Chapter 3: Cold hands, warm heart.

If you are reading this it probably means that I am dead, although it could also be that I had forgotten to take the box back from the hole…

Dead?

I am the second daughter of the deceased Kings Agnar and Iduna, and the sister of Queen Elsa, the rightful Queen of Arendelle. If luck accompanies my sister, now she will be reigning; if it has not been the case, probably the jerk of Hans has taken over the throne. I was hoping I could help her, but I think I've ruined her life. Although, well, it's not that she fell short of me. Okay, hers was unintentional, but so was mine.

You're not getting anything at all, are you? There's nothing to worry about, I'll bring you up to date.

My parents passed away three years ago when their ship sank offshore. Almost since I can remember, I've lived practically alone, not even my sister allowed me to get close to her; but, from that day on, the loneliness was complete. The last three years of my life have been the hardest I've ever experienced until… well, until now that I'm about to freeze to death and stuff.

"Oh, c'mon…"

Oops, I'm going around the bush. The fact is my sister just turned twenty-one and a few days ago it was her coronation. Well, that day, for the first time since I was five, the castle was opened and I was going to be able to interact with someone other than the castle staff. Don't get me wrong, they are wonderful people, but they don't stop treating me like a princess instead of a person, I don't know if you see my point… Well, as was logical, I took advantage and left the castle almost flying and, as soon as I put my feet outside, I met Hans, the youngest of the thirteen princes of the Southern Isles. We hit it off so suddenly and brutally that I must have realized it was a big lie, but I didn't. I thought that that boy was the first person who saw me for myself and when he asked me to marry him that same day, I felt that it was my only chance to stop living a life of loneliness, so I accepted.

"You got engaged to someone you just met that day?"

I know what you're thinking. Crazy, right? Well, you're right. We asked my sister for her blessing and she, who apparently is more on the ball than me, refused to give it to us.

"Thank godness…"

So I faced her. I couldn't take that life anymore. I couldn't accept going back to loneliness. The point is that I put her nerves on edge until, accidentally, she showed everyone present the reason why we had lived isolated and separated during all those years: her ice powers.

It sounds weird, I know, but it's true. Can you believe it? Thirteen years alone and no one had ever explained to me what it was due to. I'm not going to put myself here to explain how the lack of confidence in me that my parents and my sister have shown makes me feel, but… ouch.

It was a story, just a story. But I couldn't help feeling a deep rage thinking about the feelings of that poor girl growing up isolated without understanding what was going on around her for so many years; throughout almost all her life. And yet, she talked about it downplaying it, like it wasn't a big deal.

Okay, so I went in search of my sister and left Hans in charge of the kingdom. During that trip, I almost died frozen by the snowstorm that she sparked throughout the kingdom and, when absolutely exhausted I finally managed to reach the amazing ice palace that she had built, I brought out her fears again and took an accidental magic ice beam to the heart. And, again, ouch.

As painful as it was, it didn't seem like anything serious, but I had to get out of there anyway when her kind snow golem threw me down the stairs.

I knew I shouldn't, but I did.

"That sounds familiar…"

Driven by rage, I threw a snowball at the hulking monster.

"Bad idea."

She certainly had a hot temper, but she was trying harder than anyone would have done to help her sister. Anyone else would have inherited the throne and would have gone on with their lives in their own way, without confinement, marrying whoever they wanted, and without risking their lives in the mountains.

And, yeah, that made him a little mad. Anyway, I ended up running like a lunatic through the mountain until I ended up far from there in an area free of snow, covered with moss, and with a lot of steam vents and super round stones everywhere. And, there, finally free from the golem's wrath, an intense cold shook my chest and ran through my body, nullifying my strength. My braids turned white and my legs faltered so I had to lean against one of those rocks to keep from falling to the ground.

"Excuse me miss, but I would appreciate it if you would remove your butt from my new cloak." I heard that stone say. Yes, you read correctly, the stone. The stone lady stirred and I fell to the ground on my butt to find myself face to face with a troll lady who was looking at me curiously.

"And now trolls, of course."

"Uh… I'm sorry, ehrm…"
"Bulda."
"I'm so sorry, Bulda. I never meant to…"

And there, another squeeze to the heart cut my speech and all the rocks rolled towards me until I was surrounded by a bunch of trolls. And when I say a bunch, I mean a huge heap. One of them, the most... green? furry? cultivated? Anyway, one of them came forward to me and took my hand. Apparently, he was some kind of old wise magic troll or something, Grand Pabbie was his name. The troll told me that Elsa had put ice in my heart and that I will freeze in solid ice forever unless I found an act of true love to save me. An act of true love, huh? In the middle of the mountain, weak, and in a hurry.

"Doesn't sound good."

Thanking the trolls for their help, I made my way to the castle, but a little troll stopped me just outside the valley and briefly told me the legend of Flemmingrad.

Legend says that, many years ago, a plump troll that loved to eat was killed by humans and its remains fell to the bottom of the fjord where they still remain today. Since that happened, every December, the trolls hold a celebration in his honor. In it, they build a version of this Flemmingrad in stone, lichen, mushrooms, and whatever they catch, they sing "The Ballad of Flemmingrad" to him, they lick his forehead (how disgusting...), make a wish, and, finally, they make a stew with the edible ingredients of the figure and eat it.

"Why did he waste your time telling you all that stuff?"

And you will say, 'Why did he waste your time telling you all that stuff?', right? Well, that's what I asked him.

"So that you look for the Flemmingrad shape that I made last December, sing to it, and ask for the desire to heal you, of course."
"Didn't you eat it?"
"No, we ate the one made by the older ones."
"But, it works?"
"You won't know if you don't try. Although we've never made a wish in a month other than December…"
"And… I have to lick it?" "Duh! And sing! Don't forget it!"
"But I don't know the ballad."
"I'll show it to you. Pay attention."

I didn't think I was going to memorize it all at once, but, apparently, the fear of dying exercises memory. The little rock taught me the song, told me how to find the troll shape, and went with the others.

I headed back towards the castle. To be honest, probably the person I loved the most was my sister, but she was ice-unapproachable, so I went back to the only other person who could love me: Hans.

"Getting worse…"

You can imagine the situation. I arrived frozen and miraculously, and, when I finally meet him, he came out with that crap that he only approached me to take advantage of my despair to marry me and then cause some kind of "accident" to Elsa to become king. He locked me up to let me die and went looking for my sister to assassinate her. I don't know how he's going to manage to fool everyone, but I have no doubt that he's capable of doing it.

"That must have hurt…"

Thanks to Elsa's blizzard, I managed to escape from the castle and fled in search of my last chance to survive: the gross troll…

With great effort, I took this box, the paper, and the quill with the travel inkwell thinking that this could happen, and took a horse from the castle stables. So, with his help, I went back to the mountain and spent most of my energy finding the troll. Then I sang to it, licked its filthy lichen-flavored forehead, and made my wish. That I can live. I've asked just for that, nothing too elaborate, but it seems that the troll is not very willing to cooperate.

I gulped as a shiver ran down my spine.

It seems this is my end, but I want my story to be known so that justice is done with Hans and Elsa is saved from that bastard and from her own fear. So, to you who read me, please help her. The cold overcome me and I don't think I have time to write much more, but, in case it's December and you want to try your luck, I'll write you the lyrics of the song:

By then, the calligraphy had been getting worse and each stroke seemed to have been written with less force and steadiness than the last. You could feel in the handwriting how her life was fading away.

'Every December we all gather 'round,
to pay our respects to a troll so renowned,
in remembrance of the friend we had,
a jolly old soul we called Flemmingrad.

We all dig deep down and we uproot the past,
we shove up its nostrils a fist full of grass,
we shape his likeness, bless his soul.
Oh, Flemmy the fungus troll.'

Now I'm going to carefully bury this little box at its feet and, well, I'll die pointing to it or something so that you know where to look. I hope I have time enough...

"You almost got it, feisty pants," I answered to the wind with a sad laugh.

Thank you for reading me. Somehow, you are my newest, best, and only friend. At least, thanks to you, I won't be completely forgotten.

A tear ran down my cheek when I arrived at the end of the letter.

"Anna…"

It didn't make sense. I knew she wasn't real, she didn't exist. It was quite an elaborate montage. One of the many traps of the modern world. Perhaps, the next day I would appear crying the death of an imaginary being on Llouttubee. However, this character had awakened in me a strange kind of sympathy and protective instinct that no real human had ever awakened. I was fascinated by her bravery and her cheerfulness; the dedication and faith that she showed to have in others; her temperament, her ingenuity... I wanted to see her eyes, the real ones, not the ice ones, and I wanted to see them free of terror; I wanted to see her smile; I wanted to hear the timbre of her voice, I wanted to talk to her, hug her, and tell her that she wasn't alone, not anymore, never again, that I cared about her.

I read the lyrics to the hideous troll song again, obviously without music, as I had no idea what it was.

"Wishes, acts of love… I wish bringing you with me was as easy as that."

I looked up and saw her there, supposedly looking in horror as her box fell into the hole while she froze forever and, accepting my dire fate on Llouttubee in this world of haters, I took off my jacket and put it on her shoulders. A modicum of warmth to soothe the cold she must have felt.

Then, I turned around and, with slight laziness in my legs, I prepared to leave that clearing that I could never forget and return to my mundane life where she would never really be.

"Oh, my God! I'm back?! I'm back!"