Winter's Collapse
AN: This is my first submission to the frozen community, as well as my first submission anywhere online, and so carries all the usual warnings of a first time writer. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy.
Elsa hung dully from the rusted chains stretching from the grimy wall to the strange gauntlets covering her hands. She imagined a lingering chill permeated the air, though even if she couldn't feel it, it was as nothing to the chill seeping into her heart. She felt fully awake now, her head clear but sore after her fall earlier. Since waking up it had been throbbing with pain where she had struck the ice in her headlong dive to escape being crushed. Each beat of her heart seemed to send another throb of pain shooting through her skull, as if her despondent thoughts didn't hurt enough on their own.
*her heart beat, her head throbbed*
She had been wrong, so wrong. How could she have thought she was free; what a ridiculous idea that had been. Mere hours had brought her sister straight back into danger from herself, along with dreadful news. She had doomed Arendelle to an eternal winter.
*another beat, another thump of pain*
Her first day as Queen and she had destroyed her kingdom. 'Let it go' indeed. HA! She had let it go all over the land and doomed her people to a slow, painful death of starvation and freezing, and there wasn't a thing she could do about it. She had told the prince she didn't know how just as she had told Anna.
*her heart fluttered, the pain slithered across her scalp*
Anna. Oh her poor, dear Anna. Once again, despite years of concealment and practice she had managed to strike her sister again. In the heart this time! She remembered well the words of the trolls; the heart was much worse than the head. Would Anna be able to survive this time? She was supposed to be home already, but that prince had said she hadn't returned yet.
stupid Stupid STUPID!
She should have gone after Anna immediately after her fear-driven creation had thrown her out but over a decade of habit was hard to break. When she was a danger, she had to get everyone away from her before she caused even more harm. Had that villager her sister was with done something to her? No, he seemed to be worried about Anna, he had touched her with gentleness and concern; surely he would have gotten her home.
*another throb, another pulse of pain*
Home. She had doomed her home. Was this dungeon cell to be her home now? She had locked herself away for so many years, was she now to be locked away by others? What would become of her now? Would they execute her for her crimes against the country? She shook her head slowly, trying not to aggravate her headache. She would certainly deserve it, and perhaps it would even end this killing winter…
But Anna first. Anna had always come first, her whole life. Nothing could happen until she made certain Anna was ... a sudden sound outside her cell broke her out of her reverie.
Footsteps!
And voices too, what were they saying?
"Hurry up! She's dangerous, move quickly!"
They were right, she was dangerous, she had been telling them that all along! Wouldn't they listen?
She watched as ice spread rapidly throughout the cell, growing outward from her as her fear increased. No, they weren't going to listen to anything she said, and apparently Prince Hans' promised best wasn't enough to convince them to let her go. This couldn't be; she had to get out, get away from all the people she was endangering and find Anna.
A click outside the cell door spiked her fear, sending intense cold thrumming through her. The ice intensified, the rime already coating the walls growing spikes and shedding fog, new ice sealing the door and muffling the increasingly violent blows coming from the other side.
"Be careful!"
More shouts outside.
"It won't open!" one voice cried.
"It's frozen shut!" shouted another.
Covering her head protectively with her arms, she ran towards the wall sending a blast of power out ahead of her.
As she burst through the wall, she lowered her arms and looked out in horror. Her town was covered in the worst blizzard she had ever seen, and she knew she was the cause. It was as if summer had never happened. White lay like a heavy cloak over everything, enormous drifts of snow building up along the walls. The wind was howling across the land, carrying unbelievable amounts of biting sleet with it. She understood the guards urgency now, the city would never survive if this continued.
She had to get herself away from here; far, far away where she couldn't hurt anyone else. It would mean leaving Anna to the care of others, but it couldn't be helped. Too many people were in danger now, and besides, she would only end up hurting her sister worse if she came close again. She knew that now.
The sound of ice splintering and shattering under heavy blows behind her spurred her to action. She took off down a snow-covered slope, toward the frozen over fjord. Glancing behind her, she spotted Prince Hans running toward her, a scared but determined look on his face. She ran faster, desperation lending her speed. She was falling apart, and heard that echoed out on the fjord as jagged cracks sprang from fractures in the ice, mirroring emotions that she could not longer control, let alone conceal.
"Elsa!" a shout, muffled by the roaring storm, came from close behind her, "You can't run from this!"
With a whimper of defeat she stopped and turned toward the prince, hands out defensively as she silently pleaded with him to stay back before he got hurt as well.
"Just take care of my sister," she pleaded. Anna was all she had left, it was paramount she be cared for.
The prince looked saddened, "Your sister? She returned from the mountain weak and cold. She said that you froze her heart."
"No," she gasped, her curse had done that to Anna?
Hans continued to inch closer, hands held out helplessly as she kept backing away, "I tried to save her, but it was too late. Her skin was ice, her hair turned white."
She froze in place, horrified realization dawning on her already pale face.
"Your sister is dead...because of you."
"No..."
It couldn't be. Anna couldn't be…
"No!"
With a last broken wail, she collapsed to the ice, all strength drained from her, all hope gone. She had done it, what she had feared for all those lonely years had finally occurred. She had killed her own blood, the one bright light left in her dark empty world. Her sister.
As the empty numbness overtook her, she barely felt the storm around her abate, collapsing as suddenly as she herself had, the air becoming crisp and clear, spreading in an ever-widening circle away from her. With a whoompf, the wind halted, the snow stopped, and it seemed as if all sound ceased, sharing in the overwhelming grief of Cold's Mistress.
Weeping, curled into herself, she didn't so much as twitch when she heard the hissing sound of a sword leaving its scabbard. It didn't matter anymore. Anna was gone; nothing mattered anymore.
She felt his footsteps against the ice coming slowly toward her and ignored them, weeping silently now as she numbly awaited the end. Perhaps, if the gods were merciful, Anna would forgive her in the next life, because she would never forgive herself.