"BRACE FOR IMPACT!"
With the Nøkk's increased power and speed the ship took just under ten minutes to get back to Arendelle, with the momentum causing it to crash hard on to the beach and fling everyone overboard. They all grunted and groaned as they landed on the muddy riverbank, having ended up on the other side of the island about a quarter of a mile from the North Mountain.
Despite the situation they were currently in, the sisters wasted no time starting an intense quarrel regarding what had happened, with Elsa holding her shoulders like she always did when she was upset as she started walking into the woods and Anna followed behind her. "Elsa, get back here! we need to talk about this!"
"I thought I told you all to go back to Arendelle!"
"Oh yeah, sure, because that clearly would have been the better decision, wouldn't it?!"
"I had it under control."
"Under control? Well, sorry that you getting tossed around like a ragdoll didn't give me that impression!"
"You wouldn't have seen that if you had listened to me!"
"Why are you saying that like it's a good thing?! Elsa, I saved your life! Again!"
"Oh well congratulations, then! That's another guilt trip you can throw on my shoulders for the rest of our lives! I hope it was worth nearly getting everyone else killed too!"
"Ha, like you care about that! Like you ever cared!" this remark prompted Elsa to snap back around again, pointing her index finger in Anna's face.
"Don't you dare tell me I don't care! Okay?! Just don't, Anna!"
"What else am I supposed to say? Hmm? Ever since the Enchanted Forest you've been spending more and more time with the spirits, off doing who knows what while I'm stuck at home carrying everyone on my shoulders!"
"What are you talking about? I've been visiting all the time!"
"Only when I write! Honestly, when's the last time you actually came around like oh hi, sis, just thought I'd drop by and see how you were doing, hope you're not feeling utterly miserable running a kingdom that I basically just dropped on you! Huh? You've never done that once!"
Elsa stayed silent as Anna continued. "You said a bridge has two sides, but mine's the only one actually trying to connect! And what's even worse is that I'm constantly being made a mouthpiece for how great and powerful my sister is, because everyone looks right through me and they just see you! But I'm sick of always being the spare!"
"Anna, come on. All this, it's... it's just stupid."
"Oh, so now you think I'm stupid?!"
"No, of course not, I just..."
"You just said that!"
"I said you were saying stupid things, not that you were stupid!" Elsa groaned as she took her sister's shoulders. "Look, all this stuff about being the spare, it's just your insecurities talking! You're being no different from Berit!"
The others all stood behind them as they just managed to hear this part of the conversation. The scowl of betrayal on Anna's face suggested that she took grave offence to that comparison, which prompted Elsa to backtrack a bit as she said "Anna, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to say that..."
"Oh no, it's fine..." Anna sniffled a bit as she motioned her hand towards the bruise on her sister's face. "I just... I didn't think I'd be on the same level as the person who gave you that, that's all... though I guess you're not quite stupid enough to trust me, right?"
Elsa's eyes widened as she put her hand over her heart and her eyes started to mist up, shaking her head as she turned away again and walked away into the woods. Anna didn't follow her this time, crossing her arms with a groan as she passed the others and headed back to the riverbank. Kristoff was the first to follow after his wife with the rest following behind, as Olaf tried to break the silence.
"Anna... it's not Elsa's fault. Berit used her."
The Queen responded with a groan-like sigh, one that seemed to indicate she was agreeing with his words but was too frustrated to admit it. Mattias suddenly wide-eyed when he noticed something with the snowmen. Or rather, someone who wasn't with the snowmen. "Forgive my intrusions, Olaf, but... I distinctly remember there being three of you..."
"Uh... yeah, there are three of us." Anna and Kristoff both turned to the snowmen when they realised what Mattias meant. "There's me, Loaf, and Beatr... wait... where's Beatrix?"
"Beatrix... Beatrix!" Anna darted towards the shipwreck, calling out the snow-girl's name again. "Sweetheart, where are you?! BEATRIX!"
"Oh man..." Loaf itched the back of his head as Anna froze on the spot, still facing away from the others as she clenched her fists and her heavy breathing became more audible. "I think we left her behind..."
Both snowmen went dead silent as the Queen turned back, her teeth biting into her bottom lip through her scowl as she glared at them both. Olaf gulped, before he softly said "um... Anna, I'm sensing some rising anger..."
"Because I am angry! I told you all to stay together! It's the one thing I asked, and you couldn't even do that right?!" Anna's face went red as she suddenly shouted, causing Loaf to cower behind his sibling as she walked towards them, with the rage practically leaking out of her as she kept pressing. "Olaf, I am stressed out, okay?! I'm the Queen of Arendelle, Sven is gone, my sister thinks she can just keep ditching me whenever she feels like it, and now Beatrix is probably being held hostage by a crazy lady who wants us all dead! Everyone's looking to Elsa to fix all this, but I'm the one who's stuck doing it! And I can't do my job if I have to keep playing babysitter to a bunch of stupid talking snowmen!"
The Queen went off in a huff after her rant, muttering furiously under her breath as she kicked over one of the crates in her way. Everyone else stayed silent, with Kristoff sighing as he went into the woods where Elsa had gone. Mattias slumped down onto a rock as he put his hand to his face. "Well... that went as well as could be expected..."
Kristoff only had to walk for about five minutes before he found the Snow Queen in the centre of a moonlit glade, sitting alone on a small log in front of the pond. She turned to see him, sniffling as she wiped her tear-stained face with the back of her hand. "Um... how is she?"
"She's mad. At herself, mostly." Kristoff's tone of voice was gentle as he slowly sat next to her on the log, both of them looking down at the pond. "So how are you?"
Elsa shrugged. "I just... I just feel so awful about this. Not just Berit, but... everything. I never would have abdicated the throne if I knew it'd make her like this..."
"Nah... I know you're the oldest and all, but you have a responsibility to the spirits too, Elsa." Kristoff scratched at his beard. "And Anna's a great Queen. We all think so, I just... I just wish she'd realise it herself."
"Did she really think she was just my spare?" Elsa tried to stop herself from crying some more, but it was no use. "Oh I've been such a terrible sister to her."
"Hey, come on now..." Kristoff wrapped one arm around her and held her close, letting Elsa bury her head in his shoulder as he stroked the back of her hair. "Anna could never have asked for a better sister than you, and she wouldn't trade you for anything either."
"You sure?" Elsa looked up at her brother-in-law as he responded warmly. "Do you really think she'd have climbed the North Mountain, saved you from Hans or destroyed the dam if she did? She did those things for the kingdom, sure, but... but she did them for you more than anything, Elsa. And she'd do them again in a heartbeat."
"Hmm... she's amazing... she always was..." Elsa sighed with a smirk that faded for a moment. "But... she thinks she's nothing without me."
Kristoff nodded with a frown, before looking back to her with a smile as he said "then I think it's time we showed her the truth..."
"Wait... you see that?" Elsa's eyes suddenly shot up as she noticed the bright, rainbow light through the trees ahead, running towards it wordlessly as Kristoff tried to keep up with her. The light led them to the edge of the river again, both of them freezing in their tracks as they stared wide-eyed at where it was coming from.
The aurora was dancing in the stars ahead, as it usually did, though in it's colours the shape of the spirits' snowflake began to form, hanging in the night like a large, multi-coloured star. The Nøkk had risen from the water and was staring directly ahead at the star as well, as Elsa pieced together that the shape was positioned in the North, just ahead of where Ahtohallan was, and that it was summoning her to it. She turned back to Kristoff with a determined yet slightly worried look on her face.
"Where's Anna?"
Anna was sitting alone on a rock at the riverbank, looking out to the endless waves as she wallowed in silent misery. Her reddened, tearstained cheeks had faded to a slightly bright pink by now, though she was still incredibly reluctant to return to the others after what had happened with Elsa and Olaf. The Queen felt her mind going back to Beatrix again, and how frightened the poor snow-girl must have been in Berit's captivity.
"Anna..." she jolted up slightly as she heard the voice coming behind her, calming down a bit as she saw the familiar snowman standing there. Olaf was still keeping his distance from her by a few feet, with the worried look on his face practically cutting the Queen to the core.
"Hi Olaf..." her voice sounded strained and hoarse as she spoke, prompting her to clear her throat before she made a beckoning gesture with her hand. "Come on... it's okay."
Olaf nervously scrambled over to the Queen and sat on the rock next to her, with Anna gently stroking the back of his head as she sighed. "Olaf, I... I'm sorry I got mad before. I... I just let my stress get to me, and Beatrix getting lost, it... it's more my fault than yours."
The snowman nodded silently before she pulled him into a hug. The pair held each other close as they let out a relaxed, cathartic little sigh, looking up in awe at the large snowflake that the aurora was forming in the sky.
They stayed like this for about ten seconds, only to jolt upwards in surprise as the Nøkk suddenly pulled up on the edge of the river in front of them. Anna went wide-eyed as she saw glowing blue reins that connected the water horse to an ice replica of Kristoff's sled, as well as the person holding the reins at the head of the vehicle.
"Elsa?" she stood up from the rock as Loaf and Mattias came over to see them. "What are you doing?!"
"Not me... us." Elsa held out her hand to her sister as Kristoff came up from the back of the sled. "You too, Olaf." he said with a confident smirk. "We're gonna follow that snowflake in the sky..."
"Together..." Elsa added as she kept her hand held out, prompting a smile to stretch across Anna's face as she accepted it. She let Elsa pull her up so they could sit besides each other in the driver's segment, while Kristoff picked up Olaf and put him in the back segment.
"What should we do while you're gone?" Mattias asked as he and Loaf stood on the riverbank, Elsa answering with "go to the ice castle on the North Mountain. You can stay there until we get back."
The General nodded as Elsa whipped the reins in her hand, prompting the Nokk to fly across the waves while pulling the sled and passengers along with it. Loaf itched the back of his head as the two of them watched the others leave, pointing his stick hand straight behind him as he said "so... ice castle... this way?"
Mattias chuckled, using his foot to tilt the snowman's arm upwards as they both turned to see how high and steep the North Mountain actually went. "More like this way."
"Oh..." Loaf went wide-eyed, being slightly surprised when the General picked him up, carrying him gently in his arms as he walked into the woods towards the mountain. "And I wouldn't worry about your sister, Loaf... as soon as they come back we'll figure out a plan to go rescue her."
"Hmm... if the Storm Queen and her lightning dog have Beatrix, I'm more worried for them." Loaf cracked a smile as he and the ageing General both laughed. "She'll be totally fine. I just feel it."
"Um... excuse me, uh... lady with sparkle fingers?"
Berit groaned as the snow-girl called from the compact bird cage that she'd imprisoned her in, clutching her own hair to try drowning out the irritation as she answered back for what must have been the hundredth time. "Ugh... yes? What is it now?"
"Well... when you said you wanted me to tell you everything I knew, did you actually mean... everything everything?" Berit rolled her eyes at this, practically praying that Beatrix wouldn't go off on another tirade of irrelevant trivia, like water having memory or technology being both a saviour and destroyer.
"No... I just want you to tell me where Anna and Elsa might be. Right now..." Berit spoke through her gritted teeth, getting right up to the bars of the cage as Beatrix cowered back slightly. "You think you can do that?"
Beatrix nodded, prompting Berit to sigh in cautious relief as she turned away again and sat on her brother's rusted throne. She began tapping the armrest with her fingers as the snow-girl began to talk again, with the tapping getting faster and more stressed out as Beatrix droned on and on.
"Okay, well... I know that Anna wasn't really happy about Elsa taking you to that Atta-who's-it place. See, Anna's been really scared ever since she became Queen that everybody in our kingdom thinks she's not as good as Elsa, you know since Elsa was born with magical powers and she wasn't. But I personally think she's a really good Queen and everybody else I know thinks the same, so I really don't get why she's so worried about it. And Elsa's really upset that you guys couldn't work things out, and I guess she probably knows Anna's really mad at her too. I think it'd be best for everyone if they just sit down, talk about it, and have a warm hug. That'd work just fine with me, so I don't see why they..."
"Wait, just... wait-wait, quiet now, just... shut up!" Berit snapped as Beatrix stopped talking, pinching the bridge of her nose as she leaned forward in the throne. "What are you... ugh... what are you going on about?"
"I'm just telling you where Anna and Elsa are." Beatrix nodded innocently. "Emotionally speaking."
"EMOTIONALLY SPEAKING?!" Beatrix jolted back fearfully as Berit darted over to the cage, screaming in the snow-girl's face as her impatience finally gave way to a flood of rage. "Where are they... LITERALLY SPEAKING?!"
"Oh... right... sorry, I dunno." Berit clenched her teeth as she turned away again, as Beatrix straightened her glasses and called from the cage. "I'm real sorry, but I'm only like a couple days old... most of my sense of direction revolves around where my brother Loaf is."
Berit froze on the spot as she heard this, making sure Beatrix didn't see her face as the makings of a strategy began to form in her head. She felt a grin forming on her cheeks as she quickly snapped her fingers, summoning Lynnedslag from the clouds outside as the lightning wolf appeared before her.
"Anna thinks it's like a twin thing we have. Or at least that's what she called it. Oh, I forgot to mention that in my trivia talk earlier! Did you know that some twins can read each other's minds and finish each other's sentences? It's really weird and I've never actually seen it in real life, but I bet it's super cool, don't you? And that reminds me of..."
"Right, that's it! I've had enough!" Berit suddenly unlocked the door to the cage and pulled it open, surprising Beatrix as she motioned her arm forwards. "Go on... off you pop."
"Wait, what?"
"I'm releasing you. Please... please just leave. I can't take anymore of your voice, your trivia, and all your... y-y-your ya-ya-ya-ya-ya!" Berit was dramatically pinching her hands together like sock puppets to illustrate her point, before pointing to her pet. "Lynnedslag will take you anywhere you want. As long as it's far, far away from me so I don't have to listen to you. Now get lost."
"Oh, okay..." Beatrix nervously walked out of the cage, itching the back of her head as she looked to the lightning wolf standing at the window. "Ooh. Say, you wouldn't have any snacks for the trip back, would you?"
"GET OUT!" Berit's eyes turned a fierce shade of purple as she bellowed this demand, sending Beatrix darting over to Lynnedslag as she climbed onto his back. The Storm Queen watched as her hell hound took off into the sky with the snow-girl in tow, smugly chuckling to herself as everything started to fall back into her favour.
The sun was just beginning to rise from the horizon as the Nøkk came closer to it's destination, with the entire group going wide-eyed as the mist ahead began to clear. A thin beacon of white light was cascading down from the centre of the snowflake, which was now much larger than it had seemed from afar, with it's power creating a whirlpool in the middle of the ocean that caused the waves to pull the sled closer to it.
"Uh, hey Elsa... should that be happening?!" Olaf called out worryingly as they all saw the snowflake lowering down in a straight line, while the beacon began to expand wider and became more blinding. Elsa hesitated for a moment, before standing up in the driver's seat as she reached her hand forwards, taking another moment before she clenched her fist. BOOM!
Everyone tensed back with their eyes closed as a pulsating, deafening burst of energy was sent out of the beacon, though Elsa kept her fist pointed forwards as some kind of black hole suddenly emerged from the caldera's mouth in the middle of the light. This dark vortex expanded into a perfect triangle, and seemed to suck the sled towards it with a powerful gust of wind as the Snow Queen realised what it actually was.
"It's a portal..." she gasped under her breath, causing everyone else to go wide-eyed as they spoke in-sync. "Where to?"
"It looks like we're about to find out..." Elsa added, before Anna realised what she meant. "HANG ON TIGHT!"
They all stayed as low as they possibly could to the sled as their hairs and clothes were tossed around everywhere by the winds. The four watched in both awe and terror as a flat beacon of many colours shot out of the portal and into the waves just ahead of them. The Nøkk disappeared into the water as the sled was quickly pulled up the rainbow bridge, with everyone screaming with tightly shut eyes as the triangular vortex consumed them and they disappeared into the darkness.
The rainbow bridge vanished and the black triangle closed once it had swallowed the sled and it's passengers, causing the beacon to rescind back into the snowflake as it disappeared back into the aurora, letting the sun rise peacefully over the stilled ocean as if nothing were ever there.