Melted [ Elsa x Jack Frost ]

Chapter 22

"I'm a comin', hold on there!"
Was yelled quite loudly through the inside of the house.
Elsa shuffled nervously behind Jack.
What if they had come all this way only for nothing to turn up?
Just as the thought left her mind, the door was pulled open abruptly.
Looking through the inside of the cluttered cottage over Jacks' shoulder, Elsa was confused.
Who opened the door?
Staring straight ahead, she saw no one.
It was only until she heard a muffled "Ahem" that she and Jack collectively looked down.
The tiny man probably barely reached her waist standing straight up.
As it was, he was hobbled over with age.
He peered back at them through smudged glasses and scowled.
"You sellin' somethin?"
Jack looked stunned,
"Uhh, no w-"
"You from the government?"
"Also no, I-"
"You lookin for a diary that holds the wherebouts' of an ancient spear forged by Odin himself?"
If Jack was stunned before, he had to keep his mouth from dropping open at this.
"Well yes, actually, how did you-"
The old man waved a hand in the air.
"I could tell ya it was my keen intuition or magic but Kristoff sent word to me a day ago that a dude and a beautiful princess would be showing up for that very thing."
At that he winked at Elsa who blushed and had to contain her laughter at the look of bewilderment on Jacks' face.
She liked Aksel immensely.
"Well come in, come in, don't just stand out there freezin. Ya already know my name and I know yours so we'll skip all that."
They shuffled inside as he closed the door.
Both had to bend down partially so as not to hit their heads on the ceiling.
The smell of must, dust and mold assaulted Elsa's senses instantly but she was pleasantly surprised to find the home quite clean and orderly for the amount of items stacked up.
"Ya'll are lucky, not many see the inside of my home, but I've known Kristoff since he was a wee lad and would do anything fir that boy."
Elsa watched as Jack nodded solemnly to Aksel's words, all the while surveying their surroundings discreetly.
"I'll be honest with ya though, I don't really have a filing system around here. I'll take ya to where I know the diary is kept for sure but after that yer on ya own."
With that, the old man began shuffling towards a staircase leading down and they followed.
They were brought into another large room (basement?), but this time the smells and amount of items stacked nearly tripled.
Stacks of books led all the way up to the ceiling which made Elsa realize the house alone probably would collapse without them.
There was a thin walking path that weaved in and out of stacks and everything was lit by candles.
With no windows or natural light to be seen, Elsa surmised that they were underground.
The only positive so far was that the cielings here seemed to be vaulted, allowing both her and Jack to stand up fully.
The sheer velocity of over, what had to be, thousands of books made Jack sigh and Elsa realize that they'd be down here for a while. Whatever good time they had made getting here would surely be eaten up in the search. Seemingly, Aksel pulled a staff out of thin air and began to make the trek back upstairs while calling over his shoulder;
"Well I'll let ya get to it. Word to the wise, it goes faster if ya split up. Oh and let me know if you come across a book titled "Libation", been looking fir it firever now."
With that, the door closed and Elsa had to fight the sudden urge to make sure he hadn't locked it.
Jack turned to her.
"You heard him, how about you take the left and I'll take the right."
Elsa nodded and moved to her corner, determined to get this over with and not inhale too many cobwebs.