Within ten minutes, Caspian and Emma were racing out of the town hall on their horses; Elsa sitting on Caspian's lap and Anna on Emma's. As they went, a trail of ice was left in their wake, being conjured up by Elsa in her worry for the harm she had inflicted on her baby sister. Fear was eating away at her like some flesh eating bacteria. Anna had to be okay! She just had to be! She could not fall ill or get hurt or even die now, not when she was so young!
Elsa cursed herself for doing this. It had not been Anna's fault in her causing this happen, it had been hers. She fired that icy blast at her sister and she had given into her sister when they should have been asleep! Oh, how could she be so stupid! How could she let herself get carried away by something like this! It was her own fault!
The trousers of her father and the saddle with which he was sitting on began to frost over as her worried thoughts consumed her mind. Noticing this; he placed a hand on her shoulder and looked worryingly down at his daughter.
"Elsa, are you okay?" he asked as he pulled his horse to the left and down a cobbled path between two rows of houses.
She looked up at him for a moment and then, as if flipping a switch, began to cry. "Oh, dad, what have I done?!" She cried. "I-I didn't mean for this to happen! It was an accident!"
"Elsa, Elsa, calm down, sweetheart," he told her calmly and pulled her into an embrace. "It's not your fault. We'll fix this, don't worry, I assure you."
Elsa looked up at her father, revealing her tear-stricken face and bloodshot eyes to him. "Are you sure, dad?!" she asked, her voice whimpering a little.
He nodded and gave her a small kiss on the head. "I promise you, Elsa," he told her. "I promise Anna will be okay." He reassured her again and gave the reins of his horse another snap, urging the animal to continue, leaving Elsa to sit and watch the landscape roll past as if watching some kind of film.
For about another fifteen minutes the two horses raced along the cobbled paths of Arendelle, and then after leaving the outskirts of the town, the dirt paths towards the hills outside the settlement. As they neared the towering mounds of earth, a small hut came into view, perched lonely on the edge of a small plateau overlooking a drop into a small valley. A single light was visible in one of its windows and, if one looked carefully, a small column of smoke rose out of one of the chimneys on the side of the house. At first, dear readers, you would think why they are going to this house? To Caspian and Emma, however, this was the perfect place for them in a time like this. They knew that this was the only place they could go to in an emergency like this.
Pulling their horses to a stop, Caspian dismounted and, setting Elsa down on the floor, rushed over to his wife and helped her down whilst she held onto Anna.
"Is she okay?" he asked.
Emma placed a hand on Anna's forehead and quickly withdrew her hand from the cold, gasping in surprise.
"She's still ice cold! We need to hurry!" She replied, fear in her voice.
Caspian rushed over to the door and hammered desperately on it, hoping for an answer. Emma grabbed hold of Elsa's hand whilst keeping hold of Anna.
"Pabbie! Pabbie, are you there?!" Caspian was calling out, begging for a yes. "This is Caspian here! We have an emergency!"
For a moment, Emma and Elsa looked on at Caspian and the door hopefully, praying that the latter would open and reveal the person who they wanted to see. Then, the door opened and standing there was a medium height man, about 5ft 2, with faded grey hair, balding on the top of the head, a wide nose, large hands and feet and dressed in a dressing gown. A fireplace was visible behind him on the wall opposite the door with a chair next to a small table visible too, a book resting on the arm of the chair. His brown eyes focused on the group with a sense of warmth and comfort, as if he were some kind of storyteller greeting a new arrival. They had known him for a few years now and he had helped them out greatly since Elsa was discovered to have had the ability to control ice and snow.
"Mayor Caspian," he said in a soft, but deep voice to the group in front of him and nodded to the others, standing aside and offering them to come inside, which they did.
Elsa gazed at the inside of the house around them. It was mostly a large square room with a few windows on the left wall, several shelves running around the room, a small wooden table and chairs near the right wall between two doorways and a small pile of logs in the corner of the room next to a small sofa. The left doorway led off to another room, the bedroom, and the right led off to a small bathroom. The only source of light was the glow coming from the fireplace.
"I'm so sorry to disturb you, Pabbie!" Caspian said to the little man before him. "But we need your help! It's my daughter!"
Pabbie nodded and walked over to Emma, who held out Anna to him as if offering her to him as a gifted ornament. He placed a hand on her forehead, feeling the coldness run into his body like a wave crashing onto the shore.
"What happened exactly?" he asked and Elsa explained everything to him.
"Do not worry," he reassured them all and urged Emma to follow him over to the sofa, which she did. "Set her down here and be careful." he told her.
Emma did as she was told and sat down on the end of the sofa next to her daughter's form whilst Pabbie knelt down next to the sofa and motioned for Caspian and Elsa to come over, which they did.
"Are Elsa's powers getting stronger?" he asked them and Caspian nodded.
"Yes they are," he replied. "We don't really know what to do with them at the moment." He added. "Is there anything you can do Pabbie?"
Pabbie nodded and touched Anna's forehead again. "You were lucky that it was her head and not the heart," he told them. "The heart is not so easily changed, but the head can be persuaded."
"Do what you must," Emma told him. "Anything to bring her back and make sure she's okay."
He nodded and looked up at Caspian. "Mayor, I recommend that we remove all memories of magic. It is for the best for Anna." He looked at Elsa, who had a sad expression on her face when she heard those words, knowing what they meant. "Don't worry, Elsa, I will leave the fun. You and Anna will not lose your friendship at all."
Caspian placed a hand on her shoulder and gave his daughter a comforting look. "Do it, Pabbie." He said.
He nodded and turned back to Anna. For a few moments, he stood there with his hand on her forehead. All of a sudden, a small but bright light lit up the end of the sofa above her as if the sun was bursting into the room. Everyone was blinded for a moment and looked away when, as quickly as it came, the light vanished and the glow of the fireplace retook control of the room once again. Looking back, everyone saw, amazed, that Anna's face now held a small smile on it, even though her eyes were closed. It looked as if she was experiencing a dream where she could go and forget the worries and terror of the life she was in now, a place that was safe and where everything was as she wanted it to be.
"She'll be alright," Pabbie explained to them, nodding for Emma to take her daughter in her arms again. "By tomorrow morning she will be back to her normal self."
"But she won't remember I have powers?" Elsa asked him with a concerned tone in her voice.
"It's for the best, Elsa," her father told her, giving her a sympathetic expression. "It's too risky with your powers the way they are." He added.
Pabbie nodded and took Elsa's hand in his, looking straight into her blue eyes with his with a feeling of seriousness. It was easy to see that he was doing this reluctantly, but it had to be done
"Listen to me Elsa." He told her. "Your power will only grow as you get older. You have great beauty in it, but there is also great danger." Elsa's eyes widened at this point when she heard this, the feeling of sadness and worry growing inside her. "Fear will be your enemy, Elsa. You must learn to control it or you and those around you will be in grave danger."
Elsa gasped and buried herself in her father's arm, to which Caspian embraced her tightly to comfort and protect her. "No, Elsa won't go down that road. We'll help her control her powers." He said, looking from Pabbie to Emma and back again. "Until then, we will reduce the staff and limit her contact with people. Including-" he paused and sighed heavily with regret. "Including Anna."
Upon hearing those last two words, Emma and Elsa looked at him, both with expression as if he had just announced the death of someone important to them. What! Even Anna could not be seen with Elsa anymore! Her own sister was to no longer see her! It…it just…it just could not happen! It just could not happen! Not when they were so close in their lives!
"I'm sorry, Elsa." Caspian said to her, rubbing the back of her head as she buried herself in his arm again. "Pabbie, we will be here if we need your help," he told him.
"Do not fear, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon," he told them and walked over to the door. "Now all of you go home and get some rest. You need it after a long night like tonight."
Obeying his advice, the family left the cottage and began their ride back to Arendelle. However, as they went, all of them, aside from Anna obviously, were thinking the same thing.
Things were going to be very different in their lives from now on. Whether for good or for bad, though, that was up to fate to decide.