Chapter 5: Damn long Forever
A.N. EDIT. I had to re-upload this chapter as some of the inserted horizontal lines did not want to be inserted. Most of you lovely folk probably got two mails or messages or whatever that I posted a new chapter and for that I want to apologize! Happy readings!
"Farewell, sister. May you stay frozen forever," Anna mutters solemnly and releases the globe of snow and it grows, enveloping me and the chimney. I throw my hands up in front of my face and flinch back, my back hitting the chimney behind me. Immediately I can feel my arms grow heavier and colder. My limbs are getting harder to move and my vision blurs and fades to black and back again. Icy swirls crawl across my skin as my fingers turn an icy blue.
I close my eyes and ready myself to be frozen in this desolated strawberry farm. Forever.
The cold grows stronger and stronger, and my high tolerance to the cold is shattered. My nerves erupt in pain as it feels like the cold stabs over and over again into my flesh. A horrific shriek comes over my lips as I try to deal with the pain, but screaming does nothing to alleviate it.
I've given up. All I want now is for the pain to go away and to leave me in peace. Leave me to die.
With a growl that I do not dare classify as human, a red blur throws itself in front of me. Suddenly, the icy light of Anna's cone of cold is split apart by a great storm of gold and red. Despite the pain, I open my eyes and behold a wall of fire, dancing and flaring across my field of vision. In between the wall of flames and me stands a silhouette with a cloak that swivels around him, yet the figure remains untouched by the fire. His hands are outstretched and reach forward, as if to push the wall of fire forward.
The inferno of flames becomes too bright for my eyes and I have to wrench them shut, and am once again alone in the dark with the stabbing pain. I can faintly distinguish the roar of the fire that grows and subsides, flares up again, then diminishes completely. The glow of the flames that had been visible even through my eyelids dwindles, but unfortunately my pain does not.
The pain seems to be burning through my veins and flesh alike, slowly making its way to my heart, freezing everything in its wake. I start to whimper and trash, trying to either get rid of the pain or encourage it on, so that the end may come swifter. I faintly feel hands cupping my face, fingers pressing to find my pulse.
A faint voice calling out my name. I recognize Anna's shriek somewhere in the distance, and the wall of fire erupts into my vision again. I faintly hear Anna again, but she is not shrieking in pain, but in frustration.
Someone is holding me, one hand supporting my neck and the other grasping my wrist. I try to struggle as that someone applies pressure to my wrist, increasing the cold's stabbing pain for a short while. And then there's heat. Searing through my flesh, burning away the cold, but causing me pain just as great. The fire seems to begin in my wrist and neck, and races through my veins, through my limbs and searing my muscles.
Two powers now begin their race towards my heart; the cold, having a head start, and the fire that is quickly gaining. My body spasms and trashes violently, my hands clawing at my chest as heat and cold collide within me. Desperately I try to recall my father and mother's faces, but they blur and glitch as I try to fight the searing pain.
My back arches as fire and ice reach my heart simultaneously. My eyes flutter open and I see a face hovering closely above my own. There's fire in those golden eyes. Fire and worry.
The heat and cold within me have dissolved. My vision is still blurry, but feeling returns to my chest and limbs. With it comes a soreness as if I've just ran for the past few days. With a groan, I close my eyes and shut out the blurry face, and curl up into a ball as best I can. Strong arms pull me against a chest and lift me up. Every step taken sends a wave of exhaustion over me and soon I drift in and out of darkness.
Who knows how long it takes before I am finally put down. A cloak is wrapped around me, and as I flutter open my eyes, I see a spark bring forth a small fire.
"Aidan?" I mutter softly, and the figure that had been crouched next to the fire comes to my side. It takes a while to focus my vision, but when it does I can clearly distinguish Aidan's black hair and golden eyes, faintly glowing in the light of the small fire.
"Shh. You shouldn't talk," he mumbles softly as he adjusts the cloak around me. I gaze at him and see a mixture of worry, guilt and determination in his eyes.
"What d-did Anna do to me?" I murmur as I watch Aidan feed the fire.
"She tried to imitate what almost happened to herself," Aidan says, avoiding my question. I glare at him and when he catches my glare he sighs. "She tried to freeze you to solid ice, Elsa. Like what was supposed to happen to her when you froze her heart."
I don't reply to his comment and simply try to cope with his words and the painful statement behind it. For a long moment I simply observe him as he moves around the camp, tending to the fire, and making a makeshift roof from branches.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I say, and I flinch as the tone underneath my words is so very accusing. Aidan looks at me and pulls a hand through his hair, messing it up even more.
"You know why, Elsa. You know what it's like to keep a secret, and how hard it is to trust anyone with it."
"But surely you are the same as me.. Surely you could have trusted me to know."
Aidan shakes his head and sadness creeps into his eyes. "I've known several.. Curselings, as people from my home call people like me and you. They each met their ending before their time, Elsa. If I had told you.. it could have gone wrong too quickly. I had no choice to keep it from you."
"Curselings?" I whisper, and Aidan nods. I try to press for more answers, but my vision blurs for a moment and Aidan is suddenly by my side.
"You can control it? You can control the fire?" I demand to know from him, even though my eyelids feel so very heavy.
Aidan nods after a long moment of thinking. "I can."
"You have to.. teach me.." I mutter as I fight off a wide yawn.
"You should rest. Your body is trying to cope and heal, and you have to give it a chance to," Aidan mutters softly. He supports me as he gently lowers me to the forest floor, that he has cleared of snow, and props up my mother's blue cloak as a make-shift pillow. He makes sure that his red cloak is fully covering me, then takes a seat next to me, resting against a nearby tree. "Sleep.." he murmurs again and I release a heavy sigh as I give into my body's demands for darkness.
I suddenly open my eyes and try to sit upright, but my body is shivering so violently that I cannot control my limbs. Somewhere far away I can hear Sven call out to me, calling for an answer, but right now the chattering of my teeth is the only sound I can produce. There is a faint throbbing on my cheek, and I can feel that blood has gently oozed out of a thin wound.
Okay Kristoff, time to sit up, I think to myself, but my body is not so willing.
The shivering does not cease and I try to control my breathing. I try to curl up in a ball and warm myself, but my hands and feet are tied, making it difficult to move overall. Still shivering, I finally take a look around. I'm lying on a wooden platform with a variety of bags and boxes stacked up around me. The curves of the wood remind me of a sled, and soon enough my suspicions are confirmed.
Hans is leading Sven by a harness past the edge of my vision, and Sven is more than unwilling. He could easily throw Hans off, but he keeps turning his head towards me, and I know that he's keeping my compromised position in mind.
"Sven.." I manage to say through my chattering teeth, and Sven immediately jumps up and throws Hans to the ground. Once free from Hans' restraining hands, the reindeer tries to climb on top of the back of the sled, where I am positioned, calling loudly to me.
I weakly manage to lift up my head and shake my head at him and try to let him know that he should run and leave me, but Sven simply bellows at me loudly, trying once more to reach me.
Hans curses loudly and pulls Sven away from the back of the sled, tugging violently on his harness.
"Come here, you dumb animal. You're going to help us make a little trip to my old home," Hans mutters as he tries to pull Sven in front of the sled, but the reindeer's attention is solely on me. He bellows again, and agony rips through my heart.
Sven continues to pull away from Hans, even throws him to the ground a few times just to come near the back of the sled, until Hans has had enough. He grabs Sven's antler and positions his head towards me, lying bound and vulnerable in the back of the sled.
"Look, you oversized mule. Your precious Kristoff is not within your reach. He is, however, within mine." Hans pulls a small dagger in a flash and casually points it at my throat. "Now you are going to pull this sled and be done with your attitude, or I will cut your friend to pieces. Am I clear?"
Sven bellows loudly and looks at me in panic, and I know that he will throw Hans off at any moment and trample him or skewer him with his antlers. That, however, will still leave him at Hans' mercy and my heart feels like it is stabbed when I imagine Sven getting hurt.
"It's.. o-okay, S-sven.. P-please.." I manage to stutter through my shivering and chattering. Sven gazes at me with those big eyes and my heart aches once more before I steel myself. My resolve disappears when Anna enters my field of vision.
"I will lower his heart rate as quickly as you can run, Sven, if you don't comply. Now shoo, get into place." Anna's voice is cold, so very cold. So unlike the happy young woman that crashed my sled into the side of a mountain, or unlike the flitting young woman that I held as she turned cold. The young woman that I tried to save to the best of my abilities.
Sven lets out a last, sad grunt, and then slowly walks to the front of the sled, his head hanging. "There's a good boy," I hear Anna say. "Reindeer can be so compliant, if you give them the right motivation, don't you agree, Kristoff?" Anna has taken a seat on the front of the sled and gazes over her shoulder at me, a triumphant smile plastered to her face.
Disgust suddenly gets the best of me and the urge to vomit grows stronger, but I manage to keep it in. Disgust is then replaced by longing for the old Anna, the Anna that I tried to save.
I stretch and yawn, my mind still blissfully blank as the sun's first rays creep through the forest. Something cold is nestled near my feet, and when I take a look I see Olaf lying flat on his back, snoring happily.
Any moment now I expect Kristoff to make a funny remark about Olaf, but when he does not I panic.
"Kristoff?! Kristoff?!" I shriek, and rise from my spot near the smouldering fire.
Aidan comes bounding towards the camp, a wary look in his eyes as he scans the camp. Dark shadows have crept underneath his eyes, and the wary look makes them even darker, but his face softens as he sees it's just me.
I bound around the camp, looking wildly for any sign of either Sven or Kristoff, but when I cannot find either of them, I fall to my knees, whimpering softly as I bury my face in my hands. My body shocks and my breathing comes difficult as tears roll down my cheeks.
"I'm so sorry.. I'm so sorry Kristoff.." I mumble softly to myself.
Warm arms wrap themselves around my shoulders and gently pull me into a hug. Aidan rubs my back and murmurs kind words to me as I try to regain a steady breathing rhythm.
"It wasn't you fault, Elsa.. Anna had both of you cornered.." he mutters.
"You don't understand.. it WAS my f-fault, Aidan. He loves Anna and s-she loves.. loved.. him. Because of me! Because of me she's like this! Because of me he's now at the mercy of Anna's evil side."
Aidan cups my face with both of his hands and forces my eyes on his. "Listen to me, Elsa. Anna's actions are not your responsibility. You could not control your power back then.."
I try to shake my head gently from his soft grasp. "You don't understand! I still cannot control it! But.. but you.. You can! You can teach me! Teach me the control that I've wanted all my life, so we can save Kristoff and thaw Anna's heart!" My hysteria has turned to sudden determination and I watch Aidan closely for his immediate reaction. His initial reaction is doubt, followed by more doubt.
He releases me from his embrace and rises to take a few steps back. He shakes his head at me. "Elsa.. We can assume that Anna and Hans are far ahead of us now. On foot, it's about two weeks to the Southern isles. I cannot teach you anything more than the basics of the basics in those two weeks. It's impossible."
"Then the basics will have to do! If it gives me a chance to right my wrongs and save both Anna and Kristoff, I must take it!" I rise as well and fumble wildly with my hands.
There is still doubt in Aidan's eyes, and something else I cannot distinguish. Maybe it's a low blow, but if it will sway him, I am willing to use it.
"Please Aidan. You must know what it is like to have no control. You must have hurt people. Perhaps.. lost them too, because you couldn't control your power. You must know that guilt. I know you do!" I yell at him.
My low blow has worked. Agony mixes with guilt and anger in Aidan's golden eyes.
"I do know that guilt," Aidan simply states, his voice so calm that it frightens me. "And that's exactly why I do not want to teach you in a mere two weeks. Under that stress and pressure, I could ruin your control forever. Forever is a damn long time, Elsa!"
"Forever is a damn long time without Anna. Forever is a damn long time in itself!" I counter, placing my hands on my hips.
"Damn it, Elsa! This is serious business! I've seen people burn their own homes to the ground because they lost control! I've seen earthquakes made by Curselings that destroyed entire kingdoms! I've seen death up close because I COULDN'T KEEP CONTROL." Aidan's voice is so, so angry and sad at the same time. I am putting him through pain, and I know it. I can feel it in my own heart.
"You cannot ask this of me! You cannot ask me to risk your life, your kingdom. You cannot ask me to do that to you!" Aidan turns away from me and pulls a hand through his hair, cursing under his breath.
I take a deep breath and take a few steps towards him, gently sliding my hand into his. "Aidan, please. I am determined. Either I will go out after Anna myself in my current state, or you teach me some kind of control and I face her then. I will try and thaw her heart, with or without your help." I gently place my other hand on his cheek and turn his face toward me. "Please," I repeat softly.
All anger dissolves from Aidan's eyes, leaving only sadness behind. He gazes for a long moment at me and barely blinks. "Alright. Alright," Aidan huffs softly and lets his head hang for a bit. I quickly rise on my toes and press a soft kiss on his cheek.
"Thank you, Aidan."
As I release his hand from mine I see that the campfire has started to blaze up again, and for a long moment I watch as the flames dance over the ashes, having no kind of fuel, but blazing nonetheless.
And that's it for chapter 5. Please let me know what you lovelies think of Aidan as an OC. I've got a whole past for him planned out, but I want to know you guys' opinions in case I need to tweak it a bit.
Also I really like ANGSTY CONVERSATION holy moley.