Disclaimer: Frozen, Tangled, The Little Mermaid (c) Disney.
I do, however, own the OCs Mikkel, Vegar, King Marcus, Frida, Kasia and Harmonia.
Thank you to everyone who has read/favorite/alert/reviewed my story so far!
Warnings: Foul Language, OOC-ness, Background OCs, Cameo/Name Drops
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The end is niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh! Tomorrow I will post the last chapter to Burned. ISN'T THAT UPSETTING GUYS?! But fear not, for I am working on...
Cursed.
I'll let you readers sit on what that means.
Chapter Twelve
The council couldn't come up with anything. The idea of going to war with the Southern Isles had shaken them almost as badly as the fire. Elsa adjourned the meeting, claiming they would meet again the following day then dismissed herself and Anna from the room.
They walked around the castle aimlessly, their minds heavy with troubles.
Anna felt burdened with the weight of the world. The guilt she harbored for the last five days tore at her insides just like the fire within. She was angry at herself or not believing in her sister's words and for not accepting Kristoff's honesty. She was angry that her optimism—her hope—had foolishly led her into believing her magic could be just as beautiful as Elsa's.
She had assumed, naively so, that her fire would be less of a hassle than Elsa's ice.
She believed, because it was her, she would be able to control the flames; make them beautiful to behold; to never fear. Fire is light, she thought. Fire is life. All that came to be on the world was because of the sun, with its bright rays. It's warmth. If the sun could be viewed as a beautiful ball of flame then why was it that her fire couldn't be seen as the same?
She had accepted her gift—never cursed it. Had never blocked it; always embraced it. That was why she practiced every chance she got. She wanted to disprove the nonbelievers, to show Elsa that she was capable of this; that magic was a blessing, not a curse.
Who was the fool now?
People are dead. The Kingdom of Arendelle is in partial ruins. Countless of people are injured, suffering. Now a war loomed on the horizon—and why? Because Anna had lost control of herself.
Fire was a horrible mistress.
Now, perhaps, it was time she accepted the truth. Elsa had been born with magic. Anna had simply been cursed.
Her heart suddenly exploded in pain.
She doubled over with a gasp, her hands clutching at her chest.
"Anna? What's wrong?" Elsa made to reach her, but a wave of fire erupted from the ground with a roaring whoosh. She jerked back at the sight, incidentally erecting a jagged wall of ice in between her and the fire wall. "Anna!"
"S-st-stay b-back!" Anna wheezed. She grimaced as another molten hot pain seared across her chest.
Elsa brought forth a shower of snow to extinguish the flaming ball keeping her from Anna. She ran to the young woman's aid and tried to lay a hand on Anna's shoulders, but the red head shoved her away roughly.
With another groan of pain, Anna suddenly bolted down the hallway, her feet burning through the rug.
"Anna!" Elsa cried, following.
Anna felt like her body was on fire, like something was burning her from the inside. It hurt to breathe; her lungs felt constricted; her heart was melting—it had to be.
She ran down the hallway in a blur, mentally pleading her body to stay in control until she was out of the castle, out of the town, away from the world in general.
It wasn't working.
Her flames were begging for release.
She could feel her powers leak away with every step she took, could almost smell the scent of burning rug fibers invade her nostrils. She could practically see the smoke pool into the hallway as she ran. She could hear the crackle of ice run along the walls beside her and feel the cool air try in vain to cool off her overheated body.
A part of her mind barely registered what Elsa was doing—what she could possibly be thinking at this moment.
She was freezing the hallway to keep Anna from burning it down.
The red head wanted to laugh—at the genius behind such a thought—and cry—because Elsa didn't need this. She didn't need any more trouble in the kingdom. Another blaze? No, she had enough trouble as it is. But she neither laughed nor cried, all that came from her mouth was a vain, strangled noise as her heart burned again and again.
She burst out of the castle in a blur of reds and browns. She shoved past a group of guards who had mistakenly crossed her way and scrambled past the castle gates. Her sister was hot on her heels, freezing everything under a protective layer of ice. She called her to stop, yet Anna couldn't hear over the whirling of the wind and the harshness of her breath.
Fire and ice rippled across the town square in frightening speed. The people of Arendelle screamed in horror for the second time in their lives. They scrambled in a mass of unfortunate souls, hoping, praying, begging, that they survived the horrible wrath of their young monarchs.
"We need water!" Demanded one of the guards. "Put out the fire before it spreads!"
Anna dashed through the town, hands held tightly to her chest, the edges of her dress flickering with little licks of fire. She had barely made it to the outskirts of town when a force of heat and flame exploded out of her body in a flash of white-blue. She crumbled to her knees, gasping for breath, as blue flames swirled around her for a second time in five days, licking the snowy ground in leisure.
Elsa stopped a few feet away, her chest heaving; her braid undone. She approached her sister cautiously, but stopped, eying the swirling blue flame uneasily.
"El-Elsa…" Anna gasped. "I'm-I'm sorry…"
"What's happening to you?" The platinum blonde took another step forward. Anna flinched, the flickering wall crackled ominously in response.
"Don't—" the red head pleaded.
"You haven't burned me yet, Anna." Elsa raised a cold hand toward the flickering flame. She shut her eyes, bracing herself for the heat and the pain she knew would soon follow…
…She felt nothing.
Elsa cracked open an eye and saw, to her great astonishment, the blue fire lick across her pale cold hand, caressing her flesh with the lightest of touches. It was warm, yes, but it was akin to the warmth on a spring day rather than the painful, blistering heat fire was accustomed to having. With the discovery in mind, the Snow Queen broke into the circle and enveloped her scared sister into a tight hug.
"Elsa…" Anna cried, burying her nose into her sister's chest.
"Shhh Anna," She cooed, soothing the girl's hot backside. "Listen to me Anna, I'm sorry for not believing in you. I'm sorry that I didn't trust in your judgment, but I need you to listen to me right now, OK? Your fire needs release."
Anna suddenly jerked away from the Queen in disbelief.
"What?!"
"You need to let go." Elsa urged, taking her sister's hands. "Remember what I said about fire and ice being different? I spent thirteen years holding back my powers, Anna. Thirteen years it never bothered me." She looked into her sister's molten, hot gold eyes. "What happens to a volcano when all that heat and magma builds up in its core?"
Anna's eyes widened in understanding.
"You need to let it go," Elsa released her hands. "Before you explode."
"I-I can't. Where would I go?"
"To the Ice Palace."
"But I'll destroy it!"
Elsa gave her sister a sympathetic smile. "And I'll rebuild it." She grabbed a hold of Anna's hands and urged her to her feet. "Please, you have to go. Go to the Ice Palace. I'll call Marshmallow away, just go!"
Anna gave her sister one last hug before heading into the mountains.
Kristoff had been aroused from his doze by the sound of thunder. With a snort, he wiped the sleep from his eyes and gazed into the sky.
He frowned.
There wasn't a rain cloud in sight. So where was that thundering coming from?
The blond turned to the side in time to see a crowd of horses galloping his way. A series of black smoke bellowed into the blue sky from Arendelle behind them, reminding the Ice Master of the horrid display of raging fire from merely a few days ago. Kristoff felt his lips form a frown, his heart quickly hammering in his chest. What had happened this time?
Maximus, Eugene's horse, came to a halt beside Sven, who eyed the creature with curiosity.
"Kristoff, have you seen Elsa or Anna?" Eugene asked, a tone of urgency in his voice.
Rapunzel pulled up beside him, her expression marred with worry.
Kristoff felt his expression worsen.
"No. Why? What's going on? Are we being attacked?"
"There's no time to explain. Do you know where they could have gone?"
"The Ice Palace," He replied, mounting Sven. "I'll show you, but I need details. Let's go!"
The sun was beginning to set by the time they reached North Mountain.
Elsa stood by the edge, the frozen stairway leading into the castle no longer present. She kept her back turned toward them, her eyes focused worriedly on the seemingly innocent Ice Palace gleaming bright in the setting light. A giant pile of snow lay beside the Queen, alarming Kristoff. He hauled the others to a stop, remembering the last time they had ignored that very same pile. He wasn't in the mood to deal with marshmallow right now.
He dismounted from Sven just as Rapunzel and Eugene did the same. Mikkel, Kai and a few other Arendelle guards hung back with their horses, wary of the eerie calm.
At the crunch of snow, Elsa whirled on them, her wintry blue eyes wide with partial terror and anxiety.
"Stay back!" She urged, feeling a sense of déjà vu overwhelm her (Only this time, the tables had turned.) "Don't come any closer. It's not safe for anyone."
"Where's Anna?" Kristoff asked warily, his eyes on the unmoving mound of snow.
"She's in the palace." Elsa replied. "Please everyone, get away from here!"
"We're not leaving until you plain what the hell is going on!" Eugene demanded.
Elsa's expression hardened in anger mixed with dread. "I don't have ti8me to explain! I need you to—"
A roar of thunder ripped across the sky, startling the horses into a panic. They threw off their riders into the snow and scurried off into the wild, much to Mikkel and Kai's chagrin.
Eugene and Rapunzel held each other in their arms, eyes to the sky, but it wasn't the source of the noise. Another sound bellowed from the direction of the Ice Palace, forcing all eyes to behold the wonder and horror as chunks of ice chipped and cracked, bit by bit, on the palace walls. Smoke whistled out of the cracks, piercing the dusky sky.
"Go! Go! Go!" Elsa ordered, running towards them. "The palace is going to collapse!"
Elsa barely managed to reach Kristoff and the Corona couple when a flash of bright light lit up the sky. She turned with a jerk and felt her eyes widen at the most awe inspiring sight ever to behold.
A vortex of light blue fire swirled high into the sky. It devoured the tallest tower in Elsa's Ice Palace and melted away the rest. Chunks of the castle tumbled over the mountain, a river of freshly melted snow carrying the larger chunks of debris beyond the edge. Steam bellowed into the sky, shrouding the whole mountain in thick clouds.
Kristoff grabbed Elsa by the arm and urged her to follow as they all ran for safety, the scorching steam hurdling towards them.
YEAH MAN, I HAD ANNA DESTROY ELSA'S PRETTY LITTLE ICE PALACE! WHAT ELSA WHAT?!
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I ate ramen with chopsticks today. WORST. IDEA. EVER.