"Wait...Jack Frost?" blinked Anna when Elsa finished her story. "Thé Jack Frost?"
"Yeah, I tol-" Elsa's sentence died on her lips when Anna took the young guardian into a hug, screaming from excitement.
"Its such an honour to meet you!" squealed Anna as she nearly shook his arm off.
"Wait...How do you know who I am, and not you?" asked Jack as he looked from the younger sibling to the queen.
Anna gasped. "Elsa! How could you not know who he was? He's a legend from our own country!"
"He is?" asked the queen astonished to her sister.
The red-head grumbled. "Sis, what did you exactly do in all those years?"
"I didn't have time to read fairy tales, Anna! Besides, I think you always took them out of the library before I could even read them!"
"Hey! I never-" Anna paused at Elsa's words. "Yeah..yeah, you're right about that one..." said the princess sheepishly. She indeed didn't return those books as she was supposed too...
"Your highnesses?" One of the guards spoke, who held North and Sandy shackled in-between them.
"Captain, please release those two. They are, just like this boy, innocent in every way and I pardon their missteps." spoke Elsa clearly.
The captain's eyes widened at the sudden command, but did eventually what the queen command him. "Is there something else, your highness?"
"No, captain, that will be all..." mused Elsa. Suddenly she noticed how tired her captain of the guards looked. "Captain, is everything alright with you? You seem exhausted...Perhaps it is better if you take a few hours rest..."
"Your highness, nothing is as important but your safety." spoke the stubborn man.
"Then it is important for you to be alert whenever there is danger nearby me or my sister. Am I correct?"
The Captain was quiet for a few moments as he was torn in-between his duty and his own tired body. "You are correct, your highness. If it eases your mind, I will take my rest..." The captain bowed, before marching out the room along with the soldiers under his command.
Elsa had attired herself different then the usual ice dress she normally wore. Her dress was a lot like Anna's, only in purple and dark blue. Often, she went out in this clothing to just blend in with the people, who didn't recognize their queen in simple commoner's clothes..People expect what they expect to see, and the queen would certainly not be without a ice dress, would she?
As she walked on the market, along with Anna, she looked to the adress Kai had given her. Every citizen who wanted an audience with the queen, was asked to give up adress and name, so they could in case of disputes summon them quickly. According to Anna, the street should be nearby...
"It should be...here" commented the princess happy as ever while she walked on with Kristoff on the arm. She noticed Elsa didn't walk on and quickly stepped to her sister. "Elsa...is everything okay?"
The young queen bit her lip; she had practically thrown the girl out because of her lack of vision. "Its just...I mistreated her, Anna... I threw her out, because I thought she was a liar..."
"Hey, don't get all sad now?!" said Anna while smiling softly to her older sibling. Her face was pale, and there were bags under her eyes; She had only now noticed how busy Elsa always was with her duties as queen, and the young princess felt guilty for not being with her as much as she was in the beginning. She had been so happy with the open gates, and her relationship with Kristoff...she hadn't taken the time to ask her sister! "She'll forgive you..."
Elsa sighed and knocked nervously on the door.
The guardians meanwhile were waiting somewhat further away, out of the people's sights. After Elsa explained they were still anxious about everything that involved arround magic, they agreed it was better to stay hidden. Jack frowned as he thought about the queen. She was genuinely concerned for her people's well-being, yet the people didn't seem to return her kindness...
"Excuse me?" Jack startled when a young kid was pulling at his pants. "Why does your hair look like snow?"
"Oh, well, I..." No child had ever asked him this question! "I just like the color.." smiled Jack, not really knowing what to say. He couldn't tell the kid that it was done by the Moon. Maybe the kids from his own time, but he didn't know how kids thought in this time period. For all he knew, the kid might think him mad! He had to be carefull... Jack knelt down the little child and frowned worriedly when he saw the bags under the child's eyes. "Are you okay? You don't seem to have slept well these past few days..."
The child rubbed her eyes. "Yeah... Its just nightmares about the queen..."
"The queen?" asked Jack surprised, causing North and Sandy to earshove on the conversation as well. "You have nightmares about her? Why? She's a very nice person..."
The little child shuffled with her feet on the ground. "Mommy says she nearly killed her sister...and that she caused that winter..." The child shuddered. "My dog nearly died by the harsh cold..."
"Tiril!"
The child looked arround before turning her attention back to Jack. "I have to go... My mom doesn't want me to alone with strangers. She's not in a very good mood lately, and hasn't slept that well either..." The little girl's eyes stood worried for her parents.
"She has nightmares too?" pressed Jack further on, to get to know more out of the girl. God, Pitch must be behind all this...but why?
"I think so...she mumbled in her sleep, and in the morning, she-"
"Tiril!" blaffed a woman who appeared to be her mother. "Get here, now. Don't bother those..." Her eyes widened when she saw the strange looking people in front of her. "Come here, quickly" said the woman concerned for her daughter as she hastily picked her up. "I told you sweetie, not to talk with strangers!" Her voice began to dissappear arround the corner.
"But mommy, that boy had such beautiful ha-"
"Those are magicans, Tiril! They aren't to be trusted!"
For a moment, Jack wished he couldn't be seen by those adults piercing, judging eyes. Even by just standing here, caused people to look at him, North and Sandy. Which was another thing...
"North, why are we suddenly visible to adults?" sissed Jack to the fellow guardian as he pressed his back against one of the houses.
"Well, I have a couple of theories-"
"I don't want theories, I want an explanation" growled Jack. He was worried sick for Toothiana and, although he would never say that out loud, for Bunny. Sandman replied by making a figure with steam coming out of his ears. Then, the figure calmed down. "Yes, Sandy, I know I have to calm down..." spoke Jack to the little guardian. "Its just I'm worried for Tooth and Bunny alright? We can't just sit here and-"
"Don't you think we are worried too, Jack?" said North while rising his voice slightly. "Don't you think we want to rush to them as well?"
Jack went silent, feeling ashamed, thinking that his other friends didn't care.
"We do care, Jack, and we will find them..." North sighed and began another topic to keep his mind busy. Otherwise, he feared he might just freak out as much as Jack. "To answer your question, I believe because we went back in time, we...how do I put it...we kinda restored to our former selves..."
"Former selves?" asked Jack confused. Sandy answered as well with a question mark above his head.
"There was a time when we were still visible for adults, just after we defeated Pitch during the dark ages...Over time however, adults began to see us as made up stories, and we began to vanish from their sight over time..."
"So, we basically went back to the period when they still believed in us?" asked Jack to be certain he understood.
"I believe so..." mumbled North.
"But How can I be here? I was never believed in, not untill Jamie..."
"It seems, some people in this region believe in a legend with the same name as you.." spoke North to the Guardian of Fun. "I don't know either, Jack, but that's the only thing I could come up with..."
Jack nodded, understanding his uncertainty. After all, North had never used those time-travelling globes before... "I'm sorry for lashing out to you earlier."
North waved it away. "Don't fret about it..." It was silent again for a few seconds, before he spoke up again. "Did you hear what the child said about those nightmares. And that captain..not only they, but all of these citizens look so tired, like they didn't have a good night sleep in days..."
"It's Pitch' doing..." mumbled Jack. "His nightmares are exhausting the people's minds..."
Sandy showed a figure of Elsa, that was shattered underneath an angry mute of citizens. Then the little sandman made Pitch, who was laughing about the scenery.
"Yeah, Sandy, you are right..." said North as he too had come to the same conclusion. "Pitch seems to use the citizen's distrust in his nightmares, so they turn against Elsa..."
"He seems to want her dead so badly.." spoke Jack angrily. "First by controlling that man, Hans, and now he terrorizes those people...Why?"
"It is strange that he is focusing on her so much... There has to be a interior motive behind it. Pitch never does something without reason..." thought North out loud. The three fellow guardians talked on, while they waited for the queen and princess to return...
"Yes?" Luckily it was Sigunn herself who opened the door. Elsa didn't know otherwise how to explain her parents who and why she came here...
"Hello, Sigunn... Do you remember me?" asked Elsa softly.
Sigunn's eyes darkened a little when she recognised the queen. She stayed polite however. "Yes, your majesty, of course I remember you." said the girl as she bowed before her. "Please, do come in."
"Thank you." After Elsa, Anna and Kristoff nervously went inside too. They hoped just like Elsa to get some answers. Anna swallowed heavily. How different everything could have gone if that...Pitch didn't possess Hans! Now, Hans had to pay for his crimes, while she and Kristoff were happily going arround town!
Kristoff noticed the troubled expression of her, and pinched her hand as for comfort. He had been just as shocked by the news as Anna was, but hid it almost just as well like Elsa did. "Hey, it is not your fault..." spoke Kristoff.
"Kristoff..." said Anna heavily. How could she explain this to him? "He loved me...and now I feel like I betrayed him, with you..."
"You shouldn't contemplate on what if's Anna..." spoke Kristoff. "Focus on the present, with me and Elsa..."
the princess sighed tiredly and embraced him, nuzzling her nose in his strong chest. "I try...Just...give me time, okay?" She looked up to a smiling Kristoff, who nodded in understanding.
Meanwhile, Elsa sat down on a chair, opposite Sigunn. "I have heard...other witnesses that prove your story to be true." spoke Elsa, causing the girl's eyes to lit up. "Now, I want you to tell me everything. Every last detail about this...shadow that possessed Prince Hans. Did he say what he wanted or where he came from? Why he wanted me or my sister dead?"
The girl obliged, and began to tell everything, while Elsa, Anna and Kristoff listened without interrupting her. Elsa's mood sank when the girl couldn't give any clues about Pitch' intentions or on how he came here...
"So, what do we do now?" asked Anna after a long silence. "Sigunn was the only one who was with Pitch..."
After a long silence, Kristoff's head snapped up as his head filled with an idea. "My adopted family...they know many magical creatures and entities they have faced over the centuries...They should know something about this...Pitch Black."
Elsa's eyes widened. "Of course! Kristoff you're a genius!" The queen, in her enthousiasm embraced the bulky Ice harvester, causing the man to blush. "Uh..." Elsa akwardly put her hands away and smiled apologizingly to her sister. "Sorry..."
"Listen, I'm not sure if they know him" spoke Kristoff unsecure as he didn't want to give the queen too much hope.
"When we don't try, we'll never know" spoke Anna determinded.
"Can I come too?" The two sisters and the ice harvester turned their attention back to the peasant girl.
"Yes, you can..." spoke Elsa softly. She wasn't going to shut out that girl again. She feared it wouldn't be as easily forgotten as last time... She frowned when she looked arround. "Siggun, where is your brother? Perhaps he wants to come too?"
"He...wasn't my brother, your grace..." confessed the girl. "I lied because he was an orphan and living on the streets...He would have died otherwise during the Big Freeze..."
Elsa's eyes became teary at the girl's kindness. "I promise Sigunn, I will help those poor kids to have a safe home..."
"Really?" smiled the girl to the queen, who nodded again to comfirm her previous statement. To Elsa's surprise the girl took hold of her hand without any fear! As the four went outside, they met again with Jack, North and Sandy.
"We have found something out" spoke Jack to the queen as he wanted to tell her about Pitch' doings.
"You can tell that on the way to the valley of the living rocks" said Kristoff as he led them to his sledge.
"Wait what?" asked Jack confused to the bulky ice harvester. "Why do we need to go there?"
"Kristoff's family...can provide us some answers about Pitch Black." spoke Anna, causing Jack's eyes to lit up in excitement.
"At least, that's what I think" spoke Kristoff again insecure.
"That's fantastic news! Perhaps they know about Toothiana and Bunny where-abouts too!" commented Jack while Kristoff connected the sledge to Sven's strong back.
"Who's Toothiana and-"
Kristoff whistled to keep their attention. "If we want to make it all there, we need to hurry!" the ice harvester looked to the stance of the sun. It was nearly 3 in the afternoon... If they all wanted to make it safely there, they needed to move now...
They all stepped in with difficulty. Kristoff's sledge might be new, but it wasn't suited to carry 6 people!
"You know what? We and Sandy will fly" spoke Jack as they stepped out to give the other's some space. Especially for North, who took in the whole back..."We'll follow you..."
"Alright then..." nodded Kristoff to the guardian of Fun. "Come on buddy, huyah!" His reindeer-friend's ears went up when he heard the man's familiar voice and the strong animal took off into the mountains...
I know I let Elsa and Anna think a lot about Hans right now, I just want to make them both feel guilty for Hans being sentenced to death. Remember, they haven't heard news about his escape, so they still think he's dead! We are getting closer and closer to our main plot...yeah, this was just exposition and setting up the pieces!
These chapters take a lot of time, leaving a review takes only a minute!
Love,
TeamArendelle