Chapter Four

The Snow Queen

The wind slapped against Melody's face violently, causing her to stir from her slumber. It was bright and sunny already. She must have fallen asleep shortly after their escape from the prison tower. Not remembering where she was, she looked around. Clouds? She looked down. Oh! Now she remembered. She felt like she was going to be sick.

"Don't throw up just yet, Princess!" Maui chortled, flapping his wings steadily.

"Norway, huh? So we're looking for a member of another royal family?" Melody asked sarcastically.

"As a matter of fact, yeah. She happens to be the Queen of Arendelle."

Melody looked up at Maui in disbelief."No way! The fabled Snow Queen? Queen Elsa?"

Maui looked down at his shocked passenger. "You sound like you know the Queen."

"I don't, but everyone's heard of how Queen Elsa froze her own kingdom by accident! Everyone's been talking about it in school."

Maui looked up, dodging a hot air balloon in the nick of time. "Looks like that tale has spread across the world pretty quick."

News about "The Great Freeze" had spread across the various kingdoms and countries like wildfire, and it had been the hottest topic of discussion in Copenhagen High. Melody had heard so much about Queen Elsa, and had been so intrigued by the fact that magic like that existed. Sure, she knew that magic existed, but she had never heard of powers like Queen Elsa's. Melody had so many questions about the Queen's icy powers, and couldn't wait to meet the Snow Queen in person.

"Wait, school?" Maui looked at Melody in horror. "What are you, fifteen?"

"Eighteen!" Melody protested indignantly.

"I can't believe I'm taking a teenager with me to fight the Major." Maui mused to himself in disbelief.

"Now about this Major. Tell me more." Melody wanted to know everything she could about this monster she had to face eventually.

"Honestly, nobody knows much about the guy," Maui began. "A thousand years ago, when I was a child, the gods that raised me told me a tale- nah, a prophecy, about an evil man who would rise from the darkness to embark on a quest to destroy the world. No one knows why. But the prophecy begins by telling that he would arrive with an army and destroy a village to gain a totem." Maui sighed, remembering Motunui's fall. "By this time I had forgotten all about the prophecy and thought it rubbish, but then two nights ago I watched as a man who called himself Major Kane tear the village apart to get the totem right before my very eyes, and knew that the day had finally come. It was Kane that wounded me so badly. I've never been challenged like that before. And it was my best friend Moana that stalled him while I flew away from the island to get help."

Melody took a few moments to absorb all the information. "I'm sorry about your village. But why aren't we headed back to Motunui for your friend?"

Maui shuddered. "There's no way we can take the Major head on. We're gonna need to level the playing field with more on our side. And besides, the prophecy has foretold that a tribal chief will stand by our side in our fight against the Major. That's got to be Moana, who else? So she can't be dead."

Melody found it hard to believe everything she was hearing, but after everything she had seen when she encountered Morgana six years back, she knew it wasn't impossible. But prophecies? Eco-terrorists? This was on a whole new level. "So…does your prophecy tell us if we win?" Melody inquired hopefully.

Maui shook his head. "No. It stops at telling us that an alliance of warriors will rise to challenge Major Kane. But nothing more. I wish it did."

Melody sighed in exasperation. How convenient. She wasn't one to believe in fate or predestination, but this time, she would take whatever she could when it came to facing this Major Kane.

Maui exclaimed, almost releasing Melody from his grip. "Look, Princess! It's Arendelle!" He swooped down through the clouds towards the ground at a remarkably quick speed.

"Woah, slow down! You're gonna get us killed!" Melody shrieked, clutching her head in her hands.

Just as Maui and Melody were about to collide with the ground, Maui pulled up and soared gracefully, letting the wind carry them like a parachute as they descended gently into a nearby forest. Landing, Maui released his grip on Melody.

She rubbed her shoulders, wincing in pain. Fortunately, she had decided to wear a leather jacket that provided her shoulders some protection. Maui had tightened his grip on her shoulders unconsciously when he got excited during their conversations, and he couldn't hear her complaining over the wind and his own loud voice. She moved her arms around, trying to get the blood flowing and some feeling back into her shoulders. Ugh. She was never hitching a ride with Maui ever again!

"Come on, Princess. It's time to go find this Snow Queen." Maui started to waltz out of the forest, humming a catchy tune.

"Hang on! You can't just show up to the royal palace dressed like that!" Melody pointed to Maui's skirt made of palm leaves, chuckling, and Maui looked down at his skirt with a puzzled look on his face. "You're just gonna get yourself thrown in jail again! Here's the plan…"

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Sauntering through the large garden outside Arendelle's palace, Princess Anna plucked a bright red apple from a tree and munched on it, looking up at the beautiful sky. The sun shone through the big blue sky and the heat made the air feel warm and cozy. Inhaling deeply with a wide smile on her face, Anna enjoyed a long breath of fresh air. She inhaled the warm air a little too deeply and the air swelled in her lungs, causing her to cough and sputter. Ever since the gates of the palace were opened permanently, she could not get enough of the outside world. She only wished her friends and sister were present to enjoy it together with her. Kristoff and his reindeer Sven were busy planning to set up a business in the busy town square, and Olaf the snowman had pitched in to help them. As for her sister Elsa, that was a entirely different story.

"Princess Anna, someone's here to see you."

Anna turned to see a girl on a brown horse outside the gates of the garden, escorted by a couple of soldiers from the Queen's Guard.

"Hello there! I am Princess Melody from the kingdom of Denmark!" the girl called out from behind the gates across the garden.

Anna walked towards the gate, signalling to the soldiers that she would be fine on her own and that they could leave. "Hello, my name's Anna! What can I do for you?" Anna replied cheerfully, taking another bite from her apple and opening the garden gate with her other hand to let them in.

Melody looked at her host. Anna seemed to be about the same age as her, and had turquoise blue eyes that were soft and kind. Her long strawberry blonde hair was tied into two pigtails and thrown over her shoulders. She also had a light dusting of freckles on her rosy cheeks, which made her look warm and friendly.

"Let me guess…you're looking for my sister, the Queen?" Anna continued inquisitively.

"That's right." Melody replied, getting off her horse.

"Ah then I guess you haven't heard. Right now, there's a kingdom wide referendum going on, and Elsa's been forced to step down temporarily till the polls are in."

"Wait, why?"

"I'm pretty sure you've heard of how my sister froze Arendelle a few weeks ago?"

Melody nodded. Everyone knew.

"Well, Elsa thawed the kingdom and things went back to normal, but then the royal council began to question whether she was fit to rule since she had been hiding secrets the entire time."

"By secrets, you mean her icy powers." The brown horse chipped in, and Anna jumped in surprise.

She didn't know that horses could speak! Sure, her friend Olaf was a walking talking snowman, so she shouldn't be surprised, yet she found herself caught off guard when the brown horse Melody was riding on spoke all of a sudden. Anna looked at Maui, her eyes wide with amazement. "Your horse talks?"

Melody burst into laughter at Anna's reaction when she realized that Maui was still in the form of a horse, leaving Anna bewildered. "Oh no, I'm sorry. It-he's not a horse. I-I don't know how to explain this." She looked over at Maui with tears in her eyes from laughing.

Maui sighed irritably and transformed himself back into the form of a man, still dressed in nothing but his skirt made out of palm leaves, and Anna blushed. "I'm not a horse. My name is Maui, I'm a de-"

"Sorry, Anna, do continue." Melody interrupted, afraid that Maui's true identity would raise too many questions as to why she came to Arendelle to find Elsa.

"Yeah, so one of the members, this horrid man called Chancellor Tobias, came up with 'a brilliant idea' and convinced the council to launch a kingdom wide referendum to allow our people to decide whether they want Elsa to continue ruling as Queen, or be abdicated from the throne. The council came to a consensus that during the referendum which has been going on for the past two weeks, Elsa had to step down till the polls came in."

"Wow, that's harsh." Melody winced.

"Yeah, right?" Anna's tone was indignant.

"Wait, but if Elsa is abdicated, then won't you be next in line to succeed the throne!"

Anna shook her head. "Nope. The council made it clear that if they couldn't trust Elsa, they couldn't trust me either, because I could have been keeping Elsa's secret for years. But sheesh, I only found out the same time everyone else did! But they didn't care to listen. So they're going to choose the next most qualified candidate, which is Tobias. The fox knew it, that's why he initiated this whole thing in the first place. So anyway, my sister decided that she needed some time to process things, and left the palace to be by herself to figure stuff out."

"I'm really sorry about your sister, Anna."

"Yeah, it just feels like it's been one step forward and two steps back with Elsa, you know what I mean?"

Melody nodded sympathetically. She truly felt sorry for the Queen and her sister. What a tough time they have had. "Do you know where she went though? I kind of need to talk to her. It isn't exactly a kingdom matter though, it's personal. And I need Queen Elsa's help."

"Are you sure? When Elsa's in one of her broody moods, I've discovered that it's best to leave her alone. I found out the hard way, ending up with a frozen heart." Anna muttered that last bit to herself.

"I'm sure. There's a lot at stake here, and I really do need to talk to her."

Anna nodded and looked at the snow-peaked mountains in the distance, and the two foreigners turned their heads to look in the same direction. "My sister returned to the North Mountain where she had initially fled to after 'The Great Freeze'. Come on," She motioned for Melody and Maui to follow her inside. "I'll get you some jackets and a map."

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"Hold on, slow down!" Melody shouted as the wind and snow splashed against her at such a speed that it actually hurt. Maui had taken the form of a brown reindeer and was galloping through the snow to reach the North Mountain where Elsa was holed up. As Melody held on for dear life, she wanted to hit herself for letting Maui carry her again.

"We're here!" Maui screeched, as he jammed his hoofs against the snow in an attempt to slow them down, but instead the impact threw Melody off his back and she catapulted through the air, landing on the soft snow.

She sat up and dusted the snow off her, glaring at Maui.

"It's okay, no need to thank me for the ride. You're welcome, Your Highness." Maui beamed, transforming himself back into his default form.

Melody sighed in annoyance. It was a good thing Anna had given her one of her own cozy green winter jackets from the palace before heading up to the mountains with Maui. It was freezing cold, the perfect place for Queen Elsa to hide out. She only wished that the Snow Queen had picked a friendlier spot, as both Maui and Melody had been chased by a ravenous pack of wolves on their way to the North Mountain.

Maui took out the map that Anna had given them and looked at it. "Hey, I think maybe Anna gave us the wrong map."

Melody snatched the map away from Maui and looked at it. Maui had been reading it upside down. She turned it right side up and squinted at the map. They were right at the foot of the mountain where Anna said Elsa was staying. Melody had asked Anna if she wanted to come along, but she had declined, warning them to be careful since Elsa had been in a rather foul mood when she left. Melody looked up. Sitting on top of the mountain was a huge sanctuary made of ice. Wow. She knew that Queen Elsa had powers, but she couldn't have guessed that they were that strong.

"Need a lift?" Maui asked.

Melody immediately shook her head. "No thanks." She knelt down and took out her disassembled bow and quiver from her backpack. She assembled her take-down bow swiftly with muscle memory and attached her quiver to the bow's limbs securely. She removed the grappling arrow from the quiver, then nocked and drew it, aiming at the peak of the mountain, and let fly. The grappling arrow cut through the snow and anchored itself into the side of the mountain, and Melody used the bow as a pulley system to hoist her up to the top of the mountain.

Maui watched in awe as Melody got herself to the peak briskly without his help. He didn't know she could do that! Maybe she really was the warrior that he had been looking for. Impressed, Maui took a huge leap, and in a single bound, he landed heavily on the peak, causing the mountain to shake.

"There it is." She pointed to the ice sanctuary that loomed large in front of her and Maui.

"You sure we aren't walking into a trap?" Maui asked, shaking snowflakes out of his long curly hair.

"Nope." Melody replied blankly, walking up the steps made out of ice to the front door of the sanctuary.

Pushing open the icy door of the sanctuary, the friction between the door and the icy floor caused a loud scratching noise. Melody walked into the sanctuary, with Maui brandishing his fish hook beside her, ready for a fight if need be. She looked about at the enormous palace made out of ice. It was truly magnificent and a sight to behold. Queen Elsa must be an extremely talented artist to have created this palace with so much attention to detail. And that wasn't even mentioning her extensive powers and ability to create a structure this large out of pure ice!

"Stay here. You don't want to scare the Queen with your fish hook." Melody told Maui as they walked into the large and quiet sanctuary, putting her bow and quiver back into her backpack.

Maui walked back towards the entrance reluctantly.

"Queen Elsa?" Melody called out. "Hello? My name is Melody! I'm just here to talk!" Footsteps could be heard from above, and Melody looked up at the second floor.

A figure emerged from the shadows and looked over the balcony. "Did they send you?"A small nervous voice echoed out. As the figure walked down the stairs, it became clear that it was the famous Snow Queen. From afar, Maui sized her up. Queen Elsa was tall and slender, with deep blue eyes, pink rosy cheeks, and a small nose. She had very pale skin with a very light dusting of freckles. Her most prominent feature was her platinum blonde hair, which she wore in a loose french braid that was swept over her left shoulder. She wore a dark blue dress and white kitten heels.

Like Melody, Elsa looked rather young. Nevertheless, she was definitely the one that Maui had been looking for. There could only be one Snow Queen, but she didn't look like a warrior at all. What was with the prophecy bringing him girls that didn't seem like warriors who could stand against the Major? It all seemed like a bad joke to him. However, there was something about her that stirred something in him, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"What? No, no one sent me." Melody walked up the stairs to meet her halfway, and amicably reached out a warm hand for a courtesy handshake.

Elsa seemed hesitant at first, before accepting the handshake, careful not to grasp Melody's hand too tightly for fear that she would freeze her by accident. "Then who are you? And what are you doing here? How did you make your way up the North Mountain?"

Melody released the Queen's hand, and the nervous Queen gratefully withdrew it quickly. "I'm a princess from Denmark on a quest, and we-" she pointed at Maui by the entrance, who raised his fish hook genially. "We came a long way to find you in Arendelle, but your sister told us you were up here in the North Mountain."

Elsa broke eye contact with Melody. "I'm sorry to have wasted your time, Princess Melody."

"No, no, it's alright, and you can just call me Melody. I know about the referendum that's going on now in your kingdom. I'm sorry to hear about that."

Elsa turned away, unable to look Melody in the eye. "Don't be. Maybe they're right."

"What?"

"I've had some time to think about everything that has happened, and I've gained some clarity. Arendelle is safer without me ruling it with my icy powers. The people, they pretend not to be afraid in my presence, but I know they fear me for the monster that I am. How can I rule over them when they aren't sure if they can trust me? And what if I accidentally hurt the people I'm supposed to protect?" Elsa shed a solitary tear, which immediately turned into ice before it could trickle down her cheek. She wiped it off her face with her hand and walked to the balcony of her sanctuary.

"My powers are a curse. They can't be used for anything other than hurting people. And so I left. Arendelle deserves better than me."

Melody listened, shocked that Queen Elsa had bottled up so much self-hatred. It wasn't unlike herself actually. She had made mistakes and had embarked on this mission to right her wrongs. She hoped that the Snow Queen would see it the same way. "Queen Elsa, I'm sorry. But please hear me out," Melody walked to the balcony where Elsa was looking out over the snow covered horizon at the beautiful sunset. "We came to Arendelle to seek you out because we need your help. We believe that you can use your powers for good, otherwise we wouldn't have taken the effort to come. And since you don't want to return to Arendelle just yet, fine, we're providing you with a way out. We need your help, Queen Elsa."

Elsa paused for a few seconds to think about what Melody had said. She turned around. "Please, call me Elsa."

Writer's Commentary:

Ah, finally. I've come to one of my favourite characters of all time from all the Disney movies. Elsa, the Snow Queen. When I first saw the movie Frozen, I absolutely fell in love with it, and watched it countless times, enchanted by the music, subversion of common tropes, fluid animation, beloved characters, elaborate world building.

I promise, I'm planning a sequel to this novel, so I'll attempt to build on the world of Arendelle and explore more of Elsa's life as well as include Anna as a main character. As for now, I was content with Elsa being one of the warriors that Maui was trying to locate. This novel is being written about 4 months before the movie Frozen 2 is being released, so I have absolutely no idea what's going to happen in that movie. This story takes place chronologically a few months after the events of the first Frozen movie. Just take it that this story takes place in an alternate universe.

As for Elsa, I spent quite a while thinking of what her character arc would be. She had already revealed her powers to the world in the first movie, and by the end of it, she had started to embrace and control it. So, the only natural and logical progression would be for her to discover how to control her powers and learn that they are more than just a curse. I decided to start Elsa off in an emotionally bad place, to help readers sympathise with her. It's like one step forward and two steps back with her like Anna said, and in some way, I think we can all relate to that.

Anyway, as yall have noticed, Anna isn't playing an important role in this story, as there are already other characters planned to appear later. I didn't want to include Anna just to sideline her. If I were going to have her in the story, I would want to do her justice as she is an amazing strong character and one of my favourites that deserves to be written to the best of my abilities. If I do write that sequel, Anna is at the top of my list of new characters to be in the spotlight.

We'll be seeing Major Kane again in the next chapter. Have some cool stuff planned. Till next time!