Elliott paced back in forth, unsure of what to do next. He'd never been so free before, but he found he didn't exactly know what to do with all this new time. There were only so many things one could do alone in an ice palace, after all. He'd made beds for sleeping, a whole orchestra of instruments he told himself he was going to learn eventually, a grand ballroom, he even made a rose garden, all out of ice, of course. Everything was so beautiful and intricate, Elliott smiled at his handiwork proudly.

Unfortunately the snowmen he'd built earlier had melted, which was a pity, he had thought about using them as decoration. But it didn't matter, he could always build more.

He was having fun at last, and he didn't have to worry about hurting anyone. He could be himself, for the first time in years.

But Elliott couldn't help that lurking feeling of loneliness within him. He knew it was all for the best, that this was the right thing to do, but everything was so unnaturally quiet and still. Yes, he was used to being alone in his room, but there could always be solace found in hearing Andy's laughter as he ran through the halls, or even just the soft chatter and footsteps of the palace staff.

But there was only silence.

He kept telling himself he had to forget about Andy, about everything in his past life. That wasn't the Elliott he wanted to be; the Elliott who had constantly lived in fear, always hiding in the shadows, trapped. The new Elliott was bold, exciting, powerful, and most of all, alone.The Elliott that had built the most amazing palace ever out of scratch; with a little foreign inspiration of course but his nonetheless.
His thoughts were suddenly interrupted as he heard a loud knocking on the palace's front door.

Three knocks in quick succession, there was only one person in the world who knocked like that. Over the years his door had been met by different kinds of knocks, he'd memorized them all. The single knock with an open palm from his father, two slow ones from his mother, Kai was about 5 really fast ones...

Elliott froze, his heart suddenly leaping to his throat.

No, he wouldn't be that reckless... to follow me here...no... traverse all the snow and mountains just to...

He rushed over to the front hall, his mind racing. Taking a deep breath, he readied himself, and shot a blast of icy magic at the door, causing it to open.

"Okay, great! It opened. That's a first!"

Elliott's eyes widened as he recognized the all-too familiar sound of her brother's voice; his sweet, naïve, little brother. Part of him wished he had been wrong. He hid behind the corner, for reasons he didn't really know. He'd expected it, after the signature knock, but Andy... had come all this way just to see him.

"Elliott? It's me…Andy?"

Elliott felt torn, between feeling relieved that Andy was right there and I can't be free. He considered not answering, make him think no one was home... but shutting Andy out again? No. Taking a deep breath, he stepped out, his new ice clothes shimmering in the cool light.

Andy was near the foot of the grand staircase Elliott had built, and he gasped slightly as Elliott emerged, completely in awe. His eyes were wide, and he was stammering slightly. "Elliott, what the…" he said, smiling at him. "You look... wow. Is that ice? Krista would..." he shook his head, clearing it of the distraction, "This place is amazing!"

Elliott smiled, feeling uncomfortable but flattered at the same time. Half of him wanted nothing more than to run down to Andy and wrap him in a big bear hug, for the first in 13 years, to tell him how thankful he was for just having another chance to see him, but he knew he couldn't. What would stop him from accidentally freezing him, or something even worse? He couldn't let himself get too emotional. He reminded himself of why he'd left in the first place, left that cage.

"Thank you," he said politely, glancing around his new home. "I never knew what I was capable of."

Andy started to climb the stairs, still talking away. "I'm so sorry about what happened," he said, his voice full of sincerity. "Things will be different. I—"

Elliott backed up, not liking the lack of space between them. He could feel his emotions getting out of control again, slowly but surely, and it felt like his hands had their own heartbeat. He'd been fine during those hours alone, but now that Andy was here, he didn't know how to handle it. He did not need another event like the one from coronation ceremony to happen.

"You don't have to apologize, Anders," he heard himself telling Andy, still moving away. Why was Andy even saying he was sorry? What did he have to feel sorry about? Everything was all Elliott's fault, just like it always was. "But... you should go. Please."

Andy's brow furrowed, and he looked slightly shocked. "But I just got here!"

Exactly. He needed to leave before things got even worse. "You belong in Arendelle," Elliott reminded him. Unlike me.

Andy smiled at him. "So do you!"

Elliott almost laughed out loud at the absurdity of the statement. Why couldn't Andy understand? He just wanted Andy to go and leave him be, even if having him here was secretly comforting.

He looked down at his little brother, "I belong here," he muttered, more to himself than to Andy. "Alone. Where I can be who I am without hurting anybody."

Andy smiled awkwardly, shifting in his place. "Um, Elliott, I get the feeling you don't know—"

Elliott was about to open his mouth to question Andy but paused, suddenly hearing another voice bellowing in frustration outside. "Who's out there—?"

"Enough waiting!" There was a rush of cold air as the doors once again swung open, and a small snowman came bumbling in, scowling. "You don't tell me what to do!" He ran up to Andy and kicked his shins.

Elliott frowned. Why would Andy bring a small child dressed as General Winter? He eyed the snowman critically, trying to figure out how the snow in the costume looked so realistic.

The snowman looked up at him then, icy shards moving by their own account. "You built me, boy. Do you remember that?"

Elliott's eyes widened. This was the exact same one he'd built outside. But hadn't they all melted? "General Winter...And you're alive?"

The snowman paused, exchanging a look with Andy and then back at Elliott, "How do you young people say? Well, duh! Alive and kicking!" he made a few karate chops at the air and Andy laughed. Then General smiled up at Elliott, a deep fondness in that usually stony face.

Elliott looked down at his hands, completely shocked. He knew she could create incredible things, but this was something else. He flushed. If he could create something so wonderful and pure, maybe his powers weren't so bad after all. But then he remembered, with a pang of dread, all the other things he'd created. He wanted to strangle himself. Had Andy met up with the Ice Helena? The Duchess? If everything he created came to life... This was bad. Very bad.

"He's just like the one we built as kids," Andy smiled, leaning down to place a hand on the snowman, who immediately batted the affectionate gesture away. "General, I told you to wait outside. Please." The snowman did not look happy, but he complied.

He wasn't yelling at Elliott, so hopefully he'd only met with the General and not a certain icy fiancée with devil horns...

"Yeah, he is..." Elliott smiled back, hiding the terror that was slowly building up inside him as he remembered all the other little snowmen he'd created. Had those come to life too?

Andy had to get out of here so Elliott could hunt down all of those living snowmen and destroy them, before Andy found them or worse. Before they reached Arendelle.

Andy looked back towards Elliott, a desperate pleading in her eyes. "We can be close again, Elliott! Come with me to Arendelle."

For a split second, Elliott wanted to believe it. Maybe Andy was right. Maybe they could just go back to Arendelle together, and figure things out. Maybe they could be friends again, and open the gates, and go to town, and do normal brotherly things. Maybe they could stay up late, and have adventures, and sword fight and build snowmen. Elliott might even give Princess Helena a second chance.

And then it hit him with full realization. He flashed back to that horrible, awful moment, the one that haunted him every waking second of his life. He could remember it as if it had happened yesterday: Elliott blasting Andy with his magic, Andy falling to the floor with a pained yelp, the sound of Elliott's own terrified shrieks echoing off the walls, the looks of horror on his parents' faces. The moment he became a monster.

It was all wistful thinking, dumb little fantasies. They could never happen. Not with Elliott, at least. He hardened his heart against anything Andy would say.

"No we can't," he said sternly, turning away. He had to let go of Andy, of Arendelle, of everything in his past life.

"Goodbye Anders." He turned on his heel, and started to walk away, back into isolation, and away from any chance of hope he had left.

"Oh, now I'm Anders?" Andy said, the first hint of anger in his voice.

Please, no, not the coronation again, please no...

"I came all this way. I got attacked by your stupid Meltlings and almost plummeted to my death twice, all for you to goodbye Anders me?" He was following him up the staircase. No no no.

"Meltlings?" Elliott paused, not sure if he'd heard correctly.

Andy's laugh was bitter, "About two feet tall? Sharp spikes for teeth and they look like an elephant sat on them? Sound familiar, darling brother?"

Elliott felt his heart sink, "So the deformed ones—"

Elliott was suddenly spun around by his shoulders, Andy had reached him faster than he'd anticipated, and he was forced to meet his furious green gaze.

"Yes, Elliott, those came to life too! Surprise!" His tone was just nasty, and he must've seen the agonized look on Elliott's face, because he grimaced, "Sorry. I— Sorry. I'm just..." he took a deep breath, "A lot has happened... but we can figure this out together. Let me help you."

"Andy, please go back home. Please." Elliott tried a different tactic, "Go enjoy the sun, open up the gates! I won't stop you anymore. You can—" he swallowed thickly, "You can marry Helena. Your life awaits."

Andy stared at him for a beat, two. Then he asked quietly, "You don't know what happened, do you?"

"Yes— Meltlings. They— they were a mistake. I was alone and I... I felt free and they just happened, but... I promise, I will find them and get rid of them," Elliott backed away from his brother. "So go back home."

Every time Elliott took a step back, Andy just took a step forward, "But you'll come back with me?"

Elliott scoffed, losing patience fast, "Back?"

"To thaw out the fjord, Elliott! It's frozen over!" his brother finally yelled. Elliott could tell Andy was fighting down all the anger he felt towards him. All the bottled up things in his heart, they were threatening to burst out of the Prince; and soon. "No one can get in or out. You set off an eternal winter everywhere."

"Everywhere?!" The cherry to the cake of failure that was his life, then. Not only had he hurt his brother, he'd hurt everyone else in the kingdom, too. What a fine King he turned out to be, his first act as so had been to freeze the summer. He could feel the panic bubbling and churning in his gut, threatening to consume him. A small flurry danced across his fingers and he had to clench his hand into a fist to stop it. He had to control it.

"But you can just unfreeze it, so that's one problem out," Andy said, managing a small smile.

"N—No I can't! I don't know how." Elliott glared down at his hands, those hands that always had to go and ruin everything.

"Yes you can, I know you can," Andy set down a satchel next to his feet and pulled out a teal glove. His glove, Elliott realized. A thing he wanted nowhere near his hands ever again. "Here."

"So I'll shove on the gloves? That's how your story ends?" Elliott's voice came out almost like a growl.

Andy ignored his tone, "Don't knock it till you try it. Maybe this will stop the winter, and we can go back to Arendelle, it'll be just like it was! Except for we'll be best friends, obviously," Andy tried to joke, but Elliott's face was a mask.

"So that's how you plan to force me back in a cage." Out of the corner of his eye he saw small icicles start to jut from the walls. He clenched his teeth. He had to get Andy out of here.

"What? Nobody said anything about a cage, Elliott! I just want you back!" Andy grabbed Elliott's wrist a little too forcefully and placed the glove in his hand, "I don't get why you're so upset. It's just a glove."

Elliott stared at it like it was the most disgusting thing he'd ever seen. But he decided to humor is brother. He pulled it on, and tried not to recoil as the familiar material slid against his skin. He flexed his fingers.

Andy frowned. "Where's the other one?"

"Gone," he replied dryly, "You're not going to find it. Hmm, I wonder. Did the winter stop?" Elliott made his way to the second floor, to the balcony. Andy was right by his heels. The outside was as snowy, cold, and white as ever. "Oh, look. It didn't." Satisfied, he pulled off the glove and threw it over the balcony, to go join his counterpart to wherever it might have landed.

"Elliott!" Andy clawed at the air, trying to grab it, but it flew away. He rounded on his brother, "Why did you do that?!"

"Oops," he shrugged nonchalantly and stepped back inside, with Andy still following him. It looked like Elliott was going to have to try harder to get his brother to understand that he was dangerous and that he had to go. It was for the best.

Andy's exasperated voice pulled him out of his thoughts. "You can't just stay here. What will you even do? What are you going to eat? Do you plan on surviving on sheer willpower—?"

"I'm done talking, baby brother," Elliott said, trying to put steel to his voice. "I—I'll stop the winter and get rid of those Meltling things. Just not with you here. Go away."

You could have heard a pin drop with the silence that followed, could have cut the tension with a knife. Andy's face was one of contorted rage. Elliott wanted to melt into a puddle.

"Are. You. Serious. Are you serious right now Elliott?!" Andy exploded. Much like he had at the coronation party, his brother exploded. "After all these years? No. I am not going away! For years you treated me like I was nothing, just because, what?" Andy stomped the ice floor, "Because you have ice powers?"

"Andy, you don't understand," Elliott said, his tone equally as heated. More spikes emerged from the walls, high above, so neither of them noticed. "You never will."

"Did it ever occur to you to trust me? That, perhaps, I would understand?" Andy spat.

Elliott scowled. He decided the only way, was to shut out his brother again. With a shake of his head, Elliott spun on his heel, turning his back on Andy.

And that did it for the youngest Prince of Arendelle.

"I BURIED OUR PARENTS ALONE, ELLIOTT!"

The temperature dropped like 10 degrees. Andy's angry breath steamed out in short puffs, his fists clenched in front of him, as if it were going to turn into a fistfight.

"Go back home." Elliott's voice was dark, it didn't even sound like it belonged to him.

"There it is!" Andy announced, pointing an accusing finger at the King's back, "the door you love to slam in my face!"

"I'm not listening to you," Elliot said, turning around to face his brother once again, and before he could stop himself, he added, "You're just a fool who married a stranger."

"That is so unfair," Andy cried. "So yeah, I jumped at the first chance to leave my miserable, lonely life, can you really blame me? When you didn't care to give me any explanation of why I had to live in complete isolation?"

The jab about their parents had been painful enough, but Andy's words now were just salt to the wound.

"Reckless fool is what you are. You only ever see the things you want to see," a layer of frost formed around Elliott's feet. He took a huge breath, trying to compose himself, realizing that all he was managing to do was hurt his brother instead of just getting him to leave like he so desperately wanted. "I'm just trying to protect you, Andy," he said between gritted teeth, barely managing the words. All he felt then was the gripping fear slowly clawing its way back after he'd released it in a cold mountain what seemed a million years ago, and anger. As much as he did not want to, he was mad. Mostly at himself, but Andy's remarks had not helped.

Snow started to fall from the ceiling, at first gentle and slow, but then it picked up speed. Andy sensed it, that feeling animals probably got when they felt an avalanche coming. He blinked away his tears, "Elliott, please don't shut me out again. Please don't slam the door." His brother's voice was softer, the fight going out of him.

"Andy... The glove failed. I have zero control over my curse," Elliott's tone was flat, defeated. Admitting that he couldn't control the curse was actually very devastating, after years and years of trying to convince himself that he could. "What power do you have to stop this winter? To stop me?" Elliott lowered his eyes and yet again turned away from Andy's gaze. "You can't. No one can."

The snow that had started to fall from the ceiling was now about the size of a shoe and it was swirling around Elliott. Andy tried to step forward but was quickly buffeted back.

• • •

Beware the frozen heart.

The words that that Meltling had screamed across the gorge came to him then, as Elliott dismissed his efforts and placed the blame for everything on himself. The small blizzard Elliott's fear was creating was quickly becoming unbearable.

At first he'd tried to be as gentle as possible, persuade him to go back, try to keep his bitterness to a minimum but then things went wrong faster than he'd expected. Elliott had changed alright. For the better, he liked to think, he did not look scared of everything anymore; but Andy had pushed him too far again. He'd regretted bringing up their parents the second the words had been out, and much of what followed after, and overall Andy reflected they could've both handled the situation a lot better.

"Elliott, stop trying to do everything alone! You are not alone. We can face this thing together. Just... Let. Me. Help. YOU!" the small storm was so bad now he couldn't even get near Elliott. His brother seemed completely oblivious to the small blizzard around him, and the winds which were becoming stronger and stronger carried what his brother was mumbling to himself, stuff along the lines of "curse", "monster, "winter."Andy noticed then that Meltlings, unfortunately, were also an extension of Elliott— they represented those not so good feelings.

He had his back to Andy, tucking his hands between his armpits in case a shot of ice decided to escape. That way it wouldn't hit the Prince. The more Andy screamed over the storm the more upset Elliott got, the fear was swallowing him like a wolf.

"Everything will be alright—" Andy tried to yell over the howling wind, but Elliott roared just as loud at the exact same time and the blizzard sucked itself back inside him— before getting released in all directions— like sharp ice shards except it was Elliott's pure magic— and suddenly Andy felt like someone had shoved an icy hand in the middle of his chest, like those evil queens in stories that ripped out hearts.

He fell to his knees, and a coldness spread over his chest like a splash of ink on paper.

And so instead of ripping it out, the cold hand just settled there, gripping his heart.

Elliott turned then, after that burst of uncontrolled magic he looked calmer, if only a little. But then he caught sight of Andy on the floor and his stormy eyes went wide, "Andy—"

A far stronger voice echoed back at the same time, "ANDY!"

Krista barreled in then; he noticed that her hair had been braided over her shoulder and the fuming General trailed behind her "You're going to ruin it!"

Normally he would've snorted with laughter, had the sudden press of cold in his chest not been so heavy. The General had been braiding Krista's hair. That was too precious. He forced out the laugh anyway and smiled, and for Elliott's sake, he stood up, determined to hide the pain. Krista reached him, her eyes searching, "Are you okay? We heard—"

"I'm okay. I'm fine," he said the last world directly at Elliott, who was growing apprehensive.

"Who is she— no, it doesn't matter. You have to go, it's not safe here," Elliott clasped his hands together and looked around— ice spikes protruded from the walls, slowly growing.

"Andy, maybe we should go," Krista looked around nervously at the previously beautiful floor and ceiling, which were growing more and more ice spikes by the minute.

"No." Andy said firmly, trying not to focus on the uncomfortable feeling of having cold iron pressed against his heart, "I'm not leaving without you, Elliott."

"See, brother... that's where you're mistaken," Elliott's face was grim as he waved both arms in front of him, and from a pool of ice magic the most menacing creature Andy had ever seen clawed out.

A dragon emerged into the room, roaring in a similar fashion to the piercing sounds the Snow Duchess had made. It was about the size of a fishing boat, with beautiful icy scales that shimmered in the cool light, the folded wings almost translucent. The beauty didn't make up for the sharp ice claws and matching fangs it possessed, though. The long tail made a wide sweep, almost hitting them, but Krista pulled him back.

"The Blizzard Dragon," Andy breathed. Well at least what the dragon would've looked like had it been real. He remembered with a twinge of embarrassment his obsession with this dragon when he was little; this was one of his old charcoal drawings brought to life. He glared at Elliott, "Oh, so this is your idea of keeping me safe?"

The dragon fixed them with hard sapphire—colored eyes.

"Well, you did tell me once that you'd killed the Blizzard Dragon, had you not?" Elliott's smile was crooked. "He'll just see you out. Farewell now."

Andy vaguely recalled bragging about that. But that memory was foggy, like so many other new ones were. The new ones that he couldn't tell if they were real. The dragon leered closer, and Andy felt Krista's hand squeeze his in urgency.

"I— I didn't— oh, for heaven's sake!" he squeezed her hand back and pulled her along as they ran out of the room, they couldn't take the path that they'd come from that led to the front door because the dragon was in the way, so instead they went to the far back of the room to a staircase that went down. Andy dreaded all they would manage to do was get themselves deeper into the palace.

He heard ice crack behind them.

The dragon was following.

• • •

Andy, the blonde girl and the General took the wrong path, but it mattered not. That wing of his castle was still under construction, and he was pretty sure a chunk of wall was missing somewhere. Andy would figure it out. He could only hope the Blizzard Dragon didn't trample too much of his stuff, and he did not want his brother harmed. He was sure the dragon wouldn't, and when it came back, they'd hunt down those Meltlings together and be done with it. After that, he'd stress over unfreezing the kingdom.

But for now Andy would be heading back to Arendelle, to safety, so that gave him some peace of mind. And hopefully those Meltlings hadn't made it to Arendelle. Dwelling on what had just happened would only make things worse, so Elliott did his best to ignore the last few minutes as best as he could. What he needed was to get distracted. Maybe he could finish building the ice chandelier he'd been working on. He ran a hand through his hair and strolled out of the room, only to almost trip and fall.

He caught himself and glared at what had caught his foot. The satchel Andy had brought with him.

Elliott picked it up, examining it cautiously. It probably wasn't Andy's. He suspected it belonged to that mountain woman that had come with him. He wandered back to the foyer, looking through the things inside. It didn't have much, but what it did contain was heavy.

He sat down on an ice bench and pulled out the two things of most interest to him: a wooden case and a book. First he opened the case and was delighted to find it stocked with food. Although he hadn't admitted it, Andy had been right: he had no idea what to do about food.

He was famished, and helped himself to some of the nuts and dried meat, making a mental note of somehow paying them back. Maybe create a little snowman to deliver it back to them, since, hey, he could apparently do it. The water in the canteen wasn't half bad. Still chewing on some of the meat, he inspected the book, it looked pretty old.

Arendelle: A History

My history tutor hated this book...why did Andy...?

He set the meat down, wiped his hands in a very un—kingly manner on his trousers, and opened the book. The first thing to jump at him was the picture of a woman... a woman much like him.

'Queen Adela' the caption said, 'Founder and first ruler of Arendelle.'

Her clothes were old-fashioned but really elegant, she had a heart—shaped face and kind green eyes, much like Andy's. She had platinum blonde hair in a French braid, the color exactly like Elliott's, and she also shared his smile.

Below the caption was a long, handwritten note along the margin that made Elliott's breath catch in his throat.

YOUR LAND SHALL BE CURSED WITH UNENDING WINTER

focused this one on "Life's too short", the deleted frozen song instead of the reprise for the first time in forever, tho i still added some stuff from that. i suggest listening to it, it's a fun song

+++ if you don't remember the Blizzard Dragon I suggest looking back at the first chapter

++ hmm also! i tried to make elliott a lil darker than elsa and i think it kinda worked out, but i cant just have him go full on bad i mean elsa was an angel i cant do that.

+ uploaded this earlier than i planned cos, again, the amount of reviews just made me rly happy so this is a thank you! im glad ur enjoying this story and i hope its going well