She felt as if her heart was about to burst out of her chest.

Blue eyes had locked with the tattered Arendelle's royal flag as her feet brought her running up the low hill, pebbles crunching under the sole of her feet as she stumbled forward, heart racing so quickly against her ribcage as many thoughts swirled in her mind. The moment she had reached the top of the hill, she had almost regretted to ever climb, for the sight before her had taken every word from her mouth, rendering herself speechless while she felt her sister's arms coming to hold onto hers as she seek for support after the shock had made her stumbled backward, fingers curling tight around her upper arm as she let out a shaky gasp.

"How can it be?"

They both recognized the ship, or what was left of it after years of rotting under the salt water before it had washed up ashore in the Enchanted Forest, distant memories brought back as they stared at the tattered sails, the fading colors of the Arendelle's royal crocus on every flag bearing the seal, the holes all around the wooden body of the once mighty and strong vessel.

"What is it?" Olaf wouldn't know, she would not blame him for asking such question, but there was a heavy lump in her throat that had prevented her from answering, the words refusing to be spoken. But Anna had answered, her voice barely above whisper, as her hold against hers had only increased in tightness as she too felt the pain that came from it.

Mother and Father's ship.

She had watched them, up from her window after she had met them at the foot of the staircase -curtsying as her form of goodbye as she had feared any sort of human contact from anyone even her parents, seeing their ship sailed across the calm waters of the fjord and out into the ocean, disappearing at the horizon along with the setting of the sun.

Anna had watched them, down at the docks after she had given them a warm hug in their bedchamber -telling them that she would see them soon in two weeks' time when they would have returned, waving from the very edge of the wooden walkway until their faces could no longer be seen as they sailed further away from her.

Each of them had seen their parents for the last time then, had watched the both of them sailing away with the thought that they would return back soon after they had finished with their business, that their lives would only be just as it always was, where Anna would spend her time wandering the castle's halls while the older sister remained within her bedchamber, practicing her magic under the watchful and encouraging eyes of her parents.

"But this isn't the Southern Seas."

Her breath had picked up then, had now becoming short and quick pants as her younger sister had confirmed to the snowman that no, this was not the Southern Seas indeed. They had lied to her, had lied to both of them. Now that she had thought about it, even though her memories had been a blur, she had remembered the way Mother had smiled at her with a hint of sadness in it. She had once thought that it was due to how she had refused to be touched then, even when the Queen's hand had been raised halfway toward her cheek, had adverted her face away as she firmly told her no.

Something tugged against her heart, pushing her to run down the hill, racing toward the ship as her arm freed itself from her sister's grip, prompting the strawberry blonde-haired Princess to run down after her. She had paused, if only briefly, in front of the gaping hole of the ship's body, so large that it must have been one of the main entrances for the water to come in and bring the ship down, before she had dared herself to come in.

The inside of it had been as horrible as the outside.

Her boots sunk into the thin layer of mud constricted of soil and pebbles mixed with water as she made her way further in, looking into the once beautiful ship that had now been ruined with time and abandonment, hearing the creaking sound of old wooden that told her that over time, this ship would not even stand like this anymore.

Why would the ship be here in the first place anyway? How could it be here?

"It must have been washed in from the Dark Sea."

"What were they doing in the Dark Sea?" There were tales of it, of how notoriously treacherous it was that no one would dare cross it but those who were willing to die, to sink down under the monstrous waves into the dark waters that knew no bound. Hans had even told her, once, that some sailors believed that the sea was guarded by a being that had been the cause of every incident that happened, but no one had known for sure, for there had never been anyone who lived to tell the tales.

"How did the ship get through the mist?" She had not thought about it before, had been too shaken up to even question it, but Olaf's innocent wonder at the fact had brought a light onto the realization. "I thought nobody could but us. Unless-"

Nobody was on it.

She didn't know which one was worse; for her parents' bodies along with every ship crew that had gone with them to be lost in the depth of the sea where no one could ever recover them for a proper burial or for them to be found here, as nothing but skeletons that would haunt her forever, but will be able to be brought back home.

Her stomach had started to twist, bile rising up her throat as grief had beginning to overwhelm her. Fiddling with her own hands, feeling the magic swirling right under her skin as she attempted to take calming breaths, but had only managed shaky ones instead as she watched Anna coming toward her, placing a hand on her arm as she spoke of something, though in the midst of her own growing panic attack she had not been able to register her words.

But then the Princess' hand had slipped off, no longer holding her, as she turned and began to walk around the place, as if looking for something, speaking of a command that she had only partially heard but understood nonetheless. "-Every Arendellian ship has a compartment, waterproof."

It was where they would store important papers, like maps or any sort of document that had to be kept safe at all times, a hidden compartment that had been built into their kingdom's ships for decades. Nordlys had one too, stored in the captain's cabin, though that ship had been one of the newest models, a merge between Arendelle's style and the Southern Isles' as Hans had been the one who looked over the creation to make a better vessel for the Queen, and it's layout was different from this one.

Her body was trembling, if only slightly, yet she had pushed herself into moving, pulling against the small doors of the cupboards she came across it, trying her best to try and find a place where the said compartment that Anna had mentioned could be, though her movement had been far slower if compared to the younger woman, whose hands skillfully ran across the surface in search of a hidden switch.

"Here!"

Anna had already opened the metal tube when she had come to kneel by her side -feeling the dampened wooden floor against the fabric of her pants as she did so, pulling out the two rolls of parchment that had been the only things that were saved from the whole wrecked ship, undamaged by the cold salt water, unrolling the first shorter one to reveal a language that neither understood.

Her eyes caught the delicate wordings at the corner of the parchment when the younger sister still had her attention in trying to figure out what the symbols had meant, fingers cautiously holding onto the edge as she moved it to better see it. "Mother's handwriting." She had recognized it almost instantly, as she had seen the way her mother had curved her alphabets when she wrote, the distinct pull at the ink was unmistakable.

The end of the ice age,

the river found but lost.

Magic source.

Elsa's source?

The mention of her name had her practically grabbing the parchment out of her sister's grasp, as she scanned her eyes over her mother's writing over and over again. She translated it, the language that was perhaps older than the one that they spoke, she had a certain understanding to this as she had written the note for others to read. Her source… Had that mean that they were talking of her magic's source? The one that had caused her to be born with powers that no one else possessed? Or were they talking about her as if she was some sort of an abomination? A being that was not supposed to be here, was not supposed to exist within this world?

The Princess had apparently unrolled the second parchment, not entirely but enough to reveal that it was a map that was brought aboard. Lying it down against the surface before them, Arendelle was the first thing that had caught her attention, of the small drawing of the castle by the name written, before both of them had followed the path drawn by black ink. "They traveled north," as oppose to where they said they were going, "and planned to cross the Dark Sea to-"

"Ahtohallan."

It was real.

At least, real enough for their parents to believe in it, enough to make them risk their own lives in search of it despite the consequences that they knew would have to be faced by attempting to cross the Dark Sea.

But why would they even try to go to Ahtohallan? What were they doing? What they were seeking until they had to head for the ancient river -that not even the Northuldra knew whether it was real or not, that held all the memories of the past? What were they-

Elsa's source.

Her stomach had twisted once again, far more painful this time, as she hurried in getting back up onto her feet, turning as she ran out of the wreckage despite Anna's call for her name as now the place felt like it was haunting her and weighted her down, stumbling as her vision blurred with the tears that gathered in her eyes until she had somehow found a rock to lean on as it had been too overwhelming for her to even stand on her own, not with the pain that sliced and tightened around her heart, making her chest ache.

"Elsa…"

She had cried, her walls unable to hold back the emotions that had suddenly raged within herself, lips trembling as she felt her sister's hold against her, feeling her own heart's heaviness as she wrapped her arms around the older sister before matching sobs could be heard from the Princess, although hers had been quieter.

"This is my fault." It had always been, from the moment of the incident that had endangered Anna's life, it had seemed that everything that she did, every single action and decision that she took, had only led her into spiraling down into the dark abyss of wrongness. "They were looking for answers about me." About why their eldest daughter had been born different, had been born with coldness in her veins, of why she had possessed magic that had caused nothing but destruction and pain.

Anna's hold tightened around her, her warmth that had usually able to calm her the way Hans and Wilhelm did was barely even comforting at the moment, unable to fight off the gnawing darkness that grew in her mind. "You are not responsible for their choices, Elsa." It had come in nothing but murmurs against her jacket, as she felt herself sinking down onto her knees, the younger following along.

"No, just their death!" If it had not been for her, if she had been born as a normal child that could get cold and required thick clothing during the winter, one that did not need to wear touching others because she could freeze them with a mere touch of her skin, then Anna would still have her beloved parents, she would still being able to feel the warmth of their embrace, instead she had a sister who could not keep her away from the cold because the cold was her. "I caused this, Anna, whether directly or not!"

Something changed within the Princess, for something that she said had caused the younger sister to unwrap her arms from her, had taken hold of her upper arms instead as she made her turn to look at her. "Elsa, no, don't do this to yourself." Fingers curling tightly when she had adverted her gaze away until she had to look back into her turquoise eyes. "You need to stop blaming yourself over things that are out of your control and start to see yourself the way I see you, the way everyone else sees you."

"And how did you see me, Anna?"

"A fair Queen who rules with kindness in her heart, a loving sister that had done so much for me that I could never thank you enough," a hand reached up, tucking a strand of platinum blonde hair that had strayed out of the braid behind her ear as the Princess' eyes softened. "A wife and a mother who would do anything for her family, would sacrifice herself for the safety of others. You are a gift to us all, Elsa. It's us who are blessed with you." Fresh tears had beginning to fill her eyes and yet this time, her heart had not felt so heavy, had felt as if it had been slowly released out of the tight clutch it was in earlier. "And your magic is a part of you, one we all have accepted for the longest of time even before you accepted it yourself. If anyone can resolve the past, if anyone can save Arendelle and free this forest, it's you. I believe in you, Elsa, more than anyone or anything."

Save the kingdom, that was what she was supposed to focus on. Wiping her eyes, she had nodded at her younger sister as she had taken a deep breath to calm herself. "Honeymaren said that there was a fifth spirit. A bridge between the magic of nature and us."

"A fifth spirit?" Nodding, she understood the Princess' confusion over the new information, as she too had not expected that there was to be a fifth spirit that they would have to meet, there was none in their father's tale and there had been no stone nor symbol of it. But Anna had faced many wonders before, enough to make her not question this one more than necessary. "So, where are we going now?"

Ahtohallan. But it was never going to be 'we'.

She had to cross the Dark Sea, the one sea that has taken perhaps more lives than the other seas that she had known, the one that had taken the lives of their parents; it would have been far too dangerous for the both of them to go, but she had her powers so she had a better chance than the Princess would ever have.

"Elsa," Her silence had prompted Anna to take her hand once more, tugging against it to turn her attention back at her, turquoise eyes searching through blue ones for answers. "Where are we going?" She repeated, though still she had remained silent, refusing to give the Princess any idea of where she was going by herself. "You are not planning on leaving me, are you?"

"It's too dangerous, Anna." If she could protect her sister the way she had protected both Hans and Wilhelm, then she would do it, she would not even hesitate in such decision. "You said you believe in me, right? I can make this right."

"But I don't want you dying trying to be everything for everyone else!" Her hold had tightened around her hand, preventing her to go. "Think of what Hans would feel, how Wilhelm would feel! He's your son, Elsa, you can't do this to him." But she was ready to do anything in her power for him, this was exactly what she had to do as his mother, to give him the life that he deserved. "And I can't lose my sister, please."

The raw emotion that the younger sister had poured in every word that she had spoken had prompted her to come and wrapped her arms around her, pulling her in a tight embrace. "I can't lose you either, Anna." She was her responsibility, ever since she was born, ever since their parents had passed away, Anna had always been her responsibility to care and protect. But she had Kristoff now, she had Hans and Wilhelm as the family that she had been craving for years. Out of the corner of her eye she had seen Olaf, watching them wordlessly, no doubt having been listening to their exchange. "Come here." The snowman had waddled toward them, hugging the younger sister's leg after the Queen had called for him, and she could feel Anna relaxing in her hold.

Releasing her hold, the relieved smile on her younger sister's face had the corners of her lips to tug into a small smile as well. She knew she had to do this.

"I'm so sorry for this, Anna. And for every moment after."

"Wait, what?" Her magic had silently yet effectively grown under Anna's boots -as well as Olaf's feet, coming from both of her hands that had now cloaked in a thin mist of icy cold air, as it grew into a small ice boat just big enough to fit the both of them. "What are you doing?!" The strawberry blonde-haired Princess had stumbled and fell back as she stomped her foot against the ground, creating an ice path for the boat to slide on, calling out for her name as she moved farther away.

The path would take her back to the Northuldra's village, where she would be safe, and even if she had decided to go back into chasing her, she would have been long gone then.

Besides, Anna was right. She would sacrifice herself for the safety of others.