The Girl With A Frozen Touch

Chapter Twenty One: Into The Fog

By: The Firebending Frog

Disclaimer:

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

A couple of warm days led to it, The days were above freezing and would turn the snow into a slushy mess that I knew would only freeze once they ended. Every day it was the same thing, slushy land and at night it grew so slippery the guards used salt from the salt mines in the mountains to melt it and keep it from getting out of control. The days were boring but night was when it got interesting. Night brought in the fog. The fog was a very strange thing, after another day of warmth I awoke to see my vision was impaired by the floating veil. I could only see so far into the distance and then nothingness awaited. Night was even stranger, the fog would build up on my window cutting out my view and leaving me with a curious feeling. I wanted to know what lurked out there, what needed the chilling vapor to hide itself.

"Now don't you go outside Elsa." Gerda would warn when she came with fresh bedding, "Strange things lurk in that fog, legends twisted and formed by ages of people, but there lies a truth in their stories, something caused them, and if I had to guess that something isn't anything good."

I was used to these teachings, legends that always taught you something or a horrible monster would come get you, they were never true of course but they were fun to listen to even if I knew they had no truth behind them. Gerda was especially superstitious, No matter what I was always under close watch on the Thirteenth of every month, It made me uneasy to think her crazy superstitions were believed so much. But then again I did enjoy those days when I'd sit before the spinning wheel watching Gerda work and listen to the many stories she would tell me while creating string and yarn for her and my mother's sewing. Going outside was almost strictly forbidden for me, it was very icy and the fog could lead to consequences my mother listed off such as falling off a cliff, running into a wall, and knocking yet another tooth out. I could see her concern but I found myself staring out the windows for long periods of time. That was with the exception of Gabe, The fog had fueled his desire to teach me the legends of the Rotten Forest, and with every lesson I learned more, got more correct, and even took more risks with words I didn't know so well.

"... And She died in that pool of mud, regretting that she didn't eat her vegetables." Gabe concluded and I rolled my eyes, the story had been good but the lesson was about as skewed as you could imagine, If you didn't eat your vegetables a giant husk of corn would come and steal you away, escape was impossible seeing as you'd just fall in a mud puddle and drown.

"Another happy ending." I muttered.

"There are few stories that end happily about those woods, I've seen them and they don't inspire anything but the darkest of tales." Gabe explained with a smirk grabbing my paper and cocking his eyebrows, that either meant I did really good or really bad, I was never able to read further than that.

"How'd I do?" I asked in excitement.

"Elsa, half these words you shouldn't even know how to spell!" He exclaimed holding the paper so I could see it and pointing at the word Excruciating with a long and boney finger.

"I actually just guessed that one." I shrugged with a innocent smile, "I had a gut feeling."

"Are you sure there isn't something magical about you Elsa?" he asked jokingly, as he always did when I did something outside the usual age demographic.

"Nope." I lied with a wry smile, "I'm just a normal princess."

"Of four years and yet you seem to be studying twelve year old content with ease." Gabe muttered turning to face the skull with the jeweled eyes I guessed it helped him think, "There must be some explanation."

"Maybe you just aren't used to being around kids." I replied, "I bet Anna will be the same way."

Years later I would look back at that statement and slap my forehead. Anna was never even close to on Par with me when it came to learning. But How could I know that, she was just under eight months old.

"Perhaps." Gabe nodded stroking his moustache before turning to me, "Now tidy up your things, we're done for the day."

I blinked, that was odd, normally we'd stay for another hour at least. I was confused and Gabe noticed this all over my face.

"I didn't expect you to get everything right." he explained, "You cut our lesson short with that brilliant mind of yours there dear. Now run along, I have work to do, things to study, and a lesson to plan."

I nodded, happy with my answer as I straightened everything and pushed my chair back before standing up and feeling my legs stiffen from sitting for so long, how I retained the attention span confused me as well but I turned and marched down the stairs in my usual pattern not giving it a second thought.

The stairs leading to the hall were cold and damp from the excessive moisture in the air, it didn't bother me at all and to be perfectly honest I kind of enjoyed it. But once I reached the bottom I was greeted with something equally amazing. A trail of damp footprints in the carpet, obviously from a guard, but my eyes lit up with the prospect of an adventure. I began to follow them, At first there were clumps of damp snow but they faded and I was left with moist carpet, and then random dribbles, and then nothing. I looked up disappointed upon realizing my game was over. I looked around and realized I was in the east side of the castle, an area I rarely ventured into, This was where guests would stay and occasionally people from ships stuck in Fjord. I knew only one room, the gable that my mother had stayed in whenever her father dragged her to Arendelle on trade meetings. I'd been introduced to it and that was about all I knew about this side of the castle. I also knew my mother had stayed in it the month before my parents got married, it was still littered with objects that had belonged to her, ones old and ones new, she still visited the place and if my father liked to stay in his parlor my mother liked this room.

I crept forward and pushed the door open to find stuff my mother used all the time. The left side of the room was a time capsule of my mother in her last days as a teenager before she became an adult, the other side was much more modern with piles of ornate silk and sewing material along with novels from the library. I didn't care for that half of the room, to me it was and always would represent boredom, even in my adult years. The left side was more my style. A map was pegged to a wall by four daggers. Yes my mother kept a map up with daggers. A line of books were along the shelf. Each one bigger than the last, all lined up in the order they'd been read. on this side was a window with a ledge covered in cushions, I could just picture my mother crammed into the space in a very unladylike fashion reading some novel about a knight rescuing a princess. The cushions were well kept but worn, they didn't showcase anything of recent use. I kind of felt sad that my mother had abandoned this part of her life, she said she'd always been adventurous as a child but when she was married her life changed direction and she had to abandon her old ways. I didn't see how her old ways couldn't change direction with her at the same time.

I walked to the four poster bed which was as unused as the ledge on the gabled roof that made the roof of the room slope making one wall shorter than the other. On the right side as well was a desk with fresh sewing material on it. My mother would come here and sew with Gerda on Thursdays no matter what the weather was like. If I knew how to sew I would've been using nice weather as an opportunity to sew outside. But besides that the room was quite bare save the curtains that could be pulled over the ledge to induce privacy and a small ugly carpet on the ground that had a very flawed design and hadn't been crafter with much skill.

I stood there for a while marvelling at the roof and the bed before I realized where I was, I was in the east side of the castle, an area seldom explored. Lord Alendmac had been inhabiting this area during my exploration craze, and he was scary. But right now every room should be empty. So with giddy excitement I rushed out the door andwalked straight into the room left of it. I was greeted with a plain room with nothing save a dresser and a queen sized bed. I frown in disappointment. It was boring. I left quickly and soon found each and every room was identical minus the gable. It made me upset to see such a lack of creativity and I was mad at my parents. I walked out and paused turning around. Maybe I was overreacting, I mean, no one would be upset if they got the bad room, and every room was nice. It was all neat and orderly and was meant to be slept in not to play in or anything.

I found massive amounts of comfort looking at the stuff I liked rather than the stuff I disliked, the optimism was foreign to my mind but welcome, a rare expression of a trait that as I'd found I normally focused on the opposite. I preferred to pick apart the negative qualities until something was perfectly suited to my standards. However I couldn't fight the fact that this side of the castle was far less exciting than I preferred, which was ironic seeing as years later I'd spend a lot of time on this side hiding from Anna and reading or secretly playing with my powers. So I straightened my dress and started to head back only to pause and turn to the left, in the middle of the guest rooms was a large and ornate door, far different from anything else I'd seen on this side, I was actually surprised that I had missed it. I looked left and right, I knew I was probably allowed in the room but if a guard caught me and notified I wasn't allowed in I'd be disappointed and never know what was through it.

The door was red and covered in flowery patterns as if it was the entrance to the throne room of some king in a far away country, I'd heard stories about the large throne rooms in a country called Agrabah. I walked forward and reached for the gold coloured knocker, I was too short and sighed in sadness, why couldn't I be tall? Well for one thing I may have been lacking in height but I was clearly a creative person with the ability to make something work using anything around me because I walked to one of the suits of armour and stealthily pulled a leg off it. The suit stayed in place due to the other leg being rooted in place but it leaned awkwardly towards the missing leg side and would probably have been awkward if someone was to wear it. I placed the exoskeleton of metal down under the door and reached up pulling on the knocker, My hand was just high enough to push it up to the point where a click was heard and the door squeaked open. I jumped off and returned the leg back to its owner although strangely and I knew a servant would simply fix it later. I pulled the door open from a crack and was greeted with thick tendrils of fog that rushed into the castle door and embraced me with thick arms. I could see a little ways ahead of me and noted that it was a secluded courtyard much smaller than the ones I usually ventured into. A single tree lined the middle of the yard and I couldn't see past it thanks to the fog.

The splendor my eyes beheld on that tree however made me forget every warning I'd ever been gven about the fog, and I was sure everyone would have done the same. It was such a romantic sight. Like something out of a fairy tale. off the tree hung hundreds of icicles dusted with frost from the night air. They made it look thick and my guess would be that it sounded like chimes when it was windy I could only marvel and not touch this beauteous sight. I stepped out of the light from the castle and didn't even notice the door close until only a crack of light remained. The moonlight through the fog made the area shine brighter with more of a romantic setting. I skirted around the pond that was outlined with snow and crossed the small bridge that resembled Asian style architecture.

I was enamoured, I was in heaven, it may have been a simple small courtyard but it was so peaceful and quiet that I couldn't help but simply wander around in awe. The small area kept me from wandering deep into the fog but once I reached the far wall I turned and noted that I couldn't see the door. I knew exactly where it was but I couldn't see it anymore. Suddenly everything turned uninviting as either a cloud passed over the sun or some sort of dimming in the light happened because the whimsical frost on the tree faded and all that remained were sharp and creepy points. Colours faded and the mist began to swirl on the bridge at the edge of my sight. Figures swirled in it, memories, fantasies, eyes, figures, everything I could imagine. Some friendly some frightening. But as it grew darker the whimsical things began to vanish leaving more sharp and frightening things. Eventually all the light seemed to vanish and I was left staring into a cloudy fog with nothing to greet me. Save one thing. Standing on the bridge suddenly was a figure in a tattered and ripped cloak. Green light emitted from it and a shiver passed down my spine as I stared. I began to wonder if my eyes were playing tricks on me when the figure took off from the ground and began floating towards me. I rightfully backed into the wall breathing heavily as it came face to face with me, I couldn't see past the shadows outlining its face but it drew a raspy breath similar to how Anna did when she was about to scream. I flinched away when suddenly light began to return and the figure looked up before bursting into mist and rejoining the swirling figures in the mist.

I dashed back to the castle with no time to spare and burst through the door my eyes wide and my hair a wild and untamed mess. My clothes were damp and my skin was colder than normal as I re-entered the heat of the building. I leaned back and heard the door slam behind me, a click sounded indicating that the door had been locked again, I was cut off from the beauty of the garden and the absolute terror of whatever was in that fog. Things I couldn't explain, maybe it was just my mind or maybe. Just maybe it was real and I'd narrowly escaped death.

I never make the same mistake twice, that was something about me that differed from other kids. So once I was aware of how creepy that fog really was I didn't wander out into it again. After that day I'd return to the main area of the castle and ascend the stairs from the entry hall towards my room whenever my lessons finished. I'd come to realize how close to the entry of the castle we actually lived. It was so close I had to wonder if it was even safe. But every day I'd ascend the same grand staircase and look down the hall with the royal bedrooms to see the spiral one opposite and the door leading to the servants quarters. The castle seemed much larger now for some reason, maybe I had just hit that mental age where I'd started to notice these things.

Anna however was way behind me in terms of noticing stuff. She was still captivated by the sight of fire and I couldn't really blame her I bet I had been the same way. Anna didn't seem to like the fog however, she would cry whenever we took her to the window to see it and if I wasn't already annoyed by her crying at night it got even more annoying when she caught something.

"MAKE HER STOP!" I yelled from my bed as my mother shushed my wailing sister in her crib. I was in my nightgown and ready for bed but Anna wouldn't stop bawling. She'd turned from adorable to amazingly angry in a single week. January was just ending and I was ready to move on. The fog outside had gotten worse again and was as thick as it had been at the start of the week. But I hadn't even noticed since Anna had started to leak snot and cry all the time. It was nothing compared to what I'd caught a few weeks ago and almost died from but she was acting like she'd just been stabbed.

"Anna is sick and doesn't know how to tell us about it." My mother coaxed with a sigh as Anna fell silent into a whimper and I relaxed only to have her wail again and make me cover my ears.

Unaware of y mother's stress I began to tear up in frustration and cry as well, If I didn't have my face down in my blankets I would've seen the look of death she'd just shot me, she knew I knew how to communicate and I was just being a brat now.

"Elsa please stop." She ordered after regaining her ability to deal with her two children.

I mumbled something she couldn't hear into the pillows and she gave an exasperated sigh.

"Please repeat that." She demanded.

"Mama, when do babies learn to speak?" I demanded.

"Are we talking about you or normal babies" She asked, "Because you were forming full sentences at eighteen months when most kids that age can only speak several words."

"So ten months." I groaned letting my face fall into the blankets, "That's forever and a day away."

"She won't cry as much as she gets older.' My mother explained and just to contradict that Anna began crying so hard no one could hear anything over the bawling. I screamed in frustration and tiredness and my mother just about enough.

It took half an hour to calm Anna down enough to fall asleep, but even in her sleep Anna would whimper and groan making it hard for me to even relax. But I couldn't scream in frustration or she'd wake up and make it even harder for me to sleep. So I walked to the window and looked out into the fog hoping it would make me tired enough to sleep, if I wore myself out maybe I'd become unconscious quicker. I stared out there for what seemed like hours and eventually the moon was covered by a cloud and the room fell completely dark. I watched as water began to condense on the window and freeze creating a very thick barrio I couldn't see through. I scowled angry that the fog wouldn't just leave Arendelle. Why couldn't it just get cold again and whisk it away.

Murmuring to myself I began to return to my bed only to hear a raspy exhaling noise. I turned and looked at the window curiously. It was still fogged up, So I assumed it was just Anna breathing. It sounded again and I wondered what exactly was going on. And with a very drawn out pause the room began to chill, mostly my fault as a fearful shiver went down my spine. I watched as fingerprints appeared on the outside of the window and then a hand, long and darkened as if it were gloved, except the fingers were boney and as black as the night. With a wipe a peephole was created and a cloaked face stared at me trapped outside. I couldn't see past the shadows of the hood but I began to shake and my lips trembled. It gave a raspy breath before continuing to stare at me. It just sat there looking in the window, unmoving, not a single hint that it was even alive save the occasional raspy breath drawn. I didn't even notice the ice growing from around my feet, it began to climb up my legs rooting me to the spot and snowflakes began to fall from my fingers. Cold airy breath escaped my lungs and the ice expanded and expanded creating sharp patterns in contrast to the flowery ones that normally erupted from my feet. The moon didn't shine, I just stood there frozen and icicles began to form from the ground raising up like stalagmites made of ice.

As fear wrapped around me the snowflakes coming from my hands began to swirl around out of control the ice began to darken and I felt like I had little to no control over my powers. The air had grown very dry, rightfully so seeing as I'd been sucking every drop of moisture from the air into my powers. Even I was starting to feel a little dehydrated but I couldn't stop I was staring into an unknown thing. The same thing that had scared me earlier that week. I suddenly snapped out of my trance and noticed the growing icicles, they were as tall as me now and twice as thick. I was creating a dangerous situation I sucked my breath in and willed something to happen that I didn't even think was possible I felt cold air currents outside the castle and willed them to blow harder. They blew the cloud away from the sun and the thing burst into fog just like before. I gave an exhaled breath of relief and looked around guiltily. The entire floor was coated in ice, the massive pillars of ice were everywhere and I was stuck knee deep in a half formed stalagmite. I couldn't let my parents see this or they'd kill me.

I concentrated on the ice itself and let go of my powers, I felt a soothing warm tingle down my spine and they began to steam and erupt into snowflakes. as they shrunk it got very humid in the room and the pillars didn't melt they just evaporated, skipping a step in the water cycle all together. They vanished as soon as they'd appeared and I was left in a humid room that was almost like it had been before I was scared. The warm tingle ended and drowsiness hit me like a carriage. I felt like I'd just run around the castle fifteen times and then ate a huge meal. But yet I was hungry and thirsty, I couldn't fight the wave of drowsiness though and I fell to the floor asleep before I even made contact.

The next morning I awoke in my bed, For a second I thought I had dreamed up last night's events until I realized Anna was gone. My mother must have come in and put me in my bed. My stomach gurgled and I almost cried out, the only problem was my mouth was so dry the only noise to come out was a raspy squeak. I blew air out my nose and quickly hopped out of bed, avoiding sunbeams because the light was far too bright and my eyes hadn't adjusted. I paused, I could see sunshine. I rushed to the window and stared out, the fog was gone, it looked cold, and everything was coated in a layer of ice. The trees, the walls, the masts of the ships, they were all coated in frost from the excessive moisture. It was a wondrous sight to behold. I couldn't even contain myself. I needed to go outside and play, I needed to! However like most mornings I was kept from anything fun by my parents.

First I was made to eat something and hurriedly ate my breakfast without complaint. Then my mother stuffed me in the bathtub and I was clean in record time. Following that I put on the nicest dress I had that my parents would let me wear outside. A nice blue one that only reached to the tops of my boots. I then put on my jacket, bundled up as best I could so I looked natural outside and marched out into the brand new landscape. Cold air rushed into my face pushing my hair back and chilling my face. I pulled the cap down even more onto my head so my hair would stop whipping into my mouth. It was made of fur and as soft as a cloud. I took one step slipped backwards on the ice and fell onto my bottom. My teeth rattled from the harsh slip and my ice tooth came loose and fell into my hand.

"Ouch." I mumbled standing up and grabbing onto the low stone fountain next to me. While supporting myself I reinserted my tooth and looked about the courtyard. Two guards stood at the open gates but besides that the area was deserted, no one had seen my fall. Instead of walking I began sliding on my boots until I reached an area that had salt all over it and wasn't so slippery. There I started my walk up to the wall enjoying the sights that I beheld before me. The trees lining the front courtyard were just beautifully coated in ice Like they were cocooned butterflies but were actually trees... or something... They were pretty.

I climbed the stairs protruding from the castle wall and walked across the top until I reached the part that let me walk out into the fjord. I'd pass a guard and they'd greet me with a friendly "Good Morning Princess." and lift their hats, I either grinned at them or if I wasn't walking I'd curtsy like my mother did when she met people. I think they liked me showing respect as if I was grateful for their service, and I was. I made my way to the end where the tower lay. I walked inside and looked to my left, there was a staircase made of dark grey stone. But I ignored it and proceeded forward, a small circular ledge sat here. It was about the size of a small bedroom with walls as tall as me surrounding it. In the center was bell made of bronze supported by large pine boards that made a small square with a domed roof. I stepped up onto a small ledge so I could see over the wall and marvelled at the fjord.

Ice was around the beaches and extended to about five meters from shore. All the way around. The two ships were being chiselled at. men chipped away ice so that the ships could sail later and not have to worry about being slow or becoming stranded so the men had to row. I loved the look of the town as well, smoke curled from every chimney giving it an appealing look that told me there were plenty of fires burning out there. It looked like a frosted town made of gingerbread, Every colour sharp and every building frosted. People milled about going about their daily lives and I felt a sudden pang of jealousy, I'd never be able to do that stuff. But the pang ended and I looked down and noticed that among the rocks was a lot of ice It clambered up the wall grown overnight from the sea spray. It was wonderful. Every detail of Arendelle my father's people. No My people. When I sat there looking out on all the little people, young and old I felt like the queen of all that I surveyed.

"One day." Was all that I could say as I continued to watch from a distance glad I could experience what I'd been handed without any type of danger to myself. Well almost no danger. I had to keep one thing to myself. My powers, but I was pretty good at keeping them hidden, and nothing I could think of would change that.

And so ends yet another chapter. The Fog was based off what was going on in my town not too long ago. We had this cloud of fog that stuck around for three days, vanished and then appeared again and vanished again. So I decided to use it here. I liked the idea of not knowing what was going on in it. That instead of everything fading in the distance to nothing you see things swirling in it that you can't explain. I especially liked introducing the legends associated with it, I got downright creative with them. However I also acknowledged that most legends are dumb and don't have much to them. But alas here I had fun. I decided to make those legends real too, or at least some of them, I liked the idea of an intimidating figure with a tattered cloak the best, I thought of what works well in fog and the only things that came to mind were Banshee's, dementors, and the ghost of Christmas yet to come. So I took elements from them and made a creature that only appears when the light is at its dullest (I.E: a cloud passing over the sun or moon.) and hovers around almost mystically. I also had an idea where someone was supposed to be breaking into the castle but I decided to instead play with something. I made the beast appear at Elsa's window attracted like it was supposed to be in the legend I wrote at the start to her misbehaving and make her feel fear. Like how she was fearful in the movie. Yeah when she's scared her powers are out of control both defending her and hindering her I loved writing those icicles, I just pictured it and had to write it. But I decided to end with something nice. Showing Elsa's childish side and love for the whimsy of nature. So yeah it was corny but it was needed after a very dark and dull chapter filled with fog. Well it's off to the next chapter I go... AWAY!

My Poll is still running for anyone who's interested.