Chapter 12:

Return to Arendelle

Time for action...

Before the sun even rose, Jase walked to the stables to get the horses ready. Kristoff had just gotten up, checking on Sven and the horses. They saddled the horses first, and then went back to the house to wake everyone else. Jase gave his mother a hug and a kiss goodbye.

"You be careful, you here? You let blondy there do all the dirty work, ok!" Merriam asked Jase.

Jase looked to Elsa, who gave a half smile. Then he turned back to his mom "Sure mom!"

Anna noticed Elsa's smile, then gave her a nudge and a smile, rolling her eyes to Jase, then back to Elsa. Elsa just rolled her eyes.

They went to their horses (with Anna taking Isaac's horse), said goodbye to their new friends, and they departed for Arendelle.

Within a few hours, they came across Elsa's bridge, which, because their side of the gorge was heavily forested, was not visible from the main road. Jase led the way through the woods and came across the bridge.

"I don't see any hoof-prints here, I think they (Gregor, Hans, and the rest) may have missed the bridge!" said Jase.

"Then we can beat them there!" exclaimed Kristoff. With that, they crossed the bridge and continued on.

They reached Arendelle early on the second day. They looked below to see that it appeared normal, just as Elsa left it.

"We beat them!" exclaimed Kristoff. Arendelle was just as they left it, though with a light layer of snow, but it appeared to be natural, not magical.

As they road down through the city, people came out of their homes to see that their queen and princess had returned safely. They didn't stop until they reached the castle. Once in the courtyard, they were greeted by Kai and Gerda, the head maid.

"My ladies, thank goodness your both safe!" exclaimed the loyal servants.

"We're fine!" said Anna, as she went down to greet them. But Elsa gave them a concerned look. "We're fine, but… Gregor got out. He's on his way."

Kai gave a look of concern, the he spoke "Then we'll be ready, we'll have the guards …"

"No, the guards won't be a match for him, he's too powerful; it has to be me, I'm the only one who can stop him!" proclaimed Elsa, while everyone looked to her, realizing she was right. "Kai, we need to get everyone inside the castle gates for protection."

"But my lady" replied Kai, "We can't fit everyone in the courtyard!"

Elsa looked down for a second, and then said "Then… move them into the castle. Gerda, would you please make the preparations!"

"Yes my lady." She replied as she walked to the castle, rounding up the maids and servants.

Then, they were interrupted by a guard on the tower

"There are a large group of strangers across the fjord!" he yelled.

Everyone ran to the castle gate to see what was happening. Then, as they looked at the fjord, they saw them, Gregor, Hans, and the men, on the other side of the fjord, looking at Arendelle.

"So, this is Arendelle? It's small as far as kingdoms go. Why do you want this so bad?" asked the Ice King to Hans.

"Arendelle is small, but it is rich in many ways; its city is easy to defend, it has many resources, and it's situated right next to the major trade routes…" he answered, but then he gave his real reason, "... But, most importantly, I want it for revenge." Replied Hans

Gregor looked back to Arendelle "a fair reason. This will be the first stop in my conquest, and you will be my second in command. You may do with Arendelle as you please, but first, let's show them what they're dealing with, so as to eliminate resistance!"

Then, he raised his hands, and a flurry of snow and magic began to form over his head. It formed into a massive, moving cloud with large fractals of ice blowing around in it, as if it were a blizzard blowing in place. Then, he threw his hands forward towards Arendelle.

Elsa knew what he was doing; He was going to send a blizzard towards Arendelle. But she expected it to be no ordinary blizzard, as she saw large shards of ice swarming around in it. She looked towards Arendelle to see many people still outside in harms way. Without hesitation, She ran halfway across the bridge between the town and the castle and faced the incoming blizzard. Knowing that this will be her first time using her powers in such a way, she was nervous. Then she remembered what Joan had told her about letting go of her worries and fear. She breathed; focusing her energy on the incoming blizzard. She slowly raised her hands, and then, when she felt her magic accumulating in her hands, she threw it at the storm, focusing on making the blizzard go away; to melt. As the magic made contact, it pushed Elsa back a few feet against the wall of the bridge, from the impact. She quickly found her footing and focused on the matter at hand. The blizzard was now going up, dissipating as it entered the sky. Then the wind within the blizzard started swirling around, as if standing in place. After a few moments, the blizzard disintegrated. Anna, who, along with everyone else, saw what had happened from the gates. "Whoa!" was her only response.

Gregor and his companions looked on, trying to grasp what had just happened.

"What is this!?' yelled Gregor in a cross voice. He peered over the fjord, and as the snow cleared, he saw Elsa, standing on the bridge, staring right back. Gregor stared back; eyes widening in surprise and anger. He turned to Hans and scolded

"I thought she was poisoned, at the bottom of that cave?!"

Hans replied in an apologetic voice "But… she should have been dead! That poison was fatal, only a few drops can kill a horse!"

"Well, it looks like she got better! Now this just made things harder!"

"But sir, you've beaten her before, you can do it again…"

"Oh, I guess then I'll just clean up your mistake then! You're just lucky I still owe you for my freedom!"

Gregor walked onto the fjord, making ice form under his feet. "Come with me Hans! Let us see if we can turn your mistake into an opportunity. The rest of you men stay here!" said the Ice King, then he walked on.

Hans walked behind Gregor. He was cross, seeing his plan come apart as it had done over a year ago. "Not this time…" he whispered to himself.

Elsa walked back to the courtyard, as Anna and the others came out.

"Anna, Kristoff, everyone, help get the people inside the gates!" Elsa asked as the others left the castle into the city to spread the word. As they passed Elsa, Anna looked to her, "I think you've got this!" she said with a smile on her face. Elsa replied "Yeah, just hope I can keep it up."

Then, Jase came forward and exclaimed, "Elsa! Look!" pointing towards the fjord.

The sisters turned to the fjord to see Gregor and Hans approaching, and then they stopped, as if waiting for them to approach. Jase said to the sisters, "I think he wants to talk…" Elsa turned to face Jase, then back to fjord and back again to Anna.

"Anna" she said, "Anna, Go help bring the city to safety… Jase, will you come with me to meet with them?"

"Yes my lady!" said Jase, but Anna protested; "No, Elsa I'm going with you!..."

"Anna, I need you here! I don't think Gregor wants to talk peace, and Jase can handle himself, but I need you here, to be acting queen. Can you do that?" said Elsa to Anna.

Anna was hesitant to accept this logic, but she finally replied "I'll try my best…just be careful out there."

Elsa placed her hands on Anna's shoulders as she said "I will". Then she gave her sister one last hug. Then Anna left to help Kristoff bring everyone inside. Elsa looked out to the fjord and made a staircase down from the bridge to the water, which froze over instantly. Elsa turned to Jase. "Are you ready?" she asked. Jase responded "Sure, just a simple stroll over the fjord."

Elsa and Jase walked forward onto the rapidly expanding ice that Elsa formed as they walked along. Just before they came into earshot of Gregor and Hans, Jase whispered to Elsa. "Ready?" asked Jase to Elsa. She responded, "Sure. You?"

"Sure."

Just then, Gregor spoke up…

"Your majesty! So glad to see you alive and well. Truly, you are a strong one!"

Elsa ignored his sarcasm and spoke out "Gregor, Hans, you are banished from Arendelle, leave now and you can escape with your lives!" she bluffed.

"Come now my dear, you think that I, having the obvious advantage, would willingly surrender? No… I came here to make an offer: surrender and join me, and I will spare Arendelle from destruction, and we can avoid a confrontation that will only end in your permanent destruction." Hans looked to Gregor with perplexity, since he was promised Arendelle, but Elsa replied.

"I thought you already promised Arendelle to Hans? Why, if you're so sure of your superiority, would you even make such a deal? I think you're afraid!" said Elsa.

"Ha, afraid? Of you? I assure you, I fear nothing. Unlike you… you fear a great many things don't you?" he said as Elsa's confidence slowly dwindled. "…I can see it in your eyes. You fear your powers. I know, because I saw that same fear in the eyes of my siblings once, before they understood it, before they eventually mastered it …something you haven't accomplished yet." he proclaimed. Elsa maintained her complexion, but inside, she knew he was right; that she was afraid of these powers. She knew that she had to let go of this fear, as Joan had told her, but she couldn't for some reason…

"So, I'll give you one last chance" proclaimed Gregor, "surrender, and we can avoid any needless conflict."

Elsa just stared right back, then spoke: "No, I won't." she paused, and then continued, "… You're right; I am afraid, about many things… just not of you." She said, maintaining eye contact.

Then Gregor slowly looked to Hans, than quickly turned back to Elsa and threw a blast of ice at her, knocking her down as she slid across the ice.

"Elsa!" yelled Jase, as he ran to help, but Gregor gave an order to Hans: "Take care of this nuisance! I'll finish the queen!"

Gregor walked towards Elsa's position, While Jase drew his sword to block the charging Hans. They locked swords, and Hans spoke "I beat you before, knight... and I'll beat you again!" But Jase got the upper hand and threw Hans off of him. "We'll see" Replied Jase, as the two went at it.

Anna, Kristoff, and the rest were running through the city, quickly knocking on doors and directing people to the castle gates.

"Hurry, everyone has to get to the castle now!" yelled Anna to whomever she came across. She glared at some dignitaries who were complaining about being forced to leave there ships.

"This is unacceptable! I knew we should have broken our relations with you people!..." one of them was shouting to a guard who was trying to escort him to the castle. Anna walked up to him:

"Look, if you wish, you can stay in your ship and possibly be frozen to death by an angry Ice King…" she said sarcastically, trying to hold in her annoyance.

"So you expect me to remain in the castle… to be cooped up like some prisoner!"

Then Anna got mad: "You want to talk to me about being cooped up, try being cooped up for twelve years, with no friends! Then whine to me about prison!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. The dignitary just stared, to afraid to give a response, and hut up.

Kristoff walked up to Anna. "Hey, whoa, you ok?"

Anna breathed and calmed herself down. "No… I mean yes, I'm Ok, I'm just not used to giving orders is all."

"Guess that's how Elsa feels, huh?"

"Yeah… sheesh, no wonder she's so stressed out… After this, we need to get her to take a vacation!"

Anna looked to the fjord to see her sister being knocked across the ice. She was filled with dread, but she tried to focus on her duty…

And now for the Climax! This will take a few chapters...