The past has a way of returning
Chapter 5: The distance can't keep us apart
Elsa was riding the Nokk in the now calm waters, under other circumstances she would enjoy the ride but now, her mind was only thinking about her baby sister. During her ride, Elsa was praying for Anna's well-being.
After a few hours, she finally arrived at her destination: Althohallen. The last time she was here, she discovered herself and the truth about Arendelle's past which lead to her freezing and Anna's possible death.
Once Elsa was inside the frozen cave she dropped on her knees just like she did when she and Anna found their parents wrecked ship.
I want to know what happened to her… Elsa whispered and before she realized it she was inside a cave but not Althohallen the Queen was even more surprised when she was able to see everything. Elsa looked around for a while until she spotted a woman curved like a ball at the end of the cave. Once Elsa was close enough to the woman she gasped, the girl had long red hair and blue eyes and she was wearing a black long-sleeved gown with a gold trim adorned with a brown belt around her waist and a gold turtleneck underneath, gold tights and black boots the girl was also wet and she was shivering.
"ANNA!" Elsa cried out when she realized who this girl was. Elsa rushed to her sister's side who surprisingly enough didn't even respond or look at her, she was even more shocked when she found out that she couldn't touch her sister it was like she was invisible… a ghost.
"Oh Anna…" Elsa sobbed, she wanted to comfort her little sister so bad but she couldn't even touch her or speak to her for that matter, she could only watch.
"Rise and shine your highness… Even though, I don't think I should call you that anymore!" Elsa's eyes widened when she heard that voice… No, it couldn't be. Elsa felt her anger rising when she saw Hans she wanted nothing more but to freeze him right there and there and get Anna away from him but she couldn't.
She watched helplessly as the Stabbingtons dragged Anna around, forcing her to walk even though she couldn't, Elsa screamed at them to stop and leave her sister alone but it was no use… The Queen tried to encourage her sister trying to let her know she was there which seemed to work a bit because Anna found the strength to walk.
Every time Hans or the Stabbingtons would kick or punch Anna Elsa would flinch or scream from anger. The Snow Queen tried multiple times to shoot ice on them but her powers wouldn't work at all.
When Elsa heard Hans's plan she was not only disgusted but enraged. She saw Anna being thrown inside a large wagon and the Stabbingtons getting inside of it, Elsa followed it was then when she manages to leave a little frost inside the wagon which no one noticed, not even Anna.
Suddenly, Elsa was back to Althohallen gasping for air, her eyes were red from tears and there were ice spikes everywhere. When Elsa got up she was a whole different person, her eyes were no longer teary but angry. The Snow Queen called the Nokk once again for her ride back to Arendelle.
It took her one day to return to the castle. When she arrived everything was quiet. She was searching around the castle for her top servant and her second-father figure Kai. It didn't take long to find him.
"Your majesty, is everything alright?" He asked when he saw the Queen's expressionless face it took a minute for Elsa to respond.
"Kai, where's Kristoff?" She asked with a surprisingly cold tone.
"He attended an important meeting your majesty, the council needed his presence and since you were not here…"
"Thanks, Kai, that's all I needed to know" Without another word Elsa rushed to the meeting room which wasn't far from where she was. With no warning Elsa bursts inside, everyone immediately stopped talking, Kristoff got up when he saw her.
"Elsa! I-I mean your majesty" He called, Kristoff was surprised when he didn't get any response from the Queen.
"Your majesty… Are you alright?" One of the council members asked.
"No…" Elsa murmured, she was doing her best not to fall from exhaustion. Kristoff caught her left arm to help her stand.
"Elsa you need re-"
"No! What I need is a search party for Anna" She interrupted Kristoff's suggestion, everyone stared at her as if she was crazy after all everyone believed that Anna was gone, Kristoff saw her falling with his own eyes.
"Your majesty, the princess is gone…" One of the councilmen reminded her, everyone else nodded in agreement well except for Elsa who shook her head denying that fact.
"She is not… I-I saw her Althohallen…"
"Elsa, what did Althohallen showed you?" Kristoff asked, everyone was confused, none of them knew about the reason their Queen left Kristoff in charge or what Althohallen was.
"I-It showed me A-Anna when I was there, I instinctively sat on my knees, not even a minute passed and I was in a cave, I could surprisingly see everything and then I spot her…my baby sister curved like a ball in a corner of the cave, her wrists tied, shivering from cold and all wet. Not only that, I could hear her thoughts, she was thinking about you Kristoff, Arendelle, Olaf and… Me. She believes everyone hates her…"
Kristoff didn't know what to say, Elsa was having a mental break-down right in front of his eyes and the eyes of the council. She said that his Anna was alive but hurt and wait did she say her wrists were tied?
"Elsa? D-D you say her wrists were tied" Kristoff asked the sobbing Queen, everyone was speechless. They saw their Queen taking a deep breath before answering.
"H-Hans, he's back and he has her…" Elsa sobbed as she was now crying in Kristoff's chest who was surprised with the outburst.
"WHAT?!" He yelled, Kristoff felt his anger rising, his Anna was alive, she was suffering far away from them in the hands of the man who left her to die and made her believe she was unlovable.
"D-do you know what he wants her for?"
"That's the worst part Kristoff, he wants to sell her into s-slavery" When Elsa said those words, Kristoff was doing his best to contain his anger, Oh he wanted to kill Hans so much right now. The rest of the councilmen who were listening to the conversation gasped when they heard the prince's plans. Some of them were still doubtful and weren't sure if what their Queen just told them were true or just some sort of nightmare.
"Your majesty? Are you sure you didn't dream about it?"
"I wish I did… But right now, Anna needs us, she needs me, we have to create a rescue party before it's too late" The Queen of Arendelle announced, everyone looked skeptical, Kristoff, on the other hand, was determined to get his Anna back.
"Where is he taking her Elsa did you hear?" He asked if they knew where Anna was going it would be easier to locate and rescue her.
"Northern Isles"
"Your majesty, Arendelle has cut trades or any communication with the Northern Isles from the times your father was at your age." One of the councilmen informed, Elsa knew this of course and the reason they did was that kingdom's horrible use of slavery. If Hans manages to sell her sister there… God knows what they'll do to break Anna.
"Not only that Northern Isles have a much stronger and much larger army than ours" Someone added.
"Which leaves the option of war out" Elsa whispered, the last thing she wanted was Arendelle to face war, especially after they finally brought peace between the spirits of the enchanted forest, the Northuldra, and Arendelle. Another war would probably destroy Arendelle for good this time not only that but it wouldn't guarantee that they would manage to bring Anna back to safety, they needed a better plan.
"W-what if we sent someone undercover to buy the princess back instead? That way we avoid any conflict and we will bring the princess to safety" This suggestion enraged Kristoff, Anna wasn't an object to be bought and in order to do that, they would have to let Hans win and Anna would suffer and who knows if they won't break her beyond repair, after all, everyone knew that Anna wasn't the type of girl who would give up without fighting back and this could have serious consequences.
"NO! I WON'T LET ANNA BE TREATED LIKE AN ANIMAL" Kristoff yelled, surprising everyone who was in the room.
"Kristoff…"
"Elsa, please tell me you are not agreeing with this"
"What, that I agree to let the person I fought so hard to protect suffer the worst fate possible of course not… But if we start a war, not only Northern Isles are stronger than us but they have alliances with Southern Isles and Weselton both enemies of Arendelle. There's no way we can get Anna back that way…" The Queen said it was clear that she didn't like any of this, all she wanted was her sister safe and sound. Kristoff finally thought about it and agreed as much as he hated the idea of the love of his life been tortured.
"If we do this…We need to send someone the princess trusts and who is good with both stealth and diplomacy" Lieutenant Mattias who has been quiet the entire time suggested.
A few seconds passed before anyone saying anything. It was Elsa who spoke first…
"I will go…" The Queen announced with a now determined look formed in her face.
Kristoff stared at her confused and worried.
"Elsa no, what if they catch you too? Then what?"
"It won't happen, Kristoff… I have my magic to protect me, I know how to use diplomacy and how to bargain and most importantly I can contain my feelings inside of me… After all, I've been doing that for thirteen years." Many agreed with their Queen, some others though didn't like this plan at all.
"I still don't agree with this… Elsa, the kingdom needs you, please let me go, I failed Anna once please let me fix this"
"No, Kristoff don't you see? If you go we don't know how you will react if you see her tortured or how she will…"
"The same goes for you! She is your sister and the person you love the most, who can guarantee us that you won't freeze the entire kingdom when you see her all broken huh?!" Kristoff had a point, even though Elsa could contain her feelings when she wanted to and ever since Althohallen she had full control of her powers but how could she be so sure that she wouldn't lose it when she finally finds her sister? She almost lost it when she saw Hans and his men forcing her to walk when she clearly couldn't.
"Kristoff, I've already seen her suffering and I couldn't do anything to help her, I saw Hans forcing her to do things she could clearly not do not only that Anna has suffered thirteen years of isolation believing that her best friend hates her, she almost, no she froze to death because of me so please, I have to do this, besides I have my ways of calming Anna"
"I am still not convinced…"
"Please Kristoff, those monsters will probably make Anna scared of anyone let alone men. What if she doesn't trust you? I know you love her more than anything like I do, but this won't be the Anna we know and love, she will probably need our support and love more than ever" This time, Elsa's explanation made everyone agree with her even Kristoff
"Just, bring her home safe please…"
"I promise, I will bring her back"
Elsa hated what she was about to do, she was about to buy her own sister something she never even thought she would have to do or wanted to in the first place. She just prayed for her baby sister's safety.
Hang in there Anna, please don't lose yourself… I'll get you back I promise even if it is the last thing I will do…
Boom, It looks like Elsa was there when Hans was torturing Anna in the last chapter which means she knows his plans. Now the only way to get her back peacefully is to buy her from slavery…. Will she though? Or war will turn out to be the only way?