The Darkest Night

by the-frequent-daydreamer

Two years after the Great Thaw, Elsa comes across a threat unlike anything her once-isolated kingdom has ever faced. With disease spreading and thousands falling ill almost overnight, Elsa must do anything and everything possible to save her kingdom before this epidemic destroys her people, but she has yet to learn just how hard ruling a kingdom can be.

1. Prologue

It started with a tickle in the throat.

But it was often small enough that the infected person could ignore it without any discomfort. Sometimes it would be accompanied by a runny nose, or a small fever.

Most people would press on, ignoring the symptoms by dismissing them as nothing more than the common cold, but it was far, far worse than that.

Slowly the virus would spread, taking its time to sow its insidious fruit in the cells of the unaware as it attempted to hijack the host body. First, one cell, then, in almost an instant, hundreds…

Externally, the effect would be obvious as the victim's symptoms would worsen at first slowly then all at once. Within a week, the illness would progress to a hacking cough, now strong enough to cause one's ribs to ache as they felt their insides moving up their esophagus. Along with it came blinding migraines, blurry vision and vivid, disorienting hallucinations whenever they shut their weary eyes.

Of course, by this point, the patient was usually in bed, now too weak to move as the hacking cough became severe enough to induce vomiting, often with spots of blood.

Meanwhile, deep inside their body, the disease would continue to torment the organs, entering the bloodstream and making its way to the lungs and the heart.

And then, the asthma would hit.

Raspy, frail breaths are perhaps the only sounds heard from the afflicted. That and hoarse, rattling coughs…occasionally punctuated by heart-rending screams as the vivid hallucinations morphed into horrifying nightmares.

Such was the hellish disease that swept through Europe during the 1800's, striking terror in the hearts of those who experienced it closely and worrying those who had no desire to undergo such pain. Many countries fell under its onslaught, each of them attempting but ultimately failing to truly vanquish the scourge from their cities.

Unchallenged and relentless in its pursuit, the disease made its way up north, encountering a small once-isolated kingdom wedged between Sweden and Norway.

Its name?

Arendelle.

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A/N: And so it begins. This story will be a glimpse into life in Arendelle during the pandemic. Mostly, this will be from Elsa's point of view, but Anna will play a large role in this, obviously.