Frozen Heart (Dark Side of Fairytales Collaboration)

Chapter Twenty-Three

ANNA AND ELSA arrived at the Dark Forest at the lead of the voice that Elsa heard in their basement after she consumed a human soul.

The voice was also heard by the innocuous-looking salamander known as the Evil Flame and it pointed in a direction heading north. The sisters already expected a pack of surprises on their adventure but they never would have thought that the place they are looking for is known only to the Northuldran tribe.

"I don't want to ask you again," Yelena warned. "Where did you hear that place?"

She looked like she transformed into another person when Anna mentioned Ahtohallan. Her forehead formed a deep crease that greatly expresses both her surprise and anger.

"I just told you. We found it in a secret room within our castle and my mother is the one who wrote it," Anna nonchalantly replied.

"Pray tell, the name of your mother," Honeymaren requested.

"Her name is Iduna. Why do you ask?"

The surprise was not limited to Yelena and Honeymaren only but also to other Northuldran who was listening to their conversation the entire time.

A guy named Ryder approaches and reveals, "Iduna came from one of the old families in our tribe. But the last time we saw her was when she sacrificed herself to be offered to the Snow Queen on behalf of her grandmother, the very same day when the queen mysteriously disappeared. Later that year, her grandmother died, unfortunately."

"Wait, what did you say?"

Their mother is Northuldran? Receiving all those pieces of information at once quite brought a headache to Princess Anna. The chances that they'd be visiting the place their mother grew up in and meeting her people did not come across her mind. But Ryder told them that their mother offered herself to the Snow Queen, so how---

"Which means she survived and escaped from her grasp," Ryder unknowingly uttered.

The entire tribe was baffled about Iduna's survival, and though grateful that they met her descendants, this didn't give Yelena enough reason to disclose the location of Ahtohallan. Neither of them also revealed the line of ancestors Iduna came from.

"I have never heard about this River of Memories, but it is true that Ahtohallan is a very powerful place and if the wrong person gets to it, chaos is sure to come. Even the Snow Queen herself does not know the location of the place. I am truly sorry but we cannot help you with this one." Yelena's statement was final. Being the leader, her authorization was justified when another one spoke:

"We cannot risk the fate of the whole world just to lift a curse. And besides, you all deserve this because of the betrayal of the old king."

"He's right," even Honeymaren agreed. "Iduna may be one of us but we just can't. Even if your sister can lift the mist, we just can't."

Anna was nettled by their nonchalant responses. Their reasons even are inarguably not fitting to be called right. Do they really give off an evil aura that they can't see in them the miseries they've already suffered for many years?

However, Kristoff still refuses to give up so easily. He stood up to face them all.

"What has Elsa got to with her grandfather's betrayal? Should the following generations really have to suffer for the mistakes of their ancestors? Why must the children suffer for the crimes of their parents? Elsa had nothing to do with her grandfather's betrayal. She only wanted to live a normal life but it was deprived of her because of this wretched curse. And things even got worse when her parents locked her in her own room. Yes, her parents!" Kristoff emphasized those words when some of them were taken aback.

"Queen Iduna and King Agnarr locked Elsa in instead of helping her control her urge. And did you even know that Iduna and Agnarr never saw her again because they never opened her door for once since they locked her in?"

His words were elaborate, clear, and direct. Kristoff emphasized Elsa's suffering that was caused by Iduna. But unbeknownst to him, Yelena wasn't that easy of a person to waver.

"It was clear to me that Iduna had a reason to do what she did. If I were there, I would have supported her also."

"Do you even hear yourself when you're speaking?" Kristoff fumed.

"They really did that?" Captain Mattias uttered in utmost disbelief. Anna regretfully nodded.

"And with all due respect, Your Highness." Yelena then turns to Anna. "Your sister is a very dangerous person as we speak. I am sorry to say this but you, your sister, and this man should leave now before she kills any of us again."

"Y-you can't be serious, Yelena!" Anna exclaimed. Her visions are darkening. If she doesn't hold back now she will certainly aggravate the whole situation. "Elsa is not dangerous. She is only being controlled, which is why we need your help in finding Ahtohallan so she will never have to hurt people again. And I promise you, we will free this forest."

Yelena scrutinized her eyes. After a moment or two of silence, she regretfully shook her head. "Your grandfather made the same promise and look where we are now. I am truly sorry, Your Highness. But I cannot tell you its location. Please leave peacefully now."

"We had thought you'll be the one to free us from this hell forest. I made a wrong assumption," Honeymaren also admitted.

Elsa who's been silent since they tackled Ahtohallan rose from her seat without uttering a word and begins to walk away. Anna and Kristoff called her but the latter remained deaf. She mindlessly took a pace forward to what she knows is north--- according to the salamander Evil Flame. Who cares about breaking a curse, anyway?

Due to Elsa's inattentiveness, the salamander on her shoulder had dissipated into tiny particles and entered her chest. She only stopped on her track when she felt a strong heart emitting within her, allowing Anna and Kristoff to catch up to her.

"Hey, are you okay? Don't worry, we'll find another way," Kristoff assured her.

It pains him to see her dejected. He'd do anything to break Elsa's curse and if taking out information by blood is the only option, he'd do it by all means. Apparently, his thoughts got interrupted when he heard a small groan.

"Elsa, what's wrong? A-are you hurt somewhere?"

The queen lost her composure when she recklessly dropped to the ground, clenching her chest. The heat within her is rapidly increasing; it felt like acid being poured on an open wound. She released an ear-splitting scream of agony and misery, also alerting the Northuldra people.

Anna was frozen in her stance while Kristoff went berserk for not knowing what to do to ease his fiancée's suffering.

"Stop it! Stop!" Elsa wailed in pain.

The burning doesn't seem to be stopping at any moment soon. And just when Yelena and the others approach her, a new batch of ice crystals begins to sprout from underneath Elsa's head, but this time, they are only five red ice crystals encircling her head.

The pain felt like she was being hammered to death in the head. Blood sprouted along the ice crystals. Her face too was soon covered with the same red ice spikes.

"Stop it!"

Elsa shrieked for the last time before all the pain faded at once. Her transformation and new look were achieved before she lost consciousness.

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Voxciera