The Girl With A Frozen Touch

Chapter Twenty: Lessons of the Literary Kind

By: The Firebending Frog

Disclaimer:

I do not own Frozen, it is the property of Disney animation studios and Disney itself.

Chapter 20, Oh how far we've come yet how far we have to go yet. But this is a new chapter with no mistakes in it yet, a clean slate to create an adventure that has yet to be written. Enjoy my readers, enjoy.

Light flittered through the frost coated trees and shone down on the ground dappling it with sharp snowflake designs. I could barely contain myself. Something had happened overnight and now there was an inch of frost on each tree branch blown to the east and ending in jagged icicles no bigger than my thumb. If your eyes weren't captured you clearly didn't have as good of vision or as vivid an imagination as I did. That was one thing that kept me entertained on these snowy days where I was all alone. My imagination. Despite it being clear and sunny I could see a snowstorm brewing over the North Mountain, the winds would change later and it would be blown into Arendelle coating the town and castle in a fresh coat of frosty snow that would crunch beneath my feet.

I was in the gardens yet again, trying to enjoy my last minutes before I was eaten alive by my foe. Oh I was onto him, I knew what he was and why he was there, my parents would regret it when they found my cleaned skeleton in that tower with a shapeshifting monster over me. But if I whined I'd be sent to my room and still have to go up there to "Learn to read and write.". Why didn't anyone believe me anyway, He was so clearly a monster, even though I didn't have proof at all.

I'd been trying to convince them but there was no evidence, I mean, Gabe was strange but it was a normal kind of strange. The weirdest art was his habit of reading while standing, I'd never seen anyone do that before, It kind of scared me and my overactive imagination imagined some diabolical reasoning for it. But as it stands you can't avoid fate can you?

As if on cue one of the guards walked into the garden, his left eye still looked terrible with burns sweeping over it, but to be fair when they did heal to the point where it was almost normal he was going to look cool. His little run in with The Fire breather had caused a lot popularity and he was just smiling because of it, even if it had been two weeks already and January was drawing to a very chilling close.

"Princess Elsa, you're needed in the north tower." he announced with a slight bow of his head, "Your father said your lessons begin today."

"Okay." I replied nervously, not knowing what awaited me in that tower. I followed the guard up through the castle, it seemed to be a much longer walk than normal and my dread only grew and grew and grew as we approached the north tower, My mind began to race, would my magic make a good weapon, was I strong enough to use blunt objects for self defense. I really couldn't concentrate, the halls were a blur of colour and before I knew it the Guard came to a halt outside a door, I swallowed and opened it nervously, expecting arms to grab me but I was simply greeted by a steep and winding staircase that would hurt if you fell down it.

I looked at the guard for sympathy but he was busy reading a note on when he was scheduled to work until, he was probably looking forward to another nice night at the town's pub: The Silver Snowflake. So without any other options I began to ascend the stairwell, My feet made loud clicking noises every time they made contact with the floor, and it just echoed through the stairwell, Gabe would know I was coming well before I even got to the top. Rusted torch holders held torches that were half burnt out, an occasional lantern presented itself but they were few and far between.

Eventually I reached the top of the stairs and stared at the old wooden door before me, It was like the one in my tower but minus the rotting wood and smell of mould. I breathed out deeply holding my hand behind my back as I felt a cold tingle go down my spine. The white a blue dress I was wearing began to blow slightly in the self made wind and I knocked on the door. Heavy footsteps echoed across the tower's stone floor, The winds picked up speed, the door opened, my eyes widened and Gabe swung it open his moustache being blown back by the windstorm that was brewing behind me.

"Come in, before that draft gives you a cold." He smiled motioning for me to come in. I did enter but kept my eyes trained on him the entire time waiting for some hideous monster to come in. My scared attitude caused a window to blow open hiding the swirl of cold air that was caused by my fear. While he frantically ran to the window muttering under his breath I examined the room. It was very homely looking, Books stood in stacks everywhere. Ink wells, Quills, Pencils, and lots of paper and parchment either in stacks or rolls. A diagram of what appeared to be a monster made of stone was on a large stand and next to a stool, My guess was he'd sketched it. Books lay open on the desk, and a human skull with amethyst crystals for eyes grinned at me while a candle sat on top with melted wax pouring down like a frozen waterfall.

I was so distracted that I failed to notice Gabe standing next to me until he was already there.

"Well take a seat." He stated startling me, I regained my suspicious attitude and he walked over to a chalkboard with letters all over it. I'd seen them all over books and could very easily patch them together and sound them out, That's probably why I was so good at speaking, I'd been sounding out letters and stringing them together since I'd started speaking so I knew what they sounded like. Before me was a chair and a small desk that usually sat in the entryway covered in flowers, but now it was grim looking and ripe for the many doodles that would corrupt its surface in the months to come. I took a seat, the chair was uncomfortable and one leg was shorter than the others, It annoyed me greatly for some reason, If you're going to make a chair at least make all the legs an even length.

"So you want to learn how to read and write?" Gabe asked pushing the board into my sight, I caught sight of paper tacked to the other side and got all curious inside.

"Um, yeah, about that..." I trailed, "Maybe I am too young to learn this stuff."

"If I can teach you can learn." He replied, nodding to my table, I looked down and noticed for the first time a light story in a book bound with tight leather, It was several pages long and had vivid drawings inside. The title Read: The Enchanted Garden. I had no idea what it meant or even how many words I could understand in it, but all I could actually understand was The and Gibberish.

"So you're teaching me?" I asked sceptically.

"Yes what else would I be doing?" Gabe asked, "Now we'll start with seeing how quickly you learn, what does this say?"

I stared at the letters, I had no clue what they meant and I shrugged.

"Okay, we may need to start simpler." gabe muttered before smiling, "Okay, I see you're very good at talking and speech."

I nodded lowering my guard with every second.

"Try sounding out the word as if you're talking." Gabe explained before sounding out each letter on the board for me and telling me to ask him if I had any questions, I did and he ended up repeating it several times and I repeated it back several times, when he felt as though I was ready he told me to try the word again.

"Sea." I stated, "But wait, isn't that spelled S-e-e?"

"Yes, but we're talking about two different words here, The one you're thinking of is for sight, the one I'm teaching is for a large body of water." he explained and I nodded in understanding. Wondering when we were going to start on the book.

We didn't, I spent three hours, three hours sitting there repeating words and sounding them out, and to be honest I was disappointed when the clock struck four and he told me I was dismissed. I protested happy to have a occupation that kept me busy for hours upon end but he shooed me out of the room in a hurry and I trudged down the stairs with a huge frown plastered on my face. Every step I took I felt myself more distracted. Not by what I'd just learned but by what had gone on in that room. Gabe had actually taught me something, he hadn't just shifted form and become a powerful demon or a monster. Maybe my imagination was really getting away from me. But the thoughts stopped once I entered the hall and I turned towards my bedroom looking forward to the lessons the next day.

All I can say about my evening was pure annoyance. A number of things made it hard to get through. For starters my Mother kept me at least three feet from anything flame related at all times. It annoyed me that since the whole fire incident she hated me being around anything remotely dangerous. So I had to sit next to Anna while she chattered with some old lady in the parlor. Anna as you might know has an obsession with me, and it didn't help that teeth were starting to sprout from her gums making her bite as bad as her whine. The advantages I had over Anna were starting to diminish. Some habits that annoyed me had stopped, like now she didn't burst into tears for everything but now had different emotions for different feelings. However she'd grown adept at crawling and now started to try and climb things as if she was a crow hopping from on branch to a higher one. So as you can imagine I'd be scared out of my mind while sitting on a chair that she started to climb up just so she could bite my fingers and my hair.

Speaking of hair the blonde in Anna's hair had diminished greatly, it was still very blonde but I'd noticed a larger lean towards a more grown Strawberry Blonde, a colour that was more golden than red but not as dark and wouldn't fade to Auburn. This made sense in comparison to my platinum blonde hair that now seemed to reflect my powers more than ever. Although I did wonder how my parents who both had brown hair could possibly be related to us at times before I realized I had my mother's face and most of her features. Anna's face also exploded into a freckly mess. Okay that's a little harsh but she'd started to get dots all over her shoulders and the bridge of her nose. Her cheeks were starting to get them too. This had only started to happen when we'd moved into the new room and like a cat Anna liked laying in the sun to sleep so we just kept her crib in the sun and she fell asleep quickly despite the light coming from our window. When I'd first seen them I couldn't help but stare, Freckles were pretty rare in Arendelle and even rarer in the large numbers Anna got them. But overall Anna had turned from an annoying whiny baby into someone who was at least bearable, well at least until she started walking, the day that started would be a nightmare.

As I'd mentioned earlier me and Anna were sitting side by side several feet from the fireplace, Anna was chewing on the head of the doll I'd given her in a type of morbid fashion seeing as she was technically chewing on my head. I sat there with my doll slightly bored but having fun letting my imagination go wild with the dancing shadows the fire cast.

Anna was very happy even if she only had four teeth at the moment and communicated with gurgles and grunts. She seemed to like my company and I didn't mind it anymore. I'd grown accustomed to having a younger sister and now I could have some fun with her, Even without using magic. Sure her short hair wasn't long enough to be braided yet and her attention spam rivaled a fish but she was learning and I had a sort of bond that was perched between annoyance and absolute adoration. Sometimes I couldn't stand her and sometimes I could. The night started with the Latter but quickly devolved into the first option.

As I'd realized Anna was taking a very happy approach to being mobile and even by baby standards she was crawling at the early end of the spectrum. Having her sit still was a rare occurrence, it didn't help that she was instantly attracted to shiny objects like a attention lacking fish. She would regularly glance at the tiara I was wearing, it had been stuffed painfully into my hair and now sat there comfortably having been relaxed and loosening. Anna took advantage of my preoccupied mind and crawled right onto me.

"Anna-" I started before her elbow was in my face and tugged at the tiara making me squeal in pain.

She didn't even know I was in pain, she giggled psychotically and tugged even harder making me scream and tears appear in my eyes. My parents rushed over and tried to loosen Anna's iron like grip while I held the tiara trying to prevent her from ripping my scalp off. And once they pried her loose I backed away leaving a trail of glittering snow and ice on the carpet. Anna giggled like nothing had happened while I glared at her.

"Bad." My mother stated with pursed lips.

"GAH!" Anna cooed patting my mother's face and making her smile. Oh I was onto her, she could convince my mother she was innocent but I was sure she was just plotting her next evil scheme to cause me pain. But she wouldn't get the chance.

I put my hand on the ground and a layer of ice formed I made it rise until it was my height, I copied this four times and then slammed a roof of ice over myself save a small peep hole, my mother noticed the crude and choppy creation that was melting in my father's parlor and sighed.

"Elsa, get out of there." She ordered, "You're going to get the floor wet."

"You can't make me!" I shouted from my fortress of solitude before a chunk of ice fell from the roof and slid down my back not bothering me in the least. I liked the cold.

My mother sighed and walked to a chair plopping Anna down and returning to me, I looked up at her with hostility and she reached into my fort and picked me up out of it.

"YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!" I shouted only to have my mother carry me to a chair and sit me in it

"STAY!" She ordered as I tried to return to the sacred security of my fort. I froze and obediently returned to a dignified sitting position, She looked down at me and didn't look happy in the least, "Elsa, you are not to do such things with your magic, look at the mess you've caused."

I looked to where my father bundled most of my fortress into his hands and dumped it out the window. where it slid off the roof and landed with a thud on a flowerbed frozen in the harsh cold night. I liked the cold blowing in through the window but everyone else looked uncomfortable so I held my tongue. I was certainly in trouble despite the fact Anna had tried to rip my head off. I spent an hour on that seat, thinking it over, I finally decided upon not making forts of snow in the parlor and waited for someone to come congratulate me on my discovery.

No one did, no one even spoke to me, the only company I had was Anna's prying eyes and I did not enjoy it one bit. Minutes turned into an hour and the clock struck Eight and my mother shooed me to bed bringing Anna with her. I was grumpy due to the evening but I wanted to make up for my mistake and respectfully got into my nightgown without question and put the crown on the mantle in front of the mirror. Anna giggled in her crib and my mother helped me get into the bed, due to my short height I found it hard to get up there on my own.

"Goodnight Elsa." She smiled kissing me on the brow. I smiled and caught all my resent escaping, sure she'd made me mad but I couldn't bring myself not to smile when she wished me sweet dreams.

"I love you." I smiled saying what I always did before bed.

"Sweet dreams Elsa." She replied before leaving. I rolled over and stared Anna in the eyes as the light went out. In the last two weeks we'd developed the habit of just staring at each other until one of us fell asleep, it was usually Anna.

"I'm still mad at you." I commented knowing full well she didn't understand. She just blinked lazily and continued to stare, "But I can't bring myself to dislike you... I'll forgive you in the morning. Goodnight Anna, don't wake me up screaming again."

Anna just yawned and her blue eyes shut leaving no one to talk to and a very empty feeling inside. My body was beginning to warm up from my earlier anger and distress and it felt nice, a lot nicer than when my powers started to work. I smiled and rolled over, I was really happy, not because I was learning, not because my sister was getting less annoying. No I was happy because I had powers, powers I could use for fun and never let a single day of my life be boring.

"No, it's pronounced Arendelle, not Ardenbell!" Gabe exclaimed with a massive sigh as I blinked in confusion at the spelling of my kingdom. it just didn't make sense to me yet.

"I'm sorry." I apologized with a stiff face, "W-What else did I pronounce wrong?"

We'd been studying the map of the areas around Arendelle for over two hours now and it was clear I was learning things but the pronunciation seemed to bother gabe exceptionally, I'd already learned how to say Corona, London, France, Arendelle, Caspian, and Weselton.

"The only one left is Weselton, not weaseltown." He explained knowing I wouldn't make the same mistake twice, it had become quite clear quite quickly that I was a quick learner and we never needed to backtrack and even when we did I made few to no mistakes and errors.

"Sorry." I apologized pursing my lips and feeling like a failure.

"Enough feeling sorry for yourself." Gabe muttered flipping the board over to reveal a detailed map of Arendelle and the surrounding towns and villages, "Now what is this town called?"

I stared at the place where his finger was pointing and gears began to grind in my head, it was the same town that Kristopher kid had lived in, Mandraksville. Very confusing name but I remembered the pronunciation and the spelling lined up.

"Mandraksville." I muttered in boredom while I scribbled on the desk with my pencil. The lead stank of mines so I preferred to use quills but in this scenario Pencils were more hidden and secret. I'm pretty sure Gabe knew of my scribbling but he either didn't care or didn't have to care. Either way I was fine with it.

"Okay then, You know the north mountain-" He started.

"Yes." I stated out of turn.

"Elsa I implore you let me finish without interrupting me." he ordered.

I pretended to lock my mouth and threw the key away.

"Kindleshire was what we went over yesterday." he muttered while thinking to himself loudly, "That leaves one last thing on your map studies and then we can move onto short stories."

"What's that?" I asked and Gabe pointed at the woods nearby.

The map had it detailed in creepy and dark ink without any light or happy colours, it was dreadful, even the words were etched in a creepy form of hand writing.

"The Rotten Forest?" I asked loudly, "What's that?"

Gabe seemed to smirk upon hearing me say this, he moved his hand down to the Stone Circles a natural hot spring full of rocks with weird symbols on them where trolls were said to live.

"Scientifically the heat from the hot springs in the stone circle cause the ground to suck out any nutrients and left this once mighty forest dead." He explained, "But as legends tell us the guardian of the forest was tainted by a poison and the entire forest and its inhabitants grew dark and deadly, mutating into horrific beasts of magical might."

"Sure..." I trailed not believing what he was saying, it was like something from a storybook my mother would read me, about mythical beasts and magic.

"Huh, I would have thought you out of all people would find the subject interesting." Gabe stated making my body stiffen, "I mean you have such an active imagination stories like that would likely fuel it."

I relaxed slightly realizing he didn't know about my powers.

"Actually that gives me an idea." Gabe stated with a thoughtful look, "Why don't we start your advanced reading with legends and myths from those woods, they range from well developed to very easy to read. A perfect place for a brimming mind to begin. Of course I will have to start with the simple ones but you are a quick learner, much better than people twice your age even, You just have a natural gift in literacy."

"Do I?" I asked, slightly shocked by this, I'd heard of people being smart but I didn't think I was among the smart group. It seemed a little out of my reach, something way beyond my years, I should be focusing on simple words and learning the alphabet not deciphering entire stories.

"Of course, but I will have to make allotments for your learning level." he explained, "We'll read over the story and I'll have you write words that you know and spell check them, when I'm satisfied I will move onto the next one. We'll continue with lessons of course but the only way I can see you learning is by expanding that vocabulary and teaching you what those words you know already mean."

"You think I'm ready for that?" I asked sceptically.

"I know you're ready." Gabe nodded, "Once I get the words in your head and you start reading on your own there is no stopping you from continuing to learn."

I felt odd, as if I was learning something I shouldn't, becoming a child who was literate at such a young age would get me many weird looks. But then my mind wandered to the library and the countless books that filled it, I wanted to read every single one, I wanted to learn their secrets and know their stories. Maybe I'd find answers or maybe I'd find ways to improve myself but it was a horizon to stride towards and I was both excited and scared at the prospect.

"I will warn you however." Gabe explained, "Most kids don't start reading until they get to be about six years old, so this may be very difficult for you, I've noticed that you learn slowly but when you learn it you don't forget it. Now run along, I have some work to do."

I nodded and pushed the chair back, straightening the blouse I was wearing and running to the door before bouncing down the stairs. Gabe tapped his chin as I left as if he was thinking of something very deep. Something only he knew.

"You're having an effect on her old friend." he muttered to nothing in particular, "And I don't like it."

A creepy airy sound was his response.

I continued down the stairs and into the halls, I grinned and gazed around, everything seemed so welcoming after hours of learning and scrawling on a paper with a quill. The light, the shining armour that lined the hallways. All I could do was walk slowly down it preparing for that evening when I'd have a little fun.

Sharp moonlight pierced through the window as Agdar tidied up the parlor, He wouldn't even let Gerda touch the place to clean it, he felt as if it was his own personal space in the castle that no one was allowed to touch except the ruler. He shut the book he'd purchased in town the other day and sighed, he hadn't learnt anything new, nothing, and he was even angrier at Beresard, was it really his incompetent parenting. Elsa would be fine if she got accustomed to using her powers but the man didn't trust her upbringing enough and had put her in foul danger.

Agdar drummed his hands on the table before sighing and walking to the fireplace. The last dying embers were sitting in the soot and he pulled out the stroker and instead of stirring them he plunged it in and raised the amulet out. The crystal pendent shone with snowy magic even while being covered in ash. He lifted it to his hand and clenched it hard. He couldn't, no he wouldn't let this foul magic destroy his daughter. He'd learned enough to know there were other ways, couldn't they find a more practical weakness. One that didn't revolve around such a dangerous artifact. Agdar drummed his hands on the wall while thinking to himself. he walked over to the chessboard perfectly set up and ready to be played. He made his decision and began to rearrange the pieces in a very specific pattern. A snowflake, All the White pieces faced his desk and the board which was bolted into the table gave a sharp click. The floor behind his desk gave a small squeak and he walked over pushing a small cabinet out of the way revealing a trapdoor, it was normally hidden by a stone slab but now was free. Agdar plucked his crown off and inserted it into the small keyhole. The door gave a click and he pulled it open and began to climb down but just before his head vanished he looked around suspiciously before closing it behind him leaving everything to reset back into place save his chessboard and the crown which he pulled down with him. No one would know he'd been there, no one would know where he'd hidden it, no one, not even Elsa.

Never Elsa.

Well I'm doing my own thing with this magic stuff now, I have ideas that make sense I'm just going to formulate them properly. with that final note it's being put on hold until I need it again, circa nine year old Elsa. Okay! Now to the fun stuff, I loved playing with Elsa's imagination and her learning to read, and actually finding it... Fun! Yeah I know, "How can books be fun?" Well you're technically reading one. And you guys can steer the story wherever you want by voting on my poll, just go to my profile and see the mess my stories call home! But alas, I'm done with creepy foreshadowing, and I decided to let Elsa learn about magic with the viewer instead of it being explained to us and confusing us more. It'll start off simple but as Elsa learns so will we. For now though we must ask the big question that is immediately effecting the story, What's up with Gabe, he seems nice but what exactly is having an effect on Elsa? And what is this effect? Well there's only one way to find out and that's for me to write the next chapter. Right now though I'm focusing on Elsa's learning, The bond between her and Anna, and of course the bond between the parents and Elsa herself because it has to be strong and it has to be believable to make the biggest plot hole in Frozen workable. But alas let's just focus on what's good. I'll drop a future hint once or twice, and heck that shapeshifter might come back, I now have a reason for him to do so. More characters, old characters, and a few more adventures await us before we get to that however. Everyone has a secret, and whether they keep it or not is yet to be found out.

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