Frozen 1. The Message

**Hey there! Thanks for clicking on my story :). Officially, it's supposed to be a sequel to the fanfiction 'Ice Princess' that I wrote about Elsa's childhood, but those of you who didn't read that will still be able to understand this perfectly, as I'll only make a few references to it (which you can easily ignore). All you really need to know about that fanfic is that it paints Elsa's childhood in a much darker light. Any mention to her parent's being 'bad' people or to an OC named Benson will just be a reference to that first fanfiction, so feel free to just overlook it.**

**Anyway, this fanfic is going to almost be like a sequel to 'Frozen', to be honest. It takes places a few years after and is about Elsa defending her kingdom from a certain supernatural enemy, though there will be many complications along the way. It's going to be a bit more action-y than I'm used to writing, but also very emotional, which is something I like to think I'm good at. There shouldn't be TOO many chapters (maybe five or six) and just warning you now, I have a tendency to write things very dark and gruesome, so look out for that in the future. I've been having a pretty busy summer, too, so my updating schedule may be a little crazy. Hopefully it'll all turn out okay, though.**

**Well... enjoy, I guess! I hope you like my story!**

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><p><em><span>Chapter One: The Message<span>_

"Happy five-year anniversary, Elsa!"

For a girl who slept in until noon every-other day, Anna seemed awfully cheery this morning. Pulling herself up from bed, Elsa stretched the exhaustion from her body and then moved her hands automatically to the heavy, white braid atop her shoulder. She could feel the frizz tickling her fingers, and in one swift move she had pulled her hairband out, allowing it all to flow messy and free down her back.

"Haaugh…" Elsa yawned, squeezing her eyes shut and putting a hand over her mouth. "W-What anniversary? I'm not married."

She was talking exceptionally casual and tired-like this morning, and given the formalities of her title, it was not something she'd consider doing very often. But then again... this was _Anna _she was with. Somehow, Anna was different than the rest of the world; Elsa could be human around her.

Acting as her usual playful self, Anna giggled and threw herself down on the bed, tackling her sister back onto her pillows. Elsa would've asked her why she awake this early, but considering she already knew the reason, that would've been a waste of breath. Ever since Kristoff had decided to deliver his ice on Friday mornings, Anna had made quite sure that she was awake to greet him each time he arrived, her smiling face there to warm him up after trudging endlessly through the cold mountains. It would've been quite a sweet gesture, had the girl not insisted upon also walking her sister up for company.

"Five years since your coronation… duh! It's your five year anniversary of being queen!"

Elsa sat up again and knocked her sister to the floor, who landed with a heavy grunt. Elsa looked down at her and saw the girl's signature red braids splayed out on either side of her head, circling her face in a way that appeared almost comical. She suppressed a mischievous smile.

"Then that means it's also my five year anniversary of almost-permanently freezing the entire kingdom of Arendelle. How fun; let's celebrate!"

She stood up for real this time and went to her closet, peering in and trying to decide between wearing one of her un-meltable ice dresses, or one made of regular cloth. She eventual zoned in on a nice, simple blue gown that she hadn't worn in a while and made to take it out of the closet.

"Oh, you're so _pessimistic_," Anna exclaimed, peeling herself off of the floor like a giant pancake. "It's so annoying."

Elsa laughed as she pulled off her nightgown, her next words slightly muffled by fabric.

"You only think that because you're practically the biggest, most-reckless optimist in the kingdom."

"I'm not reckless!"

"Try saying that to your ex-fiancee, Prince Hans."

"OH MY GOD, IT'S BEEN FIVE YEARS ALREADY! WILL YOU STOP BRINGING THAT UP!?"

Elsa laughed even louder as she slipped on her dress, feeling it hug her curves and dance around her mid-calves just the way she liked it.

"I'll stop once I find something _better_ to tease you with."

"Ugh," groaned Anna loudly, throwing back her head in exasperation. "You're always such a—hey! Wait a second! Don't wear that!"

"Huh?" Elsa looked down at her dress, surprise evident in her voice. "You don't like it?"

"No, it's fine, it's just that… today's special! It's your anniversary, so you should wear you _first_ dress."

"My coronation dress?" Elsa asked. "That one was so stuffy… and even if I wanted to wear it, how can I? The cape is still floating around somewhere in the North Mountains."

"No, no, the coronation dress doesn't count! I mean your first ice dress. That really pretty one!"

At this, Elsa laughed again. Somehow, whenever Anna was near, Elsa always found herself laughing.

"Anna, I love that dress, but do you realize how scandalous it is? Low neckline, tight waist, giant _slit_ near my legs… a queen just can't _wear_ something like that on a business day!"

"But—"

Elsa quickly ran a comb through her hair, redoing her signature braid in the mirror.

"Sorry, but I got a lot of documents to sign and fill-in today. Don't have time to indulge your every whim. Have fun with your mountain boyfriend."

"Elsa, you better not—!"

Too late. Elsa was already walking out of her bedroom, leaving a still floor-ridden Anna behind her. She smiled to herself at the muffled sound of her sister's protests. Surely, as she always did, Anna would visit her private study to have lunch with her this afternoon. By then, her mind would be full of some funny story about Kristoff or Olaf, and her entire dress-plea would be lost and forgotten in the back of her brain. Her sister, as impulsive and cheery as she always was, was just the type of person to _do_ something like that. It was why Elsa loved her so much.

Five minutes later, the queen was settling herself down at the desk in her study, getting ready to begin a day of… well, being queen. She looked over a certain mountain of paperwork before her and sighed heavily to herself. After five years of experience, she could honestly say that being royalty wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Sure, as a princess Anna always seemed to be having fun, but Elsa as a queen? It was just a whole lot of work, and not so much play. Of course her people loved her despite her differences, and she felt a whole lot happier than she ever had as a small, lonely child trapped alone in her room… but still. Sometimes, though she'd never admitted it, Elsa just wished she didn't have to be a queen.

_Selfish_, the woman reprimanded herself as soon as the thought had crossed her mind, biting her lip in punishment. _If you don't do it, Anna will have to, and you know how much it would kill her to have all this responsibility. You work so Anna can have fun. You work so Anna can live life. You work so Anna can be happy, and that's that._

Elsa sighed and sat herself right back behind her desk, taking out a quill and dipping it ever gently in a half-used bottle of ink. There was also the fact that, without her as queen, Arendelle would fall to anarchy and crumble… so of course it was very important that she kept it up. Who cared if she didn't get to do a lot of hanging out with sister? It was just a sacrifice that had to be made, and honestly, she was proud to be the one making it. For Arendelle. For Anna.

After that, Elsa spent the next fifteen minutes trying to find the right way to word a letter to a neighboring kingdom, telling them as politely as possible to stop trading them rotten apples masked as fresh one's. She was just at the point of suggesting possible ways for them to preserve their fruit when a sharp sound rang into her ears and shocked her from her work.

_Knock. Knock. _

The quick, polite tapping shattered the silence in the air, pulling Elsa from her mind and placing her back in reality. The queen raised her head from the array of papers scattered across her desk, glancing towards the door at the end of her study.

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

Who was that? It couldn't be Anna, surely; the girl hadn't knocked in years. That was more Elsa's fault than anything, considering she had insisted on keeping an open-door policy with her, but still. The girl didn't have to barge in _all_ the time...

_Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock._

"You may enter!" Elsa heard herself call. Assuming it was one of the guards come to inform her of something, she made sure to keep the formality heavy in her voice.

The door slowly slid open, and in a moment she caught sight of a head full of shiny, black curls.

"Oh, it's just you, Dustin." Elsa quickly went back to a more casual tone, smiling up at the approaching boy. "Anything new?"

He nodded very slowly, his curls bouncing slightly on his head.

"I-I just wanted to inform you that those trade agreements you were waiting for came in from Corona today, Your Majesty."

"It's about time," Elsa responded, pulling the documents from his hand. "Thanks."

She looked at him for a moment before adding, "But call me Elsa, please."

She didn't know why she kept insisting that to people—surely, it wasn't the most important problem to address—but she simply couldn't help herself. She hated the formalities of her many titles, and Dustin had been her closest-advisor for nearly three years, now. She practically trusted him with everything, and that included her own life. She would've hoped, at least, they would be on first-name terms by this point. Elsa kept reminding him of this, yet somehow the nervous little guy kept forgetting.

"Yes, sorry… Elsa."

There was silence for a little while after that. Elsa mulled over her thoughts for what could've been the thousandth time that week, while Dustin just stood and watched her, as if waiting for command.

Dustin, himself, had just recently reached his twenty-fourth birthday, making him two years younger than Elsa. He was gangly in stature—enough so that he was a bit taller than her—but his wide-eyed, innocent appearance allowed him to pass for a teenager if need be. She remembered the day she had hired him with great nostalgia, and for a moment, allowed herself to dwell on that memory.

The news that the queen was searching for a new advisor—after the retirement of her father's old one—must have spread like wildfire, for on that certain week, it had seemed to her that hundreds upon hundreds of men, woman, and children alike had crowded the castle gates, willing and eager to earn the title. Elsa, as naturally introverted as she always was, had been so overwhelmed with the turn-out that she had had to go to the extremes to sort through it.

First, she had ordered twenty of her castle guards to go and check each person's credentials one-by-one, filtering out all those without any legitimate experience. That, fortunately, had erased about 80% of the competition. She wasn't even sure why people even _bothered _applying for a job if they knew they weren't qualified for it. After that, she had asked each remaining applicant to fill-out a form of information and write a paragraph as to why they deserved to work so close to royalty. She couldn't read them all, of course, so she had asked her guards to sort through them for her, using their best judgement to take out any who they deemed unfit to serve. Finally, the list was narrowed down to fifteen people, and the interviews had started.

Elsa had started the final interview-day knowing it was going to be quite a long one, but her bleak expectations still did not prepare her from the utter torture that occurred during that twenty-four hour period. Time and time again she was greeted with the same, forced smiles. She asked the same, generic questions, received the same, generic answers, and was forced to judge between men and women who were all more-or-less the exact same. The interviews were long and repetitive, and her head was pounding by the time the last had died down.

There were a few applicants who seemed a little off-put by her powers, and some that tried way too hard to act as if they were totally normal (oh, I love how cold it is in here! Did I mention how much I simply adore the snow?) and lucky for her, Elsa could cross those off with ease. Most, however, just tried to avoid the subject completely, which the queen considered at least a tolerable reaction.

Still, the woman had walked out of her office that evening with a massive headache and her eyes itching for sleep.

"Have you decided yet?" Anna had asked eagerly as they had run into each other in the hallways, smile wide and excited as always.

"No… I need to take a walk to think about it," she had told her, shaking her head sullenly. "And before you ask... no, you cannot come along. I love you, Anna, but I need some thinking space, and you can't keep quiet for ten minutes without practically erupting."

The girl had grumbled something after that, a child-like pout on her lips, but luckily she'd let her go off without problems, most likely due to Kristoff's recent explanation to her about what personal space was. That night, Elsa had walked out the gates with ease, a black-hooded cloak draped over herself to conceal her identity. It was something her guards had suggested whenever she went out alone, to prevent assassinations. She only wore it to appease them, of course… she felt she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself.

It was then, just leaving the safety of her castle home, that the boy had run into her head-on.

"Ouch… oh, sorry! Sorry!"

As Elsa had straightened herself up from the harsh hit, listening to the boy's pleading apology, she had watched as a thick stack of papers in his hands shot out into the air. Almost immediately, he was on his knees, hastily scooping up loose sheets and shoving them into a messy pile. Elsa leaned down to help him, but he raised his hands to stop her.

"No, no. My fault, I'll do it."

"Are you alright?" she had asked him after a moment of silence. "Why were you in such a hurry?"

He didn't even look up at her as he spoke. In fact, if she hadn't known any better, she would've said he was almost too embarrassed to look her in the eyes.

"Um, yeah. Yeah I'm fine. I was just… did you hear about the job opening for the queen's advisor? I know I'm kinda late for that, but I didn't hear about it until earlier today—my grandmother was sick, so I was sort of taking care of her for a few days in Corona. Do you think the queen'll accept applications late? I don't know, I just… I really need the job."

At this, Elsa raised her eyebrows, suddenly extremely interested in what he had to say.

"Oh? And what makes you think you have what it takes?"

At this, very slowly, the boy raised his head to look at her. His arms were full of his miss-mashed assortment of papers, and his cheeks were pink with a mix of shyness and shame. Elsa pulled down her hood a little, making sure it covered her face in enough shadows to disguise her features.

"Well, I don't technically have any _experience," _the boy muttered, eyes flitting towards the ground, "But I've been studying law, and governing, and economics, and all sorts of things since I was a little kid. I mean… I'm not sure if it'll mean anything to her, but I thought I'd at least try…"

His voice trailed off, and soon Elsa found herself smiling. Suddenly so thrilled, so confident, that she was ready and willing to make a complete impulse-based, illogical decision. It was weird, but there was some little voice in the back of her brain that just _knew_ that this boy was it.

"Well, that's enough for me," she'd said, pulling down her hood so that her most recognizable feature—her long, white, ice-incrusted braid—fell onto her shoulder, "You're hired. You start tomorrow."

And she had watched, slight smirk on her lips, as at first Dustin had looked at her with confusion. Then, all at once, the recognition came into his eyes, and his mouth literally dropped open in the most comical of ways.

"_Q-Queen?" _he murmured, as if he'd never even heard the word before, "B-but—"

Elsa liked the way he looked at her. Nervous, but not out of fear. He was only excited to meet her… anxious not because of what she could do to him, but because he wanted so badly to impress her. It was the exact same way Benson had looked at her so long ago… and, now that she thought of it, the way Anna had looked at her on the day of coronation. It was a beautiful look, and Elsa knew suddenly that she had chosen correctly.

"What's your name?" she had asked him, and he, looking completely taken aback, muttered it almost unintelligibly between his lips.

"Dustin. My name is Dustin, Miss."

"Well, see you tomorrow, Dustin. Eight o'clock sharp. Don't be late."

And then she had strode off, smirk still glued to her lips, and she hadn't regretted it since.

Back in reality, Elsa finally spoke up, realizing she'd been staring at the nervous boy too long for justification.

"Did the finance reports come in yet?"

Dustin blinked at her, as if he too had been lost in a swirl of thoughts, before somehow managing to find his tongue.

"No, Your Majest—I mean, Elsa. But they should by this afternoon. I'll get them to you then."

"Ah, thank you. And please, if you find the time, remember to—"

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

"Huh?"

Both Elsa and Dustin stopped talking, turning to the door.

"Who is that?" Dustin asked, horrified that someone would knock so violently on the door of the queen.

She looked at him blankly.

"I have no idea."

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

"Shouldn't you let them in?" Dustin asked timidly, looking at her.

"Yeah," she murmured, "I _guess _so."

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

"The door is unlocked!" she called, slightly annoyed. "You may enter!"

The person knocking flung themselves in immediately.

"Kristoff?" Elsa gasped, staring at him strangely, "What are you doing here? Why are you in such a hurry?"

The blond-haired mountain man didn't seem to be in the shape to answer her. Clutching his side, his breathing was heavy and ragged, and it was clear that he had sprinted to her as fast as humanly possible. He struggled to get out a sentence between his gasps.

"Ghuahh… Elsa… Ghuahh… the trolls… Ghuahh… they said… Ghuahh… to get you… Ghuahh… emergency…"

"The trolls need me?" Elsa translated. She raised an eyebrow at this. The last time she'd spoken to the trolls was… well, when she was a little girl. Anna had certainly seen them plenty of times before, being that they were her boyfriend's relatives, but herself? She hadn't so much as said a single word.

"Ghuahh… that's what… Ghuahh… they said."

"Why?"

"Ghuahh… no… Ghuahh… idea."

"Dustin!" she said immediately, turning to him and ignoring the panting blond. "What does my schedule look like today?"

Dustin checked.

"Nothing but a meeting at noon, Elsa."

"Well then cancel it. We're going to visit the trolls instead."

"_We're_?"

Yes, we're. Fifteen minutes later, Kristoff was sitting anxiously on Sven, waiting to lead Elsa to his adoptive family. As quickly and efficiently as she could, the queen saddled herself onto her black horse, Flame—named ironically, of course—and prepared herself for the trot.

"Dustin," she said slowly, as the boy fed the hungry mare an apple for the journal. "Why don't you follow us? I'm just going to have to explain to you everything that happened, anyway. It'll be easier if you just came with."

He looked up at her. "I don't have a horse."

She shrugged. "That's alright, just hop on the back of mine. You can grab my waist for support."

At these words, Dustin's cheeks turned a bright pink, and fear crossed his face. Elsa greatly misinterpreted the expression.

"Oh," she said slowly, looking at him. "I know my powers can be intimidating. You don't have to touch me if you don't want to. Just hang on to Kristoff, instead."

At this, Dustin's fear turned to absolute horror, and he immediately tried to contradict her statement.

"No, no! It's not that at all! You don't understand, I just—"

He looked at the queen's expression and remembered she was in a hurry.

"Oh… I'll just get on, then."

In another fifteen minutes, the three were already rushing fast and furious under the scalding summer sun, all but Elsa beginning to sweat viciously. They galloped past tall, branching trees, wide, flower-filled fields of grass, and sweetest of all, a group of young Arendelle-children who all cheered as they witnessed the queen flying past. Still, despite this beautiful scenery, nobody was disappointed when the troll-kingdom became visible in the distance, and they were able to dismount their horse and reindeer.

"Kristoff," Elsa asked as they half-walked, half-ran to the suspicious pile of actually-living rocks, "Are you sure they didn't tell you anything about why they needed me?"

"Not a thing," the blond boy answered honestly. "As soon as I stopped by this morning, they just pushed me right back on Sven and demanded I go get you. I tried to ask, but they were persistent. If there's one thing I learned after all of my childhood, it's that you don't argue with trolls."

Elsa nodded and continued her swift striding. She was, admittedly, quite pleased that Kristoff had started talking to her so casually in the last year or so. When they'd first met, he'd been absolutely terrified. And, really, who could blame him? She _had _frozen an entire kingdom and nearly killed the girl he loved, after all. Once he got over that heart-wrenching fear, however, finally trusting that she was a good person, he was continuously nervous and bumbling about the fact that she was queen, always trying to act so polite and respectful around her. It was only recently that he'd begun to treat her like just another person, just another friend, and though she strongly suspected that Anna had prodded him to act this way, she couldn't help but be just a little bit proud of it. It made her feel like such a normal person.

"Hey! Get up, you guys! I brought Elsa just like you said!"

Kristoff ran forward to the rocks scattered on the ground, turning a few of them over and speaking without response. In a moment, however—as soon as Elsa's name was mentioned—they all unrolled to reveal the short, stout figures of the trolls.

"She's here!" one of the little one's shouted in a voice unbelievably high-pitched. "The queen is here!"

They all started to cheer and scream, a thousand voices speaking to her at once, and Elsa found herself subconsciously reverting back to her reserved, teenage self. She smiled shyly at them all, trying hopelessly to fight her way through the crowd of overexcited trolls and get back to where she could stand safe and alone in a patch of un-intimidating grass.

Kristoff, also being a natural loner, must of sensed her discomfort, for he shouted out, "Hey! Guys, come on! I know you're only trying to be friendly, but give her some space, will ya'? She's the queen!"

It was a sweet gesture, really, but a useless one. A couple of the younger trolls jumped to hug the blond man, and with his attention focused on trying to keep himself standing under their weight, he could not continue his stern reprimanding.

One troll—a female wearing a necklace of pink jewels—even grabbed Elsa's hand, tugging her along somewhere and speaking in an almost-motherly tone of voice. Like an obedient puppy, Dustin followed the two of them, not knowing what else to do.

"Oh, Pabbie will be so relieved to see you," said the mother troll, smiling up at her in a way that put her heart at ease. "He's been waiting, you know. What a good little boy my Kristoff is, bringing you here! He sure is quick. Especially when you tell him that it's a matter of life and death."

She leaned backwards towards Elsa and cupped a hand around her mouth. "That part may or may not have been a little-white lie…"

Elsa was just about to respond when suddenly another voice cut her off, this one much deeper and more serious.

"Ah, My Queen. I am glad to see you have received my message."

She looked over. There below her, looking up with wise and meaningful eyes, was an old troll that still lived in the very back of her memory. With thick, straw-like hair surrounding his face like a mane, two extremely-bushy eyebrows hanging over his eyes like fuzzy caterpillars, and a necklace of glowing, yellow crystals placed round his neck, he wasn't exactly a forgettable creature.

"Pabbie," Elsa began, remembering the name that Anna and Kristoff used to refer to the troll-king as. "It's good to see you again."

As she spoke, she suddenly realized that all the other trolls had been silenced by Pabbie's presence. They all stood still, at the moment, watching the two converse with wide and curious eyes.

"As much as I'd like to exchange pleasantries, Your Majesty," Pabbie continued, clearly unaware that she despised the title, "I do have a certain message of importance that needs to be shared with you. In _private_."

He glanced at the many eavesdropping trolls, and a few of the younger one's giggled in mischief.

"Now, if you and your assistant would just follow me, we'll be able to begin our talk in no time. The rest of you must stay."

Elsa and Dustin nodded, and the two of them began walking forward as they heard the many disappointed sighs and grunts from behind.

"I'll just… uh… stay back here and watch 'em, I guess," Kristoff said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'll make sure no one follows you. You can have some privacy."

"Oh, no Kristoff," Elsa said suddenly, stopping on the spot. "You're a friend. Whatever Pabbie needs to tell me, I'm sure he'll have no problem telling you, too. You're the one who spent all that effort trying to get to me… there's no need to keep any secrets."

At this, Kristoff smiled, and she saw real affection in his eyes. "Thanks."

Five minutes later, all four were situated under a canopy of trees, specks of sunlight creeping in through the leaves and creating a beautiful patch-work affect against the grass. Un-formal as it was, there were no seats here, and Elsa ended up sitting cross-legged on the grass across from Pabbie. Dustin and Kristoff both stood behind her on either side, and she sensed their apprehension.

"What is this message you were going to give me?" Elsa inquired curiously, now looking at the troll with serious interest.

"Ah, yes… that..." He began to seem very hesitant now, and she noticed that he was looking at her strangely, as if considering something. Finally, much to Elsa's surprise, he hung his head down and sighed, looking to the ground in greatest shame.

"Let me just say, young queen—"

"Call me Elsa, please."

"Then let me just say, Elsa, that I am so, incredibly regretful of what I've done to you."

At this, she felt her eyebrows raise in complete surprise, confusion evident in her expression.

"And what would that be?"

"Years ago," Pabbie continued, voice so gruff and sad, "When your parents came to me with your younger sister, begging me to heal her, I gave them advise of how to raise a child born with powers. You were there, of course, so you know what I said. They were words with the best intentions, but horrific consequences. I never knew that your parents would take things that far…"

His voice trailed off for a moment, and Elsa took it as he chance to speak. "Oh… Anna must've told you, then. About everything they di—"

"When I said that fear would be your enemy, I meant your own fear. Your own self-hatred, shame, guilt… all of it. When you feel these things, your powers get uncontrollable, and that's when dark things begin to happen. I wanted your parents to realize this, so they could help you learn to accept yourself just the way you were. But they did not understand. They _could_ not understand. They thought the fear I spoke of was the fear that others felt towards you, and thus they took all those steps to isolate you from the outside world. Then they did all those horrible things to make sure you stayed that way, and… I'm sorry, Elsa. With all my heart, I apologize. I should've known they were too flawed to understand what I truly meant. I should've taken precautions. But I let them leave with false ideas in their heads, and for that you have suffered greatly. I'm so sorry, My Queen."

Elsa looked at him unbelievably for a moment, and then suddenly found herself smiling in sympathy.

"I'm sure you know better than anyone that drowning yourself in guilt does no good at all. We've all made mistakes that have led to the misfortune of ourselves or others, but that's all in the past now, so we just have to learn to move beyond it. Thank you most sincerely for the apology, though. It means a lot to hear."

Very slowly, Pabbie raised his head to look at her, and there was a smile on his lip-less mouth.

"Ah, Elsa. Wise beyond your years. I have no doubt that you will grow to accomplish even greater things than you already have. Just like your sister, you've got the selfless spirit of a hero."

"Thank you, Pabbie… but certainly this can't be all you've brought me here to tell me, can it?"

Looking serious again, the troll nodded, his mane bristling beneath his chin.

"Clever, too. There is indeed much more to tell, but I'm struggling to find where to begin."

Elsa nodded slowly, remembering the difficulties _she_ faced with telling Anna about her past, and allowed the troll to take some time to find the right words.

"This is not something a human would be able to understand," Pabbie began, his words slow and clear as if speaking to a child. "But I have recently begun… _sensing_ an approaching presence. Quite a hostile one, actually, and it seems to me that your kingdom is the target."

At this, her eyes widened, and Elsa couldn't stop herself from speaking over the shocked gasps from the men behind her.

"You mean to say… attackers are coming to Arendelle?"

Pabbie nodded sadly. The silence was deafening.

"I would say more, but at the current time, I_ have_ no more. For some reason, though this doesn't usually occur, I find myself unable to determine exactly who or what this unknown enemy is, nor what their motives might be. All is still unclear, but I remain hopeful that we'll learn more as the enemy grows closer."

"So this must be a supernatural enemy of some kind, then?" Elsa interjected, her mind reeling in her head. "Kristoff told me that you trolls can detect magic, so you wouldn't be able to sense this enemy if they didn't at least have _some_ sort of powers."

"Unfortunately, yes," Pabbie answered. "I called you here today so that I could warn you as soon as possible of the oncoming battle. More information will come in the near future, but I'm sure, as the brilliant queen you are, you're already planning ways to prepare your kingdom for this attack."

Elsa nodded seriously.

"Yes, of course. Thank you for this early warning; my kingdom and I are in your debt."

The troll-king smiled upon her. "For forgiving my unintentional crimes against you, consider that debt repaid. But, oh, there's one more thing I must mention before you go."

Elsa looked at him curiously, tilting her head to the side.

"And what's that?"

"I have a feeling that_ you _might be their ultimate target."

* * *

><p><strong>Okay... it's over. What did you think? I'm sorry that it was a bit rushed, and even more so that it was kind of uninteresting. It's basically a prologue, so mainly I'm just setting the stage for the actual events of the fanfic. The next chapter will skip a few weeks and get right to it, so hopefully it'll be less boring.<strong>

**Anyway, I hope you liked it! Please review and tell me your opinions... it would mean a lot to me :). **


	2. The Preparations

**Hey everyone! I know it's been like three weeks since I last updated this story, and I know it isn't really THAT long, but let me just say that I'm still really, really sorry. I've had such a busy summer that I almost forgot. I'll try and do better from now on; please stick with me :).**

**Anyway, before you start reading you really need to look something up. I can't put a link, but it's a drawing on a website called deviantart. It was made by ComickerGirl and is entitled 'Frozen Knights.' What it shows is these three, absolutely amazing armor-designs for Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff. I tried to describe them in my story, but I really didn't do a good job of it, so you should try and search it up to see what it is the characters are wearing in my fanfic. Trust me, you won't regret it; the designs are just the coolest things ever. **

**So, this chapter is about two weeks after the first, and it jumps to the final preparations before the 'battle'. I hope you enjoy it :).**

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><p><em><span>Chapter Two: The <span>Preparations_

"Are you ready, Your Majesty?"

Ready? Ready was a strong word. Here she was, about to lead her first—and hopefully, only—war against possibly the most evil creatures on the face of the earth. How in the world could she know if she was ready or not? She had no idea what to expect. All she knew was that she had to, _needed_ to, defend her kingdom. She was the queen, after all. If she didn't clean this mess up, then she didn't know who would.

"Call me Elsa, please."

Why couldn't Dustin just remember that? He'd been her assistant for years now, and it really was such a simple command. Sure, maybe it shouldn't have been her _prime_ concern at the moment, but she still felt the right to comment on it.

"Yes, sorry… Elsa. Are you ready?"

She merely shrugged at the boy. "As ready as I'll ever be, I guess."

That answer seemed to be about as honest as she could get it. She had prepared non-stop for two weeks for this invasion, for this full-out species war that was bound to end in absolute wreckage for at least one unfortunate group of people. If she hadn't done everything in her ability to assure victory for her small kingdom, then may her father rise from his watery grave to haunt her.

Dustin nodded at her statement, his black curls bouncing slightly as he did so.

"We'll win," he assured her, as if sensing her apprehension. "With you leading us, we're sure to win."

Elsa just shook her head, feeling the way her ice-incrusted braid jumped from her back to rest on her protected shoulder. Being that she was the commander in this certain war, Anna had decided that she needed an outfit to fit the name, and Elsa begrudgingly had to agree. Her dresses, as formal as they were, were not likely to assist her on the battlefield. She had very little practical clothing on hand, of course, so she'd just been forced to get creative and sew one of her own.

She'd used her original coronation dress as a starting point, figuring that she was never going to wear it again anyway. Though she kept the bodice the same, she'd known that the actual hem would prove to be quite the tripping-hazard, and had compensated by snipping the dress to rest somewhere on her upper-thigh. She kept a large strip of the fabric longer than the rest, however, so that it could hang between her legs in the front and back, reaching her knees in length and preserving modesty. To cover her now-exposed legs, she'd shoved on a pair of thin, black pants and stuffed both feet into metal boots. The full-lengths of her arms were already covered by the black fabric of the dress, but she decided it would be useful to put in some extra supports. On one hand, she wore a metal glove designed for fighting. Above that, she had a shoulder-plate made completely of ice, which jutted sharply down her arm to create an air of danger. On the other arm, she had the same jutting ice used for a second glove, and to keep up with the pattern her second shoulder-plate was made completely out of metal. In all honestly, the mishmashing really didn't have any practicality to it… she just liked the style.

Anyway, as luck would have it, Elsa came across the matching cape for her coronation dress when she'd been climbing up the mountain side just a week ago. In nostalgia, she decided to include it in her outfit, cutting it off just above her ankles so as not to cause any hinderance. Add to that the brown belt that strapped a sword to her hip, and another that held a smaller, hidden blade against her back, and no one could accuse her of physical vulnerability of any kind. All in all, the outfit had ended up fairly well-done, and Anna had fawned over it for days.

"You'll do fine," Dustin repeated after his previous words didn't get a response. Elsa raised her head at him, pulling herself out of her thoughts.

"Yeah, yeah… I really hope you're right."

There was a long, heavy silence before reality truly caught up with her, and she remembered what had been on her mind before the boy had so-politely interrupted.

"Where's Anna? I need to speak with her before the invasion."

"I-In your ice palace, I think," he stuttered. "She's getting ready on the second floor. S-She seems really excited for some reason."

Elsa rolled her eyes at the thought, but still with a slight smile stretched across her face. It was _so_ like Anna to treat something as serious as this as a game. Somehow, despite all logic, Elsa found herself loving that little quirk of hers.

"Keep the soldiers in line," she instructed Dustin, waiting for his vigorous nod before continuing. "I'll be back before sunset."

She turned to walk away, but after a moment, thought better of it. Coming to a halt, she brought her hand out in front of her face, and in one sweep of her wrist had created a smooth, icy dove in the palm of her hand. It was so perfectly carved, every little intricate detail accounted for, that it could have been mistaken for an actual bird had the creature's crystal feathers not been glistening so noticeably in the sunlight.

"Watch from above," Elsa whispered to the dove, cupping it in both hands. "Warn me when you see their approach."

At that, she threw the bird into the air, and it began flapping away as fast as it's hollow wings could carry it. She watched it for a second, created two more out of second thought, and then continued on her way.

Before long, Elsa found herself trudging through the fresh layer of snow on the North Mountain, heading towards the both beautiful and intimidating palace of ice that jutted out into the sky. It wasn't a long walk, really—Elsa and Dustin had only just been at the base of the sloping hill, waiting with the first line of defensive soldiers—but the mountain was steep, and by the end of her climb, Elsa's legs were screaming for a break.

The staircase to her castle was lined with guards, but they all moved aside at the mere sight on her, and soon she stood still and watched as the large, icy doors swung open to let her in.

The general life of the place still surprised her. The first time she had created her palace, it had been completely empty. Admittedly beautiful, but just as much lifeless, barren, and cold. Much like herself, actually. It still felt strange to see it nearly bursting to the brims with Arendelle citizens. Mothers and fathers and children: all scared, but relatively happy. It was just so _strange_.

It had been Anna's idea to use this place as a shelter for the citizens, and her own to use it as headquarters for the war preparation. Not like they had much choice, really. The trolls had only warned them of the change two days before the actual invasion—though they'd originally thought that the mysterious creatures were months away from arriving, it turned out that that 'information' had somehow been falsified by the enemy—and Pabbie had claimed it was not possible to defend her kingdom from the beasts in such little time. So, lacking in much choice, Elsa had spent a chaotic twenty-four period carrying out a full-on evacuation of her beloved city, uprooting all people from their homes and moving them to the still-surviving palace on the North Mountains. Here, as the trolls claimed, would take the monsters at least a week longer to reach, which gave the queen just enough time to prepare adequately.

As quick-thinking as always, Elsa had even create a huge, ice-brick wall to surround the mountain and provide some extra protection, but as the trolls had claimed, this would only buy them an hour or two. The creatures had magic of their own. Maybe not as strong as Elsa's, but with the number of them arriving, they'd be able to combine and melt her barrier in no time. Eventually, the battle would have to begin. And Elsa was determined to make it a short one… for, as she believed, the quicker the battle, the less chance of it becoming a full-fledged war. As she was perfectly aware of by now, war was never really a good thing.

"Queen Elsa! Look everyone! It's Queen Elsa!"

The cries began as soon as the woman stepped into the main court of her palace, loud and wild and excited. The people—huddled in blankets with their children, drinking mugs of hot chocolate, warming themselves with hand-made fires—cheered her on with every step, holding out their hands as if begging for her to touch them.

Though their enemies hadn't shown up yet, the trolls had predicted that they would be here by sunset today. The people were getting restless with wait… and yet, they still had complete faith in her. Everywhere she went, now, people were cheering her on and hailing her a hero, as if victory was already guaranteed. She had been thanked more times this week than she could count. She always smiled politely to her admirers, of course, but secretly she wished they'd just wait until she actually _won_ the battle to apply their generous praise. She was starting to feel the pressure a little stronger than she liked.

"Thank you, thank you," Elsa said, gesturing her people to be quiet. "I'd love to stay and chat... but do any of you know where Princess Anna is?"

A few men and women pointed in a general direction, and so Elsa trudged onwards, responding appropriately to the many goodbyes and farewells that people blew in her path.

Elsa found her sister playing a rousing game of kickball with some of the kingdom's smaller children. Kristoff and Sven stood somewhere nearby, leaning against an icy wall and smirking (with carrot crumbs on their mouths, of course), while Olaf's forever-smiling head was currently being used as the ball itself. Figures. Those were her friends, if she ever knew them. She loved them all so much.

"Anna!" Elsa called, and caught off-guard by the sudden use of her name, Anna tripped on Olaf and ran head-on into a few of the children. They all tumbled to the ground, giggling madly, and even Elsa couldn't stop the smirk from playing her lips.

"Hi Elsa!" Anna called out as she pulled herself from the icy floor, cheeks pink from a mix of cold and excitement. "What's up? They here yet?"

Elsa shook her head, and Anna shrugged, a ridiculous smile still stretched across her face.

"Soon, though," Elsa continued, trying to observe the strange tint in her sister's eyes. "Are you still sure you want to go into battle?"

To keep up morale, Elsa had promised her people that she would be fighting right up there beside them. It was a logical decision—not only with her being queen, but the fact that her ice powers were sure to help them all in battle—and yet, it also gave Anna a perfect argument for why _she _deserved to fight, too.

If Elsa could go, then so could she, for it would look selfish for royalty to send their people out to die without sacrificing as much as they could themselves. At least, that was what Anna had claimed, and Elsa knew deep down that she was all-too right. A part of her would always want to protect Anna, she knew—the girl was her only family, her only sister, her only friend—but she understood that in situations such as this, she had to let her make her own choices. The girl was a grown woman, after all, and it was only fair.

Unfortunately, however, that mindset was just one of those things that was much easier said than done.

"Heck yeah!" Anna yelled in response to Elsa's previous question, eyes ablaze with excitement. "I'll defend you 'til the end, you know that!"

The words were sweet, but Elsa merely shook her head, disappointment on her features. "I was hoping you might reconsider, but I guess that was too much to ask for."

Anna's powerful expression became one of sympathy, and soon she had stepped a bit closer, pulling her sister into a weird sort of half-hug.

"Don't worry about it, Elsa. We'll all be perfectly fine. I've never seen anybody work as hard as you have this past week… you're probably the best military planner ever! There's no possible way we could lose!"

Elsa rolled her eyes at the girl's blatant optimism, but a part of her felt a bit better at the warm words. Surely, if fate was as fair as it had proven itself to be, nobody as innocent and kind as her little sister would ever be harmed.

"Well…" she began, lengthening her words as they teetered at the edge of awkwardness, "Are you ready, then?"

Anna nodded eagerly, and this time, so did Kristoff, who had been listening quietly from his spot on the wall.

"Of course!," the girl exclaimed, "You should see how great I am with my bow, and Kristoff has been practicing with his little thingy-ma-jigger all week now! Those demons don't stand a chance against us!"

Just as Elsa had gotten a new outfit for the fighting, Anna had demanded she get the same. She had insisted it be made from her own coronation dress—to match her sister's, of course—and that it be cut around the legs in exactly the same way. There were a few modifications, but it still came out much to the girl's satisfaction.

The bottom, green part of Anna's original dress had faded over the years and become stained by some mysterious, muddy substance that the girl swore she had nothing to do with, and so of course Elsa had be forced to hide it by dying the whole skirt a midnight black. To compensate for the lack of color, Anna wore a long-sleeved, light-green shirt beneath the bodice of her dress, and then a matching green cape that was similar to the winter one she owned and wore often, covering her shoulders and buttoning in the front. Her gloves were a light, brownish-green color, as were the pants she wore under her outfit, and there was a belt around her waist that held an entire pack of arrows to her side.

Anna now pulled out her hand-carved wooden bow from where it hid behind her back, and in an instant had shown off her archery skills by firing one of those arrows into an empty spot on the wall, creating a huge, jagged crack in the ice. She grinned at her accomplishment, and Elsa made a mental note to fix the hole later.

"Great, Anna. But that's only good for long-reigned attacks. What if you get attacked close up? Do you have anything for fighting melee?"

At this, Anna shook her head, suddenly looking a little sheepish. The bow had been Anna's weapon of choice, much as a sword had been Elsa's, but like most decisions the girl tended to make, it didn't seem as if she had quite thought it through. Already knowing her answer, Elsa glanced around, spotting an unused sword leaning against the wall.

"Try that," she told her sister, "It should be enough to defend yourself if you're cornered."

Anna walked over to it and moved to lift the blade, but almost instantly she put it down, grunting as the metal banged to the floor.

"Ugh, heavier than I expected. Let me try again…"

Pulling together all her strength, Anna threw her hands on the un-sharpened end of the sword and tugged fiercely. It lifted a good two feet above the ground, but stopped there. Again, it fell, and again, Anna insisted on one more try.

The third time, Anna lifted it all the way to her waist line, but the blade had wiggled so much in her hands that she nearly ended up cutting off Kristoff's leg. At this, Elsa figured she'd done enough. Slowly, she put her hand on the sword's flat edge and lowered it to the floor.

"Hey!" Anna protested, pouting again. "Why'd you do that? I could have done it!"

Elsa just shook her head.

"Let's try something a little lighter. It'll be easier to wield."

With much precision—standing the object up on the ground so as not to have to lift it—Elsa grabbed the handle of the sword, jiggling it around until it became loose. Then she pulled it off with one fierce tug, and the entire sharp, metal edge clattered to the ground.

"What was that?" Anna asked, bewildered, "You just broke it!"

"No, no… you'll see."

In an instant—the handle still resting complacently in her hand—Elsa build out from the end of it. A long sheath of ice suddenly grew directly where the blade had existed before, and as she took in the beautiful work, Anna squealed in delight.

"The ice is hollow, but unbreakable" Elsa explained, gesturing towards the new knife in her hand, "It'll be stronger and lighter this way, but I kept the metal handle, so your fingers won't get cold. Admittedly, it's a little shorter and skinner than it was before—more of a dagger than a sword, really—but it'll do. What do you thi—"

"IT'S AMAZING!" shrieked Anna before she could finish, and without even a hint of warning, she had thrown her arms around a surprised and stiff Elsa.

"I'll go practice!" she yelled, and in an instant she had run off to God-knows-where to do just that. With a grunt, Kristoff pulled himself up from the wall, intent on going to follow her.

"You ready, Kristoff?" Elsa asked him before he left, wanting to leave no pieces of her puzzle unaccounted for. He, too, was now wearing his own set of armor, though the cheap leather and fur it consisted of was obviously less complex than both of the their own fabrics.

Kristoff looked at her and nodded, leaning his weapon of choice—a large, simple axe—over his shoulder. He gestured towards the bulky object in his hand and smiled.

"I can't go wrong with this. Anna's right, Elsa. We'll do fine. Don't worry about it."

And then he too exited, Sven followed suit, and the queen was left to drown in silence.

She didn't know what it was, she didn't know why it was there, but in that single horrible moment, Elsa just knew that it _existed_. Buried deep within the confines of her soul, swirling mercilessly in the acid of her stomach, this untouchable thing lived and thrived, immune to all her efforts to remove it. In many phycology books, it might've been referred to as intuition, but in everyday language, it was more often than not called a simple 'gut-feeling.'

She'd had these so-called gut-feelings quite a few times throughout her life, actually—the days before she found Benson in the dungeon, the week before her parent's big ocean-trip, the very hour before her coronation—and as she now knew, every one of those situations had ended up in a complete and utter disaster. So of course it was quite troubling to her that she felt that same, familiar gut-feeling right before the first and most-dangerous battle she had ever, and ever would, face in her entire lifetime.

Yes, it was quite a troubling thought indeed.

"Hiya Elsa!" said an unexpected voice from somewhere behind her, breaking her out of her thoughts. "What'cha thinkin' about?"

Elsa turned to see a very familiar face lolling hopelessly on the icy floor. Though all the children Anna had been playing with before had long since scurried away, this little guy, now being headless, didn't really have the option. Lacking a brain, his body walked around in circles and repeatedly banged itself into the walls, looking for its missing part. It must have been quite unpleasant experience, but for some reason, he didn't seem to mind it.

"Oh, hi Olaf," Elsa breathed out, the adrenaline slowly seeping out of her veins after such a sharp surprise. "Nothing really."

As had become habit whenever she saw the snowman looking like this, she strolled over to his headless body and tucked it under her arm, swiftly grabbing the important object it was so desperately searching for.

"I know you're nervous," Olaf said matter-of-factly as she plopped his head right back on his body, watching as he stretched his snow-made legs. "I can feel it."

She sighed heavily. Often she forgot the strong connection that she had with her living creations... creatures that included both cheery little Olaf, and the more-intimidating yet just-as-friendly Marshmallow. It was almost as if there was an invisible string between her soul and theirs, something nearly impossible to break, that tied their minds and hearts together. The story of how and why both Olaf and Marshmallow came to be was really a rather long and complicated one, and though she mulled over it quite often in her free time, she still had not come up with a conclusion that fully satisfied her. Still, though, the connection was always there, as was proven by the fact that Olaf currently knew her exact feelings.

"Yeah," she said slowly, shaking her head in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I guess I'm just being paranoid. I don't know what's wrong with me; I'm sure Anna and Kristoff are right. Everything will be fine."

"Oh, no," said Olaf surely, and suddenly her eyes flashed down at him, confused. "I can feel it, too; your gut is right. The battle is going to end really badly. I might even get impaled again!"

And then he smiled at her with that cheerful, oblivious Olaf-smile and waddled carelessly on his way, humming a tune with every step. This time, when he left, Elsa really _was _alone, and somehow she was feeling even worse than when she had started.

...

About an hour later, the anxious queen stood at the bottom of the mountain with her first line of defensive soldiers, watching with the rest as the long-awaited enemy finally crossed over from the horizon. The first ice-dove she'd sent out now tittered noisily on her shoulder, ruffling it's transparent feathers after a long, tiring journey; after such an accurate report on the enemy's whereabouts, Elsa figured she deserved it. Aside from the bird, however, Elsa was currently surrounded by two of her closest advisers. Dustin stood on one side of her, looking jittery and terrified, while Anna stood on the other, a wide, excited grin stretched across her face. Two very-different expressions on two very-different people. It was almost sort-of funny.

"Ready everyone?" Elsa called to all her soldiers, trying to read their blank faces.

"Yes, Your Majesty," they all chorussed at once. Not every one of the men and women beside her was technically 'trained', but they did all have courage and valor, and that was all she needed from them at the moment. A week ago, when Elsa realized her kingdom's army size was severely lacking, she'd had to result to desperate and somewhat-illogical measures to pump it up. Crazy as it was, though, Anna had still loved it.

"Everyone man or woman who stands here today," Elsa had called out in the ice palace full of Arendelle citizens, her sword held high above her head, "Who is willing and/or capable of bearing arms for their country, please kneel down at my feet."

A very large handful of adults knelt down, as did a number of wryly children. After kindly prodding the younger one's upwards, Elsa began her short speech.

"Now tell me, heroes… is this something you really want?"

Most everyone nodded, and she'd taken that as a good sign. Clearing her throat, she began to recite the memorized oath that her father used to on very rare, special occasions. She did a make a few adjustments to it, however, in order to save some precious training-time. And by that, she meant that she pretty much cut off half of the unnecessary words.

"Do you, citizens of Arendelle, swear to show bravery, courage, and most-of-all honor on the battlefield for whenever you may find yourself within it?"

"I swear," they chanted.

"Do you swear to hold your country_ before_ yourself? To put the needs of your people, your friends, and your family before your very own?"

"I swear."

"Do you swear to show pure loyalty to Arendelle? To never betray your beloved country for the enemy?"

"I swear."

She'd done a few more of these simple recitations before she got to the final one.

"And now, swear to me before I end this, that no matter what happens, you will fight for one reason and one reason only. You will not do it because you hate those before you, but because you love those behind you, and that's that. As long as you do this, you will always remember to put mercy before vengeance, and that's the most important thing of all. Understand? Do you swear?"

The many voices that replied this time were so deeply intertwined that they almost seemed like one, deep rumbling of a giant. "I swear."

That last part of the oath was her own creation, made completely on the spot, but she found herself quite fond of it. Upon hearing them agree, Elsa raised her sword in the air again and brought it down in a swift arc, making sure it hit nothing but pure air.

"Well then, you have all proven yourselves worthy. I now pronounce each and every one of you an official knight of the great kingdom of Arendelle."

The joy and cheers that had followed that certain pronunciation had been ecstatic. As had been the entire point of the exercise, the soldiers had not lost their motivation since, their shiny titles of 'knight' being too much for their human hearts to resist. But now, as they stood on the brink of battle, each one refusing to show fear on their expression-less faces, she wondered if they would take it all back if they could.

"We're ready," Dustin said to bring her back to reality. Once again he tried to assure her, but his words were almost completely drowned out when Anna screamed at the very top of her lungs, "PREPARE TO FACE THE WRATH OF THE ICE QUEEN!"

Aside from the fact that the enemy creatures were too far away to hear her anyway, Anna also managed to nearly deafen half of Elsa's previously fully-capable soldiers, so despite her obviously good intentions, that fiercesome battle-cry couldn't exactly be considered helpful.

Soon, far too soon, the enemy was right up to Elsa's protective wall, conversing amongst themselves in words too muffled to comprehend. She could, however, see them through the transparent ice, and though Pabbie had warned her of their dark and gruesome appearance, she still couldn't help but cringe at their very presence.

Short, stubby bodies. Fat, round noses. Skin completely gray and gritty. They looked almost exactly like the trolls themselves, except for the fact that they were almost the exact opposite.

Even as far away as she was, separated by a semitransparent boundary, Elsa could still see the deformed, grotesque features of each and every one of their faces, seeming to almost glare back at her from outside her self-made prison. Their eyes were a glowing, glistening red… the kind of evil color people were only supposed to see in fairly tales. And their teeth, too. Oh, their teeth. Giant, pink fangs hanging out of their mouth, biting and gnashing and drooling and laughing with such high, cold voices. She couldn't hear the laughs just yet, but somehow she knew that they would be very, very cold. Enough to send chills even down even _her_ spine.

Different from the normal trolls, these certain one's had hair almost completely blackened by soot, hanging long and drab from every mushy skull. But worst of all, of course, was their skin. Sickly, brittle, decaying… they looked as if they had been buried underground for weeks, eaten away by the bugs and decomposers in the soil before finally being allowed to come back to the surface. She was sure they must've smelled just the same.

When Pabbie had first told her that their enemies were 'evil trolls,' she had been originally quite shocked, and then afterwards completely disbelieving. The only trolls _she'd _ever heard about were the crazy, nature-loving, slightly-eccentric one's that lived in the woods some miles off from her kingdom. Were they wild? Yes. But evil? Not in the slightest. Trolls couldn't be evil! They just… couldn't.

But yes, apparently they could. Pabbie had gone on and on about the dangers these certain enemies possessed, and how it was necessary that Elsa be as careful as humanly possibly when interacting with them. Concerned as he seemed to be, however, when she asked him for more information on these so-called 'evil trolls,' and why on earth they would be after _her_ of all people, his lips were immediately sealed.

"They are our darker cousins," he explained. "Like us, but corrupted by the evil of the world. Do not underestimate them; that is all I can say."

"But, wait!" Elsa began, frantic to find out more, "How am I supposed to—?"

"That is all I can say," he'd repeated firmly. "I'm sorry, my queen, but you'll just have to figure out the rest on your own."

It really hadn't been too helpful, and standing here now, right in front of what felt like thousands upon thousands of those horrible creatures all around, she couldn't help but think that it would've been quite useful had he actually bothered to _tell_ her something. _But no,_ she disciplined her, _he'd had his reasons._ If he didn't want her to question him, then she wouldn't question. He was a smart creature, and she had to respect him as much as she was able.

A few hours later, however, this self-discipline left her mind as the last of a certain-structure's supports crumbled down, the troll's combined forces having proven too much for it. Elsa had listened, gulp in her throat, as a large, ear-splitting crack rang out all around her and her people. A surge of ice-dust suddenly began to pour into the mountain air, filling it with a foggy white-mist that was impossible to see through, and by the time everyone's vision was finally cleared, they could all see quite clearly that the wall that had once protected them so effectively from the world was now completely and utterly gone. Reduced to a mere pile of crumbling ice shards all around them, stretching for miles in both directions.

Elsa was not sure what kind of powerful magic would be able to cause such horrible destruction to such a previously strong structure, but as she saw the leader of the evil-trolls smile at her with his pinkened, bloodied fangs, what she did know was this:

From here on out, things were about to get a _whole _lot more complicated.

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><p><strong>Well, what did you think? Not great, I know, but I promise you that the next few chapters are going to be a LOT more exciting than these first two. I'm just setting the stage right now, the real stuff is yet to come. Trust me when I say it will soon get VERY intense and emotional (or at least I hope it will).<strong>

**Thanks for reading! Please review and give me your ****opinions! **


	3. The Fire

**Hey guys! It's update time again! Excited? **

**This chapter begins exactly where the last chapter ends, so there isn't much to explain. I do want to tell you, though, that I make a few references to my other fanfic 'The Ice Princess' in this chapter. I tried to explain them fairly well, however, so if you haven't read it then you should still be fine :).**

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><p><span><em>Chapter Three: The Fire<em>

Everything began the moment the wall went down.

Trolls. Trolls everywhere. With their long, pink fangs and cold, red eyes and dark, ashy skin, and… wow. Just wow. They really were a sight to see, weren't they? Even as Elsa stood there, trying her hardest to demonstrate bravery and strength on that patch of icy ground, she could feel many of her fellow soldiers stiffen considerably beside her. They, too, were intimidated by the mere sight of their enemies, and that was never a good sign.

Well, at least not _all_ of her warriors were easily-terrified human beings, so that was a plus.

It had been Marshmallow who had given her the idea. The same Marshmallow, in fact, that had gone berserk and attacked Anna and Kristoff half a decade ago. Though Elsa had previously regarded this specific snowman as simply a 'failed project,' she'd gone back to the North Mountains a year or so after the incident to retrieve the crown she'd so unceremonious thrown on the floor of her ice palace. Long story short, after a seemingly-endless search and some mild-to-severe anxiety, she'd eventually found that giant, terrifying snow monster wandering around in the tundra, the crown she so desperately needed atop his head and—even more surprising—the word 'Mama' on his lips.

Apparently, though vastly temperamental, Marshmallow was not as monstrous as he'd originally seemed. For the past many months, he'd just been searching the land of ice and snow looking for his apparent-mother Elsa, unable to leave the boundaries of the mountains due to an understandable fear of melting. Formal as she was, the queen was not heartless. What other choice did she have but to take the poor thing back to Arendelle with her?

The snow-cloud she'd had to conjure above the monster's head was huge, and though it had been difficult getting the townspeople used to him at first, within weeks—helped greatly by the fact that everyone loved Olaf, and he went around calling the big guy his older brother—children were using Marshmallow as their own personal play-place, climbing all over his limbs and torso as if he were an actual mountain. Annoying as Elsa thought it would get for the poor guy, he seemed to mentally be a child himself, and therefore found just about as much joy in the game as all of the others.

Anyway, regardless of his actually quite-kind nature, Marshmallow really did have a very large and threatening appearance. When he'd first heard about the invasion—declaring in his large, booming voice that "Me will crush anyone who tries to hurt Mama!"—she just knew the perfect weapon to use for battle.

All around her, now—standing on either side of her front wall of soldiers—were near-duplicates of that giant snow-monster, icicles sticking out from all areas of their bodies and chests heaving forward in violent, imposing stances. Surely, with all the damage Marshmallow managed to do merely on _accident_ when he slipped and fell in town, these guys would prove valuable assets in battle.

Most importantly, though, they were replaceable.

Though Elsa didn't exactly understand it, she was perfectly aware by now that Olaf and Marshmallow were two objects of her creation that had somehow managed to become _alive_. Developed hearts, developed personality, developed minds of their very own. It would've been so fascinating to her had it not been so incredibly terrifying. The way Olaf had gone and found Anna five years ago without her telling him to was certainly an example of this, as was the moment when Marshmallow had lost his cool and started chasing her and Kristoff. Both of these things were actions that Elsa would've never condoned… and yet they had happened regardless, simply because the snow-creatures had _wanted_ them to. It was just so strange. She didn't know why it had even happened.

What Elsa did know now, however, was how to control it. As the ice-monsters all crowded around her today, each and every one was completely connected to her, held by seemingly-invisible 'strings.' With these, Elsa was the puppet-master, in control of their every single thought and action. Of course she still had a sort of string with Olaf and Marshmallow—a connection that allowed them to read each other's emotions, to know where each other was, to have this sort of 'inclination' regarding everything that they did or said—but it was a different sort. That certain string connected only to their hearts. In all the other monsters, it attached to nearly every limb of their body, their chests and their minds and even their expressions… allowing Elsa full and complete control. She must've accidentally cut the string when she had made Olaf and Marshmallow, which had allowed them to develop their own personalities. Now, however, she knew enough not to make the same mistake ever again.

Oh, not that it was a mistake. In fact, Elsa loved what she had done more than she could ever even hope to explain. Olaf was the nicest, funniest little guy she could imagine, and Marshmallow was just a big old teddy bear. She would never even _consider_ taking them back. But the thing was… when she was about to go into battle with such a powerful and terrifying enemy, having soldiers that were nice and soft wasn't exactly the priority. She wanted one's that were never afraid of anything, never wavered in following a single order, could die without it being tragic simply because they had never really lived in the first place… for she knew that when the strings were there, they were not actual sentient beings, but merely just extensions of herself. This way, she could use these snow-giants to fight and then allow them to sink back into the ground when it was all over, for as much as she loved her Marshmallow, having twenty more of him really wouldn't be a desirable option for her kingdom.

'_PREPARE TO FIGHT_!' Elsa shot out in her head, not exactly in words but just in a mere _feeling. _She felt the ground shift slightly below her as all the snow-giants she'd just telepathically commanded got into position at once. Of course, despite all the benefits, the negative about having soldiers that couldn't think for themselves was just that… they couldn't _think for themselves_. She was going to have to instruct them every step of the way in this battle, and considering there were twenty-plus of them scattered all around the place, she was going to have quite the challenge trying to focus. It was as if her consciousness had split, and if she didn't pay enough attention to each and every one of the pieces, something was going to fall apart.

Despite the fact that the message had only been directed at her snowmen, and should not have been heard by anyone not directly connected to her mind, one of the more-noticeable trolls gave her a sickening smirk, as if he knew exactly what she'd just done.

"Now, now Elsa," he said, stepping closer to her with his fangs glistening in the sunlight, "I think there's been a misunderstanding. I'm not here to fight you."

_Damn right you're not_, Elsa thought sarcastically, glaring at him. Despite how shallow this might've sounded to any other's ears, she couldn't help but distrust him just by the suspicious way he looked.

The skin of all the other trolls may have been dark and gritty, but on this certain one, he was so pale and sickly-looking that he shown almost brighter than the snow. This made his red-eyes glow even more noticeably than it did in his companions, and the long, straight hair that hung way down his back was a pale, bloody pink to match his fangs. His smile was so calm, but oh-God so terrifying, and Elsa struggled not to flinch at the sight of it. She could tell that he was the leader, of course, by the red-crystal necklace that rested gently on his chest… an attribute none of the other 'anti-trolls' seemed to have.

"There need not be a battle, my Queen," the troll king repeated, his words a seductive hiss. Unlike the way Pabbie addressed her, his voice held not even a hint of actual respect, instead seeming almost to mock her.

"Then why did you follow us here?" Elsa growled, the entire mountain deathly quiet so as to hear what the two were saying. "Why did you bring an entire _army_ by your side."

"Ah, yes," he said, so casually that it made her insides twist. "Why don't you just come over here and speak to me in private, then I can explain to you this little situation of ours. It seems so foolish… the way we speak from such a distance away."

That was true, at least. Elsa nearly had to shout to be sure he could hear her all the way over by the crumbling ice, and she would've liked to be able to return to her normal manner of cool collectedness. Still… approaching the trolls alone and undefended did not seem like such a good idea at the moment.

"And why don't you come over _here_?" she asked, making sure the suspicion shown from her voice. "Surely that would make no difference?"

"I'm afraid that won't do, my Queen. I have something private I must share with you. Feel free to tell your people after… but for now, we speak alone."

Speak alone. What an absolute _preposterous_ request for a conniving, corrupted soul to make. She would've turned him down right away, wiped that stupid smirk off his face by ordering her men to charge, had she really had the option to.

What kind of person would she be to attack a group of people—even if they weren't people at all—who were offering to speak to her first? What if they wanted to make a peace treaty, or ask for help, or discuss a code of laws! Of course, the vastly-negative things the real trolls had said about them still stuck heavily to the edges of her mind, but how could she do anything without seeing it for herself? Elsa had promised herself as a little girl that, just like her fair-old mom and daddy, as the queen of Arendelle she would never, ever attack a kingdom first… she would only fight to defend herself. And as dangerous as this situation was clearly getting, her feelings on that subject still held true and strong. She would make no exceptions. Unless Elsa wanted to break that rule, she was just going to have to suck it up and do as the blinding-troll commanded of her.

"Fine, then. We shall speak privately. But I must ask that you, in turn, keep your soldiers away from me and my people as we do so.

"Ask and you shall receive," the troll whispered, and with a snap of the fingers all the other trolls had backed up considerably, leaving a perfectly safe space around the king for which Elsa could discuss with him. The queen had not yet taken one step forward, however, when suddenly…

"NO!"

She turned her head to the side and—surprise, surprise—it was Anna, now looking frantic.

"You can't just _go _with him!" she insisted, exasperation filling her voice. "He's evil; he might try and hurt you!"

Aww, that was so sweet. Anna was worried about her! It was a pointless thing to feel, but the queen appreciated it all the same.

"I think I can handle myself, Anna," Elsa said, smiling amusedly at her sister's evident concern. "I do have a little something called ice powers, in case you've forgotten."

"I… I know," she said slowly, lowering her voice so that the many eavesdroppers all around couldn't hear, "But that doesn't mean you're invincible, Elsa."

"Of course not. But_ they_ don't need to know that."

She turned away from her sister—whispering "don't worry, it'll be alright" under her breath—and soon she was walking straight and tall towards the enemy, Anna looking extremely nervous but otherwise not doing anything to stop her.

"Why have you interfered with my kingdom?" she demanded of the pale troll once she had approached him, both out of earshot from all the watching soldiers and invaders. "What is it you need from me?"

"No need to sound so _hostile_**_, _**my lady," the troll replied smoothly, and she absolutely _despised_ that smirk across his lips. "I truly mean you no harm."

_Yeah right_, she thought, but the phrase was too childish to say aloud.

"Pabbie has told me about you," she replied instead. "He warned me not to trust you."

"Ah, Pabbie," the troll whispered, as if reminiscing on some old, childhood friends. "My faithful brother. Always so pessimistic; it saddens me."

_Oh_. Pabbie had mentioned something about the good trolls being related to the evil, but as far as him actually being a _brother_ to the king of them? Well, that was new.

Elsa opened her mouth to ask about this, but was cut off when the troll piped up, "Well-well, where are my manners?"

Despite the fact that his height made this endeavor useless, he kneeled down at her feet, grabbing her hand so as to hold it to his lips. This was most often a sign of respect to rulers… but when he did it? Somehow, it felt like the worst insult imaginable.

"Call me Tedar… ruler of the great and vastly-misunderstood population of the Slave Trolls."

He touched his lips to her hand, and though she knew it must've only been her imagination, she felt her skin burn at the contact.

"Slave Trolls?" she asked, confused at the name and trying to act as if nothing at all was wrong with it. "Why such a title, if I may ask?"

"Never mind that," Tedar answered, calmly brushing the question aside, "But know that we are just as good as your other friends. No matter what the Free Trolls say, we only mean you well."

Free Trolls. So that was what Pabbie's group was called. She wondered why…

"Well," she said suddenly, remembering what they were here for. "Go on, then. What is it that you wanted to discuss with me?"

God, that smile of his. It really did make her sick.

"Straightforward, aren't you?" he remarked cooly. "I like that."

She glared at him in agitation.

"And?"

"And I came here to ask you for a little… erm… _agreement_, let's say."

"Agreement?" she repeated, eyebrows raised in surprise. "What about?"

"Something I'm sure is very important to you. Bare with me here, My Queen… this offer is much kinder than you may realize at first."

She sighed, already tired of his tendency to avoid her actual area of interest.

"I think I'll decide that for myself, thank you."

"Ah, yes. Of course you will." His grin still stretched across his face as he spoke, and she resisted the urge to throttle him. "Well, my dear, what me and my people offer you is this: a peace treaty."

_Oh. _A peace treaty! Well that was great, wasn't it! Now there would be no need for this silly, foolish battle they'd been so nervously preparing for. What a wonderful relief that was. Elsa simply couldn't_ help_ the sigh she released as a flood of tension she didn't know she had was lifted from her chest.

"A peace treaty," Elsa said slowly, trying desperately to stifle her smile. "Interesting. What are the terms?"

_That_ question, she figured, was when everything started to go wrong.

"If you agree," Tedar began, looking her straight in the eyes without even a hint of humor, "To hand over all your people, give me direct rule over you entire kingdom, and use your powers in whichever way I direct… then I swear that I will not hurt a single one of your precious Arendelle citizens."

Elsa blinked at him, trying to determine whether or not this was some kind of unfunny joke.

"Um… what?"

Yeah, that wasn't a very queenlike statement of her, but whatever. Nobody could be formal _all_ the time.

"Trust me when I tell you that my rule—under of which both you and your citizens will serve—will grant you power and wealth unimaginable in its depth. You and my people… together we will truly be unstoppable."

Elsa could barely even breathe at this.

"Wha—I mean—I can't just _join_ you!"

He raised a curious eyebrow. "And why not, my Queen? Shall I remind you that if you decline, my troll army is the fiercest and most-unstoppable group of fighters that you will ever face? I would not want us to be your enemies if I were you. It would serve Arendelle so much better to simply merge with us, don't you agree?"

"Agree?" Elsa spat, and suddenly her confusion and disbelief was replaced by a bright, flashing anger. "Who do you think I am? I am no _pushover_, you know, no _coward, _if that's what you think! And just for the record, neither is anyone else in my kingdom! We will not just _submit_ to you; we're not afraid to put up a fight, and we'll prove it. This very 'peace treaty' is incredibly insulting to both me and my people!"

Tedar did not look at all like somebody who'd just been rejected on a very serious and important offer. He just continued to look at her, his expression calm and pleasant.

"So is it a decline, then?"

"Yes," Elsa said seriously. "It is a decline."

He smirked at her, and she noticed his eyes flashing in their sockets. "If you wish."

…

"_Nich Ra'to Mayina!" _

_"__O'pa! O'pa! O'pa!" _

Elsa blinked again. It took her a second to realize that the strange, deep-throated chant had come from Tedar, and the just-as-strange reply from his entire troll army. Before she knew it, each and every one of them was walking closer and closer to her, arms straight and stiff at their sides as the incomprehensible words continued to fly from their lips. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up, and she felt the soldiers somewhat far behind her begin to raise their weapons.

"Advance!" Elsa yelled to her army, and unwavering in their loyalty, they did just as she commanded. Soon, they were all besides her, the troll-soldiers standing in a straight line no more than three feet away. She saw her people preparing themselves to strike, was almost ready to do it herself, but then suddenly a tiny, previously-missed detail caught her eye, and she ordered them all to halt. Big mistake.

"What?" asked Anna, who despite having a long-range bow couldn't help but force herself into the frontline. "Why did we stop?"

"They..." the queen began, unable to put this strange realization into words, "They..."

"It's time for battle, Elsa!" she interrupted, impulsive as always. "Don't tell me you're getting cold feet now!"

"It's not that, it's just—"

"C'mon! It's a war; we need to fight them!"

Elsa sighed, knowing that no matter what way she put this, it was going to sound odd.

"It's hard to fight when the opposing side doesn't have any weapons…"

Anna and the rest of the soldiers gaped down at the trolls' completely-empty hands, and in this single moment in which all were caught off guard, Tedar made his move. Suddenly, the troll king lifted both arms into the air, his mouth still chanting on and on in a language Elsa was completely unfamiliar with. Everyone just continued to watch in shock as a thick, green fog emanated from his hands into the fresh mountain air. All the Slave Trolls behind him followed his example, and in a flash of a moment it was like there was a giant, monstrous wave of green gas imposing down in front of them all, ready to swallow their entire population whole.

"Elsa?" Anna asked from beside her, looking just as confused and scared as the rest of the people, "What going o—?"

She couldn't even finish her sentence, the green smoke blowing forward into her lungs and causing her to break out into a series of deep, spastic coughs. Beside her, everyone else was doing the same, and strangely, only Elsa seemed to be completely unaffected.

"Anna!"

One by one, the people stopped coughing, lifting their faces upwards again as if nothing had gone wrong in the first place. But somehow, they were't the same people anymore. Not at all. Elsa noticed that their faces, having moments ago demonstrated complete fear and confusion, were now totally expressionless, and their blank-eyes stared straightforward for no real reason at all. Something was happening—obviously—and it didn't seem to be a very _promising _thing.

More and more people were looking up, now, their faces appearing to be nothing more than those of blank, plastic dolls. A real stretch of emotion filled Elsa's chest, and suddenly she was screaming in fear for her people, knowing that this was something she had absolutely no control over.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" she shrieked at Tedar, unable to control herself. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO THEM?!"

He just smiled, of course. He always smiled.

Fear gripping every part of her body, Elsa held her breath and slowly turned herself back towards Anna. Relief ripped itself through her when she saw the girl hadn't gone all blank-eyed yet, but still she was coughing hard, her entire torso shaking considerably. It was almost as if she was fighting whatever was happening. Well… yes! Yes, of _course _Anna would be the one to fight it! She was Anna, after all. The most determined girl Elsa ever knew.

Hope pricking at the corners of her eyes, Elsa reached forward and placed a gentle hand on Anna's shoulder. The girl stopped shaking instantaneously, and without a say in the way things would turn out, the queen just waited for her to return, biting her lip in anxiety.

"Huh?" Anna yelled out suddenly, and her head shot up, eyes wild and lively and anything, _anything_ but blank. "Elsa? Elsa, what just happened?"

Relieved, Elsa could not find a way to respond, but the red-headed woman needn't take one long around before she understood.

"Oh…"

The green, foggy gas was still advancing in the air, now moving towards her monumental ice-palace and overcoming it in all its mere enormity. Elsa could already imagine the hundreds upon hundreds of people inside of it, all suddenly going into spasms of coughing and ending up with those same, expression-less faces. God, oh God, oh God, oh God…

What on earth was going _on_?

As if reading her mind, Tedar finally decided to answer.

"I made them see the truth," he said, grinning, and suddenly the fog just dissipated from the air. A second more, and all the expressions returned to her people's faces, but this time there was something off about them. Something very, very wrong. She just couldn't quite put her finger on it…

"Monster!"

Hm? Elsa flipped her head to the side to see a tall, dark-haired man—she recognized him as one of the many Arendelle citizens who thanked her whenever she walked by—pointing at her and glaring, anger practically emanating off of his face.

"She's a witch! A witch!"

Another person. This one was a woman, and Elsa had only just yesterday agreed to make her a giant, un-meltable snowflake to give to her daughter as a birthday gift.

"She'll kill us all!" someone shouted, though the queen couldn't exactly see who it was.

"Not if we kill her first!"

"She needs to be punished for her crimes!"

Ummm… what? Elsa did a three-sixty turn on the icy ground, glancing around at the numerous soldiers surrounding her. Nearly every single one of them—excluding Anna, of course, who was now looking absolutely baffled—pointed accusingly at Elsa, an array of bitter, venom-filled words spitting from their lips. Only her faithful assistant Dustin was still coughing, and even _he_ seemed to be fighting a losing battle.

"We need to stop her!"

"She's dangerous!"

"SOMEBODY GRAB THAT WITCH!"

All at the once, a surge of people—looking more like a swarm of angry, buzzing bees—began to push their way towards her. They were still screaming those same obscenities, and for some reason, Elsa got the feeling that they weren't exactly coming in for a hug. They descended upon her, ready to swallow her up the same way the green smoke had done to them, and all the while she just stood there and stared right back at them, her options dwindling down to zero.

"Stop!" Anna yelled, jumping up in front of Elsa and holding out her hands to halt the crowd. It was such a sweet gesture, but quite a useless one, for with their mere strength and numbers they just trudged right on through her shaky, one-woman wall, overcoming the poor girl without even an ounce of effort.

And wow, _wow_, now it was her turn and they were all stampeding towards her like a herd of wild cattle, swarming her until she felt as if she was drowning in a sea of bodies. Pushed this way, pulled the other, she felt skin brush skin so many times but there were simply too many flashes of body parts to keep up with. So she just stood there and tried to stay afloat, completely confused as to what in the world was going on. She fought back not a bit as the hundreds upon hundreds of people moved forward to trample her, and only when she was knocked over—her head slamming violently against the cold, hard ground—was she allowed to sink off into the calm, uncomfortable darkness of unconsciousness.

She came round an unknown amount of time later, something stiff pressed tightly against her back. Or, more accurately, her _back_ pressed tightly against something stiff. For a few seconds, she just leaned on it, her head pounding too violently and her mind far too groggy to bother investigating. Soon, however, the emotions she'd been left with before she passed out returned, and she knew she couldn't just stand there and do nothing.

Very slowly, the blur of lights and colors in front of her eyes began to focus itself, and squinting her eyes against the blinding light of the rising sun, she started to try and absorb her complex situation.

Woah, wait a second… a rising sun? She must've been out longer than she'd thought. And what exactly had happened, anyway? All her memories were kind of foggy.

Elsa raised her hand to gently message her temple, but she found, to her dismay, that her hand wouldn't lift at all. In fact, _both_ her hands wouldn't lift, and there was an uncomfortable stinging sensation on her wrists. Craning her next to try and get a good glimpse of what was behind her, she saw that there was a thick, fraying rope that tied both her hands together, her arms wrapped backwards around some thick piece of wood sticking out from the earth. There was another, similar rope against her stomach that kept her backside attached to this solid object, and it was tight enough that she found herself struggling to breathe. To make things worse, the rope's surface was anything but soft, chaffing her skin and leaving red, scaly marks that she knew wouldn't fail to itch later on.

Shaking her head slowly, Elsa blinked and allowed herself to gaze around at her surroundings. All she saw at first, however, were a lot of people. A lot, a lot, a whole _lot_ of people. They looked angry, furious even, and suddenly something in the queen's brain clicked. She gasped as memories flooded her, nearly causing her to lose her footing.

"Anna!"

The last thing she remembered was seeing the princess being taken in by the crowd of wild, Arendelle citizens. If Elsa had been knocked out so easily, surely _anything_ could've happened to the girl…

"Anna! Anna! A—"

"Elsa, it's alright! I'm here!"

Alright? She didn't look alright. Not with Anna standing there at least thirty feet away from her, separated by a sea of people and holding onto long, carved sticks that could only be making up the bars of a prison. She was tied down, and now her sister was trapped inside a wooden cage that had come from only God-knows-where. How much_ better _could things get?

"Ah, queen…" said a familiar icy voice, coming from the blindingly-pale form of a troll next to Anna's newly-carved cell. "I'm so glad to see that you have finally awakened. Now the fun can _really_ begin."

Before then, the defining chanting of the crowd—for it was just that, a thousand angry voices all screaming at once—managed to make its way to her ears, and she picked out a few select suggestions.

"Kill the witch!"

"Make her pay!"

"Burn her at the stake!"

Ah, stake. So that's what this large, wooden beam was that she was tied to. How clever: melting the queen of ice. Who could have thought of that?

Fun as this game was, Elsa wasn't having any of it. If she going to get out of this—and yes, that was her plan—then she needed to act quickly. In one quick burst of fury, she sent her powers out of her hands, and immediately a large surge of ice swept onto the ropes that bound her. Faced with such frost, they immediately turned brittle, and it took her not one nice tug before they cracked and crumbled into nonexistence. Much like her precious wall.

"Anna, I'm coming!" she yelled out to the girl, but she doubted she could've heard her if she was standing two feet away, much less thirty. Upon seeing Elsa's escape, the screams around them grew even louder, some of the more insulting profanities ringing heavily in her ear.

"ANNA!" she screamed again, but no go. She couldn't even see her, now, what with all the people starting to swarm her.

"Get away," she said to the men and women who approached her, expressions of hate plaguing faces that had once looked upon her with admiration. "Get away from me; I can hurt you!"

Oh, but she knew she wouldn't. Not them. Not her own people, her own citizens, her very own _family_. She would no sooner hurt them than hurt Anna, and she knew deep down in the very core of her soul that she would never even _dream_ about hurting strong, kind Anna again.

In pure hopelessness, Elsa turned to the only person—the only _thing_—that she'd rather do anything to avoid.

_Stop them, _she mouthed desperately to Tedar, hoping to God that he'd be willing to oblige. _Let's work things out. _

But no go. The troll just stood there and stared at her, that same, obscene smile still stretched across his face. He made no move to quiet down the crowd, and she knew that he must've been enjoying himself. Here Elsa was, in complete and utter panic, and that troll was _enjoying _himself! That fool, that scoundrel, that coward. If he wanted this, then know what? He was going to get it.

"FINE!" Elsa shrieked, and her fury was so pure and blood-chilling that for a moment everything actually quieted. "Do what you will!"

She began to walk, slowly and with dignity, back to the stake that still stood unmoved behind her.

"No!" Anna yelled from her cage, and Elsa could hear the pure fear in her voice but payed it no outward attention.

_It'll be okay_, she mouthed to the girl as she allowed her hands to be rebound by fresh, un-frozen ropes. _Just trust me_.

And by God, something must've really changed in the last few years in their lives, because suddenly—for what seemed like the first time in forever—Anna actually did. She didn't keep fighting, didn't scream and cry and do everything in her power to save her sister's life, but simply nodded her head and stepped back a little, now completely silent. Trust. Anna actually trusted her. The thought was far too plain and wonderful for her to comprehend.

"Get on with it, then," she said firmly as the villagers exchanged maliciously-eager looks, preparing themselves to burn her to her gruesome death. "Light me."

She could see the look of utter surprise and even—if she did say so herself—slight discomfort on Tedar's face, and she knew that this was not something he'd been expecting to happen. Maybe he really _didn't_ want her dead after all. Maybe he'd just wanted a way to demonstrate his vast power, to scare her into complete submission. She smirked to herself, sending him an arrogant glare. How he must be feeling now, his entire plan having backfired. She could almost feel the way his insides _squirmed._

Oh, but he was not ready to back-out just yet, and she was glad.

"If this is truly what you want… then go ahead, _Queen_."

He thought that she was only testing him. That she was going to admit any second now that it was only a sham, and she really was afraid of death like the rest of the entire human race. But oh no. She knew something that he didn't, and she sure as hell was going to take advantage of it.

Plastering a copy of his same, obscene smile across her face, Elsa just waited there in complete stillness as the first bit of flame was thrown upon her stake. That, of course, was when the _real _fun began.

Up and up and up she felt the flame climb upon her, using her soft, pale skin like the sturdy rungs of a ladder. If not the actual heat—which she had been impervious to since the day she was born—Elsa could at least identify the _presence_ of the fire. A soft, faintly-uncomfortable tinkling sensation that started at her ankles and worked its way upwards. There was no pain, though. The queen knew enough now to expect this.

Just in time to save her clothing, Elsa put forth a little effort to cover the fabric in a light layer of frost. Not very strong, but good enough to protect her work. Still standing next to Anna's cage, Tedar stared at her curiously, and she knew he must've been wondering why she thought her easily-meltable ice would be any match against such a swallowing heat. Or even why a burnt-to-the-crisp corpse needed clothing, anyway. But he didn't know what she did. Elsa had no plans on becoming a corpse anytime soon.

"Burn! Burn! Burn! Burn!" the crowd all chanted with those hateful flashes in their eyes, watching from a safe distance so as not to get burned themselves. Clearly, they didn't realize what was happening yet. But that was alright. When the reaction kicked in, not a single soul would be able to ignore it for a moment longer.

"Burn! Burn! Burn! Burn!"

The orange flames had climbed up the entire length of her legs, now licking her hips like the soft, pleasant current of water. Even the ice-covered skirt she wore appeared to be alight, but she wondered if anyone had noticed yet that both her skin and clothing were completely unharmed. Not a burn mark to be seen, and certainly no melting.

"Burn! Burn! Burn! Burn!"

The flickering heat was up to her chest now, and Elsa smiled to see that the change was starting to occur. Steadily, of course, but it was happening all the same. She looked up to see Anna staring at her from within her cage, smiling from the excitement. So… she remembered, too. It may have only been one moment, four years ago and followed by an event that blew it completely out of the water, but it had still happened, and Anna remembered. That made it so much easier; now both of them could laugh at the shocked looks on everybody else's face.

"Burn! Burn! Burn! Burn!"

Ah, yes! Here it was now! The very base of the flames—orange-white as it always seemed to be—had faded almost completely, and in its place… a change. Small at first, but then it grew and grew and grew until suddenly it was impossible not to notice. Until suddenly everybody's eyes were drawn to her like bees to honey, and even _she_ couldn't stop herself from looking. There it was... that purple. A beautiful, translucent, glittering shade of purple that surrounded Elsa's body like a halo. The orange was still there, near the very tips of the flames, but that only succeeded in adding dimension to the already stunning affect. It was like her soul had an aura. But not just any old aura… the most powerful one anybody had ever witnessed.

"Burn! Burn! Burn! Bu—"

"Wait! No, what's she doing?"

"What's going on? What's going on?"

Elsa smirked silently to herself at the sound of all the confused, angry voices that surrounded her. She didn't blame them, really, but she still found it pretty funny. And by the looks of Anna's face, so did she. Ah, memories.

A few years ago, Elsa and Anna had been sitting near a lit fireplace when all of the sudden—she couldn't exactly remember her reasonings for this, but they probably weren't very sound—Elsa found herself sitting there with her hand shoved deep into the flame. An experiment, almost, just to see what would happen. Probably not the _best _idea, but if she hadn't done it, she wouldn't have known.

She was resistant to fire.

Contrary to what one must've expected, heat did nothing to Elsa. She could not feel it, she could not be harmed by it, she could barely even touch it! She'd known this the moment she'd watched her hand engulfed in those so-called dangerous flames and had not even flinched, feeling as if she'd just dipped her hand into a pool of running water. And she knew it now, too, as she simply stood here, tickling all over as the hypnotized men and women watched with disbelieving eyes. It was not a skill that came without it's benefits.

Just being _resistant_ to the fire, however, was not all there was to it. As had happened the first time she'd come in contact with the element, there did happen to be a sort of… _reaction_ between them and her powers. Not a dangerous one, surely, but something more along the lines of fascinating. The red of the flames mixed with the blue of her power and suddenly… purple. A shimmering, purple-tinted mist in the air that marked the boundary between herself and the fire. She hadn't exactly found any practical use for it, yet, but she couldn't deny that it was quite the sight to see.

_It makes you look like a goddess_, Elsa saw Anna mouth from across the sea of people, eyes glittering with admiration as she stared upon her. The queen couldn't keep herself from smiling as the purple tint overtook her head and hair, her entire body now fully engulfed. Finally… it was time for her to stop her endless wait and begin her little show.

_Crack! _

Just as quick as last time, she sent a wave of frost over the already-singed ropes that bound her, and in an instant they had crumbled to pieces and fallen away. The stake behind her was ever-steadily being chipped to nothingness by the overwhelming heat of the multi-colored fire, but when Elsa walked away she took the purple with her, and it went back to looking like a normal, burning stake lodged randomly into the ground.

Elsa continued to walk pleasantly towards her sister, taking long, striding steps to show off just how calm and collected she was. What a sight she must've been, though; a girl literally swallowed by fire just strolling along as if nothing was wrong in the slightest… a mysterious, shining substance practically emanating from her skin. She was pleased to see that the hypnotized citizens—who had once looked at her with such cold, violent hatred—now backed away to clear a perfect path, seemingly second-guessing themselves. Out of all of them, though, she was only interested in Tedar. She smiled at him mischievously, and she felt his obvious discomfort. But it wasn't enough.

Now, this next thing… it was not something she'd ever done before. Not something she'd ever even _considered_, but wow, now that she'd tried it she figured she ought to do it more often. It just felt so strange and exciting; and by the expression on Anna's face, it must've looked pretty cool too.

Elsa made flames. Licking, flickering, swirling flames that danced above her head and jumped out from her skin and caressed her face like a mother's gentle hand. The only difference between this flame and the original, actually, was the fact that her's were blue.

It wasn't too difficult to make—she'd always been able to create those millions of tiny ice-crystals in the sky, and she found out long ago just how easy they were to manipulate—it was just the way they _moved_ that was so astounding. They fluttered and blew and, yes, flickered in the air just the way a real fire did. _Exactly _the way a real fire did, actually. Now Elsa was surrounded by a layered halo of purple, orange, and blue flames all stacked one on top of the other… and wow, just _wow_, it was so fun.

Well, whatever Elsa was planning to do, there was no better time than now.

"Tedar," she said softly, and her voice so calm and masterfully cynical that she surprised even herself. "What do you think now?"

He said nothing in response to this, just glared at her impressive light-show, his entire stance emanating hatred.

"I'm sorry to be the one to say it, but you should know by now that things aren't going to go as you planned. Whatever you were hoping for, it's just not going to happen."

Still nothing, but his powerful gaze seemed only to intensify, and if looks could kill she knew she'd have been obliterated into a thousand icy pieces long ago.

"No matter what you think, you will never defeat my kingdom. Never defeat _me_. And you know why?"

She didn't wait for him to answer, speaking her next sentence with about a thousand times more power in her voice, more beautiful danger.

"Because I am _invincible! _See me now? I am literally on fire… and yet here I am, completely untouched. Nothing can harm me, nothing can break me, and if you think you will be the exception to this rule then you are _sadly_ mistaken!"

Psssh. Invincible? Hardly. Blades and arrows could still hurt her the same as anybody else; it was only anything temperature-related that she had this inborn resistance to. As technically bad as lying was, Elsa knew that at the moment intimidation was far more important than telling the truth, and she was more than willing to play the part.

"So go ahead! Try and stop me, you morally-blind fool. But just remember this… no matter what you do, no matter how close you'll think you are to winning, it's all an illusion. I will always, and I mean _always_, be two steps ahead of you, and that will never change. So go ahead and make your pointless next move… just remember. I am invincible, and no matter what you try, no one will ever stop me."

God, what a speech. Elsa would've spent some more time reveling in the courage it took her to make it, had Tedar not been so insistent on taking her up on her offer to 'make a move.'

"People!" he screamed, his voice still so high-pitched and evil but not quite having the same effect on her as it did before. "The monster is getting away! Are you just going to let her do that, or do you want her to pay for her crimes against humanity just the same way that I do? What are you waiting for?! Draw your swords and show your corrupted queen exactly what happens to witches like her!"

Oops. Looks like she hadn't played it off as well as she thought she had. He knew she wasn't _actually _invincible to everything… but still, she had to act unafraid. If she wasn't physically invincible, then she would be emotionally, and she couldn't allow things like this to overpower her.

He must've wanted her to fight back—forcing her to kill her own people would be such a huge blow to her morale, she'd probably lose on the spot—but by some God-given miracle she managed to slip past the men and women with their advancing swords, backing into an empty stretch of snow that led directly into the woods. She was about to run off, actually, when all of the sudden she remembered…

"Anna!" Elsa found herself yelling, looking frantically back into the crowd of people. There she was, still in her cage and probably feeling rather stiff by now, but still perfectly alive and well.

"It's alright!" Anna yelled from within her confinement, holding onto the bars in front of her. "Go on without me! They won't hurt me as long as I'm not you, and I can work to set things straight while you're gone! Don't worry about me, just go!"

Elsa did not. She just stood there, the crowd inching steadily towards her as if approaching a deer about to run away at any moment. She couldn't just _leave_ her sister, could she? Tedar was by no means a moral troll, and if he wanted Anna dead…

"Just do it," the girl screamed, probably noticing her doubt. "Please! Just trust me!"

Gah, that trust thing. The biggest issue Elsa had. As much as she didn't want to do it, the queen remembered how just moments ago Anna had trusted her to literally set herself on _fire_, so of course Elsa had no option but to grant her the same. It was only fair; so if Anna wanted trust, then she would get it. Elsa just hoped to God the girl knew what to do with it.

In one quick flit of the wrist, Elsa shot out a shard of ice from her hand. With perfect aim, it hit the side of Anna's cage and knocked a few of the bars loose, just enough for her to escape without a problem. It was the very _least_ she could do if she was going to leave her behind. And besides, now Elsa had one less thing to worry about…

With a flash of white braid, Elsa turned her head and ran off into the woods, looking for something—_anything_—that might help her decide what on earth she was supposed to do next.

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><p><strong>Done! What did you think? Did I do a good job?<strong>

**Anyway, if you didn't realize, both the thing with Marshmallow and the stuff about Elsa's resistance to fire were things I originally explained in my first fanfiction. Hopefully those who didn't read understood what was happening perfectly fine. If not, though... I'm really sorry!**

**Please read and review! It would mean a lot to me :D. I'll try and update as soon as I can. **


	4. The Village

**Hey everybody! First off, let me just say that I'm SO SORRY for taking so long to update. I just had a really, really busy last-few-weeks-of-summer, and school just started, so I haven't had a lot of time to write. I got it done, though, so here it is. It starts a few hours after the last chapter left off.**

**Sorry in advance, btw, because this is another one of those less-interesting chapters. It's more of a way for me to connect the action, and even though it's sort of boring, it's necessary. I hope you like it!**

* * *

><p>Elsa didn't know exactly how much time had passed since she'd made her less-than-elegant escape from the mob of her own people, but she did know <em>one<em> thing for certain… she wasn't going to last much longer. Hours could've passed since she'd last seen her sister's face; she really had no idea. Hours and hours and hours of sprinting as fast as she could through the thick, windy woods. Of stumbling through sharp branches and twisted vegetation until her skin was as scratched as a hundred-year-old tree bark. Of breathing so heavily that she was almost certain her lungs were about to pop right out of her aching chest, leaving her body weak and oxygen-less. Wow, wow, wow, she really needed to get more exercise. As strong as she tried to be mentally, her physical fitness was a whole other story, and she was paying for it now.

What time was it, anyway? Elsa looked upwards, spying a purple, darkening sky between the branches of the trees surrounding her. So, it was sunset then… hadn't she started running at dawn? No wonder she was tired. No wonder her knees were shaking so wildly. No wonder she was seconds away from crashing to the ground and losing consciousness…

Elsa sighed heavily, knowing fully well that she was only kidding herself with the idea that she might be able to continue on. This was impossible, this was impossible... she needed to stop. Gasping continuously and clutching at a stitch in her side, the queen found a nice, thick tree and leaned herself upon it, sliding down the trunk until she was resting against its very base. Snow still blanketed the ground all around her, and she knew she'd probably wake up with her armor wet and crystalized, but there really wasn't much other choice. It wasn't like they had any queen-sized beds out here in the wilderness. She looked up towards the sky, letting the stars glimmer against her eyes for one more moment before she closed them, and then breathed deeply into the night.

God, things were so complicated now. So wildly, inexplicably, unbelievably complicated. She had absolutely no idea how she was supposed to deal with this mess she'd gotten herself into… and to think just hours ago she had actually claimed herself _invincible_. Pssh, what a load of lies it seemed now. If anybody, Anna was invincible, but her? She was the most fragile of them all. One little gust of wind and she would shatter like glass, like thinning ice, and she would never be able to come back together again. She knew this because it had almost happened to her a few years ago. Almost. Anna had saved her.

"It's alright," Elsa whispered aloud to herself, the same tone of voice she'd always used as a child to whisper that infamous mantra of 'conceal, don't feel.' "It's alright, it's going to be fine, just keep calm. Go to sleep, and once you wake up tomorrow morning you'll have a clear head and can sort through everything."

Just as it had never worked back then, however, talking herself into tranquility did not work now. She was still just as anxious, still just as fearful, still oh, so weak. But luckily, she was also still tired. Before long, she had drifted off into a deep, uncomfortable sleep, and as she did so another group of people—or should she say another group of _creatures_—took care of things for her.

…

"Pss… pss… Pabbie!"

"Yes, Bulda?"

Elsa stirred from unconsciousness. Words streamed across her ears as slow and smooth as river water, but they were muddy and slurred in her brain, not yet comprehensible. She played them into her current dream, allowing the sounds to roll around in her head.

"I just… I wanted to know. When are you going to tell her? We were all wondering, and I just thought—"

"When it's time, Bulda."

Elsa sensed gentle movement somewhere nearby, and though she was not yet able to react, she was beginning to gain further awareness of her muscles. The soft voices grew louder within her, becoming more than just a lulling background-music.

"But when will it be time?"

"Sometime after she awakes, I'm sure."

A hand touched her head, softly caressing her hair, and it pulled her even further into reality.

"Oh, yeah… about that, Pabbie… are you even sure she's going to? She's been asleep for an awful long time, y'know, and she didn't react at all while we were carrying her. She's such a dear, do you think Tedar did something to her? I swear, if he did—especially if he hurt my little Kristoff along the way—I will tear that sorry demon-spawn _apar_—"

"Mmmnghhh…"

Elsa moaned loudly, suddenly flipping over onto her side so as to avoid the copious amount of light streaming in through her closed eyelids.

"Shush now, Bulda. She's waking."

"Mmnnghhhmmm…"

Previously, she had been dreaming about her and Anna as little children, but as she stirred all memories of those strange, swirling images melted away. All that remained were those two, consistent voices pounding away at the inside of the brain… which meant that unlike the rest of the things she'd seen and heard so far today, they must've been real.

"Elsa, Elsa, can you hear me? Come towards my voice. I know it may be difficult, but you must come towards my voice."

Difficult… Difficult… she struggled to remember what that word meant. In fact, she struggled to do _anything _at the moment. All parts of her being were screaming for her to put her head down and go back to sleep. Fall right into that sweet, painless cloud of unconsciousness. It was just so tempting…

"Don't let yourself fall back to sleep, Elsa. It's very important that you wake up as soon as possible. It's the best for both of us."

"Mmmnnng…"

That familiar voice. Flowing so deep and smooth through the morning air. The tone was serious, very serious, and it sounded almost as if… as if... as if something was wrong. What if there was? What if something _was_ wrong, something _had_ gone bad, and then… what if… she had to wake up! She absolutely _had_ to wake up! Her people might be in trouble, and what about—

"Anna!"

Elsa's head exploded upwards, her drooping eyelids all-of-the-sudden as high as they could possibly go. She gasped a few times, turned her head quickly from side-to-side, and then allowed herself to relax as she took in her generally-calm surroundings.

"A-Anna?"

"Anna isn't here, Elsa. She's back on the North Mountains where you left her. It's just Bulda and I; we've come to help you."

"Help… me?"

It was at this point now that Elsa regained her full-awareness, followed immediately by a bright, embarrassed blush. The trolls had seen her half-asleep, mumbling and screaming in a way that seemed so incredibly ridiculous, and her hair… she brought her hand up to her head, feeling the frizz tickle her fingers as multiple pieces of it defied gravity at odd angles. Oh God, her hair. She'd trained herself not to move during sleep, so this almost _never_ happened. But no, the _one_ time she actually slept in front of company…

Elsa sighed deeply, wiping her palm across her white braid to help at least somewhat smooth it out. It did little good, but still. It made her feel a bit better. She knew that if Anna were here now, she'd probably be laughing. That girl loved it whenever she lost her queen-like formality; she said it reminded her that she wasn't the only one.

"Pabbie," Ella said slowly, shaking that thought out of her head. "Bulda. What are you two doing here? I thought you—"

She looked around at her warm, grassy surrounding, and a realization clicked in her brain.

"Wait, this isn't where I was when I went to sleep… and this isn't your village, either. Where are we?"

"Insightful question," Pabbie responded, and she marveled at his ability to keep his voice so smooth and calm no matter the circumstances. "I'd be happy to answer it, but that would require a very long explanation indeed, and I doubt either of us want to get into that just yet."

Elsa merely blinked at him, confused as ever.

"I'll be in my tent," Pabbie continued, taking advantage of her silence. "Once you clean yourself up to your liking—and explore the area to your heart's desire, if you so wish—then come see me, and I'll explain it all."

He stood up, and Elsa realized she hadn't even noticed that he'd been kneeling right beside her.

"Show her to the river," he instructed Bulda, and with an enthusiastic nod the troll swore she would. Then he simply walked away, and the two were left alone together.

"Hello, dear!" the troll-woman said cheerfully, beaming at her as soon as Pabbie was gone and out of sight. "Good to see that you're finally up and about! I'll admit, I was worried you wouldn't make it… but you did, so that's all in the past. So come on, now, let's get you to that river and clean you up! I'm sure a queen as regal as you would feel so much more at home without all that grime on her skin."

Admittedly, that was true. Elsa stared down at her hands, observing all the numerous scratches and patches of dirt that stampeding through the woods for hours upon hours tended to give someone. She imagined that her face looked quite similar to the mess of her palms and inwardly cringed, pulling a few leaves out of her hair as she did so. Being this dirty felt like wearing another set of skin… and at the moment, she was perfectly fine with her original set. A bath would be much appreciated.

"So, Elsa," Bulda began as they weaved their way through a maze of intimidating oak-trees. "How's my baby Kristoff been recently? Has he been washing regularly? Have you been checking to make sure he scrubs behind his ears?"

Bulda was Kristoff's adoptive troll mother, which was pretty hard to forget when she was constantly fussing over him like a seven-year-old boy. Not like Elsa could blame her, though; ever since Anna and Kristoff had gotten married and he'd moved into the castle—with much coaxing, Elsa might add, considering he was not at all accustomed to the wide, open spaces and formal, decorated interior of an actual palace—his visits to the troll village had decreased by half, and she supposed that Bulda was going through some type or form of 'empty-nest syndrome'.

"Sorry," Elsa said sheepishly, laughing a bit in the awkwardness. "I haven't asked Kristoff about his bathing-life recently… I'll make sure to bring it up the next time I see him."

"You do that," Bulda said proudly. "He's a good boy, but sometimes he just needs a woman's hand to guide him in the right direction. Anna is a sweetheart, but not quite as mature as you. Keep an eye on him, will you?"

Elsa smiled. "Of course I will. Kristoff is one of my closest friends."

Five minutes later, the two of them had reached the endless trail of flowing water they had destined out for, guarded perfectly by a wide canopy of trees.

"Here ya' go!" Bulda announced. "Clean that muck off ya' and then you can go have that talk with Pabbie. He's got a lot to tell you… and I won't lie, not all of it is going to be stuff you'll want to hear."

Elsa nodded, immediately slipping off her shoes and pulling out her braid so that her hair flopped freely down her back. It all felt so good she barely even _noticed_ the anxiety building up in her stomach. Or maybe she was just pointedly ignoring it. After all these years of concealing, she could seldom tell the difference anymore.

"Thanks, Bulda."

Bulda nodded and smiled, but didn't budge. Not an inch.

"I'm going to bathe now."

She still didn't move. Just stood there and watched her, as if unable to understand the social customs that usually accompanied the act of cleaning oneself up.

"_Bye_, Bulda!"

Nothing. Elsa sighed deeply.

"Um, not to be rude, but would you mind giving me some privacy for a little while?"

"Hmmm?"

"Privacy. To clean. Can you… leave, please?"

Bulda just stared at her curiously for a second, but moments later she simply burst out laughing.

"I remember when Kristoff first asked me if he could bathe on his own. It seems like just yesterday I was wiping the dirt from his little face… but oh, don't worry sweetie, I'll give you some time alone if that's what you want. You humans are so finicky when it comes to bathing. Just meet me back where we started from when you're finished, and I can lead you to Pabbie from there."

She left—a smile still on Elsa's face as she imagined how red Kristoff would get if he could hear his mother telling her embarrassing stories about his childhood—and gratefully, the queen stripped off her mud-soaked clothing and submerged herself in the river water.

It was slow and steady process, but before long she had scrubbed every inch of her skin, holding her just-as-muddied clothing underwater so as to avoid dirtying herself again once she put it all back on. Her outfit was soaked, obviously, so she laid all her garments out in the sun until they dried, did the same thing with herself, and half an hour later she was dressing again and feeling considerably more relaxed than she had been since the whole 'invasion' thing had started. Also, she was clean, so that was a major plus.

"Done, Elsa?" Bulda asked as the queen walked out from behind the trees and approached her, a noticeable amount of tension drained from her shoulders. She nodded plainly, and soon the two of them were walking through the woods in an entirely different direction, going towards what Elsa assumed was the rest of the troll population.

…

"Queen Elsa! Queen Elsa!"

"Ooh, I didn't know you were visiting!"

"Can I try on your crown?"

"Make it snow for us!"

"Did you make that dress all by _yourself_?"

As soon as she stepped into the clearing, Elsa was bombarded with questions from all different angles. The sun was brighter than it had been in the shade of the trees, and as she squinted and blinked in the light, a blur of small, grey bodies swarmed her like bees to honey.

"Oh… um… hello, kids…"

The troll children. So small and fluffy and unbelievably adorable. Their big, round eyes bore down on hers in a way so terrifyingly innocent, and their curious smiles blinded her more than any mere sun ever could.

"Queen Elsa," one little troll girl said, reaching upwards and tugging on the hem of the queen's dress. "Can ya' do the magic for us?"

For some reason, this reminded her of Anna, and seeing that the girl was probably still in the clutches of her worst enemy, this only made Elsa sad.

"Uh, I'd love to, but I actually sort of have to talk to Pabbie right now, and—"

"_Pleeeaaassseee._ Just real quick, okie-dokie?"

Well how on earth could Elsa say no to _that_ face? She spent the next fifteen minutes putting on a full-blown snowflake-show for every member of the troll village. Even the adults stopped what they were doing to '_ooh' _and '_aah' _with the rest of their children, and by the time her spectacular was finished, almost every single face was dressed in a wide, joyous smile... and that including her own. It was strange, but for a single moment—miles and miles away from the castle she'd grown up in—Elsa almost felt at home. How that happened, she had no idea.

"Okay, okay everybody," Elsa murmured as she crept out of their clutches, pushing their little hands off her dress as gently as humanly possible. "I really have to go see Pabbie now. I'll show you some more later, okay?"

"Okay," said the little girl. "But come back soon! You're really fun!"

_Fun_. Well Elsa had certainly never been called _that _before, but she couldn't say she didn't like it.

When she finally reached Pabbie's tent—a grass-woven tarp propped up by a series of rocks and sticks—she found him just sitting there cross-legged at the entrance, appearing as if he'd been waiting for her since the moment he'd left her to bathe.

"Ah, Elsa. After everything you've been through lately, I'm glad to see that you've had time to relax."

"Um… yes, yes I did. Thank you."

He said nothing, simply nodded and gestured to the floor in an invitation to sit down. Elsa did not hesitate to accept it.

"Bulda said you have something important you need to tell me."

Another nod, then a sad shake of the head, as if he already regretted what it was he was about to say.

"Yes I do. The problem is, I'm just not sure where to begin."

A worthy concern. Elsa remembered wondering the same thing the night that she sat down with Anna and informed the girl of her entire, complicated childhood. Finding where to begin was always the hardest part. Compared to that, the rest came easy.

"Start with anything," she insisted, trying to help him out. "Just something simple. So the first thing that comes to your mind and go from there."

Pabbie looked down at his feet for a moment—as if willing this specific something to appear—and then gazed upwards at her face.

"The first thing you should know, Elsa, is that there are two different forms of trolls. Us… and well, you've met the others."

Oh yeah, that was easy enough to figure out. Pabbie and Tedar were two very, _very_ different creatures. It was hard to believe they were of the same species, much less actually…

"Wait a second, Pabbie, Tedar told me that you and him were brothers! How is it that even—?"

"Elsa, do you have any idea how old I am?"

Elsa blinked. Then blinked again because once wasn't enough for such a strange, out-of-the-blue kind of question.

"Not really."

He smiled at her, and his eyes twinkled with slight amusement.

"Well, I have no intent on telling you. But you should know that both Tedar and I are the very first of our kind, and we were derived from the same… mother, to put it simply. We had our differences, so we split, but a hundred years ago or so—"

"You're more than a hundred-years-old?!"

"A hundred years ago," repeated Pabbie, ignoring her outburst of surprise. "Long-buried feelings arose, and our tribes came into conflict. The war was long and gruesome, but we eventually became victorious, and I… I thought they were extinct. It was foolish of me. All along they were in hiding, building up their forces so as to strike back when we least expected it, and now they finally have."

Elsa nodded at this, but then tilted her head as a question whizzed across her mind. "Then why are they after _me_? What do I have to do with it?"

He looked at her sadly this time, and she saw that he did not want to tell her what he was about to say next. But he did it anyway.

"You're… powerful, Elsa. Much more so than you realize. They need an un-defeatable weapon to destroy us, and they wanted that weapon to be you."

Her? A weapon? Well that was an uncomfortable thought.

"But… but I would… I would never just—"

"I understand, Elsa. You're a good person. You would not work towards the advancement of any unmoral beings no matter the benefit, and I'm sure they knew that when they came to you. It's why they're holding your village hostage instead of just killing the lot of them, though this is something I'm sure they could've done with ease. They're doing this because they want to capture your interest, your attention… play with your fears in hopes that you will find yourself stuck in such an unsolvable dilemma that you'll be forced to volunteer your magic to them. But you should know by now that you're not the only one with powers."

_Clearly_. Elsa remembered the strange, noxious gas that had flowed from Tedar's hands, and the horrifying effect it had had upon her people. The worry, the fear, the hatred it had caused them… memories flashed across her mind, and she struggled not to cringe.

"Slave trolls," Pabbie began to explain, and Elsa recalled the way Tedar had also used the terms of 'slave trolls' and 'free trolls' to describe the two parts of the species, "Have the ability to control human minds. Not so much to turn them mindless, but to alter their perception of reality so that they believe in something that may or may not be completely false. I have no doubt that, originally, they came to you hoping to '_convince'_ you of the righteousness of their cause. But Tedar made the grave mistake of forgetting one crucial fact. His powers only work on humans, and since you're not fully human—"

Elsa's jaw dropped.

"WHAT?!"

"Hardly important right now," Pabbie replied in that cool, calm voice of his, blowing off her shock "What's important is what exactly they _did_ when they approached you and your people. Would you mind filling me in on that, Elsa?"

That last statement still burning in the back on her mind, Elsa reluctantly nodded and explained, recounting the events exactly as she could remember them. The collapse of the wall, the 'negotiation' that Tedar had insisted upon, the lack of weapons, the green gas, the yelling, the screaming citizens, and then… well, waking up and being tied to a stake. Anna the only sane person left, and having no choice but to go with the mob and let the crowd watch her burn. Strangely, Pabbie nodded the whole way through her speech, looking at her with an expression of deep understanding .

"Your very presence—that moment that you touched her shoulder the way that you did—it must've helped Anna keep her mind in reality. Her love for you played a crucial part, I'm sure; there's no other way she could've not became one of them. Kristoff is the only human who's resistant, and that's only because we give all our troll children special training so as to become more powerful than the gas."

"Kristoff?" Elsa asked curiously. "He wasn't affected? Then why did he just let them tie me up like that?"

"Kristoff is a smart boy," Pabbie answered calmly. "He knew that if he blew his cover as a mind-controlled citizen, he would be locked up just the same as Anna was, and he would be no use to you then. He must've pretended to be another one, which is a great benefit to you now. So long as he doesn't get discovered, he'll be able to send us messages and update us about the behavior of the Slave Trolls, so we can always be one step ahead of them."

"About that," Elsa began, curiosity getting the better of her, "Why do you call them the Slave Trolls… and yourselves the Free Trolls. What's the point of that? I can think of far more descriptive terms…"

Very slowly, Pabbie shook his head. "Not the time for such questions, I'm afraid. We'll come to them when we come to them."

There was something very odd about the way the troll-king kept blowing off all the things she asked him. Was there something he didn't want her to know? A secret he was trying to keep from her? What was the point in that? After all, she _was_ directly involved in whatever plot Tedar had in mind… didn't she have the right to know?

"I'm sorry, Elsa," Pabbie said suddenly, and she knew that he must've sensed her contempt. "But this is all for the best. Trust me; you'll understand everything in time."

_All for the best. _The same thing her parents had said to her so many years ago when they'd separated her and Anna, locked her up in her bedroom, and forbid her from ever using her God-given powers again. The very thought made her shiver, but she tried to hold off on her discomfort for now. Pabbie was wise. He was kind. He knew what was _actually_ for the best. And as much as Elsa loved them despite their many faults, he was not her parents. She could trust him.

After a few minutes of soft, tepid silence, Pabbie decided it was time to continue with his explanation.

"If you want to defeat the Slave Trolls, Elsa, then you can only do one thing. Find the source of their power—the mind control, the same source that they are using to hold your entire village hostage—and defeat it. Lucky for you, we've already done the first part. But it's up to you to finish up the job. You need to kill a demon."

Kill… a… _demon?_ It would be an outright lie to say that this was something she'd been expecting.

"As much as we wish to," Pabbie continued tentatively, taking in the horrified expression spread across her face, "The trolls and I can provide no further assistance in this task. Unfortunately, the same demon that gives the Slave Trolls their magical abilities has the power to taint us Free Trolls—turn us into evil beings just like Tedar—if we get too close in radius. So to maintain our sanity, we've moved from our original camp and settled here… somewhere we hope the demon will be unable to find us."

Oh yes, that explained the fact that the trolls were out of their usual village and bumbling around out here. But that still didn't explain _everything_.

"How did you even _find_ me?" Elsa asked. "I was in the middle of some strange woods just outside the North Mountains, and I actually wasn't even too far from the Slave Trolls. You shouldn't have been able—"

"The Slave Trolls themselves do not affect us; it's only their demon, which currently resides somewhere very far away, safely protected by quite the large number of their soldiers. As soon as I realized that they had their powers back, I marched my village up here to see if I could stop by and warn you in time, but it was no use. Green smoke was already going up in the air, and fearing the demon's approach, I dragged my family out into the woods to hide. It was only by coincidence that we found you on out march, and since you appeared to be in very bad condition, I had little choice but to put a sleep-spell on you. To keep you sleeping and healing while we carried you back to our camp-site and nourished you up. It may have worked a little _too_ well, I'm afraid, You've been asleep for a week now."

A _week_. That was way too long… but God, now that she thought about it, that spell-thing explained a whole lot. Like the way she had slept through being picked up and brought somewhere new, and the way it had been so extremely difficult to wake up this morning, and the way that even _now_ she had that fuzzy feeling in her brain that told her to lay her head back down onto a bed of grass and drift peacefully back into her dreamland. These feeling were all too different than usual to be phenomenons that were occurring naturally in her body.

"A week is a long time, Pabbie. How much has happened since then? Have you heard from Anna or Kristoff? Has anybody gotten hurt?"

Yeah, sure, it was a lot of questions to ask at one time. But how could Elsa help it? This was her _kingdom_ they were talking about. The very thought of anybody in it being harmed—_especially_ Anna—made her very blood boil.

"Oh, they've moved now. They know that we've got you, and that we would warn you about the demon, so they're currently using all their forces to surround and protect it for once you come. Kristoff sent us a message a short while ago… he said that Anna is okay, but they keep her under close watch, so he has yet to show her that he's able to overcome the mind-control. It's clear they know how much you care about her, given the amount of attention they seem to be putting on your sister."

Elsa nodded, her forehead furrowed up in worry.

"I just hope they don't do anything to hurt her."

"They won't, Elsa. She's a much more valuable tool alive than dead."

Good as his intentions were, this statement did not make the queen feel any better.

"So," Elsa began slowly, trying to drain her buzzing nerve. "I just have to find this demon… and kill it? That's all?"

He nodded.

"Well where do I even begin?"

Fast as lightning, Pabbie turned to the side, grabbed a thick, age-worn book that rested on the ground, and then turned back. Opening it up, he pulled out a loose, yellowing piece of paper and handed it to her, allowed her eyes to skim over its crumbling, inked surface.

"A map," Elsa said simply.

"Exactly. A map."

There was silence again, and this time Pabbie was the one to break it.

"Follow that, and it will lead you to exactly where you need to go. Kristoff informed us in his letter what area the Slave-trolls were going to, and since we've mapped the land long ago, this should take you exactly where they're hiding."

Elsa skimmed it over again, eyeing all the many dots and dashes that marked the page.

"This doesn't look very specific. The area is huge... the demon could be anywhere!"

Pabbie laughed a bit at this, but she didn't understand why.

"Don't worry yourself, Elsa, I'm sure you'll have no problems finding the demon. It just-so-happens that this creature can take many forms, but its favorite is that of a large, black-scaled dragon.. so it's not hard to miss. It is also nearly unstoppable by any mere mortal, but lucky for us, you are far more than just that."

There it was again! His insistence that she wasn't a pure human, that she wasn't an actual _mortal, _that she was somehow something _more_. What did that even mean? What else was there to be? Before Elsa could voice her concerns, Pabbie continued speaking, allowing these questions to fade away in the back of her mind.

"I understand that this is a lot to take in in such a short span of time… please, feel free to stay as long as you wish and think over your option. I know this must be very overwhelming for a queen as young as yourself. Know that your bravery is not lost on me."

_Psssh_, bravery. Elsa rarely _ever_ felt brave, especially not in a time like this one.

"How do I kill the demon, though? What am I even supposed to do? Does it have any specific fighting strategies I should know about? Any weaknesses? Any holes in its armor? What about—?"

"I'm sorry, Elsa."

The queen looked up at him, confused.

"I cannot tell you any of that just yet. But you will know it when the time is right… I swear to you."

There was something about his expression as he gazed upon her—those caring eyes, that worried forehead, that flash of deep, overwhelming gloom that emanated off his very being—that made her keep quiet. Now she wasn't even sure if she _wanted _to know.

Very slowly, Elsa pulled herself up from the ground, kneeling forward a bit in the low-height of the tent.

"Thank you, Pabbie, for your insight into this situation. I think I'll stay here one more night or two—just to make a plan—but as soon as possible I'll try and head out. The sooner this is over, the better."

Just as she was opening the flap to pull herself into the fresh, forest air, the troll-king spoke up.

"One more thing before you leave, Elsa. The Slave Trolls do not have souls… and without that, they are merely representations of all that is evil, barely living things at all. So do not fear killing them… it is not murder. It does not make you a monster."

Elsa nodded and stepped out of the tent fully, allowing the flapped-door to fall closed behind her.

_Killing_ them? Pabbie's last words ran themselves over and over again across her mind. She was going to have to _kill_ them? How on earth would she manage to do…

Oh, wait. Of course she would have to kill them! What was she even thinking? This was a _war_, after all, not a tea-party! People died in wars. People killed in them. That was just the way it worked. When she had prepared her people to fight their approaching enemies, what had she been expecting? Of course, the thought of actually _killing_ them hadn't really crossed her mind, but she'd known deep down that it was going to happen. She'd _known. _So what was the problem? No, she'd never actually ever killed a person before, but did it really matter? These were bad people, and as Pabbie said, they weren't even people at all. Just representations of evil. Killing evil was a good thing, wasn't it? Of course it was! It was a good thing. It was most definitely a good thing.

So why did she feel such an uncomfortable twist in her stomach at the mere thought of it?

"Hey! Hey Elsa! You and Pabbie done with your talk yet?"

Elsa looked around. She saw nobody. Then she tilted a head about fifteen-degrees downwards and caught sight of another troll.

"Oh.. hi Bulda," she said cooly, trying not to reveal the tension within her. "Yes, we just finished."

"Oh good!" Bulda exclaimed in that typical cheery voice of hers. "Well then I have some good new for you! You have visitors!"

Visitors?

"Who on earth would know to visit me in a place like this?"

Bulda smiled at her, amusement shining from her eyes. "Why don't you go and take a look?"

...

Five minutes later, Elsa was back in the main square of the trolls' hideout, staring open-mouthed at the sight before her.

There was Olaf, waving hello to all the many troll children who'd grown to love him over the years. There was Marshmallow, his large size and intimidating appearance attracting the attention of all the other trolls who were now meeting him for the very first time. And there was—who else?—her assistant Dustin, shifting awkwardly behind them both and looking like he had no idea what on earth he was doing here.

"Hi Elsa!" Olaf shouted enthusiastically as he spotted her across the sea of trolls. "We've been looking for you everywhere!"

Looking for her? How come—

"Mama!" boomed Marshmallow suddenly, and soon he was bounding towards her, each step an earthquakes on the forest floor. Out of pure affection for the creature, she put up with the slight crushing-sensation as the giant snowman squeezed her to his chest, slightly amused by his overexcitement.

When he placed her gently down, Elsa immediately turned to the curly-haired boy in front of her, knowing he was the only one who'd be able to logically answer her questions.

"Dustin? What are you doing here?"

He seemed relieved that she was talking to him, probably because Bulda had jumped up on a rock and started combing through his curls, commenting loudly on the cleanliness of his hair. His cheeks were very clearly flushed.

"Uh… it was Kristoff. He told us to go and find you. To help you with… with getting everyone back to normal, I guess. It sort of us took us a while to get to you… but here we are."

She blinked at him, still not understanding.

"But how are you still sane? Almost everybody else hates me now… why didn't their powers work on you?"

He did not respond immediately.

"I… I don't know, honestly. I have no idea. It just didn't work."

That seemed about as far as he could go with his explanation. His voice faded away, and Olaf's piped up to take its place.

"When you went unconscious, all the other snowmen except Marshmallow and I fell down!"

"Really?" she asked, generally curious. "And what did you do?"

She figured this had something to do with the fact that all those other snowman had been too deeply connected to her to continue living when she wasn't consciously putting effort into it and telling them exactly what to do. Olaf and Marshmallow were the only one's who had developed into actual independent beings over the years, so it made sense that they had survived her fall into unconsciousness while the others hadn't, but it still must've been pretty scary to see all others of your kind collapsing around you. It had been for _her_, at least.

"We almost went to save you," the snowman exclaimed excitedly. "We were gonna stop them from tying you up."

"Oh? Why didn't you?"

"Kristoff told us not to. He said it would make it worse for you, and that you could fix things by yourself!"

Elsa wasn't exactly sure what to think about that. On one hand, it made sense—if the trolls had made her wall collapse, they could destroy her _other _ice creations, too, and Kristoff wanted to protect them as much as anyone—but on the other, what if she _hadn't_ been able to fix things herself? Did he really believe in her that much? Was that even smart?

"Ah, good, good," said a voice suddenly, and Elsa turned around to see that Pabbie had come out of his tent to see the commotion going on. "Now you'll have some soldiers to help you with your task. This makes things that much easier."

Elsa thought about this. She thought about it as Olaf played around with all the troll children later that day, making them laugh and giggle in that special way that all children—human and troll alike—seemed to be able to do. She thought about it as Marshmallow followed her around like a loyal guard-dog for hour after hour, roaring to protect her every time someone even looked at her in a way he considered wrong. She thought about it as Dustin sat down with her on two adjacent tree-stumps and talked out a detailed plan over the map they'd gotten of the area.

It was only when she went to bed that night—laying peacefully under a pool of glittering stars—that she really understand how true that was.

Having those three here with her was going to be a _whole_ lot of help. Olaf would remind her to smile when things got too serious. Marshmallow would jump out to protect her when things got too dangerous. And Dustin—her assistant for years, now, and someone she never made a decision without—he would bring the reason into any illogical decisions she might make. Help, help, help. She hated to ask for it, but she needed the help more now than even _Pabbie _knew.

Olaf, Marshmallow, Dustin.. this rag-tag group of followers was by no means the impressive Arendelle army she'd had under her control just last week, but it was still all she had access to, and when she really, truly thought about it, she really couldn't think of anyone better. Sure, maybe it could've used Anna or Kristoff to spice things up a little bit, but with them unavailable this was _still_ a group of family and friend that she loved and cared for. That she _needed_ and relied on. And who could ask for better soldiers than that?

And besides, if she was going to save Anna—if she was going to save her entire kingdom—then she was going to need as much help as she could get.

And even then, nothing was assured.

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><p><strong>Well... that was it! I hope you liked it! I promise you, next chapter is going to be a lot more exciting. Please review and tell me what you thought :). <strong>


	5. The Blade

**Hey everybody! I know it's been FOREVER since I updated, and I'm really sorry about that, but I doubt my updating schedule is going to get any more frequent. I promise, though, that I WILL finish this story. It's not going to be ****abandoned or anything, I've just been really busy lately. The next chapter is coming as soon as possible :)****.**

**Just as a warning, this chapter gets kind of dark and gruesome near the end. Hopefully this doesn't disturb any of you TOO much.**

* * *

><p>The closer they got to the Slave Trolls' hideaway, the colder the atmosphere seemed to become. Not that Elsa noticed.<p>

"We should be nearing the demon soon," piped up the curly-haired assistant from somewhere behind her, holding an ancient, dusty map close up to his face and squinting. "Any second now and we'll run into the trolls' first line of defenses."

Elsa took a deep, shaky breath, pushing out her chest as she struggled to fill her lungs with the strength and confidence she deemed necessary for such a situation. "That's alright. We're ready; we'll be able to control them."

The little snowman behind her smiled, throwing out his twig-arms for emphasis. "Yeah, because if we don't the trolls will take over and everyone will _die_!"

Elsa sighed. Olaf was a sweet little guy, but his general ignorance and tendency to shout out whatever little thought popped inside his head _did_ tend to make people a bit uncomfortable every now and again. Hopefully he'd grow out of it, but if not, she'd just have to get better at tuning people out.

For a few more minutes, the trio walked in silence, the heavy, thumping footsteps of Marshmallow not far behind them. The snow-monster was so large and noisy, it made catching the enemy off-guard a near impossibility, but still… Elsa couldn't find it in herself to tell the eager guy to stay behind. And besides, this small drawback would be proven insignificant compared to his sure-fire ability on the battlefield.

Battlefield… battlefield… the word gave Elsa chills, and she gulped despite herself. That was where they were going now, wasn't it? A battlefield. Two days ago they had left the Free Trolls to come here, and… what exactly had they asked her to do again? Kill a demon, was it? Yes, yes, that was it. Except they wouldn't even tell her _how_ to do that. She, their almighty conqueror and destined savior, the only one of them all to be left in the dark. What great help. Now she was here, trudging through the snow with a rag-tag group of followers and absolutely no real idea of what she was supposed to do once the _real_ action started. Oh how fun. She loved surprises.

"Are you sure we're heading in the right direction?" she asked Dustin, unsure, a little while later. They'd been walking for what seemed like hours now, and still no sign of any mysterious troll army. "I hope you're not holding that map upside down."

He chuckled nervously. "No, I… uh… I don't think so, at least." He turned the map around a few times in his hands just to make sure, and Elsa marveled at how shaky the confidence could be of such a bright boy. Not that she could blame him, though. She'd been the same a few years back. Only Anna had been able to pull her out of it, and… oh, God, she really hoped Anna was okay. All alone out there, in the clutches of their darkest enemy… but no. Best not to think about he right now. It only make this entire ordeal more nerve-wracking, and she was terrified enough as it was. Elsa was in the middle of some deep-breathing exercises when suddenly Marshmallow's deep voice boomed out into the crisp, snowy air, breaking her calm facade like a measly twig beneath a boot.

"_Mama_! Me sees them! Me sees them! _Tro—"_

His words were cut off by his own bellow of fury, and Elsa turned just in time to see a group of ten, maybe fifteen Slave Trolls jumping onto his back and ripping at his snowy flesh with their yellowing, pinkish teeth and claws. Due to the fact that the guy was _literary made out of frozen water,_ they really weren't doing very much damage at all, but this did seem to be quite the irritation for Marshmallow by the way he screamed and scratched, trying to fling them off like fleas on a dog. A handful more stood on the ground beneath him, shooting some kind of magic bolts in his direction, and this at least seemed to be actually harmful. Every part of him that the magic hit would melt away on contact, eroding like a rock in water, and each time the poor giant would wince in pain, turning his hurt into blinding fury and the determination to keep on going. Taking a deep breath, Elsa concentrated and regenerated the missing snow to fill in the array of holes spattered across his body. She couldn't keep doing that forever, though. She needed to find a way to _stop_ the trolls; after all, this was what their little army was for.

In an instant, Elsa had reached behind her back and pulled out the long, ridged, icy-sword attached to her self-made armor. It glinted like crystal in the sunlight, and she struggled not to imagine how much more horrible it would appear once coated with a thick layer of blood. Pabbie's soft, wise voice rang through her head for what must've been the tenth time that day.

_"The Slave Trolls do not have souls_," he had said to her at their last meeting, his face solemn and sorrowful, "_And without that, they are merely representations of all that is evil, barely living things at all. So do not fear killing them… it is not murder. It does not make you a monster."_

Well, yes, maybe that was all true. But that didn't change the fact that these so-called Slave Trolls still had hearts that beat and lungs that breathed and eyes that blinked and every other possible quality one might apply to a living, feeling creature. Evil, but still living. And as horrible as the man had turned out to be, Elsa could not forget Han's cry of "Don't be the monster they fear you are!" from the last time she'd almost murdered someone, the words buzzing in and out of her very veins. She shivered despite herself. Killing, killing, killing… it really wasn't such a big deal if the people were bad and you were only doing what you had to to keep the those you loved safe, but… oh, who was she kidding? It was always a big deal. Ending a life just like that? With a snap of her fingers, like some kind of God, like some kind of immortal being? It wasn't right. She shouldn't've have this power in her hands. Nobody should've. But it looked like the Slave Trolls were thinking about using that power anyway, and breaking the rule herself was quite clearly the one and only thing she could do to stop them. For herself. For Marshmallow. For Olaf. For Dustin. And most importantly, for Anna.

She gripped the blade tighter, and sucking in her chest, Elsa charged forward.

"Get away!" the queen shrieked, and heartbeat fast, she thrust out the sword and swung it blindly. She missed, going over the heads of the trolls by a long-shot, and for a moment she wondered whether or not she did it intentionally.

One of the trolls she'd swung at turned and hissed at her. The sound was terrifying.

"The foolish queen comes to us directly! Attack her while she's vulnerable!"

Before Elsa could blink, she was surrounded, those cold, fanged-smiles glinting at her from all directions. She gasped despite herself, drawing her weapon in closer to her chest.

"Elsa! I'll save you!" Olaf shouted, but try as the snowman might with his short, stubby body to get to her side, the trolls formed an impenetrable wall around her, and he was almost instantly kicked away. And currently, big, heroic Marshmallow was too busy dealing with his own troll problem to notice her own.

"Dustin!" the queen called, her heart beating in terror as they closed in on her, more and more trolls appearing out of nowhere to join in there. "Any help, Dustin? I changed my mind! I don't think I can do this!"

The boy was looking hurriedly around, his face flushed and eyes wide with panic, but even as he struggled hopelessly to find something, _anything_, he could do to help, both knew it was useless. He was in charge of the map and the planning… they'd forgotten the part about giving him a weapon entirely. He stood there, defenseless and exposed, as he quivered in the chilly winds. He was so vulnerable that even the trolls ignored him, knowing him to be no threat.

"S-Sorry!" he stuttered, and from the glimpse she caught of his face between the trolls' closing-in bodies, she knew that he honestly meant it. Did little good to her now, though. He simply couldn't help her… she was entirely on her own.

A troll jumped her from behind.

"_AAAH!" _Elsa shrieked, and she kicked it away with her foot, using her sword as more of a barricade than a weapon. All she had to do to save herself was push it through these creatures' fragile skin, but even the mere thought of it sent horrified shivers down her spine.

Another jumped her. She elbowed it away. Then another, and she bopped it on the head with the flat end of her sword. But more were approaching fast, and she knew she couldn't hold them off like this for much longer.

"Stay away!" she called to them, but the fear was evident in her voice, and all she received in response was a tune of malicious laughter. "I can hurt you!"

"Certainly you _can_," said one of the more vocal trolls. "But you won't, will you? Too much of a coward."

Coward, coward, coward… maybe that was what she was. But it was better than being a monster, wasn't it? Anything was better than being a monster.

A few more trolls jumped her, and though she succeeded in pushing them away, she did not get by unscathed. There were scratches down her arms, now, and the fabric-bottom of her armor was started to shred. She waved around the sword like a flag in the air, not daring to actually swing it down to the snow-covered ground.

"Please, Elsa!" she heard Dustin's voice ring out somewhere in front of her, though she could no longer see him through the swarm of trolls. "Just fight back! Don't let them hurt you!"

It was a small thing to think about at the moment, but she was happy that he was finally calling her by her real name.

"You can do it!" she heard Olaf call encouragingly. "If you're nervous, maybe you could ask them if you could practice for a bit. I'm sure they wouldn't mind."

Elsa, actually, was quite sure that they _would_ mind, but she didn't exactly have the time to explain it to him right now. Her panic was only increasing as what she dreaded became more and more inevitable. She was already starting to hyperventilate.

"Please, Elsa!" Dustin repeated, and his voice was even more desperate now. "It doesn't make you a monster! It makes you a hero! Arendelle needs you!"

His words were beginning to be drowned out by the trolls' loud, consistent chanting. Now his voice was nothing but a whisper at the back of her head, and not a very convincing one at that.

"Please, Elsa!"

They drew in closer.

"Please!"

They were right on her now.

"Anna _needs_ you!"

They were… wait. Wait a second. Anna…

Anna!

Suddenly, all fear erased itself from Elsa's body, even the slightest hint of doubt or reluctance as gone as her late father.

Anna: her little sister, the girl she'd spent her entire childhood trying to protect and keep safe, the girl she'd spent her entire _life_ loving with every inch of her being… that girl needed her. Anna. Anna needed her. It was the trolls or her sister, and Elsa knew without a doubt which one she had to go with.

"Leave… me… _alone!"_

She lashed out on the troll closest to her, who happened to be currently clinging onto her shoulders and attempting unsuccessfully to claw at her face. In a split second, she had taken her blade and thrust it through his chest, and in one more he had crumpled to the ground, no longer alive or even a body, but merely a small pile of greying-dust resting on the ground. It was strange, the way they disintegrated the moment they collapsed, but Elsa was only grateful she didn't have to deal with any blood.

With one down, she didn't hesitate to take out the rest.

It took a lot of swinging, some fairly-quick reflexes, and even a mini ice-explosion at the end when she realized there were too many of the creatures to deal with manually, but before long it was over. Sometime after she'd started fighting Marshmallow had managed to break out of his own troll-prison and had come to assist her, taking out practically ten at a time with a single blow. Fairly soon all that was left was an greying, ashy battlefield, and Elsa wondered what she had been so afraid of to being with.

Sure, she had just killed for the first time, but as even Pabbie had told her, it didn't really count. Not when these creatures were soul-less. It didn't make her heartless, it didn't make her a monster… and even if it did, it was the only way to get to Anna, and Anna was worth anything.

"Dustin," Elsa said, and she turned to look at the boy behind her, who was currently in the middle of a great, big sigh of relief. "We need to get you a weapon."

"I'm s-sorry," he replied, and he did not need to say it for her to know that it was true. "I… I would've helped you, it's just—"

"No, Dustin, I'm not talking about _that_. I was completely surrounded by the trolls, there's no possible way you could've helped me even if you _did_ have a weapon. I'm just worried that they won't leave you alone next time… you'll have no way to defend yourself."

"Oh." Dustin looked at the ground, the guilt still quite evident in his expression. "Don't worry about me. I'll figure something out."

Elsa shook her head. "Don't be ridiculous. I can just make you a sword out of ice."

"It'll be too cold for me to hold."

Oh yes, Elsa had almost forgot about that whole 'not resistant to cold' thing that most people seemed to have. Good thing her assistant was here; he was always the one to be logical.

"I can't… I can't just leave you with _nothing," _Elsa thought, shaking her head in consideration. "Marshmallow has his strength, I have my powers, the trolls could do just about anything to Olaf and he wouldn't feel a thing—he's been decapitated and impaled more times than I can count—but you? Don't take this the wrong way, but you're practically defenseless. We have to find you _someth—"_

Her eyes caught at the icy blade glinting in her hand.

"Oh, how about this one!"

He looked at her strangely. "Thats made of ice, too."

"The blade is, but the handle is metal. It'll keep you from getting too cold, and then—"

"No." It was the first time he'd ever interrupted her, and one of few moments in which he'd spoken to the queen in such a serious, direct tone. "You need that sword. I can't take that away from you… what if you get hurt without it?"

"I _don't_ need it, Dustin. I'm perfectly capable of defending myself with just my powers alone. Just watch and see; now that I've already killed the first of the trolls, the rest of this will be easy."

It indeed was. It took some time to manage to convince Dustin to take the sword, but after using her status as queen to _command_ him to take it, there was little he could do to refuse. For about two or three hours after that, the four of them ran into more than a dozen little groups of Slave Troll soldiers. Now without her initial fear, Elsa could take care of them easily with shooting bursts of ice, and even Marshmallow and Olaf had found ways to more effectively deal with their attackers. Admittedly, it took a while to get Dustin to warm up—he seemed to be even more hesitant to kill than Elsa was, and he claimed he wasn't even half as brave—but before long he'd found himself shoving his blade into the back of a troll as it went to sneak up on Elsa, saving her life.

"Thanks," she'd told him, smiling. "I told you you're not a coward. Now that you've done it once, I expect the rest won't seem so bad."

By the time they defeated what must've been their fiftieth little group, not one of them was without a kill, and with Elsa gasping in exhaustion, Dustin timidly suggested that they all sit down for a moment to catch their breath.

"We're almost to the demon," she found herself telling the ground, calming down her heartbeat. "I can feel it, somehow. I think it knows we're coming."

She looked up to see Marshmallow and Olaf nodding, and she knew that they must've felt the same.

"Don't worry, Elsa," Dustin said, observing the anxiety on her face. "I'm sure everything will become clear in no time. You'll manage to kill that demon and we can go back to Arendelle to govern. Everything will be alright."

Elsa sighed heavily. "I… I hope so. But I don't know. Am I really capable of doing something like that? Killing a demon, something as big and powerful as that… it's easier said than done. I don't even know the first thing about it."

"You should've seen yourself, Elsa," Dustin replied, and she could see that he was clearly blushing now, though she didn't understand why. "When you were killing those trolls, you were unstoppable. You sent your ice spikes out in every direction, you were aware of every little sensory detail around you, and no matter what they tried to do, or what they said, or how terrifying they looked… you were never scared. You were strong, and free, and… and beautiful out there. If anybody can do something like stopping a demon, it's you."

God, he was so sweet; she had surely chosen the best assistant of all time. If nothing else, then at least Elsa could honestly refer to herself as a gifted assistant-picker. Before she could stop herself, Elsa found herself smiling at him, her eyes glinting with gratitude.

"Thanks. That means a lot."

He smiled back. "It's all true. You know Anna would say the same."

She knew.

After a few minutes of talking—Olaf and Marshmallow also getting themselves involved into the conversation—the four got up and continued their journey onwards. They were already quite close, however, and it did not take long before they began to see the clues of a nearby troll civilization.

"Look at these footprints," Elsa pointed out, her face inches from the ground. "Slave trolls for sure… and there are hundreds of them! How big even is their army? Are we going to be able to handle it?"

Dustin shrugged. "I don't know, but look around. There are some abandoned tents here. They must've packed most of them up—there definitely aren't enough for every single troll that's part of the army—but they left their broken ones behind, and look. There are a few campfire pits, too."

"The ash is still steaming," Elsa noted, "They can't have gone far."

"No, they shouldn't've… but the rest of this map is a bit outdated. It says that the trolls should be right here, but they're not anymore. We need to figure out which direction they went in and follow them."

Elsa looked around. "Maybe northeast? It looks like a lot of the footsteps are heading that way."

Misunderstanding, an obedient Marshmallow started to move in that direction. Elsa had to tell him to hold back for a minute.

"It could also be west," Dustin suggested. "There are some specks in the distance there, I think. Those could be the new tents."

"Or even southeast," added Elsa, suddenly realizing this. "There are mountains that way, and I remember one of the Free Trolls telling me back at the camp that the demon likes to hide in the mountains. Maybe they've moved there to protect it."

The two spent the next ten minutes or so discussing this, trying to decide the best next course of action. Finally—tired of being silent—a curious Olaf spoke up.

"Maybe they could be in that giant stone castle behind us. The one that says 'Troll Kingdom' on it."

Elsa and Dustin turned around. There, low and behind, was a giant stone castle carved with the words 'Troll Kingdom.'

Elsa turned to Olaf, eyes wide and shocked at her own lack of perception. "Was that there this whole time?"

"Mhm."

"And you didn't mention it until now?"

"Mhm."

"_Why_?"

Olaf shrugged, smiling cheerfully. "You didn't ask."

The castle was a good hundred feet behind them—Elsa still wasn't sure how they'd all managed to walk right past it—but before long they were all making their way to the large architectural feat, watching it grow bigger and bigger the more and more that they approached it. As much as she hated each and every one of them, she had to admire the trolls' persistence… for all the little time they'd had to set up that castle, they'd sure done a damn fine job of it. Look how gigantic that was!

"That m-must be where all of them are…" Dustin noted, and the fear was back in his voice again. "Right in there. What are we going to do, then? I mean… d-do you think we could take them all at once?"

Elsa shook her head wisely.

"That probably wouldn't be such a good idea. It's possible we'd defeat them, but there's too much of a risk; we have to think of a sneakier plan than that. Maybe if we think of a distraction that will draw their attention and get them to come out one-by-one we can—"

Suddenly, Elsa's mouth froze. Her words stopped short, and by the way she was no longer moving forward with her long, graceful strides, it was clear that her body had with it.

"Elsa?" Dustin asked, concern etching his face. "A-Are you alright? What's going—?"

"Anna."

Her voice was so shocked and definite, Dustin thought for a moment that he hadn't heard her right.

"Huh?"

"Anna."

He looked. Far away, being pushed forward by an army of trolls all pointing sharp spears at her midsection, was Anna herself. Her strawberry-blond braids and specially-made armor were unmistakable against the sharp white background of the snow, and why else would Tedar himself—the horribly powerful Slave Troll ruler—be leading her directly into the castle? He was holding her as hostage, of course! A way to hold an emotional power over Elsa and possibly even create blackmail. He could do absolutely anything to the poor girl, and the mere thought of that was supposed to drive Elsa to do crazy, irrational things in order to save her. As much as Elsa wished he wasn't, Tedar was absolutely correct.

"Elsa!" Dustin screamed as he saw the queen sprinting towards the castle as fast as her legs could carry her, chest pumping as her lungs expanded and contracted within her. "What are you doing? What about the plan? What about the distraction? You can't just go barging in there!"

"I have to!" she called back, not even looking at him. "They have Anna! They… have… my… sister!"

She watched, horrorstruck, as Anna was led into the castle, the rest of the trolls followed suit, and the door was swung shut behind them. None had even glimpsed the frantic queen. Even after only a second of her sister being out-of-sight, panic welled up inside Elsa's chest, and she somehow managed to increase her speed, her heartbeat struggling to keep up. The trolls could be doing anything to Anna at this very moment… Elsa had to get inside, and she had to do it fast.

"Stop!" Dustin yelled to her as she approached the door, ready to pull it open in a matter of seconds. He was running now, too, but was so far behind her he would never make it in time. "Please, Elsa, I know it's scary but you have to think logically here! It's too dangerous!"

Much to her surprise, Olaf spoke too. His usually comical side-comment was replaced by a note of much seriousness.

"It's a trap!" he yelled to her, waddling as fast as he could possibly go. "I can feel it, Elsa! Don't go in there, it's a tr—"

In an instant, she had pulled the door open and thrown herself inside, too emotionally charged to even _think_ about considering things logically. She would most certainly regret this later.

"Anna?" Elsa looked around the simple, stone-walled room, heart beating out of her chest. Trolls with spears stood around and covered nearly every inch of the perimeter, but none of them looked surprised to see her. In fact, none of them even moved. They just stood there and smiled at her, eyes glinting maliciously as she looked around in her confusion. This should've been her first clue that something was going on, but at the moment, she was simply too panicked to notice or even care.

"Anna!" she called out again. There was no sign of the spunky young women anywhere, but at the very end of the room stood Tedar, his smile wider and more evil than all the rest. Feeling fury rise up within the center of her chest, Elsa narrowed her eyes and stomped thoughtlessly over to him, ready to destroy every inch of his being with her bare hands if he admitted to even laying a _finger_ on her poor sister.

"Tedar!" she screamed. "Where is Anna? Where _is_ she?!"

Tedar smirked. He stayed still and patiently waited for her to finish approaching him.

"Your sister? She's perfectly fine… why do you ask?"

"Don't lie!" she shrieked. "I know you've done something to her! Now where is she? I'll kill every single troll in this entire place if you don't hand her over to me right now!"

She would anyway, but still. She didn't have a lot of good threats on store.

"Now, now, Elsa," Tedar began, and his voice was so falsely sweet and calm it somehow only managed to _deepen_ her hatred. "Don't get yourself all riled up. I told you, she's perfectly fine. Why don't you just turn around and see for yourself."

She blinked at him, confused, but all-and-all found that she had little choice but to obey. So, swallowing her boiling fury, Elsa turned around and gasped in shock.

"Anna!"

There the girl was, same as always, being led in from an adjacent room. Her eyes were wide and confused, and when she saw her older sister her entire face froze.

"Elsa…"

She said the name strangely, like she'd never seen the girl before and couldn't believe that she was even there.

"Anna," Elsa repeated, and suddenly her heart was slowing down again, relief flooding through every inch of her body. "You're alright… oh, I'm so glad, Anna. I was so worried about you. I'm so, so sorry I dragged you into this."

Anna said nothing.

"I know what you'll say about it being your choice to stay with the trolls back there," Elsa continued honestly. "But I still shouldn't have done it, and you don't know how sorry I am that I did. I just love you so much... I'm really glad you're okay."

Anna still said nothing. She started breathing hard.

"You are alright, aren't you? They didn't do anything to hurt—"

"YOU MONSTER!"

Elsa's breath caught in her throat, and her eyes went wide and buggy as she stared on at her little sister.

"What? Anna, what on earth are you talkin—"

"You MONSTER! How… how _dare_ you! I can't believe I ever loved someone like you! You're horrible and evil and despicable and I just… I hate you! You're a _monster_!"

Elsa choked. Fear seeped into her like a disease, and before she knew it she felt tears welling up in her eyes, not so much out of hurt than out of worry. When she spoke, her voice was soft and broken.

"A-Anna?"

The girl in question began to approach her. Slowly and steadily she put one foot in front of the other, the trolls behind her smirking to one another as they watched her proceed. Ignoring the commission, Tedar walked right past Elsa and stood beside them, his smile brighter than them all.

"You did this…" Anna began, voice dark. "You did all of it. I used to think you were my sister, but I was wrong! You're not my sister, you're just a witch, and a demon, and a monster, and I wish you'd never been born! Maybe then mom and dad would be alive, and Arendelle wouldn't have been destroyed, and I could've _finally_ been happy!"

Elsa couldn't believe it. Honest to God, this entire situation was unreal. It had to be, it had to be, she just couldn't accept it as reality. How on earth could Anna—her sweet, kind, loving little sister, the one who'd stuck with her through thick and thin no matter how much her older sibling didn't deserve it—ever say such horrible things to her? How could she _possibly _ever sink so low?

"Anna, please…" Elsa breathed, and her voice was so cracked and desperate it was almost undistinguishable. "Why are you doing this? What's going on? Please stop. Please, please, stop and just tell me what's going on. I'm begging you."

The girl did not. She walked ever-steadily forward, and the look of intense hatred on her face only became more clear the nearer she drew. It was impossible. Elsa had never seen such a horrible expression on someone she loved so dearly.

"There's your sister, Your Majesty," Tedar drawled from behind Anna, interrupting the scene with his pleasant, happy tone. "Completely unharmed, as you requested. Now why don't you two… reunite."

As if on cue, on the other trolls ran forward and handed Anna something that Elsa couldn't see. The girl looked down at it for a moment before a look of determination spread across her face, and she nodded to the creature. He grinned and ran off, leaving the mysterious object in full-view of all.

It was a knife.

"Anna," Elsa began as the girl raised it upwards. "What are you doing?"

Her voice was gruff and angry, reaching Elsa's ears like venom from a cobra. "What has to be done."

And in that instant, as Anna approached her with that blade pointed so threateningly in her direction—pure hatred burning in her eyes as it became clear _exactly_ what the girl intended to do with that knife—Elsa realized the truth.

"Tedar!" she screamed, turning her attention to the troll so as to glare at him. "You're… you're controlling her! With your magic! You've messed with her mind to make her believe that I'm sort sort of… some sort of… monster! This isn't my sister at all; she would never say these things!"

Tedar smirked at her. He didn't even try to deny it. "You shouldn't have left her," he said simply, his eyes glowing with malice. "Without you there to distract her—to keep her strong—she was so easy to turn. The gas took her over without even a moment of fight, and _now_ look at her. If only you hadn't been so cruel as to abandon your poor, little sister… maybe things would've turned out okay after all."

She knew what he was doing. Trying to make her feel guilt, to feel _blame_, for what was happening now. And honestly, as illogical as she knew his statement to be, it was kind of working.

"Stop this!" she screamed at him. "Let go of her! This isn't right; you must have _some _mercy! Make her go back to normal!"

Tedar shrugged. "Afraid I can't do that, Your Majesty."

Fury rose up within her, and she shrieked at him, the entire room going about ten degrees cooler in her moment of high emotion.

"You are _going_ to do that or I'm going to _destroy_ you! I'll kill every single one of your troll army and I won't look back!"

Tedar laughed lightly. "Of course, Your Majesty. But if you want to do that, you're going to have to hurt _her_ first."

Elsa's eyes flitted back to Anna. The girl still held the knife, walking slowly with a look of murderous rage dancing in her face. As much as Elsa hated to admit it, Tedar was right. Any move at all was bound to set Anna charging towards her, but at the same time _not_ moving was bound to lead to the same thing. The only thing she could do was… but no… she couldn't.

"Don't do this!" she shrieked at Tedar, panic flooding her. "Please, _please_, don't do this!"

His expression was so satisfied. God, she hated him so much. "All you have to do is swear to do as I say, and then hand your kingdom over to me. After that, Your Majesty, you and your sister will be safe for life. I swear by it."

The queen's heart stopped. So that was it, then. She had a choice. It was her sister, her kingdom, or herself.

Hyperventilating, Elsa turned back to Anna, looking at her with wide, pleading eyes. There was only one way to save all three, and even then, she had no idea if it was even possible. But she had to try.

"Anna, please. You're not you right now. You need to come back to your senses."

The girl only glared at her, stepping closer.

"You're a liar," she spat. "I'll never believe you again… not after you've lied to me for all these years! I was an idiot for even trusting you in the first place!"

Elsa's eyes widened. "Are you talking about my powers? Anna, I thought… I thought we already talked about this. We've been good about it for years. C'mon, Anna, just come back to your senses. Please. I need you."

Anna ignored this statement, continuing to ramble on.

"And then I actually thought that you were a _good_ person. That you actually cared about doing the right thing, and were just scared into making mistakes. But I was wrong! _You _were the one who killed our parents and I can never forgive you for that. You're a murderer!"

"Anna? Anna, please, you know that's not true. I've had problems with Mom and Dad, but I loved them more than anything, and you know that. You _know_ that! I would never…"

"Arendelle, too! Our home! We used to have so much fun there when we were little! You always used to tell me how much you loved our kingdom, how excited you were to rule it… what happened to you after that? You've destroyed it! Frozen the ground and crumbled the houses and _killed_ all the citizens… the people we used to call our family. How _could_ you!?"

"That's not true! I don't know what kind of lies they're planting into your head, Anna, but please believe me! That never happened! I love Arendelle, and I love our parents, and it's _them_ who are the bad guys, not me! I swear it's not me!"

But no, no, no, she just didn't seem to believe. Anna was oh, so close now, the blade looking incredibly long and sharp in her grasp, and in fear Elsa shrunk back against the stone wall behind her. She tried to send a burst of cold behind her—to possibly break through the wall and escape the situation with her ice—but no good. The stone was un-freezable. The trolls must've used their powers to enchant it… always one step ahead of her.

_"_Anna… Anna… Anna," Elsa breathed, and she was terribly desperate now, tears already beginning to stream down her face at seeing her sister in such a horrible, hateful mindset. "This isn't you, _believe_ me! I know you, and I love you so, so, _incredibly _much, just… you have to believe me. Snap out of it, Anna. I'm not a monster, I'm not a monster… you're the person who taught me that. You have to believe me."

Anna stopped walking. Not because of what Elsa said, however… but because now she was so close there was no need for it. The two were inches apart, nothing but air and a sharp, glinting blade between them.

"Anna! Stop!" someone shouted from behind them, and Elsa looked to see Dustin and Olaf being restrained by a group of highly-amused Slave Trolls, a few more outside fighting with Marshmallow to keep him from destroying the building with one, crushing blow. She hadn't even realized that they'd followed her all the way here. "Don't hurt her!"

"Stay out of this, Dustin!" Anna called to him. "You don't understand! She's a monster! She's been lying to us for so long, but we were just too naive to realize it. She's killed so many people… so there's only one thing that I can do in return.

"No, Anna," Olaf said with his forever-smiling mouth, and even _he _looked worried. "You can't! She's your sister! It's true love, remember? You guys love each other!"

Anna turned back to look Elsa in the eye, and suddenly her expression was stone-cold, her eyes dead-serious.

"Not anymore."

Another tear slipped down Elsa's cheek as the words struck a blow straight to her heart. From behind her sister, Tedar still stood, smiling obscenely. It was really time now. Time to make a decision. She couldn't talk Anna down… there was no way in hell all three were going to make it past this. So here it was. Either Arendelle, Anna, or herself. Arendelle, Anna, or herself. If she swore her allegiance to Tedar now, he'd stop Anna from hurting her and she and her sister would be safe, but then the troll would surely proceed to wreak havoc on both Arendelle, and the rest of the world to follow. If she used her powers to strike Anna, however, then the girl would surely be severely injured, and once the trolls went into the fight as well, she would bleed to death before Elsa would be able to help her. Arendelle and its queen would survive, but without its beautiful, spunky princess, and that thought was just too painful to think about. But if Elsa did nothing? Well, she would die. Anna would have her blood on her hands, and without any real opposition, the trolls would probably end up winning anyway. So that wasn't exactly a good option either.

So she had to either kill Anna or surrender, kill Anna or surrender, kill Anna or surrender. It was now or never.

"Anna… I…" she looked at the girl, looked back at Tedar, and then realized something. "Anna, I'm weak. I can't do this. I'm so sorry, but I can't do this. Just… just kill me, if you have to. I love you so much, and I'm so afraid, and I just don't know what to—"

She was cut off by Anna taking her knife and shoving into the soft, vulnerable fresh of Elsa's stomach.

"Elsa, no!" Dustin screamed, but she could barely hear him. All she knew was the pain. The unbearable, excruciating, unending _pain_ that sprang from the spot in which the knife touched skin and spread through her like the deep, rhythmic waves of the ocean. She could barely even scream herself what with the gasp of agony she found escaping from between her lips, a mere verbalization of all that she was currently experiencing.

"You're dead!" Anna shrieked, and Elsa suddenly realized that _she_ was crying too. "You're dead, you… you monster! I… I killed you! You deserve this! I know… I know… I know you do!"

But oh, she sounded unsure. Almost as if she didn't fully believe it. There was doubt in her voice, regret, guilt… maybe it wasn't too late. Maybe, maybe, maybe. Elsa was probably going to die now, she could never make it past this, but Anna? The girl still had the chance to come to her senses, to run away, and maybe even find a way to kill the demon herself. She still had, she still had, she still had a chance.

"Anna, I—"

Anna twisted the blade inside her. This time, Elsa didn't just gasp. She _shrieked_. Shrieked in the loudest, most pain-filled way she could manage, every inch of her burning with unescapable agony. She leaned against the wall, trying hopelessly to keep her balance

"P-please, A-Anna, p-please l-listen t-to m-m-me. I l-love y-y-you."

Her voice was so shaky now, and each word she spoke was like another dagger to the gut, but she had to keep going. She _had_ to. Blood was starting to spill out of her like water off a cliff, and even as her hands gripped the spot of injury they were almost immediately stained a deep, sparkling red.

"No you don't! You're lying! You're lying!"

The tears streamed down Anna's face almost harder than the blood streamed from Elsa's wound, and her lip was trembling like a child's. Elsa was so, so close. She had to be.

"N-Not l-l-lying. We're s-s-sisters. I l-love y-y-you s-so m-m-much."

She was getting dizzy now. Incredibly, incredibly dizzy. Any moment now her knees would go out beneath her and she would crumble to the hard, stony ground, everyone there to watch her as she bled out.

"You're lying! You're not my sister! You're a… you're a… you're a monster!"

There wasn't much time left. The world was going in an out of focus. Looking into Anna's eyes, Elsa took a deep, shaky breath of agony and opened her mouth. This was her last chance. She had to make it count.

"D-Do you… w-wanna build a s-snowman?"

And she crashed to the ground.

Before Elsa lost consciousness, the last few words to touch her ears were, "Oh God… what have I done?"

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><p><strong>Sorry to end on a cliffhanger like that, but don't worry... as of now, Elsa is just unconscious, not dead. You'll have to wait until my next update to see what happens next ;).<strong>

**Please, review and tell me what you think! It'll mean a lot to me!**


	6. The Explosion

**Hey guys! I finally finished the next chapter! It's a bit shorter than my others, but that's only because my next two chapters are going to be big ones, so I figured it was better to end it where I did. **

**Anyway, I hope you like it! **

* * *

><p>"Oh God… what have I done?"<p>

Anna looked down almost in slow motion, horrorstruck at the scene below her. There Elsa lay on the ground, fully unconscious as blood streamed out from a stab wound in her abdomen. And that infamous knife? The one that committed the crime in the first place? Right in Anna's own hand. Betrayal at its absolute finest.

"No, no, no, no, no, no! NO!"

She was hyperventilating now. Every time her chest rose and fell, pain shot through her almost as if she had her _own_ stab wound… but no. No, no, she was perfectly fine. Completely unharmed while her older sister—the one person who'd loved and protected her for the stretch of her entire existence—lay dying on the ground, the life draining out of her more and more with each second that ticked by.

"I'm so sorry! Oh God, oh God, I never meant it! I swear I never meant it!"

Even as she said it, she knew it was a waste of breath. Elsa was slumped like a dead person on the icy floor, and soon she wouldn't just be slumped like one. As Anna crouched down, taking the unconscious girl into her arms, she felt her eyes tear up in a way they hadn't since the moment she'd found out her sister's secrets, or the day her parents died.

"Elsa? Elsa, please, can you hear me?"

She shook the girl like a rag-doll, but it was no use. Her breath was getting more ragged by the second, and when Anna put a hand to her stomach, a flood of red, ice-cold blood gushed out in return.

She did this. She… _did_… this. Yes, she had been tricked into it, and yes, she hadn't been in her right mind at the time. She'd even come back to reality the moment that Elsa had asked "Do you wanna build a snowman?" and filled her with a flood of memories both loving and lonely, reminding her of who she truly was. If Elsa were conscious, she'd probably insist over and over again that it wasn't her fault. But still. _Still. _This wasn't something that a person could do and then just not feel guilty over. This wasn't something that a person could just forget. The blood, the icy blood, it stained her fingers as pink as the Slave Troll's teeth, and she knew now more than ever that she could never forgive herself for it. She should've fought the mind-control, should've never fell for the lies they pushed into her vulnerable brain, should've believed in Elsa the way Elsa had always believed in her. Anna's sister, her big sister, dead at her own hands.

"Olaf! Dustin! Somebody! We need a doctor! We need someone to help her!"

But she looked up to see both Dustin and Olaf completely engulfed by the Troll army, held onto by a thousand tiny arms and deemed immobile by a hundred threatening spears. And no, there was not a doctor in sight… maybe a Troll one, but she doubted he'd be willing to help them out in this situation. Right now, they were all on their own.

Suddenly, a flash of a smile caught Anna's eyes, and she turned her head just enough to see a face that made her heart squirm with hatred. In all honesty, he was small and had a stature that appeared generally harmless, but the evil in his eyes and the malicious joy in his smirk filled her to the brim with bottomless fear. That… monster. That _monster_! Not only had he planned to hurt Elsa, but he'd tricked Anna into doing it for him, and that was by far the most vicious, the most maniacal, the most pure form of _cruelty _that she could ever even hope to wrap her mind around. Suddenly, anger boiled within her, and she found herself jumping to her feet without another thought. Elsa stayed there on the ground, steadily bleeding out.

"How _dare _you!"

It was the exact same thing she'd said to Elsa just minutes before, but there was one difference. Unlike her sister, Tedar actually _deserved_ it.

"Elsa's not the monster… you are! I can't believe I ever fell for your magic! You're… you're…"

She couldn't finish that sentence. There were no words to accurately describe what a horrible, selfish, misguided creature he was… all she knew was the pulsing of the anger within her and the itching of her fingers to reach out and throttle him.

"Are you mad at me, now?" Tedar asked her in an infuriatingly innocent tone. "That's a bit unfair, don't you think Princess? You _are _the one who stabbed her, after all…"

That kind of guilting may have worked on Elsa, but Anna was nowhere near as insecure—not that she could blame the girl, a childhood of concealing did take its toll. She furrowed her eyebrows and gave him her best glare, nearly trembling now with all her unexpressed emotions.

"You made me do it! You were the one who stabbed her, not me, and you know it!"

He smirked. "Then why is there blood on your hands?"

That was it. She simply couldn't take this anymore. Heat rushing up to her face, Anna blandished the blade she'd used to hurt Elsa and charged for him like a bull, all thoughts of consequences melting from her brain. It was almost instinctual, to be honest… she wasn't a violent person, but she'd be damned if she let her big sister die for nothing. If she was indeed dead. Anna still held hope for a miracle.

Almost immediately as the girl took a step forward, the troll army surrounded her, creating a living barrier between her and Tedar. She thrashed at the hundreds of tiny hands attempting to hold her back, one of them grabbing the knife from her possession, and she heard Dustin call, "Anna! Stop this! You're only going to hurt yourself… there's nothing we can do!"

That was reasonable. Logical. It made a lot of sense… but no. Anna wasn't exactly a 'reasonable' type of person. She wasn't the type to use logic, and sense only succeeded in boring her out of her mind. Above all, she was not one to simply give up when things got dangerous, and Dustin must've known this. It was why his voice was so utterly terrified and hopeless. She was going to do what she was going to do, and whatever happened next, he knew that it was going to be messy.

Gritting her teeth so hard she was worried she might grind them down to the gums, Anna managed to yank her arms from the grasp of the army and pull out the dangerous, icy dagger Elsa had made for her before the war started… seemingly a hundred years ago. It had shown beautifully in the sunlight, but even now—in such a dulling, empty darkness—it seemed to hold some holy quality to it. Too bad she'd have to tarnish it with the filthy remains of the trolls.

In an act that even surprised her, Anna did not hesitate. Did not hesitate to take that dagger and slice it a troll's exposed neck, causing him to turn to a grey, murky ash on contact. Yes, she was killing something… but after what she'd done to Elsa, she doubted anything could ever seem bad again.

"Anna! Anna! Be careful!" Dustin shouted out as she swung that blade left and right, narrowly missing Olaf's carrot nose as she drew closer to the other side of the building. Ash littered the ground like it would if a fire had made its way through, and Anna secretly smiled at the thought. Elsa was ice and she was fire… what was a better match than that?

"I'm fine!" Anna insisted, shaking off a troll clawing at her hip and turning it to dust with one swipe of the dagger. She managed to break the grip of the ones holding so tightly onto Dustin, and seeing that they'd managed to pry his weapon away, she decided she'd be generous.

"Here, take this!" she threw him the icy dagger. It was a gift from her sister, so of course she'd have to get it back later, but for now she needed all the help she could get.

"What about you?" Dustin asked, horrorstruck.

She pulled the bow from her back and smirked, setting up her first of many arrows. "I have better ways to fight."

Her aim was a little off at first, but after a few bad shots and a handful of wasted arrows she got used to the feel of it in her hands, shooting just the same way she'd done in training with Kristoff and the other soldiers. She'd taken out two, four, sixteen, twenty… more and more trolls came thundering down the stairs, and more and more dust kept spilling onto the floors, and soon adrenaline was coursing through her and she was laughing from the rush of it and oh, if only Elsa could've seen her now. If only Elsa could've seen.

Anna's judgement of time had been a bit off since the hypnosis, but after awhile, she noticed that the flood of trolls seemed to cease, the quiet deep and trembling.

"Are they gone?" Anna breathed, face flushed from exercise. "Did we kill them all?"

Dustin looked up from where his knife was plunged into a pile of ash. He picked it up, wiped it on his shirt sleeve, and folded it neatly in his pocket before responding. Anna hadn't been able to see him much during the battle—not with the swarm of trolls blocking her view—but from what she could tell, he wasn't too bad with a blade when he was half-scared to death.

"No," Dustin told her, shaking his head and trying to catch his breath. "Tedar ran upstairs when you weren't looking. I can hear him and his trolls up there now… they know we're only going to keep killing them if they continue throwing themselves at us like that, so they must be planning something."

He went silent for a moment before sighing heavily.

"They're going to swarm us all at once; I just know it. You're really good, Anna… but there's just too many of them. We'll never make it. If we want to have any hope of survival, then we have to get out of here."

Throwing back the tinge of disappointment she felt at the prospect of not being successful in killing Tedar, Anna was in a midway nod when suddenly Olaf interjected.

"What about Elsa?"

Oh yeah… the sister she stabbed.

"We can't just leave her here!" Anna insisted, rushing up to the unconscious form still gushing blood. How much of it could one person possibly have?

"We'll carry her if we have to," Dustin agreed, and he moved to join her at the woman's side. "But we can't just stay. They'll kill us."

He went silent then, and unspoken as the idea was, it was unanimously agreed upon for everyone to sit and wait as Anna tried the impossible.

"Elsa?" she whispered, gently prodding the girl. Anna's eyes had been dry the whole battle, but now sitting here, looking down upon her sister… it brought the tears springing up once more. She used her sleeve to hastily wipe it all away. "Are you… are you awake?"

No response.

"Elsa," Anna repeated, louder this time. "C'mon. We need to get out of here. Are you awake? You need to be awake. If we let you stay asleep you could die and… and that's just not an option. Please, please just wake up."

Nothing. Not even a stirring.

"Elsa!" Anna screamed suddenly, and new tears were suddenly sliding down her cheeks before she'd even realized they were there. "Elsa, please! You can't just die! You can't do this to me! I'm so, so sorry I did this to you, but… I couldn't help it! You know I didn't mean what said! Just wake up, okay? _Please_!"

"Anna," Dustin whispered from behind her, resting a hand on her shoulder. She knew what he was about to say before he said it, and the very thought brought a wave of uncontrollable guilt and agony surging through her chest. "I don't think she's going to—"

Suddenly, there was coughing. A spastic gasping sound. And then?

"A-Anna?"

"Elsa!"

Anna, Dustin, and Olaf had shouted that all at once, faces brightened instantly. And from where he was standing outside, trying to peek inside the tiny doorway, Anna could've sworn she'd heard Marshmallow murmur, "Mama?"

"Anna…" Elsa said weakly, her eyelids just barely creeping open. "You're okay now? You're back to normal?"

Tears blurred Anna's vision, but she plunged onwards. "Yeah… yeah I am."

"I'm s-so releaved. You know I l-love you so m-much."

"Yeah, Elsa. I know."

There was a quiet in which Elsa tried to gain control of rapid, uneven breathes. Anna reached forward to squeeze her hand, feeling the cool touch of her blood on skin.

"We have to get out of here," Dustin said from above them both. "It's the only way to save all of us. Can you… can you stand, Elsa?"

"I—"

"No, of course you can't!" Dustin realized instantly, shaking his head at his own stupidity. "Not in _that_ condition… what was I thinking? Just stay still, me and Anna will carry you."

"But I—"

"We'll all get out of here together and figure out what to do. I have some medical ability, and I brought some first-aid in my pack, but most likely we'll need to find you a doctor to help. Any doctor… let's just do this as soon as possible and I'm sure everything will—"

"_No_, Dustin."

Dustin gaped at her. He wasn't the only one.

"Sorry, Elsa, but—"

"I s-said no, Dustin. I m-mean it."

"Elsa!" Anna gasped from her side. "What do you mean? We can't just _stay_ here!"

"Of c-course not." Elsa gasped again, flinching a bit at some invisible burst of pain. "Y-You go. I need to stay."

"No!" Anna screamed, and suddenly she couldn't control herself. She was pushing Elsa hard, even as the woman winced in agony, trying to get her to stand up and do what she needed to do. "I can't… I _won't_ leave you here! I love you! We all do! We're not just going to—"

"You d-don't understand, Anna. This isn't a-about me."

"What do you—"

"Something is h-happening, Anna!" Her voice was suddenly a whole lot stronger than it was moments before, her face flushed with that familiar brand of determination. "I-Inside me! It has to do with my powers, and I have no i-idea what it could be, but its h-happening and itsdangerous! Trust me! I can f-feel it! You have to get out. I'll be fine, but… I d-don't want it to hurt you."

"Hurt _me_?" Anna felt her face grow red. "After what I did to _you_! Are you crazy? I almost killed you! You can't just say—"

"It's true," said a voice behind her. She turned to see Olaf standing there, expression very curious. "I can feel it too. It's something about her ice powers. It's… it's doing something to save her life."

"I don't see—"

"You can't see it… it's inside her, but it's happening." His voice was so much wiser than normal, hIs usual childish naivety replaced by something a whole lot more mature. "It'll be big, and it could hurt us. We need to run and leave Elsa behind… it's the best thing we can do right now."

"No!" roared Anna, and her face was about the shade of a brick by now. "Are you putting him up to this, Elsa, because that is not okay! If you think I'm just going to leave you for _dead_—"

"I d-don't!" Insisted Elsa. "I know you l-love me, and I know you would n-never leave me… but I'm n-not gonna d-die. Not today. I can f-feel it. Just trust me. P-Please? I know what I'm doing."

Suddenly there was a rumbling from overhead, and Dustin shouted, "The trolls are coming! If we're going to leave, we have to do it _now_!"

"But… but…" Anna was breathing fast now, practically hyperventilating. "I can't just… I won't just…"

Mustering up her remaining strength, Elsa wrapped her hand tighter around Anna's and gave it a cool, reassuring squeeze.

"I'm g-going to be okay, Anna." Their eyes met, and Elsa's were brimming with sincerity. "I promise."

Before Anna knew it, she, Dustin, and Olaf were all sprinting as fast as they could out of the building, tears streaming profusely down their faces but none even daring to glance back. If they did, their will would break, and Anna in particular knew she would not hesitate to go running back inside to face her doom.

"We're still too close!" Olaf insisted as they ran, lagging behind them all with his short, nearly nonexistent legs. "We have to go farther away; we have to go—"

Suddenly all three were pulled up into the air and placed on a large, heaving mountain of snow.

"Marshmallow!" called Olaf cheerfully. "You know what to do!"

On Marshmallow's back, they were out of vicinity in no time, and both the snow-people seemed especially relieved… it appeared that they sensed something that neither Anna nor Dustin nor any mere mortal would ever be able to understand.

A good many yards away from the castle—not so far that it was no longer in view, but enough so that they could see its size from top to bottom and it no longer seemed so impossibly threatening—Marshmallow threw everyone down onto a flat covered in at least five good feet of snow. The dried blood seeped from Anna's hands on contact, pinkening the pure white blanket on contact.

"Mama?" Marshmallow asked, gazing gloomily at the stone building in the distance.

"It's happening now," Olaf reassured him. "She'll be alright."

Anna was just about to ask exactly _what _was happening when all of the sudden Dustin was pointing and shouting, and she looked up to see for herself.

It was a hard thing to spot being that the castle was so far away, but once you caught sight of it… well, it was impossible to _stop_ seeing it. The ice started in just the tiniest crevices of the stone, but soon it had spread out like branches, like arms, like a spider web reaching in all possible directions. It crawled onto the stones' surface, swallowed it in its enormity, and suddenly… suddenly that entire castle was no longer _just_ a castle. It glinted and glittered and shown absolutely beautifully in the sunlight, a mere perfect representation of heaven itself. Ice, Anna thought, made anything beautiful… and now that castle was one-hundred-percent completely covered with ice.

"Is it over?" Anna asked eagerly, gazing around at all the awestruck faces surrounding her. "Can we go back and—"

She was cut off by the loudest, most ear-splitting sound she'd ever been alive to hear.

"AHHHHH!" Anna shrieked, completely unaware of anything that was going on. From beside her, she thought she heard Dustin also scream, and Olaf gave a little hiccup of surprise that must've been akin to a snowman's sound of terror. Surprisingly, only Marshmallow seemed to keep his head. Turning his back to the sound, he wrapped his arms around them all and hunched over, creating a little dome of snow to protect them. The ground vibrated like an earthquake, and for the longest while, Anna was too much in shock to even think.

Finally—once the fuss had died down and Marshmallow considered it safe enough to let go and stop blocking their view—Anna blinked away her surprise, just in time to gape in horror at the mass destruction before her.

"Elsa!"

There, where the castle had been only moments before, was now only a pile of ice, ash, and rubble. Shards of stone and ice stretched out across the snowy plain as far as her eye could see, but one thing she could _not_ see was Elsa. Was her sister.

"What happened!?"

She knew perfectly well what had just happened. The building had just exploded. Elsa along with it.

"She… she promised me she'd be alright! How could… how could she just lie like that!"

Her breathing was extremely fast now, her chest rising and falling so rapidly it was almost painful.

"Don't worry!" Olaf insisted beside her, eyes kind. "She's alive! I can feel it!"

"No, no, no, no, no, no…." Anna could barely hear him. Crouched on the ground, hyperventilating, and rocking back and forth on her heels, she was aware of one thing and one thing only. Her sister. In the explosion. With no possible way of survival.

"Anna," Dustin assured her, voice soothing but also secretly anxious itself. "Believe Olaf. He's connected to her. If she was dead, he'd know it."

"Oh God, it's all my fault. I did this! I did this, I did this, I did this, I did this, I—"

"Anna!" Dustin repeated. "Please don't say that! You're scaring me! We have to think positive here, and if Olaf says Elsa is alive, then she's alive! You've always been optimistic in tough times… don't lose that now!"

What hadn't gotten through to her before got through to her now. She gulped, shut her eyes to block out all the nauseating sights in front of her, and carefully pulled away her knees from her chest, opening herself up to the world.

"You're right. I shouldn't act this way… I mean, not yet. Freaking out isn't helping anyone. The only thing I can do is—"

She stopped mid-sentence. All of the sudden, Olaf had raised his twig-like arm, held his snowy chin high, and shouted at the top of his voice for all the world to hear…

"Elsa!"

Anna's eyes shot open, and this time what she saw was enough to make her entire life a thousand times brighter.

There was her sister. Barely recognizable from all the blood—stripped through her hair and spotting her clothing and dripping down her face like dark, haunting tears—but no, definitely, _definitely _Elsa. She stumbled out from the wreckage like a drunkard, wiped some ash and dust from her pants, and then flipped that white, unmistakable braid across her shoulder, whipping it through the stale air like a blade through skin.

Most likely due to her injuries, Elsa was moving at a painfully slow pace, but just as Anna was about to go run forward and retrieve her, Marshmallow decided to do her work for her. With a big, gentle hand, he cupped Elsa in his fingers like a baby in a cradle and laid her gently on the ground by Anna's feet. Anna couldn't contain herself. She shrieked like a child and hugged herself to Elsa's chest so tightly she was afraid she'd never be able to let go.

"Ouch, _ouch_, watch it, Anna!" Elsa's voice was still weak, but Anna was pleased to see that it had some life back in it. Some humor. "I just got _stabbed_ there. It's pretty much a given that it's going to be sore for the next couple of days."

Before Anna could even begin her tirade of questions sure to come, Elsa answered them all with one small raise of her shirt. There, forever marking Elsa's pale, milky abdomen, was a jagged, icy scar.

"Oh my God," Anna gasped, and she gaped at the thing as if it were in danger of exploding too. "How did this happen? I mean… anything is better than the bloody wound you had before, don't get me wrong… but still! How did it end up like this?"

To her surprise, it was Dustin who responded.

"It must be her powers," he said wisely. "They felt her injury and were trying to heal her just like Olaf said… that's what the whole thing with the explosion was about. Her powers were going all out-of-whack trying to save her life."

Elsa nodded solemnly.

"I'm not exactly what was going on then—it was all too blurry to focus—but I felt, almost, like my powers were escaping me. From the tear in my skin. The problem managed to repair itself before I lost too much, but… I don't know. I feel weak now. Like without all my powers I have less energy. I can barely… I can barely… concentrate right now…"

As Elsa swooned from exhaustion, Anna shook her head like a doting mother, secretly proud to have taken on the role Elsa usually covered herself.

"Well that settles it. I don't know what you were planning to do, coming here like this, but whatever it is it's going on hold. We're setting up camp and sleeping for the night,"

"The trolls…" Elsa murmured weakly, the exhaustion clearly catching up with her.

"All dead." Anna smiled. "You got 'em good."

"Even Tedar?"

Anna thought about this. She hadn't technically _seen _Tedar die, but still… that explosion! It had been huge, cold, and merciless, and she felt sure that nobody within a twenty-mile radius of such a catastrophe would've been able to survive. They themselves would've fallen without Marshmallow's impenetrable shield of a body, and without such an advantage she doubted even the big-bad Troll leader himself could make it out alive. Anna nodded slowly to Elsa's question, feeling a smile form on her lips at the prospect.

"Even Tedar."

That seemed like enough of a satisfactory answer, for within moments Elsa had closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift off, expression one of complete and utter peace. Anna turned to Dustin.

"You know what the best part of this is?" she asked, a childish light growing within her.

He raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What?"

"Elsa looks _so_ hardcore with all this blood on her. I feel bad for whoever tries to mess with her now."

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><p><strong>Well, I'm done! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Next chapter everybody is going to find out the TRUTH about Elsa's powers… so that should be interesting ;).<strong>

**I haven't gotten a lot of reviews lately, but for all those who have taken the taken to tell me your opinion, thank you SO much! Please, if you read my story, drop off a little review and tell me what you think! It would mean a lot to me!**


	7. The Spirit

**Hey everyone! I finally managed to scrape together this chapter due to winter-break (though I've still been pretty busy), so I really hope you enjoy it :). To be perfectly honest, not a lot of action goes on in this chapter... it's a bit boring, now that I look at it again, but it's necessary. This chapter is where all the big questions about Elsa's identity get answered, so I hope the way I describe it makes sense to you. Please review and tell me if you do or don't understand when you finish reading, because I'm kind of worried that I did an awful job explaining it XD.**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

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><p>Elsa woke up the next morning with her head enveloped in something small and soft. Eyes still closed, she turned herself sideways, feeling the certain-something move to accommodate her position. With weeks of homesickness swirling within her, she imagined she was lying upon one of the plush, cloud-like pillows of her own bed, or perhaps the embroidered cushions of the couch. She was back in her old, familiar, Arendelle castle now, the servants waiting to take care of her every need while the citizens outside bustled around and went on with their everyday lives. The thought was so nice and warm and safe in and of itself that it made her smile instinctually, causing her to push herself further into the softness beneath her head. Then the certain-something gurgled right beside her ear, and she sprung upwards in shock.<p>

Her pillow had been Anna's stomach.

For some reason, it took Elsa a few good minutes to digest the situation. She knew something big had happened the night before—very big, by the smears of blood still decorating her hair and skin—but the memories seemed to have buried in the way back of her brain as she slept, and it took a hefty amount of digging before she was able to confine them back within her consciousness. Soon enough, however, she found the words and images flooding back into her brain like lava, and she closed her eyes to take them in one-by-one.

The trolls. Their giant, intimidating stone-castle. Tedar leading Anna inside. Elsa following suit. A trap. Anna with a crazed look in her eye. The trolls handing her a knife. Shouting obscene words and stepping closer, closer, closer… then a pain in Elsa's stomach, and all else turning to blackness.

For a moment, Elsa thought that was all, but then more memories rushed into her head to replace them. These one's were far blurrier due to her questionable level of consciousness at the time, but they were memories all the same.

She'd woken up. Everything was dizzy. All the trolls were dead. But no, not all, more were upstairs and soon to be coming. Anna was shaking her. Begging her to awaken. Dustin urged them to leave. But Elsa couldn't. There was pain, so much pain… and something was happening. Something big. Dangerous. She begged Anna to go, and somehow it worked. Then? Well, she wasn't sure. Some sort of explosion. A beautiful, wonderful, exhilarating explosion that took away all the blood and pain and dying but left her so tired she could barely stand. But then she did stand, because she could hear—no, _feel_—Anna's stifling pain, the hurt in her heart like a thousand dagger all at once. So she'd walked to her sister and collapsed on her, and that had been enough.

"Mmmghahum…"

Elsa looked down. There Anna was, sprawled out on the ground like a starfish and, as per usual, mumbling in her sleep the same way a little child might. Immediately, Elsa was concerned; when she'd last lost consciousness, they were on a brisk, snowy mountain, so wouldn't the girl be freezing right now? But no, maybe not… there was a blanket on the ground, another wrapped all around her little body, and then a nice, portable tent to surround the two of them with a false sense of warmth and protection. Dustin had packed the tent before their travels despite her insistences that they probably wouldn't come of any use. These little triangles really couldn't protect much if they happened to be attacked by a troll army of any sort, but no, Anna had said the troll army was destroyed, so maybe Dustin had had a point. At least it protected them from the wind.

Elsa thought about waking Anna up to talk about the events that had occurred the night before, but just as she was about to give the girl that first little good-morning shake, she rethought the situation and changed her mind. Anna just looked so adorable with that frizz of hair behind her head, and she was probably exhausted from… well, being in psycho-killer mode for who-knows-how-long. Best to let her sleep. Trying her hardest not to make a sound—which was a pointless task, really, given that Anna could probably sleep through the end of the world if she had to—Elsa crept out of the tent and left the splayed-out, snoring figure of her sister to rest peacefully behind her.

There was another tent next to the first—for Dustin, she supposed, being that he was too much of a gentleman to be anything less than mortified at the thought of having to share a tent with two royal figures—and then a mound of snow, which upon closer inspection turned out to be the sleeping form of Marshmallow, curled up like a cat near a fireplace. Olaf himself was snoozing gently in the crook of Marshmallow's arm. It was kind of a cute sight, Elsa had to admit. Two brothers. Her creations. Together. For reasons she didn't quite understand, she was very proud of them.

Confident she wasn't being watched, Elsa rubbed the snow over her skin in substitution of a proper bath… which she no doubt would be taking as soon as this whole demon mess was over. Some spots were harder than others, and she spent just a bit too much time combing over the jagged, icy scar on her side in which her powers had saved her from a knife-wound, but soon all blood had washed itself from her skin, hair, and—mostly, as she couldn't quite rid herself of the stains on the fabric—clothing. There _may_ have been a slight pinkish tinge in her hair, but she decided not to worry about it. It would wear itself out eventually. Or at least she hoped.

Just as Elsa flecked that last crumb of dried blood into the snow, she heard the slightest sounds of shuffling coming from one of the tents, and she was not at all surprised to see Dustin pull himself out of the entrance, his black curls slightly frizzed but on the whole looking no more disheveled than he did on any normal business day.

"Hi," she whispered to him as he came into view, her voice soft so as not to wake up Olaf and Marshmallow. She raised a hand in as friendly a gesture as she could manage.

"Elsa," Dustin said as he caught sight of her sitting alone in the sunlight. "You're looking… better."

She nodded. "I feel better. I guess all I needed was a bit of sleep."

Without invitation, Dustin approached her. The snow surrounding her body was pink and bloodied, so she washed it away with a wave of her hand and introduced some of that nice, clean white-stuff in it's place. He gave her a small smile and then sat himself by her side. Just weeks ago she was sure he would've been too shy to even dare leave his tent without an order; she was quite proud of _his_ growth, too.

"I was worried about you," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "I… I wasn't sure if you would make it. None of us were. But I'm, uh…" He blushed bright red, and his old habit of stuttering returned. "I'm r-really glad you d-did, Elsa. I d-don't know what I would've done if you'd died."

"Of course you do," she said casually, taking his arm and fiddling with the cufflinks on his sleeve in a way that made him blush ten-times harder. "We've talked about this. You would've taken my throne."

It was true, they had spoken of it right before their big quest just to be safe, but it was clear in Dustin's awkward mannerisms that he still was not entirely sure of the idea.

"I wouldn't make a good king," he murmured. "I'd mess things up."

She shook her head vigorously, letting her hand slide from his wrist to his palm and tugging ever-gently so that he was forced to face her. Years ago, she herself would've gone red at such a prospect, but Anna had taught her quite a bit about self-confidence, and what was wrong about holding the hand of a truly good friend? Nothing, she thought. Nothing at all.

"You'd make a great king," she assured him, rubbing her thumb over the back of his hand. "And I know you'd love ruling, too; it's just your sort of thing."

Fear filled his expression. "But I—"

"Don't get yourself worried over it. It's really not as hard as it seems. Even Anna would make an amazing queen, what with all those people-skills she has, but… well, you know the one reason why I don't want that to happen. We've talked about it."

He nodded. They certainly had; Elsa had gone on nearly an hour rant about why she just couldn't pass the throne onto Anna, no matter how much she believed in the girl's abilities. Dustin—like always—had understood her point of view perfectly… though he wasn't too thrilled about the replacement she had in mind.

"Besides," said Elsa, "You have royalty in your blood, don't you? During her generation your great-grandmother was third in line for the throne in Wesleton… not the greatest kingdom, I admit, but it's enough so that the people will accept you with open arms. So long as they know I signed this, that is."

She reached into Dustin's pack and pulled out the folded piece of parchment that he'd previously tucked away in one of the numerous protective-pockets. It was a letter. A will, almost, if one was inclined to see it that way. In it she had made sure to write in clear, neat calligraphy: _"If anything shall happen to me such that I am unable to continue my duties to Arendelle, I hereby pass on my throne to Sir Dustin Abel, my second-in-command throughout my reign as queen. My sister Anna, of course, shall remain the princess, and all further inheritance shall be passed down her line of children."_

"I don't get it," Dustin finally breathed as his eyes scanned the paper, skin growing pale. "Of all people, why choose me?"

She smirked. "I have my reasons."

When he looked at her with blank, terrified eyes, she decided to elaborate.

"The same reasons," Elsa said, "In which I hired you to be my assistant in the first place… I see something in you, Dustin, and it's something I can't ignore. Smarts, courage, dedication… but most importantly, I think it's just your ambition. Or lack thereof. From what I've seen, despite your obvious skills in governing, you have absolutely no drive to take the throne."

Dustin blinked at her, utterly confused. "And this is a good thing?"

She laughed. "The best. As my father said to me when I was very little—not everything he told me was a gem, but this was an exception—'those without a thirst for power often make the best rulers of all.' And I should know; I spent the majority of my teenage years wishing I could be anybody but myself."

She smiled sadly, the truth of it all bearing down on her.

"Don't worry," she finally said, brushing off the entire conversation. "If all goes well, I'll return to Arendelle after this and continue to rule for many more years to come. You'll never have to take the throne from me. All we've got left to do is defeat a demon, after all; how hard can it be?"

...

The next fifteen minutes were spent preparing a hearty morning breakfast for all those in the group capable of eating. Dustin surprised Elsa by somehow managing to start up a fire with only a few bits of soggy wood, and as soon as they started to heat up the uncooked eggs and bacon that Dustin had managed to pack in his bag without destroying, the smell woke Anna up like nothing else could.

"Food?" she asked, popping her head out of her tent like some kind of burrowing animal. The excitement in her eyes made Elsa giggle a bit.

"Breakfast!" she announced in a false, singsongy voice the way their mother used to speak when they were little. "Made by my own assistant! What a treat!"

"I hope he can cook as well as he governs," Anna said, and as it turned out, he could.

Soon afterwards, Marshmallow and Olaf woke up to join them, and before long they were all just sitting around the campfire, enjoying the exquisiteness of their eggs and bacon and chatting lightly in a circle. Yes, maybe they _did_ have a demon-killing to focus on in the near future, but how on earth could they be worried about it while their bellies were still full and their hearts still brimming with relief? They'd almost lost Anna, then almost lost Elsa, then almost lost everybody in the entire damn castle… but it had all turned out all right in the end. They had been so undeniably lucky in the past day or so; how were they supposed to be unhappy about it?

Elsa was just in the middle of taking a larger-than-necessary bite of her fried eggs when all of the sudden her ears caught the nearly-inaudible sound of an approaching horse. For a split second, she panicked—for some reason, she was brought back to an image of Hans riding towards them on his trusty steed, raising the sharp, silver weapon that nearly marked the demise of both her and her sister—but then Anna pointed and shouted, and the excitement in her voice was enough to know that the man riding towards them was most definitely not Hans.

"Anna!" Kristoff shouted from somewhere in the distance, and before long he had ridden right up to them, jumped off Sven, and had his arms wrapped around the petite figure of the girl he loved, both breathing in the scent of each other as if it was akin to that of oxygen. It was a sweet sight, one had to admit, but Elsa and Dustin were forced to sit back awkwardly and watch it occur without saying a word, waiting patiently for them to finish up their tender hellos.

"You're back!" Anna screamed, the joy brimming from every ounce of her soul as she kissed him again and again and again. "It was the death of Tedar, wasn't it?! We killed him and now the whole town is free of mind-control! Now we can go back home!"

Sadly, Kristoff pulled away from her, shaking his head in almost a bit of guilt.

"Sorry, Anna, but no… all the weird mind-control stuff is still going on. Tedar's death has no effect on the magic; the only thing that will cure everybody is to kill the demon."

At this, Anna looked utterly confused. "But then why—?"

"I'm only okay right now because the trolls taught me from a young age how to _resist_ mind-control." To demonstrate, he knocked on his head as if it were made of wood, which maybe it was. "And as for you and Dustin…" He shook his head. "I have no idea, but now's not the time to question."

"Sit down," Elsa commanded him, and he looked surprised for a moment, as if he'd forgotten that Anna wasn't the only person in the world. "Have some breakfast and tell as about it. The more we know, the better."

With the scent of eggs and bacon lingering in the air, Kristoff did not hesitate to oblige, pulling some carrots from his hat so that Sven didn't feel left out.

"Uh, guys, I hate to be the bearer of bad new, but well… I sort of am." He stuffed three pieces of bacon in his mouth and seemed to swallow them all without a single chew. "The trolls sent me to tell you some very important stuff you need to hear, but not all of it is very… pretty."

"That's alright," said Elsa. "The truth is the truth. There's no use sugar-coating it… whatever it is, we'll just have to deal with it. Right Anna?"

Anna nodded. "I'm ready. I mean… I've already almost killed you. How much worse could it get?"

Kristoff was shocked at such an admission and went on to ask a million questions—which was an understandable reaction, considering that any Anna that was not cheerful, determined, and endlessly devoted to her big sister was almost an unimaginable one—but they shushed him, promising to tell the story later.

"The demon you have to face," Kristoff announced once Elsa had prodded him to begin, "Is currently undefended. All the trolls guarding him rushed here to stop you during your battle in the castle, and after the explosion—and I'm still not sure how that exactly happened, so you're going to have to explain that to me when we get back—they all crumbled with it. I don't know how, but somehow Pabbie felt it. Felt their deaths. Anyway—"

"This should be easy, then!" said Anna excitedly, a wild grin on her face. "If nobody's there to defend, all we have to do is stab it a few times and—"

"There's a catch," said Kristoff, and for the first time in forever, Elsa heard his voice shaking a little. Was it fear? Guilt? Or something else entirely? "The demon can only be killed by a special type of spirit. And there's only one of them in the world."

Everybody went quiet. Anna gawked at him like a child seeing magic for the first time, though without the typical amazement.

"What do you mean?" she asked. "Where is this spirit? How do they expect us to kill a demon when all we have are the five of us and—"

"The spirit," Kristoff interrupted, ignoring her, "Unlike a normal human-soul, can't be stored in a regular body."

"What do you mean?" asked Elsa. "Where can it be stored?"

"Not many places," admitted Kristoff, and he twiddled his thumbs in his sheepishness. "Pabbie told me it only comes to life when a rare phenomenon occurs, and a powerful, natural force of any kind—like fire, or water, or _ice, _for instance—condenses together to create some type of… human-like creature, I guess, only different. The spirit goes into the body and is randomly birthed into some normal family... which is good, sort of, except that it doesn't know that it's special. It loses all memory of being anything more than a human."

"It's Elsa!" Anna gasped, and her eyes sparkled with the realization. "You're talking about Elsa! That's why she has powers!"

Kristoff nodded sadly—why was he sad? Everything was still hopelessly confusing—and suddenly Elsa felt her chest tighten around her heart, squeezing it like an orange in a juicer. What were they saying? That she actually _wasn't_ truly human… that she was a magical spirit of some-kind, drifting around from body to body and never truly dying for good? She couldn't wrap her head around this. Yes, she knew she was a bit different from most people… but not human? How was that possible?

Anna was in the middle of saying how absolutely, undeniably cool it was that Elsa was a spirit when Kristoff interrupted her, his voice unnaturally grim for such a seemingly innocent discussion.

"The thing about this spirit, though—about _Elsa_—is that she has limits. If, for example, she gives off too much of her natural energy at once—"

"Like the way she did when I stabbed her!" Anna realized. "And the explosion!"

"It can result in the, as Pabbie put it, 'weakening of her being', making her feel tired and drained until all the energy that left finds its way back to her. Since this energy—which is Elsa's snow magic, if you haven't realized yet—is the only thing attaching her to your body, without it, her spirit would just sort of…" He paused for a moment. "Drift away."

"This is all a bit too much to take in," Elsa finally murmured, and she suddenly became all-too aware of the nausea swirling in her stomach.

"If you give up too much of your energy at one time," Kristoff continued, now speaking directly _to_ her as if this would somehow make her feel less sick. "It might become so un-condensed that your powers vanish and your body turns into that of a normal human. When that happens, your spirit will disappear and have to wait another thousand years or so to find another inhabitable body… all memories of your previous life gone."

At this admission, Anna cringed, and her excitement seemed to waver. "That sounds awful," she moaned. "She wouldn't even remember that I was her sister."

"Wait," said Elsa suspiciously, and fear suddenly took hold of her like a hawk's deadly grip on her heart. "What's all this have to do with right now? Why are you bringing it up?"

"You'll see," said Kristoff. "But, uh, let me tell you a story first… have you ever heard of a woman named Mother Nature?"

Mother Nature? Well, yes, of _course_ she'd heard of a woman named Mother Nature! Who is the world hadn't?

"Isn't that just another word for nature?" Dustin asked cautiously. He'd been so quiet for so long that Elsa had almost forgotten he was there.

"Yeah," said Kristoff. "_Now _it is. But what some people don't know is that she used to be an actual person. A woman who could control the earth the same way that Elsa now can control ice. She created and manipulated trees, grass, animals... all sorts of stuff like that. All for good, of course; the trolls call her a saint."

"Was she one of Elsa's past lives?" Anna asked, shocked. Kristoff nodded.

"She was so concerned about her creations, in fact, that she created the trolls in order to protect them. But at first all of the ones she made were evil and heartless and she didn't understand why."

"So... why?" asked Anna. Kristoff rolled his eyes but continued regardless.

"They were Slave Trolls. The presence of a demon in the world corrupted them, and unable to rip themselves from his influence, they sort of just did whatever the demon asked them too. But when she figured that out, she went and freed them—or, at least, most of them—and started the species of Free Trolls that raised me."

"Wow, Elsa!" Anna exclaimed, happy once-again. "Think about it… you pretty much created the Free Trolls! That would make them your children, so Kristoff is practically your grandkid!"

Elsa did not want to think about Kristoff being her grandkid, and Kristoff seemed to feel the same way. He ignored the observation.

"To do this, though…" he began, and his face was strained, as if the very act of telling this story was difficult. "She had to sacrifice herself. Demons are powerful creatures, and to kill them requires huge amounts of energy; enough so that it forced Mother Nature's body to turn back into a human and released her spirit back into the world. That demon was really different than the one we face now—it was in the form of a giant rather than a dragon, and it held the powers of death-by-touch rather than mind-control—but Pabbie tells me it was the _same_ demon. Reborn again, just the same as Elsa had been. In fact, it's almost a pattern… every thousand years, the spirit comes to earth, the demon follows, and she saves the world by giving up her life to kill him. It's a very noble practice, and she's highly respected by the trolls, but, uh… I think you know what I'm about to say."

They did. When Elsa spoke next, her voice was hardly louder than a whisper. It sounded incredulous and detached, but at the same time, the words it spoke were completely, undeniably, one-hundred-percent true. They had to be.

"To kill the demon, I need to sacrifice myself."

"No!"

The response was immediate. Anna shot up from the ground like a jack-in-the-box, eyes wild and expression crazed as her entire body trembled. The plate of eggs that had previously sat upon her lap burst through the air and spewed out onto Dustin across from her, but she hardly seemed to care. She hardly seemed to feel anything at _all_, in fact. The only expressions stretched out across her face was that of absolute disbelief and the clear, wordless feeling that what needed to happen _must not happen_.

"Anna," Elsa began calmly, attempting to soothe her, but it did no use.

"I won't let this happen! You're my sister! You can't die!"

Very slowly, Elsa pulled herself up to face the girl, trying as hard as she could to steady her own trembling legs.

"I… I need to do what I need to do, Anna. If this is the only way to save my kingdom, then I will gladly give my life. For them _and_ for you."

"No!" screamed Anna again, this time her face a boiling red. "How are you even _thinking_ about doing this? It's completely ridiculous… I mean, it _can't_ be the only way to save Arendelle! It can't be! There must be something else we can do! Uh… maybe… how about…" She looked around at the snowy stretch of land surrounding them, as if there might be some magical demon-killing device sticking up from the ground for their convenience.

"There's not," said Elsa, and now that she had said it aloud, she knew it to be true. Elsa had not once in her life thought that she might be some sort of magical, self-sacrificing spirit… but now that Kristoff had mentioned it? There was a feeling of familiarity blooming in her chest. A strange, strange feeling—one that she couldn't help but doubt highly—but a feeling all the same. She simply couldn't ignore it.

"Anna," she said, "This is my destiny. This is what my heart, my _spirit_, tells me I need to do… and I'm not going to run away from it. Not the same way I ran away from my problems five years ago when I froze over Arendelle. I've learned from my mistakes and I've grown as a person and I _know_ that this is something I have to do. I know it is."

Elsa sighed deeply, sadness and nostalgia swirling like butterflies within her. "I'm so sorry, Anna. I never meant to leave you. But I guess this is just the way it has to be."

"Elsa!" moaned her sister, and her voice was desperate now. "Please! We haven't even looked for another solution yet! You can't tell me you're giving up already! C'mon, c'mon, please! Let's just look! Please? Just look!"

Elsa shook her head. She hated having this argument, but she knew the truth when she felt it. "I'm sorry, Anna, but there's no time."

"Kristoff," Anna exclaimed, turning to the ice-harvester in a last-resort kind of way. "Convince her!"

To her great and utter shock, however, Kristoff shook his head as well. He looked sorrowfully towards Anna, and then towards Elsa, but did not break his composure.

"If the trolls thought there was another way, they would've found it already. They love Elsa's spirit just as much as you do… but no, Anna, there's not. This is just the way it has to be. I'm so, so sorry."

At first, Anna looked at him incredulously. Then her face screwed up in anger and she huffed her indignation, turning away from him in a way that was admittedly quite childish.

"You traitor! I can't believe you! Anybody who really loved Elsa would never let her die!"

Elsa sighed again, this time annoyance creeping up in her voice. "Dustin, please… will you calm her down? She won't listen to a word I'm saying."

For some reason, the boy had been remaining suspiciously silent throughout this whole ordeal. That was fine during most normal circumstances, but as of now she needed his support.

"Actually, E-Elsa…" Dustin began, and his entire body was shaking like a leaf as he said it. "I think I a-agree with her."

Everybody froze. Even Anna seemed to be too shocked to speak a word.

"W-What?" Elsa finally murmured, not able to believe her ears. "What did you say?"

"I said… I said that I _agree_ with her."

Never in all his years of service had Dustin disobeyed a command, much less even spoken back to Elsa with anything but the upmost respect. She could barely process it.

"But, Dustin," she began desperately. "Don't you see how ridiculous this all is? It's the only way… Anna is just in denial. It's an understandable reaction, but still. Any logical person would understand that—"

Dustin shook his head, his face set in stone.

"I can't give up on you, Elsa. There has to be another way."

For a moment, shock continued to display itself across Elsa's face. Then—almost as suddenly as it had appeared—it was replaced by that of anger. She turned back to Anna and glared. Not so much that she was mad at her sister, but more-so of all the emotions running through her system… she was going to die today, she was going to die today, she was going to die today no matter what. That kind of stress would get to anyone, and it most certainly had gotten to her.

"I'm doing this, Anna," Elsa announced in finality, her mind set. "I'm killing that demon."

"No!" she screamed, her furious expression matching that of her sister's. "I won't let you go!"

Elsa scoffed, and in one last act of childish defiance, raised her hand. "I'd like to see you stop me."

In a little sweep of the wrist, everything changed. A dense, white fog appeared out of nowhere and blinded the red-head, causing her to hold her arm over her eyes and violently cough the substance from her lungs. Only when she took a step forward and looked around did she realize what it truly was.

The snow-queen had created a blizzard. Elsa was going to escape in a way she knew Anna would never be able to follow.

"No!" Anna screamed, her voice already growing hoarse. "You can't do this!"

But no, it was already too late. Squinting her eyes, she caught sight of one last flash of blue as Elsa sprinted into the storm in front of them, yelling a quick "I'm sorry!" before disappearing into nothingness completely. Then, just as quickly, a squirt of brown that was clearly the form of Kristoff riding Sven—a pair of ice-harvesters of many years, and therefore more qualified than all but Elsa to be running into such a mess—followed right at her heels.

"Come back!" Anna screamed, but it was no use. Elsa, Sven, and Kristoff had dissolved into the blizzard to commit the ultimate sacrifice, leaving Anna, Dustin, and two speechless snowmen in their wake.

* * *

><p><strong>Well, be honest... what did you think? I know this wasn't the most eventful chapter, but I hope this gets you excited for future chapters in which you get to see exactly how everything works out. Did you expect this? Please review and tell me what you think!<strong>

**P.S. If you're wondering why Elsa doesn't want Anna to be queen, I'll explain that next chapter, so don't worry about it. There's a good reason ;)**


	8. The Sacrifice

**Has it really been a month since I last updated? Ugh, I'm so sorry… I've just really had my hands full lately. I hope you guys don't mind the lateness (and that you remember what happened last chapter; it really has been such a long time). This is the second-to-last chapter, so hopefully my last won't be quite such a long wait. **

**Don't forget to review, and enjoy! :D**

* * *

><p>"Elsa! Elssaaa! Elsssaaaaa!"<p>

"Anna," came a soft voice from behind. "She can't hear you."

"I know, I know, but I can't help but just… ELSA! ELSA! EL—"

"Anna," it repeated. "I don't think this is going to work."

"ELLLLLSSSSSSAAAAAAAAA!"

"Anna!" Dustin called, this time stern enough so as to actually have an effect. "It's useless!"

Anna had always liked Dustin, but in this moment, she couldn't stop herself from turning around to glare at him with all her might, face as red as could be in the frosty white that surrounded them.

"It's not useless! We'll find her! I know it!"

Dustin only shook his head, barely noticeable what with how vigorously he was already shivering. "I know you believe that, Anna, but I think it's… I think it may be time to give up. This is Elsa's element. Where she's strongest. If she doesn't want us to find her here, then we won't. It's hopeless."

Hopeless? _Hopeless_! Of all the words in the entire known universe—all the way from down where the mermaids spoke mermish up to where the martians jabbered up a storm on the moon—hopeless was probably Anna's least favorite word of all time. Right next to impossible. And monster. And spinach. She really hated spinach.

"I'm not giving up," she huffed, though already her toes were numb and no matter how tight she pulled her cloak around her, she still could've been naked for how much protection it seemed to give her from the wind. They'd been at this for what seemed like hours now, stomping endlessly through a snow-swallowed ground that only appeared to be getting deeper with every step, calling and calling and calling for a queen, a sister, a best friend who just would not answer no matter how desperate the words pulled from their chests.

But Elsa had to answer. She _had_ to. Because if not, that meant she would go and… well, do what she thought she had to do. Do what stupid, stupid Kristoff—who Anna loved and would love forever, no matter how this turned out—had convinced her was the only option. But no. No. Anna was sure that they were wrong, that there had to be another way. She would not let Elsa sacrifice herself, not let her die, not so much as let her get a paper-cut if she had anything to say about it. Anna would kill the demon herself if she had to. Kill it for Elsa and never look back. After all, this was her _sister_ she was talking about here. The Snow Queen. Elsa. She deserved everything.

"Olaf," Dustin moaned, his lips nearly turned blue as he waded through the storm said Snow Queen had left in her wake to stop them. "Are you sure we're even going in the right direction?"

Olaf nodded eagerly. Probably. It was hard to see him what with the way he was standing behind Marshmallow's gigantic form.

"I can feel her. Just ahead. Marshmallow feels it too."

"Mama!" boomed Marshmallow. "Close!"

Relief flooded through Anna's chest. She turned back to Dustin and smirked.

"See?" she said. "We're close. They know if anybody does. How does that make _you_ feel, you big… dumb… giver-upper!"

Even with his face frozen, Dustin managed to let out a weak chuckle. "I want to find her too, you know."

"You don't act like it."

"If I wanted Elsa dead I would've sided with her. But I didn't, did I? I sided with you. Because I believe you. There… there has to be another way. Any way. Elsa can't just… die."

Anna nodded slowly. She hadn't considered it that way, but… yes. Yes. He _had _sided with her. And _against _Elsa_. _For possibly the first time in the history of ever. It was all just so strange.

"Hey," Anna asked, allowing a moment of silence to go by as her throat—raw with screaming—mustered up its remaining strength. "You know what's weird?"

"What?" he asked.

"You… you overcame Tedar's mind control." This above all else caused Dustin to fidget. "You were the only one besides Elsa and Kristoff who wasn't affected, and they both had _reasons, _at least. How'd you do it?"

Dustin's gaze fell. His footsteps marched onwards, but they seemed to lose a small bit of sureness they'd held before.

"How did you?"

Anna blinked. She had to think about that for a while. Yes, yes, it was true that the mind-control had affected her—affected her so thoroughly, some might say, that it led her to nearly murder her own sister—but it was also true that she had overcome it just in time. Gone back to her normal, non-psychopathic mindset without any explanation. How did that work, exactly? She'd never asked, never questioned it. Just thanked fate for its show of mercy and prayed that it would never stop showing it again.

But how exactly had she broken free?

Dustin's voice brought out into the crispness of the air like a knife in an apple, and his words drove Anna to absolute silence.

"Love conquers all."

It was true, it was true. Love, love, it had always been that way. Anna had broken Tedar's bond on her mind the moment Elsa had asked aloud those seven, memory-inducing words of "Do you want to build a snowman?" That had been the moment in which the love locked within her chest had burst forth in an explosion, and the power within that feeling and that feeling alone had freed her faster than anything else could ever even hope. The powers had failed on her because she loved Elsa. And that meant that the powers had failed on Dustin because…

"You love her," Anna gasped. "You're in love with my sister!"

Dustin sunk his head low and said nothing. In the paleness of his cheeks was just the smallest hint of red. That was enough a confirmation as any.

"You're…" Anna repeated. "In love…" Her heart was pumping hard. "With my _sister_!"

If possible, Dustin looked even more ashamed.

"I didn't mean for it to happen," he murmured. "She was just so kind to me, and beautiful, and it just sort of… happened. I know it's stupid. I tried to get myself to stop when I realized it, but I couldn't. Nothing I do makes it stop, I can't stop feeling the way I do… so I've decided to just keep it to myself. That way at least—"

"Oh my _gosh_!"

Dustin blinked at her. "What?"

"You have to _tell _her!"

Anna had never seen an expression go from shame to absolute mortification as fast as Dustin's had.

"_Tell her?_"

"Yes! _Yes_!" Anna couldn't help herself. Even in the cold she was bouncing up and down, her face flushed not from chill but from excitement. "You have to _tell _her! She's never had a single person confess their love to her yet… can you believe that? Think of how amazing that would feel! Think of how happy you two would be together! You have to tell her!"

"I…" Dustin was so pale he almost seemed to fade away into the atmosphere. "I _can't_. Elsa.. she's… she's… a _queen!_"

"So?" Anna asked. "I'm a princess and Kristoff is an ice-man, but everyone in Arendelle loves us together, and Elsa most of all! She won't care where you come from! You just wait and see! She won't care a bit!"

"I'm younger than her," he said. "I'm… uh… shorter."

"Oh pssshhhh," she scoffed. "Like that matters. You're only a few years apart, and that whole 'boy's have to be tall' thing is just a myth. You're height is perfect. I bet Elsa finds it cute."

"But I… I don't…" Dustin wrestled with his tongue. Then he sighed and let loose a stream of fears stirring within his very core. "It's _Elsa_! She's the _queen_! She can't love me back!"

Anna's bumbling enthusiasm had trickled down by now, but her joy was no less prominent. She smiled at Dustin kindly, sympathetically, and her next words were soft as snowflakes.

"Elsa seems distant sometimes," she said. "But I promise you, she loves more deeply than anyone you could ever imagine."

For the longest time there was silence. One foot after the other, Anna and Dustin troubled their way through the storm. A storm that, as wild as it was, wasn't even half as turbulent as the thoughts in their own minds.

"Maybe you could save her," Anna whispered after a while. "Maybe she'll rethink if she knows how much we all care about her. Maybe she'll rethink if she knows she's found her true love."

Dustin looked towards the ground, but he did not decline. "If… if it could save her life, then I guess… then I guess I'll tell her."

Anna beamed. She couldn't stop herself from giggling madly at the thought, and then when an idea captured her mind, turning her head over her shoulder to stare at the little waddling snowman behind her.

"You know more about Elsa than anybody," she asked him. "Do you know how she feels about Dustin?"

"Elsa likes Dustin!" Olaf announced cheerily, and he refused to clarify further than that.

* * *

><p>"Kristoff," a timid voice broke out. It was quiet enough that one might expect it to disappear in the wind, but instead it seemed to lace with the movements of the air, become part of the storm rather than allow itself to be drowned by it. "Why did you wait to tell me?"<p>

"Hm?" The blond ice-man turned his head to look at the _other_ blond within the vicinity. Previously—to get ahead of their, um… _followers_—they had both ridden on Sven towards where Elsa sensed the demon to be, but as the miles had worn on and the snow became thicker, she'd taken pity on the reindeer and insisted the two of them walk the rest of the way. Sven was already exhausted from having galloped an unspecified distance in order for Kristoff to pass Pabbie's warning on to Elsa, and the queen herself seemed perfectly confident that not even Anna could brave the storm she'd left in their wake. Currently, she strolled just to Kristoff's left, taking care to match each delicate stride to his own. "Tell what?

"Everything," she said. "About me being a spirit of some sort. About me needing my powers to stay alive. About me having to _give_ my life to kill the demon. Why didn't Pabbie just tell me from the start?" She paused before adding. "Why didn't you?"

Kristoff looked sheepish. He rubbed the back of his neck and glanced towards Sven for a savior, but it was no use. Sven just shrugged, and even if he'd been more enthusiastic to help out, he didn't exactly have a way with words. It was up to Kristoff to do it all on his own.

"It's complicated…" he began.

Elsa shrugged. "I have time."

It took a good few minutes of coaxing, but eventually the explanation poured from Kristoff's lips like the frosted breath of a child in winter.

"Pabbie said we needed to wait until you were ready. He said you needed to figure it out all on your own."

Elsa blinked. "What?"

"He said—"

"I know, I heard you, but what do you mean ready? I'm not—"

"I don't know a lot, Elsa," he interrupted. He caught her slowing her pace in thought, and he slowed his own so as not to leave her behind. "But from what he told me, it's got something to do with sacrifice."

"Sacrifice?"

"Y'know, learning that there are more important things than just your own life. I mean, you're far from a selfish person, and I'm sure Pabbie knows that, but dying for a demon is still sort of big deal. He said something about making sure you were prepared to make that decision without any doubt. Ready to do it… without fear."

Elsa scoffed. "Like someone could face a demon without fear."

"Not face a demon," he told her. "Accept the truth."

For a long while she was silent, and Kristoff swore that through the near-translucent gleam of her irises he could see the thoughts darting back and forth within her mind.

"But how would he even know?" she finally asked. "How would he be able to tell I was ready."

Kristoff shrugged. "He said something about being able to _feel_ it. I mean, he's done this same routine with your spirit a ton of times, remember? There must be someway he just knows. He contacted me just a few days ago to tell me to explain this whole situation to you, so it must've been—"

Elsa gasped, making Sven freeze on the spot and causing Kristoff to bang right into him. His ribcage ached.

"_What?_" he snapped, momentarily irritated.

"It's because of what Tedar did to me and Anna! Because I let her stab me! That's what let him know I was ready!"

"What?" Kristoff choked. "You guys were serious about that? Anna actually _stabbed_ you?!"

Oh. Right. They hadn't explained yet.

Elsa spent the next ten minutes giving Kristoff a brief overview of the events that had occurred a day or two beforehand. The hypnotism Anna had undergone because of Tedar. The lies it filled her head with and the hate that had filled her heart. Then the trap the troll had used to bring Elsa to the stone castle, the knife he'd handed to Anna, and the final choice he'd offered up. Elsa could either kill Anna, let Anna kill her, or betray Arendelle and the entire world to follow. There was really only one choice she could make.

"Sacrifice," breathed Kristoff as he took it all in. "If you were willing to die for the person you love most, for the kingdom you protect with all your heart, then there's no doubt you'll be willing to do it again. You might not have been sure you were capable beforehand, you might have worried you'd be too scared and back out in the last second, but now that you've already done it… you'll give your life without a second thought. That's just what Pabbie was waiting for."

"Exactly," said Elsa. "It must've been Tedar that let him know. They have some sort of connection, don't they? He must of felt it from _him_."

"But you told me Tedar died in the explosion," Kristoff said.

Elsa nodded. "That's what Anna said."

"Well then he never even found out that you survived. How would Pabbie know?"

Elsa thought about that for a moment, and when she found no answer in the recesses of her mind, shrugged half-heartedly.

"I… I don't know, Kristoff. I guess it doesn't matter. Let's just keep going on our way; the demon is close now."

Kristoff frowned to himself but made no complaints. "Yeah. Yeah. The demon."

They had not taken two steps before they heard the voice break out from behind them.

"Search for it all you like; you'll never kill it like that."

Elsa, Kristoff, and Sven all turned in sync, the snow swirling like colorless paint beneath them.

"Who's—" Elsa began, but the question died on her tongue. There was no mistaking that pale, sickly skin. No mistaking the glowing red eyes and bloodied pink fangs and the pang of terror the mere sight of him sent straight to her chest and back again. Elsa's jaw slackened. Her knees weakened considerably.

"You're dead," she told him, even though he was very obviously not. "The explosion killed you."

"Not so," said Tedar. "Here I am."

"But… but…. _how?"_

"I…" And to her great surprise, he answered honestly. "Was a coward. I sensed what you were about to do before you do it, and left my army to distract you while I made my escape."

He was not speaking in the same malicious, cocky way she'd grown to attribute to every utterance of his voice. There was a sincerity shining in his eyes that she had not noticed before, a swirl of emotions she never thought him capable. But still, still… he was only tricking her. Trying to lower her guard. Elsa was not to be fooled so easily; she raised her defenses in a palmful of ice magic.

"Get away," she told him. She tried desperately not to let her voice shake. "I'll kill you if you take a step closer. I swear it; I won't even hesitate."

"You've already lost," Kristoff added from besides her. He was staring dead at Tedar, more anger in his eyes than Elsa could believe. "Your army is dead, your demon is unprotected… there's nothing you can do. All that's left is to wait for the end."

"You misread me," began Tedar. "I come baring no harm."

"_Ha!" _Elsa shot out. She couldn't help herself. "The same way you came 'baring no harm' before you put the entire population of Arendelle under your mind-control, I'm sure. Who do you think I am, Tedar? I"m not so foolish as to fall for your tricks! Not… again…"

She was breathing hard now, her icy-blue eyes flaring as hot as fire and her face twisted into a scowl. Already the storm around them had increased in intensity, and she could feel even Sven—protected by fur as he was—shiver beside her.

"Your Majesty—" Tedar started again, but Elsa wasn't hearing any of it.

"You made my own people despise me!"

"Your Majest—"

"You tied me to a stake; tried to burn me to death!"

"Your Maj—"

"You kidnapped my sister and turned her against me!"

"Your—"

"You made her _stab _me! You put my blood on her hands! You—"

"_Elsa_!" Tedar spoke out, and the way he said her name made her freeze on the spot. Absolutely no malice behind his words this time, no mocking, only pure, pure desperation. Almost a tinge of hope. Of goodness.

"Queen Elsa," repeated Tedar. "The explosion you caused… it was a massive release of energy all at once. It did not kill the demon, but it did do something remarkable… it broke his power over all those left alive in the vicinity. And I, you should know, just so happened to _be _in the vicinity. The explosion shattered the demon's hold over me. You've… freed me from in."

Elsa blinked. Words found no shelter in her lungs.

"That means," began Kristoff slowly. She was thankfully to have someone to speak for her. "That you're no longer a Slave Troll. You're… a Free Troll. Like Pabbie."

Tedar nodded. "Precisely."

Elsa choked. Spluttered. But eventually, _eventually_, she managed to find her tongue.

"This doesn't change things," she told him. "You still did all those horrible, awful things to me. If you think this pardons you from your crimes against humanity, then you are sorely mistaken."

To her great and utter surprise, Tedar did not defend himself, merely lowered his head in shame.

"I am aware, Your Majesty. The demon had a hold over me, but I did his deeds with pleasure, and that cannot be forgiven. Only once I experienced a world without him in my heart could I feel… feel… _morality_, might you call it. I was lost in the rubbles of the castle, but I managed to communicate with Pabbie through me mind. He, too, has felt the sweet release of the demon. He understood what I was feeling, helped me embrace it rather than turn away. And he told me to come to you. To give you the final piece of the puzzle. The last piece of advice before you make your final blow on the demon"

"You're… you're lying," said Elsa, not because she thought he was, but because one would be a fool not to accuse a creature with such a deceitful tongue. "You're tricking me. I won't fall for it."

"You're a very smart girl, you know that," said Tedar. "But no, I am not lying. Try asking your little friend there."

Elsa turned towards Kristoff. He looked down from where he toward above her—certainly not a _little _friend by any means, but maybe that was a figure of speech—and to her surprise, found him nodding at her without a hint of doubt.

"I know a lying troll when I see one," he told her. "And that's no lying troll."

* * *

><p>They'd been walking for so long that Anna had almost gotten used to it. In fact, now that her feet were numb and she could no longer feel the familiar icy sting of the wind and snow, she could almost say that she was <em>enjoying <em>it. That was, until she heard a heavy thud behind her and felt the ground shake like an earthquake beneath her booted feet. When she turned around to find both Marshmallow and Olaf collapsed onto the snowy blanket below them, the joy evaporated from her heart like a puddle in the eye of summer.

"Olaf! Marshmallow! Hey, you guys, come on! What's wrong?"

She'd done a full, three-hundred-sixty degree turn and sprinted over to them before she'd even finished her words, and because he was smaller and lighter and less likely to crush her if she tried, she picked up Olaf first.

"Olaf," she said. Despite how she knew this would most likely do more harm than good, she couldn't help but shake him around in her arms as she yelled some more. "Are you alright? What's happening?"

This was the snowman who'd, years ago, found her curled up in an empty room, dying of both a painfully frozen and newly-broken heart. He'd saved her life, and, by extension, saved Elsa's. Snowman as he was, he never slept even at night, but now he lay in her arms with his eyes shut tight and his body still. One of the rare moments in which she saw him without a smile on his face.

"They're unconscious," Dustin said. He had dug around for Marshmallow's head in the snow, holding his hand over the giant's mouth so as to check for breath. "Still alive, but… I don't know how this could've happened. They just collapsed."

For the longest while, Anna stood there and wondered. She put Olaf back on the ground like a child on a mattress, turning towards Dustin and just looking at him with her eyebrows raised to match his own.

"Why would—?" she began, but then the question bubbled and died between her lips.

"It's Elsa," she croaked. Why else would the Snow Queen's two creations inexplicably crash to the ground like that? Why else would it seem as if the very life had drained from their coal eyes and snow-crafted bodies? "She must've found the demon! She must've… done it. It's too late."

"Anna," said Dustin behind her. His voice was sympathetic, but she could hear the fear dancing behind it. "Anna, we don't know if that's true…" But it was hard to argue staring at the bodies of their two friends. His voice tampered off into the distance, and then all that could be heard was the soft whoosh of wind and the crackling of a human heart.

Anna couldn't help herself. She crashed to the ground on her knees. The cold of the snow soaked through her clothing and bit into her skin as sharp as knives, but Anna didn't care, she just didn't. All she could do was crumble and melt like the two unconscious snowmen before her. Elsa… her sister… her big sister… her best friend.

And then there was some shuffling, some soft moans, and two pairs of eyes opened up blearily before them.

"Olaf! Marshmallow!"

Before they knew it, Anna and Dustin had rushed up to the snowmen and were helping them to their feet, their eyes wide with hope and their faces flushed with relief. After a good few minutes of recovery time, the questions that popped up next were—at the very least—inevitable.

"What happened?" asked Anna. "You guys just… fell over! What happened?"

"Mama!" boomed Marshmallow, but he seemed unable to explain any further. Dustin furrowed his eyebrows in concern and added, "Olaf, do you know?"

But even _he_ seemed to be struggling to find the words. It was almost unreal. Olaf had gone to sleep as such an optimistic, cheery little guy, and he'd woken up as a shaking, speechless child.

"She… she separated," he finally answered.

Dustin blinked at him. "What do you mean, Olaf?"

"She… she cut the bond. Since she created me, we've always had a bond between us. A bond where we could feel and… and understand each other. But she cut it. Me and Marshmallow aren't a part of her anymore."

Anna felt herself gasp so forcefully she could've sworn she'd sucked right up the entire storm before them.

"Why would she do that?" she asked. "Was she worried you would lead us to her? Did she do all this _just _we wouldn't find her? If she did then I—"

"No," said Olaf, and his voice held far more gloom than his voice should've ever held. "She did it so we wouldn't die when she did."

Anna froze. So did Dustin. So did Olaf and Marshmallow and the rest of the entire known world. They all sat in complete silence for a few horrible, horrible moments before Dustin found the bravery to shatter it.

"I guess you're independent beings now," he told the snowmen. "You can live on your own. That's… wow. Just wow. I can't believe she did that; it's fascinating."

Anna didn't care how fascinating it was. She only had one thing on her mind, and one thing only.

"Let's get going, as fast as possible. Elsa has to be close; we need to stop her now."

But even as she said it, she knew it was no use. She knew the general direction of her sister's trail, but if that changed, she no longer had two snowy compasses to lead the way. She was also far, far behind the girl, had a much slower mode of transportation—how could walking on foot compare to Sven's sturdy gallop?—and was, to boot, far less equipped to be fighting through this nasty blizzard than the Queen of Snow and the Official Ice Master and Deliverer of Arendelle.

This was hopeless.

"Mama," cried Marshmallow again. Anna only just noticed how anxiously he was pacing back and forth across the snowy terrain; clearly, he was not dealing well with the separation from his creator. His… mother, some would say. "We save her now!"

And before they even got a chance to scream, Marshmallow had scooped up Anna, Dustin, and Olaf with cupped hands the size of small lakes, throwing them onto his shoulder and charging forward like the big, lumbering giant that he was.

Now _this, _Anna thought as they shook and bumped through what seemed a mile each step, just might be a match for Sven.

* * *

><p>Now that the end was lingering so close—close enough to taste the bitterness on her tongue, close enough to feel it dancing at the tips of her fingers, close enough that if she squinted far enough into the distance she could've sworn she saw her demise lingering like a ominous black cloud in the atmosphere—Elsa was starting to feel a bit strange. Her stomach lurched as if someone had dumped in an entire bottle of her father's old cringe-worthy ale, and for some strange reason she longed to lay down on the snow-soaked ground and curl up into a ball and dissolve into nothing right then and there. If Anna was here, she might have someone to talk to about this. But no, at the moment the only people present were her sister's lover, her sister's lover's pet <em>reindeer,<em> and the troll who'd tried to outright murder her on several traumatizing occasions.

So she'd just have to hold it in, wouldn't she?

"You've broken the bond between you and the creatures?" Tedar asked her from where he led the way. "They're separated from you?"

Elsa nodded. "I did just as you told me. It was… hard. To leave them, I mean. But they're safe now, and that's what matters."

"And you know how to kill the demon?" he asked. "You remember what I told you?"

Elsa nodded again, but less eagerly this time. "I need to take something dear to _my_ heart… and put it in the _demon's_ heart. And then let my powers explode at the moment of contact. I understand that, I just… I don't know what that thing is yet."

"You will soon," he told her. "Pabbie told me it always makes itself known to you in the last moments. You'll know it when you see it."

At that, Tedar stopped abruptly. Elsa nearly toppled over trying not to bang into him, and Kristoff actually did bang into her, blushing bright red and apologizing profusely.

"Don't worry about it, Kristoff," she said, and to both their own surprise, she took his hand and squeezed it. "I just want to thank you for supporting me. It means a lot."

He smiled, warm as ever, and was just about to respond when Tedar's voice broke out like a knife to sever their sibling-in-law-bonding.

"We're here."

Elsa froze. "Here?"

"Just over that mountain. See for yourself."

Elsa squinted in the distance, and low-and-behold, she could've sworn she saw a folded black wing behind the tall, winter peaks stretching onwards into infinity.

"Oh," she said.

"Oh," said Kristoff.

Sven made some whining, sniffing sound Elsa couldn't interpret. "I know, buddy," Kristoff said, patting his head with the rough palm of his hand. "I know."

"I guess I… should go then," said Elsa. She tried to straighten herself out, but she was sure even a blind man would've been able to see the way her legs trembled like jelly beneath her. "I'll just go kill the demon. Tell Anna goodbye for me, will you?"

"Uh," said Kristoff.

"What?"

"Why don't you tell her yourself?"

Elsa blinked. Then she turned around and felt such a stunning range of emotions she honestly couldn't tell which one was which. Because there, despite the running, despite the storm, despite all the precautions Elsa had taken to separate herself from the little sister who loved her more deeply and truly than anyone she had ever known in her entire life, that little sister had found her. And despite all she tried to be horrified, she couldn't help the swell of pure joy that threatened to burst from her terrified heart.

"Anna!" she screamed through the racket of the wind. She was riding on the back of—who else?—big, fluffy Marshmallow, Olaf and Dustin right by her side. Elsa turned back to Kristoff and rolled her eyes as if this weren't the biggest deal in the entire history of the universe.

"I should've known she would find me," she told him. "She'd brave her way through any storm to get what she wants."

"Yeah," said Kristoff, but he looked impressed. "It's why I love her."

Elsa squeezed his hand again. "It's why we both do."

Within five minutes, Marshmallow had made it up to them, and he kneeled forward as if he were bowing to allow Anna, Dustin, and Olaf to scramble off his shoulders.

"Elsa!" Anna screamed, as soon as she was on stable ground and knew she could sprint towards her sister without fear of falling forty feet to cold, hard ground. "You have to—"

Then she stopped herself. Her eyes fell upon the short, stout body of the creature who'd just a day or so previously placed a knife in her hand. And then—bloodcurdling as ever—she let out a shriek.

"Elsa! Get away from him! He's here, he's here, he's—"

"Anna," she responded calmly. "He's no longer under the demon's control. He's on our side now. He's… changed."

She took a good five minutes explaining what Tedar had told her. It wouldn't have taken so long had Anna not insisted on interrogating the fellow ever little innocent remark Elsa made.

"Oh, so you said you _spoke_ to Pabbie," she scoffed. "Telepathically or something, huh? Like we'd ever be dumb enough to believe that!"

"Actually, Anna," Elsa explained, "I do believe it. It makes sense with what's happened so far, and with how I used to be connected to Marshmallow and Olaf, I think I understand a bit of how it's done."

Anna pouted a bit. "Even if it's all true, that still doesn't make him good."

"Correct, Princess," spoke up Tedar, and he looked up at her with wide, sorrowful eyes. "I have done many unforgivable things, and though I know I cannot ask for your acceptance, I do ask for your cooperation. Just long enough for me to do what needs to be done."

It took a good amount of scoffing and pouting and suspicious glaring on Anna's part, but eventually she remembered what she was really here for, and all other thoughts seemed to fade away into nonexistence. She turned towards Elsa, leaving Tedar behind her.

"I'm glad you came," Elsa said. She hadn't exactly meant to say it, but the truth had this funny way of just popping out of people's mouths sometimes. "I really wanted to see you one last time. To smooth things over. I didn't want our last conversation to be a fight like that."

"It won't be our last conversation!" the girl insisted. "And it won't be our last fight. We'll have many, _many _more; I can promise you that!"

For a moment, Elsa smirked. She really, really did love her little sister. But then reality caught up with her again, and just as suddenly as it had appeared, her smile fell.

"It's time, Anna."

The words were like the first little crack in a bending twig before it snapped apart completely

"No!" Anna cried. "You can't do this! I won't let you!"

"Sister… please," she started, just to remind herself that she had a sister, had a best-friend set for life. "It doesn't matter anymore, alright? It's happening, it has to, and I'm okay with it. I've accepted it."

"I—I don't care!" Already all anger at Tedar had left her. All that remained was that deep, steaming pool of desperation in the core of her being, a mix of love and fear and sorrow Elsa knew all too well herself. "I _can't _care! I just can't let you do this! Please, Elsa. Please! Don't leave me."

Her eyes were so watery and her lips trembling so hard that Elsa couldn't help it, her heart broke immediately, but she couldn't let her facade follow.

"It's for the best, Anna. It's all for the best. This is… this is my destiny, I guess. What I was meant for."

Anna's face went red, and for the first time since she had ever known her, Anna said something that was somewhat, kind-of-but-not-really, like a curse word.

"Well… well screw destiny! Screw fate and the future and any God out there who thinks they can kill you off! People are always talking about what 'fate has in store for them,' Elsa, but I've watched and all it ever seems to be bringing you is pain! Following your chosen path has only ever hurt you… and I just can't see you hurt anymore!"

The conversation had spun out of control so quickly, hadn't it? Already they were onto Elsa's childhood. Onto what she had suffered through as a young girl taught to hate herself, fear her differences, flock towards isolation in the small hope that it would save what was already lost: her happiness. No, no, she hadn't exactly had the easiest upbringing… but it had all worked out in the end, hadn't it? Once Anna came back into the picture, her life had become more than she'd ever dreamed it would be.

"Well, you're in luck," said Elsa. "Once I head up that little mountain there, my pain will all be a distant memory. I'll finally… be free."

"No!" Anna shrieked. "Death isn't freedom, Elsa! Don't you understand that? You don't have to do this… you don't have to do any of this! You can… uh, um… run away with me! Yeah, that's it! The two of us can go and escape fate and be happy and alive and only then will we be really free. You don't have to do this!"

"Anna, if I don't, thousands upon thousands of innocent people will remain under the demon's control forever—"

"Hey!" she interrupted. "You don't know if they're innocent or not! Statistically speaking, at least _some _of them have probably done some evil things."

Elsa rolled her eyes to keep from giggling and continued without a hitch.

"Thousands upon thousands of _people_ will have their lives ruined, innocent or not. Men and women and children with happy futures ahead of them. It's my destiny. A sacrifice I have to make… you should know more about sacrifice than anybody, considering what you were willing to give up for _me_. I can't just run away from this, Anna, and you know it."

"But I…" she stumbled. "I don't care anymore! Call me selfish, or mean, or anything you want but all I care about is you! Me and you and Dustin and Kristoff… we can all run away together. Take Sven and Olaf and Marshmallow with us, and then we'll escape! Let everyone else stay here; all they've ever done to you is hurt you and break you and torture you anyway! Made you feel like a monster for exactly the thing that makes you special. You're beautiful, Elsa, you've always been, and I just don't understand how they could be so evil as to hurt someone like you. They deserve to die for what they've done to you. All of them!"

Elsa sighed like a frustrated mother, but deep down her heart had somehow shattered even more.

"You're so sweet to care so much about me, Anna, and you know I love you, but you're talking madness. I haven't even _died_ yet and you're already going crazy with denial. I promise you… no matter how it feels now, one day you will overcome this. One day I'll just be a memory in the back of your mind, and as much as you may doubt it now, you'll be okay with that. You'll have moved on the same way we've moved on from Mother and Father… I promise. Now please, just let me go."

She'd put everything into that little speech, but Anna just wasn't budging. Elsa could see all the horrible things the girl had experienced swimming through her mind—what Hans had done, what Tedar had done, even what Mother and Father themselves had done—and it sure as hell was taking its toll. Her breathing rose to something faster than the beat of Sven's sharp hooves.

"N-No! No! Elsa, don't you get it? I can't! The world is evil… I never thought it was before, but now I know. Just like you've known since you were a little girl. And this evil thing doesn't deserve to live off the death of one of the only good things that has ever come into existence! It doesn't! Everybody else may have been fooled… but not me! I'll fight for you forever, Elsa, because you refuse to fight for yourself, and you deserve more than anyone to have some unconditional love! It might as well be mine."

"Anna," Elsa moaned. "Don't speak like this. This isn't you. You used to be so optimistic… and I swear, one day soon you'll get that optimism back. You're just at shock at seeing… the darkness of the world, I guess. The darkness of yourself. But trust me when I tell you that there's light, too. Light that _far_ outshines the bitter blackness we've lived in for the past few weeks. I'm not sacrificing myself to the darkness, Anna. I'm doing it to keep that light shining in you and everyone else of the world, and if that's not a worthy cause, I don't know what is."

It was impossible now to keep calm. Anna was sniffing, the tears dribbling down her face like when she was just a little girl and used to skin her knees on the walkway. But this time Elsa couldn't kiss the booboo better. Couldn't distract her from it with stolen stashes of chocolates and a secret games of magic. This time the hurt, the pain, was in space so deep in her core that Elsa couldn't even think to touch it. It was a thousand times more real than any little scrape could ever be, and it had to be dealt with as such.

"P-Please, Elsa," she cried. "Don't do this! I l-love you so much… I can't lose you. You're the most wonderful person in the world. You _are_ the light. Without you, everything would be dark forever."

Elsa could only shake her head as the snowflakes tears ran down her face so lightly it was almost as if they'd never been there in the first place. The only evidence were the light, nearly invisible traces of frost trailing lines down her cheeks.

"You still think I'm innocent," she mused. "You still think I'm a saint. What I really am is a monster, Anna… no, maybe not in heart, but in ability. No mere human is meant to have this much power. I've done too many things, caused so many battles; you saw what happened to Arendelle! All because some trolls _heard _about what I could do. Just look at the carnage I've wrecked! Intentional or not, I've caused more harm than I can ever repay while living. So my life is the price I will have to give—you know what Kristoff said about the pattern of my spirit, how my death is necessary to restore balance to the universe—and I'm okay with that. Now why aren't you?"

"Because you don't deserve to pay! The blame is on the people who treated you so poorly, who tried to torture and hurt and control you just because they were afraid. You keep insisting on taking responsibility for the whole world's mistakes, but you can't, Elsa! You can't! That's too much weight for one person to handle! No matter how much you want it to be, stopping this is not your job!"

"But I'm the only one who _can_ stop it. If I don't, it's all over."

"There must be another way! This can't be it!"

Elsa sighed deeply and shook her head so that her braid tumbled over her shoulder. "There's that denial again, Anna. Rearing it's ugly head. Listen to me… there _is_ no other way. My death is the solution. I'm not saying you can't grieve, but promise me you'll get over it soon enough."

Anna gave another sniff, and she wiped her cheek with the sleeve of her shirt. "I just… I don't want you to die, Elsa. I love you so much."

"Of course. I love you too, and I can't imagine how painful this would be in reverse. Death is sad and horrible and scary, I know it is, but it's just… another part of life. I realized that the moment Tedar made you do what you did. It's just my time to die, and that should in no way interfere with your time to live. Please, just… let me do this, okay? There's no other way, and even if I just abandoned my responsibilities, you know I'd never be able to live with myself. I'd be swallowed in guilt and regret and self-hatred for the rest of my life. Dying now is my only option. This is the best ending I could've ever hoped for. A hero's death. Better than living to see myself become the monster I know I have the potential to be."

"B-but I just—"

"Can you let me go, Anna? Will you let me do this? It's the only way I can really, truly be happy. I know you doubt that… but deep down, I think you know it's true."

There was a long, sorrowful pause in which the two girls looked at each other, swallowed up by the tearful pools of each other's eyes. Suddenly, Anna leaned forward and pulled Elsa into a bone-crushing hug. Or at the very least, strong enough to pop a lung.

"I'll…" She sniffed. "Love you forever. But if this is what you want, then I guess I'll just have to live with it."

Elsa was silent for a moment, and then her face split into a small, affectionate smile. "Thank you. This means more to me than you'll ever know."

"I just don't know how I'm going to get on without you," she moaned. "What should I do when you're gone?"

"Honestly, Anna… I couldn't care less."

At this, the eyes of the onlookers—Kristoff and Dustin, mainly—widened considerably, but Anna only smirked. She wiped away a tear or two before speaking. "Couldn't care less? Really? That's _so_ not true."

Elsa shrugged. "I'm a pathological liar, what can I say?

Both girls sniggered, forgetting the immediate future for a single moment of bliss. Then reality washed along Elsa's mind and her face went dark and serious.

"Seriously, Anna… I'm not going to be one of those 'mom figures' who tells you to be good before I go. I don't _want _you to be good! I want you to be mischievous and selfish and rebellious and all out _human_." She threw her arms out in the air for emphasis, and Anna giggled at the sight. "Go and have fun and do whatever you feel like, okay? Laugh and dance and even have children with Kristoff, for God sake! Just… whatever you do, promise me you won't obsess over me for too long. Let my memory fade. It'll all be in the past."

"I can't just _forget_ you, Elsa!"

"No, of course not! But, uh… as cheesy as this sounds, I'll always be there, Anna. Just don't mope about who I _used_ to be. Think of me as an extension of yourself, as a sister who can finally be there for you whenever you need her, rather than having to constantly focus on her duties. I'll be _in _you, so they'll be no need to miss me. I'll be right there."

"Oh my gosh…" Anna started. "So cliche…"

"What can I say? I'm a poet."

At this they giggled again. Two silly little girls with no cares or worries or fears in the world. Why did that have to change? For the second time, Elsa was the one to break their facade first.

"It's time now, Anna."

The girl sniffed, but she held her head strong and to everyone's amazement, managed to nod. "I-I know."

"And, uh, before I go, I have one last request to make."

"Anything," said Anna. It wasn't even a question.

"We are _civilized_ people, and therefore, we do not kill for revenge. No matter how we want to. Tedar is to be pardoned for his crimes."

Anna choked on air. "Wait… WHAT?" she screamed. "No! No way! He's the one who did this to you… to us! He led you to your deathbed, and he deserves to meet you there! He can't just be _forgiven!_"

"No, Anna. Look at him. He's… guilty. He knows the wrongdoing of his actions, he's found his morality and embraced it, and the only justification of murder is when it is in self-defense. Clearly, he can't harm us now, and we can't kill him on the soul purpose of vengeance. He shall be allowed to live."

"No!" Anna repeated. "He's a monster! Don't you understand? He can't be pardoned! He needs to be executed for his crimes!"

"Anna," Elsa sighed. She dropped the emotional, sister part of her and went back for her last moment as queen. "Neither you nor I has any right to make decisions involving the life and death of others. Only our own. Trust me when I tell you to leave him be. Let him realize his folly and do whatever he can to fix it. Let him repent to the best of his ability. This is my final death wish… will you not oblige me?"

Anna gulped, but after a second of hesitation, found herself nodding. "O-Of course I will, Elsa. You know I will. I'll keep him alive… for you."

"Thank you. And now that that's over with… time to die, I guess."

It was Elsa's turn to gulp. The queen part of her faded. She was back to the scared, shivering emotional-wreak she was before. And while all these emotions were pounding through her veins…

Elsa turned towards the entire group surrounding her, mustering up her courage to bare her heart to them.

"I can't thank you all enough for what you've done for me. I love you all more than I can say, and I am…" She had to stop to swallow back the tears. "Truly honored to have spent the most treasured years of my life with you. So… uh, goodbye. Friends."

And then her eyes fell on a glinting, shimmering sword attached to Dustin's side. The same sword she'd made for Anna. The one Kristoff had marveled over and Dustin had been using and was made of ice just like two of her most-favorite snow creatures in the whole entire world.

To kill the demon, she had to use what she loved most. That sword, it seemed, now had a little piece of each of them. If that wasn't it, nothing was.

Elsa turned to Dustin, and in a act that even surprised herself, lay a hand on his cheek as she ever-slowly pulled his sword from its holster. She whispered to him in almost a purr, with just the smallest hint of regret behind her voice, "You won't be getting this back."

From behind her and out of view, Anna was looking wide-eyed and insistent at Dustin, mouthing with exaggerated lip-movements, _Tell her_. _Tell her now._

But when Dustin looked into Elsa's eyes, the reality hit him, and all he did was smile softly and say like what he must've said a thousand times before, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Elsa turned away, said one last goodbye to her family, and then began her walk. The mountain was far, but they all watched her until she was nothing more than a speck in the distance, a little pinprick of love and hope and beauty on an imperfect world that wasn't fit to hold her. Everyone, it seemed, had tears streaming down their face. All except Anna. She just stood there and watched as her soul steadily chipped away, because if there was anything she knew, it was that you couldn't cry at your own funeral.

When the explosion came—a firework of ice and snow, a show of such absolute, stunning beauty one might risk being blinded if they did not turn away—Anna's knees buckled beneath her. She felt the snow of the ground kiss her cheek and hug her body in the way she knew her sister never would again, and in that moment, only one thought struck her mind. For some reason or another, she found herself voicing it aloud.

"Who's going to build a snowman with me now?"

* * *

><p><strong>Well, I admit, that was depressing… but what do you think? Don't take your tissues out yet, because there's still one more chapter to go, and I'm pretty excited about it. I know I haven't updated in a while, but it would mean a lot if you guys told me what you think, because I'm kind of nervous I didn't make this chapter as good as I could've. So pretty please review!<strong>

**And, btw, I know Anna was acting a bit dramatic and un-Anna-like when she was speaking to Elsa, but that's only because this is supposed to be sort of a sequel to my other fanfic "The Ice Princess," and let me tell you, Elsa and Anna experience a LOT of childhood trauma in that. So yeah, she may not be in-character in terms of the movie, but she is in terms of the fanfic.**

**Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it! **


	9. The Resurrection

**Well guys... this is it. The final chapter. As a recap, in the last chapter Elsa went forward to kill the demon, there was an explosion, and (presumably) both Elsa and the demon ended up dead. Enjoy :)**

* * *

><p>"Anna, Anna… I'm so sorry."<p>

Sorry? Sorry meant nothing. Sorry was little more than five-letters, little more than one word, little more than the smallest slice of a single language in a world chalk-full of hundreds more. No language, or word, or letter, or even sorry was _ever_ going to bring her sister back, no matter how much every cell in her body ached for it.

"Go away, Kristoff," Anna said, her body curled against the frozen slush beneath her. "I just… I just want to be alone."

She didn't mean that in the slightest—right now, it seemed, being alone was the very thing she _feared_—and luckily for her, Kristoff seemed to understand this. He knelt down beside her, his arm slumped over her shoulder as he pulled her into him, and she marveled over how the living, breathing warmth of his existence contrasted so sharply against the icy, stinging feel of death. Anna couldn't help herself; she leaned into his heartbeat as if it were her own.

"Elsa," she sobbed, and her eyes were dry but that was only because the storm of tears within her was raging too wildly to allow even a single drop to slip its way through. "She's—"

"I know," said Kristoff. He leaned forward to kiss her forehead and she felt the wetness of his cheeks brush against her. "I know."

They were silent for the longest while, Kristoff and Anna in the front, holding each other as if the mere act of letting go might mean the end of all they knew. Behind them was Olaf comforting a wailing Marshmallow, and beside those two? Dustin. Standing there in the snow, lost and cold and alone and probably forever so. He'd… he'd loved Elsa, hadn't he? And he'd just watched her walk towards her demise.

"Dustin," said Anna, and she turned her neck to look at him. "Are you okay?"

He didn't say a thing, didn't nod or shake his head, but the look of utter despair in his eyes was enough an answer as anything.

"Come here," said Anna. "Come sit with us." And so he did, the three of them gazing into the horizon in which their sister, their friend, their _queen_ had disappeared forever.

"I can't believe she's gone," said Dustin, and his voice was cracked and husky, a whisper of all whispers. "I can't believe I just let her go."

"Why did you?" asked Anna. She snuggled into Kristoff's chest, tried to block out all else but the feel of his warmth. "You said… you said you loved her. You promised you'd tell her that before she left. Why didn't you?"

"Because…" Dustin sighed. His eyes fell to the snowy bank beneath him, his expression dipped in nothing but the bitter sweetness of sorrow. "Because I knew she was right. She had to give her life to save us all, there was no other way, and I… I think I knew that from the beginning. I just let my emotions get in the way, tricked myself into thinking I could save her. But it was no use. Telling her my feelings would've only deterred her, made what she had to do even harder, and she didn't deserve that. So I just… I just didn't say anything. I just let her go."

He gulped, trembling, and in turn so did Anna. She couldn't withhold her fear any longer. "I don't know what I'm going to do," she moaned. "I _needed_ Elsa. I feel broken without her; how am I supposed to rule Arendelle like this? How am I supposed to be a _queen_?"

"You… you won't have to."

Anna froze. Her gaze moved upwards towards the person speaking, allowing the confusion to play across her face.

"What?" She sniffed. "What do you mean?"

"I mean…" Dustin struggled with his words. His eyes fell towards the ground again, then back up at her, than back towards the ground. He had to take a deep breath, muster up his strength, and then push himself hard to continue. "I mean that you won't be inheriting the throne to Arendelle. Elsa, she… she made a will. It said that in case of her death, if there is not yet an available heir of the next generation, I shall be the one to take power."

For the longest time, Anna was absolutely still. She just stared at Dustin, blinking it all in, not an expression to cross her face. And then, oh-so-suddenly…

"How could she!" Anna had sprung to her feet, fury spread like butter upon every square inch of her expression. "She never trusted me, did she? She still thought of me as some little girl, some stupid kid! Even after _everything _we went through together, even to the very _end _of her life, she still didn't believe in me!"

"Anna—" Dustin began, but she cut him off.

"And she was right, wasn't she?" Anna sobbed. "I know I'd never be a good queen; I'm so clumsy, I'd completely destroy the entire kingdom just by some stupid mistake. I'm not like Elsa! I'll never be like her! I just don't understand why _she_ had to be the one to—"

"Anna!" Dustin shouted, forceful this time. "That's not the reason."

Anna's mouth froze mid-sentence, her jaw hanging loose from her skull.

"Then why?" Kristoff asked for her. He stood up so as to hold her again, keep her steady. "What was Elsa even _thinking_?"

"It was to help her," said Dustin. "It was to keep her happy. Ruling a kingdom is not an easy job. It requires work and stress and seriousness and… and sacrifice. Elsa didn't want that for you, Anna. She didn't want you to be bound by the responsibilities of royalty. She just thought that if she passed on those responsibilities to me you wouldn't have to worry anymore. You could do what you want and marry who you like and live a free, a _carefree,_ life. I don't know if it was the right decision, Anna, but it's what she wanted. She… she really, really loved you. You have to believe that."

In a moment, Anna had fallen to her knees again, and this time, far overdue, the tears came down, drowning her face in their translucent beauty.

"I do," she said. "Of course I do. Elsa loves me. Elsa _loved_ me."

And at that she was sobbing so hard that not a word she said following was anything borderline distinguishable.

"C'mon," said Kristoff, and he picked her up like a child in her arms, patting her softly on the back. "It's going to be okay. I swear, it will be."

"I just…" Anna hiccuped. "I just can't…" A loud wail. "I can't believe she's gone!"

"_Well_..." said a soft voice from behind. "She might not be."

Kristoff stopped on the spot. Anna was driven to silence. Dustin's breath seemed to hitch in his lungs and even Olaf and Marshmallow paused their mourning as if time itself had frozen.

"What?" Kristoff asked. He raised an eyebrow.

"It's… it's unlikely," said Tedar. They'd all nearly forgotten he was there, standing behind them so silently and watching with still, still eyes. Anna had to remind herself what Elsa said about pardoning him for his crimes, otherwise she might have borderline strangled him for the unforgivable part he'd played in her death. "But there are certainthingsI might be able to do if only… well, certainty not alone. I'd need the others to assist me."

"What are you talking about?" Dustin asked, and his voice was trembling. "Elsa is dead."

"Of course," said Tedar. "There's no doubt in my mind that her soul is no longer connected to her body. Quite dead, as you would phrase it."

"Then what are you saying?" asked Kristoff. His voice sounded angry now. "Why are you giving Anna false hope when—"

"No false hope," said Tedar. "Remember, death for Elsa's spirit is not the same as death for you humans. There are, dare I say, ways to _reverse_ it."

Silence all around, a sticky substance coating the air like honey and plugging up their lungs.

"Reverse it?" asked Anna. "You mean… you mean…"

"We can have her back?" finished Dustin. He was so out of breath from the suggestion that his voice rose no louder than a whisper.

"Somewhat," said Tedar. "But it's… complicated. And impossible, so long as I'm the only one who knows how. If I'm to do this I'll need the support of Pabbie and his community."

"Then lets do that!" Anna cried, and suddenly she was no longer the shaking, shriveling mourner she'd been only seconds before. The spark had lit up within her once again. The spark of hope, perseverance, determination, that defined her very existence. "The Free Trolls will do _anything_ to help Elsa! I know it; I just know it! They'll help us!"

"In other circumstances, yes," said Tedar. "But this is a… rather controversial procedure, to say the least. I'm unsure how Pabbie would respond should we propose it."

"Who cares?!" shouted Anna. She was on her feet now, too jittery to have stayed confined in Kristoff's protective arms. "You have to ask him, you have to ask him now! You can send each other, like, mind-messages, right? Ask him that way! Then we can—"

"Your Majesty," interrupted Tedar. Anna bristled at once. That was a name only Elsa could fill. "This is not something that can be done so thoughtlessly. I believe… I believe our only chance is to meet with the Free Trolls as soon as possible. Speak with them. They have been walking ever since the demon's destruction, and as such they are relatively nearby. I may be able to lead us to them, and if I discuss this with Pabbie, then possibly—"

"_What_?" begged Anna. "What will you do to bring Elsa back?"

"You'll see," said Tedar. "But first we must begin our trek."

They walked for the plus side of an hour, their legs dragging through the snow as they trudged endlessly onwards. Marshmallow helped by carrying a few of them at a time, but Tedar refused his offer, claiming—not without reason—that as the one person who knew where they were going, he had to be the lead, and thus their journey remained slow and steady, hope flickering away ever minute that went by.

When Pabbie and his village came into view, it seemed that hope flicked back on all at once.

"Kristoff, Kristoff, my _baby_!" came a cry, and ahead of the entire tribe was Bulda—Kristoff's adoptive troll mother—running up to greet him. At once she grabbed onto the hem of his shirt and yanked so as to trap him in a bone-crushing hug. And fix his hair, of course. "I was so _worried_. Did you do what Pabbie asked of you? Did everything—"

"Yes, everything went fine," he told her. "I mean… Elsa's, uh, _dead_, but Pabbie told me that was supposed to happen. Plus Tedar said something along the lines of… well, I don't know what he was talking about, but we'll see." When Bulda continued to comb through Kristoff's hair he blushed bright red and attempted hopelessly to pull himself away. "And stop…" he hissed. "You're embarrassing me in front of _everybody_."

When Pabbie reached them, the situation became a bit more serious.

"Brother," he said to Tedar. His tone was distant but not unwelcoming. "You have arrived."

"I have," said Tedar. "And I come baring an idea… one that I have no doubt you'll find your problems with."

Besides Pabbie, it was not hard to see that most of the trolls in the village were not at all very happy with Tedar's presence. As they all came to surround Pabbie, they kept their glares heavy in the previous Slave Troll's direction, Pabbie's explanation of his remorse and their word of brotherhood most likely being the only thing that kept them from rushing forward and completely tearing him apart.

"Let us discuss this privately, then," said Pabbie. He was just as aware of his family's animosity as any other. "The two of us. We can decide what's right."

"Let me come too!" Anna shouted. "She's my _sister_! If there's a way to bring her back then I… then I deserve to know!"

"Understandable," said Pabbie. "Brother Tedar? Your opinions?"

"Stay here," said Tedar. "As of now, it will be easier to discuss this alone. I shall call you when I am in need of your assistance."

And with that the two were gone, off to discuss privately in a tent the Free Trolls had set up while they had spoken, Anna pouting in their wake.

"Kristoff," Anna said when they were gone, and when she turned to him all at once her eyes went wide and trembling. "I'm… I'm scared."

"I am too," he admitted. "I don't know what this is, but I want Elsa back just the same as you do. I promise."

He didn't need to promise. Anna knew.

About half an hour later, Bulda—who had gone off to set up the tent—returned, her words holding a tinge of anxiety but still strangely soothing.

"They called you, Honey," she said to Anna. "I think they've mind their minds up."

All at once, everybody moved. Anna and Kristoff and Dustin and Olaf and Marshmallow. Bulda stopped all but one.

"Sorry sweeties, but they only called _her. _Guess ya'll just have to wait and see what they have to say, won't ya?"

Anna gave Kristoff a swift good-bye kiss, reached to the side to squeeze Dustin's hand, and smiled weakly at the snowmen. Try as she might to be strong, by the time she reached the tent and crawled her way inside, she was trembling practically to the very bone.

"Anna," said Pabbie when he saw her, and his voice was very kind. "I cannot imagine how hard this must've been for you. Let me, first, grant you my sincerest condolences."

"Please," said Anna, "I don't want to hear that right now. If there's a possibility Elsa might come back, I need to know about it _first_."

Tedar and Pabbie looked at each other. As if they'd been communicating through nothing but their minds—which, Anna noted, was a genuine possibility—it was decided that Tedar be the one to speak first.

"Let me just begin," said Tedar, his voice a low drawl, "By reminding you that the Elsa you know, you _knew_, is gone for good. Bring her back or not, she'll be changed in a way that cannot be reversed, and both you and her will have to learn to accept that."

"That's okay, it's all _okay_, just tell me!"

"And," added Pabbie, "There is the possibility that despite our best efforts, she will not come back at all. Be prepared to face the disappointment."

"I don't _care _about any of that! We still have to _try_!"

Her determination seemed enough to convince them. All at once, the real explanations began.

"Elsa may have died today," Tedar started, "But that does not mean her spirit is completely gone. Pabbie and I both can sense it… to this very moment it still lingers in the spot that she died, not yet ready to move on. Stuck, most likely, because of its affection for _you_."

_Of course_, Anna thought. If there was one thing she knew about her sister, it was that _everything _she did had to be about the people that she loved.

"As our dear Kristoff has informed you," said Pabbie, "Elsa's spirit is a... _peculiar_ one. She can only latch onto a body when there is a concentrated energy-source nearby to combine with it and fuel her. Otherwise, the body alone is too weak for her, and her spirit continues to float around without aim."

"So?" asked Anna. "I already know all this. What does this have to do with getting her back?"

"Elsa's body is still in _tact_," continued Pabbie, more insistent this time. "The energy has been drained out of it, thereby making it useless to her spirit, but the human body beneath her powers is still up on that mountain in which she died. Being that she has already spent so many years in that specific body, Elsa's spirit is inexplicably drawn to it, and there is a possibility that if we find—or more accurately, _create_—another source of energy to concentrate within it, we could—"

"We could put the spirit back inside!" Anna finished, and suddenly her heart was beating so hard she could've sworn it was about to explode right out of her. "We could revive Elsa!"

"Not so fast," said Tedar, and it was a necessary announcement, because Anna's mind was already racing like an arrow slicing through the air. "Currently, so little time has passed that it's not so hard to believe that the spirit's memories have yet to fade, but it's also a possibility that by the time we reach her it'll be too late. Elsa will return to her body only to find that she remembers none of her previous life. Absolutely nothing."

"Oh," Anna said, and the flat tone of her voice clearly demonstrated the kerplunk of her heart as it fell to her stomach and shattered. She imagined Elsa looking at her only sister, her own best friend, with absolutely no recognition shining in those crystal-blue eyes of hers. Imagined her wandering her old castle, her old home, not only unsure of her past and her identity, but lost and scared and confused. Imagined her looking down upon the people of Arendelle, the people who adored and looked up to her with all their heart, and realizing she had absolutely no recollection of how on earth one was supposed to rule them. But then Anna imagined Elsa's face, and after that, none of it seemed to matter.

"The most important part is that she comes back alive," said Anna, and she was determined this time. "We'll work all those other problems out later."

"But then there's the question of morality," began Pabbie. "For _millennia_ there has been this very same cycle, in which every thousand years the demon comes, Elsa's spirit follows, and she sacrifices herself to end it. This cycle almost seems in and of itself to create the very _balance _of the universe. Never before have we tried to disturb that balance the way Tedar has suggested to me. It seems innocent enough, but in truth the consequences are… unforeseeable, Anna. Nearly anything could occur."

Anna blinked at him. Now _this _bit of news was more than enough to make her hesitate. She loved her sister more than anything... but was one person really worth risking the entire universe?

"And you'd be willing to do this anyway?" she asked, mouth agape. "Even _with _the consequences?"

Pabbie nodded slowly. "Elsa has given enough to this world—to _my people_—that I am quite willing to do anything for her, so long as I know it will be in her best interest. She… deserves this, Anna. But the consequences may be dire, and that's why Tedar and I have agreed to put the decision in your hands. As her sister and friend, it is of no doubt that you knew and cared about how more than all others. You… you know what is best for her. And because of that, it is only right that you be the one to make the final call."

Anna froze on the spot. This was on _her_ hands? A decision in _her _power? It was a mind-boggling choice that had the potential to make or break the entire universe, and they'd just decided to give it to a young, impulsive princess who couldn't even roast a chicken on her own without Elsa reminding her she had to _light_ the furnace if she actually wanted it to cook. How very wise of them.

But... Elsa. She needed Elsa, Dustin needed Elsa, they _all_ needed Elsa. Of course the trolls knew what she would pick. Of _course_ they knew. Maybe that's why they had given her the choice in the first place. So if the world went up in flames, it wouldn't be their own selfish devotion to a single soul that had led to it.

Trying her best to look both Pabbie and Tedar in the eye, Anna turned to them and said without a hint of hesitation in her voice, "Let's go save my sister."

…

The ritual, Pabbie and Tedar decided, would be best to undertake at the very base of the mountain. It was a bit farther from Elsa's spirit than they would've liked, unfortunately, but a sloped and rocky ground might limit the ritual's progress severely, and neither was willing to take that risk.

Of all people, it was decided that Dustin be the one to trek the mountain and fetch Elsa's body. The rest—including Anna—focussed on collecting the wood that was an absolute necessity if the plan of reincarnation was going to succeed. Admittedly, the tundra of all tundras wasn't the _best_ place to find such a resource, but there was a decent-sized forest someone nearby, and despite the snowiness of the climate, the trees thrived as if blessed with the power of ambition. Anna almost felt cruel helping to tear them down.

Logging—as Anna found—was a boring, repetitive process. Kristoff would take his axe, cut down a tree, and then chop the wood into several mobile pieces. Anna would then gather them all in her wagon and wheel it off towards the main fire-pit where the trolls were at work, Kristoff simultaneously starting on another. They did this over and over and over again, to the point where Anna was sure not a single square inch of flesh on her hand remained un-blistered.

Just when they'd managed to collect enough wood, it seemed, Dustin appeared with Elsa's body in his arms.

"Elsa," mused Anna, and almost involuntarily all the wood she'd been transporting from her wagon to the pit clattered like litter to the ground. "Oh, Elsa…"

Elsa looked as beautiful as always. Same pale skin, same soft lips, same upturned nose. Her eyes were closed in the way that screamed 'sleep' rather than 'death'—this appearance only accentuated by the way her limbs were curled up in an almost childlike-pose against herself—and really, there was only _one_ thing that gave it away. One thing that was impossible to overlook.

Elsa's hair—gone from the pale, beautiful blondness that shone nearly as white as snow—was now the deep, chocolate brown of their mother's. And wow, _wow_, Anna had never realized it before, but in this instance it was undeniably true. Elsa looked almost _exactly _like their mother.

"Thank you," Anna said to Dustin as she gazed at her sister's body, tucking one strand of those breath-taking brunette locks behind her ear. "I know it couldn't have been easy on you… thank you for finding her."

"It's… it's alright," he said. "It's fine. I don't think I could've waited a moment longer to see her, anyway. I… I missed her." He blushed bright red. "I just really hope this works."

"Me too." Anna sniffed. She went to find her sister's hand and realized that Dustin—oh poor, love-struck Dustin—was already holding it in his own, squeezing it as if it would be his last chance in the word. And, technically speaking, it just might be. "I can't live without her."

They were silent for a while. Dustin holding Elsa's one hand, Anna reaching forward to hold her other, as behind them the trolls set the wood alight and began their ritual around the roaring, spitting flame that held both of their last hopes.

"If she comes back," said Anna, "Will you promise me something?"

Dustin blinked. "Promise what?"

"Promise first. Then I'll tell you."

Dustin furrowed his eyebrows at her and said not a word. Anna sighed but shrugged. She'd figured it wouldn't be that easy.

"Promise me that if she comes back," Anna began, "You'll tell her how you feel. No matter how scared you are, no matter how much you convince yourself that hiding your feelings is 'for her own good,' you're going to tell her how you feel. Alright?"

Dustin was silent. He squeezed Elsa's hand even tighter.

"Alright?" Anna repeated, more forceful this time.

Dustin's gaze fell to the softness of Elsa's face, closed for the longest moment, and then finally he sighed. "Alright," he said. "I'll tell her. You're right. However she feels about me, whatever she might say to me back, it's just something I have to do."

Anna smiled weakly and felt a rush of warmth as Dustin smiled back. From behind them came the sound of chanting as the trolls circled around the flames, using whatever ancient magic they had to increase the energy of the fire, trap it, _condense _it. The chanting grew steadily louder, steadily more obscene, and after a few more moments of looking down upon her sister's corpse, Anna felt a gentle hand upon her shoulder and startled.

"Sorry," said the soft, comforting lull of Kristoff's voice. "I didn't mean to scare you, it's just… it's time."

Anna nodded. She turned back to Dustin with her hands scrunched into fists, determination surging through her and drowning out all her suffocating fear.

"This is something I need to do alone," she said, and Dustin understand without explanation. He simply stuck out his arms and placed Elsa's body in Anna's own, so gently it was as if he handled the brittle petal of a flower. Anna couldn't help but notice the way that he caressed Elsa's cheek the moment before she turned away, as if too desperate to feel that soft skin against his own not to touch it at least once before her possible demise.

Anna approached the fire. The trolls had managed to make room for her while they danced and sung and chanted around the burning, smoking pit, and she found her spot amidst them, feeling the warmth burn her cheeks and the smoke fry her lungs. She turned her head and found that, behind her to the right, stood Kristoff. On the other side stood Dustin. And way back, where the heat of the flames wouldn't affect them, shook Olaf and Marshmallow, teetering on the edge of their heels as they waited for the outcome.

"You can do it, Anna!" Olaf cried encouragingly from where he stood.

"Save Mama!" chimed in Marshmallow, and with those words, what else could she do?

Taking a deep breath of the smoldering air and gazing into Elsa's face knowing full-well it might be her last time, Anna stuck her arms out and threw her sister into the endless pit of fire before her.

...

For the first minute or so, nobody spoke. Their eyes were glued to the writhing flames before them, the image glinting and glowing and dancing a thousand times in the reflections of their irises.

After the third minute, Marshmallow—who was still so far behind them, but practically another mountain in and of himself—roared out in his impatience and his sorrow, his agony personified in a cry of "Mama!" and a collapse into the snowy banks beneath him.

In the fifth minute, Kristoff lay his hand on Anna's shoulder. "I'm sorry," he told her, "We did everything we could…" But she only shook him off.

During the seventh minute, Dustin made a soft sound, and Anna looked to the side to see he had finally turned away from the fire, tears streaming silently down his face as he tried to swallow his mouthful of defeat.

At the ninth the trolls stopped dancing, the chanting faded into air, and the deep lull of Pabbie's voice broke through the silence. "It's over," he said. "We have failed her." The trolls backed away. Dustin followed them and Kristoff tried to coax her along, but it was no use. Anna stayed staring into the heat, refusing to budge even an inch. Refusing to so much as blink the smoke away from her itching, burning eyes.

When the tenth minute passed, Anna couldn't help herself. Her legs went weak and she fell onto her knees, feeling the heat burn her skin and the wood splinter her bones and the ash taint her very blood, but why did it matter? Why did it matter? She knew it was over. She knew it was hopeless. She'd always, always known.

"Hey," said Kristoff. He was down beside her again, kneeling so that his face was level with her own. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," she said, but then the realization hit her. "No… not at all."

"C'mon," said Kristoff. His grabbed her hand again. "You'll hurt yourself near the fire. Lets just go take a… a little break, okay?"

Anna nodded despite herself. Her braids bobbed up and down on either side of her head. "Okay."

"I really am sorry," he said as they made to turn away.

"I know," said Anna. "I am too."

"I wish it worked," said Kristoff.

"But it didn't," said Anna. "Elsa's gone. She's never coming back."

And it was in that exact moment that the fire spluttered greater than ever before.

"Anna! Kristoff!" Dustin yelled, but he had no need to. Already both were facing the flames, backing away from the scorch of the steadily-rising heat but refusing to pull their eyes from the writhing, blinding mass before them.

"Pabbie!" Anna yelled, all her hope dependent on his answer. "Is it working? Is it happening?"

Pabbie looked onwards, the fire glinting in the reflection of his eyes. "Let's just wait and see, shall we?"

And then the fire split. Slow at first, but then faster and faster, creating two walls of flame on each side as great as the part in the red sea. Between these walls came the single foot of a woman. It was bare and as tiny as Elsa's had been, but there was also something quite peculiar about that foot. No longer did the skin possess the pale, milky complexion that Elsa was so widely known for, no longer was it as white and glowing as snow itself. Instead it seemed to have been cooked to the golden hue of bronze... a beautiful, ashy shade that as the flames separated and more of the skin came into view, it was impossible not to keep staring at.

The bottom of the woman's dress appeared first. A long, spinning skirt that flowed all the way down to her ankles, caressing her skin like the hand of a lover. It glowed bright orange and split up front to make room for that beautiful leg. And, as Anna noted, it was spun entirely out of flame. By contrast, the bodice of the dress was the darkest black that Anna had ever laid eyes on. It was constructed of a thousand shards of hot, volcanic rock, but still had sparks of bright-red that stuck to it and glowed like stars in the night sky. There were no straps on the dress, but it appeared that just below her bare shoulders sleeves began out of nowhere, made of tiny red gemstones formed from the hottest of all hearths. These same crystals also formed a translucent cape that trailed behind her, floating in the air and gliding with the movement of the smoke and ash.

When the woman's face came into view, Anna froze. The skin, as it had been her entire body, was of that new, dark, ashy shade that could not be ignored. The eyes, once such a pure, icy blue, were now the color of a smoking, steaming amber that could've melted absolutely anyone. The hair was an even darker brown than it had been before, and strips of pure black ran through as if they had been charred to a crisp. But even after this, even after how truly _different_ she looked, Anna knew her sister. And this was undeniably the face of her sister.

"Elsa," Anna breathed, so soft that she was sure the girl hadn't heard her. "You look… different."

"Sure as hell does," breathed Kristoff. He too was staring.

"Wow," said Dustin. His eyes were glinting in the firelight, positively _glowing_. Wow was all he could say.

"Where... where am I?" Elsa asked, and she looked around with those wide, amber eyes, filled to the brim with utter fear and confusion. "W-What's going on?"

_Oh no_, Anna thought, and for the moment she was struck with the most unbearable surge of sadness. _We were too late. Elsa's memories are gone forever._

It seemed the rest of the trolls had the same idea. They all held their breathes as they watched her move, the fire flowing and dancing beside her as if she was only another strand among them all. Anna thought of all the memories the two of them had together, all the times they'd gone through and the obstacles they'd overcome and the feelings they'd shared. All of that gone.

Then Elsa moved her head and her eyes froze on one very specific human being. Her confusion melted and her jaw grew slack and in that single moment, in one single movement of her lips, it was more clear than ever before that everything was going to be okay. _Everything_ was going to be okay.

"Anna?" Elsa said.

* * *

><p><strong>Now I have to ask, what did you guys think? It's a bit rushed, I'm aware, and I know the fire-Elsa thing is really overused, but I just couldn't help myself XD. I hope it made sense and that I didn't confuse any of you too much. If I did, please leave questions in the comments and I'll do my best to answer them. <strong>

**I know I left this fanfic kind of open-ended, but to be honest I sort of like it this way. As the reader you can probably imagine that after this Elsa and Anna go back to Arendelle, fix everything so as to make it back to normal, and eventually learn to deal with Elsa's new powers (which will probably lead to some complications, especially where Olaf and Marshmallow are concerned, but I think they'll manage). If you like the idea of Elsa and Dustin, then you can imagine they had some romance happen between them once they got back at the castle, but if not, then don't. I guess if you guys really wanted an epilogue I could write a quick one, but as of now I like to think of this story as over :).**

**Please review and tell me what you think!**


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Frozen, Fantasy, Friendship