Chapter 7:
Help From a Friend
Sorry about the cliffhanger.
Anna was still of the ground , kneeling with her face down in pain from the blow, cradling her arm, and Elsa was still standing short ways away, staring at her. It slowly hit Elsa what has happened; how she just conjured a pillar of ice to strike Anna in the left shoulder, possibly breaking her arm, remembering hearing a crack. Elsa's eyes went wide with shock when she finally snapped out of it, realizing Anna was injured, and she caused had it.
"What have I done?" she thought, paralyzed with guilt and shame. She went to move slowly towards Anna, to help her up, but Anna wanted none of it...
"Get back!" she yelled, inching back on the floor, cradling her arm, with tears in her eyes.
Anna couldn't believe what had just happened, what her sister had just done, one whom she believed would never hurt her, at least intentionally. Now, Elsa just criticized her character, then when she tried to reach out, she struck her down forcefully. She now experienced something she never felt towards Elsa; fear.
And who can blame her? Elsa had been acting very strangely over the past few days, scolding people left and right, and now she was not afraid to use her powers against them.
Elsa saw it, the fear, in Anna's eyes, the same eyes she saw in her dream when her doppelganger struck Anna down. Elsa was now backing away, slowly, clawing her head in agony, unable to come to terms with what she has done. Her mind was going a million miles a second...
"What have I done?"
"It was her own fault, she pushed you, again!"
"She was trying to help me."
"She shouldn't have tried to order you!"
"I could have killed her!"
"It would have been her own fault for trying to control you, the queen!"
"Why would she control me! She loves me!"
"Why do you need love? Your much too important for that!"
"SHUT UP!" Elsa screamed loudly, hunching over, in pure anger, not caring that Anna might believe her to have lost her mind.
"She deserved it"
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Elsa screamed again. "What are you!"
Anna couldn't help but wonder who Elsa was talking too.
"I'm you"
"No you're not! I would never do this!"
It was then that she realized; these couldn't have been her own thoughts, she never in a million years would have even thought of these things. So if they weren't hers, then what where they?
Elsa breathed heavily when she realized that their had been something, something, in her head, manipulating her, turning her thoughts around, causing her to feel resentment and bitterness towards everything around her. Something was in her mind, somewhere she couldn't easily confront and conquer. It was hiding where she hid her fears, a place she shut out for a while now, somewhere she never felt comfortable. It was hurting Anna, her biggest fear, that finally made it reveal itself.
Suddenly, Kristoff entered the room.
"Is everything alright? I heard yelling..." he said before freezing, seeing Anna on the floor, tearing up, holding her arm, staring fearfully at Elsa, who appeared to be having a nervous breakdown, fumbling over her feet as she walked backwards, eyes looking everywhere, as if looking for some unseen foe. He also saw the pillar of ice, which could have only been made by one person...
Kristoff ran to Anna. "Anna, are you alright?!" he asked, helping her up, but she was frozen in fear and shock. He then turned to Elsa.
"What happened?" he asked, hoping it wasn't what he thought it was.
"I...I struck her..." he looked to her hands. "I...I hurt her, I could have killed her..." she mumbled out.
"What?" Kristoff said in an unbelieving voice. "How? Did you lose control? Did you strike her heart?" he asked frantically, praying the latter wasn't true.
"No, I... I didn't hit her directly with the magic, but...I did it intentionally..." she said, with a crack in her voice.
"You don't have to explain anything to him..."
"NO!" screamed Elsa again, to Kristoff's surprise. She realized that she no longer had control of her actions. If she stayed, she risked possibly injuring Kristoff. Not knowing what else to do, she ran.
"Elsa, wait!" called Kristoff, but she had already turned a corner. He turned his attention to Anna.
"Come on, let's get you to a doctor" he said as he helped her along. Finally, she opened up...
"Kristoff, I...I'm afraid..."
Elsa ran quickly as she could, holding her dress up to avoid tripping. She ran up the stairs, trying to make it to her bedroom before she met anyone else. Unfortunately, she did...
"So what I'm saying is, if everyone else wear clothes, why shouldn't you?" asked Isaac to Olaf as they walked down the hall.
"You know, that makes a lot of sense!" replied Olaf enthusiastically. "I mean, sure I have these buttons, but why not a nice shirt or maybe even some pants..."
Without warning, Elsa turned a corned and slammed into Isaac, full force.
"Oof!" Isaac said as he slammed into the floor.
"Elsa?" asked Olaf. "You know it's funny, your always telling Anna not to run or she might hurt someone..."
"That Oaf! Why won't he..."
"No!" screamed Elsa as she got up, trying to silence the voice in her head. Paying little concern to Isaac, who was groaning from having the wind knocked out of him, she continued on to her room as fast as her legs could take her.
"What was that about?" asked Olaf, while Isaac got to his knees, holding his chest.
"Argh, she sure hits hard for someone so thin." He said as he tried to get up, but fell forward again. "Dang! That hurt. Olaf, think you can help me to the infirmary?"
"The infirmo-what?"
Elsa continued running, finally reaching her room. She got in and slammed the door behind her. She froze it solid, not wanting anyone in, lest this thing takes control again and lashes out against someone else.
"Will Anna be OK?" she thought. "I only hit her arm, and Kristoff is with her, he knows about those things. She didn't even consider Isaac, but then again, she was moving so fast she didn't even notice his groans of pain.
"You really think you can hide from your thoughts in here?" said the voice in her head.
"I didn't think I could, but at least you can't make me hurt anyone else, I won't let you!" she yelled into the room. She glanced at her mirror as she walked around her room, but quickly turned, fearing what she would see in it.
"It's only a matter of time before you realize how much like me you truly are..."
Elsa fell to her knees, grabbing her head in anger.
"Get out of my head!" she yelled.
"That's right, get angry, it'll only make you realize sooner" it said.
"No! Get out!
"Don't you realize, this is who you truly are...cold, emotionless, the essence of fear itself...Snow Queen..."
"This is my mind, and you can't control me anymore! I command you to get out!"
Suddenly, the voices stopped. She breathed heavily as she looked around, only hearing the sound of silence. She could hear herself think, with her own mind. She slowly got to her feet, using the wooden pole of her canopy for support. She breathed in relief as she believed the voices to be over.
"Is it over?" she asked herself.
"For now anyway" said a calm, familiar voice from behind. Elsa turned, seeing the familiar face of Joan, her guardian angel...
Anna was in the infirmary with Kristoff and the doctor, who was bandaging Anna's arm. Luckily, it was just dislocated, and should be better in a few days. Kristoff was in the process of trying to make sense of what just happened.
"...And she just knocked you down?" asked Kristoff to Anna, who was still in a shocked state.
"Y...yes. Kristoff, what's going on? Why would she do that? She never would have done that" she asked.
Kristoff shook his head. "I don't know, but we are going to find out, no matter what."
Just then, Isaac entered the room, holding his stomach.
"Olaf, it's fine. I over-reacted, she just knocked the wind out of me..."
"Hey, you never know what's going on inside there" said Olaf, pointing to Isaac's stomach.
"Isaac? What happened to you?" asked Kristoff.
"Kristoff, Anna, good, just the people we need to see. Listen, something is defiantly up with Elsa, well, more up anyway..."
"What? What happened?" asked Anna.
"Well, she came running around the corned and smashed into me, right in the gut" said Isaac.
"She, knocked you down? asked Kristoff.
"Yeah, and she must have been moving really fast, cause, you know, I'm built like a rock..."
"But then she screamed "no!" and took off. She look sad about something" cut in Olaf.
"She was sad?" asked Anna.
"Yeah"
Anna looked down, then grabbed a pillow from the bed she was sitting on and screamed into it.
"Argh! What is with her?! She's mad, than she's sad, then she's confused, and then mad again!..."
"Whoa, Anna, calm down..."
"How can I? Kristoff...I'm afraid of her" she confessed, removing the pillow, revealing the pained expression on her face. "I never was before, but now...I was afraid what she might do next..."
Kristoff saw the pain in her eyes. "Anna, stay here, I'll be right back" said Kristoff as he turned to leave the room.
"Where are you going?" asked Olaf.
"I'm going to Elsa and demand she tell me what's wrong"
"But Kristoff, she's... she's out of control" said Anna, hesitatingly. "What if she attacks you?"
"I don't care, too many people have been hurt by this, and I think she's been hurt too. I don't care is she freezes me, we need to know!" he said as he left the room. Everyone looked to each other in perplexity.
"Well, he was a good friend" said Isaac.
"I'm going to miss him" added Olaf
Elsa was in her room, face to face with Joan. She was dressed similarly to how she saw her last, with a light blue dress, but her hair was white, vibrant, as if constantly changing shade. She was also not fully tangible, similar to how they first met.
"Joan?" asked Elsa. "Is that you?"
"Who else would it be?" asked Joan with a smile, sarcastically. Suddenly, Elsa ran and grabbed Joan into a tight, desperate hug, catching the angel by surprise.
"Oh, ok" said Joan in surprise. Thankfully she was still tangible enough to hold.
"Joan, what's going on!?" asked Elsa, letting out her fears and frustrations, tearing up as she did so. "I...I feel anger and hatred all the time! I... I hurt Jase, I hurt Olaf... I even hurt Anna! I can't control it..."
"I know, I know" comforted the angel, helping Elsa to sit on the bed.
"Joan, please help me! I can't stop this. I might hurt someone, more than I already did."
Joan, despite not needing to breath, breathed in heavily. "Elsa, I can't take this away..."
Elsa pulled away to look her in the eye. "What? Why?"
"Elsa, as an angel, I can only guide and help you, but I can't interfere with the process of free will... Elsa, this was done to you by someone."
"What? Who?"
"I can't tell you..."
"Why not!" yelled Elsa, angrily. Realizing her outburst, she apologized.
"I'm sorry."
"There's no need to apologize. If I were in your shoes, I would probably do the same thing. But this will only make you stronger."
"Stronger? Haven't I suffered enough?" asked Elsa frustratingly, waving her hands around. "I've spent twelve years in isolation, listened to Anna cry here heart out when my parents died, watched her suffer for my own weakness... why do I need to suffer more?!"
Joan calmly stared back. "Elsa, you, and your sister, were both given great gifts, and I'm not just talking about magical gifts. Sometimes, people with gifts are tested, not by me or Him, but by life, more so if their gifts are very powerful. It is through these trials that we learn about ourselves and improve upon ourselves. It can be rough, painful even, but in the end, we are stronger for it, and thus are more resilient to forces that would otherwise corrupt our gifts. Elsa, it is because you and Anna are special that others bring these hardships upon you, whether they be mortal or supernatural, or sometimes both."
"And that is why neither I nor He can take this away, because it would take away from helping you grow. Do you understand?"
Elsa nodded, tearfully. "Yes."
Elsa cried into Joan's arms. "Just promise me that Anna, or Kristoff, Jase, Olaf, or anyone get hurt anymore
Joan breathed. "Elsa, they may be hurt, but they are willing to do that, for you, and you have to let them in order for both of you to grow. But I promise, they will live through this and so will you."
Elsa nodded in her shoulders. Joan pulled her away and told Elsa one last thing.
"I can, however, point you in the right direction...This thing within you is magic in origin, and thus can only be removed with magic. You know who you need to see..."
"What? Who?" asked Elsa.
Just then, a knock came to the door.
"Elsa! we need to talk!" called Kristoff through the door. Elsa turned in response to the door. When she turned back, Joan was gone. After looking around briefly, she turned her attention back to the door.
"Kristoff, please, don't come in..."
"Then just talk through the door. Elsa, What's going on? Anna's in the infirmary, crying her eyes out because she doesn't know what to do with you...look, I know you're the queen and all, but you're also my future sister-in-law, and I can't let you do this to yourself...and everyone else."
"No, no, you're right... Kristoff, please tell Anna I'm sorry..."
"Anna doesn't want apologies, she want's explanations. Elsa, she's scared off you right now, and it's killing her to feel that way."
Elsa let our a silent gasp, hearing what Anna was feeling inside.
"Can you please tell me what's wrong?"
Elsa paused for a while.
"Elsa...?"
"Kristoff, can you bring me Gran Pabbie?"
"What?"
"Kristoff, this may sound crazy, but I think he's the only one who can find out what's wrong with me."
Kristoff paused, realizing what she was implying. "Are you telling me you think you're under a spell or something?" he asked.
"This thing within you is magic in origin, and thus can only be removed with magic" she thought, remembering what the angel told her.
"Yes" she answered.
Though you already know the circumstances of Elsa's problem, now it's time for the characters to find out, along with a little extra...
