Frozen Heart (Dark Side of Fairytales Collaboration)

Chapter Twenty-Six

THE ELEMENTAL HORSE took Elsa across the raging waters of the Dark Sea but unlike earlier, the surface now is calm and serene. After Elsa mounted on the horse's back, the sea almost instantly shifted to calmness, permitting Her Majesty to cross over the waters in a convenient journey. The further they travel the closer Elsa felt. Another familiar sensation was induced in her by the horse but the feeling only soared high when her eyes finally perceived Ahtohallan from afar.

"Of course... it's frozen."

Her heart is beating in excitement; it corresponds to the horse's hooves as it gallops above the water's surface.

Ahtohallan was an island mostly composed of ice. Upon arriving, the water horse did the same thing as the salamander; it dissipated into tiny particles before entering Elsa's body. But unlike before, Elsa felt more refreshed, as renewed as consuming a new soul. She took off the tie and lets her hair completely loose behind her.

The voice called her again, her feet were automatic to move forward and follow it. Despite being barefooted and walking on complete ice, Elsa doesn't seem to be bothered by the coldness. The latter walked through an ice corridor, following the trail of what seemed like a glowing colorful light behind the ice walls. It leads her further and deeper toward the center of Ahtohallan. As Elsa advances, the growing feeling of familiarity made her eyes turn blood-red.

A wide open area with no certainty of its depth was laid before her path. But that did not hinder Elsa from pursuing the colorful light. With every swoop of her hands comes along large pillars with flat tops and there Elsa leaped from one ice pillar to another until she reaches the other side.

She plasters a grin knowing she is coming close to the very center of Ahtohallan.

THE ICE PATHWAY reached its end shortly just after entering the Dark Forest. A devastated Anna was staring down at her hands. She held them together on her lap and inside there she kept a note she accidentally pulled from within Elsa's clothes when she pushed her away. A liquid dropped on her hand. One would think it has started to rain if Anna hadn't sobbed. She immediately dried her eyes but it was useless since her tears kept coming.

But she can't just stay there and grieve. She has to find Yelena and the others. Unfortunately, her vision comes in a blur with her unending tears, causing her arduous of perceiving the grounds she steps into. The dimly lit environment did not also help her find her way. The forest is wide and massive; any chance of finding them soon might be too late for her.

How could she have not known in the first place? Why didn't she see it coming? I should've noticed her odd behavior in the first place! How did I become so blind!

She dashed through the forest's dark environment, all the while calling out for Yelena and the others. She must tell them the truth!

To her misfortune and due to her foggy vision, Anna failed to notice a protruding curvy branch on the ground, her foot got caught, causing her to lose her balance and fall to the ground. A loud clumsy thud of a falling body dominated the silence of her surroundings.

She sniffed and cried, "Yelena! Kristoff! Where are you---" her voice trailed off, and her lips were terribly shaking.

"Anyone? Somebody? Everyone, where are you?" Her voice echoes in the emptiness.

But she can't give up now. Despite the mild pain in her knees that she acquired from falling, she endured it and resumed her search. She cared not any more of whatever creature or beast she'll attract from her shouting. And just when she thought that her throat was about to go sore, her ears suddenly perceived from a distance a small familiar voice.

"Over here! We're over here!"

Anna stopped. The voice yelled again. With the help of her concentration, Anna finally pinpointed the voice's location and scurries in its direction. It's them! I know it!

The Northuldran tribe was gathering when she came to them. Kristoff greeted her and asks about the well-being of his fiancée and why she was alone.

"Where is she, Anna? Where's Elsa? Did something bad happen to her?" Kristoff queued.

She prevented her jealousy from getting the best of her. Instead, she inquires, "Where's Yelena? I must speak to her at once."

"I am here."

Anna approaches and without saying a word handed her the piece of paper she grabbed from Elsa. Confused, nevertheless she read its contents. And like Anna, she too registered surprised on her face.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"I-I think it's the real note that our mother has written," Anna stammered as she fidgets with her fingers.

"What do you mean, Anna?" Kristoff intervenes and seizes the paper. He scrutinized it, the same expression registered on him. "Where is Elsa? Where is she, Anna?"

He was beginning to become aggressive when he held the princess in both arms, demanding to be answered for his fiancée's current well-being.

"I'm sorry," she sniffed. "I truly am!"

The note that Anna had found was the actual note written by former Queen Iduna herself. It appears to be a detailed documentation of the source of Elsa's power--- and the real truth behind her heart.

"I-is this true, Anna?" Yelena shakily inquired.

Captain Mattias who was piqued with curiosity also comes in to join them. And when he read the note, he too was beyond shocked.

The princess nodded, teary-eyed.

THE COLORFUL LIGHT led Elsa to the center of Ahtohallan. Inside a spacious room whose walls, ceiling, and floor are made of flawless ice, Elsa steps inside and takes a calm pace to the object levitating in the middle. The object appears to be a frozen heart.

Elsa has never felt more at home, like being in a place she truly belonged.

"It is you, isn't it?" she cried. "My dear frozen heart."

As Elsa stretches out her hand, the frozen heart beat so loudly she could hear it, as though it was elated to see her. As soon as her finger grazed the ice coating it, it emitted a strong blinding glow.

Elsa transformed for the last time. She now wears a red off-the-shoulder dress with a right knee-high slit, light red leggings, and red long sleeves which have the symbol of the five elements at the shoulder. Along her chest down to her waist are diamond-shaped ice crystals resembling the elements of ice, fire, water, earth, and air. Her translucent cape fades to red at the bottom and is split in two, draping over her. The glittery sequins on her sleeves and pantyhose signify that she is the Snow Queen and the owner of the Dark Forest, and she wears white open-toe ballet flats.

The five red ice crystals around her head appeared once more and they bore the symbol of each element. Her face, however, no longer has the ice spikes, though her eyes are still blood-red.

So, the heart Elsa carries within her was never frozen in the first place, because she never had a heart, to begin with. And her thirst for human souls is just too dominant that she couldn't deprive herself from it.

Elsa releases from within her a strong dark force; dark clouds began to hover above Ahtohallan. From it emerges a blizzard that swiftly travels across the Dark Sea, past into the Dark Forest, and lands on Arendelle. The blizzard had swirled around the kingdom, not leaving every corner unturned until it consumes every single human soul.

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Voxciera