A/N: I need to think the other story through. I've been constructing and reconstructing the plot mentally for several weeks to form a very cohesive and solid plot that doesn't end in the usual cliche "happy ending" stuff. So here's an alternative instead. Maybe it's a form of catharsis from all the college stress, but this plot's been intermingling with my ideas for the other one, so maybe it's best if I get it out :P Since this one has no definite plot as of now, I'm very willing to take ideas for this one.

Poltergeist I

First Impressions

"You'll be alright there?"

"I'll be fine, Anna. Are you sure you'll hold up on your own here?"

"Hey, you can count on me. I mean, how hard can it be?"

"Would you like me to answer that?"

"Um, no, please. You'll write to me, won't you?"

"Anna, it's just three months. It's not a long time."

"… So you'll write to me, right?"

Elsa sighed, but she smiled all the same, taking Anna's hands in hers. "I will. I promise."

In the last year or so, the Southern Isles had been a warring nation, seeking to build a mighty empire through brute force.

When they dared to wage war against Arendelle after Queen Elsa refused to give her allegiance to such a violent king, she was given no choice but to defend her kingdom.

Normally, it would have been a lost cause, as Arendelle was not gifted in military prowess. They were, however, an affluent country with all their trade relations, and their Queen was highly commended for her natural gift in diplomacy and her peaceful, benevolent nature.

But what their neighbouring countries— Southern Isles included— didn't know was that Elsa was also born with magical powers, namely the power to have complete manipulation over ice as if they were her own limbs.

So when the huge Southern Isles fleet arrived in Arendelle's waters, Elsa decided that she had been keeping her powers a secret for far too long. She froze the fjord, leaving the massive fleet like sitting ducks under the projectiles of the Arendelle's catapults. Disembarking their ships for sword combat would be plain stupidity, as they were still very far off from the Arendelle shores.

In the end, a lucky blow had been enough to destroy the flagship, killing the Southern Isles king and his eleven brothers. The rest of the fleet signalled their defeat, and Elsa allowed them to return home as unscathed as they could be.

As the victorious monarch, Elsa was legally allowed to take Southern Isles under her jurisdiction, regardless of the numerous heirs left by the twelve brothers. She had no desire to anyway. But with the king's costly military exploits, the kingdom's resources had nearly been depleted, and they are bordering to poverty.

With the blood of the eleven sons of the Southern Isles weighing heavily in her conscience, she felt that she was obligated to help the kingdom be restored to its former glory.

And to govern the kingdom properly, she sought to fix the problem herself rather than let eager dukes, generals, or governors do it for her. She wanted to be among her new people. She wanted them to trust her, to look up to her as the people of Arendelle did, not some monstrous witch who killed their king and their princes. She did not want to rule her new subjects by evading them.

Roughly a month after the battle, with at least two dozens of loyal guards with her, Elsa voyaged to the Southern Isles.

There was barely a soul in sight in the streets of the Southern Isles when she arrived there two weeks later. Occasionally, she could see eyes peeking from boarded windows or slightly ajar doors.

Other than a handful of guards and a few dukes, there was no else to greet her when she made her way to the castle. She was informed beforehand that the wives of the previous monarchy had fled to the mountains or otherwise sailed to another kingdom. The fact tugged so violently at Elsa's conscience, seeing as she had not only killed their husbands and fathers, but she had also unknowingly drove them out of the kingdom as they were deathly afraid of her powers.

The kingdom was such in a sorry shape. The market could use more items to sell. The degrading houses obviously needed repairs. The streets could use some sweepers. The abandoned shops could potentially open again. The lepers and homeless grimacing at her in the alleys could use some help as well. And the list goes on.

The castle was the only building that stood as a reminder of how glorious the kingdom used to be. As the carriage entered the gates, she saw that the garden was well tended; it was a lush of green peppered with the reds of the roses and the whites of the orchids and lilies.

What was left of the staff was assembled in the main foyer, awaiting her orders.

There wasn't much to be said. She wasn't here to change the household rules. She had no intention of tearing down the paintings of their royals on the walls. She was there to help them, not oppress them.

"Please. Continue your daily activities," she said gently, smiling at them, "I won't be needing anything. I will require someone, though, to kindly show my guards the way to your barracks. I'm sure they'll be comfortable there. I will be seeing you all this lunch."

The staff glanced at each other nervously, shuffling their feet and muttering nervously to their neighbors. No one looked up at her nor acknowledged her short statement.

It was not until the head servant old them to go about their business did they file out of the room.

It wasn't much of a welcome, but it was as good as it was going to get. It was understandable that they didn't trust her, and she was almost sure that more than half of the staff was afraid of her.

It would take some time and work, all right, but she knows that she can win their faith in her.

The head servant had offered her the king's room as a place for her to stay, but she politely declined.

The very thought of sleeping in the room that once belonged to the dead king made her cold. And that was saying something since the cold never usually bothered her.

She declined the rooms of the king's brothers as well, and had opted to stay in a spare bedroom that was at the very end of the hall.

The head servant shifted uncomfortably. "Your Majesty is certain? You wish to stay in that room?"

She smiled at him. "It's not about the size of the room. As long as there's a bed to rest my head, it's fine by me."

"Yes, well…" the head servant paused, extracting a keyring laboriously from his coat, as if the very action was painful to him. "That room has not been used for quite some time and… I fear that it maybe… unfitting for Your Grace…"

"We'll see," Elsa answered.

The head servant hesitated, but he unlocked the door just the same.

It gave a rather loud creak that echoed in the empty hall as it swung forward.

Elsa stepped in the doorway, staring at the room.

It was fairly large. It was also well furnished, and surprisingly well maintained despite being "unused" for quite some time. The curtains, the carpet, and the bedsheets were bathed in pale sea green colour. The fireplace was very clean with a fresh pile of wood, and on the mantel shelf held several marble figurines; all pristinely white.

"It's beautiful," Elsa managed to say as she stepped by the window. She had a full view of the sea and port beyond the castle walls. From the misty reflection of the windowpane, she saw the head servant move closer behind her. "I can't imagine why you wouldn't let me use the room. This will do just fine for me."

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that, Your Grace."

Elsa turned and was slightly surprised to see that the head servant was still in the hall outside the room with her two guards. She glanced again at the windowpane, but only saw the brilliant blue sky beyond it.

Quirking an eyebrow, she shook her head slightly and repeated the statement to the head servant before examining the door to the adjoining bathroom. The beautiful marble room had a huge pool at the floor, and the scent of irises was pervading the air. She'll have to admit that it made her want to take a dip in warm water.

With her examination over, she went over to the head servant.

"Yes. I choose this room," she said, smiling.

She wasn't an expert on reading facial expressions, but she could tell as much that the head servant was not happy about it.

After a rather silent lunch with the servants waiting nervously at the sidelines, Elsa immediately retuned to her new room to begin with her documents.

She did not bother to roam around the castle. It was not her home, and she did not intend to stay there permanently. Besides, on the way to lunch, she could see how utterly terrified the servants were of her. She couldn't afford to further scare them by meandering around aimlessly and showing up unannounced.

So with two guards stationed at her door, she set up at the writing desk and began by writing to Anna.

She trusts Anna, all right, but she cannot deny that she was not ready for handling the responsibility of governing Arendelle in her shoulders just yet. That's why she also set Kai to act as a regent should things get too intense for Anna; she wasn't exactly known to be as calm as Elsa should trouble rear its ugly head.

She had already written an entire paragraph depicting her mundane weeks at sea when she heard a rather loud thud! behind her.

She swivelled on her seat, eyes rapidly scanning the source of the disturbance.

Her eyes fell on the fireplace, where a marble figurine— now split into several pieces— was resting on the dry logs.

"Oh no…" Elsa muttered, leaping out of her seat.

She swiftly bent and gathered the pieces. It was the figurine of a bust of an austere looking bearded man, with an inscription that said:

Caspar Hansel Abram Westergaard

Den Første Konge

Elsa sighed. Great. Of all the figurines to get smashed under my watch, it's the bust of Southern Isles' first king. The staff will surely have a lot of things to say about this behind my back… But how did it fall in the first place?

She glanced back at the windows. They were closed. No wind must have come through. The door was locked. The bathroom door was also sealed. Besides, no petty wind should be strong enough to blow the small figure off the mantel shelf unless it was a hurricane…

She tried to stick back the large chunks together with her magic, using her ice to fill out the minuscule gaps. She gingerly placed it back on the mantel shelf. The figure now shone with ice crystals at the cracks.

She sighed again, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

Who am I kidding? It looks terrible. I guess I'll just have to buy a replica. Or maybe I could go to the sculptor—

The sounds of glass smashing jolted her back to her senses.

Dark ink began to crawl lazily on the carpet like fresh blood spilt. It took her several seconds to realise that the sound came from her ink bottle which was now on the floor. Dark ink began to crawl lazily on the carpet like fresh blood spilt.

She rushed over to the writing desk, eyebrows quirked at the second object that fell and broke. She stopped in doing do when she saw the state of her desk.

She let out a groan when she saw that the entire paragraph that she had written for Anna was completely unintelligible with ink poured all over it and over half of her desk.

While the servants had volunteered to clean up the mess in her room, Elsa opted to visit the castle's massive library.

It was truly a wonder to be beheld.

The skylights brought down magnificent illumination over the vast expanse of shelves and plush sofas. The unique homey scent of crisp pages and leather bound books were a delight in the senses. The unfamiliar busts in the aisles and the corners, and the stern looking paintings of the castle's previous occupants, though, bothered her greatly and gave her the impression that she was being watched and scrutinised.

The guards had remained stationed at the door so as to allow her the leisure of privacy.

After browsing through some shelves, Elsa settled on an extensive treatise on the political history of the Southern Isles to get an idea how the monarchy works on the kingdom. She let herself sit down on one of the armchairs somewhere on the second level next to a window as she began to turn the pages.

The sounds of someone climbing the stairs startled her.

Odd, she thought. She had not heard the doors open.

She sat still and strained her ears to listen through the silence that had ensued.

"Hello?" She called loudly after a measured pause.

When no one answered her, Elsa was sure that she had hallucinated the noise.

For an undetermined amount of time, Elsa had gotten as far as three chapters when—

"Get out."

The hairs on the back of her neck stood, and a foreign sensation of coldness— she never felt the cold of her powers in a living memory— came cascading down her spine.

She jumped from her seat, heart thundering in her ears, her breath leaving her lips in short huffs.

Her eyes madly scanned her perimeter.

No one. Not a soul. She was alone.

But surely she didn't imagine that voice? She was sure that she heard someone, a faint sound like a distant voice, directly talking in her ear.

When she heard someone walking again— this time, it sounds like someone was waking somewhere next to her, towards her— she bolted.

She nearly tripped on herself as she sped her way out of the library, clutching the book tightly under hear arm.

"GET OUT."

She was almost at the door when something very solid collided at the back of her head, and her world spun right before her eyes.

She felt her body hit the carpeted floor with a resonating thud as her vision dimmed and blurred. She heard her guards knocking on the door and asking her if she's all right. She couldn't answer them. Her strength and consciousness were slipping away rapidly.

The last thing she saw was a pair of black boots walking next to her before she succumbed to the darkness.

The next time she came to was around night time, and she was back in her room.

By then, she had found out that her guards had conducted an investigation to find out why their queen was suddenly found unconscious in the library. They suspected that there was a secret passage somewhere, but they promptly dropped the matter when Elsa told them to.

It was no servant, she was sure. If someone was attempting to kill her, they wouldn't be making so much noise, let alone whisper to her ear. But she didn't tell them that.

It was was against their will, but they did as she had asked. It was noticeable, though, that the captain stationed more guards to watch over her.

The head servant had appointed her a personal assistant, a young girl named Alva, who also acted as her nurse.

"Is Her Majesty hungry?" the young woman timidly asked, but she did so with a gentle, genuine smile.

Elsa smiled back, "No, thank you, Alva."

"But Her Majesty has missed dinner. Are you sure, Your Grace?" Alva persisted. "You need to build up your strength."

Elsa did not tell her, but somehow, her innate powers also gave her the ability to recuperate faster than any average human can. In her few hours of rest, her magic had already done its wonders. She could barely feel the pain at the back of her head, which was now more of a dull and distant throbbing.

"I'll be fine," she said.

Alva smiled and nodded. "Is there anything else Her Majesty need?"

"No. But I do have a question," Elsa said, carefully choosing her next words.

"Of course. Anything, Your Grace," the young woman said.

"Is there… something wrong with the library?" Elsa asked carefully, watching the young girl's face astutely.

Alva stilled for a moment, answering her gaze, before answering with a question of her own, "What do you mean, Your Majesty?"

Elsa had a very shrewd feeling that this young woman knows exactly what she meant— she could see the anxiety dancing in her wary hazel eyes— but she knew better than to pry forcefully.

"I've… I've heard noises," Elsa said slowly. She doesn't want to let Alva think that she's delusional.

She could see the shift in Alva's attitude; she sat straighter, and her breathing became slightly shallow. "Noises, Your Majesty?" she asked, strangely sounding calm still.

She could see how distressed the girl was, so Elsa decided to drop it for now. It was no use to go through an inquisition with Alva on the brink of an anxiety attack.

Elsa merely smiled and told her that she assumed that she was just hearing things, effectively calming down Alva when she shifted their conversation regarding her observation of the castle gardens.

Alva left her after a while. Elsa used her magic to distinguish all of the candles in the room with a flick of her hand, as she doesn't feel up to the idea of leaving the comfort of her bed.

Semi-darkness cloaked the room immediately. Through the brilliant moonlight streaming through the windows, she could see the ice crystals glinting on the small marble figurine at the mantel shelf across from her.

Her body was still slightly disoriented with the concussion, but she easily found out that she was still too shaken to fall asleep.

So much for her first day at Southern Isles as its new queen.

She could not get the voice out of her head. It sounded human, all right. It distinctly sounded like a man's voice. It sounded like an angry man. She could have dismissed the voice as a trick of the mind, but the sound of those footsteps were there to negate that idea.

Someone had been in the library with her.

She had been facing and blankly staring at the wall as she mused these thoughts. And as deep as she was in her mental analysis, her vigilance made it possible for her to notice a movement somewhere in her peripheral vision.

At the wall, she saw a shadow.

A tall man's silhouette, standing somewhere behind her.

Elsa hurriedly spun and sat up, her hand charged and poised to strike, her heart throbbing unpleasantly in her throat and in her head. She was breathing to hard that it was making her dizzy.

She was immediately facing the windows.

No one was there.

Beyond the window was the moon in the sky, and seas in the horizon.

Something is wrong here, Elsa thought, her paranoia still gripping tenaciously at her heart, Clearly someone— something— is trying to throw me out of the castle. If I'm going to help Southern Isles, I'll have to deal with this little problem first.

NOTES~

Poltergeist:[Wikipedia definition] In folklore and parapsychology, a poltergeist (German for "noisy ghost") is a type of ghost or other supernatural being supposedly responsible for physical disturbances such as loud noises and objects moved around or destroyed.

Den Første Konge: [Danish] The First King.