The Dragon Queen
Disclaimer: From my constant scrolling in Tumblr, I came across an idea of making Frozen into an AU where Elsa is a dragon. Now granted, this idea came from a post I had seen from a blogger named yamino. Now it just sort of took root in my brain and stuck there. So here you go guys. Enjoy the ride.
"We stop looking for monsters under the bed when we realize they are inside us."
- Unknown Quote
"True love is eternal, infinite, and always like itself. It is equal and pure, without violent demonstrations: it is seen with white hairs and is always young in the heart."
- Honore de Balzac
By: VampireQueenAkasha
~O~
One
The Northern Lights had caught her attention.
Anna couldn't help getting out of bed and crossing the room to her older sister Elsa's side, eagerly climbing into her bed. Elsa mumbled a little in her sleep, shifting to one side while Anna poked her cheek with one finger. The action made Elsa wrinkle her cheeks a bit and murmur with mild annoyance.
"Elsa! Wake up!" Anna pressed, shaking her sister lightly. "Come on!"
Elsa didn't stir, so Anna sat on her and bounced a little.
"Wake up!" she whispered, eagerly.
Elsa grumbled and rolled, knocking her sister off of her. "Go back to sleep, Anna."
"I can't go back to sleep!" Anna sighed, quite over-dramatically. "The sky's awake, so I'm awake. So we have to play."
Elsa unceremoniously pushed her sister from her bed. "Play by yourself."
Anna fell forward with a yelp and grabbed something, which yanked Elsa from the bed as well. Both sisters were laying on the floor and Elsa gave her sister a tired, somewhat annoyed look.
Beneath her, a small bright blue tail swished back and forth where Anna had grabbed her. It had been only not too long ago where Anna had learned of her older sister's ability to take the shape of something else entirely. Her parents had stories of what they were called and Anna was so excited that her sister was one.
A dragon.
The scales that had formed were always somewhat colder than the rest of Elsa's skin and the tip of the tail had tiny little spikes growing. Anna remembered asking if it hurt and Elsa never complained about it.
"Anna, let's just go back to bed." Elsa told her, the tail disappearing back into her body.
Anna smiled brightly. "Wanna go outside and fly?" she asked.
Elsa had started to climb back into bed, but her sister's words stopped her. She looked back at her with a smile now.
The girls put on a pair of slippers and crept out into the courtyard, dodging the guards that walked by on their occasional night watch duties. Anna led her sister into the garden and smiled eagerly, dancing where she stood.
"Change!" she said, in a secretive whisper.
Elsa smiled. "Okay. Hold on."
She closed her eyes and focused, the look too comical on the young, eight-year old's face. Anna watched as her sister's face took on the serpentine appearance of an icy-blue dragon. Her tiny fingers became sharp claws and a small pair of wings grew beneath her arms. Instead of the human shape, she now resembled a small, miniature dragon similar to the one's in her story books. Though Elsa was slightly chubby, the onset of youth reflected in her small, scaly shape.
"Does it hurt when you change?" Anna asked.
"No." Elsa said - her voice remained the same, even in this form, "Want to fly?"
Anna clapped happily. "Yeah!"
Elsa took Anna underneath her arms with her lower claws and flapped her tiny wings. Lifting her sister was a little difficult, especially with the use of her legs, but Elsa was always so taken when Anna begged, so it was difficult to refuse. She flew into the sky, toward the fjords and Anna giggled happily as she kicked the treetops.
"Lower!" she cried.
"Anna, wait a minute!" Elsa protested, wincing. Her wings were already starting to feel heavier than she wanted.
Suddenly, Anna disappeared in the trees. Elsa let out a frightened cry and looked around frantically for her fallen sister.
"Anna?" she cried. "Anna! Anna, no!"
In her panic, Elsa felt pain shoot down her back. She felt the pressure of the change and didn't see a path of spikes shooting up from her spine. She began to sputter ice from her mouth and frantically attempted to ignore it in a desperate effort to find her sister. She fluttered about, diving through the trees and calling for Anna.
"Elsa?"
She heard the terrified cry of her sister and dove toward it, into the forest where she could see Anna standing not too far away from two snarling wolves. She dove down and stood protectively in front of her sister, struggling to make herself look as intimidating as possible. Truthfully, wolves frightened her, but she was far too concerned for her sister right now. Ice began to sputter from her mouth in her panic and Anna stood up, advancing on the wolves with all the foolish courage she was known to possess. Though Elsa's small talons were fully extended and ready to swipe at the wolves.
"I'm not scared of you, stupid wolves!" Anna yelled.
Elsa swiped at the face of a wolf, sending the creature tumbling backwards. It retreated with a whimper. When the other attacked, Elsa swiped at that one too and it stumbled away with a whine of fright. The sound of movement behind her made her swing her claws, only to realize that she swiped at Anna's arm.
Anna yelped out and Elsa watched in horror as her sister went down. In the heat of her battle with the wolves, the eight year old had accidentally hurt her little sister.
She HURT her sister.
"Anna!" she cried.
Anna fell backwards, holding her arm. A slash had formed where Elsa had scratched her and it was red and swollen. It wasn't until her eyes closed that Elsa frantically tried to revive her. She was ice cold and she had no idea what to do. Terrified and softly crying, she picked up her sister and flew back to the castle.
"Mama!" she cried. "Papa!"
O
The King and Queen were distraught with Anna's condition.
When Elsa returned, she had shifted back to human form and explained what had happened. Anna was shivering and ice cold, and she wasn't waking up. Elsa watched as they fussed over her sister and she felt worse than she ever had in her young life. She hadn't meant to hurt Anna. She only hoped her parents knew that.
"What do we do?" the Queen asked her husband.
He seemed determined, searching through many books and maps. "I know where we must go."
"Where?" Elsa asked.
The King said nothing as he called for the Royal Handler to fetch his horse. They moved quick and it was uncomfortable riding on a single horse together through the fjords. Elsa watched her father's frightened, determined face before looking down at Anna with worry. She pet her head with one hand, trying to offer comfort.
"Anna, I'm so sorry..." she whispered, to her sister.
They stopped into a deep valley and the King helped his wife and daughters down from the horse. Elsa was still frightened. She was sure that she was in trouble for what had happened.
"Please, help. My daughter!" the King begged, into the darkness of the valley.
Elsa looked around, confused. Who was her father calling?
She glanced to the left, spotting a young face observing them from above the valley. She thought of saying something, but the sound of rocks tumbling toward them diverted her attention to the present situation. Rocks were rolling toward them and the King protectively held his family close. But the rocks stopped at their feet and unfolded, revealing the bright faces of trolls. They parted, allowing an older troll to approach them family.
"Grand Pabbie..." the trolls whispered to him.
The elder troll bowed respectfully. "Your Majesty."
He turned to Elsa and the young girl clutched her father tightly in fear. Grand Pabbie beckoned for Elsa to come close and she looked at her father for reassurance. He nodded his head and Grand Pabbie took her hand. He studied her for a long moment and Elsa was nervous. She wasn't sure she liked this.
"Born with the powers or cursed?" Grand Pabbie asked, looking up at the King.
"Born. And they're getting stronger."
Grand Pabbie motioned for the Queen to bring Anna to him. She knelt down and held out her unconscious daughter to him. He examined her wound with a thoughtful grimace.
"Dragon's venom..." he deduced. "You are lucky it is so weak at her age. It is not so easily cured from a fully-matured dragon."
Elsa looked at him worriedly. "Where does it come from?"
Grand Pabbie began to perform a magical spell on her sister, but addressed her as he did. "There is much magic in the world, Elsa." he told her. "Many go through life never knowing what they are truly capable of. I have seen many who can take the form of what they truly are inside."
Elsa stared at her hands and bit her lip. She wanted to cry.
"The child will be okay." Grand Pabbie told the King, referring to Anna. "The head can be persuaded. I recommend we remove all knowledge of Elsa's transformations, even memories of it to be safe..."
The King nodded his head. "Do what you must."
Elsa watched as the troll removed a glowing orb from her sister's head. "So...she won't remember that I'm a dragon?"
"It's for the best." the King told her.
Grand Pabbie took her aside and let out a sigh. "Listen to me, Elsa," he said, gently, "The ability to change shape... that part of you will grow stronger." He conjured up an image of the Northern Lights, showing a silhouette of an adult Elsa, shifting into dragon form. It bellowed loudly with a mighty roar. "The form you take will be beautiful, a sight most will tremble to behold. But there will be danger to this as well."
Elsa watched as human-shaped silhouettes appeared, wielding spears that charged for the dragon and extinguished it. Elsa let out a frightened cry and hid inside her father's arm.
"We won't let that happen!" the King promised. "We can teach her to control her power. Until she's ready, we'll lock the castle gates, reduce the staff...whatever it takes."
Grand Pabbie closed his eyes with a sigh.
He didn't seem so certain.
O
Elsa watched as the servants moved her furniture into her new room. She was silent, watching her father's grim, pained features as he observed this.
"Papa?" she said, quietly.
"Yes, Elsa."
"Am I in trouble?"
The King looked startled by this question and bent down to her. "Elsa, no." he promised her. "You are NOT in trouble. We will get through this together, I promise. No matter what, you are still my daughter."
Elsa tensed when the King moved to embrace her and shied away from it.
Once the furniture was moved into its proper place, Anna wanted to find her sister, but when she noticed Elsa disappearing into her new room, she could only stand there with confusion and sadness. Why was her sister being sent to another room, anyway? Was she in trouble?
Inside her room, Elsa wandered to her bed before finally starting to cry.
Snow began falling the next day.
Anna excitedly raced to her sister's door and knocked on it.
"Elsa? Come outside and play!" she insisted. "It's snowing!"
No reply.
"Elsa! Come on! Let's build a snowman!"
Still, no answer. Anna frowned and bent down, peering through the door. She couldn't see any movement inside, but still called for her sister anyway.
"Go away, Anna."
Elsa's voice was terse enough to break her sister's heart. Anna sighed sadly and nodded. "Okay...bye."
It was quiet inside Elsa's bedroom as she sat on the floor behind her bed. She blew a gust of ice from her lips and formed a pillar of it in front of her. Elsa looked down at her hands as they became claws and began to cut into the ice, forming her sister's face in front of her.
"Would you like to make a snowman, Elsa?" the young girl said in her sister's high voice.
Elsa smiled tearfully, slowly starting to cry. "Yes, Anna. I would." she whispered, her small voice breaking. "I would really love to make a snowman with you."
Finally, she fell to her floor, burying her face in her hands before sobbing. Her small hands remained as claws and spikes grew down the length of her back...
O
Four years later
What a way to spend her birthday.
Elsa was sitting alone in her room with a cake in front of her. Both of her parents watched the twelve-year old sitting in front of them.
"Elsa, are you not hungry?" the King questioned.
Elsa's hands were wrapped in bandages and she scratched them.
"It's getting stronger, papa." she mumbled, tears prickling the corners of her eyes. "I can't hide it anymore."
"You can, Elsa." the King tried to be encouraging.
Elsa whimpered with despair. "I'm a monster, aren't I?"
"No!" the Queen let out a soft cry.
She moved to her side to embrace her, but Elsa retreated, holding herself. "No, don't touch me!" she pleaded, "Please! I don't want to hurt you."
She stood up and walked to a corner of the room where old scales had fallen off of her. She had no idea that her dragon form had required to shed like a normal serpent, but it had and it had hurt so bad. Her mother had helped in removing the old scales, but the pain was so unbearable that Elsa had cried the entire time. They had given her a strap of leather to bite down on during the process and it was laying in a useless heap nearby, riddled with marks from her fangs. The Queen had sung her a lullaby that Elsa remembered when she was an infant afterwards.
It never helped.
The claws were growing in faster too. She had to cut into her floor just to ease the pain and chew on wooden posts to stop her fangs from hurting so much. Elsa could only see herself as some sort of pet they had to keep locked away from the world and it only hurt more.
"Elsa, you can do this." the King encouraged, standing.
Elsa looked back at him and the blue of her eyes bled into a cold, monstrous yellow. "No, I can't."