Hope you enjoy Chapter 4 of Changing Loyalties! This is a chapter I've had in my mind for a while, but I never knew how to get what I wanted to say on the paper. But here it is! Enjoy!
I don't own any of the Disney movies and characters I write about in this crossover story. Please read and review!
Chapter 4
Penny probably would have allowed herself to sleep forever if it hadn't been for the horrible cold that covered her body. Though her mind told her the shivers racking her chest and rattling her teeth would probably go away eventually, her ears and nose were starting to sting, and it kind of hurt. Reluctantly, her eyes strained to crack open, finally stopping when it was clear they could get no further than a wince.
Everything around her was incredibly bright, but she knew that to figure out where she was, she would have to do better. So after closing them again for a quick rest, she steadied herself, counted to three, and on the final number, forced her eyes to widen to their full extent.
The results were reward enough. Pure ice shone from above her in the shape of an intricately shaped domed ceiling. Light from the sky outside burst with shimmering intensity through the thousands of snowflakes making up her surroundings, allowing the space to glow blue with a hint of pink-purple from the dawn.
"Wow." Her cry came out hoarse, as if her voice hadn't been used since the day she'd been born. As she scrambled to stand, Penny's feet slipped out from under her, her boots with too little grip to steady her. As she crashed, pain shot up her backbone, spreading to her four limbs, but luckily her head didn't get smacked.
"Are you alright?"
Though the voice was quiet, Penny's ears told her to jerk her head to the left, where she was greeted by the sight of a fountain. At first, that was all she thought she could see, but after blinking, a head of white blonde hair appeared from beside it, and gradually, a body appeared below it.
The dress made of ice was the final piece Penny needed to put together for her memories to return. They exploded in her brain in rapid succession, each one demanding to be seen. Pain from wounds she hadn't been in the right mood to feel blossomed like the flowers outside the tower. But she didn't give herself to feel it. Heart rate accelerating, she tried to get a good grip on the floor so she could scramble as far away from the woman as she could. But the ice was smooth, and all her bruised fingers did was slip on the surface.
"S…stay away from me!" In her mind she was no longer in the castle. She was lost in the forest, desperately trying to find Punzie, who would wrap her up in her arms and allow her to bury her face in her shoulder. There were tears in her eyes, and staining her face like the fingerprints of those disgusting men all over her clothes and body. But the liquid anguish wasn't enough to blind her eyes so that she couldn't see those same men impaled on the trees. When she closed her eyes, she saw red instead of black, and a shade of blue that she was physically surrounded by now. "Y…you killed those men!"
"I know."
It wasn't her acknowledgment that gave Penny her sight back, it was the way she spoke. Her voice wasn't rough; she didn't come off as proud of her actions. Instead, the words came out softly, not a whisper, but calm enough to be an agreement. This woman knew what she had done.
"I couldn't stand by and let them have their way with you. But no one will ever know what happened. The wolves will make sure all that's left behind is bones."
"Wolves? There are wolves in those woods?" Penny's voice choked at the end. She had read about the mysterious creatures in many of the books in the tower, hearing mostly horrific things about them. Fairy tales spoke of them as things that ate people like she ate apple pie. If evil men who liked to attack girls wasn't enough, the idea of coming across a wolf suddenly made the idea of wandering the woods in the middle of the night with no ways of protecting themselves seem stupid. Penny wished she'd never convinced Punzie that it would be a good idea. She didn't feel scared of this mysterious woman who dressed and fought with ice. She was grateful that she'd taken the time to help them.
"Don't worry. After dealing with me, they don't come near humans anymore. I'm sure they have lots of stories that pass between each other about humans that came from me."
There was still no pride in the lady's voice, but Penny felt a brief smile cracking the surface of her face. This woman was a wonder, someone who sounded like she spoke from experiences. Penny wondered how much wisdom and expertise she had, and what sort of wild and wonderful things the knowledge was in. She had to know. "My name's Penny. Who are you?"
"I am known as Elsa, the Banished Queen of Arendelle."
That sounded like a very heavy title for someone who looked only a few years older than Punzie. Looking at Elsa, Penny tried to see if she could find what could be the cause. But the only thing out of place was all the ice. So she was forced to ask. "Why?"
Elsa wrung her hands, as though she dreaded answering, and Penny immediately regretted asking. But it was too late to take it back. The question was out, and even if Penny said it didn't matter, they both would know she was wondering.
Focussing her eyes on her hands, Elsa carefully opened her mouth. "I…I can do something that nobody else in Arendelle can do."
"You mean all the stuff you do with ice?"
Elsa startled and took a couple steps back. Folding her arms across her chest and tucking her hands tightly under her armpits, she barely managed to stutter out, "What?"
"Well I mean, everything you own seems to be made out of ice. The daggers, your clothes, even this castle! Seriously, where do you get it all from?"
A low crackling rumble began all around Penny. Looking up, she saw the castle walls were thickening with layers of complex frost patterns that blocked any light from outside. Out of those darkening walls, sharp ice shards seemed to grow, reaching out like grabby hands. At the rate they were stretching out, she would start to feel poking in a matter of seconds. Snowflakes started falling out of nowhere, building massive swirls and storms around her. Penny felt like she was being trapped inside a freezing iron maiden.
Scrambling to her feet, her boots again slipping on the surface underneath, she shot a glance at Elsa, and her mouth dropped. Elsa stood facing her hands, which were now out in front of her, palms up. Clouds of snow and ice materialized in the air above her cupped hands and hung there like balls waiting to be thrown. Each individual speck of snow shone with a different iridescent sparkle, producing a celestial glow. It was gorgeous, but Elsa was staring at with an expression of utmost torment.
"What are you doing?" Penny screamed, and that was all it took to break the spell. The snow in the air lost its flight ability and dropped to the ground like a body. The ice shards stopped growing, one of them just barely beginning to prod Penny in the back. Stepping to the side, Penny watched as Elsa jerked her head up. As soon as the two girls met eyes, Elsa's face dropped further.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I should never have brought you here." She took two steps backward and made a move to flee, but once her foot hit a staircase, she ran into Punzie, who had appeared without anyone noticing her.
"What's going on here?" she demanded. But instead of trying to explain, Elsa turned around and tried to go another way. Penny would have impressed by her ability to run on the slippery ice in only a pair of high heels also made out of ice, but she was too focussed on getting Elsa to stop. Gathering her strength, she burst in the direction of the second staircase, feet slipping from under her with every step.
By some miracle, she managed to block the steps before Elsa reached them. "Wait," she pleaded, holding her hands up pleadingly. "Don't run away. If you don't want us here, we'll leave, I promise. But I've been trapped inside a tower for twelve years and I've never seen anything so incredible before. How did you do that? The ice and snow…it came from your hands!"
Elsa stared at her as though waiting for Penny to crack and say that she was just joking. But no such affirmation came. So finally the wariness in her expression slowly melted away, and she let out a sigh. "I know," Elsa admitted, no longer searching for escape routes. "It's a power I was born with. I'm sorry if I scared you. When I get nervous it can be hard to control, and I try to keep it hidden from other people."
"Why would you keep that a secret?" Penny wondered. "If I could do that, I'd want to show everybody! Can everyone in Arendelle do that?"
A hesitant laugh slipped out of Elsa, and to Penny's dismay, she shook her head. "No. But if you're planning on exploring the world, you should know that there are many other kingdoms out there, not just Arendelle. There are millions of people in the world as we know it, and a select few are born with magic inside of them. There are different types of powers, not just the ability to make ice and snow. I've heard of people who can control other elements like fire, wind, and water. Some can see the future, others have the gift of knowing all or seeing a person's true personality."
It all sounded incredible to Penny, and her mind filled with visions of how incredible it would be to watch those people in action. Or, even better, to have some of those abilities herself. From what Elsa was saying, it sounded like anything was possible. She almost didn't hear when Elsa started talking again.
"Many of these people are actually rulers of their kingdoms, or heirs to the thrones. With the magic, the kingdoms tend to flourish, so the citizens are glad to accept them and grant the political power they deserve. However, some people become scared or jealous of the gifted, and accuse them of witchcraft. Instead of receiving the love and acceptance they deserve, they are threatened. In order to survive, they are forced to give up everything important to them and hide in exile."
Her voice had grown lower and lower as she'd spoken, and Penny quickly realized that she wasn't just telling a story someone else had told her. She was recounting her own experiences. Slowly Elsa's full title came back to her, and everything made sense.
"Is that what happened to you?"
Punzie's voice filled the silence, and by the way Elsa flinched at the question, Penny wished she hadn't asked to intrude on what must have been a very traumatic memory. But Punzie hadn't been there when Elsa had given her name, so Penny supposed she was just curious. She watched as Elsa choked on what must have been a lump of despair in her voice, and prepared for her to try fleeing again. But shockingly, the queen nodded. In that moment, Penny decided that Elsa was one of the bravest people she'd ever met.
"In Arendelle, the royal family traditionally is very closed off from the rest of the kingdom, except for on very special occasions. So the only people that knew of my powers were the castle workers, my younger sister, and my parents. As the eldest, I was next in line for the throne when I turned twenty-one. In fact, this would have been my coronation year, but sadly, my parents passed away in a shipwreck when I was eighteen. Because the kingdom didn't have anybody who could act as the ruler until I was the right age, we had to do the coronation that year.
It was a spectacular event, and afterwards, while the citizens celebrate in the streets, there's always after-celebrations in the castle for the royals invited. My sister pulled me aside and said that she thought it might be a good idea for me to announce my gift. The records showed that in Arendelle, there had never been a ruler with magic before me. We both thought if there were any royals from other kingdoms with powers, they might be willing to teach me how to use my gifts to help Arendelle. So I called everybody's attention, and I told them that I had powers. There were some chuckles in the audience, but nobody seemed to understand what I was saying. So, I showed them. That was my mistake.
If there were any other people like me in the audience, I couldn't hear them because there were too many other people panicking and fainting around me. One fellow from Weselton and another from the Southern Isles kept screaming that I was a monster. My sister and I tried to keep the peace, but in all the commotion I got so scared that my powers started getting out of control. Suddenly we had a whiteout blizzard in the ballroom so strong that it ripped the doors right off the castle. All of the clueless people outside stopped what they were doing to watch, so they started panicking too. Before I could explain anything, those damned men started screaming that I was a witch trying to curse the land. I kept trying to speak, but soon everybody was screaming, "Burn the witch! Burn the witch!" and trying to wrap me in chains and ropes that just seemed to appear out of nowhere. My sister tried to fight them off, but someone grabbed her and pulled her away from me, saying that I had put her under a spell. I wanted to go after her, but there was no way I could have stayed, so I was forced to take off. They chased me out of Arendelle, so I fled up here, to the North Mountain, where I built myself a castle and learned to survive on my own with my powers. I haven't seen a soul since. Until today."
The story sounded over, but Penny didn't want to say anything in case it wasn't. Suddenly she felt guilty for all the times she'd complained about her own life. Yes, she'd been stuck in a tower and Gothel had never loved her, but at least she'd had Punzie. At least she'd had someone who accepted her, no matter what.
"That's why I got so nervous when you asked me where all the ice came from. I never know if revealing what I can do is safe."
"Well it's been three years," Punzie interjected again. "Why not return? We're looking for a place to start a new life. Maybe if you gave yourself a fake identity, said you were our sister, you could come with us."
"They swore if I ever came back, they'd kill me. I can't take the chance that they'd recognize me. But don't let my past keep you from going. The people really are quite good; they just fear what they don't understand." With a flourish of her arm, she gestured up the staircases. "Come on, I'll show you the way."
Silently, Punzie and Penny obeyed, following Elsa to a smaller room. Despite being empty except for an icy chandelier and a set of double-doors, Penny couldn't help feeling it was even more beautiful than where they'd just been. And when Elsa opened the doors, revealing a balcony, the scenery surrounding it took her breath away.
They all stepped out onto the balcony, and Penny took in the sights. Around the castle, everything was covered in white snow, even of the forest so far down below. It was made up of pointy emerald green trees she couldn't name, and stretched out underneath the bright horizon in the distance in front of her. She'd done her share of sight-seeing in the tower, but she'd never been able to see past the deciduous trees, and the sky above her was always hidden from sight by the roof. Here, she could see what she'd always believed: the world was much bigger than she ever could have imagined.
"Once you leave the castle, you have to head straight down the mountain until you reach the edge of the forest. There are paths through it, but if you're nervous, you can go around. Eventually you'll reach the fjord. There are plenty of boats anchored there that will be willing to bring you across. And that's how you get to Arendelle." There was a wistful tone to Elsa's directions, and Penny wondered if her desire to go back home was stronger than it sounded.
She understood why Elsa didn't go back, but she was curious if ever the young woman would forget her reasoning and just go charging back, the yearning in her heart and soul for her hometown too great to overcome by logic.
"I just have one request." Wringing her hands, Elsa had to take a minute before she could get anything out. "If you happen to come across Anna….my sister…don't tell her you saw me. She's very out-going, and if she got it in her head that she could find me, she might get followed by people not happy to know I survived. As much as I would love to see her again, even just to see if I would recognize her, I don't want to put her in any danger or give her any more grief than she's already experienced. She's probably ruling Arendelle now, and she needs to have a clear head in order to do a good job."
That was all Penny needed to know to get her answer.
Once Punzie had repeated the directions and both sisters had agreed to Elsa's condition, they all headed back downstairs, to the castle's enormous front doors. After giving their most sincere thanks for all the help Elsa had provided, and each receiving a thick ice dagger for protection, Penny wrapped her arms around her waist and mumbled, slightly embarrassed by her affection, "You're the bravest person I've ever met."
Slowly but surely, Elsa's arms swept up Penny in an embrace. Wet drops dripped into Penny's hair, and she was certain they weren't coming from melting ice, but she didn't say anything about them.
"Thank you Penny," Elsa murmured back. "I'll never forget you. You reminded me that not everybody is afraid of me. Hold onto that bravery as you continue on your journey, and I'm sure you'll find everything you're looking for in life."
Penny laughed as the embrace was broken. "That's really sweet. But I feel like if I had some of those powers you mentioned earlier, everything would be a lot easier."
Elsa met her with a smile and a quick shoulder squeeze. "Well you know Penny, magic is a mysterious thing. Sometimes you can tell if a person has it just by looking at them. But most of the time it does a very good job of hiding until it's chosen the right time to reveal itself."
"You make it sound as though it's alive." Penny giggled nervously at the idea, but all she got from Elsa was another smile.
"It is alive Penny. It can be your greatest friend and companion, or your greatest foe, feeding off of you like a parasite."
Once released, Penny took a step back so she was standing with Punzie. But before they could turn to walk away, there was one more thing she wanted to know. "What is it for you Elsa?"
Elsa hesitated, and Penny, remembering her tragic story, prepared herself for the obvious answer. But Elsa hesitated and took a moment to think before finally opening her mouth.
"I haven't decided yet."
Then, like a snowflake swept away by a wind gust, the Banished Queen of Arendelle was gone, behind the slammed doors of her ice castle and living in her kingdom of isolation yet again.