A/N: This is a story with a lot of potential to trigger if you are sensitive to depression, abusive situations, self-harm, death, or anything similar, then please be careful with you. Constructive criticism welcome.
"The Masks of Players"
Dramatis Personae
Elsa – Herself Anna – Herself King Agnarr – Himself
Sir Jorgenbjorgen
Kristoff
Sven
The Ice
Age 8
Elsa sniffled, and wiped her nose on her sleeve miserably as she lay on top of her covers in her bed. She clutched Sir Jorgenbjorgen to her chest and fiddled absently with his yellow yarn hair. She listened to the rain spattering outside of her window and made soft moaning sounds. The candle on her desk had long since burnt out and she lay in the dark of the stormy early evening.
"Mama, mama," Elsa whimpered. She rolled over uncomfortably and stuck her thumb into her mouth. Elsa hadn't sucked her thumb in years, but it felt good. It was something she could control, and could concentrate on. "Anna, Mama," Elsa whispered around her thumb.
A gentle knock on her door caught her attention, and Elsa stopped crying and took her thumb out of her mouth. She sat up and watched as her door opened. Gerda came in with a tray of food, a candle, and a worried look. She looked around the dark room in concern.
"Hello, Princess," Gerda said, and she walked over to the beautiful desk in the corner where she set the tray and placed the burning candle. She opened one of the drawers of Elsa's desk and removed a candlestick to replace the old one, and lighted it. She walked across the room to place it on Elsa's nightstand. "The King asked that I serve you in your room again today," Gerda told her. Elsa felt her eyes well up with tears, and she blinked hard trying to keep them at bay.
"Gerda…" Elsa trailed off softly.
"Yes, Princess?" the servant responded quickly. Elsa opened her mouth and then shut it again.
"Nevermind," Elsa said, and she laid back down on her bed.
"Yes, Princess." Gerda shoulders fell. "Don't forget to eat your dinner tonight, Your Highness." She grabbed an empty tray from Elsa's floor, and walked out. When the door clicked shut, Elsa couldn't stop the tears. She grabbed Sir Jorgenbjorgen again and held him close.
Almost a year into her exile from a life filled with play and her sister, and her papa was still unpredictable. Somedays he was the same as he previously had been, loving and serene; other days he was sullen and angry. Sometimes it meant she ate with her family, but lately it seemed she stayed in her room all the time. Elsa's breaths came in fast and loud gasps, and she moaned again.
"It's all right, Child," A deep voice said. "You're not alone." Elsa's eyes widened for a few seconds with hope, but then they dulled in disbelief. Elsa started to shiver, and held Jorgenbjorgen closer. "I'm here with you," the voice spoke again. Elsa looked around the room in confusion, and suddenly realized that Jorgenbjorgen was staring at her with his single eye. She stared into his eye for a long moment, the candlelight glinting off of it.
"Sir Jorgenbjorgen?" Elsa asked softly.
"Yes, Child, I'm here with you," he said gently. The little puffin's wings wrapped around her as well as he could.
"I didn't know you could talk," Elsa responded calmly. She stopped trembling and felt Jorgenbjorgen's warmth against her.
"Yes, I've always been able to speak, but tonight's the first time you've heard me." Sir Jorgenbjorgen explained to her. He snuggled her close. Elsa felt a warmth in her heart that she hadn't felt in weeks and smiled crookedly.
"I love you," Elsa said and hugged the doll as tightly as she could. The puffin hugged her back. "Will you stay with me?"
"Always," Sir Jorgenbjorgen replied. "Now, get your dinner, and we can talk while you eat." Elsa nodded, set the stuffed puffin down, and sat up so she could slide off the bed to get her food. Jumping down, Elsa grabbed the tray from the desk, and brought it back to her bed quickly.
"Sir Jorgenbjorgen, how come I've just started to hear you tonight?" Elsa wondered, and she started to eat.
"Because tonight you needed to know more than ever that someone still loves you in this world," said Jorgenbjorgen. Elsa ate hungrily and shook her head in understanding. "You needed to know there will always be someone to take care of you and someone who will always listen."
"But I thought you were make believe," Elsa said, and she swallowed both her food and in fear of his answer.
"The world is stranger than you know, Child," the puffin said.
Age 9
Elsa listened to her younger sister knock at the door and rolled over in her bed. Just once, she wanted to answer the door and play, but she knew what would happen if she did that. Elsa shuddered and grabbed the edge of her pillowcase in fright. Her father always said he didn't like to punish her, but he did it anyway, and it always hurt.
"Do you wanna build a snowman?" Anna called from outside the door, and she giggled. She always sounded so happy. Elsa didn't mind her sister's joy. In fact, she preferred it. She would rather be the one to answer to her father's anger if someone had to anyhow, and he always found some reason to be unhappy with her since she has lost control of her powers.
Elsa lifted her dress and lowered her socks; the bruises on her legs had finally started healing which meant that he was going to start in again there. She pushed one bruise and winced, but then she did it again. Elsa held her breath as she felt dull pain and willed herself not to react.
"What are you doing, Child?" A deep, kind voice asked.
"Oh, Sir Jorgenbjorgen," Elsa said. "I didn't realize you were awake." She sat up and she looked at the doll sitting on the other side of her bed. She picked him up and hugged him close.
"Why were you pressing your bruises? You know they won't heal if you do, Dear," the little puffin said with concern.
"I know," she said. "But if I make myself hurt then maybe I can get used to the pain, so it's not so bad when he makes me hurt." Elsa explained. Sir Jorgenbjorgen looked on sagely.
"I understand, but you must never hurt yourself. You hurt enough without you hurting you, too." Jorgenbjorgen tried to convince Elsa. She stared at him for a moment before nodding.
"I guess you're – " Elsa gasped when the sound of the door unlocking interrupted her, and she held Sir Jorgenbjorgen close.
"Elsa!" Her father thundered as he walked into the room.
"Yes, Papa," she said, all the emotion draining from her voice. She set Sir Jorgenbjorgen down. Her father clicked the door shut and he turned back to face his child.
"Keep calm, Elsa," Sir Jorgenbjorgen said from behind her. She took a deep breath and imagined the puffin holding her hand tightly.
"Get off the bed, and turn around." Her father ordered. Elsa sighed quietly and did as she was told, but then she quietly walked away, climbed up the bed post where Jorgenbjorgen joined her and sat upside down on the canopy of her bed, so she could watch the scene below her unfold.
The little boy left on the ground held on tight to the antler buds of the young reindeer next to him and seized up every time her father drew back his belt and hit him, but the little boy didn't cry. Both Elsa and the boy knew that crying would only invite harder blows. Then her father struck a foul blow at the back of the boy's knees and he did cry out.
"Hush!" Papa cried and punched the little boy in the head. Elsa spun and fell off the canopy of the bed with Jorgenbjorgen onto the soft top of her bed. She heard the little boy crying, and she saw spots dancing in front of her eyes. When her vision started to clear up her father stood above her looking worried. "Elsa, come back to me." He scooped her up, and snuggled her close. "There's my good girl," he said. Elsa didn't respond. She didn't cuddle him back, but she didn't push him away either. Her head throbbed and she felt a little nauseated, but Elsa let herself hang quietly. "I thought I'd lost you for a second," her papa said.
"He doesn't care about that," the little boy said from below and he sniffled miserably. The baby reindeer let out a soft grunt and Elsa knew it was cuddling the little boy. She felt happy for the little boy. She didn't know him very well – just that he sometimes came into her room, and that her papa beat him, but she didn't like it when he hurt. "Come on, Sven. Let's go." The little boy and his reindeer padded away quietly, and Elsa was forced to look back at her father.
"I'm sorry I had to do that to you, but if you could just learn to control your powers, I wouldn't need to punish you so much." Elsa's father explained. She still didn't look up at his face, but she forced herself to nod. "Elsa, can you do that for me? Can you keep working on your powers?" Her father asked.
"Yes, Papa," Elsa said. He pulled her against him and kissed her forehead gently before depositing her on the bed unceremoniously onto her back.
"I'll see you at dinner," he said. "Don't forget to work on your control. 'Conceal it. Don't feel it. Don't let it show.'" He reminded her conspiratorially and he gave her a tiny smile.
"Yes, Papa," Elsa repeated, and she sat up. Her father grinned again and he winked and left. Elsa looked over at Sir Jorgenbjorgen and saw him lying in a pile on the other side of the bed. "I guess I should practice," she said to him. She took her gloves off and set them next to her on the bed. Ice immediately began to reach out from her fingers.
"You think you can control us?" The Ice called out and they laughed. "We're stronger than you'll ever be."
"Be quiet, Fools," Sir Jorgenbjorgen hissed at the Ice. The Ice laughed again and Elsa felt it spreading from her fingertips, an out-of-control river pouring into the room. The ice crawled over her bedspread and up the bedposts toward the ceiling where it formed into perfect icicles. It moved across to the corners of her bedroom where it turned into snow and flurried down to make little piles on the floor. Slick patches spread across the carpet and stones and the window froze over with a loud crackling.
"You can't control us now, and you never will!" The Ice told Elsa. Elsa groaned and curled into a tiny, shivering ball. Everything felt so far away and she felt so small. She let herself move further into the distance despite the fact Jorgenbjorgen wrapped his tiny wings against her, mindful of her bruises.
"Maybe she can't stop you, but I can!" The little boy shouted. He and the reindeer had come back in, and he now held up an ice hook. "She's only a princess, but I sell ice for a living, so I know what to do against you!" The little boy waved his ice hook menacingly, and his reindeer bellowed as if to agree.
"Good job, Kristoff!" Jorgenbjorgen said, and he rubbed Elsa's back. The puffin stood up and he watched Kristoff threaten the Ice with the hook and shatter some of it into huge shards. Then Kristoff picked it up and threw it into Elsa's empty fireplace.
Elsa continued to lay twisted up in a ball. She hadn't stirred – didn't seem to realize what was happening around her. She didn't appear to feel Sir Jorgenbjorgen's touch, or hear the ice cracking under Kristoff's expert hand and Sven's small hooves. The little girl simply breathed shallow and desperate breaths as they worked around her.
"Elsa, come back to us, Child," Sir Jorgenbjorgen said. He continued to stroke her back and speak to her in his soft, deep voice. The ice kept cackling around them despite being fractured and broken. Kristoff gave off soft grunts as he worked and Sven made excited lowing sounds.
"How's the Princess? Did she realize I'm fixin' stuff yet?" Kristoff asked from the floor as he threw another piece of ice into the fireplace.
"No," Jorgenbjorgen said, "She's buried deep within herself right now. I think that she's sleeping very heavily right now." He ran his fingers up and down Elsa's back.
"Maybe we should call her Sleeping Beauty," Kristoff joked, and he smashed and demolished another piece of screaming Ice into the fireplace. Sven picked up a piece of ice and placed it into the fireplace as well, and then held his tongue out because it was covered in small pieces of soot. Jorgenbjorgen didn't respond to the little boy. He just kept massaging Elsa's back and whispering soothing words to her.
Age 14
"Elsa! Stop!" Her father cried as she rammed him repeatedly. Her headband fell off of her head, and rolled out the door. "Stop!" Her father shouted again. He held his hands out in front of him protectively.
Anna peeked out her door and saw her sister's white blonde hair flashing in quick succession against her father's hands. He left the room quickly, backing out and slamming the door shut. Elsa continued to bang against the door and her father held it shut.
"Stop, Elsa!" He called through the door. "I'll be back later to deal with you!" The thumping stopped, and her father took his hands away from the door gingerly. He walked away muttering to himself.
Anna tiptoed out of her bedroom and picked up Elsa's headband.
"Elsa?" She knocked lightly on the door in her typical fashion. Elsa crashed against the door again heavily. "Elsa, it's just me. Papa's gone," Anna said. She heard Elsa breathing heavily on the other side, making a snorting sound through her nose. Anna had no idea what caused her sister to be so upset. "Elsa, your headband is out here. Do you want me to push it under the door?" Anna asked. She leaned down on the floor and looked under where she saw her sister pacing back and forth like a caged animal. Anna gingerly picked up the headband and she pushed it under the door.
Halfway under the door it started to move. Anna smiled and watched, only to see the headband get smashed in half as Elsa trampled it angrily and continued snorting. Anna snatched her hand back as if Elsa could have smashed that too, and she gasped.
"Sven, calm down!" Kristoff shouted. The reindeer rammed Elsa's father, and then again trying desperately to get him out of the room. He snorted and gnashed Elsa's teeth angrily and knocked her headband from her head.
"Elsa! Stop!" Her father cried. Sven rammed into her father again and he smashed Elsa's feet into the ground. He accidentally kicked the headband out of the room as he butted into her father once more. "Stop!" Her father started to back up and Sven kept hitting against his hands.
Sven banged against the door as her father slammed it in his face. He continued to slam against the door and grunt furiously. "Stop, Elsa! I'll be back later to deal with you!"
"It's okay, Buddy," Kristoff said. "Calm down!"
"Elsa?" A light knock on the door enraged Sven further and he crashed into the door again.
"Sven, you're going to hurt Elsa," Sir Jorgenbjorgen tried. The reindeer lowed in response and snorted.
"Elsa, it's just me. Papa's gone," Anna said through the door. "Elsa, your headband is out here. Do you want me to push it under the door?" Sven only grew more enraged as the headband started to appear under the doorway and he flattened it.
"That's enough, Sven! You're scaring Anna!" Kristoff shouted and he pushed Sven away from the door. Sven bellowed again. Kristoff finally caught the reindeer by his face and he petted him gently. Sven's breathing calmed and he allowed Kristoff to lead him away.
"Elsa," Jorgenbjorgen called. "Elsa, are you there?" Elsa shook her head and winced.
"Sir Jorgenbjorgen?" Elsa whispered, "What happened?" She moved over to her bed, holding her head in pain. Tears froze on her cheeks and fell to the floor in little sprinkles. She ran her hands through her hair and felt the new lumps. "Where's my headband?"
"It's been ruined, unfortunately," Jorgenbjorgen explained. "Fortunately, you've got plenty of others." Elsa walked over to her wardrobe and opened one of the drawers to get a new headband for herself. She started to slide it into place, but the pain was too great, and she instead replaced it into the wardrobe. "Fix your hair, Elsa," the little stuffed puffin said. "It's almost time for dinner, and you've just enough time to rebraid it." Elsa did as her friend suggested. "Do you want me to accompany you to dinner tonight?"
"No," Elsa said, "I think I can go on my own, but thank you." She finished rebraiding her plait, and checked herself in the mirror before opening her door. She had braided her hair a little more loosely than normal tonight because of the pain in her head, still not a hair out of a place.
Elsa checked her hair once more and slipped out of the bedroom quietly. She looked around the hall and began to pad quietly toward the dining hall where she would meet her parents and Anna for a quiet supper and then return to her bedroom. Hopefully her father would not come to her that evening.
"Elsa," a gentle voice called from behind her. Anna. Elsa began to walk faster in an effort to lose Anna. "Elsa," she said again. She pretended not to hear her sister even though it was obvious she had. "Elsa, wait!" Anna cried. Elsa finally stopped.
"Leave me alone, Anna. We'll see each other at dinner." Elsa told her, and she was about to start walking when Anna spoke to her again.
"Elsa, what happened earlier?" she asked softly.
"W-what do you mean?" Elsa felt her stomach drop. She already knew she had missed something earlier, but none of the others had given her enough details that she knew what it was. She assumed she had simply missed an engagement with her father, like usual. The last thing she had figured on was an interaction with Anna, of all people.
"You know, when I was talking to you outside of your room, and I tried to give you your headband back." Anna explained. Elsa felt a chill run down her back, and she couldn't help but put a hand to her head and feel the lumps, and the lack of her normal blue headband over her white blonde hair. She didn't know what to say. "Why did you trample the headband? I thought you were going to smash my hands. I just wanted to give it back to you, and what were you doing to Papa?" Elsa bunched her shoulders up to her neck.
"Nothing, Anna," Elsa said. "Nothing happened with Papa. He probably said something silly and we were playing a game." She tried.
"You were crashing against the door and snorting. You didn't even sound like a human, let alone like someone who's going to be our queen." Anna objected. Elsa blushed. She knew then that Sven had been in the body.
"I-I don't remember any of that," Elsa admitted quietly. She felt fiery red and couldn't have met Anna's eyes even if they were looking at one another.
"What do you mean you don't remember?" Anna sounded concerned at her sister's admission. Elsa heard Anna coming closer, but jerked in surprise when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Elsa, are you alright? Did you hit your head when you rammed the door? I assumed you were hitting Papa with your hands to get him out of your room."
"Anna, I…" Elsa trailed off. She tried desperately to think of something she could say that would make sense, but nothing came to her mind. She felt the ice beginning to prickle at her fingertips, and she heard it laugh softly in the recesses of her mind. Elsa took a step and accidentally stumbled.
"Elsa!" Anna cried, and she put her arms around her sister's waist
"It's okay, Anna," Elsa said and she ripped away from Anna. She tried to sound neutral, but couldn't eliminate the fear entirely from her voice. "Could you tell Mama and Papa that I don't feel well tonight, and that I'm going to stay in my bedroom?" She knew that her papa would be displeased that she had spoken to Anna, but she had to find a reason to return to her bedroom, and it would be worse if she simply did not show up.
"Elsa, do you want me to get Dr. Rosted to come see you?" Anna offered. Elsa shook her head.
"No, that's all right, but thank you," Elsa replied quickly. "I'll be fine. I just need to lie down. If I get hungry then I can always get Olina to make me something tonight." She lied to her sister, knowing that she wouldn't go to the kitchen. Elsa started to feel distant, and her hands felt far away from her and fuzzy. "I have to go," she said slowly, rubbing her hands together in an attempt to stay present until she made it to the safety of her bedroom.
"Let me walk you back to your room," Anna said with concern.
"No!" Elsa all but shouted. "No," she whispered. "It's okay. I can get there myself." Elsa knew she sounded far away because she felt the distance of her own words. She dared not look at Anna with what she knew were wide, wild eyes. Elsa took deep breaths as she stepped forward and tried not to fall. Everything felt too big and she felt too small and too lost. "Thank you, Anna," she mumbled quietly, and she returned to her room where she dropped onto her bed and listened to the Ice shriek dizzyingly in her ears and felt it pour from her hands.
Age 18
"Your Majesty," Kai said purposefully, coming up behind Elsa as she chose new books from the castle's wealth of library books. Elsa stiffened, her back ramrod straight. Only one person could be referred to by that name.
"How did it happen?" Elsa asked quietly. She clutched her books to her chest and turned around to face the steward.
"Their ship sank in a storm. There were no survivors. A messenger just arrived with the news," Kai explained. Elsa nodded, and she set her books on a nearby table.
"Does Anna know yet?" She spoke in an even tone. Elsa held her gloved hands together, the very picture of composure.
"No," Kai said, and he shook his head.
"Please tell her," Elsa ordered. Her head was starting to buzz. "I'm going to return to my chambers." Elsa didn't wait for Kai to answer. She left the library and began to wring her hands with worry. "Papa is dead," Elsa whispered and she stumbled through the hallway. She had to get back to her bedroom. The paintings in the hallway around her became blank faces and her vision dotted with black spots with undulating edges. She needed to be alone.
"King Agnarr is dead. Long live Queen Elsa!" The Ice laughed. "How are you going to be queen when you can't even control us?" Elsa barely felt ice biting at her gloves, and she flexed her fingers to try to keep the dissociation at bay. "Weak, little Princess!" The Ice hissed.
"Quiet!" Sir Jorgenbjorgen roared at the Ice. His normally calm voice rang loudly around Elsa's head and she winced. Elsa grabbed her head, and she tripped over her own feet, barely managing to stay upright. Her eyes widened as she worked to keep the darkness at bay. The Ice cackled and Elsa looked down noticing the trail she left behind. For brief second, she stopped to concentrate on controlling the trail, but then forgot why she stopped. She couldn't remember, not while so dissociated. "Come on, Child. Let's get to your room. You can rest when you're there." Jorgenbjorgen urged her carefully.
"What?" Elsa asked dizzily. She took a few steps forward having lost where she was going, and halted again.
"You're going to our room, Princess," Kristoff reminded her gently, using her old title. She blinked muzzily.
"Queen," Elsa mumbled, and she started walking again. She looked around in confusion, recognizing neither ornate tapestries nor familial portraits. The Ice laughed for the second time and Jorgenbjorgen snapped at it. Elsa clutched her head and moaned before sitting down and beginning to rock, her face pale and drawn.
"Not here," Kristoff said and he took over her body. He forced her to stand up, and he checked around the hallway. He knew the castle well enough, but he barely left her bedroom. He and Sven preferred the quietude of their chambers and the lack of interaction that they provided. Kristoff drove the body to run toward the door when Anna called out from behind.
"Elsa, wait!" Anna shouted. Kristoff stood perfectly straight for a few seconds before hurrying away. He hoped that Anna wouldn't notice the ice, or least wouldn't connect it with Elsa since he didn't produce it like she had. "Elsa, please," Anna cried. Kristoff's heart clenched. He could hear the tears in her voice, and his own eyes watered. He may have never interacted with the young woman, but that didn't mean he didn't care for her in his own way.
"I can't, Anna," Kristoff said in as gentle a voice as he could manage.
"Please, Elsa, I need you," Anna's voice was ridden with emotion, and Kristoff heard her trying not to break into sobs. Kristoff turned the body around and looked at Anna. She threw herself at him, and wrapped her arms around Elsa. Anna held her tightly and Kristoff, for just a few seconds, wrapped Elsa's arms around her. "Elsa, they're gone!" Anna broke down completely, and started to sink toward the floor. She started to say something else, but the words were lost to her tears.
"It's okay, Anna," Kristoff said awkwardly and he patted her back. He had to get the body away. If Elsa came back, she would completely panic and the Ice would use that to their advantage. "Jorgenbjorgen, what do I do?" Kristoff asked internally.
"Comfort her," the puffin said.
"What about Elsa?"
"I've got her," Jorgenbjorgen told him. "She's too far gone to come back right now, and even if she could, I can keep her away. Try to keep Anna safe, and let her know she's going to be alright."
"I'll try," Kristoff promised, but he glanced down at the young woman and felt absolutely nothing but fear. He had never been a comforter, not like Jorgenbjorgen. His job had always been to accept pain and to keep Sven in line.
"So," he said to Anna. "What do you think we should do?" He asked in an almost conversational tone. Anna looked up at Elsa in confusion, her eyebrows knitting.
"What do you mean? Our parents just died, and you're the Queen of Arendelle now. There's not a lot we can do," Anna said slowly. "Elsa, this is real. Our parents are dead."
"I'm sorry. I-I guess I'm still in shock," Kristoff's shrug looked inelegant on Elsa's petite body as he tried to pass off his weird comment. Anna stood up and hugged Elsa's body, and Kristoff couldn't help but stiffen up. At least that much was consistent between himself and Elsa.
"We're in this together, Elsa," Anna said quietly. "We have to be." She wiped at her eyes and offered Kristoff a shaky smile. Kristoff felt a pressure building up in the chest and he couldn't contain himself.
"I'm glad the Father's dead," Kristoff blurted. Anna drew back and looked at him in horror.
"How can you say that?" She demanded.
"H-he hurt her – me so much!" Kristoff stated angrily.
"What are you talking about? Papa was a good man." Anna defended him.
"He hurt us. He wanted us to control myself." Kristoff kept confusing pronouns and Anna's eyes grew dark with bewilderment.
"Elsa, you're not making any sense," Anna said. "What do you mean 'us?' Who are you talking about? Papa never hurt me. Did he do something to you?" Anna asked. She looked desperate for an answer that Kristoff was afraid to give without Elsa being present.
"I should go, Anna," Kristoff tried to turn around, and Anna grabbed Elsa's arm.
"No, Elsa," Anna said forcefully. "You always run. We need to talk." She pulled Kristoff around and tried to make him follow her, but he stopped. He broke his arm free of her grasp, and waited until she turned around in a huff.
"I can't," Kristoff said. He desperately needed an excuse not to go with Anna, but they no longer had her father to enforce a reason to stay in the bedroom. Elsa was always better at simply leaving.
"Move over, Kristoff," Jorgenbjorgen said from behind him. Kristoff slid away and let Jorgenbjorgen come forward. Elsa's body remained silent while the switch took place, and Anna stared at her.
"Elsa?" Anna put a hand on her sister's shoulder.
"Sweet Anna, I can't go with you right now," Jorgenbjorgen stated. "I'm much too tired from the news of our parents' death, but perhaps we can have tea together tomorrow and commiserate." He placed a hand against Anna's arm and smiled. He moved in a somewhat floppy manner.
"Really, Elsa?" Anna asked skeptically.
"I promise you this," Jorgenbjorgen said with a soft smile.
"All right, but I'm going to hold you to this." Anna told her. She offered a teary, but wide grin and she wiped at her eyes.
"Please do," Jorgenbjorgen said. He turned around and Elsa's arms slapped against her sides in his floppy, stuffed animal movement. He tried to take carefully steps, but he moved sloppily, and Anna stared. Jorgenbjorgen finally made it to Elsa's door and smashed her hand onto the doorknob. "Good night, Darling Anna." Jorgenbjorgen noodled the body into Elsa's bedroom. He slammed the door shut, and allowed Elsa's body to simply fall to the floor and rest.
Age 21
"The party is over. Close the gates." Elsa said to the Royal Handler, and she began to walk away from Hans and Anna with her head buzzing, the others inside talking loudly over each other. The Ice laughed raucously and Sven bellowed in confusion.
"What does she think she's doing?" Sir Jorgenbjorgen questioned.
"Didn't your parents ever warn her about strangers?" Kristoff asked, surprised. Elsa tried to ignore them.
"What? Elsa, no. No! Wait!" Anna cried. She grabbed Elsa's hand and pulled off the glove. Elsa and everyone inside gasped in shock. She reached for the glove in a near panic.
"Give me my glove!" Elsa ordered, but Anna held the glove away like a mother holding a doll away from a child.
"Elsa, please. Please. I can't live like this anymore," Anna said desperately. Elsa tried to fight back tears. She kept thinking of her mantra and Sir Jorgenbjorgen kept a gentle wing on her the entire time, but Elsa knew she had to get out of the ballroom.
"Then leave," Elsa said weakly. Seeing Anna's hurt face, she couldn't keep battling her emotions, and turned, rushing away.
"What did I ever do to you?" Anna demanded; the sound of her heart shattering apparent in every word. The room had gone silent as everyone stopped to watch the two sisters.
"Enough, Anna," Elsa managed to say.
"No," Anna said. "Why? Why do you shut me out? Why do you shut the world out? What are you so afraid of?" She kept prodding. Elsa's head pounded with the others talking and crying out and laughing and the weight of her new responsibilities.
"I said, enough!" Elsa cried, and turned to gesture with her hand. She watched in shock as ice shot from her hand and spiked across the floor. Everyone in her head went silent just as everyone in the room screamed and began to back away.
"Sorcery. I knew something there was something dubious going on here." The Duke of Weselton declared as he hid behind his men.
"Elsa…?" Anna looked at her sister in confusion. Elsa ran. She needed no prodding from the others in her head. She hurried outside into the courtyard where she found herself surrounded by the citizens of Arendelle. They cheered for her, and her heart clenched, a momentary break from its heavy beating in her ears.
"Stay steady, Elsa," Jorgenbjorgen said. "You'll be okay." Elsa backed into a fountain and she watched in horror as the water in it froze into a terrible, sharp shape. The crowd around her gasped and they drew back into themselves.
"There she is!" The Duke of Weselton had come outside. "Stop her!"
"Please, just stay away from me! Stay away!" Elsa begged as ice exploded from her hand and shot toward the staircase by the Duke. She barely heard her own voice, trying desperately to stay present.
"Monster…monster!" The Duke yelled. Elsa winced, and whipped around to flee from her panicking subjects. She hurried down past the gates to the shoreline of the kingdom and looked out across the fjord.
"Child, look! The shoreline is freezing! Run across the fjord!" Sir Jorgenbjorgen suggested.
"Elsa! Wait, please!" Anna called. Elsa glanced back and then took a tentative step onto the fjord. She let out the breath she didn't realize she'd been holding when the water froze under foot and held her weight. Then Elsa ran desperately across the fjord, ice expanding out from under her footsteps and crackling loudly. She struggled with the run. Elsa flexed her fingers against the dissociation and tried to count in time to the clacking of her boots, but she couldn't keep the numbers straight and her fingers felt numb. Jorgenbjorgen whispered encouragement to her the whole time.
"Almost there, Dear One," Jorgenbjorgen said. He kept his wing on her for comfort and the others waited uneasily. Even the Ice was uncharacteristically quiet as they made their way across the fjord.
Elsa's boot finally crunched on top of the snow, and she nearly collapsed to her knees until Kristoff took control of her body. "Good job, Elsa," Jorgenbjorgen praised. Kristoff kept the body running toward the mountains while she rested. "Are you all right, Child?"
"Am I alright?" Elsa asked incredulously. "I was just outed as a…monster to my entire kingdom!" She cried.
"Monster," The Ice echoed.
"Be quiet!" Jorgenbjorgen shouted.
"Stop," Elsa pleaded, finally letting her tears fall into frozen droplets as Kristoff ran. Everyone dropped into silence, and only the sound of the body's movement over the snow and steady breathing surrounded them.
A wolf howled from the nearby forest, and for the first time in years, Elsa dropped fully into her body and felt her blood chill. She stopped running and looked into the woods, breathing heavily from running and anxiety. Elsa squinted and she felt everyone else in her head looking along with her for eyes, but it was far too dark for her to see. Sven made nervous grunting sounds and she could hear him shuffling worriedly. The wolf howled again, and it sounded closer.
"Is there a tree we can climb?" Kristoff suggested. Elsa backed away from where the sound had come from, and turned to run, but tripped on her cape. She fell with a gasp and a hiss of horror.
She started to untangle her feet from the thick fabric, but then the first wolf stepped out of the woods. Its yellow eyes gleamed and its grey fur stood high on its back. Its huge paw left deep indents in the fresh snow.
"No," Elsa whispered, and she kicked at the cape, trying to move the blanket-like fabric off of her boots. The wolf growled, and a second and third wolf came out of the woods. The snow flurried faster around them when the wolf jumped at her. Sven bellowed inside and Kristoff held him back.
"Elsa, use your powers!" Jorgenbjorgen shouted. Elsa screamed and threw her ungloved hand toward the wolf. Spikes of ice rose toward the beast and struck it in its face. The first wolf shrieked in pain, and the others in the pack stopped in surprise. The first wolf pulled away from the ice with a grievous wound to its face, and began to run back toward the forest. The other wolves watched it in confusion, and then looked back at Elsa as if considering her. Eventually, they too chose to return to the forest, and Elsa was left with her heart pounding in her ears. "Well done, Dear," Jorgenbjorgen said. Elsa sat in the snow unmoving, the only sound Sven's scared lowing. "Elsa?"
"Did you see what I did to that wolf?" Elsa asked, her voice trembling.
"You did what you had to," Kristoff said, still wrangling Sven. He held onto Sven's antlers and pushed against him forcefully.
"He is right, Child," Jorgenbjorgen responded. "The wolves would have killed us." He stroked Elsa's back gently. She sobbed loudly into her hands. "Come, Dear One," he said. "We must move on before the wolves come back." Elsa took a deep, shaky breath and forced herself to stand.
"Let's go, Everyone," Elsa said, and she took a step forward toward the North Mountain.
"We'll be free of everything that's ever held us back soon," Kristoff commented in a hushed voice. Calmed, Sven made a soft noise. Elsa inhaled through her nose and thought about the idea, free to be where she could let it go and start over anew.
"Soon," she whispered with a glimmer of hope.
Anna
Wandering Oaken's Trading Post and Sauna behind her, Anna grunted as she struggled in the knee-high snow.
"One more step," she said. The cold reddened Anna's cheeks and bit at her nose. "One more step," she said again, and she drew a deep breath of the painfully chilly air. "Gotta keep going," Anna mumbled to herself. "Almost there…" She stopped and looked back at the trading post only fifty feet away.
Anna yelled in frustration and started to attack the snowy slope anew. She ran as hard as she could, her boots slipping and her arms grasping at conifer branches. Anna managed to grab ahold of a branch, and pulled herself up only for the snow on the branch to dump itself on top of her.
"Only one crazy enough to be out in this storm is you, Dear," Oaken had said.
Anna spit out snow and she began to dig herself out from the cold pile. She looked back at Oaken's shop again. She could still go back. "No, Elsa needs me," Anna said to herself, and she shoved herself to her feet. Near her feet she noticed a lump and reached down: a large stick. "Perfect!" She picked up the stick, brushed it off, and used to it to help pull herself up the mountain.
"Come on, Anna," she said to herself. "You can do this." She made soft growling sounds, revving herself up to keep climbing. Anna firmly planted the stick down and gave herself a tiny cheer before taking another step. "Yes!" She hissed and kept walking.
"Anna, no. It's too dangerous," Hans had insisted.
Finally allowing herself to look back, Anna felt proud that she could no longer see Oaken's shop, only the smoke curling up from its chimney into the strange summer night. She didn't notice the silence that had descended over the forest, and kept crunching through the snow. "I'm coming, Elsa," she said, and she smiled as she looked up the slope.
"…I'll make this right," Anna had said.
A wolf's howl cut across the night like a red-hot knife. Anna stopped and her eyes widened. She looked around the slope and edge of the forest in fear, tears gathering in her eyes. She stood with her stick ready to defend herself, her mind reeling. Another howl shattered the silence and set her heart pounding even faster.
"You look beautiful," Elsa had told her.
"Go away!" Anna shouted into the wilderness. "Get out of here!" She twirled around desperately seeking eyes in the darkness.
"I wish it could be like this all the time." Anna had said.
A white wolf stepped out of the woods, and Anna's heart sunk. "Elsa, I'm so sorry," she whispered, and the wolf leapt at her.