Thawed: An expansion on the Frozen universe

Section Two, Part Three

They walked throughout the streets of Arendelle, as the warm summer breeze blew through the streets and the coolness of the river swept through the kingdom, while merchants sold their precious wares, and the artist painted in the gardens, pouring their souls into their artwork. Sculpteurs worked with porcelain and clay, their hands filled with calluses from years of sculpting masterworks, and their clay-covered hands waved at us as we went past. Marching bands played fanfares as we strolled throughout the middle city, the drummers' sticks twirling and beating their heads, playing ratamacues and paradiddles, drags and rolls, holding their sticks in traditional grip, accenting for added flair. How Archer longed to be part of such an elite team of drummers, how he wished to play with them, but alas, he didn't belong here, he belonged in a time long in the future, when this beautiful land would be completely forgotten, believed to be fiction, when it was thought to never exist. These peaceful, prosperous streets would be in ruins, the castle reduced to collapsing mossy bricks, the whole place overgrown and lost in the woods, the people long absent, the music that once filled the land abandoned and silent. There would be no more artwork shown if in the streets, sculptures and goods no longer for sale, the air of friendliness turned sinister and unwelcoming, and possibly the whole thing would be submerged underwater, becoming the true Atlantis, the drowned city lost forever in the river that once proudly flowed next to it before the dam collapsed from wear and tear, washing away the legacy of the kingdom forever, as nature reclaimed its territory. It ached Archers heart to even think of Arendelle like that, and he tried to not think about it anymore, but a part of it refused to leave his mind as the four of them roamed the crowded streets destined to be abandoned. He looked at Emma, and she looked back, and he could tell from her sad look that she was thinking the same things as he was.

"It's horrible, isn't it?" She whispered to him as they approached the impressive castle in the middle of the kingdom. "What it'll be like in the future? All these people, the beauty of these streets- how it'll all be gone soon?"

He nodded, wishing he could say more. He hoped she didn't think he was empty of emotion, but he could tell from her face that she knew how he felt. They'd been developing an ability to read each other's thoughts based on their expression ever since they had left 2020. Some sort of instinct inside of them allowed them to understand every inch of a frown, smile, or the expression of the eyes, all which seemed like a whole language of emotions that Archer and Emma seemed fluent in without any effort whatsoever.

But only on each other's faces. Archer still couldn't read anyone else's faces to save his life.

Trying to ignore the burning sensation in his heart, and the empty, hollow feeling of his mind, he set off with the three others, as Elsa and Anna led them to the castle, where they were to find the barracks.

"Why exactly do you need to visit the barracks?" Anna asked incredulously as they walked.

"Well," Emma answered before Archer could, "we're going on a possibly deadly quest where somehow magic itself is imprisoned. We have no idea whether we will need to defend ourselves. Elsa already has magic to help, you have training. All Archer and I really have is Scout training in archer and rifle shooting."

"And shotgun shooting," Archer offered.

"And shotgun shooting. Archer's also got magic, but he doesn't seem to know how to use it. Me, I don't have any sort of magic."

As if by answer, she coughed loudly, and the air burned. A small burst of flame flew from her mouth and heated the pavement below. Archer stared at her. She looked just as shocked as he was, and so were Elsa and Anna. Anna looked extremely embarrassed to be the only one out of four without magic powers, and as far as they knew, the only three living magic users on the planet.