"There is nothing here!" Elsa shouted, as she slammed her fists against the wall for what seemed like the fiftieth time, hoping for a secret passage to appear, or a hidden lever to pop out, or something… something that would allow to save her love for her sister. She turned around, leaned against the wall, and slid to the floor, as the feelings of fear, sadness, and desperation threatened to overtake her. Closing her eyes, she tried to control her emotions, but deep down, knew it was a lost battle.
"I tried to warn you that there was nothing you could do," she heard Anna say from somewhere across the room. "If there was anything you could do, I would have told you in a heartbeat."
Elsa opened her eyes and gasped, realizing how much time had actually passed. She noticed that the room wasn't as bright as it had before, and Anna… Anna was now 18, just like Elsa had last seen her..
"How… how much time do you think I have left?" Elsa asked as she stood.
"Not much longer," Anna answered sadly, motioning for Elsa to come join her on the edge of the bed. Elsa walked over, and as she sat down, almost instinctively, wrapped her arm around her younger sister, who snuggled closer. They sat in companionable silence for a while, before Elsa felt the need to ask a question that had been bugging her.
"You're the personification of the love for my sister, right?" Anna glanced at her questioningly, before nodding. "Does that mean you can think like her?"
"Well, as I said before, while I am the personification of the love you have her, for everything that makes Anna… Anna, I'm also what you want your sister to be. So… maybe?"
"Did… did I make the right choice? Locking myself away from Anna?"
Anna was silent, sitting there for a few moments, before answering. "No, but it wasn't your fault."
Elsa jumped to her feet and start pacing, visibly upset. "Of course it was my fault! I was the one who thought that it would have been better if I locked myself away, to keep myself away from Anna, instead of just telling her the truth! If I had let her know... if I had just told her about my powers and told her that they had to be used responsibly, or maybe I wouldn't have told her about my powers, but I still could have been there for her! I just-"
"Elsa! Just take a deep breath."
Elsa stopped for a moment, realizing that she had been on the point of hyperventilating, as Anna came over and grabbed a hold of her arms, staring deep into her eyes.
"You were eight. You didn't know what would happen; you used the knowledge you had at the time and made the best decision you could. While it may not have been the best decision, I can tell you, if you just let Anna know the reasons why you did what you did, she will understand."
Elsa didn't know what to say, so all she did was pull Anna into a hug, as the fear of having Anna hate her for not being there for her disappeared. Elsa was about to let her know how much that meant to her, when suddenly, the temperature in the room plummeted, causing both of them to shiver and separate.
"What's going on?" Elsa asked, rubbing her arms, as the room began to grow steadily darker. Anna glanced around fearfully, backing away from the door, as if she expected something to come through it and get her.
"No, no, no, no, no," Anna murmured, as she backed into the wall. "I was sure… no, there definitely was… "
"Anna, please tell me what's going on?" Elsa pleaded, as she followed the girl, who turned and looked at her with a mixture of fear and despair. Anna looked as if she was about to answer, but instead of words, she screamed, dropping to the ground and writhing in extreme agony.
"Anna, what's wrong?" Elsa cried, dropping down beside her, looking for any injuries, but not seeing anything, as the girl curled up into the fetal position, shaking slightly.
"Time is almost up," she grunted through gritted teeth, obviously in pain, as tears streamed down her face. "I'm starting to fade."
"Fade?" Elsa asked confused, as she watched in horror, as part of Anna's arm slowly disappeared, vanishing as if it had never existed, leaving behind just a stump. "No… you can't leave me… not now! How am I supposed to keep you, I mean Anna, alive in my heart if you are gone?! I need you…please, you can't go…" She felt the tears slipping down, but didn't do anything to stop them, knowing that it was impossible for her to do anything.
"Elsa, you have to listen to me." Elsa locked her teary eyes with Anna's, and in that moment, knew that these were going to be her final words.
"I know things seem hopeless, but you have to hope that you will be able to overcome this. You have to hope that no matter what the dark magic does to you, you will be able keep some shred of the love you have for your sister, and break free." Anna was fading even faster now, having her entire lower body disappear, but the girl continued, fighting through intense agony. "Elsa, I know that I am not your sister, but I know that she still loves you, and would do anything for you. Hold on to that… for your sister's sake." And with that, she took one final stuttering breath, before fading away, leaving nothing behind.
Elsa sobbed for the loss of the girl, as the temperature in the room plunged, causing ice crystals to begin forming on all of the surfaces. Beginning to shake uncontrollably, either through the cold or the emotions, Elsa collapsed and curled up into the fetal position recently vacated by Anna, and watched as the shadows in the room deepened, leaving barely any visible light left. Trying to do what Anna asked, Elsa grasped the memories of her sister: the time they spent together as children, the accident, how good it was to see her sister again… how easy it was to pretend nothing had ever happened. There was so much love between them, that even after not seeing each other for 13 years, they could just go back to the way things were. Elsa felt herself smile a little at the memories, when suddenly, she screamed, feeling as if something made of solid ice was clawing at her heart, ripping the emotions away from the memories.
Curling her body even more, in a last, futile attempt to keep the cold and pain out, she desperately clung to the emotions, but could feel as each was ripped out, slowly and painfully. Elsa clenched her eyes closed, silently begging for it to be over, as she felt herself be pulled in to the darkness….
….
….
….
….
Elsa blinked her eyes open, and saw that she was still in the room, as if nothing had changed. At first she thought it wasn't quite as dark, but then figured that her eyes had just adjusted to the lack of light. It was still freezing cold, but it was nothing Elsa couldn't handle; it was the stuff she dealt with a regular basis.
She slowly stood up, shocked at how sore she was feeling. She thought back to what had happened, and remembered the emotions being ripped away, and rationalized that it must have been her body attempting to fight back against it. For some reason, she had the brief thought that she should be worried about what had just happened and the lack of emotions she was feeling towards it, but it only lasted for a brief moment, so she shrugged it off and decided that it was time to leave.
Elsa headed for the door, continuing to have the nagging feeling that she was missing something very important, and yet, nothing came to mind, so she figured that it was either not that important, or that she would think of it later. As she reached the door handle, she remembered what the Anna had told her about it, and yet, when she touched the door, it didn't feel cold, but rather, somewhat… inviting.
She opened the door and saw impenetrable darkness. Again, the feeling that she was missing something desperately important overcame her, so she thought back to what had happened to before she fell unconscious. The memories that she had been thinking about came flooding back and yet, as she thought of them, all she felt was a sort of detachment, not really caring about what the memories were about, at all.
Elsa slowly raised her hand, and gently touched the darkness, instantly feeling a sense of… power… strength… wanting Elsa to join it. She pulled back her hand, and instantly, the sensation faded, leaving her feeling empty on the inside. Not wanting to lose it again, and slightly wondering what it would feel like to touch more of it, Elsa stepped into the darkness, not noticing the young blonde girl curled up in the corner of the room, staring fearfully after the woman.
AN: Yay! I finally decided to get around to updating the story. Truth be told, I had this nearly finished over a month ago, but couldn't quite get the ending right until just recently. Hope it was worth the wait!
Now, while I am terrible at keeping with schedules, I am currently on spring break, so I hope to have another 2 chapters done before the end of next week. I already have the next one outlined (in my head) so it shouldn't be too hard to transition it to paper... right?
Finally, as always, please don't hesitate to follow, fave, or review! It always means a lot to me to see people enjoying my writing. I hope you enjoyed it and see you soon!
Oh, final note: For the first time ever, I get the opportunity to thank my friends, Kristen and KatetheGreat83 for their help editing! Thanks guys!
