Chapter 14: You snooze, you lose.

The light and colors suddenly returned to me and I found myself in the middle of the forest clearing where Anna froze, next to the Flemmingrad of the first day, and before the expectant look of Anna who seemed to wait for me.

"Kristoff! Is it really you?"
"Yeah, I think so," I said laughing. "And you are…"
"Oh my God! You don't remember me?!"

Her face showed a degree of terror that made me realize that surely this wasn't the situation to be joking around.

"Of course I remember you, feisty pants. How could I forget you?"

Suppressing the laugh that wanted to be born in me didn't free me from Anna's punch in the arm.

"You! Idiot!" she yelled fighting her own tears.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It wasn't a good idea, I admit it."
"No, it wasn't," she said pouting.

I hugged her apologetically and enjoyed for a few seconds the relief of, wherever we were, having her with me.

"So… is this the past?" I asked looking around again and noticing something different in the environment. The air blew colder, the trees looked skinnier and a bit lower... even the sky looked different. I couldn't say exactly what it was what changed, but nothing was the same.
"The box is still in the hole," Anna said leaning out of the hole she made near the troll's feet. "But there is no ice statue…"
"That's because you've replaced yourself, right?"
"So I'm back?"
"There's only one way to find it out."
"You're right! Get on with it!"
"Okay. What's your plan?"
"Plan?"
"Don't have a plan?"
"Have you seen me make one?"
"Arghhh…" I growled.
"What?! The future was very interesting! I had to take the opportunity to enjoy it before going back!"
"Alright. So, now what?"
"Well, obviously, we're going to find Elsa. Her magic will come in handy to face Hans."
"Are we going to find the woman who froze you and who doesn't control her powers?"
"Yep."
"And what do we do when she freeze us?"
"Then, we thaw each other. We won't lack acts of true love, will we?"
"And what if she freezes both of us at the same time?"
"What are the chances of that happening? It's more likely for us to be crushed by her snow giant."
"Great… That sounds so much better…"
"Come on, Elsa's this way."

We walked for a long way through those mountains, gradually entering the tremendous snowfall with which the probably current queen had covered almost all the territory belonging to Arendelle. We took warm clothes out of our backpack and put on those clothes that were not going to make us go unnoticed at the beginning of the 19th century but that would keep us safe from the cold.

After a few hours of hard walking, we reached an immense wall of ice that served as a rampart for an awesome and beautiful ice palace.

"What's this?" Anna asked pretty puzzled. "When I was here, there was no wall."
"Maybe she's protecting herself from Hans…"
"Or maybe she doesn't want me to go back to her."
"You think she knows she hurt you?"
"I don't think so."
"Okay, surprise visit?"
"How?!"

I took climbing equipment out of my backpack and offered her a smile.

"Did you carry all that?"
"You told me there was a frozen mountain…"
"Okay… Let's go with the surprise visit, then."

Carefully, with patience, slipping and occasional bumps, we reached the top.

"Wao… The palace is spectacular…" I mumbled marveling at that work of art.
"Yes, and the golem too. Don't forget about him," Anna said stopping for air.

"Yes, Marshmallow is awesome, right? But not even he can get through this wall. This is a bit lonely, you know?" said a peculiar voice at the foot of the wall in the inner area.

We cast an eye with a mixture of curiosity and astonishment, and when we saw the owner of the voice, only astonishment remained. A snowman the size of a five- or six-year-old child stared at us with wide eyes, outstretched arms, and a gigantic smile.

My first thought was that the little man would give us away and our adventure would end almost before it started, but Anna's expression quickly turned from horror to tenderness and, as always, she surprised me with her reaction.

"Olaf?"
"Do you know him?"
"Kind of."
"Yes, I am Olaf, and I like warm hugs."
"Olaf! It's been a while!"
"Do we know each other?"
"No!"

The snowman looked almost as puzzled as I was.

"I'm Anna. I'm Elsa's sister. She's created you, right?"
"Yeah, before hiding in her palace. I am Marshmallow's older brother."
"Is Elsa still inside?"
"Of course she is! Some friends came looking for her recently and took her with them, but she soon came back. Then, she created the wall and got into her palace. She's not left it since then. I think she's sad."
"Elsa…" As usual, Anna regained energy as soon as she lost it. "Olaf, we want to help her. If we go down, can you try to stop Marshmallow from kicking us out?"
"Sure I can! I love helping!"

When we get down, Anna gave the snowman a carrot from our backpack to get him a nose and he returned her with one of his warm hugs. After that, we began to sneak up to the entrance as Olaf circled the palace in search of Marshmallow to make sure he wasn't after us, but as we were about to cross the steps leading to the palace entrance, we heard his voice saying "Little brother! We're going to play on this side of the palace so you don't see the new visitors!"

"Olaf…" I sighed dropping my arms in unease.

The roar of the golem echoed throughout the mountain, and Olaf's loud screams confirmed that he was coming towards us.

"Run inside, Anna. I'll distract him."
"What? Not on your life!"

I was about to insist on my plan, but a pair of icy big hands lifted us into the air and we saw us face to face with the deafening growl of the irate golem.

"Get them out of here," a voice new to me was heard from the heights of the palace.
"Elsa! No! You don't understand!"

I looked up and saw who appeared to be Anna's sister, the Queen of Arendelle. The most elegant, cold, and ethereal woman I had ever seen. Her posture was firm and hard, but her gaze reflected nothing but fear. I should have felt threatened, but it was the pity what flooded my soul with her presence.

"Elsa! Hans tricked me!" Anna continued shouting desperately as the golem took us out over the wall. "He will take over the kingdom!"

Unsurprisingly, Anna received a cold silence for an answer and we were both dropped quite abruptly outside the ice wall.

"Hey, friends! See you next time!" I heard Olaf say cheerfully as I dug my head out of the snow.
"Anna! Are you okay?"

I helped Anna dig up herself as well and watched how she rose her gaze up the wall.

"There is no point in trying, is it? We're alone in this."
"She's worried about you. I think she's more afraid of the harm that she may do to you than of the harm Hans may do to the kingdom."
"Okay. Then, I will regain the throne on my own and, when all get calm, I will return as many times as necessary until she come home. I know she will manage to control her power. I believe in her."

Without another word, Anna began the descent toward Arendelle with a determined pace, and I followed her. However, I couldn't see it so clear as she seemed. We were facing a murderer and probably the army under his command. This man might already be king by the time we got to Arendelle, and that meant the military owed him obedience.

"I'll catch up with you right away!" I said running back to the ice palace under her stunned gaze.
"Kristoff! Where are you going?"
"It'll be a minute!"

A moment later, at the foot of the wall, I could hear Olaf's voice once more.

"Oh, look! A little bird! He's fl… Ow… I don't think he's fine…"

"Rest in peace, Sven. You've been a good fellow."

I took a deep breath seeing shattered the result of the effort of my last four years of life and ran back to meet Anna, who was clearly impatiently waiting for me.

"What were you doing?"
"There was something I needed to do."
"If you felt like urinating, you just had to say so."
"I'll keep it in mind."

And, holding hands, we resumed our way down the mountain, determined to fulfill our suicide mission.