Chapter 7

"So," Anna said, breaking the silence in the chamber. "Introductions?"

The man named Andrew stood up, running his hands through his windswept hair. "Andrew, air elemental," he said, smiling. "Just don't call me Andy."

"And I'm Mira," the girl said, shaking Anna's hand and winking at the Doctor, who raised an eyebrow. "Vaan's been training me; I'm the water elemental to be."

"And you," Elsa said, directing her gaze at Darren, who was skulking in the back of the room. "I never thought I'd see you again. Mother and father said you were dead. Where have you been?"

"With Percival," Darren said. "He actually cares about me, so he helped me use my powers instead of locking them up. As I heard happened to you." He smiled, but it wasn't a particularly nice smile.

"How do you know about—"

"Recon," Percival interrupted, moseying over to stand by Darren. "Each of us have been taking turns supervising your family for nearly two decades. Corona and Vaan, even longer. We know all about your lives. Everything." He threw Elsa a strange look. She blushed.

"It was my turn for duty that night, what, nearly a year ago now, and I saw some strange things. Mind you, it was getting difficult for me to do anything; your ice was freezing up my plasma cloud. I managed to follow you up the mountain, and what do I find on my way but a sixteen-year-old boy, huddled in a dark cave, with an internal body temperature of about 105 degrees. Obviously he had been fending for himself for a very long time, but he seemed perfectly adapted to the cold. I materialized outside his cave, and, upon learning he could talk, offered him the opportunity to be my apprentice. It was obvious that he was an elemental of some caliber, and I was quite pleased when he accepted. It's been about a year, and finally he's going to see some action." He clapped Darren on the shoulder.

"So you adopted him?"

"Yeah," Darren said. "Pretty much. He doesn't mind it so much when I do this." He pointed at one of the stone pedestals that lined the room, and it shattered. Sparks and stone shards went flying everywhere.

"Oy!" Jojo shouted angrily, as everyone ducked. "I worked hard on those!"

"Well, anyway," Percival continued hurriedly, "I thought that maybe you might be happy to see him, but—"

"He almost killed me!" Elsa shouted angrily. "Of course I'm not happy to see him!"

"So, what kind of powers am I supposed to have?" Anna asked Andrew, as Elsa, Percival and Jojo shouted at each other.

"Well, Corona says you're a fire elemental," Andrew said. He paused. "I suppose there's an easy way to find out."

He closed his eyes, then extended his arms. Anna heard a whooshing sound from all sides. She swiveled around, looking for the source. "What was that?"

Andrew lowered his arms. "That was a blast of wind. If you weren't an elemental, it would've knocked you off your feet, but your body temperature must be so high that the air rushing toward you burnt up. That also means that your powers are active."

"Active?" Anna frowned. "You mean I—"

"Sometimes, an elemental's powers are dormant until they awaken as a reflex to protect you. You could've gotten injured from that wind, so your body automatically created a heat shield around you. Unfortunately, you can't do much more with your powers than protect yourself at this point. Hopefully Corona can fix that."

"What do we do till they get back?" Anna looked toward the cave mouth. "I mean, it...?"

"Considering how powerful it is," the Doctor said, waltzing over and checking a watch, "it should be back right about..." He snapped it shut. "Now."

A huge rumbling noise was heard, and a giant chunk of the ceiling was blasted apart, allowing the mistform to clamber down into the chamber. The fog around its knees was gone, and its form appeared to be drooping. It stumbled a few feet toward the Doctor, Anna and Andrew, then collapsed into a huge puddle of electrified liquid. Even as they watched, the elements separated, and Corona and Vaan reformed on the floor of the cavern.

For a moment there was absolute silence. Vaan and Corona stood up unsteadily, looked at one another, then burst into mad laughter. The Doctor smiled. "So, how'd it go?" he asked.

"Destroyed them," Vaan panted.

"And even better," Corona added, staggering over to the Doctor, "those were the troops who were supposed to destroy Arendelle. They were redirected sooner than planned because of the energy the Nexus gave off when we backtracked." He turned to Elsa. "Basically, we just saved your entire kingdom. Oh, and the ice guy is safe, too. You can see him after all this is over."

"I must say, I'm impressed," Morgan said, impressed. "What was that thing you made? I've never seen something like that before."

"Actually, you can all do that," Vaan said, brushing scraps of paper and clay off his cloak. "It just takes an enormous amount of concentration and energy, and if you screw up, you die."

"You could've died?" Mira crossed her arms. "Honestly, sometimes I want to slap you so much."

Andrew heard Anna clear her throat behind him. "Corona," Andrew said, stepping forward. "Anna wants you to awaken her powers fully."

"Indeed she does," Corona said, surveying Anna. She got the impression that he was seeing straight into her mind. "Are you sure you want this? If you awaken your powers, you'll be stuck with them."

Anna nodded. "I'm needed in the battle, right?" she said. "I don't have much choice."

"Oh, there's always a choice," Vaan said, glancing at the Doctor. "The consequences of that choice are a different story."

"Come with me," Corona said, walking towards the door in the back wall. "We're going to have a little talk."

Anna followed Corona into a little back room, containing nothing but a single chair. "Have a seat," Corona said, gesturing toward it.

Anna sat down nervously. "How does this work?" she asked. "Does it hurt?"

"Oh, yes," Corona said grimly. "But not physical pain; much worse than that." He extended his arm. "Give me your hand."

She held it out, and Corona took hold of it. Instantly Anna felt a draining sensation, numbing her arm all the way to her shoulder. "What are you doing?" she said, slightly fearful.

"Preparing you for a shock," he responded. "Literally."

Excruciating pain ran through Anna's body. She tried to scream but found she couldn't move her mouth. Her vision was dimming...

Anna slumped over in the chair. Corona bent over her. "Can you hear me?"

"Yes..." she whispered, seemingly half-awake.

"I've used a controlled shock to induce a hypnotic state in you. I want you to think carefully about everything I say to you. When I tell you to wake up, you won't remember this conversation or the shock, but you will remember what I told you as things you said to yourself. You will continue to think of them whenever you use your powers. Do you understand?"

"Yes..." Anna responded faintly.

"Good," Corona said. "Now, to begin. One of your earliest memories is playing in the snow with your sister. In reality, this was her using her powers; your parents had it wiped from your memory because Elsa accidentally hit you with her magic. Afterwards, according to your parents' rules, Elsa shut you out for nearly fifteen years. How did you feel?"

Anna's brow creased. "I was... lonely. But I kept trying to get through to her. I knew... eventually... that she would come out of her room."

"She was lonely too," Corona said, pacing the room. "But she listened, instead of doing what she knew she should. She cared more about your well-being than your happiness."

"But I wanted to have someone to talk to! Someone who understood..."

"She understood too well," Corona told her. "I do have a question, though. Why didn't you just leave, find yourself a friend outside of the confines of the palace?"

"I... suppose I knew it wouldn't work the right way."

"And what do you mean by that?"

Anna said nothing.

"If you're not telling me, you must have more willpower than I thought," Corona said, impressed. "Let's see..."

He laid his hands on Anna's temples, drawing out her thoughts. Suddenly he withdrew. "Well, that explains a lot," he said to himself. "Er... let's move on. When you were sixteen, your parents died in a shipwreck. Vaan and I were the ones who caused their ship to sink. What do you feel?"

"Anna's face was despairing. "I feel pain," she whispered. "I feel angry. I want to... to make Vaan and Corona pay. But..."

"But?"

"I know that they had to, for whatever reason," Anna said. "Their contract wouldn't let them do that without a reason."

"Well, that's a relief, but it's not what I'm looking for." Corona rubbed his eyes. "Most recently, a year ago, your sister was revealed to have ice powers. She shunted responsibility, tried to run away from you, and froze your heart. What do you make of that?"

Anna's lip trembled. "It hurts," she said. "But she's changed." Her tone was almost hopeful.

"She hasn't," Corona said, barely containing his eagerness. At last, here was something he could work with. "She even thinks she's different, but she's still keeping secrets. She hasn't truly opened up to the world. There's something else she's not telling you." Corona whispered something in Anna's ear. A tear traced its way down her cheek.

"She... why didn't she tell me?"

"Because she doesn't trust anyone," Corona said. "Not even you."

"She doesn't trust me?" Anna's tone had changed from tearful to angry.

"Wake up," Corona said.

Anna sat up, her eyes open wide. "What just happened?" She reached up and felt her cheek. "Was I crying?"

"Anna," Corona said softly, "your hair is on fire."

Corona and Anna came out of the back chamber. Elsa rushed over. "What did he do?" she asked concernedly. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Anna said, giving Elsa a strange look. She brushed her hand away. "Anyway, I think I'm ready to help fight."

"We tried a few easy techniques to help her focus her powers," Corona said. "Show them the 'alchemist' method."

Anna snapped her fingers, and a thin tongue of flame issued from her hand.

"And then the 'dragontooth focus'," Corona said, smiling encouragingly.

Anna blew across the palm of her hand, and a huge cloud of sparks and fire swirled around her.

"And the 'rage of nature' technique."

Anna closed her eyes tight. When she opened them again, they blazed like the sun. Her hair alighted and fanned out around her head like a flaming halo. She rose into the air and began to glow brightly.

"Yes, you can stop now, we get the picture," Corona said. "We have a lot of ground to cover, and I won't be able to maintain a photon formation with so many people, so lightning travel is out of the question."

"Where are we going now?" Mira frowned.

Corona and Vaan grinned and said in unison, "Back to Arendelle."