Chapter nineteen

Distant shores

To think, she had believed confessing to Anna would lessen her stress. What a foolish notion.

Elsa paced around her room with her hands clasped behind her back, her bed abandoned entirely. The coffin she still had some hope in, but she suspected that she wouldn't get a wink of sleep in any bed for a long time to come. Without a biological need for it, sleep only came to her for two reasons – true exhaustion, or interminable boredom. The former required more exertion than even Anna could coax out of her, and she'd flat-out accepted the latter wouldn't return within the girl's lifetime.

There must be something I can do for her! Some way to pay her back for all I've put her through!

Well, obviously, there were hundreds of things she could do for her – otherwise she wouldn't be on her third hour of contemplation. There was no limit to the number of gifts she could give to Anna, or the things she could show her. But that was all inadequate. Simply throwing around her power and wealth would do little to impress her, and do even less to make up for how she had treated her. The woman had put her own body on the line time and time again for her, something Elsa could not even come close to reciprocating. The nagging voice in her head that said she was being too generous to a human had largely fallen silent, swiftly replaced by a voice saying that she hadn't done nearly enough for her. It was not a significant improvement.

It wasn't as if she was had no recourse. She had started using the mirror to try and snoop on humans, to learn how they conducted themselves in a relationship. The usefulness of that information was limited, however. She and Anna already had a relationship, with expectations and presuppositions. Though she had humbled herself considerably already, she would have to debase herself much further to try and emulate many of their courtship rituals. What would be the point in strolling through a field picking flowers when they both knew she could instantly bring the both of them there with a snap of her fingers?

She turned around, and her foot slipped. She looked down and saw that the floor was now thinly coated with ice. She exasperatedly unclasped her hands and stared at them venomously. While less than normal, ice was indeed pouring from them.

She groaned in frustration. Now that she'd seen it, her agitation would only grow, which would make it worse. She balled her hands into fists and held them at her sides, which at least staunched the flow. "Mirror!" she snapped.

The Carpathian mirror hummed to life, rising from its pile and assembling before her. Being a magical construct, she saw her reflection in it perfectly, but this only worsened her mood as she glowered into her own eyes. "Somewhere distant," she commanded. "And empty."

She continued glaring at her reflection until it vanished from sight. The mirror swirled, and gradually an image came into view. The mirror had chosen the location it often did at this time of day, an empty beach in a part of the world that was dark at this hour. She pointed her hands at the mirror and screamed.

Ice shot from her hands at high velocity, pouring through the mirror and out over the darkened ocean. As it flew, it gradually lost energy and fell into the water. A patch of ice formed far away from her, gradually spreading and gaining mass as the blast continued. Elsa fixed her eyes on that point, staring at it with all the anger and hatred she could muster, as if those too could be expelled from her body.

Gradually, the blast of ice lost power, and its arc began to drop. It slowly traced a path back to the shoreline, a long tail following the massive chunk now floating on the water's surface. Elsa felt her anger subside with her blast of ice, petering out to nothing. She then watched the soothing sight of her ice bobbing up and down in the waves, slowly being broken apart by the water's natural movement.

She still wasn't sure if this process actively reduced her stress, or simply tired her out to the point she could no longer summon her ice, involuntarily or otherwise. All that mattered was getting that damned ice out of her. In this case, it was decidedly moot; as she looked at her bed, she realized that she was neither tired enough to sleep, nor relaxed enough to stop thinking about her and Anna.

The entire situation was frustrating to no end. Spending time with Anna was pleasant, but it always invited these agonizing questions about what to do next. Anna did her best to calm her, but she still knew too little too be of significant help.

She tried to ignore the myriad of questions circling in her head. The mirror still showed the darkened beach, so she gazed at it, as if by studying the mesmerizing motion of the waves, she could find an answer to her problems.

Then, miraculously, she did.

xxxxxxx

knock knock

It took Anna almost fifteen seconds to open her eyes. Her reward was a bright light shining through the crack at the edge of her curtains.

She winced, and pulled the covers over her head. Even such little light as that was enough to wreak have on her carefully cultivated night vision. Must be just about noon.

"Who is it?" she called groggily.

"It's me," came the answer.

"Elsa?" Anna said. Even now, thirty seconds removed from the grips of sleep, she recognized the oddity of this. "What are you doing up during the day?"

"I could not sleep," came the reply. "If you are willing, I wish to attempt something with you."

Anna rubbed her eyes with her free hand. "Well, I'm up now," she mumbled. One thing that was nice about living with Elsa was the knowledge that she could speak as quietly as she wanted and still be heard.

"Excellent," Elsa responded. "Dress lightly, and exit your room when you are ready."

"Lightly…?" she wondered to herself. Then she shrugged. "Sure, I'll be right out."

You're lucky I'm so tired, or I'd be asking so many questions.

She dressed quickly in the lightest armor she had, then emerged. Elsa, despite her own advice, was wearing the same robe she always did. She'd said something about how being familiar with an outfit made it easier for it to change with her during transformations…whatever, it didn't really matter. "Okay, I'm ready," she yawned.

"I…hope I did not disturb you," Elsa said. She seemed abashed, as if just now realizing she had interrupted Anna's sleep.

"Well…you did," Anna said, able to think of no other recourse than the blunt truth. "But it's all right. If something has you out of bed in the middle of the day, it must be important."

"…It's not crucial," Elsa admitted. "But this is the only time it could be done."

Anna blinked the sleep from her eyes. "Okay, now I'm curious," she said. "What do you have in mind?"

"You've traveled a lot, yes?" Elsa said. "Have you ever been to a beach?"

"Yes, in fact," Anna said. I made it to the coast of the Mediterranean once."

"Did you enjoy it?" Elsa asked.

"Yeah, I did!" Anna said brightly. "The sand, the sea air carried on the breeze, the bright sunny-" She caught herself. "…Yes," she finished quietly.

Elsa chortled. "You can speak of the sun around me, Anna," she said. "It will not offend me."

"Of course," Anna said, still looking abashed. "So, what are you thinking?"

"I would like to take you to a beach, right now," Elsa said.

"Now?" Anna repeated. "But it's the middle of the day."

"It is not daytime everywhere," Elsa responded. "We will go somewhere it isn't."

Anna pieced together Elsa's cryptic explanation with the church's teachings. "Of course! The sun travels around the earth, so some parts will be day while others are night!"

Elsa put a hand to her forehead. "Perhaps putting a hold on your astronomy lessons was a mistake," she muttered. "Well…you've grasped the basic gist of it, at least."

"Uh, okay, then," Anna said. She looked down at her attire and realized she had misinterpreted Elsa's instructions about dressing lightly. "Excuse me for a second," she said, gesturing at her clothes.

"Very well," Elsa said.

She went back into her room and shuffled through her wardrobe again, this time looking for something with shorter sleeves and pant legs. She found some comparatively short garments, then rolled up the ends to at least expose her elbows and knees. Nothing could be done about the cast, but she'd grown adept at getting dressed around it. She left the room once again.

"Okay, now I'm ready," she said to Elsa.

"Perfect," Elsa said. "Now close your eyes."

"Close my eyes?" Anna repeated. "Is that necessary for teleportation?"

Elsa had implied people and beings could be brought with her during teleportation, but had never done so with her. If they were to instantly jump somewhere with no sun, she assumed that would be the only way.

It seemed she was wrong, however. "It isn't," Elsa said. "And we will not be traveling in the way you seem to be thinking of." She grinned slyly. "Am I not permitted a few secrets, even now?"

"I suppose you are," Anna said. She obediently closed her eyes.

She heard a faint noise, like tinkling glass. Then…

Whoosh

A sudden rush of air blew in her face. In an instant, the ambiance changed around her. The old creaks of the castle gave way to the sound of gently lapping water, and the once musty air was now fresh, with a salty tang to it. It took tremendous resolve to not open her eyes immediately.

"You may look now," Elsa said.

Anna opened her eyes. Her mouth fell open soon after.

A massive dark ocean stretched out ahead of her. Waves crested and fell, their foam catching the light of the full moon above them. To either side, a ribbon of golden-brown sand lined the water's edge. As she turned, she felt the crunch of sand beneath her feet. She quickly kicked off her shoes, then socks. With both feet bare, she scrunched her toes, feeling the sand caught beneath them. The peculiar feeling brought back memories.

"This is amazing, Elsa!" she declared. "I haven't been to the coast in over half a decade – thank you so much for this!"

"Yes, I suppose that would be a significant period of time for you," Elsa replied. She examined the unusual movements of Anna's toes, then attempted the motion herself with her own bare feet. She seemed to find the sensation puzzling, yet continued to do it.

"Where are we?" Anna asked.

"The continent across the sea, on the other side of the world," Elsa said.

Anna's eyes went wide. "The other side of the world?" she repeated. She wheeled around, looking at the thick forest inland. "Then…where's Mount Purgatory?"

Elsa burst into laughter. It wasn't malicious, but she still quickly tried to suppress it. "My apologies, Anna," she said. "Let me just say, you are fortunate you got away from the church when you did."

"I…see," Anna said. She didn't really, but there would be ample time to explain later. Right now, she found her attention being pulled at by the warm air around them, and the gently lapping waves, and the soft sand…

"This landmass was once attached to the one you reside upon," Elsa said, entering into her lecturing mode. "Forces within the earth caused it to drift apart long before any of our times. Some theorize that the vampire's primordial ancestor came from this continent, but no evidence has been found of this, and very little credence is…"

She trailed off, noticing Anna's attention was elsewhere, and chuckled. "This lesson can wait," she said. "I didn't bring you here just to give you another lecture. Go, enjoy yourself."

"Okay!" Anna exclaimed. She took Elsa's hand and began to run.

"Wait, I didn't-" was all Elsa had time to say before she found herself running as well.

Anna closed her eyes as she ran, laughing as she felt the warm breeze on her face. She hadn't taken the time to do her hair up, so it simply flew around in the wind. Elsa admired the sight for a while, before reaching into her own hair and steadily undoing her braid.

She could not bring herself to laugh as gaily as Anna, but as she ran along the beach with her hair blowing in the wind, she could do nothing but smile. It felt innately soothing and liberating – or maybe that was just Anna.

Their little run ended up being short-lived; Anna hadn't thought to stretch beforehand, and soon developed a stitch in her side. After that, they simply contented themselves with standing on the beach and staring into the sea, which they found no less enjoyable.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" Elsa asked after a time.

"Yes, I am," Anna said. "Are you?"

Elsa was mildly surprised by the question. "I must confess, I am," she said.

"I'll bet," Anna said. "No wonder you don't miss the sun. If you can have a view like this any time you want – I bet you'd never get tired of it!"

Elsa looked down. "…Quite," she said.

"Thank you for sharing this with me," Anna said. "I'll have to find some way to pay you back for this."

Elsa froze.

"Pay me back," she repeated. "Pay me back?"

"Yes, of course," Anna said, a little uncertain. "Is that a problem?"

Elsa gave no answer. Instead, she began to walk into the chilly water, staring forward as if in a trance. Her cloak began to float on the water's surface as she went deeper, fanning out around her like an ink blot dropped from high above.

Anna ran into the water herself, wincing at how cold it was. "Elsa, what's the matter?" she asked, putting her hand on her shoulder. "Did I say something wrong?"

Elsa turned her head sharply, looking directly at Anna. "Can you say something wrong? Do you have the capacity? Because I've seen no evidence of it!" Her voice verged on hysterical.

"Please Elsa, I don't understand," Anna said.

"How can you be so innocent, so pure?" Elsa demanded. "This world is cruel! It breaks down every man and beast within it! How have you survived the way you are?"

Anna had no answer for her question. Eventually Elsa turned away, directing her flustered gaze out to sea. Anna stepped forward, reaching out. Elsa heard her approach, but did not pull away as the girl wrapped an arm around her waist.

She noticed Elsa's fists were tightly balled, with small blasts of ice escaping through her fingers. "Let it out," Anna said quietly.

Elsa didn't even seem surprised that she'd noticed. "Fine," she said, defeated. "Why stop now?"

She unclenched her fists and breathed deeply. It wasn't as bad as it had seemed – only a few short spurts of ice escaped from her hands – but she angled them away from Anna anyway. Once they had abated, she wrapped her arm around Anna's waist as well.

Yet again, Elsa was painfully aware that she would soon be having yet another uncomfortable conversation about what had just happened. But right now, a comforting silence reigned. And Elsa, wreathed in darkness and knee-deep in cold water, basked in the warmth of the girl beside her.