All Magic Comes With A Price

Chapter 1: The Visitor

{Present}

She sat there in her room, thinking about the strange man. Worrying. The windows were opened to the chilly wind of the late winter night, but as usual, the cold never really bothered her. 

Elsa stood up and began pacing the room. She had been waiting an hour since the man's appointed time of arrival. He was late, and for a man like him, he wouldn't be late, and that was what bothered her. She half-consciously conjured a snowflake and twirled it in her hand a few times before letting it fly out into the night.

Just as she decided the man wouldn't come, she heard a soft 'whoosh'  sound from behind her. He was here.

"What do you want?" she asked in a hushed voice, not turning around . She knew exactly what he wanted, yet she still asked. She didn't believe what he had asked of her a year ago, soon after the event that became known as The Great Thaw.

"Well dearie, I believe you can answer that question yourself, " he replied in that strange way that he spoke.

She turned around to face him. He was dressed in that same outfit as before that seemed to match his reptile-like skin.

"I'm not going to give it to you, especially since Anna and I are finally reunited," she meant to sound strong and authoritative, but all that came out was a strangled voice, full of fear. Ice formed on the walls next to her as she stood there trembling.

"Well, " he said calmly, picking up a bejeweled box and examining it," You'll either give me what I want, dearie, or I take it myself. "

He placed the box back on the table and walked to Elsa's bedside mirror.

"You have until the spring equinox to decide, but either way I will get what I want."  He faced her with a smile, but he didn't seem happy.

"Mark my words. Rumplestiltskin never breaks a deal. "

And with that, the man vanished in a cloud of smoke, leaving Elsa alone again in an ice-encased room. She was afraid ;she couldn't give in to the Dark One.