Chapter Text
A couple of minutes later, Isa and Elena entered the imposing building with a huge name atop its marble columns: AVALOR SCIENCE ACADEMY. Below it read was a phrase that had guided the institution since Isa had become the head of the academy: Ciencia para las masas. Going through the halls of the academy, fellow scientists waved and welcomed Isa. All those who worked there respected her and were dedicated to advancing Avalorian technology forward, hopefully moving the kingdom completely into the industrial age.
Soon enough, they had reached the room with the portal. As it so happened, Isa's wardrobe machine was nearby. This astonished Elena, who thought she would be going in her lovely red dress. Like the first time she had gone to Steamland with Naomi and Isa, she again was told to wear something different.
"Really, Sis, you aren't going to let me wear this…again?”"
Isa knew what her sister meant, and she had an arduous task ahead of her. How could she convince her to wear something less gorgeous? She thought of one way: to say that her wife would find it cute.
"Yeah, Sis, I’m sorry to say, you can't wear that…but this outfit I have prepared…Naomi will like it a lot…I'm sure she will!"
Elena somehow was swayed by this. She even perked up.
"Oh really…awesome…I want to try it on!"
Isa peddled the bike, while Elena stepped inside the wardrobe. She admired the nice stitching of the clothes, although gray and drab, not even noticing she had a strange doohickey in her hair. Outside the wardrobe, she switched places with Isa and peddled on the cycle. Isa’s outfit was similar, meaning that they both looked like those who worked at the Gunderson Steamwork Company, every day, day in and day out. Holding hands, they stepped through the portal.
Instead of the steam in their faces, like last time, they coughed at the smog and could immediately see low spirits among the citizens. One man on the street handed her a paper.
"Here you go, miss. All people must report to the nearest air port and be assigned to a unit in the Steamland National Army…we must liberate Avalor…from its tyrant!"
Elena nodded and restrained herself from shouting at him. She pointed to a poster tacked to a nearby wall. "Can I take this?"
He smiled. He didn't see a problem with someone taking it, I mean, what's the worst that could happen?
"Sure! Anything from our great leader is up for grabs."
After he departed, Isa told her they needed to go before anyone spotted them. Elena, angry at what had transpired, tightened her grip on Isa's hand, and bolted into the alley, returning to Avalor, in an instant.
While Isa remained stunned over the ordeal, Elena let go of her hand. She ripped off the clothes that Isa, and her fellow fashion assistants, had made for her, revealing a sleeveless white satin dress underneath, often serving as her nightgown. The weird doohickey the machine had put in her hair she ripped out and threw on the ground, where it smashed into thousands of pieces.
After that, she stomped out of the room and declared: "I am calling an emergency Grand Council meeting…AT ONCE!"
As she tramped through the hallways, the people in nearby offices started to cower, hoping she would ignore them. And that she did. She was on a single mission: to return to the main building inside the palace walls and convene a meeting. Nothing would get in her way. Isa remained on the floor, weeping, holding the pieces of shirt Elena had ripped apart in a rage, surrounded by bits of the ring she had carefully made for her. She did not understand what had gotten into her sister and why she acted this way.
Slamming open the doors, Elena yelled. "Naomi! Francisco! Luisa! Mateo! Council meeting…NOW!" Naomi whispered to Catra, Adora, Zarya, and Kitty to move out of sight, directing them to the library as a place to stay for the time being until this all blew over. They listened to her, hoping that the emotional tension would soon calm down.
Mateo, Francisco, Luisa, and Naomi came into the council chambers, met by Elena, who sat in at the head of the table, with disheveled hair and still in her white dress. She pulled out two posters from her bag which she had picked up in Steamland, throwing them on the table. She gnashed her head. "We need to prepare for war."
This sort of talk disconcerted Naomi and Mateo but worried her grandparents most of all. Luisa tried to reason with her.
"Mija, is there something wrong? We are a peaceful nation…we don’t go to war…you know that, right?"
Usually, this comment would have seemed innocent, causing Elena to see that her grandma had been right, then change her tone. This time was different.
After what she heard in Steamland, she snapped.
"I don't need ANY of you. I can do what I want without this damn council…I am not some namby-pamby Crown Princess anymore…I am the Queen goddamnit!"
There wasn't a peep from anyone in the room after she smashed her hand onto the table. She banged the gavel on the table. "Meeting adjourned."
Mateo touched Elena’s arm to get her attention. She shrugged him off.
"You will all find out in my speech…like the rest of Avalor."
She stormed out of the chambers. Mateo and Naomi silently followed her. Luisa turned to Francisco.
"Are you concerned about Elena too?"
He nodded. He did not want to say anything in the meeting for fear it would make her even more irritated.
"I am…and I hope she is ok…she might think she can do this all by herself…but that isn't realistic."
Soon enough, they saw her once more. This time, she had on a guard’s uniform on top of her clothes, hiding her white dress underneath, and was standing on a soapbox. She cleared her throat and began speaking as loud as she could.
"My friends, I have sobering news to tell you. A force of nasty brutes from Steamland is coming to invade our wonderful land. They call me a tyrant! We must be ready for them."
She paused and then continued. "I am decreeing, here and now, that Avalor is no longer a Kingdom. That is an outdated term that has no meaning in our current time and place. It a Queendom headed by me, Elena Castillo Flores."
There were murmurs in the crowd. She cleared her throat once more, as she held up the two posters, one in each hand, given to her by the man in Steamland, pointing to them as examples.
"As of today, all movement in and out of Avalor City will be restricted to essential travel. Everything must be geared toward preparing for the inevitable invasion."
She made one final comment: "We must all sacrifice something…for the greater good."
While there were groans in the crowd, everyone still trusted her implicitly. They knew she was not a tyrant or any despot, but cared about their well-being, based on what she had done for Avalor in the past.
As everyone walked away and went back to their daily duties, trying to process Elena's words, she stomped to the palace. Suddenly, she collapsed on the ground, with Naomi running to her side. She had some guesses for why this had happened. However, rather than guessing, she carried her back to their room instead. Whatever caused her to fall, traumatic events lay ahead which would mark her and the people of Avalor for years to come.