Chapter 6: I seek the truth

Anna looked around as several breaches appeared here and there, and water started to get in.

"Uhm... Elsa?"

The Fifth Spirit was grunting as she tried to hold the ice sphere in place, her hands rose on each side of her, and exhaling bright blue. However, Nokk had proven themselves to be way more clever than planned: the water pressure around Elsa's creation now was so high that it would soon crush them.

"I think we should get a new plan." Said Anna, biting her lip.

Elsa nodded reluctantly. Making a perfect ice sphere to hold both of them already was some work, but holding it underwater asked her a lot of energy. And it wasn't the right time to lose some.

"Okay." She groaned. "Hold to me. We're heading to the surface."

Anna urged to hug her, and held her breath then closed her eyes. In a flash of magic, Elsa vanished the sphere and all the water of the river now crashed on them. To avoid the shock, the blonde blasted a powerful gust of ice under their feet, holding her sister with her other hand, and they got propelled to the surface.

They both gasped for air and swam around.

"Where are they? Where are they?" Panicked Anna, blinking and looking around.

"Relax. They're further, preparing the next attack. We have a couple of seconds, I know how they proceed."

"Okay." Breathed out Anna.

She felt Elsa grab her hand underwater, and the blonde formed an ice platform with her left one before helping Anna climb on it. The redhead smiled at the decoration and thickness of the platform, passing a hand along the detailed surface, even though her sister made it in a snap.

"Sorry, no time for admiring." Warned Elsa, grabbing her arm to make her stand up.

The younger blinked. How much stamina did Elsa have, exactly?

"They're coming."

Anna held to her, and with a flick of the wrist, the blonde moved the platform aside. Nokk missed them, diving back into the water along their enormous wave.

For several other times, Elsa purposely avoided their blows instead of hitting them back. Sometimes, the Water Spirit managed to push them, and now they were both panting on the platform for how many times they had been sent underwater. Anna was already exhausted, even if she wasn't giving up. Now she had even more admiration for her sister who had to face them during a storm.

"Why don't you lasso them?!" Yelled Anna to cover the sound of the waves, her eyes squinting because of the water splashes. "I saw the way you did it in an ice memory. You can create a bridle!"

Elsa shook her head. She obviously had thought of it. "I can't. That's the way I beat them in the future. If I do that technique now, I won't win the challenge in 30 years."

Anna wanted to say a 'oh, yeah, right, clever' but got knocked down by a wave.

"ANNA!"

The redhead came back on the platform, stood up again and raised her hand as a reassuring gesture, despite being completely drenched. "I'm fine, I'm fine."

"Is my platform unstable?" Asked Elsa.

"No, it's perfect. Don't worry, I always feel more safe on your ice than anywhere else."

She came back close to Elsa, and the elder passed a hand in her back to held her close to her. The gesture actually gave an idea to Anna. She raised her voice to make sure Elsa heard her before Nokk eventually hit again.

"You know, they only attack us when we're close to each other. In fact, they attack you in priority, because they can sense you're a danger with your magic. But I'm sure that if we separate, they'll pick you instead of me."

"No chance that we split." Refused Elsa with a shake of the head.

Anna however hadn't waited for her approval.

"Watch."

On that simple warning that wasn't even loud enough for the blonde to be warned, she dived into the water, and Elsa's eyes widened.

"ANNA?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

The blonde looked at her sister swim away, but Nokk had assembled a new wave and was about to crash it down on Elsa's face. She dodged right in time, and it turned out that Anna was right; she hadn't been targeted. The Water Spirit preferred to aim at Elsa.

She formed an ice barrier to prepare the next counter-attack, and searched for her sister on the water's surface.

"ANNA!"

She only saw a little dot of red hair in the distance, joggled by the waves.

"ANNA!" Screamed the elder with all the force of her lungs.

Her instinct knew that Anna was safe and that she knew what she was doing, but she couldn't help but worry.

She was about to scream one more time, seeing that Anna was letting herself rise with another wave, but Nokk attacked, so Elsa got distracted. And she wasn't the only one.

As Nokk accompanied the move of their wave to slam Elsa down, Anna took them by surprise and appeared right on top of the wave. For a second there, the elder thought she was floating in between air and water, and had a divine illusion of Anna flying and arriving right on Nokk's back.

In a mix of grunts and magical horse neighs, the Queen then proceeded to rodeo Nokk, who clearly didn't plan this. With expertise, and Elsa congratulated herself to have let her hang out this much with Ryder and the reindeers, Anna circled the neck of the Water Spirit to have a hold on them as she tried to stay on their back as much as she could.

Elsa was terrified, but also genuinely impressed, so she stood there, still on her platform, only moving with the ripples of the water. The waves started to calm, and she knew the challenge was about to end, Nokk slowly accepting their defeat.

The blonde blinked when she suddenly remembered that she could help Anna, even if she looked like she could wrestle the horse anytime. She slammed her foot down on the platform, and it instantly extended under the horses hooves, so it wouldn't have any direct contact with water. Elsa then raised borders to the platforms, so big that the ensemble now looked like a cage that was as large as half the river.

"There we go." Smirked Elsa. "Sorry, old friend, but you're trapped."

Nokk whined in their inferiority. How come those two knew exactly their weaknesses? They grunt as they took the mental note, if the occasion arises again, to quickly kick that Fifth Spirit out of her ice platform to avoid that.

The water finally calmed, in all meanings of the term. Anna cheerfully made Nokk trot along the now still surface to join her elder. The redhead jumped down and came on the ice platform. "Not bad, uh?" She smirked as Elsa walked to her.

"NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!"

Anna winced at the way Elsa had just clenched both her hands on her arms. Not only the water was cold, but her elder's hands were even more.

"Sorry. But it worked!"

The blonde's eyes were filled with anxiety and she knew she had made a mistake.

"Sorry." She hurried to repeat. "I know it made you worry to death. But it paid off. We managed to win Nokk's challenge. Together."

She put a reassuring hand on Elsa's, and it was so loving and warm that the latter exhaled in relief, before going forward and hugging her little sister.

"Still. Never do that again."

"I won't." Promised Anna, passing a hand along Elsa's back.

They were both drenched, and the blonde only wore a simple layer, so it felt like she was rubbing her back directly.

"Come on." Encouraged Anna. "We have answers to get. Let's head to Ahtohallan."

She turned to Nokk, and Elsa hesitated a bit before raising her hand and petting their nose. The Water Spirit agreed, for they had won their challenge, and now respected them.

"Do you, uh... Want to be the one who rides them? I'll sit behind you." Suggested Anna.

Elsa took her hand. "No, Anna. You're the one who succeeded to control them. You should be the one guiding. I'll go behind."

The Queen smiled with a blush, and nodded. It wasn't the first time they rode Nokk together, hopefully, and she hoped that Nokk wouldn't find it weird that they would go that way for their first ride ever.

After they petted the Spirit and climbed on their back, Anna smiled to her elder.

"Hey, we managed to beat them way faster than the time you did, uh?"

Elsa smirked. "Well, in my defense, it actually was the second time they fought me then. So they had more experience. And I was on my own."

Anna had a little laugh. "That's the proof you can't do much without me." She teased.

The blonde actually returned her a smile. "I would be nothing without you."

"This is awesome!" Exclaimed Anna, her joyful laughter floating in the wind and coming to her sister's ears behind her. "I didn't know that riding Nokk on the river would be so much fun."

"I never took you on a ride on the river?"

"No, never! Only the Dark Sea, or some other spots."

Elsa smiled. "When we get home, I mean, to our time, remind me of it. I promise I'll fix that."

Anna giggled, and when they finally reached the end of the river and approached the Dark Sea, she commanded Nokk to dash forward with a slight impulse of the heels. The Spirit happily jumped on the waves, which magically calmed down to make their riders more comfortable. After a while, Ahtohallan appeared on the horizon, and they both smiled.

It was exactly like the last time Elsa had laid eyes on it, and she thought that, in the perspective of the magical source, which was a glacier since the edge of time, 30 years must feel like blinking.

Anna slowed down Nokk and they both went down on the frozen shore. The Water Spirit still was incredibly confused at how the two women perfectly handled the situation.

Elsa could feel their emotion now that they had a bond due to mutual respect, and touched their forehead with hers while Anna stepped on the glacier and poured water out of her boots.

"I know this is all puzzling, but it will make sense, I promise." Murmured Elsa to Nokk. "However, the less I tell you, the better it is. Just know that the two of us are the Bridge, and that you were of immense help today. So thank you. And, I'm the Fifth Spirit, and in the future, I can't tell you how many years, I'll want to cross the Dark Sea to reach Ahtohallan."

Nokk's blue eyes widened.

"Yes, I know." Giggled Elsa. "You'll have to prevent me from doing so. Get ready for this fight all that time. Learn from what you saw today. You'll have to challenge me again. Nokk, this is important: challenge me harder."

Anna turned around, listening to the conversation discretely.

"I'll truly need you to challenge me harder. Do you think you can do it?" Smiled Elsa, still with a soft voice.

The Water Spirit snorted. That was an odd request.

Elsa then cleared her throat. "Also... You can't tell the other spirits about it. I know it's hard, but please, I'm not only ordering you this, I'm begging you."

Nokk closed their eyes as a nod and a promise. Elsa felt in them that it wasn't such a difficult task; the Spirit was rather solitary, just like her. They weren't as curious as Gale, as excited as Bruni or as indiscreet as the Giants. That's how they bonded so well.

Minutes passed as Elsa kept petting them, their foreheads touching. Anna cleared her throat.

"I don't want to ruin your moment, but we've got stuff to do."

Elsa opened her eyes and turned to her. "Don't be jealous. I just want to say goodbye, they won't see me for so many years..."

"Yeah, I think they can survive." Eye-rolled Anna with a teasing tone.

The Snow Queen chuckled, and joined her sister. Nokk neighed in a 'This was weird, but see you in the future then!' way, and dove into the Dark Sea water, sparkling in the sun light.

Wind rose on the shore of the glacier, and Elsa could feel change coming with it. They would find all the answers here, she knew it.

"Okay, let's do th-this." Stuttered Anna.

Elsa turned around at her words. Only then she noticed that Anna was crossing her arms, hugging herself for heat.

She was completely drenched, and the blonde felt immense guilt for not realizing right away that Anna didn't dry as fast as she did. Unlike her, the strong North wind blowing here only made things worse, and instead of chasing humidity off her skin and hair, it made her clothes stick to herself, and they were trapping her in close cold. Elsa gasped.

"Oh my God, I didn't even- I didn't take this into account. I checked everything before leaving, if your clothes were warm enough to step into the glacier, but I forgot that there was wind-"

"Hey, Elsa, calm down. This is fine. Let's go." Smiled Anna when she saw how rambling she was. Her teeth however were shattering.

"Anna, no. You're shivering with cold."

"I'm okay."

"Stop acting tough. You took care of me when I passed out. Let me take care of you now."

Anna was about to insist, but Elsa raised a warning eyebrow, and she closed her mouth. The blonde rubbed her arms with her hands to warm her up, and it already felt better. It wasn't just bringing heat. Anna wondered if...

"Are you able to take the humidity out of clothes?"

"Of course."

Anna smirked. "That's handy."

Elsa snorted with humility. "Only for you. I don't need it."

The Queen hummed. "Well, keep going. That's awesome."

She lowered her eyes and watched how Elsa was taking the water out of the fabric, crystallizing it on the edge and evaporating it in the air with moves of the fingers. In a couple of minutes, Anna was dry, and only her hair remained wet.

The blonde passed a hand in it and ruffled them, and Anna gasped with a nervous laugh.

"Hey! I'm not a child."

"Sorry for trying to help." Snorted Elsa.

"My hair is fine." Smiled Anna.

She squeezed and brushed it a bit, and after a while - and once the Snow Queen made sure that Anna was okay in a long, annoying way to the latter's taste - they entered Ahtohallan.

Something quickly felt off to both sisters. Anna came less often than her elder in the glacier, but even her could tell that something was wrong. Elsa hadn't stopped frowning since they had entered the magical place, and it was more than ten minutes ago.

"Do you also get an odd feeling? Or is it just me?" Muttered Anna, her voice in a cloud and gently echoing within the ice walls.

"No, it's definitely real..."

The blonde looked around, confused. She knew that the inside of the glacier wouldn't look the same 30 years before she saw it for the first time, but she didn't expect that kind of difference. Elsa thought she would see the same decoration as the first moment she came in, but in place. When she discovered Ahtohallan, everything was destroyed, collapsed. So she naturally pictured that pillars she had picked up from the floor would be standing tall, that the triangular entrance before the dome would be opened, and so on.

But not only this wasn't what was shown in front of the sisters' eyes, it also seemed to be reversed.

They blinked in confusion as the place that they knew by heart 30 years after seemed to be... Completely flipped at this time. Like up and down, black and white, day and night.

"This is... Weird, no?" Frowned Anna, passing her hand along the walls.

"Definitely." Murmured Elsa, her voice also echoing against the ice, though without a cloud for her part. "I don't get it... Remember the place we passed earlier? There's no pit where there's supposed to be one. You know, the one where I rose ice pillars on my first visit, and now we use ice stairs going down? In that time, it's a filled place. And not only thick ice has replaced the pit, but it also goes up."

Anna turned to her elder, lost. "So we went up instead of going down? How is that even possible, physically?"

Elsa was speechless. She didn't like it when she couldn't figure something out, so it bugged her and she simply shrugged. "Ahtohallan is a magical glacier. Physical laws don't apply here."

"Right." Nodded Anna, who appreciated to jump on a magic excuse to not think too much about this unsettling fact.

They could feel it as they walked through the source, as well. It was like everything had been the other way around; or rather, that it was for now.

Still taken aback by the change, the sisters eventually reached the dome, where Elsa expected to take place in the middle of the spirits unity symbol to activate the magical source. But once again, she gasped at a change: the dome wasn't looking at all like the one she was used to see.

Instead of projections on the walls, it was filled with floating lights. Instead of one glass-like area, it was punctuated with hundreds of nuances of cold colors. Anna was utterly confused, and judging by the Snow Queen's face, she was even more.

It wasn't the only disturbing fact. Ahtohallan seemed to have been waiting for them. Some blue then purple then turquoise lights glittered above their heads. Elsa gasped a bit, like the magical source had just talked to her. Anna's experience made her turn to her elder.

"What did they say?"

"They knew we would come."

"Well, it's kind of obvious, now?" Laughed Anna to mask her nervousness. "They know all. And they're the one who gave us this magical glowing time travel rock."

"No, you don't understand..." Murmured Elsa, and the redhead only then noticed that she had said her sentence with confusion. "When they say 'they'... They meant the previous Fifth Spirit."

The Queen lifted her eyebrows. "Wait, what?"

Ahtohallan changed its colors, like they casually started a conversation. Only Elsa could understand though, and Anna waited for her translation, even if the rhythm of the colors appearing and disappearing gave her a clue of the mood of the talk.

"They say that the previous Fifth Spirit saw a memory of us..." Repeated the Snow Queen. "I don't get it... How did they see a memory of us? This is years before we're even born!"

"Maybe Ahtohallan also gave them a vision of the future."

The magic source seemed to help her with a nuance, which Elsa repeated. Apparently, the Fifth Spirit themselves had consulted the memory.

Anna rose her hands. "Wow, wow, wow. One thing at a time. Sorry, this is just going so fast, even geopolitics meetings are simpler at this point. Ahtohallan, who the heck was the Fifth Spirit before Elsa?"

A silence passed.

Elsa snorted slightly. "You ask them this question a dozen times already when we come here. Do you really think it would have worked? They'll never reveal it, at anytime. Even myself can't know who it was."

Anna blushed, and whispered, like it would be actually useful and prevent the source from hearing her. "Shush up. At least I've tried."

She gave a challenging gaze to the source. "I still stick on the theory that it was the Northuldra chief and that they preferred to keep their double role secret."

Ahtohallan brightened with blue and white lights.

"HA! Did they approve? Did they? Am I right?" She exclaimed, happy.

"No, they just told you to stop trying to guess." Laughed Elsa.

"Oh."

The Show Queen stepped forward, passing her hand in between two floating light, her fingers hovering against this other form of communication.

"Ahtohallan, why is your appearance different than the time we are from?"

"That's not the most urgent question..." Commented Anna.

"Shhh!"

"What? It's not like they're talking!" Grumbled the Queen in a whisper.

Lights changed as the glacier answered simply.

"A different purpose?" Repeated Elsa with a frown.

She then understood it all, logic clicking in her brain like two pieces of a puzzle. "A different purpose!" She said, slamming her palm with her fist.

"Yeah, you already translated that." Teased Anna.

"Anna, the previous Fifth Spirit wasn't using Ahtohallan the same way I do! It's a magical source, it... It adapts! It adapts to the will of its guardian!"

The redhead nodded. "Yeah?"

Elsa seemed excited now, and Anna had missed this nerdy spark in her eyes. "It shows what the Fifth Spirit wants to see. I've long figured that they showed me Mother on my first visit because I needed her. It's what I unconsciously asked them to do. Then I formed memories of the past in the dome - in that very dome - because I not only needed to know what happened in the past to right a wrong, I also needed support!"

"I see." Exhaled Anna, her jaw dropping.

"Anna, what if... What if back then, I mean now, Ahtohallan used to show memories of the future, not of the past?"

The redhead looked at her like she was crazy. "Elsa, I love you with all my heart, and I admire your imagination, truly, but... That's not possible, right?"

Ahtohallan didn't seem to intervene to prove one or the other was right or wrong. It was all theory time, and the mystery source was doing a great job at being mysterious.

Anna tried to remember the Northuldra lullaby, which was kind of the only basis knowledge they had about Ahtohallan.

"...A river full of memory..." She muttered. "It never was specified that they were memories of the past or the future."

Elsa's jaw dropped slightly as she made the same observation than her.

"...Can you brave what you most fear..." She quoted. "This part clearly was about memories of the future! How did I not see that?!"

Anna smiled. "We only notice it now. Like it was under our eyes since the beginning but we never really saw it. Quite literally."

"All is found." Said Elsa. "In the past, as well as in the future."

Her tone was overflowing with excitement, like she always did when she learned about a new feature magic could provide. "I use the source to see memories of the past, and the previous Fifth Spirit - who has just passed away, if we stick to your theory that it was the Northuldra chief - used it to see memories of the future!"

Her eyes glittered as she looked around looking for her words. "It's like... Like... A space of relative time!"

Anna pouted. "It would sound better if you changed the order of the words. Like, call it time and relative dimension, or something."

"Whatever." Smirked Elsa, waving her hand. "Don't you see? We found the reason why the source transported us to this time 30 years ago!"

She raised her head to the dome, and Anna seriously got concerned she would get a whiplash for how fast her excitement made her do that.

"You took us to the moment the Forest got sealed because it was at time when you could show the Fifth Spirit memories of the future! And you needed to show me something!"

The younger stepped next to her. "But what? What did they want to show you? What was it?"

"They didn't show me entirely, I think. There are still elements I need to see, just like I had to see several moments to understand what happened with our grandfather." Elsa shared out loud, raising a reflexive finger.

Anna smiled. "Hum. It makes sense. So it was all planned to warn you about something that will happen in the future."

Elsa nodded, looking around. "Yes. They needed my help to- OH NO."

"What? What what what?" Panicked Anna.

"We shouldn't have prevented it to happen then!" Worried Elsa, fidgeting with her hands. "I shouldn't have modified the cart to delay your visit in the Forest! Because of that, I may have changed all of what Ahtohallan..."

"No, no, I think it actually didn't change anything." Assured Anna.

The magical source didn't react to Elsa's panic either, so the elder interpreted that she was right. But what did she mean? The redhead saw her expression and smiled as she explained.

"You remember when you said that it was all destiny? It doesn't matter if we try to prevent or encourage it to happen. It will happen. It's the future. To use my only knowledge of time travel there is - in other words, what I read in books..." Anna said, side-looking her sister, "...Time actually isn't linear."

Elsa remained silent as she listened, and the Queen kept going. "We think that it is, because past is before present which is before future, and so on. But it's not. Time is relative, and it's a loop. A circle, not a line. Even when we think we change the course of it, it actually always falls back in place."

Her elder stared at her into her eyes.

"What?" Chuckled Anna.

Now Elsa but her hands on her hips, puffing with a smirk. "How come you always mock me as being a nerd, when you're actually worse than me?"

Anna smiled. "Not worse. Better. I'm a better nerd."

She snorted. "Just kidding. I just love teasing you, that's all. And trust me, you very VERY often deserve it with your horrendous tendency to be extra."

Elsa nudged her with tenderness. "You figured it all out. Again."

Some purple and pink lights sparkled in the dome. Anna worried. "Did they just say we should hurry up? Sorry, we're talking a bit much..."

"No, they're actually congratulating you for figuring it out." Smiled Elsa.

Anna squinted. "Really?"

"What, you don't believe me?"

"I believe you. I just don't always believe them."

A pulse of cold came under her feet and made her shiver. "Ouch! Hey!"

Elsa giggled. "Watch it. You know they're susceptible."

"Yeah, and sometimes I wonder if it was carried as well when they gave you your powers..." Muttered Anna as she rubbed her arms to chase her shiver.

"Sorry for not fully accepting the compliment", she said higher. "I'm still a bit mad about the fact you haunted Elsa day and night with a voice."

The blonde eye-rolled.

"And the fact that it's revealed now that you are a timeless deity, and yet you didn't give us much clues."

"You're just angry because you don't like mysterious stuff." Pointed out Elsa, amused by the situation.

Anna grunted as an answer.

Elsa put a hand on her younger's shoulder.

"So, what is the event of the future you wanted to warn me about?" She asked to the dome. "Please show me the remaining memories of the future I need to understand it all."

New lights appeared in the air, and they were more numerous, like the source was charging something. Elsa quickly turned to her sister. "Get ready to catch me in case I faint. They'll show me what will happen anytime no-"

The Snow Queen hadn't finished her sentence that her eyes rolled to the back of her head and her knees buckled. Anna's eyes widened as she hurried to grab her elder in her arms.

"Wow!"

She thankfully caught the unconscious body of her sister right in time, because she had been standing at her side, but still gave a frown to the magical source. "Hey, better give us some warning next time..."

However, Ahtohallan didn't respond. They were focused on whatever they were sending to Elsa's brain now, and only the latter could tell what she saw.

Anna gently sat on the ice floor, Elsa's body in her arms, looking at her relaxed face and closed eyes. With a smile, she put her head against her arm, and waited for her to wake up again with what would be life-changing news.