Chapter Seven
Hello beautiful people! Update day! I really should be doing my homework because tomorrow I must hand in two major reports, but I can't miss today's update. So, this author note will be shorter (and then you cheer). Thanks a lot for the support everyone has showed towards this story, and I hope you ENjOY this chapter!
P.s. I don't know if you can tell I'm nervous, but I am, so please don't kill me afterwards.
Elsa woke up feeling drowsy and with a headache. It was like the first time she ever drank wine, and then she could barely stand the next day. The main difference, though, was that she could not remember drinking anything. The last thing she remembered was… was… what was the last thing she remembered? Oh, yes, Anna and the fight, the pain and the tears. She had to get up, apologize to her sister, say goodbye; Jack Frost would be arriving today with Mother Earth and she needed to be ready. She stretched on her bed, but she thought that the sheets were stiffer and colder; she also felt more breezes in the room, so she thought she had slept with her window open again. But wait, wasn't it still warm in Arandell? Why did she feel colder, then?
But then, as a flash, she remembered something else; it was like part of some strange dream. She was in her room, very late at night and very dark, and she was looking for something near her bed. Something she couldn't find but she knew she needed… a candle! Was that a dream? How else could she explain it? There had been also noises, ruffling and shuffling, weird noises that weren't meant to be there.
She opened her eyes slowly, only to close them again when the bright light blinded her. Her room didn't have such a bright light… She tried opening them again, to see above her a huge white ceiling that combed upwards. It was lined with beautifully crafted details of snowflakes, stripes that wanted to simulate the wind in a blizzard, so finely done that she had trouble believing her eyes. In the center of the ceiling hung a huge candelabrum with colored candles in it, candles that for some reason didn't bring Elsa any heat at all. The bed she was on was stiff, but the sheets were a beautiful lilac purple, with light blue and white patterns on it. There was a window on the far wall that reached from the ceiling to the floor with the clearest crystal she had ever seen. One thing was clear for sure: she was not in her room; in fact, she doubted she was even in Arandell.
She stood abruptly at that revelation and swayed on the spot, her vision swarming. She reached for one of the poles of the bed which she used to lean on. There she took deep breaths while the world stopped spinning. Where am I? This must be dreaming, that's it, I'm just dreaming, she repeated in her head over and over. Finally, a few minutes later she could open her eyes again and regain her straight posture; she could see better the dimensions of this strange room she was on. Next to her bed was a small bedside table with two slim drawers and on top of it was another candle, this time of a normal color. She neared to the wall to examine the crafting and, oh what a surprise, it was made entirely of ice! She would know, she made an ice castle herself! The furniture, though, didn't seem made from ice. It looked like wood, very fine and expensive, and she wondered just who couldn't have made such a thing. Jack Frost, a voice in her mind said and she gasped. She hoped against hope she wasn't where she thought she was…
Suddenly, a door she hadn't seed in parallel to her bed opened and in came what looked to be a lady, only ladies don't float a few feet above the ground, they don't have wings or multicolored feathers covering her bodies. Still, it was obvious that the creature was female. Elsa backed away, before squaring her shoulders and putting on her best mask.
"Oh, you're awake!" the lady exclaimed in a high pitched voice, "Good, the prince currently awaits you in the dining room," she then added with a soft, insecure smile.
The queen took a deep breath to stop from panicking, "where am I?" she asked in a demanding voice, not making any attempt of moving from her place.
The lady seemed positively surprised, "why, you're in the Winter Palace, of course," she said cheerfully, her voice raising another octave.
Elsa had to hold back her urge to gasp or do any indication of surprise or even outrage; she must always maintain her manners… even when she really wanted to kill someone right that moment.
"How did I get here?" Elsa asked again and again the lady looked surprise, which prompted the queen to explain, "I was in my chambers in my castle when I went to sleep last night, now I'm here, how?"
The lady paled considerably, "uh-oh, you don't… I mean, he said you'd… you mean to tell you didn't know?!" she all but yelled, panicking. That made Elsa realized that, despite this lady apparently being familiar with the palace and the reason the queen was there, she didn't seem to know anything else.
And then, Elsa snapped. Damn manners, damn everything! "Where is the prince?" she spat, surprising the lady. Said lady didn't reply, but pointed to a direction, and Elsa was soon to exit the room and follow it. She was angry; no, she was furious! How dare he?! How dare he do something like this?! She didn't even stop to admire the beautiful sculptures in the castle, she didn't stop to watch the paintings or the crafting; she went straight to the so called dining room and she wasn't disappointed.
After a few twists and turns, following the general direction the lady had pointed to, and some encounters with dead ends too, she wound up before huge doors crafted, again, in solid ice. The door was adorned with beautiful snowflakes and curves, everything was extremely detailed, but again Elsa could care less. She opened them and inside she found a very, very long wooden table with beautiful dark blue velvet chairs. At the very end sat an indifferent Jack Frost, who was eating nonchalantly something that looked awfully delicious; Elsa paid it no mind.
While she walked, she thought; she understood then why she had a memory of her room in the dark. It had been them, sneaking in like thieves to steal her! After all her efforts, she would've thought they were civilized enough to use the front door, or a window at least, instead of resorting to stupid tricks. And now, having him in front of her, paying her no mind at all as if she wasn't anything but a mere wall, her blood boiled even more.
He was still dresses as she remembered, minus the cape, which she supposed he used for travelling only. She stormed up to him, stood right where she was sure he could see her, and pointed an accusatory finger at him, "you abducted me," she claimed, her voice strained from trying to keep it low.
Only then did Jack Frost looked up from his meal to stare, amused, at Elsa. "I hope you like the palace so far, my lady, I made Toothiana choose the best room we have just for you," he mocked and resumed his eating with a satisfied smirk. Elsa would have none of it, though; she slammed her hand on the table, freezing everything near Frost.
"You abducted me!" she repeated, this time her voice did raise a little, which prompted the prince to frown.
"If I'm not mistaken, we agreed that I'd go for you a week later after out discussion; I never said when in the day or how," he retorted looking at his frozen food with childish curiosity. "Are you sure, my lady, that you want to use your magic against me?" he then added and, with a flick of his wrist, unfroze his food and mirrored her attack by freezing her arm to the table.
Her face contorted in rage, and in one swift movement and a slight intervention of magic, her arm was free once again. She could feel his aura, but she didn't care. He wouldn't kill her because he needed her, and she could use that. "You sneaked into my palace in the dead of the night, you and Mother Earth, like thieves. You knocked me out somehow and stole me from my kingdom, and not even you can deny that," she told him with a dead glare. If eyes could kill, Jack Frost would be no more, and such was the intensity of her glare.
Apparently, she had reached a sore spot, for Frost rose abruptly from the table and faced her with an unreadable face but annoyed eyes.
He lifted a finger, "you don't get to insult Mother Earth in my presence; you know nothing about her." He looked threatening, but something in her gut told Elsa he wouldn't really hurt her. She was right, as much as Jack could be detached and cold, he wasn't one in favor of hitting or physically abusing a woman. Not after what he went through, so many, many years ago…
This reaction also surprised Elsa; she would've thought he would have felt insulted because of what she called him, but no, he felt insulted because of what she called Mother Earth. She never thought Frost would be that kind of man, with the way he treated her and all. Still, those thought were pushed to the back of her mind when she realized why she was standing in front of him in the first place. The tension was thick; it could've been cut with a knife.
She decided, then, to give the boy a taste of his own medicine. She snorted, surprising the prince, "oh, and I don't want to know her. I wouldn't want to be acquaintances with someone who would backstab me the first opportunity she got," Elsa smartly retorted and watched with great satisfaction how Frost's face showed anger. She shouldn't have, but she did. Damn the consequences!
His eyes narrowed dangerously, "it's because of her you're even alive," he said in a dangerously low tone, but Elsa felt so outraged he had brought up her origins and her hand acted on its own accord; before she knew what was happening, the queen had slapped Frost across the cheek with a the sound bouncing around the icy walls of the dining room.
His eyes had widened in surprise; never, and I repeat, never had he been slapped by a woman, supernatural entity or not, and the entire irony of the situation made him snort in disbelief. She… did not expect that, and suddenly she felt a little scared; a sudden feeling of dread settling in her stomach.
Much to her surprise, though, the man just turned around and walked away. She would not make him lose his temper; she would not make him cross that line. But apparently, just like Anna had done the day before, she misinterpreted his retreat. She wasn't thinking straight, then, when she blasted ice on his blind spot, hitting him directly and sending him stumbling forward. That did it!
He turned with a glare, "you claim we backstab people, when you don't even honor the rules of an honest fight, what exactly is your aim?" His tone was surprisingly low, controlled, which denoted just how he felt with the situation. She would not win, not now, not ever.
She didn't reply, though, suddenly scared and acting on instinct. She blasted more and more ice, created spikes that she aimed at him, declaring a challenge. He wasn't amused, though, and the fight was short. Elsa kept trying to corner him, but his powers being superior to hers, he would always block the attack. The queen, who had never been properly trained in combat, much less in a magical one, could barely dodge when her attacks rebounded. Then Frost got pissed off.
When an oncoming wall of ice from Elsa was trying to pin Frost to the wall, he decided he had had enough. With a stomp of his food, the wall cracked in the middle and he stepped through it. With a broad, yet simple, move of his arms in her general direction, a very strong wind rose that sent the queen propelling backwards into a wall; there the ice deformed to bind her hands and keep her from moving.
Then Jack Frost approached her, but she refused to back down, so she kept glaring at him. She knew she was vulnerable, but she was betting her stakes on the fact that he needed her, and so he wouldn't harm her. "I usually do not engage in combat with women," he spoke calmly, controlled, detached and cold, "but you're really getting on my nerves. I could kill you, is that what you want? What's done, it's done. The deal was I would pick you up, and I did, and not even you can find a way around that. You are going to stay here, whether you like it or not; no more games, no more tricks; this is a warning, so pay it mind, never again challenge my powers; next time, I might not be able to control them."
With that, he exited the room and left Elsa alone; when he was out of sight, the different ice formations he had made came undone and returned to the places they came from. The wall returned to have its beautiful designs; the floor was as smooth. Her doings had also being reabsorbed into the castle, leaving the place empty of evidence there had ever been a fight over there. Free of her bindings, Elsa fell to the floor in a heap when her knees failed to hold her; she massaged her sore wrists while glaring at the place where Frost had left, the adrenaline still pumping wildly in her system.
I'll never forget this, Frost; I will never forget this.
Jack Frost burst violently into his chambers, almost breaking the doors out of sheer force. How dare she?! She insulted Mother Earth, she slapped him across the face, then she challenged him to a duel she could not possibly win, what the heck was that girl thinking? Nothing, if the way he finished the conversation was any indication. No one had ever managed to infuriate him as the queen had; he had always been proud of keeping control in tough situations. Not when his father decided it was fun to humiliate him publicly, not when Groundhog thought he was a weakling, not when half the court had turned their back on him because he was different. He had always kept his control, his emotions at bay, until this infuriating woman had showed up.
A soft knock on his still opened doors told him Toothiana was there, and he sighed. Regardless what he said, she would still come in… He hadn't even finished the thought and he saw the feathered woman standing in front of him. He started pacing the floor, just to keep the feathered fairy from seeing his face; she would not leave, and so he glared at her after a few minutes.
"What now, Tooth?" he practically spat. She flinched, hurt clearly on her face. A part of him felt as if there should've been some kind of remorse, but his dominant part buried those feelings deep inside his soul.
She also overcame her emotions quickly, for soon she shot him a disapproving glare while looking sternly at him, "you never told me you practically kidnapped the poor girl," she accused and Jack Frost rolled his eyes in annoyance. Just how many times would he have to deal with that conversation?
"I did not kidnap her, you're all overreacting. I honestly never told her when and how I would pick her up, which means I used the very same method she used when she demanded proof from me," he retorted, still pacing and with a frown on his face, "it's only fair."
Tooth huffed, "have you stopped to think that she might have wanted to say goodbye to her family?" she asked him.
"She had plenty of time; she had a week," was his reply.
"And what about the fight in the dining room? You were supposed to welcome her here, to let her know that this would be her home!" she exclaimed outraged, but Jack Frost snorted.
"So you were eavesdropping then," he commented, making the fairy blush madly.
"That's not what we're discussing right now," she avoided the question, "you probably just make her hate this place!"
His face changed, from a concerned frown to an offended look, "I am not the one who started the hostilities! She slapped me! I was going to walk away, just like you taught me, when she attacked me," he snorted again, not believing he had been outwitted and outsmarted twice by that queen.
"You did mock her, tough," Tooth replied and Frost huffed.
"I mock everyone," he said.
"But she doesn't know that," the always rational Tooth said and Frost cursed in her head. To that he had no reply, so he went out to the balcony of his room and stared at the mostly deserted plains that extended before him. He was always marveled by the view, even after all those years. His peace and quiet didn't last though, for soon Toothiana was next to him.
"Haven't you considered being a little kinder to her? After all, she's human," she claimed but his face turned stony ice.
"Precisely because she's human I must stay cold," he replied, his eyes suddenly emotionless. The view became dull, the wind stopped being comforting, and he turned back into the room, the harshness of his reality hitting him full force.
"But you're going to marry her! If you want a stable relationship with her, you're doing it all wrong!" she exclaimed, following him back.
Frost sighed, "You know I'm not marrying her because I want to. I need to become king to reach my full potential and because I'm not immortal I need an heir; only a queen can give me that," he replied.
"You could've chosen from the immortals and save the girl all this conflict if that is your aim," she chastised and Jack groaned. Rarely did he feel exhausted, but that day was proving to be unending, so he plopped down in a cushion he had.
"You know perfectly well my father made sure every immortal woman available wouldn't get near me, he scared them all away. You know also that my last resort was to agree with Mother Earth all those years ago when she requested my magic to help humans, it was… is my last chance," Frost patience was wearing thin.
Tooth placed herself in the middle of his vision, making him roll his eyes, "have you ever thought of her dreams and aspirations?" she then asked, and Jack sighed.
"She would've died before accomplishing any of them, so I'm actually giving her something useful to do," he replied standing up, trying to avoid the fairy at all costs, "she should be grateful."
Tooth huffed and groaned in response, "Your father has been an awful influence in you, passing his unfounded stupid ideas to you."
Jack again rolled his eyes for the thousandth time in a day; "you know very well my father has nothing to do with the way I think about humans," he retorted, but Tooth would have none of it.
"Yes, he has!" she vehemently replied, "I've been with you ever since he took you in, and I can assure that being in his presence changed you. You used to be so kind, loving; full of energy, life and fun! And now you just seem like a shell of what you used to be," she remembered on a wistful tone.
"It's called growing up, Tooth, maybe you should try it," Jack replied with a definite eye-roll which effectively ended the conversation.
Tooth, deeply offended, squared her shoulders and made to leave the room. Before she exited, though she turned to the man she once perceived as her child and, with sad eyes, told him, "no Jack, you're wrong… it's called losing yourself." And then, silently, she exited the room closing the doors behind her, leaving Jack alone with his, for once troubled, thoughts.
He mulled over her words a little, before dismissing them as foolishness. The child she talked about had been lost a long time ago, after he realized that the world was cold and cruel to those who were kind and caring.
Okay, so here's the end of the chapter. Again, I tried to look a bit more into Jack's character, to understand a bit more why he's like that; mainly throwing hints so that you can try and develop your own theories. I know you didn't expect a fight like that, and I hope you don't find it out of place. I wanted since I first conceived this idea to have this confrontation of powers, in which Elsa is so pissed she just wants to get back at him, in this case by provoking him, and at first Jack was going to fight back and be smug and hateful. But you would've probably hated me for that, and also his character changed in my mind from then to now. And so, the Jack I now have in mind is unable to directly hit a woman, magic or no magic, but he couldn't allow her to keep attacking him. In a way, he did need to show that in his palace he makes the rules, and in the end he didn't hit her… much. That blast against the wall was necessary, I'm sorry. Now, the replies:
*princesspay10: Thank you! I'm really glad you like it; I'm currently working in making Elsa happy with her new life, which is kind of troublesome because there are many misunderstandings to clean.
*LilMate: Here's the update! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
* PriscilaOrglene: Thanks!
* Slender Man 777: Thank you! I hope you liked this chapter as well J
* Zejo: Thank you! I would tell you, but that'd be s huge spoiler and so I'll keep it to myself, I'm sorry. Eventually you'll find out, I promise. And I also thought at first it would be kind of the Beauty and the Beast, but it'll also be different if everything goes smoothly with my writing and such.
* AnEnglishRoseLovesStories: Thank you! I hope you enjoyed it! :D
* rokusan23: Thanks! I am also wondering how on Earth I'm going to pull this off realistically, don't worry, I've changed so many things in so many chapters to try to keep everything the way I imagine. I mean, I have so many ideas in my head, and writing them all out so that they complement one another is harder than it looks like.
* archumus: Thank you, I hope you're liking it so far! Am… well, I'm going to be honest here; personally, I didn't like Olaf's character at all. I believe that he wasn't really necessary except to make the film funnier, which is why I'm not going to include him in the story. I don't mean to upset you, it's just my point of view; I'm sorry, but he won't be in this fic.
* Milotech: Here's the update! Thanks for the support!
* First Movement: Thanks for the support! I'm not sure if I already answered to your questions; I think I did, via Tumblr. Anyway, just in case, the guardians will appear in the story although they'll be adapted to this AU I'm creating.
* Samanthafun4: Thank you!
* ForeverDelighted: Hello! Well, how did you like this chapter? Or did you hate it? Be honest, please! Hahaha. The timings will kill me, but I think that I'm going to make it a month and something until the winter solstice; a month and something of intense work to try to make both, Elsa and Jack, loosen their barriers. Yeah, I have job to do hehehe.
* Sallyma: Thank you! I hope you liked this chapter as well!
* FirePrincess96: Well… yeah, and you still killed me anyway (yes, I'm a zombie right now). And here I'm updating so that you can kill me again tomorrow… oh well, what have I got to lose, right?
* Bigby the Big Bad Wolf: Hey! Don't worry, every character that is evil will receive his or her proper punishment and the innocents will come clean (at least that's what I'm expecting). I think I know what you're currently thinking, and I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing. On one side, I'm showing that Elsa isn't going to sit put and wait; on the other side, I'm showing another part of Jack's personality previously unseen. I believe that the fight scene was needed, and I hope it didn't upset you. I want Elsa to eventually find happiness and I'm currently working on a later chapter of discovery for both parts, which I hope runs smoothly. Of course, before any of them can fall in love, it will have to take time, if not, it'd be unrealistic. I hope you liked the chapter and that you'll leave me another great review, as you always do.
* : Thank you! Well, as a hint I can tell you that Jack was a child; he wanted what every child wants, and because of fate, cruel fate bad things happened to the good boy.
* maggi . lefay: Thanks!
*VK: Please, don't stop writing long reviews, I love them! Thank you, btw, for all the nice comments, and the support, and the review, and overall everything! I hope you liked this chapter; yes, the fight between Anna and Elsa was necessary, and I believe that Anna will learn a valuable lesson that will help her in the future. Jack is currently a puzzle, and I'm working really hard to try to piece it together for all of you to read eventually. And that's really hard; in my mind it was so much easier! LOL.
* Acinorev17: Thanks! And don't worry, that will eventually happen.
* manh: Thank you, I'm really glad you like it that much! Don't worry, there won't be any love triangles that I can think of. Actually, I believe that would kill the original plot I have in mind, so it's counterproductive.
* Brickgirl101: It's understandable; this Jack is made to be despised, so that when the truth about him comes forth you all will love him once again. That is, in theory, what should happen; I hope I can make it work!
So this is the end of another chapter; I know I've opened a lot of questions and that there are little answers, but hopefully everything will come clean in due time. Remember that I'm human and I can make mistakes, although I did check this chapter before posting. I hope you liked this chapter; to all those who followed the story, thank you very much! Also to those who added it to their favorites and whoever might be reading it right now.
Until we meet again,
ClearEyes.
