At the Top of the Mountain
Elsa walked slowly up the mountain, hugging herself tightly. The air around her was cold and thin, but she didn't mind. She was used to the cold. In fact, she loved the cold. And that was probably because she had been exposed to it her entire life. Ever since her birth, Elsa had had ancient magical powers that allowed her to have control over snow and ice. They didn't start becoming a problem, though, until she was about eleven, and her sister, Anna, was nine. Anna loved Elsa's magic, and Elsa loved using her magic to have fun with her sister. The two girls were princesses, the daughters and only children of the King and Queen of Arendelle, and they had grown up in a huge castle in the center of the kingdom. And in the castle there had been a huge ballroom, where the two girls would play. Elsa would perform her magic and make plenty of snow for them to play in. They built snowmen, went sledding, and Anna would jump from piles of snow drifts that Elsa made, each one getting higher than the next. Anna was jumping from snow pile to snow pile one morning when she began jumping too fast for Elsa to keep up with her… Anna had fallen through the air, and, in an attempt to save her, Elsa had used her powers. On accident, though, she had hit Anna in the head, knocking her unconscious… Elsa had been horrified, and so had her parents, who had come running. Together they had gone into a forest near the castle, to where a band of trolls lived. The leader of the trolls, Pabbie, was able to remove the ice from inside Anna's head, but he warned them that Elsa's powers would only get stronger if she didn't learn to control them… Pabbie also changed Anna's memories, so she wouldn't remember that Elsa even had powers… The king and queen limited the staff at the castle, confined Elsa to her room and kept her away from Anna, and never let anyone into the castle. Elsa stayed shut up in her room constantly, afraid to come out because she didn't want to hurt Anna again. The two girls drifted apart, and it cut Elsa to the core. Her father got her gloves to wear, since the magic came from her hands. It helped her control it, as long as she controlled her own emotions. The years passed, and soon Elsa turned twenty, and Anna turned eighteen. Once their youngest daughter was of age, the king and queen decided that it would be safe for them to leave on a two-week journey to visit other kingdoms and do business with them. Elsa had been very apprehensive about them leaving, but they had told her that everything would be fine… Elsa and Anna's parents never returned from their trip… Their boat got caught in a storm at sea and sank, killing both of them… When the news reached Arendelle, Elsa and Anna were both devastated. Only Anna attended the funeral, though. Elsa had been afraid that, with her emotions in such turmoil and her powers out of control, it would be better if she stayed in her room… Things had remained the way they were for three long, torturous years, until Elsa had finally learned, with the help of a pair of sky blue gloves, to control her powers. Today the palace had been opened up to the people of Arendelle for the first time in three years, and Elsa had become the new queen of Arendelle. There had been a dinner and a ball after the ceremony, which had made Elsa very nervous. But she had hid it well, and had done fairly well with controlling herself… until the end of the night… At the end of the night, during the ball, Anna had met a prince from another kingdom, a handsome young man named Hans. They had been flirting and talking, and finally they had come to Elsa and asked for her permission to marry… Elsa had said no. She didn't believe that Hans and Anna could really be in love enough to marry after only meeting that night. Anna had been sad and angry. Elsa could feel her temper rising as Anna had unintentionally provoked her. Elsa had known all along that Anna was hurt by the fact that they never spent time together anymore, and it hurt Elsa to know that she couldn't explain the situation to Anna so she would know that she was only trying to protect her. Elsa had declared the party over and had ordered the guards to shut the gates. But before she could safely leave the ballroom, Anna had grabbed at her hand, taking off one of her gloves in the process… Elsa had been scared not only for Anna's safety, but for the safety of their guests, especially with her emotions in high gear. She had demanded her glove back, but Anna had ignored her, instead asking, "What did I ever do to you?", and "Why do you shut me out?" Elsa had tried walking away, the guilt burning inside of her, knowing that if she didn't get out, she was going to react, her powers would be revealed, and she would possibly hurt Anna… She had told Anna that she'd had enough, but Anna just kept pushing and pushing… And finally Elsa had lost control… She had put up a ring of huge, sharp icicles around her, blocking Anna and their guests from getting close to her… Everyone had been horrified, but especially Anna, and Elsa had fled the castle in shame and fear. And now she was on the run from her own kingdom, isolated on this lonely mountain, hoping that no one ever found her again, and the she could finally be free from her curse… Elsa walked farther up the mountain, glad for the isolation. She felt free and alive up here. No one could hurt her or call her a witch or a sorcerer, and she didn't have to worry about accidently hurting anyone with her powers. Finally Elsa came to the very peak of the mountain, and she gasped at what she saw. At the very peak of the mountain, a huge, stone castle had been built. It wasn't visible from Arendelle, which wasn't far from the mountain at all, and Elsa believed that it was concealed from below by magic. There were dozens of towers and turrets, and, had Elsa not lived in a castle all her life, she probably would have been intimidated by it. But since she was used to castles, her only concern was not hurting anyone who might already be living there. But as Elsa got closer, she could see no signs of life on the inside. Elsa climbed the stone steps to the huge wooden, front door. Taking a deep breath and mustering up all her courage, Elsa tried the door to see if it was locked. It wasn't. She carefully pushed the door and it slowly creaked open. Elsa went inside, closing the door softly behind her. She was glad to be out of the cold, even if for a moment. And it wasn't that she minded the cold, it was just that she had noticed that if she was out in it too much, it made her powers stronger, and it made her irritable and snappy. So she tried to stay indoors as much as possible. Elsa looked around her with interest. It looked like she was standing in some sort of entrance hall, which was ornately decorated and very large. There were two doors, one that went to the right and one that went to the left, and then a staircase at the end of the hall that led to the upper floors. There was a weak, orange glow coming from the room on the left, and Elsa went inside, anxious about what she would find. The glow was coming from the dying embers of a fire in a huge fireplace with a marble mantle. The room was obviously a living or sitting room, for it was furnished with comfortable couches and chairs, with small tables for putting dishes, Elsa assumed, when you wanted to have a cup of tea or something in there. Quietly and carefully, Elsa walked over to the fireplace and knelt down in front of the dying embers. They were still giving off some warmth, so Elsa just sat there for several minutes, letting her body warm up slightly, deeply lost in thought. She completely zoned out of the world around her, and she nearly had a heart attack when she heard a voice from behind her. "Who are you? What are you doing here?" Elsa jumped about two feet in the air and turned around, getting to her feet. Her eyes widened in fright when she realized that there was a woman standing there. Her face was hidden in the shadows, but Elsa cold tell that she was wearing a long, long-sleeved, black dress that touched the floor, and that she had long, curly, raven hair, which was pulled back into a ponytail. Elsa stood and stared at her for several seconds, unable to find her voice. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" The woman demanded, repeating her questions in an ice-cold voice. Elsa swallowed nervously and said, "I'm Elsa, the new queen or Arendelle. I came all the way up the mountain, trying to escape from my own people… I was cold and I saw this castle. I thought I'd come in for a few minutes and warm myself up. I didn't realize that there were people living here. I'm terribly sorry. I'll go if you'd like…" "So you're Elsa." the woman replied in a much gentler tone. "I'd heard that you were being made queen today. I've heard stories about you Elsa. About your powers. I admire you greatly." Elsa was startled by this. She didn't think anyone but her and her parents – and now the kingdom – knew about her powers. "Who are you?" Elsa whispered, her fear staring to creep up on her. The woman didn't answer for several seconds. From what little Elsa could see of her, she looked just as scared as she was. Finally she whispered, "If I show myself, do you promise not to scream?" Elsa slowly nodded. "Yes." she said quietly. "I promise." The woman took a deep breath, and then slowly stepped into the light… Elsa gasped but didn't scream when she got a good luck at the woman in front of her. The woman's skin was a bright emerald green… "How…?" Elsa whispered as the woman crossed the room and came to sit beside her. "I was born like this…" she whispered. "I've never known how. No one has. I've heard lots of theories, but no one's ever proven anything." "What's your name?" Elsa asked softly, looking at the other woman curiously. "Elphaba." she replied. "I came to this mountain three years ago, the year the king and queen died… I came here to escape persecution in my own country, Oz. People looked at me as a monster because of my green skin, and because of my magical powers." She looked at Elsa, who gasped at Elphaba's mention of having magical powers. "That's why you inspired me and fascinated me so much. I tried my whole life to keep my powers hidden from everyone outside of my family, but I couldn't. I just couldn't. I get angry, sad, and scared a lot, from being picked on all the time, and finally one day I just exploded… I was in the middle of our capital city, a big city, and I just exploded… Everyone labeled me as a witch, and so I fled here, to escape all the citizens of Oz, who wanted me dead… I left behind my younger sister, who I'd cared for my whole life… I haven't seen her since… She probably thinks I've either abandoned her or been killed…" Tears began to slowly trickle down her face, and Elsa's heart went out to her. She gently reached out and carefully placed her hand on Elphaba's shoulder. "I'm so sorry Elphaba." she whispered. "I know how you feel. I hurt my sister with my powers too, and I was forced to abandon her… It hurts…" "I've heard about that. What happened when you two were young. That's how I knew about your powers. And then I heard about what happened after your coronation tonight…" Elphaba looked up at Elsa and Elsa looked back at her. "I'm sorry Elsa." she whispered. "It's alright." The two women sat like that for several minutes, neither of them talking, and both of them staring into the fire and thinking about their sisters, their powers, and their pasts. Finally Elphaba broke the silence by saying, "Well, would you like to stay the night tonight? I have several guest rooms that you can use." She looked up at Elsa, and Elsa looked back at her. "Are you sure?" she asked softly. Elphaba nodded. "Of course. There's plenty of room." She stood up and smiled at Elsa, offering her her hand. Elsa smiled up at her and took Elphaba's hand, letting the other girl pull her to her feet. Elsa brushed herself off a little and then smiled warmly at Elphaba. "Thanks Elphaba." she said softly. "Not many people would do what you're doing, knowing about my powers and everything." Elphaba smiled back at her. "I know that. It's the same way with me. I guess it's a good thing I'm not many other people!" Elsa and Elphaba both started laughing at the same time. Once their laughter had died down a little, Elphaba said, "Come on! Let's head upstairs and find somewhere for you to crash! You look exhausted!" Elsa willingly followed Elphaba upstairs, knowing that a new wonderful friendship had just begun.