I'll go ahead and tell you that the archbishop is not secretly plotting against Elsa and Anna. He does, however, have some relevance to the final resolution of the story.
Chapter 3
Anna was reading in bed that evening, peering through some of the delightful picture books Arendelle had begun importing from Corona. The nation was famed for its illuminators, and they certainly knew how to make a book beautiful. She took particular joy in the volume currently resting on her lap, detailing the exploits of her great heroine, Joan of Arc. But she was taken from her reading when she heard footsteps of a very particular weight tramping down the hall. "Kristoff?"
"Yeah?" he said, peering into her room. His tone grew sheepish when he saw her in her gown in bed. "I can go if you want."
"No, come in," Anna said. She put on what she thought was a come-hither expression. "Actually, make yourself at home... big boy."
Kristoff arched an eyebrow, but nevertheless entered her room. "Huh, I've never been in here before."
"And isn't that a shame?" Anna exclaimed. She tossed aside her covers and crawled up her bed; Kristoff was standing at the foot. She got on her knees and pecked him on the nose. "You should stay in here whenever you're in the palace."
Kristoff glanced downward. "I'd like that. I'd really, really like that..." his deep brown eyes tried to ignore the way Anna's chest heaved in and out. "But I'd hate to put that on Elsa."
"Come on, Kristoff!" Anna flopped back across her bed, purposefully spreading her legs a little too wide. "Elsa knows all about what we do. And she's totally fine with it. She loves me. She likes you, a lot. It would be okay with her."
"It's not that I disagree," Kristoff said, "but I'd really like to maintain her trust. She's been so kind and gracious to me so far-"
"Oh, why don't you just start sleeping with her if you like her so much," Anna huffed. But her expression changed almost instantly from disgruntled to fascinated. "Actually... wow, that would be really hot. Hoo, I might have to watch that."
"Ah- ah- I-" Kristoff tried to back away and move forward at the same time, so inevitably he tripped, falling forward onto the bed, face colliding with the middle of Anna's nightgown. Anna glanced down at him in mortification.
"Anna!" Elsa's voice suddenly rang through the quiet hallways. Elsa's light footsteps pattered quickly down the hall, until she burst through the half-open door to her sister's room. "Anna, I- I..." she stopped dead, eyes going wide at the sight of Kristoff's head buried in Anna's crotch. "I..." Elsa was shocked... for a little bit. Then she chuckled. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised."
"Dah!" Kristoff stood bolt upright. "Ah, ah, Your Highness, it's not what it looks like!"
"No, I don't care about that," Elsa said. "I'm actually very happy you're here, Kristoff. I need you. I need both of you."
"Uh, Elsa," Anna said, her teeth lightly clenched, "not that I don't love you dearly, but, uh," she threw he head toward Kristoff, "I'm trying to have a little private time-"
"Anna," Elsa said, her blue eyes deepening with barely contained despair. The temperature in the room dropped several degrees, so much that Anna and Kristoff could see their breath. The candles in their sconces were snuffed out. The fire wavered. Ice licked the edges of the windows. "Please..."
And all thoughts of 'private time' vanished. Anna could see the desperation in her sister. She leapt out of bed and dashed to her. "I'm here, Elsa," she said, wrapping her arms around her. "I'm here. What's wrong?"
The next morning dawned dark and snowy. A storm was already depositing solid inches of powder. Anna's eyelids cracked open, and that's when she noticed she was freezing. Elsa lay in bed next to her, still clutching her body desperately. But all her love and closeness hadn't defused Elsa's magic, which had run rampant and frozen her room almost entirely. Kristoff was already awake; he had slept with some pillows and blankets on the floor, and was busy trying to chip out the chandelier with his pickaxe. He turned to her. "Morning."
"Morning," Anna said, yawning even as her teeth chattered.
"Would you mind telling Her Highness to wake up and thaw this? Otherwise I think your room is pretty much ruined."
"Oh, right, right!" Anna said. She shook her sister. "Elsa, Elsa wake up!"
"Mrmr?" Elsa burbled, beautiful eyes fluttering open. "Hmm, I... oh no!" Elsa shouted, sitting bolt upright. "Here, Kristoff, let me get that." She swept her arms around and the ice and snow was pulled from every nook and cranny. It coalesced into a single ethereal snowflake, which Elsa pressed into her hands and snuffed out. She looked dejectedly at Anna. "So much for a good night's sleep clearing it up."
"Well, did it?" Kristoff asked. "How do you feel? Can you still feel... that thing you were talking about?"
Elsa gripped her own biceps tightly. "I can. More than ever."
"Well, we'll figure something out!" Anna said, hopping out of bed. "Let's go have breakfast, we can talk more about it."
So the three of them took some time to change clothes, and nearly half an hour later, they were having fish and eggs and coffee in the dining room. Elsa cut half-heartedly at her food, scarcely hungry.
"So," Anna said slowly, having the presence of mind to swallow her bite before speaking, "can you go over what you're feeling, again? You explained it last night but it was really late and I was really tired and I was a little distracted and it... it..." Anna's brow furrowed. "It's just hard to understand."
"It's hard to describe," Elsa said. "It's like... the Winter is coming. No, the Winter is here. And it's calling to me. It's calling to me in my gut and in my heart and in my bones. It's tugging at me, begging me to come outside and to... to join it."
"Join?" Kristoff said. "But aren't you already sort of joined with winter?"
"Yes!" Elsa said. "And that's the whole reason I'm feeling what I feel right now, I think. There's some winter in me already, there always has been. It's just that all this time- or at least ever since I tried to suppress my magic- I've worked so hard on keeping that part of me under wraps, I guess I wasn't able to feel Winter's tug." She pushed some herring around her plate. "But I feel it now. It's singing to me, Kristoff. It's touching my cheek, the same way you touch Anna's. It's asking me to come outside and give myself to the cold and snow."
"And if you do?" Anna asked.
"I don't know," Elsa said. "But I think I'll be lost again." She started to scratch her palms with her fingernails. "And this time I'll run farther than just the North Mountain."
Anna swallowed a bite of egg hard. She took a long, careful pull of her coffee. When Elsa looked her way, she cold see the fear in her sister's eyes. But she could also see past the fear. She saw the slight tug at her lips that threatened to break into a smile. She saw the yearning, the desire behind the fear in those endless blue eyes. The real thing that scared Elsa was the same thing that was quickly making Anna terrified. Deep down, a part of Elsa wanted to surrender to the Winter. Something in her would be happy to leave her humanity behind.
"Right," she said, thumping her mug against the table. "We need to keep you as far away from thoughts of winter as possible. We need a warm weather expert!"
"A... warm weather expert?" Elsa said, her eyebrow rising.
"Yep!" Anna said brightly. "And luckily, I've got one in mind."
"Hmmm..." Olaf rumbled, pacing back and forth in the throne room. His personal snowcloud had vanished, because Elsa was currently keeping the throne room cold enough for him not to need it. The sapient snowman had his stick hands clasped behind his back as he trudged back and forth. Elsa had to admit, he was almost impressive, with his careful pacing and his grim expression. He turned to Elsa. "So... you have to stop thinking about Winter."
"That's Anna's suggestion, yes," said Elsa.
"Doesn't it make sense, Olaf?" Anna asked. "If we get her mind on Summer until the solstice is over, there's no way she'll go outside and try to magically become one with the Winter, or however it is she put it."
"Ugh, it's no use!" Elsa growled, clutching her head in her hands. "I can feel it, I can feel it just under my skin like some terrible rash." Ice began to crawl up the walls.
"Stop!" Olaf said, hopping over to Elsa. He put his hands on her shoulders, and she looked into his bulging eyes. "Say it with me, Elsa. I will not think of winter."
"I will... not think of winter," Elsa said.
"I will not think of winter."
"I will not think of winter." Elsa shook her head. "But Olaf, the more I say it, the more I do think of winter."
"So what we need is a distraction!" Olaf said brightly. "We need to fill you up with the summeriest summer thoughts this side of July!" He walked several steps backwards and took a deep breath. "OOHHHHH..."
"Is he gonna sing again?" Kristoff whispered to Anna.
"Yes!" Anna said with a clap of her hands. "Isn't it great?"
Christmas is the perfect time, to think of sand and sun!
Cause Christmas is the time when everyone can have some fun!
And while it's great to play in snow and just enjoy the cold,
Let's face it, folks, after all these years, that stuff gets pretty old!
SOOOOOO...
All of a sudden, Olaf hurried into the main drawing room. Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff followed, where they were met with a stunning sight. It had been turned into... a beach. There were piles of sand against the walls. A blue sky backdrop had been lowered against one wall. A large, shallow tub had been filled with water, and inflatable toys were floating inside it. Perhaps most important, all four of the room's fireplaces were blazing, whipping up quite a bit of heat.
SOOOOOO...
Let's give three cheers for Summer! Let's cry out for some sun!
Let's not forget to tip our hats to beaches, sand and rum!
Let's break out all our swimming suits! Let's lounge the day away!
And let's kick back and relax as Aruba's palm trees sway!
"What's 'Aruba'?" Anna asked.
"It's actually an island in the South Caribbean Sea," Elsa said. "It was discovered in 1499 by OOF!" her history lesson was cut short when Olaf slid up to her and dipped her, as part of his dance number that suddenly included a decent chunk of the staff, all wearing bathing suits.
SOOOOOO...
Hip hip hooray for Summer! That magic time of year!
When love blooms in the warm old night,
Olaf shoved Anna and Kristoff together. They were both suddenly wearing their bathing suits.
And all skin gets a sear!
Let's get a tan, let's take some swimming lessons at the beach!
We've got all night! We've got all day! It's all within our reach!
Elsa too was suddenly wearing a very cute but tasteful swimsuit. A glass of rum punch was in her hand, and she was lounging on an inner tube in the pool. "Hmm?" she glanced at her glass, utterly befuddled by how it had gotten there.
And she wasn't the only one. "How is he doing this, exactly?" Kristoff asked, swimsuit on and nose covered in sunscreen.
"I don't know!" Anna exclaimed, joining the enthusiastic chorus line. "But isn't it fun?"
Suddenly a spotlight shone down on Olaf, and he sang into the heavens.
I must confess, I must admit, a snowman just like me,
Can feel a little out of place in summer, fun and free.
I'm made for wintry times and climes, the warmth's a no go here.
He broke into a smile.
Which is a shame, cause summer is my favorite time of year!
It's warm and wet and wild and it's always full of glee!
And we can have it any time, even December, see!
So let's give a shout for summer, it really won't be rude!
Three cheers for fun and sunshine! Hooray!
Olaf was suddenly surfing on a wave in the middle of the pool.
And surf's up, dude!
He fell back into the water, splashing Elsa. "Oh!" he said. "Oh, I'm sorry, Your Majesty! I didn't mean-"
Elsa threw back her head and laughed at the top of her lungs. "Thank you, Olaf," she said. "I needed that." She sighed, for once in relaxation, not distress. It's working, she thought. The scraping of the winter on her mind was not as intense. Olaf had actually been right, and no one was more surprised than Elsa.
A few hours later, Kristoff slurped up the last of his rum punch, the straw making a hollow sucking sound. He held up his glass and clinked the ice back and forth. "Somebody wanna top me off?"
"I'll get it," Elsa said, rising from where she had been lounging by the fireplace. "Olaf, where did you put the punch?"
"Oh, it's- oof!- in the throne room, on the dais!" Olaf said. He was busy playing beach volleyball with Anna.
Smiling at the joy permeating the room, Elsa walked back out into the throne room. She conjured an ice dress to preserve her modesty, though it made the Winter's whispers a little louder. It was lucky she did, too because- "Your Majesty?"
"Oh!" Elsa said abruptly. "Archbishop Hageback!" The kindly old man in his red robes was standing just below the dais. She smiled to see him. "I'm happy you're here."
"I hope I'm not disturbing anything," said the archbishop. "I recall you once told me I could see you whenever I wished."
"Yes," Elsa said. "Yes, of course."
"I just heard the most peculiar music..."
Elsa chuckled. "Nothing to fear, Your Excellency. Just another strange and wonderful day."
Hageback smiled serenely at Elsa. Unlike certain of his fellow high-ranking clergy, he had never found anything unholy about the queen or her magic. It was, to him, simply another of God's great mysteries, and Elsa was immensely grateful for that. "I was just wondering," he said, "if I can expect your presence at Midnight Mass this Christmas Eve. You are the queen now, after all."
"Absolutely," Elsa said. "I'll of course be there. Anna will be there too."
"Wonderful," said Hageback.
"Is there anything-"
Come out.
Elsa doubled over as the itch, the urge, the yearning returned more powerfully than it had ever been before. It was like it was just under her skin, yearning to break free. The snowstorm outside seemed to amplify as the longing came over her, the snow beating all the harder at the windows of the throne room. Elsa breathed out a burst of frost. Shut it out, she thought. Shut it out, shut it out, shut it out, shutitoutshutitoutshutitout-
"My Queen!" Hageback said, coming to her side as she fought to stay standing. "My Queen, are you all right?"
"I'm fine!" she coughed out, trying to ignore the voices that were hammering at her skull. "I just..."
COME OUT.
"I have to get back in there," she said, her voice shaking. "I have to get back into the warmth. Good day, Your Excellency." She staggered away before Hageback could further object. She hurried back into the fire room, her dress dissipating as she did. "Gah!" she panted, slamming the door behind her.
Anna, Kristoff and Olaf all looked up at her as she entered. "Yo!" Olaf said, bopping the volleyball with his nose.
"That took a while," Kristoff said. "Hey, uh, did you remember the punch?"
"Oh!" Elsa said, clutching her sides tightly. "No, no, I'm sorry. I just... the Archbisop was out there..."
"Ah," Anna said. "Queenly duties?"
"He just... he wanted to know if we'd come to Midnight Mass this Christmas Eve," Elsa said. "I told him we'd be happy to come."
"Of course we would!" Anna said brightly. "Oh, it's so wonderful! Have you ever been, Kristoff? There's bells and caroling and incense and it's just great!"
"I guess not," Kristoff said. "Midnight's usually when I'm asleep."
"Well you're coming this year!" Anna said firmly. "I'll have to get you some nice clothes. Well, nicer than you have right now."
"Can we just not talk about Christmas for a little?" Elsa snapped, and immediately regretted it. "No, wait, I'm sorry, I just... I need to get back in the pool," she said, hurrying over to the big tub. But the moment her skin touched it, it froze solid. "Oh!"
"Elsa?" Anna asked, fear crossing her face. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine," Elsa lied over and over.
COME OUT.
"I just... I need some more punch," Elsa said. She waved her hand and the pool unfroze, though now it was cold.
"Sure," Kristoff said, walking out through the door of the fire room. "I'll be right back."
So Elsa spent the next few hours slowly sipping rum punch, trying to ignore the swirl and roar of Winter through her mind. But it persisted. It beat her and punched her and kicked her in the stomach, and she got smaller and smaller, curling up tighter and tighter until she was practically a ball wrapped up in the sand.
Come out. Come out. Come out come out come out COME OUT.
"I can't," she whispered, tears leaking from her eyes. "It's too much in me. I can't, I can't, I can't..."
"Elsa?" Anna asked, sitting down beside her sister. "Elsa, are you all right?" She was intensely distressed by Elsa's compacted state.
Elsa stared up into her sister's beautiful blue-green eyes. She saw so much love there. So much hope. So much concern for her well-being. It was enough to make Elsa throw herself in front of a blade, as Anna had once done for her. It was enough to make Elsa give her life away to keep her sister safe. It was enough to make her abdicate her throne, if that was what Anna wanted.
But for all that... it wasn't enough to keep the Winter away. It was too strong. It called to her too loudly. The itch in her bones was like a sting now, like the long drag of wasp pricks against her soul. The Winter was well and truly fused with her, and like the lost piece of a puzzle, she was called to unite with the greater whole.
I can't...
DONG!
"Hear that?" Kristoff asked. He tilted his head to the side to prick up his ears.
"What time is it?" Anna asked.
"Up there," Kristoff nodded toward the great grandfather clock. "It's eleven o' clock. One hour til the solstice ends."
DONG! DONG! DONG!
I can't... Elsa thought, and she wasn't sure what she meant. She couldn't go outside? She couldn't leave her sister? She couldn't resist Winter's pull?
DONG! DONG!
"Hey Elsa, do you wanna cook some roast boar or something?" Anna asked. "I read somewhere that they love to roast pigs in the tropical islands. We could cap off the perfect Summer-In-Winter day that way!"
"I have to admit," Kristoff said, "this has worked out pretty well. I didn't think it would." He turned to Olaf. "Nice job, snow guy."
"Always happy to assist!" Olaf said with a crisp salute.
DONG! DONG! DONG!
Elsa was breathing out bursts of frost. Her seat in the sand was rapidly covering in ice. She could feel the snow pounding at the windows, could feel the wind howling outside. The glacier across the fjord was vibrating, she could feel it shaking, could feel every single thing to do with cold and ice and snow.
DONG!
I can't... I can't... I can't... I can't...
DONG!
I won't, she thought, as the final bell chimed. Though it was far away, she could hear it. She could hear it through the snow. She rose from her seat in the sand. "You know what?" she said. "I could use some more rum punch. I'll be right back." Softly she moved across the room and exited through the door.
"So do you guys wanna do this tomorrow?" Olaf said brightly.
"I don't know," Anna said. "This seems more like the sort of thing you do every so often. And besides, the Winter Solstice will be over tomorrow. Who knows if Elsa's going to need any more help?"
"I could certainly use the help," Kristoff admitted. "Remember, princess, I go up into the mountains where the snow never thaws. A little summer in winter is really nice."
"Oh is it?" Anna said. She glanced up and down Kristoff's body, clad only in swimming trunks. "I bet you just love the warm weather, don't you, you hunk?"
"Hunk?" Kristoff repeated. He glanced down at his body, taking a moment to grab some excess skin. "I need to lose some weight, actually."
"You look perfect," Anna said, winding her arms behind his neck. "Don't change a thing."
"Okay," Kristoff said. He smiled that dazzling lopsided smile of his. "You don't need to change either. You're gorgeous."
"Don't I know it," Anna cooed. "Hey Elsa, agree with me on how gorgeous I am!" There was no response. Anna pulled away from Kristoff. "Elsa?"
No response still. Elsa was nowhere to be seen.
"Huh," Anna said.
"Does it take that long to refill a glass?" Kristoff asked.
"She wanted a refill?" Olaf said. "Of what?"
"Of your rum punch, Olaf," said Anna. "Doesn't that make sense?"
"Well... no," Olaf said. "The rum punch is over there." He pointed to a small table where the punch had been set up. "I moved it after the last time Kristoff needed a refill."
"Then where is..." Anna's voice died. Huge, sudden terror filled her heart. "Elsa..." Her eyes shot to the door. It had been five minutes- far too long- and it had not opened again. "Elsa!" Anna cried. She ran to the door and threw it open. Outside, the throne room was dark. Its walls were coated in ice... and its doors were open. "Elsa, no!" Anna dashed across the throne room.
"Anna!" Kristoff called, hurrying after her, trying to ignore how cold the throne room was and how little he was wearing.
"Elsa!" Anna cried, running through the throne room, down the great hall, turning left toward the staircase. It was easy to follow her sister's trail: ice coated the walls where she had been. Anna wasn't surprised when they lead out the front doors into the courtyard, where the snow was falling heavily. The gates were open. They were always open, but now they were frozen open, blasts of ice keeping them at bay. "Elsa!" Anna cried. "Elsa, please, don't listen to the Winter!"
As if in answer, she heard her sister singing, her beautiful, powerful voice echoing into the wind.
The Winter calls me loudly, and
I cannot disobey.
It's hunted me so long and far
That now I'm easy prey.
"No!" Anna cried, rushing out onto the bridge. She scarcely cared that she was wearing nothing but a bathing suit. She had to get to Elsa. She had to save Elsa from herself.
Elsa was standing in the middle of the bridge. A maelstrom of snow was swirling around her, like a vortex in the air. It swirled faster and faster, thicker and thicker, so that Elsa could barely be seen. But still her sister's singing bellowed into the night.
Dear Anna, please forgive me!
This feels so very wrong!
But I cannot fight it any more,
The call is just TOOOOOOOO STROOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG
Anna got to her just in time... just in time to be too late. She ran to Elsa, ran to the swirling storm of snow. She was there just as Elsa, looking up into the heavens, breathed, breathed out a long, white stream of smoke or spirit. It left her body and blew away into the night. The snow suddenly crashed down on Elsa, and a burst of white light erupted through the darkness, so intense that Anna fell back onto her bottom. When she opened her eyes again, she looked up in front of her... and saw her sister.
Elsa had changed. She wore a dress much like her ice dresses, but where that was icy, translucent blue, this one was snowy white, purest white. The blue color was reserved for her skin. Her skin, her body, had changed to an icy blue, with a hint of glowing green when she shifted, like her skin was made of glacial ice. And her hair... it had always been light, but it had also always been visibly blond. Now it was white as snow. She looked otherwordly and inhuman. She looked like she had been sculpted and swirled together.
"Elsa!" Anna called, shoving herself to her feet. She reached out a hand. "Elsa, come back!"
Elsa looked at her, her eyes glinting pools of light within her blue ice skin. She smiled sadly at Anna. With a mournful voice that carried on the wind, she whispered, "Goodbye."
And she vanished, bursting into a puff of snow that was quickly carried away in the storm. "No!" Anna cried, falling to her knees. "No! No! Don't leave me again!"