"There was fire in the air, and Paris burned in his righteous flame."
The droplet of hung on the edge that belonged to the awning over the park bench. With a glint of sunlight it looked like a small diamond, shining brilliant in the morning sun. But... this droplet of water was not welcome. It was the first liquid water to come into being for almost a year, all except for the ocean that licked the sandy shores of Arendelle, but even then frost danced on its surface. As it gained weight, the water drop began to sag and gain a belly, fattened by more water melting and running to it. Soon it became too heavy, and fell from the edge of the awning. Down and down it fell, gliding down through the air with the ground growing larger and larger. But it was not to be that this drop were to land on grass, or the petal of a flower. Instead, its payload was directed to a different target, one of a more... royal, air.
Elsa felt the drop plop onto her nose, the water splashing onto the book she was reading as well and gently cascading down her cheek. She had come out during the early morning because she enjoyed how the sun danced on the ice and snow that adorned her castle, palace, and beautiful city. She had chosen a light coat with button that shone with ice thanks to the silvery mother of pearl that lined them, and a tall woolen hat that the Russians thought were all the rave. Anna always got a laugh when she wore it, and such memories always made her smile when she thought of them. The shock of getting the drop on her nose was underwhelming compared to the dread that suddenly welled up in her heart. With a jolt she jumped from her bench and spun around, looking at the roof of her palace and the awning she had been sitting under. Her chest pumped in panic as she saw more and more shining diamonds on the edges of the palace and roofs of the many guard towers. The sun was shining brightly, and left no shadow to hide the sudden looming threat in Elsa's eyes.
drip...drip drop drip...drip drip drip drip drip...
Elsa cried out, her face covered in panic as water began running from the many snow covered rooftops. Soon it sounded like the entire city of Arendelle was caught in a sudden summer shower, snow quickly melting and running down the streets. Elsa suddenly began sweating, her light coat feeling as if it were trying to cook her alive where she stood.
She ran. She ran as fast as she could, shedding her coat in a flourished hurry and her hat fell from her head in her sprint. Her feet splashed as she ran, throwing water up onto her dress. The water slowly began to frost as her magic began to reach out and touch her person, as it always did when she felt panic. With a watery skid she came to a halt atop the main gate to her palace, her eyes scanning over her town and the mountains surrounding. All the snow... all the ice was melting. Nothing had melted through the past summer, winter, spring, and even yesterday. Her citizens were beginning to shed their comfortable winter clothes, speaking loudly and unsure as sweat began to form on their faces.
Her magic began to freeze the ground under her feet. Elsa was angry... very, angry. Olaf, accompanied by his ever following cloud, came up beside her.
"Elsa! Elsa everything is melting!" He began to wave his arms frantically, motioning towards the horizon. "The heat is coming from over the mountains, it has a weird smell and stinks of some other kind of magic." He looked up at Elsa, his eyes wide with fear. "The heat... the heat is so great it melted your ice castle. Marsh-mellow couldnt get down here fast enough... hes..." His eyes began to well with tears, "Hes gone..."
Olaf was pushed back slightly as a wave of frigid magic washed over him and stirred the air with frost and vines of ice. Olaf looked up at Elsa and saw that her eyes with nothing but light, icy blue, her hair flying wildly as the wind stirred violently. Her braid battered against her as she bared her teeth, her face contorting into a visage of rage and pain. Storm clouds thundered from over the west side of the mountains and from the ocean, rolling forward like an army ready to do battle. The air temperature began to drop, climbing down from the foreign temperature that could melt water and over heat the body. Huge, snowy tornadoes roared down from the skys. Crystal lightening crackled through the air, striking through the clouds like sharp sword points stabbing at an enemy. Soon the temperature dropped back down to the normal range, and the once running water froze back into ice. Within minutes great mounds of snow once again covered the land, the people whom lived within the land felt relief.
Elsa slowly lowered her hands, the light fading from her eyes. The clouds stayed in place and kept the great advances of heat over the mountains from their source. Elsa looked in fury at that direction, slowly picking through her mind what countries lay beyond those sentinel borders.
"Austria and Prussia are good friends..." She began to whisper... "Poland and Russia are the same..." She began to list off the countries one by one, ticking down the list of her allies and enemies. Her powers were well known in the other countries, and with Anna being her Diplomatic Sister in Arms, she visited said countries to spread their good will. She was always well received and never had any problems, Russia even giving her a great tour and celebrations were held in the honor of her visiting the land. However... there was one place that they had not been well received. That the people seemed to have a great mistrust and a kind of superstition about magic of any kind. The people were a mix class whom hunted one another, one people in particular seemed to be catching the brunt of a storm that had been brewing in their capital city. Elsa had sent Anna on a follow up diplomatic mission to the place to try and give good relations one last try, as it was her goal to have few enemies as possible.
But Anna was late getting back. As a matter of fact she was almost a week over due, and the lack of correspondence being sent home had been troubling her for days. With this morning and the maddening heat that seemed to be coming from over her border, she felt her heart drop to her feet. She gripped the wall, her eyes trailing along the mountains.
The heat of another strange magic...
In her mind she moved her fingers about the map.
Coming from over the mountains... its not Germany... Its not Spain...
Her mind focused on one place. The only place that made sense.
The heat is coming from Paris... Anna is almost a week late getting home...
Olaf walked up and placed his hand over his Queen's. Elsa tensed, her fingers gripping the stone so tightly that it cracked under the weight of her fear, anger, and magic. Elsa turned so sharply that her dress didnt have time to follow her before she was moving, framing her legs in their fury to move forward. Olaf followed wordlessly after his silent Queen, his soft snowy feet padding quietly.
After some time of quiet walking Elsa and Olaf came to the great chamber that made of her meeting hall. With the weird weather and commotion amongst the town, all of her advisers were already there and loudly shouting at one another.
When Elsa entered the room, they all fell silent. The sight of their Queen in such a state could make even the most hot headed male's blood turn cold in their veins. Her hair was wild, a small portion falling over her face and shielding a small part of her face. Her eyes shone with such malice that one may even call it madness. The grace that had always followed their Queen was gone, her shoulder were cocked, and she bent forward slightly as if she were about to pounce and tear at the nearest target that fell before her. She walked slowly, coming to the head of the table. All eyes were on her, and all mouths were shut. No one dared ask her if she were okay, or what the matter was. She had not frozen anyone in place, and while she denied the ability to do so, people are capable of anything when revenge was on their mind.
Her hands came down, laying flatly on the top of the table. Elsa spoke in almost a feminine growl, her voice full of warning and threat. As she spoke Kristoff came into the room, worry knitted onto his face.
"How long as Anna been gone." She asked crisply
"S-she has been gone for almost a month, my Queen." An adviser stuttered out, sweat visibly traveling down his forehead despite the temperature. "She was due back a week ago tomorrow. She had been sent to Paris, France to try and mend the uneasy ties between our kingdom and theirs."
"Have their not been any REPORTS?!" Elsa roared, slamming her fist into the table like a war hammer. The wood cracked and splintered as coarse ice shattered into the wood, stabbing through like a knife through butter.
The whole room jumped and one older gentleman grabbed his heart as if it would jump out of his chest and flee from the room. The room lay silent for a moment, before one of the braver men decided to clear his throat. He shuffled through a small stack of logs and pulled one in particular from the stack.
"Paris appears to be in turmoil, my Queen. Neighbors to the city of Paris have reported their temperatures rising and springs coming far more early, winters being cut short, and summers burning the lands in such heat that some villages have found birds cooked alive in their feather when they made the mistake of pausing to rest on metal roofs." He paused, letting it sink in before he continued. "They also report in their visits to Paris that the heat in unbearable, and it has become unsafe to visit. Cults appear to be hunting people down and burning them at the stake for being 'heretical', which can range from anything to not saying their prayers, to not baking bread correctly. Out of fear people have joined this cult to avoid being burned and targeted for other harsh punishments. A spy from Austria claims that when he joined the cult, the heat no longer affected him and he began to hunger for flame itself. He has kept himself sane via potions and salves, giving great caches of information."
Elsa's eyes radiated nothing but pure anger, her eyebrows almost touching in her mask. Even Olaf had a face of anger, not at the heat but the loss of life for no good reason.
The adviser continued. "The cultists are eating fire, hot coals, and drinking boiling oil. It does not appear to be affecting them in any negative way, almost as if they are drinking water and eating bread. Some have even taking to carving into their faces with burning iron to look more like their main figure head. A heavily burned man by the name of Claude Frollo. At this point the cult has grown to such size that they have taken half of the city at the time of this report. A few months have past since we last received a report. Austrians believe their spy has since been killed or fully absorbed. They also report that most of Paris appears to be in constant flame, glowing red and orange no matter the time of day. The King of France is worried to the point he is now staying in Sweden. The country believes they have been abandoned and are running to the border countries. Even more worrying news is that another large group is heading to Paris to join this cult."
The Adviser fell silent, tossing the report back into the pile and crossing his arms. All the other Advisers knew about this report but hid it from Elsa to keep her from worrying about Anna. However now it has only caused more worry and pain to well up inside Elsa, her fingers digging so deeply into the wood that the table was basically destroyed on her side.
Elsa's eyes began to glow again, swirls of frost tapering down her cheeks as her magic fought to explode out and coat the entire world in deep cold. She slowly looked up at her Advisers, her hair seeming to glow along with her eyes.
"We are going to Paris. I consider this heat wave a shot across our bow and the delay of my sister returning home a taunt, if not a threat. This will not be taken lightly, nor will it be ignored. This... Frollo appears to think that he can do whatever he wants and challenge me in my own kingdom from his little torched stronghold."
Elsa slammed her fist once again into the table.
"We will MARCH on Paris. I do not care what France thinks, or their cowardly King."