Author's Note – Hoo boy. I deserve a lot of hate for this chapter. Not only did it take way too long, but it's short and frankly, it was hard to write.

AS AN APOLOGY READ THIS IT'S IMPORTANT, I'm inviting all readers to post a question to Ignus. I will release a Q&A chapter where Ignus (the character, not me) will answer any question you have for him to the best of his ability. All valid questions I get will be answered by Ignus. Anything at all, so long as it's not overtly offensive. Get creative!

Again, I'm sorry for the wait, and for the length of the chapter. I'm past a bit of a plateau in the writing, and I expect the plot will keep me going much faster now.

I hope the Q&A will make up for it. Enjoy.

-TheStanfordExperiment

Chapter 11 – Moving Forward

"So…we were given these powers by a lingering, magical energy?"

"Yes."

"And…the magic inside us is alive-ish?"

"Yes."

Ignus looked at his arm with wonder.

"Huh. And we're going to the place the fight between Frax and Isen and that guy took place?"

"I believe so." Elsa answered again. "They said their full power was left there, and that if they can recover it they might be able to help you."

He and Elsa were riding beside Anna, Kristoff, Fraxinus and Isen. The King had given them the best horses he could provide (aside from Maximus of course) and had apologized well over ten times to Ignus, who had in turn apologized for his enraged assault.

He had then asked if there were any other means of transportation the King could provide. Elsa had to step in and graciously accept the horses, much to Ignus' chagrin.

Or, more accurately, to his chafing.

Ignus winced as the horse sped up a bit to catch up with the two others.

Fraxinus noticed his discomfort and raised an eyebrow.

"Horses? Really, kid?"

"I prefer to use my own two feet."

"We all have preferences. We hardly ever get them. Suck it up." Fraxinus said, cynically.

Isen looked up at him. "You've been pretty grumpy."

"I've always been grumpy. It's part of my charm."

Kristoff snorted. Unfortunately, Fraxinus heard him.

"I apologize if I find the definition of charm from a mountain man, who smells more like an animal than his steed does, somewhat…insignificant."

Anna put a hand on her mouth, trying to contain her fit of giggles.

"Hey. Some would call this smell 'manly'."

"Yes, of course. And I'm sure we'll find people with such opinions as soon as we visit the nearest cave."

Anna was now heaving with laughter. Ignus was also stifling his chuckles.

Kristoff rolled his eyes. "At least I don't smell like old people."

"Whoa there, hoss. You're gonna knock me off this horse with the force emanating from your absolutely stinging-"

"Fraxy!" Isen interrupted. "I can practically taste the sarcasm in the air! Quit it!"

Fraxinus, surprisingly, grumbled and consented.

Ignus gave Elsa an impressed look. "Wow. Tough kid."

Elsa smiled in bemusement.

"Do you know where this place is, by the way?" Ignus asked her, realizing he hadn't the faintest idea where they were going.

"I don't, actually." Elsa answered, shrugging. "Fraxinus just said he'd lead us there."

Ignus sighed looking ahead. "He seems okay, but…can we really trust him?"

Elsa leaned her head against him. "We have to. He and Isen are only ones who can help you."

Ignus nodded. He lifted up his frozen arm, flexing his fingers in wonder.

"It's strange…"

Elsa looked at him in concern. "How does it feel?"

"Fine, really. It doesn't hurt it's just…numb. It's like when your hand or foot falls asleep, except I can move it around."

"What about your face?"

"Same deal. Aside from the eye thing."

Ignus grinned and winked with his one silver eye.

"I'm unique!"

Elsa shook her head. "I could've told you that…"

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

After about a day's worth of travel, the six stopped for the night, camping out beside a river.

Ignus sat with Elsa next to it, watching the water rush by. Kristoff and Fraxinus were bickering over how to set up a tent.

Anna was left with Isen sitting by the fireplace.

"So…" Anna said, trying to be friendly, as usual. "Can you make ice castles?"

Isen looked over at her, excitement sparking in her eyes. "Yeah! It was my favorite thing to do! I made, like, a hundred an three!"

"Wow! Seriously?"

"Seriously! I made purple ones, blue ones, white ones, little ones, big ones…It was fun! But..."

Isen shrunk a bit. "I can't now…not without the rest of my powers. I can only do stuff like this…"

She waved her hand and made a little butterfly out of ice. It fluttered around Anna's head and landed on her hand.

Anna was amazed. "This is incredible!" She breathed, lightly touching the creation.

Isen perked. "Yeah. I also liked making ice animals. I once made a whale!"

Anna's eyes widened. "You made a whale?"

"Yeah! But…I sort of forgot that whales are huge. It kept flying around in the sky, crashing into stuff. Fraxy wasn't happy..."

Anna looked over at Fraxinus, who was now setting Kristoff's tent on fire.

"Isen…you seem to like Fraxinus a lot…"

"Yup!"

"Well…um, don't take this the wrong way but, uh…how?"

Silence lingered.

Then Isen burst out laughing.

"I know what you mean. He's kinda…cranky."

"He's cranky all the time, though!"

"I know, I know. It's just…he's my closest friend. We've been together ever since we first realized we were alive…whenever that was."

Anna gazed at her with compassionate eyes.

"It must have been hard. I mean, not knowing where you came from or anything…"

Isen exhaled softly, looking up. "It used to be. But we both decided a long time ago not to let it get us down anymore. We're here. That's all that matters. Fraxy said that to me once."

Anna nodded. "He does seem smart."

"He is. All of the lessons he taught me about life were great. He's my teacher and my friend. Even though he doesn't ever have a snowball fight with me."

"What about you?" Isen asked Anna. "Are you and Elsa friends? I mean, I know your sisters, but are you friends?"

"Yes." Anna loved being able to say that truthfully. "It was a long road, but we're almost inseparable now. I love having her as a sister."

"She seems wonderful." Isen said, looking at Elsa's silhouette by the river.

"She is. She's smart, beautiful, graceful, kind…oh yeah, and she has magical powers."

She and Isen giggled together. Then Isen calmed down and put on a slightly worried face.

"What do you mean by 'a long road'?" Isen asked her, tentatively.

Anna hesitated.

Isen, picking up on it, floundered about in a panic. "I'm sorry! I'm always asking questions that people don't wanna answer-"

"No, it's fine! Really! Elsa and I…we were isolated from each other for a while."

Anna explained the whole tale.

"Wow…" Isen whispered, eyes wide. "That's awful…"

"But we're fine now!" Anna said, smiling. "We talk everyday, and we can hardly ever take anything seriously…it's so much fun, having her around."

Isen cocked her head to the side a bit, like a curious puppy.

"What kind of things do you do?"

"Oh, you know, sister stuff. She teaches me about etiquette and grace, I teach her how to slide down a flight of stairs. We chat, eat chocolate, do royal things – oh, we went skiing, once! I was terrible, though, I can't stand up straight on anything that isn't my own two feet. We also love to build snowmen-"

"Snowmen?!" Isen practically exploded.

Fraxinus, overhearing, groaned audibly. "Now you done it…"

Isen gasped loudly with excitement. "Can we build some? Can we? Canwecanwecanwe?! I love making snowmen! Even more than castles and animals! Please, please, pleeeease?"

Anna was totally bewildered, but caught Isen's contagious excitement. "Yeah! I'd love to!"

Isen ran down to where Elsa and Ignus were sitting quietly by the glowing river. She nearly knocked Ignus in with excitement. Elsa had to grab ahold of him to stop him from tumbling into the water.

After a few seconds of watching Isen excitedly jabber to the two, Anna saw Ignus smile broadly and nod. Elsa smiled as well. They followed Isen back to the fire.

"We're all gonna build snowmen! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, this is the best thing to ever happen ever! We should have a contest! Best snowman wins the universe!"

Kristoff had come over as well. He cracked his knuckles. "You're on."

Isen practically vibrated with joy, and with a wave of her hands, a large blanket of snow fell out over their camp, dousing the fire and covering Fraxinus' freshly-made tent.

His words were too quiet to be overheard, thankfully, as they probably were quite profane.

Ignus relit the fire as Elsa picked up a handful of snow, forming it into a small ball.

"It's just the right texture." She said excitedly.

"Okay, ready? Threetwoone GOO!"

Isen shot off and practically dove into the snow, gathering up an enormous handful, nearly toppling under it's weight.

Anna and Elsa had teamed up. Kristoff and Ignus had as well.

After about a half-hour, everyone had finished.

Anna and Elsa stood proudly beside a very sloppy, yet adorably original snowman, taller than Olaf and a bit larger. It had two sticks as arms and a few stones as a mouth and eyes.

"Beat that!" Anna said, proudly.

Elsa simply smiled uncertainly.

Kristoff and Ignus stood aside, revealing their own creation. It looked similar to Anna and Elsa's, save for the facr that it had an arm missing.

Elsa noticed. "Um…is there any reason it doesn't have an arm?"

Ignus smiled, clearly waiting for her to ask. He walked behind the snowman, grinning.

Then he punched his frozen arm through it's side, giving it a very realistic-looking, albeit frozen, arm.

"Ta-dah!" Ignus said, grinning ear to ear.

Elsa put a hand to her face as she silently laughed, shaking her head. Isen and Anna were practically heaving with laughter.

"That-that is…" Elsa struggled to talk through her giggles. "That is not funny."

Ignus withdrew his arm, a look of mock disappointment on his face. "Kristoff, bad news. It's not funny."

Kristoff took of his hat in pretend shame. "What a waste."

Isen, finally pulling herself together, proudly displayed her snowman.

"Behold! The most epic most awesome and real-looking snowman to ever exist!"

And she flung her arms out towards her snowman.

It was…

Ignus tried to find words that wouldn't be so hurtful. It wasn't easy.

Her snowman was basically a single lump of snow mashed together into a misshapen blob. It had two feeble twigs sticking out and an asymmetrical face that appeared to have been carved in with Isen's own fingers.

Elsa looked uncertainly at Anna, who looked like she was at a complete loss for words.

Ignus cleared his throat.

"Well…I think it's clear who won."

Kristoff, Anna and Elsa all hastily agreed.

Isen beamed. "Yeah, don't feel too bad about it. I've been doing this for a while."

"Clearly." Kristoff said. Anna elbowed him softly.

"Are we done with the immature competition?" Fraxinus called over.

"Y'know, no one's keeping you here, Frax!" Ignus called back.

"If I could get to the cave myself, I would. But we need you two. You're the only ones who can get to that magic."

"Wait…what?" Elsa asked.

Fraxinus walked over.

"The cave's been blocked off. There's a barrier protecting the magic that lies within it, sort of a defense system so no one takes it by mistake, or for their own misdoings."

"Your point?"

"Isen and I may not have enough strength to break through the barrier. That's the flaw. It protects our magic, but we don't have enough on our own to retrieve it."

"Luckily, we have you two. And you should do just fine."

Ignus and Elsa looked at each other. Ignus gave Elsa a "whattaya gonna do" kind of shrug.

"So sleep. Because we're leaving first thing tomorrow morning." Fraxinus then sapped his fingers, extinguishing the fire in the camp.

Somewhat sullenly, the group settled in, slowly falling to sleep, the lull of the river calming everyone.

Except for one person.

Ignus quietly walked away from the camp once everyone had dozed off, hiding behind a tree.

He had been meaning to test something secretly.

He held out his frozen arm. His eyes scanned it cautiously.

Then he tried to use some magic with it.

Before his very eyes, a burst of snow flew from his hand, dancing in the wind.

Ignus' mouth fell open, despite himself. He had not expected that to work at all. His face broke into an excited smile.

Then his arm pulsed with pain, traveling up his arm and to his face.

Ignus grunted. He knew the ice had grown more.

Ignus stood still for a moment. Then he kicked a nearby rock into the river in frustration. He had hoped he could at least put his disability to use, but he'd only end up hurting himself more.

"Can't have cake and eat it too…" Ignus muttered.

He walked back to camp and sat beside Elsa, watching over her as she slept. His eyes slowly closed as his dreams claimed him.

There was a slow rustle nearby.

A shadowy figure had entered the camp. Stalking quietly through the grass, he crept up to one of the tents.

His toothy grin gleamed in the moonlight, almost as much as his silver hair.

"Hello, Princess." Fenrir whispered to Anna.

End Chapter 11

A/N – Don't forget to leave a question for Ignus! They shall be answered by him.