Frozen: The Dragon Knight
Chapter 2
"You what?" Anna screamed at Ventia. By common consent they had decided she was the best choice to tell Anna the truth.
"Anna, I'm sorry, but you aren't ready to hunt the light and dark stones. Part of your training in the soul and heart paths is so that you can gain the discipline to learn how to use both light and dark magic" Ventia explained.
"Wait what?" Anna asked
"In order for you to even survive finding the stones you need to learn how to use magic they represent" Ventia explained.
"So on top of two new disciplines I have to learn two new magic's" Anna groaned.
"Getting ones wish isn't easy" Ventia said smiling. So the next three years until she was fifteen were spent mastering all her new skills. Every day was full of learning and training, not just magic, but also all her practical skills which more and more were taken up by her teachers. Under their tutelage Anna learned far better than with the other tutors their parents hired. Also along with etiquette her teachers taught her more about the history of the dragon born than Borealis had"
"Wait, dragon born are gods?" Anna asked after learning about the celestial realm of oraboros, the home of the dragon born.
"If that is what you wish to call them" Aquarous said.
"Oreboran are very similar to other celestial beings such as the Asgardians or the Olympians. We have magic as you know, but we are also virtually ageless" He said.
"What about me?" Anna asked.
"We are not sure. For certain you will be extremely long lived, but you are also half human. Whether that means you're life span will be measured in centuries, millennia, or if you will be as ageless as the rest of us when you are mature, none of us can tell" Aquarous explained.
"Oh" Was all Anna could say.
"You are a very special case Anna" Aquarous said.
"Not only are you the first Oreboran born after our races destruction, but all dragon born without exception come into their power at maturity. Every one, except you. You are the first of our kind to come into you're power at such an early age" He said.
"It's nice to be special, I guess" Anna said rubbing the back of her head.
"Hey, if I'm going to live so long, doesn't that make travel into the future dangerous?" She asked.
"That's a question best answered by Borealis. For now try not to dwell on it" Aquarous said. While Aquarous taught her about dragon born history, which was completely fascinating, Ventia taught her about dragon born culture.
"Wait, so Elsa is a caster?" Anna asked after Ventia had explained there had been two kinds of people that had lived in Oraboros.
"Yes. She is an ice caster" Ventia said. According to her, casters were people born with the ability to channel one element to cast magic. While they could only cast a single element, the power they had to draw on was almost infinite.
"That is their strength. Can you tell me the strength of a dragon born?" Ventia asked.
"Our versatility. Because we have access to all the elements we can cast spells a caster can't" Anna said.
"Very good" Ventia said. On her thirteenth birthday she began learning light magic. A prerequisite for learning light magic was mastering emotion magic.
"You must be able to focus positive emotions into pure energy. That is the one and only key to light magic" Ventia explained.
"That's why it's so dangerous. Keeping yourself positive like that, whether for a long casting or during a battle is hard" Anna said.
"Yes. Now try it" Ventia said. Anna nodded. She took a deep breath and quieting her mind (which surprisingly wasn't hard) focused on nothing but positive emotions.
"Think happy thoughts" Flitted over the surface of her mind as she dredged up her love for her parents, who she still loved deeply despite what they did to her memories. She brought up the love for her teachers, who more and more became her family. And Elsa. She brought up all the love for her sister, the one person she looked up too, and the one she tried to be like, the one person in the world she would give anything for. She took that love, that light and turning it into energy focused it into her hands. A small ball of pure white light formed between her hands. Anna laughed, feeling pure joy, which caused the light ball to pulse and explode, knocking her off her feet.
"Are you alright?" Ventia asked Anna who just laughed. Light magic was hard. Keeping her emotions steady was the hardest part, but eventually she learned how to keep them under control. It didn't mean she was emotionless. She felt more than ever, she was just able to keep focused, which helped in keeping herself cherry and positive, especially when around Elsa who acted colder and more distant than ever. Her fourteenth birthday she began to learn dark magic.
"Do I have too?" Anna asked Aquarous, slightly scared.
"There must be a balance of light and dark in all of us" Was all he said. She gathered her courage and took a breath. Just like light magic worked on positive emotions, dark magic worked on negative. That was why resolve and courage was needed. Resolve to delve into ones darker nature and courage to focus those emotions without losing themselves. She brought up her anger at her parents who had her memories erased and separated her from Elsa. She brought up her frustration at her teachers for forcing her to learn this. And she brought up all the feelings of anger resentment and even jealousy for her sister. The anger that Elsa had gone along with her parents in shutting her out. The Jealousy at how she was the apple of everyone's eye while she was considered the spare. And the resentment toward her whole family for shutting her out, of doing all this without her knowledge or permission. A black globe of energy emerged in her hands, a product of every bad thought she ever had.
"What are you doing?!" A voice shrieked and the globe imploded into itself, leaving Anna feeling like her soul had been ripped out.
"How did you get in here?" Aquarous asked as Idunn stalked in.
"I may not have my magic, but I can still get around your little charms" Idunn said.
"Anna are you alright?" Idunn asked concerned.
"Get out!" Anna hissed, her dark emotions still swirling, the only thing she was feeling being anger.
"Anna?" Idunn asked.
"Get out!" Anna shouted, her hand engulfed in black flame. Aquarous stepped forward and put his hand on Anna's head. A wave of something passed through her, scouring away the darkness and sending her into unconsciousness. The man caught the girl as she fell.
"You have no idea what you almost caused" He said softly.
"You are teaching her darkness magic?" Idunn demanded.
"We are teaching her everything" Aquarous said.
"That's impossible" Idunn said.
"Not for her. She is close to mastering all four paths and light magic" The man said putting his hand on the girls head and making sure her darker emotions had not poisoned her.
"Her darkness is more powerful than I thought. You're actions have caused her more pain than I think even she realizes" Aquarous said.
"She who walks in two worlds, belonging to neither" Idunn whispered sinking to her knees.
"There's nothing I can do for her is there?" She whispered.
"You were a brilliant student Idunn, and talented, but you were always too meager in spirit" Aquarous said.
"Me, Agdar, even Elsa, we're all cowards. Where has Anna gotten her courage from?" She asked herself as she teard up.
"I want to help. I may not have my magic, but I still have my knowledge, and if this is Anna's destiny, I want to be there for her" Idunn pleaded having a change of heart.
"Even if it leads to Anna's destruction, after everything you've done to protect her?" Aquarous said, which earned a rueful laugh.
"How have we protected her? Either of them. Agdar will not bend on the current situation, especially with you all here and Bor's curse on us" Idunn said, tears working down her eyes.
"Anna is hiding something from us" Ventia said appearing behind them. The woman walked over to the girl and kneeling down put Anna's head in her lap.
"I have seen hints of it. I am concerned about just what her wish will be when the heart is reformed" Ventia said.
"What do you mean?" Idunn asked.
"When she found my heart, I sensed troll magic on her. Without thinking I reached out and performed a heart purge on her" She said running her hand across the white braid.
"You what?" Idunn asked going white.
"She remembered everything, and she believes what happened is all her fault. I fear that when the heart is reformed she may use her wish to undo her own existence" Ventia whispered. If Idunn could have gone any whiter she would have.
"Are you sure?" Aquarous asked.
"No, and I do not want to force the issue" Ventia said.
"But why?" Idun asked and Ventia gave her a withering glare.
"Think about it. she was accidentally struck by her sisters powers, and instead of punishing her, Elsa was locked away from the world as if she were some kind of dangerous monster. Anna believes she is the cause of all that pain and suffering, and the only way to atone for that is to undo it, and herself as well" Ventia said looking down.
"But if her wish is…" Aquarous said.
"Her wish is her own. She is working so hard to learn what we have to teach her, she has risked her life every time she found one of our hearts. She has earned the right to make whatever wish she wills, even if it is to not exist" Ventia said looking at Idunn. The queen looked down at her youngest, the one everyone, even she and her husband had written off as a spare. The one they cherished for being cheerful, positive and strong, but didn't trust with the simplest secrets or responsibility.
"You're right. She's earned the right to make her own choices, for once in her life" Idunn said. At about this time the girl they were talking about began to stir and open her eyes.
"Welcome back" Ventia said.
"Mama?" Anna asked seeing Idunn.
"I'm right here darling" She said.
"Are you alright, I didn't mean to" She said sitting up.
"I know. Believe me I know how dangerous darkness magic can be" She said.
"I would like to help, if I may?" She asked.
"Right. You used to be a dragon born too" Anna said rubbing her head. Anna's training continued, only now with Idunn encouraing her and helping explain the more complicated aspects of magic in the special way only a mother could explain things to her child. As she watched Idunn was amazed at her daughter's prowess. Like everyone else she had compared her to Elsa. And even though she loved Anna with all her heart, had expected about as much from her flighty, excitable, unfocused and slightly uncultured daughter as everyone else.
"Even the greatest knights weren't half as strong as she is right now" She told Borealis one day as they watched her spar with Ursa.
"And she is far from reaching her full potential" Borealis said.
"The reason we had her memory wiped was because we were worried about her being exposed to Elsa's magic" Idunn said.
"The image that was conjured during her challenge against the heart of water was that of her sister" Borealis said.
"Though a shadow of your eldest power, Anna still prevailed." Borealis said.
"And that was when she was far less trained than she is now" Borealis explained.
"So as she is now, Anna could take whatever Elsa could throw at her" Idunn said.
"Forget it" Anna suddenly said having listened to their conversation while she sparred.
"Excuse me?" Idunn asked.
"You think that Elsa and I can be together again because I have my own magic to protect me" Anna said.
"Well…yes" Idunn said.
"And people call me dumb" Anna said.
"Pardon me young lady?" Idunn asked slightly irritated.
"Do you really think that after all these years the two of us can just show our powers to each other and we'll be sisters again?" Anna asked.
"We've been apart for seven years, barely speaking to each other" Anna said looking away.
"All the more reason to try" Idunn said and Anna shook her head.
"I already have a plan" Anna said.
"Wiping yourself from existence isn't a plan!" Idunn scolded.
"How did you…never mind. I don't care. It's not you're wish it's mine" Anna responded.
"Why?" Idunn demanded.
"Because it's my fault!" Anna shouted, tears running down her eyes.
"It was my fault. I was the one who treated Elsa's powers like a toy. I was the one who wouldn't slow down. And now, because of me, she's been afraid of the best thing about her shut away, cold and lonely. She's isolated herself from you, from papa, from life. As the spare…as the spare it's my job to undue that. My responsibility to protect the heir, no matter what" Anna said.
"I'm going to fix what I did wrong. I'm going to give Elsa back the life that I stole" Anna said smiling brightly with tears in her eyes. Idunn didn't say anything as she looked at her youngest. Then she stepped forward and wrapping the girl in a tight hug wept.
"Did I say something wrong?" Anna thought as her mother sobbed.