A/N: New Addition to the soundtrack:
.... You'll just have to wait and read to find out what song it is. I don't own the incoming Disney song by the way.
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Why was time so unkind?
The thought always crossed Aiden's mind every now and then. If it was a happy moment, time would begin a mind drifting race, where each second can be euphoric but every pour of laughter ends far too soon. If it was the time of mourning, the sole purpose of grief is supported by time too.
If it was the part in life where they had to let go, and they're struggling in doing so, the clock ticks faster than their synchronized heartbeats.
They always looked at the clock with a cursory manner. But now as each second pass by, as each thin hand strike for another hour, his breath would become more shallow, and her heart would fasten its pace.
They kept glued to each other, her shaky hands still fumbling with his. She wondered if the scar on his mid section wouldn't be the lone scar etched on his skin once he steps foot into the battlefield.
The pillow's damp again, Aiden thought sadly, was she crying?
He finally faced her- he finally faced the heartbreaking sight of her, trying to avoid his eyes, because her eyes carried a mixture of guilt, pain, sorrow, the melancholic bunch. Her eyes always held her emotions, aside from her frowns, her breathtaking smiles, even when her lips purse.
He sighed.
He grabbed her hand to get her attention. She looked up at him slowly in surprise, her tears still running free. He tucked a stray lock of her hair behind her ear, a warm but distant smile curling up in his lips.
He placed his arm around her gently, pushing her close since he craved for her near presence. She could only rest her head on his shoulder before shutting her eyes to escape pain itself.
"𝘙𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦.."
Her eyes opened in surprise, her ears being blessed by the soft sound of her husband's voice.
"𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘣𝘺𝘦, 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦. 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘳𝘺," Aiden wistfully beamed at her, wiping a tear from her cheek with his thumb, "𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘐'𝘮 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵,"
He took her hands gently, brushing his lips on her knuckles, "𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵."
She relaxed her tense figure as his soothing voice cradled her against him, her blue eyes growing drowsy. Her tears running dry as he continued singing.
"𝘙𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘧𝘢𝘳, 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦."
She nuzzled her head next to his chest, savoring the feeling before it's gone.
"𝘌𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘥 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘳. 𝘒𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐'𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦, 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯..."
Her tight grip on his hand loosened, a deadly strike of the clock making him close his eyes himself, his chin landing on her head as they held each other in temporary bliss.
He carefully settled her sleeping form on the cozy mattress, every color in his vision fading away into a dull, monochromatic void. He placed a soft kiss on her head before taking reluctant steps towards the door.
"𝘙𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦."
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"Are you alright, General?"
No.
Magoo had never looked so down; not since the day his mother died so many years ago. This war... This pointless war... It brought the past to come haunt the present. The clash of swords, the unsheathing of daggers, the stabbing of countless hearts- children crying as cadaver after cadaver was thrown side by side to a weeping river...
Why was violence so thirsty for new victims?
"I'm fine, I'm doing fine.."
The mirthless tone from the general's reply didn't ring any bells for Matthias. Ever since Magoo had moved to Arendelle in hopes of replacing the retired former general Lee, the ex-trainer became one of his closest friends.
Magoo had never shown any signs of his inner thoughts. He always looked so firm and funny at the same time. He can put up quite a show- which curtains can cover up what's really down beneath.
"You could've fooled me," Matthias sat next to him, still holding his training shield, "Everyone's waiting for you out there. Aiden's been taking the lead ever since the first lap- man, you must be proud of him."
Magoo's face remained stoic and emotionless.
"Magoo? Earth to the general?" Matthias knocked on his shield, breaking the blank look from his comrade's face.
"Oh! What lap? Oh, Matthias."
"Is something wrong? You've been looking frazzled since the past few days. This must be your first time facing an actual war."
"... This war thing is technically new to me."
Magoo perked up upon the lieutenant's words. He chuckled nervously, "Yeah, yeah, first time. Explains why."
That was the first time he lied to anybody.
To lie; as much as it brings so much distaste to the tip of his tongue- he knew he could only cover up so much. Masking the real deal was his best skill. Whenever something reminds him of his dark background, it will occur simply like a cycle.
He calms down his inner demons, he conceals his thirst for justice since he could get pretty hyped up about it, and then there you have it, the bright Magoo everybody loves.
"Hey, don't fuss up too much about it. The king, is our secret weapon. They'll never see it coming! Just imagine it. Enemy ships being set ablaze; men groaning in pain..."
Magoo's face paled.
But one thought crosses his mind.
What kind of general is afraid of bloodshed?
"... Whoops. Got carried away." Matthias chuckled, "Bad habit."
Magoo looked at him uncomfortably, "I-it's okay. Uh, I'm just going to.. Go for some fresh air. The Prince of Corona was a challenging opponent. I'll be back for the obstacle course."
Matthias cheerfully nodded, "Sure! Go ahead. Don't be out for too long, though. It's getting dark."
The General mustered up a fake smile before dragging his heels away from the training grounds, sighing in relief after escaping the dark topic.
"What's the matter with him?" A Northern soldier whispered to his fellow trainee, earning a stern glare from Nathan himself, "Hey! You two, get back to work! Give me a hundred."
Agnarr wiped his brow with a muddy finger, "I haven't trained like this since I was eighteen."
Frederic panted heavily as he pushed up his tenth, "Works for me, too, brother."
"You're stronger than you look..." Kristoff heaved out, his palms burning caused by his and Eugene's little obstacle of tag-of-war.
"I've faced w-worse..." Eugene shot him a struggling look, "You're turning a bit red."
Kristoff completely lost his grip on his own edge of the rope, Eugene falling on his backside as the burly blonde huffed and puffed, "... Are we going to use some parkour for the war?"
Eugene sheepishly grinned.
"Lots of it, my friend."
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A/N: Ooh. There's so much to know about Magoo's mysterious dark past- and the war is coming closer and closer. Also, should I redeem Abaddon?
See you on the next chapter! 💕