Usual disclaimer. Okay, so an insight on my writing process: I plan out the general idea of each Arc, go down specifically about how many parts I want each Arc to have, write down the hit points I want in each part, then write a chapter. So, I've come to a bit of a... dilemma, if you will. Should I include smut in this story? I want to leave this one up to you guys, so let me know in the reviews. If you're reading this story anonymously, I have guest commenting on, and am very opening to being PM'd! Feel free to drop your thoughts in the reviews.
Important info: For my convenience as a student and writer, I have decided to move my updates to Sundays as opposed to Wednesdays.
Anyway, that set aside... Enjoy!
Sunlight filtered through the curtains of the window, falling onto a plush bed covered by green sheets before landing upon a crazy, thick mane of red hair, making it shine copperesque in the light. A gentle snoring came from the body the mop belonged to, one hand underneath her pillow and the other curled against her chest.
"Papa… swor… Mama… man…," she murmured, starting to toss and turn more as time went on. Her face garnered a scowl soon, turning to a pleading and frightened expression in the next moments.
"Papa… Mama… No!" Anna screamed, shooting bolt upright and clutching her heart, the organ beating mercilessly against her ribcage. She breathed heavily, head swiveling around at the scene before her. Realizing she was safe, she laid back down and let out a shaky breath.
She turned and snuggled a pillow against her midsection, her sleep restless again and needing a form of comfort. Her nightmares had returned with a vengeance; the man with the sword and her parents' scream as he sliced them through returning to her and looping in her slumber.
Once she felt good enough, safe enough, she got out of bed and slipped on a green Rome hoodie and grey sweatpants, the Norwegian mountains being significantly more chilly than Fiji had been. She stretched, realizing the time of day as she looked over at the clock. It was eleven in the morning! Though mornings never were her thing, she rarely woke up past nine thirty.
If only I could tame this mane… Immediately, she set to work. She brushed her crazy mop of red hair, soon in her signature twin braids. Rubbing her face, she opened the door and walked down the small hallway into the kitchen and dining area. On the counter laid a note, written in neat print.
Anna: there is cereal in the cabinet next to the sink, milk in the fridge, bowls in the cabinet above the stove, and spoons in the drawer in front of where I put the note. When you're done eating, meet me at the bottom of the hill. I'll see you soon, Elsa
Anna's stomach grumbled at the mention of food, and she followed the instructions of Elsa. To her delight, she found chocolate Cheerios. Seeing that there was enough for one bowl, she knew that Elsa had eaten the same thing this morning as well, the observation causing her to smile. After she finished and washed her eating ware, she slipped on her Converse and trekked down to the bottom of the hill, noticing a little shack.
Is that the sound of a… Marimba? Confused, she continued down the path, realizing that she heard Elsa singing quietly, words currently indistinguishable. The closer she got, the more she realized that the sound was, indeed, a marimba. Anna walked down to the front door of the shack and opened it as quietly as she could. When she opened the door, she realized that Elsa was not alone, accompanied by a snowman on the marimba.
Wait, what the hell?
A live snowman? Elsa could create life as well? The thought hit her suddenly, but she broke out of her stupor when she registered the fact that Elsa was dancing with a face relaxed and smiling, eyes closed. And Elsa was dancing horribly. For all of her talents, Anna never would have guessed that her mentor would be so bad at something so generally simple as swaying side to side. She began to chuckle, a noise not missed by the resident snowman.
"Hey Elsa, who's your friend? She's pretty! Oooo, is she your girlfriend?" Elsa's eyes snapped open and she nearly tripped, displaying a clumsiness she almost never showed. She coughed loudly, putting her hand on the wall for support.
"Hey, Anna. Meet Olaf," she said, face ablaze a rather interesting shade of red. Vermillion, maybe? Anna snickered loudly, looking down to wave at Olaf.
"Hi Olaf. I'm Elsa's friend, Anna; now, I suppose I'd be known as her student," she chuckled, introducing herself to the small snowman. Getting down on his level, she held out her hand, expecting a handshake to the best of his ability. Instead, he leapt into her arms. She was thrown off balance by his action and was even more surprised to find that he didn't wet her, despite the flurry cloud above his head.
"I love warm hugs! And boy, you're like a mini toaster," he exclaimed, before realizing that steam was coming from between them from how warm she actually was. One of the many benefits of learning from the Calor Facit was that she now learned how to have a perpetually warm body using hardly any energy. It was a survival trait that she would not take for granted. She awkwardly patted Olaf's back and looked to Elsa for help, the steam making her face sweat.
"Alright Olaf, I think that she's had enough of a hug. I'm sure she's warm, but you're steaming," Elsa said, prying Olaf off of her. Anna stood up, wiping the sweat off of her face.
"Ellllsaaa, she's warm! You like warm things too, why don't you hug her?" Elsa blushed prettily once more, making brief eye contact with Anna before smiling sheepishly at Olaf.
"Sorry buddy, no can do. I'm sure she is warm, but humans aren't like snowmen; we don't just give random hugs," she explained. With a wave of her hand she made the marimba disappear, giving a flurry of snow that sent Olaf out of the shack. She made sure the door shut behind the flurry. Anna watched it go by, smiling as the door clicked shut. The awkward cough in front of her made her look over at Elsa, whose ears were scarlet. Anna wondered quietly to herself if that much blood to her head would have made her dizzy by now, but she didn't question it.
"Well, he was quite a character," Anna said, grinning toothily. Elsa's eyes shifted up toward the ceiling, seemingly saying a quiet prayer to the Gods before looking back at Anna.
"Indeed, he is… I apologize for his forwardness, and what he said. I realize that that was, to say the least, inappropriate," she said, awkwardly chuckling. Anna waved her hand dismissively.
"Ah, don't worry about it. I liked him; he's like a little kid. He makes me laugh, aside from the fact that he literally steamed because of my hand," she said, brushing off the encounter, "No worries." Elsa sighed out a breath of relief at the statement, before taking a deep breath and giving a small smile.
"Good; I think we should begin our training, though," she said. Anna nodded, sobering up immediately. She took off her sweatshirt and revealed the workout tanktop that she normally wore while training. Elsa's blush was not missed by her, a knowing smirk crossing Anna's face.
"Anna, I need to ask you. Are you absolutely positive you want to start in a new element? This is probably going to be the most strenuous thing you've done, especially because of how different our elements are," she asked, wanting Anna to think this through again. Instead, she was met with a determined nod.
"Absolutely," Anna said resolutely.
"Are we gonna do some PT first?" Anna asked, a valid question that Elsa had forgot in her regiment for her pupil. She blinked, remembering that it was a very important part of training in general.
"Yeah, of course," she said, scouring her mind for things to do. Anna regarded her curiously.
"So… what first, then?" she asked her, awaiting Elsa's response. When Elsa failed to respond for a few moments, she grinned widely, realizing that she had forgotten to work that into their schedule.
"Ah. You forgot, didn't you?" She asked, not even trying to mask the mirth in her voice. Elsa's eyebrows came together in the most adorable frown that Anna had ever seen.
"No! I was just thinking about what to start with," she retorted, lips coming together in a firm line.
"So…?" Anna asked, awaiting Elsa's nonexistent orders to fall upon her ears.
"... Alright, I might have forgotten," she conceded, "But I'm going to work you hard tomorrow, don't you worry." Anna gave a mischievous look, smirking slightly.
"Well, I sure do hope so. I do love to work up a sweat before training, you know," she said, devious smile crossing her face at the obvious innuendo. Elsa's eyes widened at the statement, eyes shooting up into her hairline as Anna cackled at her flushed cheeks.
"I'm only playing, Elsa. So what are we going to work on first?" she asked. Elsa cleared her throat, grabbing a bucket of water that Anna hadn't noticed before. Anna was enjoying the hell out of this; seeing Elsa so awkward was hilarious to her, the poise and grace she held gone in this shack.
"Simple manipulation of the cold. The temperature of the water in this bucket is about eighty five degrees. I want you to get it down to forty five. If you can't today, that's fine, we'll work on it tomorrow too; but this is the most important part of the Glaciem Magistri. If you can't make things cold, especially Water, then there's no point. We're probably not going to work on cooling things for a while until you get this down," she explained, "Water energy comes from a different part of your body than Fire, if I'm not mistaken?" Anna nodded, tapping her hand against her stomach.
"Fire's energy is drawn from the belly, yes. Where is Water's located?" she asked. Elsa put her hand over her heart, feeling the thrumming of life there and smiling.
"From the heart. Water is the lifeblood of all things, human and nonhuman. It makes things thrum with life and power, and the heart is what distributes it throughout the body. So when you try to channel your energy, try your best to focus on feeling the life within your veins pump from your heart, and channel that energy into your hands. Temperature manipulation lies within that, too; you know how to make things hot, now learn how to make things cold. Like a thermostat, I suppose." Anna nodded, taking in what her mentor had just said.
"Try to feel the Water's energy. It can provide you with a great boost, since your threshold for Water energy is quite small right now," Elsa finished.
Anna closed her eyes and breathed deeply, putting her hand in the bucket. She focused on the pulse of her veins, the life her heart gave her, and tried to channel that energy into her submerged hand. The water was warm, and she focused on making her hand the same temperature as the water in general. Slowly but surely, she felt her hand start to cool down to the temperature of the water, and soon it felt like she had her hand submerged in something that was the same temperature as her body. The process took a lot out of her, and she began to feel drained.
Don't give up yet.
Steeling herself and continuing onward, she attempted dropping the temperature of Water now, trying to channel the energy of it within herself to make it a few degrees colder. She opened her eyes slightly, looking at the thermometer in the water. Anna saw it drop about ten degrees, soon fifteen, but stopping at about 67 degrees. She stopped the flow of energy and sat against the wall immediately behind her, spent from trying to lower it anymore. This frustrated her, as most things from Fire came easily. This new way of trying to channel Magic was proving to be tough, and she knew this was something she was going to work very hard at. She closed her eyes and breathed, head on her chest as she tried to regain some of the strength she had prior.
Her eyes snapped open when she felt two cool fingers under her chin tilt her head up. She was greeted with the sight of Elsa, who was practically beaming.
"Hey," she said, "you did awesome! I wasn't expecting you to be able to drop it ten degrees, let alone almost twenty. How are you feeling? That must have expended a lot of your strength." Elsa's chilled hand went to Anna's cheeks, searching her face for any sign of overexertion. Her hand felt nice against her face, and she sighed at the touch.
"Fine… that feels really good," she murmured. Noticing Elsa's confused face, she continued tiredly. "Your hand, I mean."
"O-oh," came Elsa's reply, "Uhm, here." Anna felt a cool blast of air hit her face before the feeling of Elsa's hand stayed stationary, even though she retracted the physical one. As Elsa tried to help her up, Anna waved her off.
"It's fine, Els, really. I'm not that out of sorts," she said, pushing herself onto her feet. Even though she did feel a bit woozy, she remained upright, refusing to show weakness right now. She collected her sweatshirt and went up the hill with Elsa, looking around for any sign of Olaf after realizing that he wasn't with them. Shrugging it off and figuring he would find his way back, she realized it was hardly twelve noon. Appalled at the little she had gotten done that day, she wanted to go back later and try it again, hoping some rest and a good meal would replenish her reserve. She knew that this would be one of the cases where practice made perfect, and she wanted to get as much of it as she could.
Coming back to reality, she noticed that they had reached the top of the hill and had yet to meet Mr. Isånd. Elsa said that he had to do something in Arendelle yesterday and would be spending the night there, and then had work the following morning; therefore, he wouldn't be home until much later.
"Anna? Did you hear me?" said Elsa, looking expectant to Anna for an answer. The redhead coughed awkwardly, zoning out yet again as she normally did.
"No, apologies," Anna replied, a sheepish smile cracked her face despite herself. Elsa chuckled, letting Anna know she accepted.
"I was asking what you wanted to have for lunch." Anna thought for a second, quickly coming to her conclusion as they walked up the to the front door.
"Do you have pancake mix? And if so, how about some chocolate chips?" she asked. Elsa nodded.
"Well then," Anna began, grabbing a mixing bowl from the same cabinet as this morning and donning a devious grin, "I know exactly what to have."
"Gita, there is little I can tell you on the matter. I am sorry I cannot help you more, but we ourselves are doubtful of what exactly is going on," Vita said to Gita, exposing her full form in a dream. Her bronzed skin body sat cross legged from Gita, clad in a humble white robe. Her golden eyes shifted quickly to the left of Gita's head, realizing that another God had entered the space.
"Welcome, Brother. Any news?" the supreme Goddess asked. Gita stood up immediately and faced whom she now realized was Horatius. Kneeling, she awaited his order to sit.
"Ah, welcome Gita," he said, "at ease." She sat back down, just as eager to hear what he had to say. He locked eyes with Vita and soon her face bore a forlorn expression.
"I cannot tell you much, Gita. All I can tell you is this: they rise."
And with that, Gita awoke in a cold sweat.
A/N: So, yeah. Dun dun dun... So many questions that need answering, am I right? I wonder where this will lead... Remember to leave comments on the whole smut thing. I think, particular to this story, it's a good idea; and I at this point can easily interweave it into the plot. But, my faithful readers, I'll leave this decision up to you.
And now, for the reviews! (Thank you to everyone who favorited, followed, commented and PM'd me this past week. Y'all kick ass!)
Strasza: This is a terrific chapter. So much so, because we finally see Elsa want to open up to Anna, but is unsure how. As for the rest of the info in chapter, I'm wanting to keep that a surprise for when it happens. Great job as always, looking forward to the next chapters
Burns: As always, that is vastly appreciated. Indeed! This will be a process for Elsa, but who knows… perhaps she will trust Anna, but at what moment? Also, when I said that the info will be explained later, I meant intermingled in the story. Thank you!
Keanan765: Wow a lot of good development in this chapter way to go! I'm very curious about this Rì fellow and I'm curious to see where you're going with his story. It's all meshing together quite well great job!
Burns: Thank you! I'm glad the pacing is going well. Everything will be tied up; now that I'm looking at the rate that I include plot elements, I'm feeling more of a 70+ chapter story. Rí's character is an interesting one, for sure. All of the stories are somehow tied in with one another, be it one way or another...
The Myth Rider: The world you built in this story reminds me of both one of my favorite books, and one of my favorite tv shows. As such, you have my attention, and I very much look forward to seeing how you go from here.
Burns: Thank you so much for that. I am no novelist, but I wholly appreciate the fact that one can draw similarities between a published book and my story. I hope you stay along for the journey!
Alright guys, I'll see you all next time! ~ Burns