CHAPTER SIX: THE GODDESS, THE DEMON & THE GIANT
Kristoff stared at his wife as the blue light conformed to her shape perfectly, afraid he'd lose her if he'd blink. She looked like she a frozen ice statue, but glowed with a gentle blue glow and her ice magic slithered around her in random spurts before settling down and she turned white as snow before she was lowered. The whole process caused the cave to become unstable and the thin layer of ice far beneath her crumbled, exposing the bottomless pit. Kristoff's heart raced with fear as she was lowered. She descended with her arms spread like a beautiful angel without wings and a place to stand was instantly created for her as soon as she reached the top of the dark, bottomless pit. Kristoff's eyes were locked on her during this.
"Elsa," he called cautiously and her eyes instantly opened revealing bright white eyes that struck divine fear into his heart, making him shake his head in shock and disbelief, "Elsa!"
Power radiated from her very being with a gentle hum as she silently walked towards him on a gradually formed path being created with each step. The closer she got to him, the more unstable the cave around them became. None of the debris came close to her because of her power shielding her so he rushed to get close to her for protection as he slowly followed her close outside to see the whole island falling apart and being reduced to a barren icy island. The Water Spirit was still on the shore waiting for them.
Kristoff slowly got in front of Elsa with an increasing worry. "Elsa?" There was nothing. Elsa just stood there, staring at the direction they came from across the dark sea. Her white hair continued to wave in the hair on its own. "Please, say something. I need- Just give me a sign you're okay." He tried laying his hands gently on her slim shoulders, but she instantly erupted with light and a loud angry hum, repelling him. "It is forbidden for you to touch me, human!" Elsa spoke with an angry divine voice that wasn't her own. It was the same voice that spoke earlier.
"Where's Elsa? What have you done to my wife?!" Kristoff demanded, immediately stormed to her. She didn't respond. "ANSWER ME!"
"Elsa is here, but has transcended beyond your silly human concepts. You call her your wife, but she is MUCH MORE than that now. She is not chained to humanity's plane of existence. She dwells above it. No more pain. No more suffering. No more fear." The voice speaking for Elsa explained.
Kristoff began to tear up at the thought of not seeing Elsa again.
Back in the Northuldra camp, the last of the evil spirits were purged. They all looked at one another before cheering loudly to celebrate their victory. Gerda was close to Yelena since Kristoff entrusted his daughter to the elder. Yelena smiled, feeling the same as her people. She looked up at the sky and her smile faded when she saw the Fire Spirit flying for them. "SCATTER!"
A mass of purple flame crashed into the center of the camp, creating a blackened crater and scarring the earth. Those closest to the site were killed instantly but everyone else were thrown off their feet and on the hard ground. Trees were also knocked down and reduced to blackened skeletons of their former selves. Yelena's eyes widened when she saw a figure stand in the center of the crater.
It was a woman with free red hair. Her slim young body stood confidently with clenched fists. Parts of her body were enveloped with the Fire Spirit's purple fire, but Yelena was able to see something important on her dress: the royal symbol of Arendelle. Her eyes widened. The Fire Spirit has possessed the Queen of Arendelle!
A frightened Gerda didn't know what caused the explosion but smiled happily when she recognized her aunt Anna, "Auntie Anna!" Gerda ran to hug her, but stopped when Yelena called urgently, "Stop, child! That's not your aunt! You have to get away from her!"
Gerda was froze in her spot as Anna smiled a chilling smile when she saw her and approached. Gerda shook as Anna knelt in front of her and her eyes became normal, "Hey there, my little sunflower. I missed you so much." Anna spread her arms to hug Gerda and Gerda felt calmed and hugged Anna. "Your mommy and daddy are in danger…but I can save them. I can save them both. You want to see them again?"
Gerda nodded with a smile.
Anna smiled that smile again and stood, holding out her hand. "Come with me, daughter of Elsa."
Gerda didn't catch how Anna addressed her and blindly took her aunt's hand.
"Child, no! It's not your aunt! The spirit is deceiving you!" Yelena called, but it was too late. With another explosion of purple flame, Anna and Gerda disappeared into the starry sky. Sven below, bellowed loudly and ran after them. Olaf climbed on Sven before doing so, "Let's save Gerda, Sven!" As they passed the shore of the Dark Sea, which was froze solid, the largest Earth giant ever manifested and followed the fire spirit. Olaf was blown away by the giant's size, "Oh, he's big. VERY big."
Back in Arendelle, the people were in a frenzy over the attack, demanding answers from King Hans who was able to calm them before going back inside to talk with the Council and top officers. "Any news on where my wife is?"
"None, King Hans. We searched the entire kingdom and have found no traces of her," the officer replied.
That wasn't the answer Hans wanted to hear so he slammed his fist into the table angrily. "That's not good enough! Search again! My wife-! Your QUEEN is out there! Find her!"
The officers left, leaving Hans alone with the older Council members. Hans noticed their looks, "If you have something to say, say it!"
"Your Majesty. We are all worried for the Queen, but a more important issue needs to be addressed. Those were spirits that attacked our kingdom and we had no weapon to defend against that. If it wasn't for Anna's secret magic-"
"Anna doesn't have magic," Hans corrected.
A soldier entered, a Royal Guard, at one of the elder's command. The guard reported, "I stood beside you and the Queen, Your Majesty. You were unconscious and the Queen was desperate to defend you. Suddenly she dropped her sword and she just stood up. Her eyes were filled with purple fire which she used to instantly kill all the spirits in the kingdom without harming the architecture or the people. When the dust settled, she was gone."
Hans couldn't process this and stared at the Council in disbelief. "I don't believe you. What is the MATTER WITH YOU?!"
One of the councilors tried to speak in defense of the testimony, but Hans yelled, "MY WIFE IS MISSING AND YOU OLD USELESS FOSSILS ARE SO LAZY TO HELP ME FIND MY WIFE THAT YOU WOULD MAKE UP STORIES ABOUT ANNA HAVING MAGIC?!"
The room was silent and Hans recognized he lost his temper and apologized, "I'm- I'm sorry, I-"
"We understand your frustrations, King Hans, but is it really that unbelievable? Elsa has magic. Could it be remotely possible that Anna had magic this whole time and just didn't know it?" a council woman asked.
Hans was silent, trying to process the possibility. Anna…with magic?
Back at Ahtohallan, Kristoff was still trying to reach Elsa…his Elsa. "Elsa, you have to be in there! Remember your friends and family! Anna. Hans. Olaf. Sven. Remember our daughter, Gerda. Remember- remember me."
He cupped his wife's ice face and kissed her closed lips. There was nothing, causing his heart to crumble as he fell to his knees and hugged her around the waist.
His Elsa was in a white void alone. "Hello?!"
A voice that sounded just like her's replied, "Hello." She turned and saw another Elsa, but she was cold, regal, and void of emotion. "Who are you?"
"I am the Ice Spirit. I am you…the you that you were always destined to be. I am your potential," the Ice Spirit replied, walking around Elsa with a regal stance. "A queen above queens AND kings. The only one humanity needs. Powerful. Unstoppable. Fearless. Unwavering. That was always what you were meant to be but your emotions make you weak and vulnerable. Pathetic."
Elsa scowled, "That's not what emotions do. They make me happy. They make me kind and loving towards others. My emotions make me strong. They are what make me human."
The ice spirit giggled with amusement, "But you're not human anymore. You are much more than that now."
"What do you mean? What am I?" Elsa questioned, turning to focus on the Ice Spirit who continued walking circles around her.
The Ice Spirit giggled, "Oh, how adorable. She wants to know finally. I'd tell you, but the answer would only frighten you. I'll just let you figure that out on your own. It'll be much more entertaining that way."
"TELL ME NOW!" Elsa yelled like a queen raising her hand to use her magic against the Ice Spirit, but it wouldn't work, shocking her and making the Ice Spirit laugh.
"So, demanding. Much like that man out there demanding I let you go. He never gives up," the Ice Spirit shared.
Elsa scowled at the Ice Spirit, "Kristoff? What have you done to him?"
"Nothing at all. I am for humanity. I am it's guardian, but that doesn't mean I have to like them," the Ice Spirit replied with an edgy voice.
"What did humanity do to you to make you hate them so much?" Elsa asked and the Ice Spirit immediately faced her with a guarded and furious look, causing the entire white void to shake violently, making Elsa fall to the ground.
"Tread carefully. It's because of humans that the other spirits turned against them," the Ice Spirit replied. "Two spirits are coming to Ahtohallan now. I must finish the war you started or humanity will perish."
Before Elsa could question this, the Ice Spirit vanished in a crack of thunder, leaving her alone in the white void. "WAIT!"
Kristoff heard something coming and stood and turned. Something purple was coming for them fast. "Anna?" Anna landed holding Gerda, but why was there purple fire coming off her body? Fear flooded his being, "No."
"Shh, she just went to sleep without a fuss," the possessed Anna spoke soothingly, stroking Gerda's peaceful face. The Water Spirit, now loyal to Elsa rushed the possessed Queen angrily but was instantly reduced to steam by the Fire Spirit's bright purple flames.
Kristoff became angry and demanded through his teeth, "You let my daughter go." He began walking forward, but Elsa's cold hand seized his wrist. "Let me go."
"This foe is beyond you, human," the voice spoke.
Kristoff had enough of her. This person standing behind him wasn't Elsa and he had not intention of listening to her. "I said-!"
Without warning and with the strength of a hundred men, Elsa threw Kristoff back behind her by force. Kristoff groaned loudly after hitting the rough ice and got on his hands and knees before looking up at Elsa who had her back to him. She said, "This is my fight and mine alone."
Evil Anna smiled smugly, making Gerda wake up with a tough and released her so she could run to her mother, but Gerda froze when she saw her mother, greatly intimidated.
"Gerda, come here," Kristoff called and Gerda ran into her father
Evil Anna took a few steps closer to Elsa, smiling, "This body I stole. She's so weak. So saturated with love for her people and family and she let me take her over. All to save her people and her sister. How pathetic." She laughed evilly.
The Ice spirit replied, "I agree."
Evil Anna became shocked by Elsa's reply. "So cold. Don't you love your sister? Aren't you going to surrender to save her?"
"You are mistaken. Elsa isn't the one you are speaking to. I am…winter. I am cold. I am ice. I am…" The next thing that came from Elsa's mouth was a name, a name known only among the spirits. Kristoff and Gerda couldn't hear it because they were not meant to.
The mention of that name invoked evil Anna to wrath, but Elsa was unwavering and still with pure confidence. "You should've have stayed hidden! Once I kill you and your two pets, I'll return to Arendelle and rule over them like the worthless pathetic creatures they are!"
Elsa held out a welcoming hand, inviting her to back up her threat, "Come then, fire demon. Come and have your resolution."
Evil Anna screamed in fury, unleashing a pillar of bright purple flame right at her, causing the whole area to be enveloped with thick steam. Evil Anna smiled smugly, "What's ice to fire?! You were dead as soon as I arrived!"
During this, Elsa was arguing with the Ice Spirit. I have no choice. I have to kill her.
No, that my sister. You can't take her away from me! I won't let you!
Try and stop me.
There was a loud hum of divine power erupting from Elsa, causing the steam to clear and reveal herself to her aggressor, making Evil Anna's eyes widen with fear, "That's- That's impossible!"
Elsa instantly rushed to her with a blur and seized her throat in a cold grip of death. "What's a demon to a goddess?"
Iclyn, please!
Elsa screaming the name of the Ice Spirit, struck the Ice Spirit deeply, making her expression become more human. Blue veins appeared on Elsa's snow-white face as her hand slammed into the possessed Anna's chest, making her scream an inhuman painful scream and the fire spirit was pushed out of Anna's body and vaporized by the icy magic at the same time.
Anna fell to the ground and then up at Elsa, but Elsa looked different. "Elsa?" Kristoff came over and guided Anna away from Elsa. "Kristoff-?"
"That's not Elsa. Something took over her and won't release Elsa. I tried everything. I- I don't know what to do Anna," Kristoff said with fear in his voice that Anna never saw before.
"You two should leave. Another approaches," Elsa spoke, her eyes fixed on the horizon where the sun was rising. An enormous rocky figure approached them. Out of the four chief spirits, the Earth spirit was the strongest and most destructive.
Sven was able to finally pass the rocky giant and Olaf jumped off in front of it while Sven kept running. Olaf faced the large rocky giant and said, "I have a giant snow monster friend named Marshmallow, but you don't look like a Marshmallow. More like…ROCKY ROAD ICECREAM!" The giant waved him off and continued walking. "Okay, that didn't work. YOU SHALL NOT PASS!" The giant stomped on Olaf. "OW!" Olaf giggled, "Talk about a rock and a hard place."
Kristoff's eyes widened when he saw something else on the horizon. "SVEN!"
The reindeer, being faster than the enormous rock giant coming for Ahtohallan managed to arrive. "Sven, take Anna and Gerda."
Sven grunted in agreement.
"What?! No! I'm not leaving Elsa! That's my sister! You go!" Anna argued.
"I'm not leaving you hear when you can't defend against THAT! Elsa's my wife, I'm staying. Sven can't carry all of us. He can run faster with two people," Kristoff explained.
As Anna and Kristoff argued, Elsa remained unphased by them, her eyes locked on the approaching enemy. Gerda went over to her mother and took her cold hand in her little hand. "Mama?"
Kristoff and Anna stopped arguing and watched. Gerda tried pulling on her hand, "Come on, Mama. We have to go." Elsa didn't acknowledge her once, which made her cry.
Kristoff came over, "Gerda, I need you to leave with Aunt Anna. Okay?"
Gerda got angry and hugged her mother's leg, "NO! I WANT MAMA!"
Kristoff sighed and looked worryingly at the rock giant approaching Elsa. "I'm going to lead it away."
"I'm coming with," Anna said. "Stay with your mother, Gerda." She and Kristoff rode off on Sven.
Elsa's icy glowing eyes widened slightly at the actions of these two humans.
When they got close enough, they began yelling, hoping to get its attention and lure it away from Elsa and Gerda. The ice shook violently with each step it took, each strike of its large fists.
Gerda was terrified and hid behind her mother's icy dress, whimpering.
Sven was knocked to the ground and could get up. Anna threw a chunk of ice at the giant, "HEY, PEBBLES! OVER HERE!" The giant struck at the ice near her and she fell. She tried desperately to get back up when she noticed the other hand coming for her. At the last second, Kristoff pushed her out of the way and disappeared in the blink of an eye as the giant's hand swiped at her. Anna was horrified and noticed Kristoff's dead body on the ice in the distance. Gerda noticed her father and ran to him. Anna crawled away to him, ignored by the giant.
"Papa?" Kristoff said nothing as he laid there. "Papa, come on. Wake up, Papa." Nothing. Gerda's eyes began to tear up after she looked at Anna who shook her head and was tearing up. Olaf finally caught up and was silent.
Gerda turned to her mother who was just standing there, "MAMA! He-Help!" No response, so Gerda cuddled close to her father's dead body, in between his large arms, desperately seeking comfort, but was only weeping. Her crying was carried in the cold wind around them to Elsa, causing the ice to fade from her face partially, to reveal Elsa's normal eye, overflowing with tears. Elsa broke free from her icy appearance and fell to her knees in despair before looking up at the rock giant towering above her. An inconceivable anger rose in her and she unleased all her magic. Her eyes glowed a bright blue with the full power of the Icy Spirit. Her face became partially covered with veins that glowed the same color as she screamed as loudly as humanly possible, unleashing every bit of anger and pain in one attack. The frost giant was frozen, impaled with countless large icy spikes. Hers raised hands clenched into fists, causing the Earth spirit to die and crumble like an enormous tower.
Anna quickly covered Kristoff and Gerda with her body as the entire area was filled with thick dust from the crumbling giant. When the dust settled, Anna looked up and saw Elsa…her Elsa…approaching them and knelt by them, hugging Kristoff and Gerda, crying.
"Elsa!" Anna whispered and Elsa saw her magic was doing something, traveling through her fingers into Kristoff. "Kristoff?!"
Kristoff was in a sunny plain, filled with Purple Heather. Ahead there was a valley created by two beautiful mountains. There was a middle-aged man with blond hair and dressed in white who turned to face him. "Welcome, Kristoff."
"Where am I?" Kristoff asked, looking around at the paradise surrounding him.
"This is the home your wife will create. It's beautiful, isn't it?" the man explained, but Kristoff didn't understand.
Kristoff's hazel eyes locked onto the beautiful light that peaked through a valley created by two beautiful mountains. He began to walk towards it, but the man stopped with. "I'm sorry, Kristoff. But you can't come home yet."
Kristoff turned to see Gerda and Elsa pulling him by the back of his top, their eyes in tears.
"Please don't leave, Papa," Gerda begged. Kristoff knelt down and picked up his daughter and hugged Elsa who buried her face in his chest. The man behind him smiled, before he pushed Kristoff's back and Kristoff immediately woke up with Elsa, Anna, Gerda, Olaf and Sven all looking down at him. His eyes fell on Elsa and then he immediately realized what she had become.