The Royal Family

by TacticX

We know that Agdar and Idun died in a storm at sea, but what if they didn't? What if they made it back home and were reunited with their daughters? How would life turn out? A series of one shots exploring the life of the Royal Family, the sisterly bond between Elsa and Anna, the bond between their family as a whole, and the hijinks that ensue. Because this isn't your normal family!

14. Sanctum

Title: Sanctum

Genre: Adventure/Mystery

---

"Elsa! Hey Elsa! Are you busy?" Anna asked as she barged into her sister's sturdy and jumped onto the table.

"Not anymore..." Elsa sighed as she watched all her documents get scattered everywhere. "What is it now Anna?"

"Well, I was thinking, that we could go and do something...all of us, as in, me, you, mama and papa...and maybe Kristoff if he wants to tag along."

"And want exactly is this idea you have?"

"I got the inspiration from one of the books I read in the library..."

"Wait!" Elsa interrupted. "You actually went to the library and read a book? And was inspired by it?"

"Uhuh...now listen up...after some research about in the areas of Arendelle...I found..."

"You did research? As in, real, research from books?" Elsa asked in shock, already close to fainting.

"Yes! Jeez, you act like I just said something totally crazy...but, anyway, I found the perfect place we could..."

"Anna...in the library?" Elsa muttered to herself. "That can't be right."

"Are you even listening to me?" Anna asked with a frown.

"Huh...oh yes...I heard everything." Elsa lied.

"Oh goody. So, do you wanna go there?"

"Of course. Tell mama and papa, and just coke back when you're ready." Elsa said, still in shock over what Anna said.

"Yay...this is going to be so awesome!" Anna laughed as she ran back out of the room.

"Research...books...I must be hearing things. Wait, where are we going? Anna?!"

A couple of hours later...

"I still can't believe that your sister actually agreed to this idea." Agdar told his daughter as he loaded the gear into his bag.

"I couldn't believe it either." Anna laughed.

"Are you sure that your sister didn't say that be cause she was still in shock from you telling her that you went to the library and did research? Remember, it took me and your mother ten minutes to get over it..."

"Really? Is it that shocking?" Anna asked, unamused.

"Yeah...pretty much." Agdar replied. Anna replied with something incoherent before running off to the stables to find Kristoff.

"Kristoff? Kristoff!" Anna yelled as she opened the stable doors.

"What? What's going on?" Kristoff asked in shock as he jumped up and looked around rapidly. "Anna? Oh...I thought something was wrong...what's wrong?"

"Nothings wrong..."

"Seriously?" Kristoff asked in surprise. The growl from Anna was more than enough to answer that. "Okay...so, what's going on?"

"Do you want to join me, Elsa, mama and papa on a trip?" Anna asked.

"It depends...where is it and who's in charge?"

"I am of course..." Anna laughed.

"I was afraid of that..."

"What?"

"Nothing. So, where exactly are we going to do?"

"We're going caving."

"Oh...god...no..." Kristoff gasped. Anna raised an eyebrow at him as her lips formed a thin line. "No...that's not what I meant...actually, that is what I meant, because with you in charge...and caving...and...uh, did Elsa agree to this?"

"If you must know, then yes! She did!" Anna stated.

"Willingly?"

"To some extent..."

"Okay...so if we're going caving, I know just the place! The seashell caves near the mouth of the fjord. At least there..."

"I was thinking about the Black Caverns!"

"...we are going to die. What?"

"Kristoff..." Anna warned. "Now, are you coming or what?"

"Well, you'll probably screw up along the line, Elsa will probably freak out, your mother is terrible at anything that remotely involves nature, and your father couldn't navigate if his life depended on it so...yes. I'll come, but just to ensure that there is someone who can actually not freak out, and navigate at the same time." Kristoff said. "I can't tell whether you're frowning or glaring."

"Both..."

"Oh alright... So, when do we leave?"

"10 minutes." Anna replied before she exited the stables.

---

"Are you ready Elsa?" Idun asked as she place her stuff inside the carriage.

"I suppose...if I knew where we were going." Elsa answered as he placed her stuff in with her mother's.

"Anna didn't tell you? Were going to..."

"Kristoff's coming!" Anna announced as she ran up to them with Kristoff in tow.

"Voluntarily...unbelievably..." Kristoff said.

"Well, if we're all ready, then let's go!" Agdar said excitedly as he entered the carriage, the rest following right behind them. As soon as they were in, the carriage left towards the other side of the fjord where the entrance to the caves were.

30 minutes later...

"So, what route are we taking?" Agdar asked.

"Well, if my research is correct...".

"Which it probably isn't..." Kristoff commented.

"...then the best route would be the lower routes..." Anna completed.

"Ugh...are you sure...alright, you're sure." Kristoff said as he caught Anna's scowl.

"Uh...hello?" Elsa called out but no one was listening.

"So, once we enter the lower areas, I think that we should go check out the emerald hole..." Agdar said.

"That's understandable since you're with us." Idun muttered.

"Hey. Everyone loves gems...and by god if that means I have to mine it myself, then so be it!" Agdar stated as he pulled a pickaxe from his bag.

"Here we go again." Idun laughed.

"For goodness sake, can somebody please tell me where we are going!" Elsa interrupted loudly.

"We're here!" The driver announced as he opened the carriage door. Anna and Agdar jumped out excitedly and grabbed their stuff. Idun and Kristoff followed right after, a little less enthusiastically, but still excited nonetheless, leaving Elsa standing outside the carriage, staring at the cave in front of her.

"A cave?!" Elsa shrieked. "We're going caving?"

"Have fun!" The driver said before rushing off back to Arendelle.

"Wait! No! Come back!" Elsa squealed but the driver was already too far. "ANNA!"

"What is it?" Anna asked as she hid her smirk.

"You never told ms we were going caving!" Elsa stated.

"Uh, yes I did. But you were too busy sitting shocked at the thought of me visiting a library you probably didn't hear it." Anna laughed. "Come on! Let's get lost!"

"I hope you're not going to take that literally." Kristoff said from within the cave. Then sisters entered the cave and climbed down through the rocks towards their parents.

"You've decided to join. Excellent." Agdar said as he caught sight of Elsa.

"No, the carriage left before I could climb back in." Elsa muttered.

"So, where are we going?" Idun asked.

"This way!" Anna sang as she jumped down a few rocks and moved deeper into the cave system. The light within the cave started to fade the deeper they ventured into the cave, especially after they descended a ten foot drop to a flat surface with several tunnels leading out of it.

Kristoff pulled out several lanterns and lit them before handing one to each of them.

"Right. Where now?" Agdar asked.

"Hmm..." Anna hummed as she peered at the map she had drawn. "Down there."

"There? In that hole?" Elsa asked with a quirked brow. No one else paid any attention though as they all proceeded to grab their climbing apparatus and attach it to the sides of the cave and the hold. Kristoff tightened the grapples and attached several lines to it before attaching five harnesses and securing them tightly. Elsa watched as Agdar and Anna attached the harnesses to them, Kristoff handling his own.

"Elsa? Hello? Are you alright?" Anna called out as she waved at her sister. Elsa rolled her eyes as she walked over to her and grabbed one of the harnesses. She looked at it for a second before Anna took it from her and started to attach it to her waist.

"Hey. I know how to attach a harness." Elsa whined as Anna lifted up her arms to secure it tighter.

"Just making sure. Can't have my sister getting hurt now can I?" Anna said with a giggle as she attached it to her line.

"Right...let's do this!" Agdar said as he started to descend into the hole. Kristoff and Anna followed him, and then Elsa and Idun.

"What cave is this exactly?" Elsa asked as they continued their descent.

"This is the trinity cave system." Anna said. "This is the place where most cavers and thrill seekers come to play. This has two connections to the Daedric cave system which is where the more experienced cavers go to. And then, you've got the Black caverns..."

"Whoa whoa whoa! Did you just say black caverns?" Elsa asked, her eyes widening in fear. She could have sworn she even saw Idun and Kristoff twitch a little at the sound of the name.

"Yes. That's where the best of the best go. Those who have made it to black caverns wrote their names on a small plaque left by the first explores of that cave. Everyone that reaches there still writes their name to this day." Anna said. "And I want my name to be there!"

"Yes. But, everyone who makes it out of black caverns also writes their name on another plaque." Kristoff said. "What's scary is, there are a lot more names on the arrival plaque, than there are on the departure plaque."

"W-w-what?" Idun suddenly stuttered from below as she looked up.

"Kristoff! Stop scaring my mother and sister!" Anna ordered.

"I'm not trying to. I'm telling the truth. There are more names on the arrival plaque than there are on the departure plaque."

"Have you seen it?" Anna asked with a raised brow.

"No. But have you heard of Louis Bolton and Marcus Pacifico?" Kristoff asked. "They died in the black caverns around six years ago. They entered the cave system and were never seen of again. They made it because they wrote their names on the plaque and even left a name tag. People only found out when they sent cavers into the black caverns and found their stuff and names on that wall. But they never found their bodies."

"Yeah...well obviously they weren't very experienced cavers." Anna retorted.

"Your argument is invalid. They had explored over a hundred caves all across Europe including some of the most dangerous ones in the south. And if I may ask, are we experienced?"

"No...but we are numerous...plus, I told Kai and Gerda where we are going and how long we would be. So at least someone knows where we are."

"Oh...but still...all I'm saying is its dangerous down there so we have to be careful." Kristoff warned.

"Yeah...we don't want the, creatures, hunting us." Agdar said eerily causing Idun and Elsa to shudder.

"What creatures?" Idun asked.

"Well, legend has it, that 30 years ago, a group of miners were looking for riches beyond their wildest dreams..."

"Crystal caverns..." Anna said.

"Did you just say crystal?" Kristoff and Idun asked with raised brows.

"Yeah..." Anna answered. Kristoff frowned for a second as if he was thinking of something and Idun had that distinct sparkle in her eyes that she had whenever confronted with any form of gems.

"Legend says that there is a passageway within the black caverns that leads to the crystal caverns, a cavern filled with untold riches that explorers from all around the world have been searching for, for decades now. A group of miners around 30 years ago wanted to find this cavern and take its riches, but, since the cave was uncharted back then, they had no idea where the way in or out was. As a result, they got lost and couldn't find their way home. Slowly, hunger and insanity set in as the cave conditions started to change them. As a result, they became cannibals and ate all the living creatures within that cave. Now, they await the next cavers that enter the black caverns so that they may once again feast on the blood and flesh of a human being."

"Papa! Stop scaring mama!" Anna growled as she noticed that her mother and sister were shaking noticeably.

"Yeah, so the cave is guarded by a bunch of cannibals." Agdar said. "As legend says."

"We're down." Anna announced as her feet touched the cave floor. She undid the her harness before undoing her sister's harness once she touched the ground as well. They were now inside a massive cavern with strange structures hanging down from the ceiling as well as water dripping down from the ceiling.

"Anna! Do you know what these are?" Elsa asked as she looked at the structures in amazement.

"I've told you before, if you know it then chances are I don't." Anna said as she suppressed a giggle.

"These are stalagmites and stalactites. They're made when water leaks down from the ceiling and deposits minerals on the ceiling or the floor of the cave forming these weird structures."

"So, the ones on the ceiling are the stalagmites?" Kristoff asked.

"No, the ones on the ground are the stalagmites. The ceiling ones are the stalactites." Elsa answered.

"That's what I said. Stalactites." Kristoff said.

"No, you said stalagmites." Agdar said.

"No I didn't. The stalagmites are the ground ones and the ceiling ones are the stalactites."

"Oh for goodness sake!" Anna cried out. "Those are ceiling pointy things and those are ground pointy things."

"And this science lesson was brought to you by princess Anna, so its almost certainly wrong." Kristoff muttered causing Agdar and Idun to laugh. Anna just scowled in response as she walked deeper into the cavern and looked around.

"Where now?" Elsa asked as she followed her sister.

"Well...I'll just take a look at this map..." Anna said as she pulled out a piece of paper and looked at it.

"You drew a map of the caverns?" Kristoff asked.

"Yes. Of course..." Anna replied as she observed the map. Kristoff walked over and peered at the map, eyes widening as he did so.

"You're kidding right." Kristoff muttered.

"No. Why would I be?" Anna asked with a smirk.

"What's wrong?" Agdar asked.

"Come see for yourself." Kristoff said. Agdar walked over and grabbed the map from his daughters hand and mentally face palmed.

"Anna...this...is a map? It looks like a bunch of squiggles, overdrawn with more squiggles." Agdar stated.

"Hey...at least someone can understand it!" Anna said as she grabbed the map back and looked over it. "Alright...the entrance to Daedric cavern should be...right down there. Let's go!"

The five of them climbed down the passageway that Anna showed them. They followed Anna towards the location specified, careful not to trip over any rocks. The last place anyone wanted to get injured was in a cave. Elsa continued to look at all the strange cave structures and formations as a child looked at candy, which caused Anna to laugh several times.

"...and that's how sedimentary rock forms." Elsa finished explaining a few minutes later.

"Uhuh...so..they're rocks...amazing."

"Anna!"

"Oh..we're here!" Anna said as she saw a small hole on the side of the cave.

"What's that?" Elsa asked.

"The entrance to Daedric caverns." Anna replied simply.

"What?!" Elsa shrieked. The hole could barely fit Kristoff in. It was around 50 centimeters in diameter and was pitch black. Kristoff lit another lantern and placed it by the side of the hole so as to light the cavern and hole up.

"Good god. You're going to have one hell of a time trying to fit through there." Agdar said to Anna. Anna returned a glare.

"Well, if we're all done gaping at the hole, let's go. Kristoff, you first." Anna ordered.

"Me? Why me?"

"Because you're the largest and if you get stuck we can push you through."

"I'm not sure whether to be relieved or insulted." Kristoff muttered as he removed his backpack and placed it into the hole. He got down on all fours and began to squeeze through the hole, pushing his backpack in front of him. He could hear Anna and the rest following right after him, as well as Elsa moaning about why she had to go next. Kristoff pushed some rocks out of the way as he crawled further into the small hole. He could feel some wind blowing in his face meaning that he was now approaching the end of the hole.

"Alright...I think were nearly...oh god no." Kristoff gasped.

"What is it?" Elsa asked from behind.

"Uh guys...I'm stuck!" Kristoff announced.

"What?!" Elsa shrieked as she stopped right behind Kristoff. "How are you stuck?"

"Well I'm not as thin as a stick like you four so, I'm stuck!" Kristoff said.

"Elsa! Push him through!" Anna said from behind. Elsa looked in front and shook her head as she tried to push him out.

"Hey...what the?" Kristoff asked as eh felt someone pushing in his behind.

"He's not moving!" Elsa said.

"Well...try jamming an icicle...".

"DON'T YOU FREAKING DARE!" Kristoff yelled as he grabbed the sides of the hole in front if him and tried to force his way through.

"Hold on...I'll give one more push!" Elsa said. She forced her weight as hard as she could against Kristoff.

"Yes! I'm through...ARGH HELL NO!" Kristoff screamed as he fell out of the hole and slammed onto the cave floor.

"KRISTOFF!" Elsa screamed as she climbed out of the hole and unto a ledge by the side. She and Anna, who just crawled out as well, jumped down on to the floor and helped Kristoff up.

"I...officially hate caving..." Kristoff muttered as he rubbed his behind.

"Is everyone alright?" Agdar asked as he picked up his bag and took out some rope and grapples.

"Yes...Kristoff's fine." Anna said.

"No I'm not..."

"Where now?"

"This way!" Anna said as she walked deeper into the cavern where the entrance to Daedric caverns would be. The walls of the cave were cool to touch as she peered into the numerous cracks and crevices of the cave as if looking for something. She climbed into a narrow rock formation and into a passageway that was dripping with water and filled with stalagmites.

"Be careful." Elsa said. "These stalagmites are sharp and can...AAH!"

"Elsa! What happened?!" Anna gasped as she ran over to her sister.

"Damn stalagmites..." Elsa muttered as she looked at the small cut on her arm. Anna rolled her eyes as she handed Elsa a small cloth to clean the wound with.

"Anna! In think I found the entrance to Daedric caves." Agdar announced from the distance. Anna ran over and looked at the large passageway leading down...which was flooded to the brim with water.

"Oh beautiful!" Kristoff said sarcastically. "I forgot to pack swimming gear."

"This isn't the entrance we're taking. This one gets flooded during the summer period. The entrance we want is further that way." Anna pointed to the right, deeper into the cavern. They spent the next five minutes climbing through the caverns until they eventually reached the side of what appeared to be...

"...An underground lake! Whoa!" Elsa gasped as she marveled at the magnificence of the lake.

"When I pictured an underground lake I thought of glowing blue water." Anna said as she looked at the lake. She couldn't see any end in sight, at least not with the light they had at the moment.

"AGDAR! Don't drink it!" Idun snapped as she watched her husband drink some of the lake water like an animal.

"Darling. This water has laid undisturbed for thousands of years...its historic." Agdar said.

"That's why you're not supposed to drink it..." Idun sighed.

"So, where is this entrance to Daedric caverns?" Kristoff asked as he looked over the lake. Be looked to see Anna glancing between the map and the lake with an expression of confusion on her face. "Please tell me that map is accurate!"

"It is...but the books never said anything about a lake! This is supposed to be a massive cavern filled with stalagmites and the pointy ceiling things!"

"Stalactites?" Elsa asked.

"Yes...those things." Anna said as she looked at the lake one more time. "Wait...this is that cavern! Hut the books said that there wouldn't be a lake...the entrance is on the other side."

"The other side of the lake?" Elsa asked to which Anna nodded.

"Oh beautiful. I was thinking of bringing a boat but I decided not to in the end because I didn't think we would be sailing underground."

"Kristoff!" Anna growled.

"There's a shoreline to this lake so why don't we just walk around it?" Agdar asked.

"Its shorter to go straight!"

"Well unless you have a boat in that backpack of yours, it looks like going around is the only possible way."

"Elsa? Can't you just make a boat out of ice?" Anna asked.

"I don't know how yet. It might end up sinking." Elsa replied.

"Darling. Ice naturally floats, so if your iceboat sinks...good god." Agdar exclaimed.

"I still can't design an ice boat yet."

"We'll just take the long way round." Anna said as she started walking around the edge of the shoreline. They came across a small cluster of stalagmites but easily crossed over them, apart from Kristoff who got several cuts.

"Get the grapples dear." Agdar said as he pointed to a break in the shoreline.

"Can't we just swim across?" Kristoff asked.

"I wouldn't try...these subterranean lakes are fed and drained by subterranean rivers which can have very brutal currents." Elsa said.

"The water seems still enough."

"On the surface? Yes? Under the surface? Not necessarily. This seems to exit the lake and go deeper into the caverns so it could be a subterranean river. Honestly, I do not want to fall into it and find out..."

Anna and Agdar grabbed attached a rope line to the side of the cave and. Then attaching another one further along. Anna secured her harness to it before proceeding to climb the sides of the cave. She slipped the first time and was caught by her sister...or more like landed on top of her.

"Are you alright?" Anna asked with concern.

"Of you get off me...I could he better..." Elsa coughed as Anna climbed off.

"Sorry." She grabbed hold of a better rock before slowly climbing across the cavern wall and towards the other side. She jumped down and finally secured the final grapple to the other side before shouting. "Okay...you can come over now."

She watched as her father and mother came over first, followed by Kristoff and then finally, Elsa.

"You're nearly there sister." Anna called out as she walked to the edge of the lakes outlet. Elsa climbed the last few feet before grabbing hold of the line as she jumped down. It was at that moment that the rocks holding the grapple decide to give way bringing the role and Elsa down with them. Elsa screamed as she landed on top of her sister and rolled off.

"ANNA! ELSA!" The parents and Kristoff yelled as they ran over to the sister's.

"God...you're heavier than me..." Anna wheezed as she clutched her abdomen.

"You should have been in my shoes when you fell earlier. It was like an anvil." Elsa coughed as she helped her sister up. "Nice job attaching the grapples."

"The rocks gave out first!"

"Yeah...you're supposed to choose a place where the rock doesn't give out." Elsa retorted.

"I as if you could do a better job." Anna scoffed as she picked up the rope and pulled it across to them. She packed it away in her bag before then give of them continued across the shoreline to the entrance of Daedric caverns. They could see a faint glow as they approached the supposed entrance and this unnerved Elsa and no fun slightly as they didn't expect to see a lantern down this far.

"WHO'S THERE?!"

"AAAAAH!" The five of them screamed as they jumped back, Elsa coating the entire floor in ice in shock.

"OH MY GOD! WITCHCRAFT...Wait...Your majesty?" A guy said as they noticed it was the royal family.

"Nice going..." A girl laughed to the left.

"I...I wasn't taking about your majesty! Not witchcraft...hehe..." The guy said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Who are you?" Anna asked.

"Oh..sorry your highness. I'm Calvin, and this is Linda. Our partners Andy and Morison are a little deeper in the cave. There are also other groups in there as well...you gave us quite a fright." Calvin said with a laugh.

"Nowhere near the fright you gave us!" Idun said as she watched her husband scramble out of the water where Kristoff had accidentally pushed into in shock.

"You're also going caving?" Elsa asked as she cleared up the rest of the ice. Calvin nodded in response as he cleared up their campsite a bit to make it look less messy.

"Uh yeah...we were here since yesterday. My friends Morison and Andy are geologists. They love rocks...a lot." Calvin said as he sat down. "If I may ask, what exactly is the royal family doing down here as well?"

"Were also going caving!" Anna and Agdar answered.

"Oh sweet. Where to?"

"Black caverns."

"Oh...that'll he a bit of a problem. Will you be taking the upper Daedric caves to get there?" Linda asked.

"Yes. Why?" Anna asked.

"Cave in. Around a week ago, a group of cavers caused a cave in the upper Daedric caverns, blocking off the access from there. The lower route is still accessible though. We've just come from there about three hours ago." Calvin explained.

"Thanks for telling us." Anna said.

"Does anyone else know you're done here?" Linda asked.

"Yeah...I told others."

"Number one rules of caving...or climbing or virtually anything that involves the wilderness. Tell people where you're going and how long..." Calvin said. "Well, it was nice meeting you princess Anna. Be careful now you give. The lower Daedric caves are a little more perilous than the upper areas because to more wafer erosion."

Anna nodded in acknowledgement as she and the rest of her family walked into the Daedric caves.

"Oh and princess! In the lower entrance, take the left! Not the right...its too unstable!" Calvin called out.

"Thanks!" Anna said.

"Here we are! The Daedric caverns!" Agdar said with a smile as he looked at the gigantic cavern in front of him. Elsa and Idun gasped in amazement at just how large and beautiful it was and even Kristoff couldn't help but gape.

"See...I told you that this place was awesome, but wait till you see black caverns. You'll never want to leave." Anna said as she jumped down the ledge on to another one. Elsa and Idun decided to take the long way around as they admired the layered walls which seemed to glow in the light of the numerous lanterns set up here. Judging by the sheer amount of lanterns and gear around this cavern, Anna estimated there to he around another six to ten groups of cavers here.

"Did they all take the route we took to get here?" Idun asked as a couple of cavers appears from a passageway and curtsied to Elsa.

"Nope." Anna said from below. "There's another entrance to these caverns but its in the mountains and most of it involves descending. Our route didn't need as much descending, but it was a lot narrower. Not very good if you have a lot of gear." Anna said.

"Tell me about it." Kristoff muttered as he looked at a stalagmite.

"Oh my god...this is quartz!" Elsa gasped as he pointed to a crystal of it sticking from the walls.

"Your majesty! Look up!" A caver shouted from his seat. The five of them looked up and what they saw made them gasp in awe. The entire ceiling was coated with massive quartz crystals that glistened in the lantern light, giving the impression of watching tens of thousands of twinkling stars in the night sky. Within that coating of quartz was also numerous bluish and yellowish crystals that made the ceiling look all the more amazing.

"Are those...sapphires?" Agdar asked as his eyes widened.

"We wish!" Laughed a fellow caver. "If it was, we'd all be up there smashing that ceiling to pieces. Those are just different colored quartz crystals."

"Beautiful." Idun mumbled as she touched the sides of the cave which had a mirror like finish and were damp to touch.

"These rock are over a million years old!" Elsa said to her sister who had climbed up next to her.

"They're older than that your majesty!" Morison said as he walked up to them. "I'm guessing you already met Calvin and linda. I'm Morison your majesty."

"Pleasure to meet you." Elsa replied.

"I wish there was some way to capture this like in a picture or something." Anna said.

"I believe one of the European kingdoms is working on such a device..." Morison said. "So, which part of Daedric caverns will you be exploring princess?"

"Oh, we're actually going to black caverns."

"Damn girl, you chose good...uh...I mean, excellent choice your highness." A caver corrected when he realized who he was taking too, though Anna and Elsa were giggling.

"We should take a break for a while." Agdar said as he picked a spot next to a cluster of rocks. "We'll need all the energy we can get should we find crystal caverns."

"Really?" Idun asked.

"So, you don't want a ton of gems?"

"Point taken."

"Jeez. Am I the only one here who doesn't grow crazy over a bunch of gems?" Elsa asked.

"Probably." Anna laughed.

"For me, I'm going to have to go with sapphires." Agdar said.

"I'm more of a ruby person." Idun told them.

"Well, since I was born in the spring, and I love green...I'm going to say emerald." Anna said.

"Don't set your sights too high dear." Agdar laughed causing Anna to glare.

"Well, since I'm cryokinetic I'm a diamond." Elsa said.

"What did I just say?" Agdar asked causing Anna and Idun to laugh as Elsa pelted her father with snowballs.

"Want some minister?" A caver asked as he showed Agdar the whisky bottle.

"Just a smidge. Need to be able to focus on cutting out gems." Agdar raid as he took a small cupful of it.

"Not to be pessimistic, but in doubt you'll find it. Now don't get me wrong, there are gems down there since people have returned with them, but the crystal caverns? Even if they did exist, it would be nearly impossible to reach them." A caver from a few feet away said.

"Oh please don't tell us about this cannibal legend shit." Morison groaned.

"Actually I wasn't. I don't believe that. What i do believe though, is the sheer amount of complexity that is the Black caverns. That thing about the plaques is true. There really are more names on the arrival plaque than the departure plaque because people have died there before." The caver explained. "But, assuming you really have managed to get all the equipment to fully explore the cave system, where the heck would you start. Black caverns is massive. Hundreds have ventured into black caverns. None have found crystal caverns. Its a myth. But even if it isn't, and it really was found a hundred years ago, all that is saying is that it has either been buried by a cave in, or its inaccessible unless you had months on your hands and a shit load of maps."

"You have no faith!" Morison said.

"No, I think logically, and logic tells me that it either doesn't exist, or that we'll have a better chance of finding the yeti that we would finding crystal caverns."

"YeYes...and I'll be ready to bitch slap you with gems once someone does find it." Morison said.

"Guys...I brought sandwiches." Anna announced as she showed a bag of food to the five of them.

"Who prepared this?" Kristoff asked wearily.

"Kai and Gerda." Anna said with a frown. "My cooking isn't some kind of poisonous, acidic mixture."

"Those blueberry pancakes last month left us all in the bathroom for hours on end." Agdar said as he picked up the sandwich and sniffed it.

"Okay, I admit, I may have spilled some chili powder into it...but it was an accident." Anna said as several of the cavers snorted in amusement. "Come on...I want to get to black caverns before lunch time."

"Uhuh...so what time is it now?" Kristoff asked as he looked up at the sun that wasn't there.

"Quarter past eleven." A caver answered as he held up a pocket watch.

"Happy?" Anna asked as she indulged in her sandwich. They spent the next fifteen minutes eating their lunches while conversing with the other cavers, Anna conversing about caving and Elsa about geology, science, stuff.

"Alright. Its time to go now." Agdar said as he packed away some stuff.

"So, the lower cave entrance is the only way in. Take the left. Why not the right?" Anna asked.

"Its possible, but the rocks are saturated with water and therefore could be weak. I wouldn't try it." Morison said.

"Thanks." Anna thanked as the five of them resumed their journey to black caverns. They took the passageway that the miners specified which led them to several smaller branches. "Keep going straight."

They continued following the passageway and eventually came across a small cavern that had two passages and was filled with more rock formations.

"Sandstone?" Elsa asked as she poked at the rock which crumbled in her hands. "No wonder this place is unstable."

"Where now dear?" Idun asked Anna.

"Down."

"Down? Not straight?" Kristoff asked.

"If you go straight, then you'll come across the cave in. We have to go down to reach the lower Daedric cave system."

Anna started to attach the grappling hook but Agdar and Kristoff stopped her.

"Maybe its better if you let us do it." Agdar said as he and Kristoff started to anchor the lines to the walls and flood near the hole. Once all the lines had been completed, the five of them began their descent into the lower Daedric caves.

"That's a long way down." Agdar said as he looked down. He could see a faint source of light so he knew there were other cavers down there. The descent was around a hundred and fifty feet from the top to bottom.

"At least we had enough rope." Agdar said as he secured the line to the ground so they had a way to climb back up.

"Your majesty." A couple of cavers greeted. They appeared to be taking rock samples so Elsa assumed they were geologists.

"How did you get down here without using any ropes?" Agdar asked.

"There's another way around but its much longer. We didn't have enough rope so we were forced to take the long way around." The geologist replied as he inspected a rock sample.

"Any gems?" Agdar asked.

"Sorry...only quartz and other simple rocks."

"Meh..."

"Uh...where's Anna?" Idun asked as she looked around.

"Over here!" Came Anna's voice from the left side. They be an over to see Anna entering another cavern which was the route needed to get to black caverns. Unlike the caves before, this one was a lit more slippery and water was dripping down from every spot possible.

"Must be a subterranean river nearby." Elsa said before tripping on some of the rocks.

"Careful." Anna said as she caught her sister in her arms. They eventually came across a small branch off into two passageways.

"This can't be the branch they were talking about...can it?" Anna asked.

"They said that we had to go at least a thousand feet before we reach it, but before we get there we would see a large cluster of stalagmites. They looked back and saw only a few stalagmites which was nowhere near large.

"This doesn't look like the branch they were taking about." Kristoff said. "Plus, we've only walked like two hundred feet.

"So which route do we take?" Elsa asked.

"Well go right. The route is a lot larger than the left route and I can see several cavers have gone through here before." Anna noted from the erosion in the ground. The five of them proceeded into the right branch to see where that branch Morison was talking about was.

---

"How do you think Elsa and Anna is doing?" Kai asked as he leaned back against the wall.

"Probably lost right around now." Gerda replied. "Maybe we should just tell the guards they're lost now and send a search party. At least we can find them before they even get lost."

"Nah...Anna is a wilderness expert. She'll probably know the way out."

---

"Where is this branch they were talking about?" Elsa asked. "We've walked at least two thousand feet now."

"No we haven't. Stop exaggerating things." Anna said.

"Uh...guys? This could be a problem!" Kristoff said as he stood on the edge of something.

"What problem..oh...my...god." Anna gasped along with everyone else. Just when they had thought they had seen it all, they see this. In front of them was a massive crevice with a massive river flowling at its base...which was a good hundred foot drop.

"Now, we don't wanna fall down there do we?" Agdar muttered as he peered over the edge. He grabbed several of the grappling hooks and looked up at the ceiling which was luckily, within reach. He knocked the hooks into the ceiling, making sure that they were secure.

"Wait...we're not actually going to cross it, are we?" Elsa asked as she looked at the massive drop and the fast flowing subterranean river at the bottom.

"How else are we going to reach the other side?" Agdar asked as he tightened the ropes. "Right...Elsa, since you're lighter than the rest of us, and these two hooks are a little unstable to support me or Kristoff, we need you to secure the lines.

"What? No!" Anna interrupted. "Elsa's not experienced with this and it's too dangerous for her to do it."

"You're too heavy to go with only these two anchors to support you. I have more experience with soft rocks because I've climbed sandstone before. You only know about granite and the hard rocks which can easily hold up the weight of us all. Here, you'll need ten anchors, and only one can go at a time." Agdar said.

"Relax Anna. I'll be fine." Elsa said as she let her father secure the harness.

"Be careful..." Agdar said as he ruffled his daughter's hair. Elsa grabbed the required amount of anchors before climbing the side of the cave wall and on to the ceiling. She suspended her self using a larger grapple so as to balance out the weight. She moved forward slightly and outstretched her arm as far as she could before grabbing an anchor and using the hammer, knocked it into the sandstone. Anna watched fearfully as her sister got further and further away and closer to the other side.

"You're nearly there." Agdar said as he watched Elsa hammer in the ninth anchor. Elsa attached her line to the ninth hook before proceeding to hammer in the tenth hook.

Suddenly, Elsa froze when she felt the line drop slightly. Her eyes widened as she looked at the ninth anchor and noticed that it was starting to be pulled out from the ceiling.

"Elsa!" Anna yelled as she noticed the hook as well. "Jump to the other side!"

"No! I can do it!" Elsa said as she aimed the hammer at the hook and prepared to hit it.

"USE YOUR POWERS!" Anna suddenly screamed. This caught Elsa off guard but she complied anyway. She froze the hook around the edges so as to lock it in place. Then, as if faith just really hated them, a massive crack appeared in the ceiling from the ninth hook. Elsa's ice had caused the rock to crack, and those crack were now spreading towards the other hooks. Elsa gasped as she tried to freeze the other hooks into place but it was too late. The hook she was suspended on broke free of the soft rock, causing her to fall.

Her weight was captured by the eight hook, but the sudden increase in weight and weakening of the surrounding rock caused that to be pulled out as well. In a cataclysmic chain reaction, hook after hook was pulled out as Elsa fell, before the two anchors that Agdar hammered in finally captured her weight and did not fail, though they protruded a bit more. Elsa slammed into the side of the crevice with so much force, that she nearly ended up letting go of the rope. She could hear Anna and the others screaming as they scrambled to try and secure the line and pull her up.

"ELSA! HOLD ON!" Anna screed as she rushed to slam several grapples into the ground and secured a line to it.

"JUST PULL HER UP!" Kristoff screamed.

"NO!" Agdar yelled. He pointed to the rope which was dangling from the top anchor and down around thirty feet. The place where the rope had hit the side of the crevice and caused some hagged rocks to slice into it, seeing half of it and leaving the rope extremely weakened. "A sudden change in tension and those anchors could give in or the rope could snap. DON'T MOVE ELSA!"

Anna attached her harness to the new line before rappelling down the side of the crevice.

"Oh no..." Kristoff gasped in horror as he watched Elsa's line begin to unravel itself. "ANNA! HURRY!"

Anna looked up and saw Kristoff pointing at Elsa's rope. Anna rappelled down towards Elsa.

"HOLD ON!"

"I AM!" Elsa screamed.

A sudden twang caught everyone's attention. Agdar screamed as he watched one of the two remaining anchors break free of the rock. They watched in slow motion as the final anchor was yanked out of the rock by the sudden change in weight. Agdar jumped at the rope and grabbed it, nearly going over, only to be stopped by Kristoff and Idun grabbing hold as well. They looked at the slit in the rope which was causing the rope to unravel more and more.

Elsa tried to lesson the weight on the rope by putting her weight against the wall but it was too slippery for her to hold on to. Then, just when everyone thought the rope was going to hold...it snapped.

Anna screamed as she watched her sister plummet towards the subterranean river below. She wasn't sure what was running through her mind at that sudden moment. All she knew was it lead to her making the stupidest, yet bravest decision she had ever done before.

She detached her harness and fell...

"ANNA! ELSA!" Agdar, Kristoff and Idun screamed as loud as they could as they watched Anna fall towards her sister. They heard the first splash indicating Elsa had hit the water, followed seconds later by the second splash.

"NO!" Kristoff screamed as Idun screamed the names of her daughters. A thousand thoughts were running through Kristoff's head, all of them prohibiting him from doing anything productive. He cleared his mind as he thought desperately of what they could do. They neither had the resources nor the manpower to go after them nor did he have any clue as to where the river led. There was only one thing he could think of...

"WE HAVE TO GET HELP!"

Agdar and Idun didn't need a second more as the three of them ran back in the direction they came from, running as fast as they could back to the other cavers, hoping that that had not been a fatal fall.

---

The first thing that Anna felt upon hitting the water was cold. It was as if she had been dumped into the fjord during winter season. She struggled to prevent her body from seizing up and drowning her as she also fought the rapid current in the river. She held the lantern above the surface of the water as she was dragged along, searching for her sister while battling being pulled under.

"ELSA...EL...blub... ELSA!" Anna coughed as she looked around for any sign of her sister. She gasped upon catching sight of ice forming on the walls and in the river and knew her sister was nearby, and panicking. She swam as fast as she could in an attempt to catch up with her sister, knowing that Elsa wasn't the best swimmer. She screamed her sister's name when she caught sight of a figure flailing around on the water, trying to summon ice to float on. The raging current just tore it to shreds.. With a burst of speed, she swam towards the target, just as a splash of water extinguished the lantern, the only source of light she had.

Anna cursed as she threw the lantern aside and swam in the last direction of where she last saw her sister. She could still hear Elsa splashing around and coughing as she used that to guide her.

"An...an..ANNA!" Anna could hear her sister scream as she neared her. She suddenly felt her sisters arm in front of her and grabbed onto it as hard as she could. She felt her sister wrap her arms around her neck, Anna tightening her grip in response as well. Now, all that was left was to stay above water. Both the water current and the lack of light made that nearly impossible.

"Hold on!" Anna screamed as she wrapped an arm around her sister and pulled her in tightly. Anna tried to feel for a wall or anything but she found none, and to make matters worse, the water was actually accelerating. Then...she heard it. The distinct sound she had loved outside...but in here...just made her scream internally. The sound of water fading...the sound of it falling down...the sound...of a waterfall.

"Elsa...there's...a...waterfall..." Anna whimpered. She had never been the one to admit or show her fear...but in this case, she didn't care.

"Anna..." Elsa whimpered back as she tightened her grip. If this was going to be the end...then at least she would be with her sister. "I'm sorry...for everything...I love you..."

"I love you to...AAH"

...and they fell into the darkness.

---

"HELP!" Idun Kristoff and Agdar screamed as they ran up to the geologists who were now packing away rock samples.

"What's up?" A geologist asked.

"They...they...our daughters...Elsa and Anna! They fell." Agdar stumbled as Idun cried nearby, Kristoff through to comfort her.

"There was a crevice and the rope samples and they fell into a river!" Kristoff said, tears in his eyes as well at the thought of losing his girlfriend and his queen...or best friend.

The geologist nearly screamed themselves as they threw their equipment aside and grabbed only the climbing gear and necessities.

"JACK! ALERT THE OTHER CAVERS!" One of the geologists screamed at another who ran as fast as he could towards the lines that the royal family used to get down. The other geologists ran back with the three of them towards the subterranean river, praying it wasn't too late.

---

Anna gasped as she broke the surface of the water and looked around. She was met with darkness unlike any other. Blacker than black essentially. She could feel something clutching onto her neck and immediately realized that it was Elsa. She felt a heavy weight leave her as she realized that she hasn't lost her sister and that they were together.

"E-E-Elsa?" Anna asked. She heard a small whine in despise followed by a cough.

"Anna?" Elsa asked. "ANNA!"

"I'm right here." Anna said as she felt for her sister's head and patted it. "Shit...can't see..."

She could hear the waterfall in the background but that was the only thing she could sense apart from the fact that they were in a still-body of water now. Probably another subterranean lake. Without any form of light, there was no way Anna could navigate around.

"I don't suppose you have a spare lantern on you?" Anna asked her sister.

"No...wait..."

Anna waited for a few seconds as she felt her sister move one of her arms away. Suddenly, a bright flash of blue lit up the cave causing Anna to shield her eyes from the light. She let her eyes adjust to the brightness before looking around. She could see a small patch of blue, glowing, snowflakes suspended in the air which lit up the cave substantially. She looked around and saw they were in a massive lake, more than a mile across according to her estimates since there was no end in sight in three directions.

In one of the directions though, was the distinct patch of a shoreline. Anna swam over, supporting her sister who swam next to her, until they reached the shore and climbed onto it. The second they were away from the water, they collapsed on their backs and lay there, both in relief and horror.

In relief that they had survived...

...and in horror that they had no idea where they were.

"Anna? Where are we?" Elsa asked as she sat up and looked around, the suspended snowflakes lighting up their part of the lake.

"I...I don't know." Anna said as she looked around. She felt for her backpack and sighed with relief that it was still on her back. She removed it and pulled out the map which was drenched, but still legible. She looked at it and saw that she had marked down the river, but not where it lead since non of the books even noted where it led.

"Oh god...were gonna die..." Elsa whimpered as she curled herself up into a ball and whimpered.

"No...were not..." Anna said, though this was one thing she had no certainty off. Anna stood up and looked around for any sign of an exit, her eyes catching on a patch of black in the side of the wall. She looked further around to see where they had entered and caught sight of the waterfall. Her jaw nearly dropped as she stared at it.

"What is it?" Elsa asked as she looked at what Anna was looking at. She noticed the waterfall and gasped. "That's where..."

"Yes..."

The waterfall was nearly two hundred feet high. It was a miracle that they managed to stay in each others arms, let alone not be killed. Of course, aya chance of escaping through there was non existent.

"We don't have a two hundred foot length of rope so...that's a no go." Anna said as she looked bat the black patch on the wall again. "Come on."

Elsa stood up and followed her sister, dissipating the glowing ball of snowflakes and instead crafting two glowing torches out of ice. They walked over to the black patch and saw that it was a way out.

"Its the only way." Anna said as she and Elsa walked down the cave.

---

"Here!" Agdar said as they approached the crevice where Anna and Elsa had fallen.

"Where do you think it leads?" One geologist asked the other.

"Probably to a subterranean river. There are only two outlets to sea, and we found both of those. This probably leads to a lake, which feeds one of the lakes which leads to the sea." The other geologist said. "Get the map! We might be able to estimate where this river leads to."

"Estimate?!" Idun shrieked. "Those are my daughters! I don't want estimates. I want exact locations!"

"Ma'am. This rivers drainage is uncharted. We have no definitive idea as to where this leads...but we might be able to estimate if any other caves connect it. That's the best we can do." The geologist said as Idun began to cry again.

"WHAT HAPPENED?" Morison asked as he and a dozen cavers ran up. "Where's the queen and princess?"

The geologist pointed at the river.

"My god." Morison uttered.

"Carvin is checking the maps right now. We might be able to guess which caves lead near to this path."

"Guys! Get your gear!" Morison ordered. He looked down the river path and sighed. "Damn it princess. I said take the left..."

---

"Where are we going?" Elsa asked.

"I don't know. Neither the map, nor the books, nor I, knew about this place. The only thing we can do is look around and find a way out." Anna answered.

"What if there is no way out?"

"There has to be. All lakes have a source, and a drain river. This tunnel looks like it once was a river. The stone formations are pointong in this direction meaning the river was also flowing here...away from the lake. Now we just have to follow it."

"How did you..."

"Just because I might not talk about science stuff like this, doesn't mean I don't know it." Anna laughed...the first laugh since this screw up occurred. "So stop acting so weird when I say I've been in the library..."

"Where now?"

They had arrived at a branch off. One led straight whereas the other one led to the left. Anna looked at each of them before choosing the left one.

"The straight is a dead end."

"So, you're sure that this'll lead us out?" Elsa asked.

"Not really? But its the only plan we have at the moment. How long will these ice torches last?" Anna asked as she inspected the torch in her hand.

"I have no idea...maybe as long as I live..."

"Cool..."

"Anna!"

"That wasn't a pun...honest."

---

"The closest bet we have to finding them is to go to the powers black caverns. That should be nearest to this river...or wherever it ends." The geologist said. "The strange thing is, that the black caverns have been mostly mapped. So, we're either looking at a portion of the black caverns we haven't discovered, or completely new cave system altogether. If its the latter...then were going to have a problem since we'll have no idea how big it is. Hopefully, its the former."

The group went back along the route they came and took the left route towards the black caverns. The route towards the lower part was more treacherous than the previous routes Agdar, Idun and Kristoff had taken.

"We have to pass though there?" Kristoff asked as he looked at the massive field of stalagmites in front of him. "How was this supposed to be the better route?"

"You can't fall into a subterranean river here! That's not a joke...it literally is the reason this is safer because several others have fallen into that river as well. Unfortunately, they didn't survive..." The geologist said.

"Wait, so you're saying that Anna and Elsa could have possibly..." The last word got stuck in Kristoff's throat as he envisioned the worst. The last he saw of Anna and Elsa was them heading into that dark tunnel. Whether they survived or not was another thing.

---

"Are you sure we're heading in the right direction?" Elsa asked.

"With all honesty? No." Anna answered as she leaned against a rock and sighed. "Think optimistically. Think...optimistically."

"Hmm?"

"Nothing." Anna said as they resumed walking down the caverns. Unlike the caves the initial caves they entered with the other miners where the caves where brightly colored, these caves were dark or black in color. The rocks themselves were black meaning that light didn't travel very far here. "Elsa...I think were in the black caverns."

"So, how can you not know where we are. You have black caverns on that map." Elsa pointed out.

"Yeah...but, I think that this might be an uncharted part of the black caverns." Anna said as she looked at her map again. "There's a massive portion missing ffrom the lower part of the black caverns...but...wait a second...Elsa look!"

"What is it?" Elsa asked as she approached her sister and peered at the map.

"There...this is an outlet heading from the sea. If you follow it, it disappears because no nine has been able to track it, or mainly, no one has been bothered to. But, rivers always have a source. Now the lake that we entered had an inlet, but not an outlet. This outlet on the map is mostly dried up." Anna said.

"Uhuh...so, where is this going?"

"Jeez sister. Has the cave air damaged your intelligence? We are standing in a cave that appears to have once been a subterranean river, but has now dried up. By the looks of it, this passageway hasn't had any water for years." Anna said as she pointed to the cave walls and floor which were bone dry. "Now...there is an outlet on the coast...that dried up years ago. No one knows how far in it leads because no none has tracked it fully."

"Wait a second...that outlet dried up years ago...and no one knows where it leads to. And this cave we're in...also dried up years ago judging by the walls and ground...and no one knows about this cave system since its uncharted..." Elsa said, her eyes widening.

"Yes...and the lake we splashed down in had an inlet, but nothing was draining it." Anna said as a smile appeared on her face. "So...if my assumptions are correct...then, that lake we entered, used to he much higher and therefore was drained by the cave we're walking in right now...and this led towards this outlet on the coast...an outlet where no ones knows its source. Add 2 and 2...and there is a high chance...that this is the outlet on the sea...and this lake is the one that was being drained by it."

"So...this could lead to this outlet...and therefore to the coast?" Elsa asked as a smile crept on her face.

"Exactly. Its only a theory...but it's the best we've got. Plus, this outlet is on the same level and heads in the general direction of this cavern. So..."

"Anna! You're a genius!" Elsa screamed as she kissed her sister on the forehead.

"You do not know how long I've been waiting for you to say that." Anna giggled as Elsa rolled her eyes. Suddenly, a noise in the cave interrupted them. They silenced themselves as a strange noise echoed through the caverns, a noise that didn't seem like anything they had ever heard before. It was like a clicking noise, interlaced with a an animal like squeal...something like a bat, but louder.

"A-A-Anna? What was that?" Elsa asked as she moved closer to Anna.

"I...I don't know..." Anna replied, her eyes wide in fear.

"That wasn't you?" Elsa asked. Anna shook her head.

They looked around at the way they came in, squinting at the darkness. They saw nothing.

"I think we should go now..." Elsa whispered. Anna didn't need telling twice as the two sisters rushed off in the direction that they hoped was the ocean.

---

"Where the fuck are we going?" Morison yelled. "I thought you said that this was the route!"

"It is!" The geologist screamed as he looked at the map. They had been walking for an hour now and they still had no idea where to begin. "We are working on assumptions of where the damn river went. Now it should be on this level to our...left...no right! This way!"

The lot of them ran down a passageway towards another larger cavern with dozens of passageways.

"Oh...god..."

Idun started to cry again at every moment being wasted. She knew that every minute lost, was a minute less from her daughters lives...

---

"This way..." Anna said as she followed the larger route.

Click, click, click, click, click...

"Anna...there's...something...following us..." Elsa whispered as she started to shake.

"Elsa...you're just being paranoid." Anna whispered back to her older sister. Unfortunately, every aspect of Anna's body betrayed her fearlessness as she shook, looking around rapidly as if expecting something to suddenly attack out of the blue. "We're the only ones here..."

"What if we aren't?" Elsa asked back.

"Uh...you're just trying to scare me now." Anna laughed slightly before swallowing a gulp. The sisters continued down the cave, albeit a lot faster as they tried to ignore the thoughts of hearing strange sounds...in a cave where there were no moving things...no dripping water since it was bone dry...and where they were all alone.

Click, click, click, click, click...

"Just...the wind...the wind...only the wind..." Anna muttered tonherself trying to calm herself down.

"Anna? Wind doesn't make that sound...and second...what wind?" Elsa asked. The air was completely still. They heard another set of click, this time from their side. They whisked around and shone the lights at their side and were greeted with nothing but the wall. But the click came from there...and sounded so close.

"Anna...can we please go now..." Elsa whimpered.

"Yes...let's do that..." Anna whispered back, her breathing rapid and eyes dilated in fear. The sisters walked backwards slowly, keeping an eye on where they had come from. The clicking noise seemed to have followed them...which was something totally unexplained since they were now hundreds of feet away from the subterranean lake.

"Its..its...just...our imaginations. The darkness and stuff is playing with our minds." Anna whispered to her sister. She tried to stay staring and courageous...but just ended up wrapping her arms around her older sister, Elsa doing exactly the same to her. "Okay...let's just fine a way out...and completely forget a out all of these strange...Elsa...what's wrong?"

"A..a...a...a...a...n...n...n...n...na..." Elsa stuttered out. She could feel her heart racing faster than ever before, as she stared at the cave wall, her eyes as wide as saucers.

"Elsa...what's...wait wro...o..o..." Anna stopped as she looked at the wall where Elsa's vision was gazed at. Any courage and bravery Anna had in her vanished at that moments and was replaced with nothing but fear.

"Anna..."

"Elsa..."

The light of the ice torches illuminated the cave wall as the two sisters stared at it...

...there were three shadows.

Anna could feel her heart thumping harder than ever before as she blinked her eyes, hoping that this was an illusion. It couldn't be if her sister was seeing it as well. Anna held her ice torch firmly, contemplating whether to scream or fight. At this moment, screaming sounded better...but she knew that would get her nowhere. She took a deep breath as she suddenly whisked around...

...and was met by nothing. Elsa turned around to and gasped at the sight of an empty cave. They turned back around and their eyes widened when they saw only two shadows on the wall.

"That..was no...illusion..." Elsa whispered.

"I know..." Anna whimpered.

Click, click, click, click, click...

This set of clicks sounded as if it was within fifty feet of them...and came from the direction they had come from.

"He...he...hello?" Anna called out into the darkness. "Is...anyone...there?"

THUMP!

CLICK...CLICK...CLICK...CLICK...CLICK!

Neither of the sisters knew what had caused that sound as the minute they heard it, they subconsciously fled at a speed that even a wolf would be jealous of, as they let out an ear piercing scream.

The two of then ran as fast as their legs could carry them, not bothering to look back as they ran down the cave system. Elsa suddenly screamed as she tripped over a bunch of rocks. She tried to balance herself by grabbing her sister, but just ended up bringing her down with her. They rolled down a sharp incline, slamming against the rocks for what felt like eternity, before coming to a painful stop at the base of wherever they were. They were surrounded by darkness, the ice torches having been destroyed.

"My head..." Anna winced as she felt a lump forming on her head. "Elsa?"

"Anna?" Elsa called out weakly. She felt to her left and could feel a warm arm.

"I'm here..."

Elsa screamed as she realized that her sister was on her right side.

All of a sudden, the floor gave way in a massive crack as the two girls fell, screaming, for what felt like a hundred feet before splashing down in a pool of water. Elsa gasped as she broke the surface of the air before calming herself down for enough time to shoot a blast of glowing ice at a wall, lighting up the cavern. She swam over to her sister who was floating nearby.

"Oh god..." Anna coughed as she and Elsa swam to the edge of the pool and collapsed onto it. They looked up and could see a small hole where they had fallen through. As if by instincts, Elsa shot a massive blast of ice and completely coated the hole in a thick, solid block of ice that not even a cannon could penetrate. "Elsa? Are you alright?"

"I..I think so..."

"What? Why did you scream?" Anna asked.

"Anna? Did you feel me touch your arm?" Elsa asked.

"No."

"Enough said..." Elsa said as she shot several more blasts of ice to fully illuminate the cave as brightly as possible, before sighing and resting her head on the ground. Anna just stared at the hole they had fallen through. Could the legends of black cavern possibly be true?

---

"Did you guys hear that?" A caver asked.

"No...what?" Morison asked.

"It sounded like a scream."

"Stop screwing around! These three are in enough pain without you telling nonsensical bullshit to mess with them." Morison scowled as they scoured the cage for any way to the river that was supposedly there.

"There's nothing here guys." The geologist said. "Wherever that river went, its not accessible from here. I hate to say this...but I believe that the river has run into an uncharted part of these caverns, or an unknown cave system that is yet to be discovered. I'm sorry..."

"What do you mean you're sorry? WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?" Agdar screamed.

"We have no idea where they are!"

"I DON'T CARE WHETHER WE HAVE TO TEAR THIS MOUNTAIN APART TO FIND MY DAUGHTERS! WE WILL FIND THEM!" Agdar screamed as tears began to roll down his face. He felt Idun hug him and weep into his shoulders. Kristoff was leaning against a wall, clearly screaming at himself mentally as tears fell from his face as well.

"Anna...Elsa..." Kristoff said as his breath shuddered. He collapsed to his knees and cried silently as he began to accept the horrifying truth. That they were lost in a place...that was lost...

"It can't end like this!" Morison said. "It just can't!"

"What do you want us to do? They could be anywhere? How are we supposed to look in a place that we haven't even found yet?" The geologist asked.

"Where do you think this river passes?" Morison asked.

"I...I'm not sure..."

"GOD DAMN IT! I DON'T WANT TO HERE I DON'T KNOW! I WANT A DEFINITIVE ANSWER! WHERE DOES THIS RIVER PASS?!" Morison yelled.

"Uh...it...its could possibly lass behind that cavern. The walls are damp and it's seeping through crack on the wall...so it could possibly be behind there...but its only a theory..."

"Carvin! Call the miners! Call the cavers! Anyone that can hold a pickaxe or sledgehammer! Get them here now! Get all the picaxes and mining equipment you can carry!"

"Got it!" Carvin replied as he ran as fast as he could up to the campsite.

"Look...even if the river was behind there, what do you think you're going to do by drilling a freaking hole into it? You'll be drilling a hole...into a bloody raging torrent! You'll flood everything and possibly kill us all." The geologist said.

"There should be enough time to escape any flood..." Morison replied uncertainly.

"Guys! Look, at the first sign that a wall of water is going to burst through, we flee! Got it?" A caver said.

"Seems good enough...let's get this bloody wall down!"

---

15 minutes later...

Anna looked at her sister who was still staring at the hole, watching in case anything came out. Elsa may not have admitted it, but Anna knew that should anything come through that hole, they would probably end up with an icicle in their heads.

"Anna?"

"I'm...just going to look around. Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere far without you." Anna said with a slight smile before walking away.

"Wait...I'll come with you..." Elsa said. Anna knew that her sister was frightened, because she damn well was as well. The two of them made their way to the edge of the cave. Elsa crafted two ice torches and handed one to her sister before they scoured the edges for an exit. Anna gasped when she found a small hole in the side. They squeezed through it and followed it down into a small passageway that zigzagged in all directions. Both of them kept their ears open, praying that they would never here those awful clicks again.

"These walls are damp." Elsa noted as she felt them. She could see a small branch off ahead as she climbed a over a few rocks and squinted in the distance. It appeared a little thin but it was possible for them to squeeze through it. "Anna? I think we can...Anna?"

Elsa looked around and noticed that her sister was missing..

"ANNA!" Elsa shrieked as she looked around frantically. She ran back in the direction they came and gasped h when she saw the distinct blue glow of am ice torch coming from a small hole in the side of the wall. She squeezed through and could see her sister standing there in the center.

"Anna!I thought I lost you! Don't leave me without telling me!" Elsa scowled. She noticed that her sister was unmoving and gazing behind her. "Anna?"

"Look..." Was all Anna could make out. Elsa looked around at where Anna was staring at. Her eyes widened, and her jaw dropped as the ice torch fell out of her grip and shattered on the floor. Luckily, Anna's was propped up against a rock so that it illuminated the room.

"Oh...my...god..." Elsa gasped, her moth hanging wide open.

In front of them was a sight unlike any other. Something that most people live their lives without seeing. Something that not even kings and queens would be able to experience in their lifetime.

The walls of this small cave were coated, from top to bottom, in various sparkles of red, green, blue and white.

"Gems..." Elsa mouthed as she approached one of the walls and felt one of the blue crystals. "It's...it's...a sapphire..."

"So...many..." Anna mumbled as she approached a wall filled with diamonds and felt it. She then laid her face against it as if it was a pillow as Elsa continued to marvel at the thousands of gems in front of her. A clicking sound behind her nearly caused her ton jump out of her skin but she sighed in relief as she noticed that it was only Anna banging against the wall with one of the grapples, trying to knock a gem loose. She watched as Anna slammed the hook down as hard as possible on the gem, causing the rock to break and the gem to fall loose.

Anna squealed in delight as she picked up the emerald and stared at it. She quickly stuffed the emerald into a small bag in her backpack before trying to dig out another.

"Elsa...do you...know what this is?" Anna asked excitedly as she managed to pop another gem loose from the wall. "This is...crystal cavern! We found it! We found crystal caverns!"

"I know..." Elsa said. She quickly shook her head though as their situation caught up with her. "Anna...we have to find a way out of here..."

"A bit...busy...at the moment..." Anna stated as we tried to pull out a rather large diamond. Elsa sighed for a second before looking back at the way they came in.

"I'm going to look around for a bit." Elsa said. "See if there's a way out..."

"Wait, you can't go out there alone." Anna said as eh stopped picking at the gems.

"Relax...it'll only be for a minute. Whatever it was that was chasing us, is locked away from us with that ice shield..." Elsa said. "I'll be quick...I promise..."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure...just get some diamonds for me." Elsa said with smirk before she disappeared through the hole. She looked to the right and walked towards the small gap that they she could barely fit through...and climbed through it...

---

"Knock this wall down!" Morison screamed as he struck the wall with the pickaxe. There were now well over two dozen cavers and miners hitting away at the wall where the geologist guessed the river would be..

"Don't worry. By hook or by crook, well find them." A caver said to Idun. Agdar and Kristoff had joined the others and were busy cutting away at the wall.

"I love them so much..." Idun sobbed silently.

"They're our queen and princess so we love them as well...and were not going to give up that easily...that I can tell..."

Crack...

The cutting stopped as soon as it started as everyone listened carefully.

Crack...

"What in the world?" A caver asked.

"Oh no..." Someone said as they pointed at the wall. Everyone's eyes widened as they watched the wall begin to crack, water starting to pour from them.

"Oh no...oh no...guys..."

A larger cracked formed and even more after began to stream from them as the wall began to push outwards.

"Shit...run...RUN!" Morison screamed. Everyone dropped their equipment and fled towards the exit as fast as they could, just as a sudden large crack broke the silence followed by the distinct rushing sound of water. Everyone ran up the cavern as water flowed out of the massive hole in the wall and started to flood the cavern rapidly. The ground shook as the walls began to collapse allowing even more water to spill into the cavern. They hadn't opened a hole into the river...they had opened a hole into the underground lake which was now filling the rest of black caverns rapidly.

The miners and cavers screamed for their lives as they ran up to the upper caverns to avoid the rampaging waters...

---

"What was that?" Elsa asked herself as she felt the ground shake beneath her feet. Her eyes widened as she ran back along the route she took, through the gap, and towards the small cavern where Anna was. She was about not enter the hole, but her attention was caught off guard by the central cavern that they had fallen into. She slowly walked over to it and peered into it and at the ceiling. She had to use all her restraint from letting out an ear piercing shriek. The ice...was gone. The shaking of the earth had dislodged it completely and caused the ceiling to collapse to the floor, creating a massive hole.

Click, click, click, click, click...

Elsa ran as fast as she could to the cavern where Anna was and entered it to see her sister packing away the hooks.

"What's wrong?" Anna asked.

"We have to go now!" Elsa said. Anna looked at her with a puzzled kook for second and then...she heard it...the clicking noise. Anna didn't need telling twice as she and Elsa ran out of the small cavern and down the mother way, towards the tight space that they still had no idea where it would lead. But they didn't have a choice. They could hear movement the clicking noise coming from behind them and it was getting closer, and it appeared to be coming from more than one source now.

They continued to run down the cave, not bothering to look back. Elsa quickly shot a few blasts of ice backwards in an attempt to hit whatever was following them. She heard the clocking noise fade away but that didn't stop them from continuing to run for as far as they could. They could see the cave getting wider and wider as they ran along it. They could also hear the sound of running water.

"Come on!" Anna screamed as she ran up to the edge. She stopped when she saw a waterfall and a massive drop into a torrential pool of water.

"There's no was out!" Elsa shrieked. They turned around when instead of clicking noises...they heard growls. "Anna?"

"I know..." Anna muttered. They could hear the growling and clicks getting closer, but there was no way Anna was going to stay and find out what it was. She looked one more time at tbe torrential water before grabbing her sister's arm and jumping off the edge.

Anna and Elsa screamed as they plummeted fifty feet into the cold waters below. As soon as they touched the water, the raging current pulled them down into a fast flowing subterranean stream. Anna held on to Elsa, nearly losing her grip on her sisters arm, as the current pulled them underwater and swept them along. She tried to surface but the two of them only got pulled under as soon as they reached edge top. Suddenly, the grip on Elsa broke and she felt her sister get swept away. Anna to swim after her but the current tossed them around easily. Anna was slammed against the side of the cave, causing black spits to appear in her vision before everything suddenly started to become dark. She fought back unconsciousness as she could see the water around her begin to turn red...and brighter...

Suddenly, the current dropped dramatically as Anna slowed down and was suspended in the water which was now ocean blue...and stained with blood red. Her vision began to blur as her world darkened around her.

All of a sudden, a pair of arks grabbed her by the waist and pulled her up, just as she was about to lose consciousness. The last thing she remembered was breaching the surface of the water and seeing her sister screaming.

---

"This couldn't have possibly gone any worse." Morison muttered as he stared at the now-flooded black caverns. It was now impossible to search for Elsa and Anna when their only access route was buried under a hundred feet of water.

He looked around and could see Idun weeping silently in Agdar's arms.

"I'm so sorry..." Morison said quietly. Agdar just closed his eyes and shed tears of his own.

"Sir...sir!" Came the screaming voice of a caver from above. Everyone looked around as the caver jumped the last few feet and ran over.

"What's going on?" Morison asked.

"You are not going to believe this..."

---

"Anna?"

"Ugh...Elsa?" Anna mumbled as she opened her eyes. She allowed her vision to readjust before looking around and seeing her sister sitting next to her. Without hesitation, Anna pulled Elsa into the largest hug she could muster, causing her sister to squeak.

"I'm...glad you're alright too..." Elsa laughed as she wrapped her arms around her sister.

"Where are we?" Anna asked as she pulled away and looked around. She was surprised to find that she was in the castle infirmary. "How did we get here?"

"The subterranean river you pulled us into...apparently, it leads into a small outlet just below the surface of the fjord." Elsa answered. "From there, I managed to grab hold of you while some nearby boats came to our aid. You banged your head pretty badly. There's like a massive gash on your scalp...luckily your hair covers it up though."

"Oh...wait...what happened to your arm?" Anna asked as she saw Elsa's left arm was in a cast.

"I was slammed against the wall and I broke it..." Elsa said with a sigh. "And since I'm left handed...but I'm more concerned with your head."

"Its alright...I've got a thick skull..." Anna chuckled causing Elsa to laugh as well. "How long was I out?"

"About an hour. Just after we arrived, one of the guards sent word to the caves detailing our survival. I can't even imagine what mama and papa had been feeling for the past few hours..." Elsa said, both of them knowing that their parents were probably assuming the worst.

"Wait...where's my backpack?" Anna asked as she noticed her bag was nowhere to be seen.

"Don't worry. That's in your bedroom." Elsa said as Anna gave a sigh of relief. Elsa was about to question it, but was interrupted by the infirmary door being slammed open, followed by the two of them being pulled into a breathtaking embrace.

"Mama?" Anna and Elsa wheezed at the same time as they wrapped their arms around their crying mother.

"I thought I lost you..." Idun sobbed as she pulled her daughters even closer. Anna rubbed her mother's back while Elsa stroked her hair. They looked over to see their father and Kristoff standing by the side, both of their eyes red from where it appeared the had been crying. Yet, both of their faces showed signs of relief and joy unlike any other.

"Its okay mama...we're here now..." Anna said into her mothers ear as Idun pulled away and sat next to Elsa.

"What happened?" Kristoff asked.

"We...we were swept away by the river and into this unknown cave...with a massive lake." Anna said.

Kristoff and Agdar looked at each other as they knew very damn well which lake they were talking about since they had just punched a hole in it.

"And then...we searched for a way out and..." Anna stooped short as she looked at Elsa who was looking at her with equal concern.

"And then what?" Agdar asked.

"Papa...there's something down there." Elsa said. Agdar, Idun and Kristoff looked at each other, eyes wide.

"What are you taking about?" Agdar asked with a frown.

"I...we...don't know what it was...but there was something else down there. It made these clicking noises...yet at the end...when we came out via that river under the fjord...we heard...growling." Elsa said as she shivered slightly, but not from the cold.

"You're kidding right?" Kristoff asked. Anna and Elsa shook their heads and the other three could clearly see that the sisters were telling the truth.

"Luckily, whatever it is can't escape because the only way out is through that underwater passage...which I doubt they'll take." Anna said. Agdar, Idun and Kristoff looked at each other and gulped as they remembered the flooding of the caverns and how they had smashed down the whole cave wall.

"It...maybe it was your imagination dear." Idun said.

"So you're telling us, that our imaginations caused us to be chased through a cave system by unknown clicking creatures, see a third shadow from standing behind us that didn't seem human, and for me to touch an arm on my right, only to find out Anna was only left?" Elsa asked. By this point, Agdar and Idun was speechless and Kristoff was gaping.

"Wait...you touched an arm...on your right? But I was on your left..." Anna said.

"Exactly." Elsa whimpered.

"Don't worry girls. It was probably just the caves playing with your minds..." Agdar said. Seeing that the girls were about to argue, he added, "But even if these things were real, they would never be able to escape anyway. You're safe here...don't worry."

"You're alive and that's all that matters."

---

Later that night...

To say the kingdom was relieved that their queen and princess had survived was an understatement. Numerous citizens had gone to greet the queen and princess and tell them how happy they were to see they were alright.

It was already nine o clock and Elsa and Anna were the only ones awake as they entered Elsa's room, Anna carrying her backpack.

"So...what's so important in that backpack?" Elsa asked as she sat on the bed.

"Don't tell mama and papa." Anna said as she sat next to her sister.

"I won't...so let's see then." Elsa said. She watched as Anna opened the backpack and pulled out a large bag. She undid it and turned it upside down and poured out the contents. Elsa nearly fell off the bed in shock. In front of her was a massive pile of gems. Sapphires, emeralds, rubies, and diamonds. All of them.

"Shocked?" Anna asked with a smirk.

"Anna! Where do you? How?" Elsa uttered as she picked up a diamond and inspected it.

"I'm a fast worker...especially when it comes to these." Anna laughed as she started stuffing the gems back Into the bag.

"Does mama and papa know?"

"Of course not...and they are not to know...got it?" Anna asked to which Elsa nodded. She watched as Anna put the backpack beneath the bed before laying down next to Elsa.

"I can't believe how insane today was..." Elsa muttered. "We decided to go on a caving expedition...and somehow, we nearly die, end up in an uncharted part of the cave, get chased by god knows what, and end up back at home with a bag full of gems."

"Not bad for a days work." Anna giggled as she blew out the candle on her side, Elsa doing the same on her side. "Wanna try hiking tomorrow?"

"Don't push it sister..." Elsa replied as she closed her eyes.

"Well...goodnight Elsa. Don't let the nightmares catch up to you..."

"I won't...good night Anna. Love you..."

"Love you too sister..."

...

...

...

Click, click, click, click, click...

---

Sorry for the long chapter wait. At 14 thousand words...I have officially lost all sensation in my thumbs (touchscreen typing).

The only way that you could fully experience this story is if you were to visualize this with your imagination. But, when it comes to the black caverns incident...you might want to not visualize that. Unfortunately, since I'm the writer, I had no choice but to do that...and alas...I'm just disabled my ability to sleep for several days now. For maximum effect, read the black caverns part in a dark room, during midnight, with only the torchlight. Double points if you read it in an actual cave.

Anyway, I was supposed to update TSTOA, but I can't be bothered now since its 3am here and I can't feel my thumbs anymore. So, I guess its back to exploring Arendelle on Minecraft (Yes...it exists...).

Thanks to all reviewers and favorites. Also, if you wish to join as a staff member only community, just PM me.

Now one more thing! There are a few stories that I have been reading lately that I absolutely love...and all have the same outline in mind. So, I'll ask you all right here...right now...

Does anyone want me to do a Reader x Elsa / Reader x Anna one shot for this story series? Not necessarily romantic...unless that's what you want. I can see it now...Agdar chasing you across town, wielding a rifle, because you and Elsa had a little "fun"...ehem...sorry...I got a bit carried away there...

Again though, if its a yes, it would probably be a while till I submit such a story. Just a thought...just a thought.

-TacticX