, killers, explorers, and researchers. Oddly enough, Artyom actually fulfills all of these descriptions that are expected from stalkers."

That was a surprise. Ever since she spoke with him, his personality didn't match with two of the words mentioned. "Artyom is a trespasser and a killer? Surely it must be a mistake or merely fulfills most of the descriptions?"

The room paused for a moment as Bourbon noticed the awkward silence expressed by the Arendelle servants. "Before Artyom was brought to your world, he had the tendency to bypass some bad fellows - bandits specifically. There is an unconfirmed case that he was also responsible for killing the personnel between two outposts, but I'm not sure on that one. He never told you, did he?"

The princess took the information in with a calm demeanor. "No, he told me that he made a grave mistake of his life, but never actually told me. It always seemed like he was hiding something that he did in his past. Is this his mistake?"

"Hell if I know." He replied as he walked towards the door. "Go find his grandfather, Khan. He knows more about that kid than most of us." After he was finished, he went on his way out to grab more goods for lunch.

The large and balding servant had let out a breath. "I had a gut feeling about Artyom, but this takes it to a whole new level."

All this left for the princess was questions and more questions about the tsar and who he was. This mysterious past had to stop haunting her thoughts every time she was around. "Kai, could you handle the lunch preparations?"

"Yes, your highness. Where will you be going?"

She glanced towards the kitchen door. "Finding answers about a friend."

It would be a long time until Artyom returned from Pahjola; however, he would be going back to fighting a war by a mysterious force that had interests in his new home. Yet, there was something he needed to do in order to keep the artifacts away from those who wanted them. His horse trotted towards a small hovel that was far away from the rest of his civilized society. Louhi had been annoyed by the machinations of industry and the commotions of markets that had ruined her peaceful life before his people arrived.

He dismounted his horse and tied the reins onto a post before approaching the wooden door. Then his gloved hand knocked three times as he tightened his pre-war coat over his uniform and armor. "Grandmother, are you there?"

There was a pause until he heard distant footsteps move to the door. He recognized the old woman's voice as she swung the door open in her tattered clothing. "Artyom, are you going somewhere?"

"To war." He answered. "The colonel and the rest of my comrades are going to go south and get rid of pirates and more mercenaries."

She walked back inside. "Come in. I know you're going to be leaving for some time, but I think you will appreciate it."

The tsar stepped forward as his boots creaked on the floorboards, only to find the small room in a pigsty while he noticed the occasional artifact in its case laying someplace and somewhere. "I know you are going to leave at some point, but where are you going to hide the artifacts."

"It has been a long time since I have spoken to some old acquaintances. Now that the rest of your aunts are in good company, I don't have to worry as much." She returned from a small bag and walked towards him with turquoise beads linked together to form a necklace. "Your grandfather wanted his future son-in-law to have this, but your father didn't earn his blessings. With him gone, it seemed like the right thing to give it to you."

Artyom smiled when she handed him the beads, taking a good long look at it before putting it around his neck. "Thank you, I'll have something to remind myself of who I am if I'm not in a good place." He reached out to hug her. "I'm going soon, this might be the last time we'll ever meet each other again."

Her hands embraced him. "You are my daughter's son. I expect you to come back alive."

"I will." He answered before he released his hold on her. Before he would leave a family member behind he had a single question that he wanted to bring out. "I do have one request."

Louhi's warm expression had soured. "You want that particular artifact to stay, don't you." He nodded his head. "Didn't Colonel Miller tell you to stop going back? Why are you wasting your life away to a world that has little reason to live?"

She would never understand how important his real home was to him, but his reason to go back there was far more personal than she could imagine. "Khan would understand. I have to return to Moscow to see if people are still willing to join us, but I doubt you'd be inclined to let me have the artifact that opens portals."

"Let me think about it."

Queen Iduna sat alone in a room set up by King Mickey. She was going to have a private conversation with the Princess of Atlantis while her husband tried to get help from other monarchs. When the doors opened, she saw a young dark-skinned woman with her distinct cultural clothing and make up as she took a seat across from her. "Queen Iduna, I hear your kingdom is under attack. You have my greatest sympathies."

She nodded her head. "Thank you, Princess…"

"Princess Kidakagash Nedakh." She finished. "You do not have to apologize about the name. I doubt anyone could teach Atlantean to royalty, but you can call me Kida for short. So, what brings both of us to this meeting?"

There was no point in skirting around the issue to the princess. "Your highness, I heard from Elinor that your kingdom is allied with the Russians. Could both of our kingdoms somehow help remove the threat from my home?"

Kida shook her head from side to side and grimaced at the thought. "Although the tsar has pledged to aid my people in case we are under attack, my father is less inclined to bring a full force to fight when are busy rebuilding our civilization. I'm sorry if this is the sort of news you were not expecting."

The Queen of Arendelle looked down at her end of the table to let out a small breath. "It's not your fault that your people are busy with your own problems. At the very least, I tried." Then she jumped in her seat when the princess expressed her outburst.

"Actually, there is one way I can help you!"

"Really?" Iduna wondered with an eyebrow raised. "Didn't you say that you can't send a full force."

The Atlantean princess pointed her finger at her. "Yes, but we can spare one war machine that can destroy entire fleets by itself. Does that help?"

"Yes… You had a machine that destroyed entire naval fleets?"

Kida nodded her head. "It's how my father continued our policy of isolation until some outsiders bypassed it - including the Russians."

"I suppose this meeting is concluded."

Out from the hallways, the two royals turned their heads to find Agnarr and Fergus arrive inside the room. The king of Arendelle was quick to announce his intrusion into their meeting. "Love, Fergus is willing to lend us some help to retake Arendelle."

The celtic king stepped forward. "That's not all lass. There is some Arabian boy who is willing to help, a Greek the size of a wall, and a prince willing to help you out of a tight spot."

It was at this moment that Iduna was filled with joy that there was some degree of hope for her family. "That's good. How long until we return back to Arendelle?"

"It will take a day." Agnarr answered. "However, Admiral Porfirevich is going ahead of us in the meantime."

"This is all good news. Thank you everyone for all of this help."

"Your grace, you don't deserve any of this." Fergus interjected. "Besides, I haven't had a proper battle ever since that bear took my leg."

Ratcliffe received reports that the Russians had thwarted any attempts to get into Pohjola through the mountain pass. He tried to move them out of their defensive positions, but the larger forces he sent would always get slaughtered and he was on a time-table to grab those magical items and leave before their navy caught up. Thankfully, Hook was far more resourceful in making sure his troops were well-supplied in their stay of Arendelle. While he ignored his soldiers in the looting and pillaging of the peasant homes, he made it clear to them that the castle was off limits until he declared otherwise.

The large man entered what appeared to be a library of sorts with several books out of place thanks to the initial bombardment. The mercenary was quite surprised that this entire collection was unharmed compared to other parts of the castle, but it was better than nothing. He explored every inch of the room to determine what was interesting in this place. After all, he was standing in a room full of information that belonged to a king. Perhaps he could take a look at what they had while he thought of a way to get past the Russians.

He reached out for a random book and started to flip through its pages with the hope of finding some of the information to become interesting. A moment later, he noticed a small parchment fall out and land on the floor. "What a curious little thing?" Ratcliffe knelt down to pick it up, only to find out there was more to it than he expected. As he unfolded the parchment, various lines began to match with one-another before the mercenary realized he was looking at a map. "Now what do we have here?"

Footsteps entered the room as Ratcliffe noticed a man wearing a long cloak and his face covered by his hood while his mouth was hidden away underneath a black mask. His accent matched those of the people they intended to invade. "Did you find anything?"

"What does this concern you, Alexander? You are only here to keep an eye on me."

The hidden figure walked up to him. "No, I am here as a reminder what Maleficent has in store for you if fail her again. Remember that."

There were few times that Ratcliffe was afraid and this would one of those few times. "It appears to be a map of some sort. This correlates with some of my own maps about the surrounding region, but the trail might lead an alternative route to the north."

"Then that means we don't have to fight a battle against an enemy waiting for you."

"I can't bring my entire army through the route. They will trap me in these lands and kill us."

"Perhaps you don't need an entire army. You need only enough to get through their main defenses and get what you need and leave."

The mercenary rolled his eyes. "You make this so simple, but it can't be that easy to get into the castle and leave."

Then Alexander made a proposal. "They are amassing troops to fight you down here. It'll take awhile for them to respond."

"Very well then, we at least have a better plan than throwing our forces at the enemy."

Author's Note: Now then, who is this mysterious figure alongside Ratcliffe?

Aren serathy: I have a strange sense of humor.