Story Challenge: Horrors of Frozen Fever
Hey, everyone! In my last post, 10 Ways to Stay Occupied During Quarantine , I made a challenge for everyone to get creative and write a short story of one of your favorite characters getting sick in the middle of their story line. I took myself up on that challenge! I decided to write my story on Frozen. So, I admit, I cheated a little bit and built my story off of Frozen Fever and turned it into a low key horror story. That's the fun about writing though! You can take a prompt and go where ever it leads you. So here is this short story I wrote, I hope you like it!
It was Anna’s first birthday since she and Elsa had rekindled their relationship. Elsa felt that she had to make up for all the birthdays she had missed while hiding away in her room. She knew their mother and father would celebrate Anna’s birthday even if it was just something small, but she was sure Anna hadn’t celebrated one since they had died. This birthday had to be absolutely perfect, but no one seemed to be taking her seriously.
Elsa had to explain birthdays to Olaf about three times and how he had to keep Anna’s party a secret - because it is a surprise party. If he told her about it, it won’t be a surprise any more. It took quite a bit of convincing Kristoff and Sven that they should bathe and wear nice, untattered clothing. Then she had to explain why putting together quality decorations, good food, and heartfelt presents were very important. It was the small things that really pulled everything together. Anna had been through so much, she deserved nothing less than perfection.
With all of the planning and setting up for the party, Elsa felt like she was a chicken running around with it’s head cut off. Olaf was eating Anna’s birthday cake, then when she called him out on it he pulled the bite out of his mouth and stuck it back on the cake! Kristoff was spilling paint everywhere, and there wouldn’t be adequate time to clean it up before Anna was set to arrive.
The most concerning thing was that Elsa’s throat felt like it had caught on fire. Her entire body ached actually, but she was determined to ignore her ailments. It was her little sister's day and she wasn’t going to ruin it by being sick - besides she never got sick. What were the chances that she would actually be sick for the first time in her life on her sister's birthday? She hoped they were slim.
Conceal, don’t feel. Don’t let it show.
She had spent the better part of her life concealing her powers. She felt that it wouldn’t be hard to push her ailments to the side for the day so the spotlight could be pointed on her little sister. Anna had given Elsa her life back, to where she no longer had to conceal her powers, it was the least Elsa could do to give her the perfect birthday.
As Elsa took Anna though the scavenger hunt, Elsa started to develop an involuntary sneeze that created miniature snowmen that came in threes. It made it a little hard to conceal the fact that Elsa was definitely sick. The cold had never bothered Elsa before then, but she was freezing and just getting colder and they went on. Despite the fact that she was shivering, her skin was warm to the touch and clammy.
By the time the pair got back to the courtyard Elsa didn’t have much energy left to fight Anna on going to go lie down because she felt absolutely terrible and was worn out. Although, Elsa did insist on blowing the ceremonial birthday horn for her sister, but it was combined with sneeze sending snow up into the air. Anna then escorted her big sister up to bed and fed her some cold medicine. She then left Elsa to take a nap so she could help Kristoff and clean up the courtyard from the mini snowmen and their explosion. Olaf was naming them and trying to convince everyone that they should keep them. As cute as the mini snowmen were, they were little troublemakers with way too much energy.
Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf took the mini snowmen up to the ice castle on the North Mountain so they wouldn’t cause any more trouble in Arendale, then went back home to keep Anna company as she cared for Elsa and took over Elsa’s duties as queen until she was better. All seemed well. Anna opened the rest of her gifts, ate cake for dinner, then they all turned in for bed.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
The noises woke Anna from her slumber, which for anyone who knew Anna knew that was no easy task. It was loud. She jumped out of her bed and ran to the window to see what was happening. She had to run the sleep from her eyes to believe what she was seeing because it was absolutely terrifying.
Olaf threw open the door to Anna’s room, “Anna, I’m scared! What’s happening?” He ran over to her and threw his little twig arms around her. The poor little snowman was trembling over the things that he was seeing and hearing outside. Anna didn’t blame him, she felt the same way.
Outside there was the snow monster that usually inhabited the ice castle on the North Mountain in front of their own castle in Arendelle. He looked different though, he had grown to about double the size than he had been just a few hours before when Olaf had seen him and had razor blade sharp spikes of ice covering his body. He had chunks of ice the size of cars surrounding him and he was throwing them into people’s homes. Anna was sure that no one would be able to survive that.
Anna shook her head, “I don’t know, Olaf. Let’s go get Elsa.” The snow monster was of Elsa’s creation, so maybe in her fevered and delusioned state she had possibly summoned him to protect her from dangers that weren’t actually there? It was just a guess, but either way she needed to get Elsa to safety, then figure out how to stop the whole town from being brutally murdered.
With Olaf at her heels, Anna ran as fast as she could to her sister’s room. What they found when they got there was not at all what they were expecting though. Elsa was where Anna had left her, tucked in her bed. There was some sort of red tinted veil encasing Elsa that had not been there the last time Anna had checked on her though. She was certain there was something very wrong, and it wasn’t just the fact that Elsa had a cold.
She went to go and try to wake her sister, but she couldn’t get her hands past the veil, “Elsa! Elsa! Wake up!” she called after she was unable to touch her sister, but she didn’t stir. “Okay Olaf, we need to go find Kristoff. He’ll know what we should do.” she took Olaf’s hand and left Elsa’s room as quickly as they had entered.
They found Kristoff in the stables preparing Sven for travel, “Anna! Good you’re safe! Any idea why Elsa is doing this?” he questioned with worry as there was another bang indicating that there was another home that had been crushed.
Her brow furrowed, “I don’t think Elsa is doing this at all. There is some sort of impenetrable red veil encasing her to her bed. I yelled at her to try and wake her, and you know how she is a light sleeper - and she didn’t stir at all. I think this is some sort of magic, but not her magic.” Anna explained what she had seen and her theory on the situation.
Kristoff’s eyes widened, “It sounds like something my family would know about. Me and Sven will go to the Valley of the Living Rock and see what we can find out. You two go to the basement and stay close to the supporting walls. There isn’t much that can be done to stop that thing, so try and keep yourself safe. I’ll be back as fast as I can.” He hoisted himself onto Sven’s back.
Anna’s stomach twisted into a knot. She knew that he was right. If anyone would know what was going on and how to fix it, it would be them - they had been essential in saving her life more than once. Now she had to trust them to save not only Elsa’s life but the lives of the remaining of their kingdom. “Okay. Be safe. Don’t let him see you, get cover in the trees. I love you, Kristoff.” She reached up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek, “You too, Sven.” she rested her cheek against his and and rubbed his neck, caressing him in a hug.
Olaf’s look changed from fear, to determination, “I’ll take care of Anna while you’re gone.” He promised Kristoff, standing up a little straighter just in front of Anna to prove his point.
Kristoff smiled at the two of them, “Thank you. I love you too. I’ll be back in a few hours. Get to the basement, I’ll come get you when I get back.” he instructed before he set off for the tree line to get out of sight before the monster noticed him.
Before they could get back inside the Arendelle Royal Guard met them with both terrified and angry looks on their faces, “Has your sister lost her mind? We’re not even sure that the death count is up to yet, but it’s at the very least 20 lives lost in the last thirty minutes. Tell your sister to call that thing off!” one of them yelled at Anna.
She couldn’t even tell which one because all she could see was how much more damage that had been caused in just the last few minutes. All of the houses and shops closest to the castle were destroyed. There were trails of blood in the street of people trying to get out of their houses to safety, but she could see that they weren’t able to get far because their lifeless bodies were lying at the end of the trails. The knots in her stomach grew tighter and she had a hard time hearing a word that was being said to her because she was focusing on not getting sick right there, but she had to protect her sister. Anna knew that Elsa was innocent in all of this.
She shook her head, trying to tell them that they had it all wrong about Elsa, and trying to rid her mind of the images of the streets of her kingdom. “No, come with me and you’ll see. It isn’t Elsa that’s doing this. There’s been some kind of curse that’s been put on her. She’s in some sort of coma or something. Kristoff has just gone to get help, he knows some experts on magic.” Anna explained to the guard members while she led them inside and to Elsa’s bedroom.
The guard examined Elsa and decided that they would cautiously believe Anna’s claim of her sister’s innocence since there was no way of doing anything with Elsa anyway. Even besides that, they all knew Elsa, she would never intentionally do anything that would harm the kingdom. Now if this wasn’t someone else’s doing and it was Elsa's fever talking, then they would be having to make some hard decisions.
“Okay, until you guys get the magic figured out, we need heat. We need to melt his ice, then melt him if we can. Even if it just slows him down to where we can either evacuate or get the rest of the kingdom underground. Tell your servants to gather all of your firewood and anything else you’re willing to burn. It’s going to take a lot.” They dispersed to do what they needed.
Anna informed the castle's staff what they needed to do, then Anna started getting out anything and everything that was either cotton or wooden that didn’t hold any sentimental value. Even if it did, if it wasn’t a large importance it was going into the burn pile. If they could at least just slow the monster down to save at least a few lives then it would be worth it.
Olaf went to go guard and monitor Elsa with instructions to inform Anna if anything with Elsa changed. He paced around the room, but found that there was really no safe place to look, and everything he could hear was scary. “Maybe when I’m older I’ll understand and won’t be scared.” he told Elsa, knowing she probably couldn’t hear him, but went to sit on the bed next to her anyway.
He realized then that something didn’t feel right. He knew Anna had told her the night before that Elsa had been running a fever so her body was a few degrees warmer than usual, but the spot on the bed next to her nearly melted him. He knew that this would be something that Anna would want to know. “Anna! Aaaannnnnnnaaaaaaa!!!” he yelled running down the hallway looking for her.
They nearly collided when she found him, “What is it Olaf?” Anna questioned with an exhaustion, fear, and worry cocktail on her face.
“I went and sat on the bed next to Elsa and I know that you said that she has a fever and she is extra warm, but she is so warm that my foot nearly melted and I didn’t think that was normal and I thought you might want to know about that.” He told her as fast as he could as he took her hand and started leading her in the direction of Elsa’s bedroom.
Anna felt everywhere she could around Elsa, and Olaf was right - Elsa was too hot. Elsa was always on the cooler side due to her ice powers, so the fact that she even felt like she had a fever the same temperature a normal person would the evening before was concerning enough - but this was even too warm for the average person. “Olaf, go to the kitchens and get ice. We need to cool her off. This amount of heat could kill her.” Anna tried to keep her voice calm and even for Olaf’s sake, but this was just about to put her over the edge. She couldn’t lose her sister again right after she got her back.
Olaf stiffened for a moment with wide eyes, then, without a word, he turned around and ran as fast as he could to get the ice. He was terrified over the thought of Elsa dying, not just because he loved her and would miss her terribly if she were gone, but because it was her magic that kept him alive, and if she died - so would he, he would never get the chance to mourn her.
Things were not as simple for Kristoff and Sven as they thought it would be. The cute little miniature snowmen they had escorted to the ice castle the day before? They were attacking them. They had grown ice picks for teeth and were biting them. Sven wouldn’t be able to take much more, and Kristoff couldn’t decide the best course of action at that point other than what the guard came up with - heat.
Kristoff shed his coat and his vest, then put his coat back on. He then took his lantern and used the fire to ignite his vest at the end of a stick and would hit the little snowmen of terror with it like a baseball bat until they finally lost them and were finally to the Valley. There he knew they would be able to get healed by Grand Pabbie there, but he wasn’t sure how the trip back to Arendelle would go if Grand Pabbie didn’t go with him. He selfishly hoped that he would, even though he was fairly certain that he wouldn’t.
He was almost surprised when they weren’t all up and waiting for him when he got there - there is magic wreaking havoc on Arendelle. “Grand Pabbie! This is an emergency!” He called frantically as he immediately started tending to Sven’s wounds. There was no way that he would be able to make it all of the way back to Arendelle, he was going to have to figure out alternative transportation. Blood dripped down both of their bodies, making them smell rusty and feel sticky. It was enough to make Kristoff feel nauseous - and he had a strong stomach.
The Troll King rolled out of his place of slumber and approached Kristoff. “Sit down my son, I’ll get you both fixed up.” Grand Pabbie took Kristoff’s hand to comfort him and let him ease to the ground so he could heal him and Sven before he explained what was happening to Arendelle.
By then the rest of the family had awakened by Kristoff’s yelling, and was excited to see him out first. That is until they saw him. The bite marks (that looks like he’d been stabbed as the mini snowmen’s teeth were icicles), the free flowing blood staining his clothes and the ground around him, and the most concerning of all, was the look on his face. They were going to run over to him and bombard him with hugs and questions, but quickly realized they needed to sit back and stay quiet to see what he had to say.
Once Grand Pabbie had headed them and sat across from Kristoff with a solemn face, “It didn’t wake me since it hasn’t made it to the valley, but it’s so strong that now that I’m awake I can feel the magic from here. It is not good.” He started with what he knew on why Kristoff was there in the middle of the night.
He nodded his head, “There’s some kind of curse on Elsa... ” Kristoff tried to explain as quickly as he could, but also in as best detail as he could so that Grand Pabbie could have the best idea of what was going on so he could tell them what they needed to do.
When he was finished telling them everything he knew about the situation, he did not like the look that Grand Pabbie had on his face. “You have enemies, right? The Southern Isle? When Elsa accidently blew the snow there Prince Hans must have decided that he was going to get his revenge. There is magic out there that is different from mine or Elsa’s. Our’s were given to use from the Earth. There is magic, dark magic, that is taken from the other side. When used it always ends in death and destruction. It’s already killing Elsa, and will end when she dies - but not before. It’ll wait until the kingdom is destroyed before it kills her. There is some… somewhat good news. You can speed up the process by taking one of the sharp ice pieces from the snowmen as it will break through the veil, and stab her through the heart. That will end it all.” he explained how the dark magic worked and the only way to stop it.
He knew when he needed to do, and it was going to break the woman that he loved for him to do it. “It’s going to break her. To lose her sister.” his voice cracked as a tear streamed down his face. As he’d been dating Anna, he’d started seeing her not only as a friend, but as a sister figure as well. Then the thought also dawned on him that Olaf would be gone too. Olaf was like the kid they all shared, loved, and cared for.
Grand Pabbie nodded, “For a while, yes, but you will be there to help her put herself back together. I have one more piece of hope, the earth's magic is resilient, there is a good chance that Elsa’s magic will revive her when she dies, although there are no promises. Now go, the more time you spend here the less of Arendelle will be left when you get back.” He hadn’t noticed, but they had put some shielding on Sven to protect him from the mini snow demons.
The two of them went charging back into the line of danger to help get rid of the danger. The shielding wasn’t completely protecting them, but it was helping greatly. It was when the tiny snowmen melted away that his stomach dropped. “We’re too late. The town’s been destroyed.” Sven slowed down, understanding that meant they would be going home to a destroyed town, a possibility dead Elsa and Olaf, and even no promises of an alive Anna either. He was almost afraid to know.
Back in Arendelle things were not going well. Trying to melt the monster wasn’t doing any good and he’d destroyed pretty much all the town before he put out their fire effectively killing all of the guards and staff that were handing them things to burn.
Inside, Anna and Olaf weren trying their best to cool Elsa off, but nothing was working. All the ice was melting upon contact. Then the veil dissolved and Elsa went pale, effectively breaking her sister's heart.
With concern, Anna quickly went and threw her arms around Olaf so she could savour her last few moments with him and so he could have a warm hug as he melted away. “I love you, Olaf. I’ll miss you forever.” She told him through her tears. How was she going to make it without them? She hoped that Kristoff and Sven were okay.
What surprised her was that just as Olaf started to melt, a groan came from the bed and Olaf began to solidify again. “What?” Anna questioned letting Olaf go and turning around to examine her sister to see what was happening.
Elsa sat up in her bed, “What’s happening?” she was confused at her soaked bed, her sister’s tear stained face, and Olaf’s slimness. She wondered how long she had been asleep for because she had obviously missed something big.
Anna started crying again, but this time it was tears of joy. She threw her arms around her sister who had somehow come back from the dead. “Elsa, you’re alive! You were dead, Olaf was melting!” she cried into Elsa’s shoulder unable to stop the sobbs that were ripping through her body.
This alarmed Elsa, she still had a sore throat, but she didn’t feel like death by any means. “Okay, I think you’ve got some explaining to do. What is happening? How did I die? It’s just a cold, sure my throat still hurts but I don’t feel like I’m dying.” she voiced her confusion on the odd and slightly scary situation she was finding herself in.
Anna and Olaf told her everything that happened since Elsa had gone to sleep the day before. Elsa was glad she was still laying down, because she went weak when they told her what happened to the kingdom. “And Kristoff?” Elsa questioned knowing that he was their only chance of making it out of there after looking out the window. She easily put out the fire, but leaving town on foot wasn’t realistic.
Olaf frowned, “We haven’t seen him since the beginning of all of this. Maybe we should look for him.” he suggested knowing that the only way they would know if he wasn’t coming back is if they found a body. If he did come back, then great, they were a step ahead of assessing just how completely terrible everything was.
Elsa nodded her head, “I think that’s a good idea. Let’s get changed into our sturdiest clothes and shoes and try to figure out where we go from here.” Elsa suggested as she slowly got out of bed to see how her legs would hold her seeing as she had apparently died just a few minutes before.
Whereas Anna didn’t like the idea of Elsa getting out of bed, she also didn’t want to let her out of her sight. Olaf was also right, it was their job to go survey the damage, look for survivors. She prayed that Kristoff was a survivor. “Okay. Let’s meet at the door in ten minutes.” she agreed and hugged each of them one more time before she left to her own room to change her clothes.
When they all met back at the door, they heard movement outside. Each of them hoped that it was Kristoff and Sven returning to them safely. Anna swung the door open, needing to know if her boyfriend had made it back to her.
Much to their relief, both of them were there. They had a few wounds that needed to be dressed, but they looked like they would be okay. “We were so worried! Thank goodness you’re alright!” Anna threw her arms around Kristoff’s neck and kissed his cheek. Whereas things were better than they could have been, she was still so relieved that they made it. She loved him so much and couldn’t picture her life without him. As sad as it would be, she could picture her life without Elsa, she’d done it for years. Kristoff had always been there for all of them and taken care of them. She knew that she wanted to marry that boy.
Elsa walked over and rubbed Anna’s shoulder indicating for her to let go, “Why don’t we let them sit down so I can dress their wounds. Can you go grab the first aid kit?” Elsa suggested seeing the blood covering both Kristoff and Sven.
Anna stepped back and actually took a look at them and her eyes widened. She stood there with the deer in headlights look for a few moments, “Yeah, I’ll be right back.” she said and went to go get it.
Elsa led Kristoff and Sven to the sofa so they could lay down. They looked exhausted. Maybe it would be best to wait a few hours before they tried to venture outside. Although, if there were any survivors, Elsa wanted to get to them and see what she could do to help them. She decided she would start with tending to them and see what they had to say and go from there, they could have the answers to everything.
Olaf helped remove their shields and clothing so Elsa could get to the wounds and heal them with her magic. “Did they have any answers for you?” Elsa broke the silence, needing to know how on earth something like that could have happened.
Kristoff nodded and recounted everything Grand Pabbie had told him about Prince Hans using dark magic to take her body over and use it for destruction as he pleased until her body wore out. That’s when her magic kicked in and brought her back. “Do you remember anything that happened?” he asked Elsa once he shared his knowledge with the three of them.
She shook her head, “I don’t. I remember Anna escorting me to bed and giving me cold medicine. The next thing I know I’m waking up in a soaked bed with Anna sobbing over Olaf. It was quite shocking.” she gave a dry laugh, it wasn’t funny but that’s all they had.
They were the only survivors of that day, but they found the people of the Enchanted Forest and helped them settle the strife between the people and the land. Then that was where they decided to call home. They had been offered to have people sent to help rebuild Arendelle where they could rule again because Prince Hans had been convicted of performing dark magic resulting in mass casualties, but they didn’t feel like they could go back there, and they felt more at home in the Enchanted Forest then they ever had in Arendelle.
It was Anna’s first birthday since she and Elsa had rekindled their relationship. Elsa felt that she had to make up for all the birthdays she had missed while hiding away in her room. She knew their mother and father would celebrate Anna’s birthday even if it was just something small, but she was sure Anna hadn’t celebrated one since they had died. This birthday had to be absolutely perfect, but no one seemed to be taking her seriously.
Elsa had to explain birthdays to Olaf about three times and how he had to keep Anna’s party a secret - because it is a surprise party. If he told her about it, it won’t be a surprise any more. It took quite a bit of convincing Kristoff and Sven that they should bathe and wear nice, untattered clothing. Then she had to explain why putting together quality decorations, good food, and heartfelt presents were very important. It was the small things that really pulled everything together. Anna had been through so much, she deserved nothing less than perfection.
With all of the planning and setting up for the party, Elsa felt like she was a chicken running around with it’s head cut off. Olaf was eating Anna’s birthday cake, then when she called him out on it he pulled the bite out of his mouth and stuck it back on the cake! Kristoff was spilling paint everywhere, and there wouldn’t be adequate time to clean it up before Anna was set to arrive.
The most concerning thing was that Elsa’s throat felt like it had caught on fire. Her entire body ached actually, but she was determined to ignore her ailments. It was her little sister's day and she wasn’t going to ruin it by being sick - besides she never got sick. What were the chances that she would actually be sick for the first time in her life on her sister's birthday? She hoped they were slim.
Conceal, don’t feel. Don’t let it show.
She had spent the better part of her life concealing her powers. She felt that it wouldn’t be hard to push her ailments to the side for the day so the spotlight could be pointed on her little sister. Anna had given Elsa her life back, to where she no longer had to conceal her powers, it was the least Elsa could do to give her the perfect birthday.
As Elsa took Anna though the scavenger hunt, Elsa started to develop an involuntary sneeze that created miniature snowmen that came in threes. It made it a little hard to conceal the fact that Elsa was definitely sick. The cold had never bothered Elsa before then, but she was freezing and just getting colder and they went on. Despite the fact that she was shivering, her skin was warm to the touch and clammy.
By the time the pair got back to the courtyard Elsa didn’t have much energy left to fight Anna on going to go lie down because she felt absolutely terrible and was worn out. Although, Elsa did insist on blowing the ceremonial birthday horn for her sister, but it was combined with sneeze sending snow up into the air. Anna then escorted her big sister up to bed and fed her some cold medicine. She then left Elsa to take a nap so she could help Kristoff and clean up the courtyard from the mini snowmen and their explosion. Olaf was naming them and trying to convince everyone that they should keep them. As cute as the mini snowmen were, they were little troublemakers with way too much energy.
Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf took the mini snowmen up to the ice castle on the North Mountain so they wouldn’t cause any more trouble in Arendale, then went back home to keep Anna company as she cared for Elsa and took over Elsa’s duties as queen until she was better. All seemed well. Anna opened the rest of her gifts, ate cake for dinner, then they all turned in for bed.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
The noises woke Anna from her slumber, which for anyone who knew Anna knew that was no easy task. It was loud. She jumped out of her bed and ran to the window to see what was happening. She had to run the sleep from her eyes to believe what she was seeing because it was absolutely terrifying.
Olaf threw open the door to Anna’s room, “Anna, I’m scared! What’s happening?” He ran over to her and threw his little twig arms around her. The poor little snowman was trembling over the things that he was seeing and hearing outside. Anna didn’t blame him, she felt the same way.
Outside there was the snow monster that usually inhabited the ice castle on the North Mountain in front of their own castle in Arendelle. He looked different though, he had grown to about double the size than he had been just a few hours before when Olaf had seen him and had razor blade sharp spikes of ice covering his body. He had chunks of ice the size of cars surrounding him and he was throwing them into people’s homes. Anna was sure that no one would be able to survive that.
Anna shook her head, “I don’t know, Olaf. Let’s go get Elsa.” The snow monster was of Elsa’s creation, so maybe in her fevered and delusioned state she had possibly summoned him to protect her from dangers that weren’t actually there? It was just a guess, but either way she needed to get Elsa to safety, then figure out how to stop the whole town from being brutally murdered.
With Olaf at her heels, Anna ran as fast as she could to her sister’s room. What they found when they got there was not at all what they were expecting though. Elsa was where Anna had left her, tucked in her bed. There was some sort of red tinted veil encasing Elsa that had not been there the last time Anna had checked on her though. She was certain there was something very wrong, and it wasn’t just the fact that Elsa had a cold.
She went to go and try to wake her sister, but she couldn’t get her hands past the veil, “Elsa! Elsa! Wake up!” she called after she was unable to touch her sister, but she didn’t stir. “Okay Olaf, we need to go find Kristoff. He’ll know what we should do.” she took Olaf’s hand and left Elsa’s room as quickly as they had entered.
They found Kristoff in the stables preparing Sven for travel, “Anna! Good you’re safe! Any idea why Elsa is doing this?” he questioned with worry as there was another bang indicating that there was another home that had been crushed.
Her brow furrowed, “I don’t think Elsa is doing this at all. There is some sort of impenetrable red veil encasing her to her bed. I yelled at her to try and wake her, and you know how she is a light sleeper - and she didn’t stir at all. I think this is some sort of magic, but not her magic.” Anna explained what she had seen and her theory on the situation.
Kristoff’s eyes widened, “It sounds like something my family would know about. Me and Sven will go to the Valley of the Living Rock and see what we can find out. You two go to the basement and stay close to the supporting walls. There isn’t much that can be done to stop that thing, so try and keep yourself safe. I’ll be back as fast as I can.” He hoisted himself onto Sven’s back.
Anna’s stomach twisted into a knot. She knew that he was right. If anyone would know what was going on and how to fix it, it would be them - they had been essential in saving her life more than once. Now she had to trust them to save not only Elsa’s life but the lives of the remaining of their kingdom. “Okay. Be safe. Don’t let him see you, get cover in the trees. I love you, Kristoff.” She reached up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek, “You too, Sven.” she rested her cheek against his and and rubbed his neck, caressing him in a hug.
Olaf’s look changed from fear, to determination, “I’ll take care of Anna while you’re gone.” He promised Kristoff, standing up a little straighter just in front of Anna to prove his point.
Kristoff smiled at the two of them, “Thank you. I love you too. I’ll be back in a few hours. Get to the basement, I’ll come get you when I get back.” he instructed before he set off for the tree line to get out of sight before the monster noticed him.
Before they could get back inside the Arendelle Royal Guard met them with both terrified and angry looks on their faces, “Has your sister lost her mind? We’re not even sure that the death count is up to yet, but it’s at the very least 20 lives lost in the last thirty minutes. Tell your sister to call that thing off!” one of them yelled at Anna.
She couldn’t even tell which one because all she could see was how much more damage that had been caused in just the last few minutes. All of the houses and shops closest to the castle were destroyed. There were trails of blood in the street of people trying to get out of their houses to safety, but she could see that they weren’t able to get far because their lifeless bodies were lying at the end of the trails. The knots in her stomach grew tighter and she had a hard time hearing a word that was being said to her because she was focusing on not getting sick right there, but she had to protect her sister. Anna knew that Elsa was innocent in all of this.
She shook her head, trying to tell them that they had it all wrong about Elsa, and trying to rid her mind of the images of the streets of her kingdom. “No, come with me and you’ll see. It isn’t Elsa that’s doing this. There’s been some kind of curse that’s been put on her. She’s in some sort of coma or something. Kristoff has just gone to get help, he knows some experts on magic.” Anna explained to the guard members while she led them inside and to Elsa’s bedroom.
The guard examined Elsa and decided that they would cautiously believe Anna’s claim of her sister’s innocence since there was no way of doing anything with Elsa anyway. Even besides that, they all knew Elsa, she would never intentionally do anything that would harm the kingdom. Now if this wasn’t someone else’s doing and it was Elsa's fever talking, then they would be having to make some hard decisions.
“Okay, until you guys get the magic figured out, we need heat. We need to melt his ice, then melt him if we can. Even if it just slows him down to where we can either evacuate or get the rest of the kingdom underground. Tell your servants to gather all of your firewood and anything else you’re willing to burn. It’s going to take a lot.” They dispersed to do what they needed.
Anna informed the castle's staff what they needed to do, then Anna started getting out anything and everything that was either cotton or wooden that didn’t hold any sentimental value. Even if it did, if it wasn’t a large importance it was going into the burn pile. If they could at least just slow the monster down to save at least a few lives then it would be worth it.
Olaf went to go guard and monitor Elsa with instructions to inform Anna if anything with Elsa changed. He paced around the room, but found that there was really no safe place to look, and everything he could hear was scary. “Maybe when I’m older I’ll understand and won’t be scared.” he told Elsa, knowing she probably couldn’t hear him, but went to sit on the bed next to her anyway.
He realized then that something didn’t feel right. He knew Anna had told her the night before that Elsa had been running a fever so her body was a few degrees warmer than usual, but the spot on the bed next to her nearly melted him. He knew that this would be something that Anna would want to know. “Anna! Aaaannnnnnnaaaaaaa!!!” he yelled running down the hallway looking for her.
They nearly collided when she found him, “What is it Olaf?” Anna questioned with an exhaustion, fear, and worry cocktail on her face.
“I went and sat on the bed next to Elsa and I know that you said that she has a fever and she is extra warm, but she is so warm that my foot nearly melted and I didn’t think that was normal and I thought you might want to know about that.” He told her as fast as he could as he took her hand and started leading her in the direction of Elsa’s bedroom.
Anna felt everywhere she could around Elsa, and Olaf was right - Elsa was too hot. Elsa was always on the cooler side due to her ice powers, so the fact that she even felt like she had a fever the same temperature a normal person would the evening before was concerning enough - but this was even too warm for the average person. “Olaf, go to the kitchens and get ice. We need to cool her off. This amount of heat could kill her.” Anna tried to keep her voice calm and even for Olaf’s sake, but this was just about to put her over the edge. She couldn’t lose her sister again right after she got her back.
Olaf stiffened for a moment with wide eyes, then, without a word, he turned around and ran as fast as he could to get the ice. He was terrified over the thought of Elsa dying, not just because he loved her and would miss her terribly if she were gone, but because it was her magic that kept him alive, and if she died - so would he, he would never get the chance to mourn her.
Things were not as simple for Kristoff and Sven as they thought it would be. The cute little miniature snowmen they had escorted to the ice castle the day before? They were attacking them. They had grown ice picks for teeth and were biting them. Sven wouldn’t be able to take much more, and Kristoff couldn’t decide the best course of action at that point other than what the guard came up with - heat.
Kristoff shed his coat and his vest, then put his coat back on. He then took his lantern and used the fire to ignite his vest at the end of a stick and would hit the little snowmen of terror with it like a baseball bat until they finally lost them and were finally to the Valley. There he knew they would be able to get healed by Grand Pabbie there, but he wasn’t sure how the trip back to Arendelle would go if Grand Pabbie didn’t go with him. He selfishly hoped that he would, even though he was fairly certain that he wouldn’t.
He was almost surprised when they weren’t all up and waiting for him when he got there - there is magic wreaking havoc on Arendelle. “Grand Pabbie! This is an emergency!” He called frantically as he immediately started tending to Sven’s wounds. There was no way that he would be able to make it all of the way back to Arendelle, he was going to have to figure out alternative transportation. Blood dripped down both of their bodies, making them smell rusty and feel sticky. It was enough to make Kristoff feel nauseous - and he had a strong stomach.
The Troll King rolled out of his place of slumber and approached Kristoff. “Sit down my son, I’ll get you both fixed up.” Grand Pabbie took Kristoff’s hand to comfort him and let him ease to the ground so he could heal him and Sven before he explained what was happening to Arendelle.
By then the rest of the family had awakened by Kristoff’s yelling, and was excited to see him out first. That is until they saw him. The bite marks (that looks like he’d been stabbed as the mini snowmen’s teeth were icicles), the free flowing blood staining his clothes and the ground around him, and the most concerning of all, was the look on his face. They were going to run over to him and bombard him with hugs and questions, but quickly realized they needed to sit back and stay quiet to see what he had to say.
Once Grand Pabbie had headed them and sat across from Kristoff with a solemn face, “It didn’t wake me since it hasn’t made it to the valley, but it’s so strong that now that I’m awake I can feel the magic from here. It is not good.” He started with what he knew on why Kristoff was there in the middle of the night.
He nodded his head, “There’s some kind of curse on Elsa... ” Kristoff tried to explain as quickly as he could, but also in as best detail as he could so that Grand Pabbie could have the best idea of what was going on so he could tell them what they needed to do.
When he was finished telling them everything he knew about the situation, he did not like the look that Grand Pabbie had on his face. “You have enemies, right? The Southern Isle? When Elsa accidently blew the snow there Prince Hans must have decided that he was going to get his revenge. There is magic out there that is different from mine or Elsa’s. Our’s were given to use from the Earth. There is magic, dark magic, that is taken from the other side. When used it always ends in death and destruction. It’s already killing Elsa, and will end when she dies - but not before. It’ll wait until the kingdom is destroyed before it kills her. There is some… somewhat good news. You can speed up the process by taking one of the sharp ice pieces from the snowmen as it will break through the veil, and stab her through the heart. That will end it all.” he explained how the dark magic worked and the only way to stop it.
He knew when he needed to do, and it was going to break the woman that he loved for him to do it. “It’s going to break her. To lose her sister.” his voice cracked as a tear streamed down his face. As he’d been dating Anna, he’d started seeing her not only as a friend, but as a sister figure as well. Then the thought also dawned on him that Olaf would be gone too. Olaf was like the kid they all shared, loved, and cared for.
Grand Pabbie nodded, “For a while, yes, but you will be there to help her put herself back together. I have one more piece of hope, the earth's magic is resilient, there is a good chance that Elsa’s magic will revive her when she dies, although there are no promises. Now go, the more time you spend here the less of Arendelle will be left when you get back.” He hadn’t noticed, but they had put some shielding on Sven to protect him from the mini snow demons.
The two of them went charging back into the line of danger to help get rid of the danger. The shielding wasn’t completely protecting them, but it was helping greatly. It was when the tiny snowmen melted away that his stomach dropped. “We’re too late. The town’s been destroyed.” Sven slowed down, understanding that meant they would be going home to a destroyed town, a possibility dead Elsa and Olaf, and even no promises of an alive Anna either. He was almost afraid to know.
Back in Arendelle things were not going well. Trying to melt the monster wasn’t doing any good and he’d destroyed pretty much all the town before he put out their fire effectively killing all of the guards and staff that were handing them things to burn.
Inside, Anna and Olaf weren trying their best to cool Elsa off, but nothing was working. All the ice was melting upon contact. Then the veil dissolved and Elsa went pale, effectively breaking her sister's heart.
With concern, Anna quickly went and threw her arms around Olaf so she could savour her last few moments with him and so he could have a warm hug as he melted away. “I love you, Olaf. I’ll miss you forever.” She told him through her tears. How was she going to make it without them? She hoped that Kristoff and Sven were okay.
What surprised her was that just as Olaf started to melt, a groan came from the bed and Olaf began to solidify again. “What?” Anna questioned letting Olaf go and turning around to examine her sister to see what was happening.
Elsa sat up in her bed, “What’s happening?” she was confused at her soaked bed, her sister’s tear stained face, and Olaf’s slimness. She wondered how long she had been asleep for because she had obviously missed something big.
Anna started crying again, but this time it was tears of joy. She threw her arms around her sister who had somehow come back from the dead. “Elsa, you’re alive! You were dead, Olaf was melting!” she cried into Elsa’s shoulder unable to stop the sobbs that were ripping through her body.
This alarmed Elsa, she still had a sore throat, but she didn’t feel like death by any means. “Okay, I think you’ve got some explaining to do. What is happening? How did I die? It’s just a cold, sure my throat still hurts but I don’t feel like I’m dying.” she voiced her confusion on the odd and slightly scary situation she was finding herself in.
Anna and Olaf told her everything that happened since Elsa had gone to sleep the day before. Elsa was glad she was still laying down, because she went weak when they told her what happened to the kingdom. “And Kristoff?” Elsa questioned knowing that he was their only chance of making it out of there after looking out the window. She easily put out the fire, but leaving town on foot wasn’t realistic.
Olaf frowned, “We haven’t seen him since the beginning of all of this. Maybe we should look for him.” he suggested knowing that the only way they would know if he wasn’t coming back is if they found a body. If he did come back, then great, they were a step ahead of assessing just how completely terrible everything was.
Elsa nodded her head, “I think that’s a good idea. Let’s get changed into our sturdiest clothes and shoes and try to figure out where we go from here.” Elsa suggested as she slowly got out of bed to see how her legs would hold her seeing as she had apparently died just a few minutes before.
Whereas Anna didn’t like the idea of Elsa getting out of bed, she also didn’t want to let her out of her sight. Olaf was also right, it was their job to go survey the damage, look for survivors. She prayed that Kristoff was a survivor. “Okay. Let’s meet at the door in ten minutes.” she agreed and hugged each of them one more time before she left to her own room to change her clothes.
When they all met back at the door, they heard movement outside. Each of them hoped that it was Kristoff and Sven returning to them safely. Anna swung the door open, needing to know if her boyfriend had made it back to her.
Much to their relief, both of them were there. They had a few wounds that needed to be dressed, but they looked like they would be okay. “We were so worried! Thank goodness you’re alright!” Anna threw her arms around Kristoff’s neck and kissed his cheek. Whereas things were better than they could have been, she was still so relieved that they made it. She loved him so much and couldn’t picture her life without him. As sad as it would be, she could picture her life without Elsa, she’d done it for years. Kristoff had always been there for all of them and taken care of them. She knew that she wanted to marry that boy.
Elsa walked over and rubbed Anna’s shoulder indicating for her to let go, “Why don’t we let them sit down so I can dress their wounds. Can you go grab the first aid kit?” Elsa suggested seeing the blood covering both Kristoff and Sven.
Anna stepped back and actually took a look at them and her eyes widened. She stood there with the deer in headlights look for a few moments, “Yeah, I’ll be right back.” she said and went to go get it.
Elsa led Kristoff and Sven to the sofa so they could lay down. They looked exhausted. Maybe it would be best to wait a few hours before they tried to venture outside. Although, if there were any survivors, Elsa wanted to get to them and see what she could do to help them. She decided she would start with tending to them and see what they had to say and go from there, they could have the answers to everything.
Olaf helped remove their shields and clothing so Elsa could get to the wounds and heal them with her magic. “Did they have any answers for you?” Elsa broke the silence, needing to know how on earth something like that could have happened.
Kristoff nodded and recounted everything Grand Pabbie had told him about Prince Hans using dark magic to take her body over and use it for destruction as he pleased until her body wore out. That’s when her magic kicked in and brought her back. “Do you remember anything that happened?” he asked Elsa once he shared his knowledge with the three of them.
She shook her head, “I don’t. I remember Anna escorting me to bed and giving me cold medicine. The next thing I know I’m waking up in a soaked bed with Anna sobbing over Olaf. It was quite shocking.” she gave a dry laugh, it wasn’t funny but that’s all they had.
They were the only survivors of that day, but they found the people of the Enchanted Forest and helped them settle the strife between the people and the land. Then that was where they decided to call home. They had been offered to have people sent to help rebuild Arendelle where they could rule again because Prince Hans had been convicted of performing dark magic resulting in mass casualties, but they didn’t feel like they could go back there, and they felt more at home in the Enchanted Forest then they ever had in Arendelle.
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