Scene 11-
Elsa
Elsa dodged the burst of flame, rolling on the platform to a kneeling position. She aimed briefly and fired a bolt of energy at the ground in front of Donovan. Icicles emerged from the ground and Donovan narrowly avoided being impaled. He closed in and Elsa wove a bar of ice out of the air and swept his feet out from out under him. He recovered instantly, and melted the ice under Elsa's feet. She jumped to the side, landing hard. Donovan was on her in a second, flame sword raised high. Elsa gathered ice crystals frantically and as the sword came down, it was met by a blade of perfect ice. She stood up shakily, and roughly parried away a thrust from Donovan.
"No! Don't fight him with a sword, he's too good!" Skahdi screamed in her head. Elsa blasted him in the face with a flurry of snow, and he stepped back, giving her time to erect a wall around herself. She rested while he blasted her impromptu shelter with fire.
"How am I doing today?" She asked.
"Ladyqueen is better, that is certain. Skahdi knows he isn't trying his hardest." She stated candidly. Skahdi smiled, blue eyes gleaming, and added, "But if you can beat him, Skahdi will tell you how to fly." Elsa widened her eyes in disbelief as a tongue of blue flame cut through her wall. She dissipated a wall and leapt out, energy shooting at Donovan. He slashed down with his sword and dissolved her beam and sent an inferno blazing at her. She covered herself with icy armor and walked straight through it, hoping it would be strong enough. She could feel the heat melting the armor, but it happened to be enough. Once on the other side, she punched Donovan's shocked face full in the nose. He went flying backwards, and Elsa made an icy slide that dropped him off the edge of the platform. He should be all right, they were a couple hundred feet up. She dropped the ice armor and sat on the ground, panting. "I'm actually sweating!" She thought in surprise, and Skahdi replied, "We Elmenti so lucky we don't. Gross humans."
"Will I ever have my thoughts to myself ever again?"
"Nope!" Skahdi cried happily. Elsa sighed in annoyance. Skahdi had stronger form in Elsa's head now, and Elsa could swear she had seen her in the castle once.
"So, how about the flying?" Skahdi put her hands on her hips, and waved a finger back and forth.
"Not yet, Ladyqueen. You haven't defeated him yet." Elsa narrowed her eyes, and said aloud,
"Yes I did! You saw me, just now!" Skahdi shook her head dismissively.
"Not like that. Beating him, in other ways." Elsa sighed in annoyance just as Donovan rose over the edge of the platform, palms and feet covered in fire. He landed unsteadily, and put his hands on his knees, gasping for breath.
"You… almost got me there. I barely caught myself before I hit the sharp rocks at the bottom. Awesome trick there, you seriously scared the wits out of me, covering yourself in ice like that. Do it again, I want to see it without being punched off the edge." Elsa complied, and sheen of ice materialized over her body, like a loose-fitting cloak. It rippled as she moved, like actual cloth. "How are you holding it together?" She shrugged.
"Through sheer force of will? I have to concentrate to keep it going." Donovan walked around her, examining it. "Make it into a suit of armor, if possible." She closed her eyes, and concentrated. She envisioned a suit of armor from her castle, and Skahdi helped by appearing dressed in one. She looked down at herself, and there was a perfect suit of armor, made entirely out of ice. Donovan grinned.
"That's so cool! Can I hit you- uhh… can I test its strength?" Donovan asked anxiously. Elsa looked at him skeptically.
"How do you plan to hit, uhhh, test its strength?" He laughed and pulled out his cross guard.
"Like this!" He summoned the blade and ran at her. Her eyes widened and ran, the armor slowing her considerably.
"Get back here, I need to test it!" She laughed and let the armor dissipate. He melted the ice under one of her feet and she tripped and began to slide towards the edge. She hastily created a guardrail and slammed into it, gasping at the sudden pain. Skahdi shook her head, "Ow, that hurt." Elsa grimaced at the pain in her side, and Donovan slid up to her and knelt.
"Are you all right? I'm sorry if-" She stopped him with an upraised hand.
"I'm fine. I just need a break, is all." She motioned for him to sit. He looked doubtful, but sat next to her. She dissipated the guardrail, and they looked out over Arendelle. It had been a clear day, and the setting sun made the ice platform glow gold. They overlooked the city, and the area roundabout. Arendelle, the city, was surrounded by mountains and hills, and the few passes and valleys were small, making the capital relatively inaccessible. While that had helped in times of war, Arendelle's isolation had been one of the main causes of the rift between the capital and the rest of the country. Donovan put his hands on his knees and hung his legs off the edge of the platform.
He suddenly spoke up. "While we're sitting here, I wanted to tell you something." She looked at him curiously. "The first thing, is that my Elmenti's name is Vordahn. He finally trusts you." Elsa smiled playfully.
"Finally? What is there not to trust?" Donovan looked back at her with wide eyes.
"That's what I told him!" They shared a laugh, but after, his mirth disappeared. "I'm actually kind of jealous of your power." Elsa looked at him, puzzled.
"Why is that? Skahdi, ask Vordahn why." There was a pause as Donovan looked for his words and Skahdi was silent.
Donovan said, "Because you can create." Just as Skahdi stated, "He can only destroy while Elsa creates."
"Fire only destroys, it always has and always will. Ice, however… you can create many things with ice. You can protect people with ice, but fire burns whatever touches it." He seemed downcast, almost sad. He looked her in the eye, and in them was the hard light. "Do not tell anyone what I am about to tell you, especially my people." Elsa nodded, not knowing what to say. His stare bored into her, and she felt he could see every corner of her mind. He stated softly, "I trust you." He looked away, and began to speak.
"When I was a child, I grew up on the streets of the great city of Tresdakine, the old capital of Darahdia. The king had long since been killed, and a Warlord had taken over his palace, along with the city. When I was about three, I was kicked onto the street for who knows what reason, and left to fend for myself. I would have died, if not for a girl named Terissa. She was only fourteen, but she collected urchins like me and protected us, providing for us through various ways, not all legal. When I was old enough, she taught me how to read and write, telling me it would get me far in life, and in return, I showed her my gift. I kept us alive during the harsh winters, and protected us against street toughs and muggers. They called me era'ti, the protector. One day when I was about seven, the group of us was at the market when a food riot broke out. She was trying to get us to safety when the Warlords' soldier came to stop the riots in the only way they knew, by killing everyone within reach of their swords. Terissa was cut down in front of me, and the other children were killed in the ensuing chaos." He paused, lost in the memories, and Elsa saw the child in him again.
"I carried her body to safety, but she was already dead. The only thing I felt was grief. I had failed my family, and for my failure, they were dead and I had survived. The grief was replaced with rage. I let it go." He looked up at her, and she could see the memory of his pain and hate in his dark eyes.
"In less than a month, the entire city of Tresdakine was destroyed by fire, many of its residents dead. I have no memory of it. At long last, I came to. I looked around at the destruction I had caused, and hated myself for it. I picked up a piece of glass to destroy what I had become, to kill myself before I caused more death. Then, out of the burning silence, I heard a baby cry. I made my way to the burning wreck of an apartment. There, I found a small child, with golden eyes and dark skin. When it saw me, it stopped crying and just looked at me. In that instant, I knew I couldn't kill myself, because if I did, who would take care of this child?" Elsa moved closer to Donovan, and was shocked to see tears dripping off his cheeks. He wouldn't meet her eyes.
"I named her Iy'ate, the only word I knew in Uru'stai. Rebirth."
Donovan
Elsa moved closer and put her hand on his shoulder. He didn't seem to notice. "I made these gauntlets, to stop my power from hurting anyone else. My entire life is repaying the debt I owe Arradia, and if they only knew…" Elsa put a finger on his lips.
"That's enough of that. Do not dwell on the past." Donovan looked at her, and his eyes were full of pain. "I killed hundreds of people. I… I should-" Elsa made a gag of ice block his words. She narrowed her eyes and pulled him to face her. "It does not matter. Not anymore. What were you then? A scared child. What matters is what you are now!" He looked away again and melted the gag, but she forestalled his next words. "Iy'ate sees you as the brother she never knew, Harid sees you as a wise ruler, and-" He grabbed her wrists and yelled over her words, eyes blazing.
"What do you see!? What do you see, Elsa!? Tell me!" Immediately he regretted the outburst. Elsa looked up at him, and he could see her resolve.
"I see a good man. I see a great warrior. I see a wise ruler." He looked down at her, old scars opened and bleeding out. He had bared himself to her, and she… and she… She gently touched his face.
"I see..." She stopped and moved closer. Oh, but she was beautiful. She kissed him lightly, and his mind went blank. She looked up at him, eyes shining with emotion, and he pulled her closer and kissed her back, letting go of all emotion, all the rage, pain, loneliness, and fear, not knowing that she had done the same. A huge pillar of red and white energy erupted around them, but they did not notice. She did not pull away.
Elsa
They watched the sun go down, hand in hand, completely silent. Inside Elsa, however, Skahdi was losing it. "AHHHHH what was that!? I give Elsa and him one moment alone, and the world explodes! What did you humans do?!"
"I just kissed him, was all. It's not such a big deal."
"Yes it is! I can feel how happy you is right now, and this is a BIG DEAL. I feel those dangerous emotions that Elmenti don't have in you, and we don't have them for a good reason! Skahdi needs to get you away from him!" All of a sudden, she leapt out of Elsa's mind and into the physical world. She looked like a miniature version of herself, and she appeared on Elsa's shoulder. She walked in a little circle, gesturing with her hands the way that Elsa did when she was using her power. Suddenly, little spurs of ice materialized on Elsa's back, and they started to grow. "What are you doing?" She demanded out loud. The nubs began to expand, creating ridges and depressions, and Elsa began to see what Skahdi was making. Feathers, out of ice! Donovan looked at her and his eyes almost popped out of his head.
"What the-" They finally formed into huge wings, and they flapped against her will. She fought to stay on the platform. She cried desperately,
"Skahdi, no!"
"Skahdi knows what is best for Elsa right now. Elsa not thinking straight." Donovan grabbed onto Elsa's hand and fought to keep her on the ground. The wings flapped again, and their hands separated. "Skahdi! I don't want to-AHHHHHH-" She screamed as Skahdi took her in a dive towards the ground. Just as she was about to impact it, the wings shot open to their full extent, catching her. They beat the air mercilessly, taking her back up, farther and farther until she passed the ice platform and kept on going. She desperately looked behind her and saw Donovan taking off after her with fire streaming from his hands and feet.
"Elsa, come back! I didn't mean to…"
"It's not me, it's Skahdi!" The wings took her higher and higher until she passed the clouds, and soon Donovan passed her, fire flaring in his wake. "Elsa, I can't go to much farther! My fire doesn't work so well up here!" She went higher, and Elsa could feel ice forming in her hair and freezing her latest words.
"Prove that you have defeated him. Fly, Queen Elsa." Then her wings stopped moving, and Elsa began to fall. Her wings fluttered uselessly as she tumbled through the air, screaming. Colored clouds spun dizzily as she free fell towards earth, speed building. She tried to open them, and they half opened before flapping uselessly against the power of the wind. She caught glimpses of Donovan falling towards her,
"No. He will stay away. Let you do this by yourself." He crashed into a wall of ice surrounding her, and he began to tumble out of control, too. She managed to steady herself, so she was no longer flipping in the air haphazardly, and looked towards the ground. It was approaching ridiculously fast. She looked to Donovan again, and she realized that in the impact with Skahdi's wall, he had lost consciousness. "Oh great, now I have to save him, too?" Skahdi smiled wolfishly.
"If you wish." She concentrated, and ordered the wings to spread and hold her. They did, and her sudden stop made her lose control again. Donovan was now below her. She opened them slower, and gave her a more gradual descent. She tucked them in again, and sped down to Donovan. She wrapped her arms around him, and tried to slow them down. She opened her wings and pointed herself down, and they plummeted at the mountainous ground. She opened her wings again, and this time they obeyed her without hesitation. They were now in a controlled dive. She altered the angle of descent slightly, towards the city. She aimed for the southern half of the fjord in case this didn't work, and finally spread her wings wide, clutching Donovan with a death grip. Their speed was cut in half, and Elsa barely managed to hold on to Donovan. She flapped the wings experimentally, and brought them to a halt in midair. She kept flapping, keeping them aloft. She lowered them down to the rocky beach surrounding the fjord. She set him down softly, surprised at how light he felt. His face was peaceful, showing none of the stress and pain of the previous hour. She kissed his forehead gently, and stood. He would be fine there, for a little while. She spread her wings, and moved one to actually look at them. They were huge, hanging down to her ankles when folded, and outstretched, were at least 20 feet across. They were made of individual ice crystals shaped like feathers. There were thousands of them, all different sizes, and each refracted the dim light of the setting sun. She jumped and willed them to take her up. They flapped twice, then stopped. She landed heavily, almost twisting her ankle. She realized that she had to consciously direct each movement of the wings, as if they were actually part of her body.
"You're catching on, Ladyqueen."
"Oh, you be quiet. You almost killed both of us." She flapped them on the ground a couple of times, and swept them back and forth. She found out that, if she wanted, she could give the wings feeling, like another set of arms. It was easier to move that way, but then again, it felt really strange. Elsa readied herself, and sprung into the air, wings sweeping across the rocks. They bore her weight, and she began to rise. She gave it some more effort, and the wing beats increased in tempo. She rose quickly, rising above the cliffs above the beach. She relished the feel of the wind in her hair. She dove, and skimmed across the surface of the clam fjord. She dipped her hand in the water as she glided over it; enjoying the feeling of freedom that only flying can give. She looked up and managed to pull up in time to not hit the castle walls. She swooped over the battlements, startling sentries. She rose again, and grabbed onto the edge of the roof on the tallest tower. Elsa spared a glance to Arendelle, and the sight made her proud. She took off again, this time climbing for all she was worth. She noticed that doing this used much more physical energy than anything else she had previously learned, and her back was actually beginning to get sore.
She rose higher and higher, until she passed beyond the clouds, a field of unending red, white, and orange. She spread her wings to their fullest extent, the ice shattering the light into endless rainbows. The watched the sun set, her wings holding her aloft simply by spreading them. She had no idea how this was possible, but they keeping her from crashing to the ground. The sun sank below the cloud line, and the bright colors faded until all was blue and white. Elsa was about to descend, but remembered something she had determined to do. The only thing sharing the space with her was the North Mountain, and she dove towards it. Once beneath the cloud line, she saw the remnants of her ice palace. She landed softly at the bottom of the staircase leading to it. Without her to maintain it, the bridge had signs of melting, though not severely. One side of the railing was snapped off, a result of the actions of Prince Hans' successful mission to take her back to Arendelle. The small icicles on the railings disappeared once she stepped on it once again, Elsa's touch restoring it to its former perfection. She dissolved her wings, and walked slowly up the bridge. She reached the doors, and opened them. She strode into the ice palace, and what met her eyes pained her heart. The falling chandelier had shattered the ceiling and had fallen through, destroying one of the staircases and the fountain in the center of the room. This floor had taken her four hours to complete, and it had been every second a joy. The freedom of being able to use her powers however she liked had led her to create many things, but her favorite had been that fountain. She walked around the perimeter of the destruction, and ascended the last staircase to the second level. The entire center of the floor was completely destroyed, along with some of the right wall, leaving a gaping hole looking out over the frozen mountains. She walked around the edge of the hole, and there on the right were the remnants of the icicles that she had trapped the Weseltonian soldier in. She dissipated them, and stood on her balcony for the last time. However short of a time she had lived there, it had been her home, a haven where she could do whatever she wanted, and nobody would get hurt. She grunted as she remembered learning that she had frozen the northern hemisphere, hurting everyone, and the happiness that she had enjoyed had felt hollow. That, coupled along with the extreme guilt she had held in after freezing Anna's heart, had made that the worst day of her life. The sun had set behind the mountains as well, and the clouds were blue with the oncoming night. The guardrail had shattered, so she just stood and looked. After a time, she re-formed the wings, and took off from the balcony. She turned in midair, and looked for the last time on her Palace. She raised a hand, and then bit her lip, uncertain. She had entered as Elsa, a naïve child, ignorant of the power that she held and the responsibility that came with it. She exited, today, as Elsa, an Elemental and Queen of Arendelle. She shoved the doubts away, and waved her hand. The foundation and supports shattered, and with the groaning and thunder-loud cracking of ice, the whole structure toppled off the cliff and into the great chasm. She turned away and did not look back.