Winter Moon (Jelsa)

Chapter 25: Elsa

What sort of relationship did my powers have to darkness?

I pondered this question, running through my life in my head. Everything I knew about black, and night, and Pitch Black.

Then, a thought rose up in my mind. 

When Pitch had possessed me, he had called Anna a false sister just before Jack and I had vanquished him. Pitch had mocked me, asking if I really was an Arendellian.

What had he meant by that? Was it possible that I was not a true Arena? That my powers were coming from another?

I paced in front of the sofa, sensing my magic. Whatever had caused me to control the darkness in Rapunzel was gone now. I could only feel ice. Cold, sharp, and frosty.

All of my friends were asleep, retiring to separate rooms. I was still in the common room, unable to retire for the night.

I fiddled anxiously with my braid and straightened my t-shirt. The Elites had provided us with a change of clothes. Plain black trousers and gray shirts. It had been an effort to compose myself in front of my friends while we discussed everything that had happened. Jack had kept glancing at me like he knew something was wrong. 

We had devised a plan to find the Hidden World. While the Elites hunted down the Broken Light, we would go after the Immortal Sword. Clearly, the rulers of the First Kingdom didn't have their priorities straight, but we could dwell on that. We would just have to fix it ourselves.

But I had another item on my agenda.

I had to figure out what was happening to my magic. Lately, it seemed to be growing steadily more powerful, so much in fact, that Jack had mentioned he could feel it through the bond. 

And now this had happened.

I was so lost in thought that I didn't realize Jack was there until he cleared his throat from behind me.

"Jack!" I jumped. 

"Snowflake," he replied.

"You startled me," I mumbled.

"I suppose I can add stealth to my long list of talents."

"You're insufferable."

"Also a talent of mine." He shrugged then sobered, expression turning serious. "Anyway, I wanted to talk to you."

I waited expectantly for him to continue.

"What's going on, Snowflake? You seem... off. I can feel it through the bond."

For a brief moment, I was tempted to deny it and brush Jack's words off. A small voice in my head made me stop. Jack was, for all intents and purposes, my soulmate. He deserved to have his questions answered honestly.

"I'm just... so exhausted. With Pitch, it's like there's one mystery after the next. I don't know why I was able to fix Rapunzel. And we don't even know why Kynes attacked Astrid and Hiccup for the aegis. It's up to us to find the Immortal Sword since the Elites won't do anything about it, and our friend almost died today. Punzie was almost murdered by Pitch. Well, indirectly. But still! And that's not even the end of it. Anna isn't safe from Pitch — no one is —, and she's in Berk under the care of people I barely know. She's the last of my family. My parents, who kind of suck, are in line for execution, which means my baby sister is going to lose her mother and father—" I broke off, holding back a sob.

"Hey," Jack said gently, pulling me into a hug. "I get it. This sucks. I know what it's like to lose your parents, and I won't pretend that this isn't hard for you—"